South Africa: Cabinet commends moves to enforce immigration laws

Cabinet has welcomed the recent arrest of a Home Affairs official stationed at the Benoni office for issuing a fraudulent passport to a Bangladeshi national.

The official, Sibongile Simelane, was granted R5 000 bail in the Benoni Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, and the Bangladeshi national, Fahim Kazi, was arrested while trying to leave the country on 12 May 2022, under the name of Lebogang Ndlovu.

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has also recently deported Lithuanian actress, Leva Andrejevaite, who sought to abuse South Africas refugee management regime when she fabricated a story of wanting to apply for asylum because of the war in Ukraine.

Speaking during a post-Cabinet media briefing on Thursday, Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, said that cabinet commends the work being done by the DHAs Counter Corruption Unit.

It applauds and encourages ordinary South Africans to continue to report such criminal acts. The unlawful acts of South Africans who sell their identities have far-reaching negative implications for the countrys security and socio-economic status.

Gungubele emphasised that government will continue to deal harshly against anyone involved in illegal acts that undermine South African immigration laws, without fear or favour.

Cabinet has also welcomed the recent conviction and sentencing of a Durban teacher, Nomusa Precious Gabuza (37)  who was sentenced to three years' correctional supervision and four years' imprisonment, wholly suspended for three years, in the Umlazi Regional Court in KwaZulu-Natal  for contravening the Local Government Municipal Electoral Act, 2000 (Act 27 of 2000).

As a teacher at the school which was used as a voting station during the Municipal Elections in October 2021, Gabuza pleaded guilty for fraudulently casting 24 votes, including 12 for the Municipal Elections and 12 for the Ward Elections.

Cabinet said that the conviction and sentencing underscored the Electoral Commission of South Africas commitment to intervene timeously and apply consequence management.

This is also a strong affirmation of the electoral systems, which have since been strengthened with the introduction of the Voter Management Device that prevents double voting.

Cabinet affirmed that elections are the cornerstone of our democracy and must be protected at all costs, said the Minister.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-06-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Australia to launch new Plastics Innovation Hub in Vietnam

The Australian government on Thursday launched the Plastics Innovation Hub in Vietnam which aims to deliver new innovations to tackle plastic waste in the country.









Australia to launch new Plastics Innovation Hub in Vietnam





The Plastics Innovation Hub Vietnam is an initiative of Aus4Innovation Program, an official development assistance program sponsored by Australias Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, managed and co-funded by CSIRO, Australias national science agency, out of the Australian Embassy in Hanoi, and delivered in strategic partnership with Vietnams Ministry of Science and Technology.



The Plastics Innovation Hub Vietnam (the Hub Vietnam) is part of CSIROs Ending Plastic Waste Mission, which has a goal of 80 per cent reduction in plastic entering our environment by 2030.



CSIRO Southeast Asia Counsellor, Amelia Fyfield said that collaboration was the key to solving the global plastic pollution challenge.



CSIRO is excited to collaborate through the Plastics Innovation Hub Vietnam and use our globally renowned science and expertise to work on addressing this problem internationally, Fyfield said, The Plastics Innovation Hub Vietnam differentiates itself by focusing on early-stage initiatives, setting foundations, and aiming to connect participants with key networks.



The Hub Vietnam will be a vehicle for collaboration, bringing together local communities and governments, business, and investors to undertake action-based projects to reduce the impacts of plastic waste. It expands the network in the region, following the launch of a Plastic Innovation Hub in Indonesia in March 2022.



Research into plastic in Vietnam has already been undertaken as part of CSIROs largest global plastic pollution survey. The goal of this work has been to identify how much and what types of rubbish end up in the environment. Additional work between Australia and Vietnam is also planned for the coming months, as Vietnam looks to develop a national data repository and expand on-the-ground surveys.





Program Director for Aus4Innovation, Kim Wimbush, said solutions based on science, technology and innovation would support the Vietnamese governments goals on tackling plastic waste and building a circular economy.

Reducing plastic waste brings economic and environmental advantages, Dr Wimbush said, Expanding our collaborations across the region will identify new approaches in reducing plastic waste and support Vietnams pledge to reduce the flow of plastics into the ocean by 75 per cent by 2030.
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Credit: Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

From delayed home improvement projects to the sudden scarcity of baby formula, supply chain shortages caused or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic have become a common answer to why we currently cannot have something right away and at a sensible price. However, the baby formula shortage is just the most recent crisis that has exposed the systemic failures in American life-critical product supply chains, said Jacqueline Griffin and Ozlem Ergun, Northeastern industrial engineers and researchers of supply chains resiliency.

"COVID was the disruption. The underlying problem is that we are working in a broken system that, in many cases, has very little information transparency and makes it very difficult to operate," Griffin said. "We need to move from a perspective of thinking [that] this is COVID driven. Let's get through this point, and instead start to think about broad systematic policy-level changes."

The baby formula shortage has all the same key system features as the chronic drug supply shortages at the U.S. hospitalsa topic Griffin and Ergun have been researching for the last eight years. Both have a life-critical product at the center; a limited number of manufacturers and manufacturing sites; manufacturing quality concerns; and, most importantly, limited information sharing between supply chain stakeholders.

And one cannot blame hospital drug shortages on the COVID-19 pandemicthey have been going on for decades, Griffin said.

"When we talk to MGH [Massachusetts General Hospital] every week, there is a list of [scarce] products they talk to us about. It is not just one or two," said Ergun, who is a member of a committee at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine that is tasked with examining the security and resilience of the U.S. medical product supply chain.

"Given that it is a public health good, it is surprising how there is no awareness about it in the public," Ergun said.

There are currently more than 100 drugs in short supply on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's list. Recent drug shortages that have garnered attention include a sterile saline solution shortage in 2017 and 2018 after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, where most of it was manufactured; and a heparin shortage in 2019 due to African swine fever killing pigs in China.

Both medicines are critical in the treatment of many patients. The sterile saline solution shortage put a months-long hold on many surgeries across the U.S., Griffin said. The shortage of heparinwhich is derived from pigs and slows down blood clotting during open-heart surgery or blood transfusions forced hospitals like MGH to substantially curb its use.

"I am impressed by the people that are on the frontlines trying to manage this," Griffin said. "They truly go to extraordinary measures. And that is why there is not a broader discussion of it, because they do so much, but the system that they are working in is broken."

Griffin said that the time hospitals will be able to continue managing drug shortages on their own is limited.

Ergun described drug supply chains as very disorganized environments, the disruption of which can lead to many different consequences that are mostly unseen by patients. They drive hospital costs up as more staff is required to manage a shortage and purchasing substitutes might be more expensive.

"And who really bears the burden of the cost? Is it the hospital, is it the insurance company, is it the patient?" Griffin said.

While hospitals scramble for substitute drugs, look for alternative producers, and try to compound supplies internally, further artificial shortages arise due to hoarding.

Some patients might also experience some negative effects after receiving a substitute, Griffin said.

To make supply chains more resilient, able to withstand disruptions and avoid public harm, the government needs to implement broad reforms, including enacting policies that regulate radical information sharing within the supply chain, Ergun and Griffin said.

A major problem is that nobody knows just how risky various supply chains are in terms of shortage probability, even for a Band-Aid, Ergun said, because the chains are very complex and involve several steps in multiple countries. For the last several decades, the focus was not on the risk but rather on costs.

"As a world, we have really focused on cost-savings on every single item," Ergun said. "This led to supply chain policies that are cost-effective, just-in-time, with very little inventory kept at each step, and always going for the supplier or the producer with the lowest cost."

Resiliency, however, comes at additional cost, though there isn't a need to make all supply chains resilient all the time.

"First we have to understand risk, then we have to understand critical products, and then decide on the right level of resiliency we should build in a supply chain," Ergun said.

She and Griffin argue that drug supply shortages should be approached by examining supply redundancies, correlated risks among manufacturers, historical quality records, and lack of available alternatives. With that information, the government can focus on enacting policies and regulations that ensure that the incentives for private manufacturers and public health and safety priorities are aligned.

There should also be warning systems put in place that measure and characterize the health of a supply system. Manufacturers should be required to do their own risk assessment and share information regarding their supply chain with at least one public agency.

"It is time to learn our lesson and start moving towards really having more information so that we can better understand what the current state of our resiliency is. And then start to look at what solutions are needed for different pharmaceutical products, and not try to just focus on broad stroke solutions," Griffin said.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Researchers at the John T. Macdonald Department of Human Genetics and John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have found that inherited mutations in the MINAR2 gene caused deafness in four families. The gene variation mostly affects the inner ear hair cells, which are critical to hearing. The authors believe the progressive nature of this hearing loss, in some affected individuals and in mice, could offer opportunities for treatment. The study titled "Mutations in MINAR2 encoding membrane integral NOTCH2-associated receptor 2 cause deafness in humans and mice" was published online on June 21 in the journal PNAS.

"MINAR2 plays a major role in hearing, and these inherited mutations lead to sensorineural deafness," said Mustafa Tekin, M.D., a professor in the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics and senior author on the paper. "The findings suggest these cases may be suitable for intervention with genetic therapies."

Dr. Tekin has been studying the genetic underpinnings behind hearing loss for more than 20 years and has amassed a biorepository with genomic sequencing database of deafness-associated gene mutations in families all over the world.

"We first look at known genes mutations," said Dr. Tekin. "If we don't find any, we conduct whole genome sequencing to potentially identify new genes or something we may have missed in the initial test."

In this study, the team sequenced a Turkish family's genome, targeting known deafness genes, but found nothing. Following up with whole genome sequencing, they found DNA variants in MINAR2, which had only recently been described in the research literature. Scientists are still filling in the blanks on the gene's function.

Having identified the variations in MINAR2 in one family, Dr. Tekin's team searched their database and found a second family with a different mutation in the same gene. Further investigation confirmed their findings in animal studies and identified three different MINAR2 mutations, which caused deafness in 13 people from four families.

"We found this gene serves an important function," said Dr. Tekin. "The protein localizes in hair cells and other areas that are critical to hearing. Future research will focus on clarifying the gene's role."

Hair cells convert sound into electrical signals, which are then sent to the brain. Normally, when children are born deaf, they have few if any living hair cells. As a result, gene therapies and other regenerative efforts would likely fail. However, in the mouse knockout model of MINAR2, hair cells remain alive until a later age. This gradual loss of hearing could allow for treatment.

"What is surprising and promising for potential intervention is that when we looked at the hair cells in our mouse model, they are alive until a certain age," said Tekin. "That gives us a window of opportunity to provide treatment. We could insert the normal gene and potentially restore hearing."

Explore further Scientists develop new gene therapy for deafness

More information: Guney Bademci et al, Mutations in MINAR2 encoding membrane integral NOTCH2-associated receptor 2 cause deafness in humans and mice, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Guney Bademci et al, Mutations in MINAR2 encoding membrane integral NOTCH2-associated receptor 2 cause deafness in humans and mice,(2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2204084119
Heatmap showing Pearsons correlation coefficients of study variables. CFC-F, consideration of future consequences-future; CFC-I, consideration of immediate consequences-immediate; PTED, post-traumatic embitterment disorder. Credit: BMJ Open (2022). DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054062

Staff across all levels of U.K. health and social care reported feeling betrayed, morally violated and being treated unjustly and unfairly at work during the COVID-19 pandemic, a study led by the University of Liverpool has found.

Of 400 health and social care workers surveyed in autumn 2020, 19% displayed clinical levels of post-traumatic embitterment disorder (PTED) and 73% experienced at least one COVID-related morally injurious event (MIE).

"In the wake of COVID-19, health care research has mainly focused on symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD and stress. However, an equally pressing health-related concern is the way in which workers feel they have been treated throughout the pandemic and the associated psychological impact," explains first author Chloe Brennan, from the University's Institute of Population Health.

Witnessing or perpetrating events that violate one's moral values are called "morally injurious events" (MIEs), with associated symptoms including guilt, shame and poor mental health. Importantly, MIEs and PTED shared the same key risk and protective factors.

The researchers found that experiencing MIEs and PTED was more likely in clinical support workers and those experiencing occupational stressors.

Occupational stressors included exposure to COVID-19 in their job, a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and/or clear training, having to make difficult decisions regarding resource allocation, an inability to provide adequate care or save lives, and separation from, or fear for, loved ones due to working during the current pandemic.

Chloe adds: "Our study provides evidence that those who are exposed to occupational stressors and have a lack of belief that they experienced fair processes are among the most at risk. Our findings suggest that healthcare leaders need to tackle systemic issues that are causing moral injuries and embitterment in the first place, rather than focusing on an individual's resilience. Health care authorities should strive to maintain fair 'processes' even if reducing all workplace stressors is unachievable."

The study, which was carried out in collaboration with colleagues from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and is published in the journal BMJ Open, is among the first to provide prevalence estimates of exposure to MIEs and PTED in health and social care workers as a direct result of working during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Explore further The impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of home health care workers in Japan

More information: Chloe J Brennan et al, Morally injurious events and post-traumatic embitterment disorder in UK health and social care professionals during COVID-19: a cross-sectional web survey, BMJ Open (2022). Journal information: BMJ Open Chloe J Brennan et al, Morally injurious events and post-traumatic embitterment disorder in UK health and social care professionals during COVID-19: a cross-sectional web survey,(2022). DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054062
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Colorectal, pancreatic, esophageal and stomach cancerssome of the deadliest kinds of cancerhave high recurrence rates where the cancer comes back even after successful surgery or radiation treatment.

To combat these treatment-resistant cancers, Thomas University Jefferson researchers led by Adam Snook, Ph.D., an associate professor of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, instead use what are, in essence, vaccines to train patients' immune systems to keep the cancer from coming back. Typically, the vaccines use either modified viruses or modified bacteria.

Now new research from Dr. Snook's lab shows in an animal model that using viral and bacterial vaccine approaches together is safe and far more effective at fighting the cancer than either approach by itself.

"The vaccine platforms are not unique," says Dr. Snook who is also a researcher at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer CenterJefferson Health. "But nobody's put them together into a combination vaccine, yet that's when we saw the immune response really take off."

In previous work, Dr. Snook and his team used a modified form of a common virus known as adenovirus as the backbone of a cancer vaccine that trains patients' immune systems to identify and attack a unique colorectal cancer molecule called GUCY2C (pronounced goosey-toosey). This vaccine treatment, dubbed Ad5.F35-GUCY2C, is currently in Phase II clinical trials.

Although the adenovirus-based vaccine approach stimulates a highly effective immune response in patients, the effect doesn't last. To create the best possible immune response, vaccines often require additional doses. However, once introduced, the body becomes familiar with the adenovirus and as a result does not produce the same kind of immune response with additional doses. To keep the primed immune system pumping out cancer-fighting immunity, the body needed a different kind of booster.

Dr. Snook and his team turned to a bacteria-based vaccine approach using a modified form of Listeria monocytogenes that is unable to cause illness in mice or people. Unlike the adenovirus platform, the Listeria approach is not great at creating an immune response, but excels at boosting a response, even with additional doses.

Plus, "it's really good at infecting a particular kind of immune cell called antigen presenting cells that's critical to generating an effective immune response against the cancer," says Dr. Snook.

That's when they had the idea to combine the two platforms. When the researchers used the adenovirus-based vaccine to first prime the animals' immune systems and then later boosted it with the Listeria-based vaccine, immune cells that attack cancer cells shot up more than 15-fold in the mice.

In a model of recurrent colorectal cancer that has spread to parts of the body beyond the colon, the combination vaccine approach reduced metastases and increased survival in the animals, the researchers reported June 23rd in the journal npj Vaccines.

"Combining these two platforms together actually worked way, way better than either platform alone for creating an immune response targeting the cancer," Dr. Snook says.

The vaccine strategy also did not produce toxicity or inflammation in the animals indicating that the treatment was well-tolerated without unintended effects.

The findings have laid the groundwork to examine for the first time whether this combination could prevent cancers from coming back in patients. The Department of Defense recently awarded Dr. Snook, and colleague Babar Bashir, MD, an assistant professor of medical oncology at Jefferson, a "Team Science" grant to take the combination vaccine approach into a Phase I clinical trial. The researchers are working to manufacture the vaccine now and expect to begin enrolling patients next year.

The one-two hit of the combo vaccine platform also has implications for other cancers and even diseases such as HIV and malaria, where effective vaccine strategies have been difficult to produce.

"A platform like this could work really well for those diseases also," says Dr. Snook.

Explore further Small change makes cancer vaccine more effective in animal tests

More information: Prime-Boost Immunization with Chimeric Adenoviral (Ad5.F35) and Listeria Vectors is a Safe and Effective Strategy for Cancer Immunotherapy., npj Vaccines (2022). Prime-Boost Immunization with Chimeric Adenoviral (Ad5.F35) and Listeria Vectors is a Safe and Effective Strategy for Cancer Immunotherapy.,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41541-022-00483-z
Proximity-tracking data from mobile devices is used to assemble a contact network, in which nodes represent individuals and edges represent close contacts between individuals. An epidemiological model defined on the contact network is then fused with diverse health data, including diagnostic tests, hospitalization status, and possibly data such as body temperature readings. The model spreads risk of infectiousness from a positive individual (red) to others, taking into account knowledge about disease progression, the time and duration of contacts, and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), among other factors. The result of the network DA is an assessment of individual risks, for example, of being infectious, which then can be used to target contact interventions. Credit: Tapio Schneider et al, PLOS Computational Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010171

Techniques used in weather forecasting can be repurposed to provide individuals with a personalized assessment of their risk of exposure to COVID-19 or other viruses, according to new research published by Caltech scientists.

The technique has the potential to be more effective and less intrusive than blanket lockdowns for combating the spread of disease, says Tapio Schneider, the Theodore Y. Wu Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering; senior research scientist at JPL, which Caltech manages for NASA; and the lead author of a study on the new research that was published by PLOS Computational Biology on June 23.

"For this pandemic, it may be too late," Schneider says, "but this is not going to be the last epidemic that we will face. This is useful for tracking other infectious diseases, too."

In principle, the idea is simple: Weather forecasting models ingest a lot of datafor example, measurements of wind speed and direction, temperature, and humidity from local weather stations, in addition to satellite data. They use the data to assess what the current state of the atmosphere is, forecast the weather evolution into the future, and then repeat the cycle by blending the forecast atmospheric state with new data. In the same way, disease risk assessment also harnesses various types of available data to make an assessment about an individual's risk of exposure to or infection with disease, forecasts the spread of disease across a network of human contacts using an epidemiological model, and then repeats the cycle by blending the forecast with new data. Such assessments might use the results of an institution's surveillance testing, data from wearable sensors, self-reported symptoms and close contacts as recorded by smartphones, and municipalities' disease-reporting dashboards.

The research presented in PLOS Computational Biology is proof of concept. However, its end result would be a smart phone app that would provide an individual with a frequently updated numerical assessment (i.e., a percentage) that reflects their likelihood of having been exposed to or infected with a particular infectious disease agent, such as COVID-19.

Such an app would be similar to existing COVID-19 exposure notification apps but more sophisticated and effective in its use of data, Schneider and his colleagues say. Those apps provide a binary exposure assessment ("yes, you have been exposed," or, in the case of no exposure, radio silence); the new app described in the study would provide a more nuanced understanding of continually changing risks of exposure and infection as individuals come close to others and as data about infections is propagated across a continually evolving contact network.

The idea was born in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when colleagues and partners Schneider and Chiara Daraio, the G. Bradford Jones Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Physics and Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator, abruptly found themselves isolating at home and wondering how to use their scientific and engineering expertise to help the world deal with this new threat.

One pre-pandemic focus of Daraio's research was the development of low-cost body temperature trackers. And that raised the question: Would the widespread use of such trackers allow for better tracking and understanding of COVID-19's spread?

"We were envisioning something like a weather forecasting app, harnessing information from sensors, infection data, and proximity tracking, which people could use to adjust their behavior to mitigate individual risks," says Daraio, co-author of the PLOS Computational Biology paper.

Schneider is a climate scientist who helms the Climate Modeling Alliance (CliMA), which is leveraging recent advances in the computational and data sciences to develop a wholly new climate model. He reached out to longtime acquaintance Jeffrey Shaman of Columbia University. Shaman's research on how climate change affects the spread of infectious diseases led Shaman to an interest in epidemiology and the adaptation of similar weather-forecasting methods for disease modeling on the community level.

"Over the last decade, the field of infectious-disease modeling, and forecasting in particular, has exploded. Many disease-forecasting approaches leverage ensemble and inference methods commonly used in weather prediction," says Shaman, co-author of the PLOS Computational Biology paper.

The team had two key challenges: adapting weather-prediction methods for this purpose and developing a realistic test bed to gauge how well it works.

"Conceptually it is a very appealing idea, as methods to forecast weather have been so effective in predicting the chaotic atmosphere, a famously challenging task," says Caltech research scientist Oliver Dunbar. "But there is no direct translation. An epidemic-forecasting app has very little data to work with and only on a partial population of users. We fortunately found success by coupling this sparse data with the latest smart-device technologies and a mathematical viral spreading model."

To test it, the team turned to Lucas Bottcher of the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management in Germany. Bottcher built a computer model of an imaginary citya downscaled and idealized version of New York Citywith 100,000 "nodes," or fictional people, and then studied how well the adapted weather-forecasting methods predicted the spread of a disease through the population.

The results were encouraging: In the simulations, the model identified up to twice as many potential exposures than would be caught by traditional contact tracing or exposure-notification apps when both use the same data.

"The methods developed in our study are relevant not only in the context of infectious disease management, but they also open up new ways of combining observation data with high-dimensional mechanistic models arising in computational biology," says Bottcher, co-author of the PLOS Computational Biology paper.

Despite these promising results, the implementation of this technology in the real world requires suitable levels of smart-device users, and effective testing campaigns to make the risk-assessment software work for managing and controlling epidemics. If approximately 75 percent of a given population provide relevant information (for example, whether they have tested positive for a disease) and self-isolate when they may have been exposed, the risk-assessment software is accurate enough to manage and control the COVID epidemic through the entire population. And yet, as is evident by COVID-19 vaccination rates, buy-in by such a large fraction of the population is difficult to achieve.

Nevertheless, a promising scenario is deployment by smaller community user basesfor example, the population of a college campusthat can readily provide the software with more than enough data to provide accurate risk assessments that will locally reduce the spread of disease.

"The challenge in making this system a reality is managing privacy concerns, for example, about transferring data about close contacts to a central data-processing facility," Schneider says. "That being said, only anonymized information is needed. Location information is already routinely collected for commercial use, and we envision ways to harden the system against exploitation by bad actors."

Explore further Real-time epidemic forecasting tool to support global outbreak monitoring

More information: Tapio Schneider et al, Epidemic management and control through risk-dependent individual contact interventions, PLOS Computational Biology (2022). Journal information: PLoS Computational Biology Tapio Schneider et al, Epidemic management and control through risk-dependent individual contact interventions,(2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010171
In a brain region called the area postrema, a dense network of inhibitory neurons (red) suppresses the activity of nearby nausea-causing excitatory neurons (white), which has the effect of reducing nausea behaviors in mice. Credit: Chuchu Zhang

Nausea is a bit of a catchall sensation for the human body: the unpleasant sick feeling can hit us as a result of everything from pregnancy or a migraine to eating spoiled food or undergoing chemotherapy.

Yet despite its ubiquity, scientists still don't understand precisely how nausea works on a mechanistic level.

Now, a team of researchers led by cell biologists at Harvard Medical School is making strides in deepening our understanding of the brain pathways that control nausea.

In a study conducted in mice and published June 14 in Cell Reports, the scientists described a mechanism by which inhibitory neurons in a specific brain region suppress the activity of nausea-causing excitatory neurons to tamp down nausea.

The work illuminates the basic biology of nausea. If affirmed in further studies in animals and humans, it could inform the development of better anti-nausea medications.

Mediating malaise

Nausea evolved to help us survive by prompting vomiting when we ingest toxins or contract an infection. However, nausea can become a major problem when it occurs in other contextsfor example, during pregnancy or as a side effect of treatments for cancer or diabetes. If untreated, uncontrolled vomiting can lead to electrolyte imbalances and, in rare cases, life-threatening dehydration. Current medications for nausea associated with these conditions aren't all that effective, in large part because scientists don't have a detailed understanding of how the brain produces the sensation.

"We cannot really develop better treatment strategies until we know the mechanism of nausea," said lead author Chuchu Zhang, a research fellow in cell biology at HMS.

Zhang and senior author Stephen Liberles, professor of cell biology in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS, are studying a region of the brain stem called the area postrema that appears to be involved in nausea.

Earlier research found that stimulating this brain region induces vomiting, while disabling it reduces nausea, "but how it plays a role in nausea was not known, so we thought this would be a good place to start," Zhang said.

In a 2020 study in Neuron, Zhang and Liberles identified excitatory neurons in the area postrema that cause nausea, along with their associated receptors. Specifically, they characterized neurons that express the receptor for GLP1, a protein linked to blood sugar and appetite control. This receptor, they noted, is a common target for diabetes drugs, for which nausea is a major side effect.

When neurons with GLP1 receptors were turned on, mice showed signs of nausea, and when the neurons were turned off, the nausea behaviors stopped. The team also mapped these nausea-inducing neurons, located outside the blood-brain barrier, which allows them to easily detect toxins in the blood.

"Understanding what receptors are expressed in the area postrema tells us what kinds of pathways may be involved in nausea signaling," Zhang said.

"One traditional approach to intervene in nausea is to block those signaling pathways using pharmacological inhibitors," Liberles added.

However, the researchers wondered if there could be another way to reduce nauseaone that focuses instead on inhibitory neurons that suppress excitatory neurons in the area postrema.

An alternative path

In the new study, the researchers explored the structure and function of inhibitory neurons in the area postrema. Mapping these neurons revealed that they form a dense network that connects with nearby excitatory neurons. When the researchers activated these inhibitory neurons, the mice stopped nausea behaviors that are typically caused by excitatory neurons.

Delving deeper, the team identified three types of inhibitory neurons in the area postrema. One of these types expresses a receptor for GIP, a small protein released by the digestive system after eating, stimulating the release of insulin to control blood sugar.

"We were curious whether this population of inhibitory neurons marked by the receptor for GIP could be manipulated to suppress nausea behavior, and how that mechanism works," Zhang said.

When the researchers used GIP to activate these inhibitory neurons, inhibitory currents prompted by the chemical messenger GABA flowed to nearby excitatory neurons, reducing their activity. On a behavioral level, giving mice GIP to activate these inhibitory neurons eliminated nausea behaviors. On the flip side, when the inhibitory neurons were destroyed, mice continued to show signs of nausea, even after receiving GIP.

Because mice don't vomit, Zhang noted, the study relied on observing the presence of behaviors suggestive of nausea, such as avoiding toxic substances. Given that the same brain pathways exist in humans, the researchers say the mechanism is likely conserved.

"By identifying inhibitory neurons that suppress nausea in a pharmacologically accessible brain region, we can simply engage these neurons to counteract nausea responses," Liberles explained.

"The brain stem inhibitory neurons in the area postrema are potentially a great clinical target for anti-nausea drug development," Zhang added. "It's definitely a new strategy for developing anti-nausea treatments."

GIP is already being studied as a potential treatment for nausea, Zhang said. In fact, preliminary research has shown that giving GIP or activating GIP receptors can reduce nausea in animals that do vomit, including ferrets, dogs, and shrews. Scientists are currently working on incorporating GIP into diabetes treatments that target GLP1 receptors, with the goal of decreasing nausea as a side effect.

Zhang and Liberles plan to continue exploring the basic biology of nausea, including how these inhibitory neurons in the brain are naturally activated, and what other brain regions are involved in controlling their activity. The team also wants to investigate additional receptors expressed by inhibitory neurons, and the various signaling factors that engage them.

"Because there are different ways to trigger nausea, there are probably different receptors and signaling factors involved that could be used as drug targets to suppress nausea." Zhang said. "We want to know more about the various nausea mechanisms so that we can develop even better treatment strategies that are tailored to specific conditions."

Explore further Study explores neurons that control nausea-like responses

More information: Chuchu Zhang et al, A brainstem circuit for nausea suppression, Cell Reports (2022). Journal information: Cell Reports , Neuron Chuchu Zhang et al, A brainstem circuit for nausea suppression,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110953
Thomas and Jennifer Auchtung, a husband and wife microbiologist team in Nebraskas Food Science and Technology Department, were part of an international team that compiled the first comprehensive analysis of fungi in the human gastrointestinal tract, looking for possible ramifications on child health. Credit: Craig Chandler | University Communication and Marketing

A surge in research projects on the human microbiomethe complex ecosystem of microorganisms in the human gastrointestinal tractis bolstering scientific understanding of health, disease and environment. Much of the research has focused on gut bacteria and viruses, leaving a third factorfungilittle studied.

An international consortium of scientists has conducted the first large-scale study of gastrointestinal fungi throughout early childhood. The research team included Thomas and Jennifer Auchtung, husband and wife microbiologists in the University of NebraskaLincoln's Food Science and Technology Department.

The findings, recently published in the journal Nature Communications, help fill significant gaps in scientific knowledge of the fungal dimensions of the microbiome and identify areas for further study.

"Gut microbe interactions in early childhood are critical for proper immune responses," the study said, "yet there is little known about the development of the fungal population from infancy into childhood."

To look for answers, six clinical research centers participated, studying stool samples of 888 children ages three months to 48 months from Washington, Colorado, Georgia and Florida, as well as Germany, Sweden and Finland. The research particularly focused on possible connections between gastrointestinal fungi and the occurrence of Type 1 diabetes. Previous studies suggested that individuals with the disease have atypical gastrointestinal fungal communities. This new studypart of a project that goes by TEDDY, or The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Youngcollected samples from children before they developed disease and thus allowed researchers to address what may be causing illness.

Because there are many questions about fungi and other factors that could contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease, the TEDDY project assembled this major data sample of international scope to help provide answers. Nebraska's Holland Computing Center was a key resource, providing the analytical power to process the collected information.

Completion of the project's fungal research was headed by Thomas Auchtung, an adjunct professor of food science and technology and research scientist and lab manager for Synbiotic Health, a microbiology company whose founders include several Husker faculty members. Synbiotic Health is based at Nebraska Innovation Campus.

The wide-ranging analysis by the TEDDY researchers did not find a strong association between gut fungi and the children who developed Type 1 diabetes. But, "there was a species of fungi that was more common in children who later developed celiac disease," Thomas Auchtung said. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine.

That fungal species is Candida sake. "Children later diagnosed with celiac disease," the study reported, "were found to have an increased abundance of Candida sake after six months." Little has been published about fungi in celiac disease patients and "these findings show the need for follow-up studies," said Jennifer Auchtung, assistant professor of food science and technology. Such research "could look to see if this was a correlation or if there are more substantive, causative relationships between this species of fungi and those who go on to develop celiac disease later in life."

Understanding fungal populations in the human gastrointestinal tract is important overall.

"There is some debate whether fungi are resident members of the gut or are transient members mostly coming from the foods we eat," Thomas Auchtung said.

Fungi play important roles in producing fermented foods such as bread, wine and beer. While the fungi in these foods are often removed or inactivated prior to consumption, live fungi can be consumed through fermented foods that contain live and active microbes, such as some types of beer, kombucha and blue cheese. There is even a fungal probiotic, Saccharomyces boulardii.

"Because of these many opportunities for fungi to be present in our gut, further research is needed to better understand how fungi might contribute to health and disease," Jennifer Auchtung said.

Additional findings from the TEDDY study:

Lack of a stable fungal community; more information needed on anti-fungal immunity. The researchers reported that "in young children, despite increased episodes of sickness and the presence of an immature bacterial community, there was no indication of a stable fungal community, or 'mycobiome," inhabiting the gut. Nevertheless, even nonviable and non-metabolically active fungi and their cellular components can provoke an immune response, so differences in fungal exposures at a young age may have immediate and lasting immunological impacts."

The study stated that "having proper fungal exposures may be crucial for children to establish appropriate responses to fungi and limit the risk of infection. The data here suggests those gastrointestinal exposures are limited and variable." Follow-up research can look "to establish the source of the many fungi that are detected in the gut, in order to understand variations in anti-fungal immunity and limit fungal exposures that increase risk of disease."

Lower overall fungal presence in young children than expected. "One thing researchers thought going in," Thomas Auchtung said, "was that because children have an immune system that is not as well-developed, fungi might be more abundant. But instead, we found that fungi were even less common when children were young, counter to what was expected."

A difference from microbiome bacteria. The TEDDY research "has shown that fungi have a very different relationship with the developing infant gut than bacteria," the study said. "The abundance and composition of fungal species changed with the transition from milk/formula to solid foods, but fungal diversity remained consistent," in contrast to the bacterial trend.

Explore further Fungi found in the guts of healthy adults just travel through

More information: Thomas A. Auchtung et al, Temporal changes in gastrointestinal fungi and the risk of autoimmunity during early childhood: the TEDDY study, Nature Communications (2022). Journal information: Nature Communications Thomas A. Auchtung et al, Temporal changes in gastrointestinal fungi and the risk of autoimmunity during early childhood: the TEDDY study,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30686-w
A composite picture from MR perfusion of a free flap demonstrating measurements made within the flap. Credit: Michigan Medicine

When a patient with head and neck cancer has surgery to remove it, they often need reconstructive surgery in the form of a "free flap," which is skin and tissue taken from a different part of the body and connected to the blood vessels of the wound in need of repair.

This free flap method, called microvascular reconstruction, carries around a 1040% risk of wound complications, with 10% of cases requiring another surgery. A Michigan Medicine study finds that early postoperative CT scans and MRIs can help predict whether a flap will fail, which could allow surgeons to intervene earlier. The results are published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology.

"All patients who have this procedure can be investigated with non-invasive post-operative CT or MRI perfusion, and these two methods show a lot of promise as accurate biomarkers of predicting free flap viability," said Ashok Srinivasan, M.D., FACR, senior author of the paper and neuroradiologist at University of Michigan Health.

"By seeing how much blood is flowing in and out of the tissue, we may be able to predict if the flap will succeed and if the patient can be discharged earlier, or it may be able to tell us sooner that surgical intervention is needed to repair the flap. Radiologists have used CT and MRI perfusion with contrast to look at blood perfusion in brain imaging for a stroke or tumor, but no studies have used them to look at free flaps early after a procedure."

The U-M Head and Neck Oncology Program performs approximately 300 free flaps a year, with each of these patients staying approximately one week in the hospital after surgery. The ability to predict which patients are safe for an earlier discharge would have significant and immediate cost savings, says Matthew Spector, M.D., co-author of the paper and otolaryngologist at U-M Health.

Currently, most surgeons use ultrasound to assess viability for free flap reconstruction with techniques known as doppler and skin paddle. Those methods often are unable to evaluate deeper aspects of the flap, or air and blood products cause interference in visualization, which affects how well clinicians can analyze a flap's viability, says Srinivasan, who is also a clinical professor of radiology at U-M Medical School.

The team of researchers analyzed 19 patients who had successful free flap reconstruction, as well as five who had wound failure, at U-M Health between January 2016 to mid-2018. They found that both CT and MRI perfusion techniques showed significant differences between the two patient groups.

Researchers were not able to compare the two methods to ultrasound techniques or each other due to the small sample size. They hope to accomplish those comparisons through a larger future trial.

"This pilot research shows us that these models work, as all areas of the flap can be assessed using CT and MRI, unlike doppler and skin paddle where some areas may be blind to evaluation," said Yoshiaki Ota, M.D., lead author of the paper and a neuroradiology fellow at University of Michigan Health. "We know that using CT and MRI could help shorten a patient's hospital stay or avoid a prolonged hospitalization, and now we need to look further at which is more effective and cost-effective."

Additional authors include: Keith Casper, M.D., Chaz Stucken, M.D., Kelly Malloy, M.D., Remy Lobo, M.D., Akira Baba, M.D., Ph.D., all of Michigan Medicine, and Andreea Moore, M.D., Western Michigan University School of Medicine.

Explore further Microsurgical head and neck reconstruction is cost-effective

More information: Y. Ota et al, Prediction of Wound Failure in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer Treated with Free Flap Reconstruction: Utility of CT Perfusion and MR Perfusion in the Early Postoperative Period, American Journal of Neuroradiology (2022). Y. Ota et al, Prediction of Wound Failure in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer Treated with Free Flap Reconstruction: Utility of CT Perfusion and MR Perfusion in the Early Postoperative Period,(2022). DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A7458
Christopher Ruhm, a professor of public policy and economics, has a scholarly interest in how data translates into health care policy. Credit: Dan Addison, University Communications

The research was conducted, and now it has become an accepted fact: Clinical depression and anxiety significantly increased among the American population during 2020, the first year of the pandemic. Or did it?

University of Virginia professor Christopher Ruhm, who studies public policy and economics, collaborated with Harvard University researchers to look at recently released U.S. Centers for Disease Control's data. They found that initial reports of increased anxiety and depression appear to have been overstated.

Ruhm's team published its findings with the Journal of the American Medical Association publication JAMA Network Open on June 15.

"The conventional expectation was that depression and mental distress would dramatically increase as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and some initial research seemed to be consistent with that expectation," said Ruhm, who partnered with lead author Ronald C. Kessler of Harvard and Kessler's colleagues in the Harvard Medical School. "However, the data on which those conclusions were based might have problems, and so we wanted to see if these results would be verified when using better data."

In order to get an early indication about how the pandemic was affecting people, a number of research groups conducted online surveysamong the better known being the CDC's Household Pulse Survey, a poll started in April 2020 to track the effects of COVID-19 on U.S. residents.

When compared to previous government studies, such as phone surveys under the CDC's Prevention Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a monthly state-based trend survey, Household Pulse seemed to chart dramatic increases in the severity of anxiety and depression. The findings were based on self-reported answers to questions that track with clinical standards.

But now that consistent data from the PBRFSS phone interviewing has been analyzed comparing 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with corresponding periods in 2017, 2018 and 2019, it appears that there have been, at most, modest increase in the numbers of people suffering from anxiety and depression.

The reason for the difference between the Household Pulse Survey and the phone surveys may lie in the response rate among populations studied.

The paper notes that Household Pulse "uses an online survey with only a 2% to 10% response rate. Census Bureau documentation states clearly that it is hazardous to compare HPS results with those in earlier benchmark government surveys because of the low HPS response rate."

Ruhm added, "These results imply that we need to develop a much more nuanced understanding of how catastrophic events, such as COVID-19, affect mental health. It may be problematic to jump to conclusions that seem intuitive and obvious, which may or may not necessarily be correct, in part because this could lead to a misallocation of effort and financial resources designed to provide relief."

The team noted that the new, more modest results could still mask large increases in mental health problems among key populations, such as first responders, and that possible increases in anxiety and depression might prove larger for 2021 and 2022, once that data is available.

Explore further New study reveals pandemic-specific depression and anxiety among individuals with multiple sclerosis

More information: Ronald C. Kessler et al, Estimated Prevalence of and Factors Associated With Clinically Significant Anxiety and Depression Among US Adults During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic, JAMA Network Open (2022). Journal information: JAMA Network Open Ronald C. Kessler et al, Estimated Prevalence of and Factors Associated With Clinically Significant Anxiety and Depression Among US Adults During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic,(2022). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.17223
Image provided by the International Trachoma Initiative of antibiotics being distributed in Mozambique to fight trachoma, an infectious disease that can cause blindness.

Pfizer on Thursday said it would extend until 2030 a drug donation program aimed at eliminating trachoma, an eye disease responsible for blinding or visually impairing nearly two million people worldwide.

The US pharmaceutical company co-founded the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) in 1998, and has already donated nearly a billion doses of the antibiotic Azithromycin, contributing to a 90 percent reduction in the number of people impacted.

"We are so close to getting where we need to be with the elimination of this disease that we couldn't give up now," Pfizer chief sustainability officer and senior vice president Caroline Roan told AFP.

The announcement was made in Kigali, Rwanda at the Summit on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Trachoma is caused by infection with the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, and is spread through personal contact (such as through hands, clothes or bedding), and by flies that have been in contact with discharge from the eyes or nose of an infected person, according to the World Health Organization.

Africa is the most affected continent, and women are blinded up to four times more often than men, likely as a result of greater contact with infants. Repeated infections draw the eyelashes inward where they rub against the eye, causing pain and permanent damage to the cornea, says the WHO.

Some 136 million people live in trachoma-endemic areas and are at risk.

The ITI had initially hoped to eliminate the disease by 2020, but is now setting its sights on 2030. Thanks to the progress already made, trachoma no longer represents a public health problem in 13 countries (including China, Morocco, Ghana and elsewhere).

Individual districts are assessed and if more than 5 percent of the children are infected, then the antibiotic is offered to the entire local population, once a year, for both treatment and prevention.

"Some of the campaigns will literally treat 10 million people in a week, and that really knocks down that infectious reservoir," ITI director Paul Emerson told AFP.

The challenge today is to reach isolated populations, including nomadic people, as well as combining the drug with the promotion of hygiene measures such as frequent washing of the face in areas where water may be scarce.

Today, the disease persists in 44 countries.

"Conflicts are a big factor," said Emerson. "In a perfect world, where there was no interruption in available funds, and there was no war, we probably could have eliminated trachoma by 2020."

Of the new 2030 goal, Roan said: "We think it is realistic and ambitious."

 2022 AFP
The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, has welcomed the launch of this years Dublin Pride Festival 2022, and particularly the programme of activities featuring the work of artists and other creatives.

Minister Martin was pleased to approve a funding allocation of 54,000 from her Department towards the cultural elements of Dublin Pride 2022. She said the annual Pride festival has grown to become the largest demonstration and celebration for equality and the acceptance of diversity in our society. It is not only an invitation from the LGBTI+ community to everyone to attend the festival events but also to support the progress towards a more fair and inclusive society. I hope that the tremendous organisational effort will be rewarded with success. I send my congratulations and best wishes to the organisers, the participants, their families and friends for a special and enjoyable weekend of Pride.

The Chair of Dublin Pride 2022, Philippa Ryder, said:

Being able to tell our stories and celebrate our culture and identity is vital to any community. Our artists, performers, poets, and storytellers do that for us, they help us share our culture with other people and that helps us reach peoples hearts and minds. The Ministers support has allowed us to support Queer artists and cultural projects, not just during Pride week but throughout the year. We look forward to continuing this partnership and supporting LGBTQ+ artists who in turn support our community.

Minister Martin has also today announced the approval of a special support allocation of 23,000 towards the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival (IDGTF). This will help strengthen the organisational capabilities of the project, help in promoting the Festival internationally and enhance overall programming, booking and commissioning for future years.

Announcing the support today, Minister Martin said:

The IDGTF has been a great success over many years. This has been achieved through community effort. The commitment and support from performers, producers, venue operators, and a range of service providers has also been of utmost importance in providing artwork, printing and production skills. I am pleased to assist the organisers in securing a bright future and enabling them to take the necessary steps to grow and engage a wider audience in the years ahead.

IDGTF Founder and Artistic Director, Brian Merriman, said:

The Ministers significant and fulsome endorsement is a vital shot in the arm for the incredible voluntary work that has created and sustained our first two decades of unique identity theatre. After a very difficult period to keep our inclusive LGBT+ theatre viable, this crucial level of support will greatly assist us in reaching our 20th anniversary in 2023. It will finally allow us to develop and innovate and hopefully will encourage more private sponsorship, so that this unique theatre event can reach its full potential.

In addition to our exciting, curated programme, we will now share this vital support with artistic partners through a new production Bursary opportunity. An Irish and international panel of qualified assessors will select three successful Bursary applicants for an additional direct financial support to bring their work from page to stage in our 2023 Festival programme. Thanks to this affirming support by the Minister and her Department today, we can finally look forward to our next decade of enabling writers and artists to have their LGBT+ stories seen and heard by all in Dublin next May.

The goal is to assist the IDGTF to become a stronger platform for their future programmes, providing opportunities for writers, performers and all those involved in theatrical production. The Festival intends to re-establish its international connections and networking in the aftermath of COVID, to strengthen marketing and advertising strategies to engage wider audiences and to enhance visibility online with information about programmes and activities.

ENDS
For a long time, local artist April Werle has struggled to find mentors and listen to speakers in Missoula with experiences similar to her own.

And I thought, if Im feeling this way, there are probably a lot of other artists that are feeling this way, she said.

Werle, a Filipino-American painter, serves on Arts Missoula Globals BIPOC arts advisory council. The idea for a BIPOC (Black/Indigenous/People of Color) artist speaker series was born out of talks the committee had to figure out how to help more BIPOC Missoula artists connect to one another.

Organizers of the speaker series hope it will help make the arts more accessible to BIPOC Missoulians and to foster professional development in the community. The first installment of the series will be a panel held at the Zootown Arts Community Center on Sunday, June 26, with a discussion on femininity, moderated by Joseph Grady and featuring local artists Ash Nataanii, Patricia Countryman, Rachel Berger and Monica Gilles-BringsYellow.

Its hard to know how these conversations will play out, Werle said. Im excited because I think these conversations are going to be natural, and I think our panelists are going to feel really confident to speak from the heart and not hold back.

When Werle threw out the idea for the series, people asked if there were enough BIPOC artists in Missoula for it, which she said she thought was an interesting question. She pointed out that the group Here Montana, a local outdoor recreation program for BIPOC people, is one of the biggest groups of its kind in the Northwest.

United through being BIPOC, speakers come from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds and bring different experiences to the table. There is a huge BIPOC arts community in Missoula, Werle said, and more resources are needed to meet its needs. As an artist, mentorships and connections are vital, she said. Theres also a large need for more BIPOC programming in general.

Werle wants future generations of artists from BIPOC communities in Missoula to have people to look up to for mentorship and to make sure that their cultures get passed down.

Its about building community wealth and celebrating who we are as individual cultures and who we are as a BIPOC community, she said.

After the femininity-themed panel on Sunday, there will be two more installments in the series: Cultural Stereotypes on Sunday, July 24, and Intersectionality on Aug. 21. All events will take place at the ZACC from 12:30 to 1:30 on their respective dates. Admission is free.

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When Kevin Red Star was asked if there was something significant that he wanted to produce on canvas, the celebrated Crow painter thought of Crown Butte.

His family has a ranch close to the foothills of the Pryor Mountains and its buttes.

Theyre significant, but theyre hard to reach, he said in a phone interview about his new painting, Crown Butte, which will be auctioned off for the In the Footsteps of Norman Maclean Festival.

Its a destination for people that want to find spiritual direction, pray and fast for days, whether seeking a spiritual connection or peace from everyday life.

The butte is lined with trees and bands of rock, against a pure red sky. (He said theres Certain times of day you can capture that, with the sunset or the sunrise or outside after a storm.)

In the foreground, he painted a grouping of four tepees, whose nestling of poles draws the eye upward to the sky. In the distance, horses of all colors roam freely. Every family has a horse that lives in the country, like ourselves, he said.

He envisioned it as a familys outpost, depicting our way of life back then, he said.

Hes the sole purely visual artist participating at the festival this year, whose subtitle is Public Lands and Sacred Ground: Western Writers Bear Witness.

Red Star said conservation-related themes resonate with him going back to his childhood. His father raised them not to hunt or fish for more than they needed, and especially not to waste.

Red Star works out of a large studio in Roberts, north of Red Lodge, where he paints pretty much every morning. He walks his dog, returns to the studio and does research in the collection of books hes amassed over the past 40 years.

Hell set up paintings on five or six different easels. If he reaches an impasse in a piece, he switches to another.

Throughout the years, Ive found ways of getting better about my production, my direction, he said. "This is my art life, and boy I really enjoy it."

That sense of enthusiasm is shared by the art world. Red Stars work is held in the collection of the Smithsonian. One of his works was recently selected for a group exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian, titled Stretching the Canvas: Eight Decades of Native Painting. Hes the subject of a book, Kevin Red Star: Crow Artist, written by Daniel Gibson and published in 2015. He was honored with the 2018 Governors Arts Award. And this month, hes showing a range of work at the Dana Gallery in conjunction with the festival, a somewhat rare chance to see a large selection of his art in Missoula.

****

Red Star was born in 1943 in Lodge Grass on the Crow Reservation. He was interested in art, and he and all of his siblings took music lessons. Creativity was part of the family  his dad played in a Western band called the Reservation Hotshots. When he was older, Red Star even played drums with his brother in an all-Crow band, The Maniacs. That was fun, he said, but eventually he wanted to focus more on his art.

When he was 16, he was selected to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, one of the first students in the now widely celebrated school.

At IAIA, he studied under James McGrath, who exposed them to art and craft from Scandinavia to Japan and contemporary creators like Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Claes Oldenburg.

All that knowledge, then you see something  the composition is there, the balance is there, too. Its just fascinating, but I think I just pick up pieces here and there from books and teachers, professors," he said. "If you open yourself, if you find a direction, its usually there."

One crucial point came when an instructor told them: OK, now that youve seen all of these other artists from all over the world, take some images from your culture and expand it, do what you can with it.

Red Star said hes pleased to have been able to be part of the then-new movement of contemporary American Indian art. At the time, he said, no living artists ever got into museums or galleries.

So we did that," he said. "A core of us. We pooled our money to go have shows in Kansas, Oklahoma, Scottsdale, Phoenix, wherever there was a little show, a gallery that wanted some different art. Thats how we got out there.

We shared knowledge, we shared our collectors, but it was fun," he said. "We didnt know where we were going, but we were doing it. No paycheck, we just went by faith, our creativity. You work hard at it and the universe has a way of pulling us through."

His show at the Dana Gallery includes work spanning years. In one piece, a scout with a full headdress peers through the grass, rendered in a wide patch of deep black. He said these scouts were watching over the camp at set distances; they might only be watching out for other traveling parties to signal that the area is occupied but theyre welcome to pass through. The grass below him is deep black, eventually transitioning into splatters and green. The sky above is white, matching the vertical lines of paint on his subjects face.

While his style is contemporary, with expressionist brush techniques and textures, and a modern way of rendering lines, hes diligent in depicting his subjects and their cultural signifiers accurately.

He said research and those details are important to him, since the designs vary by tribe, from the headdresses to the design elements within them.

It has to be from that particular tribe," he said. "And they're symbols that we have to use. Its just like anything else. From Scottish to Irish to English, you mix that up and theyll get upset."

During the pandemic, he largely stayed to his routine of studio work like many artists. Now hes looking toward new projects as well.

When he was younger, Red Star explored collage work. Hes planning on doing more for a show at the Autry Museum of the West, something hes been thinking about for years.

While theyre going to be recognizable as his own, he said Im going to have some fun from now on."

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THURSDAY, June 23, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday ordered Juul Lab's to pull its e-cigarettes off the American market.

Todays action is further progress on the FDAs commitment to ensuring that all e-cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system products currently being marketed to consumers meet our public health standards, said FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf. The agency has dedicated significant resources to review products from the companies that account for most of the U.S. market. We recognize these make up a significant part of the available products and many have played a disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping.

The products include the Juul vaping device and four types of Juul pods: Virginia tobacco-flavored pods at nicotine concentrations of 5.0% and 3.0%, and menthol-flavored pods at nicotine concentrations of 5.0% and 3.0%, the FDA said.

At one time, Juul controlled 75% of the e-cigarette market, The New York Times reported. Juul is expected to appeal the decision.

The American Vapor Manufacturing Association (AVMA), an industry trade group, hinted at the legal battle to come.

Measured in lives lost and potential destroyed, F.D.A.s staggering indifference to ordinary Americans and their right to switch to the vastly safer alternative of vaping will surely rank as one of the greatest episodes of regulatory malpractice in American history, AVMA President Amanda Wheeler said in a statement.

The FDA has already banned the sale of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes after critics claimed the products targeted teens. Regulators have since been reviewing thousands of applications for vaping products after tightening their oversight of the electronic cigarette market.

Juul can challenge the expected ruling one of three ways: appeal the decision through the FDA; file a challenge in court, or file a revised application for its products.

Several years ago, Juul's fruity flavors and "hip marketing" were blamed for jumps in underage vaping. Among the criticisms were that Juul used young adult models, celebrities and social media influencers in its marketing campaigns. In response, the company stopped using models, suspended all advertising in the United States and shut down its Facebook and Instagram accounts.

The company stopped selling its fruity and sweet flavors in 2019. In 2020, all manufacturers were required to submit their products to the FDA for review to stay on the market. They are considered a potentially less harmful alternative for adult smokers, but remain a concerning gateway to smoking for young people.

Juul's submission to the FDA included only its menthol and Virginia Tobacco flavors in nicotine strengths of 3% and 5%. The company also pitched a new device that would only unlock for users who were 21 or older.

Juul's popularity among young people is lower than it was in the past: It is now considered the No. 4 brand among high schoolers, according to a federal study released last September, WSJ reported.

Underage vaping in general has dropped since federal restrictions raised the age to buy any tobacco products to 21, the newspaper added.

The FDA also plans to mandate the elimination of nearly all nicotine in cigarettes, saying it would upend the $95 billion U.S. cigarette industry. Tobacco companies could sue to fight it the ruling if it happens, the newspaper reported.

More information

Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on the dangers of vaping among teens.

SOURCE: The New York Times; Wall Street Journal

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Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
As the World Health Organization convenes its emergency committee to consider if the spiraling outbreak of monkeypox warrants being declared a global emergency, some experts say WHOs decision to act only after the disease spilled into the West could entrench the inequities that arose between rich and poor countries during the coronavirus pandemic. Many scientists also doubt any declaration would help to curb the epidemic, since the developed countries recording the most recent cases are already moving to shut it down. Monkeypox has sickened people for decades in central and west Africa. To date, no deaths have been seen outside Africa. The WHO said Thursday it did not expect to announce any decisions by its emergency committee before Friday.
THURSDAY, June 23, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Even babies aren't immune from the effects of long COVID, Danish researchers report.

Their study found that about one in three kids aged 14 and younger who tested positive for the virus were suffering from mood swings, trouble remembering or concentrating, and rashes as much as two months later.

"Prolonged symptoms in children must be taken seriously, regardless of whether the parents turn to their own general practitioner or another health service," said lead author Selina Kikkenborg Berg, a clinical professor at Copenhagen University Hospital.

"Among children of all ages, long-term symptoms are more often seen in those who have had COVID than in those who have not," she said.

Other studies have also investigated long COVID, but researchers said this was the largest to study the illness in children to date.

While the causes of long COVID aren't clear, Kikkenborg Berg offered several possibilities.

"Micro-blood clots after virus can settle in the brain and cause fatigue and difficulty concentrating," she said. "Also, the virus stays longer in parts of the body and can affect nerves and tissues, or an overreaction occurs in the immune system, which causes some of the symptoms."

She noted that some kids who don't get COVID-19 may suffer from some of the same symptoms reported in patients with long COVID. This might result from other infections or even from social pressure, Kikkenborg Berg said. But the number of kids with persistent symptoms was significantly higher among those with confirmed COVID-19 infections.

The study included just over 44,000 children in Denmark aged 14 and younger, including nearly 11,000 who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

Based on parent surveys, 40% of children aged 3 and younger with COVID-19 had symptoms for more than two months, compared with 27% of other kids.

Among 4- to 11-year-olds, 38% of those with positive tests had persistent symptoms, compared with 34% of others. Among 12- to 14-year-olds, 46% of those with confirmed cases had long COVID symptoms, compared with 41% of those who hadn't been sick.

"Some of the children in the control group may have had COVID without knowing it because they had not tested positive," Kikkenborg Berg said.

She noted that some children also may have been affected by shutdowns of schools, leisure activities and other things. Such closings make social interactions difficult and can lead to poor well-being, which can trigger physical symptoms, Kikkenborg Berg added.

"Also, children can get long-term symptoms because they have been affected by ordinary childhood diseases or other infections, which children get from time to time," she said.

The full effect of long COVID isn't known, and more research is needed to fully understand what causes it and how to treat it.

"There is still a lot we do not know about COVID, and one should not rush to recover from an infectious disease," Kikkenborg Berg said. "If you suffer from fatigue, shortness of breath, fever and other symptoms, take it a little calmly and do not stress the body. Sometimes a viral disease takes longer to recover from."

Infectious diseases expert Dr. Marc Siegel, a clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, noted that a real definition of long COVID is still up in the air.

"We're in the process of learning what long COVID is so we can better define how many people have it, but for sure kids are not immune to it," Siegel said.

Siegel is especially concerned about fatigue, trouble concentrating, mood swings and difficulty with breathing, which he sees as hallmarks of long COVID.

Talk with your pediatrician if your child has any of these symptoms after having COVID-19, he suggested.

Siegel emphasized that kids should be vaccinated to reduce their risk for severe illness and long COVID.

"There's actually no treatment right now, but I would make sure you're fully vaccinated, even if you had COVID, because that gives you some immunity, which is even greater protection against a reinfection," he said.

The findings were published online June 22 in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about kids and COVID.

SOURCES: Selina Kikkenborg Berg, PhD, clinical professor, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark; Marc Siegel, MD, clinical professor, medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City; The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, June 22, 2022, online

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The skilled craftspeople that laid the original brick on the Union Block building in downtown Missoula in 1891 could hardly have predicted that, 131 years later, a crowd of people would stare in awe at their handiwork.

"It certainly must have been master masons who did the outside wall, that's for sure," explained David Gray, a local architect who spent four years restoring the facade and interior of the structure, now called the Radio Central Building. He noted that even a fraction of an inch of error in their work might have meant calamity.

On Tuesday, owner Nick Caras and his team held a grand opening celebration for the building, which they began renovating in 2018. After spending half a century hidden behind ugly metal siding installed in the 1950s or '60s, the building has been unveiled and returned to its original glory.

"We're really happy with how it turned out," Caras said. "I was shocked at how many people came out. A lot of neighborhood people showed up because they've been watching it from across the street for years."

In 2019, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency's board of directors approved $579,858 in Facade Improvement Program funds to help with the project. In 2021, the agency's board also approved $125,000 in Tax Increment Financing to help the project.

Hidden underneath that (metal) is this treasure that nobody even knew was there, explained former MRA assistant director Chris Behan at the time. It may be one of the last big hidden treasures downtown, in my opinion. Hopefully this will renew additional interest in historic renovations downtown. There arent too many big ones left.

Most of the grand multistory commercial buildings built downtown between 1890 and 1930 burned down and were not rebuilt, or were replaced by more modern structures. Caras and his crew discovered the original facade was still intact after they peeled away a couple of metal siding panels after he bought the building. Gray described the process of finding historic elements intact each time they looked under a panel as a "slow-motion Christmas."

"Restoring the Union Block to the (original) facade will change the makeup of the streetscape and surrounding commercial neighborhood as well as the entire downtown, Behan noted in recommending the public funding. It will alter both the pedestrian experience and view from inside a vehicle passing by and leave a lasting positive impression. The chance discovery of the intact (original) facade is an opportunity for the entire community to celebrate.

The Union Block was built by F.G. Higgins, T.L. Greenough and Wm. H. Houston for $100,000, according to Gray. The original windows have arched brickwork, and a gap between the outer wall and the inner wall allows the bricks to expel moisture as they heat up on warm days. That, according to Gray, is a centuries-old technology that allows these types of brick buildings to avoid catastrophic wall failure.

Caras said he now has four retail tenants on the ground floor, including the only Argentine restaurant in the state, The Empanada Joint. The second floor now holds the county's planning department. Four other businesses occupy the third floor.

Elli Schroeder, the owner of Smooch on Main cosmetic boutique, is one of the ground-floor tenants. She said she's happy to finally be done with construction and excited to perhaps see more foot traffic on the block.

"I always knew there was magic in this building," she said. "And so as it started, we got to see that. It's definitely a showstopper. It grabs everyone's attention."

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Walking undeterred through thick brush and downed trees alongside Rattlesnake Creek, Marina Richie grinned and proclaimed: "This is the kingfisher mansion."

Live reading At 7 p.m. Thursday in Missoula, where much of the 251-page nonfiction book is set, Marina Richie will read from her book at Fact and Fiction bookstore, 220 North Higgins Ave.

Richie, 63, was referring to a section of eroded riverbank a few miles north of downtown Missoula where a mating pair of belted kingfishers  the only pair she's aware of in that area  resides in the latest of its many subterranean burrows that dot the bank. Unlike most birds, which build nests from sticks, moss or other detritus, the belted kingfisher burrows into a vertical or near-vertical riverbank of dirt, clay or sand.

Belted kingfishers are just one of 120 species of kingfisher, but the only one found across much of the United States. Their unusual homes and habits are enumerated in Richie's new book, "Halcyon Journey," released in May. Richie, a former longtime Missoula resident who now lives in Bend, Oregon, also chronicles how her search for the elusive bird connected her with the ecosystem of her own neighborhood and helped her process her father's death.

If you want to see the bird in person yourself, good luck.

"Kingfishers are the hardest bird to follow because they are very skittish and they're wary, they don't like being around people, they're always known for flying away from you," Richie said. "And there are not many of them. They are spread out."

Although not a wildlife biologist by trade, Richie was uniquely suited to write about her years spent observing kingfishers. Richie's father was a high-ranking official in the National Park Service. Her childhood living in or near national parks across the nation instilled in her an appreciation for the natural world and its creatures. A competitive runner, she graduated from University of Oregon with a degree in biology.

But then Richie said she "just kind of fell into" a job as a reporter for a small weekly newspaper, the Blue Mountain Eagle in John Day, Oregon. Her couple of years as a full-time newshound spurred her to seek a degree in journalism somewhere "that also could combine my interest in the environment and wildlife."

So she came to Missoula, where she completed a master's degree in journalism at University of Montana. That led to a job as a non-game animal information specialist with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks. After that, she worked as a watchable wildlife coordinator for FWP, and she then moved up to overseeing watchable wildlife programming in an interagency position with FWP, the U.S. Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy.

She kept writing in those jobs, mostly interpretive site copy and columns for publication. Eventually she shifted to full-time freelance writing.

Living in Missoula's Rattlesnake neighborhood, Richie immersed herself in nature, including one of her favorite animals: birds. She decided she wanted to write about one.

"I love water and mountains and wild places," Richie said. "And one day I read this definition of the word halcyon as a noun, and the number-one definition is the kingfisher (referring to another name for the species). And I thought, well, 'halcyon' means happiness, peace, tranquility, good times, and I was like, 'Oh yeah, I want to follow that bird.'"

She decided to "pursue a bird of happiness" and began casually looking for kingfishers along the Rattlesnake in 2008. She got more serious a year later and eventually found them, she said. And through her pensive waits to spy the birds, she also worked through the grief of her father's untimely death at 70 years old.

"I had a father who was a huge influence in my life," she said. "I grew up in the National Park Service and he had died pretty young, at 70," she said, "just a few years before I started this project.

"And he was a bird lover. I just thought he would love this project, and I amazingly felt very attuned to him while I was out here, too, and I really came to reconcile that loss."

Richie had more than enough time to reflect as she sought out belted kingfishers: Her study of the birds lasted for more than seven years and took her as far as South Africa to observe other species of kingfisher in their natural habitats, all of which is recorded in "Halcyon Journey."

"I didn't really know too much about them when I took off, but I am a bird person," Richie said. "But I soon found out they haven't been studied very well. Shockingly they're all over the country where there's clean water and fish, (and yet) relatively understudied. And I can see why, because they're very hard to study, hard to find a nest.

"I got really serious about finding a pair on Rattlesnake Creek in 2009 and I thought, one season, that's probably all I need and then maybe I can write a book, you know? And then it was like, oh no, there's so much more, so much more to do, and I got seriously curious and it took seven years."

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Senate OKs landmark gun violence bill, House passage is next

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Senate has approved a bipartisan gun violence bill. The vote late Thursday clears the way for expected House passage Friday of what will be Congress most far-reaching response in decades to the nations run of brutal mass shootings. Republicans have long derailed Democratic efforts to curb firearms. But after last month's mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, Democrats and some Republicans decided that congressional inaction was untenable. It took nearly a month of closed-door talks but a group of senators from both parties emerged with a compromise embodying incremental but impactful movement.

Hearing: Trump told Justice Dept. to call election 'corrupt'

WASHINGTON (AP)  Former top Justice Department officials have testified to the Jan. 6 committee that President Donald Trump hounded the department to pursue his false election fraud claims. They say he contacted the agencys leader virtually every day and strove in vain to enlist the governments top law enforcement officials in his desperate bid to stay in power. The House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol also revealed Thursday that several Republican loyalists in Congress who trumpeted the presidents claims later sought pardons from the White House after the effort failed.

COVID vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say

Scientists estimate that nearly 20 million lives were saved worldwide by COVID-19 vaccines during their first year. In a study published Thursday, they say even more deaths could have been prevented if global targets for vaccines had been reached. Scientists at Imperial College London used data from 185 countries to estimate how many deaths were prevented by the vaccination effort. They excluded China because of uncertainty around the pandemics effect on deaths there and its huge population. There are a lot of limitations in modeling studies, but independent experts agree that vaccines saved millions of lives.

After Supreme Court gun decision, whats next?

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court issued its biggest gun rights ruling in more than a decade Thursday. The justices said that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. Thats important because about half a dozen states have conditioned getting a license to carry a gun in public on the person demonstrating an actual need  sometimes called good cause or proper cause  to carry the weapon. In its decision, the Supreme Court struck down New Yorks proper cause requirement limiting who can carry a gun. Other states with similar laws acknowledged the decision would affect them. About one-quarter of the U.S. population lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling.

European Union makes Ukraine a candidate for EU membership

BRUSSELS (AP)  The European Unions leaders have agreed to make Ukraine a candidate for EU membership, setting in motion a potentially yearslong process that could draw the embattled country further away from Russias influence and bind it more closely to the West. Ukraine applied for membership less than a week after Moscow invaded on Feb. 24. The decision by the 27-nation bloc to grant Ukraine candidate status Thursday was uncharacteristically rapid. But the war and Ukraines request for fast-track consideration lent urgency to its cause. The EU also granted candidate status to Moldova, which borders Ukraine. Gaining membership could take years or even decades. Countries must meet a host of economic and political conditions, including the embrace of certain democratic principles.

Afghans bury dead, dig for survivors of devastating quake

GAYAN, Afghanistan (AP)  Villagers rushed to bury the dead and dug by hand through the rubble of homes in search of survivors after a devastating earthquake in eastern Afghanistan. Residents appeared to be largely on their own Thursday to deal with the aftermath as their new Taliban-led government and the international aid community struggled to help. State media said Wednesdays quake killed 1,000 people. An independent U.N. court said around 770 people had been killed in Paktika and Khost provinces. It's unclear how either sum was tallied given the difficulty of accessing or communicating with the affected areas, but the devastation was clear. Under a leaden sky, men dug several long trenches on a mountainside overlooking their village to bury the dead.

Uvalde victim's sister pleads for tougher gun laws in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  The sister of a 9-year-old girl killed in the Uvalde school shooting rampage has tearfully pleaded with Texas lawmakers to pass tougher gun laws and questioned why so many security measures failed. Jazmin Cazares on Thursday begged lawmakers to do something. Her young sister Jacklyn was one of 19 children shot dead inside Robb Elementary School on May 24 before police stormed the classroom and killed the gunman. Two teachers also died. The gunman was a former student, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos. Cazares' testimony came as the U.S. Supreme Court announced a decision allowing a major expansion of gun rights, saying Americans have a right to carry firearms in public.

Hong Kongers reflect on Taiwan, an imperfect exile

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  Coming to Taiwan was a logical step for Lam Wing-kee, a Hong Kong bookstore owner who was held by police in China for five months for selling sensitive books about the Communist Party. An island just 400 miles from Hong Kong, Taiwan is close not just geographically but also linguistically and culturally. It offered the freedoms that many Hong Kongers were used to and saw disappearing in their hometown since Beijing launched a crackdown on pro-democracy activists. While Taiwan has seemed an ideal hub, many Hong Kongers struggle trying to navigate the immigration system and suspicion by the self-ruled island's authorities who worry about a constant threat from mainland China. Some have gotten their residency permits but others went on to the U.K. and Canada.

Summer swelter: Persistent heat wave breaks records, spirits

A heat wave that's already lasted more than a week keeps on baking the US, Asia and even the Arctic. At least eight US states Thursday hit 100 degrees, that's after 12 did that on Wednesday. Records keep falling. A city in the Russian Arctic hit nearly 90 degrees. This early summer heat wave looks and feels more like August. Scientists say it has all the hallmarks of climate change. In Macon, Georgia, the temperature ramped from 64 to 105 degrees on Wednesday and then hit 104, a further record, on Thursday.

Magic take Banchero 1st, Holmgren, Smith follow in NBA draft

NEW YORK (AP)  The Orlando Magic selected Duke freshman Paolo Banchero with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. After leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four in coach Mike Krzyzewskis final season, the 6-foot-10 forward was called first by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to begin the draft, beating out fellow first-year forwards Jabari Smith Jr. and Chet Holmgren. Banchero, wearing a purple suit full of bling, received a loud ovation inside Barclays Center, where Duke lost in the ACC Tournament final.

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TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP)  You're in the mood for fish and your server suggests a dish of invasive carp. Ugh, you might say. But how about broiled copi, fresh from the Mississippi River?

Here's the catch: They're the same thing.

Illinois and partner organizations kicked off a market-tested campaign Wednesday to rechristen as copi four species previously known collectively as Asian carp, hoping the new label will make them more attractive to U.S. consumers.

Turning carp into a popular household and restaurant menu item is one way officials hope to rein in a decades-old invasion threatening native fish, mussels and aquatic plants in the Mississippi and other Midwestern rivers, as well as the Great Lakes.

The carp name is so harsh that people wont even try it, said Kevin Irons, assistant fisheries chief with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. But its healthy, clean and it really tastes pretty darn good.

The federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is funding the five-year, $600,000 project to rebrand the carp and make them widely available. More than two dozen distributors, processors, restaurants and retailers have signed on. Most are in Illinois, but some deliver to multiple states or nationwide.

This could be a tremendous breakthrough, said John Goss, who led the Obama administrations effort to halt the carp invasion and worked on the renaming project. The next couple of years are very critical for building confidence and acceptance.

Span, a Chicago communications design company, came up with copi." It's an abbreviated wordplay on copious  a reference to the booming populations of bighead, silver, grass and black carp in the U.S. heartland.

Imported from Asia in the 1960s-70s to gobble algae from Deep South sewage lagoons and fish farms, they escaped into the Mississippi. Theyve infested most of the river and many tributaries, crowding out native species like bass and crappie.

Regulators have spent more than $600 million to keep them from the Great Lakes and waters such as Lake Barkley on the Kentucky-Tennessee line. Strategies include placing electric barriers at choke points and hiring crews to harvest the fish for products such as fertilizer and pet food. Other technologies  underwater noisemakers, air bubble curtains  are in the works.

It would help if more people ate the critters, which are popular in other countries. Officials estimate up to 50 million pounds (22.7 million kilograms) could be netted annually in the Illinois River between the Mississippi and Lake Michigan. Even more are available from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast.

Government subsidies alone will not end this war, Goss said. Private-sector, market-driven demand for copi could be our best hope.

In the U.S., carp are known primarily as muddy-tasting bottom feeders. Bighead and silver carp, the primary targets of the copi campaign, live higher in the water column, feeding on algae and plankton. Grass carp eat aquatic plants, while black carp prefer mussels and snails. All four are high in omega-3 fatty acids and low in mercury and other contaminants, Irons said.

It has a nice, mild flavor ... a pleasant surprise that should help fix its reputation, said Brian Jupiter, a Chicago chef who plans to offer a copi po'boy sandwich at his Ina Mae Tavern. The fish is adaptable to numerous cuisines including Cajun, Asian and Latin, he said.

Yet it could be a hard sell, particularly because the fish's notorious boniness makes it challenging to produce fillets many diners expect, Jupiter added. Some of the best recipes may use chopped or ground copi, he said.

Dirk and Terry Fucik, owners of Dirk's Fish and Gourmet Shop in Chicago, said they've sold carp burgers for years and offer carp meatballs, tacos and other dishes.

Span researchers considered many names  butterfin among them  before settling on copi, Irons said. It sounded catchy, a tad exotic, even fun, he said.

Span conducted surveys, interviews and focus group meetings with more than 350 Illinois residents, design principal Nick Adam said.

Next step: Seeking approval from the federal Food and Drug Administration, which says coined or fanciful fish labels can be used if not misleading or confusing. A familiar example is slimehead, which became a hit after its market moniker was switched to orange roughy.

Illinois also plans to register the copi trademark, enabling industry groups to develop quality control procedures, Irons said.

Other regulatory agencies and scientific groups have their own policies and might not make the switch.

The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists and the American Fisheries Society have a committee that lists fish titles, including scientific names in Latin and long-accepted common names. The panel never adopted Asian carp as an umbrella term for the invasive species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to stick with invasive carp" and the four individual names, as its focus is on managing and controlling their spread, said Charlie Wooley, Midwest director. The Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee, which involves numerous federal, state, local and Canadian provincial agencies, will do likewise.

They dropped Asian carp last year because of concern about anti-Asian bigotry.



Follow John Flesher on Twitter @JohnFlesher

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Eric Feaver, longtime state employee union leader, current Helena city commissioner and a driving force behind state politics, has died, it was announced Thursday.

Feaver, a Democrat who was not afraid to ruffle feathers, could often be seen at the state Capitol during legislative sessions, lobbying and testifying on issues that impacted state employees.

He died Wednesday, officials said. He was 77.

Feavers death was announced at Thursdays Hometown Helena meeting, a grassroots group event which Feaver would attend.

Former Helena Mayor Jim Smith, who emcees the meeting, was saddened by the news, saying he had just attended a ribbon cutting with Feaver.

Eric was a legend at the Capitol and not just in his own mind, he said, sparking some laughter from the audience. He was a giant of the lobby and made a difference here in Montana.

Feaver was elected city commissioner in November and was the top vote getter in a race for two open seats. He pushed the issues of housing, parks and recreation, and local authority during campaigns. He said Helena had been his home for nearly 50 years.

Mayor Wilmot Collins said the city commission was devastated by the news.

"With his short time on the commission, he was a valuable asset ..." he said. "Eric was a seasoned public servant whose only interest was the public."

Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte commented on Feaver's death.

Eric Feaver was a committed public servant and veteran, who served as a city commissioner in Helena, an educator, and a strong advocate for state employees for decades. The state and city of Helena will miss his unmistakable voice, he said in an email. Susan and I are praying for his wife Ellen, his family, and his friends and colleagues.

Democratic Sen. Jon Tester called Feaver "a giant in Montana."

"No matter his role  service member, teacher, labor leader, or city official  Eric relentlessly served his fellow Montanans," he said in an email. "Sharla and I are heartbroken by his passing, but his legacy will live on in the Last Best Place for generations."

From 1984-2020, Feaver was president of the MEA, MEA-MFT and finally the Montana Federation of Public Employees (MFPE), which represents 23,000 professional and classified employees working in public schools, the university system, Head Start, local and state governments, and private health care across Montana. His 36 years in leadership made him one of the longest serving elected union officials in America.

One of the best things about my job is that there is always a reason to come to work, he said in a 2020 interview with the Great Falls Tribune. It keeps the adrenaline pumping. Every now and then, when we lose, it makes us all the more anxious to win the next time.

John Cech, president of Carroll College, said he has known and worked with Feaver since 2002, when Cech became the dean of the MSU Billings College of Technology. Cech worked with the MEA-MFT on statewide labor negotiations.

Eric was a giant in this state in every way, Cech said in an email.  He loved everything about Montana, from its beauty, schools, civic government, and of course, politics. He will be sorely missed but fondly remembered.

Amanda Curtis, president of MFPE, said she will always remember how hard Feaver worked and how he had a clear distinction between right and wrong.

He never spent time ringing his hands, she said. He went out and did good for people.

She called his death unexpected and said Feaver was absolutely at the top of his game.

His plans were to go backpacking Thursday in preparation for a backpacking trip he was going to take with one of his daughters.

He leaves a huge void, Curtis, who succeeded Feaver as MFPE president, said. He leaves an absolute vacuum that (is) up to all of us to fill. The only thing we can do now is now is to step in and be a drop in the ocean to fill that void.

In 2021, the MFPE created the Eric Feaver Distinguished Leadership Award, to honor a union member who has advanced workers rights. And this year he was inducted into the union's Hall of Fame. Curtis described the event as a toast and a roast, adding it was good that Feaver was able to hear the comments made about him that night.

Feaver had spent some time in the classroom as a teacher and taught English and social studies in the Helena Public Schools from 1974-1984.

Feaver earned a bachelor's degree in government, history and economics from the University of Oklahoma in 1967, a master's degree in American history from the University of Maryland in 1972, and an honorary doctorate of education from Montana State University in 1999.

He was born in 1945 and graduated from Norman High, Norman, Oklahoma, in 1963.

Although he was a conscientious objector, Feaver served his country, as a combat medic with the Army's 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, during the Vietnam War from 1969-1970.

"Any questions about his dedication to service and conviction of his beliefs was set aside at an early age when as a conscientious objector he chose to serve in combat as a medic without carrying a gun. He lived a life like that, always in the service of others," former Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who considered Feaver a friend, said.

He said Feaver was a man who respected another man and you will never find a stronger advocate for the people he believes in.

"From time to time we didnt exactly agree on a strategy, but I never questioned his motives," Schweitzer said. "His motive was to serve others."

According to Helena city charter, the commission will appoint someone to fill the seat until the next regular city election.

As you may imagine, given the sudden passing of Commissioner Feaver, the Commission has not had any discussion or put forth any formal nominations for the vacant seat," Special Projects Coordinator for the City Manager's Officer Amanda Opitz said in an email Thursday.

Feaver was an avid hiker, often posting on Facebook about his most recent walk.

"I took a short, easy hike to once again check out the flowers along Dog Creek," he wrote June 19. "Beautiful sunny, a tich too warm, no wind day. Camas ruled. Multiple shades of green. And remnants of former residents who moved on elsewhere many years ago."

He and wife, Ellen, over the years donated two lots to the city of Helena to be included in Mount Helena City Park.

Other than Ellen, he leaves daughters, Amity and Ashley; sons-in-law, Rich and TJ; and several grandsons.

Feaver was weighing in on politics just hours before his death.

Jacob Torgerson announced on Twitter he had just been elected chair of the Lewis and Clark County Democrats. He is 20.

Welcome to leadership, Jacob, Feaver replied.

Staff Writer Nolan Lister contributed to this story.

Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021.

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Journalism has always been a tough way to make a living. Its generally offered low wages, the constant threat of layoffs and consolidations, and the opportunity on any given day to enrage just about everyone who might disagree with the facts and observations you share.

So why am I such an optimist about this business? Its true that the facts about this essential branch of democracy are grim. Since 2004, about 1,800 newspapers have closed in the United States. More than 100 local newsrooms closed just during the COVID pandemic. Hedge funds that buy publications have left a path of destruction in their wake, with furloughs, layoffs and cutbacks.

Many newspapers have become a shadow of their former selves. News deserts are spreading around the country, places where people have lost access to trusted local news sources, and where local coverage has disappeared.

But it isnt journalism thats failing. Its the old business model that funded news outlets for more than a century by relying too heavily on paid advertising.

Four years ago, as a senior editor at the Denver Post, I was faced with a choice. I could accept the inevitability of that decline and help a hedge fund dismantle our Pulitzer prize-winning newsroom piece by piece, laying off friends and colleagues, while investors pocketed the profits. Or I could try something new.

I co-founded the digital-only Colorado Sun with nine Post colleagues and we launched in September 2018 with zero subscribers, zero members and a full-time staff of 10. But we also had plenty of determination and know-how.

Today, we have more than 200,000 subscribers, nearly 17,000 paying members, and a full-time staff of 25. We have been recognized as one of the best news outlets in our region for our public service and high-quality journalism.

We started with the premise that news matters, that readers  our democracy even  deserved more than the hedge funds were willing to provide. Theres a reason the Founding Fathers enshrined freedom of the press in the First Amendment to the Constitution.

They knew that a healthy democracy depends on informed citizens, on journalists who ask uncomfortable questions and serve as a watchdog to those in power. Vladimir Putin understands the same thing all too well, which is why he has clamped down on and targeted the press in Russia.

The Colorado Sun developed a business model that is so simple it sounds naive: Give readers non-partisan journalism that is deeply reported, well-written and well-edited. Treat readers with respect. Dont bombard them with pop-ups that get in the way of reading stories. Dont lure them in with clickbait headlines or offer thinly rewritten press releases. Hold the powerful accountable. Celebrate the beauty around us and spotlight the people trying to make this a better world.

Our journalism is free to read for those who cant afford to pay. We ask readers to support our work at whatever level they choose and to share our work with family, friends and colleagues. Our paying members provide most of our financial support, with the rest coming from philanthropy and sponsors.

Im proud of what weve accomplished in four years, and Im absolutely thrilled at the response not only from readers, but from journalists around the country who have been inspired in part by our success, just as weve been inspired by the Texas Tribune and others who came before us. Many have reached out seeking advice and tips as they contemplate creating their own news outlets. Were happy to help.

The Poynter Institute, which studies, champions and supports journalism, says more than 70 local newsrooms launched in the United States in 2020 and 2021. More than 50 local newsletters started publishing in that time.

Its difficult to see proud legacy newspapers in decline. But there is new energy and excitement all around us. Journalists, readers and philanthropists are talking about how news matters, how we all suffer when quality journalism goes away. I see growing support for new forms of journalism as we realize how important the profession is to our lives.

Thats cause for us all to be optimistic.

Larry Ryckman is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring conversation about the West. He is the editor and co-founder of the Colorado Sun in Denver.

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A Granite Falls man is facing two felony charges after a Highway Patrol trooper found him with several catalytic converters.

Cody Alan Watson, 24, was charged with felony larceny of a catalytic converter and possession of stolen goods or property, a release from the Burke County Sheriffs Office says.

The charges came after the trooper pulled over a vehicle Friday on Wilson Road in Hildebran, the release said.

A search of the vehicle turned up several catalytic converters, and deputies with the sheriffs office, along with detectives, responded to the scene to interview occupants of the vehicle, the release said.

Watson, the driver of the vehicle, said the converters belonged to him, and he was taken into custody, the release said.

He was held under a $3,000 secured bond, the release said. Hes set to appear in court again July 11, according to records on the North Carolina Judicial Branch website.
It seems Average Joes and Josephines should prepare for the day when they will need a special day permit to float the Madison River.

Given angling pressure on the river, with rafts as prolific some days as caddis flies and with trout being hooked and released multiple times, many people believe something has to change.

Add in burgeoning population growth in Bozeman and Gallatin County.

On Wednesday morning, a majority of commissioners for the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission balked at immediately initiating a rule-making process that could eventually require a Madison River float permit for non-commercial anglers.

The commission had before them recommendations from the Madison River Work Group about potential changes to commercial outfitting and guiding and to public use of the Madison River.

Commissioners voted to move forward with a process slated to include analysis of the costs and potential legal snags of the proposed changes, as well as public input.

The officially sanctioned Madison River Work Group began meeting in September to draft a plan for commercial and public use of one of Montanas many loved-to-death rivers.

Strong feelings about the Madison River often surface. Thus, the Work Groups efforts were bound to generate controversy.

As designated by FWP, the 12-member Madison River Work Groups composition was to include three commercial outfitters with current recreational use permits on the river. And that happened, with members Mike Bias, Brian McGeehan and John Sampson filling those slots.

Yet other members have or once had close ties to outfitting and guiding on the river. Daniel Larson of the Madison Valley Ranch, an Orvis endorsed lodge, told commissioners Wednesday that he works with outfitters. Mac Minard has been executive director of the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association. Finally, member Allison Treloar has been married to fishing guide Mike Treloar.

No one suggested during deliberations Wednesday that the Work Groups recommendations unduly favored outfitters. But there have been concerns expressed by Forrest Jay, president of the George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and others that public use could end up being limited in ways commercial use would not.

In an email dated May 25, Jay wrote KC Walsh, an FWP commissioner who was chairman of the Work Group, to protest the possibility of limits on public use during peak days without similar limits on commercial boats.

The Work Groups recommendations for commercial use advise keeping the Special River Permit system, which is a cooperative agreement between FWP and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management governing access to fishing access sites. There would be no limit on the granting of such permits to new river service providers.

A separate Madison River use permit could cap the total annual commercial trips by a Special River Permit holder based on the number of trips reported in 2019 or 2020.

Anglers who are clients of a permitted outfitter will not need a separate float permit.

Minard was one of five group members who addressed commissioners. He said he would not oppose slowing the review process to allow for adequate analysis and public input.

It is a monumental piece of policy to be implementing, Minard said.

McGeehan said the quality of the Madison River experience is deteriorating and recreational use continues to grow.

We cant manufacture any more rivers in Montana, he said.

No plan is perfect, but its better than no plan at all, McGeehan said.

Commissioners debated whether to fast track the process, meeting tight deadlines for rule making, or to give the review process more time. They opted for the latter, while expressing appreciation for the Work Groups labors and vowing they were not in vain.

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History was made earlier this week when the Chippewa Cree Tribe harvested its first bison in decades.

Members of the Rocky Boy Buffalo Project board used a firearm to harvest the bison. The Buffalo Project, which manages the tribes herd, donated 80 pounds of bison meat to the upcoming youth powwow and the remaining 380 pounds to the tribes food bank.

Were just elated, said Jason Belcourt, the tribes sustainability coordinator. We wanted to give this buffalo back to the community and what better way to do that?

Bison havent roamed the Rocky Boy Reservation since the 1990s. Belcourt said back then, the tribe didn't have money allocated to sustain the herd. Without funds for management, fencing and equipment, the herd dwindled.

But that changed when the Chippewa Cree Tribe welcomed the return of bison to their tribal lands in October. The American Prairie Reserve donated nine, and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes donated five. This spring, six bison calves were born  the first on the reservation in decades.

Belcourt said for the herd to be sustainable the tribe hopes to maintain a 60% cows to 40% bulls ratio. To do so, the tribe will harvest two more bulls this year.

Native Americans used bison for food, shelter, clothing and ceremony, but in the 1800s settlers killed millions of bison, in part to devastate Native communities that relied on them.

Now, Belcourt said seeing the animals on the reservation landscape is a gift.

Its a healthier meat, he said. We know where it comes from. We know what its eating. Buffalo meat has been in our systems  in our DNA  for centuries, so its really good to get it back in our systems. We can feel good about it, too, knowing we raised it.

Belcourt said the Rocky Boy Buffalo Project has big plans. In three years, they hope to grow the herd to 30 head, and in 10 or 15 years, they hope to manage 150.

That will help us become sustainable, he said. Then we can market and sell meats and offer hunts of all kinds. And there are so many spinoffs you can do with hides and skulls.

The Rocky Boy Buffalo Project relies primarily on grants and donations for funding, so Belcourt hopes marketing the bison meat will help generate revenue for the program.

Belcourt said the bison will nourish the tribal community in more ways than one.

In order to be sustainable as a tribal nation, we need to make sure we have the ability to feed our people, provide good water for our people and a source of power, Belcourt said. We do this so we have a sense of who we are culturally, and the buffalo go a long way in doing that.

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By Shawn Touney | Jun 23, 2022

Murray State University has been selected as a host site for the Governors Scholars Program during the summers of 2023, 2024 and 2025.

MURRAY, Ky.  Murray State University has been selected as a host site for the Governors Scholars Program during the summers of 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The Governors Scholars Program is a summer residential program for outstanding high school students in Kentucky who are rising seniors as part of an effort to enhance Kentucky's next generation of civic and economic leaders. Established in 1983, the program provides academic and personal growth through the balance of a strong liberal arts program with full co-curricular and residential life experiences. Students must complete an application and compete with others from across the state. Those selected attend the program free of charge.

The first class numbered 230 and was housed on one college campus. Since then, the program has enjoyed excellent support and grown to over 1,000 students on three campuses.

The core curriculum for the summer sessions is threefold:

Focus Area: Courses that allow a student to pursue a topic in-depth as a member of a small group stressing the development of ideas in the chosen discipline, with the option of additional independent study.

General Studies: Classes that emphasize inquiry, service-learning, community leadership and resolution development.

Seminar: Personal development seminars that stress concerns and problems faced by students, including such subjects as values clarification, career choice and interpersonal relationships.

Faculty and staff who are part of the program also invite a variety of speakers and performers from a range of disciplines and pursuits to visit campus. Field trips, special events and a film series also contribute to the comprehensive educational atmosphere in which scholars are challenged not only to examine, but, more importantly, to nurture their sense of learning and leadership.

The Governors Scholars Program is a prestigious program that, for many years, has provided enriching opportunities for some of the best and brightest high school students in Kentucky, said Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson. Murray State University is honored to be accepted as a host site for the Summer 2023, 2024 and 2025 programs. We look forward to welcoming these future participants to our campus.

Murray State first hosted the Governors Scholars Program in the 1980s and most recently hosted in 2018.

The Summer 2023 Governors Scholars Program program at Murray State University will take place June 25 through July 29, 2023.
By Shawn Touney | Jun 23, 2022

Dr. Don I. Tharpe, `74, `75, was appointed Murray State University Board of Regents chairperson during the Universitys quarterly Board of Regents meeting on June 3, 2022, becoming the first African American Board of Regents chair in the institutions history.

Appointed to the Board of Regents in 2017, Tharpe becomes the first African American Board of Regents chairperson in the Universitys history

MURRAY, Ky.  Dr. Don I. Tharpe, `74, `75, was appointed Murray State University Board of Regents chairperson during the Universitys quarterly Board of Regents meeting on June 3, 2022, becoming the first African American Board of Regents chair in the institutions history. A member of Murray States Board of Regents since 2017, Tharpe has most recently served as Board of Regents vice chair and audit and compliance committee chair.

He assumes the role of chair on July 1, 2022, and will succeed Eric Crigler, `90, whose term on the Board began in 2018 and expires on June 30, 2022.

Tharpe was voted unanimously by his Board of Regents colleagues for the leadership position of chairperson.

As chair of the Murray State University Board of Regents, Dr. Don Tharpe will continue his excellent leadership as a dedicated collaborator and forward-thinking advocate for the best interests of Murray State University, Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson said. Dr. Tharpe has been a tremendous asset to our Board of Regents since his appointment in 2017. Both personally and professionally, I am extremely grateful for our relationship. As a native Kentuckian and Murray State alumnus, he cares deeply about the continued upward trajectory of our institution as we all work together to advance Murray State University.

I am honored to be selected as the next chair of the Murray State University Board of Regents, Tharpe said. The fact that this vote was unanimous humbles me greatly. I am passionate about my role as a board member and the work the board does as a body and as temporary caretakers of the Universitys assets. This is a significant appointment because we are living in a world that realizes the importance of diversity and inclusion. There is no better way for the Universitys board to exhibit their commitment to diversity and inclusion than to elect a black man to this very important and influential position. The significance of this appointment is not just centered around our work at the board table, but the significance ripples out to include our entire University community. This community is made up of students, faculty, staff, administrators, students families, alumni and supporters.

Tharpe is a native of Mayfield, Kentucky, and a 1970 graduate of Mayfield High School. He is the son of the late Rev. Cleo and Dorothy Tharpe and has immediate family that reside in western Kentucky. As a working high school student, he was employed at the West Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation and Hawkins Furniture Store. Tharpe then attended Murray State University where he earned both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in industrial education. He earned his doctorate in educational administration from Virginia Polytechnic & State University in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Tharpes career in association management spanned more than 30 years. He served as Chief Operations Officer of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., President & CEO of the Pan American Health and Education Foundation and President & CEO of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Council on Foundations. Tharpe was also Executive Director of the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO). For more than seven years prior to his work with ASBO, Tharpe held several senior positions at the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE).

Prior to his career in non-profit management, Tharpe was employed at the Missouri State Department of Education.

In addition to Tharpes extensive non-profit management background, he has consulted for a number of organizations, authored numerous articles on association management and served on the board of several non-profit organizations.

Tharpe has been a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), a former vice chair of its board and is an ASAE Fellow.

After advancing his career in Washington D.C., Tharpe returned to Kentucky and continues to give back. He has served as a board member for The United Way of the Bluegrass in Lexington, Kentucky and was a member of its finance committee. He also served as a member of the Bluegrass Area Chapter of the American Red Cross, also located in Lexington. Tharpe also served on the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission.

In 2005, Tharpe was conferred the honor of Kentucky Colonel by Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher.

Tharpe received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Murray State University in 2005, the highest honor an alumnus or alumna can earn from the Murray State University Alumni Association in recognizing those who have excelled both professionally and personally. Tharpe was also the recipient of the African American Heritage Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Murray State is a special place for me because it is the place that provided me with, at an early age, the education and work ethic that allowed me to have a very successful professional career, Tharpe said. Murray State taught me that it is not about where you come from that matters, it is about where you are going.

Tharpe is a resident of Nicholasville, Kentucky.
By Alex Pologruto | Jun 23, 2022

The Murray State University Town & Gown community band will present a concert on July 4 at 6:30 p.m. on the lawn in front of Lovett Auditorium on Murray States campus as part of the annual Freedom Fest celebration. The Town & Gown community chorale will also perform during the concert and will be conducted by Murray State Professor of Music, Dr. Bradley Almquist.

MURRAY, Ky.  The Murray State University Town & Gown community band will present a concert on July 4 at 6:30 p.m. on the lawn in front of Lovett Auditorium on Murray States campus as part of the annual Freedom Fest celebration.

The July 4 program will include the Star Spangled Banner, My Old Kentucky Home, Americans We, Irish Tune from County Derry (guest conductor Dennis L. Johnson, Director of Band Emeritus), Giovannini's Overture in Bb (guest conductor Dr. Derek Jones, Director of Bands at Bethel University), The Klaxon (guest conductor John Fannin, Racer Band Director Emeritus), a medley of Duke Ellington compositions, US Armed Forces Salute, and the Stars and Stripes Forever. The Town & Gown Band will be joined for the concert by the 202nd Army Band.

"We are looking forward to rehearsing and performing with this outstanding unit," said Dr. Todd E. Hill, professor of music and director of the Murray State University Town & Gown Community Band.

The Town & Gown community chorale will also perform during the concert and will be conducted by Murray State Professor of Music, Dr. Bradley Almquist.

The first summer concert took place on June 7 at the Robert E. Johnson Theatre located on Murray States campus and was under the direction of Dr. Trae Blanco, assistant professor of music and director of bands, along with Dr. Brent Johnson, associate director of bands. The selection of music for the June 7 concert included The Star-Spangled Banner, My Old Kentucky Home, Wizard of Oz Suite and other crowd favorites.

The Murray State Office of Development director overseeing the Town & Gown Partnership program, Christian Barnes, remarked, We are thrilled to bring back our summer concerts and we are so thankful for the generous individuals and organizations who support our Town & Gown program. We are able to offer these exceptional cultural opportunities for our community because of them.

The July 4 concert is free and the public is cordially invited to attend and bring lawn chairs or blankets.
PHOENIX (AP)  Republicans in the Arizona House approved a massive expansion of the state's private school voucher program Wednesday, voting to allow any of the state's 1.1 million public school students to apply to use public money to attend private schools.

The measure comes just four years after voters overwhelmingly rejected a smaller voucher expansion after an unprecedented mobilization by teachers opposed to using tax dollars for private education. The new bill still needs approval in the Senate, which backed a smaller expansion in February.

Democrats fiercely opposed the bill, saying there is no testing or other mechanism to make sure children are actually learning.

We are disrespecting the will of the voters, Democratic Rep. Kelli Butler of Paradise Valley said of the GOP-controlled Legislature. We are disrespecting the taxpayers who deserve and need accountability for the use of our tax dollars.

Currently about 255,000 public school students qualify for the Empowerment Scholarship Account program, although fewer than 12,000 take them.

In addition to all current public school students, about 59,000 current private school students would be newly eligible under the new plan championed by House Majority Leader Ben Toma.

Many private school students currently get state funding though a separate tax credit program, but over time many would opt for the new funding because the $7,000 average voucher exceeds the average tax credit by more than $2,500 a year, the Legislature's budget analysts said in an evaluation of the costs. Homeschooled students would also be eligible.

I really do wonder often why should private schools be the exclusive domain of the wealthy, Toma said. Why shouldnt every child in Arizona have that same opportunity?

Parents are the ultimate accountability, he said, and would remove their children from a school that's failing to educate them.

Mesa Republican Rep. Michelle Udall was among a few House Republicans who blocked a voucher expansion last year and was opposed to an earlier version this year because it lacked testing or other accountability. She said last week that she wanted much more K-12 spending to win her support, but a separate new funding bill adding about $400 million in spending did not move Wednesday.

Udall still voted for the voucher expansion. She didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Legislatures budget analysts said the voucher expansion would cost the state $125 million a year by 2025, and grow each year thereafter. The Legislature is not adding extra funding for that cost.

Meanwhile, Republican legislative leaders will need to drastically trim the nearly $18 billion state budget deal they hammered out with GOP Gov. Doug Ducey or persuade some Democrats to vote for the proposal if they are to get it enacted.

With just one-vote majorities in the House and Senate, GOP leaders need every Republican vote, and they aren't there. Some Democrats were working to get changes they needed to get on board.

Still, the budget plan was moving on Wednesday, with the Senate Appropriations Committee approving the spending package after a delay the day before triggered by a disagreement with the House. The House, meanwhile, planned to debate and vote on the full plan late Wednesday even as a path through the Senate remained uncertain.

The budget's overall spending is Republican Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita's concern. The Scottsdale lawmaker called the spending plan unsustainable and bloated and noted that $2.3 billion in spending is outside the normal budget process and unprecedented.

That's straight up manipulation and abuse, she said.

She wants some of the state's $5.3 billion cash surplus used to provide meaningful tax relief, potentially a cut in the state gasoline tax.

Right now, the Biden Administration is acting more Republican than the Republican (House and Senate) leadership and the Republican governor if he signs this, Ugenti-Rita said.

She noted President Joe Biden on Wednesday proposed a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax and urged states to do the same.

Democratic Sen. Sean Bowie, who has said all session that he could back a Republican budget, said during the morning hearing that hes close to being able to back the plan, but it will need some specific changes.

They include equalizing levels of new funding for all three state universities. Under the current plan. the University of Arizona is getting more new cash.

Bowie also wants an increase in the states private school tax credit program eliminated, more school funding and for the Legislature to waive a spending cap for K-12 schools and community colleges for the coming year.

I honestly do feel like were close, the Phoenix lawmaker said. Id like a little bit more  I think that gets us a long way towards a bipartisan budget."

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Polls are open for two special elections in England that could deliver a new blow to scandal-tainted Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Wakefield in northern England and the southwestern constituency of Tiverton and Honiton are both electing replacements for Conservative lawmakers who resigned in disgrace over sexual misconduct. Defeat in either district on Thursday would be a setback for the prime minister's party. Losing both would increase jitters among restive Conservatives who already worry the ebullient but erratic Johnson is no longer an electoral asset. Polls suggest the Labour Party will win in Wakefield, while the Tiverton race is neck-and-neck between the Conservatives and the centrist Liberal Democrats.
SIOUX CITY -- The soft sobbing began as soon as the word "guilty" came from District Judge Tod Deck's mouth.

Two families hoping for opposite verdicts, experiencing the same reaction.

One family relieved at the thought of justice for a little girl whose life ended prematurely. The other family distraught, knowing a loved one had just been found guilty of a crime that will land him in prison for the rest of his life.

After roughly two hours of deliberations, a Woodbury County jury of six men and six women on Wednesday found Tayvon Davis guilty of first-degree murder, child endangerment resulting in the death of a child and multiple acts of child endangerment for the August 2018 death of 19-month-old Maelynn Myers, who never regained consciousness after Davis and Maelynn's grandmother rushed the unresponsive girl to a Sioux City emergency room. She died three days later at an Omaha hospital.

Davis showed no visible emotions after the verdicts were announced.

Maelynn's family immediately left the courtroom after the verdict and went to the Woodbury County Attorney's Office to meet with prosecutors. A victims advocate said the family did not wish to make a statement.

Davis' family, as well as public defenders Jennifer Solberg and Laury Kleinschmidt, also declined to comment.

Davis, 26, of Sioux City, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison for murder. The other two charges both carry 50-year prison sentences. Deck did not immediately set a sentencing date.

Prosecutors said the death was the result of weeks of abuse by Davis. He told investigators he had dropped the girl after giving her a bath, and she stopped breathing.

Throughout six days of trial, prosecutors used witness testimony and evidence to convince jurors that Davis injured the girl numerous times while watching the child in the Sioux City apartment he shared with the girl's mother, Shannon Myers. The girl's health had deteriorated since Aug. 1, the beginning of a period in which Davis spent more time watching the girl alone while Myers was at work. In Maelynn's final three weeks of life, Myers and her mother took the girl to the doctor repeatedly for illnesses and other physical ailments doctors struggled to diagnose. The night before she lost consciousness, Maelynn was a sluggish child who hardly touched her favorite meal of McDonald's chicken nuggets and french fries.

In closing arguments, Assistant Iowa Attorney General Nicole Leonard showed jurors a photo of Maelynn hooked up to a ventilator in the hospital. None of the defense's arguments that Maelynn was accidentally hurt when Davis dropped her or tried to revive her could explain the toddler's severe injuries.

"That little girl didn't end up this way because of CPR. That little girl ended up this way because the defendant repeatedly beat her until her body broke down and couldn't take it anymore," Leonard said.

A medical examiner ruled Maelynn's death a homicide caused by blunt-force injuries. The girl's long list of injuries included bruising on her forehead and back, bleeding throughout the brain, a torn blood vessel to her left kidney, hemorrhaging in both eyes, the abdomen and in the muscles at the back of her neck, bone fractures -- both new and healing -- in both legs, an arm, two vertebrae and several ribs.

Medical experts disagreed on the possible causes. The state's witnesses concluded the injuries were caused by trauma of a force similar to being in a car crash. A defense expert disagreed, offering alternative medical explanations that, he concluded, showed the injuries were accidental or occurred naturally because Maelynn had stopped breathing for several minutes before she was revived in the emergency room.

The fact doctors couldn't agree should raise enough reasonable doubt in jurors' minds to acquit Davis, Kleinschmidt said in the defense's closing arguments.

"This isn't an intentional murder," she said. "Tayvon Davis is not a monster. Tayvon Davis did not beat Maelynn to death."

The state's witnesses didn't even offer any ideas how Davis might have caused the injuries, Kleinschmidt said, and ignored Davis' explanation and the fact that the girl's mother and grandmother also spent long hours alone with Maelynn.

"It's a case about the search for a reason why and the search for someone to blame for the loss of a child," Kleinschmidt said.

But those injuries all had one thing in common, Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Kristine Timmins said. According to doctors' estimates on the age of the injuries, all fit into a time period when Davis spent several days watching Maelynn by himself.

"She wasn't in a car accident. She wasn't in a multi-story fall. She was with the defendant," Timmins said.

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In November of 2021, Ozow, one of South Africas leading fintechs, secured a $48 million Series B investment.

Among many things this investment is allowing the Third Party Payment Provider (TPPP) to do, is bolster the team that has enabled them to become a market leader in South Africas instant EFT space.

The goal  over 200 employees by the end of 2022. That would mean growth of more than 50% of the team, with the company starting the year with 73 full-time employees.

This expansion is necessary if the company wants to achieve its goals and grow into a fintech powerhouse, not just in South Africa, but on the rest of the continent.

For Ozow to make a mark in a continent where the fintech scene is growing (thanks to billions of dollars of investments), the teams ranks need to be filled with top talent.

And so, the business is on the hunt to find innovative thinkers who are going to make meaningful contributions to the companys goals, as well as their overarching mission to close the digital divide and create greater financial inclusion in Africa.

Ozow has recently taken its next steps toward achieving this mission.

In May 2022, an Ozow contingent visited Nigeria to better understand the payments landscape, and how Ozow can make an impact.

This visit marks the start of Ozows foray into the greater African market  the move away from being a solely South African payment solution.

While in Nigeria, the team met with the countrys fintechs and banks to hold discussions about technology, the banking sector and financial regulations.

With what has been learnt in the sessions, and how exciting the payments industry is shaping up to be in Nigeria, Ozow hopes to find a way to integrate into this budding market.

Nigeria is just the first stop on Ozows African tour, with Ghana and Kenya next on the list.

If youd like to be part of the Ozow team, visit Ozows job page.
American HIMARS artillery systems have already arrived in Ukraine.

The Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov announced this on Twitter .

He also thanked the Pentagon chief for supporting Ukraine.



 HIMARS has arrived in Ukraine. Thank you to my colleague Lloyd Austin for such a powerful help! Summer will be hot for the Russian occupiers. And the last for some of them , "he wrote.







On June 1, the United States approved a new package of military assistance to Ukraine , which includes HIMARS missile artillery systems and jet ammunition. This is a $ 700 million aid package.

The Pentagon later said that the transfer of several systems to Ukraine was only a starting point.

Subsequently, there was information that the United States may double the number of HIMARS systems for Ukraine. We are talking about the supply of 4 more weapons systems.

M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). Photos from open sources

Ukrainian artillerymen began to master the system in early June. The course itself lasted three weeks, where Ukrainian soldiers were taught to use and maintain the system.

In the photo, the commander of the US National Guard, 4-star General Daniel Hokanson, communicates with the Ukrainian military in the cabin of the M142 HIMARS at the Grafenwehr Training Center, Germany

Commander of the US National Guard 4-star General Daniel Hokanson communicates with the Ukrainian military in the cabin M142 HIMARS in the training center Grafenwehr, Germany

The M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) uses a 6-wheeled M1140 FMTV tactical truck as its chassis.

The launcher can be used as a multiple rocket launcher (MLRS) with ammunition of various ranges and as an operational and tactical missile system.

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Drive two hours east of Rome and you will discover what might be Italys best kept secret: Abruzzo, a land of mountains, beaches, national parks and delicious wines.

Abruzzo is in central Italy, east of Lazio, the region where Rome is located. Lazio and Abruzzo are separated by the Abruzzean Apennines. In Abruzzo, the Apennine mountains, which include Gran Sasso, one of Italys highest peaks, and the Maiella Massif line the western border, and the Adriatic Sea lines the eastern border. Abruzzo can be divided into two sections, the inland mountainous area and the coastal area.

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Most of the wine production is concentrated in the hills of Abruzzo, divided into four provinces, Chieti, Pescara, Teramo and LAquila. More than 80% of the grapes planted are in Chieti, followed by 10% in Pescara, 6% in Teramo, and less than one percent in LAcquila.

Surprisingly, Abruzzo is the fifth largest producer of wine in Italy, following Veneto, Puglia, Emilia Romagna and Sicilia. Eighty percent of the production is of Montepulciano dAbruzzo, which is used for the one DOCG red wine, Montepulciano dAbruzzo Colline Teramane; the red DOC wine Montepulciano dAbruzzo and the rose DOC wine Cerasuolo dAbruzzo.

The other dominant indigenous grape is Trebbiano dAbruzzo (not related to other Trebbiano grapes in Italy), as well as Pecorino, Passerina and Cococciolo.

Montepulciano dAbruzzo is a late-ripening, thick-skinned grape that produces full-bodied, robust, elegant and aromatic wines. It is a versatile grape that can produce a variety of styles of red wines, from juicy and fruity to tannic and age worthy, as well as the light red Cerasuolo dAbruzzo.

Trebbiano dAbruzzo is a high-yielding, late-ripening grape with delicate aromas and lower acid.

Pecorino is an early-ripening, low-yielding grape that produces high-acid wines with floral, earthy, and mineral notes.

One interesting thing to note is that more than 80% of the vineyards in Abruzzo use the tendone training system. Like the pergola system, tendone is an overhead training system, but whereas the pergola system inclines and forms a tent, the tendone creates a flat, horizontal tent. I noticed this flat top as I stood under the vines at Feudo Antico in Chieto on our first visit in Abruzzo.

Feudo Antico is part of the Cantina Tollo cooperative that was established in 1960. Feudo Antico was created in 2009 to focus on indigenous grapes of Abruzzo. When Feudo Antico started to plant Pecorino in 2013, they found Roman ruins underground that can be visited today.

Based in Chieti, Feudo Antico is in the Tollo municipality, which is home to Tullum DOCG, established in 2019 and is one of the smallest DOCGs in Italy.

Winemaker Ricardo is a fan of the tendone system as he has discovered that with climate change, the system offers a greater surface for the canopy, which produces better quality wines.

At Feudo Antico, it was the white wines that stood out. The 2021 Trebbiano dAbruzzo DOP had a fresh nose of flowers and citrus and vibrant acidity that tingled on the tongue.

The 2020 Pecorino Tullum DOCG had lemon and stone fruit aromas, palate-coating acidity and a bitter finish. The Cerasuolo dAbruzzo DOP Organic had cherry and citrus aromas and was textured with a bitter finish.

Our next stop in Chieti was at Tenuta I Fauri. This third-generation family-owned winery is run by siblings Luigi and Valentina di Camillo. Sitting with soft-spoken Luigi, we tasted Pecorino two ways.

First, we had the 2015 Pecorino Brut made in the Charmat method and then we had the 2020 Pecorino that was fermented in stainless steel and finished in concrete. The sparkling Pecorino was fresh with notes of peach, apricot, and pineapple, and the still Pecorino had apple, citrus, and honey notes.

What was very interesting was to taste a 2013 Pecorino and see how beautifully Pecorino ages. With almost 10 years age on it, the wine had aromas of petrol, dried fruit, dried herbs and honeycomb.

Our last stop in Chieto was at Masciarelli. Abruzzo had been known for quantity, not quality, until Gianni Masciarelli set a new standard in the early 1980s. His wife, Marina Cvetic, and their oldest daughter, Miriam, run the winery today.

I sat with Miriam at dinner the Castello di Semivicoli, a 17th century baronial palace that has been converted to a hotel and restaurant.

What was special in this tasting was three vintages of the Masciarelli Villa Gemma Montepulciano dAbruzzo. Villa Gemma is a 40-year-old, 12-hectare, high-density vineyard that is used for the winerys flagship line.

We tasted the 1999, 2000, and 2007 Montepulciano dAbruzzo wines, which demonstrated the grapes capacity for aging. Each wine was powerful and full-bodied but the I really enjoyed the 1999 with rhubarb and herbal notes and good acidity.

After spending a day in Chieto, we spent another day visiting two wineries in the hills of Pescara.

Our first stop was at Castorani. The estate dates to 1793. was part of the dowry of Lady Adelina Ruggeri De Capobianchi when she married Raffaele Castorani, the man who invented the first cataract eye surgery. In 1999, Formula One racer Jarno Trulli bought the property.

The property, which includes 100 hectares of organically farmed vines, is surrounded by mountains and a breeze that flows through the plateau. The winery was built underground so to not disrupt the breathtaking scenery.

Here we enjoyed a tasting of the wines, and I was captivated by the 2021 Amorino Trebbiano dAbruzzo DOC Riserva from a 20-year-old single vineyard. After undergoing a long fermentation in concrete, the wine has beautiful minerality, aromas of citrus, stone fruit and white flowers and soft palate-coating acidity. In comparison, the 2021 Amorino Pecorino had white flower aromas but crisper acidity.

I also enjoyed the Amorino 2016 Montepulciano dAbruzzo that is aged in concrete and barrels. The wine is elegant with notes of blueberry, blackberry, wild raspberry, and spice, sandpaper-like tannins and a juicy finish.

Our day ended at the family-owned Pasetti winery located inside the Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga. Owners Domenico and Rosa Pasetti and their son Massimo, who handles exports, hosted us for a homecooked meal as we tasted their wines.

The Pasetti family had vineyards on the coast but relocated to the hills. With a total of 80 planted hectares, theirs is the only winery allowed to use the national park on their label.

Domenico was the first person to bottle Pecorino as a single bottling in Abruzzo. The Pasetti 2020 Collecivetta Pecorino DOP is a selection of the best Pecorino grapes that spend six months on the fine lees in stainless steel tanks. The wine has aromas of pineapple, melon, yellow flowers and has great structure and minerality on the palate.

We also enjoyed two Montepulciano dAbruzzo wines, the 2018 Testarossa, which is fermented in stainless steel and aged in concrete and big barrels, and the 2012 Harimann Casauria Riserva, a single vineyard wine that spends five years in barrels.

To compare the powerful boldness of the Testarossa with the structured and textured Harimann with its dark fresh fruit aromas and minerality exemplified how diverse Montepulciano dAbruzzo can be.

I have only touched the surface of Abruzzo and its indigenous wines. There is so much to discover in Italys best kept secret, I cannot wait to return to explore more.

Allison Levine is owner of Please The Palate, a marketing and event-planning agency. A freelance writer, she contributes to numerous publications while eating and drinking her way around the world. Allison is also the host of the wine podcast Wine Soundtrack USA and a co-host of Crush On This videos on YouTube. Contact her at allison@pleasethepalate.com.
Armenia premier congratulates Georgia colleague

Another case of high treason exposed in Armenia

World oil prices on the rise

Newspaper: Why are authorities in hurry to hold snap elections in Yerevan?

Newspaper: Armenia Supreme Judicial Council acting chair uses colorful expressions against PM Pashinyan

France proposes to import oil from Iran, Venezuela

Moscow Exchange starts trades in Armenia national currency

Iran FM meets with Turkeys Erdogan

White House announces conversation between Biden and Jinping in coming weeks

Georgia confirms: Traffic restored at 136th km of the Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Lars road

EU countries agree to fill all gas storage facilities to at least 80% by next winter

Traffic restored at Lars, road is open

Erdogan promises to document 'hypocrisy' of Sweden and Finland

Armenia Economy Minister: Transport communication with Russia will be restored within two hours

EU energy ministers agree on energy conservation laws

Increased imports force Armenian producers out of domestic market

Scholz says return to pre-war relations with Russia is impossible

Armenia FM: Azerbaijan continues to hold Armenian POWs and civilians hostage

Israel to work with world powers to influence any deal with Iran

Azerbaijanis moving cross-stone on road of Berdzor

NATO to increase size of its rapid reaction force by almost eight times

'Armenian Genocide: Evidence from the German Foreign Office Archives, 1915-1916' published in Persian

Mohammad Bagheri says Iran will respond to Israeli intervention in region

Representatives of ICRC office in Baku visit Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan

Robert Habeck: Gas shortage this winter could lead to 'serious economic crisis in Europe'

Armenia FM: OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs play key role in Karabakh conflict settlement

US, European officials look forward to NATO summit to make progress on Finnish and Swedish accession

Leaders of NATO, Turkey, Sweden and Finland meet in Madrid

Zelenskyy tells G7 leaders he wants war in Ukraine to end by the end of 2022

Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia to hold joint military exercises

G7 leaders to support Ukraine for as long as it takes

EEU to provide duty-free import quotas for cheese, alcohol infusions to Serbia in 2023

Turkey announces creation of grain operations center

Dollar, euro go up after long decline in Armenia

Armenia premier: Reforming education sector is one of governments absolute priorities

NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg promises to protect Baltic countries from external threats

Upper Lars checkpoint on Georgia-Russia border to be closed for 1 week?

Armenia ruling force lawmaker submits resignation from parliamentary seat

Artsakh FM pays working visit to Russia

Armenian FM meets Greek President

Azerbaijan-Turkey-Kazakhstan transport working group to be set up

Armenia legislature secret ballot for electing new judges to cassation court to kick off at 3pm

Welt: Putin is preparing a new raw material trap for the West through lithium mining in Bolivia

CNN: US intends to supply Ukraine with medium and long-range missile defense systems

Armenian FM's visit to Greece begins

Armenia economy ministry does not say when Lars motorway will reopen

Birmingham explosion leaves 5 people injured

Armenia Supreme Judicial Council member presents Court of Cassation candidate judges biographies

Israel may allow Iran to export oil under US supervision

Armenia appellate court considering appeal against PM Pashinyan

Ibrahim Kalin says Turkey has no enmity with Armenia

Heavy rain hits northern Turkey

Turkey doesn't impose sanctions on Russia because of its energy dependence

Cavusoglu says they are waiting to open Zangezur corridor as soon as possible

Process kicks off aimed at building new nuclear power unit in Armenia

European Commission head doesn't support G20 summit boycott if Putin attends

139 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia past 1 week

Aliyev: New weapons, most modern equipment have been, are being brought to Azerbaijan

Peskov rules out Russia's disconnection from global Internet

World oil prices dropping

Drug smuggling by Iranians is prevented in Armenia

Armenia parliament to convene special session

Copper rises in price

Armenia finance minister meets with Asian Development Bank representatives

Yerevan mayor to pay 12-day official visit to France

Earthquake hits Armenia-Georgia border zone

At least 4 dead after stand collapses during bullfight in Colombia

Microsoft to end support for Windows 8.1 in January 2023

95% blind Japan skateboarder breaks 2 Guinness World Records

NASA to launch Capstone satellite for future creation of habitats on Moon

US intends to raise $200 billion as part of G7 program, competing with China's Belt and Road project

Egypt signs contract with India to buy 180,000 tons of wheat

US Treasury Secretary discusses sanctions against Russia in Turkey

20 people die in mysterious circumstances in nightclub

Cavusoglu: Turkey is facing serious economic crisis

Armenian PM's spouse to hold official meetings and discussions in Nice, Monaco and Cannes

Media: Ukraine once again purchases weapons in Germany directly from manufacturer

European Council head cautious about G7 plan to ban imports of Russian gold

Iran launches second Zoljanah rocket into space

Britain and France agree to increase support for Ukraine

Armenian FM to leave on working visit to Athens

NATO to discuss largest military deployment since the Cold War

Artsakh Internal Affairs Ministry: Special measures in Stepanakert carried out in intensified mode

Biden thanks Scholz for leadership on Ukraine crisis at G7 summit

Iraqi PM arrives in Tehran

UN fears disease outbreak in Afghanistan due to earthquake

Johnson: Cost of Russian victory in Ukraine is too high

New Colombian president pledges to protect rainforest

Young man throws himself down from territory of Armenian Genocide Museum

G7 countries to impose a ban on imports of Russian gold

SADA CEO: Armenian startups are not yet well known on international market, they need to be strengthened

Turkey FM and Blinken discuss NATO expansion and grain supplies from Ukraine

Shoigu inspects grouping of Russian troops involved in Ukraine

Indonesian President to travel Ukraine, Russia on peace-building mission

Turkey intelligence agency captures alleged Greek spy

Armenia PM to answer questions from media and public organizations tomorrow

Ecuador's president lifts state of emergency declared due to strikes

Concrete placement starts at Unit 2 of Bushehr NPP in Iran

Eight corpses found at famous Mexican resort

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The US is continuing to systematically damage bilateral relations, which are already at their lowest ebb. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said this in a statement on Wednesday, TASS reported.

Washington has distinguished itself in taking yet another hostile move against our country, by not granting permission for a special flight of Russian state aircraft to the United States, which was supposed to carry home employees of Russian foreign institutions and their families, the statement continues.

"The Joe Biden administration has preferred to totally ignore the fact that it is actually a humanitarian action as our plane was supposed to fly in to take those of our colleagues whom the Department of State had earlier issued an ultimatum, ordering them to leave the United States by the end of this month," Zakharova added.

The Russian Foreign Ministrys spokeswoman pointed out that such defiant behavior of the US authorities would not "go unanswered."

"As we have warned before, once a Russian special flight is denied entry, countermeasures, including asymmetrical ones, will inevitably follow, Zakharova added.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia on Thursday sent a congratulatory message to Prime Minister Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg on the latters National Day. The message reads as follows, in particular:

"The Government of Armenia and the Armenian people have special feelings towards your marvelous country and its friendly people.

In the 30th jubilee year of the establishment of the diplomatic relations we can gladly state, that our bilateral political relationswhich are based on trust, mutual respect, and practical interestsare on a high level today.

Im confident that with joint efforts we will be able to give a new impetus to development of the bilateral commercial-economic relations as well.

In Armenia we remember with gratitude the clear stance and the exceptional solidarity of your Government and the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg during and after the 44-day war against the peaceful population of Artsakh unleashed by Azerbaijan [in the fall of 2020]. We highly appreciate the active participation of the Government of Luxembourg in humanitarian projects of the international organizations aimed at solving the social needs of the displaced population of Artsakh, repatriation of the Armenian prisoners of war illegally held in Azerbaijan, and the international efforts aimed at preventing and condemnation of destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage by Azerbaijan too."
We urge the dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan to continue and for the parties to intensify their diplomatic engagements in an effort to find comprehensive solutions to all outstanding issues related to and resulting from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Karen Donfried, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the US Department of State, said this in an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am. Below is the text of this interview.

The US has numerously stressed the Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] conflict is not resolved, and the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be determined. What kind of status can lead to a lasting peace and stability ensuring the core rights of the Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh, if Azerbaijan excludes any possibility to self-determination?

We urge the dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan to continue and for the parties to intensify their diplomatic engagements in an effort to find comprehensive solutions to all outstanding issues related to and resulting from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We remain ready to assist Armenia and Azerbaijan with these efforts, including in our capacity as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

The Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk group doesn't function, in fact. The US has welcomed the mediation of the EU in Armenia-Azerbaijan talks. What is Washington's position on the mediatory role of Russia which brokered the ceasefire of November 9, 2020 and has a peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh. Do you see opportunities to cooperate with Russia towards Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution and normalization between Armenia and Azerbaijan?

The United States stands ready to engage with Armenia and Azerbaijan in any format, including via the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, in which progress towards a resolution can be forged.

The United States is open to discussions with fellow Minsk-Group Co-Chairs Russia and France on how the international community can best help Armenia and Azerbaijan find peace.

What prospects do you see for Armenia-Turkey normalizations?

The normalization in relations between Armenia and Turkey is important to ensuring peace, stability, and prosperity for the wider region. We welcome the Turkish-Armenian dialogue and applaud both countries for engaging in diplomacy and dialogue to resolve their differences.
British MP Sarah Owen criticized British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for allegedly using taxpayers' money to support his mistress, The Independent reported.

This isnt the first time weve heard allegations that the Prime Minister has tried to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on his girlfriend, Owen said, commenting on The Times newspapers decision to remove an article alleging Johnson want to give his wife, Kerry Johnson, a senior position in government.

Boris Johnson has only recently emerged from a sex scandal. In 2019, it was revealed to the general public that the politician was in a relationship with American businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri when he was mayor of London. Johnson, who was married at the time of the relationship with Arcuri, was suspected of providing illegal monetary assistance to his mistress' business, as well as possible embezzlement of the UK capital's budget.
Sona Ghazaryan, a member of Armenias delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), addressed the PACE plenary session.

At the beginning of the 20th century the movement for women's right to vote was spreading worldwide.

I'm very happy to say that Armenia was already having success.

In 1919, the first direct parliamentarian elections were held under the universal suffrage.

Every person over the age of 20 had the right to vote, regardless of gender, ethnicity or religious belief.

Three female deputies were in the parliament.

Among them, was Ms. Berjouhi Barseghian, whose grandchild many of you will recognize as the city mayor of Strasbourg - Jeanne Barseghian [who] was her granddaughter.

Diana Abgar, another Armenian strong woman, took a different path to public life. On Friday 2 July 1920, she was appointed Armenia's envoy to Japan. Serving until 1921, she ranked as one of the world's first female ambassadors.

Nowadays, currently in our parliament, women's representation is higher than ever, but still not enough at 35%.

Highly appreciating the role of women, civil society organizations were actively engaged with them in the law-making process, so that will lead to even more women's participation in legislative bodies.

Having peace agenda as one of the main agendas for our ruling party, I can reassure you that women MPs are also engaged in the decision-making processes.

The Republic of Armenia has also developed the second national action plan on the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, reaffirming its readiness to continue its work on peace and security.

The program addresses the issues and challenges faced by women displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the devastating war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh in the autumn of 2020.

As the result of the aggressive war, more than 91 000 people were forcibly displaced and received asylum in Armenia, 88% of whom were women and children.

The war of aggression started during the Covid-19 pandemic. That is complicating the difficult situation for women and girls.

The program presents the problems of women and girls in crisis, addressing their security component.

The program addresses the issue of forcibly displaced women, the security challenges posed by the new border situation, and their impact on women and girls.

Considering the above-mentioned, I need to be very sincere and to tell you that I'm very much surprised to hear how our women colleagues here at the Parliamentary Assembly and other high-Ievel female officials in the neighboring countries can speak in support of war and violence, finding justificationsthis should not be acceptable, the Armenian MP stated, in particular.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Armenia Victor Richter.

The Prime Minister highlighted the importance of relations with Germany, which is the biggest trade and economic partner of Armenia among EU countries. The Prime Minister expressed confidence that high level of political dialogue will contribute to further mutually beneficial cooperation.

Ambassador Richter noted that Germany is interested in the development of cooperation with Armenia and reaffirms its support to democratic reforms in Armenia.

The interlocutors discussed the perspectives of deepening of the Armenian-German relations. Expressing satisfaction with the projects implemented in the frames of bilateral agenda, Nikol Pashinyan mentioned that the sphere of intensive agriculture is promising. The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany welcomed the Prime Minister's proposal and touched upon the joint programs in the spheres of SMEs, energy, water management, e-government, finance and others. The activities of GIZ and KfW in Armenia were highlighted bilaterally.

During the meeting the sides also touched upon the regional developments and the works on unblocking of communication links. The sides exchanged views on the situation over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Armenian Prime Minister presented Armenia's positions on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the peace agenda declared by the Armenian government. Nikol Pashinyan said that the Nagorno-Karabakh status remains unresolved and should be settled within the framework of the internationally recognized format, which is the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship. The Prime Minister touched upon the return of Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other people still held in Azerbaijan, as well as the protection and preservation of Armenian cultural and historical heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Richter expressed the support of the German government to the peace agenda in the region and the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia highlighted the importance of a targeted response of the progressive international community to humanitarian and security issues.
Turkey will not tolerate any illegal trade of Ukrainian grain or any other products from any country, including Russia, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at a joint press conference in Ankara with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Anadolu agency reported.

Answering the journalists' question about the possibility of exporting stolen grain from Ukraine via Russian ports to various countries, including Turkey, he said that from time to time media report similar statements.

The Ukrainian side also informs Ankara on the issue. "We seriously consider and study every signal we receive. We also inform the Ukrainian side on this issue. In fact, monitoring is very simple. All you have to do is to download an application that costs 5-6 dollars. It allows you to track shipping, get information about the ports of departure of ships and their cargo. You do not need to be a government official to do this. Anyone can access the information. One just needs to download appropriate applications on his phone or computer to track air traffic or shipping," Cavusoglu said.

He noted that Ankara takes each request seriously. "Turkey examines information about the country of production, the port of departure. We check and confirm every time that the products are made in Russia. Turkey will not allow illegal trade of Ukrainian grain or any other products, by any country, including Russia. Turkey and its government agencies' decisive position on this issue is unchanged," the Minister said.

Liz Truss, in turn, noted that if grain is not taken out of Ukrainian ports, there will be a serious famine.

Truss pointed to the importance of providing a safe corridor for vessels carrying Ukrainian grain.

Cavusoglu said that Turkey considers and supports the U.N. plan to remove grain from Ukrainian ports.

He said Ankara is making efforts to resolve the food problem as soon as possible.

Cavusoglu noted that Turkey continues active negotiations on the issue with both Russia and Ukraine.
Armenian Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan, who is on a working visit to Minsk to participate in the 32nd session of the Coordinating Council of Prosecutors General of the Commonwealth of Independent States, met with his Kazakh counterpart Berik Asylov.

Davtyan praised the close cooperation between the Prosecutor General's Offices of Armenia and Kazakhstan, particularly with regard to mutual legal assistance, as evidenced by the numerous requests for legal assistance in criminal cases, the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

In his turn, Asylov said that in terms of interstate cooperation the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia is a reliable partner for them. He expressed confidence that in the near future the bilateral ties will become closer and the effectiveness of partnership will increase.

During the meeting, they discussed possible new directions for the development of relations, based on the priorities of the prosecutor's offices of the two countries, the more effective use of the prosecutor's offices potential in the joint struggle against crime, exchange of experience and information at the regional and global levels.
The talks on granting candidate status to Ukraine & Moldova are proving a bit more difficult at EUCO than 1st envisaged as some countries want candidate status for Bosnia as well, Radio Liberty correspondent Rikard Jozwiak said on Twitter.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said before the summit that Bosnia must receive the same treatment as Ukraine and Moldova to gain candidate status in the EU before the preconditions are met.

Politico also reports that Bosnia is being actively discussed at the summit. Moreover, officials are working to rework the conclusions regarding the country.

According to the new draft, the leaders are considering declaring that the European Council is ready to grant Bosnia and Herzegovina candidate country status once a significant set of reforms has been implemented. To this end, the European Council invites the Commission to immediately notify the Council of the implementation of the 14 key priorities set out in its opinion, with particular attention to those that represent a significant set of reforms. The European Council will return to this issue.

On 17 June, the European Commission released its conclusion in which it recommended recognizing Ukraine's European perspective and granting state candidate status for accession to the community.
Can a womans creative handwork help heal herself and the world? Imani C. Wright, who graduated from Emory College in May, believes so, based on her interdisciplinary honors research in Central America and personal experience growing up in Washington, D.C.

Originally an anthropology major, Wright investigated human societies and cultures, which led her in early 2020 to Granadilla, Costa Rica. She was supposed to create a sustainable program to help immigrant women from Nicaragua better themselves.

Instead, Wright became an ambassador for the powerful work she saw them doing: lifting themselves out of poverty, past abuse and trauma. They did it literally by their own hands, by using recycled materials such as paper, canvas, straw and beans to express their lives.

Sometimes the women sold their art, but its main value was to reclaim their self-worth. By trying and believing in the creative process, they saw their own potential. The biggest dividend was the womens psychological, spiritual and personal transformation.

Craftsmanship gave them an escape from the weight of holding onto these experiences and grasping hold of the freedoms these women are constantly denied, Wright wrote in her honors thesis.

It wasnt enough for Wright to observe the womens transformation. She feels most fulfilled when she takes action on behalf of the vulnerable. As an African American, first-generation college student, she knows how that feels.

Strong voices in the shadows

Starting in third grade, Wright commuted from Bladensburg, Maryland, across D.C. to a majority-white, all-girls private school. At 13, she became the after-school caretaker for her younger siblings while her parents worked.

In many spaces, Wright felt that her experiences would make a difference if anyone would ask or listen, but few did. In high school, as she found her own voice as an activist, she began expressing her story in clay. She sculpted the small apartment of her family of six, contrasting her classmates spacious homes. To show the effects of the wealth gap and mass incarceration, she sculpted a staircase with white figures going up one side and Black figures going down the other.

It was a way to express herself and remind herself how smart and capable she is, says childhood friend and classmate Ashleigh Hale. Getting her hands moving was part of her development.

Making ceramic pieces such as these validated her story, fueled her determination and gave her confidence to lead. She organized a diversity conference for her school, and after the police killings of unarmed Black people in 2020, she created alumnae conversations around race.

A lot of people don't necessarily have resources or support to amplify their voices, and they have very strong voices, but we don't listen to them, Wright says. So a big part of me wants to go deeper with people who are left in the shadows.

Observing the immigrant women in Costa Rica challenged Wright to make their story matter beyond anthropology. Their craft practice, Wright discovered when she returned to Emory, could influence development studies, which identifies humane, dignifying practices for aiding people in developing countries.

At Commencement, Wright was one of six Emory College graduates with an interdisciplinary studies degree, and her honors thesis promotes the idea that the simple act of trying to make something can ignite well-being and improve quality of life.

The argument she made about the importance of craft is that its quite universal, says thesis advisor Mark Risjord, professor of philosophy and visiting professor in the Emory Institute for the Liberal Arts, which is home to interdisciplinary studies. Nutrition, clothing and shelter are essential, but if youre just doing that, youre missing something that actually makes it possible to do the basic things better.

Wrights work was funded through the Halle Institute Honors Research Global Fellowship, based at the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry.

My honors research was my way to take what I saw in Costa Rica and put it into action, Wright says. I didnt even know interdisciplinary studies was a major. Without it, I would have gone and learned from the women but not been able to do anything with what I had seen.

Experiential healing

Through El Centro de Formacion Integral Maria Madre de Los Pobres, located in a Catholic church, the immigrant women attended workshops on entrepreneurship and money management. Crafts helped the women feel safe in the close-knit Granadilla community. They worked at their own pace on whatever they wanted to make, shared with each other what they had learned and made discoveries about themselves.

Poverty can act as a mental cage of sorts in which women blame themselves and feel guilty, Wright says. Craftsmanship can be a meditative activity that requires focus but also forces the artist to reckon with mistakes and work past them.

Confidence and autonomy are essential to sustain womens lives free from poverty, Wright notes.

Art can be an outlet to remind people that there is more to their existence than playing into the market economy, she wrote in her thesis. Women who do not feel worthy of more cannot achieve more. These deeply rooted barriers, psychological and spiritual, have to be broken down before taking on the personal challenges of escaping poverty.

Eradicating poverty is the first of 17 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which make up a global plan to reduce inequality and protect the planet by 2030.

Womens support is essential to the SDGs because they handle most domestic work and childcare around the world. Wrights research, which examined models of human well-being and fulfillment such as Maslows hierarchy of needs, connected womens craftsmanship to solving every SDG.

Women play an important role in improving overall quality of life for everyone, Wright says. Craftsmanship acts as a satisfier to this objective.

Being heard, being seen

Since graduating, Wright has begun to look for full-time sustainable development work in the D.C. area. In the long term, she is considering a PhD program, possibly in development studies. She also plans to continue advocating for homegrown practices such as what she saw in the Costa Rican women.

Facilitating spaces like this, like the ceramics studio was for me in high school, can level out not being heard and not being seen, she says.

We think about progress from a capitalist or corporate model, that you have to be building something big, and we focus on the product versus the process, Wright adds. Bettering your life in some way doesnt have to be something grand. It can be something very small.
To advocate equally for their constituents, members of Congress must be afforded equal opportunity to communicate their ideas.

But theres a pattern to who does  and doesnt  get that opportunity in Congress.

Women members are significantly more likely to be interrupted than men during congressional committee hearings, where most business in Congress is done  especially in Senate committees, where women are about 10% more likely to be interrupted, according to findings recently published in American Political Science Review.

Perhaps more strikingly, women are more than twice as likely as men to be interrupted in congressional hearings when discussing womens issues, including reproductive rights, abortion and child care.

According to our data, women fight through interruption by their colleagues for a full eight to 10 minutes of hearing time. Men fight through significantly less, says Joe Sutherland, visiting assistant professor of quantitative theory and methods at Emory University and corresponding author of the paper.

Women in Congress can encounter greater difficulty in getting their ideas across, because theyre being interrupted  especially in policy areas including womens issues, where they can advocate powerfully on behalf of their constituents, he says.

Sutherland and Michael G. Miller, assistant professor of political science at Barnard College, examined speech patterns from more than 24,000 congressional committee hearings from 1994 to 2018. Using natural language processing techniques, the team analyzed 24 million lines of speech  a project that would have been much too labor-intensive without using the latest computing techniques to examine the massive sets of data.

With natural language processing, were able to address data on a much larger scale and ask questions in a more productive way than before, Sutherland says. If youve ever watched a congressional hearing, you know members interrupt each other a lot. But this is the first statistical evidence we have, because research at this scale was until only recently too cost-prohibitive and time intensive to complete.

What are the societal implications of women being interrupted at higher rates?

We were surprised to find that women face greater interruption in the Senate. The Senate has a reputation as the worlds most venerated deliberative body, Sutherland says. Future research should consider looking into our other institutions, such as the U.S. Supreme Court, where womens issues are at the forefront.
Afghan authorities call for aid after deadly quake

People stand near the bodies of people killed in an earthquake in Paktika province, Afghanistan. Photo: AP

The Taliban government in Afghanistan has appealed for international aid and rescue assistance after the worst earthquake to hit the country in decades.



The United Nations is among the agencies scrambling to provide emergency shelter and food aid after Wednesdays quake  which registered 6.1 on the Richter scale  left more than 1,000 dead and 1,500 injured in the countrys eastern Paktika province.



RTHKs South Asia correspondent Murali Krishnan on Thursday reported that the Taliban has pledged US$11 million in aid with US$1,000 for the family of each person who has been killed and US$500 for each injured person.



Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi says he has asked international organisations to contribute as well as send aid to the affected areas. Many aid agencies left Afghanistan when the Taliban took control of the country last year.



The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says heavy rain is hampering efforts and that makes helicopters unable to make enough sorties and land safely, Krishnan said.



Many houses are made simply of mud with thatched roofs in this area. Desperate rescuers are digging through the rubble and the death toll is expected to rise considerably.



Rescuers are dealing with aftershocks which have led to landslides and further building collapses in some areas. Damage and casualties have also been reported in the provinces of Khost and Nangarhar, which border Pakistan.



The UN has pledged an initial US$15 million and is also liaising with aid agencies to get aid packages to displaced families.



Afghanistan lies on a number of fault lines. Over the past decade, more than 7,000 people in the country have died in earthquakes.
New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI/ATK): Many fear that the crypto winter is the new reality the world of crypto should brace for an indefinite period. Although there is truth to this statement, as always with crypto, not everything is black and white. For example, during the autumn of 2021, when the market was rapidly going down, foreshadowing an inevitable downfall, El Salvadore came to the rescue by adopting BTC as its legal tender. Following this pattern, we should expect another game-changer from the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation - Ethereum (ETH). By the end of the summer, Ethereum will deploy the long-awaited update - 'The Merge' - that will not only make its running operations faster with cheaper gas fees but could also push the whole crypto market north. Let's dive in. Marriage Of Convenience It is no secret that the vast majority of applications, whether a DeFi platform, NFT marketplace or a token used in a project's native ecosystem, are powered by the Ethereum blockchain. At the time of writing, more than 70% of all of DeFi is built on Ethereum, and 80% of NFTs use ETH to mint, sell and trade. Keeping this in mind, it should not be surprising that emerging projects would use ETH and Ethereum's blockchain to unlock their full potential. One such example is RoboApe (RBA), a futuristic meme token that aims to revolutionise the crypto industry by an-encompassing bold strategy. RoboApe Project: The RoboApe (RBA) is a futuristic meme coin that achieves its sustainability and utility, not because it is centred around one person (like DogeCoin with Elon Musk) but because it is a community-driven project that utilises a growing economy of the RoboApe ecosystem. The project offers various services, including DeFi, DEX, crypto education, NFTs marketplace and gaming. The RBA platform gives the community access to smart contracts, the creation of decentralised applications, and continuous development, all through the Ethereum blockchain. RBA Token: (RBA) is an ERC20 meme coin built on the Ethereum blockchain that invokes numerous opportunities for its HODLers. For example, one can participate in governance, receive rewards for HODLing the token, minting NFTs, and use it as an in-game currency for the platform's game options. DEX: In order to resolve risks of cheating and fraudulent activities associated with the crypto industry, the developers of RobeApe are required to pair a token they release with another crypto token or fiat currency before listing it on a DEX. This, in turn, facilitates the buying and trading process of RBA, where liquidity pools are designed to make purchasing and selling crypto tokens swift and straightforward. RoboApe's platform, another advantage, is hidden in its ability to enable users with cross-chain swaps, thus providing its breadth of use cases and utilities globally. Considering the spread of services it offers and the unique approach to meme coin development, this project rightly deserves a place in every crypto enthusiast's portfolio. The Rise As aforementioned, (ETH) has become the backbone for the majority of crypto projects at large. Indeed, Ethereum is a technology that unites digital money, global payments, and applications under its umbrella. The community around it has built a booming digital economy that is open to virtually everyone, wherever you are in the world - all you need is internet access. However, Ethereum has been widely criticised for costly gas fees, which was partly why many projects migrated to blockchains like Solana, which charge less for their transactions and can perform them faster. But this is about to change when the long-anticipated upgrade 'The Merge' will arrive at the end of the summer of 2022. This transition will signal the end of proof-of-work (PoW) for Ethereum and start the era of a more sustainable, eco-friendly Ethereum that will utilise Proof-of-Stake instead (PoS). After this, Ethereum will be one step closer to achieving the full scale, security and sustainability envisioned in its original White Paper. The Upshot 'The Merge' will not only make Ethereum and DApps built on top of it operate faster and at lower costs, but it also has the potential to turn around the current market trajectory. The main weakness of crypto is its volatility and sensitivity to many external factors, but it is also its main strength. If 'The Merge' succeeds, RoboApe (RBA), Ethereum (ETH) and the crypto market will again explode, shifting the status quo from red to green charts. Website: roboape.io Telegram: https://t.me/ROBOAPE_OFFICIAL Website: https://ethereum.org/en/ This story is provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)
New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI/SRV): Cranfield University, one of the prominent universities in the United Kingdom for aerospace engineering, offers an MSc in Thermal Power and Propulsion to allow students to explore the design and operation of different types of gas turbines for all applications. Backed by a legacy of postgraduate education in aerospace propulsion since 1946, the MSc in Thermal Power and Propulsion programme features four specialisations: aerospace propulsion, gas turbine technology, power, propulsion and the environment, and rotating machinery, engineering and management. The Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) on behalf of the Engineering Council have accredited the Thermal Power and Propulsion MSc programme as meeting the requirements for further learning for registration as a Chartered Engineer (CEng). The one-year, full-time programme helps engineering graduates pursue specific interests and career aspirations, with twin yearly intakes in March and October. The students of the MSc in Thermal Power and Propulsion are mentored and guided by renowned faculty and recognised industry partners. The programme enjoys extensive industry support from guest lectures to recruiting student graduates and maintaining course relevancy. The Industrial Advisory Panel comprises senior engineers from companies such as EASA, easyJet, RMC, Rolls-Royce and Uniper Technologies, who bring their extensive knowledge and experience to keep the programme and the students abreast of the latest industry research. To provide both fundamental and applied knowledge, the course is delivered through 50% taught modules and a 50 per cent individual research project. The former has been designed keeping in mind the needs of the business and industry, including the research interests of the faculty. It consists of compulsory and optional modules; wherein students can opt for their preferred optional module to match specific career interests. For the individual project, a student must submit a written thesis that may be industrially sponsored and completed during the course. The University has an impressive track record, with over 90 per cent of students who have completed the MSc in Thermal Power and Propulsion finding employment within the first year, in roles including gas turbine engine manufacturers, airframe manufacturers, and airline operators; as well as working for regulatory bodies, aerospace and energy consultancies, and within power production industries. Further, several graduates have also chosen to pursue doctoral studies and go into academia. Leveraging its global reputation for advanced postgraduate education, the University also offers a PG Diploma (up to one year),along with a part-time MSc by research for two to three years (by arrangement). Cranfield University offers in-depth knowledge of technology and management through a wide variety of postgraduate programmes. According to the recent QS World University Rankings by Subject, Cranfield University has been ranked 27th in the world in the subject area 'Engineering - Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing'. It has climbed 18 places from last year's ranking and attained top scores in Employer and Academic Reputation. Known for its holistic and hands-on learning atmosphere, the University allows graduates to grow into industry-ready professionals. To know more about the programme, visit: https://www.cranfield.ac.uk/courses/taught/thermal-power This story is provided by SRV. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/SRV)
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 23 (ANI/NewsVoir): Navanc Data Sciences Pvt. Ltd. today announced closing of its seed round of funding of 300K USD which saw participation from leading angel investors including Kunal Shah, Founder of CRED and QED Innovation Labs LLP, Chattanathan D, Founder Arya.ag, Samit Shetty, Founder of Chaitanya Microfinance and Former CEO of Navi Finserv, Subramanya S V, Founder of Fisdom, and Vinay Bhat led group of techie angels. Navanc is building India's first ever creditworthiness score to Properties and Assets and aims to make leveraging the assets for financial access a reality amidst all the hassles of documentation. The company is presently testing its product through institutional tie ups with major Financial Institutions including a large HFC and a small finance bank. The funds raised in this round will help Navanc to ramp up the product to go to market and hire aspiring engineers who want to solve one of the crucial problems in India's financial services industry. Leveraging DeepTech, Navanc provides complete information of the asset or property under consideration and aims to provide real time information on property's credit worthiness. The product has been built with layers of data pooling from various sources like Geospatial insights, legal track check and crime reporting on properties. It has tied up with many start ups to get valid data like Skyserve.ai, CrimeCheck.ai and others. Nagachethan S M, Founder of Navanc said, "Land and Home as an asset class is the second largest in India next only to Gold, yet this asset class is highly under leveraged. India's mortgage based loans such as Home Loans, Working Capital Loans and Business Loans are prone to tedious processes and customers are always unaware of asset's creditworthiness. Financial Institutions are many a times sceptical of asset's disposability as a result the loans get stranded as bad debt on their books. At Navanc, we are creating India's first comprehensive credit score mechanism to the assets possessed by an Individual and help him/her leverage the same financially. Hence, we are building lifetime value (LTV) instead of the now popular loan to value (LTV). The product would also add a significant value for financial credit access in rural and semi-urban areas." Navanc has previously been part of prestigious accelerator programs such as ShelterTech accelerator at Habitat for Humanity and Brigade Real Estate Accelerator Program (Brigade REAP). It was also a Financial Inclusion Champion as part of the Bharat Inclusion Initiative, a program run by IIM Ahmedabad based startup accelerator, CIIE.CO. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
New Delhi [India] June 23 (ANI/SRV): 10KM.SHOP, a local shopping app, has been launched to help local shops to sell their products online locally and to connect lacs of buyers within a 10 km radius. The app has been developed by a Mumbai-based IT firm, ATHARV IT SOLUTION which aims to design and deliver solutions for small and medium businesses with a vision to empower them digitally. The local shops can register themselves with the app easily just by providing Aadhar Card details without even having any technical knowledge. 10KM.SHOP, founded by Ruby Goradia and Dhaval Goradia started working on this project during the first lockdown in 2020. The brand launched its e-commerce website 3 months ago as a pilot project by onboarding 20+ local shops and has recently launched the android version of its app. The iOS app will be launched soon. The young and middle-aged generation, largely in metro cities, enjoy shopping from the comfort of their homes and exploring the availability of shopping options at their fingertips. 10KM.SHOP is an app-based e-commerce platform giving an opportunity to local shop owners to sell their products online and beat the competition posed by e-commerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart and others. Co-Founder Ruby Goradia said, "The idea of 10KM.SHOP has been inspired by our own shopping experiences and we are very optimistic to solve the problem of local shopping experience by connecting local buyers with local sellers on our app-based platform. We are delighted with the launch of this new venture. Our team is working dedicatedly to ensure the app can be navigated seamlessly. We are reaching out to local shops and encouraging them to set up an online shop with a list of their products. The idea is to add value to their business, increase footfalls and drive in more revenue." Co-Founder Dhaval Goradia said, "Sellers can sell products across a diverse portfolio of products ranging from Electronics and Gadgets, Fashion and Accessories, Fitness and Gym, Footwear, Home and Kitchen Appliances, Home Decor, Mobiles and Accessories, Sports, Toys and Games, Watches etc. Initially, our target markets are metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. The app has been developed using modern age technology, capable of scalability with the highest security to ensure a seamless user experience." Talking about the revenue model, Ruby Goradia added, "The app allows to create a full-fledged free online shop with product listing, and as the business grows shop owners can upgrade to any of our paid subscriptions starting at just Rs 999 per year. In the next 18 to 24 months, we are looking to onboard 1 million retailers and push for the digitization of local shops across major metro cities in the country." The current e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart in India are doing exceptionally well. They are the first preference for shopping in metro and tier-II cities. However, the current e-commerce model becomes inconvenient for the buyers due to logistic delays, returns, payment failures, refunds, inability to experience the product before purchase and so on. 10KM.SHOP aims to solve this problem by providing a local e-commerce platform where buyers can find the products online on the app, interact with the seller, visit the seller to experience the product, get instant delivery, avail of convenient payment options and a lot more. The app also allows affiliates/agents to register themselves to earn with 10KM.SHOP and help local shops get onboarded to the platform. In return, they can earn a 20 per cent commission on their efforts when shops upgrade to any of the paid subscriptions. To download the app on the Google Play Store visit - 10KM.SHOP - Apps on Google Play To know more about ATHARV IT SOLUTIONS, visit - https://atharvitsolutions.com/ This story is provided by SRV. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/SRV)
Taxing rich people's gains from capital can help reduce inequality while keeping up overall prosperity - yet only with two conditions. First, the revenues from taxation must be invested in public infrastructure such as schools, public transport, or sustainable energy grids. Second, it must be fairly possible to replace machines with labour. This is the outcome of a mathematical modelling study by a team of economists including US Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. "There is a lot of buzz about taxing big individual wealth to reduce inequality. However, many policymakers remain sceptical that it might harm the economy," says lead author Linus Mattauch from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Oxford University's Institute for New Economic Thinking, and Technical University Berlin. "Indeed, capital invested into machines serves productivity and hence overall prosperity. Also, the rich could pass on the tax burden to the poor by reducing wages. Hence, taxing capital could harm workers' wealth. We, therefore, tested a wide variety of assumptions, but our theoretical result holds under all of them." According to a statement released by Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the revenues from taxing the rich must be invested in public infrastructure. "The economics involved are admittedly complicated, but the results are pretty straightforward," says Mattauch. "Interestingly, it turns out that in fact taxing income from the capital can serve social welfare as a whole, but only if done properly." Most importantly, the revenue from taxing capital must be invested in public infrastructure, which benefits overall economic prosperity. "When using the proceeds from taxing the rich for better education or better climate protection, the entire economy benefits," says co-author and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz from Columbia University in New York. "However, if governments fail to use the revenue for these kinds of investments, taxing capital, in the long run, can actually harm the economy and increase inequality," Stiglitz noted. The report further noted that the governments must not be afraid to impose higher capital taxation on the very rich. The rate of taxation has to be adapted to each country's economy. "Generally, governments must not be afraid to impose higher capital taxation on the very rich," says lead author Mattauch. "The reason is that their saving behaviour is very different from those of the middle class - they save for posterity, not their own retirement. It is the saving behaviour of the rich that really drives wealth disparities." The economists tested a number of realistic tax levels in their models. "However, too-high taxes would too strongly reduce incentives of investing capital into, say, factories if those are not well replaceable by labour", explains Mattauch. "Populist proposals of taxing away private capital would harm the economy and thus harm public welfare. It's a delicate balance." The research, therefore, demonstrates a major policy implication for reducing inequality mentioned, but not established, in Thomas Piketty's "Capital in the Twenty-First Century". The insights are valid only in societies where, by and large, people can fill in for machines. In developed economies, a self-service checkout at a supermarket can replace a person, or a health care robot can someday partially substitute for a nurse. Automation is important because capital is invested in those machines. If these investments shrink due to capital taxation, productivity must be kept up by labour. This is an empirical factor of uncertainty, especially since artificial intelligence is becoming economically more important, and hard to replace. "The gap between rich and poor has risen significantly in major economies like the US or China, recently also due to the COVID crisis," says Ottmar Edenhofer, co-author of the study and Director of the Potsdam Institute as well as of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change. "This is mostly the rich getting richer, not the poor getting poorer. Yet in times of multiple crises, from climate to the confrontation with Russia, with more volatile energy and food prices, fostering social cohesion seems to be important. People must stand together, and in this regard, the growing wealth gap is a risk we might consider worth reducing," Edenhofer noted. (ANI)
Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], June 23 (ANI/NewsVoir): Colive, India's largest rental exchange platform, has launched the country's first rental retirement retreat. Titled Vanaprastha, the initiative is inspired by the Vedic-age doctrine of relaxed dwelling in the forest once an individual has crossed the threshold of societal responsibilities (retired). The project is a unique initiative between Colive, BCD and Portea Medical. Vanaprastha is situated in a gated community developed by BCD Group, one of India's oldest & largest realty conglomerates. With more than five years of industry experience as an operator of fully managed premium co-living spaces, Colive has created a utopian environment to meet the modern needs of an elderly population, including fully furnished rooms with daily housekeeping, high-speed WiFi, dedicated community spaces for fitness, yoga & meditation, a cafeteria, recreational center, on-demand chefs, chauffeur-driven cars, and much more. Adding a much-needed touch of medical security, is the presence of onsite healthcare support, in the form of general physicians, nurses, physiotherapists and an ambulance provided by Portea - India's largest out-of-hospital healthcare brand. With a mission to "Heal at home", the medical team at Portea will ensure that the residents at Colive Vanaprastha always have the necessary first aid, primary care, and golden hour treatment available at hand. And that's not all - should the need arise for a resident to be hospitalized or connected with a specialist, both out-patient and in-patient admissions are just a call away. Bangalore has enjoyed a position of pride as the "city of choice" for retired couples since the nineties, thanks to its moderate, soothing weather and picturesque topography, which in turn promote faster natural recovery from chronic ailments in seniors. However, the ecosystem of retirement homes in the entire country has hitherto been limited to a "buy-only" regime, which reduces the flexibility of movement for seniors. The introduction of a rental option is expected to provide much-needed relief to those who require both flexibility & long-stay benefits when it comes to staying in a retirement community of like-minded peers. The brands involved in the initiative also have a vested interest in removing the taboo associated otherwise with assisted living and the dreaded "vruddhashram" philosophy, and are invested in creating a holistic and fulfilling lifestyle for citizens in their golden years. This includes an enhanced focus on building hyperlocal cultural communities that make it easier for seniors to blend in with their peers and indulge in the social spoils that they need the most. "Everyone loves the idea of being young and surrounded by friends again, and we at Colive have leveraged our expertise in crafting joy for India's youth, to create an unforgettable experience for the country's beloved adult ++ populace. The association with Portea Medical has enabled us to offer a medically secure retirement community, and we're grateful to both teams that decided to join hands when we envisioned the next big frontier in India's residential rental space," Suresh Rangarajan (Founder and CEO, Colive). The experiential stay at Colive Vanaprastha is augmented by the presence of community delights such as a library, a jogging track, a rec-centre and other prime hallmarks, developed by the BCD group, a force to reckon with in the Indian real estate space. "The BCD Group is proud to have partnered for Vanaprastha- a project that is set to redefine how retirees in India spend their latter half of life. With a sizeable chunk of India's elderly population living in isolation, this project will help seniors enhance their quality of life & tap into their full lifestyle potential. We've always believed in adding value and our legacy of 75 years is a testament to it. Enveloped with the best-in-class medical care & wholesome community benefits, this project will be a game-changer for how the elderly live in Bengaluru," Angad Singh Bedi (Promoter and MD, BCD Group) "With nuclear families and the compulsion for younger generations to settle in different cities or countries due to professional reasons, there is a rising need to provide a quality living experience for the Adult++ citizens in India. At Portea, we believe in offering services and facilities that empower these Super Citizens to live independently with adequate self-care guidance, and on-call medical support. Through our path-breaking partnership with Colive, we have taken a step towards creating a world-class medically secure living experience for the Super Citizens in India. As a partner, Portea will take care of the healthcare support in the co-living apartments set under the Vanaprastha initiative. We will provide physiotherapy sessions 2-3 times a week, nursing facilities, doctors on call, medical equipment, and various other necessary facilities. The aim is to ensure a dignified, comfortable and healthy co-living experience for the Adult++ generation," Vaibhav Tewari, (Co-Founder and CEO, Portea Medical). Reservations at Vanaprastha are vetted by a team at Colive, and users have an option of registering either via the official website, or through a consultation with a relationship manager. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
Exports of engineering goods from India surged by 13.5 per cent to $9.79 billion in May 2022 from $8.62 billion recorded in the same month last year, according to EEPC India monthly analysis of export trends. Cumulative engineering exports for April-May 2022-23 were recorded at $19.39 billion, which is 16.84 per cent higher when compared with $16.60 billion of exports recorded in the corresponding period of the last year. The US remained the top market for Indian engineering goods in May, while shipments to China declined. As many as 18 out of 25 major markets for Indian engineering goods recorded positive growth in May 2022. Exports to the US surged 63.2 per cent year-on-year to $1.81 billion in May this year as compared to $1.11 billion in the corresponding month of the previous year. Among other countries which recorded positive growth in imports from India in the month of May included Germany, Singapore, the UK, Italy, and Thailand. Exports of engineering goods to China, however, declined 52 per cent year-on-year in May 2022 to $217.4 million as compared to $451.7 million in the same month last year. The top 25 countries contribute almost 75 per cent of total engineering exports from India. In terms of region, maximum growth in exports was witnessed in North America followed by the EU in both monthly and cumulative terms. The share of engineering in total merchandise exports was recorded at 25.14 per cent in May while the share was 24.64 per cent for April-May 2022-23. Commenting on engineering exports trends so far in this fiscal, EEPC India Chairman Mahesh Desai said, "Although the trend looks impressive, some concerns are still there. One of the biggest concerns is the Russia-Ukraine war that has severely hampered shipments to CIS nations and may have some ripple effect on the global economy." He noted that the resurgence of COVID and subsequent damage of business prospects in some industrial cities may also impact the global trade scenario adversely. "Rising oil and commodity prices have added to the uncertainty. A sharp depreciation of the rupee, although can help exports for the time being, continuous weakening may be damaging for the economy. At this juncture, signing of new FTA with UAE and Australia and ongoing negotiations with a number of developed nations may help exports from India to rise," Desai said. As many as 28 out of 34 engineering panels witnessed positive year-on-year growth in exports during May 2022 vis-a-vis May 2021. Some of the engineering products including `Copper and its products', ' Tin and products', `Ships, boats and floating structures', 'Bicycle and Parts', 'Prime Mica and Products' conceded decline in year-on-year exports during May 2022. Similarly, on a cumulative basis also, 28 out of 34 engineering panels recorded positive growth during April-May 2022-23 over the same period last fiscal. The data shows exports of iron and steel and its products rose 16 per cent in May to $2.63 billion as compared to $2.26 billion. The trend in exports of non-ferrous metals and products were also positive during May with the total exports rising 21 per cent year-on-year to $1.31 billion. The engineering industry has achieved 15.3 per cent of the target of $127 billion (for FY23) in the first two months of 2022-23, EEPC analysis showed. (ANI)
New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI/NewsVoir): Mafe Mobiles, one of the oldest home-grown Mobile phone brands in India is reckoning big in the Indian Smart Phone business. The company has roped in Chiranjib Sarkar as Business Head. At Mafe Mobiles, Sarkar's role will be to handle end-to-end operations, and grow the overall business including brand presence offline, online and distribution in the Indian and overseas markets. "I am confident that our superior quality products coupled with competitive pricing, will steer the Mafe Mobile business in the right direction and carve our rightful position in the Indian and Overseas telecommunications market," Chiranjib Sarkar, Business Head, Mafe Mobiles said commenting on the brand's growth plan. Chiranjib Sarkar has more than two decades of experience in distribution, marketing and sales. In past, he has been associated with notable brands like Intex, PepsiCo and Ziox. Mafe mobiles have already sold more than 8.5 million-plus handsets in India and now majorly focusing in manufacturing under make in India policy with a significant presence in Mobile Handsets, Consumer Electronics and Mobile Accessories. Mafe has a strong distribution footprint across Pan India catering to almost 30000 retailers. Planning to launch a series of Smart Phones and a new Smart Watch brand, the company is also increasing its production capacity from 12 lines (currently) to 16 lines. Saawariya Impex Private Limited, since its inception, has become one of the leading players to market of affordable mobile phones in India under the brand "Mafe". Serving customers and giving them the utmost value for their money has been the main aim. The market growth of Mafe mobile phones is currently more than 25 per cent per annum (CAGR). Working in conjunction with the recent Indian Government policies of digitalization and Make In India projects, Mafe has established its manufacturing plant in Haryana with Best in Class manufacturing practices. The plant has a production capacity of around 250,000 units per Month. Mafe handsets pass through stringent processes for quality checks, the robustness of hardware, software, accessories and user interface. Mafe's integrated research and development unit works continuously for the establishment of high-quality standards and strives to innovate every process. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Hogar Controls, a global IoT company with a design-first approach and delivering robust solutions for smart homes, has launched an all-new range of Smart Touch Panels, World-class Controllers, Digital Door Locks, and Smart Curtain Motors in the Indian market. The US-based company which has set up its assembling unit in Hyderabad in 2019, has started the complete manufacturing process in India in April 2022. They are committed to the Indian market and are now in process of even manufacturing custom-designed products for the Indian market. It combines cutting-edge technology and design thinking to offer homeowners, retailers, and professional integrators a range of innovative, intuitive, and stylish products. Focused on building the omnichannel business in the home automation market, Hogar Controls has inaugurated its first exclusive Hogar Controls Experience Centre in Delhi. The experience centre houses a highly curated range of smart home products and solutions and offers the customers a firsthand experience of smart home living under one roof. The massive store that spans an area of 6000 sq feet was inaugurated by Hemant Sud, Chairman - IIID Delhi Chapter in Sarita Vihar yesterday, in the presence of leading architects and interior designers. Vishnu Reddy, CEO - Hogar Controls, said, "As the impact of the IoT is already evident in every consumer's home, we at Hogar Controls intend to redefine connected living with our core smart home offerings. Our first Hogar Controls experience center in Delhi is a one-stop-shop solution for architects, interior designers and contemporary consumers who are increasingly shifting to smart homes. As we aim to expand operations across India, we will very soon launch our experience centers in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, and Kolkata." Jaspreet Singh Bhatia, Vice President - Hogar Controls, said, "In addition to our existing premium range of products that primarily appeals to the HNI community, our all-new Hogar Elite range of products and solutions cater to the larger market and are tailor-made keeping in mind the needs of the end consumers. Our products also come with a complete retrofit design that enables easy fitting to any existing switchboard without much hassle on wiring or need for remodelling. Currently, we are the only brand that offers a complete range of retrofit and wireless smart home automation and security solutions under a single roof." Wi-Fi-enabled Smart Touch PanelsWith a design-first approach and as a part of holistic smart home solutions, Hogar's touch panel series includes product variants under the Prima and Prima+ series. The company, which so far focused on catering to the HNI community and hospitality sector with high-end smart touch panels that work on Z-Wave technology has now introduced a new Wi-Fi-enabled product variant under the Prima series. Retaining its premium look and build quality of the products, the company has launched the new Wi-Fi variant, primarily targeting builders and the upper-middle / middle-class segment. The Wi-Fi series smart touch panels are compatible with any smartphone and voice-controlled via amazon Alexa or google assistant on supported devices via sensors. The smart touch panels are heat, humidity, and shockproof and come with Three and Six smart touch panel, which has options of including Light Dimmer, Fan Controller, and Curtain Control and can further be customized as per the user's needs. World-class Smart ControllersHogar Controls intends to redefine connected living with the launch of their next-generation world-class Smart Controllers - (1) Smart Hub and (2) Smart Mini Hub. Both devices help in setting up seamless connectivity and faster processing amongst all the smart devices. Configured to either a local network or to the cloud, the Smart Hubs allow the user to operate all connected devices via the Hogar Pro App. While the Smart Hub can connect over 232 Z-Wave devices, Smart Mini Hub connects up to 60 Z-Wave devices. Digital Door LocksHogar Controls all-new Smart Indoor Locks are enabled with multi-unlocking modules that includes fingerprint, password, physical key, app unlock, and card access. While the door lock modules are waterproof, moisture-proof and mildew-proof, high and low temperature, vibration, and ageing tests are thoroughly conducted to make the product adapt to any harsh environment. The combined unlocking and double function feature strengthens the security level of the lock and makes the door highly secure. Smart Curtain MotorsThe smart curtain motors that come in two product families, VEIL, can be installed, configured, and included in the smart home eco-system in just 2 minutes. The new build-in automation control feature adds to the plug-and-play and lets the user control and schedule the curtains and blinds with predefined auto modes, supporting different lengths and to the scale of 75 per cent, 50 per cent and 25 per cent through Hogar SE App. These motors can also be used standalone, without any separate Automation System and can be controlled via voice through Google and Alexa. The uniquely designed efficient motors offer high and balanced torque for smooth movement and operate almost at negligible noise levels, thus making Hogar Smart Curtain range the best-in-class in its category. The most unique part about the range of Hogar Solutions is that they work seamlessly on single eco-system and application. This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)
New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI/Mediawire): WebEngage is a new-age Retention Operating System, a single suite for marketers to store user data, provide actionable insights, and orchestrate omnichannel campaigns by leveraging user insights to provide a hyper-personalised end-user experience. A leading full-stack Retention OS, WebEngage has been enabling multi-channel user engagement across the users' lifecycle through Web Messages. Listed below are three of the satisfied customers who have successfully used WebEngage's services to maximise their business output. 85 per cent Rise in business through Funnel Analysis Like most e-commerce businesses, Clovia, one of India's leading lingerie brands was facing the issue of cart abandonment. In this particular problem, users add products to their cart but do not end up making a purchase. According to a recent study, the average cart abandonment rate across industries is around 70 per cent, presenting an opportunity for e-commerce brands to recover a ton of revenue. Clovia wanted to make sure that the users landing on the platform are able to find the right product and push them to complete the transaction to drive more purchases. They realised that there could be endless reasons why a user doesn't convert. One thing that is certain is that those who add items to the cart have a strong buying intent. Sometimes all they need is a timely and contextual nudge to finish the checkout process and make a transaction. The process The team at WebEngage conducted brainstorming sessions with the stakeholders at Clovia to get an in-depth understanding of the challenges, and to come up with a quick and customised solution. Using WebEngage's funnel feature, a checkout funnel was created to analyse the behaviour of high-intent users over different time frames. This helped the team at Clovia to ascertain the best time to send out cart abandonment campaigns and take corrective measures. To retain the existing users, Clovia surprised its users with a customised discount code that would be specially sent out on the user's birthday. The coupon code was sent via multi-channel user journeys and aided the team at Clovia to establish a stronger, more memorable personal connection with them. Conversion up 20 per cent through web push and onsite notification Zivame, one of India's largest lingerie marketplaces functioning in both online and offline space decided to concentrate on generating more revenue from existing users by giving them reasons to come back, rather than the acquisition of innumerable new users. This was done to keep marketing costs at bay and achieve steady growth in revenue. So, Zivame used WebEngage's Journey Designer that targeted anonymous users, who dropped off from the product page, via two channels that is onsite notification and web push. The process The journey first checks, for 30 minutes, whether or not the user converts organically, post-viewing the product page. If the user doesn't convert, then the journey triggers a message. The message is to be sent via web push - so it checks for the user's reachability on that channel. If the user is not reachable on web push (if it has been disabled manually), then the journey triggers an onsite notification. 25 per cent QoQ rise in orders placed with hyper-personalised emails One of the primary growth metrics that Epigamia, a Mumbai-based Greek yoghurt brand wanted to boost was the total number of orders placed. This meant Epigamia aimed to nullify all the customer drop-offs at all the touchpoints during the purchase journey. The company also wanted to increase their repeat orders. That's when Epigamia decided to partner with WebEngage. Keeping their target audience in mind, Epigamia opted to begin with email marketing with WebEngage. The process WebEngage allowed Epigamia to engage users with tailored emails at the right moment, fostering brand loyalty. Backed by deep insights and intuitive features, WebEngage also enabled Epigamia to segment their users by their preferences and behaviour to engage them with contextual messages. With WebEngage, Epigamia could also analyse the email campaigns against various performance indicators to understand the impact on user engagement, conversions and revenue. This story is provided by Mediawire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/Mediawire)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met Taiwan-based manufacturing giant Foxconn's Chairman Young Liu and hailed the company's electronics manufacturing plans in the country. "Glad to meet Mr. Young Liu, Chairman, Foxconn. I welcome their plans for expanding electronics manufacturing capacity in India, including in semiconductors," Modi said in a tweet. The Taiwan-based company is also planning to set up an EV manufacturing plant in India. Foxconn's EV manufacturing arm, Foxtron, is planning to set up manufacturing plants at various locations in southeast Asia, including India. "Our push for EV manufacturing is in line with our commitment of Net Zero Emission," the prime minister said in the tweet. Liu also met Akarsh Hebbar, Vedanta Group's Global Managing Director of Display and Semiconductor Business, to discuss next steps for their proposed partnership to manufacture semiconductor chips in the country. Vedanta and Foxconn signed an MoU in February to form a joint venture company in India. Vedanta will hold 60 per cent of the equity in the JV while Foxconn will own 40 per cent. "The Vedanta-Foxconn partnership will, in the coming years, arrest the electronic component import bill of around $100 billion. Vedanta and Foxconn are in discussion with some state governments, to finalise the location of semiconductor units soon," the companies said in a statement. This is the first joint venture in the electronics manufacturing space after the announcement of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for semiconductors and display manufacturing. Vedanta is planning to invest around $15 billion in a phase-wise manner over the next 5-10 years to build displays and semiconductor chips in India. The JV will look at setting up a semiconductor manufacturing plant in the next two years, said the companies. India, which aims to become a global semiconductor hub in coming years, is set to pump $30 billion into its technology sector to achieve independence on chips so that it isn't "held hostage" to global suppliers. The Indian government recently announced an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore (around $10 billion), under its production linked incentive (PLI) scheme, separately for the development of a semiconductor and display manufacturing electronics ecosystem. In the last few years, India has been actively promoting cooperation with Taiwan in trade, investment, tourism, culture, education, and people-to-people exchanges. Both the countries have also constituted teams for the expansion of fruitful collaboration in education and skill development. --IANS na/vd ( 410 Words) 2022-06-23-19:00:03 (IANS)
Actor Mouni Roy channelled her inner foodie by sharing her love for different cuisines in her latest social media post. "Never Not eating" captioned the 'Gold' actor on Instagram. In the first picture, Mouni could be seen sipping on a beverage, enjoying the drink with a spoon in her mouth, giving a cute expression. She sported her hair loose while the massive engagement ring on her forefinger was widely visible. As for the second image, Mouni sipped on another beverage, presumably an orange or mango shake, seemingly loving it. She sported a chic pink, strappy dress, having black floral prints and kept her hair straightened looking like a diva. Mouni's love for food and beverages was quite evident from the third picture as she drank another liquid in a restaurant, looking at the beverage, with eyes full of love. A bowl of noodles and chopsticks were placed in front of her as well. The fourth picture revealed Mouni's love for steaks, as she shared the post, having a plate of the Mexican dish in front of her, along with some veggies. A distant wine glass was also spotted in the photo. In the fifth image, Mouni gave a glimpse of her savouring a plate of pasta and a glass of wine, at another restaurant. Soon after Mouni shared these pictures, her friend and actor, Aashka Goradia Goble commented, "world needs to know!! YOU EAT!" with a string of laughing and heart emojis. Talking on the film front, Mouni will next be seen in Ayan Mukherji's action-fantasy-drama 'Brahmastra'. The film also stars Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, and Amitabh Bachchan in the lead roles. Mouni's new look in the film has created quite a buzz amongst her fans. In the trailer, she had glowing red eyes, wearing a black dress, looking furiously vile. Produced by Karan Johar, 'Brahmastra' is set to light the theatres on fire this year on September 9. Mouni has established a successful career for herself in the film and television industry. She starred in many television shows like ' Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev', 'Kasturi', and 'Naagin' to name a few. (ANI)
The 'Firangi' actor shared a series of pictures, where he could be seen smiling with all his crew members Sumona Chakravarti, Rajiv Thakur, Kiku Sharda, Chandan Prabhakar and Krushna Abhishek, giving proper squad goals.

Sharing these pictures, Kapil wrote in the caption, "Crew that laughs together stays together!!".

Fans flooded the comment section and dropped heart emojis, as all the crew members can be seen having a blast on their work tour.

Kiku Sharda, Krushna Abhishek and Rajiv Thakur shared some fun reel videos from their trip which went viral on social media.

The 'Kis Kisko Pyar Karoon' actor recently wrapped up the second season of his comedy talk show, where the star cast of 'JugJugg Jeeyo' arrived and had a blast with all the crew members and the audience.

The first 'Kapil Sharma Live' show is scheduled for June 25 in Vancouver, Canada, following up with the second show on July 3 in Toronto.

Post Canada, the crew is going to visit the USA for their upcoming live events.

Talking about the third season of the comedian's chat show, the actor revealed that he will be back with the new season of the show soon after coming back from the USA and Canada tour. (ANI)
Actor Vaani Kapoor is extremely excited as her film 'Shamshera' is all set to release in theatres on July 22. In the film, she will be seen sharing screen space with Ranbir Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt. Sharing details about her role, Vaani said, "I play the character of Sona, the most sought-after travelling performer of India in the 1800's. I have always chosen roles where my character pivots the script in a certain direction and in Shamshera too, Sona plays an important role in building the narrative. I'm thankful to Karan Malhotra for seeing me in this role. He held my hand at every step of the way and guided me to bring Sona to life." "Sona has strong willpower, she's confident, a go-getter yet has her own emotional vulnerabilities. She's definitely one of the most refreshing characters I have played on screen. I'm amazing teaming up with Ranbir Kapoor - a powerhouse of talent. He's truly a very special actor and my personal favourite," she added. Directed by Karan Malhotra, 'Shamshera' is set in the fictitious city of Kaza, where a warrior tribe is imprisoned, enslaved and tortured by a ruthless authoritarian general Shudh Singh. This is the story of a man who became a slave, a slave who became a leader and then a legend for his tribe. He relentlessly fights for his tribe's freedom and dignity. His name is Shamshera (played by Ranbir). Sanjay Dutt plays Ranbir's arch-enemy in the film, which is produced by Aditya Chopra. (ANI)
Hollywood star Brad Pitt recalled a 'pretty foolish' incident when he was tricked by some man into the quest for finding gold in his Chateau Miraval estate. The 'Troy' actor revealed that once a man convinced Pitt that during the medieval times, one of Miraval's previous owners had stolen millions of dollars and hid it somewhere in the backyard of the huge estate, reported Page Six. As a result, Pitt got 'obsessed' with the fact. "I got obsessed. Like for a year, this was all I could think about, just the excitement of it all." shared the 58-year-old star, in an intervirew for the cover story of GQ magazine. Pitt confessed that his 'excitement' to find the treasure was 'something to do with' Oklahama, 'where he grew up', where 'hidden stories' were lurking everywhere, reported Page Six. "Maybe it has something to do with where I grew up, because in the Ozark Mountains there were always stories of hidden caches of gold," confessed the Hollywood actor. However, Pitt expressed his disappointment that after a through search for one year, he did not find any treasure. Instead he discovered that the man who gave him the information of the buried treasure was in fact seeking some investment in a radar company, reported Page Six. Pitt shared that althouigh he felt 'pretty foolish in the end, it was the hunt that was exciting." Meanwhile, the 'Once Upon a Time In Hollywood' actor's French estate, Miraval has ushered in a lot of fortune, reported Page Six. However, the actor has accused his ex-wife, actor Angelina Jolie for selling her share of the Miraval vineyard to some 'stranger' even though both had agreed that they would not be selling their individual interests without the consent of any one part. Chateau Miraval's vineyard is one of the best rose wine producers, which has transformed into a muti-million starrer business, reported Page Six. Presently, Brad is seeking damages "in an amount to be proven at trial". He has asked for a trial by jury as well. (ANI)
US TV reality star, Kourtney Kardashian revealed that she used to 'starve her fever' while battling with the Covid-19 virus and shared some 'helpful things' to deal with the infection. The Kardashian, who contracted the Covid-19 virus for the second time last week, shared some tips with her fans on her lifestyle blog Poosh related to the virus, to help them deal with the infection, reported Page Six. "She wanted to share the most helpful things she has learned this time around. From the thermometer she is 'obsessed' with to being vocal when feeling scared," read the post on Poosh. The 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' star revealed that she liked to 'starve her fever' which she learnt from her grandmother. 'Starving a fever' refers to fasting which is supposed to be a great remedy for curing fever. "I like to starve my fever like my grandma always taught me," explained Kourtney. Amongst 'Kourt's COVID tips', she advised people to remain 'hydrated', take their vitamins, and 'reach out to doctors' if they contracted the virus, reported Page Six. "Don't be afraid to reach out to doctors you trust or have a relationship with--they're usually happy to help," said the Kardashian on her lifestyle blog. In addition, Kourtney reccommended that applying peppermint oil at the base of one's skull 'feels good and tingly', providing 'relief' in releasing congestion. "It feels so good and tingly and gives the best relief," shared Kourtney. As far as touchless thermometres were concerned, the reality star felt that the device seemed to be useful when one is 'unable to move', reported Page Six. "I used it for my day there, and then I didn't feel complete without it at home. It doesn't have to go in your ear or touch you and always seemed to be accurate for me... It felt really easy to check when you're unable to move," revealed Kourtney. According to Page Six, Kourtney has fully 'recovered' from the virus. Meanwhile, Kourtney wed 'Blink-182' drummer Travis Baker on May 15 this year in a lavish wedding ceremony at a castle in Italy. (ANI)
Are you a Covid-19 survivor, but still feel fatigued and not having fully recovered? You may be experiencing what is known as "Long Covid". The symptoms may not be life-threatening, but can persist for months and impact daily life, experts say. While most patients who were affected with SARS-CoV -- the virus behind the deadly coronavirus -- and recovered, may do fine, but some are likely to face symptoms, including fatigue, shortness of breath, "brain fog," sleep disorders, fevers, gastrointestinal symptoms, anxiety, and depression, according to the US National Institutes of Health. "Patients post Covid on the recovery stage can have multiple symptoms which includes weakness, myalgia, joint pain, breathlessness, cough, headache, and anxiety. Some of these symptoms are due to persistent respiratory dysfunction during the recovery phase of Covid infection and breathlessness is due to residual lung damage," Dr Praveen Gupta, Director and Head, Neurology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, told IANS. For those past the middle age, the condition seems to be more critical. "Covid survivors, especially after middle age, develop breathlessness and easy fatigue on exertion. Lung functions are compromised. Some would always continue to have reduced lung function in the form of breathlessness on exertion as fibrosis is seen following Covid. The degree of fibrosis in each case will decide the sequelae," said Dr Ravindra Gupta, Sr Consultant, Internal Medicine at Columbia Asia Hospital, Gurugram. The symptoms per se are not life-threatening once you recover from the disease, but can affect quality of life, the health experts said, adding however, it is still too early to say how long the post-Covid symptoms could continue. According to a large global study of the emerging "Long Covid syndrome", reported in January, nearly half of more than 3,700 self-described Covid "Long Haulers" in 56 countries could not work full time six months after unexpectedly developing prolonged symptoms of Covid-19. Another study led by University of Washington in the US, reported in February that about one in three patients who survived Covid, continue to complain months later of symptoms like fatigue, loss of smell or taste and brain fog. In April first week, about 1.1 million Britons reported having long Covid symptoms, the UK''s Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed. "These symptoms are usually short-lasting and resolve with appropriate medication in a few months. These symptoms are not life-threatening," Gupta said. The condition may not be widespread in India. "Majority of Covid infections are self-limiting and do not have any long term consequences. In a few cases, anosmia and malaise remains and might persist for long duration. But no major post-Covid complications are reported," Dr Harshal R. Salve, Associate Professor at the Centre for Community Medicine, AIIMS, New Delhi, told IANS. "Major studies are undergoing to assess long-term impacts of Covid and the vaccines against it," he added. --IANS rvt/vd ( 481 Words) 2021-04-18-19:02:03 (IANS)
In preeclampsia, which puts both mother and baby at risk, researchers have discovered that a midgestational rise in the hormone leptin, which most of us associate with appetite suppression, causes problematic blood vessel dysfunction and limits the baby's growth. The findings of the research were published in the journal 'Hypertension'. Before a baby is ever born, critical supply chain problems with nutrition and oxygen can result in premature birth or even death and increase the child and mother's lifelong risk of cardiovascular disease. It's known that about 20 weeks into a pregnancy, women with preeclampsia experience an increase in the production of leptin by the placenta but the consequences have been unknown. "It's kind of emerging as a marker of preeclampsia," said Dr Jessica Faulkner, vascular physiologist in the Department of Physiology at the Medical College of Georgia and corresponding author of the study in the journal Hypertension. Leptin, mostly produced by fat cells, is also produced by the temporary organ, the placenta, which enables the mom to supply her developing baby with nutrients and oxygen, Faulkner said. Leptin levels steadily increase in a healthy pregnancy, but specifically what leptin is doing even normally in this scenario is unclear. There is some evidence it's a natural nutrient sensor in reproduction or maybe a way to enable new blood vessel growth and/or to stimulate growth hormone for usual development. "But in preeclamptic patients leptin levels go up more than they should," Faulkner said. The new research looking at the impact shows for the first time that the increase in leptin results in endothelial dysfunction in which blood vessels constrict, their ability to relax is impaired and the baby's growth is restricted. When the scientists inhibited the precursor for the powerful, natural blood vessel dilator nitric oxide, like what happens in hypertension, it pretty much replicates the effect of the midgestation leptin increase. To make matters worse, the scientists also have evidence that leptin plays a role in increasing levels of the blood vessel constrictor endothelin 1. Conversely when they deleted the receptor for aldosterone, in this case, the mineralocorticoid receptors on the surface of the cells that line blood vessels, endothelial dysfunction didn't happen, said Dr Eric Belin de Chantemele, physiologist in MCG's Vascular Biology Center and the paper's senior author. "We think what is going on in preeclamptic patients is the placenta is not properly formed," Faulkner says. "In the middle of gestation, fetal growth is not happening as it should. I think the placenta is compensating by increasing leptin production," potentially with the goal of helping spur more normal growth. But the results appear to be just the opposite. "It can hurt the baby's development and increase the risk of long-term health problems for the baby and mother," she said. While leptin has been associated with preeclampsia, this was the first study to show that when leptin goes up, it induces the unhealthy clinical characteristics of preeclampsia, Belin de Chantemele said. When they infused leptin in pregnant mice to mimic the surge that happens in preeclampsia, they saw an unhealthy chain reaction with the adrenal gland making more of the steroid hormone aldosterone which could be increasing the production of endothelin 1, also by the placenta. Their previous work has shown that outside of pregnancy, an infusion of leptin results in endothelial dysfunction. Belin de Chantemele's lab has pioneered work showing that fat-derived leptin directly prompts the adrenal glands to make more aldosterone which activates mineralocorticoid receptors found throughout the body, notably in the blood vessels in females, which is important to blood pressure levels. High aldosterone levels are an obesity hallmark and a leading cause of metabolic and cardiovascular problems. That work made them hypothesize that the infusion of leptin that occurs during midgestation in preeclampsia had a similar impact that deletion of the mineralocorticoid receptors lining blood vessels could resolve. They have connected similar physiological dots in young females in whom obesity often robs the early years of protection from cardiovascular disease that being female typically provides until menopause. These same players likely are factors in what increases the mother's lifetime risk of cardiovascular problems, Faulkner says. "It means the system is dysregulated and that is basically when you develop the disease," she said. Their goals include better defining the pathways for increased blood pressure and other blood vessel dysfunction, pathways that can be targeted during pregnancy to prevent potentially devastating results for mother and baby, from what Faulkner characterizes as "a two-hit condition." Their findings to date indicate that effective therapies to better protect mother and baby could be existing drugs like eplerenone, a blood pressure medicine that binds to the mineralocorticoid receptor effectively reducing the effect of higher levels of aldosterone, the scientists say. The problems likely start with the placenta, and potentially inadequate blood flow to the temporary organ early in its development and subsequent failure of the development of the big blood vessels that become the passageway for nutrients and oxygen from mother to baby. It's known that in preeclampsia there are problems like decreased secretion of placental growth factors. The bottom lines appear to be that by midgestation, the placenta can no longer properly support the baby, which may be why it secretes leptin, possibly in an effort to spur its own growth and normal fetal development, but in reality, it contributes to cardiovascular and fatal consequences, the scientists report, including raising the mother's blood pressure. "Preeclampsia rates, unfortunately, are rising," Faulkner says, both in the number of pregnant women affected and in how severely they are affected. According to an analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in January of this year in the Journal of the American Heart Association, rates of hypertension that arise during pregnancy, including preeclampsia and gestational hypertension, have nearly doubled in both rural and urban areas in this country from 2007-19 and have been accelerating since 2014. Gestational hypertension is an increase in a pregnant woman's blood midgestation but without associated signs of protein in the urine, a sign of kidney distress, or markers of placental dysfunction, as are found in preeclampsia. Risk factors include carrying more than one fetus, chronic high blood pressure, type 1 or 2 diabetes, kidney disease, autoimmune disorders before pregnancy as well as the use of in vitro fertilization. Increasing rates of preeclampsia are primarily attributed to obesity, which is a risk factor for many of these conditions and associated with high levels of both aldosterone and leptin, Faulkner said. Other times, women seem to develop the problem spontaneously. (ANI)
Asserting that higher production has made Indian administrators complacent, top agriculture scientist on Wednesday said, agriculture research is neglected for long and the government needs to expedite processes for research and introduction of new molecules to increase both, the quality and quantity of produce in view of the climate change. Till recently, it was being declared that India has seen increasing food grain production and can feed the world, but Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war and the massive heat wave in March has upset the cart, Charudatta Digambar Mayee, former Agriculture Commissioner with the Ministry of Agriculture said here. "As against the 111 million tonnes (MT) estimated production of wheat this year, they have now revised it to 103 MT, but my estimate is, we may not go beyond 101 MT," Mayee said, adding, "Almost 10 years ago, scientists had warned that for every 1 degree of temperature rise in the north, there would be a shortfall of 4 MT production." Farmers would need to adopt new technology but somehow higher production has made Indian administrators and policymakers complacent and they are often found saying: "There are no food problems, our godowns are full." But it is this complacency that has neglected the agriculture research and the government needs to expedite processes for research, introduction of new molecules to increase both, the quality and quantity of produce, he said. "In view of the climate changes and emerging threats of pest and disease there is an urgent need to overhaul the regulatory system for introduction of new and innovative chemistry and technologies. Agro-chemical industry is the backbone for farmers and ensures high yield with better quality produce while mitigating crop losses," he told media persons. Drawing attention to how even when the HtBt cotton is as yet prohibited, there are scores of farmers that are openly sowing it, Mayee called for improved enforcement and pointed out how the farmers are be-fooled with spurious seeds with no accountability on part of the private companies. Government should make National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) certification mandatory as done under FSSAI Act as well as support from Quality Council of India or other independent organisations, Mayee said as he addressed the media ahead of the FICCI's 11th agrochemicals conference 2022 on the theme 'Policy landscape for a flourishing Agrochemicals Industry' on Thursday. Chairman, Dhanuka Group, who is the chair, FICCI's committee on crop protection, R.G. Agarwal demanded from the government to reform the Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee (CIB&RC) to expedite registration of new molecules to increase quality of produce, yield and farmers income and reduction of GST on agro-chemicals to 5 per cent from the current 18 per cent as it hurts small & marginal farmers, and providing PLI for pesticide industry to develop international manufacturing hub in India. --IANS niv/pgh ( 482 Words) 2022-06-22-21:36:03 (IANS)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray late on Wednesday vacated his official residence 'Varsha' at Malabar Hill to return to his private home 'Matoshri' in Bandra along with his family. The move came hours after his emotional appeal to the rebel group of Shiv Sena MLAs, led by Minister Eknath Shinde, that he (Thackeray) was ready to quit both as as CM and as party President, provided the rebels met him and made the demand. Thackeray - who tested Covid-19 positive this morning - also said that he had kept his resignation letter ready and any of the rebels could go and hand it over to the Governor. On his part, Shinde responded by saying that steps would have to be taken for Hindutva and reiterated his demand to break off with the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress to form the government with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The crisis shows no sign of defusing despite effects by the MVA allies, the offer to quit by the CM, and even his decision to vacate his official residence. --IANS qn/vd ( 187 Words) 2022-06-22-22:34:01 (IANS)
Vietnam denounces China's military drill, asserts sovereignty over Hoang Sa archipelago

Vietnam on June 23 denounced Chinas illegal military exercise in Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, saying it was a serious violation of Vietnams sovereignty over the islands.



Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang made the remarks during a press briefing in Hanoi, in response to a reporters query about Vietnams reaction to the announcement from the Department for Ocean Affairs of Hainan province (China) about a June 19 drill in the waters within 12 nautical miles from Phu Lam (Woody) island belonging to Vietnams Hoang Sa archipelago.



The military drill goes against the spirit of the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), complicates the situation, is not conducive to the ongoing negotiations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), and does not help maintain a peaceful, stable, and cooperative environment in the East Sea, Hang said.



The spokeswoman stressed that Vietnam strongly opposes and demands that China respects Vietnams sovereignty over the Hoang Sa archipelago and not repeat such violations.



Hang also stated Vietnams viewpoint on the Japanese medias reports about the Japanese Governments sending an appeal to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, in reaction to Chinas intention to turn the East Sea into its internal waters, as well as Japans willingness to stand with Southeast Asian countries, Europe and the US against China in the East Sea issue.





She said Vietnams stance has clearly stated in the diplomatic note No.22/HC-2020 dated March 30, 2020 circulated in the United Nations, in which Vietnam affirms its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos in accordance with international law, as well as its sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction over the waters as provided by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).









Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang. (Photo: VNA)



Vietnam believes that countries share the common aspiration and goal of maintaining and promoting peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the East Sea, and settling disputes based on international law and the 1982 UNCLOS, the spokeswoman said.



Vietnam has always made active and responsible contributions to this process, Hang added./.
In a major setback to AIADMK's Coordinator and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, the Madras High Court on Wednesday refused to interfere in the party's General Council meeting to be held here on Thursday. It also refused to restrain the General Council from amending the party's by-laws. The by-laws were to be amended for paving the way for a single leadership. A bench of Justice Krishnan Ramaswamy said: "It is for the General Council and the members to pass resolutions and this court cannot interfere with the process of conducting the General Council meeting. Therefore this court is not inclined to pass any interim orders or directions except making it clear that the General Council meeting which is scheduled to be held on June 23 will go on." Advocate Rajagopal, who represented Shanmugham, the co-petitioner with OPS, said that AIADMK has a by-law that mandates the agenda of the meeting be circulated before the General Council meeting but that was not done before the meeting called for June 23. He argued that the K. Palaniswami faction was trying to amend the by-law and bring back the post of General Secretary that was abolished after the death of former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa who held the post. Rajagopal said that such an important decision cannot be taken without circulating the agenda to the members before the General Council meeting. He also said that the General Council meeting can take place but no important decision cannot be taken in it. Panneerselvam wanted the meeting to be postponed and had insisted on the continuation of dual leadership of the party. However, the faction led by Joint Co-ordinator and former Chief Minister Palaniswami insisted on amending the by-law and bringing back the post of General Secretary for single leadership. --IANS aal/vd ( 314 Words) 2022-06-22-22:44:03 (IANS)
With the deployment of large number of security personnel, a luxury hotel in Guwahati turned into a fortress on Wednesday as several rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from Maharashtra led by state minister Eknath Shinde camped there, putting the existence of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government under threat. Entry of mediapersons into the hotel has been barred, where the Assam police have take over the security from the hotel's private guards. After arriving in Guwahati via Surat on Wednesday morning, Shinde claimed that 40 MLAs have accompanied him to Assam who are all devoted to late Balasaheb Thackeray's 'Hindutva' ideology. Shinde along with 32 Shiv Sena MLAs and seven other legislators, including Independents and those belonging to smaller parties, arrived in Guwahati on Wednesday morning and checked into the luxury hotel on the outskirts of Guwahati. "Thirty-nine MLAs accompanied me. We are loyal to Balasaheb Thackeray's ideology of 'Hindutva' and we are keen to take it forward," the dissident Shiv Sena leader said, refusing to disclose details of their future course of action. He, however, categorically said that they would not quit the party. When asked by reporters why they came to BJP-ruled Assam, pat came Shinde's reply: "It is a nice place." A BJP leader on condition of anonymity claimed that three more Independent MLAs backing the Shiv Sena arrived here on Wednesday evening. With the latest developments, the Shiv Sena-led government Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra seems to be stumbling on the brink of a possible collapse. The Shiv Sena, which heads the MVA, has 55 MLAs, followed by allies Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) at 53 and Congress at 44 in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. Earlier, the dissident legislators were received at the Guwahati international airport by Assam BJP MP Pallab Lochan Das and MLA Sushanta Borgohain. After landing at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, the rebel MLAs were taken to the hotel on the outskirts of the city in three Assam State Transport Corporation luxury buses, escorted by the police. With the deployment of a large security contingent led by senior officers, tight security has been put in place in and around the hotel. This was the first time that rebel MLAs from outside the region have been brought to the northeast. "The MLAs are known to us. They came here and we have received them as a matter of courtesy," Borgohain told the media. Meanwhile, talking to the media, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said: "40 people came to Assam. This is good. We are happy if more people come. We hardly have any tourists during this time. "Some of our colleagues are there (with the Maharashtra MLAs). I will meet them if I find time today or tomorrow. Presently I am going to oversee the flood relief activities." The Congress on its part criticised the Assam Chief Minister for 'conspiring' to bring down the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in Maharashtra at a time when the people of Assam are in serious distress due to the devastating floods. Assam Congress President Bhupen Kumar Borah alleged that some 40 MLAs of Maharashtra have been held to ransom in Guwahati. "Sarma is involved in a shameful act," the Congress leader said. "The Chief Minister should concentrate on his own job and provide adequate relief to the flood-hit people of Assam. He can do his politicking later, not when people are crying for government support," Borah tweeted. --IANS sc/arm ( 590 Words) 2022-06-22-22:52:02 (IANS)
The Juvenile Justice Board on Wednesday dismissed bail petitions of four minors in Jubilee Hills gang-rape case. The Board agreed with the argument by the police that in view of the serious nature of the offence, they should not be granted bail. The counsel of the four minors had submitted his arguments in support of the bail pleas. The police countered the same saying since the case is at the investigating stage, if minors are released on bail, they may try to influence the witnesses. The court was also told that the minors' parents, who hold influential positions in the society, may try to hamper the investigation. A bail petition on behalf of the fifth minor is likely to come up for hearing on Thursday. Six accused including a major were arrested earlier this month for gang-rape of a 17-year-old girl in a car on May 28 in the upscale Jubilee Hills. They had trapped the victim after a daytime party at a bar and after offering a lift, sexually assaulted her. Five accused including son of a leader of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) have been charged with gang rape while sixth accused, who is son of a legislator of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), is facing molestation charges. The police last week questioned the accused in their custody and carried out scene reconstruction. Potency test was conducted on five accused who were involved in the gang-rape. The test established that they are capable of engaging in sexual acts or not. Saduddin Malik and four minors have been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 376 D (gang rape), 323 (causing hurt), Section 5 (G) (gang penetrative sexual assault on child) read with Section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 366 (kidnapping a woman) and 366 A (procuration of a minor girl) and Section 67 of Information Technology Act . Police say the accused could face punishment for not less than 20 years or imprisonment for life till death or even death penalty. The sixth minor was not involved in rape but he kissed the victim in the car. He has been booked under IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 323 and Section 9 (G) read with 10 of POCSO Act. He could face 5-7 years imprisonment. --IANS ms/pgh ( 403 Words) 2022-06-22-22:56:01 (IANS)
Union Minister for Home Affairs and Cooperation Amit Shah will attend a conclave in the national capital on Thursday, which will discuss various issues related to Scheduled and Multi-State Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies and will also felicitate Urban Cooperative Banks that have completed 100 years of service to society. Shah will be the Chief Guest at the National Conclave of Scheduled and Multi-State Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies on "Future Role of Urban Cooperative Credit Sector". The Conclave will further strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of "Sahakar Se Samriddhi" (prosperity through co-operatives). The business sessions of the Conclave will include discussions on various issues related to Scheduled and Multi-State Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies and the Cooperative Credit Sector such as the future role of Urban Cooperative Banks and recommendations of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) Expert Committee, national cooperative finance and development cooperation as a game-changer as an umbrella organization for the Urban Cooperative sector, the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020 and its impact and developments, the role of credit societies in the financial sector scenario with special reference to Multi-state societies and the issue of regulation and taxation of cooperative credit societies. The Conclave will also felicitate Urban Cooperative Banks that have completed 100 years of service to society. There are 197 such banks in the country. This gives an indication of the deep roots of cooperatives and cooperative banks in the country. Many of the banks are expected to be present at the Conclave to be honoured by dignitaries. Urban Cooperative Banks are among the oldest banking institutions in the country. They have been in existence for well over a century. They are banks organised and managed by a cross-section of people from society that could include teachers, lawyers, traders, doctors, engineers, social workers and others to provide banking services to their members. Minister of State for Cooperation B.L. Verma, senior officials from the Ministry of Cooperation, the Chairman Emeritus of the National Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies Ltd. (NAFCUB) Dr HK Patil, the President of NAFCUB Jyotindra Mehta and the Vice President of NAFCUB VV Anaskar will also be amongst those who will be present during the inaugural session of the conclave. (ANI)
As many as eight people died and seven were injured after a loader truck collided with an auto-rickshaw in the Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday evening, police said. Police said that the injured have been shifted to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. According to the police, the accident took place on the National Highway in the Maudaha Kotwali area of Hamirpur district in Uttar Pradesh. "Eight people were dead and seven injured in an accident that took place between a loader truck and an auto-rickshaw on the National Highway in Maudaha Kotwali area of Hamirpur. The injured have been shifted to a hospital," Vivek Yadav, Circle Officer Maudaha. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the Hamirpur accident. "The accident in Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh is very painful. I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, as well as to the injured for a speedy recovery. The state government and the local administration are doing all they can to help the injured," PM Modi tweeted. (ANI)
A division bench has reserved the Madras High Court's order of refusing to restrain the AIADMK general council meeting on Wednesday for amending party bylaws. A division bench of Justice M Duraiswamy and Justice Sunder Mohan heard a plea by AIADMK General Council member Shanmugam, who had appealed against the Madras High Court's order. Justice Sundar Mohan arrived at the residence of Justice Duraisamy for the late night sitting to hear the appeal. The bench stated that the decision on 23 resolutions can be taken but nothing other than that, however, members have the liberty to discuss any other matter. The court earlier said that it cannot interfere in such issues. Madras High Court on Wednesday refused to restrain AIADMK general council meeting scheduled to be held in Chennai today from amending bylaws that will pave way for a single leadership.The tussle between former Tamil Nadu chief minister and party co-coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and his former deputy CM and coordinator O Panneersevelam (OPS) did not seem to end over single leadership in the party with both camps refusing to budge from their views. Palaniswami is all for single leadership in the party and his camp is keen on passing a resolution in this regard in June 23 meeting while Panneersevelam claims that the general body cannot pass the resolution without his signature as per party by-law. After the demise of Jayalalithaa in 2016, the party has been following a dual-leadership formula with EPS as co-coordinator and OPS as coordinator. Voices grew louder for single leadership in the party since the district secretary meeting on June 14. Both camps have held several rounds of talks to resolve the issue but remained unsuccessful. OPS also wrote a letter to EPS demanding postponement of the general body meeting citing a "confused situation" in the party which the AIADMK co-coordinator rejected.In comparison to OPS, EPS enjoys the support of a large number of party MLAs and district secretaries. Amid all this drama, OPS' long-time loyalists have also joined the EPS camp. On Tuesday, Thiruvallur District Secretary Alexander and Puducherry State Secretary Anbalagan extended their support to EPS. "AIADMK Co-Coordinator Palaniswami will be chosen as AIADMK General Secretary on June 23 in General Council Meeting. We have respect for Panneersevelam but he should understand party cadres. But OPS camp behaviour is like DMK B team. Single leadership is the need for AIADMK," Anbalagan said. Earlier on Monday, senior AIADMK leaders inspected arrangements at a private hall in Chennai's Vanagaram for holding the general body meeting. The leaders who inspected arrangements were AIADMK party's deputy coordinator KP Munuswamy, former Ministers CV Shanmugam, Thangamani, Velumani, RP Udayakumar, Dindigul Srinivasan, Senkottaiyan, Vijayabaskar, Benjamin, Talawai Sundaram, AIADMK Deputy General Coordinator Cellur Raju, Kadampur Raju, Natham Viswanathan and Kamaraj. Last week, amid controversy over the issue of single leadership in AIADMK between OPS and EPS, the former held an "individual meeting" with his supporters and district secretaries at the party office here. (ANI)
Prakash Chandra Thakur posted as deputy secretary in the chief minister's office, Vasant Vihar SDM Harshit Jain, and Vivek Vihar SDM Devender Sharma was suspended and disciplinary proceedings were ordered against them, according to an official statement.

The lieutenant governor had on Monday also suspended two assistant engineers of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) after finding lapses in the construction of EWS flats in Kalkaji Extension.

Last week, the LG chaired a meeting to review the law and order situation of the national capital, in which, he was briefed about the current law and order scenario, crime data analysis, preventive measures, major challenges, reforms or initiatives undertaken and their impact by the Delhi Commissioner of Police.

Lt. Governor appreciated the steps taken by Delhi Police especially the separation of law and order from investigation and integration of PCR at the Police Station level, initiatives for women's safety, skill training through YUVA etc.

He emphasized ensuring timely and proper investigation of the cases with a special focus on the collection of scientific evidence thus enhancing the conviction rate and thereby reinforcing the deterrent effect of law.

While stressing the importance of public outreach and community policing, the Lt. Governor emphasized on public hearings in the localities to facilitate redressal of public grievances.

The Lt. Governor also stressed on regular training of police personnel to improve their soft skills. He laid special emphasis on enhancing welfare measures for police personnel including resolution of outstanding matters of pension and gratuity.

Saxena also advised that the Delhi Police Housing Corporation be further strengthened in order to enhance the satisfaction of police personnel as regards housing facilities. (ANI)
The decision to suspend the IAS officer was taken after Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami instructed the officers to take strict action against him.

He was arrested last night after a day-long investigation.

"After Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami's instructions to take strict action against corruption, IAS Ram Vilas Yadav was arrested late last night after a day-long interrogation, in connection with amassing assets disproportionate to his income," said State Vigilance Director Amit Sinha to ANI.

In June, Uttarakhand Vigilance Department raided four locations associated with IAS officer Ram Vilas Yadav including his premises in Lucknow and Dehradun in a disproportionate assets case. A case was registered against him on April 19.

The Vigilance Department had reportedly summoned Yadav for questioning but he skipped it. He was earlier secretary of the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA). Presently, the IAS officer is the Additional Secretary in the Rural Department in Uttarakhand.

In a similar case, the Enforcement Directorate on May 11 had arrested IAS officer Pooja Singhal, who served as Jharkhand Mining Secretary in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds. (ANI)
Three more Shiv Sena MLAs have joined the rebel group of MLAs led by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde in Guwahati on Thursday morning further deepening the political instability in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra. They reached the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati, where other MLAs are campaigning. Last night four more MLAs joined Shinde in Guwahati. With this, seven more MLAs have joined the rebel group in the last 24 hours. Moreover, a resolution passed by the Shiv Sena Legislature Party carrying signatures of 34 MLAs that rebel leader Eknath Shinde continues to be the leader, has been sent to the state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray left his official residence 'Varsha' along with his family members on Wednesday hours after he expressed his readiness to step down if rebel MLAs returned to Mumbai and made such a demand. Shiv Sena workers and supporters showered petals and raised slogans in support of Thackeray when he left with his family from his official residence 'Versha Bungalow', last night amid political instability in the state. Following the political crisis, Shiv Sena had removed Eknath Shinde as the party's legislative party leader. However, the rebels have hit back with the resolution. The resolution said that Shiv Sena's ideology has been compromised in the past two years. They also expressed their dissatisfaction with "corruption in government," referring to Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, who are currently in jail. "Bharat Gogawale has been appointed as the Chief Whip of Shiv Sena Legislative Party. So, the order issued by Sunil Prabhu, regarding the Legislative Party meeting this evening is illegal," Eknath Shinde had said. Earlier, Thackeray addressed the people of the state via Facebook and said he was willing to give his resignation to party MLAs who can take it to Raj Bhavan. Noting that a section of party MLAs was gunning for his ouster, he said instead of going to Surat, they could have conveyed their feelings to him. Thackeray said it is a matter of shame for him if "even a single MLA" was against him. "If any MLA wants me to not continue as the CM, I am ready to take all my belongings from Varsha Bungalow (official residence of the CM) to Matoshri," Thackeray said. "I am ready to give my resignation to the MLAs, they should come here and take my resignation to Raj Bhavan. I am ready to leave the post of Shiv Sena party head also, not on the saying of others but my workers," he added. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut expressed confidence of Shiv Sena sailing through the crisis. "Uddhav Thackeray is Maharashtra Chief Minister and he will remain the CM. If we get the chance, we will prove our majority on the floor of the House," he said. However, the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs have said that there is enormous discontent amongst the party workers for forming the government with NCP and Indian National Congress on account of different ideologies. (ANI)
On the occasion of the death anniversary of Dr Syama Prasad Moookerjee on Thursday, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath paid floral tributes to him on the behalf of UP administration and the population. Addressing the media persons, the UP CM said, "for ensuring India's unity, Dr Mookerjee raised his strong voice against the appeasement policy of the Congress government. He clearly said that two leaders, two legislation, and two symbols ("ek desh mein do pradhan, do vidhan, aur do nishan") cannot run a country, and for that, he sacrificed his own life." "His sacrifices are the witness that it was Congress' intriguant that developed the feelings of separatism and terrorism in Kashmir and India; following which they imposed section 377 on Kashmir, while they also made attempts to impose such illegitimate laws in the country," he added. Speaking about Mookerjee's sacrifice in the freedom movement on his 69th death anniversary, the CM added, "the news of his death in Kashmir valley-- on this day in 1953-- came as a disheartening shock to the entire country." Later in the address, he lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership for the movement that helped Kashmir move towards the country's development. "Under the leadership of PM Modi, Kashmir is free of section 377 today and is seen moving forward with strength towards the development of the country," he said. "The abrogation of section 377 has been a part of an important campaign that was intended to enhance development in Kashmir and make the country free of every kind of separatism and terrorism," he added. He said that Mukherjee was a great freedom fighter, social activist, political critic and a great son of Bharat Mata, who always believed in the country's unity. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also remembered Mookerjee on his death anniversary and said that every Indian is indebted to him for his unparalleled efforts towards furthering India's unity. PM Modi said that Mookerjee worked hard for India's progress and dreamt of a strong and prosperous nation. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also paid tributes to Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his death anniversary and said that every Indian is indebted for his supreme sacrifice in the struggle to protect Bengal and to keep Kashmir an integral part of India. In a series of tweets, Shah paying tributes to him said, "Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerjee's life was a wonderful amalgamation of new ideas of national unity, cultural dedication, education and development. Every Indian is indebted for his supreme sacrifice for the struggle to protect Bengal and to keep Kashmir an integral part of India." Syama Prasad Mookerjee was the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh and also served as the Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet. Bharatiya Jana Sangh, founded in 1951, is the ideological parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to the BJP's official website, on the issue of the Delhi pact with Likayat Ali Khan, Mookerjee resigned from the Cabinet on April 6, 1950. Later on October 21, 1951, Mookerjee founded Bharatiya Jana Sangh in Delhi and became its first President. Mookerjee went to visit Kashmir in 1953 and was arrested on May 11. He died as "detenu" on June 23, 1953. (ANI)
All 23 resolutions were rejected at the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general council meeting held on Thursday. AIADMK Presidium Chairman Tamil Magan Hussain announced that it has been decided to hold next General Council Meeting of AIADMK on July 11, 2022 at 9.15 am. After the resolutions were rejected supporters of O Panneerselvam, who wanted to have the dual leadership format in the party to continue, staged a walkout from the meeting. "All members rejected all the 23 resolutions and the only demand of General committee members is on single leadership. When the next General Committee meeting is convened, all these along with resolutions for single leadership will be adopted," said AIADMK Deputy Coordinator KP Munusamy. He further said that when the next General Council Meeting happens, all the 23 resolutions and a single leadership resolution will be passed. AIADMK's General Council meeting took place at Shrivaaru Venkatachalapathy Palace in Chennai's Vanagaram. Former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, former Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and other leaders of the party were present at the meeting. After the demise of Jayalalithaa in 2016, the party has been following a dual-leadership formula with EPS as co-coordinator and OPS as coordinator. Palaniswami is all for single leadership in the party and his camp is keen on passing a resolution in this regard in June 23 meeting while Panneersevelam claims that the general body cannot pass the resolution without his signature as per party by-law. Voices grew louder for single leadership in the party since the district secretary meeting on June 14. Both camps have held several rounds of talks to resolve the issue but remained unsuccessful. OPS also wrote a letter to EPS demanding postponement of the general body meeting citing a "confused situation" in the party which the AIADMK co-coordinator rejected. In comparison to OPS, EPS enjoys the support of a large number of party MLAs and district secretaries. Amid all this drama, OPS' long-time loyalists have also joined the EPS camp. On Tuesday, Thiruvallur District Secretary Alexander and Puducherry State Secretary Anbalagan extended their support to EPS. Last week, amid controversy over the issue of single leadership in AIADMK between OPS and EPS, the former held an "individual meeting" with his supporters and district secretaries at the party office here. (ANI)
After matching the DNA samples of the people who died in the fire incident that took place at an office building near the Mundka metro station on May 13, the Forensic Science and Laboratory (FSL) identified four DNA profiles on Wednesday which are yet to be handed over to their family members, the police informed on Thursday. As per the reports at least 27 bodies were recovered after the incident took place, of which 22 dead bodies have already been handed over to their respective families. Of the remaining five bodies, two DNA reports were pending from the FSL, which the Delhi Police discussed with the laboratory's director on Wednesday late night. Of these two pending bodies, one was identified as Ranju Devi, which will be handed over to her family today, while the other one is yet to be identified and hence will continue to remain in Mortuary till then. In the early stage of the case, eight dead bodies were handed over to their family members on June 7. Further, the FSL authorities handed over DNA profiles of three unknown dead bodies on the evening of June 7. Earlier, Forensic Science and Laboratory team has given DNA sample reports to the Delhi Police team. Forensic teams have matched several samples with the missing persons' family DNA. The four-storey building was used as office space for multiple companies. According to the Delhi Police's FIR, the building did not have a fire safety protocol in place. Following the incident, North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) suspended two officials including a section officer. On May 23, a Delhi court granted three days of police custody of the building's owners-- Harish Goyal and Varun Goyal in the said fire tragedy case. (ANI)
Tamil Magan Hussain was elected as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Presidium Chairman at the party's general council meeting on Thursday. He was the interim Presidium Chairman until now. Meanwhile, all 23 resolutions were rejected at the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general council meeting. AIADMK Presidium Chairman Tamil Magan Hussain announced that it has been decided to hold the next general council meeting of AIADMK on July 11, 2022, at 9.15 am. After the resolutions were rejected supporters of O Panneerselvam, who wanted to have the dual leadership format in the party to continue, staged a walkout from the meeting. "All members rejected all the 23 resolutions and the only demand of General committee members is on single leadership. When the next General Committee meeting is convened, all these along with resolutions for single leadership will be adopted," said AIADMK Deputy Coordinator KP Munusamy. He further said that when the next General Council Meeting happens, all the 23 resolutions and a single leadership resolution will be passed. AIADMK's general council meeting is underway at Shrivaaru Venkatachalapathy Palace in Chennai's Vanagaram. Former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, former Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and other leaders of the party are present at the meeting. After the demise of Jayalalithaa in 2016, the party has been following a dual-leadership formula with EPS as co-coordinator and OPS as coordinator. Palaniswami is all for single leadership in the party and his camp is keen on passing a resolution in this regard in June 23 meeting while Panneersevelam claims that the general body cannot pass the resolution without his signature as per party by-law. Voices grew louder for single leadership in the party since the district secretary meeting on June 14. Both camps have held several rounds of talks to resolve the issue but remained unsuccessful. OPS also wrote a letter to EPS demanding postponement of the general body meeting citing a "confused situation" in the party which the AIADMK co-coordinator rejected. In comparison to OPS, EPS enjoys the support of a large number of party MLAs and district secretaries. Amid all this drama, OPS' long-time loyalists have also joined the EPS camp. On Tuesday, Thiruvallur District Secretary Alexander and Puducherry State Secretary Anbalagan extended their support to EPS. Last week, amid controversy over the issue of single leadership in AIADMK between OPS and EPS, the former held an "individual meeting" with his supporters and district secretaries at the party office here. (ANI)
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is the company's current flagship, and in its most recent cross-promotion with the Netflix series 'Stranger Things', Samsung is praising the phone's "Nightography" capabilities. The critically acclaimed Netflix series is currently airing its fourth season on the service. According to GSM Arena, a group of three children are riding their bikes in the 'Stranger Nights' trailer as they head to a viewing party to watch the most recent Stranger Things season. One of the children leaves a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra in their back pocket, which records the group's bicycle ride. The shots feature characters from the show, such as the Demogorgon from "Upside Down." Although there were some slight traces of noise, we praised the S22 Ultra's low-light photography for capturing impressive amounts of detail. Low-light video captures a respectable image, the dynamic range wasn't particularly impressive. (ANI)
Maharashtra Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jayant Patil on Thursday made it categorically clear that if the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra falls the NCP will prefer to sit in Opposition. His statement comes after the NCP meeting was held at party chief Sharad Pawar's residence today. Amid political instability in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, the NCP leader said Sharad Pawar has asked party leaders to do everything that needs to be done to ensure that the government remains. "We had a meeting at the residence of Sharad Pawar. An assessment of incidents in the last three-four days was done. Pawar sahib told us that we should do everything that needs to be done to ensure that the government remains. We will stand with Uddhav Thackeray, with this Govt," said Patil. He further said that the Chief Ministerial post has been given to Shiv Sena and it is their internal decision whom they want to give it to. "Chief Ministerial post has been given to Shiv Sena, it's their internal decision whom they want to give it to. If the government stays we will be in power, if the government goes we will sit in Opposition," he added as he asserted that NCP won't join hands with any other party. Taking a dig at Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde, who is currently campaigning in Assam's Guwahati along with 40 MLAs, Patil said, "I don't think that to form government in one state, you can show your strength in another state. He (rebel Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde) has to come here to show his MLAs to Governor...thereafter Governor will take the necessary decision." On being asked about the floor test, he said that the situation has not reached there. "I don't think the Floor Test stage has been reached. Whatever stage we reach, we will speak about it then," said Patil. He further informed that he has invited all the NCP MLAs for a meeting to brief them on the ongoing developments. "At 5 pm today, I have invited all our MLAs for a meeting to brief them on the ongoing developments. Our MPs and organisation chief (Sharad Pawar) will be there too. Meeting of NCP MLAs will be held at YB Chavan Centre, Mumbai today," he added. Meanwhile, the poster of Shiv Sen MLA Sada Sarvankar, who is currently camping in Guwahati with rebel party leader Eknath Shinde, is smeared with ink, word 'traitor' is written on the poster in his constituency in the city. On the other hand, BJP had put up a poster, which reads "Goddess Mauli, may your blessings continue to be upon us and Devendra ji come to offer prayers to you in Pandharpur, after becoming the CM." However, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had claimed he is in touch with 20 MLAs from the Eknath Shinde camp in Guwahati. Amid political instability in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, Raut further claimed that the party is still strong and that the rebels are not true "bhakts" (devotees) of Bal Thackeray adding that everyone will see when the floor test happens. Notably, a total of 42 Maharashtra MLAs are present with Eknath Shinde at Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati, Assam. This includes 34 MLAs from Shiv Sena and eight Independent MLAs, informed sources. Moreover, a resolution passed by the Shiv Sena Legislature Party carrying signatures of 34 MLAs that rebel leader Eknath Shinde continues to be the leader, has been sent to the state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Additionally, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray left his official residence 'Varsha' along with his family members on Wednesday hours after he expressed his readiness to step down if rebel MLAs returned to Mumbai and made such a demand. Shiv Sena workers and supporters showered petals and raised slogans in support of Thackeray when he left with his family from his official residence 'Versha Bungalow', last night amid political instability in the state. Following the political crisis, Shiv Sena had removed Eknath Shinde as the party's legislative party leader. However, the rebels have hit back with the resolution. The resolution said that Shiv Sena's ideology has been compromised in the past two years. They also expressed their dissatisfaction with "corruption in government," referring to Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, who are currently in jail. "Bharat Gogawale has been appointed as the Chief Whip of Shiv Sena Legislative Party. So, the order issued by Sunil Prabhu, regarding the Legislative Party meeting this evening is illegal," Eknath Shinde had said. Earlier, Thackeray addressed the people of the state via Facebook and said he was willing to give his resignation to party MLAs who can take it to Raj Bhavan. Noting that a section of party MLAs was gunning for his ouster, he said instead of going to Surat, they could have conveyed their feelings to him. Thackeray said it is a matter of shame for him if "even a single MLA" was against him. "If any MLA wants me to not continue as the CM, I am ready to take all my belongings from Varsha Bungalow (official residence of the CM) to Matoshri," Thackeray said. "I am ready to give my resignation to the MLAs, they should come here and take my resignation to Raj Bhavan. I am ready to leave the post of Shiv Sena party head also, not on the saying of others but my workers," he added. Raut also expressed confidence of Shiv Sena sailing through the crisis. However, the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs have said that there is enormous discontent amongst the party workers for forming the government with NCP and Indian National Congress on account of different ideologies. (ANI)
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday made an aerial survey of the flood-hit Silchar district of Assam. He was accompanied by Silchar MP Dr Rajdeep Roy and Superintendent of Police, Cachar. "Made an aerial survey of flood-hit Silchar along with Hon MP @drrajdeeproy, DC & SP Cachar. Afterwards, I will visit the affected areas & interact with people, besides reviewing the situation with Cachar district administration for expediting our relief efforts," tweeted the Assam CM. He further said that packets containing food items, water bottles and essentials were airdropped at flood-hit Silchar by helicopters. "Packets containing food items, water bottles and essentials airdropped today at flood-hit Silchar by helicopters. We plan to continue such air-droppings for our stranded people in the days ahead, apart from the regular relief. Our government is firmly with the people of Barak Valley," said Sarma. Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal, on Wednesday, visited the relief camp set up at Phulaguri Higher Secondary School in Nagaon district of Assam to meet flood-affected people of the region. Sonowal visited the district to assess the support provided and interact with the affected people. He extended his heartfelt condolences to the families and next of kin of all those who lost their lives in the devastating flood situations in the area. "To assess the damage and destruction caused by the devastating flood, a Central team would be visiting soon," the Union Minister informed. Sonowal also reviewed the flood situation on either side of the National Highway between Guwahati and Raha. He was also briefed about rescue and relief support provided in this region. Over 41 lakh people in 34 districts of Assam continue to reel under the impact of ongoing flood and landslide situations. The flood situation in Assam's Karimganj district has deteriorated after the flood waters of the Kushiyara, Longai, and Singla rivers have inundated more areas of the district affecting more than 1.34 lakh people of the district. The flood waters have submerged several main roads of the district.82 people have died in floods and landslides in the state this year so far in Assam. More than 12.30 lakh people have been affected alone in lower Assam's Barpeta district followed by 4.69 lakh in Darrang, 4.40 lakh in Nagaon, 3.38 lakh in Bajali, 2.91 lakh in Dhubri, 2.82 lakh in Kamrup, 2.80 lakh in Goalpara, 2.07 lakh in Cachar, 1.84 lakh in Nalbari, 1.51 lakh in South Salmara, 1.46 lakh in Bongaigaon, 1.34 lakh in Karimganj district. The ASDMA also reported that seven people have gone missing amidst the natural calamity whereas 2,31,819 people took shelter in the 810 relief camps in the state. A total of 1,13,485.37 hectares of land have been affected because of the calamity, whereas the ASDMA in its report further stated that at least 11,292 people have been evacuated from the affected areas. The administration of the flood-hit districts has set up 810 relief camps and 615 relief distribution centres and nearly 2.32 lakh people are currently lodged in the relief camps. Meanwhile, summer vacation in schools of Assam will start from June 25 and will continue till July 25 due to the ongoing floods situation in Assam. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met with Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA's Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, hours after her nomination was filed in the national capital. "Met Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji. Her Presidential nomination has been appreciated across India by all sections of society. Her understanding of grassroots problems and vision for India's development is outstanding," PM Modi tweeted. Welcoming the NDA's decision to choose Droupadi Murmu as a presidential candidate, Adivasi Jan Parishad chief Prem S Munda on Wednesday said that the Opposition parties should learn to include the tribal communities in the primary roles and appealed to them to unanimously elect Droupadi Murmu as the President of India. The Adivasi Jan Parishad president also stated that no tribal person has got election as NDA's presidential candidate after 75 years of independence in the country. Janata Dal (United) also formally announced its support for the NDA's presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu on Wednesday for the upcoming election. Taking to Twitter, JD (U) national president Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh wrote, "Janata Dal (U) welcomes and supports the candidature of Draupadi Murmu ji. My heartiest congratulations on being nominated for the presidential election." Meanwhile, Lok Jan Shakti Party president Chirag Paswan has also rendered support to Murmu. He tweeted, "It is a matter of pride for us that Draupadi Murmu Ji has been nominated as the Presidential candidate by NDA. This would be the first time in the country that a daughter coming from a tribal society would assume the responsibility of the highest post in the country. LJP (Ram Vilas) fully supports this decision of the BJP." Droupadi Murmu is a former Odisha minister, who was declared BJP-led NDA's presidential candidate on Tuesday. Droupadi Murmu is the first presidential candidate from Odisha of a major political party or alliance. She continues to break barriers and was the first woman governor of Jharkhand. She served as Jharkhand Governor from 2015 to 2021. Coming from a poor tribal family in the village of Mayurbhanj, a backward district in Odisha, Droupadi Murmu completed her studies despite challenging circumstances. She taught at Shri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre, Rairangpur. She started her political career as Rairangpur NAC vice-chairman. Droupadi Murmu was a member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Rairangpur between 2000 and 2004. As a minister, she held portfolios of Transport and Commerce, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries. She again served as MLA in the Odisha assembly from 2004 to 2009. In 2007, the Odisha assembly honoured her with the 'Nilakantha Award' for best MLA. She served as a junior assistant in Irrigation and Power Department between 1979 and 1983. She has held several organisational posts in BJP and was vice president of state ST Morcha in 1997. Droupadi Murmu was a national executive member of BJP's ST Morcha from 2013 to 2015 and served as BJP district chief of Mayurbhanj (West) in 2010 and 2013. Between 2006 and 2009, she was chief of BJP's ST Morcha in Odisha. She was a member of the national executive of BJP ST Morcha from 2002 to 2009. Notably, the voting for the next President of India will kick start on July 18 whose counting will take place on July 21. (ANI)
"Five women who went to the forest in Naugaon of Uttarkashi district were buried under debris due to mudslide, when the information of this incident reached the Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, he without delay, sent his government helicopter to Uttarkashi," the Uttarakhand Chief Minister's office stated on Thursday.

The injured women have been airlifted from this helicopter and admitted to AIIMS Rishikesh.

Of the five women, one woman who died succumbed to her injuries on the way to the hospital, while the others are being treated at AIIMS.

The Chief Minister has wished for a speedy recovery of the injured. (ANI)
Kerala High Court on Thursday suspended the sentence of life imprisonment to Sister Sephy and Father Thomas Kottoor in the Sister Abhaya murder case. Kottoor, along with Sister Sephy, a nun, was convicted on December 23, 2020, by a CBI Court, Thiruvananthapuram for the murder of 19-year-old nun Sister Abhaya. Thereafter, they were sentenced to imprisonment for life. The 19-year-old Catholic nun's body was found in a well inside St Pius Convent in Kottayam district of Kerala on March 27, 1992, and the case which was first investigated by local police was shifted to the crime branch. Both the probes concluded it as a suicide. An action council was formed including activist Jomon Puthenpurackal who challenged the findings and the case was transferred to the CBI in 1993. A Division Bench of Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice C Jayachandran accordingly released them on bail with conditions, in view of the petition filed in the Court seeking its suspension. After CBI took over the case, in 2008, the CBI recorded the arrests of two Catholic priests, Fr Thomas Kottoor and Fr Jose Puthrukkayil, and the nun, Sr Sephy. But for lack of evidence, Puthrukkayil was discharged by the court in 2018. Statements of Adakka Raju, a thief who had happened to be in the convent on the night to steal, gave a statement that he had seen the accused, proved crucial along with statements and findings of few police officers who probed the case initially. Almost eight witnesses, including crucial witnesses, had turned hostile in the case. When the incident happened, Abhaya had been a pre-degree student in college run by the Catholic Church and was an inmate of Pious Xth Convent Hostel. (ANI)
Amid the political crisis in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday said that the Shiv Sena is ready to come out of the MVA government if the rebel MLAs are willing for it. "MLAs should not communicate from Guwahati, they should come back to Mumbai and discuss all this with CM. We are ready to consider exiting out of MVA if this is the will of all MLAs, but for that, they have to come here and discuss it with the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, said Raut. Raut further claimed that 21 MLAs in Guwahati have contacted Shiv Sena and when they return to Mumbai they will be with the party. "Uddhav Thackeray will come back to Varsha very soon. 21 MLAs in Guwahati have contacted us and when they return to Mumbai, they will be with us," he added. Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Thursday tweeted a letter addressed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and captioned it "This is the sentiment of MLAs". According to the letter, the Shiv Sena leaders don't have access to the chief minister's residence. "CM never used to be in the Secretariat, instead, he used to be in Matoshree (Thackeray residence). We used to call people around the CM but they never used to attend our calls. We were fed up with all these things and persuaded Eknath Shinde to take this step," the MLA wrote in the letter. "It was nice to see people are being allowed inside your Bungalow but these doors were closed for the elected MLAs. We came with our problems in our constituencies and other work, but were made to remain outside for hours together. On the other hand,Eknath Shinde was accessible. We stood at the gates of Varsha for hours. It was only Eknath Shinde who supported us," the letter further added. "People around the CM used to decide if we can meet him or not. We felt we were insulted. CM never used to be in the Secretariat, instead, he used to be in Matoshree (Thackeray residence). We used to call people around the CM but they never used to attend our calls. We were fed up with all these things and persuaded Eknath Shinde to take this step." The MLAs further stated in a letter that they were stopped from going to Ayodhya during Aaditya Thackeray's visit to Ayodhya. "While we weren't able to meet the CM, people from our 'real opposition'-- the Congress and the NCP used to get opportunities to meet him and even funds were given to them related to work in their constituencies. When Hindutva and Ram Mandir are crucial issues for the party, then why did the party stop us from visiting Ayodhya? MLAs were called and were stopped from going to Ayodhya during Aaditya Thackeray's visit to Ayodhya." Notably, a total of 42 Maharashtra MLAs are present with Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde while only 13 are with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena. In a fresh video from Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati, rebel Maharashtra MLAs including Eknath Shinde was seen sit together and raising slogans of "Shinde sa'ab tum aage badho, hum tumhare saath hain." Of the 42 rebel MLAs, 34 MLAs are from Shiv Sena and eight are Independent MLAs. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MLA Kailash Patil claimed that they were trapped and taken to Surat. "We were trapped and taken to Surat, I walked a kilometre to run away from there. We will not ditch Shiv Sena which has made us MLA," he said. Maharashtra Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jayant Patil on Thursday made it categorically clear that if the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra falls the NCP will prefer to sit in Opposition. His statement comes after the NCP meeting was held at party chief Sharad Pawar's residence today. Amid political instability in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, the NCP leader said Sharad Pawar has asked party leaders to do everything that needs to be done to ensure that the government remains. Meanwhile, the poster of Shiv Sen MLA Sada Sarvankar, who is currently camping in Guwahati with rebel party leader Eknath Shinde, is smeared with ink, word 'traitor' is written on the poster in his constituency in the city. On the other hand, BJP had put up a poster, which reads "Goddess Mauli, may your blessings continue to be upon us and Devendra ji come to offer prayers to you in Pandharpur, after becoming the CM." Moreover, a resolution passed by the Shiv Sena Legislature Party carrying signatures of 34 MLAs that rebel leader Eknath Shinde continues to be the leader, has been sent to the state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Additionally, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray left his official residence 'Varsha' along with his family members on Wednesday hours after he expressed his readiness to step down if rebel MLAs returned to Mumbai and made such a demand. Shiv Sena workers and supporters showered petals and raised slogans in support of Thackeray when he left with his family from his official residence 'Versha Bungalow', last night amid political instability in the state. Following the political crisis, Shiv Sena had removed Eknath Shinde as the party's legislative party leader. However, the rebels have hit back with the resolution. The resolution said that Shiv Sena's ideology has been compromised in the past two years. They also expressed their dissatisfaction with "corruption in government," referring to Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, who are currently in jail. However, the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs have said that there is enormous discontent amongst the party workers for forming the government with NCP and Indian National Congress on account of different ideologies. (ANI)
Prime accused in the Kerala Gold Smuggling Case, Swapna Suresh appeared before the Enforcement Directorate officials at its Kochi office for the second consecutive day for interrogation. On Wednesday, the ED interrogated her for almost six hours. ED is interrogating her with respect to her 164 statement at the court and allegations against Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and his family became controversial. Suresh had revealed that she has declared in court about the involvement of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his wife and daughter in the matter. "I have already given 164 statement in court about a threat to my life. I have declared in court about all the people involved in this case. I have also filed a petition seeking protection in court. They are considering it. I have declared in the court about what is the involvement of M Sivasankar (then principal secretary to Kerala CMO), the Chief Minister, CM's wife Kamala, CM's daughter Veena, his secretary CM Raveendran, then Chief Secretary Nalini Netto IAS, then minister KT Jaleel," she said. Swapna claimed that baggage containing currency was sent to Vijayan when he was in Dubai in 2016. The affidavit submitted by Swapna Suresh alleged that 17 tonnes of date imported to Kerala from UAE 'went missing' with the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former Minister KT Jaleel's knowledge. Swapna claimed that baggage containing currency was sent to Vijayan when he was in Dubai in 2016. The Kerala gold smuggling case pertains to the smuggling of gold in the state through diplomatic channels. It had come to light after 30 kg gold worth Rs 14.82 crore smuggled in a consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage was busted by the customs department in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5, 2019. After spending 16 months behind bars, Swapna was released from jail in November last year.The case is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate, National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the customs department. Earlier this year, Swapna Suresh had alleged that she was exploited and manipulated by M Sivasankar, principal secretary of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The statements came after Sivasankar in his upcoming autobiography "Aswathamavu: Verum Oru Aana" alleged that Swapna had trapped him by gifting him an iPhone. Sivasankar was arrested on October 28, 2020, after the Kerala High Court rejected his anticipatory bail petition. Sivasankar was released on bail on February 4, last year. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah met with Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA's Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu on Thursday. "Met NDA's presidential candidate Smt. Draupadi Murmu ji and conveyed best wishes to her. Tribal society is feeling very proud by the announcement of her name. I am sure that her administrative and public experience will benefit the whole country," Shah tweeted. Welcoming the NDA's decision to choose Droupadi Murmu as a presidential candidate, Adivasi Jan Parishad chief Prem S Munda on Wednesday said that the Opposition parties should learn to include the tribal communities in the primary roles and appealed to them to unanimously elect Droupadi Murmu as the President of India. The Adivasi Jan Parishad president also stated that no tribal person has got elected as NDA's presidential candidate in 75 years of independence in the country. Janata Dal (United) also formally announced its support for the NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday for the upcoming election. Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to file her nomination papers on Friday, highly placed sources said. The sources also informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be proposing her name for the nomination on June 24, which will be seconded by the party's national president JP Nadda. Murmu is a former Odisha minister, who was declared BJP-led NDA's presidential candidate on Tuesday. Droupadi Murmu is the first presidential candidate from Odisha of a major political party or alliance. She continues to break barriers and was the first woman governor of Jharkhand. She served as Jharkhand Governor from 2015 to 2021. Coming from a poor tribal family in the village of Mayurbhanj, a backward district in Odisha, Droupadi Murmu completed her studies despite challenging circumstances. She taught at Shri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre, Rairangpur. She started her political career as Rairangpur NAC vice-chairman. Droupadi Murmu was a member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Rairangpur between 2000 and 2004. As a minister, she held portfolios of Transport and Commerce, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries. She again served as MLA in the Odisha assembly from 2004 to 2009. In 2007, the Odisha assembly honoured her with the 'Nilakantha Award' for best MLA. She served as a junior assistant in Irrigation and Power Department between 1979 and 1983. She has held several organisational posts in BJP and was vice president of state ST Morcha in 1997. Murmu was a national executive member of BJP's ST Morcha from 2013 to 2015 and served as BJP district chief of Mayurbhanj (West) in 2010 and 2013. Between 2006 and 2009, she was chief of BJP's ST Morcha in Odisha. She was a member of the national executive of BJP ST Morcha from 2002 to 2009. Notably, the voting for the next President of India will kick start on July 18 whose counting will take place on July 21. (ANI)
The Eknath Shinde-led rebel faction of the Shiv Sena on Thursday released photographs of Sena MLA Nitin Deshmukh who returned to Maharashtra a day ago and alleged that he was forcibly taken to Surat in Gujarat. Addressing a press conference here, Deshmukh alleged that he was taken to Surat and when he realised the conspiracy against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government he tried to run away but was caught by Surat Police. "We were forcibly taken to Surat, I tried to run away but was caught by Surat police. Despite having no complications, doctors told me that I had a heart attack. 300-350 police personnel were keeping an eye on us," he alleged. "Before me, MLA Prakash Abitkar tried to get away from them but he could not. We got to know about the conspiracy against the MVA government as soon as we reached Surat hotel," Deshmukh said. Soon after, the Eknath Shinde camp released pictures of Nitin Deshmukh with other rebel MLAs. Notably, a total of 42 Maharashtra MLAs are present with Shinde while only 13 are with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said earlier today that his party is ready to exit the Maha Vikas Aghadi government if the rebel MLAs are willing. After this, Congress has called a meeting of its leaders today "MLAs should not communicate from Guwahati, they should come back to Mumbai and discuss all this with CM. We are ready to consider exiting out of MVA if this is the will of all MLAs, but for that, they have to come here and discuss it with the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, " Raut said. According to sources, Congress is unhappy with the statement of Shiv Sena leader and has convened a meeting at the Sahyadri guest house in this regard. Senior Congress leaders including HK Patil, Balasaheb Thorat, Nana Patole and Ashok Chavan are participating in the meeting. Speaking to ANI, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said that the party is with Shiv Sena to stop the BJP from coming to power in the state. "We're with them (Shiv Sena) to stop BJP from coming to power. This game is happening due to ED...Congress is ready for the floor test. We're with MVA and will remain. If they(Shiv Sena) want to form an alliance with anyone, we don't have a problem," he said. Sanjay Raut further claimed that 21 of the party's MLAs who are presently in Guwahati have contacted them and when they return to Mumbai they will be with the party. "Uddhav Thackeray will come back to Varsha very soon. 21 MLAs in Guwahati have contacted us and when they return to Mumbai, they will be with us," he added. NCP leader Jayant Patil tweeted, "Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi is a government established for the development and welfare of Maharashtra. We will stand firmly with Uddhavji Thackeray till the end." (ANI)
As the political crisis in Maharashtra further deepened, rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Thursday tweeted a letter addressed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and captioned it "This is the sentiment of MLAs". Shinde shared a letter written by Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat from the Aurangabad (West) Assembly seat and dated June 22 in which he claimed that the Shiv Sena MLAs did not have access to the chief minister's residence. "CM never used to be in the Secretariat, instead, he used to be in Matoshree (Thackeray residence). We used to call people around the CM but they never used to attend our calls. We were fed up with all these things and persuaded Eknath Shinde to take this step," the MLA wrote in the letter. "It was nice to see people are being allowed inside your Bungalow but these doors were closed for us elected MLAs. We came with our problems in our constituencies and other work, but were made to remain outside for hours together. Eknath Shinde was on the other hand was accessible. We stood at the gates of 'Varsha' for hours. It was only Eknath Shinde who supported us," the letter further added. The letter also alleged that "People around the CM used to decide if we can meet him or not. We felt we were insulted. CM never used to be in the Secretariat, instead, he used to be in Matoshree (Thackeray residence). We used to call people around the CM but they never used to attend our calls. We were fed up with all these things and persuaded Eknath Shinde to take this step." "While we weren't able to meet the CM, people from our 'real opposition'-- the Congress and the NCP used to get opportunities to meet him and even funds were given to them related to work in their constituencies. When Hindutva and Ram Mandir are crucial issues for the party, then why did the party stop us from visiting Ayodhya? MLAs were called and were stopped from going to Ayodhya during Aaditya Thackeray's visit to Ayodhya." Meanwhile, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut said that party was still strong and that the rebels were not true "bhakts" (devotees) of Bal Thackeray adding that everyone will see that when the floor test happens. Notably, a total of 42 Maharashtra MLAs are present with Eknath Shinde at a hotel in Assam's Guwahati. This includes 34 MLAs from Shiv Sena and eight Independent MLAs, informed sources. Moreover, a resolution passed by the Shiv Sena Legislature Party carrying signatures of 34 MLAs that rebel leader Eknath Shinde continues to be the leader, has been sent to the state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Additionally, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray left his official residence 'Varsha' along with his family members on Wednesday hours after he expressed his readiness to step down if rebel MLAs returned to Mumbai and made such a demand. Following the political crisis, Shiv Sena had removed Eknath Shinde as the party's legislative party leader. However, the rebels have hit back with a resolution which stated that Shiv Sena's ideology has been compromised in the past two years. They also expressed their dissatisfaction with "corruption in government," referring to Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, who are currently in jail." (ANI)
According to the Karimganj district police, 21 accused were nabbed on Wednesday and one on Thursday.

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Karimganj Partha Pratim Das informed that these accused were coming from Maharashtra and planned to return to Bangladesh via the Tripura border.

"Based on intelligence input, we had launched a search operation at a hotel at Badarpur area on Wednesday and nabbed 21 Bangladeshi nationals. Out of the nine are male, nine female and three are minors," Das said.

During interrogation, it was revealed that the accused entered India without valid documents, police said.

"In enquiry, they revealed that they are Bangladeshi nationals and entered India without valid documents. They came from Maharashtra via train," Karimganj ASP said.

Further investigation is on, the police officer said. (ANI)
Kannur natives Farseen Majeed and Naveen Kumar obtained bail from the court. Meanwhile, the court granted anticipatory bail to Sunit Narayan, the third accused in the case.

The Court granted bail to Farseen Majid and RK Naveen. The Court also granted anticipatory bail to the third accused Sunit Narayan. The first two have been charged with an attempt to murder and several other sections of IPC as well as aviation laws.

The accused told the court they were arrested solely based on a statement from Vijayan's personal assistant. However, the police appealed to the court to dismiss their bail plea and requested their custody. The probe team also failed to produce the visuals of the incident as the CCTV camera inside the plane was not functioning.

The accused were taken into custody on June 13, following a protest against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inside a flight from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram.

The Youth Congress workers onboard a flight from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram protested against Vijayan on June 13.

The protest was taken place as part of the statewide protests against the Kerala Chief Minister over the Kerala gold smuggling case by the opposition parties. (ANI)
Shiv Sena, which is battling factionalism within the party leading to a huge political crisis in Maharashtra, has claimed that 21 rebel MLAs who are camping in Guwahati under Eknath Shinde have contacted the party. Raut on Thursday said that Uddhav Thackeray, who vacated the official residence of the chief minister on Wednesday night, "will return to Varsha Bungalow very soon". "Uddhav Thackeray will come back to Varsha Bungalow very soon. 21 MLAs in Guwahati have contacted us and when they return to Mumbai, they will be with us," said Raut. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MP, Vinayak Raut claimed that at least 18 MLAs have got in touch with the party. "At least 18 MLAs in Guwahati have contacted Shiv Sena leaders in Mumbai and several of those will return soon," the MP said. Earlier today, Raut on Thursday said that the Shiv Sena is ready to come out of the MVA government if the rebel MLAs are willing for it. "MLAs should not communicate from Guwahati, they should come back to Mumbai and discuss all this with CM. We are ready to consider exiting out of MVA if this is the will of all MLAs, but for that, they have to come here and discuss it with the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, said Raut. Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Thursday tweeted a letter addressed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and captioned it "This is the sentiment of MLAs". According to the letter, the Shiv Sena leaders don't have access to the chief minister's residence. "CM never used to be in the Secretariat, instead, he used to be in Matoshree (Thackeray residence). We used to call people around the CM but they never used to attend our calls. We were fed up with all these things and persuaded Eknath Shinde to take this step," the MLA wrote in the letter. "It was nice to see people are being allowed inside your Bungalow but these doors were closed for the elected MLAs. We came with our problems in our constituencies and other work, but were made to remain outside for hours together. On the other hand,Eknath Shinde was accessible. We stood at the gates of Varsha for hours. It was only Eknath Shinde who supported us," the letter further added. "People around the CM used to decide if we can meet him or not. We felt we were insulted. CM never used to be in the Secretariat, instead, he used to be in Matoshree (Thackeray residence). We used to call people around the CM but they never used to attend our calls. We were fed up with all these things and persuaded Eknath Shinde to take this step." The MLAs further stated in a letter that they were stopped from going to Ayodhya during Aaditya Thackeray's visit to Ayodhya. "While we weren't able to meet the CM, people from our 'real opposition'-- the Congress and the NCP used to get opportunities to meet him and even funds were given to them related to work in their constituencies. When Hindutva and Ram Mandir are crucial issues for the party, then why did the party stop us from visiting Ayodhya? MLAs were called and were stopped from going to Ayodhya during Aaditya Thackeray's visit to Ayodhya." Notably, a total of 42 Maharashtra MLAs are present with Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde while only 13 are with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena. (ANI)
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday held the central government led by the BJP responsible for the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra where around 40 Shiv Sena MLAs have revolted against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and are currently camping in Guwahati. Kharge alleged that the BJP-led Centre is attempting to "destabilise" the "strong" Maha Vikas Aghadi government in view of the forthcoming presidential poll next month as they need numbers to get their presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu victorious in the poll slated to be held on July 18. "The MLAs were first taken to Surat where there is a BJP rule, then they were shifted to Guwahati. The BJP wants to destabilise the Maharashtra government. MVA is a strong government that the BJP is attempting to destabilise. The BJP wants that there should not be a single non-BJP government in this country," Kharge alleged. "The presidential poll is also forthcoming. They need the numbers also. So they want to topple the government before the presidential election. We can say that the Central government and the BJP are responsible for this. They want to gain power by destabilising the stable government in the state," the Congress leader hit out at the BJP adding that they "did the same in the past too in Karnataka, MP and Goa". Meanwhile, the Eknath Shinde-led rebel faction of the Shiv Sena on Thursday released photographs of Sena MLA Nitin Deshmukh who returned to Maharashtra a day ago and alleged that he was forcibly taken to Surat in Gujarat. Addressing a press conference here, Deshmukh alleged that he was taken to Surat and when he realised the conspiracy against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government he tried to run away but was caught by Surat Police. "We were forcibly taken to Surat, I tried to run away but was caught by Surat police. Despite having no complications, doctors told me that I had a heart attack. 300-350 police personnel were keeping an eye on us," he alleged. "Before me, MLA Prakash Abitkar tried to get away from them but he could not. We got to know about the conspiracy against the MVA government as soon as we reached Surat hotel," Deshmukh said. Soon after, the Eknath Shinde camp released pictures of Nitin Deshmukh with other rebel MLAs. Notably, a total of 42 Maharashtra MLAs are present with Shinde while only 13 are with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said earlier today that his party is ready to exit the Maha Vikas Aghadi government if the rebel MLAs are willing. After this, Congress has called a meeting of its leaders today. "MLAs should not communicate from Guwahati, they should come back to Mumbai and discuss all this with CM. We are ready to consider exiting out of MVA if this is the will of all MLAs, but for that, they have to come here and discuss it with the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, " Raut said. According to sources, Congress is unhappy with the statement of Shiv Sena leader and has convened a meeting at the Sahyadri guest house in this regard. Senior Congress leaders including HK Patil, Balasaheb Thorat, Nana Patole and Ashok Chavan are participating in the meeting. (ANI)
A fire broke out in a building in Rohini's Budh Vihar police station area of the national capital on Thursday. According to Delhi Fire Service, eight fire tenders are present at the spot. Further details are awaited. Meanwhile, on June 11 in a fire that broke out at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ward of Brahm Shakti Hospital in Rohini one patient died in the blaze. Two weeks ago, a massive fire broke out in Gaffar Market of Karol Bagh area in the city on June 12. Prior to that, a fire had broken out at a carpet and crockery factory's godown in Delhi's Hamidpur area on June 9 evening. On the same day, a fire had broken out near Shah Masjid, Batla House in the Jamia Nagar area. In the same week on June 8, as many as four fire incidents were reported. The first fire incident took place in the Ministry of Home Affairs in the North block post-Tuesday (June 7) at midnight. The fire department received a fire call from North block (Home Ministry room number 82 A, B in the telephone exchange," said an official of the fire department. In the second incident on June 8, at least 10 cars were gutted in a massive fire that broke out at an electric motor parking in Delhi's Jamia Nagar. According to Delhi Fire Service, seven fire tenders were deployed and the fire was brought under control. There were no casualties reported. The third fire incident took place in the electric meter panel in the basement of a building in Delhi's Lajpat Nagar area, informed officials Wednesday. As per the fire department, 10 fire tenders were at the spot. "There was a fire in the mini basement of the ground plus 3-storey building in Lajpat Nagar area, the mini basement was specially made for electric panels only. We rescued about 80 people," said Assistant Divisional Officer (ADO), Rajesh Kumar. (ANI)
Amid the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party leader Jayant Patil on Thursday said his party is "firmly standing with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray" who is battling to retain his office, and said that they will try their best to "save the government". The remarks came after rebel Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde claimed the support of 42 MLAs with only 13 left in the Uddhav camp. "We will stand firmly with CM Uddhav Thackeray Ji till the end. We will try our best to save this government," Patil said. Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that the party is ready to consider exiting the Maha Vikas Aghadi government consisting of Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena, if this is the will of the MLAs. Reacting to Raut's remark, NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said that every party can decide to go on their own paths, however, if people want to go out, they will find some reason for the same. "If what Sanjay Raut said is correct...if they (Shiv Sena) want to go on that path (exit MVA) then they should talk to our leader NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Nobody can stop them. Every party can go on their own path," he said. "If some people want to go out, then they'll somehow find a reason to do that...even in governments run by a single party there can be internal tussles, here there are 3 different parties. There could be differences. That doesn't mean govt should be destabilised," Bhujbal added. Reposing faith in party chief Sharad Pawar, Bhujbal said that they are with him, and they will fight in the opposition if they are not in power. "We're in Sharad Pawar-led MVA and are with CM Uddhav Thackeray...if at all we aren't in power, we know how to fight while being in opposition," he said. Earlier today, Raut said, "MLAs should not communicate from Guwahati. They should come back to Mumbai and discuss all this with CM. We are ready to consider exiting out of MVA if this is the will of all MLAs, but for that, they have to come here and discuss it with the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray". Raut further claimed that 21 MLAs in Guwahati have contacted Shiv Sena and when they return to Mumbai they will be with the party. "Uddhav Thackeray will come back to Varsha very soon. 21 MLAs in Guwahati have contacted us and when they return to Mumbai, they will be with us," he added. NCP leader Jayant Patil tweeted, "Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi is a government established for the development and welfare of Maharashtra. We will stand firmly with Uddhavji Thackeray till the end." Meanwhile, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the central leaders are keeping an eye on the developments in the state. "Our Maharashtra leader Devendra Fadnavis and all our central leaders are keeping an eye on it. He (Devendra Fadanvis) is capable to take a decision in the interest of the state," he told ANI.Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Thursday tweeted a letter addressed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and captioned it "This is the sentiment of MLAs". According to the letter, the Shiv Sena leaders don't have access to the chief minister's residence. "CM never used to be in the Secretariat, instead, he used to be in Matoshree (Thackeray residence). We used to call people around the CM but they never used to attend our calls. We were fed up with all these things and persuaded Eknath Shinde to take this step," the MLA wrote in the letter. (ANI)
In order to better manage and engage with younger and older users, as well as to better target them with age-appropriate and relevant content and advertising, Instagram has been experimenting for years. The Meta-owned platform is currently testing a new set of features designed to verify when people say they are 18 or older, including video selfies, vouching from adult friends, and providing an ID. According to The Verge, creating an Instagram account requires that you be at least 13 years old, but the company has historically done little to enforce this requirement. It didn't even bother to ask new users their birthdate prior to 2019, much less make an effort to validate this information. However, Instagram has added an increasing number of age-verification features and ways to distinguish between younger users and adults after receiving criticism from privacy and child safety experts. Instagram currently only asks users to confirm their age when teenagers attempt to edit their birth date to reflect that they are 18 or older. Users can send in images of different ID cards to prove their age, and as of right now, users in the US will also have two more options: social vouching and AI estimation. Instagram will ask three of the user's mutual followers to confirm their age for the first method, social vouching. The reciprocal followers have three days to respond to Instagram's request and must be over the age of 18. The second technique, known as AI estimation, entails sending a video selfie to Yoti, a third-party business that employs machine learning to determine an individual's age. The UK government and German digital regulators have both given their approval for the use of Yoti's technology, which is a well-known player in the field of the online age and ID verification. It calculates a target's age using a variety of facial cues. (However, the company admits that it is unsure of the precise nature of these signals. Wrinkles? Unbearable sadness in her eyes? Everything is combined.) You can actually test out Yoti's system online right now (the company claims it doesn't keep any of the information you share with it) and see how accurate it is in the table below. The figures display Yoti's age estimation error rates for various age ranges, skin tones, and genders in years, as reported by The Verge. Instagram uses a variety of AI-powered tools to attempt to estimate the ages of its users, not just this one. The business has been using automated systems to look for users under the legal age since last year. These tools scan data such as user-posted birthdays and the ages of their friend networks. Therefore, if a user posts about celebrating their 17th birthday while claiming to be 20 years old, their account will be flagged and they may need to provide age verification. In addition to testing a language-analysis tool that will determine whether a user is an adult or a teen based on how they write, Instagram claims that it is working to add new data points to this system. (ANI)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday slammed the BJP, accusing the party of attempting to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and said that instead of sending Maharashtra MLAs to flood-hit Assam, they should be sent to her state. The Trinamool supremo said, "Send Maharashtra MLAs to Bengal. We will extend good hospitality to them." The Chief Minister's statement came in the wake of a protest by Trinamool workers outside the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati where the rebel Maharashtra MLAs are lodged. Banerjee said: "We want justice for Uddhav Thackeray and all. Today (BJP) you're in power and using money, muscle, mafia power. But one day you have to go. Someone can break your party too. This is wrong and I don't support it." "Instead of Assam, send them (rebel MLAs) to Bengal. We will give them good hospitality...After Maharashtra, they will topple other governments also. We want justice for people, constitution," Mamata Banerjee said. Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee today took a jibe at Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and said the priorities of the Himanta Biswa government were clear as the government is "busy following orders from Delhi to play host to rebel MLAs". "As Assam drowns, @BJP4Assam Government is busy following orders from Delhi to play host to rebel MLAs. I wish CM @himantabiswa cared more about the flood-affected victims and less about toppling the Maharashtra Government. Priorities are clear for a remote-controlled subservient government," Abhishek Banerjee tweeted. In a jolt to the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, senior Shiv Sena Minister Eknath Shinde and other rebel MLAs revolted against the party on Monday night and camped in Surat. The number of rebel MLAs has now risen to 42 and all of them have shifted base to a hotel in Guwahati. Meanwhile, party MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday said the Sena is ready to quit the MVA government if the group of rebel legislators camping in Assam returns to Mumbai in 24 hours and discusses the issue with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. "You say you are real Shiv Sainiks and will not quit the party. We are ready to consider your demand provided you come back to Mumbai in 24 hours and discuss the issue with CM Uddhav Thackeray. Your demand will be considered positively. Don't write letters on Twitter and WhatsApp," Raut told reporters. (ANI)
In yet another setback to the Uddhav Thackeray faction amid the ongoing political crisis, Shiv Sena leader Ravindra Fatak, who was believed to be a close associate of the chief minister and was flown to Surat as an emissary where rebel MLAs were initially camping, has switched sides to join the Eknath Shinde-led faction. Notably, Fatak is not an MLA but an MLC. The situation for Thackeray continues to become grimmer with his close aide switching sides and the chief minister himself falling short of numbers with only 13 MLAs being in his faction at present. Notably, a total of 42 Maharashtra MLAs are present with Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde while only 13 are with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena. Meanwhile, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday held the central government led by the BJP responsible for the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra where around 40 Shiv Sena MLAs have revolted against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and are currently camping in Guwahati. Kharge alleged that the BJP-led Centre is attempting to "destabilise" the "strong" Maha Vikas Aghadi government in view of the forthcoming presidential poll next month as they need numbers to get their presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu victorious in the poll slated to be held on July 18. "The MLAs were first taken to Surat where there is a BJP rule, then they were shifted to Guwahati. The BJP wants to destabilise the Maharashtra government. MVA is a strong government that the BJP is attempting to destabilise. The BJP wants that there should not be a single non-BJP government in this country," Kharge alleged. "The presidential poll is also forthcoming. They need the numbers also. So they want to topple the government before the presidential election. We can say that the Central government and the BJP are responsible for this. They want to gain power by destabilising the stable government in the state," the Congress leader hit out at the BJP adding that they "did the same in the past too in Karnataka, MP and Goa". Meanwhile, the Eknath Shinde-led rebel faction of the Shiv Sena on Thursday released photographs of Sena MLA Nitin Deshmukh who returned to Maharashtra a day ago and alleged that he was forcibly taken to Surat in Gujarat. (ANI)
The Central government on Thursday proposed before the Supreme Court that the alleged 'conman' Sukesh Chandrashekhar and his wife Leena Paulose who are currently lodged in Tihar Jail could be shifted to Mandoli Jail in Delhi. A vacation bench of Justices CT Ravi Kumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia posted the matter for hearing on June 30. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju representing the Centre told the bench that Chandrashekhar could be transferred to Mandoli Jail in Delhi and the prison is guarded by paramilitary forces. "He can be placed in Mandoli jail. It's manned by paramilitary forces from outside and inside we are putting Tamil Nadu special police forces to oversee him. Regular Delhi Police will not be there over him," ASG said. As a senior advocate, R Basant, appearing for Chandrashekhar, objected to shifting him to Mandoli Jail, the apex court asked him to file a statement in response to the Centre's proposal to transfer him to Mandoli prison. "Since this court specifically observed that matter could be taken further only after giving the names of appropriate jail, we are of the view that matter can be taken up further only after giving the name of appropriate jail. List this matter on June 30. In the meanwhile, statement if any on behalf of the petitioner shall be filed," the top court stated in its order. During the hearing, ASG Raju also told the bench that shifting Chandrashekhar from Tihar Jail was unwarranted. While being lodged in jail, he was involved in all illegal activities and he had also called up some judges impersonating the Law Minister asking them to pass orders in his favour, ASG argued. Advocate Basant contended that the petition pertained to transferring Chandrashekhar to any other jail and had nothing to do with the investigation. He said of 34 cases registered against Chandrashekhar, the majority of cases were registered in Bangalore and urged the bench that he may either be transferred to a jail in Bangalore or any other jail outside Delhi. "Someone who is in jail wants a choice of jail," remarked Justice Dhulia. Asking the senior advocate to file a response to the government's proposal to transfer Chandrashekhar to Mandoli jail, the bench said, "You haven't mentioned that you want to be transferred to any other jail which is not under the same authorities. If you have any objections, you can file it." On Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sought prosecution of Chandrashekhar for perjury claiming that he has falsely stated in his affidavit about a physical assault in Tihar Jail and deliberately omitted the report of the doctors who ruled out any physical injury to him. The investigating agency had opposed his plea before the top court to transfer him and his wife from Tihar Jail to any other prison outside Delhi on the ground of a threat to his life. Chandrashekhar's counsel had told the bench that his client continuously faces threats to his life from the jail staff and protection money is being sought from him. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta while opposing Chandrashekhar's plea for transfer to another jail had said that police personnel from Tamil Nadu's special police force have been deployed for their security in Tihar jail. Mehta had said that Chandrashekhar used to call models and celebrities to his jail in collusion with prison staff, who have been suspended and an inquiry has been ordered against them. Director General (Prisons), Delhi Prisons in a fresh affidavit had stated that the contention of Chandrashekhar that he was assaulted in jail are vehemently denied as totally and wholly false and "fabricated for the ulterior motive of seeking transfer to another prison in order to repeat his misdemeanours and offences." ED had told the top court that Chandrashekhar indulged in money laundering, extortion, and impersonation of public officials including those holding constitutional posts, and had opposed his plea for prison transfer outside Delhi. Last week, the Supreme Court had said that it would be appropriate to transfer Chandrashekhar and his wife to some other jail so as to allay the apprehension of all concerned and asked the Centre to take a decision on the appropriate jail to which he can be transferred. Sukesh Chandrashekhar is lodged in Tihar jail on charges of money laundering and duping several persons and claimed a threat to his life in the prison. Chandrashekhar along with his wife had moved the top court seeking his transfer from Tihar Jail to another prison. He said that since he has levelled allegations against jail officials, he faces a threat to his life. He had alleged that the Tihar prison authorities have extorted around Rs 12.5 crore from him in the last two years. He is charged with many multi-crore fraud cases and is also accused of extorting Rs 200 crore from the family of former Fortis Healthcare and Ranbaxy Lab promoters Shivinder and Malvinder Singh from the premises of the prison. He was also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the 2017 Election Commission bribery instance allegedly involving former AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran and others. A number of women Bollywood actors and models have been questioned by the ED for their alleged links to Chandrashekhar. (ANI)
With the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra facing a full-blown political crisis due to revolt in Shiv Sena, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said that NCP will stand with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray till the end. "We will stand will Uddhav Thackerayji till the end. We are keeping an eye on the current political situation," the NCP leader said at a press conference. The Deputy CM further said that all the three parties in the alliance - NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena- have the responsibility to "save the government". The political crisis in Maharashtra has intensified with three more Shiv Sena MLAs joining the rebel group led by Maharashtra Minister Eknath Shinde in Guwahati on Thursday. They reached the hotel in Guwahati where other MLAs are campaigning. Last night four more MLAs joined Shinde in Guwahati. The rebel MLAs had earlier adopted a resolution with signatures of 34 legislators stating that Eknath Shinde continues to be the leader of the legislative party. The resolution was sent to state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari Ajit Pawar expressed surprise over Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut's 'quit MVA' remark and said only he knows why he made such a statement". "I will call CM and ask him why Sanjay Raut made such a statement. Did Raut give this statement only to bring back the rebel MLAs of Shiv Sena? I will discuss Sanjay Raut's remarks with the Chief Minister," he said. Raut said earlier in the day that the party is ready to consider exiting the Maha Vikas Aghadi government consisting of Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena, if this is the will of the MLAs. His remarks came in the context of rebel MLAs raising questions over alliance with Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party and Uddhav Thackeray expressing his willingness to resign if rebel MLAs come back from Guwahati and make such a demand. Raut said MLAs should not communicate from Guwahati. "They should come back to Mumbai and discuss all this with CM. We are ready to consider exiting out of MVA if this is the will of all MLAs, but for that, they have to come here and discuss it with the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray," he said. Raut further claimed that 21 MLAs in Guwahati have contacted Shiv Sena and when they return to Mumbai they will be with the party. "Uddhav Thackeray will come back to Varsha very soon. 21 MLAs in Guwahati have contacted us and when they return to Mumbai, they will be with us," he added NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, who was part of the meeting of NCP MLAs, said that they will extend support to the chief minister till the last moment, adding that they have the numbers to save the government. "We stand with CM Uddhav Thackeray and will support him till the last moment... We have numbers as no MLA of Shiv Sena has resigned nor Shiv Sena has expelled anyone from the party," he said. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole hit out at the BJP over the political turbulence in the state alleging that the party is "trying to destabilise the government and split Shiv Sena". "BJP is trying to destabilise the government, BJP is trying to split Shiv Sena. We're working on how to sort this out... Maha Vikas Aghadi govt will continue and will complete five years. We're keeping an eye on the situation. Congress stands with MVA," he said. The Congress leader further stated that the party can provide "outside support" to the MVA government also if such a situation arises. "If the time comes then we can provide support to the Maha Vikas Aghadi govt from outside also...It was our regular meeting and not happened on the statement of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut," Patole said. (ANI)
Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar on Thursday said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP will back Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who is facing rebellion from his own party MLAs led by Eknath Shinde, leading to uncertainty over the future of MVA government. Addressing a press conference here, Pawar, who was credited for stitching the MVA alliance after the 2019 state Assembly elections, said that the current political situation will change once rebel Shiv Sena MLAs return to Mumbai. "MVA decided to back CM Uddhav Thackeray. I believe once the (Shiv Sena) MLAs return to Mumbai the situation will change," he said. "Everyone knows how the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs were taken to Gujarat and then Assam. We don't have to take the names of all those assisting them... Assam Government is helping them. I don't need to take any names further," the NCP chief said. Pawar expressed confidence in overcoming this crisis and said the government under the leadership of Thackeray will run smoothly. "We have seen such situations in Maharashtra several times. With my experience, I can say that we will defeat this crisis, and the government under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray will run smoothly," he said. "Maharashtra government is in minority or not has to be established in Vidhan Sabha. When procedures will be followed, then it will be proved that this government is in majority," he added. In a jolt to the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, senior Shiv Sena Minister Eknath Shinde with over 40 party MLAs revolted against his own party on Monday night and camped in Surat. After camping in Surat for some time, they are currently staying in Assam. The number of rebel MLAs has now risen to 42. Meanwhile, party MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday said the Sena is ready to quit the MVA government if the group of rebel legislators camping in Assam returns to Mumbai in 24 hours and discusses the issue with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. "You say you are real Shiv Sainiks and will not quit the party. We are ready to consider your demand provided you come back to Mumbai in 24 hours and discuss the issue with CM Uddhav Thackeray. Your demand will be considered positively. Don't write letters on Twitter and WhatsApp," Raut told reporters. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MLA Kailas Patil, who had escaped from a car carrying rebel legislators to Surat, claims some of those taken to the camp led by Maharashtra Minister Eknath Shinde might be wanting to return, but were forced to stay back. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday held the central government led by the BJP responsible for the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra. Kharge alleged that the BJP-led Centre is attempting to "destabilise" the "strong" Maha Vikas Aghadi government in view of the forthcoming presidential poll next month as they need numbers to get their presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu victorious in the poll slated to be held on July 18. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole also accused the BJP of trying to split Shiv Sena. "We're working on how to sort this out... Maha Vikas Aghadi government will continue and will complete 5 years. We are keeping an eye on the situation. Congress stands with MVA," he said. (ANI)
Maharashtra Minister Eknath Shinde, who was on Thursday elected leader by rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, made a veiled reference to BJP and said "a big national party" has told him that his decision was "historic" and they will be present whenever he needs them. He also said the MLAs who are in a Guwahati hotel will be victorious in the end. Shinde was elected leader at a meeting of rebel MLAs at the Guwahati hotel where they are staying. The meeting also unanimously decided to authorise Shinde to take decision about the future course of action. In a video released by the Shinde camp today, he is heard saying that they will be together in any situation and face everything together. "We will be together in every situation. We will face everything with full unity. We will end up victorious in the end," he said. "As you all have said that they (BJP) are a national party and a 'mahashakti'... All saw what happened to Pakistan...They have told me that the decision I have taken is historic and they are backing us. They would not us lag behind in anything. They will support us if there is a need and this will be felt whenever such a situation arises," Shinde added. The political crisis in Maharashtra has intensified with three more Shiv Sena MLAs joining the rebel group of MLAs led Eknath Shinde in Guwahati on Thursday. They reached at a hotel in Guwahati where other MLAs are campaigning. Last night four more MLAs joined Shinde in Guwahati. The rebel MLAs had earlier adopted a resolution with signatures of 34 legislators stating that Eknath Shinde continues to be the leader. The resolution was sent to state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. BJP had said on Wednesday Maharashtra crisis is Shiv Sena's internal matter and the party has nothing to do with it. Union Minister Raosaheb Patil Danve had said that the BJP is not staking claim to form a government in Maharashtra. Danve, who had met party leader Devendra Fadnavis, had also told the media that no Shiv Sena MLA is in touch with the party. "We haven't spoken to Eknath Shinde. This is Shiv Sena's internal matter. BJP has nothing to do with this. We're not staking claim to form the government," Danve said. Amid the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party leader Jayant Patil on Thursday said his party is "firmly standing with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray". "We will stand firmly with CM Uddhav Thackeray Ji till the end. We will try our best to save this government," Patil said. Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde has claimed the support of 42 MLAs. (ANI) Eknath Shinde addressing rebel MLAs in Guwahati hotel (Photo:ANI)
A vacation bench of Justices CT Ravikumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia, in the order, said, "Interim protection granted by the High Court in the impugned order will continue till then."

The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by Gore challenging the Bombay High Court order wherein his pre-arrest bail was rejected.

The High Court had declined to grant anticipatory bail to Gore. However, it granted him two weeks of interim protection from arrest to enable him to approach the apex court.

The case was related to the allegations of fraudulent preparation of bogus documents. The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint of Mahadev Piraji Bhise at Dahiwadi Police Station.

Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for Gore, submitted that the FIR registered against him was purely politically motivated and emanated from a rival faction over the control and administration of Chhatrapati Shivaji Education Society.

The alleged forged Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the basis of which Gore had been foisted with prima facie culpability, had not been signed by him at all, the senior advocate added. (ANI)
In tribal attire, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan danced to express his happiness on Thursday at the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership selecting Droupadi Murmu as NDA's Presidential candidate. NDA's Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu today arrived in New Delhi ahead of the filing of her nomination. She will file her nomination tomorrow. Murmu was received by the BJP leaders at the airport on her arrival. Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha will file his nomination on 27 June. On June 21, it was announced that former Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu will be BJP-led NDA candidate for the Presidential polls. Briefing media after the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting in New Delhi, party Chief JP Nadda said, for the first time, preference has been given to a woman tribal candidate. He said, the BJP Parliamentary Board discussed 20 names for a presidential nominee and it was decided to pick someone from east India, a tribal and woman. Nadda said that Union Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to the constituents of the UPA but there was no consensus on the name. The voting for presidential elections will be held on July 18. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed confidence that Murmu will be a great President of India. PM Modi in a tweet had said that she devoted her life to serving society, empowering poor, downtrodden, marginalised and she has rich administrative experience and had an outstanding gubernatorial tenure. The Prime Minister added that millions of people, especially those who have experienced poverty and faced hardships, derive great strength from the life of Droupadi Murmu. PM Modi also said that her understanding of policy matters and compassionate nature will greatly benefit the country. Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha will be the opposition candidate for Presidential Election. In a joint statement, the parties said they have taken a unanimous decision on Sinha's candidature. NCP Chief Sharad Pawar informed that Sinha will file his nomination on June 27. (ANI)
Three more Shiv Sena legislators arrived at a Guwahati hotel where the rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde are lodged on Thursday. The three leaders who arrived at the hotel include MLA and Agriculture Minister Dada Bhuse, MLA Sanjay Rathore and MLC Ravindra Phatak. Notably, Phatak was believed to be a close associate of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who had sent him as an emissary to Surat where the rebel MLAs were lodged. Interestingly, he also joined the Shinde-led faction. Shiv Sena MLA and Agriculture Minister Dada Bhuse, MLA Sanjay Rathore and MLC Ravindra Phatak reached Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati. According to the sources, the number of MLAs in the Shinde faction has touched the 37 mark which is more than two-thirds of the Shiv Sena MLAs. With this, Shinde now has the support of 44 MLAs in total, out of which 37 are from Shiv Sena and 7 are Independents. The situation for Thackeray continues to become grimmer with his close aide switching sides and the chief minister himself falling short of numbers. Meanwhile, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday held the central government led by the BJP responsible for the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra where around 40 Shiv Sena MLAs have revolted against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and are currently camping in Guwahati. Kharge alleged that the BJP-led Centre is attempting to "destabilise" the "strong" Maha Vikas Aghadi government in view of the forthcoming presidential poll next month as they need numbers to get their presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu victorious in the poll slated to be held on July 18. "The MLAs were first taken to Surat where there is a BJP rule, then they were shifted to Guwahati. The BJP wants to destabilise the Maharashtra government. MVA is a strong government that the BJP is attempting to destabilise. The BJP wants that there should not be a single non-BJP government in this country," Kharge alleged. "The presidential poll is also forthcoming. They need the numbers also. So they want to topple the government before the presidential election. We can say that the Central government and the BJP are responsible for this. They want to gain power by destabilising the stable government in the state," the Congress leader hit out at the BJP adding that they "did the same in the past too in Karnataka, MP and Goa". Meanwhile, the Eknath Shinde-led rebel faction of the Shiv Sena on Thursday released photographs of Sena MLA Nitin Deshmukh who returned to Maharashtra a day ago and alleged that he was forcibly taken to Surat in Gujarat. (ANI)
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is on a one-day visit to the national capital, has instructed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner to conduct an inquiry into the caving in of a road, which was repaired for Prime Minister Modi's visit to Bengaluru on Monday. The road near the Dr BR Ambedkar School of Economics (BASE) was laid just a couple of days before PM Modi's visit to inaugurate the BASE campus. The Chief Minister has instructed the BBMP Commissioner to conduct an inquiry into the shoddy work and take appropriate action against those responsible for it. According to a preliminary inquiry, the road caved in due to leakage of a water pipe. Meanwhile, Bommai's visit has given rise to fresh speculation of changes in the state Cabinet. According to the tour programme released by his office, the Chief Minister would reach New Delhi on Thursday afternoon and return Friday evening. (ANI)
An eleventh-grade student in Hyderabad is making use of technology to save trees in her area. The student is also spearheading an initiative that aims to save the 'green belt' in the state by encouraging students to reuse textbooks. About six months ago, the Hyderabad resident and class 11 student of a school here started an initiative to increase the green belt in the city by undertaking plantation drives near residential societies. She then thought of seeking help from technology to save trees and for this, created a website named 'Carbon Neutral Warrior', which links people who want to buy textbooks with those who want to donate them. The student Anusha Agarwal told ANI, "I started an initiative called carbon-neutral warriors. The carbon-neutral warriors include three initiatives where firstly, children in my community plant saplings by their choice." "Secondly, we hold panel discussions in collaboration with an NGO and green brigades to spread awareness about the issue and understand how we can take small steps to reduce carbon emissions. Thirdly is a textbook reuse initiative," she said, adding that she created a website that links the donors to receivers. "Receivers don't have to buy the textbooks, and if this chain continues, more trees can be saved and cutting down trees will be lessened," she added. Anusha's aim is to see the website being used across all the schools in Hyderabad and students being benefitted. More trees will be saved, she added. "We have to save the planet as our future is here. It is our responsibility to take small actions and these actions will make a big difference collectively," she said. Preeti, mother of Anusha, said to ANI, "I was very happy when I got to know about the initiative. Initially, she needed support from us. For example, she had an idea of planting saplings but didn't know where to procure it from. We researched and found that GHMC provides free saplings for plantation drives. So we got them and did plantation." "Later, she learned to design websites. As on date, 12 schools are connected with the website. We want all the schools to come forward and use the website. I feel very good when kids of her age can do miracles," she said. Shweta, a beneficiary of the website told ANI, "I used the website and it's a very good initiative taken up by Anusha. The website is user-friendly, registration is very simple and it has a donate and receive button. When I registered, I quickly got the response. I immediately got the response from a couple of people." She further said she received the books for 10th grade through the website. (ANI)
The Trinamool Congress workers were protesting against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for "concentrating on toppling the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra instead of focusing on the flood situation in the state".

The protesters raised slogans like "stop horse-trading" and alleged Sarma's involvement in "horse-trading".

"Many people are not getting food and drinking water in the Cachar region of Assam... over 50 lakh people of Assam are suffering due to flood but instead of providing them relief, the Chief Minister of Assam is busy toppling the Maharashtra government," Ripun Bora, a former Congress leader, said.

Police said the protests were held without prior permission. Later, the police detained the Trinamool Congress workers and leaders along with Bora.

Meanwhile, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) also reportedly held a protest outside the hotel.

Heavy security has been deployed outside the five-star hotel.

Earlier on Thursday, a minister of the Assam cabinet, Ashok Singhal had checked into the Radisson blu hotel.

Besides, Assam ADGP Hardip Singh had also arrived at the luxury hotel to assess the security measures.

--IANS tanuj/pgh

( 230 Words)

2022-06-23-19:10:04 (IANS)
Another police station in Kolkata on Thursday issued notice to the suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma in connection with her controversial comments about Prophet Muhammad, which created nationwide protest and violence. The fresh notice from Amherst Street police station, under Kolkata Police's north and north suburban division, asked Sharma to be present at the police station on June 25. The notice has been sent through email and speed post, Kolkata Police sources said. Earlier Narkeldanga Police Station, under the eastern suburban division of Kolkata Police, had issued a similar summons to Sharma, asking her to be present for questioning at the said police station on June 20. However, at the last moment, Sharma had sent a communique to Narkeldanga Police Station seeking four weeks time to appear. In the letter, she had also expressed security threat apprehension if she comes to Kolkata. Soon after Sharma's controversial comments went viral, there was severe tension in several minority-dominated pockets in West Bengal in certain districts like Kolkata and adjacent Howrah, Murshidabad, and Nadia. Clashes erupted between the agitators and police in which Domjur police station in Howrah district was attacked, police vehicles were torched and several police personnel were injured. Internet services were suspended in several areas. Following countrywide tension over the controversial comments, the BJP suspended her from the party. The BJP also took action against its Delhi leader Naveen Jindal who shared her comments on Twitter. --IANS src/vd ( 251 Words) 2022-06-23-19:20:03 (IANS)
IPS officer and former Punjab Police chief Dinkar Gupta has been appointed as the Director General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), an official statement said on Thursday. A 1987 batch officer, Gupta succeeds Yogesh Chandra Modi and will head the premier security agency till March 31, 2024. Gupta, who was Punjab Police for two years and seven months, was currently posted as Chairman of the Punjab Police Housing Corporation. He had been seeking a posting at the Centre. --IANS atk/vd ( 93 Words) 2022-06-23-19:28:03 (IANS)
Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Wednesday wrote to the Deputy Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly regarding the reaffirmation of his appointment as the leader of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party. In the letter, Shinde also requested the appointment of Bharatshet Gogawale as the chief whip of the party. The letter has the signatures of 37 Shiv Sena MLAs and a copy of the letter has been sent to Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, and Secretary to the Legislative Council Rajendra Bhagwat. With two more Independent MLAs joining the Shinde camp, the 'rebel Sena' number has risen to 46. Independent MLAs Kishor Jorgewar and Geeta Jain have reached Hotel Radisson Blu in Guwahati. Earlier in the day, the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray filed a petition before the Deputy Speaker of the state assembly seeking the cancellation of membership of 12 rebel MLAs including Eknath Shinde for "not attending" legislative party meeting held on Wednesday. The resolution, adopted on Tuesday by rebel MLAs, said that Shinde was unanimously elected as leader of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party in 2019 and continues to be the leader of the legislative party. Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant told ANI that a notice had been issued before the meeting which said that if an MLA does not attend the meeting, legal action will be taken. "We've filed a petition before the Deputy Speaker (of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly) and demanded that the membership of 12 (MLAs) should be cancelled as they didn't attend yesterday's meeting," Sawant said. "Before the meeting notice was issued in which it was said that if you didn't attend the meeting then legal action will be taken as per the constitution. Some didn't come and some gave unnecessary reasons," he added. Apart from Shinde, Shiv Sena has sought disqualification of Prakash Surve, Tanaji Sawant, Mahesh Shinde, Abdul Sattar, Sandeep Bhumare, Bharat Gogawale, Sanjay Shirsat, Yamini Yadhav, Anil Babar, Balaji Devdas and Lata Chaudhari. The petition has been filed by Ajay Choudhari, who was appointed "legislative party leader" after Shinde was "removed" from the post by the Shiv Sena.Shiv Sena's Chief Whip, Sunil Prabhu had issued a letter to party MLAs, asking them to be present in the meeting. The letter stated that if someone remains absent, it will be considered that the said MLA has decided to quit the party voluntarily. The letter also warned that if any MLA remains absent from the meeting without proper reason and prior information, they should keep in mind that action will be initiated to cancel their membership as per constitutional provisions. The resolution, adopted on Tuesday by rebel MLAs, said that Shinde was unanimously elected as leader of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party in 2019 and continues to be the leader of the legislative party. Amid the continuing turf war within Shiv Sena, the Shinde faction also said that Bharat Gogawale has been appointed as Chief Whip of the party. The three legislators who arrived in Guwahati on Thursday include Agriculture Minister Dada Bhuse, MLA Sanjay Rathore and MLC Ravindra Phatak. Phatak is believed to be a close associate of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who had sent him as an emissary to Surat where the rebel MLAs were lodged. (ANI)
Over 76.62 per cent of the 1,89,032-strong electorate cast their votes on Thursday in the by-elections to four Assembly constituencies in Tripura amid some stray incidents of violence, officials said. A police spokesman said that police constable Samir Saha was stabbed by unknown miscreants at Ujan Abhoynagar in Agartala assembly constituency. Family members of Saha, who was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition, alleged that "goons of the ruling BJP attacked him". In another incident, a man fell into a canal on the outskirts of the capital city when some workers of a political party tried to attack him. Disaster response forces are now conducting search operations to locate him. According to police, there were reports of intimidation and clashes in different places of Agartala, Town Bordowali, Surma, and Jubarajnagar Assembly constituencies in three districts -- West Tripura, North Tripura and Dhalai. Opposition parties including Trinamool Congress, Congress and CPI-M-led Left have alleged that BJP supporters and their goons have launched a series of attacks, intimidated and prevented people from voting and indulged in booth capturing while security forces did nothing. The BJP leaders, however, denied the allegations. Central and state security forces were deployed to hold the vital by-elections being termed as a "semi-final" before the elections to the 60-member Assembly early next year. The by-election was held on Thursday to decide the political fortune of 22 candidates including seven women. The focus of the important by-elections was on the Town Bordowali Assembly constituency, where 69-year-old Congress-turned-BJP leader and Chief Minister Manik Saha is contesting against five other candidates. Saha, the state party president and a Rajya Sabha member who assumed office on May 15, a day after Biplab Kumar Deb's resignation from the top post, is contesting the elections for the first time. To fulfil the constitutional bindings, he has to become a member of the Assembly within six months. The month-long campaign for the by-polls was also marred by violent incidents. Former BJP minister Sudip Roy Barman, who is now contesting from the Agartala constituency on a Congress ticket, was injured when "BJP activists" allegedly attacked him late on Sunday night. Barman, a five-time MLA from Agartala constituency, is under treatment even as he is supervising the electioneering. The by-polls were necessitated after the resignation of three BJP MLAs and the death of CPI-M legislator Ramendra Chandra Debnath. The votes will be counted on June 26. --IANS sc/pgh ( 412 Words) 2022-06-23-20:04:02 (IANS)
Janata Dal-United (JD-U) on Thursday lashed out at Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal for his remark on delay in academic sessions at state varsities. Upendra Kushwaha, JD-U parliamentary board president, said that those who are raising questions on Bihar government over the delay in university examinations should know that the state has very limited role in running a university. "Universities are run by Vice Chancellors (VCs) and they come under the Governor of Bihar. The leaders have to understand these things before pointing fingers on the state government," Kushwaha said. Sanjay Jaiswal, while addressing a gathering in his hometown Bettiah to explain the benefits of the Agnipath scheme, targeted JD-U leaders for demanding from the Central government to rethink on the scheme. "The education ministry is with JD-U... at present, students of 2019 batch of graduation courses have not appeared for the second year examination in Bihar due to late sessions. While the Centre has launched the Agnipath scheme to not only train youths but also give salaries. Their four years life will become disciplined," Jaiswal said. The Centre also has provision to give 10 per cent reservation in the recruitment in paramilitary forces after their retirement from the Armed forces, he said, adding that the "youth of Bihar are very smart and knows the scheme very well." Earlier, Neeraj Kumar, MLC and chief spokesperson of JD-U said: "Those who are pointing fingers at Bihar government should take initiative to conduct regular meetings of VCs, university officials with the education minister to improve the timing of the session. VCs report to the Governor, not to the education minister." "It is laughable that a leader like him, who is a graduate, does not knows the procedures of university. He should learn about the universities of Bihar," Kumar added. --IANS ajk/shs ( 313 Words) 2022-06-23-20:24:03 (IANS)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remark on Wednesday that "Congress party teaches patience", during which he referred to Sachin Pilot, has triggered fresh speculations over the party leadership in Rajasthan. Sharing the experience of his recent ED grilling with the party workers at the AICC headquarters in Delhi on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi said: "The ED officials asked me about the patience with which I answered their questions... I'm in Congress since 2004, patience is inculcated in us and every leader of the party understands this." He then said: "Congress party teaches patience. I am working since 2004, Sachin Pilot is sitting here, Siddaramaiah ji is here." Following the former Congress chief's remarks, party leaders in Rajasthan are speculating if there is a possibility of a major change in state politics. As soon as the video of Rahul Gandhi's speech went viral, senior leaders holding plum posts started calling each other to discuss the status quo in Rajasthan. A senior leader told IANS, "Why did Rahul Gandhi make this comment at this point of time? It seems something big is cooking." Another leader said that while the CM's chair seems stable as of now, as a big drama is unfolding in Maharashtra, Pilot can be again appointed as Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief. In 2020, Pilot had rebelled against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's leadership by heading to Manesar along with 18 MLAs. Soon after, he was removed both as Rajasthan PCC chief and Deputy Chief Minister. Since then, a cold war-like situation has existed between the two factions headed by Gehlot and Pilot. In the three-and-a-half-year rule of the present Congress government, there have been many discussions of leadership change, but Gehlot has managed hold fort by keeping his MLAs together. Meanwhile, Pilot has been busy visiting different places and meeting his followers. When Congress MLAs were recently camping in Udaipur ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls, Pilot was seen touring the border cities of Rajasthan and Punjab, where he drew a large crowd. Now Rahul Gandhi's statement has triggered fresh speculations as Pilot is a sitting MLA without any post since 2020. Senior Congress leader and a staunch Pilot supporter, Sushil Asopa, tweeted, "Rahul Gandhi said that Sachin Pilot is sitting patiently. Pilot can be patient, but the people of Rajasthan can't remain patient as they wanted to see Pilot as Rajasthan CM in 2018." --IANS arc/arm ( 411 Words) 2022-06-23-21:46:02 (IANS)
Hitting out at the government, Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said that the then opposition coalition was "afraid" that he would appoint former ISI chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed as the next chief of the army staff, local media reported. "They were afraid that I wanted to appoint Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed. They feared that if that would have happened then it would shatter their future," the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman said. Clarifying his stance, Imran Khan said, "I never thought of appointing someone as army chief. I have never taken a decision that is not based on merit." He made these remarks during a seminar on "Regime Change Conspiracy and Pakistan's Destabilization". Furthermore speaking on the alleged corruption by the incumbent government, the ousted prime minister Imran Khan said that the government is "afraid of the army and the Inter-Services Intelligence" as they know that their "corruption" will be caught at some point, reported Geo News. "Imran Khan does not want to save his (Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif) corruption, he (Imran Khan) does not want to appoint his army chief," said the PTI leader during the seminar. Khan said that the incumbent rulers claim that he wanted to appoint an army chief of his choice. Earlier, Faiz Hameed was removed as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and appointed as the Peshawar Corps Commander. Hameed is said to have been handling military and diplomatic roles and also fighting Imran Khan's political opponents, particularly the family of exiled three-time prime minister, Nawaz Sharif. Imran Khan chided the incumbent rulers for allegedly "murdering the institutions" and appointing "their people" to every institution. Former finance minister Shaukat Tarin, while talking to the participants of the seminar, said that the government was formed not for providing relief to the people, but to get the rulers "freedom from NAB (National Accountability Bureau)." In another scathing attack on the Shehbaz Sharif-led government, Tarin said that the government is so "incompetent" that later this month, a mini-budget is expected -- after it reaches an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, as per the media portal. Notably, on Tuesday night, Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) evolved a broader agreement on the budget 2022-23 to revise upward the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) target and slash down the expenditures to achieve a revenue surplus in the next fiscal year. They are expected to reach an agreement soon. Finance Minister Miftah Ismail while speaking with a group of journalists said, "We have locked the budget for fiscal year 2022-23 in consultation with the IMF and now the Fund will consult with the State Bank of Pakistan on monetary targets." The minister spoke after having a final round of talks with the IMF Mission Chief Nathan Porter, reported The Express Tribune. (ANI)
The UN and partners have rushed to support Afghanistan following a devastating earthquake that hit two provinces in the east of the country early on Wednesday morning. An earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, and the death toll has surpassed 1,000, with more than 1,500 people injured, news reports said. The most affected areas are in Spera District in Khost Province, and Barmala, Ziruk, Naka and Gayan districts in Paktika Province. The UN was already mounting one of the largest humanitarian operations in the world in Afghanistan, where nearly 20 million people, roughly half the population, are going hungry. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply saddened to see the tragic aftermath of this morning's deadly earthquake in Afghanistan. UNHCR and other UN agencies have deployed staff to the most affected areas in Pakitika and Khost provinces from its field office in Gardez. Currently, the focus is on search and rescue operations to find survivors. There are fears that more lives could be lost if survivors are not reached urgently in remote parts of the country. Interim authorities have appealed for immediate humanitarian assistance and UNHCR is rushing supplies and staff to assist the affected people, working with other humanitarian partners. "It is heart-breaking to see this tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan on top of the ongoing humanitarian crisis that Afghans are going through every day," said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees. "I convey my deepest sympathies to the people of Afghanistan and especially those who have lost friends and family in this horrific natural disaster. UNHCR stands with Afghans at this difficult time and will make all efforts to provide relief to those affected." Afghanistan is going through a dire humanitarian crisis with some 3.5 million people displaced inside the country. Millions of others are struggling to survive amid rising levels of poverty and hunger, with social services under immense strain. "This tragedy highlights once again that Afghans need and deserve the world's solidarity and support," Grandi added. UNHCR has worked with Afghans for the last four decades inside Afghanistan and neighbouring countries. Nearly one million displaced Afghans and host communities have been assisted with aid since January this year. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday expressed grief over the tragic loss of life in the earthquake that hit Afghanistan. "My heart goes out to the people of Afghanistan who are already reeling from the impact of years of conflict, economic hardship and hunger. I convey my deep condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured," the UN chief said in a statement. (ANI)
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles on Thursday said that defence engagement between India and Australia will ensure closer ties between the two strategic partners. A day earlier, the Australian Defence Minister held a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh as both sides reviewed the regional security situation and reaffirmed their shared objective of an open, free and rules-based Indo-Pacific region. Marles, who arrived in India on Monday on a four-day visit, today said he has invited Rajnath Singh to visit Australia. "We had a meeting with Defence Minister of India...we have invited him to Australia...we need more such engagement. Greater engagement between two Defence forces to ensure that we become more closer," said Richard Marles, who is also Australia's deputy prime minister. He also underlined the security threat emanating from China. "China is Australia's the largest trading partner and so is for India. China is our biggest security anxiety and so is for India. We are friends and are exchanging notes." "We have seen that in the South China Sea and also with India along the LAC two years back, the appalling behaviour with Indian soldiers. For us, we are experiencing that in the South China Sea," he added. On the AUKUS grouping, he said the trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, is "not a security exchange." In the backdrop of the ongoing Ukraine conflict, the minister said, "We have seen China and Russia practical relationships...so we are very mindful of that. For democracy, it is very important to maintain peace in the world." Speaking at the National Defence College, Marles on Wednesday said the "assault on Indian forces" along the Line of Actual Control with China in 2020 was a warning that the world should heed. He also noted that Beijing's military build-up is the most ambitious by any country since the end of the Second World War. Marles said his visit reflects the conviction and the commitment of the Albanese Government to place India at the heart of Australia's approach to the Indo-Pacific and beyond. He said the geography of Australia and India makes the two countries stewards of the Indian Ocean region. "China's military build-up is now the largest and most ambitious we have seen by any country since the end of the Second World War. It is critical that China's neighbours do not see this build-up as a risk for them. Because without that reassurance, it is inevitable that countries will seek to upgrade their own military capabilities in response," he said. Marles, who is also Australia's Deputy Prime Minister, said insecurity is what drives an arms race and India's own experience illustrates this maxim more than most. "The assault on Indian forces along the Line of Actual Control in 2020 was a warning we should all heed. Australia stood up for India's sovereignty then and continues to do so now. It is vital that China commits to resolving this dispute through a process of dialogue consistent with international law. The global rules-based order matters everywhere, including in the highest place on earth," he said. The Australian Defence Minister said as India and Australia continue to lift their defence and security cooperation, exploring longer-term reciprocal access arrangements is the logical next step. (ANI)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi shortly after arriving in Tehran on an official visit. During his two-day trip at the invitation of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Lavrov is scheduled to meet senior Iranian officials to discuss the Iran nuclear deal, Xinhua news agency reported. Iranian state media said they will also discuss issues concerning Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan, trade and energy cooperation, as well as expansion of cooperation between Tehran and the regions of Eurasia and Caucasus. Both Iran and Russia are under US sanctions, which have limited their ability to send their huge energy reserves to global markets. The two countries described their relations as strategic. Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the world powers in July 2015 accepting to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on Tehran. However, former President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed Washington's unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting Iran to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the agreement in retaliation. Since April last year, several rounds of talks have been held in Vienna between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties to revive the deal. Iran insists on obtaining guarantees that the succeeding US governments would not drop the deal again, and calls for lifting the sanctions in a verifiable manner. Lavrov arrived on Wednesday to discuss with the Iranian side bilateral cooperation and ways to solve the impasse on the Iran nuclear talks. Having not revealed any details of the meeting between Raisi and the Russian diplomat, the state-run IRIB TV said Lavrov is expected to meet Iran's senior officials to discuss the negotiation that aims to restore a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. The two sides would also discuss situations in Ukraine, Syria, and Afghanistan, as well as ways to boost bilateral ties in trade and energy, it added. (ANI)
Amid the severe challenges emanating from climate change, for the first time in human history a new paradigm is possible as the win-lose debate where choose was between development and the environment is being replaced by the win-win opportunity where rapid parallel progress on both economy and ecology can establish an ecological civilization. Writing for the Global Order, Norwegian diplomat and former politician Erik Solheim said climate change and the environmental crisis become an opportunity for jobs and prosperity. Solheim, who served in the Norwegian government from 2005-2012 as Minister of the Environment, slammed western criticism of India that argued that New Delhi was showing a lack of climate courage and blocking progress on climate issues. He recalled that the "craziness of western arrogance" was at full display during the climate conference in Glasgow last year. "India argued that the world should phase down rather than phase out coal, a small, hardly significant change of wording. Some western media, NGOs and politicians came down on India, blaming India for lack of climate courage and claiming that India was blocking progress," he said. For many decades, Solheim said the debate in India was simple: Do we want to develop or do we want to care for the environment? "Economists argued that rapid development would always come with costs to mother earth while environmentalists countered that we should put the planet first. The economist always won this debate. Not surprisingly for nearly all Indians rapid development, bringing Indians out of poverty, was the number one priority," he said. "The pattern was the same everywhere - rapid economic growth with a lot of harm both to the workforce and to the environment. When a country had become rich it started caring for the environment. This was true first in the UK, then in Germany and the rest of Europe, in North America, in Japan and Korea and most lately in China," he added. According to the former Norwegian minister, the good news in the 21st century is that for the first time in human history a new development paradigm is possible. "The win-lose debate where you had to choose between development and environment is replaced by the win-win opportunity where rapid parallel progress on both economy and ecology can establish an ecological civilization. Climate change and the environment crisis become an opportunity for jobs and prosperity," he said. This win-win opportunity has arisen from the drop in the price of renewables. "When the world came together for the famous disaster of climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009 all focus was on climate diplomacy. No one talked about the climate economy. I cannot remember anyone even hinting to a future with a 90% fall in the price of solar energy," he said. Lauding the Indian Prime Minister, Solheim said no one has understood the climate economy better than Narendra Modi adding that he has cast around the Indian debate from win-lose to win-win. (ANI)
China's appalling behaviour in the South China Sea (SCS) is similar to what India witnessed at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), said Richard Marles, Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence. Marles said one country seeks to settle its border disputes not by rules but with power and that is a concern. Speaking to media persons at the Australian High Commission in New Delhi, he said, "China is seeking to shape the world around it in ways that we have not seen before and that has evolved over the last decade. In the last few years, we are seeing a more assertive China." "We have seen that in the South China Sea and with India along the LAC two years back, the appalling behaviour with Indian soldiers. We stand in solidarity with India in respect of that incident (Galwan). For us, we are experiencing that in the South China Sea (SCS)," he added. In SCS, the construction of artificial islands and island reclamation is taking place. Be it LAC or SCS, China is challenging the established rules-based order which is important for the region, he added. Marles explained how China is Australia's largest trading partner. "China is our biggest security anxiety and so is for India. At this moment it is really important that we are reaching out. We are friends exchanging notes. We are working closely to build our relationship in terms of economic and defence together," he said. Focusing on the bilateral relationship, he said that India and Australia both share values and they both are democracies and have rule of law applied in their countries. "We also share geography, Australia is an Indian ocean country and we have security ties and much economic activity in the region. Indian-Australian is the fastest growing community. The Indian Australian community is the largest growing community. We believe we are on the cusp of change," he said. On the Russia-Ukraine war, he said that there is no doubt the war on Ukraine has an impact on food and energy security. "We see that as a food exporting nation, maintaining predictable and open trade," he said. On the matter of working with India, he said that they have worked in the last two decades to assert a rules-based order. In working closely with India, also with like-minded countries but particularly with India, to try and protect that global rules-based order. "We welcome statements by both China and Solomon Islands that there is no intention to develop a Chinese permanent military base there. Australia is a natural partner of the Pacific islands. It is not a natural right, but we need to earn it," he said. He focused on Maritime domain awareness (MDA) to improve economic ties between countries, improving MDA is very important for many countries in improving their economic ties. On India-Australia defence ties, he said, "We had a couple of P-8 flights between Australia and India. We want to see a greater frequency of activity in operations and exercises. IAF will be taking part in Exercise Pitch Black in August." "We had a meeting with the Defence Minister of India...we have invited him to Australia...we need more such engagement. Greater engagement between two Defence forces to ensure we become more and more closer, he added. On AUKUS, he said that it is a Technology exchange between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, it is not a security exchange. "We have seen China and Russia's practical relationships...so we are very mindful of that...for democracy, it is very important to maintain peace in the world. The position India takes on Ukraine is a matter for India," he said. (ANI)
Biden administration officials are ignoring the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction's (SIGAR) requests to provide documents related to the collapse of the Afghan government, media reports said on Wednesday. SIGAR chief John Sopko wrote in the letter that the State Department and USAID have in some cases ignored SIGAR's communications, did not provide officials for interviews, Politico reported citing SIGAR's letter to the Secretary of State and USAID administrator. State Department even refused to permit international travel for the watchdog to conduct an on-the-ground investigation, the report added. The SIGAR seeks to obtain information related to the fall of the Afghanistan government in August 2021, the transfer of funds to the Taliban and humanitarian programs for the Afghan people, the report said. "I respectfully request that you direct State and USAID officials to cease their illegal obstruction of SIGAR's oversight work and to provide the requested information and assistance without delay," Sopko wrote. "Historically, State and USAID officials have supported SIGAR's mission and honoured my office's requests," he said. "Inexplicably, this long track record of cooperation seems to have abruptly ended. Agency officials now appear to have adopted a premeditated position of obstruction." Meanwhile, the State Department and USAID have argued that SIGAR's jurisdiction is limited to "reconstruction purposes," which does not include humanitarian and other development assistance. Addressing a press briefing on Wednesday, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said "State and USAID are committed to assisting SIGAR with its important auditing and oversight role." But "we have had concerns about how some of SIGAR's requests for information relate to their statutory jurisdiction," the spokesperson said. Price said SIGAR's most recent report on the collapse of the Afghan forces "does not reflect the consensus view of the State Department or of the US Government, for that matter." "And we don't concur with many aspects of the report. We refer you to the many statements that the State Department has made over the past year on Afghanistan regarding our assessments," he added. The Taliban announced an interim cabinet in the fall of 2021, comprising many members who had been leaders during the Taliban's 1996 to 2001 period in power and members who were later a part of the Taliban's leadership council, the Rahbari shura, during the insurgency years. The United Nations (UN) deemed it a disappointment to those who wanted a more inclusive cabinet with non-Taliban members, past government figures, women, and minority group leaders. (ANI)
Taking to Twitter, the Indian Air Force said that the aim of the exercise is to understand and assimilate the best practices.

"A team of #IAF Air Warriors landed in Egypt on 22 Jun 2022 to participate in a bilateral Tactical Leadership Programme with Egyptian Air Force. Participating with the Su-30 MkI aircraft, the aim of the exercise is to understand and assimilate the best practices," Indian Air Force tweeted.

Earlier in November, last year, Chief of Air Staff Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari went to Egypt for his five-day visit to attend the Air Power Symposium and Defence Exposition (EDEX) in Cairo.

This event was scheduled from November 28 to December 2.

"Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari CAS will be embarking on a 5-day visit to attend the Egypt Air Power Symposium & Defence Exposition (EDEX) scheduled from 28 Nov to 02 Dec. He will deliver a keynote address on "Strategic air intelligence in confronting new and non-organised threats," Indian Air Force tweeted.

The visit of the airforce chief is set to bolster ties between the two countries. (ANI)
The India-Norway Task Force on Blue Economy for Sustainable Development will meet for the 5th time on June 23, the Norwegian Embassy said on Thursday. The meeting is chaired by Secretary Dr M Ravichandran, Ministry of Earth Sciences, and the Norwegian Ambassador, Hans Jacob Frydenlund. The Task Force was constituted after the initiative from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to support growth in the Blue Economy as the 6th dimension of his Vision of New India by 2030. As pointed out by Ambassador Frydenlund, "The Norway-India cooperation contributes to creating economic growth and jobs while protecting the marine environment and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. The Blue Economy has enormous potential when we develop it sustainably" Secretary MOES further added that "India has recently launched the Deep Ocean Mission which aims at developing technologies for the exploration of the ocean resources and mapping the rich marine biodiversity of India's EEZ which would help in developing new generation ocean services for the country. India is also working towards early finalization of its Blue Economy Policy." The meeting will focus on the Indo-Norwegian cooperation to improve ocean space management, reduce plastic pollution, and cut emissions from shipping and ports. Officials will also explore how the two countries can enhance collaboration on deep-ocean technology, fisheries, aquaculture, and ocean-based renewable energy. "Since the Task Force was launched 3 years ago, India and Norway have made great strides towards tackling marine pollution and improving waste management through a number of joint projects. Our industries are partnering up to build zero-emission ships and develop deep ocean technology", said Ambassador Frydenlund. "The Integrated Ocean Management Initiative under this collaboration has led to better understanding of the ocean resources management and conflict resolution mechanisms amongst the stakeholders which would lead to development of Marine Spatial Planning template for the country" mentioned Dr Ravichandran. The India-Norway Blue Economy Task Force initiatives contribute immensely to furthering the Government of India programmes such as the Swachh Bharat Mission, Sagar mala and Sustainable Development Goals. The last India-Norway Task Force on Blue Economy was held in a virtual avatar on June 9, 2021. The Blue Economy partnership is the cornerstone of the bilateral cooperation between India and Norway. Since the creation of the Task Force in 2019, our cooperation has expanded and deepened. Last month, PM Modi held a bilateral meeting with the counterpart of Nordic countries and discussed ways to boost partnership in the blue economy, clean technology, geothermal energy and 5G. (ANI)
China's Ministry of Public Security has urged police nationwide to strike hard on crimes involving the illegal occupation of farmland and the production and sale of substandard agricultural materials amid efforts to safeguard national food security. Harsh penalties should be given in accordance with the law to suspects who engage in illegally using farmland for non-agricultural purposes, such as soil collection, stacking solid waste, or non-agricultural construction, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The ministry also asked police to show no leniency in cases involving gang-related crimes, and thoroughly investigate and fast-track cases involving the production and selling of fake seeds, fertilizers, or other agricultural materials. At a recent Politburo meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping, who seeks a third term in office, called for cadres in leading positions to remain loyal to the spirit of the party and said firm points toward more 'anti-corruption' moves in the coming months are needed. On June 17, Xi Jinping emphasized the anti-corruption struggle and stated that "it is a major political struggle that (the party) cannot afford to lose and must not lose." He also called for "winning the tough and protracted battle against corruption in an all-around way". "To carry out the anti-corruption struggle to the end" Xi also called for cadres in leading positions - who he terms "the key minority"-- to manage themselves well, as well as their family members and relatives, the affairs of the people around them. Xi Jinping further added, "The higher the position and the greater the power, the more reverence and self-discipline must be exercised. Leading cadres, especially senior cadres..." The president then said, "Discipline inspection and supervision cadres must be loyal, firm, selfless and fearless, always stand with the spirit of the party, exercise discipline impartially, exercise power prudently, and dare to be good at fighting (struggle), so as to truly reassure the Party Central Committee and satisfy the people." Xi emphasizing on anti-corruption, calling upon the "key minority" to conduct themselves and their family members well, as well as calling upon the CCDI to be loyal and firm points toward more anti-corruption moves in the coming months. (ANI)
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Thursday Tehran is ready to abolish visas for Russians and added that the first step could be a visa-free regime for business trips. Iran's top diplomat met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Tehran on Thursday. "We have good relations on the issue of full liberalization of visas, we discussed this issue. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, we express our full readiness to announce the abolition of visas on a reciprocal basis and take the necessary steps. The first step is to completely abolish visa requirements for businessmen, we also discussed this issue. Our experts will soon finalize these issues," Amir-Abdollahian told a press conference. This comes as Lavrov met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi shortly after arriving in Tehran on an official visit. During his two-day trip at the invitation of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Lavrov is scheduled to meet senior Iranian officials to discuss the Iran nuclear deal, Xinhua news agency reported. Iranian state media said they will also discuss issues concerning Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan, trade and energy cooperation, as well as expansion of cooperation between Tehran and the regions of Eurasia and Caucasus. Both Iran and Russia are under US sanctions, which have limited their ability to send their huge energy reserves to global markets. The two countries described their relations as strategic. Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the world powers in July 2015 accepting to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on Tehran. However, former President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed Washington's unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting Iran to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the agreement in retaliation. Since April last year, several rounds of talks have been held in Vienna between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties to revive the deal. Iran insists on obtaining guarantees that the succeeding US governments would not drop the deal again, and calls for lifting the sanctions in a verifiable manner. (ANI)
The critics of President Xi Jinping launched a campaign titled 'Jade Campaign/Overthrow Xi Save China Campaign' ahead of the election as Xi seeks to extend his presidency beyond 2023. Non-mainstream Chinese news websites and some Twitters account including Cai Xia shared the campaign text on their accounts. "On the eve of the 20th Communist Party Congress, this is the best time for we the people to save ourselves, and perhaps even the last window of opportunity for the Chinese nation. Xi's campaign-style pandemic prevention has caused immeasurable damage across the country," the campaign text reads. A megacity like Shanghai can be locked down at will, destroying the economy, and causing numerous humanitarian disasters and unprecedented levels of anger. Now Xi is at his lowest point; he has not grasped absolute power and he is under pressure," the campaign added. It further stated that people are angry with the Chinese President. "Currently, public discontent is boiling in China; people are desperate for change; everyone is disgusted with Xi, and the international community is strongly anti-Xi. Xi faces the same fate as Romania's Ceausescu. On that day, at a meeting of the National Assembly, someone suddenly shouted, "Down with Ceausescu!" Thousands of people started to shout too, and the regime was quickly over." It calls upon Chinese citizens to participate in the campaign by doing the following: 1. Take selfies / short videos holding signs or pictures of jade jewellery items and share them widely; 2. Create and share creative graphics/animation/videos about Xi's crimes against humanity; 3. Post and pass around flyers (Please be careful if you are in China); 4. Tell friends and relatives about the current situation. Discourage law enforcement and military personnel not to be accomplices of the evil regime. 5. Invite friends to join the #DownXi campaign / #JadeCampaign. The critics of the campaign also asked people to track down the Xi family and their minions for evidence of corruption and money laundering. Liaise with all people from all walks of life to form a united force. When the time is right, come together to challenge the regime. The timing of the campaign is interesting as it comes just before Beidiahe. Looking at various media spaces, such as Twitter, Telegram and YouTube, the campaign is yet to pick up the pace but it has produced chatter and content, for example, posts on Twitter calling to oppose Xi, and a group has been formed in Telegram with the name of the campaign in which people are sharing their anti-Xi contents such as Chinese poems, and posters that call for protests outside Chinese diplomatic missions from July 1 to July 3. On Xi attending the 25th Anniversary of the HK handover and non-mainstream media believes that Xi will not be attending the ceremony because of three reasons: 1. Because of the disease he is rumoured to be suffering from a Cerebral Aneurysm. 2. Because there are still a considerable number of Covid cases in Hong Kong. 3. Because the power struggle is heating up now, he wouldn't want to leave the mainland at this crucial time. The Communist Party of China Central Committee had proposed to remove the expression that the President and Vice-President of the People's Republic of China 'shall serve no more than two consecutive terms' from the country's Constitution. However, there are signs such as primary school looking for pupils to spend a week in hotel quarantine ahead of next month's handover anniversary. Perhaps Xi would want to attend this event because not attending will also send an unfavourable signal to his opposition and fuel more speculations. (ANI)
Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved to a prison and is being kept in solitary confinement, according to a junta spokesperson on Thursday."By the law, it's confirmed that (Suu Kyi) has been moved to the prison. And she's been kept at separate confinement well," Major General Zaw Min Tun said in a statement cited by CNN. On February 1 last year, Myanmar's military overthrew the government and declared a year-long state of emergency hours before the newly-elected Parliament was due to convene. Since the military seized power in a coup in 2021, Suu Kyi has been kept under house arrest at an undisclosed location in the purpose-built capital Naypyidaw.Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been charged with at least 20 criminal offences that carry potential combined maximum jail terms of more than 100 years, as per CNN. Myanmar later extended the state of emergency in the country for six more months, just ahead of the one-year anniversary of the military coup. Citing National Defense and Security Council, Xinhua News Agency reported that Myanmar's junta formally extended the state of emergency until July 31. Myanmar's military leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is the one who led a coup against an elected civilian government in 2021 and detained Aung San Suu Kyi over alleged election irregularities. In August last year, Min Aung Hlaing declared himself Prime Minister of a newly formed caretaker government. During an address to the nation on August 1, he repeated a pledge to hold elections by 2023. More than 1,000 civilians have been killed by Myanmar security forces with thousands of others arrested, according to the United Nations, amid a crackdown on strikes and protests which has derailed the country's tentative democracy and prompted international condemnation. In a recent update, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said the conflict has intensified over the past month, with increased reports of army raids across Myanmar, especially in the northwest and southeast regions. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Rwanda Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta on the first day of his official visit and discussed the Commonwealth summit agenda. Taking to social media, Jaishankar tweeted, "Began the day by meeting my host counterpart FM @Vbiruta of Rwanda. Reviewed our bilateral cooperation and follow up to PM @narendramodi's 2018 visit. Discussed the Commonwealth agenda and wished Rwanda a successful Summit. Exchanged perspectives on regional developments." Jaishankar is in Kigali to attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which had earlier been postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Earlier, Jaishankar met with Raychelle Omamo, the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Kenya and held talks in regards to the fallout of the Ukraine war including food, fuel and fertilizer security. Taking to social media, Jaishankar tweeted, "So nice to meet my friend Raychelle Omamo of Kenya. Our discussions focused on the impact of the Ukraine conflict on food, fuel, and fertilizer security for the Global South. Reaffirmed our ongoing cooperation in the UNSC." On the sidelines of CHOGM, Jaishankar also met with the foreign minister Eamon Courtenay of Belize.Jaishankar wrote, "Glad to catch up with FM Eamon Courtenay of Belize on #CHOGM2022 sidelines in Rwanda. Welcomed the Center of Engineering constructed with Indian support. India will continue to provide vaccines in the global fight against the pandemic." Jaishankar will be representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Commonwealth Summit on 24-25 June, while attending the pre-CHOGM Foreign Ministers' Meeting on June 23 in Kigali. A number of Forums including the Commonwealth Youth Forum, Commonwealth Women Forum, Commonwealth Business Forum, Commonwealth People's Forum, and other side events are also planned on the side-lines of CHOGM by the incoming Chair of the Commonwealth, i.e. the Government of the Republic of Rwanda. The theme of the 26th CHOGM Summit is, "Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming". The Leaders of the Commonwealth Member States are scheduled to hold discussions on issues of contemporary relevance, including global challenges like climate change, food security, and health issues and are likely to adopt the following four Outcome Documents: CHOGM Communique; Kigali Declaration on Child Care and Protection Reform; Declaration on Sustainable Urbanization and Commonwealth Living Lands Charter: A Commonwealth Call to Action on Living Lands (CALL). During the visit, EAM is expected to hold several bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Commonwealth member states and other visiting dignitaries and would also be interacting with members of the Indian community at a reception that will be hosted by the Indian High Commission in Kigali, said MEA in a statement. The Commonwealth provides an important platform to deepen India's engagement with Commonwealth members, in particular the Small States (SS) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). India is also one of the largest contributors to the Commonwealth and has assisted the organisation with technical assistance and capacity building. In 2018, India announced the creation of a Commonwealth Window, dedicating USD 50 million for development projects and assistance to developing countries of the Commonwealth. (ANI)
Airbus, the world's largest commercial plane maker, has called on the West to avoid sanctions on Russian Titanium, according to a media report. This development comes amid a flurry of restrictions on the export of other Russian goods ranging from vodka to steel. Titanium has so far been kept off the EU and US sanction lists, but many buyers have reduced their exposure to Russian sources and have found alternative suppliers for a number of reasons, including the difficulty of making payments to Russia. However, the European plane maker is still importing hefty amounts of titanium from Russia. It has publicly called for the European Union to hold off imposing sanctions on the metal, which is used to manufacture critical components of its aircraft including landing gear and fasteners to the pylons that connect an engine to a wing, The Wall Street Journal reported. Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury said: "We think sanctioning titanium from Russia would be sanctioning ourselves." Russian titanium sales are "one of the few areas of business where it is in the interest of no party to disrupt the current situation," he said while addressing the media in Doha, according to The Wall Street Journal. Media reports say that Airbus is not the only Western company still buying titanium but is among the biggest Western aerospace firms still doing so. Airbus's reliance on Russia exposes it to the risk of new sanctions imposed by either Europe or the US, or export restrictions from Russia. It is also subject to reputational risk amid rising public pressure on companies to withdraw financial support for the Russian economy. Titanium has become an increasingly important material in aircraft production because of its high strength-to-weight ratio and resilience against corrosion. While it is mined the world over, production of titanium sponge, the unfinished raw material, is centered in key areas such as Japan, China and Russia. About 13 per cent of it comes from the latter, according to the US Geological Survey. The US, along with the G7 nations and European Union (EU) has imposed severe and immediate economic costs on Russia for its "atrocities in Ukraine, including in Bucha". As per an official statement from the White House, as a part of mechanisms to hold Russia accountable for its actions in Ukraine, the US has announced economic measures to ban new investment in Russia and imposed severe financial sanctions on Russia's largest bank and several of its most critical state-owned enterprises and on Russian government officials as wells as their family members. In the new economic cost, the US has announced full blocking sanctions on Russia's largest financial institution, Sberbank, and its largest private bank, Alfa Bank. This action will freeze any of Sberbank's and Alfa Bank's assets touching the US financial system and prohibit Americans from doing business with them. (ANI)
In the wake of the Durand line dispute between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Afghan travellers have complained of facing challenges along with the Spin Boldak and Chaman crossings. This comes after Pakistan showcased adamancy to fence the Durand Line to secure the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Bismillah, who is a resident of Ghazni, said that he has tried twice to cross into Pakistan but has not been allowed, TOLOnews reported. "We were not allowed, we were told that we should have a passport or a sick visa in order to pass at the crossing," said Bismillah, a resident of Ghazni. The people living adjacent to Durand Line, especially around Qila Abdullah and Chaman, can cross with either Kandahar-issued or Pakistani ID cards, while other Afghans with legal documents must wait several days. According to TOLOnews, sometimes even those residents of Kandahar who have ID cards and legal documents cannot cross. "Yesterday I went three times to the crossing, they sent us back, there were women also with us, they mistreated us and also the women. They threw away our IDs," Abdul Rahman Shah, a resident of Uruzgan, told TOLOnews. Local officials in Kandahar said that they are trying to solve this problem through dialogue with Pakistani officials, however, no conclusions have been drawn from the talks. In Pakistan, most of the problems precipitating cross-border threats in the Af-Pak region are created from within by flawed state policies as the nation's politics have been plagued by failures in establishing an equitable existence for its ethnically divided population, living on both sides of the border disturbing their agricultural land, traditional border trade and movement of labour. The ethnic consciousness of Pashtuns and Balochis in Kyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan is essentially arising out of this sense of alienation and deprivation. As a consequence, border areas have experienced tribal insurgencies, ethnic and sectarian struggles and secessionist movements by Balochis and Pashtuns. Pakistan's contention that the Af-Pak border is plagued with cross-border movement of terror groups, infiltration, illegal immigration, smuggling and drug trafficking may be valid to some extent. In the current year till May 1st, 2022, there have been around 40 clashes along the Durand Line most of which pertain to the border dispute. More than 40 people died when rockets were fired from Pakistan Air Force (PAF) helicopters in Kunar, Khost, Paktika and other bordering provinces on April 16, 2022. The Durand Line passes through the present-day Pakistani provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (NWFP), Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan. It also includes 10 provinces in Afghanistan. Disputed in the context of the struggle for the Pashtun homeland, the Durand Line has of late become the cause of heightened border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. (ANI)
A day after Pakistan's Punjab assembly passed the Punjab Finance Bill 2022-23, Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz convened the fourth session of the cabinet on Thursday to discuss an 11-point agenda, which includes a budget allocation for the most populous province in the country. The provincial ministers, chief secretary and high-level officials will attend the cabinet session, ARY News reported. Budget proposals worth over 27 trillion Pakistani rupees (PKR) were passed by the provincial assembly on Wednesday for the budget for the next fiscal year of 2022-23. The Punjab Assembly has approved over PKR 1.49 trillion for the upcoming fiscal year to ensure law and order in the province, PKR 81.5 billion for education and PKR 1.83 trillion for health. PKR 20.4 billion for the agriculture department, PKR 24.9 billion for the irrigation department, PKR 8.9 billion budget proposal for communication and PKR 1.1 trillion for the construction of roads and bridges in the province was also approved. PKR 3.1 trillion has been allocated by the Punjab assembly as pension provisions to the retired employees, and PKR 42.6 have been allocated for the provision of subsidies. A budget proposal worth PKR 55.5 billion has been approved for investment and PKR 11.4 billion for the industries. The Punjab province of Pakistan had earlier got a huge share of 51.74 per cent in the budgetary distribution of resources among the federation and provinces, depicting the favourable behaviours of Shehbaz Sharif-led country's government as his son Hamza is the Chief Minister of the province. Sindh's share was 24.55 per cent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's share was 14.62 per cent and Balochistan's share was 9.09 per cent. According to the budget brief, the province-wise ratios were based on multiple indicators including population of 82 per cent, poverty or backwardness at 10.3 per cent, revenue collection or generation of 5 per cent and inverse population density of 2.7 per cent. However, the budget has faced criticism from many. Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid Khan on June 12 had accused the central government of intentionally slashing the region's development budget by half. Gilgit-Baltistan CM said that the incumbent government had cut the development budget of their region by 50 per cent to PKR 23 billion. (ANI)
Discussions were also held on ways to strengthen coordination at regional and multilateral fora.

Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East) led the Indian delegation while the New Zealand side was led by Mark Sinclair, Deputy Secretary, Americas and Asia Group, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

"Reviewing the existing warm and friendly bilateral relations, including trade and investment, defence and security, people-to-people ties, counter-terrorism, cyber security, and disarmament," the statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs read.

Both sides expressed keenness to further enhance engagement and deepen ties in various areas.

According to ot the statement, the Foreign Ministry Consultations provided an opportunity to exchange views on contemporary regional and global issues of mutual interest.

Highlighting the need for closer cooperation in the region, both India and New Zealand reiterated the importance of a free, open, inclusive, and stable Indo-Pacific.

"Discussions were also held on ways to strengthen coordination at regional and multilateral fora," the MEA statement read further. (ANI)
Following a ban on the import of luxury items, around 600 to 900 containers are stuck at Karachi ports. The containers were stuck at the ports due to delay of vessel sailing from origin and Bill of Lading, reported Business Recorder. Arshad Khursheed, general secretary, Karachi Custom Agents Association (KCAA) said that around 600 to 900 containers arrived in Karachi but they were unable to get clearance from customs due to the said SRO. Karachi Custom Agents Association (KCAA) general secretary Arshad Khursheed stated that around 600-900 containers were unable to get clearance from customs after they arrived in Karachi due to the Statutory Regulatory Orders (SRO). The existing law only permitted import consignments in which the date of bill of lading was prior to the amending order of the import policy 2022, he said, adding that it has caused accumulation of numerous containers at various ports, and it can lead to port congestion and billions of revenue loss. On the other hand, heavy container demurrage charges were also being incurred, which had to be paid in forex, media reported citing Khursheed. KCAA general secretary Khursheed also mentioned that the organisation has sent a letter to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and has requested him to delay the SRO's implementation so that the traders can get their consignments cleared without facing additional financial burden. Earlier, Pakistan had announced a ban on the import of 38 non-essential luxury items under 'emergency economic plan' amid the record fall of country's currency against the US dollar, on account of the rising import bill, and depleting foreign exchange reserves. The ban was imposed after the country's currency plunged to the lowest ever level as the US dollar for the first time in Islamabad's history went beyond PKR 200 benchmark in open market. (ANI)
Two Turkish firms have filed a complaint in the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which is a part of the World Bank Group, seeking USD 230 million against Pakistan under the strong claims of "mismanagement by the previous Buzdar-led Punjab government", the Express Tribune reported. The name of the Turkish Firms was Al-Bayrak and Ozpak which had come to Pakistan a decade ago under the invitation of then-Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif. The ICSID deals with disputes concerning international investors. The two firms have made the president, prime minister, chairman of the Board of Investment, minister for law and defence, minister of foreign affairs, secretary of local government and community development department, chairman of the LWMC, Pakistan's ambassador to Turkey and office of the AGP as respondents in the case, the Express Tribune reported, adding that, a high-level government delegation led by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and AGP Ashtar Ausaf Ali also met with the management of both Turkish companies in Istanbul last week. However, the meeting bore no fruit as the firms went ahead and approached the international tribunal against the country. In fact, two years ago, the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) had reportedly stormed the offices of Turkish companies on December 20, 2020, and seized equipment belonging to Turkish companies. The LWMC was set up in 2012 to clean up Lahore and pick up garbage in regard to which LWMC had signed an agreement with two Turkish companies, Al-Barak and Ozpak in 2012 to clean the city of Lahore. Under the agreement, the city was divided into two parts for cleaning purposes. Both companies had to purchase the machinery themselves. After which the two companies had set up their offices at six different places in the city. The two Turkish companies were required to haul 600 million metric tons of garbage from across Lahore for seven years, Express Tribune reported. Hamza Shahbaz was elected as the new chief minister with 197 votes on April 16 and a day later he was scheduled to take the oath but Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema "postponed" the oath-taking ceremony as he ruled his election controversial due to the ruckus that took place in the Assembly. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar who is on his first visit to Kigali to attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) described Rwanda as the most progressive, business-friendly, and socially inclusive societies. Speaking at an event in Kigali on Thursday, the EAM highlighted the strong ties between the two nations at a community reception. "Rwanda, today is the most progressive, one of the most business-friendly, one of the most socially inclusive societies. When we look at Africa, India counts Rwanda as an important friend," he said. Highlighting the strengthened ties between the two nations, he said that India's relationship with Rwanda has grown over the years, and the existence of several developmental projects in Rwanda describes the profound friendship between the two countries. "Rwanda, today is the most progressive, one of the most business-friendly, one of the most socially inclusive societies," he said, underlining that India counts Rwanda as an important friend. Speaking about the progress of India, he not only appreciated the Indian diaspora residing in the African nation for their massive contribution to the India-Rwanda relationship but also spoke at length about how Indians inhabiting Kigali are crucial to keeping the flag of India flying and shaping India's relations with the African country. Taking to Twitter, he tweeted, "Good to interact with the Indian community in Kigali. Spoke to them about progress in India. Appreciated their contribution to the India-Rwanda relationship." He wished Rwanda a successful Summit and discussed the Commonwealth agenda while exchanging perspectives on regional developments. "Addressed the CHOGM Foreign Ministers' plenary today on the theme of Democracy, Peace & Governance," Jaishankar said in a tweet. "India-the world's largest democracy- offers numerous examples for the Commonwealth. Our digital backbone is of particular relevance," he added. He also highlighted the Vande Bharat Mission and Operation Ganga during his speech and hailed the Modi govt in Rwanda while he emphasised how India interacts with Indians abroad. On the sidelines of CHOGM 2022, the EAM also met FM of Tanzania Liberata Mulamula, FM of Canada Melanie Joly, FM G.L. Peiris of Sri Lanka and FM Dr AK Abdul Momen of Bangladesh. Taking to Twitter, he tweeted, "Good to catch up with colleagues on @CHOGM2022 sidelines. Here with FM of Tanzania Liberata Mulamula, FM of Canada@melaniejoly, FM G. L. Peiris of Sri Lanka and FM Dr AK Abdul Momen of Bangladesh." The External Affairs Minister also underscored the importance of collectively addressing the crucial challenges of our times, including post-COVID recovery, climate change and ongoing global conflicts. The Commonwealth provides an important platform to deepen India's engagement with Commonwealth members, in particular the Small States (SS) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). India is also one of the largest contributors to the Commonwealth and has assisted the organisation with technical assistance and capacity building. In 2018, India announced the creation of a Commonwealth Window, dedicating USD 50 million for development projects and assistance to developing countries of the Commonwealth. (ANI)
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has sent a condolence message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the loss of lives in floods in India's North East region and expressed his desire to extend necessary support to the people of Assam. "I am deeply saddened to have learnt that the flooding and landslides that occurred in the State of Assam and the State of Meghalaya following the heavy rain in the North East Region of India have led to the loss of many precious lives and forced many people to evacuate," the Japanese PM said in a statement. Over 41 lakh people in 34 districts of Assam continue to reel under the impact of ongoing flood and landslide situations. "On behalf of the Government and the people of Japan, I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to the victims and sympathies to their bereaved families. I also express my sympathies to those who have suffered and pray for the earliest possible recovery of the affected areas," the statement stated. Japan also extended support to the affected areas of the region. "The Government of Japan will spare no effort to extend necessary support to the affected areas. I reaffirm my conviction that Japan will always stand with India as she shall rise again to overcome the difficult time" the statement read further. The flood situation in Assam's Karimganj district has deteriorated after the flood waters of the Kushiyara, Longai, and Singla rivers have inundated more areas of the district affecting more than 1.34 lakh people of the district. The flood waters have submerged several main roads of the district.82 people have died in floods and landslides in the state this year so far in Assam. More than 12.30 lakh people have been affected alone in lower Assam's Barpeta district followed by 4.69 lakh in Darrang, 4.40 lakh in Nagaon, 3.38 lakh in Bajali, 2.91 lakh in Dhubri, 2.82 lakh in Kamrup, 2.80 lakh in Goalpara, 2.07 lakh in Cachar, 1.84 lakh in Nalbari, 1.51 lakh in South Salmara, 1.46 lakh in Bongaigaon, 1.34 lakh in Karimganj district. (ANI)
The high-level Indian delegation led by Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra that visited Sri Lanka on Thursday underscored that the recent economic, financial and humanitarian assistance of over USD 3.5 billion to the island country was guided by New Delhi's "Neighbourhood First" Policy. The delegation comprising Ajay Seth, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor and Kartik Pande, Joint Secretary, Indian Ocean Region, Ministry of External Affairs was in Colombo on Thursday. The delegation had meetings with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during the visit. The talks between the two sides were held in a frank, cordial and constructive manner, the High Commission of India Colombo said in a statement. "The Indian delegation underscored that the unprecedented recent economic, financial and humanitarian assistance of over US$ 3.5 billion to the people of Sri Lanka was, guided by 'Neighbourhood First' policy and Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi," it said in a statement. Both sides had a productive exchange of views on the current economic situation in Sri Lanka as well as India's ongoing support. In the meeting with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the two sides had an in-depth discussion on the Sri Lankan economy and efforts undertaken by the Government of Sri Lanka toward achieving economic recovery. In this context, both sides highlighted the importance of promoting India-Sri Lanka investment partnership including in the fields of infrastructure, connectivity, renewable energy and deepening economic linkages between the two countries, according to the statement. The statement further added that the Foreign Secretary of India also had a separate meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Ambassador Aruni Wijewardena. They agreed to work in close coordination towards strengthening diplomatic engagement and undertaking a bilateral visit at an early date. Sri Lankan side appreciated the consistent support of the Government and people of India over the past few years in a variety of fields such as counter-terrorism, maritime security, disaster management, humanitarian assistance, development cooperation, commercial engagement and people-to-people ties. "It may be recalled that development assistance extended by India stands at over USD 5 billion with more than USD 600 million being in grants, which include the Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity Project. India continues to be the largest source of tourism for Sri Lanka," the High Commission of India in Colombo stated. As per the statement, Sri Lankan side also welcomed the support extended by India during the meetings at the IMF in March this year and on subsequent occasions in different forums including regional and plurilateral organizations. They further acknowledged the initiatives taken by the Indian leadership in encouraging other countries to support Sri Lanka in dealing with the post-COVID normalization of economic activity. (ANI)
The former chief of China's Xinjiang region, who was replaced last year is now working in a senior agricultural post elsewhere in the country, according to media report. The demotion of the official predicted that China's President Xi Jinping is interested in easing tensions with the United States ahead of the national congress, where he is tipped to secure a third term as leader of the Chinese Communist Party. However, it had been unclear where Chen Quanguo was working after he was shifted from his role as the CCP's chief. Xinhua News Agency last week reported that Chen had attended a June 14 meeting on the agricultural policy as deputy head of the party's so-called Central Rural Work Leading Group. Vice Premier Hu Chunhua heads the group, as per Nikkei Asia. Citing a source, Nikkei Asia reported that this marked an effective demotion in the run-up to the national congress, with Chen unlikely to reappear on the front line of the party given that he is 66 years old. It is also unclear whether he can survive as a Politburo member. Chen is considered as the person behind the draconian security apparatus in Tibet and a mastermind behind the camps in Xinjiang which incarcerate over a million Uyghur minorities. In 2020, he was sanctioned by the US for serious rights abuses against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. "XUAR is the regional government of Xinjiang and falls under the governance of the PRC. Chen Quanguo (Chen) is the Party Secretary of the XUAR, a position he was appointed to in 2016, following Chen's notorious history of intensifying security operations in the Tibetan Autonomous Region to tighten control over the Tibetan ethnic minorities," US treasury department had said in a release. Last month, several billboards were put in the streets of London demanding the arrest of Chen Quanguo. The message on the boards urged the United Kingdom to act against the Chinese leader for the repression of Uyghurs and Tibetan communities. (ANI)
Member countries of the BRICS grouping on Thursday issued a declaration stating that they discussed the situation in Ukraine and supported the negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow. The Beijing Declaration of the XIV BRICS summit issued on Thursday reads: "We have discussed the situation in Ukraine and recall our national positions as expressed at the appropriate fora, namely the UNSC and UNGA. We support talks between Russia and Ukraine." Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) adopted a final declaration following the organization's 14th summit today. The summit was held online and was chaired by China. "We agree to continue deepening cooperation on competition issues of the BRICS countries and create conditions for fair competition for international trade and economic cooperation," the declaration read. BRICS countries also reaffirmed their commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons and vowed to promote more meaningful participation of developing and least developed countries in global processes. "We recall the 2005 World Summit Outcome and reaffirm the need for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations, including its Security Council, in order to make it more representative, efficient and effective, and to make it more representative of developing countries, so that it can adequately to respond to global challenges," the declaration read. BRICS countries also noted that despite the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges, the countries in 2022 have jointly continued enhancing solidarity and deepening cooperation on, inter alia, economy, peace and security, people-to-people exchanges, public health, and sustainable development by holding a series of meetings and activities, and contributed to tangible outcomes of BRICS cooperation. The leaders reiterated their commitment to multilateralism through upholding international law, including the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. They recalled the BRICS Joint Statement on Strengthening and Reforming the Multilateral System adopted by our Foreign Ministers in 2021. BRICS also stressed that global economic governance is of critical importance for countries to ensure sustainable development and recall further our support for broadening and strengthening the participation of emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs) in the international economic decision-making and norm-setting processes. "We reaffirm our support for an open, transparent, inclusive, non-discriminatory and rules-based multilateral trading system, as embodied in the World Trade Organization(WTO). We will engage constructively to pursue the necessary WTO reform to build an open world economy that supports trade and development, preserve the pre-eminent role of the WTO for setting global trade rules and governance, supporting inclusive development and promoting the rights and interests of its members, including developing members and LDCs," the statement read. (ANI)
The US Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a New York law restricting gun-carrying rights. The court ruled that Americans have a fundamental right to carry firearms in public and that limiting that right violates the 14th amendment of the Constitution. The New York State law in question required individuals who wished to carry a firearm outside their home to prove that they have "proper cause" to do so based on a special need for self-defence beyond that of an ordinary citizen. "New York's proper-cause requirement violates the Fourteenth Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defence needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defence," the US Supreme Court said. The decision to invalidate New York's law throws into question the legality of similar restrictions in more than a half dozen other states that give licensing officials wide discretion over concealed carry permits. The ruling jeopardises similar restrictions in other states and expands gun rights. The ruling broke along ideological lines, with the court's six conservatives joining a majority opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas argued that no other constitutional right requires a citizen to demonstrate to the government the need to exercise that right. The New York State law prevents law-abiding citizens from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, Thomas concluded. The National Rifle Association (NRA), on the other hand, celebrated the ruling. The gun lobby helped back the plaintiffs in the case, Robert Nash and Brandon Koch - two New Yorkers who had applied for a concealed carry permit but were denied them, despite having licences for recreational gun ownership. Ahead of the Supreme Court ruling, the US Senate had announced steps towards new legislation tightening access to firearms. More than 390 million guns are owned by civilians in the US. In 2020 alone, more than 45,000 Americans died from firearms-related injuries including homicides and suicides. The ruling comes at a time of heightened support for gun control following a string of high-profile mass shootings. The May 24 massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers, was the bloodiest mass shooting in the United States this year, which occurred only 10 days after another shooting that killed 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo. (ANI)
The Indian embassy in Antananarivo on Thursday began free Hindi language classes for all language enthusiasts in Madagascar, Indian Ambassador to Madagascar, Abhay Kumar said. "It is a truly a historic day that for the first time Hindi is being taught in Madagascar. I am delighted with the response it has received. Over 100 students and professionals have expressed interest in learning Hindi within a few days of the announcement of the course, adding that it is truly encouraging and heartwarming," Ambassador Abhay Kumar said in Hindi while launching the first class at the embassy premises here. Hindi is among one of the most popular languages in the world. With the rise of Indian influence, the interest in learning Hindi has also seen an increase among people in other countries. With developments in technology, learning Hindi has become more accessible and affordable. Meanwhile, according to information put out by the Indian embassy here, several Hindi films will also be included in the learning process, keeping in view the interest and keenness exhibited by local Malagasy nationals in learning the Hindi language. The Hindi classes will be held five times a week, from Monday to Friday in two slots: from 2 pm to 3 pm and from 3 pm to 4 pm. The classes will be conducted by the newly appointed Hindi teacher Manisha Pandey. People of all ages will be invited to take part in the classes, the embassy said. Ties between India and Madagascar ties are on an upswing and several MoUs in key areas such as health, education, culture, information, and travel have been signed between the two countries. Madagascar has a large Indian diaspora from Gujarat and is the largest and most populous island in the Indian Ocean. (ANI)
In the wake of the recent petrol price hike, the members of the Youth Association of Nepal and the Youth Union of the opposition, Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) on Thursday evening clashed with police near the parliament while protesting against the recent petrol price hike. Protestors marched towards parliament with live torches in their hands and chanting anti-government slogans demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister. Police resorted to the use of force as the agitating side tried to enter the lane with heavy traffic with live torches, following which the agitated parties started pelting stones at security forces and damaged a government-owned vehicle which was passing by the protest site. As per the protest organizers, several protestors have been injured during the clashes. The state-owned syndicate, Nepal Oil Corporation on Monday raised the price of one litre of petrol and diesel by 12 and 16 per cent respectively. The government under the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has been facing mounting pressure after the hefty hike in the price of petroleum. On Monday, the House Speaker had ruled the government to come forward with the reason for the unprecedented hike in petroleum prices after members of parliament demanded an answer from the government. State syndicate, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has raised the price of petrol to Rs 199 per litre and diesel to Rs 192 with effect past Sunday midnight. Issuing a release on Sunday evening, the state syndicate- NOC has stated the Russia-Ukraine War is the sole reason affecting the international fuel market and prices were adjusted in line with the international market. On Thursday (June 16), the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the sole supplier of fuel to the NOC, sent a list by increasing the price of fuel. As per the price list, the price of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel was increased by Rs 6.52, Rs 19.3 and Rs 91.91 per litre respectively. (ANI)
At the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) briefing on Afghanistan, India expressed its deepest condolences to the victims and their families who were impacted by the devastating earthquake in Afghanistan and vowed to provide assistance and support in this hour of need. Permanent Representative to UN, Ambassador TS Tirumurti, while addressing the Council said, "At the outset, I express deepest condolences to the victims and their families, and to all those impacted by the devastating earthquake in Afghanistan. India shares the grief of the people of Afghanistan and is ready to provide assistance and support in this hour of need." Tirumurti noted that as a contiguous neighbour and long-standing partner of Afghanistan, India has direct stakes in ensuring the return of peace and stability to the country. "Given our strong historical and civilizational linkages to the Afghan people, we are deeply concerned about the recent developments in Afghanistan, especially the deteriorating humanitarian situation," he added. The Ambassador highlighted that India supported the Security Council Resolution 2615 that provided for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, while ensuring that the Security Council would continue to exercise its oversight to guard against any possible diversion of funds and misuse of exemptions from sanctions. "We note the briefing by the Emergency Relief Coordinator on the working of the resolution. We hope that the 'humanitarian carve outs' of this Resolution are fully utilized by the UN agencies and their aid partners," Tirumurti stressed. India reiterated that humanitarian assistance should be based on principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence. "The disbursement of humanitarian aid should be non-discriminatory and accessible to all, irrespective of ethnicity, religion, or political belief. In particular, the assistance should reach the most vulnerable first, including women, children, and minorities," the Ambassador noted during the briefing. In response to the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people, India has dispatched several shipments of humanitarian assistance consisting of 30,000 MTs of wheat, 13 tons of medicines, 500,000 doses of COVID-19 Vaccine and winter clothing. These humanitarian consignments were handed over to the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital, Kabul, and UN specialized agencies such as World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP). To ensure fair and just distribution of India's wheat assistance, the Government of India signed an agreement with the UNWFP for the distribution of 50,000 MT of wheat within Afghanistan. The dispatch of this wheat to Afghanistan has already commenced. Moreover, to oversee the utilization of India's medical and food-grain assistance and to further assess the humanitarian requirements of Afghan people, an Indian team visited Kabul recently (on June 2-3) and met with the representatives of the International Organizations involved in the distribution of the humanitarian assistance. In addition, the team also visited places where Indian programmes and projects are being implemented like Indira Gandhi Children Hospital, Habibia High School, Chimtala sub-power station and the UNWFP wheat distribution center. "We are now in the process of shipping more medical assistance and food grains to Afghanistan. We also gifted one million doses of "Made-in-India" COVAXIN COVID-19 vaccines to Iran to administer to the Afghan refugees in Iran. In addition, we have assisted UNICEF by supplying almost 60 million doses of polio vaccine and two tons of essential medicines," PR to India for UN said during the Council briefing. Tirumurti said that India's approach to Afghanistan, as always, will be guided by the country's historical friendship and its special relationship with the people of Afghanistan. He added that the expectations of the international community on the way forward in Afghanistan have been clearly set forth in the Council's Resolution 2593 and reiterated subsequently, including in UNSCR 2626. "These relate to ensuring that the territory of Afghanistan is not used to launch terrorist attacks against other countries; formation of a truly inclusive and representative government; combating terrorism and drug trafficking; and preserving the rights of women, children, and minorities," he said. Speaking further, Tirumurti noted that India is closely motioning the security situation in Afghanistan and is actively engaging with the international community to ensure consensus on issues of security, peace, and stability. India also strongly condemn the terrorist attack on Gurudwara Dashmesh Pita Sahibji in Kabul on June 18. "The terrorist assault on places of worship of minority communities and targeting of innocent civilian population continues to be a serious concern," the Ambassador said. "The recent findings of the 1988 Sanctions Committee's Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team Report indicate that the current authorities need to take much stronger action to fulfil their anti-terrorism commitments. There is a significant increase in the presence of ISIL-K in the country and their capacity to carry out attacks. ISIL-K, with its base reportedly in Afghanistan, continues to issue threats of terrorist attacks on other countries," he said. The Ambassador went on to say that the report further noted that the Taliban is yet to dissociate itself from other terrorist groups such as the Al-Qaeda which continue to remain active. "The linkages between groups listed by the UNSC such as the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed, as well as, provocative statements made by other terrorist groups operating out of Afghanistan pose a direct threat to the region. There are, therefore, serious concerns which need our immediate attention and unified action to ensure that Afghanistan does not become a haven for other terrorist organisations including ISIS-K, Al-Qaeda, JeM and LeT. We need to see concrete progress in ensuring that such proscribed terrorists, entities, or their aliases do not get any support, tacit or direct, either from Afghan soil or from the terror sanctuaries based in the region," Tirumurti said while specifying the need to combat the acts of terrorism. He said that, on the political front, India continues to call for an inclusive dispensation in Afghanistan which represents all sections of the Afghan society. The Ambassador added that a broad-based, inclusive, and representative formation is necessary for both domestic and international engagement. Furthermore, speaking on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, Tirumurti noted, "We are deeply concerned about recent developments in Afghanistan which directly impact the well-being of women and girls of Afghanistan. There has been an increasing attempt towards removing women from public life in Afghanistan. We join others in calling for ensuring the protection of the rights of women and girls and to ensure that the long-fought gains of the last two decades are not reversed." Concluding his briefing, Tirumurti stressed that peace and security in Afghanistan are critical imperatives that all need to collectively strive for. "India will continue to play its role towards the pursuit of that objective. The interests of Afghan people will continue to be at the heart of our efforts in Afghanistan," he said. (ANI)
Indian American lawmaker Raja Krishnamoorthi on Wednesday said India and the US need to come together to do more for the people of war-torn Ukraine, overcoming current "complications", which, he did not specify, arise from a difference in the positions taken by the two countries. The US has condemned the Russian invasion and sent billions of dollars of military equipment to Ukraine to help it defend itself. India has not condemned the invasion outright, but has called for the cessation of hostilities and upholding the UN charter that guarantees the sovereignty and integrity of all nations. "I think it's so important for us to come together even tighter in support of the Ukrainian people," Krishnamoorthi said, adding: "I understand that there are complications, and I hope that we can work with the Indians and the government of India to resolve those complications over time." The three-term lawmaker from Chicago was addressing an event on the Capitol Hill called "Indian Americans against Genocide in Ukraine". The organisers had said they felt compelled to declare their outrage against the invasion because of India's refusal to condemn it. They wanted to, one, distance themselves from New Delhi and, two, shield themselves from backlash to it here and, finally, to demonstrate they were aligned with the rest of America on this issue. Krishnamoorthi navigated that crinkle adroitly. He called for rallying to Ukraine's help without criticising India, something that his congressional colleagues have done, such as Ro Khanna, an Indian-American like Krishnamoorthi. He has been unrestrained in calling out India, and repeatedly. The event was organised by a bipartisan group of Indian Americans - the Democratic-leaning US India Security Council Inc and conservative-leaning American Hindu Coalition. Kumar Barve, a decade-long Democratic member of the Maryland state legislature, addressed that gap more bluntly. "I think it's also pretty clear that 100 per cent of us of Indian origin want the Indian government to stop supporting (Russian President) Vladimir Putin in this effort," he said. Acknowledging that the Indian government will not be moved by what Indian Americans say or do, Barve added: "I think it's important for people to know where we as Americans of Indian origin stand. We don't stand with people who start wars. We certainly don't stand with people who use advanced weapons against civilian populations. We very much do stand with the elected leadership of Ukraine." Victoria Virasingh, an Indian American who is running for the Democratic nomination for the House of Representatives from Virginia, spoke about her own meetings with people of Ukrainian descent. "I feel this deep responsibility to stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and to stand united with our allies, both in India and in the Western world, and to urge a collective action against what is happening. We must condemn what is happening. We must condemn it. We must remain outraged at the atrocity. It is only by acknowledging what is truly happening that we can fix it that we can find a way forward together." --IANS yashwant/vd ( 518 Words) 2022-06-23-20:20:03 (IANS)
In order to closely coordinate the efforts of various stakeholders for the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance, an Indian technical team has reached Kabul on Thursday and has been deployed in the Indian Embassy there, said Ministry of External Affairs in a press release. "In order to closely monitor and coordinate the efforts of various stakeholders for the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance and in continuation of our engagement with the Afghan people, an Indian technical team has reached Kabul today and has been deployed in our Embassy there," the statement read. India has a historical and civilizational relationship with the Afghan people. Recently, another Indian team visited Kabul to oversee the delivery operations of our humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and met with senior members of the Taliban. During the visit, an assessment of the security situation was also carried out. The longstanding links of India with the Afghan society and the development partnership between the two countries including humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan, will continue to guide the approach going forward, MEA said. In order to support Afghanistan, the first consignment of India's earthquake relief assistance reached Kabul on Thursday. The consignment has been handed over by the Indian team to support the Afghan nationals affected by the earthquake, which will further be followed by another consignment. "First consignment of India's earthquake relief assistance for the people of Afghanistan reaches Kabul. Being handed over by the Indian team there. Further consignment follows," official spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet. Retweeting Bagchi's tweet, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said, "India is a true first responder." An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 shook parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan on Wednesday claiming more than 1000 lives. The earthquake struck in the early hours of this morning near the city of Khost in the southeastern part of the country with the most affected areas being in Spera District in Khost Province, and Barmala, Ziruk, Naka and Gayan districts in Paktika Province.Over this incident, India expressed condolences to the victims and their families impacted by the tragic earthquake in Afghanistan. India said it remains committed to providing assistance and support in this hour of need.The disaster comes as Afghanistan continues to struggle with a severe economic crisis since the Taliban took over, as US-led international forces withdrew following two decades of war.A UN agency said Afghanistan had asked humanitarian agencies to help with rescue efforts, and teams were being dispatched to the quake-hit area. (ANI)
In view of the "oppressive system" of governance in China, the number of Chinese nationals seeking political asylum overseas has spiked significantly under the rule of President Xi Jinping. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) figures reveal that nearly 12,000 Chinese nationals sought asylum overseas in 2012 however, this number had risen to nearly 120,000 by 2021 since Xi took office as the Chinese Communist Part (CCP) General Secretary. Safeguard Defenders have termed this a "desperate act". The rights group warned of a growing risk of transnational repression, including the use of involuntary returns, now that a growing number of Chinese nationals have fled the country. The rights group said, "Seeking asylum is for many a desperate act, reserved for those with few other options, which does not apply to the great many Chinese who have moved, and continue to do so, to the U.S, Australia, and beyond, often via naturalization, work visas or property purchases." As per the report, around 730,000 Chinese nationals have sought asylum since 2012, with more than 170,000 living outside China under refugee status. In an article by Amelia Loi for Radio Free Asia (RFA), the overseas-based rights group Safeguard Defenders said, "Year by year since Xi Jinping came to power, in lockstep with a more oppressive system of governance, the number of asylum-seekers from China has continued to grow at an alarming rate." "In 2020, and now with new figures just released for 2021, it shows continued growth despite COVID restrictions," it added. The US remains the most popular destination, accepting 88,722 applicants from mainland China last year. Australia took 15,774 asylum-seekers in the same year, the figures showed. Thousands also apply for asylum in Canada, Brazil, South Korea, and the U.K. Safeguard Defenders researcher Jing-jie Chen said the data also reflect the impact of Xi's zero-COVID policy, that has led to grueling lockdowns and draconian restrictions of people's movements under the guise of disease control and prevention. "China has basically been in a state of lockdown during the past couple of years that these data are from, and it is actually very difficult for asylum seekers to go abroad," Chen said while speaking with RFA. "Yet we can see that the number has reached a new high ... with the number of asylum seekers rising every year over the past three years," he added. Chen said many more people are voting with their feet and opting to emigrate from China, either through overseas study or investment visas and residency cards. Meanwhile, World Uyghur Congress spokesman Dilxat Raxit said many of the asylum-seekers are Uyghurs fleeing a network of concentration camps and technological totalitarianism in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. He said overseas Uyghurs remain at risk from the Chinese authorities. "Uyghurs in exile are constantly at risk from China putting pressure on their countries of residence to detain and forcibly return them," Dilxat Raxit said. "We call on the international community to continue to take measures to provide Uyghurs at risk with adequate protection," he said, adding that many Uyghur asylum-seekers had been unable to renew expired passports and sometimes had trouble documenting the oppression they suffered back home," he added. (ANI)
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U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks on student debt at the AFL-CIO on June 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. The AFL-CIO held an event to discuss the importance of student debt cancellation for American workers. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Sen. Elizabeth Warren said the student debt crisis was caused by "deliberate policy decision."

She referenced tax cuts that Democrats have criticized in the past for favoring the rich.

Biden is nearing a decision on relief that will likely be announced in July or August.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren believes policy is to blame for the $1.7 trillion student debt crisis.

"Can we all just take a deep breath and acknowledge that $1.7 trillion in student loan debt did not just fall out of the sky?" Warren said during a Wednesday student debt roundtable at the offices of union federation group AFL-CIO. "It did not just happen as an act of gravity, it did not just happen because of age, it happened because of deliberate policy decisions to make investments in cutting taxes for the richest Americans and paying for it by shortchanging the education of our children."

Warren was referring to general tax policy that Democratic lawmakers have criticized in the past for favoring corporations and the wealthiest Americans. She emphasized that, along with the union leaders present at the roundtable, effective policies are ones that help working people in the country.

"Mr. President, labor cares about student-loan debt," Warren added.

Even before Warren became a lawmaker, she was looking into the student-loan industry as she helped establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and as a senator, she worked with the agency to uncover abuses by student-loan companies that pushed borrowers into taking on more debt than they could afford to pay off. She's also been one of the leading lawmakers pushing President Joe Biden to forgive $50,000 in student debt per borrower  something she proposed during her presidential campaign, but has yet to come to fruition.

Currently, Biden is reportedly considering $10,000 in relief for borrowers making under $150,000 a year, and the final decision will likely be announced in July or August, closer to when the student-loan payment pause expires after August 31. Warren, and some of her Democratic colleagues, believe that $50,000 is the amount that will get the most relief to the most people while helping to close the racial wealth gap.

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While Democrats are asking Biden to prioritize this issue and use his executive authority to reduce the burden of student debt, Republican lawmakers have slammed the idea, saying the president should not relieve debt for all federal borrowers. Top Republican on the House education committee Virginia Foxx recently said Biden "operates as if he can issue any decree he wants on student loan forgiveness, even if it means exercising authority that he does not have."

Biden has not publicly confirmed an amount of relief, but he told reporters over the weekend he is nearing a final decision, and a further extension of the pause on payment is still on the table. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who joined Warren at the Wednesday roundtable, hopes that the relief will be significant and alleviate the debt burden for as many Americans as possible.

"There's no shame in struggle," Pressley said. "The shame is that we're not doing everything in our power to alleviate the burden of that struggle."

Read the original article on Business Insider
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SAO PAULO, June 23 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday that the BRICS group of emerging economies must join efforts towards reforming the United Nations, to ensure they have proper representation.

The far-right leader specifically mentioned the U.N. Security Council, saying that emerging economies need to be properly represented on the body.

The Security Council has 15 members - five permanent including China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States and 10 elected for a two year term by the U.N. General Assembly. Brazil is on the council until 2023.

Bolsonaro's remarks came during a virtual summit with the leaders of Russia, India, China and South Africa, which comprise the BRICS group alongside Brazil.

He also called for reforms at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

"We need to join efforts in a search to reform international organizations, such as the World Bank, the IMF and the United Nations, especially its Security Council," Bolsonaro told the summit.

"The weight of emerging and developing economies must have the due and deserved representation". (Reporting by Eduardo Simoes; Writing by Gabriel Araujo Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, Alexandra Hudson)
A Louisiana teen was charged in connection with an armed robbery scheme, and police say his mother was in on it.

Laura Curtis, 34, and her 13-year-old son were arrested after theyre accused of robbing a man at gunpoint in Houma last week, according to a police news release. Both face charges, including armed robbery.

Officers responded Sunday, June 19, to reports of a robbery along Grand Caillou Road, police said. The victim told police he had hailed a ride with a woman to cash his check at a local business.

Once there, he said an unknown person got in the car, robbed him at gun point and demanded the woman drive him to Memory Lane, the release states. The suspect eventually got out and ran into a neighborhood nearby.

After further investigation, it was found that the female driver ... was actually an accomplice to the robbery and the suspect with the firearm was her 13 year old son, police wrote in a news release.

Curtis was booked into the Terrebonne Parish Criminal Justice Complex where she remains held on a $100,000 bond as of June 23, online records show. Her son was taken to a youth detention center and charged with illegal possession of a firearm by a juvenile and armed robbery, police said.

Houma is about 60 miles southwest of New Orleans.

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Most hikes along the Ice Age Trail feature views of beautiful natural landscapes: rolling prairie, thick forests, babbling brooks.

But some hikes also feature unusual treats: a boulder shaped like an elephant's head, the fuselage of a small airplane, an old root cellar converted into a resting place for hikers.

Heres where to see those and other unique landmarks along the Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin, starting at the western terminus and heading east.

Glacial potholes, St. Croix Falls segment, Polk County

Near the trails western terminus is one of the most interesting glacial features along the 1,200-mile trail: potholes.

The holes in the basalt rock, some up to 12 feet deep, were created when a glacial river covered the area; sediment swirling in eddies and whirlpools drilled the holes into the rock.

Across the St. Croix River, Minnesotas Interstate State Park is home to the worlds deepest explored pothole, the Bottomless Pit, which goes down 60 feet. The potholes on the Wisconsin side are smaller but still impressive.

Find them: The trails western terminus is in Interstate State Park. Find the potholes along the 0.4-mile Potholes Trail, which shares a tread with the Ice Age Trail for part of its loop.

Airplane wreckage, Bear Lake segment, Barron County

The fuselage of an old Cherokee airplane sits along the Bear Lake segment of the Ice Age Trail in Barron County.

In a small clearing along the Bear Lake segment is the fuselage of a red and white Cherokee plane. The windows and everything inside the plane are gone, but sections of the wings are scattered around the clearing.

The plane is on the south side of the L.E. Phillips Scout Reservation, after the trail passes the Boy Scout camps lake and cabins.

Find it: The plane is about a mile west of the trailhead and parking on County Highway VV west of Haugen.

Hillbilly Hilton, Lumbercamp segment, Langlade County

The Lumbercamp segment of the trail passes through the old Norem Lumber Camp, which operated in the 1920s and '30s. All that remains of the camp are some log foundations and a root cellar, which has been turned into a rough bunk house dubbed the Hillbilly Hilton.

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The small sod-roofed structure looks a little like a Hobbit house built into a rise in the ground. Inside are a couple wooden bunk platforms, a small table, shelving, and odds and ends left behind by people who have passed through.

Find it: The 12-mile Lumbercamp Segments western end is on County Highway A near the Peters Marsh State Wildlife Area, where parking is available. The eastern end is on Highway 52. Theres also parking on County Highway S, which is about 3 miles west of the Hillbilly Hilton. Look for the structure just west of Otto Mauk Road.

Note that there are active logging operations on this segment of the trail, so be aware of debris and possible trail reroutes.

Alligator statue, Table Bluff segment, Dane County

A sunbathing alligator statue sits along the Table Bluff segment of the Ice Age Trail near Cross Plains.

The 2.5-mile Table Bluff segment is a beautiful stretch of trail with a fun permanent inhabitant: a statue of a sunbathing alligator wearing a blue polka dot bikini. The small statue is near the southern end of the segment, which is less than 5 trail miles from the Ice Age Trail Alliances headquarters in Cross Plains.

The segment's northern end is on Table Bluff Road. From there, the trail travels through the 73-acre Holmes Preserve, which the IATA is converting from farmland back to the oak savanna landscape it was before European settlement. A white-blazed side trail creates a small loop within the preserve.

To see the statue, keep hiking as the trail heads into the Swamplovers Preserve and climbs a bluff. A picnic area at the top offers a spot for soaking in the views. This area features another white-blazed loop for a change of scenery if youre doing an out-and-back hike.

The trail then descends the bluff through a goat prairie to the segments southern end on Scheele Road.

Find it: There are parking areas on the northern and southern ends of the segment, on Table Bluff and Scheele roads, both off County Highway KP west of Cross Plains.

Stone Elephant, Blue Spring Lake segment, Jefferson County

Youll have to find the right angle and use your imagination a bit to see the Stone Elephant along the trails Blue Spring Lake segment in the Kettle Moraine State Forests Southern Unit.

The stone is an erratic, a boulder that was moved by the glaciers that pushed through the state thousands of years ago. The erratic is shaped like an elephants head, with a large ear and trunk. Its best viewed from the opposite side than you first approach it.

Hiking this segment comes with a bonus view from one of the highest points in Jefferson County along the Bald Bluff Nature Trail. Native Americans used the bluff as a lookout and for ceremonial dances, and it was also the site of a U.S. military encampment during the Blackhawk War in 1832.

Find it: The 7.1-mile Blue Spring Lake segments western end is on Young Road south of Palmyra. Find parking for the trail and Bald Bluff north of there on County Highway H. It's about a half-mile hike up the bluff along the nature trail, then another mile along the Ice Age Trail to the Stone Elephant.

Contact Chelsey Lewis at clewis@journalsentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter at @chelseylew and @TravelMJS and Facebook at Journal Sentinel Travel.

Sign up for our Travel newsletter for ideas on things to do around Wisconsin and the Midwest delivered to your inbox.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ice Age Trail unusual things, from Hillbilly Hilton to Stone Elephant
helicopter

Getty Huey military helicopter

Six people are dead after a helicopter they were aboard crashed in the West Virginia mountains.

Logan County Office of Emergency Management confirmed the tragedy on Wednesday night, revealing that it occurred earlier that evening and attributed the news to the Federal Aviation Administration.

"A Bell UH-1B helicopter crashed near Rt. 17 in Logan County, W.V., around 5 p.m. local time Wednesday. Six people were on board," the FAA tells PEOPLE in a statement.

All six people on board died in the crash, Logan County OEM Deputy Director Sonya Porter confirms to PEOPLE, attributing the information to first responders who arrived on the scene.

"I am aware through Facebook posts that two families from Logan County are reporting that they had family members aboard the helicopter when it crashed," Porter adds.

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.

RELATED: 4 Dead After Helicopter Crashes at U.S. Navy Base in Hawaii

Logan Emergency Ambulance Authority Chief of Operations Ray Bryant told WSAZ-TV that the aircraft was a "Huey" military helicopter from the Vietnam War era, and that the victims were not local.

According to Bryant, the helicopter was used for tourism and was based out of the Logan airport, per WSAZ-TV, a CNN affiliate.

While a cause is unknown at this time, one hour before Logan OEM reported the news of the crash, they posted a severe-thunderstorm watch, following up with a warning later in the day.

"At the time the crash occurred, I think the weather was clear," Porter told The New York Times.

helicopter

Tom Pennington/Getty Huey military helicopter

RELATED: 5 Marines Dead After Aircraft, Initially Feared to Be Carrying Nuclear Material, Crashes in California

An investigation into a cause is ongoing, with the FAA saying efforts are being led by their group and the National Transportation Safety Board.

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"The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates," the FAA adds in their statement.

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice tweeted Wednesday night that he was "praying for the families of those killed in this tragic helicopter crash."

Reps for Logan County OEM and the Logan Emergency Ambulance Authority did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's requests for comment.
vorDa / Getty Images

No matter how old you are, retirement should be a goal you're planning for and working toward. Unfortunately, many people aren't on track.

See: 15 Cheap, Beautiful Places To Retire

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Nearly half of American workers agreed with the statement, "I don't have enough income to save for retirement," according to a 2021 survey by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS). Additionally, 57% of workers said they plan to work in retirement. Of those respondents, 80% cited "financial reasons."

So, if you hope to retire some day, you need to be sure you can afford to do so. Here are six signs you may not be there yet.

AJ_Watt / Getty Images

You Have a High Level of Debt

Ideally, you would transition into retirement debt-free. Of course, that's not realistic for many people. "Having some debt, such as a home loan that may offer tax deductions, isn't necessarily a bad thing," said Melissa Hannum, a CFP with COUNTRY Financial. "The problem arises when you still have a high level of debt."

Industry guidelines suggest that your mortgage expenses (including principal, interest, insurance and real estate taxes) should be no more than 28% of your pre-tax household income. Your total debt (housing debt, plus auto loans, credit cards, etc.) should be no more than 36% of your pre-tax income. "If you are already struggling to keep your debt below these percentages, then you are not ready to retire," Hannum said.

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Ridofranz / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Your Spending Exceeds Your Income

Shopping might be good for the economy, but not so much your bottom line. Hannum said that if you're currently spending more than you're earning, then you are not on track to retire.

"While employed, you may think that you'll always have the opportunity to make up for bad spending habits by getting a higher-paying job, getting that annual bonus or even getting a raise," she said. "When you're retired, those opportunities are no longer available."

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That's why it's important to get your spending in check now by creating a budget and sticking to it. "Having a budget doesn't mean you can't shop, travel or have hobbies -- you just need to account for them," Hannum said.

pixelheadphoto digitalskillet / Shutterstock.com

Your Emergency Fund Is Running Low

Even though you aren't receiving a paycheck anymore, the same unexpected emergencies can pop up in retirement. "A random car repair, appliance mishap or unforeseen emergency room bills can derail a retirement plan and cause an unexpected cash crunch," said Jordan Grumet, host of the Earn & Invest podcast and author of "Taking Stock."

He explained that retirees should have at least one full year's worth of expenses saved in a liquid and conservative form of investment such as a money market fund, short-term CD or high-yield savings account. If you don't have that yet, you're not financially prepared for retirement.

kate_sept2004 / Getty Images

You Haven't Reviewed Your Portfolio Recently

If you put your 401(k) on autopilot when you first started contributing and haven't really checked it since, Hannum said you may not be ready to retire. "Taking on excess risk as you near retirement can be extremely hazardous and your portfolio could take a major hit just as you're ready to call it quits," she explained.

It's important to make the most of what you have saved up last throughout your retirement years. "So as you near retirement, you should be shifting your portfolio away from strictly growth-oriented investments and focusing more towards a wealth-preservation strategy," Hannum said. It can help to discuss your situation with a financial professional and determine whether or not you should rebalance your portfolio.

Squaredpixels / Getty Images

You Lack Adequate Insurance

Having enough insurance coverage -- especially when it comes to health insurance -- is crucial in retirement. For those 65 and older, Medicare is available, but it's not free.

Grumet noted that many people decide to purchase secondary insurance, and it's important to consider medication costs as well. "A person should not retire if they have not factored in medical costs to their budget," he said.

Cecilie_Arcurs / Getty Images

You Don't Have a Social Plan

Finally, know that being prepared for retirement isn't just about the numbers. It's also about being prepared mentally, according to Hannum.

"If your social circle is strictly co-workers and Facebook friends, you may not be ready to retire," she said. It's important to have a plan in place to stay social and start thinking about ways to meaningfully occupy your time. Consider joining a club, starting a hobby, volunteering and making friends outside the office.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 6 Signs You Cant Afford To Retire
This summer marks the third time in eight years that the U.S. Department of Education is overhauling its policy on how school districts should handle student discipline.

And while the controversy surrounding the issue hasnt changed, the pandemic offers up a troubling new context: Districts are reporting spikes in student misconduct, violent attacks on school employees and blatant disregard for school rules.

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There is certainly a much higher level of dysregulation in our kids, said Rico Munn, superintendent of the Aurora Public Schools in Colorado. He added that educators usually expect students to fall into a routine and follow rules by September. We werent hitting that until spring break.

Related: Biden Administrations New Title IX Rules Expand Transgender Student Protections

The education department is expected to update its policy in two parts. One will focus on students with disabilities, who are significantly more likely to be suspended and expelled than non-disabled students. The other will address racial gaps in discipline  a reality that persists in many districts despite widespread efforts over the past decade to keep students from being removed from school and often referred to police.

Advocates for students educational rights are eager for the department to make a strong statement against discipline that keeps students out of the classroom.

Discipline is inherently an authoritative tool used to punish students for being what an adult has decided is disobedient, said Denise Stile Marshall, president of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, which focuses on the rights of students with disabilities. There is a lot of research on this, but simply put, punitive school discipline does not improve student behavior or academic achievement.

Catherine Lhamon (Getty Images)

If that sounds familiar, its not accidental. The person leading the departments effort is Catherine Lhamon, assistant secretary at the Office for Civil Rights, the same position she held under President Barack Obama. Seth Galanter, who worked with Lhamon during the Obama years, has also returned to the civil rights office after four years at the National Center for Youth Law.

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In 2014, the Obama administration issued a document saying that schools where Black and Hispanic students were disproportionately removed for disciplinary reasons could be in violation of federal civil rights laws  even if those students misbehaved at higher rates.

Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rescinded that guidance in 2018, siding with those who called the move coercive and said it misinterpreted civil rights laws meant to prevent discrimination.

Related: This is a Pressure Cooker: A Third of Teachers Faced Abuse and Threats Last Year. Researchers Say Behavior Has Likely Gotten Worse

The Biden administration comes to the issue not only more sympathetic to the idea of restorative justice, but in the midst of a pandemic that has seen an increase in student misbehavior. One North Carolina official said student behavior was so abysmal that educators were afraid for their safety.

A year of disrupted schooling

Thats one reason why Michael Petrilli, president of the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute, said in January that the department should hold off on new guidance, arguing that districts shouldnt have to fear a federal investigation for removing disruptive students from the classroom.

The pandemic, he noted, was worse for low-income Black and Hispanic students, who were more likely to attend schools that had been closed longer.

The very same students that have more catching up to do after a year of disrupted schooling are also facing the prospect of a more challenging learning environment if schools are hesitant to remove problem students, he wrote.

Related: A School Discipline Double-Take: How Catherine Lhamon Could Turn Back the Clock With a Renewed Focus on Persistent Racial Disparities  and Ignite New Feuds

Others say the pandemic shouldnt interrupt the administrations efforts to revisit the issue of bias in school discipline.

It is always a good time to say that racial discrimination is wrong [and] that children with disabilities have the right to be alongside their non-disabled peers, said Liz King, the senior program director for education at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

She thinks the guidance should reflect recent research showing police in schools dont reduce gun violence but do increase suspensions, expulsion and arrests of students  especially for Black students. She wants the department to take a stand against seclusion and restraint of students and lean in to the rights of Black and Hispanic girls and LGBTQ students.

Data shows Black girls are five times more likely than white girls to be suspended from school at least once and four times more likely to be arrested at school. A 2016 analysis from advocacy group GLSEN found that LGBTQ students are suspended at higher rates than non-LGBTQ students.

Related: Exclusive: Police Cam Videos Reveal How School Cops and Educators Restrain Kids in Crisis

Absolutely a dance

The Obama-era guidance embraced so-called restorative justice practices that aim to give students a chance to build stronger relationships, work out their grievances and make amends for their actions in lieu of suspension. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have passed laws supporting the model, according to the Center on Poverty and Inequality at Georgetown Law School.

Earlier research on such programs was mixed, but a more recent analysis from California showed restorative practices can shrink Black-white discipline disparities and are associated with higher grade point averages in high school.

But good discipline is very expensive and hard to implement with the regular teacher allocation in the school, said Elliott Duchon, former superintendent of the Jurupa Unified School District, near Los Angeles.

His district launched a multi-year effort to reduce suspensions and expulsions after federal officials found that Hispanic students were more likely to be suspended than white students.

Los Angeles Unifieds restorative justice program costs $13 million a year, according to the district, and funding for the Oakland districts program  considered a national model  was almost cut until the city and private funders stepped in to pick up the cost.

Critics of alternative discipline practices argue the Obama-era guidance created tension between teachers who make discipline referrals and administrators who send students back to class without any consequences.

Its absolutely a dance, said Jacqueline Shirey, at-risk coordinator for the Beaumont Independent School District in Texas. If we are going to say that students cant leave, what are we doing to help the teachers?

With that in mind, Shirey began training teachers last fall to set up de-escalation spaces in their classrooms  a desk with a box that includes stress balls, 500-piece puzzles and writing materials.

Related: 700 Days Since Lockdown

I saw a way for students to learn how to manage their own emotions before it became disruptive, and I didnt want students to leave my classroom to do that, she said, but added that ground rules are necessary. If you dont implement it with a purpose, then it really does become supplies in a corner that students can play with.

When students returned last fall, some administrators decided it was important to take a business-as-usual approach to discipline.

In Nashville, Hunters Lane High School Principal Susan Kessler said her teachers enforce dress code this year and every year and that it helps in maintaining school culture, enforcing building security and reducing distractions in the classroom.

Other school leaders factored in the impact of school closures on students behavior.

Aaron Eyler, principal at Matawan Regional High School in Aberdeen, New Jersey, brought his staff together in September for a frank conversation about what to expect when students returned.

He told them not to worry about trying to win the battle against students wearing hoodies and hats. And he wasnt surprised to see more of what he referred to as insubordination, like students wearing Airpods and being late to class. The point, he said, was to keep students from missing even more instruction.

Related: Study: In 28 Districts, Middle and High School Students Lose More Than a Year of Learning Due to Suspensions

With  what happened last year and the lack of consistent structure, he said, there was no way we werent going to have greater instances of discipline than what were accustomed to in school.

Ronn Nozoe, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, said any guidance from the department is likely to ruffle feathers, but he added, You never want to tie the hands of folks who are actually doing the work.
Adam Reynolds told police that it was his twin brother who was behind a burglary. (Reach)

A burglar who was caught on a Ring doorbell sneaking into a home tried to lay the blame on his identical twin brother.

Adam Reynolds, 34, was caught on camera as he entered an unlocked porch in Hartshill Road, Stoke, at around 4.30am on 10 October last year.

The owner of the home had bought a movement-tracking camera when she noticed someone had entered the property a few days earlier.

The footage showed Reynolds attempting to remove the doorbell as he entered the house.

Corrie Reynolds (pictured) also has a lengthy criminal record. (Reach)

Officers recognised Reynolds, who has 62 convictions for 148 offences including two previous burglaries, and arrested him but when confronted with the evidence he told them it was his twin brother, Corrie Reynolds.

Adam Reynolds  whose twin also has a lengthy criminal record  went on to plead guilty to burglary.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Adam Reynolds crept inside the porch after being released on licence.

Richard McConaghy, mitigating, said: "Access was gained by the porch and no attempt was made to force the door. Identification was made with the doorbell.

Adam Reynolds was sentenced to 14 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. (Dave Thompson/PA/Getty)

"The items taken were not of any significant value. When asked to explain his behaviour he said it was for financial gain.

He was in the grips of a drug addiction at the time. He was plainly suffering from his mental health.

McConaghy said that Adam Reynolds was apologetic for what he has done but recorder Matthew Boyle told him: "You have an appalling record. Your Class A drug use had led you to develop psychotic episodes. You were behaving abnormally

The offence is aggravated by your previous convictions.

He was sentenced to 14 months in jail.
BEIRUT (AP)  Unless the U.N. Security Council extends its approval of aid deliveries to rebel-held parts of northwest Syria next month, food supplies will be depleted by September in the region that is home to some 4 million people, aid agencies warned Thursday.

Concerns have been rising in recent months that the situation will get worse in Syrias Idlib province because Russia may force international aid for the northwest to be delivered through parts of Syria under the control of its ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Currently, aid enters the Idlib enclave directly from Turkey via a single border crossing, Bab al-Hawa. The U.N. mandate allowing deliveries through Bab al-Hawa ends on July 9, and Russia has hinted it will veto a Security Council resolution renewing the mandate.

The mandates expiry this years comes amid rising tension between Russia and the West over Moscows invasion of Ukraine four months ago.

This is a moment when its absolutely vital that the people of Syria are not forced to pay the price of geopolitical divisions, David Miliband, head of the International Rescue Committee, said during an online briefing Thursday.

A Russian veto would effectively hand Assad control over the flow of aid to the opposition enclave; if that happens, the United States and the European Union have warned they will stop funding.

Miliband said cross-border aid to northwest Syria supports 1.4 million people every month and remains an urgent prerequisite in the Syria conflict.

Tanya Evans, Syria country director for the committee, said the global food crisis is particularly devastating on Syria, especially Idlib, which is home to many internally displaced by the 11-year war. The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the countrys pre-war population of 23 million.

If this mechanism is not renewed in July, then it is anticipated that food supplies will be depleted by September, she warned. Evans said non-governmental organizations are estimating they have the capacity to scale out and reach approximately 300,000 people with food assistance  meaning that more than 1 million will have no access to food in September.

Sherine Ibrahim, a Turkey director for CARE, said that if the resolution is not renewed, approximately 80% of protection services provided by the United Nations will come to a screeching halt. She warned that the most affected will be women and children.
Airbnb is seeking applications for its $10 million OMG! Fund.

The fund will give $100,000 to 100 people with highly unusual design ideas for their properties.

Airbnb cites homes in the shape of a boot, a UFO, and a potato as examples of unusual design.

Airbnb is dishing out $10 million to help 100 people make their "craziest listing ideas" come true.

As part of its OMG! Fund, the home-rental platform is asking people to submit "out-of-this-world" ideas for "the world's craziest spaces." The plans will be judged by an expert panel and the top 100 applicants will receive $100,000 in financing each, Airbnb said in its announcement on Wednesday.

The application includes prompts about the idea's inspiration, construction timeline, location, and environmental impact. The contest deadline is 11:59pm ET on July 22, 2022.

Airbnb listed various properties  including those designed in the shape of a boot, a UFO, and a massive potato  as examples of unusual listings already available on the platform.

"We want to make it easier to create more of these homes," Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wrote on Twitter.

"The fund is shaped in part by the growing trend of flexible living that has emerged in the past two years," Airbnb wrote in the announcement. "As part of this shift, Airbnb guests are craving more unexpected spaces that become the destinations themselves."

To tap into the trend, Airbnb in May introduced the "OMG!" category, features listings with unusual designs.

Listings like these are a valuable asset for Airbnb, especially as short-term vacation rentals show signs of slowing down from 2021's record bookings. Several hosts told Insider they've seen a decrease in bookings this summer compared to the same time period last year.

Hosts also stand to benefit from over-the-top creative listings. Globally, the median earnings for an OMG! Category Host active between Jan 2018 and May 2022 was just over $48,000, according to Airbnb.

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In an interview with Insider, contest judge Kristie Wolfe described her journey from making $13 an hour as a factory worker to becoming one of the most popular hosts on the Airbnb app through her four unique rentals, which include a hobbit hole and potato hotel.

Airbnb itself is embracing remote work two years after the pandemic shuttered offices worldwide: In April, the company announced employees could live and work anywhere forever.

Chesky said at Airbnb's first-quarter earnings call in May that the pandemic spurred longer-term stays at properties listed on its platform. Long-term stays of 28 days or more remained Airbnb's fastest-growing category by trip length compared to 2019, the company said in its letter to shareholders.

"Right now, what's happened is that for millions of people, they don't need to go back to an office five days a week. And the vast majority of companies are not requiring employees to come back to an office," Chesky said in the call, according to a transcript.

"I don't think this is a temporary phenomenon. I think that the genie's out of the bottle, and flexibility is here to stay," he added.

Read the original article on Business Insider
(AFP via Getty Images)

Alexa will be able to start speaking with the voices of the dead, Amazon has said.

The voice assistant will be able to channel dead people and speak as they would, the company said. The feature will arrive in an upcoming update.

Amazon noted that having Alexa speak that way would not eliminate [the] pain of loss. But it hopes that the new Alexa voices will make their memories last, pointing to the pandemic and the fact that so many of us have lost someone we love.

The feature requires only a minute of recorded audio to be fed into the system. Artificial intelligence can then use that recording to construct a whole voice, said Rohit Prasad, Amazons head scientist for Alexa AI, in an announcement.

Amazon did not say when the feature would arrive with customers, or state definitively that it would be rolled out to the public at all. But in its announcement, it appeared to show the feature working, channeling the voice of a seemingly dead grandmother so that it could read to a child.

In its announcement, it showed a child asking Alexa to have grandma finish reading me the Wizard of Oz. Immediately, Alexa recognised the command and changed its voice, taking on a soothing and less robotic voice and reading the book.

The development of artificial that can convincingly recreate peoples voices has allowed it to become commonly used in the production of films and other content. In the new film Top Gun: Maverick, for instance, Val Kilmers lines were read by an artificial intelligence system that could recreate his voice before it was affected by his cancer.

But such technologies have also received considerable criticism from the public, who have frequently called them creepy or deceptive. In response to such concerns, for instance, Microsoft has restricted access to similar voice-recreating tools amid fears that they could be used to create deepfakes or other misleading audio.
Bermuda is one of the favorite destinations of the Travel Noire family. This Caribbean island is filled with paradisiac beaches and exquisite landscapes that lure visitors from all over the world. Now, travelers planning to visit Bermuda soon will have more flight options by the end of the year. American Airlines has recently announced that it is relaunching flights to Bermuda from New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport.

This is great news for those who want to enjoy this tropical beauty and pink-sand beaches. Located just around 600 miles east of the United States. Besides its amazing nature, the island also offers amazing hotels, restaurants, and adventures, such as helmet diving. In fact, Bermuda is the perfect long-weekend escape.

According to the US carrier, the service, which has not operated for more than two years because of the pandemic, will resume in November.

American Airlines currently offers Bermuda service from cities including Miami, Philadelphia and Charlotte.

The flights will resume on November 3, operating daily on Americans Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

We are proud to continue to expand our footprint in the Caribbean with more flying to the destinations that our customers value the most, operating this year up to 151 daily flights to 35 destinations in the region, said Jose Maria Giraldo, Americans Managing Director for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean in a press release.

With the return of our New York service, this winter we look forward to operating 28 weekly flights to Bermuda, strengthening our position as a leading airline in the Caribbean, he added.

According to the rating agency Moodys, Bermuda is currently showing a recovery in the tourism sector and investments in new hotel developments will boost growth performance in the coming years. In 2021, the tourism sector started to recover from the pandemic shock, and activity in the sector will likely approach its pre-pandemic level in 2022. Moodys expects tourism arrivals to be stronger in 2022 as first quarter of the year showed improvements. In Q1 2022, total leisure arrivals increased to over 7,000 from only 1,734 in the first quarter of 2021, the rating agency stated on its website.
(Independent)

An American woman and her partner will be airlifted to Mallorca, Spain to end her unviable pregnancy after her request to do so was denied by health authorities in Malta.

Andrea Prudente, 38, and her partner Jay Weeldreyer, 45, will travel to the Spanish island via air ambulance.

According to the Times of Malta, lawyer Lara Dimitrijevic confirmed that the couples travel insurance will cover the measure as the condition of Ms Prudente is considered life-threatening.

More follows...
Interview: Former HKSAR chief executive hails "one country, two systems" as viable, vibrant

Xinhua) 08:20, June 23, 2022

Leung Chun-ying, former chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), also vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, speaks to the press in south China's Hong Kong, June 6, 2022.

Leung has hailed the practice of "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong over the past 25 years as sound, viable and vibrant.(Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

HONG KONG, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Former chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Leung Chun-ying has hailed the practice of "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong over the past 25 years as sound, viable and vibrant.

Leung, who is also vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua.

Those who administer Hong Kong, including the chief executive, principal officials of the HKSAR government and members of the Legislative Council (LegCo), are elected or appointed from among local Hong Kong residents under the "one country, two systems" principle which allows the people of Hong Kong to administer Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy.

"Such great authorization reflects the central authorities' high level of trust," Leung said, adding that it is all the more necessary to implement the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong."

"Only by ensuring that patriots administer Hong Kong, can we meet the practical needs of Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy," he said.

Hong Kong is part of China and its democracy is essentially different from that of a sovereign state, Leung emphasized.

"To foster democracy in Hong Kong, we must abide by the constitution of the country and the Basic Law of the HKSAR," he added.

Leung said for some time in the past, however, there were unpatriotic people who had been elected as members of the HKSAR LegCo due to loopholes in the electoral system. Some of them even went abroad to urge foreign governments to impose sanctions on Hong Kong.

The enforcement of the national security law in Hong Kong and the improvement of its electoral system have ensured the implementation of the "patriots administering Hong Kong" principle, thereby creating the conditions for getting the development of democracy in Hong Kong back on track, Leung noted.

"Hong Kong has seen smooth executive-legislature relationship and improved performance in governance and the residents now live in a more stable society," he said, adding that these positive changes have bolstered the confidence of international investors.

Back in the late 1970s, Leung, a surveyor by profession, volunteered to introduce Hong Kong's land use system and its practical experience related to land, property and planning to Shenzhen, as China initiated the reform and opening-up drive and started the development of the industrial zone in Shenzhen's Shekou.

Hong Kong played an active role in promoting the land use and housing reforms in the mainland, he said, adding that Hong Kong will continue to play a distinctive and irreplaceable role in the country's reform and opening-up drive in the new era.

Leung called on Hong Kong to be more proactive in supporting the country's all-round opening up, integrating itself into the national development, participating in national governance and promoting international people-to-people exchanges.

Leung believes that initiatives outlined in the country's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have brought enormous opportunities to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong and the mainland can deepen their cooperation in sectors including financial services, professional services, and scientific and technological innovation, in addition to traditional sectors such as manufacturing and trade, he said.

"For people in Hong Kong, particularly the younger generation, better development of the country means greater opportunities for their own development," he said, encouraging Hong Kong youths to turn to the mainland for development opportunities.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Hongyu)
An American woman and her partner will be airlifted to Mallorca, Spain to end her unviable pregnancy after her request to do so was denied by health authorities in Malta.

Andrea Prudente, 38, and her partner Jay Weeldreyer, 45, will travel to the Spanish island via air ambulance.

According to the Times of Malta, lawyer Lara Dimitrijevic, the head of Women for Choice, confirmed that the couples travel insurance has accepted to proceed with the measure as the condition of Ms Prudente is considered life-threatening.

Theyre expected to leave Malta as soon as Thursday.

Ahead of the airlift, Ms Prudente was in stable condition at Mater Dei hospital as Mr Weeldreyer told the outlet that they are very relieved that the episode will soon be over.

But Mr Weeldreyer said that insurance will cover the portion that our benefits allow, and then we pay for the remaining balance.

Ms Prudente is 16 weeks pregnant and was hospitalised a week ago after her water broke ahead of time, meaning that theres no amniotic fluid remaining in the womb.

American woman Andrea Prudente is to be airlifted to Mallorca after Malta denied the termination of her unviable pregnancy (Jay Weeldreyer)

While doctors have said that theres still a heartbeat, theyve also told the couple theres no chance of survival for the baby. The couple asked that the pregnancy be terminated for fear of the safety of Ms Prudente.

Doctors in Malta have also told the couple that they cant take any measures unless Ms Prudentes life is in imminent danger, forcing the couple to wait for the foetus to die and possibly putting Ms Prudente at risk of a dangerous infection.

Malta is the sole country in the European Union with a complete ban on abortions regardless of the situation, leaving the couple with the only option of leaving the Mediterranean island nation of around 525,000 people.

Lets not forget that here we are talking about a wanted pregnancy, Dimitrijevic told the Times of Malta. Andrea is going through a lot psychologically. But here in Malta, doctors hands are tied since according to law they would be committing a crime by terminating the pregnancy. This case highlights the need to decriminalise abortion.

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The lawyer earlier told Euronews: I think this is barbaric. This falls way below the standards of a European Union country. We can do far far better than this.

We had hope that a sense of humanity would reign, she added, noting that she hoped that there would be compassion and understanding because the trauma that Andrea and her partner are being put through is absolutely unacceptable. It is a torturous and inhumane situation.

The couple is now discharging themselves against medical advice as the hospital cannot legally tell them to leave to proceed with an abortion.

They decided to speak publically about their ordeal after Doctors For Choice shared the story anonymously on Wednesday. Despite international attention to the story, Maltese health authorities still havent publically addressed the situation.

The couple lives near Seattle, Washington and arrived in Malta earlier this month. Mr Weeldreyer told the outlet that they have been together for six years and are planning to get married.

They picked Malta as a travel destination partly because of its good healthcare system. They were in Gozo, a separate island northwest of the main island of Malta when Ms Prudente started to bleed heavily.

They went to Gozo General Hospital several times before being told last week that the baby is going to die. She was then admitted to Mater Dei Hospital.

We wanted this baby. On the one hand, hearing the heartbeat comes with hope that we will be able to hold our baby girl. But that heartbeat is also an obstacle to my partners health, Mr Weeldreyer told Times of Malta.

Miriam Sciberras of the anti-abortion group Life Network Foundation Malta told the outlet that doctors try to save both mother and child but, if that is inevitable, they give the mother the care she needs even if subsequent to that the child loses his or her life.

Maltese law states that those who are found to have ended a pregnancy or caused a miscarriage, including both medical workers and those who are pregnant, can be sent to prison for three years.

The way the Maltese are talking about this is that it is an abortion, the truth of the matter is that it is an incomplete miscarriage, Mr Weeldreyer told Euronews. There is no possibility that this pregnancy results in a viable baby.

We have lost our daughter, he said. I havent had a chance to grieve yet.

We wanted to come here and have a romantic, connecting, and loving two-week holiday to celebrate having a family, Mr Weeldreyer told the outlet. Instead we are having to face Andreas peril.

Mentally and emotionally it is pretty brutal, he added. Andrea is exhausted, frustrated, angry.

The Times of Malta reported that around 300-400 Maltese women a year leave the island for an abortion.

We have had enough, Dr Dimitrijevic told Euronews. We have reached the end of our tether with this situation. It has to change.
By Martin Quin Pollard

BEIJING (Reuters) - Jenny Bai was among 10 high-performing computer science students from different Chinese universities selected by a Beijing-based internet firm for a job upon graduation, following four rounds of arduous interviews.

But last month, the company told the students their contract offers were cancelled due to COVID-19 headwinds and the bad state of the economy in general - obstacles facing a record 10.8 million Chinese university graduates this summer.

"I'm worried," said Bai, who graduated this month and did not want to name the firm to stay on good terms. "If I can't find a job, I'm not sure what I'll do."

China's COVID restrictions have battered an economy already slowing due to a property market downturn, geopolitical worries and regulatory crackdowns on tech, education, and other sectors.

A cohort of graduates larger than the entire population of Portugal is about to enter one of China's worst job markets in decades at a time when youth unemployment is already more than three times China's overall joblessness rate, at a record 18.4%.

There is no script for how such high youth unemployment will affect Chinese society.

Struggling to find jobs goes against what educated young people have come to expect after decades of breakneck growth, and is awkward for China's stability-obsessed Communist Party, especially in a year when President Xi Jinping is expected to secure a precedent-breaking third leadership term.

"The social contract between the government and the people was you stay out of politics and we will guarantee that every year you'll do better than last year," said Michael Pettis, Professor of Finance at Peking University.

"So the concern is that once that guarantee breaks apart, what else has to change?"

(Graphics: https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-ECONOMY/UNEMPLOYMENT/xmpjowneevr/chart.png)

TOP PRIORITY

Premier Li Keqiang has said stabilising the job market for graduates is a top government priority. Companies granting internship posts to new graduates will receive subsidies, on top of other perks aimed at boosting employment in general.

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Some regional governments have offered cheap loans to graduates looking to launch their own businesses. State-backed firms are expected to pick up some of the slack in private sector entry-level jobs.

Rockee Zhang, Managing Director for Greater China at recruitment firm Randstad, says China's entry-level jobs market was worse even than during the 2008-09 global financial crisis, estimating new jobs falling 20-30% from last year.

"This year is a low point, the lowest Ive seen," said Zhang, who has been a recruiter for two decades.

Expected salaries are also 6.2% lower, according to Zhilian Zhaopin, another recruitment firm.

China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Education did not respond to requests for comment.

(Graphics: https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-ECONOMY/UNEMPLOYMENT/znvnegxnapl/chart.png)

The tech sector has been a significant employer of many Chinese graduates, but this year the industry is trimming its workforce, recruiters say.

A regulatory crackdown prompted many of China's tech giants including Tencent and Alibaba to make massive job cuts. A combined total of tens of thousands have lost their jobs in the sector this year, five tech industry sources told Reuters.

Job cuts varied among China's roughly ten biggest tech companies, but almost all cut at least 10% of their staff, with some, including iQIYI cutting far more, according to a report published in April by Shanghai-based Talent Assessment and Management Consulting group NormStar.

The companies did not respond to requests for comment.

In April, a nine-month freeze on online gaming licenses over violent content and other issues was lifted, during which time 14,000 firms in the industry shut.

Private education, another sector which drew regulatory scrutiny, parted with tens of thousands of workers as well. The largest firm in the industry, New Oriental, has announced 60,000 layoffs.

New hiring is slow. A human resources manager at a Tencent business unit, who asked not to be named as they were not allowed to speak to the media, said they were looking to hire "a few dozen" new graduates, compared with about 200 a year previously.

Internet companies have cut tonnes of jobs," said Julia Zhu of recruitment firm Robert Walters. "If they have the financial resources to bring people in they are now opting for more experienced candidates rather than fresh graduates."

(Graphics: https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-ECONOMY/UNEMPLOYMENT/lbvgnxlzgpq/chart.png)

Jason Wang, a Beijing-based headhunter who has worked mostly with tech companies in recent years, is now recruiting mainly for state-backed telecommunication firms.

"The golden age of internet companies hiring sprees has ended," Wang said.

In China, being jobless for some time after graduation is typically frowned upon by employers. Many families see it as a humiliation rather than bad luck with the economy.

Taking blue-collar jobs after getting a university degree also often draws disapproval, so to avoid long gaps in their CVs, record numbers are applying for post-graduate studies, official data show.

(Graphics: https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-ECONOMY/UNEMPLOYMENT/byvrjamkyve/chart.png)

Vicente Yu graduated in 2021 but has been unemployed since losing his job at a media company late last year. His savings will cover another month or two of rent and basic expenses in the southern city of Guangzhou.

"My dad said you should never come home again, he said he should have raised a dog instead of me," said the 21-year-old, who has been struggling with anxiety and sleep problems.

He spends his nights on social media platforms, where he finds other young people in similar situations.

"I look at all those people who are like me, who couldn't find a job, and get some solace from it."

(This story corrects the detail mentioned by NormStar report in para 20)

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Number of graduates in China https://tmsnrt.rs/3N5ZYlT

Expected salary for graduates in China https://tmsnrt.rs/3OeMmGi

Increase in unemployment among urban youth in China https://tmsnrt.rs/3n7IJpF

Postgraduate enrollments in China https://tmsnrt.rs/3ybIHmP

Postgraduate enrolments in China (interactive) https://tmsnrt.rs/3tSO9IS

Number of graduates in China (interactive) https://tmsnrt.rs/3QGpgdi

Increase in unemployment among urban youth in China (interactive) https://tmsnrt.rs/3xCGKhW

Expected salary for graduates in China (interactive) https://tmsnrt.rs/3Nq7TL3

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

(Additional reporting by Ellen Zhang, Yingzhi Yang, Brenda Goh, Sophie Yu and the Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Marius Zaharia and Lincoln Feast)
By Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling striking down New York state's limits on carrying concealed handguns in public is likely to provide legal ammunition to challenge other regulations around the country even as Congress considers modest reforms.

In a 6-3 ruling, the court for the first time recognized that individuals have a right to carry a firearm in public under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment, which protects the right to bear arms.

The ruling, authored by conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, declared unconstitutional a New York law that required people to have good cause to obtain a permit to carry a concealed firearm.

The decision also clarified for future cases how courts must assess whether regulations are valid under the Second Amendment, requiring them to be comparable with the type of restrictions traditionally adopted throughout U.S. history dating back centuries.

As a result of the ruling, government entities defending gun restrictions must make additional arguments that the law in question is consistent with that history.

Because many gun statutes are not easily comparable to historical restrictions, it could make them vulnerable to legal attack. These include bans on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines as well as "red flag" laws to keep firearms away from people deemed a danger to themselves or others.

"I think this opinion is going to lead to a tremendous amount of litigation over the constitutionality of gun restrictions," said Adam Winkler, an expert on the Second Amendment at the UCLA School of Law in Los Angeles.

The ruling is "written so broadly as to call into question a wide variety of gun safety laws," Winkler added. That could include provisions of modest gun safety legislation currently being considered by Congress, Winkler said.

A bipartisan package of modest gun safety measures advanced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday. The legislation aims, among other things, to tighten background checks for would-be gun purchasers convicted of domestic violence or significant crimes as juveniles. It does not include broader measures favored by Democrats including President Joe Biden such as bans on assault-style rifles or high-capacity magazines.

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Royce Barondes, a University of Missouri School of Law professor who teaches firearms law, said he expects that some previous challenges to gun regulations that were rejected by courts "are more likely to be successful after this case."

Among the state regulations that are now "suspect" are restrictions on giving firearms licenses to people from out of state and bans on "standard capacity" ammunition magazines, which can vary based on the model, Barondes said.

Several challenges to gun restrictions are still seeking the Supreme Court's review, including to a New Jersey ban on ammunition magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds.

Thursday's ruling did make some concessions, acknowledging that governments could enact prohibitions on firearms in certain "sensitive places" and stating that regimes used in 43 states to issue concealed carry licenses when certain requirements are met are likely lawful.

Two conservative justices who joined in the ruling offered what might be some parameters as to its scope. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion joined by Chief Justice John Roberts that the decision has some limits, specifically some of licensing requirements that states maintain including background checks and firearms training.

In future gun cases, Kavanaugh and Roberts could be pivotal votes. If they join the three liberal justices, that would be enough to forge a majority in a future ruling.

As such, gun control advocates were hopeful that many regulations could withstand legal scrutiny even under the Supreme Court's new test.

Jonathan Lowy, a lawyer at the gun control group Brady, said laws banning high-capacity magazines and assault-style semiautomatic weapons should be upheld because the Supreme Court already decided in a 2008 ruling that found an individual right to bear arms in the home that there is a historic tradition supporting bans on "dangerous and unusual weapons."

Thursday's ruling noted that some cases "implicating unprecedented societal concerns or dramatic technological changes may require a more nuanced approach."

Barondes said that while he did not think that language was designed to validate bans on assault-type rifles, "I wouldn't rule out lower courts using that as a tool to validate such a ban."

Lowy and other gun control activists expressed frustration that the court's conservative majority, in their view, selectively used historical evidence to support invalidating New York's measure while ignoring history that favored the state, which they fear could be the same approach used in subsequent cases.

"I do think there is room for reasonable objective judges to uphold most gun laws," Lowy said. "But the question is: Who is making the decision?"

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)
JAMMU, India (AP)  Bitta Ji Bhat and his wife have yet to reconcile with the death of their son. Yet, what breaks their heart the most is their 4-year-old granddaughter oblivious to the reality that her father is no more.

My eyes get teary when I see my granddaughter play around, not knowing that cruel hands of death have snatched her papa, Bhat said on a recent afternoon at his modest home in Jammu, a Hindu-dominated city in Muslim-majority Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Bhat's son, a Hindu revenue clerk, was fatally shot inside his office in Kashmir Valley in May. Two days later, police said they had shot dead the anti-India rebels responsible in a gunfight.

That hasn't eased the deep mourning of Bhat's parents.

What could be more agonizing and painful for a father like me who had to see the dead body of his son, Bhat said. In front of him lay a framed picture of his son, Rahul Bhat. He was 35.

Kashmir has witnessed a spate of targeted killings in recent months. Several Hindus, including immigrant workers from Indian states, have been killed. Police say the killings  including that of Muslim village councilors, police officers and civilians  have been carried out by anti-India rebels.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. The region's fury at Indian rule has been long seething and most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

Kashmir's minority Hindus, who are locally known as Pandits, have long fretted over their place in the disputed region. Most of an estimated 200,000 of them fled Kashmir in the 1990s when an armed rebellion against Indian rule began. Some 4,000 of them later returned after 2010 as part of a government resettlement plan that provided them with jobs and housing.

The recent killings, however, have heightened their fears. In the aftermath of Bhat's killing, hundreds of them organized for the first time simultaneous street protests in the region and demanded the government relocate them to safer areas. They accused the government of making them scapegoats and cannon fodder to project normalcy in the region.

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Deadly attacks on the minority have continued nonetheless.

On May 31, Raj Kumar dropped his wife outside the government school where she taught social studies. It was a daily routine for the husband and wife schoolteachers posted in the regions restive Kulgam district. But minutes later Kumar received a call from the school principal who told him his wife had been killed.

Rajni Bala, 36, was shot dead by assailants while she was walking toward the school.

Days earlier, the husband and wife had made multiple appeals to authorities to relocate them to a relatively safer area, but their requests were turned down, Kumar said.

When I heard that Rajni is no more, the only thought that came to my mind was how would my daughter live without her mother, he said.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  A legal challenge to the Trump administrations ban on bump stocks  devices attached to semiautomatic firearms so that a shooter can fire multiple rounds with a single trigger pull  was revived Thursday by a federal appeals court.

A panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans had upheld the ban in December, affirming a ruling by a Texas-based federal judge. But an order issued Thursday stated that a majority of the 17-member court had voted to rehear the case. The challenge was brought by a Texas gun owner and is backed by gun rights groups including the National Rifle Association.

The 5th Circuit covers Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Three other circuit appeals courts have so far rejected challenges to the ban. The Supreme Court has been asked to take up the issue but had not said whether it will do so as of Thursday.

Related video: SCOTUS strikes down gun law that requires license for public firearms

The ban was instituted in 2019 after a sniper in Las Vegas used bump stock-equipped weapons in the massacre of dozens of concertgoers in 2017.

The 5th Circuit order came on the same day that the Supreme Court issued a ruling expanding gun rights, striking down a New York law and ruling that Americans have a Second Amendment right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.

At issue in the bump stock challenge was not the Second Amendment but whether bump stocks qualify as illegal machine guns under federal law. The rule banning the devices issued by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said that they are.

According to the ATF, bump stocks harness the recoil energy of a semiautomatic firearm so that a trigger resets and continues firing without additional physical manipulation of the trigger by the shooter.

Opponents of the ATF rule argue that the trigger itself functions multiple times when a bump stock is used and that, therefore, they do not qualify as automatic weapons.
PERRYVILLE, Ark. (AP)  A man being booked into a central Arkansas jail on drug charges pulled out a gun and fatally shot a guard before someone disarmed him, authorities said Thursday.

Jeremiah Story, a 21-year-old detention officer at the Perry County jail in Perryville, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, died at a hospital early Thursday, the State Police said in a news release.

Roderick Lewis, 37, shot Story in a bathroom late Wednesday night while Lewis was changing out of civilian clothes and into jail issued attire, said the State Police, which was asked to investigate by the county sheriff's office. A State Police spokesman said Lewis used a gun he had with him when he entered the jail. Lewis was charged with capital murder Thursday afternoon in Story's death.

It was not clear Thursday afternoon if Lewis has an attorney representing him.

Lewis, of North Little Rock, was arrested earlier Wednesday evening and was being detained on drug and drug paraphernalia charges.

A witness to the shooting was able to disarm Lewis, who was later transferred to the Faulkner County Detention Center in Conway, police said.
The Daily Beast

via Facebook/Rudy GiulianiFormer New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani doubled down Monday on his wildly overblown characterization that he was brutally assaulted by a Staten Island grocery store worker over the weekend, despite security footage showing the man only tapped his back.Speaking to about 200 people in a Facebook Live, Giuliani called the viral security footage deceptive. He claimed the pat packed so much vigor it nearly knocked him and a friend to the ground, but he was able to stay upright
The Daily Beast

Fox NewsKari Lake, the Trump-endorsed candidate for Arizona governor, was far from happy on Monday when Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked her about a report that linked her to drag queens.The interview, which was fairly tame on Baiers end, began with Lake falsely claiming that the 2020 election was fraudulent and that President Joe Biden is illegitimate. Baier responded by playing a tape of Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers testifying before the House Jan. 6 committee last week that the ele
Border Patrol agents in the Yuma Sector regularly rescue migrants in distress along the Barry Goldwater Bombing Range and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, two rugged and remote areas in Yuma County.

Lee en espanol

A migrant was stabbed to death by a Customs and Border Protection agent in Douglas in late May, a Pima County medical examiner's autopsy report found.

Abigail Roman Aguilar, 32, a Mexican immigrant from the state of Chiapas, died on May 24 after a "use of force incident" involving an agent, the CBP said in a statement issued that day.

Roman Aguilar had two stab wounds in the chest and blunt force injuries including lacerations in the head and contusions in the head and extremities, according to the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office report, obtained by The Arizona Republic.

The forensic pathologist determined the cause of death was "sharp force injuries of the trunk" and the manner of death was homicide, the autopsy report states.

His death was the second reported in 2022 related to agents' use of force in the Douglas Border Patrol Sector.

The confrontation occurred about 12:43 a.m. near Pan-American Avenue and Fifth Street, just a couple of blocks from the international border with Mexico, according to a statement released by CBP on May 24.

According to the autopsy report, Roman Aguilar was apprehended by border patrol agents and taken to a hospital after injuring himself in a "barb wire incident" when running from agents. When he was discharged, he was "reportedly involved in an altercation with a United States Border Patrol agent, during which time he was stabbed with a knife." He was reported dead at the scene, the report states.

Pipeline Fire updates: Some evacuation orders lifted along US 89

The identity of the agent involved and the nature of the deadly altercation was not immediately disclosed by authorities.

In an email to The Republic, Brooke Brennan, spokesperson for the FBI Phoenix office, said that the investigation into the "assault on a federal officer" was ongoing. No other information could be released, he said.

In response to initial reports of Aguilar's death, the Mexican Consulate in Douglas called for a thorough investigation into the involved agencies to clarify the facts and assign blame, if necessary.

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CBP did not respond to a request for comment.

More: Thousands of migrants are headed for the US in a caravan despite extension of border policy

Second death of 2022 due to use of force in Douglas

On Feb. 19, about 12 miles north of the border on a rugged mountain trail, Border Patrol agent Kendrek Bybee Staheli shot and killed Carmelo Cruz Marcos, a Mexican man who had crossed the border illegally with a group of about 10 other migrants.

The Pima County Medical Examiners Office confirmed he died of multiple gunshot wounds on his chest and abdomen.

The Cochise County Attorney's Office announced it would not prosecute Staheli, whose name was not made public until the announcement by the prosecutor's office. County Attorney Brian McIntyre said the killing was justified under Arizona self-defense laws.

Human rights organizations, migrant advocates and family members of the victim demanded an independent investigation, citing concerns about the involvement of the Border Patrol's Critical Incidents Team.

The Border Patrol unit will be disbanded and won't be involved in critical incidents starting in October, CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus announced on May 3.

Starting in fiscal year 2023, all investigations will be handled by CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility to ensure the agency "achieves the highest levels of accountability," Magnus wrote.

Reach Republic reporter Angela Cordoba Perez at angela.cordobaperez@gannett.com

Support Local Journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Autopsy report: Migrant stabbed to death by CBP agent in Douglas
Sunny day in one of the idyllic beaches of Paradise Island, Nassau, Bahamas.

Pola Damonte/Getty Images

The island paradise of the Bahamas has eliminated all pre-arrival testing for vaccinated travelers, the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism shared with Travel + Leisure, making it easier to visit and putting the country more in line with other Caribbean islands.

The new rule went into effect on Sunday. The country has also eliminated the need for all travelers to fill out a Bahamas Travel Health Visa.

"The Bahamas is adapting to the continued evolution of this pandemic. We want to streamline the entry process for travelers as much as possible, all while ensuring we are protecting public health," Chester Cooper, the deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, investments, and aviation, said in a statement provided to T+L. "We hope the changes to the pre-travel testing requirements combined with the elimination of the Travel Health Visa will reduce friction for travelers and further the recovery of our tourism sector."

While vaccinated travelers won't have to test before coming, unvaccinated travelers age 2 and older will have to show proof of a negative PCR or rapid antigen test taken within three days of their trip. These travelers will have to show their negative test results when checking in for a flight.

However, COVID-19 testing is no longer required for people traveling island-to-island within the Bahamas, regardless of their vaccination status.

The Bahamas requires all travelers to wear a mask when in airport terminals, at security, at customs, and at baggage claim, according to the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism.

The Bahamas now joins several other Caribbean islands that have eliminated pre-arrival testing and eased other COVID-19-era rules like Saint Lucia, which nixed testing for vaccinated visitors; and Grenada, Aruba, and Bonaire, which have each eliminated all pandemic-related entry rules. And last week, the British Virgin Islands stopped requiring travelers to register on its BVI Gateway Travel Portal or show proof of travel insurance, regardless of their vaccination status.

As for United States territories, Puerto Rico lifted all pandemic-related restrictions for domestic travelers back in March, and the U.S. Virgin Islands did the same in May.

Alison Fox is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure. When she's not in New York City, she likes to spend her time at the beach or exploring new destinations and hopes to visit every country in the world. Follow her adventures on Instagram.
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks in the East Room of the White House in April. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press)

New Title IX proposals by the Biden administration to affirm sexual discrimination protections for transgender students and others would not significantly change existing policies at California universities and colleges, said officials who were assessing Thursday the potential impact on the state.

California campuses already bar discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. And some of the proposed changes to the Title IX sexual misconduct review processes are already in place in California under a 2019 state appellate court ruling, regardless of federal regulatory revisions.

Its unclear whether this will really be a sea change, said Kiersten Boyce, UC Riverside associate vice chancellor and interim Title IX officer.

The Biden administration unveiled the proposed changes Thursday, the 50th anniversary of Title IX  the landmark federal law that bars sex discrimination in educational programs or activities that receive federal funding. They are intended in part to reverse some controversial rules issued during the Trump administration by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and come amid a conservative push to bar transgender athletes from sports and restrict bathroom use to a persons sex assigned at birth.

The proposed revisions clarify that the Title IX ban on sex discrimination extends to sexual orientation and gender identity. That guidance was announced by the Obama administration in 2016, then rescinded by the Trump team, which left the matter to the states. The Biden administration first declared it would return to the Obama guidance last year, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal bans on bias based on sex must also include sexual orientation and gender identity.

The most heated issue  how to address student eligibility to participate on male or female athletics teams  was not included in the Title IX proposal released Thursday. The U.S. Department of Education said it would issue a separate proposal in the future.

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The University of California, California State University and other public colleges and schools never removed protections for transgender students during the Trump administration. UCs nondiscrimination statement, for instance, bars bias on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, pregnancy, disability, age, medical condition (cancer-related), ancestry, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, or status as a Vietnam-era veteran or special disabled veteran.

UC has remained steadfast in its commitment to equitable and inclusive treatment for all members of our community, including transgender and nonbinary individuals, despite positions taken by the previous administration, UC said in a statement.

UC also found ways to address sexual misconduct complaints that did not meet the Trump administrations stricter Title IX rules. Under DeVos, sexual harassment had to be both severe and pervasive to qualify for Title IX protection, rather than one or the other, as previous federal rules allowed. UC handled complaints that fell short of the higher bar through alternative processes based on violations of other campus policies, such as student or faculty codes of conduct, Boyce said.

The new regulations proposed by the Biden administration would not affect the current state of the law in California, which requires due process in student disciplinary matters, said Mark Hathaway, a Los Angeles attorney who has represented more than 200 students and faculty in misconduct cases, most involving sexual misconduct.

While current Title IX policies at CSUs 23 campuses and Californias 116 community colleges also protect transgender students, both systems are reviewing the proposal for any possible effect on other regulations.

Title IX has not been foolproof. At CSU  the largest four-year public university in the country  recent Times investigations have revealed discrepancies in how Title IX and sexual harassment cases involving faculty and students are handled. The interpretation of the law is often subjective, experts have said, and investigative procedures and timelines can vary as campuses address a growing number of cases. Its unclear how, or if, the new proposal would better streamline practices.

Some of the Trump administrations most sweeping changes  the right to a hearing and the ability to cross-examine  were already in use in California under a 2019 state appellate court ruling. The court ordered campuses to enact those due process protections for students accused of sexual misconduct as a matter of fundamental fairness. The court also said the same person who investigates the complaints cannot also determine if they are credible  a single-investigator model used by UC and other campuses at the time  since that improperly places in one individual the overlapping and inconsistent roles of investigator, prosecutor, fact-finder, and sentencer.

Bidens proposed regulations would not require cross-examination, although a university could allow it if desired. Nor would they require a live hearing for evaluating evidence or different people to investigate a complaint and determine its credibility. But those practices, ordered by the appellate court, are expected to remain at California campuses, college officials said.

UC Riversides Boyce said she was still assessing the 701-page Title IX proposal. She said she was excited to see whether it offers new tools to combat sexual assault, better protect transgender students, address retaliation against those who file complaints and support pregnant students and employees.

President Bidens education secretary, Miguel Cardona, said Title IX has been instrumental in fighting sexual assault and violence in education.

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this landmark law, our proposed changes will allow us to continue that progress and ensure all our nations students  no matter where they live, who they are, or whom they love  can learn, grow and thrive in school, he said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
President Joe Biden's administration released a proposal Thursday that would provide stronger protections against sex and gender discrimination on college campuses, as well as for anyone who claims they were the victim of sexual assault on campus.

The changes seek to overhaul a federal rule known as Title IX, which mandates federal regulations that affect men's and womens college athletics teams, how universities investigate sexual assault on their campuses and protections for transgender or gay students. Title IX marked its 50th anniversary Thursday.

The newly proposed rules are a reversal from regulations under President Donald Trump that required hearings on sexual violence accusations and limited the type of incidents universities could respond to.

It's the Department of Education's responsibility to ensure all our students can learn, grow and thrive in school," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Thursday morning while presenting the proposal. "No matter where they live, who they are, who they love or how they identify."

Advocates for survivors of sexual assault said the Trump-era rules impede victims from reporting their experiences. Defenders of the rules introduced under Trump's education secretary, Betsy DeVos, said they offer formal protections to people, often men, accused of sexual assault or harassment.

Many advocates criticized the DeVos rules for requiring universities to hold hearings to adjudicate incidents of sexual assault or harassment on campus. The Biden rules seek to do away with that requirement. Under the proposal, universities may still hold such hearings, but they would have to allow those involved to participate remotely. The Education Department retained some of the DeVos-era rules, such as allowing schools to informally settle cases of sex discrimination.

Advocates for survivors of sexual assault praised the proposed rules for their protections for students.

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These necessary revisions will help restore the efficacy of Title IX as a crucial tool for combating campus sexual assault, sexual harassment and other forms of sex-based discrimination on college campuses, said Kenyora Parham, executive director of End Rape On Campus, a national advocacy group. Campus sexual assault is a public health crisis that needs to be addressed swiftly and intentionally.

Others expressed concerns about how the rules would affect people accused of committing sexual assault.

Samantha Harris, a partner at Allen Harris Law, a firm with offices in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, has represented students in hearings. She said the new rules would allow universities to adopt practices that would violate students due process rights, such as disciplinary hearings that dont require cross-examination.

Student conduct procedures should be aimed at maximizing the chances that the truth will be uncovered and an accurate result reached, Harris said. "Live hearings with cross-examination  which the Supreme Court has called 'the greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth'  are essential to the accuracy of these proceedings."

She said she expects universities to drop hearings and cross-examinations should the rules be adopted. Harris said she also expects an explosion of litigation from students that were denied due process and basic fairness by their universities.

What protections will be offered to transgender students?

The Biden administration has said Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and the new rules would codify those protections.

The Education Department headed by Miguel Cardona issued guidance stating that Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The regulations would "make clear that preventing someone from participating in school programs and activities consistent with their gender identity would cause harm in violation of Title IX, except in some limited areas set out in the statute or regulations."

The administration didn't address whether transgender athletes could compete on the team of their choosing. The Education Department plans to start a separate process to decide whether it "should amend the Title IX regulations to address students eligibility to participate on a particular male or female athletics team."

Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center, praised the rules but called on the administration to "move quickly to affirm the ability of trans students to fully participate in sports."

Eighteen states have laws that restrict transgender athletes from competing in sports consistent with their gender. Some groups are mounting their opposition to the proposed changes, including Parents Defending Education, a conservative-leaning advocacy group.

From rolling back due process protections to stomping on the First Amendment to adding 'sexual orientation and gender identity' into a statute that can only be so changed by congressional action, the Biden administration has shown that they place the demands of a small group of political activists above the concerns of millions of families across the country, said Nicole Neily, the groups president.

Biden instructed the Education Department to review the Title IX policies last year and condemned the Trump-era rules as a "green light to ignore sexual violence and strip survivors of their rights."

These rules arent final. Theyll be open to public comment before the Education Department issues its final regulations. Whatever their final form, the revisions would make it the third time over the past three administrations that the federal rules around sexual misconduct on campuses changed.

It would probably take months for the rules to go into effect. DeVos introduced her draft Title IX rules in 2018, but they didn't go into effect until 2020.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bidens proposed Title IX rules would protect transgender students
Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Americas hard-pressed drivers may be about to receive a holiday. On Wednesday Joe Biden called on Congress to suspend the federal tax on gas and diesel until September as the country struggles with soaraway costs at the pump. But experts warned the tax holiday is unlikely to have a major impact on prices and will probably further harm the USs already battered roads and bridges. If the tax cut even gets passed.

Related: Bidens cursed presidency: gas prices are latest headache as midterms loom

Blaming Russias invasion of Ukraine for the surge in gas prices Biden proposed cutting the 18-cents-a-gallon federal taxes on fuel until September and called on states to cut their gas taxes too. Together, these actions could help drop the price at the pump by up to $1 a gallon or more. It doesnt reduce all the pain, but it will be a big help, said Biden.

The tax cuts first obstacle may be its last. The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, called the plan an ineffective stunt and other critics in his own party may join Republicans in blocking any cut.

But with prices still soaring and midterm elections looming the administration is increasingly looking for ways to spare the public from prices at the pump, currently averaging at just under $5 a gallon.

The non-partisan Tax Foundation called the plan a uniquely ill-suited policy for addressing rising prices. Pointing out that the money from the tax is the primary funding source for highway construction and its suspension could cost $10bn in funding.

Anything that could help the price at the pump is good, but itll come at a significant cost to the federal government that supposedly uses that money for the highway fund to maintain highways, said Mark Finley, fellow in energy and global oil at the center for energy studies at Rice University.

We dont see lines at the pump, there is no shortage of oil, all we see is a higher price and thats in essence because Opec wants a higher price Ed Hirs

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US energy economists also warn that dropping taxes on gasoline  a similar program has been suggested in the UK and other countries  does not address the fundamental issues of high demand.

In a February report, the committee for a responsible federal budget found a federal gas tax holiday could further increase demand for gasoline and other goods and services at a time when the economy has little capacity to absorb it.

Gas prices are high because supply and demand are tight in the US and around the world both for oil and refined products. The prices are a signal that producers should produce more and consumers should consume less. You dont fix the problem and you may exacerbate it, if you try to hide those signals, said Finley.

Moreover, prices may surge when the tax is lifted, according to a study released from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Earlier this year, Maryland introduced a month-long gas tax holiday. The study found that prices rose when it expired and the tax may have cost the state $100m.

Other states have tried similar measures. New York suspended its 16-cents-a-gallon tax this month for the rest of the year. Others, including Georgia, Florida and Connecticut, are cutting the tax but for shorter periods. California may send $400 to every registered vehicle owner.

The debate over energy prices threatens to become one of the most contentious of the election season. This week, Exxon Mobil said global oil markets may remain tight for another three to five years, largely because of a lack of investment since the pandemic began. Biden has responded to rising prices at the pump  and a decline in his approval rating  by lobbying Opec+ countries, which include Russia, to accelerate production increases.

Gas prices  are a signal that producers should produce more and consumers should consume less Mark Finley

Biden will travel to Saudi Arabia next month to ask the kingdom to turn on the spigots. But studies indicate that the Saudis are themselves at the limits of current capacity. The venture comes with a political cost, undercutting the administrations commitment to renewable energy and an election pledge to make Saudi Arabia a pariah state after the murder of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Other measures that the administration has undertaken to reduce energy costs, including releasing millions of barrels of crude oil from the strategic petroleum reserve and greater ethanol blending, have not turned the tide on rising prices.

According to Ed Hirs at the University of Houstons department of economics, Bidens actions, including a stern letter to refiners to produce more gasoline and diesel, will not keep the average price at the pump from reaching $6 by September.

The debate over energy has in a sense been misframed, said Hirs. We dont see lines at the pump, there is no shortage of oil, all we see is a higher price and thats in essence because Opec wants a higher price, Hirs says.

The message to the US consumer is equally blunt. After 2008, when oil hit $147 a barrel, US automakers had to accept government bailouts as the consumers jumped away from gas-guzzling SUVs and pick-up trucks.

If the war in Ukraine continues we could easily see the same thing by this time next year, Hirs predicted. We have to think of this in a different way. A lot of folks in the west think were entitled to gasoline and diesel, in the same way were entitled to iPhones. But we havent operated the economy like that.

Put plainly, theres little the administration can do. Weve reached a point where supplies of gasoline, diesel and crude oil are below our five-year averages, so it appears weve been exporting as much as we can, said Hirs. As long as the conflict, really between the US and Russia, persists, the EU nations will be additional buyers. So the fellow in London looking to fill his car, and the woman in France, are competing with someone on I-95.
President Joe Biden says the US needs to plan out its next pandemic response. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

President Joe Biden says the US needs to start getting funding to prepare for the next pandemic.

The White House has proposed allocating $82 billion toward planning for pandemic response.

Some researchers predict a one-in-two chance that another pandemic will happen in the next 25 years.

President Joe Biden warned on Tuesday that the US would eventually face another pandemic and said the country must start preparing for it.

"We do need more money," he said at a White House press conference when asked about getting Congress to fund COVID-19 vaccines for infants and toddlers. The president said funding for the vaccine supplies would last until the end of the year.

"But we don't just need more money for vaccines for children. Eventually, we need more money to plan for the second pandemic," he said.

"There's going to be another pandemic," he added. "We have to think ahead."

Bloomberg reported last week, citing a senior official, that the Biden administration would soon announce a renewed "biodefense strategy" to improve America's pandemic response.

Biden's proposed budget for 2023 suggests allocating about $82 billion over five years toward preparing for biological threats.

One of its main goals is to create an environment in which the US can make effective vaccines and treatments for a pathogen within 100 days of its discovery. The money would also go toward boosting healthcare infrastructure and expanding research to identify threats.

While the world has often gone through long periods without a pandemic on the scale of COVID-19, researchers say the rate of new disease outbreaks among humans has been rising rapidly in the past 50 years.

According to Duke's Global Health Institute, one 2021 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal predicted that the probability of such outbreaks would grow by three times in the next few decades.

And according to the Center for Global Development, the belief that COVID-19 will be a "once in a lifetime" pandemic is likely untrue. Instead, researchers from the think tank have predicted a one-in-two chance that another pandemic as deadly as the ongoing one will break out over the next 25 years.

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The Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates has also urged the world to put together a global team of scientists who can monitor outbreaks and help countries improve their epidemic response, saying the world "got lucky" with COVID-19's relatively low fatality rate.

Two other coronaviruses, the SARS virus in 2002 and the MERS virus in 2012. spread slower than the coronavirus but had higher death rates.

"I have to say, given the toll of this pandemic, 20 million dead globally, a million in the US, and it could have been way more fatal," Gates said earlier in June. ."We just got lucky that the death rate per case was like 0.2%."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Biden administration officials and oil industry executives huddled in Washington on Thursday to discuss potential steps to address runaway gasoline prices, and while both sides called the talks constructive, no concrete plans for relief emerged.

High prices at the pump are weighing on American consumers -- and damaging President Joe Biden's approval rating.

Heading into the gathering, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said she hoped the meeting would result in refiners boosting gasoline supplies to lower prices for the summer vacation driving season.

Afterwards, the Energy Department said the talks had had a "productive focus on dissecting the current global problems of supply and refining," and promised "ongoing dialogue" to "alleviate the current supply and price challenges."

Similarly, the American Petroleum Institute and American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers called the meeting a "constructive discussion about ways to address rising energy costs and create more certainty for global energy markets."

Chevron, Phillips 66 and Shell all released upbeat statements, with Shell US President Gretchen Watkins praising Granholm for setting a "collaborative tone" by noting that Shell and others had shifted some refining capacity to produce biofuels.

But no practical steps to immediately boost supply were revealed.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the gathering a "first step."

"Clearly we want to come up with solutions," Jean-Pierre told a press briefing. "There's going to be other steps to get there."

- Uneasy ties -

Biden and the oil industry have an uneasy relationship, in part over the White House's efforts to restrict drilling in some federal areas due to environmental concerns, and decisions like canceling the Keystone pipeline project on his first day in office.

The US president has also blasted industry leaders in recent days over skyrocketing profits and their reluctance to boost capital spending.

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Industry leaders released a letter to Biden ahead of Thursday's meeting that alluded to his upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia, urging him to visit US refineries and other industry sites to understand the potential for "American-made energy solutions."

But with Biden's approval ratings plunging due to soaring inflation, the president has turned to the industry for relief.

- Short-term solutions? -

Gasoline prices currently stand at $4.94 a gallon, a bit below all-time highs, but up more than 60 percent from the year-ago level.

In a letter earlier this month to oil giants, Biden said high fuel prices were a key factor in the "intense financial pain the American people and their families are bearing."

He urged ExxonMobil, Chevron and other industry players to "provide concrete, near-term solutions that address the crisis."

In response, Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth pledged to work with the administration, but faulted Biden's comments that "at times vilify" the industry -- drawing a Biden quip that Wirth was being "mildly sensitive."

The price surge follows Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which exacerbated an already tight energy supply situation, sending crude oil prices sharply higher.

The rise in prices also reflects the diminished state of refining capacity after the industry mothballed some plants during Covid-19 lockdowns, and did not reopen them amid uncertain long-term growth prospects with the buildup of electric vehicles.

Biden's policy thus far has centered on a huge increase in crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

On Wednesday, the US president proposed a temporary fuel tax break, a measure that received a lukewarm reception on Capitol Hill.

For energy specialist Andrew Lebow of the Commodity Research Group consultancy, "there is very little refiners can do at this point."

"If they could produce more, certainly they would be given that the margins are incredible," he said.

On Wednesday, Granholm acknowledged that building new refineries could not be done overnight, but said the administration wanted answers about plants that had been taken offline.

She also wanted to talk about supply chain issues, questioning if the industry could help on that front.

Kevin Book, head of research at Clearview Energy Partners, said there were areas where the government could provide aid, such as facilitating procurement of truck drivers and sand for fracking.

Adopting a broadly constructive tone on regulation could also boost investment, he said.

jmb-jum/sst
Congressional Republicans were unsuccessful in multiple bids Wednesday to undo or weaken the militarys mandate that troops and Defense Department personnel get vaccinated against the coronavirus, moves that Democratic lawmakers dismissed as political theater and junk science.

At least 3,400 troops have already been involuntarily separated from service for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine in recent months.

For months, Republican lawmakers have decried the mandate as unfair and potentially jeopardizing military readiness, despite Pentagon leaders insisting the dismissals have had no effect.

On Wednesday, during debate in the House Armed Services Committee over the annual defense authorization bill, GOP members offered seven separate coronavirus amendments, including one to force Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin from his leadership post if he refuses to repeal the vaccine mandate.

New vaccine may be option for troops with religious concerns

When our leadership fails to reassess the situation, when they blindly say, I made a decision and its right and Im sticking with it come hell or high water, I think we have a duty to respond, said Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss. We need to reevaluate whether natural immunity plays a role, whether age does, do that based on the facts and the science and the data.

Republican lawmakers argued that troops should be exempt for religious reasons, for presumed natural immunity, or simply because they dont want it.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., called the suggestions disturbing and said they could undermine military discipline and leadership.

This is not politically motivated, he said. It is a decision about the health and wellness of the force  all this nonsense about it being politically motivated is just an excuse to hide from the actual debate.

What we learned from this disease is that being vaccinated significantly protects you against hospitalization and death. When you sign up for the military, you have to follow orders, and there was ample reason for these orders to be given.

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Provisions rejected included banning defense leaders from dismissing troops, dismissing military academy cadets, allowing defense contractors to skip federal mandates for vaccines, restoring individuals already booted from the ranks for vaccine refusal and awarding back pay to those separated service members.

Lawmakers from both sides sparred over the medical value of the vaccines, the danger of COVID-19 to the American and military population, and the ability of troops to refuse orders.

Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, unsuccessfully urged his colleagues to protect these young men and women from recklessly being put in danger when the government is making decisions that are not in their best interest.

Smith and other Democrats argued the opposite, saying that overruling reasonable health decisions by government and military leaders could result in chaos in the ranks.

3 Air Force cadets who refused vaccine wont be commissioned

Senate Armed Services Committee officials did not include any major changes to the vaccine mandate in their draft of the annual authorization bill, which passed last week.

The House committee did include language in their bill mandating a briefing by Pentagon officials to Congress on current vaccine exemption rules, and whether those policies are being carried out by military leaders in a fair and consistent basis.

House Republicans will have another chance to try and change the vaccine rules when the authorization bill draft comes to the chamber floor for a full vote, likely next month.
As part of a range of actions this week on gas prices, the Biden administration has summoned the heads of seven top oil refining companies to Washington after a week of tense back-and-forth with industry leaders.

The CEOs will meet with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm after the president blasted their high profits as "not acceptable" in a recent letter to the companies. In one response, Chevron (CVX) pushed back by saying that Washingtons approach was actually the culprit for high prices.

Nevertheless, President Joe Bidens aides say they hope for a constructive conversation.

Let's put every idea on the table so this is not the president just scolding, White House senior adviser Gene Sperling told Yahoo Finance Live on Wednesday. He added that Biden will be giving a stern message to everybody to do everything you can, but the goal is results.

The price of gas has risen dramatically in recent months, with the most recent data from the American Automobile Association showing prices hovering at around $5 a gallon. The increases have been driven by a range of factors, most notably disruptions in the global oil markets following Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The companies in the spotlight in addition to Chevron, all of which received a letter from the president last week, are Marathon (MRO), Valero (VLO), ExxonMobil (XOM), Phillips 66 (PSX), BP, and Shell (SHEL).

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm previewed her upcoming meeting with oil executives during at the White House on June 22. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

I hope theyll come up to the table with some real ideas and practical steps in the near term, said Biden, who is not scheduled to attend the meeting, during a speech on Wednesday.

We need an honest dialogue

The White Houses main push is for companies to ease what they see as a refining bottleneck, the middle stage between crude oil production and the gas pump. The administration contends that some refining capacity was taken offline during the pandemic and hasnt come back quickly enough.

Chevron blames the problems on regulations and a lack of clarity from DC. "We need an honest dialogue," Chevron CEO Michael Wirth, who will be attending the meeting, wrote recently.

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Industry observers have also been skeptical about how much wiggle room oil companies really have  and how quickly anything could change in the short-term. They note that crude processing has been running at 93%-94% of theoretical maximum operable capacity in recent weeks.

We are going into this to have an earnest conversation ... Let's see how that conversation goes, Granholm said in a press briefing in response to a question about how she will respond if the refiners "don't play ball." She is not ruling out out use of the Defense Production Act to force oil companies to ramp up supply, which could ultimately push prices down.

A senior administration official, in previewing the hearing, said they hope the discussion will include ways the federal government can be helpful to bring that additional capacity online as quickly as it possible.

Oil experts predict prices to drop slightly in the coming days, largely due to market forces, which perhaps will ease tensions at the meeting with industry executives.

Sperling echoed the Biden team's hope that getting everyone in a room could lead to progress. But, he stressed, I don't think that people should be offended because the president is standing up for consumers who are being squeezed at the gas pump.

Ben Werschkul is a writer and producer for Yahoo Finance in Washington, DC.

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Mike Bannon remembers the woman, a single mom who saved a few thousand dollars to buy a car. She bought one "as is" that died on her a couple of days later. There was nothing that Bannon, director of the Bucks County Consumer Protection Bureau, could do to help her recover her money.

Now there will be. The county commissioners last week unanimously approved the countys new Used Car Lemon Law, the first of its kind in Pennsylvania.

Veronica Serrano of McKinley Street in Bristol Borough points to water still puddling in one of her two flood-damaged cars following a storm that dumped 6 to 10 inches of rain in Bristol last summer. PEG QUANN / BUCKS COUNTY COURIER TIMES

The law will provide protection for consumers who purchase a used car that cost more than $3,000, is newer than seven model years old and has up to 100,000 miles on its odometer. It goes into effect Jan. 1.

The law, similar to a law enacted by New Jersey, will require a car dealer to refund the consumer the full purchase price if a vehicle meeting the age and mileage requirements fails a safety inspection or emissions test within 10 days of the sale unless the dealer can correct the deficiencies within a "reasonable" amount of time.

And it will require the dealer to disclose to a would-be buyer any defects the dealer knows about including if:

the frame is bent, cracked or twisted,

the engine block or head is cracked,

the vehicle is unable to pass inspection,

the transmission is damaged,

the vehicle was flooded,

the differential is damaged, deteriorated or requires replacement.

The seven-page ordinance will make it unlawful for a dealer to misrepresent the mechanical condition of a used motor vehicle that meets the ordinance's conditions; to fail to disclose any information about a warranty, service contract or repair insurance on the vehicle and "to fail to provide a clear, written explanation, prior to sale, of what is meant by the term 'as is,' if the used motor vehicle is sold 'as is.'"

It also requires a dealer to give the consumer a written warranty based on the mileage. If it has 24,000 miles or fewer, the written warranty would cover 90 days or 3,000 miles, whichever comes first; if the vehicle has 24,000 to 60,000 miles, the warranty would be for two months or 2,000 miles; for 60,000 to 100,000 miles, the grace period would be one month or 1,000 miles.

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The lack of a used-car law in Pennsylvania is a problem for our residents, Bannon told the commissioners. Most of our auto dealers by far are honest and do a good job but Im afraid there are a few that have given the industry a black eye.

Used-car dealers who break the law will be subject to fines up to $1,000 for each occurrence.

"The consumer doesn't want to see a fine issued; they want their vehicle to work," said county Solicitor Joseph Khan.

District Attorney Matt Weintraub said the law "really strengthens the safety next for the consumers. I'm proud to be endorsing this as a measure for the rest of the state."

Khan said he hoped the law would weed out disreputable used-car dealers as it protects consumers buying a used vehicle and the good names of car dealers who serve their customers fairly.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County approves PA's first used car lemon law
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Just weeks after an 18-year-old white supremacist killed 10 people and injured several more at a Buffalo supermarket, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday gutted a New York gun-control law that imposed limits on obtaining a concealed handgun license. And family members of the victims at the Tops Friendly Supermarket massacre are, as one put it, mad as hell.

Its a slap in the face. Its a kick in the behind, Garnell Whitfield, who lost his 86-year-old mother Ruth to the May shooting, told The Daily Beast on Thursday. Its insulting, its disappointing, and honestly, its just hurtful. But at the end of the day, its also very American.

Prosecutors say racist teen Payton Gendron bought into a conspiracy theory about white people supposedly being endangered and proceeded to target Black shoppers for meticulous slaughter, ultimately shooting 13 people. He now faces several murder charges, 26 counts of hate crimes, and firearms offenses after allegedly explaining in a handwritten note to his parents he had to commit this attack because he cared for the future of the white race.

The Department of Justice has said he will face the death penalty if convicted.

But for Whitfield, one of the most disturbing aspects of the Tops massacre was the fact that Gendron obtained firearms legally. And while the law gutted by the high court on Thursday did not directly pertain to how the teenager who slipped under the radar of too many authorities got his guns, it is now even easier for New Yorkers to carry a weaponand likely that even looser gun laws will proliferate across the nation.

Inside the Celebrity Murder Behind the Gun Law SCOTUS Just Gutted

I am dealing with the death of my mother, Whitfield, 65, said. And now I have to worry about whether someone walking down the street next to me is carrying a weapon.

Its not safe. Were not safe. Minor disputes can now turn into murderous events. Everyone is on edge, he added.

In a 6-3 decision, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to carry a gun outside the home. Therefore, the court shot down New Yorks proper-cause requirement to obtain a concealed-carry license, ruling it violates the Fourteenth Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense.

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The police cannot disarm every person who acquires a gun for use in criminal activity; nor can they provide bodyguard protection for the States nearly 20 million residents or the 8.8 million people who live in New York City, Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a concurring opinion. Some of these people live in high-crime neighborhoods. Some must traverse dark and dangerous streets in order to reach their homes after work or other evening activities. Some are members of groups whose members feel especially vulnerable. And some of these people reasonably believe that unless they can brandish or, if necessary, use a handgun in the case of attack, they may be murdered, raped, or suffer some other serious injury.

In other words, the high courts conservatives suggested they were looking out for the marginalized. But the families of Buffalo victims strongly disagree.

Zeneta Everhart, the mother of one of three people who survived being shot at Tops Friendly Markets, said the idea of putting more guns in peoples hands seems ridiculous and backwards considering that mass shootings are happening all the time. According to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks gun violence through police reports, over 60 mass shootings have occurred in the last month.

Among them: A mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 children and two teachers. The shooter, Salvador Ramos, had legally purchased two assault rifles and ammo around the time of his 18th birthday.

Were turning into the wild, wild West, Everhart said. Its disheartening. Peoples lives are at risk. Its ridiculous, I dont have the words.

How many more mass shootings do we need before there are some changes in this country? she added. I dont understand it. Its irresponsible of our country. It is irresponsible of our lawmakers. I should feel safe in this country.

Everhart added that her son Zaire Goodman, who worked at Tops and was assisting a customer with her cart when shot at close range, is still dealing with the emotional and physical injuries of the traumatic experience.

This latest ruling is not making us feel any safer, she said.

He is doing really well. Its going to take some time and he will have to go through a few procedures, but his injuries are a constant reminder of what could happen, the mother added. And while we are not going to stop living our lives, this new ruling does add a small level of fear.

For his part, even if he was outraged, Whitfield conceded that he was not surprised by Thursday's decision. Still, he couldnt help but feel very disappointed and hurt that Thomas, the lone Black justice on the court, wrote the decision on the future of New Yorks gun control after an attack on the Black community in the state.

Knowing it was Clarence Thomas that authored this opinion, its horrific. Were now learning that there are no ethics rules in the Supreme Court, Whitfield added.

Just the fact that he identifies as a Black man is insulting and wrong.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Gun reform supporters listen to speakers during the March for our Lives protest against gun violence in Los Angeles on June 11. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta on Thursday pledged to work with the governor and lawmakers to pass new gun-control legislation "to keep Californians safe" in response to a Supreme Court ruling that weakens requirements to obtain a license to carry a concealed weapon in the state.

"While this decision is no doubt a setback for the safety of Americans, it also affirmed the rights that states maintain to protect our people," Bonta said. "It leaves us with options to protect our families, and we intend to use those options."

Bonta said a state requirement for gun owners to provide "good cause" to obtain a license to carry a concealed weapon is likely unconstitutional under the Supreme Court ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. vs. Bruen.

The attorney general reminded Californians that carrying a loaded firearm in most public spaces is still generally prohibited without a license issued by local law enforcement. Requirements to obtain a license, such as a background check, a firearms safety course, and proof of residency, employment or business in a local area, remain in effect.

State leaders for weeks have been considering ways to respond in anticipation of the high court ruling that challenges limitations on eligibility for concealed weapons licenses in California.

The promise of another law is the latest in a series of quick efforts to double down on the state's progressive agenda in response to national issues, including a ballot measure to confirm abortion rights in response to the expected Supreme Court ruling on Roe vs. Wade and fast-tracking other gun control legislation after a Texas school shooting killed 19 elementary students and two teachers.

The Supreme Court held in its 6-3 ruling Thursday that a New York law violated the 2nd and 14th Amendments by requiring people to demonstrate a special need for self-protection." The justices ruled that the requirement is unconstitutional because it prevents law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms.

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California lawmakers plan to amend and pass Senate Bill 918 from state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge) in response to the ruling. The legislation will specify the places weapons cannot be carried and clarify qualifications for obtaining a license, Bonta said.

"So in California, we're going to make it clear that an assessment of dangerousness is an essential element of the concealed-carry application," Bonta said. "The assessment is going to be robust, including looking at arrests, convictions, restraining orders and other publicly available information that might suggest that a person poses a danger to themselves or to others."

Gov. Gavin Newsom also weighed in Thursday, pushing back on the "radical decision" from the Supreme Court.

"While this reckless decision erases a commonsense gun safety law that existed for decades, California anticipated this moment," Newsom said. "Our state will continue to lead in the fight to keep our people safe."

Since taking office, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has held a different view about concealed weapons. Villanueva has dramatically increased the number of permits issued in the county, with active concealed-carry weapon permits skyrocketing from 155 holders in June 2020 to more than 2,800 as of last month, according to statistics released by the Sheriffs Department.

"Sheriff Alex Villanueva has expanded the number of approved concealed weapons permits as violent crime has risen within Los Angeles County. The Sheriff recognizes the threats to the residents have increased and has responded accordingly," the Sheriff's Department said in a statement Thursday. The agency's lawyers are currently reviewing the Supreme Court decision.

In a statement Thursday, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said that the high court's ruling "aligns with my long term policy that self-defense and personal protection is just cause for obtaining a Concealed Weapon permit."

She said that the county's more than 15,000 concealed-carry permit holders "do not pose a danger to the community because they are responsible gun owners who carry for defense, not offense."

In rural Northern California, Edward Obayashi of the Plumas County Sheriff's Office said that it's too soon to tell what impact the ruling will have, but that he doesn't expect it to lead to more violent crime.

"I dont see a clear indicator or predictor that this is going to impact violent crime [because] its not going to put guns in the hands of criminals, many of whom have records that would bar them from owning a gun legally, said Libor, who works as a policy advisor for the sheriff. The one concern I would have would be the mentally challenged, the ones that do have psychological issues who otherwise decide they want to apply for a [concealed carry] license. They dont have a criminal background, but they have been diagnosed with mental disorders."

Newsom joined leaders of the California Legislature last month with a promise to expedite at least a dozen gun-control bills one day after the shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school.

The legislation would further restrict California's already stringent firearm rules, including one modeled after a Texas law that allows private citizens to sue anyone who aids and abets in an abortion.

Senate Bill 1327, crafted to challenge the Supreme Court's refusal to block the Texas law, would authorize residents of California to sue gun manufacturers or distributors and anyone who imports or sells assault weapons, .50 BMG rifles or so-called ghost guns.

Another measure Newsom backs would limit firearm advertising to minors, and a third would crack down on ghost guns in California.

Bonta is also sponsoring Assembly Bill 1594, a similarly high-profile measure that would establish a "firearm industry standard of conduct." The measure would allow the California Department of Justice, local governments and gun violence survivors to file lawsuits against gun industry members if they were allegedly "irresponsible, reckless, and negligent" in the sale and marketing of their products and if they violated state firearm laws.

Newsom said Thursday he would sign a series of gun safety bills that he expects the Legislature to send to his desk next week. Some of the bills include urgency clauses, which means they need to receive a two-thirds vote of approval in each house of the Legislature and would immediately become law with Newsom's signature.

SB 918 will be heard in the Assembly Public Safety Committee next week.

"It is our goal to move quickly, to move prudently and to move decisively to make sure that your families, our families, are protected on Main Street California," Portantino said.

Times staff writer Alene Tchekmedyian contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Reuters

An exceptionally well-preserved Roman floor mosaic, showing a rich variety of fish, animals, birds and ships, has returned to the site where it was first found in a Tel Aviv suburb after a decade-long tour of some of the world's top museums. The 1,700 year-old mosaic, from the late Roman period, was discovered in 1996 during highway construction work, but was not put on display until 2009, when sufficient funding to preserve it was donated. The colorful mosaic, 17 metres (55 ft) long and about 9 metres (29 ft) wide, may have served as the foyer floor of a mansion in a wealthy neighborhood of Lod, near what is now Tel Aviv, the Israel antiquities Authority said in a statement.
LONDON  The Kremlin announced this week that the Geneva Conventions, created to protect soldiers detained during wartime, do not apply to two American volunteers who were captured by Russian forces.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday that the two detainees were involved in illegal activities on the territory of Ukraine.

They should be held responsible for those crimes they have committed, he said. Those crimes have to be investigated. ... The only thing that is clear is that they have committed crimes. They are not in the Ukrainian army. They are not subject to the Geneva Conventions.

Yahoo News spoke to Matthew Schmidt, the program coordinator for international affairs and an associate professor of national security at the University of New Haven in Connecticut, who explained the treatment of detainees in Russia and whether it is legal for Americans to fight in Ukraine.

Yahoo News: Is it legal for U.S. citizens to fight for Ukraine?

Matthew Schmidt: The short answer is yes. There are laws from the 19th century that would call this into question. But Robert Kennedy, John F. Kennedys attorney general and brother, declared during the Cuban missile crisis that it was legal for American citizens, Cuban Americans, to go back to Cuba and fight. So thats the standard that we use today.

Alex Drueke, left, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, two Americans who fought alongside Ukrainian troops before being captured by Russian forces. (Lois Drueke/Handout via Reuters, Handout via WAAYTV)

How about European countries?

Its similar in that most European countries have laws from the 19th century that were focused on colonial wars and that were concerned with preventing their citizens from fighting for, you know, enemy powers in colonial conflicts. Today, its really a question of enforcement. And essentially, all of the European countries have agreed to allow their citizens to participate in the war in Ukraine on a volunteer basis and not prosecute them with those old laws.

What does international law say?

International human rights law is focused on your status as a human, then your status as a combatant. And so there are standards of treatment that apply whether or not youre a combatant, or considered a lawful combatant. So, for instance, its illegal to torture. This is one of the issues that came up in the U.S. global war on terrorism, where the United States did not declare many captured fighters as formal military personnel and then engaged in what they called enhanced interrogation, which was later admitted to be torture under international law. So these standards still apply. And the United States is in a tricky position in arguing against this because of what the U.S. did during the global war on terror against other nonofficial combatants. And so thats a problem that the U.S. will face in this case.

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What do we know about how Russia treats prisoners of war and detainees?

They dont follow international human rights standards. So they treat detainees in a way that international law considers torture  sleep deprivation and other means of interrogation that is considered illegal under international law.

How can it be proved whether a detainee was a mercenary or a volunteer?

Under international law, there are six standards that you have to meet. Its quite strict in order to be considered a mercenary in this case. The second standard is that your primary motivation for fighting is private gain, that is for money or pay. And it would be very hard under Western standards to argue that the captured Americans were mercenaries because it just appears that their primary motivation was not for pay. The pay is well below their standard of living in the United States. And so theyre not really making material gain.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is to begin on Thursday its first trial against a Russian soldier accused of rape. Mikhail Romanov will be tried in absentia, as he is not in Ukrainian custody. Romanov is accused of murdering a civilian in Kyiv on March 9 and then repeatedly raping his wife, according to court files.

Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin, the first Russian soldier to face a war crimes trial in Ukraine, at a court hearing in Kyiv on May 13. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

It follows the sentencing of a 21-year-old Russian soldier in Ukraines first war crimes trial. Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin was sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to shooting a 62-year-old unarmed civilian four days into the invasion.

Ukraine is investigating thousands of alleged war crimes committed by Russian soldiers since the countrys brutal invasion began on Feb. 24. Iryna Venediktova, Ukraines prosecutor general, told Reuters that many of those accused are in Russia. Some, however, have been taken as prisoners of war.

Attorney General Merrick Garland made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Tuesday to meet with Venediktova, a Justice Department official said. The two reportedly discussed ways to help Ukraine identify, apprehend and prosecute those individuals involved in war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine.

With regard to the American detainees, could the Kremlin be retaliating against the 21-year-old Russians sentencing last month?

I think its easy for us to fall into this idea that the logic of Russian moves here is retaliation. But I think its better to think of it as a strategic advantage. So the real rationale for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to push this approach to the American prisoners or other Western fighters is to support his domestic propaganda. It upholds the idea that the war is really about Russia being attacked or threatened by the West. And so holding Western prisoners, especially American prisoners, plays into the narrative that whats really happening in Ukraine is that the United States and NATO [are] using Ukraine as a proxy for their own war against Russia.

On Wednesday, two British men were sentenced to death in a Russian proxy court for fighting for Ukraine. Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin were charged with terrorism in a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic, a breakaway region in the east of Ukraine. Aslins family told the BBC that his Russian captors assured him that his execution will be carried out.

Can the U.N. step in to help the prisoners sentenced to death?

They can petition for access, the International Red Cross can petition for access. Of course, the American Embassy can petition for access. But right now they dont even know the location of the American prisoners. And in the end, Russia is preemptively claiming that the prisoners are guilty of war crimes or may be prosecuted for war crimes. And so by their standard, they dont have to follow international law.

Its worth remembering two points. One, that the prisoners are being held apparently in the DNR [Donetsk Peoples Republic], which is not Russia. And the DNR is formally not a signatory of any of these applicable laws, and so would not have to follow them, and also has the death penalty. In this case, and on Russian state media several times, prominent figures in the government have floated the idea of using the death penalty against them, even going so far as saying that theres no other choice, because theyre accusing the Americans of committing war crimes against Russian troops and Russian citizens.

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How are Ukrainian forces taking out so many Russian tanks? Use this embed to learn about some of the weapons systems the U.S. is sending to the Ukrainian army.
Jun. 23Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., joined 13 of her GOP colleagues to vote for a motion to "proceed to the consideration of legislation to address gun violence in America."

That means the bipartisan package will advance to discussion on the floor of the Senate. All 50 Democrats voted to advance the proposal.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has already expressed his support for the content of the proposal, which covers several areas of mental health issues and school safety, but steers clear of any major controversial gun control measures.

"The tragedies that have impacted far too many of our communities deserves all of our attention," Capito said in a statement after her vote Tuesday evening. "That's why I have encouraged the bipartisan discussions to come up with commonsense legislative proposals that have the potential to help prevent these terrible events from happening in the future. I have also been adamant that the proposals put forth must not infringe on law-abiding citizens' second amendment rights."

Capito said the debate on the Senate floor is needed because something must be done.

"My vote this evening is a vote to continue this critically important debate because it's a debate worth having," she said. "My vote also recognizes the hard work my colleagues have done on the framework. Increasing funding for mental health services, school safety initiatives, and in our background check system, are all worthwhile. This bill is not about issues such as red flag laws, which will never be enacted in our state. This bill is about addressing issues such as mental health. It is also about keeping law abiding and gun owning West Virginians safe."

Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., John Corny, R-Texas, Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., released a statement before the vote on Tuesday evening saying the legislation would "protect America's children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across our country."

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"Our legislation will save lives and will not infringe on any law-abiding American's Second Amendment rights," the statement said. "We look forward to earning broad, bipartisan support and passing our commonsense legislation into law."

Capito's reference to a red flag law, which allows guns to be confiscated from a person deemed a threat to themselves or others, is in the proposed bill, but does not require states to enact such laws. It will provide grants to states willing to address some version of it or have other intervention programs.

Capito said those mental health challenges should be addressed and people who should not have a gun should not be able to get one.

However, "law-abiding citizens should have full access to Second Amendment rights," she said.

Capito also indicated she supports some mechanisms to better monitor youth (under 21) purchasing assault weapons, as was the case in the Texas school shooting when the shooter purchased two assault weapons just after he turned 18.

Residents under 21 cannot purchase handguns, per federal law, but they can purchase assault rifles because they fall in the category of a "long rifle," which are traditionally hunting rifles.

Capito said she is glad to see some "tightening up" of some of the issues in youth (under 21) getting those guns, with background checks including juvenile records before purchasing an assault weapon part of the proposal.

Other provisions in the bill include programs related to mental health support, safety measures in and around primary and secondary schools, school violence prevention efforts, training for school personnel and students, protections for victims of domestic violence, funding for school-based mental health and supportive services, telehealth investments, penalties for "straw purchasing" (buying a gun for a criminal) and cracking down on dealers who illegally evade licensing requirements.

Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com

Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com
Workers at Chile's state mining company Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, called off an open-ended strike Thursday after reaching agreement with the government.

The strike by some 40,000 mine workers to protest the closure of a foundry in one of Chile's most polluted regions, was ended after one day, the FTC labor federation announced.

The FTC had agreed with the company to work jointly towards closing the Ventanas foundry, over a period of time, in an area dubbed "Chile's Chernobyl."

Codelco announced it would close the Ventanas foundry after an incident on June 9 when 115 people, mostly school children, suffered sulfur dioxide poisoning released by heavy industry in the area around Quintero and Puchuncavi, home to some 50,000 people.

It was the second such incident in just three days.

Greenpeace described the area around the Ventanas plant as "Chile's Chernobyl" following a serious incident in 2018 when around 600 people received medical treatment for symptoms such as vomiting blood, headaches, dizziness and paralysis of the extremities.

Unions, however, described the announced closure as "arbitrary" and demanded the government spend money instead on bringing the plant up to environmental standards.

Pollution accumulated in the area of Quintero and Puchuncavi after the government decided in 1958 to convert it into an industrial center that now hosts four coal-fired power stations and oil and copper refineries.

msa/mlr/md
CNN

When former Fox News anchor Chris Wallace popped up on CNNs primetime coverage of the first Jan. 6 Committee hearing earlier this month, he drew the ire of some viewers for expressing deep skepticism over their ability to change anyones mind about Donald Trump.

But as the proceedings begin to unfold, he may be starting to change his tune.

On Thursday morning, ahead of a session that is expected to feature testimony from top Department of Justice officials, Wallace appeared on CNN to weigh in on a new 2024 poll that shows Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis edging out Trump among likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire.

In response to pollster Frank Luntz characterizing the poll results as a sign that at least some conservative voters want to move on from Trump, Wallace said that could very possibly be the biggest impact of the Jan. 6 hearings, that it just adds to Trump fatigue.

Voters arent going to say, I changed my mind on what Donald Trump did over the last four years, Id vote against him against Joe Biden, he continued. I think it may just be people say, Can we find Trumpism without having to deal with the baggage, with all of the drama of Donald Trump?

If those voters are casting about for a Trump alternative, Wallace added, then DeSantis might be a pretty good choice.

And while Wallace doesnt think Trump has anything major to worry about from one poll showing him two points down two years out from the election, he did point out that the dirtiest word in Trumps lexicon is loser.

Despite what he said, he was a loser to Joe Biden, Wallace said, referring to the 2020 election. Now he could be a loser a second time. If Trump goes into 2024 with the real possibility of losing early primary states like New Hampshire, Wallace asked, Will he have the stomach for that?

Chris Wallace Shoots Down Trump and Fox News Stars Election Fraud Lies

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Former interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane (Getty Images)

There may be no better man to headline Frances first ever UFC event than Ciryl Gane.

Mixed martial arts leading promotion has not exactly had an abundance of French fighters on its roster since its inception in 1993, which is no surprise given the nation did not even legalise the sport until two years ago, but Gane occupies an intriguing place in the timeline of French MMA.

Like many of his combative compatriots, the 32-year-old spent a portion of his career competing abroad. But, having only started training in the sport in 2018  the same year in which he began his professional career  Gane has not had to wait long for a homecoming. Still, he has more than earned it.

Bon Gamin (Good Kid) kickstarted his pro MMA career in Canada, securing two stoppage wins in 2018 and adding another in 2019. That was all it took for the athletic anomaly  one of the quickest and most dynamic heavyweights that MMA has ever seen  to be handed a UFC contract, and within two years he had won seven straight fights under the companys banner to claim the interim heavyweight title. Gane, just three years after beginning his MMA training, had become the first ever French fighter to hold gold in the UFC.

Ganes path, which he had trodden in uniquely graceful fashion for a man of his size, led to Francis Ngannou. A former teammate of Gane, Ngannou had made it to France after numerous failed attempts to cross the European border from his native Cameroon. When Ngannou won the UFC heavyweight title in March 2021, his own unique journey was complete. He was even celebrated by some in France as the countrys de facto first UFC champion. Five months later, though, Gane would stop Derrick Lewis with ease to take the official title of Frances first UFC champion  if not the official title of heavyweight king.

A huge unification bout between Gane and Ngannou headlined the UFCs first pay-per-view event of 2022, with Gane outpointed by the injured knockout artist after a surprising show of efficient wrestling from Ngannou. That defeat  Ganes first  could have been the defining moment of Bon Gamins career; instead, that moment could come with his historic appearance at UFC Paris on 3 September.

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Its a really great question, Gane says, when asked whether the UFCs arrival in France and the countrys legalisation of MMA came sooner or later than he expected.

Gane reacts to his defeat by former teammate Francis Ngannou (AFP via Getty Images)

I [actually] dont know at this moment how much time its been legalised! There are a lot of guys, like my coach Fernand Lopez, who fought for this legalisation since a long time ago  and some guys more than Fernand.

Me, I just arrived. I started in 2018, I did some fights, then France legalised MMA in 2020. And just after, I had this match-up with Francis Ngannou. So, for me it was really quick, it was a little bit normal.

This is exactly like my career: For me its normal to do just four years and to be on top, but some guys tried to do that since a long time ago. But its good, because we have a lot of fans and fighters in France, and [the ban] was a real problem for all of these guys.

Although Gane was not in MMA early enough to campaign in the same way as Lopez and others, he has become the face of French MMA and deserves his spot atop the card in Paris, where he will face rising contender Tai Tuivasa.

My style is touch but never be touched, like I did against Derrick Lewis or maybe Jairzinho Rozenstruik, so I think against Tuivasa its gonna be a little bit the same, Gane says of the match-up with the Australian.

My gameplan is gonna be the same, I dont know if Im gonna do exactly the same. The [Lewis and Rozenstruik fights are] gonna help me to fight against Tuivasa, but I dont want to say I prefer [fighting] this guy to that guy, because I want to fight and win against everybody.

With Tuivasa, its really dangerous to keep the middle distance. Thats why I prefer to be far or to be really close in the clinch, but in the middle distance this guy is really, really, really, really dangerous.

Twenty-nine-year-old Tuivasa (14-3) will enter the French capital on the back of five straight knockout wins. The succession of stoppages and Tuivasas tendency to celebrate with a Shooey have further boosted the fan favourites popularity, but the Paris crowd will hope to see Gane abruptly halt the Australians progress and ruin his post-fight ritual.

Gane during his stoppage win against Derrick Lewis (Getty Images)

Maybe after, if he wants and I want, were gonna do [a Shooey] together, Gane counters. Itd be my pleasure, but I dont know... with shoes, thats really not healthy, he laughs. Itd probably be funny... but [Ill only do it] if I win.

After the UFCs record-breaking night in London in March  a scintillating event that has already led the promotion to announce a return to the O2 Arena in July  expectations are high for UFC Paris. Yet Gane, typically composed, is unlikely to be fazed by the occasion.

For my first fight in Paris, its exactly the same like my other fights, he insists. My training camp is exactly the same, Im really focused on Tai Tuivasa. But yes, its a little bit special because its Paris  the first time in my country, in front of my family and my friends. But this doesnt put more pressure on me. Im just happy [about it], no pressure; not now, maybe later...

UFC Londons success spotlighted the talent within British MMA but also provided a platform for that talent to grow, and Gane hopes to see the same effect in France.

To have UFC in Paris is gonna help to have more light on the young [French] fighters, he says. This is gonna help us have more French fighters in the UFC, 100 per cent.

For Gane, the mission now is to hold undisputed heavyweight gold in the UFC. For some in French MMA, the mission was complete with the countrys legalisation of the sport. For others, simply fighting in the UFC will be the goal, and UFC Paris will help to make that a reality. Gane has done his part.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: GANE vs. TUIVASA tickets go on sale from 9am BST on Friday 24 June via Accor Arena and Ticketmaster.
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP)  President-elect Gustavo Petro, who has vowed to lift up Colombias poor and disenfranchised, has won the support of an influential party of the establishment as he tries to build a majority coalition in Congress.

Petro, a former Bogota mayor and a member of the M-19 rebel group that disarmed decades ago, has won the support of the Liberal Party, which backed another candidate in the first round of Colombias presidential election. Petro won the second round on Sunday in a blow to political traditionalists who have presided for generations over Colombia, through violence and corruption, as well as economic growth and institutional stability.

The decision by the Liberal Party, led by ex-president Cesar Gaviria, to join Petros Historic Pact group shows the pragmatic side of the president-elect as he makes political deals aimed at executing an ambitious legislative agenda that includes fiscal, agrarian, pension and other changes.

We wont be a party of opposition, Gaviria said in a statement Wednesday. Details still have to be worked out regarding the Liberals Party role in a governing coalition and how it can collaborate with 62-year-old Petros camp, he said.

The Liberal Party is one of the largest groups in the bicameral Congress, with 14 senators in the 108-seat Senate and 32 representatives in the 187-seat lower house.

Petros Historic Pact has 20 seats in the Senate and 27 in the House of Representatives. A coalition including the Liberals and other allies would bring it closer to a parliamentary majority.

Sandra Borda, a political analyst at the University of Los Andes in Bogota, said that a lot remains unclear about Petros vision of a national accord in which all sectors of society get involved.

We have to see what will be the content of the policies that Congress will support, and in exchange for what, Borda said. Foreign governments and international investors will follow closely to see who Petro picks as finance minister, which could indicate whether he plans on heavier state involvement in the economy, she said.

Some 47% of the electorate voted for real estate tycoon Rodolfo Hernandez, who lost to Petro in the second round. As the losing candidate, Hernandez was still guaranteed a Senate seat and he said Thursday that he would take it.

Petro is virtually certain to face robust opposition from the Democratic Center, the party founded by a former president, Alvaro Uribe. Current President Ivan Duque, who by law was not allowed to run for a second term, is a member of the Democratic Center. He will hand power to Petro on Aug. 7.
About 1 in 3 COVID-19 cases in the United States now stem from the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the omicron strain, which are on their way to becoming the most dominant coronavirus strains in the country.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 11.4 and 23.5 percent of U.S. COVID-19 cases are caused, respectively by the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants.

Early data also suggests these subvariants escape immunity more efficiently than previous lineages of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The BA.4 and the BA.5 subvariants are about three to six times less sensitive to the neutralizing antibodies that the body makes in response to infection and vaccination, David Montefiori, a virologist and Duke University professor, told The Hill.

Montefiori, who has researched viruses like HIV for more than 30 years, said BA.4 and BA.5 are essentially the same subvariant and current vaccines should be equally effective against both of them. The occurrence of these two subvariants is an indication of COVID-19 evolving to become less sensitive to antibodies, he added.

The BA.2.12.1 subvariant behind the recent rise in cases currently commands the greatest share, at 56 percent.

The two subvariants are eliciting some concerns about another waver of the coronavirus moving through the U.S.

Cases have risen over the summer as many Americans have resumed the activities they took before the pandemic. But they have also hit a plateau of around 100,000 new cases a day. Experts believe vaccinations and booster shots have helped keep the figures lower.

In addition, deaths and hospitalizations have not spiked because of vaccines. More COVID-19 cases result in mild sicknesses.

This plateau of cases doesnt include the two new subvariants, for the most part.

At the start of June, less than 10 percent of cases were caused by BA.4 and BA.5, though that share has grown exponentially in the past few weeks.

David Dowdy, an epidemiologist and professor at Johns Hopkins University, said the rise of BA.4 and BA.5 is the natural evolution of any infectious disease.

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At the same time, most do not expect the newer subvariants to lead to more deaths as in previous spikes during the pandemic.

Dowdy said there is no strong data to suggest that the newer subvariants are deadlier or more transmissible than previous ones.

While evidence has suggested that BA.4 and BA.5 escape antibodies more effectively, available vaccines should still reduce the chances of death and hospitalization, even if they dont prevent as many infections.

Despite the continued mutations, these subvariants are not drastically different from the original omicron variant.

Given that the strains currently circulating in the U.S. all descend from the omicron variant lineage, Dowdy said the COVID-19 virus is likely approaching its ideal adaptation for infecting humans.

So its gonna be harder for it to mutate into a completely new variant thats going to be a lot more contagious than the current one, Dowdy said.

At the same time, he would not rule out the chances of another surge later this year.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON  Members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force during the Trump administration expressed concerns with each other about misinformation being shared with the president, according to emails obtained by a congressional subcommittee and shared with NBC News.

Among the emails that will be made public at a congressional hearing Thursday morning is one from Deborah Birx, who served as Covid response coordinator under former President Donald Trump. Birx expressed concerns to Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and other task force members about Scott Atlas, a radiologist who joined the White House in August 2020 as a special adviser.

Atlas rejected mainstream mitigation measures, such as mask wearing, social distancing and widespread testing, in favor of the establishment of herd immunity as a means of protecting the population from the pandemic.

A very dangerous meeting in the OVAL yesterday, Birx wrote before listing Atlas views, which included that Case identification is bad for the Presidents reelection  testing should only be of the sick.

Birx is scheduled to testify before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis at 10 a.m. ET Thursday. It will be her first public testimony about her time in the Trump White House.

In another August 2020 email, Birx referred to Atlas positions as parallel thoughts and misinformation.

Im at a loss of what we should do, Birx wrote to Fauci, Robert Redfield, then director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Seema Verma, who headed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. We need to stop these infections or there will be 300k dead by Dec.

Atlas did not immediately return a request from NBC News for comment.

Birx also told the subcommittee that she was pressured to make changes to some of the weekly data reports she sent to state and local officials, including to recommendations on masking and indoor capacity restrictions, prompting her to make those recommendations "less obvious" to White House officials skimming the reports.

So I learned to put the things that there were issues with into the second part of a sentence, she testified, referring to recommendations that would raise objections from the Trump White House.

The emails will be released by the subcommittee along with full transcripts from Birxs closed-door interview with the panel in October.
The Ukrainian military carries out mobile defense

Read also: Russian forces achieve partial success in Lysychansk area, but efforts to seize Donetsk Oblast still unsuccessful

Fierce fighting continues in the east, Malyar said. So far, the enemy has had a fire advantage, but the Armed Forces of Ukraine are inflicting losses on them. (Our forces are) doing everything to prevent encirclement and the advance of the enemy.

Read also: Russians concentrating main efforts on establishing full control over ruins of Severodonetsk

The situation is difficult  were not hiding this. Ukrainian troops are now carrying out a mobile defense, as it is called in the military language, they are changing certain fronts.

Read also: Russia inches towards Lysychansk in Luhansk Oblast

Maylars comment came after Ukraines General Staff in its morning report said that on the Severodonetsk axis the invaders had captured the settlements of Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka.

Russian invasion force troops are also preparing to ford the Siverskyi Donets River, the General Staff said.

Help NV continue its work reporting on the Russian invasion
By Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -A summit of European Union and Balkan leaders failed on Thursday to break a deadlock over a stalled EU membership bid by North Macedonia and Albania, even as Ukraine was set to become an official candidate for membership.

Separate from the Ukraine decision later on Thursday, the leaders of the six Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia expressed disillusion that negotiations have not started or are stalled, years after being promised eventual EU membership.

"What has happened is a serious blow to the credibility (of) the European Union," Dimitar Kovacevski, North Macedonia's prime minister, told a news conference following the Balkan-EU summit, referring to the lack of progress.

At the summit, the EU restated its promise made almost two decades ago to give the Balkan countries membership once they enacted deep economic, judicial and political reforms.

"The meeting clearly and unequivocally reiterated the European perspective of the Western Balkans and the region's future in the European Union," an EU official said.

But EU member Bulgaria's veto has remained in place since 2020, when it blocked accession talks with North Macedonia over a dispute relating to history and language. Albania is also being held back because the EU has linked its progress to that of North Macedonia.

'IMPOTENCE'

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said that was a "disgrace" and also accused EU leaders of "impotence" for failing to pressure Sofia into making concessions.

"It's a disgrace that a NATO country, Bulgaria, kidnaps two other NATO countries, namely Albania and North Macedonia, in the midst of a hot war in Europe's backyard with 26 other EU countries sitting still in a scary show of impotence," Rama told reporters, referring to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Rama, who briefly considered not attending the summit, said he made his position clear to leaders in their closed-door session on Thursday. However, the collapse of the Bulgarian government coalition on Wednesday meant there was no possibility of a breakthrough in Brussels.

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Such EU decisions require unanimity among the 27 states.

"Even a pandemic ... a threatening war have been unable to unite them," Rama said of the EU leaders' disunity, referring to the Ukraine war.

However, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, who represented his country despite losing a confidence vote on Wednesday, said he hoped for support for North Macedonia in the Bulgarian parliament soon, without giving more details.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also said there could be a resolution to the issue next week, referring to hopes that Bulgaria's parliament would reconvene to support lifting the veto on North Macedonia.

Balkan citizens have long dreamed of joining the EU after the ethnic wars of the 1990s, as Yugoslavia disintegrated.

But northern countries such as France and the Netherlands have stalled the EU's "enlargement" process, fearing a repeat of the rushed accession of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007 and the poorly managed migration of eastern European workers to Britain that turned many Britons against the EU.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott and Philip Blenkinsop, Editing by William Maclean)
More than three dozen House Democrats on Tuesday sent a letter to their leaders, urging them to increase funding to police departments amid a rise in crime in the U.S.

The letter, first obtained by Punchbowl News, was sent to the offices of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)

In their letter, the group of lawmakers shared their concerns about the rising crime rate in the country in the past two years, asking for aksing for the bipartisan type of legislation to increase police funding in an effort to combat this issue.

That is why we have consistently advocated for commonsense, bipartisan legislation to increase investment in local police departments to boost the numbers, retention, training, and accountability of law enforcement officers on the beat, the lawmakers wrote in their letter.

The lawmakers also shared their disapproval of packing the police funding bills with the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations, noting that the move might not be feasible, it will prevent lawmakers from showing their support for law enforcement, and the package deal could limit bipartisan support for the measure as well, the letter reads.

The lawmakers also suggested a series of bills that the House leaders should take up.

The House Judiciary Committee has made clear to several members that it has no intention of bringing any law enforcement bills through the markup process, the letter reads. Therefore, we implore you to please use your power to bring these bills to the Floor for up or down votes, as you did recently with the Protecting Our Kids Act bill, so that every member can be on the record and their constituents can know where they stand.

The letter also asked Clyburn, Pelosi, and Hoyer to meet with them next week to have a discussion on the matter, saying this is a need to make our communities safer from criminals.

The letter was signed by 32 lawmakers, including Reps. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), and Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.).

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Law enforcement funding has become a hot topic in the past few months as crime has risen to its highest rate in the U.S.

Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams (D) told Axios on Thursday that she will fund police departments in the state if she is elected as the states governor in November.

When we make smart investments in our law enforcement, we get better officer recruitment, we get better retention, we get better interaction with the community and we get a safer Georgia, Abrams told the media outlet.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Two Lynden residents were injured in their home when a car, driven by a suspected impaired driver, crashed into their home Wednesday morning.

The Lynden Police Department booked Michael Anthony Martin, 29, into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of vehicular assault, DUI and driving with a suspended license.

Lynden Police and Fire crews responded to a report at approximately 8:21 a.m. Wednesday, June 22, that a vehicle crashed into an occupied home in the 100 block of B.C. Avenue in Lynden, according to a release from Lynden Police Chief Steve Taylor.

While fire crews began examining the two occupants of the house, police investigated the cause of the crash. That investigation led to Martins arrest, according to the release.

The two residents were taken to St. Josephs hospital in Bellingham for further examination and treatment of their injuries, the release states.
Juul products at a convenience store

Owner Amit Oli at Haight Street Tobacco shows Juul products for sale on his shelves in San Francisco on Aug. 29, 2019. Credit - Liz Hafalia/San Francisco ChronicleGetty Images

Juul Labs, the popular e-cigarette company once known for its fruity flavors and blamed by federal regulators and public-health groups for sparking a youth vaping epidemic, must pull its currently available products from the U.S. market, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced.

The FDAs order means that Juul must stop selling and distributing its device and accompanying menthol- and tobacco-flavored e-liquid pods in the U.S. In a June 23 statement, FDA officials said they did not have enough data about the toxicological risks of Juuls products to authorize their continued sale.

To date, the FDA has not received clinical information to suggest an immediate hazard associated with the use of the JUUL device or JUULpods, the statement says. However, the [decision] issued today reflect FDAs determination that there is insufficient evidence to assess the potential toxicological risks of using the JUUL products.

The controversial move, which comes just days after the FDA announced plans to limit nicotine levels in cigarettes, could reshuffle the U.S. vaping industry. While Juul has lost much of its market share in recent years, its e-cigarettes are some of the most popular nationwide. As of May, Juul reportedly controlled about a third of the U.S. e-cigarette market, based on convenience store data. While Juul products are sold in other countries, the U.S. is its largest market.

Tobacco giant Altria, which owns a 35% stake in Juul Labs, saw its share prices fall almost 10% after the Wall Street Journal reported on the FDAs expected decision on June 22.

Juul could still appeal the decision or challenge it in court, which would potentially allow its products to stay on the market while the issue is litigated. The company could also focus on securing authorization for a high-tech version of its product that would unlock only for legal-aged users. No such product is currently available in the U.S., but versions have been sold in Canada and the U.K. A Juul representative did not immediately provide a comment.

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Eric Lindblom, a former official at the FDAs Center for Tobacco Products and a senior scholar at the ONeill Institute for National and Global Health Law, was initially surprised after news broke that the FDA was expected to take Juul off the market, given that the agency recently authorized other similar vaping devices. The agencys concerns about toxicological risks raise serious questions, he says.

If FDA knew about this possible risky technical problem with Juuls e-cigs, why didnt it take action against those currently on the market sooner to protect consumers against leaching harmful chemicals, etc.? he wrote in an email to TIME. Are these technical problems unique to Juuland not shared by any of the e-cigs FDA has allowed on the market?

For almost two years, the FDA has been reviewing data provided by U.S. e-cigarette manufacturers to determine whether their products can improve public health. That assessment largely hinges on whether a particular product provides enough benefit to smokersby helping them switch to a less-dangerous alternative to cigarettesto make up for downsides like underage use or health risks related to vaping.

A former Juul employee with knowledge of the companys FDA application says theres no question it met that standard with its datathough the FDA evidently disagreed. Many of these decisions are political, the former employee says. Theyre not necessarily based on the evidence.

As of March 2022, the FDA had denied applications covering more than 1 million e-cigarette products, many of which came from small, independent vaping companies. But it has granted marketing authorization to some major manufacturers, including some of Juuls direct competitors.

In October 2021, the FDA authorized tobacco company R.J. Reynolds Vuse Solo and its tobacco-flavored pods, making it the first e-cigarette to be sold in the U.S. with the agencys clearance. The agency authorized the continued sale of additional Vuse products in May 2022, followed by tobacco-flavored products made by the brand NJOY in June.

The only difference [between those companies and Juul] is the social phenomenon thats attached to [Juul], says the former Juul employee. Theres no way to divorce that from Juul the brand.

Juul always faced an uphill battle with the FDA, given its reputation as a favorite product among teens. In 2019, at the height of what the FDA called a youth vaping epidemic, 27.5% of high school students said they currently vaped. Juul was widely blamed for that phenomenon, both by independent public-health experts and former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb. The dramatic spike of youth [vaping]  that was driven in part, at the very least, if not largely, by Juul, he told Vox in a 2019 interview.

The device launched with a splash in 2015. Its bright, colorful launch campaign featured young, trendy models and showed off the sleek Juul device, which looks like a flash drive, in a way that made some tobacco-control experts fear it was meant to lure young users.

Juul has repeatedly denied that it intentionally targeted teenagers, but it never shook that perception. As youth vaping rates climbed upward over the years, juuling became both a cultural phenomenon and shorthand for underage vaping. Some high schools went so far as to ban flash drivessince they were so easily confused with Juulsor to remove stall doors in the bathrooms, where students vaped so much they were nicknamed Juul rooms. Even after it pulled its fruity and sweet flavors off store shelves, shut down its U.S. social media accounts, stopped most advertising, and invested $30 million in youth vaping prevention, Juul was still known as the brand that sparked a new form of teen nicotine addiction.

Youth vaping inspired a regulatory crackdown not just on Juul, but on the entire vaping industry. In early 2020, the Trump Administration restricted the sale of many flavored e-liquids. Around the same time, the Administration raised the minimum age of tobacco sales to 21.

Youth vaping rates have declined for the past few years. In 2021, about 11% of high school students and 3% of middle school students said they currently vaped, according to federal data. And Juul was no longer the most popular e-cigarette among teenagers who vaped: Less than 6% of high school vapers said Juul was their preferred brand, compared to 26% who favored Puff Bar, a brand of disposable vaporizers.

Before Juul caught on among American kids, federal regulators were cautiously optimistic about the potential of e-cigarettes. In 2017, then-FDA Commissioner Gottlieb announced an ambitious plan to change the way Americans consume nicotine. In addition to limiting nicotine levels in cigarettes, he advocated for the promotion of less-dangerous options like nicotine gum, patches, and e-cigarettes.

We thought e-cigarettes could provide a less harmful alternative for adult smokers who dont want to quit nicotine, Gottlieb said in an interview for my book, Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul. Obviously, our worldview and framing pivotedwhen we started to get reports that youth use of e-cigarettes was rising. We started to implement a series of enforcement actions against Juul, in particular.

That new worldview was apparent after news of the FDAs expected decision broke on Wednesday. JUUL was [the] fulcrum of the youth vaping crisis; it was driven by their product and marketing practices, Gottlieb tweeted. FDA is right to be circumspect.

Despite Juuls controversial past, some believe that regulating the product out of existence is a loss for public health. E-cigarettes are also used by adults looking for a less-harmful alternative to cigarettes, and removing one of the countrys top brands from the market could make that more difficult.

Theres plenty of debate over how well e-cigarettes actually work for adults looking to stop smoking, and many questions remain about their long-term health effects. But studies suggest that e-cigarettes help at least some smokers quit and contain fewer known toxins than traditional tobacco cigarettes. Given that smoking-related diseases kill nearly half a million Americans each year, any improvement in that area could be lifesaving.

Under the Biden Administration, the FDA has taken an aggressive approach to tobacco regulation. It has moved forward with plans to ban menthol cigarettes and, more recently, announced its intent to cap the amount of nicotine in all cigarettes. Its decision to order Juul off the market is a continuation of that boldand polarizingpublic-health trend.
Jun. 23EAST HARTFORD  Police continue to investigate the fatal shooting of two teenagers at a residence last week, with both deaths classified as homicides.

Joshua Litwin

A representative from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Wednesday afternoon that Isaiah Jose Lopez, 16, of Hartford, was found to have gunshot wounds to the torso. Isaiah Miguel Nevarez, 15, of Meriden, had gunshot wounds to the torso and "upper left extremity."

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner listed both deaths as homicides.

Deputy Chief Joshua Litwin said Wednesday afternoon that the investigation into the incident remains active, and the case is still considered a targeted home invasion.

According to police, the two teenagers entered a Graham Road residence shortly after midnight on June 16 and physically attacked the resident, who was armed with a handgun and fired at both.

Paramedics rushed both Lopez and Nevarez to nearby hospitals, where they were pronounced dead.

The resident of the home suffered minor injuries during the attack.

Litwin said no charges have been filed in the matter, and the resident continues to cooperate with detectives.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Dan Ortiz at 860-291-7669 or the police department's anonymous tip line at 860-289-9134.

Joseph covers East Hartford and South Windsor. He joined the JI in July 2021. Joseph graduated from the University of Connecticut and he is an avid guitarist and coffee enthusiast.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Julie Hamp, a former Toyota Motor Corp executive who was arrested and then released in Japan in 2015 over the suspected illegal importation of the painkiller oxycodone, has returned to the company, it said on Thursday.

The American, who was the automaker's first female managing officer, has been appointed to a senior media adviser for Toyota Motor North America as of June 20, a Toyota spokesperson said.

She will assist media relations and ESG response in addition to supporting the automaker's president, Akio Toyoda.

Toyota does not see Hamp's appointment as a problem since she was not indicted, the spokesperson said.

Hamp, a former General Motors Co and PepsiCo Inc executive, assumed the title of managing officer and chief communications officer in April 2015.

Joining Toyota's North American unit in 2012, her promotion was part of an endeavour to bring in women and non-Japanese nationals into a male-dominated, mostly Japanese executive line-up.

Hamp was arrested in June 2015, shortly after relocated to Japan, when custom officials found tablets of oxycodone in a parcel shipped to her from the United States.

She said at that time she did not think she had imported an illegal substance, and Toyota said it believed that she had no intent of breaking the law.

Nevertheless, she stepped down from the position. She was released from custody and prosecutors did not indict her in the following month.

(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; editing by Jason Neely)
TOKYO (AP)  An American executive who resigned from Toyota after being arrested in Japan in 2015 on suspicion of drug law violations is back at the Japanese automaker, the company said Thursday.

Julie Hamp has been hired by Toyota Motor Corp.'s North American operations to support its chief executive, Akio Toyoda, and advise the company on global management, sustainability, governance and global media relations.

She was arrested on suspicion of importing the prescription painkiller oxycodone, which is tightly controlled in Japan, after arriving in the country to head Toyotas public relations in 2015.

Toyota said her return was not a problem because she was never prosecuted.

Toyota believes the incident in 2015 will not hinder her career going forward, it said in response to a query from The Associated Press.

In 2015, prosecutors said Hamp arranged with her father to have 57 oxycodone pills sent via air mail from the U.S. to a Tokyo hotel. They decided not to pursue charges.

Toyota officials repeatedly apologized for the arrest, but Toyoda commented how he wished he could have done more to help Hamp. He also publicly defended her as an important member of the Toyota team.

Hamp's was the first high-profile female promotion at Japans top automaker. She joined the company in 2012, overseeing marketing and communications for the Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands in the U.S. She earlier worked for PepsiCo Inc. and General Motors Co.

In her latest assignment with Toyota, Hamp will also work on the English version of Toyotas own media, Toyota Times, according to the maker of the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury models.

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
(Reuters) - Heads of government from Commonwealth nations will meet in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Friday and Saturday to discuss cooperation on topics ranging from green energy to rising food prices to the war in Ukraine, among others.

Here are some key facts about the Commonwealth and the Kigali summit, which was supposed to be held in 2020 but was twice delayed because of the COVID pandemic.

* What is the Commonwealth?

It is a voluntary association of 54 countries that evolved gradually from the British Empire and has existed in its modern form since 1949.

* Who are its members?

The Commonwealth includes 13 countries in the Caribbean and the Americas, 19 countries in Africa, three in Europe, eight in Asia and 11 in the Pacific, with a combined population of 2.5 billion.

India accounts for 1.4 billion of its citizens, while 32 members have populations of 1.5 million or less, the smallest being Nauru, which has 10,000 inhabitants.

* Are they all former British colonies?

Most of them are, but that is not a condition for membership. The last two countries to join, Rwanda and Mozambique, have no historical ties to the British Empire.

Gabon and Togo, both former French colonies, are expected to apply to join at the Kigali summit.

* What does the Commonwealth do?

It presents itself as a network for cooperation on common goals such as protecting the environment, boosting trade, supporting democracy, promoting education and gender equality, and giving small states a louder voice on the world stage.

Although it is not a free trade zone, it calculates that its members find it 21% cheaper to trade with other members than with non-Commonwealth countries which are a similar distance away, based on an analysis of World Bank data. Factors include a common language and similar legal and commercial frameworks.

* Who heads it?

Queen Elizabeth has been head of the Commonwealth, a largely symbolic role, since her reign began in 1952. The organisation says the British monarch is not automatically its head, but its members nevertheless agreed at a meeting in London in 2018 that Elizabeth's son Prince Charles would succeed her in the role.

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Charles is attending the Kigali summit, representing his mother.

* Who runs it?

It has a secretariat based in London and a secretary-general, currently Dominica's Patricia Scotland.

Commonwealth leaders will decide in Kigali whether to re-appoint her for a second term or replace her with Kamina Johnson Smith, the Jamaican foreign minister. Britain has criticised Scotland's leadership and is backing Johnson Smith, as are India and Belize.

* Who is attending the Kigali summit?

Most heads of government of Commonwealth countries are coming, including Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari, Britain's Boris Johnson and Canada's Justin Trudeau.

But South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa, India's Narendra Modi, Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif, Australia's Anthony Albanese and New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern are not expected, raising questions about the relevance of the organisation for those countries.

(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Alison Williams)
The FBI has seized the phone of Nevadas top Republican official as part of a probe into Donald Trumps fake electors scheme.

Agents served a warrant to obtain the phone of state GOP party chairman Michael McDonald, according to 8NewsNow.

A second search warrant was also issued for state party secretary James DaGraffenreid, but law enforcement could not locate him on Wednesday, the news channel reported.

In December 2020, the Nevada Republican Partys six electors signed paperwork in support of defeated Donald Trump and held a symbolic but legally non-binding ceremony that coincided with the official state-sanctioned event.

Our brave electors standing up for what is right and casting their electoral votes for @realDonaldTrump, the Nevada GOP tweeted alongside a picture of the group in Carson City on 14 December 14, 2020.

Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by more than two per cent in Nevada and received the states six electoral votes in the official ceremony, which was overseen by Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske.

Ms Cegavske has previously said that there is no credible evidence of voter fraud in the state.

The state Republican Party then submitted the fake election documents to the secretary of state, Congress and the National Archives.

Similar documents were also sent from six other battleground states, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Federal agents also served subpoenas to Georgia GOP chairman David Shafer, according to The Washington Post.

The New York Times also reported that Shawn Flynn, a Trump campaign aide in Michigan, was also subpoenaed as part of the probe.

The fake elector scheme is currently under scrutiny from the House select committee investigation into the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.

Mr McDonald is among a dozen officials subpoenaed by the committee earlier this year over the scheme.

We are seeking information about your role and participation in the purported slate of electors casting votes for Donald Trump and, to the extent relevant, your role in the events of January 6, 2021, Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee chairman, said in a letter seeking Mr McDonalds testimony.

The Independent has reached out to the Nevada Republican Party for comment.
Jun. 23SOUTH BEND  An Elkhart man has been sentenced in federal court to nearly five years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Shea Pletcher, 42, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Robert L. Miller Jr. on his plea of guilty, U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson announced Wednesday.

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Ten people were displaced after a multi-alarm fire tore through a waterfront building in Gloucester on Thursday morning.

Crews responding to a report of a fire at Beacon Marine Basin at 211 East Main Street around 7 a.m. found heavy smoke pouring out of the building.

The smoke was first observed in the basement and quickly extended to the roof, according to the Gloucester Fire Department.

Video from the scene showed firefighters using a ladder truck to combat the flames.

Everyone was able to escape the building and there were no reported injuries.

The Red Cross assisting those who were displaced by the fire.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal is assisting Gloucester fire officials with an investigation.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Associated Press

Before the pandemic, there was no room in the budget for Kate Murphys children to buy lunch at school. The free meals gave the Essex Junction, Vermont, family one less thing to worry about. We make just too much money (literally by just a few dollars) to qualify for free or reduced lunches and other food-related benefits, but not enough to truly ever feel financially comfortable, Murphy, a mother of four and administrator at a trust company, said by email.
A Black former Tesla worker who said he was harassed and faced with daily racist epithets, including the N-word, while working at the company's Fremont, California, plant has rejected a substantially reduced award of $15 million in his lawsuit.

Owen Diaz, who worked at the Tesla plant in 2015 and 2016 as a contracted elevator operator before quitting, was originally awarded $6.9 million in damages for emotional distress and $130 million in punitive damages in the case.

A judge slashed that by nearly 90% to $15 million, which Diaz turned down, according to a court filing. Diaz's rejection of the award could mean a new trial in the case.

Diaz had alleged that employees drew swastikas and left racist graffiti and drawings around the plant and that supervisors failed to stop the abuse.

A representative for Tesla could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday night.
The Telegraph

When former BBC undercover journalist Lisa Brinkworth met with her lawyers in Paris last September, they revealed some quite startling news. The 55-year-old  who has spent the past two decades trying to expose allegations of rape and sexual abuse in the fashion industry  was informed that when Jill Dando was murdered in 1999, it may have been she who was the intended target.
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled Wednesday that Western Circuit Superior Court Judge Eric Norris does not have to make a public apology in court after he chastised an Athens bondsman for critical comments the bondsman posted on social media.

Instead, the high court ruled that a public apology or a censure was not an appropriate sanction, but that Norris should receive a public reprimand in court by a judge yet to be assigned the task.

Earlier this year, the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission ordered Norris to apologize personally to the bondsman in open court and that the apology be presented to the Athens Banner-Herald for possible publication.

The incident involving bondsman Nathan Owens occurred in July 2019. Norris had released a rape suspect on a personal recognizance bond and Owens sharply criticized that decision on his personal Facebook page and a larger Facebook page called Overheard at UGA.

Read More: Judge to rule on Athens Banner-Herald's effort to access UGA NIL records

More Courts News: Georgia Supreme Court overturns convictions against father in son's 2014 hot-car death

Related: Mistrial ordered for the second time in trial of Athens man charged with rape

Norris arranged a meeting with Owens on July 10 with two other bondsmen present. Norris, who was "visibly upset," raised his voice as he gave his opinion about the bondsmans conduct, according to the court document.

The bondsman testified in a hearing that he felt his job was threatened by the judge's actions, the court document said.

Owens later filed a complaint against Norris with the Judicial Qualifications Commission, which investigates allegations of judicial misconduct.

The suspect in the rape case was initially tried in a jury trial presided over by Norris. That trial ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked at 11-1 with the majority voting to acquit. Due to the controversy that emerged, the case was transferred to Judge Lawton Stephens.

The defendant was later tried before Stephens and he was acquitted of the rape charge.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: GA Supreme Court orders reprimand for Athens judge, but no apology
Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. (John Minchillo / Associated Press)

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell should spend at least 30 years in prison for her role in the sexual abuse of teenage girls over a 10-year period by her onetime boyfriend, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, U.S. prosecutors said Wednesday in written arguments.

Prosecutors said she should serve between 30 and 55 years in prison, reflecting federal sentencing guidelines. They made their recommendations to the judge who will preside over a sentencing hearing Tuesday in Manhattan federal court.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted in December of sex trafficking and other crimes after a monthlong trial that featured testimony from four women who said they were abused in their teens.

Defense lawyers said in a sentencing submission last week that Maxwell should spend no more than five years in prison and shouldn't pay for Epstein's crimes, since he was the mastermind and principal abuser and orchestrated the crimes for his personal gratification." Epstein took his own life in 2019 in jail as he awaited a Manhattan federal sex trafficking trial.

But prosecutors said Maxwell played an instrumental role in the horrific sexual abuse of multiple young teenage girls" between 1994 and 2004 at some of Epstein's palatial residences. They called her crimes monstrous."

As part of a disturbing agreement with Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell identified, groomed, and abused multiple victims, while she enjoyed a life of extraordinary luxury and privilege. In her wake, Maxwell left her victims permanently scarred with emotional and psychological injuries, prosecutors wrote.

That damage can never be undone, but it can be accounted for in crafting a just sentence for Maxwells crimes," they added.

Prosecutors also urged the judge to reject Maxwell's pleas for leniency on the grounds that she has suffered in extraordinary ways in jail while awaiting trial and afterward. Defense lawyers said she has faced death threats and harsh conditions that have caused her to lose hair and weight.

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Maxwell's appearance at trial proved those claims were wrong, prosecutors said, adding: The defendant is perfectly healthy, with a full head of hair."

They said Maxwell has enjoyed remarkable privileges as a high-profile inmate that vastly exceed the benefits accorded to the average inmate. It is unsurprising that a woman who had led a life of incredible luxury should complain about her life as a prisoner, but that fact does not come close to meriting leniency at sentencing, much less the extraordinary degree of leniency the defendant seeks."

Prosecutors also attacked claims by Maxwell's lawyers that she suffered a credible death threat" in jail, saying that an internal probe of the purported threat revealed that an inmate remarked to someone in passing something to the effect of: I'd kill her if someone paid me a million dollars." As a result, they said, someone who overheard the remark reported it and the inmate was moved from the housing unit.

They also cited what they described as Maxwell's complete failure to address her offense conduct and her utter lack of remorse. Instead of showing even a hint of acceptance of responsibility, the defendant makes a desperate attempt to cast blame wherever else she can."

Maxwell's efforts to cast aspersions on the motives of the government for prosecuting her and her claim that she is being held responsible for Epsteins crimes are absurd and offensive," prosecutors said.

Maxwell was an adult who made her own choices. She made the choice to sexually exploit numerous underage girls. She made the choice to conspire with Epstein for years, working as partners in crime and causing devastating harm to vulnerable victims," they said.

Prosecutors said nearly all of the $22.5 million in assets that Maxwell claimed in a bail proposal that was never granted was given to her by Epstein.

The defendants access to wealth enabled her to present herself as a supposedly respectable member of society, who rubbed shoulders with royalty, presidents, and celebrities. That same wealth dazzled the girls from struggling families who became the defendant and Epsteins victims," prosecutors said.

The sentencing submission also included quotes from letters written to the judge by women who testified during the trial, including Kate, an ex-model from Great Britain who said the consequences of what Ghislaine Maxwell did have been far reaching for me.

I have struggled with, and eventually triumphed over, substance use disorder. I have suffered panic attacks and night terrors, with which I still struggle. I have suffered low self esteem, loss of career opportunities. I have battled greatly with feeling unable to trust my own instincts, in choosing romantic relationships, she wrote.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Photograph: Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Ghislaine Maxwell should get at least 30 years imprisonment for sex trafficking when she is sentenced next week for her role in facilitating the abuse of teenage girls by Jeffrey Epstein, New York federal prosecutors have said in court filings.

Ghislaine Maxwell sexually exploited young girls for years. It is difficult to overstate the magnitude of her crimes and the harm she caused. Her crimes demand justice, they said in a court filing on Wednesday. The government urges the court to impose a sentence within the applicable guidelines range of 360 to 660 months imprisonment.

The prosecutions filing comes one week after Maxwells lawyers argued that she should receive well below the 20-year sentence recommended by sentencing officials. Although Maxwells defense attorneys and prosecutors each make their arguments for an appropriate sentence, the decision ultimately rests with Alison Nathan, the judge.

Maxwells conduct was shockingly predatory, prosecutors said in arguing for a lengthy sentence. She was a calculating, sophisticated, and dangerous criminal who preyed on vulnerable young girls and groomed them for sexual abuse.

Not only did her conduct exhibit a callous disregard for other human beings, but her practice of targeting vulnerable victims reflects her view that struggling young girls could be treated like disposable objects.

Maxwell was convicted on 29 December for her role in the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epsteins sexual abuse of girls, some as young as 14, who she brought into his orbit. She will be sentenced on 28 June. She maintains her innocence.

Epstein was apprehended by federal authorities in July 2019, on sex-trafficking counts. He killed himself in a New York City federal jail while his case was pending.

In their bid for leniency, Maxwells lawyers contended that her jail conditions were harrowing, alleging that an inmate in Ms Maxwells unit threatened to kill her, claiming that an additional 20 years incarceration would be worth the money shed receive for murdering Ms Maxwell.

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They also argued that an emotionally abusive childhood  at the hands of an emotionally explosive father, the publishing baron Robert Maxwell  primed her for Epsteins influence. Robert Maxwell was killed in a boating accident shortly after his daughter moved to New York in 1991 to launch a magazine for his publishing empire.

Her relationship with Epstein began at a moment of extreme vulnerability [in] Ghislaines life after the tragic death of our father. He, our father, was a powerful and dominant figure, several of her siblings claimed in sentencing filings.

And as elder siblings, we witnessed our father taking Ghislaine under his wing, whereby she became over-dependent on his approval and vulnerable to his frequent, rapid mood swings, huge rages and rejections, they said. This led her to becoming very vulnerable to abusive and powerful men who would be able to take advantage of her innate good nature.

It is striking that Ghislaine did not show any perverse behavior before she met Epstein. Nor did she show any after leaving him, which she eventually managed to do, they claimed. The effect of our fathers psychologically abusive treatment of her, foreshadowed Epsteins own ability to exploit, manipulate and control her.

She had a difficult, traumatic childhood with an overbearing, narcissistic and demanding father. It made her vulnerable to Epstein, whom she met right after her fathers death, Maxwells lawyers said. It is the biggest mistake she made in her life and one that she has not and never will repeat.

Prosecutors criticised this argument, saying that Maxwells upbringing did not support a lesser sentence.

Although many defendants come before sentencing courts with compelling mitigating factors from difficult upbringings, Maxwell is not among them. She has enjoyed a remarkable life of privilege, having lived in luxury and moved in social circles among the famous and powerful, they wrote.

And while the defendant may have had a marginally less positive experience than other exceptionally wealthy children, it is difficult to see how stern conversation at the family dinner table is an excuse for participating in a child exploitation scheme.

Elsewhere in the document, prosecutors also insisted that Maxwell wasnt passive in her role in facilitating Epsteins abusive behavior, saying, the defendant acted as an organizer and leader of a massive operation that spanned many years.

In operating as the lady of the house and as Epsteins right hand, the defendant was responsible for overseeing and organizing extensive logistics involved in facilitating the sexual abuse of multiple minors and ensuring a culture of silence that prevented that scheme from being uncovered, they wrote. Epstein and the defendant were two knowing participants who took the lead in identifying, enticing, and grooming minor girls to be abused.
Ross Klosterman is CEO and co-founder of Poppins Health of Columbus, a new health plan for small businesses.

When asked the question Why do health insurance companies exist? A reasonable person would likely respond that the role of health insurance companies is to use their influence to negotiate and keep healthcare costs low for members.

This same person might then be infuriated to find out that as a single person with effectively no negotiating power, oftentimes, they could potentially end up paying less out of pocket for medical services than what insurance companies negotiate on their behalf.

Which leads us to the following questionable, yet common scenario: A family of four pays an average of $22,000 a year for insurance, in addition to an approximate deductible of $5,000 before insurance even kicks in. How has this gotten to be the norm in the U.S.?

More: Ohio hospitals prices differ widely for same procedures

The answer could lie in how broken healthcare prices are. The vast majority of knee and hip replacements are done with in-network providers (meaning insurance has negotiated with them). As a result, the total price  and ultimately what members pay out of pocket  can vary drastically, even within the same facility.

Ross Klosterman is CEO and co-founder of Poppins Health of Columbus, a new health plan for small businesses.

More: How to submit guest opinion columns to the Columbus Dispatch

According to recent data, the cost for the same procedure at a San Francisco hospital has a staggering range of $22,865 to $101,571. Since every hospital and insurance company has a different process in place to determine procedure costs, one patient might end up paying thousands of dollars more than someone else at the same location.

Under the traditional health care model, costs are confusingly divided between co-payments, co-insurance, and deductibles. The end result is that health plan members have no idea if they are overpaying for a procedure.

Enter modern health plans. Lesser known to business owners are newer, more innovative health plan options that allow employees to shop for a surgery.

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More: Bill to ban limits on prescription drug co-pay help remains stalled in Ohio House

Lets use a knee replacement as an example: Employees who have a modern health plan are able to know their exact out-of-pocket cost upfront, and are given options ahead of time. This dynamic co-pay is determined by three factors:

Quality of doctor: Modern health plans look at objective data such as patient outcomes, infection rates and readmissions to determine a quality score.

Cost of procedure: This number is determined by looking at what the provider charges relative to other providers in the area.

Billing practices at the facility: This score is related to the financial experience a member has at a given facility based on incidences of surprise bills.

After factoring in the above, the resulting member co-pay options are determined  if the employee chooses the option of a high-quality doctor with low cost and good billing practices, shell pay $0 for her knee replacement. Perhaps she wants to see the doctor who is still high-quality but is a bit more expensive  in this instance, the option might cost $1,500.

Under the traditional health care model, costs are divided between co-payments, co-insurance, and deductibles, which can be confusing.

More: New tool searches health prices by doctor, insurance

In a traditional health insurance plan, if there was a $4,000 deductible with the traditional plan, in every scenario, the patient will pay $4,000  no matter the quality of the doctor or the underlying price (and in just one metro Ohio area, knee replacement prices range from $18,000 to $45,000).

To better understand what a procedure will cost beforehand, businesses should take advantage of modern health plans like the above that do the price and provider comparisons for their employees to potentially save thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.

Offering a good health plan is a great tool for employee retention, so careful consideration is critical when it comes to selecting one that is the best match for a company.

Ross Klosterman is CEO and co-founder of Poppins Health of Columbus, a new health plan for small businesses.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Opinion: Modern health insurance plan can save customers money
House Republicans are sticking by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthys (R-Calif.) decision to boycott the Jan. 6 select committee, softening the blow from former President Trump publicly bashing McCarthys strategy as splashy hearings paint him in a negative light.

One of McCarthys original picks for the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), expressed a desire to counter the Democrats on the panel but took a whats-done-is-done attitude.

It would have been nice to be on the committee, Nehls said. But I respect the leader. Its not my decision, it was his. He made the decision and I live with it.

Rep. Kelly Armstrong (N.D.), another one of McCarthys picks, said that the GOP leader 100 percent made the right choice to boycott the committee.

Sometimes in the minority, you have two bad choices. Kevin made the only choice he can make, and I stand by him, Armstrong said.

By not appointing members to the committee, Republicans lost the ability to be present during closed-door depositions, leaving Trump and his team with little insight as to what information the committee might release next. They also have no opportunity to shape the hearings or counter the Democrats questioning

I think it would have been good if we had representation, Trump told Punchbowl News in an interview this week. We shouldve picked other people after Pelosi blocked him from the committee, he added.

In another interview with conservative talk show host Wayne Allyn Root over the weekend, Trump said it was a foolish decision to not have members on the panel defending him.

Nearly a year ago, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) made the unprecedented move of vetoing two of McCarthys five picks to sit on the select committee, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.). In response, McCarthy pulled his other three picks: Reps. Rodney Davis (Ill.), Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) and Nehls.

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Trump isnt the only one who has criticized McCarthy for pulling his picks. Former Trump White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who was arrested this month for contempt of Congress in defying a subpoena from the committee, in December called McCarthys decision his original sin.

What an idiot, Navarro told Newsmax. I mean, he plays checkers in a chess world at a critical time. He refused to put Republicans on that committee other than Liz Cheney, whos not a Republican, so we lost our opportunity to publicly press that advantage.

McCarthy is standing by his decision.

I do not regret not appointing anybody at all, McCarthy said Thursday. How can you have an honest investigation if the Speaker can appoint and pick and choose who can be on it?

McCarthy, whose eye is on taking the Speakers gavel next year in a GOP majority, must tread carefully as Trump fumes about the hearing. Trump separately noted in the Wayne Allyn Root interview that he has not yet endorsed McCarthy to be Speaker. McCarthy said that he had talked to Trump the day after the interview.

Jordan, who has backed McCarthy to be Speaker next year and will likely be chair of the House Judiciary Committee in a GOP Majority, said that he thought Pelosi would have kept vetoing McCarthys picks until she got the partisan committee that she wanted.

She was going to get a committee that can be totally partisan. I think that was always the goal, Jordan said.

But Jordan declined to say that the criticism from Trump was fair or unfair.

I think McCarthy has done as good a job as you can possibly do, said Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.). When Nancy Pelosi jerked a couple of people off the committee, then, you know, that wasnt abiding by the rules. So he declared it an illegitimate committee.

Publicly, top Republicans dismiss the committee as partisan because the only two Republicans on the panel, Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), were appointed by Pelosi and have broken with the majority of the House GOP conference on Trump. They have also argued publicly and in court that the panel is illegitimate due to it not having any GOP-appointed members. Federal courts have repeatedly upheld the committees authority.

But privately, some GOP members say that the Jan. 6 committee hearings have been effective, with each hearing being crafted to tell a story about a particular aspect of Trumps denial of election results and the lead-up to the riot.

Aspects that make the hearings engaging, though  such as one member of the committee leading the hearing like a presentation and asking questions of witnesses, interjected with video clips  are largely due to no Republican-appointed members sitting on the committee. Typical congressional hearings have a witness selected by the minority and give each member five minutes to ask questions.

Its not him who made this decision, Armstrong said. Every time the Speaker says unprecedented, she changes the rules. When you take off the guy whos going to be the next chair of Judiciary, and you take off the guy who leads the largest conference in the Republican Party, its not about the two members. Its about silencing entire constituencies.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Republican Rep. Mayra Flores of Texas is sworn in by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on June 21, 2022. AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe

Newly-elected GOP Rep. Mayra Flores once called for Trump to jail Hillary Clinton.

She also said the Jan. 6 attack "surely was caused by infiltrators," suggesting antifa was behind it.

Flores has also shared posts appearing to promote the QAnon conspiracy theory.

Republican Rep. Mayra Flores of Texas, who was sworn in as a member of Congress on Tuesday, once called for the jailing of Hillary Clinton and spread baseless claims about both the 2020 presidential election and the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.

In a series of tweets first revealed by CNN's KFILE on Thursday, Flores used her personal Twitter account @LARepublicana86 to promote conspiracy theories and defend former President Donald Trump on the day of the Capitol attack.

"If we allow the Democrats to steal THIS election, they will steal EVERY election moving forward!" she tweeted ahead of the riot, CNN reported.

In another tweet, Flores chided Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York for calling for Trump's impeachment following the attack.

"The President has fought to the bitter end and wanted peaceful protests," she wrote. "He has now publicly condoned [sic] these violent acts that surely was caused by infiltrators."

Flores replies to a tweet from AOC, suggesting January 6 was "caused by infiltrators." Screenshot / Internet Archive Wayback Machine

Flores did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Thursday.

"Problem is I don't see no [sic] getting arrested!" Flores wrote to another Twitter user under a since-deleted tweet from Trump. "President Trump should've locked Hillary Clinton in jail!"

Many of Flores' tweets echoed common conspiracy theories that far-right influencers and right wing media pushed following the 2020 presidential election and Capitol riot. False claims that anti-fascists were behind or heavily involved in the attack on January 6 rapidly spread in conservative circles, with figures such as Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Fox News host Laura Ingraham promoting the debunked allegations.

Flores calls for the jailing of Hillary Clinton in response to a tweet from Trump. Screenshot / Internet Archive Wayback Machine

In another tweet on January 6, 2021, Flores shared the debunked claim that Jacob Chansley, who is known as the QAnon Shaman, had attended a Black Lives Matter rally in Arizona, according to CNN. Last November, Chansley was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his participation in the riot.

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Flores, who previously worked as Hispanic Outreach chair for the Hidalgo County GOP, tweeted on January 4, 2021, that "Congressional Republicans MUST stand with" Trump on January 6, when members of Congress met to certify the results of the election.

The day after the riot, she retweeted a post that claimed that police in DC had allowed crowds to enter the Capitol, CNN reported.

"This was a set up! Antifa is definitely among this crowd!!!," the tweet, sent from the conservative activist David J. Harris, read.

In November 2020, Flores tweeted support for Sidney Powell, Trump's former attorney who filed lawsuits spreading baseless claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election, calling her an "American hero," CNN reported. Powell has since continued to push unfounded allegations of election fraud and spoke at a QAnon conference in May of last year, telling a crowd that Trump "can simply be reinstated" as president.

Flores also previously deleted posts on her social media accounts in which she used hashtags to reference QAnon, the the far-right conspiracy movement centered around the baseless belief that Trump is fighting a "deep state" cabal of human traffickers and Satan-worshiping pedophile elites who secretly run the world, the media watchdog Media Matters for America previously reported.

Those social-media posts featured hashtags related to QAnon, including #q, #qanon, and #wwg1wga, the shorthand for the movement's slogan "Where we go one, we go all." In an interview with the San Antonio Express-News, Flores said she had never supported the conspiracy theory.

In the same interview, Flores broadly claimed there was voter fraud in Texas.

Flores immigrated to the US from Tamaulipas, Mexico when she was six years old, making her the first member of Congress to be born in Mexico. She last week won a special election to serve out the rest of Rep. Filemon Vela's term, which ends in January. Vela resigned from Congress earlier this year to join a law and lobbying firm in Washington.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Rep. Mike Kelly walks up the House steps to the Capitol for the final votes before the two-week recess on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Johnson says the alternate electors he tried to give to Pence on January 6 came from Rep. Mike Kelly's office.

Johnson has repeatedly denied direct involvement with the alternate selector scheme.

"We found out now this came from Pennsylvania Congressman Mike Kelly's office," Johnson said on a radio show.

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said on Thursday that Republican Rep. Mike Kelly's office gave him an "alternate" slate of electors from Michigan and Wisconsin that his chief of staff tried to deliver to Vice President Mike Pence's office on January 6, 2021.

In the January 6 committee's fourth hearing on Tuesday, committee members laid out President Donald Trump and his allies' plan to deliver an alternate slate of electors to Pence ahead of the counting and certification of the presidential election during a joint session of Congress.

At one point, the committee displayed a series of texts between Johnson's chief of staff and a legislative aide to Pence in which Johnson's staffer asked the aide where to send the slate of electors to Pence, saying "Johnson needs to hand something to VPOTUS."

Pence's aide denied him, responding "do not give that to him."

Text messages displayed by the January 6 committee on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. January 6 Committee

Johnson has repeatedly denied being directly involved with the alternate electors scheme  his deputy chief of staff said it was simply a "staff to staff exchange."

Speaking on The Vicki McKenna show on Thursday, Johnson railed against the House committee and its decision to show the text messages between his chief of staff and one of Pence's legislative aides.

While defending himself during the radio hit, Johnson implicated Kelly's office as the origin of the push in his own office to give the slate to Pence.

"We found out now this came from Pennsylvania Congressman Mike Kelly's office," Johnson said on the radio show.

Johnson also pointed to a recent report from Just The News reporter John Solomon, which said that a Trump campaign official requested Kelly's help getting the alternate slate of electors to the vice president.

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The report alleges that Kelly then reached out to Wisconsin lawyer James Troupis, who knows Johnson, in an effort to get the Wisconsin senator's assistance in the alternate electors plot.

When asked for comment, Johnson's office pointed to a tweet of his from Thursday afternoon directing readers to read the Just The News report.

"The 1/6 committee's partisan witch-hunt is revealed," Johnson said in a tweet. "They smeared me with partial and incomplete information. This sets the record straight. As I have been saying, it is a NON-story driven by corporate media that is complicit in spreading the Dems' lies."

Kelly's press secretary, Matt Knoedler, flatly denied Johnson's claims in a statement to Insider on Thursday evening.

"Senator Johnson's statements about Representative Kelly are patently false," Knoedler said. "Mr. Kelly has not spoken to Sen. Johnson for the better part of a decade, and he has no knowledge of the claims Mr. Johnson is making related to the 2020 election."

Read the original article on Business Insider
By Natalie Grover and Jennifer Rigby

LONDON (Reuters) -GSK and Novartis reinforced commitments on Thursday to tackle neglected tropical diseases, as world leaders and health experts gather in Rwanda to discuss ways to better combat illnesses affecting more than a billion people, mostly in impoverished communities.

The intention is to spur a renewed effort to address some 20 diseases that have been eradicated in the developed world - ranging from leprosy to rabies - after the work in these areas was disrupted by the economic toll of the pandemic.

GSK pledged to spend 1 billion pounds ($1.23 billion) over the next decade on developing medicines and vaccines to tackle neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), as well as infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV, which disproportionately affect lower-income countries.

The London-based company, which pioneered the first malaria vaccine, has carved out, and will invest in, a specific global health unit that will not generate a profit for GSK.

It has more than 30 drugs and vaccines in its pipeline for the effort, including products designed to deal with antimicrobial resistance.

Swiss drugmaker Novartis has vowed to spend $250 million over the next five years to develop interventions to tackle NTDs and malaria.

Of that, $100 million has been earmarked for Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, dengue and cryptosporidiosis. The rest has been designated for malaria, which killed more than half a million people in 2020, mostly children younger than five in Africa's poorest areas.

Separately, U.S. drugmaker Pfizer has also extended its commitment to donate Zithromax, an antibiotic for trachoma, the worlds leading cause of preventable blindness, to countries fighting the disease through 2030.

"Large medicine donations without sustainable supply nor innovation investments are ill-suited to the challenge of NTD control," said Dr. Bernard Pecoul, executive director of Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit research and development organization.

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"With climate change set to increase the burden of NTDs ... and to hit the most vulnerable hardest," he added, "now is the time to make a real commitment to research and development for NTDs."

($1=0.8153 pound)

(Reporting by Natalie Grover and Jennifer Rigby in London; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
A British Airways plane at Heathrow airport. Steve Parsons/PA Images via Getty Images

London Heathrow has increased its passenger forecast for the year, according to an investor report.

The London airport has already handled 20.1 million passengers this year, per the report.

The increase comes amid ongoing travel disruption that airlines have no end date for.

London Heathrow expects to handle 54.4 million passengers this year despite the travel chaos affecting air travel this summer, according to an investor report released on Thursday.

In April the airport said it forecast 52.8 million passengers but had raised the outlook due to a "steady traffic increase in 2022".

Britain's biggest airport has already handled 20.1 million passengers this year even before the summer peak summer, overtaking the total for all of 2021.

Last week it also reopened Terminal 4, which had remained closed since the pandemic struck.

The increase in passengers comes despite airlines being unable to say when a wave of flight cancelations will end, Sky News reported.

All carriers contacted by the broadcaster, including EasyJet and British Airways, were unable to provide a timeline for an end to last-minute flight cancelations that have caused chaotic scenes in airports across the UK.

Airports told Sky News the matter was an issue for airlines.

Heathrow said it was "working closely" with airlines and ground handlers to match supply with demand amid ongoing travel disruption, but warned: "Rebuilding resource and capacity across all European airports including airlines and ground handlers is expected to take at least 12 months."

It said it was on track to recruit up to 1,000 new security officers this year and was working with airlines to increase automation at check-in.

The number of last-minute flight cancelations has prompted the UK government and aviation regulator to order airlines to ensure their summer schedules are deliverable.

Staff shortages and the economic impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine are among some of the reasons blamed for the surge in cancelations.

Read the original article on Business Insider
This day is perceived by many Ukrainians as the beginning of the war. And not only because its scale was much larger than in 2014, but because it immediately affected a much larger number of people. Russias actions this February morning fit much better into the classic notions of war than the events of February 2014.

Read also: Ukrainian officials urge Kherson residents to leave via Crimea

Although, in fact, it was just a new stage of our century-old war with Russia.

It is difficult to even determine the exact date when it began.

Was it on February 23 when mass pro-Russian actions began in Sevastopol?

Or on the 27th when those green men  Russian special forces  appeared on its streets? Or still earlier  on 20 February? This date itself was formally recognized as the beginning of this aggression by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, as it was the date recorded on the medal For the Return of Crimea from the Ministry of Defence of Russia. Some say the mass killings of activists on the Maidan was the beginning, as it probably involved the Russian military.

This uncertainty about the date of the beginning of this aggression in 2014 is not accidental. The enemy thought of this.

Read also: A history of adversaries, not brothers. Why did this war happen?

This war is a hybrid one, presenting it as a new way of implementing aggressive policies.

But almost all of its instruments have been tested by Russian leaders since the 17th and 18th centuries.

An attempt to consolidate its influence in Ukraine was done through its loyal Ukrainian political circles, internal political division of Ukrainian society through propaganda, an eventual open military intervention, and attempts to present aggression as an internal civil conflict.

All of this has already happened  as they supported some foreign Hetman against the one who dared to rise against Moscow.

The most vivid hybrid scenario was manifested in the activities of the Bolsheviks against the Ukrainian Peoples Republic during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1921. Ukraines move toward independence was considered dangerous by both the white and red Russians. That is why they made every effort to stop the Ukrainians.

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And if the first tried to use political tools, the Bolsheviks immediately took up arms.

Read also: Ukrainian partisans continuing to harass Russian invasion troops in occupied territories

On November 20 1917, the Central Rada approved the Third Universal, which announced the creation of the Ukrainian Peoples Republic. In response to this step, the Bolsheviks gathered troops around Kharkiv under the command of Antonov-Ovisienko. Under the guise of the then green men, a meeting was held at which they announced the creation of another UPR  but the Soviet one. Then the Bolshevik war against Ukraine began, but on behalf of this fictitious peoples republic. Sounds familiar, doesnt it?

In the Odesa, Donetsk and Kryvyi Rih territories, occupied by Russian troops, they announced the creation of local Soviet republics, which asked for military assistance.

One hundred years later, the Kremlin is once again a party to the conflict with Ukraine, representing the puppet states of the DNR and LNR, and is trying to present this war against our state as a civil war.

The advance of the Bolshevik troops through Ukrainian territories was accompanied by the then version of the Russian Spring  agents leading revolts under the guise of uprisings of the working masses. The Ukrainians were able to stop the offensive in early 1918 with the help of German allies. But by the end of the year, the Bolsheviks renewed it once again on behalf of the fictitious Soviet Ukraine.

Soviet Russias Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Chicherin, as brazenly as his successor Lavrov a hundred years later, claimed: Military action on Ukrainian territory is currently taking place between the Directorys troops and the troops of the Ukrainian Soviet Government, which is completely independent.

The Bolshevik leader Lenin understood: the complete capture of Ukraine was not realistic, therefore they had to mask their aggression. He said: Without this, our troops would be put in an impossible position in the occupied territories, and the population would not meet them as liberators.

Eventually, the Bolsheviks succeeded in capturing Ukraine and establishing a communist totalitarian regime for the next 70 years.

After the Second World War, similarly, through the creation of fictitious pro-Moscow governments as alternatives to legitimate ones, the Kremlin established power in Central and Eastern Europe.

Decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian leadership resumed hybrid methods of warfare in order to return Ukraine to the bosom of the empire.

One of the developers of the latest concept of hybrid warfare, General Valery Gerasimov, presented them as a response to such insidious methods of the West as the color revolutions, and in particular the Arab Spring.

The emphasis has shifted to the use of political, economic, informational, humanitarian and other non-military measures, along with the use of the protest potential of the local population. All this must be accompanied by covert military operations  for example, methods of information warfare and the use of special forces.

This was published by the Russian general in February 2013, a year before these methods were implemented in Ukraine. Ukraines response to this hybrid war that began in 2014 was correct. We began to deploy the Armed Forces, suppressed Russian agency and intensified information work aimed at both Ukrainians and the world.

As a result, Russia has lost the potential to launch a hybrid war.

The strengthened national identity of the people of Ukraine offset the Kremlins attempts to ignite a new Russian spring. Influential world politicians did not accept the thesis of a civil war in Ukraine.

Read also: Top five Russian propaganda WWII myths debunked

So in 2022, Russia launched an open large-scale invasion. Which again yielded a completely unexpected result for Putin  a mass repulse of Ukrainians against him and support for Ukraine by the entire civilized world.

Therefore, Putin will not be able to repeat Lenins success in his hybrid aggression against Ukraine.
Indian tax authorities will meet for two days starting June 28 to discuss a goods and services tax (GST) on cryptocurrency transactions, according to a Bloomberg report that cited unidentified sources.

See related article: Indias tax bogeyman is scaring off young crypto investors

Fast facts

A panel comprising federal and state finance ministers will meet in the northern Indian state of Chandigarh.

Panel members may not finalize a rate at the meeting, but they will discuss placing crypto transactions at the highest GST rate of 28%, on par with taxes on lotteries, casinos and other forms of betting, according to the report.

Crypto transactions on Indian exchanges are currently subject to an 18% GST.

The authorities are looking to broaden the tax net and track transactions in virtual digital assets in a more effective manner, the report said.

A 30% tax on profits from crypto asset trading kicked in on April 1, and a 1% tax for transactions exceeding 10,000 Indian rupees (US$128) will come into effect on July 1.

See related article: India to make life hell for crypto investors: MP
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  A court in Iran on Thursday ordered the United States government to pay over $4 billion to the families of Iranian nuclear scientists who have been killed in targeted attacks in recent years, state-run media reported.

The largely symbolic ruling underscores the escalating tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, with negotiations to restore the tattered atomic accord at a standstill.

Although Tehran has blamed Israel in the past for slayings targeting Iranian nuclear scientists since a decade ago, Iran did not directly accuse its arch-foe Israel in its announcement. Iran has not recognized Israel since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the pro-West monarchy and brought Islamists to power.

The court mentioned Israel only in saying the U.S. supported the Zionist regime in its organized crime against the victims.

It's unclear how the court decision, like a raft of previous Iranian cases against the U.S. as the two sides have engaged in a spiraling escalation of threats, would gain traction; there are no American assets to confiscate in the Islamic Republic.

Still, the court branch, which is dedicated to the review of Iranian complaints against the U.S., summoned 37 former American officials, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, as well as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Iran envoy Brian Hook and former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed tough economic sanctions on Iran that severed most of its oil revenues and international financial transactions.

President Joe Biden wanted to return to the accord, but talks have stalled in recent weeks over Americas designation of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, Iran is enriching uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels under decreasing international oversight. Earlier this month, Iran removed 27 surveillance cameras of the U.N.s International Atomic Energy Agency in what its director warned could deal a fatal blow to the nuclear accord.

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The families of three nuclear scientists who had been killed in targeted slayings, along with one nuclear scientist wounded in an attack, filed the lawsuit in Tehran, the country's state-run IRNA news agency reported, without identifying the plaintiffs. The court ordered that the U.S. pay $4.3 billion in total compensation, including fines.

Iran and Israel have been locked in a shadow war across the Middle East and its waters. That conflict has escalated with the recent suspected targeted killings of Iranian nuclear scientists and military officials. In late 2020, Iran blamed Israel for killing its top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, with a remote-controlled machine gun while he was traveling in a car outside Tehran.

Iran also has placed sanctions on prominent American political and military officials for alleged terrorism and human rights violations, in retaliation for the U.S. assassination of Irans top commander, Qassem Soleimani, two years ago.

Meanwhile Thursday, the Guard replaced the head of its intelligence arm. Cleric Hossein Taeb will be replaced by Gen. Mohammad Kazemi, the former head of the Guard's security department.

The move follows the deaths of several Guard officers in recent weeks. Taeb was known for his heavy-handed policies toward pro-reform figures since Iran's 2009 post-election turmoil.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP)  Israel on Thursday dispatched two water-dropping aircraft to help battle a large wildfire that has scorched at least 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares) of forest in the foothills of the Pentadaktylos mountain range in the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus.

The two Israeli aircraft joined another two planes and a helicopter that the Cyprus government sent to fight the blaze following a request from breakaway Turkish Cypriot authorities made through the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, or UNFICYP, on the island nation.

A total of 11 aircraft including from Turkey, the U.N. and two British military bases on the island were also helping in firefighting efforts.

Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup aimed at union with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence and Turkish Cypriots reject the internationally recognized Cypriot governments authority over the islands northern third.

Cyprus government deputy spokeswoman Niovi Parissinou told state-run Cyprus News Agency that government authorities are always ready and willing to answer the call for assistance. Despite the islands complex politics, this kind of fire diplomacy illustrates a willingness for the rival sides to work together on dealing with natural disasters.

Cyprus Forestry Department Chief Charalambos Alexandrou told CNA that the two Israeli aircraft would first touch down at Larnaca airport in the south before starting airdrops over the fire-affected areas in the north.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar flew over the affected area to inspect the breadth of damage. Hopes that the fire would be brought under control Thursday were dashed as winds fanned the flames. Tatar told Turkish Cypriot BRT TV after a second, on-the-spot inspection of the fire front late Thursday that authorities would do whatever was needed to halt the flames' advance.

Tatar earlier said the blaze threatened three villages, but residents using tractors to clear brush around their homes prevented the fires spread. The fire apparently started when a car outside a village home went up in flames.
Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz sought a pardon from President Donald Trump before and after the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the House Jan. 6 Select Committee revealed Thursday.

Other media outlets have previously reported Gaetz sought a pardon from Trump in the closing month of his term, but Thursday's revelation was the first time Trump administration officials confirmed on the record that Gaetz sought a pardon.

Former White House Senior Advisor Eric Herschman told the Jan. 6 Committee during a recorded deposition Gaetz had requested a pardon.

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz speaks during a campaign kickoff event April 9 at the Heaven's Trail Event Barn in Milton. Gaetz sought a pardon from President Donald Trump before and after the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the House Jan. 6 Select Committee revealed Thursday.

"The general tone was, 'We may get prosecuted because we were defensive of the president's positions on these things,'" Herschman said of the pardon request.

Herschman noted that not even former President Richard Nixon's pardon was as broad as what was being requested by Gaetz and other members of Congress.

Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., sent an email to the White House on Jan. 11 requesting a pardon for himself and noting it was "pursuant to a request from Matt Gaetz."

Live coverage: Witnesses say Trump leaned on DOJ to declare election fraud: recap

Threatening Gaetz: California man pleads guilty to threatening to 'put a bullet' in Matt Gaetz

Brooks asked for a general pardon for all members of Congress who voted to reject the electoral college votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told the committee in a recorded deposition that Gaetz and Brooks asked the president for "preemptive pardons" for a group of lawmakers.

"Mr. Gaetz was personally pushing for a pardon, and he was doing so since early December," Hutchinson said. "I'm not sure why. Mr. Gaetz had reached out to me to ask if he could have a meeting with Mr. Meadows about receiving a presidential pardon."

Witnesses told the Select Committee that Trump considered offering pardons to a wide range of individuals connected to the President. pic.twitter.com/LRJat3Algf  January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 23, 2022

Gaetz's office directed the News Journal to a statement Gaetz issued on Twitter following the hearing.

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"The January 6 Committee is an unconstitutional political sideshow," Gaetz wrote on Twitter. "It is rapidly losing the interest of the American people and now resorts to siccing federal law enforcement on political opponents."

After the video testimony played during the hearing, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., one of two Republicans serving on the Jan. 6 Committee, questioned why lawmakers were seeking pardons.

The January 6 Committee is an unconstitutional political sideshow. It is rapidly losing the interest of the American people and now resorts to siccing federal law enforcement on political opponents.  Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) June 23, 2022

"The only reason I know to ask for a pardon is because you think you've committed a crime," Kinzinger said.

Jim Little can be reached at jwlittle@pnj.com and 850-208-9827.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Matt Gaetz asked Donald Trump for pardon before and after Jan. 6
Three former Justice Department officials who threatened to resign rather than help then-President Donald Trump overturn the 2020 election testified Thursday before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

ChairRep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., swears in from left, former acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, former acting U.S. Attorney General Jeff Rosen and Steven Engel, former assistant attorney general, on June 23 before the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via Reuters)

During the fifth in an ongoing series of public hearings, the committee heard from former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, former acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue and Steven Engel, who served as assistant attorney general for the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel in the Trump administration. All three recounted how Trump sought to use the department to promote his false claims of voter fraud and subvert the results of the 2020 election during his final weeks in the White House.

After opening remarks from committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., took the lead in questioning the witnesses and presenting evidence of Trumps pressure campaign against the Justice Department. Kinzinger and Cheney are the only two Republican members of the committee.

What were some of the most shocking revelations?

Trump tried to get the Justice Department to file a lawsuit alleging fraud in the 2020 election.

Jeffrey Rosen, former acting U.S. Attorney General, testifies before the House select committee on June 23. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Engel and Rosen told the committee that, because Trumps attorneys were failing to challenge the election outcome in the courts, the president asked the Justice Department to file a lawsuit alleging widespread fraud in the election. At one point, Engel said that Trump forwarded to the department leadership a draft lawsuit that had been prepared by outside attorneys.

It was a meritless lawsuit that was not something the department could or would bring, Engel said, adding that Obviously, the person who drafted this lawsuit didnt really understand, in my view, the law and how the [Supreme Court] works or the Department of Justice.

Engel said he was asked to write a memo explaining why the DOJ doesn't have any standing to bring such a lawsuit.

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Trump wanted to appoint a special counsel to investigate fraud in the election.

Former Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel Steven Engel at the hearing. (Jim Bourg/Reuters)

Engel recalled that in the middle of December 2020, before he stepped down, former Attorney General Bill Barr had sought his legal advice about whether he could appoint Louisianas state attorney general as a special counsel to conduct an investigation into election fraud. Engel concluded that under Louisiana state law, the state attorney general was precluded from accepting such an appointment, and Barr stated publicly before he left office that he would not be appointing a special counsel to investigate fraud, which the department had found no evidence to substantiate.

Rosen, who assumed the role of acting attorney general after Barrs departure, said that Trump also raised the issue of appointing a special counsel with him after hed taken over.

Kinzinger said that the committees investigation had found that Trump promised the job to Sidney Powell, the now disgraced campaign attorney, and presented a clip of Powells taped deposition in which she said Trump had asked her to serve as special counsel.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., speaksA as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 23, 2022. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

He was extremely frustrated by the lack of, I would call it, law enforcement by any of the government agencies, Powell told the committee. In the aftermath of the election, Powell emerged as a prominent proponent of some of the most outlandish conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines and foreign election interference schemes, none of which were substantiated.

Trump wanted to install a loyalist at the head of the Justice Department

Much of Thursday's testimony focused on how, after Rosen and other senior Justice Department officials repeatedly refused his requests to legitimize his bogus claims of election fraud, Trump sought to install a loyalist as acting attorney general who would be willing to do his bidding.

All three witnesses, and other officials appearing via video, described a meeting at the White House on Jan. 4, 2021, in which Trump threatened to fire Rosen and replace him with Jeffrey Clark, a little-known Justice Department official who once served as the acting head of the Justice Departments civil division and as assistant attorney general of the environment and natural resources division.

Jeffrey Clark, then-assistant attorney general for the environment and natural resources division, addresses a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, on Sept. 14, 2020. (Susan Walsh/Pool via AP)

How does the president even know Mr. Clark? Rosen said he wondered when Trump first mentioned Clarks name. Clark, who, Kinzinger noted, was an environmental lawyer with no experience relevant to leading the Department of Justice, had been introduced to Trump by Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., and had made it clear that he was willing to weaponize the DOJ to help Trump overturn the election, Kinzinger said.

On Jan. 3, Rosen said Clark told him that Trump had offered him Rosens job, which prompted the acting attorney general to set up a meeting with the president the following day. At the meeting, Donoghue, Engel, and others threatened to quit in protest  ultimately forcing Trump to back off the plan to install Clark.

Donoghue, who said he had contacted several other senior DOJ officials prior to the meeting, said he told Trump, Mr. President, within 24, 48, 72 hours youre going to have hundreds of resignations of the leadership of your Justice Department because of your actions. Whats that going to say about you?

Clark wanted to send a letter to state legislatures that one witness said might have 'spiraled us into a constitutional crisis.'

An excerpt from a letter drafted by Jeffrey Clark was part of the presentation at the House hearing on June 23. (House TV)

Among other things, Clark was willing to send a letter he had drafted to the Georgia state Legislature, which stated, without evidence, that the DOJ had identified significant concerns about the legitimacy of the outcome of the election in Georgia and several other states. Rosen and Donoghue had previously refused to sign the letter, which urged the Georgia Legislature to convene a special legislative session to create a separate slate of electors supporting Donald J. Trump.

Donoghue said that when he first received the letter via email from Clark on Dec. 28, 2020, he felt compelled to respond right away to make clear that this was not the departments role, to get involved in the outcome of an election, but more importantly, this was not based on fact. This was contrary to the facts.

Richard Donoghue, former Acting Deputy Attorney General, testifies before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on June 23, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

In an email responding to Clark, Donoghue wrote that sending such a letter could have grave consequences for the country, arguing, it may have spiraled us into a constitutional crisis.

Clark has resisted cooperating with the committee, reportedly pleading the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during a deposition after the panel voted to refer him for criminal contempt charges in December. Federal agents searched Clarks home ahead of the hearing on Wednesday morning, according to multiple reports, but the purpose of the search wasnt immediately clear.

Brooks, Gaetz and other Republican members of Congress sought pardons

A part of the video presentation during the House Select Committee hearing on June 23, 2022. (House TV)

At the initial primetime hearing on June 9, Cheney said the committee had obtained evidence that, in the wake of Jan. 6, multiple Republican members of Congress pursued pardons from the outgoing president.

At Thursday's hearing, the committee presented some of that evidence, including an email that Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., sent to the White House on Jan. 11, 2021, inquiring about a pardon for himself, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, and the 147 Republican members of Congress who voted to reject the electoral college vote submissions of Arizona and Pennsylvania.

The committee also showed clips of depositions in which former White House officials, including Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified about receiving requests for pardons from Republican members of Congress.

Cassidy Hutchinson during her pre-recorded testimony as seen during the House Select Committee hearing on June 23, 2022. (House TV)

In addition to Brooks and Gaetz, Hutchinson said Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs had also asked for a pardon, as had Rep. Louie Gohmert, of Texas, and Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry. Hutchinson also said that Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan had inquired about whether Trump was planning to issue pardons for members of Congress, but that he never personally requested one. She testified that while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., had not contacted her personally for a pardon, she had heard that [Greene] had asked the White House Counsels Office for a pardon from [deputy counsel Pat Philbin].

Who were the witnesses?

As with the committees previous hearings, Thursdays presentation featured a mix of live and taped testimony from a wide variety of witnesses.

In addition to Rosen, Donoghue and Engel, viewers heard more from the taped deposition of former Attorney General Bill Barr, who has appeared on video at earlier hearings, as well as Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann, and Hutchinson. The committee also presented clips of video testimony provided by Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.

Steven Engel, from left, Jeffrey Rosen and Richard Donoghue are sworn in at the hearing. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Whats next?

As Thompson and Cheney have reiterated throughout the past two weeks, the select committees investigation is still ongoing, meaning the hearing schedule is subject to change based on new developments in the probe.

Thompson told reporters Wednesday that the committee will need to take a break after Thursday to go through a variety of new evidence it has received since the start of this recent round of hearings. That includes never-before-seen video footage of Trump and his family from a British documentarian, Alex Holder, new documents from the National Archive and a number of tips.

The committee is also still hoping to hear from additional witnesses. Specifically, Cheney noted earlier this week that the panel is working to secure testimony from former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who, based on the accounts of other witnesses, was among the senior officials who pushed back on Trumps schemes to overturn the election.

In closing remarks, Thompson said that the committees future hearings will examine how Trump tapped into [the] threat of violence, how he summoned the mob to Washington, and how, after corruption and political pressure failed to keep Donald Trump in office, violence became the last option.

_____

The rioters got within 2 doors of Vice President Mike Pence's office. See how in this 3D explainer from Yahoo Immersive.
Notes from Richard Donoghue displayed at the January 6 committee's hearing on June 23, 2022. Screenshot / C-SPAN

The January 6 committee displayed a previously unseen note from a former Trump DOJ official.

According to Richard Donoghue, Trump told him and other officials to "just say the election was corrupt."

According to Trump, DOJ officials could "leave the rest to me and the [Republican] congressmen."

The January 6 committee on Thursday displayed scans of notes taken by Richard Donoghue, then the acting deputy attorney general serving out the final days of the Trump administration.

One note, displayed as Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois led the committee's questioning, included an apparent plea from then-President Donald Trump to "just say the election was corrupt" and "leave the rest to me and the [Republican] congressmen."

That missive from Trump has previously been reported, but Americans saw the note for the first time on Thursday.

"You guys may not be following the internet the way I do," Trump said, according to prior reporting on Donoghue's notes.

At Thursday's hearing, Donoghue confirmed the veracity of the quote under oath.

"That's an exact quote from the president, yes," said Donoghue. He reiterated the department's findings in 2020 that voter fraud did not significantly influence the 2020 election.

"There were isolated instances of fraud, none of them came close to calling into question the outcome of the election in any individual state," he said.

He also said Trump appeared "agitated" during his several meetings with officials at the Justice Department as he sought to reverse his election loss.

"The President, throughout all of these meetings and telephone conversations, was adamant that he had won, that we were not doing our job," said Donoghue.

Read the original article on Business Insider
TOKYO (AP)  A Japanese High Court on Thursday rejected an appeal by a former brokerage manager alleging on-the-job harassment and unlawful dismissal after he took parental leave while working at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley.

The case of Glen Wood, a Canadian who has lived in Japan for more than three decades, has come to symbolize concerns over paternity harassment, or pata hara. Wood's is a rare case, for Japan, of a father seeking to take parental leave. Maternity harassment is more common.

Wood began his fight in 2017, alleging he was harassed and forced from his job after taking parental leave when his son was born in 2015.

The company rejected Wood's request for parental leave. His son was born prematurely and he rushed to see him though the company told him to just keep working, according to the lawsuit.

When Wood returned to work in 2016, he was stripped of some of his responsibilities and excluded from business meetings, according to court testimony. The company dismissed him in 2018.

In a 21-page ruling, the Tokyo High Court rejected the harassment claims. It defended the companys acts as inevitable.

Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley said Thursdays ruling showed the companys view had been accepted.

Wood said he would take his case to the Supreme Court, even if that means the legal battle might continue until his son, now 6, is in college.

Harassment is never an acceptable form of management, he said at a news conference at the health and labor ministry.

Wood now heads his own company, which provides transport management, corporate governance, environmental solutions and other services.

Japan's population is shrinking and its birth rate is among the lowest in the world. Despite the outcome of Wood's case so far, the government has made parental leave a policy priority, allowing absences of up to 12 months. But actual practice hasnt lived up to the law.

The Tokyo District Court ruled against Wood in 2020, saying it did not find reasonable grounds for believing there was harassment. It also criticized Wood for taking his case public instead of quietly resolving the dispute with the company, which has made some changes to its parental leave policies since Woods dismissal.

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Yoshitatsu Imaizumi, one of Woods lawyers, said the case still could be contested on various grounds including Woods' dismissal for having complained about harassment. That would potentially violate the right of workers to bring up harassment, he said.

Wood, who has appeared in court and news conferences with his son, said he was not giving up his fight to ensure men can take parental leave without fear of retaliation.

Standing up for parental rights is actually a gift that Ive been given. And Im happy to do that, not only for Japan but for the world, he said.

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
To help prevent foul odors emitting from trash cans, a Japanese company is selling trash cans that freeze garbage.

Nakanishi Kinzoku Kogyo has designed a product called Clean Box that stores garbage at -11 Celsius (12 degrees Fahrenheit), killing the bacteria that produces odors. The company first thought of the idea in 2017 after discovering that several households were keeping their garbage in freezers or refrigerators to prevent smells from emitting throughout the house.

The lead developer of the Clean Box team, Nagasaki Riku, explained that foul odors from diapers are eliminated at a temperature of -10 degrees Celsius. In 2016, a survey done by Bell Maison Desse found that one in five people have tried storing their garbage bags in freezers or refrigerators, and one in five continue to do so.

More from NextShark: Japanese teen reports knife-wielding man to police  but he was just holding old-fashioned flip phone

The company encountered challenges while designing the trash can as it had to accommodate air flow, coolant and condensation within a tight and compact space. In 2019, Nakanishi Kinzoku Kogyo released 100 Clean Boxes which sold out almost instantly. Due to popular demand, a crowdfunding campaign in April raised over 40 million yen (approximately $292,736).

There were some challenges, but first of all it was very difficult to find an outside partner to co-develop a refrigerator and freezer together. The technology used in refrigerators and freezers has been around for a long time, but the engineers are surrounded by major home appliance makers, Nagasaki said.

More from NextShark: Meet Japan's first esports team comprised entirely of elders

The product is now being sold in various major appliance stores across Japan including Futakotamagawa Tsutaya Home Appliances and the Bic Camera Yurakucho store. Reservations to buy the product are being accepted and will be shipped sometime in July.

The product can also be used for other purposes including storage where buyers can keep clothes and towels inside the Clean Box to keep them cold as well as makeup and camera films.

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Clean Boxes are sold for around 48,180 yen (approximately $353) and can hold up to 20 liters (5 gallons), which is about 30 diapers or six medium sized garbage bags. The product measures 69 by 23 by 44 centimeters (27 by 9 by 17 inches) and uses an average of nine yen's (approximately $0.06) worth of electricity a day.

More from NextShark: Japanese news anchor breaks down on air while reporting on Putin's hailing of Bucha massacre soldiers

Feature Image via Nakanishi Kinzoku Kogyo

More from NextShark: Japanese Princess to reject $1.36 million pay for female royals, expected to live as commoner in US after marriage
The 25-year-old UConn student charged with killing two people  one of whom he allegedly attacked with a samurai sword  kidnapping another, and leading police on a dayslong, multistate manhunt appeared before a judge for a virtual court hearing on Thursday.

Peter Manfredonia joined the hearing by a video call from Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown, where he is being held in lieu of a $12 million bond on charges of killing two men, kidnapping a young woman and brutally assaulting an elderly man, records show.

His case was continued to July, according to court officials.

Manfredonia is charged with murder, kidnapping with a firearm, home invasion and robbery with a deadly weapon in connection to the killing of 23-year-old Nicholas Eisele and the kidnapping of Eiseles girlfriend. Eisele was shot to death in his home in Derby on May 24, 2020, according to a warrant for Manfredonias arrest.

Manfredonia allegedly burst into Eiseles home about 5:45 that morning. Eisele had locked the doors, according to police, when he heard police were looking for Manfredonia. The two knew each other from Newtown High School and through sales of marijuana, according to a warrant.

When Manfredonia stormed in, Eisele urged him to calm down just before Manfredonia allegedly shot him, records show.

Manfredonia then allegedly told Eiseles girlfriend that he shot her boyfriend in the head, stole several thousand dollars and  still armed with a gun  demanded their car keys. He forced her to drive their Volkswagen all the way to New Jersey while he sat in the backseat still armed with a gun, stopping once to change his clothes, the warrant said.

He eventually convinced someone at a New Jersey truck stop to order him an Uber and left Eiseles girlfriend there, according to the warrant.

Law enforcement, including Connecticut State Police, tracked the UConn student through Uber rides, car thefts and surveillance video from New Jersey into Pennsylvania and eventually to another truck stop in Hagerstown, Maryland, records show.

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Two days earlier, Manfredonia had allegedly killed 62-year-old Ted DeMers in Willington.

DeMers, an artisan furniture maker, husband and father, according to his obituary, lived on the same street as a woman who had recently ended a relationship with Manfredonia, police said.

Manfredonia allegedly attacked DeMers and another 80-year-old man on Mirtl Road with a samurai sword, records show.

While Eiseles girlfriend was being kidnapped, Manfredoina allegedly told her that DeMers was an innocent person who was, essentially, in his way. He allegedly told her he killed DeMers and Eiesel because they said something that triggered him and he snapped, according to warrants.

Manfredonia is also charged with murder, attempt to commit murder and assault of an elderly person in connection to DeMers slaying.

He faces a slew of charges from his alleged attack in Willington that include home invasion, kidnapping, robbery and assault, court records show.

Manfredonia is scheduled to appear in court next on charges connected to DeMers death and the Willington attack on Friday. A hearing in his case is scheduled to take place in Rockville at 10 a.m., according to court records.
Jun. 23An attorney for Fabian Gonzales asked a judge Wednesday to order prosecutors to provide an updated theory about how 10-year-old Victoria Martens died in 2016.

State District Judge Cindy Leos denied the request, saying the prosecution theory of the case is "relatively simple."

Gonzales, 37, is charged with abuse of a child, recklessly caused, and other crimes in Victoria's 2016 killing. His trial is scheduled to begin July 11.

Stephen Aarons, Gonzales' attorney, said the state's theory about how Victoria was killed has evolved so much over the years that allegations listed in a 2018 "statement of facts" don't allow Gonzales to mount a defense.

The prosecution case is "closed" to the defense, Aarons said.

"What makes it closed is that we can't interview witnesses when the state's theory changes, and we're very unclear as to what the state's theory is," Aaron said in a hearing Wednesday.

Just weeks after Victoria's death in August 2016, Gonzales was charged with 20 felony crimes, including first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual penetration in connection with the girl's death.

But in June 2018, 2nd Judicial District Attorney Raul Torrez announced that the charges against Gonzales had been based on false admissions to police made by Victoria's mother, Michelle Martens.

In September 2018, prosecutors dismissed the murder and criminal sexual penetration charges against Gonzales and instead charged him with abuse of a child, recklessly caused, in Victoria's death.

Prosecutors also issued a "statement of facts" that month alleging that a man referred to in court records as "John Doe" entered the apartment and killed Victoria.

The statement said John Doe killed Victoria because Gonzales had threatened people with gang-related violence after he was punched at a barbecue party several days before the killing.

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Prosecutors indicted John Doe in 2018 for first-degree murder and other charges. His identity remains unknown.

The allegation was based on information from Gonzales' cousin, Jessica Kelley, who told police that a "well-dressed" Hispanic man killed Victoria.

Kelley, 37, and Michelle Martens, 40, each have pleaded to felony charges in connection with Victoria's killing.

No sentencing hearing has been scheduled in Martens' case.

Kelley was sentenced in April to 44 years in prison after pleading no contest to six felony crimes, including reckless child abuse resulting in the death of a child.

In a motion filed earlier this month, Aarons said prosecutors no longer plan to introduce gang evidence at Gonzales' trial, which means prosecutors now have a new theory about the killing, which, he argued, they should reveal in a new statement of facts.

In denying the motion, Leos offered her own brief description of prosecutors' theory about Victoria's killing.

"I don't think they've been hiding the ball on anything, because I have an understanding of it," Leos said. "I think (prosecutors) are proceeding on potentially alternate theories. Either Jessica Kelley did it, or this well-dressed stranger did it."

Deputy District Attorney Greer Rose responded to Aarons request that prosecutors have provided Gonzales' attorneys with a vast amount of information about how the state intends to present its case.

"The state is not under obligation to give (Aarons) a roadmap of what we plan to present in trial," Rose said. "That's his job."

Leos agreed to Aarons' request to issue an arrest warrant for a woman who lived in an apartment next door to the Martens' apartment the night Victoria was killed. Aarons identified the woman as a key defense witness.

But Leos denied Aarons' request to issue arrest warrants for four other witnesses who have evaded subpoenas to testify, including two women who were present at the barbecue party. Leos told Aarons to renew efforts to find current addresses for those witnesses.
One day before the one-year anniversary of the Surfside condominium collapse that killed 98 people, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman made his deadline and gave final approval to a $1 billion settlement of the second-largest class-action lawsuit in Florida history, which he praised in court on Thursday as remarkable not only in terms of its size but for its speed.

More than two dozen defendants who were sued for negligence after the partial collapse of Champlain Towers South on June 24, 2021, agreed last month to pay $1,021,199,000 to resolve the wrongful death and personal injury claims of family members and survivors. The defendants, including the buildings security company, condo association law firm, consulting engineer on its 40-year recertification and renovation plan, and the developer and builders of the luxury condo next door, will pay portions using their insurance coverage. None admit any culpability in the tragedy.

The standard for approval of this settlement is not whether this is the best possible deal or comparable to a trial verdict but whether it is fair, reasonable and adequate, Hanzman said. I could not be more proud of this agreement and the people who led this case. Ive been on the bench for 10 years and handled a number of very difficult cases and this was one of a kind.

Several family members and survivors came forward to thank Hanzman for consistently and occasionally abrasively pushing the pace of the proceedings to conclude the case within a year and avoid a lengthy and painful trial.

I am physically here but I died along with my Malky, said Eileen Rosenberg, mother of Malky Weisz, 27, who died in the collapse with her husband and father. To be honest I wasnt looking forward to going through the legal process that arose from this tragedy. I feared Id be mired in it for a decade. Words cannot convey what Your Honor accomplished in record time. Your Honor masterminded a brilliant plan. Your sole priority has been to guide us through this with wisdom in the most painless way possible within the confines of the judicial system.

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The company paying the largest share of the settlement  nearly half of the total at $517.5 million is Securitas Security Services USA. Its security guards monitored visitors at the front desk and operated the buildings alarm system on an emergency basis. But a manager for the company acknowledged in a deposition to the Champlain victims lawyers that Securitas hadnt trained all its guards on how to use the system to alert residents to evacuate and it was not activated the night of the collapse.

At 1:15 a.m. on that night, the Champlain Souths pool deck caved into the underground parking garage, seven minutes before the mid and oceanfront sections of the building came down. Securitas guard called 911 twice, at 1:16 and 1:17 a.m., and was confused about the address, records show. She also attempted to call residents individually on their phones. But the guard, Shamoka Furman, did not press the button for the all-call alarm that was connected to intercoms in each unit. The system had been tested on June 8 by the day-shift guard and it was working.

Seven minutes -- can you imagine how many people could have gotten out? said Raysa Rodriguez, one of the surviving owners from the section that didnt collapse. She is one of several survivors who described hearing eerie silence when they ran out into their hallways. Seven minutes is a long time.

The companies involved in the construction of the Eighty Seven Park condo at 8701 Collins Avenue just south of Champlain South accounted for about $400 million of the settlement, according to court filings. They were accused of causing damage during the driving of sheet piles several years prior to the collapse but denied any responsibility.

The payments, according to filings, include $28 million from 8701 Collins Development; $29 million from 8701 Collins Avenue Condo Association; $16 million from Bizzi & Partners Development; $157 million from John Moriarty and Associates of Florida, $25.7 million from NV5; $8.5 million from DeSimone Consulting Engineers; $25 million from Stantec Architecture; $5 million from Geosonics, and $6.9 million from Florida Civil. Others cited in the settlement: Western Waterproofing Company of America, which agreed to pay $25 million, and Concrete Protection & Restoration, which agreed to pay $11 million.

Morabito Consultants, an engineering firm consulting for the Champlain Towers South condo association, agreed to pay $16 million, and the Becker law firm $31 million. The town of Surfside agreed to pay $2 million.

Hanzman commended the dozens of lawyers working on both sides of the case, calling them Hall of Famers.

A more complex case than this is hard to imagine, he said. It involved economic, personal injury and death claims. It involved a black swan event for which it would have been extremely difficult if not impossible to pinpoint the cause.

If litigated, there would be cross claims and third party claims. The settling parties had a number of viable defenses that might well have proven their conduct did not contribute to this event. Assuming all those hurdles were cleared, there would be some 150 individual trials on each claim. The case would have easily, easily taken over a decade to resolve. These victims and families would have had to endure this trauma over and over and over again if not for this settlement.

Read more: A judges legacy from Surfside condo tragedy: Huge settlement but also hard feelings

Hanzman defended the $96 million settlement reached during contentious mediation that will be split in proportion to unit size among the owners of the 136 condos, both those who survived and those who died.

There are survivors who believe they should have received more money for the property they lost. I have empathy for them but I simply disagree, he said. As traumatic an episode as they went through they have to realize there are many people who rightly or wrongly believe the owners inability to maintain the building was a cause. Had this case played out legally I believe there is a substantial likelihood their equity wouldve been wiped out to pay liability for wrongful death.

Hanzman will oversee claims hearings in August during which relatives will make a case for what their loved ones lives were worth and survivors will make a case for what their physical and psychological injuries are worth. Its expected to be an emotional and deeply personal process and Hanzman ruled Thursday to keep the hearings private and follow another tight deadline to finish by Aug. 26.

As for wrongful death claims, there is no amount of money in the world to adequately compensate people for their loss, he said. Under the law the court will do whatever it can do to ascribe value to their lives. It sounds cold, sounds harsh. Thats all we can do and were going to do it. It will be a far better result than what wouldve been achieved after a 10-year litigation slog.

Hanzman also decided to wait on deciding what to pay the lawyers until after the claims payments are determined. Over three dozen lawyers who originally agreed to work on the case and be compensated at the judges discretion have submitted a claim for $100 million in fees.

Hanzman offered to pay mediator Bruce Greer for his heroic work of over 1,000 hours. But Greer said he wanted no pay.

I took the case at your request and initially turned it down because I knew it was a tragedy with no happy ending and no compensation for victims that would ever be OK, Greer said. But I felt there had to be an unprecedented community response to this unprecedented tragedy. I agreed to work pro bono, and pro bono is pro bono. Whatever fees you were going to allocate to me please allocate to the victims.

Greer gave a glimpse into the arduousness of mediating agreements that nearly fell apart.

There were 40 defense lawyers in this case, many representing insurance companies, who were motivated to get a result fast, he said. But settling that side was like a Rubiks Cube. Many times it appeared there would be no deal. The greatness of the plaintiffs lawyers has been stated over and over but the defense lawyers were of equal skill.
Tyrone Gray Jr., 24, of Mansfield, has been charged with murder after shooting 25-year-old Dontarious Sylvester, also of Mansfield, in the head Sunday afternoon at the Mall at Tuttle Crossing, Columbus police said. According to court records and a 911 call by Gray, Gray shot the victim because Sylvester hit him in the head with a purse.

A Mansfield man accused of fatally shooting another Mansfield man in a shoe store at a Columbus mall for smacking him with a purse will remain behind bars without bond until his trial.

Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Andy Miller ruled Thursday afternoon that 24-year-old Tyrone Gray will not be given bond while he awaits trial on charges of aggravated murder, murder, aggravated burglary and inducing panic in connection with the June 13 shooting of 25-year-old Dontarious Sylvester inside the Sole Stop store inside the Mall at Tuttle Crossing.

'He smacked me with a purse': In 911 call, Tuttle mall shooter says he shot victim

The hearing before Miller occurred after a motion was filed by Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Steve Schott to have Gray held without bond pending trial.

A decision from the Ohio Supreme Court in January reaffirmed that judges cannot take public safety into account when issuing bond amounts. Judges are only to consider the defendant's likelihood to appear in court, their past criminal history  if any exists, the seriousness of the offense and only information presented at the hearing by the attorneys involved in the case.

Prosecutors can request in any homicide case that a defendant be held without bond. A judge can then order a hearing where testimony is presented about the weight of the evidence in the case and the risk to the public the defendant might pose if released.

A proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that will be on the Nov. 8 general election ballot would, if approved by voters, permit judges to consider public safety in setting bond.

Amendment on the ballot: Should Ohio change its constitution when it comes to setting bail? Voters will have a say in November

Video played during the bond hearing before Miller showed the shooting from two different angles.

The first video angle shows Gray entering the store, where Sylvester already was inside, and then approaching Sylvester and speaking with him.

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"This is a man who cornered a young man, in a store, on video, with children around, pulled out a gun, held it at his side while the victim fell over a bench and then summarily executed him," Schott said. "He then calmly walked out as though nothing had happened, let alone taking a human life."

Columbus police Det. Jeremy Phalen, the lead investigator on the case, testified that an AR-15 rifle, drum-style magazine and two types of ammunition were found in Gray's car in the parking lot of the mall where he went to wait for police after calling 911.

Gray was initially given a $50,000 bond by Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Eileen Paley. He posted that bond through a bond company within hours and was released.

Following his indictment last week, the U.S. Marshals Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (SOFAST) had been seeking Gray. He turned himself in at the Franklin County jail on June 17.

Back behind bars: Tuttle Mall shooting suspect back in jail after alleged threats to witnesses

Charles Sanso, supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal, had said previously that statements Gray had made "warranted more of an immediate response."

Gray's attorney, Sam Shamansky, has denied that Gray made any threatening statements on recorded jail calls.

Phalen said Thursday that there were no threats on the calls. Phalen testified that he received a call from a woman in Mansfield who was the relative of a 2018 homicide victim in that city.

The woman, according to Phalen's testimony, said Gray had urinated on and desecrated her son's grave, stealing a statue and then driving over her son's grave.

Schott also showed Miller an April 8 Facebook post from a page believed to belong to Gray.

"Should of finished me when they had that chance years ago you wont get to play that card again," the post said in part.

Brain drain: Departure of dozens from Franklin County Prosecutor's office raises 'brain drain' concerns

Shamansky, said during Thursday's hearing that Gray had been shot during a bar fight in Manfield in 2019. Sylvester was at the same bar on the same night.

Shamansky argued during the hearing that Gray should be released on house arrest, arguing that his client was in fear after being struck by a purse Sylvester was carrying.

"You couldnt ask for more cooperation out of person accused of any crime," Shamansky said. "There's zero evidence he knew this gentlemen, how did he know he was going to be at the Tuttle mall shoe store? It defies logic and common sense."

Shamansky hinted that his client may seek to argue self-defense at a future trial.

"At the end of the day, this is ultimately for the jury to decide, but I dont see a very persuasive argument for self-defense," Miller said.

Miller was considering releasing Gray on house arrest, given his minimal criminal history and the likelihood he would abide by bond conditions. However, Miller noted that Gray's mother lives out of state.

"... Some actions can be so bad that nothing can be imposed to ensure the safety of the public," Miller said. "Im going to err on the side of holding Mr. Gray without bond in this case."

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Judge orders Tuttle Mall suspect to be held without bond pending trial
WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (AP)  An Arkansas judge on Thursday rejected a request to allow new genetic testing of crime scene evidence from the killing of three boys nearly 30 years ago.

Crittenden County Circuit Judge Tonya Alexander denied the motion seeking access to evidence from the 1993 crime scene where three 8-year-old boys were found brutally slain in a drainage ditch near West Memphis, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. The additional testing was sought by Damien Echols, one of the three men convicted in the slayings.

Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley were convicted in 1994 but released in 2011 under a rarely used plea agreement that allowed them to maintain their innocence yet plead guilty in exchange for 18-year sentences and credit for time served.

An attorney for Echols said he planned to appeal the judge's decision.

Alexander cited an Arkansas law that requires those petitioning for new DNA testing to still be in prison, the newspaper reported.

No DNA evidence connected the three men to the killing of Christopher Byers, Steve Branch and Michael Moore. Attorneys for the men have said that more advanced genetic testing equipment might detect fragments of DNA that weren't detectable when the evidence was first examined. The evidence sought for retesting includes clothing and shoelaces that were used to tie the boys.
Jussie Smollett is maintaining his innocence.

Smollett, 40, insisted he did not lie about the alleged hate crime hoax in a new interview on the SiriusXM show "Sway in the Morning."

"If I had done this, Id be a piece of s---. And I dont think thats really questionable," he said.

"If I had done something like this, it would mean that I stuck my fist in the pain of Black Americans in this country for over 400 years... It would mean that I stuck my fist in the fears of the LGBTQ community all over the world. I'm not that motherf---er - never have been, don't need to be," Smollett insisted.

JUSSIE SMOLLETT RELEASES NEW SONG, THANK YOU GOD, AFTER HE'S RELEASED FROM JAIL: YOU GOT THE WRONG ONE

The " Empire " actor was convicted in December on charges he staged an anti-gay, racist attack on himself nearly three years ago and then lied to Chicago police about it.

Jussie Smollett visits the SiriusXM Studios for an interview on June 14, 2022, in New York City. Cindy Ord

The jury found Smollett guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct  for each time he was charged with lying to police in the days immediately after the alleged attack. He was acquitted on a sixth count, of lying to a detective in mid-February, weeks after Smollett said he was attacked.

The actor sat in prison for six days before he was released following an appeal from Smollett's lawyer.

Smolletts attorneys had argued that he would have completed the jail sentence by the time the appeal process was completed and that Smollett could be in danger of physical harm if he remained locked up in Cook County Jail.

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In the new interview, Smollett continued by pointing out that he wasn't looking to have a "rise" in his career at the time of the alleged attack.

"Didn't need to have some sort of rise in his career," he explained. "I was on the up and up. I was coming from New York from doing a table read for my dream role in a Broadway show. I had just optioned the rights to the authorized autobiography of Alvin Ailey..."

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"All of these things that I was creating, there would be no reason for me to do some dumb corny s--- like that. But people are looking to believe what they believe."

Smollett also spoke about his time in prison and clarified that he had been fasting for clarity.

"I was fasting because that's what we do in my family. Like we fast for clarity... I have never in my life, at least in my adult life, been as clear of mind as I was for those six and a half days... I was fasting until I found out whether or not I was gonna be in there for those five and a half months," he explained.

"I just wanted to know what my life was about to look like."
Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward went on a name-calling tweet storm after GOP House Speaker Rusty Bowers testified before Congress.

Just one day after House Speaker Rusty Bowers regaled the nation with the shameful scheme to overturn democracy in Arizona, Republican Party payback has begun.

State GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward has come positively unglued over Bowers testimony before the House Select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, wherein he reminded us that there still are Republicans who havent lost their ever living minds.

Or their integrity.

In the last 24 hours, Ward has demeaned Bowers, belittled him and even embraced her inner fifth grade bully and given him a nickname: Rusty Bowels.

And, oh yeah, she endorsed his opponent in Aug. 2 Republican primary for the state Senate.

Parties usually don't take sides in a primary

Let me say that again. The head of the Arizona Republican Party has taken sides in an Arizona Republican primary.

Just as shes in the bag for a Trump-endorsed Kari Lake in what amounts to a three-way Republican primary.

Other, more professional party operatives will tell you that never happens. The partys role, they will tell you, is to remain neutral as the candidates to duke it out a primary, then unite voters behind the partys nominee.

Instead, we have Ward endorsing former state Sen. David Farnsworth, who is coming out of retirement to try to knock off Bowers. Farnsworth is one of the 29 legislators who in December 2020 signed onto the plan asking Vice President Mike Pence to accept the 11 alternate electoral votes for Trump.

Alternate being another word for fake.

As the vote tally, several legally mandated sample recounts and one full forensic audit showed, Arizona voters didnt elect Ward and her 10 fellow phonies to cast our electoral votes for Donald Trump. And Bowers wasnt about the go along with the plot to shred the Constitution so that Trump could steal the election.

Instead, Kelli Ward gives us this

And so we get this:

And we get this:

And this:

And this:

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I suppose the troll is in the eye of the beholder.

At least one Republican official is calling Ward out, calling her "a maniacal Chair ... hellbent on destroying the GOP."

Ive known Rusty for many years now and was honored to serve as his Speaker Pro Tempore. Hes a gentleman and a statesman of the highest order. The person quote-tweeted here is a maniacal Chair breaking rules endorsing candidates in a Primary and hellbent on destroying the GOP. https://t.co/oYm3Qh9IuP  T.J. Shope (@TJShopeforAZ) June 22, 2022

Is it too soon to start a campaign to draft Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Cooldige, for state Republican Party chairman?

Putting an adult in charge would do wonders for the once-Grand Old Party.

Bowers honored his oath. That's no 'loser'

I guess its not all that surprising that Ward has it in for Bowers, a staunchly conservative Republican who toes the party line in all ways but one  he wont set aside his integrity for Donald Trump.

Ward, meanwhile, was front-and-center in the behind-the-scenes scheme to overturn Arizona's election  from her pressure campaign on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors as Biden was pulling ahead (We need you to to stop the counting) to her fake elector plot avowing that she was duly elected to cast our electoral votes for Trump to her demand for a full forensic audit.

An audit, by the way, that found no evidence of widespread fraud.

Bowers is a deeply religious man who acted as his conscience required and honored his oath. The one to the Constitution, that is.

Only in Kelli Wards warped mind would that make him a loser.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kelli Ward is in full meltdown mode over Rep. Rusty Bowers
Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is moving his companys headquarters from Chicago to Miami.

In a note to employees Thursday, Griffin said his investment firm, Citadel, will relocate to new headquarters in Miamis financial district after more than 30 years in Chicago. Citadel, which has about 1,000 employees in Chicago, will maintain an office in the city, but many are expected to shift with the corporate locus to the Sunshine State, where Griffin, a Florida native, recently moved with his family.

Chicago will continue to be important to the future of Citadel, as many of our colleagues have deep ties to Illinois, Griffin said in his note. Over the past year, however, many of our Chicago teams have asked to relocate to Miami, New York and our other offices around the world.

Citadel Securities, a co-owned trading firm, will also be making the move to Miami. Citadel has more than 4,000 employees in 17 offices worldwide.

The wealthiest man in Illinois, Griffin founded Citadel in 1990 and built it into one of the largest hedge funds in the world. Worth a reported $27 billion, he has long been a civic force in Chicago, donating more than $1 billion to organizations such as the Art Institute, the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Science and Industry, which announced it would be renamed in honor of Griffin in 2019.

But Griffin, 53, has also been a sharp critic of the city in recent years. In an appearance before the Economic Club of Chicago in October, Griffin cited increased crime and violence on the city streets as one of several reasons why Citadel, which has $51 billion in assets under management, was considering a move to greener corporate pastures.

The Citadel move is the latest corporate blow for the Chicago area, with aerospace giant Boeing announcing last month that it was moving its headquarters to Arlington, Virginia after more than 20 years in the West Loop. Earlier this month, Caterpillar announced it would relocate its headquarters from north suburban Deerfield to an existing office in Irving, Texas, outside Dallas.

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The losses are offset somewhat by the announcement Tuesday that Battle Creek, Michigan-based Kellogg Company is splitting into three separate companies and locating its snacks headquarters in Chicago.

The loss of Citadel could be costly, however, with the wealthy hedge fund principals and employees generating billions of dollars in tax revenue for the city and state over the past decade, according to Zia Ahmed, a Citadel spokesman.

Citadel is leasing temporary space and working with Chicago-based Sterling Bay to develop its new corporate headquarters in Miami.
Story at a glance

Carver testified before Congress in May that he has always faced discrimination as a gay teacher.

Carver said his move to the University of Kentucky offers him the place where he can most make a difference in the lives of the next generation.

I also increasingly find that, as a queer person in K-12 education, I have been unable to do that work without facing discrimination, heartache, and being a part of systems that cause harm, he said.

Kentuckys 2022 teacher of the year, Willie Carver Jr., is leaving his K-12 post for a university job, citing anti-gay discrimination.

Carver, who spent 17 years teaching K-12 students, will assume a new role in student support services at the University of Kentucky.

This was not an easy decision; I have cried quite a few times trying to make it over the past few months. But ultimately, I have always wanted to be in the place where I can most make a difference in the lives of the next generation. I believe that UK is where I can do this, Carver said in a Facebook post viewed by the Lexington Herald Leader.

I also increasingly find that, as a queer person in K-12 education, I have been unable to do that work without facing discrimination, heartache, and being a part of systems that cause harm, though I am immensely proud of my brilliant, hardworking, and fierce colleagues who have and continue to change that system in defense of students, Carver added.

Carver, who testified before Congress in May that hes always faced discrimination as a gay teacher, told the outlet hes making the transition due to vocal discrimination at school board meetings.

The national rhetoric is turned up, and LGBTQ teachers bear the weight of a lot of hatred that catalyzes the vitriol. Its tiring, he said, adding he did not receive adequate support from the administration.

America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news.

Mr. Carver is a wonderful English and French teacher, Montgomery County Superintendent Matthew Thompson told Changing America. We wish him well in his new endeavor, Thompson said.

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The girlfriend of Abel Echartea, whos on trial for allegedly shooting a man to death in central Fresno, testified Wednesday she didnt see the defendant commit the crime.

But Fresno County prosecutors say thats not what she told Fresno police.

Rose Najera was the latest witness to take the stand Wednesday in the murder trial of Echartea, whos accused of murdering Philip Ozuna at an apartment complex on Dec. 23, 2020.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Kelly Smith on Wednesday confronted Najera with several interviews she did with police where she named Echartea as the shooter.

Prosecutors believe Ozuna, 37, was killed after trying to intervene during a domestic dispute between Najera and Echartea.

Najera had sought the help of her lifelong friend Julia Sandoval and Sandovals boyfriend Ozuna after she and Echartea got into an argument over a broken tablet.

Najera testified Wednesday that she wanted a ride to her apartment at Fruit and Ashlan avenues. A neighbor told her Echartea was throwing her clothes and Christmas presents in the garbage bin.

When they arrived at Najeras apartment, she and Sandoval began taking her clothes and gifts out of the garbage. A few moments later, Ozuna and Echartea confronted each other. Several shots were fired in rapid succession and Ozuna was found laying on the ground, bleeding, she testified.

In court, Smith reminded Najera that she told detectives that she saw Echartea shooting at someone in one of the hallways of the apartment building. And when police asked her if Echartea was the shooter, she answered, yes.

Detectives also discovered a Facebook post where Najera told a friend that her boyfriend killed Ozuna.

But under questioning by Smith, Najera denied the statements she made to police. At times while on the stand, she also claimed she didnt remember what she told detectives.

Echarteas defense attorney Antonio Alvarez further began to pull at the threads of her story. She admitted to lying to police because she was promised she would be able to be with her children.

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She was even relocated by police to a new location out of concern for her safety. Najera is alleged to have told police Echartea had threatened her if she testified against him.

Alvarez asked her if Echartea threatened her. She said no.

Even after being relocated, Najera kept in close contact with Echartea. She testified that they spoke dozens of times over the course of several months.

They also traveled together to Indiana where Echartea was eventually arrested and returned to Fresno.

Asked if she ever saw Echartea with a gun. Najera replied she did not. She added that the only gun she saw the night of the murder was on Ozuna.

A surprised Smith asked her why she didnt tell police Ozuna had a gun.

Because they never asked me about Philip, she said. I tried to tell them but we never got into it.

Najera testified that it appeared the police were only focused on Echartea.

I told them (police) what they wanted to hear, she said.

Testimony in the trial is scheduled to continue Thursday.
A picture of LAPD Officer Houston Tipping is displayed at his memorial at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)

Hundreds gathered under a beating morning sun Wednesday to remember LAPD Officer Houston Tipping, a five-year department veteran, who suffered a fatal spinal injury during a training exercise at the Elysian Park Academy on May 26. He died three days later, at age 32.

The funeral started with a bagpipe procession at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, after mourners  ranging from relatives and fellow officers in their starched black uniforms to political luminaries such as Mayor Eric Garcetti and state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta  settled into their seats. One speaker after another remembered Tipping as a dedicated officer who'd gravitated to policing out of a desire to help others  and was quickly drawn in by the bonds he built with other officers.

Tipping's father, Richard, told mourners that "Houston was naturally kind, he generally cared about people," adding that he took comfort in hearing his son's colleagues recount how he always treated everyone with dignity. One time, after bringing a suspected drunk driver back to the police station, he waited around and patiently talked the woman through the booking process.

She faced consequences, but he also [tried] to make sure that she experienced an officers humanity, Richard Tipping said, his hands quivering as he turned the pages of his prepared statement.

His aunt, Cheryl Coons, recalled how her nephew first conveyed that he wanted to go into public service while attending a Fire Department graduation ceremony with his mother, Coons' sister. But when his mother asked whether he wanted to be a firefighter, he scoffed and replied that, no, he wanted to be a police officer. The crowd chuckled.

Houston loved being a police officer, he loved the brotherhood, he loved the camaraderie, Coons said.

Officials have revealed little about the circumstances leading to Tipping's death after a training scenario, during which he was grappling with a fellow officer when he fell to the ground and suffered a catastrophic injury to his spinal cord. LAPD Chief Michel Moore previously promised that the department would investigate the incident; it is not clear where that probe stands.

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Tipping was taken to L.A. County-USC Medical Center in Boyle Heights, where he died on the morning of May 29.

Born in Southern California, Tipping moved north to Chico, near where his mother spent her childhood. He never lost his love of wide open spaces or the outdoors, filling his days off hunting, fishing and hiking. He joined the LAPD in late 2017, after spending several years working for his father's company while in his 20s.

After a brief stint in the Foothills division out of the Academy, Tipping was assigned to work as a patrol officer in the Devonshire division, which covers Northridge, Reseda, Chatsworth and other parts of the north San Fernando Valley.

While older than most recruits when he joined the force, Tipping had impressed his peers with a "willingness to go the extra mile to make the world a better place," said Moore, noting that before his death he was closing in on a career milestone: He was set to receive his first hash mark, an insignia denoting every five years of service. We will miss him but will never forget him.

Tipping, he said, was the 238th LAPD officer to die in the line of duty in the department's history, a tally that includes officers who like him perished in training accidents.

Garcetti, whose term ends in December, urged mourners not to lose hope, drawing an analogy to the biblical account of Adam and Eve, who felt fear and uncertainty during their first night on Earth  not realizing that the sun would rise again the next day.

It may feel to this family that the sun has gone down, Garcetti told the mourners. I must say, on behalf of 4 million grateful Angelenos, that the day is coming.

As a light rain began to fall, Moore knelt before Tipping's parents and presented them with a folded American flag.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in the last week of their defamation trial in Fairfax County, Virginia. Steve Helber/Pool via REUTERS; Steve Helber/Pool via REUTERS

Lawyers for Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are facing off in court again Friday.

They have one last chance to reach a settlement before the judge finalizes the jury's verdict.

Depp's lawyer previously hinted at a settlement after Heard's lawyer said she couldn't pay $8 million.

Lawyers for Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are set to square off again Friday in a court meeting that will determine whether the two actors will drag out their legal battle or settle it once and for all.

On June 1, a jury delivered a trial verdict that found they defamed each other. It skewed heavily in Depp's favor. The jury said he proved all three of his claims against Heard and deserved $15 million in damages, a figure the judge reduced to about $10 million for statutory reasons. Of Heard's three claims against Depp, jurors gave her just one win and said she should get $2 million in damages.

But Judge Penney Azcarate, the judge overseeing the trial, didn't enter the jury verdict into the docket.

Instead, she said she'd do it on Friday  unless the two parties agreed to a settlement.

Benjamin Chew, an attorney representing Depp, previously suggested a settlement may be on the table. In an interview with the "Good Morning America" host George Stephanopoulos, Chew said Depp might agree to a settlement in which he waives monetary damages in return for Heard agreeing not to appeal the case.

"We obviously can't disclose any attorney-client communications, but as Mr. Depp testified, and as we both made clear in our respective closings, this was never about money for Mr. Depp," Chew said. "This was about restoring his reputation, and he's done that."

Elaine Bredehoft, an attorney representing Heard, told NBC's "Today" that Heard couldn't afford the $8 million she owed Depp and that she planned to appeal the case. In a separate interview with "Today," Heard said she stood by her testimony in the defamation trial.

A settlement could take another form. The parties may agree to drop some of the defamation claims from the verdict, reduce or eliminate the damages owed, or streamline the payment process by having Heard pay Depp $8.35 million, rather than the $10.35 million she owes Depp, with Depp paying Heard $2 million in a separate transaction.

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Representatives for both Depp and Heard declined to comment on settlement negotiations.

Depp sued Heard in March 2019, alleging she defamed him by publishing a Washington Post op-ed in which she described herself as a victim of domestic violence. Heard filed a countersuit, alleging Depp abused her before and during their marriage, which ended in 2016, and that he defamed her through statements from his lawyer calling her claims a "hoax." Both celebrities testified in their six-week trial at the Fairfax County, Virginia, courthouse.

At the 11 a.m. hearing Friday, Azcarate may also accept oral arguments from each side over the jury verdict. Depp and Heard aren't personally required to be in the courtroom during the hearing, Samy Abdallah, Azcarate's clerk, told Insider.

If the two don't agree to a settlement, and Azcarate enters the jury verdict, then the case will move to the Court of Appeals of Virginia after 21 days, Abdallah told Insider. At that point, the parties would have 30 days to file a notice of appeal.

Read the original article on Insider
A Lecompte man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison and a lifetime on the sex offender registry for the December 2021 rape of a 78-year-old woman.

Jahiem Robinson, 19, will serve that sentence without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

Robinson was arrested by the Alexandria Police Department on Dec. 21, 2021, after receiving a call from an Enterprise Road apartment complex in the early morning hours.

The victim told officers that a man had come to her apartment, raped and robbed her, according to police.

Robinson was arrested soon after on charges of aggravated burglary, first-degree rape, and perpetuation of certain crimes of violence against a victim 65 or older. He was formally charged with second-degree rape in February.

Jahiem Robinson arrest: Alexandria man accused of burglary, rape

Sexual assault: 1 in 5 women will be raped; 1 in 4 girls are sexually assaulted; it can happen to anyone

On Wednesday, at a pretrial conference before 9th Judicial District Court Judge Greg Beard, Robinson pleaded guilty to the charge.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Lecompte man gets 30 years, lifetime sex offender status in 2021 rape
An Oklahoma cinema has been condemned after apologising for the inconvenience of having a same-sex kissing scene in Disney and Pixars new animated film, Lightyear.

The sign, which was reportedly posted over the weekend but has since been removed, also said theatre staff would do all they could to fast-forward through that scene.

Attention Parents: The management of this theatre discovered after booking Lightyear that there is a same-sex kissing scene within the first 30 minutes of the Pixar movie, read the sign posted on the window of the 89er Theatre in the city of Kingfisher.

We will do all we can to fast-forward through that scene, but it might not be exact, the sign added. We apologise for any inconvenience this late discovery of this scene causes.

The message, which has received tremendous backlash on social media, was apparently removed by Monday (20 June), according to KFOR.

According to The Washington Post, the owner of the theatre said they took the sign down and never actually fast-forwarded through any showing of the movie.

Chris Evans, who voices Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story spin-off, recently responded to criticism of the same-sex kiss in the film.

Movie warning about 'same-sex kissing scene' sparks controversy in Kingfisher https://t.co/SqTmps3brB  KFOR (@kfor) June 21, 2022

A Kingfisher #Oklahoma movie theater, the 89'er Theater, had this anti gay sign in front of their door saying that they would try to fast forward every showing of #lightyear until intense public pressure made them remove the sign.



Wtf?



Sadly thats so Oklahoman. pic.twitter.com/RRqnrFYQNF  Not Glen, All Glenda  (@ReverendSteve) June 21, 2022

Do I expect more from Oklahoma? No, not really. Instilling children with this kind of homophobia and (misplaced) outrage is how we end up with a suicide rate among LGBTQ+ youth that is so high. #Pride #Lightyear pic.twitter.com/qCX6nMMY9f  Aaron Schekorra (@AaronSchekorra) June 23, 2022

The real truth is, those people are idiots. Every time theres been social advancement, as we wake up, the American story, the human story is one of constant social awakening and growth and thats what makes us good, Evans told Reuters.

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Pixar had restored the same-sex kiss in Lightyear earlier in March, after staff released an open letter criticising Disneys response to Floridas Dont Say Gay bill.

While the nature of the characterss relationship hadnt been questioned by production, their kiss had reportedly earlier been cut.

Ever since the films release, it has also been banned in at least 14 countries over the kiss scenes inclusion.
A California man who was previously serving a life prison sentence for a double murder but released due to a policy by Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon was arrested in relation to the April 16 killing of a transient.

The man, Victor Bibiano, 30, served eight years out of a life sentence handed down for a double murder because Gascon's office declined to transfer the case from juvenile to adult court, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. He was recently taken into custody in May in relation to the killing of Mario Rodriguez, 40, who was found shot at a transient encampment in Pacoima, which is an area of Los Angeles.

When Bibiano was 17, he and two other people were convicted in an adult court in 2012 in relation to the killing of two gang members in Pacoima as well as wounding a third in 2009.

Initially, according to the report, Bibiano was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for shooting a firearm at an inhabited dwelling, attempted murder, and a special-circumstance double murder, but was released in 2021.

LOS ANGELES PROSECUTOR BLASTS GEORGE GASCON AFTER OFFICERS KILLED IN LINE OF DUTY: 'NO ACCOUNTABILITY'

Due to Proposition 57, approved by voters of California in 2016, every minor convicted in adult court must receive an additional transfer hearing in order to determine if the individual should be tried as an adult. Bibiano's transfer hearing was set to be in the fall of 2020 when his conviction in adult court was vacated, but due to Gascon's ban on trying people in adult court if the crime was committed while they were a juvenile, the case wasn't tried in adult court.

According to the report, Alysa Blair, a special assistant to Gascon who was previously at the Los Angeles County Public Defender's office, was over Bibiano's case and told the juvenile court judge that the District Attorney would not participate in his transfer hearing, according to Kathy Cady, who is a representative for a family of one of the murder victims.

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Cady said, according to the report, that the decision from Blair came despite a memo from the Writs and Appeals Division of the District Attorneys Office which said that California law requires that the court conducts a transfer hearing.

The juvenile system doesn't house individuals who are over the age of 26, and with Bibiano in his late 20s, the judge didn't have another option other than to release him.

In a statement to the Los Angeles Daily News, Gascon said that his office didn't seek a transfer to adult court because it couldn't prove that Bibiano would not have benefited from juvenile rehabilitative services when the original crimes were committed.

"Given that Bibiano had no prior delinquency record at the time of the homicides, he had no serious infractions while in prison, and he presented other confidential mitigating information, we determined we could not meet that burden," Gascon said. "Bibiano remained in juvenile court. We requested a Division of Juvenile Justice commitment for two additional years. That request was granted but Division of Juvenile Justice rejected Mr. Bibiano. However, as part of his release plan, Bibiano had access to support and community resources."

CALIFORNIA SUSPECT WHO KILLED TWO EL MONTE POLICE OFFICERS WAS ON PROBATION FOR GUN CHARGE, SOURCES SAY

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon is facing a recall attempt and criticism from various sides over his criminal justice reforms. Robyn Beck / AFP

Gascon also said that evidence suggests Bibiano didn't shoot or kill the transient.

"We have charged Victor Bibiano in connection with that crime, although evidence to date suggests he did not personally shoot or kill Mr. Rodriguez," Gascon said. "We extend our deepest sympathies to the loved ones of Mario Rodriguez."

While Gascon acknowledged that people aren't happy with his policies, he said that single tragedies can't be used to write policy.

"I know that people are angry, and I am angry, too," Gascon said. "But we cannot use single tragedies to make policy. One persons failure cannot lead us to doubt the potential of everyone else. In other Los Angeles cases where juveniles previously sentenced to life have been released, including Mr. Bibianos original co-defendant, the results have been overwhelmingly positive."

The district attorney also said that he "won't play politics."

"We will not play politics with this or any other tragedy. We are so sorry for those who lost a loved one, and we will make sure all those involved are held accountable," he said.

The new revaluation comes after Justin William Flores allegedly killed two El Monte, California police officers on June 14. He had a previous strike conviction and also received two years of probation for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The sentence is aligned with the policies of Gascon, who has been taken to court over his refusal to prosecute three-strike cases.

The Gascon policy allowed Flores to plead no contest and then get a light sentence handed down, despite a strike being on his criminal record.
This story has been updated to include a statement from Casey LaCaze-Lachney.

A Winnfield, LA woman's TikTok video has gone viral after she took to the app to complain about an indecent exposure citation she received at a festival on Saturday, June 11.

Casey LaCaze-Lachney, known on the app by her username @kazzi112, posted about the incident where it has received more than 2.6 million views. LaCaze-Lachney captioned the video "make it make sense" before showing viewers the outfit in question.

LaCaze-Lachney is shown wearing a black t-shirt that covered her shoulders and was cropped just above the belly button, paired with cutoff denim shorts and a studded belt.

In the video LaCaze-Lachney states "All of my bits are covered. Are you kidding me? At a family event where there's alcohol being literally handed out for free and three female cops came up to me and gave me a ticket."

Update: Louisiana woman wants city to drop citation for shorts, crop top discussed in viral TikTok

What we know: Woman's 'indecent exposure' citation over shorts, crop top goes viral

Casey LaCaze-Lachney posted a TikTok video describing an incident in Winnfield, LA where she received a public indecency charge on Saturday, June 11.

On Wednesday, June 15, the Winnfield Police Department made a post on Facebook stating:

"Recent posts to social media have had a negative impact on the service of our police officers during this family fun-filled festival. An unnamed citizen was cited for a city ordinance and has since taken to a popular social media site, blasting police officers. However, 3 female officers responded to various complaints about the person's attire and the person of interest was issued a citation under the city ordinance."

The referenced city ordinance states:

"It shall be unlawful for any person to wear pants, trousers, shorts, skirts, dresses or skorts in any public place or places open to the public which either intentionally exposes undergarments or intentionally exposes any portion of the pubic hair, cleft of buttocks, or genitals."

More: Kitten ambush, martinis and pageant queens : here's the Shreveport entertainment headlines

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According to the Winnfield Police Department's post, the fines range from $25 for a first offense to a maximum of $300 and the person may be ordered to perform up to 40 hours of community service.

"We, as public servants, will not engage in a social media war with anyone or any organization as it is improper and brings discredit upon this department," stated a department spokesperson on the Winnfield Police Department's Facebook post. "We also cannot comment on details of any case under investigation or pending court action."

Since the viral video, LaCaze-Lachney has posted two updates on TikTok explaining in more detail what happened and stated that she was looking for legal representation.

"I moved here in October and don't know the officer that approached me," said LaCaze-Lachney. "I did feel targeted. I was not informed about complaints at the time of the citation so it's unclear if it was actually driven by the community or if it was just the officers acting alone. I second guess everything I wear in public now."

To see the original videos and the updates, check out LaCaze-Lachney's TikTok page and to see the full statement from the Winnfield Police Department visit its Facebook page.

Meredith G. White is the arts and culture reporter for the Shreveport Times. You can find her on Facebook as Meredith G. White, on Instagram and Twitter as @meredithgwhite, and email her at mgwhite@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Louisiana woman's TikTok goes viral after indecent exposure charge
The San Francisco Board of Education voted the citys top public high school to return to academic-based admissions after two years of using a lottery-based system.

In a 4-3 vote on Wednesday, the boards decision will restore merit-based admissions for Lowell High Schools incoming freshmen in fall of 2023. Applicants must once again meet a designated grade point average and standardized test score criteria to qualify for admission to the school.

Lowell employed the random lottery system for the 2021 school year as a temporary measure during the COVID-19 pandemic after the district claimed that there was no adequate criteria to judge students due to distance learning.

Board officials also decided to make the new system permanent the same year. However, a Superior Court judge ruled that the board had violated the states open meeting law, which requires public officials to provide comprehensive information about their resolutions during board agendas.

More from NextShark: Chantale Wong becomes first LGBTQ person of color nominated for director of Asian Development Bank

The lottery system also aimed to help improve the schools diversity after complaints of the schools racist culture. Asian students make up half of Lowells student population at 50.6%. White students make up 18.1%, and Hispanic students follow at 11.5%, while Black students represent 1.8% of the student population.

The decision also played a role in the removal of three board members after a recall election in February 2021. The ex-members, who controversially focused on re-naming 44 schools, were criticized for misplaced priorities, including what many felt were anti-Asian policies.

Wednesdays vote rejects Superintendent Vince Matthews recommendation to employ the lottery system for another year.

More from NextShark: US warns against travel to China over arbitrary enforcement of local laws, COVID-19 restrictions

The admissions policy of Lowell has led to a widespread debate among residents. While supporters of the merit system argue that removing it would compromise Lowells legacy, those who oppose the system said diversity has increased at the school under the lottery-based admissions.

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The school board approved the creation of a task force to examine San Francisco Unified School District high schools, including their admissions policies, as a way to improve the districts high schools.

Featured Image via KPIX CBS SF Bay Area

More from NextShark: Quinnipiac University Accused of Creating Community of Hate, Racial Profiling Students of Color
Nearly 80 percent of the Maldives could become uninhabitable by 2050 due to rising sea levels, according to reports from NASA and the US Geological Survey. But a newly revealed project is aiming to change those odds.

This month, Netherlands-based developer Dutch Docklands and the government of the Maldives shared plans for a first-of-its-kind floating city. It has been in development for more than a decade as of 2022 and will house thousands of floating, water-front residences in a functional grid that spans across a 200-hectare lagoon. Dubbed Maldives Floating City, the site will be located just 10 minutes away from the Maldivess capital, Male. Hotels, restaurants, boutiques and a world-class marina are also expected to be part of the planned city.

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A rendering of the palm tree-lined cityscape. - Credit: Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands

Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands

Coral will play a crucial role in the project. The floating citys hexagon-shaped segments are modeled on the geometry of local coral and connected to a ring of barrier islands. While the city floats above the warm waters, island barriers around the lagoon will serve as breakers down below. This unique design lessens the impact of waves while also stabilizing the structures and complexes on the surface.

New renderings reveal a colorful city meant to mirror traditional Maldivian architecture. To get the details just right, Dutch Docklands worked closely with local authorities and tapped Waterstudio, an urban-planning and architecture firm, to design the concept.

An outdoor common area on the grounds. - Credit: Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands

Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands

As for domestic life, the citys homes will be low-rise structures placed along palm tree-lined streets. A network of bridges, canals and docks will help you access the amenities by foot or bike. Youll even find sandy beaches throughout the city that offer relaxation while stabilizing and protecting key structures within the lagoon. Outside of that zone, massive coral reefs will house the floating citys hotels, restaurants and shops. Pricing for the individual homes, sized from about 1000 square feet and up, are expected to start at $250,000.

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The city is backed by government-issued titles and deeds and may also allow its homeowners to qualify for Maldivian residency permits.

As for the elevated citys environmental impact, former president of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed claimed in a statement that this Maldives Floating City does not require any land reclamation, therefore has a minimal impact on the coral reefs. The city, he pointed out, may not be able stop the waves, but it can rise with them.

The boat marina and surrounding colorful residences. - Credit: Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands

Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands

Nearing the final stages of planning, the Maldives will officially commence construction on the floating city this year. It is expected to be completed in phases over the next decade, according to Dutch Docklands. Once fully realized, a hospital, school and government building will join the projects commercial and residential structures.

This will be an amazing place where locals and foreigners can buy their dream property at affordable prices, Dutch Docklands CEO Paul HTM van de Camp said. If true, we suspect everyone would welcome that.

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The Daily Beast

Ukrainian State Emergency Service / Handout/Anadolu Agency via GettyRussia fired a series of rockets at a shopping center in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, on Monday, raising fears that Russia is stepping up its attacks on civilian structures regardless of the loss of life.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday there were more than a thousand civilians inside the shopping mall and the casualties to come might bring even more shock and horror to Ukrainian people already confronting so much deat
Jun. 23MANKATO  In-person genetic counseling used to require a drive to Rochester or the Twin Cities, until Michael Potts joined Mayo Clinic Health System's oncology team in Mankato.

The licensed genetic counselor, the first in Mayo's southwest Minnesota region, recently started providing the service in person and via telehealth at Andreas Cancer Center.

Genetic counseling is about trying to catch cancer early, Potts said, while helping patients and physicians determine the best course for cancer management and treatment.

"One of the benefits of genetic testing is, if we find something that's there, it can affect screening and management, how often they get screened and what screenings they do," he said.

He described it as a partnership with the patient. Patients share their personal and family health history, including any known cancer diagnoses. Genetic counselors, in turn, analyze the results, looking into the role genetics contributed to health conditions.

Many cancers have strong links to genetics, including breast, ovarian, colorectal and prostate. Other cancers aren't so clear cut. Potts and his fellow genetic counselors are tasked with navigating patients through the complexities.

It's a highly useful tool in cancer care, said Dr. Amrit Singh, oncologist at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato.

"Many times it can affect a patient's surgical decision on the type of surgery they may want to have, as well as the treatment course," he said.

For patients with cancer, finding out about certain gene mutations could qualify them for targeted therapies rather than an invasive surgery. For people who don't have cancer, but do have a family history of cancer, genetic counseling could influence how often they and their family should seek screenings.

"It gives us an idea of whether someone will get cancer earlier in life," Singh said.

Frequent patient interaction is what drew Potts to a career in genetic counseling. When he was considering the health-care field, he recalls a job shadow with a surgeon where it was clear the physician had a strong rapport with patients.

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Soon after, Potts learned about genetic counseling, seeing it as a pathway to work closely with patients.

"I have the opportunity to listen to patients, hear their concerns, what they're struggling with, happy with," Potts said.

Originally from Park Rapids, Potts moved to Oregon with his family as a teen. He worked in Washington before coming to Mankato, and earned his master's degree in genetic counseling from Boise State University in Idaho.

He said coming to Mayo in Mankato, which serves a wide geographic region, fits his passion for rural health care. From a graduate school project on genetic counseling in rural areas, he said he knows how important access closer to home can be.

"It's great to be here providing that, being the focal point of contact on genetic counseling," he said.

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@BrianArola
Associated Press

The House Jan. 6 panel is calling a surprise hearing this week to present evidence it says it recently obtained, raising expectations of new bombshells in the sweeping investigation into the Capitol insurrection. Lawmakers on the panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection said last week that there would be no more hearings until July. The committees investigation has been ongoing during the hearings that started three weeks ago, and the nine-member panel has continued to probe the attack by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.
Here's a look at promotions, hirings, movers and newsmakers in the Memphis area business scene:

David Mason, an associate professor in the Media Studies program at Rhodes College, is the recipient of a Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship. The fellowship allows him to conduct research for his project, Theatre In North India, in affiliation with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. Its aim is to provide U.S. faculty, researchers and professionals the opportunity to teach, conduct research or carry out a combination of teaching and research at an Indian institution. Mason has expertise in theater history, performance theory, theater in India, and religion and theater. He has focused on India where, according to him, theater and religion are often overtly participatory and where community dependence on theater is clear.

Financial expert and community leader Vicki R. Palmer of Atlanta was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree during the 173rd Commencement of Rhodes College on May 14. She is president of The Palmer Group general management consulting company, which she started after retiring from Coca-Cola Enterprises in 2009 as executive vice president for financial services and administration. Her career with Coca-Cola spanned more than 25 years. Palmer graduated from South Side High School in Memphis as valedictorian and was recruited by a professor to attend Rhodes.

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) has elected Southwest Tennessee Community College President Tracy D. Hall to its board of directors to represent the National Council on Black American Affairs (NCBAA). Hall will serve a three-year term, effective July 1-June 30, 2025. AACC serves as the primary advocacy organization for community colleges across the nation and the board consists of 32-members, six of which are representatives of affiliated councils. AACC is a founding partner of Achieving the Dream, a leader in championing evidence-based institutional improvement that supports improved outcomes for all students and of which Southwest joined in 2016, a year after Hall took the helm as president.

Lehman-Roberts Co. and its sister company Memphis Stone & Gravel, a member of the highway paving, construction, asphalt and aggregate industry, announced the appointments of Matt High, Don Fletcher and Melanie Stinson to its Executive Leadership Team. Serving as a controller for the family of companies, High is responsible for supporting day-to-day company accounting operations along with overseeing financial reporting and compliance. Director of Quality Control Fletcher supervises incoming and outgoing materials that span across the companies entire operations. Human Resources Manager Stinson directs all aspects of HR practices and processes.

As part of its 91st anniversary celebration recognizing community leaders and businesses that help make Memphis a great place to live and work, Carnival Memphis saluted the Mid-South Accounting Profession during the 35th annual Business & Industry Salute Luncheon May 11. In addition, five individuals received special recognition. These organizations and individuals have been selected based on their success and commitment to their industry as well as the Mid-South community.

This years recipient of the Cook Halle Award for outstanding contribution to the Accounting Profession and the Mid-South community was Robert S. Hester Jr. He has worked and managed two of the largest local CPA offices in Arthur Andersen and Deloitte & Touche.

The Kings Award honored James Davis who taught accounting for more than 55 years at the Patterson School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi. Davis has taught more than 12,000 students in classes ranging from auditing and tax to advanced accounting, and he is responsible for many entering the profession.

The 2022 Presidents Award was presented to Edith Kelly-Green . She studied accounting at Ole Miss, followed by a career of nearly 30 years at FedEx Corp., during which she was the first African American woman to hold the title of vice president at FedEx.

The Chairmans Award recipients were N. Gordon Thompson and Steve Dunavant who in 1997 merged their two accounting firms to create Thompson Dunavant. The firm grew quickly to become the largest accounting firm in the Memphis area before merging in 2011 with CBIZ/MHM.

The businesses saluted were these Memphis-based accounting organizations, firms and schools: Banks, Finley, White & Co.; Frazee Ivy Davis; The Marston Group; National Association of Black Accountants, Inc.-Memphis Chapter; University of Memphis Fogelman College of Business Crews School of Accountancy; Reynolds, Bone, & Griesbeck; Rhodes College Department of Economics and Business-Accounting Department; and Watkins Uiberall.

NOTEWORTHY

The Section 14A of the Wolf River Greenway was honored with a dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting May 17 in recognition of the section featuring the longest pedestrian bridge over the Wolf River, a raised boardwalk trail through the Lucius Burch State Natural Area and the critical connection point to the Shelby Farms Greenline. The recently completed section includes a 270-foot-long cable-stayed bridge and a half-mile elevated concrete boardwalk (15-foot, 6-inch-wide) through the Lucius Burch State Natural Area at Shelby Farms Park.

 Compiled by Daniel Ginsburg

Email information and photos in JPEG format, at least 1MB in size, for People in Business to cabiznews@commercialappeal.com.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis business news: Promotions, hirings, achievers and company news
Millions of Americans have heavily relied on pharmacies to easily access COVID-19 vaccines and boosters throughout the pandemic.

More than 254 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered and reported by retail pharmacies across the country through June 8, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But parents seeking to vaccinate their toddlers and babies following last weeks authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5 may be in for a surprise. Most U.S. states don't allow pharmacists or their technicians to administer vaccines to kids under a certain age, according to a 2021 map created by the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations.

Its been a process for the past 30 years to get pharmacists immunization administration authority, said Allie Jo Shipman, director of state policy at the pharmacy association. It depends on the state, and a lot of it is political.

Many states in the Northeast dont allow pharmacists to give vaccines to children at all, restricting the minimum age to 18. Other states have age restrictions ranging from 6 to 14.

These age restrictions were modified in June 2021 by the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, which temporarily allows pharmacists to order and administer vaccines to children over 3 during a public health emergency.

But that still means a sizable chunk of children who are eligible to get a COVID-19 shot wont be able to get one at their local pharmacy, including some of the largest chains in the country.

Walgreens confirmed in a statement to USA TODAY that its pharmacy personnel are authorized to provide the COVID-19 vaccine to children over 3, in accordance with the PREP Act.

CVS pharmacists offer vaccinations to children 5 and over in select locations, according to company spokesperson Matthew Blanchette. Parents of younger tots are directed to the MinuteClinic website, where board-certified family nurse practitioners, physician associates and nurses are authorized to vaccinate children under 5.

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Although COVID-19 vaccines are authorized for infants 6 months and older, the youngest the MinuteClinic will vaccinate is 18 months.

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"We recommend reaching out to your childs pediatrician for children ages six to 17 months for vaccination options," Blanchette said in a statement sent to USA TODAY Wednesday.

While some states don't have any restrictions regarding pediatric vaccines, Shipman said many pharmacists decline to vaccinate little kids.

"Even though pharmacists are trained to do it, they don't feel comfortable because they havent had a lot of practice or haven't immunized in that age range since they were trained," she said.

She advises parents to call ahead before scheduling a COVID-19 vaccine appointment to make sure their pharmacist is willing to administer the shot.

Vaccinating babies and toddlers requires "a greater level of skill and experience" than adults, said Dr. Robert Amler, a pediatrician and the dean of New York Medical College's School of Health Sciences and Practice.

The overall target is smaller, he said, which means medical professionals need to use a shorter needle. Instead of the shoulder, shots are given in the leg, steering clear of certain muscles "to avoid serious injury."

"Calming and handling an anxious baby and parent also require an advanced skill set that is developed with experience," Amler said. "Medical personnel who regularly care for patients in this age group are aware of these issues."

While it might be ideal to provide vaccines at one-on-one pediatrician appointments, some families, especially in poorer communities, don't have a "medical home," said pediatrician Dr. Sara Bode, medical director of Nationwide Children's Hospital's school-based health and mobile clinics program in Columbus, Ohio.

She said a key to vaccinating younger children of color and others in marginalized communities will be leveraging relationships with trusted neighborhood centers, such as day cares or preschools, where the hospital already sends mobile medical units for other health services.

"We already have several of our early childhood education centers that serve kids that might be either economically disadvantaged or might be centers that have a higher percentage of kids of racial and ethnic minorities," Bode said. "We have to think about having clinics that are at locations that are easily accessible."

Contributing: Nada Hassanein, USA TODAY. Follow Adrianna Rodriguez on Twitter: @AdriannaUSAT.

Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial input.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID vaccine for kids: Most pharmacies can't give your baby the shot
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he is considering more new gun control legislation after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of gun owners who want to carry their weapons outside the home.

The nation's highest court on Thursday struck down a New York state law that gave local officials broad authority to deny gun permits for almost any reason. New Jersey has had a similar law for decades, restricting handgun permits to people with a justifiable need. Gun rights advocates have said such subjective standards are unconstitutional  and now the high court agreed.

Murphy, a Democrat, called the ruling by a 6-3 conservative majority deeply flawed, but expected.

"Let there be no mistake  this dangerous decision will make America a less safe country," Murphy said in a statement, echoing similarly strong language from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. But let me be equally clear that, here in New Jersey, we will do everything in our power to protect our residents."

New Jersey has among the toughest gun laws in the nation.

Hochul, also a Democrat, called the decision frightful in its scope, its language shocking and said the court was turning this nation and our ability to protect our citizens back to our founding fathers.

Thursday's decision doesnt mean handguns are suddenly legal for anyone to conceal carry, a point New Jersey Acting Attorney General Matt Platkin sought to emphasize in a statement after the court's ruling. People still must get permits, and there are still permit requirements that remain in effect. For instance, New Jersey's current law prevents criminals and drug addicts from owning a gun. Handgun owners must also be 21 years or older.

Carrying a handgun without a permit is still illegal in this state, and all other requirements for obtaining a carry permit still apply, Platkin said.

But the ruling does upend a century-old standard New Jersey used to limit handguns.

This is not tomorrow you get on NJ Transit with a 40 caliber. Thats not the reality because there is still a permitting process, William Castner, an adviser to Murphy on firearms, said in an interview. But the reality is this is going to be culturally shocking in a state like New Jersey, to have many more people carry guns in public and will lead to more gun violence deaths.

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The case on which the Supreme Court ruled, known as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, will likely set off a scramble in blue states like New Jersey, New York and California to plug what Democrats see as a hole blown in the side of their gun control regimes  and by gun rights advocates to make sure those limits remain narrow.

"The Bruen decision spells the end for New Jersey's decades-long interference with the peoples' fundamental right of self-defense with a firearm outside the home, said Scott Bach, the executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs. It also spells the end for many other New Jersey laws which have violated other aspects of the Second Amendment as well."

Murphy said his administration had been anticipating Thursday's decision and has come up with options we believe are still available to us regarding who can carry concealed weapons and where they can carry them.

The changes will rely on a close review of the courts ruling, which still allows restrictions that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, like felons, and keep guns from being carried into sensitive places, such as schools and government buildings. In New Jersey, guns are already generally banned from school and college campuses.

State Sen. Joe Cryan (D-Union) told reporters at the Statehouse he doesnt think most people in New Jersey want to have folks carrying weapons on hips in supermarkets.

I don't see the benefit of the decision for this state, he said. And I certainly don't agree with it whatsoever.

State Sen. Ed Durr (R-Gloucester), who has been among the most vocal Second Amendment supporters in the Legislature, welcomed the court's ruling.

Absolutely love it, said Durr, who has said he was inspired to run for office in part due to his support of gun rights. I think it was long overdue. I think what we have now is a proof positive that the Second Amendment has always been there for the citizens  and New Jersey's going to have to get in line with the rest of the country. 

Gun control advocates have also been eyeing new requirements for people with permits, like requiring them to carry insurance.

But there is an open question about whether Murphy can get such restrictions across the finish line. Murphys long-stalled third gun package is only now making its way through the state Senate after seeing little action since the governor first gave the legislation his backing in April 2021. But the recent mass murders of children in a Texas school and Black residents in a New York supermarket have given gun control new urgency for some politicians, including a bipartisan group in Congress.

Carly Sitrin contributed to this report.
SpaceX is building a towering new gantry at the Kennedy Space Center's complex 39A to launch its 394-foot-tall Super Heavy-Starship rocket, but NASA said Thursday it will not grant permission to fly until it assesses the possible threats to a nearby pad used to send astronauts to the space station.

The new gantry and launch stand are being built within about 1,000 feet of NASA's original 39A firing stand, now leased by SpaceX, where Falcon 9 rockets blast off carrying cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.

Reuters reported last week that NASA managers are concerned about the possibility of a catastrophic failure on or just above the new Starship pad that could seriously damage the Falcon 9 launch infrastructure, interrupting SpaceX astronaut flights to the space station aboard Crew Dragon capsules.

A SpaceX Super Heavy first stage and Starship upper stage spacecraft were

"We all recognize that if you had an early failure like we did on one of the early SpaceX flights, it would be pretty devastating to 39A," Kathy Lueders, NASA's space operations chief, told Reuters.

She was presumably referring to an on-pad explosion in 2016 that destroyed a Falcon 9 and its communications satellite payload, severely damaging launch pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the process.

The Super Heavy-Starship takes that threat to a different level.

Tipping the scales at about 11 million pounds, the fully reusable next-generation rocket will be the largest, most powerful launcher ever built, generating 16 million pounds of thrust at liftoff  twice that of NASA's Space Launch System moon rocket  using 33 methane-burning Raptor engines.

The 160-foot-tall Starship upper stage, carrying astronauts, cargo or both, will be powered by six Raptors. A variant of the upper stage is being developed under a $2.9 billion NASA contract to serve as the initial moon lander in the agency's Artemis program.

The second of eight massive Starship launch gantry segments was hauled out to pad 39A overnight Wednesday. (Credit: William Harwood/CBS News) / Credit: William Harwood/CBS News

SpaceX repaired and upgraded launch complex 40 in the wake of the 2016 mishap and operates a third Falcon 9 pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. But neither of those facilities is equipped to launch Crew Dragon astronaut ferry ships.

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Boeing's Starliner capsule, which will be launched from a crew-ready pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, is not yet certified for operational use and NASA considers complex 39A critical to ongoing space station operations.

Responding to a query from CBS News, NASA confirmed the Reuters story, saying Thursday SpaceX does not yet have permission to launch from the 39A complex.

"In the coming weeks, NASA and SpaceX will conduct a thorough review to ensure safe operations at the pad and assess redundant launch capabilities for NASA crewed and cargo missions to the International Space Station," NASA said in a statement.

"As part of the review, NASA and SpaceX are assessing all options available including the development of a crew transportation capability at Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida."

The second gantry segment was lifted and lowered into place early Thursday (right), about 1,000 feet from the company's Falcon 9 pad and gantry (left). / Credit: CBS News

Pad 40 has no gantry at present and SpaceX would have to carry out extensive modifications and upgrades to add access to a Crew Dragon atop a Falcon 9, to enable last-minute cargo additions and to provide emergency escape capability.

As for the Super Heavy-Starship, SpaceX already has built a pad at Boca Chica, Texas, where the company plans to begin orbital flight tests soon. It's in the process of building a second Starship pad at 39A, stacking massive open-lattice segments one atop the other using a huge crane.

The first of eight gantry segments was hauled out to the complex last week and a second was attached early Thursday.

The NASA statement said the agency "is responsible for ensuring SpaceX remains compliant with the requirements of the property agreement for the use of Launch Complex 39A."

"These requirements include those related to construction, safety and environmental conditions," the statement said. "At this time, NASA has only provided approval to build. Additional review for hazards, operational impacts and supportability will be required prior to a launch."

And as with all launches from U.S. soil, SpaceX will need a license from the Federal Aviation Administration.

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By Jan Strupczewski

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union should stop adding sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and instead push for a ceasefire and the start of negotiations, a senior aide to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday.

Speaking on the sidelines of a summit of EU leaders which granted Ukraine the status of a candidate to become a member of the EU, the aide said the more sanctions the EU adopted the more they hurt the bloc, while Russia survived.

"At the end of the day Europe will be on the losing side of this war because of the economic problems. Our recommendation would bee that we should stop the sanction process," Balazs Orban, not related to the prime minister, told Reuters in an interview.

Hungary is one of the most pro-Russian EU countries, heavily dependent on Russian gas and oil. Russia is also building a nuclear reactor for Hungary. Budapest had held up the latest package of sanctions against Moscow that included a ban on Russian oil imports until it negotiated an exemption for itself.

"Right now what we experience is that the more sanctions we accept, the worse shape we are in. And the Russians? Yes, it hurts them as well, but they survive. And what is even worse, they proceed in Ukraine," Balazs Orban said.

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, the 27-nation European Union has agreed on six packages of sanctions that include asset freezes and visa bans on Russian oligarchs and officials, export controls, freezing central bank assets, disconnecting banks from the SWIFT messaging system and a ban on imports of Russian coal and oil.

But some officials argue that individual oligarchs can live without some of their yachts or Western villas, have probably already moved liquid assets outside the EU and export controls might be circumvented by China and others.

The freeze on the Russian central bank reserves is made less painful by the billions of dollars Russia gets every day for its oil and gas still flowing to Europe, they say. Once the EU stops buying Russian oil next year, the crude can be sold and shipped by tankers to China or India, some officials say.

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Others argue the sanctions are working, but it will take time before their full impact on the Russian economy shows.

Orban, however, said the EU should change its tactics.

"We reached a point when we realise that we followed the strategy for four months, we have some achievements, but if it continues like this, according to reasonable thinking, it will end up in a bad way for Europe. So we have to think about something. Negotiations, ceasefire, peace. Diplomacy. That's our solution," Orban said.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; editing by Grant McCool)
WORCESTER  A Northborough man has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $360,000 from a Sturbridge nonprofit that helps people with mental and developmental disabilities, according to federal authorities.

Kyriakos "Rick" Kapiris, 36, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Worcester to two counts of wire fraud and a single count of money laundering.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 14.

Kapiris was an IT manager at Venture Community Services in Sturbridge between April 2015 and May 2015.

According to the federal indictment, Kapiris could use two company credit cards to purchase necessary equipment and services. Authorities say Kapiris created three false vendor accounts from which he arranged to have Venture Community Services make purchases, only to pocket the money himself.

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But instead of the credit card charges going to the company, money was routed to personal accounts, federal authorities said. Kapiris is accused of stealing $366,477.

According to federal authorities, Kapiris used the money for personal expenses, including nearly a $20,000 renovation on his Northborough home.

Authorities have filed forfeiture claims against the home, on Westbrook Road, and other property.

In a statement, Venture Community Services President and CEO Mike Hyland thanked the authorities for the resolution of the case.

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"Venture Community Services, a nonprofit that provides services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities across eastern and central Mass., terminated Kyriakos 'Rick' Kapiris as the agencys information technology director on May 29, 2020 after an internal investigation revealed financial crimes," Hyland said. "The agency promptly reported these crimes to local law enforcement, and cooperated fully with the investigation. None of the people supported by Venture were affected by the crimes. Venture conducted a criminal background check on this former employee prior to hire and had rigorous internal controls in place that are reviewed annually by an independent auditor. Venture is grateful for the efforts of the Sturbridge Police Department, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts in bringing Kapiris to justice."

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Kapiris' lawyer, Timothy Watkins, said he and his client had no comment about the case or the guilty pleas.

Kapiris faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release for each count of wire fraud. He also faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release for the money laundering charge.

Federal sentencing guidelines are typically less than the maximum sentence.

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow Norman Miller on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Northborough man pleads guilty to embezzling $366,000 from nonprofit
The head of the Uvalde school district police force -- who oversaw the response to the school shooting in which 19 children were killed last month in Texas -- has been suspended, the superintendent said Wednesday.

The announcement came a day after the head of Texas' public safety department called the police response to the massacre an "abject failure."

"From the beginning of this horrible event, I shared that the district would wait until the investigation was complete before making personnel decisions," Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harrell said in a statement.

"Because of the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown timing of when I will receive the results of the investigations, I have made the decision to place Chief (Pete) Arredondo on administrative leave effective on this date," Harrell said.

Nineteen young children and two teachers were killed when a teenage gunman went on a rampage at Robb Elementary School on May 24 in America's worst school shooting in a decade. Police eventually shot and killed the gunman.

Local police have been under intense scrutiny since it emerged that more than a dozen officers waited for an hour outside a pair of adjoining classrooms where the shooting was taking place and did nothing as children lay dead or dying inside.

On Tuesday, Steve McCraw, Texas' public safety chief, told state senators during a hearing that Arredondo "decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children."

"There's compelling evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at Robb Elementary was an abject failure and antithetical to everything we've learned over the last two decades since the Columbine massacre," McCraw said, referring to the 1999 Colorado high school shooting that left 13 people dead. It was America's first major school massacre.

"The officers had weapons, the children had none. The officers had body armor, the children had none. The officers had training, the subject had none," he testified.

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The mayor of Uvalde said Tuesday that Robb Elementary School would be demolished.

"You can never ask a child to go back, or a teacher to go back in that school ever," Don McLoughlin said at a city council meeting.

rle/led/caw/dw
WASHINGTON (AP)  The United States will send another $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including some additional medium-range rocket systems, to help push back Russian progress in the war, officials announced Thursday.

The latest package includes four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, which will double the number they have now. All four were prepositioned in Europe, and training on those systems has already begun with the Ukrainian troops who will use them, said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Anton Semelroth, a Pentagon spokesman. The first four HIMARS that the U.S. previously sent have already gone to the battlefield in Ukraine and are in the hands of troops there.

According to the Pentagon, the aid also includes 18 tactical vehicles that are used to tow howitzers, so the weapons can be moved around the battlefield, as well as 18 coastal and riverine patrol boats, thousands of machine guns, grenade launchers and rounds of ammunition, and some other equipment and spare parts.

The new aid comes just a week after the U.S. announced it was sending $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, and as the Russian military continues to slowly expand its control in the eastern Donbas region. Ukrainian leaders have persistently asked for the more advanced, precision rocket systems in order to better fight back against Russia.

The Russian military captured two villages in eastern Ukraine on Thursday and is fighting for control of a key highway in a campaign to cut supply lines and encircle frontline Ukrainian forces, according to British and Ukrainian military officials.

Russian forces have been bombarding the city of Sievierodonetsk for weeks with artillery and air raids, and fought the Ukrainian army house-to-house. The HIMARS gives Ukraine the ability to strike Russian forces and weapons from further away, making it less risky for Ukrainian troops. The systems are mounted on trucks, which carry a container with six precision-guided rockets that can travel about 45 miles (70 kilometers).

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It took about three weeks to train Ukrainian troops on the first four HIMARS, before the systems were moved to the fight.

The aid is part of the $40 billion in security and economic assistance passed last month by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. And it is the 13th package of military weapons and equipment committed to Ukraine since the war began.

Overall, since the war started in late February, the U.S. has committed about $6.1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including this latest package. The $450 million in equipment and weapons will be from drawdown authority, which means the Defense Department will take it all from its own stocks and ship it to Ukraine.
WASHINGTON  The White House is launching a formal partnership with 11 East Coast governors to boost the growing offshore wind industry, a key element of President Joe Biden's plan for climate change.

At a White House meeting on Thursday, Biden administration officials will meet with governors and labor leaders to announce commitments to expand important parts of the offshore industry, including manufacturing facilities, ports and workforce training and development.

The partnership comprises governors of both parties from Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Three of Deepwater Wind's five turbines stand in the water off Block Island.

In working with states and the private sector, the White House said it will provide Americans with cleaner and cheaper energy, create good-paying jobs and invest billions in new American energy supply chains,'' including construction of wind turbines, shipbuilding and servicing.

Biden has set a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030, enough to provide electricity to 10 million homes, support 77,000 jobs and spur $12 billion per year in private investment in offshore wind. Offshore wind is a key component in the Democratic president's plan to make the nations electric grid carbon free by 2035.

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The Biden administration has approved two large-scale wind projects, Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts and South Fork Wind off New York and Rhode Island. Both are under construction with union labor. The Interior Department has begun reviews of another 10 offshore projects that, if approved, would produce 22 gigawatts of clean energy.

Danish wind developer Orsted signed a project labor agreement last month with a national union representing 3 million people in the building trades to construct the companys U.S. offshore wind farms with an American union workforce. Orsted currently has six offshore projects in five states.

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A national agreement signed with North Americas Building Trades Unions covers contractors working on those projects and future ones, with no termination date on the project labor agreement. It sets the terms and conditions for union workers to build offshore wind farms, with targets to ensure a diverse workforce. It contains provisions for training to ensure they can construct the complex infrastructure, which costs billions of dollars.

We recognize that states are huge players here,'' said David Hayes, a White House climate adviser. With a formal partnership, the Biden administration can work with the governors on policies going forward and help ensure that there is an American-made supply chain for this brand-new industry,'' Hayes said in an interview Wednesday.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement that he and other East Coast governors are united with our regional and federal partners not just by geography but by a shared commitment to clean and affordable energy, economic opportunity and a future in which all community members are shielded from the worsening impacts of climate change.''

New Jersey's status as a critical supply chain hub uniquely positions us to cultivate the burgeoning domestic clean energy industry as we strive to achieve our (greenhouse gas) reduction goals,'' the Democratic governor said.

The federal-state collaboration comes as the Biden administration has announced a plan to conduct up to seven offshore wind auctions by 2025, including one held last month off North Carolina and earlier this year in a coastal area known as the New York Bight. Other sales are expected in the Gulf of Maine, the central Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as offshore in California and Oregon.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Biden, McKee, other East Coast governors team up on offshore wind
Shanghai nets range of multinationals

08:28, June 23, 2022 By WANG YING in Shanghai ( China Daily

Enterprises attracted by investment potential in financial hub

The Chinese team at German chemicals maker Covestro is making every effort to land a major investment project for Shanghai.

The team, which has examined every detail of the project, is planning a videoconference between the city's leaders and Covestro's global CEO to discuss it, according to Holly Lei, senior vice-president of Covestro Group and president of Covestro China.

She added that the team is working flat out to push the group's headquarters into awarding the projectdetails of which have not been disclosedto Shanghai.

"The city is extremely important for us. It is our home, where we have the Shanghai integrated site, the company's largest site worldwide, as well as an Asia-Pacific research and development center," Lei said.

Covestro is not the only company to view Shanghai as an attractive proposition.

On June 15, the municipal authorities certified 30 regional headquarters for global corporations and 10 research and development centers in Shanghai, indicating the city's pulling power as an investment destination for multinationals, despite the impact of the recent COVID-19 outbreak locally.

Such companies' confidence is based on their development and the financial hub's growth in past decades.

Fujiwara Kentaro, CEO of Shiseido China, said, "The Shanghai municipal government has been fully supportive of efforts to restore our business after the outbreak. With China now Shiseido's largest overseas market, we remain optimistic regarding the nation's economic outlook and market potential."

In recent years, the Japanese cosmetics giant has seized opportunities to explore the Chinese market and deepen its local innovation capability.

By launching its third China Innovation Center at Oriental Beauty Valley, one of China's largest cosmetics and health industrial hubs, located in Shanghai's Fengxian district, Shiseido is committed to strengthening its research and development, or R&D, and innovation tailored for the Chinese market.

Eddy Chan, senior vice-president of FedEx Express and president of FedEx China, said, "Over the years, the Chinese government and the Shanghai municipal authorities have always provided a prime business environment for foreign enterprises, and Shanghai has witnessed many milestones achieved by FedEx in its development in China."

The company opened the FedEx Shanghai International Express and Cargo Hub at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in 2018, Chan said. The center is not only an important facility for FedEx in the Asia-Pacific region, but also the largest of its kind at the airport. It also enables greater access to the company's global network for customers in eastern China, particularly those shipping goods to the United States and Europe.

After the recent COVID-19 outbreak, FedEx resumed operations in Shanghai at the start of this month, fully supporting the local authorities' efforts to contain the disease.

"We are positive about China's business environment, and we are fully confident in Shanghai's economic development and investment outlook," Chan said.

Together with the city's rapid recovery from the outbreak, multinationals' confidence in Shanghai is based on the city's achievements.

In 2020, the metropolis basically became a global center for economic, financial, trade, shipping and technological innovation. It is now on its way to further strengthening four major functions: allocating global resources; initiating technological innovation; leading development of high-end industries; and becoming an opening-up gateway. These functions are in line with requirements stressed by President Xi Jinping during his visit to Shanghai in November 2019.

Deals signed

Although the local spread of COVID-19 has not yet been completely contained, business activity is bustling again in Shanghai.

On June 16, a ceremony was held to mark 322 major industrial projects with a combined investment of 565.8 billion yuan being signed in Shanghai. It also celebrated the start of construction on 48 other projects worth 162.7 billion yuan.

In total, 90 of the new projects involve the integrated circuits, biopharmaceuticals and artificial intelligence industries, with the city striving to accelerate their development in the past few years.

A number of the investments have been placed by multinationals.

Xiao Song, global executive vice-president of Siemens and chairman, president and CEO of Siemens China, said, "More than 80 percent of Siemens' major production in Shanghai has been restored so far, and we will continue to expand our investment in the city."

The German technology company has established a complete localized value chain in Shanghai, ranging from R&D to manufacturing and services.

Xiang Xiaofang, vice-president of Ford China, said the impact of the pandemic will not shake the company's confidence in China.

Ford, which has been in the Chinese market for 27 years, has produced millions of vehicles in the country, and continues to believe that China offers tremendous opportunities, according to Xiang.

"This year, we will continue our transformation in electrification and intelligentization in China, as well as providing Chinese consumers with Ford's best products and services," Xiang said.

Ming Cheng Chien, Asia-Pacific president for Lanxess, a German specialty chemicals company, said, "We are continuously seeking opportunities in China, and the Chinese government's efforts have allowed multinational corporations such as Lanxess to constantly find new opportunities, and raise assets and investments to coordinate with development of the Chinese economy."

As the world's largest chemical production and sales market, China not only supports this market globally, but also serves the worldwide supply chain, Chien said. For example, Shanghai Port, the world's largest container port, plays a vital role in maintaining global supply chain stability.

"We are glad the Chinese government and the Shanghai municipal authorities have taken effective measures to maintain the supply chain while combating COVID-19.Such action will not only support our domestic production, but also ensure Lanxess' global production," Chien said.

Confronting the challenges posed by COVID-19, Lanxess opened its Asia-Pacific application development center at Shanghai Chemical Industry Park last year.

Meanwhile, Zhou Zhaolin, vice-president of Milliken Chemical Asia, a company based in the United States, said it is expanding its packaging innovation center in Shanghai. The expansion is aimed at further enhancing collaborative innovation with upstream and downstream enterprises.

This month, Milliken resumed projects affected by the pandemic, including upgrading the center. Other works are being accelerated. According to Zhou, Milliken will continue to increase business investment in China.

Chemical manufacturer BASF China said the experience of the past few months has shown its employees' dedication and resilience despite changes and challenges posed by COVID-19.

The company said: "China, the biggest chemicals market in the world, is projected to account for 50 percent of the global chemical market share by 2030. BASF still has plenty of room for further growth in China. Our investments in local production and R&D will continue."

The German chemical giant resumed normal operations at its sites in Shanghai after coming out of closed-loop management on June 10.Its average production capacity in the city has been more than 70 percent since the middle of last month.

As a major foreign investor in China's chemical industry, BASF operates the Innovation Campus Shanghai, a global and regional R&D hub. Opened in November 2012, it is the company's largest such site in the region.

Over the past five years, the Innovation Campus Shanghai has applied for more than 220 patents, and it also plays an increasing role in developing innovation for the automotive, construction, and consumer goods industries, according to a written response from BASF China.

Expo attendance

Fully confident in the Chinese market, Brother Industries, a machinery and solutions company based in Japan, will continue developing in China and contribute to Shanghai's economic restoration and revitalization.

Preparing to resume business after the COVID-19 outbreak, Brother (China) will take part in the fifth China International Import Expo, or CIIE, in Shanghai in November.

Yin Bingxin, chairman and president of Brother (China), said: "Our company has gained a lot from the expo's spillover effect. This prompted our decision to participate in the expo, and we invite our business partners in China to join us at the event."

With China committed to opening-up and promoting global development, Shanghai has successfully held four CIIEs by attracting businesses from across the world. Foreign enterprises view the expo as a platform to showcase their products, technology and innovation.

DuPont, a science and technology company based in the US, is another active participant in the event. "We have confirmed our participation in the fifth CIIE, and we are planning to occupy a bigger booth this year," said Zhang Yi, president of DuPont Asia-Pacific.

"We have innovative solutions for mega trends in China, including new energy vehicles, renewable energy, environmental protection, electronics, 5G communications, and advanced manufacturing technology, among others," Zhang said.

Fujiwara, from Shiseido, said, "We showcase our technological and innovative achievements through the platform offered by the expo." The company is taking part in the event for the fourth consecutive year.

By the end of last year, more than 60,000 foreign enterprises were invested in Shanghai. The city is also home to 848 multinationals' regional headquarters, and as of the end of last month it had 512 R&D centers funded by foreign capital.

On May 29, Shanghai announced a 50-measure action plan to fully assist domestic and foreign enterprises to recover from challenges posed by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Xiang, from Ford, said that to ensure its production and supply chain stability in China and globally, the company contacted the Shanghai authorities, who provided prompt support and various solutions for Ford and its key component suppliers.

"To date, production at Ford's major suppliers in Shanghai has returned to more than 80 percent of the pre-pandemic level, greatly easing pressure on the global supply chain," Xiang said.

President Xi Jinping, in the keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the third CIIE in 2020, said: "As we often say in China, 'Those who do not make their way to the Great Wall are not true heroes.' Now, at a time of formidable challenges facing the global economy, it is imperative that we bolster confidence and courage to tide us over this difficult period together.

"China will join hands with all countries to create opportunities in opening-up, tackle difficult problems through cooperation, and foster a brighter future for humanity."

Zhong Nanin Beijing contributed to this story.

SHANGHAI MARCHES AHEAD MUKESH MOHANAN/CHINA DAILY

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Hongyu)
Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is moving his companys headquarters from Chicago to Miami.

In a note to employees Thursday, Griffin said his investment firm, Citadel, will relocate to new headquarters in Miamis financial district after more than 30 years in Chicago. Citadel, which has about 1,000 employees in Chicago, will maintain an office in the city, but many are expected to shift with the corporate locus to the Sunshine State, where Griffin, a Florida native, recently moved with his family.

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Chicago will continue to be important to the future of Citadel, as many of our colleagues have deep ties to Illinois, Griffin said in his note. Over the past year, however, many of our Chicago teams have asked to relocate to Miami, New York and our other offices around the world.

[Ken Griffins announcement about Citadels move comes at a curious time politically for the billionaire. Read more here]

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Citadel Securities, a co-owned trading firm, will also be making the move to Miami. Citadel has more than 4,000 employees in 17 offices worldwide.

The wealthiest man in Illinois, Griffin founded Citadel in 1990 and built it into one of the largest hedge funds in the world. Worth a reported $27 billion, he has long been a civic force in Chicago, donating more than $1 billion to organizations such as the Art Institute, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Science and Industry, which announced it would be renamed in honor of Griffin in 2019.

But Griffin, 53, has also been a sharp critic of the city in recent years. In an appearance before the Economic Club of Chicago in October, Griffin cited increased crime and violence on the city streets as one of several reasons why Citadel, which has $51 billion in assets under management, was considering a move to greener corporate pastures.

The Citadel move is the latest corporate blow for the Chicago area, with aerospace giant Boeing announcing last month that it was moving its headquarters to Arlington, Virginia, after more than 20 years in the West Loop. Earlier this month, Caterpillar announced it would relocate its headquarters from north suburban Deerfield to an existing office in Irving, Texas, outside Dallas.

The losses are offset somewhat by the announcement Tuesday that Battle Creek, Michigan-based Kellogg Co. is splitting into three separate companies and locating its snacks headquarters in Chicago.

Citadel leadership has been signaling for some time an enhanced presence in Florida, and while this announcement is not surprising, it is still disappointing, a spokesperson for Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. We thank the Citadel team for their contributions to our city and their many philanthropic commitments, particularly around education, arts and culture and public safety.

The loss of Citadel could be costly, however, with the wealthy hedge fund principals and employees generating billions of dollars in tax revenue for the city and state over the past decade, according to Zia Ahmed, a Citadel spokesman.

Citadel is leasing temporary space and working with Chicago-based Sterling Bay to develop its new corporate headquarters in Miami.

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In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for Gov. J.B. Pritzker touted recent corporate relocation wins in response to Citadels announced exit from Illinois.

Countless companies are choosing Illinois as their home, as we continue to lead the nation in corporate relocations and had a record number of business startups in the past year, said spokeswoman Emily Bittner. We will continue to welcome those businesses  including Kellogg, which just this week announced it is moving its largest headquarters to Illinois  and support emerging industries that are already creating good jobs and investing billions in Illinois, like data centers, electric vehicles and quantum computing.

Beyond the economic fallout, Griffins move to Miami could have significant implications for the political realm in Illinois.

A major contributor to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauners unsuccessful reelection bid in 2018 against Pritzker, the Democratic challenger, Griffin turned his attention  and his money  to defeating Pritzkers signature graduated income tax proposal.

Griffin donated $53.75 million to the Coalition to Stop the Proposed Tax Hike, blitzing the airwaves with TV ads that helped sink the amendment, which was overwhelmingly rejected by voters in November 2020.

More recently, Griffin has contributed $50 million to back Aurora Mayor Richard Irvins campaign to win the nomination as the Republican gubernatorial candidate in next weeks Illinois primary.

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Despite leaving the state, Griffin reiterated his commitment to Irvins candidacy Thursday.

Ken continues to believe Richard Irvin is the best candidate for governor of Illinois, Ahmed said.

Born in Daytona Beach and raised in Florida, Griffin began trading convertible bonds out of his dorm room during his freshman year at Harvard. He founded Citadel soon after graduating, and built it from scratch into one of the largest hedge funds in the world.

Over the years, Griffin became inextricably tied with Chicago as one of its most prominent business leaders, a major philanthropist and a formidable political force. More recently, he has become one of its loudest critics, sounding the alarm on crime that he said directly affected him and Citadel employees.

There is nowhere you can feel safe in Chicago, Griffin said at last years Economic Club of Chicago event, citing a carjacking attempt on the security detail that sits outside his house as evidence of how deep crime runs in the city.

As the wealthiest man in Illinois, Griffins personal life has drawn significant attention as well, such as the 2015 divorce settlement with his then-wife, Anne Dias Griffin. The contentious divorce case revolved around the validity of their prenuptial agreement, along with custody and child support issues. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

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Griffin has spent more than $800 million in recent years on residential real estate, including $58.75 million in 2017 for the top four floors at 9 W. Walton St.  a record price for a Chicago condominium. In 2019, he bought a four-story penthouse at 220 Central Park South in New York for $239.96 million, setting a U.S. record home price.

Griffin will be putting his Chicago residence up for sale, Ahmed said Thursday.

rchannick@chicagotribune.com
By Ahmad Ghaddar and Alex Lawler

LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC and allied producing countries including Russia will likely stick to a plan for accelerated oil output increases in August, sources said, hoping to ease surging oil prices and inflation pressure as U.S. President Joe Biden plans to visit Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

At its last meeting on June 2, the group known as OPEC+ agreed to boost output by 648,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July - or 0.7% of global demand - and by the same amount in August, up from the initial plan to add 432,000 bpd a month over three months until September.

The move followed months of pressure from the West to address global energy shortages worsened by Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, and was welcomed by Washington.

OPEC+ holds its next meeting on June 30, when it will most likely focus on August output policies.

"OPEC+ is not going to change the plans at this month's meeting," an OPEC+ source said. Four other sources made similar remarks.

In July, Biden will make his first visit to Riyadh after two years of strained relations because of disagreements over human rights, the war in Yemen and U.S. weapons supplies to the kingdom.

This year, oil came close to an all-time peak of $147 hit in 2008, although it has since eased to $111 on concern about the risk of recession and how fuel demand will be affected by rising interest rates.

OPEC+ agreed to cut output by a record amount in 2020 when the pandemic hammered demand. By September, when the deal expires, the group will have limited spare capacity to lift output further.

The group has struggled to hit the monthly increase targets due to underinvestment in oilfields by some OPEC members and, more recently, losses in Russian output.

(Reporting by OPEC Newsroom; Editing by David Gregorio)
The parents of a Bowling Green State University student who died in a hazing incident last year have filed a lawsuit against the school, saying his death "could have been prevented."

Shari and Cory Foltz spoke with NBC News correspondent Erin McLaughlin on TODAY Thursday about taking legal action against the university after their son, Stone Foltz, 20, died in March 2021 from alcohol poisoning at an off-campus fraternity initiation event at the Ohio school.

In a new lawsuit filed Wednesday, Stone's parents allege the school "turned a blind eye to hazing ... while encouraging students like Stone to join its fraternities and sororities."

"Despite being completely aware of the hazing activities that have taken place at Bowling Green for decades, the University enthusiastically endorses Greek life to parents and students," the Foltzes said in a statement after filing the lawsuit. "To be clear, any perceived benefit students get from joining a Greek organization is completely and totally outweighed by the risk of injury or death by antiquated and deadly hazing rituals."

The lawsuit also alleges that the school knew about the troubled history of hazing at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, informally known as Pike, "but did nothing about it."

"This all could have been prevented, and unfortunately, because of their lack of action, we lost our son," Shari Foltz said on TODAY.

The school released a statement to NBC News in response to the lawsuit.

Stone Foltzs death was a tragedy, and what his family has endured is unimaginable. However, this lawsuit is meritless and undermines our continued efforts to eradicate hazing. We are resolved in our legal position, and as a state-supported university, we will defend our community vigorously against this action. This will not deter our goal to continue to foster a community of care that serves our students and their families.

NBC News reached out to the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity for comment but did not receive a response.

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Stone Foltz was forced to drink an entire liter of hard liquor in 18 minutes as part of a hazing ritual organized by Pike, according to the lawsuit.

"It was a continuous pressure to finish the bottle as fast as they could," Cory Foltz said.

"Its hazing," Shari added. "Thats what they do."

Following Foltz's death, the Pike fraternity was expelled from campus and eight of its members were criminally indicted.

Five former members were sentenced to jail or probation last week for their role in his death. Jarrett Prizel, 19, Daylen Dunson, 22, and Ben Boyers, 21, all pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and hazing charges. Dunson and Boyers also pleaded guilty to obstructing justice, and Dunson admitted to tampering with evidence.

Prizel was sentenced to 28 days in jail and two years' probation, Dunson was sentenced to 21 days in jail and three years' probation, and another former member, Niall Sweeney, 21, received a 14-day jail sentence and two years' probation. Boyers and another former member, Aaron Lehane, 21, were sentenced to 28 days of house arrest and two years' probation.

Last month, two other former Pike members, Jacob Krinn and Troy Henricksen, were convicted of misdemeanor charges, including hazing and violating underage drinking laws, but were acquitted of the more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a new law in July 2021 aimed at ending hazing by expanding the definition of hazing and increasing the penalty for certain violations to a felony from a misdemeanor. Cory and Shari Foltz were present at the signing.

"Until the university presidents and the individuals who have power step up and take action, were going to continue to see young men and women either get humiliated, injured, or even die," Cory said on TODAY.

The Foltzes are hoping to create meaningful change in their son's memory.

"We demand increased education for students, transparency for parents, zero-tolerance policies for Greek organizations and immediate action from University leaders who have complete control over what happens on their campuses," they said in their statement. "More than anything, we want to prevent another family from living our nightmare.
The parents of a student who died after a hazing incident have filed a lawsuit claiming Bowling Green State University bears responsibility for his death.

Authorities said that Stone Foltz died in March of 2021 of alcohol poisoning after a fraternity initiation event in which he was hazed into finishing an entire bottle of alcohol.

He was found unconscious by a roommate after members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity dropped him off at his apartment. Foltz died three days later.

Foltzs parents Cory and Shari claim BGSU ignored hazing with Greek organizations including the fraternity Stone was pledging for, according to our news partners at WBNS-TV.

Foltzs parents believe if it were not for the universitys gross recklessness, lax policies, lax enforcement of those policies, he would still be alive.

>> RELATED: Several men sentenced in death of BGSU student Stone Foltz

We actually are demanding that theres increased education to students about hazing. We want more transparency, for parents, Cory told WBNS.

The family said they tried to work with BGSU for more than a year before deciding to file the lawsuit.

We have to get that change to occur first. And you know, everything has been reactive at this point. And if were not going to be preventive, and make a change, then its going to need to come from the university presidents and the boards, Shari said.

According to the lawsuit, the family is seeking in excess of $25,000 for each of the two claims listed.

In a statement, BGSU said while Foltzs death is a tragedy, the lawsuit is meritless and undermines the universitys efforts to stop hazing.

In April 2021, the university said PIKE violated six sections of the student conduct code in connection to Foltzs death.

Eight former fraternity members were indicted on charges in connection to Foltzs death, six of whom pleaded guilty to various charges ranging from reckless homicide to hazing.
The Daily Beast

Paramount+According to everyone featured in Secrets of the Oligarch Wives, Vladimir Putin is a ruthless, greedy, sociopathic monster who cares only about his own power, wealth, and legacy as a titan who united and restored the glory of Mother Russia. The ongoing war in Ukraine, as well as the continued imprisonment and mistreatment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, corroborates those claims, although the true hook of the Paramount+ documentary about the Russian president is its insider commen
Jun. 22NORWICH  Police have arrested a man who allegedly attacked his ex-girlfriend at her home in Norwich, causing her to lose consciousness and then go to the hospital for her injuries, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Police charged Amiel Camby, 32, last known address of 9 Red Brook Lane in Ledyard, with second-degree assault, violation of protective order, violation of a standing protective order, disorderly conduct, unlawful restraint, second-degree strangulation, second-degree reckless endangerment and third-degree criminal mischief. His bail was set at $500,000.

According to court records, he pleaded not guilty to all charges and is next scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 1.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Officer Robert Smith and an ambulance were dispatched to an address in Norwich on June 16 at 12:32 a.m. for a reported domestic violence incident. Smith wrote that he saw bruising, swelling and obvious injuries on the face and head of the victim, who had a protective order against Camby.

The woman said Camby entered her residence, began yelling at her and grabbed her phone, the affidavit said. She told police that Camby restrained her, punched her in the head and face repeatedly, and began choking her until she couldn't breathe.

The woman said she lost consciousness and awakened to Camby wiping blood off her face, and then he punched the bedroom wall, according to the affidavit. Camby left, and the woman called 911. Due to her injuries, she was taken to Backus Hospital.

Camby was arrested on Monday.

e.moser@theday.com
Lynnwood police are searching for a man who attempted to steal an ATM from Chase Bank.

The attempted theft occurred Wednesday evening in the 4000 block of Alderwood Mall Boulevard.

Two hours after the bank closed, a man seen on surveillance allegedly stole a front-end loader from a construction site two blocks away and used it in an unsuccessful attempt to steal the ATM.

Theres no indication that the  ignition was jimmied, so Im not sure how he started it, said Cmdr. Patrick Fagan with the Lynnwood Police Department.

Police said the man rammed the building three times but failed to get any money. He then ran from the scene before officers arrived.

Its unusual. It shows either some planning or just some craziness. Im not sure which, Fagan said.

Investigators are trying to figure out if the suspect is possibly connected to other ATM thefts that have occurred in the Puget Sound.

While the thief caused plenty of damage and destruction, no one was hurt.

The investigation is ongoing.

More news from KIRO 7

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A man who shot the accused teenage assailant in last weeks fatal Glenwood Park shooting in the Hilltop was a bystander who was related to a participant in a fight that quickly led to shooting, Columbus police said at a Wednesday news conference.

The June 15 shooting left a 24-year-old woman dead, and an 18-year-old woman injured and the 15-year-old suspect accused of shooting the two women wounded.

Crime scene tape cordons off a large area outside the Glenwood Community Center, at left, in Glenwood Park on the Hilltop following a shooting in which multiple people were shot.

Police say the incident began around 5:20 p.m. as a verbal dispute in a parking area in Glenwood Park between the city pool there and a community center, which was being used as a cooling center during last weeks power outages and temperatures in the 90s.

Glenwood Park shooting: Cellphone video shows teen girls' fight, police say

A cellphone video of the incident released Wednesday by police shows two teenage girls fighting. One had apparently grabbed the other by the hair and was pulling her when police say 15-year-old Aventtay Soloman  whose girlfriend was involved in the fight  began firing his gun into a group of people.

According to police, Atayia Nichols, 24, a half-sister of one of the fight participants, was not involved in the fight. Investigators believe she was trying to remove Soloman from the midst of the altercation when he began firing his gun.

Nichols was shot by Soloman and taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where she died from her injuries at 5:54 p.m., police said. An 18-year-old woman was also wounded by Soloman, who was then himself shot by an unidentified man.

Police followed a blood trail and found Soloman several blocks to the west on Wrexham Avenue. He was taken to Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center in critical condition, but survived his injuries.

Soloman was a Briggs High School athlete who had been employed by Columbus' anti-violence youth jobs program for five days before the shooting. He was assigned to an elementary school in the Hilltop but was off-duty at the time of the shooting.

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Police: Man who shot suspect may have acted in self-defense

The man shot Soloman was related to one of the participants in the fight, but was not himself a participant, Columbus police detective Delbert Chapman said.

Chapman said police have interviewed the man and it appears that he acted in self-defense. Police will be discussing the adult shooter with prosecutors to determine whether charges should be filed.

The man, whom police declined to identify, is not currently facing any charges. Police said they are still investigating where Soloman got the gun he used in the shooting, and whether the man who shot Soloman legally owned his gun.

The question you have to ask yourself: If he wouldn't have done that, would that have stopped more shots from being fired by Mr. Soloman? His action probably helped save people, Chapman said.

Police declined to say how many shots each of the two shooters fired, though as many as eight shots can be heard in the cellphone video released Wednesday by police.

Police say a screenshot from a separate video shows Soloman brandishing a handgun and beating someone with the gun moments before the shooting.

Soloman has been charged in Franklin County juvenile court with a delinquency count of murder in Nichols death and a delinquency count of felonious assault for wounding the 18-year-old woman, who was taken to OhioHealth Grant in critical condition.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that they intend to have Soloman tried as an adult.

Sgt. Joe Albert, a police division spokesman, said the city is seeing a trend of verbal arguments turning physical and then to guns shortly after fighting starts.

Sadly, what were seeing around the city right now as soon as (a fight) occurs firearms are being produced  and thats whats leading to our shootings, especially involving young people, Albert said.

Cole Behrens is a reporter at The Columbus Dispatch covering public safety and breaking news. You can reach him at CBehrens@dispatch.com or find him on Twitter at @Colebehr_report

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Glenwood Park shooting: Teen girls' fight led to gunfire, police say
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) shared an audio recording of a disturbing threat Wednesday that he said he received because of false statements made by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

Marjorie loves to play the victim. But shes an inciter of violence. Her constant attacks  even after the FBI said I was never suspected of wrongdoing  lead to threatening calls like this, he tweeted alongside the audio clip. This caller from today threatened to kill my three children.

In the recording, a mans voice said: Hey, you little cocksucker. You still banging the Chinese spy Fang Fang? ... Were coming to your house this weekend. Gon get you and them little mutant bastards, them little mutant offspring of yours. Were gon get ya.

Earlier Wednesday, Swalwell had shared a story about an interaction with a supporter of former President Donald Trump that happened while the congressman was giving a tour of the U.S. Capitol. He said a man shouted at him and then told his son, Thats Swalwell. Hes trouble. He doesnt back Trump.

Today I gave a tour in the Capitol and was stopped by a father with his young boy. The father yelled at me Hey Swalwell and then told his son, thats Swalwell. Hes trouble. He doesnt back Trump. I kept walking and felt sad for the boy. Hes being raised in a cult family.  Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) June 22, 2022

Greene responded to the tweet by saying there was no way that happened.

Because we all know good Trump supporting fathers would say, thats the Democrat who had sex with a Chinese spy, she tweeted.

Swalwell has been targeted by right-wing disinformation over his past connection to a suspected Chinese intelligence operative named Fang Fang or Christine Fang.

According to a 2020 Axios report, Fang targeted up-and-coming politicians in the Bay Area and the U.S., including Swalwell. Fang reportedly took part in fundraising activity for Swalwells 2014 reelection campaign and recommended an intern for his office.

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Federal investigators said they alerted Swalwell to their concerns in 2015 and he immediately cut all ties with Fang, Axios reported. He was not accused of any wrongdoing or of passing on any classified intelligence.

Fang allegedly had sexual relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors. Swalwell was not accused of having sex with her.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday thanked Turkish authorities for their cooperation in allegedly foiling attacks against Israeli citizens in Turkey, and warned Israel would not "sit idly by' in the face of threats to its citizens from Iran.

Lapid made the comments after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, as the two countries press ahead with efforts to repair ties that have been strained over Turkeys strong support for the Palestinians.

Earlier this month, Israel issued a warning for its citizens to avoid travel to Turkey and urging Israelis in Turkey to leave immediately. The warning said Israeli citizens could be targets of Iranian attacks.

Turkish media reports said authorities had detained five Iranians suspected of planning attacks on Israelis in Istanbul.

In recent weeks, the lives of Israeli citizens have been saved thanks to security and diplomatic cooperation between Israel and (Turkey), Lapid said. We are full of appreciation for the Turkish government for this professional and coordinated activity.

Lapid continued: For its part, Israel wont sit idly by when there are attempts to harm its citizens in Israel and around the world. Our immediate goal is to bring about calm that will enable us to change the travel warning to (Turkey).

The travel warning angered Turkey, whose economy depends on tourism to a large extent. Ankara responded by issuing a statement that said Turkey was a safe country.

Standing next to Lapid, Cavusoglu said Turkey cannot permit these kinds of incidents taking place in our country.

We have delivered the necessary messages, he said, without elaborating.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said that a joint operation with Turkey succeeded in thwarting several attacks and resulted in the arrest of several suspected operatives on Turkish soil in recent days.

Hurriyet newspaper reported on Thursday that Turkish authorities detained five Iranian nationals on Wednesday suspected of involvement in an alleged plot to assassinate Israeli citizens in Istanbul. Police seized two pistols and two silencers in searches conducted in houses and hotels where the suspects were staying, according to the report.

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Lapids visit comes amid political turmoil in Israel, where Bennetts fragile, year-old government decided this week to dissolve parliament, triggering new elections which are set to take place in the fall. Under the agreement that forged Bennetts coalition government, Lapid is expected in the coming days to become caretaker prime minister until a new government is cobbled together after the elections.

The developments deepen a political crisis in Israel, which has held four elections since 2019, each largely a referendum over former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus rule. Netanyahu hopes to return to power in the upcoming vote, but polls show that as in previous rounds it will unlikely produce a clear winner.

Turkey, beset by economic troubles, has been trying to end its international isolation by normalizing ties with several countries in the Mideast, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Turkey and Israel were once close allies, but relations grew tense under Erdogan, who is a vocal critic of Israels policies toward the Palestinians. Turkeys embrace of the Islamic militant group Hamas, has angered Israel.

The countries withdrew their ambassadors in 2010 after Israeli forces stormed a humanitarian flotilla bound for Gaza, which has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power there in 2007.

Nine Turkish activists were killed. Israel apologized to Turkey for the deaths under a U.S.-brokered agreement, but reconciliation efforts stalled.

Turkey recalled its ambassador in 2018 after the United States recognized Jerusalem as Israels capital, prompting Israel to respond in kind. The two countries have not reappointed their ambassadors.

The two ministers said Thursday that they had agreed to hold discussions on re-appointing ambassadors.

The latest rapprochement has been led by Israels mostly ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, who has held several telephone calls with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and visited Turkey in March, becoming the first Israeli leader to do so in 14 years. Cavusoglu visited Israel last month. It was first official visit to Israel by a Turkish official in 15 years.

__

Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
You cant taste what may become the most talked-about chef-made Italian beef this summer.

The Bear stars Jeremy Allen White, playing a fine-dining chef who happens to end up slinging beefs at a Mr. Beef-esque sandwich shop in Chicago.

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The new FX series just released all eight episodes on Hulu.

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My character grew up cooking in Chicago. Then he left and worked in some of the best restaurants in the world, White said during a red carpet interview at the James Beard Foundation Awards earlier this month. His brother passes away, and thats when the show starts. He comes back home, and hes kind of trying to resurrect his family restaurant.

Jeremy Allen White stars as Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto on "The Bear." (Frank Ockenfels/FX)

To research the role, he went to culinary school for two weeks and worked at the critically acclaimed restaurant Oriole, and its award-winning sister bar Kumiko, in the West Loop.

I also worked in a restaurant called Pasjoli in Santa Monica, White said. Chef Dave Beran opened the modern French bistro, after leaving Chicagos Next.

I spent a lot of time with a lot of great chefs, White said. It was nice.

Hes visited Chicago a lot over the past 12 years. So whats his most memorable Italian beef experience?

I like Portillos, White said. I know thats like a chain. I think it was my first, but I like them all.

The Italian beef sandwich at Portillo's. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

The last time he was in town he also went to Smyth and The Loyalist, and revisited Oriole and Kumiko.

When told that Kumiko bar director and creative partner Julia Momose won a James Beard award for her book The Way of the Cocktail with co-author Emma Janzen, White was genuinely surprised and excited.

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Did she really? he said. I have that book! She gave it to me.

In the first episode of The Bear, youll see his characters copy of the Noma cookbook, hiding his own Beard award. As the show progresses, he tries out new and exciting ways to whip up Chicagos favorite sandwich.

[ The Bear review: A culinary ace takes over a Mr. Beef-esque sandwich shop. Chaos and dark comedy in one of my favorite shows of the year ]

While you cant eat the fictional Italian beef, you can sample my fellow food critic Nick Kindelspergers picks for the 20 best Italian beefs around Chicago.

And here are my recommendations for an Italian beef progression, from oldest to newest, to binge through all eight episodes. Do note the locations Ive listed are absolutely essential to the experience.

They include vegetarian and vegan options (the cheesy Italian Not Beef at Cant Believe Its Not Meat, and plant-based Beefless at Buona), plus the ultimate chef-made Filipino-inspired combo at Kasama, with a fatty longganisa sausage smothered with tender slices of pork adobo and crisp giardiniera.

1. Als Beef (1938): Consistently one of the top-ranked takes in the city, Als Beef is a great spot to start  but only if you follow other Chicagoans in the know and head to the chains original shop in Little Italy. 1079 W. Taylor St., 312-226-4017, alsbeef.com/chicago-little-italy-taylor-street

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Italian beef at Als #1 Beef. (Nick Kindelsperger / Chicago Tribune)

2. Riviera Foods (1958): A family-owned deli for over six decades lauded for its first-rate subs and lesser-known but wonderful Italian beefs. 3220 N. Harlem Ave., 773-637-4252, facebook.com/RivieraFoodsChicago

3. Johnnies Beef (1961): For a textbook Italian beef with careful attention to detail, this northwest suburban shop checks all the boxes. 7500 W. North Ave., Elmwood Park; 708-452-6000; facebook.com/Johnnies-Beef-169537026394157

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4. Portillos (1963): White isnt wrong in citing Portillos as a standard-bearer for Chicago food staples, and this 60s-themed location stands where the storied chain began. 635 North Ave., Villa Park; 630-530-8440; portillos.com/locations/villa-park

5. Mr. Beef On Orleans (1979): The Bear based its fictional sandwich shop on Mr. Beef, where the famed sandwich is stripped down to fundamentals. 666 N. Orleans St., 312-337-8500, facebook.com/mrbeefonorleans

Italian beef at Mr. Beef On Orleans. (Nick Kindelsperger / Chicago Tribune)

Buona (1981): The Buonavolanto family founded the Buona restaurant company with their Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich 40 years ago, and the chain gets extra points for introducing the Italian Beefless vegan sandwich last year. 6745 Roosevelt Road, Berwyn; 708-749-2555; buona.com

Cant Believe Its Not Meat (2019): A beefy vegan jus and cheese (dairy- or plant-based) lend big flavor to this vegetarian restaurants meat-free take on the Italian beef  and its other takes on Chicago foods are just as iconic. 1368 E. 53rd St., 773-675-8208, cantbelieveitsnotmeat.com

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Kasama (2020): Celebrated as one of the best restaurants in the country, Kasama also has a lot of fun with its more casual breakfast and lunch items. The dressed-up Filipino-inspired version of a beef sandwich is a must-try. 1001 N. Winchester Ave., 773-697-3790, kasamachicago.com

lchu@chicagotribune.com

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.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) on Thursday announced that he would be voting against the bipartisan gun safety bill, arguing that a bill he signed into law in the wake of the Parkland, Fla. shooting was not the same as the one negotiated this time around with a bipartisan group of senators.

Over the last two weeks, Ive seen many people compare the bill being considered in the Senate to what we did in Florida. These bills are not the same at all, Scott said in his statement first obtained and reported by Politico.

One was the product of a collaborative, well-defined and transparent process. The other was the result of secret backroom dealings that did not include input from the majority of Republican members, committee hearings, nor opportunities for amendments, giving members barely an hour to read the bill before we were asked to vote on it, he added.

The Florida Republican criticized the legislation for providing federal funding for states to administer red flag laws and that people convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse against a romantic partner could automatically have the right to own or buy a firearm restored to them after five years.

However, the latter only applies if, during that five-year period, they are not convicted of a violent crime.

I was hopeful the Senate would follow an open and thorough process like we did in Florida. That is unfortunately not the case with the current bill and why I will vote no, Scott said.

Scotts defection against the gun legislation is not likely to impact the passage of the bill given that 14 Republican senators voted to advance the bill on Tuesday, meaning it would overcome the 60-vote hurdle needed to get it passed in the upper chamber.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) have said this week they will not support the bill; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) cannot afford too many Democratic defections on the legislation given their slim majority.

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Though Scott has signaled his opposition to the bill, the Florida Republican previously signed gun legislation as governor in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018 that was opposed by the National Rifle Association (NRA.)

For the majority of purchases on long guns, the legislation mandated a waiting period of three days and upped the minimum age to buy a firearm to 21 years old, previously from 18 years old, among other measures.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Uvalde, Texas, elementary school where a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers last month will be demolished, the citys mayor said.

Speaking during an emotional council meeting with residents Tuesday, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said he did not believe any child or teacher should be asked to return to Robb Elementary School, where the deadly shooting unfolded May 24.

My understanding  and I had this discussion with the superintendent  that school will be demolished, he said.

You can never ask a child to go back or a teacher to go back in that school ever, McLaughlin added.

No timeline for the demolition was provided.

President Joe Biden had also previously expressed support for the schools destruction.

Video: Uvalde mayor pushes back at school and police department critique

Robb Elementary will not be the first school to be razed in the wake of a major tragedy.

Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 students and six staff members were fatally shot by a 20-year-old gunman in 2012, was also demolished and rebuilt.

During Tuesdays council meeting, McLaughlin expressed frustration over difficulties in getting answers from those investigating the deadly shooting at Robb Elementary, as well as the police response, which has been heavily criticized.

With the Texas Rangers, an agency with the Texas Department of Public Safety, leading the investigation, McLaughlin said he was upset that he and other city officials were not getting updates on the probe.

Im very frustrated with the way theyre handling it. Very frustrated because, like I said, were not getting any information, he said.

The mayor said he planned on sharing any updates as they came with the public.

The gloves are off, he said. As we know it, we will share it.

We are not going to hold back anymore, he said. We kept quiet at the request (of other agencies) because we thought we were doing a formal investigation and doing the right thing.

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What matters to Uvalde is that these broken-hearted families and this grieving community get a full investigation and accurate report of what happened that day, he said.

On Tuesday, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw said the law enforcement response to the Uvalde school shooting was an abject failure.

Related: Slain Uvalde teachers officer husband tried to save his wife but was detained, had gun taken away

Speaking during a state Senate committee hearing in Austin, McGraw said there was compelling evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at Robb Elementary was an abject failure and antithetical to everything weve learned over the last two decades since the Columbine massacre.

With law enforcement facing backlash over the decision to wait for around an hour for backup instead of moving on the gunman as the school shooting unfolded, McGraw said the lives of police officers were valued over those of young children that day.

The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from (entering rooms) 111 and 112 was the on-scene commander who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children, he said.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.
Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis have both been touted as hot favorites for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Ron DeSantis is not planning to ask Trump to endorse him, per Politico.

Politico spoke to four sources close to the Florida governor and the former president.

The sources confirmed that DeSantis hasn't asked for Trump's endorsement, and has no intention to.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is not planning to ask former President Donald Trump for an endorsement, per Politico.

Politico spoke to four people linked to Trump and the Florida governor, who confirmed that DeSantis has not, and does not have the intention to get Trump's backing for his re-election this year.

An individual linked to Trump's endorsement process who spoke under condition of anonymity said that Trump would, however, endorse DeSantis if he asked for support. Dave Abrams, a spokesman for the DeSantis campaign, did not comment on whether DeSantis is angling to get Trump's support.

Politico's report on DeSantis' reluctance to seek a Trump endorsement comes amid a fresh slate of comments from the former president regarding the Florida governor.

This week, Trump said he didn't know if DeSantis planned to run for president in 2024 and claimed credit for the Florida governor's political success.

"I don't know that he wants to run. I have a good relationship with Ron, I don't know that he wants to run. I haven't seen that. You're telling me something that I've not seen, so we'll see what happens," Trump told Newsmax.

Both men have been touted as hot favorites for the Republican presidential nomination.

In June, DeSantis beat Trump in a straw poll that asked conservatives who they'd most like to see as their 2024 presidential nominee. A 2021 straw poll asking the same question found that DeSantis received 74% approval while Trump received 71%.

In October 2021, DeSantis said he wouldn't consider a presidential run because he's busy "trying to make sure people are not supporting critical race theory." Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly teased the possibility of another run but has not yet made a formal declaration.

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Baku this week to discuss tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, Russia's RIA news agency said on Wednesday.

The dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous territory inside Azerbaijan controlled since the 1990s by ethnic Armenians supported by Yerevan, flared in 2020 into a six-week war in which Azeri troops regained swathes of territory.

Although Russia brokered a ceasefire and both nations agreed to work on a peace plan, the two periodically accuse each other of firing shells across the border, RIA noted.

Lavrov will be in Baku on Thursday and Friday to meet President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.

"The meetings will be devoted, according to the Russian foreign ministry, to the implementation of the 2020 trilateral agreements between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on

cessation of hostilities," RIA said.

Delegations from Armenia and Azerbaijan met on their international border on May 24 in a choreographed step towards ending the 30-year dispute.

The peace plan has sparked sometimes violent protests in Armenia fueled by opposition claims that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was making too many concessions.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Sandra Maler)
(Reuters) -Australia's competition regulator said on Thursday a court ordered the local unit of Samsung Electronics to pay a A$14 million ($9.65 million) penalty for nine misleading advertisements about a water-resistance feature in some of its smartphones.

Samsung Australia admitted to misleading buyers of some of its 'Galaxy' phones about the water-resistance level, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) said. The regulator had first sued the company https://www.reuters.com/article/australia-samsung-elec-regulator-idINS9N21Y008 in July 2019.

Samsung Australia said in a statement that this was not an issue in its newer, current models.

The regulator said between March 2016 and October 2018, the company ran in-store and social media advertisements that claimed the phones could be used in pools or sea water.

The ACCC, however, received hundreds of complaints from users saying the smartphones did not function properly or even stopped working entirely after being exposed to water.

The claims "promoted an important selling point for these Galaxy phones. Many consumers who purchased a Galaxy phone may have been exposed to the misleading ads before they made their decision to purchase a new phone," said ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.

Samsung and the ACCC agreed that changes the company had made to newer models of the smartphones launched in Australia from March 2018 did not face such risks from water exposure, the company said.

($1 = 1.4512 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Harshita Swaminathan, additional reporting by Navya Mittal; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
The San Francisco school board voted 4-3 Wednesday night to return Lowell High School to a merit-based admissions system, two years after it first switched to a lottery-based system.

Beginning with freshman entering in fall 2023, test scores and grades will be used to admit students to Lowell, barring any other changes by the board, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The board first voted in favor of a switch to the lottery system in October 2020 because they said remote learning created a lack of academic data on which to base admissions decisions.

Four months later, the board made the decision to permanently switch to a lottery system in an effort to address alleged racism and a lack of diversity at the elite academic school. That vote faced a legal challenge, which ended in a judge ruling that the district had violated laws related to the Brown Act that regulate public meetings.

The board reversed the decision to permanently instate lottery-based admissions and then extended the lottery process for another year.

In a separate vote Wednesday, the board overrode a previous decision to cover up a mural of George Washington at Washington High School. Social justice activists petitioned to have the mural covered in 2019 on the grounds that it perpetuates racism because it depicts slaves and the body of a dead Native American. A judge had ordered the decision to cover the mural void on the grounds that the board failed to conduct an environmental impact report before voting on the move.

The latest vote comes months after San Francisco voters recalled three progressive school board members in a February election. The recall movement was driven by parent concern that the board was more concerned with social justice than reopening schools during the pandemic, recall organizers said at the time.

Those who supported the lottery system argued it had increased diversity in the school, which has historically had a high number of white and Asian American students.

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The president of the San Francisco Alliance of Black Educator, Virginia Marshall, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the lottery system means Lowell is diverse.

It is not just for one ethnic group. Its for all students who choose to make Lowell their home, added Marshall, who is also a representative of the NAACP.

However, the board rejected Superintendent Vince Matthews recommendation to keep the lottery in place for another year. He warned there would be significant challenges to returning to a merit-based system before the enrollment season begins in the fall, according to the report.

Yet supporters of the merit system say the citys students deserve an academically rigorous environment where admission is based on hard work and academic achievement.

A return to a merit-based system could face legal challenges under a state law that prohibits academic criteria in admission to comprehensive high schools, the outlet reported.

More from National Review
South Carolina gubernatorial candidate former Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.) on Thursday suggested that President Biden not run for another term in 2024, becoming the latest voice to express concern about the presidents age.

During an interview on CNNs New Day, Cunningham was asked if he believed Biden, who is 79, was too old to run for reelection.

Yeah, I think we need to have a new generation of leadership emerge. And this isnt, you know, as the video said, judges in South Carolina have to retire at age 72. Democrats have a very deep bench, and its time to allow a new generation to emerge and new talent, Cunningham replied, referring to a campaign ad released on Wednesday calling for age limits.

I think we need to have a new vision, new leadership. And this isnt about, personal about Biden, but hed be 82 [by the] time of the next election. If he served out a second term, he would be 86 years old. Im not sure if any of us know any 86-year-olds who should be running the entire country, he added later.

CNN showed a tweet from 2018 in which Cunningham touted then-Vice President Bidens endorsement in his race, an election he later won, flipping a seat that had been red for decades.

Youre really proud of the endorsement in that picture. You know, how do you think hes gonna feel about you coming out this morning and saying he shouldnt run for reelection? anchor John Berman asked him.

Well look, this isnt about where we are right now, this is looking to the future. And were, you know, like I said, he himself said he wants to be a bridge to the future. And again, were in this car, were driving across this bridge, and no one knows whats on the other side. And thats the conversation we need to be having right now, Cunningham said in defense of his stance.

Cunningham was also asked if House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), who is 81, should also retire.

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Look, this isnt anything personal. I mean, we set out  we draw a line, age 72, South Carolina state law is judges have to retire at age 72. So my question and the point that Im making, if youre too old to interpret the law, are you not too old to be making the law? he asked.

I appreciate all his service and what hes done for our country, and Its nothing personal. I get along fine with him. But as we look towards the future, we got to be looking to provide new vision, he added later.

While the White House has repeatedly said Biden plans to run in 2024, some who spoke to The Hill earlier this week have acknowledged his age is a concern.

Look, its a problem, one Democratic strategist told The Hill, adding Hes f old and everyone knows it, but no one wants to talk about it for fear of offending him or anyone around him.

The Hill has reached out to a spokesperson for Clyburn for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Thursday to overturn a longstanding New York state law that requires "proper cause" to carry a handgun in public, a decision that broadens the government's interpretation of the Second Amendment and will likely have a ripple effect throughout the nation.

The law in question  which has existed for more than a century in New York state and is mimicked in similar legislation in a handful of other states  required residents to show that they have a special need for self-defense in order to obtain a concealed carry permit.

States that are likely to be affected by this ruling contain some of the nation's biggest cities, including New York City, Los Angeles and Boston, which has some concerned of increased gun violence by loosening restrictions in metropolitan areas.

In the majority opinion, penned by Justice Clarence Thomas, the Court asserted that, "New York's proper-cause requirement violates the Fourteenth Amendment in that it prevents law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms."

Justice Clarence Thomas

Drew Angerer/Getty Images Justice Clarence Thomas

The Fourteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1868, guarantees all Americans the right to equal protection under the law and forbids states from denying citizens "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

But the dissenting opinion, helmed by outgoing Justice Stephen Breyer, argued that in interpreting the Second Amendment's right to bear arms, it is "constitutionally proper" and "often necessary" to take into consideration the consequences of gun violence that have led states to pass gun safety laws in the first place.

"Many States have tried to address some of the dangers of gun violence ... by passing laws that limit, in various ways, who may purchase, carry, or use firearms of different kinds," Breyer wrote. "The Court today severely burdens States' efforts to do so."

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President Joe Biden issued a statement Thursday morning that called on Americans to continue making their voices heard on gun safety and called on states to continue passing "commonsense" gun laws to protect their residents.

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"In the wake of the horrific attacks in Buffalo and Uvalde, as well as the daily acts of gun violence that do not make national headlines, we must do more as a society  not less  to protect our fellow Americans," he wrote. "As the late Justice Scalia recognized, the Second Amendment is not absolute. For centuries, states have regulated who may purchase or possess weapons, the types of weapons they may use, and the places they may carry those weapons. And the courts have upheld these regulations."

RELATED: N.Y. Gov. Signs 10 Gun Safety Bills into Law, Sets New Precedent: 'Thoughts and Prayers Won't Fix This'

"It is outrageous that at a moment of national reckoning on gun violence, the Supreme Court has recklessly struck down a New York law that limits those who can carry concealed weapons," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul tweeted immediately after the decision was released.

"In response to this ruling, we are closely reviewing our options  including calling a special session of the legislature," Hochul continued. "Just as we swiftly passed nation-leading gun reform legislation, I will continue to do everything in my power to keep New Yorkers safe from gun violence."
Sean Penn sat with Capitol Police officers injured in the January 6 riots during Thursdays hearing into the insurrection.

The Academy Award-winner and celebrity activist chatted and joked with Michael Fanone, now a CNN contributor, and shook hands with other officers.

Actor Sean Penn (C) sits with Washington Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges (R), and retired Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone during Thursdays House Select Committee (Getty Images)

Im just here to observe  just another citizen, Penn told reporters.

I think we all saw what happened on January 6 and now were looking to see if justice comes on the other side of it.

Penn, 61, has previously spoken out about the riots at the US Capitol as lawmakers were certifying the 2020 election results.

On the day of the assault, he wrote on Twitter: Hell hath no fury like a narcissist scorned.

Mr Fanone was on duty on January 6, and was dragged into a mob and badly beaten during the riots.

He resigned from the Capitol Police force in December 2021, and has since joined CNN as a contributor.

Penn, a two-time Best Actor Oscar winner, has frequently thrown himself into social justice causes, notably in Haiti after the devastating earthquake there in 2010.

In April, he travelled to Ukraine and said he was considering taking up arms against Russia.
The bandeja paisa, a Colombian classic, at Selva. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Whenever Long Beach chef Carlos Jurado visits Colombia, where he was born, he winds up feeling pulled to the hot dog stands set up along well-trafficked streets in cities across the country.

Over the last century, culinary cultures across South America have adapted the hot dog and made it their own. Its form is infinitely customizable to regional tastes.

As with the Chilean completo Italiano  a national favorite in which the frank disappears underneath flag-like stripes of chopped tomato, mashed avocado and rivers of mayo  Colombians tend to enjoy their hot dogs, called super-perros, with toppings as layered as geological strata. Jurado recalls them smothered in chopped bacon, Cheetos, onions and several sauces overlapping in squeeze-bottle squiggles. Crushed pineapple and fried quail eggs are frequent grace notes.

Colombian hot dog at Selva. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

At first glance, the shape of the super-perro Jurado constructs at his 4-month-old restaurant Selva in Long Beach calls to mind an enormous mouth stuffed with potato chips. I dont mean for that to sound unappetizing. In its rollicking excess, its a sight that fairly dares you to bite back.

Jurado swaps in a tapered bolillo roll for the usual oblong bun. A link of taut, paprika-stained Colombian chorizo peeks out from underneath a topsoil of crumbled cotija, charred onions and peppers, jalapeno jam, aioli mixed with salsa verde (a mulchy, punchy Colombian version called aji) and finally, the smashed Lays chips dusted with chile powder.

This is, as you might imagine, a two-handed, face-planting commitment to polish off. The joyride of whirling textures and outsize flavors merits the small pile of napkins youll need afterward.

The hot dog is a staple among the restaurants weekend brunch items; at dinner, it can be requested as an off-the-menu special you have to know to ask for. It probably should stay that way. Eye-candy dishes, especially when they deliver beyond their visual pop as this one does, have a way of overrunning a kitchen with their popularity  and Selva has plenty of other exemplars of Colombian cuisine that are equally worth ordering.

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Chef Carlos Jurado and his family moved to Long Beach from Cali, Colombia, when he was 2. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

This is Jurados first restaurant, although hes a veteran of Los Angeles restaurants, including stints at Border Grill, Vespertine and the now-closed Red Medicine and Bouchon in Beverly Hills. In the last few years, hed drifted toward restaurant consulting and recipe development. The change brought less stress and more time to focus on being a father.

He might have stayed on that path if he hadnt received a call from restaurateurs Geoff and Karna Rau. Hed communicated with the couple before about other possible projects, but theyd recently closed the Hideaway, their Long Beach steakhouse, and they wondered whether he might like to see the building.

Jurado had occasionally held elaborate pop-up tasting-menu dinners, often centered on smoked meats. Hideaways 85-seat space, divided into a sedate dining room and a bar area with a view into the kitchen, felt like a place of possibility. Not for the fancy concoctions like smoked beef with fried wild rice and chlorophyll oil hed tinkered with at the one-off meals but more for the straightforward cooking hed come to love growing up.

His parents had relocated from Cali, Colombia, in the Valle del Cauca, 300 miles southwest of Bogota, to Long Beach when he was 2, and he started making regular trips to see family in South America when he was a teenager.

The cocktail menu at Selva occasionally tips over into Peruvian inspirations, Addison writes. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Smoky meats would still command center stage in his cooking. He installed a fire-breathing hearth, set on display via a window in the bar area, and stacked cords of oak wood out back by the parking lot. The partners opened Selva in February.

The early menu is beautifully streamlined: 10 starters, a handful of entrees, some compelling sides and a few desserts. Before taking your order, servers likely will mention steak as a special, with a long list of accompaniments. Quiz them a little, and youll learn theyre talking about bandeja paisa, the one-platter feast synonymous with Colombia. If you are an omnivore, this should be the focal point of your meal.

Steak  skirt or flat-iron, depending on the day  fans out in slices across one edge of the plate, hard-seared and woodsy brown on the surface and rosy inside. Grilled chorizo or morcilla nestles against the beef, along with an extra-crisp hunk of pork belly scored so deeply that its tall squares of meat and fat resemble skyscrapers on a tight city block. Golden lobes of plantain, smoky beans, white rice and one handsomely griddled arepa filled with queso fresco and corn kernels complete the array. A fried egg and sliced avocado lend their comforting presence.

Homemade hot sauce and the wonderfully coarse aji verde brighten everything they touch; use them liberally.

One-half of a smoked pollo from Selva. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Build the rest of your meal around this hearty tour de force. A mellow ceviche of fish (usually snapper) bathed in blood orange leche de tigre tinted with aji amarillo paste is the lightest starter option. Its hard to resist the fluffy, soy-laced Peruvian-style arroz chaufa; Jurado wisely portions the fried rice as an appetizer so it isnt too filling. It comes with a nightly rotation of meat, often pork belly, so consider the vegetarian version with mushrooms if the meatiness begins to feel like overload. With the main course, I love the tangled, long-simmered mix of cabbage and collard greens as a side.

Beyond the bandeja paisa, the smoked chicken best frames Jurados rigor and skill. He marinates the birds in a citrusy brine, brushes them with garlic confit oil before air-drying them for a couple days, smokes them on the patio and then grills them over oak with splashes of lime juice and dustings of a spice blend heavily perfumed with cumin. The effect is elemental rather than showy: contrasts of crackling skin and lush meat, and a righteous smokiness offset with subtle, sunny accents.

The earthiness of these flavors calls for stouter drinks, and the opening cocktail menu, full of fruit juices and syrups, veered too cloying for my taste. Traditional Colombian spirits are slowly showing up on the bar; try the aguardiente, an anise-flavored liqueur sipped straight like tequila, perhaps with a slice of lime. And since the menu occasionally tips over into Peruvian inspirations, the bartenders are happy to make an excellent pisco sour.

Thats my beverage of choice at dinner as well as at brunch, when Im wrestling the hot dog or sharing a bandeja paisa or disappearing into a plate of chorreadas  yucca fries blanketed in queso sauce with bits of smoked pork belly, fried egg and, for a shred of levity, pickled onion.

Noon or night, finish a meal with oblea, a wafer sandwich cookie that is a nostalgic favorite of Jurados. The ones he buys from Colombian street stalls are huge and loaded with tropical fruits, whipped cream and jams. At Selva, he makes a miniaturized version streamlined with seasonal berry jam, a condensed-milk caramel in the dulce de leche family called arequipe and a swirl of whipped cream scented with cinnamon. It isnt too much, and it brings to the meal's end a sweet context that endures as you make your way home.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
This years Chicago Pride Parade comes after a grueling two years for the LGBTQ+ community amid anti-trans legislation in several states and a pandemic that has too often kept queer people apart.

But gathering is the one of the best ways to celebrate Chicagos vibrant queer community and support the drag queens, bartenders and other queer workers in the nightlife scene.

Masala Sapphire, one of the organizers of Trikone Chicago, an organization catering to the citys queer South Asian population, emphasized that connections people make through nightlife scenes can sustain queer people, long after the night is over.

(For) queer people,their main spaces are these nightlife spaces. So if you dont have that, its hard to make friends and find people. Thats where you connect with people, thats where you find a lot of things, Sapphire said. Sometimes you need someone to help you find a job where you feel safe, sometimes that helps you find families that you dont have and things like that.

Ahead of Sundays parade, here are six nightlife spots perfect for Pride Month and beyond, listed alphabetically.

Berlin

Janelle Felix performs as drag king Tenderoni, at Berlin's "Drag Matinee" in 2018. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)

This iconic pan-cultural music & art club has been open since 1983 and is known for hosting fabulous events such as the Saturday Night Drag Show and monthly event Strapped, a night for queer women. Berlin has launched the careers of so many drag performers, including Denali, who was featured on season 13 of RuPauls Drag Race. She recently name dropped the bar as the place where she started getting into drag more seriously.

954 W. Belmont Ave., berlinchicago.com

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The Call

This spacious Andersonville bar offers the neighborhoods largest dance floor and the neighborhoods longest running drag show, which benefits local charities. The bars menu features an assortment of martinis including an Ashley-Tini, Pear-adise Martini and Rum Runner Martini. The Call is the perfect place to dance the night away especially at the bars monthly Its Britney B----! tribute parties.

The bar also hosts regular drag shows by the Drag Menagerie and occasionally hosts events from the Queer South Asian organization, Trikone, which features drag performances from the group and Bollywood music all night.

The Call has been an excellent place to host the ongoing Jai Ho party, its a big struggle to find spaces that will let you host the party there, Sapphire said. She mentioned that the group plays Bollywood music and not American pop music, which has sometimes made it harder to find a place, since bar owners are concerned about walk-in customers being put off by non-English music.

1547 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., 773-334-2525, callbarchicago.com

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Jeffery Pub

Jamal Junior, owner of Jeffery Pub, behind the bar in South Shore in 2018. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

The South Shore bar has been open since the 1960s and is one of the longest-running Black-owned gay bars in the country. When a gay bar across the street closed in the 1960s, Jeffery Pub became the place to be and is the birthplace of iconic drag queenssuch as The Vixen, who was on season 10 of RuPauls Drag Race. Dont let the unassuming storefront fool you; inside the bar can get lively into the early hours of the night, with a disco ball and a space for drag performances.

You wont go wrong with a classic drink here, but the longtime bartenders might be better suited to dreaming up a drink specific to your tastes.

7041 S. Jeffery Blvd., 773-363-8555, facebook.com/thejefferypub

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Nobodys Darling

The Kahlo Margarita at Nobody's Darling cocktail bar in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood on June 9, 2022. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

This James Beard Award nominee has some of the best drinks in town. The bar was opened by two Black queer women Angela Barnes and Renauda Riddle in 2021 and takes its name from an Alice Walker poem: Be nobodys darling. Be an outcast.

The atmosphere is warm and inviting, with nearly the perfect level of noise. The drinks feature unique combinations such as the mezcal paloma, or the Cap Mojito, which features the Brazilian liqueur Cachaca, similar to Rhum agricole. Two-word descriptions accompany each drink and guarantee you wont get lost in unknown ingredients, and the bar also caters to sober patrons with zero-proof cocktails.

As a Black-, queer-, woman-owned bar, Nobodys Darling is meant to create a safe space for people who might not feel welcome in other gay bars or clubs. Whats really resonating with people about Nobodys Darling is certainly the quality of the cocktails, but also the culture, Barnes said. When people comment on what Nobodys Darling means to them, they are very clear about how they feel included and feel seen.

1744 W. Balmoral Ave., nobodysdarlingbar.com

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Scarlet

This bars music-themed drag nights range from Nicki Minaj to Taylor Swift. You can catch performers such as Miranda lip-sync to pop song from the 2010s.

The vibe is upbeat and fun, and the music most nights features a particular artist, theme or genre. Music in a given night could feature anyone from Bad Bunny to Selena, to playlists from a single year.

3320 N. Halsted St., scarletchicago.com

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Sleeping Village/Slo Mo

The stage at Sleeping Village. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)

Slo Mo, the queer party for lovers, has morphed into so much more than the monthly dance party which started in Logan Square 11 years ago. The group has hosted performances, cooking classes and other events.

Slo Mo has now found a permanent home at the Avondale music venue Sleeping Village, and is continuing to bring people together through their tradition of playing woman-centric slow jams.

3734 W. Belmont Ave., 773-654-3971, sleeping-village.com; slomoparty.com

Siri Chilukuri is a freelance writer.

food@chicagotribune.com

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Two dozen Democratic senators on Thursday called on President Biden to get the U.S. directly involved in an investigation into last months shooting death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed while reporting on an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin.

In a letter sent to the president, the senators call for the State Department and FBI to launch an independent investigation under U.S auspices to determine the truth amid accusations that Abu Akleh was killed by the Israeli military.

It is clear that neither of the parties on the ground trust the other to conduct a credible and independent investigation, the senators wrote. Therefore, at this point, we believe the only way to achieve that goal is for the United States to be directly involved in investigating Ms. Abu Aklehs death.

The letter, led by Sens. Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) and joined by 22 other Senate Democrats, comes ahead of Bidens planned trip to Israel in July.

Abu Akleh, who worked for Al Jazeera for 25 years, was pronounced dead on May 11 after suffering a gunshot wound to the head, sustained while she and her news crew were operating in Jenin and covering an Israeli military operation.

One of her colleagues was also shot, and both journalists were said to be wearing helmets and bulletproof vests clearly marking them as journalists. Her colleague accused the Israeli military of shooting them.

Palestinian Authority (PA) Attorney General Akram Al-Khatib told reporters on May 26 that their investigation concluded Abu Akleh was shot by an Israeli soldier in a deliberate murder.

Israel criticizes the PA for rejecting offers to conduct a joint investigation into Abu Aklehs death, and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz rejected Al-Khatibs statement, tweeting that Any claim that the IDF [ Israel Defense Forces] intentionally harms journalists or uninvolved civilians, is a blatant lie.

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Still, multiple media outlets have conducted investigations into Abu Aklehs death that have pointed to Israeli military fire fatally hitting the veteran Al Jazeera journalist in the head, including The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Associated Press and the Dutch investigative outlet Bellingcat.

In a statement on Friday, the IDF said their investigation concluded that Abu Akleh was not intentionally shot by an IDF soldier but that it was not possible to determine whether she was killed by a Palestinian gunman shooting indiscriminately in her area or inadvertently by an IDF soldier.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Tuesday that the U.S. is in close and constant touch with our Israeli and with our Palestinian partners about the investigation into Abu Aklehs death.

We want to see the parties cooperate, he said. Weve made clear our view, again, both to Israelis and Palestinians, that we seek a thorough, transparent, and impartial investigation into Shireen Abu Aklehs killing. We expect full accountability for those responsible. And we have urged to that end  that the two sides share their evidence with one another.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Biden administration has agreed to cancel $6 billion in student loans for about 200,000 former students who say they were defrauded by their colleges, according to a proposed settlement in a Trump-era lawsuit.

The agreement filed Wednesday in San Francisco federal court would automatically cancel federal student debt for students who were enrolled at one of more than 150 colleges and later applied for debt cancellation because of alleged misconduct by the schools.

Almost all the schools involved are for-profit colleges. The list includes DeVry University, the University of Phoenix and other chains still in operation, along with many that have folded in recent years, including ITT Technical Institute.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement that the settlement would resolve the claims in a manner that is fair and equitable for all parties.

The deal has yet to be approved by a federal judge. A hearing on the proposal is scheduled for July 28.

If approved, it would mark a major step in the Biden administrations efforts to clear a backlog of claims filed through the borrower defense program, which allows students to get their federal loans erased if their schools made false advertising claims or otherwise misled them.

The class-action suit was initially filed by seven former students who argued that President Donald Trump's education secretary, Betsy DeVos, had intentionally stalled the borrower defense process while she rewrote its rules. When the suit was filed, no final decision had been made on any claims for more than a year.

When the department under DeVos started deciding claims months later, it issued tens of thousands of denials, often without any explanation. At the time, the judge overseeing the case blasted DeVos for the blistering pace of rejections, saying her approach hangs borrowers out to dry.

Tens of thousands of borrowers were still in limbo when the Biden administration took over and started negotiating a settlement in 2021, according to court documents. The latest federal data shows there are more than 100,000 pending claims for borrower defense.

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Under the proposed settlement, anyone who attended an eligible school and applied for cancellation as of Wednesday would get their federal student loans and interest fully forgiven. They would also get refunds for past payments made on those loans.

An additional 68,000 plaintiffs who did not attend eligible schools will get a streamlined review of their claims. The oldest claims will get reviewed first, while the most recent ones will get a decision within 2 years.

All borrowers who were caught up in DeVos flurry of denials will have their rejections revoked and their claims will be treated as if they have been pending since the date they were originally filed.

The Project on Predatory Student Lending, which represented students in the suit, said the agreement will help create a "fair, just and efficient for future borrowers.

"This momentous proposed settlement will deliver answers and certainty to borrowers who have fought long and hard for a fair resolution of their borrower defense claims after being cheated by their schools and ignored or even rejected by their government, said Eileen Connor, director of the project.

Borrower defense claims are typically reviewed individually, but the Education Department decided to grant automatic cancellation in this case because of common evidence of institutional misconduct at the schools in question, according to the settlement.

At some schools, there was already proof of substantial misconduct, while others were included because of high rates of claims coming from their former students, according to the deal.

The borrower defense process was started by Congress in 1994 but was rarely used until the collapse of the Corinthian Colleges chain in 2015. The for-profit company closed its campuses amid widespread findings of fraud, prompting thousands of students to apply for debt cancellation.

That led the Obama administration to expand the program and create clearer rules. It became the centerpiece of the administrations efforts to crack down on for-profit colleges that lied or used high-pressure tactics to recruit students. Students at Corinthian and other chains said they enrolled on promises that they would land high-paying jobs, only to graduate with few job prospects.

Earlier this month the Biden administration agreed to cancel federal student debt for anyone who attended a Corinthian school from the company's founding in 1995 to its collapse two decades later. The action will erase $5.8 billion in debt for more than 560,000 borrowers, the largest single discharge in the Education Departments history.

The settlement adds to the administrations effort to cancel student debt for certain groups of borrowers. It has erased billions of additional dollars in debt from other former for-profit college students, along with borrowers who have severe disabilities and those with jobs in public service.

Biden has also faced mounting pressure to pursue mass student debt cancellation. The White House recently signaled that it is considering canceling $10,000, but no decision has been reached.

___

The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Shaquille ONeal will donate the proceeds from his upcoming DJ set in Buffalo to the families of the victims of the TOPS market shooting.

The NBA star-turned-DJ who now performs under the name DJ Diesel made the announcement during a Tuesday interview with Sirius XM host Swaggy Sie.

My next show is in Buffalo, and Im going to donate my proceeds to some of the family members who had a tragic loss, he said at the Governors Ball music festival.

The basketball superstar also revealed that he loses money by performing.

It aint about the money for me, he said, noting his love for the art and helping people.

Shaqs donation comes days after the U.S. Department of Justice filed federal hate crime charges against the accused Buffalo supermarket shooter. Payton Gendron faces 26 counts, including 10 counts of a hate crime resulting in death, for allegedly killing 10 and injuring three others during the racially-motivated May 14 attack.

Gendron previously pleaded not guilty to a 25-count indictment filed by a New York grand jury.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Reuters

Federal prosecutors in the nations capital are trying to drag several lawyers representing indicted Oath Keepers before a judge to make them explain how exactly theyre getting paid, citing a concern that conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell is actually covering the legal tab.

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice asked a federal judge to intervene to ensure that members of the armed, anti-government paramilitary group have competent and conflict-free attorneys.

They cited recent reports in Mother Jones and BuzzFeed News that laid out how Powells political group, Defending the Republic, has quietly funded several defense lawyers.

Sidney Powell Sues Verizon to Hide Phone Records From Jan. 6 Committee

While the DOJs move may seem odd, it behooves prosecutors to have Oath Keepers adequately defended so that any eventual criminal trial is free from accusations of an unfair fight.

More than a dozen members of the MAGA-loyal militia face the extremely rare and serious criminal charge of seditious conspiracy for taking part in the violent insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, when they took part in storming the Capitol buildingand kept stashes of firearms and military gear at the ready just outside the District of Columbia.

In their five-page court filing, prosecutors warned that Powells secret funding campaign might violate the regions legal ethics rules, which prohibit lawyers from getting paid by someone other than their client if the agreement causes interference with the lawyers independence of professional judgment.

The letter, which covers a whopping 17 defendants involved in three different criminal cases, listed five prosecutors from the District of Columbias local U.S. Attorneys Office and two additional lawyers from the DOJs National Security Division.

In a separate letter prosecutors sent directly to these defense attorneys last week, they suggested having an outside entity bankroll the defense presented a conflict of interest, because a stronger defense could make these accused insurrectionists less likely drop their fight early and strike a plea deala gamble that could ultimately land each person more time in prison, if convicted.

Story continues

Big Lie Proponents Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell Among Latest Jan. 6 Subpoenas

This fact could be against the interest of a particular defendant, prosecutors wrote in a footnote.

Prosecutors revealed that they questioned all the defense attorneys about the financing arrangement, but only some of them assured that they werent being funded by Powell. Others either dodged the question or didnt respond at all.

According to prosecutors, two attorneys who represent the farming couple Kelly and Connie Meggs, as well as another lawyer who represents Florida man Kenneth Harrelson, told the government they werent breaking the rulesbut wouldnt say how theyre getting paid. Meanwhile, they got no response at all from the lawyers who separately represent the eyepatch-sporting Oath Keepers leader from Texas, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, and Ohio bartender Jessica Watkins.

Prosecutors also got a cryptic response from another lawyer who seemed to suggest that Powells group is paying for the defense of Roberto Minuta, who owns a tattoo shop in a small Hudson River city just north of New York City.

Should Judge Mehta wish for my client or me to explain the arrangement for funding my clients legal defense in order to confirm that my clients Sixth Amendment right to conflict free counsel are being affordedor waivedwe will provide him with whatever information he requests, Hawaii-based defense lawyer William Shipley wrote to prosecutors.

None of these lawyers responded to several requests for comment from The Daily Beast on Wednesday.

But one attorney who previously represented Rhodes and other members of rightwing organizations now being targeted by the DOJand struck an arrangement to get paid by Defending the Republictold The Daily Beast that Powells group is doing itself a disservice by operating with secrecy.

Oath Keepers Boss Kids Say They Thought He Would Kill All of Us

If a rabbit runs away, a dog will chase them. I think its a bad idea to be super secretive, said Jonathan Moseley.

He went further, singling out the top prosecutor in the District of Columbia and defending Powells group as nothing more than a GoFundMe alternative thats providing much-needed resources to people targeted by the U.S. government.

Matthew Graves is seriously unethical. I think its intimidating to defendants. Its intended to win by starving the defendants of legal representation, rather than on the merits of the prosecution, he said. No one should lose their rights because they cant afford a lawyer.

Thats something of a false dichotomy. In the United States, people charged with crimes always have the option of being represented by a taxpayer-funded public defendera right enshrined in the Constitution. But some members of far-right groups like the Proud Boys street gang and the militant Oath Keepers have chafed at the idea of being defended by a state-provided attorney while simultaneously being prosecuted by that same government. Hence, the many pleas for donations. For example, former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio raised more than $81,000 on the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo.

Moseley detailed some of those concerns in a court filing last year when he was still representing Zachary Rehl, the leader of the Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia. In that filing, Moseley explained the method by which attorneys seem to be getting funding from Powells group.

Who Was the Trump Intermediary on the Phone to Oath Keepers Boss on Jan. 6?

Counsel formally applied for financial assistance and coverage for Zachary Rehls legal fees and expenses from Defending the Republic on December 2, 2021, after weeks of discussing the availability of such assistance with DTR and Zachary Rhel through his wife, he wrote then, explaining how Powells group eventually approved Zachary Rehl for financial assistance (donations) to cover his legal fees and expenses through trial in May to June 2022.

The plan didnt work out, though, as Rehl eventually went with a court-appointed attorney anyway.

Powell did not respond to requests for comment. However, The Daily Beast reached a Texas attorney at Defending the Republic, Travis Wilson Miller, by phone. When this reporter identified himself, the line went dead. Pressed for an explanation, Miller later texted back bad service and requested all questions in writingbut did not answer any of them.

Powell launched two versions of Defending the Republic registered in Dallas, Texas: a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization and a Political Action Committee. The nonprofits website lists among its causes election fraud, fighting lawfare, and defending Jan 6ers.

On her groups website, Powell writes that those who actually broke into the Capitol, who destroyed property or stole property, who attacked an officer, should be held accountable. But she also positions that alongside disproven conspiracy theories about the insurrection being a false flag operation created by someone on the left and decrying the treatment of people jailed for whatever the government says they did at the Capitol.

Her nonprofit has also become a vehicle for all kinds of rightwing lightning rod issues.

Earlier this month, Defending the Republic sued the Food and Drug Administration demanding that the government agency quickly turn over records reflecting the way it approved the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The lawsuit is chock full of ominous sounding anti-vax points about the glaring issues in the approval process. The complaint was electronically signed by Miller, Powell, and Texas attorney Robert H. Holmes.

Rioter Turns on Oath Keepers Boss at Tearful Plea Hearing

Meanwhile, Federal Election Records show that Powells similarly named PAC was used to bankroll the infamous Cyber Ninjas for their so-called election audit in Arizona, a misadventure that perpetuated unproven claims of election fraud and ended when the group concluded that now-President Joe Biden did, in fact, beat former President Donald Trump fair and square. According to FEC records, the PAC paid the Florida computer technicians $14,995 in September last year.

The matter of ensuring that Oath Keepers who are taking money from Powells group are aware of that potential conflict is currently before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta. Prosecutors have asked him to hold on the record meetings in his chambers with each defense lawyer to have them explain the financial arrangementsand if their clients understand the implications.

Mehta could rule on the prosecutors motion in the coming days or weeks.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Drivers can earn up to $800 per month from services that sell vehicle ad wraps. Carvertise

$5 gas is eating into rideshare and delivery drivers earnings, and fuel surcharges aren't keeping up.

Drivers are reportedly turning to an ad service that will wrap their cars with promotional decals.

One firm, Carvertise, told Reuters it is seeing new sign-ups grow between 8% and 13% per month.

As gas prices top $5 in many parts of the country, the increased fuel costs are severely eating into the earnings of rideshare and delivery drivers.

Writing for Insider, New York driver Naomi Ogutu says a fill-up for her Chevy Suburban has more than doubled from about $65 to nearly $150.

"With these gas prices, many of us can't even pay some of our essential bills," she wrote.

While companies like Instacart, Uber, and Lyft have introduced fuel surcharges in March to try to offset the rising expense in some markets, it's simply not enough for some drivers.

For Florida driver Duana Malcolm, the answer was to have Hyundai Sonata "wrapped" with ads from the marketing service Carvertise, Malcolm told Reuters.

The company offers up to $600 per month and drivers can earn a bonus of up to $200 for joining in "swarms" or winning contests.

"It's not life changing money, but I know I'm getting money every month for the next five months that's going to ease my concerns," Malcolm told the wire service.

The company told Reuters it has seen sign-ups grow by 8% to 13% per month as gas prices surged earlier this year.

How it works for rideshare drivers and commuters alike

While the service is a natural complement to ferrying passengers or delivering meals, it's not just rideshare drivers that can participate. Both companies say they welcome regular commuters as well.

Carvertise says it has over half a million drivers registered in its network, and it uses geo-tracking data to ensure that the ad is getting in front of eyeballs.

A competing company, Wrapify, offers a similar service and pay, but offers different vehicle coverage options.

Kathy Kristof, the editor of SideHusl.com, warns that several scams have popped up that imitate these services, including a fake check scheme and companies that require a deposit or fee from the driver.

Both Carvertise and Wrapify use direct deposit, and neither requires the driver to pay to participate.

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Bloomberg) -- SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son is used to praise and encouragement from shareholders. But the companys loss of $34 billion in market value over the last year is a test for even his most faithful admirers when they gather for the annual shareholders meeting on Friday.

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Investors stuck by Son when SoftBank announced a holding company strategy in 2015 to hive out its staid but profitable domestic telecom business to become the worlds largest investor in volatile tech startups. When the Vision Fund booked an $18 billion loss on investments like WeWork and Uber Technologies Inc. in 2020, they pointed to Sons ability to win thousands-fold returns on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. When Son preached patience as the stock began a downward trajectory from a March peak last year, they listened and hung on.

But five years of deploying $142 billion has now resulted in a record 2.1 trillion yen ($15.4 billion) loss for the company in the quarter ended in March. Much of that can be pinned on the recent global selloff in tech and a crackdown on Chinas biggest technology companies, but much can also be attributed to SoftBanks pressure on companies to make big, aggressive bets.

With SoftBanks own financial health on the line, shareholder confidence is near a breaking point, said Mio Kato of LightStream Research. Son needs to show how SoftBank adds value as an investor and chart steps -- such as further share buybacks financed by sales of Alibaba stocks -- for the stock price to recover, he said.

Investors remain loyal as long as they believe in your dream, but once they realize things arent working, trust crumbles in an instant, Kato said.

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Shareholders looking for signs of recovery see a portfolio awash with red instead. SoftBank bet more than $12 billion on Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Global Inc., but Didi delisted from the New York Stock Exchange less than a year after its IPO and that stake is now worth less than $3 billion. South Korean ecommerce company Coupang Inc.s shares are down close to 70% from a year earlier, and other publicly listed companies -- which represent only a fraction of its portfolio companies -- have similarly tumbled in value.

Anxiety remains high that big write-offs might yet be ahead. A number of portfolio companies have been forced to restructure or raise funds at lower valuations. SoftBank-backed firms that have recently announced headcount reductions include Swedish payments firm Klarna Bank AB and privacy management company OneTrust, while Bloomberg News has reported staff cuts at chip unit Arm Ltd.

Questions also linger on whether anyone on SoftBanks board is able to provide proper oversight. SoftBanks board has lost its most independent voices in recent years, including outgoing outside director Lip-Bu Tan who cautioned that Son needs people to provide safeguards, give him advice and make him even more successful in an open departure letter. Poor choices made too quickly can have negative consequences for the company.

A key item on Fridays agenda is SoftBanks appointment of David Chao to replace Tan as an external director. Chao -- a co-founder and general partner at venture capital firm DCM -- had previously invested in companies such as vertical farming startup Plenty Inc. and personal finance startup SoFi Technologies Inc., in which the Vision Fund also invested. SoFi in 2017 was embroiled in a sexual harassment investigation that led to the ouster of its CEO.

This feels like a continuation of the degradation of the strength of board oversight, Kato said about Chao. Given some of the scandals at SoFi which he had invested in, it is not a ringing endorsement of his ability to contribute to better governance at SoftBank.

SoftBank this year will conduct fewer and smaller deals, Son has said. The average size of SoftBanks Vision Fund 2 investments stood at about $100 million to $200 million, compared with around $900 million for Vision Fund 1. In January-March, the Vision Fund doled out $2.5 billion, or less than one-fourth of the $10.4 billion it spent the previous quarter.

SoftBanks emphasis on breakneck speed remains the same, however. It reached a decision to invest in Japans AI Medical Service Inc. within two months of a 30-minute Zoom meeting in February between founder Tomohiro Tada and Son. After Tadas presentation of the company -- which uses artificial intelligence to help clinicians identify potential cancers of the stomach and intestines -- Son spent 15 to 20 minutes asking for numbers to back up the accuracy of AIMs technology, Tada said.

Several minutes into the call, Son suggested Tada should seek as much as $74 million, double the sum Tada proposed. The two also brainstormed possible business models for when AIM would scale up, Tada said. Following an intense two weeks of some 150 email exchanges, SoftBank in April led an $59 million funding round into AIM.

Due to Covid-related precautions, only 150 shareholders will attend Fridays meeting at SoftBanks headquarters in Tokyo, which will be broadcast via a web portal. Son will take questions selected from those submitted in writing online, SoftBank said.

(Updates with chart; an earlier version corrected timeframe for investments in the 11th paragraph)

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Two key Biden administration agencies have instructed their staffers not to provide information or communicate with the government watchdog responsible for tracking waste and corruption in Afghanistan, according to the head of the watchdog agency.

John Sopko, who runs the office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID Administrator Samantha Power on Wednesday to say their agencies are unreasonably refusing to provide information and assistance requested by SIGAR.

Sopko wrote that State and USAID historically have complied with requests for information from SIGAR, which was established in 2008, and that no other administration has ever questioned SIGARs jurisdiction. Inexplicably, this long track record of cooperation seems to have abruptly ended, he said. Agency officials now appear to have adopted a premeditated position of obstruction.

Information from State and USAID dried up months ago, according to three congressional officials and a government official familiar with the process. Biden administration officials argued that the U.S. is no longer involved in reconstruction in Afghanistan, so SIGAR is outside the inspector general's jurisdiction, the officials familiar with the process said.

In one case, in response to an Oct. 1, 2021, SIGAR request for information, the State and USAID general counsels wrote back nearly seven months later arguing activities involving humanitarian and development assistance remain outside SIGARs current mandate.

Sopkos letter asserts that State and USAID are violating the law by withholding information. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2008 specifies that government officials cannot prevent the IG from carrying out its work.

I respectfully request that you direct State and USAID officials to cease their illegal obstruction of SIGARs oversight work and to provide the requested information and assistance without delay, Sopko wrote.

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Congress directed SIGAR to complete several reviews after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, including looking into the collapse of the Afghan government, evaluating the performance of the Afghan Security Forces prior to August 2021, determining whether the State Department and USAID are complying with laws that prohibit transfer of money to the Taliban, and evaluating humanitarian and development programs for the Afghan people.

The agency also has ongoing audit work that it is still closing out, according to its recent quarterly report to Congress.

SIGAR spokesman Philip LaVelle declined to comment.

Asked whether the State Department is still cooperating with SIGAR, spokesperson Ned Price pointed to the recent SIGAR report on the collapse of the Afghan Security Forces and said, Our view is that the report does not reflect the consensus view of the State Department or the U.S. government, for that matter. Many parts of the U.S. government, including the State Department, have unique insights into developments in Afghanistan last year that were not captured in the report and we dont concur with many aspects of the report.

Price said, SIGAR did not request input from the State Department in the process of drafting this report, nor did they afford us an opportunity to review the draft before it was finalized as had been a regular process for other reports. If we have any additional reaction to letters that were sent and responses that were given today, well be sure to pass those along.

USAID, which administers civilian foreign aid, is an independent agency that receives guidance from the secretary of state.

In December 2021, the Office of Management Budget issued guidance that President Joe Biden expects agencies to restore respect and integrity in Inspectors General and that it is the duty of agency personnel to cooperate.

But Sopkos letter contends that a State Department official informed SIGAR that State Department staff have received internal direction to not engage with or speak to SIGAR without prior clearance from State legal counsel, a direction that could violate legal protections of whistleblowers.

It is now evident that offices and staff who have cooperated with similar requests in the past were being silenced or overruled by officials opposed to SIGARs independent oversight, he wrote.

State also informed SIGAR that it would no longer cooperate with future financial audits, but would from now on choose its own auditors, Sopko wrote.

Sopko also notified the chairs and ranking members of the Senate and House Armed Services, Foreign Relations, Homeland Security, and Appropriations committees.
Former Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon is attacking Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for tossing aside Donald Trump in favor of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Fox News, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Times of London, The Sun etc etc etc  all lockstep against Trump, Bannon wrote Wednesday on the right-wing Gettr social media platform. He also attacked the Murdoch family as Australians via England  not American who have never sacrificed anything for this Country. Murdoch became a U.S. citizen in 1984.

Murdoch has zero feel for America or Americans, Bannon added.

Bannon was responding to an article in Vanity Fair on Wednesday declaring that DeSantis fever is spreading across Murdochs media empire.

Hes right. The Murdochs are dumping Trump for Desantis. All the signs are there. pic.twitter.com/p4aFTUTcTU  Ron Filipkowski  (@RonFilipkowski) June 23, 2022

Murdoch-controlled media outlets have recently launched sharp attacks on Trump, including surprisingly scathing editorials earlier this month in the New York Post and Wall Street Journal.

Trump betrayed his supporters by conning them on Jan. 6, and he is still doing it, the Journal editorial stated June 10.

The King Lear of Mar-a-Lago who cannot accept defeat has become a prisoner of his own ego, the Post said the same day. He wont stop insisting that 2020 was stolen even though hes offered no proof that its true.

Longtime Murdoch employee Piers Morgan wrote in an opinion piece Monday in the Post that by almost any political metric you choose, this guys [DeSantis] a far better option for leading the Republicans into the 2024 election than Donald Trump.

The British television personality called Trump an aging, raging gorilla whos become a whiny, democracy-defying bore. The headline flatly declared: Its Time to Dump The Donald.

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Vanity Fair noted Morgan in essence held up a grenade, pulled out a pin, and lobbed it in the direction of Mar-a-Lago. More important, the opinion article underscored the message of Murdochs media: Dump Trump, the magazine added.

Morgan predicted that the mutual admiration society of DeSantis and Trump was about to fall apart big-time.

Morgan added: if theres one thing Trump cant stomach more than people who dont buy into his rigged election bullst, its people who might threaten his chances of returning to the White House in 2024.

The chill is already obvious. DeSantis has opted not to ask Trump for an endorsement for his gubernatorial reelection bid.

Trump posted a Zogby poll (which rated a B- rating for predictability last year) on Truth Social on Wednesday that showed him leading with 54% of the expected vote to DeSantis 12% in an imagined presidential primary race involving several candidates. Fox News reported Wednesday that a New Hampshire poll showed DeSantis with a razor-thin lead over Trump in that state.

Though Fox News skipped airing the first of the televised hearings by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, the network has aired the rest to date.

Following the hearing Tuesday, Fox anchor Martha MacCallum called out the stunning absence of proof to support Trumps claims that the 2020 election had been rigged against him.

One source told Vanity Fair: Rupert Murdoch is a pragmatic guy. He knows better than anybody how to read political tea leaves.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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Indigenous Ecuadorans have poured into the capital Quito from across the country in recent days to join protests against high fuel prices and the cost of living.

Four out of the thousands of demonstrators told AFP why they answered the call for countrywide anti-government demonstrations by the Conaie Indigenous peoples' association.

- At 'war' -

Margarita Malaver, 35, travelled some 270 kilometers (167 miles) on the back of a truck from Puyo, the capital of southeastern Pastaza province, to Quito to declare herself at "war" with the state.

In Puyo -- where she moved 15 years ago from her childhood home in the Amazon jungle region of Sarayaku in search of a decent living -- she works as a laundrywoman to feed herself and her three children.

Malaver, her face painted in black motifs that she explained represent "war," said she relies heavily on a monthly $50 poverty grant from the state.

She pays $80 to rent two rooms and a small kitchen for her family, and has little left for school supplies for her children, or anything else.

She desperately wants for "prices to come down."

Life is "hard," she told AFP. "There is no work."

The cost of a basic basket of consumer goods in Ecuador, for a family of four, is $735 today -- up from $710 a year ago.

Many like Malaver are protesting for more government spending on job creation, education and healthcare.

- Just two notebooks -

Carlos Nazareno, 31, makes bamboo furniture in Pastaza, the same province Malaver is from.

This work earns him about $300 in a good month, less than the minimum salary of $425, he told AFP, spear in hand among hundreds of other protesters.

The money, he said, is "hardly enough to eat, and not enough for the school needs" of his four children, who go to class "with just two notebooks" between them.

Nazareno said there are periods that he sells "nothing for a week" on end.

"My children ask me for things and I have no way of giving it... my motorbike is parked because I have no money for fuel nor to go look for food," he said.

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In just over a year, fuel prices have risen sharply -- almost doubling for diesel from $1 to $1.90 per gallon and rising from $1.75 to $2.55 for gasoline.

- Wasted vote -

Nele Cuchipe, 52, took over the care of her two grandchildren when her son, their father, died.

Her goal she says, is to give the young ones a proper education and a better future than their current impoverished life in the southern Cotopaxi province.

None of her surviving children have work.

Cuchipe makes a subsistence living from growing potatoes, barley and a grain called chocho, but suffers under recent price increases for products such as oil, butter and fertilizer for her crops.

She said she wished she could undo the vote she cast for President Guillermo Lasso just over a year ago in the mistaken belief that as "a banker, a businessman" he would rescue the economy.

"Instead, hunger will kill us," said Cuchipe.

"We are suffering because of this government that does not want to understand, that does not react to anything," she said.

- No savings -

Ruben Chaluisa, 30, said he makes $10 a day working as a mason in the town of Zumbahua, elsewhere in Cotopaxi province.

He also grows potatoes and a root vegetable known as melloco to feed his wife and two children.

"We do not manage to have savings like other people," said Chaluisa, huddling against the cold in a red poncho.

Chaluisa said he had to start working at the age of 12, and fears the cycle of poverty will be repeated with his own offspring.

I want them "not to suffer like we do, to be a little more advanced than we are."

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Tacoma police arrested a 23-year-old man Wednesday suspected of firing multiple gunshots through the door of an apartment in University Place, striking and seriously injuring a man.

The shooting suspect was booked into Pierce County Jail on suspicion of first-degree assault, according to a news release from the Pierce County Sheriffs Department.

The incident began about 9:30 p.m. when deputies responded to a report of a man shot in the 5600 block of Hannah Pierce Road West. Deputies said they were already in the area from a separate disturbance call, and they immediately identified the shooting suspect outside a unit in the apartment complex.

Deputies said the suspect knocked at the door of the apartment, apparently looking for someone. According to the release, when the 22-year-old victim answered, the gunman shot through the door.

The victim was transported to an area hospital. Deputies said he was badly injured. Deputies didnt immediately have an update on his condition Thursday morning.

Tacoma Police Department officers responded to a disturbance call later in the night that deputies said involved the suspect in the apartment shooting. Deputies said they established probable cause for his arrest, and Tacoma police took him into custody.

The shooting was one of several Wednesday night and early Thursday morning that injured people in the Tacoma area. TPD spokesperson Wendy Haddow said three people were injured by gunfire in the city overnight.

Two women were shot in the legs at about 8:05 p.m. in the 6600 block of South Fife Street. Haddow said a man saw two people near his neighbors vehicle and went outside to confront them. The two people fled, and the man chased them. Haddow said he chased them for about a block until the two people pulled guns and fired at him.

The man was not hit, but two women, ages 18 and 43, were in his yard in the 6600 block watching what was happening, and they were struck. Haddow said police did not locate the shooting suspects, and they are continuing to investigate.

Early Thursday morning, a 66-year-old man was shot multiple times inside his home in the 6700 block of 19th Street Northeast in a drive-by shooting. Haddow said an unknown gunman or gunmen fired through the windows at about 2:40 a.m. The victims injuries were not life-threatening.

Police dont suspect that the shooting was random. The investigation is ongoing.
The rules of kolsch service are simple.

Take a seat. A nice, cool kolsch beer will arrive in a 200-milliliter glass. (Thats a scant 6.7 ounces.) Your server will ink a small slash on your coaster. Drink the beer. Another will arrive. Your server will add another slash to your coaster. And so on.

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Dont bother ordering anything. Certainly dont try to order anything other than kolsch.

The beers will keep coming until you say stop, in the form of placing your coaster atop your glass.

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And there it is: a traditional German style of beer served in a traditional German way.

Dovetail Brewery hosts a kolsch service in March 2022 where customers are served only the brewery's kolsch in 200-milliliter glasses on repeat until placing a coaster on their glass to indicate they're finished. (Steph Byce/Dovetail Brewery)

Thats what Dovetail Brewery (1800 W. Belle Plaine Ave.) will be doing 1-7 p.m. Sunday, a homage to the same kind of service youd find in Cologne, Germany, where kolsch reigns supreme. Its Dovetails fourth such service in the last four years for its kolsch, a crisp, refreshing and lightly fruity beer thats a lean 4.6% alcohol.

Its just plain fun not to have to order a beer  it just keeps coming, Dovetail co-founder Hagen Dost said.

While it may not be surprising to find a brewery such as Dovetail, dedicated to reproducing continental European beer styles, also reproducing European beer culture, there has been an unlikely development in Chicago since Dovetails first kolsch service in 2019: other breweries have also started doing it. Logan Squares Hopewell Brewing hosted two kolsch nights in spring, and Double Clutch Brewing, which opened last fall in Evanston, has also done it.

Hopewell co-founder Samantha Lee said the brewery decided to host a kolsch service to celebrate the release of its first kolsch, Cold Call, which came out in March. They scheduled the event for a Tuesday in case it bombed  which Lee said wouldnt have surprised her. She wondered how much appetite there would be for drinking a single style of beer with no chance to order anything else.

However, she said, it was as busy as a busy Saturday.

And all we had was kolsch! she marveled.

Hopewell decided to host another a month later.

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Lee chalked up the success of kolsch night to the events social aspect, and the feeling of ritual as servers crisscross the room with trays of frosty beer, replacing empty glasses as soon as theyre drained. No one needs to interrupt a conversation to look at a beer menu or to order a drink; the beers just keep coming in a communal experience, where everyone in the room is drinking the same thing.

It feels like a very social night, and after two years of living through the most antisocial period of our lives, its a really welcome way to spend a Tuesday, she said.

Double Clutch, which opened in north Evanston in late October, hosted its first kolsch service in April. Bar manager Nick Murray said he had never experienced kolsch service, but wanted to host one to promote the new brewery and its dedication to German-style beers. He attended Dovetails in March to see how that brewery handled logistics and had an absolute blast, he said.

Its just so fun and user friendly, he said. I just liked how everyone was there for the same thing. You could feel the camaraderie and spirit in the room.

Double Clutch hosted its event in April, serving 200-milliliter pours for $3 apiece.

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People loved it, Murray said. Some people didnt understand the concept at first, but once they started experiencing it, they were over the moon about it. People are already asking, When are you going to do another kolsch service? 

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The answer, he said, will likely be in fall.

Dost said he first experienced kolsch service in Cologne when visiting for business in 2010, when he still worked as a mechanical engineer. Hed heard of it, but never experienced it. It was, he said, just a really nice evening.

The waiters were all business, and you sit and talk and you keep drinking beers at your own pace, but you always have the full glass  or a next glass, he said. It was one of those German Gemutlichkeit experiences  a feeling of good times.

Dost said Dovetail, which will charge $4 per pour Sunday, remains dedicated to kolsch service, and hopes to do it at least twice a year. Hes also glad to see other breweries embrace it.

Kolsch is not just a style  its a service and a culture around that beer, he said. Its neat to be able to bring that to people.

jbnoel@chicagotribune.com
Jun. 22Negotiations for a new teachers' contract continued Wednesday, but this time with more than 120 protesting teachers outside Hamilton City Schools' central office on Dayton Street.

The on-going labor pact talks for an employment contract set to expire in August is so far only seeing one side  the teachers' union  commenting publicly as Hamilton Schools' leader remained quiet on the status of the talks.

Wednesday morning and afternoon saw rotating shifts of teachers protesting on the sidewalks near the city schools' headquarters at 533 Dayton Street.

Topping their list of concerns, said union officials, are a lack of planning time during the school day, pay and proposed contract stipulations they say will force teachers  including special education instructors  to fill in as substitute teachers when needed.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020, the subsequent school years have been marked by historic substitute teacher shortages causing major class schedule disruptions  sometimes resulting in school closures.

Organized by the Hamilton teachers' union, which represents more than 700 classroom instructors in the public city schools, the rally was a show of solidarity for employment contract issues, said union officials.

Late Wednesday afternoon the two sides issued a joint statement: "Bargaining teams for both the (union) and the Board of Education met on June 22nd for the majority of the work day to discuss the terms of a successor labor contract."

"Progress was made towards reaching an agreement; however, additional time will be needed. The parties plan to meet again prior to the start of the school year in a good faith attempt to reach an agreement," wrote officials representing the teachers and the school board.

The 9,000-student city school system is one of the largest in Butler County.

Hamilton Police officers on the scene told the Journal-News there was no unlawful behavior or criminal incidents from the teachers outside Hamilton Schools' central office.

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The current, two-year contract with teachers ends in August, said union officials.

"We need planning time during the school day," said Kathy Christen, a teacher and spokesperson for the union.

"The current school board proposal does not allow us to have the time we used to have," said Christen, adding the academic lag many students suffered during the COVID-19 disrupted school years requires teachers to spend more time on lesson and other planning.

Social media postings from union officials prior to the rally also referred to proposed contract changes that would require teachers  including those working with special needs students  to fill in on occasion as substitute teachers in other classes.

Union leaders said they were please with the rally turnout.

"We're looking for a fair and equitable contract and that's really everyone is here," said Christen.

The next Hamilton Board of Education meeting is scheduled for June 30.
Tech leaders testifying on Wednesday before a House subcommittee on cyber told lawmakers that more coordination is needed between the public and the private sector to identify security threats, including cyber, that stem from emerging technologies like quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

Ron Green, executive vice president and chief security officer at Mastercard, said that partnership should incentivize the government to share threat intelligence to the private sector so that both sectors are able to mitigate cybersecurity risks posed by U.S. adversaries both at home and abroad.

Cybercrime is not constrained by borders or sectors, Green told lawmakers.

Our digital world is too interconnected, and threats are too fast changing for any one organization to counter them alone, he added.

Green, who was joined by three other tech leaders, made his remarks during a House Homeland Security subpanel that touched on the intersection between emerging technologies and security risks.

Greens recommendations to Congress have previously been raised by U.S. cyber officials in government and experts in the private sector.

Robert Knake, a U.S. official at the White Houses Office of the National Cyber Director, told lawmakers in April that companies are increasingly asking the government to share cyber threat intelligence as they seek to prepare and counter growing security threats.

What weve heard from every private sector company we talked to is to make sure that we can provide the one thing that private companies cant do on their own, which is intelligence, Knake said.

Only the U.S. government can collect intelligence, and only the U.S. government can provide it back. So thats a major focus of our efforts, he added.

Cyber executives who also testified before Congress in April said that the U.S. government should be less of a regulator and more of a partner for critical infrastructure in the private sector, adding that its focus should remain on providing guidance and sharing threat intelligence.

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Those calls to action have been emboldened by President Bidens executive order on cybersecurity which introduced several key initiatives, including facilitating threat information sharing between the government and the private sector.

Green also suggested that Congress authorize the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to create a national cyber training center to train and prepare cybersecurity workers in identifying and mitigating national security threats arising from emerging technologies.

Planning for an attack is crucial, but those plans are ultimately worthless without practice, Green said.

Green made an analogy explaining how cyberattacks should be taken as seriously as military operations. Its the same way that [ground] battle plans would be of little use without real world war games and live fire exercises.

Green said that the U.S. Army already has a national training center based in Fort Irwin, California, adding that CISA should follow suit.

We need a similar facility for cybersecurity, he added.

Green also said that part of his job is to forecast future threats as technology evolves and anticipate how those security risks may threaten businesses like his and government bodies like Congress.

Were often looking at 10 years ahead, Green said.

He added that he and his team regularly consult experts in the private sector, government and academia about ways to identify and mitigate emerging threats.

This may seem like purely speculative work, but were actually developing an informed textured picture of the future, he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
BAGHDAD (AP)  Iraqs Parliament swore in dozens of new lawmakers on Thursday, replacing 73 legislators loyal to powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, strengthening the power of rival Iran-backed Shiite factions in the assembly.

The 73 had resigned collectively earlier this month amid a prolonged political impasse over the formation of the country's next government. The unprecedented walkout, based on a request from al-Sadr, threw Iraq into further uncertainty, reshuffling the deck following the Oct. 10 elections, which gave him the biggest bloc in Parliament.

Although he emerged as a winner, al-Sadr has been locked in a power struggle with internal Shiite rivals backed by Iran and was unable to cobble together a coalition that can form a majority government.

Two weeks ago, he ordered lawmakers from his parliamentary bloc to resign in a bid to break the eight-month impasse. The move threw Iraqs political landscape into disarray.

According to Iraqi laws, if any seat in parliament becomes vacant, the candidate who obtains the second highest number of votes in their electoral district would replace them. In this case, it made al-Sadrs opponents from the so-called Coordination Framework, a coalition led by Iran-backed Shiite parties and their allies, the majority with around 122 seats.

It puts al-Sadr out of parliament for the first time since 2005, and allows pro-Iranian factions to determine the makeup of the next government.

Today, the first step has been completed, which is the replacement deputies taking the oath," said Lawmaker Muhammad Saadoun Sayhod, from the Rule of Law coalition represented in the Framework.

We will now start the process of electing the president and naming the prime minister from the Coordination Framework, he said, adding he expected the formation of a new government to begin soon.

There was no immediate reaction from al-Sadr to the swearing in of new lawmakers. There remain concerns the political deadlock could lead to renewed protests and street clashes between supporters of al-Sadr and their Shiite rivals.

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Even though Parliament is in recess, lawmakers mostly from the Framework alliance called for an extraordinary session Thursday to vote on the new lawmakers. Sixty-four lawmakers were sworn in, while nine other replacements did not attend.

On Wednesday, al-Sadr accused Iranian proxies of political meddling. He also accused them of applying pressure against newly elected political independents and allies of his Sadrist bloc.

He called on parliamentarians not to succumb to pressure.

I call on blocs to stand bravely for the sake of reform and saving the nation, and not to give in to sectarian pressures, as they are bubbles which will disappear, he said in a statement.

Munaf Al-Musawi, a political analyst and director of the Baghdad Center for Strategic Studies, said the fight for government posts will now begin. Once a government is formed, he said al-Sadr's supporters could take to the streets, leading to clashes with Shiite rivals.

What comes next is more difficult, he said. With Coordination Framework and its allies now in control of Parliament, al-Sadr and his allies will pay the price for their walkout, he added.

Iraqs election was held several months earlier than expected, in response to mass protests that broke out in late 2019 and saw tens of thousands rally against endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment.
Tracy Brown-Salsman, right, joins the first LGBTQ+ Pride march in Loogootee on June 12, 2022.

LOOGOOTEE  Last summer, Kayla Whaley had to wait for local law enforcement to arrive before she could sweep up the shattered glass from her living room floor.

A brick had just sailed through her window, disrupting Whaley and her partner's quiet movie night. It lay amid the glass shards.

That was only the first brick thrown that night. A few hours after the police had taken note of the damages and left, more bricks struck the house's exterior. While the police didn't catch the assailant, Whaley remembers how the nearby cornfield rustled with faint movement, this seemingly invisible enemy quickening the kicking drumbeat of her heart.

For Whaley, it felt like her home, once a safe haven, was now under siege. This fear only solidified when Whaley's car was struck with bricks in their driveway a few days later.

Fearing for her family's safety, Whaley adopted a "Clint Eastwood"-type persona, puffing out her chest and investigating her property whenever their new surveillance equipment picked up any motion.

"I kind of had to pretend to be a Billy Badass and just sit on the porch with 20 gauge so that we could have a little bit of peace of mind," Whaley recalled.

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This incident reaffirmed what Whaley already suspected to be the truth: She and her spouse aren't safe in Loogootee, Indiana.

"I've gotten to the point where I can't even go into the grocery store. I'll have people around me and I will start crying and run out. I have panic attacks in the middle of the night," Whaley said. "I'm so afraid of getting hurt  or worse."

Speaking with The Herald-Times, half a dozen openly LGBTQ+ residents spoke about their troubling experiences living in Loogootee.

Drivers in passing vehicles have extended their middle fingers at one same-sex couple while they walk along the street. Another couple described being called slurs at a public pool. A potential job opportunity dried up as soon as one woman mentioned her partner.

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Several people recalled how they didn't often leave their house or speak to strangers soon after they came out.

Local LGBTQ+ activists such as Whaley believe visibility is the first step to acceptance, but when a local gay couple requested decorations be placed on city-owned property for Pride month, city officials rejected it.

While some see this as a case of discrimination, legal experts say it's within an individual city government's purview to decide what is officially celebrated.

"Elected officials are supposed to be responsive to the people they think they represent. So you can't blame them for kind of sticking their finger in the wind and deciding what's going to be the safe decision versus what's gonna be the right decision," said Steve Sanders, law professor at Indiana University.

Couple requests Pride display on city property, faces opposition

For the past 25 years, Tim and Tracy Brown-Salsman have been a source of inspiration and refuge for many LGBTQ+ residents and allies in Loogootee.

"I think Tim and Tracy have really been a catalyst of letting people know that it's OK to be open about who you are," Whaley said.

But the couple's openness and LGBTQ+ advocacy has, at times, come with a price.

Lit firecrackers and glass bottles have been thrown at their house. While many Loogootee residents have been supportive, the couple also has had slurs and violent threats lobbed at them.

The Brown-Salsman family  Tim, Tracy and their rescued pet birds  reside in a defunct grocery store, which they've re-outfitted into a living space, in the middle of the town square.

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The building, now sporting pale pink trimmings on its exterior fixtures, was once the stage for Robert Kennedy during a notable campaign visit only a few months before his assassination.

"Robert Kennedy came in 1968, stood on our porch and spoke to the masses in our town," Tracy said. "Kennedy stood up for civil rights in 1968, and we're still fighting for our rights, right here, to this day."

Across the street from the Brown-Salsman home, there's a triangular piece of city-owned land. It usually hosts holiday decorations  a nativity scene during Christmas time, a dozen American flags on Flag Day. In Tim and Tracy's view, it seemed like the best place for a diversity and inclusion sign celebrating LGBTQ Pride month in June. It would have been the first time the city of Loogootee officially acknowledged the celebration.

Tracy and Tim Brown-Salsman designed and donated this sign to Loogootee, requesting it be placed on a widely seen city-owned land in June. City officials rejected the request.

But when the Brown-Salsmans requested their donated sign be placed on that strip of land throughout the month, city officials declined.

In April, months after the Pride display was first suggested, the Loogootee City Council passed an ordinance that stated only city employees can decorate city-owned property. The protocol had been previously unwritten but nevertheless enforced for several years, according to Mayor Noel Harty.

Undeterred, the Brown-Salsmans continued to push the issue until Harty, in an action he would later retract, suggested the city's Beautification Board could decide how the city was decorated. When the Beautification Board members refused to meet to weigh in on the issue, board president Trenton Scott gave permission for Pride flags to be placed in Loogootee's flower pots.

While this was initially counted as a small victory, an undercurrent of opposition soon began festering.

Vandalism, threats begin; city takes down flags after pressure

The small Pride flags were in the city flower pots for less than two weeks before city officials took them down. During that brief time, the flags were regularly stolen or broken in half. Everyday, Tracy replaced the damaged or missing Pride flags, making sure to also file a report with local law enforcement.

A few days after the Pride flags were placed, white flags with religious messages began appearing in the flower pots. Tracy said he didn't have any issue with the other flags, so long as the Pride flags were left alone.

An LGBTQ+ Pride flag flies alongside a handmade Christian flag in a Loogootee flower pot. City officials moved to take both flags out following public outcry.

Scott, the Beautification Board president, said he didn't authorize the white flags to be present alongside the Pride flags but didn't have a problem with both flags being there. If one message is allowed on a public space, a different message has that same right, he reasoned.

Not everyone agreed. Soon after his decision to authorize the Pride flags, Scott began receiving phone calls threatening his safety.

"Be careful while you're working outside on the highway," Scott recalled one person warning.

He later found a handwritten letter in his mailbox.

"You might want to move out of town," the letter read. "You (sic) the only one to support the queers. Flags in Pots is Not right."

When he first read the letter, Scott stood outside on his lawn and stared vacantly at his house for around 30 minutes, gathering his thoughts.

"How could someone be that angry (about this)?" Scott said. "Why can't we all just get along?"

He remembers when he first moved to Loogootee and began a small business. Even though he was an outsider, people were very nice and supportive  until this letter.

Noting he has close relatives who are gay, Scott is an ally of the LGBTQ+ community and considers it a "basic human right" for people to be who they are.

"I think Loogootee is very accepting, but it depends on who you are," Scott said. "It's a small town with a big heart, but that heart needs to include everybody."

Scott has filed a police report about the threats. The investigation is ongoing.

At a subsequent city council meeting, Harty noted his suggestion of assigning this responsibility to the Beautification Board was a mistake since the majority of volunteer members felt uncomfortable.

He relegated it back to city council, whose members mostly agreed the Pride flags should be taken down. Within a few hours, dozens of small flags were returned to Tracy's porch.

Is this discrimination? Hard to prove, Indiana University expert notes

After city officials took down the Pride flags, the Brown-Salsmans, Whaley and other LGBTQ+ activists said they are reaching out to the American Civil Liberties Union to explore their legal options.

Steve Sanders, a legal expert on constitutional law at Indiana University, said a case like this can be complicated.

No private individual or group has the right to place their message on city-owned property, Sanders noted.

"If the city itself retains control of the property and always decides for itself what images or decorations are placed there, then it has pretty wide latitude to choose the messages or images it wants to promote," Sanders told The Herald-Times via email.

Generally, a city's government can pick and choose which holidays to celebrate, though religious observances are more restricted.

"You can express a point of view that it's the Christmas season and we should all celebrate Christmas, but the average observer shouldn't be able to come away and say, 'Well, the city is basically endorsing Christianity and saying all citizens should be Christian,'" Sanders explained. "It can't send that message."

However, if a space has been opened to the public, the city could have a more difficult time defending itself if it favors some messages over others.

"Whether or not the Pride month supporters could prevail in a lawsuit against the city would depend on whether and to what extent the city property has, in effect, been made available to the public for the display of messages," Sanders said.

According to Harty, the triangle area has only been decorated by city staff or members of its boards in the past. Harty noted the city has not had a display request like this from private citizens before, and city officials were uninterested in adding a display for Pride month.

Sanders said city officials have the right to make that decision.

"If you don't like a decision, change the decision makers," Sander said.

Pride display fight reveals a town divided

The small room where the Loogootee City Council meeting was held June 13 was overcrowded with attendees, some spilling out into the hallway.

Though it wasn't on the agenda, a Pride display was on the forefront of attendees' and officials' minds. The discussion concluded with Harty stating official permission had not been given for the flags in flower pots, leading to their removal.

Resident Jason Riggins attended the meeting after he heard about the issue at his church, New Beginnings Community Church. The pastor, Ernest Canell, has been extremely vocal in his opposition of a Pride display on city property.

Riggins also is against a Pride display in Loogootee, saying celebration is fine  as long as it is on private property. Any decoration displayed on city-owned property, should be supported by the majority of the city's population, Riggins said.

Riggins noted he was surprised the issue had grown in a short amount of time.

"It created a life of its own," Riggins said. "What started out as a small incident in town has turned into this huge debate."

Some out-of-town visitors also attended the meeting, including Tieraney Sheetz. Sheetz said she recently considered moving to Loogootee because many of her friends live there. They described it as a nice, small town, she said.

However, once she read about the Pride debate on social media, Sheetz became concerned this would not be an inclusive enough environment to raise her children. She was especially troubled how the sign that had caused this whole debate was simply promoting diversity and inclusion.

"If they're against one thing, they're usually against all things," Sheetz said, looking around the room. "I'm the only person of color here."

Chastin Burris marches with her children, Ezny and Havilynn, in Loogootee on June 12, 2022.

Following the meeting, city councilwoman Teresa Nolley told The Herald-Times this situation was "totally handled wrong" by Harty. Authority should have never been given to a volunteer committee, Nolley said. It should have always been decided by elected officials.

"Putting up a sign that said we support diversity was not a problem with me," Nolley said, adding, "Nobody asked me."

Nolley said the city council's rejection seemed "personal" and felt targeted toward the people who requested it. Harty said there is no preferential treatment among citizens and these decisions were not motivated by prejudice or discrimination.

The Brown-Salmans said they remain undeterred from their goal of making a more connected network of support for the LGBTQ+ community in Loogootee.

Since the situation began, many have extended support to Loogootee's LGBTQ+ population. A recent Facebook group, titled Loogootee Pride, has nearly 400 members.

"We've been doing this for so long. Nothing surprises us anymore," Tracy said. "We're just trying to make a change for the next generation."

Contact Rachel Smith at rksmith@heraldt.com or @RachelSmithNews on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Southern Indiana city rejects LGBTQ decoration, faces backlash
Tods has teamed up with its brand ambassador Xiao Zhan on their first capsule collection, in a bid to boost the brands presence among the popular actors large fan base in China.

The Tods for XZ capsule, featuring bags, shoes and accessories, designed by brand creative director Walter Chiapponi, takes cues from the keywords Together and Tomorrow, represented by the brands signature T logo, with color inspired by the blue sea and hibiscus flower.

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The announcement, with campaign images of Xiao sporting items from the capsule, amassed more than 2.4 million likes, 420,000 comments and more than half a million shares on Xiaos Weibo post within hours on Thursday, while the dedicated hashtag for the capsule Be Together, For Tomorrow has logged more than 30 million impressions.

The capsule is available on the brands website, as well as online stores on Tmall, JD.com and WeChat mini-program.

Chinese actor and Tods brand ambassador Xiao Zhan stars in the campaign, promoting his first capsule collection with the Italian brand. - Credit: Courtesy

Courtesy

The capsule signals Tods ambition to bring its China business back on track.

In the most recent quarter, due to strict COVID-19 rules, China was the only region that was lagging behind, while all other product categories and geographic regions delivered double-digit growth for Tods Group, which also includes Hogan, Fay and Roger Vivier.

Emilio Macellari, the groups chief financial officer, expected that sales declines could potentially be as much as 40 percent in the second quarter. But with Shanghai gradually reopening, the company would revise those projections.

With around 31 million followers on Weibo, Xiao is a member of the Chinese boy group X Nine. He shot to fame in 2019 with his performance in the TV drama The Untamed, which is now available on Netflix worldwide.

The actor was at the center of a cyberbullying storm back in 2019. A fan fiction, depicting a pedophiliac female sex worker named after him in a sexual relationship with a minor named Wang Yibo, his costar in The Untamed, caused outrage among his fans. Some of his fans rallied like-minded people to report the fiction, resulting in the site Archive of Our Own, which was hosting the novel, being banned by Chinas Great Firewall.

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Simultaneously, the fan fiction created backlash against Xiao and drew on the intersections of cancel culture, homophobia, censorship and reporting culture on social media in China, culminating in the cyberbullying of him. Consequently, he lost many brand endorsements and was forced to issue an apology for the actions of his fans.

The actor laid low for more than a year before he was appointed a brand ambassador of Tods, Zenith and Gucci last year. He is now also the face of JD.com, Li-Ning, Tencent Video and Budweiser.

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Protestor holds a sign while attending a gun safety reform rally near the Capitol on June 6, 2022. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Democrats on Thursday criticized the Supreme Court's decision expanding gun rights.

The ruling "is an invitation for more gun deaths and chaos in America's neighborhoods," Sen. Dick Durbin said.

The Supreme Court expanded Second Amendment rights to carry a gun outside the home for self-defense purposes.

Top Democratic leaders on Thursday tore into the Supreme Court's decision to expand gun rights  the most significant Second Amendment ruling in more than a decade.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the nation's highest court "extremist" and "right-wing" in a statement released after the decision came down.

"With this far out-of-the-mainstream and dangerous decision that flies in the face of overwhelming public support for rational gun safety measures, it's no wonder the public is increasingly losing faith in the Roberts Court," Schumer said, referring to John Roberts, the chief justice who presides over the current Supreme Court and voted with the conservative majority in Thursday's decision.

The nation's highest court struck down a New York law that requires people who seek a license to carry a gun in public to demonstrate a "proper cause," or a special reason, to do so. The rule had been in place for more than 100 years.

The court's 6-3 conservative majority ruled that the law was unconstitutional, and declared for the first time that the US Constitution protects an individual's right to carry guns outside the home for self-defense purposes.

The decision comes as the nation grapples with a spike in gun violence. Democratic and Republican lawmakers are currently seeking to advance a bipartisan bill to respond to the crisis after years of inaction. Recent deadly mass shootings took place at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decried the Supreme Court's ruling, claiming the court's six conservative justices have "chosen to endanger more American lives."

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"By making it more difficult to enact measures that reduce gun violence, the GOP Supermajority Court is condoning the horrific mass shootings and ongoing tragedy of daily gun deaths plaguing our nation," the California Democrat said.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the upper chamber, warned of the potential consequences of the ruling.

"In a nation of almost 400 million firearms, this Supreme Court decision is an invitation for more gun deaths and chaos in America's neighborhoods," he said in a statement.

President Joe Biden also commented on the ruling on Thursday, saying in a statement that "we must do more as a society  not less  to protect our fellow Americans."

"This ruling contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all," he said.

Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) June 23, 2022

Democratic leaders across the nation vowed to continue to work on policy reforms to combat gun violence in light of the decision. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, criticized the Supreme Court as the state prepares to mount a response by reinforcing gun-safety regulations.

Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, called the court's ruling "shameful."

"These 6 justices have endangered New Yorkers and make us all less safe," Nadler said. "Overreach like this is exactly why the Court faces an increasing legitimacy crisis."

Other states besides New York that have similar concealed-carry licensing laws include California, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Hawaii, and are collectively home to about 73 million people. Legal experts say the decision is expected to bring more guns into public spaces.

Meanwhile, a slew of congressional Republicans celebrated the Supreme Court's ruling on Thursday.

"Today's ruling rightfully ensures the right of all law-abiding Americans to defend themselves without unnecessary government interference," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement.

Read the original article on Business Insider
In The Know by Yahoo

A pilots Jell-O metaphor perfectly explains why you shouldnt be afraid of flying.

What is inflation and what causes it?

Humans obviously cant fly, so its always going to feel unnatural when youre up in the air. If flying gives you anxiety, especially when theres turbulence, Anna Paul shared why theres nothing to be afraid of. Basically, the laws of physics will protect you.

Shop vibrant looks from In The Know cover stars Chella Man and Mj Rodriguez:

Paul explained that its helpful to imagine the sky as a cup full of Jell-O. She then crumpled up a tiny piece of napkin, which she said represented the airplane, and dropped it into the cup of Jell-O. The piece of tissue slowly sunk deeper but never reached the bottom.

That is you flying through the sky, she said. Theres pressure from the bottom, pressure from the top, from the sides. Pressure coming from everywhere, OK?

She tapped the top of the Jell-O cup to demonstrate what turbulence is like. The napkin shook as the Jell-O wobbled, but it didnt sink any deeper.

You feel the plane shaking, but this is not just going to fall down, she said, pointing to the piece of napkin lodged in the Jell-O, representing an airplane midair. Its stuck in there because theres pressure coming from the bottom and the sides, Paul said.

She added that there has never been a plane crash caused by turbulence either, so you dont have to be scared.

The helpful tip received 18.7 million views and 3.9 million likes on TikTok.

This genuinely has helped me SO much, a user said.

This actually put me at such ease, I cant even tell you, another wrote.

Thank you! Im flying today, and this helped!! a person added.

Shop In The Know cover star Storm Reid's high-fashion looks:

The post Travelers Jell-O hack will ease your fear of flying: You dont have to be scared appeared first on In The Know.

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Sidney Powells testimony is played by the Jan 6 committee (Getty Images)

Donald Trump personally tapped conspiracy theorist and attorney Sidney Powell to be a special counsel working in the White House to investigate his allegations of voter and election fraud, though he never went through with her appointment, Ms Powell testified to the Jan 6 committee on Thursday.

The former Trump attorneys testimony to the Jan 6 committee was one of several pieces of witness testimony revealed publicly for the first time by the select committee at the hearing.

On Friday, he had asked me to be a special counsel to address the election issues, she told the lawmakers.

Mr Trumps offer had been previously reported by The New York Times in December of 2020, just a few weeks before the January 6 riot, but never confirmed publicly by either the president or Ms Powell before now.

Here's the clip



Sidney Powell: "[Trump] had asked me to be a special counsel to address the election issues." pic.twitter.com/9dHSbwtx6b  Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) June 23, 2022

The attorney was one of the most vocal adherents of rumours and nonsense conspiracies regarding the 2020 election throughout the remainder of 2020. She was eventually cut off from the rest of the presidents legal team and disavowed by Mr Trumps aides after her claims grew too wild for even the Trump campaign to handle.

Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own, the head of Mr Trumps legal team after the election, Rudy Giuliani, said in late November. She is not a member of the Trump Legal Team. She is also not a lawyer for the President in his personal capacity.

Her wild claims about Dominion voting machines in particular led to her eventual targeting with a defamation suit by the company after she falsely alleged that its machines "were created in Venezuela at the direction of Hugo Chavez" and supposedly used to flip thousands of votes from Mr Trump to Joe Biden.
Rep. Mo Brooks failed in his 2022 Senate bid, having lost his Alabama primary race to Katie Britt, a candidate backed by Donald Trump. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama says he is willing to testify before the January 6 panel if subpoenaed.

Brooks had earlier blown off a letter sent by the panel in May that called on him to testify.

Until recently, he was a staunch ally of Donald Trump and even begged him to endorse his Senate bid.

Rep. Mo Brooks, a onetime ally of former President Donald Trump, said he's willing to testify before the House panel investigating the Capitol riot if subpoenaed.

Speaking with CNN on Wednesday, Brooks said he would be open to public testimony.

"My basic requirement is it be in public so the public can see it  so they don't get bits and pieces dribbled out," Brooks told the outlet. The lawmaker added that he would want to view any documents that he might be questioned about and that he would speak only about issues related to the events of January 6, 2021.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, who chairs the January 6 panel, told CNN that Brooks hadn't yet been served with a subpoena. Thompson, however, said the subpoena had been "redone."

"So we are in the process of either redoing it or it's out the door already," Thompson told CNN on Wednesday.

Thompson told The Hill that Brooks wasn't served his earlier subpoena because he had been on the campaign trail, adding that subpoenas are valid for a limited timeframe before they must be redone.

Until this point, Brooks hasn't cooperated with the January 6 panel, having rejected a letter from the committee in May that called for him to testify.

In July 2021, Brooks told a reporter that he wore body armor to the pro-Trump rally at the Ellipse just before the Capitol riot. At the time, Brooks said he slept on the floor of his office and wore a "nice little windbreaker" to cover up the body armor after being warned of "risks."

While Brooks was once a staunch Trump ally, the lawmaker has had a tumultuous relationship with the former president in recent months.

On Wednesday, Brooks lost his Alabama Republican primary runoff after being trounced by Katie Britt, a Trump-backed candidate.

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Before the loss, Brooks slammed Trump as having "no loyalty to anyone or anything but himself." Following his failed Senate bid, Brooks also said the "bad guys won" and accused Trump of not doing anything unless it "enhances his wallet or ego."

Brooks' changed opinion on Trump came just a week after he sent out a public appeal to his supporters to try to get Trump to re-endorse him. Trump ultimately endorsed Britt instead.

In March, Trump rescinded his endorsement of Brooks after Brooks suggested the GOP should look forward to 2022 and stop relitigating the 2020 election. At the time, Trump said Brooks had become "woke" and pulled his backing of him.

Read the original article on Business Insider
When I was nine my mom and I drove to Milwaukee (from Racine) to catch the ultimate trip, 2001: A Space Odyssey. On our way home, seat-beltless in the back seat of the Vista Cruiser, I asked so many questions about what wed just seen that, uncharacteristically, she cut me off with a cheery: I honestly dont have a single answer for you. I really dont. Can we talk about The Love Bug instead?

That first encounter with 2001 came back into orbit the other night, when director Stanley Kubricks minderbender screened Monday at the Music Box 70mm Film Festival  a near-sellout, with 1000-plus eyeballs fixed on the ultrawide screen on the stage of the Chicagos last, best photoplay palace. Id almost forgotten what that was like: falling into a movie, in a near-perfect print, with more than 500 people.

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A personal note. On Monday Id just gotten back from Albuquerque, where my brother, mother, sister-in-law and I managed my dads home hospice care these last few weeks. When I got back to Chicago, I wasnt quite up to dealing with the press screening of The Black Phone and found myself back in the womblike reassurance of the Music Box, for a terrific, newly struck 70mm print of an earlier Kubrick film, Spartacus.

Many other widescreen wonders fill out this weeks Music Box 70mm calendar. Most titles, you know. But one film in particular you very likely dont, even though the word Chicago is right there in the title.

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From 1983 to 1996, up to 25 times daily, the 13-minute travelogue Heres Chicago! The City of Dreams showcased our city, aimed at tourists, as part of a multimedia exhibit inside the Water Tower Pumping Station on Michigan Avenue.

"Here's Chicago!", a rare 1983 travelogue shown for years at the Water Tower Pumping Station, captures the city's attractions, skyline and parades. It returns in a newly restored 70mm print this week at the Music Box Theatre. (HANDOUT)

Directed by Ted Hearne, The City of Dreams is what Music Box and Chicago Film Society programmer Kyle Westphal calls a rare 70mm entry in that most cut-and-dried of genres, the municipal travelogue. Its full of helicopter shots of the Chicago River, along with aerial and ground-view images of the Sears Tower (then the worlds tallest) and other landmarks. Forty years ago, a lot about the citys downtown skyline was the same. A lot, but hardly all: We see no Bean, or Trump building. Or much diversity of any sort. We do, however, glimpse the sign for the late, lamented Don Roths Blackhawk restaurant, underneath the L tracks on Wabash.

This isnt the first revival of The City of Dreams. In 2016 the Chicago Film Society unveiled the mini-travelogue as part of a 70mm short film program. The Music Box screenings this week, says Westphal, marks the world premiere of the 70mm restoration, undertaken by CFS from the only known copy of the film. It was funded by the National Film Preservation Foundation. We scanned the whole thing in (digital) 6K, had it cleaned up frame-by-frame, and recorded back to 65mm negative. We also found some sound issues on the source print, which have been fixed, so this presentation is rather better than what we presented six years ago.

Music Box technical director Julian Antos puts the restoration cost at $35,000. Hes the one who found the print in a film collectors stash of goodies. Now the goodies are back on view for the public, just as The City of Dreams was in its Water Tower Pumping Station run late last century.

Its a corny movie in some ways, Antos acknowledges. Some of the voice-over narration leans toward whitewash (in every way) and cliche; Chicago, we hear at one point, is a city of neighborhoods, where every street and every home reflects the values of the heartland.

Even so, Antos says, Ive always been sort of moved by it.

And theres this. In recent months, not one but two perplexingly bad Chicago tourism campaigns have generated more confusion than excitement. First we had Chicago Not in Chicago, a component of the citys Chicago: City of Stories branding. At least City of Stories is trackable, and makes clear sense, pulling from our literary and cultural legacy. But Chicago Not in Chicago (cooked up in a pro bono campaign) was a non-starter, playing into our eternal Second City image problem.

More recently, Choose Chicagos latest slogan for tourism enticement  When You Go You Know, a monosyllabic clunker with unfortunate echoes of a trip to the urology clinic  went public to similar local disdain.

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The downtown Chicago el tracks, above Wabash and Lake, get their 1983 close-up in the recently restored mini-travelogue "Here's Chicago! The City of Dreams," screening this week in a 70mm print at the Music Box Theatre. (HANDOUT)

The unadorned idea and achingly sincere pitch behind Heres Chicago! The City of Dreams could teach these last two campaigns a thing or two about simplicity, and letting the city tell its own stories visually, though preferably a wider, deeper range of stories than The City of Dreams saw fit to include in its 13 minutes.

The Tribunes Rick Kogan wrote this in 1988: Chauvinistic in the extreme and superficial by necessity, (the film) is too quick to provide anything more than a general and most genial jaunt through town. Still, in its fashion, it probably propels people out and about and if even one tourist is spurred to further investigation, we are pleased.

Heres Chicago! The City of Dreams screens prior to Brainstorm 7 p.m. Thursday June 23 and 7 p.m. Sunday June 26, Music Box Theatre 70mm Film Festival, Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave.; musicboxtheatre.com.

Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

mjphillips@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @phillipstribune

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The head of Tunisia's powerful UGTT trade union confederation on Thursday rejected conditions set by the International Monetary Fund for a new loan to bail out the country's struggling economy.

"We reject the conditions set by the IMF, given Tunisians' low salaries, lack of means, rising poverty and unemployment," Noureddine Taboubi told reporters.

The global lender has called for "ambitious reforms" to tackle the heavily indebted country's public finances and reform its state-owned companies.

The IMF's regional chief Jihad Azour said Wednesday that the fund was set to begin formal talks on a new financial aid package "in the coming weeks", saying the economic fallout from the Ukraine war made it ever more pressing.

Azour had reiterated an IMF call for "swift implementation of ambitious reforms", saying Tunisia "needs to urgently tackle its fiscal imbalances" including by replacing generalised subsidies with transfers targeting the poor.

But on Thursday Taboubi, whose union members last week staged a crippling public sector strike, said the UGTT rejected "the painful options they're talking about".

"We support reforms, but we don't share the vision of reforms supported by this government," he said.

He also indirectly criticised President Kais Saied, who in July last year sacked the previous administration and suspended parliament in moves opponents have called a coup against the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings.

The UGTT, a co-laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts in a previous national dialogue following Tunisia's 2011 revolution, initially backed Saied's moves but has become increasingly critical as Saied extended his power grab.

On Thursday, Taboubi said: "When there is a government produced by institutions and elections, it will have the legitimacy to start negotiations over reforms."

The IMF has previously conditioned any bailout deal on the union's consent.

Azour visited Tunisia this week, meeting with President Kais Saied and other officials, and welcomed government plans to start tackling dire economic issues exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.

ayj/ezz/par/kir
By Tarek Amara

TUNIS (Reuters) -Tunisian police on Thursday arrested former Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, who is also a former senior member in the Ennahda Islamist party, on suspicion of money laundering, his lawyer told Reuters.

Police in the city of Sousse seized Jebali's phone and his wife's phone and took him to an unknown location, according to a statement by his family on Facebook.

Jebali's arrest raises opposition concerns over the human rights record since President Kais Saied seized control of executive power last year, in a move his opponents called a coup.

The Interior Ministry declined to comment on Jebali's arrest. The ministry called a press conference for Friday, without giving any details.

Jebali's defence team said they met him at his detention centre of the investigation into terrorism crimes.

"Jebali told us he will not answer the investigators questions and he entered into a hunger strike as the issue has a political motivation and nothing to do with money laundering", Jebali's lawyer Mokhtar Jemai said.

Ennahda was the biggest party in Tunisia's parliament before President Kais Saied dissolved the assembly and seized executive powers last year, a move the party and other critics condemned as a coup. Saied said the move was temporary and was needed to save Tunisia from what he saw as a corrupt, self-serving elite.

"The president is personally responsible for Jebali's physical and psychological well-being," his family said in the Facebook post, and called on civil society and human rights organizations "to stand up against these repressive practices".

Jebali was prime minister in 2012 and resigned in 2013 following a political crisis.

Earlier this year, police arrested Noureddine Bhiri, the vice president of Ennahda party for more than two months before releasing him without any charges being brought.

Saied's opponents say he is waging a campaign through the police and the judiciary to target his opponents, but he denies this and says he is not a dictator.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Grant McCool and David Gregorio)
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Firefighting crews battle for a third day on Thursday wind-driven wildfires that has blackened a swath of pine forest near a popular resort in southwestern Turkey and driven dozens of people from their homes.

More than 2,500 firefighters, aided by water-dropping planes and helicopters, were deployed to fight the blazes that erupted on Tuesday in the Bordubet region, near Marmaris on the Aegean Sea coast. The blaze spread rapidly, fanned by winds.

Authorities have evacuated more than 150 people from the area as a precaution, Turkeys forestry minister, Vahit Kirisci, told reporters late Wednesday.

The fires, which erupted a year after the worst wildfires in Turkeys history, were burning in two locations in the Bordubet region, he said.

It is not out of control but we cannot say yet that it has been brought under control, he said.

A total of 27 water-dropping helicopters, 14 planes and 2,600 personnel were involved in the efforts to tame the blazes, the minister said.

Prosecutors were investigating what ignited the fire, including the possibility of arson.

Extended drought conditions in several Mediterranean countries, a heat wave last week that reached northern Germany and high fuel costs for aircraft needed to fight wildfires have heightened concerns across Europe this summer.

Last summer, blazes that were fed by strong winds and scorching temperatures tore through forests in Turkeys Mediterranean and Aegean regions, including Marmaris. The wildfires, which killed at least eight people and countless animals, were described as the worst in Turkeys history.

Villages and resorts had to be evacuated, with some people fleeing to beaches to be rescued by sea. The wildfires also threatened two coal-burning power plants.

Erdogans government came under criticism for its inadequate response and preparedness to fight large-scale wildfires, including a lack of modern firefighting planes.
By Steve Holland and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States will provide an additional $450 million in security assistance to Ukraine, including more long-range rocket systems, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

Moscows forces are advancing in Ukraines east in a bid to capture the industrial heartland known as the Donbas, where Ukraine fears some of its troops could be encircled in a Russian pincer move.

In a statement, the Pentagon said the package would be valued at up to $450 million and include four additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 18 coastal and riverine patrol boats and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, President Joe Biden's administration has provided $6.1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine.

John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said Washington was closely working with Kyiv to identify which types of weapons could best fulfill their needs in each package.

"The reason we do it like this is so we can keep it relevant to what's happening on the battlefield," Kirby told reporters at a White House briefing.

Earlier on Thursday, Ukraine said it had received the first tranche of HIMARS, a powerful long-range weapon system that Kyiv hopes can help turn the tide in the months-long battle.

The latest package comes after Biden last week announced an infusion of $1 billion in weapons for Ukraine that includes anti-ship rocket systems, artillery rockets, howitzers and ammunition.

The war has entered a brutal attritional phase in recent weeks, with Russian forces concentrating overwhelming artillery firepower on the Donbas, which Moscow claims on behalf of separatists.

Ukraine says it needs the HIMARS systems to better match the range of Russian rocket systems that it says are being extensively used to pummel Ukrainian positions in Donbas.

Washington has said it has received assurances from Kyiv that those longer-range weapons would not be used to attack Russian territory, fearing an escalation of the conflict.

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U.S. officials have said that while HIMARS are important for Ukrainian forces, no single weapon system alone can change the war.

Moscow has warned it will strike targets in Ukraine which they "have not yet been hitting" if the West supplies longer-range missiles to Ukraine for use in high-precision mobile rocket systems.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Idrees Ali; Editing by Mark Porter, Deepa Babington and Daniel Wallis)
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain introduced a new tranche of trade sanctions against Russia on Thursday, a notice published on the government website said.

The 'Notice to Exporters' listed new measures including prohibitions on the export to Russia of a range of goods and technology, the export of jet fuel, and the export of sterling or EU denominated banknotes.

It also said there were new prohibitions on the provision of technical assistance, and financial services, funds, and brokering services relating to iron and steel imports.

The notice set out a further list of goods prohibited for export:

- internal repression goods and technology

- goods and technology relating to chemical and biological weapons

- maritime goods and technology

- additional oil refining goods and technology

- additional critical industry goods and technology

(Reporting by William James; Editing by Alistair Smout)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a "fair tribunal" in a Nuremberg-style trial to hold Russia accountable for war crimes in a late night address Wednesday.

"Just as September 1, 1939 and June 22, 1941 ended in Nuremberg trials, February 24, 2022 must end in a fair tribunal. Russia must be held accountable for all the evil it has brought to Ukraine," Zelenskyy said in what has become a regular nightly address to Ukrainians since Russia invaded nearly 4 months ago.

Zelenskyys comments came just one day after Attorney General Merrick Garland visited Ukraine and announced the U.S. would not only support the International Criminal Court investigations into Russian war crimes but would launch its own probe.

AG GARLAND MAKES SURPRISE UKRAINE VISIT TO THROW US WEIGHT BEHIND WAR CRIME PROSECUTIONS

"The United States stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine in the face of Russias continued aggression and assault on Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity," Garland said in a statement Tuesday. "America  and the world  has seen the many horrific images and read the heart-wrenching accounts of brutality and death that have resulted from Russias unjust invasion of Ukraine."

Garland said the Department of Justice (DOJ) will create a War Crimes Accountability Team to investigate and hold accountable those who have committed war crimes and human rights violations.

Zelenskyy championed U.S. efforts to independently investigate Russian war crimes and said the probe will be "one of the largest contributions to the protection of international law and order of our time."

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT LAUNCHES 'LARGEST EVER' PROBE INTO WAR CRIMES

Garland appointed Eli Rosenbaum to serve as the Counselor for War Crimes Accountability following his lengthy career in identifying and deporting Nazi war criminals.

Rosenbaum, who is a 36-veteran of the DOJ, served as the Director of the Office of Special Investigations and oversaw the criminal division in the department that investigated and prosecuted cases involving Nazi criminals.

Rosenbaum will now coordinate efforts across the DOJ and federal government to hold accountable those who have committed war crimes in Ukraine.

"There is no hiding place for war criminals. The U.S. Justice Department will pursue every avenue of accountability for those who commit war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine," Garland said. "Working alongside our domestic and international partners, the Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable every person complicit in the commission of war crimes, torture, and other grave violations during the unprovoked conflict in Ukraine."
(Reuters) - Ukraine, in a symbolic move, on Thursday said it had formally filed a case against Russia at the European Court of Human Rights to end "the mass and gross human rights violations" by Moscow's forces during the war in Ukraine.

The bid has no chance of substantive success, given that on June 7 the Russian parliament approved two bills ending the court's jurisdiction in Russia.

A Ukrainian justice ministry statement said Russia's invasion of Ukraine was illegal under the European Convention on Human Rights.

"The Court will be invited to find that Russia has been guilty of the most flagrant, serious and sustained violations of the Convention ever placed before the Court, and to award just satisfaction on an equally unprecedented scale," it said.

The filing covers the first period of the war, from Feb. 24 until April 7, the date Russia effectively withdrew its ground forces from around Kyiv and other northern cities. Subsequent filings would cover later events, the ministry said.

Moscow has denied allegations by Ukraine and Western governments of human rights violations during the war.

In March, the United Nations' top court for disputes between states ordered Russia to stop military operations, saying it was profoundly concerned by Moscow's use of force. The International Court of Justice was responding to a case filed by Ukraine shortly after the war started.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Grant McCool)
Pete Arredondo, the school district police chief who oversaw officers response to the Uvalde mass shooting, has been put on administrative leave.

The move follows scrutiny of Mr Arredondos role in responding to the Texas shooting, which killed 21 people, the second worst school shooting in US history.

Officers under Mr Arredondos command, armed with assault rifles and ballistic shields, waited more than an hour outside a classroom where 19 students and two teachers were killed, before breaching a door and shooting gunman Salvador Ramos. He has faced mounting criticisms and calls to resign from Uvalde parents and beyond.

On Tuesday, Texas Department of Pubilc Safety Steven McCraw testified in the state legislature that the school police chiefs decisions during the shooting were an abject failure.

The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering Room 111 and 112 was the on-scene commander, Mr McCraw told the state senate.

The Independent has contacted Mr Arredondo for comment.

School officials said they would wait for the result of pending state and federal investigations into the police response to the shooting before making a final personnel decision.

"Today, I am still without details of the investigations being conducted by various agencies," Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District superintendent Hal Harrell said in a statement. "Because of the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown timing of when I will receive the results of the investigations, I have made the decision to place Chief Arredondo on administrative leave effective on this date."

Investigations into the Uvalde police response to the shooting have revealed other lapses, even though the department had trained for a school shooting just two months before the massacre. Mr Arredondo initially lacked a radio and asked for one to be brought to him. Officers never tried to open a door into the classroom either, believing it was locked and instead waiting for a key.

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Eventually, more than an hour after Ramos arrived at Robb Elementary School, and a specialised Border Patrol SWAT team joined Uvalde police officers, a group of police entered the classroom and shot the 18-year-old gunman.

Parents of the Uvalde victims have called on Mr Arredondo to resign.

Having Pete still employed, knowing he is incapable of decision-making that saves lives is terrifying, Brett Cross, the uncle of student Uziyah Garcia, said during a school board hearing on Monday. Innocence doesnt hide, innocence doesnt change its story, but innocence did die on May 24.

On Tuesday, the Uvalde city council denied Mr Arredondos request for a leave of absence from future meetings.

The school police chief has defended his response to the Uvalde shooting.

Not a single responding officer ever hesitated, even for a moment, to put themselves at risk to save the children, he told the Texas Tribune. We responded to the information that we had and had to adjust to whatever we faced. Our objective was to save as many lives as we could, and the extraction of the students from the classrooms by all that were involved saved over 500 of our Uvalde students and teachers before we gained access to the shooter and eliminated the threat.
Image shows Pete Arredondo

A police chief accused of botching the response to the fatal shooting of 19 school children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, has been put on leave.

Pedro "Pete" Arredondo, head of the school district police force, has been blamed for law enforcement delays in confronting the gunman.

Defending his actions, the 50-year-old has said he did not think he was the official in charge at the time.

Public anger has risen as more details of the 24 May attack emerge.

State lawmakers are investigating why police waited for more than an hour outside the Robb Elementary School classroom in which the assailant had barricaded himself before a team made entry.

School district superintendent Hal Harrell said on Wednesday he had placed Mr Arredondo on administrative leave effective immediately, citing "the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown timing of when I will receive the results of the investigations".

He said he had originally planned to "wait until the investigation was complete before making personnel decisions", but was "still without details" of what the inquiry has found.

Mr Arredondo has not spoken in a public capacity since last month's shooting.

In an interview with the Texas Tribune earlier this month, however, he said he "took on the role of a front-line responder" during the attack and assumed another official had taken control of the broader response.

He said officers on the scene could not find a key to unlock the door to the classroom until 77 minutes after the attack started.

But Texas public safety chief Steven McCraw said on Tuesday the door was not locked and there was no evidence officers tried to open it.

Mr McCraw testified to a state Senate hearing that there were enough police on the scene to have stopped the gunman three minutes after he entered the building.

Labelling the response an "abject failure", Mr McCraw also said Mr Arredondo had "decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children".

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Also on Tuesday, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin accused state authorities of selectively releasing information about the shooting to scapegoat local law enforcement and deflect scrutiny from the state's response to the attack.

The decision to remove Mr Arredondo as police chief comes amid uncertainty over his future on the Uvalde city council.

Newly elected to the council last month, and sworn in one week after the massacre at Robb Elementary, he is yet to attend a council meeting and had requested a leave of absence.

But the council unanimously denied his request at its Tuesday meeting after angry residents opposed the move, some calling for his firing.

"Please, please, we're begging you, get this man out of our lives," Berlinda Arreola, the grandmother of murdered 10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza, said.
An 18-year-old Venezuelan man drowned at Utahs Deer Creek State Park on Sunday after jumping into the water to rescue a struggling family member, park officials said.

John Ballan, of Zulia, Venezuela, was visiting the reservoir with friends and family when one of his family members jumped off their boat for a swim near the parks Sailboat Beach area, the Utah Division of Natural Resources (DNR) said Wednesday.

The family member became unable to keep their head above water and Ballan jumped into the water to help, officials said. However, the park said that Ballan then began to struggle.

Neither Ballan nor his family member were wearing life jackets, according to the park. Conditions on the water, which was 64 degrees, were also choppy from high winds.

NEW HAMPSHIRE HIKER DIES OF INJURIES AFTER HIGH-RISK SNOW RESCUE, OFFICIALS SAY

Park rangers responded around 4:30 p.m. to the ongoing incident and witnesses in the area raced on a personal watercraft to help the two struggling swimmers, Utahs DNR said. While Ballans family member was rescued and taken to shore, Ballan was not able to be rescued.

Ballans body was recovered from the water around 11:30 p.m. Sunday, the park said.

Officials reminded the public to always take safety precautions when exploring the outdoors.

"Always recreate with a buddy, wear your life jackets and helmets, and always let somebody know where you are going and when to expect your return," the park said. "Checking weather conditions and water temperatures is also vital."
A maximalist concert may not be for everyone, but for those looking to combine the intensity of a music festival with their annual Pride celebration, Pride in the Park may be just what theyre looking for. Back in Grant Park, the now-annual Pride in the Park returns bigger and better than ever.

When most people think of Pride in Chicago, they may think of the classic Northalsted festival and ever-growing parade. But most dont think of the time, which celebrates the LGBTQ community, as one for a major music festival. Pride in the Park, however, which debuted in 2019, aims to be just that. Part of a national chain of similar festivals, Pride in the Park serves as a unique, music-forward celebration of Pride month.

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It is rare for there to be outdoor LGBT music festivals. There are parades and there are Pride fests, but specifically, a large scale queer outdoor music festival is a new concept. There are only a few out there nationally, said Chez Ordonez, spokesperson for Pride in the Park.

Ordonez also said Pride in the Park aims to curate a space of openness and comfortability in an increasingly uncomfortable world.

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I think a lot of queer people feel like theyre not comfortable going to be around their own community in a safe space, to kiss at the festival. I think a lot of these other festivals consider themselves safe, but a lot of people, especially the trans community, may not feel safe, Ordonez added. We wanted to create a place where people in the queer community could feel safe.

Andrew Taggart of The Chainsmokers performs at the 2022 iHeartRadio Wango Tango on June 4, 2022 in Carson, California. (Frazer Harrison / Getty Images)

In a year where anti-queer and anti-trans legislation continues to increase, spaces like Pride in the Park (as well as smaller and more diverse Pride celebrations across the city) offer an emotional as well as physical respite for those within the LGBTQ community. For many, it is their first Pride.

Pride at its core is a protest and I think that gets lost. Theres the celebrations, the outfits, the music. But Pride started as a riot, a true protest. Our dance, while celebratory, is also a protest, Ordonez said. Were going to dance for the achievements weve made so far.

Last year, Pride in the Park was the first music festival to happen across the city of Chicago. Organizers only had 60 days to prepare. And although it rained nonstop for both days, more than 30,000 people attended. This years Pride in the Park aims to be bigger than ever.

We are interested in having Black, brown and trans performers who normally wouldnt have the opportunity, said Ordonez. The community wants it, the community deserves it.

Saucy Santana performs at the Outloud Raising Voices Music Festival at WeHo Pride on June 4, 2022 in West Hollywood, California. (Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images)

Organizers looked at who was hot this year, but also who has stood up for the community. Artists for this years Pride in the Park run the gamut, from social media superstar Saucy Santana to the rising electronic artist Moore Kismet. Surprisingly, headliners are what the organizers call queer allies, like The Chainsmokers and Alesso. Other performers include Joel Corry and Daya, among others. For fans looking for drag performances, the festival is scheduled to feature celebrated performers like Monet X Change and Chicagos beloved Shea Coulee.

What I hope they would feel is what I would hope for myself: to fully experience Pride, in the best way possible, listening to the best music, with their community in a safe space, said Ordonez. Fully living their truth without question and without apology and with full love.

Pride in the Park runs June 25-26 in Grant Park, entrance at E. Monroe Street and DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Music on the Pride Stage and Circuit Mom Stage from 2 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets (all ages) and more information at prideparkchi.com

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Britt Julious is a freelance critic.
The Conversation

During ice ages, ice sheets like the one in Greenland have covered much of Earth's surface. Thor Wegner/DeFodi Images via Getty Images Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question youd like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. How many ice ages has the Earth had, and could humans live through one?  Mason C., age 8, Hobbs, New Mexico First, what is an ice age? Its when the Earth has cold temperatures for a long time  millions to tens
The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal is throwing its support behind the bipartisan gun reform deal put forth by the Senate this week.

The Senate compromise makes sense politically for both parties, the Journal wrote on Thursday in an editorial titled A Sensible Senate Gun Deal. Democrats can claim progress on the issue after decades of failure, while Republicans can point to their bipartisan cooperation and then focus on the economy and other issues in the fall campaign. The gun lobby and those who want to ban guns arent happy, but the bill preserves gun rights while trying to keep guns away from the dangerous. Thats a step forward.

This week the Senate introduced the Safer Communities Act, a bill that includes enhanced background checks on juvenile records for those purchasing firearms between the ages of 18 and 21. It also provides money for state-level red flag laws and closes the so-called boyfriend loophole that allows some convicted of domestic violence to buy guns, among other measures.

The one sour note, about the bill, the Journal argued, was a rush to pass it.

Negotiators had barely unveiled the 80 pages of text on Tuesday before Majority Leader Chuck Schumer held the vote to proceed, the newspaper wrote of the New York Democrat. Democrats want to move on to another tax-and-spend reconciliation bill, but legislators deserve time to consider the biggest change in gun and safety laws in decades.

The bipartisan proposal earned the support of 14 Senate Republicans who voted for it to advance past a procedural hurdle on Tuesday.

Two leading House Republicans, however, have signaled opposition to the proposal.

A vote on the bill is expected in the Senate on Thursday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Russia invaded Ukraine in the early hours of February 24, setting off the worst conflict in Europe in decades.

As EU members agree to make Ukraine a candidate for membership of the bloc, we look back on four months of fighting that have killed tens of thousands of civilians and destroyed entire cities.

- February 24: Russia invades -

Russian President Vladimir Putin announces a "special military operation" to "demilitarise" and "de-Nazify" the former Soviet state and protect Russian speakers there.

A full-scale invasion starts with air and missile strikes on several cities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledges to stay in Kyiv to lead the resistance.

- February 26: Massive sanctions -

The West adopts unprecedented sanctions against Russia and offers Ukraine military aid.

Air spaces are closed to Russian aircraft and Russia is kicked out of sporting and cultural events.

- February 27: Nuclear threat -

Putin puts Russia's nuclear forces on high alert, in what is seen as a warning to the West not to intervene in Ukraine.

- February 28: First talks -

During the first peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow, Russia demands recognition of its sovereignty over Crimea, the "demilitarisation" and "de-Nazification" of Ukraine and a guarantee Ukraine will never join NATO. Ukraine demands a complete Russian withdrawal.

- March 3: Kherson falls -

Russian troops attack Ukraine's south coast to try to link up territory held by pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine with the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula.

On March 3, Kherson in the south becomes the first city to fall. Russian forces relentlessly shell the port of Mariupol.

- March 4: Media crackdown -

Russia passes a law punishing what it calls "fake news" about its offensive -- such as referring to its "special military operation" as an invasion -- with up to 15 years in prison.

- March 16: Mariupol theatre razed -

Russian air strikes raze a Mariupol theatre, killing an estimated 300 people sheltering inside. Moscow blames the attack on Ukraine's nationalist Azov battalion.

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- March 16: Zelensky lobbies Congress -

Zelensky tells the US Congress to "remember Pearl Harbor" as he lobbies one Western parliament after another via video-link for weapons to fight Russia's advance.

- April 2-3: Horror in Bucha -

After a month of fighting, Russia withdraws from northern Ukraine, announcing it will focus its efforts on conquering the eastern Donbas region.

On April 2 and 3, Ukrainians find dozens of corpses of civilians scattered on the street or buried in shallow graves in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, which Russian forces had occupied.

Moscow dismisses accusations of Russian war crimes, saying the images of the bodies are fakes.

- April 8: Train station carnage -

A rocket attack on a train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk kills at least 57 civilians being evacuated from the Donbas.

- April 12: Biden speaks of 'genocide' -

Biden accuses Russia of "genocide", saying Putin appears intent on "trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to be a Ukrainian".

- April 14: Flagship sinks -

Ukrainian missiles hit and sink Russia's missile cruiser Moskva in the Black Sea, a major setback for Moscow.

- May 11: $40 billion in US aid -

US lawmakers back a huge $40-billion package of military, economic and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

- May 16: Kharkiv retreat -

Ukraine says its troops have driven Russian forces back from the outskirts of the country's second-largest city, Kharkiv, to the Russian border.

- May 18: Sweden, Finland apply to NATO -

Finland and Sweden apply to join NATO, reversing decades of military non-alignment because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

- May 23: First war crimes conviction -

A Ukrainian court finds a 21-year-old Russian soldier guilty of war crimes and hands down a life sentence for shooting dead a 62-year-old civilian in northeastern Ukraine in the opening days of the war. He has appealed.

- May 21: Battle for Mariupol ends -

Russia declares it is in full control of Mariupol after Ukraine ordered troops holding out for weeks in the Azovstal steelworks to lay down their arms to save their lives.

Nearly 2,500 soldiers surrender and are taken prisoner by Russia.

- May 30: EU bans most Russian oil -

EU leaders overcome resistance from Hungary to agree a partial ban on most Russian oil imports as part of a sixth wave of sanctions.

The deal bans oil imports delivered by tanker but allows landlocked countries such as Hungary to continue receiving Russian oil by pipeline.

- May 31: Russia seizes part of eastern city -

After weeks of bombardments Russian troops seize part of the key eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk.

- June 9: Britons, Moroccan sentenced to death -

Two British citizens and a Moroccan who were captured by Russian troops while fighting for Ukraine are sentenced to death by pro-Russian separatists.

Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner of Britain and Brahim Saadun of Morocco are accused of acting as mercenaries. Britain says they are members of the Ukrainian army and should be treated as prisoners of war.

- June 12: Ukraine loses central Severodonetsk -

The Ukrainian army says it has been driven from the centre of Severodonetsk. The fight continues at a chemical plant, where hundreds of civilians are sheltering.

- June 23: EU grants Ukraine candidate status -

The leaders of the 27-member European Union agree to accept Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova as candidates for EU membership.

Zelensky hails Ukraine's EU candidacy status as "historic".

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Conservationist Israel Mateo Sanchez Leyva uses a net while collecting fish during a survey in the Colorado River Delta's estuary in Mexico. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Beside a canal that runs through farmland, rushing water roared through an irrigation gate and flowed down a concrete culvert toward a wetland fringed with cottonwoods and willows.

For decades, so much water has been diverted to supply farms and cities that the Colorado River has seldom met the sea and much of its delta in Mexico has been reduced to a dry riverbed, with only small remnants of its once-vast wetlands surviving.

Over the last eight weeks, water has been flowing in parts of the delta once again, restoring a stretch of river in Mexico where previously there had been miles of desert sand.

The water is being released from an irrigation canal to aid the deltas parched environment as part of an agreement between the Mexican and U.S. governments and with support from environmental groups. Those who are involved in the effort say that even as severe drought and the warming climate sap the Colorado River, the initiative shows how small amounts of water can be used to benefit struggling ecosystems.

Water is released from an irrigation canal into a stretch of the Colorado River Delta in Baja California, Mexico. The flows, which began in May, have reached parts of the delta that are normally bone dry. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The river was almost dead for so many years. And right now, this is an historic moment. We are connecting the river, said Gaby Gonzalez Olimon, an environmental education coordinator for the Sonoran Institute, one of six groups in a coalition called Raise the River.

She stood watching as the churning whitewater cascaded down the culvert toward the wetland.

This site, a habitat restoration area called El Chausse, is located in the southern portion of the delta, downstream from long stretches of dry riverbed, and was chosen as a place where limited water releases would boost the ecosystem by nourishing vegetation and expanding habitat for wildlife. Its one of a few sites in Mexico where conservationists have been restoring wetlands and forests along the path where the river once flowed.

Six years ago, workers removed invasive tamarisk trees at the site and planted a forest of native cottonwoods, willows and mesquites. Those trees have grown rapidly and now drape the wetland in shade, attracting a variety of birds, such as yellow warblers, blue-gray gnatcatchers and vermilion flycatchers.

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Eduardo Blancas, restoration coordinator for the group Restauremos El Colorado, stepped into a kayak and paddled out in a pond beside the forest.

The ecosystem deteriorated because of the lack of water. So this whole process is happening and at the same time its bringing environmental benefits, Blancas said. These ecosystems are going to provide habitat for wildlife.

This is the second straight year of water releases in Mexico. When the water flowed through part of the delta last year, plants released seeds that settled along the banks.

Blancas and his colleagues have seen vegetation flourish along the river channel. Theyve spotted about 120 species of birds in the area.

Its an oasis in the middle of the desert, Blancas said.

The water releases, which began May 1 and will continue until September, are timed to mimic the vastly larger seasonal floods that once filled the desert valley before the delta was desiccated in the 20th century with the construction of dams in the United States.

More than a century ago, the Colorado River Delta spread across about 2 million acres of wetlands, forests and marshes. When the environmentalist Aldo Leopold paddled the delta in 1922, he described it as a hundred green lagoons, with emerald waters and huge flocks of cormorants and egrets soaring overhead.

Tentacles formed by the ebb and flow of tides etch a pattern into mud in the Colorado River Delta in Baja California. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)

The delta that Leopold saw has long since dried up and disappeared. In its place, fields of cotton, wheat, hay and vegetables fill the Mexicali Valley, hugging meandering stretches of dusty riverbed.

Paddling in the wetland, Blancas pointed out trees that have grown more than 30 feet in five years. He said the forest represents a nature-based solution that can help in addressing the climate crisis.

These places are big carbon sinks, Blancas said. And by dedicating a small amount of water to them, he said, the efforts are contributing our grain of sand with these sites to reduce the effects of climate change.

Lately, Blancas and his team have seen that beavers are gnawing on tree trunks and building dams. Motion-activated wildlife cameras have captured night images of the beavers swimming and climbing out on the banks. One chomped on a cottonwood tree until it toppled.

Mexican and American conservationists have made progress over the past decade in securing water for three restoration areas in the upper, middle and lower delta, where they are irrigating trees and sustaining patches of wetlands, forming green islands in the desert.

These efforts represent a dramatic change from decades ago, when the river was completely used up and almost no water was left for nature in the delta.

The river was divided among seven U.S. states starting with the 1922 Colorado River Compact. Mexico secured its share of water, 1.5 million acre-feet per year, under a 1944 treaty.

When the last of the river reaches the U.S.-Mexico border, it pushes up against Morelos Dam, and nearly all the water is shunted aside into the Reforma Canal, which carries water to farms and cities from the Mexicali Valley to the Pacific coast.

South of the dam, the remnants of the river vanish in the desert.

Encouraged by conservation groups, the Mexican and U.S. governments have begun setting aside some water for the environment.

In the largest such experiment in 2014, a surge of water was released through the gates of Morelos Dam. The pulse flow totaled 105,000 acre-feet and brought back a flowing river for eight weeks, sending water running to the Gulf of California.

Later, under a 2017 pact called Minute 323, Mexico and the U.S. agreed to spread smaller water releases over several years. Each government agreed to contribute a third of the water, while environmental nonprofits pledged to secure the remainder.

Last year, about 35,000 acre-feet flowed in the delta, and a similar volume is being released this year  amounting to less than 1% of Los Angeles total annual water use.

The U.S.-Mexico accord calls for more water releases through 2026.

Stones cast long shadows across a dry salt marsh at the southern end of the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)

At the same time, the Colorado River is in a worsening shortage. After more than two decades of extreme dryness intensified by climate change, the rivers reservoirs have dropped to record-low levels and U.S. officials have told the seven states that take supplies from the river to make plans to drastically cut water use.

Mexican farmers have already seen their water allotments reduced by nearly 5% this year, and more cuts will likely be needed to deal with the shortages.

The rivers decline has raised concerns among some of those who are leading the restoration efforts. They worry that if the crisis isnt managed effectively, it could jeopardize progress in the delta.

Anything that's water-dependent that doesn't have a water right is at risk, said Jennifer Pitt, director of the National Audubon Societys Colorado River program.

Pitt said she understands that the unprecedented water cuts will be hard, but she hopes the U.S. and Mexico can continue collaborating so that the environment, which uses such a very small amount of water, can continue to be part of that solution.

This month, water has been flowing from a canal through three irrigation gates, filling the river channel and continuing toward the Gulf of California.

Downstream from the release sites, Gonzalez and her colleagues parked their pickup beside a newly formed pond.

The calm water reflected the sky like a mirror. Red-winged blackbirds sang, and pairs of scarlet dragonflies circled over the water.

Sonora Institute scientists show fish caught during a survey in the estuary of the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)

A dragonfly clings to wild grass in the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)

Water definitely changes the ecosystem a lot. This place was a very big sand bed a few weeks ago, Gonzalez said. You can see the whole ecosystem coming to life.

While complete restoration would be impossible, she said, patches of watery habitat can bring major ecological benefits.

We are building this green corridor, she said, connecting the river and the estuary.

Gonzalez said she also feels happy seeing families come to enjoy this place on weekends, their children wading in the water and experiencing their first contact with the Colorado River.

A long-standing connection to the river is reflected in the local culture. People from Mexicali proudly call themselves cachanillas, after the hardy plant arrowweed, which flourishes near water and which the areas early inhabitants used to build huts.

The dewatering of the delta has altered life for people who live along the river, among them the Native Cucapa (or Cocopah), who traditionally depended on fishing.

Angela Melendez said her family came from southern Mexico and moved to a modest home by the river, where her grandfather fished.

Conservationists Angela Melendez, left, and Gaby Gonzalez Olimon look at maps showing riparian habitat restoration areas in the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. A release of water from a canal into the riverbed has reached parts of the delta that are normally dry. (Luis Sinco)

They had fish, all the fish they could eat, all the lobster and shrimp they could eat sometimes, Melendez said.

Melendez said her mother told her that during her childhood in the late 1960s and early '70s, she would swim in the river. Once when she was swimming, she was caught in the current and swept downstream to a Cucapa community.

I'm going to bring her here, because she used to enjoy these places, Melendez said, standing by the pond. She's going to cry like me.

Tears welled in her eyes. She said seeing the river restored would probably transport her mother to a good time of her life, before the area's environment deteriorated and dried up.

Melendez, who works as a geographic information systems coordinator, has been flying a drone to capture images of the rivers return in the southern part of the delta.

Near what was once the rivers mouth, desert brush grows beside crusty salt flats.

At the edge of the estuary, Israel Mateo Sanchez Leyva stepped into a boat to collect fish for a biological survey. Sanchez, a technician who does ecological monitoring, pulled up a trap with small fish flapping inside.

Conservationist Israel Mateo Sanchez Leyva collects fish during a survey in the Colorado River's estuary. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

From the metal trap, he dropped a thumb-sized fish into a bucket. Its a delta mudsucker, he said, a species that has been rebounding.

This is a great success, Sanchez said. We are giving life to the last part of the Colorado River, and we are bringing back the ecosystem.

He said he has noticed new patches of tules growing by the estuary, indicating the water releases have reduced the salinity.

The team from the Sonoran Institute has been tracking the released water on its slow crawl down 40 miles of river channel toward the sea.

Last week, during high tide, this piece of the Colorado River finally reached the sea again.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The daughter of Delaware Auditor Kathy McGuiness on Wednesday testified that she worked every hour she billed state taxpayers while employed in her mothers office in recent years.

Elizabeth McGuiness, who goes by Saylar, is a foundational witness in state prosecutors case against McGuiness, who is fighting two public corruption felonies and three misdemeanor charges for actions she took after her election to the office in 2019.

The employment of Elizabeth McGuiness is relevant to the conflict-of-interest misdemeanor, as well as the felony theft charge faced by McGuiness.

Elizabeth McGuiness, 20, told the jury that she began the part-time job in the auditors office in the spring of 2020 as she was graduating high school and preparing to begin her college education in South Carolina. She told the jury she continued to work in a limited fashion while off at school and continues to work in the office today.

Prompted by questions from Deputy Attorney General Maria Knoll, Elizabeth McGuiness told the jury she didnt remember how she found out about the job, that she believes she was interviewed by the offices then-chief of staff but doesnt remember the content of the interview.

She was paid $17.50 an hour for a maximum of 29.5 hours per week, a cap she said she reached on average.

Opening Statements: 'This is not a pizza shop:' criminal trial for Delaware's elected auditor begins

She started the job around the same time as her childhood friend, Virginia Bateman, who testified last week. In their initial indictment against the auditor in October, prosecutors said Elizabeth McGuiness had been paid around $19,000.

Upon cross-examination by Steve Wood, her mothers defense attorney, Elizabeth McGuiness said she worked every hour she billed and never stole money from the state.

She told the jury that her duties included pretty much anything and everything handed to me.

She discussed editing documents, manuals, reports and newsletters, as well as creating graphics for office social media posts and newsletters. Part of her duties was also what has been referred to in court as staffing Kathy, which included traveling to events with her mother where she would help hand out literature and take pictures.

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On his cross-examination, Wood showed a litany of emails involving Elizabeth McGuiness to or from her mother or other officials in the office appearing to show her working on certain projects. The emails stretched from June 2020 through the end of the year.

Upon questioning from Wood, she said there are similar emails for the following year of her employment.

She testified about twice working at the Delaware State Fair in Harrington where her hours worked went over the 29.5 hours allowed each week. She told the jury she was instructed by either her mother or another high-level office official to bank the hours, meaning she logged the extra hours in subsequent weeks or months.

Delaware State Auditor Kathy McGuiness arrives at the Kent County Courthouse for the start of a criminal corruption case against McGuiness Tuesday, June 14, 2022, in Dover.

Prompted by Knolls questioning, she told the jury she used her personal Gmail address for work. Prosecutors also played audio of her first interview with a prosecutor in the Delaware Department of Justice. In that call, she told the investigator she used only her state email for work.

Upon questioning by Wood, she told the jury the conversation with the investigator occurred the day after the Firefly Music Festival, that she wasnt on her A-game, that she was wrong but didnt mean to mislead.

Prosecutors questioned her about her use of a state car, prompting her to tell Knoll that pretty much the entire time she used the car, her mother and Bateman were present. Upon cross-examination by Wood, she told the jury that there was no occasion she used the car by herself.

RECENT: Expect testimony to pick up during second week of Delaware auditor's criminal corruption trial

Her testimony lined up with the prior statements to the jury by Bateman. Prompted by Wood, both discussed how other employees in the office treated them.

Elizabeth McGuiness said that auditors in the office had a "distaste for her and Bateman before they knew them. Bateman told the jury that employees were rude to them.

Elizabeth McGuiness has not been accused of any crime and prosecutors showed the jury what was referred to as a limited immunity agreement she signed.

To convict Kathy McGuiness of the conflict-of-interest charge tied to hiring her daughter, prosecutors must show that the auditor used her power to hire her daughter and that her daughter benefited in ways that similarly situated employees did not.

So far, prosecutors have called two former part-time workers to the witness stand to discuss their job duties. Both stated they had some similar job tasks, were paid slightly less per hour than Bateman and McGuiness, and were not allowed to bank hours. Both said they left the office because of personal reasons.

Prosecutors are likely to call more part-time employees to the stand in the coming days.

Delaware State Auditor Kathy McGuiness leaves the New Castle County Courthouse Thursday, April 7, 2022, in Wilmington.

McGuiness is also charged with theft as prosecutors claim she exercised control over state money by hiring her daughter to a job that paid into a bank account jointly controlled by McGuiness and her daughter.

In Wednesdays testimony, Elizabeth McGuiness told the jury she did not give any of her earnings to her mother and that she opened the bank account before she was a teenager.

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware state auditor's daughter testifies in public corruption trial
Heres why Warren Buffett bought all the Occidental Petroleum shares he could, even with oil prices well above $100

Warren Buffett kept a lot of cash on hand in recent years.

At the end of 2021, the cash pile at his holding company Berkshire Hathaway had grown to a near-record $146.7 billion. That shouldnt come as a surprise. Buffett is a value investor, after all, and valuations were bloated in the U.S. stock market after significant rallies in 2020 and 2021.

We find little that excites us, Buffett said in a recent Berkshire shareholder letter. But in 2022, Berkshire has been loading up on shares of integrated oil and gas giant Occidental Petroleum (OXY).

In just the past week, Berkshire spent over $500 million acquiring another 9.6 million shares of the company. That brings Berkshires total stake in OXY to 152.7 million shares, worth approximately $8.5 billion.

Lets take a closer look at the move and figure out if investors should follow suit.

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Big bet on big oil

Berkshire backed up the truck on OXY after the companys earnings conference call held in late February. Buffett read the transcript and liked what he saw.

I read every word, and said this is exactly what I would be doing. Shes running the company the right way, the billionaire investor told CNBC, referring to Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub. We started buying on Monday and we bought all we could.

In Q4 of 2021, Occidental generated $8.01 billion of revenue, representing a 139% increase year over year. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.48, a marked improvement over the adjusted loss of 65 cents per share in the year-ago period.

In the conference call, Hollub highlighted Occidentals strong operational results, improved balance sheet and a new shareholder-return framework.

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On Feb. 24, the companys board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of 13 cents per share on OXY common shares, a whopping 1,200% increase over the prior quarters payout of just 1 cent per share. The company also announced a $3 billion share repurchase program.

Three months later, we learned that things continued to improve in 2022. In Q1, OXY generated $8.53 billion of revenue and adjusted earnings of $2.12 per share.

Fueling up

While Berkshires recent bet on big oil is making headlines, this isnt the first time that Buffett has invested in Occidental.

In 2019, Berkshire spent $10 billion on Occidental preferred shares to help the company purchase its fellow Houston-based energy producer Anadarko Petroleum. Occidental pays a dividend of 8% annually on that preferred stock, providing Berkshire with $200 million each quarter in dividend income.

The arrangement also gives Berkshire warrants to purchase 83.9 million shares of Occidental common stock at an exercise price of $59.62.

Hot stock in a hot space

Strong commodity prices greatly benefited oil producers in 2021. Among the 11 sectors of the S&P 500, energy was by far the best performing one in 2021, returning an impressive 53%, substantially exceeding the S&P 500s 27% gain for the year.

That gap in performance has only widened in 2022. The energy sector is already up more than 20% year to date versus the S&Ps 20% decline over the same timeframe.

Its not hard to understand why: Oil prices were already in a clear upward trend before Russias invasion of Ukraine further fueled the rally.

A rising tide lifts all boats, but Occidental has spiked higher than most of its peers, returning a massive 80% already in 2022.

Will the rally continue?

Although investors have enthusiastically bid up the shares, more gains could be on the horizon.

In April, Raymond James boosted its price target on OXY from $85 to $90 while maintaining a strong buy rating. The shares now trade at around $56 a piece.

Last month, Mizuho reiterated a buy rating on OXY while raising its price target from $85 to $89  roughly 59% above where the stock sits today.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Board members of a school district in southeastern Wisconsin rejected the use of When the Emperor Was Divine, a novel about Japanese American incarceration during World War II, for a high school class.

The Muskego-Norway school districts curriculum committee had previously endorsed the 2002 novel by author Julie Otsuka for use in a 10th-grade accelerated English class.

The book, which is about the incarceration of a Japanese American family during World War II, was the recipient of the American Library Associations Alex Award and the Asian American Literary Award.

During a meeting on June 13, three of the seven members of the Muskego-Norway School Boards Educational Services Committee rejected the book and sent it back to the curriculum committee.

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Parents who attended the meeting stated that board member Laurie Kontney said the book was selected for being diverse.

Ann Zielke, a school district resident, recalled asking Kontney why that would be an issue.

[Kontney] said it cant be chosen on that basis and I asked again if she had proof of that, Zielke noted. Which they dont. She said it cant be all about oppression.

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According to Zielke, school board president Chris Buckmaster and board member Terri Boyer, who serves on the Educational Service Committee, told her that the book would create a problem with balance, partly because of a 10-page excerpt from a nonfiction book about the concentration camps already included in the class curriculum.

As Buckmaster explained to Zielke, a more balanced approach would include a discussion of the Rape of Nanjing, the mass killing of Chinese civilians committed by the Japanese in 1937.

So what hes saying is, what you would need in this class is some sort of historical context of how horrible the Japanese were during World War II to understand the American government's viewpoint in interning the Japanese, Zielke said.

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Prior to the meeting, over 130 parents and community members signed a petition supporting the selection.

As residents of the world and heirs of its history, we must be given the opportunity to reflect on the past and point out the pain and suffering caused in the past, the petition stated. This reflection is meant to prepare ourselves to create a stronger country and world by rejecting outright the mistakes of the past.

In a letter to the Muskego-Norway School Board, Japanese American Citizens League Executive Director David Inoue called such a balanced viewpoint racist.

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The call for a balanced viewpoint in the context of the incarceration of Japanese Americans is deeply problematic, and racist, and plays into the same fallacies the United States Army used to justify the incarceration, he wrote. We urge you to reconsider your position on the books use, understanding that while not every book and story can be told, to deny the use of one such as this under the pretenses youve given is wrong.

Jordan Pavlin, Otsukas editor at publishing house Alfred A. Knopf, also wrote to the Muskego-Norway board, noting that the book has been course adopted in hundreds of schools throughout the country, where it has become a staple of high school English classes.

According to Pavlin, the novel has the power not only to edify but to transform and deepen our perspectives; it enables us to look outward, beyond the confines of our circumscribed lives, with greater sympathy and understanding.

Featured Image via Julie Otsuka (left), MNSSocialMedia (right)
Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty

UPDATE: After this piece was published, and after receiving a swift backlash over its book ban, the Smithtown Library Board has reversed its decision to remove Pride-related books from its childrens section.

A library board in New York is getting hammered after its members voted to dismantle LGBTQ+ displays during Pride Month, sparking outrage among everyone from local residents all the way up to the governor and a famous author.

Trustees of the Smithtown Library Board on Long Island voted to remove signs for Pride and any LGBTQ+-related books from childrens sections Tuesday, NBC New York reported. The move, which was passed in a 4-2 decision, will affect all four library buildings in the Smithtown system. Books related to sexual orientation and gender identity will indefinitely be removed from childrens areasregardless of the literatures targeted audienceand put elsewhere.

On the Smithtown Library and Smithtown Library Kids Facebook pages, trustees released a statement saying, After a lengthy discussion, the Board voted 4-2 to approve the following: Motion to remove all Pride Displays, in addition to removing all books of the same subject on display, from all Children's sections in all Smithtown Library buildings.

Please understand that all books on this subject are still part of the Library's Children's collection and can be checked out by anyone wishing to do so, the note continued. These titles have not been removed from the collection. The Library continues to display Pride month displays in our Teen and Adult areas.

A History-Making Same-Sex Kiss Got Lightyear Banned Overseas

The move was immediately met with disbelief.

This isnt Alabama or Florida or the Bible Belt! This is Long Island! New York LGBTQ Network president Dr. David Kilmnick said, according to NBC New York.

New York Times bestselling-author Jodi Picoult, who grew up on Long Island, said in a tweet that her first job was working at the Smithtown Library. She said she now felt as if she had to re-evaluate her upbringing based upon the boards censorship.

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Im disgusted by the trustees who voted for this. Libraries are for all, & representation matters, she wrote.

Even New York Gov. Kathy Hochul weighed in, tweeting, For many LGBTQ+ kids, libraries are one of the few spaces where they can be welcomed and affirmed for who they are. Our public spaces should be accepting our young people  not rejecting them. To LGBTQ+ New Yorkers: We stand with you, we support you, & you are welcome here.

According to local Long Island media outlet Newsday, board trustee Marie Gergenti proposed the idea to remove Pride displays and books after receiving complaints about them but didnt specify what those complaints were.

The Daily Beast was unable to reach Gergenti or other board trustees for comment Thursday.

Anti-LGBTQ Attacks Leave Washington School in Turmoil

Despite the complaints Gergenti said she received, New Yorkers both inside and outside the Smithtown-area rushed to social media to blast the boards decision.

New York State Assembly Economic Development Chair Harry Bronson called the move deeply disturbing and nothing less than a direct move by their board of trustees to silence and suppress our LGBTQ+ community during pride month.

As the only openly gay state elected official outside of NYC, Im calling on the families of Smithtown and the surrounding area to contact their trustees and urge them to reconsider this narrow minded decision rooted in bigotry, he added.

The New York Library Association reaffirmed its commitment to intellectual freedom, and condemned the move.

This ban of any displays related to Pride sets a dangerous precedent for libraries across the state because it normalizes the victimization of LGBTQ+ youth in their schools and in their communities, which has dire consequences, the organization said in a statement.

Pride Organizers Try to Keep Marches and Festivals Safe in a Year of Anti-LGBTQ Hate

By Thursday afternoon, the librarys Facebook post had received more than a thousand comments.

Representation matters at all ages, commented Long Island resident Rachel Miller. The displays should be put back up.

As one half of a gay couple that moved our family to Smithtown last year this definitely doesnt make us feel like weve made the right decision, Luis A. Santiago-Baird wrote. We want to live and raise our sons in a community that is inclusive, accepting and stands against bigotry and intolerance. Pride matters because representation matters. Pride matters because its a celebration of diversity, self acceptance, individuality, love and honoring those who came before that paved the way so we can live our best lives. Removing Pride displays is sending a negative and dangerous message to our kids.

According to the librarys website, the Smithtown board will hold an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss reinstating the LGBTQ+ displays and books and extending the Pride celebration through July.

Hochuls office also said in a statement Thursday that the New York State Division of Human Rights would investigate.

Public places are prohibited by law from engaging in discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, Hochul said. We will not tolerate a Don't Say Gay philosophy taking root in our state.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The Schonbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria, captured a critically-endangered Bornean orangutan birth on camera.

Sari the orangutan gave birth on June 19 in front of a delighted crowd at Schonbrunn Zoo  the zoo's first orangutan birth in 20 years.

Footage from the moment shows the 13-year-old critically-endangered mother sitting in a nest of hay before she calmly delivers her baby. After giving birth, the orangutan mom lovingly cradles her newborn and showers the little one with kisses.

Primate experts have not yet determined the baby orangutan's sex.

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Folko Balfanz, a zoological curator at the zoo, told SWNS, "It's really special that we have Borneo orangutans in Vienna. As a curator, I'm really proud of the mother, the offspring, and the keepers, who did a great job in the last month of the whole pregnancy."

PIC FROM Kennedy News / Daniel Zupanc (PICTURED: SARI GAVE BIRTH TO A BABY ON JUNE 19TH AT SCHONBRUNN ZOO) This is the incredible moment an orangutan delivered a healthy baby - with the new mum even caught on camera pulling the infant out before tenderly cradling it in her arms. Proud mum Sari gave birth on Sunday [June 19th] in front of a delighted crowd at Schonbrunn Zoo in Vienna. Fascinating footage shows the 13-year old critically-endangered mother in a nest of hay before calmly delivering her baby and taking a well-earned rest with the little one nested in her arms. DISCLAIMER: While Kennedy News and Media uses its best endeavours to establish the copyright and authenticity of all pictures supplied, it accepts no liability for any damage, loss or legal action caused by the use of images supplied and the publication of images is solely at your discretion. SEE KENNEDY NEWS COPY - 0161 697 4266

swns

"Everybody is excited, and the people working here are very proud and happy that everything went well. It was just a normal Sunday at our zoo, but now that word has spread, it's getting more crowded every day  everybody is coming to visit now," Balfanz added.

According to the curator, it's essential to let the newborn settle in with its mother, father, and the zoo's other orangutans before determining its sex.

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"First of all, we're making sure the offspring is safe and feeling healthy and breastfeeding, then the next step will be taking a look at the gender of the offspring," Balfanz said.

"Everybody in the group has been getting in contact with the offspring, and that all seems fine," the zoo employee added.
Chicago is a major food town, from pricey fine dining to modest neighborhood joints that hit the spot, and I dont know that Ive ever seen the sweaty, cacophonous kitchen dynamics of the latter so richly and lovingly portrayed as they are in The Bear, a darkly comedic drama that takes its inspiration from a local staple: Mr. Beef.

On the show, this River North Italian beef sandwich shop is simply called The Original Beef of Chicagoland. But the exterior shots certainly look as if they were filmed at Mr. Beef. And a crew member told me that production designers all but rebuilt the interior of Mr. Beef on a soundstage at Cinespace (the studio complex on the citys West Side) down to grease on the stoves and the walls. That had me laughing and intrigued before I watched a single frame.

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Having seen all eight episodes, it might be one of my favorite shows of the year. (This is one of those FX productions for Hulu; its not airing on the cable channel, but the entire season is available on the streamer.) Front and center are the travails of a young chef named Carmen Carmy Berzatto, who sometimes goes by the nickname Bear, hence the title. Heres a guy who made a name for himself in the fine-dining world and hes very good. As in, James Beard and Food & Wine awards good. But now hes back home in Chicago, running the family restaurant months after his brother Mikey killed himself.

From left: Liza Colon-Zayas, Jeremy Allen White, Lionel Boyce and Ebon Moss-Bachrach on "The Bear." (Frank Ockenfels/FX)

The Bear doesnt sugarcoat the details, but trauma isnt what comes to mind watching this collection of oddballs. The kitchen staff is thrown together by circumstance, and then something more begins to bind them together: The opportunity to be creative and still earn a paycheck. Creator Christopher Storer and co-showrunner Joanna Calo have wisely avoided ladling in romance or other soapy storylines to gum things up. This is a slice-of-life  raw, shabby, cacophonous, funny and beef-juice splattered  about the work of work. And specifically the ecosystem of a restaurant kitchen where sharp elbows are the norm and everyone is talking over one another.

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Grief hangs over the place like a bad smell nobody wants to acknowledge and Carmy, played by Shameless alum Jeremy Allen White, is looking to metaphorically air things out with some new ideas of his own. Using his culinary expertise, he wants to up their game with a more gourmet approach: Ambitious flavors, farmers market produce and a standardized organizational chart  the so-called French brigade system of kitchen management. All of this might remind Chicagoans of the now long-gone establishment Hot Dougs and chef Doug Sohns efforts to elevate the humble hot dog. Thats never referenced but its similar to what Carmy has in mind here.

First things first: Hire a sous chef. She arrives in the form of Sydney Adamu (a droll Ayo Edebiri), who is smart, eager and a realist. She trained at the Culinary Institute of America and has logged stints at Alinea and Avec, but coming into the chaos that is The Original Beef of Chicagoland is like baptism by deep fryer. Carmy holds her to a higher standard, which creates all kinds of tension  on top of the tension already fueling that kitchen.

Sizing up his newest hire, Carmy asks: Why here? It was my dads favorite spot, Sydney tells him. But shes well aware of Carmys accolades  thats the real reason shes here  and she asks the same question back: What are you doing here? Exhausted, he runs his hand through his unwashed hair. Makin sandwiches. They have terrific peer-to-peer chemistry that is tested time and again.

There will be blood! And yelling! So much yelling! But theres also camaraderie and legitimate warmth threaded throughout the show. The quiet conversations out back during a lull. The intense focus on food prep (gorgeously shot; Storer and Calo are directors here, as well). The thrilling jolt of creative collaboration and getting a new recipe just right.

Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu. (Frank Ockenfels/FX)

White is wonderfully disheveled, putting his sad-eyed countenance to good use as a guy with tremendous confidence in the kitchen but whos fumbling everywhere else. At this point, his family has been whittled down to a lovely but exasperated sister (Abby Elliott) and her perfectly dorky husband (Chicago Party Aunt creator Chris Witaske).

Theres also longtime frenemy and jagoff extraordinaire Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) who is simultaneously awful and deeply loyal and the kind of guy who tells Carmy: I do not care what you did up in Napa with your tweezers and your foie gras  you got no idea what yer doin here! Hes a dirtbag complete with dirty fingernails (I clutched all my pearls imagining this guy near food) and although he and Carmy arent related, they call each other cousin.

Theyve known each other since back in the day, before everything went to hell and Mikey was still the guy who could charm everyone with stories of drinking all night and stumbling into a bar at dawn where a group of Blackhawk players were partying as well. Thats the world Carmy and Richie come from, and Carmys upscale training is a thorn in Richies side.

Aside from these two (and a hanger-on handyman played by real-life Canadian chef Matty Matheson, who is also a co-producer), the kitchen is staffed primarily by Black and Latinx and Afro-Latinx people, which feels like an accurate and important detail about line cooks and dishwashers in many restaurants across the city. Not everyone in the kitchen gets a fleshed-out portrayal, but they all feel as if they are fully realized people with their own lives. Theres real skill in populating a show with supporting characters who are more than bodies filling up space but whose presence feels lived-in and essential to the story.

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From left: Jeremy Allen White as Carmy, Lionel Boyce as Marcus and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richie. (FX )

Other key figures in the kitchen include longtime veteran Tina (a fantastic Liza Colon-Zayas, so good in the recent reboot of In Treatment) who puts Sydney through the ringer before realizing, oh wait, these new recipes are legit and its pretty rewarding to make them. The sweet and curious Marcus (Lionel Boyce) is in charge of making the bread rolls but is inspired to become a full-on pastry chef under Carmys new plan. Other recognizable faces show up for cameos: Jon Bernthal, Joel McHale, Amy Morton, Oliver Platt.

According to FX, the shows creators arent Chicagoans. But the attention to detail is noteworthy and it gives the show a palpable Chicago feel. They bother to get the small things right. Hell, they use the Kennedy and the Edens correctly in a sentence. Theres a barb about ketchup and hot dogs. Carmy has a 773 tattoo on his left bicep. The voice of WXRTs Lin Brehmer shows up briefly. Whats missing is any sense of what the shops regulars think of Carmys tinkering. And theres a turn of events in the final episode involving stashed money that doesnt fully make sense.

But the shows approach to dark humor won me over. While catering a suburban birthday party for a family friend, an old man approaches Carmy and says: Carmen, is that you? I thought you killed yourself? Carmy pauses. No, sir. That was my brother. The old man shrugs and walks away.

The Bear is a study of people coming together, sometimes begrudgingly (not unlike Abbott Elementary), and how complicated that can be. It doesnt always work out. This is a show created by people who recognize that our lives are a group project. No person is an island and we have to accept that in order to get anything done. Sometimes that process can feel like rough edges forever jabbing at your soft spots.

When regular people  not a special ops unit or a group of superheroes  figure out a way to work toward a common goal? Theres nothing better. It gets me in the gut. At a time when so much seems rigged and all is lost, it can feel profound to see TV and film remind us theres a different story thats also true. Were all weve got.

Author and activist Dean Spade once said: What do I want to spend the rest of my life doing? Being fully alive, being with other people, being in it together, taking risks, being really, really caring (and) learning to love people even if they annoy me.

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Thats The Bear in a nutshell.

The Bear  4 stars (out of 4)

Where to watch: Hulu

Jeremy Allen White in "The Bear." (FX )

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic

nmetz@chicagotribune.com

What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. Sign up for our Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.
A Japanese city is launching a crowdfunding campaign to help preserve a special spot of woodland: The forest that inspired the animator of beloved movie My Neighbour Totoro.

The city of Tokorozawa outside Tokyo plans to buy the 3.5-hectare Totoro Forest for 2.6 billion yen ($19 million), with crowdfunding covering just a small portion of that, a city official told AFP.

The area is one of the places that director [Hayao] Miyazaki developed ideas for Totoro after walking there, the official said, adding that the plan aims to turn the forest into a nature reserve.

The 1988 animation film from Miyazakis Studio Ghibli features the cuddly but mysterious forest spirit character Totoro, who has become an instantly recognizable figure for fans around the world.

The forest that inspired his home is about 30 kilometers northwest of Tokyo and has some 7,000 oak trees.

Tokorozawa will ask crowdfunding participants to contribute 25,000 yen ($185) and in return, they will receive prints of background artwork offered by Studio Ghibli.
Hulu Japan is on board for the second season of The Mediapro Studios drama series The Head, which recently began filming in Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

In Spain, the English-language series premiered on Orange TV and since last November has also been available on Disney+.

The renewal and Japanese deal come after the first season aired in more than 90 countries, sold by The Mediapro Studio Distribution to platforms including HBO Max in the US, Viaplay in the Nordics, Canal+ in France and StarzPlay in the UK and Germany.

Created by Ran Tellem, director of international content development at Spains The Mediapro Studio, the first season centred on a small group of scientists in charge of an international base in Antarctica. When spring arrives after a long winter, it emerges that the entire team is dead or missing.

The second season will be set on a huge freighter, where a scientific mission is taking place as it sails the ocean and where those on board face a confrontation between good and evil.

Joining the cast for the second season are Enrique Arce, Nora Rios, Tania Watson and Thierry Godard as well as Japanese actor Sota Fukushi, while Jorge Dorado will return as director.
Iowa Democrats argued Thursday the state offers a path to victory for long-shot candidates and opportunities for meaningful conversations with rural Americans and Iowans from every walk of life as they made their pitch to hold onto their place at the front of the partys presidential nominating calendar.

State party officials presented proposed changes for caucuses to the Democratic National Committees Rules & Bylaws Committee in Washington in an effort to hold onto their first-in-the-nation status.

Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Ross Wilburn told committee members Iowa presents a unique opportunity for presidential candidates to connect with voters distributed across urban, rural and suburban areas in a presidential swing state where a majority of congressional districts are competitive.

A robust Democratic nomination process in the state introduces voters to candidates and surrogates early, and the organizations they help build in Iowa keep us competitive in the general election, Wilburn said.

Iowa is among 16 states and Puerto Rico vying to be included in Democrats early presidential nominating window ahead of Super Tuesday in early March 2024.

The DNC rules committee voted in April to reopen the presidential nominating window, forcing all interested states  including the current early-nominating states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina  to apply for a spot.

The move came after the current lineup of early-nominating states  led by the largely rural and predominantly white states of Iowa and New Hampshire  came under increasing fire for a lack of diversity that many Democrats say doesnt represent the partys true strength. And it follows a chaotic 2020 caucus night for Iowa Democrats when a smartphone app  meant to make reporting results easier  failed. As a result, the official Democratic caucus results were not reported for several weeks.

Iowa Democratic Party officials touted the states pockets of diversity and argued Iowa serves as an inexpensive and accessible playing field for lesser-known candidates to establish themselves.

There are diverse communities living, thriving and dealing with complex political issues in both urban and rural areas of Iowa, Wilburn said. Party officials played a video of Black, brown and LGBTQ candidates and party leaders talking about their caucus experience and the importance of the Iowa caucuses.

Iowa is the sixth-least diverse state in the country. Wilburn, though, pointed to the urban demographics of Iowas larger public school districts, notably Des Moines. The district, Iowas largest, reported that among its 31,023 enrolled students in the last school year, 34.7 percent were white, 29.2 percent Hispanic, 20.6 percent Black, 8 percent Asian and 6.8 percent multiracial, Wilburn said.

When taken individually, these districts look a great deal more like America as a whole and reflect the future of Iowa, he said.

He also cited figures from the Iowa State Data Center, stating 13 of Iowas 99 counties have a Latinx population of more than 10 percent. Wilburn, too, told DNC members that it is essential potential presidential candidates be tested on their ability to communicate with rural voters across this entire population.

One of the forms of diversity that Iowa brings, frankly, is the rural working-class diversity. And its a group of folks Democrats have forgotten how to talk to, Scott Brennan, a former Iowa Democratic Party chair and the only Iowan on the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee, told The Gazette ahead of Thursdays presentation.   And if we cant figure that out, under the Electoral College system, well be doomed to win popular votes and lose the Electoral College. And thats criminal, and thats on us if we cant figure that out.

National Democrats, too, have complained the party caucuses  compared with state primaries  are too opaque and inaccessible, requiring in-person attendance that can make them difficult for Iowans who work late shifts, lack access to child care or transportation or have health or mobility problems.

To make their caucuses more accessible, Iowa Democrats proposed eliminating the requirement for in-person attendance and are reorganizing the caucus practice of identifying candidates viability over multiple rounds.

Under the proposed changes, an Iowa Democrat would request a presidential preference card in the mail and would have 14 to 28 days to either mail it back or return it in person caucus night.

On caucus night, the Iowa Democratic Party would report the results publicly.

The caucuses themselves would focus primarily on conducting party business, such as electing delegates.

The state party also would contract with either a DNC-approved election vendor or with a county auditor or the Iowa Secretary of States Office to ensure a fair and trustworthy process.

Iowa House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst, of Windsor Heights, told the committee keeping Iowa first would also help ensure Iowa Democrats stay competitive up and down the ballot  noting Republicans have already voted to keep Iowa at the front of the line in the GOPs presidential selection process.

Every time a Republican candidate comes to Iowa and visits the district of one of my members or one of my candidates, theyre building an organization on the other side and theyre building enthusiasm and engagement among voters, she said.

DNC rules committee members also questioned how New Hampshire would react to the proposed changes, and whether the caucuses would in effect function as a primary.

New Hampshire state law requires its secretary of state to set its presidential primary before any other similar primary contest. Iowas caucuses have traditionally been different enough from New Hampshires primaries not to conflict.

Iowa Code requires political parties hold caucuses at least eight days before any other states primary. It does not say how those caucuses must be conducted.

We are focused on complying with our state law, which mandates that we are a caucus, Brennan told fellow rules committee members. And we believe that what we have proposed meets the requirements of state law.

Members of the committee expressed appreciation of the Iowa delegations proposed changes.

I really applaud the Iowa delegation for a willingness to rethink the caucus process, one committee member said. Ive been fairly critical about Iowa. So I think that was a needed recognition.

The DNC rules committee is expected to meet in early August and recommend a slate of up to five states for the early nominating window. The full DNC would then convene in Sept. to vote.

Asked what Iowa Democrats would do should they lose their first-in-the-nation spot, Konfrst replied: We didnt come here to run for second place. We came here to be first and to remain first, and thats really what were focused on, she said.
OMAHA -- Omaha police officers said they arrested a man with a loaded gun near the College World Series Wednesday.

After receiving a call about an armed party near 13th and Mike Fahey streets around 10:30 a.m., officers found 35-year-old William Poland, who was armed with an unregistered gun, according to police.

Poland, who did not have a concealed carry permit, was arrested on suspicion of concealed carry without a permit and possession of an unregistered firearm, police said.
The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska said an environmental impact study should be completed before any permits are granted to a pair of carbon dioxide pipelines in several Great Plains states.

In a May 27 letter to the Dakota County Board of Commissioners, the tribe said it had concerns the projects  the Midwest Carbon Express by Summit Carbon Solutions and the Heartland Greenway by Navigator Ventures  may negatively impact reservation lands.

Any pipeline project is a risk, Jennifer Bear Eagle, an attorney from Winnebago representing the tribe, wrote in the letter. As a permit-issuing body, neither you nor the general public can make an informed decision without (knowing) the potential environmental impacts.

Until that is done, the Winnebago Tribe  which approved calling for an environmental study in a March 24 resolution  opposes any permit that could negatively impact its lands or water or that of its neighbors.

Similar letters were sent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office in Omaha, the Woodbury County Board of Commissioners in Iowa, as well as the Iowa Utilities Board, to be included as part of the consideration of Summit Carbon Solutions permit application.

Announced last year, the projects by Summit and Navigator would build thousands of miles of new pipelines across the region, transporting carbon dioxide captured from ethanol plants to sequestration sites deep underground in North Dakota and Illinois.

By sequestering carbon dioxide, Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator Ventures could take advantage of the 45Q tax credit, which will provide $50 for every ton of carbon stored for up to 12 years.

Ethanol plants have been eager to sign up for the project, too, because it will reduce their carbon-intensity scores, maintaining access in consumer markets with strict standards for fuel producers.

Plus, they said it will help Nebraska corn farmers, who supply ethanol plants with roughly 280 million bushels of corn each year.

Critics of the pipelines have said the technology of burying carbon dioxide deep underground hasnt been proven and will not do enough to curb greenhouse gas emissions, and have characterized the projects as a cash grab.

According to project maps, neither project would enter the Winnebago Reservation in Thurston County, instead tracking across Dakota County. A representative of Summit said the pipeline avoids more than 60 reservations across its footprint.

But in a news release Tuesday, Winnebago Tribal Secretary Lorelei DeCora said members of the tribe had concerns about being downstream from the planned route.

The pipeline construction path is placed on the ancestral lands of the Nebraska tribes, DeCora said. What happens when they disturb our ancestors burial sites? There is just too much unknown for these pipelines. Thats why its important for this study be conducted.

Its our duty to protect Mother Earth, she said.

Both Summit and Navigator have yet to obtain permission to begin construction, but Summit has started to obtain easements from landowners in several Nebraska counties as it advances the project through various regulatory processes across several states.

In an interview earlier this month, Summit officials touted the outreach the Iowa-based company had done with tribes and local governments before the review of its permit applications had finished.

Ive worked on a lot of pipeline and transmission line projects over the last 30 years or so, said Troy Eid, outside counsel on tribal matters for Summit. This is a project where, more than any other Ive worked on, we got out very early in the process.

Eid, a former U.S. Attorney under President George W. Bush and chairman of the Indian Law and Order Commission under President Barack Obama, said federal approval required for the carbon dioxide pipelines is not currently required.

But the nature of the projects will trigger requirements that governmental agencies and tribal entities consult with one another on the project, he said.

Summit has attempted to get ahead of that trigger by engaging with the tribes in the five states where the pipeline will operate, Eid added, in order to share what it sees as the benefits to the environment, and economy, as well as how the tribes may benefit.

We want them to be involved, so that when that consultation does occur, youll have your own information and you can ask your own questions and draw your own conclusions, he said.

Chris Hill, a senior project adviser, said Summit has also pledged to do a cultural survey across its proposed route, which he said goes beyond what previous projects have done.

This is one of the first times when a pipeline project has started that dialogue before a preconstruction notice was sent out, Hill said.

Still, the Winnebago Tribes resolution and letter come as the projects have hit resistance in several states and counties, particularly from landowners concerned that eminent domain could be used to secure land needed to complete the route.

No counties in Nebraska have followed the lead of those in Iowa and South Dakota that have voiced wholesale opposition to the pipelines, but there have been some discussions at the county level about enacting new zoning rules governing the projects.

Dakota County held a hearing on proposed regulations for pipelines May 16, according to minutes of the board of commissioners.

Those regulations would have required the pipeline to be installed no less than 1,320 feet from a residence and at least 6 feet below ground, and 8 feet below ground in county road rights of way.

Several people who testified at the May 16 commissioners meeting  including representatives from both Summit and Navigator, as well as natural gas companies  opposed the proposed regulations as too onerous and pledged to work with the county on revisions.

In March, the same day the Winnebago Tribe said it would oppose any pipeline projects without an environmental impact study, officials in Holt County  which enacted pipeline regulations during the proposed Keystone XL tar sands project  rejected a proposed moratorium on new pipelines.

Holt County supervisors, echoing several people who spoke during a public meeting, said the moratorium sent the wrong message that the county was closed for business.

Tribal leaders, on the other hand, said that the projects could wait until it was demonstrated the pipelines would not have an adverse effect on the environment.

The Winnebago Tribe stands in solidarity with area farmers who oppose these pipelines and the use of eminent domain to acquire access to lands without landowner consent, Chairwoman Victoria Kitcheyan said. The health, well-being, and rights of everyone is important to us all.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7120 or cdunker@journalstar.com. On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS
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COLUMBUS  Most people want their lawns to be green and lush during the summer, even when temperatures rise and rain stops falling. To accomplish that, many people set their sprinklers on autopilot  allowing them to run every day or every other day  and dont pay attention to whether the g
ESSEX, Vt. (AP)  Before the pandemic, there was no room in the budget for Kate Murphys children to buy lunch at school. She and her husband would buy in bulk and make bag lunches at home. So the free school meals that were made available to students nationwide amid the crisis have brought 
WASHINGTON  The House Jan. 6 committee used Thursdays hearing to show Donald Trump pushed to install a loyalist atop the Justice Department who would pursue the then-presidents false claims of voter fraud and stop the certification of the 2020 election that Democrat Joe Biden won.

Its the latest account of how perilously close the United States came to a constitutional crisis if the department leaders had not threatened to resign and the defeated incumbent was able to orchestrate a plan for the U.S. government to overturn election results in several pivotal states.

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Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., led the hearing, saying it would show how close we came to losing it all.

Some important takeaways from this months fifth hearing of the committee that is investigating the causes of the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The committee has been trying to make the case that Trumps efforts to reverse his loss resulted in the deadly siege after he sent supporters to the Capitol as Congress was certifying Bidens victory.

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Trumps Justice Department in turmoil

Day after day, Trump pressured the department leaders to dig into false claims of election fraud after the November 2020 election.

Former Attorney General William Barr had described the swirl of false voter fraud theories coming from Trumps orbit as wack-a-mole.

Jeffrey Rosen, former acting Attorney General, testifies as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, June 23, 2022. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

The department declined Trumps overtures because we did not think they were appropriate, testified Jeffrey Rosen, who became acting attorney general after Barr stepped down.

Over and over, the officials explained to Trump that the states conduct their own elections, free from federal interference. They tried to show him there was no voter fraud on a scale that could have tipped the election in his favor.

Trump, however, only pressed harder and started looking for alternatives.

At point in late December 2020, Trump asked what Rosen found to be a peculiar question: Do you know Jeff Clark?

Trump was eyeing Clark to take over at the department.

Who is Jeff Clark?

Clark led the civil division and particularly handled environmental cases. He was introduced to Trump by a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, a leader of the Houses conservative Freedom Caucus.

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Clark had been circulating a proposal that would have the legislatures from battleground states not certify their election results. It was similar to a plan from Trump lawyer John Eastman for alternative slates of electors loyal to Trump, rather than Biden, when Congress met Jan. 6, 2021, to certify results.

Clarks ideas alarmed his colleagues, as did his sudden rise into Trumps orbit as a potential new acting attorney general.

It may well had spiraled us into a constitutional crisis, testified Richard Donoghue, the former acting deputy attorney general.

What do I have to lose?

During a meeting at the White House days before the riot, Justice Department leaders told Trump they would resign if he tried to install Clark and put his scheme in motion to reject electors.

Trump had called the officials to an unexpected Sunday meeting to lay out his plan. Donoghue described how he was dressed inappropriately in jeans, muddy boots and an Army shirt. Trump had him sit between Rosen and Clark. The president asked Donoghue: What if I replace Rosen with Clark?

What have I got to lose? Trump said, as Donoghue recalled.

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Donoghue told Trump that the president would have everything to lose: mass resignations at the Justice Department, starting with those arrayed before him at the meeting.

Clark would be left to run a graveyard at the department, one of the officials said. Trumps plan to reject the state electors with those loyal to Trump would never work. It was a murder-suicide pact, as his own White House counsel told him, they testified.

Donoghue made the point that Jeff Clark wasnt even competent to serve as attorney general.

When Clark shot back that he had worked on complicated civil and environmental matters, Donoghue retorted: How about you go back to your office and well call you when theres an oil spill?

Blanket pardons for Jan. 6 ...

At least five Republican members of Congress, including Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who had connected Trump and Clark, sought pardons from the president that would shield them from criminal prosecution, according to testimony Thursday.

Perry and Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Louie Gohmert of Texas all had been involved in efforts to reject the electoral tally or submit fake electors. All sought pardons, according to Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Trumps chief of staff, Mark Meadows. Hutchinson testified previously in video shown at the hearing.

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Blanket pardons for all those involved in Jan. 6 were also discussed, according to another White House aide, John McEntee.

Gaetz tweeted that the hearing is a political sideshow.

Kinzinger said the only reason to ask for a pardon is if you think youve committed a crime.

... And subpeoenas served on fake electors

The hearing was gaveled in as the department escalated its own investigation, searching Clarks Virginia home this week as federal agents also served subpoenas across the country related to the scheme by Trump allies to create sets of fake electors with the intention of invalidating Bidens win.

The purpose of the searches was not immediately clear, but they came as the House committee has pressured the department to step up its investigation.

Among those being investigated are Republican officials in key states, including those working on the fake electors in the run-up to Jan. 6, when Congress would be tallying the election results.

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Trump vs. McCarthy

Trump has decried the proceedings as a witch hunt and blamed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for declining to have Republicans on the committee who could defend Trump.

Trump recently told a conservative talk radio host that McCarthy, R-Calif., had made a bad decision, very foolish decision, by withdrawing the Republicans from the committee.

The only two Republicans on the committee are Kinzinger and Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, both Trump critics.

McCarthy has stood by his choice not to seat Republicans after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., rejected two of his choices because they had voted to decertify the results of the presidential election.

Rather than picking alternatives acceptable to Pelosi, McCarthy withdrew the others, refusing to play by Pelosis rules and trying to portray the the committee as unfair and illegitimate.

I do not regret not appointing anybody at all, McCarthy told reporters Thursday, saying he had said as much in a call with Trump. The decision is right.

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Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.
Reseau Unite pour le Developpement de Mauritanie (non-governmental organization in special consultative status) :

From our belief in the importance of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights and its pivotal role in consolidating peace and the welfare of peoples and respect for human rights around the world, we are sending you this communication about the situation in Western Sahara, which has known a political conflict since the seventies of the last century. As you know, this long-lasting conflict is a threat to peace and stability in both North Africa and the Sahel and Sahara region.

The residents of the Western Sahara region are looking for a peaceful solution that protects them from the isolation and division they are experiencing because of the camps and the separation wall. Since 1976, Saharawi families have been living in division and scattering due to the insistence of the parties to the conflict not to provide concrete solutions to lift the siege on these victims.

The Sahara conflict has become a burden on the international community, as we see that its seriousness and its ability to push for a diplomatic solution are starting to be questioned since all the conditions are suitable impose the solution that respond to the aspirations and security of the local resident first and protect the region from the geopolitical repercussions the world is witnessing these days.

The residents of the camps have been greatly affected by the repercussions of the covid pandemic, which proved Algerias inability to protect the residents of the camps in Tindouf from the devastating effects of the pandemic Algeria failed to fulfill its international obligations as it is responsible for the protection of the refugees in the camps of Tindouf on its territory from human rights violations committed by polisario officials as well as terrorist and criminal groups.

Unfortunately, the political decision in the Tindouf refugee camps is not in the hands of the Polisario. Rather, it has become our duty to acknowledge that Algeria is the one that controls and dominates the choices of the Sahrawis. Therefore, the independent commission for human rights draws your attention to its concern that Algeria will take destructive decisions for the future of these victims, as it has chosen to be support the countries that call for wars and has chosen to be a rear base for these forces. Therefore, we refuse to involve the sahrawi refugees in any possible tension that Algeria may escalate in the near future.

The Tindouf camps, under that state-quo and the absence of a promising political intention of polisario and Algeria for overcoming the conflict in a manner that preserves human dignity and a decent life for the original inhabitants of Western Sahara, these camps have become incubating structures that support and nourish terrorism and organized crime. These groups exploit youth who seeks to improve his economic conditions by all means. This makes them easy victims of the exploitation of terrorist organizations, especially since the camps provide young people trained to carry weapons since they were children. Therefore, resolving the conflict in the Western Sahara will be an effective way to dry up one of the sources of terrorism in the Sahel and Sahara region.

The general political context in Western Sahara, in addition to the growing desire of the population of the region to end the conflict, help greatly to take effective steps on your part to urge Algeria to accept a peaceful and realistic solution, which we see that Morocco has interacted positively in order to resolve the conflict by proposing autonomy to negotiation since 2007. The opportunity is ripe to put pressure on Algeria to allow the polisario leaders to accept autonomy as a solution to the conflict, especially since there is increasing international recognition for considering autonomy as the credible and rational solution to resolving the conflict in Western Sahara.

The American recognition of Moroccos sovereignty over the Western Sahara is a strong signal that the population received with satisfaction and acceptance, and it must be exploited in order to push for the adoption of autonomy based on respect for human rights and to enable the Sahrawis to enjoy their full economic, civil and political rights, preserve their culture and benefit from the natural resources of the Western Sahara region.

For all that;

 We call for respect for human rights in the Western Sahara region by both Morocco and Algeria and under all circumstances.

 We consider that autonomy provides an important opportunity for the Sahrawis to enjoy a decent and peaceful life.

 We consider that the United Nations is directly responsible for putting pressure on Algeria to allow the Polisario to lift the siege on the camps and to interact positively with international efforts to bring about a serious and realistic peace process.
Morocco and Israel have been reinforcing their political, economic and cultural ties since they resumed ties in 2020. Now came the turn of labor cooperation as Israel seeks to attract Moroccan health, construction and social protection workers, according to Moroccan and Israeli media.

Ynetnews reported that the visit by Israeli interior minister to Morocco will focus on discussing the means of hiring Moroccan workers.

The Israeli interior minister discussed bilateral cooperation with its Moroccan counterpart in Rabat and reiterated her countrys support for Moroccos territorial integrity and sovereignty over the Sahara after a meeting with Moroccan foreign minister.

The zeitgeist between the two countries suggests growing confidence and closer ties that could add labor cooperation to the list of cooperation areas.

Moroccos Al Ahdath daily said a deal will be signed between the two countries enabling Moroccan workers to travel to Israel by next year, adding that Israel had a shortage of construction workers and nurses in particular.

Morocco and Israel are poised to increase their economic ties, building on strong ties that Moroccan jews in Israel have with the birthplace of their ancestors.
The Moroccan Government decided this Thursday at the cabinets weekly meeting to extend the state of health emergency until July 31, 2022, to continue to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of measures taken by public authorities to stem the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Government Council examined and adopted, this June 23, a draft decree, presented by the Minister of the Interior, extending the state of health emergency throughout the national territory until July 31, 2022.

The state of health emergency, in force since March 2020 and that was scheduled to expire this June 30, seeks to preserve the progress made by Morocco in fighting the pandemic and minimize the danger related to the virus variants.

The state of health emergency enables the government to make swift, necessary decisions and update its preventive measures depending on the epidemiological situation.

This umpteenth extension of the state of health emergency comes at a time Morocco is experiencing an increase in daily COVID-19 cases that exceeded these past days 3000.

The surge in COVID-19 cases was described as alarming by health officials, who warned that the latest increase in cases marks the beginning of a new wave.

They imputed this surge mainly to lack of respect of health protocol and preventive measures.

Tayeb Hamdi, a Moroccan doctor and researcher in health policies and systems, was quoted by the news outlet MWN as saying that the number of cases and COVID-related fatalities will increase in the coming weeks.

He called on citizens to receive the booster vaccine, emphasizing the importance of a potential fourth shot for people aged 80 and up and for those suffering from chronic diseases, according to MWN.
Marrakech is hosting a two-day high-level meeting of the heads of counterterrorism and security agencies of North African and Sahel countries.

The meeting, held under the auspices of the United Nations Office of Counterterrorism, provides participants with a platform to debate strategies and approaches to strengthen regional cooperation on counter-terrorism issues, terrorist threat assessment, and capacity building needs for long-term resilience.

The two-day high-level meeting, themed Capacity Building and Training for West African States, is attended by representatives of 23 countries from the region, who will discuss and exchange views on their assessment of the threat in the Sahel region and its extension to the Gulf of Guinea.

Over the past decade, the Sahel has emerged as a breeding ground for global terrorism and Morocco has long expressed concerns regarding the situation in the region.

Also, Morocco had repeatedly advocated multilateralism in the fight against terrorism and expressed his willingness to share its experience in the fight against the scourge with African states.

Last May, the Kingdom hosted the ministerial meeting of the global coalition to defeat ISIS and had then warned that separatism and terrorism are two sides of the same coin as fighters especially in Africa swap from one side to another.

The collusion against the sovereignty and stability of states, and the convergence of financial, tactical and operational means, create an objective alliance between terrorist and separatist groups, Moroccos Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita had said, adding that this has been confirmed by the increasing number of individuals crossing from separatist to terrorist groups and vice-versa.

Bourita had made it clear that those who back separatists are actually contributing to the spread of terrorism.

Those who finance, shelter, support and weaponize separatism, are actually contributing to the expansion of terrorism and undermine regional peace and security.
A group of members of the High Council of State (HCS) has called on Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, one of Libyas two rival Prime Ministers, to hand over power peacefully to his foe Fathi Bashagha, designated by the House of Representatives (HoR), the parliament of the oil-rich African country.

The group issued a statement calling on Dbeibah to assume his moral and legal responsibilities, arguing that the term of the Government of National Unity expires on June 21, 2022, according to the Libyan political roadmap set in Geneva last year, Libya Observer reports.

The statement called on the UN mission and the international community to recognize the HoR-backed Bashaghas government, as the sole legitimate authority across Libya.

The HoR designated the former Interior Minister in February to replace Dbeibah, arguing that his term came to end on Dec. 24 after he failed to organize the Dec. 24 scheduled presidential elections.

Dbeibah has refused to step down and vowed to hand over power to an elected authority. The HCS and HoR have failed to agree on a roadmap for new elections.
Experts of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) have commended King Mohammed VI for the determined actions he took to improve womens rights.

The experts, who were taking part in Geneva in an event organized by civil society on the sidelines of the 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council and the review by the CEDAW of the national report submitted by Morocco, congratulated the Kingdom for all the breakthroughs made in matters of womens rights improvement, highlighting in particular the setting up of a legal age of marriage to struggle against the marriage of minor girls and the assertion of the principle of equality between men and women in family relations, as enshrined in the Family Code.

They also underscored the fact that the Moroccan Constitution of 2011 prohibits all forms of discrimination, a provision that is reiterated in several legislative texts.

The experts exchanged views with members of the Moroccan delegation that were taking part in the event.

In this connection, Abdelwahab Gain, President of the African Human Rights Watch, and Professor Shaibatah Mrrabih Rabou, President of the Sahara Center for Studies and Research on Development and Human Rights explained to their interlocutors how Morocco complies with its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women to which it adhered in June 1993.

They also surveyed the measures taken by the Government to ensure guarantees of womens rights before the judicial system, womens political participation, economic empowerment and the right to employment, health care and social security.

The two activists, who contribute to civil societys efforts to strengthen advocacy with UN institutions for the Kingdoms territorial integrity issue, recalled that they got in touch in Geneva with several experts from North Africa and the Middle East, including from the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, to discuss ways of upgrading cooperation on issues of concern to North Africa and the Middle East.
OMAHA -- The fiercest competition at the College World Series just might be the Jell-O shot challenge at Roccos Pizza and Cantina.

The restaurant, located at 13th and Mike Fahey streets just across from Charles Schwab Field, has been entertaining CWS fans for more than a decade. For the past six years, they have hosted some variation of the CWS Jell-O shot challenge: For every shot ordered, your team gets a point.

Last year, a record was set by Mississippi State: Fans ordered 2,965 Jell-O shots during the series.

On Sunday night  just three days in  that record was shattered by the University of Arkansas fans who had already consumed 50% more than all of last years series.

And by Monday afternoon, CWS fans had ordered a total of 11,130 Jell-O shots, a frozen mixture of Jell-O and vodka colored to match each team, at $4.50 a pop.

Thats more than $50,000 in revenue for Roccos and theres still at least six days left in the series. Patrons say that the competitive spirit is worth the steep price for a prepackaged Jell-O shot.

Its absolutely genius marketing, said Tyler Johnson, an Ole Miss fan from Jackson, Mississippi. Theyre making loads off of us  but everybody loves competition.

This year, the competition is fierce. Arkansas is barely hanging on to its lead over Mississippi: At the latest count on Monday, Ole Miss netted 4,579 shots to Arkansas 4,644. No other team comes close to those numbers, with Texas A&M a distant third at 585 shots.

Big spenders buying hundreds of shots at a time have upped the ante this year. A representative from Banded Brands, a hunting gear brand based in Arkansas, bought 500 shots on Monday afternoon. In response, Tyler Jordan of Realtree, another hunting and camouflage brand, put 900 shots toward Mississippis total.

Determined not to be outdone, Banded Brands placed another order for 1,000 shots  $4,500 worth  within the hour. That led to many patrons on Monday night drinking for free.

Its definitely an all-time record here, said Kevin Culjat, the owner of Roccos and the neighboring Leftys Bar. Its awesome. We have people trying to Venmo us, trying to call in orders, but were just too busy.

Indeed, fans packed into Roccos like sardines on Monday, with a line nearly out the door to get to the bar and order shots ahead of the 6 p.m. game. The crowd was especially energized ahead of the matchup between Ole Miss and Arkansas.

We might not win it all, but were definitely going to win this, said Corey Garnette, an Arkansas fan from Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Fans can follow along with the latest numbers on the CWS Jello Shot Challenge Twitter account, which has amassed nearly 12,000 followers in less than two weeks.
Veteran North Platte lawyer Terry Waite has been named to the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, an invitation-only nationwide organization of mediators and arbitrators.

Waite, a partner in North Plattes Waite & McWha law firm, said he was recently invited to become the only member outside Lincoln and Omaha of NADNs Nebraska Chapter.

He has been a trained part-time mediator since 1995, when he served as lead defense counsel in a half-dozen lawsuits stemming from a tragic accident.

Waite said those cases dragged on for nearly two years before mediators were brought in. He was awestruck by the process as all six suits were settled after a day-long mediation session in Denver, he said.

He promptly took a mediation course through the Nebraska Supreme Courts Office of Dispute Resolution.

U.S. District Court officials then invited Waite to help train more Nebraska mediators as part of a pilot program, he said.

Mediation is something I really enjoy doing both for lawyers and their clients, Waite said. It is a quicker, simpler and less expensive alternative to drawn-out civil litigation and lawsuits.

Waite has been North Plattes part-time city attorney since January 2020, when his firm contracted with the city to provide its legal services.

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A lawyer in the city attorney's office was acquitted Tuesday of a misdemeanor criminal trespass charge stemming from a May 2021 incident that his attorney cast as a landlord-tenant issue.

Rick Tast, 49, entered a northeast Lincoln rental home May 21, 2021, where he awoke a napping family and briefly argued with the occupants before leaving with the property owner, his longtime friend, Jeremy Hosek, according to court testimony.

Tast's presence in the house was undisputed throughout a bench trial last month, which centered on the alleged criminality of Tast's entry into the home.

At Tast's trial May 19, nearly a year after the incident, Hosek said that Tast was acting as his agent and attorney when the two arrived at 3143 N. 56th St., where Hosek was preparing to evict his tenant, who he said was months behind on rent and had stopped responding to texts.

Special prosecutors with the Nebraska Attorney General's Office disputed that rationale, noting that Tast was not an employee of Hosek's business venture, and his status as a lawyer or friend didn't grant him permission to enter the home.

"My lawyer doesn't just come into my house whenever he wants," Assistant Attorney General Gail VerMaas told Otoe County Judge David Partsch, who heard the case because of Tast's ties within the Lincoln legal community.

At trial, Hosek provided several reasons for entering the home that day. He and Tast initially thought the home may have been abandoned and had gone in to look for violations for an eviction notice, said Hosek, a city firefighter who also mentioned smelling smoke and observing a haze through the window.

They did not encounter smoke or fire upon entry.

The state focused much of its case on what happened inside the house, where Tast encountered a 14-year-old boy asleep in a bedroom, who he jostled awake, according to the teen's testimony.

"(I felt) someone touching my leg, so I woke up," the boy said. "It wasn't too hard or nothing, they grabbed it and I realized it and I woke up and I freaked out."

Tast, a registered nurse and former medic, later told Lincoln Police he thought the teen was dead or suffering a medical emergency, said former Officer Laura Stokey, the lead officer in the investigation who was terminated in January for mishandling evidence in an unrelated case.

The teen, his sister and mom all testified that Tast then grabbed a black hoodie from the boy's room and walked to the kitchen, where he confronted the family and repeatedly asked "What is this?," referring to the sweatshirt.

Korey Reiman, Tast's attorney, maintained that Tast removed a marijuana bong from the bedroom, not a sweatshirt.

VerMaas also pointed to Tast's actions in the days after the incident as attempts to cover up his involvement in the case.

"While you were talking to the defendant on the phone, did he ever make any requests of you at this time?" VerMass asked Stokey.

"He requested to have his name left out of all police reports," Stokey said.

But Reiman repeatedly cast doubt on the credibility of Stokey and other Lincoln Police officers involved in the case, including former Sgt. Angela Sands, Stokey's supervisor who was fired in December.

And the defense attorney argued Stokey's testimony  along with the other five witnesses called by the state  did not prove that Tast had knowingly acted with criminal intent when he walked into the house, failing to clear the statutory hurdle required to prove first-degree criminal trespass.

"The state failed to call the owner of the house," Reiman said, referring to Hosek, the only witness called by the defense. "They've left that hanging open, of whether Mr. Tast was given permission or told he could go in there.

"That's what they have to prove. And they didn't do it. They didn't even try to do it."

In the end, Partsch agreed with Reiman, pointing to the same argument in his six-page verdict issued Tuesday.

"The state must prove in this case, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Tast entered this rental home knowing that he was not licensed or privileged to do so," Partsch said. "It has not met its burden."

The verdict brought an end to a legal battle that had stretched on for more than a year  a rarity for misdemeanor cases  and brought vindication for Tast, according to his attorney.

"From jump street, I didn't think this case should have been charged," Reiman said Tuesday. "And the verdict today supports that."

Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com. On Twitter @andrewwegley
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With cases of monkeypox in the U.S. and across the globe increasing  a third case of the infectious disease was confirmed in Georgia on Friday  there are a number of questions regarding what the disease is, how it is transmitted, who is vulnerable and how it is treated. Marilyn Bulloch, associate clinical professor in the Harrison College of Pharmacys Department of Pharmacy Practice, provides comments on what is known about the virus.

Bulloch received her Doctor of Pharmacy from Rutgers University in 2007 and completed residencies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Charleston (South Carolina) Area Medical Center. Her research interests include acute care pharmacotherapy, infectious diseases, internal medicine and medication use in older adults. She has spoken at the national, regional and local level on a variety of medicine related topics, including influenza and other concerning viral infections. She has been published in numerous medical and pharmacy journals.

What is monkeypox, and what are the symptoms?

Monkeypox is an orthopox virus, or orthopoxvirus, which is the same category or genus as smallpox and cowpox. It is rare but causes a pox-like syndrome. It was first identified in 1958 in Denmark, where an outbreak of a pustular disease occurred in a macaque colony that had been imported from Singapore for research purposes. The first human case was not documented until 12 years later in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Researchers do not know what the natural reservoir of the virus is. It is thought to be either African rodents or non-human primates.

Just as with every other virus, monkeypox is not one single strand of the virus. There are multiple versions, sometimes revered to as clades. The Congo Basin clade has a higher mortality rate than the West African clade in patients with normal immune systems.

If this has been around for a long time, why are we just now hearing about it?

There are several reasons that it has not been at the forefront. Those born in the mid-1970s and earlier most likely received the smallpox vaccine, which provides protection against other orthopox infections. The virus is known to circulate in animals, with sporadic appearance in humans over the years. Most of the human cases of the virus have been reported in Africa, with the most occurring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cases outside of Africa in the past could be linked to travel to these areas.

Once smallpox was eradicated, routine smallpox vaccination ceased, although members of the military still receive it. This was when monkeypox cases really started to emerge in more frequency  in those not vaccinated against smallpox. Thirty to forty years ago, the vast majority of humans were vaccinated against smallpox, but today less than one-third are. The rate is much lower in developing nations. With the decreasing number of people with natural or vaccine-induced immunity, the virus has the opportunity to circulate.

Most chains of transmission reported in the past have been relatively short. Unlike what we might see with something like influenza, where large groups of people can be infected after exposure, transmission has stopped after one to three people, though slightly higher in some chains. Because the outbreaks are not the number of people that we have come to associate with an outbreak of any infection, infections that have been reported in the media or in the medical literature have not gained the amount of attention that an infection that impacts large numbers of people all at once will.

How did it make it to the United States, and how is it transmitted?

In the United States, monkeypox occurs in those who have traveled to countries where the virus naturally occurs or who have imported animals from those areas.

The virus can enter humans through the respiratory tract, mucous membranes of the eyes, mouth or nose or through broken skin, even very minor breaks. Human-to-human transmission mostly occurs, so far, through respiratory transmission. Unlike some viruses, the respiratory droplets carrying this virus do not travel very far; for the virus to be spread among humans, there must be extended, close, face-to-face contact.

Reports of human transmission through contact with lesion material has also been reported  for example, touching contaminated bedding. Currently, it is being investigated if the virus can be sexually transmitted. There have been clusters of cases among men who have sex with men. However, we dont yet know if this is due to transmission through bodily fluid or if it is due to spread from genital and groin lesions. It is reasonable to think that if it could be spread in a similar way, regardless of sexual orientation.

What will happen if I get monkeypox?

Some people may be fearful of monkeypox because it seems new. From the human infections that have occurred since 1970, symptoms appear similar, but much milder than what was seen with smallpox. Many people may relate early symptoms to that of influenza (the flu): fever, headache, significant fatigue and muscle aches.

With monkeypox, peoples lymph nodes will swell. A rash appears a few days, on average one to three days, but can be longer, after the fever begins. The typical spread of the rash is from the face to other parts of the body. Almost everyone who gets infected has a fever and a rash. This can help distinguish it from other potential sources of infection.

Symptoms generally appear around one to two weeks (7 to 14 days) after exposure/infection, though some people have not shown symptoms until three weeks after infection. Lesions develop and progressively scab over before falling off. The duration of symptoms varies widely. Some people feel better within five days, while others may still be showing symptoms after three weeks.

Are there any precautions I can take against it?

Its important to remember that transmission between humans requires direct and/or prolonged contact. The symptoms of monkeypox are much more specific than some other infections, and unless you are providing care to an infected person who cannot care for themselves, avoid contact.

What should I do if I feel I may have it?

After years of social distancing, it may be disheartening to hear that isolation is the first step in managing monkeypox. However, isolation should occur until all of the lesions have healed, and a new layer of skin has formed. Even after isolation has been stopped, infected people should not be in close contact with immunocompromised people until all of their lesion crusts are gone.

If you were exposed, you should self-monitor for symptoms. Unless symptoms develop, people can continue normal activities. If they appear, isolate yourself and contact the local health department. As mentioned before, almost everyone with monkeypox has a fever and a rash. However, a rare few will just have chills or swollen lymph nodes. If no fever or rash develops after 24 hours, they should be evaluated by a health care provider to rule out other causes.

Are there any treatments for monkeypox?

There are preventative measures. Smallpox vaccines have shown to be protective against monkeypox. There is also an FDA-approved vaccine called JYNNEOS, which is FDA approved for the prevention of monkeypox. It was developed to help prevent infection in those at risk for occupational exposure to the virus, such as those working in research labs with primates.

Protection requires two doses given four weeks apart. Those who have previously received a smallpox vaccine may have slightly fewer side effects. Side effects seen in studies included injection site pain, redness, induration and itching. Some people experienced temporary muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and chills. This is similar to what is seen with the routine vaccines that are given to the public. The vaccine has been studied in thousands of people in clinical trials.

To date, infection with the virus is mild in most people, even without therapy. However, as with any microorganism, it can and has caused severe disease and death in some cases. There is no treatment specifically for monkeypox. In previous outbreaks, people who were exposed, but not necessarily symptomatic, were offered the smallpox vaccine. It is proposed that medications that we have available to treat smallpox could be effective at treating monkeypox.
He was 5 seconds away from being my man in the tan





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I knew what video this was with the thumbnail alone. WHAT KILLS ME ALL THE TIME IS WHEN THE GUY IN THE BACKGROUND FLEES AFTER THE DANCER FLIPS ON CONCRETE

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He's not trying to be a witness 

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It's statistically proven that black people run laugh when they can't contain what they just saw.



-Signed a black person

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lmfao what is this???!!

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Ive never seen this. Im dying. Literally sitting in my car, wiping away tears bc Im laughing so hard.

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Edited at 2022-06-23 02:30 am (UTC)

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Mte, Jasmine Masters

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here for that iconic gif lmaooo

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They both suck but looks fun

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zibby, you're moving close to your weekly limit of things I'll allow.

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Ive been a bad, bad girl. 

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AND Jimmy Fallon?



Jimmy Fallon?

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But why was this the outfit he chose to perform in??? This man has no drip at all.

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he really doesn't, he fooled us for a while by only wearing suits

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I guess he's no longer on his suit and tie shit...

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the weather was perfect this weekend, he could have worn anything. but instead he chose to steal some hill intern's pants.

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LOL HES SO LAME.

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jesus he is old

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Nobody told him to wear those godawful things!

Almost as bad as wearing corduroy



Edited at 2022-06-23 02:28 am (UTC)

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he better gorilla glue that rug to his head if he's going to keep bopping around like that

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Ella no es vedette.

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ESTRELLA TV That video cracks me the fuck up



Edited at 2022-06-23 02:57 am (UTC)

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did he ever apologize to britney and janet?

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I think he did after the first Britney doc and right before they announced the Janet one. Too little, too late either way.

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Cut for this male mess, please.

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I feel so justified on never jumping on the Dr. Horrible train.

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hehehhehee

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An ex insisted I watch this, being curmudgeonly I never liked NPH in any of his iterations so watching this was rather painful. Actually brings back a memory of a different ex insisting I watch A Series of Unfortunate Events AKA The Count Olaf Show. I seem doomed to be in relationships where explaining why I dislike Doogie Howsie is too ridiculous and tedious to go through but the alternative is putting up with watching his shows. Sigh etc.

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Well of course he did.

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Of course he does

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And not a single woman was shocked. May they both get into a fatal accident together.

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Breaking news: white male did not experience racism and misogyny from fellow white male.



I love buffy, but knowing what joss has done has really soured the experience of rewatching a show that was very important to my teen self SO FUCK YOU FOR THAT, JOSS.

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Honestly rewatching buffy as an adult soured me to it before I knew he was an ass, theres so much misogyny I didnt get as a tween.

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Buffy was literally everything to me as a teen but it aged so badly. I missed so much of the racism and misogyny as a teen.

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Met. I can't even rewatch it anymore.

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I am in the same boat, like so much formative content that was helpful as a teen just is in a dumpster now...like fuck sleepy hollow was my halloween movie of choice until jd peed all over it by being a POS

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His opinion doesn't mean much when he got to play Whedon's ideal self-insert, being a "badass" space cowboy captain with a team that adores him, with plenty of opportunities to act holier-than-thou and slut shame hot women who don't know they want him until he decides to take them.

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Honestly the thing that saves it for me is that all the actresses acted their asses off to give justice to their roles. The Body remains one of my fav. tv moments and I won't let Whedon's dumbass take away from SMG

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i never watched buffy and always thought on day i'd get around to it since so many ppl love it. now i'm not sure if i'm bummed that i probably never will bc i don't want to touch any whedon properties. or if it's better that i never got attached in the first place.



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Considering he's just as toxic this is a surprise to no one...

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Exactly what I was thinking. He's so rude at cons, too. Not funny at all.

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I have never had the displeasure and am glad for it but I've heard rumors. He's very full of himself and it's disgusting.

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Exactly. Like how many women now have left his currently running show because of the toxic atmosphere?

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Seriously! Ill never forget him trying and succeeding to get rid of Stana Katic & Tamala Jones on Castles last season due to budgetary restraints when in reality he was pissed people liked Stanas character more (and given what she had to work with that is saying something!) So glad they didnt end up making the last season but he showed who he really was then



Edited at 2022-06-23 07:08 pm (UTC)

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Yeah, he's been an asshole this entire time too. He's the first person who made me realize how toxic social media could be, in the very, very early days of Twitter - I remember him directing his fanbase to attack a comic shop owner because he hadn't recognized Nathan and treated him like he would any other (over-entitled) customer.

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that tracks

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Trash loves trash

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Ok you old fuck

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Surely nobody is surprised by this.

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Lmfao I'm shocked only that he said it out loud

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cunts of a feather

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Lmao. Never.  1080 hq forever

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give it up babe, it's not happening for you



they literally thought they had the market cornered and they didn't have to do any work and now what

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I mean they saw early on that their success is a double edged sword, because once they prove that people want the streaming model then there's nothing stopping Disney or anyone else from doing the same thing. They did a ton of original content to combat that with some real successes



IMO it's more that these companies are expected to grow faster and faster forever, and put short term profit over everything else, and it's not sustainable. With realistic expectations they would be a successful company.

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They have to rest on their laurels a bit and go deeper instead of harder.

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tea, the problem at its core is the endless growth mindset of capitalism



where everything has to be better and more and bigger meanwhile streaming is saturated and you're probably not going to get more subscribers than the ones you already have

what ever happened just sustaining a steady stream of income

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Right. Also, they are making the wrong moves now. No doubt their payroll was bloated but quit giving auteurs and Michael Bay blank checks to make shit. Focus on quality vs quantity, try the Hulu approach of dropping the first half or first few episodes of a series and then drop the rest weekly (builds buzz), fix their algorithm so that people will actually see things they might want to watch (truth to be hold, there good stuff on Netflix and some hidden gems that shouldnt be hidden), NO ADS!, and accept that the capitalist model of unlimited growth is just not realistic or feasible.

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Sucks for the 300 employees, when Netflix could also stop producing crap content and focus on the successful ones / quality content ugh

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I feel for the people at netflix. Early in my career I worked with a company that was a sinking ship and it's tough

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I dont think Netflix is a sinking ship..its in a transition period and they need to do the right things. But they will sink or barely stay afloat if they dont start doing things differently now.



Edited at 2022-06-23 08:41 pm (UTC)

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Now TV has done this and I'm sorry, it's bullshit to pay to watch something and still see ads.



You're basically paying to watch ads. It annoys me about the cinema as well.

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I went to the movies for the first time in years and I was SOOOOOO confused by the ads. Im like ?!?!!!?!? What is happening?

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I have to ask.. how many years? Ads have been shown in movie theatres for like 20 years now lol

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i went to see dr. strange (reluctantly; thanks to my boyfriend, hated it) and it felt like the ads/trailers went on for longer than ever. originally, i remember movie trailers prior to a film being 10-14 minutes delaying the showtime, but it felt like 30+ minutes with dr. strange?

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"We're adding an ad tier for folks who say 'hey, I want a lower price and I'll watch ads'"



yeah no one says that

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Ikr?!?





"I want Netflix, but with the same shitty content, slightly cheaper, & with ads!!"



- Quote by No One Ever

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I dont understand this company at all. Did anything ever come out of that deal they made with the morons who were in charge of GOT? didnt they pay them like $300 milli?

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Who seriously watched the last few seasons of Game Of Thrones and thought Yeah, lets give these guys $300 mil! Fucking idiots. Even HBO wont bring them back for the spin-offs lol.

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And the 100 million to Harry and Meghan?

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Yeah thats a strange one to me, because my understanding is that the cameras following them around at the moment are in preparation for an upcoming Netflix documentary, but they first signed the deal to produce Netflix content in 2020, sooo what have they been doing for the last two years that theyre only just starting filming now?



Netflix really didnt seem in much of a rush to recoup on their investment until this year, and I just dont understand how these companies can happily pay out 100 million and not see anything for it for that amount of time, no wonder theyre losing money. Id have been chasing them up and pushing for them to get started on developing content immediately for that amount of money

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Nah Im good. Netflix and I are divorced for good. Done and done.

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But who would choose that?

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I've been watching Freevee (nee IMDB TV) this week for original episodes of Unsolved Mysteries, the ads aren't so bad



But I pay for YouTube Premium because avoiding commercials there is straight up self-care. I spend more time on that platform than all the others, too

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i pay for youtube premium too. i love to watch game playthroughs and one time i was deep cleaning my room and didn't want to keep stopping to skip commercials, and it played a FIFTY MINUTE "commercial" in the middle of what i was watching. idiot youtube.

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Ive been watching Little House on the Prairie on Freevee and theres been one ad per episode so far. Drop Dead Diva had a shitload of interruptions and it was always the same fucking commercial.

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I remember in the early days of on-demand video, there's a British ad-supported free-to-air channel, ITV. It hadn't had much luck signing up advertisers for their online stuff really early on...so it showed me the same VO5 advert 26 times in a single hour.

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i used to spend all my time on yt but these constant ads (literally every 2 mins) has damn near killed my use of the app. but i also can't bring myself to pay for another streaming service so i'll just get in like, an hr of yt a day (compared to hours) and then i move on

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i used to subscribe to YouTube Red because it came with Google Play Music, and then I got grandfathered into Premium when they killed GPM for YTM. i always told myself that if it wasn't the exact same price i would drop to just paying for YTM because I don't watch it that much and the ads aren't ~that bad, especially since i can adblock them on my computer



well, i definitely cursed myself because (of course) Google fucked it up and I lost my grandfathered status and now I'm paying the same amount but only getting YTM without YT premium and it makes me soooo irrationally angry. i still don't watch that much youtube, but now i mostly watch it on my tv and mostly music videos so having to try and find the remote to skip an ad every five minutes is so fucking annoying



but i'm cheap so i still don't pay the extra. rip

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I'm begging everyone that is still suffering with YouTube ads to add AdBlock to your phone/laptop/tablet and a cracked YouTube app. 

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No. I barely watch it but we have two sets of people piggybacking it so we won't cancel it.



Also Paw Patrol and Cocomelon is on it ughhhhhhh

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once tiktok teaches gen Z how to torrent it's over

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Every time I see something like this and their price adjustments, I think of this comment;

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Wait how do you embed comments from another post?

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If you hover over a comment in a public post (not locked ones), there's now a <> in the purple comment header to the far right, click it and put it in a comment (It doesn't work to embed in posts smdh)

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This is a disaster! lmao stop wasting money on the shows nobody is watching, they dont promote and they cancel after 1 season

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Rising oil prices have pushed Azerbaijan to increase its state budget, with much of the spending earmarked for defense and reconstruction in Karabakh. On June 20, the Economic Policy and Labor and Social Policy Committees of Azerbaijans parliament met to discuss a Ministry of Finance proposal to increase the 2022 budget by 8.1 percent, bringing spending to over 32 billion manats [$19 billion].

Taking into account the positive dynamics of the country's economic indicators, as the state and consolidated budgets received more revenues than forecast, President Ilham Aliyev instructed to direct part of the growing revenues to construction work in the liberated lands, Finance Minister Samir Sharifov told the committees, referring to the territories that Azerbaijan retook in the 2020 war against Armenia. Aliyev also ordered spending boosts for social protection, defense and security, additional reserves for food security, and new infrastructure projects, Sharifov said.

That additional revenue is coming thanks to a global spike in oil prices; oil revenues account for nearly half of Azerbaijans state budget.

As of June 22, the price of a barrel of Azerbaijani crude oil  branded as Azeri Light  was trading at $121.73. The 2022 budget was prepared based on a projection of oil selling at $50, but the average price of the oil in the first five months of 2022 has been $106. As a result, the state budget has seen a revenue surplus four times greater than projected.

On top of that, taxes collected this year have amounted to nearly 2 billion manats [$1.2 billion] more than projected, the finance ministry reported to the committees.

According to the draft bill, the biggest recipient of the spending boost would be construction projects in Karabakh, which would now get 2.7 billion manats [$1.6 billion], a 21 percent increase from the current budget. Defense and national security would see a 13 percent increase, to 5 billion manats [$3 billion].

Related: Why Nuclear Energy Is More Relevant Than Ever

Spending on social protection for low-income Azerbaijanis, meanwhile, is projected to grow by 2.4 percent and that for education, by 0.06 percent. The spending on health care would shrink in the revised budget.

Critics said the favored sectors are particularly ripe for corruption, which is endemic in Azerbaijani government spending.

Unfortunately the Aliyev regime again did not allocate funds from the increase in the state budget to those in need, but gave preference to sectors with a high potential for corruption. This means that budget looting continues on a larger scale and faster than ever, economist and chairman of the opposition Democracy and Prosperity Party Gubad Ibadoglu wrote on Facebook. Of particular concern here is the flourishing of corruption in the field of defense and national security, as well as in the name of the reconstruction and restoration of the liberated territories in Karabakh.

Azerbaijan regularly adjusts its budget to keep track with oil prices, but it tends to increase spending whether prices are going up or down. In the former case it does so because it has more revenues to spend, in the latter because it says the economy needs a boost as incomes decline, wrote economist Elmir Mukhtarov in a recent analysis for BNE IntelliNews.

[T]he arguments for counter-cyclical fiscal policy are only given when the oil prices are on the decline, and they are magically forgotten when oil prices are rising, Mukhtarov wrote.

Mukhtarov argued that the government should instead invest the windfall in the State Oil Fund, a sovereign wealth fund.

Azerbaijans oil production is steadily decreasing, and the proven gas reserves are not even close to compensating for the lost oil revenues, he wrote. It is therefore imperative that we take utmost care when designing our fiscal policy now, because it may very well be the last time that Azerbaijan experiences high levels of revenues from the oil/gas sector.

By Eurasianet.org

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
President Biden asked Congress on Wednesday to lift the federal fuel tax for three months in a bid to reduce excessively high prices at the pump, but resistance in Congresseven from the President's own partycould stymie the idea altogether.

In a four-point plan, Biden said told legislators to consider suspending the $0.24 federal tax per gallon of diesel and the $0.18 per gallon tax on gasoline for 90 days and recommended that states also lift their state taxes on fuels.

The President also called on oil companies to use their profits to boost refining capacity and on fuel retailers to pass on the reduction in prices resulting from the potential lifting of federal taxes to customers.

"I fully understand that a gas tax holiday alone is not going to fix the problem but it will provide families some immediate relief, just a little bit of breathing room, as we continue working on bringing down prices for the long haul," Biden said, as quoted by Reuters.

But Congress has expressed a lack of enthusiasm for any such gas tax holiday.

"We will see where the consensus lies on a path forward for the President's proposal in the House and the Senate," House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in what was interpreted as a rare lack of endorsement for the President's proposal.

Other Democratic lawmakersincluding Speaker Pelosisuggested that the gas tax savings could be pocketed by oil companies rather than the consumer.

Yet another criticism of the gas tax holiday is that it would strip funds out of the Highway Trust Fund that is earmarked for maintaining roads, bridges, and other infrastructure.

The administration is blaming the high fuel prices on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the windfall profits of oil companies resulting from the crude oil price rally, itself a result of an imbalance between supply and demand.

U.S. refining capacity has shed more than 1 million bpd over the past two years, according to the Energy Information Administration, but, according to federal data cited by Seeking Alpha, the decline has been going on for much longer.

Since 1990, the data shows, some 86 refineries have been shut down in the U.S., translating in the loss of more than 5 million bpd in capacity.

U.S. oil producers, meanwhile, have been reluctant to boost production, prioritizing instead the return of cash to shareholders.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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After months of lockdowns under the severe and much-maligned zero Covid policy, the Chinese economy is a sleeping giant. As the nation starts and stops its way into re-opening for business, it remains unclear what impact the worlds second-biggest economy will have on the current global supply chain issues. In the midst of plateaued economic growth and an intensifying energy crisis, adding China back into the mix is a variable with no clear outcome. On the one hand, ramping up Chinas considerable energy and industrial production capacity may help ease the squeeze. On the other hand, re-opening the Chinese economy will also increase the nations energy demand on the global market. China has long been the biggest engine of global prosperity, contributing 28 percent of GDP growth worldwide from 2013 to 2018  more than twice the share of the US, the Financial Times reported earlier this month, citing data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In fact, when the World Bank announced that it would be slashing its forecast for global gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year, it cited the lockdowns in China  as well as the Russian war in Ukraine  as the primary reasons why things were taking a turn toward doom and gloom. Last year, the global GDP grew 5.7 percent  this year the IMF predicts that it will eke out a mere 2.9 percent growth.

Back at the end of March, months before Beijing would announce any easing of lockdown restrictions, Forbes was already calling Chinas zero Covid policy a fiasco, as the nations economy was bleeding an estimated $46 billion as a direct result of the policy, which aimed to bring the countrys Covid case number to zero  a goal which virtually everyone outside of the Chinese government agrees is impossible. The enormity of that loss has had and will have far-reaching consequences on a global scale  as will Chinas return to the economic fold. We just dont yet know in what ways and to what degree. There are simply too many variables.

Related: Why Nuclear Energy Is More Relevant Than Ever

Part of the extreme complexity of the current situation is that China is in the midst of a politically tumultuous period, as the zero Covid policy has stirred up discontent and scrutiny both at home and abroad. The Chinese government's tactics to enforce the lockdown have been characteristically authoritarian, and experts are predicting that the Chinese populace may be on the precipice of nationwide protests in reaction to the severe restrictions. Locked inside of their apartments, Chinese residents have taken to social media, notably the app WeChat, to voice their criticisms of the governments anti-Covid measures. As the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues with large-scale and long-term lockdowns on major cities, mass incarceration in quarantine camps and on university and college campuses, coupled with blanket digital surveillance and control over people's movements, some signs of mass discontent have begun to emerge, Radio Free Asia reported earlier this month, citing incidents of student and private sector dissent.

On top of the unrest within the Chinese citizenry, extremely mixed signals from Beijing have muddied any predictions of what is to come for the Chinese  and therefore the global  economy. And as President Xi Jinping tries to walk the line between using zero-Covid as a tool for tightening public and political control and losing it all as Chinese citizens chafe against this authoritarianism, Beijing continues to push forward its energy revolution. China is trying to have it all as it defends the very policy that crushed its economy, all while trying to meet its plans for growth. With increasing energy shortfalls, declining growth, and political dangers, Xi appears to want to have his cake and eat it too through the newest wave of short-term rolling lockdowns, writes Forbes. But simply declaring that Chinas economy and energy sector will bounce back better than ever does not make it so.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

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Germany has triggered the second phase of its three-phase gas emergency plan as it braces up for the possibility of a complete halt of gas supplies from Russia via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

In an official statement, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said, as quoted by Reuters, that Germans would need to begin reducing their energy consumption and blamed the current state of affairs on Russias president.

Fear of supply outages in Germany is running high as Gazprom prepares for regular maintenance of Nord Stream 1. According to an FT report, Germany fears that the Russian state will take advantage of the maintenance work to suspend gas deliveries to its biggest European client.

Supply via the Nord Stream 1 pipe is already much lower than normal due to a delay in the installation of a turbine that was taken by Siemens Energy for repairs to Canada, which recently extended sanctions against Russia to include services, effectively blocking the turbine.

The German government dismissed this explanationprovided by both Gazprom and Siemens Energysaying the motive for the flow reduction was political.

The supply situation is tight enough without NS1 being shut down, one unnamed German government official told the FT.

Normally, when Gazprom does maintenance on Nord Stream 1, it diverts the gas supply to Ukrainian pipelines and Yamal-Europe, the FT quoted the head of Germanys business confederation BDI as saying.

But there is a concern that they will not do that this year, Carsten Rolle told the FT. Already they have cut flows through NS1 by 60 per cent and not made up for it with increased flows through other pipelines.

As a result of lower gas supply, European prices are once again on a steady rise, with fears building that despite a strong start to storage-filling, the ending might be a lot slower ahead of the next heating season.

For Germany, the situation is especially sensitive. According to BDI, the German economy will undoubtedly slip into a recession if Russia closes the gas taps completely.

For now, the government is calling for energy conservation and reconsidering the use of its coal-fired power plants, like others in Europe, such as Austria and the Netherlands. Yet it remains adamant that the final year in which it will produce coal-fired power will be 2030.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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The Gazprom turbine that Siemens Energy took to a Canadian factory to repair and that Gazprom blamed for the reduced Nord Stream 1 flows is not coming back to Russia anytime soon, Canada's Natural Resources Minister has signaled.

Speaking to Reuters, Jonathan Wilkinson said the turbine affair was likely to come up during the G7 meeting to be held this weekend, but any discussions were unlikely to lead to a solution.

"If you talk to the Germans, they are very, very concerned about" their energy security, Wilkinson said. "I'm sure it'll come up at least in the corridors of the G7 ... I wouldn't hold my breath that we're going to find a resolution before the end."

The turbine affair began earlier this month when Gazprom began to reduce gas flows via the Nord Stream 1. The Russian state company attributed the reduction to a missing turbine that had not been returned after maintenance.

Germany's Siemens Energy explained last week that "Due to the sanctions imposed by Canada, it is currently impossible for Siemens Energy to deliver overhauled gas turbines to the customer. We have informed the Canadian and German governments and are working on a viable solution."

As a result of this delayed delivery, flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline are now at just 40 percent of capacity, and Germans are bracing up for a complete halt of the flow for scheduled maintenance. While normally Gazprom would divert flows to other pipelines, now there is fear it will not do so as relations between Russia and the European Union break records in reaching historically low point after low point.

"We are trying to be sensitive to the concerns that Germany and others are expressing and trying to find a resolution that will allow us to ensure that we're respecting the intent of the sanctions, but also ensuring we're not penalizing our allies," Canada's Natural Resources Minister also said this week ahead of the G7 meeting.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Representatives of some of the biggest oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea on Thursday warned the UKs Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak that the new windfall tax on energy profits would undermine the governments efforts to attract investment, industry body Offshore Energies UK said.

Oil companies operating in the North Sea, including Shell, BP, and Equinor, warned the Chancellor of the Exchequer during a meeting today that a windfall tax could slow investments in new oil and gas production in the basin, Reuters energy reporter Ron Bousso reports.

Moreover, David Cairns, representing Equinor in the meeting, told Sunak that the Norway-based major company has to decide on a major new oilfield development in 2023, but it no longer knows if the UK is where we want to put our money, Bousso reports, citing people who attended the meeting.

Sunak met with 20 business leaders from the UKs oil and gas industry in Aberdeen, the home of the UK North Sea oil and gas sector, and was told during a candid and constructive meeting that the industry was deeply concerned by the new tax rate, Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) said.

Following months of rumors and indecision, the UK government announced at the end of May a 25% Energy Profits Levy, commonly referred to as a windfall tax, as part of a package to ease the cost-of-living crisis stemming from huge rises in household energy bills.

The move has long been opposed by the industry, which argued that a windfall tax would add uncertainty to the UK tax regime and hit new investments in the UK North Sea at a time when the UK grapples with reducing reliance on foreign imports of oil and gas.

The new rate has deeply concerned the industry, not only because it is so high but also because of the speed with which it was imposed. This sudden change in tax policy, Sunak was told, risks undermining the UKs hard-won reputation for fiscal stability  a key factor for companies considering new investments, Offshore Energies UK said in a statement today.

The UK government has yet to finalize the details of the windfall tax proposal, which is open for public consultation until June 28.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is meeting today with refiners for emergency talks amid excessively high fuel prices amid increasingly strained relations between the Biden administration and the oil industry.

A day earlier, the President proposed a three-month suspension of the federal fuel tax and called on oil companies to increase their refining capacity to alleviate pain at the pump for American drivers.

According to the White House, the oil industry should use the profits reaped from the oil rally to restart refineries shuttered during the pandemic. Ahead of the meeting, Secretary Granholm told media, as quoted by Reuters, that "We're going in, in good faith, asking them the question of what can be done. What do you need to open up additional refining capacity?"

According to the industry, investment in the reopening of idled refineries is risky financially, Reuters noted in its report, especially given the energy transition agenda of the current administration, which has prioritized non-fossil fuel energy and transport.

For their part, the refiners will argue the case against banning U.S. fuel exports, which is one of the options on Biden's table when it comes to lowering fuel prices for domestic consumers.

"Not only will limitations or outright bans of petroleum products have the exact opposite effect than intended  raising fuel prices instead of lowering them and placing additional refining capacity at risk  it would hurt our allies in Latin America and Europe," said a spokesperson for the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers on Wednesday, as quoted by Reuters.

Also on Wednesday, Granholm said, during a White House briefing, that "With so many businesses enjoying high profits, our message is simple: That this is the time to reinvest those profits that will enable them to better meet the needs of our citizens.

"And instead of using it for shareholders or stock buybacks  we are not against profit  we are encouraging these oil and gas companies to invest to help their citizen  fellow citizens, to help their own workers. We need them to come to the table," she added.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
GAYAN, Afghanistan (AP)  A powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, flattening stone and mud-brick homes and killing at least 1,000 people. The disaster posed a new test for Afghanistans Taliban rulers and relief agencies already struggling with the countrys multiple humanitarian crises.

The quake was Afghanistans deadliest in two decades, and officials said the toll could rise. An estimated 1,500 others were reported injured, the state-run news agency said.

The disaster inflicted by the 6.1-magnitude quake heaps more misery on a country where millions face increasing hunger and poverty and the health system has been crumbling since the Taliban retook power nearly 10 months ago amid the U.S. and NATO withdrawal. The takeover led to a cutoff of vital international financing, and most of the world has shunned the Taliban government.

In a rare move, the Talibans supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzadah, who almost never appears in public, pleaded with the international community and humanitarian organizations to help the Afghan people affected by this great tragedy and to spare no effort."

Residents in the remote area near the Pakistani border searched for victims dead or alive by digging with their bare hands through the rubble, according to footage shown by the Bakhtar news agency. It was not immediately clear if heavy rescue equipment was being sent, or if it could even reach the area.

At least 2,000 homes were destroyed in the region, where on average every household has seven or eight people living in it, said Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N. deputy special representative to Afghanistan.

The full extent of the destruction among the villages tucked in the mountains was slow in coming to light. The roads, which are rutted and difficult to travel in the best of circumstances, may have been badly damaged, and landslides from recent rains made access even more difficult.

Rescuers rushed in by helicopter, but the relief effort could be hindered by the exodus of many international aid agencies from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover last August. Moreover, most governments are wary of dealing directly with the Taliban.

In a sign of the muddled workings between the Taliban and the rest of the world, Alakbarov said the Taliban had not formally requested that the U.N. mobilize international search-and-rescue teams or obtain equipment from neighboring countries to supplement the few dozen ambulances and several helicopters sent in by Afghan authorities. Still, officials from multiple U.N. agencies said the Taliban were giving them full access to the area.

The quake was centered in Paktika province, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the city of Khost, according to neighboring Pakistans Meteorological Department. Experts put its depth at just 10 kilometers (6 miles). Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage.

The European seismological agency said the quake was felt over 500 kilometers (310 miles) by 119 million people across Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Footage from Paktika showed men carrying people in blankets to a waiting helicopter. Other victims were treated on the ground. One person could be seen receiving IV fluids while sitting in a plastic chair outside the rubble of his home, and still more were sprawled on gurneys. Some images showed residents picking through clay bricks and other rubble. Roofs and walls had caved in.

The death toll reported by the Bakhtar news agency was equal to that of a quake in 2002 in northern Afghanistan. Those are the deadliest since 1998, when an earthquake that was also 6.1 in magnitude and subsequent tremors in the remote northeast killed at least 4,500 people.

Wednesdays quake took place in a region prone to landslides, with many older, weaker buildings.

The fear is that the victims will increase further, also because many people could be trapped under collapsed buildings, said Stefano Sozza, Afghanistan country director for the Italian medical aid group Emergency, which sent seven ambulances and staff to areas near the quake zone.

More than 60% of Afghanistans population of 38 million already relies on international aid to survive.

Humanitarian agencies still operating in the country, including UNICEF, rushed supplies to the quake-stricken areas. And Pakistan said it would send food, tents, blankets and other essentials.

Obtaining more direct international help may be more difficult: Many countries, including the U.S., funnel humanitarian aid to Afghanistan through the U.N. and other such organizations to avoid putting money in the Talibans hands.

The quake will only add to the immense humanitarian needs in Afghanistan, and it really has to be all hands on deck to make sure that we really limit the suffering that families, that women and children are already going through, said Shelley Thakral, spokesperson for the the U.N. World Food Program in Kabul.

In the capital, Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund convened an emergency meeting at the presidential palace.

When such a big incident happens in any country, there is a need for help from other countries, said Sharafuddin Muslim, deputy minister of state for disaster management. It is very difficult for us to be able to respond to this huge incident.

That may prove difficult given the international isolation of Afghanistan under the Taliban, who were toppled from power by the U.S. in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The newly restored government has issued a flurry of edicts curtailing the rights of women and girls and the news media in a turn back toward the Talibans harsh rule from the late 1990s.

This does add a lot to the daily burden of survival, the U.N.s Alakbarov said of the quake. We are not optimistic today.

Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Jon Gambrell and Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP)  Cyprus launched an investigation on Monday into allegations by the countrys prisons director that a senior police officer had recruited an inmate to gather information or video about her private life that could be used to blackmail her.

Attorney General George Savvides appointed lawyer Achilleas Emilianides to carry out a criminal investigation into allegations made by prisons chief Anna Aristotelous and her deputy, Athena Demetriou, against the unnamed police officer. Savvides said the investigation will conclude in about a month.

Aristotelous didnt specify what the possible motives would be for the unnamed senior police officer to allegedly recruit the inmate, who is serving a long sentence on a drug conviction. She claimed the officer would communicate with the inmate inside the prison through a cellphone.

Speaking after her lawyers filed a formal complaint to Savvides, Aristotelous said the senior officers actions aimed to harm her and, as we believe, constitute a blatant act of corruption, especially because its been committed by a member of the police.

Its unclear whether the officer has been suspended, but Aristotelous said he should be because of the risk that he could prejudice the investigation.

Government spokesman Marios Pelekanos said additional steps will be taken and responsibility will be apportioned after the investigation is completed.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway bought more than $500 million worth of Occidental Petroleum shares over the past week as it continued to invest heavily in oil producers this year.

Shares of Occidental gained more than 2% to trade at $57.11 Thursday morning after Berkshire disclosed owning 16.3% of the companys common stock. The Omaha-based conglomerate that Buffett leads disclosed its latest purchases in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.

Berkshire purchased nearly 9.6 million Occidental shares in several blocks last Friday and this Wednesday. After these latest purchases, Berkshire now owns 152.7 million shares in the Houston-based oil producer, but Berkshire also holds 100,000 preferred shares in the company and warrants to buy another 83.9 million Occidental shares for $59.62 apiece that it picked up in 2019 when it helped finance Occidentals purchase of Anadarko.

In addition to its Occidental investment, Berkshire picked up more than $20 billion worth of Chevron shares earlier this year to make it one of the conglomerates five biggest investments alongside its massive Apple stake and sizable investments in Bank of American, American Express and Coca-Cola stock.

Berkshire invested more than $51 billion in stocks during the first quarter of this year as the market fell, Berkshire wont reveal all its second-quarter purchases until later this summer.

In addition to his stock purchases, Buffett sealed a deal earlier this year to buy the Alleghany insurance conglomerate for $11.6 billion.

Besides investments, Berkshire Hathaway owns more than 90 companies outright, including BNSF Railway, several large utilities, Geico and a number of other insurers and an assortment of manufacturing and retail firms.
They have found the remains of several Incas as well as other items and goods in the burial chamber.
The annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association was held from May 21 to 25 in New Orleans and attracted participants from around the world, including clinicians, academicians, allied health professionals, and others interested in psychiatry. The conference highlighted recent advances in the prevention, detection, and treatment of psychiatric conditions.

In one presentation, Kiara Alvarez, Ph.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues provided recommendations for addressing structural racism in youth suicide prevention.

After evaluating the impact of structural racism within mental health services, the education system, and the justice system, the researchers provided recommendations to address structural racism in suicide prevention. Recommendations included promoting solutions at multiple levels, starting with supporting policies that promote racial and economic equity, increasing the focus on suicide prevention practices that will benefit all youth, and finding ways to separate a mental health crisis response from school discipline and law enforcement systems.

"Clinicians are key to the suicide prevention continuum, in systems ranging from primary care to specialty mental health care to emergency care and in many other settings. They have an important role to play in their direct interactions with patients, in their advocacy for how the systems they work within respond to patients, and in how they collaborate with communities," Alvarez said. "It's important for clinicians to know that asking about suicide does not cause someone to have suicidal thoughts. In fact, the opposite is true, and open conversations about suicide help youth know that there are people who care and want to help. From there, to specifically address how structural racism impacts suicide prevention, clinicians can promote suicide prevention and intervention practices that are person-centered, culturally responsive, and focus on building strengths and resources for youth."

In a related presentation, Margarita Alegria, Ph.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues provided insight into two types of investments that could amplify the impact of the 2022 federal Community Mental Health Services Block Grants (which have provided $1.6 billion in funding), including evidence-based policies that address unmet social needs (i.e., universal school meals and child savings accounts) and mental health prevention programs designed by and for communities of color.

The presenters offered details on interventions with sound evidence for improving mental health (i.e., decreasing or preventing clinical symptoms) or mental health-related outcomes (i.e., increasing quality of life or mental health literacy) among people of color in the United States. These goals can be met within five years by addressing social determinants of health or changing the context so as to make the healthy choice the easy choice. The presenters described the interventions and summarized the evidence of their impact on mental health and mental health-related outcomes.

For children and adolescents, the interventions include universal school meal programs, child savings accounts, comprehensive behavioral health models, and workforce support for recreational afterschool programs. For adults, examples include the Housing First model, individual placement and support for employment, earned income tax credits, mental health literacy campaigns, and community-led programs for mental health prevention offered by paraprofessionals.

"For older adults, [the interventions] highlight expansion of green and blue spaces (i.e., greening vacant urban land), senior centers offering health promotion activities, dual exercise and psychosocial programs for disability prevention (Positive Minds-Strong Bodies), and peer-led programs for managing chronic mental health conditions," Alegria said.

Gaelle Rached, M.D., of Northwestern University in Chicago, and colleagues found that Lebanese expatriates are negatively affected by traumatic events happening in Lebanon, months after the traumatic incident, no matter how long they have been away from their country.

The researchers presented the results of a survey conducted via social media seven months after the explosion in Beirut on August 4, 2020, to investigate the mental health repercussions of the explosion on Lebanese expatriates. A total of 1,117 participants completed the survey; 447 participants were excluded because they were not Lebanese or they were still living in Lebanon at the time of the blast. On the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, a 20-item self-reporting questionnaire commonly used in disaster medicine screening for anxiety and depression, 41.2 percent of the participants had scores higher than the threshold. Only the 268 participants who experienced the blast firsthand or whose close family or loved ones suffered physical damage from the blast completed the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) screening tool, and 57.5 percent were found to exhibit PTSD-related symptoms.

"Expats are already under stressful living conditions. Little is known about expats' mental health, let alone in the context of traumatic events in their home country," Rached said. "We need to provide additional support to this population especially if their home country is going through a traumatic event."

Aaron I. Esagoff, of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues identified structural brain changes among individuals participating in mixed martial arts (MMA). Structural brain changes were found to be dependent on the number of sparring sessions.

Using a cross-sectional analysis that included adjusted multivariate regression analyses, the authors examined the effects of customary sparring practice rounds per week on white matter and a limited number of regional brain volumes measured by single magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Models were adjusted for age, sex, education, race, professional fights, total intracranial volume, and type of MRI scanner. The researchers found that the number of customary sparring practice rounds per week was significantly associated with increased white matter hyperintensity volume and bilateral caudate volume.

"The take home message is that, from our preliminary study, sparring practice in MMA fighters may have a double-edged sword effect on the brain, as we have associated sparring practice with larger caudate volume but also potential white matter damage," Esagoff said. "However, we also conclude that more research is needed to further investigate the impacts of sparring practice in MMA fighters and our findings need to be replicated."

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
As a young man in Memphis, Tennessee, Robert Dabney Jr. wanted to blaze a path that could set his family up for a better life. So two weeks after high school graduation in 1998, at age 18, he joined the U.S. Army.

During nine years of service that included two tours in Iraq, Dabney was a combat medical specialist. But after he left the Army in 2007 and returned to Memphis, married with children, he struggled to see what hed gained from his service.

I had exchanged my youth, ambition and vigor for a future that is limited just because of my mental health, said Dabney, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression in 2013.

His experience seeking treatment through the veterans health care system was plagued with challenges, he said. After navigating the system as a Black veteran, he wondered if he might help others find more culturally competent services that the federal government seemed ill-equipped to provide.

Testimony like Dabneys was being shared at the first-ever national policy conference for Black veterans in Washington on Thursday. Representatives from nearly 20 advocacy groups for service members of color were collaborating on a legislative agenda addressing longstanding racial, economic and social inequities facing more than 2 million Black American veterans.

For many people from Black and brown (veterans) communities, were starting from a different place in life, said Dabney, 42. Being able to talk to people who started from that place, who have a mindset similar to yours as they went through the military, has a different meaning to us.

In addition to disparities in the military justice system, homelessness and unemployment, federal veterans benefits data show Black service members post-Sept. 11 disability claims have been granted at lower rates than their white counterparts. Advocates say racial inequality in veterans' benefit access stifles or, worse, upends the lives of those who proudly served their country.

The system isnt accommodating us, were accommodating it, said Victor LaGroon, chairman of the Black Veterans Empowerment Council, which organized Thursdays conference. Weve got to have these systemic and legislative discussions because, until theres full transparency and accountability, people are going to continue to skirt the issues.

Slated speakers include the secretaries of the Veterans Affairs and Labor departments, as well as officials from some state and local veterans service agencies.

Richard Brookshire, a former Army combat medic who served in the Afghanistan War, said a major goal is to help the Black veterans community coalesce around whats actionable in a broader agenda that also targets historic inequity dating back to Black veterans serving in World War II.

There needs to be a critical mass in the Black veteran community to demand it, said Brookshire, who co-founded the Black Veterans Project. The seed has been planted and were going to begin to see the tree bear fruit.

The Black Veterans Empowerment Council was formed in 2020 amid the national reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd by police, as a roundtable of Black veterans groups to advise the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Council members said part of their work has been acquiring data to prove how Black veterans have unequal access to the benefits system.

According to Veterans Benefits Administration records analyzed by the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School and reviewed by The Associated Press, there are statistically significant differences in disability claim outcomes for Black and white veterans. Although disability claim approval rates are low across the board, they are significantly lower for Black veterans.

Between 2002 and 2020, Black veterans had the lowest claim approval rate, at 30.3%, when compared to their non-Black counterparts. White veterans had 37.1% of their claims approved, while Hispanic veterans had an approval rate of 36% and Asian or Pacific Islander veterans had a rate of 30.7%.

Linda Mann, co-founder of the African American Redress Network at Columbia Universitys School of International and Public Affairs, led a group of students that did an additional analysis on the benefits data. According to their findings, disparities in how Black veterans are rated on the severity of their condition amounted to lower disability compensation and decreased eligibility for other VA benefits.

These findings build on historic racial inequities in veterans benefits that stretch back to integration of the armed services in the late 1940s. Black service members who fought in World War II were either denied or prevented from taking full advantage of housing and educational benefits through the GI Bill. Black veterans of the Korean War had similar experiences with the program. Advocates say the generational effects of that discrimination, in terms of wealth, are still being felt today.

What most people would usually say is we went through the civil rights movement and things are better, Mann said, but that was not borne out by the Freedom of Information Act statistics the advocacy groups received.

The continued inequity on the part of the military and VA tracked in not only the FOIA data that we looked at, but also in the practices and policies, Mann said.

VA press secretary Terrence Hayes said the Biden administration's focus on equity across the federal government has had significant implications for the agency's approach in delivering benefits to all veterans, and specifically to historically marginalized and underserved veterans.

We have used veterans voices as our North Star, Hayes said in a statement.

Last year, the Black Veterans Project and the National Veterans Council for Legal Redress sued the VA over its Freedom of Information Act requests for benefits data by race. They won the access. In April, the White House released a summary of the VAs equity action plan, in which the agency acknowledged race and gender disparities for veteran benefit access.

Dabney ultimately did blaze a better path for himself, going to college and becoming a hospital chaplain in Chicago. But it took overcoming a descent into alcoholism, infidelity and self-neglect before he found his calling.

After his diagnosis for PTSD and depression, he was connected to mental health counseling services through the VA at a community-based outpatient center near Chicago. The assigned counselor, a white woman, frustrated Dabney because he felt she could not relate to the complexities of his identities as a war veteran and a Black man from rough beginnings in Memphis.

I got to the point where I would just say Yes. Yes, thats it, Dabney recalled. Instead of me advocating for myself, I began to mold what I said based on what I thought that they could understand. In doing so, I wasnt able to really open up and present my full self to them.

He was ready to give up, but what he really needed was a peer encouraging him to stick with it, he said.

Now, Dabney manages a peer apprentice program at the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance in Chicago. The program helps other Black veterans through a network of peer-directed mental health resources.

Its those relationships that encourage individuals to seek further help, to seek help from clinicians, Dabney said.

Walidah Bennett, founder and director of a multi-faith veterans initiative at DePaul University in Chicago is working to provide Black churches and clergy with resources to serve veterans in their congregations.

Bennett's son, Saad Muhammad, a veteran of the Iraq War, died by suicide in 2013, and in the 10 years since his death, she has established 15 community sites for veterans in crisis. Suicide rates among Black veterans have been on the rise, increasing from 11.8% to 14.5% between 2001 and 2019, though rates remain highest among white veterans, according to the VA's 2021 annual report on veteran suicide prevention.

Had we had the community spaces that we have today, it could have been very helpful to my son, Bennett said.

AP writer Larry Fenn in New York contributed.

Morrison is a New York-based member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
PHOENIX (AP)  Hundreds of blue, green and grey tents are pitched under the sun's searing rays in downtown Phoenix, a jumble of flimsy canvas and plastic along dusty sidewalks. Here, in the hottest big city in America, thousands of homeless people swelter as the summer's triple digit temperatures arrive.

The stifling tent city has ballooned amid pandemic-era evictions and surging rents that have dumped hundreds more people onto the sizzling streets that grow eerily quiet when temperatures peak in the midafternoon. A heat wave earlier this month brought temperatures of up to 114 degrees (45.5 Celsius) - and it's only June. Highs reached 118 degrees (47.7 Celsius) last year.

"During the summer, it's pretty hard to find a place at night that's cool enough to sleep without the police running you off," said Chris Medlock, a homeless Phoenix man known on the streets as "T-Bone" who carries everything he owns in a small backpack and often beds down in a park or a nearby desert preserve to avoid the crowds.

"If a kind soul could just offer a place on their couch indoors maybe more people would live," Medlock said at a dining room where homeless people can get some shade and a free meal.

Excessive heat causes more weather-related deaths in the United States than hurricanes, flooding and tornadoes combined.

Around the country, heat contributes to some 1,500 deaths annually, and advocates estimate about half of those people are homeless.

Temperatures are rising nearly everywhere because of global warming, combining with brutal drought in some places to create more intense, frequent and longer heat waves. The past few summers have been some of the hottest on record.

Just in the county that includes Phoenix, at least 130 homeless people were among the 339 individuals who died from heat-associated causes in 2021.

"If 130 homeless people were dying in any other way it would be considered a mass casualty event," said Kristie L. Ebi, a professor of global health at the University of Washington.

It's a problem that stretches across the United States, and now, with rising global temperatures, heat is no longer a danger just in places like Phoenix.

This summer will likely bring above-normal temperatures over most land areas worldwide, according to a seasonal map that volunteer climatologists created for the International Research Institute at Columbia University.

Last summer, a heat wave blasted the normally temperate U.S. Northwest and had Seattle residents sleeping in their yards and on roofs, or fleeing to hotels with air conditioning. Across the state, several people presumed to be homeless died outdoors, including a man slumped behind a gas station.

In Oregon, officials opened 24-hour cooling centers for the first time. Volunteer teams fanned out with water and popsicles to homeless encampments on Portland's outskirts.

A quick scientific analysis concluded last year's Pacific Northwest heat wave was virtually impossible without human-caused climate change adding several degrees and toppling previous records.

Even Boston is exploring ways to protect diverse neighborhoods like its Chinatown, where population density and few shade trees help drive temperatures up to 106 degrees (41 Celsius) some summer days. The city plans strategies like increasing tree canopy and other kinds of shade, using cooler materials for roofs, and expanding its network of cooling centers during heat waves.

It's not just a U.S. problem. An Associated Press analysis last year of a dataset published by the Columbia University's climate school found exposure to extreme heat has tripled and now affects about a quarter of the world's population.

This spring, an extreme heat wave gripped much of Pakistan and India, where homelessness is widespread due to discrimination and insufficient housing. The high in Jacobabad, Pakistan near the border with India hit 122 degrees (50 Celsius) in May.

Dr. Dileep Mavalankar, who heads the Indian Institute of Public Health in the western Indian city Gandhinagar, said because of poor reporting it's unknown how many die in the country from heat exposure.

Summertime cooling centers for homeless, elderly and other vulnerable populations have opened in several European countries each summer since a heat wave killed 70,000 people across Europe in 2003.

Emergency service workers on bicycles patrol Madrid's streets, distributing ice packs and water in the hot months. Still, some 1,300 people, most of them elderly, continue to die in Spain each summer because of health complications exacerbated by excess heat.

Spain and southern France last week sweltered through unusually hot weather for mid-June, with temperatures hitting 104 degrees (40 Celsius) in some areas.

Climate scientist David Hondula, who heads Phoenix's new office for heat mitigation, says that with such extreme weather now seen around the world, more solutions are needed to protect the vulnerable, especially homeless people who are about 200 times more likely than sheltered individuals to die from heat-associated causes.

"As temperatures continue to rise across the U.S. and the world, cities like Seattle, Minneapolis, New York or Kansas City that don't have the experience or infrastructure for dealing with heat have to adjust as well."

In Phoenix, officials and advocates hope a vacant building recently converted into a 200-bed shelter for homeless people will help save lives this summer.

Mac Mais, 34, was among the first to move in.

"It can be rough. I stay in the shelters or anywhere I can find," said Mais who has been homeless on and off since he was a teen. "Here, I can stay out actually rest, work on job applications, stay out of the heat."

In Las Vegas, teams deliver bottled water to homeless people living in encampments around the county and inside a network of underground storm drains under the Las Vegas strip.

Ahmedabad, India, population 8.4 million, was the first South Asian city to design a heat action plan in 2013.

Through its warning system, nongovernmental groups reach out to vulnerable people and send text messages to mobile phones. Water tankers are dispatched to slums, while bus stops, temples and libraries become shelters for people to escape the blistering rays.

Still, the deaths pile up.

Kimberly Rae Haws, a 62-year-old homeless woman, was severely burned in October 2020 while sprawled for an unknown amount of time on a sizzling Phoenix blacktop. The cause of her subsequent death was never investigated.

A young man nicknamed Twitch died from heat exposure as he sat on a curb near a Phoenix soup kitchen in the hours before it opened one weekend in 2018.

"He was supposed to move into permanent housing the next Monday," said Jim Baker, who oversees that dining room for the St. Vincent de Paul charity. "His mother was devastated."

Many such deaths are never confirmed as heat related and aren't always noticed because of the stigma of homelessness and lack of connection to family.

When a 62-year-old mentally ill woman named Shawna Wright died last summer in a hot alley in Salt Lake City, her death only became known when her family published an obituary saying the system failed to protect her during the hottest July on record, when temperatures reached the triple digits.

Her sister, Tricia Wright, said making it easier for homeless people to get permanent housing would go a long way toward protecting them from extreme summertime temperatures.

"We always thought she was tough, that she could get through it," Tricia Wright said of her sister. "But no one is tough enough for that kind of heat."

***

AP Science Writer Aniruddha Ghosal in New Delhi and AP writers Frances D'Emilio in Rome and Ciaran Giles in Madrid contributed to this report.
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP)  President Joe Biden said Monday that he's considering a federal holiday on the gasoline tax, possibly saving Americans as much as 18.4 cents a gallon.

"Yes, I'm considering it," Biden told reporters after taking a walk along the beach. "I hope to have a decision based on the data  I'm looking for by the end of the week."

The administration is increasingly looking for ways to spare Americans from higher prices at the pump, which began to climb last year and surged after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Gas prices nationwide are averaging just under $5 a gallon, according to AAA.

The Biden administration has already released oil from the U.S. strategic reserve and increased ethanol blending for the summer, in additional to sending a letter last week to oil refiners urging them to increase their refining capacity. Yet those efforts have yet to reduce price pressures meaningfully, such that the administration is now considering a gas tax holiday. Taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel help to pay for highways.

The Penn Wharton Budget Model released estimates Wednesday showing that consumers saved at the pump because of gas tax holidays in Connecticut, Georgia and Maryland. The majority of the savings went to consumers, instead of service stations and others in the energy sector.

On Sunday in an interview on ABC's "This Week," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressed an openness to a federal gas tax holiday to give motorists some relief.
Leung hails success of 'one country, two systems' in Hong Kong

08:29, June 23, 2022 By ZOU SHUO in Hong Kong ( China Daily

Leung Chun-ying, former chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, speaks during an interview with media in Hong Kong on June 6. [ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY]

The practice of the "one country, two systems" principle in Hong Kong over the past 25 years has proved to be successful, scientific, feasible and viable, said Leung Chun-ying, former chief executive of the special administrative region.

"When Hong Kong returned to the motherland on July 1, 1997, Hong Kong people could still use the Hong Kong dollar as its legal tender, which is unprecedented in the world and has been implemented well afterward," said Leung, who is also vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conferencethe nation's top political advisory body.

"Hong Kong has also kept its status as an international financial and trade center in the past 25 years. While the Hong Kong dollar has circulated normally and exchanged freely in the city, Hong Kong also has the largest offshore renminbi market and deposit pool," Leung said in an interview ahead of the 25th anniversary on July 1 of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.

As Hong Kong has a high degree of autonomy and a high degree of trust from the central government, it is even more necessary and imperative to ensure that the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" is implemented, he said.

Leung said the principle is perfectly justified just like in any society where people administering local affairs are patriots.

"In the past, due to flaws in the electoral system, some members of the Legislative Council, Election Committee and District Councils were not patriots, and certain members even went abroad to ask foreign governments to sanction Hong Kong, which is inconceivable and unheard of," he said.

After the implementation of the National Security Law for Hong Kong and electoral reforms, the city has a stable environment to assure local, mainland and foreign investors while parents in Hong Kong also have more trust in the city's educational environment, Leung said.

Leung said that the largest interest group in human society is the individual country. However, during more than 100 years under British rule, the British government did not want Hong Kong people to grasp the notion of the country, so the whole of Hong Kong society and Hong Kong people need to catch up on this, he said.

"Seeing is believing. To help Hong Kong youth get a correct understanding of the history and current development of the country, they need to see the mainland for themselves," said Leung.

He suggested that Hong Kong students who had been to the mainland three or five years ago should go back to see the changes and visit more places, and they should do this more frequently, as mainland cities are developing rapidly.

Leung said he visited Guangdong province about 100 times over the past five years and spent around 70 percent of his working hours in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

"I highlighted this part really to encourage Hong Kong people, particularly the young people, to go to Guangdong to see for themselves as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions are over," he said. "There are plenty of opportunities for Hong Kong people in all walks of life, economic sectors and age groups."

As the country achieves sound and rapid development, young Hong Kong people who want to pursue further development are encouraged to cross the Shenzhen River and find a much bigger stage for their career, he added.

Meanwhile, as a special administrative region, Hong Kong can also contribute to the development of the mainland, Leung said.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Hongyu)
Senate OKs landmark gun violence bill, House passage is next

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Senate has approved a bipartisan gun violence bill. The vote late Thursday clears the way for expected House passage Friday of what will be Congress most far-reaching response in decades to the nations run of brutal mass shootings. Republicans have long derailed Democratic efforts to curb firearms. But after last month's mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, Democrats and some Republicans decided that congressional inaction was untenable. It took nearly a month of closed-door talks but a group of senators from both parties emerged with a compromise embodying incremental but impactful movement.

Hearing: Trump told Justice Dept. to call election 'corrupt'

WASHINGTON (AP)  Former top Justice Department officials have testified to the Jan. 6 committee that President Donald Trump hounded the department to pursue his false election fraud claims. They say he contacted the agencys leader virtually every day and strove in vain to enlist the governments top law enforcement officials in his desperate bid to stay in power. The House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol also revealed Thursday that several Republican loyalists in Congress who trumpeted the presidents claims later sought pardons from the White House after the effort failed.

COVID vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say

Scientists estimate that nearly 20 million lives were saved worldwide by COVID-19 vaccines during their first year. In a study published Thursday, they say even more deaths could have been prevented if global targets for vaccines had been reached. Scientists at Imperial College London used data from 185 countries to estimate how many deaths were prevented by the vaccination effort. They excluded China because of uncertainty around the pandemics effect on deaths there and its huge population. There are a lot of limitations in modeling studies, but independent experts agree that vaccines saved millions of lives.

After Supreme Court gun decision, whats next?

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court issued its biggest gun rights ruling in more than a decade Thursday. The justices said that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. Thats important because about half a dozen states have conditioned getting a license to carry a gun in public on the person demonstrating an actual need  sometimes called good cause or proper cause  to carry the weapon. In its decision, the Supreme Court struck down New Yorks proper cause requirement limiting who can carry a gun. Other states with similar laws acknowledged the decision would affect them. About one-quarter of the U.S. population lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling.

European Union makes Ukraine a candidate for EU membership

BRUSSELS (AP)  The European Unions leaders have agreed to make Ukraine a candidate for EU membership, setting in motion a potentially yearslong process that could draw the embattled country further away from Russias influence and bind it more closely to the West. Ukraine applied for membership less than a week after Moscow invaded on Feb. 24. The decision by the 27-nation bloc to grant Ukraine candidate status Thursday was uncharacteristically rapid. But the war and Ukraines request for fast-track consideration lent urgency to its cause. The EU also granted candidate status to Moldova, which borders Ukraine. Gaining membership could take years or even decades. Countries must meet a host of economic and political conditions, including the embrace of certain democratic principles.

Afghans bury dead, dig for survivors of devastating quake

GAYAN, Afghanistan (AP)  Villagers rushed to bury the dead and dug by hand through the rubble of homes in search of survivors after a devastating earthquake in eastern Afghanistan. Residents appeared to be largely on their own Thursday to deal with the aftermath as their new Taliban-led government and the international aid community struggled to help. State media said Wednesdays quake killed 1,000 people. An independent U.N. court said around 770 people had been killed in Paktika and Khost provinces. It's unclear how either sum was tallied given the difficulty of accessing or communicating with the affected areas, but the devastation was clear. Under a leaden sky, men dug several long trenches on a mountainside overlooking their village to bury the dead.

Uvalde victim's sister pleads for tougher gun laws in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  The sister of a 9-year-old girl killed in the Uvalde school shooting rampage has tearfully pleaded with Texas lawmakers to pass tougher gun laws and questioned why so many security measures failed. Jazmin Cazares on Thursday begged lawmakers to do something. Her young sister Jacklyn was one of 19 children shot dead inside Robb Elementary School on May 24 before police stormed the classroom and killed the gunman. Two teachers also died. The gunman was a former student, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos. Cazares' testimony came as the U.S. Supreme Court announced a decision allowing a major expansion of gun rights, saying Americans have a right to carry firearms in public.

Hong Kongers reflect on Taiwan, an imperfect exile

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  Coming to Taiwan was a logical step for Lam Wing-kee, a Hong Kong bookstore owner who was held by police in China for five months for selling sensitive books about the Communist Party. An island just 400 miles from Hong Kong, Taiwan is close not just geographically but also linguistically and culturally. It offered the freedoms that many Hong Kongers were used to and saw disappearing in their hometown since Beijing launched a crackdown on pro-democracy activists. While Taiwan has seemed an ideal hub, many Hong Kongers struggle trying to navigate the immigration system and suspicion by the self-ruled island's authorities who worry about a constant threat from mainland China. Some have gotten their residency permits but others went on to the U.K. and Canada.

Summer swelter: Persistent heat wave breaks records, spirits

A heat wave that's already lasted more than a week keeps on baking the US, Asia and even the Arctic. At least eight US states Thursday hit 100 degrees, that's after 12 did that on Wednesday. Records keep falling. A city in the Russian Arctic hit nearly 90 degrees. This early summer heat wave looks and feels more like August. Scientists say it has all the hallmarks of climate change. In Macon, Georgia, the temperature ramped from 64 to 105 degrees on Wednesday and then hit 104, a further record, on Thursday.

Magic take Banchero 1st, Holmgren, Smith follow in NBA draft

NEW YORK (AP)  The Orlando Magic selected Duke freshman Paolo Banchero with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. After leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four in coach Mike Krzyzewskis final season, the 6-foot-10 forward was called first by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to begin the draft, beating out fellow first-year forwards Jabari Smith Jr. and Chet Holmgren. Banchero, wearing a purple suit full of bling, received a loud ovation inside Barclays Center, where Duke lost in the ACC Tournament final.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The White House on Thursday launched a formal partnership with 11 East Coast governors to boost the growing offshore wind industry, a key element of President Joe Biden's plan for climate change.

Biden, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and other top administration officials met with governors, wind industry officials and labor leaders Thursday at the White House. The session focused on ways to expand important segments of the offshore industry, including manufacturing facilities, ports and workforce training and development.

Together were stepping up. Were about to build a better America,'' Biden said. It's not just about the future. Its about right now.''

The partnership comprises governors of both parties from Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Missing from the compact is Virginia, where Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has moved to withdraw the state from a regional carbon-limiting initiative meant to combat climate change.

Spokesman Macaulay Porter said Youngkin supports the offshore wind industry, and his administration has participated in calls with the White House on the topic.

The commonwealth is already a leader in the offshore wind industry, and the Youngkin administration is focused on ... this emerging sector in a way that is consistent with promoting jobs for Virginia and its right-to-work philosophy,'' Porter said, referring to a state policy that promotes a workers right not to be required to join a labor union.

Youngkin is fully committed to Virginias current offshore wind project" and will continue to support any future project "that meets Virginias economic needs and protects ratepayers from high energy costs,'' Porter said.

In working with states and the private sector, the White House said it will provide Americans with cleaner and cheaper energy, create good-paying jobs and invest billions in new American energy supply chains,'' including construction of wind turbines, shipbuilding and servicing.

Biden has set a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030, enough to provide electricity to 10 million homes, support 77,000 jobs and spur $12 billion per year in private investment in offshore wind. Offshore wind is a key component in the Democratic president's plan to make the nations electric grid carbon free by 2035.

The Biden administration has approved two large-scale wind projects, Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts and South Fork Wind off New York and Rhode Island. Both are under construction with union labor. The Interior Department has begun reviews of another 10 offshore projects that, if approved, would produce 22 gigawatts of clean energy.

Danish wind developer Orsted signed a project labor agreement last month with a national union representing 3 million people in the building trades to construct the companys U.S. offshore wind farms with an American union workforce. Orsted currently has six offshore projects in five states.

A national agreement signed with North Americas Building Trades Unions covers contractors working on those projects and future ones, with no termination date on the project labor agreement. It sets the terms and conditions for union workers to build offshore wind farms, with targets to ensure a diverse workforce. It contains provisions for training to ensure they can construct the complex infrastructure, which costs billions of dollars.

We recognize that states are huge players here,'' said David Hayes, a White House climate adviser. With a formal partnership, the Biden administration can work with the governors on policies going forward and help ensure that there is an American-made supply chain for this brand-new industry,'' Hayes said.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he and other East Coast governors are united with our regional and federal partners not just by geography but by a shared commitment to clean and affordable energy, economic opportunity and a future in which all community members are shielded from the worsening impacts of climate change.''

The federal-state collaboration comes as the Biden administration has announced a plan to conduct up to seven offshore wind auctions by 2025, including one held last month off North Carolina and earlier this year in a coastal area known as the New York Bight. Other sales are expected in the Gulf of Maine, the central Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as offshore in California and Oregon.

Environmental and clean energy groups hailed the federal-state collaboration.

Today, there are just seven offshore wind turbines in the United States, and were going to need a lot more, done responsibly, to meet our clean energy goals,'' said Diane Hoskins, campaign director for the conservation group Oceana. She called for "strong safeguards for marine life to avoid, minimize and mitigate the impacts of offshore wind.''

Heather Zichal, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, an industry group, said wind energy developers support the federal-state initiative. Clear and predictable permitting for offshore wind is essential to recognizing its potential, and there is still work to do,'' Zichal said.

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington and Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Va., contributed to this story.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Well before the sun came up Thursday, Jazmin Cazares sat on her sisters bed and wept for the 9-year-old killed in the Uvalde school rampage one month ago.

Then the teenager with purple-streaked hair got up for the four-hour drive to the Texas Capitol, where she tearfully pleaded with lawmakers to pass tougher gun laws and questioned why so many security measures failed.

I shouldnt have to be here right now. I should be at home watching a movie with my sister, she said through sniffles. Im here begging for you guys to do something or to change something, because the people that were supposed to keep her safe at school didnt, they failed.

Her sister Jacklyn  a tough-minded and compassionate girl who dreamed of visiting Paris and becoming a veterinarian  was one of 19 children shot to death inside Robb Elementary School on May 24 before police stormed the classroom and killed the gunman. Two teachers also died.

The massacre and a string of recent mass killings in the U.S. have renewed the debate over gun laws, school safety and how to stop the violence. In Texas, lawmakers have responded to several mass shootings in recent years by making it easier to carry guns, rather than to clamp down.

Jazmins testimony before a committee of lawmakers looking at how to prevent mass shootings came as Congress moved toward passing its most far-reaching gun violence bill in decades and the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling saying Americans have the right to carry firearms in public.

But all that mattered to the 17-year-old about to enter her final year of high school was that something be done to make schools safer. She said shes been doing active shooter drills since she was in pre-kindergarten.

Its terrifying, not knowing if its true or not every single time we go into lockdown. And then having to go back to school next year? she said. Going to school shouldnt have to be a decision. But it is. I have my senior year, thats it. Am I going to survive it?

Cazares told lawmakers they could honor the victims by adopting gun background checks and red flag laws that allow removing guns from people at extreme risk of harming themselves or others.

The Uvalde gunman was a former student, Salvador Ramos, who days after turning 18 bought the AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle he used in the attack.

There should be absolutely no reason this murderer could have access to a firearm, Cazares said, who later said she knew committee members were listening when she saw them tear up.

"I felt it. It felt genuine, she said.

The Republican-controlled legislature in Texas has stripped away gun restrictions over the past decade, even as the state suffered mass shootings that have killed more than 85 people since 2018.

The state doesnt require a permit to carry a long rifle like the one used in Uvalde, and it allows 18-year-olds to buy them. Last year, lawmakers made it legal for anyone 21 and older to carry a handgun in public without a license, background check or training.

Jazmin Cazares told lawmakers that since the shooting she has reviewed the school's security rules, ticking off a list of requirements that failed to stop the shooter, including that teachers are told to keep their doors locked at all times.

How, when some of those classroom doors didnt lock? she said, with family members sitting behind her wearing T-shirts featuring pictures of Jacklyn and the words Forever in our hearts.

Her familys grief, she said, is compounded by the knowledge that some of what happened at Robb Elementary could have been prevented.

Her little sister, she said, loved singing and dancing and was one of the sweetest souls anyone would ever meet.

Jacklyn and her cousin, Annabell Rodriguez, were best friends, part of a close-knit quintet of classmates. All five died in the shooting.

Right after Jazmin testified, a woman who lost her parents in a 1991 shooting that left two dozen dead in Killeen, Texas, told the committee that waiting periods for gun sales are worthless and gun-free zones should be eliminated.

Lets be clear that the gun, its just a tool. Its a tool that can be used to kill a family, but its a tool that can be used to protect a family, said Suzanna Hupp.

Hupp, a former Republican lawmaker, said she was invited to address the committee by one of its co-chairs.

After Hupp spoke, Jacklyns father, Javier Cazares, followed her into a hallway and they exchanged handshakes and a brief hug.

There is a bond there, just automatically, unspoken, Hupp said. In one sense, it was my parents, and they died quickly and they died together. I cant imagine losing a kid. I cant even go there in my head.

Days after the Uvalde tragedy, Javier Cazares, told of how he rushed to the school and kept a close watch on children fleeing the school to catch a glimpse of his 9-year-old firecracker.

He and other parents grew frustrated that police werent doing more. A lot of us were arguing with the police, You all need to go in there, said Cazares, an Army veteran.

Cazares said Thursday that he still struggles to trust the constantly evolving timelines from state police. Nobody wants to get blamed for what their actions were that day, he said.

During a break in the hearing, Cazares and his family met with about 10 police chiefs and officers in a hallway. We failed you, Stan Standridge, chief of police in San Marcos, Texas, told the family.

The delays and mistakes in the law enforcement response are now central to multiple investigations. The head of the Texas state police this week called it an abject failure, and said the police reaction ignored everything learned since the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado in 1999.

Police had enough officers and firepower to stop the gunman three minutes after he entered the school, Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said Tuesday. But police officers armed with rifles waited in a school hallway for more than an hour before going into the classroom and killing the gunman.

He put much of the blame for the delays on Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school district police chief who McCraw said was the commander in charge.

The school district put Arredondo on administrative leave on Wednesday. Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harrell said the facts of what happened remain unclear.

Arredondo has said he didnt consider himself in charge and assumed someone else had taken control. He has declined repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press.

Uvaldes mayor pushed back against casting blame on Arredondo, saying the Department of Public Safety has repeatedly released false information and glossed over the role of its own officers.

Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press photographer Eric Gay in Austin and writer John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.

Find more AP coverage of the Uvalde school shooting: https://apnews.com/hub/uvalde-school-shooting

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
LINCOLN  The top contenders in Nebraskas Republican gubernatorial primary shelled out the big bucks in the days leading up to the May 10 election, according to the latest round of campaign finance reports.

The filings, which include donations and expenses from April 26 to June 14, show the three leading GOP candidates  hog producer Jim Pillen, Falls City businessman Charles W. Herbster and State Sen. Brett Lindstrom  combined to spend millions of dollars during the reporting period. Spending surged at such a rate that both Pillen, who won the Republican primary, and second-place finisher Herbster loaned their campaigns hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In total, Pillen has received nearly $9.5 million in contributions since he launched his campaign in 2021, with more than $1 million collected in the seven weeks covered in the latest filing. He has spent almost as much as he has raised, with nearly $9.1 million in expenditures. Of that total, Pillens campaign spent nearly $2.2 million during the most recent reporting period. Pillens campaign manager could not immediately be reached for comment.

Herbsters campaign received about $13.2 million in overall contributions, including nearly $575,000 during the reporting period. He spent over $12.7 million during the course of his campaign, with more than $1.5 million of those expenditures coming in the latest filing period.

Herbster largely self-funded his campaign, though he didnt report contributing any of his own money in the latest filing. He previously reported contributing $11.3 million cash to his campaign since the start of 2021.

Lindstrom, who finished third in the primary, didnt come close to Pillen or Herbster in terms of funding. In total, Lindstrom received more than $3 million in contributions, including more than $391,000 in the most recent reporting period. He spent $3 million overall, and about $650,000 during the recent reporting period.

Lindstroms campaign reported an ending cash balance of nearly $56,000.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue, received far less funding than the top three Republicans. She has brought in nearly $191,000, including about $43,000 in the latest reporting period. Blood has spent nearly $152,000, with about $53,000 of that coming in the latest reporting period.

Blood, who will face Pillen in the November general election, reported having just over $39,000 cash on hand at the close of the recent reporting period. Pillen reported having just over $373,000 cash on hand.

The latest filings encompass a period after the GOP gubernatorial primary was rocked by allegations from eight women who claimed Herbster groped them at public events in recent years. The allegations were reported by the Nebraska Examiner, an online news site.

Herbsters deputy campaign manager, Rod Edwards, said the article did not play a role in their campaigns final expenses. Instead, he said most of their money went to competing with attack ads that aired on television.

There was a lot more money against Charles than Charles was able to spend, Edwards said.

Both Herbster and Lindstrom were the target of negative ads from third-party groups. One group, Conservative Nebraska, had the backing of Gov. Pete Ricketts, who supports Pillen. Ricketts contributed nearly $1.3 million to Conservative Nebraska, and his parents, Joe and Marlene Ricketts, contributed a total of $250,000 to the group, according to the latest report.

Conservative Nebraska reported spending more than $950,000 opposing Lindstrom and $858,000 opposing Herbster.

For all three Republican candidates, advertising made up the lions share of their last-minute expenses. Pillen paid more than $1.5 million for advertising between three different companies before the election. Lindstrom spent over $467,000 on television advertisements.

Herbsters campaign spent more than $1 million with one company, the Louisiana-based marketing firm People Who Think. Edwards said the campaign worked with the company throughout the election on campaign advertisements.

All three candidates loaned their campaign thousands of dollars. Pillen made two loans to his campaign totaling $550,000  one $250,000 loan May 4 and one $300,000 loan June 10. Lindstrom loaned his campaign $50,000 in late April.

Herbster loaned his campaign $350,000 May 9, the day before the primary election. Edwards said Herbster did this to cover recent expenses and balance the campaigns budget.

The Herbster campaign reported having nearly $524,000 cash on hand at the end of the recent reporting period.

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Some Nebraskans are finding out it literally pays to go green.

Norfolk has become the latest Nebraska community to make money off going solar  savings that are being shared with Norfolk businesses and citizens who signed up for solar energy. The city of about 24,400 is doing so through an 8.5 megawatt community solar farm that is going live within the next few weeks.

Electricity from the project will cost less than conventional electricity, resulting in savings to those customers who signed on. For participating residential customers, the savings can amount to as much as a $16.43 reduction in their monthly electric bill, said Grant Otten, spokesman for Nebraska Public Power District.

The solar farm is a project of Norfolk, NPPD and N Solar, a collaboration of three companies: Mesner Development Co., GenPro Energy Solutions and Sol Systems.

That solar has become so affordable isnt surprising. The cost of large-scale solar farms has dropped dramatically in the past decade or so, by as much as 82%, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a part of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Andrew Grin, vice president of Sol Systems, said the electricity from this solar farm costs less than conventional electricity for several reasons. The team has worked with NPPD before and owns enough community projects in Nebraska that it can reduce its cost of operating and maintaining the solar panels. Additionally, Sol purchased equipment for this project in 2019, which allowed the developers to avoid recent supply-chain problems and enabled the project to benefit from an increased tax credit.

The simple answer is due to the economies of scale and our experience in the state, he said.

Heres how the program works: Residents and businesses buy monthly shares in a newly built farm and in return get a monthly reduction on their energy bill that is larger than the share price.

For Norfolk residential customers, each monthly solar share costs $6.15, while the corresponding rebate is $8.70. Customers also save through lower taxes and fees on their bills. Homeowners can purchase up to five shares. (Residents pay a one-time signup fee of $50 and get that money refunded after three years.)

All shares have sold out, and there is now a waiting list. Rebates began showing up on this months bills.

Randy Gates, finance director for Norfolk, said the city will save about $170,000 a year on its electric bills. The citys residents and businesses will see a total savings of $132,000 a year, he said.

The new solar farm, at maximum output, generates the equivalent of about 10% of Norfolks peak demand for electricity, Otten said. Its output is the equivalent of the power needed by 1,250 homes. However, because it wont operate 24/7, its actual annual impact will be less than that. The farm, which cost more than $10 million to build, is located on the west side of town.

In a community solar project, residents band together to help fund a solar farm. That differs from the home-based solar panels that people put on their own roofs or utility-scale solar projects, in which a utility funds the construction of the farm and receives the electricity.

NPPD has entered a 30-year agreement with Sol Systems to purchase the electricity at a fixed cost.

NPPDs next community solar project will be in York, Otten said. Other communities that have formed solar partnerships with NPPD are: Kearney, Scottsbluff, Venango and Ainsworth.

The Omaha Public Power District has a 5-megawatt community solar farm in Washington County, and like the Norfolk solar farm, shares sold out before the Washington County one came on line.

OPPD is pursuing Nebraskas first utility-scale solar farm in Saunders County. The 81-megawatt solar project near Yutan would generate enough electricity to power 14,000 homes, and construction is expected to start next spring, said Jodi Baker, spokeswoman for OPPD.

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MEXICO CITY (AP)  Nicaraguas Sandinista-controlled congress canceled nearly 200 nongovernmental organizations last week, ranging from a local equestrian center to the 94-year-old Nicaraguan Academy of Letters, in what critics say is President Daniel Ortegas attempt to eliminate the countrys civil society.

On Thursday, lawmakers from Ortegas party and their allies voted unanimously  there were 14 abstentions  to cancel 96 organizations. That followed 83 on Tuesday. Since popular street protests turned against Ortegas government in April 2018, the government has canceled more than 400.

At first, the targets were often tied to prominent opposition figures who Ortega accused of working with foreign interests in an attempt to topple his government. But now the government seems intent on wiping the landscape clean of any organization it does not control.

These cancellations have the objective of eliminating all social and political vision that differs from that established by the regime, the Paris-based Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders said in a statement Thursday. It doesnt concern only political or defense of human rights associations, but rather artistic, journalistic, educational, scientific, environmental and social organizations are also victims of persecution. The ultimate objective is to eliminate all possibility of an independent civil society in the country.

The government maintains that the organizations are canceled because they have not complied with a 2020 requirement to register as foreign agents. On Thursday, lawmaker Filiberto Nunez said they had also failed to provide financial statements as required by law.

Nongovernmental organizations began to grow in Nicaragua during the Sandinista revolution and experienced a boom during the presidency of Violeta Chamorro. Incidentally, her daughter Cristiana Chamorro, a likely presidential contender now serving a prison sentence at home, decided to close the foundation named for her mother last year after the foreign agents law went into effect.

The breadth of the targets has been mind-boggling.

Thursdays list included the Society of Pediatrics, the Nicaraguan Development Institute, the Confederation of Nicaraguan Professional Associations and the Nicaragua Internet Association.

Some are not surprising as targets, such as the Center for International Studies founded by Ortegas stepdaughter Zoilamerica Ortega Murillo, who years ago accused Ortega of sexual abuse and now lives in exile.

But then there are organizations like the Cocibolca Equestrian Center, the western city of Leons Rotary Club and the Operation Smile Association that financed free surgeries for children with cleft lip and cleft palate until it was canceled in March.

A prominent businessman associated with that group had participated in protests in 2018.

Many organizations were dedicated to helping the most marginalized in a country already suffering from extreme economic precariousness.

Sociologist Elvira Cuadra said Ortega has sought revenge against social groups that he believes tried to remove him from office in 2018 and also seeks to destroy the social fabric in order to eliminate the ability to oversee (the governments) exercise of power.

The weaker society, the more the authoritarian state consolidates, the citizens lose the ability to demand accountability by the public administration, she said.

Cuadra said it was possible some of the canceled groups were already inactive, but she did not believe it was just a tidying up of civil organizations because the government was not giving them an opportunity to get in line with new legal requirements. What there is is a political will to turn civil society into a desert in Nicaragua.
Imagination, innovation and invitation are three of the most important words in community building. These words hold great power in shaping hometowns in greater Nebraska, today and in the future.

For 20 years, Ive had the pleasure of working with community leaders throughout Holt County (population 10,127) in northcentral Nebraska. Amazing people live and work in Atkinson, ONeill, Stuart and many other small towns in Holt County. Its always been a great place to be a kid. Today, Holt County is also a wonderful place to be a parent, a professional and a resident.

Located more than 100 miles from any interstate , Holt County is one of the places that 20th century conventional wisdom wrote off. Conventional wisdom said that only a few people would continue to live in these rural and remote places to tend to the corn and the cows, but anyone with aspirations for a bright and successful future would flee as soon as possible.

The 21st century is not the 20th century. Today, with information technology and our ability to live and work wherever we choose, we all have different options. Today in Nebraska, our community economic development question should not be focused on jobs, because many jobs are now mobile and readily available. The more important question to ask in the 21st century is: Why do I want to live, work and raise my family here? Why do I want to call this community home?

Community leaders throughout Holt County have spent the past two decades focusing on and enhancing the assets they already possess. Discovering them. Connecting them. Investing in themselves and their neighbors. This focus on abundance and local capacity is paying dividends. Imagination, innovation and invitation are all playing a critical role. Here are a few highlights that illuminate this community building success story:

In the early 2010s, community leaders in Stuart (population 574) decided they wanted another reason for residents and neighbors from miles around to come to town. So, they talked, dreamed, raised money, rehabilitated an existing downtown building and created a 67-seat 3D movie theater. Between 2015 and 2019, 40,000 people attended the movies in Stuart. The Murphy Theater is going strong today.

At Wildflour Grocer in ONeill (population 3,519), you can find an impressive selection of organic food products produced locally and throughout Nebraska. One of the seven founders, Christine Troshynski, who grew up south of ONeill, doesnt just produce and sell local eggs, vegetables and honey at Wildflour. Her day job is as a computer programmer for Hudl, a Lincoln-based software development company. She does her programming work from her family farm (200 miles from Lincoln). Wildflour has a local farmers market, runs a weekly CSA subscription and has a kitchen for entrepreneurs to add-value to their locally grown products.

In Atkinson (population 1,213), a unique retail space has existed for 29 years. Something Special by Marilyn is a one-of-a-kind shopping experience featuring Christmas decorations all-year long with wonderful customer service and an incredible selection. Over the years, I have picked up all sorts of amazing Christmas decorations that are part of our family celebration every year. Youll be hard pressed to find anything comparable in Nebraska.

Perhaps most remarkable is Handlebend in ONeill. Started by two young men (Matt Dennis and Michael Stepp) with a passion for Moscow Mule cocktails when they were in college, they couldnt find a quality copper mug to enjoy these drinks, so they decided to make their own. Today a few thousand high-end customized copper mugs are being handcrafted in ONeill every year and shipped throughout the U.S. and internationally. In 2020, the Handlebend crew refurbished an old grocery store into an amazing community space, featuring a tap room, a coffee shop and an extraordinary meeting space to build and connect their hometown. Theyre now having open mic night at Handlebend as well as celebrations for holidays like St. Patricks Day. Afterall, ONeill is the Irish Capital of Nebraska.

Many local leaders are now framing their homeplace differently. If asked where they are from by a stranger, many of them will now respond Im from Holt County; I live in Stuart. Remarkable synergy has been built in and between communities in Holt County the past two decades.

Countywide, over $9 million in philanthropic endowments have been capitalized in recent years. One of these endowments supports Holt County Economic Development, a county-wide public-private partnership focused on supporting entrepreneurship, small business growth and transition, leadership development and people attraction. In the past 20 years, hundreds of young families have returned home or are newcomers to Holt County. They were intrigued by all of the activity and imagination. They came because they were invited by people they trust. They stay because they get to be a part of innovating (and further imagining) a better future  together. Imagination, innovation and invitation are proving to be the building blocks of a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem in Holt County.

These stories exemplify the goodness, creativity and welcoming spirit in Holt County. By combining imagination, innovation and invitation, leaders in Holt County are now dreaming even bigger dreams for their homeplace and they are succeeding. How will their experience inspire your hometown? What dreams can you share to spark imagination and innovation and who will you invite to dream with you?

Jeff Yost is president and CEO of Nebraska Community Foundation.
100 years ago

June 23, 1922: Seventeen young men from McLean County are set to attend the Citizens' Military Training Camp to be held Aug. 2 to Sept. 2 at Camp Custer near Battle Creek, Michigan. McLean County is one of the 50 leading counties of the three states, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, in the number of applications for admission.

75 years ago

June 23, 1947: Central Illinois horse enthusiasts saw some of the finest horses in this part of the country during the final two sessions of the Corn Belt Horseman's association Fifth Annual Horse Show. During the showing of the equitation riders under 16, judge Don Kays praised Jo Ann Crane, owner and rider of Hytone King, for her style, ease and ability to govern her mount.

50 years ago

June 23, 1972: Health needs of McLean and Livingston County residents, as described at public meetings in May, have been compiled by the Mid-Illinois Areawide Health Planning Corp. The needs are described as improved services in general areas of cost, coordination and expansion of services, education, availability of physicians and care of the aged.

25 years ago

June 23, 1997: For two years, Raymond "Bus" Graham of rural Bloomington has collected aluminum cans, recycled them and donated the proceeds to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Graham, 64, had collected 21,000 cans, enough to fill 16 55-gallon drums. This year's Relay event has a $463,000 fundraising goal.

Compiled by Pantagraph staff
Gov. J.B. Pritzker insists his campaign and its allies are just ensuring voters are aware of select Republican gubernatorial candidates records. Republicans characterize the effort in more nefarious terms.

Either way, the fact remains that Pritzkers campaign and the Democratic Governors Association will have spent more than $30 million on television ads in the Republican primary by the time voters head to the polls on Tuesday, an influence campaign unprecedented in size and scope.

And it is targeted, with Pritzker running ads against Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, including one highlighting Irvins connections to billionaire Ken Griffin, who has poured $50 million into the mayors campaign. Another features Irvin saying nice things about Pritzker and, at the end, asks of Irvin why is he even running?

We got six people running on the Republican side, but every time you flip on the television, all you see is attacks against me, Irvin told me Monday before attending a Lincoln Day Dinner headlined by former Vice President Mike Pence in Peoria. And J.B. Pritzker is spending this huge amount of money doing that. He's forecasted, he's telling you, who he's most afraid of in the general election.

But Irvins not the only one Democrats have spent money against this cycle. The DGA for months has run television ads labeling state Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, as too conservative for Illinois, highlighting his pro-life, pro-gun record and support for former President Donald Trump.

The reverse psychology is pretty clear  run negative ads against Bailey that will actually prop him up with Republican primary voters while hitting Irvin with more traditional attack ads as well as those highlighting his perceived closeness to Pritzker in the recent past.

With heavy financial support from Griffin, Irvin had long been viewed as the frontrunner in the GOP primary and perhaps the candidate who could give Pritzker the toughest challenge in November.

Bailey, a downstate farmer who has called Chicago a hellhole in the past, has been viewed by many Illinois political observers as too conservative to win a statewide election.

But, Pritzker said theres nothing nefarious to see here. Its simply an exercise of informing voters about the records of two of the leading candidates seeking to take him on this fall, saying that the messages in the ads will work through not just the primary but the general election.

I'm running a general election campaign, the governor told me in an interview Monday afternoon. I mean, I'm focused on beating the Republicans. And these are the messages that people will hear in a general election and I'm running those now. I mean, I have no reason not to do that.

It's very important for people to understand who these Republicans are and what it is that they stand for, Pritzker added. Whatever may work in a Republican primary about taking away people's rights or being far right and pro-Trump will not work in a general election. And once again, I'm just making that clear because I think that's an important part of our strategy for winning in the general election.

Most of my interview with Pritzker focused on the impending Supreme Court decision that could overturn Roe v. Wade and what that means for Illinois. Keep an eye out for that story this weekend.

Pritzker is correct in the sense that his campaign and the DGA are pointing out aspects of Republicans records. But it must be noted too that only a select few  namely Bailey and Irvin  are receiving any attention from the Democrats.

Though the Democrats arent the only ones zeroing in on Irvin. Bailey is running his own ads and a political action committee funded by billionaire Richard Uihlein has also aired ads attacking Irvin.

Pritzker and the Democrats are hoping, and spending money on in support of that hope, that we'll emerge from our primary so bloodied, bruised, and divided that there won't be enough time in the short time between now and Nov. 8 to pull ourselves together and unite to defeat Pritzker and his fellow Democrats, said Illinois Republican Party chairman Don Tracy on Monday.

But for all the Republicans complaining about those meddling Democrats, the simple truth is that the strategy appears to be working. In recent weeks, Bailey has surged into a commanding double-digit lead in public polling while Irvin has faded into a distant second.

Businessman Jesse Sullivan claims to have surged in the past week, though theres little evidence to support this statement beyond internal polling released by his campaign.

At the end of the day, despite all the ads, reverse psychology and other influence campaigns, Republican primary voters will have the final say in this race.

And, whether it was with an assist from the Democrats or not, it appears they may select the candidate who has tied himself the closest to Trump. Even in Illinois, where the state party was long considered more moderate than the national party, that should come as a surprise to no one.

But, in a low turnout primary in an off-year election, anything can happen.

Some pre-Election Day observations

The 15th Congressional District Republican primary between incumbent Reps. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, and Mary Miller, R-Oakland, could go down to the wire. Though Davis has an organizational advantage, Miller has momentum with former President Donald Trump coming to campaign for her near Quincy on Saturday. In a tight race  and recent polling shows it to be within single-digits  the former president could be the difference maker. He won 68% of the vote in the district in 2020, after all.

Keep an eye on statewide races where members of the Ken Griffin-backed "slate" have primary opponents. Namely, secretary of state and attorney general. In the former, slate-backed candidate John Milhiser, the former U.S. Attorney for Central Illinois, faces off against state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington. Even before he announced in November, Brady has been crisscrossing the state building support for his bid. Don't be surprised if he pulls it off. Same in the attorney general's race between slate candidate Steve Kim and challengers Thomas Devore and David Shestokas. Devore is best known as the attorney who challenged, along with Bailey, Pritzker's COVID-19 emergency powers. The attention from that alone could be enough to put him over the top in that race.

This is the latest in recent memory that Illinois' primary has been held. The impact that will have on turnout will be something to keep an eye on. At the very least, it appears that the weather Tuesday will be dry with temperatures in the 80s across most of the state. Given when the state normally votes, it could be worse.

If you need help finding your polling place, you can look it up here: bit.ly/ILpollingplaces

Contact Brenden Moore at 217-421-7984. Follow him on Twitter: @brendenmoore13

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Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, Senyo Hosi, has stated that the country faces an imminent fuel shortage if measures are not put in place to raise dollars for the purchase of the product on the international market.



His comment comes on the back of a Bloombergs report that fuel shortage could hit the country as the Bank of Ghana rations dollars after oil prices surged following Russias invasion of Ukraine.



In an interview on Joy FM, Mr. Hosi indicated that the current fuel stock in the country could last for a month with some more expected to come.



He added that the prevailing situation should not be a cause for alarm and panic buying of fuel as the Bulk Oil Distributors together with other stakeholders were working assiduously to find solutions to the looming crisis.



Just to make everybody comfortable, in the country today, we have adequate stocks to cover us about a monthThe are no issues with that. So there is no need for panic buying. As BDCs and oil marketing companies, we are all working to make sure we keep the situation stable and thats our mandate to this country.



But we are having challenges which is a factthe foreign currency situation and the truth is, if that continues, we are going to have challenges with suppliers making products available to Ghana just as simple as that because nobody pays Cedis for oil internationally, you need to have US Dollars, he emphasized.



Mr. Senyo Hosi added that the situation has become dire to the extent that the Bulk Oil Distributors have had to sometimes fall on the black market for dollars.



Even though it receives support from the Bank of Ghana, the CEO of the group indicated that it was limited.



we have got the Bank of Ghana to actually commit a special auction for BBCs which was not the case. So the Central Bank has since March being taking a very proactive intervention for our market but that also is limited.



We started with about 250 millionwe are doing about 50% of our requirement and now I think they have scaled down to 20-25% of our requirement which would imply BDCs would have to fall on the open market to meet the rest of the requirement.



That has gotten a bit tricky in recent times because we have had challenges with predictability and certainty. We have to sometimes work with the open market and unfortunately in some cases practically fall on the black market and that is a situational truth which is not ideal, he lamented.



Meanwhile, Mr. Senyo Hosi says we are working together with the Central Bank to come up with what we call the Oil FX market so that we can create a lot more predictability and certainty for the international suppliers.

Source: ghanaweb.com









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The Ghana Education Service (GES) has warned that any final-year student who foments trouble by engaging in any act of criminality in school will be dealt with according to the law.

Consequently, it has urged school authorities to report any criminal acts of students to the Ghana Police Service for investigations and possible prosecution.



Signing of bond

Already, some schools have called for emergency Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meetings to get both parents and wards to sign a bond of good behaviour which spells out sanctions in the event of the students engaging in such acts.



Some of the areas the students are identified to be engaged in are bullying and manhandling of first-year students, using mobile phones in the dormitories, dealing in drugs, wearing unapproved school uniforms and refusing to attend classes among others.



Behaviour

According to a communication to all regional directors of education in the country, the Director-General of the GES, Prof. Kwesi Opoku-Amankwa, said it had come to the notice of the service that some final-year students tended to play truant after successfully registering for their final exams.



Management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has been reliably informed that some junior and senior high school form three students consistently refuse to attend school and classes after registering for their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) respectively, he stated in the letter.



Prof. Opoku-Amankwa added that the GES had also noticed some students did not only become truants but in addition engaged in other illicit behaviours which amounted to criminality.



He listed such behaviours to include dealing in drugs, bullying, wearing unprescribed attire, use of mobile phones on school campuses and blatant disregard for school rules and regulations.



Repercussions

The GES would, therefore, like to inform parents whose wards engage in such acts that the actions of their wards carry hefty penalties.



These include deboardinisation, where such students will no longer be accommodated by the school; writing the examination under police/parent escort and the West African Examination Council (WAEC) not admitting them to the examination centres to write the papers.



Students under police investigation during the period of the BECE and WASSCE will be allowed to write their papers under police escort, Prof. Opoku-Amankwa warned.



Students with disciplinary issues in the school, he further explained, could only come to the exam centres accompanied by their parents and in some cases, both parents and police.









Source: graphiconline.com









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The World Health Organization will decide on Thursday whether to declare monkeypox a global health emergency, stirring criticism from leading African scientists who say it has been a crisis in their region for years.



The deliberations and scrutiny of the WHO's response to the outbreak follows concerns over how the United Nations agency and governments worldwide handled COVID-19 in early 2020.



A "public health emergency of international concern" is WHO's highest level of alert. The agency does not declare pandemics, but it did start using the term to describe COVID-19 in March 2020.



For many governments, that - rather than its earlier declaration of an emergency in January - was the moment they began to take real action to try to contain the disease, which proved to be too late to make a difference.



Monkeypox does not spread nearly as easily as COVID and there are vaccines and treatments available, unlike for the coronavirus when it emerged. But it has still raised alarm.



The case count from the current outbreak outside of Africa has topped 3,000 in more than 40 countries, according to a Reuters tally - largely among men who have sex with men - since it was first reported in May. There have been no reports of deaths.



The viral disease, which causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions, is endemic in parts of Africa. The continent has registered just over 1,500 suspected cases since the start of 2022, of which 66 have been fatal, according to official data.

"When a disease affects developing countries, it is not an emergency. It only becomes an emergency when developed countries are affected," said Professor Emmanuel Nakoune, acting director of the Institut Pasteur in Bangui, Central African Republic, who is running a trial of a monkeypox treatment.



However, Nakoune said that if the WHO declares an emergency, it would still be an important step.



"If there is the political will to share equitably the means of response between developed and developing countries..., each country will be able to benefit," he said.



The WHO will convene a closed meeting of experts at 12 p.m. (1000 GMT) in Geneva. It remains unclear when the decision will be announced.



The emergency committee meeting on Thursday includes experts from the most affected regions, who have also consulted with scientists including Nakoune. They will make a recommendation to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who makes the ultimate decision on whether to call the emergency.



The step mainly functions to sound the alarm and can prompt further guidance from the WHO, as well as focus attention among member states. The WHO has already provided detailed guidance on the outbreak and said it is working on a mechanism for sharing treatments and vaccines.



Most experts agree monkeypox technically meets the criteria for the WHO definition of an emergency. It is a sudden and unusual event spreading internationally and requires cross-country cooperation.



But the WHO is in a precarious position after COVID, according to Clare Wenham, a global health assistant professor at the London School of Economics.



If the WHO declares an emergency and countries do not act, it could undermine the agency's role in controlling global disease, she said. "They're damned if they do, and damned if they don't," she added.

Source: Reuters









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The Chief Executive Officer of Agazy Group of Companies, Thomas Ayisah, has donated some medical equipment and also paid the bills of some patients at the Kpone Polyclinic Hospital in the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality of the Greater Accra Region to mark the celebration of his birthday.



The items donated included 4 Urban Compact Electric Wheel Chairs, 14 Lightweight Folding Wheelchairs, 20 pairs of Blood Pressure (BP) Monitors, 4 HP Desktop computers, 4 HP Printers, Boxes of A4 sheets and many others.



Managers of the facility who received the donation with great excitement said it was one of the outstanding individual donations to the health facility.



Speaking at a short ceremony, Mr. Thomas Ayisah said the donation forms part of his social corporate responsibility to his community.



He said it is to support the less privileged who find it difficult to afford healthcare and also equip the facility to improve Healthcare delivery.



"I am indeed grateful to the Almighty God for adding another wonderful year to my age. As I celebrate my birthday, I thought it wise to do something that will serve as lasting memories, hence the need for the donation", he said.



Mr. Ayisah also took the opportunity to call on all well-meaning individuals, philanthropists, civil society groups and corporate entities to also give back to society.



"I want to take this opportunity to urge everyone to try and give back to society so we build the nation together ".



Dr. Adwoa Forkuo, who received the items on behalf of the hospital, expressed appreciation to the birthday celebrant and wished him long life and prosperity.







Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Arise Ghana, a pressure group, has called on Dr Charles Wereko-Brobbey, a statesman and a leading member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to confer with him on the objective of the Group and its activities.



A statement issued by Mr Ishaq Awudu, National Communication Secretary of the People's National Convention (PNC) and a Leading Member of Arise Ghana, copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the call was part of the Group's mobilization efforts towards its impending mega demonstration on June 28th and 29th, in Accra.



It said meeting with Dr Wereko-Brobbey at his residence in Accra, the leadership of Arise Ghana espoused the urgent need for a nationalistic and action-oriented vehicle to demand for accountability from the duty bearers of the country in the view of the excruciating hardships confronting Ghanaians today.



The statement said Dr Wereko-Brobbey was elated to receive the group.



It noted that in his remarks, Dr Wereko-Brobbey implored the Group not to waver in the exercise of its constitutional right to demonstrate.



He admonished the group to put a record high number of people on the streets to compel the Government to listen to the concerns of the Ghanaian people.



The statement said the high point of this meeting was a video endorsement by Dr Wereko-Brobbey of the impending demonstration scheduled for the 28th and 29th of June, in Accra.



It said this endorsement follows a similar endorsement by Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, a founding member of the ruling NPP during a courtesy call on him by Arise Ghana few days ago.



The statement said Arise Ghana is a Group comprising political party leaders, media practitioners, civil society players, creative arts, trades union among others determined to relentlessly champion the common cause of the Ghanaian people, provide a voice for the voiceless and seek reforms that would bring about the needed change in the socio-economic, politico-social, and general wellbeing of the Ghanaian citizenry.



It said the Group was organizing a historic two-day demonstration scheduled for the 28th and 29th of June 2022 in Accra to protest persistent and astronomical hikes in fuel prices by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government that has imposed excruciating economic hardships on Ghanaians.



It said it was also to protest the imposition of the obnoxious E-Levy on the already-burdened Ghanaian people by the insensitive Akufo-Addo/Bawumia Government and demand a full scale and bi-partisan parliamentary probe into COVID-19 expenditures.



Others are to protest the grabbing of State lands by officials of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government, particularly the de-classification of huge portions of the Achimota Forest reserve.



The rest are to protest the increased rate of police brutalities and state-sponsored killing of innocent Ghanaians, as well as the growing culture of human rights abuses under the watch of President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and demand the total cancelation of the fraudulent Agyapa deal.





Source: GNA









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The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has reiterated the government's resolve to partner the private sector to develop the local economy.

Speaking at the 25th-anniversary celebration of Tropical Cable and Conductor Limited (TCCL), an electrical cable manufacturer, in Tema yesterday[June 22, 2022], Dr Bawumia said the government, through its industrialisation policy, was committed to providing an enabling environment for the private sector to partner the government to develop and sustain businesses, create jobs, reduce poverty, as well as enhance value addition



The anniversary, on the theme: 25 Years of impacting Ghana: New ideas, new products, new markets, was graced by a Deputy Minister of Energy, William Owuraku Aidoo; a Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Michael Okyere Baafi; captains of industry, the Metropolitan Chief Executive for Tema, Yohane Amarh Ashitey, traditional rulers, as well as clients and distributors of TCCL.



The TCCL seized the opportunity to outdoor its latest product, a wholly made-in-Ghana coaxial cable, a type of transmission line used to carry high-frequency electrical signals with low losses, to its range of products.



The Vice-President said with the right support and business climate, Ghana could achieve the unimaginable and be competitive on the world market, in spite of the numerous challenges that existed all around, saying the TCCL had proved that what others had done could be done here in Ghana and even exceed expectation.



He said the government was very much aware of the various challenges facing business operations in Ghana, including access to finance, high cost of inputs and rampant competition from imported products, and indicated that its policies were geared towards the gradual to transformation of the business climate in Ghana.





Dr Bawumia reiterated the Presidents commitment to support the growth of the countrys industrial sector and the success of proven performers such as the TCCL and enable them to become major contributors to creating direct and indirect jobs.



Industrialisation

The Vice-President said the government was on course to achieving its industrialisation ambition, adding that there was more to be done to support indigenous players and gave an assurance that it would do its best to make Ghana the best place for local businesses to thrive



He said challenges faced by the world, such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the coronavirus pandemic, made it all the more important for countries to become self-reliant.



He said he was glad that a major policy, such as the One District, One Factory, was gaining ground and indicated that the government would do more to empower indigenous businesses to enable them to thrive, generate more employment and make the country strong.



He said from the very beginning of its tenure, industrialisation had been a strategic priority of the government, and initiatives such as the 1D1F had transformed from a political mantra to an effective flagship programme geared towards the revamping of the economy to create job opportunities for the youth.



Local content

While commending the management of the TCCL for its spirit of enterprise and progress over the last 25 years, Dr Bawumia said with the coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area, with its secretariat in Accra, there was no reason local entities such as TCCL could not become regional and ultimately continental champions.



He called on institutions such as the Ministry of Energy, the Electricity Company of Ghana, the Volta River Authority, the Ghana Grid Company Limited, the Northern Electricity Distribution Company, the mining companies and as many local entities as possible to increase their utilisation of outputs of indigenous companies such as the TCCL to develop capacity in the manufacturing industry for electrical cables, conductors, accessories, among others, build local industries and ensure the employment of Ghanaians and promote value addition.



Import duties and taxes



The Executive Chairman of TCCL, Tony Oteng-Gyasi, said the future of Ghana lay in rapid industrialisation, and it was the manufacturing sector which could deliver the needed jobs with adequate incomes to grow and sustain families.



He said TCCL was ready, willing and able to compete with cable manufacturers anywhere in the world in terms of pricing and quality, provided the government took steps to rigidly apply the laws on import duty and taxes.



Background

TCCL is a world-class Ghanaian company which has, over the years, grown its production capacity to process over 8,000 tonnes of aluminium, copper and PVC annually into electrical and telecommunication cable and other conductors



Unique in its sector, the company always ensures that its cables are flame retardant, low smoke, lead-free and support the maintenance of uninterrupted and reliable delivery of power to industry and the built environment.



It is also the only cable manufacturer that has invested in a polyvinyl chloride compounding plant which, in addition to supplying its manufacturing process, also sells to other cable manufacturers in Ghana and the rest of Africa.

Source: graphiconline.com









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The campaign for various positions of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) heats up with the criss-crossing of media houses by the various aspirants jostling for votes.

Almost all the aspirants have since Monday visited the head office of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) to sell their message.



They are presidential hopefuls Albert Kwabena Dwumfuor and Gayheart Edem Mensah, General Secretary aspirants, Edmund Kofi Yeboah, Akwasi Agyeman, and Organising Secretary contender, Dominic Hlordzi, who is challenging Mary Mensah of the Daily Graphic.



As at the time of writing this report, the third presidential aspirant, Dave Agbenu, was scheduled to visit the GCGL today.



Another hotly contested position is the Public Affairs Officer. Rebecca Ekpe of GBC is slugging it out with Caesar Abagali of the Ghana News Agency.



As members of the association head to the polls to elect new leaders on Friday, June 24, 2022, the aspirants tried to convince journalists that they are the best choices.



Gayheart Mensah



Gayheart Mensahs message centred on the welfare, security and protection of journalists as part of his focus when given the presidential nod.



He stated that those three things would help restore the respect and value placed on journalists, stressing that, they would help increase the ratings of journalists on the job market.



Welfare of journalists, security and protection of journalism are variables of professionalism and ethics. These are the three things that are eating our profession at this point in time.

Here comes the opportunity as a professional association, a responsibility to make sure that our ratings go up. This is what I am willing to do, he said.



Other issues he would address when elected was to make the association attractive to the young journalist and building the integrity of the annual GJA awards.



Albert Dwumfuor



Mr Dwumfuor said this was the time to transform the association in a way that would reposition it from its current reactive state to a proactive one.



He also said the GJA needed a leader who was vibrant, proactive and could speak truth to power.



Kofi Yeboah



Earlier, a General Secretary hopeful of the GJA, Edmund Kofi Yeboah, last Monday assured members of the association that he would continue to play the watchdog role to protect the integrity of the association.



Mr Yeboah, who is seeking re-election as General Secretary, outlined his vision for the association.





He said aside from playing a watchdog role, the welfare of journalists in the country would continue to be his priority.



He revealed that contrary to claims that he was not a team player, he had rather stood up for the right things to be done all the time.



Mr Yeboah, who urged members to vote in the best interest of the GJA, said he had the qualities suited for the job and desired to work for members of the association.



"I desire to serve members, and I desire to leave a positive legacy for the good of the GJA," he said.



"A vote for me is a vote for progress," he added.



He also gave assurances of his commitment to accept the results of the elections and said he had prepared his handover notes in the unlikely event that the elections did not favour him.



Dominic Hlordzi



For his part, Mr Hlordzi said that the association was in dire need of a new leadership because the ranking of journalists with respect to their professionalism had gone down in recent times.



Im in to help with the organisation. People come for GJA programmes and they complain because a lot of things are not being done right, he explained.

Mr Hlordzi added that he sought to institute an all-inclusive association that ensured the interests of all journalists were adequately represented.



Akwasi Agyeman



Mr Agyeman said the office of the GJA General Secretary had become dormant and for that reason he sought to revive the institution because it was the driving force of the association.



He added that he would ensure the GJA constitution was adhered to, particularly with regard to membership-related issues.



I will serve you better and things will change because Ill have time for the job and I will have time for journalists, Mr Agyeman said.



Rebecca Ekpe



In a brief address, Ms Ekpe, if elected, said she hoped to improve upon the image of journalists and the association as a whole.



Public Affairs is all about branding, so what type of journalists do you want to look like? she asked.



Ms Ekpe also said she would create opportunities that would improve on accessibility of the association by its members, adding that she would put the GJA at the forefront to ensure journalists got what they deserved.



Caesar Abagali



For his part, Mr Abagali said the Public Affairs office of the association had be made more vibrant in bringing journalists together when one of them was attacked.



He also said the norm of electing the national executive solely from Accra was an error that needed to be corrected because people in other regions also had a lot to offer the association.



Being in the other regions should not be a barrier, Mr Abagali added.



Journey to the elections



The journey to the election of the national executive of the GJA had not been without drama. First was the fact that the tenure of office of the current GJA executive ended on November 17, 2020.



The election of new officers, however, delayed because a member raised a constitutional issue on the mandate of the executive, whose tenure had ended, ability to supervise the election.



That matter was resolved through an internal settlement. When a second attempt was made to organise the election, some contestants raised issues with the credibility of the voters register.

It is after the resolution of all the disputes that the Elections Dispute Adjudication Committee fixed June 24, 2022 for the national and regional elections to go ahead.



Petitions



When all seemed to have settled for the elections to come off, in a letter dated June 16, 2022, a member of the Western Regional branch of the association, Dotsey Koblah Aklorbortu, petitioned the chairman of the Elections Committee against one of the candidates contesting the presidents position on the allegation of paying money to some members of the Western Regional GJA to induce them to vote in his favour.



In submitting his petition, Mr Aklorbortu invoked Article 52 (b) (c) and (d) of the GJA constitution 2004



The petition did not go unchallenged, as the Western Regional Secretary of the association, Zambaga Rufai Saminu, in a letter dated the same day, June 16, 2022, also petitioned the Chairman of the Elections Committee against unethical and despicable conduct of Mr Aklorbortu.

Source: graphiconline.com









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Fertilizers Suppliers under Government Flagship Programme Planting for Food and Job are daring the Financial Minister, Hon Ofori Atta to be clear with his presentation overpayment of money to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for some outstanding debts.



They made some reservations over his presentations when the Minister claimed to have released an amount of 278.57 million to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture as part of GHC 485.90 million the ministry asked to sustain the programme this year.



The Minister on the floor of parliament on Wednesday when asked about the issue of Financial Clearance to MOFA to clear the large debt owed partners and suppliers revealed that his ministry has released money to clear outstanding debts



Mr Speaker at the end of 2021 an amount of GHC 86.31 million was outstanding, under PFJ Programme. This amount has now been released to MOFA for payment. This year, MOFA has requested for an amount of GHC 485.90 million for payment under the PFJ programme. An amount of GHC 278.57 million has subsequently been released to MOFA Hon Ken Ofori Atta has added.



However, these owed partners and suppliers have said that since 2021 they have not received payment and some areas in 2020 from the implementing ministry



Suppliers said, their respective Banks have been chasing them after the Ministers presentation on the floor of Parliament because these banks think; they (Suppliers) have diverted the payment to different accounts.



"We are a bit confused over the Finance Ministers presentation so we are demanding a clear explanation. Where has the money he claimed he has released gone to? One supplier rhetorically asked Sampson Kwame Nyamekye in an interview.



How would we still drag government for our monies when the Finance Ministry claims to have released an amount to clear the outstanding debts... there is inconsistencies in his presentation so we are urging him to make things more clearer for us because the Banks are chasing us for their monies too One supplier has added.

According to some of the contractors, they said per their checks at the Controller and Accounts Department, no money has been released for their debts.



Despite Media Sampson Kwame Nyamekye in an earlier report last month interviewed a number of Fertilizer suppliers who confirmed that government still owes them with monies after supplying farmers under PFJ with fertilizers.



Peasant framers had also in a separate story expressed worry over how the scarcity of fertilizers has been affecting their farming businesses since suppliers are reluctant to supply them with fertilizers.



Planting for Food and Jobs is a flagship agricultural Campaign of the Government, with five (5) implementation modules. The first module PFJ (Crops) aims to promote food security and immediate availability of selected food crops on the market and also provide jobs.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The Center for Political Research and Advocacy (CePRA) has predicted a massive win for Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, one of the contestants in Fridays Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) national elections.



In a report released on Thursday, a day before the elections, CePRA said 60% of respondents said Dwumfour will win the GJA presidential elections while 30.5% said Gayheart Mensah will win the election while a paltry 14% went for Dave Agbenu



Below is the full report:



The Center for Political Research and Advocacy has in quasi-opinion polls predicted a win for Albert Kwabena Dwumfour in the upcoming GJA elections.



The Center conducted a Regional opinion poll among Journalists from about 8 regions and sampled about 400 views from Journalists 90% of whom are delegates in the upcoming elections.



Three candidates including Mr.Dave Agbenu, Gayheart Mensah, and Mr.Albert K. Dwumfour have put themselves up to be elected as the next GJA President.



About 60% of Respondents chose Mr.Dwumfuor, with about 30.5% opting for Mr.Gayheart and 14% for Mr.Agbenu, and the remaining 5.5% were not sure who to vote for.



Some of the reasons given by respondents for their choices include the following;



1. Respondents feel Mr.Gayheart Mensah cannot double as PRO for the Speaker and as GJA President.



2. Most respondents at the regional levels believe Mr.Dwumfour has been very thorough by reaching out to them on the ground.



3. Some said Mr.Agbenu should wait for a while.



4. Some also said Mr. Gayheart left the GJA and went to corporate practice and never supported the Association for 15 years when he was practicing in the corporate world.



5. Some also said Mr. Dwumfour has the ability to unite the GJA in these difficult times.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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BIC, a world leader in stationery, lighters, and shavers, announced today the kick-off of its flagship art competition, Art Master Africa, in its fifth edition.



The competition invites talent across Africa and the Middle East to express their creativity by producing artwork using the infamous BIC ballpoint pen. This years competition theme is Celebrating Africa, inviting artists to present their identity as well as their different perceptions of the African continent and cultures.



Art Master Africa is an annual competition that is open to artists and creatives across the Middle East and Africa region. The competition was incepted in 2017 in South Africa. Following its success, Art Master Africa expanded into the Africa region in 2019 and into the Middle East in 2021.



Artists can enter the competition by submitting up to three original artworks of what Celebrating Africa means to them. Submissions will then be reviewed and shortlisted by a panel of judges including artists, art professors, art collectors, as well as winners from the 2019 and 2021 competitions  Gayi Eric and Oscar Ukonu. The submission phase will run from 15-06-2022 until 31-08-2022. Once the judging phase is completed in September, winners will be announced and celebrated by the 15th of October 2022.



Commenting on the occasion, Peter Van den Broeck, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Middle East and Africa at BIC, said: We are ecstatic to announce the kick-off of the fifth edition of the Art Master Africa competition. Our flagship competition speaks to our belief in the importance and power of creativity and self-expression. Through Art Master Africa we have touched and impacted many across the region, and we plan to continue to motivate and encourage the younger generation and creative community to express themselves innovatively, as we build on and elevate our campaign year-on-year.



First, second, and third-place regional winners will be named Africas Art Masters, will be celebrated in their respective countries, and will receive cash prizes of USD 2,000, USD 1,000, and USD 500 respectively. The first-place regional winner will also get their online personal gallery, as well as the opportunity to join the BIC Art Collection, exhibited in Paris, France. National winners will receive a prize of USD 500 each. To find out more about the Art Master Africa competition, visit the website here.



BIC's connection to art spans more than 60 years. The brand regularly celebrates the creativity and originality of artists who find great inspiration in creating masterpieces using BICs products. BICs Art Collection includes over 250 works of art by 80 international artists. BIC has several established partnerships with art institutes around the world and has its products displayed in renowned museums around the world.







Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh has responded to claims by the Institute of Energy Security (IES) that he has failed to provide a single strategic option to lift the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).



In a statement, the minister rubbished the claims after insisting his leadership is on the right path to revamping TOR.



Read below the statement



RE: Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has Failed to Provide a Single Strategic Option to Lift TOR, among others- Institute of Energy Security



The attention of the Ministry of Energy has been drawn to a news item on various media platforms in which Institute of Energy Security (IES), an energy think tank, is reported to have issued a statement on their petition to H.E. the President to save the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) from imminent collapse.



The IES is also reported to have alleged that the Energy Minister, Hon. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has failed to provide the necessary leadership aimed at finding a strategic partner towards the revamping of the refinery, among other allegations.



The Ministry refutes this assertion in the strongest possible terms and wishes to state as follows;



1. On 11th March 2021, four (4) days after assuming office as Energy Minister, Dr. Prempeh undertook a working visit of TOR to familiarize himself with the situation on the ground.



2. In meetings with the IMC, Board, Management and worker unions, Dr. Prempeh has always indicated the Presidents keen interest in the revitalization of the refinery, creating jobs and positioning itself as market leader on the African continent by seeking a strategic partner for the refinery.



3. On June 15, 2021, Dr. Prempeh swore-in a three (3)- member Interim Management Committee (IMC) whose terms of reference were to ensure the smooth transfer from the previous Directors, undertake technical and human resource audits as well as receive and assess viable partnerships for TOR.



4. As part of its handing over notes, the IMC made recommendations to the incoming board regarding a strategic partner and sought the necessary approvals from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA).



5. In February and March 2022, a new Managing Director and Board took office respectively, with a clear mandate to work towards securing a strategic partner for the revamping of the refinery.



6. The Hon. Minister subsequently wrote to request an evaluation of all the processes involving interested parties and submit same for the attention of an inter-ministerial committee including the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Public Enterprise, State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) and TOR. This was to enable the committee to make the necessary recommendations to the President.



7. On 20th May 2022, Government granted approval to TOR to begin negotiations with a strategic partner.



8. Subsequent to this, on 10th June 2022, the Hon Minister wrote to the Managing Director of TOR to provide guidelines and advice as the refinery prepares, together with its prospective transactional advisor, to enter into negotiations with a strategic partner. Among others, he directed further that TORs indebtedness and workers pension funds must be included in the negotiations with the strategic partner.



9. In the said letter, the Minister emphasized that whatever agreement that may be reached between the refinery and the strategic partner is not final until it has been subjected to further scrutiny by the Ministry of Energy and the Office of the President.



It is evident from the foregoing that Dr. Prempeh has demonstrated clear leadership, vision and focus in working towards the revamping of TOR, and that the claims made by the IES is borne either out of ignorance of these facts or a deliberate attempt to tarnish the Ministers image.



One would expect that the IES would be circumspect in its public pronouncements on issues in the energy sector and at least seek information and facts before going public. This is in view of the weight that is likely to be accorded its position.



The Ministry wishes to assure Ghanaians that Dr. Prempeh is resolutely committed to ensuring that TOR is put on a sound footing to support Ghanas industrialization drive, and will continue to provide strategic leadership and direction in this regard.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Paramount Chief and elders of Akuapem Traditional Area in the Eastern Region on Tuesday, June 21st, 2022, wholeheartedly welcomed to the palace a high-powered delegation from the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).



The delegation led by the NHIA Chief Executive, Hon. Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye paid a courtesy call on Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III, as part of a three-day working visit to the Eastern Region.



Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III blessed the NHIA Chief Executive by saying, We will strengthen the brotherly alliance between us and help push the NHIS to higher heights."



He said the Traditional Council will partner with the NHIA to advance advocacy on the NHIS Benefit Package to the masses.



Dr. Okoe-Boye who described the revered Chief as a role model stated that he could not engage in any activities in the area without paying a courtesy call on him to seek his blessing.



He hoped to learn more wisdom and enjoy the benefit of good guidance from the Akropong Omanhene, Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III.



He announced the recommendation to build a new NHIS Office in the Akuapem North District and thereby pleaded with the Chief and influential people in the area to support the NHIA's transformational agenda.



He further urged traditional rulers to show interest in and acquaint themselves with important developments in the NHIS.



Earlier at a meeting with the Eastern Regional Minister, Dr. Okoe-Boye explained that he touched base to get closer to the regions to interface with all stakeholders.



"We are trying to build very good relationships with various stakeholders to make the NHIS more visible. We are on this drive to push hard the five Ds, comprising Digitization, Dissemination, Data, Decentralization, and Development."



He proposed that government functionaries should highlight NHIS matters in their speeches, emphasizing the need to use the Mobile Renewal Service *929# for membership renewals.



The Regional Minister, Hon. Seth Achampong stated, "We share in your vision to ensure that all residents in Ghana will enroll onto the NHIS and renew their membership using the Mobile Renewal platform."



"We need to do that advocacy. It is very necessary. That is the surest way we can survive. The sustainability of the Scheme is key."



The Chief Executive's high-powered delegation comprised, the NHIA Governing Board Chair, Dr. Ernest K. P Kwarko, a Board member, Madam Joyce Zampare, Deputy Chief Executive, Administration, and Human Resources, Yaa Pokuaa Baiden (Mrs.), Deputy Chief Executive, Operations, Vivian Addo-Cobbiah (Mrs.) and Deputy Chief Executive, Finance, Francis Owusu (Mr.).



He was also joined by the Director, Membership and Regional Operations, Mr. Ben Kusi, Director, Private Health Insurance Schemes (PHIS), Mr. Hudu Issah, Head of Management Information Systems, Mr. Daniel Blankson, Head of Procurement, Mr. Frank Yeboah and Head of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Oswald Essuah-Mensah.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The newly elected NPP Belgium Branch Executives had the privilege to meet *H.E Nana Akufo-Addo* yesterday in Brussels. Among his delegations were Foreign Affairs Minister and Deputy Chief of Staff.



The President encouraged the Executives to work hard to break the 8 for NPP to continue its tremendous work for the people of Ghana.



The President indicated to the Branch Executives that one thing that will make him happy after 2024 is to hand over power to NPP President.



He acknowledged that things are hard and his government is facing economic challenges but measures have been put in place to ease the sufferings of Ghanaians.



The Chairman who led the executives to the meeting thanked the President for availing himself to meet them and assured him the branch will work hard with unity to ensure victory 2024 as he the President wishes.



The Secretary for the branch took the opportunity to announce the branch's decision to celebrate its ten(10) years anniversary which has been scheduled on *20th May 2023*



The President assured his full support and participation in the anniversary celebration. He also promised to be part God willing.



Also, the secretary elaborated on certain challenges facing the external branches. This was about how some ministers and government appointees never acknowledged or not even informed the branch leaders whenever they visited the various countries. The President took notice and promised to rectify that with his ministers.

The Foreign Affairs Minister also promised to take this particular issue to cabinet meeting so that the diasporian office of the party and government machinery will have a coordination.



During the discussion, the President was asked about Hon. Adwoa Safo's issues. The President answered by indicating how the privileges committee in parliament is working on the issue.



Again about Ghana card, a question was asked and the Foreign Affairs Minister assured us that the National Identification Authority *(NIA)* will come to the various missions to collect Ghanaians data and issue cards to every Ghanaian abroad but cautioned the leaders in the community to encourage Ghanaians to take part when the process starts..



*We shall update the branch for any new developments*.



_Thanks for your attention_

*Secretary*

*_Ranking Member_*





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, says a future NDC government will make sure consultant to the National Cathedral project, Sir David Adjaye refund controversial payments made to him by the state.



The Minority in Parliament demanded answers from Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta for releasing GHC25 million to the National Cathedral Secretariat as additional seed money without Parliamentary approval.



The NDC MPs questioned the basis for the release since no such allocation was made in the 2022 budget approved by parliament adding the move is a grand deception.



Speaking to Parliamentary Correspondent, Ibrahim Alhassan, Mr. Ablakwa stated that the project consultant, Mr. Adjaye will be made to pay back the monies as a result of procurement breaches.



He himself should know there will be judgment day and all that money in his possession, a time will come that he will have to refund that money. Because the procurement processes are all fraud, I mean very ridiculous interpretation and abuse of the procurement processes, he added.



The lawmaker also asked Ghanaians to start making inputs into what use the land hosting the project should be put to if the NDC comes to power.



According to the MP, the deceit, procurement breaches, opacity and outright lies which have characterized the project are enough grounds for impeachment of the President.



Minority spokesperson on Foreign Affairs further stated that President Akufo-Addo cannot complete the project by the 2024 deadline he has given himself.



I believe that the National Democratic Congress will be winning the 2024 election and we will want to hear clearly from the Ghanaian people what we should be thinking on what we should use the site for.



Already there has been a lot of destruction, a lot of damage, a lot of demolition and so much money has gone into all kinds of pockets. It appears that a little has gone into the project. The question, therefore, is what do we do? he quizzed.





Source: ghanaweb.com









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Dr. Ma. Natividad Marian "Naty" Castro. (Source: Karapatan/Facebook; Jun Castro/Facebook)

A court in Bayugan, Agusan del Sur has reissued a warrant of arrest against Dr. Maria Natividad Naty Castro, according to a press briefer released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday, June 22.

Dr. Naty Castro, a human rights advocate and a health worker, was arrested on February 18 on charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention, which human rights group Karapatan called another form of attack against human rights defenders.

This despicable policy and practice of the Duterte regime of filing trumped up charges against rights defenders in an attempt to silence them should stop, Kaparatan said on February 18.

The case against Dr. Naty and others were filed and heard before the Branch 7 of the Regional Trial Court of Agusan del Sur, and was dismissed the following month by presiding Judge Fernando Fudalan Jr. for denial of the right to due process of Dr. Naty, and the courts lack of jurisdiction over her.

State prosecutors filed a motion for reconsideration, and in a court order dated June 16, Judge Ferdinand R. Villanueva reversed the dismissal order, saying that there was no denial of due process on the part of accused Dr. Castro, and that the court had already acquired jurisdiction over Dr. Naty as she was arrested by virtue of the warrant of arrest.

Moreover, according to the DOJs briefer, a preliminary investigation was done before the filing of the case in court, albeit Dr. Naty was not given any summons during the course of the preliminary investigation.

Meanwhile, the DOJ, without proof or substantial evidence, even lent credence to the claim that Dr. Naty was an alleged active member, recruiter, trainer and fundraiser of the Communist Party of the PhilippinesNew Peoples ArmyNational Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

An e-warrant of arrest will be issued against Dr. Naty.

Marvin Joseph Ang is a news and creative writer who follows developments in politics, democracy, and popular culture. He advocates for a free press and national democracy. The views expressed are his own.

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Human cortical organoid under the microscope, stained with fluorescent dyes. These mini brains have been made with iPS cells via short inhibition of three developmental pathways (termed triple inhibition, Triple-i). The blue color staining is evidence of the enrichment of outer radial glia (oRG) cells. Credit: Sneha Arora, MPIMG

"Outer Radial Glia" (oRG) cells are nervous system stem cells that are instrumental for the development of the human cortex and have been challenging to produce in the lab. Now, a team of Max Planck researchers from Berlin succeeded in generating brain organoids that are enriched with these stem cells by refining and standardizing existing protocols for these mini-organs.

Organoids are advanced three-dimensional cell cultures that form miniature versions of tissues such as the liver, intestine, brain, or certain types of cancers, and hold great promise for science. They enable large-scale research into development, disease and future therapies without the need to rely on a complete organism. But there are still many obstacles to overcome until an organoid is sufficiently similar to a real organ or part of it.

In an article published in Nature Cell Biology, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (MPIMG) report they succeeded in growing organoids resembling the human cerebral cortex with unprecedented consistency and quality. They primed stem cells with a cocktail of three chemical potions for a short time at a very early stage of their development. This instructed the stem cells to form cellular aggregates during the following weeks that anatomically mimic the layering of the human cortex. Among those layers grew outer radial glia (oRG) cells, specialized stem cells that are essential for the characteristic expansion of brain hemispheres in humans and apes. This is the first time that these cells have been successfully generated, enriched and characterized in a cell culture system.

"Surprisingly, it is pretty easy to generate brain organoids in the lab by many methods," says Yechiel Elkabetz, research group leader at the MPIMG in Berlin, Germany and previously at Tel Aviv University, Israel, who conducted this research. "But it is hard to get it right. The challenge is to create a very pure nervous system stem cell culture at the start and to persuade these cells to build multi-layered neural organoids with the correct cell types in the right spots."

Instruct the builders of the brain

Neural organoids can be grown from tissue samples, embryonic stem cells, or even induced pluripotent stem cells, mature body cells that have been programmed to transform back to the embryonic stem cell stage. But the outcomes have been very inconsistent in terms of procedures, source material, and also between organoids in the same dish.

"Not only do neural organoid cultures turn out to be very heterogeneous, also the stem cells that build these organoids are changing over time," explains Sneha Arora, researcher in Elkabetz' lab and one of the lead authors of the paper. She points out that there are quite a few widely used protocols that just "leave" the cells to instruct themselves with only partial or no guidance. "If you employ builders to build a series of houses without any or with incomplete instructions, you will end up with a different building every time."

Finding the correct instructions for the builders of the brain has been challenging labs around the world for a decade, and a variety of protocols and procedures emergedeach with different outcomes. So how can you ever know which method is the right one? Elkabetz and his colleagues teamed up with several researchers from the MPIMG to standardize existing techniques and to develop the most advanced protocol to generate brain organoids that resemble the human cerebral cortex in the best possible way.

Like other groups before, the researchers used inhibitors, chemical drugs that tell the developing cell "what not to transform into," so that they will eventually choose the correct route. They found out that three different signaling pathways needed to be blocked to persuade the stem cells to become cortical cells a few weeks later. "We educate and deploy the best builders for our organoids. Once the starting cells are created and have their instructions built-in, we don't do much more than that, and the organoid assembles itself, this time properly, which works very well," says Arora.

Section of a microscopy image of the organoid with the typical layers of the cerebral cortex visible. Credit: Sneha Arora, MPIMG

"It was a key point to combine Dual-SMAD and WNT inhibition, both of which have been utilized mostly separately before," Arora says. According to her, timing and dosing the drugs is crucial. "During the very early phase and over just eight days, we generated a very homogeneous starting population of cells. These turned out to be the best initial building blocks for the entire organ."

A unifying protocol

Starting with a panel of different cell lines and methodical approaches that were compared in parallel, the researchers finally succeeded in consistently generating cortical organoids in unprecedented accuracy. "One of the important achievements of our study is that we were able to reproduce the cellular diversity in each and every organoid," says Daniel Rosebrock, a computational researcher at the Elkabetz lab and the Department of Computational Molecular Biology at the MPIMG and the lead author of this interdisciplinary work. "While each organoid was able to retain the many different cell types, there was little difference between individual organoids." The researchers confirmed this in tissue stains and by sequencing of the individual cells' RNA.

"Across all protocols and lines, the organoids made with our new protocol exhibited both the highest and most consistent levels of cortical identity," says Rosebrock. This has implications on organoid disease models, too: "We learned that the derivation method determines whether a disease phenotype in an organoid model is meaningful at all."

Several neurodevelopmental diseases such as microcephaly have been modeled in organoids. They are caused by disruptions of the highly regulated process of cerebral cortical development. Early neural progenitor cells have to find a balance between a sufficient degree of self-renewal on the one hand and differentiation capacity on the other. It is therefore imperative to investigate these processes in disease modeling.

Cell-culture breakthrough

The scientists demonstrated that their organoids develop oRG cells, the special kind of neural stem cells that are known to play a critical role in brain development in humans and apes. They are responsible for the huge cortical brain hemispheres in primates.

"Our oRG cells gradually become the most important stem cells in our brain as it develops," Elkabetz says. After a certain period of growth, these cells comprise a major stem cell population in the brain. "Of course, the developing brains of primates and humans in particular are rarely accessible to researchers, and therefore cultured oRG cells are a great opportunity for developmental research and for future therapeutic applications."

After 50 days of growth, the team's organoids are considerably enriched with this type of stem cell. "We have developed a method to generate and enrich oRG cells in the dish in a robust and consistent way that has not been described previously," Elkabetz says. "This is a pretty substantial achievement. We will finally be able to make more meaningful models of diseases like microcephaly that are closer to the truth of a real organ."

The findings provide a platform to build upon, for future applications in basic research, pharmacological testing, or in the clinic, the scientist concludes: "We provide a solid foundation for the generation of neural stem cells that are capable of forming the rich cellular diversity, which is the hallmark of the cortex. We believe this will lead to organoid disease models that will advance research in major ways."

Explore further Nothing to cry about: The development of tear duct organoids

More information: Daniel Rosebrock et al, Enhanced cortical neural stem cell identity through short SMAD and WNT inhibition in human cerebral organoids facilitates emergence of outer radial glial cells, Nature Cell Biology (2022). Journal information: Nature Cell Biology Daniel Rosebrock et al, Enhanced cortical neural stem cell identity through short SMAD and WNT inhibition in human cerebral organoids facilitates emergence of outer radial glial cells,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41556-022-00929-5
Dutch and American engineers install SPEXone on the PACE satellite. Credit: GSFC

Over the past few weeks, a group of engineers from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Airbus Netherlands and NASA has been working on installing the Dutch aerosol instrument SPEXone on NASA's PACE satellite. PACE will conduct measurements on oceans and aerosols to study the influence of particulates on the climate. It is scheduled for launch in 2024. On June 23, the last screw is tightened, which officially completes the integration.

At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, the climate satellite PACE was waiting on her first measurement instrument when on June 8, a group of Dutch and American engineers walked into the cleanroom. SPEXone, together with the instruments HARP2 and OCI, will provide the spacecraft with a razor sharp view of the Earth to measure the color of its oceans and map the properties of aerosols. The Dutch SPEXone instrumentdeveloped by SRON and Airbus Netherlands with support from TNOis responsible for the aerosol measurements together with HARP2 and is now the first instrument to be integrated on the satellite.

Aerosols are small dust particles in the air, such as soot, ash and desert dust. They have a major influence on air pollution and climate change, but their precise role is insufficiently known. That is why scenarios for global warming up to the year 2100 vary by approximately 3 degrees Celsius. Most aerosols reflect light and have a cooling effect on the Earth, but they can also have a warming effect due to absorption. SPEXone will map out the properties of aerosols, such as size, shape, composition and absorbing/reflecting power. It also helps the OCI instrument to measure the color of the oceans and thus monitor the amount of plankton. This is because a correction is necessary due to aerosol scattering.

Engineer Jochen Campo inspects SPEXone at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Credit: Dennis Henry/GSFC

In February 2021, SPEXone was finalized in The Netherlands, in the presence of the Dutch science minister, and was transported to Goddard. Since then, the Dutch team has conducted several tests to verify that the instrument had arrived in one piece and survived months of storage. "But this is the most exciting moment," says SRON engineer Alexander Eigenraam just before his journey to the U.S. "The alignment needs to be spot on. We especially have to watch out that it is not slightly twisted. We mount SPEXone on a vertical side of the satellite, so that makes it extra difficult. And we need to switch to NASA's test systems and electronics. This is necessary because SPEXone is now linked to the satellite, and no outside computers are allowed to connect to it."

The PACE satellite at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center awaiting its first measurement instrument. SPEXone was later mounted on the front side. Credit: Dennis Henry/GSFC

The Dutch SPEXone instrument is a candidate to also become part of the European CO2M satellite, which will map the concentrations of CO 2 in the Earth's atmosphere. Aerosols affect CO 2 measurements, so an aerosol instrument is needed for corrections.

Explore further Aerosol instrument starts measurement campaign in European airspace
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

When we think about ancient Egypt, the first things that come to mind are usually mummies and sarcophagi. According to researcher and Rijksmuseum van Oudheden curator Lara Weiss, that impression is unjustified. She made an audio tour for the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden that focuses on living Egyptians and their relationship with death and the dead.

"If you invest that much time and effort in being able to live on in the afterlife, that's a clear sign you have a real appreciation for life," says Weiss. "The fact that we always talk about death in ancient Egypt is mostly due to how the collections came into being."

Weiss would rather focus on the lives of the ancient Egyptians, but even in her case, death is never far away. Her VIDI project, "The Walking Dead at Saqqara", is centered around the life and rituals of the Egyptian City of the Dead, Saqqara.

"Because of movies like 'The Mummy,' there's a misconception that it's very spooky or strange there, but the ancient Egyptians were actually very pragmatic. They'd take a 'receipt' to their grave to ensure that payment for their crossing to the afterlife would go smoothly or as proof that their servants were paid for their hard work. This 'receipt' wasn't written on a piece of papyrus, but instead was permanently carved into one of the walls of the burial chamber," she explains.

These kinds of depictions enable modern-day researchers to map out what a funeral of these people used to look like. "Most of the deceased have a depiction of a procession of grave goods entering the tomb, for example," Weiss further explains, "but you can see the most differences in what kind of details have been chosen to depict. One only depicts anonymous people, while the other shows his wife or servants. The choice who is represented says something about the person who made that choice (i.e. the tomb owner), but also about his networks and social environment."

Weiss translated such findings into an audio tour for the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. "A VIDI project and an audio tour obviously have wildly different target audiences," she says. "An audio tour requires a lot more basic information than an academic publication, and I made an effort to present a different viewpoint on the Ancient Egyptian museum collection than usual."

That is why the tour does not pause in front of the mummies. Instead, the listener is made to stop in front of pieces that connect the dead with the living, such as a letter to the dead and a Ba-bird, which symbolizes the soul of the deceased. The Ba can leave the tomb during the day and visit his relatives, for example.

"An audio tour is a wonderful way to challenge visitors to look at the small details of the objects. Who do you see? What are they doing? What is their relationship? I can't present all the research I've done at the museum, but I hope that people realize that the deceased have made choices that are unique to each individual. Around the time such a tomb was being built, you'd still have about ten, twenty years to live. You could make it more and more beautiful, similar to how people buy and decorate their homes today. It's a form of expression of a person's life and identity, and sometimes maybe also a way to compete with your neighbors," concludes Weiss.

Explore further Artifacts from King Tut's tomb set for international tour
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

When asteroid 2019 OK suddenly appeared barreling toward Earth on July 25, 2019, Luisa Fernanda Zambrano-Marin and the team at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico jumped into action.

After getting an alert, the radar scientists zoned in on the asteroid, which was coming from Earth's blind spotsolar opposition. Zambrano-Marin and the team had 30 minutes to get as many radar readings as they could. It was traveling so fast, that's all the time she'd have it in Arecibo's sights. UCF manages the Arecibo Observatory for the U.S. National Science Foundation under a cooperative agreement.

The asteroid made headline news because it appeared to come out of nowhere and was traveling fast.

Zambrano-Marin's findings were published in the Planetary Science Journal June 10, just a few weeks before the world observes Asteroid Day, which is June 30 and promotes global awareness to help educate the public about these potential threats.

"It was a real challenge," says Zambrano-Marin, a UCF planetary scientist. "No one saw it until it was practically passing by, so when we got the alert, we had very little time to act. Even so, we were able to capture a lot of valuable information."

Turns out the asteroid was between .04 and .08 miles in diameter and was moving fast. It was rotating at 3 to 5 minutes. That means it is part of only 4.2 percent of the known fast rotating asteroids. This is a growing group that the researchers say need more attention.

The data indicates that the asteroid is likely a C-type, which are made up of clay and silicate rocks, or S-type, which are made up of silicate and nickel-iron. C-type asteroids are among the most common and some of the oldest in our solar system. S-type are the second most common.

Zambrano-Marin is now inspecting the data collected through Arecibo's Planetary Radar database to continue her research. Although the observatory's telescope collapsed in 2020, the Planetary Radar team can tap the existing data bank that spans four decades. Science operations continue in the areas of space and atmospheric sciences, and the staff is refurbishing 12-meter antennae to continue with astronomy research.

"We can use new data from other observatories and compare it to the observations we have made here over the past 40 years," Zambrano-Marin says. "The radar data not only helps confirm information from optical observations, but it can help us identify physical and dynamical characteristics, which in turn could give us insights into appropriate deflection techniques if they were needed to protect the planet."

There are almost 30,000 known asteroids according to Center for Near Earth Studies and while few pose an immediate threat, there is a chance one of significant size could hit the earth and cause catastrophic damage. That's why NASA keeps a close watch and system to detect and characterize objects once they are found. NASA and other space agencies nations have been launching missions to explore Near-Earth Asteroids to better understand what they are made of and how they move in anticipation of having to divert one heading for earth in the future.

The OSIRIS REx mission, which includes UCF Pegasus Professor of Physics Humberto Campins, is headed back to Earth with a sample of asteroid Bennu, which gave scientists a few surprises. Bennu was first observed at Arecibo in 1999. A new missionNASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) missionaims to demonstrate the ability to redirect an asteroid using the kinetic energy of a projectile. The spacecraft launched in November 2021 and is expected to reach its targetthe Dimorphos asteroidon September 26, 2022.

Zambrano-Marin and the rest of the team at Arecibo are working on providing the scientific community with more information about the many kinds of asteroids in the solar system to help come up with contingency plans.

Explore further Largest asteroid to approach Earth in 2022 will zoom past our planet this week

More information: Luisa Fernanda Zambrano-Marin et al, Radar and Optical Characterization of Near-Earth Asteroid 2019 OK, The Planetary Science Journal (2022). Journal information: The Planetary Science Journal Luisa Fernanda Zambrano-Marin et al, Radar and Optical Characterization of Near-Earth Asteroid 2019 OK,(2022). DOI: 10.3847/PSJ/ac63cd
The team studied volcanic ash layers and lavas in the laboratories of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Programs (IODP) Bremen Core Repository, Germany. Credit: Dr Tom Gernon/University of Southampton

Scientists at the University of Southampton have discovered that stretching of the continents is likely to have caused one of the most extreme and abrupt episodes of global warming in Earth history.

The researchers, working with colleagues at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Leeds, the University of Oldenburg, the University of Florence and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, studied the effects of global tectonic forces and volcanic eruptions during a period of extreme environmental change 56 million years ago.

During this time, some sequence of events caused the planet to warm by 5-8C, culminating in the 'Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum' or PETM, which lasted about 170,000 years. This caused the extinction of many deep-sea organisms, reshaping the course of evolution of life on Earth.

The team propose that the extensive stretching of the continental plates in the northern hemisphererather like the pulling of a toffee bar that thins and eventually separatesmassively reduced the pressures in the Earth's deep interior. This then drove intense, but short-lived melting in the mantlea layer of sticky, molten rock just below the planet's crust. The team show that the resulting volcanic activity coincided with, and likely caused, a massive burst of carbon release into the atmosphere linked to PETM warming.

The researchers' findings are due to be published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The great speed and magnitude of warming mean that the PETM event is often considered as an ancient analog for understanding present-day warming, even though the mechanism is completely different.

"Despite the importance and wider relevance of the PETM to global change today, the underlying cause is highly debated" says Dr. Tom Gernon, an Associate Professor of Earth Science at the University of Southampton and lead author of the study. "It's generally agreed that a sudden and massive release of the greenhouse gas, carbon, from the Earth's interior must have driven this event, yet the scale and pace of warming is very hard to explain by conventional volcanic processes."

Using archives of rock drilled beneath the seafloor near the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, the team found critical evidence for an abrupt and widespread episode of volcanic activity across the North Atlantic Ocean that lasted just over 200,000 years, strikingly similar to the duration of the PETM.

This finding prompted the team to investigate a broader expanse of the North Atlantic region, including Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Here, they found that kilometer-thick piles of lava that started to erupt just before the PETM show unusual compositions that point to a significant increase in the amount of melting of the uppermost solid part of Earth's mantle beneath the continent.

"This finding is significant, because we know that parts of the continental mantle in this region are enriched in carbonates, a major source of carbon", explains Dr. Gernon. "This rapid increase in mantle melting likely released a very large volume of carboncertainly more than we had previously expected."

The intense volcanic activity occurred just as the continental landmass that united Greenland and Europe was most intensely stretched by plate tectonic forces. Eventually, North America and Greenland finally separated from Europe, leading to the birth of the North Atlantic Ocean. The scientists believe it was this final phase of stretching that brought about substantial melting in the Earth's mantle, leading to massive carbon release, and in-turn, global warming.

The team used a range of different models to estimate how much carbon could have been released via this process. "Using physically realistic estimates of the key characteristics of these volcanic systems, we show that the amount of carbon needed to drive warming could have been attained by enhanced melting" says Dr. Thea Hincks, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Southampton and co-author on the study.

The scientists conclude that rapid gas release from the solid Earth plays a major role in driving abrupt warming events like the PETM, which are very likely to have occurred during many other times in Earth history. "Such rapid events cause a fundamental reorganization of Earth's surface environment, altering vast ecosystems", concludes Dr. Gernon.

More information: Thomas Gernon, Transient mobilization of subcrustal carbon coincident with PalaeoceneEocene Thermal Maximum, Nature Geoscience (2022). www.nature.com/articles/s41561-022-00967-6 Journal information: Nature Geoscience Thomas Gernon, Transient mobilization of subcrustal carbon coincident with PalaeoceneEocene Thermal Maximum,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41561-022-00967-6
Credit: Shutterstock

About a year ago, many of us were in lockdown. State premiers fronted the media every day to reveal how many people had tested positive for COVID and how many people had died.

The number of deaths were prominent in news bulletins. We would lament the sadness of it all, until the next day's data arrived.

A year later, Australia has an average of about 50 COVID deaths a day. We have had more than 9,300 COVID deaths since the pandemic began. Yet, these deaths are barely mentioned in the Australian media.

Australia COVID update: Nearly 33,000 new cases  New cases: 32,903

 Average: 28,029 (+273)

 In hospital: 3,022 (-36)

 In ICU: 108 (+3)

 New deaths: 62

 Average: 52 (+1) More data: https://t.co/vAqQQ0fI44 pic.twitter.com/00OgNlJ3UJ  BNN  Newsroom (@BNNAU) June 22, 2022

We seem to have lost the collective opportunity to acknowledge lives lost. And when we don't talk about these traumatic deaths, there's a long-term impact on those left behind.

Is traumatic loss different?

All grief is hard to cope with. But when grief is combined with the type of trauma we'd see with a violent or sudden death, we can see something different over the long term.

If the media doesn't discuss the losses, this can complicate the traumatic grief and lead to something called prolonged grief disorder.

This type of grief can extend far beyond the first year after the loss. People yearn for their life before their loved one was taken away. This impacts their capacity to keep moving forward, long after the death occurs.

How does this apply to COVID?

People who have lost a loved one to COVID can feel lonely and isolated. They can also develop prolonged grief disorder.

It can be traumatic to say goodbye under hospital restrictions or losing the opportunity for grief ritualsviewings, funerals and sharing the loss with othersdespite many others going through a similar loss.

People who develop prolonged grief disorder after losing a loved one to COVID may find they have more severe and prolonged grief responses. This can lead to adverse outcomes such as an increased pre-occupation with their grief, intense emotions and difficulty connecting with their life after the loss.

But if we look to Australian media, it appears the community is no longer focused on the faces of those lives lost.

What has the media got to do with it?

Media coverage has long been intertwined with how we grieve.

When the media publicizes first-person accounts of people's lives, images or faces of people who died, or continually updates the toll of lives lost, this has an impact on those left behind, especially if there was a sudden and traumatic death.

This type of media coverage allows viewers to collectively empathize with people left behind, placing stories against the abstract statistics of death. The community can share in that sorrow vicariously and the media exposure increases the community's understanding of what that loss means.

We've seen examples of this on social media, for instance with the @FacesOfCOVID Twitter account, which pays tribute to five or six people a day who have died of COVID.

However, we haven't seen the equivalent tributes, on a daily basis, in the mainstream media.

If we don't pay tribute to lives lost, this can affect people left behind in many ways:

fewer shared images, names or acknowledgments limits how many people hear about someone who's died, so fewer can express their grief

families lose the chance to say to others "this is the person I have lost" to show people their pain

people who have also lost someone don't get to see others bearing the same pain.

Each traumatic loss affects many others

More people are impacted by a sudden or traumatic loss, such as a homicide or suicide, than we once thought. One study suggests as many as 135 people are significantly affected. For each COVID death, another study shows up to nine people are impacted.

Irrespective of whether there are nine or 135 people feeling the ripple effects, the number of deaths we have experienced in Australia tells us thousands are living with the grief of a traumatic COVID death.

This grief will shape people's experiences of the world, dulling possibilities for joy, making it difficult to accept the finality of a loss. This will be exacerbated by how little we focused on those losses as a community.

A lack of media coverage of COVID deaths means we have also lost moments of shared empathya space for others to see people who are traveling the same path.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

After the recent shooting in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers, some local residents want the school demolished. Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez said that President Joe Biden has offered to help the school district secure a federal grant for the building's demolition.

This is not uncommon. In numerous similar cases, buildings were knocked down, abandoned or repurposed in the aftermath of a tragedy. After the Sandy Hook massacre of 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut, that school was destroyed and rebuilt on a different spot on the same property, at a cost of US$50 million. And in 1996, the town of Gloucester in England bought the house where a couple, Fred and Rosemary West, raped, tortured, and killed 12 young women. The town razed the property to the ground, burned all timber, pulverized each brick and dumped the debris at a secret location before turning the lot into a park.

At a visceral level, this seems obvious: Most people would be uncomfortable carrying on business as usual at the site of a bloodbath. But as an anthropologist who studies some of the most meaningful human experiences, I know that human reactions that feel obvious may often be hard to explain. Why would tearing down and rebuilding it make the situation any better? The answer lies in human psychology.

Notions of contagion

Research suggests that we, as humans, are natural-born essentialists. That is, we intuitively think of objects as having certain immaterial inner qualities or essences, which can be transmitted through contact. For instance, participants in an experiment conducted by psychologists Carol Nemeroff and Paul Rozin refused to wear a sweater that belonged to a serial killer, although they were happy to wear an identical sweater that belonged to someone else.

These intuitions can be observed outside of the laboratory as well. For instance, a study conducted in Hong Kong looked at the effects of death on real estate prices. As it turns out, when a murder, suicide or fatal accident occurred in a house, its market value decreased by as much as 25%, and even nearby properties lost part of their value.

Early anthropologists described this as a form of "magical thinking." Scottish anthropologist James Frazer argued that this type of reasoning rests upon two basic principles common in all human societies. The first is the "law of similarity," the idea that physical resemblance implies some deeper connection. This explains the belief found in many cultures that stabbing a doll that resembles a person could cause harm to that person.

The second principle is what Frazer called the "law of contagion." It states that when two things come into contact, they transfer part of their properties to each other. This is why John Lennon's piano sold for over $2 million, and why U.S. Rep. Bob Brady took the glass of water from which Pope Francis had drank during a 2015 address to the U.S. Congress and later shared it with his family. The assumption is that some of the qualities of the person who once came in contact with the object will rub off. "Anything the pope touches becomes blessed," Brady said.

If these beliefs and behaviors are based on mistaken premises, should we humor them, or should we dismiss them as irrational? Once again, human psychology might provide the answer.

The power of symbolism

We are a symbolic species. We experience things around us based not simply on their physical properties. We care about where they come from, their histories, their connections and what they stand for. This goes beyond what we think about those thingsit also affects how we interact with them.

Psychologists George Newman and Paul Bloom designed an experiment to see whether beliefs about an object's contagiousness could be altered. They asked people how much they would pay to purchase a sweater previously owned by a beloved celebrity. As they expected, most were willing to shell out substantially more than what a brand-new sweater would cost.

But here is the twist: When told that it would be thoroughly washed before being handed to them, people were less interested in buying the sweater. Inversely, when the researchers asked them the same question about a famous person they despised, participants were willing to pay a higher price after the item had been sterilized. It appears that physical purification would be perceived as removing part of the sweater's essence.

Purification rites

Cultural traditions around the world tap into these intuitions to soothe people's fears and anxieties. In some cases, washing the body is meant to cleanse the soul, which is what happens in baptisms. In other cases, purification comes through the destruction of the evil substance or its proxy.

On New Year's Day, people in various parts of Latin America build life-size effigies, or "munecos," that resemble wicked things and persons: corrupt public officials, villains, personal foes and even the coronavirus. Then they set them ablaze. Their demise is meant to exorcize their polluting power and symbolize hope for the coming year.

Since these practices rely on universal parts of human psychology, they make sense to people who are not religious too. Take, for example, the attendees of Burning Man, an annual festival in Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Ostensibly, this is a crowd as secular as they come: only 5% of them self-identify as religious. Yet thousands of people flock to a makeshift temple where they leave memorabilia related to some of their most traumatic experiences. They then gather to watch the temple burn to the ground, many of them in tears, carrying all the bad memories with it.

There is a powerful cathartic aspect to those purification rituals. Symbolic gestures often speak to our psyche in ways no rational action could ever speak to our intellect. In times of tragedy, it is important to acknowledge this fundamental aspect of our humanity. For even as the pain remains, the knowledge that a tangible reminder of it has been undone can be soothing.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Creative rendition of SARS-CoV-2 particles (not to scale). Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH

The original SARS-CoV-2 viral strain that emerged in early 2020 was able to latch on to sugars known as sialic acids, found on the surface of human cells, an ability that later strains did not retain.

This binding was found using a combination of magnetic resonance and extremely precise high-resolution imaging, conducted at the Rosalind Franklin Institute and University of Oxford, and published in the journal Science this week.

This unique ability in the early strain also raises the possibility that this is how the virus first transferred from animals to humans.

Subsequent variants of concern, such as Delta and Omicron, do not have this ability to grab sialic acid and rely on receptors on their crown spikes to attach to proteins called ACE2 on human cells.

An international team led by scientists at the Rosalind Franklin Institute used magnetic resonance and complex imaging techniques to investigate further. Using a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy technique called saturation transfer difference, they developed a new, sophisticated analysis method to address the complex problem. They have called the technique universal saturation transfer analysis (uSTA).

Professor Ben Davis of the Rosalind Franklin Institute and University of Oxford, one of the paper's senior authors, said, "Two of the ongoing mysteries of the coronavirus pandemic are the mechanisms behind viral transmission and the origins of the zoonotic leap.

"There is evidence that some influenza viruses can grab sialic acid on the surface of human host cells, and this has been seen in Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which is a coronavirus. Although SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern had not shown this mechanism, our research finds that the viral strain that emerged in early 2020 could use this as a way of getting into human cells."

The binding mechanism is found on the end of the N-terminal domain, which is a part of the virus that evolves more rapidly. The domain has previously been implicated in sialic acid binding but until the Rosalind Franklin Institute team applied high-resolution precision imaging and analysis, this was unproven.

As to why the virus has discarded the sugar binding feature as it has evolved into new variants, Professor Davis hypothesizes that it may be necessary for the initial zoonotic leap into humans from animals but that it can then be hidden until it is required againparticularly if the feature is broadly detrimental to the virus's mission of replication and infection within humans.

The finding correlates with evidence from the first wave in Italy. The Italian Genomics Consortium saw a correlation between severity of COVID-19 illness and genetics, as patients with a particular gene mutationone that affects the type of sialic acid on cellswere underrepresented in intensive care units. This suggested the virus was finding it easier to infect some genotypes compared to others.

Professor James Naismith, Director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, says, "With our ultra-high precision imaging and new method of analysis we can see a previously unknown structure at the very end of the SARS-CoV-2 spike. The amazing thing is that our finding correlates with what the Italian researchers noted in the first wave, suggesting that this was a key role in early infection.

"The new technique can be used by others to shed light on other viral structures and answer extremely detailed questions. This work is an example of the unique technologies the Rosalind Franklin Institute was set up to develop."

Explore further Nanobodies hold the key to imaging COVID-19

More information: Charles J. Buchanan et al, Pathogen-sugar interactions revealed by universal saturation transfer analysis, Science (2022). Journal information: Science Charles J. Buchanan et al, Pathogen-sugar interactions revealed by universal saturation transfer analysis,(2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abm3125

Provided by The Rosalind Franklin Institute
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Wharton marketing professor Wendy De La Rosa was enjoying dinner with family when her cousin started raving about a new arrangement with his employer that allows him to access his wages each day through an app, rather than waiting for payday.

More businesses are offering this type of pay as a benefit to lure workers, especially during a tight labor market exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Walmart, McDonald's, Wendy's, Arby's, Big Lots, and Kroger are among many restaurants and retailers that have adopted on-demand pay, but even some professional firms are jumping on the trend. For De La Rosa, whose research focuses on consumer behavior, that conversation with her cousin sparked all sorts of questions about what happens to spending and saving patterns when workers are paid more frequently.

"We're moving into this world where people have access to their funds much more rapidly than they used to a couple of years ago," she said during an interview with Wharton Business Daily on SiriusXM.

In a co-authored study, De La Rosa found that people who are paid more often tend to spend more because their perception of their personal wealth changesthey think they have more money than they actually do.

"When you get paid every day, you have less uncertainty about whether or not you're going to make it through the month because you feel like, "I'm going to get money tomorrow,'" De La Rosa explained. "You end up spending more on things you don't necessarily need. You're more likely to eat out or buy nondiscretionary items."

The study, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, is titled "The Impact of Payment Frequency on Consumer Spending and Subjective Wealth Perceptions." It was written with Stephanie M. Tully, marketing professor at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.

For the study, the professors analyzed the spending habits of 30,000 American consumers using data provided by a financial services company. They also conducted several lab simulations to gather additional data. Throughout the research, they found a consistent correlation between higher spending and higher pay frequency. The correlation was stronger among lower-paid workers than higher-paid ones.

"If we take somebody who gets paid once a month and give them their pay every weekday, our data would suggest that they would end up spending over $250 more throughout the year, which is more than double what the average American spends on books, newspapers, and magazines combined," De La Rosa said. "This has real dollars behind it, and it may have real consequences for consumers' financial well-being."

'The Beauty of Our Brains'

De La Rosa doesn't malign the practice of on-demand pay, pointing out that it's helpful for people who have real-life liquidity constraints and need their money faster to pay the rent or utilities. But human beings are not "completely rational machines" who lack an emotional relationship with money. Getting paid daily leads to a false sense of wealth, which can fundamentally change spending. That's why she and Tully advocate for the development of interventions to encourage better saving habits for people taking advantage of on-demand pay. One example would be limiting instant access to several times a month.

De La Rosa said the wealth subjectivity that they found in the research is a good reminder that "we have to recognize the beauty of our brains," which excel at creating all sorts of biases, shortcuts, and rationalizations to get through life.

"No one wants to spend their entire day thinking about their finances. We have better things to do," she said. "So, the more that we can create interventions where people don't have to actively think about their financial situation and just put it on auto-play, I think the better a society we will be."

One of the more concerning aspects of on-demand pay that the professors note in the research is the cost of using digital tools. Many of the apps and software add-ons charge a fee of up to $2.99 for instant wage access. A person making $15 an hour who taps their cash five days a week ends up paying the equivalent of 428% in annual interest.

"When you work out the math, the interest in that turns out to be worse than a payday loan," De La Rosa said.

Research is ongoing to figure out the best ways to put guardrails around on-demand pay, she added. It's a complicated dance of finance and psychology, but it's worth it to help the most vulnerable workers.

"We have to understand the mental processes so we can turn it on its head for good instead of for bad," she said.

Explore further Changing how you think about spending, saving can change financial behavior

More information: Wendy De La Rosa et al, The Impact of Payment Frequency on Consumer Spending and Subjective Wealth Perceptions, Journal of Consumer Research (2021). Journal information: Journal of Consumer Research Wendy De La Rosa et al, The Impact of Payment Frequency on Consumer Spending and Subjective Wealth Perceptions,(2021). DOI: 10.1093/jcr/ucab052
Eastern hemlock trees in the study area. Changes in the abundance of beech and hemlock are responsible for much of the woody biomass stored in Midwestern forests over the last 10,000 years. Credit: David Mladenoff

When plants breathe in carbon from the atmosphere and store it in their leaves, branches, trunks and roots, they help the Earth maintain a carbon balancea crucial component to a steady climate.

While this woody biomass contains one of the largest pools of terrestrial carbon, changes in the magnitude of woody biomass over millennia are poorly known, with most direct observations of vegetation biomass spanning no more than a few decades. Because trees grow very slowly, this lack of data leads to a substantial knowledge gap. In the absence of empirical data, scientists make assumptions that lead to uncertainties about long-term carbon sink and projections of the future carbon-climate system.

A new study published in the journal Science on June 23, 2022 seeks to fill this knowledge gap. Led by Ann Raiho of the University of Maryland's Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), an international team of scientists reconstructed the natural pace and pattern of carbon storage, painting a vivid image of how forests developed over centuries. The findings have the potential to shift ongoing debates about how landscapes can be managed to maximize carbon storage while also meeting conservation goals.

A visualization animating the reconstructions of Midwestern biomass over the last 10,000 years. In the top chart, areas of deeper green indicate regions with higher magnitude of biomass. The bar charts show the changing distribution of biomass in grid cells within each of the three sub-regional clusters. The line chart demonstrates that biomass has gradually grown. Credit: Ann Reiho/University of Maryland

"We found that the forests in the Midwestern U.S. were expanding and getting bigger over the last 10,000 years," said Raiho, a postdoctoral associate at ESSIC. "This tells us that the prehistoric baseline for understanding forests was wrong and that it's important from a carbon sequestration perspective to preserve trees that grow larger and live longer."

For the study, the team developed ReFAB (Reconstructing Forest Aboveground Biomass), a Bayesian model that estimates aboveground woody biomass based on a time-series of fossil pollen assemblages in sediments. They used ReFAB to statistically reconstruct changes in woody biomass across a 600,000-plus kilometer area in the Upper Midwest of the U.S. over the last 10,000 years.

The researchers found that after an initial postglacial decline, woody biomass nearly doubled during the last 8,000 years. This result differs substantially from prior reconstructions of forest biomass in eastern Canada, which could be due to forest species differences between regions. Previous studies also used simpler models that did not account for uncertainties in the data and found results that indicated little or no change in biomass over the last 6,000 years. ReFAB corrects these uncertaintiesby accounting for temporal autocorrelation, uncertainty in sediment-dating, and uncertainty in the relationship between aboveground woody biomass and multivariate pollen dataallowing researchers to zoom in to a finer scale, uncovering trends that were previously hidden.

"We found that the ecology of forests matters for understanding the carbon cycle," Raiho said. "The steady accumulation of carbon was driven by two separate ecological responses to regionally changing climate: the spread of forested biomes and the population expansion of high-biomass tree species within forests."

However, the woody biomass that took millennia to accumulate took under two centuries to destroy. Industrial-era logging and agriculture severely depleted this carbon accumulation. The researchers found that the decline in woody biomass in the studied region occurred at more than 10 times the rate of aboveground woody biomass change in any century over the last 10,000 years.

This discovery could change the way that forests are managed to mitigate the effects of climate change. Storage of biomass in the region was driven by the population expansion of high biomass tree species such as the Eastern Hemlock and American Beech. Once these species were established, high biomass forests were sustained regionally for millennia. This reconstruction confirms arguments that high-biomass species in old forests play important roles in carbon storage and should be preserved.

"Forest management should emphasize sustaining populations of large trees," Raiho said. "This has the potential to emulate the natural carbon sequestration processes and ultimately extend the timescales and magnitude at which terrestrial ecosystems will continue to buffer climate change by acting as a carbon sink."

The team will be moving forward with this work with NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI), which will enable the protection of large trees by providing high resolution maps of the 3D structure of forests around the world. GEDI will expand existing knowledge about biomass magnitude, structure, and density. With this wealth of information, researchers will be able to better predict the future of forests.

Raiho and her team plan to use this reconstruction data to improve the simulation models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to better understand how climate change will impact Earth and its ecosystems. Raiho's work will improve these simulations and forecasts by informing the vegetation component in the models.

"This work would not be possible without all of the people who collected and counted the fossil pollen data," Raiho said. "There were probably a hundred people over the last several decades who did all the field work. We used over 232 fossil pollen cores in this research. Thousands of hours went into the data collection. We used the Neotoma database to access this valuable data."

In addition to Raiho, this study included researchers from the University of Notre Dame, University of California, Berkeley, University of Calgary and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Explore further Deforestation drives climate change that harms remaining forest

More information: A. M. Raiho et al, 8,000 year doubling of Midwestern forest biomass driven by population- and biome-scale processes, Science (2022). www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk3126 Journal information: Science A. M. Raiho et al, 8,000 year doubling of Midwestern forest biomass driven by population- and biome-scale processes,(2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abk3126
From contemporary and ancient DNA, UC Berkeley researchers estimated when population bottlenecks occurred for several hundred groups around the world and throughout recent human history. The colors indicate the number of generations the bottleneck or founder event preceded the individuals whose DNA was sequenced. Credit: Remi Tournebize, UC Berkeley

Human populations have waxed and waned over the millennia, with some cultures exploding and migrating to new areas or new continents, others dropping to such low numbers that their genetic diversity plummeted. In some small populations, inbreeding causes once rare genetic diseases to become common, despite their deleterious effects.

A new analysis of more than 4,000 ancient and contemporary human genomes shows how common such "founder events" were in our history. A founder event is when a small number of ancestral individuals gives rise to a large fraction of the population, often because war, famine or disease drastically reduced the population, but also because of geographic isolationon islands, for exampleor cultural practices, as among Ashkenazi Jews or the Amish.

More than half of the 460 groups represented by these individuals had experienced a population bottleneck somewhere in their past that decreased their genetic diversity and likely increased the incidence of recessive hereditary diseases.

The analysis by population geneticists at the University of California, Berkeley, is the first comprehensive look at founder events across a broad swath of human populations over the past 10,000 years or so of human history and pinpoints when these events occurred.

According to the authors, the findings will be useful not only to archeologists and historians tracking the movement and mixing of populations around the world, but also to scientists and doctors studying human genetic variation. The genetic diseases of inbred populations have helped scientists find many disease-causing mutations in the human genome and discover the causes of numerous genetic and inherited diseases.

"Genomic data is really powerful because it not only tells us about where we come from, it tells us about our history at various different time scales, and you can look at how closely related different individuals are to each other," said senior author Priya Moorjani, an assistant professor of molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley. "But also, it tells us about bits of DNA that are functionally important and can cause diseases. So, they become quite important to study from a biomedical perspective."

Many of the populations represented by individuals in the sample were or are much more inbred than ethnic Ashkenazi Jews, who some scientists have estimated once dwindled to a population of less than a couple of thousand individuals about 1,000 years ago. The Onge, a group in the Andaman Islands of the Indian Ocean, underwent a population bottleneck 10 times more extreme than that of Ashkenazi Jews, and today it numbers only about 100 individuals.

The researchers found that many Native American populations and groups from Oceania and South Asia also suffered severe population bottlenecks. Some coincide with known historical eventsfor instance, the residents of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) underwent a founder event about 260 years ago, coincident with the migration of Europeans to the island.

Others correlate well with the known movement of peoples into an area and with changing cultural artifacts and practices. For example, Anatolian farmers and Eurasian steppe pastoralists moved into Europe between about 4,000 and 10,000 years ago, and the groups intermingled with existing European hunter-gatherers.

"The first surprise was that over half the groups we surveyed had evidence for founder events," Moorjani said. "So, it's not just Ashkenazi Jews or Finns that have a unique history, but many populations living today have had strong founder eventsin fact, stronger founder events than these two groups, like several contemporary South Asian groups, hunter-gatherers or populations living on islands. And many of these groups would be really important for prioritizing functional studies. We have learned so much about genetic variation from groups like Ashkenazi Jews and Finns that the potential for discovery is really high if we can expand these studies to other worldwide populations."

Moorjani, former UC Berkeley undergraduate Gillian Chu and first author Remi Tournebize, now a postdoctoral fellow at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia in Oeiras, Portugal, published their findings today in the journal PLOS Genetics.

A founder event impacts the genetic diversity of a population. In this graphic, individuals in a population have genomes containing various genomic segments (colored bars at top) that are inherited 'identical-by-descent' from a common ancestor. A bottleneck, however, reduces the diversity of segments. Because of recombination events over time, the lengths of these segments gradually shorten (moving clockwise around clock). Together, these tell researchers about the founder strength and age, respectively. Credit: Remi Tournebize, UC Berkeley

Working with incomplete ancient DNA

The analysis was made possible by a genomics analysis program called ASCEND (Allele Sharing Correlation for the Estimation of Non-equilibrium Demography), which was created by Tournebize and Moorjani specifically to analyze partial genome sequencesin particular, ancient DNA. This DNA is generally sequenced from bones or teeth that are hundreds to thousands of years old and represent not only our Homo sapiens ancestors, but other human groups, like Neanderthals and Denisovans.

Such DNA is typically damaged so that only a portion of the individual's genome can be sequenced. But since human genomes contain about 3 billion base pairs of DNA, even a mere 100,000 base pairs can provide information about that person's heritage, Moorjani said. Many genome analysis programs today work only with nearly complete genome sequences, primarily from contemporaneous peoples.

"While ancient DNA is really powerful, one of the challenges is that it has much lower quality compared to data from living people, because once an individual dies, the DNA starts degrading, and it's very hard to recover very high quality data compared to present-day individuals," Moorjani said. "But the majority of the demographic inference methods are built thinking that you can get large numbers of samples from populations and high-quality data across the genome. Our methods were developed to leverage this low-coverage, highly degraded DNA to really understand our evolutionary history."

ASCEND measures the sharing of DNA between individuals within and across populations. When a population undergoes a founder event, its size dwindles to a few individuals. The offspring of these founder individuals, in turn, share long blocks in their genome that are inherited "identical by descent" from these few ancestors. As time passes, these blocks will become smaller due to crossover events that occur during meiosis, when chromosomes duplicate and mix before segregating to egg and sperm cells. The rate of crossovers is well characterized and provides a kind of molecular clock. The ASCEND program compares how large the shared blocks are within individuals in a population to infer when the individuals might have shared a common ancestor, i.e., when a founder event occurred in the population's history. A large-scale, pair-wise statistical comparison of genomic DNA allows an estimation of when and how intense the bottleneck was.

The genome data came from the Allen Ancient DNA Resource, a database created by David Reich and collaborators at Harvard University, with whom Moorjani earned her Ph.D. The public database currently includes available present-day and ancient genomes from more than 14,000 individuals and more than a million common mutations or variantssingle nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPswithin those DNA sequences. At the time Moorjani started her study, the database held fewer ancient and modern genomes. She and Tournebize focused on the genomes of 2,310 present-day individuals from 184 groups, then expanded their study to look at an additional 1,947 individuals representing 164 worldwide ancient populations.

"Applying this method, we uncovered founder events that had not been identified previously, for instance, in populations from ancient Morocco or Siberia," Tournebize said. "As a French guy, I was really surprised to discover a founder event in Basque people, dated around the 1st century BCE and possibly related to Roman colonization of this region. We'll need more genetic data, especially from ancient samples, and collaboration with social scientists to understand the detailed historical events that might be associated with this bottleneck."

To test the ASCEND program in other species, Moorjani and Tournebize turned to dogs. The genome sequences of about 40 modern dog breeds are available, so the researchers ran them through the program to determine how long ago founder events occurred in breeds ranging from African village dogsthe least inbredto breeds like boxers, dobermans and rottweilers, the most inbred. Consistent with the establishment of many dog breeds during Victorian times, they confirmed extreme founder events in most breeds within the last 25 generations, that is, 75 to 125 years.

"Dogs are so interesting that it was exciting to expand the analysis to another species, but it was really sad to see how strong the founder events are," she said. "Most dogs these days have so many more problems than village dogs. Their rates of cancers and congenital diseases are pretty high. And that's largely because of these very severe founder events in their history during breed formation."

Using ASCEND, UC Berkeley researchers determined the intensity and timing of founder events in 40 breeds of dogs. The most intense, with the greatest inbreeding, are labeled purple at upper right, with less intense founder events moving clockwise. African village dogs are the least inbred. The inner (gray) rim represents the founder age (in generations before present), with the bar height proportional to the founder age. The width of the bars is inversely proportional to the number of breeds within each role category. Credit: Remi Tournebize, UC Berkeley

Population mixing

In another recent paper, Moorjani and her colleagues described a different genomics analysis program that analyzes a single individual's genome, whether complete or partial, and estimates the amount of admixture of other populations over time. The researchers used this program, called DATES (Distribution of Ancestry Tracts of Evolutionary Signals), to analyze about 1,100 ancient genomes and reconstruct major gene flow events in Europe since about 10,000 BCE.

One surprising finding was that the genomes of Anatolian farmers, who lived in what is today Turkey, show admixture of genes from Iranian Neolithic farmers long before the advent of agriculture in Anatolia. This suggests that farming did not originate in Anatolia, as many archeologists have suggested.

"We had samples of Anatolian hunter-gatherers who don't have Iranian ancestry and samples of Anatolian early farmers who have Iranian ancestry, but we didn't know when this mixture occurred," she said. "In our case, we were able to actually figure out the key time point when this group formed, which predates agriculture in the region. And based on that, we are able to tell that farming must have spread through cultural diffusion, rather than having originated in Anatolia."

Another discovery was the timing for the formation of Bronze Age steppe pastoralists. These groups made a large impact, both genetically and demographically, in Eurasia during the Bronze Age and, according to some studies, are responsible for the spread of Indo-European languages. Archeological studies suggest these groups inhabited regions of the steppe in present day Russia and Ukraine from 3,300 to 2,600 BCE. Using the genetic dating method, the researchers found these groups were genetically formed between 4,400 and 4,000 BCE, predating previous findings by over a half a millennium.

"Our study emphasizes the power of dating population mixtures and formation, rather than just using temporal sampling and tracking the presence or absence of a particular ancestry in ancient samples, which is highly dependent on sampling choice and density," said UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow Manjusha Chintalapati, first author of the paper.

Moorjani plans to use ASCEND and DATES to take a closer look at many ancient populations, in particular those in India, that have strong founder events that suggest the possibility of many unrecognized recessive diseases that could help to reduce disease burden in the group and shed light on the basic functions of human genes.

"In our analysis, we find that 64% of South Asian populations have very strong founder events, so we are trying to do targeted sample collection in these groups to characterize some of the deleterious variants due to the founder events," she said.

DATES, for example, suggests that each isolated population in South Asia has admixtures of local indigenous hunter-gatherers, Near Eastern farmers and Steppe pastoralists or herders, but in different proportions that remained the same for many hundreds of generations. Strikingly, most European populations also derive ancestry from similar three groups, though the groups have continued to freely mix with each other after the initial mixture.

"It's really exciting to do this work at Berkeley, where Allan Wilson's lab came up with the idea of a molecular clock, and to continue on his path to use genomic data for learning about the timing of different evolutionary events," Moorjani said, referring to the late biochemist and pioneer of molecular evolution, who died in 1991.

Explore further South Asian genomes could be boon for disease research, scientists say

More information: Remi Tournebize et al, Reconstructing the history of founder events using genome-wide patterns of allele sharing across individuals, PLOS Genetics (2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010243 Remi Tournebize et al, Reconstructing the history of founder events using genome-wide patterns of allele sharing across individuals,(2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010243 Manjusha Chintalapati et al, The spatiotemporal patterns of major human admixture events during the European Holocene, eLife (2022). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.77625 Journal information: PLoS Genetics
Hypothesised reconstruction of Vampyronassa rhodanica. Credit: A. Lethiers, CR2P-SU

The Jurassic cephalopod Vampyronassa rhodanica, thought to be the oldest known ancestor of the modern-day vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis), was likely an active huntera mode of life that is in contrast with its opportunistic descendant. Scientists led by Sorbonne University came to this conclusion after analyzing microtomographic data of this rare fossil, acquired at the ESRF and the Museum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris. The results are published in Scientific Reports.

Vampyronassa rhodanica is thought to be one of the oldest relatives of the modern-day vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis), which is the only remaining living species of its family. This modern form lives in extreme deep ocean environments, often with little oxygen, and feeds on drifting organic matter. Like V. infernalis, the body of V. rhodanica was mostly made of soft tissue. As this rarely fossilizes, little is known about the physical characteristics and evolutionary history of this family.

Despite the scarcity of fossil material from this family, Alison Rowe, from Sorbonne University and colleagues were able to study three well-preserved V. rhodanica specimens from La Voulte-sur-Rhone (Ardeche, France), dating to more than 164 million years ago. The eight-armed specimens were small, measuring around 10 cm in length, and had elongated oval-shaped bodies with two small fins.

They took them to the ESRF for non-destructive 3D imaging: "We used synchrotron tomography at the ESRF in order to better identify the outlines of the various anatomical features," says Rowe. However, the task was challenging, as Vincent Fernandez, scientist at the ESRF, explains: "The fossils are on small slabs, which are very difficult to scan. On top of that, soft tissues are preserved but we needed phase contrast imaging to visualize the faint density variation in the data. The coherence of ESRF beamline ID19 was therefore very important to perform propagation phase-contrast computed-tomography and track all the minute details, such as the suckers and small fleshy extensions, called cirri."

Photograph of one of the fossil Vampyronassa rhodanica specimens in this study. Credit: P. Loubry, CR2P

The imaging revealed previously unknown details regarding the suckers and arm crown. Comparison with tomographic data of an extant V. infernalis specimen scanned at the American Museum of Natural History in New York allowed the team to determine that the suckers and cirri of V. rhodanica were proportionately more robust than those of V. infernalis. The researchers also noticed that the configuration of the suckers and cirri on the longer dorsal arm pair was different than on the rest of the arms.

"We believe that the morphology and placement of V. rhodanica suckers and cirri in the differentiated arm crown allowed V. rhodanica increased suction and sensory potential over the modern form, and helped them to manipulate and retain prey," says Rowe.

X-ray CT images (acquired at the ESRF (Grenoble, France)) and reconstructions of V. rhodanica. (a) Photograph (P. Loubry, CR2P) showing the exceptional 3-D preservation of the preserved soft tissue. (b) CT slice of the specimen. (c) 3-D representation showing the arm crown and other presumed elements (d) External 3-D reconstruction (e) CT slice showing the profile view. Credit: Scientific Reports

The presence of muscular suckers on each of the arms and sensory conical appendages for detecting prey suggests that V. rhodanica was likely an active predatory hunter. This is in contrast with its more opportunistic descendant the vampire squid, which has adapted to a low energy, deep ocean lifestyle.

More information: Alison J. Rowe, Exceptional soft-tissue preservation of Jurassic Vampyronassa rhodanica provides new insights on the evolution and palaeoecology of vampyroteuthids, Scientific Reports (2022). Journal information: Scientific Reports Alison J. Rowe, Exceptional soft-tissue preservation of Jurassic Vampyronassa rhodanica provides new insights on the evolution and palaeoecology of vampyroteuthids,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12269-3
CAMBRIDGE  Its official: the Cambridge Indian has to go.

In a ruling issued late Tuesday, Acting Supreme Court Justice Sara McGinty denied the Cambridge school boards appeal of a ruling last September by state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa.

Responding to a petition by eight school district residents, Rosa had declared the school boards July reversal of a June vote to retire the mascot to be arbitrary and capricious, and ordered the school to retire the Indian. The school district in turn filed an Article 78 petition claiming that Rosas action was itself arbitrary and capricious.

In her ruling, McGinty found that the commissioners determination was consistent with agency rules and (New York State Education Department) decisional precedent. ... It was evidence-based and rational.

It was not, McGinty said,in violation of lawful procedure, and was not arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion, nor was it affected by an error of law.

McGinty dismissed the schools petition, effectively reinstating Rosas order to retire the mascot.

On Wednesday, the school district had a brief, unsigned official statement on its website, noting that it had received McGintys decision.

The board had a previously scheduled executive session Wednesday evening for another matter and would discuss the ruling with its attorneys.

A more detailed update will be shared with the public at the July 7 board meeting, the statement concluded.

Cambridge for Social Justice, a loose organization that includes some of the district parents who brought the original petition to Rosa, quoted the conclusion of McGintys ruling in a short post on its Facebook page.

Our hope is that the school uses this ruling to begin the process of moving (Cambridge Central School) forward, the post said. The school has already spent roughly $60,000 of taxpayer money on mascot-related legal fees.

CCS will hold its first in-school graduation since 2019 at 7 p.m. Friday.

The ceremony will be in the high school gymnasium. Traditionally, the graduates have sat on the bleachers under a large Indian profile painted on the gym wall.

In a separate statement on the schools website, the Class of 2022 noted that some members of the community are either rejoicing or grieving the recent court decision to officially retire the mascot.

Although people might want to speak out or protest, we are asking you all to please refrain from causing disturbances during our graduation ceremony Friday evening. Theres a time and a place to express grievances, but we are hopeful that you all will please help us make these moments special, rather than be used to protest a decision that was beyond our classs control.

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CAMBRIDGE  The Cambridge Central School District has lost its lawsuit seeking to reverse the state education commissioners order that it must remove its Indian mascot and imagery by July 1.

Commissioner Betty Rosa ruled in November that the Cambridge Board of Education acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it voted on July 8 to reverse the decision the previous month to retire the logo.

The board voted in March to file a lawsuit in state Supreme Court of Albany County in an effort to keep the logo. In a decision issued on Tuesday, Acting Supreme Court Justice Sara McGinty ruled that in order to reverse the decision, she had to find that the commissioners decision was made in violation of lawful procedure, affected by an error of law, arbitrary and capricious, or an abuse of discretion.

Simply put, it is not the province of the court to second-guess or substitute its own judgment for that of the commissioner, provided that her decision is not arbitrary, capricious or unsupported by substantial evidence, McGinty wrote.

McGinty went on to say that the resolution the board voted on in June to retire the logo included a detailed review of input received by the board from community members, local and national Native American tribal councils and organizations, the NAACP, the state Education Department and national professional and educational associations.

This is contrast to the July resolution, which McGinty said did not contain a meaningful explanation of why that previous evidence was given short shrift only three weeks later.

There is no evidence the board undertook formal efforts to reach out again to the community or to consult anew with other stakeholders, resources or education professionals in connection with the July resolution, she wrote.

Check back for updates on this story.

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LAKE GEORGE  A fundraiser to benefit the families of those who lost their lives in the recent motorcycle-pedestrians crash along Route 9 received overwhelming support from the community Wednesday.

As a way of supporting family members, Danna Ellsworth, who is friends with the families of the victims, held a fundraiser at the Lake George Expedition Park, of which she is the owner.

On Sunday, June 12, a motorcycle struck a group of six pedestrians on Route 9, at an entrance to the Warren County Bikeway, killing James A. Persons, 38, and Quinton Delgadillo, 8, both of Lake George.

My husband and I are friends with both families. We wanted to support them as best as we could, Ellsworth said on Wednesday during the event.

Delgadillos mother, Jasmine Luellen, was taken to Albany Medical Center after being injured in the crash. Ellsworth said on Wednesday that Luellen has since left the hospital.

The other three pedestrians, all children, were unharmed.

Delgadillos father was at the fundraiser.

The fundraiser kicked off at 2 p.m., with admissions as donations-only. Live music was provided by Rich Ortiz and Dirt Cheap, and there was a variety of different food trucks.

The support was overwhelming, with over 150 gift baskets and items that were auctioned off. All proceeds are going to Luellen and her family.

Ellsworth said that in addition to the generous donations from all those who were in attendance  of which there were at least 200 people  many who couldnt attend still found the time to make a quick stop to donate.

Ellsworth said the silent auction gift baskets and items came from businesses and community members from Lake George, Bolton Landing, Queensbury, Warrensburg, Glens Falls and other communities.

Nany volunteers helped run the event.

Volunteer Vincenzia Fasulo is a graduate of Lake George High School and her mother is a teacher assistant at the school who knew Delgadillo and his family.

Fasulo said that she was selling raffle tickets that were going for 10 for $10.

I was talking to Danna and she was just saying that they are getting so many donations, like its almost overwhelming how many people were handing them gift cards. Its really incredible how the community has come together, Fasulo said.

The Lake George Fire Department and New York State Police also showed their support by being in attendance.

State Trooper T.J. McHugh said that state police troopers were there to support the family members who suffered the tragedy, and to show that they are a part of the community.

The investigation into the fatal crash is ongoing.

The operator of the motorcycle that crashed was Anthony Futia, who was taken to Albany Medical Center in critical condition. Trooper Stephanie ONeil said that as of Tuesday, Futia was still admitted to the hospital, and that there was no further information at the time.

Drew Wardle is a reporter for The Post-Star. You can contact him at 518-681-7343 or email him at dwardle@poststar.com.

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QUEENSBURY  After missing the deadline to enact a $2 gas tax cap starting June 1, the Warren County Board of Supervisors voted against authorizing the cap from Sept. 1 through the end of the year.

If the cap had been approved, those filling up would save about 3 cents per dollar, meaning that a gallon of gas that cost $5 would only have the first $2 per gallon taxed by the county. The state gas tax of 16 cents per gallon has already been suspended.

Democrat Claudia Braymer, Glens Falls Ward 3 supervisor, brought the resolution before the board during its meeting on June 15. Republican Dan Bruno, Glens Falls Ward 4 supervisor, seconded the motion to bring the resolution to the floor.

I want to provide a little relief. I know theres more that could be done in the country, in the world maybe as far as gas taxes, Braymer said. But what we control here is our county sales tax.

In the Glens Falls area on Wednesday, the average cost for a gallon of regular gas was $4.957, according to gassprices.aaa.com. The state average cost was $4.993.

Braymer said that the county is financially stable and can afford to bring in less tax for the 4-month period.

Discussion over capping the amount of sales tax collected on a gallon of gas in the county began when Queensbury at-large Supervisor Doug Beaty brought it to the board during its meeting on May 20.

During that meeting, he said that the person who cuts his hair had lost a customer due to gas prices being too high. Beaty said he heard a few county employees saying they couldnt afford to fill up their tanks.

Is this going to be the end of the world? To some, it will, Beaty said during the meeting last week.

He told the board that he had reached out to Stewarts Shops, one of the largest gas distributors in the county. Beaty said that he was told by the director of fuel sales that the savings would be passed along to those filling up in Warren County.

Republican Mike Wild, Queensbury supervisor-at-large, said that he had a few concerns about the consequences to the county if the resolution were to pass.

He said that having representatives from Stewarts give a supervisor their word is far less than a guarantee.

Having Stewarts say they will definitely pass this along makes you feel good, but it truly is a free-market economy, Wild said.

He said there is time for the conversation around a gas tax cap to go through committee, and for the board to have these conversations with Michael Swan, the county treasurer. There was no direction for the topic to be sent to any specific committee at the meeting.

Ryan Moore, the county administrator, said that typically there is a deadline to file with the state Taxation and Finance Department that is 90 days before a tax cap can be implemented. He told the board that the department would be willing to grant a 30-day deadline.

That would give the board until Aug. 1 to make a decision, meaning a vote would have to take place by the final meeting in July.

Supervisors also raised concerns about how much revenue the county would lose as a result of the cap.

During the meeting, county employees spoke to the board about their wages being too low. Some employees said that they either knew of someone who had to apply for social services due to their wages, or they themselves were forced to do so.

Democrat John Strough, Queensbury town supervisor, said that the money that the county could see by leaving the tax as it is should go to the employees.

I agree with our employees 100%. We have to do something about it, he said.

The resolution failed by a weighted vote of 484 in favor and 391 against. There were 127 weighted votes absent.

A resolution needs 502 weighted votes to meet the simple majority to pass.

If the resolution is brought back before the board and passes, the county is set to lose just under $1 million in sales tax revenue under the current gas prices, according to Swan.

Braymer said during the meeting that the countys American Rescue Plan Act committee, which she co-chairs, is currently looking into taking roughly $1 million in funding to be used for employee payments, but a plan for that is not yet in place.

Don Lehman, director of public affairs for Warren County, said that there is more data needed to answer the questions of the supervisors.

Jay Mullen is a reporter for The Post-Star covering the city of Glens Falls, Warren County and crime and courts. You can reach him at 518-742-3224 or jmullen@poststar.com.

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North Country U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik plans to vote against a bipartisan gun control bill, which the Senate is likely to pass this week, if it reaches the House.

The bill was drafted by 20 senators  half Republicans and half Democrats  after two recent mass shootings. One was a racist attack on a supermarket in Buffalo, which killed 10, and the other an attack by a former student on an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 students and two teachers.

Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, called the bill a blatant government overreach, which would make gun owners second-class citizens. Instead, Stefanik said she would advocate for increased mental health resources.

I will continue to stand up for Second Amendment rights against this legislation that shreds the Constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans with no effect on deterring criminals who do not follow the law when obtaining firearms, Stefanik wrote in a statement.

The bill would provide $750 million in crisis prevention grants for states with red flag laws. These laws allow courts to temporarily take guns away from people who are deemed a threat to themselves or others following a request from family, friends or law enforcement.

Stefanik opposes this.

This bill contains unconstitutional gun control provisions and allows the implementation of red flag laws that take away due process rights, she wrote. It would restrict men and women who are able to serve in our military from purchasing a firearm.

Stefanik said this bill would strip the Constitutional rights of gunowners by broadening the scope of punishment for even nonviolent misdemeanors.

These grants would not be for states without red flag laws  it is meant to encourage more states to adopt these red flag laws  but the bill offers some grants for states that create mental health and drug courts.

Currently, 19 states and the District of Columbia have red flag laws, including New York.

The 10 Republican senators who helped draft the bill said in a joint statement with Democrats that their legislation will save lives and will not infringe on any law-abiding Americans Second Amendment rights.

The bill has some bipartisan support in the Senate and is likely to pass there. It was approved for a full Senate vote by 14 Republicans, all 48 Democrats and two independents.

Democrats have a majority in the House, so it is likely the bill will pass and be placed on President Joe Bidens desk for him to sign.

Other candidates respond

Matt Putorti, a Democrat running against Stefanik for her House seat, said her explanation for voting against the Senate bill is characteristically inflammatory and incorrect.

Stefanik shamefully continues to put her career and campaign fundraising ahead of the safety of the communities she was elected to represent, Putorti wrote in a statement. It is past time for all of our elected leaders to have the courage to stand up to the gun lobby and do what it will take to protect American lives.

But he said the Senate bill is just an important starting place.

We must do more, Putorti wrote. In Congress, I will support legislation implementing common sense measures that the vast majority of Americans favor: universal background checks, closing gun show loopholes and a federal assault weapons ban.

Putorti called gun violence a national public safety epidemic.

Matt Castelli, a Democrat running for Stefaniks seat, said he supports the Second Amendment and this Senate bill.

The bipartisan gun safety legislation expected to pass the Senate will help keep kids and communities safe by focusing on measures that are widely agreed upon by lawful gun owners and those of us who support the Second Amendment, including new funding for mental health and school safety, cracking down on illegal trafficking and measures to keep firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers and those who pose a danger to themselves or others, Castelli wrote in a statement. While the bill has wide bipartisan support, including from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Elise Stefanik has once again rejected common sense solutions, putting her extremism and financial self-interest ahead of the safety and security of our kids and our communities.

What else is in the Senate bill?

The bill would expand background checks for young gun buyers between the ages of 18 and 21 by extending the waiting period for a purchase by several days to allow more time for states to review records on juveniles, which have been sealed in the past. It also incentivizes states to unseal more records on young gun buyers, which would be used to determine if someone that age is suitable to buy a gun.

The bill would also increase penalties for people convicted of gun trafficking  including people who buy guns for another person. These charges would carry lengthier sentences  up to 15 years for an illegal purchase and up to 25 years if the gun is used in a felony, terrorism or trafficking.

The bill would close the boyfriend loophole in a law preventing convicted domestic abusers from owning a gun.

Currently, people convicted of domestic violence can still purchase firearms if they are not married to, living with or have a child with the person they abused. The Senate bill would update the language to include dating relationships, which are defined as a relationship between individuals who have or have recently had a continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature.

The bill allows for these restrictions to expire after five years if the convicted domestic abuser can keep their record clean.

The bill also includes $1.05 billion for school education and engagement improvement, $500 million for school mental health grants, $500 million for school mental health trainings, $28 million for school trauma support, $80 million for rapid mental health care from pediatricians, $60 million for pediatrician mental health trainings, $50 million for school mental health grants through the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP), $150 million for suicide crisis hotlines and $250 for community mental health organizations.

The total cost of the bill is estimated by senators at $15 billion, which they say is already paid for in this years budget.

The bill would not ban assault rifles or require universal background checks.

Other gun legislation Stefanik has voted on

Earlier this month, Stefanik co-sponsored two Republican bills on gun and school safety and opposed a Democratic bill on firearm restrictions.

Stefanik voted against the Protecting Our Kids Act, which passed the House with Democratic support. This bill would raise the age to buy semiautomatic weapons to 21, ban large-capacity magazines and establish new federal criminal offenses for gun trafficking and illegal gun sales, targeting ghost guns, or guns that dont have a serial number to track.

She co-sponsored the Firearm Proficiency and Training Act, which would allow people who take firearm training courses or purchase gun safety or storage equipment to deduct those expenses from their federal taxes at the end of the fiscal year.

She also co-sponsored the STOP II Act, an update to the 2018 STOP School Violence Act. This bill would put $7 billion in unspent COVID-19 relief funding toward grants to make schools harder for mass shooters to attack.

This process  which Stefanik calls hardening schools  would involve funding for school resource officers, mental health counselors, active shooter trainings, metal detectors and cameras.

In 2017, Stefanik voted to pass the Fix NICS Act, which improved the National Instant Background Check System to allow information on gun owners to be better shared between agencies. That year, she also voted for the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which allows someone with a permit for a concealed handgun to carry that gun across state lines legally.

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An autopsy indicated that Irving Mayren-Guzman died of drowning and hypothermia while acutely intoxicated, according to attorneys for the men accused of his assault.

Mayren-Guzman, 19, went missing Jan. 23 and was found dead the morning of Jan. 25 in a marsh near Centerfolds Cabaret in Pleasantville, following an altercation with three men at the club.

Authorities have charged three men, brothers John and Garnell Hands, of Pleasantville, and Jamaul Timberlake, of Atlantic City, with aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault after Mayren-Guzman was found dead in marshes off Delilah Road.

After Mayren-Guzman was thrown out of the strip club by security for being too intoxicated, three men can be seen on surveillance video beating him, according to video shown at a detention hearing for the suspects in February.

The final autopsy indicates Mayren-Guzman suffered fresh minor abrasions to his face, arms and legs near the time of his death, the attorneys said. It does not show evidence that he had sustained a traumatic brain injury near the time of his death, Matthew Portella, attorney for John Hands, said Thursday. Another traumatic brain injury he had sustained was determined to have been from an older incident, Portella said.

The report just goes toward what weve been thinking all along that it was an accidental death. It had nothing to do with the fight earlier in the evening, Portella said.

Randolph Lafferty, an attorney representing the Mayren-Guzman family, said neither he nor the family of Mayren-Guzman has seen the autopsy or toxicology reports. Lafferty would not confirm, deny or comment on the cause of Mayren-Guzmans death.

Portella and Durann Neil, who is representing Garnell Hands, said Thursday the autopsy is evidence their clients did not cause Mayren-Guzmans death. The lawyers said they plan to ask for their clients release at a hearing 1:30 p.m. Wednesday before Superior Court Judge Nancy L. Ridgway.

During a status hearing June 15 at the Atlantic County Criminal Court Complex in Mays Landing, defense attorneys Portella and John Stein, the lawyer for Timberlake, raised questions about the autopsy, which had not yet been made available, five months after Mayren-Guzmans death.

Stein could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.

Last week, a status conference was postponed by Ridgway, who wanted the autopsy report to be released before the case continued. The suspects are expected to appear in person Wednesday.

Since Mayren-Guzmans death, his family, friends and the Latino community in Pleasantville have rallied together demanding justice and transparency in the teenagers case. After a month of protests by those seeking justice for Mayren-Guzman, Pleasantville City Council voted to revoke the mercantile licenses of Centerfolds on Feb. 23. His family also has filed a lawsuit against the club, the three suspects and others in connection to his death.

Staff Writers Selena Vazquez and Eric Conklin contributed to this report.

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MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  The Township Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved two ordinances related to cannabis, one to allow a single retail cannabis license in the township and another setting a framework for how the municipality will evaluate license applications.

That ordinance also sets a nonrefundable fee of $2,500 for the review of applications for support of a cannabis business.

Under New Jerseys cannabis regulations, a show of municipal support is part of the application process for a state license. So far, only those businesses that already held a license to distribute cannabis to those with medical marijuana cards have been approved to sell to the new recreational market, which means there are no dispensaries in Cape May County.

Middle Township has moved cautiously on legal weed. The Township Committee has supported an application for a medical marijuana facility, but last summer approved an ordinance banning any retail sales for the adult use market.

I thought that as a group that you were not in favor of  recreational use marijuana being sold in the township. Now it appears that you are, with certain restrictions, resident Stanley Doniger said at the meeting. Could you help me to understand what changed your mind about that?

I was never on the record publicly as being opposed to a dispensary in Middle Township, responded Mayor Tim Donohue. Rather, he said, the township did not have enough information about the state rules under which the new market would operate before a state-imposed deadline of Aug. 22, 2021, for towns to take action on the issue.

He said towns that enacted strict rules, such as Middle Townships ban on retail sales, could ease those rules later, but they would not be able to enact stricter rules once voting to allow sales.

The state established six classes of licenses for the recreational cannabis market. Last October, the township approved allowing the cultivation and manufacturing of cannabis products in the township.

The new ordinance would allow a class five license, allowing sales to customers over 21.

In many communities, governing bodies have limited cannabis businesses to specific locations. Middle Township opted to leave that up to the business owner. According to Donohue, the business would be allowed in any commercial zone, as long as it followed established zoning restrictions and state laws.

Several potential business owners have asked about locating a cannabis dispensary in the township, Donohue said. Several beach communities, including each of the Wildwoods, have said no to allowing cannabis sales, so the township could someday be a prime spot for summer business.

West Cape May and Lower Township have also said yes to allowing retail weed sales, and West Cape May has already endorsed two applications. As Donohue put it, West Cape May has a head start, but even then, he said, the first store will likely not be open for at least a year.

New Jerseys Cannabis Regulatory Commission has begun issuing licenses for grow facilities that will stock the new, legal market. Cannabis retailers will not be able to bring anything in from other states; it must be grown in New Jersey, or businesses will run afoul of federal law.

Massachusetts-based cannabis company Insa has plans to locate a growing facility for medical marijuana and recreational cannabis on Indian Trail Road in the Goshen section of the township, at the site of a former seafood processing plant.

Steve Reilly, the co-owner of the company, attended the Wednesday meeting but did not speak publicly. After the meeting, he said the plans are being finalized for the building, but the project still awaits license approval from the Cannabis Regulatory Commission. He said he may hear more sometime this summer.

He said his company may be interested in applying for the dispensary license in the township. Once the township government lends its support to a license application, it would still need approval from the Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

Donohue said the township would continue to move slowly on the issue. If cannabis retail proves to be a good fit, he suggested the committee could look at allowing additional licenses.

Communities are allowed to add local taxes to cannabis sales, which could mean a boost to future budgets.

Contact Bill Barlow: 609-272-7290 bbarlow@pressofac.com Twitter @jerseynews_bill

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The first vaccination clinic for babies and young children in Rock Island County is next week.

The Rock Island County Health Department will begin giving COVID-19 vaccines to children ages six months to 4 years on Wednesdays by appointment with the first clinic on June 29.

To make an appointment, call 309-794-7080. The clinic is located at the health department, 2112 25th Ave., Rock Island.

Clinics for this age group will offer Pfizer vaccinations during morning appointments and Moderna vaccinations during afternoon appointments. The health department set Wednesdays aside for vaccinations of this age group for the foreseeable future.

COVID-19 treatments have changed, but the newer options are available in the Quad-Cities New COVID-19 treatments at Genesis Health System and UnityPoint Health-Trinity are helping hospitalized patients and those with compromised immune systems.

The announcement follows the approval by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines for young children. The health department this week received both Pfizer and Moderna vaccine for this age group, agency officials said.

Weve worked hard to protect tens of thousands of Rock Island County residents from the worst of the virus that causes COVID-19, health department Administrator Nita Ludwig said. We are happy now to be able to protect our youngest residents and offer peace of mind to parents.

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is authorized to be given to children ages 6 months to 4 years in three microgram doses, with a three-week interval between the first two doses, followed by a third dose at least eight weeks after the second dose.

The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is authorized to be given to children 6 months to 4 years in two 25-microgram doses with 28 days between the two doses.

We urge parents to continue to take this unpredictable virus seriously and have their children vaccinated as soon as possible, Ludwig said. Children who are vaccinated do not need to quarantine from school or day care after an exposure, unless they are showing symptoms.

Every person who is 5 years of age and older can be vaccinated against COVID-19 on a walk-in basis.

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A Davenport man currently awaiting trial on numerous charges in Scott and Rock Island counties has been charged with allegedly setting off a pipe bomb in a boat in Davenport early Wednesday.

Jon Thomas Kucharo, 46, of 1636 W. 12th St. is charged with one count of second-degree arson and four counts of possession of explosive or incendiary materials or devices. Each of the charges is a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 10 years.

According to the arrest affidavits filed by Davenport Fire Marshal Jim Morris, at 7:57 a.m. Davenport police responded to 1712 Spring St., to investigate a pipe bomb that had been detonated in a pontoon boat.

The bomb caused more than $750 in damage.

Officers searched Kucharos vehicle and seized containers of black powder and fuse material. Kucharos cell phone also had multiple videos of four pipe bombs in the front seat similar to the device found inside the boat.

Davenport Police and the Davenport Fire Department were aided in the investigation by the Quad-City Bomb Squad, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Kucharo is expected to make a first appearance Thursday morning in Scott County District Court. He was being held without bond Wednesday night in the Scott County Jail.

Kucharo currently is awaiting trial on numerous charges in both Scott and Rock Island counties.

In Rock Island County, Kucharo is charged with two counts of electronic harassment of a person under the age of 13. Each of those charges is a Class 4 felony under Illinois law that carry a prison sentence of one to three years. A pre-trial hearing in that case is scheduled for July 8 in Rock Island County Circuit Court.

In Scott County, Kucharo is awaiting trial on two counts of operating while intoxicated, one count each of forgery, driving while license is revoked, false imprisonment, assault causing bodily injury, interference with official acts with a firearm, person ineligible to carry dangerous weapons, possession of a controlled substance-first offense, assault, disorderly conduct, and operating a vehicle without an ignition interlock device. The forgery and interference with a firearm charges each are a Class D felony that carry a prison sentence of five years. All the other charges are misdemeanors.

Trial is on hold in each of those cases. During a hearing May 26, Scott County District Judge Henry Latham found probable cause that Kucharo is suffering from a mental disorder that prevents him from appreciating the charges against him, understanding the proceedings and assisting with his defense attorney.

According to Lathams orders, Kucharo was ordered to undergo further psychiatric evaluation by the state psychiatrist and Iowa Medical and Classification Center, Forensic Psychiatric Hospital. The order directs the state psychiatrist to provide any medical treatment necessary to the defendant in order to complete the evaluation should it be determined to be necessary, including the prescribing and administering of medications."

The evaluation will be conducted on an inpatient or outpatient basis at the discretion of psychiatrist and the Iowa Medical Classification Center, Forensic Psychiatric Hospital.

Scott County District Court records do not indicate if that evaluation has taken place.

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A vehicle traveling over 110 miles per hour in Whiteside County this week resulted in a multitude of charges against four men, including one who was wanted on suspicion of first-degree murder.

The Whiteside County Sheriff's Department issued a news release Wednesday, which detailed a multi-county chase that is believed to have included Rock Island County.

Shortly after 8 a.m. on Monday, a Whiteside County Deputy stationed on Interstate 88 clocked a Dodge Charger traveling eastbound at 111 miles per hour, police said. The car matched the description of a vehicle that was wanted by police in Rock Island County for fleeing and eluding.

While the deputy initially gave chase, the pursuit was terminated at an I-88 exit ramp. As the Charger continued eastbound on U.S. Route 30, police said, it was located by the Rock Falls Police Department traveling 90 mph in a 40 mph zone.

Sheriff's officials said the Charger was not being pursued as it continued, "at an extremely high rate of speed" before the driver lost control and rolled, coming to a stop in the 700 block of E. Route 30.

"After the accident, four male Black suspects were seen attempting to exit the vehicle and flee the scene," Whiteside County Sheriff's Department personnel wrote in a summary of events. "One eyewitness reported seeing one of the suspects carrying a handgun as he fled on foot.

"The first suspect was apprehended as he was exiting the crashed vehicle while attempting to flee."

He is identified as Montriel D. Clark, 23, of Rockford. Clark was wanted out of Rockford on an arrest warrant for first-degree murder, among other charges, police said.

"Additional officers from the Illinois State Police, Sterling, Rock Falls, Prophetstown and Fulton Police Departments were requested and established a perimeter that extended west to Route 40 and south to I-88," according to the news release.

The officers next took into custody Gregory Gould, 28, of Rockford, who was hiding in a shed behind a residential property, they said.

"The search was extended to a wooded area and included the use of the Carroll County K-9, aerial drones and officers on foot," the sheriff's department wrote. "The search resulted in the subsequent apprehension of the remaining two suspects, 20-year-old Jimmitreus J. Castleberry of Aurora, and 23-year-old Terrance T. Howard of Hazel Crest.

"Castleberry was also wanted by the Illinois Department of Corrections on a parole violation warrant, while Howard was also wanted out of Rockford for failure to appear, fleeing and eluding."

Police recovered at the scene a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson handgun, a 9mm Glock handgun with an extended magazine and an installed after-market device that converts the semi-automatic weapon to fully automatic, along with multiple controlled substances, including crack cocaine, MDMA and cannabis, police said.

All four suspects were in custody Wednesday at the Whiteside County Jail and charges include unlawful use of a weapon, felon in possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of cannabis and intent to deliver cannabis and resisting/obstructing a peace officer.

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The suspect in the double-fatal crash on the Interstate 74 bridge pedestrian path in Moline does not want cameras in the courtroom during proceedings related to her case.

An attorney for Chhabria Harris, 46, of East Moline, has filed a motion in Rock Island County Circuit Court, objecting to extended media coverage. Media outlets have for more than a decade been permitted to use video and still photography at trial and in pre-trial hearings with the consent of the presiding judge.

Harris' attorney argued that such coverage is a threat to her constitutional right to a fair trial.

Attorneys for the Quad-City Times/Disapatch-Argus and KWQC-TV have filed a resistance to the motion, arguing that it fails to cite evidence that Harris' rights would be impacted by extended coverage.

Lawyer for man struck, killed on I-74 pedestrian path says case is 'in the early days' The attorney who has filed a lawsuit against the City of Bettendorf in connection with the SUV-pedestrian crash on the I-74 pedestrian and bike path said the trio of young men who were walking on the path on May 22 had every right to be there. He declined to say whether more defendants will be named.

While Harris asserts that extended media coverage is "unusual and extreme," the local media outlets argue that many cases, including high-profile cases locally and in other states, have been granted extended access.

One example is the gavel-to-gavel live streaming of the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse in Wisconsin.

The objection also argues that Harris is constitutionally protected from "specifically targeted negative publicity," which also met with resistance from the newspapers and TV station.

"... Every criminal defendant involved in any newsworthy incident faces the problem of negative, pretrial publicity, and courts routinely and adequately address it by increasing size of the jury pool, permitting more searching voir dire, carefully instructing the empaneled jurors, delaying the trial sequestering jurors, or changing a trials venue," an attorney for the Times and KWQC wrote in their resistance.

While Harris' attorney also expressed concern for the transmission of images of the defendant in an orange jail jumpsuit, saying such images could prejudice a jury, the county prosecutor and police already have shared Harris' jail booking photo, which has been widely published and broadcast.

Second pedestrian death leads to new charge in I-74 walkway hit-and-run crash A second man has died after being struck by a drunken driver on the I-74 bridge walk path.

Both parties agreed, however, that Harris should be permitted to wear civilian clothes and be unshackled during court appearances.

The matter is to be taken up during a hearing Friday, but a ruling is not expected to immediately result.

Harris is charged in the May 22 crash near the entrance to the bike and pedestrian path on the I-74 bridge in Moline. Police say she was driving the Cadillac Escalade that entered the path in Bettendorf, striking three pedestrians after crossing into Moline.

Ethan Gonzalez, 21, died at the scene. Anthony Castaneda, 18, died days after he sustained critical injuries, and Charles Bowen, 22, also was seriously injured.

She has been charged with three counts of aggravated DUI, great bodily injury or death; three counts of failure to stop after a crash causing personal injury or death; three charges of aggravated reckless driving; and two counts of reckless homicide.

Iowa DOT: Bridge path is getting protective barriers Iowa Department of Transportation officials on Tuesday announced temporary measures to restr

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The Supreme Court ruled that Maines tuition aid program must include religious schools in a 6-3 decision on Tuesday, sparking discourse around the nationwide debate on taxpayer money funding private or religious education.

Maines tuition assistance program provides subsidies to rural school districts without a public high school, giving families who live in those areas public dollars to send their children to the public or private school of their choice, formerly excluding religious schools.

This landmark decision has sparked nationwide discourse concerning tuition assistance programs for non-public schools.

Dr. Sharon Weiss, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Peoria, Ill., said this ruling could set a precedent that gives families more freedom of educational choice.

Religious schools continue to provide instruction on core academic subjects while also teaching about the religion on which they were founded or support in their mission, Weiss said. To deny our religious schools from receiving taxpayer funds for tuition assistance when we follow all state guidelines for nonpublic school recognition must only be based on the fact that we also teach religion.

Weiss also said that independent schools would hold the same status as religious schools in the eyes of the state if they both meet the nonpublic school recognition criteria for curriculum, student attendance days, immunization requirements and other guidelines, so she agrees that withholding taxpayer tuition funding from religious schools is discriminatory.

Davenport Assumption High School President Andy Craig said hes interested to see how school choice will play out in Iowa.

I know the governor has made it a priority, and as the president of a private Catholic school Im in support of that push, Craig said. But its mainly in the hands of our legislators on whether Iowa will go down the road of school choice or if itll go down different roads.

The decision over Maine consequently invalidates provisions in 37 state constitutions that bar the direct or indirect use of public dollars for religious schools.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has prioritized her own "school choice" agenda since the beginning of the year, pushing for sweeping education reforms and proposals.

Similar to Maine's tuition aid program, Reynolds introduced a private education bill  SF 2369  last legislative session, but it was struck down by the Iowa Legislature.

The program would have redirected $55 million in public school funding to create state-backed private school scholarships for 10,000 low-income students. This translates to roughly $5,400 per recipient, using 70% of the per-pupil funding that the recipients public school would otherwise receive.

The bill faced push back from both her Democrat and Republican constituents; Democrats feared it would harm Iowa public schools, while only 2% of Iowa students would benefit from the bill.

On the other hand, Republican lawmakers were concerned the bill would pull students and resources from rural districts, given 42 Iowa counties dont have private schools. To alleviate these concerns, Reynolds tweaked the proposal so leftover per-pupil aid would go to districts with fewer than 500 students.

Locally, Senate District 47 GOP nominee Scott Webster expressed his support for Reynolds scholarship proposal prior to the primaries but wasnt sure about sending leftover money to rural districts.

His opponent, Dr. Mary Kathleen Figaro, wrote in a campaign email that funding private school education with taxpayer money is fundamentally unfair, and an attack on rural public schools and families.

Iowa is home to 240 private schools, with two currently authorized charter schools. Illinois houses 1,600 private schools and 128 charter schools.

Rep. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, isnt sure if the Supreme Court's ruling would set a precedent for Iowa but encourages Iowans to look at the tuition assistance measures in place.

We already have a 75% tax credit for contributions to private school foundations that meet tuition needs of students within the law, Winckler said. We have several support systems for the private schools in Iowa. We give dollars for technology, textbooks and transportation  it all adds up to $104 million already dedicated to private schools.

The General Assembly increased the school tuition organization tax credit from 65% to 75% toward the end of the 2021 session. The Legislative Services Agency predicts this reform could increase existing state funding for tuition and textbook tax credits by $11 million in FY 22.

Illinois Invest in Kids Act gives a tax credit to donors who contribute to scholarships for low- and middle-income students for private school expenses. Donors receive a credit of 75 cents for every $1 donated, with a $1 million credit limit.

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Davenport aldermen took another step in plans for a riverfront "Destination Play Area," by voting 8-2 Wednesday to award a design contract to architecture and engineering firm Sasaki.

The long-planned riverfront project is pitched as a quality-of-life amenity to attract people and private business downtown, though some aldermen have expressed concerns about what increased rail traffic resulting from a merger might mean for visitors to the amenity.

Davenport awarded the design contract to Colorado-based Sasaki for $761,815, using the city's federal COVID-19 relief funds. Sasaki's portfolio includes designing other riverfront parks to withstand floodwaters, such as 32-acre Smale Riverfront Park in Cincinnati.

In total, the council has set aside $6 million of its $41 million allocation of American Rescue Plan funds for the riverfront park.

Most aldermen were eager to see what plans the engineering and architecture firm returned with. In voting for the proposal, Ward 8 Alderwoman Judith Lee said she was impressed by Sasaki, which is working with the company that conducted the city's flood mitigation plan, HR Green.

She added that the council could make a further decision once it received designs and plans.

"I am really curious what Sasaki and HR Green come up with in a very difficult site that's got all sorts of challenges and stay within that amount of money," Lee said. "So I am going to vote 'yes' on this particular design, recognizing that it leaves us with about $5.25 million."

Ward 6 Alderman Ben Jobgen, who voted against the proposal, said he considered pledging the money for the design the "jumping off point" and didn't want to start the project with lingering unanswered questions.

"I know the time is ticking on what we have to do with this money. But me personally, I still have too many questions about the railroad. I still think there are access issues that might come up from a public safety standpoint."

Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern railways closed on a $31 billion merger in December, setting in motion what could become the first single-line rail company network linking the United States, Mexico and Canada, pending federal review. Rail officials have been in negotiations with cities where train traffic is expected to increase the most, such as Davenport, on cost-sharing for railroad intersection improvements.

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The Rock Island Arsenal could receive up to $85 million in funding to go toward military readiness after the House Appropriations Committee approved additional spending this week.

The House of Representatives is currently in recess except for committee work, but members are expected to vote on the defense appropriations markups sometime in July.

As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Moline, helped advance the additional defense funding that would bring millions more in federal investments to the Arsenal.

"Communities in northwest and central Illinois are playing a critical role in advancing our nations defenses and developing new technologies to keep our nation secure and our service members safe," Bustos said in a news release. "The defense appropriations package we advanced today will continue to bring significant federal investments to facilities in the Quad-Cities, Rockford and Peoria  all while creating jobs and driving economic growth in our region. Im proud to secure this funding, and I look forward to delivering these results back home."

President Joe Biden asked Congress for $813 billion in defense-related spending in March.

Among the proposed funding is $20 million for large-scale additive manufacturing prototyping. The bill would continue to fund programs at the Rock Island Arsenal Center for Excellence for Additive and Advanced Manufacturing that develop components like the jointless hull for the Next Generation Combat Vehicle. The ability to manufacture combat vehicles without joints will increase manufacturing efficiency and the ability of a vehicle to survive combat situations. This represents a $5 million increase over FY2022 funding levels.

Another bill would provide $25 million for soft recoil and extended-range artillery systems. Additionally, it would fund the work of the Rock Island-based Mandus Group, which tests soft recoil technology to be used by U.S. Army Humvees.

Other funding includes:

$15 million for a Manufacturing Center of Excellence joint initiative. This bill would continue to fund an initiative focused on expeditionary additive construction between the University of Arkansas, Applied Research Associates (ARA) and the Armys Center of Excellence for Additive and Advanced Manufacturing that is critical to the Armys use of autonomous construction technologies.

$20 million for the Quad City Manufacturing Lab. This bill would continue to fund the lab's work with Temple University to develop personal protective equipment to provide service members with greater, lightweight protection.

$5 million for an online military real estate inventory tool pilot program. This bill would continue to fund a pilot program to utilize unused space on Army installations for future military needs.

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Illinois residents are making the quick trip across the border to fill their tanks up in Iowa as gas prices rise.

On Thursday, there was nearly a 45-cent difference between the states.

According to AAA, the average price for a regular tank of gas in Illinois is about $5.47. In Moline and Rock Island, the average price is around $5.15 for regular and $5.69 for diesel. In Iowa, a regular tank of gas is about $4.70 and $5.50 for diesel.

A little help for Illinois residents may be on the way. Beginning July 1, the State of Illinois will suspend the motor fuel tax through December 21. Illinois' suspended fuel tax comes as President Joe Biden this week called for a federal pause on the gas tax. His proposal would freeze 18-cents on regular gas and 24-cents on diesel fuel

These are not normal times, Biden said during a news conference. Do it now. Do it today  your customers, the American people, they need relief now.

Mike Thrasher, an Illinois resident who travels around the Quad-Cities for work, said he often stops in Iowa to fill up on gas before heading back over the border.

Ninety-nine percent of the time I go out of my way to get gas in Iowa, Thrasher said.

But Thrasher said the temporary relief can only do so much when gas in Illinois is already over five dollars.

Gas stations will be required to post a sticker at every pump sharing the message to alert drivers that the state's motor fuel tax will not increase by about two cents per gallon for the next six months, as it was previously scheduled under state law.

The language requiring the sticker to be posted was written in the state's fiscal year 2023 budget that goes into effect on July 1.

Milan resident and owner of Kar Mart, Bob Morgan, said that unless he is over in Iowa, he will continue to get gas in Illinois rather than go out of his way.

As a car lot owner, he also said that given the increase in gas prices, he has yet to see an increase in people buying fuel-efficient cars.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass legislation that would suspend the federal gas tax for three months. The legislation would freeze 18-cents on regular gas and 24-cents on diesel fuel.

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Putin proposes to create state information protection system

MOSCOW, June 3 (RAPSI) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed to consider creation of the state information protection system.

According to the Head of the State, it is necessary to strengthen the defence of the home digital space. There should not be risks of the confidential information and personal data leaks.

Putin believes the information protection tools must be modified as the development of Russian economical and social areas as well as national defence capability strictly depend on them.

Digital processes actively running in the system of Russias economy and public administration should be in maximum protected from any possible negative impact from outside, Russias Presidents stated.




Google's Russian subsidiary files for bankruptcy

MOSCOW, June 17 (RAPSI)  Google's Russian subsidiary filed for bankruptcy as the branch had been fined several times and its bank account had been seized by Russian authorities.

The bankruptcy petition has been registered by the Moscow Commercial Court.

The branch announced plans to file for bankruptcy in May stating it can no longer pay staff, suppliers, vendors and meet other financial obligations.

Since March 22, 2022, it foresees its own bankruptcy and inability to fulfill its monetary obligations, demands to pay severance payments and (or) the remuneration of staff working or previously working under an employment contract, and (or) the obligation to make mandatory payments within the prescribed period, the May statement reads.

Last December, a 7.2-billion-ruble (about $126 million at the time of writing) turnover fine was imposed on Google LLC by Russian authorities. The subsidiary was found guilty of non-compliance with the order of the restriction of access to information prohibited by Russian law.




Russian woman sentenced to 11 years behind bars for abetting terrorism

ROSTOV-ON-DON, June 23 (RAPSI)  The South District Military Court has sentenced Russian national Darya Bolgova to 11 years in penal colony for abetting terrorism and participating in a terrorist organization, the courts press service has told RAPSI.

According to investigators, in 2013, Bolgova left for Turkey, illegally crossed its border with Syria and then joined the Islamic State terrorist organization banned in Russia. She served as interpreter there.

Moreover, she induced another person to join the terrorist organization through the Internet, the case papers read.

The woman was deported from Turkey and arrested in Russia last July.
Over 2,000 cases pending in Supreme Court of Donetsk Peoples Republic- official

MOSCOW, June 17 (RAPSI)  As of May 31, 2022, the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic was considering 2,198, including 645 criminal, 1,050 civil, 75 administrative, 423 commercial and 5 cases on administrative violations, according to a report on the work of the courts of the DPR for the first five months of 2022.

During the reporting period, the Supreme Court completed 1,588 cases, or 72.2% of their specified number, including 351 criminal, 853 civil, 55 administrative, 324 commercial and 5 cases on administrative offenses, according to a document published on the official website of the DPR Supreme Court.

Thus, as of May 31, 2022, 610 cases remain in the proceedings of the Supreme Court (27.8% of the indicated number), including 294 criminal, 197 civil, 20 administrative and 99 commercial cases.

With regard to the proceedings at first instance, during the specified period, 170 cases were considered by the Supreme Court, of which 14 were completed by May 31; the Chamber of Appeal of the Supreme Court for the first instance completed proceedings on 13 cases against 13 persons out of a total of 167 cases against 322 persons.

The Judicial Chamber for Civil Cases of the DPR Supreme Court conducted proceedings in two administrative cases, of which one was completed.

The Judicial Chamber for Commercial Cases of the DPR Supreme Court considered one commercial material, the proceedings on which are still ongoing as of the date indicated above.

As to the appeals procedure, the DPR Supreme Court considered 1,166 cases concerning appeals and submissions (protests) against court decisions during the specified period, of which 922 cases were completed. At the same time, as to criminal proceedings, out of 291 cases against 363 persons, consideration of 195 cases against 239 persons was completed, 96 cases against 124 persons remain in progress.

In civil proceedings, 567 civil cases were under consideration, of which 479 cases were settled; as of May 31, 2022, proceedings are ongoing in 88 such cases, and proceedings have been suspended in five cases.

According to statistical data for the specified period, 45 administrative cases were examined in the framework of administrative proceedings, of which 32 cases were completed, 13 cases are ongoing.

There were registered 258 commercial cases in the framework of commercial proceedings, of which 211 cases were completed as of May 31, 47 such cases remain in progress.

During this period, five cases of administrative offenses were also considered.

For the first five months of 2022, the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic conducted cassation proceedings on 607 complaints, submissions and protests against decisions of the DPR courts, of which 469 cases and materials were completed.
The salmonfly hatch lived up to the hype last weekend, and it looks like theres more to come.

Anglers on the Big Hole River were greeted with long-awaited salmonflies with a few golden stoneflies mixed in as well. The Bitterroot and Blackfoot rivers, as well as Rock Creek and others, expect to see the same during the coming days.

Some of these stretches of water are still ripping, but wade fishermen should be advised to keep their boots dry regardless of the flows.

The fish are more often than not eating various salmonfly and chubby patterns within five or six feet of the bank, usually in the vicinity of overhanging trees.

While a friend and I were out over the weekend, we started with a Pats rubberlegs or SJ worm dropper trailing behind our surface bugs. However, after a few rises it became clear that once the fish are dialed in on salmonflies, theres no need for anything except the top fly.

Salmonfly patters are usually assembled with either an orange body or a dark brown or black body. If you see a fish rise and reject your bug, switch to something with a different color body. If you had orange, switch to dark brown and vice versa. Once you have the pattern fish want, youll know. If the conditions are right, the eats are flashy and aggressive  a far cry from the subtle nuances often associated with fly fishing.

Big bug season is finally here.

Top picks

Echo Lake  This body of water is unaffected by runoff, so the fish have remained happy and willing to bite. Anglers will have a shot at an array of species, such as large and smallmouth bass, crappie, perch, kokanee, rainbows, brookies and pike pushing 20 pounds. Kokanee are being caught in deeper water with jigging and trolling being the go-to methods. Maggots will consistently attract hungry kokanee, especially when using a multi-hook rig capable of presenting bait or a lure in two or more different water columns. Crappie tubes and night crawlers are working well for crappie. If youre looking for a trophy, the pike will chase flutter spoons, a smelt under a bobber or a smelt laying on the bottom.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Rock Creek (West)  Rock Creek is big, but stable and fishing well. Salmonflies are on the top end of the creek and will be flying around the rest of the week. Make sure to have salmonfly dries in patterns like rogue stones, Morrishs fluttering salmonfly, Henrys Fork salmonflies, supa gees, chubbies and sofa pillows. Down lower, goldens, green drakes and a few yellow Sallies have been spotted. Henrys Fork golden, rogue goldens, golden chubbies, extended-body green drakes, western green drakes, Galloups Butch Sally, Larimer's Sally and Carlsons Working Girl Sally are must-haves. Nymphing with big stoneflies, San Juans, jig PTs, jig princes and Perdigons will get bites if fish arent eating the dry. The river is still big so be careful out there whether youre floating or wading. Dont wade too deep, and dont float if youre not experienced on the oars.  Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop, Missoula.

Montana

Bitterroot River  The Bitterroot has dropped nicely. Its still big, but clear in the side channels, which hold a lot of fish. Dont waste your time fishing the main river as most of the fish are in the side channels. There isnt a great deal of dry fly action yet, but the nymphing gets better every day in the mid-river. The upper river above Hamilton is seeing some salmonflies, so make sure to have a bunch if youre making the drive. Throughout the rest of the river, stick to rubberlegs, double-bead stones, jig PTs, jig princes and San Juans. Streamer fishing is a good option with smaller streamers like zonkers, sparkle minnows, flash minnows and baby gongas. With the temps becoming more like summer, we should see the river stay in this shape for a bit, but its fishing.  Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop, Missoula.

Blackfoot River  After some rain Monday, the Blackfoot is on its way up. It might be a couple days before it drops but when it does, there are salmonflies and fish were looking up. When it stabilizes and starts to drop, its game on. Once the fish start keying in on the salmonflies theyll gobble them up even if the river is dirty. Be ready with dries like royal or rootbeer chubbies, Morrishs fluttering salmonfly, supa gees, cat pukes as well as nymphs like bitch creeks, zirdles, squirdles, rubberlegs and San Juans.  Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop, Missoula.

Clark Fork River, Missoula  This stretch of water is big and muddy.  Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop, Missoula.

Crow Reservoir  Trout and perch are both on the chew. The water has remained low and is warming up, making it a solid option while the streams are still raging.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Flathead Lake (North)  It is import that everyone recreating on the lake during runoff season should be aware of floating debris. Fishing-wise, people are marking plenty of fish. Getting a bite, however, is a different story. Trolling sinking Rapalas in the shallows has produced a few lake trout, bull trout and pike.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Flathead Lake (South)  This is the time of year to target a trophy lake trout. These fish are known to become more active with more water flowing into the lake. A good bet will be drifting or trolling a whole pike minnow on 10-15 pound test braid near Boettcher Bay, just before the river flows into the lake at Polson Bay.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Flathead River, above the lake  Runoff has rendered this area unfishable.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Flathead River, below Kerr Dam  See above.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Glacier National Park  Middle Two Medicine, Lake McDonald, Avalanche Lake and the Bowman Lake area are fishable. The hike-in lakes off Going-To-The-Sun-Road are not accessible due to snowpack. Middle Two Medicine and Bowman Creek are fishing very well for cutthroat, bull trout and lake trout. The first flies tied onto your leader should be black flying ants ranging in sizes 8-10. Other dependable flies during this time of year are usually egg-sucking leaches, renegades, prince nymphs, parachute Adams and grey wolfs. Add a zebra midge to your shopping list as well if you head to Middle Two Medicine. Spin fisherman can put those flies behind a casting bobber. They can also cast a spoon. Three-quarter ounce to an ounce will be needed to cast out far enough and fish the appropriate 10-12-foot depth. Visitors should make sure theyve acquired all necessary permits before attempting to enter the park. GTTSR and the Bowman area will require passes during certain times.  Arends Fly Shop, Columbia Falls.

Lake Koocanusa  Fishing remains steady on the larger models of rainbow trout ranging 1-9 pounds. The lake has also been rising 3-4 feet per day.  Koocanusa Resort and Marina, Libby.

Lake Mary Ronan  The kokanee bite slowed down for a bit but has picked up again recently. The perch fishing has completely shut off, though.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Nelson Reservoir  The water is low but people are catching fish. A vast majority have been walleye while pulling crawler harnesses on bottom bouncers. The occasional northern will make an appearance, but those who are targeting pike would be better suited trolling crankbaits.  Hardware Hank, Malta.

Noxon Rapids Reservoir  The fishing continues to be excellent. Anyone from pro to novice anglers has had success catching both large and smallmouth bass. Largemouth are currently spawning while the smallmouth are preparing to enter their post-spawn stage. Pike are being pulled out of weed beds, and shallow coves and creeks using smelt, large spinners and swim baits. Rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout are being caught in feeder creeks using inline spinners. Walleye are still being caught on deep-diving crankbaits, and perch are biting near shallow stumps next to banks and coves. As a good rule of thumb, most fish are moving into the shallows as spring progresses and water levels rise.  Lakeside Motel and Resort.

South Fork of the Flathead River  This water still isnt fishable.  Arends Fly Shop, Columbia Falls.

Swan Lake  Once conditions stabilize within the next 10 days or two weeks, lake trout fishing is expected to be great.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Matthew Kiewiet is the managing editor for the Montana Standard and writer for frontpagebets.com. Email him at matthew.kiewiet@mtstandard.com or follow him on Twitter @mattkiewiet406.

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Republican congressional candidate Ryan Zinke remains a consultant for a gold exploration company but dropped his work for several other private firms, according to a disclosure report filed Tuesday.

The former congressmans latest financial disclosure included few other changes from his prior report, filed in November. He reported income between $370,000 and $486,000 so far for 2022, most of which came from consulting work and rental income. Congressional candidates report their incomes, assets and liabilities in broad ranges.

Zinke faces Democrat Monica Tranel, a Missoula attorney, in his bid to represent Montanas new western congressional district. Tranel filed her 2022 disclosure on the May 16 deadline. Zinkes campaign previously said it lost track of the deadline to file this year.

Zinke has continued to work for U.S. Gold Corp. this year, according to the report. The firm describes itself as a U.S.-focused gold exploration and development company active in Wyoming, Nevada and Idaho. He is being paid $68,000 per year for that work.

Campaign spokesperson Heather Swift said via text message Wednesday that Zinke ended his consulting work for several other companies, including oil giant ConocoPhillips, at the end of 2021. He continues to earn a $100,000 salary through his consulting company.

Zinke previously served as the Secretary of the Interior under the Trump administration. In that position he earned praise from the natural resources industry for pursuing rollbacks of restrictions on oil and gas drilling and loosening rules meant to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The value of Zinkes assets increased slightly from his prior report, and amount to between $8.7 million and $35.6 million. Most of that is in the form of rental properties in Santa Barbara and Whitefish. Zinkes opponents have honed in on his familys out-of-state property holdings to suggest he isnt actually a Montana resident. The Whitefish native has maintained that his primary residence remains in the Flathead despite his wife claiming California residency for tax purposes.

The range of his liabilities also grew slightly, with his total debts reported at between $1.8 million and $6.6 million.

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The recent flooding along the Yellowstone River has left major questions for Montanas largest industry.

Lost equipment and livestock on top of rising diesel, fertilizer and seed prices have put Carbon County farmers and ranchers in tougher-than-usual circumstances while looking at the months ahead.

Rancher Scott Fleur owns land next to the Orchard Canal headgate outside of Bridger. The headgate broke out last week during the flooding and caused extensive damage to his property and the canal.

The influx of water stopped just short of his shop and home, but agricultural infrastructure including a private bridge over the canal, silos, a truck and a sedan were lost due to damages. His alfalfa crops werent excessively damaged, but were exposed to silt and brush from the river, rendering them unable to harvest.

Fleur also raises chicken and cattle. Most of the chickens drowned in his coup when the water washed over while the lost bridge left him unable to reach his cattle.

We were okay for the river flooding, Fleur said. We werent prepared for this.

Concrete blocks brought in by helicopter were dropped to block the water flowing into the irrigation system and a makeshift irrigator was installed to help control the flow of water. Without such actions water would flow unregulated into the ditch threatening to spill over or destroy the canal's integrity.

Fleur and others along the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River Valley agreed the main concern now is any further flooding before the headgate can be repaired. They fear any more damage ahead of a potential drought could compromise the water supply for 400 people and 11,000 acres in the valley.

Weve got to control that canal, Fromberg Rancher Jay Stetson said. If we dont get that shored up, water will go through whats already destroyed and destroy even more.

Elsewhere across Carbon County, farmers and ranchers have reported lost corrals, feedlots and horse pens due to flooding along with some farms still partially submerged in water.

Looking ahead to crop and livestock recovery from the flood, there remain options available to those who may not have flood insurance.

The United States Department of Agriculture and Montana Farm Services Agency offer programs for both insured and non-insured farmers during disaster and emergency events that include the Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, Livestock Indemnity Program, Emergency Loan Program and Emergency Conservation Program.

These can provide farmers and ranchers with financial relief from events like last weeks floods through indemnities for lost crops and equipment. Failed acres need to be reported to FSA within 15 days after the crop has failed but in some cases, people may not be able to assess this kind of damage for days after the flooding.

In areas where the water moved slowly and simply covered the ground for a couple days you may not know whether that crop was destroyed until several days after the water is gone, explained FSA State Executive Director Les Rispens. Once it is apparent that the acres have failed due to inundation, you have 15 days to file a notice of loss with FSA.

That means that those impacted by the flood should have time to file reports, but the real concern for area farmers is when exactly the aid will come.

Stetson said he and other farms and ranches in the area have already filed for available relief.

"You're looking at six to twelve months before any funds will actually be seen," he said. "And don't even get me started with SBA (Small Business Administration) loans."

Despite this, the harvest season doesnt appear to be a total loss.

Carbon County MSU Extension Agent Nikki Bailey said crop damage has been a concern along the river, but not necessarily for the total yield percentage.

It really just depends on what part of the county the crops were in, she said If you were in more of the impacted areas, you may have a lower yield but were still looking at about a 70-100% yield this year.

In Stetsons case, 75 acres of his crops were underwater at one point last week but he said recent rain showers washed off the silt from the river.

He admits recent events have added to other challenges, but added that theres no reason to panic.

There are folks that worry about things like commodity prices months in advance, Stetson said. But we really wont know until they're sold in the fall, so I dont waste my time with that.

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Episode 43: Over the past few years, trans issues have gotten much more attention, especially with more children talking about and sometimes questioning their own gender. In the episode, Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about why this topic is so polarizing for many Americans and ideas about how to think about acceptance and treatment.

Links to stories discussed during the podcast:

The Battle Over Gender Therapy: More teenagers than ever are seeking transitions, but the medical community that treats them is deeply divided about why  and what to do to help them," by Emily Bazelon of The New York Times

About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Richmond police have identified the man shot to death in the Carver neighborhood last week.

Around 7:47 a.m. on June 13, Eric Barbour, 32, of Richmond was found by officers in the 1200 block of West Moore Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Anyone with information is asked to call Major Crimes Detective J. Crewell at (804) 646-5324 or contact Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000. The P3 Tips Crime Stoppers app also may be used. All Crime Stoppers reporting methods are anonymous.
Henrico County police said three individuals have been arrested in connection with a homicide that occurred May 19.

Police arrested and charged one juvenile male a day after the crime occurred. In a statement Wednesday, police said they arrested a second juvenile male and Martel Marrow, 18, of Henrico.

Officers responded to the initial incident around 4 p.m. along Interstate 64 on the Shockoe Valley Bridge. A Virginia state trooper was assisting a disabled vehicle when a second vehicle pulled alongside them, and the driver requested help, police said.

Police discovered a juvenile female passenger was suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. A trooper and a Virginia Department of Transportation Safety Service Patrol officer aided the girl, who was transported to a hospital, where she later died, police said.

Detectives determined the shooting occurred on Byron Street near the Glenwood Farms community, said division spokesperson Karina Bolster.

On May 20, Henrico police arrested and charged one juvenile boy in connection with the incident. He faces several charges, including attempted robbery and murder.

The second juvenile was arrested Tuesday and faces several charges, including second-degree murder, robbery and use of a firearm. Both juveniles are being held in the Henrico Juvenile Detention Home.

Marrow was arrested Monday and charged with accessory after the fact. Hes being held in the Henrico Jail without bond, police said.
Richmond Public Schools is forgoing daily contact tracing but is keeping its mask mandate for summer instruction.

The School Board received updated COVID-19 guidance this week for the period that begins on June 27 and ends Aug. 19. Additional updated guidance for the 2022-23 school year is slated to be provided to the board later this summer.

We will no longer be contact tracing individual cases, said Michelle Hudacsko, RPS chief of staff. That is the most significant shift and aligned with VDH guidance, she said, referring to the Virginia Department of Health.

Fourth District School Board member Jonathan Youngs motion to approve the COVID guidance without the mask requirement failed after it was not seconded Tuesday night. The board has never voted on RPS COVID plans.

I will vote no in regards to the COVID mitigation strategy because candidly it makes zero sense ... two-and-a-half years into a pandemic to retain a one-size-fits-all policy pertinent to masking and to continue to require our faculty and staff to mask up despite, or in spite of, their own volition is, in my opinion, irresponsible, Young said.

A state law went into effect on March 1, allowing parents to choose whether their children wear masks in school and ridding school districts of the authority to implement student mask mandates. The law means parents may opt out RPS students from wearing masks. But school districts still may require masks for staff, volunteers and visitors.

Other Richmond-area public schools are maintaining optional mask use for summer school.

Changes to the RPS COVID plan include: forgoing daily contact tracing for individual cases, not requiring masks outdoors, cutting the isolation period for positive in half, and eliminating social distancing and group size restrictions.

In February, RPS and six other Virginia school districts  Fairfax, Prince William and Arlington counties and the cities of Alexandria, Hampton and Falls Church  sued Gov. Glenn Youngkin in an effort to block his executive order to make masks in school optional.

In January, Youngkin provided relaxed COVID guidance, giving school districts practicable flexibility on mitigation.

Richmond-area school districts, with the exception of RPS, stopped contact tracing this past winter.

RPS guidance that remains includes: promoting vaccinations and boosters; wearing masks inside RPS buildings; providing COVID tests to students and staff members; promoting hand hygiene; utilizing ventilation systems; disinfecting classrooms, high touch surfaces and buses; and daily symptom checks and contact tracing for outbreaks (three positive cases in a 14-day period), according to the summer instruction memo.

Employees who become infected will continue to receive a maximum of five days of leave. If additional time is needed, the staff member can apply for Family and Medical Leave (unpaid, job-protected leave).

In Chesterfield County, school employees may access up to 80 hours of leave for COVID, according to a schools spokesperson. In Hanover County Public Schools, employees who test positive may be eligible for paid leave during their isolation period, according to a schools spokesperson.

Emergency COVID leave for Henrico County school employees expires on June 30, according to a schools spokesperson. Instead, staff can use sick leave along with personal leave.

Richmond Superintendent Jason Kamras, who tested positive earlier this month, recently urged RPS families to get vaccinated if they havent done so already. Kamras also thanked everyone who reached out to check on him and his family, as they all tested positive.

Were very grateful for your love and support! Kamras wrote in his Tuesday newsletter. Were also grateful for the vaccine  I fear I might have ended up in the hospital without it.

If you havent gotten vaccinated yet, I urge you to do so (including any boosters youre eligible for). The vaccine may not keep you from getting infected, but it will almost certainly keep you alive. If you wont do it for yourself, please, do it for your loved ones.
Three Richmond Public Schools didnt open Thursday after severe storms took out the buildings electricity.

Power was restored to the schools Thursday morning.

A Wednesday afternoon storm barreled its way through the Richmond area, resulting in winds up to 60 mph and leaving 60,000 Dominion Energy customers without power.

The three high schools  Huguenot, Open and Thomas Jefferson  were closed to students and staff.

An RPS news release said the division would notify families later Thursday regarding the status of these schools opening tomorrow, Friday, June 24.

All of the schools have regained power, a Dominion spokesperson said in an email. Huguenots power returned at 4:28 a.m., followed by Thomas Jefferson at 8:20 a.m. and Open at 10:16 a.m.

Friday is the last day of school for all RPS students.
First-time homebuyer Tiffany Terrell was almost ready to quit looking for a house before she visited a 3D-printed home for sale on Carnation Street in South Richmond.

It had what she wanted for her and her 14-year-old daughter, Makayla Terry, in their price range: a kitchen with an island countertop, a nice backyard and an updated interior. After a six-month search, she now has the 3D-printed home, the first of its kind in Richmond, under contract for $235,000.

State and local officials say they hope that more homes like it can be built to address the shortage of housing thats driving up home prices across Virginia.

I didnt know anything about 3D printing. I came to see it when it was bare-bones. ... It looked like a brand-new house. I did my research after that and thought, This is pretty cool, Terrell, 38, said at an open house for the home Thursday. When you find what you want and its got everything you wanted, its great.

The 1,550-square-foot home with three bedrooms and two bathrooms is the result of a partnership between Virginia Housing and the Virginia Center for Housing Research at Virginia Tech.

The state agency gave the university research group a $500,000 innovation grant to obtain a 3D modular construction printer from Denmark to build the homes concrete exterior walls.

Susan Dewey, CEO of Virginia Housing, said the idea came from the experts at Virginia Tech, who had advised that novel home building methods could help address the growing shortage of housing across the state.

Youve got to look at land cost, labor and materials. And I think the big benefit is going to be on the labor side, she said of 3D printing home construction. Whenever you are able to cut any of those costs, then it makes it much more affordable.

Chris Thompson, the director of strategic housing for Virginia Housing, said the construction is a bit of an experiment. The printer was used to make two layers of exterior wall with a gap for insulation between them. He said the design is intended to make the home energy-efficient and dampen the noise of traffic along Carnation Street.

RMT Construction & Development Group, the builder for the project, used traditional construction methods to complete the concrete slab foundation, roof system and interior walls.

With it being the first time out and not wanting to get a little too crazy, we decided to be more traditional inside and put drywall throughout, Thompson said.

Other partners involved in the building project were project:Homes and the Better Housing Coalition, two Richmond nonprofits that helped provide the land for the building, homeownership services and construction management.

Andrew McCoy, the director of the Virginia Tech housing research center, said cutting back on the cost of other traditional construction material like sheetrock could lower building costs, but that firms need more experience using new technology like 3D printing.

The more we can have some of these jobs pivot to automate, theyll understand that process and drive that change in the industry, he said. Its going to be important just to have options for that.

As Terrell prepares to close on the home next month, Thompson said that Alquist, the Iowa-based construction firm that built the home, has pledged to build approximately 200 more 3D-printed homes in Virginia. The company last year built in James City County in partnership with Habitat for Humanity.

McCoy said his center will continue advising Alquist as it continues building. He said areas of research could include finding ways to use other materials to make the 3D printing process more environmentally sustainable.

Ninth District Councilman Michael Jones, who represents the area where the new house is located, said he was pleased to see innovation taking shape in the community.

Thats important, Jones said. Its [not just happening in] the Fan or Museum District. This is Richmond as well.
Fifty years ago, with broad bipartisan support, Congress created the Federal Pell Grant Program  empowering generations of lower-income students to earn college degrees, and unlocking the opportunity for millions of families to move up the economic ladder.

But a lot has changed in a half-century  and the purchasing power of Pell Grants hasnt kept pace. In fact, the maximum Pell Grant in 2019 was 1% lower than it was 40 years earlier.

Its time for Congress to substantially raise Pell Grants by doubling the maximum amount to roughly $13,000 a year. This would make a dramatic difference for the millions of students who receive Pell assistance each year. At my institution, Virginia Commonwealth University, this change would cover more than 80% of tuition and fees.

As we celebrate this anniversary, we should seize this moment and reignite the life-changing opportunities Pell Grants were meant to produce. Doing so will increase access to higher education, so a lack of resources doesnt prevent smart, hardworking students from earning a college degree.

Almost all Pell Grant recipients (90%) come from households with an income of less than $50,000 a year. A majority of students families make less than $20,000 a year.

Nationally, students during the 2021-22 school year paid an average of $10,338 for in-state public tuition and more than $38,000 for private colleges. Its easy to see that many families cant pay those costs out of pocket.

When the Pell program began, the maximum grant covered most of a students college tuition costs. Today, it covers about a third of tuition costs at four-year public schools, which means the program is falling short in improving the lives of millions of Americans.

In the fall of 2021, a quarter of undergraduates in Virginia  45,842 students at four-year institutions  received Pell Grants worth more than $204 million. On average, they each received $4,458.

When those grants fall short, many students take out loans. This means that as they start their careers, they also start their monthly loan payments. Theyre in debt before they earn a dime.

But imagine if that was not the case. Doubling Pell Grants would substantially reduce the amount of money students need to borrow.

Reducing student debt means that when college graduates start building their careers, theyre less burdened by repayment. We already know students who receive Pell Grants have higher debt.

In fact, the Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States: 2022 Historical Trend Report showed students from low-income families and those who received Pell Grants borrowed nearly $44,000 to attend college. Students from higher-income families borrowed only $25,375.

Why? Its not that the price tag is lower for students who are better off. Its that they have more resources to pay for it.

Pell Grants can help give lower-income students those resources. They need the support  and we need them. Doubling the amount can help address long-standing educational, social and health care needs that the coronavirus pandemic has devastatingly amplified.

Students from lower-income households are suffering during the pandemic at alarming rates. Some experts fear there will be a lost-generation of low-income students  16 million Americans said they canceled plans to go to college, with families earning less than $75,000 a year nearly twice as likely to opt out.

The United States needs more students with degrees. As we compete in a global economy, the quality and quantity of our workforce matters. Its in our economic interest as a nation to support more students in advancing their training and skills. The economy is only as competitive as the people in it.

Similarly, its in our interest to ensure that higher education and advanced training are accessible to all, not just those whose families can pay for it. At VCU, a third of our students are eligible for Pell Grants. Sometimes, they also are first-generation college students, or they come from underrepresented communities.

Theyre smart, determined students. They have the ability to succeed in college, get a degree, and build successful lives and careers  if they can afford to stay in school.

As president of a public research university, I believe in the power of public higher education. But what does it really mean for VCU, or any other institution, to be public?

It means being accessible to all of the students who need us  to the people in our communities who can benefit from what we do, and the education we can provide. Pell Grants help make college accessible to all students, so everyone has a chance to achieve the American dream, and get an education that will help them build the lives they want to lead.

Thats the best metric of success, both for the Pell program, and for colleges and universities  when our students succeed. Its time to double the maximum grant amount, for the sake of our students and our future.
In five words, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Mountain Valley Pipelines request that it draw a new three-judge panel to reconsider permits for the embattled project that have repeatedly been struck down.

The court denies the motion, read a one-sentence order filed late Wednesday.

In a highly unusual move, the company building a natural gas pipeline through Southwest Virginia asked the Fourth Circuit in May for the random selection of a panel to hear the latest challenge of its permits, made by a coalition of environmental groups and local opponents.

Mountain Valley contended that public confidence in the court is threatened by its continued rejection of government approvals for the 303-mile pipeline, often by the same trio of judges.

The public has certainly noticed these exceptional results and has zeroed in on the peculiarity that each case involving an authorization for Mountain Valley draws the same three-judge panel, the motion stated.

The Richmond-based Fourth Circuit, which consists of 15 active judges and three senior judges to hear appeals from five states, has a computer program that randomly assigns three-member panels for incoming cases.

However, the courts rules allow for the same judges initially appointed at random to remain with a case when it comes up again, under certain circumstances.

When the first lawsuit involving Mountain Valley reached the court in 2018, the computer program indiscriminately picked three names  Chief Judge Roger Gregory and Judges Stephanie Thacker and James Wynn.

That led to their assignment to most, but not all, of the dozen or so future cases in which federal and state permits issued to Mountain Valley were contested.

Supporters of keeping the same judges on similar cases say it improves judicial efficiency, as the panel gains knowledge of past history and familiarity with complex issues.

Lawyers for a coalition headed by the Sierra Club argued that it was the facts of the cases  not the judges who heard them  that led to Mountain Valleys losing record.

Those facts show systemic flaws in the permitting of MVPs pipeline, rather than a deck stacked against it, read a brief filed by Appalachian Mountain Advocates and the Southern Environmental Law Center, two groups that represent the petitioners.

Many of the cases decided by the panel involved what it found to be inadequate oversight by government agencies to control muddy runoff from the massive construction project. Mountain Valley has been cited nearly 400 times by Virginia regulators for violating erosion and sedimentation control regulations since work began in 2018.

Officials with the Sierra Club and Appalachian Voices, which are part of the group that is fighting the permits, declined to comment Thursday. A spokeswoman for Mountain Valley also had no comment.

The cases involve the latest challenge of stream crossing permits  one issued by Virginias State Water Control Board last December and a similar authorization by West Virginia  where the pipeline starts.

Generally, it is not known which Fourth Circuit judges will hear a case until the day of oral arguments before the court. No date has been scheduled in the stream crossing cases, which will likely not be heard until the courts September term, at the earliest.

Steve Emmert, an authority on state and federal appeals who has never seen a motion like the one filed by Mountain Valley, said the brevity of the Fourth Circuits ruling was not unusual.

Unlike formal opinions in which the court explains its reasoning and cites case law, rulings on motions usually contain little detail, according to Emmert, a Virginia Beach attorney who is not involved in the pipeline litigation.

I imagine that this is a disheartening ruling for the pipeline, but the court absolutely has the discretion to control its case assignments, he said.

The remaining crossings of streams, rivers and wetlands is not the only obstacle Mountain Valley must overcome to meet its target of completing the long-delayed, $6.6 billion infrastructure project by late 2023.

Earlier this year, the Fourth Circuit  again represented by Gregory, Thacker and Wynn  struck down for the second time two other authorizations: One for the pipeline to pass through the Jefferson National Forest and the second a finding by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that endangered species would not by jeopardized.

Mountain Valley is applying for renewed permits yet again.

In a filing this week with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the lead agency overseeing the pipeline, the company submitted details on its application to the U.S. Forest Service for approval to pass through public woodlands in Giles and Montgomery counties and Monroe County, West Virginia.

All of the trees have been felled along a 125-foot wide right of way through 3.5 miles of the Jefferson National Forest, according to the documents.

About half of the land along Sinking Creek and Brush Mountain has been cleared and graded, but no pipe has been installed in the forest.

The pipeline will cross under the Appalachian Trail as it traverses Peters Mountain. Plans call for Mountain Valley to bore a tunnel for the pipe about 90 feet below the trail, leaving a buffer of about 300 feet on either side of the scenic foot path.

Critics of the pipeline say its corridor will still be visible from the trail for miles away.

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Early in June, before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol began its hearings, I looked for a local watch party to cover the first hearing June 9. I called around among folks who usually hear of such things, but was unable to find one.

A friend suggested that Fork in the Alley in South Roanoke might be a good spot. So I phoned owner David Trinkle. He hadnt planned a watch party, but he found the idea intriguing. Trinkle put out the word on social media.

Fork in the Alley was hopping when I arrived that evening, about half an hour before the big show launched. They had a deejay outdoors in the front, and among the tunes he played was Rich, White, Republican by Root Boy Slim & the Sex Change Band.

Trinkle asked the restaurant manager to change the channels on the interior TVs to the Jan. 6 committees hearings. Within minutes, it seemed, almost all inside patrons cleared out, as if someone had called in a bomb threat.

Besides me, a not-so-pleased couple finishing their dinner were the only indoor customers remaining. And they wanted the channel changed. I ended up watching at home that night, where I could hear better.

The experience left me wondering, is anybody watching these hearings? Does anyone care?

As of this morning, the committee has held four televised hearings. A fifth is scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday, and at least one more is coming in July.

If youve been watching, feel free share your chief takeaways in an email to dan.casey@roanoke.com. But if you havent been watching, dont bother. Were looking for informed opinions, not whataboutism or silly spin. Ill review your emails in a future column.

Has anything surprised you about the lengths to which Team Trump went, to try to keep Donald Trump in the White House after he lost the 2020 presidential election by 7 million votes?

So far, the hearings have included lots of fascinating testimony, most of it by Republicans who refused to go along with Trumps various election-canceling schemes.

What did you think about the testimony from aides to former Vice President Mike Pence, regarding how hard Trump twisted his vice-presidents arms to toss Biden electoral votes from at least six states?

Or the statements of ex-Trump aides? They testified that on Jan. 6  as a Trump mob stormed the Capitol, with a gallows, chanting Hang Mike Pence!  that Trump told White House staffers maybe Pence deserved to hang.

Did it raise your eyebrows when you learned former Attorney General Bill Barr, a Trump appointee, told Trump that every one of his election fraud claims was bull-, and that there was zero evidence of any election stealing?

For me, that was a moment. Because it sent the message that even the ex-president was aware of the Big Lies corrupt nature.

And how about the Georgia election worker  senior citizen Ruby Freeman? Her home was surrounded by a Trump mob after the president publicly fingered her for ballot-counting fraud in Fulton County that never occurred. Trump made that up. Freeman had to move out of her house for two months at the advice of the FBI.

Some might find it stunning that Team Trump was so hell-bent on staying in the White House that theyd use lies to threaten and chase an old lady out of her home, if there was even a slim chance that strategy would succeed. Does that surprise you?

What follows are a few broader takes from the hearings. Dont forget, Im interested in yours, too. Send me an email, to dan.casey@roanoke.com, with your impressions.

The judicial branch of America has preserved our democracy

All of us saw how the Big Lie overtook much of the executive branch in the months following the November 2020 election.

It infected the legislative branch, too. The evidence for that is the many Republicans in Congress who voted not to accept electoral votes on Jan. 6, even following the insurrection. Among them are Reps. Ben Cline, R-Botetourt; Morgan Griffith, R-Salem and Bob Good, R-Amherst.

The judicial branch is the only one of the federal governments three branches that fully held the line on democracy and the rule of law. It refused to entertain Trumpian legal nonsense. Even judges appointed by Trump shot down every one of the 60 evidence-free election lawsuits the president and his gang tried to bring.

We owe those judges thanks. If any had buckled to Trumps pressure, this nation could be in a very different and weird position right now.

Not all Republicans are dishonorable

One of the encouraging signals sent by the hearings is that the United States still has honorable Republicans, who rebuffed incessant entreaties to toss out election results from the leader of their party  the most powerful man on Earth.

Two of them them testified yesterday. One was Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers. He voted for Trump and supported the presidents re-election. But Bowers refused to convene an illegal meeting to throw out Arizona electoral votes that Joe Biden had won fairly and squarely.

In retaliation, a Trump mob surrounded Bowers house  at a time when he and his wife were caring for their terminally ill adult daughter.

The other was Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, also a Republican. Remember the hour-long phone call he took from from Trump Jan. 2? Raffensperger stood up to Trumps pleas that the elections chief find 11,780 votes for Trump, one more vote than Trump needed to win Georgia.

As a result, Raffenspergers deceased sons house was broken into by a Trump mob. Raffenspergers daughter-in-law still lives there.

Liz Cheney is a big winner

If theres a politician whos gained stature from this tangled mess, its Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming. Shes about as conservative as a pol can get. But its hard not to admire the role shes played since the election.

Cheney voted to impeach Trump for Jan. 6, unlike the vast majority of her Republican colleagues in the House (including Cline, Griffith and Good). But that and her role as co-chair of the Jan. 6 committee has destroyed her politically in Wyoming.

Shes likely going to lose her bid for re-election in Wyomings GOP primary in August. A challenger, Harriett Hageman, is far ahead in the polls.

Someday, the Republican Party will come to its senses. The Trump insanity will subside, and itll leave all kinds of Republican casualties. GOPers who went to the wall for their president in 2020 will be begging voters to forget.

Not Cheney. By then, shell be looking like the partys leading stateswoman. Shes earned that title, by putting American democracy above her own political future, at least in the short term.

Isnt that the kind of elected official most voters always say they want?

Contact metro columnist Dan Casey at 981-3423 or dan.casey@roanoke.com . Follow him on Twitter:@dancaseysblog .

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An attorney for a Covington man charged with participating in the riots at the U.S. Capitol is trying to prevent prosecutors from associating his client with the Proud Boys, an extremist group involved in planning the uprising.

Although Joshua Dillon Haynes has never been a member of the group, his attorney wrote in a motion filed Thursday in Washington D.C.s federal court, prosecutors have said they may present evidence linking him to the organization.

Steven Kiersh asked a judge to exclude any such evidence, arguing that a jury will almost certainly be affected by testimony about a violent extremist organization that is alleged to have committed crimes in the District of Columbia where the jurors reside.

Haynes, 39, is facing eight charges, including allegations that he damaged cameras, tripods and other equipment of news media crews who were covering a horde of Donald Trump supporters as it stormed a session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

They had to run away from us and leave all their equipment so we destroyed it, read a text attributed to Haynes that was included in an affidavit filed last July in Roanokes federal court, shortly after his arrest.

i Kicked the fake news a, he allegedly wrote.

According to court papers, Haynes told federal authorities that he attended a meeting of the Proud Boys in Fredericksburg in late 2020 and had dinner with several of its members.

Haynes would have joined the chapter, but it was too far away and there were no members of the Proud Boys in his local area, the affidavit stated.

Even if Haynes had some dealings with the group  which Kiersh said that he was not conceding  any probative value of that would be outweighed by its prejudicial effect, the attorney argued.

The motion mentions the ongoing hearings held by a U.S. House of Representatives select committee that is investigating the insurrection, which have included graphic testimony about the Proud Boys violent actions.

The highly prejudicial information about the Proud Boys was seen and heard by a vast number of citizens and will serve absolutely no purpose other than to prejudice Joshua Haynes and his right to a fair trial, Kiersh wrote.

A jury trial is scheduled for November.

The proceedings in Haynes case were delayed by his arrest and conviction of domestic violence offenses that occurred in his Covington home after he was placed on home detention last year.

He is currently being held without bond in a Washington jail. In addition to destruction of property, Haynes is charged with unlawful entry of restricted grounds, disorderly conduct, committing an act of physical violence on restricted grounds and obstruction of an official proceeding.

Haynes is one of six people from Western Virginia among the more than 800 defendants from across the county charged in the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

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ABINGDON  After completing 1,035 miles of the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maryland and raising $3,357 for Shriners Hospitals for Children, Brian Fes Stanley has made the difficult decision to end his journey due to an injury to his right ankle.

It was a really hard decision because youve just walked over 1,000 miles, and it was tough, but you know, there comes a point where you have to listen to your body, Stanley said. I had to look at it realistically that, you know, I had walked over 1,000 miles. I had raised over $3,300 for Shriners Hospitals for Children, and I had to take some time off to really get this healed.

Now back home in Damascus, Stanley is readjusting to life off the trail. He misses the comradery of the AT.

Its been weird, Stanley said. When you spend four months living out of your backpack and traveling 13 to 20 miles a day and coming back, and everything you want is at your fingertips, its weird. Ill be honest. Its sad at times because when youre out there, youre completely free.

Despite the mixed emotions of having to cut his time on the AT short, Stanley is glad to be back with his family and being able to spend Fathers Day with his dad. He recounted his youngest daughter, Lyrics excitement when he arrived back home.

My daughter Lyric, shes 9 years old, and she was really excited to see me when I came home, and one of the first things she said was, Daddy, you dont have to do any more of the Appalachian Trail, I laughed, and I said, I know baby.

Stanley knows that every hiker on the AT is out there seeking to discover something about themselves and that, in his case, aside from successfully raising $3,357 for Shriners Hospitals for Children, he was able to find what he was looking for.

I went out there looking for confidence with myself, for restored confidence. I went out there to find confidence in other people, Stanley said. I went out there looking for love, and I dont mean that in the boyfriend, girlfriend intimate way. I mean in the love of nature, love of people.

Reflecting on his time on the trail, Stanley said hikers might set out with one goal in mind and come out of it having accomplished so much more.

You may set out looking or trying to accomplish one thing, but by the end of your journey, your 1,000 miles or 2,000 miles, you will have discovered so much more than what you did when we first set out on day one, Stanley said. The trail will open your heart and your mind in ways that you never imagined.

For now, Stanley is recuperating from his injury, spending time with his family, and debating whether or not to rejoin his trail family on the AT in a supporting role.

Stanley will be taking part in the Lebanon, Virginia Fourth of July parade alongside his fellow Shriners and hikers. He will be handing out flyers and giving out treats to raise more money for the Shriners Hospital for Children.
Visitors will return to a changed landscape in Yellowstone National Park on Wednesday as it reopens following record floods that reshaped the parks rivers and canyons, wiped out numerous roads and left some areas famous for their wildlife viewing inaccessible possibly for months to come
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LAKE CITY  The city has been selected as one of 34 South Carolina municipalities and nonprofits to receive Duke Energy grants supporting first responders and emergency preparedness.

Duke Energy announced the grants June 1  the first day of hurricane season  to stand in support of local communities preparing for potential significant weather events and their aftermath. The Duke Energys Emergency Preparedness and Storm Resiliency Grant Program was announced in March. Totaling $500,000, the 34 grants range from awards of $3,250 to $20,000.

The key to successful emergency preparedness and recovery after a major storm begins and ends at the local level, said Mike Callahan, Duke Energys South Carolina state president. Households and businesses across the state in recent years have endured a number of significant and costly storms. Helping our communities prepare for and recover from these events takes significant resources and these grants will help give our fellow first responders the tools and training they need to tackle whatever Mother Nature throws our way.

Duke Energy awarded Lake City a $20,000 grant to help purchase new emergency radio communication equipment for the fire and police departments.

Additionally, in May, the Lake City Fire Department was awarded a South Carolina Volunteer Strategic Assistance and Fire Equipment grant for $30,000 to help fund new emergency radios.

Together the two grants total $50,000 and will cover about a third of the citys costs to replace radios.

These grants help bring us in line with the direction the county is going in for their communication systems and reduces the citys approximately $150,000 costs for upgrading and replacing our equipment that will become obsolete in 2025 and 2027, said William A. Hall, city administrator.

The county is moving forward with a $1.9 million project to upgrade all their radio systems by 2027, said Police Chief and Deputy City Administrator Jody Cooper. The radios we will be purchasing with these grants will work in tandem with the Florence County Sheriffs Office call system to improve communications and response rates during emergencies.

In recent years, Lake City has been hit by several significant storms including Hurricane Florence in 2018, which dropped more than 20 inches of rain in areas of the state, and Hurricane Matthew, which flooded many areas of Lake City.
COLUMBIA, S.C.  The director of nursing at a Midlands skilled-nursing facility has pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents regarding production of fraudulent COVID-19 vaccine cards.

Tammy Hutson McDonald, 53, of Columbia, has pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents about the production of fraudulent COVID-19 Vaccination Record Cards.

Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that on September 13, 2021, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control received a complaint that McDonald, who was then director of nursing at a PruittHealth skilled nursing facility, was providing false COVID-19 vaccine cards to others, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of South Carolina.

Further investigation revealed that on June 20, 2021, McDonald provided vaccination cards for various individuals. McDonald filled out the cards and was aware that the individuals to whom she provided vaccine cards did not, in fact, receive the vaccine as noted on the cards. One of the individuals who procured a card needed a replacement. On July 28, 2021, McDonald filled out another card for him although she was aware that he had not received the vaccine as noted on his card.

On October 22, 2021, federal agents with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) spoke to McDonald at work.

Even after being told she was talking to federal agents, and that lying to a federal agent was a crime, she insisted she had never given anyone a false or incorrect vaccine card. Evidence presented to the court showed that this was a materially false statement, and McDonald knew the statement was false, as she provided fraudulent COVID-19 vaccine cards to others, according to the statement.

The Defendant created a direct risk to the people of South Carolina by creating false vaccine documents for others to use, and she compounded this wrongdoing by lying to federal agents, said U.S. Attorney Corey F. Ellis. As a registered nurse, she knew better and owed more to her community. This felony conviction showcases that this office will continue to prosecute fraud related to the Coronavirus in all its forms.

Vaccination record cards play an integral part in efforts to address the public health emergency, said Special Agent in Charge Tamala E. Miles, with HHS-OIG. HHS-OIG will continue to hold accountable any providers who undermine public health measures and put the health of others at risk by distributing these cards to unvaccinated individuals.

COVID-19 related fraud has severe consequences, no matter the chosen scheme, said Susan Ferensic, the FBI Columbia field offices special agent in charge. Our investigators will continue to work diligently to turn over every stone in search of the truth, and we will hold individuals accountable for their crimes.

McDonald faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. She also faces a fine of up to $250,000, restitution, and three years of supervision to follow any term of imprisonment. Senior United States District Judge Terry L. Wooten accepted the guilty plea and will sentence McDonald Sept. 20 after reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the United States Probation Office.
The Clemson University College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences is working with Curio Wellness to conduct a two-year research project to advance plant tissue science for the medical cannabis industry.

Headquartered in Timonium, Maryland, Curio Wellness is a licensed medical cannabis company and innovator of health and wellness products derived from cannabis. Matt Taylor is applied science director for Curio Wellness.

Clemson University is recognized as one of the top agricultural and horticultural schools in the world, Taylor said. Through our partnership, we are building the knowledge base for cannabis tissue culture, which in its current state is inadequately understood. The ultimate goal is genetic preservation, which will enable us to continue cultivating high quality, plant-based medicine for patients in Maryland and beyond.

Tissue culture is an important tool in horticulture and involves growing plants aseptically, or in an environment free of microorganisms and pathogens. It is used for biological research, plant breeding and propagation across important crops such as sweet potatoes, bananas, grapes, roses, berries, hops and many ornamental plants. The aim is to protect plants from viral pathogens while improving production efficiency.

Jeff Adelberg, an expert in plant tissue culture and a horticulture professor at Clemson, will lead a team involving both the University and Curio Wellness in the study.

This project is unique in that both organizations will conduct research using our individual plant collections, Adelberg said. Research conducted at Clemson will be shared with Curio for use on their plants in Maryland. They have the medical expertise to create the best products from cannabis. This collaboration creates an opportunity for researchers from both institutions to use their knowledge to benefit people.

The 2018 U.S. Farm Bill established the United States Department of Agricultures Hemp Production Program, legalizing industrial hemp production. The South Carolina Hemp Farming Program is administered by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture.

Clemsons research involves using industrial hemp, a strain of the same plant as marijuana but without intoxicating effects. Legal production began in South Carolina in 2019. Both hemp and marijuana are strains of the Cannabis sativa plant species. They are distinguished by their chemistry. Hemp has much lower concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive substance for which marijuana is known.

By law, industrial hemp must have less than 0.3% THC, while marijuana may contain between 10 and 100 times that concentration. By contrast, hemp has higher concentrations of cannabidiol, or CBD, which does not have the same psychoactive effects as THC but is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use controlling epileptic seizures.

Michael Bronfein, Curio Wellnesss chief executive officer, said this latest research collaboration is an example of the companys continued commitment to innovation that reimagines the way medical cannabis is cultivated and delivered to patients.

At Curio, everything we do is rooted in scientifically derived methods and processes, which means our investment in research and development is fundamental to our operating strategy and the quality and consistency of our products, Bronfein said. This research partnership with Clemson is a prime example of how Curio is investing in the future of medical cannabis for our patients and everyone in need of safe, effective and reliable health solutions.

The research begins in August 2022.
 By 6-3 vote, SCOTUS expands Second Amendment rights by striking down NY public-carry licensing requirements | Main | "Nothing but Time: Elderly Americans Serving Life Without Parole" 

June 23, 2022

Are all broad felon-in-possession criminal gun statutes now constitutionally suspect after Bruen?

I am still working my way through the Supreme Court's various opinions in today's big Second Amendment case, Bruen (basics here). And, because I am not a Second Amendment expert, my first-cut reactions to Bruen may not be worth much. But, since the majority opinion in Bruen seems to reject lots of recent lower court rulings regarding the application of the Second Amendment, I cannot help but start wondering now if all broad felon-in-possession criminal statutes are constitutionally suspect.

Lower courts have largely upheld felon-in-possession criminal prohibitions even since Heller decided the Second Amendment provided for an individual right. But I read Part II of the Court's opinion in Bruen as rejecting much lower-court jurisprudence since Heller and creating a new textual and historical approach for the consideration of Second Amendment claims:

In keeping with Heller, we hold that when the Second Amendments plain text covers an individuals conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct. To justify its regulation, the government may not simply posit that the regulation promotes an important interest. Rather, the government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nations historical tradition of firearm regulation. Only if a firearm regulation is consistent with this Nations historical tradition may a court conclude that the individuals conduct falls outside the Second Amendments unqualified command.... Heller and McDonald do not support applying means-end scrutiny in the Second Amendment context. Instead, the government must affirmatively prove that its firearms regulation is part of the historical tradition that delimits the outer bounds of the right to keep and bear arms.... We reiterate that the standard for applying the Second Amendment is as follows: When the Second Amendments plain text covers an individuals conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct. The government must then justify its regulation by demonstrating that it is consistent with the Nations historical tradition of firearm regulation. Only then may a court conclude that the individuals conduct falls outside the Second Amendments unqualified command.

American citizens with felony records are surely part of "the people" covered by the plain text of the Second Amendment, and so their conduct in possessing a firearms would seem presumptively protected. Turning then to "the Nations historical tradition," I surmise from various academic articles (see here and here; see also here) that only dangerous and violent people, not all felons, were historically disallowed to have firearms. As one of these articles puts it: "there is no historical justification for completely and forever depriving peaceable citizens  even nonviolent felons  of the right to keep and bear arms."

But one need not take an academic's word for this notion that there is not historical tradition for dispossessing all felons. Then-Judge, now Justice Amy Coney Barrett made this point quite effectively when dissenting in Kanter v. Barr, 919 F.3d 437 (7th Cir. 2019). Here is the start of her lengthy dissent in a case upholding application of the federal felon-in-possession ban to a nonviolent felon:

History is consistent with common sense: it demonstrates that legislatures have the power to prohibit dangerous people from possessing guns. But that power extends only to people who are dangerous. Founding-era legislatures did not strip felons of the right to bear arms simply because of their status as felons. Nor have the parties introduced any evidence that founding-era legislatures imposed virtue-based restrictions on the right; such restrictions applied to civic rights like voting and jury service, not to individual rights like the right to possess a gun. In 1791  and for well more than a century afterward  legislatures disqualified categories of people from the right to bear arms only when they judged that doing so was necessary to protect the public safety.

Notably, the Bruen opinion for the Court makes repeated reference to the petitioners as "law-abiding" individuals. But I am not sure that dicta alone could or should undermine what Second Amendment's plain text and historical tradition now seem to suggest, namely that governments are on very shaky constitutional ground if and whenever they seek to criminalize gun possession by nonviolent (or "non-dangerous") persons with criminal records.

June 23, 2022 at 12:56 PM | Permalink

Comments

Doug --

You are a positive genius at finding some way to turn a disaster for liberals into a big victory that others are inexplicably missing. Do you have an actual evidence that the present Court is going to ditch Scalia's Heller dictum? Prohibiting felons as a class from gun possession has a long, long historical pedigree, and that all the majority is demanding.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jun 23, 2022 3:22:12 PM

I am wondering how much weight to put on the Justice Kavanaugh concurrence. It appears that, for now, at least he and the Chief Justice are still agreeing the the Scalia dicta from Heller about what types of "traditional" rules will be followed including laws related to felons in possession and the ability to bar dangerous and unusual weapons (like machine guns).

For proposed gun control reforms, the issue will become what is sufficiently dangerous and unusual to fit within that tradition -- high capacity magazines for example.

The concurrence also seems to permit licensing/permit schemes as long as they are an objective test with qualifications that the average person can meet. Does that mean that the government could require a training/gun safety course before a person can buy a handgun?

Posted by: tmm | Jun 23, 2022 3:53:30 PM

Bill, have you read then-Judge Barrett's opinion in Kanter or any of the academic sources I cited? Neither the text of the Second Amendment nor historical traditions support a broad felon exception to the Second Amendment. I will reprint some of the history reviewed by the Duke Center for Firearm Law, which I believe maintains a fairly comprehensive repository of gun laws:

"[T]here are laws from the Revolutionary War that disarmed persons who failed to take an oath of loyalty. There are also laws in the Repository preceding that time that prohibited the sale to Native Americans 'in order to prevent such dangers of isolated murders and assassinations' and because such sale was 'very poisonous and destructive to the English.'

"However, there is not a law that explicitly addresses taking weapons from a person who has been convicted of a crime in the Repository until 1885. That law came out of Florida, and it authorized sheriffs and other officers making an arrest to 'take possession of any arms found upon the person arrested under this act.' Law enforcement officials were then to retain the weapons until after the trial of the person arrested, and if the person was convicted then his arms were forfeited. Only the arms that were on the person are covered by the law. The statute does not reference any other arms that the person convicted possessed or may later purchase, and thus seems to only cover those weapons that were on their person at the time of arrest.

"Laws that ban possession of some firearms by felons begin to pop up in the Repository in 1914.... These are the same laws that were already referenced in our first blog post in this series out of North Dakota, California, Nevada and Oregon, which banned possession of certain weapons capable of being concealed by aliens and felons (among others in some). As mentioned in that post, the statute adopted in all four states is vastly similar in phrasing and effect. All of these statutes refer to a person who has been convicted of a felony as opposed to a person who has been convicted of a crime of violence.

"There is currently only one law on the Repository that completely bans possession of all firearms by felons (not just those capable of being concealed). It was enacted by Rhode Island in 1927, and only concerns those who have been convicted of a crime of violence."

In other words, at the time the Second Amendment was ratified AND at the time the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, broad felon dispossession statutes were entirely unknown to American history. You and perhaps many other think such modern laws --- such as the broad federal felon-in-possession law subjecting violators to up to 10 years in prison (or a mandatory minimum of 15 years if they have the wrong criminal history) --- make for really good policy. But the Supreme Court makes clear today the Second Amendment is not to be applied based on your or my view of good gun policy. It is to be applied based on text and history.

And, to repeat, neither the text of the Second Amendment nor the history of English or American gun laws prior to the 20th Century provides any support for a broad felon ban. Justice Barrett clearly gets that, and I suspect she is not the only one in the current majority willing to be consistent with textualism and originalism here. Whether there are five true textual/originalists on the Court on this issue (or in lower federal courts), though, is another question that is sure to be explored a whole lot in the coming weeks and months and years --- on average, 150 people are sentenced every weekday on FIP convictions in federal courts (though I suspect many of these folks would qualify as "dangerous" so that history/tradition might support their dispossession).

Posted by: Doug B. | Jun 23, 2022 4:08:10 PM

Doug --

Two quick questions: Do you know how many times over the last few years cert petitions have presented the question whether FIP laws cut too broad a swath under the Second Amendment and therefore cannot stand? And do you know how many times the Court has granted such a petition (much less decided on the merits in favor of your position)?

I don't know the answer to the first question. The answer to the second question is zero. Which five votes are you getting for your stance here? I can give you five votes against it right now: Roberts, Kavanaugh (if not assassinated per Senator Schumer), Kagan, Sotomayor and Breyer. I think a sixth, Alito, is also highly likely.

P.S. I met Justice Barrett a few weeks ago at one of my fancy-schmancy Georgetown parties. Why didn't I get to practice before judges who look like that?

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jun 23, 2022 6:03:37 PM

Whatever the answers to your discussions, and the absurd decisions of the Supreme Court to restrict the right to exercise gun control in the US, the one certainty is that more children and innocents will likely lose their lives after today. I thought the mantra of conservatives was the "right to life". Who really believes your children are going to be or feel safer tomorrow? The Supreme Court has a very warped idea of what constitutes Justice.

Posted by: peter | Jun 23, 2022 6:23:05 PM

I totally disagree with Barrett's originalist interpretation of the 2nd Amendment and find her analysis off center. However, if this opinion opens the door to (non-violent) felons retaining the right to possess firearms, then it strikes down most, if not all, statutes prohibiting felons from possessing firearms. This opinion, while lauded by gun nuts, may produce the unintended effect of allowing convicted felons to possess guns. Fewer people will be sentenced to prison and folks already serving time on FIP charges may see their sentences reduced. I disagree with originalism, but this could see a positive consequence for criminal defendants.

Posted by: anon | Jun 23, 2022 6:43:10 PM

Bill, two quick answers:

1. Denials of cert do not make constitutional law, Supreme Court rulings do. Today's Supreme Court decision provides that, for a restriction of gun possession to be constitutional, "the government must affirmatively prove that its firearms regulation is part of the historical tradition that delimits the outer bounds of the right to keep and bear arms." Until the 20th Century, there was absolutely no historical tradition that persons with nonviolent convictions were excluded from Second Amendment protections.

2. It could be years before Bruen's application to federal FIP cased get to the Court. Notably, the current Supreme Court has only 4 of the 9 Justices who were on the Court when Heller was decided (and one of those four will be gone in two weeks). Even with the current Justices, if the case were to involve, say, Martha Stewart who took possession of a gun in order to protect herself from a violent threat, who knows. More important for now is what lower court federal judges, who are duty bound to apply Bruen's new constitutional test, might have to say on this issue. If they faithful comply with their duty to only uphold gun restricts that are "consistent with the Nations historical tradition of firearm regulation," they ought to have deep concerns with broad application of the federal firearm law criminalizing possession by nonviolent felons.

My question back: Do you dispute my assertion that neither the text of the Second Amendment nor the history of English or American gun laws prior to the 20th Century provides any support for a broad felon ban? If text and history are what matters, they both point in one direction here, no?

Posted by: Doug B. | Jun 23, 2022 7:22:05 PM

Doug --

Look at the Kavanaugh (with Roberts) concurrence. It's crystal clear from that that the FIP ban will survive. You take those two and add them to the three dissenting liberals (who would curtail gun rights much more than either of us, or the Court majority), and you get five. End of story. Supreme Court cases are not won with debating points on blogs. They are won with five votes. FIP bans have them and Martha Stewart doesn't.

I swear, it's always the same thing. Your side never, ever loses no matter what the opinions say!!! When you bomb out on qualified immunity, it's really a disguised announcement of the seeds of tomorrow's victory. When you bomb out on capital punishment, same deal. When you bomb out on acquitted conduct, ditto.

Blogs are neat and I like them, obviously. But law gets made in court. That's where I practiced for about a quarter of a century. I know what wins and what loses, and FIP is here to stay.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jun 23, 2022 10:06:42 PM

Bill, I sincerely do not think the Constitution and the interpretation and applications of the rights it protects is about "sides." That you apparently do, and talk about these important issues in this partisan way, makes it so very clear that for you this is all really just about personal policy preferences, and not about fidelity to the rule of law. That's fine, but just own up to the fact that you just want judges to bless your policy preference and do not actually care at all about fidelity to the text or history of the Constitution.

Tellingly, you have not answered this fundamental question: Does either the text of the Second Amendment or the history of English or American gun laws prior to the 20th Century provide any support for a broad felon ban?

You have claimed elsewhere that constitutional interpretation should be focused on the text and original meaning, and you have criticized judges and Justices who do not focus on the text and constitutional history. This serves as a useful opportunity to help me understand what you really mean. As I read the text and understand the history, there is no constitutional foundation for a broad felon ban as an exception to the Second Amendment. Does text and history matter to you in this setting? Should it matter to judges and Justices? Or do those things only matter when they fit your policy views and are simply to be ignored when you do not like the policy consequences? Plenty of reasonable people ignore constitutional text and history when they do not produce a preferred policy outcome -- including perhaps the Chief and Justice Kavanaugh. But I am just seeking to determine if are among those for whom constitutional interpretation, when it gets hard, is about policy preferences and not about text and history.

Posted by: Doug B. | Jun 23, 2022 10:53:24 PM

Peter,

The constitution does not care about your feelings. SCOTUS should not either. They are not a superlegislature of unelected people in robes. They should not make policy, as the liberals on the court believe.

A law can be 100% great and 100% unconstitutional. Likewise, it can be 100% awful, and 100% constitutional. Its not the courts job to decide based on good or awful policy preferences.

Posted by: Peter | Jun 23, 2022 11:07:09 PM

My apologies. The above post had Peter in the name of the poster. It was a response to Peter.

Posted by: TarlsQtr | Jun 23, 2022 11:08:42 PM

Doug --

So now you're more of an originalist than Nino Scalia, the author of the famous FIP approval passage in Heller?? Well that's rich! Where is your originalist criticism of Miranda for making up out of thin air mandatory police warnings that appear nowhere, and are not even hinted at, in the text of the Constitution? No, really, where is your criticism of that?

It doesn't exist so far as I've seen. And the reason it doesn't exist is that you are less driven by originalism than by whatever interpretive hook will help the criminal get back on the street earlier. It's only a small exaggeration to say that you've devoted your very noteworthy career to that end. Your originalism, such as it occasionally may be, seems merely to be ad hoc interpretive "flexibility" wearing a fig leaf.

You support a bunch of positions that have lost in court for decades, like opposition to qualified immunity, prohibition on the use of acquitted conduct, bans on FIP penalties, and bans on appeal waivers. But after years and years of failing to persuade judges of all parties and ideologies, you portray yourself as the champion of law, while I'm a mere ideologue.

Ummmmmmmmm, I don't think so. And I've got a long -- and if I don't say so, successful -- record in federal appellate litigation to prove it.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jun 23, 2022 11:53:57 PM

Bill,

Sorry, but I have to agree with the Professor here. Actually, I have even more problems with the machine gun restrictions than I do the felon-in-possession ban (which has now expanded far past that basis anyway). They simply have no history that predates ratification of even the 14th amendment (the latest date I believe appropriate for such historical inquiry).



Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Jun 24, 2022 12:43:06 AM

TarisQtr - the Constitution was written and signed by good men in 1787 of integrity, with passion and feeling for their country and countrymen. It was practical, moral and acceptably authoritative for its time and gave a foundation for the future stabilization and future for the federal state. But the law created in 1787 was never intended to enslave future lawkeepers and lawmakers from adapting it to meet future needs and progress. The Supreme Court, whether its current membership or their supporters like it or not, earns its respect from the publicly perceived primary role as final arbiter of Justice. If all it becomes is the librarian of a dusty scrap of paper from 1787, its public credibility and hard earned respect will quickly fritter away. Justice is not served well by that. Belatedly, it looks like Congress may be beginning to understand that.

Posted by: peter | Jun 24, 2022 2:35:54 AM

I'm glad to hear there's a chance at overturning such absurd restrictions. I was falsely convicted of a non-violent crime 44 years ago. I was never accused of any crime of violence. My record is perfectly clear before and since. So I'm quite offended when people say that the way to prevent mass shootings is to further crack down on people like me, and I think that those people have taken complete leave of their senses. If universal access to guns was the cause of mass shootings, Switzerland would have lots of them.

What next, a mandatory five year prison sentence for possession of a car by someone who was falsely ticketed for riding a bicycle too fast half a century ago?



Posted by: Keith Lynch | Jun 24, 2022 7:07:53 AM

One thing should be clear from the opinions is that it is now open season for judicial activism in Second Amendment cases. The question for judges is now what weapons from the 1780s and 1860s are the equivalent to today's weapons. That is ultimately a matter of opinion rather than fact or law. I can make an argument that the main weapons in both eras had to be reloaded for each shot. While revolvers existed, the Colt .45 revolver only dates back to the 1870s after the fourteenth amendment. So a plausible argument can be made that neither framing generation intended the right to bear arms to cover semiautomatic weapons. On the other hand, the majority seems to feel that semiautomatics are the modern day equivalent of the musket and other common weapons of the time. But it will always be what judges feel are the equivalent weapons because modern weapons are simply not the equivalent of the old weapons. Guns evolve all the time and with each evolution (and attempts to legislate against the evolution), judges will have to decide whether the change to the weapon is legally significant.

Posted by: tmm | Jun 24, 2022 8:58:47 AM

Bill, you continue to talk about various topics without addressing a seemingly critical question after Bruen's account of how the Second Amendment is to be interpreted: Does either the text of the Second Amendment or the history of English or American gun laws prior to the 20th Century provide any support for a broad felon ban?

I am hoping you can answer that question without going on tangents about Miranda or your record inventing waivers for plea agreements. I do not claim to be an originalist; I think of myself as a legal process textualist (which does make me a critic of Miranda, but that's another conversation). By the same token, I do not assail persons who do claim to be originalists or who adopt other interpretive methodologies in good faith, I am just eager to better understand what various approaches to the Constitution might mean in various settings.

In contrast, Bill, you have claimed to be a textual and an originalist and you have often criticized judges and Justices (including our newest Justice) who do not show fidelity to these interpretive methodologies. Perhaps you want to say "flexibility" is needed in the context of the Second Amendment because, as we all know, guns in the wrong hands can be very dangerous. That's what I am trying to explore here: if, after Bruen's account of the Second Amendment, text and history really will be key or will courts continue to be guided by notions of sound gun policies.

I presume, Bill, that you think broad felon bans on gun possession make for good policy. But that is not what Bruen says really matters, and so I will ask again for your view on what seems to be a key question after Bruen: Does either the text of the Second Amendment or the history of English or American gun laws prior to the 20th Century provide any support for a broad felon ban?

Can you answer that question and/or explain why it should not be a concern for courts and others after Bruen?

Posted by: Doug B. | Jun 24, 2022 9:38:14 AM

Why was Johnny Cash a deputy sheriff ?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/johnny-cash-deputy-card-found-nashville-sheriff-reveals-music-icon-became-a-deputy-in-1979/

Because back then there were no carry permits.. Now we can all have a gun in public.. I do think the convicted felon will not fall into the 2nd Amendment

Posted by: david raybin | Jun 24, 2022 10:57:59 AM

Peter,

Interesting that you mention enslave future law keepers and lawmakers. Im not trying to change the subject but I believe it is relevant. What is your position on Dobbs?



Also, what does the phrase, Congress shall make no law mean?



Posted by: TarlsQtr | Jun 24, 2022 11:13:50 AM

Doug --

Donald Trump was just as sure he was right about the election as you're sure you're right about felon in possession. But although I voted for Trump, I concluded publicly (https://ringsideatthereckoning.substack.com/p/why-the-jan-6-hearings-are-doing) that Trump is unfit for Office because he will not follow the law. I have exactly the same thinking about FIP bans. You must follow the law regardless of how sure you are it's wrong and that a better reading of the Constitution would vindicate you. That is what citizenship means.

The law, as uniformly announced in the circuits and in Heller (and Bruen properly read for that matter) is that FIP bans are legal. As I've already explained, given the Kavanaugh/Roberts concurrence, it's absolutely clear that the such bans are still legal and have five votes minimum.

If you think I'm wrong, you have a remedy: GO. WIN. YOUR. CASE.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jun 24, 2022 11:49:55 AM

Again, Bill, can you address the question that the Supreme Court's opinion in Bruen, while rejecting lower court jurisprudence that you cite, makes the Second Amendment's touchstone: Does either the text of the Second Amendment or the history of English or American gun laws prior to the 20th Century provide any support for a broad felon ban?

I am sincerely interested in your answer to this question. Your answer, either way, is not going to lead me to incite a bunch of people with felony records to storm the Capitol. I am eager to understand whether those who claim to be textualist and originalist )and criticize others for failure to show fidelity to these interpretive methods) will be faithful to these principles in this context. Or, as seems likely, jurists may prove inclined to look for "flexibility" here because they favor on policy grounds certain gun control laws that seem inconsistent with the text and history of the Second Amendment.

I do not dispute that the Kavanaugh/Roberts concurrence suggests that these Justices may be eager to adopt a more "flexible" approach to the Second Amendment even in the face what the text and history of the Second Amendment indicate. I surmise you do, too. That's fine, but I think it useful for all of us to understand just when and how policy preferences can and will impact supposed commitments to the text and history of the Constitution in this context (and others).



Posted by: Doug Berman | Jun 24, 2022 12:52:44 PM

TarlsQtr- Dobbs is a huge mistake. Roe was one of those standout achievements that gave recognition to the right of women to exercise control of their own health and bodies. There is nothing more fundamental than that in terms of human rights. Dobbs demonstrates yet again that the Supreme Court has been hijacked by political interests and is no longer independently protecting the interests of individuals or Justice. "Congress shall make no law ..." refers, as I'm sure you already know, to the protection of the right of free speech and of the right to petition government for change. Congress can and should otherwise make federal law in the interests of good governance, national security, and for the benefit of society. It's time it got on with that and broke the wretched political stalemate that the Supreme Court is currently trying to take advantage of. Indeed, Congress has the power to amend the Constitution and has done so on multiple occasions in the past. It can also change the composition of the Supreme Court if current members overreach themselves as they currently are doing. Whilst a dramatic reaction to the Courts position on gun law and Dobbs, if Congress were serious about returning the Court to a truly balanced independent body, it in theory could do so. Of course, with the current impasse in Congress, it won't happen any time soon.

Posted by: peter | Jun 24, 2022 2:21:09 PM

Re: the weapons of 1791. Anyone who thinks the Second Amendment only applies to weapons that existed when the amendment was ratified in 1791 must logically also think that the First Amendment doesn't apply to anything said via telephone, radio, television, movies, or the Internet. Or to anything printed in newspapers, magazines, books, petitions, or protest signs unless they used printing presses of the type that existed in 1791. Or to freedom of religions that didn't exist in 1791, such as Mormonism. Did you write on your protest sign with a quill pen or with a Magic Marker? If the latter, go straight to jail.



Posted by: Keith Lynch | Jun 24, 2022 7:34:09 PM

Doug --

I think the Second Amendment means just what it says. But I agree with (I'm trembling as I type this) Joe Biden when he insists it's not absolute. Not that this is any big insight. The First Amendment isn't absolute either (fire in a crowded theater and all that), nor is the Sixth Amendment (you have a right to a lawyer, but if he's not admitted in this state, forget it). To be a full-fledged believer in the Second Amendment as written (or the First or Sixth or any of them), you don't have to be a nutjob. No sane person believes that a five year old has a right to "bear arms" and no sane person believes a lunatic does either. And I don't care whether all that was written down in 1790. There has to be, and there is, a place for basic common sense in the law.

Common sense tells you that dangerous people should not be allowed to have guns. Now it's true that not ALL felons are dangerous people. But it's also true that not all people below 21 will be irresponsible with alcohol. But drawing the line at 21 has been and is close enough for the courts (unless you've seen otherwise -- I haven't), and so is a felony conviction. Poor little Martha Steward will just have to rely on her beefy security detail to protect her. This is not exactly breaking my heart (or hers, truth be told).

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jun 25, 2022 4:51:12 PM

Again, Bill, can you address the question that the Supreme Court's opinion in Bruen, while rejecting lower court jurisprudence that you cite, makes the Second Amendment's touchstone: Does either the text of the Second Amendment or the history of English or American gun laws prior to the 20th Century provide any support for a broad felon ban?

I will stop asking you this question if you will expressly concede that your repeated failure to address this question is an admission that text of the Second Amendment and our historical traditions do NOT support a broad felon ban. (Your 21-age point on drinking is a legislative line, as you know, NOT an issue on constitutional interpretation.) I am troubled that you keep want to talk about issues other than textualism and originalism, which you have promoted in the past and attacked others for disregarding. The hypocrisy is obvious, but I was hoping you might try to at least address these matters. That you won't even try is so telling, though disappointing. In the end, it seems, constitutional interpretation is fundamentally policy preferences all the way down, I suppose, for you and others. So be it.

Posted by: Doug B. | Jun 25, 2022 5:18:05 PM

Doug --

I have answered your question, just not in the straightjacket terms you demand I use. Having been a courtroom lawyer for many years, I know better than to let my questioner dictate the exact vocabulary I must employ in giving my answer. I would also note that your question, even taken in its own terms, is not the steel trap you seemingly imagine it to be. Your question is: "Does either the text of the Second Amendment or the history of English or American gun laws prior to the 20th Century provide any support for a broad felon ban?" And my answer, which I've already given a couple of different ways, is: Text and history must be and routinely are viewed with normal common sense, as the "yelling fire in a crowded theater" illustrates in First Amendment interpretation; and "prior to the 20th Century" leave about 120 years of history, which is lots.

The reason you'll be losing this issue (as you've all but conceded you'll be losing it) is that there at least five Justices (more if I had to guess) who have normal common sense.

P.S. I find it a little jarring that the ONLY thing that interests you about this case is how CRIMINALS could benefit from it, not how the massively larger number of normal people trying to DEFEND themselves from criminals could benefit. What a very unusual way to see things.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jun 25, 2022 7:09:10 PM

Bill, you seem to be conceding the text and the history deemed relevant by the Bruen Court do not support your preferred interpretation of the Second Amendment, but normal common sense does. So you are embracing the normal common sense approach to constitutional interpretation over textualism and originalism. (Justice Breyer may be glad to hear his general approach has more adherents.) I always suspected you (and others) are willing and eager to jettison any principled commitment to textualism and originalism whenever what you think makes "common sense" as a policy preference justifies doing so.

Meanwhile, I am not sure why you find it jarring that I believe those who are truly committed to textualism and originalism should be prepared to extend gun rights to more non-violent people. But with your living "common sense" approach to the Constitution, I guess you are fine with the Second Amendment as a second-class right (though the Bruen Court said that was improper). I look forward to hearing more about whose versions of "normal common sense" policy preferences decide just when to jettison textualism and originalism in constitutional interpretation.

Posted by: Doug B. | Jun 25, 2022 7:59:54 PM

Doug --

-- It was Justice Scalia who wrote the Heller dictum that has you so roiled up (and that a majority of the Court signed onto). Are you more of a textualist than he was? Do tell!

-- I see you just walk past my point that the "shouting fire in a crowded theater" exception is nowhere written down in the First Amendment, but universally recognized as limiting it. And why is it universally so recognized? Because of common sense. Your fury at using common sense as allegedly being interpretive perversion speaks for itself. I hardly need add anything.

-- I trust you'll be just as disconsolate with the Justices who turn down your view of FIP (as you've acknowledged a majority is likely to do) as you are with me. I just hope you won't embrace the Certified Chuck Schumer Method of dealing with them -- and I'm sure you won't, since you're not that kind of person. As to some of your more crackpot commenters.......well..............ummmmmmmmm.............

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jun 26, 2022 2:25:14 PM

I had always heard, Bill, that the Heller dictum was required to get Justice Kennedy's swing vote. I suspect I am more of a textualist than Justice Kennedy, and Justice Scalia's dissenting opinion in Brown v. Plata has always led me to question his textualist bona fides. Scalia said there that sometimes "tradition and common sense ... ought to shape the law, rather than vice versa."



Perhaps Justice Scalia's reference to "common sense" in Plata in an effort to ignore the plain text of the PLRA contributes to my suspicion about using that term to make up non-textual doctrines. I often find that when someone has no valid legal authority for a claim, they just say it is "common sense." But, in operation, a "common sense" approach to constitutional interpretation provides another means to enable judges and Justices to say the law is and must be whatever makes "sense" to them personally based on their policy views. After all, school segregation was "common sense" to many for decades; Justice Holmes in Buck v. Bell reasoned that common sense justified forced sterilization of the "feeble-minded."

And that is all I really mean to highlight here -- namely that many (including the late great Justice Scalia) often can and will find means to smuggle in policy preferences through "common sense" constitutional interpretation.

Posted by: Doug B. | Jun 26, 2022 6:59:02 PM

Mr. Otis said, in reply to Doug, "I find it a little jarring that the ONLY thing that interests you about this case is how CRIMINALS could benefit from it, not how the massively larger number of normal people trying to DEFEND themselves from criminals could benefit."

Someone who had once been convicted of a crime but who has had a perfectly clean record for decades (not counting time spent in prison or otherwise incapacitated) cannot reasonably be called a criminal. They are either reformed, i.e. an ex-criminal, or they were wrongfully convicted, i.e. never a criminal. And in either case, their long-ago conviction doesn't mean they have no possible need to ever defend themself from a criminal. Especially in today's US where if someone is committing murder, and you call the police, they'll quickly arrive and courageously "secure the scene" while the killer goes about his deadly business unmolested.



Posted by: Keith Lynch | Jun 26, 2022 10:45:39 PM

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June 23, 2022

By 6-3 vote, SCOTUS rules Miranda violations cannot provide a basis for  1983 suit

The Supreme Court this morning handed down a notable procedural ruling in the criminal justice space likely to be of interest to many. In Vega v. Tekoh, No. 21-499 (S. Ct. June 23, 2022) (available here), the Court on standard ideological lines limited federal legal remedies for violations of Miranda rights. The opinion is authored by Justice Alito and starts this way:

This case presents the question whether a plaintiff may sue a police officer under Rev. Stat.  1979, 42 U.S.C.  1983, based on the allegedly improper admission of an un-Mirandized statement in a criminal prosecution. The case arose out of the interrogation of respondent, Terence Tekoh, by petitioner, Los Angeles County Sheriff s Deputy Carlos Vega. Deputy Vega questioned Tekoh at his place of employment and did not give him a Miranda warning. Tekoh was prosecuted, and his confession was admitted into evidence, but the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. Tekoh then sued Vega under  1983, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the use of Tekohs un-Mirandized statement provided a valid basis for a 1983 claim against Vega. We now reject this extension of our Miranda case law.

Justice Kagan authored the dissent, which was joined by Justices Breyer and Sotomayor. It starts this way:

The Courts decision in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), affords well-known protections to suspects who are interrogated by police while in custody. Those protections derive from the Constitution: Dickerson v. United States tells us in no uncertain terms that Miranda is a constitutional rule. 530 U.S. 428, 444 (2000). And that rule grants a corresponding right: If police fail to provide the Miranda warnings to a suspect before interrogating him, then he is generally entitled to have any resulting confession excluded from his trial. See 384 U.S., at 478479. From those facts, only one conclusion can follow  that Mirandas protections are a right[] secured by the Constitution under the federal civil rights statute. Rev. Stat.  1979, 42 U.S.C.  1983. Yet the Court today says otherwise. It holds that Miranda is not a constitutional right enforceable through a  1983 suit. And so it prevents individuals from obtaining any redress when police violate their rights under Miranda. I respectfully dissent.

June 23, 2022 at 10:41 AM | Permalink

Comments

Given that Miranda created a Constitutional right, there is really only one reason that the Justices won't make it cognizable under section 1983. It's the floodgates argument. Police officers fail to Mirandize people thousands of times every week across America. The Supreme Court recognized that if section 1983 damages recoveries are permitted every time a police officer fails to give a required Miranda warning, there would be thousands of such lawsuits filed in Federal Courts every year. The Court is effectively finding the error harmless, since it may otherwise lead to the suppression of evidence. To the 6 majority Justices, that it sufficient.

Posted by: Jim Gormley | Jun 23, 2022 11:15:09 AM

Jim Gormley --

As the majority points out correctly and at great length, Miranda did NOT create a constitutional right. Even Dickerson only said the Miranda warnings were grounded in, not that they were a part of or required by, the Constitution. Thus, even on the bizarre assumption that a court can EVER just splice something in to the Constitution, that didn't happen in Miranda and it didn't happen in Dickerson. Miranda warnings are prophylactic measures to protect constitutional rights, but are not rights themselves.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jun 23, 2022 3:16:25 PM

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 "Chronic Punishment: The unmet health needs of people in state prisons" | Main | By 5-4 vote, SCOTUS reaffirms all method of execution challenges can proceed as  1983 actions 

June 22, 2022

Split North Carolina Supreme Court rulings declares sentences excluding parole for over 40 years unconstitutional for juveniles

Last week, as reported in this local article, the Supreme Court of North Carolina issues two notable opinions placing a notable limit on sentences for juvenile offenders. Here are the basics:

Juveniles convicted of the most violent crimes in North Carolina cannot spend more than 40 years behind bars before becoming eligible for parole. The N.C. Supreme Court made that determination Friday in a pair of 4-3 decisions. The courts four Democratic justices ruled in favor of the defendants in both cases. The three Republican justices dissented. In State v. Conner, Democratic justices determined that a 15-year-old convicted of rape and murder faced an excessive prison sentence. According to Justice Michael Morgans majority opinion, Riley Dawson Conner pleaded guilty to raping his aunt outside her home in 2016, then killing her with blows from a shovel. He then left her dead body in a wooded area near her home. Under the original consecutive sentences on rape and murder charges, Conner would have reached the age of 60 before having the chance to seek parole. Such a lengthy sentence would violate federal court precedents involving juvenile offenders, Morgan argued. Instead he and his fellow Democratic justices set a new 40-year maximum prison sentence before a juvenile offender would become eligible for parole.... Republican Justice Phil Berger Jr. rejected the argument. He accused Democratic justices of writing the 40-year maximum sentence into law. [T]he majority darts into the legislative lane, usurping legislative authority by enacting its new law simply because they find this result desirable for violent juveniles, Berger wrote in dissent.... Democratic and Republican justices also split in State v. Kelliher. As with the Conner case, the courts majority ruled that defendant James Ryan Kelliher should serve no more than 40 years in prison for murders committed when he was 17.

All of the opinions in the Connor and Kelliher cases make for interesting reads. From a quick review, I was struck by the fact that the Connor ruling suggests that both the US and North Carolina constitutions supported the 40-year cap announced by the court. But the Kelliher ruling more expressly relies on the NC constitution as revealed in this paragraph from near the start of the opinion:

After careful review, we hold that it violates both the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 27 of the North Carolina Constitution to sentence a juvenile homicide offender who has been determined to be neither incorrigible nor irredeemable to life without parole. Furthermore, we conclude that any sentence or combination of sentences which, considered together, requires a juvenile offender to serve more than forty years in prison before becoming eligible for parole is a de facto sentence of life without parole within the meaning of article I, section 27 of the North Carolina Constitution because it deprives the juvenile of a genuine opportunity to demonstrate he or she has been rehabilitated and to establish a meaningful life outside of prison. Thus, Kellihers sentence, which requires him to serve fifty years in prison before becoming eligible for parole, is a de facto sentence of life without parole under article I, section 27. Because the trial court affirmatively found that Kelliher was neither incorrigible nor irredeemable, he could not constitutionally receive this sentence.

June 22, 2022 at 09:32 PM | Permalink

Comments

As if 40 years isn't enough for a juvenile defendant! But does this also include juveniles tried as adults? I believe that even juveniles tried as adults are subject to the 40 year limitation too. I knew a North Carolina defendant sentenced to 60 years in prison for an armed robbery and counts of "standing kidnapping" that occurred when he was 18 or 19 years old. While he was incarcerated, the North Carolina Legislature changed the law, and his sentenced was reduced to "only" 30 years. He served 25 years before being paroled. He was taken in by a most supportive church congregation, which provided him with a pickup truck, a job, a home, a little money, clothes and groceries. They included him in worship services and frequently had him into their homes for meals and social visits. But he missed the stability and certainty of prison life, so he robbed a bank with a gun. Unlucky fellow drew as a Federal Judge the former state court Judge who had sentenced him to 60 years decades earlier. The Judge imposed a life sentence. He was just too institutionalized to save.

Posted by: Jim Gormley | Jun 22, 2022 11:29:17 PM

Today I learned that a life expectancy of less than 21.1 years of life and\or starting after age 55 is not particularly "meaningful."

I'm generally sympathetic to "virtual life" arguments, but claiming there's no meaningful difference between possible release at 56 and guaranteed death in prison goes a bit far for me.

Posted by: Jason | Jun 23, 2022 1:09:16 AM

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 20%16%  16% 41.09 5%4% 15%  10200.02  18.9411.9% 48.35 7.8%    42.031.1% 17%10% iPhone 148 5%4000 302.08 3.65 7%   5001300  3%3000   15%     4 555.99  8.625    904.4 
Bio Chi Institute/Mind & Body Connection  Sioux City

BCI Institute students are back again this year to offer relaxing chair massages. Enjoy a chair massage in the shade or try Ashiatsu Bars on one of the tables. This is a great way to reduce stress & make the best of your day. Massages start at $5.

Mystic Treasures  Schaumburg, Ill.

From the Andes to the world. We have a diverse variety of products that are traditional from South America. Stop by our booth that we have brought for you and check it out for yourself!

Christys Crystals  Mankato, Minn.

Come visit the magical world of crystal healing. Crystals, stones and other healing items.

Cosmic Dyes  Linwood, Kan.

Cosmic Dyes has been making quality hand-dyed clothing for 35 years. We will have tie-dyes for kids and adults available at Saturday in the Park Arts Alley.

Custom Wood Artistry - Peever, S.D.

Beautiful wood creations made here in the USA! We carry over a dozen species of hardwood and several exotic woods in our shop for use. Every item is always unique. Here you can find cribbage boards, trays, plaques, magnets, toys, cutting boards and much more! Custom orders always welcome!

Davida Art Company  Vermillion, S.D.

Davida Art Company is a collective of SD artists bringing you handmade, artful items under one umbrella. Merchandise includes paintings, prints, ceramics, hand-dyed silks, jewelry, scarves, mosaics, coasters, trivets, greeting cards, kids things, bags and pouches, tea, soaps, and more. Stop by and shop our unique booth and take home a piece of art, a cool accessory for your wardrobe or an accent piece for your home or office.

Hello Madame  Sioux City

Hello Madame!! African merchandise from shoes, scarfs, bracelets, dolls, dresses and much more. Stop by! See the flavor of Africa.

0ccult Creati0ns  Sioux City

0ccult Creati0ns is all about helping YOU! I create jewelry, spell jars, and lots of other things with the intention to help others grow and heal. If you need a creativity boost or maybe you struggle with anxiety, I have something just for you! I hope you take the time to check out my booth!

Live Laugh and Shop  Sioux Center, Iowa

Unique items, hard to find novelty.

Dyed Designs by Mary Jane  Sioux City

From the top of your head to the bottom of your feet, I dye it all, and Ive got you covered. Local Sioux City resident bringing color into your life, one item at a time.

On the Rocks  Independence, La.

On the Rocks stones, SSC native that enjoys coming home to participate in Saturday in the Park, and rock with the Sioux City community! I'm a crystal jewelry designer specializing in one-of-a-kind crystal jewelry, all hand crafted with love and infused with Reiki. Stop by the purple tent and say hello!

The Necklace Guys  Council Bluffs, Iowa

We are The Necklace Guys. We make the best selection of anklets and necklaces anywhere, at great prices! Buy 3, the 4th is  off.

Sidekick Caricatures  Correctionville, Iowa

Stop by and have your caricature drawn by Kim Boyle who has 29 years of experience! If you dont want to be drawn, just come and watch. Its fun for all ages!

Sunny Day Creations  Ames, Iowa

Sunny Day Creations put some color in your life. Part of Arts Alley since 1992. Handmade, customized and ecofriendly tie-dye and Bahk for infants, youth & adults.

Terre Vici Bijoux Naturels  Des Moines, Iowa

Sarah Albracht is the artisan behind Terre Vici, a jewelry company she started to bring the natural artistic beauty of raw elements. Each piece is a unique, artistic treasure of authentic gemstones and natural accents.

TJs Trove  Madison, S.D.

Laser cut wood and acrylic earrings, jewelry, leather earrings and hair accessories for women and girls. Leatherette patch trucker caps.

Josina Supplies LLC - West Des Moines, Iowa

One of a kind unique, handmade African crafts made from wood, soapstone and banana fiber.

Heatherly Studios  Sioux Falls, S.D.

Heather Cool is the artist behind Heatherly Studios, where she creates her mandala and mehndi-inspired artwork on wood and repurposed objects, incorporating unique dye and stain techniques. She also makes sewn accessories, and offers prints and products featuring her original designs.

Jewelry Junkies  Sioux City

Jewelry Junkies has it all. From rings, necklaces, anklets and earrings to Himalayan body sugar scrubs and candles! All homemade! Something for everyone! Stop by and see us  you wont be disappointed!

Peacemaker & the Hillbilly  Jackson, Neb.

Peace Maker & Hillbilly Rock Shop / Saturday in the Park Arts Alley. What a privilege to be a valued vendor. We are the only Rock Shop of this area. Rare Crystals, geodes, gems, fossils, tumbled, polished, slabbed and a lot of hand-made jewelry. Plus "$1 Grab Bags".

Beckys Jewelry  Mankato, Minn.

Beckys Jewelry offers a wide variety of jewelry including hand wrapped pendants with natural stones, rings, bracelets, earrings and hair accessories. She also makes suncatchers, dreamcatchers and more. Come see whats new this year.

Azapaza  Sioux City

Azapaza is a small grass-roots operation, born in Montreal, Canada in 1999, and now based out of Sioux City. We are a family of musicians and artists highly involved in our local community. Much of our "gear" is imported from India. Come and check out our eclectic group of treasures.

The Expansion Center  Sioux City

The Expansion Center is a new business on Historic 4th Street in Sioux City, focused on Mind, Body & Spirit. You will find retail, services and workshops to support your personal growth and life journey. Follow us on FB/Instagram@theexpansioncentersiouxland. Retail includes teas, crystals, decks, books, candles, jewelry, yoga products, essential oils, singing bowls and more.

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SIOUX CITY -- In early August, Siouxland residents will have a chance to bowl while helping fundraise for a non-profit.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Siouxland is hosting its annual Bowl for Kids' Sake event at Rush Lanes in Sioux City on Friday, August 5 and Saturday, August 6. According to a press release, teams of four or five bowlers will work to raise $500 or more for the organization and then celebrate at the bowling alley on Stadium Drive.

Brooke Daane, Director of Special Events & Community Partnerships, said the theme for the event is "school spirit" and participants are encouraged to wear school-related attire to the shindig.

"We are so thrilled to host this again," Daane said via email. "And the best part is, all proceeds are going right back to the kids that we serve."

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WASHINGTON (AP)  Federal agents searched a former top Justice Department official's home and seized records from key Republicans in at least five states linked to Donald Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 election, in what were clear signs that authorities are ramping up their investigation of associates of the former president.

Authorities on Wednesday searched the Virginia home of Jeffrey Clark, who was known at the Justice Department to champion Trump's false claims of election fraud. Agents in recent days also served subpoenas on the Republican Party chairmen of Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, three states that went for President Joe Biden and where Trump allies created slates of alternate electors intended to subvert the vote. And Republicans in two other states  Michigan and Pennsylvania  disclosed they had been interviewed by the FBI.

The Justice Department appears to be escalating its probe of pro-Trump efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which culminated in the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. The disclosures of law enforcement activity came as the U.S. House committee investigating the riot said it had new evidence of Trump's efforts and his knowledge that he had no legal basis to try to overturn the election.

The committee's Thursday hearing focused on Trump's desire to install Clark atop the Justice Department in his administration's last days. The reason for the search of Clark's home was not immediately clear and it was not known what information agents were searching for. The person who confirmed the search was not authorized to discuss it by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Both the committee and federal authorities are probing the use of replacements for duly chosen electors in seven battleground states that voted for Biden. Trump and his allies furiously pressured authorities in those states to replace Biden's electors with ones for him on specious or nonexistent allegations that his victory was stolen.

The committee this week disclosed text messages that showed an aide to U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican and Trump ally, tried to hand-deliver fake elector certificates to an aide for former Vice President Mike Pence. The texts show Pence's aide refused to accept the votes.

Johnson told a Wisconsin conservative talk radio host on Thursday that the fake elector slates came from the office of Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania. A spokesman for Kelly responded that Johnson's claim was patently false.

Said the spokesman, Matt Knoedler, Mr. Kelly has not spoken to Sen. Johnson for the better part of a decade, and he has no knowledge of the claims Mr. Johnson is making related to the 2020 election.

Among those who have received subpoenas in recent days, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation, was Georgia Republican Party chairman David Shafer.

Nevada GOP Chair Michael McDonald turned over his phone to federal agents Wednesday when they approached him outside his car in Las Vegas and presented a warrant, according to another person familiar with the matter. McDonald in December 2020 stood outside Nevada's state capitol with other fake electors to swear a so-called oath of office," flanked by men in camouflage with semi-automatic rifles.

Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward, her husband, Michael Ward, and two other alternate electors also received subpoenas, according to a third person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

In Pennsylvania, FBI agents interviewed the chairman of the Allegheny County Republican Party at his home Thursday and gave him a subpoena for communications between him, Trump electors in the state and members of Trumps campaign and legal team, the party official, Sam DeMarco, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

DeMarco said in a statement that his conduct as an elector was open, above-board and predicated solely on protecting President Trumps legal rights should he prevail in court. That is why I agreed to serve as an elector solely in the event the president prevailed in his legal challenge to the Pennsylvania vote.

And in Michigan, Michele Lundgren told the Detroit News that someone from the FBI served her with a subpoena Thursday and that another Trump elector was served on Wednesday. Lundgren, 72, said her discussion with the agent was long and pleasant and that she let one of the agents go through her phone and computer.

They kept asking me questions and asking me questions, and I kept telling them answers, she said.

Clark's home was searched by federal agents shortly before a committee hearing in which he was the focus. Three other former Justice Department officials testified about an extraordinary Jan. 3, 2021, Oval Office meeting at which Trump contemplated naming Clark  who led the departments civil division  as acting attorney general in place of Jeffrey Rosen, who resisted Trumps efforts to involve the agency.

Trump relented only when other senior Justice Department officials warned Trump that they would resign if he followed through with his plan to replace Rosen with Clark.

A lawyer for Clark did not return an email and phone message seeking comment.

Chairman Bennie Thompson said he read about the raid on Clarks home moments before the hearing started. Were not privy to what the Department of Justices reasoning is for doing it," he said. "As you know, we demonstrated that he was recommended to lead the Department of Justice and people felt that he was absolutely unqualified to do so.

Russ Vought, president of the Center for Renewing America, which Clark recently joined as a senior fellow, tweeted that federal officers forced Clark into the streets while he was wearing pajamas and took his electronic devices.

All because Jeff saw fit to investigate voter fraud," Vought continued. "This is not America, folks. The weaponization of govt must end. Let me be very clear. We stand by Jeff and so must all patriots in this country.

Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, Sara Burnett in Chicago, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Sam Metz in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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LONDON (AP)  The European Medicines Agency said Thursday it is recommending the authorization of the coronavirus vaccine made by French pharmaceutical Valneva, making it the sixth shot given the green light in Europe.

The EU drug regulator said in a statement that it had cleared Valneva's two-dose vaccine for people aged 18 to 50. The main study used to assess Valneva's vaccine was research in about 3,000 people aged 30 and over; scientists compared it to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Those results showed Valneva's vaccine triggered the production of higher levels of antibodies than the AstraZeneca vaccine. The EMA said the (Valneva) vaccine is as effective at triggering the production of antibodies in people aged between 18 and 29 as it is in people aged 30 years and older.

Still, the EMA said there were limited data on how effective Valneva's vaccine might be against the virus' omicron variant and its subvariants, which are currently fueling surges of cases across Europe. The EMA said the side effects from Valneva's shot were mostly mild, including aches, nausea and tiredness.

Valneva's vaccine is made using the same technology used for flu and polio shots. It uses a killed version of the COVID-19 virus, which primes the body to make antibodies against it. The vaccine also contains adjuvants, or ingredients to boost the immune response.

Last year, the British government canceled an agreement to buy 100 million doses from Valneva partly because it was clear the companys COVID-19 shot wouldnt be approved by British regulators, according to the health secretary.

Britain was an early backer of the Valneva project, agreeing to invest millions of pounds in a production facility in Scotland as part of a deal announced last September. As part of the contract, the U.K. had agreed to buy 100 million doses of the vaccine, with options for another 90 million.

Despite the government's cancelation of the agreement, Britain's Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency authorized Valneva in April, becoming the first in the world to OK the vaccine.

Follow APs coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  The former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice hired to investigate President Joe Biden's victory in the battleground state testified Thursday that he routinely deleted records, and deactivated a personal email account, even after receiving open records requests.

Michael Gableman testified in a court hearing about whether the person who hired him, Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, should face penalties after earlier being found in contempt for how he handled the records requests from American Oversight.

Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn decided against penalizing Vos for contempt, but said she would determine later whether to penalize Vos for how he handled open records requests. She set a hearing for July 28.

Bailey-Rihn said that Gableman gave testimony that conflicted at times, but it was clear that he had destroyed records that were contrary to what fits into the scheme of things.

Vos hired Gableman a year ago under pressure from Donald Trump to investigate the former presidents loss to Biden by just under 21,000 votes in Wisconsin. The investigation has cost taxpayers about $900,000 so far. Bidens victory has survived two recounts, multiple lawsuits, a nonpartisan audit and a review by a conservative law firm.

Gableman has issued two interim reports, but his work has faced a barrage of bipartisan criticism. Vos put his work on hold this spring pending the outcome of lawsuits challenging his ability to subpoena elected officials and others who worked on elections.

Gableman testified Thursday that he did early work on the investigation at a Milwaukee-area library and used his personal email account. Gableman said he did not retain the notes he took during meetings he attended, including one in August in South Dakota hosted by MyPillow founder Mike Lindell. He also testified that he deleted records if there was no pending open records request and he determined it was not useful or pertinent to his work.

Did I delete documents? Yes, I did, he said.

Gableman testified that someone in his office deleted his personal Yahoo email account for him after he had received an open records request from American Oversight. Gableman had used that account last summer before he had an official state email address.

The judge asked Gableman if he had searched the account for responsive records before deleting it and he said, I believe so.

Do I specifically recall going back, I dont, Gableman said. But I would have looked at every email account available to me.

Gableman also revealed that he had to go to the emergency room for COVID-19 after attending an election conference hosted by Lindell in South Dakota in August.

I went out there because I thought there was going to be some solid evidence of Chinese interference of the (voting) machines and I was very disappointed with the lack of substance to back up those claims, Gableman said. And I was annoyed that I had gone out and as it turns out I had COVID. Anyway, I didnt find anything I could use during that seminar.

Gableman, under questioning for the judge, also said his research included getting up to speed on how elections work because I did not have a very sophisticated or intricate understanding."

Gableman, who smiled when taking the stand, calmly answered questions for more than 90 minutes from the judge and American Oversight attorney Christa Westerberg. He had made sarcastic remarks about Westerberg two weeks ago when he testified in another case where he was the defendant.

Gableman refused to answer questions at that hearing, and in a scathing order last week Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington accused Gableman of unprofessional and misogynistic conduct. The judge fined him $2,000 a day until he complied with the open records requests, and referred the case to the office that regulates attorneys in the state for possible further disciplinary action.

Gableman has appealed that ruling.

Vos and the Assembly have argued that they were not responsible for the records held by Gablemans office. But Bailey-Rihn disagreed. She found Vos in contempt in March for not following the records law but determined Thursday that he had taken steps to purge the contempt order. The judge left open the question of whether he will face penalties under the open records law.

The case is one of three open records lawsuits brought by the liberal watchdog group American Oversight. All of them seek records related to the investigation into the 2020 election that Gableman led.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  The Jan. 6 committee will hear from former Justice Department officials who faced down a relentless pressure campaign from Donald Trump over the 2020 presidential election results while suppressing a bizarre challenge from within their own ranks.

The hearing Thursday will bring attention to a memorably turbulent stretch at the department as Trump in his final days in office sought to bend to his will a law enforcement agency that has long cherished its independence from the White House. The testimony is aimed at showing how Trump not only relied on outside advisers to press his false claims of election fraud but also tried to leverage the powers of federal executive branch agencies.

The witnesses will include Jeffrey Rosen, who was acting attorney general during the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. Three days earlier, Rosen was part of a tense Oval Office showdown in which Trump contemplated replacing him with a lower-level official, Jeffrey Clark, who wanted to champion Trump's bogus election fraud claims.

Barely an hour before the hearing began, it was revealed that federal agents this week searched Clark's Virginia home, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney confirmed the existence of law enforcement activity in Virginia, where Clark lives, but would not say what it was connected to.

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SIOUX CITY -- The Food Bank of Siouxland now has $10,000 in grant money to put toward a program meant to address childhood hunger.

On Wednesday morning, the 11-county supplier of food pantries and soup kitchens in Siouxland announced it had received funding from the Arby's Foundation for its "BackPack Program" which provides a sack of food for kids who don't have enough to eat on the weekends. The program, at present, serves 10 area elementary schools, according to a press release.

"With this grant, we are able to feed more families of Siouxland which is at the core of our mission at the Food Bank of Siouxland," Executive Director Jacob Wanderscheid said in the release. "Thank you to the Arbys Foundation for selecting us."

According to the release, this is the third straight year the Food Bank of Siouxland has been awarded money by the Arby's Foundation. The organization has plans to spend $500,000 in communities where Arby's has a restaurant.

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SIOUX CITY -- The soft sobbing began as soon as the word "guilty" came from District Judge Tod Deck's mouth.

Two families hoping for opposite verdicts, experiencing the same reaction.

One family relieved at the thought of justice for a little girl whose life ended prematurely. The other family distraught, knowing a loved one had just been found guilty of a crime that will land him in prison for the rest of his life.

After roughly two hours of deliberations, a Woodbury County jury of six men and six women on Wednesday found Tayvon Davis guilty of first-degree murder, child endangerment resulting in the death of a child and multiple acts of child endangerment for the August 2018 death of 19-month-old Maelynn Myers, who never regained consciousness after Davis and Maelynn's grandmother rushed the unresponsive girl to a Sioux City emergency room. She died three days later at an Omaha hospital.

Davis showed no visible emotions after the verdicts were announced.

Maelynn's family immediately left the courtroom after the verdict and went to the Woodbury County Attorney's Office to meet with prosecutors. A victims advocate said the family did not wish to make a statement.

Davis' family, as well as public defenders Jennifer Solberg and Laury Kleinschmidt, also declined to comment.

Davis, 26, of Sioux City, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison for murder. The other two charges both carry 50-year prison sentences. Deck did not immediately set a sentencing date.

Prosecutors said the death was the result of weeks of abuse by Davis. He told investigators he had dropped the girl after giving her a bath, and she stopped breathing.

Throughout six days of trial, prosecutors used witness testimony and evidence to convince jurors that Davis injured the girl numerous times while watching the child in the Sioux City apartment he shared with the girl's mother, Shannon Myers. The girl's health had deteriorated since Aug. 1, the beginning of a period in which Davis spent more time watching the girl alone while Myers was at work. In Maelynn's final three weeks of life, Myers and her mother took the girl to the doctor repeatedly for illnesses and other physical ailments doctors struggled to diagnose. The night before she lost consciousness, Maelynn was a sluggish child who hardly touched her favorite meal of McDonald's chicken nuggets and french fries.

In closing arguments, Assistant Iowa Attorney General Nicole Leonard showed jurors a photo of Maelynn hooked up to a ventilator in the hospital. None of the defense's arguments that Maelynn was accidentally hurt when Davis dropped her or tried to revive her could explain the toddler's severe injuries.

"That little girl didn't end up this way because of CPR. That little girl ended up this way because the defendant repeatedly beat her until her body broke down and couldn't take it anymore," Leonard said.

A medical examiner ruled Maelynn's death a homicide caused by blunt-force injuries. The girl's long list of injuries included bruising on her forehead and back, bleeding throughout the brain, a torn blood vessel to her left kidney, hemorrhaging in both eyes, the abdomen and in the muscles at the back of her neck, bone fractures -- both new and healing -- in both legs, an arm, two vertebrae and several ribs.

Medical experts disagreed on the possible causes. The state's witnesses concluded the injuries were caused by trauma of a force similar to being in a car crash. A defense expert disagreed, offering alternative medical explanations that, he concluded, showed the injuries were accidental or occurred naturally because Maelynn had stopped breathing for several minutes before she was revived in the emergency room.

The fact doctors couldn't agree should raise enough reasonable doubt in jurors' minds to acquit Davis, Kleinschmidt said in the defense's closing arguments.

"This isn't an intentional murder," she said. "Tayvon Davis is not a monster. Tayvon Davis did not beat Maelynn to death."

The state's witnesses didn't even offer any ideas how Davis might have caused the injuries, Kleinschmidt said, and ignored Davis' explanation and the fact that the girl's mother and grandmother also spent long hours alone with Maelynn.

"It's a case about the search for a reason why and the search for someone to blame for the loss of a child," Kleinschmidt said.

But those injuries all had one thing in common, Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Kristine Timmins said. According to doctors' estimates on the age of the injuries, all fit into a time period when Davis spent several days watching Maelynn by himself.

"She wasn't in a car accident. She wasn't in a multi-story fall. She was with the defendant," Timmins said.

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SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux City man was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly started a fire inside Sam's Mini Mart on the city's west side.

Orlando Castro, 63, was booked into the Woodbury County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bond on one count of first-degree arson and one count of second-degree criminal mischief.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Woodbury County District Court, surveillance camera footage captured Castro entering the store, 923 West Seventh St., through the front doors at 10:39 p.m. Wednesday and walking directly to shelves stocked with flammable automotive products. Nine other individuals were in the store at the time.

"The defendant carries an object in one hand and uses a handheld object in his other hand to ignite the first object," the complaint states. "He immediately tosses the flaming object on top of the shelf and exits the store."

On the footage, Castro can be seen wearing a black ballcap with a white logo, a red bandana facemask, a blue long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves pulled up to the elbows, black joggers with a white stripe, and white sneakers with dark markings. He also has a tattoo on his left forearm that spells out "CASTIEL," which was visible on the footage, according to the complaint.

The complaint states that the owner of the business has known Castro personally for the past three decades and employed him for the past three to four months.

"The defendant was recognized by the victim and he was subsequently located at his residence less than two blocks away from San's Mini Mart," the complaint states. "At the time he was detained by officers, he was wearing the black joggers with a white stripe. He was further identified by the distinctive tattoo on his left forearm."

When Castro was taken into custody, a cigarette lighter was found in his pocket, according to the complaint.

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SIOUX CITY -- A Texas man has pleaded not guilty of enticing a 13-year-old Sioux City boy to have sexual contact with him.

Isaac Herrera, 21, of Brownsville, Texas, entered his written plea Tuesday in Woodbury County District Court to charges of enticing away a minor and lascivious acts with a child.

According to court documents, Herrera was outside East Middle School on June 7 and told staff members he was the boy's guardian and was looking for him. He then gave a fake name to an officer at the scene.

Police determined Herrera had met the boy a year and a half ago while playing online video games. In an interview with police, Herrera said he had been in town since June 1 and had been hanging around with the boy and two other 13-year-old boys at a place he was renting, court documents said.

A search warrant was executed on Herrera's phone, and communications between Herrera and the boy revealed conversations about the two performing sexual acts on each other. Herrera also had asked the boy to send him nude photos of himself, court documents said.

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SIOUX CITY  Woodbury County Sheriff Chad Sheehan wants to give supplemental pay to his percentage deputies without the Board of Supervisors' approval, but the supervisors and assistant county attorney believe it is illegal.

Sheehan argued with the supervisors regarding the grounds for his proposed supplemental pay at Tuesdays board meeting. Assistant County Attorney Joshua Widman said he believes it would not be the proper way to move forward. Sheehan said he can do with the money in his budget as he sees fit.

Sheehan said after consulting the outside legal counsel of Douglas Phillips with Klass Law Firm, he is moving forward with paying $49,600 in total to five sheriffs deputies out of his approved budget without board approval.

There is no legal basis in Iowa Code or case law that supplemental pay must be approved by the Board of Supervisors, Sheehan said of Phillips opinion. Widman asked for a written legal opinion from Phillips to review.

The supplemental pay would be for the extra time the five individuals have spent on the new law enforcement center project, and on radio and IT work, Sheehan said. Two lieutenants would receive $8,800 each, two captains would receive $10,000 each and one chief deputy would receive $12,000.

Sheehan said his FY22 budget will have around $200,000 in extra money. Part of the extra money is due to turnover in personnel. Other extra funds are from the jail budget funds, transportation funds and administration funds. The supplemental pay would be pulled from the extra money that would normally be returned to the county, he said.

Supplemental pay is permissible for additional services, but Widman said in his analysis it would be determined by the Board of Supervisors. He said Tuesday he believes Sheehan does not have the authority to issue it himself without board approval.

Sheehan said he was originally going to bring the supplemental payments to the supervisors for approval, but was told it would never pass and decided to seek another legal opinion.

Sheehan has requested County Auditor Pat Gill sign and send the checks on Wednesday as a one-time payment. Widman said this could cause Gill to be personally liable if a court found Sheehans decision illegal.

If it is legal on my behalf, hed be interfering with me carrying out my legal authority as the elected sheriff, Sheehan responded.

The Journal was unsuccessful in reaching Gill for comment.

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Senate OKs landmark gun violence bill, House passage is next

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Senate has approved a bipartisan gun violence bill. The vote late Thursday clears the way for expected House passage Friday of what will be Congress most far-reaching response in decades to the nations run of brutal mass shootings. Republicans have long derailed Democratic efforts to curb firearms. But after last month's mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, Democrats and some Republicans decided that congressional inaction was untenable. It took nearly a month of closed-door talks but a group of senators from both parties emerged with a compromise embodying incremental but impactful movement.

Hearing: Trump told Justice Dept. to call election 'corrupt'

WASHINGTON (AP)  Former top Justice Department officials have testified to the Jan. 6 committee that President Donald Trump hounded the department to pursue his false election fraud claims. They say he contacted the agencys leader virtually every day and strove in vain to enlist the governments top law enforcement officials in his desperate bid to stay in power. The House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol also revealed Thursday that several Republican loyalists in Congress who trumpeted the presidents claims later sought pardons from the White House after the effort failed.

COVID vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say

Scientists estimate that nearly 20 million lives were saved worldwide by COVID-19 vaccines during their first year. In a study published Thursday, they say even more deaths could have been prevented if global targets for vaccines had been reached. Scientists at Imperial College London used data from 185 countries to estimate how many deaths were prevented by the vaccination effort. They excluded China because of uncertainty around the pandemics effect on deaths there and its huge population. There are a lot of limitations in modeling studies, but independent experts agree that vaccines saved millions of lives.

After Supreme Court gun decision, whats next?

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court issued its biggest gun rights ruling in more than a decade Thursday. The justices said that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. Thats important because about half a dozen states have conditioned getting a license to carry a gun in public on the person demonstrating an actual need  sometimes called good cause or proper cause  to carry the weapon. In its decision, the Supreme Court struck down New Yorks proper cause requirement limiting who can carry a gun. Other states with similar laws acknowledged the decision would affect them. About one-quarter of the U.S. population lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling.

European Union makes Ukraine a candidate for EU membership

BRUSSELS (AP)  The European Unions leaders have agreed to make Ukraine a candidate for EU membership, setting in motion a potentially yearslong process that could draw the embattled country further away from Russias influence and bind it more closely to the West. Ukraine applied for membership less than a week after Moscow invaded on Feb. 24. The decision by the 27-nation bloc to grant Ukraine candidate status Thursday was uncharacteristically rapid. But the war and Ukraines request for fast-track consideration lent urgency to its cause. The EU also granted candidate status to Moldova, which borders Ukraine. Gaining membership could take years or even decades. Countries must meet a host of economic and political conditions, including the embrace of certain democratic principles.

Afghans bury dead, dig for survivors of devastating quake

GAYAN, Afghanistan (AP)  Villagers rushed to bury the dead and dug by hand through the rubble of homes in search of survivors after a devastating earthquake in eastern Afghanistan. Residents appeared to be largely on their own Thursday to deal with the aftermath as their new Taliban-led government and the international aid community struggled to help. State media said Wednesdays quake killed 1,000 people. An independent U.N. court said around 770 people had been killed in Paktika and Khost provinces. It's unclear how either sum was tallied given the difficulty of accessing or communicating with the affected areas, but the devastation was clear. Under a leaden sky, men dug several long trenches on a mountainside overlooking their village to bury the dead.

Uvalde victim's sister pleads for tougher gun laws in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  The sister of a 9-year-old girl killed in the Uvalde school shooting rampage has tearfully pleaded with Texas lawmakers to pass tougher gun laws and questioned why so many security measures failed. Jazmin Cazares on Thursday begged lawmakers to do something. Her young sister Jacklyn was one of 19 children shot dead inside Robb Elementary School on May 24 before police stormed the classroom and killed the gunman. Two teachers also died. The gunman was a former student, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos. Cazares' testimony came as the U.S. Supreme Court announced a decision allowing a major expansion of gun rights, saying Americans have a right to carry firearms in public.

Hong Kongers reflect on Taiwan, an imperfect exile

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  Coming to Taiwan was a logical step for Lam Wing-kee, a Hong Kong bookstore owner who was held by police in China for five months for selling sensitive books about the Communist Party. An island just 400 miles from Hong Kong, Taiwan is close not just geographically but also linguistically and culturally. It offered the freedoms that many Hong Kongers were used to and saw disappearing in their hometown since Beijing launched a crackdown on pro-democracy activists. While Taiwan has seemed an ideal hub, many Hong Kongers struggle trying to navigate the immigration system and suspicion by the self-ruled island's authorities who worry about a constant threat from mainland China. Some have gotten their residency permits but others went on to the U.K. and Canada.

Summer swelter: Persistent heat wave breaks records, spirits

A heat wave that's already lasted more than a week keeps on baking the US, Asia and even the Arctic. At least eight US states Thursday hit 100 degrees, that's after 12 did that on Wednesday. Records keep falling. A city in the Russian Arctic hit nearly 90 degrees. This early summer heat wave looks and feels more like August. Scientists say it has all the hallmarks of climate change. In Macon, Georgia, the temperature ramped from 64 to 105 degrees on Wednesday and then hit 104, a further record, on Thursday.

Magic take Banchero 1st, Holmgren, Smith follow in NBA draft

NEW YORK (AP)  The Orlando Magic selected Duke freshman Paolo Banchero with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. After leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four in coach Mike Krzyzewskis final season, the 6-foot-10 forward was called first by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to begin the draft, beating out fellow first-year forwards Jabari Smith Jr. and Chet Holmgren. Banchero, wearing a purple suit full of bling, received a loud ovation inside Barclays Center, where Duke lost in the ACC Tournament final.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Chinese FM meets outgoing ROK ambassador

Xinhua) 08:48, June 23, 2022

BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday met with Jang Ha-sung, ambassador of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to China, who will soon leave his post and return to the ROK.

Wang thanked Jang Ha-sung for dedicating a lot of effort and making important contributions to deepening China-ROK relations during his tenure in office.

Wang said China's friendly policy toward the ROK has not changed, and China will continue to place the ROK in an important position in its neighborhood diplomacy. He said China hopes the new ROK government will also continue to adhere to its friendly policy toward China.

The two sides should take the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to push the China-ROK strategic cooperative partnership to a new level, Wang said, adding both sides should strengthen communication and coordination, jointly maintain regional peace and stability, and work together for global development and prosperity in the face of challenges.

Jang Ha-sung said he has witnessed the rapid development of China as well as the major achievements of ROK-China relations during his three-year term.

He said he believes that China will maintain the strong momentum of development, and that the friendship and pragmatic cooperation between the ROK and China will be further advanced.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Hongyu)
NEW YORK (AP)  An associate of Rudy Giuliani who was convicted of campaign finance crimes at trial and later pleaded guilty to a separate fraud charge is asking that he be spared from prison at his sentencing next week, but prosecutors on Wednesday recommended that he be ordered to spend over six years in prison.

Lawyers for Lev Parnas made the request to a Manhattan federal judge in papers that were filed publicly Wednesday. The papers were dated June 15 but were kept sealed for a week while redactions were agreed to.

Prosecutors filed their own sentencing arguments Wednesday, saying Parnas should serve at least 6 1/2 years in prison for pumping foreign money" into U.S. elections, making straw donations with other peoples' money, lying to the Federal Election Commission and defrauding investors of over $2 million to fund his lavish lifestyle.

For years, prosecutors argued, Parnas has lied and swindled and corrupted for his own benefit." They said he had put himself above this country, his investors and the public."

Parnas, 50, faces sentencing June 29 after he was convicted in October at a Manhattan trial of six charges alleging he made illegal donations in 2018 to jump-start a new energy company and used the wealth of a Russian financier to donate to politicians who might aid the launch of a legal recreational-marijuana business.

In March, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud, saying that between 2012 and 2019 he conspired with another person to give investors false information about a Florida-based business, Fraud Guarantee.

Fraud Guarantee was promoted as a company that could protect investors against fraud.

In their presentencing submission, lawyers for the Soviet-born businessman argued that their client deserves leniency in part because he cooperated with Congress, calling it timely and material."

Prosecutors, though, said information Parnas provided Congress was in response to a subpoena and falls far short of the extraordinary conduct and cooperation that can earn individuals leniency at sentencing.

Defense lawyers said his efforts to cooperate with federal prosecutors were not successful because they used information he offered in a bid for a plea deal mainly to thwart his potential trial testimony, rather than to consider his attempt to provide substantial assistance in good faith."

But prosecutors countered that the information Parnas offered them was not fully credible and in material respects was plainly contradicted by the evidence." Thus, they said, they had serious concerns about Parnas's credibility and candor."

Defense lawyers recommended a sentence of time served  roughly 12 days.

Parnas several years ago worked with Giuliani to try to get Ukrainian officials to investigate the son of President Joe Biden, who was a candidate at the time. Giuliani has said he knew nothing about the crimes of Parnas and others.

Giuliani  a former New York City mayor who served as Donald Trumps personal lawyer during part of his presidency  has not been criminally charged, though federal authorities have acknowledged that he is being investigated to determine whether he violated a federal law that governs lobbying on behalf of foreign countries or entities.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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MACON, Ga. (AP)  Two Confederate monuments are being moved in middle Georgia's largest city after relocation plans were stalled for years by lawsuits.

Crews began moving the monuments Wednesday, The Telegraph of Macon reports, using $160,000 in private money raised by a community foundation.

The monuments are going to a park outside Macon's Rose Hill Cemetery, where 884 Confederate soldiers are buried, from locations on two downtown streets.

The Macon-Bibb County Commission approved moving the monuments in July 2020 after years of advocacy, but lawsuits stalled the efforts.

One statue on Cotton Avenue, erected in a different location in the 1870s, represents an anonymous Confederate soldier. Another monument on Poplar Avenue, built by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, was dedicated to women of the South.

Macon's Urban Development Authority says it will redevelop the Cotton Avenue location to make more green space for the growing number of downtown residents.

The Cotton Avenue statue was a particular target for protests. It was defaced by vandals in the summer of 2020 during Black Lives Matter protests after the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

The Macon-Bibb commission voted 5-4 to move the monuments, but a resident sued, citing a Georgia law that says Confederate monuments can only be relocated to places of equal prominence. A judge eventually dismissed the lawsuit at the request of the city-county.

Were not asking to put it in a dungeon. Were not asking that it be thrown in the Ocmulgee River. Were not asking that it be desecrated, former Macon Mayor C. Jack Ellis said during protests in 2020. We ask that it be put in its proper place, and thats Rose Hill Cemetery, where those soldiers are buried and where this belongs because it, too, is dead. This era is dead, dead and gone. Put it in the cemetery where it belongs.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy reached compromises with the city-county over the location near the cemetery.

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, The Telegraph.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  The Senate easily approved a bipartisan gun violence bill Thursday that seemed unthinkable a month ago, setting up final approval of what will be Congress' most far-reaching response in decades to the nation's run of brutal mass shootings.

After years futile Democratic efforts to curb firearms, 15 Republicans joined with them as both sides decided inaction was untenable after last months rampages in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas. It took weeks of closed-door talks but senators emerged with a compromise embodying incremental but impactful movement to curb bloodshed that has come to regularly shock  yet no longer surprise  the nation.

The $13 billion measure would toughen background checks for the youngest gun buyers, keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders and help states put in place red flag laws that make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged dangerous. It would also fund local programs for school safety, mental health and violence prevention.

Families in Uvalde and Buffalo, and too many tragic shootings before, have demanded action. And tonight, we acted," President Joe Biden said after passage. He said the House should send it to him quickly, adding, Kids in schools and communities will be safer because of it."

The election-year package fell far short of more robust gun restrictions Democrats have sought and Republicans have thwarted for years, including bans on the assault-type weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines used in the slayings in Buffaloand Uvalde. Yet the accord let leaders of both parties declare victory and demonstrate to voters that they know how to compromise and make government work, while also leaving room for each side to appeal to its core supporters.

This is not a cure-all for the all the ways gun violence affects our nation, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., whose party has made gun restrictions a goal for decades. But it is a long overdue step in the right direction."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a nod to the Second Amendment right to bear arms that drives many conservative voters, said the American people want their constitutional rights protected and their kids to be safe in school. He said they want both of those things at once, and that is just what the bill before the Senate will have accomplished.

The day proved bittersweet for advocates of curtailing gun violence. Underscoring the enduring potency of conservative cIout, the right-leaning Supreme Court issued a decision expanding the right of Americans to carry arms in public by striking down a New York law requiring people to prove a need for carrying a weapon before they get a license to do so.

McConnell hailed the justices' decision and Senate passage of the guns bill as complementary victories that will make our country freer and safer at the same time.

The Senate vote on final passage was 65-33. A cluster of House Democrats who watched the vote in the chambers rear included Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., whose 17-year old son was shot to death in 2012 by a man complaining his music was too loud.

In the key roll call hours earlier, senators voted 65-34 to end a filibuster by conservative GOP senators. That was five more than the 60-vote threshold needed. The House planned to vote Friday and approval seemed certain.

On both votes, 15 Senate Republicans joined all 50 Democrats, including their two allied independents, in backing the legislation.

Yet the votes highlighted the risks Republicans face by defying the party's pro-gun voters and firearms groups like the National Rifle Association. Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana were the only two of the 15 up for reelection this fall. Of the rest, four are retiring and eight don't face voters until 2026.

Tellingly, GOP senators voting no included potential 2024 presidential contenders like Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Tim Scott of South Carolina. Some of the party's most conservative members voted no as well, including Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah.

Cruz said the legislation would disarm law-abiding citizens rather than take serious measures to protect our children."

John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, hailed senators who supported the measure for "coming together and putting the safety of the American people ahead of gun lobby priorities.

While the Senate measure was a clear breakthrough, the outlook for continued congressional movement on gun curbs is dim.

Less than one-third of the Senate's 50 GOP senators backed the measure and solid Republican opposition is certain in the House. Top House Republicans urged a no vote in an email from the No. 2 GOP leader, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, that called the bill an effort to slowly chip away at law-abiding citizens 2nd Amendment rights.

Both chambers  now narrowly controlled by Democrats  could well be run by the GOP after November's midterm elections.

Senate action came one month after a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde. Just days before that, a white man was accused of being motivated by racism as he killed 10 Black grocery shoppers in Buffalo. Both shooters were 18 years old, a youthful profile shared by many mass shooters, and the close timing of the two slaughters and victims with whom many could identify stirred a demand by voters for action, lawmakers of both parties said.

The talks were led by Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. Murphy represented Newtown, Connecticut, when an assailant killed 20 students and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, while Cornyn has been involved in past gun talks following mass shootings in his state and is close to McConnell.

Murphy said the measure would save thousands of lives and was a chance to prove to a weary American public that democracy is not so broken that it is unable to rise to the moment.

I don't believe in doing nothing in the face of what we saw in Uvalde and elsewhere, Cornyn said.

The bill would make the local juvenile records of people age 18 to 20 available during required federal background checks when they attempt to buy guns. Those examinations, currently limited to three days, would last up to a maximum of 10 days to give federal and local officials time to search records.

People convicted of domestic abuse who are current or former romantic partners of the victim would be prohibited from acquiring firearms, closing the so-called boyfriend loophole."

That ban currently only applies to people married to, living with or who have had children with the victim. The compromise bill would extend that to those considered to have had a continuing serious relationship."

There would be money to help states enforce red flag laws and for other states without them that for violence prevention programs. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have such laws.

The measure expands the use of background checks by rewriting the definition of the federally licensed gun dealers required to conduct them. Penalties for gun trafficking are strengthened, billions of dollars are provided for behavioral health clinics and school mental health programs and there's money for school safety initiatives, though not for personnel to use a dangerous weapon."

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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BANGKOK (AP)  Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi was transferred Wednesday from a secret detention location to a prison in the countrys capital, legal officials familiar with her case said. Her ongoing court cases will be tried at a new facility constructed in the prison compound, they said.

Suu Kyi was arrested on Feb. 1, 2021, when the army seized power from her elected government. She was initially held at her residence in the capital, but was later moved to at least one other location, and for about the past year has been held at an undisclosed location in the capital, Naypyitaw, generally assumed to be on a military base.

She has been tried on multiple charges, including corruption, at a special court in Naypyitaw that began hearings on May 24, 2021. Each of the 11 corruption counts she faces is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Already she has been sentenced to 11 years imprisonment after being convicted on charges of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies and violating coronavirus restrictions. In addition to the corruption cases that are underway, she also has been charged with election fraud and violating the Officials Secrets Act.

Suu Kyis supporters and rights groups say the charges against her are politically motivated and are an attempt to discredit her and legitimize the militarys seizure of power while keeping her from returning to politics.

Many senior members of her government and party were also arrested and tried, and several are co-defendants in some of her cases. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a private organization that tracks government killings and arrests, a total of 11,174 people are currently in detention for suspected opposition to the ruling military council.

Suu Kyi, who turned 77 on Sunday, spent about 15 years in detention under a previous military government, but virtually all of it was under house arrest at her family home in Yangon, the countrys biggest city.

Three legal officials said Suu Kyis lawyers were informed Tuesday that a new building at the prison has been completed and all Suu Kyi's remaining court hearings will be held there starting on Thursday. The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release any information about her cases.

One of the officials said the government intended to put her in solitary confinement after her first conviction last year, but had to wait until the new facilities at the main prison in Naypyitaw were completed.

No government spokesperson was available to confirm Suu Kyi's move.

The secret location where she had been held for about the past year was a residence where she had nine people to help with her living arrangements, along with a dog that was a gift arranged by one of her sons.

Australian economist Sean Turnell, who was an adviser to Suu Kyi, is being held at the same prison where Suu Kyi was sent.

Turnell and Suu Kyi are being prosecuted in the same case under the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years, so both are to appear at the court inside the prison on Thursday.

In addition to the 11 counts of corruption, Suu Kyi and several colleagues have been charged with election fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of three years.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  The United States will send another $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including some additional medium-range rocket systems, to help push back Russian progress in the war, officials announced Thursday.

The latest package includes four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, which will double the number they have now. All four were prepositioned in Europe, and training on those systems has already begun with the Ukrainian troops who will use them, said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Anton Semelroth, a Pentagon spokesman. The first four HIMARS that the U.S. previously sent have already gone to the battlefield in Ukraine and are in the hands of troops there.

According to the Pentagon, the aid also includes 18 tactical vehicles that are used to tow howitzers, so the weapons can be moved around the battlefield, as well as 18 coastal and riverine patrol boats, thousands of machine guns, grenade launchers and rounds of ammunition, and some other equipment and spare parts.

The new aid comes just a week after the U.S. announced it was sending $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, and as the Russian military continues to slowly expand its control in the eastern Donbas region. Ukrainian leaders have persistently asked for the more advanced, precision rocket systems in order to better fight back against Russia.

The Russian military captured two villages in eastern Ukraine on Thursday and is fighting for control of a key highway in a campaign to cut supply lines and encircle frontline Ukrainian forces, according to British and Ukrainian military officials.

Russian forces have been bombarding the city of Sievierodonetsk for weeks with artillery and air raids, and fought the Ukrainian army house-to-house. The HIMARS gives Ukraine the ability to strike Russian forces and weapons from further away, making it less risky for Ukrainian troops. The systems are mounted on trucks, which carry a container with six precision-guided rockets that can travel about 45 miles (70 kilometers).

It took about three weeks to train Ukrainian troops on the first four HIMARS, before the systems were moved to the fight.

The aid is part of the $40 billion in security and economic assistance passed last month by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. And it is the 13th package of military weapons and equipment committed to Ukraine since the war began.

Overall, since the war started in late February, the U.S. has committed about $6.1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including this latest package. The $450 million in equipment and weapons will be from drawdown authority, which means the Defense Department will take it all from its own stocks and ship it to Ukraine.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  The Russian military extended its grip on territory in eastern Ukraine as it seeks to cut supply lines and encircle frontline Ukrainian forces, while the Ukrainian military announced Thursday the arrival of powerful U.S. multiple-launch rocket systems it hopes will offer a battlefield advantage.

Ukrainian forces withdrew from some areas near the city of Lysychansk to avoid being surrounded as Russians sent in reinforcements and concentrated their firepower in the area, Britains Defense Ministry said. The city is located in Luhansk province, a major battlefield in Russian President Vladimir Putins war against Ukraine.

Ukraine's General Staff said Russian forces took control of the villages of Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka, and were trying to capture Syrotyne, a settlement outside the province's administrative center, Sievierodonetsk. Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press that the Russians were burning everything out in their offensive to encircle Ukraine's fighters.

The Russians are advancing without trying to spare the ammunition or troops, and they arent running out of either, Haidai said. They have an edge in heavy artillery and the number of troops.

After repeated requests to its Western allies for heavier weaponry to counter Russia's edge in firepower, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said a response had arrived in the form of the medium-range American rocket launchers.

Summer will be hot for Russian occupiers. And the last one for some of them, Reznikov tweeted, thanking the U.S. for these powerful tools.

A U.S. defense official confirmed Wednesday that all four of the promised High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, were in the hands of Ukrainian forces but said it was not clear if they have been used yet.

The U.S. approved providing the precision-guided systems at the end of May, and once they were in the region, Ukraine's forces needed about three weeks of training to operate them. The rockets can travel about 45 miles (70 kilometers).

The U.S. will send an addition $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including four more of the medium-range rocket systems, ammunition and other supplies, U.S. officials announced Thursday.

Analysts said the advanced systems would give Ukrainian forces greater precision in hitting Russian targets. Mykola Sunhurovsky of the Razumkov Center, a Kyiv-based think tank, said the HIMARS have a longer range, more precision and higher rate of fire compared with similar Soviet-designed systems that Russia and Ukraine have used during the four-month war.

In the Luhansk region, Ukrainians remain in control of part of the territory, "defying the Russians and causing their fury and desire to burn it to the ground, Haidai said.

For weeks, Russian forces have pummeled Sievierodonetsk with artillery and air raids, and fought the Ukrainian army house-to-house. Ukrainian forces remain holed up with about 500 civilians at the Azot chemical plant, the only part of the city still under Ukrainian control.

Haidai said the Ukrainian soldiers warded off the city's seizure from the plant's sprawling underground structures, but he noted that the shelling has intensified, and even concrete shelters cant withstand the bombardment. The Russians were using their entire arsenal  heavy artillery, tanks and aircraft  he said.

Lysychansk, located on a steep river bank facing Sievierodonetsk, also is under a relentless Russian artillery barrage. At least one civilian died and three others were wounded in the past day as the Russians concentrated more than 100 multiple rocket launchers to pummel entire blocks, the governor said.

The British Defense Ministry said Russian forces had likely advanced more than 5 kilometers (3 miles) toward the southern approaches of Lysychansk since Sunday.

Some Ukrainian units have withdrawn, probably to avoid being encircled, the statement said. Russias improved performance in this sector is likely a result of recent unit reinforcement and heavy concentration of fire.

Ukraine's military said the Russians were also moving to overtake the hills overlooking a highway linking Lysychansk with Bakhmut, to the southwest, in an attempt to cut the supply lines of Ukrainian forces.

Haidai said the Bakhmut-Lysychansk highway wasnt used because of heavy Russian shelling. Ukrainian forces are receiving supplies via an alternative route.

Following a botched attempt to capture Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, in the early stage of the invasion on Feb. 24, Russian forces shifted focus to the Donbas region, where the Ukrainian forces have fought Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.

The Russian military controls about 95% of Luhansk province and about half of neighboring Donetsk province, the two areas that make up the Donbas.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

European Union leaders meeting in Brussels have made Ukraine a candidate for membership in the 27-nation bloc, along with Moldova, in a historic boost that binds them closer to the West than Russia.

The countries' admission to the EU will likely take years, though. In the case of Ukraine, that's both because of the war and the reforms the Ukrainian government must make to conform with European standards.

-

A Ukrainian politician and TV personality said an online fundraising pitch aimed at helping Ukraine buy three offensive drones has raised $10.4 million in 24 hours.

Serhiy Prytula credited amazing support among Ukrainians after his charitable foundation made the appeal for $15 million a day earlier for the purchase of the Bayraktar drones like those that Ukrainian forces have already used to defend against Russian invaders.

He tweeted: 4,6m $ to go. The Peoples Bayraktar project is already a nationwide crowdfunding. Lets turn it into international!

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Thursday that her country offered its expertise to help protect Ukraines ports and the safe passage of vessels for the export of Ukrainian grain.

Ukraine is one of the worlds largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil. Russias invasion and blockade of Ukraine's ports have halted much of that flow and left millions of tons of grain stuck in silos, endangering food supplies to many developing countries, especially in Africa.

Its urgent that action is taken within the next month ahead of the new harvest, and were determined to work with our allies to deliver this, Truss said at news conference with her Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, during a visit to Ankara to discuss ways to end the blockade.

Turkey wants to gather the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine to organize a U.N. plan that would allow the safe shipment of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports. Cavusoglu said a possible deal might set up a safe zone just outside of Ukraines territorial waters.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Russia has destroyed more than 2,000 schools and other educational institutions during the war.

In a video address to students and faculty at Jerusalems Hebrew University, Zelenskyy said that in areas where Russian troops have made quick advances, civilians are shot, refugees are killed right on the streets, people are tortured and raped, including minors  girls and boys.

Zelenskyy also voiced disappointment that Israel hadn't joined Western-led sanctions against Russia or provided Ukraine with military aid to give its forces a boost in the war.

Israel relies on good ties with Russia for security coordination in Syria, where Russia has troops and where Israel carries out frequent strikes against enemy targets. It has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Ukraine, Samuel Petrequin in Brussels, Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Lolita C. Baldor and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court gave Republican legislative leaders in North Carolina a win Thursday in a fight over the state's latest photo identification voting law.

The 8-1 decision does not end the three-year-plus dispute over the voter ID law, which is not in effect and has been challenged in state and federal courts. The Supreme Court's ruling just means that the legislative leaders can intervene in the federal case to defend the law. A lower court had ruled the lawmakers' interests were being adequately represented by the state's attorney general, Democrat Josh Stein.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote: Through the General Assembly, the people of North Carolina have authorized the leaders of their legislature to defend duly enacted state statutes against constitutional challenge. Ordinarily, a federal court must respect that kind of sovereign choice, not assemble presumptions against it.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented.

North Carolina voters amended the state constitution in 2018 to include a voter ID mandate. Lawmakers then passed the law at issue in the case to put in place the change. The law requires voters to show a photo ID to vote  a driver's license, a passport or certain student and local government identifications.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the measure, but lawmakers overrode it. The state NAACP and several local chapters immediately sued in federal court to halt enforcement, arguing that the law discriminates against Black and Latino voters in violation of the U.S. Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act.

North Carolina's House speaker, Tim Moore, and Senate leader, Phil Berger  both Republicans  wanted to intervene in the federal case to defend the law alongside lawyers for the state, saying Stein would not adequately fight for the law. A federal judge said no, that lawmakers' interests were being adequately defended by lawyers in Stein's agency. A three-judge federal appeals court panel ruled for the lawmakers before the full federal appeals court reversed the decision, ruling 9-6 that lawmakers should not be allowed to intervene.

Berger praised the Supreme Court ruling, saying that previous opposition by Stein and Cooper to voter ID had resulted in intentionally sandbagging the laws defense.

North Carolinians overwhelmingly support voter ID, and they deserve nothing less than the strongest representation from those who would uphold the will of the voters and our constitution, not a tepid defense by an attorney general who has a record of opposing voter ID, Moore said in a news release.

A spokesperson for the attorney general's office, Nazneen Ahmed, wrote in an email that Stein has and will continue to vigorously defend state law and did not formally oppose the legislators efforts to join in the defense. In a legal brief to the justices, Stein and other state lawyers wrote that respect needed to be given to the executive branchs powers to defend the state in court.

As for the law itself, it was initially blocked by the judge in the case, who said it was impermissibly motivated, at least in part, by discriminatory intent. But the three-judge appeals panel reversed her decision and sent it back to U.S. District Court, where a trial has yet to start.

In litigation in state court, judges struck down the law as tainted by racial bias. North Carolina's Supreme Court has said it will take up the case, but no date has been set for oral arguments.

Separately, North Carolina's highest court has also already heard arguments in a lawsuit over whether the constitutional amendment mandating voter ID should have been allowed on the November 2018 ballot in the first place. A state judge had ruled that the GOP-controlled legislature lacked authority to put the amendment and one other on the ballot because lawmakers had been elected from racially biased districts two years earlier. That decision was later overturned on appeal before going to the state's highest court, where a ruling is pending.

Robertson reported from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  The country has long endured a numbing succession of mass shootings at schools, places of worship and public gathering places. None forced Congress to react with significant legislation  until now.

Last month, a white shooter was accused of racist motives in the killings of 10 Black people in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. Another gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

The slayings of shoppers and school children just 10 days apart  innocents engaged in every day activities  helped prompt a visceral public demand for Congress to do something, lawmakers of both parties say. Bargainers produced a bipartisan gun violence bill that the Senate is moving toward approving later this week, with House action expected sometime afterward.

Here's a look at the confluence of factors that helped to produce a compromise.

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MORE COVERAGE

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Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.

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MIAMI (AP)  A prominent Mexican scientist who led a double life with two families on separate continents and was co-opted by Russian agents into surveilling a U.S. government informant residing in Miami has been sentenced to four years and one day in federal prison.

Hector Cabrera Fuentes, 36, was sentenced Tuesday in Miami federal court, according to court documents. He pleaded guilty in February to acting in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general.

Cabrera was arrested in 2020 at Miami International Airport as he and his Mexican wife -- the other is from Russia -- were looking to return to their home in Mexico City. A day earlier, Valentines Day, the couple attracted the attention of a security guard as they were caught on surveillance tape tailgating another vehicle onto the premises of a Miami-area condominium and snapping a photo of the U.S. sources car and license plate  ignoring instructions not to take any pictures but just jot down the vehicles location.

The bizarre tale of Cabreras botched intelligence mission began in 2019 when his Russian wife and her two daughters traveled from Germany to Russia to take care of a bureaucratic matter. When the woman tried to return to Germany she was not allowed to depart, an FBI agent said in an affidavit accompanying the original indictment.

Cabrera then traveled to Russia to see his family and was allegedly contacted by a Russian official he had met years earlier in a professional capacity. The individual, who is not identified in court filings, advised Cabrera that his family shouldnt travel to Europe or seek a U.S. visa.

It was around this time that Cabrera began to believe the individual worked for Russias FSB intelligence agency, according to the FBI.

Later, at a subsequent meeting in Moscow, the same official produced old emails from Cabreras account in which the Mexican scientist appeared to be scouting for real estate in Miami.

The Russian official brought up Cabrera's family situation and told him, We can help each other, according to the original indictment.

At the officials direction, Cabrera traveled to Miami and, using an associate's name, rented an apartment in the same complex where the U.S. government source was living.

Its not clear if the scientist knew why the Russians wanted him to rent the apartment, but frequently intelligence agents seek to insulate themselves by recruiting other people to carry out various tasks. Rarely does the recruit have full knowledge of the entire mission.

The individual Cabrera was trailing is not named in court papers and is described only as a U.S. government confidential human source who previously provided information regarding Russian intelligence activities affecting U.S. national security interests.

Prior to his arrest, Cabrera worked in Singapore as an associate professor at a medical school jointly run by Duke University and the National University of Singapore.

He also was appointed director in 2018 of the FEMSA Biotechnology Center at the Monterrey Institute of Technology in northern Mexico, which said he earned doctorates in molecular microbiology in Russia and molecular cardiology in Germany.

In his hometown of El Espinal, in the southern state of Oaxaca, Cabrera is something of a local hero, remembered for his work to promote scientific research, heal those suffering from diabetes and assist in the rebuilding of homes after devastating earthquakes.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Well before the sun came up Thursday, Jazmin Cazares sat on her sisters bed and wept for the 9-year-old killed in the Uvalde school rampage one month ago.

Then the teenager with purple-streaked hair got up for the four-hour drive to the Texas Capitol, where she tearfully pleaded with lawmakers to pass tougher gun laws and questioned why so many security measures failed.

I shouldnt have to be here right now. I should be at home watching a movie with my sister, she said through sniffles. Im here begging for you guys to do something or to change something, because the people that were supposed to keep her safe at school didnt, they failed.

Her sister Jacklyn  a tough-minded and compassionate girl who dreamed of visiting Paris and becoming a veterinarian  was one of 19 children shot to death inside Robb Elementary School on May 24 before police stormed the classroom and killed the gunman. Two teachers also died.

The massacre and a string of recent mass killings in the U.S. have renewed the debate over gun laws, school safety and how to stop the violence. In Texas, lawmakers have responded to several mass shootings in recent years by making it easier to carry guns, rather than to clamp down.

Jazmins testimony before a committee of lawmakers looking at how to prevent mass shootings came as Congress moved toward passing its most far-reaching gun violence bill in decades and the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling saying Americans have the right to carry firearms in public.

But all that mattered to the 17-year-old about to enter her final year of high school was that something be done to make schools safer. She said shes been doing active shooter drills since she was in pre-kindergarten.

Its terrifying, not knowing if its true or not every single time we go into lockdown. And then having to go back to school next year? she said. Going to school shouldnt have to be a decision. But it is. I have my senior year, thats it. Am I going to survive it?

Cazares told lawmakers they could honor the victims by adopting gun background checks and red flag laws that allow removing guns from people at extreme risk of harming themselves or others.

The Uvalde gunman was a former student, Salvador Ramos, who days after turning 18 bought the AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle he used in the attack.

There should be absolutely no reason this murderer could have access to a firearm, Cazares said, who later said she knew committee members were listening when she saw them tear up.

"I felt it. It felt genuine, she said.

The Republican-controlled legislature in Texas has stripped away gun restrictions over the past decade, even as the state suffered mass shootings that have killed more than 85 people since 2018.

The state doesnt require a permit to carry a long rifle like the one used in Uvalde, and it allows 18-year-olds to buy them. Last year, lawmakers made it legal for anyone 21 and older to carry a handgun in public without a license, background check or training.

Jazmin Cazares told lawmakers that since the shooting she has reviewed the school's security rules, ticking off a list of requirements that failed to stop the shooter, including that teachers are told to keep their doors locked at all times.

How, when some of those classroom doors didnt lock? she said, with family members sitting behind her wearing T-shirts featuring pictures of Jacklyn and the words Forever in our hearts.

Her familys grief, she said, is compounded by the knowledge that some of what happened at Robb Elementary could have been prevented.

Her little sister, she said, loved singing and dancing and was one of the sweetest souls anyone would ever meet.

Jacklyn and her cousin, Annabell Rodriguez, were best friends, part of a close-knit quintet of classmates. All five died in the shooting.

Right after Jazmin testified, a woman who lost her parents in a 1991 shooting that left two dozen dead in Killeen, Texas, told the committee that waiting periods for gun sales are worthless and gun-free zones should be eliminated.

Lets be clear that the gun, its just a tool. Its a tool that can be used to kill a family, but its a tool that can be used to protect a family, said Suzanna Hupp.

Hupp, a former Republican lawmaker, said she was invited to address the committee by one of its co-chairs.

After Hupp spoke, Jacklyns father, Javier Cazares, followed her into a hallway and they exchanged handshakes and a brief hug.

There is a bond there, just automatically, unspoken, Hupp said. In one sense, it was my parents, and they died quickly and they died together. I cant imagine losing a kid. I cant even go there in my head.

Days after the Uvalde tragedy, Javier Cazares, told of how he rushed to the school and kept a close watch on children fleeing the school to catch a glimpse of his 9-year-old firecracker.

He and other parents grew frustrated that police werent doing more. A lot of us were arguing with the police, You all need to go in there, said Cazares, an Army veteran.

Cazares said Thursday that he still struggles to trust the constantly evolving timelines from state police. Nobody wants to get blamed for what their actions were that day, he said.

During a break in the hearing, Cazares and his family met with about 10 police chiefs and officers in a hallway. We failed you, Stan Standridge, chief of police in San Marcos, Texas, told the family.

The delays and mistakes in the law enforcement response are now central to multiple investigations. The head of the Texas state police this week called it an abject failure, and said the police reaction ignored everything learned since the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado in 1999.

Police had enough officers and firepower to stop the gunman three minutes after he entered the school, Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said Tuesday. But police officers armed with rifles waited in a school hallway for more than an hour before going into the classroom and killing the gunman.

He put much of the blame for the delays on Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school district police chief who McCraw said was the commander in charge.

The school district put Arredondo on administrative leave on Wednesday. Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harrell said the facts of what happened remain unclear.

Arredondo has said he didnt consider himself in charge and assumed someone else had taken control. He has declined repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press.

Uvaldes mayor pushed back against casting blame on Arredondo, saying the Department of Public Safety has repeatedly released false information and glossed over the role of its own officers.

Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press photographer Eric Gay in Austin and writer John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.

Find more AP coverage of the Uvalde school shooting: https://apnews.com/hub/uvalde-school-shooting

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Israeli archaeologists have discovered a rare rural mosque dated to about 1,200 years ago and a luxurious estate, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said on Wednesday.

The estate and the mosque, among the earliest known worldwide, were uncovered in the southern Bedouin city of Rahat in the Negev desert, according to the IAA.

The mosque includes a square room and a wall facing the direction of the holy city of Mecca, and a half-circle niche in that wall pointing south, the IAA said.

The excavation at Rahat sheds light on the beginnings of Islam in the Southern Levant, and provides graphic details of the gradual transition from Christianity to Islam, the IAA noted.

It thus revealed that buildings with Christian and early Islamic characteristics are in close proximity to one another.

This includes a farmhouse of the Byzantine period that apparently housed Christian farmers. It had a fortified tower and rooms with strong walls surrounding a courtyard.

On a nearby hilltop, the team uncovered Muslim estates constructed about a hundred years later in a completely different manner, with lines of rooms next to large, open courtyards.

This building includes halls with stone pavement, some paved with marble, and walls decorated with frescos painted in red and yellow.

Remains of fine tableware and glass vessels, some decorated with drawings of plants and animals, evince the wealth of its inhabitants, according to the IAA.
Supporters of an initiative to legalize the use of medical marijuana in the state said Wednesday they need at least 50,000 more Nebraskans to step forward and sign petitions during the next two weeks to assure that the proposal will qualify for the Nov. 8 general election ballot.

The deadline for filing initiative petitions with the secretary of state is July 7.

"Go find a place to sign," Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln, co-chair of the campaign, urged during a news conference on Zoom.

"The only way we can get across the finish line," she said, is if Nebraskans find out where they can sign petitions and then voluntarily make the effort to go to one of those available sites and attach their signatures.

"This week, go sign," Wishart urged.

While Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana does not have the funding for a million-dollar petition drive fueled by an army of paid petition workers, it has collected 60,000 signatures on each of its two initiative proposals with unpaid volunteers, she said.

An additional 50,000 would help assure that the petition drive and its two separate proposals can be successful in accessing the November ballot, Wishart said, assuming that some signatures will be disqualified, as is always the case.

Nebraskans who want to sign can find where to access available petition sites at nebraskamarijuana.org/sign.

Wishart said that "more than 100 stores are hosting our petitions."

"This will fail if you don't step up," said Nicole Hochstein of Papillion, the parent of a 12-year-old son with seizures.

The opportunity to allow use of marijuana to try to help quell his seizures and give him a better quality of life might prevent the option of invasive surgery that would require him to learn how to walk and talk again, Hochstein said.

Wishart said the initiative proposal would provide "access to a safe, legal system for people who are suffering now."

"We are begging you," said Crista Eggers of Omaha, the initiative's campaign coordinator.

Each of the two initiative proposals will need an estimated 87,000 valid signatures to reach the ballot.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSdon

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Jason Lindberg doesn't mind it if you know he's a fan boy when it comes to Buddy Guy.

"Buddy's the man," he said at a table, inside Hardline Coffee Co. on a Friday morning. "Buddy's an absolute legend."

The 85-year-old Guy has influenced a generation of guitarists like Keith Richards, Gary Clark Jr. and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

If truth be told, Guy -- an eight-time Grammy Award winner -- has also influenced Lindberg, who is part of Servant Shop, the blues rock duo which will open this year's Saturday in the Park on July 2.

"We'll open the show around noon and Buddy will be on later that night," Lindberg said. "Just being on the same bill as Buddy Guy really blows my mind."

Servant Shop, which Lindberg helped to found with drummer Corey Freese in 2015, has played gigs in Sioux City, Omaha and everyplace in between.

"We're a high-energy blues rock duo who creates a lot of noise," Lindberg said, describing Servant Shop's style. "There may be only two of us but we create a wall of sound."

Growing up in rural Nebraska, Lindberg said he was initially drawn to rockers like Stone Temple Pilots and Red Hot Chili Peppers before developing an appreciation for a bluesier sound.

Freese, on the other hand, enjoyed a more eclectic mix of artists.

"When I was younger, I was into rap and hip-hop," he explained. "But I also loved Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison."

While Lindberg is a veteran of previous bands, Freese has only been a member of Servant Shop.

"I call Jason my rock and roll Sherpa because he's taught me everything I know about performing," he said with a laugh.

Apparently, Lindberg is a man of many talents.

Indeed, both met while they were working in the service department of Scheels.

"That's where we got the name for the band," Freese explained. "If we answered the phone quickly at Scheels, service shop sounds an awful like Servant Shop."

"By the way, Corey doesn't work at Scheels anymore," Lindberg said. "But I do."

Still not too many Servant Shops -- or service shop employees -- can say they're opening for a legend like Buddy Guy.

"We're gonna have to figure out to how to take up more space," Lindberg admitted with a smile. "The Grandview Park Bandshell is a pretty big stage for just me and Corey."

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ESG investors worry that unchecked climate change is a threat to human existence. The GOP appears to worry that unchecked ESG investors are a threat to Republican existence. Both sides are right.

ESG criteria (for environmental, social, and governance) are a set of standards for public companies actions that investors use to guide where they put their money. (These criteria could include committing to reduce carbon emissions by a certain percentage by a specific date, allowing employees work-at-home flexibility in light of pandemic safety and child care issues, or requiring that a minimum percentage of the board of directors be female or persons of color.) As more and more investors, large firms, and asset managers have gravitated toward ESG positions in recent years, they have found themselves at odds with a Republican Party that used to count on these institutions as A base of support. Republicans are now striking back, which is why you hear more of them railing against woke capitalism and ESG. One group recently formed a new right-wing business lobby, the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce, to compete with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a long-standing supporter of mainstream Republican policies that anti-ESG activists now see as corrupted by the left. Another recent anti-ESG initiative has been to push red states to pass legislation to divest state pension fund assets from firms who follow ESG principles. For all the GOP fretting over left-wing cancel culture, the party is working very hard to cancel ESG.

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A typical example comes from former Vice President Mike Pence, who wrote a May 26 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (Republicans Can Stop ESG Political Bias) full of right-wing fervor. He called ESG a pernicious strategy from the woke left including an unelected cabal of bureaucrats and large and powerful Wall Street financiers who almost never refuse to do business with China or Russia. He compared ESG ratings to something from the Chinese Communist Party. He warned that far-left extremists are using ESG to impose a radical agenda and take away our freedoms. In fact, it is Pence who is trying to override the free market, where millions of investors have decided ESG is what they want.

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ESG investing has become a global trend. The term was coined in 2005, but the concept of integrating nonfinancial considerations into investment decisions has been around for decades. ESG and its variants are also called socially responsible investing, sustainable investing, and impact investing. Since the 1960s, investors have periodically boycotted companies associated with tobacco, weapons of war, apartheid, and other sin stock issues. In recent years, scientific consensus about the threat of climate change has prompted many investors to consider environmental issues. In 2020, interest in ESG further increased as the murder of George Floyd and the pandemic highlighted racial inequality and workplace issues, and more investors decided they had their own levers to pull in order to agitate for a more just society.

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ESG has evolved because diverse, broad-based investor groupsincluding pension funds, endowments, hedge funds, retail investors of all ages (but particularly millennials), investors of color, and women, among many othershave been demanding investments that are both profitable and socially responsible. Studies by Morgan Stanley and Vanguard show that investments based on ESG have either outperformed, or performed as well as, non-ESG investments. What is good for people is generally good for business.

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Given the growing wave of influential ESG investors, most public companies and asset managers have incorporated ESG into their operations to meet investor demand. Incorporating ESG means implementing policies and procedures to measure and accurately disclose the firms application of ESG principles to its business operations, workforce, and governance. For asset managers, incorporating ESG also means creating financial products that follow ESG principles, such as ESG-based investment funds. That is the free market at work. Customer demand shifts and businesses adjust their operations to meet the new demand. ESG is the product of a free market, not a cabal of pernicious financiers with international sympathies.

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ESG is the product of a free market, not a cabal of pernicious financiers with international sympathies.

Pences performative outrage sounds like something from a far-right radio program. In fact, conservative talk-show host Glenn Beck, who has promoted false conspiracy theories involving hedge fund manager George Soros and former President Barack Obama among others, has criticized ESG using similar arguments and language. Beck hosted a radio show on March 18, 2022, titled: Why are woke CEOs using ESG to DESTROY our free market? During the show, Beck called ESG the opposite of the free market. It is 21st century fascism. In apparent disapproval of U.S. sanctions against Russia, he blamed the sanctions on ESG. Beck said: Were not the ones thatthat have decided to go to war against Russia. These sanctions, these are not governmental sanctions. This is ESG.

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Much anti-ESG ire has been directed at Larry Fink, the billionaire CEO of BlackRock. In January 2020, in his annual letter to CEOs of public companies, Fink said that BlackRock supports ESG principles and expects public companies to do the same. Since BlackRock is the worlds largest asset manager, the letter gave ESG credibility. Conservatives were apoplectic. Many saw Fink as a traitor to his class. Some accused him of acting like a socialist, a strange charge against someone who built up a business handling $10 trillion in assets. His support for ESG is clever capitalism because it positions BlackRock to attract business from the growing wave of investors who want profits and to feel good about their investments.

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Pence dislikes ESG investors because they do not share his views, including his opposition toif not outright hostility towardclimate change initiatives, LGBTQ rights, corporate board diversity, workers rights, gun safety legislation, and womens reproductive rights. He is entitled to his views. But so are ESG investors, who should be free to invest based on considerations they deem important.

Some criticism of ESG is fair and justified. In May, for example, Standard & Poors rebalanced stocks in its sustainability portfolio, dropping Tesla but retaining ExxonMobil. Technical ratings may have triggered the actions, but most felt that the moves lacked common sense and were plain wrong. Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter: ESG is a scam. It has been weaponized by phony social justice warriors. His anger was understandable. Others have criticized ESG for encouraging companies to engage in greenwashing by making false or exaggerated claims about their ESG practices to attract clients. The SEC recently brought its first enforcement case based on greenwashing and has signaled to the industry that it will look for violations going forward. ESG is still being refined and mistakes can be expected going forward. But good-faith mistakes and honest criticism are different in nature from Republican misrepresentations about ESG as a pernicious effort to take away our freedoms.

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The GOP is on a crusade to discredit ESG by blaming it on woke extremism. But ESG has more mainstream acceptance than right-wing extremism. Pence, in his Wall Street Journal piece, states that ESG is a threat to American freedom. A more truthful description would be that ESG is a threat to Republican minority control over increasingly unpopular issues. In that sense, Pences attack on businesses who adopt ESG principles is akin to Florida Republicans who penalized Disney for taking a position on Dont Say Gay legislation.

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Pences proposed solution to his fabricated ESG threat is for the next president to work with Congress to end the use of ESG principles nationwide. In other words, he wants the government to step in and cancel ESG because he dislikes what the free market came up with. Republicans traditionally have criticized Democrats for imposing government regulations that interfere with free market decisions. Yet Pence is proposing exactly that.

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Hypocrisy notwithstanding, it is unclear how Pence would cancel ESG from a practical standpoint, since it is widely accepted and integrated throughout the capital markets. Would a President Pence force thousands of U.S. public companies and asset managers to terminate their ESG operations and financial products? That action could harm U.S. capital formation by driving investors overseas where ESG thrives. For millions of investors who now consider ESG an important part of their investment decisionmaking process, would Pence cancel access to ESG information and their freedom to decide how to invest their hard-earned money? His vision looks less like freedom in America and more like something from the Chinese Communist Party.
The American anti-abortion movement contributed far more to the rise of Donald Trump and the transformation of the GOP than we often think. Scholars have traced how an ascendant form of Christian nationalismthe belief that the United States was and always should be a Christian nationwas needed for Donald Trump to edge out Hillary Clinton in 2016. But the inuence of the anti-abortion movement went much further, and it had everything to do with money in U.S. politics.

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Political scientists and historians of the religious right have told part of the story of the fascinating partnership between abortion foes and Republican leaders. Their studies often suggest that while pro-lifers became dependent on the GOP, the Republican Party did not fundamentally change its priorities. Some assert that the GOP co-opted the religious right, gaining its votes while offering little but speeches in return.

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By focusing on the anti-abortion movement and its complex relationship with the broader religious right, my book Dollars for Life: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment shows that this partnership with the movement had consequences for the GOP that went well beyond abortion. Anti-abortion operatives helped make control of the Supreme Court a deciding issue for conservative voters who had no legal background. And to gain control of the Supreme Court, abortion foes joined and ultimately helped to lead a growing ght against campaign nance laws, persuading many social conservatives and GOP leaders to oppose them as well.

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Rather than try to inuence legal elites, pro-life leaders set about convincing grassroots activists that control of the court was essential.

These shifts to a focus on judicial nominations and money in politics helped the GOP score electoral victories it might not otherwise have managed. But in the long term, the changes in campaign nance rules that the anti-abortion movement helped to achieve came at a terrible price for the Republican establishmentand had important consequences for the functioning of American democracy.

Because the Republican Party tended to benet disproportionately from a surge in outside spendingand attracted most of the top-dollar donors behind itchanges to campaign nance rules often had a greater inuence on the balance of power within the GOP. In the past, when charismatic populists like Pat Buchanan ran for the GOP presidential nomination, the Republican establishment used its campaign spending advantage to crush them. But after the rules of campaign nance were changed by Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) and SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission (2010), nonparty outside spendingmoney independent of candidates, campaigns, and parties soared. Republican insiders ran some of the nominally outside spending groups, but the party itself did not control them, and many of these groups had agendas quite different from those of the conventional GOP leadership. Issue-based and ideological groups had always been able to push their own candidates, but they could never hope to dominate the party. In the old world of campaign nance rules, when populists ran for ofce, the Republican establishment spent them out of the race. In the world of Citizens United, populists had more than enough to win.

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How did the abortion debate come to revolutionize the broader struggle over money in politics? The story has many characters, but James Bopp Jr. stands out. A proud Hoosier, Bopp was a passionate conservative before he ever worked a day on abortion politics. He was a state prosecutor in Indiana when Congress passed crucial amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act in 1974, a major overhaul of campaign nance inspired by President Richard Nixons Watergate scandal. By the late 1970s, Bopp had become the general counsel for the National Right to Life Committee, the largest national anti-abortion group. At rst, he and other anti-abortion lawyers viewed campaign nance laws as no more than a nuisance, but by the mid-1980s, they saw these laws as a lasting headache and began arguing that campaign nance limits were unconstitutional.

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This shift came because the anti-abortion movement had embraced a new mission: control of the Supreme Court. In the 1970s and early 1980s, conservative attorneys in groups like the Federalist Society mobilized to inuence the courts, forming professional networks that would nd promising judicial nominees, inuence legal norms, and legitimize conservative legal arguments. At rst, pro-lifers mostly stayed out of this work. Instead, for a decade after Roe v. Wade, abortion foes promoted a constitutional amendment banning the procedure and worked to elect candidates who pledged their support for such an amendment. One of Bopps colleagues at NRLC, Dr. John Willke, a pro-life celebrity known for his anti-abortion slideshows, led efforts to make pro-life voters into a signicant swing vote. When the GOP became the only party endorsing the human life amendment, most leading pro-life groups cast their lot with the Republicans.

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To learn more about the Willkes, listen to Slow Burn Season 7, Episode 2:

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By the mid-1980s, however, abortion foes recognized that even if Republicans controlled Congress, the human life amendment would never pass. Desperate for a new strategy, they focused on changing the composition of the Supreme Court in the hope that it would overrule Roe. Allying with the GOP became more important than ever: Republican presidents could select nominees skeptical of Roe, and Republican senators could conrm them. Rather than try to inuence legal elites, pro-life leaders set about convincing grassroots activists, even those with no knowledge of the law, that control of the court was essential.

In 1992, however, a Supreme Court transformed by Republican presidents deed expectations by preserving abortion rights. The courts decision in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey convinced many in the pro-life establishment that their movement lacked real inuence over the GOP. Despite the presence of Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas on the court, right-to-lifers felt that Republican presidents still too often gravitated to consensus nominees who could sail through Congressthe kind of judges who shied away from overturning a major precedent like Roe. Bopp argued that the movement needed the freedom to spend more on political speech if abortion foes expected more inuenceor more say in Supreme Court nominations. He asserted that deregulating campaign nance would help pro-life candidates win and that, if right-to-lifers helped Republicans raise and spend more money, the anti-abortion movement would prove its worth to the GOP.

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From the mid-1990s onward, groups like NRLC brought abortion foes into a broader coalition committed to deregulating money in politics. Champions of civil liberties, GOP power brokers, advocacy group staffers, and small-government libertarians worked together to deregulate campaign nance. It was far from inevitable that the Republican Party would unite against campaign nance reform. To be sure, business interests that backed the GOP had historically denounced campaign limits, and the GOP often enjoyed a fundraising edge that made it favor more campaign spending rather than less. Nevertheless, in the 1990s, Republicans felt tremendous pressure to embrace campaign nance reforms that many saw as an effort to clean up elections. They also supported campaign limits that hurt union-backed urban Democratic machines. Anti-abortion lawyers gave a crucial boost to the efforts of other Republican insiders, hoping to convince social conservatives and party leaders that opposing campaign nance limits was a matter of principle.

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A decadeslong attack on campaign nance rules in the courts also helped to cement a conservative political consensus about the issue. In the 1990s, Bopp and his colleagues reframed campaign nance rules as the kind of government overreach that genuine conservatives had to oppose. After the 2002 passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, they had begun to focus on donor secrecy and corporate campaign spending, honing a message that would unite business and social conservatives.

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By the mid-2000s, however, other conservative attorneys and movements sometimes took the lead in major campaign nance cases and pursued a different tactical plan than the one favored by right-to-life litigators. And some of the changes to campaign nance rules did not reect the strategy of any litigator or movement, beginning instead with the reasoning of a new conservative Supreme Court majority. But even when other conservative movements dictated strategy, right-to-lifers understood more than enough about what changed campaign nance rules could mean for the Republican Party: The new laws gave conservative movements a chance to take power away from the GOP establishment.

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As anti-abortion groups made campaign nance a priority, NRLC leaders also retooled their strategy to dismantle abortion rights. Larger anti-abortion groups would shift to promoting abortion restrictions that enjoyed the most popular support, and these restrictions, in turn, would increase public approval of both the GOP and the anti-abortion cause. Helping the GOP out-raise and outspend the opposition would give abortion foes more allies in the White House and Congress. More GOP leaders in ofce created more opportunities to transform SCOTUS and overturn Roe. This plan of attack helped produce a series of Supreme Court decisions, including Gonzales v. Carhart (2007) and Citizens United.

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But leading anti-abortion groups did not always successfully harness their movements energy. Clinic blockaders, Catholic absolutists, and other grassroots activists contended that dependence on the GOP had made the pro-life movement unable to demand social change. These activists also questioned the wisdom of relying on a Supreme Court that had hesitated to dismantle abortion rights. Many within the right-to-life movement also questioned the value of investing so much in the rules of campaign nance.

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At rst, when Bopp and his allies focused on narrow challenges to rules that hobbled the anti-abortion movement, such as limits on voter information guides or nonprot corporations, few right-to-lifers objected. But by the 1990s, when NRLC made opposition to all campaign nance laws a priority, many anti-abortion leaders rebelled. Some, like right-wing icon Phyllis Schlay, argued that focusing on campaign nance needlessly divided the movement and hurt political allies whom it needed to pass abortion restrictions. Others, like anti-abortion activist Judie Brown, saw the emphasis put on campaign nance as a sign that their colleagues in NRLC cared more about the success of Republican candidates than about advancing the rights of the unborn. Still others questioned whether Bopps strategy would help the pro-life movement to gain inuence in the GOP as much as it would to expand the power of large corporations and major donors.

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The GOP establishment initially found nothing to dislike in the dominant pro-life strategy. The promise of controlling the Supreme Court could unite a fractious coalition and turn out voters who might otherwise not care about a particular race. The ght to deregulate campaign nance also suited the GOP hierarchy. Activists like Bopp helped the Republican Party perfect fundraising techniques from super PACs to dark money organizations.

But changes to campaign nance rules ultimately helped to shatter the traditional GOP hierarchy. Of course, other forms of spending can also boost extreme candidates; at times, small donors, who tend to sometimes be on their partys radical anks, have banded together to inuence the GOP or the Democratic Party. In 2020, for example, small donors offered a lifeline to politicians like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who opposed certication of the 2020 election results. But small donors at times became apathetic, and outside spending organizations, which provided an attractive vehicle for professional activists and major donors, often had more staying power. It is true that the party establishment, too, beneted from the new super PACs and nonprots. But so did issue-based organizations, many of which looked to remake the GOP. With a surge in outside spending, the GOP establishment had less control over the ow of campaign dollars. Already weakened by conservative media and negative partisanship, the establishment no longer had the tools to put down a populist insurgency.

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The GOP establishment had hoped to emerge from the abortion conict unscathed. Abortion itself was merely one issueand to the establishment, far from the most importantin a broad right-wing agenda. Abortion foes had helped the party by convincing rank-and-le Republican voters that control of the Supreme Court should be on their minds on Election Day. But to many Republican leaders, the justices they nominated and conrmed were often more valuable for other reasons, such as limiting environmental and workplace regulations, than for their opposition to abortion. The party leadership ignored the anti-abortion movement when it was convenient to do so. It was no surprise that pro-life leaders would try to gain more leverage. Their campaign to unleash political spending, however, had consequences they most likely did not anticipate. In their efforts to reinvent the Republican Party, abortion foes changed how American democracy works.

Excerpted from Dollars for Life: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment, by Mary Ziegler, published June 2022, Yale University Press. Copyright  2022. Reprinted by permission of Yale University Press.

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In the tradition of the Clintonometer, the Trump Apocalypse Watch, and the Impeach-O-Meter, the Is It a Crime-O-Meter is a wildly subjective and speculative estimate of whether the Jan. 6 select committees work will convince enough individuals of relevance (prosecutors, juries, voters) that Donald Trump committed insurrection-related crimes that he will be, in some fashion, held accountable for them.

Todays update, which provides some background on material covered in Tuesdays hearing, is submitted with apologies to the Harpers Index.

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Date that a Georgia lawyer working with Rudy Giuliani showed Georgia state legislators a closed-circuit TV camera clip which purportedly showed election staffers taking four suitcases of counterfeit ballots, presumably marked with votes for Joe Biden, out from under a table at Atlantas State Farm Arena vote counting center late on election night: Dec. 3, 2020

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Date on which Atlanta TV reporter Justin Gray, in consultation with Georgia state elections officials Gabriel Sterling and Frances Watson, broadcast a nightly news segment and posted a long, accompanying Twitter thread making clear in great detail (with video images) that the suitcases were storage crates that had been filled, on camera and in the presence of members of the press and other election observers, with real ballots on election day: Dec. 4, 2020

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A photo from Grays thread of the suitcases, which are obviously not suitcases, being filled:

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Date that Georgia official Frances Watson filed an affidavit formally attesting that there were no counterfeit-ballot suitcases in State Farm Arena on election night: Dec. 6, 2020

What Frances Watsons affidavit said about a plumbing problem that the arena had experienced on election day, which featured in some versions of the suitcase theory: The incident initially reported as a water leak late in the evening on November 3rd was actually a urinal that had overflowed early in the morning.

Number of times that suspicious Georgia suitcases were mentioned on Fox News in the next month despite video evidence that they were storage crates that had been filled, on camera and in the presence of members of the press and other election observers, with real ballots on election day: 11

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What BJay Pak, who was then the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Georgia, and who is also a former Republican member of the Georgia state legislature, told the Jan. 6 select committee that his office concluded regarding the suitcase allegations: There was nothing there. Giuliani was wrong in representing that this was a suitcase full of ballots.

What Republican lawyer Bobby Christine, who became acting U.S. attorney for the northern district of Georgia in January 2021 after Pak resigned under pressure from the White House, reportedly told district staff, almost immediately after taking office, that he had concluded about allegations of election fraud in Georgia : Theres just nothing to them.

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What then-U.S. attorney general William Barr told the Jan. 6 committee that the Department of Justice as a whole concluded regarding the suitcases: The ballots under the table were legitimate ballots. They werent in a suitcase.

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Dates on which former acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen and former acting deputy attorney general Richard Donoghue told the Jan. 6 committee that they had distinct conversations with Donald Trump in which they explained to him that there were no suitcases in the State Farm Center on election night: Dec. 15, Dec. 27, and Dec. 31, 2020

Date that Trump called Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger and asked him to find 11,000 more Trump votes: Jan. 2, 2021

Number of times Trump brought up suitcase-related fraud during this conversation: Three

Number of minutes that Trump spent talking about the subject during the call: Eight

Amount of time that Raffensperger spent responding to the suitcase allegation before he was cut off by Trump: Twenty-four seconds

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Explanation Trump gave for having lost in Georgia during his Jan. 6 Stop the Steal rally speech: Suitcases of ballots

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Number of people who died in or around the Capitol later that day: Four, which doesnt include the police officer who was attacked on Jan. 6 and died on Jan. 7 after suffering multiple strokes which may have been related

Current mood of the crime-o-meter: Wishfully insisting that behavior like this simply has to have consequences
The Supreme Court commenced a revolution in Second Amendment law on Thursday, striking down New Yorks strict limits on concealed carry in a maximalist opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas that renders most of the nations gun control laws presumptively unconstitutional. The decision will unleash a tidal wave of lower court rulings invalidating laws designed to protect Americans from the carnage of gun violence. And it will stymie current efforts to reduce that violence through innovative new solutions to this epidemic. For gun control advocates, it is the worst-case scenario.

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Thursdays decision, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, involves a challenge to New Yorks restrictions on the carrying of concealed firearms in public. Like seven other states, New York bars residents from obtaining a concealed carry permit without some elevated need for self-defense. Thomas, joined by the other five conservative justices, invalidated that law as a violation of the Second Amendment. In doing so, he dramatically expanded the scope of the courts previous gun decisions, which limited the right of self-defense to the home.

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Before Thursday, 83 million peopleor about 1 in 4 Americanslived in a state with stringent limits on concealed carry. After Bruen, zero do.

But Thomas did not stop there. In striking down New Yorks restriction, the justice also established a new standard for evaluating gun control measures. First, he asked whether a law interferes with rights protected in the plain text of the Second Amendmentspecifically, the right to self-defense (which is not actually in the amendments text). If so, Thomas explained, that law is presumptively unconstitutional. The government may only save it from invalidation if it can prove that the regulation is consistent with this nations historical tradition of firearm regulation.

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In other words, courts may no longer rely on empirical evidence in upholding gun control laws. They cannot, for instance, cite the heightened lethality of a particular weapon. Such data is now irrelevant. Rather, they can only ask whether there is some historical analogue from 1791 (when the Second Amendment was ratified) or 1868 (when the 14th Amendment was ratified, applying the Second Amendment to the states). One might assume that this analysis would only shield weapons that were in common use in 1791 or 1868. But Thomas clarified that any modern instruments that facilitate armed self-defense are also protected under the Constitution, even if they did not exist until recently.

This approach overrules the test used by many courts of appeals in assessing gun restrictions, creating a new, incredibly demanding standard for the government to satisfy. Previously, these courts engaged in what Thomas dismisses as means-end scrutiny, asking whether the law is carefully tailored to promote an important state interest. Countless other rights are assessed under this standard. Thomas, however, declared that it is an inappropriate test for firearm laws, because the people already decided that they hold a presumptive right to bear arms when ratifying the Second and 14th amendments.

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After laying out this new test, Thomas easily concluded that there is no historical analogue that saves New Yorks statute from invalidation. To do so, he ignored ample history indicating that states have long imposed similar restrictions on concealed carry. Instead, he cherry-picked his own preferred sources to build a misleading narrative of the United States as a libertarian paradise in which gun regulations have always been the exception, not the norm. Apart from a few late-19th century outlier jurisdictions, he wrote (falsely), American governments simply have not broadly prohibited the public carry of commonly used firearms for personal defense.

It is difficult to overstate the consequences of Thomas decision. In a single opinion, the justice has abolished the ability of courts to consider the real-world impact of firearms when evaluating limitations on their sale and use. No longer may cities and states enact new restrictions motivated by, for example, a surge in mass shootings, and cite the need to protect their residents as justification. All these facts are now immaterial. Any government attempting to impose gun control must scour the history books for some historical analogue. Of course, that analogue might not exist, because modern technology has made guns vastly more powerful and deadly, and the exponential growth in population creates new challenges that were not present hundreds of years ago. And even if the government can find an analogue, it must pass Thomas Calvinball test, which dismisses all historical evidence in support of gun restrictions.

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There is only one potential limiting principle on Bruen: Justice Brett Kavanaughs concurring opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts. Kavanaugh, obviously aware of the extreme consequences that would flow from Thomas approach, tried to make the opinion sound more modest than it actually is. He clarified that states can still require licenses for concealed carry permits that may include a background check, a mental health records check, and training in firearms handling. And he added that a variety of gun regulations remain permissible, though cited only exceedingly modest measures such as laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings. It is difficult to reconcile Kavanaughs concurrence with substantial portions of Thomas opinion and thus hard to know how seriously to take it. Moving forward, gun control advocates best hope is that Kavanaugh and Roberts will not follow the strict logic of the majority.

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Even if these two justices do tap the brakes down the road, the upshot of Bruen will be devastating. There is clear evidence that permissive concealed carry regimes lead to substantially higher rates of gun homicides without protecting victims from crime. Relaxed concealed carry laws are closely correlated with higher violent crime and more gun deaths. But thats just the beginning of the fallout. Thomas opinion strongly suggests that myriad other restrictions, such as bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, may also be unconstitutional. At a bare minimum, he has given conservative lower courts a blank check to strike down such laws left and right. Even if the Supreme Court never decides another gun case, Bruen alone ensures that dozens of gun control laws will be invalidated by these courts.

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No amount of increased gun violence will change the courts mind; it has already announced that deaths from firearms do not matter. As Justice Stephen Breyer noted in dissent, it is no longer permissible for judges to consider the serious dangers and consequences of gun violence that lead states to regulate firearms. (Justice Sam Alito, infuriated by Breyers reference to real-world violence, asked how he could account for the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, quipping: The New York law at issue in this case obviously did not stop that perpetrator.)

On Thursday, Thomas and his fellow conservatives threw the United States into a frightening experiment: What happens when the people are no longer allowed to protect themselves from mass slaughter through their elected representatives and are left at the mercy of unelected judges who do not care if they are shot to death?
Among the most chilling testimony of the Jan 6 Committee hearings, alongside images of violent protesters circling the homes of election officials and insurrectionists shattering windows to enter the U.S. Capitol, were the mild words of Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer to Georgias Secretary of State. Testifying Tuesday afternoon, Sterling explained that no matter how many times he insisted to Big Lie enthusiasts that there had been no election fraud, tampering, or conspiracy to steal the 2020 contest for Joe Biden, he could not persuade certain peopleincluding family members and lawyersthat the election had taken place without incident. I would show them things and the problem you have is you are getting in peoples hearts, he testified. I remember this one specific attorney that we know that we showed walking through, this wasnt true, OK, I get that. This wasnt true, OK, I get that. This wasnt. Five or six things. But at the end, he said, I just know in my heart they cheated.

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Insofar as these hearings have been masterfully constructed to get inside peoples hearts, the fact remains that for millions of Americans, the 2020 presidential election was stolen. And it was stolen because they know in the very marrow of their bones that Biden and Democrats always steal elections. As Heather Cox Richardson pointed out this week, in Otero County, New Mexico, County Commissioner, Couy Griffinrecently sentenced to 14 days in jail for participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitolrefused a state Supreme Court order to certify his states June 7 primary results. Reached by phone Griffin told reporters: My vote to remain a no isnt based on any evidence, its not based on any facts, its only based on my gut feeling and my own intuition, and thats all I need.

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Hearts that know what they want to know will remain impervious to the facts. Until this week, it appeared to me that the committee was simply trying to lay out the planto sketch out the scope of the crimes committedby Trump and his confederates. These orchestrators of the Big Lie knew that the election had been lost, attempted to pressure Vice President Mike Pence into overturning the results on January 6, pressured state election officials in high office to help them, and abused local elections workers to the point of obscene cruelty in order to claim victory in an unwinnable contest. The hearings are unfolding like a CSI episode: Here is the crime, heres how we solved it.

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But halfway through Tuesdays hearing, it occurred to me that the real story being told here isnt just a succession of failed Boris and Natasha-grade schemes to steal an election, but something far larger. Yes, this is surely the story of how future elections will be compromised when elections officials at every level flee from office and are replaced by partisans. And yes, this is also the story of Republicans who say they hate what Trump did but also really love Trump. And it is surely the blueprint for setting aside the 2024 election results if Republicans do not prevail. But the real map being drawn by the committee leads to the crime of stochastic terrorism; the willingness of leaders to liberate and incite vigilantes to harass, threaten, and abuse anyone they please, because anything is true so long as they know it in their heart.

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Stochastic terrorism is, according to Juliette Kayyem, the incitement of random but utterly predictable acts of violence for political gain. As Kayyem explained it to me after the Capitol insurrection:

Its when a leader uses his platform to motivate and incite violence in a way in which the violence is much more likely to occur, but who does it and where its done is utterly random. So, after a Trump speech, is it more likely someone might do something? Yes. Or a Trump tweet. And hes able to do this or was able to do this by plausible deniability, that the incitement was sufficiently vague.

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The lessons of every one of the Jan. 6 Committee hearings to date have not been that Trump and a handful of vicious and ends-driven allies cobbled together a bunch of stupid plots to steal a presidential election. These plots were the motive, but not the real crime. The real crime, as the committee has been at pains to show us at every single opportunity, has been their willingness to abuse Twitter, Fox News, public speeches, and every other means of mass communication at their disposal to greenlight the urges of random citizens who feel inclined to riot, to break and enter, to terrorize, harass, to assault police officers, and worse. Retaining power may have been a goal, but the real endgame is the terror.

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There is no other way to process these shattering hearings than as a protracted, lawless, call and response between President Trump and his followers. Take Ruby Freeman, Lady Ruby, whose harrowing taped testimony described what she experienced after Rudy Giuliani named her as involved in a wholly made-up conspiracy to steal the election.

Giulianis call: Trumps attorney told conservative media that Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, were surreptitiously passing around USB ports as if they are vials of heroin or cocaine, as part of a plot to upload illegal votes for Joe Biden.

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The mobs response: As summarized here by Noah Y Kim:

Freemans home address was posted on social media platforms, and Trump supporters publicly called for her execution. Strangers camped outside Freemans home and ordered pizza for delivery to lure her outside. Photos of Moss car and license plate were posted online One particularly graphic comment underneath a Gateway Pundit article called for the two Black women to be strung up from the nearest lamppost and set on fire.

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Freeman was ultimately advised by the FBI to leave her home. For two months. They could not otherwise guarantee her safety.

Donald Trumps call: Unsubstantiated claims of stolen elections in 2020 in states such as Michigan.

The mobs response: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson had her home surrounded by armed protesters in the weeks following Election Day 2020. They arrived at night, and called her a threat to democracy. Per her taped testimony: My stomach sank, and I thought, Its me. Are they coming with guns? Are they going to attack my house? Im in here with my kid, you know. Im trying to put him to bed.

White nationalist Nicholas Fuentess call: What can you and I do to a state legislator? Besides kill him. Although we should not do that. Im not advising that, but I mean what else can you do, right?

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The mobs esponse: Soaring credible threats to the lives of state legislators, particularly towards those who dont back sham partisan election audits.

Trumps call: Proud Boys, stand back and stand by

The Proud Boys Response: The group was allegedly part of a seditious conspiracy leading the front line to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6.

As Heather Digby Parton observed after Tuesdays hearing, this phenomenon has affected public officials at every level nationwide: We saw state houses taken over by armed militia protesting mask mandates. Public health officials were threatened at their homes. School board members were plagued with taunts of we know how to find you at public meetings. Many of these protesters are armed. (On Thursday the Supreme Court voted to massively expand gun rights, which means that the armed protesters in future will be ever more armed.)

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We should not mistake the Jan. 6 hearings as merely a compelling crime show about a slapdash effort by Trump, Mark Meadows, Ginni Thomas, Jeff Clark, John Eastman, and Rudy Giuliani to stand in the way of the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election. It is that, yes, but it is also an almost unbearable telethon about what happens when public figures call on private citizens to trust their own hearts and to act on their own conclusions in ways that include violent threats, doxing, and terror. Legitimating, celebrating, and encouraging those impulses is the objective here. Steve Bannon has been clear about that from the jump.

The stolen election isnt the crime scene. The vigilantism and the winking encouragement from the highest quarters of the GOP of future violence is the crime scene. Thats the story the Jan. 6 Committee is trying to tell us. The rest of it is just history.
It started with a plan to curb deaths from tobacco. In 2017, under then-Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, the Food and Drug Administration announced an ambitious comprehensive plan to address smoking and nicotine addiction.

At the heart of the plan were two key strategies. One was to render cigarettes less appealing by mandating that they contain extremely low levels of nicotine. This would make them less addictive for both new and existing smokers. The second was to ensure that smokers have a viable off-ramp to other, safer sources of nicotine, such as e-cigarettes.

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Both aspects of the plan were essential. If nicotine was reduced in cigarettes without the widespread availability of safer alternatives, smokers might instead switch to other forms of combustible tobacco or seek cigarettes that are sold illicitly. To be successful all of these steps must be done in concert and not in isolation, Gottlieb said at the time.

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Now, it appears we are poised to find out what happens when only half of the plan is implemented. The FDA recently announced a forthcoming ban on menthol in cigarettes; the agency is also finalizing rules to reduce nicotine in cigarettes to trace amounts. Theoretically, both moves would encourage smokers to quit or switch to vaping, thereby greatly reducing their exposure to harmful constituents in tobacco smoke. Yet the FDA is also ordering the most popular brand of e-cigarettes, Juul, off of the market.

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Combined with a broad failure to authorize other brands of e-cigarettesthe agency has authorized only a handful, and none in flavors other than tobaccothese decisions reveal an agency that is eager to simply ever further restrict tobacco and nicotine products, rather than allow smokers and vapers to choose from the vast array of safer and enjoyable options that arose before the FDAs regulations came into force. Its certainly debatable whether the government should restrict the choices of adult nicotine consumers to this degree. But more than that, the breakdown in the comprehensive plan is likely to have unintended consequences both for public health and criminal justice.

Lets look at the health aspect first. More than 480,000 Americans die every year from smoking. Persuading smokers to quit or switch to safer sources of nicotine would be a tremendous victory for public health; population surveys suggest that adoption of e-cigarettes has increased quit rates, and expert models predict substantial reductions in mortality if smokers switch. In recent years, advocates of harm reduction have been guided by the principle tobacco researcher Michael Russell laid out way back in 1976: People smoke for the nicotine but they die from the tar.

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Early attempts to develop safer cigarettes were colossal marketing failures, but the innovation of e-cigarettes finally offered a workable solution. The health impact of vaping is still a contentious area of study, but e-cigarettes are widely considered to be far safer than smoking. The FDA itself has acknowledged that nicotine products fall on a continuum of risk, with combustible cigarettes being the most lethal kind. And while e-cigarettes might not be without risks, they outperform cessation products like nicotine gums or patches in randomized control trials. In other words, its not just about the nicotine: Its easier to quit smoking with a device that has at least some of the feel of a cigarette.

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Yet, as with other drugs, the fight for harm reduction in tobacco is an uphill battle. Many experts and activists in tobacco control prefer an abstinence-only approach to nicotine, aiming to eliminate its use entirely rather than to ameliorate the harms of smoking. Others worry about the appeal of vaping to young people. And lastly, the public perception of vaping suffered immensely due to an outbreak of lung disease in 2019. That turned out to be caused by additives in cannabis products, but the damage to the perception of all vaping products has persisted. Researchers at the American Cancer Society recently found that the percentage of adults who erroneously believe nicotine e-cigarettes are more harmful than smoking quadrupled from 201820. All of these factors likely contributed to the FDAs decision to order all of Juuls products off the market.

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Allowing Juul to keep selling its products would have been politically fraught for the FDA for other reasons. Juuls ease of use, appealing flavors, and often-dubious marketing made the brand synonymous with youth vaping. It makes sense to be concerned that a company that bought ad space on the websites of Cartoon network and Seventeen magazine is introducing nicotine addiction to kids who were never smokers in the first place. The company also sold a significant stake to Altria, the largest tobacco company in the United States and the maker of Marlboro cigarettes. All of this made Juul a particular target for politicians and activist groups. It is hard to imagine the furor that would rain down on the FDA if they approved the marketing of Juul e-cigarettes, both from the public and from legislators, says tobacco expert and prominent harm reduction advocate Kenneth Warner, of the University of Michigan.

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But its not obvious that these factors justify removing Juul from the market. The company reformed its business practices, turning away from youthful imagery and social media, and removing all but its mint, menthol, and tobacco flavors from in-person retail channels. (The FDA later completely restricted nicotine cartridges not flavored with menthol or tobacco.) Youth vaping rates have declined substantially from their peak, and teens who do vape have largely switched to less-regulated Puff Bars. Most importantly, youth smoking rates have dramatically fallen to historic lows during the vaping era, contradicting fears that vaping would act as a gateway to more dangerous behavior.

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Officially, the FDA contends that Juul failed to provide sufficient evidence for the toxicological safety of its vape pods. Its arguable, however, that the FDA is undermining the aims of public health to punish the company for past misdeeds and avoid political controversy. It looks like the FDA searched for a pretext for denying Juuls products and this is the best they could come up with, says Clive Bates, a former director of Action on Smoking and Health in the United Kingdom who now advocates for tobacco harm reduction.

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The case of Juul captures the larger tension with harm reduction. The widespread appeal of its products makes Juul a target. Yet the fact that its products are so appealing is key to its potential to wean smokers from smoking and prevent premature deaths. Its not entirely a bad thing that Juuling was seen as cool, especially when compared with smoking cigarettes. Other e-cigarette brands dont get their names turned into verbs. By forbidding Americans from purchasing Juul products, the FDA makes it more likely that many vapers might revert to a far more dangerous habit.

The most optimistic outcome of all the new nicotine regulation is that smokers transition to legal e-cigarettes or even make the choice to quit nicotine entirely. But they will have another option: turning to black markets. The FDA is unwittingly setting up the conditions for illicit markets where menthol cigarettes, cigarettes with nicotine, and flavored e-cigarettes could thrive. We are already seeing this in states that have banned these products, such as Massachusetts. A recent report from the states Multi-Agency Illegal Tobacco Task Force takes note of multiple busts for flavored vapes and tobacco products. One accused seller faces five years in prison. In another instance, police staked out a Latin American clothing store to spot a customer leaving the shop with menthols; the owner was arrested. Extensive illicit markets for tobacco becomes a criminal justice issue.

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Of course, it will take time for these regulations to take effect. Its possible that the FDA will eventually authorize a more extensive array of products in Juuls place. But barring a significant change in direction, the unintended consequences of banning Juul are look grim. Advocates of the FDAs restrictions bristle at the term prohibition due to both its association with a past failed experiment and the fact that at least some nicotine products will remain on the market, but its an apt description of where American tobacco policy is headed. The FDAs shambolic approach to banning combustible tobacco products while refusing to authorize safer alternatives is leading ineluctably to a future in which the potential for harm reduction is undermined, tobacco products and e-cigarettes are sold on illicit markets, and Americans are imprisoned for selling contraband cigarettes and vapes. Would it not be easier to allow consenting adults to take a puff from a Juul?
This article is part of a series form Future Tense and New Americas Future of Land and Housing Program on reimagining how America will adapt to climate change and sea level rise.

On May 11, Rep. Betty McCollum, a Democrat from Minnesota, set off a minor congressional temblor at the very end of a hearing about the defense budget. But the matter at hand was not Ukraine, China, extremism in the military or anything else that you might immediately identify as a live-wire issue. It was just BRAC, or Base Realignment and Closurethe process by which the U.S. Department of Defense decides which military bases live or die. McCollum, the powerful Defense Appropriations Subcommittee chair, suggested it was time to revive the dormant military procedure to save billions of dollars for taxpayers and fund higher military priorities, such as more ships. Her Republican counterpart, Ken Calvert, allegedly agrees.

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Usually, BRAC is a matter of shedding excess property or unused land, and as McCollum pointed out, the Pentagon has identified around 20 percent of its holdings as excess. But in a hearing back in 2019, other Members of Congress floated a different metric for deciding which bases to close: vulnerability to natural disasters. If climate change were to become a BRAC criterion, that could mean consequences for communitiesfor which bases are often an important source of jobs and economic activityand also for the way military forces train and deploy.

The Department of Defense occupies more than 500,000 structures, spread across nearly 28 million acres worldwide, with military facilities in every American state. DoD is, for example, the single largest employer in the three most populous statesCalifornia, Texas, and Floridaas well as Alaska, the largest.

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DoD started consolidating that footprint at the end of the Cold War through the BRAC process, shutting down or significantly rearranging some 200 military installations since 1988. Closed bases go on to a variety of futures. Williams Air Force Base in Mesa, Arizona, for example, was closed in 1991 and is today part Superfund site, part commercial airport, and part college campus. (Several schools have facilities there, including Arizona State University; ASU is a partner with Slate and New America in Future Tense.) San Franciscos Presidio is a national park.

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And then theres Homestead Air Reserve Base in Homestead, Florida, which closed as an active base after Hurricane Andrew devastated the area in August 1992. Today, its a sleepy training facility, ringed by shuttered businesses. Hurricane Andrew was the most expensive hurricane in U.S. history until 2005, when Katrina came along and inflicted more than $9 billion in damage to military facilities and equipment. That was also the last year Congress authorized Base Realignment and Closure. In the years since, however, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps bases have sustained billions more in damage from severe weather, including North Carolinas Camp Lejeune, Floridas Tyndall Air Force Base, and Nebraskas Offutt Air Force Base. Winter Storm Uri in 2021 affected bases across Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Louisiana, many of which also suffered damage from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. Wildfires and drought have dogged defense facilities across California, and melting permafrost is racking up significant bills in Alaska.

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The cluster of military facilities in Hampton Roads, Virginia, including the worlds largest naval facility, are a special case. Because the land there is sinking as the sea is rising, the area already struggles with flooding, even when its not raining. The Navy recently announced a $200 million project to address the problem by raising the piers, which seems a bit like moving your sandcastle a foot up the beach when the tide starts coming in. This may be a necessary fix, along with other measures such as artificial oyster beds, but its temporary.

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But how long will the Department of Defenseand the American taxpayerkeep paying the repair bills in these places?

That question may be bigger than BRAC, which is actually a singularly unpopular bureaucratic maneuver. McCollum notwithstanding, most members of Congress would probably rather poke their eyes out with a fork than allow another round of base closures in their districts. And yet the storms, droughts, and heat will just keep on coming. Perhaps its time for the Pentagon to admit that BRAC isnt going to happen and look for other, aggressive ways to streamline the property footprint and increase resilience to severe weather. On a bipartisan basis, Congress has steadily shown a willingness to consider such resilience improvements, and the Biden administration just asked for $3 billion for climate initiatives in 2023. Even that wont be enough, however, for places like Norfolk, which may require more radical land use management, realignment of some key missions, and doubling down on shared community resilience measures. More generally, the Pentagon should ruthlessly integrate disaster risk reduction into how it spends all military construction, operations, maintenance, and related dollars.

This is one time when sounding the retreat may be the only way to win the battle.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Beachfront holiday rentals in Spain are almost 10 per cent more expensive than last year



Hotel bookings in Spain have now quadrupled and prices have risen by 22.1%

The Spanish tourism sector is angling to recover most, if not all, of its pre-pandemic business and things certainly appear to be moving in the right direction, as the price of renting a beachfront holiday home this summer has risen by 9.7% to an average of 1,016 euros. Thats 90 euros more expensive than last year and a staggering 190 euros more than in 2020.

According to the Coastal Rental report by Tecnitasa, these prices have been inching up in recent years, and for many families wishing to holiday in Spain, it means finding smaller properties or moving further inland.

The report shows that Catalonia is the region where rental prices will see the biggest hikes this July and August compared to last year, with an increase of up to 15.2% for beachside properties. At the other end of the scale, Cantabria has experienced a decrease of 0.8%. Likewise, demand for coastal rentals in the Region of Murcia has dropped by half a percentage, possibly as a result of the continuous pollution of the Mar Menor

Tourists hoping to save a buck by opting instead for a hotel this summer will also be disappointed, as prices for overnight stays across Spain have jumped up by 22.1%.

In May alone, the number of hotel bookings exceeded 29.8 million, quadrupling the figures from 2021.

Despite this strong rebound, the overnight stays registered in last month in Spanish hotels are still lower than the figures of May last year, when 31.9 million rooms were booked. Of the total so far this year, foreign tourists accounted for 19.8 million bookings, with the Balearic Islands again topping the list of the most desired destination, followed by the Canary Islands and Catalonia.

Image: Pixabay
The Esplora Interactive Science Centre in Malta was bustling with activities on Wednesday as students from primary schools got a break from the classroom to attend the 4th edition of the Chinese kite festival.



The festival is organized to encourage schoolchildren to celebrate diversity, unity and different cultures through the building of kites.

Wednesday's event was attended by about 100 primary students from seven schools. It culminated in a colorful lion dance performance. There is also a kite exhibition that will remain open until Friday and kite flying outdoors.

The event is organized jointly by the China Cultural Center in Malta, the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, the Ministry of Education and Esplora.

Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, president emeritus and chair of the foundation, said the event is dedicated to the history of kite making, which originated from China, and uses kites to build peace and educate people about China's rich cultural heritage.

China and Malta have always had a very close relationship, she said.

"Using the kite as a catalyst, it gives us the opportunity to tell young people a bit more about China, to help them understand and get interested in the people of China. This is a way of developing friendship, understanding and respect for each other."

"Together we can build peace, because it is peace that can ensure our success and prosperity in the future," she noted.

Emile Vassallo, director general of the Department for Educational Services of the Ministry of Education, said the kite festival was only an introduction to Chinese culture.

"I would like you to do more research about what you've learned today about China, about kite flying and about the need to never stop learning," he told his audience.

Vassallo told Xinhua that the festival explored the scientific and artistic aspects of China's kite culture. He said he expected to see more events and activities of this kind, from which Maltese students could learn more about Chinese culture.

"We look forward to more events and stronger cooperation between our schools and the China Cultural Center," he said.

"The Chinese language is beautiful," he said, "We are trying to promote the Chinese language. Thanks to the Confucius Institute at the University of Malta, we have been assisted with finding teachers who could teach Chinese to our students."

Sueellen Grech, a teacher from the Senglea primary school, told Xinhua that the event helped the children learn more about the science behind flying a kite.

The first Chinese kite festival was held in 2018 in the Verdala Palace in Buskett, the summer residence of the president of Malta. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival was canceled in 2020. Last year, the third edition of the festival was held online.
Spain says its cholera case is not cholera but gastroenteritis caused by cholera bacterium



Health authorities have declared that the suspected case of cholera in Toledo is actually considered to be gastroenteritis due to non-toxic Vibrio

The Spanish Ministry of Health has specified that the case of cholera detected last week is not actually being considered as a case of cholera because the pathogenic agent in this case is non-toxigenic Vibrio Cholerae and is therefore not considered a case of cholera, but of Vibrio gastroenteritis.

The same sources have explained that after the case was detected, the Carlos III Epidemiology Health Institute was contacted to carry out a microbiological study which eventually ruled out a diagnosis of cholera due to the absence in the bacteria of the toxin that causes the disease.

Cholera is a diarrhoeal disease contracted by consuming water or food contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, and a case was detected in Toledo last week. The case apparently involved a minor who became infected by drinking stagnant water on a farm, although there was no further information on whether there were more people affected or the exact source of the contamination.

The young woman was taken to hospital but has now been discharged.

Where cholera lives and how to avoid it

It is presumed that in this case the patient became infected by drinking water from a well, but cholera doesnt only live in stagnant water. The bacterium that causes cholera is an environmental bacterium that can be found in unregulated streams, rivers and lakes, according to Raul Rivas, professor of Microbiology at the University of Salamanca (USAL).

It is therefore important to warn the population, who seem to have forgotten these things, that it is not a good idea to drink from places where the water is not controlled, said Professor Rivas. People go to the countryside and say lets drink water from this stream, which is very clear. But you dont know what it might contain in terms of microorganisms, parasites... To drink from a pipe lost in the middle of the mountain because everyone drinks water here, well, no, you have to be careful. And cook food well, seafood and crabs, many people catch them and they live in very specific areas that are sometimes not very healthy, so you have to cook them well to remove all the micro-organisms. And chlorinate vegetables collected in the wild..

Rivas points out that this case of cholera is different from what we have seen in recent months with Covid and monkeypox, which are viruses.

Viruses need other cells to reproduce, to maintain their active cycle, but bacteria do not need to infect other organisms in order to reproduce, so bacteria can be found in the soil, in plants, in water, etc.

Person-to-person transmission of cholera is rare, especially if basic hygienic measures are taken, such as washing hands after using the toilet.

A history of cholera epidemics

cholera patients. The severity of the condition is that this dehydration can occur within hours. Cholera infection is generally benign and gives few symptoms, but it can sometimes be more serious. It is estimated that one in 20 infected persons may present symptoms, the most common of which are severe diarrhoea and vomiting. Fluid loss can lead to dehydration, which is the main cause of death incholera patients. The severity of the condition is that this dehydration can occur within hours.

Cholera has caused several epidemics in India, Europe and America, mostly in the 19th century, but there was an outbreak in several South American countries in the 1990s that spread rapidly. The disease has been rare in western countries in recent years,a nd has not been seen in Spain since 1979.

According to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), several countries in Africa and Asia have reported cholera outbreaks in 2021 and 2022. Major ongoing outbreaks are being reported in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria.

Since the last update on 29 April 2022, approximately 7,177 suspected cholera cases, including 102 deaths, have been reported worldwide. Countries reporting new cases since the previous update include Afghanistan, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Nigeria, South Sudan, Pakistan, Tanzania and Zambia.

Image 1: Wikimedia commons

Image 2: lookandlearn.com
Imagine a world where you can move beyond the constraints of screens or the limits of physics by teleporting yourself as a hologram, or a 3D virtual figure, to be with your friends wherever they may be.



You can hug them, and make real eye contact to show your love, just as you would do in real life.

That is part of what the tech buzzword metaverse promises. You are likely to experience it sooner than expected, as global tech giants and pioneers are rushing to develop industry standards for the virtual space.

Chinese tech heavyweights Huawei and Alibaba are among the first group of companiesalong with Meta, which used to be known as Facebook, and Microsoft from the United Statesto form a standards group that aims to accelerate the development of the metaverse.

Participants in the Metaverse Standards Forum include many of the biggest companies working in the sector, from chipmakers to gaming companies, as well as established standard-setting bodies like the World Wide Web Consortium, the group said in a news release on Tuesday where it announced its creation.

"Industry leaders have stated that the potential of the metaverse will be best realized if it is built on a foundation of open standards," the group said. "Building an open and inclusive metaverse at pervasive scale will demand a constellation of open interoperability standards."

The move signified that companies are racing to build the concept of a metaverse and want to make their nascent digital worlds compatible with each other, said Yu Jianing, executive director of the metaverse industry committee at the China Mobile Communications Association, a Beijing-based industry body.

That could make it easier for developers to build the same content for different metaverse platforms or for users to export data from one service to another, which will help build a thriving ecosystem in the future, Yu said.

Pan Helin, co-director of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center at Zhejiang University's International Business School, said having Huawei and Alibaba as the standards group's founding members showcases the influence of Chinese companies in the emerging field of the metaverse.

Seven of China's big technology companies, including Huawei, Tencent, Baidu, Oppo and Alibaba, are among the top companies that filed the most virtual reality and augmented reality patent applications globally in the last two years, data from Singapore-based research and development analytics provider PatSnap showed.

Virtual reality and augmented reality are key technologies to be used in the metaverse.

Hu Houkun, Huawei's rotating chairman, said earlier that the company is trying to grasp the essence behind the hustle and bustle of the metaverse to better prepare for the future.

The metaverse is likely to be more important to businesses, or enterprise-oriented applications, than to ordinary consumers, Hu said. "We need to calmly look at its development. Huawei's technology portfolio is broad, and we can do a lot of things in this field in the future."
With the Virginia budget finally done and the General Assembly out of Richmond for the summer, Gov. Glenn Youngkin picked an apt moment for a seasonal trip of his own to talk to fellow Republicans on the Great Plains.

Youngkin will deliver the keynote speech to the Nebraska Republican Party Convention, meeting July 8-9 in Kearney, Neb., a foray with potential political reverberations because of its proximity to adjacent Iowa, where the quadrennial political caucuses will help begin the next presidential election season in 2024.

It will be Youngkins first political trip outside of Virginia since his inauguration in January. He will share the stage with Gov. Pete Ricketts, who already knows him well as co-chairman of the Republican Governors Association, and Nebraska Republican gubernatorial nominee Jim Pillen, but the lanky Virginian will have the spotlight.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will deliver the keynote address at the 2022 Nebraska Republican Party State Convention as we celebrate Life and Liberty! the party proclaimed in an announcement on Twitter. The speech is a favor for Ricketts, who invited him, according to Kristin Davison, vice president of Axiom Strategies, the national consulting firm that managed Youngkins gubernatorial campaign and still advises him.

Governor Ricketts was very helpful during the governors campaign and during the transition, Davison said Wednesday. Governor Youngkin is trying to help out Governor Ricketts, and I think as well he will be offering political support to Pillen in his gubernatorial bid.

Youngkins aides arent saying whether the governors trip represents any larger effort to build a national profile, but with his first General Assembly session and budget behind him, veteran political fortuneteller Larry Sabato isnt ruling it out.

Hes ready to stick his toe into the water, said Sabato, president of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, but its his little toe.

The reaction would be different if Youngkin had been invited to speak at a prominent party gathering in Iowa or New Hampshire, he said. Then I think we could genuinely conclude that he was running for president. But the Nebraska Republican Party?

It isnt unusual for Virginia governors to consider running for president or hope to land on a national ticket. Virginia and New Jersey are the only states to elect a governor the year after a presidential election.

That means new Virginia governors gain an outsize amount of national attention between the presidential and midterm congressional elections.

Seven of the nations first 12 presidents were born in Virginia, but a Virginian hasnt been elected president since Woodrow Wilson.

Many have been mentioned as potential candidates for national office, particularly in the modern era, beginning with Linwood Holton, who in 1969 became the first Republican-elected governor in Virginia since Reconstruction. The list is bipartisan and includes Democratic Govs. Chuck Robb, Doug Wilder and Mark Warner and Republican Govs. George Allen and Jim Gilmore.

Wilder briefly sought the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination that went to Bill Clinton. Gilmore, governor from 1998 to 2002, later sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2008 and in 2016.

For a time, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell was mentioned as a potential vice presidential pick for Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., was Hillary Clintons running mate in 2016, when she lost the presidential election to Republican Donald Trump, a century after Wilsons election to a second term.

Youngkin has earned plenty of attention from national Republicans since he upset Terry McAuliffe last November, ending a GOP drought in statewide elections since 2009 despite the long shadow cast by Trump. Youngkin was a featured guest at the Republican Governors Associations annual conference in Arizona a few weeks after his victory.

The governor also has positioned himself to influence elections and public policy in other states.

In March, Youngkins political team formed the Spirit of Virginia political action committee under Section 527 of the federal tax code to raise money for political candidates in Virginia and other states, and Americas Spirit, a social welfare organization under the tax code to advocate for political issues but not campaigns.

But Youngkins speech to Nebraska Republicans next month doesnt move the political needle for Sabato.

I would put a notation on the calendar, but I wouldnt tear the page out of the calendar and stick it on the wall, Sabato said. Its not that significant.
Brothers Dean and Jared Lerwick, co-owners of the Pumpkin Creek Ranch southwest of Morrill, aim to bring a meat processing and packaging facility back to Gering.

Gering was a natural fit for the Lerwick brothers operation, which will be dubbed the Pumpkin Creek Meat Company.

Our family lives in that area, our ranch is in that area. Just talking with the other producers there, in terms of finishing operations and feed lots, its one of the largest areas in terms of animals in the nation, Jared Lerwick, who will be the meat companys director of sales, said.

The facility will be located at 2605 Seventh St. Lerwick said he wanted to have a facility thats going to surprise people with how it looks, adding that it could uplift a blighted area. Because its not a big plant, its not going to be an eyesore, he said.

The meat packing operation would be smaller than previous ones which used the same location. Depending on staffing, it could slaughter process between 400 and 800 animals per month. Lerwick estimated the Packerland facility at the same spot would process 400 in a day.

The company will be staffed by around 10 to 15 employees to start, increasing up to 20 employees by the first year. Lerwick said he and his brother plan to hire local workers to help bolster the local economy.

Theres a lot of money in the Panhandle at least that goes into Wyoming and Colorado in terms of processing there, Lerwick said.

The cattle raised in the region are often taken out of state in order to be processed. Much of the meat is then sold back in the Panhandle.

The supply chain is miles long when the animal is right next to your house, Lerwick said.

He said people would like to own small ranches in the area, but for nearly two decades there hasnt been any places for them to process their animals close by.

Lerwick said only a small portion of the cattle processed at the facility will be from the brothers ranch. Their meat company could help small ranchers market their own brands.

All meat at the new facility will be USDA-inspected. Producers will be able to pay for custom cuts and ranchers will have ownership of the animal all the way until they sell the meat. Lerwick said other producers sell shares of animals which customers can pick up, but these cant be sold for retail.

The issue has been processing, he said. Weve been on a wait list for two years ... theres been such a bottleneck. Were passionate about shortening supply lines.

The Pumpkin Creek Meat Company received unanimous approval from the City of Gering Planning Commission during its June 7 meeting. Lerwick said they received support from citizens at the meeting as well.

The final hurdle to cross will be the approval of the Gering City Council during their next meeting on June 27.

If the council gives the facility its blessing, Lerwick said it could be up and running by this fall.

Weve been working with a contractor, planning this for three years. Weve got everything ready to go, he said. ... I think this is something everybody can get behind.

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GERING  City of Gering officials encourage residents to celebrate the July 4th holiday safely this year. With the increased dry conditions, officials ask residents to be extra cautious with fireworks.

The City of Gering provided the following safety tips when handling fireworks this Independence Day.

Make sure fireworks are cold prior to placing them in a trash receptacle

Always have water readily available when discharging fireworks

Discharge fireworks far away from dry vegetation

Do not hold fireworks while discharging and adhere to the following regulations as outlined by ordinance

Per Ordinance #2047: It shall be unlawful to light, ignite or discharge any fireworks after 10:30 p.m. or before 8:00 a.m., except on July 4. It shall also be unlawful to sell any permissible fireworks at retail within the city except between the dates of June 25 at 12:01 A.M. and July 4 at 11:59 P.M. of each year. It shall be unlawful to light, ignite or discharge any fireworks within this city except during the allowable days of sale as identified. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess or light, ignite or discharge any fireworks on, within or onto any City of Gering recreational facility or park at any time, except where allowed by ordinance.

The City would also like to remind citizens that it is their responsibility to clean up streets and sidewalks after discharging fireworks; everyones cooperation is greatly appreciated. The City also requests that citizens be mindful and respectful of people and animals that may have traumatic reactions to fireworks. Public cooperation and consideration of others is greatly appreciated.

Nebraska Revised Statutes  28-1255. Flying lantern-type devices; prohibited acts; penalty.

(1) Flying lantern-type devices are prohibited from sale, possession, and use in this state.

(2) For purposes of this section, flying lantern-type devices means devices that require a flame which produces heated air trapped in a balloon-type covering allowing the device to float in the air. Flying lantern-type devices shall not include hot-air balloons used for transporting persons.

(3) A violation of this section is a Class V misdemeanor.
Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon will leave Nebraska on Friday for an extended trip into and across battle-torn Ukraine, where he will assess conditions and humanitarian needs.

The trip replaces an earlier plan to travel to Poland, where he had intended to stay and assist in logistical and humanitarian activities for refugees who fled after the Russian military invaded Ukraine and initiated relentless bombardment of its cities, turning many of them into rubble.

Brewer will fly to Krakow, Poland, where he will meet with Noah Philson, a young Nebraskan who is already there providing humanitarian assistance, and they will travel to Lviv in western Ukraine.

Then, it's on to the capital of Kyiv with a driver and interpreter who will take Brewer through the country, with the final destination of Odessa, a deep-water port on the Black Sea.

That journey would transport them into war-torn country in the Donbas, where Russian forces have virtually destroyed the port city of Mariupol.

Brewer's mission is to assess humanitarian needs and "figure out a way to break up the logjam" of equipment and resources that is currently "stacked along runways in Poland."

"Ukrainians are busy fighting the war," he said, "and can't bring it in."

Brewer said "it's hard to judge how the war is going a world away," and this will help him assess challenges and needs.

A retired U.S. Army colonel, Brewer is familiar with war zones; he was severely wounded in combat with the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2003 and wounded again in 2011 on his sixth combat tour.

While he is in Kyiv, he said, he hopes to talk with Ukrainian soldiers about "what they're experiencing and what works and what doesn't work."

After recently talking with military officials at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Brewer said he was cautioned to make sure "not to message in real time" while he is there, delaying any reports he may make a week or so when his location will have changed.

"The Russians are monitoring messaging constantly," he said.

His approach in Ukraine will be to "see and learn," Brewer said, while gathering information.

"The Ukrainians have shown us they really do want to remain free," he said. "They have fought like tigers."

Brewer said his intent is to stay several months, but he would return to Lincoln for a special session of the Legislature if Gov. Pete Ricketts decides to call one in the wake of an anticipated U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning its previous abortion rights ruling in Roe v. Wade.

But if he's called back to Lincoln in a month or so, he'll "probably go back" to Ukraine.

His decision to go into Ukraine in the midst of war was prompted by a strong sense of duty and urgency, Brewer said.

In the end, he said, he simply decided that "you gotta go do it."

Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSdon

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Microsoft Corp is ratcheting up its efforts to tap into the burgeoning Chinese cloud computing market as the United States-based technology firm is scheduled to unveil new hybrid cloud capabilities in China in the second half.

In cloud computing, public cloud is delivered via the internet and shared across organizations. Private cloud is cloud computing that is dedicated solely to one organization. Hybrid cloud is a solution that uses both public and private clouds.

Microsoft's new hybrid cloud move comes after the company brought a new data center region online in China in March, which means its cloud computing capacity in the nation has been boosted twelvefold since 2014 amid rapid growth.

Li Ming, Azure China strategy lead and director of product marketing at Microsoft, said the company is dedicated to using its digital technologies to help both multinationals come to China and Chinese companies to go global, driving their digital transformation strategies.

Microsoft said its new hybrid cloud capabilities are based in part on existing Azure cloud services such as Azure Arcan important component of Microsoft's hybrid cloud strategy. Introduced in 2019, the service enables administrators to manage on-premises servers through the same interface that they use to orchestrate infrastructure resources in Microsoft's public cloud. For administrators, performing infrastructure maintenance tasks in a single, centralized interface can be more efficient than the traditional approach of using multiple tools.

Chris Tao, Azure business group leader at Microsoft China, said the hybrid cloud market in China has maintained a vigorous and rapid development trajectory.

Tao said the popularity of private cloud and hybrid cloud has always been an important feature in the Chinese market, which is quite different from other markets.

Most other regions around the world are dominated by public cloud and only supplemented by private cloud, but the consensus Microsoft has seen in the Chinese market is that, the government, enterprise industries, corporate customers and foreign companies are all very interested in the hybrid cloud strategy, Tao said.

To better meet local demand, Microsoft is bringing more hybrid cloud technologies to China. This is part of the US tech heavyweight's broader, long-term commitment to the Chinese market. Having been here for 30 years, Microsoft aims to better ride the next wave of the nation's digital development.

Joe Bao, president of Microsoft China, said in an interview with China Daily earlier this year that the new data center Microsoft launched in March in North China is the biggest one it has in the China market so far.

Currently, about 40 percent of Microsoft's China cloud computing business comes from helping multinationals set up such operations in the nation, 40 percent from helping Chinese companies go global, and about 20 percent from delivering specific industry expertise within China, Bao said.

He said Microsoft now has hundreds of thousands of developers, partners and customers on its cloud in the China market, and its local cloud business has been outpacing the average industry performance and its internal targets.

"We are seeing on average over 50 percent year-on-year growth in areas like helping multinationals land in China," Bao added.

Amid the accelerated digital transformation in the world's second-largest economy, Microsoft is prioritizing local solutions for automotive, healthcare, retail, manufacturing and low-carbon development, the senior executive said.

Market research firm Canalys said Microsoft held a 21 percent market share in global cloud infrastructure services spending in the first quarter, making it the second-largest cloud services provider after Amazon Web Services.

"Cloud has continued to be a hot market, and transformation strategies are emphasizing digital resiliency to face the market challenges of today and tomorrow," said Blake Murray, research analyst at Canalys. "To be effective in resiliency planning, customers are turning to channel partners with the technical and consulting skills to help them effectively embrace hyper-scale cloud services."

In the first quarter, China continued to be the leading growth market for cloud infrastructure services expenditure. Such spending on the Chinese mainland hit $7.3 billion in the first three months, up 21 percent from a year ago and accounting for 13 percent of the global total, Canalys said.

Charlie Dai, principal analyst at Forrester, a business consultancy, said as the first global vendor to commercialize its public cloud operations in China, Microsoft Azure has gained the trust of enterprises and sustained local business expansion through progressive localization of its services, ecosystem synergy between enterprise collaboration tools, digital operation platforms and Azure solutions.

The strategic local partnerships Microsoft Azure has built with its leading position in the global public cloud market also help drive its rapid growth in China, Dai added.

But challenges also exist, including fierce competition from players such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Tencent Holdings Ltd and Huawei Technologies Co.

"Healthy competition makes us all better. Microsoft's unique advantage lies in our global footprint, including more than 200 physical data centers across 34 markets, technology innovation, as well as our commitments to security and compliance," Bao added.
Putting on the Iredell County Agricultural Fair is a lot of hard work by members of the Statesville Kiwanis Club.

Their hard work was rewarded Tuesday night when they handed out a total of $10,000 to 10 students to help with their college expenses.

We have a lot of fun doing this, said Joe Stephens, who heads up the college scholarship fund for the club.

The $10,000 is part of the proceeds from the Iredell County Agricultural Fair in 2021. Other proceeds are distributed to local nonprofit organizations.

Chris Munson, president of the club, said presenting these checks is a honor for the club, which sponsors the fair each year. Club members, along with other volunteers, work the gates and perform other duties during the nine days of the fair.

We are very proud of you, Munson said to the recipients Tuesday. You should be proud of your accomplishments.

Stephens said there were close to 50 applications this year.

Its not based on where you go. Its not totally based on your grades. Its not totally based on your community service, he said But being a civic club, community service plays a large part.

The students who received the scholarships are:

Brylee Grace Gibson, West Iredell, High Point University.

Blan Hamilton Morrison, CCTL, North Carolina State University.

Karli Wilson Townsell, CCTL, East Tennessee State University.

Allison Joy Eudy, CCTL, Catawba College.

Josie Anne Chenevey, North Iredell, Montreat College.

Skylin Grace Guill, North Iredell, University of North Carolina.

Molly Brooke Smyth, South Iredell, UNC.

Kirsten Rae Gusler, South Iredell, UNC.

Hannah Marie Van Buren, South Iredell, North Carolina State.

Hannah Elizabeth Loftin, home schooled, Mount Olive University.

Four of the students were not able to attend the meeting Tuesday, and their checks will be presented at a future meeting of the Kiwanis Club.
VANCOUVER  Consumers and exporters both saw financial turmoil from tumultuous international shipping antics in the past year. But the Port of Vancouver was not impacted like other regional harbors were.

Now, for the latter ports, there is legislation that can ease these ramifications and prevent future challenges from emerging.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.  co-chair of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee  co-sponsored the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, signed into law June 16, which addresses rising freight costs and congestion.

Right now, the supply chain isnt working. Our ports have been clogged, shipping companies have struggled to keep up with demand, and the costs of American exporters  who are trying to get hay, milk and apples to the global market  have gone through the roof, Cantwell said in March on the Senate floor after the bill was approved.

The legislators who introduced the bill  Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and John Thune, R-S.D.  said it will mitigate supply chain backlogs while addressing international ocean shipping costs.

The Columbia River is a rich vein for regional commerce, as its lined with multiple ports that export products for global trade. Its a prominent gateway for grain exports and moves millions of tons of cargo every year, according to U.S. Wheat Associates. The Washington State Department of Agriculture reported that the states grown and processed exports totaled $7.7 billion in 2021, making Washington a trade-dependent state.

Not all Washington ports were impacted by the legislation, though. The Port of Vancouver is a bulk port that ships products that dont fit into normal containers, said Therese Lang, Port of Vancouver director of communication. Harbors that ship containers  such as those in Seattle, Tacoma or Portland  benefit more from the new regulations because they experienced considerable backlogs and storage issues.

The Port of Vancouver USA does not anticipate any changes in operations due to the new Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, Lang said. We feel our current practices will meet or exceed the new regulations developed by the Federal Marine Commission, and we will adapt to any unforeseen regulations appropriately.

Specifically, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act provides the Federal Maritime Commission, a federal agency overseeing ocean transportation, tools to improve its management of international ocean carriers.

Under the new law, ocean carriers must certify that late fees comply with federal regulations, shifting the burden of proof from the complainant to the carrier. Shippers are now prohibited from unjustifiably rejecting American exports, and they must report how many empty containers are transported into the U.S.

The legislation gave the federal agency greater authority over shipping exchanges and enabled it to conduct investigations of a carriers business practices and apply enforcement measures when necessary.

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One Kelso man is dead and another arrested after a two-vehicle accident Tuesday evening on the corner of North Pacific Avenue and Barnes Street in Kelso.

Kelso police report Charles Eli Stapleton, 33, was arrested Tuesday for suspicion of felony vehicular homicide after he fatally struck Roy Edward Bugg, 36, of Kelso, around 6:50 p.m. in the intersection.

Witnesses say Stapleton was speeding and law enforcement say he smelled of alcohol. He blew 0.231, which is 0.151 over the legal blood alcohol content limit to drive, police report.

A police report states three witnesses saw Stapletons pickup truck speeding through the intersection before the crash at estimated rates of 60 to 90 mph in a posted 35 mph zone. Stapletons pickup hit the drivers side of the victims vehicle and emergency crews reported Bugg died from injuries suffered in the crash, the report states.

A Kelso officer and a Washington state trooper reported Stapleton smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot, watery eyes, according to the report. Stapleton admitted to having two beers around noon, the report states.

Stapleton is being held without bail in Cowlitz County Jail pending a Friday hearing to determine if bail will be set or if he will be held without bail until the case is resolved. Stapletons arraignment is scheduled for June 30 in Cowlitz County Superior Court.

The Daily News, Longview, Wash.

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Fundraiser benefits club

A fundraiser to benefit the Rainier Junior/Senior High School History Club takes place June 24.

People are encouraged to place an order online for Panda Express for pickup or delivery on June 24. Visit bit.ly/3QBBJ1U for details on how to order.

A portion of the food sales (28%) for the day will go to the club. People who order online should enter 906204 in the promo code box during the online checkout procedure.

For details, call the chapter at 503-556-4215 or send an email to andrew_demko@rsd.k12.or.us.

Event benefits local nonprofits

Longview Beer & Justice, an event presented by the Campaign for Equal Justice to benefit the Cowlitz Wahkiakum Legal Aid, the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project and Columbia Legal Services, takes place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. June 24 at the Broadway Barrell Room, 133 Broadway, Longview.

The event is free, but attendees can donate at the event or online at https://legalfoundation.org/givenow/.

Washington Supreme Court Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud is the guest speaker. She was elected to the state Supreme Court in 2012 after a career of helping clients fight for their Constitutional and individual rights, according to a press release submitted to The Daily News.

She also serves as the chairperson of the Washington State Supreme Court Gender and Justice Commission. She is a member of the Supreme Courts Rules Committee and is a liaison to the Supreme Courts Pattern Instructions Committee, which she previously was on as a lawyer-member. She regularly is a guest speaker at legal and community events around the state.

The Campaign for Equal Justice is the annual fundraising program for the Legal Foundation of Washington. Money is raised through people, law firms and local companies to fund civil legal aid for families experiencing poverty, notes the release. Last LFW gave grants to 40 nonprofit legal aid programs that helped more than 20,000 families resolve civil legal issues related to eviction, domestic violence, immigration, employment, veterans benefits and more, notes the release.

For details about the event, send an email to Natalia Fior at natalia@legalfoundation.org.

Neighborhood picnic is June 25

The Annual Old West Side Neighborhood Picnic previously scheduled for June 4, takes place at noon June 25 in the southwest corner of Vandercook Park, between Louisiana and Larch streets and 20th and 21st avenues, Longview.

Anyone interested in meeting and visiting with their neighbors is welcome.

Organizers ask that attendees bring their own food, beverages, chairs, plates, silverware, etc. Alcohol is not permitted in the park and attendees are asked not to bring pets. Children and senior citizens are welcome, but keep in mind there are no bathroom facilities.

Attendees will be spaced for distance for any concerned about COVID prevention. Masks are not required, but people who want to wear them are welcome.

The neighborhood picnic held the first Saturday in June started on the lawn of an Old West Side resident and grew enough to be moved to the park. The event began in 2016, but was not held the past few years because of COVID.

The picnic was rescheduled this year because of the weather.

For details, call Gary Schmauderor Robert Mumford at 360-425-0430 or send an email to trains4fun2003@yahoo.com.

Sunshine Bazaar at Kelso church

The Sunshine Bazaar to benefit local, national and international charities takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 25 in the Kelso United Presbyterian Church parking lot at Cowlitz Way and Pacific Avenue in Kelso.

The bazaar features six church sponsored kiosks of quilts, yard art, gently used treasures, plants and produce, newly made items and baked goods.

Live music will be performed all day and root beer floats will be available.

Car show to benefit vets

The Second Annual Hot Rods for HEVIN (Helping Every Veteran In Need) car and motorcycle show takes place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 25 at Calvary Chapel, 902 Ash St., Kelso.

Vehicle registration begins at 8 a.m. Food, raffles and more will be offered. Trophies will be awarded at 1:30 p.m.

Money raised will benefit veterans.

For details, call 360-751-4149.

Arts, music fest is June 25-26

The 10th annual Arts of the Mountain arts and music festival takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 25 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 26 at the Silver Lake Grange, 3104 Spirit Lake Memorial Highway, Silver Lake.

To get to the Grange, take Exit 49 off I-5 and go five miles east on Spirit Lake Memorial Highway (State Route 504).

More than 30 regional artisans and acoustic musicians will present their talents during the event. Wares include a variety of glass, jewelry, metal, painting, pottery, recycled, soap, fantasy and wood arts

Arts of the Mountain is sponsored by the Grange, a 501(c)8 group.

For details, call Kevlyn Hoisington at 360-431-9802 or send an email to artsofthemountain@gmail.com. Also, check out the website at artsofthemountain.org or search for Arts of the Mountain on Facebook.

Kids can join a book club

The Longview Public Library offers a Kids Book Club for children in third through fifth grades where children can meet with other children and library staff to discuss a book.

The Friends of the Longview Library are making the books free to children participating in the book club.

Parents can sign up their children and receive their book through the Library Drive-Thru. They also can ask for the book at the lower floor desk.

The 3:30 p.m. June 29 meeting will feature the book, The Line Tender, by Kate Allen. The 3:30 p.m. July 20 meeting will feature a discussion on the book, Turtle in Paradise: The Graphic Novel, by Jennifer Holm.

For details on the club, send an email to Becky at longviewlibrary@mylongview.com.

 The Daily News

Contact Nancy Edwards at 360-577-2544 or nedwards@tdn.com.

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A Longview grain terminal will pay nearly $1 million after settling a lawsuit with the Columbia Riverkeeper that claimed the terminal operated without necessary permits meant to monitor river pollution.

Export Grain Terminal, LLC., which operates one of six grain terminals in the state out of the Port of Longview, will pay Seeding Justice $715,000 to benefitting water quality projects after it settled with Columbia Riverkeeper on June 14 in the U.S. District Court of Western Washington.

On top of the money to Seeding Justice, EGT will also pay $220,000 to cover the Riverkeepers legal costs.

The lawsuit, originally filed in 2020, alleges EGT violated the Clean Water Act by not getting an industrial stormwater permit that would have required the terminal to monitor and report stormwater discharges from its facility.

EGT disputed the claims in a statement Wednesday, adding the Department of Ecology told EGT it did not need the industrial permit to operate.

EGT is committed to be being a good corporate citizens, making operational decisions built on a foundation of ethical leadership, accountability and environmental stewardship, EGTs statement read.

During design and construction and since beginning operations in 2012, the Department of Ecology has advised EGT that it does not require an industrial stormwater permit to operate. While the company disputes Columbia Riverkeepers claims, EGT has agreed to the Consent Decree to affirm its commitment to the local community and to avoid costly litigation.

In the settlement agreement filed Tuesday, EGT agreed to get the permit, send quarterly reports of stormwater discharges to the Riverkeeper for three years, draft a pollution prevention plan and reroute one of its spouts away from the Columbia River. EGT also agreed to hire an engineering firm to construct gates on the ends of its grain spouts, reducing the release of grain or grain dust from the spouts.

EGT has two weeks after the settlement goes into effect to pay the Riverkeeper and Seeding Justice, 10 business days to get the permit and 30 days to prepare its draft pollution prevention plan.

EGT ships corn, wheat, soybeans and other grain products internationally out of the Port of Longviews Berth 9.

In the original lawsuit, the Port of Longview was named with EGT as another defendant. Since then, those cases have been separated, and claims against the port remain unsettled, according to Liz Terhaar, Columbia Riverkeeper communications director.

This marks the second time this spring Riverkeeper has settled a lawsuit against a company for alleged Clean Water Act violations. In May, Weyerhaeuser denied polluting the river but agreed give $600,000 to Seeding Justice and pay for the Riverkeepers legal costs.

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Sony Malaysia today announced the release of its new BRAVIA XR TV Series in our country with a slew of new technologies and features. These include the X95K 4K Mini LED models, MASTER Series A80K 4K OLED models and the X90K 4K LED model.

The TV series feature Cognitive Processor XR, a unique XR Backlight Master Drive. Sony claims that this technology allows for the TVs to have unprecedented dynamic range with deep blacks, natural mid-tones and almost no flare or halos around highlights.

Furthermore, it can also precisely control the brightness in models that feature the latest generation Mini LED backlight such as the X95K series. In terms of audio, the latest BRAVIA XR series has enhanced Acoustic Surface Audio+ for OLED models and Acoustic Multi-Audio for LED models that precisely matches the position of the sound with the images on the screen for a truly immersive audio/visual experience.

Besides that, the TV series also includes a new Netflix Adaptive Calibrated Mode to match the content on screen with what the creators intended for. Similarly, the new BRAVIA CORE Calibrated Mode will also do the same for non-Netflix media such as films and television series.

For PlayStation 5 gamers out there, the TV series also has a designated Perfect for PlayStation 5 features, including Auto HDR Tone Mapping and Auto Genre Picture Mode. Another new addition is an in-house developed camera device, BRAVIA CAM, which recognises where users are sitting and optimises the picture and sound accordingly, gesture controls, video chat and more.

Other notable features include:

360 Spatial Sound Personaliser

Sony Sound Match

Ambient Optimisation Pro

Google TV

Here are all the 2022 BRAVIA XR TV models and its respective price in our country:

Sony BRAVIA XR X95 (85-inch): RM28,999

Sony BRAVIA XR A80K (77-inch): RM24,999

Sony BRAVIA XR A80K (65-inch): RM13,899

Sony BRAVIA XR A80K (55-inch): RM9,599

Sony BRAVIA XR X90K (85-inch): RM19,999

Sony BRAVIA XR X90K (75-inch): RM11,999

Sony BRAVIA XR X90K (65-inch): RM7,899

Sony BRAVIA XR X90K (55-inch): RM5,899

For more information on the 2022 BRAVIA XR TV Series and other products by Sony Malaysia, visit the companys official website here. As always, for more trending tech news in Malaysia and beyond, stay tuned to TechNave!
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Babies can help unlock the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI), according to Trinity neuroscientists and colleagues who have just published new guiding principles for improving AI.

The research, published today in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence, examines the neuroscience and psychology of infant learning and distills three principles to guide the next generation of AI, which will help overcome the most pressing limitations of machine learning.

Dr. Lorijn Zaadnoordijk, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Fellow at Trinity College explained: "Artificial intelligence (AI) has made tremendous progress in the last decade, giving us smart speakers, autopilots in cars, ever-smarter apps, and enhanced medical diagnosis. These exciting developments in AI have been achieved thanks to machine learning which uses enormous datasets to train artificial neural network models.

"However, progress is stalling in many areas because the datasets that machines learn from must be painstakingly curated by humans. But we know that learning can be done much more efficiently, because infants don't learn this way. They learn by experiencing the world around them, sometimes by even seeing something just once."

In their article "Lessons from infant learning for unsupervised machine learning," Dr. Lorijn Zaadnoordijk and Professor Rhodri Cusack, from the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN), and Dr. Tarek R. Besold from TU Eindhoven, the Netherlands, argue that better ways to learn from unstructured data are needed. For the first time, they make concrete proposals about what particular insights from infant learning can be fruitfully applied in machine learning and how exactly to apply these learnings.

Machines, they say, will need in-built preferences to shape their learning from the beginning. They will need to learn from richer datasets that capture how the world is looking, sounding, smelling, tasting and feeling. And, like infants, they will need to have a developmental trajectory, where experiences and networks change as they "grow up."

Dr. Tarek R. Besold, researcher, Philosophy & Ethics group at TU Eindhoven, said: "As AI researchers, we often draw metaphorical parallels between our systems and the mental development of human babies and children. It is high time to take these analogies more seriously and look at the rich knowledge of infant development from psychology and neuroscience, which may help us overcome the most pressing limitations of machine learning."

Professor Rhodri Cusack, the Thomas Mitchell Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, director of Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, added: "Artificial neural networks were in parts inspired by the brain. Similar to infants, they rely on learning, but current implementations are very different from human (and animal) learning. Through interdisciplinary research, babies can help unlock the next generation of AI."

Explore further Does the brain learn in the same way that machines learn?

More information: Lorijn Zaadnoordijk et al, Lessons from infant learning for unsupervised machine learning, Nature Machine Intelligence (2022). Journal information: Nature Machine Intelligence Lorijn Zaadnoordijk et al, Lessons from infant learning for unsupervised machine learning,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s42256-022-00488-2
The top 10 fastest-growing small businesses in Brazos County were honored Wednesday during the 29th annual Bryan Rotary 10 Business Performance Awards at the Hilton in College Station hosted by the Bryan Rotary Club.

Mike Wright, vice president and general manager of WAAY 31 News in Huntsville, Alabama, and former KBTX-TV general manager, announced the winners and congratulated each for their efforts in growing their businesses.

There are some criteria that they had to meet: independent, privately held corporations, proprietorships or partnerships headquartered in Brazos County, and in business for at least five years, he said before announcing the winners. Sales [must be] more than $50,000 but less than $25 million, and a five-year sales history must show an increase for fiscal years [2019] through 2021.

Dudley Engineering of College Station was ranked at the top with an overall sales growth of 271.37% from 2019-21.

This firms intention was to differentiate by maintaining its values throughout growth, creating an engineering group known nationwide, recognizing as a firm built around many talented people. This companys core values have enveloped their approach to every corner of their operations, Wright said. [They are] passionate about their craft, pro-team, collaborating to find the best solutions, exceptional communicators, responsive and proactive. Construction wise, creating clear constructible drawings and maintaining positive contractor relationships.

The ownership said their key to finding success has been finding, trusting and keeping the right people, Wright said, their leadership often seeks ways to stimulate employee growth and give opportunities to ensure they stay invested.

The remaining nine fastest-growing Brazos Valley-based small businesses were Stafford Barrett Commercial Brokerage; Blackrock Builders; Deitz Consulting; Frogslayer; SmartCompliance; Swan Stonarts; Arrow S Pest Control; Aggieland Roofing/CR Systems; and Ridgewood Custom Homes.

The fourth fastest-growing company was Deitz Consulting of Bryan, founded in 2009 and had a sales growth of 133.37% for 2019-21.

With extensive bookkeeping experience, including payroll, expense and revenue analysis  the companys philosophy is We live for bookkeeping so that you can live your life. Wright said. Deitz Consulting started as a one-woman shop, with Phyllis Deitz working from home, seeking a way to help friends and family with their small business bookkeeping. As time passed, she realized that Small businesses need help year-round, not just during tax season.

Blake Robertson, co-founder of Karbach Brewing Company of Houston, gave the keynote address and shared what it was like growing up in the beer-making industry and the importance of working collaboratively.

The beer business is an extremely difficult business  win at anything you do, put everything else aside and work as hard as you can each and every time, Robertson told the audience. If you get knocked down, get up and do it again and do it a little better than you did last time. As we went in to develop Karbach Brewing Company, we developed a team of all winners and we stayed in our lane.  they believed in the direction we were going.

You are going to have a ton of challenges along the way.  Stay true to your business, stay true to your word, stay true to your work ethic and just do and say what you are going to do better each and every time, and with that you create long-term success, not only for you but for your family.

The Bryan Rotary Club also recognized West, Webb, Allbritton and Gentry for the Anco Insurance Award for Lifetime Business Achievement; and Alula Learning received the Brazos Valley Economic Development Corporation Launch Award.

Austin Bryan, chair of the awards program and chief lending officer of First Financial Bank, gave the closing remarks and said theyve held this ceremony every year since 1994, and it is great to see companies thriving and having success in Bryan-College Station.

I think it is critically important today to look at these companies, because what our small businesses have dealt with in this world, country and community over the last two or three years is remarkable, he said. The fact that these companies continue to grow at the pace they grow I think speaks volumes about the management and the leadership of those companies, congratulations to all of these award winners.

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China has made a good start in pushing forward rural vitalization on all fronts, said Liu Huanxin, head of the National Rural Revitalization Administration.

By 2021, China has achieved a smooth transition to align the efforts of consolidating and expanding poverty alleviation achievements with rural vitalization endeavors, Liu said while delivering a report to the 35th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress Tuesday.

After declaring the eradication of absolute poverty in early 2021, China has rolled out several measures to consolidate the achievements in poverty eradication, including a dynamic monitoring and support mechanism to prevent the once poor population from falling back into poverty.

Facing challenges, Liu pledged tougher measures and improved implementation to consolidate and expand poverty alleviation achievements and promote rural vitalization.

Over the past four decades, the country has raised nearly 800 million people out of poverty based on the 1.9 U.S. dollar per day global poverty line, said the report jointly released by the Ministry of Finance, the Development Research Center of the State Council, and the World Bank.

The figure accounts for about 75 percent of global poverty reduction during the same period.
AUSTIN  Uvalde Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who has faced blistering criticism for his decision to keep officers at bay while a school shooter was in a classroom with children, was placed on administrative leave late Wednesday.

Uvalde Superintendent Hal Harrell announced he placed Arredondo on leave as questions continue to swirl about the chiefs response to the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

Today, I am still without details of the investigations being conducted by various agencies, Harrell said in a statement. Because of the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown timing of when I will receive the results of the investigations, I have made the decision to place Chief Arredondo on administrative leave effective on this date.

Arredondo was the scene commander for the police response to the shooting.

In the near month since the shooting occurred, troubling revelations about his decisions have emerged on a near daily basis and created frustration and trauma among a community that continues to grieve. On Tuesday, the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety and a mass shootings expert said Arredondos decisions cost lives.

On top of calls for him to resign from the school police force, Arredondo also has faced growing calls for him to resign from the Uvalde City Council. He won election to the position May 7 and was sworn in to the council in secret.

At a Tuesday night meeting of the city council, Uvalde residents, including family members of slain victims, called for Arredondo to be removed from the board.

They urged the council to disapprove Arredondos handwritten request for a leave from attending meetings to pave the way for his removal should he be absent from three consecutive meetings.

Jasmine Cazares, sister of Uvalde shooting victim Jacklyn Jaylen Cazares, 9, and cousin of Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10, said Arredondo should be accountable for his actions, and that he does not deserve to be on the council. Most of us agree the respectful thing to do is resign and step down, she said.

Was this oath upheld on May 24? she continued. It wasnt and I want you all to know. Remember my face. I remember hers. Because we will be here at every city council meeting until something changes.

The council unanimously voted against Arredondos request for a leave of absence. Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said that Tuesdays meeting marked the first of three required absences before the council could have him removed.

The lack of information from the agencies investigating the shooting, including the Justice Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Uvalde County district attorneys office, led the state senator representing Uvalde to sue DPS on Wednesday.

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a San Antonio Democrat, accused DPS of a cover-up and violating the Texas Public Information Act for not responding to an open records request his office filed May 31.

In the wake of this massacre, the state of Texas has completely failed to provide the community of Uvalde with truthful answers, Gutierrez said in a statement.

In Uvalde, the citys mayor bristled about how senators in Austin were getting access to details from DPS chief Steven McCraw that were not provided to him.

McLaughlin referred to a Senate hearing on the shooting that continued Wednesday as the Bozo the Clown show, during Tuesdays council meeting.

At the Capitol, the second day of Senate hearings continued with a focus on mental health.

The lead witnesses for the hearing were Dr. Laurel Williams and Dr. David Lakey with the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium. The consortium was created in the 2019 Texas school safety bill Senate Bill 11.

Even as the consortium has been rapidly expanded in the three years since its inception, only about 40% of the states schools are covered by its mental health outreach programs that include free of charge telemedicine sessions for students that might be experiencing mental health issues.

It has yet to reach Uvalde, a city of 15,217, that is experiencing many of the problems that smaller and rural communities face with access to mental health care.

The consortium had yet to extend its services to Uvalde Independent School District, and Lakey said the amount of vacant positions at the local mental health authority was above average.

It was substantial vacancies, Lakey said of Uvalde. The average rate of vacancies, statewide is about 30%, and they were above that. Not because they werent trying. They were trying to recruit people as best they could. It is just hard to recruit in some of these communities.

Numerous suggestions were made to improve access to mental health services, including creating more fellowship programs throughout the state. Those programs bring new professionals to communities where they often stay.

Theyre picking fellowships based on where they think they want to live, Williams said.

Gov. Greg Abbott focused on mental health in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, telling reporters that the state is in a mental health crisis and making addressing Texans mental health a main charge of committees in the Texas Senate and House that he requested to review the Uvalde shooting for policy recommendations.

Included in the governors charges was firearm safety.

But Republicans, so far, have shown little support for any new firearm restrictions or even revisiting modest gun control proposals that came out of the Santa Fe High School shooting policy roundtable, such as red flag laws and closing loopholes in background checks.

The committees chair, state Sen. Robert Nichols, a Jacksonville Republican, ended the meeting hinting that the two-day hearing likely was the last time the Senate Uvalde committee will meet in public.

He instructed its members, eight Republicans and three Democrats, to make policy suggestions that would be circulated among members until a final report is prepared.

In the Texas House, the Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee meets jointly with the Select Committee on Youth Health and Safety Thursday to discuss mass shootings.

They will take up the implementation of Senate Bill 11, firearm safety and law enforcement response to mass shootings Thursday.
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Island Area Cruisers auto show is being held Saturday at Grand Islands Stolley Park.

It is the Wood River-based car clubs 25th annual event.

The event raises money for a local charity and this year all proceeds will go to Bikes & Trykes of Central Nebraska.

One hundred percent of our profit goes to help them buy bikes for handicapped kids, said Club President Bruce Howe.

Its an agency the car club has helped in the past.

We try to get the money to them as soon as we can, and then we try to present them at our club picnic, and see the joy of those kids riding those bikes, Howe said. The bikes are kind of expensive.

Entry fee for the event is $15, and the first 100 entries receive a dash plaque.

So far, the event has a dozen vehicles registered.

Most of them register that day, explained Howe.

Fifty trophies will be given out Saturday, as well.

The event has more to offer park-goers than an array of classic cars, trucks and motorcycles.

The days food vendors will include The Mexcellent Grill, Anna Street Trolley, Sprockets Famous Freedom Dogs, and Dad & Son Kettle Corn.

Live music will be playing in the park, via GoodTimes Sound.

A silent auction will boast items donated by Grand Island businesses, such as Howards Jewelry, two tickets to the Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Georgia Southern Eagles game, donated by Five Points Bank, and more.

The event will be rain or shine, though participation may be affected by poor weather, said Howe, as some people may not want their classic cars affected by rainfall.

Island Area Cruisers annual Show & Shine will be held in Stolley Park, 2103 W. Stolley Park Rd., in Grand Island, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more information, visit facebook.com/Island-Area-Cruisers-237248953954.

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Grand Island Public School Board Ward B candidate Carol Schooley filed a declination of nomination form Monday, June 20, with the Hall County Election Commission.

Ms. Schooley has withdrawn from the Grand Island Public Schools School Board race, which leaves a vacancy on the ballot for the Nov. 8, 2022, general election, said Hall County Election Commissioner Tracy Overstreet.

Schooley and Tim Mayfield filed as Ward B candidates for the May 10 primary election. Two candidates were eligible to advance to the Nov. 8 general election. Both Schooley and Mayfield auto-advanced through the primary. There is one Ward B seat open for the four-year term that begins in January 2023. Mayfield is now the only candidate currently on the ballot. Ward B incumbent Bonnie Hinkle chose not to seek re-election.

With a vacancy on the ballot, other eligible, interested voters in Ward B may petition to be on the ballot, said Overstreet. A total of 680 valid signatures are needed by Sept. 1 to fill the vacancy. The name of a successful petitioner would be printed on the general election ballot.

For more information, contact the Hall County Election Commission Office at 308-385-5085.
Ed Tech Q&A

TutorMes Kyle Baker on What High-Dosage Means, Why 1:1 Tutoring Impacts More Than Just Grades, and How Their Platform Works

Of all the hot topics in K12 education emerging from the pandemic, tutoring is surely one of the hottest. As the negative impacts of COVID-19 interruptions to learning began to show themselves, education leaders began considering what scalable tutoring for a digital-first generation of students might look like. In the last two years, a variety of modern tutoring programs  from state education agencies, universities, ed tech stalwarts and startups, and even some nonprofits  have quickly gained traction across the country.

Post-pandemic tutoring comes in many shapes and sizes, and most of the fastest-growing programs are fully digital, paid for by school districts or state education agencies, providing unlimited tutoring for students whenever they need it, with dashboards for educators to monitor students' progress and participation. Such high-dosage tutoring is effective in boosting learning outcomes, researchers say, though experts note that the science of how best to implement impactful, large-scale tutoring is still in its toddler years.

TutorMe is one of the online tutoring platforms eager to fill the national need. Founded in Los Angeles in 2015 by Myles Hunter, the company was tutoring online before the pandemic made it the only way to tutor. Uniquely poised to help students continue learning during school closures, TutorMe has grown exponentially in the last two years, more than tripling its number of customers and nearly quadrupling its staff, a spokesman told THE Journal.

TutorMe's platform gives students near-instant access to about 15,000 tutors, each of whom must be a graduate of or currently enrolled in an accredited university, be at least 18, have two years of verifiable teaching or tutoring experience, and pass a thorough background check.

Earlier this month, TutorMe was named the 2022 CODiE Award winner for Best Overall Ed Tech Solution and for Best Virtual Learning Solution. And in May, the company was acquired by GoGuardian for a reported $55 million from Zovio, which had bought the startup in 2019 in a deal valued at $6.6 million.

THE Journal recently spoke with TutorMe Chief of Staff Kyle Baker about what high-dosage or high-impact tutoring means, how the TutorMe platform works, the impact TutorMe is seeing among its students (spoiler alert: it's more than "just" higher test scores), and what K12 leaders should look for when considering a new, large-scale tutoring program.

THE Journal: Why are tutoring services getting so much attention right now? Do you think it's warranted?

KYLE BAKER: Yes, I think it's warranted, in part because of some of my own classroom experiences as a teacher. But why now? The last two-plus years have really been the catalyst. And I think of it as a three-part catalyst. The first part is awareness. These systemic problems that were exposed over the last two years  learning interruptions, opportunity gaps, access gaps  these aren't new problems. Now I don't want to downplay the effects of the pandemic and this new era that we're in, but if you've been in education your whole life, you've known that these problems existed for a long time. But it wasn't widely talked about outside of education. Then in spring of 2020, these issues started to pop up on CNN and the front page of The New York Times, and people everywhere became more aware that these issues are a real barrier for millions of students all across the country.

For example, internet access: I remember working with rural schools 10-plus years ago in Kansas, and we were saying then that every day that students don't have access to reliable internet service, they're falling behind for the rest of their lives  not just falling behind today and not just falling behind this year in school  forever.' Shoot, that was 10 years ago. Okay, so COVID-19 was a catalyst of awareness.

It also served as a catalyst of solutions. At the beginning of the pandemic, we had to figure things out really fast. How are we going to do education in a different way, where volatility is the norm? TutorMe had been around a number of years before the pandemic, but certainly, all online solution providers in education had huge growth during that time, because whether they were around before or not, the demand was suddenly significant. In those first months of the pandemic, we had to develop new solutions quickly.

The third part is the catalyst of action. So for example, internet access, and schools nationwide immediately committing to 1:1 devices. In 2020, we saw schools say We don't have to wait, we can get hotspots in the students' homes now. When it comes to tutoring, schools and educators are asking, Are we providing the support that students need to learn and grow when they need it, wherever they need it? If that is a core ethos of our lives as educators and of our educational system, of our societal belief in education, well, now's the time for action. Educators are saying, We can find ways to provide high-quality, high-impact tutoring  now. We don't have to wait, we don't have to round up five local volunteers who are willing to tutor for an hour every Tuesday. There are people out there who are willing to do this now. So let's do it. I think that's what's happening now.

THE Journal: So as terrible as the pandemic has been, is this a silver lining? That it brought mainstream attention and urgency to fix these holes in our education system that have been there all along?

BAKER: I was living in the Bronx through the beginning of the pandemic, so I don't think I'll ever be in a place where I can positively coat the pandemic itself. But I do think that this greater awareness, and development of solutions, and a willingness to take action are imperative if we want our students to succeed. I definitely think we're at the beginning of an era of change that can really impact students in a positive way  and thus impacting communities, families, the future of our world, quite frankly. Not to get overdramatic about it, but education is where all that change starts.
President Joe Biden has decided to ban Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia's economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine. The United States generally imports about 100,000 barrels a day from Russia, only about 5% of Russia's crude oil exports, according to Rystad Energy. Last year, roughly 8% of U.S. imports of oil and petroleum products came from Russia. Gas prices have been rising for weeks due to the conflict and in anticipation of potential sanctions on the Russian energy sector. The U.S. national average for a gallon of gasoline soared 45 cents a gallon in the past week and topped $4.06 on Monday, according to auto club AAA. Should the US ban Russian oil imports over Ukraine war?

You voted:
CARBONDALE  Members of the LGBTQIA+ community will celebrate Pride Month by participating in the Southern Illinois Pride March and Cruise at 10 a.m. Saturday in downtown Carbondale.

Tara Bell Janowick, one of the organizers, said plans are set and they expect to draw between 150 and 200 people to the event.

Those attending are asked to meet at 10 a.m. in City Parking Lot 4, which is just south of Gaia House on the corner of Illinois (U.S. 51) and Grand avenues.

Tim Kee of GRIS (Golden Rainbows of Illinois South) will speak at 10:15 a.m. GRIS is a non-profit organization meant to benefit the lives of LGBTQ adults over 50 and those aging with HIV. Kee started a Pride Run aimed at uniting the LGBTQIA+ communities in Williamson and Jackson counties.

Marchers will line up on the sidewalk at the corner of South Illinois and West Grand avenues. The Pride March and Cruise will be led by Tara Bell and the reigning Southern IL Pride Queen Blanche DuBois and Grand Marshalls Jodie Bailey and Julie Socorro.

Organizers Christina Garnette, Idina Rimes, Kailey Santana, Dylan Humm and Korey Klausing will distribute information and line up cars as they will drive the route along with the marchers.

After Kee speaks, marchers and cruisers will begin their route. They will go north on Illinois Avenue to West Main Street, turning to the west. They will head south on University Avenue and return to the parking lot.

A reception will follow immediately in the Varsity Center for the Arts at 418 S. Illinois Ave.

We will have Jenny Davolt and Gabi the Bunny performing at the reception, Bell said.

Besides the live music, the reception will offer a chance to learn more about the Stage Company's upcoming production, The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later through pictures, information and artwork by local artisan AB.

Refreshments will be provided, and a cash bar will be available.

Bell said those who plan to drive in the event can demonstrate their pride with decorations that are well secured and that do not obstruct the view of the driver.

Anyone who would like to volunteer to help keep things running smoothly during the march is asked to message Julie Socorro or speak with her when you arrive at City Lot 4 Saturday morning.

Bell said they welcome caravans from surrounding towns. Contact Tara at tara.bell.janowick@gmail.com to get your towns participation promoted.

While the event is geared toward the members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersexual and asexual community, anyone who supports that community is welcome to participate.

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HERRIN - Herrin resident Bert Gordon summed it up best Wednesday afternoon following a sun-soaked memorial service for those non-union miners, guards, and others who were killed over a labor dispute 100 years ago this week.

"(The Herrin Massacre) was a total blemish on the history of Herrin, Williamson County and the entire state of Illinois," he said. "This memorial service today at least provides something positive. I thought it was very impressive."

With state Sen. Dale Fowler and Williamson County Board Chairman Jim Marlo in attendance, Herrin alderman Bill Sizemore, serving as master of ceremonies, first introduced Mayor Steve Frattini, himself the son of a coal miner.

Frattini described both the union miners and those non-union miners hired by the coal company as men who were simply trying to meet the needs of their families during a very difficult time period when people did what they had to do to put food on the table.

"Both groups were just trying to survive," he said. "Hopefully, today's remembrance is a lesson learned by future generations not to repeat the mistakes of the past."

Williamson County historian Jon Musgrave followed Frattini and delivered a somewhat detailed account of what transpired before during and immediately after the massacre in Herrin. Some of the details were quite graphic in recounting the outright murder of the victims.

Earlier in the afternoon, Musgrave had spoken to an overflow crowd in the meeting room of the Herrin City Library, where he supplemented his history lesson with photographs of individuals from that time period.

"People eat up the 1920s history here in Herrin and Williamson County," Musgrave said. "And as much as I have studied the massacre, there are still some elements of the story we haven't even touched."

Musgrave said there is no clear cut number of victims verified from the massacre. There are too many varying reports. But the number of those who were laid to rest at the cemetery has been authenticated at 17.

"It's been 100 years since it happened. Hopefully, it will never happen again," Musgrave said. "But I'm sure the folks in Ukraine never thought that what happened during World War II would happen again either, but it is happening. History has a tendency to repeat itself if lessons aren't learned."

Musgrave said the massacre had a lasting effect.

"It was very traumatic for the people who lived in Herrin and the county for years," he said. "We lost 80% of our coal mining jobs the rest of the 1920s. Most of that may have been due to an increase in productivity through mechanization, but still...jobs were lost. And we kept losing population each decade before finally bottoming out in 1960. It took another 40 years (2000) before we were able to surpass our population of the 1920s."

Musgrave added that the gangster lifestyle prevalent in the 1920s and 30s in Williamson County became quite popular with Hollywood filmmakers of the era.

"Sadly, we were getting top billing in newspapers throughout the country over our gang wars (Birger and Shelton gangs). I read one account that described Al Capone as the Charlie Birger of Chicago. Practically everyone who had family living here during that time had a story they could tell about the Birger or Shelton gangs."

Wednesday's ceremony also featured a 21-gun/rifle salute by the Herrin and Carterville Honor Guard, as well as music performed by bagpipe enthusiast, Paul Thompson. Dr. John McConnaughy provided the opening prayer.

The ceremony was conducted next to a memorial established by the city several years ago honoring the fallen.

It states: "In recognition of the men who lost their lives in the conflict of June 21 & 22, 1922 - a time of labor unrest and lawlessness, which still stands as the largest loss of life due to a labor dispute in the country - a tragedy known as the Herrin Massacre."

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ABC News thought it was  in the words of George Stephanopoulos  too ugly and too dangerous and declined to show it on air. So Rep. Adam Kinzinger tweeted it Sunday night, letting us all see the threatening letter that recently came to his wife. Sofia, at the home where they live with Christian, their 5-month-old son.

It greets her with a profane sexual slur. Then it gets worse:

That pimp you married not only broke his oath, he sold his soul. Yours and Christians too! Adams activities have hurt not only this country, but countless patriotic and God-fearing families. Therefore, though it might take time, he will be executed. But dont worry! You and Christian will be joining Adam in hell too!

Asked by Stephanopoulos about the threat Sunday on ABCs This Week, Kinzinger had an ominous reply. Given this countrys trajectory, he said, There is violence in the future.

But truth is, violence  the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump  is the only reason many of us even know Kinzingers name. The Illinois congressman is one of just two Republicans  Rep. Liz Cheney is the other  who had the moral fortitude to serve on the House committee investigating that attempted coup. Hence, the threats from fellow Republicans.

The 2017 shooting of GOP Rep. Steve Scalise and four others and the arrest this month of a man who allegedly sought to murder conservative Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh foreclose any claim that violence is unique to the political right. No, violence remains, as H. Rap Brown said in 1967, as American as cherry pie.

But the embrace of violence, the cultivation of violence, the tacit encouragement of violence, have become, distinctively and disturbingly, Republican staples. So Jan. 6 was no accident. To the contrary, its what youd expect from a party that endorses guns as a remedy for political disagreements, one whose leader explicitly encourages and condones thuggery, one where seemingly every candidate for office runs a TV spot co-starring a firearm. Indeed, former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is seeking a Senate seat with an ad that shows him wielding a long gun alongside a team in tactical gear as they breach a house. Today, were goin RINO hunting, he says.

The acronym stands for Republican In Name Only which is, not incidentally, what Republicans like Greitens call Republicans like Kinzinger. The ad appeared online the day after Kinzinger revealed the threats against his family.

This is now our norm. Republicans no longer talk policy or ideas. Republicans only threaten.

Isaac Asimov famously called violence the last refuge of the incompetent. But violence  self-defense excepted  is also the last refuge of the loser, the last gasp of those who have no more words, the tacit confession of those who know, but are loathe to admit, that they got nothin. If you cant win the argument, win the fight. A mantra for thugs, bully boys and other Republicans.

There is violence in the future, said Kinzinger. And it felt not unlike someone saying, There is a storm in the future, as rain pelts the window and lawn furniture goes skittering across the yard.

Yes, things could get much worse. They are, however, already quite bad. One of our two major political parties is a threat to the very nation. And absent a dramatic course correction, it seems likely dissolution is in the future, pain is in the future, regret is in the future.

But violence? Thats already here.

Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald. His columns include his own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinion or editorial position of The Southern. Readers may contact him via email at lpitts@miamiherald.com.

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ANAHEIM, California  The Southern Baptist Convention voted overwhelmingly to create a way to track pastors and other church workers credibly accused of sex abuse and launch a new task force to oversee further reforms in the nation's largest Protestant denomination.

The vote came three weeks after the release of a blockbuster report by an outside consultant on the long-simmering scandal, revealing that Southern Baptist leaders mishandled abuse cases and stonewalled victims for years.

Thousands of Southern Baptists are here in Anaheim for their big national meeting.

They elected a new SBC president, Texas pastor Bart Barber, who is a staunch proponent of Southern Baptists' conservative views but who says he has a track record of dialogue with those who disagree.

He has called for an "army of peacemakers" amid bitter political battles in the nation's largest Protestant denomination.

He defeated three other candidates and ultimately prevailed in a run-off vote at the SBC's national meeting in Anaheim. His closest rival, Tom Ascol, had complained of too much "wokeness" in the denomination and sought to move it further to the right.

Also, the delegates debated but didn't vote on whether to kick out one of its biggest and best-known churches  Saddleback Church, the California megachurch headed by Rick Warren, author of the blockbuster bestseller "The Purpose Driven Life"  because it ordained women pastors. The denomination's statement of faith says the office of pastor is for men only.

Warren himself spoke briefly late in the day, alluding indirectly to the controversy by saying Baptists should unite on ambitious missionary goals.

"Are we going to keep bickering over secondary issues, or are we going to keep the main thing the main thing?" he said.

The vote on sex-abuse reforms fell short of what some survivors of abuse in Southern Baptist churches sought, such as a compensation fund for victims and a more robust and independent commission to monitor its churches' handling  and mishandling of abuse. And it also met opposition from some who contended the crisis was overhyped and that it interfered with Baptist churches' independence.

But Bruce Frank, who led the task force that recommended the reforms, made an emotional plea for church representatives to accept them as their two-day annual gathering got underway. He called the steps the "bare minimum," adding it will take time to change the SBC's culture.

He challenged those who would say these steps interfere with Baptists' focus on missions, saying that "protecting the sheep from the wolves" is essential to mission.

"How are you going to tell a watching world that Jesus died for them ... when his church won't even do its very best to protect them?" Frank asked.

He acknowledged the high cost of executing these recommendations. "But it's not going to cost nearly as much as survivors have paid," he added.

Abuse survivors Tiffany Thigpen and Jules Woodson, shedding tears, said they were overwhelmed to see the messengers' hands go up in support of the task force's recommendations. "It's not perfect, but a small step and a healthy, healing step in the right direction," Woodson said.

But Christa Brown, who has advocated for more than a decade on behalf of fellow survivors of abuse in Southern Baptist settings, called the reforms disappointing. She and other survivors had sought a permanent commission to oversee compliance, whereas Tuesday's vote created a one-year term for a task force, with option to renew. She also called for a more "survivor-centric" handling of the list of accused clergy.

"I know people like happy endings, but I'm not feeling it," Brown tweeted afterward. "... I feel grief. It's better than nothing but that's such a low bar."

During debate, some members opposed even the reforms that were proposed. They noted that the consulting firm that conducted the report, Guidepost Solutions, tweeted in support of Pride month, which goes against the SBC's view that homosexuality is sinful.

"We have a group that celebrates sexual sin, advising us on how to handle sexual sin of abuse," said Indiana pastor Tim Overton. "That is a problem."

Frank replied that he didn't like the Guidepost tweet, either: "The issue is not, what does Guidepost think of LGBT? The issue is what do Southern Baptists think of sexual abuse."

The Guidepost report, focused on how the denomination's Executive Committee handled abuse cases, also revealed that it had secretly maintained a list of clergy and other church workers accused of abuse, even after long claiming it couldn't do so without violating congregations' autonomy. The committee later apologized and released the list, which had hundreds of accused workers on it.

Frank said a database has been discussed by the SBC for more than a decade, adding it is crucial to ensure abusers are not going from church to church, hurting more vulnerable people.

Brad Eubank, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Petal, Mississippi, urged messengers to approve the recommendations. Eubank, who is included in the Guidepost report, was sexually abused as a child by a minister of music at a Southern Baptist church in Mississippi.

"As a pastor I've talked to countless survivors and victims," he said. "This is not everything that needs to be done, but it's a starting spot."

The Saddleback debate, which has simmered for a year, followed its ordination of three women pastors in 2021 and the recent announcement that the retiring Warren would be succeeded as lead pastor later this year by Andy Wood. His wife, Stacie Wood, would become teaching pastor.

"Sadddleback has ordained women, they celebrated it," Florida pastor Tom Ascol said.

The SBC's Credentials Committee initially recommended having another panel study how to interpret the denomination's doctrine on who can serve as a pastor. After pushback, the committee ultimately decided Tuesday to further study the matter itself. Most Southern Baptists agree senior pastors must be men, but disagree if the ban applies to other ministry roles, it said.

Saddleback has long been seen as a model for the Southern Baptist ideals of church growth and evangelism, growing from a small start-up in 1980 to drawing more than 24,000 per week across multiple campuses as of 2019, according to Baptist Press.

Later in the day, Warren delivered an emotional address. He is set to retire after more than four decades of leading Saddleback Church.

"It's customary for a guy who is about to be hung to say his dying words," he said as the large gathering exploded into laughter. But Warren insisted he was not there to mount a defense, but to point out that the "gift of pastoring is different from the office of pastoring."

He profusely thanked the SBC for allowing him an opportunity to build a church that includes to multiple campuses and thousands of home Bible studies across Southern California.

"Southern Baptists taught me how to honor and love the local church," he said as his voice cracked. "I owe you all so much."

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Author Dr. June Manning Thomas will host a book signing at noon Saturday, June 25, at the Cecil Williams South Carolina Civil Rights Museum in Orangeburg.

Titled Struggling to Learn, the book discusses the history of school desegregation in South Carolina.

Thomas is the daughter of the late Dr. Hubert V. Manning, the sixth president of Claflin University (1956-1984). The book also outlines Claflin Universitys role in the civil rights movement in South Carolina.

Many of the photo illustrations in the book are by Cecil Williams, director of historic preservation at Claflin University. The book is published by the University of South Carolina Press.

Through poignant personal narrative, supported by meticulous research, Thomas retraces the history of Black education in South Carolina from the post-Civil War era to the present. Focusing largely on events that took place in Orangeburg, South Carolina, during the 1950s and 1960s, Thomas reveals how local leaders, educators, parents, and the NAACP joined forces to improve the quality of education for Black children in the face of resistance from white South Carolinians.

Thomas's experiences and the efforts of local activists offer relevant insight because Orangeburg was home to two Black collegesSouth Carolina State University and Claflin Universitythat cultivated a community of highly educated and engaged Black citizens.

With help from the NAACP, residents filed several lawsuits to push for equality. In the notable Briggs v. Elliott, Black parents in neighboring Clarendon County sued the school board to challenge segregation after the county ignored their petitions requesting a school bus for their children.

That court case became one of five that led to Brown v. Board of Education and the landmark 1954 decision that declared school segregation illegal.

Despite the ruling, South Carolina officials did not integrate any public schools until 1963 and the majority of them refused to admit Black students until subsequent court cases, and ultimately the intervention of the federal government forced all schools to start desegregating in the fall of 1970.

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Authorities are investigating the death of a 54-year-old Vance man on Wednesday night, according to an Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office incident report.

A suspect is in custody, according to the sheriffs office.

The cause and manner of Greg Williams death remains under investigation, according to Orangeburg County Chief Deputy Coroner Sean Fogle. Williams lived at a Damascus Drive home.

The shooting took place at 10:54 p.m. at a Gaines Court residence in Vance.

Williams brother called 911 to report it.

When deputies arrived, Williams brother exclaimed, Thats the mother f - - - - - right there that killed my brother! pointing to another man, the report states.

Deputies took that man into custody.

A witness claimed Williams and the man were arguing when the man shot Williams with a pellet gun.

After being struck in the upper body by a projectile, Williams fell over on the porch and was unresponsive, according to the witness.

The man allegedly admitted to shooting Williams, telling deputies he was sick of him for coming around and asking for stuff, the report states.

Deputies claim the man indicated he shot Williams in the upper body. Deputies saw a small entry wound on the body.

The case remains under investigation.

Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD

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Gov. Henry McMaster announced his line-item budget vetoes on Wednesday, including two Orangeburg County projects.

He vetoed $7 million for a cultural welcome center in Orangeburg and $2 million for a west Orangeburg community center.

Overall, the governor's 73 vetoes total over $52.6 million, according to a press release from McMasters office.

State government is in the best fiscal shape ever. We have the largest budget surplus, the largest rainy day reserve fund and the lowest debt -- ever -- in the history of our state, McMaster said in his veto message.

Last year, we broke over a decades worth of records -- for new job recruitment and capital investment. Weve cut taxes on our small businesses, and we have returned money back to the taxpayers," he said. "Over the last five years, our successful partnership has produced resounding win after win for the people and prosperity of South Carolina. This fiscal years budget includes a record number -- (259) -- of my Executive Budget proposals totaling $2.85 billion -- an increase of 93 from last year.

McMasters message said he vetoed the $7 million for the cultural center because Insufficient information has been provided to my office concerning this earmark.

As such, it is questionable whether $7 million in taxpayer funds should be spent on a cultural welcome center in Orangeburg that has no demonstrated need or community support.

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said she will work to have the veto overridden when lawmakers return to Columbia.

What that project is attempting to do is utilize cultural resources as an economic driver, and promote cultural tourism, she said.

South Carolina has other cultural centers beyond Charleston, Columbia and Greenville, she said.

Cobb-Hunter disagreed with the governors assessment of the project.

I assure you there is support and there is a demonstrated need and I will move forward to make sure that project materializes, she said.

Cobb-Hunter would not provide more specific information about the project because its still in the development phase, but she said her track record shows shes a good steward of taxpayer dollars.

The $2 million for the west Orangeburg community center was among the projects McMaster said he vetoed because I did not have enough information to determine whether it was a worthy investment of state taxpayer dollars.

McMaster also vetoed $1 in the budget for Bamberg County Airport improvements, saying it was among budget items that are no longer necessary after the House and Senate worked out a final budget compromise.

Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, noted that $5 million in Savannah River Site settlement money had been set aside for the airport.

But then McMaster approved spending the money for school indebtedness reduction, instead of the airport.

Bamberg still getting the money allocated to them, its just for another purpose, Hutto said.

Hutto also noted that McMaster did not veto millions going to The T&D Region, including for South Carolina State University, Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, economic development projects and roads.

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Four Orangeburg-area public servants received top honors at the Service Above Self banquet, presented by the Rotary Club of Orangeburg Morning Club.

The people honored on June 16 were:

 S.C. Highway Patrol Trooper 1st Class J.J. Richardson

 Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office Deputy/K9 handler Kyle Hardison

 Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Sgt. Angelina Angel Rickenbaker and Cpl. Jonathan Winningham.

The clubs annual event recognizes outstanding area law enforcement officers and firefighters.

The awards dinner took place at The Oaks.

Trooper 1st Class

J.J. Richardson

Capt. Quincy M. Brown introduced S.C. Highway Patrol honoree Trooper 1st Class J.J. Richardson as an, Outstanding trooper who strives to develop himself and others on a daily basis.

Richardsons work is focused in Orangeburg County. He joined the SCHP in 2018.

He sets the standard for work ethic and professionalism within his post and the troop, Brown noted.

Brown said Richardson was very proactive, especially during 2021 when there were uncertainties and elevated risks due to COVID-19.

We actually told our personnel to stand down in response to calls for service, but Tfc. Richardson continued to work and continued to be proactive during that period with a wife and small child at home, Brown said.

It was evident he was doing all he could to ensure the safety of the motoring public, he added.

Richardson has made over 1,600 public contacts and investigated over 260 collisions, with an emphasis on illegal narcotics intervention and impaired driving, Brown said.

Richardson made approximately 30 criminal charges resulting in eliminating narcotics and weapons from our community, Brown said.

Deputy/K9 handler

Kyle Hardison

Ive been working in law enforcement for 34 years and I can say that theres very few times Ive seen this quality in law enforcement, period, said Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell of Deputy/K9 handler Kyle Hardison.

He works 24/7. Ive never seen a young man like him, Ravenell said of the 32-year-old.

When I can pick up the phone and just text him or call him, if I have something down country or upcountry, he responds, Ravenell said.

Hardison began working for the sheriffs office in 2018 as a field services deputy, Ravenell said.

As a K9 handler, He loves going in these snake-infested areas looking for anything and anyone, Ravenell said with a smile.

Hardison has over 40 successful tracks in Orangeburg County  from ages 5 to 85.

He goes out in the woods, midnight, any time we call him, Ravenell said.

Sgt. Angelena Angel

Rickenbaker and Cpl.

Jonathan Winningham

Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Chief the Rev. Charles Austin Sr. praised the work of Sgt. Angelena Angel Rickenbaker and Cpl. Jonathan Winningham.

Im very proud of the work they do, particularly how they engage the community and how they work within the agency to continue to make it an agency of excellence serving with integrity, Austin said.

In praising Rickenbaker, Austin noted her many contributions to the agency since 2013.

In 2015, Rickenbaker received the Rookie of the Year Award at ODPS.

Over the years, shes also received two each of good conduct awards and certificates of merit.

I hope thats something all of our personnel can strive for, to receive these good conduct awards and continue to serve meritoriously, Austin said.

Rickenbaker, in 2016, became the agencys first female to join the Special Response Team, where she currently holds the position of entry team leader.

She is also a field training officer.

Thats been one of the strong points Ive observed about her as she engages young officers who are at the genesis of their careers and she inspires them continuously, Austin said.

In 2019, Rickenbacker was promoted from corporal to sergeant and currently serves as Charlie Shift leader of the patrol division. Austin noted, Thats equivalent to our lieutenant rank.

Austin also recognized Cpl. Jonathan Winningham for his work in the fire safety side of ODPS.

Winningham began his career at ODPS in 2006 and has almost 16 years of service and, based on my observation, they are 16 distinguished years of service, Austin said.

Winninghams roles at ODPS include: fire instructor, fire field training officer, fire inspector and department compliance officer in state and national standards.

Austin also noted Winningham is a fire safety educator, licensed resident state fire marshal and fire investigator.

Winningham is also an expert in the field of fire investigation at the S.C. Fire Academy, Austin said.

One of Winninghams pets, as Austin described, was being responsible for designing the three new trucks ODPS received in recent months.

Winningham is a licensed basic EMT, serves on the Special Response Team as a medic, is a certified class one law enforcement officer, a volunteer with the Bamberg Fire Department and a CPR instructor.

He lives in Bamberg with his wife and their two Chihuahuas.

Also during the awards banquet, the Rotary Club of Orangeburg Morning Club announced the 2022 Rotarian of the Year as immediate past-president Brenda Austin. President Thomas J. Cassidy praised her for recruiting new members and for her overall dedication to the club.

The 2022-2023 officers were also installed: President Dr. Kalu Agba Kalu, President-Elect Carolyn Snell, Secretary Amber Kadlowec and Treasurer Melissa Cain.

Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD

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SPARTANBURG  A deputy was fatally shot while being ambushed when he approached a home in South Carolina where someone called about a domestic disturbance, authorities said Wednesday.

Spartanburg County Deputy Austin Derek Aldridge was shot as he approached the home around 3:20 p.m. Tuesday, Lt. Kevin Bobo said.

The suspect then drove off and tried to evade a traffic stop, wrecking his vehicle and running into a wooded area before he was wounded in an exchange of gunfire. Identified as Duane Heard, he was arrested and hospitalized with two gunshot wounds, according to authorities.

Aldridge, 25, died just before 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night from an injury received after being ambushed, County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said in a news release Wednesday.

Neighbors shared descriptions of the suspect and his vehicle, and a deputy soon caught up with him. Bobo said Heard acted like he was going to surrender, then fired at the deputy trying to pull him over. The man then continued to drive, wrecked his vehicle, fired at deputies and ran into the woods.

Sheriff Chuck Wright said that Heard was found lying next to a rifle and was still in the hospital as of Tuesday night.

As is standard with officer-involved shootings, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating.

He was ambushed, he was shot, Wright said of Aldridge, who had been with the department for about three years. "Ill trust Christ in this. Im confused. Im hurt. Im angry.

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Wyoming Girls State delegates elected

The following Girls State Delegates attended the 79th session of American Legion Auxiliary Wyoming Girls State held on the campus of Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne on June 4-11. Below are the Delegates and the offices to which they were elected:

Krysta Dennis of Casper was in the city of Sagebrush and elected to and awarded: City Treasurer, Nationalist Party Election Judge, Judge of the District Court.

Brooke Harmon of Evansville was in the city of Paintbrush and elected to and awarded: City Water Commissioner, Federalist Party Agriculture/Environment Platform Committee Chairman, Dept of Game and Fish Director, Outstanding Americanism Delegate.

Shelby Blackwelder of Casper was in the city of Cottonwood and elected to and awarded: City Attorney, Federalist Party Election Judge, County Attorney, Outstanding Court Delegate.

Upon arrival to the program, Delegates are assigned to cities, where they live during their residence at Girls State. During the program, which is operated in accordance with the basic laws of the State of Wyoming, Delegates elect their own city, county and state officials and learn the duties of the various offices; introduce and pass their own bills in the Girls State legislature; make and enforce ordinances regulating their cities; and manage their own police force to administer justice. Every student holds a definite, integral role in the functions of Girls State. The program invites guest speakers to include government officials, community leaders, military members and veterans who present their perspectives on processes and operations.

Girls State offers a myriad of opportunities to experience government first-hand as a citizen, as a voter, as a candidate, as an official, as a policy maker, and as a friend.

The Girls State program emphasizes the importance of government in modern life and educates young women in the duties, privileges, rights, and responsibilities of American Citizenship. It awakens a sincere conviction that a well-informed, intelligent, participating citizenry is vital to protect and preserve our American institutions and our democracy. These goals are achieved by actual participation in a simulation of the political and governmental process.

LCCC Radiography Club donates $2,500 to CRMC

Students in Laramie County Community Colleges Radiography Program, have been hard at work raising funds to support the Cheyenne Regional Medical Centers, Curie Fund. In April, LCCC students presented CRMC a $2,500 donation to benefit the Curie Fund. Over the past 12 years, the Radiography Club at LCCC has raised and donated over $35,000 to the fund.

The engagement and fundraising support provided by the young women and men of the LCCC Radiography Club is really exciting for several reasons. Not only will patients benefit, but the students willingness to give some of their time to help people in need in their community is really admirable. This program also helps those future healthcare professionals understand that giving back to their community can be very rewarding, said Scott Fox, executive director of the CRMC Foundation.

The Curie Fund was established in the 1980s by Cheyenne Regionals Radiation Oncology Department to help patients undergoing cancer treatment pay for personal or family necessities, including utilities, transportation expenses and school supplies. Funds are given to patients with financial struggles and are not used to pay medical bills.

Its important to continue the tradition of supporting the Curie Fund because it allows us to care for patients in an unconventional way. When we presented the check at the CRMC Cancer Center it was one of the most humbling and rewarding experiences I have had during my time with the Radiography Club, LCCC student Kaitlyn Jacobs said.

LCCCs students hold fundraisers such as bake sales and t-shirt sales to help raise the funds they donate.

The Radiography Club is committed to helping support local patients who are involved daily with our profession. Teaching students to give back to a community through service learning is a valuable way to help them grow into professionals who will lead into the future, said Ashleigh Ralls, radiography program director.

To learn more about LCCCs radiography program contact Ashleigh Ralls, Program Director at aralls@lccc.wy.edu or 307-778-1292.

Model railroaders back at clubhouse

We held an in-person Business Meeting on March 26 and installed a new President, Kurt Brown. So, the phone numbers to reach us will change to Kurt 277-0462.

The other two numbers stay the same: Harry 235-4950 and Homer 266-6439.

Our doors are still open on Wednesdays from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Friday evenings from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. and Saturdays from Noon to 4:00 p.m. We offer the opportunity for visitors to actually run a train. We will try to get the locos that visitors bring if it fails to operate. We offer installation helps for DCC electronics, and general maintenance. After all it is fun to run trains not just look at them.

We accept donations of unwanted items and find homes for them, sometimes on our layouts. We encourage participation while running the trains in that horns and whistles can be engaged. The lights can be turned on and off as well.

Our Clubhouse is located at 1356 N. Center St. Drive north at the ex-Roosevelt School building and go across the speed bump but stop at the pastel green building with the maroon doors and the picture of one of our locomotives atop those yellow sign posts. If you end up in the River you went 1/2 block too far.

We thank all of the residents of this area for their continued support. Who would we be able to show our model railroads to if we were ignored? So come and visit us.

Our Clubhouse is located at 1356 N. Center St. Drive north at the ex-Roosevelt School building and go across the speed bump but stop at the pastel green building with the maroon doors and the picture of one of our locomotives atop those yellow sign posts. If you end up in the River you went 1/2 block too far.

We hope that the restrictions imposed by the COVID bugs will allow us to resume some meetings this year. Reach President Kurt Brown at 307-235-4950, Treasurer Harry Buhler at 307-235-4950 and Secretary Homer Whitlock at 307-266-6439.

Toastmasters info

Toastmaster Clubs in Casper are recruiting for new members.

Why Join Toastmasters?

Improve your presentation, communication and leadership skills by joining a Toastmasters Club in Casper.

Toastmasters offer a continuous learning forum for you to practice your public speaking, leadership, and organizational skills.

Toastmasters can open doors in your personal and professional life. You will learn in a self-paced atmosphere of fun and fellowship.

Who Joins Toastmasters?

Youll discover a wide variety of members ranging from those who have never before delivered a presentation to an audience to professional speakers, salespeople, attorneys, teachers, and retirees.

Toastmasters really is for everyone because, when it comes to communication and leadership skills, theres ALWAYS room to grow.

How to Join a Casper Toastmaster Club:

PIONEER TOASTMASTERS CLUB 97 (first and third Wednesday from Noon-1:00) kevin@wyocpa.com

MORNING TOUR TOASTMASTERS CLUB 2503 (first and third Mondays, 6:30 a.m.  7:40 p.m.) shaunagibbs0@gmail.com or MaryAnn 307 262-5539

PATHFINDER TOASTMASTERS CLUB 8503 (second and fourth Mondays, 6:15 p.m.  7:30) swhitfield19@msn.com or Steve 307 235-2956

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: www.toastmasters.org

Stammtisch meets monthly

The Casper German Stammtisch will meet monthly at 6 p.m. at Gruner Brothers Brewery on July 21, Oct. 6 (German-American Heritage Day), Nov. 10 and Dec. 8 (includes a sing-a-long of traditional German Christmas carols). When the weather is nice, we prefer to sit outdoors on the patio/deck, so please look for us there first.

Our Stammtisch, which started in 2003, is an informal no-host gathering for everyone who is interested in most things German and German-American from history to cars, food, holidays, and so much more. Both English and German are spoken.

Hope youll join us!

Margo Perry 307-265-3696

Antique club monthly meeting

The Casper Antique and Collectors Club (CACC) has been supporting local non-profits and Wyoming museums for 50 years! The Club holds regular meetings with programs of interest, and sponsors the Super Flea and Collectibles shows throughout the year. The Club is all volunteer, and new members are welcome!

The Clubs summer schedule is: NO July meeting, and the annual summer picnic on Aug. 18. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend!

The May Super Flea and Collectibles Show was a success, a donation was made to the Casper Senior Center, and the Club would like to thank Laura and Bob Pickle for all their work organizing the show. The next show will be Oct. 1 and 2 at the Fairgrounds Industrial Building.

Club proceeds are used to support Wyoming museums and local non-profits. The CACC is a non-profit organization run completely by volunteers.

Red Hatters June luncheon

The Red Hatters luncheon for June will be a Della Works home on Thursday, June 23 at 11:30 a.m. It is a potluck bring so whatever you want, but bring yourself.

Our hostesses for June are Della Works and Kathy Morgan.

To make your reservations call Buff at 237-7013 [our phone chairman].

Also bring your Red Hat items you no longer want. If you have something you want to sell make sure you put your name and price on it. It is a great time for our new members to get the items they will be needing.

Hope to see everyone at Dellas on June 23.

Elks events

Saturday, July 30

The 10th Annual Iron Elk Motorcycle Poker Run, Ride to Red Lodge, MT, (Rooms and meals are on you) Registration starts at 7 a.m. at the Casper Elks Lodge and get your first card. Cost is $40.00 per hand per person. Kickstands up at 8am. This will be a one night Poker run. Join your Elk Friends for a fun day of riding and enjoyment. Details at the Lodge, for more information and RSVP by email at Elkslodge1353@gmail.com, or Call Casper Elks Lodge at 234-4839.

This event is open to the public.

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A University of Wyoming project will look at the community impacts of the nuclear reactor slated for construction near Kemmerer.

The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded the University of Wyoming $800,000 to work on a research project that looks at how nuclear energy technology siting impacts communities and the environment. The project will focus specifically on Kemmerer and Lincoln County. The research is slated to start in October and continue over three years.

Gov. Mark Gordon announced a year ago plans to build a power plant in Wyoming, working in tandem with the U.S. Department of Energy, utility PacifiCorp and Bill Gates TerraPower nuclear firm. In November, TerraPower chose the retiring Naughton coal-fired plant near Kemmerer as the site of the Natrium advanced nuclear reactor demonstration project.

TerraPower picks Kemmerer for nuclear plant A next generation nuclear reactor will be built at the retiring coal plant in Kemmerer.

The nuclear reactor will use molten sodium technology and will be less expensive and safer than traditional reactors. Its meant to be the first in a new generation of nuclear power plants in Wyoming and the first technology of its kind in the U.S. Its projected start date is mid-2028, and construction is supposed to kick off mid-2024.

The facility is estimated to make 2,000 to 3,000 construction jobs and 300 to 400 permanent jobs in Kemmerer, according to a project official who spoke before lawmakers last June. Its expected to generate about 345 megawatts of electricity, with capacity to increase to 500 megawatts.

Some see the nuclear facility as a lifeline for a community that has been dependent on a failing coal-based economy; when Kemmerer was chosen as the site of the new facility, the citys mayor, Bill Thek, said that he and others were absolutely ecstatic with the decision.

'We're absolutely ecstatic': Kemmerer leaders welcome nuclear siting decision The prospect of getting an advanced nuclear reactor has injected new optimism into a community used to weathering the booms and busts of the states energy industry.

But the power plants development also raises a lot of questions for the future: Who has or should have a say in nuclear energy facility siting and development? How will new facilities impact communities like Kemmerer? What kind of energy future do these communities want and need? What are the responsibilities to nearby Native American communities that have historically experienced injustices from the nuclear fuel cycle? Where do environmental considerations fit into all this?

These are some of the questions the UW project seeks to answer  for Kemmerer and for other communities caught in the whirlpool of energy transitions.

Rachael Budowle, Haub School of Environmental and Natural Resources assistant professor and lead researcher on the project, said in an email that the Natrium project in Kemmerer is a fairly unique energy transition scenario because its the first advanced nuclear energy facility in the country sited near a decommissioning coal-fired power plant. That gives the researchers an opportunity to look at short- and long-term job creation, tax revenue and carbon emissions reductions.

On the other hand, nuclear energy has historically presented a range of social, environmental, and ethical challenges that also warrant exploration, she said.

That includes challenges around public perception, safety, trust, and industry and government responsibility for waste and accidents.

Leaders say nuclear will save Kemmerer. Residents aren't convinced. Elected officials across Wyoming have sung the praises of the next-generation nuclear reactor to be built in Kemmerer. In the remote coal town, it's a different story. A skeptical community asks, "Why here? Why us?"

Budowle is a cultural anthropologist. Her research explores justice and equity issues, social-ecological community resilience and sustainability, mostly through interdisciplinary research projects within Mountain West communities. She and other colleagues are exploring in other research whether and how community voices are really engaged in energy transitions  information that should be helpful context for the Kemmerer project, she said.

The Kemmerer project will involve a number of participants, which could include coal miners, coal plant workers, local residents, community leaders and environmental organizations, as well as TerraPower and PacifiCorp, Budowle said.

TerraPowers involvement has so far been limited to a letter of support sent from the firm to UW for the project; Budowle explained that its important to maintain a robust, independent process, given that the project will be based on environmental justice research.

We were happy to provide a letter of support to the University of Wyoming for this project, a TerraPower spokesperson said in an email. We are excited they were a recipient of this funding opportunity and look forward to working with them as we bring the first Natrium reactor to Kemmerer.

A PacifiCorp spokesperson said in an email that the utilitys role will primarily be supporting the objectives of the research project.

In the future, Budowle said she envisions that the firm will facilitate communication with their engineers and representatives, share technical information and maybe take up recommendations that come out of the research.

Amid a push toward a carbon-free future, the U.S. Department of Energy is funding other projects across the nation that are similar to the one at UW.

Earlier this month, the department awarded more than $61 million for 74 such projects across the country. Most of that money went to research and development projects like the one at UW. Since 2009, the energy departments Office of Nuclear Energy has given about $931 million to nuclear energy research and training.

UW School of Energy Resources professor and Nuclear Energy Research Center co-director Tara Righetti, Haub School professor Steve Smutko and associate professor Temple Stoellinger and Honors College assistant instructional professor Matthew Henry will collaborate on the research with Budowle along with professors from the University of Michigan.

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The state of Montana is requesting help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for individuals facing substantial losses from the flooding thats devastated parts of south-central Montana.

The request, singed by Gov. Greg Gianforte on Wednesday, seeks to activate FEMAs Individual Assistance Program, which is part of the presidential major disaster declaration issued by the Biden Administration last week.

The request includes the individuals and households program, disaster case management, crisis counseling and assistance, disaster legal services, disaster unemployment insurance, critical needs assistance and cleaning and removal assistance.

No Montanan should have to go through what our neighbors impacted by flooding have, Gianforte said in a press release Thursday. With access to the Individual Assistance program, Montanans who have had homes destroyed or property damaged by this disaster will have more resources to recover and rebuild.

Most people, even those living in flood plains, dont have flood insurance because its expensive. Normal homeowners insurance and renter policies do not cover damage from flooding. In the flooding that hit Montana last week, homes that were damaged were also outside of areas that are normally expected to flood.

The letter to FEMA said that a preliminary evaluation shows there were 23 majorly damaged or destroyed residences in Carbon County, 53 in Park and 39 in Stillwater. The letter estimates that 115 primary residences were either majorly damaged or destroyed, with some completely washed away, according to preliminary data.

In a Wednesday interview, state Insurance Commissioner Troy Downing said the numbers of people who had flood insurance in those areas was horrible.

There were just 18 policies in Red Lodge before flooding hit and another 58 across unincorporated Carbon County. There were only nine policies in Livingston and 77 in the unincorporated parts of Park County. And in Columbus there were just two policies.

Because the survivors of these floods are particularly vulnerable, the size and scope of the devastation in these communities makes it clear that no amount of insurance is adequate to address the immediate or long-term needs of the survivors of this destruction, the letter reads.

Another challenge for those facing losses from the flooding is the lack of affordable housing. The letter points out that the cost of a mortgage in Park County averages about 37.7% of a households income, and that figure is 33.8% in Carbon County. Rent costs present similar financial burdens, and the median home value has jumped dramatically in the region.

There are also a higher percentage of mobile homes, 12% in Carbon County, nearly 15% in Stillwater, and almost 10% in Park, than in the rest of the country. The letter estimates there were 686 mobile homes in high flood-risk census tracts, including 441 in Park County, 98 in Stillwater and 147 in Carbon.

Mobile home residents have been shown to be disproportionately impacted by disasters  due to physical characteristic of the home, location, social vulnerabilities of residents, and complicated ownership arrangements which means they can be excluded from some legal protections, the letter states.

The letter also says that nine major highways in the region have significant damage and remain inaccessible, in addition to numerous bridges.

In addition to residential losses, the letter says that the $100 million in labor income tied to Yellowstone National Park will also be dramatically hit by flooding.

In Carbon County, about 39% of all jobs and 26% of wages are tied to travel and tourism. In Park County, its 31% of jobs and 26% of wages. The mine in Stillwater County was completely cut off due to a bridge failing and alternate routes are threatened due to safety concerns. Mining accounts for more than 40% of jobs in the county, and 1,000 employees are out of work, the letter says.

There are an unknown number of injuries from the flooding and one confirmed death of a person recreating on high water.

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GILLETTE (WNE)  A 15-year-old girl who was recently adopted from Ukraine by a Gillette family has been missing for more than a week, and her family is concerned for her safety.

Valeriia Lera Nudha was last seen June 14 at her home in Gillette, when she left a note for her adoptive parents saying she was running away and would return when she was ready to.

She has been in the country for less than six months and is still learning to speak English.

Nudha had run away before, but always returned, said Bethany Wight, her adoptive mother. But this run away has lasted longer and the family is concerned that Nudha may be in danger.

"This has been a little bit of a pattern, then shes been either found or has come back, Wight said.

She may be with an older teenager or a Russian-speaking man she met online, according to an AWARE Foundation release.

Nudha is 5-foot-1 with brown hair and brown eyes. She has a nose piercing and a small heart tattoo on her right ankle.

Contact the Gillette Police Department at 307-682-5155 with information related to her missing person case.

Weve been trying to work with the police and update them on anything we find, unfortunately we just dont have much information on where she might have gone or who shed be with, Wight said.

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Rep. Liz Cheneys campaign is providing Democrats with instructions on how to vote for her in Wyomings Republican Primary.

Cheneys campaign website and a campaign mailer for her have instructions on how to switch party affiliation, which in Wyoming can occur as late as election day.

A link at the top of Cheneys website offers information on various ways to vote for her in her heated Republican primary contest against Trump-endorsed candidate Harriet Hageman. It directs viewers to a list of voting-related questions including, How do I change my party affiliation to register as a Republican so I can vote for Liz?

To change your party affiliation or to declare a new affiliation, complete the Wyoming Voter Registration Application & Change Form and submit it to your county clerks office no later than 14 days before the primary election, the campaign advises. You may also change your party affiliation at your polling place on the day of the primary or general election, or when requesting an absentee ballot.

The website also asks whether someone has to be registered as a Republican to vote for Liz in the Republican Primary.

Yes. Wyoming law allows voters to change their party affiliation at the polling place on election day, or you can change your party affiliation in advance, the campaign website states.

The Cheney campaign has been vague on whether its seeking Democratic votes in Wyoming. The farthest campaign representatives have gone is to say that theyre not building a Democrats for Cheney coalition.

Liz is proud to represent all Wyomingites and is working hard to earn every vote, said Jeremy Adler, a spokesperson for Cheney.

Crossover voting has existed in Wyoming for years. But its role in perhaps the biggest political race in the states history has brought the issue back to the forefront.

The idea that Democrats would cross over to vote for Cheney  a solidly conservative lawmaker  illustrates how much this race is a referendum on Trump.

Cheney angered many Wyoming Republicans when she voted to impeach the former president over the Jan. 6 attack. That frustration grew as she continued to rebuke Trump for lying about the legitimacy of the 2020 election. She has driven that wedge still deeper with her service as vice chairwoman and one of two Republicans on the House select committee to investigate the attack.

What Cheney doesnt understand is that Democrats will drop her like a bad habit after shes no longer useful to them on the Jan. 6th Committee, said Carly Miller, Hagemans campaign manager. Shes in No Mans Land  Democrats just see her as a temporary tool, while Republicans are fed up with her completely.

The impact Democrats could have over the race is limited by how relatively few there are in Wyoming.

Democrats here make up only about 15% of total registered voters in the state, or 44,600 as of this month. There are currently 197,868 registered Republicans.

Whats more, despite its reputation, crossover voting has not been shown to hand victory to more moderate candidates in Wyoming. Still, the 2022 House race is unlike any race the state has seen.

There has been a concerted effort from hard-line conservative state lawmakers to outlaw crossover voting, but they have not been successful to date. This past legislative session, a bill to outlaw crossover voting died despite endorsements from Trump and the state GOP.

At a Hageman campaign town hall during the legislative session, she and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul  who has endorsed her  encouraged attendees to lobby lawmakers to vote in favor of the crossover voting bill.

Meanwhile, some of her most loyal advocates are also encouraging typically liberal voters to switch their affiliation and vote for the incumbent congresswoman.

Rep. Pat Sweeney, R-Casper, encouraged those in the recent Casper Pride crowd to vote for Cheney, while clearly acknowledging that many of the people at the event lean more liberal than the congresswoman.

Star-Tribune photographer Lauren Miller contributed to this report.

Follow state politics reporter Victoria Eavis on Twitter @Victoria_Eavis.

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Wyoming, Montana and the National Park Service will receive at least $65 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to repair damage caused by historic flooding nearly two weeks ago.

Of that sum, $60 million will go to the park, $2 million will go to Wyomings Department of Transportation and $3 million will go to Montanas Department of Transportation, according to a Thursday announcement.

The money comes from an emergency relief program from the Federal Highway Administration.

The $65 million is quick release funding, the announcement said. The National Park Service and state agencies can use the money to finance repairs and protect against future damage.

Yellowstone officials declare reopening a success A novel system that limits entry based on license plates appears to have helped prevent visitors from overwhelming the reopened half of Yellowstone National Park.

All three organizations could be getting more funds from the Federal Highway Administration down the road as officials work to assess the extent of the flooding damage.

The floods washed out roads and bridges across the Yellowstone region  cutting off access to the park and many of its surrounding communities, like Red Lodge and Gardiner, Montana.

Its a tourism hot spot for both states. Last week, residents and officials told the Star-Tribune they feared the natural disaster could spell doom for the regions economy.

As a tour guide, Im completely out of business. As a vacation rental, Im completely out of business Gardiner resident Deby Dixon said.

Repairing damage to infrastructure will be key to getting that business back.

While Yellowstone reopened its East, South and West gates Wednesday, its northern gates are still closed. Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly on Sunday said the park hopes to clear the remaining entrances by the end of the summer.

In 2021, Wyoming made $258 million in tax revenue from outside visitors, according to a report commissioned by the states tourism office. Thats 60% more than it made in 2020, the report said.

Yellowstone enjoyed record attendance in 2021. About 4.8 million people visited the park  1 million more than the year prior.

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The world's cultural and natural heritage is an important outcome of the development of human civilization and natural evolution. It is also an important vehicle for the exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations.



With 56 properties inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, China has rich cultural and natural resources. As a country with so many long-standing historical and uniquely natural sites, China has made great endeavors to maintain and strengthen local characteristics to protect its cultural civilization for the benefit of both the current and future generations.

Protection and conservation of heritage sites have not only effectively protected China's representative geological relics, the gorgeous mountains, forests, and lakes, as well as the rare animal and plant species, but it is also significant for the protection of the country's cultural relics and historic areas. This thereby brings economic benefits for local governments and the people.

Along with the development of its tourism industry and piquing the interest of visitors from across the world, these increasingly popular world heritage sites are bolstering related industries, such as catering, retail, and transportation. As such, local governments are able to utilize part of their income from these sectors as expenditure for cultural conservation works, such as by recruiting technical experts, purchasing sophisticated tools, and introducing the latest technology to conserve the sites.

Moreover, the Chinese government has stepped up efforts to arouse public awareness toward the conservation of cultural and natural heritage sites, inspiring their enthusiasm for the cultural relics and encouraging them to contribute their own efforts. Since 2006, China has celebrated Cultural Heritage Day on the second Saturday of June. In 2017, it was renamed Cultural and Natural Heritage Day.

In the face of ongoing concerns that an influx of visitors to heritage sites could pose irreversible damage to protected cities, towns, and villages in the long run, China has made great efforts to strike a balance between development and conservation. Part of these efforts is to understand that economic development should never come at the expense of the environment. While the underlying values matter, environmental implications are even more important.

To better ensure balanced development, the country aims to continue to formulate long-term sustainable development plans and strategies, which will ensure that its cultural and natural heritage sites are maintained in good integrity.

It is anticipated that authorities will impose both hard and soft measures to ensure the proper management and operation of cultural and natural heritage sites, and together with the joint efforts of the public and experience learned from other countries, China will continue to pursue sustainable development. This in turn will help it better protect its heritage and make contributions to the conservation of humanity overall.

Mathew Wong is an assistant professor in the Department of Social Sciences at the Education University of Hong Kong.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn.
Spending time with dogs can help reduce stress in children.

Thats according to a new study published in the journal PLOS ONE.

The study examined stress levels in children in the UK before and after spending 20 minutes with a trained dog and professional handler. The sessions were twice a week for four weeks.
A 16-year-old is expected to appear before a master of the Fyzabad Childrens Court on Monda
This year marks the 60th anniversary of Trinidad and Tobagos independence from colonial rule. The question is: how have we fared as an independent nation? Some may argue, this is a subjective question as success or failure can be viewed through the personal experiences of the individual. Others may take the view that 60 years is a relatively young age as far as nationhood goes, therefore, it is still too early to form a plausible opinion.
Will the 3,300 loaves of bread baked for distribution to the poor in Trinidad by the Progres
The main union representing workers at Tucson-based Asarco LLC says the company is illegally trying to withdraw recognition of the union at its Silver Bell Mine.

The United Steelworkers union has filed formal charges with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging Asarco has unlawfully and inappropriately refused to bargain while seeking to withdraw recognition of the union at the mine west of Marana.

The latest charges come as hearings on the NLRBs fifth amended complaint against Asarco  based on charges leveled by the unions since 2015  are set to begin in August, after being rescheduled from July 26.

In charges filed with the NLRB on June 16, the Steelworkers allege Asarco has refused to bargain in good faith by withdrawing recognition of the union at the Silver Bell facility without untainted, objective evidence that the union lacked majority support.

The company also has unilaterally changed wages for union employees without bargaining, in some cases, granting wage increases to some employees, while denying wage increases for others, in order to discourage membership in the union.

Under federal labor law, employers may withdraw recognition of a labor union if they can prove the union has lost the support of a majority of workers.

In a letter informing Asarco of the new NLRB charges, United Steelworkers District 12 Director Gaylan Prescott cited a June 14 letter from the company detailing its decision to withdraw its recognition of the Steelworkers at Silver Bell.

The union continues to enjoy majority support among bargaining unit employees, Prescott wrote. And, in any event, the companys two-plus years of unremedied unfair labor practices, which are now the subject of a fifth consolidated complaint, have tainted any evidence that you may have gathered suggesting a loss of majority status.

The latest charge comes as the unions main case against Asarco comes to a head with hearings before an NLRB administrative law judge planned to start Aug. 19 via videoconference, followed by in-person hearings tentatively to be held at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Phoenix.

The case, originally filed in 2015, is based on charges filed by the United Steelworkers and six other labor unions representing about 1,800 members at mines and processing plants in Arizona and Texas that the company unlawfully refused to bargain, improperly made unilateral work changes and engaged in coercion and other anti-union tactics.

The NLRB filed its initial complaint against Asarco in 2015 and has since consolidated charges involving different work sites and amended its complaint to add new charges filed by the unions.

Besides the Silver Bell mine, Asarco operates the Mission Mine in Sahuarita; the Ray Mine and Hayden smelter in central Arizona; and a refinery in Amarillo, Texas.

Asarcos unions went on strike in October 2019, rejecting the companys final offer and accusing the company and its Mexican parent, Grupo Mexico, of bargaining in bad faith.

In July 2020, the unions ended their strike and offered to return to work, while seeking a ruling that Asarco had engaged in unfair labor practices, which would require the company to reinstate striking workers.

Contact senior reporter David Wichner at dwichner@tucson.com or 520-573-4181. On Twitter: @dwichner. On Facebook: Facebook.com/DailyStarBiz

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On June 21 shortly after 11:30 p.m., deputies were sent to a shooting in the 3500 block of Silver Buckle Place, near East Secretariat Road, after a 911 caller said his friend was shot at the park and he was taking him to a hospital.
Longtime Tucson resident Phyllis Fingerett Broad, 92, passed away Tuesday, June 21, 2022 in St. Louis, Missouri. Born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, to Samuel and Bella Fingerett, Phyllis was the youngest of three siblings. She is pre-deceased by her sisters, Sophia Berkowitz and Ruth Levine. Phyllis was born on Black Monday, the beginning of an epic stock market crash in 1929 that preceded the Great Depression. Precocious and intelligent, Phyllis was the first in her family to graduate from college, earning her bachelor's degree in education from the University of Pittsburgh where she was Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude. She met and married her husband and life partner, Merrill Broad, when he returned to Uniontown after serving in the Navy in World War II. They were married for 65 years but had known each other for 70. Their first date, prophetically, was a musical called "If I'm Lucky." In 1959, the pair packed up their young family that included daughters Sherri and Amy, left their extended families behind, and headed out West to Tucson. Here in the desert their life bloomed and their family grew to include another daughter, Judy. They quickly became an integral part of the Jewish community as members of Congregation Anshei Israel, where Phyllis was involved in many aspects of synagogue life. During her 63-year membership, Phyllis served on the Hebrew school faculty as a teacher and assistant to the education director, served on the synagogue's board of directors in several roles including vice president, and worked for many years as an officer for the synagogue's Sisterhood, including president. She also served on the national board of Women's League and Tucson's Interfaith Council for Social Services. Phyllis was involved in adult religious education for over 40 years at the synagogue, as well, teaching Hebrew language and the introduction to Judaism class for those seeking to join the Jewish faith as converts. At a tribute dinner in 2007, Congregation Anshei Israel honored Phyllis and her husband, Merrill, for their countless contributions to the synagogue and Jewish community. While raising her young family, Phyllis decided to further her education, completing her master's in counseling and guidance from the University of Arizona in 1966. Years later, she put that degree to use as a social worker at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging where she worked for 13 years from 1985-1998. After her retirement, Phyllis returned to work with Handmaker Hospice for five more years. Phyllis was recognized for her service to the Jewish community and Handmaker in 2012 when she received the Eshet Chayil Woman of Valor award. Family was one of the most important things to Phyllis and her daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were her greatest source of joy and pride. She looked forward to spending holidays with family and was a puzzle and game master who loved playing with and teaching new games to all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Phyllis was an inspiration to all she met. She loved life and was a never-ending student of all this world had to offer. She lived her life to make a difference in others'  and she did. Phyllis Broad is survived by daughters Sherri Bloch (Rabbi Avi) of St. Louis, MO.; Amy Direnfeld (Dr. Robert) of Tucson; and Judy Sanfield (Phillip) of Torrance, CA.; nine grandchildren (Yitzhak, Elisheva, Chani, Devorah, Elayna, David, Zachary, Abigail and Sarah) and 28 great-grandchildren (Yehoshua, Aryeh, Rivkah, Leah, Mordechai, Esther Leeba, Nechama, Yaakov, Yisroel, Meir Simcha, Frumi, Rochel, Rivka Tova, Tamar, Tzippora, Batsheva, Shlomo, Aharon Mordechai, Yisroel Meir, Yosef, Devorah, Elchanan Tzvi, Moshe Ben-Zion, Yisrael, Ahuva, Gila, Zisi and Ariella Joy). The funeral will be at 1:00 p.m., Thursday, June 23, 2022 at EVERGREEN MORTUARY CHAPEL on Oracle Road. Rabbi Robert Eisen will officiate.
 Flash

Bulgaria's coalition government led by Kiril Petkov was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament on Wednesday.

In the 240-seat legislature, 123 deputies from the center-right GERB-UDF coalition (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria and Union of Democratic Forces), the centrist Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), the ultranationalist Revival party and the populist There Is Such A People (ITN) party voted against Petkov's government.

The motion required absolute majority support.

The no-confidence motion against the four-party coalition government was filed last Wednesday by GERB-UDF, the largest opposition force in Bulgaria's Parliament with 59 seats.

The move came just one week after the ITN leadership announced the party's exit from the ruling coalition.

Meanwhile, six of the 25 ITN lawmakers left the parliamentary group due to disagreement with this decision. They voted against the no-confidence motion.

Petkov's government was elected last December, backed by 134 members of Parliament (MPs) from Petkov's centrist We Continue the Change electoral alliance, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) for Bulgaria, the center-right Democratic Bulgaria electoral alliance and ITN.

This was the first successful no-confidence motion against a government in Bulgaria since the adoption of the country's Constitution in 1991.

Under the Constitution, Petkov shall hand in his government's resignation.

However, the parliamentary group of Petkov's We Continue the Change, which has 67 seats in Parliament, will be given another chance to stay in power, because following consultations with the parliamentary groups, the country's president shall appoint the prime minister-designate nominated by the party holding the highest number of seats in the National Assembly to form a government.

Should the prime minister-designate fail to form a government within seven days, the president shall entrust this task to a prime minister-designate nominated by the second largest parliamentary group.

Should the new prime minister-designate also fail to form a government, the president shall entrust the task to a prime minister-designate nominated by one of the minor parliamentary groups.

And should no agreement on the formation of a government be reached, the president shall appoint a caretaker government, dissolve the National Assembly and schedule new elections.
Senate OKs landmark gun violence bill, House passage is next

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Senate has approved a bipartisan gun violence bill. The vote late Thursday clears the way for expected House passage Friday of what will be Congress most far-reaching response in decades to the nations run of brutal mass shootings. Republicans have long derailed Democratic efforts to curb firearms. But after last month's mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, Democrats and some Republicans decided that congressional inaction was untenable. It took nearly a month of closed-door talks but a group of senators from both parties emerged with a compromise embodying incremental but impactful movement.

Hearing: Trump told Justice Dept. to call election 'corrupt'

WASHINGTON (AP)  Former top Justice Department officials have testified to the Jan. 6 committee that President Donald Trump hounded the department to pursue his false election fraud claims. They say he contacted the agencys leader virtually every day and strove in vain to enlist the governments top law enforcement officials in his desperate bid to stay in power. The House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol also revealed Thursday that several Republican loyalists in Congress who trumpeted the presidents claims later sought pardons from the White House after the effort failed.

COVID vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say

Scientists estimate that nearly 20 million lives were saved worldwide by COVID-19 vaccines during their first year. In a study published Thursday, they say even more deaths could have been prevented if global targets for vaccines had been reached. Scientists at Imperial College London used data from 185 countries to estimate how many deaths were prevented by the vaccination effort. They excluded China because of uncertainty around the pandemics effect on deaths there and its huge population. There are a lot of limitations in modeling studies, but independent experts agree that vaccines saved millions of lives.

After Supreme Court gun decision, whats next?

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court issued its biggest gun rights ruling in more than a decade Thursday. The justices said that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. Thats important because about half a dozen states have conditioned getting a license to carry a gun in public on the person demonstrating an actual need  sometimes called good cause or proper cause  to carry the weapon. In its decision, the Supreme Court struck down New Yorks proper cause requirement limiting who can carry a gun. Other states with similar laws acknowledged the decision would affect them. About one-quarter of the U.S. population lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling.

European Union makes Ukraine a candidate for EU membership

BRUSSELS (AP)  The European Unions leaders have agreed to make Ukraine a candidate for EU membership, setting in motion a potentially yearslong process that could draw the embattled country further away from Russias influence and bind it more closely to the West. Ukraine applied for membership less than a week after Moscow invaded on Feb. 24. The decision by the 27-nation bloc to grant Ukraine candidate status Thursday was uncharacteristically rapid. But the war and Ukraines request for fast-track consideration lent urgency to its cause. The EU also granted candidate status to Moldova, which borders Ukraine. Gaining membership could take years or even decades. Countries must meet a host of economic and political conditions, including the embrace of certain democratic principles.

Afghans bury dead, dig for survivors of devastating quake

GAYAN, Afghanistan (AP)  Villagers rushed to bury the dead and dug by hand through the rubble of homes in search of survivors after a devastating earthquake in eastern Afghanistan. Residents appeared to be largely on their own Thursday to deal with the aftermath as their new Taliban-led government and the international aid community struggled to help. State media said Wednesdays quake killed 1,000 people. An independent U.N. court said around 770 people had been killed in Paktika and Khost provinces. It's unclear how either sum was tallied given the difficulty of accessing or communicating with the affected areas, but the devastation was clear. Under a leaden sky, men dug several long trenches on a mountainside overlooking their village to bury the dead.

Uvalde victim's sister pleads for tougher gun laws in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  The sister of a 9-year-old girl killed in the Uvalde school shooting rampage has tearfully pleaded with Texas lawmakers to pass tougher gun laws and questioned why so many security measures failed. Jazmin Cazares on Thursday begged lawmakers to do something. Her young sister Jacklyn was one of 19 children shot dead inside Robb Elementary School on May 24 before police stormed the classroom and killed the gunman. Two teachers also died. The gunman was a former student, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos. Cazares' testimony came as the U.S. Supreme Court announced a decision allowing a major expansion of gun rights, saying Americans have a right to carry firearms in public.

Hong Kongers reflect on Taiwan, an imperfect exile

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  Coming to Taiwan was a logical step for Lam Wing-kee, a Hong Kong bookstore owner who was held by police in China for five months for selling sensitive books about the Communist Party. An island just 400 miles from Hong Kong, Taiwan is close not just geographically but also linguistically and culturally. It offered the freedoms that many Hong Kongers were used to and saw disappearing in their hometown since Beijing launched a crackdown on pro-democracy activists. While Taiwan has seemed an ideal hub, many Hong Kongers struggle trying to navigate the immigration system and suspicion by the self-ruled island's authorities who worry about a constant threat from mainland China. Some have gotten their residency permits but others went on to the U.K. and Canada.

Summer swelter: Persistent heat wave breaks records, spirits

A heat wave that's already lasted more than a week keeps on baking the US, Asia and even the Arctic. At least eight US states Thursday hit 100 degrees, that's after 12 did that on Wednesday. Records keep falling. A city in the Russian Arctic hit nearly 90 degrees. This early summer heat wave looks and feels more like August. Scientists say it has all the hallmarks of climate change. In Macon, Georgia, the temperature ramped from 64 to 105 degrees on Wednesday and then hit 104, a further record, on Thursday.

Magic take Banchero 1st, Holmgren, Smith follow in NBA draft

NEW YORK (AP)  The Orlando Magic selected Duke freshman Paolo Banchero with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. After leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four in coach Mike Krzyzewskis final season, the 6-foot-10 forward was called first by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to begin the draft, beating out fellow first-year forwards Jabari Smith Jr. and Chet Holmgren. Banchero, wearing a purple suit full of bling, received a loud ovation inside Barclays Center, where Duke lost in the ACC Tournament final.

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PERRYVILLE, Ark. (AP)  A man being booked into a central Arkansas jail on drug charges pulled out a gun and fatally shot a guard before someone disarmed him, authorities said Thursday.

Jeremiah Story, a 21-year-old detention officer at the Perry County jail in Perryville, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, died at a hospital early Thursday, the State Police said in a news release.

Roderick Lewis, 37, shot Story in a bathroom late Wednesday night while Lewis was changing out of civilian clothes and into jail issued attire, said the State Police, which was asked to investigate by the county sheriff's office. A State Police spokesman said Lewis used a gun he had with him when he entered the jail. Lewis was charged with capital murder Thursday afternoon in Story's death.

It was not clear Thursday afternoon if Lewis has an attorney representing him.

Lewis, of North Little Rock, was arrested earlier Wednesday evening and was being detained on drug and drug paraphernalia charges.

A witness to the shooting was able to disarm Lewis, who was later transferred to the Faulkner County Detention Center in Conway, police said.

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SANTIAGO (AP)  Chiles new left-leaning government is doing away with the office of the first lady in an effort to transform a role that both the president and his partner have characterized as archaic.

The first lady will now be known as the sociocultural coordinator of the republics presidency, the government said in a news release Wednesday.

The administration of President Gabriel Boric got to that title after having to backtrack on an effort to give the role a makeover by declaring the office once known as the first ladys Cabinet would be changed to Irina Karamanos Cabinet, using the name of the presidents partner.

The move, which became public Tuesday, quickly drew accusations from many members of the opposition that the government was trying to personalize an institutional role in the government.

The governments spokesperson, Camila Vallejo, said the change amounted to an administrative error and the reference to Irina Karamanos Cabinet was removed from the executives website Wednesday morning.

Our main interest is to move forward with our commitment to transform the role, Karamanos wrote on Twitter explaining the change.

Both Boric, who at 36 was sworn is as Chiles youngest-ever president in March, and Karamanos had publicly talked about their desire to remake the first ladys office.

In January, Karamanos said she agreed to take on the role traditionally called first lady, with the commitment to reformulate it.

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  The family of a man who died in custody after being shot with a stun gun filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the city of Indianapolis and six police officers.

The estate of Herman Whitfield III is seeking compensatory and punitive damages following the 39-year-old pianists death April 25 inside his parents home in Indianapolis.

The man's mother, Gladys Whitfield, said they were trying to get help for him when they called police.

We thought we were availing ourselves of services that they provide and they killed our son, Gladys Whitfield said. Im just very disappointed and sad about what happened. I couldnt be more sad.

The lawsuit claims the officers used a stun gun on Whitfield and then crushed the breath out of an unarmed, non-violent Mr. Whitfield.

The lawsuit also claims the officers ignored Whitfields cries of I cant breathe.

Police Chief Randal Taylor and citys Office of Corporation Counsel declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Responding officers were told Whitfield was experiencing a mental health issue and needed an ambulance, police said.

Officers had tried negotiating and using de-escalation tactics for more than 10 minutes when Whitfield moved quickly toward an officer, police said.

The officer activated the Taser twice and the man continued to resist, police said in a news release at the time.

Officers handcuffed the man, but medics received no response from him, and they began CPR, police said. Whitfield was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Officers described the man as about 6-foot-2 (1.9 meters) and around 280 pounds (127 kilograms) pounds.

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CLEVELAND (AP)  A onetime ally of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pleaded guilty in Miami on Thursday for taking $3.8 million in bribes in exchange for steering lucrative oil contracts from foreign-owned joint ventures to officials in Venezuela's socialist government and military.

Jhonnathan Marin served as mayor of the port city of Guanta for nearly a decade until 2017, when he abruptly resigned and fled Venezuela amid a major purge at state-run oil giant PDVSA. The government of Chavez's successor, Nicolas Maduro, later ordered his arrest on corruption charges and banned him from running for public office.

He quietly surrendered in Miami in April on a single count of conspiring to commit an offense against the U.S., a lesser charge that carries a maximum term of five years in prison. He was released the same day on a $100,000 bond, according to court records.

As part of the plea agreement signed Thursday, he agreed to cooperate fully with federal agents investigating widespread corruption inside Venezuela.

According to a statement accompanying the plea agreement, Marin admitted that he took $3.8 million from an unnamed co-conspirator to use his position to influence officials at PDVSA joint ventures with Chevron as well as firms from Europe, Russia and China.

Some of the proceeds of the bribery scheme were then transferred into bank accounts in South Florida for the benefit of Marin, his family and others. The illegal funds were used in part to purchase property in South Florida and the use of private jets.

Theres no indication in the complaint that any of PDVSAs foreign partners participated or were even aware of the bribery scheme.

But between 2015 and 2017, Marin directed the head procurement officer at Petrocedeno  an oil company then owned by PDVSA with France's Total and Norway's Equinor  to award tens of millions of dollars in contracts to companies belonging to his unnamed co-conspirator.

Marin, 43, was an early adherent to Chavezs Fifth Republic Movement and in 2008 was elected mayor of Guanta, a city at the gateway to the Orinoco Oil Belt, home to the worlds largest oil reserves and about half of Venezuelas current production.

He is being represented by Michael Nadler, a former federal prosecutor in Miami who made a name for himself targeting corruption in Maduros inner circle.

Follow Goodman on Twitter: @APJoshGoodman

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NEW YORK (AP)  An associate of Rudy Giuliani who was convicted of campaign finance crimes at trial and later pleaded guilty to a separate fraud charge is asking that he be spared from prison at his sentencing next week, but prosecutors on Wednesday recommended that he be ordered to spend over six years in prison.

Lawyers for Lev Parnas made the request to a Manhattan federal judge in papers that were filed publicly Wednesday. The papers were dated June 15 but were kept sealed for a week while redactions were agreed to.

Prosecutors filed their own sentencing arguments Wednesday, saying Parnas should serve at least 6 1/2 years in prison for pumping foreign money" into U.S. elections, making straw donations with other peoples' money, lying to the Federal Election Commission and defrauding investors of over $2 million to fund his lavish lifestyle.

For years, prosecutors argued, Parnas has lied and swindled and corrupted for his own benefit." They said he had put himself above this country, his investors and the public."

Parnas, 50, faces sentencing June 29 after he was convicted in October at a Manhattan trial of six charges alleging he made illegal donations in 2018 to jump-start a new energy company and used the wealth of a Russian financier to donate to politicians who might aid the launch of a legal recreational-marijuana business.

In March, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud, saying that between 2012 and 2019 he conspired with another person to give investors false information about a Florida-based business, Fraud Guarantee.

Fraud Guarantee was promoted as a company that could protect investors against fraud.

In their presentencing submission, lawyers for the Soviet-born businessman argued that their client deserves leniency in part because he cooperated with Congress, calling it timely and material."

Prosecutors, though, said information Parnas provided Congress was in response to a subpoena and falls far short of the extraordinary conduct and cooperation that can earn individuals leniency at sentencing.

Defense lawyers said his efforts to cooperate with federal prosecutors were not successful because they used information he offered in a bid for a plea deal mainly to thwart his potential trial testimony, rather than to consider his attempt to provide substantial assistance in good faith."

But prosecutors countered that the information Parnas offered them was not fully credible and in material respects was plainly contradicted by the evidence." Thus, they said, they had serious concerns about Parnas's credibility and candor."

Defense lawyers recommended a sentence of time served  roughly 12 days.

Parnas several years ago worked with Giuliani to try to get Ukrainian officials to investigate the son of President Joe Biden, who was a candidate at the time. Giuliani has said he knew nothing about the crimes of Parnas and others.

Giuliani  a former New York City mayor who served as Donald Trumps personal lawyer during part of his presidency  has not been criminally charged, though federal authorities have acknowledged that he is being investigated to determine whether he violated a federal law that governs lobbying on behalf of foreign countries or entities.

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LAS VEGAS (AP)  A knife-wielding psychiatric patient fatally stabbed one man and wounded another inside a Las Vegas hospital Thursday, according to police.

The stabbings occurred in a secured area where psychiatric patients are treated at University Medical Center, said Lt. Jason Johansson, a spokesperson for Las Vegas Metropolitan Police.

Johansson said how the suspect, a man in his 40s, obtained the knife was under investigation.

The suspects name wasnt immediately released by police and neither were the identities of the two stabbing victims, both men in their 20s.

Johansson said the suspect left his room early Thursday morning and went to an adjacent one and got into an argument with the first patient, who was in soft restraints when he was attacked and fatally stabbed.

The assailant then went into a hallway and began stabbing a man who was on a gurney.

That victim thankfully was able to get up and flee toward the exit door to that area of the hospital along with a charge nurse who was in that area, Johansson said.

The extent of the second man's injuries weren't immediately available.

Within about a minute, security within the hospital responded to the area where the double doors are that are secured going into that area and the suspect went back into his room, according to Johansson.

He said corrections officers happened to be at the hospital at the time on an unrelated assignment and they took the suspect into custody without incident.

Johansson said the stabbings occurred in an area where psychiatric patients receive treatment such as Legal 2000.

Authorities said people are placed on a Legal 2000 hold when they are considered a danger to themselves or others, and they can be held for up to 72 hours of psychiatric observation.

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PIERRE, S.D. (AP)  The South Dakota Senate's decision this week to remove Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg from office was an emphatic victory for Gov. Kristi Noem, whose hard-driving effort to oust her fellow Republican likely sealed his fate even as some GOP lawmakers backed him.

Noem, who has sprung to national prominence within the party and is widely considered a potential 2024 White House contender, began pushing Ravnsborg to step down within days after he struck and killed a pedestrian with his car in September 2020. He refused but was removed Tuesday through impeachment proceedings, with the Senate voting to convict the first-term Republican and then  unanimously  prohibiting him from holding public office again.

Noem pressed impeachment through the Republican-controlled Legislature, providing crucial support on an effort that at times faced razor-thin vote margins. Though her aggressive approach riled some lawmakers, Ravnsborg's ouster allows Noem to name his replacement, discredit a one-time adversary who had investigated her and claim political independence because she held a fellow Republican accountable.

Noem celebrated the impeachment conviction Tuesday on Twitter, saying a dark cloud over the attorney general's office had been lifted.

It is now time to move on and begin to restore confidence in the office, Noem said.

She has endorsed Ravnsborgs predecessor, Marty Jackley, for the Republican nomination for attorney general, but it's not clear whether he will be her choice to fill the job temporarily until the candidate elected in November is sworn-in. Noem and Jackley ran a biting primary campaign for governor in 2018, and their mutual endorsement came as a surprising development as the House evaluated the merits of impeachment earlier this year.

Noem could wait to name the interim attorney general until after Saturday, when the South Dakota Republican Party decides its nominee for the November election.

The votes against Ravnsborg in the GOP-dominated Senate showed that senators didn't believe his account of the crash. Ravnsborg had told a 911 dispatcher the night of the crash that he might have struck a deer or other large animal and has said he didnt know he struck a man  55-year-old Joseph Boever  until he returned to the scene the next morning.

Noem's advocacy for Ravnsborg's removal  and his refusal to step down  roiled state politics that are overwhelmingly dominated by Republicans.

After Ravnsborg was quietly pressured to take a leave of absence by Noems chief of staff three days after the crash and later faced public calls from the governor for his resignation, he showed an increasing willingness to disrupt the political establishment by taking up investigations into the governor and those aligned with her.

In an April letter sent to House lawmakers on the eve of the impeachment vote, Ravnsborg said he would not resign in part because his office has multiple ongoing investigations into the Governors alleged activities and people associated with her.

Ravnsborg made a pair of complaints to the state's Government Accountability Board, which evaluates ethics complaints against state government officials. The board is set to meet Monday as it weighs whether to investigate both Noem's use of state airplanes to attend political events and her interference in a state agency that had denied her daughter a real estate appraiser license.

The friction between the governor and Ravnsborg possibly led Ravnsborg to be more diligent of a watchdog of the governors office, said Jon Schaff, a political science professor at Northern State University who closely watches Statehouse politics.

Even impeachment proceedings gave Ravnsborg reason to investigate Noems circle. When an organization created to promote the governors agenda sponsored billboards attacking lawmakers for not supporting Ravnsborgs impeachment, his office probed whether the organization broke campaign finance laws.

Before the crash, the attorney general's office had also launched an investigation into the state's richest man, T. Denny Sanford, for potential possession of child pornography. While Noem refused to distance herself from Sanford and accepted several donations from him on behalf of the state totaling more than $100 million, Ravnsborg continued to evaluate charges against Sanford.

The attorney general's office last month indicated it would not pursue state charges against Sanford.

The timing rankled Republican lawmakers who were supportive of Ravnsborg and pointed out it came as Ravnsborg was forced to take a leave of absence pending the Senate impeachment trial.

The Denny Sanford case just mysteriously went away, said Republican House Speaker Spencer Gosch, who clashed with the governor during impeachment proceedings.

The governor received sharp criticism from some Republicans for goading an impeachment investigation committee forward, as well as in 2021 releasing videos of Ravnsborg's interviews with criminal investigators while a trial was pending.

She does not want anyone who won't bend to her will, said Gosch, who recently lost a primary legislative race when the governor supported his opponent, Sen. Bryan Breitling. It cost the state of South Dakota and it cost the Republican Party.

The House committee that Gosch oversaw recommended against impeachment, but Noem was not deterred. Her administration pressed lawmakers to vote for impeachment, and two articles of impeachment passed by a single vote in the Republican-controlled House.

The Senate's vote on the first impeachment charge  committing crimes causing Boever's death  passed Tuesday without a vote to spare. The Senate convicted him on the second charge with a comfortable margin, then unanimously voted to permanently bar him from holding state office.

Schaff, the political science professor, said the vote showed both a victory of the facts brought by the prosecution and a political victory for Noem.

Nick Nemec, Boevers cousin who has also pressed for Ravnsborgs ouster in the Legislature where he once held a seat as a Democrat, said he was grateful Noem fought for Ravnsborg's removal.

Gov. Noem is a polarizing figure," he said. Theres a lot of stuff she says and does that I disagree with wholeheartedly, but Im sure glad she was on our side on this issue.

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The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a New York state law that had restricted who could obtain a permit to carry a gun in public. Under the law in place since 1913, New York residents needed to show proper cause, or an actual need, to carry a concealed handgun in public for self-defense..

The justices said that law conflicts with the Second Amendment's right to bear arms. It drew swift reaction from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who called the decision reckless and said she was prepared to call the Legislature back into session to form a response.

We do not need people entering our subways, our restaurants and movie theaters with concealed weapons," she said. "We dont need more guns on our streets.

New York and a half a dozen other states with similar laws now must decide their next steps. As with New York, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island all have legislatures controlled by Democrats who could propose measures to ensure that guns will not be allowed in certain places.

Gun rights groups in those states have vowed to continue pushing back against what they view as restrictive gun control laws. Some of those cases eventually could make their way to the nation's high court. A rundown of the similar laws in the other states, reaction to the Supreme Court ruling and what could happen next:

CALIFORNIA

The courts ruling will likely affect Californias strict permitting laws, said Californias attorney general and gun owners rights organizations.

Attorney General Rob Bonta told California law enforcement agencies in a letter earlier this month that given Californias similar, good cause standard, the decision may impact California laws regarding the carrying of firearms in public places. He said many aspects of Californias law might remain untouched, despite the ruling.

Nearly two-thirds of Californias 58 counties already eased their standards for granting concealed weapons permits after a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the states concealed carry standard in 2014, said attorney Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle and Pistol Association.

They kept the more permissive standard even after a larger appellate panel reversed the decision two years later, said Michel, who wrote a book on Californias strict gun laws.

At issue is the standard that local officials  usually sheriffs, but sometimes police chiefs  use when considering who should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon outside the house. Gun rights advocates say the court overturning the New York law means California must join the 43 states that have what are considered shall issue standards. Those generally require officials to issue permits unless there is some reason that an individual should be denied.

Of Californias 58 counties, 37 already grant permits if an applicant requests it for self defense. That effectively makes them shall issue counties, advocates said. The other 21 counties have tighter standards, for example requiring applicants to demonstrate that they have business-related or professional risks that justify them being armed.

The Supreme Court decision not only affirms that laws prohibiting licensed public concealed carry of firearms for self-defense violates the Constitution, but also that courts have been applying the wrong approach to evaluating the constitutionality of gun control laws, Michel said.

Michels organization plans to immediately send the 21 counties legal notices that they must ease their standards in light of the Supreme Courts decision. He also plans to ask the 9th Circuit to rule on his latest legal challenge to Californias good cause standard, a decision that has been on hold awaiting the U. S. Supreme Courts decision in the New York case.

Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, said his organization expects to quickly sue California to force it to adopt the standard set in the New York decision, and to sue local jurisdictions if they dont adopt the high courts ruling.

HAWAII

Hawaii has among the strictest gun laws in the nation. So strict, said attorney Alan Beck, that Hawaii essentially bans carrying guns outside the home. It has been practically impossible to get a permit to carry a loaded gun in public, he said. In the past 22 years, there have been four permits issued in Hawaii, said Beck, who represents various residents challenging Hawaii gun laws.

The state attorney generals office has argued that its not a flat-out ban because people can carry firearms if they have good cause. County police chiefs in Hawaii have had the discretion in determining whether to issue a carry permit, something the Supreme Court now says is too restrictive. Without a carry permit, people have been allowed to keep firearms in the home and can transport them  unloaded and locked up  to firing ranges and other limited locations such as for repairs.

One of Becks clients is George Young, a Big Island resident who wants to carry a gun for self-defense. Young doesnt care if its concealed or open carry. The favorable ruling in the New York case means Youngs lawsuit would prevail, Beck said.

The Hawaii Rifle Association anticipates that lawmakers now will work to make it difficult to obtain permits, whether its outrageous training requirements or exorbitant fees, said Kainoa Kaku, the associations president.

Were prepared to train potential concealed carry permit holders for whatever ridiculous requirements the state is going to ask of them, Kaku said.

State Sen. Chris Lee said lawmakers have been getting ready by introducing bills in the last couple of years that would establish training for those who are licensed to carry weapons. He called Thursday's ruling frustrating.

I think theres going to be a rush to figure out how states can intervene and ensure public safety, he said, adding that lawmakers will be looking at screening, training requirements and ways to keep guns out of public spaces.

Chris Marvin, a Hawaii resident with Everytown for Gun Safety, said lawmakers also could consider legislation that carefully vets applicants for a carry permit and rules to keep guns out of locations such as protests, polling places, state land and schools.

Allowing nearly all civilians to carry guns would be a big cultural shift for Hawaii, Marvin said.

We live in a place that a lot of people call paradise, and theyre usually talking about the weather. But from a safety standpoint and violence standpoint, we live in a place that is a relative paradise to the rest of the country," he said. "We are not perfect and we certainly have our share of violent incidences, but it would be really strange to be walking down Waikiki Beach and see someone with a side arm visibly on their hip.

MARYLAND

Under current law, a gun owner in Maryland has to show a good or substantial reason to carry a concealed gun. That could include showing a persons life is in danger from threats or that they work in a job that could put them in contact with people who are dangerous.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said the laws are similar to New York's, but they take different approaches. He said he was examining today's ruling to determine its impact on the state.

Todays decision means more deaths and more pain in a country already awash in gun violence," Frosh said in a statement. "If the norm is that people can carry firearms, our neighborhoods, our streets and other public places will become more dangerous. It will make the lives of law enforcement more difficult and more perilous.

The epidemic of gun violence sweeping our nation demonstrates daily the folly of introducing more guns into this boiling cauldron.

Opponents to the law in Maryland already have sued, in a case that has been on hold in the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, pending the ruling in the New York case.

Mark Pennak, president of Maryland Shall Issue, a gun-rights group that is challenging the Maryland law, said the group is absolutely ecstatic about the courts ruling.

It confirms what weve always believed  that the right of self-defense extends outside the home, he said.

Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne Jones, who are both Democrats, said they will review the ruling and pass new gun control legislation if necessary.

More guns in public means more violence, and more violence means more death and heartache everywhere. This is the wrong answer," they said in a joint statement. The Second Amendment permits reasonable restrictions on the right to carry a firearm.

MASSACHUSETTS

Massachusetts law had given local police chiefs the power to decide whether someone is suitable to have a license to carry a handgun. Police chiefs have been able to deny applicants if they determine that the person would pose a risk to public safety, for reasons such as a history of domestic violence. Those who are denied can appeal to their local district court.

The law says those deemed suitable can get a license to carry if they show good reason to fear injury to themselves or their property or for any other reason, including for use in sport or target practice only.

Whats considered a good reason has been up to police chiefs, who vary in what they require of applicants to meet that standard. Some demand that applicants show they have a reason to fear injury that distinguishes them from the general population in order to get an unrestricted license.

Massachusetts courts have ruled that if someone cant show a good reason to fear injury, police chiefs can put restrictions on licenses that limit when someone can carry a firearm.

State Attorney General Maura Healey said Thursday that she stands by the states commonsense gun laws and will continue to vigorously defend and enforce them. The office has not responded to questions from The Associated Press about to what extent Massachusetts law will be affected by the ruling.

Jason Guida, former director of the Massachusetts Firearms Records Bureau who now works as a lawyer representing gun owners, said he expects to see a flurry of challenges to gun licensing restrictions in certain communities, like Boston, that courts have upheld in the past.

Communities that restrict gun owners licenses for certain purposes unless applicants show a special need for self-defense will need to rewrite their policies: Otherwise, theres a strong likelihood in the very near future that these communities will find themselves in federal court, he said.

State Rep. David Linksy, a Democrat who has advocated for gun control measures, said he is still examining the ruling but is deeply concerned about its potential effect on police chiefs ability to use their discretion when issuing gun licenses.

The end result is there will be an increase in gun violence," he said. There will be people killed, there will be people injured, and we will all be less safe.

A federal judge wrote in a 2017 case that Massachusetts law is in some respects less restrictive than New Yorks because Massachusetts allows  but doesnt demand that police chiefs require applicants to demonstrate a special need for self-defense before being issued an unrestricted license.

Democratic state Rep. Michael Day, House chair of the Legislatures Judiciary Committee, said that lawmakers are trying to sort out what actions they will take in response to the ruling.

Were taking a look at that to see exactly what it means and what it doesnt, but anything thats been loosened up were confident we will be able to tighten back up, he said.

NEW JERSEY

New Jersey residents no longer must prove justifiable need to carry a handgun in light of the Supreme Courts decision Thursday, but permits are still required, the states top law enforcement officer said.

Acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a phone interview that the high courts ruling in the New York state case effectively struck down New Jerseys requirement that residents seeking carry permits show they face significant threats and have a justifiable need to get a carry permit.

But, he added, the other requirements under New Jersey law still stand. Among them is safety training and a prohibition against certain convicts. As for how soon the change goes into effect, Platkin said he will issue guidance imminently.

New Jerseys gun laws are among the tightest in the nation and got even stricter after former Republican Gov. Chris Christie left office in 2018. He was succeeded by Democrat Phil Murphy, who signed a handful of new bills into law.

Among them were magazine size restrictions and a red flag law. Getting a carry permit in New Jersey is widely considered difficult, and the states justifiable need requirement paralleled New Yorks proper cause provision that was just thrown out by the high court.

On Thursday, Murphy called the Supreme Court decision tragic.

Based on a deeply flawed constitutional methodology, a right-wing majority on the United States Supreme Court has just said that states can no longer decide for ourselves how best to limit the proliferation of firearms in the public sphere," he said.

Gun rights advocates in New Jersey hailed the ruling. Scott Bach, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, said it spells the end for New Jerseys decades-long interference with the peoples fundamental right of self-defense with a firearm outside the home.

Gun rights groups already are challenging New Jerseys right-to-carry laws in courts, as well as the magazine limit. Those cases are pending.

___

NEW YORK

The New York law struck down Thursday, in place since 1913, said that to carry a handgun outside the home, a person applying for a license had to demonstrate proper cause, an actual need to carry the weapon.

The law doesnt define what proper cause means and gave local officials  often a police department or town justice  discretion when deciding whether to issue licenses. In practice, it meant most applicants had to show a need that went beyond routine public safety concerns, like being in a profession that put them at special risk.

Lawmakers could add new permitting conditions now that the court has ruled, such as requiring firearm training or a mental health evaluation, or disqualifying applicants with certain types of criminal convictions.

Lawmakers also could pass a law specifying where people cant carry concealed weapons  a list that could include public transit systems, school zones, bars, parks, government offices or polling places.

Supporters of New Yorks handgun limits have said one of their fears is that by creating a marketplace for handguns that now barely exists in the state, it will lead to more pistols getting into the hands of prohibited buyers.

RHODE ISLAND

The state attorney generals office said there are similarities between Rhode Island's law and the one in New York that was struck down, but also important differences between the two states statutory schemes for concealed carry permits.

Rhode Island has separate laws dealing with permits issued from municipalities and permits issued from the state attorney generals office. In 2018, the office filed an amicus brief in a case to defend the constitutionality of a Massachusetts gun law, noting that Rhode Islands concealed carry permit has been upheld by the Rhode Island Supreme Court. The court found that the state constitutional right to keep and bear arms is an individual right, subject to reasonable regulation by the state.

The attorney general and governors offices said they would review the Supreme Court decision for its impacts on the state. The Rhode Island 2nd Amendment Coalition did not immediately respond to requests for comment about whether it would seek to challenge the permitting process in Rhode Island.

Any response from the legislature would likely have to wait until next year, but Democratic state Rep. Robert Craven said Thursday he wasnt surprised by the ruling.

I see the court headed in that direction, he said. Its taking a stricter interpretation that the Second Amendment is absolute -- It says what it says, you have a right to bear arms.

Craven, an attorney and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, questioned whether the court will now use that same thought process for cases about banning military-style weapons.

Associated Press writers Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey; Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu; Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island; Alanna Durkin Richer and Steve LeBlanc in Boston; Don Thompson in Sacramento, California; Marina Villeneuve in Albany, New York; and Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Security Council extends term of Brammertz as UN tribunal prosecutor

Xinhua) 08:49, June 23, 2022

UNITED NATIONS, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution to extend the term of Serge Brammertz of Belgium as prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals for another two years, till June 30, 2024.

Resolution 2637 was adopted 14-0 with one abstention.

The mechanism was created by the Security Council in 2010 to perform the remaining functions of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) following the completion of those tribunals' respective mandates.

The resolution asks states to fully cooperate with the mechanism. It urges all states, especially those where fugitives are suspected to be at large, to intensify their cooperation with and render all necessary assistance to the mechanism, in particular, to achieve the arrest and surrender of all remaining fugitives indicted by the ICTR as soon as possible. It asks states to cooperate to enforce sentences pronounced by the ICTR, the ICTY, and the mechanism.

It notes with concern that the mechanism continues to face problems in the relocation of acquitted persons and convicted persons who have completed serving their sentence, and emphasizes the importance of finding expeditious and durable solutions to these problems.

Brammertz has been the chief prosecutor of the mechanism since March 2016.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Hongyu)
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday assured eastern partners of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of Germany's solidarity.

NATO partners in eastern Europe "can rely on Germany," Scholz said during his government declaration in the lower house of parliament Bundestag.

NATO leaders will meet in Madrid, Spain next week. The upcoming meeting would send a "signal of cohesion and determination," said Scholz.

A central topic of the summit will be Finland's and Sweden's applications for membership, which have so far been blocked by Turkey.

Recent developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict will also be discussed at the EU summit starting in Brussels on Thursday. EU countries seek to address issues including the global food security crisis.

Germany and its western allies had to prepare for a lengthy reconstruction process and talk about a "Marshall Plan for Ukraine," said Scholz.
PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. (AP)  A swimmer was seriously injured in a shark attack on the central California coast Wednesday, police said.

The attack occurred at midmorning at Lovers Point Beach in Pacific Grove, about 85 miles (137 kilometers) south of San Francisco, the Pacific Grove Police Department said in a statement.

The swimmer, a man, suffered significant injuries from the shark bite, and was taken to a hospital, police said.

City officials said he had injuries to his stomach and leg.

A friend, Jill Hannley, identified the swimmer as Stephen Bruemmer, a retired Monterey Penninsula College professor in his 60s. He suffered a broken femur but he was awake and was expected to recover, she told KION-TV.

Nearby swimmers and surfers towed the injured man to the beach on a surfboard, where other good Samaritans began first aid before he was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

I was nervous, I have to admit, rescuer Amee Johns told KNTV-TV. I was very nervous because I was at one point off my paddleboard and I was swimming and kicking because the surfer was pulling him and I was pushing from behind.

It wasn't immediately clear what age, sex or type of shark attacked. Firefighters deployed a drone to search for the shark, but there were no immediate sightings.

Police said the beach at Lovers Point, on the south end of Monterey Bay, will remain closed until Saturday.

Shark attacks in California are rare. However, Tomas Butterfield, 42, of Sacramento was killed in a shark attack in Morro Bay in central California last Christmas Eve.

It was the only unprovoked fatal shark attack in the United States last year.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Whether you love or hate Tucson's scorching summer temperatures and capricious monsoons, our city does slow down when the snowbirds and students leave. Luckily for those of us who stick around, several courageous restaurateurs have recently opened their eateries, ready for us to enjoy in our slower season.

Here are 8 new restaurants that opened this spring in Tucson  and 7 more on the horizon.

Ezbachi

This hibachi restaurant revolutionized the genre by taking the performance element out of the experience. You can get a variety of grill-fried proteins with classic starches like udon noodles and fried rice without all the fuss.

Their Congress Street location is their first outpost in Tucson, but the restaurant got its start in Phoenix as a hibachi food truck. Owner Geraldo Jerry Curiel started the business to help support his family when he welcomed a baby during the pandemic.

The restaurant's logo features the controversial rising sun flag, in some cases edited to look like the Arizona flag. Jerry chose the iconography because of its continued use in Japan.

Location: 63 E. Congress St.

Hours: Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays. Dinner is served from 5-10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday | 5-11 p.m. Thursday | 5 p.m. to midnight Friday-Saturday | Sunday service runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Price: Lunch menu ranges from $15-$22. Dinner entrees cost $20-$42 depending on the protein.

For more information, check out their Instagram page.

Licks Catalina

If youre looking for handmade ice cream in the Oracle area, this is the new spot! They make limited-edition flavors (revealed through obsession-worthy Instagram reels), cereal-infused ice creams, bubble waffle cones and a variety of espresso drinks.

Location: 16130 N. Oracle Road in Catalina

Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday

Price: Single scoops cost $3.50. A signature dessert cone costs $7.25.

For more information, check out their Instagram page.

Noodies

If youre missing Ceres while it closes for summer break, never fear  sister restaurant Noodies just opened, now with extended hours while Ceres is on pause. While certain menu items are similar across restaurants, owner Carolyn OConnor calls Noodies her second wild child with decor inspired by Hong Kongs diners and fun noodle-themed murals.

If Ceres menu is inspired by rustic Italy, Noodies better reflects the Italian-American heritage Carolyn grew up around in Syracuse, New York. Noodies offers house-made pasta and soft-serve gelato alongside an extended menu of sandwiches and ~pasta fries~ in the University area.

Location: 1730 E. Speedway

Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday-Sunday | 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday

Price: Entrees cost between $11-$13. Sandwiches between $7.50-$10. Gelato is $4.

For more information, check out their website or our story.

On The Rocks

This east-side restaurant offers a classic grill menu of burgers, wings and flatbreads alongside a fun drink menu. With these components, and a family-run atmosphere, it could be your next neighborhood hangout.

Location: 7930 E. Speedway

Hours: 11-2 a.m daily. Kitchen is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday | 11 a.m. to midnight Friday-Saturday

Price: Classic OTR burgers cost $14 and include a side. Signature cocktails cost between $8-$12.

For more information, check out their website.

Peace, Love & Pops

This popsicle boutique has finally landed on University Boulevard! Their creative bases include juice, cream, and dog-friendly options.

Location: 845 E. University Blvd.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Saturday | 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday

Price: Juice-based pops cost $3.75. Dairy-based pops cost $4.25. Pup pops cost $3.

For more information, check out their website.

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The Pit

The Pit is a venue for food trucks more than a restaurant proper  but make no mistake, the outdoor venue is a culinary force of its own. Their roster features some outstanding food, from homemade Lebanese wraps to mouthwateringly over-the-top barbecue. They offer free live music on Friday nights and are located right off The Loop bike trail.

The Pits location is in a former abandoned gas station on the east side. The Scooby Doo-like setting was revamped by co-owners Amber Donahue and Chris Frisch into a beer den where fridges are well-stocked with cold drinks, with a limited bar menu in the heart of the operation.

Location: 7889 E. 22nd St.

Hours: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily | Check individual vendors for details.

Price: Varies by vendor.

For more information, check out their website or our story.

Texas Burrito Company

Its name says it all: this Sonoran-Texas fusion restaurant combines south Texas wood-smoked meats with Tucsons salsas and tortillas. Its the first solo venture of the Scott family, who co-owns the cult classic BBQ Rush (hidden in the middle of a KOA campground near South Country Club Road and East Benson Highway).

Location: 1570 E. Tucson Marketplace Blvd.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily

Price: Burritos cost $13 each.

For more information, check out their website or our story.

Tooleys Cafe

After six years, this Tucson classic finally reopened in Lost Barrio, with their original menu from 1989. The restaurant was Patricia Schwabes first venture. She now owns the restaurant Penca, with its central-Mexican menu, and the hip bar Owls Club. Tooleys offers a brunch menu of corn cakes, burritos and tacos. In the time since Tooleys closed, regulars missed their turkey tacos and plate-sized cookies. Nows your chance to try!

Location: 299 S. Park Ave.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday

Price: Breakfast entrees average around $10-$11. Lunch ranges anywhere from $6-$12. Breakfast comes with side of fruit, lunch with a side salad. House-made bevs are $4 each.

For more information, check out their Instagram.

Restaurants coming soon

As Ten55 Brewing Co. expands to a larger production space in midtown, their old downtown spot will become home to Blue Front. This new venture from Tooleys Cafe, Penca and Owls Club owner Patricia Schwabe will feature a classic diner menu of burgers, milkshakes and tuna melts. Its name nods to an old department store that sold clothes to Tucsonans downtown in the early 1900s. For more information, check out our recent coverage.

Main Gate Square is getting a new Mexican restaurant, run by the masterminds behind Gentle Bens and now Bacio Italiano. For more information, read our recent coverage.

Many Tucsonans already love Houldens Rise Above from their vegan pastries at coffee shops like Coffee Times, Presta and Red Captain Coffee. Soon well be able to buy directly from Hannah Houldens brick and mortar in midtown. For more information, check out their website.

Mojo Cuban Kitchen, 1929 E. Grant Road

Mojo bills itself as not only a Cuban restaurant, but a rum bar. For more information, check out their website.

Mt. Lemmon Coffee Bean, 12903 N. Sabino Canyon Park #16 on Mount Lemmon

This coffee shop is still under construction, but once it opens itll give Tucsonans yet another reason to make it up the hill. For more information, check out their menu.

This catering company finally secured its own brick and mortar and will be bringing its beloved baked goods to the Casas Adobes community, starting July 11. For more information, check out their website.

The Latin-fusion restaurant and bar taking over the Gus Taylor building on Congress Street will offer food, drinks and atmosphere inspired by Mexico City and Sonora. Owners are planning for live music and DJs to set the tone for friends to connect downtown. For more information, check out our recent coverage.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  The founders and former chief financial officer of Epic Charter Schools were arrested Thursday and are facing felony criminal charges alleging they diverted millions of taxpayer dollars in a complicated scheme that involved excessive management fees, state investigators said.

Epic co-founders Ben Harris, 46, and David Chaney, 43, along with the school's former CFO Josh Brock, 40, were arrested Thursday and taken to the Oklahoma County Detention Center for booking, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a press release.

All three are facing charges of racketeering, embezzlement, obtaining money by false pretense, conspiracy to commit a felony, violation of the, Computer Crimes Act, submitting false documents to the state and unlawful proceeds, the OSBI said. Bond for three men was listed as $250,000.

Jail and court records don't indicate the name of an attorney who could speak on their behalf. Harris and Chaney have previously denied any wrongdoing.

The arrests follow a yearslong OSBI investigation that begin in 2013 at the request of then-Gov. Mary Fallin.

This has been a very complex and arduous investigation with many roadblocks causing delays in getting to the truth, OSBI Director Ricky Adams said in a statement. Harris, Chaney and Brock came up with a get rich quick scheme that lined their pockets with tax dollars that were to be spent for the benefit of Oklahoma students. The OSBI criminal investigation unraveled the intricate scheme layer by layer, in spite of a lack of cooperation, legal obstacles and delay tactics.

Both state and federal officials have been investigating the school for allegedly embezzling millions in state funds by illegally inflating student enrollment counts. Among the biggest concerns of state investigators and a grand jury is Epic Youth Services, a management company owned by Chaney and Harris, which has received a 10% management fee paid for by public funds.

Epic Charter schools severed ties with the Epic Youth Services, along with Chaney and Harris, last year.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The city of Tulsa has agreed to provide economic incentives valued up to $3.9 million to Costco, which is scheduled to start construction soon on a second location in the city.

Signed this month by Mayor G.T. Bynum, the contract is part of the citys Retail Incentive Program and will help with infrastructure improvements related to the build-out on the Costco store at the northeast corner of 46th Street North and U.S. 169, said Spencer Mitchell, director of economic incentives for PartnerTulsa.

After completion of the roughly 200,000-square-foot facility and a year of operation, the program will return 20% percent of the unobligated city sales tax (2%) to the company annually for 15 years or until the total of the incentive reaches $3.9 million, whichever occurs first, Mitchell said.

The pact stipulates that as part of the $19 million development, the membership-only warehouse club must create at least 125 jobs, hold at least one workforce recruiting event in District 1 or 3 prior to opening the facility and partner with the local food bank to donate excess food. The facility is scheduled for completion in May.

In April 2016, Costco opened its first store in Oklahoma at 10220 S. Memorial Drive in Tulsa.

The city used its retail incentive policy to support public infrastructure for that store, as well as for the WinCo Foods supermarket that opened in early 2020 at 7130 S. Memorial Drive, said Kian Kamas, executive director of PartnerTulsa. More recently, the program was implemented to back a legacy shopping center (West Highlands Shopping Center) in west Tulsa.

A few years ago, the program was amended to provide for the support the revitalization of existing shopping centers and infill projects as part of a strategy to back small to mid-sized commercial projects, she said.

Costco Wholesale Corp. operates an international chain of membership warehouses  mainly under the Costco Wholesale name  that carry brand-name merchandise at substantially lower prices than typically found at conventional wholesale or retail sources.

The warehouses are designed to help small- to medium-sized businesses reduce costs in purchasing for resale and for everyday business use. Consumers also may purchase for their personal needs.

The Issaquah, Washington-based company Costco currently operates 830 warehouses, including 574 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 105 in Canada and 40 in Mexico. In May, it posted earnings of $1.35 billion in the third quarter of fiscal year 2022, a 10.6% increase over the same span the previous year.

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An agriculture company based in Edmond and with an office in Talala has announced that it has completed a series of transactions totaling roughly $60 million for the acquisition and/or development of hazelnut orchards in Oregon and pecan orchards in southern Oklahoma.

Achieved over the past two years, Raptor Ag, LLCs funding has come via institutional investors, family investment offices and the company itself. Since its inception in 2016, Raptor Ag has raised close to $100 million for its permanent crop business.

With an administrative office in Talala, the company operations offices in Marietta and near Corvallis, Oregon, and accounting offices in Murray, Kentucky.

In Oregons Willamette Valley, Raptor Ag has built the largest hazelnut orchard position in the North American industry, with more than 3,000 acres. Of that allotment, about 2,000 acres are in production.

In Oklahoma, Raptor Ag targeted a specific region  for desired climate and water resources  and purchased 1,300 tillable acres in 2021. Of that, the company planted 1,040 acres in January and February in a high-density pattern, all under drip-line fertigation. The remaining acreage will be planted in January 2023, and the company hopes to continue developing more pecan orchards in the region.

Investors have since partnered with Raptor Ag on a majority of that acreage.

We continue to have strong interest from our investing partners to grow our hazelnut and pecan operations, Chris Eubanks, Raptor Ag partner and CEO, said in a statement. Our business has been fortunate to maintain a healthy growth rate during a challenging labor and supply chain environment.

With our latest 1,040-acre pecan planting, in the past five years, Raptor Ag has now executed the largest pecan planting in one season by a single grower, according to industry veterans, along with the largest, single-season hazelnut planting in that industrys history  1,000 acres in the winter of 2017-18. 

Raptor Ag was was founded by Eubanks, Dustin Faulkner and Jason Perkins with the goal of becoming North Americas largest hazelnut producer. It has since diversified into pecans and is considering expansion into other permanent and annual crops.

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The city of Tulsa has agreed to provide economic incentives valued up to $3.9 million to Costco, which is scheduled to start construction soon on a second location in the city.

Signed this month by Mayor G.T. Bynum, the contract is part of the citys Retail Incentive Program and will help with infrastructure improvements related to the build-out on the Costco store at the northeast corner of 46th Street North and U.S. 169, said Spencer Mitchell, director of economic incentives for PartnerTulsa.

After completion of the roughly 200,000-square-foot facility and a year of operation, the program will return 20% percent of the unobligated city sales tax (2%) to the company annually for 15 years or until the total of the incentive reaches $3.9 million, whichever occurs first, Mitchell said.

The pact stipulates that as part of the $19 million development, the membership-only warehouse club must create at least 125 jobs, hold at least one workforce recruiting event in District 1 or 3 prior to opening the facility and partner with the local food bank to donate excess food. The facility is scheduled for completion in May.

In April 2016, Costco opened its first store in Oklahoma at 10220 S. Memorial Drive in Tulsa.

The city used its retail incentive policy to support public infrastructure for that store, as well as for the WinCo Foods supermarket that opened in early 2020 at 7130 S. Memorial Drive, said Kian Kamas, executive director of PartnerTulsa. More recently, the program was implemented to back a legacy shopping center (West Highlands Shopping Center) in west Tulsa.

A few years ago, the program was amended to provide for the support the revitalization of existing shopping centers and infill projects as part of a strategy to back small to mid-sized commercial projects, she said.

Costco Wholesale Corp. operates an international chain of membership warehouses  mainly under the Costco Wholesale name  that carry brand-name merchandise at substantially lower prices than typically found at conventional wholesale or retail sources.

The warehouses are designed to help small- to medium-sized businesses reduce costs in purchasing for resale and for everyday business use. Consumers also may purchase for their personal needs.

The Issaquah, Washington-based company Costco currently operates 830 warehouses, including 574 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 105 in Canada and 40 in Mexico. In May, it posted earnings of $1.35 billion in the third quarter of fiscal year 2022, a 10.6% increase over the same span the previous year.

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THURSDAY, June 23, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Health authorities in Britain, who routinely test sewage samples for the virus that causes polio, declared a "national incident" after evidence of local spread was found in London sewers.

No cases have been identified yet, according to the U.K. Health Security Agency. There is little risk to the public, British health officials stressed, but those who are not fully vaccinated against poliovirus are urged to get their shots. This is especially important for young children.

"Most of the U.K. population will be protected from vaccination in childhood, but in some communities with low vaccine coverage, individuals may remain at risk," Vanessa Saliba, M.D., a consultant epidemiologist for the U.K. Health Security Agency, said in an agency statement.

A genetic analysis of the samples points to a common origin. It is likely a person who traveled to the United Kingdom around the new year, Shahin Huseynov, M.D., technical officer for the World Health Organization vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization program in Europe, told The New York Times. The most recent four samples collected could have been in young children introduced to the virus by this person or one another. It is also possible that all the samples are from a single immunocompromised person who has shed the virus for months, the agency added.

"The big issue here is whether it's been continuously circulating in the U.K. or whether it's an immunodeficient person," Walter Orenstein, M.D., associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center and a former director of the U.S. Immunization Program, told The Times. "They need to find that immunodeficient person" if that is the case, Orenstein added.

That may not be an easy job. The wastewater treatment plant from which the samples were taken covers about 4 million people, The Times said. Sample collection continues to try to identify the source. It is typical for the sewage surveillance to pick up one or two cases of polio each year. The last confirmed polio case in Britain was in 1984. The country was declared polio-free in 2003.

Wild polio now only exists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but a "live" oral vaccine is used in some parts of the world and can briefly be shed in the feces of a person who is immunized. Health officials think that is what happened here because the virus in the samples matched a type of oral polio vaccine used to contain outbreaks, Huseynov said. That vaccine was used in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and some Middle Eastern and African countries in recent months.

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
WEDNESDAY, June 22, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- After decades where millions of Americans who were at risk for cardiovascular trouble were told a daily low-dose aspirin would guard against strokes and heart attacks, new guidelines issued this spring recommend that the strategy is not worth the bleeding risks in those over 60.

That's been plenty confusing for patients who aren't sure what is the safest course forward.

Diane Manzella, a Southern California resident, is among them.

Manzella, now 80, had a transient ischemic attack (TIA), often called a "mini stroke," about 20 years ago. These attacks can be a harbinger of a future major stroke.

Then she had a second TIA last month -- after stopping her daily dose of aspirin several months ago.

Experts at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles have heard from other confused stroke patients about the new guidelines.

"Both in the hospital setting as well as our clinic spaces, our patients are hearing, seeing the news and they are having family members telling them, 'You need to stop your aspirin. Hey, it causes harm,' because the general public does not know the difference between primary and secondary prevention," said Dr. Shlee Song, director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at Cedars-Sinai.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force made its final recommendations tightening the use of low-dose aspirin usage in late April. Soon after, the American Heart Association (AHA) noted that those changes aligned with its 2019 guidelines.

For now, the recommendations are that people with a history of heart attack, atrial fibrillation, stroke or stenting should continue to take their low-dose aspirin. But for people with no history of heart disease or stroke, taking low-dose aspirin is not recommended for preventing heart attack or stroke ("primary prevention"), especially in adults who have a higher risk for bleeding.

Certain middle-aged adults may benefit from low-dose aspirin therapy, the AHA noted, if they are at high risk for heart attack or stroke due to risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol or a significant family history of heart disease. Those individuals should get specific treatment advice from their doctors.

Aspirin still an option for some

"The task force recommends a discussion with the doctor to see if the benefits outweigh the risk. There is a marginal risk reduction with aspirin in the 40- to 59-year age range and the physician or the clinical team member needs to really make sure that the bleeding risk does not outweigh the potential benefit here," Song said.

Aspirin can harm people with stomach ulcers or bleeding issues in the gut, which is among the reasons it shouldn't be taken unless there is another reason to do so, Song explained.

Doctors may screen for symptoms such as heartburn or changes in stool before making a decision to use aspirin for primary prevention, she said.

"If a patient's doctor has recommended low-dose aspirin -- or any preventive medication -- the patient shouldn't discontinue taking it without discussing it with their physician," Song said in a question-and-answer session Cedars-Sinai posted recently to help patients understand the guidelines.

Since the 1950s, doctors have been prescribing daily aspirin to help prevent recurring heart attacks. Many studies have shown that daily low-dose aspirin or similar medications can reduce the risk of major vascular events like heart attacks and strokes by up to 25% compared to patients who do not take aspirin or aspirin-like medicines, said Dr. Lee Schwamm, executive vice chair of neurology and director of the Center for TeleHealth at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

The aspirin strategy works by inhibiting activation of platelets, which play a role in clotting, Schwamm said.

Though that clotting action is useful after injury to a blood vessel causes bleeding, platelets can also cause a clot to form that can block blood flow or break off and travel to the brain or heart and cause a stroke or heart attack, Schwamm explained.

Occasional aspirin for pain relief is still a safe alternative, and many patients with arthritis take aspirin regularly for their pain symptoms, Schwamm noted.

"Many people have been confused by this message, especially if they only read the headlines of articles or hear the opening part of a news story," Schwamm said. "This is a very subtle message, and we need to do a better job of explaining the risks and benefits of over-the-counter treatments that can save lives for some people, but put others at risk."

Talk to your doctor first

For those who've had a past stroke or heart attack, that medical history doesn't just go away, even if it's been a number of years, Song said.

"Some patients think they're in the same primary prevention group because the stroke or TIA or the heart attack happened years ago. [They think] 'So I'm with the general public, right?' No, you're not," Song said. "It's because you've had this relevant history that we need to continue the aspirin."

Such was the case with Manzella. Her original TIA back in 2002 consisted of blurry vision, with temporary blackened vision on the lower half of her left eye. Her training as a speech pathologist made her think it could be a clot. Afterwards, she was prescribed low-dose aspirin.

Last fall, after reading a newspaper story and talking with her new cardiologist, Manzella stopped taking aspirin.

"There was a huge article in the L.A. Times and elsewhere in news media about the idea that the low-dose aspirin, taking it to prevent a stroke, wasn't all that effective unless you had had a prior problem," said Manzella, who thinks her cardiologist hadn't remembered her history of TIA.

Last month, she had another TIA, which featured tingling on her left side, impaired balance and slurred speech. An ambulance brought her to a Cedars-Sinai hospital.

"In hindsight, I shouldn't have" stopped taking the aspirin, Manzella said.

After her recent episode, Manzella's medical team gave her some updated guidance.

"This was their advice: Keep myself healthy, stay in touch with my doctors, and continue on the aspirin and start a statin drug," Manzella said.

Now, "I'm feeling pretty good," she said.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on stroke.

SOURCES: Diane Manzella, Marina Del Rey, Calif.; Shlee Song, MD, director, Comprehensive Stroke Center, vice chair, Neurology System Integration, and professor, neurology, Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles; Lee Schwamm, MD, executive vice chair, neurology, director, Center for TeleHealth, and vice president, virtual care and digital health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Cedars-Sinai, news release, June 16, 2022; American Heart Association, statement, April 26, 2022

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
CLEVELAND (AP)  Coinciding with unrelenting cyberattacks against Ukraine, state-backed Russian hackers have engaged in strategic espionage against governments, think tanks, businesses and aid groups in 42 countries supporting Kyiv, Microsoft said in a report Wednesday.

Since the start of the war, the Russian targeting (of Ukraine's allies) has been successful 29 percent of the time, Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote, with data stolen in at least one-quarter of the successful network intrusions,

Nearly two-thirds of the cyberespionage targets involved NATO members. The United States was the prime target and Poland, the main conduit for military assistance flowing to Ukraine, was No. 2. In the past two months, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Turkey have seen stepped-up targeting,

A striking exception is Estonia, where Microsoft said it has detected no Russian cyber intrusions since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The company credited Estonia's adoption of cloud computing, where it's easier to detect intruders. Significant collective defensive weaknesses remain among some other European governments, Microsoft said, without identifying them.

Half of the 128 organizations targeted are government agencies and 12% are nongovernmental agencies, typically think tanks or humanitarian groups, according to the 28-page report. Other targets include telecommunications, energy and defense companies.

Microsoft said Ukraine's cyber defenses have proven stronger overall than Russia's capabilities in waves of destructive cyberattacks against 48 distinct Ukrainian agencies and enterprises. Moscow's military hackers have been cautious not to unleash destructive data-destroying worms that could spread outside Ukraine, as the NotPetya virus did in 2017, the report noted.

During the past month, as the Russian military moved to concentrate its attacks in the Donbas region, the number of destructive attacks has fallen, according to the report, Defending Ukraine: Early Lessons from the Cyber War. The Redmond, Washington, company has unique insight in the domain due to the ubiquity of its software and threat detection teams.

Microsoft said Ukraine has also set an example in data safeguarding. Ukraine went from storing its data locally on servers in government buildings a week before the Russian invasion  making them vulnerable to aerial attack  to dispersing that data in the cloud, hosted in data centers across Europe.

The report also assessed Russian disinformation and propaganda aimed at undermining Western unity and deflecting criticism of Russian military war crimes and wooing people in nonaligned countries.

Using artificial intelligence tools, Microsoft said, it estimated "Russian cyber influence operations successfully increased the spread of Russian propaganda after the war began by 216 percent in Ukraine and 82 percent in the United States.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
OKLAHOMA CITY  The Oklahoma State Department of Education announced Tuesday it will turn over new findings of misappropriation of public funds at Epic Charter Schools to law enforcement and recommend downgrading its accreditation to probationary status for the upcoming school year.

After a seven-month investigation, the states education agency claims top Epic administrators gave themselves $8.6 million in improper bonus payments in June 2021 and officials discovered dramatic increases in student absences and possible underreporting of truancy during the 2020-21 academic year.

It is unfortunately true that Epic Charter Schools remains a challenged enterprise that appears to have misused taxpayer dollars, violated state law and fostered a climate of fear and uncertainty among school staff, State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

Epic officials were briefed on the report earlier Tuesday and informed of a host of corrective actions that will be required to bring them into compliance with state and federal laws.

The recommendation to lower Epics state accreditation status is set for the July 28 meeting of the Oklahoma State Board of Education. And officials said that further action, including recommending sanctions for Epic Superintendent Bart Banfield, are also possible.

For the sake of the thousands of Oklahoma families and students who depend on Epic, it is critical that things be made right, the report states. The students of Epic deserve an excellent education, and the taxpayers of Oklahoma need Epic to fully change its ways.

Among the findings:

 Improper bonus payments  Administrators, including Banfield and some deputy superintendents, received bonuses totaling $8.6 million in June 2021 in possible violation of state law that prohibits converting state funds for personal use.

Those bonuses were never approved by the school board, violated school board policy, and exceeded the employees employment agreements by at least $800,000. One individual employed for 35% of the school year reportedly received six times more than their employment contract provided.

 Student enrollment and attendance/truancy irregularities  Epic counted as many as 4,600 new students on their membership rolls and then counted them as absent for various lengths of time before they actually started school, in violation of state laws and regulations. The school could have benefited from this practice of erroneously adding 39,000 days of student membership to the tune of $780,000 in state aid.

From the 2019-20 school year to the 2020-21 school year, absences increased from 18,275 to 647,624.

For the 2020-21 school year, 6,436 students (nearly 9% of all students enrolled at Epic during the 2020-21 school year) were absent more than 50% of the time they were enrolled, and 3,399 students were absent more than 75% of the time.

 Possible willful violations of the Open Meeting Act by the school board.

Board members have grossly exceeded their roles by interfering with administrators, directing employees outside board meetings and engaging in transactions for the school district without prior board authorization.

The report states Epics bonus compensation structure paradoxically incentivizes employees to both not withdraw students for truancy (to increase regularly monthly compensation, which is based on enrollment counts) and to withdraw students for truancy at certain times of the school year (to increase their bonus payout and for student performance measures.

And leadership and governance issues were found to still be lacking.

Epics lack of internal controls and oversight by a governing board has created an environment that facilitated improper actions, which, even if done with good intentions to reward employee loyalty and extra effort, appears to have caused financial mismanagement and the misappropriation of funds, the report states.

Several allegations levelled against Epic were found to be untrue, according to the SDE report released Tuesday.

Those include claims that a truancy audit had been suppressed from the entire school board.

And claims that employees were improperly terminated through a RIF, or reduction in force, were unfounded because it turns out charter schools are exempt from any requirement to have a RIF policy and Epic employees are at-will and therefore subject to termination at any time.

In a separate press conference Tuesday afternoon, Banfield acknowledged policy and procedural mistakes but he insisted he and the rest of the schools administrative team are committed to working cooperatively with the state to address student attendance and enrollment issues.

School Board Chair Paul Campbell flatly denied violations of the Open Meetings Act. And he defended Banfields handling of bonus payments in 2021, saying it was his understanding the school boards previous president and other board members had reviewed and discussed all compensation matters during a May 2021 board meeting even if they had not have taken a formal vote.

Announced in early December, the SDE investigation was prompted by allegations of fraud, improper board governance and a hostile work environment in the resignation letter of an Epic Charter Schools governing board member.

Kathren Stehno resigned in late November after one year of school board service, saying she believed she had been given false, partial or misleading information in recent months to influence her decision-making as a board member by Paul Campbell, Epics board chairman, and Banfield, the superintendent.

Stehno said she received evidence that Epic violated state law and school policy in the way it withdrew a high percentage of its students for truancy and that Epic school leaders recently handed out extremely large and unapproved bonuses that exceeded employee contracts without board approval.

The states efforts and attempts at holding Epic to account for compliance with state law have been criticized in the past by the state auditor, and also unsuccessful before the Oklahoma State Board of Education.

In all, nearly $20 million in penalties were assessed against the school system in 2021 by state education officials, primarily for exceeding Oklahomas legal cap on public school administrative costs.

That cap is intended to ensure as much taxpayer funding as possible goes to the direct instruction or service of students.

Hofmeisters administration tried once before to convince the state board to send a wake-up call for Epic and its governing board by lowering its accreditation to probation status. That is the final step before a district could lose state accreditation and be forced to close.

But the matter was tabled by a vote of the board and never brought up again.

The state Department of Education is undergoing an unprecedented investigative audit by the state  at the request of Gov. Kevin Stitt  as a result of State Auditor Cindy Byrds investigative audit findings on Oct. 1, 2020, that Epic had misreported its administrative costs to the tune of millions of dollars during the previous five years and gone unchecked.

In a prepared statement, Byrd said the Department of Educations investigation validates our findings that Ben Harris and David Chaney were employing dubious business practices when they managed Epic Charter Schools.

Fortunately, the new school administration is trying to comply with finance related laws and operate in transparency so any potential problem that may arise will be recognized and addressed before it snowballs into a crisis.

Video: State Department of Education announces investigation; Epic Charter Schools responds

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Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Pradeep Kumar Rawat, India's new ambassador to China in Beijing Wednesday.

Wang said that China and India's common interests far outweigh their differences, adding that the two sides should support rather than undermine each other, strengthen cooperation rather than guard against each other, and enhance mutual trust rather than be suspicious of each other.

The Chinese foreign minister said the two sides should meet each other halfway to push bilateral relations back onto the track of stable and healthy development at an early date, jointly address various global challenges, and safeguard the common interests of China and India as well as the vast number of developing countries.

He called on both sides to adhere to the important strategic consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, insist on placing the border issue in a proper position within bilateral ties, and seek solutions through dialogue and consultation.

China and India should also give full play to their traditional advantages in people-to-people and cultural exchanges, continuously expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and work together to create a better future for mankind, he added.

Noting the fruitful history of exchanges between India and China, Rawat said that India will firmly pursue an independent foreign policy, and is willing to work with China to adhere to the strategic consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strengthen communication, properly handle differences, enhance mutual trust, and keep advancing bilateral cooperation.
Voting precinct boundaries and polling stations may have changed. Many Tulsa County residents might find different information on newly distributed voter registration cards  whether it be a precinct number, a polling location or a legislative district  even if they havent moved in the past decade.

To view the specific sample ballot for your election precinct, go to the OK Voter Portal at oklahoma.gov/elections/ovp.

Voters' actual ballots will differ depending on their party affiliation and where they live (which dictates which candidates will appear on the ballot).

To find your precinct and view a sample ballot, go to the OK Voter Portal at oklahoma.gov/elections/ovp.

Previews of state and local races

 Meet the three Republicans challenging Gov. Kevin Stitt in the primary race for governor: Joel Kintsel, Mark Sherwood and Moira McCabe.

 In the Democratic primary for governor, State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister (who recently swapped parties) and will challenge former state Sen. Connie Johnson.

 Tulsa attorney Gentner Drummond is making his second attempt for the office, running against Tulsa attorney John OConnor, who is seeking his first full term in the office. The winner will face a Libertarian in the general election.

 The primary races for the seat currently held by U.S. Sen. James Lankford have several candidates of both parties vying for the seat in Congress.

 Republicans John Cox, William Crozier, April Grace and Ryan Walters are on the state superintendent primary ballot, with the winner to face off with Democrat Jena Nelson.

 Republican voters in southeast Tulsas House District 79 will choose among two former local politicians and a retired engineer to challenge incumbent Democrat Melissa Provenzano.

 House District 76 incumbent Ross Ford will face off against Flippo Insurance agency partner Timothy Brooks on June 28 in the Republican race to represent parts of Broken Arrow and Tulsa.

 A former mayor, a business owner, a nurse and a former medical sales worker are competing for the House District 66 Republican nomination to represent the district in Osage County and northwestern Tulsa County.

 With Sen. Marty Quinn, R-Claremore, term-limited and now running for Congress, the race for Senate District 2 will come down to one of four Republicans from Claremore up against Democrat Jennifer A. Esau in November.

 House District 24 incumbent Logan Phillips faces Air Force veteran Chris Banning and Metropolitan Environmental Trusts Executive Director Bobby Schultz in the Republican primary to represent parts of Beggs, Bixby, Glenpool, Jenks, Liberty, Mounds, Sapulpa and Winchester.

 State Sen. John Haste, a vice president for a home furnishings company, is seeking a second term in Senate District 36. His opponent David Dambroso, 34, is a consultant, also from Broken Arrow.

Previewing down-ballot state offices

Other statewide offices besides the governor's race may be contested just as fiercely, usually with less money and more difficult explanations of what it is they do.

Besides governor, Oklahoma elects 10 statewide officials: lieutenant governor, attorney general, auditor and inspector, superintendent of public instruction, treasurer, insurance commissioner, labor commissioner, and three corporation commissioners.

Another election cycle shows 'party switching' in Oklahoma holds little sway

Every recent election cycle brings speculation that frustrated Democrats (or independents) in large numbers are migrating to the Republican Party in order to influence the GOP primary.

With every election cycle comes scant evidence that that has happened.

Far more Democrats switch to GOP than vice versa, and though it's hard to say why, "if you want a vote that matters, that's probably in the (Republican) primary," an OU political science professor says.

Featured news video: Epic Charter School co-founders face criminal charges
A busy 2022 election season gets underway Thursday with three days of early in-person primary voting for federal, state and county offices.

Registered voters can cast their ballots at the Tulsa County Election Board, 555 N. Denver Ave., on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Election Board will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

If a person has a voter ID card issued by the Election Board, they don't need a photo ID. Any other form of ID must be an unexpired government-issued photo ID, such as a drivers license, visa, passport or tribal identification.

If youre voting next Tuesday, remember to check your polling location before you leave, since redistricting has changed many of our precincts, said Tulsa County Election Board Secretary Gwen Freeman.

We anticipate a larger turnout for this election, so you may have a longer wait than usual, so remember to be patient with our precinct officials as they process the voters.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

To view a sample ballot for your election precinct, go to the OK Voter Portal at oklahoma.gov/elections/ovp and sign in.

In those primaries with more than two candidates and in which no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, runoff elections will be held Aug. 23.

The general election is Nov. 8.

A long list of incumbents, from Gov. Kevin Stitt to Tulsa County Assessor John Wright, are facing primary challengers this year.

Stitt has three opponents in the Republican primary. In the Democratic primary for governor, State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister will face former state Sen. Connie Johnson.

Hofmeister, who is finishing her second term as state superintendent, switched from Republican to Democrat in November.

In one of the two Republican primaries for U.S. Senate, Jackson Lahmeyer and Joan Farr are challenging incumbent James Lankford.

The winner will face the candidate who ends up on top in the six-person Democratic primary.

Thirteen Republicans are vying to complete the unexpired term of Sen. Jim Inhofe. Inhofe announced earlier this year that he would retire at the end of the current congressional session  approximately two years into his six-year term.

The Republican primary field includes Inhofes former chief of staff, Luke Holland, Congressman Markwayne Mullin, former state Attorney General Scott Pruitt, former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon and state Sen. Nathan Dahm.

A Democrat, an independent and a Libertarian also are running to succeed Inhofe.

Wright is facing Byron Burke in the GOP primary for county assessor.

For more information on voting, call the Tulsa County Election Board at 918-596-5780.

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A former mayor, a business owner, a nurse and a former medical sales worker are competing for the House District 66 Republican nomination in the June 28 primary election.

HD 66, in Osage County and northwestern Tulsa County, is currently represented by Republican Jadine Nollan of Sand Springs, who is term-limited at the end of this election cycle. The GOP nominee will face Democratic candidate James David Rankin of Sand Springs in November.

Mike Burdge, 71, began his career in local politics when he ran for Sand Springs City Council in 1996. He served six years as vice mayor and then spent 13 years as Sand Springs mayor.

Burdge said hes an anti-abortion, pro-family and pro-education conservative, adding that he thinks Oklahoma should work harder to save public education.

Burdge said hed like to see less legislation and more leadership in the state government. He said he also believes in local control and that some issues could be better handled by city councils rather than by state government.

Clay Staires, 57, is the CEO of the Leadership Initiative, a consulting company dedicated to helping small-business owners lead their companies. He spent 15 years as a high school science teacher in Kansas City.

Staires, of Skiatook, said he decided to run for the HD 66 seat due to his frustrations with the increasingly unlimited government. He said he was especially frustrated when COVID-19 prompted closures for nonessential businesses.

As a business owner, my business is essential, and to have somebody outside of my control that could actually have the power to come and shut my business down, my livelihood, that was a bad thing, he said.

As a former teacher, Staires said hes seen unfunded mandates by the state government with a lack of staffing and resources to meet those mandates. He said that if elected, he wont support similar mandates.

Staires said his experience as a CEO sets him apart from his opponents, adding that he has what it takes to adopt different mindsets required to perform various tasks and duties.

I dont think anybody needs to worry about it taking me two years to get the hang of it, Staires said. I think Im going to be able to it pick up really quickly, just like I have in the past in these other big transitions.

Gabe Renfrow, 45, of Sand Springs, has been a registered nurse at the Oklahoma Heart Institute for 16 years and decided to place his bid for HD 66 to give back to the state. He said he wants to ensure that Oklahomas educational system and budget are correct for the state.

Renfrows website says he will fight for election integrity, defeat illegal immigration, support a parents right to make school choices and reject government mandates if elected. He said his experience as a nurse has provided him with a set of skills that make him the right choice for the HD 66 seat.

I have to bring together a lot of knowledge from different people about the patients that I take care of, and I feel like the critical thinking skills that it takes to be a nurse would help make decisions at the state House, Renfrow said.

Wayne Hill, 64, of Skiatook, is retired from a 38-year career in medical sales, marketing and product development. He said running for HD 66 is the next step in his life and that his wife encouraged him to run for the office when he had no intention to do so.

Hill described himself as a liberty candidate and said his primary campaign objective is to preserve liberty so that future generations can experience its benefits.

Hill said he believes parents should make their childrens health and education decisions. He said he rejects teaching critical race theory in schools because creates division among races.

Theres a lot of division in this nation right now, Hill said. We really need to heal as a nation. We are divided among racial lines, economic lines, political lines, and its destructive to our nation.

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Oklahoma House District 76 incumbent Ross Ford will face off against Flippo Insurance agency partner Timothy Brooks on June 28 in the Republican race for the legislative seat.

District 76 covers 12 square miles and includes parts of Broken Arrow and Tulsa, and both candidates are from Broken Arrow. The district has a population of 39,039 based on the 2020 census, and its area school districts are Broken Arrow and Union public schools.

Ford, 61, has served as the districts representative since 2017. Notable bills authored by Ford and signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt this year include House Bill 4373 and House Bill 4374.

HB 4373 expanded the definition of third-degree burglary to include the theft of tires, wheels and catalytic converters, and HB 4374 modifies the definition of family or household members used in the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act and Domestic Abuse Reporting Act to include persons not related by blood or marriage living in the same household.

As Ford campaigns for a second term, he said he will continue his mission of service above self. In a recent special session, he supported tax breaks for Oklahomans, Ford said, adding that he hopes to create ways for them to keep more of the money they make.

Another top priority for Ford is school security, which he said is informed by his experience as the director of security for Union Public Schools and 27-year career as a Tulsa police officer. Ford said he wants students to receive a safe and high-quality education, and although he is a supporter of public schools, he also believes in parental choice.

Ford said he is the best choice for District 76 because  as a retired person  representing his constituents is his full-time job.

I work  at least six days a week, even throughout the year, and Im available for my constituents, Ford said.

Brooks, 38, said he joined the race out of interest in the impacts of high-cost prescription drugs on Oklahomans. He said he has experienced difficulties in contacting legislators about lowering costs and that Oklahoma needs the right people in office to get the right laws passed.

Brooks said his top three issues are education, small businesses and womens health care.

As a father of six children, Brooks said he wants to see Oklahomas public school systems functioning better. He said he supports a decreased focus on state testing and an increased focus on core subjects over ideology that attacks a familys role in forming childrens values.

Weve really lost our focus on education and what the education system is for, and that provides opportunities then to attack families  and not be supportive of our farm-town families and the conservative values that we have.

Brooks said he will be better prepared to serve constituents because his insurance work requires him to create plans for a diverse group of clients. He said he is the best choice for the position because he will be dependable in uncertain times and wont cave to special interests.

My responsibility is to the Lord and then to the Constitution, Brooks said.

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Republican voters in southeast Tulsas House District 79 will choose among two former local politicians and a retired engineer in the June 28 primary election.

HD 79 is currently represented by Democrat Melissa Provenzano, who will face the GOP nominee in November.

Karen Gilbert, 53, is the director of Tulsa Crime Stoppers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to public safety, and a former Tulsa city councilor. Though Gilbert was defeated in the HD 79 primary in 2018, she said she placed her bid for the seat again to provide better representation for the district and to work toward teacher retention and attraction to the state.

Gilbert believes that Oklahoma should ban teaching critical race theory in classrooms and instead get back into teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. She also believes in protecting the fairness of womens sports by prohibiting transgender women from competing against cisgender women and girls in college and high school sports.

Gilbert said her track record proves her to be the better choice compared to her opponents, citing her efforts toward voter approval of the Vision public safety tax, which aimed to add 160 police officers, 70 firefighters and 16 personnel in the 911 center in Tulsa.

Im tired of the delay of waiting for a response, Gilbert said. Its evident that I get things done.

Stan Stevens, 64, a real estate agent, hopes to improve education scores and increase funding for mental health services. Stevens was Washington Countys treasurer for 23 years and served as treasurer for state and county GOP organizations.

Stevens cited education as his biggest reason for running, adding that he believes that education in Tulsa needs adjustments.

I think that the things we teach lead kids to believe that one side is better than the other or that people are inherently bad because of certain traits that they have. Its not helping the country, Stevens said. I think theres a lot of emphasis on social, emotional learning and a lot less emphasis on the core curriculums of education.

In April, Stevens faced a challenge to his candidacy over three felony drug charges from 2008, but Election Board officials voted that his expunged case doesnt preclude Stevens candidacy on a state law banning felons from holding office for 15 years.

Stevens acknowledged that people might be reluctant to vote for him due to his history, but he said hes changed his life to become a better person.

It was a terrible, dark time in my life, and I did it all to myself, Stevens said. I think one thing voters can look at is that I lay the blame nowhere except me.

Paul Hassink, 65, retired in 2020 from a career in engineering that entailed various manager, supervisor and director positions.

Hassink said schools should be run like a business so that Oklahomas qualified students will attract businesses seeking local talent. He also said he believes that parents know whats best for their children and that they should make decisions regarding their childrens education.

The founders of our country recognize appropriately that we need an educated set of voters so that they make good decisions, Hassink said. Its very important for us to support education in a way that everybody has an opportunity to develop reading, writing and mathematical skills.

Although Hassink lacks political experience, he said his 40 years of finding simple, technical solutions and trying to make things work sets him apart from typical politicians.

There are too many people that say theyll solve problems, but when you look at what theyve done in the past, its all talk and there are no results, Hassink said. All Ive ever done was results, so I dont think Ill have that problem. What Im bringing to the Legislature is so valuable, because its so unique.

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Parents may now seek COVID-19 vaccinations for children 6 months and older through Tulsa Health Department, the agency said a week after FDA approval.

Infections and active cases of the virus have been increasing steadily in Oklahoma in the past eight weeks, with hospitalizations due to COVID-19 also creeping upward. State health officials on Thursday reported 30 COVID-19 pediatric cases requiring hospital care.

On June 17, federal regulators approved Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as 6 months old. Centers for Disease Control officials then recommended the COVID vaccine for children as young as 6 months old, a news release from the Tulsa Health Department states.

Across the state, 9,265 active cases of COVID-19 were reported Thursday, a metric up nearly 1,000% since the end of March.

Children and teens may have some mild to moderate side effects after getting a COVID-19 vaccine, the release states. Children younger than 5 may experience pain and redness at the injection site, fever, headaches, chills and muscle pain. These reactions mean the childrens immune systems are working to protect them, health officials say.

Some children and teens experience no side effects, but serious side effects, although rare, may occur. Parents should contact their primary care provider if they have any specific concerns about side effects from a vaccination.

Vaccines may not prevent infection but have been proven effective at reducing the risk of hospitalization and deaths from COVID-19.

COVID-19 vaccines are available by appointment at the following Tulsa Health Department locations:

James O. Goodwin Health Center, 5051 S. 129 East Ave.

Central Regional Health Center, 315 S. Utica Ave.

North Regional Health and Wellness Center, 5635 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

To make an appointment, go to vaccinate918.com. Those 17 and under must have a parent or guardian present for consent to receive the vaccine.

More information regarding vaccine clinic locations in Tulsa County can be found at vaccinate918.com. Call 918-582-9355 to speak to a public health professional. For more information about COVID-19, go to tulsa-health.org/COVID19.
Every recent election cycle brings speculation that frustrated Democrats (or independents) in large numbers are migrating to the Republican Party in order to influence the GOP primary.

With every election cycle comes scant evidence that that has happened.

To be sure, far more Democrats are switching to Republican than vice versa, but whether theyre switching because they feel more at home in the GOP, think they can swing an election or just want a chance to vote is hard to say.

If you want a vote that matters, thats probably in the (Republican) primary, said University of Oklahoma political science professor Michael Crespin, director of OUs Carl Albert Center.

Crespin is himself a switcher. He wants to vote in Tuesdays Republican U.S. Senate primary for Sen. Jim Inhofes unexpired term.

Oklahoma has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1990, so the odds are that one of the Republican candidates will be the eventual winner.

The current situation is the exact opposite of a generation or two ago, when Democratic primaries were about all that mattered in Oklahoma.

Now, as then, party registration may have emotional or psychological significance, but as a practical matter it serves only to determine in which primaries an Oklahoman can vote and run.

Still, many find party loyalty  or party antipathy  difficult to set aside for purely practical reasons.

This is illustrated by two measures of registration changes leading up to the primary.

One was a statewide summary, provided by the Oklahoma State Election Board, of registration changes from March 1 to March 30, the deadline to change party affiliation before the primary and runoff elections.

The second was a Tulsa World comparison of Tulsa County voter registrations from January and May, which came up with 1,082 registration changes.

The State Election Board found that 4,196 people changed registrations in March. With a statewide registration of 2.24 million, thats less than 0.2%.

Of those who switched, 2,260  54%  went from Democrat to Republican. In addition, 621 independents and 34 Libertarians switched to Republican, meaning nearly 70% of the changes were to the GOP.

With the Tulsa County data, the World was able to dig a little deeper. In the sample, 49% went to the Republican Party, 34% to independent, 14% to Democrat and 3% to Libertarian.

The most striking aspect of the Tulsa County data, though, was that women accounted for 57% of the switchers  including 63% of Democrats who switched to Republican and 62% of Democrats who switched to independent.

Interestingly enough, women also accounted for 64% of those switching from Republican to Democrat, 62% of all switches to Democrat and 58% of all switches to Republican.

Still, the actual numbers involved are quite small in the big scheme of things  a net Republican gain of 227 out of a total Tulsa County registration of 370,000.

Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman A.J. Ferate and Democratic Party Chairwoman Alicia Andrews said they dont put any stock in the idea of changing elections by switching parties.

I just dont understand that (thinking) process, said Andrews.

Crespin agreed.

The literature says it usually doesnt matter, he said. There isnt enough people to change the outcome. And the other thing is, a decent amount of people, probably the majority, are voting sincerely.

One option is to find the least desirable candidate and say, Lets hope they lose the general election. But I think most people are thinking, OK, this is a chance to vote for the actual winner. Im going to vote for the candidate they want to hold the office.

Some of these people might want a Democrat to hold the office, but they know thats not an option. So of the Republicans running, they choose the one they most want.

Crespin warned against reading into the Tulsa County figures on women changing parties.

Maybe you might be able to say its an abortion issue, but the Republicans all have the same position on abortion, for the most part, so I dont think youll be able to change anything based off of that, he said. It could just be women are more attentive.

Curtis Killman contributed to this story.

Tulsa World Opinion podcast: Abortion is the biggest wedge issue of our time

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Voluntary Youth Public Benefit Service Co. Ltd., which is tasked with collecting fees for on-street car parking in Ho Chi Minh City, recently announced that its fee collection arm reported a VND8 billion (US$344,200) loss in 2021.

A financial statement by the company showed that its revenue from the fee collection was more than VND2 billion ($85,900) last year, a figure which pales in comparison to the firms VND10 billion ($429,400) in fee collection costs, including staff salaries and software rentals.

The company announced it would use revenues from other business activities to compensate for the loss.

The inefficiency of on-street car parking fee collection in Ho Chi Minh City resulted from difficulties in collecting fees and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Voluntary Youth Public Benefit Service Co. Ltd..

In 2021, Ho Chi Minh City enacted social distancing measures to cope with COVID-19, thereby hindering fee collection operations.

In addition, residents awareness of the fee payment requirements remains low and vehicles owned by guests at some restaurants are often parked improperly.

The company also claimed that Myparking  the fee collection software it uses  does not work smoothly and there have been issues with processing payments.

Additionally, drivers often do not register with the app or make payments using the software.

Voluntary Youth Public Benefit Service Co. Ltd. has proposed that inspectors from the municipal Department of Transport enhance patrols and impose sanctions on those who park vehicles on the streets but do not pay parking fees.

The company also suggested that the department urge relevant agencies to handle violations on streets with car parking areas and allow the opening of more car parks in order to increase fee revenues to the point where they cover costs.

Revenues from fee collection have increased since the beginning of 2022.

In April, the revenues collected from cars parked on 20 streets in the city reached more than VND437 million ($18,800).

There is potential for this number to continue to climb if the kinks in the fee collection system are ironed out.

In mid-2018, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport launched a plan to charge fees from cars parked on 23 streets in the city.

The number of streets was later reduced to 20, including 12 in District 1, three in District 5, and five in District 10.

The fees start from VND20,000 ($0.86) for the first hour for vehicles parked on streets in District 10, and VND25,000 ($1.1) for those parked on streets in District 1 and District 5.

The rates will spike progressively over the time.

The municipal Department of Transport has recently proposed expanding the fee collection to 31 streets in District 1, District 3, District 4, District 6, District 10, and Phu Nhuan District.

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 Flash

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday night he could not ignore the deep political divisions in the country as shown by the results of the legislative elections.

In a televised speech, Macron said that he had discussed with the leaders of the opposition political parties sitting in the National Assembly and there is no common answer on a national union.

He said it would be necessary to build compromises with the other political parties sitting in the National Assembly in order to "serve the general interest" of the country.

For the French President, the political groups will need to say in total transparency where they are able to go in terms of voting laws and other decisions.

"No political forces can today make the laws alone," he said, adding: "We must learn to govern and legislate differently."

"Together we will find the path of collective success," Macron said, while emphasizing urgent matters, such as purchasing power, labor, the environment, energy crisis and health.

"As soon as I return from Brussels, we will continue to build this new method," said the president.

The French legislative elections were held on June 12 and 19. Macron's alliance Ensemble won only 245 seats, falling short of 289 seats needed to secure an absolute majority in the National Assembly.
Vietjet has officially launched four more services linking top destinations of Vietnam and India including Ho Chi Minh City/Hanoi  Mumbai and Phu Quoc  New Delhi/Mumbai.

The new routes launch ceremony was held in Mumbai during the visit of Ho Chi Minh Citys leaders to the Indian city as Vietnam and India mark their 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, the budget airline said in a press release on Wednesday.

The Phu Quoc  Mumbai route will operate four weekly flights every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, starting from September 8.

The services between Phu Quoc and New Delhi will commence on September 9, with three weekly flights on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.

The Ho Chi Minh City/Hanoi  Mumbai routes already started operations in early June 2022.

The two countries first direct services connecting Ho Chi Minh City/Hanoi and New Delhi resumed operations in April this year, with three to four flights per week for each one.

Vietnam-Indias flight network expansion will boost and strengthen travel connectivity and trade ties between the two countries, said Nguyen Thanh Son, Vietjets vice-president.

We have been the first carrier operating direct services between Vietnams capital city of Hanoi and its largest city of Ho Chi Minh with Indias capital city New Delhi.

Vietjets flight network covering up to six direct routes between Vietnam and India also marks a milestone in the two countries 50 years of diplomatic relations, since 1972.

Vietnam has lifted all arrival regulations relating to COVID-19 and travelers can enjoy a complete pre-pandemic fashion now.

The Southeast Asian country is currently more than ready to welcome international travelers to explore its magnificent scenery.

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The death toll from an earthquake in Afghanistan on Wednesday hit 1,000, disaster management officials said, with more than 600 injured and the toll expected to grow as information trickles in from remote mountain villages.

Houses were reduced to rubble and bodies swathed in blankets lay on the ground after the magnitude 6.1 earthquake, photographs on Afghan media showed.

An unknown number of people remained stuck under rubble and in outlying areas, health and aid workers said, and rescue operations were complicated by difficult conditions including heavy rains, landslides and many villages being nestled in inaccessible hillside areas.

"Many people are still buried under the soil. The rescue teams of the Islamic Emirate have arrived and with the help of local people are trying to take out the dead and injured," a health worker at a hospital in the hard-hit Paktika province said, asking for anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media.

People carry injured to be evacuated following a massive earthquake, in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, June 22, 2022, in this screen grab taken from a video. Photo: BAKHTAR NEWS AGENCY/Handout via REUTERS

Mounting a rescue operation will prove a major test for the hard-line Islamist Taliban authorities, who took over the country last August after two decades of war and have been cut off from much international assistance because of sanctions. The Taliban-led ministry of defence is leading rescue efforts.

Loretta Hieber Girardet from the United Nations' disaster risk reduction office said efforts to provide relief and save people trapped under rubble would face huge challenges due to the terrain and weather.

"The roads are poor even at the best of times so having a humanitarian operation put in place is going to be immediately challenged by the lack of easy access to the area," she said, adding that rain combined with the tremor created a further risk of landslides for humanitarian workers.

The U.N. humanitarian office said it was deploying medical health teams and providing medical supplies.

Interior ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi said the death toll was likely to rise "as some of the villages are in remote areas in the mountains and it will take some time to collect details."

People carry injured to a helicopter following a massive earthquake, in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, June 22, 2022, in this screen grab taken from a video. Photo: BAKHTAR NEWS AGENCY/Handout via REUTERS

Deadliest quake in 20 years

Wednesday's quake was the deadliest in Afghanistan since 2002. It struck about 44 km (27 miles) from the southeastern city of Khost, near the border with Pakistan, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Shaking was felt by about 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said on Twitter, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties in Pakistan.

The EMSC put the earthquake's magnitude at 6.1, though the USGC said it was 5.9.

Disaster experts and humanitarian workers said the impoverished hilly areas struck by the quake were especially vulnerable, with landslides and poorly built houses adding to widespread destruction.

"We were all sleeping at home... and the room fell over us," said Gul Faraz as he received treatment for injuries with his wife and children at a hospital in Paktika. Some family members had been killed, he said.

Afghan Red Crescent medics and volunteers transport earthquake victims to hospitals in Spera district, Khost province, Afghanistan, June 22, 2022. Photo: Afghan Red Crescent Society/Handout via REUTERS

"All the houses in our area were destroyed, not one, but the entire region has been destroyed."

Most of the confirmed deaths were in the eastern province of Paktika, where 255 people were killed and more than 200 injured, Ayubi said. In the province of Khost, 25 were dead and 90 had been taken to hospital.

Adding to the challenge for Afghan authorities is recent flooding in many regions, which has blocked stretches of highway.

Afghanistan is also grappling with a severe economic crisis. In response to the Taliban takeover last year, many countries imposed sanctions on Afghanistan's banking sector and cut billions of dollars in development aid.

Humanitarian aid has continued, however, from international agencies such as the United Nations.

A shakemap of the earthquake of magnitude 6.1 that struck eastern Afghanistan, near the country's border with Pakistan, early morning on June 22, 2022. Source: USGS

A foreign ministry spokesman said the Taliban would welcome international help.

U.S. President Joe Biden directed the U.S. Agency for International Development and other federal government partners to assess U.S. response options, the White House said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the United Nations was fully mobilized, assessing the needs and providing initial support.

"We count on the international community to help support the hundreds of families hit by this latest disaster. Now is the time for solidarity," he said in a statement.

Large parts of South Asia are seismically active because a tectonic plate known as the Indian plate is pushing north into the Eurasian plate.

In 2015, an earthquake struck the remote Afghan northeast, killing several hundred people in Afghanistan and nearby northern Pakistan.
Antibody therapies are offering promising treatment breakthroughs for cancer and other illnesses, generating greater investor interest more than 20 years after they were first commercialised.

Antibodies are proteins that recognise foreign substances, known as antigens, attaching themselves to them to alert the rest of the human immune system.

In 1975, scientists Georges Koehler and Cesar Milstein discovered how to produce them in a laboratory, which later earned them a Nobel Prize for medicine. Dozens of synthetic antibodies have since been developed.

New antibody treatments to be used with chemotherapy have arrived on the scene in recent years.

Most recently, a clinical trial of an antibody developed by pharmaceutical groups Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca caught the attention of leading cancer specialists gathered at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual congress in Chicago this month.

The treatment, Enhertu, was already authorised for breast cancer patients who had large amounts of a protein called HER2.

The antibody also performed well in patients with smaller quantities of the protein -- increasing the number of people who could benefit.

The antibody latches onto the surface of a cancer cell whose receptors no longer work and the cell then "digests" the receptors to recycle them, activating the chemotherapy, explained cancer specialist William Jacot.

"We hadn't seen such progress, in terms of survival, with a chemotherapy treatment for dozens of years," said Jacot, a professor at the Montpellier Cancer Institute in southern France.

Although antibody therapy technology has a complex production process, it is less difficult to implement than new treatments using cellular therapy.

Antibodies can be used in different ways to fight cancer. They can target and destroy the proteins necessary to produce cancer cells or act to regulate the immune response.

French biotech firm Inatherys is in the first stage of clinical trials of an antibody treatment for leukaemia, its boss Pierre Launay said.

He said the company's antibody will be designed act as a "guided missile" and target a receptor that lets iron enter cancer cells, which need the substance.

The antibody will then release a poison within the cell to destroy it.

Some antibody treatments are being used preventively while others are treatments. For example, AstraZeneca's Evusheld antibody treatment is used preventively to ward off COVID-19, while Xevudy by British company GSK is used as a treatment.

Treatments are also being developed for inflammatory diseases, which are also a major killer.

Booming market

The promising announcements have triggered interest beyond the scientific community and a flood of investment. French biotech firm ImCheck Therapeutics recently raised almost 100 million euros ($106 million) for an antibody treatment in development.

Pharmaceutical giants are also prepared to spend big to ensure they do not miss out. French company Sanofi bought Belgian biotech firm Ablynx and its mini antibodies, nanobodies, for almost four billion euros in 2018.

Dupixent, Sanofi's flagship immunotherapy antibody medication, earned more than five billion euros for the pharma giant last year, and Keytruda, an oncological treatment by US firm MSD, generated more than $17 billion in 2021.

According to predictions by research firm Market Data Forecast, the market could grow to reach $249 billion in three years' time.
Check out the news you should not miss today:

Society

-- Police in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang on Wednesday announced that they were cooperating with local officials in investigating the cause and measure the damage caused by a fire that broke out earlier that day at Long Giang Industrial Park in Tan Phuoc District.

-- The People's Procuracy in Ba Ria  Vung Tau Province confirmed on Wednesday that they had officially charged a director of a company and two other suspects for producing and selling fake gasoline.

-- Most districts of Ho Chi Minh City reported torrential rains and unexpected hail on Wednesday afternoon, causing major flooding and prolonged traffic congestion.

-- Police in the northern province of Vinh Phuc said on Wednesday that they were probing the death of the director of a ceramic company in a car explosion earlier that day.

-- A court on Wednesday assessed that the ex-chairman of the Hanoi administration had paid VND25 billion (US$1 million) to remedy all charges of power and position abuse and made various contributions, therefore it decided to reduce the defendant's sentence from eight to five years in prison.

-- Police in Da Nang City on Wednesday arrested and initiated legal proceedings against a 33-year-old man for operating a large network of illegal importation and smuggling of wild animals.

Education

-- Eight contract teachers at an elementary school in Thanh Hoa City have not been paid since January, even though the school year wrapped up more than a month ago.

World News

-- Eight people who took care of soccer legend Diego Maradona will be tried in Argentina courts for homicide, according to a ruling released on Wednesday following an investigation into his November 2020 death due to cardiac arrest, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Police in Da Nang, central Vietnam have arrested a man for allegedly running several shell companies which smuggled wildlife parts, such as ivory, lion bones, and rhino horns, from Africa to Vietnam.

The municipal Department of Public Security confirmed on Wednesday that they had detained Nguyen Duc Tai, 33, on charges of violating regulations on the protection of endangered and rare animals.

Officers also searched Tais house and workplace and confiscated evidence related to the case.

According to preliminary information, police in Da Nang first detected Tais suspicious activities in early 2021.

A probe later revealed that he and his subordinates had used personal information from several people, including deceased individuals, to set up shell companies with fake headquarters.

Under the cover of these firms, Tai and his racket managed to smuggle wildlife parts from Africa to Tien Sa Seaport in Da Nang.

Police later coordinated with customs officers in inspecting a shipping container of wooden floor planks from South Africa and discovered 52 rhino horns weighing 138.7 kilograms along with 93 boxes of lion bones weighing 3,108 kilograms.

The consignee was a shell company registered to an address in Cam Le District.

In early 2022, officers examined a shipping container of cashew nuts imported from Nigeria and found over 456 kilograms of ivory together with more than 6,232 kilograms of pangolin scales.

The consignee was another shell company in Da Nang.

Investigators eventually identified Tai as the person behind the illegal operation.

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14 personalities from Jersey Shore, Love Is Blind, RuPauls Drag Race, Geordie Shore, Acapulco Shore, Rio Shore,and Bachelor in Paradise will come together for a brand new series, All-Star Shore filmed in the Canary Islands.

All-Star Shore offers a cash prize for its winner  just not much detail on the format itself. Does anybody care?

Contestants:

Angelina Pivarnick (Jersey Shore) is a Shore OG, and she is going to make sure everyone knows it. Shes bringing the mouth, the drama and the party, and will bulldoze anyone who stands in her way.

Bethan Kershaw (Geordie Shore) brings with her a big personality and a big heart. She and best friend Chloe are ready to take this Shore House by storm, but when her flirty ways catch the eye of a fellow housemate, shes not prepared for what happens next.

Blake Horstmann (Bachelor in Paradise) is not looking to compete for a womans heart this time; hes here to win the grand prize. But will everything go out the window when he sees the girl he likes kissing his partner?

Chloe Ferry (Geordie Shore) is showing off her competitive side in this Shore House  but not without a drink in her hand! Even though she is joined by some of her closest friends from the UK, Chloe cant trust anyone when money is on the line.

Giannina Gibelli (Love Is Blind) is ready to go all-in on life, love and competition. And with the blindfold off, it looks like shell finally come face-to-face with real love. But which shoremate will be the one?

James Tindale (Geordie Shore) is bringing the mischief and the muscles to this Shore House. With his years of experience on Geordie Shore, a party competition show is a no-brainer for him, and hes ready to win.

Joey Essex (The Only Way Is Essex) is a TV sensation in the UK, but has yet to experience life in a Shore House. His strategy coming in? Capitalize on that Essex charm, and flirt with everyone.

Johnny Middlebrooks (Love Island) is known as a player, but this time its all about the competition  or is it? When drama kicks off between his partner and his new love interest, Johnny must navigate dangerous waters in order to keep his eye on the prize.

Karime Pindter (Acapulco Shore) is here to show the world how Mexico really parties. And though the competition and challenges might scare her, she loves money and will do whatever it takes to win it!

Luis Potro Caballero (Acapulco Shore) may be known as The Seducer back home, but here hes a force in the competition. When others question his game, will he prove himself or will it send him straight to exile?

Marina Gregory (Ex on the Beach Brazil: Celebs) knows its all about the social media game when it comes to making cash money. But in this Shore House, she finds that reading people is a lot harder face-to-face than it was online.

Ricardo Salusse (Rio Shore) is here to show that size doesnt matter in this competition. He might not be the hulk, but hes quick, hes smart and hes fun at parties. Dont underestimate his tenacity to win!

Trina Njoroge (Love Island) knows how the mind works and intends to use her professional skills to her advantage in this competition. Will that plan backfire when she gets caught spilling too much tea?

Vanessa Vanjie Mateo (RuPauls Drag Race) is a fierce drag queen whose sharp wit and unfiltered personality quickly prove Miss Vanjie is also fierce competition. But will this queen sashay away with the prize money?

The series is produced for Paramount+ by iTV Studios Netherlands in partnership with MTV Entertainment Studios.

Thursday, June 30 on Paramount+
Andy Lee series The Hundred has sold format rights internationally.

The show has started in Greece, which is great, Lee said this week.

I expect Channel Nine will play the Greek version straight after ours with heavy subtitles.

Panelist Mike Goldstein also outlined a new game the show will introduce in its third season.

Were doing one called Couples Counseling a couple who are having a disagreement. We put it to The Hundred to decide who is right. Ive pitched Andy and Bec (Harding, partner) as the first couple, he said.

If anyone out there is having a fight with their partner at the moment, youll be allowed to come on live television and have Australia decide whos in the right, said Lee.

The Hundred with Andy Lee is an original concept by Screentime Australia and Andy Lee in association with Channel 9.
Next week the Today show will mark 40 years on air.

Nines breakfast show began on June 28 1982, hosted by Steve Liebmann and Sue Kellaway, both of whom will feature on the show next week as part of a week of celebrations.

The Nine team will be revisiting four decades of major news events, celebrity guests, road shows around Australia and the world, the wild viral moments, great Aussie characters and of course, host bloopers.

On Friday, July 1, there will be a special broadcast featuring guest appearances from the programs former hosts, with viewers invited to Channel 9s North Sydney studio to celebrate the landmark anniversary Live.

Karl Stefanovic said: Im very much looking forward to celebrating 40 years of the Today show. Its a great honour and privilege to host this program, which has been part of Australians lives for four decades now. Its an incredible achievement, and right from the beginning it set the pace for the national agenda.

We cant wait to bring you some of the great highlights, reintroduce you to some of the remarkable people we have had on the show, and bring the hosts back to see what they look like now. Its going to be absolutely terrific, with a big bunch of surprises along the way.

Allison Langdon said: Yes, its an absolute privilege to be part of the 40th anniversary celebrations. Having been with the show for three years, I have so much respect for all the amazing people who have sat in this chair before me over the years.

Its an honour to be able to look back and acknowledge the incredible, rich history of the show, the stories and the guests who have told them, and to reminisce in a walk down that memory lane of fashions and hairstyles that have come and gone over the years. Heres to another 40 years of Today!

For audience tix please register here.
Mohamed Salah during Liverpool's pre-season friendly against Wigan Athletic. Credit: PA Images

Its ridiculous to think now but back when Mohamed Salah joined Liverpool in the summer of 2017, the main talking point seemed to be whether he could cope there.

After not being given a chance at Chelsea, the Egypt international went to Roma and showed enough to prove to Liverpool that he had what it takes to stand out in the Premier League and Champions League.

This was one of four transfers made by Liverpool ahead of the 2017-18 campaign, all of which will have led to some sort of questioning from outside the club  while Virgil van Dijk was later signed from Southampton in January.

So, with Salah proving himself one of the Reds all-time greatest signings, we decided to look at the three players who moved to Anfield alongside him and how theyve fared since.

Dominic Solanke

Nine days after Salah arrived from Roma, Solanke joined the Reds following the culmination of his Chelsea contract, though Liverpool had to pay a reported 3million fee set by a tribunal.

The excitement wasnt eventually backed up in a Liverpool shirt, as his only goal came in a final day 4-0 win against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Still, there wont be too many complaints from Anfield, as Liverpool moved him on to Bournemouth for 19million plus add-ons in January 2019, and, after a couple of slow seasons, the 24-year-old scored 30 goals to fire the Cherries back to the Premier League last term.

Andrew Robertson

The Scotsman was next through the Anfield door, joining from Hull City in a deal reported to be worth 8m  a number that has proven an absolute bargain.

Ever since that lung-bursting sprint against Manchester City, Robertson has been a fan favourite and has played an integral in Liverpools recent successes, having won a Premier League, Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, League Cup and FA Cup  the lot, basically.

Hes also one of the best wind-up merchants around at the moment. We love him.

Credit: PA Images

READ: 6 times Andy Robertson was a superb sh*thouse: Suarez, Messi, Neymar

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

While Oxlade-Chamberlain has also been around for the aforementioned trophy wins, his legacy isnt quite as straightforward as Robertsons.

Story continues

When the Ox joined from Arsenal for a reported 35million, he did so as a player who possessed talent but left everyone unaware of how to best get that out of him  whether thats where to put the former England international on the pitch or how to keep him injury-free.

Unfortunately for club and player, those concerns havent really changed at all in the seasons since, even if he has put in the occasional big performance down the years.

Peter Crouch: Liverpool was best spell of my career but has my biggest regret

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Johnny Depp is going on tour with his band Hollywood Vampires next year.

The supergroup - comprised of Depp, Alice Cooper, Joe Perry, and Tommy Henriksen - announced on Instagram on Wednesday that their tour in Europe will commence next summer.

"The Hollywood Vampires are BACK!! We're coming to Germany and Luxembourg Summer 2023!" they wrote beside the tour poster. "Keep an eye out for more to come..."

During the 2023 tour, the Hollywood Vampires will visit Oberhausen, Germany on 20 June; Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg on 21 June; Munich, Germany on 24 June; Hamburg, Germany on 27 June; Citadel Music Festival in Berlin, Germany on 28 June; and Summer In The City in Mainz, Germany on 30 June.

Variety reports that the band previously cancelled a tour in March due to pandemic-related obstacles. They wrote in a statement at the time, "We kept trying to make it happen, but unfortunately due to the uncertainty of COVID-19 travel restrictions, it is just not possible."

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor recently wrapped up his legal proceedings against his ex-wife Amber Heard. He won his defamation case against her over her 2018 Washington Post op-ed and was awarded more than $10 million (8 million) in damages following a sensational six-week trial.

He has since returned to live performances and has appeared alongside Jeff Beck at a few of his pal's concerts throughout this month.
A list of eight ingredients and food items has been shared in multiple Thai-language social media posts alongside the claim they cause cancer. But the claim is misleading: health experts told AFP that the items have not been proven to be carcinogenic.

"MSG is the number one cancer agent," reads the Thai-language Facebook post shared here on May 16.

The post claims many Chinese people are diagnosed with cancer, and lists seven items -- including various Asian foods -- that it claims are carcinogens: chewing gum, pork liver, fermented vegetables, bottled fruit juice, fermented eggs, stinky tofu and fried dough sticks.

"Pass [the list] on to the people you care most about," the post says.

Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, taken on June 1, 2022

The same claim was also shared on Facebook here, here and here as well as on the messaging app Line.

"And why was this allowed to be sold? I don't understand why they would later warn us that it is dangerous. What for? I don't understand," one Thai Facebook user wrote in a comment.

"The items mentioned here are all Thai delicacies," reads another comment.

But the claim is misleading.

Not based on evidence

According to the US Food and Drug Administration, monosodium glutamate (MSG) is "generally recognized as safe".

It says on its website that although "many people identify themselves as sensitive to MSG, in studies with such individuals given MSG or a placebo, scientists have not been able to consistently trigger reactions".

Nattha Pipopchaiyasit, head of the Nutrition Science Group at the National Cancer Institute of Thailand, told AFP that "there is no item on this list which, by itself, is proven to be a cause of cancer."

She added that there are items on the list that should be eaten in moderation.

"MSG can be classified as a type of salt so we must be wary of our sodium intake," she said. "Consuming too much fried food is not recommended and fermentation can increase the salt content."

Story continues

Nicha Zungsontiporn, a lecturer from the oncology division of Chulalongkorn University and The King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, also told AFP that the claim is "not based on scientific evidence".

But Nicha noted that pickled vegetables are considered a possible carcinogenic agent by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) -- the World Health Organization's specialised cancer agency.

The IARC measures the strength of evidence to support a substance's potential for causing cancer, not the probability that cancer will occur.

The agency analysed Asian pickled vegetables in 1993 and found conflicting evidence from several studies on the association between the food and cancer types.

"There is limited evidence in humans for the carcinogenicity of pickled vegetables as prepared traditionally in Asia," reads the report.

As of June 21, none of the other seven items on the list in the misleading posts appears in the IARC's database.

Sure and Share, fact checkers with the Thai news agency MCOT, also debunked the claim in November 2020.
Russia has warned it could "take action" against Lithuania after Vilnius started applying sanctions on Russian goods transiting through its territory and entering Kaliningrad.

The exclave, sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, is of strategic importance for Russia, which acquired the territory after WWII.

It now houses the country's Baltic fleet as well as nuclear missiles, according to reports. It is also one of the country's most important industrial centres and has Russia's only ice-free port.

Moscow branded Lithuania's new actions as "unprecedented" and "unlawful".

Lithuania, meanwhile, has said that it is only following EU sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Imports and transit of certain goods such as coal, metals and construction materials through the EU is barred.

The EU has supported Lithuania, emphasising that the small Baltic state is respecting the bloc's sanctions and is in no way implementing measures unilaterally.

Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat stressed earlier this week that "the land transit between Kaliningrad and other parts of Russia has not been stopped nor banned, there is no blockade" and that "transit of passengers and goods that are not sanctioned continues."

"In accordance with European Union sanctions, there are import and export restrictions that apply in relation to certain goods including the prohibition of transit for though goods through the European Union territory. And Lithuania is doing nothing else but implementing the guidelines provided by the Commission," he told reporters.

Watch our report in the video player above.
Cacao for Conservation

By Venita Jenkins



Chocolate is known for its many health benefits. A group of UNCW researchers is exploring another benefit of this decadent treat: rainforest restoration.

Gabriella de Souza 18, 22M; Environmental Sciences faculty members Dr. Sheri Shiflett and Dr. James Rotenberg (retired); and Dr. Zachary Long, associate professor in Biology and Marine Biology are working with the Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education to study the environmental, social and economic benefits of cacao as a tool for conserving and restoring tropical ecosystems.

The group was awarded the Charles L. Cahill Grant in 2020 for a project titled Birds and Chocolate Forests: Restoring Tropical Rainforests One Delicious Bite at a Time. The teams research examines optimal shade and light needed for growing cultivated wild cacao.

De Souza and Dr. Shiflett traveled to Belize in May 2021 to study a rare variety of chocolate trees, Criollo cacao. This native variety has been cultivated by the Mayan community in Belize for centuries, said de Souza. They visited BFREE, a preserve and agricultural forest for Criollo cacao.

Dr. Shiflett and I measured physiological and environmental parameters to determine which factors might be influential to cacao plant health, said de Souza, who earned her bachelors degree in biology and environmental sciences from UNCW.

One of the environmental parameters measured was light availability. To do this, de Souza used fisheye lens photography to capture the forest canopy directly above each cacao tree. With Adobe Photoshop, she was able to transform the images to quantify the amount of light passing through the canopy. Black pixels represented vegetation, while white pixels represented the light potentially reaching the cacao plant underneath the canopy.

From there, you can quantify the amount of light that might be reaching that plant, she said. The data from this project are important because they can help us conserve a rare and culturally valuable species by identifying the ideal growing conditions for cacao.

Dr. Shiflett noted the research will not only make an ancient variety of cacao more widely available and accessible, but it will also contribute to forest restoration in areas that have been disturbed by a Category 4 hurricane. The idea is to plant hardwood trees which facilitate ample light penetration and provide soil nutrients while growing the cacao in the shaded understory layer. Researchers are also interested in studying which bird species benefit from sustainable cacao agroforestry.

Farmers who are curious about sustainable agroforestry would learn new techniques for optimizing their processes, Dr. Shiflett added.

Recent research studies have focused on the climate adaptation benefits of low-to-intermediate shade cacao agroforestry in Africa, but far fewer studies have been conducted in Central America, she said. Our work will allow for comparisons of benefits among tropical agroforestry systems.

De Souza felt honored to participate in the research. In fact, the study became her masters thesis.

With climate change, rapidly developing areas and people constantly wanting to clear land for development, its essential that rare species like this should be conserved and preserved, not only for cultural importance, but for genetics and science in general.

Read more in the Spring 2022 issue of UNCW Magazine
UNCW Researcher to Receive $1 Million to Explore an Alternative Method to Produce Cement Using Microalgae

UNCW Research Professor Catharina Alves-de-Souza has been awarded a $1 million grant as part of more than $3 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. The grant is part of the ARPA-E HESTIA program, which prioritizes overcoming barriers associated with carbon-storing buildings, including scarce, expensive and geographically limited building materials.



The HESTIA program aims to increase the total amount of carbon stored in buildings to create carbon sinks, which absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than is released during the construction process.



The project, A Photosynthetic Route to Carbon-Negative Portland Limestone Cement Production, will investigate an alternative method to generate cement that stores carbon dioxide (CO2) by using calcifying microalgae that capture CO2 in the form of limestone plates that cover their cells.



Dr. Alves-de-Souza will be a part of an interdisciplinary team comprising researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The project is led by Dr. Wil Srubar, an architectural engineering and materials science associate professor at CU Boulder. Dr. Alves-de-Souza and Dr. Michael Guarnieri, senior scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, are co-principal investigators.



This neutral-CO2 cement would be used to replace normal cement in concrete structures, which would contribute significantly to reducing the carbon footprint of the cement industry, said Dr. Alves-de-Souza, director of the Algal Resources Collection at UNCWs Center for Marine Science. We will also obtain other high-value products from the microalgae, such as lipids and proteins, which will make the project economically viable.



The project represents one of the more innovative and exciting examples of microalgal biotechnological applications, Dr. Alves-de-Souza added. The proposed biotechnological approach offers a revolutionary pathway to produce, for the first time, CO2-neutral portland cement using microalgae. Nothing like that has ever been attempted before.



I am honored to be leading a world-class team of scientists and engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder and our partner institutions, said Dr. Srubar. Our partners bring deep expertise in microalgae cultivation and algal biomass valorization, along with advanced tools to help us select and optimize high-performing algal strains.



The cement industry accounts for 7% of global anthropogenic carbon dioxide, most of which is released due to calcining (heating) quarried limestone, according to researchers.



Concrete is an essential resource for climate-resilient construction, but the production of one of concretes main ingredients, portland cement, is energy-intensive and generates a large amount of carbon in the atmosphere, said Dr. Stuart Borrett, associate provost for research and innovation at UNCW. If successful, this research could have a positive impact on the Earths climate. UNCW is excited to partner with the University of Colorado Boulder to advance this important discovery and innovation effort.



The UNCW-ARC team will be responsible for screening hundreds of microalgae cultures to select the ones with characteristics for maximal growth and calcification. The team will also use existing knowledge of the normal functions and environment of the microalgae to optimize their growth conditions to produce the required volume of microalgae, said Dr. Alves-de-Souza. The NREL team will work on the genetic improvement of the coccolithophore microalgae to achieve maximal production.



Its not every day we have the opportunity to work with such a diverse research team, including engineers, microalgal specialists, geneticists and business specialists, all working toward a common goal, said Dr. Alves-de-Souza. As a scientist, this project represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to generate basic knowledge that could be applied on a short-term scale to minimize global warming, one of the main threats to the planet.



The innovative collaboration with CU Boulder is an excellent example of how science can help address major societal issues, said Dr. Kenneth Halanych, executive director of UNCWs Center for Marine Science.



Interdisciplinary collaborations can lead to truly transformative results. For this grant, Dr. Alves-de-Souza is combining her extensive knowledge of microalgae with the expertise of colleagues at the University of Colorado Boulder to do something simple, such as creating a more eco-friendly cement, said Dr. Halanych. Due to the common use of cement as a building material, this work has the potential to literally scale to global proportions and make a significant difference.



--Venita Jenkins



#CMS

#RESEARCH





UNCW Research Professor Catharina Alves-de-Souza, director of the Algal Resources Collection at the Center for Marine Science (Photo by Arden Lumpkin/Center for Marine Science Intern)

Dr. Wil Srubar, associate professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, holds a sample cube of concrete that contains biogenic limestone produced by calcifying macro- and microalgae. (Photo by Glenn Asakawa/University of Colorado)
Top McLennan County Republican Party leaders agree with a recent resolution at the state party convention that President Joe Bidens election was not legitimate, though some stopped short of saying he is not the president of the United States.

Dr. Brad Holland, chairman of the McLennan County Republican Party, did not answer the questions of whether Biden is president or whether he voted for the resolution at the Republican Party of Texas state convention, which drew some 5,100 to Houston last Thursday through Saturday.

The resolution speaks for itself, Holland said.

Local GOP leaders interviewed said attention on the resolution has been out of proportion with other elements of the convention. They said the gathering drew grassroots input from across the state and covered more important ground, including setting statements of policies and principles regarding a range of topics from border security and stopping taxpayer-funded lobbying to the elimination of abortion and protections against executive overreach.

The 2020 election resolution, which passed by a voice vote of delegates and alternates on the convention floor, reads as follows:

We believe that the 2020 election violated Article 1 and 2 of the US Constitution, that various secretaries of state illegally circumvented their state legislatures in conducting their elections in multiple ways, including by allowing ballots to be received after November 3, 2020. We believe that substantial election fraud in key metropolitan areas significantly affected the results in five key states in favor of Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.

We reject the certified results of the 2020 Presidential election, and we hold that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States. We strongly urge all Republicans to work to ensure election integrity and to show up to vote in November of 2022, bring your friends and family, volunteer for your local Republicans, and overwhelm any possible fraud.

Holland said that this assertion is not unreasonable.

Holland argued that in several states, secretaries of state acted with powers they did not have, allowing late votes and waiving signature requirements.

Jon Ker, former chairman of the McLennan County Republican Party and current member of the executive committee of the Republican Party of Texas, said he did vote in favor of the 2020 election resolution. He also affirmed that Biden is the president of the United States.

(Biden) was sworn in, Ker said Wednesday. Certainly hes the president.

In followup comments Thursday, Ker added: What the resolution means is that the Republican Party of Texas takes a stance asserting its belief that the (2020 presidential) election was not legitimate.

Patty Castillo, president of the McLennan County Republican Women, was not present on the convention floor during the vote on the 2020 election resolution, but she said she supports it. Castillo would not say whether Biden is the president.

Delegates to the Texas GOP convention were chosen by county and senate district conventions that were held March 26, drawn from a pool of delegates chosen at precinct conventions. The convention also drew party leaders and Republican elected officials, who are also allowed to vote if they are present.

Committees met early in the week, and formal proceedings to determine what the party believes, what its principles are and to set the platform concluded Saturday, Ker said.

Holland downplayed the importance of the election resolution.

Ninety-nine percent of the convention was forward-looking, toward a red wave and an election conducted with a high degree of integrity, Holland said Thursday. To pull out a minute portion of a long convention for a headline is disingenuous, inaccurate and misleading.

Holland also pointed out that the resolution on the 2020 election was the last piece of business before the end of the convention.

There was no debate on the merits of the resolution. The less than five minutes of discussion was over the procedures for passing resolutions. It was read and passed by acclamation, voices for, voices against, Holland said.

State Rep. Charles Doc Anderson, R-Waco, said Tuesday that he missed not only the vote on the 2020 election resolution, but also the votes on the about 300 platform planks and the entire last day of the convention.

I didnt hear that resolution, Anderson said. But, in general, I will say that we ought to audit elections.

He said a lottery basis could be used to choose which elections to audit.

We audit banks and we audit veterinary practices, we ought to audit elections, too, said Anderson, a longtime veterinarian.

Neither Congressman Pete Sessions, R-Waco, nor his staff returned phone calls or emails this week seeking comment about the state Republican convention and the 2020 election resolution.
PHOENIX (AP)  Arizona's legislature approved a bipartisan $18 billion spending plan early Thursday that will make substantial investments in public schools, build new highways and pay down long-term debts.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate ended a months-long impasse, working through the night to approve the budget shortly before sunrise. Only a handful of dissenters from each party voted against the package of bills, and Republican Gov. Doug Ducey was expected to approve it.

This is what our state, where voters are nearly evenly divided by party affiliation, has long asked of us  to work together, said Rep. Reginald Bolding of Laveen, the top Democrat in the House.

The improbable bipartisanship was enabled by an unprecedented surplus topping $5 billion, allowing for a broad array of new spending and savings.

That includes $544 million for border security, roughly half of it for a wall, and $1 billion for highway construction, including widening Interstate 10 north of Casa Grande. State employees will get a raise, many for the first time in a decade. Hundreds of millions are set aside for water infrastructure as the state faces prolonged drought.

The budget also makes a $1.1 billion deposit into the pension fund for public safety and corrections officers, paying off the state's unfunded liability for future retirement benefits. And it puts another $425 million in the rainy day fund to help the state weather a potential recession.

It also eliminates the state equalization tax, a property tax for education, and backfills it with $330 million from the general fund.

The package of budget bills passed with overwhelming support, highly unusual in the modern era.

Ducey hailed the deal, saying his policies of limited spending and regulation cuts can be credited for the surplus, although massive federal COVID-19 relief money also was a major contributor.

The result is a booming economy with record revenues, Ducey said in a statement. With this budget, were putting those dollars to good use and investing in priorities that Republicans and Democrats alike can agree on.

Republican leaders had struggled for months to craft a spending plan that could find unanimous support in the fractious GOP caucuses without relying on Democrats. Tiny majorities in both chambers meant opposition from a single Republican lawmaker was enough to sink the budget if Democrats were united in opposition.

Ironically, it was the Legislature's most conservative lawmakers who forced the hands of GOP leaders when they balked at initial, smaller spending proposals. After losing support on the right, House Speaker Rusty Bowers and Senate President Karen Fann had to look elsewhere for votes, and they found them across the aisle.

GOP leaders decided to just take the easy road out, the path of least resistance and give up and just spend, said Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, a Scottsdale Republican who voted against the budget.

The budget is not sound and its not reflective of my conservative values, Ugenti-Rita said.

Nobody loves a budget once all the compromises are made, said Senate Majority Leader Rick Gray, R-Sun City.

Every single budget's bad, Gray said. But for me, its encouraging that we have actually come together.

The plan includes a handful of small, targeted tax cuts for farm machines and private planes but no large scale reductions. Republicans last year cut $1.7 billion in income taxes.

GOP and Democratic leaders agreed to add $526 million in new ongoing funding for K-12 schools, a substantial increase from the GOP's initial proposal. Their agreement adds $80 million in combined additional funding for Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University, bringing their funding boosts in line with additional money already allocated to University of Arizona.

Sen. Sean Bowie, a moderate Phoenix Democrat, joined with moderate Republican Sen. Paul Boyer to push for more school funding, noting that in all more than $1 billion in new school funding was in the plan, with more than half ongoing. Both are leaving the Legislature after this year.

Now, this budget isn't perfect. I had a bill I really cared about that I wanted included in the budget, a tax cut for low-income working families, Bowie said. I was told the choice is that bill or more investment in K-12 schools, and I chose our K-12 public schools.

He citied Boyers' leadership, your stubbornness, your perseverance," for reaching the deal.

Boyer, who started as a Senate staffer and has been a lawmaker for a decade, said this is the first bipartisan budget in at least 15 years.

Lawmakers also agreed to technical changes in a formula for distributing money to schools and $4 million each for school testing and 2022 election costs. A proposed expansion of a tax credit to subsidize private school tuition was removed from the must-pass budget, likely dooming it.

The bipartisanship extended to opposition  a handful of conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats voted against the budget deal.

Sen. Martin Quezada, a Glendale Democrat, spoke out against plans to spend $335 million for a wall on the southern border, which he said would be useless in stopping people from crossing.

This is really just getting on a soap box and vilifying immigrants and creating a political point, Quezada said.

But for Democrats, this may have been the last chance for the foreseeable future to make an imprint on the state budget. Republicans are widely expected to expand their majority in the 2022 election thanks to new district boundaries that appear to favor the GOP.

The Legislature plans to return Thursday afternoon to take up legislation directing how the new water cash will be spent and other remaining bills, with an eye to adjourning for the year once those are completed.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Texas lawmakers heard from dozens of Texans on Wednesday who pleaded with them to fix the states environmental agency, which they said is failing to reduce pollution in their neighborhoods.

At a hearing on a report evaluating the Texas Commission on Environmental Qualitys effectiveness, Texans as young as 9 and as old as 80 testified that the agency had not adequately responded to their environmental or health concerns.

From Hill Country river pollution to concrete batch plants in Houston to smog in urban areas, residents from across the state spent hours telling lawmakers about environmental problems in their communities and complaining that the agency isnt doing its job regulating the industry.

Weve been taught that pollution is not good for our health and growing brains, so I wonder why TCEQ keeps permitting plants that pollute our air and water, said Natalie Diamond, 9, of Gunter, who testified after her mother, who advocates for clean air in their community.

The public testimony followed a presentation and report by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission staff that said TCEQs commissioners have become reluctant regulators and that confusion and misperceptions about how the agency operates have created a concerning level of distrust of the agency.

The Sunset Commission Staff report says there needs to be a change in the perception and appearance that the TCEQ works for industry, said Houston resident Gloria Rubac, 75. Thats not a perception. It is a fact that TCEQ does favor industry. They favor corporations over our health.

The Sunset Commission evaluates state agencies effectiveness and makes recommendations to state lawmakers as to which laws may need to change to improve them. The last time TCEQ was evaluated was more than a decade ago.

The staff found that TCEQ commissioners, at times, encouraged the industry to self police, deferred hard decisions to staff and flagged several transparency problems that, in the reports assessment, have contributed to an overall public distrust of the agency.

The commissioners lack of visibility in and ownership of TCEQ decision making has only inspired further frustration and distrust among both the regulated community and environmental advocates, the report said.

Greater transparency

Sunset staff recommended that the agency add a new meeting for high-profile permit applications earlier in the process, change the way the agency evaluates companies compliance history, require more public decision-making by commissioners and make information more accessible online, among other recommendations.

The concern that we heard from the public is that by the time theyre having the meeting, the TCEQ has already said the permit as drafted is appropriate, said Robert Romig, who wrote the executive summary of the Sunset Commissions report.

But few of those recommendations appeared palatable to state lawmakers serving on the Sunset Committee, who pushed back at the reports finding that the public didnt trust the agency and raised concerns that adding a new meeting to the permit review process would strain an already under-resourced agency.

State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, questioned the finding that the industry was unhappy with the environmental agency, and state Rep. Travis Clardy, R-Nacogdoches, said the Sunset staff recommendations would increase the cost to do business in Texas.

We will see more bureaucracy, Clardy said. More regulation is going to be more expensive for individuals and companies.

Democratic lawmakers from Houston who attended the hearing emphasized the disproportionate impact of pollution on communities of color and characterized experiences with the agency as frustrating and often fruitless.

Our experience is that unfortunately the TCEQ rubber stamps these applications, said state Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston. [Texas] has neutered our local governments from allowing them to regulate these industries.

State Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, said one of the most frustrating aspects of TCEQ meetings is that the permits are already drafted and cant be easily changed regardless of what the public tells the agency.

Whats the point of a public meeting? he asked, adding that he supports the Sunset staffs recommendation of holding public meetings earlier in the process.

In a letter responding to the report, TCEQ Executive Director Toby Baker wrote that the agency questions some of the word choices and opinions in the report, but welcomed the opportunity to improve. The TCEQ said it agreed with many of the Sunset Commissions recommendations, including more transparency, especially in improving its website.

During committee testimony, TCEQ Commissioner Jon Niermann said he wants the agency to be better. We want to do a better job of communicating with the public, he said. We want to be more transparent.

But he also said some of the Sunset staffs recommendations  including altering the agencys compliance history formula to require the agency to include minor violations when considering issuing permits  would be a more heavy-handed or punitive approach. Such changes, he said, would require more money and staff.

The committees chair, state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, said lawmakers have some concerns about the Sunset Commissions report, but would work to better the agency.

I respect the report, he said. There are certain areas people have concerns about, and I have concern about, but I think we are all going to view it in the light of our responsibility to fellow Texans to make sure that this regulatory agency is tuned up.

Pollution in communities of color

Around 100 residents from Houston attended the Wednesday hearing  many boarded buses as early as 4:30 a.m. Wednesday  to speak about their frustration with the agencys permitting of concrete batch plants and other industrial pollution in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods.

The agencys permits for concrete batch plants became a point of contention during the hearing: Democratic lawmakers peppered Niermann with questions about the agencys decision-making process.

The facilities pollute the air with particulate matter, which increases the risk of asthma attacks and cardiac arrest if too much is inhaled, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Residents near such plants  often built in areas populated by communities of color  also complain about the noise and traffic from heavy trucks driving through their neighborhoods.

TCEQ regulates the air pollution and water runoff from the plants, but cities and local entities regulate other aspects, including where the plant is allowed to locate and how much noise it can make. Outside of cities where there are few zoning regulations, residents say plants have sprung up near their homes, parks and churches.

Niermann said he believes the location of batch plants is determined by economics and the need for services, and disputed some Democrats assessment that the agencys permitting decisions could be racist.

I do not relish in permitting a concrete batch plant next to a school, but we dont choose the site, Niermann said. That decision belongs with the business owner.

He said the TCEQ has never done an analysis as to whether there is a correlation between race and pollution sources.

During public testimony  which lasted four hours  Black and Latino residents called on legislators to require the agency to be more accountable to the public.

Listen to the people that have come to you today and continue to come, said Sandra Harper Scott, 66, a Houston resident who lives in Acres Homes. She said her community has dealt with several concrete batch plants and other industrial sites that contribute to unhealthy air quality. We have asked you, begged you, to help. This House has to help us.

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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/22/texas-commission-environmental-quality-sunset-hearing/.

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Time to reset the soul and put toes in the sand to reground ourselves. Its summer!

This year we chose Orange Beach, Alabama, for vacation. Talk about miles of white sugar sand beaches mixed with perfect mid-80s sunny weather! With an easy drive from Texas, this should be on everybodys go-to list at least once. You can literally walk over to Florida.

Orange Beach was settled in the 1860s where turpentine and shingles were manufactured. Once the forest was destroyed, its famous Satsuma orange groves were planted. For many decades, their oranges were sought after, but the last grove ended around 1926 from several hard years and big infestation in the seedlings.

By this time the Intracoastal Waterway had been expanded, and while it cut Orange Beach off from the mainland, it offered greater water access. Through this, boat tourism increased with fishing expeditions. Today, after the large BP oil spill and cleanup, fishing is better farther out than inland.

Its population is increasing, but limits are in place. Its still a fun sport, regardless, and we must all do our part for the aquatics to rebound.

While beaching it, I naturally started looking at any wineries. Alabama does not have a vast amount to choose from, but I did find one within an hours drive. This one happens to come with a great amount of importance.

Post-Prohibition Winery

Taking a day away from what I longed for  sun, sand and water, is difficult. Except when it involves wine.

We set out late morning for Perdido, Alabama, about an hour away from Orange Beach. We arrived at Perdido Vineyards and Winery by lunchtime. Its a small, quaint winery born out of a necessity of sorts by Jim and Marianne Eddins in 1979.

Jim was retired military and an engineer, while Marianne was a chemist. They met in Maryland while both were working at IBM. She was a native New Yorker, he was a native Alabamian. After they were married, they settled in Jims state.

Marianne liked wine, and at that time Alabama only had ABC package stores. The selections there were pitiful. He was embarrassed that his state did not have good wines to offer his wife.

One evening, they were in nearby Pensacola, Florida, eating at Bartels. They ordered a wine from the menu, and after the owner, Mr. Weaver poured them a glass, Jim proclaimed that was the best he had tasted.

Weaver told him it was almost his last bottle, and discussed the grape shortage he was having. The Eddinses asked why that was when such a huge agricultural state like Alabama surrounded him. He told them the Germans and the Italians lost the war there, and lost the war here. Theyre prejudiced against them. Wont even let them buy fertilizer.

Jim and Marianne went home, and being the naval officer he was, he went and tackled the problem by finding the right land to buy to grow their favorite native grape, Muscadine or Scuppernong by the Native American Indians. He made a deal with Weaver: Ill grow your grapes, if you make the wine. The year was 1972.

For seven years, the deal was met. Until the day Eddins went to deliver fruit and found Weaver dead in a vat of wine. Only 10 days earlier, Weaver had agreed to sell Jim the Bartel winery, but the paperwork was not completed, and the feds came in and shut down the winery instead. Government would rather shutter a business, than pass it on.

Native Alabama Farm Act

This all put Jim and Marianne in a difficult position. He had tons of grapes that were going to rot without a buyer. So the engineer in him designed a winery, and built in a month!

He then went to the state to fill out paperwork for a licensed facility, and hit a roadblock. The state wouldnt issue one because it did not want a winery. Unbelievable! Someone could brew and distill, but not ferment. However, they could ferment per a 1937 law that the state was ignoring.

So Eddins threatened to sue the state. Remember Bartel? Well, the Bartels had a winery in Alabama pre-Prohibition, and resurrected it post-Prohibition, but the state came in and literally ran them out. It seems they didnt like the Germans and Italians bringing their craft to their state.

They didnt want a generations-old Alabamian to have a winery either. Jim found a legislator who took him seriously, and created the 1979 Native Alabama Farm Winery Act with Eddins receiving the first license in Alabama. The winery opened in 1980.

Tough political times did not end there. In 2001, in a secret legislative meeting, state legislators repealed the 1979 act after all those years. The bank tried to foreclose on him and take over, except Jim called the state and reported them for bootlegging! Smart man. If he cant get a license, how do they think they could sell his wines without one?

The Eddinses took back their property, and started producing a line of Muscadine vinegars, food products  anything to keep their doors open. The state tried to take those away, as well. It took a while to right the ship again and for the state to allow farm wineries again, and that was thanks to Jim Eddins lobbying.

Pioneer for Research

Jim worked closely with Dr. Harold Olmo from UC Davis. Olmo grew Muscadine grapes, and experimented grafting other vines with the native grapes in research for Pierces Disease and new hybrids, like the Ruby Cabernet.

He also exclaimed that Muscadine is the better grape for brandy, and had quite a few bottles he distilled himself. The two connected early on, and Olmo told Jim he would teach him how to make Muscadine wine if he would plant and grow his hybrids for research.

It was a long relationship until Olmos passing, and an important one that gets looked over in history. Jim Eddins was responsible for many research discoveries about vine diseases, vine life, crossbreeding and more.

Jim and Marianne have both since passed away. The winery was incorporated, and family is overseeing it through probate. Perdido wines will live on.

Wines in Review

Elberta May Wine

About: Paying homage to the German settlers in Elberta, Alabama, who established vineyards and wineries, Elberta May Wine, combines the native German woodruff plant with native Alabama wine.

Tasting notes: Bouquets of fresh strawberries with a musky hint of almonds follow on the palette for a long, delicate finish that beckons for more. Drink slightly chilled for optimal flavors. Mix with pink lemonade and club soda for the most perfect Southern punch.

Type: Semi-sweet white wine.

Cost: $16.95.

Marengo

About: Marengo is named after Napoleons horse, and pays homage to the Bonapartist exiles from France that came to the area and formed the Vine and Olive colony in 1817.

Tasting notes: Made from the red Muscadine grape, this is pleasing on the palate, and perfect for barbecue. Fruity, but not sweet; complex, but not overdone, this a perfect representation of a red Muscadine grape that was used by the famous colony before its departure to New Orleans.

Type: Semi-dry red wine.

Cost: $12.95. 

Lorrie Dicorte has been in the wine business for 40-some years and her family for more than 90 years. Her grandfather, Billy Dicorte, and cousin, Tony LaBarbera, were the first to import fine wines such as Ch Lafite Rothschild. Lorrie has served on international wine competition judging panels, and is known for her keen smell and taste.
by Aaron Haase

The Fagen Fighters WWII Museum held their annual Ray Fagen Memorial Airshow at their home field in Granite Falls, Minnesota on Saturday, June 18th, 2022. I arrived mid-afternoon the day before, and was treated to several practice flybys, most notably by Fagen Fighters newest acquisition, a Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero. The collections recently restored, award-winning Grumman F6F Hellcat also took to the skies  chasing the Zero around a bit. The Wings of the North air museum brought their TBM Avenger over for some flybys during this time as well. After these aircraft landed, a replica P-36 Hawk and Zero (created for the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!) took off to practice their dogfighting routine. Fagen Fighters desert-schemed Curtiss Kittyhawk Mk.I joined them as well. Later in the evening, we were treated to some beautiful flybys from Fagen Fighters P-51D Mustangs Sweet Revenge and Twilight Tear. These two stunning beauties made for some gorgeous evening photos.





The air show on the following day was sadly too windy to allow the parachute jumpers to perform as the opening act. Instead, Evan Fagen hopped into the collections Grumman FM-2 Wildcat and performed a splendid aerobatic routine. The primary trainers and an Erco Ercoupe were the next aircraft in the air. They did a couple of nice, low passes before recovering to land. After the trainers finished, Bernie Vasquez took off in the Dakota Territory Air Museums Hawker Hurricane Mk.XII. This was the first time Id seen an aerobatic demonstration in this type of aircraft. Bernie really showed off its exceptional maneuverability and proved why it was able to hold the front lines during the Battle of Britain. Next up was a flight of four Vultee BTs and one North American T-6 Texan.

Three of the BTs flew a nice Vic formation for their passes while a fourth made solo passes, as did the T-6. After they recovered, Bernie Vasquez once again took to the air, this time flying the Dakota Territory Air Museums Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc. He flew another wonderful aerobatics routine in this famous British fighter. The World War Two bombers were up next; two B-25 Mitchells and a PBY Catalina made a few passes, with pyro exploding on the ground to simulate their attack. The Mitchells included Fagen Fighters B-25J Paper Doll and Pat Harkers B-25 Lady Luck, while John OConnor supplied the PBY Catalina (actually a Canadian-built PBV-1A Canso). Once the bombers landed, the USAAF fighters took off to begin their flybys.





Fagen Fighters P-38L Lightning Scat III and P-51D Mustang Sweet Revenge performed several flybys which included simulated strafing and bomb pyro runs. Once the P-38 landed, Ray Fowler performed a marvelous aerobatic routine in the Mustang. Following Ray, Matt Younkin put his exquisite Beech 18 through a magical routine. The control and precision which he showcases is second to none in this aircraft. The Pacific-themed portion of the show rounded out the day. First up was a flight of four United States Navy aircraft including Fagen Fighters F6F Hellcat and FM-2 Wildcat alongside Wings of the Norths F4U-4 Corsair and TBM Avenger. They made several passes accompanied by the thump and flash of simulated strafe and bombing run pyrotechnics on the ground. After these passes, the Hellcat, Wildcat and Corsair joined with a Mustang for a missing man formation.

Perhaps the most emotional part of any airshow, this missing man routine was flown by some of the most heralded warbird pilots in the community: Evan Fagen in the Hellcat, Bernie Vasquez in the Wildcat, Doug Rozendaal in the Corsair, and Ray Fowler in the Mustang. Ray pulled up and away from the formation to complete the missing man. Once all these fighters returned safely to earth, an alarm sounded, and suddenly, the field was under attack by six aircraft sporting red circles on their wings the Commemorative Air Forces Tora Tora Tora performance had begun!









Replica Zero fighters and Kate torpedo bombers attacked the field. Our heroes took off to defend the skies in a replica P-36 Hawk and Fagen Fighters P-40K Warhawk. The crowd was treated to one final attack to signify the end of the show  the Tora Bomb Squads Wall of Fire. Even so, the flying event was not quite done for the day as Matt Younkin performed his award-winning nighttime routine in his Beech which concluded with an incredible 1500-foot long Wall of Fire (compliments again of the Tora Bomb Squad) as soon as Matt turned his lights off. What a surprise that was!

If you are a warbird fan and could not attend, I recommend you make a date for this event next year! It is a small venue, close to the runway, where you can really see and hear these wonderful aircraft fly. Huge kudos must go to all of the staff, volunteers, and performers for all of their hard work and dedication in putting on such a magnificent show!
Fans of local spirits no longer have to drive to LeClaire for their Mississippi River Distilling Company cocktails  the new downtown Davenport location has opened for business.

The Mississippi River Distilling Company Downtown Lounge, 318 E. 2nd St., Davenport, held its soft opening last weekend and will have its grand opening at 4 p.m. June 24. The distillery is open 4-10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 4-11 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and noon-8 p.m. Sundays.

Owner Ryan Burchett said renovation of the space was right on schedule, though businesses always hope to open just a little bit faster than planned.

"We're really pleased to be able to have things open for the busy summer months and to jump into all the great things that are going to be happening downtown," Burchett said.

With a menu full of LeClaire favorites and drinks unique to Davenport and decor that hark back to the building's origins, the Downtown Lounge is offering a whole new vibe, Burchett said.

Painted on a wall of the new space is a mural of the original building, emblazoned with "Davenport Buick Co." The original Italian marble floors have been restored, covered here and there by mid-century modern furniture. Bottles of Cody Road whiskeys and other Mississippi River Distilling Company spirits line the walls behind the bar and host desk.

The downtown Davenport location also houses a bottling facility that Burchett said will soon be operational. Once the last of the machinery makes its way from Florida and is installed, which they expect to be finished in early July, staff won't have to bottle the spirits by hand, greatly increasing the product they can put out.

"The speed at which we'll be able to manage stuff through it is wait-and-see," Burchett said. "But we know that it's going to ramp up our scale exponentially, certainly."

A 100-gallon still sits along the back wall, offering customers a glimpse into how the distillery's products are made. While it can't run during the lounge's operating hours  the space gets uncomfortably warm if it's on  Burchett said they plan to use the still for smaller batches of spirits.

Downtown Lounge manager Benjamin Ward said he's excited to show people that this new business was more than just a bar. Some of the drinks on the lounge's menu are also sold in bottles to take home, and offering them gives Ward the opportunity to explain all the work and creativity that goes on behind the scenes.

"I think that's really what we're looking forward to, is showing the community that we're making this from farm to cocktail glass," Ward said.

Across the street from the Downtown Lounge sits Raccoon Motel, Ragged Records and Trashcan Annie, which opened at these spots in 2021. Just a few blocks away, Daiquiri Factory's new Davenport location has been in operation for around one month.

Downtown Davenport Partnership Executive Director Kyle Carter said the Downtown Lounge was a perfect fit for the area, which has seen a lot of investment since the 2019 floods. With streetscape improvements being completed and new development plans for the corner of East 2nd and Iowa streets, the distillery opening is just adding to the downtown's growth.

"[Mississippi River Distilling Company] is kind of our newest cherry on the sundae, but when you're looking at the bigger picture of that corridor  I think we're starting to see some more momentum there," Carter said.

The Mississippi River Distilling Company received a $16,500 interior improvement grant from the Downtown Davenport Partnership to help with renovation costs and worked with the city of Davenport through its small business loan program.

Burchett has always held the conviction that "rising waters float all the boats," he said, and the business the new distillery location will bring downtown will help more than just them.

"We really feel like what we're doing accentuates what's happening over here," Burchett said. "This is not competition; this is us all working together to make this neck of the woods kind of come back to life."

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WATERLOO  The city reformed its rental housing regulations Monday to make them more renter friendly, which brought housing advocates to the City Council chambers.

The council approved an ordinance amending the regulations presented for a first reading. Councilors then voted to suspend the rules to pass the second and third readings, as well. The changes were approved unanimously.

In the biggest change, councilors scrapped the crime-free lease addendum and replaced it with a subsection titled defense in equity.

Previously, rental agreements had to include the crime-free lease addendum, which states that tenants could be evicted if they commit a crime. Now, city code states tenants are given the equitable doctrine of clean hands, or the benefit of doubt, in any action filed pursuant to Iowa Code Chapter 648. That chapter provides the legal proceedings landlords use to evict tenants.

Before the change, landlords who didnt add crime-free lease addendums would be in violation of city code. Under the new code, landlords who dont allow people to live in their home after committing a crime could have their landlord license revoked, suspended, denied or declined for renewal.

Michelle Jungers, a local attorney, said the changes are welcome, as shes seen many evictions during her career.

This isnt for all landlords, this is for bad landlords, Jungers said. What Ive seen is we have too many bad landlords. We have the highest rate of eviction in the state of Iowa.

Councilor Jonathan Grieder seconded this, saying the updated ordinances are not aimed at all landlords.

If you are here to exploit folks, that day is done, Grieder said. Were going to level the playing field for renters and landlords. Not tilt the scale, but true equality for those who need it.

The topic of bad landlords continued, as speakers cited inadequate living conditions. Housing advocates and residents noted theyve seen mold, pests and weathered structures that affect peoples well-being.

Jungers said shes seen residents evicted after not paying their rent when health and safety concerns were not addressed.

The new code states no rent can be legally collected if a rental is unregistered or uninspected, also known as rent abatement. A licensing officer may order rent abated when it is determined the owner of the rental fails to provide an essential service or fails to remedy a condition that poses a substantial risk to the health or safety of the tenant, unless the people living in the apartment caused the condition.

If rent is abated, an order will be given to the owner of the address as well as the tenant by mail and by posting on the entrance door to the rental unit. If the rent abatement is canceled, the order will be given in the same way.

Housing advocates echoed the concern that many rentals in Waterloo provide poor living conditions. Councilor Grieder said at some houses hes toured he would not subject the worst criminal on the face of the earth to live there.

One resident, Vincent Givens, said one of the worst housing units hes ever seen is in an apartment by Allen College, which has signage in French and English.

Signage being in French means there are a lot of Congolese, and a lot of people from African countries, that live there, Givens said. (The apartment) caters to immigrant communities.  And they get overshadowed and funneled into some of the worst places Ive ever been in.

The Rev. Abraham Funchess Jr., director of the Waterloo Commission on Human Rights, affirmed that there is housing inequity in the city. He cited the 24/7 Wall St. report, which lists Waterloo as one of the worst places for Black people to live, in his comments. He expressed hope that the new ordinances would enable change.

Mayor Quentin Hart said the city is going to work with a number of different partners, including landlord associations to stop old practices.

This is not just an ordinance, but its a movement we need to have across our entire community, Hart said. This is just beginning from work behind the scenes so we can make Waterloo a community of opportunity for everyone.

Other additions to the ordinance includes a change to the definition of rent to include any service, labor or goods given in exchange for housing. It also states that every landlord should provide renters with a tenant bill of rights summary.

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WAVERLY  Saturday is National Take Your Dog to Work Day, National Strawberry Parfait Day, National Catfish Day and National Leon Day (Noel spelled backwards because its exactly six months until Christmas).

Joe Frenna will be celebrating for a different reason on Saturday. He expects the day will feel like Christmas and his birthday rolled into one as he shouts Action! on the first day of filming on his first-ever movie, based on his original script, Hotspots of Waverly.

Ive spent the last four years writing the screenplay, said Frenna, a veteran stage actor and director familiar to Cedar Valley theatergoers. Im in love with the script. When I read it with friends, the words jumped off the page. There are serious relationship and social issues, but its really funny, too. It turned into a screwball comedy.

He consulted with local filmmakers about the process and equipment, but I feel like my life experience, my experience on stage as an actor and director and being a film nut will help me tell the story I want to tell. Im super-excited, and its a little scary, too.

Frenna has raised more than half of the $2,000 he expects to spend on the project through a Go Fund Me page. He used those funds to rent equipment, including a camera, boom mic and other devices, but needs additional backing to hire and pay musicians to record the soundtrack.

The title, Hotspots of Waverly, is a phrase Frenna came up when his children were young, a reference to the joys of small-town life the New York native discovered when he and his wife, Ann, moved to her Iowa hometown to raise their family 15 years ago.

For the movie, it refers to emotional hotspots  places you go where there are good and bad memories that have left emotional scars.

The plot revolves around Sam, a woman with a wild streak who tends to hold on too long and too hard, and Mike, a careful man who lets go when life and relationships get hard. The unlikely pair end up on a blind date that turns into an adventure as they must confront and work through their fears that threaten to derail their date, but also their capacity to find happiness.

Frenna enlisted several community theater mainstays to play roles, including Grant Tracey, Samantha Reece and Sam Card.

Filming will take place at a breakneck pace over six days, primarily at locations in Waverly and a few in Waterloo. Frenna said his visual style is inspired by filmmaker/actor John Cassavetes (Minnie and Moskowitz, A Woman Under the Influence, Faces).

Cassavetes said the greatest location in the world is the human face, so its not about beautiful pictures for me. Its about telling a story. I feel really alive, and I have intense confidence in this project, Frenna explained.

The shoot will culminate June 30 with bar scenes at the Half-Pint Saloon in Evansdale. If anyone has ever wanted to be an extra in a movie, this is your chance. Show up! I want to pack the house  the more people we have, the bigger the scene can be, the director said.

Making the movie has become a family affair for Frenna. In addition to casting friends and colleagues in key roles, his teen-aged son and daughter are crew members working behind-the-scenes. His wife Ann is the lead vocalist in the soundtrack band, Annie & The Ragtags, who also appears in bar scenes.

Every movie needs a soundtrack, and I had to think, how do I do this without any money? So I found songs in the public domain, about a dozen from the 1920s that still sound cool. Were revitalizing and updating those, he said.

Three songs will be filmed on stage at Half-Pint Saloon and the remainder recorded for the sound track.

Frenna expects to complete filming by 2 a.m. July 1  when the bar closes. Ill start editing right away, and Im hoping to have a rough cut by September. Ill share it with some people, see their reactions and make any other cuts.

He plans to have a local premiere, then enter Hotspots of Waverly in local and regional film festivals.

To make a donation to the project, go to https://gofund.me/b1f5cf66.

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Iowa Democrats argued Thursday that the state offers a path to victory for long-shot candidates and opportunities for meaningful conversations with rural Americans from every walk of life as they made their pitch to hold on to their place at the front of the partys presidential nominating calendar.

State party officials presented proposed changes for caucuses to the Democratic National Committees Rules & Bylaws Committee in Washington in an effort to hold onto their first-in-the-nation status.

Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Ross Wilburn told committee members Iowa presents a unique opportunity for presidential candidates to connect with voters distributed across urban, rural and suburban areas in a presidential swing state where a majority of congressional districts are competitive.

A robust Democratic nomination process in the state introduces voters to candidates and surrogates early, and the organizations they help build in Iowa keep us competitive in the general election, Wilburn said.

Iowa is among 16 states and Puerto Rico vying to be included in Democrats early presidential nominating window ahead of Super Tuesday in early March 2024.

The DNC rules committee voted in April to reopen the presidential nominating window, forcing all interested states  including the current early-nominating states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina  to apply for a spot.

The move came after the current lineup of early-nominating states  led by the largely rural and predominantly white states of Iowa and New Hampshire  came under increasing fire for a lack of diversity that many Democrats say doesnt represent the partys true strength. And it follows a chaotic 2020 caucus night for Iowa Democrats when a smartphone app  meant to make reporting results easier  failed. As a result, the official Democratic caucus results were not reported for several weeks.

Iowa Democratic Party officials touted the states pockets of diversity and argued Iowa serves as an inexpensive and accessible playing field for lesser-known candidates to establish themselves.

There are diverse communities living, thriving and dealing with complex political issues in both urban and rural areas of Iowa, Wilburn said. Party officials played a video of Black, brown and LGBTQ candidates and party leaders talking about their caucus experience and the importance of the Iowa caucuses.

Iowa is the sixth-least diverse state in the country.

Scott Brennan, a former Iowa Democratic Party chair and the only Iowan on the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee, argued Iowa still represents a an important demographic.

One of the forms of diversity that Iowa brings, frankly, is the rural working-class diversity. And its a group of folks Democrats have forgotten how to talk to, he said ahead of Thursdays presentation.   And if we cant figure that out, under the Electoral College system, well be doomed to win popular votes and lose the Electoral College. And thats criminal, and thats on us if we cant figure that out.

National Democrats, too, have complained the party caucuses  compared with state primaries  are too opaque and inaccessible, requiring in-person attendance that can make them difficult for Iowans who work late shifts, lack access to child care or transportation or have health or mobility problems.

To make their caucuses more accessible, Iowa Democrats proposed eliminating the requirement for in-person attendance and are reorganizing the caucus practice of identifying candidates viability over multiple rounds.

Under the proposed changes, an Iowa Democrat would request a presidential preference card in the mail and would have 14 to 28 days to either mail it back or return it in person caucus night.

On caucus night, the Iowa Democratic Party would report the results publicly.

The caucuses themselves would focus primarily on conducting party business, such as electing delegates.

The state party also would contract with either a DNC-approved election vendor or with a county auditor or the Iowa Secretary of States Office to ensure a fair and trustworthy process.

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The U.S. House on Wednesday failed to pass a bill that would create a communications network that would alert people when an active shooter is in their community.

The bill failed to pass under a motion to suspend the rules, a process that allows legislation to be passed quickly with two-thirds support, despite bipartisan backing.

The bill failed, 259 to 162, with 161 Republicans and one Democrat  Ron Kind of Wisconsin  voting against, while 44 Republicans joined 215 Democrats in favor of the bill.

Among those Republicans who voted nay were U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Randy Feenstra. Democrat U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne of West Des Moines voted in favor.

The bill would create an Amber Alert-style system for active shooter situations, according to the bills sponsors.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Wednesday night the bill would be brought to a vote again and passed by the Democratic majority, The Hill reported. Pelosi also took aim at the GOP House members who inexplicably opposed the measure.

Hinsons vote

Hinson, on her weekly conference call with Iowa reporters Thursday, said she thought the bill moved too quickly and didnt consider all of the impacts to a community about sending out an alert like that and what they can do to invite panic and also put burdens on our law enforcement (and) keep them from being able to do their job in an emergent situation.

She said she intends to continue to reach out to our local law enforcement on solutions.

Hinson did not elaborate as how the bill would hinder law enforcement from responding to an active shooter situation.

Her office noted the Marion Republican co-sponsored the STOP II (Secure Every School and Protect our Nations Children Act) to fund school resource officers and mental health counselors, bolster school security, and establish a way for the federal government, schools and law enforcement to better communicate and provide training.

The Active Shooter Alert Act calls for the Department of Justice to appoint a national coordinator of the Active Shooter Alert Communications Network that would set up the alert system.

The Active Shooter Alert Act is a common-sense, straightforward solution that will help save lives, Democrat and bill sponsor David Cicilline of Rhode Island said in a statement.

Developing these types of alert programs is a significant undertaking that requires precise and intricate protocols, and some communities just simply do not have the resources or expertise for such a project. We have the federal infrastructure to provide this technology to every city and town across this country, and it would be a shame not to do so.

Gun bill

Federal lawmakers have faced increasing pressure to pass legislation related to gun safety in the wake of several recent mass shootings.

The U.S. Senate earlier this week voted to advance a bipartisan gun safety bill. The proposal would provide states with grants to enact so-called red-flag laws keeping guns out of the hands of people who are judged to be a threat to themselves and others.

It would expand background checks to cover juvenile records for gun buyers under 21 and would close the boyfriend loophole by banning gun purchases by people convicted of domestic abuse in dating relationships, among other provisions.

Hinson said there are many part of the Senate bill she supports, including increased mental health funding, training for law enforcement and bolstering school security.

However, I have concerns that parts of this legislation violate due process rights, Hinson said in a statement. Legislative solutions must keep guns from getting into the wrong hands without violating the rights of law-abiding gun owners. I am closely reviewing this legislation to ensure that standard is met.

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ANKENY  An influx of federal funding for high-speed internet expansion has created an opportunity in Iowa that must be met, agriculture and business leaders in Iowa said Wednesday during a roundtable discussion with a representative from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Andrew Berke, the special representative for broadband with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, participated in the discussion at Des Moines Area Community College.

Iowas discussion was the 21st such event in as many states that he has participated in, he said, as states prepare for how to spend $42 billion from the bipartisan federal infrastructure funding law to expand high-speed broadband internet access to underserved areas. Just how much of that federal money Iowa will receive has yet to be determined.

For Wednesdays discussion, 17 people representing Iowa communications providers, utilities and agricultural interests participated.

Its a great opportunity, but man, we cant waste this, said Chuck Deisbeck, the chief executive officer of South Slope, a communications co-op based in North Liberty.

During the roughly 90-minute discussion, Berke heard from Iowans about the need to ensure that any internet expansion is both truly high-speed and affordable; that the federal regulations be streamlined; that deployment happens as quickly as possible to meet the needs of farmers and residents of rural communities; and that the program should not only establish new infrastructure but also provide for maintaining it over the long term.

Ive been working on this issue for a long time. To see it come to a national level where the President (Joe Biden) has put his emphasis here is an amazing opportunity for everybody, Berke said after the roundtable. Weve set an incredibly ambitious goal to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, reliable high speed internet. Just setting that goal is a huge step forward because weve never done that before. And defining it as infrastructure means that each Iowan is going to have access to it. And now our responsibility is to get that done in the most effective and efficient way possible.

Rural high-speed internet in Iowa long has been a priority for politicians on both sides of the aisle. Farmers need fast and reliable internet for precision agriculture, and more recently the need became even more pronounced during the pandemic as school kids switched to online instruction, people turned to telehealth to see their doctors and more employees worked from home.

Yet Iowa came in 43rd among the 50 states in average internet speed, according an 2021 article from highspeedinternet.com. Swaths of the state have poor service or no access.

In January 2021, Gov. Kim Reynolds called on state lawmakers to approve $450 million over three years for statewide broadband. She and legislators later settled on $100 million instead.

Still, the $100 million represented the largest pot of state money for Iowas broadband infrastructure to date. The 2021 bill was the sixth time Iowa has provided public funds for rural broadband expansion.

Berke said a formula has been established to determine how much each state will receive from the federal aid, based on each states needs to expand broadband internet access to underserved areas.

He said once states are awarded their share of the funding, they will have nine months to create a federally-approved plan and up to four years to complete the expansion projects.

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The suspect in the double-fatal crash on the Interstate 74 bridge pedestrian path in Moline does not want cameras in the courtroom during proceedings related to her case.

An attorney for Chhabria Harris, 46, of East Moline, has filed a motion in Rock Island County Circuit Court, objecting to extended media coverage. Media outlets have for more than a decade been permitted to use video and still photography at trial and in pre-trial hearings with the consent of the presiding judge.

Harris' attorney argued that such coverage is a threat to her constitutional right to a fair trial.

Attorneys for the Quad-City Times/Disapatch-Argus and KWQC-TV have filed a resistance to the motion, arguing that it fails to cite evidence that Harris' rights would be impacted by extended coverage.

While Harris asserts that extended media coverage is "unusual and extreme," the local media outlets argue that many cases, including high-profile cases locally and in other states, have been granted extended access.

One example is the gavel-to-gavel live streaming of the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse in Wisconsin.

The objection also argues that Harris is constitutionally protected from "specifically targeted negative publicity," which also met with resistance from the newspapers and TV station.

"... Every criminal defendant involved in any newsworthy incident faces the problem of negative, pretrial publicity, and courts routinely and adequately address it by increasing size of the jury pool, permitting more searching voir dire, carefully instructing the empaneled jurors, delaying the trial sequestering jurors, or changing a trials venue," an attorney for the Times and KWQC wrote in their resistance.

While Harris' attorney also expressed concern for the transmission of images of the defendant in an orange jail jumpsuit, saying such images could prejudice a jury, the county prosecutor and police already have shared Harris' jail booking photo, which has been widely published and broadcast.

Both parties agreed, however, that Harris should be permitted to wear civilian clothes and be unshackled during court appearances.

A ruling on the matter is expected during a hearing Friday morning.

Harris is charged in the May 22 crash near the entrance to the bike and pedestrian path on the I-74 bridge in Moline. Police say she was driving the Cadillac Escalade that entered the path in Bettendorf, striking three pedestrians after crossing into Moline.

Ethan Gonzalez, 21, died at the scene. Anthony Castaneda, 18, died days after he sustained critical injuries, and Charles Bowen, 22, also was seriously injured.

She has been charged with three counts of aggravated DUI, great bodily injury or death; three counts of failure to stop after a crash causing personal injury or death; three charges of aggravated reckless driving; and two counts of reckless homicide.

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 The enemy continues suffering considerable losses.

 The defeated 34th Battalion of the 57th Mechanised Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) has lost over 150 persons killed and about 450 persons wounded near Mirnaya Dolina (Lugansk Peoples Republic).

 There are no more than 15-20 soldiers left in each company of this battalion. Junior commanders have abandoned their personnel and deserted from the operations area.

 Units of the 30th Mechanised Brigade of the AFU near Klinovoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic) have been left with less than 50% of personnel as a result of attacks launched by the Russian Armed Forces. More than 170 other critically wounded soldiers and officers have been evacuated by their command from the operations area.

 Russian Federation Armed Forces continue launching attacks at military facilities located in Ukraine.

 On June 22, high-precision armament of Russian Aerospace Forces eliminated 49 fuel storage facilities designed for AFU military equipment, as well as up to 50 combat vehicles with multiple rocket launchers in hangars, including foreign-manufactured ones.

 High-precision armament of Russian Aerospace Forces has also neutralised 3 armoured vehicle reparation bases near Nikolayev, 4 command posts, manpower and military equipment at 18 areas.

 Operational-tactical and army aviation has eliminated manpower and military equipment at 96 areas and 1 radar post near Konstantinovka (Kharkov region).

 Missile troops and artillery has neutralised 26 command posts, AFU manpower and military equipment at 364 areas, as well as Ukrainian artillery units at 58 areas, including 1 plattoon of M-777 155-mm howitzers on Kubansky island and 1 plattoon of Smerch MRLS near Novopokrovskoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

 3 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) mobile control posts have been destroyed near Zhovtnevaya, Kiselyovka and Barmashovo (Nikolayev region).

 Within the counter-battery warfare towards Donetsk, high-precision armament of Russian Aerospace Forces, missile troops and artillery have neutralised: 8 Ukrainian plattoons of Uragan MRLS near Avdeyevka, Vesyoloye, Dzerzhinsk, Novoluganskoye and Kurdyumovka, as well as 11 AFU cannon artillery plattoons at their firing positions near Novopokrovskoye, Galitsinovka, Artyomovsk, Chasov-Yar, Krutaya Balka, Avdeyevka, Novovesyolovka and near Kleban-Byk water storage basin that had been shelling the city of Donetsk and other settlements of the Donetsk Peoples Republic.

 Attacks launched by aviation, missile troops and artillery have resulted in the elimination of over 650 nationalists, 17 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 3 combat vehicles with Smerch MRLS, as well as 17 special vehicles.

Russian air defence troops have destroyed 21 Ukrainian UAVs near Snake Island, Petropolye, Strelechye, Malaya Kamyshevakha, Dementiyevka (Kharkov region), Skadovsk (Kherson region), Donetsk, Gorlovka, Donetskiy (Donetsk Peoples Republic), Gorskoye, Oknino (Lugansk Peoples Republic) and Novaya Sburyevka (Kherson region).

 1 Tochka-U ballistic missile has been intercepted near Peski Ratkovskiye (Kharkov region) and 22 MRLS projectiles near Donetsk, Makeyevka, Gorlovka, Kamyshevakha (Donetsk Peoples Republic), Chervonoye, Izyum, Sukhaya Kamenka (Kharkov region) and above Snake Island.

 In total, 211 airplanes and 132 helicopters, 1,329 unmanned aerial vehicles, 349 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,750 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 647 combat vehicles equipped with multiple rocket-launching systems, 2,088 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 3,818 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

#MoD #Russia #Ukraine

@mod_russia_enjoy

WtR
Weather Alert

...LAKE WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM TO 8 PM PDT TUESDAY... * WHAT...Southwest winds around 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph expected. * WHERE...Washoe. * WHEN...From 2 PM to 8 PM PDT Tuesday. * IMPACTS...Small boats, kayaks and paddle boards will be prone to capsizing and should remain off lake waters until conditions improve. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Check lake conditions before heading out and be prepared for a sudden increase in winds and wave heights. Consider postponing boating activities on the lake until a day with less wind. &&
The Food Bank of Northern Nevada says children can take meals from the summer Kids Cafe home.

The food bank says they obtained a waiver that lets children take the meals home during the summer.

Normally it's a requirement of the program is that children eat their meals on site, but the Department of Agriculture granted the waiver to let kids take meals home.

Meals can be picked up at 34 locations in the Reno-Sparks area.

There will also be distributions in Fernley and in Schurz.

The entire schedule can be viewed at fbnn.org.

Also, new this season, is an interactive locator map at fbnn.org that allows families to search for the sites that are most convenient for them.

(Food Bank of Northern Nevada contributed to this report.)


Acquisition of The Vet Practice

Bendigo, June 23, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Apiam Animal Health Limited ( ASX:AHX ) today announced that it has that it has entered into an agreement to acquire The Vet Practice Pty Ltd (The Vet Practice), a full-service companion animal clinic located in Whittlesea, Victoria (the Acquisition).The total consideration for the Acquisition is $8.3 million, to be paid as $7.1 million in cash consideration and $1.2 million in Apiam shares.Apiam's accelerated growth strategy to deliver $300 million revenue by FY24 remains on-track with the acquisition of The Vet Practice expected to deliver further organic growth following integration into the Apiam network.The Vet Practice is located in the fast-growth peri-urban region of Whittlesea, on the outer northern suburbs of Melbourne. In recent years the City of Whittlesea has been one of the fastest growing municipalities in Australia and it is forecast to continue to grow rapidly - by 55.9% between 2022 and 2041.Apiam's Managing Director, Dr Chris Richards said "the acquisition of The Vet Practice aligns with our strategy to enter regional veterinary markets where rapid population growth is driving strong increases in local animal numbers. The fact that The Vet Practice is also a leading companion animal clinic with a full-service offering means its services can be leveraged across our adjacent clinic network"."Apiam continues to deliver strong organic growth across our companion animal services and it is acquisitions such as The Vet Practice that are expected to contribute to our accelerated growth strategy to achieve $300 million in revenue by FY24 and deliver increased operating margins."The acquisition of The Vet Practice is expected to add ~$7.9 million in revenue and ~$1.33 million in normalised EBITDA to Apiam on a FY22 proforma basis.Apiam has previously reported as part of its strategy to double revenue by FY24 that it is targeting reported revenue in excess of $150 million in FY22. Assuming a full-year contribution from The Vet Practice, Apiam's proforma FY22 revenue would increase to approximately $178 million.Overview of The Vet PracticeThe Vet Practice is a full-service companion animal veterinary clinic, that operates an animal hospital and canine rehabilitation centre from its Whittlesea premises. Services offered include regenerative medicine, hyperbaric medicine, arthroscopy, hydrotherapy and endoscopy as well as general pet healthcare.The Vet Practice is owned by two veterinarian partners employing 48 staff including 12 veterinarians and 20 veterinary nurses.Key Acquisition termsSettlement of the Acquisition is expected to occur on 1 July 2022, in conjunction with Apiam's settlement of Victorian Equine Group (as announced to the ASX on 19 May 2022).Shares issued to the vendors of The Vet Practice will be subject to a minimum escrow period of 12- months, with 50% subject to an escrow period of 24-months. Key personnel have entered into 3-year employment agreements with Apiam and are committed to leading the future growth of the business.About Apiam Animal Health Limited

Apiam Animal Health Limited (ASX:AHX) is comprised of Australia's leading Production Animal and Mixed Animal veterinary practices. Apiam Animal Health incorporates over 150 highly experienced, industry leading veterinarians with expertise across the pig, dairy, feedlot, sheep, poultry, equine, and companion animal sectors, supported by an experienced administration, nursing, technical services and ancillary team. Apiam Animal Health is fully vertically integrated, including having veterinary wholesale, diagnostics laboratories, custom vaccines, logistics, and other ancillary services.


Drilling at Little Duke Intersects Copper and Gold

Brisbane, June 23, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Tombola Gold Ltd ( ASX:TBA ) is pleased to announce positive results from the first hole of a proposed five-hole diamond drilling program at Little Duke, within the highly prospective Golden Mile Complex in Cloncurry, Queensland (Figure 1*).Drillhole LD22DD001 was proposed to test extensions to the south of the mineralisation intersected in previous drilling programs carried out at Little Duke in 2018-19 (see 2019 ASX releases dated 26 September; 18 October; and 28 November).The most recent drilling program carried out at Little Duke was in 2019, with drill hole LD22DD001 drilled 40m south-west of LD19RD025 (68m (0-68m) @ 1.44 g/t Au; 0.53% Cu) and 20m south-west of LD19RC023 (40m (76-116m) @ 2.21 g/t Au; 0.40 % Cu), extending the trend of mineralisation to the south-west (see Figure 4*).Tombola Gold Managing Director, Byron Miles, commented:"We are extremely excited about the results from the first drillhole in a step out drilling program at Little Duke, that indicate we are in a strongly mineralised copper and gold system, with potential to significantly increase the mineralised zone.The zone of mineralization now extends for 100m along strike, and it is pleasing to see that the results from LD22DD001 are in-line with the positive results from the 2019 drilling program giving us every confidence that the project can progress into a technical study stage, and involve Little Duke into the longer term mine development plan, as Tombola aims to become a meaningful Australian gold producer.We are confident that with further drilling at Little Duke, we can build on the success of the first hole in the program and continue to deliver additional high-grade copper and gold hits."Little Duke Drilling ProgramThe aim of the drilling program was to test continuity of gold and copper mineralisation previously identified (historical drill collars at Little Duke are represented by green circles in Figure 1*) as well as testing geophysical VTEM and magnetics targets.Electromagnetic plate modelling was carried out by GeoDiscovery Group over portions of an earlier airborne (2015) VTEM survey in early 2019. Plate modelling suggested that the area around Little Duke consisted of several north-south trending basement conductors (Figure 2*). The drilling at Little Duke has been centered over one of these conductors (A).Figures 3 and 4 show the modelled zones of mineralisation at Little Duke, with LD22DD001 extending the footprint to the south.Host lithologies are a package of intercalated sub-vertical mafic volcanics and sediments (shales, siltstones and sandstones). The mineralised zones are interpreted to be structurally controlled sub-vertical shears that have focused fluids and are oriented in a north-west direction (i.e. oblique to the lithology).The zones of mineralisation are predominantly composed of quartz-carbonate breccia with abundant pyrrhotite as stringers, veins, and massive sulphides. Copper (chalcopyrite) occurs as disseminated sulphide, veins, and blebs. There appears to be a correlation of copper and gold.The main mineralised zone appears to be plunging to the south-east (Figure 5*), although more drilling is required to confirm this.MineralisationThe mineralisation is interpreted to be an iron-sulphide (pyrrhotite-dominant) copper gold (ISCG) style with IOCG (magnetite) components, although petrography work is underway to confirm this. Zones of mineralisation consist of chalcopyrite (cpy) as disseminations, blebs and veins, within a quartz-carbonate breccia + magnetite and pyrrhotite. The system is pyrrhotite (po) dominant, occurring as veins, disseminations and massive sulphides exhibiting ductile deformation of massive (pyrrhotite) sulphides.Further drilling is underway in the Little Duke area to gain a better geological understanding on the distribution of these structurally controlled massive sulphide zones and the +/- copper +/- gold association.A geophysical IP survey is planned to commence at the end of July 2022 to delineate additional targets for drilling. The area to be covered by the IP survey is extending north and south of Little Duke, covering an area of approximately 4 kms north-south by 1.2 kms east west.Petrography studies are also underway with results expected in early August 2022.*To view tables and figures, please visit:About Tombola Gold Ltd

Tombola Gold Ltd (ASX:TBA) is a company assembled by experienced, exceedingly well-qualified and all very well rounded team members that have previously floated exploration companies which achieved major resource discoveries and success. Between the Tombola team members, Tombola as a company have well over 100 years of accumulated experience in the mining, exploration and resource sector. Tombola principal objective is to acquire assets to explore for and develop a large IOGC or porphyry deposit funded by low-risk gold production resources. To that end, Tombola has a license covering 970 sq km prospective for gold/copper in the Mount Bryan-Red Banks-World's End area near Burra in South Australia; with strategic agreements with Queensland Mining Corporation.
A rainy morning couldnt dampen the sunny enthusiasm at the American Solar Energy Society conference on Wednesday at the University of New Mexico.

Industry leaders and elected officials outlined successes and challenges when it comes to lowering consumer solar costs and generating more power from renewable sources.

Wednesdays speeches were part of a four-day conference in Albuquerque that drew solar energy experts, companies and advocates from across the country.

Here are some takeaways from the keynote speeches:

How is New Mexico supporting solar energy?: The Land of Enchantment has more than 300 sunny days each year. About 6% of the states electricity comes from solar energy.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said that even as the state pushes for more solar projects, it is critical to invest money in communities that face economic upheaval during a transition away from coal-fired power.

The 2019 Energy Transition Act directs $40 million to New Mexicos coal workers and regional economic development.

Were supporting the community colleges to do the work so students are ready to go into a job market that produces exactly what we know that we need, which is renewable energy and a high focus on solar, Lujan Grisham said.

The governor applauded state scientists, advocates and lawmakers for crafting policies to make solar energy more reliable and less expensive.

It is a no-brainer, she said.

The state has a solar development tax credit, which the governor said is key for offering low-income residents renewable energy power.

What role does the federal government play?: Governments and private industry have a duty to streamline solar projects and combat the climate crisis, said U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich.

But federal regulators and companies are operating with a congested and poorly connected renewable energy grid.

The lack of transmission capacity is the single greatest limiting factor on how many large-scale clean energy projects we can bring online, Heinrich said.

American companies are slowly rebounding from a U.S. Commerce Department investigation that threatened to place costly tariffs on solar panel imports.

Several New Mexico solar businesses laid off employees and canceled new projects.

After lobbying from a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Heinrich, President Joe Biden earlier this month said that no new tariffs will be imposed on solar imports from some Asian countries for at least two years.

But some damage has already been done.

Its going to take time for solar companies to climb out of the crater that was created by this whole episode, Heinrich said.

How are utilities harnessing solar power?: Global supply chain issues continue to plague utilities transitioning to renewable energy.

But Wednesdays conference offered some success stories.

Daytime power for the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative in Taos County is now 100% solar.

Lujan Grisham pointed to the co-op as an example for other rural utilities.

We are moving quickly, Lujan Grisham said.

Public Service Company of New Mexicos plan to replace energy resources from the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station has yet to materialize because of international supply issues.

But Ron Darnell, PNMs senior vice president of public policy, said he has all the confidence in the world that elected officials will fix those problems.

It is up to companies to improve battery storage, Darnell said, so that solar power is more accessible and reliable for the average customer.

I believe we need to do it with new technology that provides longer duration storage, he said.
Editors note: Venue Plus continues In Case You Didnt Know, a weekly feature with fun tidbits about New Mexicans and their projects.

Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli finds beauty in every day life.

Its the impetus behind him wanting to be a photographer.

It was the iPhone 3G that got me taking photos, he says. I started to take pictures of people and using the apps to edit it. Ive never been to school for it. Ive just been interested in people.

Paolinelli is known simply as Tetsuro on his social media pages. Hes also one of the photographers leading the way in street photography around Albuquerque on Instagram.

His pieces inspired 516 Arts to curate the exhibit Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli: Downtown. The exhibit runs through Sept. 3. It is open noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and from 5-7 p.m. first Friday of the month.

The exhibit was curated by Daniel Ulibarri.

Paolinelli took the photographs around Downtown Albuquerque between 2018 and 2022.

He says the solo exhibition spotlights intimate portraits of people and place, from nightlife, to families, to lowrider culture.

As a self-described documentary photographer, Tetsuro (as he is known on Instagram) is known for his compelling portraits and a unique ability to authentically engage with his subjects. His images suggest both an implicit trust between artist and subject and his desire to be a participant as opposed to an outsider taking snapshots.

Paolinellis photographs celebrate urban Albuquerque in a personal and compassionate way. His exhibition portraying the here and now is presented concurrently with Art Meets History: Technologies of the Spirit, which looks at the multiple histories of New Mexico through the eyes of contemporary artists.

Although the two shows are separate projects, they complement one another and reflect how past and present are inseparable.

Its really exciting for me to be able to show my work in a museum gallery on the same street where many of these photos were taken, here at home in Albuquerque, he says.

There are 22 photos in the exhibit.

Paolinelli says its not about the story for him when he takes the photos.

It sounds superficial, but Im drawn to beautiful things, he says. I see the beauty all around. Being able to photograph people has given me a passport to go places that I wouldnt be allowed. I find the interesting behind all the beauty.

One can catch Paolinelli walking around Downtown any given day. Here are a few things you didnt know about him:

1 Im driven to document the people and unique culture of my city.

2 Ive tried to draw, and I tried to paint, but I could never put whats in my head on the paper. With photography I am able to translate what I see and how I see it into a photograph.

3 Im fascinated and interested with every one of my subjects. I love to hear their stories and make their portraits. They are what gives me the energy to be out here.

4 When I first went out on the streets to make photographs I took them from a distance, as I became more comfortable I started getting closer and closer to my subjects. These days I befriend them even if our time spent together is just a brief moment.

5 Sometimes I cant remember what I did yesterday but I can look at one of my photos from years ago and it brings me back to that moment in time and I remember every detail.

In the streets

Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli: Downtown is running at 516 Arts, 516 Central Ave. SW, in Downtown Albuquerque. It runs through Sept. 3 and is open noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and from 5-7 p.m. first Friday of the month.
With July around the corner, lets see if the rain keeps up this summer. As someone who has spent half their life in the Southwest, the rain really is a luxury.

1 Vanilla Pop

This Friday, at 9 p.m. come vibe out at Hotel Andaluz, 125 Second St. NW, with Vanilla Pop.

Al Dente and Lester Moore make up the band, which has been a staple in New Mexico for more than two decades and is known for its unique style.

The event comes with a full bar and is for adults aged 21+.

Complimentary valet parking will also be provided on a first-come/first-serve basis. The doors open at 8 p.m. General admission tickets are $10, plus fees at hotelandaluz.ticketleap.com.

2 Zoo Music with Love and Theft

Feeling like a little country? Why not head to the ABQ BioPark Zoo, 903 10th St. SW, for its Zoo Music series, which features country duo Love and Theft at its 6 p.m. Friday, June 24, show.

Spend an evening with wildlife, food, music and more. Children can get their face painted, and on select nights, try to conquer a 25-foot tall climbing wall.

Guests can bring chairs, coolers and picnics, but glass containers, alcohol and canopies are not permitted.

Tickets are $17 adult, $8.50 seniors and youth ages 3-12, and children 2 and under are free. Tickets are available at abqtickets.com.

3 Ostraca Imagined: Shards of Hebrew Poems from Spain

Through June 30, head to Congregation Nahalat Shalom, 3606 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, for a chance to see Ostraca Imagined: Shards of Hebrew Poems from Spain by Hector Contreras Lopez, an artistic recreation of Sephardic poems that appear on shards of pottery.

Contreras Lopezs themes include brokenness, antiquity and fragments to reflect upon the common parts of the Sephardic and crypto-Jewish experience. This exhibit features works from 16 different poets spanning five centuries, including heavy hitters in Jewish history such as Nahmandies and Moses ibn Ezra as well as poets whose names have been lost over time.

The event is free but the venue would prefer you call 505-343-8227 to schedule a viewing. More information can be found at nahalatshalom.org.

4 The New Mexico Gay Mens Chorus

The New Mexico Gay Mens Chorus presents NakedMan, a 16-movement song cycle about gay mens lives, and the courage needed to love authentically and without shame.

Over 60 gay men were interviewed about their experiences coming out, finding love, facing discrimination, serving in the military, wrestling with religion, losing loved ones and accepting themselves.

The performance is happening at 7:30 p.m. on both Friday, June 24, and Saturday, June 25, in the Albuquerque Journal Theatre at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1701 Fourth St. SW, in Albuquerque.

The group will also perform at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 26, at the Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. in Santa Fe.

Tickets start are $20-$45, plus fees and can be purchased at nmgmc.org/pride.

5 Downtown Growers Market

Being Albuquerques longest running farmers market, you will always see a great selection of locally grown produce, raised meats, eggs and honey.

There is plenty of locally made food and drink products available every visit.

Downtown Market takes EBT/SNAP and will double your spending with the Double Up Food Bucks Program.

The market also accepts FreshRX prescriptions, WIC and Senior checks.

Vendors at DGM will no longer accept AGMA tokens or tokens coming from different growers markets.

You can also stop by the information booth from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday at Robinson Park, 810 Copper Ave. NW.

6 Music Under the Stars presented by NM Jazz Workshop

Come down to the Albuquerque Museum, 2000 Mountain Road NW, for a concert at 7 p.m. Friday, June 24, as the Pedrito Martinez Group performs. The show is in partnership with the New Mexico Jazz Workshop and Outpost.

Tickets are $18 for general admission and $15 for students and museum members plus fees, and can be purchased at holdmyticket.com. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and food and drinks can be purchased from Slate Street Cafe at the museum.

7 J-Calvin

Durango, Colorado-based soul-funk-groove band J-Calvin will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, June 24, at Marble Brewery, 111 Marble Ave. NW.

In the bands first two years they played over 150 shows across the Western United States at some of the areas finest music venues and festivals. Check out jcalvinmusic.com to read more about the show and the band.

Got an event we should know about? Reach out to Ivan Leonard at ileonard@abqjournal.com
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

A Roswell man is accused of carjacking someone at gunpoint, kidnapping a woman and leading New Mexico State Police on a chase that ended with officers shooting at him Monday in southeast New Mexico.

Joel Contreras, 27, is charged with armed robbery, aggravated assault against a police officer with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, aggravated fleeing and other felonies. He has been booked into the Chaves County Detention Center.

According to records, his criminal history includes arrests on stolen vehicle, burglary and larceny charges, among others. In 2020, he was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading no contest to burglary and stolen vehicle charges.

Mondays encounter began with a carjacking in Roswell.

Authorities responded around 5:45 p.m. to reports of an armed robbery at a convenience store, according to a criminal complaint filed in Magistrate Court. A man told police the suspect stole his SUV at gunpoint in the parking lot.

Police located the vehicle nearby using a tracking device. Once there, three men told officers a man in an SUV had pulled up and pointed a gun at them.

Dusty Francisco, a State Police spokesman, said a Chaves County Sheriffs deputy spotted the stolen SUV, but the driver fled. He said police and deputies pursued the driver east on U.S. 380, where spike strips were used to try to stop it.

Francisco said a State Police officer parked on the side of the road shot at the SUV for reasons still under investigation and the SUV crashed.

According to the complaint, a State Police agent told Roswell police the shooting occurred due to Contreras supposedly swerving at an officer.

Police said Contreras and a 23-year-old woman were detained at the scene. The woman told police Contreras had kidnapped her at gunpoint off the street in Roswell.

She said that, during the chase, Contreras threatened to kill her and her family, and, at one point, drove head-on toward a police vehicle, according to the complaint. She told police she jerked the wheel away from Contreras and officers shot at the SUV before they crashed.

Contreras asked for a lawyer and declined to speak with police.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

A northwest New Mexico man is accused of opening fire on a vehicle full of relatives  killing his 14-year-old nephew  after being called to resolve a dispute at his mothers home last month near Cuba.

Rodgerick Tsosie of Pueblo Pintado is charged with second-degree murder and offenses committed within Indian Country in the May 16 incident. The 29-year-old was arrested two days after the shooting and booked into the Navajo Department of Corrections.

Tsosies attorney could not be reached for comment.

A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court does not give a motive for the shooting. The teenage nephew is identified only by his initials, H.T.

Authorities said Tsosies brother and girlfriend got into a fight outside the mothers home in Torreon. The pair were both inebriated, and Tsosie was called and asked to help as he does not drink alcohol.

The girlfriend, brother and his three sons left in a silver Jeep before Tsosie made it to the house, according to the complaint. A witness told FBI agents they were in Cuba when they saw a silver sedan pull alongside the Jeep and heard two gunshots before the back window shattered.

The witness said the sedan fled as the Jeep stopped and a woman got out screaming. The witness told agents the woman was holding pressure to a teens head as other children sat in the backseat.

The witness asked do you know who did this? and the driver replied yeah, my brother Rodger Tsosie, according to the complaint. The witness, who was an off-duty paramedic, drove the teen to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The driver, Tsosies brother, told agents his brother shot his son and was in a rampage. He said Tsosie had a handgun and a rifle.

Agents went to Tsosies home and took him into custody, telling him his nephew was dead, according to the complaint. He told agents when he drove past his brothers Jeep he heard two pops.

Speaking in Navajo, Tsosie told agents he took a warning shot with a rifle at the Jeep and said, I guess Ill take the fall for it.

Tsosie then told agents he had been wrestling over the rifle with his brother outside their mothers home when it went off  shooting his nephew, according to the complaint. Agents went to the mothers home and relatives told them the brothers were not at the house at the same time on May 16.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Standing with crime victims and other supporters, Republican Mark Ronchetti vowed Wednesday to push for legislation that would stiffen criminal penalties and make it easier to hold defendants in jail as they await trial  key pillars, he said, of how hed tackle New Mexicos high crime rate as governor.

He also promised to appoint judges who would be tough on crime and to launch a statewide publicity campaign to build legislative support for his initiatives, many of which have been rejected repeatedly by the Democratic majorities in the Legislature.

Crime has been ignored for too long by elites in Santa Fe, Ronchetti said, and now we live in a lawless state, where anything goes and everybody knows that, especially the criminals.

The campaign for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, by contrast, said Wednesday that she is proud to run on her record of having boosted pay for police officers and securing legislative support to enhance penalties for certain gun crimes, among other measures.

The governor believes every New Mexican has a right to feel safe in their neighborhood  thats why she brought Republicans and Democrats together to toughen penalties for violent crimes and give New Mexico law enforcement the support that they need, campaign spokeswoman Kendall Witmer said.

The back-and-forth comes after Ronchetti this month won a five-way race for the GOP nomination, setting up a general election race against Lujan Grisham, a Democrat seeking her second term.

Libertarian Karen Bedonie is also running.

Some of the initiatives announced by Ronchetti on Wednesday broadly match ideas proposed by Lujan Grisham. She asked lawmakers earlier this year, for example, to adopt legislation intended to make it easier to hold people charged  but not yet convicted  of certain crimes behind bars until trial.

But opponents of the measure, including some of the most influential Democrats in the Senate, blocked the proposal, contending it would violate the Constitution and do little to reduce crime.

Ronchetti said he would succeed where Lujan Grisham couldnt.

As governor, he said, he would campaign throughout the state to build support for the measure and make it clear to voters which legislators stand in the way of ending the states catch and release system.

Public safety is expected to be a key issue in this years gubernatorial campaign.

New Mexico has struggled with persistently high violent crime rates  which have remained at least 19% above the national average since 1992 and twice the national average in recent years, according to a January memo issued by analysts for the Legislative Finance Committee.

In Albuquerque, homicides jumped to a record-breaking 117 last year.

Analysts for the LFC, the budget and accountability arm of the Legislature, say their research shows the certainty of being caught is a more effective deterrent to crime than the severity of the punishment.

New Mexico, the analysts said, had fewer officers per capita than the national average at the beginning of last year and would need to hire more than 400 officers to reach the national rate.

Law enforcement agencies in New Mexico have tried for years to bolster their ranks.

This years state budget calls for pay raises averaging 16% for State Police officers and creates a fund to provide retention bonuses every five years.

Lawmakers also passed  with bipartisan support  a package of crime legislation this year that enhances some criminal penalties and aims to make it easier to solve some crimes.

It requires the judiciary, for example, to share ankle monitor data for pretrial defendants with law enforcement if needed for an investigation.

Ronchetti wasnt impressed.

Ill take a little step over no step, he said of the package, but this is a joke.

Ronchetti also cast doubt on the effectiveness of pay raises to boost the ranks of law enforcement. He said the passage of a state Civil Rights Act last year  barring qualified immunity as a defense to claims filed under the act  damaged the morale of police officers.

If you talk to the cops, he said, what theyll tell you is they dont need more money, they dont need more equipment. They need to know that their governor and their leaders back them up.

The Lujan Grisham campaign described Ronchetti as an out-of-touch, inexperienced TV weatherman without a track record of delivering on public safety.

The governor delivered 16% raises for state police and $100 million in funding for hiring and training additional police officers, Witmer said.

Ronchetti announced his public safety priorities Wednesday afternoon in Albuquerque. The crowd included a police officer wounded in a shootout last year near a Dutch Bros Coffee shop.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

An attorney for Fabian Gonzales asked a judge Wednesday to order prosecutors to provide an updated theory about how 10-year-old Victoria Martens died in 2016.

State District Judge Cindy Leos denied the request, saying the prosecution theory of the case is relatively simple.

Gonzales, 37, is charged with abuse of a child, recklessly caused, and other crimes in Victorias 2016 killing. His trial is scheduled to begin July 11.

Stephen Aarons, Gonzales attorney, said the states theory about how Victoria was killed has evolved so much over the years that allegations listed in a 2018 statement of facts dont allow Gonzales to mount a defense.

The prosecution case is closed to the defense, Aarons said.

What makes it closed is that we cant interview witnesses when the states theory changes, and were very unclear as to what the states theory is, Aaron said in a hearing Wednesday.

Just weeks after Victorias death in August 2016, Gonzales was charged with 20 felony crimes, including first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual penetration in connection with the girls death.

But in June 2018, 2nd Judicial District Attorney Raul Torrez announced that the charges against Gonzales had been based on false admissions to police made by Victorias mother, Michelle Martens.

In September 2018, prosecutors dismissed the murder and criminal sexual penetration charges against Gonzales and instead charged him with abuse of a child, recklessly caused, in Victorias death.

Prosecutors also issued a statement of facts that month alleging that a man referred to in court records as John Doe entered the apartment and killed Victoria.

The statement said John Doe killed Victoria because Gonzales had threatened people with gang-related violence after he was punched at a barbecue party several days before the killing.

Prosecutors indicted John Doe in 2018 for first-degree murder and other charges. His identity remains unknown.

The allegation was based on information from Gonzales cousin, Jessica Kelley, who told police that a well-dressed Hispanic man killed Victoria.

Kelley, 37, and Michelle Martens, 40, each have pleaded to felony charges in connection with Victorias killing.

No sentencing hearing has been scheduled in Martens case.

Kelley was sentenced in April to 44 years in prison after pleading no contest to six felony crimes, including reckless child abuse resulting in the death of a child.

In a motion filed earlier this month, Aarons said prosecutors no longer plan to introduce gang evidence at Gonzales trial, which means prosecutors now have a new theory about the killing, which, he argued, they should reveal in a new statement of facts.

In denying the motion, Leos offered her own brief description of prosecutors theory about Victorias killing.

I dont think theyve been hiding the ball on anything, because I have an understanding of it, Leos said. I think (prosecutors) are proceeding on potentially alternate theories. Either Jessica Kelley did it, or this well-dressed stranger did it.

Deputy District Attorney Greer Rose responded to Aarons request that prosecutors have provided Gonzales attorneys with a vast amount of information about how the state intends to present its case.

The state is not under obligation to give (Aarons) a roadmap of what we plan to present in trial, Rose said. Thats his job.

Leos agreed to Aarons request to issue an arrest warrant for a woman who lived in an apartment next door to the Martens apartment the night Victoria was killed. Aarons identified the woman as a key defense witness.

But Leos denied Aarons request to issue arrest warrants for four other witnesses who have evaded subpoenas to testify, including two women who were present at the barbecue party. Leos told Aarons to renew efforts to find current addresses for those witnesses.
Making Clovis a destination spot for national scale rodeo action got the attention of Clovis city and Curry County commissioners and administrators at the annual city/county luncheon on Monday.

The topic came up as Curry County Events Center General Manager K.C. Messick spoke to the group about plans to tear down the existing animal barns at the fairgrounds and build a $10 million livestock pavilion.

This would be a game changer, Messick said.

It is believed a new, modern pavilion will bring in more major equestrian events and a broad range of money making events.

Messick spoke of losing business to other cities because the Curry County facility doesnt meet expected standards.

Dusty Leatherwood, who won the Republican Curry County Commission District 3 race in the June 7 primary, spoke of Curry County losing event business to Levelland, Texas.

Leatherwood advocated for the city of Clovis and Curry County to get together and get behind the rodeo so more money would come into the area.

Leatherwood pointed out that Clovis is the only place for rodeo people to stop between Phoenix and Oklahoma City or between Denver and Fort Worth.

They dont want to stop in Albuquerque, Leatherwood said. Theyll lose half their stuff, a reference to that citys high crime rate.
BRUSSELS  The European Union agreed Thursday to put Ukraine on a path toward EU membership, acting with uncharacteristic speed and unity to pull the embattled country further away from Russias influence and bind it more closely to the West.

Meeting at a summit in Brussels, leaders of the EUs 27 nations mustered the required unanimous approval to grant Ukraine candidate status. That sets in motion a membership process that could take years or even decades.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted his gratitude and declared: Ukraines future is within the EU.

Its a victory. We have been waiting for 120 days and 30 years, he said on Instagram, referring to the duration of the war and the decades since Ukraine became independent upon the breakup of the Soviet Union. And now we will defeat the enemy.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pronounced it a good day for Europe.

There was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin.

The EU also gave candidate status to the tiny country of Moldova, another former Soviet republic that borders Ukraine.

Ukraine applied for membership less than a week after Moscow invaded on Feb. 24. Thursdays decision was unusually rapid for the EU and its go-slow approach to expansion. But the war and Ukraines request for fast-track consideration lent urgency to the cause.

To gain EU membership, countries must meet a detailed host of economic and political conditions, including a commitment to the rule of law and other democratic principles. Ukraine will have to curb entrenched government corruption and adopt other reforms.

The European Parliament endorsed Ukraines bid hours before the summit started, passing a resolution that called on EU governments to move without delay.

It will strengthen Ukraine, it will strengthen Europe. It is a decision for freedom and democracy and puts us on the right side of history, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said ahead of the final decision.

The EU nations have been united in backing Ukraine in its fight against Russias invasion with money and weapons, adopting unprecedented economic sanctions against the Kremlin.

EU candidate status doesnt provide any immediate security guarantees. Once a country gains membership, however, it is covered under an EU treaty clause that says if a member falls victim to armed aggression, the other EU countries are obligated to assist it by all means in their power.

The main benefits of EU membership, though, are economic, since it gives access to a market of 450 million consumers with free movement of labor, goods, services and capital.

Ukraine has long aspired to join NATO, too, but the military alliance is not about to offer an invitation, in part because of the countrys corruption, shortcomings in its defense establishment, and its contested borders.

Before the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO, which he has condemned for its eastward spread toward Russias flank. But earlier this month, he did not seem bothered by Ukraines determination to get closer to the EU, saying it is not a military pact and thus we have no objections.

In 2013, however, Putin objected to Ukraines plans to sign an association agreement with the EU and pressured the Ukrainian president at the time to pull out at the last minute. This backfired by setting off mass protests that eventually ousted the president and ushered in leaders more eager than ever to bring Ukraine into the Western fold.

In the years that followed, Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine and fomented a separatist uprising in the countrys Donbas region in the east.

The EUs leaders also agreed Thursday to recognize a European perspective for yet another former Soviet republic, Georgia. European Council President Charles Michel said the EU will be ready to approve its candidate status once outstanding priorities are addressed.

Polands Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, whose country has been a staunch supporter of Ukraines European aspirations for years, said on Twitter: This is a great moment for Europes unity and for the defense of its basic values. The struggle for freedom goes on.

The membership process can be long and tortuous.

Turkey applied for membership in 1987, received candidate status in 1999, and had to wait until 2005 to start talks for actual entry. The whole process is at a standstill because of various disputes between the EU and Turkey.

Similarly, several Balkan countries have been seeking for many years to join the EU.

European officials have said that Ukraine has already adopted about 70% of the EU rules and standards, but they also have pointed to the need for other far-reaching measures.

Leaders also discussed immediate support to Ukraine, with the European Commission set to soon bring forward a proposal to grant new financial aid of up to 9 billion euros.

Food security was also on the table as they agreed to continue working on solutions to help Ukraine export grain and other goods via  solidarity lanes to get around a Russian blockade of Black Sea ports.

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Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
WASHINGTON  In a major expansion of gun rights after a series of mass shootings, the Supreme Court said Thursday that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, a ruling likely to lead to more people legally armed. The decision came out as Congress and states debate gun-control legislation.

About one-quarter of the U.S. population lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling, which struck down a New York gun law. The high courts first major gun decision in more than a decade split the court 6-3, with the courts conservatives in the majority and liberals in dissent.

Across the street from the court, lawmakers at the Capitol sped toward passage of gun legislation prompted by recent massacres in Texas,New York and California. Senators cleared the way for the measure, modest in scope but still the most far-reaching in decades.

Also Thursday, underscoring the nations deep divisions over the issue, the sister of a 9-year-old girl killed in the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, pleaded with state lawmakers to pass gun legislation. The Republican-controlled legislature has stripped away gun restrictions over the past decade.

President Joe Biden said in a statement he was deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court ruling. It contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all, he said.

He urged states to pass new laws. I call on Americans across the country to make their voices heard on gun safety. Lives are on the line, he said.

The decision struck down a New York law requiring people to demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun in order to get a license to carry a gun in a concealed way in public. The justices said that requirement violates the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority that the Constitution protects an individuals right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home. That right is not a second-class right, Thomas wrote. We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need.

California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island all have laws similar to New Yorks. Those laws are expected to be quickly challenged.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., said the ruling came at a particularly painful time, with New York mourning the deaths of 10 people in a shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo. This decision isnt just reckless. Its reprehensible. Its not what New Yorkers want, she said.

Gun control groups called the decision a significant setback. Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice and an expert on the Second Amendment, wrote on Twitter that the decision could be the biggest expansion of gun rights by the Supreme Court in U.S. history.

Republican lawmakers were among those cheering the decision. Tom King, president of the plaintiff New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, said he was relieved.

The lawful and legal gun owner of New York State is no longer going to be persecuted by laws that have nothing to do with the safety of the people and will do nothing to make the people safer, he said. And maybe now well start going after criminals and perpetrators of these heinous acts.

The courts decision is somewhat out of step with public opinion. About half of the voters in the 2020 presidential election said gun laws in the U.S. should be made more strict, according to AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of the electorate. An additional one-third said laws should be kept as they are, while only about 1 in 10 said gun laws should be less strict.

About 8 in 10 Democratic voters said gun laws should be made more strict, VoteCast showed. Among Republican voters, roughly half said laws should be kept as they are, while the remaining half closely divided between more and less strict.

In a dissent joined by his liberal colleagues, Justice Stephen Breyer focused on the toll from gun violence.

Since the beginning of this year, there have already been 277 reported mass shootings  an average of more than one per day, Breyer wrote. He accused his colleagues in the majority of acting without considering the potentially deadly consequences of their decision. He said the ruling would severely burden states efforts to pass laws that limit, in various ways, who may purchase, carry, or use firearms of different kinds.

Several other conservative justices who joined Thomas majority opinion also wrote separately to add their views.

Justice Samuel Alito criticized Breyers dissent, questioning the relevance of his discussion of mass shootings and other gun death statistics. Alito wrote that the court had decided nothing about who may lawfully possess a firearm or the requirements that must be met to buy a gun and nothing about the kinds of weapons that people may possess.

Today, unfortunately, many Americans have good reason to fear they will be victimized if they are unable to protect themselves. The Second Amendment, he said, guarantees their right to do so.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, noted the limits of the decision. States can still require people to get a license to carry a gun, Kavanaugh wrote, and condition that license on fingerprinting, a background check, a mental health records check, and training in firearms handling and in laws regarding the use of force, among other possible requirements.

Backers of New Yorks law had argued that striking it down would lead to more guns on the streets and higher rates of violent crime. Gun violence, on the rise during the coronavirus pandemic, has spiked anew. Gun purchases have also risen.

In most of the country gun owners have little difficulty legally carrying their weapons in public. But that had been harder to do in New York and the handful of states with similar laws. New Yorks law, in place since 1913, says that to carry a concealed handgun in public, a person applying for a license has to show proper cause, a specific need to carry the weapon.

The state had issued unrestricted licenses where a person could carry a gun anywhere and restricted licenses allowing a person to carry the weapon but just for specific purposes such as hunting and target shooting or to and from their place of business.

The challenge to the New York law was brought by the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, which describes itself as the nations oldest firearms advocacy organization, and two men seeking an unrestricted ability to carry guns outside their homes.

The Supreme Court last issued a major gun decision in 2010. In that decision and a ruling from 2008 the justices established a nationwide right to keep a gun at home for self-defense. The question for the court this time was just about carrying a gun outside the home. Thomas, who turned 74 on Thursday, wrote in his opinion that: Nothing in the Second Amendments text draws a home/public distinction with respect to the right to keep and bear arms.

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Associated Press reporters Mark Sherman, Hannah Fingerhut and Zeke Miller in Washington and Michael Hill in East Greenbush, New York, contributed to this report.
EAGLE PASS, Texas  The warehouse on a busy but unremarkable strip of auto repair shops and convenience stores draws little attention from passersby.

Inside, hundreds of migrants are eating, charging phones and using temporary bathrooms and showers. Within a few hours, a security guard escorts them to a gravel lot out front, where commercial buses take them from the remote Texas town of Eagle Pass to the San Antonio International Airport for $40.

The Border Patrol releases up to 1,000 migrants daily at Mission: Border Hope. The nonprofit group outgrew a church and moved to the warehouse in April amid the Biden administrations rapidly expanding practice of releasing migrants on parole, particularly those who are not subject to a pandemic rule that prevents migrants from seeking asylum.

The Border Patrol paroled more than 207,000 migrants who crossed from Mexico from August through May, including 51,132 in May, a 28% increase from April, according to court records. In the previous seven months, it paroled only 11 migrants.

Parole shields migrants from deportation for a set period of time but provides little else. By law, the Homeland Security Department may parole migrants into the United States only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. Parolees can apply for asylum within a year.

The Border Patrol turned to parole because it lacks holding space, according to court filings. It is a low-key but far-reaching change from President Joe Bidens first months in office and from his immediate predecessors, Donald Trump and Barack Obama. When agents couldnt process migrants quickly enough for court appearances last year, thousands languished in custody under a bridge in Texas Rio Grande Valley. In 2019, cells were so packed that some migrants resorted to standing on toilets.

Migrants released at the warehouse are told to report to immigration authorities in two months at their final destination in the U.S. A handheld device tracks their movements.

The treatment (by U.S. authorities) was good in comparison with other countries, said Anthony Montilla, 27, of Venezuela. They didnt treat us like were thieves.

He arrived with his family after a journey that included walking through Panamas notorious Darien Gap, where bandits raped young girls in front of their parents and dead bodies lay on the jungle floor. After Border Patrol released the family on two months parole, they headed to a friends home in Washington, D.C.

Jose Castillo, 43, arrived from Nicaragua with his wife and 14-year-old son, after overcoming fears of drowning in the Rio Grande. They were headed to Miami to live with a cousin. They say opposition to Nicaraguas government made them targets for repression.

The day Castillo spent in Border Patrol custody was easy, he said, but he would advise others against the trip due to dangers of going hungry or being kidnapped in Mexico.

Mission: Border Hope, which is backed by the United Methodist Church, operates in an area that now rivals Rio Grande Valley as the busiest corridor for illegal crossings. Its services are modest compared to groups in other border cities that provide shelter and transportation to an airport.

It began in 2000 by serving 25 to 50 migrants a week at a previous location, said Valeria Wheeler, the executive director, who oversees operations with assembly-line efficiency.

On the busiest days, volunteers cant keep pace as they register migrants, buy bus tickets and handle other logistics, Wheeler said. A typical day is 500 migrants but arrivals sometimes reach 1,000.

Boxes of spaghetti sauce, chicken soup and pork and beans are stacked near a makeshift kitchen. Migrants wait in clusters of metal benches and plastic chairs. A voice on a loudspeaker gives instructions to people dropped off in Border Patrol buses and announces when airport-bound commercial buses arrive for ticketed passengers.

The facility encourages migrants to leave quickly to make room for others, but about one in 10 end up sleeping on the concrete floor because they have nowhere to go.

We are not set up to be a shelter, Wheeler, a former paralegal, said as she walked the windowless building, often interrupted by migrants with questions.

Paroled migrants say they were not screened for asylum or even asked why they came to the U.S. They receive a stapled packet with a blue stamp that says when parole expires.

That contrasts with many others who are expelled without a chance to seek asylum under Title 42 authority, which denies migrants a shot at asylum on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. A federal judge recently ordered it remain in effect over the administrations objections.

Title 42 has been applied unevenly, largely affecting migrants from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador because Mexico has agreed to take them back.

The head of the Border Patrols parent agency says migrants picked for parole have their criminal histories checked and generally arrive in families with an address where they will stay in the U.S.

Were trying to be smart about it, recognizing that there are people that have been carefully vetted but are at much lower risk and would make sense to handle differently from others, Chris Magnus, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said in an interview.

Critics say parole encourages more migrants to come and the administration is defying the legal requirement that it be granted on a case-by-case basis. But Magnus said it is far more efficient and about as effective as releasing them after Border Patrol agents prepare notices to appear in immigration court. That time-consuming exercise now falls to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers when migrants report to them at their final destinations.

The Border Patrol still processes about 25,000 migrants a month for immigration court, which agents say can take more than an hour each. Parole, by comparison, is processed in minutes.

On one recent day, a Honduran woman who was about eight months pregnant was released with a notice to appear in immigration court in Cleveland, where she planned to live with an uncle. Wheeler said doesnt know why some migrants are processed for immigration court and others are paroled  and her organization doesnt ask.

Our purpose is to provide safety, she said.
WASHINGTON  The Senate easily approved a bipartisan gun violence bill Thursday that seemed unthinkable a month ago, setting up final approval of what will be Congress most far-reaching response in decades to the nations run of brutal mass shootings.

After years futile Democratic efforts to curb firearms, 15 Republicans joined with them as both sides decided inaction was untenable after last months rampages in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas. It took weeks of closed-door talks but senators emerged with a compromise embodying incremental but impactful movement to curb bloodshed that has come to regularly shock  yet no longer surprise  the nation.

The $13 billion measure would toughen background checks for the youngest gun buyers, keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders and help states put in place red flag laws that make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged dangerous. It would also fund local programs for school safety, mental health and violence prevention.

Families in Uvalde and Buffalo, and too many tragic shootings before, have demanded action. And tonight, we acted, President Joe Biden said after passage. He said the House should send it to him quickly, adding, Kids in schools and communities will be safer because of it.

The election-year package fell far short of more robust gun restrictions Democrats have sought and Republicans have thwarted for years, including bans on the assault-type weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines used in the slayings in Buffaloand Uvalde. Yet the accord let leaders of both parties declare victory and demonstrate to voters that they know how to compromise and make government work, while also leaving room for each side to appeal to its core supporters.

This is not a cure-all for the all the ways gun violence affects our nation, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., whose party has made gun restrictions a goal for decades. But it is a long overdue step in the right direction.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a nod to the Second Amendment right to bear arms that drives many conservative voters, said the American people want their constitutional rights protected and their kids to be safe in school. He said they want both of those things at once, and that is just what the bill before the Senate will have accomplished.

The day proved bittersweet for advocates of curtailing gun violence. Underscoring the enduring potency of conservative cIout, the right-leaning Supreme Court issued a decision expanding the right of Americans to carry arms in public by striking down a New York law requiring people to prove a need for carrying a weapon before they get a license to do so.

McConnell hailed the justices decision and Senate passage of the guns bill as complementary victories that will make our country freer and safer at the same time.

The Senate vote on final passage was 65-33. A cluster of House Democrats who watched the vote in the chambers rear included Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., whose 17-year old son was shot to death in 2012 by a man complaining his music was too loud.

In the key roll call hours earlier, senators voted 65-34 to end a filibuster by conservative GOP senators. That was five more than the 60-vote threshold needed. The House planned to vote Friday and approval seemed certain.

On both votes, 15 Senate Republicans joined all 50 Democrats, including their two allied independents, in backing the legislation.

Yet the votes highlighted the risks Republicans face by defying the partys pro-gun voters and firearms groups like the National Rifle Association. Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana were the only two of the 15 up for reelection this fall. Of the rest, four are retiring and eight dont face voters until 2026.

Tellingly, GOP senators voting no included potential 2024 presidential contenders like Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Tim Scott of South Carolina. Some of the partys most conservative members voted no as well, including Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah.

Cruz said the legislation would disarm law-abiding citizens rather than take serious measures to protect our children.

John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, hailed senators who supported the measure for coming together and putting the safety of the American people ahead of gun lobby priorities.

While the Senate measure was a clear breakthrough, the outlook for continued congressional movement on gun curbs is dim.

Less than one-third of the Senates 50 GOP senators backed the measure and solid Republican opposition is certain in the House. Top House Republicans urged a no vote in an email from the No. 2 GOP leader, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, that called the bill an effort to slowly chip away at law-abiding citizens 2nd Amendment rights.

Both chambers  now narrowly controlled by Democrats  could well be run by the GOP after Novembers midterm elections.

Senate action came one month after a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde. Just days before that, a white man was accused of being motivated by racism as he killed 10 Black grocery shoppers in Buffalo. Both shooters were 18 years old, a youthful profile shared by many mass shooters, and the close timing of the two slaughters and victims with whom many could identify stirred a demand by voters for action, lawmakers of both parties said.

The talks were led by Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. Murphy represented Newtown, Connecticut, when an assailant killed 20 students and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, while Cornyn has been involved in past gun talks following mass shootings in his state and is close to McConnell.

Murphy said the measure would save thousands of lives and was a chance to prove to a weary American public that democracy is not so broken that it is unable to rise to the moment.

I dont believe in doing nothing in the face of what we saw in Uvalde and elsewhere, Cornyn said.

The bill would make the local juvenile records of people age 18 to 20 available during required federal background checks when they attempt to buy guns. Those examinations, currently limited to three days, would last up to a maximum of 10 days to give federal and local officials time to search records.

People convicted of domestic abuse who are current or former romantic partners of the victim would be prohibited from acquiring firearms, closing the so-called boyfriend loophole.

That ban currently only applies to people married to, living with or who have had children with the victim. The compromise bill would extend that to those considered to have had a continuing serious relationship.

There would be money to help states enforce red flag laws and for other states without them that for violence prevention programs. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have such laws.

The measure expands the use of background checks by rewriting the definition of the federally licensed gun dealers required to conduct them. Penalties for gun trafficking are strengthened, billions of dollars are provided for behavioral health clinics and school mental health programs and theres money for school safety initiatives, though not for personnel to use a dangerous weapon.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

A state district judge sentenced Dominic Martinez to 12 years in prison this week for a 2018 high-speed crash on Albuquerques West Side that killed two cousins and seriously injured two others.

Martinez, 25, was driving west on Irving NW when his Camaro T-boned another car, killing cousins Kayden Montoya and Jakob Montoya.

Kayden, 23, died at the scene, while Jakob, 19, died later at University of New Mexico Hospital.

Two passengers in Jakobs Nissan Altima were taken to UNMH with serious injuries requiring surgery, according to court records.

The crash occurred about 10 p.m. Nov. 21, 2018  the night before Thanksgiving.

Second Judicial District Judge Britt Baca-Miller handed down the sentence Wednesday.

Jakob was attempting to make a left turn from Irving onto northbound Universe at the time of the crash.

Electronic data gathered from Martinezs car showed that five seconds before the collision he was traveling 111 mph in a 35 mph zone, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

Martinezs attorney, Megan Mitsunaga, argued in a sentencing memorandum that Martinez had a green light and the right of way on Irving and that the Nissan made an improper turn into the path of his car.

Martinez pleaded no contest in February to two counts of homicide by vehicle, reckless driving and two counts of great bodily harm by vehicle, according to the 2nd Judicial District Court plea deal.

Martinez had two previous speeding convictions in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court for offenses in October 2016 and July 2018, both in northwest Albuquerque, court records show.
KYIV, Ukraine  The Russian military extended its grip on territory in eastern Ukraine as it seeks to cut supply lines and encircle frontline Ukrainian forces, while the Ukrainian military announced Thursday the arrival of powerful U.S. multiple-launch rocket systems it hopes will offer a battlefield advantage.

Ukrainian forces withdrew from some areas near the city of Lysychansk to avoid being surrounded as Russians sent in reinforcements and concentrated their firepower in the area, Britains Defense Ministry said. The city is located in Luhansk province, a major battlefield in Russian President Vladimir Putins war against Ukraine.

Ukraines General Staff said Russian forces took control of the villages of Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka, and were trying to capture Syrotyne, a settlement outside the provinces administrative center, Sievierodonetsk. Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press that the Russians were burning everything out in their offensive to encircle Ukraines fighters.

The Russians are advancing without trying to spare the ammunition or troops, and they arent running out of either, Haidai said. They have an edge in heavy artillery and the number of troops.

After repeated requests to its Western allies for heavier weaponry to counter Russias edge in firepower, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said a response had arrived in the form of the medium-range American rocket launchers.

Summer will be hot for Russian occupiers. And the last one for some of them, Reznikov tweeted, thanking the U.S. for these powerful tools.

A U.S. defense official confirmed Wednesday that all four of the promised High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, were in the hands of Ukrainian forces but said it was not clear if they have been used yet.

The U.S. approved providing the precision-guided systems at the end of May, and once they were in the region, Ukraines forces needed about three weeks of training to operate them. The rockets can travel about 45 miles (70 kilometers).

The U.S. will send an addition $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including four more of the medium-range rocket systems, ammunition and other supplies, U.S. officials announced Thursday.

Analysts said the advanced systems would give Ukrainian forces greater precision in hitting Russian targets. Mykola Sunhurovsky of the Razumkov Center, a Kyiv-based think tank, said the HIMARS have a longer range, more precision and higher rate of fire compared with similar Soviet-designed systems that Russia and Ukraine have used during the four-month war.

In the Luhansk region, Ukrainians remain in control of part of the territory, defying the Russians and causing their fury and desire to burn it to the ground, Haidai said.

For weeks, Russian forces have pummeled Sievierodonetsk with artillery and air raids, and fought the Ukrainian army house-to-house. Ukrainian forces remain holed up with about 500 civilians at the Azot chemical plant, the only part of the city still under Ukrainian control.

Haidai said the Ukrainian soldiers warded off the citys seizure from the plants sprawling underground structures, but he noted that the shelling has intensified, and even concrete shelters cant withstand the bombardment. The Russians were using their entire arsenal  heavy artillery, tanks and aircraft  he said.

Lysychansk, located on a steep river bank facing Sievierodonetsk, also is under a relentless Russian artillery barrage. At least one civilian died and three others were wounded in the past day as the Russians concentrated more than 100 multiple rocket launchers to pummel entire blocks, the governor said.

The British Defense Ministry said Russian forces had likely advanced more than 5 kilometers (3 miles) toward the southern approaches of Lysychansk since Sunday.

Some Ukrainian units have withdrawn, probably to avoid being encircled, the statement said. Russias improved performance in this sector is likely a result of recent unit reinforcement and heavy concentration of fire.

Ukraines military said the Russians were also moving to overtake the hills overlooking a highway linking Lysychansk with Bakhmut, to the southwest, in an attempt to cut the supply lines of Ukrainian forces.

Haidai said the Bakhmut-Lysychansk highway wasnt used because of heavy Russian shelling. Ukrainian forces are receiving supplies via an alternative route.

Following a botched attempt to capture Kyiv, Ukraines capital, in the early stage of the invasion on Feb. 24, Russian forces shifted focus to the Donbas region, where the Ukrainian forces have fought Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.

The Russian military controls about 95% of Luhansk province and about half of neighboring Donetsk province, the two areas that make up the Donbas.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

European Union leaders meeting in Brussels have made Ukraine a candidate for membership in the 27-nation bloc, along with Moldova, in a historic boost that binds them closer to the West than Russia.

The countries admission to the EU will likely take years, though. In the case of Ukraine, thats both because of the war and the reforms the Ukrainian government must make to conform with European standards.



A Ukrainian politician and TV personality said an online fundraising pitch aimed at helping Ukraine buy three offensive drones has raised $10.4 million in 24 hours.

Serhiy Prytula credited amazing support among Ukrainians after his charitable foundation made the appeal for $15 million a day earlier for the purchase of the Bayraktar drones like those that Ukrainian forces have already used to defend against Russian invaders.

He tweeted: 4,6m $ to go. The Peoples Bayraktar project is already a nationwide crowdfunding. Lets turn it into international!

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British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Thursday that her country offered its expertise to help protect Ukraines ports and the safe passage of vessels for the export of Ukrainian grain.

Ukraine is one of the worlds largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil. Russias invasion and blockade of Ukraines ports have halted much of that flow and left millions of tons of grain stuck in silos, endangering food supplies to many developing countries, especially in Africa.

Its urgent that action is taken within the next month ahead of the new harvest, and were determined to work with our allies to deliver this, Truss said at news conference with her Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, during a visit to Ankara to discuss ways to end the blockade.

Turkey wants to gather the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine to organize a U.N. plan that would allow the safe shipment of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports. Cavusoglu said a possible deal might set up a safe zone just outside of Ukraines territorial waters.

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Russia has destroyed more than 2,000 schools and other educational institutions during the war.

In a video address to students and faculty at Jerusalems Hebrew University, Zelenskyy said that in areas where Russian troops have made quick advances, civilians are shot, refugees are killed right on the streets, people are tortured and raped, including minors  girls and boys.

Zelenskyy also voiced disappointment that Israel hadnt joined Western-led sanctions against Russia or provided Ukraine with military aid to give its forces a boost in the war.

Israel relies on good ties with Russia for security coordination in Syria, where Russia has troops and where Israel carries out frequent strikes against enemy targets. It has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

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Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Ukraine, Samuel Petrequin in Brussels, Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Lolita C. Baldor and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

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Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Youngsters in New Mexico are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccines and doses for that age group have started to arrive, the state Department of Health announced this week.

The announcement comes as New Mexico saw a significant decline in COVID-related hospitalizations in a recent week-long period.

This week, acting Health Secretary David Scrase announced that New Mexico residents as young as six months through four years old can start receiving the shots. The states announcement comes after the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommended them for young children.

After holding our collective breath for more than two years, we are thrilled to reach the milestone of vaccine eligibility for the littlest members of our families, Scrase said in a prepared statement. I am enormously relieved to offer my grandchildren this critical tool.

Doses for children in that age group began arriving in the state on Monday. Appointments for those shots can be made at VaccineNM.org.

The state is expecting to have between 5,000 to 7,500 vaccine doses for children by June 27, and for additional doses to arrive after that, according to a DOH news release.

Meanwhile, the state reported 6,268 new COVID cases during a recent week-long period, according to the weekly epidemiology reports dated June 20. That was about the same number of new cases as the week before.

The number of new hospitalizations recently declined. There were 84 people with COVID admitted to hospitals in a recent week-long period. That was down from 122 hospital admissions the week before.

On Thursday, the state reported 1,450 new cases and eight more deaths, bringing the toll to 7,899 deaths since the onset of the pandemic.

There were 194 people with COVID hospitalized throughout the state on Thursday, according to the Health Department.

Editors note: This article originally misreported Thursdays COVID data.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Thomas Fotter wanted more out of college. He wanted a highway to the danger zone.

So, last year, Fotter, a La Cueva High School graduate who just wrapped up his sophomore year of college, applied to the U.S. Naval Academy. He said he found out in March that he had been accepted and ships out to Annapolis, Maryland, on Wednesday.

I just felt very, very grateful, Fotter, 20, said about the moment he found out. (Im) still very excited, like a little kid, almost.

After hes inducted on June 30, hell undergo six weeks of rigorous training as part of Plebe Summer, which, according to a news release, will teach him and his fellow Class of 2026 plebes basic seamanship skills and prepare them for four years in the academy.

When he starts classes, he said he plans to continue studying aerospace engineering. He wants to fly in the Navy  just like the aerial aces of the Top Gun movies. Saw that (movie) and was 100% convinced, he said.

Fotter didnt always plan on a Navy career. It wasnt until the summer before his freshman year at Arizona State University that he realized he wanted to change course. But, because he didnt apply out of high school, he thought hed missed the boat.

He decided to apply only after a fateful tee time with a Naval Academy alum, who told Fotter hed transferred in after a couple of years in school. Fotter said he went home and started his application that day.

I wanted more, I felt like I had a higher purpose, like I wanted to serve and do more with my degree, and then also my career, he said. This felt like the perfect place to do so.

He was nominated to the Naval Academy by U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich.

I love planes, I love math, I love engineering  and the Naval Academy seems like the best combination of all those things, Fotter said. Im pumped.
DALLAS  Delta Air Lines will be able to continue operating flights at Dallas Love Field for another six years, under a settlement approved by the city council.

The agreement, which passed without debate this week, appears to end a long court fight over gates at the city-owned airport near downtown Dallas that is dominated by Southwest Airlines.

Delta has shared one of the airports 20 gates with Southwest since 2014, and currently uses it for up to five daily flights between Dallas and Atlanta. Southwest, which subleased the gate from United Airlines, has tried to remove rival Delta for several years. Southwest controls 17 other gates.

Airlines have fought over Love Field because it is more convenient for many travelers than DFW Airport, 16 miles away, and because a law passed by Congress in 2006 capped Love Field at 20 gates.

Dallas officials commissioned a study that suggested expanding Love Field, KXAS-TV in Dallas reported. People in nearby residential neighborhoods are objecting to expansion, which was presented to a city council committee earlier this week.

The lawsuit settlement approved by the council Wednesday will let Delta use one of two gates controlled by Alaska Airlines and pay Alaska $200,000 a year through September 2028, an idea proposed by the city, according to The Dallas Morning News. Alaska obtained the gates when it bought Virgin America in 2016, but currently uses them for only two flights a day.

The settlement would resolve a lawsuit that the city filed in 2015. In effect, city officials threw up their hands and asked a federal court to sort out an impasse that involved two federal agencies and six airlines.
WASHINGTON  Federal agents searched a former top Justice Department officials home and seized records from key Republicans in at least five states linked to Donald Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 election, in what were clear signs that authorities are ramping up their investigation of associates of the former president.

Authorities on Wednesday searched the Virginia home of Jeffrey Clark, who was known at the Justice Department to champion Trumps false claims of election fraud. Agents in recent days also served subpoenas on the Republican Party chairmen of Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, three states that went for President Joe Biden and where Trump allies created slates of alternate electors intended to subvert the vote. And Republicans in two other states  Michigan and Pennsylvania  disclosed they had been interviewed by the FBI.

The Justice Department appears to be escalating its probe of pro-Trump efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which culminated in the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. The disclosures of law enforcement activity came as the U.S. House committee investigating the riot said it had new evidence of Trumps efforts and his knowledge that he had no legal basis to try to overturn the election.

The committees Thursday hearing focused on Trumps desire to install Clark atop the Justice Department in his administrations last days. The reason for the search of Clarks home was not immediately clear and it was not known what information agents were searching for. The person who confirmed the search was not authorized to discuss it by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

In an interview Thursday night on Fox News Channel, Clark alleged the timing of the search warrant was highly politicized and questioned why his home was searched one day before the congressional hearing.

It looks highly coincidental and  I just dont believe in coincidences, he said.

Both the committee and federal authorities are probing the use of replacements for duly chosen electors in seven battleground states that voted for Biden. Trump and his allies furiously pressured authorities in those states to replace Bidens electors with ones for him on specious or nonexistent allegations that his victory was stolen.

The committee this week disclosed text messages that showed an aide to U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican and Trump ally, tried to hand-deliver fake elector certificates to an aide for former Vice President Mike Pence. The texts show Pences aide refused to accept the votes.

Johnson told a Wisconsin conservative talk radio host on Thursday that the fake elector slates came from the office of Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania. A spokesman for Kelly responded that Johnsons claim was patently false.

Said the spokesman, Matt Knoedler, Mr. Kelly has not spoken to Sen. Johnson for the better part of a decade, and he has no knowledge of the claims Mr. Johnson is making related to the 2020 election.

Among those who have received subpoenas in recent days, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation, was Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer.

Nevada GOP Chair Michael McDonald turned over his phone to federal agents Wednesday when they approached him outside his car in Las Vegas and presented a warrant, according to another person familiar with the matter. McDonald in December 2020 stood outside Nevadas state capitol with other fake electors to swear a so-called oath of office, flanked by men in camouflage with semi-automatic rifles.

Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward, her husband, Michael Ward, and two other alternate electors also received subpoenas, according to a third person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

In Pennsylvania, FBI agents interviewed the chairman of the Allegheny County Republican Party at his home Thursday and gave him a subpoena for communications between him, Trump electors in the state and members of Trumps campaign and legal team, the party official, Sam DeMarco, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

DeMarco said in a statement that his conduct as an elector was open, above-board and predicated solely on protecting President Trumps legal rights should he prevail in court. That is why I agreed to serve as an elector solely in the event the president prevailed in his legal challenge to the Pennsylvania vote.

And in Michigan, Michele Lundgren told the Detroit News that someone from the FBI served her with a subpoena Thursday and that another Trump elector was served on Wednesday. Lundgren, 72, said her discussion with the agent was long and pleasant and that she let one of the agents go through her phone and computer.

They kept asking me questions and asking me questions, and I kept telling them answers, she said.

Clarks home was searched by federal agents shortly before a committee hearing in which he was the focus. Three other former Justice Department officials testified about an extraordinary Jan. 3, 2021, Oval Office meeting at which Trump contemplated naming Clark  who led the departments civil division  as acting attorney general in place of Jeffrey Rosen, who resisted Trumps efforts to involve the agency.

Trump relented only when other senior Justice Department officials warned Trump that they would resign if he followed through with his plan to replace Rosen with Clark.

A lawyer for Clark did not return an email and phone message seeking comment.

Chairman Bennie Thompson said he read about the raid on Clarks home moments before the hearing started. Were not privy to what the Department of Justices reasoning is for doing it, he said. As you know, we demonstrated that he was recommended to lead the Department of Justice and people felt that he was absolutely unqualified to do so.

Russ Vought, president of the Center for Renewing America, which Clark recently joined as a senior fellow, tweeted that federal officers forced Clark into the streets while he was wearing pajamas and took his electronic devices.

All because Jeff saw fit to investigate voter fraud, Vought continued. This is not America, folks. The weaponization of govt must end. Let me be very clear. We stand by Jeff and so must all patriots in this country.

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Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, Sara Burnett in Chicago, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Sam Metz in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.

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For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.
The Biden administration has agreed to cancel $6 billion in student loans for about 200,000 former students who say they were defrauded by their colleges, according to a proposed settlement in a Trump-era lawsuit.

The agreement filed Wednesday in San Francisco federal court would automatically cancel federal student debt for students who were enrolled at one of more than 150 colleges and later applied for debt cancellation because of alleged misconduct by the schools.

Almost all the schools involved are for-profit colleges. The list includes DeVry University, the University of Phoenix and other chains still in operation, along with many that have folded in recent years, including ITT Technical Institute.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement that the settlement would resolve the claims in a manner that is fair and equitable for all parties.

The deal has yet to be approved by a federal judge. A hearing on the proposal is scheduled for July 28.

If approved, it would mark a major step in the Biden administrations efforts to clear a backlog of claims filed through the borrower defense program, which allows students to get their federal loans erased if their schools made false advertising claims or otherwise misled them.

The class-action suit was initially filed by seven former students who argued that President Donald Trumps education secretary, Betsy DeVos, had intentionally stalled the borrower defense process while she rewrote its rules. When the suit was filed, no final decision had been made on any claims for more than a year.

When the department under DeVos started deciding claims months later, it issued tens of thousands of denials, often without any explanation. At the time, the judge overseeing the case blasted DeVos for the blistering pace of rejections, saying her approach hangs borrowers out to dry.

Tens of thousands of borrowers were still in limbo when the Biden administration took over and started negotiating a settlement in 2021, according to court documents. The latest federal data shows there are more than 100,000 pending claims for borrower defense.

Under the proposed settlement, anyone who attended an eligible school and applied for cancellation as of Wednesday would get their federal student loans and interest fully forgiven. They would also get refunds for past payments made on those loans.

An additional 68,000 plaintiffs who did not attend eligible schools will get a streamlined review of their claims. The oldest claims will get reviewed first, while the most recent ones will get a decision within 2 years.

All borrowers who were caught up in DeVos flurry of denials will have their rejections revoked and their claims will be treated as if they have been pending since the date they were originally filed.

The Project on Predatory Student Lending, which represented students in the suit, said the agreement will help create a fair, just and efficient for future borrowers.

This momentous proposed settlement will deliver answers and certainty to borrowers who have fought long and hard for a fair resolution of their borrower defense claims after being cheated by their schools and ignored or even rejected by their government, said Eileen Connor, director of the project.

Borrower defense claims are typically reviewed individually, but the Education Department decided to grant automatic cancellation in this case because of common evidence of institutional misconduct at the schools in question, according to the settlement.

At some schools, there was already proof of substantial misconduct, while others were included because of high rates of claims coming from their former students, according to the deal.

The borrower defense process was started by Congress in 1994 but was rarely used until the collapse of the Corinthian Colleges chain in 2015. The for-profit company closed its campuses amid widespread findings of fraud, prompting thousands of students to apply for debt cancellation.

That led the Obama administration to expand the program and create clearer rules. It became the centerpiece of the administrations efforts to crack down on for-profit colleges that lied or used high-pressure tactics to recruit students. Students at Corinthian and other chains said they enrolled on promises that they would land high-paying jobs, only to graduate with few job prospects.

Earlier this month the Biden administration agreed to cancel federal student debt for anyone who attended a Corinthian school from the companys founding in 1995 to its collapse two decades later. The action will erase $5.8 billion in debt for more than 560,000 borrowers, the largest single discharge in the Education Departments history.

The settlement adds to the administrations effort to cancel student debt for certain groups of borrowers. It has erased billions of additional dollars in debt from other former for-profit college students, along with borrowers who have severe disabilities and those with jobs in public service.

Biden has also faced mounting pressure to pursue mass student debt cancellation. The White House recently signaled that it is considering canceling $10,000, but no decision has been reached.

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The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
ASEAN-China cooperation mutually beneficial, contributes to regional peace, stability, development: Cambodian deputy PM

Xinhua) 09:04, June 23, 2022

PHNOM PENH, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China has provided mutual benefits and greatly contributed to regional peace, stability and development, Cambodian deputy prime minister and defense minister Gen. Tea Banh said here on Wednesday.

Gen. Banh made the remarks while co-chairing the ASEAN-China Defense Ministers' Informal Meeting via video link with Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe.

"In the last 30 years, ASEAN-China cooperation has made remarkable progress in all fields, which has provided mutual benefits and made significant contributions to promoting peace, stability and security, regional development and prosperity," he said.

He added that since 2009, China has been a major trading partner of ASEAN, and in 2020, ASEAN has become a major trading partner of China.

Banh recalled that at the ASEAN-China Special Summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the ASEAN-China dialogue relations in November 2021, the leaders agreed to promote ASEAN-China relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, which is a turning point in the history of ASEAN-China relations.

He added that the leaders also agreed to continue to promote security and political cooperation by maintaining frequent high-level exchanges, increasing sharing of experience on governance to deepen mutual trust, and enhancing dialogue and coordination in ASEAN-led frameworks.

"I am pleased to note that the People's Republic of China has actively participated in the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and worked together with ASEAN towards the conclusion of an effective and sustainable Code of Conduct to ensure regional stability and peace," he said.

He said a close ASEAN-China relationship is very important to maintain and promote peace, stability, security, development and prosperity of the region and the world.

Meanwhile, Banh also expressed his deep gratitude to China for supporting Cambodia in the fight against the COVID-19 since the beginning, creating conducive conditions for the kingdom to have a strong foundation to overcome this infectious disease.

"In this connection, I would also like to highly evaluate the friendship and mutual support between China and Cambodia in promoting the development of Cambodia in all fields," he said.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Hongyu)
InMobi, a leading provider of content, monetisation, and marketing technologies that help businesses fuel growth, today released the findings from a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on Future of Mobile Advertising in Tackling Data and Identity Deprecation. Marketers are facing significant challenges when navigating mobile advertising's volatile world while adhering to new regulatory frameworks due to differing practices around privacy. This study was commissioned to understand their state of readiness, explore the key areas of concern and identify the initiatives underway for dealing with the same, in the Indian market. Respondents for the study included directors, C-level executives, vice presidents and senior managers from brands, media agencies, and app owners.

The study found that three in five Indian businesses are still trying to identify and understand the impact of consumer data privacy developments on their current mobile marketing strategy. The report on the study also reveals that 85% of respondents (comprising business decision-makers) in India believe that increasing reach and conversion to improve profitability ranks as one of the top high-critical marketing priorities. This further links to privacy-related challenges where 87% of respondents acknowledged inability to take action on buyer and customer data as a key marketing challenge.

On the findings of the report, Rishi Bedi, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at InMobi, said, Despite the increasing movement with respect to government regulations, the Indian advertising ecosystem does not for data and identity deprecation and businesses have a long way to go before they can optimize for profitability. It is now important for the advertising industry to focus beyond traditional targeting methods like third-party cookies, to pave the way for success with new identity solutions and contextual targeting. Advertisers need to adopt a privacy-first approach, proactively think about how to protect customers privacy and aim to build a privacy-first culture across their organizations.

The InMobi report highlights that in the light of consumer data privacy practices, while brands are struggling with the lack of reliable ecosystem partners for gathering first-party data, publishers are battling organizational silos causing lack of visibility around privacy-related regulations and a struggle to consolidate data. A common challenge across organizations is the lack of executive support for a data stewardship and governance program. Such a program would determine how data is accessed, stored, shared, processed, and used for analytics.

As organizations start experimenting with alternative targeting approaches, the study shows that 78% of respondents are using contextual advertising to serve personalized messages to consumers based on demographics, preferences, and behaviors within the app. 80% of businesses in India are already acquiring consented third-party data and 78% of businesses are building first-party data as alternate data sources.
On the occasion of World Music Day, Hiver, a Bengaluru-based SaaS startup, launched a music video highlighting their work-meets-play culture. The entire music video - including lyrics, vocals, instrumentals, and videography - has been created by Hivers in-house talent.

Organised by the French Ministry of Culture for the first time in 1982, World Music Day provides a platform that not only celebrates professional musicians, but also provides support to budding musical talent. With the day growing in popularity, even businesses are beginning to now recognise and encourage the musical talents of their teams.

The music video was shot in the Hiver office and showcases the companys non-formal work culture. The lyrics of the song place emphasis on Hivers value system - simplicity, and work-life balance, amongst others. It also talks about the brands journey so far and how Hiver is focused on building a world class product.

Niraj Ranjan Rout, CEO and Co-founder of Hiver, is an avid guitar player himself and believes: Music is very close to our hearts here at Hiver. Its universality allows our diverse team to connect with each other more profoundly. Weve seen that having impromptu jamming sessions at work have not only brought us closer as a team, but have also helped our employees de-stress and nurture their creativity.

Speaking on creating the campaign, Charu Gupta, Director of Brand & Content Marketing, Hiver said: At Hiver, we believe its important to learn more about and recognise the talents of our employees. Jamming sessions in the office have allowed them to pursue their passions outside of work, while still being at work. We have these sessions often and this time for World Music Day, the team has created an original song about the brand.
To celebrate the World Environment Day, Vritti iMedia, leading mass media arm of innovative marketing company Vritti Solutions partnered with State Transport Corporations across seven states of India to spread environment awareness through a 360 Degree Marketing Campaign at more than 500 bus stations between June 1 and 10.

In a BTL campaign, Vritti volunteers encouraged the passengers at the bus stations to donate plastics with them. In return, they were gifted a sapling. To support the BTL campaign, audio messages focusing on sustainability and avoiding littering of plastics were played on the digital Passenger Information System (PIS) in between arrival and departure announcements. The messages were played in the native languages of the states at the bus stations.

The campaign was organized in semi-urban and rural bus stations of Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Goa. Vritti iMedia made use of its unique mass media property, Audiowala Bus Stand, which is the countrys largest Digital Audio Network to play the awareness messages via appealing jingles, which were played from June 1-June 10.

The campaign was backed with a digital campaign - making impactful posts, videos, and a social media campaign.

This is a 360 degree marketing and awareness initiative from Vritti family, to commemorate the World Environment Day. Audiowala Bus Stand being entirely digital, uses limited power and saves paper. In a majority of our campaigns, we prefer to work closely with the Government or Government bodies, helping them create an infrastructure, which serves the public and society at large. Hence, all our campaigns have a good Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) flavour to them. ESG is and shall always be a key differentiating factor in all our campaigns, said Mr. Rajesh Radhakrishnan, Founder-Director & CMO, Vritti iMedia.

Vritti iMedia named this campaign as, #KyaAapSunnRaheHo? (#AreYouListening?) Prakruti Meri Zimedaari. #AreYouListening? is derived from its product, Audiowala Bus Stand, wherein the core focus is always on listening.

In this campaign, we are pointing towards listening to the pain of the nature. Prakruti Meri Zimedaari is driven from the thought that Change begins from myself. It is My responsibility to take care of the nature, said Mr. Radhakrishnan.

Audiowala Bus Stand is considered to be the most effective and affordable mass media (at the cost of just one paise per person) for creating awareness and has the potential to reach 400 million people every month.

Vritti iMedia chose bus stations as a place for spreading environmental awareness as bus stations in the country are usually not clean with plastic wrappers, bottles, and bags littered. Also a bus station with its crowd is an ideal place to create awareness among people of small towns and villages.
As their full-service Creative Agency, Yellow will be responsible for the brand's creative, social media, brand identity, and building a packaging experience.

Yellow wins the Digital and Creative mandate for Dlecta. This includes the overall strategy, planning, and creative content requirements across online and offline platforms for the brand

The Agency will partner with the brand to create a disruptive marketing journey and build a distinct identity to make Dlecta the customers first choice when it comes to cheese.

With Dlecta, our aim is to strengthen their identity and positioning with our creative strategy and packaging. With a defined vision and calculative approach, we look forward to creating great work in new and unprecedented directions for the brand. As disruptive thinkers and with our expertise over the years, we strive to increase the visibility of the brand, create top-of-the-mind recall value amongst consumers, and also plan to introduce Dlecta to a newer set of audiences to capitalize on every opportunity in the market. We immensely appreciate this opportunity and look forward to bringing brilliant results to the table for Dlecta, said Shrey Doshi, Founder and Creative Director of Yellow.

Speaking about the association, Mr. Deepak Jain, Managing Director, Dlecta, said, "We feel ecstatic to have Yellow as our digital and creative agency, especially at this point in our story. Yellows similar vision and mindset are in proper alignment with what we look forward to achieving for Dlecta over the years. Their proven creative abilities, expertise, and enthusiasm combined with their penchant for experimentation & innovation make them the perfect partner in our rapidly growing industry. Their team is hungry, diligent, and pays strong attention to detail, something that became evident in the multiple discussions weve had over a while. We are at the next turning point in the journey of Dlecta as a brand and are glad to have Yellow as our partners.

In the last 9 years, Yellow has worked with globally reputed brands like Sephora, Hamleys, Forbes, CNBC TV-18, Crossword Bookstores, and more. With our growing experience and expertise in content and branding across channels, formats, languages, and geographies, we believe we can help grow Dlecta exponentially and achieve what we aim for.
For lovers of music, nothing equals the magic of a favourite song, an evocative lyric and a melodious interlude for it can silence the chatter in the mind and fill a gloomy day with sunshine. On World Music Day, director Akarsh Khurana and well-known actor Varun Badola share what music has meant to them and how it has impacted their personal and artistic journey.

Akarsh who is a part of Zee Theatre's teleplay Dhumrapaan, Stand Up and The Job says, "Well, I'm obsessed with music. I'm constantly listening to it. While working also, I take a very keen interest in how musicality can enhance it. I usually lock musical tracks and then I rehearse or shoot to the tune of those. I also listen to music while writing and a sense of melody and rhythm is very critical to my process. As far as favourite songs go, that is an extremely difficult question to answer because there are so many. But if I want to slow down or feel calm, I listen to artists like Blackstratblues, Emancipator, Pretty Lights, Tajdar Junaid or quiet jazz. Thanks to apps like Spotify, there is so much more music to discover now."

Varun Badola who is a part of Zee Theatre's teleplay Wrong Turn comes from a musically inclined family and says, "We grew up around a lot of good music and literature and my father happened to be a pretty good vocalist. He had a brilliant voice and in some way, I have inherited his passion for music and singing though I cannot claim to be as good as him. Also, I have a very diverse taste when it comes to music and I listen to various genres from all over the world. My love for music also impacts my work as an actor because I am always in search of the right 'sur' or rhythm in a role and once I find it, the whole performance flows like a cohesive melody. As far as my all time favorite song goes, it is Main Shayar Badnaam from the film 'Namak Haraam'.''
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The basic bipartisan agreement among senators to ensure a filibuster-proof deal to reduce mass gun violence includes billions of dollars of mental health investments, such as expanding nationwide mental health and addiction services.

What do mental health and mental illness have to do with mass murders and increasing violence in society? Virtually nothing, we would argue.

Having mental health experts look at many people to determine who is a threat is an exercise in futility. There has never been a major study that indicates that such experts can discern who is dangerous or not dangerous better than laypeople.

Our late colleague and friend, psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz, spent sixty years of his life pounding home the chasm between mind (behavior) and disease (physical cell abnormality).

We are addressing here the issue in light of the almost ubiquitously reckless and irresponsible use of the terms mental health and mental illness. Pundits and those social scientists considered experts on the matter use the terms mental health and mental illness as if they are causal agents which account for why people act in socially desirable and undesirable ways. In fact, they are usually terms only of inference, implying good/bad and socially valued/disvalued thinking, opinions and conduct.

Szasz and his supporters submitted that neither empirically exists: mental illness nor mental health. They are both metaphors, metaphors masquerading as medical realities. Diagnoses of mental illness are subjective judgments of behavior. Diagnoses of real disease, such as those made by pathologists and used in nosology, are made on the basis of cellular abnormality. The latter is objective; the former is subjective.

That is to say, mental illness and mental health are value judgments, not medical/scientific assessments. As Szasz always asserted, disease is something physical, something a person has, like leukemia, whereas mental illness refers to alleged reasons people do bad or wrong actions. The terms refer to everything and therefore distinguish nothing.

The American Psychological Association this year argues that prior research suggests that approximately two-thirds of public mass shooters exhibit signs of mental illness and that even the most mentally healthy perpetrators could be recoded as having signs of mental illness or suicidality None of these signs is anything but behaviors, not physical symptoms of disease.

Regardless, mental health and mental illness remain most of current liberal and conservatives go-to explanations for virtually all impossible-to-stop anti-social phenomena. This is mainly due to frustration; what if there is no way to lessen the criminal population, especially in violent cities?

Yet, regarding mass murders, surprising as it may be, the generally psychiatrically focused left has a few -- just a few -- dissenters. The Psychiatric Times wrote unambiguously, The fact of the matter is that ideology, racism, and perceived injustice trump mental illness in many of these cases. To put it bluntly, racism is not mental illness. This incongruous admission is no doubt due to the Lefts unwillingness to excuse perceived racism, which it finds everywhere.

The current wave of mass murders has led to a reversal of positions: liberals, who historically have been at the forefront of maintaining that all off-putting behavior may be mental illness now have some doubters per mass murderers, and conservatives who have since the heyday of Szasz doubted the existence of an epidemic of mental illness, now reference it regularly as the consistent explanation for illegal violent behavior.

In the decades following Szaszs The Myth of Mental Illness, he enjoyed a strong minority of conservative followers, including the authors of this piece, who supported his seminal thesis; namely, that mental illness is a mixed metaphor. The mind is a construct and cannot be literally ill or diseased, whereas the brain is an organ which can.

The New York Times, unfriendly to conservative points of view, nonetheless recognized its classic status and said of Szaszs Myth book, it is The landmark book that argued that psychiatry consistently expands its definition of mental illness to impose its authority over moral and cultural conflict.

Mental illness is what the late political theorist Murray Edelman, anthropologist Edward Sapir and others would (and should) have called a "condensation symbol, with no specific referent but which condenses into one symbol a host of applications with political significance.

In simpler terms, in contrast to brain disease, wherein an organ is damaged or malfunctioning, mental illness is a way to stigmatize behavior while claiming no responsibility of the actor, who is by definition not choosing to act as he or she acts.

Columns, discussions, and right-left disputes on the causes and solutions to the mass murders from Buffalo to Uvalde to Tulsa, etc., and, adding to those, the general violence in homes and on the streets and in schools and churches, the only thing that has changed is rhetorical. There is now virtual unanimity, with just a few deniers on the Left, on one cause of all anti-social behavior: mental illness.

Years before Szaszs death, and we would argue that this is due to his influence, more and more people rejected mental illness and the widespread use and support of the insanity plea as bogus causes. The mental therapy solutions were similarly doubted more and more, whereas today it is hard to find solutions absent the recommendation of psychological treatment.

Why? Again, because there is no agreement as to what mental illness is or is not. Moreover, unlike authentic physical or somatic illnesses, as Szasz tirelessly argued, mental illnesses have no consistent pathological cause. If they did, they would be brain diseases. And even if lawbreakers and rule breakers had brain disease, it would be quite a task to persuade fair-minded people that a neurological condition caused a person to break the law.

Ultimately, violence in America can be attenuated with a number of sociological changes, including, but not limited to, disincentivizing fatherlessness, promoting reasonable and non-constitutional-destructive gun laws, such as lowering the age one can purchase guns, and less unfair interference with police.

What would Szasz say about the current emphasis on mental illness? Simply that mental illness is not a neurological reality; it is a mythological condensation symbol of description of untoward behavior.

Mass murderers and other lawbreakers do what they do because they have agency: they choose to do what they do and nowadays infer that there will be acceptable or no consequences.

Alan Dershowitz once wrote a book titled the The Abuse Excuse, exploding the myth whereby murderers and other felons escape responsibility by claiming their experiences had caused them to break the law.

Focusing on mental health and mental illness does nothing more than allow government to randomly gain control of thousands of people absent any probable cause and absent any significant reduction of mass murders.

Richard E. Vatz is Psychology Editor of USA Today Magazine and political persuasion professor at Towson University

rvatz@Towson.edu

Jeffrey Alfred Schaler is a retired professor of Justice, Law and Society at American Universitys School of Public Affairs, and a retired member of the psychology faculty at Johns Hopkins University. He was Editor in Chief of The international journal Current Psychology.

ijas@me.com

They are co-editors of Thomas S. Szasz: the Man and His Ideas (Transaction and Routledge, London, 2017) and authors of many pieces on psychiatry and the law

Image: PublicDomainPictures
In the past twenty years and, with accelerating speed in the past ten years, computer algorithms determine what information Americans receive and even dictate how they should respond to that information. There is an ancient method of analyzing information that allows people to see and understand all sides of an issue. Its practiced in Yeshivas (traditional Jewish education schools that focus on Biblical and religious texts) but can be applied anywhere. American cultural and political discourse would improve greatly if it were added to American education.

I recommend a Netflix special production, The Social Dilemma, to everyone I meetfriends, relatives, shopkeepers, and even strangers. Although understated in tone, the movie is hard-hitting as it exposes the business model companies such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Instagram use to affect our thinking. The documentarys conclusion is that computer algorithms have learnedon their ownhow to reward humans to increase the amount of attention they pay to their devices. Then, the information technology companies sell the accumulated increased attention to advertisers in an auction-like process. Each persons attention-increase is worth a few cents. These cents add up, making these giants the richest companies that have ever existed.

What the algorithms have learned is to feed back to people the same ideas with which they have already felt comfortable. Anything contradicting their present belief systems is blocked because it would reduce or end their attention and, thus, lower their monetary worth both to those who control the search engines and the advertisers who buy that attention. Truth has no bearing on the information that the systems provide to each person. Each person gets exactly what he feels at home with. Ideas are only of value if they increase attention; never for their contents.

The person being affected by these algorithms is ensconced in a bubble. From inside, he can justifiably ask himself, how can anyone disagree with this truth? that he knows so well and has been taught so systematically. People who hold other views, he reasonably believes, are probably liars or delusional and are manipulating others or are being manipulated themselves.

In short, each person is given his own truth that differs from everyone elses. These technology companies, therefore, create a source of unresolvable conflict between every person on the planet. If slight variations in truth suddenly appear, it is only because the algorithm is trialing new information to determine if it increases attention or diminishes it. The algorithms know that novelty draws attention and so novelty is used to increase the monetary value of the person by exposing him to information that he might find interesting.

If our best and brightest computer programmers permit the defining-away of meaning by using irresponsible algorithms, they have erased shared perceptions between people. Those subjected to the algorithms will believe the real world is defined by their limited online world.

Image: Yeshiva teachers in Jerusalem at the Etz Chaim Yeshiva, before 1910. Public domain.

However, constant confirmation of ones worst fears becomes an inevitable and obvious source of anger, depression, and ennui. The multiple forms of social pathology we are experiencing today are at least partially the result of the chronic application of these algorithms to our livesand its worse, of course, for the vulnerable, such as young teenagers and social isolates.

There must be a way back from the edge of our self-created oblivion! Could there be a solution to the problem of almost everyone being considered by everyone else to be a useless eater? Is there a real-world response to this addiction?

I suggest here that if everyone applied the Yeshiva system, we could recoup our losses and counter the effects of artificial intelligence programs that tinker with our well-being. In such an environment, hits of dopamine could be used to uncover meaning instead of degrading it.

The Yeshiva system has been in development since Biblical times, when Jethro, a Moabite priest, recommended to Moses how to handle conflicts between people as the Jews became a nation. It thrives today everywhere Jews care about their heritage.

While the contents of traditional Yeshiva learning may be of little or no interest to non-Jews, it is the structure of the Yeshiva that I am touting as a potential savior of humanity from its own limitations. By attending Yeshiva, students become responsible for the contents of their own brains instead of depending upon experts who do not have their best interests at heart.

Here's how the Yeshiva system could work in any social or academic situation: Walk into a crowded room (and you can bring your smartphone for quick consultations); choose a partner with whom to learn for the evening; and then watch something together (e.g., The Social Dilemma) and then discuss it. This initial process is called learning bkhavrutah, learning with a friend or partner, and can go on as long as both members of the dyad wish to continue. However, as a practical matter, this part of the process probably would be limited to 30 minutes.

Next, a few pairs of learners gather to choose someone from their newly enlarged group and elevate that person to the position of scholar. Those not chosen take their positions as students in an academy, sitting around the scholar to see what he has to say. The dynamic at this stage is to engage the scholar by questioning him about the topic at hand.

Finally, two people are chosen from the group of all scholars. Separately, without the other being present, each presents his understanding of the issue to the entire body of students/scholars. This mechanism would be the equivalent of attending two different schools that have been addressing the same topic. After their presentation, the TED yeshiva is over. Everyone can now mingle or go to dinner.

This process can be repeated daily, weekly, or monthly with another topic using the same method. Absolute conclusions or courses of action are not expected or even desirable but, if the group is lucky, underlying principles for their opinions may emerge for everyone to hold up to the light to examine.

Talmudic discussions have proceeded over the course of more than 2,000 years. It is a common experience in a Talmud study session to have opinions on the same page of people divided by 400 years as though they were speaking directly to one another.

This process of learning and relearning the same issues with changing scholars and students uncovers the nature of the issues and teaches students how to speak about issues in a way that makes sense despite their complexity. For the learner, the process builds emotional resilience to conflict to prevent prematurely ending a discussion and allows inserting reason into the discussion, the exact opposite of the emotional decision-making so prized today.

Netflixs The Social Dilemma ends on a pessimistic note without suggesting what to do about the purposeful warping of our brains. Whatever Yeshiva-style learning can do for us, I assert here with certainty that it is the best potential antidote currently available for what Facebook, et al, are subjecting us to so that they can make money.
Bidens administration (with help from Senate RINOs) is determined to strip Americans of their Second Amendment rights. To strengthen that position, Biden postures as someone who actually knows a little something about guns. Ive thought about this a bit and I think I know whos giving him his informationand if Im right, we should all be worried.

Last week I watched Joe Biden addressing the AFL-CIO in Philadelphia. Many have commented on the anger he seemed to exhibit and on his shameless pandering to union labor (which, for Biden, is nothing new). But one little thing in his speech leaped out and caught my interest.

Biden informed the assembled unions that, if union workers go on strike, the impact is far greater than if, say, investment bankers were to go on strike. In reinforcing his point, Biden introduces it with I tell this to my buddy...

I heard that and thought, Wait a minute! Joe Biden has a buddy? I wondered just who, and what kind of person, that could be. Does Joe Biden have anything like a best friend, someone he hangs out with, as Richard Nixon, for example, famously hung out with his friend of more than four decades, Charles Bebe Rebozo?

And then I remembered Bidens earlier reference to a buddy, and that caused me even more wonderment. It had occurred during a speech in Iowa in 2015 when Biden gave a shout out to retired Iowa Congressman Neal Smith. There, in front of an audience, Biden addressed Smith as an old butt buddy (as if theres not already enough about Joe Biden that should be filed under Creepy and Stuff that makes you go Eeewww!).

Even truck drivers, who for years would stereotypically address one another generically over the CB radio as Good Buddy, now eschew that term (replacing it with Hand, as in hired hand or ranch hand) because of the Brokeback Mountain sort of innuendo with which Good Buddy has become fraught. Butt buddy is even worse, no matter how innocently Joe Biden may have intended it in that Iowa speech.

But as to the buddy to whom Biden alluded in Philadelphia, I have an idea just who that is. And I also have an idea who it isnt. No matter how much Barack Obama may be whispering in Joes ear, its not Barack Obama.

Image: Joe and Hunter Biden. YouTube screen grab.

I believe its the man whom Joe has described as the smartest man I know [in] pure intellectual capacity. Its the man who has bragged that Joe Biden respects me more than he respects anyone in the world, that Joe Biden will talk about anything that I want him to, and that If I say its important to me, then he will work a way in which to make it a part of his platform.

I believe that Joe Bidens buddy, the fellow hed most like to hang out with, is his son Hunter (the man so generously compensated by foreign governments for his expertise in the petroleum and natural gas business, and the man for whose exemplary upbringing as a thoroughly decent and highly moral person Joe Biden surely deserves the Father of the Year or Excellence in Parenting award).

One must give Hunter credit for finding the time to be his fathers closest advisor and confidant, given that so much of Hunters busy day is committed to other activities, such as cavorting with hookers and getting down on all-fours to pick parmesan cheese out of the carpet because it might have been crack cocaine. And one must hope that buddy is an apt descriptor of the relationship; for the Bidens, pere et fils, to be butt buddies is just too cringeworthy! Its creepy enough to ponder the extent to which Joe Biden lives vicariously through the libertine exploits of his son.

And that brings us to the photo of Hunter that surfaced recently (but which hasnt seen a lot of exposure, because its flattering to no one) and which may explain the nature of the advice that Joe Biden is getting on some of the pressing issues of today.

Image from a video Hunter Biden made in 2018, recovered from his laptop.

The photo is a still from a video found on Hunters laptop. In the video, Hunter Biden is with a woman identified as a prostitute, and he is naked and handling a gun.

Ronald Reagan famously said, The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that theyre ignorant; its just that they know so much that isnt so.: When it comes to guns, these are people who purport to be experts about guns, but so much of what they know is wrong because everything they know they learned from movies and TV.

It reminds me of what my NYC Driver Education instructor used to say: Show me how you park, and Ill tell you how you drive.

Observe how a person holds a gun (be it a handgun or long-gun) and you will have an immediate indication of how much he knows about guns, where he learned it, and what kind of training, if any, he had.

And anyone who really does know something about guns can take just one look at Hunters photo (even leaving aside the question of what a gun has to do with the other activities going on!) and conclude that the person in the photo is a poseur, one of those whose knowledge of gun-handling comes directly from Hollywood (Hint: it has to do with the placement of ones trigger finger).

Weve seen and heard Joe Biden pontificate about guns, telling us how the deer arent wearing Kevlar vests, or how the best way to protect your home is to get a double-barrel shotgun, go out on the balcony and fire two blasts (see the original quote here, and a creative musical send-up of it here), sounding as if he actually knows whereof he speaks.

Those examples, plus Joe Bidens understanding of the intent and scope of our Second Amendment (and given that Joe Biden has never been known to have had an original thought!) lead me to believe that his knowledge of firearms and his policies pertaining thereto are all informed by his consultations with his buddy: Hunter Biden, the smartest man he knows.

Authors Note: The author of more than 150 pieces published by American Thinker, Stu Tarlowe, 74, was for more than 15 years the personal editor for the late talk radio icon, author and columnist Barry Farber. Recently employed as a staff writer for a magazine forecasting political, financial, and societal trends, when Stu had to be hospitalized for COVID, he was summarily and permanently replaced (and he remains flummoxed by that betrayal of his loyalty). Having recovered from the Wuhan Flu, however, he now writes on a variety of topics (political and personal) in his newsletter at https://stutarlowe.substack.com and is seeking another gig as a writer/editor/proofreader (in a perfect world, he would be paid to write a weekly column of essays like this).
Filmmaker Olivier Assayas is the target of a lawsuit filed by Cuban dissidents, who claim that the leftist director fabricated the truth of their lives to the point of making them unrecognizable in the 2019 Netflix spy thriller Wasp Network.

Chief among Assayas's detractors is Jose Basulto, who is at the center of the drama, on and off screen. He comes off more as a slimy pimp than a Cuban dissident who founded a humanitarian non-profit called "Brothers to the Rescue." Here is where Assayas may find himself in murky waters  or, more likely, a litigious sinkhole.

He presents "Brothers" as really a front for a drug-smuggling ring, as opposed to its altruistic aim of Cuban expatriate pilots attempting to help save refugees desperate enough to flee Castro's Cuba on makeshift craft heading across the Straits of Florida.

That isn't the worst of the recasting of "Brothers." Basulto's portrayal is so complete as a reptilian character that viewers shouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that the Castro dissident is also a "CIA-trained terrorist."

Admittedly, the plot gets a bit murky. But Basulto and his swashbuckling band of dissidents are unmistakably cast as bombing hotels occupied by tourists and shooting up stretches of Cuban beaches filled with innocent civilians.

Such scenes are being watched around the world on Netflix, the most viewed streaming service to more than 190 countries.

There isn't a shortage of drama, and Assayas might discover that his "reliable source" for the narrative  allegedly based on a true story  will serve as the basis of the defamation lawsuit, according to Basulto's attorneys.

Assayas admits he relied heavily on the "interpretation of history" written by journalist-author Fernando Morais, who has been accused of peddling propaganda for Castro's murderous regime by the well respected civil rights organization Assembly of the Cuban Resistance. Morais's book, Last Soldiers of the Cold War: The Story of the Cuban Five, is extremely sympathetic to the communist regime and serves as the basis of the "untold story."

Drawing on such "facts," Basulto's attorneys are drafting the complaint to prove one of the most essential points in a defamation suit. They are alleging that the extent of the fabrication was known to the filmmaker: "These false portrayals of Basulto and 'Brothers to the Rescue' as terrorists ... have absolutely no basis in fact. [The] defendants have always known that these false portrayals of plaintiffs in the film have no basis in fact."

Ironically, Basulto's short-lived training with the CIA may serve to bolster his case. He has never denied his hatred of Castro or his CIA-assigned mission to eliminate missiles in Cuba. The mission was later aborted.

Demonizing the "Brothers" was the goal of the filmmaker, alleges the lawsuit, while whitewashing Castro's 57-year reign of terror.

Admittedly, Assayas falls into step with Morais's sympathies. He even selects the title to his film, Wasp Network, to serve as a romanticized ode to Castro's "intelligence force." Fidel himself approved the code name for his Cuban network of spies  who were dispatched to America to infiltrate "terrorist cells." Many scenes pull at the heartstrings of these brave spies  or "true patriots" according to the script  who have been apprehended by U.S. authorities and incarcerated.

Feeble attempts are made by Assayas to be "fair and balanced" about Fidel's epic economic failures and cruel oppression of Cubans. For instance, Assayas devotes approximately two minutes of screen time to Castro's horrific act of brutalizing and arresting thousands of Cuban dissenters who in 1994 had engaged in national street protests demanding a democratic society.

If ever Fidel had a cinematic friend glossing over the worst of his crimes, it would be Assayas.

Blink, and you miss the dissident-culprits placed behind Castro's prison bars in 1994, with nary a word of what happened to them after their noncourt appearances. Street protests  erupting on a national scale  are hardly a thing of the past in Cuba. Food shortages, widespread poverty, and oppressive policies continue. The largest national protest erupted just last year, with poverty still plaguing most of the population.

If Assayas is taking notes, he may consider a sequel to Wasp Network: he can still enjoy the artistic freedom of trashing dissidents, condemning American governmental agencies, and romanticizing the ideal of communism  all the while being spared the ugly reality of living in Cuba.

Image: Netflix.
On June 17, 1972, five burglars were arrested by police at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.

The "Watergate Scandal," as it was called, not only led to Richard Nixon's resignation, but made two reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, household names. The pair's reporting on the scandal even earned the Washington Post a Pulitzer.

In the fifty years since that infamous event, Watergate has been the subject of countless books, articles, television specials, and documentaries, as well as several feature-length movies. While Watergate has been covered extensively in these various media, some of the most important questions asked in 1972 about the puzzling caper remain unanswered in 2022.

Why, for example, would the Nixon campaign attempt this risky operation to spy on the Democrat party when Nixon was so far ahead in the polls? What did it expect to gain from this oddly selected target, a party office, which usually served as little more than a dispenser of bumper stickers and yard signs? Was there any significance to the fact that two members of the burglary team were Miami-based Cuban exiles, who had participated in the ill-fated 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion?

As we mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Watergate break-in, one author finally offers answers to these long lingering questions. His name is John O'Connor, and the book is called The Mysteries of Watergate: What Really Happened.

John O'Connor is perhaps best known as the lawyer who revealed the identity of "Deep Throat," the pseudonym for Bob Woodward's secret informant, who was providing Woodward with information during his investigation of Watergate. Deep Throat's identity had remained a secret until 2005, until his lawyer, O'Connor, revealed him to be W. Mark Felt, former No. 2 in the FBI and head of the Watergate investigation, in a sensational Vanity Fair magazine article.

Now O'Connor has resurfaced with what he says are answers to all the other lingering Watergate mysteries. His book refutes the conventional Watergate narrative of Nixonian evil uncovered by a pair of fearless, honest young reporters named Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. That narrative, sold by these reporters and the Washington Post, O'Connor writes, is false.

The Mysteries of Watergate isn't O'Connor's first eye-opening indictment of the Washington Post's journalistic malpractice. He previously wrote of his fraught history with the newspaper after he began representing Felt back in 2002. That book, Postgate, offers a convincing indictment of the Post.

In Postgate, O'Connor not only provides a dishy recounting of his interactions with Woodward and unsuccessful attempts throughout 2002 to gain the reporter's cooperation in Felt's coming out story, but also provides a detailed analysis of what O'Connor sees as the Post's intentional deceit throughout its 3,000-article Watergate reporting.

While O'Connor's prior effort in Postgate is a convincing prosecution case against the Pulitzer Prizewinning paper, the book necessarily omitted a step-by-step recounting of what O'Connor sees as the true narrative of the scandal.

In his latest book, O'Connor seeks to explain what really happened, as his title portends. Like a lawyer, which O'Connor is, he presents the information in easily accessible vignettes, arranged in chronological order. For those unfamiliar with the Watergate Scandal, don't fret.

"Let's start at the beginning," O'Connor's first sentence reads. From there, O'Connor masterfully describes what took place fifty years ago at the Watergate building and whets the reader's curiosity by drawing attention to the many oddities surrounding both the burglary and the arrests. But before O'Connor embarks on his task to provide answers, he takes care to profile the many idiosyncratic characters, who will later appear as instrumental in indicting an entire presidential administration, which shook the foundations of our constitutional system.

While nonfiction, The Mysteries of Watergate reads like a great mystery novel. O'Connor's lucid explanations of traditional constitutional "national security" principles (a key to making sense of the facts) lead to shocking revelations of the planned trial defense by burglary supervisor Howard Hunt and the prosecutor's planned response, which were all kept hidden after Hunt's guilty plea.

Even the most informed readers will be introduced to a cast of characters they have likely never heard of, as well as heretofore unknown cloak-and-dagger operations, which the author convincingly places at the doorstep of the CIA. But that's the point: most informed citizens do not know what really happened in the most important and impactful scandal in American history  Watergate  and how the Washington Post covered it up.

O'Connor builds momentum as he hurtles toward the startling and disturbing conclusion. Any further description would be a true spoiler, but The Mysteries of Watergate is more relevant than ever before, given more recent eye-opening scandals.

Is Watergate historically linked to 9/11 and Russiagate? O'Connor thinks so. Before you congeal your doubts, read this intriguing work first. The Mysteries of Watergate delivers. You will get hooked.

Drew Allen is the host of the Drew Allen Show podcast. He is a Texas-bred, California-based, and Millennial author, columnist, and political analyst. His work can be read and seen and heard at drewthomasallen.com.

Image: Pixabay, Pixabay License.
Yesterday, I swiftly made my way through the compromise "gun safety" bill that the Democrats and RINOs crafted. My conclusion was that most of the provisions were useless and that it was unlikely that face-saving constitutional demands in the provision funding red flag laws would matter, given that judges would invariably rule for seizing guns just to be on the safe side. The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) scrutinized the bill more closely, and, with its deep knowledge of existing gun policies and their effectiveness (or risk to gun-owners), rendered its verdict: "This bill chills the right to keep and bear arms[.]"

Because the FPC wants its message to get out there, I don't feel like a cheat simply blocking and quoting its list of problems with the bill:

Enhanced background checks Seeking juvenile records for purchasers under 21 requires the engagement of numerous agencies and will cause delays to access of the right

Adding 7 days from the current 3 for National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to respond for just this one population is unequal treatment under the law based solely on age Red Flag Laws Incentivizes local disarmament proceedings, of which many states currently employ secret ex-parte hearings

Calls only for standards equivalent only to civil court

For all the bluster in the measure about protecting due process and the constitutional rights of the subjects of the hearings during the "appropriate phase", it implies that states will still be able to hold secret ex-parte hearings to deprive the People of their rights.

Entitles the subject to an attorney "at the appropriate phase", but it must be at the subject's expense



Image: Mitch McConnell when he pretended to believe in constitutional gun rights by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Private Sales Expands the definition of "engaged in the business" by striking "with the principal objective of livelihood and profit" in the current definition and replacing it with "to predominantly earn a profit."

This confusion could lead to new and successful prosecutions of private sellers who may fall under the broad and vague definition of engaged in business and therefore the need to be licensed. New Misdemeanor Firearms Prohibitions By expanding the definition of a prohibiting misdemeanor domestic violence in such a vague, broad, and subjective way it invites confusion, and potential firearms prohibitions. Transfers and Straw Purchases Expanded definitions and dramatic penalty enhancements on individuals who illegally transfer firearms

Prohibits the government from arming drug cartels, unless the government exercises more oversight on said drug cartels, thus allowing the free flow of arms to these cartels to continue in perpetuity.

As a reminder, the Second Amendment states that the right to keep and bear arms is inherent in individuals. As for that throat-clearing about a militia, all adult men were automatically members of the "militia," a tradition going back to the Angles and Saxons before there was an England.

When they ratified the Second Amendment, the Founders had just ended a war against a tyrannical government (a war that started when the British tried to seize the colonists' arms in Boston) and had no intention of letting that happen again. The best defense against tyranny is a government that respects its citizens, and the citizens being armed is an integral part of that respect.

Aside from rights (which are all in the People's favor, not the government's), there's a fundamental lie behind all these "gun safety" laws, which is that they'll keep you perfectly safe. Nothing will keep you perfectly safe, although having a government that enforces existing laws would be a good start.

Everything is a matter of balance. I would rather risk a few crazy, bad people with guns in a world in which good, moral people have guns than risk a world in which only the government is armed. Just ask the Jews, Chinese, Russians, Poles, Cubans, North Koreans, and every other oppressed people how well that turned out.

If your senator is one of the Republicans who signed off on this bill, call or email him with the polite request that he change his mind. If these senators care even a little about what their constituents think, maybe that will make a difference.
Years ago, when I was studying leadership in the Coast Guard's Officer Candidate School, we were told that a good leader never asks his crew to do something he would not be willing to do. I always thought there was an appealing symmetry to that maxim. Another symmetrical interpersonal mantra that appealed to me was treat others the way you want to be treated.

According to Google Maps, I live 35.2 miles from the U.S. Capitol building, where a different kind of leadership oozes from those famous halls. To our distress, these leaders are becoming infamous. The leadership mantra from Capitol Hill these days is do as we say and don't question what we do.

Once upon a time, politicians in Washington were called "public servants" working for We The People. Times have changed, and the relationship between legislators and citizens has become more asymmetrical.

Symmetry implies balance, and asymmetry paints a picture of something out of balance. We The People are losing power, and the politicians are gaining power. A British historian, Lord Acton, said, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

If there were a corruption scale where a score of 10 meant honest government and a score of 1 stood for toxically corrupt government, I would give Washington, D.C. in 2022 a score of 0.

The corruption in our nation's capital is profoundly disheartening. If We The People see our leaders act lawlessly, why should we bother to obey the laws enacted by these same lawless leaders?

We hear about rising crime in our cities. It is dangerous and embarrassing. All sorts of solutions are offered, but what about dealing with trickle-down Capitol Hill lawlessness?



Image by Andrea Widburg using a photo of Mitch McConnell by Gage Skidmore (CC-BY-SA 2.0).

Out here in the hinterlands, we live our lives, we listen to the news, and we fret about the future of our country. As we listen to the news, inconvenient questions bubble up in our minds like...

Why are the FBI and the Secret Service covering up for Hunter Biden instead of investigating him?

Have the Bidens really taken $31 million from the Chinese, and if so, why is that OK?

Why are we allowing millions of illegal aliens to enter America through our southern border?

Why is okay for the left-leaning to protest angrily, but the same is illegal for right-leaning protesters?

Why was Hillary Clinton allowed to sabotage our 45th president?

Why wasn't Hillary Clinton prosecuted for mishandling classified material?

Why did Janet Reno and the FBI bulldoze a crime scene in Waco, Texas?

Why was Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer allowed to publicly threaten two justices of the Supreme Court?

Why did the Supreme Court disrespect 19 states that questioned the management of the 2020 election?

Why do we allow our politicians to take money from China and other enemies?

Why do our politicians act like Tom and Daisy Buchanan in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby? "Tom and Daisy  they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made."

The primary job of any government is to keep its people safe and secure. It feels as though that imperative has been replaced by maintain the power of the democrats at all costs.

A wise patriot once said, "When the people fear the government there is tyranny. When the government fears the people there is liberty." We are experiencing the former and longing for the latter.

Ned Cosby's new novel is OUTCRY, exposing the refusal of Christian leaders to discipline clergy who sexually abuse our young people. This work of fiction addresses crimes that are all too real. For more info, visit www.nedcosby.com.
"Too much public discourse today is sullied by ad hominem rhetoric, that is, attempts to discredit an argument not by proving that it is unsound but by attacking the character or motives of the argument's proponents."

Justice Samuel Alito, Ramos v. Louisiana, 140 S. Ct. 1390, 1426 (2020)

The problem with fundamentally transforming a great, freedom-loving nation into something else is that not everyone is in favor of the idea. Building support for your position with a better argument than your detractors can be a slow, frustrating process.

The faster, more Machiavellian route is to declare your critics to be enemies of the state, deserving of both marginalization from decent society and denial of their basic rights as citizens.

In its goal to make America more amenable to a ubiquitous, Big Brotherlike federal government and its corresponding illiberal policies, the current occupants of White House and its tentacle agencies have borrowed the tactics of some of history's most oppressive despots. The result will be a chilling effect on free speech and the airing of legitimate grievances against our government.

In its recent National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned that "some domestic violent extremists have expressed grievances related to their perception that the U.S. government is unwilling or unable to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and have called for violence to stem the flow of undocumented migrants [sic] to the United States.

"We assess," the bulletin continued, "that there is increased risk of domestic violent extremists using changes in border security-related policies and/or enforcement mechanisms to justify violence against individuals, such as minorities and law enforcement officials involved in the enforcement of border security."

To the untrained ear, this may sound like a government giving justifiable warning to the public about emerging threats.

In reality, it is the work of overzealous, hyper-partisan ruling-class politicians seeking to eliminate reasonable dissent against their agenda. In a time when we routinely hear about "threats to our democracy," this behavior by our leaders is the real thing.

For all the warnings from our federal government about domestic violent extremists, we have seen scant evidence of them, particularly as it relates to border policies. Who are these violent extremists? If the threat is as real as we are told, the government should have volumes of evidence. Yet all we get is rhetoric backed up with little else.

A peek behind the Great and Powerful Oz's curtain will reveal the true purpose of this warning. The Biden administration knows that its policies at the border have created a colossal humanitarian crisis that has angered many Americans. This has put Biden and his allies on their heels and in extreme danger of losing political power in the near future.

By linking opponents of the current border policies to "domestic violent extremists," the White House can now weaponize its federal security agencies to target those critics for harassment and persecution. The tactic was already used on other occasions, such as when Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the U.S. Attorney's Office to investigate alleged threats made by parents at school board officials. The purpose was not to catch any domestic extremists, but to intimidate parents into submission.

It is not hard to see how this DHS memo will result in purposeful mission creep and a further erosion of free speech. Much like what the Southern Poverty Law Center does with its incredibly reckless and violence-inspiring "hate map," the government can simply declare any individual or group critical of the administration's border policies guilty of extremism, and henceforth targeted for destruction. This is a serious threat to the First Amendment rights of all Americans.

It is also a perfect scenario for the vaunted legal groups that have traditionally defended our rights against oppressive government policies to enter the fray. Alas, the American Civil Liberties Union and similar groups appear to be uninterested in this threat to Americans' rights. They have been co-opted by partisan politics and apparently joined forces with the very government from which they were formed to protect us.

While it is busy generating agitprop about how our nation is awash in violent domestic extremists, our government appears to have little concern about actual terror threats who are crossing our borders with regularity.

Among many such incidents, Border Patrol agents apprehended 11 Iranian nationals found illegally entering the U.S. from Mexico in February of last year. Panama reportedly stopped 52 people en route to the United States who are on terrorist watch lists and associated with al-Qaeda.

While these threats were neutralized, we know nothing of the thousands of foreign nationals who successfully entered the U.S. illegally, commonly known as "gotaways." Why isn't our government focused like a laser on this very real threat to our nation, instead of targeting U.S. citizens who dare criticize government policy?

Make no mistake: there are threats to the safety and security of our nation. This White House and its appendages need to focus on legitimate threats to the republic, not those that merely threaten their own tenuous grip on power.

Dale L. Wilcox is executive director and general counsel for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration.

Image: Pixabay, Pixabay License.
The time is up for Googles Android Auto for Phone Screens app. It has stopped working as of this week. If your car lacks a display, you will now have to rely on Google Assistant Driving Mode for navigation, media controls, and other necessary usages during driving. Its not a like-for-like replacement but does a decent job. There are several third-party solutions as well.

This shutdown of Android Auto for Phone screens has been coming for a long

Introduced back in 2015, the phone version of Android Auto turned your smartphone into a driving companion with an optimized UI featuring larger touch targets and other elements. It was pretty useful, particularly if the car didnt feature a screen or the head unit was not compatible with Android Auto.

Google wanted to improve the phone experience and developed Assistant Driving Mode in 2019. The plan was to replace the phone version of Android Auto with the new solution. But the rollout of Assistant Driving Mode was delayed and the company instead made a dedicated phone app called Android Auto for Phone Screens.

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The app served the purpose efficiently but Google kept pushing for Assistant Driving Mode. Even though many people didnt like the new solution because it wasnt an ideal replacement, the company started forcing it last year.

If the launch of the Assistant Driving Mode was the first nail in the coffin of the Android Auto app for phones, the arrival of Android 12 put another nail in it. Google dropped support for the app on the new Android version. It left fewer compatible devices for the app  only those running Android 11 or older. Users with newer devices had to use Assistant Driving Mode or Android Auto on the car display, or switch to a solution from other brands.

But a few weeks back, those still having access to Android Auto for Phone Screens also started seeing warnings that the app will stop working soon. Google didnt specify when the app will bite the dust. But the suspense didnt last long. As of this week, it is officially dead, even though the new solution has yet to see a universal adoption.

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You must now switch to Assitant Driving Mode or some other solution

Opening the Android Auto for Phone Screens app now redirects you to the Android Auto settings page. It contains a notice that reads: Android Auto is now only available for car screens (via). Whether you like it or not, you must now switch to Assistant Driving Mode or some other navigation app for Android.
A man buys vegetables at an agricultural project in Windhoek, Namibia on June 22, 2022. A smart agricultural project in Namibia's capital city, Windhoek is empowering city dwellers to tackle hunger and enterprise sustainable futures through farming practices at Farm Okukuna.

(Photo by Ndalimpinga Iita/Xinhua)

WINDHOEK, June 22 (Xinhua) -- A smart agricultural project in Namibia's capital city, Windhoek is empowering city dwellers to tackle hunger and enterprise sustainable futures through farming practices at Farm Okukuna.

Farm Okukuna which is located in the far north-west of Windhoek, on the border of the informal settlements of Goreangab, was established by the City of Windhoek municipality and the World Future Council to improve food and nutrition security.

Allocated in 2017, the farm offers space to disadvantaged citizens and informal vendors to produce vegetables and other farm products to combat hunger and food insecurity.

On a recent visit to the project, Sandra Kayama from Windhoek was spotted toiling away, tending to spinach. She is one of the beneficiaries trained on land preparation, fertilizers, farm implements and other factors under the project.

At first, the idea of farming seemed so far-fetched for the homeless Kayama, who lived on the street until 2020 when she was taken to a temporary shelter following the COVID-19 outbreak.

But now, horticulture has become a lifeline for this young mother.

"Since joining the project in September last year, I transformed from wandering streets to becoming a farmer. I am now growing vegetables such as cabbage, beetroots and spinach. I look forward to my first harvest to address food and nutrition security," she said, as she lauded the program for aiding her personal development.

"The vegetables we produce on this plot go to the plate. It is also my contribution to feeding the nation, I am more confident in addressing the issue of food insecurity," Kayama added.

Anatolia Shipale, another beneficiary, said that she takes advantage of networks, and strategies to trade her produce, giving her a chance to generate a substantial income from yields.

"I am given a chance to change my situation. I hope to produce enough to sell and save towards securing shelter for myself and my children, and no longer be homeless," she added.

The Mayor of the City of Windhoek, Sade Gawanas, said that the Farm Okukuna project is being implemented through the 'Build Back Better' project, launched in May 2021, to support efforts toward strengthening the Namibian food systems to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, emergencies and related shocks.

According to Gawanas, the project provides beneficiaries with land, training and facilities.

"The challenges posed by rapid urbanization also present opportunities to mitigate the risk of food security and unlock revenue generation and employment through urban agriculture projects," she said.

So far, the project has surpassed the target of 100 beneficiaries with 353 benefiting in Windhoek alone. It has also been successfully rolled out to the Erongo, Hardap and Kavango East Regions. 

A farmer displays her plants at an agricultural project in Windhoek, Namibia on June 22, 2022. A smart agricultural project in Namibia's capital city, Windhoek is empowering city dwellers to tackle hunger and enterprise sustainable futures through farming practices at Farm Okukuna.

(Photo by Ndalimpinga Iita/Xinhua)
Germany 'firmly' rejects Russia's Lithuania threats Over rail ban

(ANSA-AFP) - BERLIN, JUN 22 - Germany on Wednesday warned Russia not to seek reprisals over Lithuania's rail transit ban on EU-sanctioned goods to Moscow's exclave of Kaliningrad.



Germany "firmly rejects" Russia's threat of "serious" consequences for the transit stop, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said at a regular press conference. Germany called on Russia "not to take any measures that violate international law", Hebestreit said. Moscow has demanded that Lithuania immediately lift the restrictions, which the Baltic nation says were taken in compliance with European sanctions over Ukraine.



The threatened retaliation would have a "serious negative impact on the population of Lithuania", Russia's security council chief Nikolai Patrushev said Tuesday. The situation in Lithuania was such that Germany and its NATO partners were offering "massive support" in the form of "soldiers, weapons" and "equipment", German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said later on Wednesday (ANSA-AFP).





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In Trieste the sixth edition of the Investment Forum 2022 Finance, economics, and geopolitics in the agenda

(ANSA) - TRIESTE, JUN 23 - The sixth edition of the Trieste Investment Forum, a reference event for the economic world in Europe and the Balkans that strives to integrate finance, economics, and geopolitics, is being held online today. This edition focuses on investments and financial developments in European and Mediterranean markets, Europe's support for the integration of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, the European economy during the conflict, the new geopolitical scenario related to the war in Ukraine and the impact of sanctions, as well as food security.



The Forum is organised by the Italian Banking, Insurance and Finance Federation (FeBAF) and the MIB Trieste School of Management, together with the OSCE and EBRD, with assistance from SRM, Generali Investments, and AFME. To follow the Forum, it is necessary to register by connecting to the link http://www.febaf.it/triesteinvestmentforum2022-registration/.



(ANSA).





 Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved
VALLETTA - An American tourist who arrived in Malta when she was in her 16th week of pregnancy is risking her life due to a miscarriage, because doctors at the polyclinic Mater Dei where she was hospitalized can't intervene because the fetus's heartbeat is still present. The woman, Andrea Prudente, risks dying of septicemia but in the very Catholic Malta, the only country in the European Union in which abortion is not allowed in any case, doctors risk up to four months in jail if they stop a fetus's life, even though the woman's waters broke yesterday and the fetus has "no chance of survival", doctors said Wednesday.



The woman's partner, Jay Weeldreyer, 45, said the woman is being "held hostage" and has launched a public appeal, speaking to the media, so his partner can be saved, denouncing that he has not been permitted to transfer her to a country where the fetus can be surgically removed. The couple's insurance company has tried to organize the trip, but it wasn't possible because no company was willing to face the legal consequences connected to the case. "We came to Malta for a 'babymoon", said Weeldreyer. "We certainly didn't come to have an abortion, but here we are talking about saving a woman's life. We are playing with her life", he said.



A few days after the couple's arrival in Malta, the woman started losing blood. After a checkup at the hospital, they were reassured that the baby was doing fine. But two days later, her waters broke and a sonogram showed that the placenta had partially detached from the uterus. However, the fetus's heart was still beating. They were sent back home. Eight hours later, a new sonogram revealed that there was no amniotic liquid left but the heartbeat was still present so doctors couldn't intervene, in spite of a risk of septicemia.



The case was reported by the NGO 'Doctors for Choice' which fears a similar tragedy to the case of Savita Halappanavar, who died in 2012 at 31 in Ireland because she was denied a medical abortion after the beginning of a miscarriage.



"I hope we will succeed in receiving some form of exemption from Malta and that we will be allowed to leave, which would be the best thing. Even presuming she won't make it, we would prefer to hope that Andrea could survive the flight", concluded Weeldreyer.
ROME - Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio on Thursday said the "Russian aggression against Ukraine is causing scarcity and price increases of energy resources, cereals and fertilizers". "These tensions on the markets further endanger the security of an area which, from Libya to Lebanon, is already crossed by several factors of instability, increasing food insecurity, with a potential negative impact also in terms of social tensions and migration flows", Di Maio said, addressing Co-Opera 2022 in Rome. He stressed that "the fight against food security is a priority objective of Italian cooperation".



"The importance of these themes is today even more significant in light of the serious economic repercussions of the conflict in Ukraine, especially in Mediterranean countries", the foreign minister highlighted. "Already last year, as presidents of the G20, we understood with concern the connection between the pandemic and the risk of a food crisis in developing countries" and "in response to the current crisis, we summoned on June 8 at the Farnesina (foreign ministry) a Mediterranean Ministerial Dialogue on food security, with the objective of finding solutions to mitigate the effects of war in North Africa and the Mediterranean and, in the longer term, to make food systems of the area more sustainable and resilient", recalled the minister.

"In a wider perspective, the growing commitment of the Italian cooperation system for food security is clear in data regarding the three years 2018-20, which saw funding go from some 78 million euros in 2018 to 93 million in 2020", he stressed. "We are convinced that building peace, promoting inclusive societies that respect human rights, also requires strengthening food security. Local conflicts and between countries, social tensions and migrations are closely connected to food insecurity, as is the case of Sahel and the Horn of Africa. Obtaining the objective Zero Hunger is, in this sense, also instrumental to reaching the other Objectives of Sustainable Development", added Di Maio.




Food giant Dairy Crest has been fined more than 1.5 million for repeatedly discharging illegal levels of sewage into Cornish river systems from the UKs biggest creamery.

The Davidstow Creamery in north Cornwall operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, processing 1.3 million litres of milk from 370 dairy farms every day.

Between 2016 and 2021, the site regularly breached the conditions of its permits that allowed it to pump wastewater into the River Inny, a tributary of the Tamar.

During the time it was operated by Dairy Crest, now known as Saputo Dairy UK, which had profits of 21 million last year.

The site had its own wastewater treatment facility, but it struggled to cope with increased volumes of effluent when it expanded its operations in 2014 to include a plant for probiotic dairy products.

It breached legal limits of discharge of phosphorus, ammonium nitrate, suspended solids and oxygen levels, and also subjected nearby residents to overpowering odours that kept them inside their homes.

In December, Dairy Crest admitted 21 offences relating to pollution and odour incidents at Truro Crown Court.

It also admitted causing two serious incidents that devastated the local river ecosystem.

In August 2016, a powerful biocide used to clean the wastewater tanks and pipework was released, killing thousands of fish over a 2km stretch of river.

It also pleased guilty to releasing quantities of suspended solids in August 2018, coating a 5km stretch of the River Inny in black sludge.

Dairy Crest further admitted failing to notify the Environment Agency within 24 hours when things had gone significantly wrong on seven occasions.

Handing the company a 1.52 million fine on Thursday, Judge Simon Carr sitting at Truro Crown Court said there was evidence of a poor management culture at the company.

Judge Carr cited evidence that those responsible for the wastewater facility felt intimidated and bullied by their line manager.

This meant they felt unable to come forward with concerns as they would be personally criticised when limits were exceeded or missed, he said.

In one incident, an employee filmed a wastewater monitor that has been removed from an effluent tank and placed in a bucket of clean water, in order to hide breaches of the plants discharge permits.

Judge Carr further found that one of the serious breaches that resulted in ecosystem damage was as a result of one of the employees placing material in one of the tanks that was entirely unsuitable and unauthorised.

But he added: Having read the documentation with care, it appears this was not a widespread or systemic problem, (but) it was an issue that should have been addressed sooner by senior management.

Judge Carr added that the issues had persisted for many years and blighted the lives of those that lived nearby.

On occasions it was so bad that people who lived locally were unable to leave their houses, he said.

While there is no evidence that the discharges actually presented a risk to health, those living nearby knew they were smelling foul discharge from a substantial commercial concern and were undoubtedly concerned about the impact on health as well as their quality of life.

The company was ordered to pay the full fine within 28 days, and the court heard that it previously agreed to pay court costs of 273,000.

Helen Dobby, area director of the Environment Agency, said: As a large and well-established operator, Dairy Crest Limited should be up to the job of maintaining the required environmental standards.

Instead, it has over a period of many years failed to comply with its environmental permit and not been able to protect local people and the environment.

She added: We acknowledge that Dairy Crest Limited has been taking steps to remedy the various problems, but unfortunately these actions were not swift enough on many occasions and proved to be ineffective in stopping pollution.

The company said: Once again, the company would like to express its sincere apologies to those who have been affected.

Considerable work has been undertaken to rectify the historic issues to which the prosecution related.

It continued: The company continues to invest significant resources in the best technology, processes and people to further improve its environmental performance and minimise its impact on the local community.

As the largest employer in north Cornwall, the company remains committed to supporting its local communities and becoming a better neighbour.
A 60-year-old disabled swimmer has lost a High Court fight over ticket prices at a unique bathing pond in London.

Christina Efthimiou claimed that prices at Kenwood Ladies Bathing Pond on Hampstead Heath give rise to unlawful disability discrimination.

She took legal action against the City of London, whose lawyers disputed her claim.

A judge ruled against her on Thursday.

Mr Justice Cotter had considered the argument at a High Court hearing in London earlier this year.

Swimmers gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London for the hearing (Victoria Jones/PA)

Ms Efthimiou had watched the hearing via video link but a number of her friends and fellow swimmers were in court  and posed outside for photographs in their swimsuits.

A barrister representing Ms Efthimiou, who lives in Camden, had told Mr Justice Cotter that the pond is a unique space.

Zoe Leventhal said it is the only natural bathing pond exclusively for women in Europe.

Ms Efthimiou, a member of the Kenwood Ladies Pond Association, argued that a charging regime, which came into effect in April 2021, disproportionality and adversely affects people with disabilities.

Fellow members of the Kenwood Ladies Pond Association backed her claim.

Swimmers from Hampstead Ponds make their way to the Royal Courts of Justice in London (Victoria Jones/PA)

A barrister representing the City of London told the judge that Ms Efthimious claim should be dismissed.

Clive Sheldon QC said the Kenwood Ladies Bathing Pond is one of three bathing ponds on Hampstead Heath.

Ticket prices are cheap, relative to the ponds operating costs, he told the judge.

Prices for disabled swimmers are even cheaper. All disabled swimmers receive a 40% discount.

He said the standard price for a single swim was 4.05, while disabled swimmers pay 2.43.

Mr Sheldon added: It cannot be right that service providers are required by law to charge lower prices to disabled persons, or to other groups with protected characteristics.

Ms Efthimiou told the judge in a witness statement that swimming is the best exercise available to her and said the ponds have become something she relies on mentally, emotionally and physically.

She said the impact of regular access to the ponds on her disabilities is huge because she does not need to take as much pain relief.

In a written ruling, Mr Justice Cotter said there were three bathing ponds at Hampstead Heath: a ladies pond, a mens pond and a mixed pond.

He said the ladies pond has been used since 1925.

Of the three bathing ponds, it has historically had the greatest degree of accessibility for disabled swimmers, with level access, an accessible toilet and shower and a hoist in the pond, he said.

In the year 2019/20, there were 655,000 recorded visits to the ladies pond.

The judge said: The claimants case is that the defendant, in adopting and refusing to revise an updated charging policy on February 24 2021 (effective from April 1 2021) has breached its duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled persons such as her under sections  of the Equality Act 2010.

He added: It is argued that the policy places disabled people at a substantial disadvantage in accessing swimming at the ponds on Hampstead Heath.

Also, that the defendant has failed to take such steps as are reasonable to reduce or avoid the disadvantage, despite various requests and suggestions having been made by the claimant and others.

It is argued in the alternative that the charging policy constitutes indirect discrimination against those who have disabilities.

He said the City of London disputed the claim.

It is the defendants case that heavily subsidised prices, including a 40% discount for disabled swimmers, cannot possibly give rise to unlawful disability discrimination, said the judge.

No decided case has ever found that service providers are required by the Equality Act 2010 to provide goods and services at a discounted price to disabled persons.

Mr Justice Cotter said he had concluded that the charging structure did not place a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with persons who are not disabled.

The claimants argument offends the principle of ensuring socio-economic equality and gives disabled people (many of whom will not be on a low income) preferential treatment over all others on low income, he said.

In my judgment, the court must be careful not to allow the 2010 Act to be used so as to achieve the direct opposite of what it was enacted to achieve.

He said he was satisfied that the City of London had established that it has not failed to make reasonable adjustments.

The judge added: I am also satisfied that the charging policy is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
The family of a Birmingham pub bombings victim are bringing a civil case for damages in connection with the attacks.

Margaret Smith, the mother of bombings victim Maxine Hambleton, has issued a civil writ against Michael Patrick Reilly.

Ms Smith is also suing the chief constable of West Midlands Police Sir David Thompson, claiming the forces investigation was conducted negligently and in breach of its statutory duty.

The 21 people killed in the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings (Birmingham Inquests/PA)

It is the latest twist in the victims relatives long-running campaign for justice.

Two bomb blasts ripped apart the Tavern in the Town and Mulberry Bush pubs in the city centre on the night of November 21, 1974  killing 21 people and injuring more than 200.

A third bomb failed to go off and was recovered, but later lost, by West Midlands Police.

Mr Reilly, now in his 60s, was previously arrested in November 2020 under the Terrorism Act and questioned by West Midlands Police officers in connection with the pub bombings.

He was unconditionally released following a search of his home address in Belfast.

Julie Hambleton, who lost her sister Maxine Hambleton in the 1974 attack (Jacob King/PA)

Mr Reilly has always denied any knowledge of  or involvement in  the bombings.

His lawyer Padraig OMuirigh said: I can confirm that legal proceedings have been issued against our client.

Our client repudiates the claims made by the plaintiff in their entirety and the legal proceedings issued will be strenuously defended.

My client has never been convicted of any offence in relation to the 1974 pub bombings.

Nobody has ever been brought to justice for the attacks, which happened at the height of an IRA bombing campaign on mainland Britain.

The Birmingham Six were convicted of involvement in 1975 and jailed for life but freed after 16 years, when the Court of Appeal in 1991 ruled their convictions were unsafe.

The legal move follows a successful 2009 civil action by the families of victims of the 1998 Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland.

However, it took nearly six years for the Omagh campaigners to raise the 2 million needed to fund their case  including an 800,000 grant of government money.

The Hambleton family are applying for legal aid in Northern Ireland to help fund the action, but if unsuccessful will have to turn to donations.

A writ of summons was served at both the West Midlands forces Birmingham headquarters and on Mr Reillys lawyers, in the past month.

The writ has been issued now as the proposed new Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, currently making its way through Parliament, would ban new civil claims relating to the Troubles.

Julie Hambleton, who was 18-year-old Maxines younger sister, said: Our legal team based in Belfast have sent a writ to Michael Patrick Reilly for us to bring a civil case against him.

Also, to the chief constable of West Midlands Police David Thompson.

Ms Hambleton runs the Justice4the21 group, which has in recent years urged authorities to hold a public inquiry into the bombings, which remain unsolved.

She added: The writ is to sue for damages in the High Court in Belfast for Mr Reillys alleged involvement in the murder of Maxine Hambleton who was my sister.

This is the only step that is left for families like ours because successive British governments have refused to help aid families like ours in gaining justice any other way, she said.

The threshold for a civil case is not as high as a criminal case, as was discovered with the case brought by the Omagh bombing families, who successfully brought a case for the murder of their loved ones.

A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said: We can confirm we have received a civil writ.
The value of the Scottish TV and film industry could double to 1 billion by the end of the decade, Scottish Culture Secretary Angus Robertson has said.

He was speaking at the launch of a new report by Screen Scotland, a Scottish Government agency promoting the TV and film sector in Scotland, which shows the industry contributed almost 568 million to Scotlands economy in 2019.

Mr Robertson accused the UK Government of undermining public broadcasting, which he described as the cornerstone of TV production in Scotland.

David Smith, Isabel Davis, Angus Robertson, Emma Picken and Douglas Mackinnon at the launch of new report showing film and TV industry made half a billion for the Scottish economy (Neil Hanna)

He said: Right across the piece in Scotland, we can be hugely pleased with the progress thats been made in recent years.

We need to make sure that we avoid bumps in the road, which unfortunately we are currently facing with the UK Government and seeking to undermine public service broadcasters like Channel 4, which it is looking at privatising, and what it is doing with the BBC licence fee.

A film in the Batman franchise was recently filmed in Glasgow (PA)

These are bad developments for public service broadcasters who are still the cornerstone of TV production in Scotland.

Both Screen Scotland and Mr Robertson said the 568 million figure is expected to have risen following the boom in demand for productions in Scotland in 2021, which have included Indiana Jones, Batman, Batgirl and The Rig, starring Martin Compston.

Mr Robertson estimated the value of the screen industry in Scotland could double to 1 billion.

He added: This report confirms that the value of the industry is now three times larger than was previously thought to be the case.

If the growth trend continues, it will grow from half a billion pounds to 1 billion pounds by the year 2030. This is tremendous news for the Scottish economy in general.

Weve gone from a situation in Scotland where we have had very little in the way of film and TV productions, very limited studio space, very limited investment, and very limited career prospects. And this has all been totally turned around in recent years, with a proliferation of new studios.

Last summer, parts of Glasgow were transformed into 1960s New York for filming of the new Indiana Jones movie (PA)

The Scottish Government is trying to help the growth trend continue in terms of helping to secure studio space, helping to secure new television and film productions, but then also help assist in the training of people who want to work in the film and TV industry, because companies that are wanting to film productions in Scotland need to know that the talent is here to do all of the important jobs, on-set, pre-production, post-production.

The report, commissioned by Screen Scotland and produced by Saffery Champness and Nordicity, also shows the industry provided 10,280 full-time equivalent jobs  and directors expect the demand for jobs to increase in Scotland.

David Smith, director of screen at Screen Scotland, said: Its one of our kind of core functions at the moment, the development of a crew base. We have the spaces, we need crew to work within them. Some of those are going to be developed within Scotland, some of them are going to be converted from other interests within Scotland, the theatre sectors crew is now often working within the film sector.

When I grew up, if you wanted to work in film and television, you had to get on a bus, you had to get on a train, you had to get on a plane. And thats not the case anymore. You can stay, live and work in Scotland. And there are good-value jobs.

Isabel Davis, executive director at Screen Scotland, said: We will grow, if we are able to train both the local crew base and to develop the creative talent, thats going to be the creators of the next shows as well.

A new report shows the film and TV industries contributed almost 568 million to the Scottish economy (PA)

We see those two things working in tandem, we see it as a virtuous circle.

Every single film economy in the world is currently facing a skills challenge, and its certainly very acute in the UK. We have been very successful overall as the UK and most recently in Scotland in attracting those large-scale productions.

But what that has meant is the supply and demand needs readjusting, to put it in quite technical terms. What that means on the ground is that our crew are incredibly busy.

Screen Scotland was set up in 2019 and drives development of Scotlands film and television industry. It is part of Creative Scotland and receives funding from the Scottish Government and the National Lottery.
NICOSIA, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Israel has sent two firefighting airplanes at the request of the Cypriot government to help put out a fire raging for a third day in the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus.

The fire has been spreading in inaccessible areas of the Pentadaktylos Mountain, running along the central part of the northern coast of Cyprus.

Turkish Cypriot authorities said that the situation has been improving, but the fire is still posing a threat in inaccessible areas.

The Israeli airplanes landed at Larnaca airport and then headed north to the fire-stricken areas, accompanied for safety reasons by a helicopter of the United Nations Peace Keeping Force in Cyprus.

Cypriot authorities said Israel had responded to their request for help under a standing arrangement between Cyprus, Israel and Greece to help each other in emergency situations in any of the three countries.

State-run Cyprus News Agency quoted unnamed diplomatic sources as saying that the decision to dispatch the Israeli airplanes had been taken directly by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.

Turkish-Israeli relations have been tense since the 2010 incident of Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ferry which was raided by Israeli commandos as it transported help to the Palestinians in Gaza.

Turkish Cypriot authorities said two villages had been evacuated as they were directly threatened by the flames.

Turkish vice-president Fuat Oktay has visited the fire-stricken area and called for an intensification of the firefighting efforts.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said that barring any unexpected developments, the Israeli airplanes are expected to stop the fire from spreading any further by nightfall. 
The Prince of Wales has urged Commonwealth leaders to take bold actions and lead the world in the right direction towards a sustainable future.

Charles described the family of nations as a common market, which if it worked together could tackle the issue which lies at the very heart of what the Commonwealth is looking to achieve.

In a meeting of his Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI)  launched in 2020 to help accelerate the worlds transition to a sustainable future  the prince spoke to world leaders in Rwanda, including the African countrys president Paul Kagame and Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The Prince of Wales with Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau and Rwanda President Paul Kagame (Jonathan Brady/PA)

The prince told the delegates, who included Fifa president Gianni Infantino: If we can commit to being bold in our ambition  but more importantly in our action  the Commonwealth, as one of the world largest common markets has a real opportunity to lead the world in the right direction.

The heir to the throne went on to say: This meeting has been, in fact, three years on the making.

Following Chogm 2018 in London, I felt strongly that sustainability, and indeed a sustainable future, lies at the very heart of what the Commonwealth is looking to achieve  for Nature, People and Planet.

Charles told the meeting he had been working for the past three years with his SMI and now had more than 300 chief executive officers from across the globe  representing he said assets worth 70 trillion dollars  wanting to contribute to accelerating the worlds green economy.

He added: But, ladies and gentlemen, they cannot do this without your help.

To move forward at pace and scale we need to be clear on the enabling environment and the demand signals so that industry and investors know where to go, be it for renewable energy, sustainable infrastructure, sustainable aviation fuel or regenerative agriculture.

In a separate meeting with other Commonwealth leaders, Charles warned attempts to wipe out malaria have been derailed by Covid-19.

Speaking during a summit on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases at the nearby Intare conference centre, Kigali, the prince said: As we emerge from the pandemic, 2022 must be a turning point.

Post Covid-19, the world is paying greater attention to infectious diseases, and we must capitalise on this to provide proper support to prepare for, and respond to, infectious disease outbreaks.

During the event, the heir to the throne also met Melinda French Gates and director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr Tedross Adhanom-Ghebreyesus and Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi.

Charles, president of Malaria No More UK, added: Largely due to Covid-19 pandemic there remains a great amount to do if our ambitions are to be met.

In a lighter moment during the day, Charles adopted an injured crane yesterday which had lost the ability to fly and joked: No flies on me.

Charles was visiting Kigalis first wildlife sanctuary, Umusambi Village, which is home to more than 50 of the endangered crane species, the peaceful sanctuary has lush green wetlands and trees on the outskirts of the Rwandan capital.

As he walked around the village, Charles was told that endangered cranes rely on the wetlands for survival but that most of the wetlands in the world are disappearing.

He then met a crane called Mutesi, which means Spoilt, as the bird has been so well treated that she prefers the company of humans to her feathered friends.

Olivier Nsengimana, founder and executive of Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association, presented Charles with an adoption certificate for the bird, telling the Prince: From now on, she is yours.

A clearly delighted Charles replied: Oh. You must keep me informed.
90 Day Fiance season 9 star Yve is opening up about her rocky relationship with Mohamed. So far this season, the couple has struggled over cultural differences as well as his expectations of her as a Muslim man even though she doesn't follow Islam, and in an interview with ET's Melicia Johnson, she addressed the criticism from fans they've both received.

Mohamed is 25 years old and began a relationship with 48-year-old Yve when he slid into her DMs, but his move to America from Egypt didn't go smoothly. She got upset when he told her that she couldn't be in the same room with another man alone due to his religious beliefs, and he was upset that he was expected to do things like cook breakfast for himself while she worked. He also clashed with her friends and had a major fight with her because he wanted her to no longer wear bikinis. Interestingly enough, while Mohamed strictly adheres to his religion for the most part, he doesn't have an issue sleeping with Yve even though they're not married. Yve told ET she is in fact bothered by the hypocrisy he displays on the show.

"For sure. I have a problem with that because when I feel that there's levels of double standards or hypocrisy and somebody wants to try to have me follow them and impose them on me, then yes, I'm going to question that," she notes. "As I do as a person in general. I question everything. I love research and I love learning. So when something seems like it's a double standard or has some aspect of hypocrisy in it, no, that doesn't sit well with me. And I don't think it's fair because just like the bikini thing, you're upset about that, but you can pose pictures of yourself [shirtless]."

"I think that you have to fully accept that either maybe it's a learning thing or growing thing, but yes, it does kind of set off a red flag in that are you using your religion to kind of execute something or is that just controlling?" she adds. "So that does bother me. ... He came here and thought he's just going to kind of impose this kind of more male-dominated type of like energy or religion [but] I'm a very kind of confident, independent woman. And I believe in equality, so that's probably not going to work that well. So you either kind of, like, accept that and begin to acculturate and things like that. Or yes, maybe it's not going to work if you're just stuck in those ways and want to be stubborn and not want to grow and understand me as a person and a woman and who I am."

Yve responded to Mohamed shockingly telling cameras he wanted his partner to act like his mother and getting upset when Yve couldn't cook him breakfast because she had to work. Yve said it was definitely a misunderstanding due to Mohamed still learning the English language.

"What he actually meant was I want to be loved unconditionally as a parent would love a child," she says. "And I think that that was definitely a misconception and definitely taken in the wrong way because of just a little language barrier and him not knowing how to convey that properly. ... He can make his own food. When his mom would go to his grandmother's, he was in charge of making his own food."

She later addressed Mohamed's criticism of her that she knew what to expect with him given he's a Muslim man so it didn't make sense that she now had issues with him wanting her to act more conservative, and said it was unfair.

"I think that when Mohamed made a blanket statement that 'she knows everything and she came to my country,' well, that's not necessarily a clear perception because every time I went I was like in a tourist bubble," she explains. "We did touristy things. We went to the pyramids, we went to museums, we went to the castle, things like that. So, it's not everyday living. I specifically asked him like, 'What should I wear?' And that was kind of the only kind of so to speak rules I was given. Like, 'OK, you can't show your arms. You can't show your legs.' Fine. I can handle that. I'm going to another country. Of course, I'm going to do my research. But when he told me two weeks into us communicating and getting to know each other that I was not going to be judged for my culture or religion, I took that to heart."

Yve said Mohamed was never clear to her that she had to convert to Islam for their relationship to work out.

"And if he did want me to, if he was serious that he wanted me to potentially follow the Muslim faith, then he should have said that to me," she notes. "And knowing that I would not convert, that probably could have ended our relationship right then and there if that was conveyed to me and that was never conveyed to me. ... I was very clear with him about how I am. I'm a professional woman. I of course will take on these roles as a wife, but I'm definitely not a housewife. So I was very clear about like, I know women sometimes don't work there, but that's not my situation. I'm a professional and I'm not going to quit working. So, don't expect me to just be home baking cakes and three meals a day, because that's not probably going to happen. So we did talk a lot about the future, about what he would do when we got here as far as personal training and he's a food engineer and the job opportunities here."

Yve acknowledged that Mohamed was definitely not prepared to deal with the cultural differences between living in Egypt and New Mexico.

"He's very used to only one type, this perspective of what he's just known his entire life," she says. "And so I think he didn't realize what a huge difference it would really be. And me being such a kind of professional woman and very driven and also living a life without a partner, it's something that I would have to kind of acclimate to as well, because I'm a very busy woman."

"I mean, he had never traveled before prior to that," she notes of his arrival to America. "He had never even been on a plane. So I don't think that he really realized what a huge difference it would be, even though I tried to tell him. I even tried to tell him about the clothes. Like, 'You're going to see more cleavage. It's hot. You're going to see girls in short shorts.'"

As for what attracted her to Mohamed in the first place, she said it was fate and they actually both weren't looking for love.

"I had written off marriage," she shares. "He had a bad experience of being previously engaged and basically didn't want to get married either and actually told his mother that. And she was upset because that's not following their culture. And I don't think he necessarily was looking either. He likes to work out. He was following fit body hashtag [on Instagram]. And there popped up me. And then he thought when he saw that picture and went to my profile, he just thought I was like, the most beautiful woman he's ever seen."

"But then when we began talking, we just totally clicked," she continues. "I mean, I literally had on my phone at that time, this picture of this Egyptian thing. And I had dreams about Egypt since I was like in third grade. And so I was supposed to go to Egypt, actually. I ended up going in September, like three months after we met. And I was actually thinking about going out on a trip in October with a friend of mine. And I ended up going earlier because I met him and then I just left. And that flight, like the price, the timeframe. One night I was looking and the stars aligned. I'm like, 'I'm coming.' And he was like, 'What?' And our first meeting was like two people that just hadn't seen each other in a long time."

The two then had an intense emotional connection.

"I, for my first time in my life, felt that somebody had my back," she shares. "And we were going through a difficult time through our kind of 23 months of waiting for each other. We were in a global pandemic and we were really there for each other emotionally to get through this very difficult time. And Mohamed was just so different than anybody that I ever met. He literally saw straight through me, like into my soul. And literally from the tone of my voice, my expression on my face on video chat, he knew exactly what was going on with me. And that was such an amazing, beautiful thing because for him to just be able to tune into me, to me was such a deep, emotional connection. And he just conveyed to me, even though he wasn't physically here, that he had my back."

"Like he'd say to me, on video chat, like, 'I look into your eyes and I see this innocence of a child, that you're...' He saw my soul," she continues.

But her feelings definitely changed upon his arrival in America.

"I feel like there was a little bit of a shift, which was difficult for me because I was like, where was that man who always had my back?" she acknowledges. "And I think some of it came from the frustration of again, waiting to get here, then waiting for paperwork and things to get done and waiting. We had to reschedule our wedding a couple times. So all the waiting, I think that he became frustrated. ... And then it was surprising to me because we interacted every single day, like, multiple times a day. And then all of a sudden you're not approving of my life when you were pretty much viewing it from afar, knowing exactly what I was doing, where I was going day in, day out. So, that was really difficult."

Yve was cryptic on where their relationship stands today.

"Well, we're kind of getting through this timeframe and making sure that things work," she says. "So sometimes you have to kind of move forward with the things that you need to do. And so I'm here today just by myself. And so we'll just see what the future holds."

90 Day Fiance airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on TLC.

RELATED CONTENT:

'90 Day Fiance': Mohamed Says Yve Needs to Become a Muslim (Exclusive)

'90 Day Fiance': Mohamed and Yve Fight Over His Strict Expectations

'90 Day Fiance': Mohamed Says Caring for Yve's Son Is a 'Female' Duty

'90 Day Fiance': Mohamed Says He Wants a 'Mother'-Type Relationship
In what seems to be a weekly occurrence, Ezra Miller has been accused of more troublesome behavior. According to Rolling Stone, the actor has a mother and her three young children living with them where guns and drugs are rampant. The report comes on the heels of two separate restraining orders taken out by parents against The Flash star in the last month.

Miller, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, is reportedly hosting a 25-year-old mother and her children, aged one to five, at their 96-acre farm in Vermont. On one occasion, the 1-year-old allegedly found a loose bullet and put it in her mouth. Video footage reviewed by the publication "shows at least eight assault weapons, rifles, and handguns lying around the living room, with some weapons propped up next to a pile of stuffed animals."

The children's father participated for the story as did two anonymous sources. The two sources "confirmed seeing children there with their mother, describing a chaotic environment that is unsafe for children," according to RS. A rep for Miller has not responded to Yahoo Entertainment's request for comment.

Ezra Miller, here in 2018, is accused of hosting a mom and her three young kids at their unsafe property. (Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Miller met the woman earlier this year in Hawaii, where he was arrested at least twice. The 29-year-old Justice League star purportedly booked a flight out of Hilo for the woman and her three kids without the father's knowledge. He claims he hasn't been able to see or speak with his children since they left in April.

"I am going through hell and back," the father says. "I got a bad feeling in my stomach  I do want to go get my kids, they mean the f***ing world to me."

The man says he hasn't gone to the farm with police or confronted Miller directly because he doesn't want his kids "to see anything like that. I just want them to see that, 'Hey [Dad] showed up, let's get in the car and go.' It's been traumatic enough."

Miller is apparently running a cannabis company and growing marijuana on the property. According to the expose, "two sources also alleged that there has been frequent and heavy marijuana use in front of the children, with little concern about proper ventilation."

Vermont's Department for Children and Families (DCF) reportedly visited Miller's home, but the social worker told the father the kids "looked good." The man says police ignored his request. (DCF doesn't provide information regarding home visits and Vermont State Police didn't respond to Yahoo's request for comment.)

Last week, a mother and her 12-year-old nonbinary child were granted a temporary harassment prevention order against Miller in Massachusetts. The actor allegedly uncomfortably hugged the kid and touched their hips. Miller purportedly screamed at the mother.

Earlier this month, the parents of 18-year-old activist Gibson Iron Eyes were granted a protective order for their child. The parents accused Miller of grooming the child at age 12 and supplying Gibson with alcohol, marijuana and LSD. They accused Miller of physical and emotional abuse and displaying cult-like behavior. They claim Miller forced Gibson to identify as nonbinary transgender.

On social media, Gibson accused their parents of "psychological manipulation" and transphobia. They emailed Rolling Stone, "The notion that I have been brainwashed or that I've been coerced in any context is grotesquely false." They added that "Ezra and our crew" will speak about their story "when we see fit."

Miller is set to star in the title role of the highly anticipated Warner Bros. film The Flash, out one year from today. The studio held an emergency meeting about what to do as the film is deep in post-production, but that was before the actor's latest string of troubles.

MORE: Flash actor Ezra Miller arrested in Hawaii, again
An American Airlines pilot who serves as the spokesman for his pilots' union, is calling on the Federal Aviation Administration to monitor airlines that are scheduling flights that they can't follow through on due to a pilot shortage.

Dennis Tajer, the Communications Committee Chairman for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents 15,000 American Airlines pilots, said on CNBC that the shortage has led to training lapses, overtired pilots and could ultimately lead to unsafe skies.

"Im on TV, as a representative for our union, saying Theres a problem here, Tajer said.

"The fact that youre pushing us and pushing us, this is not a safety culture. The FAA should come in and look at this," he added. "They oughta come in and look at them trying to fly more airplanes than they can actually fly and building these schedules to an inhumane level and ultimately letting down our passengers and squandering our investors money."

The FAA responded by saying it "maintains strict duty and rest regulations for pilots to ensure continued safety."

Thousands of flights were canceled and delayed during the travel-heavy Juneteenth and Fathers Day holiday weekend, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

Airlines had canceled more than 1,100 flights by early Friday afternoon after they canceled more than 1,700 the day before, according to The Associated Press.

More than 6,300 flights were delayed within, into or leaving the U.S. on Saturday, and 859 flights were canceled, according to the flight tracking platform FlightAware.

Airlines "looked at the demand, and they said 'heres where the money is, lets go get it,'" Tajer said. "But they never had a plan to actually fulfill that, and they left it on our plate."

Tajer said money afforded to airlines by the U.S. government during the pandemic has not been used properly, adding to the problem.

"This is a failure of management to utilize the money that was given to them by the American taxpayer to have us ready for the recovery and were not," he said. "And now were starting to see them trying to cut corners in training."

Tajer said that an experienced instructor used to accompany newer pilots at the Guatemala Airport because of its rough terrain.

"Now theyre telling us 'Hey, why don't you take a look at this iPad course, and youll be good to go,'" he said.

"Theyre pilot-pushing and theyre narrowing the margin of safety," he added.

The pilot's most recent work day was scheduled at 12 hours, he said.

"That left me with about an hour to spare," Tajer said. "You have any hiccup there and its falling apart."

"This is not the way to run a business," he added.

American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

American Airlines has announced that they will end services beginning in September to some airports in Iowa, New York and Ohio due to a pilot shortage.

United Airlines, starting July 1, is cutting 50 flights from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, "due to ongoing congestion challenges," the airline said.
Apple (AAPL) has until Friday to challenge the first-ever union victory for its U.S. workers, and labor experts caution that it could threaten its public image and trigger a drawn-out battle if it fights the results.

Apples retail store workers at Marylands Towson Mall sealed the historic win on Saturday, becoming the only U.S. workers in the companys 46 years to gain the right to labor representation. The final vote tally showed 65 of the stores 112 eligible workers in favor of unionization, and 33 against.

Given the ballot tally overwhelmingly in support of unionization, labor expert Ileen DeVault cautioned that Apple would face an uphill battle if it argued to delegitimize workers votes.

It would not be smart for them to fight this lopsided vote, said DeVault, a professor of labor history at Cornell University. "That doesn't mean they won't try it."

The labor movement has gained new momentum in the post-COVID economy, with the tight job market giving employees new leverage and the pandemic creating challenging working conditions for those deemed "essential." Workers at 150 Starbucks (SBUX) stories nationwide have unionized, as have workers at an Amazon (AMZN) warehouse in Staten Island, NY. Amazon and Starbucks are both challenging the results.

Apple CEO Tim Cook attends the grand opening event of the new Apple store at The Grove on November 19, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. The original Apple store in The Grove was opened in 2002 but was redesigned in a new location with twice the space and opened today in time for the holiday shopping season. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The reality is that most losing employers do object, according to Michael Oswalt, a labor lawyer and law professor at Wayne State Law School. Still, he said, an Apple objection isn't inevitable. He emphasizes that the sizable majority in favor of representation combined with the intense and lengthy election campaign that preceded it makes it difficult for Apple to claim the outcome was unfair.

I would hope that after a multi-week campaign, where Apple had a chance to express its views to its employees in one-on-one, group, and large settings, at any and all times during the workday, the company would recognize that its workers are in favor of collective bargaining and respect that decision by negotiating a contract, he said.

Apple declined to comment on whether it would challenge the outcome.

Labor strategy has become more challenging for companies since the pandemic, according to DeVault and Oswalt. Worker sentiment, they say, now sways more heavily in favor of worker protections, especially from those who served as essential workers through the pandemic. And public sentiment may have shifted to empathize with workers too, given that consumers shared in the pandemic experience.

During a pandemic, when you were asking people to show up for their jobs, which are jobs standing across the counter from with a bunch of people who might, or might not, be infected with what was at the beginning, a very deadly disease, they were still expected to do it, DeVault said.

The shift should already be pushing employers to reconsider how they react to unionization, Oswalt said.

Workers at the Towson Town Center Apple hold their new union T-shirts on June 18, 2022, after their store employees decided to join the International Association of Machinists Union. Theirs is the first Apple store in the United States to vote for union representation. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

I think that the last six months have shown that the standard union avoidance playbook is simply not working among the current generation of employees, Oswalt said. It is failing spectacularly at Starbucks, it failed at a massive Amazon warehouseand it just failed at Apple.

Michael Duff, a professor for University of Wyoming College of Law, says while he agrees that today's sweeping push to unionize is unusual, neither worker nor public sentiment is likely enough to keep Apple from objecting to the Maryland vote. Under current law, he explains, it still makes business sense for Apple to raise a challenge.

It's almost unthinkable to me that an employer would not challenge, Duff said. My guess is that Apple will oppose the union and raise challenges. Why? Because, in these situations, time is almost always the enemy of the union.

Duff explains that delays are an easy hand for companies to play through objections because the National Labor Relations Board, which hears initial challenges, lacks authority to order a company into action. It's to a company's significant advantage to object, because the delays they cause often frustrate workers into giving up on bargaining. Then, if Apple loses an initial challenge, it can further drag out a resolution by appealing the NLRB's decision to court.

Relatively few people know that the NLRB does not have the authority to order an employer to do anything. It can issue something called an order, but at the end of the day, that has to be done through the courts, Duff said.

One factor that Duff says could push Apple into a less aggressive position is the current labor shortage. In February, the tech giant boosted worker pay in an effort to retain employees.

Last month, Apple workers in Atlantas Cumberland Mall represented by Communications Workers of America (CWA) withdrew a petition to hold a scheduled election. And employees in the companys Grand Central retail store in New York are reportedly working to amass enough support to hold an election.

Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed.

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Labours experience negotiating the Good Friday Agreement means it will be able to secure a better solution to the Northern Ireland Protocol row, David Lammy has said.

The shadow foreign secretary told an event hosted by the UK In A Changing Europe think tank on Wednesday that a Labour government would be better received in Brussels.

He said: The EU must be less rigid.

But Ive been told frankly by EU partners that if there was a partner they could trust they could show more flexibility.

Instead they have Boris Johnson who lies, breaks the law, and never keeps his promises.

With a change of Prime Minister and a change of government, the UK could build a stable and mutually beneficial relationship with the EU over the long term.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss with EU post-Brexit negotiator Maros Sefcovic at Chevening in Kent. Deadlock in negotiations has led to Ms Truss introducing the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill (Ben Stansall/PA)

Speaking on the sixth anniversary of the Brexit referendum, Mr Lammy reiterated Labours position that it would not seek to rejoin the EU or re-enter the Customs Union or the Single Market.

But, he said, the party would look to secure practical solutions to reduce any checks to their absolute minimum by pursuing an agreement on food and agricultural standards, sharing trade data and using a risk based approach for goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

He said: Both the EU and the UK would have to compromise to make this happen.

But the last Labour government was able to broker the Good Friday Agreement.

We are confident that with trust and goodwill, we would be able to achieve it.

The Government has proposed a Bill to unilaterally change parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, arguing this is the only solution after months of stalled negotiations.

But Mr Lammy attacked the Bill as a charter for lawlessness that undermined international law and risks emboldening dictators and authoritarian states around the world.

He also accused the Government of being stuck in a fever dream of 2016 and picking petty fights with our closest neighbours by introducing plans to tear up the Protocol.

He said: The Governments position is that the situation in Ukraine is so serious that their lawbreaking Prime Minister must remain in office, but apparently not serious enough to stop us starting a diplomatic fight with some of our closest allies.

Lord Frost, the former Brexit minister, said the Government had no alternative but to unilaterally change the Protocol (Peter Byrne/PA)

Speaking at the same event earlier on Thursday, former Brexit minister Lord Frost said Brexit was working but argued the EUs refusal to compromise made action on the Protocol necessary.

He said: The delicately balanced compromise that we put in place in 2019, recognising that we were running high levels of risk in doing so, has come apart much more quickly than most of us thought.

It is unfortunate that, given all the sensitivities, the EU has refused to look at that compromise again and helped us put together something that would properly support the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and enjoy cross-community consent.

In these circumstances the British Government has no choice in my view (but) to act as it is doing, its responsibility for the integrity of the country and for the Belfast Good Friday Agreement must be paramount.
A man arrested after a mother and five-year-old child died with stab wounds in north London has been released by police.

Police and paramedics found a 37-year-old woman and a five-year-old child with stab wounds at an address in Brookside South, Barnet, north London on Tuesday.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

They have now been identified as Yi Chen, a Chinese national, and her son Xing Duan Yuan, who was born in the United Kingdom and had a Chinese passport.

A 37-year-old man, who knew the deceased, had been arrested on suspicion of murder, but was released with no further action, it was said on Thursday.

A post-mortem examination into the death of Yi Chen gave cause of death as stab wounds.

Detective Chief Inspector Claire Hine, leading the investigation, said: The post-mortem examination on Yi Chen has provided important new information as to the nature of her injuries.

Following the post-mortem examination, the 37-year-old man who had been arrested in connection with the deaths has been released without further action.

Nobody else is sought in connection with the two deaths.

This incident has had a devastating effect on the family of Yi and Duan. We have specially trained officers who are providing support to them where we can.

A post-mortem examination in respect of Xing Duan Yuan is scheduled for Wednesday next week.
A Dallas woman who tricked her boyfriend, who suffered a traumatic brain injury while serving in the Army in Iraq, to murder her husband was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison.

Jennifer Faith, 49, pleaded guilty in February to interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire for the October 2020 shooting death of her husband, Jamie Faith, in a deal that saw prosecutors drop an obstruction charge, according to the Department of Justice.

Faith convinced 49-year-old Darrin Ruben Lopez, a disabled Army veteran whom she referred to as her one and only love, to kill Jamie, prosecutors said, She used two fake email accounts, one masquerading as Jamie Faith and one as her friend, to convince Lopez that her husband was physically and sexually abusing her. Included in the emails were stock images of physical abuse that she downloaded off the internet.

On the morning of Oct. 9, 2020, seven months after Faith and Lopez started dating, she and her husband left their house to walk the dog. A minute later, Lopez, who had driven in from Tennessee, allegedly drove up and shot Jamie Faith seven times, then fled the scene in a black Nissan Titan pickup truck with a T decal on the back window.

Jennifer Faith took a guilty plea.



Jennifer Faith took a guilty plea.

I turned around and I just saw this person shoot and shoot. I couldnt believe  I didnt know him. Like, why? she said, sobbing. A lot of shots, five, six, maybe, I feel like. And he just kept going, and Im like, stop it! Faith told the Dallas Police Department at the time.

And then I saw the person turn and like, just, dark eyes, coming toward me. And so I started  I yelled no, and I started to run. And he tackled me to the ground. He was trying to attack me the whole time I was screaming.

Faith took the proceeds from a Support Jennifer Faith GoFundMe fundraiser to pay off two credit cards she opened for Lopez. She filed for $629,000 in death benefits. She also texted Lopez to scratch the decal off his car when police started publicizing the missing vehicle.

I woke up in a bit of a panic Something is eating away at me telling me you need to take the sticker out of the back window of the truck, she texted him. I dont normally overreact like this really think you need to get that sticker off ASAP, like today.

In January 2021, when investigators began asking questions, Faith told Lopez they needed to come up with cover stories.

Ms. Faith put on quite a performance in the wake of her husbands murder. She poured out her sob story to reporters and law enforcement, then headed home to orchestrate her coverup, U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham said in a statement Tuesday.

But crocodile tears didnt stop the feds. We were committed to getting justice for Jamie, and with the Judges imposition of a life sentence this afternoon, were one step closer.

United States District Judge Jane J. Boyle called Faith pure evil before handing down the life sentence.

Lopez has been charged by the state with murder and on a federal gun charge and has pleaded not guilty to both.
LONDON  The European Parliament voted on Thursday in favor of granting European Union candidate status to Ukraine as fighting in the war-torn country continues, four months after the Russian invasion.

Of the 588 votes, an overwhelming 529 were in support of the resolution while just 45 were against it; 14 officials abstained from the proposal. Politicians also approved EU candidacy for Georgia and Moldova.

The Parliament called on all Heads of State or Government  to grant EU candidate status to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova without delay, according to a press release. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) also called on leaders to grant Georgia candidacy, but only when its government has delivered on the priorities indicated by the European Commission.

European Council President Charles Michel and French President Emmanuel Macron, who currently holds the European presidency, and European leaders at a summit in Brussels on Thursday. (Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images)

The chair of the Ukrainian Parliament thanked MEPs for their vote and for adopting the resolution. Once again, European Parliament demonstrates its unwavering support for Ukraine's EU aspirations, Ruslan Stefanchuk wrote on Facebook.

Thank you, [European Parliament President] Roberta Metsola, for adopting the relevant symbolic resolution today. Ukraine is EU country. And we fight for this right not only on the battlefield but also in the legal sphere.

In order for countries to join the bloc, they will be required to carry out a series of political and economic reforms. According to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Ukraine has already implemented roughly 70% of EU rules, norms and standards. She added, however, that much needs to be done in the areas of the rule of law, oligarchs, anticorruption and fundamental rights."

The European Council, which contains the heads of all governments in the 27-member bloc, will have the final vote. If one or more of the members do not support the decision, the resolution does not go through, as the council operates on a consensus result.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken to 11 bloc leaders following nine calls with other leaders the day before. Zelensky said the meeting would be a historic session of the European Council.
Guadalupe, 19, has been accused of suffocating her newborn to death after she gave birth at her high school in 2019. She says she hadn't realized she was pregnant and didn't harm the baby. (Juan Pablo Ampudia / For The Times)

Shortly after being found at a high school on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, the body of a newborn arrived at the medical examiner's office.

The autopsy team placed the boy on a scale  which indicated 5 pounds, 4 ounces  and searched for clues to how he died. Opening his chest, they removed a tiny pair of reddish lungs and set them in a container of water.

It was a key moment and a test. If the lungs floated, they presumably contained air, which would suggest the infant took a breath when he entered the world. If the lungs sank, it would point to a stillbirth.

The flotation test is simulated with lung tissue from an adult. (Leila Miller / Los Angeles Times)

The lungs floated. And when they were pushed underwater, bubbles appeared.

The fetus breathed the moment it was born, the medical examiner wrote in her report  a finding that opened the door for prosecutors to file murder charges against a teenager named Guadalupe.

The flotation test, as it is known, dates to at least the 1600s, and today it is standard practice in many parts of Latin America. The Times reviewed six cases in Mexico, El Salvador and Argentina in which prosecutors relied on it to charge women with homicide. Some were sentenced to decades in prison.

In the world of forensics and criminal investigation, the flotation test stands out for its simplicity.

There is only one problem: It can easily be wrong.

Air and other gases can enter the lungs of a stillborn baby multiple ways  as the fetus is squeezed through the birth canal, during resuscitation attempts, during decomposition, even through ordinary handling of the body. When that happens, the lungs may float, even though the baby never took a breath.

In rare instances, courts in Latin America have recognized the dangers of relying on the flotation test. But that has not translated to broader changes in how it is used.

Dr. Gregory Davis, a forensic pathologist at the University of Kentucky who has studied the test, said in many of the deaths the truth can never be known.

Its an invalid test that has gained a veneer of reliability," he said.

::

There are few statistics on how many women in Latin America have been prosecuted for killing their newborns. Public records requests by activists in Mexico suggest that there are at least three convictions a year.

Even less studied is how often the flotation test is a decisive piece of evidence in such cases.

In El Salvador, Jocelyn Viterna, a Harvard sociologist who studies reproductive rights, reviewed 59 cases of women charged with killing their newborns between 1998 and 2017. At least 38 of them were convicted.

She said that the flotation test was used routinely and that in her conversations with Salvadoran prosecutors they referred to it as the "gold standard." The director of the country's forensics institute declined a request for an interview.

The surge in such prosecutions in El Salvador, which began in the late 1990s, grew out of a militant antiabortion movement, Viterna said, and has been driven not by evidence but rather a widespread belief among authorities that the women wanted to escape the responsibilities of motherhood.

Despite the diversity of situations, overwhelmingly they arrest the women and give the exact same story about why the woman is guilty, she said.

In Viterna's view, nearly all are innocent.

Many of the accused women are poor and delivered at home, often alone, and maintain they didn't know they were pregnant, which some prosecutors find unbelievable.

While it is rare for women to deliver without realizing they are pregnant, experts say that obesity, irregular menstrual cycles and ignorance about sex make it more likely. In a 2002 study of births in the Berlin area, German researchers found it happened in roughly 1 out of every 2,500.

Moreover, lack of medical care increases the risk for complications during labor and stillbirth, but prosecutors have rarely recognized that when filing murder charges.

While Guadalupe awaits a decision in the murder case, she lives in a small house with her father and four dogs and is studying to be an elementary school teacher. (Juan Pablo Ampudia / For The Times)

Guadalupe is the child of divorced parents and one of three siblings, and she grew up poor in Uman, a municipality of 70,000 near Merida, the capital of Yucatan state. She spoke on the condition that she be identified by only her middle name.

Though she had been sexually active and noticed she'd been gaining weight, she said she had no idea she was pregnant one October morning in 2019, when she rushed to a bathroom at her school with stomach pains.

In her telling, she heard a thunk as her son hit the toilet. He did not cry or even move. She needed to put him somewhere, and in her panic, the trash bin next to the stall seemed like the best option. Then she fainted.

I didnt know how to react," said Guadalupe, who was 17 at the time. "I was in shock."

Staff at the school as well as Guadalupe's father, grandmother and brother told authorities that they hadn't known that she was pregnant  statements that prosecutors used to bolster their case that she had secretly plotted to kill her son and had thrown him in the trash "as if it were an object without value."

While the medical examiner, Dr. Diana Carolina Balam Xool, relied on the flotation test to rule out a stillbirth, she concluded from a tiny cut and bruise on the boy's lower lip that he had been smothered.

Dr. Lee Marie Tormos, a medical examiner in Palm Beach County, Fla., who reviewed the case for The Times, said the bruise could have occurred during a traumatic birth and "in and of itself does not explain a dead baby."

As for the fact that the lungs floated, she said that alone shed little light on whether the baby was born alive.

::

Some historians credit the Roman Empire-era physician Galen with the concept behind the flotation test. Scientists have long warned that it is unreliable.

After Dr. Theodric Beck  who wrote the first major U.S. book on forensic medicine in 1823  found in an experiment that the lungs of a stillborn baby had floated, he concluded that mere floating is no proof that the child was born alive.

In the 2004 edition of the European classic Knight's Forensic Pathology," the authors wrote that they were saddened to contemplate the number of innocent women who were sent to the gallows in previous centuries on the testimony of doctors who had an uncritical faith in this crude technique.

And in a 2020 letter solicited by the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, a nonprofit based in New York that has helped defend U.S. women accused of killing their newborns, 25 forensic scientists wrote that the flotation test is "not a scientifically reliable test or indicator of live birth."

Figuring out whether a baby was born alive is a complicated endeavor that experts say should involve a host of tests, including an examination of the lungs under a microscope to see if the air sacs are uniformly dilated. X-rays can also be useful for showing if air is evenly distributed in the lungs.

The medical examiner in Guadalupe's case did not mention either test in her autopsy report or in her statement to prosecutors. She told them she based her conclusion on the floatation test and a visual inspection of the lungs. Neither her office nor the prosecutors responded to requests for comment.

Still, research has found that for births in hospitals  where it is known how the body was handled and there is no evidence of decomposition  the flotation test can be valid. That has led some experts to say it can be helpful when used in conjunction with other techniques.

There are mistakes made, absolutely, and there are innocent people in jail because of that, but it can sometimes be very useful, said Dr. Michael Baden, a former chief medical examiner of New York City. When making a diagnosis usually a doctor doesnt rely on one thing.

Davis, the University of Kentucky pathologist, has questioned that logic.

If you dont rely on it, why do you use it? he said. Talk about a chain of failures that ultimately leads to a plane crash.

In Latin America, senior experts such as Dr. Fernando Octavio Flores Reyes, president of the forensic medicine association in Mexico, understand the pitfalls. But some medical examiners' offices lack more expensive technology.

Many times my colleagues have to resort to the test thats most used, which is the flotation test, he said.

::

Courts in multiple countries have exonerated women after determining that too much weight had been given to the flotation test.

One of those women was Maria del Carmen Viera, who was 26 and already raising four children on her own when she gave birth at home in the countryside of Argentina's Corrientes province in 1999. She testified that her son was silent and motionless and that hours later she reported the death to staff at a hospital.

She then held a wake before burying the baby inside a henhouse.

A 17-year-old neighbor who saw her alerted authorities, who arrived at Vieras home and unearthed a box containing the newborn.

The medical examiner cited the flotation test, inflated lungs and a finding of gas in the stomach to conclude that the baby had been born alive and  based on a fractured bone in the neck  determined that the cause of death was strangulation. The examiner wanted to study the lungs and neck under a microscope, but a superior said the instruments weren't available and denied the request.

A court sentenced Viera to life in prison.

She might have died there, but a few years later an official with the public defender's office met her in prison and was struck by her insistence that she was innocent.

The official sent the autopsy to be reviewed by a team of forensic experts, who determined that the strangulation finding was unfounded and reckless and that too much weight had been given to the flotation test.

Based on that review, a higher court ruled in 2013 that there had been no proof the infant had been born alive and ordered Viera released.

In 2019, she and her family were awarded about $45,000 in reparations for the 13 years she spent in prison.

In a different case, a court in El Salvador sentenced Maria Teresa Rivera to 40 years in prison for killing her newborn in 2011 by throwing him into a pit latrine.

Rivera, who was 28 at the time and had been living near the capital, San Salvador, and working in a garment factory, claimed she had no idea she was pregnant and had simply woken up in pain and gone to the latrine.

Maria Teresa Rivera, sentenced to 40 years in prison, was exonerated after a court recognized that not enough tests were done to prove that her baby was born alive. (Jorge Menjivar / Agrupacion Ciudadana for Amnesty International)

I felt something come out, she said. "When I cleaned myself, I was full of blood.

Feeling dizzy, she headed to the bedroom she shared with her former partner's mother. The last thing she remembers is the older woman finding her on the floor.

When Rivera gained consciousness, she was handcuffed to a hospital bed.

They tell me Im detained because I had killed my son," she said. "I said I hadnt killed anyone.

A medical examiner performed a positive flotation test that afternoon. Though the autopsy found that the newborn had died from sudden complications during birth, the court concluded  with no evidence  that he had been asphyxiated from feces in the latrine.

Theres no doubt that the baby was born alive, the court said in its sentence, ruling that Rivera had to have known she was pregnant and wanted to get rid of the baby.

She spent the next four years in prison where other inmates called her a murderer.

Then in a 2016 appeal, two forensic experts and a pediatrician testified that the medical examiner had inappropriately relied on the flotation test.

The medical examiner himself testified that prosecutors hadnt asked for a microscopic examination of the lungs because "they're expensive, you cant do it for everyone.

The court ordered Riveras release, saying, We cant be irresponsible and limit the fundamental right of freedom with tests that are unreliable.

Back in her hometown, Rivera struggled to find a job. People spat in her face when she went to the market. She was granted asylum in Sweden, where she now lives with a 17-year-old son and works as an aid in a nursing home.

She often thinks about how old her other child would have been had he lived.

I still cant get out of my head that maybe I could have done something, she said.

::

Infants can die in the early minutes of life for a variety of reasons.

In the United States in 2019, just over 3,000 newborns survived less than an hour, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts say such deaths are almost certainly more common in countries with worse medical care.

"There are lots of things that can happen very suddenly during labor that put particularly the baby at risk," said Joy Lawn, a neonatal death expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "You have to have a sense of urgency and be monitoring."

In what academics and activists say reflects a zeal to prosecute, courts have often disregarded those possibilities.

That appears to have been the case after Isabel Hernandez Contreras gave birth at her home about an hour outside San Salvador in 2013.

Police responding to her call found Hernandez, then 18, bleeding on the street and later that day her infant dead in a pit next to her house. She was convicted of murder and began serving a 30-year prison sentence.

Based on the flotation test, the medical examiner had determined that the boy had breathed. But that wasn't in dispute.

Hernandez said her baby was born alive but died soon after. She cut the umbilical cord with a knife.

It breathed and at the same time looked like it was drowning, and I couldnt do anything, she said.

As for how he wound up in the pit, Hernandez called that "my big mistake."

I was worried that the police would think that I had killed my baby, so I hid him, she said. I hid him, but I wasnt thinking clearly.

The medical examiner concluded that the cause of death was asphyxiation "from material in the pit."

Fausto Rodriguez, a pathologist at UCLA who reviewed the autopsy for The Times, said he saw no evidence for that determination. Calling the autopsy "very poorly done," he faulted the medical examiner for failing to examine the lungs with a microscope or look for genetic anomalies that could explain a natural death.

Hernandez spent nearly nine years behind bars.

She was released in January after the president's office commuted her sentence, which the country's supreme court said had been handed down during a trend of escalating punishments for women who "don't comply with the social role of being a mother that's been assigned to them in a patriarchal society."

Hernandez is now back with her family and taking cosmetology classes.

I would blame myself for not being able to save the baby, she said. It hurts me still, of course, because it was my first child.

::

One case of alleged infanticide in Latin America has received more attention than any other: the prosecution of Manuela.

Her real name  Manuela is a pseudonym used in court documents  has never been made public. But her story has become a rallying cry for feminists.

In 2008, her mother found her unconscious in their home in a village in northeastern El Salvador. After doctors at a hospital determined she had delivered a baby, one of them alerted authorities, who found the decomposing body of her infant son in a septic tank.

Women demonstrate before an Inter-American Court of Human Rights hearing over the case of Manuela, a Salvadoran woman sentenced to 30 years in prison after her newborn was found dead. (Marvin Recinos / AFP/Getty Images)

She was convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison, where she died from cancer in 2010 at age 32.

Advocacy groups continued to pursue her case, which eventually reached the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Among the evidence it considered was expert testimony that the flotation test result was worthless because it could easily be explained by decomposition gases.

In a landmark decision in November  13 years after her conviction  the court found that authorities had violated Manuela's presumption of innocence by overlooking a more plausible reason for her infant's death: Manuela had suffered from severe preeclampsia, a condition affecting pregnant women that can result in a sudden delivery and death of the baby.

The ruling energized activists who have been working to help imprisoned women who say they've been wrongly convicted.

In El Salvador, several women who were convicted of killing their newborns have been released.

In Argentina, Natalia Saralegui Ferrante, a law professor at the University of Buenos Aires who has looked for women by searching judicial sentences online for "fetus" and other keywords, hopes authorities will take greater interest in finding more cases and correcting injustices.

How many are there in total today? No one knows, said Saralegui, who recently published a book about seven women convicted of killing their newborns. Theres no national office that has made finding these cases part of its agenda."

In 2010, Las Libres, a feminist group in Mexico that interviewed women in prison to find mothers accused of killing their infants, successfully lobbied the state of Guanajuato to lessen its penalty for such cases, an effort that led to the release of at least eight women.

In Guanajuato, we know about these cases because we looked for them," said Veronica Cruz, one of the group's founders. "And that means that these cases could happen in the entire country."

::

Back in Uman, Guadalupe has been free while her case moves through the legal system.

Unlike many women in her situation, she has a private defense attorney, Rene Ramirez, who agreed to take the case after a local newspaper wrote about her  without using her name  and a womens rights advocate saw the story.

A federal court is considering whether to halt the criminal proceedings based on a motion by Ramirez that argues Guadalupe's rights were violated because the public defenders originally assigned to the case failed to adequately represent her.

Guadalupe occasionally visits her baby's grave. (Juan Pablo Ampudia / For The Times)

To make their case that the alleged murder was premeditated, prosecutors have accused Guadalupe of cutting the umbilical cord with a sharp object they say she must have brought with her into the bathroom. Ramirez said that prosecutors havent offered evidence that Guadalupe cut the cord, which can also break off on its own.

While Guadalupe waits for a decision, she lives in a small house with her father and four dogs, sleeping in a hammock in a mostly bare room. She is taking classes at a nearby university to become an elementary school teacher. When she's not doing chores or studying, she occasionally gets together with friends.

Her family buried the baby in a cemetery a 20-minute walk from her house. She and her father named him Jorge Armando, after her grandfather.

Occasionally she leaves candles by the babys grave.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
BAGHDAD, June 23 (Xinhua) -- A total of 64 new lawmakers were sworn in on Thursday in the Iraqi parliament to fill most of the gap left by resignation of 73 members of the Sadrist Movement, the biggest winner in the Oct. 10 elections, according to a parliament statement.

The remaining nine vacant seats will be filled later, after the extraordinary session headed by Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi and attended by 202 lawmakers, local media reported.

According to the Iraqi law, the vacant seats left by the 73 Sadrist lawmakers should be filled by those who obtain the second highest votes in their electoral district.

On June 12, al-Halbousi approved the resignation of all lawmakers of the Sadrist Movement.

The resignation came just after the Sadrist Movement's leader Moqtada al-Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric in Iraq, asked his bloc's members to resign from parliament to save the political process from an unknown fate, according to a written statement affixed with his seal and signature.

During the past months, the continuing disputes among the Shiite parties have hampered the formation of a new Iraqi government, as the parliament has been unable to elect a new president by a two-thirds majority of the 329-seat parliament under the constitution.

If elected, the president, whose tenure is limited to two four-year terms, will then appoint the head of the government, or the prime minister.

Al-Sadr had vowed to form a new national majority government from the winning parties in the elections after his followers took the lead with 73 seats in the elections.

Al-Sadr's pro-Iran rivals and some other parties, however, want to form a consensus government to include all political blocs, as in the case of all successive governments since 2003. 
FILE - In this photo released by the official website of the Iranian Defense Ministry, military personnel stand near the flag-draped coffin of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a scientist who was killed on Friday, during a funeral ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. A court in Iran on Thursday, June 23, 2022 ordered the United States government to pay over $4 billion to the families of Iranian nuclear scientists who have been killed in targeted attacks in recent years, state-run media reported. (Iranian Defense Ministry via AP, File)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  A court in Iran on Thursday ordered the United States government to pay over $4 billion to the families of Iranian nuclear scientists who have been killed in targeted attacks in recent years, state-run media reported.

The largely symbolic ruling underscores the escalating tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, with negotiations to restore the tattered atomic accord at a standstill.

Although Tehran has blamed Israel in the past for slayings targeting Iranian nuclear scientists since a decade ago, Iran did not directly accuse its arch-foe Israel in its announcement. Iran has not recognized Israel since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the pro-West monarchy and brought Islamists to power.

The court mentioned Israel only in saying the U.S. supported the Zionist regime in its organized crime against the victims.

It's unclear how the court decision, like a raft of previous Iranian cases against the U.S. as the two sides have engaged in a spiraling escalation of threats, would gain traction; there are no American assets to confiscate in the Islamic Republic.

Still, the court branch, which is dedicated to the review of Iranian complaints against the U.S., summoned 37 former American officials, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, as well as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Iran envoy Brian Hook and former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed tough economic sanctions on Iran that severed most of its oil revenues and international financial transactions.

President Joe Biden wanted to return to the accord, but talks have stalled in recent weeks over Americas designation of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, Iran is enriching uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels under decreasing international oversight. Earlier this month, Iran removed 27 surveillance cameras of the U.N.s International Atomic Energy Agency in what its director warned could deal a fatal blow to the nuclear accord.

The families of three nuclear scientists who had been killed in targeted slayings, along with one nuclear scientist wounded in an attack, filed the lawsuit in Tehran, the country's state-run IRNA news agency reported, without identifying the plaintiffs. The court ordered that the U.S. pay $4.3 billion in total compensation, including fines.

Iran and Israel have been locked in a shadow war across the Middle East and its waters. That conflict has escalated with the recent suspected targeted killings of Iranian nuclear scientists and military officials. In late 2020, Iran blamed Israel for killing its top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, with a remote-controlled machine gun while he was traveling in a car outside Tehran.

Iran also has placed sanctions on prominent American political and military officials for alleged terrorism and human rights violations, in retaliation for the U.S. assassination of Irans top commander, Qassem Soleimani, two years ago.

Meanwhile Thursday, the Guard replaced the head of its intelligence arm. Cleric Hossein Taeb will be replaced by Gen. Mohammad Kazemi, the former head of the Guard's security department.

The move follows the deaths of several Guard officers in recent weeks. Taeb was known for his heavy-handed policies toward pro-reform figures since Iran's 2009 post-election turmoil.
Former President Trump nearly replaced the head of the Department of Justice with a supporter of his fraud theories when the acting attorney general refused to comply with his demands to falsely claim there was evidence of fraud in the 2020 election, the House panel investigating the Capitol insurrection detailed in its hearing Thursday.

The committee also revealed that multiple Republican members of Congress asked for presidential pardons from Trump in the days after Jan. 6, 2021, including Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

The committee argued that a declaration from Justice Department officials that fraud had taken place in the election would have cast doubt on the results and given GOP-controlled state legislatures a pretense for appointing alternate presidential electors to reverse President Bidens victory.

"Donald Trump didn't just want the Justice Department to investigate. He wanted the Justice Department to help legitimize his lies, to baselessly call the election corrupt, to appoint a special counsel to investigate alleged election fraud," said Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).

Former acting Atty. Gen. Jeffrey A. Rosen, former acting Deputy Atty. Gen. Richard Donoghue and former Asst. Atty. Gen. for the Office of Legal Counsel Steven Engel testified before the committee that had Trump asked the Justice Department in December to file legal briefs supporting election lawsuits brought by his campaign and allies. Testimony also detailed Trump's request that Rosen appoint a special counsel to investigate election fraud, though Justice Department investigations had concluded there was no evidence of fraud on a scale that would change the election's outcome.

Between Dec. 23 [2020] and Jan. 3 [2021], the president either called me or met with me virtually every day, Rosen said. The Justice Department declined all of those requests because we did not think they were appropriate based on the facts and the law as we understood them.

The panel also discussed a push by the former president to have the Justice Department challenge election results in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the Supreme Court. Engel and the Office of Legal Counsel ruled there was no legal basis to bring such a lawsuit.

The committee focused on a handful of meetings in late December 2020 and early January 2021 in which Trump considered replacing Rosen with Jeffrey Clark, the head of the Justice Department's civil division, at the prompting of Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), including a Dec. 27 phone call in which Trump told Rosen and Donoghue to just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen," according to notes Donoghue took from the conversation.

Donoghue said that the Dec. 27 conversation was an escalation of the pressure Trump had been putting on the department to intervene. Donoghue said he tried to be extremely blunt with Trump and tell him the department had investigated and there was nothing to any of the claims he was repeating because he saw there were many voices whispering in Trump's ear.

As we got later in the month of December, the presidents entreaties became more urgent. He became more adamant that we werent doing our job, Donoghue said.

Federal agents searched Clark's Virginia home Wednesday. More than a dozen law enforcement officers seized Clark's electronic devices as part of their search, according to his current boss, Russ Vought, former director of the Office of Management and Budget under Trump.

The panel also discussed a draft letter Clark circulated by email on Dec. 28, 2020, in which the Justice Department would urge the Georgia Legislature to hold a special session to scrutinize supposed irregularities in the state vote. The letter amounted to a road map for how Georgia could overturn its election results, suggesting the Legislature could ultimately choose a new slate of electors who would back Trump over Biden. Clarks email indicates similar letters would be sent to officials in other states outlining allegations of fraud. Rosen and Donoghue refused.

Donoghue said he told Clark that for the department to insert itself into the political process this way, I think would have had grave consequences for the country. It may very well have spiraled us into a constitutional crisis.

But Clark began calling witnesses and began conducting investigations of his own, Donoghue said.

Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said that the letter was co-written by Ken Klukowski, who joined the Justice Department on Dec. 15, 2020, and was assigned to work under Clark. Klukowski previously worked with conservative California lawyer John Eastman. Cheney presented a Dec. 28 email that recommended Eastman and Klukowski brief Vice President Mike Pence and his staff.

The email suggests that Mr. Klukowski was simultaneously working with Jeffrey Clark to draft the proposed letter to Georgia officials to overturn their certified election, and working with Dr. Eastman to help pressure the vice president to overturn the election, Cheney said.

In a contentious Dec. 31 meeting, Trump asked Rosen to have the Justice Department seize voting machines. Rosen said he told Trump nothing improper had been seen with the machines and the Department of Homeland Security had already looked at election machines and debunked any fraud claims.

I dont think there was legal authority for the department to seize state election equipment, Rosen said.

On Jan. 3, 2021, Clark told Rosen that Trump had offered him the acting attorney general role.

White House call logs show frequent calls between Clark and Trump starting at 7 a.m. Jan. 3. The logs showed Clark was referred to as "acting attorney general" by 4:19 p.m., hours before Rosen met with Trump in the Oval Office to discuss the change.

Rosen, Donoghue, Engel, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and Deputy White House Counsel Pat Philbin met with Trump and Clark for several hours in the Oval Office that evening. They warn the president that the entire leadership of the Justice Department and the White House counsel's office would resign en masse if Trump installed Clark to lead the Justice Department.

Donoghue said he told Trump that the assistant attorney generals would resign, possibly followed by "hundreds and hundreds of resignations" of department employees and the possible total collapse of the Department. Engel warned that Clark would be leading a "graveyard."

Donoghue told the committee that Cipollone referred to the letter Clark wanted to send to states as "a murder-suicide pact. It's going to damage everyone who touches it. And we should have nothing to do with that letter. "

Rosen said in his deposition that after that Jan. 3 meeting he did not speak to Trump again until Jan. 19, that includes while the department was coordinating with Pence and Congressional leaders during the Jan. 6 attack.

The committee also for the first time provided evidence of its allegation in the first hearing that multiple Republican members of Congress had asked Trump for pardons after Jan. 6, including an email from Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks to the White House five days after the attack on the Capitol, asking for a pardon for himself and all 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the election.

The panel also showed parts of video depositions from White House staff who said that Gaetz, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Louie Gohmert of Texas and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania had asked Chief of Staff Mark Meadows for pardons, and that Greene had asked the White House counsel's office for one.

Thursday's hearing is expected to be the last for a few weeks. The committee will pause hearings for at least two weeks to examine new evidence it has obtained, Thompson said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary in Red Lodge, Montana, is where numerous animals such as foxes, coyotes and black bears that can no longer live on their own in the wild are taken in and cared for in a safer environment.

Now, the sanctuary itself is the one needing rescue, after a historic flooding event at Yellowstone National Park this past week temporarily caused the closure of all entrances. This includes the northeast entrance, the road to which is where Red Lodge lies. The Yellowstone area received four times the normal amount of rainfall since the beginning of June, with one month's worth of rain falling on Sunday, June 12. By the next day, the situation had become severe enough that some 10,000 people were forced to evacuate the park.

The park's southern loop reopened Wednesday, with the northern loop expected to reopen within the next two weeks after cleanup and repair work wrap up. On June 19, National Park Service Director Chuck Sams announced a $50 million emergency funding plan to begin recovery efforts after what was called a "1-in-500 year event." The flooding prevented tourists from passing through the park area, as well as the quaint Red Lodge community and its wildlife sanctuary.

Bobcats at the Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary are just some of the animals held at the facility, which has taken a tourism hit due to recent flooding at Yellowstone. (Photo via Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary)

"We completely rely on tourism," Eden Wondra, the education manager at the sanctuary, told AccuWeather National Reporter Jillian Angeline. In addition to housing a number of species that are in need of living assistance. the sanctuary also holds a variety of educational events for local youth, cultivating what it calls a "culture of care that will bring back the human-nature connection."

Red Lodge, with a population of just over 2,000 residents, has been cut off from visitors since the flooding and is preparing for a summer season that could result in a drop in tourism. For Yellowstone's 150th anniversary, the park had been expecting at least 1 million tourists, a plan that has been put on hold due to the damaging floods.

"Without the numbers of tourists that we typically get in the summer, we are definitely going to take a hit financially," Wondra stated.

In addition to a potential sharp drop in tourism, the Red Lodge area is also dealing with the post-flood cleanup process. The town's latest difficulties come on the heels of the drop in visitors over the past several years due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as damaging forest fires.

Sandbags were put down by locals in Red Lodge, Montana, to divert floodwaters away from homes and businesses in the wake of the historic floods at Yellowstone National Park. (Photo via Red Lodge Area Community Foundation)

However, as local officials explain, the flooding event has been a unique challenge that brought the community together.

"I'm so proud of our community," said Tracy Timmons, executive director of the Red Lodge Area Community Foundation. "It was amazing. People got (others) out of houses (during the flooding) ... then as the sun broke, people were getting sandbags to try and divert the water."

Residents of Red Lodge, Montana, a town northeast of Yellowstone National Park, are seen trying to control floodwaters after the historic flooding of Yellowstone in June 2022. (Schyler Allyn)

Another significant factor in the wake of the flooding is the lack of flood insurance among the many residents and business owners who have been impacted, which is making the rebuilding challenge even more difficult. Many area homesteads were not in a flood plain area, thus forcing homeowners to forgo flood insurance and creating a lack of funding to help repair homes properly. As Timmons put it, "the water got everywhere."

"People are bringing trailers and campers up (for those displaced), which will work a little bit for the summer season, but it will absolutely not work for the winter season," Timmons said.

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The community foundation, in response, has set up the Carbon County Disaster Relief Fund for those within the county, including Red Lodge and surrounding areas. The fund aids the affected residents by helping to "stabilize the immediate flooding impacts and shift into recovery efforts."

Historic flooding at Yellowstone National Park has displaced residents of Red Lodge, Montana, from their homes and possessions. (Photo via Red Lodge Area Community Foundation)

Donations to the fund can be given through the foundation's website and will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $25,000 by the local Bank of Red Lodge. Donations of goods are being coordinated with the American Red Cross.

Volunteering is also an option for those in the area, or those willing to make the trip to southern Montana. Arrangements to help volunteer can be set up through the Carbon County Alert website.

Reporting by Jillian Angeline.

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Bruton Smith, a key promoter and track operator and a pioneer in auto racing, died at 95, NASCAR reported and Speedway Motorsports Inc. announced Wednesday afternoon. Smith, a native of Oakboro, North Carolina, was born March 3, 1927.

Smith was executive chairman of Speedway Motorsports, which owns and operates auto racing speedways across the country. He was named executive chairman in 2015 after serving as SMI chairman and chief executive officer since 1995. He was succeeded as SMI CEO by his son, Marcus Smith.

SMI's holdings include 11 racing facilities that currently host 15 NASCAR Cup Series events in 2022, including four of the series 10 playoff races.

Bruton Smith, one of the richest people in the United States, according to Forbes magazine, was known for his auto racing empire but also owned and operated automobile dealerships across the country under Sonic Automotive, launched in November 1997.

The NASCAR family mourns the loss of Hall of Famer and visionary track operator, Bruton Smith.  NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 22, 2022

Smith began promoting dirt-track races in North Carolina as an 18-year-old. In 1949, he ran the National Stock Car Racing Association, a Georgia-based racing sanctioning body that was a rival to NASCAR, which Bill France Sr. had formed in 1948.

France and NASCAR won that competition, as the NSCRA faded. But Smith returned to the sport in 1959, joining driver Curtis Turner to build Charlotte Motor Speedway after he and Turner had announced separate plans to build tracks in the Charlotte area. The track construction costs ran well past budget, and Smith eventually lost control of the speedway in bankruptcy proceedings.

After building a successful chain of car dealerships, Smith re-entered NASCAR in the mid-1970s, buying enough shares in CMS stock to regain control of the speedway. He and former track president H.A. Humpy Wheeler turned the track, actually located in Concord, N.C., into an auto racing palace, adding huge grandstands, condominiums and other innovations unheard of in racing circles at the time. The track was the first major speedway to host night races.

Bruton Smith founded Speedway Motorsports Inc. and built Charlotte Motor Speedway, formerly known as Lowe's Motor Speedway.

LEGENDARY PEDIGREE: Marcus Smith, son of SMI founder, crafts fan experience at Charlotte

Smith assumed control of several other tracks, including Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and formed Speedway Motorsports, Inc. to run the facilities. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1995.

Through much of his auto racing career, Smith was at odds with first Bill France Sr. and later Bill France Jr., who followed his father into the NASCAR presidency. They argued about race dates, race purses, the expansion of the Sprint Cup Series and other subjects over the years.

Smith also played a heavy role in philanthropic efforts, founding Speedway Children's Charities in 1982. According to that organization's website, Smith wanted to help children in need and was moved to start the group as a legacy for Bruton Cameron Smith, a son who died young.

Although he battled numerous health problems in his 80s, Smith remained very involved in the operation of his automobile businesses and speedways, often declaring he would never retire. He often appeared at news conferences and in speedway media centers in the final years of his life to verbally spar with reporters and deliver praise or criticism to NASCAR officials.

Smith was inducted into NASCAR's 2016 Hall of Fame class. Smith led the voting with 68 percent of ballots cast; ironically, Turner also was chosen that year.

BRUTON SMITH: Tickled by NASCAR Hall selection, positive reaction

"It will truly be an honor to be remembered at the Hall of Fame along with people like Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, Glen Wood, Junior Johnson, Darrell Waltrip and so many others who helped build this sport," Smith said in a statement released by Charlotte Motor Speedway when he learned he was tapped in May 2015. "That's what I've tried to do my entire life. I'm a frustrated builder who had a knack for promoting races, and it's been fun to always try to push the sport to greater heights for the fans."

A few days later, Smith, sitting in the owner's suite as the Coca-Cola 600 took the green flag at Charlotte Motor Speedway, told a small group of reporters he had all but given up hope of being chosen for the Hall.

"I had not thought anything about it, quite honestly," he said. "I think I gave up on it at least a year or two years ago. It's amazing the reaction about this, and I think that's very special."

In 2006, Smith also was inducted into the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame and National Motorsports Press Associations Hall of Fame. In 2007, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Contributing: Jeff Gluck

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bruton Smith: NASCAR Hall of Fame pioneer, promotor dies at 95
Good news for anyone who can quote all of Aunt Voulas lines in My Big Fat Greek Wedding": The Portokalos family is officially returning.

In June, the movies creator Nia Vardalos took to Instagram to share the news that My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 has begun filming in Greece, following pandemic-related delays. The star shared that they are currently filming in Plaka, the center of Athens.

Vardalos, who wrote both the original and the sequel, also shared that  in addition to writing and starring  she will be directing My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3. Fitting with the movies theme, Vardalos announced the news by introducing the word "director" in Greek.

Thank you so much for the lovely messages of waiting, Vardalos said, referring to the six years since the sequel came out in 2016.

She also thanked Playtone, Gold Circle, HBO and Focus in the caption for working with her to make the film, and sent "love and gratitude" for fans' "support as we waited to film."

Earlier this year, Vardalos celebrated the original movies 20th anniversary. Released in 2002 by an indie movie distributor, My Big Fat Greek Wedding went on to become the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time, despite not having studio backing or a major star.

#MyBigFatGreekWedding is 20 today.  When agents/managers said my script wasnt good and actors shouldnt write, I recall wondering why they were angry. They fired me. So, I changed the material into a solo stage show. @RitaWilson saw the play and said, this should be a  Nia Vardalos (@NiaVardalos) April 19, 2022

Vardalos recalled how she was fired by agents and managers after she turned in the script. Believing in her story, Vardalos put on a one-woman show, which caught the eye of Greek-American Rita Wilson and her husband, Tom Hanks.

Rita Wilson saw the play and said, This should be a movie, Vardalos recalled.

At the core of the movie franchise is a cross-cultural love story. Toula Portokalos (Vardalos) is raised in a large Greek-American family  and at 30, she falls for her familys worst nightmare: A non-Greek. Toula and Ian (John Corbett) have a strong connection, and throughout the film, they try to withstand efforts from her disapproving family to keep them apart. Luckily, while Toula is exasperated by her family, Ian is amused, and he ends up fitting right in.

The sequel follows Ian and Toula, now living next door to Toulas parents, as they prepare to send their daughter Paris (Elena Kampouris) off to college. This time, Toula's parents are the ones getting married.

Elena Kampouris in

Just based on Vardalos announcement, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 will differ from the preceding movies in one major way: Whereas the others were set in Chicago, this movie will take place in Greece. Theyre swapping out the faux columns of the Dancing Zorba diner for the real things.

In October, Vardalos shared that the script was complete, and gave away a tidbit: Toula and Ian are not grandparents, she wrote on Instagram.

The first two movies had big, fat Greek weddings in them. Based on precedent, the third most likely will, too  but no word on who might be walking down the aisle.

The movie will also address another change. Michael Constantine, who played Toulas father Gus, died in Sept. 2021.

He had told me he wouldnt be able to join us for the third film and his wish was that we go on. I wrote the screenplay to reflect Michaels decision and will always treasure his last messages to me, Vardalos wrote on Instagram.

We cant recommend spraying Windex on your popcorn to commemorate Constantine.
A satellite image shows an overview of Snake Island, Ukraine on May 12, 2022. (Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters)

Ukrainian forces claimed that airstrike on Snake Island in the Black Sea resulted in "significant losses" to Russian forces.

The Ukrainian militarys southern operational command said in a post on Facebook it had dealt significant losses to Russian forces with the use of various forces," the Washington Post reported. The New York Times reported the military said it destroyed a Russian air defense system as well as vehicles on the island.

Satellite images released by U.S. space technology company Maxar Technologies show the island on June 17 and again on June 21, depicting newly charred areas. Snake Island, also known as Zmiinyi Island, was the site where Ukrainians soldiers refused to surrender to a Russian warship in the early days of the war.

Meanwhile, the Russian defense ministry said on its Telegram channel that Ukraine made another crazy attempt to reclaim the island and that Russia had undermined the attack and "destroyed all enemy weapons" aimed at the island.

The Russian-occupied island plays a critical role in the control of shipping lanes in the Black Sea, including corridors for grain distribution in and out of Ukraine and access to the port of Odesa.

The southern end of Snake Island and a tower can be seen in a satellite image from Maxar Technologies taken June 17.

In this satellite photo taken June 21, the southern end of Snake Island is seen with a destroyed tower and burned vegetation.

Latest developments

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olha Stefanishyna, said Wednesday shes 100% certain all E.U. nations will approve Ukraine's candidacy for membership as early as Thursday, the first day of the of the E.U. leaders summit in Belgium.

Coinciding with unrelenting cyberattacks against Ukraine, state-backed Russian hackers have engaged in strategic espionage against governments, think tanks, businesses and aid groups in 42 countries supporting Kyiv, Microsoft said in a report Wednesday.

Russian forces continue to target and overtake villages in eastern Ukraine in an advance on the city of Lysychansk, the last city in the Luhansk region still in Ukrainian control. The Russian military currently controls about 95% of the area.

A Ukrainian photojournalist and a soldier who was accompanying him when they were killed in the first weeks of Russias invasion appear to have been coldly executed as they were searching Russian-occupied woodlands for the photographers missing image-taking drone, according to Reporters Without Borders.

Diary of 12-year-old Ukrainian girl to be released

Yeva Skalietska, a 12-year-old Ukrainian refugee, is releasing a book of journal entries recounting her experience during the war and her escape from the country.

Titled "You Don't Know What War Is: The Diary of a Young Girl from Ukraine," the book begins with her 12th birthday, shortly before the Russian troops attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24. She had been living in Kharkiv with her grandmother when the bombing began.

The book is set to be released Oct. 25. The publisher  Union Square & Co., owned by Barnes & Noble will donate a portion of the proceeds to Ukraine refugee organizations.

No concerns of Western alliance fracture as Russia advances in eastern Ukraine

For weeks, Russian troops have picked away at eastern Ukraine, gaining territory little by little. Western countries have sent an influx of weapons to Ukraine, but forces there are still outgunned by Russians in the Donbas region.

Now, some are questioning whether the West's alliance and strategy in the war are splintering. French President Emmanuel Macron drew criticism earlier this month when he said the West should not humiliate Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently warned of "Ukraine fatigue."

But President Joe Biden said Tuesday he had no fears that the Western alliance was fracturing.

"No, Im not afraid," he told reporters, according to CNN. "But what I do think is there  at some point, this is going to be a bit of a waiting game: what the Russians can sustain and what Europe is going to be prepared to sustain."

Ukraine LGBTQ community struggles amid ongoing Russian invasion

The official Pride parade in Kyiv was canceled this year after a decade of hard-fought efforts for more acceptance of LGBTQ people.

Before Russia invaded, Ukraine  a largely religious nation with a long history of oppression against sexual and gender expression  had increasingly become a rare bright spot for LGBTQ rights and a sanctuary of sorts for Eastern Europe. Ex-Soviet LGBTQ individuals would travel to experience a gay nightclub scene, especially in larger cities like Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa, where they could feel safer to be open.

Now, what would have been the 10th anniversary of the Equality March in Kyiv this month was relocated to Poland because of the ongoing war.

We had a lot and I hope we will rebuild it," said Yuriy Dvizhon, creative director of UKRAINEPRIDE. Read more here.

 Tami Abdollah, USA TODAY

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine attacks Russian forces on Snake Island: June 22 recap
Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall Are reportedly filing for divorce, after six years of marriage. (Vianney Le Caer / Invision / Associated Press)

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and model-actor Jerry Hall are calling it quits, reportedly filing for divorce after six years of marriage.

The New York Times first reported the split Wednesday, citing "two people with knowledge of the decision." The divorce would mark the fourth for Murdoch, the 91-year-old NewsCorp. executive chairman.

Representatives for Murdoch did not respond to The Times' request for comment.

Murdoch and Hall, 65, married in 2016. The six-year union, which was the Murdoch's shortest marriage, coincided with major milestones for the tycoon's decades-long professional career, including Disney's eventual $71.3-billion acquisition of Murdoch's 21st Century Fox empire.

Following Roger Ailes' sexual harassment lawsuit and eventual ouster in 2016, Murdoch served as Fox News' acting CEO until 2019.

In December 2021, the couple broke Montana ranch sales records with the nearly $200-million purchase of the Koch family's 340,000-acre property, according to Architectural Digest. And just two years before that, Murdoch joined Hall and her ex-partner, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, for a 30th-anniversary celebration of the Moraga Bel Air winery.

Murdoch was married to former model and flight attendant Patricia Booker from 1956 to 1967, journalist Anna Maria Torv from 1967 to 1999 and businesswoman Wendi Deng from 1999 to 2013.

Before tying the knot with the media tycoon, Hall was a longtime partner to Jagger, with whom she shares four children.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Boris Johnson is not planning on openly embracing his faltering flagship policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda on a one-way ticket during his visit to the East African nation.

The Prime Minister is opting not to visit the centres where migrants who have been forcibly removed from the UK would be housed if the scheme gets off the ground.

But it is going to be hard to ignore the policy with the Prince of Wales playing a key role at the summit of Commonwealth leaders that they are both attending.

Charles has reportedly criticised sending people 4,000 miles away after arriving in Britain through unauthorised journeys as appalling in private remarks.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall during a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Mr Johnson will also meet Rwandan president Paul Kagame, who may have questions over why the policy agreed under a 120 million deal with his nation is facing a legal backlash.

Here is a look at why the Prime Minister is in Rwanda, what he hopes to achieve there and the controversy surrounding the visit.

 What is Chogm?

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) typically takes place every two years but is being hosted in Kigali after a hiatus forced by the coronavirus pandemic.

It is a chance for the leaders of the 54 Commonwealth nations, most of them former British colonies, to discuss their shared interests and make decisions about their future.

Therefore, it is somewhat of a coincidence that Mr Johnson is there while his asylum policy is in disarray thanks to a European Court of Human Rights decision, ahead of a full ruling in the UK.

Charles is in the capital of Kigali representing the Queen as the head of the Commonwealth.

 What is the PM hoping to achieve?

Mr Johnson wants to focus on tackling the food and energy insecurity caused by Russias invasion of Ukraine, with some Commonwealth nations feared to be particularly vulnerable.

Other key issues he wants to discuss are green economic growth, boosting girls education and increasing trade opportunities.

As well as the banquet and wider talks with Commonwealth leaders, Mr Johnson will hold one-on-one chats with key allies.

 What else will happen at the summit?

Mr Johnson wants to oust Commonwealth secretary-general Baroness Scotland (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

They may not be the most attention-grabbing, but there are key decisions to be made about the future of the political association.

The next secretary-general must be chosen, and Mr Johnson is hoping to oust the incumbent, Labour peer Baroness Scotland, who is running for a second term.

He instead backs Jamaican foreign minister Kamina Johnson Smith, and UK officials are confident he will get his way.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy was critical of Mr Johnson, the Commonwealths current chair-in-office, for undermining the positions neutrality and confidentiality.

No chair has ever done this in Commonwealth history. Its unseemly and divisive, the Labour MP said.

Mr Johnson said Ms Johnson Smith will have the vast experience and support to unite our unique family of nations and seize the opportunities ahead.

Officials are privately critical of Baroness Scotland, questioning whether she has provided effective or unified leadership.

Leaders are also expected to admit a new member state in the form of Togo, while it is possible Gabon could join too. The UK backs adding both to the Commonwealth family.

With a month to go until the Commonwealth comes together in Rwanda, delighted to confirm the UK will support @kaminajsmiths campaign to be the next Secretary General. She has the vast experience & support to unite our unique family of nations and seize the opportunities ahead.  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) May 19, 2022

 What is the backdrop to the visit?

Mr Johnson hoped it would prevent the at-times deadly crossings of the English Channel made by thousands of people crammed into small boats each year.

He hoped the deal brokered with Kigali by Home Secretary Priti Patel would provide a disincentive for the journeys, while those who do make the unauthorised crossings could find asylum in Rwanda if approved.

The Government always knew it would attract legal challenges, and the challenges ultimately prevented the first flight from taking off last week.

Ministers had anticipated about 130 people to be on board but legal challenges reduced this to only around seven or fewer on the day of take-off.

Then the European Court of Human Rights granted an interim injunction barring the removal of an Iraqi asylum seeker until a decision on the legality of the Governments policy is made in UK courts.

The Strasbourg-based court removed two others from the plane, while the Supreme Court granted injunctions preventing the immediate removal of three more.

Now the Government is trying to introduce a Bill of Rights that would confirm that measures such as the one issued over the Rwanda policy are not binding on UK courts.

Mr Johnson is likely to discuss the policy with Rwandan president Paul Kagame during a meeting in Kigali.

 Who is Paul Kagame?

Boris Johnson with the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, at the Chogm in London in 2018 (Aaron Chown/PA)

Mr Kagame has been lauded by the international community for his role ending the 1994 genocide during the civil war.

Hutu extremists slaughtered about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in just 100 days.

That came to an end when Mr Kagames Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebel group seized Kigali.

But his regime has since been accused of political repression, alleged assassinations and the imprisonment of critics.

Amnesty International UKs refugee and migrants rights director, Steve Valdez-Symonds, accused the Government of effectively supporting the continued repression of people in Rwanda under president Kagames regime with the asylum policy.

No country should be casting off its asylum responsibilities onto another, still less to a country such as Rwanda with a troubling human rights record alongside existing large-scale asylum responsibilities of its own, he added.

In recent years, Rwanda has been the scene of enforced disappearances, numerous allegations of torture, excessive use of force by the police, and serious violations of the right to a fair trial and the right to free expression.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said he is expected to raise human rights issues as he has done in the past.

We want Rwanda to uphold and champion the Commonwealth values, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. And we want due process for all those in detention and fair and transparent application of the rule of law, the official added.

Mr Kagame may himself want to question the Prime Minister on why no asylum flights have arrived in Kigali two months after the deal was signed.
Boris Johnson has warned Nato allies it would be a disaster to pressure Ukraine into accepting a bad peace deal that would see swathes of territory surrendered to Vladimir Putin.

The Prime Minister said there is little hope of sending the Navy to rescue grain from the Russian presidents blockade as he set sights on talks with Turkey to prevent famine being a consequence of the invasion.

There are concerns in Kyiv that Germany and France will push President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept a ceasefire deal that would see him concede land to Moscow.

Mr Johnson, who is at a summit of Commonwealth leaders in Rwanda before talks with G7 and Nato allies in Europe in the coming days, warned there is no question there is a lot of Ukraine fatigue now in the world.

But I think they are going to win. I know they are going to win. It is their country. They are fighting for it desperately hard, he told reporters travelling with him in Kigali.

But they need to be properly supported. So, my message to colleagues at the G7 and at Nato in particular is going to be now is not the time to settle and encourage the Ukrainians to settle for a bad peace, for a peace by which they are invited to give up chunks of their territory in return for a ceasefire.

I think that would be a disaster. It would be a trigger for further escalation by Putin whenever he wanted. That would do much further economic damage to the world.

A key feature of Natos talks in Madrid will be freeing the more than 20 tonnes of grain from Ukraine before it rots, a crisis gaining extra importance because farmers are harvesting their 2022 crops with a shortage of storage space.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will use talks in Turkey on Thursday to raise the possibility of the safe passage of ships to rescue the grain.

Mr Johnson said there is a strong moral case for getting the grain out of Odesa and through the Black Sea, a perilous task thanks to Russian ships and mines.

He was focusing on the Turkish talks to find a way for safe passage of the grain but conceded we are a long way off sending in British boats on a retrieval mission.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is to hold talks in Turkey (Victoria Jones/PA)

A lot of the countries we are about to see depend on that type of grain. Some of the poorest countries in the world absolutely depend on grain from Ukraine, the Prime Minister said.

Whats happening now in Ukraine is not solely responsible for the price spikes in food around the world. That would be a gross exaggeration to think that. But it is a factor.

We need to do whatever we can to get it out.

Under the Montreux Convention we cant, no navy can now go into the Black Sea, the Turks wont allow that to happen.

But we certainly need to find a way of getting the grain out thats not subject to Putins control.

That requires a great deal of care and thought, and we are working with the Turks and other European partners to see what we can do.

But we are a long way off trying to send the Navy through the Bosporus and into the Black Sea. But I see why you think in that way.
TOKYO (Reuters) -Toyota Motor Corp said on Thursday it would recall 2,700 of its first mass-produced electric vehicles (EVs) because of a danger that wheels could come loose.

The world's largest automaker by sales submitted the recall of the bZ4X SUVs to Japan's transportation ministry. Of the 2,700 vehicles, 2,200 were earmarked for Europe, 260 for the United States, 20 for Canada and 110 for Japan, the company said.

Japan's safety regulator said sharp turns and sudden braking could cause a hub bolt to loosen, raising the risk of a wheel coming off the vehicle. The regulator said it was not aware of any accidents being caused by the defect.

The safety regulator said it was advising drivers to stop using the vehicle until a more "permanent" repair measure was in place.

The recall comes less than two months after Toyota, a relative latecomer to the EV market, rolled out the electric SUV, bZ4X, to the domestic market, albeit as a lease only option.

Toyota has been criticised by some investors and environmental organisations for not acting quickly enough to phase out gasoline-powered cars and embrace EVs instead.

Toyota has repeatedly pushed back against the criticism, arguing the necessity to offer a variety of powertrains to suit different markets and customers.

Gasoline-electric hybrid models remain far more popular in Toyota's home market than EVs, which accounted for just 1% of the passenger cars sold in Japan last year, based on industry data.

Still, the market is growing fast and foreign automakers including Tesla Inc are making visible inroads on the streets of cities such as Tokyo.

(Reporting by Satoshi SugiyamaEditing by David Goodman and Jane Merriman)
TEHRAN, June 23 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian court ruled that U.S. entities shall pay 4.3 billion U.S. dollars in damages to the families of assassinated Iranian scientists, official IRNA news agency reported Thursday.

The ruling was made within the legal counter-measures in the lawsuits filed by families of assassinated scientists against the U.S. government, institutions and officials for their suspected support for Israel's acts against Iran's nuclear scientists, according to the report.

Half of the damages are considered material and moral compensation while the other punitive, IRNA said.

A total of 37 American individuals and entities, including the U.S. government, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. National Security Agency, the U.S. State Department, former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, were convicted as defendants in the case. 
A magnitude-6.1 earthquake hit Afghanistan early on Wednesday, killing at least 920 people, Reuters reported citing disaster management officials.

More than 600 people injured and the tolls are expected to grow as information trickles in from remote mountain villages.

Photographs published by Afghan media showed houses reduced to rubble, with bodies swathed in blankets lying on the ground.

Helicopters were deployed in the rescue effort to reach the injured and fly in medical supplies and food, said an interior ministry official, Salahuddin Ayubi.

"The death toll is likely to rise as some of the villages are in remote areas in the mountains and it will take some time to collect details."

Wednesday's quake was the deadliest since 2002. It struck about 44 kilometers from the southeastern city of Khost, near the border with Pakistan, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGC) said.

Most of the confirmed deaths were in the eastern province of Paktika, where 255 people were killed and more than 200 injured, Ayubi added. In the province of Khost, 25 were dead and 90 had been taken to hospital.

Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the ruling Taliban, offered his condolences in a statement.

Mounting a rescue operation could prove a major test for the Taliban, who took over the country in August and have been cut off from much international assistance because of sanctions.

Shaking was felt by about 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said on Twitter, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties in Pakistan.

The EMSC put the earthquake's magnitude at 6.1, though the USGC said it was 5.9.

Adding to the challenge for Afghan authorities is recent flooding in many regions, which the disaster agency said had killed 11, injured 50 and blocked stretches of highway.

The UN's office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said Afghanistan had asked humanitarian agencies to help with rescue efforts, and teams were being dispatched to the quake-hit area.

A spokesman of Afghanistan's foreign ministry said it would welcome international help. Neighboring Pakistan said it was working to extend assistance.

Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

Scores of people were killed and injured in January when two quakes struck rural areas in the western province of Badghis, damaging hundreds of buildings.

In 2015, more than 380 people were killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan when a magnitude-7.5 earthquake ripped across the two countries, with the bulk of the deaths in Pakistan.

(AFP)
Protests broke out across Ecuador over shortages of food and fuel, and the rising cost of living. On Wednesday, protesters marched through Quito, demanding a fuel price cut and more time for farmer loan repayments. On Tuesday, one protester died and six officers were seriously injured.

CGTN
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. The tax revenues of the 2022 state budget of Armenia will increase by 40 billion drams, and these funds will be directed to the reserve fund.

The decision was unanimously approved at the Cabinet meeting today.

Minister of Finance Tigran Khachatryan said in the first half of the year the state budgets semi-annual tax revenues are higher than originally planned.

As of June 22, the tax revenues are nearly 911 billion drams, and this is 30% more than the figure of the same period of the previous year, he said, stating that the growth in tax revenues is connected with a number of factors, such as the improvement of tax administration. The minister said that as of today the actual figures of tax revenues are sufficient ground for increasing the figure of tax revenues by 40 billion drams at this stage.

During the discussions of the 2023-2025 medium-term expenditure programs when we were summing up the actions to be taken in 2023, we recorded that we have capital programs in different areas which could be implemented also in 2022 if funding is available. We have discussed the capital programs that are included in the appendix of the expenditure priorities as approved by the 2022 state budget and plan to include some of them in the programs that will be financed soon, he said, adding that the increase in revenues will allow to start implementing new programs in education, healthcare and physical infrastructure in coming weeks, which were to launch in the beginning of 2023.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that with the results of 2021 the revenue part of the state budget has been fulfilled by 147 billion drams more than planned.

As of today, we have collected 46 billion drams more in terms of the performance of the revenue part of the 2022 budget. We think that if nothing extraordinary happens, the budget revenues will increase more, and we are now waiting for the ministries to present new programs, the PM said.
WASHINGTON, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Although the United States' military budget keeps increasing, Americans are feeling less and less secure, said an opinion piece published by The Washington Post on Tuesday.

The United States maintains more than 700 bases in some 80 countries around the world, said the article.

"It's now gearing up to be able to take on both Russia and China," it added, warning that "if the United States is committed to policing the world, the military budget will always by definition be inadequate." 
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received new Head of the Mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Armenia Iva Petrova, the PMs Office said.

PM Pashinyan congratulated Mrs. Petrova on assuming office and expressed hope that she will contribute with her knowledge and experience to raising the efficiency of the cooperation between the Armenian government and the IMF. Nikol Pashinyan said the previous joint three-year project has been implemented successfully, expressing confidence that new projects will be developed in the future.

Then, the PM touched upon the macroeconomic situation in Armenia, adding that quite high economic indicators are being recorded this year, and the state budget revenues have a progressive growth. He also talked about the fight against corruption, the reduction in cash payments, the introduction of income declaration system and other reforms, stating that the government is receiving truth on this path as the previous reforms have given positive results.

The IMF Mission Head highlighted the intensive cooperation with the government of Armenia, stating that the IMF will continue contributing to economic stability and development in Armenia with new programs. She called the ongoing economic indicators in Armenia impressive and highlighted the necessity to ensure the continuation of the reforms.

The sides also discussed issues on implementing investments projects in road construction, education, infrastructure, water resource management, water reservoir construction, customs regulations and other public sectors.
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia Zareh Sinanyan met with the Armenian community structures, Armenian clergymen and Greek-Armenians on June 22 at the Embassy of Armenia in Greece, the Embassy said.

At the beginning of the meeting Armenian Ambassador to Greece Tigran Mkrtchyan presented the purpose of the visit of Zareh Sinanyan to Greece.

In his remarks Zareh Sinanyan introduced the activity of his Office. He highlighted the further development of the Armenia-Diaspora and Diaspora-Armenia relations, presented the strategy, the policy and ongoing programs being carried out by his Office, such as iGorts, Diaspora Youth Ambassador programs.

He also touched upon the programs of promoting repatriation, establishing business ties with Armenia, implementing and attracting investments.

Answering to the questions of the meeting participants, the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs also touched upon the internal and external challenges facing Armenia, as well as the regional developments.
Modi likely first proposer; other leaders to accompany her

New Delhi/ Bhubaneswar: The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu is likely to file her nomination on June 24. She is expected to be accompanied by its top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Several Union ministers and chief ministers and key leaders of some other supporting parties like the Biju Janata Dal will join her during the nomination-filing as a show of support, sources said, adding that the Prime Minister is expected to be the first proposer.

A presidential candidate requires a set of 50 proposers and 50 seconders for his or her nomination. At least four sets of nominations may be filed in Ms Murmu's support, BJP sources said.

BJP president J.P. Nadda also held a meeting with party leaders involved in the polling process.

They will be travelling across the country to spearhead Ms Murmu's campaign as she will be reaching out to the members of the presidential electoral college, which is made up of MPs and MLAs, for their support.

With the Opposition fielding former Union minister Yashwant Singh as its candidate, the election will be held on July 18.

The numbers heavily favour Ms Murmu, a tribal leader from Odisha.

Odisha chief minister and Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday appealed to all the legislators of Odisha to vote for Ms Murmu. "Appeal all the members of the Odisha legislative Assembly, cutting across party lines, to extend unanimous support to elect the daughter of Odisha, Smt Droupadi Murmu to the countrys highest office," said the CM.

After the BJD's support to her, she already has the majority support for her. The BJPis expecting some other regional parties like the YSR Congress and the AIADMK to back her as well.

The Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) has also extended its support to the NDAs nominee for presidential polls.

On Wednesday, in a statement, Bihar CM expressed happiness over the decision and said that the Prime Minister had called to inform him about the decision.

"It is a matter of great pride and happiness that a tribal woman has been made the candidate for the highest post in the country. She has been a minister in the government of Odisha and served as governor of Jharkhand. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called and informed me about the decision on Tuesday. I welcome the decision and thank the Prime Minister for this," Mr Kumar said in a statement.

The JD(U)s move attains significance as Mr Kumar had voted in favour of the UPA's presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee in 2012 while his party was with the NDA. In 2017, Mr Kumar supported the NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind while he was part of the grand alliance.

Other political parties from Bihar who have also extended support to the NDAs presidential candidate are Jitan Ram Manjhis Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and both the factions of LJP.

"I congratulate former governor and pride of the tribal community Droupadi Murmu for being declared as the NDAs presidential candidate. It is a proud moment that second time in a row someone from among us is going to become the President," HAM(S) chief said in a tweet.

While speaking on the issue, Chirag Paswan said, "His party LJP (Ram Vilas) has decided to extend support to the NDA presidential candidate."

He further clarified that defence minister Rajnath Singh had called to inform him about Ms Murmu being made the NDAs presidential candidate. He also said that Rajnath Singh told him that their party still considers him an ally of the NDA.

Mr Nadda on Tuesday announced her name as the NDA's presidential candidate following a meeting of the party's parliamentary board, which included the Prime Minister and other senior leaders.

Ms Murmu (64), a former Jharkhand governor, will be the first person from Odisha to occupy the top constitutional post if she is elected, which is a strong possibility.

Ms Murmu visited several temples in her home town of Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj district on Wednesday morning, a day after the BJP-led NDA named her as its candidate for the upcoming presidential elections.

Ms Murmu visited Lord Jagannath, Hanuman and Shiv temples and offered prayers. She also swept the premises of the Purnandeswar Shiv temple before offering prayers. Subsequently, she visited Prajapita Brahma Kumari Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya in Rairangpur and offered prayers. She was accorded a grand welcome on the premises.

Denizens of Ms Murmus home district, Mayurbhanj, are elated over the development.

"Its a proud moment for Mayurbhanj. The NDA has given priority to Mayurbhanj again. After my induction as a Union minister, selecting Ms Murmu for the highest constitutional post of the country shows the priority of the NDA government. We all should cherish the great moment as Odias and as the denizens of Mayurbhanj," said Union minister of state for tribal affairs Bishweswar Tudu.

Ms Murmu was the first woman governor of Jharkhand and thus became the first woman and tribal leader of Odisha to be the governor of an Indian state. Expressing pleasure over her selection as an NDA candidate for election into the highest office of the country, her daughter Itishree Murmu, a bank officer, said, "We all are proud of her selection in the race for the presidential election. Her hard work, dedication and selfless service to the people have paid off."

Rairangpur MLA Naba Charan Majhi said Ms Murmu has a special liking for Mayubhanj and after her elevation to the top post the district will be immensely helped in terms of development.

Ms Murmu has been provided Z plus security from Tuesday following her nomination as the presidential candidate.
Last week, CM Dhami got a partial wish-fulfilment when the Centre agreed to increase the states IAS cadre strength from 120 to 126 officers

The Uttarakhand government has been struggling to work with only 76 IAS officers in the state, even though it has an allocated cadre strength of 120 IAS officers. Of them, seven are on Central deputation. They include Ashish Joshi, Sridhar Babu Addanki, Jyoti Yadav, Raghav Langar, Mangesh Ghildiyal, and Amit Singh Negi.

Last week, state chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami got a partial wish-fulfilment when the Centre agreed to increase the states IAS cadre strength from 120 to 126 officers. Partial, because the state government had been demanding the IAS cadre be increased to 139, which the Centre has firmly rejected. It has its own mounting problem of a shortage of officers.

Uttarakhands plight is shared by several other states. But sources have told DKB that the current babu deficit is of the states own making. The All India Services cadre structure is reviewed every 10 years. The last time it was done was in 2010, when the state had the opportunity to ask for an increase in the cadre posts from 120, but it chose not to. Now it is feeling the pinch. And even the six new cadre posts will not make much difference on the ground.

Haryana IAS officers feel left out in UT Admin

The Haryana government has long claimed that it is getting a raw deal from the Chandigarh administration with UT cadre IAS officers cornering the key posts at the expense of Haryana cadre officers. The issue has reportedly been raised on several occasions, including by the states Additional chief secretary Rajeev Arora, with the UT administrator and Punjab governor Banwari Lal Purohit.

Now Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has escalated the issue by writing a letter to Mr Purohit expressing unhappiness at the uneven distribution of departments to Haryana cadre IAS and IPS officers in the UT.

Those in the know have informed DKB that Mr Khattar has claimed undue dominance of UT cadre officers, whether from the IAS or DANICS cadres, in the administration at the cost of officers from Haryana and Punjab. Apparently, most of the important posts have been grabbed by officers from the UT cadre. Further, Mr Khattar has claimed that the repatriation of two HCS officers earlier in February has made matters worse. He has also pointed out that the posts of UT home secretary and deputy commissioner, held by IAS officers deputed by Haryana, have had their powers and responsibilities reduced drastically.

Mr Khattar has also pointed out that in the recent reshuffle of IPS officers, the SSP (traffic) Manisha Choudhary, a Haryana cadre IPS officer, was divested of the charge of security, which was given to an AGMUT cadre officer.

The list of Haryanas grievances is long, and Mr Khattar is now hoping that the UT Administrator is open to discussing the issue at the earliest.

Babu gets a dressing down for wrong attire in court

Unlike IPS or defence personnel who are expected to appear in uniform while on duty, there is no official dress code for IAS officers, though during training they are urged to dress appropriately.

Leaving the issue open-ended and vague has sometimes landed babus in trouble. Most recently, the Patna high court pulled up Bihar IAS officer Anand Kishor, who is chairman of the state School Examination Board and principal secretary for housing and urban development.

Kishor appeared for a court hearing wearing a crisp formal white shirt with trousers. So, what was wrong with the attire? The babu had not buttoned his collar and was not wearing a coat.

However, not everyone agrees with the judge, including some from the legal fraternity as well. While some said that the judges remarks were unwarranted and caused unnecessary humiliation and anger, others insist that any government official must be correctly dressed in court for dignity and decorum. If so, perhaps it is time to codify how government officials are to appear in public.

Is it a feudal vestige or a progressive mindset? Reader, you decide.
A new balance has to be found within the confines of the Constitution to discuss and consign the past

Francis Fukuyamas recent book Liberalism and its Discontents revives the debate over the relevance of the subject. Tracing its rise to the nineteenth century, he examines how it relapsed into neo-liberalism and caused polarisation in many liberal democracies. In India, a victorious BJP in 2014 revelled in deriding liberalism as the vain preoccupation of the Khan Market Gang or the Lutyens Delhi set. The latter phrase is derived from the elite central part of the nations capital run by the New Delhi Municipal Committee, and popularly known as Lutyens Delhi.

The custodian of liberal democracy after the Second World War has been the United States of America. Fukuyama writes that alongside the US, Germany, France, Japan and India were all established democracies by the second half of the twentieth century, although some, like the United States and India, have been backsliding in the last few years. It is important to understand why this regression is underway at a time when autocratic states, now led by China, are working to gain allies and followers around the globe.

The Ukraine War has exacerbated this standoff as China and Russia had already declared a no limits friendship days before Russia started its special military operation against Ukraine. Though China has not apparently transferred weapons to Russia, it has, besides India, kept Russian revenues buoyant by the purchase of oil and gas. In 100 days of war, Russias oil exports earned Moscow $98 billion. Also, after its initial setbacks, the Russian Army, having scaled back its war objectives to capture crucial territories in the south and east, has been grinding forward more successfully. Meanwhile, the United States and other Nato members are somewhat belatedly transferring state of the art artillery to match Russian superiority in that area. The French system Caesar takes 40 seconds to automatically load the first shot and then fire 10 in under a minute. The US High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) is also quick, very precise and with extended range. BAEs Archer can lob four shells a minute and move before the first shot hits the target. Speed is of the essence to not allow the enemy to locate the gun and fire back.

But will that end the Ukraine war? The consensus is that it will not. If the aim is to deny Russia control over the entire Donbas region, then the war will persist. Perhaps no ceasefire will come till both sides are exhausted enough to seek it. But its global impact on the cost of food and energy is already evident. That is likely to impact politics in all democracies as the young people without jobs and the middle class which is facing a bleak future seek alternatives.

The democratic recession globally and retreat from liberalism cannot be ignored. Take Latin America, generally seen since the US expounded the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 as its exclusive zone of influence. Five Latin American nations boycotted the Summit of Americas in Los Angeles earlier this month, presided over by President Joe Biden.

China, on the other hand, is the dominant trading partner and investor in most of these nations, boosting their infrastructure development. The Economist magazine warns that this may lead to not only democracies degrading to dictatorships but Latin America delinking from the West. At the virtual Brics summit on June 23-24, China is trying to enlarge the group to include more middle powers like Argentina and Mexico.

Sounds like deja vu and the mid-20th century when a bipolar world saw the rise of the nonaligned movement. The difference is that the second pole now has China in the lead, with Russia playing the deputys role, and India has unsettled border issues with the former.

Indias concern is that while the external environment mutates as big powers wrestle for space and influence, there is also internal churn engendered by the BJP to alter the post-1947 constitutional compact. Fukuyama notes that while the big European powers were already nations before they became liberal democracies, the United States, and I would add India, were colonies and thus states before becoming nations. The US left the race issue unsettled when creating their union though the Constitution promised equality to all. In 1861, the American Civil War began to settle the issue. The victory of the anti-slavery North settled the principle though it was only in the 1960s that actual racial integration took place. But the consensus again fractured over immigration and globalisation, resulting in the victory of Donald Trump as President in 2016. The bulk of the Republican Party is still backing Trumpian lies, creating a fear that a recession-hit US may re-elect Mr Trump or a clone.

In Europe, France has seen President Emmanuel Macron losing support in the just-concluded parliamentary election. A left-of-centre coalition came second. But the right-wing nationalists gained seats by a factor of ten. England is still teetering after the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Boris Johnson. President Biden has had to relent and reach out to Saudi Arabia to seek cooperation to bring oil prices down. In this unsettled world, the BJPs priority is to consolidate its hold over domestic politics and implement its retooling of the Indian nation.

Fukuyama quotes an example of Conservative British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli who, against the wishes of his supporters, brought the Second Reform Bill in 1867 to widen the franchise. Fellow Conservatives called him a traitor but he laid the groundwork for the Conservative domination of British politics during the remainder of the 19th century. However, it is well recognised that classic liberalism is the most successful means to governing a diverse society.

Will Prime Minister Modi realise this and become the Disraeli of India? But striking sections out of childrens history books, renaming places and cities, bringing down Opposition governments. unleashing the investigative agencies on Opposition leaders, etc., are not signs of dealing sensibly with Indias diversity. Its true that the Congress too ignored that recognition of diversity also meant factoring in the majority communitys devotion to religion and pride in their cultural traditions, including confronting the past. The 1947 Partition did not bring closure to a lingering hurt. A new balance has to be found within the confines of the Constitution to discuss and consign the past. Fukuyama recommends the Greek advice of nothing in excess, or moderation. Can the BJP do some course correction or will an Opposition voice emerge to lead India back to the original path? The next two years are critical for India, both at home and abroad.
by Nirmala Carvalho

Archbishop Pamplany joined a protest against a Supreme Court order that risks evicting 1.2 million people from land bordering protected forests in Kerala. Today, the irony is that snakes and wild boars have protection, not human beings, he said.

Kannur (AsiaNews)  Archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplany of Thalassery joined a protest by farmers in Cherupuzha, Kannur district, last Tuesday against a directive issued by India's Supreme Court on 3 June to establish a one-kilometre-wide eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around protected forests, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks.

Over the past two weeks, farmers in Kerala's mountainous areas have staged various forms of protest urging the Union (federal) and state governments to seek legal remedies to exclude human habitation from these protected areas. They fear that the ruling will lead to mass evictions from farmland located in buffer zones.

Kerala's population density is about 360 people per square kilometre, three times the national average. It is expected that the state will be among the most affected if the order is implemented.

As a show of solidarity with farmers, the archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church also sported a cap made of areca walnut leaves, traditionally worn by farmers to protect themselves from the sun and rain while working in the fields.

Archbishop Pamplany slammed the Supreme Courts decision because it would lead to the eviction of 1.2 million farmers in Kerala. In his view, the order threatens to divide the State; instead, everyone should work together forgetting political, caste and religious differences.

Addressing the farmers, the prelate noted that the Church has no option but to support them at a time when they risk losing their livelihoods.

Today, the irony is that snakes and wild boars have protection, but not human beings, he said. The government has never cared about farmers. We will not allow the government to come to the fields with this initiative.

In a statement issued on 9 June, Cardinal George Allencherry, major archbishop of the Syro-Malabars, had also expressed concern over the order and its impact in Kerala.

Environment protection has always been the policy of the Church, he said. But imposing the entire burden of environmental protection on those living in regions bordering the forest is unfair.
The government is unable to handle another crisis. The crux of the tragedy remains the international community's standoff over sending money to a country in the hands of the Taliban. In Gayan district, the hardest hit, 70 percent of homes have been destroyed; some have also collapsed due to heavy rains. It is difficult to estimate the number of people who may still be trapped under the rubble.

Kabul (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Hunger, poverty and the devastation of decades of war were not enough in Afghanistan: yesterday morning the southeastern provinces of Khost and Paktika were hit by a magnitude 6 earthquake. Afghans living in rural villages on the border with Pakistan woke up around 2 a.m. amid total devastation: according to independent assessments in Gayan district, the hardest hit, 70 percent of homes were destroyed.

The Taliban reported at least 1,000 dead and more than 1,500 wounded. The U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed a lower death toll, but the tally is expected to rise as aid and relief efforts struggle to arrive.

The current government in Kabul does not seem to be able to handle the situation, and images released so far show people making do with makeshift stretchers, makeshift shelters and mass burials. Some houses, formed mostly of mud bricks, collapsed later due to the rain. Many people are still trapped under the rubble. "Given the unseasonably heavy rains and cold weather, emergency shelters are an immediate priority," Ocha officials said.

The spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan appealed to the international community, but that of aid continues to remain the great crux of the tragedy. After the Taliban recapture and the withdrawal of U.S. forces, the flow of foreign currency ending up in the Afghan state's coffers came to a halt: international aid accounted for nearly 80 percent of the national budget.

The entire country has plunged into poverty, nearly 20 million people-about half the population-now suffer acute hunger, human rights gains have been wiped out. The Taliban, which has put down its rifle to occupy state offices, cannot cope with one humanitarian crisis after another: government positions have been handed over to religious fanatics or ex-combatants, and foreign officials still in the country admit their inability to govern.

"We cannot reach the area. The networks are too weak; we are trying to get updates," Muhammad Ismail Muawiyah, spokesman for the military commandos in Paktika province, told Reuters, referring to mobile phone networks.

Remote and mountainous areas affected by the earthquake are prone to landslides. Even before the "Koranic students" came to power, aid workers were struggling to reach these areas, partly because of decades of guerrilla warfare. The southeastern provinces, strongholds of the Haqqani network-the Taliban's most ruthless and intransigent faction-have been the scene of clashes in the past, and economic development has never come: by necessity, therefore, the population is poor and housing is poorly constructed.

Today South Korea's Foreign Ministry pledged million in humanitarian aid; Pakistan, - which reported 30 casualties - will send a convoy of 8 trucks loaded with medicines, tents and blankets. Qatar has sent one plane and Iran two. The United States and the European Union have expressed their sympathy for the Afghan people on Twitter, but still struggle to deal with the awkwardness of the situation because sending aid would mean collaborating with the Taliban government. The United Nations said it will provide medical assistance but also added that it has no search and rescue capacity in Afghanistan.
The pontiff opened the festival inaugurating the World Meeting in the Paul VI Hall, celebrated simultaneously in Rome and in the dioceses. The Church wants to be close to people wherever they are. Forgiveness, acceptance and fellowship among people from different religions living within the same domestic walls are expressed in Francis words and personal testimonies.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis welcomed on Wednesday evening in the Paul VI Hall the families who have come to Rome for the 10th World Meeting of Families, which is being held simultaneously in the Italian capital and in the dioceses of the world.

"I would like to make you feel my closeness right where you are, in the actual conditions of your life, he said in his address.

During the Festival of Families opening the event, the pontiff listened to the testimonies of five families from different continents who found themselves taking "one step further" on their journey.

Francis listened to Serena and Luigi with their three children, who did not find open arms to welcome them in their parish but now felt called to marry in church.

"One does not get married to be labelled Catholic, to obey a rule, or because the Church says so, the pope explained. You marry because you want to base your marriage on the love of Christ, who is as firm as a rock.

For the pontiff, Family life is not an impossible mission. With the grace of the sacrament, God makes it a wonderful journey to undertake with Him, never alone. The family is not a beautiful ideal, unattainable in reality; God guarantees his presence in marriage and in the family, not only on the wedding day but throughout life.

Speaking to Roberto and Maria Anselma, the pontiff saw holiness in those who embrace the cross. Their daughter, Chiara Corbella Petrillo, was a young woman who, a few years ago, at the cost of her own life, delayed cancer treatment in order not to endanger the life of her son Francis.

In Chiaras heart, God placed the truth of a holy life, he said. She sought to preserve the life of her son with hers. As a wife, next to her husband, she walked the path of the Gospel of the family in a simple, spontaneous way. We always need great examples to look up to.

However, the path towards holiness also needs overcoming crises and forgiving one another, as witnessed by Paul and Germaine, a Congolese couple. No one wants a fixed-term love, Francis told them. This is why we suffer a lot when shortcomings, negligence and human sins wreck a marriage.

Yet, even in the midst of the storm, God sees what is in the heart. Forgiveness heals every wound; it is a gift that flows from the grace with which Christ fills the couple and the whole family when they are allowed to act, when we turn to him.

A couple that forgives each other are a great sign for their children who see humility but also the power you have received from the Lord to pick yourselves up after falling. They really need this.

At a time when Europe is engulfed in another tragedy, a testimony like that of Iryna and Sofia could be expected. A mother and daughter from Ukraine, they were forced to flee their homeland, eventually welcomed by Pietro and Erika into their home in Rome.

"War," the pope told them, has forced you to face cynicism and human brutality, but you have also met people of great humanity. It is important for everyone not to remain fixated on the worst but to value the best, all the goodness every human is capable of, and start again from there.

"Hospitality is precisely a charism of families, especially large ones, Francis added. Some might think that a large household would be less likely to welcome others; in reality, that is not the case, because families with many children learn to make room for others.

While those who are weaker are often rejected in anonymous situations; it is natural to welcome them in families: a child with disabilities, an elderly person in need of care, a relative in difficulty who has no one. . .. This gives hope because "a society will become cold and unbearable without welcoming families.

Lastly came the testimony of Zakia, a Muslim woman originally from Morocco, wife of Luca Attanasio, the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo killed just over a year ago in an ambush. They were an example of an interreligious family capable of giving itself to others, which is continuing through Mama Sofia, an association that Zakia and her daughters continue to run.

In addition to being husband and wife, you lived as fellows in humanity, fellows with different religious experiences, fellows in social commitment, Francis noted. This is also a lesson that is learnt in the family. In the family, living together with those who are different from me, we learn to be brothers and sisters.

For the Holy Father, these are five stories among millions, but God has a mission for every family in the world. What extra step does he ask of you? Listen to him, let yourselves be transformed by him, so that you too can transform the world and make it a home for those who need to be welcomed, for those who need to meet Christ and feel loved.
This morning Francis received in audience the participants in the 95th Plenary Assembly of Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO). The latter is an example of the "synodal journey" of the universal Church. From Syria to Tigray, it is committed to alleviate the suffering of peoples. In the Middle East, ecumenism already exists, first of all, as a local reality with shared suffering and witness.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis met this morning at the Vatican with representatives of the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO) who are in Rome for the organisations 95th Plenary Assembly (21-23 June).

In his address, the pontiff said that in order to create a symphony of charity, it is necessary to "seek agreement" and avoid "every temptation of isolation and closure" in oneself and in one's own group; instead, one has to remain open to welcome brothers and sisters who want to put themselves at the service of the Eastern Churches.

Turning to current events, Francis noted that ROACOs very intuition corresponds to the synodal journey that the universal Church is making", in accordance with a project that involves "different actors", from bishops to pontifical agencies and deputations.

Using again a musical metaphor, the pope explained how important it is to agree, to listen to one another, which facilitates discernment and leads to shared choices. The Assembly of Catholic Bishops in Syria during a conference held last March in Damascus is one of the examples he cited.

"In the desert of poverty and discouragement caused by 12 years of war that have prostrated the beloved and tormented Syria, you have been able to discover as a Church that the springs to make the steppes flourish again and give water to the thirsty will flow only if everyone knows how to give up a certain self-referentiality and listen to others to identify the true priorities.

The pope called on the international community and local authorities to do their duty, so that "they do not extinguish the last flame of hope for a people that is suffering so much.

Francis mentioned the special assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East and the tenth anniversary, next September, of the Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente promulgated by Benedict XVI during his trip to Lebanon.

In 10 years, the pope points out, many events have occurred, from sad ones that involved Iraq and Syria, to the upheavals in Lebanon itself. However, there are also some lights of hope such as the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity in Abu Dhabi.

It will be necessary to validate the fruits of the Synod for the Middle East on the ground; meanwhile, it is necessary to find updated tools and suitable ways to express closeness to the Churches of the region", starting with the renewed work of the coordination table on Syria and Iraq that started a few years ago, and including Lebanon.

Towards the end of his speech, the pontiff urged those present to follow the example of the Good Samaritan in the more critical situations, like the tragedy caused by the conflict that began in the Tigray and once again wounded Ethiopia and partly neighbouring Eritrea, as well as and especially the beloved and tormented Ukraine that saw the return of the tragedy of Cain and Abel with its Luciferian violence.

Prayers, concrete help in charity and every Christian tool are needed so that weapons may give way to negotiations. In this tragic context, the pope expressed gratitude for the work done to bring the affection of the Church and the pope in Ukraine and the countries that have taken in refugees.

Lastly, the pontiff also spoke about the Middle East during the audience granted today to the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches.

In this region, Francis explained, ecumenism already exists, first of all, as a local reality. Here, Many believers, I am thinking especially of those in the Middle East but also of those who have emigrated to the West, already live ecumenism in the daily lives of their families, work, and everyday acquaintances. They often experience together the ecumenism of suffering, through shared testimony in the name of Christ, sometimes even at the cost of their lives.
First China-Horn of Africa peace conference concludes with call for realizing shared aspirations

Xinhua) 09:04, June 23, 2022

ADDIS ABABA, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The First China-Horn of Africa Peace, Good Governance and Development Conference concluded on Tuesday in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, with a joint call for the realization of shared regional aspirations.

The high-level regional peace and development conference brought together ministers and senior government officials of Horn of Africa (HOA) countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and Djibouti who were joined by Xue Bing, Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Participants attending the two-day conference concluded their engagement, issuing a twelve-point joint statement.

The joint statement stated that participants conducted in-depth discussions on regional peace, development and governance in an atmosphere of unity, candor, pragmatism, and mutual respect.

They underscored that the HOA is the common home for people in the region and realizing regional peace, stability, development and prosperity serves the fundamental interests of all countries and meets the shared aspirations of all peoples in the region.

Noting the challenges confronting regional peace and security, the participants uphold the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security, work together to maintain peace and security in the region and build an HOA where the guns are silenced for sustainable peace, according to the joint statement.

"The parties are ready to step up high-level engagements and exchanges at all levels to enhance mutual political trust and keep improving relations among the countries in the region," the joint statement read.

They further expressed mutual willingness to demonstrate political will, take confidence-building measures, manage differences and disputes between countries of the region, and pursue peaceful settlement through dialogue and negotiation in an effort to ease the security situation in countries of the region.

They emphasized that the youth, women and girls are bearing the brunt of the current crises in the region due to gender inequalities, which hinder their participation in decision-making mechanisms and humanitarian responses. They called for the inclusion of youth, women and girls.

They further agreed to advocate for democracy and inclusive participation in politics by all nationals of countries in the region regardless of their gender, tribe or political affiliation.

The involved HOA countries reaffirmed their respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, commitment to non-interference in the other's internal affairs, and respect for countries' independent choice of development path, values and social systems.

"The parties remain committed to peaceful resolution of regional problems independently, and while supporting multilateralism, oppose unilateral sanctions as well as external interference in the internal affairs of the countries of the region," the joint statement read.

They uphold a coordinated approach to traditional and non-traditional security such as cyber security, terrorism, illegal arms and human trafficking, among others; and commit to greater cooperation in counter-terrorism in the region, and agree to jointly address extreme weather and natural disasters such as drought, flooding and locust infestation and safeguard food security of the region.

Noting that security, development and good governance challenges require a holistic approach, the parties reiterated to sustain regional integration by enhancing connectivity, strengthening cooperation in areas such as agriculture, trade, manufacturing, industry and infrastructure in order to build industrial and economic belts, create more jobs, drive growth and enhance self-driven development capacities.

They further agreed to promote exchanges and experience-sharing on good governance to increase the synergy of the development policies of the countries of the region and explore ways to settle disputes in an effort to foster a development environment for solidarity, stability and harmony.

The countries of the region further commend China for initiating the outlook on the Horn of Africa Peace, Good-governance and Development Conference, and commit to actively participate in implementing the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative.

"The region expresses its gratitude to China for providing COVID-19 vaccines, anti-COVID supplies, humanitarian assistance, locust control products and other assistance to the countries of the region," the joint statement read.

According to the joint statement, China reaffirmed its readiness to align the Belt and Road Initiative and the implementation of the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) meetings with the development policies of the countries of the region.

China reaffirmed its resolve to deepen cooperation in areas such as health, illegal migration, agricultural development for poverty reduction, trade, investment, infrastructure, green development and support efforts for building a development framework featuring "Two Axes plus two Coasts" such as the Addis Ababa-Djibouti and Mombasa-Nairobi development corridors and any other similar projects that enable to achieve regional integration, according to the joint statement.

The parties further called on the international community to enhance partnership with the HOA to collaborate on the needs identified by the countries of the region for development assistance, increase accessibility and diversity of development financing and make greater contributions to Africa's independent and sustainable development.

Meanwhile, the parties called on the international community to work together towards the peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Hongyu)
BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday held a phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian at the latter's request.

Amir Abdollahian wished a complete success for the 14th BRICS Summit as well as the High-level Dialogue on Global Development and expressed the belief that China as the rotating chair will create new opportunities for multilateral cooperation within the framework of the BRICS.

He reiterated Iran's support for the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative proposed by China.

Wang said the BRICS Summit and the High-level Dialogue on Global Development to be hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping holds great significance for strengthening the construction of the BRICS mechanism, enhancing the unity and cooperation between emerging markets and developing countries, as well as facilitating global efforts in dealing with common challenges to development.

China highly values its relations with Iran and stands ready to work with the Iranian side to continue to firmly support each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns in the spirit of the comprehensive strategic partnership, he said.

Amir Abdollahian briefed Wang on latest progress in the negotiations on resuming the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying that the bullying actions of the United States is the major obstacle to current negotiations.

He added that the Iranian side will unswervingly safeguard its national interests, and is firmly committed to resolving differences through negotiations, so as to achieve an agreement at an early date.

Amir Abdollahian also expressed gratitude to China for its constructive role on the Iranian nuclear issue.

Wang said that China disapproves of any non-constructive measures that lead to the continuous escalation of the situation, and that all parties should continue to uphold the correct logic of right and wrong and work tirelessly to reach an agreement through diplomatic efforts.

Wang said China opposes the politicization of affairs of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and supports the IAEA and Iran to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue and cooperation.

He said the U.S. side should earnestly realize its own responsibility and actively respond to Iran's reasonable demands, adding that the Chinese side will continue to uphold justice, support the negotiation process, and is willing to maintain close communication with the Iranian side. 
Today'sheadlines: Laos risks following Sri Lanka, where a wealthy tycoon has been appointed finance minister; in China, two human rights lawyers tried in court; South Korea will send a billion in aid to Afghanistan; Malaysia's palm oil crisis deepens.

MYANMAR

Myanmar's military junta has ruled that the judicial proceedings against Aung San Suu Kyi will take place in prison and no longer in a courtroom. The former Nobel Peace Prize laureate is being held at an unknown location in the capital Naypyitaw and the trial has been taking place behind closed doors for months. Ousted from government in a coup, Suu Kyi has been accused by the military of dozens of crimes.

SRI LANKA

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed Sri Lankan casino magnate Dhammika Perera as finance minister. Perera replaces one of the president's brothers, Basil, who resigned in recent weeks with part of the cabinet. Invested with the mandate to revive the economy, Perera will have to work alongside Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has accused him of corruption in the past.

LAOS

Some say protests may soon erupt in Laos in a similar scenario to Sri Lanka, although at the moment, for fear of retaliation, criticism against the government is mostly on social media. The economic crisis has been going on for months, and the country may find itself declaring bankruptcy, economists explain. Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh revealed that he is aware of the criticism against the People's Revolutionary Party.

CHINA

Two well-known Chinese human rights lawyers will be tried behind closed doors this week on subversion charges. The hearings for Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, who were arrested in June 2020, have been scheduled at the Linshu County Court in northeastern Shandong Province. Both are prominent figures within the New Citizens Movement, which fights for citizens to exercise their civil rights.

MALAYSIA

The crisis in palm oil production is worsening: on the one hand, fertilizers have become too expensive; on the other, there is also a shortage of foreign labor on the plantations. If 36,000 workers were missing before the pandemic, now planters say they need at least 120,000.

SOUTH KOREA - AFGHANISTAN

South Korea will provide million in humanitarian assistance to earthquake victims in Afghanistan. This was stated today by the Foreign Ministry in Seoul. According to Taliban authorities, there are about 1,000 dead and more than 1,500 injured. The 6.1-magnitude quake struck an area about 160 km (100 miles) southeast of Kabul.

UKRAINE

The occupied city of Mariupol still remains segregated in quarantine due to cholera infections, dysentery, and other illnesses caused by lack of water and anti-sanitary conditions, reports Mayor Vadim Boycenko while the Russians release no information about the real conditions of the population, which are steadily worsening.

UZBEKISTAN

Uzbek President Mirziyoyev also proposed a referendum on changes to the country's constitution, "to deal with this difficult time and complicated situations together," without specifying content, but introducing a rule that resets his presidential terms to zero in imitation of Russia's 2020 Putin constitution.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

So far the Russians have used Belarus to launch missiles and as a short cut to try to take Kiev. Critics and supporters of Lukashenko are against involvement in the conflict. Moscow pushing for direct Belarusian intervention.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - Belarus' armed forces are not taking part in Russia's war against Ukraine, but the Russians are launching rockets from Belarusian territory, and have begun part of the invasion maneuvers from there.

Military experts and observers have been discussing for weeks the possibility of explicit intervention of Minsk soldiers in the conflict. The Ukrainian Defense Minister's spokesman, Aleksandr Motuznjak, said in a televised debate that Belarus has concentrated about 4,000 soldiers on its borders with Ukraine, and Russia could add more troops to them and begin a new assault.

Belarusian expert Valerij Karbalevic spoke with Currentime.tv correspondents to comment on the possibility of Belarusian participation in the war, distinguishing between "the military and political components, and we see a growth of preparation for acts of war with the development of political propaganda." In recent days Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukasenko has said that Poland intends to occupy western Ukraine, "and we cannot allow it."

However, the decision is in the hands of the dictator in Minsk, who has always been good at exploiting the weaknesses of others, and especially those of Moscow. "It is one thing to join the victor, quite another to merge with a defeated country," Karbalevic notes.

On the one hand, one must take into account the negative consequences of economic sanctions, and on the other hand, the decidedly unfavorable reactions of Belarusian society on Russia's participation in the war. Both those for and against Lukasenko are against the conflict.

In Bobruysk in recent days the Belarusian president himself said that "no one knows how this war will end, and no predictions can be made." This surprised everyone, because until now he had always assured that Russia will win without argument, thanks to its enormous military superiority, attacking Zelenskyj for his stubbornness in refusing to surrender.

The joint maneuvers between the Russians and Belarusians in recent months are not considered by experts to be sufficient to make predictions, because the war capability of any army is revealed only in the course of battle. "As with sportsmen," according to Karbalevic, "no matter how much they train, strength is revealed during competition."

Belarus appears to be well supplied by the Russians themselves, especially in artillery and missile equipment, while tanks remain as they were at the end of the USSR, and only a few special units appear up to the challenge.

Many claim that it is Putin himself who is pushing Lukasenko to enter the war, but the Belarusian president denies such pressure. Yet since the beginning of the year the two have already met five times, and each time conversing for several hours.

Lukasenko has said after each meeting that "we talked about imports and trade," but it is quite clear that Belarus's participation becomes crucial if another attempt is to be made to take Kiev and the whole of Ukraine. As long as the military operation remains limited to the Donbass, Belarus can afford to sit back and wait for events.
BUENOS AIRES, June 23 (Xinhua) -- BRICS has played an important role in spurring cooperation between emerging economies and developing countries, and promoting multilateralism, an Argentine expert has said.

BRICS, an emerging-market group which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is a product of an increasingly multipolar world and also reflects the growing influence of emerging economies worldwide, Jorge Malena, director of the Asian Affairs Committee at the Argentine Council for International Relations told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Developed countries' influence on the world economy has been on the wane, with their contributions to the global growth falling gradually, Malena said.

Malena, who also heads the studies of China in the Global Era at Argentina's Catholic University, said several BRICS countries have become significant donors of aid to developing countries and key investors in both emerging and developed economies.

"China, in particular, is already one of the world's leading investors," he said, noting that the country spearheaded the creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank headquartered in Beijing, and BRICS established the New Development Bank (NDB) headquartered in Shanghai.

There is hope that BRICS investments could make the international economy more equitable, the expert added.

Taking the NDB as an example, Malena said the bank has not attached conditionality to its loans and made innovations in such ways as offering credit in local currency, Malena said.

From renewable energy projects in Brazil to railway network upgrade programs in India, the NDB had approved more than 80 projects in member countries by May 2021, with a total portfolio of some 30 billion U.S. dollars. 
HP

Folks, today we'll be taking a little mental journey through a mobile habitat dubbed the Escape . The name alone should tell you all you need to know about this machine and what sort of lifestyle it offers, one of absolute freedom.For a solid understanding of what you can expect from this habitat, we can look at the hearts and minds responsible for the design. This time around, Avida RV is the crew responsible for this off-grid magic. If you've never heard of them, all you need to know is that they're one of "Australia's original success stories" and have been around since 1965. With this much industry knowledge poured into each unit that leaves their lot, you can expect the Escape to be one heck of a machine.Oh, and as a little side note, back in 1978, Avida, then dubbed Freeway Camper Company, changed its name to, wait for it , Winnebago Industries, in the process, giving birth to the "Original Australian Winnebago." Yet, according to Avida's website, these Winnebago RVs weren't manufactured, designed, or even associated with the famed American brand; it wasn't until 2013 that the Avida name was finally chosen to describe this brand.Diving right in, the Escape is currently available for around $137,000 Australian, which is roughly $94,000 American (at current exchange rates). How is a camper van that includes everything you may need off-grid possibly being sold for under $100K? That's what we're about to find out.One part of why the Escape comes in with a relatively affordable asking price compared to other camper vans on the market is the use of a Fiat Ducato base vehicle with a 2.3-liter diesel engine with 160and 400 Nm (295 lb-ft) of torque. It's all about the torque with these machines as you want to ensure you can climb the mountain roads that your journey may throw at you and do so while loaded to the brim with gear and cargo Now for the juicy stuff. As you may have noticed by now, quite a few of the camper vans we see on the market seem to be lacking something. Sometimes it's a toilet, sometimes it's a shower. Other times, it could be the galley. All that brings me to my next point.Even though this camper van uses the same base vehicle as many others, Avida still managed to include sleeping space for up to four adults, a full indoor/outdoor galley, and even a complete bathroom, ready with a shower, toilet, sink, and vanity. Did I mention countless storage options tattered all over the habitat?How's all this achieved ? With over 50 years of industry experience, that's how. Part of the magic lies in the presence of two lounges, one at the front half of the Escape, making use of the driver and passenger swivel seats, and another at the opposite end, sitting behind the galley and bathroom.The forward lounge is mainly used for day-to-day settings, but at night, the rear lounge unlocks its secrets, and at the press of a button, a drop-down double bed is lowered into view, perfect for another two people.As for the rest of the unit, I invite you to explore the countless features and systems until the cows come home. Word of advice, take the time to really get to know your Escape. But, be warned, once you've done so, you may find yourself calling a particular Australian RV manufacturer (Avida) and trying to get one shipped to your current location.
Andrew Bedwell is an experienced sailor and adventurer, so his resume is the very definition of impressive . But its his next feat that will earn him a place in history, because he will try to set a new world record for the smallest, single-manned vessel crossing of the Atlantic. He will do it in a boat he calls the Big C, that he built himself at home over the past three years, give or take a few days.First things first, though. Earlier this month, The Big C started sea trials at Whitehaven, Cumbria, in preparation for her maiden (and only) voyage , scheduled to kick off in May 2023. Video of the sea trials is available at the bottom of the page: the Big C was launched to water, where it undertook stability testing.Bedwell said the small vessel performed admirably, so hes now looking forward to raising funds ahead of the journey. He has little success with that so far: as of the time of press, his GoFundMe campaign has raised just 900 of the 35,000 goal (thats $1,099 out of $42,800), even though the the crossing aims to raise funds for cancer research. Bedwell needs the money for electronics , safety equipment, transporting the Big C to Canada, and fuel for an accompanying support vessel.Thats not to say that Bedwell isnt doing this for his ego, too. As his recent interview with the Daily Mail reveals, hes always looking for the next big thing that will challenge him, and the Big C Atlantic crossing will do just that. The boat is just 1.4 meters (4.6 feet) long, made of fiberglass and foam, weighing 600 kg (1,323 pounds), and with room enough for him to sit down but not stretch his legs. Or to lie down in fetal position, to catch a 20-minute nap.Because Bedwell wont sleep through the nights on his big adventure, which he estimates will take 60 to 90 days. The boat moves slowly, at just 2.9 mph (4.7 kph), features a single-mast sailing rig and a plexiglass canopy that gives Bedwell about 40 minutes of protection against the elements before he suffocates.The crossing will be something like being stuck in a wheelie bin, on a rollercoaster for 90 days, Bedwell jokes. And hell be hungry most of the time, because food rations consist of 1,000-calorie packages (protein bars and mush) molded onto the walls of the vessel, one for each day of the crossing. Bedwell will only take with him one set of clothes, no soap (but maybe a toothbrush), no music, no radio, and no distractions. In one small bottle of spice, he carries the ashes of previous record holder Tom McNally, whose boat design he used for the Big C. He promised his daughter he would scatter his ashes at sea On the same note, the Big C doesnt have a toilet; it doesnt even have toilet paper, because space is so limited. When Bedwell compares it to a trash can, hes not only referring to its size. Unlike a trash can, the Big C has all the equipment allowing it to undertake the journey legally : AIS tracking system, VHF radio, rolling compass, two sails and two rudders, and a hand-pumped desalinization unit.The 1,900-mile (3,058-km) journey will start from Newfoundland, Canada, and end in Cornwall, UK. Bedwell admits that his attempt is crackers, but is sure that everything will be fine. Assuming he raises the necessary funds by deadline. And doesnt get hit by a tanker. Or a whale. Or gets caught in a big rolling storm. All these are some of the reasons for which Red Bull, famous for sponsoring all kinds of daredevil stunts, declined to back him.All jokes aside, it takes guts to be this crackers. The money Andrew Bedwell raises with his Big C Atlantic Challenge will go to cancer research  another tribute to McNally, who passed away from kidney cancer.
AMG

Snapped in Germany, this time with no camouflage wrapped around the body panels, the car features a green shade. This is the first thing that stands out, especially since BMW chose to portray it in a hue that was a bit duller in the press pics. Contrasting the color are few black elements and the usual visible carbon fiber. The M wheels, wrapped in Michelin tires, also had a black look.As every petrolhead and their neighbor knows, the M3 Touring is offered in the Competition xDrive flavor, meaning that it packs the punchier version of the twin-turbo 3.0-liter straight-six, and the rear-biased, all-wheel drive system. The engine develops 503 hp and 479 lb-ft (650 Nm) of torque, directed to both axles via a dual-clutch eight-speed automatic transmission. In this configuration, you are looking at 3.6 seconds required to hit 62 mph (100 kph) from a standstill, and a 174 mph (280 kph) top speed.BMW will kick off the assembly of their rival to the likes of the Audi RS 4 Avant and Mercedes-C 63 Estate in November, though the car will officially launch in several European countries two months earlier. It will also go on sale in global markets, with Australia getting theirs in right-hand drive configuration. In case you forgot, BMWs M Division has chosen not to offer the first-ever M3 Touring in our market, so it wont apply for a U.S. visa, which is a pity. Nonetheless, neither Audi Sport nor Mercedes-AMG are offering the RS 4 Avant and C 63 Estate, respectively, in the United States either.
EV

Unfortunately for the automotive world in general and for classic car aficionados in particular, only one of them is alive and well even today. Luckily, for all humankind, it is Robert R.J. Scaringe, the American entrepreneur and engineer who founded and is currently the CEO of electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian As for General Motors initial entry into the then-sprawling personal luxury car market segment, the Buick Riviera was once a highly praised and high-profile entry into the fold  and now but a fond memory of dearly departed times. After all, it ceased its worldly existence and moved on across the plains of car Valhalla after the 1999 model year and following a cool eight-generation stint.No worries, though, as it will not be forgotten  for both the right and wrong reasons. As far as Henry Andrus (formerly known as Andrews) is concerned, you need to be the judge of that. He is the virtual artist better known as photo.chopshop on social media who has a prolific imagination when it comes to mashups , including vintageones, so we are just going to state the facts.As such, this pixel master is a well-established persona among those digital experts with a knack for outrageous CGI mashup ideas. Most of his creations are utterly horrendous but do not jump to conclusions and hurry up to dismiss his work  out of sheer luck or pure passion, he sometimes nails some crazy mixes that would look great even in real life Alas, we are not so sure what to make out of this Buick Riviera R1T. On the one side, it is creepily dark and, on the other side, it looks like the gloomy yet cool child of a dystopian, neo-noir Rivian EV past. Plus, I just imagined Logan (aka Wolverine) at the wheel
This time around, we have a traditional GM versus Mopar brawl, as the videographer behind the Drag Racing and Car Stuff channel on YouTube has prepared (embedded below, uploaded on June 22nd) yet another enticing feature centered around a nimble Z06 and a big Hellcat . And no, there is no surprise appearance of a Blue Oval, at least not this time around.Instead, during one clear night, there were no less than four rounds of quarter-mile dragstrip shenanigans showcased at Bradenton Motorsports Park over in Bradenton, Florida. So we apologize in advance for the rather low quality of the footage. Grainy or not, it does not matter, especially not to crimson car fans, as both these hoots were ready, willing, and red.So, without further ado, round one kicks off with the red Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat in the left lane and the crimson C7 Chevy Corvette Z06 tucked in the right one, both looking pretty much bone stock on factory tires (at least that is the comment assessment of drag racing fans). Thus, with the machines being kind of leveled (C7 is less powerful but Hellcat is bulkier) out, this is a statement of both driver skill and consistency.And there is plenty of both, with the first skirmish ready to set the perspective via an 11.24s versus 11.59s result. One nothing for team C7, but to be fair, the next two rounds (from 0:46 and 1:20) see the usual lane switcheroo and the Hellcat tucked in the right lane. Well, it worked like a charm the first time (11.49s for Dodge, 11.5s for C7). But then it was time for some Corvette schooling yet again, as the consistent Z06 performed a couple of 11.4 and 11.44s passes against the narrowly slower 11.51s and 11.66s Challenger.
A kite exhibition is held during the Chinese kite festival in Kalkara, Malta, on June 22, 2022. (Photo by Jonathan Borg/Xinhua)

The festival is organized to encourage schoolchildren to celebrate diversity, unity and different cultures through the building of kites.

VALLETTA, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The Esplora Interactive Science Centre in Malta was bustling with activities on Wednesday as students from primary schools got a break from the classroom to attend the 4th edition of the Chinese kite festival.

The festival is organized to encourage schoolchildren to celebrate diversity, unity and different cultures through the building of kites.

Wednesday's event was attended by about 100 primary students from seven schools. It culminated in a colorful lion dance performance. There is also a kite exhibition that will remain open until Friday and kite flying outdoors.

The event is organized jointly by the China Cultural Center in Malta, the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, the Ministry of Education and Esplora.

Students design their kites during the Chinese kite festival in Kalkara, Malta, on June 22, 2022. (Photo by Jonathan Borg/Xinhua)

Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, president emeritus and chair of the foundation, said the event is dedicated to the history of kite making, which originated from China, and uses kites to build peace and educate people about China's rich cultural heritage.

China and Malta have always had a very close relationship, she said.

"Using the kite as a catalyst, it gives us the opportunity to tell young people a bit more about China, to help them understand and get interested in the people of China. This is a way of developing friendship, understanding and respect for each other."

"Together we can build peace, because it is peace that can ensure our success and prosperity in the future," she noted.

Emile Vassallo, director general of the Department for Educational Services of the Ministry of Education, said the kite festival was only an introduction to Chinese culture.

"I would like you to do more research about what you've learned today about China, about kite flying and about the need to never stop learning," he told his audience.

Students fly their kites made by themselves during the Chinese kite festival in Kalkara, Malta, on June 22, 2022. (Photo by Jonathan Borg/Xinhua)

Vassallo told Xinhua that the festival explored the scientific and artistic aspects of China's kite culture. He said he expected to see more events and activities of this kind, from which Maltese students could learn more about Chinese culture.

"We look forward to more events and stronger cooperation between our schools and the China Cultural Center," he said.

"The Chinese language is beautiful," he said, "We are trying to promote the Chinese language. Thanks to the Confucius Institute at the University of Malta, we have been assisted with finding teachers who could teach Chinese to our students."

Sueellen Grech, a teacher from the Senglea primary school, told Xinhua that the event helped the children learn more about the science behind flying a kite.

The first Chinese kite festival was held in 2018 in the Verdala Palace in Buskett, the summer residence of the president of Malta. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival was canceled in 2020. Last year, the third edition of the festival was held online. 
Ironically, Musk also said Rivian and Lucid were tracking toward bankruptcy because they would be losing too much money in this beginning. What the Tesla CEO seems to miss is that both companies have the backup of deep-pocket investors and also a lot of cash in the bank to endure the ramp-up of their factories. Rivian already said it has enough money to increase its lineup and open its Georgia factory. The $17 billion it has in the bank can keep it up until 2025, at least.On the other hand, Tesla bought bitcoins when the crypto asset lost value, Musk decided to buy Twitter, and we are not very sure how much cash Tesla has to spend while waiting for its two new factories to start generating profits. If it did not have enough, it is wise to ask why it decided to open two new factories almost simultaneously without new products for them to manufacture. Musk did not spare words to refer to the companys current situation. He said the German and Texan factories are gigantic money furnaces and that they are losing billions of dollars right now. Teslas priority is putting Giga Shanghai back to the same production levels it had before the lockdown and also to get the two new plants pumping out all the cars they can make as soon as possible.The Tesla CEO confesses issues with the 4680 cells are among the company's bottlenecks and that Giga Grunheide luckily does not use them in their cars. The thing is so serious that he is concerned about how to keep the factories working so we can pay people and not go bankrupt.All things considered, it is clear that Tesla is burning money primarily because of the decisions it took, not because of the difficulties we already know by heart: supply shortages, the international health crisis, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and so forth. Unlike Rivian and Lucid, admitting a bankruptcy risk shows Teslas money reserves may not be as healthy as they needed to be for it to double its number of factories all at once.
But lets start with the adjacent activities that offer extra rewards this week. If youre into Robbery Contracts, youll be earning double GTA$ and RP for any completed mission, so make sure to check the whiteboard inside the Auto Shops. The same goes for Exotic Exports operations, so good luck finding the wanted vehicles on the blackboard.More importantly, all LS Car Meet activities will dish out triple the usual RP, so visit the Cypress Flats to sign up for membership if you didnt already. Those participate in any Rockstar Created Stunt Races will be rewarded with 2X GTA$ and RP until June 29.Another source of extra income for GTA Online players this week are the Trevor Contact Missions, which will pay out double GTA$ and RP until June 29, so visit Trevor Philips at his trailer in Sandy Shores.The best way to earn rewards this week is to modify and deliver vehicles in Auto Shop Client Jobs, activities that will pay out triple the usual GTA$.Furthermore, speed addicts who place in the top 3 in a Pursuit Race for five days in a row this week will earn the Vapid FMJ. Also, dont forget to visit the Test Track to give the Karin Calico GTF, Annis ZR350, and Obey Tailgater S a spin at no personal cost.Finally, the stunning Dinka RT 3000 roadster is this weeks big price at The Diamond Casino & Resort, so pay a visit and give the Lucky Wheels a spin. Worst case scenario, youll go home with GTA$, RP, clothing, accessories, mystery prizes, or even snacks.
And Ken Block probably knows that better than most people. Over the past decade, he's crashed multiple times, and he has gone through plenty of mechanical failures. It's never an easy pill to swallow, and it's particularly more annoying when it happens just before the main event.This week, some of the fastest drivers in the world have gathered in Colorado for the 100th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb . The first race was held back in 1916, and Rea Lentz was the fastest man to the top with a time of 20 minutes and 55 seconds.The event was put on hold during World War I and World War II, but organizers, fans, and drivers came back for more high-speed action afterward. Gradually, the gravel sections have been replaced by paved ones. Starting in 2012, all the races on the famous mountain have been held on asphalt.And that's something hardcore fans of the event don't agree with entirely. The current record was set in 2018, as Romain Dumas managed to dip below the 8-minute mark in the Volkswagen I.D.R. Meanwhile, motorcycles have also been banned from the Race to the Clouds.With 156 turns, a length of 12.42 miles (19.99 km), and an elevation increase of 4,720 ft (1,440 meters), this event is not for the faint of heart. And everyone was excited to see Ken Block going at it in his new race car: the Hoonipigasus The 1,400-hp pink Porsche was unveiled about a month ago, and it only weighs in at about 2,204 lbs (1,000 kg). The Hoonigan legend arrived at Pikes Peak three days ago and gave the world a glimpse of the Hoonipigasus sitting next to his Audi RS e-tron GT But things went south quite fast for the 54-year-old race driver from California. Two separate engine components failed within two days, giving him space for little to no practice for Sunday's main event. With just one timed run of 2 minutes and 57 seconds, he was nowhere near as fast as Rhys Millen.But he was considerably faster than Ralf Christensson in the Radical RXC GT3. At this stage, the team was left with just one option. With the car back in the garage, the engine was removed for a thorough inspection.The conclusion was a sad one: "The block is shot." In just one phrase, expectations for the 100th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb went from poor to zero. The car will still be on display in the Toyo Tires booth, but it won't be going up the hill, at least not until next year. Let's just hope Ken's next viral video will include some shots of the Hoonipigasus as well.
Retrofitting old fleets with zero-emission systems is one of the many paths that can lead to cleaner transportation, and this solution is being implemented for a variety of vehicles, from cargo aircraft to locomotives and vessels.This is whats coming up for Pyxis Ocean, a five-year-old massive bulk carrier with an 80,962 deadweight tonnage. But it wont be fitted with fuel cells or batteries. Instead, a pair of sails will help reduce its fuel consumption. It should be a significant reduction of up to 30% for the full-scale deployment, which is estimated to be higher than that of all other wind propulsion solutions on the market.The sails are called WindWings and were designed by the naval architects at BAR Tech, a company derived from former British Americas Cup Team. Pyxis Ocean is a Mitsubishi Corporation vessel that will become the first one to be equipped with the WinsWings. Yara Marine will be in charge of the retrofit, in collaboration with Cargill.This modern sailing system is completely automated, with wings that can be launched or folded away with just the touch of a button. This also means that theres no need for an additional crew. Its greatest advantage is the significant reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions without affecting speed. Plus, its versatile enough to be installed on ships of various sizes, both new and old.Reductions in fuel consumption via the exploitation of wind energy as a free fuel generates the two-fold benefits of lower fuel costs and lower emissions, said John Cooper, CEO of BAR Tech.Proudly sporting its new WindWings, Mitsubishi s Pyxis Ocean will be entering service at the beginning of next year.
Today, June 23, 2022, the world celebrates the International Women in Engineering Day, which gave the British supercar maker the perfect opportunity to celebrate womens contribution in the field of engineering with this special, multi-colored art car.The supercar s colorful design was created in collaboration with Plan International, so it also celebrates the first anniversary of McLarens partnership with the childrens rights charity.One of the women McLaren intends to celebrate for her contribution in engineering is Ella Podmore, a materials scientist who worked on the companys latest hybrid supercar, the Artura model.McLaren and Plan International recently conducted a study to determine what impact female role models have on young girls who want to pursue a career in engineering. Said research found that a whopping 75% of girls are interested in engineering careers, a field that is mostly dominated by men at the moment. Additionally, the study revealed that 24% of girls doubt their ability to study and pursue science, technology, and engineering careers.During the kaleidoscope-like cars unveiling, Mandeep Dhatt, Executive Director of HR, McLaren Automotive, said, "International Women in Engineering Day is vital to help focus attention on the importance of encouraging our young people to explore pursuing STEM educational and career options that are open to them. Yet the study jointly commissioned with Plan International shows that we have no room for complacency in smashing negative and persistent gender stereotypes that can hold our young people back."As such, McLaren has already started to organize skills-based educational workshops, and pledges to offer 1,000 girls the opportunity to take part by 2025.The first educational workshop was hosted by Ella Podmore herself, who has a degree in materials engineering and was named 2021 Young Woman Engineer of the Year by the Institution of Engineering and Technology.The Goodwood Festival of Speed is taking place between June 23-26 and McLaren already unveiled its new Artura GT4 racer before the FoS premiere.
Although NASA's Curiosity rover is getting ready to celebrate its 10th year on Mars, the machine shows no signs of slowing down. These past months, the rover has been climbing Mount Sharp, going from a clay-rich area to one filled with a salt mineral called sulfate. Exploring this transition zone can help scientists understand more about the Red Planet's watery past.

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SUV

The KJ rolled out with a unibody and rack-and-pinion steering for the 2002 model year. Although a bit softer than its predecessors, the KJ and subsequent KK brought in a plethora of new customers to the Jeep brand.Internally codenamed KL, the fifth- and current-generation Cherokee is often dismissed over its Fiat Compact-based platform. The diehards certainly made their point, loud and clear. But on the other hand, stepping up to the Trailhawk unlocks all the off-road capability expected of a compact utility vehicle with unitary construction. A bit pricey at $34,895 for the most basic of configurations, the Cherokee certainly shows its age.The KL entered production back in June 2013 for the 2014 model year, and Jeep knows that something needs to change. Calendar year 2021 sales for the U.S. market are down 34 percent over the previous year, and truth be told, the compactsegment can only be described as pretty crowded. Motor Trend asked Christian Meunier and Jim Morrison about the future of the Cherokee, and both of them confirmed that a redesign is currently in the works. Bigger and better than ever is Morrisons take on the newcomer.Meunier added that a lot of electrification is planned for the Cherokee, which is the way to go due to increasingly draconic regulations for emissions and fuel economy. A bigger electrified Cherokee isnt all there is to the sixth gen because Jeep is likely to expand the Wagoneer brand.Sources told Mopar Insiders that another smaller Wagoneer vehicle will be added to the mix sometime in 2024 or 2025. That vehicle will be based on the next-generation Cherokee (KM), and even though specifics arent known at press time, the STLA Large platform is rumored for the KM. STLA Large stands for Stellantis, the cross-border merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Groupe PSA, and large-ish vehicles. The only way up from here is the STLA Frame, a body-on-frame architecture thats been confirmed for an electric pickup truck and a range-extended truck.
SUV

EV

#NIO #ET5 testing vehicle losses control, falls off 3rd floor of a building in Jiading, 1 passer-by reportedly dead, driver condition unknown.

(D1EV) pic.twitter.com/0pqHiSQWvJ  Moneyball (@DKurac) June 23, 2022

While the pictures shared on Weibo suggest it is an electric sedan, The Paper said it was an electric. Considering the vehicle is still using camouflage, it could be an ES7 if the Shanghainese newspaper is correct. However, the images suggest otherwise.Checking the pictures, it seems that the sedan that jumped from NIOs headquarters was not the ET5, as the tweet below suggests. CNEVPost said it was the ET7, which is the best guess so far based on some elements visible in the shots shared on Chinese social media.The front grille in this vehicle presents two fins, exactly like that on the ET7. The ET5 only has one fin in its narrower front grille. The trunk lid is longer and follows the glass roof lines. On the ET5 , the trunk lid invades the C-pillar extensions. Finally, the edge of the rear doors does not go down in a straight line towards the rear wheel wells like in the ET5. In the crashed electric sedan, they tilt to end ahead of these recesses, almost contouring them.According to CNEVPost , there were two people in the ET7. Moneyball talks about a dead passerby and that there was no information about the health of the crasheddriver. In an update, CNEVPost said the two people in the ET7 died: one in the resuscitation attempts and the other at the hospital. It also fell from the third floor, not the fifth.With the gruesome outcome, there's yet another crucial piece of information missing: why this happened. NIO confirmed the crash and said that they were investigating what led to the incident. Telematics data and videos are now the only way to explain it. The ET7 started reaching its customers in China in April and will be the first vehicle delivered in Germany. The risk that the wreck was caused by a sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) episode may tarnish the EVs reputation. NIO knows it must issue an honest and convincing explanation as soon as possible.
"Ukrposhta" announced the issue of stamps with the famous dog Patron, which helps rescuers in demining. pic.twitter.com/CZckxba5If  NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 24, 2022

Patron can detect mines and such, but theres little he can do to actually remove the munition and take it to places where it can be safely destroyed. For that, specialized equipment is needed, or incredibly brave people.Since not long ago, the list of specialized equipment that can do that does include dogs. Not real ones, but the quad-legged, headless robot dogs called Spot and put together by Boston Dynamics.Now, weve gotten used to this machine over the past few years, as weve seen it performing all sorts of feats, from herding sheep to ganging up to pulling full-sized trucks down the road. On some occasions, even, weve seen it train with the military. But never before did we see or hear of it being deployed in a war zone.According to a report by Foreign Policy , citing a person familiar with the decision, that could soon change, as the U.S. may be sending a Spot to Ukraine.The report claims the robot dog is one of two now being used by the U.S. Army, and it will be given to the HALO Trust, an organization dedicated to clearing landmines and other explosives.In turn, HALO is said to take the robot to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and the surrounding areas, where it should help with the disposal of mortar shells and cluster munitions. More precisely, the Spot will have a robotic arm for a head, with which it is expected to move the munitions to places where they can safely be disposed of.The source says Boston Dynamics did not officially comment on the deployment of the Spot robot to a war zone.
The avionics and cabin integration supplier has been commissioned by Volocopter to develop and produce an optical splitter for VoloCitys flight control system, as well as components for the battery management system.As per the recently signed agreement, the two companies aim to upgrade the technologies in conventional airplane flight control systems by switching from the fly-by-wire approach used in aircraft such as Airbus planes to a fly-by-light technology that is supposed to be safer and offer higher performance.The new system will replace the electrical signals sent via copper wires with light signals sent via optical fibers, to transmit measured values and control commands. The electrical signals from the flight control computer are translated into optical signals controlled optoelectronically, as explained by Diehl Aerospace.The avionics specialist says that the fly-by-light control is immune to electromagnetic interferences such as those coming from cell phones and transmission towers. Therefore, the system would be extremely useful for the VoloCity air taxi , which plans to fly at low altitudes in cities.Diehl Aerospaces optical splitter will provide control information to the eVTOL s total of eighteen rotors. An additionally-developed DCU (data concentration unit) will collect optical signals from the rotors, converting them into digital data and providing the pilot with feedback on the engine speed and temperature.Lastly, the company will also supply components for monitoring the batteries of the VoloCity, providing the pilot with relevant info on the remaining energy and the possibility to control the power supply. Volocopters air taxi is equipped with nine battery packs.The VoloCity, which should hit the market in 2024, is a two-seater that claims to offer ranges of up to 35 km (21 miles) and can fly at a top speed of 110 kph (68 mph).
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Botafogo is in talks with Al-Rayyan about the possibility of signing Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez, according to media reports in Brazil.

The Rio de Janeiro club has offered 5.3 million U.S. dollars to prise the 30-year-old away from the Qatari outfit, the newspaper O Globo reported.

It added that Rodriguez was open to the offer, though he is understood to prefer a return to Europe.

Rodriguez is contracted to Al-Rayyan until next June. He has made just 14 appearances and scored six goals since joining the club from Everton last September.

Botafogo is currently seventh in Brazil's 20-team Serie A standings, having earned a promotion to the top flight last November.

The two-time top-flight champion has made a number of high-profile signings since American businessman John Textor purchased a majority stake in the club in December. 
As we stood there marveling at the Odessa floating in a Genoa port, we couldn't help but snap a photo or two of this floating palace. Upon trying to go further into this journey, a bodyguard standing on the ship's dock denied all curiosity. However, through the magic of Google and our friends at Burgess Yachts , we can still explore the unseen beauties of this ship.Since all we could witness from afar was a chrome-filled beach club, we started to understand a bit about what makes this ship so dang prestigious, even though it's a rather small vessel compared to other craft that charter for such a price. Overall, guests will be able to access 48.8 meters (160 feet) of ship and unfurl their activities over three decks; that's it. But we all know what they say about big things and small packages, and Odessa is no exception to that rule.With accommodations for up to 12 guests, you can bet your bottom dollar that all that space is designed to pamper every inch of your body, mind, and soul. Sure, there are nine crew members and six available cabins, owner's loft included, but the endless toys and gear are the main attraction point of this no-price-menu lifestyle Just to kick things off, there are three tenders aboard the Odessa, but it's the jacuzzi where you'll find me the most often or possibly taking turns on the waterslide. Not big into watersports? There's a trampoline for you, although diving into Mediterranean waters from a trampoline found on a superyacht deck is a must, folks!If you're an adrenaline junky and/or just love speed, a couple of wave runners, two SeaBobs, and a flyboard are part of that 250,000 ($263,000 at current exchange rates) package. Yup, wakeboards, surfboards, and just about any other board you can think of are also part of this ship's magic. Not so sure about shuffleboard, though. Maybe you'd like to bulk up during your vacation; there's a gym for that with gear for your entire body.If all that doesn't make up for the weekly rate for Odessa, the upcoming info should help you finally grasp why we weren't allowed to set foot on this marvel. Aside from featuring a full-beam suite for the owner, a typical feature available on most superyachts , it's the large sun deck where you may find yourself hanging out most of the time. Alfresco dining is to be enjoyed one deck lower.But, it's once you step inside Odessa that you'll understand the bodyguard's unwavering vigilance. If you're someone who may be aware of the sort of goods and furnishings that come out of Armani Casa, you'll recognize their work immediately. Combined with walnut joinery and hardwood floors, marbles, leathers, and semiprecious metals, it's clear why we weren't allowed on board. God forbid someone happened to sneeze on this stuff Besides that, there is so much more to discover on the Odessa, and frankly, I'm not the least bit upset that we couldn't climb aboard this aquatic castle. After all, I would be questioning every little action of mine as I explored inch upon inch of this ship, and that's no way to live.If you want to experience the Odessa without having to worry about leaving your fingerprints all over the furnishings, this puppy is available through numerous charter services. What are you up to this summer?
In 2016, Genting Hong Kong ordered two new cruise liners, to be operated by Dream Cruises once completed . They would herald a new class of liners, the Global-class, and would rank among the worlds largest by size (second only to the Oasis-class from Royal Caribbean ) and as number one in the world in terms of passenger capacity. They would also bring a series of other world firsts, including the worlds largest cinema at sea.The gigantic, 343-meter (1,122-foot) Global Dream and sister ship Global Dream II would offer accommodation for over 9,000 guests and 2,200 crew, 208,000 GT of interior volume, and insane amenities, and each had a construction budget of $1.8 billion. Work on the first ship started in 2018, while Global Dream II began construction in 2019.The latter is getting ready for its maiden voyage, but it will be far from the spectacular one imagined: as German publication An Bord notes, it will head directly to the scrapyard, where it will be sold piece by piece.The massive vessel is in dry dock at the MV Werften shipyard in Warnemunde, Germany, with part of the hull already complete, machinery and basic systems installed. MV Werften filed for bankruptcy early in 2022, as did Genting Hong Kong and all the cruise liners it operated, including Dream Cruises. The cruise industry was among the hardest-hit in the 2020 international health crisis, and this is just an example.Now, managers for the project are forced to cut their losses as quickly as possible, as the shipyard has to vacate the premises. This means Global Dream II has to leave dry dock, one way or the other. Since a buyer couldnt be found, the machinery and fittings will be sold off as they are, while the hull will most likely be sold as scrap, the report notes.Global Dream is in a somewhat better position, at least for the time being: the ship is in dry dock as well, but construction is 80% complete because work started earlier. Insolvency administrators hope the Global Dream will find a new owner and maybe operator, but the reality right now is that demand for cruise liners has dropped.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.
Chinese President Xi Jinping hosts the 14th BRICS Summit via video link in Beijing, capital of China, June 23, 2022.

Xi delivered remarks titled "Fostering High-quality Partnership and Embarking on a New Journey of BRICS Cooperation" at the summit. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired the 14th BRICS Summit on Thursday evening in Beijing via video link. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Summit.

President Xi made welcoming remarks first. He noted that over the past year, despite formidable and complex circumstances, BRICS countries have embraced the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, enhanced solidarity and coordination and jointly addressed difficulties.

He said the BRICS mechanism has demonstrated resilience and vitality. BRICS cooperation has achieved sound progress and results. This Summit is held at a critical juncture in the shaping of the future course of humanity. BRICS countries, as important emerging markets and major developing countries, need to act with a sense of responsibility, speak out for equity and justice, remain firm in the conviction that the pandemic will be defeated, pool strength for economic recovery, advocate sustainable development, jointly contribute wisdom and ideas to the high-quality development of BRICS cooperation and bring positive, stabilizing and constructive strength to the world.

President Xi delivered an important speech titled "Fostering High-quality Partnership and Embarking on a New Journey of BRICS Cooperation".

Xi pointed out that our world today is living through accelerating changes unseen in a century and continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. They confront humanity with unprecedented challenges. Over the past 16 years, the giant ship of BRICS has sailed forward tenaciously against raging torrents and storms. Riding the wind and cleaving the waves, it has embarked on a righteous course of mutual support and win-win cooperation. Standing at the crossroads of history, we should both look back at the journey we have traveled and keep in mind why we established BRICS in the first place, and look forward to a shared future of a more comprehensive, close, practical and inclusive high-quality partnership so as to jointly embark on a new journey of BRICS cooperation.

First, we need to uphold solidarity and safeguard world peace and tranquility. Some countries attempt to expand military alliances to seek absolute security, stoke bloc-based confrontation by coercing other countries into picking sides, and pursue unilateral dominance at the expense of others' rights and interests. If such dangerous trends are allowed to continue, the world will witness even more turbulence and insecurity. It is important that BRICS countries support each other on issues concerning core interests, practice true multilateralism, safeguard justice, fairness and solidarity and reject hegemony, bullying and division. China would like to work with BRICS partners to operationalize the Global Security Initiative (GSI), advocate a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, create a new path to security that features dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance and win-win over zero-sum, and bring more stability and positive energy to the world.

Second, we need to uphold cooperation to boost development and jointly tackle risks and challenges. The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis has cast shadows over development worldwide, and emerging markets and developing countries bear the brunt. But just as a crisis may bring chaos, it can also spur change. A lot will ride on how we handle the crisis. BRICS countries should boost connectivity of industrial and supply chains and jointly meet challenges in poverty reduction, agriculture, energy, logistics and other fields. We should support greater development of the New Development Bank and improve the Contingent Reserve Arrangement to cement the BRICS financial safety net and firewall. We should also expand BRICS cooperation on cross-border payment and credit rating to facilitate trade, investment and financing among our countries. China stands ready to work with BRICS partners to add more substance to the Global Development Initiative (GDI), re-energize the implementation of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, build a global community of development, and contribute to stronger, greener and healthier global development.

Third, we need to uphold the pioneering spirit and innovation and unleash the potential and vitality of cooperation. Those who seek to create monopoly, blockade and barriers in science and technology in order to disrupt other countries' innovation and development and hold on to their dominant position are doomed to fail. We need to improve global science and technology governance and allow more people to access and benefit from the fruits of scientific and technological advances. We have accelerated the building of the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution Innovation Center, reached the Digital Economy Partnership Framework, and issued the Initiative for Cooperation on Digitalization of Manufacturing. All these have opened new channels for closer industrial policy coordination between BRICS countries. Recognizing the importance of talents in the digital age, we have set up the Alliance for Vocational Education to build a talent pool for stronger BRICS cooperation on innovation and entrepreneurship.

Fourth, we need to uphold openness and inclusiveness and pool collective wisdom and strength. BRICS countries gather not in a closed club or an exclusive circle, but a big family of mutual support and a partnership for win-win cooperation. Over the past five years, we have organized a variety of "BRICS Plus" events in such areas as vaccine research and development, scientific and technological innovation, people-to-people exchanges and sustainable development. All these provide new platforms for cooperation among emerging markets and developing countries, and set a prime example of South-South cooperation and seeking strength through unity among emerging markets and developing countries. Under the new circumstances, it is all the more important for BRICS countries to pursue development with open doors and boost cooperation with open arms. It is important to advance the process of BRICS membership expansion to allow like-minded partners to become part of the BRICS family at an early date. This will inject new vitality into BRICS cooperation and increase the representativeness and influence of BRICS.

He stressed that as representatives of emerging markets and developing countries, we must make the right decision and take responsible actions at this critical juncture of history. What we do will have a significant impact on the world. Let us stay united, pool strength and forge ahead to build a community with a shared future for mankind and jointly create a bright future for humanity.

The leaders attending the summit thanked China for hosting this event and the efforts it made for promoting BRICS cooperation. They believed that facing international uncertainties, BRICS countries should strengthen solidarity, carry forward the BRICS spirit, consolidate strategic partnership and jointly respond to various challenges so that BRICS cooperation can reach a new level and play a bigger role in international affairs.

Under the theme of "Foster High-quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development", leaders of the five countries held in-depth exchange of views on BRICS cooperation in various sectors and major issues of common concern and reached important consensus. They agreed on the need to stay committed to multilateralism, work for greater democracy in global governance, safeguard fairness and justice, and inject stability and positive energy into the turbulent international landscape.

They agreed on the need to jointly respond to COVID-19, give full play to such mechanisms as the BRICS Vaccine R&D Center, promote fair and equitable distribution of vaccines, and enhance preparedness in the face of public health crises.

They agreed on the need to deepen practical economic cooperation, firmly defend the multilateral trading system, work to foster an open world economy, oppose unilateral sanctions and "long-arm jurisdiction", strengthen cooperation in such fields as digital economy, technological innovation, industrial and supply chains, food and energy security, and jointly promote world economic recovery.

They agreed on the need to promote shared global development, give priority to addressing the most pressing needs of developing countries, eradicate poverty and hunger, address the challenge posed by climate change together, expand the application of such technologies as aerospace and big data in the field of development, accelerate the implementation of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and make BRICS contribution to jointly ushering in a new era of global development.

They agreed on the need to strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchange and mutual learning and forge more signature projects in various sectors including think tanks, political parties, media and sports.

They also agreed on the need to pursue "BRICS Plus" cooperation at more levels, in broader areas and within a greater scope, actively advance the BRICS membership expansion process, keep BRICS abreast of the times, increase its appeal and relevance, and constantly strive for substantive, solid and sustained progress.

The XIV BRICS Summit Beijing Declaration was adopted and released at the event.

The BRICS leaders were also briefed by representatives of relevant BRICS cooperation mechanisms on their work.

Ding Xuexiang, Wang Yi and He Lifeng, among others, attended the Summit. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosts the 14th BRICS Summit via video link in Beijing, capital of China, June 23, 2022.

Xi delivered remarks titled "Fostering High-quality Partnership and Embarking on a New Journey of BRICS Cooperation" at the summit.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the summit. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosts the 14th BRICS Summit via video link in Beijing, capital of China, June 23, 2022.

Xi delivered remarks titled "Fostering High-quality Partnership and Embarking on a New Journey of BRICS Cooperation" at the summit. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosts the 14th BRICS Summit via video link in Beijing, capital of China, June 23, 2022.

Xi delivered remarks titled "Fostering High-quality Partnership and Embarking on a New Journey of BRICS Cooperation" at the summit. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosts the 14th BRICS Summit via video link in Beijing, capital of China, June 23, 2022.

Xi delivered remarks titled "Fostering High-quality Partnership and Embarking on a New Journey of BRICS Cooperation" at the summit. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosts the 14th BRICS Summit via video link in Beijing, capital of China, June 23, 2022.

Xi delivered remarks titled "Fostering High-quality Partnership and Embarking on a New Journey of BRICS Cooperation" at the summit. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) _ Steelcase Inc. (SCS) on Wednesday reported a loss of $11.4 million in its fiscal first quarter.

The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based company said it had a loss of 10 cents per share. Losses, adjusted for restructuring costs and amortization costs, came to 5 cents per share.
UNITED NATIONS, June 23 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday appealed for funding to meet the urgent needs of 8 million children at risk of death from severe undernutrition ahead of this year's Group of Seven (G7) summit.

Almost 8 million children under 5 in 15 crisis-hit countries are at risk of death from severe wasting, the most visible and lethal form of undernutrition, unless they receive immediate therapeutic food and care, UNICEF said in a press release.

The number is rising by the minute, UNICEF warned, noting that since the start of 2022, the escalating global food crisis has forced an additional 260,000 children, or one child every 60 seconds, to suffer from severe wasting in 15 countries bearing the brunt of the crisis.

The 15 most affected countries include Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.

Severe wasting children are too thin for their height. Weakened immune systems increase the risk of death among children under 5 who suffer severe wasting by up to 11 times compared to well-nourished children.

"Food aid is critical, but we cannot save starving children with bags of wheat. We need to reach these children now with therapeutic treatment before it is too late," the press release quoted Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF, as saying.

The price of ready-to-use therapeutic food to treat severe wasting has soared by 16 percent in recent weeks due to a sharp rise in the cost of raw ingredients.

UNICEF said it is calling for 1.2 billion U.S. dollars to deliver an essential package of nutrition services and care to avert what could be millions of child deaths in the 15 highest burden countries, including prevention programs to protect maternal and child nutrition among pregnant women and young children.

The UN agency said it also seeks funding to prioritize the prevention and treatment of severe wasting in all global food crisis response plans by ensuring budget allocations include preventive nutrition interventions as well as therapeutic food to address the immediate needs of children suffering from severe wasting.

Leaders to meet at the G7 gathering in Germany have "a small window of opportunity" to act to save lives of the children who are suffering from severe wasting, said Russell.

"There is no time to waste. Waiting for famine to be declared is waiting for children to die," the UNICEF chief said. 
The summer officially kicked off this week and that means vacation season is in full swing. The classic summertime road trip has been an Americana hallmark for decades and a new report ranks the best states for road trips in the U.S. The Lone Star State landed near the top of the list with high marks in two of the three criteria categories. Here's a look at the top 50.

To determine the rankings, WalletHub compared the 50 states across three main categories, costs, safety and activities, as well as a number of subcategories ranging from lowest camping price, cost of living index, urban interstate congestion data, "traffic indiscipline," road quality, shoreline miles, scenic byway access, festivals per capita and more.

Overall, New York claimed the top spot with rankings of No. 37 in cost, No. 7 in safety and No. 3 in activities for a total score of 58.05. Minnesota was just behind with a total score of 57.56 and high marks in costs (No. 8) and safety (No. 5), albeit with a lower activities rating (No. 21). The Lone Star State rounded out the top three with a total score of 56.63 and the state's highest categorical rank was in activities (No. 4), with lower marks in cost (No. 18) and safety (No. 38).

Texas road trip search interest

While New York and Minnesota may have topped WalletHub's best states for summer road trips list, search interest related to road trips, in general, tend to favor the Lone Star State, according to Google Trends data for the last five years.

In the dataset, search interest related to "Texas road trip" spikes in the early spring and summer months with smaller peaks near the end of the year with the highest search interest occurring during the week of June 14 through June 20, 2020. For comparison, search interest related to "New York road trip" and "Minnesota road trip" were about 50% and 80% lower, respectively, the dataset shows.

In order, Louisiana, Maine, Ohio, North Carolina, Idaho, Florida and Wyoming round out the top 10 in the WalletHub rankings. In terms of road trip costs, Mississippi claimed the top spot with California taking the honors in the activities categories and Maine listed as the safest state for road trippers.
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Dimitris Xygalatas, University of Connecticut

(THE CONVERSATION) After the recent shooting in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers, some local residents want the school demolished. Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez said that President Joe Biden has offered to help the school district secure a federal grant for the buildings demolition.

This is not uncommon. In numerous similar cases, buildings were knocked down, abandoned or repurposed in the aftermath of a tragedy. After the Sandy Hook massacre of 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut, that school was destroyed and rebuilt on a different spot on the same property, at a cost of US$50 million. And in 1996, the town of Gloucester in England bought the house where a couple, Fred and Rosemary West, raped, tortured, and killed 12 young women. The town razed the property to the ground, burned all timber, pulverized each brick and dumped the debris at a secret location before turning the lot into a park.

At a visceral level, this seems obvious: Most people would be uncomfortable carrying on business as usual at the site of a bloodbath. But as an anthropologist who studies some of the most meaningful human experiences, I know that human reactions that feel obvious may often be hard to explain. Why would tearing down and rebuilding it make the situation any better? The answer lies in human psychology.

Notions of contagion

Research suggests that we, as humans, are natural-born essentialists. That is, we intuitively think of objects as having certain immaterial inner qualities or essences, which can be transmitted through contact. For instance, participants in an experiment conducted by psychologists Carol Nemeroff and Paul Rozin refused to wear a sweater that belonged to a serial killer, although they were happy to wear an identical sweater that belonged to someone else.

These intuitions can be observed outside of the laboratory as well. For instance, a study conducted in Hong Kong looked at the effects of death on real estate prices. As it turns out, when a murder, suicide or fatal accident occurred in a house, its market value decreased by as much as 25%, and even nearby properties lost part of their value.

Early anthropologists described this as a form of magical thinking. Scottish anthropologist James Frazer argued that this type of reasoning rests upon two basic principles common in all human societies. The first is the law of similarity, the idea that physical resemblance implies some deeper connection. This explains the belief found in many cultures that stabbing a doll that resembles a person could cause harm to that person.

The second principle is what Frazer called the law of contagion. It states that when two things come into contact, they transfer part of their properties to each other. This is why John Lennons piano sold for over $2 million, and why U.S. Rep. Bob Brady took the glass of water from which Pope Francis had drank during a 2015 address to the U.S. Congress and later shared it with his family. The assumption is that some of the qualities of the person who once came in contact with the object will rub off. Anything the pope touches becomes blessed, Brady said.

If these beliefs and behaviors are based on mistaken premises, should we humor them, or should we dismiss them as irrational? Once again, human psychology might provide the answer.

The power of symbolism

We are a symbolic species. We experience things around us based not simply on their physical properties. We care about where they come from, their histories, their connections and what they stand for. This goes beyond what we think about those things  it also affects how we interact with them.

Psychologists George Newman and Paul Bloomdesigned an experiment to see whether beliefs about an objects contagiousness could be altered. They asked people how much they would pay to purchase a sweater previously owned by a beloved celebrity. As they expected, most were willing to shell out substantially more than what a brand-new sweater would cost.

But here is the twist: When told that it would be thoroughly washed before being handed to them, people were less interested in buying the sweater. Inversely, when the researchers asked them the same question about a famous person they despised, participants were willing to pay a higher price after the item had been sterilized. It appears that physical purification would be perceived as removing part of the sweaters essence.

Purification rites

Cultural traditions around the world tap into these intuitions to soothe peoples fears and anxieties. In some cases, washing the body is meant to cleanse the soul, which is what happens in baptisms. In other cases, purification comes through the destruction of the evil substance or its proxy.

On New Years Day, people in various parts of Latin America build life-size effigies, or munecos, that resemble wicked things and persons: corrupt public officials, villains, personal foes and even the coronavirus. Then they set them ablaze. Their demise is meant to exorcise their polluting power and symbolize hope for the coming year.

Since these practices rely on universal parts of human psychology, they make sense to people who are not religious too. Take, for example, the attendees of Burning Man, an annual festival in Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Ostensibly, this is a crowd as secular as they come: only 5% of them self-identify as religious. Yet thousands of people flock to a makeshift temple where they leave memorabilia related to some of their most traumatic experiences. They then gather to watch the temple burn to the ground, many of them in tears, carrying all the bad memories with it.

There is a powerful cathartic aspect to those purification rituals. Symbolic gestures often speak to our psyche in ways no rational action could ever speak to our intellect. In times of tragedy, it is important to acknowledge this fundamental aspect of our humanity. For even as the pain remains, the knowledge that a tangible reminder of it has been undone can be soothing.

The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. The Conversation is wholly responsible for the content.
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP)  A 72-year-old man who reportedly was beaten in a Louisiana city jail has died weeks later at a hospital, the Caddo Parish Coroners Office said in a news release Thursday.

Bobbie Young was brought to the hospital June 3 with head injuries and died there Monday, the statement said.
Sista Vongjintanaruks/Getty Images/iStockphoto

A Texas man caught an alligator turtle weighing close to 200 pounds at Lake Cherokee in East Texas, as first reported by Newsweek. Justin Broomhall caught the turtle, which is a protected species in Texas, and released it back into the water. A post on Facebook includes a photo of the alligator turtle.

The alligator turtle is the largest species of freshwater turtle with males typically weighing between 155-175 pounds, according to the National Wildlife Foundation. The animals are sometimes described as dinosaur-like due to their spiky shells and "primitive-looking" faces.
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP)  Some national forests in Arizona and New Mexico are relaxing fire restrictions and reopening, thanks to a strong start to the annual rainy season in the southwest U.S.

The monsoon has delivered much-needed moisture to the parched region and relief from scorching temperatures. Forecasters say Arizona has a good chance of getting above-average rain through the season that runs through September. New Mexico has equal chances of above, below and normal rainfall.
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Well before the sun came up Thursday, Jazmin Cazares sat on her sisters bed and wept for the 9-year-old killed in the Uvalde school rampage one month ago.

Then the teenager with purple-streaked hair got up for the four-hour drive to the Texas Capitol, where she tearfully pleaded with lawmakers to pass tougher gun laws and questioned why so many security measures failed.

I shouldnt have to be here right now. I should be at home watching a movie with my sister, she said through sniffles. Im here begging for you guys to do something or to change something, because the people that were supposed to keep her safe at school didnt, they failed.

Her sister Jacklyn  a tough-minded and compassionate girl who dreamed of visiting Paris and becoming a veterinarian  was one of 19 children shot to death inside Robb Elementary School on May 24 before police stormed the classroom and killed the gunman. Two teachers also died.

The massacre and a string of recent mass killings in the U.S. have renewed the debate over gun laws, school safety and how to stop the violence. In Texas, lawmakers have responded to several mass shootings in recent years by making it easier to carry guns, rather than to clamp down.

Jazmins testimony before a committee of lawmakers looking at how to prevent mass shootings came as Congress moved toward passing its most far-reaching gun violence bill in decades and the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling saying Americans have the right to carry firearms in public.

But all that mattered to the 17-year-old about to enter her final year of high school was that something be done to make schools safer. She said shes been doing active shooter drills since she was in pre-kindergarten.

Its terrifying, not knowing if its true or not every single time we go into lockdown. And then having to go back to school next year? she said. Going to school shouldnt have to be a decision. But it is. I have my senior year, thats it. Am I going to survive it?

Cazares told lawmakers they could honor the victims by adopting gun background checks and red flag laws that allow removing guns from people at extreme risk of harming themselves or others.

The Uvalde gunman was a former student, Salvador Ramos, who days after turning 18 bought the AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle he used in the attack.

There should be absolutely no reason this murderer could have access to a firearm, Cazares said, who later said she knew committee members were listening when she saw them tear up.

"I felt it. It felt genuine, she said.

The Republican-controlled legislature in Texas has stripped away gun restrictions over the past decade, even as the state suffered mass shootings that have killed more than 85 people since 2018.

The state doesnt require a permit to carry a long rifle like the one used in Uvalde, and it allows 18-year-olds to buy them. Last year, lawmakers made it legal for anyone 21 and older to carry a handgun in public without a license, background check or training.

Jazmin Cazares told lawmakers that since the shooting she has reviewed the school's security rules, ticking off a list of requirements that failed to stop the shooter, including that teachers are told to keep their doors locked at all times.

How, when some of those classroom doors didnt lock? she said, with family members sitting behind her wearing T-shirts featuring pictures of Jacklyn and the words Forever in our hearts.

Her familys grief, she said, is compounded by the knowledge that some of what happened at Robb Elementary could have been prevented.

Her little sister, she said, loved singing and dancing and was one of the sweetest souls anyone would ever meet.

Jacklyn and her cousin, Annabell Rodriguez, were best friends, part of a close-knit quintet of classmates. All five died in the shooting.

Right after Jazmin testified, a woman who lost her parents in a 1991 shooting that left two dozen dead in Killeen, Texas, told the committee that waiting periods for gun sales are worthless and gun-free zones should be eliminated.

Lets be clear that the gun, its just a tool. Its a tool that can be used to kill a family, but its a tool that can be used to protect a family, said Suzanna Hupp.

Hupp, a former Republican lawmaker, said she was invited to address the committee by one of its co-chairs.

After Hupp spoke, Jacklyns father, Javier Cazares, followed her into a hallway and they exchanged handshakes and a brief hug.

There is a bond there, just automatically, unspoken, Hupp said. In one sense, it was my parents, and they died quickly and they died together. I cant imagine losing a kid. I cant even go there in my head.

Days after the Uvalde tragedy, Javier Cazares, told of how he rushed to the school and kept a close watch on children fleeing the school to catch a glimpse of his 9-year-old firecracker.

He and other parents grew frustrated that police werent doing more. A lot of us were arguing with the police, You all need to go in there, said Cazares, an Army veteran.

Cazares said Thursday that he still struggles to trust the constantly evolving timelines from state police. Nobody wants to get blamed for what their actions were that day, he said.

During a break in the hearing, Cazares and his family met with about 10 police chiefs and officers in a hallway. We failed you, Stan Standridge, chief of police in San Marcos, Texas, told the family.

The delays and mistakes in the law enforcement response are now central to multiple investigations. The head of the Texas state police this week called it an abject failure, and said the police reaction ignored everything learned since the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado in 1999.

Police had enough officers and firepower to stop the gunman three minutes after he entered the school, Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said Tuesday. But police officers armed with rifles waited in a school hallway for more than an hour before going into the classroom and killing the gunman.

He put much of the blame for the delays on Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school district police chief who McCraw said was the commander in charge.

The school district put Arredondo on administrative leave on Wednesday. Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harrell said the facts of what happened remain unclear.

Arredondo has said he didnt consider himself in charge and assumed someone else had taken control. He has declined repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press.

Uvaldes mayor pushed back against casting blame on Arredondo, saying the Department of Public Safety has repeatedly released false information and glossed over the role of its own officers.

___

Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press photographer Eric Gay in Austin and writer John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.

___

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ST. CATHERINES ISLAND, Ga. (AP)  Wildfires sparked by lightning have scorched hundreds of acres on this unspoiled island off the Georgia coast, where crews are battling to protect plantation ruins, the remnants of a 16th century Spanish mission and archaeological sites that have yielded human artifacts thousands of years old.

St. Catherines Island has long been prized as an ecological and historic coastal treasure. Giant sea turtles nest on its beaches and ring-tailed lemurs, brought to the island decades ago, live in its dense forest. Slave quarters made from oyster-shell tabby survive on the island, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of Savannah, as does the home of a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Protected for decades under ownership of a private foundation, St. Catherines Island has seen roughly 15% of its land area burn since a lightning storm sparked fires June 11. Severe drought left the island tinder-dry, allowing flames to rapidly spread. Columns of black smoke have been visible from the mainland, and raging flames reaching the treetops have at times burned near the beach.

We have an untouched history, so we go above and beyond to try to protect that," Michael Halderson, the island's manager and only fulltime resident, told reporters Wednesday during a boat tour of the island's perimeter, where smoldering fire formed thick smoke among blackened trees.

The island fires are among more than 30,000 that have burned roughly 4,600 square miles nationwide during one of the worst starts the U.S. has seen to its wildfire season.

Halderson and his small staff of seven worked nonstop for days trying to contain the flames until they realized four separate fires were burning across the island's 6,700 acres (2,700 hectares).

Help arrived last week from the Georgia Forestry Commission, which mobilized about 15 wildland firefighters with bulldozers for plowing fire breaks as well as planes and a helicopter equipped to dump water on the flames. Another 25 fire team members were expected to arrive Thursday.

Crews haven't attacked the fires with trench-digging plows as aggressively as they normally would, given the island's history as a trove of historical treasures.

Over the decades, archaeologists have located the site where Catholic missionaries from Spain established a church and settlement on the island in the 1570s. Others have found evidence of humans living here 4,500 years ago. In total, the island has yielded well over 1 million artifacts.

Concerned that heavy plows could destroy undiscovered buried treasures, firefighters in some areas have taken a slower approach using bulldozers to scrape just a few inches (centimeters) from the ground  enough to clear grasses and vegetation so they won't fuel the spread of approaching fire.

Areas of the island considered more sensitive are being doused with water from the air, said Byron Haire, a spokesman for the forestry commission team.

We want to get this fire stopped, but we just have to slow down," Haire said, adding that crews are trying to keep a light hand on the land vs. the heavy hand of a machine that digs up a lot of dirt.

Haire estimated the fires so far have burned up to 1,000 acres (405 hectares). Low humidity and unpredictable winds have made fighting the blazes more difficult.

Still, crews have managed to keep the flames out of the island's compound that includes lodging for visiting researchers and a radio tower that's vital for communications. Also protected in that area is the former home of Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence who bought the island in 1766 and lived there until he died in 1777 after being mortally wounded in a duel.

Flames crept close to the tabby plantation ruins on the island's south end until a helicopter snuffed them with water dumped from a giant bucket, Halderson said. He said fire burned through the Spanish mission site, where planted palm trees outline the footprint of the church that stood there centuries ago, but appeared to do little damage.

As for the island's wildlife, both Halderson and Haire noted that animals typically are adept at avoiding fire. In some areas scorched when the fire first started, new plants have already begun to sprout.

Still, Halderson said doesn't expect the fires to be extinguished any time soon.

This will continue until we get significant rain, Halderson said. It could take weeks. It could be months.
ADDIS ABABA, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Thursday urged Ethiopian authorities to promptly initiate and conduct transparent investigations into the recent killing of "hundreds of people" in western Ethiopia.

Bachelet called for "prompt, impartial and thorough investigations into attacks that led to the killing of hundreds of people in the West Wollega zone, western Ethiopia, last weekend," said the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

"I am horrified by the senseless killing as well as the forced displacement of the local population in the attack on Tole village," an OHCHR statement quoted Bachelet as saying.

The UN Human Rights Office has spoken to witnesses who report that at around 9 a.m., local time, on June 18, a group of armed individuals descended on the village of Tole, with a predominantly Amhara population, and reportedly began shooting randomly, leaving hundreds dead -- most of them were women and children -- and forcing at least 2,000 others to flee from their homes, the OHCHR said.

The armed individuals also reportedly burned down several houses during the four-hour assault, it said.

"I call on the Ethiopian authorities to ensure that investigations are promptly launched into the attack and to ensure that victims and their families have a right to truth, justice and reparations, including by holding those responsible to account," Bachelet said.

The OHCHR further said that an unspecified number of people are reported to have been abducted during the attack and their whereabouts remain unknown.

Bachelet called on the Ethiopian authorities "to take all necessary and lawful measures to ensure those abducted regain their freedom."

Amid increasing tensions and violence which has erupted in various regions of Ethiopia in recent weeks, the High Commissioner urged the government to ensure and protect the right to life.

An attack on ethnic Amhara farmers Saturday in Tole rural locality, Gimbi district, West Wollega zone of Oromia regional state reportedly left many civilians dead.

Ethiopian government officials and survivors have accused the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) fighters of carrying out the weekend attack, a charge the rebel group has denied.

The Ethiopian government has not yet released casualty figures, though survivors reached by some international media on phone have put up a death toll of more than 200 people.

The Ethiopian parliament had designated the OLA as a "terrorist group" in May 2021. 
Indonesian student protesters try to flee as police fire tear gas outside the parliament building in Jakarta during a demonstration against the governments proposed change in its criminal code, Sept. 24, 2019.

Concern is growing among activists about a pending reform of the Indonesian criminal code that could outlaw gay sex and criminalize insulting the government.

The draft bill has not been made public, but the Law and Human Rights Ministry on Wednesday confirmed that it includes a provision on insulting the government. A lawmaker last month said that the bill would outlaw sex outside marriage, including same-sex behavior.

The National Alliance for Penal Code Reform, representing several rights groups, accused the government of pushing for the bills passage without seeking enough public comment.

The alliance calls on the President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo administration and the House of Representatives to conduct open discussions on the bill and not to pass it without meaningful public participation, the alliance said in a statement.

The administration has identified 14 articles for discussion because of public concern, but the alliance said its objections went beyond those articles.

The Alliance believe more than 14 are problematic articles, but those have not been discussed by the government, especially those related to freedom of expression and opinion, the statement said.

Issues of concern include punishments for insulting public authorities and state institutions online, a portion of the bill that could overlap with the information and electronic transaction law, already considered draconian, the group said.

On Thursday, alliance members met with Law and Human Rights Deputy Minister Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej to discuss their concerns, but he refused to reveal the latest draft of the bill, saying there were typographical errors, according to Julius Ibrani, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Association.

We agreed to come as long as they show the draft. They agreed, but at the meeting they refused, he told BenarNews.

The deputy minister said that this was final and the draft would be submitted to the House. If you feel that there is an article that is inappropriate, please just lodge a legal challenge with the Constitutional Court, Ibrani quoted Sharif Hiariej as saying.

Youth members of the alliance have threatened to organize street protests bigger than those staged in 2019.

That year, thousands took to the streets of several Indonesian cities, including Jakarta, to oppose the legislation. Two students were killed in Kendari, Sulawesi, after police fired shots at protesters.

The government has been pushing for revisions to the criminal code that has been in effect since 1946, arguing that the original dates back to Dutch colonial rule in the Southeast Asian country.

Prison sentences

Sharif Hiariej, the deputy law minister, confirmed on Wednesday that provisions on insulting the government, punishable by up to four years in prison, would be retained despite opposition, CNN Indonesia reported.

Last month, legislator Arsul Sani said there had been a consensus that articles criminalizing sex outside marriage, including same-sex relations, would be included in the bill.

The draft legislation introduced by Jokowi in 2015 calls for a prison sentence of up to two years for consensual sex outside marriage, while an unmarried couple who live together could face six months in prison. The unwed couple could be reported to the authorities and charged, but only their parents or children could file a complaint.

Homosexuality and extramarital sex are not outlawed in Muslim-majority Indonesia, but some view them as vices. In Aceh province, where Islamic sharia law is in force, those found guilty could receive up to 100 lashes of the cane.

Indonesias draft criminal code reflects the growing influence of Islamism, as many Islamists consider it to be the crown jewel of what they claim to be Sharia law, Andreas Harsono, a researcher at Human Rights Watch Indonesia, told Al Jazeera in a recent report.

It will be disastrous not only for women, and religious and gender minorities, but for all Indonesians, he said.

The draft also proposes that anyone who publicly incites people to leave any of Indonesias six recognized religions could be jailed for up to four years for religious blasphemy.

The Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, a Jakarta-based human rights NGO, urged lawmakers to review or cancel articles on religious blasphemy and others that could infringe on peoples rights and personal freedoms.

Not all acts considered taboo by a religion should be criminalized, it said, adding that laws on religious blasphemy were often used to target people of minority faiths.

This lack of public consultation in the legislative process has been at the root of opposition to many bills because a lack of public participation in the legislative process could result in laws that fail to meet popular expectations, Setara said.
Tom Andrews, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, speaks during a press conference at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, June 23, 2022.

Other United Nations member-states should follow Malaysias lead and engage with Myanmars parallel civilian National Unity Government in efforts to help resolve the post-coup crisis in that country, a U.N. expert said Thursday.

Additionally, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations needs a new approach in dealing with the Burmese junta to ensure it puts Myanmar back on the democratic path like it agreed to more than a year ago, said U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Tom Andrews, at a press conference at the end of an eight-day visit to Malaysia.

The five-point consensus is meaningless if it sits on a piece of paper, he said, referring to an agreement struck between ASEAN member states, including Myanmar, on how the junta should move towards restoring democracy.

Its only chance to make a difference is to put it into a meaningful action with a strategy, with an action plan, with a time frame, precisely as the [Malaysian] foreign minister has called for, Andrews said, referring to Saifuddin Abdullah.

Malaysia, which has strongly criticized the Feb. 1, 2021 coup, has also been consistently calling for stronger action from the regional bloc to make the Burmese junta accountable to the consensus it had agreed to in April 2021, but then ignored.

ASEAN must go back to the drawing board and implement a more detailed roadmap to achieving the five-point consensus within an appropriate timeframe, Saifuddin said at a Shangri-La Dialogue panel in Singapore earlier this month.

The five-point agreement reached between ASEAN leaders and Burmese military chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on April 24 last year included an end to violence, the provision of humanitarian assistance, an ASEAN envoys appointment, all-party dialogue, and mediation by the envoy.

ASEAN has not succeeded in implementing any of these points, and most analysts have said the regional bloc, which famously operates by consensus, is to blame for this. Not every country in the 10-member ASEAN is in favor of piling the pressure on its fellow member, which means the bloc cannot be very effective.

What Malaysia did is significant

Last October, Malaysias outspoken foreign minister had said Kuala Lumpur would open talks with the NUG if the Burmese junta kept stonewalling in cooperating with ASEANs conflict resolution efforts.

In February, he met his NUG counterpart Zin Mar Aung via video conference, following that up with an in-person meeting in Washington on May 16 after the United States-ASEAN Special Summit.

During an interview in May with BenarNews, Saifuddin had said that many in ASEAN were frustrated that the Myanmar military was ignoring the five-point consensus.

I think we need to be more creative and that is why, for example, we [need to] start naming the stakeholders the NUG,  all of them, Saifuddin told BenarNews.

The U.N.s Andrews said he believed talking with the NUG was a correct move by an ASEAN member-state such as Malaysia  one that other nations should follow.

Lets be clear who is legitimate here and who is not legitimate, he said.

The National Unity Government is made up of people who were elected by the people, and also people who represent ethnic communities that are critically important to the fabric and the future of Myanmar. I highly recommend  and I am glad the [Malaysian] foreign minister here has engaged with the NUG and I [am] recommending  that all countries in the United Nationsdo the same.

ASEANs engagement with the NUG will be a good initiative, said analyst Md. Mahbubul Haque of University Sultan Zainal Abidin.

If anyone really supports the struggle for democracy and the overall human rights situation in Myanmar, it is very necessary to engage with the NUG. Currently the NUG is representing major political forces including various ethnic minorities, he told BenarNews.

What Malaysia did is significant because it came from an ASEAN member-state. But right now, we cannot expect that all members will follow the Malaysian stand, because of [their own] geopolitical interests.

Another analyst, Aizat Khairi of Kuala Lumpur University, said that ASEANs engagement with the NUG would give the Burmese junta the required push it needs.

The junta will not be happy but it will provide the pressure needed to make them be more open and ready to go to the next level of negotiation with other parties in Myanmar, he told BenarNews.

The U.N. expert said in a statement issued Thursday that Saifuddin had urged ASEAN to move from a policy of noninterference to one of non-indifference.
ADDIS ABABA, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The First China-Horn of Africa Peace, Good Governance and Development Conference concluded on Tuesday in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, with a joint call for the realization of shared regional aspirations.

The high-level regional peace and development conference brought together ministers and senior government officials of Horn of Africa (HOA) countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and Djibouti who were joined by Xue Bing, Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Participants attending the two-day conference concluded their engagement, issuing a twelve-point joint statement.

The joint statement stated that participants conducted in-depth discussions on regional peace, development and governance in an atmosphere of unity, candor, pragmatism, and mutual respect.

They underscored that the HOA is the common home for people in the region and realizing regional peace, stability, development and prosperity serves the fundamental interests of all countries and meets the shared aspirations of all peoples in the region.

Noting the challenges confronting regional peace and security, the participants uphold the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security, work together to maintain peace and security in the region and build an HOA where the guns are silenced for sustainable peace, according to the joint statement.

"The parties are ready to step up high-level engagements and exchanges at all levels to enhance mutual political trust and keep improving relations among the countries in the region," the joint statement read.

They further expressed mutual willingness to demonstrate political will, take confidence-building measures, manage differences and disputes between countries of the region, and pursue peaceful settlement through dialogue and negotiation in an effort to ease the security situation in countries of the region.

They emphasized that the youth, women and girls are bearing the brunt of the current crises in the region due to gender inequalities, which hinder their participation in decision-making mechanisms and humanitarian responses. They called for the inclusion of youth, women and girls.

They further agreed to advocate for democracy and inclusive participation in politics by all nationals of countries in the region regardless of their gender, tribe or political affiliation.

The involved HOA countries reaffirmed their respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, commitment to non-interference in the other's internal affairs, and respect for countries' independent choice of development path, values and social systems.

"The parties remain committed to peaceful resolution of regional problems independently, and while supporting multilateralism, oppose unilateral sanctions as well as external interference in the internal affairs of the countries of the region," the joint statement read.

They uphold a coordinated approach to traditional and non-traditional security such as cyber security, terrorism, illegal arms and human trafficking, among others; and commit to greater cooperation in counter-terrorism in the region, and agree to jointly address extreme weather and natural disasters such as drought, flooding and locust infestation and safeguard food security of the region.

Noting that security, development and good governance challenges require a holistic approach, the parties reiterated to sustain regional integration by enhancing connectivity, strengthening cooperation in areas such as agriculture, trade, manufacturing, industry and infrastructure in order to build industrial and economic belts, create more jobs, drive growth and enhance self-driven development capacities.

They further agreed to promote exchanges and experience-sharing on good governance to increase the synergy of the development policies of the countries of the region and explore ways to settle disputes in an effort to foster a development environment for solidarity, stability and harmony.

The countries of the region further commend China for initiating the outlook on the Horn of Africa Peace, Good-governance and Development Conference, and commit to actively participate in implementing the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative.

"The region expresses its gratitude to China for providing COVID-19 vaccines, anti-COVID supplies, humanitarian assistance, locust control products and other assistance to the countries of the region," the joint statement read.

According to the joint statement, China reaffirmed its readiness to align the Belt and Road Initiative and the implementation of the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) meetings with the development policies of the countries of the region.

China reaffirmed its resolve to deepen cooperation in areas such as health, illegal migration, agricultural development for poverty reduction, trade, investment, infrastructure, green development and support efforts for building a development framework featuring "Two Axes plus two Coasts" such as the Addis Ababa-Djibouti and Mombasa-Nairobi development corridors and any other similar projects that enable to achieve regional integration, according to the joint statement.

The parties further called on the international community to enhance partnership with the HOA to collaborate on the needs identified by the countries of the region for development assistance, increase accessibility and diversity of development financing and make greater contributions to Africa's independent and sustainable development.

Meanwhile, the parties called on the international community to work together towards the peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 
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NAIROBI, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Sub-Saharan African countries should harness knowledge and expertise possessed by indigenous communities to strengthen the conservation of the continent's abundant biodiversity hotspots, campaigners said on Thursday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the fourth meeting of the open-ended working group on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework underway in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, the campaigners stressed that greater involvement of indigenous people will be key to curbing habitat loss and revitalizing Africa's green agenda.

Lucy Mulenkei, the Executive Director of Nairobi-based Indigenous Information Network, a conservation lobby, noted that indigenous communities including pastoralists and hunter-gatherers have proved effective in protecting natural resources.

According to Mulenkei, Africa's biodiversity hotspots, once placed in the custody of indigenous people, will thrive besides unleashing economic, health, and social benefits to the continent.

She added indigenous people have for centuries protected Africa's tropical forests and savannah grasslands given the cultural and spiritual significance of these habitats that also act as the source of food, fiber, and fuel.

Negotiators at the UN biodiversity talks taking place in Nairobi from June 21-26 are expected to come up with a text that recognizes the enormous contribution of indigenous people in protecting endangered species.

Joseph Itongwa, a representative of indigenous communities from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said they have leveraged traditional knowledge to conserve tropical forests and wetlands.

Itongwa said that impacts of a new global biodiversity framework will be felt in Africa subject to mainstreaming proposals from the indigenous people, variously regarded as custodians of nature.

In addition, the indigenous communities in Africa have been at the forefront of sustainable utilization of natural products, to help regenerate ecosystems and promote climate resilience at the grassroots, noted Itongwa.

Ndiaga Sall, a representative of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity from Senegal said there is a need to empower African nomads, hunter-gatherers, and small-holder farmers to protect natural habitats, to stem the loss of species that has escalated poverty and climatic shocks in the continent.

He called for the enactment of legislation, capacity development, and awareness to ensure that indigenous people accrue economic benefits from conserving biodiversity.

Ramson Karmushu, an indigenous peoples' rights advocate from Kenya said they required financial incentives and land tenure to enhance their contribution to the conservation of rare species. 
Greg Sukiennik has worked at all three Vermont News & Media newspapers and was their managing editor from 2017-19. He previously worked for ESPN.com, for the AP in Boston, and at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass.
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The pandemic added yet another delay to a much awaited project. Now the building is blighted, and a target of vandals.
YAOUNDE, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Forces of Cameroon National Gendarmerie have arrested 10 people in the country's North region on suspicion of being part of a major kidnapping ring, a gendarmerie official said on Wednesday.

Lieutenant-Colonel Serge Nguetna, commander of the Garoua gendarmerie group, told reporters that the suspects were arrested in Pitoa, a locality in the region notorious for abduction.

"The gendarmerie on a tipoff raided their den. We arrested 10 suspected kidnappers and they are still being screened as the investigation continues," Nguetna said in the North regional chief town of Garoua while presenting the suspects to the press.

He said the raid was part of an operation dubbed "Adano" which seeks to get rid of the kidnapping ring in the region which has seen a steady rise in kidnapping and demand for ransom since the start of the year. 
PITTSFIELD  The best thing about O.U.R. Resurge, Nicole Fecteau says, is that no one can take that space away from the community members who will use it.

An anonymous donor provided $225,000 last fall to help Roots & Dreams and Mustard Seeds, the nonprofit that Fecteau co-founded in 2017, purchase a building that it is working with partners to create a community center, a stone's throw from Pittsfield City Hall.

Before it can be used, the 117-129 Fenn St. property, which formerly housed Lachs Lounge, needs rehabilitation  and funding to pay for rehabilitation. The nonprofit and its partners plan to use O.U.R. Resurge (O.U.R. stands for Our United Resource) to provide things that people need to improve their lives, whether its fresh groceries, a sign-language class or just a place where they can be for a few hours.

Such a community space is something that the immigrant community has been waiting for and dreaming about for a very long time, says Nancy Gomez, co-director of Manos Unidas, a multicultural cooperative that is one of Roots central partners.

For Gomez, it is difficult to speak about the buildings vision and significance without thinking of Miguel Estrella. The son of Manos member Marisol Estrella, he was experiencing an apparent mental health crisis March 25 when he was shot and killed by a Pittsfield police officer. As community members continue to grieve, Gomez believes a shared space can help keep people remain connected and hopeful.

It is not therapy, but when you create a physical and social space without judgment, that welcomes all people, for our immigrant and Latino community it can become therapeutic, Gomez said in Spanish. Where youth, community members, immigrants and people we work with feel safe, in general, is not in a hospital room. Its in the arms of community.

Manos, which lost its former space to a fire in 2007, plans to hold its Mercado de Vida food distribution at O.U.R. Resurge. The building also may house a community fridge, as well as meetings of Cafecito, a Spanish-language discussion group that began as an effort to share resources among Pittsfield public schools parents when the pandemic hit.

Although the project has lofty goals, such as advancing the solidarity economy and empowering people who lack access to capital, the day-to-day work is to share resources and to provide more free stuff, says Michael Hitchcock, who with Fecteau co-founded Roots.

This is kind of a proof of concept so that perhaps other groups were not involved with can do the same thing, with or without our help, Hitchcock said. Often investors want to take control of projects with their vision, so we are keen to ensure this pilot project is focused on people bringing their own visions to life.

'Doing a lot with nothing'

While raising funds to rehabilitate the building, its partners are working in a temporary space at 5 Melville St., where they offer programming such as art classes, conversation groups and drop-in assistance with computers and paperwork. Those programs, which serve more than 70 people each week, eventually will move to O.U.R. Resurge, Fecteau said.

We know that we can do a lot with nothing because weve all done it, said Kristina Cardot, who helps to coordinate Manos Unidas Corazonidos summer program and community school. Weve been homeless, weve been abused, you name it. If everybody does a little and we unite our resources  'I have food.' 'OK, well, I can fix your car.' 'You can take me somewhere.'

Some of the O.U.R. Resurge partners met when they were members of the Tyler Street Lab, a nonprofit hub that rented space from Mill Town Capital. They enter O.U.R. Resurge with a shared vision for cooperative governance.

The building is dedicated to the late Jose Bruno-Santiago and Akosua Acheampomaah, both of whom were Manos Unidas members.

Resurge  spelled the same in English and in Spanish  is a nod to Bruno-Santiago.

He passed away, but his thought was  he struggled with homelessness  a place where people could safely go, Fecteau said.

Terry Moore, a Roots member, contributed the O.U.R. part of the name, he said, because he wanted something that the community had that could not be taken away from us now or in the future. Especially for the West Side, he said, where many of those involved grew up and which Moore said has been totally forgotten.

The pandemic has exacerbated the need for such a space, said Anaelisa Jacobsen, a director emeritus of Manos Unidas.

We do not have a lot of spaces of freedom in this society, especially for young men of color, new immigrants fleeing violence and women coming out of trauma, Jacobsen said. There is so much fear embedded in us, but when we feel heard, everything changes. We can survive and thrive beyond this.

Another Manos member, Alonso, said he believes supporting youth should be a focus.

Id like to see a bunch of kids come after school, plop their books down and get on a computer and start doing their homework and playing games and jumping on the guitar and jumping on the piano and singing songs, giving them something to do to give them purpose, he said. We need a safe place right now where kids can go after school and parents feel comfortable knowing that their kids are here doing their homework, and they can have peace of mind without paying a trillion dollars.

Central to O.U.R. Resurge, its creators say, is the pursuit of a framework that goes beyond traditional models for providing assistance.

The issue with charity, Hitchcock says, is that it is too top down. Even the concept of mutual aid, to him, feels too impermanent. The goal, rather, is to build a stable space where community members  even those who do not yet know it exists  can go and access what they need to grow as people.

Quote "We are keen to ensure this pilot project is focused on people bringing their own visions to life. Michael Hitchcock, co-founder, Roots & Dreams and Mustard Seeds

We also are trying to make a space that people we dont know yet ... will be able to plug themselves in, so its not just limited to our vision and experience, Hitchcock said. Its actually open, which is a difficult thing to structure because it doesnt sound like a structure to people."
The Berlin International Film Festival views the upcoming trial of Tsitsi Dangarembga in Harare, Zimbabwe, on June 27, 2022 with great concern. The author, German Book Trade Peace Prize winner, and filmmaker was a member of the International Jury at the 2022 Berlinale.

Dangarembga was apprehended in July 2020 at a protest in Harare along with journalist Julie Barnes. At the time, both women were calling for the release of journalists and for institutional reforms; Dangarembga was holding a poster demanding a better Zimbabwe for everyone. However, in the judicial process, which has been continually postponed over the past two years, both women are being charged with inciting public violence, disturbing the peace and bigotry, as well as with violations of Covid regulations. The women have since been released on bail, but they have also been subpoenaed 26 times. In the trial, now taking place before the Anti-Corruption Court in Harare, the decision will be made whether to drop the case or seek a verdict.

As an institution that stands up for freedom of speech and freedom of artistic expression worldwide, we ask the government of Zimbabwe to clear Tsitsi Dangarembga and Julie Barnes of all charges, or to drop the case. Both women have consistently campaigned for freedom in courageous and artistically compelling ways. The right to free speech is anchored in Zimbabwes constitution, and to deny that right to these women would be unconstitutional, say Berlinale directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian.



Press Office

June 23, 2022
BOISE  Joshua D. Hurwit was sworn in as United States Attorney for the District of Idaho on Friday, June 17. Hurwit was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., on April 25, 2022, and confirmed by the United States Senate on June 13, 2022. Chief U.S. District David C. Nye administered the oath of office.

I am honored to serve as United States Attorney, Hurwit said. I am grateful for the special trust and confidence shown to me by President Biden and all of those who supported me throughout this process, especially my family. I also want to thank Senator Crapo and Senator Risch for approving of my confirmation. I look forward to fulfilling the Department of Justices mission in Idaho alongside our law enforcement and community partners. It is a privilege to continue serving with my colleagues at the U.S. Attorneys Office. We all share an unwavering commitment to upholding the rule of law, preventing violent crime in our communities, maintaining our natural resources, protecting the civil rights of our residents, and seeking justice for victims.

Hurwit joined the United States Attorneys Office for the District of Idaho in 2012. He initially worked in the civil division, defending the United States against lawsuits and pursuing affirmative claims on behalf of the United States. In 2015, Hurwit joined the criminal division, where he prosecuted financial crimes, environmental crimes, public corruption cases, and drug and firearms offenses. He also has led the RICO conspiracy prosecution against members of the Aryan Knights white supremacist gang. In 2005, Hurwit received the Director's Award for Excellence by a Litigative Team for his work as part of the trial team that successfully prosecuted United States v. Swenson et al., the securities and wire fraud case arising from the collapse of DBSI, Inc.

Hurwit also thanked Rafael M. Gonzalez, Jr., the First Assistant United States Attorney in the office who served as United States Attorney in acting and interim capacities since February 2021, for his dedicated service. Mr. Gonzalez has made lasting contributions to our Office not only through his internal leadership and mentorship, but also through the relationships he has built with law enforcement and other partners throughout Idaho. said Hurwit. He is a true public servant.

Hurwit grew up in Eugene, Oregon. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with honors from Stanford University in 2002 and from Harvard Law School in 2006, where he received the Best Oralist Award in the finals of the Upper Round Ames Moot Court Competition. After law school, Hurwit clerked for U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of the Southern District of New York and worked at national law firms before joining the United States Attorneys Office in Idaho.

As United States Attorney, Hurwit is the chief federal law enforcement official in the state of Idaho, having prosecutorial responsibility over 44 counties in Idaho, encompassing more than 83,000 square miles and a population approaching 2 million people. He leads three staffed offices located in Boise, Coeur dAlene and Pocatello with 64 total employees, including 31 attorneys, and three full-time Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys, and four full-time contractors. The office is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the district, including crimes related to domestic and international terrorism, civil rights, the environment, public corruption, child exploitation, fraud, firearms, and narcotics. The office also defends the United States in civil cases, pursues civil fraud claims on behalf of the United States, and collects debts owed to the United States.
LEWISTON - At approximately 12:41 a.m. Thursday, Lewiston Police attempted to stop a 1999 GMC Yukon near the 1800 block of Main Street. The vehicle met the description of a vehicle used by a subject involved in a crime earlier in the day.

Lewiston Police say when an officer attempted to stop the Yukon, it failed to yield and fled from the officer. The driver of the Yukon eventually was driving westbound on Idaho Street after committing numerous traffic violations. The officer discontinued his attempt to stop the vehicle due to the unsafe driving of the Yukon.

According to an LPD press release, the driver of the Yukon continued to travel at a high rate of speed westbound on Idaho Street where it began to swerve and appeared to lose control, narrowly missing a parked car and another vehicle traveling eastbound on Idaho Street. The Yukon crossed into the eastbound lane of Idaho Street and then left the roadway. The Yukon went onto the sidewalk where it struck a brick retaining wall and sheared off an Avista Power Pole in the 1400 block of Idaho Street. After striking the pole, the Yukon flipped onto its top and came to rest in the front yard of a residence.

Officers were nearby and contacted several subjects that were coming out of the vehicle. In total, there were five occupants. Three individuals were transported to the hospital via ambulance and two subjects were found deceased in the Yukon. The names of the two deceased subjects are not being released at this time until next of kin can be notified, say police. Two of the subjects that were transported to the hospital had serious injuries and one had minor injuries.

Numerous residences and businesses in the area lost power due to the damage to the power pole. At this time, the crash is still under investigation by the Lewiston Police Departments Major Collision Investigation Team. Idaho Street between Lincoln Street and Del Sol Lane was closed for over 6 hours due to the crash.

Power in the area was also out for over four hours as Avista had to replace the pole that was sheared off from the crash.

If anyone has information on the crash or witnessed the incident, they are asked to contact LPD Sgt. Craig Roberts at 208-746-0171.
Top meeting calls for strengthened regulation on online payment businesses

(Global Times) 09:33, June 23, 2022

At a key financial meeting on Wednesday, top Chinese officials said that China would include platform companies' payment businesses and other financial activities into the scope of government supervision, while pushing large payment companies to "go back to their basics" and prevent systemic financial risks.

The government's move to strengthen oversight of platforms' payment business is aimed at stemming potential financial risks at a time when many internet platforms are crossing over to launch their own online payment tools, experts noted.

The 26th meeting of the Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform stressed that China would strengthen payment regulations and systems and risk prevention mechanisms, intensify whole-chain, all-field supervision, as well as insist that platforms must hold licenses to carry out financial business, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Moreover, China would push large payment and fintech platforms to "return to their basics," improve regulatory rules, supplement systemic weaknesses, safeguard the safety of payments and financial infrastructure, as well as prevent and resolve hidden dangers of systemic financial risks, the meeting concluded.

At the meeting, a work program to strengthen management of large-scale payment platform companies and boost the healthy development of payment and fintech platforms was also reviewed and adopted, Xinhua reported.

Fu Liang, a veteran tech analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday that China is moving to strengthen management on payment businesses at a time when many internet companies have launched their own payment tools.

"This might cause a large amount of capital to flow out of China's traditional capital management system, like banks, to those platforms. It also gives birth to many more new risks, such as financial fraud, if those platforms don't know how to manage the capital properly," Fu said.

Besides intensifying payment oversight, officials also stressed that they would raise supervision of platform companies.

The meeting on Wednesday noted that China would protect the legitimate rights of financial consumers, strengthen platform companies' anti-monopoly and anti-competitive management, regulate algorithm discrimination and strengthen data management.

Xi Junyang, a professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times that China will continue to be vigilant on the management of large online entities, as their burgeoning scale could pose risks.

"The platform economy's development pace has been too fast, and policymakers are worrying that it will get out of control, as signs have shown that those platforms' business styles can pose dangers to customers and to society, such as hindering many companies' survival space because of monopoly operations," he said.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Hongyu)
KIGALI, June 23 (Xinhua) -- BioNTech, a leading biotechnology company on Thursday laid a foundation stone for the construction of the first manufacturing site for mRNA-based vaccines in Africa, expected to address the issue of vaccine equity.

The facility in Rwanda's capital city Kigali will be based on BioNTainer concept-- exact replications of the BioNTech factory in Marburg, Germany, according to Ugur Sahin, the chief executive officer and co-founder of BioNTech.

At an event in Rwanda's Special Economic Zone in Kigali, Sahin described the groundbreaking ceremony as a milestone in the setting up of scalable mRNA vaccine production in Africa.

The company expects to set up additional factories in Senegal and South Africa in close coordination with its partners in the respective countries.

"We have reached the next milestone with the construction start of the first African mRNA manufacturing facility based on our BioNTainers - just four months after we introduced the BioNTainer concept in February," he said.

"This factory will be the first in an African network to provide sustainable production capacity for mRNA pharmaceuticals. Further manufacturing facilities in Africa and on other continents are planned to follow. The goal we pursue together with governments and regulatory authorities is to produce vaccines for Africa here with highly skilled professionals from Africa," he added.

The company's program aims to develop a highly effective malaria vaccine based on BioNTech's mRNA platform with the vaccine candidates expected to enter first-in-human trials later in 2022, according to Sahin.

"The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the need for significantly greater local production of vaccines and other essential products in all regions of the world, especially in Africa which relies heavily on imported products and was left behind in the global rush for COVID-19 vaccines," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General.

"I welcome BioNTech's efforts to establish manufacturing sites in Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa, as well as its plans to commence clinical trials of its malaria vaccine candidates later this year," he said.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame said, by working with other partners, Rwanda would build on the investment to attract a vibrant biopharmaceutical research and manufacturing sector.

"We are happy to have BioNTech as a partner, and I applaud the company's commitment to working with Africa on a continental basis to help secure our vaccine resilience for the future and invest in new research to address the endemic diseases that disproportionately affect our people," he said.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission in a video message said the 'Vaccine Equity for Africa' project represents the immense potential of African and European cooperation.

"Our partnership will bring vaccine manufacturing in Africa to the next level," she said.

In a statement, BioNTech indicated it will work with staff from its sites in Germany to accelerate the training of about 100 colleagues who will be running the production and all associated laboratory and quality assurance tasks on the Africa site.

The BioNTainers will be equipped to manufacture a range of mRNA-based vaccines targeted to the needs of the African Union member states, which could conceivably include the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and BioNTech's investigational malaria and tuberculosis vaccines, once they are successfully developed, approved or authorized by regulatory authorities, according to the statement.

"The estimated initial annual capacity of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine will be about 50 million doses. Manufacturing in the BioNTainers in Rwanda is expected to commence approximately 12 to 18 months after their installation," it said. 
Both of Idahos last two U.S. attorneys say the June 11 arrests of 31 members of a white nationalist group for conspiracy to riot at a gay pride event in Coeur dAlene is the type of thing that federal prosecutors should look into  and likely are examining.

Bart Davis, a Trump appointee who served as U.S. attorney for Idaho from 2017 to 2021, said, All I know are what the news accounts are.  I dont know what actually occurred. But I do believe that these are the kinds of matters that the federal government has some role in.

All 31 men already are facing state misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to riot.

Oftentimes, the city or the county or the state, they dont need the help of the federal government, said Davis, the former longtime Idaho Senate majority leader. Theyve more than got it handled.  But there are some tools that the federal government does have that can help in either an investigation or sometimes in the prosecution of this kind of an event.

All but two of the 31 men arrested were from other states besides Idaho; some had traveled from as far as Illinois, Alabama, Texas and Michigan.

You have the interstate transportation of individuals for a specific purpose, Davis said. And if the publicized purpose is correct, then I think thats another factor for a federal review and consideration of whether there should be a role.

Wendy Olson, an Obama appointee who served as U.S. attorney for Idaho from 2010 to 2017, said there are numerous federal statutes that could apply to the case, but it would depend on the details, and whether federal hate crime laws apply.

Those include the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, 18 USC 249, which was the first law passed by Congress authorizing federal criminal prosecution of hate crimes motivated by the victims actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. However, Olson noted, that law requires a violent act that results in bodily injury, or an attempt to commit a violent act with a dangerous weapon, along with interstate travel and hate-crime motivation.

The Patriot Front members were arrested before they ever arrived at the event that was their intended target. According to news reports based on court records, no firearms were found with them in the U-Haul truck where they were hiding, though they did have metal shields, abnormally long metal flag poles and other items, the Coeur dAlene Press reported.

They could be used dangerously, Olson said, but I dont think a long pole itself is considered a dangerous weapon under federal law.

New US attorney for Idaho: Civil rights, hate crime enforcement is 'front and center'

Sometimes when conduct gets disrupted, thats the best thing, to disrupt the conduct, she said, but you dont have conduct that that would be a basis for a prosecution.

Another federal hate crime that at first blush would appear to apply also may not precisely fit the case, Olson said. The Conspiracy Against Rights statute, 18 USC 241, makes it unlawful for two or more persons to conspire to injure, threaten, or intimidate a person in any state, territory or district in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him or her by the Constitution or the laws of the U.S.

However, Olson said, I do not think there is a potential 241 violation. The challenging part with 241 is identifying the underlying statutory or constitutional right.

While the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to peaceably assemble, it prohibits government action that interferes with that right, not private action.

Another federal law prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations, 42 USC 2000a, which is part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, only covers discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin.

Olson said she believes its absolutely a case that merits federal review. Im confident that the U.S. Attorneys office is looking carefully at all of the facts here, and assessing whether theres a prosecution to be brought, she said. Its important, obviously, to do their due diligence on what is potentially criminal conduct of this nature.  I also think its important for any enforcement agency with potential jurisdiction to give it a long, hard look and if there is a viable prosecution, to move forward aggressively to demonstrate that this kind of conduct is not tolerated in Idaho.

If its criminal conduct, it will be pursued as strongly as possible, she said. It may be that there are not laws that will allow a (federal) prosecution here. But intimidating conduct is certainly something that deserves the whole examination of law enforcement to determine if there are appropriate criminal charges.

State and federal jurisdictions can overlap in some cases when it comes to criminal prosecutions. In most cases, the different jurisdictions collaborate on which takes the lead, but in some cases, both state and federal prosecutions may occur.

Theres not a double jeopardy issue, because its two separate sovereigns, Olson explained. Policies established through federal case law determine when that will occur, she said, and outline specific circumstances that could warrant it. One is that justice hasnt been done, that theres some federal interest that has not been met, Olson said. That federal policy is known as the Dual and Successive Prosecution Policy, or Petite policy, named after Petite v United States, a 1960 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

A famous example of that was the Rodney King case in California, in which multiple California police officers severely beat King, a Black motorist, after stopping him for speeding, a beating that was captured on videotape. King was released without charges, and four officers were prosecuted for the beating. In their state trial, two were acquitted by a jury that included no Black members, prompting riots in Los Angeles that caused widespread damage and led to 53 deaths and 7,000 arrests.

Subsequently, federal charges were brought against the four officers for violating Kings civil rights, and two were convicted.

Olson said federal charges were brought more recently in the Derek Chauvin prosecution over the murder of George Floyd, and in the Ahmaud Arbery case, in which a Black jogger was shot to death by two white men in Georgia in 2020. In both cases, federal prosecutions took place after the state prosecutions.

In the Coeur dAlene Patriot Front incident, Olson said, My guess is  if there was a reason to prosecute these guys federally, that the Petite policy likely would not stand in the way.
BIG RAPIDS  For some students, focusing on the future is a big part of education. One Mecosta-Osceola Career Center student recently put her experiences to the test at the national SkillsUSA competition in Atlanta, Georgia.

Megan Knuth, a second-year culinary student, has been honing her resume and interview aptitude in preparation for the national competition.

She competed and placed first in the job interviewing category at SkillsUSA in April with other Michigan Career Technical Education centers, which allowed her to go to the national competition.

Knuth said, "competing for the first time was a rush."

I first competed at the state level, and I was kind of anxious about it, Knuth said. I wasn't super comfortable interviewing, but my teachers got me really comfortable, and we practiced a lot. I didn't feel that I had won at first, and I was really surprised to find out that I did.

The Skills USA competition is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. A nonprofit national education association, SkillsUSA serves middle-school, high-school, college and post-secondary students preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations.

Through the organization, students develop SkillsUSA Framework skills, build confidence, enhance their resume, explore career paths, obtain scholarships and work opportunities, network with peers, teachers, mentors and industry representatives, develop teamwork experience, and practice hands-on application of skills.

Knuth said preparing for the competitions was a lot of work.

You're graded based on how you introduce yourself to the receptionist, your resume, how you present yourself, what you're wearing, and then your actual answers to your interview questions, Knuth said. It was my first time, and I did a lot of practice with my teachers. They brought in multiple different people from around the area to interview me to practice, and I had to pretend to shake their hands and go through the whole process.

I've just been practicing a lot in the summer, she added. I have a whole document with all my answers typed out, and I just practice them over and over again.

According to her teachers, Knuth is an excellent student, role model and athlete. She participated in track and cross country at Big Rapids High School and is a National Honors Society (NHS) member.

Knuth said she hopes to be a role model for younger students.

I would hope that my experience shows younger kids that you can do things you wouldnt think you could, Knuth said. I would encourage other students to try out competing, I think it helps build confidence and has helped me build mine. I feel that when I go out into the world now, I feel more confident and feel that I could get a job better than I could have before this experience.

Moving forward, Knuth said she plans to attend the Culinary Institute of America in New York City following graduation and hopes to be involved in food media doing food photography and recipe development for cookbooks.

For more information about the programs offered at the Mecosta-Osceola Career Center, go to https://www.moisd.org/schools/career-center/.




First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain.





Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that.





And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details.





If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Grant F. Reid, the chief executive officer of food and confectionery giant Mars, will retire in September after more than eight years in the role and 34 years at the company. He will be succeeded as CEO by current Mars Petcare president Poul Weihrauch.

Outgoing Mars CEO Grant Reid. Source: Supplied

Set up for a sustainable future

Next chapter

Poul Weihrauch will become Mars CEO in September. Source: Supplied

Under Reid's leadership, Mars has reported unprecedented growth and transformation combined with a focus on sustainability and purpose, and significant expansion into newer areas. The company owns confectionery brands including Snickers, M&Ms and Skittles and petcare brands like Pedigree, Whiskas and Royan Canin.Mars Board chair, Frank Mars, paid tribute to Reid's "extraordinary legacy" fusing performance with purpose, delivering sustainable growth, ramping up Mars digital capabilities, building its iconic brands, and expanding into newer territories like veterinary health, pet services and healthy snacking. As a result, Mars said, sales had grown by over 50% to nearly $45bn under Reid's tenure and the number of employees had increased from 60,000 to more than 140,000."While he is too modest to admit it, our significant transformation and record growth as a business would not have happened without Grant's leadership. He has visibly lived our principles and embedded purpose at the heart of our business strategy. The Mars Family are tremendously grateful for his dedication and service.""He has been a tower of strength, helping us charter new courses and pushing us beyond what we thought possible. He's represented Mars on the global stage, particularly around climate change, and he has ensured that we are known for acting, not just making commitments."From next year onwards, Reid will devote more time to following his passion as a champion for climate action, the sustainability agenda, and the broader role for business in society.Reid commented on his forthcoming departure: "It has been a privilege to lead the Mars team and work closely with the Mars Family. We have built on our core strengths and moved into new areas, setting the business up for a brilliant, sustainable future. But the biggest difference we make starts with our 140,000 associates, the hundreds of communities we operate in, and the billions of consumers we serve."I'm proud that, in the face of challenges such as a global pandemic, we have never lost sight of our strategic path or our ambition to help create the world we want tomorrow  and to drive both purpose and performance. Whether that be challenging ourselves to deliver a truly net zero supply chain, ensuring our most impactful raw materials like palm are deforestation-free, or innovating with packaging solutions to help ensure our products do not turn up as waste."Reid and Weihrauch have been working together closely for several months to ensure a smooth succession. Reid will continue to represent Mars until the end of 2022, including at critical events such as UNGA/Climate Week, COP27 and more.Weihrauch will succeed Reid from the end of September. He has worked in many parts of the business since joining in 2000 as European brand leader for Snickers.Having led the Mars Food business, he became president of Global Petcare in 2014 and, during that time, has overseen significant growth and diversification into veterinary health, diagnostics, data, and platforms, doubling the size of the business. Weihrauch has also driven significant focus and investment into the Petcare sustainability agenda.Weihrauch commented: "I am honoured and humbled by this opportunity to serve the organisation and our 140,000 Mars associates."This is an incredible company which has consistently demonstrated that doing good is good business. It is that relationship that will ensure we keep delivering sustainable growth and performance."We live in challenging times but I'm an optimist and I believe in the power of business to have a positive impact and, in particular, the freedom we have at Mars to do the right thing for our associates and the world we operate in."Frank Mars said: "I have known Poul for 22 years, working closely with him for the last 10, and I know that he will be a wonderful leader for the next stage of our evolution."He is known for his inspirational and inclusive leadership style, for growing businesses and renovating brands and for his deep commitment to associate engagement and development. Following Grant's decision, the Board and I are grateful to be able to appoint such a strong Mars leader and are confident that Poul will both protect our legacy, while leading us into what promises to be a bright and exciting future."As a result of Weihrauch's appointment, Mars has announced a series of subsequent senior appointments. Loic Moutault, president at Royal Canin, is to become Mars Global Petcare president, and Cecile Coutens will take over as global Royal Canin president.
Source: Supplied. Chief executive officer of Cipla South Africa, Paul Miller.

To help raise awareness around mental health, Cipla South Africa broke the Guinness World Record for the 'largest sock sentence' challenge, held on the Sea Point promenade in Cape Town on Saturday 4 June 2022. Why was this project so important? Can you tell me a little about your hotline.

According to the World Health Organization, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15 to 29-year-olds. Why is this? Why are our youth in particular so vulnerable? What are the challenges in particular that SA youth face?

How does the high youth unemployment play into the above SA figure?

If there were one thing, you'd want youth to know about depression, what would that be?

Breaking the stigma around speaking about mental health would mean.....what to you?

Will Cipla be hosting another 'Largest Sock Sentence" next year?

How do you feel about this year's win?

The previous largest sock sentence consisted of 2,295 socks and was accomplished by a sock company in Osaka, Japan, on 9 November 2020.Chief executive officer of Cipla South Africa, Paul Miller, speaks to why this project is so important in raising awareness of prioritising mental-health care among SA's youth.The South African Depression and Anxiety Group and Cipla launched a dedicated Cipla Sadag mental health helpline (0800 456 789) in 2018. The helpline is manned by a team of trained SADAG counsellors. When the line experiences peak times, the number of counsellors on call will increase to meet this demand.The reason why this project is so important is because we want people to know that its OK not to be OK, and that there is hope and there is help, which is why we launched the dedicated Cipla Sadag mental health helpline in 2018.The helpline aims to assist the public with mental health - to cope with personal stress, mental illness, and other emotional issues, and is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day offering free telephonic counselling, information, and referrals to callers nationwide for a variety of mental-health issues. The Cipla mental health helpline receives between 9,000 to 9,500 calls a month.The youth are faced with many challenges that contribute to depression and suicidal thoughts. These include relationship issues, problems at home, family crises, divorce, untreated trauma and a lack of support. The youth are the most at-risk age group and are at an age for onset of many mental illnesses, too. The hormonal changes that young people face also contributes to mental-health difficulties.Unemployment and poverty are affecting the South African youth's mental health. The South African youth are being confronted increasingly by pressures such as high unemployment, poverty rates, zero to no access to mental healthcare and a major lack of access to quality education which often negatively affects their mental health.Sadag is dedicated to promoting the mental health and psychological wellbeing of all youth in South Africa by creating awareness and ensuring that all young people get access to mental-health help and support.These kinds of resources are critical for their health and wellbeing during challenging times, especially adolescence and early adulthood.If a young person or a friend is feeling hopeless, alone or struggling to cope, we encourage them to please contact Sadags toll-free suicide helpline on 0800 567 567 or 0800 21 22 23 for free telephonic counselling, crisis intervention, information and referrals seven days a week. They can also sms 31393 and a counsellor will call back or visit www.sadag.org for more resources and information.Awareness around mental health is of vital importance to Cipla, considering the scope of the problem. We felt the need to start a conversation around mental health.We embarked on a campaign roughly three years ago, to let people know that its OK not to be OK, and there is hope and help available.We wanted to not only create awareness but close the loop in terms of providing a valuable resource for people who needed help, hence we sponsor a Sadag helpline which offers free counselling.At this stage, we cannot comment about hosting another sock sentence. Were constantly trying to come up with fresh ideas to create awareness, so wont necessarily repeat the same idea.Were really pleased about breaking the Guinness World record  especially because we used old socks for this record attempt, so it aligns with our sustainability objectives too, while creating awareness and dialogue around mental health.
The CEM Africa Summit will be returning to Cape Town after a purely virtual edition last year. Taking place on 23 and 24 August at the Century City Conference Centre, the event will play host to some of the country's premier consumer brands including McDonald's, Vodacom, Nedbank, Spar, Dischem and Superbalist.

Source: Supplied

Source: Supplied

Expert speaker lineup

CX myths, data and customer expectations

Source: Supplied

Customer experience (CX) executives from top organisations on the continent will be present to attend keynotes, educational workshops, panel discussions and live Q&As to assist them in creating bullet-proof customer experience systems for their enterprises. Speakers and moderators will represent leading businesses, best-in-class consultancies and dynamic brands that epitomise outstanding CX.The format of this year's in-person event is as follows:Day 1, 23 August: A full day of educational workshops delivered by industry specialists.Day 2, 24 August: A conference featuring keynotes and panel discussions by leaders and experts in CX.It is no secret that the African market is leading the digital transformation in customer experience, which has grown into a very specialised segment of consumer marketing. Our 2022 programme is practical, pragmatic and pro-active, says Shannon Mackrill, cofounder of the CEM Africa Summit.Mackrill continues, Bringing together the brightest minds and most capable CX operators, we boast a can-use-it-now agenda and specialist line-up spread out over two days. Attendees will walk away with a solid game plan to map out or refresh their companies customer experience strategies and activities.The line-up of confirmed expert speakers so far include: Qaalfa Dibeehi (dean of customer experience leadership, Majid Al Futtaim, UAE) Julia Ahlfeldt (customer experience professional, RSA) Charlie Stewart (co-founder and chief executive, Rogerwilco, RSA) Janine George (CPTO, Carrol Boyes, RSA) Kamohelo Potloane (CX officer, Rand Water, RSA) Moses Duma (head group customer experience strategy and governance, Old Mutual Group, RSA) Wendy Houlson (group CX service manager, Spar Group, RSA) Brigitte De Gama (CHRO, McDonalds, RSA) Anton de Wet (CCXP) (chief client officer, Nedbank, RSA) Errol Van Graan, (chief CX officer, Vodacom, RSA) Brenda Zuma (customer service and operations manager, Superbalist, RSA) Lynne Blignaut (group loyalty and customer rewards, Dischem, RSA)Some of the topics that will be discussed in depth at the CEM Africa Summit include: Myths of customer experience: This keynote session will address some common myths of CX transformation and provide a provocative course-corrected perspective. Customer journey management: From designing, measuring, managing and implementing fixes and improvements to closing the feedback loops. Data-driven marketing for better customer experience: Undoubtedly, data-driven marketing is the future. A single bad experience is enough to deter visitors from becoming customers.The panel discussions will unpack the leading role that the African continent is playing in the digital transformation in CX, mapping the customer journey and exploring the delivery experience, how to keep up with the constantly evolving expectations of customers, and unlocking valuable customer loyalty in competitive industries.CEM Africa can once again count on specialised industry support for this years edition. Nice systems is the lead sponsor, Avaya and Novamind AG are diamond sponsors, while Diamond, Freshworks and Zoho boast platinum and Rogerwilco and Insider silver partnership status. The media partners for the event are Hypertext and Blankpage.CEM Africa is the largest CX event on the continent and is organised by Kinetic Events, which is a partner of The Vuka Group.For more info and to register for the event, visit the dedicated CEM Africa Summit website . A special early bird price is available for registrations before 30 June.
The South African tourism industry has welcomed and commented on Health Minister, Joe Phaahla's repeal of several Covid-19 regulations relating to the wearing of face masks, gatherings and persons entering the country.

Source: Stephan Stockinger via 123RF

The repealed rules formed part of what is formally known as the Regulations Relating to the Surveillance and the Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions, into which they were inserted on 4 May, according toHere the tourism industry shares their thoughts:The lifting of Covid restrictions is fantastic news for South African travellers."The Covid entry requirements imposed by our government during Covid made sense at the height of the pandemic. Lately, however, these restrictions have been causing some confusion for travellers who are unsure how to present their proof of vaccination. For those who arent vaccinated, the cost of PCR tests has also been a major deterrent."The lifting of the last few Covid requirements will undoubtedly boost traveller confidence, and we expect a considerable uptick in travel bookings."We would like to urge travellers to book well ahead of time as the influx in travel demand could have unintended consequences. During the last few months, there has been a significant delay in the issuing of visas from several governments."We would advise all travellers to obtain guidance from travel experts who are able to assist with unravelling the complexities of travel, as requirements and regulations do still change at short notice."Travellers can check the Flight Centre Travel Groups free Travel News information hub, a website that allows you to search for any country and get up-to-date Covid-19 travel information and more need-to-know resources.""The lifting of the existing restrictions is a much-needed boost for both leisure tourism and business tourism live events and exhibitions. The capacity is a commercial issue and its affecting all businesses. For us to be able to get back to some sort of normality, which in turn helps feed the economy is really important. This is a very welcome announcement.""Today is a great day for the travel and tourism industry as we are seeing the scrapping of the last Covid regulations. It will be a sigh of relief for business travellers to be able to attend conferences freely and travel for work without additional admin or costly PCR tests. Voco is located in the centre of Rosebank, a big business node with numerous international corporates."We foresee a promising boost in demand from international business travellers who will feel more confident to travel to South Africa now that the last hurdles to get back to business have finally been removed. It will also be great to see all my staffs friendly smiling faces again.As Fedhasa, we are absolutely thrilled that government has lifted the restriction of 50%-only capacity in conferences, events, exhibitions, musical events and big stadium events. This will really help our industry get back on its feet because we now have clarity and certainties. We can actually plan in advance, which is exactly what our industry needs."Weve got lots of work to do to catch up all the events and conferences that we lost especially in the international market, but our industry is resilient and we really are determined to try to do that. We are absolutely thrilled that we can get on with doing what we do best, which is create jobs and add handsomely to the economy.""The relaxation of rules brings South Africa in line with first world countries, such as the US, which were the first to scrap Covid rules for travel and conferencing. This announcement will without a doubt have a positive impact both on business travel and on conferencing and events in South Africa as regulations are completely removed and we can go back to normal volumes."Today Visit Stellenbosch is hosting the inaugural Meet Stellenbosch a showcase for the business tourism sector in Stellenbosch. This is such a joyous occasion that we can celebrate the end of restrictions to group gatherings. The MICE industry has really suffered greatly and we are deeply relieved by this decision and we look forward to the opportunities that await."I believe the repeal of these regulations will be a huge boost for tourism to South Africa and the greater Southern Africa. It is high time to normalise travel as is already happening in other countries around the world. The fact that we were under constant scrutiny for over two years and put on red lists has done a lot of damage to the greater tourism numbers. Its important that we get back to pre-Covid normality. We can now finally market and sell our destination without being hampered by government regulations. The news that the regulations have been scrapped is not only exciting, it is also hugely rewarding for tourism to our destination.""At Bon Hotels we are to an extent grateful that sanity has eventually prevailed when it comes to the absolute ludicrous rules that have hit our industry, the hospitality industry, the hardest out of every industry in this country. I dont think theres any other industry that has been hit harder than us. So many of the rules have been absolutely nonsensical and have cost thousands upon thousands of jobs."Wed like to call upon government to stop creating own goals for the people of this country who are trying to earn an honest living. Wed like to urge government to consult with industry stakeholders more widely so that we can offer our perspectives into major decisions that are affecting everyone in our industry and in the country.""With unemployment sitting above 30% and the hospitality being a key player in reducing this, we are delighted with the lifting of all regulations and we can now get back our lives and more importantly our livelihoods."
Red Cross Children's Hospital launches project to help families with emergency relief

The social work department at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, with the help of the Children's Hospital Trust, has launched the Family Care Project to provide patients and families in dire need with emergency relief items on their road to recovery. Serving children from the Western Cape and beyond, as well as across sub-Saharan Africa, the hospital each year sees around 250,000 patient visits for specialist medical care.
On 9 June 2022, Tiger Brands gave personnel producers and clients a 60-day consultation period notice to close down its factory in Ashton in the Western Cape. Agri SA has raised concerns about the impact the decision will have on the community's producers, the industry and agrocessing in the Western Cape.

Source: Jacinto Diego via Unsplash

Impact on jobs

Agri SA is concerned that the closure of the factory would be a socio-economic disaster for the region, with ripple effects throughout the value chain.Producers have made requests to the Western Cape and national government to intervene in the matter.Tiger Brands initially decided to divest from the factory two years ago. A consortium of 160 producers began negotiations with Tiger Brands to acquire the factory, but the consortium will require a further R200-300m to close the deal. With the latest announcement from Tiger Brands, these producers have been placed in a position where they must secure the necessary funds in less than 60 days.The factorys main sources are Cling Peaches, Bulida Apricots and Bon Chretien pears from 2,250 ha of canning fruit orchards. These orchards have been planted specifically for canning in the Klein-Karoo, Ashton, Robertson, Bonnievale, Breerivier, Wolseley en Ceres areas. Were the factory to close, approximately 300 farmers would have no alternative market for these fruits as the other fruit canning factory in South Africa, owned by the Rhodes Food Group, is already running at full capacity. These farmers would have to destroy the orchards.The impact of the announcement is already being felt as labour brokers report that their teams are sitting at home as producers stopped pruning after the Tiger announcement. In media statements, Tiger Brands indicated that 250 permanent jobs and 4,300 seasonal jobs are affected at the peak of the season. The factory is the life support of the Ashton community and without it, the community faces socio-economic disaster. The Langeberg and Ashton factory is also the biggest single source of income for the Langeberg Municipality.In addition to factory workers, the facility provides employment for thousands of farmworkers in Ashton and in the production regions. Just over one permanent job opportunity is associated with each hectare of fruit orchard and 2,250 permanent farm workers livelihoods are now in jeopardy. Additional seasonal labour is utilised for winter pruning, thinning, summer pruning and harvest.The canning factory has been in operation for more than 70 years and supplies fruit for Tiger Brands Koo brand as well as international brands like Silverleaf and GoldReef. The factory initially consisted of two separate factories owned by the producers and a local entrepreneur. Tiger Brands subsequently bought these factories and consolidated them into one.
The idea of Bathu shoes came to Theo Baloyi in 2015 when he realised that Africa had no sneaker brand that authentically tells the African story. Baloyi launched 100 pairs of shoes shortly thereafter to the people in Alexandra, Soweto, Midrand and Thembisa. Since then, Bathu has opened many stores across South Africa. This quick meteoric rise in success is due to Baloyi conceptualising, designing, researching, producing, and doing quality assurance on his products and business.

Bathu CEO Theo Baloyi | image supplied

Congratulations on recently winning the All Africa Young Business Leader of the Year award. How do you feel about it and what does the accolade mean to you and your business?

What inspired you as a young man to start Bathu shoes and build it into a reputable brand?

What are the secrets to your success?

What challenges and risks have you faced in starting Bathu shoes?

How has the business grown since its inception?

What other successes have you had so far throughout your career?

Why is entrepreneurship important for South African youth and motivate why a young person should venture into this field.

What four important entrepreneurial lessons do you have for young people that want to start their own businesses?

Forget about microwave success Be purpose-driven Forget about social currency, the right people will come on board to support you Remember time is always the answer to everything such as pain, hurt, success and achievements always give it time

In the present day, Baloyi's innovation and hard work continue to pay off. He recently placed first in the Top Footwear Brand category at the Top 16 Youth-Owned Brand Awards and was named the All Africa Young Business Leader of the Year at the recent All Africa Business Leaders Awards.I reached out to Baloyi to find out more about himself, Bathu, and the challenges he's faced in starting up his business.Thank you very much. Winning this award reminds me of how we had a vision to build a premium sneaker brand that Africans can affiliate with, realising that unfold by reigniting hope and creating sustainable jobs is a true testimony of the vision and mission we created back then.This award also solidifies our ability to build and grow brands that embody our heritage and who we are, which we can advocate to the world.A whole lot of things inspired me, starting with my upbringing, and the community I grew up in, but mostly what keeps inspiring me is the power of unity that I have seen through Bathu, through the clients that continue to support us and the people that truly advocate for our brand.Humility, passion for people and sheer determination to be always being of service to others. Having an open and teachable spirit keeps me grounded at all times.The biggest challenge that I faced was consumer behaviour, five years ago the consumer behaviour trend in South Africa was different in such a way that we were invested in international brands as people deemed them to be more reputable and of greater quality than local.Trying to come up with an approach that would bring a product shift to consumer behaviour by making them believe that local is lekker in terms of quality and affordability was one of the risks we took.The business has grown immensely from when it started, in a back room in Alex, looking at how we have positively impacted a lot of lives. The growth of the business has grown beyond what I ever imagined it could be.Our successes vary, some are add-ons and build-ons, which are solely related and connected to the brand Bathu. We try not to live in a trophy room but we acknowledge and appreciate all our successes and wins.I really believe that the paradigm shift in our continent is going to be heavily driven by youth entrepreneurship because its the way to go in moving our continent forward while ensuring that we bridge the unemployment gap by leveraging off the different sectors of entrepreneurship.Young people also need to be very intentional about the direction that they want to take and not just focus on microwave success because someone else is doing it. One needs to satisfy their inner core and purpose when venturing into business and not just do it for overnight success.
JUBA, June 23 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan Thursday began consultations aimed at revising and reforming its Petroleum Act 2012 to be able to regulate the downstream operations in the oil sector.

Puot Kang Chol, the Minister of Petroleum said the existing petroleum law only covers the upstream operations.

Kang added that the existing discrepancies within the oil sector need to be addressed during the ongoing consultative meetings organized by the National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC).

"If you look at the current Petroleum Act that we have, it does not cover much the downstream, where we talk basically about things to do with petroleum economics, depots, petrol stations, and now we will be coming up with oil refineries, we must be regulated by laws," he said during the opening of the consultative meeting held in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

The NCAC is mandated under the 2018 revitalized peace agreement to supervise reforms in the economic and governance sectors.

Kang noted the need to reform laws that would see the management of state-owned Nile Petroleum Company Ltd (NILEPET) change from the ministry of presidential affairs to the ministry of petroleum.

Downstream operations are oil and gas processes that occur after the production phase to the point of sale, while upstream operations cover exploration activities, which include creating geological surveys and obtaining land rights, and production activities, which include onshore and offshore drilling.

"We need an Act that will foster and push progress within the sector, we want to come out with the best Act. If we are not regulated by laws we will commit a lot of mistakes," Kang said.

Moses Makur Deng, the Governor of the Bank of South Sudan, said that the current Petroleum Act was imposed on the country, adding that the revised law must address environmental issues as well as community welfare.

"The current Act is superficial and was imposed on South Sudanese, so I am warning this time that this dimension must be taken care of properly, we should not be seen as receiving anything from anywhere we should own the laws," Deng said.

He said the revised law should protect the interests of national staff, cautioning that any law that ignores these facts will remain superficial even if it is amended.

Gichira Kibara, the NCAC chairperson, said that the amendments within the oil sector need to be informed by real needs and must protect the interests of South Sudan.

"The idea of reform is to have a much better sector than we have now," Kibara said. 
New Business Consultant - Half Day

Location: Cape Town Remote work: Only remote work Job level: Junior/Mid Type: Contract Company: Persuade

Internet research

Email and telephone communication on behalf of company.

Identifying opportunities for CEO and clients.

Strong administrative skills, managing data in the CRM system

Weekly and monthly reporting

Manage and diarise appointments on behalf of our CEO and clients

Work towards activity targets

Home office space

Good internet line

Own Laptop / Computer - with webcam

Articulate, professional and a strong command of the English language both verbal and written

Strong telephone etiquette

Excellent relationship-building skills

Strong work ethic and integrity

Self-starter and self-motivated

Results orientated Professional

Must be able to work in a remote position

Flexible working hours 08:00-13:00

Base salary of R5,500 (We will provide a calling system and credit)

Commission for every appointment generated based on attendance.

Quarterly weekends away with the company if targets are hit as a company.

We are looking for a half-day new business consultant to generate leads on behalf of our founder and CEO and occasionally our clients.The person needs to be comfortable using the phone to warm call leads and generate appointments.The ideal applicant must have cold calling experience and know-how to engage with business decision-makers on the phone.Please be based in Cape Town. Not accepting applicants outside of Cape Town.Responsibilities:RequirementsBenefitsPosted on 23 Jun 11:54, Closing date 22 Aug
GOP sellouts are uniting with Democrats to ram through new gun control legislation and are planning a mass amnesty for illegal aliens and DACA recipients next.



Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) were seen shaking hands on the Senate floor on Tuesday evening after voting to advance their new gun control bill.





Cornyn and Schumer shaking hands on the floor  Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) June 21, 2022

The vibe in the Senate is so positive right now that Schumer gave Susan Collins a fist bump !  Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) June 21, 2022



A "smiling" Cornyn reportedly told Sen. Alejandro Padilla (D-CA), "First guns, now it's immigration."





More positive ~~ vibes ~~ on Senate floor.



A smiling Cornyn tells Padilla, First guns, now its immigration



Thats right, were going to do it, Sinema added  Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) June 21, 2022



It was reported last week that ten GOP senators had united with Democrats to pass new gun control measures. It now appears they have five more GOP senators on board.





The ten GOP Senators who signed onto the gun control deal that included funding for red flag laws:



Blunt

Burr

Portman

Toomey

Cornyn

Tillis

Cassidy

Collins

Graham

Romney



Republicans who just joined to advance it:



Murkowski

Capito

Ernst

McConnell

Young.  Greg Price (@greg_price11) June 22, 2022



Four out of the ten GOP senators who first signed onto this gun control push are retiring and five others are not up for reelection until 2026. Only Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) is facing voters in 2024.





Of the 10 Republican senators supporting a bipartisan deal on gun safety, four are leaving Congress at the end of the year and five are not up for re-election for another four years. Only Mitt Romney of Utah will face voters in 2024. https://t.co/ERcK7TwGwY pic.twitter.com/q3YKb1MZlx  The New York Times (@nytimes) June 12, 2022



Politico reported last week that GOP donors are pushing GOP senators to pass a mass amnesty next and it's now clear Cornyn is fully on board.



Joe Biden is the most unpopular president in US history but corrupt GOP senators are uniting together with him, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and the rest of the Democratic Party to screw over their own voters in every way possible.



Cornyn last week denounced his own constituents that are opposed to his gun control push as a "mob" that he will never give in to.





Pathetic. This is what Senator Cornyn thinks of you, Texas. pic.twitter.com/J0V36wvBkr  The Columbia Bugle  (@ColumbiaBugle) June 17, 2022



This is the greatest sellout in political history.





Here we are voting to move on a bill negotiated entirely behind closed doors, released only an hour ago, that no one has had time to fully read, that ignores the national crime wave & chips away instead at the fundamental rights of law abiding citizens. NO  Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) June 22, 2022



Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) reportedly asked Cornyn last week if his gun control bill would do anything to address the current epidemic of "gang violence and inner-city murders."



"No," Cornyn responded. "We're not focusing on that."





Tucker Carlson Blasting Senate RINOs Over Gun Control Deal w/ The Left & Their Plans To Sell Out On Immigration



"Has there ever been a greater more brazen sellout of any group of voters than what Republicans Senators Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn & the rest are doing right now?" pic.twitter.com/LuY8FdN801  The Columbia Bugle  (@ColumbiaBugle) June 22, 2022



[Header image by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0]



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NAIROBI, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Grassroots communities in Africa should be at the center of global negotiations geared toward coming up with a landmark agreement on protecting natural habitats in the coming decades, youthful campaigners said on Thursday.

Derrick Mugisha, representative of the Global Biodiversity Youth Network Uganda chapter said that a people-centered approach to enhanced protection of vital ecosystems was required in Africa where habitat loss had worsened poverty, hunger, and disease.

Speaking on the sidelines of the fourth meeting of the open-ended working group on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework underway in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, Mugisha said that contribution of local communities will be key to the realization of an inclusive and pragmatic deal to revitalize species conservation.

"The aspirations and major concerns of local communities should inform negotiations leading to the establishment of a new global deal to halt a biodiversity crisis rampant in Africa," said Mugisha.

He added that a rights-based and inclusive multilateral process was required to ensure Africa's custodians of genetic resources benefited from financial incentives and capacity development.

Africa's youth-led green lobby groups have been advocating for mainstreaming of aspirations of local communities in the final draft of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework that is expected to be adopted at the end of the Nairobi forum on Sunday.

Kevin Lunzalu, a co-founder of Kenya Youth Biodiversity Network said that an ambitious and adequately funded global pact to tackle threats facing natural habitats should be aligned with the urgent needs of Africa's indigenous communities including food, water, and energy security.

According to Lunzalu, local communities should also be involved in the implementation of key targets outlined in the global biodiversity framework including benefits sharing and compensation.

Irene Kananura, a member of the Ugandan chapter of the Global Biodiversity Youth Network said that incentivizing local communities through financing, training, and technology transfer would aid restoration of degraded habitats.

Kananura stressed that a transformative global biodiversity framework will have a greater impact in Africa if it recognizes and rewards grassroots interventions aimed at regenerating vital ecosystems like forests and wetlands. 
TRIPOLI, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Libya's Interior Ministry on Thursday condemned the deadly clashes that broke out between armed groups in the capital Tripoli on Wednesday.

"The Interior Ministry has followed up with great concern the tragic events that took place in the capital Tripoli late on Wednesday, when clashes erupted between two security agencies that are not affiliated to the Interior Ministry, causing human casualties, damaging property, and frightening civilians," the ministry said in a statement.

"The ministry condemns those clashes, which occur from time to time and stoke panic and fear among people. Such clashes undermine the ministry's policy to maintain security and protect people's lives and public property," it added.

In addition, the ministry denounced road blocking as a means of expressing political or social disapproval because it "harms people's interests of using public roads."

Two armed groups engaged in fighting in central Tripoli late Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of a civilian and three armed militants, according to local media reports.

On Thursday, an armed group blocked a main road in eastern Tripoli to protest against the release of a militia leader from jail.

Libya has been suffering escalating violence and instability ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011. 
KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese-made tunnel boring machine (TBM1) for excavation works on Malaysia's mega rail project, being built by China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), has officially started its operations on Thursday.

The machine, one of two made by CCCC Tianhe Mechanical Equipment Manufacturing Co Ltd, will spearhead the excavation works for the 16.39 km twin-bore Genting Tunnel, CCCC and Malaysia Rail Link (MRL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia's Ministry of Finance and ECRL project owner, said in a joint statement.

The milestone was marked by a ceremony witnessed by Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob who joined Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing, CCCC Vice President Sun Ziyu, among other guests.

In his remarks, Ismail Sabri said the project will connect various population centers as well as industrial parks to ensure a more effective and well connected public transport system.

He said this would be achieved with new technology such as the TBM which provides a high-tech alternative to the traditional drill and blast method used previously in tunneling projects and said the ECRL would provide a boost to the country's economic development by connecting two important ports across both sides of the Peninsula Malaysia.

"The construction of this twin-bore Genting Tunnel is a key component of the ECRL project which will complete a land bridge for cargo transportation from Kuantan Port to Port Klang," he added.

TBM1's head alone weighs 900 tons with an 8.98-meter diameter cutter head. Along with its supporting back that houses the control room, the entire TBM1 weighs 1,600 tons and measures 266 meters in length.

Echoing the prime minister's comments, Wee said the ECRL will see a positive spillover effect, providing employment and boosting economic development and creating new opportunities.

"Indeed, this is the main objective of the construction of the ECRL, that is to benefit the surrounding community, boost local economic growth and open up job opportunities, in addition to building efficient transportation connectivity that provides benefits to the country," he said.

For his part, Sun said the project is not only a landmark of bilateral cooperation but a symbol of progress and people-to-people connectivity between both countries.

"CCCC will live up to the high expectations of all social sectors from Malaysia and China, to carry out the ECRL construction as a 'top priority project', and construct with the most elite talents, most advanced technology, the best equipment, and the strictest standards," he said.

"CCCC will work closely together with MRL to build ECRL into a green project, a safe project, a talent-fostering project, a people benefit project, and an innovation project," he added.

The ECRL runs from Malaysia's largest transport hub Port Klang and travels across the peninsula to Kelantan state in northeastern Malaysia. The rail link is expected to greatly enhance connectivity and bring more balanced growth to the country by linking its less-developed region on the East Coast to the economic heartland on the West Coast upon its completion in December 2026. 
Catalytic converter thefts are on the rise in Brandon, a trend mirrored across Manitoba.

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Catalytic converter thefts are on the rise in Brandon, a trend mirrored across Manitoba.

There have been seven thefts of the valuable car part reported in Brandon so far in 2022, equal to the number in all of 2021, according to police.

In 2020, there was only one catalytic converter theft reported and zero in 2019.

Catalytic converters are car parts that convert pollutants in exhaust into less-toxic gases. There are valuable metals inside, including rhodium, palladium and platinum, which can be sold for scrap.

In the most recent incident, police responded to a report of two stolen from vehicles parked in the 2000 block of Louise Avenue on June 3, according to police.

Officers used security camera footage from the area to identify and arrest the suspect.

The 39-year-old was charged with two counts of theft under $5,000 and is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 2, police said on Tuesday.

The precious metals in catalytic converters can be sold for cash, Brandon police public information officer Sgt. Kirby Sararas said.

"This isnt just a problem in Brandon but across Canada and North America as other jurisdictions are seeing the same trend," Sararas said in an email.

Catalytic converter theft is also an issue in Winnipeg, where as many 1,620 thefts were reported in the first 11 months of 2021, according to the Winnipeg Free Press. Thats up from 336 in 2020 and 14 in 2015.

In response, a Winnipeg city councillor suggested a province-wide specialized task force be created to regulate the sale of metals found in the devices.

In December, the provincial government introduced the Scrap Metal Act, which is aimed at cracking down on the trafficking of stolen car parts.

Under the legislation, anyone selling a part will be required to show government-issued ID and write a description of the scrap metal and how they got it. Dealers will be required to notify police of any items they believe couldve been stolen.

Scrap metal dealers will be banned from buying the meal without the information, according to the Free Press. Dealers will also be required to write down the sellers licence plate number for some items.

 dmay@brandonsun.com, with files from the Winnipeg Free Press

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
Jason Potter, the reeve of the Municipality of Harrison Park, is still in hospital more than two weeks after a collision on Highway 10 left him with serious injuries.

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Jason Potter, the reeve of the Municipality of Harrison Park, is still in hospital more than two weeks after a collision on Highway 10 left him with serious injuries.

Chad Davies, the chief administrative officer for the municipality south of Riding Mountain National Park, said on Wednesday there was no update from Potters family he could share publicly.

Deputy reeve Craig Atkinson is still the acting reeve, he said.

Dean Sutherland, 53, was killed in the collision, which took place at approximately 7 a.m. on June 6.

Police responded to the two-vehicle collision on Highway 10, approximately six kilometres south of Erickson, according to the Yellowhead RCMP.

A vehicle driving south and a vehicle driving north collided, police say.

Sutherland, who was from Onanole, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was the sole passenger in the vehicle.

A 45-year-old Onanole man, Potter, was travelling in the southbound vehicle. He was transported to hospital with serious injuries via STARS air ambulance.

According to Sutherlands obituary, he had two daughters and was the owner of several chiropractic offices in Florida.

Potters family is also receiving support from the Brandon firefighter charity fund, Brandon Fire and Emergency Services chief Scott McDonald previously told the Sun. Potter is also a deputy chief of BFES.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
The legacy of a Brandon-born-and-raised national entrepreneur is being shared with Assiniboine Community College to carry on his innovation vision.

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The legacy of a Brandon-born-and-raised national entrepreneur is being shared with Assiniboine Community College to carry on his innovation vision.

Assiniboine Community College announced a $1-million donation toward its construction of its Prairie Innovation Centre from Brandon-founded national accounting and professional services firm, MNP.

The announcement was made at the Manitoba Institute for Culinary Arts building Wednesday afternoon with college faculty and administration, politicians and members of the Penny family.

The donation, made in honour of the late Don Penny, who co-founded MNP in 1958, will help to create a new centre for learning and collaboration among farmers, industry, students and government, said Mark Frison, Assiniboine Community College president.

A vital part of the Prairie Innovation Centres core principles will be education and connection. It will include research labs and shared spaces and other amenities to benefit students and the agricultural industry.

The centre will be a hub for agricultural studies, where new technology and knowledge will be applied to build the food processing and manufacturing sector of the future. The centre will allow the college to expand the programs for the agricultural environment sectors, as well as advance manufacturing.

"With roots in Westman, both Don Penny and MNP, have long been valuable partners to Assiniboine. Dons passion for collaboration and innovation, willingness to share knowledge, and his inspirational leadership align closely with what we are working to achieve with the Prairie Innovation Centre," Frison said.

The centre will be located on the colleges North Hill campus, attached to the Manitoba Institute for Culinary Arts. It will be a perfect addition to all the programs already running there, he said, such as the schools greenhouse, grow plots and of course, the food and beverage programs.

"It will be a pleasure to see his legacy live on through this centre. Don understood that Canadian agriculture is driven by people working together, and this generous contribution in his honour will be transformational for the agricultural industry and in the lives of so many students," Frison said.

The centre is still in the planning stages and the college is working with provincial and federal governments to secure additional funding. A date for when construction will begin has yet to be finalized.

The centre is going to be needed soon. Johanne Ross, executive director of Agriculture in the Classroom and a member of the colleges board of directors, said having a facility like this will be a great motivator to get more people into the sector, as well as teach more people how agriculture touches all the other industries.

There is a diverse number of careers in the sector, with at least one in eight jobs being related to agriculture. However, there is a shortage of people to fill those roles and it is getting bigger.

By 2029, the industry will have 120,000 jobs vacant across the country.

"Every career links back to agriculture and food," she said. "We try to show them that no matter what their passions are, there is a place for them in the agriculture and food industry. Science, technology, maths, and even the arts."

This donation is a natural fit for the vision of Penny, said Jason Tuffs, chairman and chief executive officers of MNP. Those are principles Penny instilled in the firm, and even as they have become a national entity, they have not forgotten those principles, or the city from which they come.

As an individual, Penny embraced giving back to the community and fostering innovation and creativity. He used his expertise and the firms reputation to act as a launchpad for those willing to pursue a dream.

"Dons warmth and charisma made him the consummate people person who was known to lead with both his head and his heart. He believed in people, in discovery, in technology, and in hard work  exactly the activities that will take place in this new Prairie Innovation Centre," Tuffs said.

 kmckinley@bandonsun.com

 Twitter: @karenleighmcki1
A driver has died overnight after a fiery car accident in Brisbanes west.

Police said the person, the single occupant of the vehicle, failed to negotiate a right bend on Moggill Road in Pinjarra Hills about 9.15pm on Thursday.

The car left the road and rolled down a steep embankment, before bursting into flames.

The driver died at the scene, police said.
A decorated World War II veteran who tried to give away more than $1 million worth of property and cash to a Melbourne hairdresser in the months before his death did not have sufficient mental capacity to alter his will, the Supreme Court has found.

Norman William Maddock, OAM, died in June 2020 aged 97. He had suffered a series of falls and been diagnosed with a psychotic disorder, paranoid ideation, cognitive difficulties and low mood in the two years before his death.

War veteran Norman Maddock and Marcia Reynolds, the woman who stood to benefit most from the changes to his will.

Judge Kate McMillan found Maddocks solicitor should have been more suspicious about the woman who stood to gain from Maddock changing his will, Marcia Reynolds, and said the evidence before her suggested Reynolds was pushing the outcome of the elderly man gifting her his family home.

The plaintiff [Reynolds] appeared to be heavily involved with the deceased in circumstances where the deceased was likely to be vulnerable or impressionable as a result of his circumstances and became dependent on her, she said.
Residents in Perths south-eastern suburbs have been warned that posting the address of notorious West Australian paedophile Bradley Pen Dragon on social media is a criminal offence.

Worried and angry community members have expressed their concerns in private Facebook groups after discovering the 62-year-old serial child sex offender was living near them after his release from prison this week.

Bradley Pen Dragon was arrested just two days after being released from prison in 2017, after accessing child exploitation material from a computer at a Northbridge backpacker hostel. Credit:Nine News Perth

But the posts have since been removed, and there are warnings that posting any information about Dragons whereabouts on social media was a criminal offence.

Dragon has spent half his life behind bars on child sex abuse charges, and is subject to more than 60 strict conditions while living in the WA community.
ISLAMABAD, June 23 (Xinhua) -- At least four people, including three children, were killed when heavy rainfall with strong winds hit Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Wednesday night, local media reported.

According to the reports, two boys from different families, one seven-year-old and the other six-year-old, were killed after the roof of a house collapsed on top of them in Millat town of the city.

Meanwhile, in separate incidents, an eight-year-old child in Mehmoodabad's Chanesar Goth and a fifty-year-old person in the Gulshan-e-Ayesha area were also killed due to a wall collapse, local media reported.

All the bodies were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center Karachi, it added. 
Australians are about to discover whether Anthony Albanese can deliver on one of the most persuasive messages in his pitch to become prime minister: the idea that he can lead a country that makes things again.

We need to make more things here in Australia, really, and have advanced manufacturing so that we can stand on our own two feet, Albanese said on May 19. Thats one of the lessons of the pandemic.

Illustration Credit: Simon Letch

Albanese knew this message resonated with voters. He believed it, too. He is serious about starting a new era of manufacturing. Yet the pandemic highlighted the challenges for Labor in achieving this goal.

The powerful lesson was that Australia did not have the sovereign capacity it needed to withstand an emergency. We did not have enough masks when the coronavirus struck. We did not have enough gloves. Gin distilleries switched production to meet demand for hand sanitiser. The Australian Defence Force was called in to help the only maker of surgical masks, Med-Con, triple its output.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has directed the secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet to conduct a review into the appointment of John Barilaro as a New York-based trade commissioner.

On Thursday, Perrottet said he had tasked Michael Coutts-Trotter with completing the review into the circumstances that led to the former deputy premiers appointment to the $500,000-a-year job.

He will provide that report to me. I will review it and I will make it public, the premier said.

Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro has been appointed to the plum role of US trade commissioner. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Liberal ministers and backbenchers remain angry that the job had been handed to the former deputy premier six months after he quit state politics, and question why the decision did not go to cabinet for approval.
Bullying and harassment remain persistent problems in Victorias Country Fire Authority, a new report shows, prompting the services management to apologise to anyone treated poorly.

The report by former Victorian equal opportunity and human rights commissioner Helen Szoke outlines ongoing shortfalls in the culture of CFA, which has been rocked by turbulence and a churn of leadership in the past decade.

An independent report has found that harassment and bullying remain ongoing problems in the CFA. Credit:Getty

One former volunteer told The Age that he still carries the emotional scars from the toxic culture, which intensified during the time of the CFAs controversial overhaul in 2017.

He said managers often yelled at him as tensions simmered between paid firefighters and volunteers in the lead up to the overhaul.
I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many, as I continue to deepen my own understanding of slaverys enduring impact. We too must find new ways to acknowledge our past. Quite simply, this is a conversation whose time has come, he said. Whether a country opts for its own head of state has no bearing on its membership of the Commonwealth group of nations, which is expected to grow this year by admitting the former French colony Gabon to its ranks. Rwanda, a former German and Belgian colony, was admitted to the group in 2009. Our Commonwealth family is  and will always remain  a free association of independent, self-governing nations. We meet and talk as equals, sharing our knowledge and experience for the betterment of all citizens of the Commonwealth  and, indeed, the wider world, he said. Earlier British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hit back at critics, including Charles, of his Australia-style plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, saying they should keep an open mind.

Johnson landed in Kigali with nothing but praise for the Rwandan President Paul Kagame who is accused of brutally repressing political opponents and operating a campaign of state-sponsored enforced disappearances. Prince Charles shakes hands with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in front of Rwandas President Paul Kagame, before the CHOGM opening ceremony. Credit:Getty Images Critics have questioned Rwandas suitability to host the summit, as well as care for Britains unwanted asylum seekers, because of its human rights record. Britain wants to mimic Australias offshoring solution to deal with unwanted asylum seekers who arrive by boat after crossing the English Channel. Because the Channel is not in international waters, Britain cannot turn boats back (as Australia does) without cooperation from France. It has an obligation to rescue boats in distress.

So the UK asked the African nation to take the arrivals. Loading The first flight was barred by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which is not connected to the European Union, but the UK is determined to press ahead and is proposing to rip up the Human Rights Act and replace it with a bill of rights that would prevent future ECHR injunctions. Johnson urged his critics to study Rwandas economic record instead  poverty declined from 77 per cent in 2001 to 55 per cent in 2017. Im delighted that Prince Charles and everybody are here today to see a country that has undergone a complete transformation, or a very substantial transformation, he said.

People need to keep an open mind about the policy, the critics need to keep an open mind, a lot of people can see its obvious merits. Loading And if Im seeing the prince tomorrow of course Im going to make that point, he said. On Friday, after the meeting, Johnson told Reuters he would not disclose any conversation he had with heir-to-the-throne. But what I will say is as people come to Rwanda, like you have today, there are a lot of prejudices about Rwanda [that] need to be blown away, he said.

Charles was reported to have called the UKs plan to copy Australias offshore solution for asylum seekers who arrive by boat appalling. Clarence House has not denied the report. The monarch is expected to be politically neutral. Back in London, Johnsons Conservative Party lost two parliamentary seats on Friday, prompting the resignation of the partys chairman and renewing doubts about the future of Britains embattled leader, Reuters reported. The losses suggest the electoral coalition Johnson brought together at the 2019 national election may be fracturing. He has already survived a vote of no-confidence by Conservative MPs this month. Charles and Johnson met for a cup of tea on Friday morning in Kigali. Both Charles and Johnson met Kagame earlier in the Rwandan capital. Johnson praised Kagames moral stance on Ukraine, according to a spokesman.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and future Queen Consort, speaks at the Violence Against Women and Girls event in Kigali, Rwanda. Credit:Getty Images In a speech at an anti-violence event, Charles wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, highlighted Kagames commitment to improving conditions for women, noting that Rwanda was ranked seventh in the world in terms of womens rights and opportunities. On International Womens Day earlier this year, I was profoundly touched by President Kagames powerful message on social media, which read, Equality is a right, not a favour, Camilla said. So let us bear His Excellencys words in mind as we focus on violence in the home against women and girls today and remember that we are seeking rights, not favours. In his first address ahead of summit, Johnson likened the grouping, often maligned as a disparate and redundant relic of the British Empire, as a fertiliser.
In a first for an electric car in India, a electric vehicle (EV) caught fire on Wednesday evening in a Mumbai suburb. This comes against the backdrop of numerous reports of fire mishaps involving electric two-wheelers.

said it is investigating the incident and remains fully committed to all aspects of safety. A detailed investigation is currently being carried out to ascertain the reasons for the incident, a company spokesperson was quoted as saying in a statement.

The owner of the two-month old e-Nexon escaped unhurt. He reached out to the companys call centre after he saw the fumes coming out. The call centre advised him to abandon the car immediately. A few minutes later, it burst into flames.

We will share a detailed response after our complete investigation. We remain committed to the safety of our vehicles and their users. This is a first after more than 30,000 EVs have cumulatively covered over 100 million kilometers across the country in nearly four years, the spokesperson added.

Government probe

Meanwhile, the government has also ordered an independent enquiry. We have ordered an independent enquiry to investigate the Nexon EV fire incident, a senior official said on Thursday.

The Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam, have been asked to probe the circumstances that led to the incident and also suggest remedial measures, he added.

DRIVING INTO SPEEDBUMPS This is the first time an e-car has been involved in such an incident in India

Tesla saw one vehicle catching fire for every 210 million miles travelled between 2012 and 2021

640 EVs caught fire in China in the first quarter of 2022, a year-on-year increase of 32%

In the US, there is a vehicle fire for every 19 million miles travelled

While there is no point of reference of e-car fires in India, given the small market size, its not unheard of globally.

The incident comes at a time when Tata Motors EV arm, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, has chalked out an aggressive plan to build its portfolio and is looking to make the most of the governments electric mobility push. Besides the e-Nexon, it sells the Tata Tigor EV and plans to launch other models over the next three years. Tata Motors e-passenger vehicles sales jumped to 3,454 units in May from 476 units in the corresponding period last year.

The largest-selling e-carmaker by unit sales globally, Tesla, saw one vehicle catching fire for every 210 million miles travelled from 2012 to 2021 approximately.

In comparison, data from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the US Department of Transportation shows that there is a vehicle fire for every 19 million miles travelled in the United States.

Approximately 640 EVs caught fire in China in the first quarter of 2022, a 32 per cent year-on-year increase, which is equivalent to seven catching fire per day, according to data released by the Chinese Fire and Rescue Department of the Ministry of Emergency Management on April 3, as reported by carnewschina.com.
Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

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A Belgian nanoelectronics researcher has agreed to provide a complete support for Indias semiconductor journey, said an official of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Thursday.

Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre, or IMEC, helps global chip manufacturers in semiconductor functional scaling: the process of fitting transistors on a silicon chip.

The MeitY official said IMEC will give technical aid to setting up semiconductor units in India. The firm is also willing to support the development of talent and research abilities in the country, he said.

A joint venture of and Foxconn, IGSS Ventures, Israel's ISMC, and Rajesh Exports subsidiary Elest are among that have proposed setting up semiconductor units in India. The source said the ministry will complete the ongoing evaluation of applications for building chip factories by December 2022.

Global semiconductor producers are developing technology to reduce the size of transistors. IMEC aims to reduce the transistor size to less than 1nm. However, the official said the demand for big and mid-sized process nodes will remain robust in the future. There will be a huge market for bigger process nodes and a significant market for mid-sized nodes, he said.

The MeitY official said more than 65 per cent of semiconductors are used in electric vehicles, power, and telecom equipment. These industries demand big and mid-sized nodes which are part of chips. Thus, the market is going to focus more on chips with nodes larger than 20-25 nanometres.
South Korean residents and peace activists who protest against the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) rally near the presidential office in Yongsan district in Seoul, South Korea, June 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Yiliang)

SEOUL, June 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korean residents and peace activists who had protested against the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) rallied on Thursday near the presidential office in Yongsan district in central Seoul.

Around a hundred people for the anti-THAAD association told a press conference that all the procedures of the U.S. missile shield deployment have been abnormal and illegal, given the deployment decision without consent from residents and the parliament, the absence of environmental effect assessment, and the operation and the site construction under the name of "temporary deployment."

The government of President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office on May 10, decided to speed up the "normalization" of the THAAD deployment site by transporting construction materials into the site and launching the environmental effect assessment in order to formally deploy the U.S. missile defense system on the Korean Peninsula.

For the past year, police operations near the deployment site have been conducted two or three times per week to deliver construction materials. The number of operations was raised to five per week from June 7.

The police operations to disperse anti-THAAD protesters, which entailed physical tussles and injuries, disrupted the daily life of residents at Soseong-ri village in Seongju county, North Gyeongsang province where the THAAD battery was deployed, and nearby villages, the residents and activists said near the presidential office.

Among about 100 residents living in the closest village to the THAAD X-band radar, nine developed cancers for the past two years. The residents repeatedly demanded devices from the government to measure the electromagnetic waves emitted by the radar, but it was dismissed.

The residents and activists said the formal THAAD deployment under the name of normalization would destroy the daily life of residents and peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

They noted that the THAAD installation could trigger confrontation and arms race in the region as the United States aimed to strengthen its missile defense capability through the THAAD battery deployed in South Korea.

The protesters raised placards near the presidential office that say "Stop construction for formal THAAD deployment that aims to build a (military) alliance among (South) Korea, the United States and Japan," and "Pull out THAAD and plant peace."

"THAAD withdrawal is a way to preserve peace," said the protesters who stressed that the U.S. missile interception system is incapable of defending South Korea from missile threats of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The THAAD battery is composed of six launchers, 48 interceptors, the AN/TPY-2 radar and the fire and control unit. 

South Korean residents and peace activists who protest against the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) rally near the presidential office in Yongsan district in Seoul, South Korea, June 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Yiliang)

South Korean residents and peace activists who protest against the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) rally near the presidential office in Yongsan district in Seoul, South Korea, June 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Yiliang)

South Korean residents and peace activists who protest against the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) rally near the presidential office in Yongsan district in Seoul, South Korea, June 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Yiliang)

South Korean residents and peace activists who protest against the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) rally near the presidential office in Yongsan district in Seoul, South Korea, June 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Yiliang)
said on Thursday it is not in talks with Taiwans Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) for handing over its factory in Chennais Maraimalai Nagar.

Reports said plans to set up an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing unit in India and it is considering Tamil Nadu for the investment. We deny having a meeting with and would refrain from commenting on the rumours any further, said in a statement on Thursday.

is finalising a severance package with around 2,000 employees working at the Maraimalai Nagar unit. According to the company, around 50 per cent employees have agreed to stay back at the unit as they discuss their severance packages.

Pursuant to the employee cascade on June 9, the Company received a positive response, with a vast number of employees consenting to support production in parallel to discussions on the severance package on offer. Therefore, the Company has decided to extend production till end-July 2022, said a Ford India official. The company added that those continuing with a strike would have to face a loss of pay with effect from June 14.

Foxconns plan once was to set up an EV manufacturing unit in India through its subsidiary Foxtron, as per reports. Its subsidiary, Bharat FIH, currently has two manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur that manufactures phones like Apple iPhones and Xiaomi phones. Bharat FIH is also into component manufacturing for electric vehicles, supplying to like Ola Electric and Ather.

Young Liu, chairman of Foxconn, met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday in Delhi. "Glad to meet Mr. Young Liu, Chairman, . I welcome their plans for expanding electronics manufacturing capacity in India, including in semiconductors. Our push for EV manufacturing is in line with our commitment of Net Zero Emission, said Modi on Twitter.
Electronics manufacturing services company chairman Young Liu on Thursday met Vedanta Group's managing director Akarsh Hebbar to discuss the roadmap of their proposed electronic chip manufacturing plant and its location.

Vedanta and had signed a memorandum of understanding in February to form a joint venture company in India. Vedanta will hold 60 per cent of the equity in the JV, while will own 40 per cent.

"Foxconn Chairman Young Liu met Akarsh Hebbar, Vedanta Group's Global Managing Director of Display & Semiconductor Business, in New Delhi to discuss the next steps for their proposed partnership to manufacture semiconductor chips in India," Vedanta said in a statement.

According to sources, both discussed the location of setting up their semiconductor plant, which will be announced soon.

This is the first joint venture in the electronics manufacturing space after the government announced an incentive scheme for semiconductors and display manufacturing.

Vedanta is planning to invest around USD 15 billion in a phase-wise manner over the next 5-10 years to build displays and semiconductor chips in India.

The JV will look at setting up a semiconductor manufacturing plant in the next two years.

Liu also met Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao where they discussed Foxconn's plans of expanding its footprint in India. Rao invited Foxconn to explore investment opportunities 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.)
The government has ordered an independent enquiry into a Nexon electric vehicle catching fire in Mumbai, a senior Road Transport and Highways ministry official said on Thursday.

"We have ordered an independent enquiry to investigate the Nexon EV fire incident," the official told PTI.

The Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam have been asked to probe the circumstances that led to the incident and also suggest remedial measures, the official added.

said it is also investigating the incident of its Nexon EV catching fire in Mumbai.

Responding to the incident that has been widely shared on social media, in a statement on Thursday said, "A detailed investigation is currently being conducted to ascertain the facts of the recent isolated thermal incident that is doing the rounds on social media."



Further, it said, "We will share a detailed response after our complete investigation. We remain committed to the safety of our vehicles and their users."



The company asserted, "This is a first incident after more than 30,000 EVs have cumulatively covered over 100 million km across the country in nearly 4 years."



In the electric two-wheeler segment there have been many incidents of vehicles catching fire in the recent past. Electric two-wheeler makers such as Ola Electric, Okinawa Autotech and PureEV had recalled their scooters in the wake of separate fire incidents.

The fire incidents had prompted the government to form a panel to examine and had warned of penalties if they were found to be negligent.

The government-appointed panel is expected to submit its report on electric two-wheeler fire incidents this month, according to a road ministry official.

(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.)
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, few have been as integral to the functioning of businesses as the video conferencing platform . In an interview, Sameer Raje , general manager and head for India and the SAARC region for Video Communications, tells Chintan Girish Modi about its new offering Rooms, the various initiatives it is undertaking to highlight the security features of the platform, and about its widespread use in India. Edited excerpts:

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

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As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



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Even as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) intensified its probe against the former promoters of Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL), its lenders are keenly awaiting the fate of an appeal filed by & Housing Finance against and 63 Moons Technologies with regard to Rs 40,000 crore worth of assets of the firms fraud accounts.

Piramal had appealed against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order directing DHFLs lenders to reconsider their decision on the valuation of the financial firms fraud accounts.

Its not only and its lenders. The fate of future bankruptcy cases and recovery will also depend on the outcome of the Supreme Courts (SC's) final order, said a source close to the development.

According to the debt resolution plan, was handed over the company's control by the lenders. But 63 Moons Technologies, which had a Rs 200-crore exposure to DHFL, had filed a petition in the NCLAT against the debt resolution plan of Piramal Capital, which ascribed a value of Rs 1 to Rs 40,000 crore worth of assets of DHFLs fraud accounts.

Any recovery in future from these accounts will accrue to Piramal and not to the lenders, according to the petition filed in the apex court by 63 Moons.

In January this year, NCLAT had ordered the petition be considered by the Committee of Creditors (CoC). But this order was stayed by the SC in April, and the matter is pending at present.

Following the registration of a fresh case on Monday, the CBI officials on Wednesday carried out searches at 12 premises of real estate in Mumbai. The central agency booked DHFL, its former chairman Kapil Wadhawan, director Dheeraj Wadhawan and others for the bank fraud following a complaint from Union Bank of India. Both are already incarcerated in earlier cases.
Merchant commerce platform on Thursday announced the of Bengaluru-based API fintech Setu in a deal valued at USD 70-75 million.

The deal will entail a mix of cash and equity.

Commenting on the acquisition, B Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs, said: "Setu will make an incredible addition to the platform...Embedded financial services and open banking are going to be the way forward and the embedded finance market value is expected to exceed USD 138 billion by 2026 as APIs are intensifying the competitive fintech landscape."



The deal is valued at 70-75 million US dollars, company officials said at a virtual briefing.

Setu has seen strong demand for its products - their APIs are used across diverse industry verticals including startups, retail enterprises, banks, insurance, and lending .

Setu's existing and emerging use cases cut across multiple digital ecosystems, from Aadhaar eSign to BBPS bill payment, payment collection integration via WhatsApp, FASTag payment collection amongst others.

Application programming interface or API acts as a link between computers or between computer programmes. In other words, it is a kind of software interface, offering a service to other software elements.

Setu is the third announced by this year.

"Setu helps their customers, merchants, and brands build beautiful experiences, so consumers can engage with payments and financial services on their terms. We are in the golden phase of digitisation in India, and Setu is a pioneer in supporting innovation on the India stack their work on UPI and in the account aggregator space is moving the industry forward," Rau said.

Setu - which has 90-100 employees - will retain its brand identity, business and team, post the buyout.

"We are excited with this investment coming from Pine Labs. Pine Labs' network of merchants and issuers coupled with our API integration prowess will help achieve great results in personal finance management, monitoring loans to predict default rates, credit underwriting, and several other areas," Sahil Kini, Co-founder and CEO at Setu said.

Setu works with account aggregator partners which are non-banking financial operating under the 'NBFC-AA' license from the Reserve Bank of India. They enable the consolidation of all financial data of users at a single location and allows users to access services quickly.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister on Thursday met Taiwan-based manufacturing giant Foxconn's Chairman Young Liu and hailed the company's electronics manufacturing plans in the country.

"Glad to meet Mr. Young Liu, Chairman, . I welcome their plans for expanding electronics manufacturing capacity in India, including in semiconductors," Modi said in a tweet.

The Taiwan-based company is also planning to set up an EV manufacturing plant in India.

Foxconn's EV manufacturing arm, Foxtron, is planning to set up manufacturing plants at various locations in southeast Asia, including India.

Liu also met Akarsh Hebbar, Group's Global Managing Director of Display and Semiconductor Business, to discuss next steps for their proposed partnership to manufacture semiconductor chips in the country.

and signed an MoU in February to form a joint venture company in India.

will hold 60 per cent of the equity in the JV while will own 40 per cent.

"The Vedanta-Foxconn partnership will, in the coming years, arrest the electronic component import bill of around $100 billion. Vedanta and Foxconn are in discussion with some state governments, to finalise the location of semiconductor units soon," the said in a statement.

This is the first joint venture in the electronics manufacturing space after the announcement of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for semiconductors and display manufacturing.

Vedanta is planning to invest around $15 billion in a phase-wise manner over the next 5-10 years to build displays and semiconductor chips in India.

The JV will look at setting up a semiconductor manufacturing plant in the next two years, said the .

India, which aims to become a global semiconductor hub in coming years, is set to pump $30 billion into its technology sector to achieve independence on chips so that it isn't "held hostage" to global suppliers.

The Indian government recently announced an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore (around $10 billion), under its production linked incentive (PLI) scheme, separately for the development of a semiconductor and display manufacturing electronics ecosystem.

In the last few years, India has been actively promoting cooperation with Taiwan in trade, investment, tourism, culture, education, and people-to-people exchanges. Both the countries have also constituted teams for the expansion of fruitful collaboration in education and skill development.

(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.)
and South East Asia-focused early-stage programme Surge is further widening its cheque size as it looks to support a larger number of founders at an early stage.

In its current avatar, Surge invests in seed rounds for $1 million to $2 million. The VC fund, in its blog, said that it is now extending the range up to $3 million, and with no minimum floor. "This will allow us to make Surge relevant for a far larger set of founders, including those who are just starting up or those who have already raised a seed," said the VC fund.

Raising the ceiling gives early-stage founders the runway and time they need to find product-market fit and build a strong team before raising a Series A. This is critical in any market cycle, and even more so at a time when investors are being more cautious and follow-on rounds may take longer to close, said the fund.



Also Read: Sequoia Capital leads $37 mn funding in UAE-based proptech startup Huspy

Rajan Anandan, managing director, and Surge, in a tweet, said: We are doubling down! @Surgeahead launched 3 years ago and we are incredibly grateful to our 246 amazing founders from 112 in our #Surge family. We are expanding the range to invest upto $3m per company.

Surge have collectively raised over $1.5 billion in follow-on rounds, equipping them with firepower to hire top talent, expand their offerings and make a big impact on many industries and markets in the years to come.

The VC fund also said that applicants for Surge 08 and beyond could raise up to $3 million from Surge to help them construct an even larger round, or, do a smaller round  say $300,000 to $500,000  and still be part of the program. While some Surge have traction, others are at the idea stage  over 20% of Surge startups were pre-launch when we partnered with them.

Our founders are solving a wide range of problems, from food security to financial inclusion. And theyre building in sectors including EdTech, FinTech, AgriTech, HealthTech, logistics and consumer brands. Over 40% of Surge startups are software that are building for the world, from Day One, everything from application and vertical SaaS, to Dev Tools and cybersecurity, said the fund.

Sequoia which recently raised $2.8 billion for the region has also done away with a dedicated fund for Surge. According to report, Anandan has stated that Surge will now directly use funds from the larger pool.
In a major boost to the sector in Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday cleared pump storage projects proposed by Adani with a total capacity of 3,700 MW while chairing the State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) review meeting at his camp office in Tadepalli.

As part of the proposed total investment of Rs 60,000 crore by Adani Group in discussed during the World Economic Forum meet at Davos recently, the Chief Minister has cleared the proposal of investment of Rs 15,740 crore.

The project will generate 10,000 jobs across four districts of Andhra Pradesh, according to an official statement by the state government.

Adani Group has proposed pump storage projects in four districts of the state - two plants to be set up in Parvathi Puram, one in YSR Kadapa, and one in Satya Sai districts. In Parvathi Puram, a 1200 MW capacity plant is to be set up in Kurukutti, and a 1000 MW plant in Karrivalasa.

Meanwhile, a 1000 MW will be set up in Gandikota while a 500 MW plant in Chitravathi. In each of these districts, Adani Group has proposed that they will be generating 3,000 jobs in Kurukutti, 3000 in Karrivalasa, 1500 in Chitravathi and 2500 in Gandikota, the statement read.

The project is stipulated to commence in December 2022 and the project is likely to commission in December 2028. While the plants will be set up spanning 1,490 acres of land, the state government has decided that the land will be leased from farmers at the cost of Rs 30,000 per acre of land in these districts, which will be transferred to the farmers directly, it further said.

Meanwhile, the state will be generating a revenue of Rs 2,775 crore from the project in terms of the power stored and an additional Rs 980 crore from the SGST.

"This will give a big boost to the state in terms of investment and a positive message as the employment rate continues to rise in the state," CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said in the meeting.

In other decisions taken in the SIPB meeting, the government has decided to apply for the PM MITRA scheme, which proposes to set up an integrated textile park in YSR Jagananna Mega Industrial Hub at Kopparthy in YSR District.

The government, as per the conditions laid down under the scheme, has proposed that they would be fixing the power cost at Rs 4.5 per unit and Rs 60 per TMC of water for the 10-year period of the project.

The SIPB has also cleared the setting up of a shrimp processing unit at the food park in Krishna district by Avisa Foods Private Limited. The project would generate 2,500 jobs in 12 months and the company has requested for 11.64 acres of land from the state government of .

The SIPB has decided to lease the 11.64 acres at the cost of Rs 1,027 per sqm. The government has also laid out conditions that the effluent treatment plant (ETP) would be set up by the company.

(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 leader from Delhi filed a complaint against Maharashtra Chief Minister for allegedly violating COVID-19 related protocols by meeting his supporters while heading to his personal residence from his official house in the state capital on Wednesday night, police said.

Thackeray, who tested positive for the infection on Wednesday, moved out of 'Varsha', his official residence in south Mumbai, to 'Matoshree' his family home in suburban Bandra, at night - hours after offering to quit the top post amid rebellion by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde.

Party workers could be seen raising slogans and showering petals on the chief minister as he left his official house along with his family members - wife Rashmi Thackeray, sons Aaditya and Tejas Thackeray at around 9.50 pm. He reached outside 'Matoshree' around 10.30 pm. On the way, Thackeray, who was wearing a face mask, could be seen stepping out of his car at Worli, the constituency of his son and Tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray, and near Matoshree and waiving at the party workers.

"Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga submitted an online complaint against Thackeray to Malabar Hill police," the official said.

The complaint was made available on Twitter and circulated on social media groups. It was retweeted by Bagga himself.

The complaint said that as per the news, CM Thackeray has tested positive for COVID-19 and according to the protocols, such a patient cannot meet anyone and should remain in isolation.

But Thackeray was seen meeting his supporters and thereby violating the COVID-19 protocol. The visuals about it were shown on TV channels, the complaint said, and requested the police to file an FIR against Thackeray.

The Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government is battling a survival crisis following the rebellion of senior Sena minister Eknath Shinde and a sizable number of MLAs belonging to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party. Shinde and the party rebels, who are currently camping in Guwahati, has said he has 46 MLAs supporting him.

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People are seen on the rubble of a house damaged in an earthquake in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on June 23, 2022. The Taliban-run administration in Afghanistan has called for international assistance amid ongoing rescue operations following the devastating earthquake Wednesday in the eastern area of the Asian country. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

KABUL, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The Taliban-run administration in Afghanistan has called for international assistance amid ongoing rescue operations following the devastating earthquake Wednesday in the eastern area of the Asian country.

In the 5.9-magnitude earthquake that jolted parts of Afghanistan including the capital city Kabul early Wednesday, more than 1,000 people including women and children have been confirmed dead and over 1,500 others injured in Paktika and the neighboring Khost provinces.

Paktika's provincial head of information and culture department Mohammad Amin Haddifa has confirmed more than 1,000 killed and over 1,500 injured in Gayan and Barmal districts of the tremor-stricken province.

Villagers told Xinhua that they were still searching for their loved ones under the debris in the quake-affected areas. The earthquake has left hundreds of houses ruined.

Hours after the quake, Acting Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund convened an emergency cabinet meeting Wednesday morning, ordered the allocation of 1 billion afghanis (about 11.2 million U.S. dollars) to assist the victims' families.

The affected people have been living in tents, and some struggling to shift the injured to hospitals due to congested and dusty roads.

Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Taliban-run administration, has sought assistance from the international community.

"In addition to utilizing all resources within our capability, I am also seeking the support of the international community, aid agencies and humanitarian bodies to assist the quake-affected Afghans in this critical juncture," Akhundzada twitted.

Countries including China, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey have pledged humanitarian assistance to quake-affected areas in the war-torn Afghanistan. 

Photo taken on June 23, 2022 shows houses damaged in an earthquake in Paktika province, Afghanistan. The Taliban-run administration in Afghanistan has called for international assistance amid ongoing rescue operations following the devastating earthquake Wednesday in the eastern area of the Asian country. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

A man stands on the rubble of a house damaged in an earthquake in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on June 23, 2022. The Taliban-run administration in Afghanistan has called for international assistance amid ongoing rescue operations following the devastating earthquake Wednesday in the eastern area of the Asian country. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

People stand near a house damaged in an earthquake in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on June 23, 2022. The Taliban-run administration in Afghanistan has called for international assistance amid ongoing rescue operations following the devastating earthquake Wednesday in the eastern area of the Asian country. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

People stand on the rubble of a house damaged in an earthquake in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on June 23, 2022. The Taliban-run administration in Afghanistan has called for international assistance amid ongoing rescue operations following the devastating earthquake Wednesday in the eastern area of the Asian country. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

People stand on the rubble of a house damaged in an earthquake in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on June 23, 2022. The Taliban-run administration in Afghanistan has called for international assistance amid ongoing rescue operations following the devastating earthquake Wednesday in the eastern area of the Asian country. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

Villagers sit by a fire after an earthquake struck here in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on June 23, 2022. The Taliban-run administration in Afghanistan has called for international assistance amid ongoing rescue operations following the devastating earthquake Wednesday in the eastern area of the Asian country. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
Youth on Wednesday lashed out at the BJP-led over the Agnipath scheme, saying it is playing with the tradition and dignity of the armed forces.

It said about 2,55,000 posts are lying vacant in Army, Navy and Air Force as the government has stopped the recruitment of the forces for the past two years.

"Narendra Modi-led government is playing with dignity-tradition-discipline of the Indian armed forces. The recruitment in armed forces on a contract basis is not right for the security of the country," president J-K Pradesh Youth Uday Bhanu Chib said.

"What will happen to the future of the youth recruited only for four years," he said.

Chib said experts and retired military officers have expressed deep concern over the scheme.

"Is the Modi government playing with the 'operational preparedness' of the three services? he asked.

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Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will chair a review meeting on Thursday to discuss the spike in the number of Covid cases in the country.

According to a source, Mandaviya will review the Covid situation with the core team of experts at the meeting.

India has been witnessing a spike in daily Covid cases for the past few days. After a decline on Tuesday, India again reported a rise on Wednesday with 12,249 fresh Covid infections.

During the same period, the country also reported 13 Covid deaths, taking the nationwide death toll to 5,24,903 so far.

Meanwhile, the active caseload of the country has risen to 81,687, accounting for 0.19 per cent of the country's total positive cases.

As per the data released on Wednesday morning, India's daily positivity rate was reported at 3.94 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate currently stands at 2.90 per cent.

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India and China have discussed the return of thousands of Indian students stranded at home for two years due to Beijing's COVID-19 bans and resumption of direct flights disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, the Indian embassy here said on Thursday.

The vexed issue of the return of the Indian students figured in the talks between Indian Ambassador to China Pradeep Kumar Rawat and Chinese Foreign Minister on Wednesday.

Wang recalled his meeting with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar during his visit to New Delhi in March this year and mentioned that the Chinese side attached importance to the Indian side's concerns regarding the return of Indian students and that he hoped to see early progress on this, a press release from the Indian Embassy quoted Wang as saying.

Foreign Minister Wang also referred to discussions on the resumption of direct flight connectivity between the two sides, it said.

Ambassador Rawat conveyed that the relevant agencies in India are seized of the matter and we may see progress in the matter soon, it said.

China, in recent months, began permitting some foreign students to return to the country.

On June 20, the first batch of 90 Pakistani students, stuck back home for about two years due to China's strict visa restrictions, arrived in the Chinese city of Xian.

They are part of 250 Pakistani students China has agreed to permit to return based on their requirements while thousands more are awaiting Beijing's nod, according to the media reports from Pakistan.

Similarly, some of the stranded students from other countries including Russia and Sri Lanka are being gradually allowed to return.

In April, after repeated representations from India, China agreed to permit the return of some" Indian students and asked the Indian Embassy here to collect the details of those seeking to return.

As per China's official reports, over 23,000 Indian students are studying in Chinese colleges, mostly medical courses.

Over 12,000 Indian students have expressed their wish to return and their details have been forwarded to the Chinese government for processing.

China is yet to come up with a criterion to permit the return of the students as Beijing is reluctant to allow their return at once in large numbers in view of the recent COVID-19 spike in the country.

Last week, China announced plans to provide visas to Indian professionals and their families working in various Chinese cities who are stuck back home for over two years due to Beijing's COVID-19 visa bans.

The Chinese embassy in India updated its COVID-19 visa policy after over two years to accept visa applications of foreign nationals and their accompanying family members wanting to go to China for the resumption of work in all fields.

This week, it further updated with COVID-19 protocols to be followed by visa holders to travel to China. While opening visa services to Indians, China and India are yet to announce plans to resume flight services between the two countries.

Currently, only diplomats between the two countries travel through expensive third-country flight routes.

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Indian Ambassador to China Pradeep Kumar Rawat has met Chinese Foreign Minister ahead of the summit and emphasised the "criticality of maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas" to realise the full potential of the consensus between the top leaders of the two sides on the importance of Sino-India ties for Asia and the world.

Rawat made a "courtesy call" on Wang on Wednesday at the Diaoyutai State Guest House here - his first meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister after he took charge as India's new envoy to Beijing in March, a press release issued by the Indian Embassy here said on Thursday.

"Bilateral and multilateral issues of interest to both sides were touched upon during the conversation" between Rawat and Wang, who is also the State Councillor - a high-level rank in the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), it said.

" conveyed that at the highest level of leadership of the two countries, there is consensus on the importance of bilateral relations for Asia and the world," the release said.

"Ambassador agreed and emphasised the criticality of maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas for realising the full potential of this consensus," it said.

" said that the border issue is important and we should stay committed to peacefully addressing it through consultation and coordination," it said.

Their meeting on Wednesday assumed significance as it came ahead of Thursday's virtual summit hosted by President which Prime Minister is due to take part.

The meeting is also significant as it took place amidst the chill in bilateral ties over the two-year military standoff in eastern Ladakh.

As a result of military-level talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process last year on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area. India has been consistently maintaining that peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are key for the overall development of the bilateral ties.

During talks with Rawat, Wang recalled his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi in March this year.

Wang "mentioned that the Chinese side attached importance to the Indian side's concerns regarding the return of Indian students and that he hoped to see early progress on this," the release said.

He also referred to the discussions on resumption of direct flight connectivity between the two sides, it said.

"Rawat conveyed that the relevant agencies in India are seized of the matter and we may see progress in the matter soon," it said.

"There was agreement that the two sides should make full use of the opportunities provided by multilateral meetings to continue their exchange of views including between the two Foreign Ministers," it said.

Thousands of Indian students stranded at home for the past two years due to China's COVID visa bans were anxious to return to China and re-join their studies.

In April, China agreed to permit the return of some" stranded Indian students and asked the Indian Embassy here to collect the details of the students wanting to return.

Over 12,000 Indian students have reportedly expressed their wish to return and their details have been forwarded to the Chinese government for processing. About 23,000 Indian students are studying in Chinese universities, mostly in medical courses.

Last week, China announced plans to provide visas to Indian professionals and their families working in various Chinese cities who are stuck back home for over two years due to Beijing's COVID visa bans.

On Rawat's meeting with Wang, a Chinese foreign ministry statement quoted Wang as saying that the common interests of China and India far outweigh their differences, adding that the two sides should support rather than undermine each other, strengthen cooperation rather than guard against each other, and enhance mutual trust rather than be suspicious of each other.

The Chinese foreign minister said the two sides should meet each other halfway to push bilateral relations back onto the track of stable and healthy development at an early date, jointly address various global challenges, and safeguard the common interests of China and India as well as the vast number of developing countries.

He called on both sides to adhere to the important strategic consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, insist on placing the border issue in a proper position within bilateral ties, and seek solutions through dialogue and consultation.

China and India should also give full play to their traditional advantages in people-to-people and cultural exchanges, continuously expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and work together to create a better future for mankind, the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Wang as saying.

China holds this year's chair of the five-member bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

On Wednesday, Xi and Modi along with other heads of the countries addressed the BRICS Business Forum.

Wang visited India in March during which he held talks with Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

During the meeting, Rawat "conveyed his appreciation for this opportunity for him to have an in-person meeting with Wang Yi in spite of Covid-19 related limitations, the Indian Embassy press release said.

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A four-member Indian delegation led by Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra met Sri Lankan President Gotabaya and Prime Minister on Thursday to assess the bilateral assistance provided by New Delhi in the wake of the island nation's ongoing economic crisis.

According to Sri Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kwatra is is accompanied by Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs Ajay Seth, Chief Economic Advisor Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran and Joint Secretary of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) Kartik Pande .

At the meeting, the Indian delegation examined the possibility of another tranche of financial package to be disbursed to .

It is also scheduled to hold discussions with senior officials on the economic situation in the country and the short-term and long-term assistance requirements.

As a single country, India with over $3.5 billion since January has provided the biggest assistance to specially for the import of essentials items like fuel, food and medicine.

On Wednesday, Wickremesinghe told Parliament about the the need to have a plan to revive the economy, adding that that India too would not be able to continue to assist in the way she has been doing.

"We have taken loans amounting to $4 billion under the Indian credit line. We have requested more loan assistance from our Indian counterparts. But even India will not be able to continuously support us in this manner. Even their assistance has its limits.

"On the other hand, we too must have a plan to repay these loans. These are not charitable donations," he added

Facing a severe food crisis, Sri Lanka is to import rice under an Indian credit line and issue stocks to the market in order to ensure price controls.

"This will provide some relief to the Sri Lankan consumers," the Prime Minister added.

Facing the worst ever economic crisis with dried up foreign reserves, Sri Lanka is expecting a financial bailout from the International Monetary Board (IMF) once its Executive Board visits for the final decision.

In line with talks with IMF, the island nation also to organise a credit aid conference with its main lending countries India, Japan and China.

--IANS

susitha/ksk/

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External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, who is on a visit to Kigali, met with Raychelle Omamo, the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Kenya and held talks in regards to the fallout of Ukraine war including food, fuel and fertilizer security.

Taking to social media, Jaishankar tweeted, "So nice to meet my friend Raychelle Omamo of Kenya. Our discussions focused on the impact of the Ukraine conflict on food, fuel, and fertilizer security for the Global South. Reaffirmed our ongoing cooperation in the UNSC."

Jaishankar is in Kigali to attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which had earlier been postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the sidelines of CHOGM, Jaishankar also met with the foreign minister Eamon Courtenay of Belize.

Jaishankar wrote, "Glad to catch up with FM Eamon Courtenay of Belize on #CHOGM2022 sidelines in Rwanda. Welcomed the Center of Engineering constructed with Indian support. India will continue to provide vaccines in the global fight against the pandemic."

Jaishankar will be representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Commonwealth Summit on 24-25 June, while attending the pre-CHOGM Foreign Ministers' Meeting on June 23 in Kigali.

A number of Forums including the Commonwealth Youth Forum, Commonwealth Women Forum, Commonwealth Business Forum, Commonwealth People's Forum, and other side events are also planned on the side-lines of CHOGM by the incoming Chair of the Commonwealth, i.e. the Government of the Republic of Rwanda.

The theme of the 26th CHOGM Summit is, "Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming".The Leaders of the Commonwealth Member States are scheduled to hold discussions on issues of contemporary relevance, including global challenges like climate change, food security, and health issues and are likely to adopt the following four Outcome Documents: CHOGM Communique; Kigali Declaration on Child Care and Protection Reform; Declaration on Sustainable Urbanization and Commonwealth Living Lands Charter: A Commonwealth Call to Action on Living Lands (CALL).

During the visit, EAM is expected to hold several bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Commonwealth member states and other visiting dignitaries and would also be interacting with members of the Indian community at a reception that will be hosted by the Indian High Commission in Kigali, said MEA in a statement.

The Commonwealth provides an important platform to deepen India's engagement with Commonwealth members, in particular the Small States (SS) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

India is also one of the largest contributors to the Commonwealth and has assisted the organisation with technical assistance and capacity building. In 2018, India announced the creation of a Commonwealth Window, dedicating USD 50 million for development projects and assistance to developing countries of the Commonwealth.

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The summoned suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma on June 25 in connection with her inflammatory comments on Prophet Mohammad, which triggered widespread violence in parts of West Bengal, an officer said on Thursday.

This is the second time Sharma was summoned by the in connection with her comments.

The fresh summons was sent to her after a complaint was lodged at the Amherst Street police station in north Kolkata, the officer said.

Complaints have been lodged at 10 police stations in Kolkata against Sharma after her comments triggered violence in parts of the state, he said.

Earlier, she was summoned to the Narkeldanga police station here. She skipped the summons and sought four weeks' time, stating that she fears she might be attacked if she visits Kolkata at this juncture.

Sharma's comments, made during a TV debate, sparked violent protests in Howrah, Nadia and Murshidabad districts.

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Live news updates: Rebel leader Eknath Shinde has the support of 37 MLAs: the required to split the party in the assembly without violating the anti-defection law, said multiple news reports. With two more Sena MLAs, he will have 39. His total strength is now 42, including Independent MLAs, said reports.



The Sena is filing an appeal with the Assembly Deputy Speaker to disqualify around 12 rebel MLAs, NDTV.com reported quoting sources in the government's legal team. The list includes rebel leader Eknath Shinde, Tanaji Sawant, Mahesh Shinde, Abdul Sattar, Sandipanrao Bhumre, Bharatshet Gogawale, Sanjay Shirsat, Yamini Jadhav, Lata Chandrakant, Anil Babar, Prakash Surve and Balaji Kinikar.


As the rebellion by senior leader Eknath Shinde plunged the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in in a political crisis, an editorial in the party mouthpiece 'Saamana' on Thursday said the renegade legislators should "mend their ways in time".

The MLAs who have succumbed to the BJP's "pressure tactics and inducements" should know that they would become "permanently former" if common Sena workers made up their mind, it added. Shinde and 36 other Sena MLAs besides ten independents are camping in Guwahati at present. has withstood several challenges, and being in power or out of it does not make any difference to the party, the Sena mouthpiece said. It admitted that the fate of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government is currently hanging in balance. Legislators who were elected on the ticket are now "caught in the BJP's clutches," the Saamana editorial further said.

"In Surat, members of the BJP were present with the rebels, while in Guwahati, Assam ministers were there to welcome them.

"Till recently, the BJP was attacking Shiv Sena legislators with the charges of corruption and money laundering and threats of ED, CBI and IT probe,'' the editorial said, apparently referring to MLA Pratap Sarnaik. Sarnaik, now with the rebel group in Guwahati, has faced an ED probe for alleged money laundering.

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NDA's pick for president Droupadi Murmu met Prime Minister and Union Minister Amit Shah on Thursday, a day of hectic activity for the tribal leader who flew in from Bhubaneswar in the morning ahead of filing her nomination papers for the post.

The 64-year-old former Jharkhand governor, who has been the cynosure of attention since she was chosen for the post by the BJP-led NDA earlier this week, is expected to file her papers on Friday in the presence of top leaders, including from the BJD.

Modi is tipped to be the first proposer. A host of senior BJP leaders, including Union ministers and functionaries from other parties supporting her bid, are also set to be among the proposers.

Her nomination papers were being prepared at the home of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

Modi said her candidature for the post of president has been appreciated across India by all sections of society.

In a tweet, Modi said, "Met Droupadi Murmu Ji. Her Presidential nomination has been appreciated across India by all sections of society. Her understanding of grassroots problems and vision for India's development is outstanding."



"Met NDA's presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu and conveyed best wishes to her. Tribal society is feeling very proud by the announcement of her name. I am sure her administrative and public experience will benefit the whole country," Shah tweeted in Hindi.

Murmu, who also called on Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today, will meet a host of senior leaders before embarking on a nationwide campaign, urging different political parties to support her bid.

If elected, a strong possibility given that she already has the support of a majority in the electoral college, she will be the first tribal person to be the president of India and the second woman in the post.

The Opposition has fielded former Union minister Yashwant Sinha as its joint candidate for the post.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who has appealed to all MLAs of the state to support the daughter of the soil in the July 18 presidential polls, said two of his cabinet colleagues will be there when Murmu files her papers.

"BJP President Shri @JPNadda Ji spoke to me about the filing of nomination of Smt #DraupadiMurmu Ji for #PresidentElections. My cabinet colleagues Shri @saraka_fan and Smt@TukuniSahu will sign nomination papers today and attend the event tomorrow," the BJD chief, who is currently on an official foreign tour to Italy, said on Twitter.

Besides, at least 10 of the BJP's 22 MLAs in the state will remain present.

Her candidature was also endorsed by Meghalaya's ruling BJP-backed Meghalaya Democratic Alliance. A formal decision on the matter will be taken at a meeting of the coalition partners, a senior member said.

Five Congress MLAs who were suspended for supporting the MDA are also likely to vote in favour of Murmu, who rose from being a councillor in Odisha to Jharkhand governor and now the woman most likely to be president of the country.

According to the Akhil Bhartiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, an RSS affiliate, the NDA's decision to nominate Murmu, from the Santhal community, is historic.

In a statement in Hindi, it said tribal society had to suffer neglect for years despite being an integral part of Indian tradition and culture.

With the country being home to over 12 crore tribals, Murmu's nomination as the NDA candidate is a move towards bringing social change, it stated.

It also called on all parties to support her nomination and elect her unanimously.

"A tribal sister will be occupying the country's highest constitutional post. It is a matter of pride for all of us, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan added in Bhopal.

At an event at the BJP office in the city, Chouhan and state BJP president V D Sharma, both wearing tribal outfits, danced with a large group of tribal people.

There was dance and music at the Bhubaneswar airport too before she left for Delhi.

In a brief statement issued before she took her flight, Murmu said, "I thank all and seek cooperation from everyone for the presidential election. I will meet all voters (lawmakers) and seek their support before July 18."



She had reached the Odisha capital from her home in Rairangpur town in Mayurbhanj district on Wednesday night after covering a distance of 280 km by road amid cheers and greetings from people along the way.

"People of the country love my mother for her simplicity and soft-spoken nature. She has left to serve the country after handing over the responsibilities of the family to me," her daughter Itishree Murmu told reporters at the airport



In Delhi, befitting her status as the NDA's nominee for president, several Delhi BJP leaders, including state president Adesh Gupta, party MPs Manoj Tiwari and Ramesh Bidhuri, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, welcomed her at the airport.

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ANKARA, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Turkey is continuing for a third day its battle against wildfires near the resort of Marmaris on the Aegean coast on Thursday, with hundreds of people ordered to evacuate.

At least 247 people have been evacuated from areas threatened by wind-driven wildfires, Turkey's Agriculture and Forestry Minister Vahit Kirisci said at a joint press conference with Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.

Kirisci said 3,000 hectares of land were affected by the blazes and 12 planes, 45 water-dropping helicopters and 2,600 personnel were involved in the firefighting.

"I can say that now we are in a much better situation. This morning, air humidity has reached the level of 91 percent," Kirisci said.

Wildfires erupted in several places on Tuesday evening in the Bordubet region near the Marmaris District of southwestern Mugla Province. The site of the fire is one of the most popular towns for holidaymakers.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Soylu said authorities are treating the fire as a possible arson and have identified a suspect.

"We have an identification about how the fire started. We will share it with the public soon," said Soylu.

Turkey was hit by one of the worst wildfires in the summer of 2021 fed by strong winds and scorching temperatures, which swept 53 provinces and killed at least eight people and numerous animals. 
NDA presidential candidate on Thursday sought cooperation from everyone for the upcoming election to choose the first person of the country, and said she will meet all the electors to seek their support before July 18, when the polling is scheduled to take place.

Murmu left for Delhi on a flight from Bhubaneswar's Biju Patnaik International Airport at 9.40 AM. A tribal dance was organised as a large number of her friends and well-wishers gathered at the airport to see her off.

She had reached the Odisha capital from her native Rairangpur town in Mayurbhanj district on Wednesday night after covering a distance of 280 km by road amid cheers and greetings from people along the way.

In a brief statement issued before her departure for the national capital, Murmu said, "I thank all and seek cooperation from everyone for the presidential election. I will meet all voters (lawmakers) and seek their support before July 18."



Itishree Murmu, the NDA presidential candidate's only daughter who was present at the airport, said, "People of the country love my mother for her simplicity and soft-spoken nature. She has left to serve the country after handing over the responsibilities of the family to me."



Itishree Murmu is a bank official in Bhubaneswar and is currently on maternity leave to take care of her two-month-old daughter.

On Wednesday, was received in Bhubaneswar by state BJP president Samir Mohanty and local MP Aparajita Sarangi at a guest house, where she spent the night, an official said.

She had to drop her plan to visit her alma mater, Unit-II Girls' High School, in Bhubaneswar as she attracted crowds wherever she went. She also wanted to pay obeisance at Shree Lingaraj temple here, but had to shelve the plan owing to a delay in her arrival, the official said.

Murmu's school teachers and some of her college lecturers, however, greeted her at the guest house.

"We are proud that our alumna is tipped to become the next President of India," said her school's headmistress, Kalyani Mishra.

The former Jharkhand governor had graduated from Rama Devi Women's College, now a university.

Murmu had also worked as a class-III employee in the Odisha Irrigation Department after completing her graduation.

(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 rising cases of Covid, in the UK, the US and some European countries, as well as in India, majorly driven by BA.2, BA.4, and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron, suggest it may have evolved to target the lungs, according to a study.

Separately, two studies also showed their potential in escaping vaccine-induced immunity as well as that from previous infections.

The highly contagious variant of Covid was once known to affect the upper airways more than lungs, unlike Delta, causing common cold-like symptoms. This may explain why infections tend to be milder in most people.

But now, a preliminary study from the University of Tokyo showed that BA.4, BA.5, and BA.2.12.1 may have evolved to cause infection of lung cells. This may make the sub-variants more similar to earlier variants, such as Alpha or Delta, the Independent reported.

"Altogether, our investigations suggest that the risk of (these) variants, particularly BA.4 and BA.5, to global health is potentially greater than that of original BA.2," the varsity's Kei Sato was quoted as saying.

Sato's experiments indicate that BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 replicate more efficiently in human lung cells than BA.2, while further experiments in hamsters suggest that BA.4 and BA.5 may cause more severe disease, the report said.

"It looks as though these things are switching back to the more dangerous form of infection, so going lower down in the lung," Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds, was quoted as saying.

This may also be the case in India, where patients are presenting severe symptoms than during the earlier wave, Dr. Neha Gupta, Consultant, Infectious Disease, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, told IANS.

India on Thursday reported 13,313 new Covid-19 cases and 38 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry data.

"During this wave we have seen patients having moderate- severe Covid-19 which is a little more in severity as compared to the Omicron variant," Gupta said.

Further, a study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, of Harvard Medical School, showed that BA.4 and BA.5 appear to escape antibody responses among both people who had previous Covid-19 infection and those who have been fully vaccinated and boosted, CNN reported.

The research published in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed 3-fold reductions in the levels of neutralising antibodies that a previous infection or vaccinations elicit against the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants compared with the original .

However, the team added that "vaccine immunity will still provide substantial protection against severe disease with BA4 and BA5".

A separate research by scientists at Columbia University showed that the BA.4 and BA.5 viruses were more likely to escape antibodies from the blood of fully vaccinated and boosted adults compared with other Omicron sub-variants, raising the risk of vaccine-breakthrough Covid-19 infections, the report said.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister on Thursday appealed to exporters and the industry to fix long-term export targets for themselves and suggest ways to the government to achieve those figures.

Inaugurating the new Vanijya Bhawan here, he said the government has removed over 32,000 unnecessary compliances.

He said that the new Bhawan will significantly benefit people associated with trade, commerce and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.

The Prime Minister also launched the NIRYAT (National Import-Export Record for Yearly Analysis of Trade) portal - which is developed as a one-stop platform for stakeholders to get all necessary information related to India's foreign trade.

He added that play a critical role in transforming a developing country into a developed nation, besides creating job opportunities.

"Last year, despite global disruptions, India's touched USD 670 billion To achieve new targets, collective effort is necessary. Industry, exporters and export promotion councils are here. I will urge them to fix not only short-term but also long-term export targets for themselves," he said.

The government is working to promote ease of doing business and boost exports, Modi said adding new domestic products like handlooms are reaching new markets.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister on Thursday appealed to exporters and the industry to fix long-term export targets for themselves and suggest ways to the government to achieve those goals.

Inaugurating the new Vanijya Bhawan here, he said that the exports play a critical role in the transition of a country from developing to developed status.

During the last fiscal year, the Prime Minister said despite the historic global disruptions, India's exports stood at a total (goods and services) of USD 670 billion (Rs 50 lakh crore).

He added that India's merchandise exports in 2021-22 crossed USD 418 billion (Rs 31 lakh crore), as against the target of USD 400 billion (Rs 30 lakh crore).

"Encouraged by this success of the past years, we have now increased our export targets and have doubled our efforts to achieve them. Collective effort of everyone is very necessary to achieve these new goals Industry, exporters and export promotion councils are here. I will urge them to set not only short-term but also long-term export targets for themselves," he said.

He said that the new Bhawan will significantly benefit people associated with trade, commerce and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.

The Prime Minister also launched the NIRYAT (National Import-Export Record for Yearly Analysis of Trade) portal - which is developed as a one-stop platform for stakeholders to get all necessary information related to India's foreign trade.

The government is working to promote ease of doing business and boost exports, Modi said adding new domestic products like handlooms are reaching new markets.

Underlining the role of increasing exports in the transition of a country from developing to developed country, Modi said that in the last eight years, India has been continuously increasing its exports.

Better policies to increase exports, easing of the process, and taking products to new markets, have helped a lot in this direction, he said adding today, every department of the government is giving priority to increasing exports with a 'whole of government' approach.

"Exports from new areas are increasing. Even from many aspirational districts, exports have now increased manifold. The increase in exports of cotton and handloom products by 55 per cent shows how the work is being done at the grassroot level," he said.

Now many of the domestic products are being exported for the first time to new countries, he said citing examples like Sitabhog Mithai being exported to Bahrain, Fresh King Chilli of Nagaland to London, Fresh Burmese grapes of Assam to Dubai, tribal Mahua products from Chattisgarh to France and Khumani of Kargil to Dubai.

He also referred to trade deals signed with the UAE and Australia last year and informed that there has been a lot of progress on talks for similar pacts with other countries as well.

"For business, identifying new markets and manufacturing products after identifying their needs is very important for the progress of the country", he said.

He also requested every department to periodically review the portals and platforms that have been developed in recent times.

Modi added that the country has got the gift of a new and modern commercial building as well as an export portal, one physical and other digital infrastructure, he said.

Referring to the new infrastructure of the ministry, the Prime Minister said that this is also time to renew the pledge of ease of doing business and ease of living.

'Ease of access' is the link between the two, he said adding more than 32,000 unnecessary compliances have been removed.

He said that there should not be any hindrances in communicating with the government and making the government accessible with ease is a major priority of the government.

On manufacturing, he said mobile manufacturing units in India have crossed 200 and today India has 2,300 registered Fin-tech startups, up from 500, four years ago.

India used to recognize 8,000 startups every year, today, this number is more than 15,000.

On NIRYAT portal, he said it will help provide real time data to all stakeholders.

"From this portal, important information related to more than 30 commodity groups exported to more than 200 countries of the world will be available. In the coming time, information related to district-wise exports will also be available on this. This will also strengthen the efforts to develop the districts as important centers of exports", the Prime Minister 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.)
With the country reporting over 12,000 daily fresh cases of Covid-19, Union Health Minister on Tuesday asked officials to monitor the rate of hospitalisation and focus on testing, surveillance and whole genome sequencing of positive samples.

reported 13,313 new cases in the last 24 hours and the active caseload currently stands at 83,990. The weekly positivity rate is presently at 2.81 per cent.

In a review meeting with key experts, Mandaviya stressed on the need to focus on districts reporting high case positivity and undertake adequate testing, with a higher proportion of RT-PCR. Principal Scientific Advisor to the government Ajay K Sood; Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Rajesh Gokhale; Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research Balram Bhargava; Head of Covid Task Group, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation N K Arora; Member, NITI Aayog V K Paul; and Director, NCDC Sujeet Singh were the key experts present, among others. Mandaviya also asked officials to focus on effective Covid-19 surveillance to control the spread of infection in a timely manner.

Several senior officials of the also attended the meeting, such as Additional Secretary Manohar Agnani and Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal. Agarwal made a detailed presentation on the global scenario of a surge in Covid cases and the status of Covid-19 in the country. This included presentation and analysis of the trend of Covid-19 cases; daily and active cases, positivity and deaths; testing status along with state-wise weekly tests per million, RT-PCR share in weekly tests; genome sequencing; and vaccination status. Secretary, Ministry of Ayush V Rajesh Kotecha was also present in Thursdays review meeting.

Mandaviya asked officials to expedite vaccination coverage, including booster doses in districts reporting a high number of cases. As there are adequate vaccine doses available, let there be no vaccine wastage while focusing on accelerating vaccination among the eligible and vulnerable groups, he said.

He directed officials to continue to focus on surveillance and whole genome sequencing (WGS) to scan for any possible mutation, a statement said. He also asked them to monitor hospitalisations due to Covid-19, and cases of influenza-like illness.

The strain of the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which caused the third wave of infections in the country, has several sub-variants that are now in circulation. Experts have said that with each new mutation, the virus is likely to become more infectious.

A recent Business Standard analysis revealed that the rising number of Covid-19 cases has so far not been accompanied by an increase in the number of daily deaths attributed to the virus.

Hospital occupancies continue to be low  only 1.1 per cent of Chennais hospital beds are currently occupied. It is 2.3 per cent in Delhi and 2.6 per cent in Mumbai.
"Misappropriated" funds of homebuyers were used by the promoter brothers of realty group to "bribe" Tihar jail officials during their confinement there, the ED said on Thursday as it attached assets worth Rs 257 crore in a money-laundering case against them.

"The provisionally attached properties include residential, commercial units, land parcels in Gurugram, Goa, Chennai and some other places, demand drafts, equity shares and bank balances. The properties are owned by CIG (Chandra Investment Group) Realty Fund and Authentic Group," the (ED) said in a statement.

Two orders were issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to freeze these assets.

With this latest action, the ED has issued 14 attachment orders, freezing properties worth Rs 1,059.52 crore in the case.

The agency said its probe has found that homebuyers' funds amounting to Rs 244 crore were "illegally diverted" by promoters Ajay and Sanjay Chandra to CIG Realty Fund.

"The diverted funds were used to purchase land owning companies of Group. Auram Asset Management Private Limited was one of the companies controlled by the Chandra family, which was used to manage the affairs of CIG Realty Fund.

"This company was also used by the Chandras to siphon off investors' funds from the accounts of CIG Realty Fund," it alleged.

The "misappropriated" funds, the agency said, were used to "finance" the illegal activities of the Chandras such as "bribing" certain Tihar jail officials and other personal expenses of the Chandra brothers.

They were earlier lodged in the Tihar jail but after the ED informed the Supreme Court about their alleged illegal activities in the prison, the apex court ordered their transfer to a Mumbai jail.

The ED probe also found out that in 2007, instead of building houses, homebuyers' funds to the tune of Rs 60.25 crore were "illegally diverted" by the Chandras to Authentic Group with an intention to build a seven-star resort in south Goa.

The agency had filed a money-laundering case against the group, its promoters and linked companies on June 6, 2018 on the directions of the Supreme Court and also after taking cognisance of two Delhi Police FIRs lodged by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and the Saket police station.

According to the ED, the "proceeds of crime" detected in the case amount to Rs 6,452 crore and the agency has conducted 45 raids in the case till now.

The ED arrested the Chandra brothers, their father and founder of the Unitech Group Ramesh Chandra, Preeti Chandra (Sanjay Chandra's wife) and Rajesh Malik (the promoter of Carnoustie Group) in the case. All of them are in judicial custody.

Two chargesheets have also been filed by the agency in the case.

Properties of other accused companies like Carnoustie Group, Shivalik Group, Trikar Group and the personal and alleged shell companies linked to the Chandras were attached in the past.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese President said on Thursday that the has shown resilience and vitality in the current global crisis and called on the five-member grouping to oppose the "abuse" of unilateral sanctions and reject "small circles", in an apparent jibe at the US.

In his opening address to the 14th summit via video link, Xi said over the past year, the world has faced the continued spread of COVID-19, a tortuous world economic recovery and increasingly salient peace and security issues.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa took part in the annual summit hosted by President Xi.

"Facing the formidable and complex circumstances, countries have embraced the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, enhanced solidarity and coordination and jointly tackled the challenges," said Xi.

"The BRICS mechanism has demonstrated resilience and vitality. BRICS cooperation has achieved sound progress and results," he said in his speech posted on the website by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

But at the same time, he called on the BRICS nations to reject the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation, oppose unilateral sanctions and abuse of sanctions, in an apparent reference to the sanctions by the US, EU and their allies against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

"We need to encourage the community to practice true multilateralism and uphold the system with the UN at its core and the order underpinned by international law," he said.

He also urged the world to "reject the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation, oppose unilateral sanctions and abuse of sanctions, and reject the small circles built around hegemonism by forming one big family belonging to a community with a shared future for humanity."



Beijing has been critical of the Quad (US, India, Japan and Australia) and AUKUS (US, UK, Australia) alliances, alleging they were aimed at containing China's rise.

Significantly, the summit was not telecast live by its official television channels, which carried commentaries on the BRICS countries.

Xi has been lashing out at the United States and the European Union in recent speeches for imposing sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. He reiterated the same in his address at the BRICS Business Forum on Wednesday.

China, a close ally of Russia, has declined to condemn Moscow for the invasion against Ukraine and maintained close political and business links.

Latest reports said China's crude oil imports from Russia have climbed to over 55 per cent from a year earlier last month displacing Saudi Arabia as Beijing's top supplier.

Xi stressed that the BRICS Summit is held at a critical juncture in the shaping of the future course of humanity. BRICS countries, as important emerging markets and major developing countries, need to act with a sense of responsibility to bring positive, stabilising and constructive strength to the world, he said.

"We need to speak out for equity and justice," he said.

He also said the BRICS countries need to "remain firm in our conviction that we will defeat the pandemic and act responsibly to protect our peoples and their lives.

"We need to build a strong line of defence against the virus, enhance international COVID response cooperation, and jointly defend people's lives and health," he said.

Also the BRICS countries "need to pool strength for economic recovery, step up macro-policy coordination, keep industrial and supply chains secure and unclogged, build an open world economy, and forestall and defuse major risks and challenges in global development, to work for more inclusive and resilient economic growth", he said.

He said the BRICS countries need to advocate sustainable and people-centred development, invest more in poverty alleviation, food, education, health and so on, and promote the implementation of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to bring stronger, greener and healthier global development.

Xi said he looks forward to an in-depth and vibrant discussion under the theme of "Fostering High-quality Partnership and Ushering in a New Era of Global Development to jointly contribute wisdom and ideas to the high-quality development of BRICS cooperation.

(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 Open Network for Commerce (ONDC), the governments alternative in Indias e-commerce market, should help non- traders, handicraft traders and artisans, said commerce and industry minister on Thursday.

Goyal asked the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to launch an ONDC pilot for offline traders in a single market as a separate exercise assists digitally enabled ones.

Goyal made the comments at an advisory council meeting of ONDC to review the ongoing pilot.

ONDC promotes open networks for exchange of goods and services over or electronic networks. According to statement by Goyals ministry, open networks are gaining traction in the ongoing pilot that started on April 29.

A total of seven companies--one buyer side app, five seller side apps and one logistics service provider apphave adopted ONDC protocols and built their own compatible apps. The pilot took off in five citiesBengaluru, New Delhi, Bhopal, Shillong and Coimbatorein grocery and food and beverages segments.

The meeting also discussed plans for faster rollout of the ONDC platform to a larger number of traders, categories of goods, geographies and companies.

The success achieved has ignited tremendous interest in many new companies and a large number of companies on buyer side, seller side and logistics side are now building their own apps and are in advanced stages of integration with ONDC, said the statement.

During the meeting it was informed that the ONDC and NABARD are working on a program to bring the agriculture sector to ONDC and as a first step, a hackathon is being organized on 1-3 July to build innovative solutions for FPOs (Farmer Producer Organizations). The Minister said that ONDC may prove to be an invaluable tool to assist farmers find the right prices for their produce, it said.
The governments focus on the has taken the state to top position in the country in regard to coverage.

The National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21) states 88 per cent of the households have at least one member covered by a or in . The national figure is 41 per cent.

In NFHS-4 (2015-16), the coverage of households in was 19 per cent while it was 29 per cent for India.

This happened mainly due to the initiative of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, whose priority is to ensure all citizens of the state can avail themselves of free treatment at a hospital near them. He launched a health insurance scheme called Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Swasthya Bima Yojna on May 1, 2021.

This scheme came when the nation was struggling with the second wave of the pandemic and the cashless treatment facility has helped people to reduce their treatment expenditure to a great extent.

More than 13.5 million families are registered with it.

The scheme started with annual insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per annum, which was increased in May 2022 to Rs 10 lakh. The scheme is free for those covered under the National Food Security Act, families eligible under the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC-2011), contractual workers (all departments/boards/corporations/government companies), Covid-19 ex-gratia, and small and marginal farmers.

Others who do not fall in these categories pay a premium of Rs 850 per family.

So far, over 755 private and around 800 public hospitals are empanelled under this scheme.

Even the treatment packages in this scheme have been increased to over 1,625 and expensive treatment such as liver transplants, heart transplants, kidney transplants, bone marrow transplants, cochlear implants, knee replacement, and hip replacement have been included or covered.

The scheme faced initial challenges as many reports of non-compliance by private hospitals were received by the state government. The government has thus established a 24x7 call centre answering every call and complaint. Nodal officers have also been assigned to every zone so that every complaint is resolved and registered beneficiaries receive due benefits in empanelled hospitals, an official of the state medical health department said.

Recently, the state government also launched the Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Accident Insurance Scheme to provide economic support to the families insured with the Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Swasthya Bima Yojana in the case of death or permanent disability due to an accident.
Seven companies, including a buyer-side app and five seller-side apps, have adopted ONDC protocols and built their own ONDC-compatible apps, the commerce and industry ministry said on Thursday.

On April 29, the ministry launched the pilot phase of the open network for digital commerce (ONDC), a UPI-type protocol, in five cities to democratise the fast-growing e-commerce sector, help small retailers and reduce the dominance of online retail giants.

These apps, it said, have been able to successfully complete cascaded transactions across the ONDC network during the pilot phase -- in Bengaluru, New Delhi, Bhopal, Shillong and Coimbatore -- in grocery and food and beverages segments.

"A total of seven companies - one buyer side app, five seller side apps and one logistics service provider app - have adopted ONDC protocols and built their own ONDC compatible apps," the ministry said.

The information was provided during the meeting of the ONDC Advisory Council chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister to review the progress made in the project.

The meeting also discussed plans for a faster rollout of the platform to a larger number of traders, categories of goods, geographies and companies.

"The success achieved has ignited tremendous interest in many new companies and a large number of companies on the buyer side, seller side and logistics side are now building their own apps and are in advanced stages of integration with ONDC," it said.

The minister asked the ministry to launch a pilot with a focus on non-digital traders from one single market.

He said the local trader associations should be involved in the exercise and necessary measures for awareness generation and capacity building of various stakeholders be taken.

During the meeting, it was informed that the ONDC and NABARD are working on a programme to bring the agriculture sector to the platform.

The statement also said that the National Consumer Helpline records show that major grievances of consumers are related to the delivery of wrong, defective or damaged products, non-delivery or delayed delivery, no refunds as promised and deficiency in services promised.

"All these issues must be addressed effectively," it added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NEW YORK, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Questions about the impact of natural disasters on the life and health of communities have taken on greater urgency as such events have become more common, said U.S. News and World Report on Wednesday.

"From racist practices of the past to present-day failures in preparedness, response and recovery, experts say poor policies and procedures have disproportionately put certain communities - particularly those predominantly occupied by racial and ethnic minorities - at higher risk of harm. And the growing threat of climate change only further heightens that risk," said the report.

Indigenous people, encompassing American Indian and Alaska Native individuals, were the most at risk from natural hazards in the United States, said the report on basis of its analysis of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index.

"Among the various racial and ethnic groups examined, Alaska Natives were the group most at risk from hazards like volcanic activity, avalanches and cold waves, while American Indians were the group most at risk from drought, riverine flooding, wildfires and ice storms," it said.

In addition, Black or African American people in the United States were at highest risk for negative impacts from hurricanes and tornadoes, as well as heat waves and flooding that occurs in coastal areas, according to the report. 
has approved three loans totalling USD 562 million (about Rs 4,393.70 crore) to fund an education project in Gujarat, a social protection programme in and a project to help recovery in the post the pandemic, the multilateral funding agency said on Thursday.

The Board of Executive Directors approved additional financing of USD 250 million for Outcomes for Accelerated Learning (GOAL), a programme which aims to improve education results for children across the state of Gujarat, it said in a release.

The financing towards GOAL will benefit an additional 3,000 schools that have been disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Besides, the board of executive directors of the approved a USD 150 million funding to support the recovery of India's and a USD 162 million for the RIGHTS project to strengthen the social protection systems and capability of the State of to promote inclusion, accessibility, and opportunities for persons with disabilities.

In 2020-21, the saw losses of about USD 5.5 billion and fish production fell almost 40 per cent in one year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, said the multilateral funding agency.

GOAL project financing complements the original loan of USD 500 million, which was approved in March 2021. It is in line with the Bank's Rapid Response Framework that seeks to reach every child and retain them in schools, assess learning levels regularly, prioritize teaching the fundamentals and increase catch-up learning, World Bank said.

It also aims to develop psychosocial health for students and teachers.

"This additional financing will scale-up the coverage of the original programme from a total of 9,000 to 12,000 schools, while also supporting new efforts to test the efficacy of the program's interventions," said Shabnam Sinha, Lead Education Specialist and Task Team Leader for the project.

Under the USD 150 million loan to support the recovery of India's fisheries sector, World Bank said it currently employs about 12 million people directly and another 13 million through associated activities.

The Fisheries Sector COVID-19 Recovery Project will complement the Government of India's Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, which aims to transform the sector in a sustainable manner by introducing modern practices, improving access to finance and making it more climate-resilient.

Incentives for larger private investment in the fisheries sector in India have been limited, mainly due to lack of access to financing or credit, and perceptions that the sector is high-risk.

The project will help microenterprises access working capital by connecting them with government schemes that provide financial support to farmers such as the Kisan Credit Card and the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Limited (MUDRA).

(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.)
Moderate to brisk turnout was recorded till 1 pm in the for three Lok Sabha and seven assembly seats spread across five states and one Union territory on Thursday amid an incident of violence in where a policeman was stabbed.

Counting of votes for the in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand will be taken up on Sunday.

While Punjab recorded over 22 per cent polling till 1 pm in the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, around 28 per cent voters in Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats in exercised their franchise in the first six hours of voting.

An impressive voter turnout was recorded in till 1 pm which is witnessing to four assembly seats of Agartala, Town Bardowali, Surma and Jubarajnagar seats.

While Agartala saw 54.20 per cent of the voters exercising their franchise till 1 pm, Surma and Jubarjnagar in recorded 53.50 per cent and 46.56 per cent respectively. Town Bardowali saw 52.16 per cent voter turnout, according to the EC.

Over 26 per cent polling was recorded since voting began for the bypoll to the Rajinder Nagar assembly constituency in the national capital.

In Andhra Pradesh, over 44 per cent of the voters exercised their right in Atmakur till 1 pm while 44.81 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the by-election to Mandar assembly seat in Jharkhand's Ranchi district.

Amid the voting process, the opposition Samajwadi Party in wrote to the Election Commission alleging voter intimidation and harassment.

In a series of tweets, the Samajwadi Party alleged wrongdoings in different areas where bypolls are underway.

"The police are harassing SP workers at the behest of the ruling party in Tanda and Daryal areas of Swar assembly seat in Rampur Lok Sabha by election. The Election Commission should take note. Action should be taken against the guilty policemen.Ensure fair voting," the Samajwadi Party said, attaching a letter written to the EC in this regard.

The SP also alleged that voters were prevented from casting votes at a booth in Tanda and polling was stopped.

It also alleged that its booth agents have been driven out in Azamgarh.

"All agents have been made to leave from all the polling booths in Gopalpur, Sagdi, Mubarakpur, Azamgarh and Mehnagar assembly areas as part of a conspiracy at the behest of the BJP. The Election Commission should take note. Ensure fair elections," the SP charged in another tweet.

There was also a report of a police inspector allegedly misbehaving with an elderly voter in Bilaspur in Rampur leading to ruckus.

State minister Baldev Singh Aulakh, however, reached the spot and pacified the people, the report said.

The bypolls to the Azamgarh seat were necessitated by the resignation of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly as an MLA in the earlier this year.

The Rampur seat was vacated by senior SP leader Azam Khan, who too was elected to the state Assembly.

In Punjab, prominent among those who cast their vote for the Sangrur seat included Finance Minister Harpal Cheema and contesting candidates AAP's Gurmail Singh, Congress' Dalvir Singh Goldy and BJP candidate Kewal Singh Dhillon.

The Sangrur seat fell vacant after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann resigned as MP after winning Dhuri seat in the February 20 Assembly polls.

In Tripura, Chief Minister Manik Saha is among the prominent candidates contesting the bypolls.

Tripura witnessed an incident of violence with an off-duty police constable, Samir Saha being stabbed in the stomach while he was going with his family to exercise his franchise in Kunjaban area in Agartala constituency, a police officer said, adding the assailants attempted to prevent Saha and his family members from casting their vote.

Saha, who is attached to Gandacherra Police Station in Dhalai district, has been admitted to a hospital and his condition is stated to be stable, he said.

On Wednesday night, unidentified people attacked the residence of TMC candidate for Surma seat, Arjun Namasudra, in Bamancherra in Dhalai district.

"The candidate is unhurt but his vehicle was vandalised," Dhalai SP Ramesh Yadav told PTI.

TMC state president Subal Bhowmik alleged that BJP-backed goons had attacked Namasudra's house and also tried to beat up a polling agent.

However, Saha rubbished the allegations as baseless.

"They have been making one accusation after another. Democracy has been strengthened in Tripura with the administration and ECI discharging their duties properly," he said.

"I am 100 per cent sure that BJP will win all the four seats based on the good work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and my predecessor Biplab Kumar Deb for the welfare of the people," he told reporters after casting his vote.

The bypolls in Agartala and Town Bardowali were necessitated after Sudip Roy Barman and Asish Saha quit as BJP MLAs and joined the Congress in February.

The Surma seat in Dhalai district fell vacant after BJP legislator, Asish Das, was disqualified by Speaker Ratan Chakraborty and bypoll to Jubarajnagar was necessitated following the death to sitting CPI(M) MLA Ramendra Chandra Debnath.

In Andhra Pradesh, the bypoll is being held to fill the vacancy caused due to the death of then Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy in February. His brother Vikram Reddy is the ruling YSR Congress candidate and he is locked in a contest with BJP's G Bharat Kumar Yadav.

Voting was underway on a moderate pace in Delhi's Rajinder Nagar seat.

The two major contenders -- the AAP and the BJP -- have exuded confidence that their candidates will emerge victorious.

The bypolls was necessitated in the wake of AAP leader Raghav Chadha leaving the seat after being elected to the Rajya Sabha recently.

Chadha was the MLA from the Rajinder Nagar Assembly seat.

In Jharkhand, bypoll to Mandar assembly seat is underway amid tight security.

Voting is taking place in 433 polling stations, with 141 booths having been declared hyper-sensitive, 218 as sensitive, and 55 as vulnerable.

The by-election was necessitated after the disqualification of Bandhu Tirkey as an MLA in the wake of his conviction in a corruption case.

The Congress has fielded Bandhu's daughter, Shilpa Neha Tirkey, as the common candidate of the JMM-led alliance, while BJP has nominated former legislator Gangotri Kujur.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The on Thursday approved a $245-million loan for the rail logistics project to help reduce Indias high and low modal freight share in the .

The project will help India shift more traffic from road to rail, making transport  both freight and passenger  more efficient, and reduce millions of tonnes of (GHG) each year. The project will also incentivise more private sector investment in the sector, the multilateral financial institution said.

The loan, financed through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, has a maturity of 22 years, including a grace period of seven years.

The loan will see payment to the Corporation of India (DFCCI). The amount is the fourth and final tranche of payment for the Eastern (EDFC), which is being partly funded by the World Bank, said Amitabh Sharma, executive director at the ministry of . The corridor is partly operational and likely to be completed by June 2023.

The project will also support institutional capacity strengthening of the DFCCI as a commercial organisation and equip it to provide multimodal logistics services, the World Bank's statement said.

Road freight is the largest contributor to GHG emissions, accounting for about 95 per cent of emissions of the freight sector, said. It found that trucks also accounted for 12.3 per cent of road accidents and 15.8 per cent of total transport-related deaths in 2018.

With from being a fifth of road transport, the achievement of net-zero carbon emission by the national transporter can eliminate 7.5 million tonne (mt) of carbon dioxide of GHG each year.

India has been aggressively pushing for a modal shift in logistics, in a bid to revive the once-preferred goods transporter. Apart from environmental concerns on account of via road transport, the excessive reliance on road transport leads to congestion on road networks, leading to delays and added cost of logistics. While railways is 45 per cent cheaper, it is not preferred by manufacturers or distributors due to adverse rake booking policies and lack of inter-modal connectivity, a government report had observed.

The rail logistics project is expected to link several infrastructure projects in the country for seamless inter-modal connectivity, augment rail capacity, and bring in private sector efficiency.

Railways has already begun its foray into public private participation on the EDFC, with a stretch between Sonnagar in Bihar and Dankuni in West Bengal being developed through the mode. Business Standard had previously reported that the national transporter is also looking to engage the private sector more through Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs).
At the 14th summit which is to be hosted by China in a virtual mode on 23-24 June, the member nations will review the current global issues and will reach key agreements, said Russian Embassy in India on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the 14th summit in a virtual mode. "At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be attending the 14th Summit hosted by China in virtual mode on 23-24 June 2022. This includes a High-Level Dialogue on Global Development with guest countries on June 24," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa will discuss the status of diverse political, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation, the Embassy said.

"There are also plans to review current and regional issues. The #BRICS summit's final Declaration will formalise key agreements. On June 24, Vladimir #Putin will also speak at a 'BRICS Plus' session involving the leaders of several invited states," it added.

On May 23, A BRICS Plus virtual conference was held as part of the main meeting with ministers from countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Argentina, Nigeria, Senegal, and Thailand, according to reports.BRICS Plus is a new phase in the expansion of BRICS - already known for its combined economic growth potential - that aims to welcome more countries and enhance economic conditions.

Discussions during the 14th are expected to cover intra-BRICS cooperation in areas such as counter-terrorism, trade, health, traditional medicine, environment, S & T and innovation, agriculture, technical and vocational education & training, and MSMEs, the MEA said in an official statement.

The summit will host a High-Level Dialogue on Global Development with guest countries on June 24. BRICS has become a platform for discussing and deliberating on issues of common concern for all developing countries. BRICS countries have regularly called for reform of the multilateral system in order to make it more representative and inclusive.

The discussions are also likely on issues like reform of the multilateral system, combating the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic recovery, amongst . The Summit will be held in virtual format under the theme of "Foster High-quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development."

BRICS is a multilateral forum consisting of five major emerging economies of the world, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

(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 a major expansion of gun rights, the Supreme Court said on Thursday that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.

The decision follows recent mass shootings and is expected to ultimately allow more people to legally carry guns on the streets of the nation's largest cities including New York, Los Angeles and Boston and elsewhere.

About a quarter of the US population live in states expected to be affected by the ruling, which struck down a New York gun law.

The decision, the high court's first major gun decision in more than a decade, was 6-3 with the court's conservatives in the majority and liberals in dissent.

The ruling comes as Congress is working toward passage of gun legislation following mass shootings in Texas, New York and California.

On Thursday, senators were expected to clear the way for that measure, modest in scope but still the most far-reaching in decades.

President Joe Biden said in a statement he was deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court ruling, which he said "contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all.

He urged states to pass new laws and said, I call on Americans across the country to make their voices heard on gun safety. Lives are on the line.

In the opinion itself, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority that the Constitution protects "an individual's right to carry a handgun for self-defence outside the home.

The decision struck down a New York law requiring people to demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun in order to get a license to carry one in public.

The justices said that requirement violates the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island all have similar laws. The Biden administration had urged the justices to uphold New York's law.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the ruling comes at a particularly painful time, when New York is still mourning the deaths of 10 people in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo.

This decision isn't just reckless. It's reprehensible. It's not what New Yorkers want, she said.

But Tom King, president of the plaintiff New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, said he was relieved.

The lawful and legal gun owner of New York State is no longer going to be persecuted by laws that have nothing to do with the safety of the people and will do nothing to make the people safer," he said.

And maybe now we'll start going after criminals and the perpetrator of these heinous acts.

In a court dissent joined by his liberal colleagues, Justice Stephen Breyer focused on the toll taken by gun violence. Since the start of this year alone (2022), there have already been 277 reported mass shootingsan average of more than one per day, Breyer wrote.

Backers of New York's law had argued that striking it down would lead to more guns on the streets and higher rates of violent crime. Gun violence, which was already on the rise during the coronavirus pandemic has spiked anew.

In most of the country gun owners have little difficulty legally carrying their weapons in public. But that had been harder to do in New York and the handful of states with similar laws.

New York's law, which has been in place since 1913, says that to carry a concealed handgun in public, a person applying for a license has to show proper cause, a specific need to carry the weapon.

The state issues unrestricted licenses where a person can carry their gun anywhere and restricted licenses that allow a person to carry the weapon but just for specific purposes such as hunting and target shooting or to and from their place of business.

The Supreme Court last issued a major gun decision in 2010. In that decision and a ruling from 2008 the justices established a nationwide right to keep a gun at home for self-defence. The question for the court this time was about carrying one outside the home.

The challenge to the New York law was brought by the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, which describes itself as the nation's oldest firearms advocacy organisation, and two men seeking an unrestricted ability to carry guns outside their homes.

The court's decision is somewhat out of step with public opinion. About half of voters in the 2020 presidential election said gun laws in the US should be made more strict, according to AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of the electorate.

An additional third said laws should be kept as they are, while only about 1 in 10 said gun laws should be less strict.

About 8 in 10 Democratic voters said gun laws should be made more strict, VoteCast showed. Among Republican voters, roughly half said laws should be kept as they are, while the remaining half closely divided between more and less strict.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, a Democrat, said his office will examine Thursday's ruling to determine its impact on Maryland and "continue to fight to protect the safety of Marylanders".

Today's decision means more deaths and more pain in a country already awash in gun violence, Frosh said in a statement.

US President Joe Biden says he's deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court's Thursday ruling striking down New York state's century-old restrictions on the concealed carry of firearms.

In a statement, the president said the ruling contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all.

He added that after mass shootings across the US, the country should be doing more, not less, to rein in firearm availability.

As Congress appears set to approve modest gun law changes, Biden urged states to go further and enact and enforce commonsense laws to make their citizens and communities safer from gun violence.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams released a statement on Thursday criticising the US Supreme Court's decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen.

He stated the ruling puts New Yorkers at further risk of gun violence.

Adams said the city has and will continue efforts to mitigate risks of gun violence in the city, including reviews of defining license application processes and sensitive locations where guns are banned.

New York's members of Congress reacted to Thursday's Supreme Court ruling that struck down a state gun law.

US Rep. Elise Stefanik applauded the ruling and said it correctly declares New York's shameful attempt to shred Second Amendment rights of New Yorkers unconstitutional. Stefanik is a Republican and staunch ally of former President Donald Trump,



US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called the ruling irresponsible and downright dangerous.

Our nation is in the middle of a gun violence epidemic and instead of working to protect our communities, this court has made it even easier for potentially dangerous people to carry concealed handguns in public spaces, the Democrat said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The House's January 6 committee plans to continue its public hearings into July as its investigation of the Capitol riot deepens.

The chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, told reporters on Wednesday that the committee is receiving a lot of information including new documentary film footage of Trump's final months in office as its yearlong inquiry intensifies with hearings into the attack on January 6, 2021, and Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election that Democrat Joe Biden won.

Thompson, D-Miss., said the committee's Thursday hearing, which is set to highlight former Justice Department officials testifying about Trump's proposals to reject the election results, would wrap up this month's work. The committee would start up again in July.

We have a new documentary from a person that we're talking to, and we got to look through all his information, Thompson said, referring to the British filmmaker whose never-before-seen interviews with the former president and his inner circle were turned over to the committee this week. The footage was taken both before and after the insurrection.

For the past year, the committee has been investigating the violence at the Capitol and its causes, and has interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses and produced some 140,000 documents. Nine people died in the attack and its aftermath.

The committee had been scheduled to conclude this first round of public hearings in June. But additional information has come to the committee's attention, and Congress is set to recess for two weeks of remote and district work into the Fourth of July holiday.

The revelation about the film came to light on Tuesday when British filmmaker Alex Holder revealed he had complied with a congressional subpoena to turn over all of the footage he shot in the final weeks of Trump's 2020 reelection campaign.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., indicated on Tuesday that the investigation's schedule may be changing.

I would just say the original hearings would have wrapped up in June, but we are picking up new evidence on a daily basis with enormous velocity, Raskin said. And so we're constantly incorporating and including the new information that's coming out.

He added: But certainly the hearings will conclude before the end of the summer.

The televised hearings launched with a prime-time session this month, and lawmakers said they continue uncovering new tips and information.

(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 Speaker House of Representatives on Wednesday (local time) said that for decades, the Chinese government has waged a dangerous assault on human rights in which clearly shows that it has no regard for Tibetan autonomy, identity or faith.

Pelosi made these remarks at the 8th World Parliamentarians' Convention on . Taking to Twitter, she wrote, "This morning, it was a great honor to join leaders from and around the world for the 8th World Parliamentarians' Convention on Tibet, reaffirming the United States' commitment to the Tibetan people."

"For decades, the Chinese government has waged a dangerous assault on human rights in Tibet, clearly showing that it has no regard for Tibetan autonomy, identity or faith. This forum is crucial, bringing together leaders from all over the world to advance real autonomy for Tibet," she added.

US House Speaker Pelosi said that the world has a moral duty to speak out with one voice against Beijing's abuses and stand up for the Tibetan people. She added that if "we do not speak out against human rights abuses in because of commercial ties, we lose all moral authority to speak out against humans rights, anywhere."

The eighth World Parliamentarians' Convention on Tibet (WPCT) is being held in Washington, DC. from June 22 to 23 to gather the world leaders in expressing concern over human rights violations and religious repression in Tibet.

More than 100 participants from 26 countries, including from the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, are attending it both in-person and virtually. This convention, organized by the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, is in continuation of the previous seven sessions of WPCT aimed to strengthen and coordinate support by parliamentarians from different countries to resolve the Tibet issue.

The first WPCT was held in New Delhi (1994) honoring the foundational role India has played in the survival of the Tibetan identity after the Chinese invasion and occupation of Tibet. Subsequent conventions have been held in cities like Vilnius, Washington D.C, Edinburgh, Rome, and Ottawa.

Despite decades of repression by the Chinese government in Tibet, Tibetans strive to preserve their religion, culture, identity, and environment and continue to advocate for human rights and freedom in Tibet through non-violence all over the world.

"By holding the 8th WPCT in the United States, a country with fundamental values of democracy and equality, we honour the important role played by the United States Congress in formulating policy initiatives on Tibet, including institutionalizing support through several legislations," an official release read.

"We also draw attention to our exile government's commitment to democratic norms and values. With the farsighted vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in exile, we have a democratic and popularly elected leadership that is accountable to the Tibetan people through the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile," it added.

This WPCT will have panel discussions and briefing sessions on various issues facing Tibet by the honourable members of parliament of different countries, experts and activists. The highlights of the 8th WPCT will be a video message from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and greetings from Speaker of the US House of Representatives honourable .

The main objectives of holding the World Parliamentarians' Convention on Tibet are: For parliamentarians to take a leading role in the area on the question of survival of the Tibetan identity and its rich cultural heritage which has the potential to contribute for a more peaceful world.

Moreover, these parliamentarians will consider initiatives in their respective countries to support early resumption of dialogue between the representatives of the Dalai Lama and China, for a negotiated solution on Tibet.

(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 number of new cases rose in Southeast Asia, the and last week, while the number of deaths globally dropped by 16 per cent, according to the World Health Organisation's latest weekly pandemic report issued on Wednesday.

The WHO said there were 3.3 million new COVID-19 infections last week, marking a 4 per cent decrease, with more than 7,500 deaths.

But cases jumped by about 45 per cent in and the Middle East, and by about 6 per cent in .

was the only region to report a slight 4 per cent increase in deaths, while figures fell elsewhere. Globally, the number of new COVID-19 cases has ben falling after peaking in January.

Salim Abdool Karim, an epidemiologist and vice-chancellor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, said the recent fall in COVID-19 numbers had reached trough levels and had not been seen much in the last two and a half years.

He warned, however, that some countries, including Britain, were starting to see a slight resurgence in cases.

British health officials said last week there were early signs the country could be at the start of a new wave of infections driven by omicron variants, although hospitalisation rates have so far remained very low.

The country dropped nearly all of its COVID restrictions months ago. Last week, the UK recorded a 43 per cent rise in cases following the street parties, concerts and other festivities celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee earlier this month, that marked her 70 years as monarch.

Meanwhile in the US, officials began rolling out vaccines for the littlest children late last week, with shots for kids aged six months to five years.

Advisers to the US Centres for Disease Prevention and Control authorised vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna on Saturday, saying they helped prevent severe disease, hospitalisation and deaths in young children.

While young children generally don't get as sick from COVID-19 as older kids and adults, their hospitalisations surged during the omicron wave and American experts determined that benefits from vaccination outweighed the minimal risks.

(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.)
European natural prices rose to a one-week high as Germany triggered the second stage of its gas-emergency plan, adding to mounting concerns across the continent over steep cuts in Russian supplies.

Front-month benchmark futures rose as much as 5.8% after German Economy Minister Robert Habeck enacted the alarm phase of the emergency plan, saying that Europes biggest economy is in a crisis. His comments follow a warning Wednesday that Germany should brace for further cuts in Russian flows after Moscow slashed deliveries on the key Nord Stream pipeline to Europe.

The Russian supply curbs, which Germany has called politically motivated, has crimped flows to buyers across Europe just as nations stockpile for the heating season and further heightened the risk of energy shortages this winter. In total, 12 member states are now affected by Russian unilateral supply cuts, said European Union climate chief Frans Timmermans.

The risk of a full gas disruption is now more real than ever before, Timmermans told the European Parliament on Thursday.

The Nord Stream pipeline to Germany is operating at about 40% of capacity after flows were cut last week in what Russian gas exporter Gazprom PJSC said was due to a technical problem. However, Habeck and Timmermans both described the move as a Kremlin strategy to disrupt fuel security and undermine European unity.

Germany entering Phase 2 of its emergency gas plan is showing signs of lasting supply tension, adding bullish pressure on prices, analysts at Inspired Energy said in a note.

The second stage of Germanys plan tightens monitoring of the market and some coal-fired plants being reactivated. The government held off on an option of enacting legislation to allow energy companies to pass on cost increases to homes and businesses.

The emergency measure comes as Germany rushes to fill gas-storage facilities, which are currently about 59% full. Energy companies have been building stocks to try to reach a government-mandated target of 90% capacity by November, a target Habeck said could scarcely be met if Nord Stream flows remain curbed.

As part of the measures, Germany will provide a 15 billion-euro financing to fill its reserves and will launch a gas auction model to encourage industrial consumers to save gas.

This action is likely to provide upside to gas on increased competition to fill gas storage levels, Inspired Energy said.

Amid the escalating gas crisis, Italy and Greece plan to once again call for the need to cap prices, as energy costs are on the rise.

Dutch front-month gas futures, the European benchmark, gained 5.5% to 134.14 euros per megawatt-hour after slipping 1.3% at the open. Prices have climbed more than 50% since the Nord Stream flows were curtailed.
A four-member Indian delegation led by Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Thursday met Sri Lanka's top leadership, including President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and underlined that India stands ready to help the island nation's quick economic recovery through promoting investments, connectivity and strengthening economic linkage.

is facing the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948 which has led to an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and fuel across the island nation.

The delegation first met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

During the meeting, Kwatra told Rajapaksa that India, as a close friend, will extend its fullest support to in overcoming the difficult situation, the newsfirst.lk website reported.

The delegation includes Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Finance of India, Ajay Seth; Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India Dr V Anantha Nageswaran and Joint Secretary of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) Kartik Pande of the Ministry of External Affairs of India, Sri Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The delegation reviewed the already provided assistance in terms of fuel, medicine, fertiliser and other essentials and said the Indian government is committed to support Sri Lanka, the report said.

The delegation also met Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and discussed Sri Lanka's economic situation.

In a tweet, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Kwatra, accompanied by Seth and Nageswaran, met President Rajapaksa and "held productive discussions on the current situation in and India's ongoing support".

During the meeting, the Indian delegation underlined that India stands ready to help Sri Lanka in quick economic recovery through promoting investments, connectivity and strengthening economic linkage, he said.

"Reiterated Sri Lanka's centrality to India's #NeighbourhoodFirst policy. Both sides reaffirmed commitment to development of India-Lanka ties," Bagchi said.

The Indian delegation's visit coincides with the visit of the IMF delegation who are engaging Colombo for the proposed staff-level agreement which should eventuate with a possible bailout.

Sri Lanka is facing the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948 which has prompted an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and fuel across the island nation.

In another tweet, Bagchi said Kwatra along with Seth and Nageswaran called on Wickremesinghe and discussed Sri Lanka's economic situation and highlighted India's continuing support and assistance to the people of the island nation.

On Wednesday, Wickremesinghe in Parliament said India had stretched its maximum thus far by providing USD 4 billion worth of emergency assistance since January when the economic crisis came to bite.

He was banking on extended credit lines for further purchase of fuel.

The nearly-bankrupt country, with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, had announced in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026.

Sri Lanka's total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion.

The Indian credit lines since January have provided a lifeline to Sri Lanka amid growing public dissent over the worsening economic conditions.

Sri Lanka's key need right now is to secure bridging finance until the realisation of the IMF facility, a local official said. India will continue to be a key partner in this endeavour, 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.)
South Africa: Cabinet welcomes the action plan to deal with road blockages

Cabinet has welcomed the 11-point action plan set up to deal with road blockages and the recruitment of foreign nationals as truck drivers.

The plan, which was developed by the Road and Freight Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) in partnership with road and freight industry stakeholders, promotes the enforcement of visa requirements and compliance with labour laws, among other things.

The IMC was formed to deal with the escalating road blockages and protests by disgruntled South African truck drivers.

Protests and road blockages adversely impact mobility, scare foreign investors and most importantly, negatively impact the economy and essential supply chains which use affected corridors, said Minister in The Presidency Mondli Gungubele at a post-Cabinet media briefing in Pretoria on Thursday.

At a media briefing on Monday, Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, said the action plan was derived from a culmination of a series of meetings held with the industry and will form part of a blue print to be announced once approved by all parties.

The Implementation Plan consists of the following actions:

Facilitate the appointment of the task team;

Enforcement of the VISA requirements;

Need for consideration of all foreign driving licenses;

Registration and compliance with labour laws;

Registration of operators in term of Section 45 of the National Road Traffic Act (NRTA);

Review of the Traffic Register Number;

Review of the Cross-Border Road Transport Legislation;

Amendment of the National Road Traffic Regulation;

Integrated joint multi-disciplinary law enforcement operations;

Implement Driver Training Programme; and

Consideration of the introduction of Operating Licenses for the industry.

Each organization participating in the process will be represented by two delegates and monthly report meetings will be held by the IMC to review progress on actions being implemented, Nxesi said.

The Department of Home Affairs have conducted over 21 joint multi-disciplinary law enforcement operations and inspections to assess the extent of use of foreign and at times illegal truck drivers.

These multi-disciplinary and joint enforcement operations conducted across the country saw 213 arrests of foreign truck drivers found to be in contravention of immigration laws with 19 of those in possession of fraudulent documentations, said the Minister.

Meanwhile, Cabinet welcomed the intervention by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality in the Eastern Cape to avert Day Zero as the province is facing severe water shortages which started in 2015.

The department is working with the province to implement short, medium and long-term measures to address and mitigate the potential impact of the drought.

Cabinet further urged the residents of NMB to adhere to water restrictions imposed by local municipalities to ensure water security.

Overall, water use must be reduced by 50 million litres per day, from the current level of 280 million litres per day, down to 230 million litres per day, Cabinet said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-06-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Russian FM meets Iranian president in Tehran

Xinhua) 10:33, June 23, 2022

TEHRAN, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi shortly after arriving in Tehran on an official visit, Iranian state IRIB TV reported.

During his two-day trip at the invitation of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Lavrov is scheduled to meet senior Iranian officials to discuss the Iran nuclear deal, issues concerning Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan, trade and energy cooperation, as well as expansion of cooperation between Tehran and the regions of Eurasia and Caucasus, the report said.

Both Iran and Russia are under the U.S. sanctions, which have limited their ability to send their huge energy reserves to global markets.

The two countries described their relations as strategic.

In July 2015, Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with world powers, pledging to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on Tehran.

In May 2018, however, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the nuclear deal and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting Iran to compromise some of its nuclear commitments under the agreement in retaliation.

Since April 2021, several rounds of talks have been held in Vienna between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties to revive the deal.

Iran insists on obtaining guarantees that the succeeding U.S. governments would not drop the deal again, and calls for lifting the sanctions in a verifiable manner.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Hongyu)
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles on Thursday said that defence engagement between India and will ensure closer ties between the two strategic partners.

A day earlier, the Australian Defence Minister held a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh as both sides reviewed the regional security situation and reaffirmed their shared objective of an open, free and rules-based Indo-Pacific region.

Marles, who arrived in India on Monday on a four-day visit, today said he has invited Rajnath Singh to visit .

"We had a meeting with Defence Minister of India...we have invited him to ...we need more such engagement. Greater engagement between two Defence forces to ensure that we become more closer," said Richard Marles, who is also Australia's deputy prime minister.

He also underlined the security threat emanating from China. "China is Australia's the largest trading partner and so is for India. China is our biggest security anxiety and so is for India. We are friends and are exchanging notes."

"We have seen that in the South China Sea and also with India along the LAC two years back, the appalling behaviour with Indian soldiers. For us, we are experiencing that in the South China Sea," he added.

On the AUKUS grouping, he said the trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, is "not a security exchange."

In the backdrop of the ongoing Ukraine conflict, the minister said, "We have seen China and Russia practical relationships...so we are very mindful of that. For democracy, it is very important to maintain peace in the world."

Speaking at the National Defence College, Marles on Wednesday said the "assault on Indian forces" along the Line of Actual Control with China in 2020 was a warning that the world should heed.

He also noted that Beijing's military build-up is the most ambitious by any country since the end of the Second World War.

Marles said his visit reflects the conviction and the commitment of the Albanese Government to place India at the heart of Australia's approach to the Indo-Pacific and beyond. He said the geography of Australia and India makes the two countries stewards of the Indian Ocean region.

"China's military build-up is now the largest and most ambitious we have seen by any country since the end of the Second World War. It is critical that China's neighbours do not see this build-up as a risk for them. Because without that reassurance, it is inevitable that countries will seek to upgrade their own military capabilities in response," he said.

Marles, who is also Australia's Deputy Prime Minister, said insecurity is what drives an arms race and India's own experience illustrates this maxim more than most.

"The assault on Indian forces along the Line of Actual Control in 2020 was a warning we should all heed. Australia stood up for India's sovereignty then and continues to do so now. It is vital that China commits to resolving this dispute through a process of dialogue consistent with law. The global rules-based order matters everywhere, including in the highest place on earth," he said.

The Australian Defence Minister said as India and Australia continue to lift their defence and security cooperation, exploring longer-term reciprocal access arrangements is the logical next step.

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discussed assigning additional duties to its frontline army units at a key military meeting, state media said Thursday, a suggestion the country may want to deploy battlefield targeting South Korea along the rivals' tense border.

The discussion comes as South Korea officials said has finished preparation for its first nuclear test in five years as part of its possible efforts to build a warhead to be mounted on short-range weapons capable of hitting targets in South Korea.

During an ongoing meeting of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party on Wednesday, leader Kim Jong Un and other top military officers discussed the work of additionally confirming the operation duties of the frontline units of the Korean People's Army and modifying the operation plans, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Kim also ordered steps to be taken to enhance the operational capabilities of the frontline units, KCNA said. A KCNA photo showed what appeared to be a big map of the Korean Peninsula's eastern coast including border sites standing near the conference table.

I can assess the issue of forward-deploying tactical were discussed at the meeting in an in-depth manner, said Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Korea's private Sejong Institute.

Kim Jun-rak, a spokesperson for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters later Thursday that it's closely monitoring related North Korean activities but didn't elaborate.

In April, when test-fired a new type of tactical guided weapon, it said the weapon has great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the front-line long-range artillery units, enhancing the efficiency in the operation of (North Korea's) tactical nukes and diversification of their firepower missions.

Its use of the words tactical nukes suggested the weapon is likely a short-range weapons system armed with a nuclear warhead. Some experts said at the time that North Korea intended to deploy such weapons threatening key facilitates in South Korea, including U.S. military bases there.

Later in April, Kim said North Korea could preemptively use its if threatened, saying his nukes would never be confined to the single mission of war deterrent in situations where the North faces external threats to its fundamental interests. The possibility of North Korea having an escalatory nuclear doctrine could pose greater concern for South Korea, Japan and the United States.

Kim convened the Central Military Commission meeting earlier this week to confirm crucial and urgent tasks to expand military capabilities and implement key defense policies, state media said.

Cheong, the analyst, said North Korea is expected to preform its seventh nuclear test after the meeting, saying that its third nuclear test in 2013 also came days after another Central Military Commission meeting.

Before this week's meeting, Kim had convened a meeting of the Central Military Commission 16 times since he took power in late 2011 but this is the first lasting two days or longer, Cheong said.

Wednesday was the second-day session, and KCNA said discussions were continuing on the agenda, indicating the meeting would continue on Thursday.

Earlier this year, North Korea test-launched a spate of missiles with potential ranges placing both the US mainland and its Asian allies like South Korea and Japan within striking distances. North Korea has intercontinental ballistic missiles potentially capable of reaching the United States, but experts say the country still needs to master reentry capability and other technologies to make them functioning weapons.

Some experts say the North's weapons launches were meant to modernize its weapons systems and boost its leverage in future negotiations with the United States to win sanctions relief and other concessions.

South Korean and US officials have warned North Korea to face consequences if it goes ahead with a nuclear test. But the divisions between permanent members of the U.N. Security Council make the prospects for fresh punitive sanctions on North Korea unclear. Russia and China this year vetoed U.S.-sponsored resolutions that would have increased sanctions, insisting Washington should focus on reviving dialogue.

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At age 91, is heading for a divorce with Jerry Hall, the fourth for the mogul and the third for the model-actress, according to media reports.

Citing a report by The New York Times, the BBC said that representatives for Murdoch and the 65-year-old Hall, who got married at a mansion in central London in 2016, are yet to comment.

The report said the couple's split "comes as a surprise to those close to the family".

Murdoch was previously married to Australian flight attendant Patricia Booker, from 1956 to 1967; Scottish-born journalist Anna Mann, from 1967 to 1999; and Chinese-born entrepreneur Wendi Deng, from 1999 to 2014.

Hall was previously married to Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, with whom she had four children.

Across their marriages, Murdoch and Hall have 10 children, the BBC reported.

Murdoch's News Corporation empire controls major media outlets including Fox News and the Wall Street Journal in the US, and The Sun and The Times in the UK.

--IANS

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Coinciding with unrelenting cyberattacks against Ukraine, state-backed Russian have engaged in strategic espionage against governments, think tanks, businesses and aid groups in 42 countries supporting Kyiv, Microsoft said in a report on Wednesday.

Since the start of the war, the Russian targeting (of Ukraine's allies) has been successful 29 percent of the time, Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote, with data stolen in at least one-quarter of the successful network intrusions,



Nearly two-thirds of the cyberespionage targets involved NATO members. The United States was the prime target and Poland, the main conduit for military assistance flowing to Ukraine, was No. 2.

In the past two months, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Turkey have seen stepped-up targeting,



A striking exception is Estonia, where Microsoft said it has detected no Russian cyber intrusions since invaded on February 24.

The company credited Estonia's adoption of cloud computing, where it's easier to detect intruders. Significant collective defensive weaknesses remain among some other European governments, Microsoft said, without identifying them.

Half of the 128 organisations targeted are government agencies and 12 per cent are nongovernmental agencies, typically think tanks or humanitarian groups, according to the 28-page report. Other targets include telecommunications, energy and defence companies.

Microsoft said Ukraine's cyber defences have proven stronger overall than Russia's capabilities in waves of destructive cyberattacks against 48 distinct Ukrainian agencies and enterprises.

Moscow's military have been cautious not to unleash destructive data-destroying worms that could spread outside Ukraine, as the NotPetya virus did in 2017, the report noted.

During the past month, as the Russian military moved to concentrate its attacks in the Donbas region, the number of destructive attacks has fallen, according to the report, Defending Ukraine: Early Lessons from the Cyber War.

The Redmond, Washington, company has unique insight in the domain due to the ubiquity of its software and threat detection teams.

Microsoft said has also set an example in data safeguarding. went from storing its data locally on servers in government buildings a week before the Russian invasion making them vulnerable to aerial attack to dispersing that data in the cloud, hosted in data centres across Europe.

The report also assessed Russian disinformation and propaganda aimed at undermining Western unity and deflecting criticism of Russian military war crimes and wooing people in nonaligned countries.

Using artificial intelligence tools, Microsoft said, it estimated "Russian cyber influence operations successfully increased the spread of Russian propaganda after the war began by 216 percent in Ukraine and 82 percent in the United States.

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The dislocation of global markets after Russias invasion of Ukraine has boosted the cost of products such as diesel by sea.

Rates to haul fuels such as gasoline and diesel, known in the industry as clean tanker freight, have more than doubled this year to the highest since April 2020, according to Baltic Exchange data. On one key route in Asia, ship owners are now earning over $49,000 a day transporting products from South Korea to the distribution hub of Singapore, compared with $98 a day prior to the war.

The Russian invasion has exacerbated a tightening of energy markets, upending trade flows and forcing buyers to scour the world for alternative supplies. An initial surge in rates for hauling crude hasnt been sustained, partly due to reduced demand from China, leading to some shipowners switching part of their fleet to haul fuels rather than oil, according to two tanker charterers.



Also Read: Noticeable increase in exports of Russian oil to China, India: Putin





Clean tanker freight rates were last at this elevated level in early 2020, after the pandemic decimated oil consumption and forced producers to export as much product as possible to alleviate swelling storage tanks. Demand for ships to haul fuels are expected to climb by 6% this year, underpinned by Europe, said Anoop Singh, head of tanker research at Braemar ACM Shipbroking.

The European resolve to reduce reliance on Russian supplies will likely outlive the war in Ukraine and that will re-draw trade routes, said Singh. Russia was the single largest external supplier of diesel to Europe prior to the war.

Since the invasion in late February, more long-range class ships are being used to transport refined fuels, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights analysts Fotios Katsoulas and Krispen Atkinson. Longer voyages are reducing the amount of available capacity on vessels and driving up freight rates, they said. LR tankers are the most common and are used to carry both products and oil.

The surge in rates is being replicated across other regions. Ship owners transporting fuel from the Middle East to Japan on a route known as TC-5 -- a key passage for naphtha -- were earning more than $56,000 a day on Tuesday, compared with as low as $61 a day in February, according to Baltic Exchange data. The cost of fuel from the US to Brazil on the TC-18 route was at $37,000 a day, up from $3,800 a day four months ago.
Group Corp. founder is used to praise and encouragement from . But the companys loss of $34 billion in market value over the last year is a test for even his most faithful admirers when they gather for the annual shareholders meeting on Friday.

stuck by Son when announced a holding company strategy in 2015 to hive out its staid but profitable domestic telecom business to become the worlds largest investor in volatile tech startups. When the Vision Fund booked an $18 billion loss on investments like WeWork and Uber Technologies Inc. in 2020, they pointed to Sons ability to win thousands-fold returns on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. When Son preached patience as the stock began a downward trajectory from a March peak last year, they listened and hung on.

But five years of deploying $142 billion has now resulted in a record 2.1 trillion yen ($15.4 billion) loss for the company in the quarter ended in March. Much of that can be pinned on the recent global selloff in tech and a crackdown on Chinas biggest technology companies, but much can also be attributed to SoftBanks pressure on companies to make big, aggressive bets.



Also Read: Amid testing times, SoftBank Group Int'l CEO leaves after 5 months on job

With SoftBanks own financial health on the line, shareholder confidence is near a breaking point, said Mio Kato of LightStream Research. Son needs to show how adds value as an investor and chart steps -- such as further share buybacks financed by sales of Alibaba stocks -- for the stock price to recover, he said.

 remain loyal as long as they believe in your dream, but once they realize things arent working, trust crumbles in an instant, Kato said.





looking for signs of recovery see a portfolio awash with red instead. SoftBank bet more than $12 billion on Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Global Inc., but Didi delisted from the New York Stock Exchange less than a year after its IPO and that stake is now worth less than $3 billion. South Korean ecommerce company Coupang Inc.s shares are down close to 70% from a year earlier, and other publicly listed companies -- which represent only a fraction of its portfolio companies -- have similarly tumbled in value.

Anxiety remains high that big write-offs might yet be ahead. A number of portfolio companies have been forced to restructure or raise funds at lower valuations. SoftBank-backed firms that have recently announced headcount reductions include Swedish payments firm Klarna Bank AB and privacy management company OneTrust, while Bloomberg News has reported staff cuts at chip unit Arm Ltd.

Signs of pain at SoftBank portfolio companies:

SoftBank Cuts Back Spending, Leaving Startups Desperate for Cash Klarna to Lay Off Staff as Europes Star Startup Cuts Costs (1) SoftBank-Backed OneTrust Reduces Workforce by About 25% SoftBanks Arm to Cut Up to 15% of Workforce as It Prepares IPO

Questions also linger on whether anyone on SoftBanks board is able to provide proper oversight. SoftBanks board has lost its most independent voices in recent years, including outgoing outside director Lip-Bu Tan who cautioned that Son needs people to provide safeguards, give him advice and make him even more successful in an open departure letter. Poor choices made too quickly can have negative consequences for the company.

A key item on Fridays agenda is SoftBanks appointment of David Chao to replace Tan as an external director. Chao -- a co-founder and general partner at venture capital firm DCM -- had previously invested in companies such as vertical farming startup Plenty Inc. and personal finance startup SoFi Technologies Inc., in which the Vision Fund also invested. SoFi in 2017 was embroiled in a sexual harassment investigation that led to the ouster of its CEO.

This feels like a continuation of the degradation of the strength of board oversight, Kato said about Chao. Given some of the scandals at SoFi which he had invested in, it is not a ringing endorsement of his ability to contribute to better governance at SoftBank.

SoftBank this year will conduct fewer and smaller deals, Son has said. So far this year, the average size of SoftBanks Vision Fund 2 investments stood at about $100 million to $200 million in more than 50 funding rounds, compared with around $900 million for Vision Fund 1. In January-March, the Vision Fund doled out $2.5 billion, or less than one-fourth of the $10.4 billion it spent the previous quarter.

SoftBanks emphasis on breakneck speed remains the same, however. It reached a decision to invest in Japans AI Medical Service Inc. within two months of a 30-minute Zoom meeting in February between founder Tomohiro Tada and Son. After Tadas presentation of the company -- which uses artificial intelligence to help clinicians identify potential cancers of the stomach and intestines -- Son spent 15 to 20 minutes asking for numbers to back up the accuracy of AIMs technology, Tada said.

Several minutes into the call, Son suggested Tada should seek as much as $74 million, double the sum Tada proposed. The two also brainstormed possible business models for when AIM would scale up, Tada said. Following an intense two weeks of some 150 email exchanges, SoftBank in April led an $59 million funding round into AIM.

Due to Covid-related precautions, only 150 will attend Fridays meeting at SoftBanks headquarters in Tokyo, which will be broadcast via a web portal. Son will take questions selected from those submitted in writing online, SoftBank said.
During a summit in on Thursday, is set to be approved as an (EU) candidate after the gave the go-ahead.

Just four days after Russia launched its invasion of Kiev on February 24, Ukrainian President had signed an official appeal to the EU asking for the accession of via a new special procedure.

And on June 11, President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc will finalise the assessment on granting EU candidate status.

Von der Leyen had giventhe EU membership questionnaire to the Ukrainian President during her visit to Kiev in April.

The first part of the document was submitted to the EU on April 18, while the second was delivered on May 9.

Candidate status is the first official step towards EU membership and earlier this week, France had said that there was "total consensus" on Ukraine, the BBC reported.

However, observers say even with candidate status, it may take years, if not decades, for Ukraine to obtain EU membership.

For example, the Western Balkan countries of Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia have been candidate countries for years; in some cases for over a decade.

Bosnia and Herzegovina applied for candidacy in 2016 but has still not succeeded.

Vsevolod Chentsov, Ukraine's Ambassador to the EU, told the BBC on Wednesday night that granting the status would be a "psychological boost for Ukrainians".

"We do not accept the idea of the queue," he said, arguing Kiev's eagerness could set an example to other states.

"Every state has its road map, has its path. And if there is political will, if there is support of society (and) business operators to move forward to implement reform in a bold and fast way, why we should wait?" he told the BBC.

Several EU states have agreed to back Ukraine's candidacy, provided conditions are attached before accession negotiations can begin, including judicial and anti-corruption reforms.

Chentsov has insisted some reforms can take place, even while the country is at war and not in control of its whole territory.

"We are not starting from scratch," he insists, pointing to work carried out since the EU and Ukraine signed an association agreement in 2014.

But it would be "logical" to carry out bigger reforms once the situation on the ground became more stable, he told the BBC.

--IANS

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Ukrainian Armed Forces are now in control of nearly 45 per cent of the separatist Donetsk region where fierce battles continue to rage, a military official claimed.

Speaking to local media on Wednesday, Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration, said 55 per cent of the region under Russian control has been completely destroyed, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

While acknowledging that the situation is extremely complicated along the entire frontline of Donetsk, Kyrylenko said that Russian troops were "using all the weapons they have at their disposal".

"Civilians who remain say that either they have nowhere to go or they don't have enough money to go elsewhere," he added.

The official further said that the stranded civilians in Donetsk are mostly hiding in bomb shelters due to the relentless artillery attacks and airstrikes.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Continuing with her anti-India tirade, Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has introduced a resolution that calls the US Secretary of State to designate India as a country of particular concern for alleged violation of religious freedom.

Co-sponsored by Congresswoman Rashida Talib and Congresswoman Juan Vargas, the resolution urges the Biden Administration to implement the recommendations of the US Commission on Religious Freedom which has called for designating India as a country of particular concern for three consecutive years.

Introduced in the House of Representative on Tuesday, the resolution has been sent to the House Foreign Affairs Committee for necessary action.

A resolution like this is very unlikely to see the light of the day, given the vindictive approach being adopted by Congresswoman Omar. She has openly sided with Pakistani officials on the issue of India.

Omar, who visited Pakistan in last April and met top Pak leaders including the former Prime Minister Imran Khan and travelled to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), is yet to disclose the nature including the funding for the visit.

India had condemned the US Congresswoman's visit to the PoK, saying her travel to the region violated the country's sovereignty and it reflected her "narrow-minded" politics.

"If such a politician wishes to practice her narrow-minded politics at home, that may be her business. But violating our territorial integrity and sovereignty in its pursuit makes it ours. This visit is condemnable," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said.

During several Congressional hearings related to India, Omar has repeatedly shown her bias against India.

The news about the resolution was first reported, in advance, by a senior official from Imran Khan's party, which also slammed a senior State Department official.

Omar's resolution condemns alleged human rights violations and violations of religious freedom in India, including those "targeting" Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis, and other religious and cultural minorities. It expressed grave concern about the "worsening treatment" of religious minorities in India.

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nominated Indian-American scientist Dr Arati Prabhakar, to head the Office of and Policy (OSTP) as Director. The Indian-American community hailed the decision by President Biden as a 'historic event'.

"Dr Prabhakar is a brilliant and highly-respected engineer and applied physicist and will lead the Office of and Policy to leverage science, technology, and innovation to expand our possibilities, solve our toughest challenges, and make the impossible possible," said .

Dr Prabhakar, 63, is an engineer and applied physicist with extensive management and leadership credentials. Prabhakar was three when her family immigrated to the from . They first moved to and then settled in Lubbock, Texas, when she was 10. She received an electrical engineering degree from Texas Tech University in 1979.

Dr Prabhakar's achievement stands out as she would become the first woman, immigrant, or person of colour to head the OSTP. She will also be the latest highly qualified professional from the Indian-American community to be named for a key position in the Biden administration.

She has had a high-profile career till now having led two federal research and development agencies and worked with startups, large companies, universities, government labs, and nonprofits across various sectors to create powerful new solutions for critical challenges.

She has been instrumental in developing new technologies and doing groundbreaking work in various fields. Her appointment as the director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from 2012 to 2017 during President Barack Obama's tenure is a testament to her vision in the field.

At DARPA, she oversaw teams that created a prototype for a system to detect nuclear and radiological materials before a terrorist can build a bomb, developed tools to find human trafficking networks in the deep and dark web, and that enabled complex military systems to work together even when they were not originally designed to do so, the White House said.

Earlier in her career, Former President Bill Clinton appointed her as the head of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 1993 when she was only 34, becoming the first woman to hold that office.

She earned her Master of in electrical engineering from the renowned Institute of Technology (CalTech) in 1980. She was also the first woman to earn a PhD in applied physics from CalTech.

Dr Prabhakar is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a National Academy of Engineering member. She was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.

Her legislative career started as a Congressional Fellow at the Office of Technology Assessment in 1984. Prabhakar spent 15 years in Silicon Valley between her Federal leadership roles, helping bring R&D to deployment as a company executive and venture capitalist.

Once confirmed to lead OSTP, she would also be Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. In this capacity, she will be Joe Biden's Chief Advisor for Science and Technology, a co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and a member of his Cabinet.

She would also be the third Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific islander included in Joe Biden's cabinet with Kamala Harris and Katherine Tai being the other two.
Chinese President on Thursday is hosting a virtual summit with the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa collectively known as the BRICS, amid rising concerns over the global economic outlook and a growing political divide between Beijing and New Delhi.

While no agenda has been issued for the talks, Ukraine is likely to feature heavily in the background. China has refused to condemn Russia's invasion while criticising sanctions brought against Moscow. India has bought large amounts of Russian oil at a heavy discount, and South Africa abstained on a United Nations vote condemning Russia's actions.

Along with Xi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro are scheduled to join the two days of discussions.

China has sought to use the BRICS meetings to further its vision of an alliance to counter the US-led liberal democratic world order while expanding its economic and political footprint.

That has produced few tangible results, but Xi remains committed to the idea of an alternative - and principally authoritarian - global governance mode, investing heavily in countries like Cambodia while cracking down on civil rights in Hong Kong and boosting its military to assert its claims in the South China Sea and threats to annex Taiwan by force.

In an address to the BRICS Economic Summit on Wednesday, Xi said the conflict in Ukraine has sounded an alarm for humanity, continuing its formal position of neutrality while backing its ally Russia.

Xi said imposing sanctions could act as a boomerang and a double-edged sword, and that the global community would suffer from politicising, mechanising and weaponising global economic trends and financial flows.

Economic globalisation is an objective requirement for the development of productive forces and an irresistible historical trend, Xi said.

In a recorded video, Bolsonaro made no mention of any country and said that the current context is a cause for concern because of the risks to trade and investment flows to the stability of energy supply chains and investment."



Brazil's response to these challenges is not to close itself off. On the contrary, we have sought to deepen our economic integration," he added.

The BRICS collective was founded in 2009 when the countries were seen as the potential engine for future global economic growth.

Since then, South Africa and Brazil have seen their economies become mired in crisis while China's growth has sharply declined and Russia has become embroiled in its invasion of Ukraine and punishing economic sanctions imposed by the West.

China and India have meanwhile feuded over their disputed border and New Delhi's defense partnership with the US, Japan and Australia in what is known as The Quad. Skirmishes along the frontier resulted in a major standoff in 2020 leading to casualties on both sides.

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The appears to have entered a new with both China and . And US leaders portrayal of the confrontation as one between democracy and authoritarianism fails the smell test, especially at a time when the same leaders are actively courting a systematic human-rights abuser like Saudi Arabia. Such hypocrisy suggests that it is at least partly global hegemony, not values, that is really at stake.

For two decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the US was clearly number one. But then came disastrously misguided wars in the Middle East, the 2008 financial crash, rising inequality, the opioid epidemic, and other crises that seemed to cast doubt on the superiority of Americas economic model. Moreover, between Donald Trumps election, the attempted coup at the US Capitol, numerous mass shootings, a Republican Party bent on voter suppression, and the rise of conspiracy cults like QAnon, there is more than enough evidence to suggest that some aspects of American political and social life have become deeply pathological.

Of course, America does not want to be dethroned. But it is simply inevitable that China will outstrip the US economically, regardless of what official indicator one uses. Not only is its population four times larger than Americas; its economy also has been growing three times faster for many years (indeed, it already surpassed the US in purchasing-power-parity terms back in 2015).

While China has not done anything to declare itself as a strategic threat to America, the writing is on the wall. In Washington, there is a bipartisan consensus that China could pose a strategic threat, and that the least the US should do to mitigate the risk is to stop helping the Chinese economy grow. According to this view, preemptive action is warranted, even if it means violating the World Trade Organization rules that the US itself did so much to write and promote.

This front in the new opened well before invaded Ukraine. And senior US officials have since warned that the war must not divert attention from the real long-term threat: China. Given that Russias economy is around the same size as Spains, its no limits partnership with China hardly seems to matter economically (though its willingness to engage in disruptive activities around the world could prove useful to its larger southern neighbour).

But a country at war needs a strategy, and the US cannot win a new great-power contest by itself; it needs friends. Its natural allies are Europe and the other developed democracies around the world. But Mr Trump did everything he could to alienate those countries, and the Republicans  still wholly beholden to him  have provided ample reason to question whether the US is a reliable partner. Moreover, the US also must win the hearts and minds of billions of people in the worlds developing countries and emerging markets  not just to have numbers on its side, but also to secure access to critical resources.

In seeking the worlds favour, the US will have to make up a lot of lost ground. Its long history of exploiting other countries does not help, and nor does its deeply embedded racism  a force that Mr Trump expertly and cynically channels. Most recently, US policymakers contributed to global vaccine apartheid, whereby rich countries got all the shots they needed while people in poorer countries were left to their fates. Meanwhile, Americas new opponents have made their vaccines readily available to others at or below cost, while also helping countries develop their own vaccine-production facilities.

The credibility gap is even wider when it comes to climate change, which disproportionately affects those in the Global South who have the least ability to cope. While major emerging markets have become the leading sources of greenhouse-gas emissions today, US cumulative emissions are still the largest by far. Developed countries continue to add to them, and, worse, have not even delivered on their meagre promises to help poor countries manage the effects of the climate crisis that the rich world caused. Instead, US banks contribute to looming debt crises in many countries, often revealing a depraved indifference to the suffering that results.

Europe and America excel at lecturing others on what is morally right and economically sensible. But the message that usually comes through  as the persistence of US and European agricultural subsidies makes clear  is do what I say, not what I do. Especially after the Trump years, America no longer holds any claim to the moral high ground, nor does it have the credibility to dispense advice. Neoliberalism and trickle-down economics were never widely embraced in the Global South, and now they are going out of fashion everywhere.

At the same time, China has excelled not at delivering lectures but at furnishing poor countries with hard infrastructure. Yes, these countries are often left deeply in debt; but, given Western banks own behaviour as creditors in the developing world, the US and others are hardly in a position to point the finger.

I could go on, but the point should be clear: If the US is going to embark on a new cold war, it had better understand what it will take to win. Cold wars ultimately are won with the soft power of attraction and persuasion. To come out on top, we must convince the rest of the world to buy not just our products, but also the social, political, and economic system were selling.

The US might know how to make the worlds best bombers and missile systems, but they will not help us here. Instead, we must offer concrete help to developing and emerging-market countries.

Equally important, the West must once again make our economic, social, and political systems the envy of the world. In the US, that starts with reducing gun violence, improving environmental regulations, combating inequality and racism, and protecting womens reproductive rights. Until we have proven ourselves worthy to lead, we cannot expect others to march to our drum.

The writer, a Nobel laureate in economics, is University Professor at Columbia University and a member of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation. Project Syndicate, 2022
The approval by Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal to appoint Ajay Choudhary as the Shiv Sena's group leader in the House in place of rebel leader Eknath Shinde may expedite the need for the ruling coalition to prove its majority through a floor test, feels a constitutional expert.

Talking to PTI, former advocate general Shrihari Aney said the group of rebel MLAs led by Shinde can assert that it doesn't support the present Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government (comprising the Sena, NCP and Congress), and that the dispensation has lost majority, which will result in a no confidence motion.

"The decision of the Assembly Deputy Speaker to approve the appointment of Choudhary as the group leader in the House replacing Shinde may have a precipatory effect by hastening the process of a vote of no confidence," he said.

The Sena-led MVA government is likely to state that it has numbers to prove its majority and call for a trust vote, he said.

Aney said the process of a floor test will begin once it is completely established that the rebel group has the necessary numbers.

''Once it is established, it will indicate that the MVA has lost majority. The rebel group along with the BJP may stake claim to form the government, following which the governor will ask for a floor test,'' he said.

He said the question of who the real is and who the claimant of the bow and arrow symbol is cannot be decided by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

''The commission just registers a political party and allots a symbol," Aney said.

Shinde has asserted that he heads the real and is set to apply for staking claim for the party symbol. This will be opposed by the Uddhav Thackeray faction, he added.

He said the 2/3rd split in a political party, to avoid disqualification of MLAs, should happen in the legislature party and not the original party since membership there runs into lakhs and difficult to ascertain a vertical split.

The Shiv Sena, which heads the MVA, has 55 MLAs, followed by allies NCP (53) and the Congress (44) in the 288-assembly where the current simple majority mark is 144.

The BJP has 106 MLAs of its own and is backed by one lawmaker each from the Raj Thackeray-led MNS, the Swabhimani Paksh, the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh, the Jan Surajya Party and six independents, taking its tally with allies to 116.

The Shiv Sena on Tuesday removed Shinde as the party's group leader in the Assembly and appointed Choudhary in his place hours after Shinde went incommunicado and travelled to Surat with a group of party MLAs loyal to him. Shinde is currently camping in Guwahati city of Assam with a section of Sena MLAs and independent legislators. He said he has 46 MLAs supporting him.

(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.)
Amid chaos, the General Council meeting here on Thursday announced that the one and only demand of the GC members is to bring in a system of a single leadership for the party, favouring Joint Coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS).

The Executive and General Council meet held together saw EPS emerging as the supreme leader and he was honoured with a decorated crown, a sword and sceptre by supporters. EPS's colleague and Coordinator O Panneerselvam, popularly known as OPS was apparently snubbed in the meet and rude slogans were shouted against him.

The meet, which stuck to the one and only demand of making EPS the supreme party leader, turned out to be a full show of strength of the Palaniswami camp with OPS followers heavily outnumbered.

Panneerselvam camp promptly declared the proceedings invalid and OPS, a three-time Chief Minister air-dashed to Delhi.

"It is in connection with the Presidential election. The BJP has invited. I am going to Delhi to take part in the BJP's nomination filing process," he told reporters.

He, however, declined to answer if he would talk to leaders in the national capital over the 'single leadership' demand.

While the EPS camp asserted that the GC would meet again on July 11 to elect Palaniswami as the party head, OPS group said that it is not possible as only Coordinator and Joint Coordinator had the powers to convene the meet and not the Presidium Chairman. The meet was as well a pointer to the region and caste based groupings within the .

Within the party, most belonging to the Vanniyakula Kshathriyas community also known as Vanniyars, dominant in northern Tamil Nadu and the Gounders, seen as movers and shakers of the western region favoured EPS.

Panneerselvam's loyalists mostly belong to the southern parts of the state and to the Mukkulathor community, a Most Backward Caste like Vanniyars. While OPS hails from the Mukkulathor community, EPS is a Gounder.

In OPS's home district of Theni, his supporters staged protest demonstrations and burnt effigies of EPS. The western region of Tamil Nadu is considered to be a traditional bastion of the .

However, during the recently held local body polls, the AIADMK could not continue to hold on to such strongholds and lost to the DMK. OPS speaking in favour of talks to consider taking back into the party, V K Sasikala, confidante of late party supremo J Jayalalithaa and 'appearing to be soft' towards the DMK were among the EPS camp's grouses against him.

Sasikala also belongs to the Mukkalathor community.

Elsewhere, addressing a function, DMK President and Chief Minister M K Stalin made a veiled reference to the infighting in the AIADMK and said those who wanted to decimate his party have now been wiped out.

When the EC-GC meet that rejected all the 23 proposed resolutions, consistently focused on the 'EPS for single leader' demand, OPS was prompted to leave the dais along with his supporters including R Vaithilingam.

The meet, that witnessed chaotic scenes was over in less than 40 minutes after it started. A water bottle landed pretty close to OPS when he stood near the podium and fell on his Personal Security Officer who extended his arms around the former Chief Minister to protect him. A second water bottle came close to the party Coordinator when he was walking down the stairs from the dais towards the exit gate.

A palpable sense of anxiety prevailed as supporters of Paneerselvam and Palaniswami engaged in rival slogan shouting and some of them loudly argued against one another and voiced their full-throated backing to their respective leaders.

As OPS and EPS entered the premises of the hall -the venue of the meeting- their supporters raised slogans welcoming them.

At the AIADMK meeting, when the GC members cheered and overwhelmingly favoured EPS and stuck to the single leadership demand, OPS stood up from his seat on the dais on a cue from Vaithilingam and started moving towards the podium.

Taking the mic, Vaithilingam, party Deputy Secretary announced that the GC meet went against the law and was not valid and when he had moved just a few steps ahead, another Panneerselvam loyalist P H Manoj Pandian raised slogans favouring his leader.

All along OPS was standing close to the podium and during this time, a water bottle landed behind his back from the audience. JCD Prabhakar was among other OPS supporters who were on the dais to support their leader.

As soon as the meet commenced amid chaotic scenes of slogan shouting, the process of taking up the agenda for the meeting and passage of already decided resolutions were taken up.

The first among them, to invite Interim Presidum Chairman, Tamilmagan Hussain to chair the GC meet was proposed by Panneerselvam and seconded by Palaniswami, who addressed the former as 'brother' in his brief remarks. Later, the General Council formally recognised Hussain as the Presidium Chairman.

Soon, senior leader C Ve Shanmugam who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha announced that all resolutions "are rejected by the General Council." Shanmugam said the party needed a single leadership as the current dual leadership led by OPS and EPS has led to contradictions, setbacks, embarrassments, administrative issues and could not effectively take on the ruling DMK.

This has demoralised cadres, he said and added that as many as 2,190 GC members have signed a petition favouring a sole leader, apparently a pointer to EPS. Shanmugam, a party heavyweight from northern Tamil Nadu said the party stood for abolition of two top leadership posts.

Deputy Secretary K P Munusamy said all the GC members have rejected all the 23 proposed resolutions. "Their one and only demand is for a single leadership." When such a resolution favouring a single leadership is taken up and passed, all other resolutions would be adopted on the same day, he added.

B Valarmathi, a senior office-bearer and a former Minister sung a song from party founder, the late M G Ramachandran's movie and said, 'a leader will emerge' apparently hailing EPS.

Panneerselvam was seated close to EPS on the dais when the GC burst into the single leadership chorus. Soon, Hussain announced that the next GC meet would be held on July 11 and Munusamy told reporters that EPS is all set to elected as the party's supreme, single leader, (General Secretary) in the next month's meeting.

Later speaking to reporters, Vaithilingam declared Hussain's election as Presidium Chairman as null and void. Only Coordinator and Joint Coordinator have the powers to recognise the election, he said.

The Cauvery Delta region based AIADMK leader and OPS loyalist blamed the EPS camp for its 'hunger for power' and 'greed.' He said the meet was nothing but a show of autocracy and violated the Madras High Court's directives in connection with the GC meeting.

The Madras High Court on Thursday ruled that no unannounced resolutions could be taken up at the meeting.

Panneerselvam was the Chief Minister for a brief period thrice, during 2001-02, 2014-15 and 2016-17. Palaniswami was the Chief Minister from 2017 to 2021.

Hours after the AIADMK meet, BJP State unit chief K Annamalai along with senior leader CT Ravi called on Palaniswami here to seek support for the NDA's Presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu. The BJP leaders also visited Panneerselvam.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NCP president on Thursday said the fate of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in will be decided on the floor of the Legislative Assembly, and the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition will prove its majority in a trust vote.

Addressing a press conference amid the turmoil caused by the rebellion by Sena minister Eknath Shinde and several Sena MLAs, Pawar also asserted that the BJP has played a role in the crisis that has befallen the Uddhav Thackeray-led government. "The fate of the MVA government will be decided in the Assembly, not in Guwahati (where the rebels are camping). The MVA will prove its majority on the floor of the House," Pawar said. He was replying to a question whether the MVA has been reduced a minority as the Shinde-led rebel faction has claimed the support of



37 Shiv Sena MLAs and ten Independent legislators.

Asked about deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's statement that he did not see the BJP's role in the rebellion within the Sena, Pawar said he did not agree with his nephew.

"Ajit Pawar may have said so because he does not know BJP leaders from outside . I know them. Even Eknath Shinde has said a national party has assured him of all assistance,' Pawar said.

As other national parties like BSP, CPM, CPI, Congress and NCP have no role to play in destabilizing the MVA, Shinde was referring only to the BJP, he said. The rebel MLAs will have to come back to Mumbai and face the Assembly, he said, adding that BJP leaders "from Gujarat and Assam will not be coming here to guide them."



Pawar also refuted allegations by rebel Shiv Sena MLAs that they faced difficulties in getting funds for their constituencies as the finance ministry, which is controlled by NCP's Ajit Pawar, discriminated against them, and the Sena has given up its Hindutva ideology.

government is in minority or not has to be established in Vidhan Sabha. When procedures will be followed, then it will be proved that this government is in majority: NCP chief Sharad Pawar  ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2022

"All these are excuses, some of these MLAs are facing probe by central agencies," he said., The NCP chief also said that the rebels will have to face consequences, recalling that when Chhagan Bhujbal defected from the Shiv Sena to join Congress in the 1990s, all his supporters except one lost the Assembly election. ''These rebels will face the same fate," Pawar said. On Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut's Thursday's statement that the Sena was ready to quit the MVA if the rebels relented, Pawar said the statement was made to bring them back to Mumbai.

On Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut's statement that the Sena was ready to quit the MVA if the rebels relented, Pawar said the statement was made to bring them back to Mumbai.

Pawar also said the MVA government has performed well in the last two and a half years, and it would be "political ignorance" to call the coalition a failed experiment.

The MVA came to power after the Sena severed its ties with the BJP in 2019. "When the rebels return and speak about how they were taken out of the state, it will be clear which side has the majority," Pawar 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.)
Opposition's presidential candidate asserted on Thursday that as a former Union minister he has done "much more" than his NDA rival for Scheduled Tribes and other disadvantaged communities and questioned her record for their welfare in her various positions including as Jharkhand governor.

Amid questions in certain quarters on the opposition's support to him despite his long association with the BJP before he quit it in 2018, Sinha said he was "proud" of his record as a member of the party led by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The current BJP is "unrecognisable" from Vajpayee's BJP, he said, alleging that democratic values are under threat in Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

Speaking to PTI, Sinha (84) said the presidential contest this time round is not a fight of identity but of ideology.

"It is not a question of identity; who Murmu or Sinha is. It is the question of what ideology she represents in our polity and what ideology I represent," he said, asserting that he stands for protecting and preserving India's democratic values.

With various ruling alliance leaders noting Murmu's humble background and tribal identity to laud her candidature, Sinha said, "She does belong to the tribal community. But what is it that she has done? She was a Jharkhand governor. What steps did she take to improve the lot of tribals? Being born into a certain community does not automatically make you the champion of that community."



He continued, "Look at the budgets I presented for five regular years when I was finance minister. Each budget carried special provisions for the weaker sections, including the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women. That was the policy of the government in which I was working. I can claim today that I have done much more than her for disadvantaged communities and tribals except that I was not born into the tribal community."



The BJP, he alleged, is depending on identity while the opposition is sending an ideological message.

Though numbers in the electoral college for the appear to be strongly tilted in Murmu's favour, the bureaucrat-turned-politician said he entered into the contest with full conviction of winning and continues to hold onto it.

"I know there are indications from various quarters to suggest that parties which are in the middle will tilt more towards the BJP than towards us. These are early days. Things will change going forward," he claimed, adding he will speak to members of every party for support after filing nomination on June 27.

He will travel across the country, he added.

"When we began the campaign, the BJP was short of majority. Contest is open. I am in the contest and will ensure we give a good fight," he said.

The basic function of the President is to be able to protect and preserve the Constitution, and whenever he sees the executive is crossing the line it becomes his duty to discipline the executive, Sinha said.

If you have a person in Rashtrapati Bhawan who dare not speak, then the executive will not be under control, he added.

To a question about his close to two and a half decade association with the BJP, he noted that there are many political parties today that supported that Vajpayee-led government.

That BJP which existed then does not exist today, he claimed.

It may be noted that parties like the Trinamool Congress and the DMK, two strident anti-BJP parties now, were part of the Vajpayee government at different points of time.

Vajpayee was a great parliamentarian, democrat and consensus builder, and he would consult people within his alliance and also opposition members on important issues, Sinha said, referring to the then government's policies on Iraq war and Pakistan.

"This (Modi) government does not believe in consensus. This is the fundamental difference between that BJP and this BJP. This BJP is unrecognisable," he alleged.

Attacking the current dispensation, Sinha said institutions, including courts, of democracy have been "devalued".

(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 political crisis for the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in deepened further on Thursday after state minister leading the dissident MLAs, Eknath Shinde, released videos and photographs claiming that he has the support of 41 MLAs.

However, a senior BJP leader here said on condition of anonymity that with few more MLAs arriving in Guwahati on Thursday, where Shinde and other rebel MLAs are camping since Wednesday morning, the number of dissident MLAs camping at the luxury Radisson Blu hotel rose to 44, including Independents and others.

The rebel MLAs released videos and photographs claiming the backing of over 40 MLAs, posing an existential threat to the Uddhav Thackeray-led coalition government in .

According to the videos and photographs, released by the disgruntled MLAs, Shinde is seen Shinde in the hotel posing with MLAs.

In the visuals, dressed in all-white attire, Shinde, who holds the Urban Development and PWD portfolio in Maharashtra, could be seen surrounded by his fellow legislators.

As a huge contingent of Assam police personnel led by senior officers have encircled the resort, allowing no journalist to come within 200 metre radius of the hotel, no specific developments inside the Radisson Blu could be known.

The BJP leaders in the state and the hotel staff are tight-lipped about what's goin on inside.

A source close to the rebel Sena MLAs said that two to three more dissident MLAs reached the Guwahati hotel on Thursday.

In another development, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma visited the Radisson Blu on Thursday.

#WATCH | Maharashtra Shiv Sena MLA Dadaji Bhuse, MLA Sanjay Rathod and MLC Ravindra Phatak with Eknath Shinde at Radisson Blu hotel in Guwahati. pic.twitter.com/nwGmY8Sr4E  ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2022

However, Sangma, who is the President of National People's Party which is a constituent of the NDA, clarified that he went to the hotel to have lunch as it is located on the way from Guwahati to Shillong.

(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 is open to considering quitting Maharashtra's ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance if the rebel MLAs camping in Assam return to Mumbai within 24 hours and discuss their grievances with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, party MP Sanjay Raut said on Thursday, indicating a big shift in stand that surprised ally Congress, while the NCP said it wanted the coalition government to complete its term.

As political crisis in the MVA government, triggered by cabinet minister Eknath Shinde's revolt three days ago, raged three more MLAs of the party left for Guwahati in the BJP-ruled Assam to join the rebel camp. Shinde is currently camping with 37 rebel MLAs of the Sena and nine independents in Guwahati. The NCP and Congress also share power in the Uddhav Thackeray-led dispensation.

Shinde said a  party has termed their revolt as historic and assured to provide all help to them. A video of Shinde addressing the group of rebel Sena legislators at a Guwahati hotel was released by his office. The video also showed the MLAs unanimously authorising Shinde to take further decision on their behalf as their group leader.

A day after Thackeray made an emotional appeal to rebel MLAs of his party and offered to resign in a bid to placate them, his trusted aide Raut indicated the is ready to consider leaving the MVA headed by it, a demand put forward by Shinde who has dubbed the three-party bloc as an "unnatural" alliance.





ALSO READ: In a show of strength, rebel Sena leader Shinde claims support of 41 MLAs

"You say you are real Shiv Sainiks and will not quit the party. We are ready to consider your demand provided you come back to Mumbai within 24 hours and discuss the issue with CM . Your demand will be considered positively. Don't write letters on Twitter and WhatsApp," Raut, who is the party's chief spokesperson, told reporters here.

NCP president Sharad Pawar, meanwhile, said the fate of the MVA government will be decided on the floor of the Assembly, and the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition will prove its majority in a trust vote. Pawar also asserted that the BJP has played a role in the crisis that has befallen the Uddhav Thackeray-led government.

Praful Patel, another NCP leader, said party chief Sharad Pawar "formed the MVA and he still wishes that it remains intact." Three more Shiv Sena MLAs - Deepak Kesakar (MLA from Sawantwadi), Mangesh Kudalkar (Chembur) and Sada Sarvankar (Dadar) took a morning flight from Mumbai for Guwahati, a close associate of Shinde said.

On Wednesday evening, four MLAs, including minister Gulabrao Patil, had flown to Guwahati.

After reaching Guwahati, Shinde had claimed the support of 46 legislators, including some Independents. The rebel leader had given a letter to the Legislative Assembly's deputy speaker, signed by 35 Sena MLAs, replacing Sunil Prabhu with Bharat Gogavale as the chief whip of the Shiv Sena legislature party.

Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal said he has approved the appointment of Ajay Choudhary as the Shiv Sena's group leader in the House, replacing rebel MLA Shinde.

The Shiv Sena on Tuesday removed Shinde as the party's group leader in the Assembly, hours after he revolted and travelled to Surat in Gujarat with some Shiv Sena MLAs, triggering a crisis in the ruling alliance. Zirwal said, "I have received a letter from the Shiv Sena, informing me that it is appointing Ajay Choudhary as the party's leader in the Assembly and removing Shinde from the post with immediate effect.

Shiv Sena MLA Kailas Patil, who had escaped from a car carrying rebel legislators to Surat on Monday night, claimed in Mumbai that some of those siding with Shinde might be wanting to return, but were forced to stay back.

Another Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat has written a letter to the Chief Minister claiming Shinde took the step of going against the party leadership as party MLAs, who faced "humilitation" for the last two-and-a-half years, persuaded him to do so.

Shirsat, the MLA from Aurangabad (West) Assembly constituency, in the letter claimed despite the Shiv Sena heading the MVA and having its own chief minister, the coterie around Thackeray never allowed them access to 'Varsha', the CM's official residence.
The NCP on Thursday asserted it will do all it can to save Maharashtra's ruling alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and was firmly with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, whose party is facing a rebellion in its legislative ranks, threatening the stability of his government.

Talking to reporters here after a party meeting chaired by NCP president Sharad Pawar in the backdrop of the prevailing political crisis in the state, Deputy Chief Minister said his party was firmly with the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA.

"We will do all we can to save the alliance government," said Ajit Pawar, a senior leader of the NCP. "I spoke to over the phone (about the political crisis)," he said. The MVA has been pushed to the brink after a section of MLAs, led by Cabinet minister Eknath Shinde, raised a banner of revolt against the party leadership. Ajit Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio, rejected criticism that he has denied development funds to MVA allies Congress and the . "I have never discriminated against anyone.



There was never any cut on budgetary funds," he said. To a question on Sena MP Sanjay Raut's comments that his party was open to consider quitting the ruling bloc if dissident MLAs return to Mumbai and holds talks with the CM, said, "It is his prerogative. We will ask about it. May be this was spoken to bring the rebels back to the party fold." Asked if the opposition BJP had a role to play in the ongoing political crisis, said, "So far, no top BJP leader has been seen in the forefront.

(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 is open to consider quitting Maharashtra's ruling MVA alliance if the rebel MLAs camping in Assam return to Mumbai within 24 hours and discuss their grievances with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, party MP said on Thursday, indicating a big shift in stand that surprised ally Congress, while the NCP said it wants the coalition government to complete its term.

Reaching out to rebel MLAs, Raut, who is the Shiv Sena's chief spokesperson, said the party's "doors are open" to them, and all issues raised by them can be resolved through talks.

As political crisis in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, triggered by cabinet minister Eknath Shinde's revolt three days ago, raged three more MLAs of the party left for Guwahati in the BJP-ruled Assam to join the rebel camp.

A day after Thackeray made an emotional appeal to rebel MLAs of his party and offered to resign in a bid to placate them, his trusted aide Raut indicated the is ready to consider leaving the MVA headed by it, a demand put forward by Shinde who has dubbed the three-party bloc as an "unnatural" alliance.

Shinde is currently camping with 37 rebel MLAs of the Sena and nine independents in Guwahati. The NCP and Congress also share power in the Uddhav Thackeray-led dispensation.

"You say you are real Shiv Sainiks and will not quit the party. We are ready to consider your demand provided you come back to Mumbai within 24 hours and discuss the issue with CM Uddhav Thackeray. Your demand will be considered positively. Don't write letters on Twitter and WhatsApp," Raut, who is the party's chief spokesperson, told reporters here.

"The rebels who are out of Mumbai have raised the issue of Hindutva. If all these MLAs feel that Shiv Sena should walk out of the MVA, show guts to come back to Mumbai. You say you have issues only with the government and also say that you are true Shiv Sainiks...Your demand will be considered. But come and talk with Uddhav Thackeray," he added.

In a tweet in Marathi later, Raut said, 'Why wander aimlessly. The doors are open and issues can be resolved amicably through talks. Let's take a decision with self-respect instead of accepting slavery." Reacting to Raut's comments on his party considering quitting the MVA, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said he did not think Chief Minister Thackeray, who also heads the Shiv Sena, would do an "about-turn" and agree to the rebel MLAs' demand that the party pull out of the ruling alliance.

"Does Sena want to join hands with the BJP in Maharashtra? The motives of Shiv Sena are not yet clear," Chavan, a former chief minister, told reporters.

"I have not heard Uddhav Thackeray sounding like this in his Wednesday evening's public address. I would be surprised if Uddhav Thackeray does such an about-turn in less than 24 hours. I don't think that Thackeray would do that," he said.

It was not even clear whether Raut was articulating the Sena's official stand," Chavan added.

"There is not even clarity about which faction of the Shiv Sena should be considered as authentic face of the party (in view of the rebellion)," the Congress leader added.

State NCP president Jayant Patil, meanwhile, said his party had not yet discussed Raut's comments.

"But we want this government to complete its full term as it has taken some good decisions," he added.

"Those who leave Sena lose the election later," Patil, a state minister, added.

On the rebel Sena MLAs' stand that they did not wish to be a part of the MVA because of the "corruption" of NCP and Congress ministers, Patil said the statements of individual legislators should not be treated as the Sena's official stand.

Praful Patel, another NCP leader, said party chief Sharad Pawar "formed the MVA and he still wishes that it remains intact." Three more Shiv Sena MLAs - Deepak Kesakar (MLA from Sawantwadi), Mangesh Kudalkar (Chembur) and Sada Sarvankar (Dadar) took a morning flight from Mumbai for Guwahati, a close associate of Shinde said.

On Wednesday evening, four MLAs, including Maharashtra minister Gulabrao Patil, had flown to Guwahati.

After reaching Guwahati, Shinde had claimed the support of 46 legislators, including some Independents. The rebel leader had given a letter to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly's deputy speaker, signed by 35 Sena MLAs, replacing Sunil Prabhu with Bharat Gogavale as the chief whip of the Shiv Sena legislature party.

Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal said he has approved the appointment of Ajay Choudhary as the Shiv Sena's group leader in the House, replacing rebel legislator Shinde.

The Shiv Sena on Tuesday removed Shinde as the party's group leader in the Assembly, hours after he revolted and and travelled to Surat in Gujarat with some Shiv Sena MLAs, triggering a crisis in the ruling alliance.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Zirwal said, "I have received a letter from the Shiv Sena, informing me that it is appointing Ajay Choudhary as the party's leader in the Assembly and removing Shinde from the post with immediate effect." Shiv Sena MLA Kailas Patil, who had escaped from a car carrying rebel legislators to Surat on Monday night, claimed in Mumbai that some of those siding with Shinde might be wanting to return, but were forced to stay back.

Another Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat has written a letter to the Chief Minister claiming Shinde took the step of going against the party leadership as party MLAs, who faced "humilitation" for the last two-and-a-half years, persuaded him to do so.

Shirsat, the MLA from Aurangabad (West) Assembly constituency, in the letter claimed despite the Shiv Sena heading the MVA and having its own chief minister, the coterie around Thackeray never allowed them access to 'Varsha', the CM's official residence.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI/NewsVoir): Max Life Insurance Company Ltd. ("Max Life" / "Company"), has launched the 'Max Life Smart Fixed-return Digital Plan'+ (UIN: 104N123V01), a non-linked, non-participating, individual life insurance savings plan.

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Trade logo displayed belongs to Max Financial Services Ltd. and Axis Bank Ltd. respectively and with their consents, are used by Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

Policybazaar.com is one of India's largest insurance marketplaces. It is the flagship platform of PB Fintech, that owns fintech brand, Paisabazaar.com, and lending & insurance marketplace in the UAE region, Policybazaar.ae.

The Policybazaar.com Group has backing from a host of investors including the likes of PE funds and other family offices. Policybazaar.com started with a purpose to educate people on insurance products and with its offerings has addressed the large and highly underpenetrated online insurance markets.

+ This Life Insurance product is offered and underwritten by Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd. The Life Insurance Contract is between the proposer and Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

* For all customer cohorts

1 Provided all due premiums have been paid and the policy is in force

2 Offered under Titanium variant opted by 18 years old female for payment term of 5 years, and policy term of 5 years

3 Applicable for customers meeting the eligibility criteria and underwriting guidelines

4 Subject to applicable tax laws which are subject to change from time to time, please consult your tax advisor

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TAC Security chief Trishneet Arora announces job offers to Agniveers, making it the first cyber security company across the country to do so. Under the Agneepath Scheme, candidates who enrol in it or Agniveers will be given 4 years of training in the armed forces of their choice. The scheme was launched by the central government in order to get the youth of the country to participate in the defence services and forces.

"Agniveers are an important asset to the society, our youth is the strength of the nation that would be an honour to give back, contribute and empower the youth. The people in reference are going to be empowered to be cyber warriors and we are grateful for their services so far," said, Founder and CEO, Trishneet Arora.

This is an opportunity for Youth to fulfil the dream of joining the Indian Army, serve the nation and later follow their passion with tremendous respect. This will stand out them from the crowd with Unique Resume.

The company has not announced the roles it would offer to the employees but has assured job security and perks for the Agniveers under the scheme.

The company has always offered the preference of skills over education and finds bravery and dedication an important factor to offer the employees an opportunity. To push further the employees are not only giving Agniveers an opportunity but also their exceptional perks of family-wide insurance, ESOP, etc to them.

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

(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.)
Thirumalai Selvan Shanmugam was told to leave in 2015. The reason cited for his termination was underperformance. But Shanmugam wasnt convinced. He moved the labour court in Chennai against the IT giant, seeking reinstatement. And after seven years of trial, he got what he wanted. Principal Labour Court in Chennai, directed to reinstate Shanmugam.

This case might have some long-term effect. It shows that unions and workers are evolving in the new set up and asserting their rights in IT companies too. And, as a result, the IT firms could face greater push-back from employees in future cases of performance-related or large-scale terminations.

In setting aside Shanmughams termination, the Chennai court did not accept the IT giants argument that he was not covered under the Industrial Disputes Acts workman definition because his role had been supervisory in nature. A legal expert told a financial daily that the Shanmugham ruling suggests that employees of IT companies are not automatically exempt from the purview of the Industrial Disputes Act. Another legal expert said that the law has quite a wide definition of workman. This definition does not change under the new labour codes and exclusions to this definition are also limited.

At present, the IT industry is more concerned with incredibly high attrition rates. Retaining talent is the topmost priority. However, there are many who have not forgotten the mass layoffs seen in the past decade.

In 2021, the Indian employed around 16 million workers. As recently as June last year, the National Association of Software and Services Companies had to allay fears of job losses in the .

In response to a report projecting massive IT job losses, the IT industry body had said that the sector would continue to be a net hirer of skilled talent and that the top five IT firms had plans to add over 96,000 employees during FY22. A Bank of America report had said that with automation taking place at a much faster pace across industries, Indian software firms would slash jobs by a massive 3 million by 2022.

So going forward, this Chennai court ruling, combined with the upcoming labour codes, will make the employees position in IT companies much stronger. It will also force IT firms to improve their handling of performance-related exits or mass layoffs in a better way.
At the beginning of June, the event Posidonia International Shipping Exhibition opened in Athens, Greece. This Greek shipping industry event is one of the biggest in the world, and used to take place once every two years. In 2020, it was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With the global economy gradually rebounding from the disaster, many industries around the world are expecting business to improve, and the international shipping industry based in Greece is looking forward to a comprehensive recovery.
Civil Rights Activist Dr. Alveda King to March and Keynote Logos Global Network's Graduation "Blessings everyone. Here's a special notice and prayer request. While we are waiting for the Dobbs decision, my sister in Christ - Ginger Howard and I are graduating Saturday. Please pray with us as we embark on the new paths of our Christian journey; sometimes together, always in Christ." -- Alveda King



MEDIA ADVISORY



NEWS PROVIDED BY

Alveda King Ministries

June 23, 2022



ATLANTA, June 23, 2022 /Christian Newswire/ -- WHO: Dr. Alveda King



WHEN:

Conference: June 24 - 25, 2022

Graduation: June 25, 2022



WHERE: Sonesta Atlanta Airport North Hotel, 1325 Virginia Ave, Atlanta, GA 30344



WHAT: Honoring her commitment to empower and train leaders to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Dr. Alveda King will take part in the two day training conference and graduation ceremony for Logos Global Network. Alveda will be joined by her friend and co-author of WE'RE NOT COLORBLIND, Ginger Howard.



King will receive her Ph. D and Howard an honorary doctorate from Aidan University.



Logos Global Network is a community of like-minded believers in Jesus Christ with a heart to facilitate ministry and education to the nations. They are neither a conventional denomination nor merely a fellowship, but a family of believers in covenant relationship with Christ and each other, growing a community through mutually shared values and Biblical mandates.



Logos Global Network is partnering with Aidan University, American Chaplains Association, Georgia Christian Counselors Association and Georgia Board of Examiners for these unique ceremonies.



SOURCE Alveda King Ministries



CONTACT: Brian Mayes, 615-771-2040



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At this point, were not entirely sure if this was supposed to be a secret, but thanks to a couple of sales agents, we finally have our firs...
Photo: The Canadian Press

Environment Canada has issued special weather statements for most of British Columbia, with temperatures expected to rise to the low and mid-30s across the province this week.

It says warmer-than-average weather is expected to begin Friday and last until Tuesday.

Temperatures are expected to rise into the low to mid-30s in the Interior, low 30s in the Lower Mainland and Sea to Sky, and high 20s on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.

The province's Public Safety Ministry says in a statement that a heat warning is not in the forecast but residents should be prepared.

It is warning people to watch for symptoms including dizziness or fainting, nausea or vomiting, confusion, headache, rapid breathing and heartbeat, extreme thirst, and decreased urination.

The ministry says local authorities and First Nations are prepared to activate their heat plans, which may include setting up cooling centres, distributing bottled water and conducting wellness checks.
Photo: The Canadian Press The flag of the People's Republic of China flies at the Embassy of China in Ottawa.

A federal research unit detected what might be a Chinese Communist Party information operation that aimed to discourage Canadians of Chinese heritage from voting for the Conservatives in the last federal election.

The Sept. 13, 2021, analysis by Rapid Response Mechanism Canada, which tracks foreign interference, says researchers observed Communist party media accounts on Chinese social media platform Douyin widely sharing a narrative that the Conservatives would all but sever diplomatic relations with Beijing.

The report, obtained by The Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act, was prepared just a week before Canadians went to the polls.

Justin Trudeau's Liberals emerged from the Sept. 20 national ballot with a renewed minority mandate, while the Conservatives, led by Erin O'Toole, formed the official Opposition.

O'Toole, who is no longer leader, claimed on a podcast recorded this month that the Conservatives lost eight or nine seats to foreign interference from China.

Rapid Response Mechanism Canada, based at Global Affairs Canada, produces open data analysis to chart trends, strategies and tactics in foreign interference.

Its work supports the G7 RRM, an initiative to strengthen co-ordination to identify and respond to threats to the major industrial democracies.

The analysis of messaging about the Conservative party was part of RRM Canada's effort to monitor the digital information environment for signs of foreign state-sponsored information manipulation in the general election.

Conservative MP Michael Chong, the party's foreign affairs critic, said in an interview the analysis is "another piece of evidence that the Communist leadership in Beijing interfered in the last general election by spreading disinformation."

Asked to comment on the analysis, the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said: "China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries."

RRM Canada says it manually reviewed Chinese social media platforms including WeChat, Douyin, Weibo, Xigua and Bilibili, and conducted open-source forensic digital analysis using website archives, social listening tools, and cross-platform social media ranking tools.

The analysts first noticed the narrative about the Conservatives in two articles published Sept. 8 by the Global Times, a state-owned media tabloid.

RRM Canada believes the Global Times coverage was prompted by a story in the Ottawa-based Hill Times newspaper that examined Canadian parties' positions on Canada-China relations. The analysis says it is likely that the Global Times was the first Chinese publication to pick up on the Ottawa publication's content, with its two articles getting over 100,000 page views apiece.

RRM Canada notes the timing coincided with the first federal leaders' debate and increasingly close poll numbers. Similar pieces published by major Canadian media outlets earlier in September, as well as the Conservative party platform released in August, elicited no response from state-controlled media in China, the analysis says.

Several popular Canada-focused WeChat news accounts began engaging with the Global Times narrative on Sept. 9, copying the content and form without crediting the publication, "obscuring the narrative's point of origin," the analysts found.

Accounts also added commentary about the Tories to the articles, such as "Chinese are frightened by the platform," and questioned whether "Chinese compatriots should support the Conservatives if they use this rhetoric."

"Unless otherwise credited, WeChat users would not know that the narrative about the Conservatives and O'Toole originated from the Global Times and would assume the articles were original reporting from the Canadian WeChat accounts."

Many WeChat news accounts that serve Canadians are registered to people in China and despite being well-established news sources, "some may have unclear links" to Chinese Communist Party media groups, the analysis says.

The researchers were "unable to determine whether there is co-ordination between the CCP media that originally promoted the narrative and the popular WeChat news accounts that service Chinese-speaking Canadians that are now amplifying the narrative," the Sept. 13 analysis cautions.

"RRM Canada is also unable to determine whether there was inauthentic activity that boosted user engagement with the narrative as Chinese social media platforms are completely non-transparent."

However, Communist party media accounts on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, published videos that repeated a Sept. 8 Global Times headline, the analysis says. For instance, the Douyin account of Xinhua, China's state press agency, shared a video saying the Conservative platform mentions China "31 times" and that an "expert" says the party "almost wants to break diplomatic relations with China."

Among the Conservative platform planks in the election campaign were promises to stand up to Beijing on human rights issues, diversify supply chains to move them away from China, adopt a presumption against allowing Beijing's state-owned entities to take over Canadian companies, and work toward less global reliance on critical minerals from China.

Chong says it's clear that proxies were spreading disinformation on behalf of Beijing in the federal election.

"It's hard to measure whether that was the reason for the loss of some Conservative MPs. But I think we can safely say that it was a contributing factor."

If Beijing comes to the same conclusion, China "may very well be emboldened to do something much bigger in a future federal election, undermining our democratic process," Chong said.

Under a federal protocol, there would be a public announcement if a panel of senior bureaucrats determined that an incident  or an accumulation of incidents  threatened Canadas ability to have a free and fair election. There was no such announcement last year.

At a House of Commons committee meeting early this month, Bill Blair, public safety minister during the election campaign, said while "we've all heard anecdotes and various opinions," he had not directly received "any information from our intelligence services" that provided evidence of foreign interference in the campaign.

Deputy minister Rob Stewart told the meeting there were, "as you would expect," activities on social media that would constitute disinformation and attempts to influence votes. "There was no threat to the overall integrity of the election."

The Canadian Election Misinformation Project, which brought together several academic researchers, found Chinese officials and state media commented on the election with an apparent aim to convince Canadians of Chinese origin to vote against the Conservative party in 2021.

"Misleading information and information critical of certain candidates circulated on Chinese-language social media platforms. However, we find no evidence that Chinese interference had a significant impact on the overall election."

The Conservatives "could have done a better job" of countering such messaging, Chong said. "Clearly we didn't, and that's a lesson learned."

Even so, the federal government needs to actively counter foreign disinformation between election campaigns, Chong said. During campaigns, the government should make analyses from the Rapid Response Mechanism immediately available to inform the public, he added.

Fen Hampson, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University who closely watches China, agrees that more transparency would be beneficial.

He argues for broadening the analytical process, perhaps through creation of a centre that includes non-governmental players, gathers information from various sources and regularly publishes reports about apparent foreign interference.

"That takes it out of the domestic political arena, which is always going to be highly charged."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2022.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version said the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa did not respond to a request for comment on the RRM analysis.
Re. B.C. keeping vaccine mandates for public servants, health-care workers (Castanet, June 21)

In announcing the continuation of the vaccine mandates, (B.C. provincial health officer) Bonnie Henry and (B.C. Health Minister) Adrian Dix only gave reasons why health care and long-term care workers still need to be vaccinated.

They didnt give any reason as to why provincial government employees continue to need a vaccine mandate or why (government) offices are a high-risk settings. They shouldnt lump in office workers with healthcare workers.

Provincial government employees no longer need a vaccine to travel, go to cafes, sporting events, etc. Yet when they want to go to their office, suddenly vaccination is required. That makes no sense at all.

By keeping these mandates for government employees, (Premier) John Horgan, Dix and Henry appear to think a virus can only be spread at their arbitrarily chosen places of business and nowhere else. If government office settings are so dangerousmore so than any other place in B.C.Id love to hear their reasoning.

The wave will be back every fall to spring and their vaccine mandate hasnt fixed that, nor does it appear it will. Every other country has accepted the virus is endemic, why cant they?

The overused sentiment of health and safety rings hollow. If that were truly their reasoning, why did they stop the vaccine passport for everyone else? It simply defies logic.

Lee Larkin, Vancouver
Nepal has started COVID vaccination for the age group of 5-12 years from Thursday.

Students stood in a queue at their school to get their first dose of the anti-COVID vaccine as the vaccination began in 27 out of 77 districts in the first phase of the inoculation drive.

The vaccine facility is provided by the United States.

According to the health ministry, a total of 1300 vaccination centres have been designated to facilitate and vaccinate about 3.9 Million children through the campaign.

"The vaccination campaign which started from today is targeted for children between 5-12 years. Small children are now being vaccinated for the very first which is positive and sends out a good message that the government is conveying to the public," Dolma Lama, a secondary-level teacher at a local school in Kathmandu told ANI.

"As a teacher and parent, we were really concerned about the health of our children which also makes us feel safe," Dolma Lama said further.

In the Kathmandu district, as many as 190,000 children of the targeted age group will get vaccinated at their respective schools.

"I am feeling really good because, until now only some adults and older children have got their vaccine and are safe from coronavirus but now even the younger children will be safe from COVID-19. So, it's really good to see that even children from the world are now safe from COVID-19," Abhik Pandey, a secondary-level student told ANI.

Nepal started the formal roll-out after receiving, 2.2 million doses of the vaccine on June 19 with the assistance of the United States through the COVAX facility.

Under the vaccination campaign, children between the age group from 27 districts will be administered the first dose from June 23 to 29 and the second dose from July 18 to 24.

Likewise, in the second phase, the first dose will be administered to children of 50 districts from August 21 to 27 and the second dose from September 12 to 17.

"Before when it was the lockdown and everyone was isolated I felt really afraid and I thought of getting infected in case of going outside or anywhere around. I was pretty afraid and never went outside but after getting vaccinated, I think everyone is safe and I don't think I will get COVID anymore," Erum Javed Ansari, another secondary level student shared her experience with ANI.

Meanwhile, Nepal reported 49 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

(ANI)
Negative sentiments spreading in freight markets

ICR Newsroom By 23 June 2022

By Maria Vasyutenko, associate of Brannvoll ApS

The USG Supramax/Ultramax spot freight market came under pressure amid increased tonnage supply in the area. Many vessels are ballasting towards USG regardless of the falling rates, which maintains the pressure on the USG and USEC markets and at once highlights the relative weakness of the European freight market. Thus, the USG market sentiment is soft, fixing activity is limited, and owners with spot vessels are forced to reduce their ideas to find a cover, while a marginal increase in the cargo count is insufficient to offset tonnage building up.

Deals for delivery of 50,000t of petcoke from Houston to Iskenderun with spot laycans are estimated at US$41/t on average, down US$6 MoM. Freight rates for the transportation of a Supramax-lot of petcoke from Houston to ARA ports with spot laycans are at US$35/t, down US$5/t MoM, on average. Shipping costs for the delivery of a Supramax-lot of petcoke from USG to EC India are at US$64/t on average, representing a drop of US$2/t MoM.

The USG market outlook is negative for the nearby future amid excessive tonnage supply and a long list of ballasters from Europe. The Mediterranean area will remain weak and oversupplied with ships repositioned from the Black Sea, which also puts pressure on other European freight markets. The falling Panamax market and weak FFA segment only add to the overall negative sentiment in the region.

Published under
CEMBUREAU asks for speedy CBAM implementation

23 June 2022

The European cement association CEMBUREAU has welcomed the adoption of the European Parliament reports on the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) and the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) but states that timely implementation of CBAM is key to support the sectors transition to carbon neutrality.

"Our sector needs a coherent and predictable regulatory framework to deliver on its carbon neutrality ambitions. The texts adopted today offer significant improvements on key issues  such as the reinforcement of CBAM, the inclusion of indirect emissions, the need for a strong export solution for CBAM sectors, the inclusion of waste incineration in the EU ETS and the support for key breakthrough technologies  which we welcome," commented Koen Coppenholle, CEO of CEMBUREAU. "We, however, regret that the compromise reached suggests delaying CBAMs implementation by a year, at a time when EU cement imports are growing exponentially."

Eurostat data shows that EU cement imports have increased by 300 per cent in the past five years (2016-21), with specific spikes when the EU carbon price was at the highest (2020: 25 per cent and 2021: 54 per cent). Data available for the first three months of 2022 reveals a further increase of 47 per cent as compared to the same period in 2021. Against this background, CEMBUREAU advocates for setting up of a watertight CBAM, as well as a realistic implementation when it comes to the phase-out of free allocation.

"Looking ahead at trilogue discussions, we call on negotiators to further strengthen CBAM and agree on its timely introduction," added Coppenholle.

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Americans often talk about our rights and are not hesitant to invoke our rights. When we do so, we are talking about those rights protected under the United States Constitution, such as the right to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. As citizens, we all have these and other rights protected from infringement by the government, whether federal or state. These rights are vitally important and play a large role in the kind of government we have and the society in which we live.



What we do not talk about nearly as much, but which are equally important, are the responsibilities that go along with our rights. Under our democratic republican form of government, there are corresponding responsibilities that go with citizenship and membership in our larger society. Without citizens recognizing and willingly shouldering these responsibilities, our government and our society would cease to function. In a free society such as ours, it is imperative that citizens embrace these responsibilities.



General Civic Responsibilities

General responsibilities of citizens include obeying the laws, paying taxes, keeping informed on pertinent public issues, voting, serving in the military, serving in public office, serving on juries, and, serving as witnesses when called upon to do so. These last two civic responsibilities pertain specifically to citizens obligation to participate in the judicial branch of our government.



Jury Service

Jury service is one of the most important civic responsibilities we can fulfill. Our Constitution assigns to the average citizen acting as part of a jury the responsibility to determine whether the life, liberty, or property of another citizen should be diminished.



In criminal cases, that must happen twice. First, before a person can even be subject to the loss of life or liberty, average citizens acting as part of a grand jury must give their consent by the return of an indictment if they find that the government has presented sufficient evidence to show there is probable cause to believe a crime has been committed and the person in question committed that crime. After indictment, a person charged with a serious crime may not be deprived of life or liberty without another group of average citizens, acting as a petit or trial jury, determining unanimously that the government has produced proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the person is guilty. Only after the jury has made this determination may a judge impose a sentence.



In civil cases, one person is seeking money from another in a private dispute. There is no risk of a loss of life or liberty, but there is a risk of loss of property when a defendant is ordered to pay money to the plaintiff. As in criminal cases, before a defendant can be subjected to a loss of property, average citizens acting as a trial jury must determine by preponderance, or majority, of the evidence that the deprivation is justified.



This shows how important it is for average citizens to serve on juries. Without average citizens willingly serving as jurors, the judiciary would not be able to fulfil its fundamental function of resolving disputes. Those accused of crimes could not have their day in court. The government would not be able to fulfill its responsibility of enforcing the criminal laws. People seeking financial compensation in civil cases would not be able to get decisions. So, when called upon to do so, it is critical to our judiciary and society at large that citizens respond to requests to serve as jurors.



Serving as a Witness

Our judiciary functions by giving both sides in a dispute the right to present evidence to support their positions in court. The evidence most often involves the sworn testimony of witnesses who have knowledge about the dispute. Without the testimony of witness, parties would be unable to present the proof they believe supports their positions. Cases might then be decided incorrectly, and justice would not be served. As in the case of average citizens being called to serve as jurors, it is critical to our judiciary and society at large that citizens respond positively to requests to testify as witnesses. This is another of our crucial civic responsibilities



Citizens Serving in the Judiciary

There is another way to fulfill a civic responsibility to through the judiciary. Judges are the public face of the judiciary. They are the individuals we most often identify with the courts. Although judges are indispensable, the judiciary could not function without a host of others working diligently behind the scenes. Clerks, judicial law clerks, probation officers, U.S. Marshals, and others make the judiciary work. The judiciary relies on ordinary citizens filling these important positions so it can fulfill its role as assigned by the Constitution. These public servants fulfill an important civic responsibility through their work every day.

Rights and responsibilities  both are necessary and equally important in our democratic republican form of government. The judiciary, like the two other branches, depends on average citizens being willing to accept the responsibilities that come with citizenship to ensure we remain a free society.

Curtis L. Collier

United States District Judge

Chair, Eastern District of Tennessee Civics and Outreach Committee



Carrie Brown Stefaniak

Law Clerk to the Honorable Curtis L. Collier

Past President, Chattanooga Chapter of the Federal Bar Association



Kristen A. Dupard

Law Clerk to the Honorable Curtis L. Collier
Hamilton County Sheriffs Office deputies received information on Tuesday, that a man named Christopher Dall (Born 2002) had communicated to family members that he was leaving a residence on Jackson Mill Road and threatening he was going to break into a local vape shop on Hixson Pike.

Deputies responded to the Smokin Joes Vape shop at 8703 Hixson Pike in Lakesite, where they found a window at the business had been broken out and an apparent burglary had occurred.

Deputies cleared the building, but did not locate the suspect. Shortly thereafter, the suspect was seen jumping a fence near the Ark Storage facility located near the 7320 block of Hixson Pike. Red Bank Police K-9 units responded to the scene to assist HCSO deputies in searching for the suspect. The K-9s showed that the suspect appeared to be tracking back to his residence on Jackson Mill Road.

A short time later, deputies spotted Dall returning to the residence where they made contact with him. Dall was taken into custody by deputies without injury.

A search of Dall found that he had a backpack with vapes worth approximately $1600.

Dall was arrested and charged with burglary, theft of property over $1000, and vandalism.

The stolen items were returned to the business owners.
311 Cedar is the house in the center facing toward downtown Chattanooga

Distinguished newspaper editor Lapsley Green Walker lived for several years in the two-story frame house at 311 Cedar St.

Walker was a son of Francis Marion Walker, the former district attorney who was killed while fighting for the South during the Civil War. He was named for the beloved Chattanooga physician, Dr. Lapsley Green, who married into the Walker family.

Lapsley Walker was born at Rogersville in 1854. He completed Princeton University in 1876, then he set up a law practice at Rogersville. Walker gave up the law for journalism, becoming the editor of the Rogersville Spectator before coming to Chattanooga in 1882 as the editor of the Chattanooga Democrat.

He joined the Times the following year, but he had to work his way up - starting as a proofreader. Walker advanced to city editor, then to editor in chief of the Times. He married Adele Branham of Macon, Ga.

The Walkers gravitated to Cameron Hill. They first lived at 501 W. 7th St. They were in the Cedar Street home that faced downtown by 1886.

At the time, Lapsley Walker was chairman of the city's Board of Public Works.

His career at the Chattanooga Times spanned half a century. At his death at the age of 84, he was hailed as "one of the most distinguished and influential editors in the South."

The house had been transferred to the druggist Harry Wise by 1891. Wise was the sole manufacturer of Iron Ale.

Michael Zippler, who was with Lucey Manufacturing, lived at 311 Cedar for many years.

Mrs. G.Z. Murton was one of the final residents to enjoy 311 Cedar.
All politics is local is a phrase often attributed to former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tip O'Neill, although he did not originate it.

But is it true? Maybe not.

If we look at voting behavior, the turnout for strictly local elections is alarmingly low. It is the U.S. presidential election cycle that drives greater voter turnout, not local issues. An example of the impact of the presidential election on local voting is evidenced by the vote totals for Red Bank commissioner over the past two elections. In 2018, there were 3,856 votes cast for an at-large position. In comparison, the 2020 election (with a presidential election) saw 4,714 total votes cast for an at-large seat. The vote increased by 22 percent and the winner in this race won by only 21 votes.

There are a few reasons why folks are reticent to become involved, or even interested in, local politics:

There are many people who simply do not know how the various levels of government function. Multiple research studies show that a disturbing number of Americans are unaware of the functional roles of city and county government. Eliminating civics from the school curriculum has had an impact.

The second negative force comes from the mainstream news media. Starting with the arrival of cable news, the political focus is most often on national-level or state-level races and issues. Local elections are covered only if there is a hotly contested race or when a candidate draws some notoriety.

Finally, the advent of social media has contributed to a general distrust of all levels of government. Those who get their news from social media or who watch only their pre-filtered sources live in their echo chamber. Again, the focus is usually on Washington, not at home.

Why dont we turn that dynamic on its head? While gridlock in Washington is as American as apple pie, at the local level we all can make a difference. Polarizing issues get the most clicks on social media and views on tv, but local issues are much more likely to directly impact our communities. The local level is also where we each can make the greatest difference. Apathy and low turnout should not continue to define local elections.

Engaging at races close to home brings tremendous benefits, including: educating the public about the forms and functions of government that most impact our daily lives; building the habit of voting and cultivating the knowledge of the voting processes; and developing a pathway for aspiring political leaders by winning county, municipal and school board races.

If you are interested in making a difference in your community, consider engaging with a local campaign as a volunteer. Better yet, think about running for a local position. In a local race, you dont need huge amounts of money. Successful candidates build committed campaign teams, knock on doors, and personally engage with voters.



At the local level, true democracy is possible and perfectly doable. If we dont participate, democracy inevitably turns into tyranny. The People rule any democracy and, together, we can work to create communities where elected political leaders are truly of the people, by the people and for the people.

Lawrence Miller

* * *

Mr. Lawrence Miller makes some good points in the captioned article above. More participation and closer examination of local potential candidates is needed. What will these future candidates advocate in their candidacy? What are their positions, are they clear, understandable, realistic? Will they seek office to serve or for personal gain?

However, this should not draw us away from what is now happening in our country at the federal level. Need we be reminded of the federal agencies that are failing to serve our legally voting citizenry. Can we not do better than Nancy Pelosi's tyrannical rule?

Mr. Miller's article should not mask the past and continuing disasters President Joe Biden and his "behind the scenes" leftist managers has and continues to put on this country that does effect all of us locally.

Gerald Presley

* * *

Mr. Miller, I could not agree more. Local government is vitally important to our day to day lives in ways we often don't think about. Various branches of local government work together to manage our schools, police force, park system, land use regulations, utility systems, and more. And oftentimes it is local governments that are responsible for implementing federal programs like COVID testing and vaccine distribution. But how many people even know their local representative's name?

Unfortunately good information on local government is hard to come by. This leads to apathetic voters. Apathetic voters don't ask their media outlets to cover local elections, which leads to less information, and so on it goes in a vicious cycle. That's why I started Chattanooga Civics, a podcast and newsletter dedicated to non-partisan coverage of local civic issues. That's why I encourage my friends and family to join their local neighborhood associations, introduce themselves to their city council rep, and get involved with local advocacy groups on issues that matter to them.

Thank you for your important message, Mr. Miller.

Nathan Bird

* * *

Kudos to Mr. Miller for an excellent letter.

However, the response by Mr. Presley added nothing to Mr. Miller commentary.

I have found that many, many Republican responses fall into the following categories, as does Mr. Presley's:

1. When you have nothing to add, or can't defend a position, change the subject.

2. When you refute, do so only with your opinions or the Bible. Never, ever use facts with supporting documentation. (The Bible is not law, only beliefs)

3. When you can't do anything, blame or insult Biden, Pelosi, or the Democrats.

Joe Warren










The Chase Race Series returns to Boyd's Speedway Friday night, just off Exit 1, I-75 at the Tennessee/Georgia state line. With the current heat wave, the drivers' meeting is pushed back to 7:30 p.m. with Hot Laps to follow immediately thereafter.

Circle K is sponsoring the night's $1,000 to win Pony Stampede that's sure to draw a big field of 4-Cylinder racers.

Hixson's Robby Mason sits atop the Late Model standings over Josh Walker and Tod Hernandez. In the Crate Late Model division Harrison's Ethan Hunter (celebrated recently in victory lane) is leading Tim Clark and Logan Palmer. Booger Brooks sits atop the 602/Sportsman standings, while both Sawyer Tinker and Spencer Singleton chase the Chattanoogan. Front Wheel Drive, B-Hobby/Thunder and the aforementioned Circle K $1,000 to win Pony divisions will also see action Friday night.

Pit gates open 3:30 p.m. with the grandstand gates opening at 6 p.m.

Super Late Models return to Boyd's Speedway in a week to celebrate Independence Day weekend (Friday, July 1) as the Ironman series invades for a $5,000 to win 50 lapper. For more information visit boydsspeedway.com or follow on their social media Facebook page. Races are broadcast live on the internet for subscribers to boydsspeedway.tv.
Each summer, rising seniors across the state gather for a weeklong, nonpartisan program centered on citizenship, teamwork, and fostering a love of God and country. During this experiential learning opportunity designed to empower young women to become and remain civically engaged leaders, attendees elect officials, engage in party politics, debate legislation, and collaborate in various activities.

This year, six students from the GPS Class of 2023 attended the conference, held at Lipscomb University, where they heard from prominent speakers, discussed real-world issues, participated in competitions, and enjoyed a fireside chat with all three female Tennessee Supreme Court justices. Attendees included Hannah Grace Kornberg, Abigail Mann, Anya Parambath, Anisha Phade, Olivia Stafford and Anabel Wilson.

During the convention, students can be elected to various positions at the city, county, and state levels. The highest-ranking position awarded is governor. Two GPS students, Anya Parambath and Anabel Wilson, moved forward after the straw poll election and delivered speeches, but neither won their primary. Instead, they had the opportunity to run as independent candidates if they could secure enough signatures. Both set out to do just that, but with only 15 minutes remaining to gather signatures, neither had reached the threshold. Thats when Anabel decided to sign hers over to Anya, so she could continue on in the race.

Anya said, Everyone slept in that morning, so we couldnt get more signatures, and girls could not sign more than one candidates sheet. Anabel offered me her signatures without my asking, and we asked a counselor if that would be okay and she said it would. I started crying!

Anya went on to the final debate, one-on-one campaigning, and voting, which paid off with a victory. She was named governor and was sworn in by the chief supreme court justice during her inauguration, which her parents were able to attend.

In addition to winning governor, Anya was also elected as one of two Girls Nation senators, which means she will head to the national convention in Washington, DC, in July, and was named Best Citizen for her city.

Anya, however, was not the only GPS student to walk away from the week with impressive accolades. Additional awards and honors included:

Hannah Grace Kornberg | appointed city reporter, elected county commissioner, and appointed state attorney general

Abigail Mann | elected city judge and state senator

Anisha Phade | honored with the Best Citizen Award and elected city mayor, county mayor and state senator

Olivia Stafford | named one of five supreme court justices

Anabel Wilson | elected to the City Council and also served as a National Gubernatorial Primary nominee.

Head of Upper School Jenise Gordon, who has volunteered with ALA VGS for 33 years, served this year as chairwoman. She said, I continue to be amazed that our girls join Girls State and rise to top positions, which speaks powerfully about how GPS prepares them well. Their skills of communication and collaboration are put to the test at Girls State and they succeed.
Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III announced that Tennessee, along with 45 other attorneys general, has obtained a $1.25 million multistate settlement with Florida-based Carnival Cruise Line after a 2019 data breach that involved the personal information of approximately 180,000 Carnival employees and customers nationwide. Tennessee will receive $19,855.20 from the settlement.In March 2020, Carnival publicly reported a data breach in which an unauthorized actor gained access to certain Carnival employee e-mail accounts.The breach included names, addresses, passport numbers, drivers license numbers, payment card information, health information and a relatively small number of Social Security Numbers. In Tennessee, more than 2,000 Carnival employees were impacted.Breach notifications sent to attorneys general offices stated that Carnival first became aware of suspicious email activity in late May of 2019approximately 10 months before Carnival reported the breach. A multistate investigation ensued, focusing on Carnivals email security practices and compliance with state breach notification statutes.Unstructured data breaches like the Carnival breach involve personal information stored via email and other disorganized platforms. Businesses lack visibility into this data, making breach notification more challengingand consumer risk rises with delays.Unfortunately, we live in a world where data breaches will continue to happen, said General Slatery. Whats not inevitable is how a company reacts. We hope this serves as a reminder: you are required by state law to promptly notify those affected.Under the settlement, Carnival has agreed to a series of provisions designed to strengthen its email security and breach response practices going forward. Those include: Implementation and maintenance of a breach response and notification plan; Email security training requirements for employees, including dedicated phishing exercises; Multi-factor authentication for remote email access; Password policies and procedures requiring the use of strong, complex passwords, password rotation, and secure password storage; Maintenance of enhanced behavior analytics tools to log and monitor potential security events on the companys network; and Consistent with past data breach settlements, undergoing an independent information security assessment.Connecticut co-led the multistate investigation with Florida and Washington, assisted by Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Ohio, and North Carolina, and joined by Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The Rhea County Commission had voted to spend $1.7 million on improvements to Smyrna Road.

Glen Varner, County Road Superintendent, came in front of the commission to request this on Tuesday night.

From last month to today, the cost of this project has gone up $200, 000, said Mr. Varner. He said that the project will include digging up 10 inches of the road and mixing it with cement, then putting it back in the road bed before any paving is done.

This will make it an industrial grade roadway that will hold up for a while, said Mr. Varner. He also added that the shoulders will be widened as well and other improvements will be made to the road. Varner. He also added that the shoulders will be widened as well and other improvements will be made to the road.

Interim County Executive Jim Vincent said, "We need to do this project right the first time and not have to go back and keep redoing it."

Commissioner Leo Stephens, who represents District 4 that Smyrna Road is in, made the motion. It included that $750,000 will come from Santek Waste Services, which leases the 56 acres from Rhea County, and the rest will come out of Rhea Countys COVID-19 funds.

The motion was seconded by Third District Commissioner Philip Dunn. Smyrna Road runs through both their districts and they have been working on this project for several months.

Both commissioners added there would be no local tax money used in this at all.

Commissioners also voted to buy another new truck for the solid waste operations of the county without the use of property tax.

Mr. Vincent said that he was shocked by the condition that the current trucks are in. One is 21 years old and the other is 22. The front end loader for dumpsters is facing some $50,000 to repair it and its not worth it. 

The cost of the new roll off truck will be $212,064 and will be delivered sometime this fall. Mr. Vincent added that a new front end loader will run about $308,000.

Commissioner Bill Hollin brought up the landfill itself. We need to appoint a committee to look into the landfill and see how its doing and where were at on it. I know of at least 40 trucks a day that are going into the place and we're only getting 47 cents a load for them."

Mr. Vincent said he has asked the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to look into what all is coming into the landfill and what it weighs.
Governor Bill Lee announced on Thursday, he will appoint David Rausch to serve a second term as Director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), effective July 1. Director Rauschs term will expire June 30, 2028.

David is a committed public servant who has worked tirelessly to keep Tennessee communities safe, said GovernorLee. I appreciate his leadership and am confident he will continue to serve and protect Tennesseans with integrity.

Director Rausch has served as director of the TBI since 2018. Mr. Rausch is a U. S. Army veteran with more than three decades of law enforcement experience, including 25 years with the Knoxville Police Department. His career with the Knoxville Police Department includes service on the SWAT Team and seven years as the Chief of Police. Mr. Rausch earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Master of Science in Justice Administration from the University of Louisville.
U.S. Term Limits, the leader in the national, non-partisan movement to limit terms for elected officials, is gathering support from state lawmakers across the nation. Its mission is to get 34 states to apply for an amendment proposal convention specific to term limits on Congress. Tennessee State Rep. Esther Helton (District 30), has committed support for term limits on Congress by signing the U.S. Term Limits pledge.

USTL President Philip Blumel commented on Rep. Helton's pledge saying, Esther's strong support of term limits shows that there are individuals who are willing to listen to the majority of voters who want term limits. America needs a Congress that will be served by citizen legislators, not career politicians.

The U.S. Term Limits pledge is provided to candidates and members of state legislatures. It reads, I pledge that, as a member of the state legislature, I will cosponsor, vote for, and defend the resolution applying for an Article V convention for the limited purpose of enacting term limits on Congress.

In the 1995 case, Thornton v. U.S. Term Limits, the Supreme Court of the United States opined that only a Constitutional Amendment could limit the terms of U.S. Senators and House Representatives. According to Nick Tomboulides, executive director of USTL, the best chance of imposing term limits on Congress is through an Article V Proposal Convention of state legislatures.

The Constitution allows for amendments to be proposed by either 2/3 of Congress or 2/3 of the states. While wed like for Congress to take the high road and propose term limits on itself, our goal is to trigger the latter, a national convention specifically for a term limits amendment, claims Mr. Tomboulides. That is why it is important to get buy-in from state legislators, he added. Once proposed, the amendment must be ratified by 38 states.

Mr. Blumel noted, More than 80 percent of Americans have rejected the career politician model and want to replace it with citizen leadership. The way to achieve that goal is through a congressional term limits amendment. Rep. Helton knows this and is willing to work to make sure we reach our goal.

According to the latest nationwide poll on term limits conducted by Scott Rasmussen, term limits enjoys wide bipartisan support. Mr. Rasmussens analysis states, Support for term limits is broad and strong across all political, geographic and demographic groups. An overwhelming 82 percent of voters approve of a Constitutional Amendment that will place term limits on members of Congress.

View Helton's signed pledge here.
The Hamilton County Coalitions Youth Empowerment Society joined 450 youth leaders from across the state at the Tennessee Teen Institute. The Tennessee Teen Institute is a five-day youth leadership and prevention camp sponsored by the Jackson Area Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency.

This year marked the 37th year of the Teen Institute Program in Tennessee. The program addresses teen issues such as bullying, violence, suicide, teen pregnancy, distracted driving, teen health and substance abuse prevention through a five-day, peer-led prevention camp designed to provide teen participants with the skills and education necessary to develop and implement alcohol and drug abuse prevention programs in their own communities.

This is a comprehensive program that trains, mobilizes and empowers youth to prevent the illegal use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs and self-destructive behaviors in themselves and their peers. TTI prepares students to not only make positive changes, but to be proud advocates of those changes. Students will have the opportunity to grow and learn as individuals, while enhancing their leadership abilities, said officials.

Because TTI is peer-led, teens are given a unique opportunity to have a voice in addressing issues important to them. Giving youth some ownership in this type of program is one of the key factors in the success of enforcing a substance free lifestyle, said officials.

Held on the University of Tennessee at Martin campus in Martin, Tn., June 12-17, TTI 2022 hosted approximately 450 teen leaders, adult advisors, and TTI staff. These participants left motivated not only to make healthy decisions in their own lives, but also committed to work so that others are making healthy decisions in their communities as well, said officials.

For more information about the Youth Empowerment Society, visit www.hccoalition.org/empowering-youth.






The Erlanger Health System board did not waste much time coming up with a new leader after parting ways with past president and CEO Dr. Will Jackson 13 days ago. The panel on Thursday night unanimously agreed that its chairman, Jim Coleman, should be the new president and CEO.

Mr. Coleman, who currently is president and CEO of the Alliant healthcare management firm, said he will give an answer soon to the board offer.

He is being offered a one-year contract at $625,000. There is an opportunity for a 30 percent bonus based on reaching certain goals.

Board member John Germ, who heads the management committee, said "a confidential settlement agreement" had been reached with Dr. Jackson.

In the interim, Chief Financial Officer Lynn DeJaco has been heading the hospital along with Chief Operating Officer Rob Maroney and longtime hospital official Gregg Gentry.

The Erlanger Board issued this statement:

"The Board of Trustees made this decision following a careful consideration of the criteria and qualifications necessary to lead Erlanger through the ongoing process to restructure to an independent nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and ensure Erlangers continued ability to meet the calling of its mission for years to come.

"Jim Colemans deep healthcare management experience, his extensive knowledge and ties to our community and unquestionable commitment to Erlanger will ensure this organization is best positioned for a vibrant future. Jims healthcare career began at Erlanger more than 30 years ago when he served for nearly a decade in a variety of leadership roles, including as Director of Respiratory Care and Special Services, Director of Quality Management and Vice President of Planning and Decision Support. Over the next 20-plus years he held a broad array of leadership positions in a number of hospitals and healthcare organizations, including currently serving as President and CEO of a hospital management company with facilities in multiple states.

"The board believes Mr. Colemans depth and breadth of knowledge of the healthcare industry and specific experience with and commitment to Erlanger will serve the organization well as we continue our work to ensure the best possible future for healthcare in the Chattanooga region and beyond."

Mr. Coleman has over 25 years management experience in the hospital industry in both for-profit and not-for-profit facilities. His expertise includes hospital operations, strategic market and partnership development, finance, leadership development and physician relations and recruiting. Prior to his current role, he was senior vice president of Southeast Hospital Operations for a national rural hospital management company, where he directed corporate services for hospitals in Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Louisiana.

Previously, he also worked for Hospital Corporation of America for 10 years in senior management roles for Parkridge Health System as COO and Interim CEO for Parkridge Valley Hospital in Chattanooga. In addition to daily operations, he led strategic business development for the market, resulting in numerous acquisitions and increased market share, along with top financial and quality performance across the multi-hospital system.

Mr. Coleman has also served in executive leadership positions in other rural, community and academic health systems in the Southeast, including hospital CEO for his hometown hospital where he was born in Cleveland, Tn.

He has MBA and BS degrees from the University of Tennessee and is married to his wife Amy.

His first job out of college was in the respiratory department at Erlanger.

He has been on the Erlanger Board since 2019.

His appointment is by the legislative delegation.

Shelia Boyington is to move up to lead the board.
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III praised the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in a gun carry case.

He said, I commend the U.S. Supreme Court for recognizing the Constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense is not a second-class right.

Law-abiding Tennesseans can be assured they have a right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside their homes.

The United States Supreme Court earlier Thursday issued its ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. In a 6-3 decision, the Court said New Yorks requirement to obtain a concealed-carry license violates the Constitution by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms in public."

Tennessee joined 25 States in an amicus brief supporting the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association.

The brief discussed "recent evidence showing that States with objective, shall-carry permits do not have higher crime rates than States with special-need requirements."

In the decision, the Court said, We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need. That is not how the First Amendment works when it comes to unpopular speech or the free exercise of religion. And it is not how the Second Amendment works when it comes to public carry for self-defense.

The amicus brief was co-led by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt. They were joined by the attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Former Below Deck Mediterranean chief stew Hannah Ferrier returns to reality television in a matchmaking role on Australias The Real Love Boat.

Ferrier is currently filming the reality series, which seems to be inspired by the late 1970s dramedy The Love Boat which starred Gavin MacLeod and Lauren Tewes. Joining Ferrier is actor Darren McMullen, reporter Daniel Doody, and Captain Paolo Arrigo.

As the custodians of the original and beloved Love Boat TV series, it is an honour to participate in a new and contemporary rendition of the show and help our Australian guests find love like the series, Arrigo told Play 10. It is also a wonderful opportunity to introduce Australian viewers to cruising and show why its one of the most-loved holidays on offer.

Hannah Ferrier returns to the Med with The Real Love Boat

Ferrier appeared on five seasons of Below Deck Med and said the Med is her favorite place. Hey guys!!! I am bursting with excitement to share with you that I will back on your screens soon!! she shared on Instagram.

Hannah Ferrier | Virginia Sherwood/Bravo/ NBCU Photo Bank

After more than a decade at sea in the Mediterranean, I am so excited to join The Real Love Boat and help all our amazing passengers find love! Im going to be watching them very closely and helping them every step of the way on their journeys to find their perfect match.

I am currently filming in the Mediterranean and cant wait to share with you the journey of our beautiful passengers finding love  not to mention my favourite backdrop in the world  the Med.

Below Deck alum hopes Hannah can find her love

Ferrier explained that the series is a reality show and not scripted and will appear on Australias Channel 10. Below Deck Sailing Yacht stew Dani Soares said shes ready to find love on Ferriers Love Boat. Congratulations, Soares commented. Sign me up as a passenger next season. Ferrier replied, Doneeee!!! Would LOVE to find you a good man!!!! But Soares said she had no faith there were any good men left. That means Ferrier really has her work cut out for her.

Sailing into living rooms soon is the @RealLoveBoatAU on @Channel10AU. Setting sail on our very own Regal Princess, well be taking Australias most eligible singles, along with hosts @darrenmcmullen, @doodydaniel and @hannahferrier_, on a voyage to find their perfect match  pic.twitter.com/154Qy6WMQ1  Princess Cruises AU (@Princess_AUST) June 23, 2022

Ferrier said the captain is wonderful and a happily engaged man with a daughter. She also confirmed that the series will have two versions  an Australian and an American version. But did not confirm if she would appear on both. She said filming with McMullen was fun.

He was awesome!!! Ferrier replied to a fan asking about McMullen. Im not letting my husband watch any until I get back except I follow @darrenmcmullen on socials so its hard not to know how it turned out.

Also, instead of working on a superyacht, Ferrier is working on Princess Cruises Australia. Arrigo is the real captain of the vessel, which can accommodate 3,560 guests.

Hannah missed her daughter while she was filming The Real Love Boat

While Ferrier was away for the short time filming, husband Josh Roberts cared for their daughter Ava. Ferrier said she missed her child while she was away but it was important for Ava to see that when her mother leaves to film, she always comes homes. Missing her sooooooooo much!!!! But I also think its really important for her to know that its ok if mummy goes to work  shes always going to come home, she replied to a fan on her Instagram post.

Would love to see Magda try to pull her stunts with @hannahferrier_ pic.twitter.com/ECxYwyuEsg  Ben Mandelker (@BenMandelker) May 7, 2022

She got one shady comment about her daughter being sad that shes away for work. She replied, Why would she be sad?? Shes at home  with her father  in 2022.

Ferrier and Roberts married in March. She currently has a podcast, Dear Reality Youre Effed and she also runs a yacht training school, Ocean International Training Academy.

No confirmation yet on an air date and if the series will be available in the US.

RELATED: Hannah Ferrier From Below Deck Med Prepares to Smash Weight Loss Goals  and Husband Josh Joins Her [Exclusive]
Southern Charm fans know all about Whitney Sudler-Smith and his mom, Patricia Altschul. After all, he is the creator and executive producer of the Bravo reality series. And both him and his southern socialite mother have been staples of the show every season since it began in 2014. But what about Whitneys dad? Who is he, and where is he now?

Whitney Sudler-Smith | Stephanie Diani/Bravo

Southern Charm matriarch Patricia Altschul revealed how she met Whitney Sudler-Smiths father in her book

In 2017, Patricia gave Southern Charm fans some insight into her life and background when she released the book The Art of Southern Charm. In the section titled Becoming Patricia, the matriarch detailed how she became the woman fans know and love today. And that story included how she met Whitneys father  her first husband, Lon Smith.

She shared that a friend introduced her to Lon when she was living in Washington D.C. and attending George Washington University. Five years her senior and the head of Dun & Bradstreet at the time, Patricia described Lon as good-looking and mature.

When youre Southern and in your twenties, marriage is a top priority, Patricia wrote.

The couple married in a small wedding ceremony with just their immediate families. Patricia and Lon then settled in Virginia, and she continued her studies in art history and archaeology. Meanwhile, Lon worked at Dun & Bradstreet during the day and attended graduate school at night to earn his MBA.

Who is Whitney Sudler-Smiths dad, Lon Smith?

After getting her BA and Masters Degrees from GW, Patricia became an assistant professor of art appreciation and a survey of Western art at her alma mater. She became a mom on June 2, 1968, when she and Lon welcomed their son Whitney.

Patricia wrote in her book that Lon was a great etiquette teacher for Whitney, and thats how her son learned to become a gentleman.

Honestly, Lon was such a gentleman that Whitney learned by his example, she described. He saw his father open my car door, or stand when I entered the room, and eventually it became second nature for him to do the same.

But even though her life seemed like it was straight out of a 1950s sitcom, Patricia says that she and Lon eventually found themselves growing apart.

Actually, we were so young when we married that maybe we were finally growing up, Patricia wrote. After fourteen lovely years of marriage, there was no acrimony between usjust a sense that we were moving in different directions. Our separation and divorce were completely civilized and our main concern was always our son.

The Southern Charm star says she couldnt have picked a better father for Whitney

Both Patricia and Lon settled in Georgetown  where Whitney attended school  after their divorce. She says they established a seamless co-parenting schedule, and whenever they spoke they were pleasant, respectful, and harmonious.

There was nothing pernicious about our relationship at the time, and were still that way after all these years, Patricia wrote. I couldnt have picked a better father for Whitney, who never had to feel divided about his feelings for his parents.

Will fans ever see Whitneys dad on Southern Charm? Probably not. According to Patricia, her first husband is intensely private and a lovely man. Hes retired and reportedly living in Florida, and has managed to stay out of the public eye.

My dad and my step mom are bemused by the show and all the hijinks, Whitney told Bravos Daily Dish, describing the pair as intellectuals. 

They just dont take it seriously; its pop culture.

Southern Charm Season 8 premieres Thursday, June 23, on Bravo.

RELATED: Southern Charm Season 8: Where We Last Left Off With Our Favorite Charlestonians
The European Patent Office honoured Canadian-American scientist Donald Sadoway with the European Inventor Award 2022 in the "Non-EPO countries" category. The MIT chemistry professor has developed batteries made of liquid metal that can be used to store renewable energy at scale, increasing the reliability of solar and wind power and enabling them to play a bigger role in electricity supply.

"By enabling the large-scale storage of renewable energy, Donald Sadoway's invention is a huge step towards the deployment of carbon-free electricity generation." says Antonio Campinos, President of the European Patent Office. "He has spent his career studying electrochemistry and has transformed this expertise into an invention that represents a major advance in the transition to green energy."

Sadoway was honoured at the European Inventor Award 2022 ceremony, a hybrid event watched online by a worldwide audience. The Award is one of Europe's most prestigious innovation prizes and is presented annually to outstanding inventors from Europe and beyond who have made an exceptional contribution to society, technological progress and economic growth.

Working at the extreme

Sadoway has spent his career studying what he calls "extreme electrochemistry": chemical reactions in molten salts and liquid metals at over 500 Celsius. The liquid metal batteries he developed consist of three liquid layers of different densities, which naturally separate in the same way as oil and vinegar do in a salad dressing. The top and bottom layers are made from molten metals, with a middle layer of molten liquid salt.

To keep the metals liquid, the batteries need to operate at extremely high temperatures, so Sadoway designed a system that is self-heating and insulated, requiring no external heating or cooling. They have a lifespan of more than 20 years, can maintain 99% of their capacity over 5 000 charging cycles and have no combustible materials, meaning there is no fire risk.

In 2010, with a patent for his invention and support from Bill Gates, Sadoway co-founded an academic spin-off called Ambri to develop a commercial product. In 2015, Ambri built its first room-sized liquid metal battery and the company will soon install a unit on a 3 700-acre development for a data centre in Nevada, US. This battery will store energy from a reported 500 megawatts of on-site renewable generation, the same output as a natural gas power plant.

Sadoway, who has spent his entire career at MIT, is also a passionate educator and developed a celebrated series of introductory chemistry lectures. He has the following advice for inventors: "You can become a great concert pianist by following the work of great masters, but if you want to be a composer, or an inventor, you can only trust yourself."
The European Patent Office (EPO) distinguished Estonian researchers Jaan Leis, Mati Arulepp and Anti Perkson with the European Inventor Award 2022 in the "Industry" category. The Estonian invention significantly improves the efficiency of battery-like devices known as supercapacitors or ultracapacitors, which store energy as static electricity and can charge and recharge in a matter of seconds. This technology has quickly attracted attention from the transport and electricity grid industries.

"Technological innovations are signalling a way forward in the global transition to a greener economy. I am delighted to recognise today the achievements of Jaan Leis, Mati Arulepp and Anti Perkson whose inventions are helping industries reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and take a crucial step forward in the fight against climate change," says Antonio Campinos, President of the European Patent Office.

The Estonian team were honoured at the European Inventor Award 2022 ceremony, a hybrid event watched online by a worldwide audience. The Award is one of Europe's most prestigious innovation prizes and is presented annually to outstanding inventors from Europe and beyond who have made an exceptional contribution to society, technological progress and economic growth.

Powering up supercapacitors

To improve both the power and energy density of supercapacitors, Leis, Arulepp and Perkson optimised the properties of a material called curved graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms that take a form similar to a crumpled up piece of paper which gives it a higher surface area on the electrode and so a higher density to transmit power. The result is a so-called ultracapacitor that can charge within 15 seconds and withstand over one million charge cycles, according to the company. With a high chemical purity, it is free of the toxic materials commonly found in other battery/capacitor technology, such as lithium or cobalt. According to Skeleton Technologies, the company founded by Leis, Perkson and colleagues, this ensures reliability and limits their environmental impact.

Supercapacitors are well suited to applications that require large, short bursts of power such as load-lifting in cranes. In 2018, Skeleton Technologies began testing ultracapacitor-powered trams in three German cities (Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen). By capturing braking power and reusing it for acceleration, the ultracapacitors resulted in electrical energy saving of up to 30%, according to the company.

The inventors say that these real-world applications drive their research. "We always have had this idea when we develop something in the lab; it has to have real value," said Jaan Leis. "This is a big difference from scientific articles - you always find something new, but is it applicable to real life?"
This May 2022 photo provided by Pfizer shows production of the Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5 in Puurs, Belgium. U.S. regulators on Friday, June 17, authorized the first COVID-19 shots for infants and preschoolers, paving the way for vaccinations to begin next week.
BRICS offers a promising platform for South-South cooperation, says Indian scholar

11:22, June 23, 2022 By Zhong Wenxing ( People's Daily Online

BRICS Photo: brics-russia2020.ru

Chinas experiences of poverty eradication should be used to urge the BRICS to take up the mantle of leadership for the poorest people on the planet, Vijay Prashad, an Indian scholar and Executive Director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, said in an interview with Peoples Daily Online.

China has managed to achieve a victory in the battle against poverty, meeting the poverty eradication target set out in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ten years ahead of time.

At the heart of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by all UN members in 2015 are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with Goal 1 being to bring an end poverty in all its forms everywhere.

Prashad noted that the SDGs are essential to the current situation in the world when the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt billions of people. He called on nations to take serious actions to end hunger and abolish poverty, adding that Chinas experience should be used to urge the BRICS to take up the mantle of leadership for the poorest people on the planet.

For this years BRICS summit, the Indian scholar said that he expected the BRICS members to discuss the importance of the climate adaptation fund based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

Prashad expressed his concerns about serious dilemmas for humanity, as encapsulated in the SDGs. Social wealth is going toward the military ($2 trillion last year) and toward financial speculation (trillions of dollars), he said. This waste of resources, on top of the US imposed pressure campaign on Eurasia, is a diversion from the real dilemmas.

BRICS has been a promise for an alternative mode of financing for development and for trade as well as offering a platform for South-South cooperation, Prashad commented, adding that he hoped BRICS countries will take the real dilemmas seriously and offer genuine leadership for the world.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Hongyu)
At its annual meeting on Wednesday, the Presbyterian Church in America voted to leave the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), which it has been connected with since the denominations founding in 1973.

Presbyterian elders voting for the breakup cited the NAEs increasing political advocacy, which sometimes conflicted with more conservative Presbyterian churches. Elders mentioned the NAEs advocacy on climate change, immigration, the death penalty, and COVID-19, among other issues.

Elders who wanted to remain with the NAE argued the groups had a historical bond and that in a culture increasingly hostile to Christianity, churches across denominations needed to work together on issues of common cause. The vote to leave was about 60 percent to 40 percent.

The NAE represents 39 denominations, from Free Methodist USA to the Foursquare Church, as well as nonprofits, schools, and individual congregations. It was founded in 1942 as a response to the mainline National Council of Churches and the fundamentalist Presbyterian Carl McIntires American Council of Christian Churches. In representing evangelicals in various spheres, it issues statements on political issues, files Supreme Court briefs on church-related cases, and generally connects evangelical groups to work together.

The head of the NAE since 2020, Walter Kim, is a member of the PCA and a teacher-in-residence at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia. (He is also on CTs board.)

It is a little awkward, said David Coffin, a PCA pastor who supported the measure to leave, about Kim leading the NAE. An NAE spokesperson said the group does not comment on denominational decisions.

Roy Taylor, the former and longtime stated clerk of the PCA, was strongly in favor of remaining with the NAE, where he has served as chairman of the board. He filed a protest against the vote, which he had never done before. In the PCA, filing a protest is like a Supreme Court justice dissenting from a majority opinion, explaining why a decision was wrong.

The PCAs ties to the NAE have been controversial since its founding. The denominations mission arm joined the NAE in 1973, and the full denomination joined in 1986. In 1974, at the PCAs second general assembly of its existence, a number of overtures (essentially legislation) demanded that the new denomination avoid affiliation with any ecumenical organizations. One overture called for a termination of the PCA missions agencys relationship with the NAE, which the fledgling denomination rejected.

After four hours of debate at its 1974 general assembly, the assembly set the pattern that will no doubt become a general operational philosophy in all areas: Presbyterian and Reformed, open to cooperation with evangelical bodies, searching the Scripture for further light, according to a 1974 report from one of the PCAs founders and editor of the Presbyterian Journal, G. Aiken Taylor.

Taylor described the new denomination after that meeting as a city open to the world rather than a community needing the protection of massive walls labeled Reformed.

In the past, the denomination had considered two other measures to leave the NAE and rejected them.

The presbytery who put forward this overture to leave the NAE cited, among other things, the NAEs advocacy for political measures like the Fairness for All legislation, an attempted compromise on gay rights and religious freedom. But many different issues have nettled Presbyterians for decades, like statements of cooperation with Muslims and Mormons, as well as a press conference that publicly rebuked Franklin Graham. But the NAE has maintained politically conservative positions on a number of issues, like abortion.

Those arguing in favor of remaining pointed to the PCAs outsize influence at the NAE as well as the historic ties between the groups. Pastor Ken McHeard, who is the chair of the PCAs Committee of Commissioners for Interchurch Relations, argued on the floor that the PCA, through the NAE, had brought the most reformed influence, perspective, and leadership to our nations evangelical movement for the last two decades.

McHeard continued: Now is the wrong time to be breaking ranks with other Bible-believing churches that are standing with us on most issues, and can provide resources greater than ours for addressing the sanctity of life, biblical racial reconciliation, biblical marriage, and for providing the judicial expertise and legislative influence that is needed to preserve each.

On the other side, PCA pastor Carl Robbins, speaking in favor of leaving the NAE, called the membership in the NAE a a misplaced ecumenism, and said the PCA could join more like minded groups like the International Conference of Reformed Churches.

Those of us who wish to depart from the NAE have no problem with fellowshipping with Christians who are not like-minded, he said. We all do that in our communitiesWhat we do have a problem with is other churches speaking for us. Robbins added that the PCAs participation in the NAE was infringing on the Christian liberty of churches that didnt agree with the NAE, which he said is usually a source of confusion or embarrassment to most of us.

Opponents also mentioned that the annual dues to the NAE were $20,000.

Coffin, another prominent and longtime supporter of the decision to leave, said he understood the good motivations behind the arguments for remaining in the NAE.

But he said his own opposition to being part of the NAE was rooted in the PCAs general avoidance of specific political advocacy. The Westminster Confession of Faith, which the PCA follows, says church councils should not intermeddle with civil affairs.

Coffin, for example, worked on the Potomac Presbyterys overture on opposing political violence, where the crafters were careful not to make a specific political argument but speak from a moral standpoint on the importance of peacemaking.

Its not because my politics are different from the NAE, but its because the PCA doesnt believe in general that the church has any proper role in strictly political questions, said Coffin. But he acknowledged that the majority voting to leave the NAE probably contained his viewpoint as well as those who simply opposed the NAEs political positions.

Individual PCA churches can still join the NAE.

This article was changed to clarify the PCAs relationship to the NAE in 1973.
Many Bible publishers will tell you that while it seems to be a time of plenty, they face many challenges that must be understood as opportunities. What sets them apart from the rest of the marketplace is their unifying commitment to distributing the unchanging, accurate Word of God into the hands of both Christians and the curious.

Bible publishers must walk a tightrope of honoring the inerrancy and sanctity of Scripture while still understanding the ebbs and flows of sales and marketing. With accurate translation as their number one priority, Bible publishers can then apply their creativity and consumer desires to aspects like cover design, special features, and suiting Bibles to certain age groups.

Whether publishers are designing covers that match a popular aesthetic or producing childrens Bibles according to elementary school reading levels, their goal is singular: We want the Bible to feel accessible to people, said Catherine DeVries, publisher at Kregel Publications.

These top four Bible publishing trends reflect publishers commitment to the text and ears open to the consumer so that the story of Scripture can be told to all.

1. Fighting for Underserved Populations.

As Americas awareness of racial and cultural injustices has taken center stage in public discourse, some Bible publishers have seen an opportunity to serve new target markets with their Bible translations.

Take the First Nations Version (FNV) from InterVarsity Press, for example. This version came about through the campus ministry work of Native InterVarsity, which had been using portions of the FNV at some of their events for college students.

They found that students grasped the truth and reality of Scripture more vividly and immediately through the Native sensibilities of language choices and cadences of oral storytelling, which parallel the biblical context and literary style, said Al Hsu, senior editor at InterVarsity Press. The freshness of the FNVs translation helped readers and hearers experience the gospel narratives in ways that were less abstract and spoke to their lived experience.

Other Bible publishers have grown their catalogs of Spanish Bibles. Editorial Portavoz, the Spanish language subsidiary of Kregel Publications, especially shines in this department. Over the past few years, Editorial Portavoz has published or distributed several Spanish Bibles tailored to specific audiences, including Biblia Devocional Mujer Verdadera (True Woman Devotional Bible), Biblia de una joven conforme al corazon de Dios (A Young Woman After Gods Own Heart Bible), and La Bible para Grupos Pequenos (The Bible for Small Groups).

Bible publishers are also considering how to serve the growing number of customers who may lack familiarity with the Bible, says Amy Simpson, associate publisher for Bibles at Tyndale House. In decades past, publishers could reasonably assume a certain degree of proficiency in the basics of Bible reading: what chapters and verses are, for example, or understanding that the Bible contains multiple genres. But, Simpson said, there is a decline in biblical literacy that gives publishers the opportunity to teach readers how to read the Bible. Through additional content that educates readers in how to navigate the Bible they are holding, publishers can be part of addressing biblical illiteracy and encouraging new Bible readers to stick with it.

2. Customizing for Consumer Appeal

Just 20 years ago, personalizing a Bible meant having someones name put on the cover or purchasing a cloth Bible carrier in a favorite pattern. But now, personalizing has revolutionized both Bible covers and the reader experience. As consumer trends veer further into curation and customization, Bible publishers are honing in on particular niche markets, in hopes that customizing Bibles for affinity groups will increase sales and engagement with Scripture.

Through LifeWay, for example, B&H Publishing Group offers the She Reads Truth Bible and He Reads Truth Bible, designed to encourage daily Bible reading through tailored reading plans, supplementary passages, and artistic extras like custom maps, charts, and timelines. Tyndale House invites women to journey through the Bible in a year with the THRIVE Creative Journaling Devotional Bible, complete with extra-wide margins for writing, daily prayers and devotionals, and 31 profiles of biblical figures.

Kregel and Editorial Portavoz publish not only the A Woman After Gods Own Heart Bible (in the customers choice of rose, purple, teal, floral, and hardback options) but also the A Young Woman After Gods Own Heart Bible in similar color options, with a denim option added for the younger audience.

Teen Bibles still abound, from the Thomas Nelson Thinline Bible Youth Edition to Zondervans Beautiful Word Coloring Bible for Teen Girls and Bible for Teen Guys: Building Faith, Wisdom, and Strength. Longtime bestsellers like The Action Bible and The Jesus Storybook Bible continue to engage parents and children.

The Bible has remained well-read in print, but people want special editions, notes Pike Lambeth, executive vice president at The Lockman Foundation, who doesnt expect this to change anytime soon. They want the line-matched typesetting. They want a well-designed page. And, more than anything? They want the nicer covers.

One may wonder if this shift is positive: Is the Bible meant to be something that caters to our preferences? Not when it comes to translation accuracy. These Bible publishers draw a hard line at allowing consumer preference to interfere with the inspired text.

Bible personalization, then, is not about changing what God says in order to make it more palatable, nor is it merely about keeping up with market trends in order to make sales. Instead, publishers like DeVries see the growing rise of customization as an opportunity to reach those who havent been drawn to a gold-imprinted, burgundy-bound pew Bible.

Once you have their attention, the Bible doesnt need to sell itself, said DeVries. If you flip it open and start interacting with it, the work of the Holy Spirit is there and drawing the person into a relationship, a work that is unchanging and, as DeVries says, transcends cover designs and layout choices.

3. Navigating the New, Virtual Frontier.

Some publishers are wedding the digital and physical in order to meet the needs of todays readers. RevelationMedia, for example, is currently creating iBiblethe worlds first visual, interactive Bible, which will be made freely available for translation into any language. In addition to the video Bible, they will also offer storybook versions.

Tyndale House seems to be setting the standard for hybrid Bible-reading options through their Filament Bible Collection: a variety of hard copy Bibles that each sync with the Filament Bible app. Each page of these Bibles directs to app features like study notes, maps, devotionals, and videos. With a quick scan of the page, readers have access to tools and content that enhance their understanding and reading experience.

You can walk around with a compact text Bible, explained Simpson, and when you pair it with your phoneyouve got a full study Bible.

4. Meeting Consumer Needs in Troubling Times.

While publishers say they can only speculate why Bible sales increased during the pandemic, we can make a few informed guesses as to what fed this renewed interest.

For instance, many people no longer spent large blocks of time commuting, which, according to NavPress publisher David Zimmerman, left them more time for immersive practices like readingand particularly reading Scripturein the morning. Beyond the practical, though, Zimmerman and fellow publishers believe that there are significant spiritual reasons behind the Bibles recent growth.

The immensely disruptive pandemic shook some foundations, Zimmerman explained. As people lost jobs, opportunities, and loved ones, many began to consider lifes deeper questions. The story of the Bible often resonates with people in crisis because it contains so many accounts of grief, lament, and, ultimately, hope. Reading the Bible, Zimmerman said, can give people the assurance that our story and the story of Scripture have the same loving author.

While Bible sales increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Bible Societys State of the Bible report found that half of Americans said they read the Bible on their own at least three or four times annually in 2021. That number dropped to only 39 percent in 2022. It could be that people reached for the Bible in search of support during the early days of the pandemic, purchasing copies to hold and read for comfort and encouragement. But, like many habits during those repetitious weeks of cramped quarters and Zoom calls, Bible reading may not have made the cut of daily habits.

This dip in Bible reading creates an opportunity, though, for publishers to continue creatively approaching how Scripture is presented. Perhaps in the coming months, readers will turn to Bible-in-a-year versions, for example, to cultivate a fresh Bible-reading habit during this season of re-entry.

Looking for a new Bible? Identify the most important features you need in a print edition. A single Bible cannot contain every cool new feature. So if you want thicker pages, then your Bible won't be especially slim. If you want the Bible to fit in your back pocket, the font will have to be small. Identifying what's most helpful for you and how you plan to use your Bible will narrow your options in the best way.

While Bible publishers hope that the sales they make represent frequent Bible readers, they also trust that the Word of God does not return void. The depth and richness to be found in a regular practice of Bible reading is unparalleled. Human habits may ebb and flow, but Bible publishers trust that, by making the Bible accessible to as many people as possible, the Scriptures will be there for people in their time of need.

A Common Pursuit

Bible publishers are, by nature, marketplace competitors. They offer varying translations, versions,

and specialized features, but they all have a commitment to spreading the Word of God. Does this shared purpose decrease their competitive edge?

In truth, it could. But Bible publishers do not see sales as their number one priority. Instead, as Devries put it, Yes, were competing with each other. But our united goal is that we want Scripture to be accurate and we want people to encounter God through his Word.

Zimmerman couldnt agree more.

For me, being a Bible publisher means Im in the business of Scripture engagement, which is a business only in the most formal and technical sense, he explained. Christianity has always been a bookish faith, and the Bible is the book that undergirds it all. Bible publishing makes possible, as Eugene [Peterson] put it, words and sentences that stab you awake to a beauty and hope that will connect you with your real life. Bible publishing makes possible Bible reading, which makes possible a life of beauty and hope.

While trends in design will most assuredly come and go, Bible publishers stand firm in the belief that the Word of the Lord will abide forever. Resting on that solid foundation, it seems, is what gives publishers the freedom to pursue creativity in their approach to presenting the Scriptures.

Simpson summed up the joy of Bible publishing that echoed throughout her colleagues words: We all take the Word of God very seriously, and we love acting as a bridge between the Word of God and the people who need it.

Bibles for Every Age and Stage

Young Children

The Jesus Storybook Bible (ZonderKidz)

The Biggest Story Bible Storybook (Crossway)

The ICB Holy Bible (Thomas Nelson)

Older Children

KJV Study Bible for Boys/Girls (Baker Books)

Deep Blue Kids Bible (Abingdon Press)

The NIV Action Study Bible (David C Cook)

Teens

Beautiful Word Coloring Bible for Teen Girls (Zondervan)

Boys Life Application Study Bible (Tyndale)

Extreme Teen Study Bible (Thomas Nelson)

Women

A Woman after Gods Own Heart Bible/A Young Woman after Gods Own Heart Bible (Kregel Publications)

The Busy Moms Bible (Zondervan)

CSB She Reads Truth Bible (Crossway)

Men

Every Mans Bible (Tyndale)

The Mens Devotional Bible (Crossway)

CSB He Reads Truth Bible (Holman Bible Publishers)

Study Bibles

CEB Wesley Study Bible (Abingdon Press)

CSB Study Bible (Holman Bible Publishers)

NLT Life Application Study Bible (Thomas Nelson)

Digital/Hybrid Bibles

The Filament Collection (Tyndale)

iBible (Forthcoming from Revelation Media)

YouVersion

Reference Bibles

Thompson Chain-Reference Bible (Zondervan)

CSB Ultrathin Reference Bible (B&H Publishing Group)

ESV Reference Bible (Crossway)

Large Print

NASB Large Print Compact Bible (The Lockman Foundation)

NLT Large Print Premium Value Thinline Bible,

Filament Enabled edition (Tyndale)

NKJV Holy Bible, Super Giant Print Reference Bible (Thomas Nelson)

Abby Perry is a freelance writer who lives with her husband and two sons in Texas. You can find her work at Sojourners, Texas Monthly, and Nations Media.
When Julissa and her husband started their family, they were homeless. Julissa prayed for somewhere to live that was a safe place to raise her girls, and for years they shuffled from one unstable shanty to another. Before they received a Food For The Poor home, they lived in a house pieced together with metal, wood, and bed sheets. The children were terrified of windy rainstorms, and they lost sleep to howling winds, pounding rain, and leaky roofs.

Now, Heidi, 6, and Medelin, 11, sleep peacefully through the night. They can study for school without worrying about their beds, clothing, and school papers getting soaked. Thanks to Food For The Poor (FFTP) and its donors, the entire family has safety and peace of mind.

Calixtas Struggles

In Guatemala, Calixta and her three grandchildren barely survived. Their home was a dilapidated, zinc room that flooded when it rained.

The water poured in through the rusted roof and seeped under the walls, turning the dirt floor into a muddy mess. The water also brought disease-carrying mosquitoes that often made the children sick. Despite her constant turmoil, Calixtas faith in Gods love and mercy remained strong.

She prayed night and day: If God lets us, we will see a new house because he is the owner of our lives.

Thanks to God and the kind-heartedness of FFTP donors, Calixtas prayers were answered. Their new home keeps them safe and dry.

Leaving a Legacy

Ferdinand Ferdy Mahfood established FFTP in Florida on February 12, 1982. The organization initially sent resources to his homeland of Jamaica, where he witnessed firsthand the plight of people suffering from poverty, disease, and the impact of natural disasters.

Today, FFTP feeds millions of hungry children and families living in povertyprimarily in the 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. They also provide emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicine, educational materials, support for vulnerable children, care for the aged, skills training, micro-enterprise development assistance, and homes to those who need them most.

Be the Answer to Prayer

Seven Saves, a new program being offered through FFTP, is a church-based initiative that feeds souls and transforms communities in the name of Jesus. Seven Saves provides you with tools and resources at no cost to the church. Its an easy way to get involved and be an answer to prayer.

Seven Saves benefits impoverished communities but also benefits your church by creating shared goals that build community and keep congregations working together and actively invested in outcomes. Learn more about how to get involved at Sevensaves.org.
The Biden admin has turned a blind eye to violent persecution of Nigerian Christians

In the middle of Sunday morning services, gunmen on motorcycles surrounded and opened fire on worshippers at St. Moses Catholic Church and Maranatha Baptist Church in Kaduna state, Nigeria. Three Christians were killed and more than 30 were reportedly kidnapped. I covered it with For the Martyrs  the nonprofit I work for  but overall the story got little international attention.

Two weeks ago, on Pentecost Sunday, a tragic shooting at a Catholic Church in Owo, southwestern Nigeria, got unique international attention.

During the church service, gunmen opened fire upon the congregation and detonated explosives. Initial reports said that at least 50 people were killed, including women and many young children. The current, confirmed number is 40. Many more were injured. Doctors and volunteers scrambled to provide aid and begged the community to donate blood. The governments interior minister blamed Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) for the attack, but the group has yet to claim responsibility.

These recent spates of violence against Christians in Nigeria did not happen in a vacuum.

For over a decade, violence against Christians has been raging across Nigeria, mainly in the north, as shootings, mobs, Islamic militants, church burnings, and kidnappings strike daily and often unreported blows to Nigerias Christian community. In fact, Open Doors ruled that Nigeria is the most violent place in the world for Christians, with over 4,000 Christians murdered in 2021 alone. Usually, these instances only make small waves in international news.

Nigeria is roughly half Christian and half Muslim. Christians are the majority in southern Nigeria while Muslims hold the majority in the north, according to the State Department. Islamic militant groups like ISWAP and Boko Haram, in addition to nomadic Fulani herdsmen, have targeted Christians for various reasons: land, resources, and ransom money.

But there is also a large religious component. Christians are attacked without consequence. In May, Deborah Samuel, a Christian university student, was beaten and burned to death by a Muslim mob who accused her of blaspheming Islam in a WhatsApp message. What she really said was Jesus Christ is the greatest and praised him for helping her pass her exams. Her horrific murder was caught on video.

Church leaders, like Methodist pastor Samuel Kanu-Uche, are often kidnapped by gangs or Islamic militants and ransomed at high prices, with some killed in captivity.

Similar events happen daily to thousands of Christian women and girls. Leah Sharibu, a young Christian woman who was kidnapped at 14 years old, has been in Boko Harams captivity for over four years because she refused to convert to Islam. Despite pleas from her family and NGOs, the Nigerian government has done little to rescue her.

The Nigerian government and President Muhammadu Buhari have taken few steps to stop the bleeding. If anything, the government has cut off the handful of ways Christians protect themselves. The Nigerian senate recently passed a law making it a crime punishable with 15 years in prison for families of kidnapped victims to pay ransom to return their sons or daughters. With little assurance of government rescue attempts, as in Leah Sharibus case, families of kidnapping victims have few options.

Nigerias government claims it is secular and tolerant and that it values religious freedom. And yet it is the most violent country in the world for a religious group that composes nearly half of the nations religious population.

Christian leaders in Nigeria have repeatedly called out President Buharis and the Nigerian governments inaction. At a recent funeral for the victims of the Owo massacre, Bishop Emmanuel Badejo said the government had failed to exhibit any desire to protect the Christian religion.

There are steps the U.S. can take to effect change. However, the Biden Administration and the State Department have backtracked progress meant to hold the Nigerian government accountable for the religious freedom conditions in their country. In November, the State Department removed Nigerias designation as a Country of Particular Concern. The CPC designation is ideally accompanied by sanctions to motivate the improvement of religious freedom conditions in designated countries.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has recommended Nigeria for the CPC list every year since 2009. And the State Department did at long last in 2020 designate Nigeria as a CPC, but it was shortly removed a year later without explanation or improvement in the country.

Bidens Secretary of State Antony Blinken has yet to provide a substantial reason for his decision. According to the State Departments report, Secretary Blinken determined that Nigeria did not meet the criteria to be designated as a Country of Particular Concern.

Nigerian Christian leaders struggle to make sense of the U.S.s decision as it seems both their own government and the U.S. have abandoned them. In a statement, Bishop Badejo said that there is nothing on the ground to suggest that Christians have an easier time practicing their faith in Nigeria today than they did one or two years ago.

He asked the U.S. State Department to reassess its decision and worried that glossing over the suffering of Nigerian Christians would jeopardize the CPC listings credibility. Christian NGOs, like For the Martyrs, have tirelessly made similar requests for the U.S. to return Nigerias CPC designation, to no avail.

Violence against Christians continues to rage across Nigeria, as bandits and extremists are given the green light to terrorize, kidnap and kill the Christian community with impunity  as shown in the Owo massacre and Sundays mass kidnapping. Whos going to hear their cries?

The Biden Administration must step up. In the wake of recent events and ongoing violence, the path is clear: Redesignate Nigeria as a country of particular concern and motivate the Nigerian government to take action.

President Biden and the State Department have the opportunity to show Nigeria that the U.S. will not tolerate apathy towards a decade of bloodshed.
206-year-old church permanently closes due to dwindling numbers, failure to attract younger members

In 206 years, Christ Church UMC in Southwick, Massachusetts, has survived changes to its name, facilities and membership. After more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, members voted in May to permanently disband the congregation on July 1 due to their dwindling numbers, and the pastor decided it was a good time to retire too.

The time has come for this congregation of Christs holy church to disband and take leave of this building, the Rev. Ken Blanchard said at the churchs final official service on Sunday, according to Mass Live. It has served our holy faith well. It is fitting, therefore, that we should take leave of this consecrated house, lifting up our hearts in thanksgiving for this common store of memories.  This is my farewell to pastoral service.

When the church was started in 1816 with just eight members, the faithful met in private homes and district school houses. The preaching was also done by Methodist ministers known as circuit riders because they traveled by horseback throughout numerous towns, a brief history of the church posted on their website explains.

Over the years the community would grow in size and witness and untold number of important milestones for families.

How many people have been baptized, confirmed, married, or buried from here? How many sermons, hymns, prayers, and acts of worship have flowed from the hearts, minds, and souls of its ministers, laity, and constituents? the church recalled in a note.

There are also connections with the broader community. How many people ate at its various strawberry dinners, potluck suppers, or Mother's Day pancake breakfasts? Did you ever go to one of its rummage sales, auctions, holiday sales, or Meet the Candidates nights? How many lives were served by hosting meetings of the Alcoholics Anonymous, providing space for weight loss groups, or educational programs offered by the Southwick Historical Society? And what about sponsoring Scout troops and other community organizations?

Carol Jones who passed out red carnations to the approximately 30 people who showed up for the final service said her connection with the church is deep.

I was christened here, she told Mass Live. My brother was the treasurer for 40 years and then I was the treasurer for the next 10.

Church officials explained in their brief history account that they had started to accept that they were at the end of an era around 2019.

With diminishing numbers and an aging population, by 2019 church members began to recognize that we could no longer do what we once did, the note added. So we have come to the end of an era: the closure of the church on July 1, 2022.

Jones said she saw the end coming, too, when all the younger people moved away.

The kids are all gone now, she told Mass Live. They moved away and at my age what else could we do.

Another member, Carol Locke, who has been a part of the church for 22 years agreed. She said much of the revenue-generating work of the church required younger people and the church is short of that.

We are a very old congregation. Most of us are over 80 and we cant do the potluck dinners and the craft fairs and all that kind of stuff, she said. It has been (a big part of her life), but unfortunately, I think the time has come.

Many churches like Christ Church UMC, have been making the difficult decision to close permanently because their membership isnt sufficient to sustain their operation financially.

After declining for years, the First Presbyterian Church of Des Moines in Iowa, which had been in operation since 1848, held their last service in April because they were unable to recover from the membership losses they suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We were declining and the pandemic killed us, said Kathy Smith, who had been a member of the church since 1984.

Last December, the 221-year-old First Presbyterian Church in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, permanently closed its doors on Christmas Eve due to declining membership and attendance.

The Potters House of Denver also announced plans in December to sell its $12.2 million megachurch in Arapahoe County, Colorado, and go completely virtual due to declining donations amid the pandemic.

Chestly Lunday, an expert in innovative leadership who has helped churches and companies lead in the digital age, recently told The Christian Post that one of the biggest reasons behind the declining statistics in traditional church membership is that the younger generation and innovative Christians have migrated online while older adults refuse to adapt.

What we're seeing [now] is the exodus of the late majority [from traditional churches], Lunday said. We're not seeing the exodus of early adopters [of technology], and the early majority of innovators. They've been gone already for a while. So what you're seeing now, like one major church, where pre-pandemic people were coming 1.4 times a month, now they're coming 0.8 times per month, meaning one of the best communicators in North America can't get somebody [in church] to tell [them about Jesus] once a month a year anymore. That's what that means.

Christ Church UMC member Mabel Johnson, who is 92, was sad to see her church close but she has accepted that she has come to the end of an era.

I was brought up in the Advent Christian Church in Westfield. That got sold, and now this, she told Mass Live. I guess when you are my age all you do is say goodbye to things, to people and things.
Wooden cross is only thing left standing after historic church burns down: 'A sign from the Lord'

A fire that broke out Friday burned down a historic Texas church and consumed nearly everything but a wooden cross, which a pastor sees as a sign that God is watching over his congregation as they begin rebuilding.

"I'm heartsick about it. You have to think and all of the ones who have been baptized there," Pastor Sonny Smith of the Balsora Baptist Church said in an interview with The Christian Post Tuesday.

"It's a dramatic event for the whole community because we're about seven miles from the nearest larger city. We're kind of out in the middle of the country. So I knew how important the church was to a lot of people."

The church stood for over 120 years before it burned down in the fire.

The Wise County Fire Marshal announced that the fire broke out just before 1 p.m. and a couple of first responders suffered minimal heat-related injuries.

A GoFundMe page seeking to raise funds to rebuild the church emphasized that "nobody was injured" in the blaze.

According to Smith, Balsora Baptist is a "small country church." Around 60 to 75 people attended regular Sunday services, with the number of attendees usually rising to about 120 on Easter Sundays.

The pastor told CP he was at home when church members called and informed him that the building was on fire. The church had been under construction to expand its kitchen and fellowship hall, but the building reportedly caught fire after the work crew stepped out for lunch Friday.

Smith noted that the men who responded to the call were members of the volunteer fire department. He said that when a call like that goes out, it can take responders a while to get there.

"They tried to stop it, but they could not get it out," Smith said.

Aside from a stack of Bibles, all that survived the fire was a wooden cross. The pastor explained that the church sanctuary used to have a prayer tree where congregation members could hang their prayer requests. By that tree, there was a cross.

"The church pretty well burned up except for that little wooden cross," he said. "It wasn't really that small; it was probably about four feet tall. But anyway, when you look at pictures, back at the sanctuary, and right there, there sat the wood cross with still a little fire coming off of it."

The church leader stated it was "amazing" that the cross survived the fire, proclaiming the event to be a "miracle."

"Of course, I told our church congregation I feel like that was a sign from the Lord telling us that, you know, you're going through fire, you're going through changes, but I'm going to be with you all the way," Smith recalled.

"And He certainly has been. We have gotten numerous calls from area churches offering their facilities, anything they can do to help us. And that's Church of Christ and Methodist, not just our domination. It's been quite a thing to behold what God is doing."

Last Sunday, the congregation met outside the burnt church to hold a prayer service and take the time to worship God. Smith acknowledged that the ministry needs a new location, as the Texas heat makes it "too hot" to keep holding services outside.

"Plus, most of our church family is senior citizens. We do have some young couples, but by and large, it's older folks, so we have to consider their health in where we go and what we do," he said.

While other churches have offered their facilities, Smith maintained that many know his church will be looking "quickly" for another location to move into before the rebuilding is complete. The pastor plans to meet with church leadership Tuesday night to "pray and seek God's direction" regarding where that should be.

Smith could not yet provide an estimate regarding the cost of the repairs. He remarked that the church needs to determine how the new structure will look in terms of size and whether it should be a normal brick building or something else.

He envisions the completed church will have room to seat 200 people, with a connecting fellowship hall serving as a "multi-purpose facility" for hosting events like potluck dinners and wedding receptions.

The pastor acknowledged, however, that the church will have to consider all sorts of "different directions" as it rebuilds. After the meeting with church leaders, Smith plans to invite the congregation to vote and input their ideas.

Smith revealed that he and church members continue to remind themselves that God is ultimately in control and has a plan.

"We don't know what the next chapter will bring, but we know the author, Smith said.

The "Rebuild Balsora Baptist Church" fundraiser on GoFundMe has raised $145 out of a $100,000 goal as of Tuesday afternoon. The fundraiser indicates that "the church does have insurance, but it's likely to not pay enough to rebuild the building AND resupply the church (Bibles, hymnals, choir robes, office equipment, etc)."

The fundraiser assures potential donors that anything they donate will "go towards furthering the cause of Christ" and that "anything over the amount needed to rebuild and resupply will go towards community outreach, missions, and our youth program."
Charlie Dates named successor to James Meeks at 10K-member Salem Baptist Church of Chicago

Calling him "the greatest young preacher in our nation today," Rev. James Meeks announced Sunday that Pastor Charlie Dates of Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago will succeed him as leader of the 10,000-member Salem Baptist Church of Chicago when he steps out of the role in January 2023.

Meeks, who is now 65 and served three terms as a state senator, told his congregation that he will preach his final sermon on Jan. 8, 2023, just five days before the church's 38th anniversary. Meeks and his wife, Jamell, founded the church in 1985. The congregation has grown into one of the largest black churches in the city.

"It's time for Salem to move forward. It's time for Salem to have younger leadership. It's time for us to bring in new families. It's time for us to bring in young people. We need a new vision. We need new ideas. We need new opportunities," Meeks told his cheering congregation. "And God has blessed us with our own son who has agreed starting January 15th, 2023, to be the next pastor of the Salem Baptist Church of Chicago."

Dates, 41, is a graduate of Salem's now-closed Salem Christian Academy. Meeks recalls meeting Dates when Dates was in the 5th grade. Dates also served on Salem's ministry team for a while before leaving in 2011 to serve as the leader of Progressive Baptist Church.

In 2020, Dates, married with two children, was among a number of black Christian church leaders to cut ties with the Southern Baptist Convention over a statement from the denomination's Council of Seminary Presidents denouncing racism and critical race theory.

In a video of the announcement, Meeks said after he and his wife fasted and prayed about the succession of the ministry, they felt confident in selecting Dates.

"Charlie is called, and I believe all ministry starts with a calling," Meeks said. "Not only is he called, but he is qualified or educated. He's trained to fight the giants that we're dealing with today. It is going to take an academic mind and a saved heart."

Meeks' retirement comes at a time when many longtime church leaders have been transitioning out of leadership as they contend with dwindling attendance and other ministry upheavals laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this month, Saddleback Church co-founders Rick Warren and his wife, Kay, named Andy Wood of Echo.Church in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Stacie, as their successors, starting in September. Warren announced his intention to retire last year after over 40 years of ministry and began the search for "the next-generation pastor."

Meeks and his wife say they don't want to stand in the next generation's way.

"We believe now that the time has come for us to step aside, for us to yield to new younger leadership," Meeks said. "We want to see our church be vibrant. We want to see our church grow. We want to see younger families come to our church and the last thing that we want is to stand in the way of that."

In accepting the role, Dates said he sees Salem Baptist Church of Chicago as a global church. He shared a vision of revival.

"I sense God ... performing a work of His Spirit that connects Salem to churches that need revitalization. Our city and our nation need the black church to be her best and brightest self and now is the time for churches to be strong," he said.

"The Kingdom work is never to stop with one generation. It's to multiply in every generation and right now the church in Chicago needs fresh dynamic trained Gospel fire leaders. And I think we can develop a platform, a pipeline to invite those who feel that burden of call to grow them and to release them to do that," he added. "We can multiply that in evangelism, in discipleship, in educating our kids in reducing violence, shutting down liquor stores and opening up new opportunities to help rescue families and that's the church being the church."
Christian Reformed Church solidifies opposition to homosexuality as confessional' belief

The Christian Reformed Church Synod has declared that its historic stance on sexual ethics, particularly the practice of homosexuality, has "confessional status."



According to The Banner, a monthly magazine published by the Christian Reformed Church in North America, 69% of the denomination's representatives voted last week to affirm the definition of "unchastity" in the Heidelberg Catechism to include homosexual acts.

The vote occurred at Synod 2022 at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. CRC has over 1,000 congregations across the United States and Canada and over 230,000 members.

The Heidelberg Catechism is a Protestant confession of faith in the Reformed tradition that was initially composed in 1563 in Heidelberg, Germany, and was approved by the Synod of Dort in 1619.

The CRC vote followed another vote where 74% of Synod 2022 delegates recommended that the human sexuality report to CRC congregations was a "useful summary of biblical teaching" on human sexuality. The report upholds the denomination's traditional stance that homosexual practice is not in keeping with biblical orthodoxy.

The synodical vote giving this definition of confessional status carries significant implications, specifically church discipline measures for officers and faculty who teach at church-owned schools should they teach or preach anything that diverges from the confessional creed.



"There might be one-third of the people in this room who would be subject to special discipline if this passes," said Anthony Elenbaas, a delegate in attendance from Hamilton, Ontario.

"Those of us who are in the minority in this place will have a much harder job to do. Please don't put the walls up any higher. Please allow room for us."

Michael LeRoy, the outgoing president of the denomination's flagship university, Calvin University, voiced a similar sentiment.

"Since 1973, there have been officebearers who disagree with (the church's stance that homosexual practice is a sin)," he said.

"For officebearers who have written or spoken in opposition to this, there would be cause for church discipline. Consider the implication for officers of the church."

In 2020, the Calvin student senate elected its first openly LGBT student body president, a bisexual student who questioned if she is a lesbian but calls herself "queer."

The theological and spiritual conflict over sexual ethics in the Reformed Church is part of a long-running and much broader pattern across several Christian denominations in recent years.

Although nuances abound, the division in each Protestant group appears to mostly center on whether marriage and sexual ethics are first-order doctrinal issues and essential to a scripturally faithful proclamation of the Gospel or secondary or tertiary matters where Christians can peaceably agree to disagree.

Earlier this month, the Mennonite Church USA voted to retire denomination-wide membership guidelines that barred pastors from performing same-sex wedding ceremonies.

Local Mennonite churches, however, are allowed to maintain the prohibition. Delegates at the Mennonite Church USA's Delegate Assembly also passed a non-binding resolution calling upon the church to repent for the mistreatment of LGBT-identified people.

Some groups within the Mennonite Church USA, such as the 70,000-member Lancaster Mennonite Conference, formally split from the denomination in response to the more liberal posture toward these issues.

The Methodist Church has also faced divisions along similar lines. In March, a group of theologically conservative Methodists announced the creation of a new denominational structure  the Global Methodist Church  amid a schism over the issue.

The UMC General Conference, where the potential separation plan is set to be debated and may be approved, has been postponed until 2024.


FBI investigating attacks against pro-life clinics as potential acts of domestic extremism

The FBI is investigating the recent attacks and vandalism of pro-life pregnancy centers and churches as potential acts of domestic violence or extremism ahead of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

A source familiar with the matter told The Christian Post that the FBI is looking into potential FACE Act violations in certain cases. The legislation makes it a federal crime to use force or threat of force to prevent access to reproductive health services. The bureau is also investigating violent crime matters depending on the facts of each case.

"The FBI is investigating a series of attacks and threats targeting pregnancy resource centers and faith-based organizations across the country," an FBI spokesperson said in a statement shared with media outlets. "The FBI takes all threats seriously and we continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners and will remain vigilant to protect our communities."

Following Politico's report last month on a leaked draft majority opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case that suggests a majority of justices are poised to overturn Roe, multiple churches and pro-life advocacy organizations have been vandalized or firebombed by abortion extremists.

The bureau opted not to comment on any specific groups carrying out the violence, but a spokesperson told The Washington Examiner that an inquiry is underway.

Earlier this month, more than 100 House Republicans sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, calling on the Department of Justice to investigate the attacks against religious organizations and pregnancy centers as acts of domestic terrorism.

"We write to express serious concerns over recent attacks targeting religious organizations and crisis pregnancy centers and request the Department of Justice respond with how its National Security Division plans to investigate these acts of domestic terrorism," the House Republicans wrote.

The letter argued that "terrorists have targeted numerous pro-life crisis pregnancy centers  two of which culminated in the firebombing and destruction of property by the terrorist group Jane's Revenge in Buffalo, NY, and Madison, WI."

The group of abortion activists identifying themselves as Jane's Revenge claimed responsibility for an attack last month on the headquarters of Wisconsin Family Action in Madison.

An incident report compiled by the Madison police department stated: "A Molotov cocktail, which did not ignite, was thrown inside the building. It also appears a separate fire was started in response. Graffiti was also found at the scene. No injuries have been reported."

Pictures of the vandalism posted on Twitter by Alex Shur of the Wisconsin State Journal depicted the phrase "If abortions aren't safe then you aren't either" painted on an exterior wall of the building and an office damaged by fire with books scattered across the floor.

The abortion activists also allegedly firebombed one of the offices belonging to CompassCare, a network of pregnancy centers serving women in New York. The pro-life organization announced on June 7 that its office in Buffalo was "firebombed by abortion terrorists."

"The windows in the reception room and nurses' office were broken and fires lit. Graffiti on the building left by arsonists refers to the abortion terrorist group Jane's Revenge, reading 'Jane Was Here,'" the statement reads.

Jane's Revenge demanded in a June 14 communique that these organizations disband, threatening to take "drastic measures" for their refusal to comply.

"From here forward, any anti-choice group who closes their doors, and stops operating will no longer be a target," the abortion activists wrote.

"But until you do, it's open season, and we know where your operations are. The infrastructure of the enslavers will not survive. We will never stop, back down, slow down, or retreat," they continued.

In an email obtained by the anarchist website Abolition Media, Jane's Revenge boasted that it had smashed the windows of two Detroit-based pregnancy centers. The group also left behind the message: 'if abortion isn't safe, neither are you' and 'fake clinic.' Jane will have her revenge."

Another pregnancy center in Vancouver, Washington, was covered in red paint and had "Jane's Revenge" written on the front of the building. Pictures of the vandalism at Options360 were posted on Twitter by journalist Alissa Azar on June 9.

Churches have also been vandalized since the draft leak last month.

Jane's Revenge took credit for vandalizing four Washington State churches over the weekend of May 21-22. Abolition Media posted an email sent by the activist group describing the destruction of the churches.

"Last night we vandalized four anti-abortion churches in Olympia," the email read. "A Mormon church, Calvary church, Harbor Church, and St. Michael's Catholic church all received facelifts in the early hours of Sunday morning. We dumped red paint over the entryways and left messages of 'If abortions aren't safe then neither are you,' 'Abort the church,' and 'God loves abortion.'"

A picture posted on the blog showed the phrase "If abortions aren't safe then neither are you" and the anarchist symbol spray-painted on two sets of double doors at the front of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

In another incident, Stephen Pimpo of WCBI News, a northern Mississippi-based CBS affiliate, reported on May 24 that Lowndes County Sheriff's Department was investigating the vandalism of Mt. Avery Missionary Baptist Church. Photos of the damage depicted the message "girls just want to have fundamental rights" spray-painted on the doors of the church.

Other photos showed the phrase "Keep Your Laws Off My Body" spray-painted in multiple locations on the church's exterior walls.

In May 2021, a report declassified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security named pro-life and abortion activists on its list of potential domestic violent extremists.

The report stated that "domestic violent extremists (DVEs) who are motivated by a range of ideologies and galvanized by recent political and societal events in the United States pose an elevated threat to the homeland in 2021."

The document maintained that "mere advocacy of political or social positions, political activism" and "use of strong rhetoric may not constitute violent extremism, and may be constitutionally protected."
Former youth pastor dies after he stops breathing in police custody Woman called 911 to report a man 'would not let her leave' and 'was possibly on drugs'

North Carolina authorities are investigating the death of Christopher Hensley, a 35-year-old former youth pastor and father who died in police custody last Wednesday while he was being restrained.

Hensleys death was captured by a bystander in an approximately 6-minute video that some viewers might find disturbing to watch.

While the audio of the video where Hensley can be heard screaming at different points isnt clear, a website called The Ashville Blade, which is described as a " leftist local news co-op," claims that Hensley can be heard using his limited breath to shout I can't breathe, I can't breathe to officers.

While there are growing calls for justice from Hensley's family and friends online, Anjanette Grube, public information director at the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, told The Christian Post that the local district attorney will determine any decision on the case.

"The SBI investigation remains ongoing," Grube told CP. "Once we complete an investigation, the case file is submitted to the district attorney's office for review. The DA will determine whether criminal charges are appropriate."

A statement from the Fletcher Police Department cited by ABC 13 News said officers were called to an apartment complex on Season Circle at about 8:30 p.m. on June 15. A caller, the release said, reported that Hensley "would not let her leave" and "was possibly on drugs."

The officers involved came from the Henderson County Police Department and the Fletcher Police Department.

When police arrived at the scene, the release said, "a fight ensued between officers and Hensley." They said Hensley was handcuffed, then became unresponsive. Officers reported that they conducted CPR on Hensley while waiting for EMTs. He later died at a local hospital.

Fletcher Police Chief Daniel D. Terry told News 13 on Sunday that a taser was discharged during the incident.

"I can report that a taser was discharged," Terry said. "However, at this stage of the investigation, I do not know who discharged the taser nor the result-outcome of said discharge. I'm confident these questions will eventually be answered once the investigation is completed."

At about 9:46 p.m. last Wednesday night, Shaffa Lucinda, who described herself as Hensley's neighbor, posted a video on Facebook showing what happened after the arrest at the apartment complex.

"I just witnessed this right in front of my house. My neighbor, I believe, is dead," she added.

Warning: Some viewers might find this video disturbing.

The video initially shows what appears to be three uniformed officers and two other men dressed in plain clothes along with Hensley, who is dressed in shorts, at the scene. Hensley appears to be pinned face down on the pavement by two uniformed officers and another man dressed in a blue T-shirt and shorts. Hensley's legs show signs of struggle as one of the uniformed officers and another man with dreadlocks look on.

The former youth pastor is also screaming intermittently.

After about a minute, another man emerges from the apartment complex with a phone at his ear. While Hensley is on the ground, one of the uniformed officers can be seen jamming his knee into Hensley's body. The officer also appears to slap and punch Hensley on his buttocks over his shorts.

At nearly 2 minutes into the video, another officer arrives on the scene, lifts Hensley's feet off the ground, and pins them toward his back. Once the fourth uniformed officer arrives, the man wearing the blue T-shirt stops assisting the police. Three more uniformed officers would soon join in the effort to subdue Hensley. At about the 2:45 mark in the video, Hensley seems subdued and the officers start moving away when he appears to move spasmodically. Officers quickly restrain him again until there were no more signs of movement.

After about four minutes, the officers can be seen turning Hensley on his back and his body appears limp. At least two officers attempt to resuscitate Hensely for the rest of the video.

"As a mother I am broken. As a strong Christian, my faith remains solid, strong, and unshakeable. Christopher was my first born, my right hand my helper, gave me support and always strength in my weak moments. He was a great son," Hensley's mother, Catherine Hensley, said in a statement on her Facebook page. "No human life should ever be taken down that way. He did not commit a crime or had any weapons on him."

North Carolina Police Benevolent Association Staff Representative Brandon McGaha detailed what he saw in the witness video in an interview with ABC 13 News.

"What you're seeing now is, you're seeing officers try to keep what we call top pressure, they're trying to control the legs with top pressure trying to control the arms," McGaha described in response to several officers holding Hensley down.

As for the point in the video where Hensley's leg's can be seen moving, McGaha contends that it could be "considered resisting."

Reacting to an officer being seen striking Hensely in the back of the leg while he is on the ground, McGaha contends the officer is using a "knee strike to the thigh area, which is an approved law enforcement technique, and I believe he also used a fist strike."

"It tries to get the person's attention directed from the resistance to, 'man, my leg hurts a little bit,' and that split second of dividing the person's attention to 'my leg hurts a little bit' compared to resisting with their hands can give the officers what they need to get the person in handcuffs," McGaha detailed.

Hensely becomes unresponsive shortly after he is cuffed while pressure is still applied to his legs.

"They realize there's a real problem and start lifesaving measures," said McGaha.

McGaha believes officers followed protocols.

"I don't see any type of compression of his respiratory system that would keep him from breathing or anything like that," he said.

Two officers were taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, according to Flethcer Police. Two Fletcher police officers who responded to the scene have been placed on leave.

Hensley moved from Miami to Hendersonville around 2016, The Citizen Times reported. He began attending Rapha House church where he worked with the church's youth from August 2017 to October 2018, until the church could no longer afford to pay the father of two a full-time salary.

"I loved Chris. As a pastor with a pastor's heart, you love people. I'm just grieving like everyone who knew Chris," Rapha House Pastor Greg Lewis told the publication.

"He was absolutely one of the hardest workers I knew. I gave him something to do, and he would make it happen effortlessly. We had a big event. ... We had 800 show up that night. Chris got everybody parked, set up an overflow road. ... He was just that type of guy," Lewis added. "He had the unique gift to bridge social, economic and cultural diversity."

Erikka Chavez Espinoza, who identified herself as the wife of Hensely's cousin, recently launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $10,000 to help with funeral expenses.

"He was a good man who just welcomed his second daughter into this world. He wanted so desperately to see them through life. He leaves behind a 4-year-old, a 3-week-old, and a wife and a ministry that he loved dearly," she said.

Before moving to North Carolina, Hensley participated in Loving Hands Ministries, a two-year residential discipleship program for men with life-controlling problems related to drug and alcohol addictions.

Officials authorized to speak on Hensley's passing weren't immediately available for an interview with CP, but multiple videos of the former youth pastor posted on YouTube show him testifying about his struggles.

In a video posted on YouTube in 2014, Hensley testified that he joined the program to turn his life around. He said he had turned away from God in his teenage years and suffered through 10 years of "dead-end roads" before returning to God.

"My life involved sex, drugs, alcohol, money, partying. I wanted nothing to do with anything that was right," he said.

The former youth pastor said he was arrested multiple times, including in North Carolina, where he rededicated his life to God.

"My life had no direction. I was out of control. My arrest charges were piling up. I've been in multiple accidents. ... I could have lost my life. I've been in shootouts," he said. "I look back at it now and God spared my life in so many ways I don't even realize."

Hensley said in multiple video testimonies that it was after his arrest in North Carolina that he cried out to God.

"It was there in that jail cell I dropped down to my knees, and I cried out to God and I asked Him to save me," he said.

Hensely said he knew he could have been in jail for a long time, but God answered his prayer for mercy, and he was released a few days later. It was after that arrest that he joined the Loving Hands program.

In his testimony at Bradenton Gospel Tabernacle, Hensely ended with a message from Romans 6: 23.

"For the wages of sin is death," he said. "But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Republican lawmakers introduce bill allowing adults to sue doctors who perform 'sex-change' surgeries

Two Republican congressmen have introduced legislation that would allow adults who underwent body mutilating gender-transition surgeries as minors to sue the doctors who operated on them. The bill also includes a 30-year statute of limitations.

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., introduced the Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act on Wednesday. The legislation subjects medical practitioners who perform a gender-transition procedure on an individual who is less than 18 years of age to liability if the minor who had the cosmetic surgery or multiple surgeries experiences physical, psychological, emotional, or physiological harms from the surgery or related treatment.

Minors who believe they were harmed by a gender-transition procedure have 30 years from their 18th birthday to file a civil action against a medical practitioner by seeking declaratory or injunctive relief, compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorneys fees and costs. The bill makes an exception for surgeries performed on individuals with disorders of sexual development, chromosomal anomalies sometimes referred to as intersex conditions.

Additionally, the measure calls for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to withhold federal funding from any state requiring medical providers to perform gender-transition procedures.

The proposed legislation defines a gender-transition procedure as the prescription or administration of puberty-blocking drugs for the purpose of changing the body of an individual so that it conforms to the subjective sense of identity of the individual, the prescription or administration of cross-sex hormones or a surgery to change the body of an individual for the same purpose.

In a statement on Twitter, Cotton warned that Radical doctors in the U.S. are performing dangerous, experimental, and even sterilizing gender-transition procedures on young kids, who cant even provide informed consent, adding: Our bill allows children who grow up to regret these procedures to sue for damages.

Banks also commented on the bill, maintaining that Quacks have irreversibly damaged tens of thousands of American children to further the radical lefts agenda. He cited the legislation as evidence that Cotton and himself were serious about holding them accountable.

Quacks have irreversibly damaged tens of thousands of American children to further the radical lefts agenda. @SenTomCotton and I are serious about holding them accountable.



Read about our bill in @FoxNews. https://t.co/1JzRXEVlGQ  Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) June 22, 2022

The Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act comes amid ongoing efforts at the state level as Republican-led legislatures and state agencies adopt measures restricting the medicalized gender transitioning of young people.

Last year, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services published a letter characterizing genital mutilation of a child through reassignment surgery as child abuse, subject to all rules and procedures pertaining to child abuse. The state of Florida released a fact sheet in April declaring that no minor child should be prescribed puberty blockers and opposite-sex hormones to treat gender dysphoria.

The Florida Department of Health document further stated  referencing a 2021 article in the Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy  that encouraging mastectomy, ovariectomy, uterine extirpation, penile disablement, tracheal shave, the prescription of hormones which are out of line with the genetic make-up of the child, or puberty blockers, are all clinical practices which run an unacceptably high risk of doing harm.



Last year, both chambers of the Arkansas Legislature overrode Gov. Asa Hutchisons veto of the Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, marking the first time a bill banning gender-transition procedures for minors became law anywhere in the country. Earlier this year, Alabama and Arizona followed suit by enacting similar laws.

Internationally, several nations have begun halting the experimental practices to varying degrees. Among those countries reverting from prescribing puberty blockers or performing body mutilating surgeries are Sweden, France, Finland and the United Kingdom. Psychiatrists in Australia and New Zealand, likewise, are urging greater caution.

Echoing the Republican lawmakers, critics of the experimental practices have long said that lawsuits are likely coming, particularly from young people who recognized as adults that they were incapable of giving adequate informed consent to the drugs and surgeries as children and teenagers.

Detransitioners, those who underwent hormonal and surgical gender practices and wound up regretting it and reintegrating with their natal sex, have noted the hurdles that exist regarding taking legal action against the surgeons that performed the irreversible procedures on their bodies.

In a February 2020 feature story in The Christian Post, a male detransitioner who went by the pseudonym Marcus Fitz recalled how he endured years of opposite-sex hormone use and had an orchiectomy. He explained that most states, including California, where he lived, have one-year statutes of limitations for medical malpractice lawsuits.

Theyll say, I want to sue! And my first question to them is: Well, how long has it been? he said, describing his interactions with other detransitioners.

It often takes several years to come out of this gaslighting fog of what has happened to us and by then, its far too late.
'Concerning': Over 930,000 abortions in 2020, Guttmacher study finds Pro-life researcher says abortions have risen since 2019 due to increase in chemical abortions

Over 930,000 abortions occurred in the United States in 2020, representing an increase from three years earlier, according to a research organization with historic ties to Planned Parenthood.

The Guttmacher Institute released its abortion data for 2020 last week, reporting that a little over 930,000 abortions took place in the U.S. in 2020, which represents an 8% increase from 862,320 abortions in 2017.

Additionally, Guttmacher found a 7% increase in the abortion rate for women ages 15 to 44, rising from 13.5 per 1,000 women in 2017 to 14.4 per 1,000 women.

One in five pregnancies ended in abortion in 2020, a 12% increase, with the abortion ratio increasing from 18.4% in 2017 to 20.6% in 2020.

From 2017 to 2020, noted the report, abortions increased by 12% in the West and 10% in the Midwest. Abortions also increased by 8% in the South and 2% in the Northeast, respectively.

According to the research institute, this spike in abortions was accompanied by a 6% decline in births between 2017 and 2020, citing February data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Guttmacher contended that this suggests fewer women were getting pregnant during this time, and a larger proportion of those who did chose to have an abortion.

One reason for the increase, the Institute suggests, is related to the Trump-Pence administrations 2019 Protect Life Rule, which banned abortion businesses such as Planned Parenthood, which provides or refers women for abortions, from receiving federal tax dollars. The Biden administration reversed the rule last October.

Guttmacher claims that the Trump administration reduced the capacity of these programs to provide contraceptive care, resulting in more unintended pregnancies and abortions due to a supposed lack of access to low-cost or no-cost contraceptives.

However, Michael J. New, a researcher and associate scholar at the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, noted in a piece for National Review that the abortion rate already started increasing in 2019, before Planned Parenthood withdrew from the Title X program.

The CDCs 2019 Abortion Surveillance report showed the total number of abortions increased by 2% compared to 2018, with the abortion ratio and rate of reported abortions increasing by 3% and 2%, respectively.

In a statement sent to The Christian Post on Tuesday, New asserted that the Guttmacher report should concern pro-lifers, as the associate scholar believes the rise in the U.S. abortion rate is tied to an increase in chemical abortions.

New cited February data from the Guttmacher Institute showing that chemical abortions accounted for 54% of U.S. abortions in 2020.

New added that the Food and Drug Administration lifted the in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion pill in December 2021, allowing them to be shipped by mail. The FDA had temporarily lifted abortion pill restrictions during COVID-19, but this move rendered the change permanent.

This made chemical abortions easier to access, New said.

Another factor, according to New, is that some states have begun making their abortion policies more permissive. He pointed to states like Illinois and Maine that passed laws to cover elective abortions through their state Medicaid programs.

Unsurprisingly, the abortion rate increased by 28 percent in Illinois and by 15 percent in Maine, New wrote. Part of the Illinois increase was due to more out-of-state women seeking abortions in Illinois.

However, the fact that the state Medicaid program started to fund elective abortions in 2018 certainly played a role in this abortion rate increase, he continued.

While the pro-life researcher referred to the uptick as concerning, he stressed that it's important to remember the pro-life movements successes in reducing the U.S. abortion rate.

As New reported for the Lozier Institute in September 2019, Guttmacher's data for 2017 showed that the countrys abortion rate has fallen by over 50% since 1980.

Furthermore, a favorable ruling in Dobbs will allow pro-lifers to do even more to build on these gains and enact additional protections for preborn children, he said.

A leaked draft majority opinion published by Politico last month suggested the court is poised to overrule Roe and uphold Mississippis 15-week abortion ban.

In response to the leak, the Supreme Court issued a statement verifying the published drafts authenticity but warned that it does not necessarily reflect the final ruling, which is expected to be released by the end of June.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, more than 20 states have trigger laws on the books which would go into effect and ban abortion in the absence of Roe.
Hollywood actress says working on Christian series 'Going Home' changed her perspective on death

Cynthia Geary, star of the new Pure Flix series Going Home, credits her experience on the faith-based show with changing her perspective on death.

A synopsis of Going Home describes the series as a compelling drama that follows an inspiring team of nurses who help guide patients and loved ones on the ultimate journey  one of transition from this world to their forever home.

I had no experience with hospice. I am really fortunate, knocking on wood, both of my parents are in their 90s and theyre doing fantastic, Geary said in a recent interview with The Christian Post. I read this script the producer sent to me and I thought it was wonderful. It was so well written and I loved the story.

Geary plays the role of Charlie Copeland. The actress, best known for her role in the TV series Northern Exposure, said she really enjoyed the way Going Home creator Dan Merchant approached the series, using true stories of those who were in hospice care.

Before filming began, Geary traveled to Washington state where the series was shot and visited Spokane Hospice, the facility the series is based on. There, she met several nurses and got to sit down and talk with them and ask them questions.

It really opened my eyes, Geary testified. The hospice experience is such a gift to the families. The nurses there, its a calling and they really see their role as helping people to make a peaceful transition. And they want to make it as calm and beautiful as possible and they want the family members to have closure.

It changed my whole outlook on death because it is a part of life and something that all of us are going to experience, and were going to experience it over and over again with our loved ones, she said. Their attitude about it is  this is an opportunity to really have important meaningful conversations with loved ones. And again, resolve issues and just have these wonderful last moments with your loved one before they go on to the next thing.

Geary said the main message she gathered from her experience with hospice nurses was that death isnt something to be feared.

From the research she gathered for her role in Going Home, the Hollywood star determined that hospice care is a ministry.

Theyre up there with nuns. It is really a calling, Geary told CP about the nurses in the field. Theyre really adept at gleaning what people need. Some people need closure and they need the nurses [to] get involved and get them talking. Other people just need a peaceful, calm place and someone to handle the work of dealing with someone who is terminally ill and all the things that includes  medication and turning people who are bedridden, and all those kinds of things that are really hard for family members to do 24 hours a day.

She added, They provide this service so that the family members can just focus on that special time with their loved one.

Gearys character in the series is layered. In one respect, shes a saint and helps her patients. But on the other hand, she has a difficult personal life that unfolds as the series progresses.

The nurses are real people. When I met the hospice nurses, theyre funny, theyre irreverent, she recalled. I just thought Dan did a great job of capturing the fact that theyre all different, super different personalities, different backgrounds. But when they are with their clients, they have a calling and theyre so present.

Although its a series that features faith themes and prayer, Geary revealed that Going Home is not preachy at all.

I love the message that this is a transition to whats next, and I think different people will glean different things from that, whatever their faith and their belief is, she added.

Her favorite part of the series is when her character talks to God in a monologue at the end of every episode.

Its a conversation with my best friend and were just kind of running through what happened in my day, the mother of two shared. Its super casual. Its not this formal thing, Im just talking to my friend and I have frustrations, and Im thankful and grateful. That was one of my favorite parts of my role as Charlie.

My parents are in their 90s, so I know that this is something Im going to face in the near future. But I really see it now as this is something that we know is going to happen and were all going to go through it and were going to go through it with our loved ones over and over again, she reiterated.

Geary had a wholesome Christian upbringing and described herself as the luckiest woman in the world. This new role is her first significant role after taking a long hiatus from acting to raise her family.

The importance of family was instilled in me from birth. Im still really close to all of my family and we now have extended family that spans generations of children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and we gather on holidays, she told CP

Speaking of the series she added: Its very encouraging and positive, and especially for the faith audience who know that theres something after death, she concluded.



Geary is joined by a great cast of actors in Going Home including: Cozi Zuehlsdorff (Dolphin Tale) and Charisma Carpenter (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), with guest stars Tom Skerritt (Picket Fences) and the NFLs Vernon Davis (San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, Washington Redskins/Commanders) and more.

Visit Pure Flix to stream this series and many others.
UMC Denounces Trans Ideology, 206-Year-Old Church Closes, Democrats Try To Suppress Pro-Life Searches

link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 07:06 07:06

A regional body of The United Methodist Church has approved a resolution denouncing biological males participating in womens sports.



A group of Democratic U.S. senators is urging Google CEO Sundar Pichai to take action after a report from a left-wing activist group found Google may be directing users who search for abortion services toward pro-life pregnancy centers.

In 206 years, Christ Church UMC in Southwick, Massachusetts, has survived changes to its name, facilities and membership. After more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic however, members voted in May to permanently disband the congregation due to their dwindling numbers beginning July 1 and their pastor decided it was a good time to retire too.

Iconic entertainer Whoopi Goldberg joined worship group Maverick City Music and gospel legend Kirk Franklin in singing and dancing during an appearance on The View Monday.
Quarter of US abortion clinics will close if Roe v. Wade is overturned, study predicts

A new study released in anticipation of the Supreme Courts ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization purports that if the court overturns Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion nationwide, nearly a quarter of abortion facilities throughout the country will close.

Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) conducted the study from 2017 through 2021, releasing the results on Tuesday. The study analyzed 790 abortion facilities that publicly advertised their services and were open in 2021, an increase from the 774 open facilities in 2017.

The uptick was attributed to the Food and Drug Administration lifting the in-person dispensing requirement for chemical abortions (abortion pills) and allowing for them to be shipped by mail in December 2021. The FDA had temporarily removed restrictions on abortion pills during COVID-19, but this move made the removal permanent.

The change led to the opening of telehealth facilities throughout the country that provide prescriptions for this type of abortion, with the number varying by state.

Using data from ANSIRHs abortion facility database, the study analyzed all abortion facilities within the U.S. and Washington, D.C., that publicly advertise that they commit abortions.

ANSIRHs database includes a wide range of facilities such as doctors offices, public health centers and hospital settings. According to the studys authors, the databases information about abortion facilities that publicly advertise what they do was systematically updated every summer during June through September of the years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

Data about the location of each abortion facility, the types of abortions offered and their cost was documented by the study's authors, who gathered information by conducting searches online and calling the facilities.

In the event that Roe is overturned, the study asserts that up to 26 states could ban most or all abortions and many facilities in these states may close. We may also see fewer facilities serving larger populations of people.

It predicts that the overturning of Roe will lead to the closure of 202 abortion clinics, closing 26% of all publicly advertising abortion facilities in the U.S.

The study authors also noted the geographical differences in the distribution of abortion facilities, which they predict would widen if the court strikes down Roe.

According to the study, there was one abortion facility for every 56,000 women of reproductive age in 2021 in the Northeast, and in the South, there was one facility for every 158,000 women of reproductive age.

Compared to other states, California had the most abortion facilities, with 168 open facilities as of 2021, followed by 89 in New York and 55 in Florida.

ANSIRH did not immediately respond to The Christian Posts request for comment.

On Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in the case of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland et al. v. Kim Reynolds et al. that there is no right to abortion in the states constitution. The ruling reversed a lower court decision against Iowas 24-hour waiting period for an abortion and remanding for further proceedings.

[T]he Iowa Constitution is not the source of a fundamental right to an abortion necessitating a strict scrutiny standard of review for regulations affecting that right, Justice Edward Mansfield wrote in the majority opinion.

Constitutions  and courts  should not be picking sides in divisive social and political debates unless some universal principle of justice stands on only one side of that debate. Abortion isnt one of those issues.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, more than 20 states, including Iowa, have trigger laws on the books which would go into effect and ban abortion in the absence of Roe. A leaked draft majority opinion published by Politico last month suggested the court is poised to overrule the 1973 decision in a ruling that could uphold Mississippis 15-week abortion ban.

A May 3 statement released by the court the following day verified the draft opinions authenticity but also said it does not reflect the final ruling. The court is expected to release its decision sometime this month.
Supreme Court says Maine cant bar parents from using state funds to send kids to religious schools

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that Maine cannot prohibit parents from using a state tuition program to send their children to religious private schools.

In a decision released Tuesday in the case of David Carson et al. v. A. Pender Makin, the high court ruled 6-3 that a state tuition assistance program could not stop parents from using the funds for schools that have sectarian instruction.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, writing that "we have repeatedly held that a State violates the Free Exercise Clause when it excludes religious observers from otherwise available public benefits."

"As noted, a neutral benefit program in which public funds flow to religious organizations

through the independent choices of private benefit recipients does not offend the Establishment Clause," Roberts wrote.

"Maines 'nonsectarian' requirement for its otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Regardless of how the benefit and restriction are described, the program operates to identify and exclude otherwise eligible schools on the basis of their religious exercise."

The Supreme Court decision reverses an appeals court ruling and remands the case for further proceedings consistent with the opinion released Tuesday.

Joining Roberts for the majority were Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

Justice Stephen Breyer authored a dissent, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, in which he argued that the tuition aid restriction was constitutional.

"The First Amendment begins by forbidding the government from 'mak[ing] [any] law respecting an establishment of religion.' It next forbids them to make any law 'prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' The Court today pays almost no attention to the words in the first Clause while giving almost exclusive attention to the words in the second," wrote Breyer.

"It sometimes allows a State to further antiestablishment interests by withholding aid from religious institutions without violating the Constitutions protections for the free exercise of religion. In my view, Maines nonsectarian requirement falls squarely within the scope of that

constitutional leeway."

In 2018, a group of parents sued Maine over a ban on state tuition assistance for families sending their children to a private school that includes sectarian aspects in its curriculum.

The plaintiffs included the Carsons and the Gillises, who enrolled their kids at Bangor Christian School, and the Nelsons, who wanted to transfer their daughter from a secular private school to Temple Academy, where their son was enrolled.

Eventually, the Gillises were removed from the litigation because their daughter graduated from high school and was therefore no longer potentially eligible for the tuition assistance program.

U.S. District Judge Brock Hornby ruled against the families in June 2019, concluding in his decision that Maines educational funding program is constitutional.

In October 2020, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit unanimously upheld the lower court decision, with Circuit Judge David Barron writing the opinion.

Maine transgresses neither the Free Exercise Clause nor the Establishment Clause, wrote Barron. Rather, it permissibly satisfies a commitment, rooted in its own founding charter, to pursue the wholly legitimate end of ensuring the distribution of the benefits of a free public education even to those who happen to live in places that cannot provide it of their own accord.

In July of last year, the Supreme Court agreed to take up Carson v. Makin, with the high court hearing oral arguments in the case for nearly two hours in December.

Michael Bindas of the Institute for Justice, who argued the case before the Supreme Court on behalf of the parents, said that since the program gives money to parents, who in turn choose a school, it is not unconstitutional for the parents to choose a religious school.

"That private independent choice severs the link between government funds and religious instruction," Bindas told the high court last year. "It's saying, 'use it where you will.'"

"This is not subsidizing the ... exercise of a right. It is conditioning the availability of an otherwise available public benefit on the surrender of a constitutional right.

Maine Chief Deputy Attorney General Christopher Taub delivered arguments on behalf of the state, arguing that the program was meant to give students "a free public education," not a religious education.

"The reason that schools that promote a particular faith are not eligible to participate is simple," said Taub in his opening remarks last year. "Maine has determined that as a matter of public policy, public education should be religiously neutral."
Texas AG can't intervene in lawsuit against hospital over puberty blockers, trans hormones: judge

A Dallas County judge has ruled that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has no authority to intervene in a lawsuit involving a Dallas hospitals ability to provide gender transition services for trans-identified youth.

The law firm Aldous/Walker LLP announced in a statement Friday that Judge Melissa Bellan removed Paxton from the lawsuit involving Dallas Childrens Medical Center and physicians at the facility. She ruled that the state had no authority to act in the case.

Bellans ruling came four days after the state of Texas filed a petition to intervene in the case, where Dr. Ximena Lopez is suing the hospital for preventing her from offering puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors.

The attorney general has no business being in this case and tried to push his way into it to satisfy a political interest, not a legal one, said attorney Charla Aldous.

The state of Texas disagrees with that analysis, insisting that intervention is essential in this case because the State has well-recognized sovereign interests in the uniform application of its laws and the welfare of children in this State.

Paxton has taken a strong interest in issues related to medicalized gender transitioning of minors, declaring in a non-binding opinion issued in February that so-called sex-change procedures  experimental and irreversible puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and genital mutilation, including elective mastectomies and castration  constitute child abuse under several provisions of chapter 261 of the Texas Family Code.

Beyond the obvious harm of permanently sterilizing a child, these procedures and treatments can cause side effects and harms beyond permanent infertility, he wrote.

The American College of Pediatricians has identified osteoporosis, mood disorders, seizures, [and] cognitive impairment as side effects of puberty blockers and warns that cross-sex hormones lead to an increased risk of heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, blood clots and cancers.

A summary of the two-hour hearing in front of Judge Bellan Friday compiled by Lopezs legal team maintains that attorneys for Paxton questioned whether Dr. Lopez was following the proper standard of care, but the court rejected those arguments. At that hearing, Lopezs legal team stated that the Texas Department of Health and Human Services has approved puberty blockers as a treatment for gender dysphoria.

A spokesperson for Aldous/Walker told The Christian Post that as of Monday afternoon, the court order is awaiting signoff of the draft from the attorney generals office and had not yet been filed with the court.

Lopez believes the suspension of gender transition surgeries for minors at Childrens Medical Center came in response to a letter last August by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Jaime Masters, which classified genital mutilation of a child through reassignment surgery as child abuse, subject to all rules and procedures pertaining to child abuse.

Masters letter came after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requested that the agency issue a determination of whether genital mutilation of a child for purposes of gender transitioning through reassignment surgery constitutes child abuse.

In March, the Houston-based Texas Childrens Hospital, the largest pediatric hospital in the United States, announced that it would no longer provide puberty blockers to children after Paxton wrote the opinion.

Following a temporary injunction handed down by Bellan last month, Lopez and other physicians could resume providing gender transition services.
Church grieves after former treasurer gets probation for stealing $400K

A Pennsylvania church that wanted to see greater punishment for a former treasurer who pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $400,000 from their coffers is now grieving after she was sentenced to just 10 years of probation for her crime.

The former treasurer, Melanie Lee Kummerer, 56, of Calvary Lutheran Church in Reading, pleaded guilty to one count of theft by unlawful taking and three counts of forgery, according to court documents cited by the Reading Eagle.

Kummerer pleaded guilty on June 7 before Berks County Judge Patrick T. Barrett. The former treasurer was also ordered to pay restitution but the churchs interim pastor, the Rev. Lauren Wolfe Blatt, told the publication she wasnt sure if Kummerer, who forged more than 200 checks, would be able to repay the stolen money.

"I think overall our congregation is really grieving," Blatt told the Reading Eagle. "They wanted to see a greater punishment for such a large crime."

She explained that for congregants, Kummerers theft was more than just about money.

The Berks County District Attorney's Office stated that a representative of the church first reported they had been the victim of a financial crime on July 24, 2019. An investigation showed that Kummerer was appointed to the position of Central Treasurer of the Calvary Lutheran Church in January 2009 and she received an annual stipend of $2,503. She held that post until she resigned on Feb. 25, 2019.

During that period, Kummerer managed and kept the churchs financial records at her home.

When the church got a new senior pastor, the Rev. Drew Neidig, in August 2018, the leadership raised concerns about the churchs finances. After the new pastors first financial meeting in October 2018, he asked Kummerer to provide a balance sheet and income statement at all future meetings. She failed to do that during the churchs next two financial meetings and the police were contacted.

A forensic audit showed Kummerer forged more than 200 checks between 2009 and 2019, totaling approximately $391,444.03.

Neidig explained that while Kummerer was busy stealing from the church the church was struggling to pay its bills.

It put us in a very tough financial position. We were often behind in paying our bills and its because we did not have the money, Neidig said at the time. One of things that the church and other nonprofits do is assume that everyone is trustworthy and therefore they dont have good financial controls in place and that certainly was the case here because we assumed people were trustworthy, and we didnt have proper checks and balances.

Blatt noted on Monday that because Kummerers theft impacted a community in need the light sentence she received is harder to digest.

"When we think about it as just money, we can minimize it," Blatt said. "But when we think about it as peoples' hard-earned contributions to the church, it's harder to swallow.

"We are a congregation that's active and moving," she said. "We are a congregation that uses the money we have to serve God's people. We are sad that we won't see the $400,000 she stole."
A drag queen in every school is modern lefts chicken in every pot

For todays left, it seems that, politically, A drag queen for every school has replaced a chicken in every pot.

Really.

Heres what Michigans Democratic attorney general, Dana Nessel, who is gay, had to say about the trend of bringing drag queen events to schools.

Drag queens make everything better. Drag queens are fun, Nessel said, according to a Detroit News reporter on Twitter.

A drag queen for every school, she added.

"Drag queens make everything better. Drag queens are fun," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says at a civil rights conference in Lansing while speaking out against what she describes as efforts to divide people.



"A drag queen for every school," she adds.  Craig Mauger (@CraigDMauger) June 15, 2022

Revolutionary regimes have typically promoted total cultural transformation by converting the youth.

In that vein, Americas children are being hit by a tidal wave of transgender and gender-identity propaganda in popular media, and perhaps more disturbingly, in our schools.

In early June, videos surfaced from an LGBTQ Pride event at a gay bar in Dallas called Drag Your Kids to Pride.

It was, to say the least, highly inappropriate for children.

What happened in Dallas wasnt an isolated incident. It appears that taking young children to drag shows, where cross-dressing, sexualized adults perform and may occasionally expose themselves is becoming all the rage as similar events have occurred around the country.

They are often labeled family friendly, seemingly stripping the phrase of all meaning.

The problem, unfortunately, goes much deeper than the growing number of such events. In the past few years, there has been an explosion of K-12 schools promoting the most extreme elements of the LGBTQ agenda, including partnering with pro-drag organizations.

This is happening in many cases without parental consent, and in some cases without even notification.

The New York Post reported that New York and New York City spent more than $200,000 on drag shows at schools.

Last month alone, Drag Story Hour NYC  a nonprofit whose outrageously cross-dressed performers interact with kids as young as 3  earned $46,000 from city contracts for appearances at public schools, street festivals, and libraries, city records show, The Post reported.

Drag Story Hour NYCs website says that it has produced 49 Drag Story Hour programs for 34 individual public schools.

Money was funneled to the program through New York states Council on the Arts and departments of Education, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Community Development, and Transportation.

According to The New York Post, parents were either told their children would be attending these events  with no option to opt out  or they werent notified at all.

This is, without a doubt, part of a broader effort to normalize transgenderism and gender fluidity for young children.

As with critical race theory, some on the left try to dismiss claims that foisting gender-identity ideology on children is a widespread phenomenon or that its just being done to promote tolerance. If children are occasionally exposed to something inappropriate, its just an unfortunate part of that process, the reasoning goes.

I agree that Pride should be a welcoming space for children and teens, but policing how others show up doesnt protect or uplift young people, wrote Lauren Rowello in a June 2021 opinion piece for The Washington Post. Instead, homogenizing self-expression at Pride will do more harm to our children than good. When my own children caught glimpses of kink culture, they got to see that the queer community encompasses so many more nontraditional ways of being, living, and loving.

In Rowellos view, wanting to shield children as young as toddlers from kink is dismissed as bigotry.

This cultural blitz is clearly having an effect.

A recent study conducted by the pro-LGBTQ Williams Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles found that the number of young people who identify as transgender has doubled in just a few years. One-fifth of the transgender population is aged 13 to 17, according to the study.

Its also significant that the study found the biggest increases are happening in blue states that are more likely to promote pro-transgender and gender-identity advocacy in their public school curriculums.

Its no surprise, given the aggressive school advocacy, that New York ranked at the very top of the list for numbers of transgender youth.

This transformation is being foisted on our society by big institutions  such as Big Tech  that squash debate and censor inconvenient dissenters, by public schools that have been co-opted on the transgender movements behalf, and even by the federal government. The Biden administration is poised to expand Title IX laws against sex discrimination to include gender-identity discrimination and is threatening to even take school lunch funding away from schools that dont comply.

Notice how quickly the left drops concern for the poor and needy when they get in the way of the social revolution?

What we are seeing is every big institution, buttressed by the relentless ideological support of higher education, falling in line to support the left-wing gender-ideology agenda.

Now, our K-12 schools are all in on it, too, dragging kids to drag and a whole lot more.

Originally published at The Daily Signal.
The National Parents and Families Engagement Council ignores half the nation

Having been part of the Washington D.C. policy world for decades, I am not surprised by the newly formed National Parents and Families Engagement Council (NPFEC). Each U.S. administration faced with a significant crisis starts some form of public-private partnership to demonstrate cooperation between government and the public.

Under President George W Bush after 9-11, in the spirit of harmony and collaboration, he created a series of interfaith initiatives that led to an official White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI). The OFBCI's mission was to ensure faith-based groups were an integral part of every branch of the U.S. government's proposed solutions to social problems and natural disasters.

The OFBCI continues until today and has always been a bipartisan, multi-faith effort to tackle some of our nation's biggest challenges. Initially mandated under Bush, President Obama further developed the Homeland Security Advisory Council, which provides organizationally independent, strategic, timely, specific and actionable advice to the Secretary of Homeland Security and senior leadership on matters related to homeland security. Though their role is strictly advisory, the bipartisan members address the most pressing domestic security concerns and publish their findings in a publicly available document.

The effectiveness of these high-level commissions depends on various factors, including the governing legal authority and the extent to which the current administration values its mission and goals. More often than not, however, the result is another obscure publication no one reads or a media stunt to make the government appear proactive. Sometimes these committees provide a platform for special interest groups to voice their opinions directly to the U.S. government and appease those who are critical of the government policies on a particular subject. It creates the impression that citizens can have input in the political process.

In reality, without implementation power, their recommendations have a limited impact.

Regardless of the limited effectiveness of these public-private collaborations, whether under Bush, Obama, or Trump, they each made a concerted effort to include a broad spectrum of viewpoints. They had representatives from both sides of the political and social divide  conservatives and liberals  so that the final report would resonate with a broader audience. Having worked with many of these boards in the past, I know their negotiations were thoughtful and involved a painstaking process of compromise. The all-inclusive approach lends credibility to the idea that the conclusions considered all sides of the issue(s).

However, the Biden administration seems indifferent to the notion that all legitimate perspectives of a national dilemma deserve a seat at the table. A cursory review of the NCPEC members signals that conservative and Christian organizations in the parental rights movement will not have a say in the deliberations. Some of the organizations named to the Council represent valuable perspectives on the role of black fatherhood, access to resources for lower-income children and children of color, as well as female empowerment, and accommodations for kids with disabilities. Several of their financial statements include heavy hitters like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Facebook as donors. However, none of the current members propose a biblical worldview of education.

Yet, anyone familiar with the controversies surrounding oversexualized health education, woke gender theories, medical independence, and accurate civic education in public schools know there is a massive divide in this country over these issues. Christian and conservative groups demand that schools stick with traditional definitions of male and female, eliminate COVID vaccine mandates, and prohibit teaching critical race theory. Organizations like Children's Health Defense or Parent's Defending Education are noticeably absent from the roster.

It is not entirely clear what this parent council is supposed to accomplish. In fact, one of the Council members advocating for critical race theory calls for a complete overhaul of the education system to eradicate generational institutions of oppression. The Department of Education says they will host listening sessions to better understand the needs of children and help identify practical ways families can engage at the local level. There is no mention of finding ways to restore power to the families or supporting two-parent households to be the primary educators of children.

If the Council sincerely intends to address the most pressing issues for all parents, it must include both sides of these fractious debates. Instead, the Biden Administration is signaling that the goal is not resolution and healing the ideological divide but just announcing one side as the winner. Unfortunately, this will only lead to further hostility between the parties of opposing perspectives. In the end, it is the future of our children that hangs in the balance.
Evangelical church raises concerns over religious tolerance ahead of Nigerias presidential elections

As Nigeria is preparing for its presidential election amid unabated violence, one of the largest Christian denominations in the country has warned of a deep and irredeemable crisis if the religion or region of the candidates is given more importance than the constitutional values of religious tolerance.

Given the pluralistic configuration of Nigeria, we have seen deliberate effort since independence to preserve the peace and unity of the country by ensuring that the presidency is balanced in terms of religion and region, the Rev. Stephen Baba Panya, president of the Evangelical Church Winning All denomination, noted in a statement, according to Nigerias Daily Post newspaper.

As per an unofficial agreement among Nigerias parties and politicians, the presidency should alternate between a Christian from the south and a Muslim from the north.

About half of the population of Nigeria is Muslim, most of whom live in the north, where Islamist groups like Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen and Islamic State West Africa Province have launched attacks on Christians in an apparent move to make a case for the separation of the Muslim-majority north from the Christian-majority south.

Our national interest is greater than any individual or group interest, the Rev. Panya stressed, calling on all the political parties to maintain this balance for the 2023 presidential election and to caution those who are brazenly advocating for a Muslim/Muslim ticket to reconsider their unrealistic stance.

Panya further underlined that we do not, and will not support a Christian/Christian ticket or a Muslim/Muslim ticket as this is capable of plunging the nation into deep and irredeemable crisis.

He added, the corporate existence of Nigeria is founded on the principles of justice, fairness and equity.

Section 23 of the 1999 Constitution, identifies religious tolerance and social justice as the national values which, Panya said, "must guide our conduct and relationships.

Nigerias incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, a northern Muslim from the ruling All Progressives Congress Party, has served two terms, and the presidency is now expected to go to a candidate from the south.

However, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party has chosen Atiku Abubakar, 75, a former vice president and political stalwart who is a northern Muslim, as its presidential candidate.

Theres a need, the ECWA said, to do away with primordial sentiments that seek to divide and destroy us and embrace the ideals of peace, love, unity and progress.

The elections will be held next year amid rising attacks on Christians.

Open Doors USA, which monitors persecution in over 60 countries, reported that at least 4,650 Christians were killed between Oct. 1, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2021. That is an increase from 3,530 the previous year. Additionally, more than 2,500 Christians were kidnapped, up from 990 a year earlier.

Last month, the Islamic State terror group released a video showing the execution of some 20 Christian civilians in Borno State in revenge for the killing of their leader in Syria by the United States special forces in February.

The video, published on an IS-linked news outlet, showed a masked militant executing a Christian civilian while saying it was revenge for the killing of their leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, an Iraqi Islamic terrorist and the second caliph of the Islamic State.

In another recent attack, unidentified gunmen stormed a Catholic parish in northern Nigeria and abducted two priests, identified as Fr. Stephen Ojapa and Fr. Oliver Okpara from the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, and two unidentified boys from St. Patrick Catholic Church in Gidan Maikambo area of Katsina states Kafur Local Government Area, Vatican News reported.

Nigeria was previously included on the U.S. State Departments Countries of Particular Concern list of governments that engage in or tolerate egregious violations of religious freedom. But Secretary of State Antony Blinken removed Nigeria from the list last November, just under a year after then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added that country to the list in December 2020.

Amid accusations that the Biden administration pushed a political narrative as the West African country faces increasing extremist and communal violence, the State Department released its annual international religious freedom report on Nigeria earlier this month, saying, There was pervasive violence involving predominantly Muslim herders and mostly Christian, but also Muslim, farmers, particularly in the North Central, but also in the North West (where most farmers were Muslim) and Southwest regions.

Nina Shea, the director of the U.S.-based Hudson Institutes Center for Religious Freedom, told The Christian Post in an email at the time that the State Department has missed the big picture of vulnerable Christian minorities of northern Nigeria being repeatedly attacked and driven from their villages by Muslim extremists and their agents who act with complete impunity.

Authorities fail to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of these large-scale atrocities, and moreover prosecute and threaten local journalists who report on them, she said.
Myanmar military torturing, killing children: Fingernails, teeth pulled out during interrogations

Myanmars Buddhist nationalist junta has disproportionately targeted religious minorities, including Christians, and brutally attacked and killed hundreds of children since last years military coup, according to multiple reports, including the U.N. which said the atrocities constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said in a report that the juntas relentless attacks on children underscore the generals depravity and willingness to inflict immense suffering on innocent victims in its attempt to subjugate the people of Myanmar.

Focusing on the killing of children, the U.N. rapporteur said during his fact-finding for the report, I received information about children who were beaten, stabbed, burned with cigarettes, and subjected to mock executions, and who had their fingernails and teeth pulled out during lengthy interrogation sessions.

Over the past 16 months, the military has killed at least 142 children in Myanmar, the U.N. report added. Over 250,000 children have been displaced by the militarys attacks and over 1,400 have been arbitrarily detained. At least 61 children, including several under 3 years of age, are reportedly being held as hostages. The U.N. has documented the torture of 142 children since the coup.

Andrews said, The juntas attacks on children constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes. Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing and other architects of the violence in Myanmar must be held accountable for their crimes against children.

The special rapporteur called for a change in the international communitys approach to the coup and the juntas atrocities, saying the existing approach had failed. States must take immediate coordinated action to address an escalating political, economic and humanitarian crisis that is putting Myanmars children at risk of becoming a lost generation.

He added: For the sake of Myanmars children, member states, regional organizations, the Security Council, and other U.N. entities must respond to the crisis in Myanmar with the same urgency they have responded to the crisis in Ukraine.

According to the report, the junta has intentionally deprived children of their fundamental human rights to health, education and development, with an estimated 7.8 million children out of school.

Following the collapse of the public health system since the coup, the World Health Organization projects that 33,000 children will die preventable deaths in 2022 because they have not received routine immunizations, it added.

Days after the release of the U.N. report, International Christian Concern, a U.S.-based persecution watchdog, also drew attention to a Catholic church that was burned in Kayah state by the countrys army, called Tatmadaw.

St. Matthews Church was set ablaze by junta soldiers last Wednesday, ICC said.

This is one of many assaults against Christian believers since the military takeover of the democratically elected government, ICC said, explaining in another statement on the suffering of children and religious minorities that the destruction of worship places indicates the juntas desire to spread the Buddhist religion and stop Christians who support local defense forces against the coup.

Formerly known as Burma, the Southeast Asian country is home to the worlds longest Civil War, which began in 1948.

The conflict between the countrys military, locally known as Tatmadaw, and ethnic minority militias escalated after the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, as the ethnic militias have been supporting pro-democracy protesters. The conflict zones are along Myanmars borders with India, Thailand and China.

Christians make up just over 7% of the majority-Buddhist nation. But Christians are a majority in Chin State, which borders India, and Kachin State, which borders China, and make up a substantial part of the population of Kayah State, which borders Thailand.

Myanmar is ranked No. 12 on Open Doors USAs 2022 World Watch List of 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. The persecution level in Myanmar is very high due to Buddhist nationalism. Burma is recognized by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern for egregious violations of religious liberty.
Oxford college apologizes for 'misleading' claims about Christian group after LGBT outcry Group invited back on campus

A college in Oxford, England, has apologized for tarnishing the name of a Christian organization with misleading claims in a letter to students after it allegedly canceled a conference booking in response to outcry from student activists alleging the conference's content was "hateful."

For over a decade, the Wilberforce Academy, an affiliate of the Evangelical advocacy group Christian Concern, has held a one-week conference at Worcester College for university students and young professionals to offer guidance on applying the Christian faith to their vocations.

In March, after students complained about the conference  which Christian Concern says "includes teaching of biblical beliefs that have been recognised by the Christian Church globally for the past 2,000 years"  Worcester College apologized for causing the students "significant distress" and canceled the 2022 event scheduled for September.

Following an independent review launched by Christian Concern that found "no evidence" for the move, Worcester now says the school stands for "the right to freedom of speech and religious belief and the dignity of all people. "

In a joint statement released Tuesday, Christian Concern and Worcester College announced the dispute was resolved and that it was "misleading" for Worcester to suggest anything improper had occurred at the conference.

The statement read in part:

"After detailed examination of the circumstances of Christian Concern's conference in September 2021, Worcester College acknowledges that notwithstanding various accounts of events it was misleading to suggest that Conference delegates or representatives of Christian Concern acted improperly in an email to students in September 2021 which was subsequently leaked to the Cherwell Student newspaper."

According to the statement, Worcester has invited Christian Concern back on campus to speak at a later date, "which will take place as soon as can be arranged."

"In a world where differing views are strongly and sincerely held, it is important to come together and listen to each other," the statement read.

The controversy began shortly after David Isaac, the former chair of the LGBTQ charity Stonewall and the United Kingdom Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), was tapped as provost of Worcester College.

Worcester says the college first received several complaints from students about leaflets being passed out on campus last September.

"Unsolicited approaches by your conference delegates to staff and students within the confines of the College in respect of various issues, especially LGBT conversion therapy, which they found upsetting," the college was quoted as telling Chrisitan Concern. "This was especially the case for new students attending a parallel event, Opportunity Oxford, which prepares young people for their impending admission to Oxford University."

When asked to show details of the complaints and alleged leaflets passed out on campus, Christian Concern was told that the school could not provide such information.

"The information provided does not enable me to identify any of your delegates," a Worcester College official told Christian Concern. "I have not been able to obtain a copy of the leaflets that were alleged to have been distributed."

Christian Concern's independent inquiry was conducted by Michael Stewart, a charity lawyer with prior experience in similar investigations.

Of the 124 attendees at the 2021 conference, 114 provided witness statements responding to the allegations. Worcester College didn't engage with the inquiry, according to Christian Concern.

"The allegations that have been made regarding inappropriate behavior are not in keeping with my own experiences with the delegates with whom I had the pleasure of teaching and interacting. I found them unfailingly courteous and, in their debates with each other, mature and respectful," one of the attendees was quoted as saying in a witness statement.

"I find it very sad that people are spreading lies when the week was a very positive week where many of today's issues could be discussed in love and respect," said another attendee.

Andrea Williams, the chief executive of Christian Concern, said she anticipated that the inquiry would find no evidence that any delegates have done anything to warrant "apologizing for, being canceled or discriminated against for their Christian beliefs."

"Worcester College capitulated to complaints from a handful of students who appear to have felt offended following debate on some of the most important social issues of our time. It is disappointing that such a prestigious university and college should be canceling Christian beliefs, debate and free speech," Williams wrote.

Williams believes Oxford University should stand for "free" speech and expression and allow its students to have the "intellectual" ability to decide whether they wish to attend external events and make up their minds on what they hear.

"We will continue to speak of Jesus Christ who was Himself an outsider and by His words and actions demonstrated His commitment to reaching the marginalized, excluded and vulnerable so that they could discover true hope and everlasting love through Him, even sacrificing His own life to do so," she added.

In March, the advocacy group Free Speech Union wrote a letter to Provost Isaac asking him to retract his apology for allowing the Wilberforce Academy to use the college's facilities, saying the school uncritically accepted the student activists' claims without investigation.

In a statement provided to The Christian Post in March, Worcester College claimed that "no conference booking has been canceled" and that it didn't accept many findings in the report.

The college expressed disappointment that the report was "published without us having the opportunity to discuss it in advance" and looked forward to "a constructive meeting with Christian Concern and the chance to discuss properly the issues."
What we celebrate in Stradivari is his boldness of expression. That begins with the Hellier

The Hellier violin marks the point at which Antonio Stradivari created an innovative style of violin-making, establishing new dimensions and other departures from tradition that would become a blueprint for luthiers for generations to come. By Jonathan Bastable

Seen up close, the Hellier Stradivarius seems almost to be a living thing. Look at it head on, and the sinuous f-holes make for a kind of visage, a face with eyes and an upturned mouth. As for its back  a single piece of maple with a beautifully striped grain  it has the golden lustre of a Bengal tigers coat. The Hellier has a complete anatomy of its own: a strong body, slim neck, cinched waist, curved ribs. And then there is the deeply turned scroll, which looks like the prehensile tail of some jungle lizard. Antonio Stradivari made the Hellier  which is offered in The Exceptional Sale in London on 7 July  in 1679. He was in his early thirties at the time, and just emerging from the influence of Cremonas great master luthier, Nicolo Amati. This is the first piece of work that goes in a new direction, says Florian Leonhard, Stradivari expert and Christies consultant on the Hellier. Up to this point you sense that he was following in Amatis footsteps, but now his personality shows.

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How does it show? It is partly in the proportions, which go beyond anything made by the Amati family. The changes are subtle  fractionally larger dimensions, a little more width in the midriff, more prominent detailing at the edges. But these small departures were radical enough to dismay earlier historians. The [Hellier] presents a heaviness and solidity of construction such as we may almost venture to say borders on clumsiness, wrote W. Henry and Arthur Hill in their 1902 biography of Stradivari. To modern eyes, that solidity is a virtue, an aesthetic leap forward. It lends the Hellier the heft and sculptural grace of a Brancusi bronze. Ideas change, says Leonhard, and what we celebrate in Stradivari today is precisely his boldness of expression. That begins with the Hellier, and it is what makes this a unique and timeless item.

The most striking feature of the Hellier is the inlaid decoration on the ribs (the sides of the soundbox) and on the scroll. Of the 500 or so Stradivari violins in existence, barely a dozen are inlaid, and not one of them is adorned like the Hellier. This is self-consciously a work of art as well as an exquisite tool of the musicians trade. Surviving drawings suggest that the inlay design is the work of Stradivaris own hand. The pattern consists of wandering fronds and tendrils, some of which are coming into leaf or have put forth flowers. Many of the stalks are bending under the weight of a bud  making a shape that brings to mind a C clef, or perhaps even the wonderfully calligraphic commas at the top and bottom of those f-holes.

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Hidden in the foliage, like a secret gift, are some tiny, writhing snakes. What they mean and what they are doing there, no one can say. But perhaps Stradivari really did see something reptilian in the form of the scroll, and chose to echo it in the inlay. The scroll is where the carving becomes truly virtuosic. The vegetal design follows the convolutions of the wood, getting smaller and smaller as it approaches the centre point, where Stradivari has etched a tiny flower with four petals. It is a perfect little buttercup  or rather, an artists minimal idea of a buttercup, wrought in black mastic. Florian Leonhard thinks that the rich decoration of the Hellier may have dictated its experimental shape, that Stradivaris intention was to create the best possible canvas for the inlay and for the intricate diamond-and-pearl purfling (the narrow decorative edge). If so, then it was a serendipitous decision, because the altered template seemed to make for a more perfect violin.

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These are the dimensions he used in his mature years, after about 1699, says Leonhard. So the Hellier is ahead of its time  but I am not sure that he had a vision of a bolder instrument when he was making it. Its just a theory, but I wonder if, having arrived at the right proportions for an inlaid violin, he thought, Hang on  this works. And where Stradivari led, others followed. The Hellier proportions became a blueprint among luthiers for generations to come. It could be said that most great violins made in the past 300 years carry a little of the Hellier DNA. The violin was acquired by the Hellier family of Wombourne, Staffordshire, in Englands West Midlands  which is why it is known by their name. Family legend had it that Sir Samuel Hellier, a musicologist, bought it in the 1730s from Stradivari himself  who would by then have been in his nineties. But archival documents suggest that the instrument may have come into the family at an earlier date, no later than 1719.

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Either way, it seems likely that the Hellier lived with its maker for four decades at least. All artists occasionally make things that they cant bear to part with, says Leonhard. It is easy to suppose that Stradivari said to himself, This is my best violin. I am going to keep it. If so, then he must surely have picked it up from time to time, turned it over in his hands, and congratulated his younger self. And when at last he sold it to a visiting Englishman, that must have felt like saying goodbye to an old friend.
From war horses to royalty: the art of Sir Alfred Munnings

An expert guide to the British artist best known for his depictions of horses, but also skilled portraits and landscapes, illustrated with works offered online at Christies from 30 June to 15 July

Sir Alfred Munnings (1878-1959) was one of the finest British Impressionist painters of the 20th century. His life  which was spent mainly in Constable Country in the village of Dedham, on the Suffolk-Essex border  is reflected in a body of work that largely depicts rural scenes, racing and hunting, and most commonly his favourite animal, the noble horse.

Munnings horse paintings Munnings consummate skill in equine portraiture stemmed from a childhood spent admiring and sketching horses at his parents Suffolk mill. Today, his horse paintings remain among his most celebrated and collectable works.

Munnings attraction to gypsy life As a young man at the turn of the 20th century, Munnings was fascinated by the vagabond existence of the gypsies and travellers he met while exploring the country on horseback. Their unconventional lifestyle and brightly coloured clothes and wagons inspired many of his early pictures.

Around this time Munnings also employed a young stable boy known as Shrimp, who reportedly shared his fondness for a stiff drink. Shrimp modelled for many of the artists pre-war pictures, such as the work Shrimp off to Market, which sold for 262,250 at Christies in 2011.

Munnings marriage to Florence Carter-Wood Munnings married his first wife, the artist Florence Carter-Wood, in 1912, but there were problems from the outset. She tried to kill herself on their honeymoon. Between Munnings work requirements in London and fox-hunting trips to Suffolk, Carter-Wood often found herself alone at their home in Cornwall.

Following an affair with a young Captain in the Monmouth Regiment called Gilbert Evans, she succeeded in taking her own life in July 1914. The menage was the subject of the 2014 film Summer in February. Because of the brief nature of their relationship, paintings of Carter-Wood by Munnings are scarce.

Munnings the war artist At the outbreak of the First World War Munnings volunteered for service. Blindness in his right eye  the result of an accident at the age of 20  together with his love of horses, led to him being given a civilian job processing tens of thousands of the animals as they headed to the front lines in France. He was later posted to the Western Front, where he worked at a horse remounting depot, before being commissioned as an official war artist to the Canadian Cavalry Brigade.

Munnings painted portraits of Canadian generals and their steeds, as well as pictures of the Canadian Forestry Corps working at lumber mills. Forty-five of his war pictures were exhibited in 1919 at the Royal Academy in London in an acclaimed show that brought him widespread recognition. In 2019, The Munnings Art Museum in Dedham exhibited 41 paintings on loan from the Canadian War Museum in Ottowa, alongside Munnings surviving sketchbooks from the museums own collection, which explore the crucial contribution of horses during the conflict.

Munnings portraiture  the Astors, the Rothschilds, and the Queen After the war, Munnings equine portraits attracted the attention of patrons on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Rothschild and Astor families, as well as the Dukes of Marlborough and Westminster, who all commissioned portraits. He also painted the Duke of Windsor and at the end of of his career, Queen Elizabeth II with her champion racehorse, Aureole, at the Epsom Derby, a version of which sold at Christies in London in 2016 for 2,098,500. Munnings excelled as a portraitist, yet he found the travel gruelling and lamented that he longed for a quiet, carefree life and rural painting expeditions.

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Munnings hatred of Modernism The academic pinnacle of his career was his election as President of The Royal Academy in 1944. Always a controversialist, he railed against Modernism, which he parodied in paint and also in a speech he gave at a Royal Academy dinner which was attended by his friend Sir Winston Churchill. It was broadcast on the radio, and although it caused uproar among the artistic intelligentsia, it received much popular support.

The author of Munnings catalogue raisonne, Lorian Peralta-Ramos, connects the artists loathing of Modernism with the sadness he felt at the disappearance of pastoral life in Britain. It was heart-wrenching for him to see the horse replaced by the machine, says the author. Works by Munnings, such as A Barge on the Stour, Dedham and The Fairground illustrate how he never strayed far from his realist roots. Pictures, the artist said, were supposed to fill a mans soul with admiration and sheer joy, not to bewilder and daze him.

The Munnings Art Museum in Dedham The success Munnings experienced enabled him to purchase his dream home in 1919, while still a relatively young man. Castle House in Dedham was where he lived and worked with his second wife Violet McBride until his death in 1959.
DALLAS (AP)  Delta Air Lines will be able to continue operating flights at Dallas Love Field for another six years, under a settlement approved by the city council.

The agreement, which passed without debate this week, appears to end a long court fight over gates at the city-owned airport near downtown Dallas that is dominated by Southwest Airlines.

Delta has shared one of the airports 20 gates with Southwest since 2014, and currently uses it for up to five daily flights between Dallas and Atlanta. Southwest, which subleased the gate from United Airlines, has tried to remove rival Delta for several years. Southwest controls 17 other gates.

Airlines have fought over Love Field because it is more convenient for many travelers than DFW Airport, 16 miles away, and because a law passed by Congress in 2006 capped Love Field at 20 gates.

Dallas officials commissioned a study that suggested expanding Love Field, KXAS-TV in Dallas reported. People in nearby residential neighborhoods are objecting to expansion, which was presented to a city council committee earlier this week.

The lawsuit settlement approved by the council Wednesday will let Delta use one of two gates controlled by Alaska Airlines and pay Alaska $200,000 a year through September 2028, an idea proposed by the city, according to The Dallas Morning News. Alaska obtained the gates when it bought Virgin America in 2016, but currently uses them for only two flights a day.

The settlement would resolve a lawsuit that the city filed in 2015. In effect, city officials threw up their hands and asked a federal court to sort out an impasse that involved two federal agencies and six airlines.
A healthy food brand beloved by influencers is going viral on social media this week  but not in a good way.

Daily Harvest, which has become popular among influencers for its sleek, minimalist packaging and lighter fare options  smoothies, flatbreads, oat bowls  has recalled its French Lentil + Leek Crumbles after a slew of customer complaints alleging that the new crumbles offering has made them extremely ill.

A viral TikTok made the rounds earlier this week where creator Abigail Silverman said she was hospitalized with gastrointestinal issues and a 101.8 fever after ingesting the crumbles. (Silverman said she received the product free in a press package.)

Silverman says she ingested the company's French Lentil + Leek Crumbles and alleges she had "extreme stomach and gastro pain" after eating the product and that she is still suffering from irregularities weeks later, only making the connection between her symptoms and the Daily Harvest food after receiving an email from the company that an investigation was being launched.

"I have had to adjust my entire life the last month to deal with this and part of me is grateful that I have an explanation of what's going on because I've never had a health issue like this before until literally I ate this," Silverman told viewers. "That's the only thing that was different about my routine until I started having this issue."

Silverman's video was coupled with a massive influx of comments on the Daily Harvest subreddit page (there were over 800 comments as of early Thursday afternoon) where users told their stories about getting sick from the crumbles after the original poster described "debilitating stomach pain" that landed her in the ER.

She claimed that when she went to eat the crumbles two weeks later, the same symptoms returned and noted that the Daily Harvest product was the "only common denominator" between both bouts of sickness.

"I believe this product has caused me debilitating stomach pain that has taken days to go away," she wrote bluntly.

Daily Harvest Responds

Daily Harvest has responded to the allegations in a series of posts on their website.

The company officially recalled the French Lentil + Leek Crumbles on June 19 at 1:45 p.m. EST, urging customers who have purchased the product to dispose of it.

"We've received customer reports of French Lentil + Leek Crumbles causing gastrointestinal issues. We took immediate steps to address what we heard from customers, reaching out to every person who received French Lentil + Leek Crumbles, instructing them to dispose of the product and not eat it," the company wrote. "We simultaneously launched an investigation with internal and external experts throughout our supply chain and in accordance with regulatory procedures. We will share more information as soon as it's available."

On Wednesday afternoon, Daily Harvest revealed it would be taking investigative action to figure out the problem.

"We launched an investigation to identify the root cause of the health issues being reported. We're working closely with the FDA and with multiple independent labs to investigate this," the report reads. "We are working with a group of experts to help us get to the bottom of thisthat includes microbiologists, toxin and pathogen experts as well as allergists. All pathogen and toxicology results have come back negative so far, but we're continuing to do extensive testing and will keep you updated."

Customers who have been impacted are encouraged to file a report with the company via an online form or email.

Entrepreneur reached out to Daily Harvest for further information but received the same information that was presented to the public.

The FDA has not released a statement as the investigation is ongoing, though that has not stopped Reddit users from posting a spate of claims.

The FDA and the Daily Harvest have not confirmed any of the complaints alleged on social media at this time.

This is a developing story.

Copyright 2022 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
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PARIS (AP)  He may have died last November, but Virgil Abloh lived on at Paris Fashion Week Thursday in a high-energy runway spectacular for Louis Vuitton menswear. A Black marching band gave a rousing performance on a surreal yellow brick road installation inside the Louvre, while rapper Kendrick Lamar performed a live ode to the American fashion star who was Vuittons menswear designer from 2018 until his death.

Here are some highlights of Thursdays spring-summer 2023 shows in Paris.

THE ABLOH MARCHING BAND

Long live Virgil ... How many miles away? went the live rap by Lamar at the stiflingly hot Vuitton show. The yellow road set that snaked around the Louvre's oldest courtyard recalled the spirit of the Wizard of Oz and the childhood obsessions common in Ablohs designs  as did a colorfully-dressed marching band and dancing troupe, including several Florida A&M University band members, that appeared noisily at the show's beginning and end.

This spring-summer show was the first presented since Ablohs death that he had not designed (a previous posthumous one was based on his own creations). On Thursday, it was instead a collection conceived entirely by the Vuitton studio in his spirit. This rare continuation at Vuitton of a former designer's aesthetic is a strong sign of the level of influence the man drew.

Stars such as Omar Sy, Jessica Biel, Justin Timberlake, Joel Edgerton and Naomi Campbell further attested to the pull of his legacy.

VUITTONS STUDIO SHOW

Its a remarkable feat for a studio to emulate a former designers styles  with originality.

This was the case at Thursdays display: From shirt hems quirkily cut in zigzag patterns, to 3-D paper plane appliques on suits and otherworldly, elongated silhouettes.

A finely tailored jacket with trompe loeil prints provided one of the many touches of old-school luxury. Such moments in this collection seemed even to surpass Ablohs own runway designs.

They toed a careful line between the playful styles associated with the house since 2018 and the fine luxury tailoring seen during the tenure of predecessor Kim Jones.

The display's strength was owed to its many feats of design. One case in point was the waist on a black double-breasted jacket that had been pulled in to resemble a V on its side. Its very silhouette evoked the house monogram.

Louis Vuitton's design studio just bucked the trend of too many cooks spoiling the broth.

DEATH-DEFYING FASHION AT HOMME PLISSE ISSEY MIYAKE

Blurring the line between fashion and performance, the Japanese house of Issey Miyake for Homme Plisse used a troupe of acrobats who contorted, danced and seemingly courted death for a spectacular Paris Fashion Week mens show.

In eye-popping hues inspired by flowers and vases, models mingled with performers inside the newly renovated La Poste du Louvre for this unusual and sensitive showcase of fashion designs through dance.

From a hidden ledge high above the courtyard runway, a dancing troupe suddenly stood up mid-show to gasps from the audience. In pastel colored, loosely-fitting pleated garments the performers then climbed down ladders, before performing death-defying leaps, falls and tumbles. Performers were tossed through the air like missiles, to be caught by dancers across the courtyard. There was no safety net above the hard stone floor.

The show was directed by Rachid Ouramdane of the Theatre National de Chaillot, featuring a collective of acrobats, Compagnie XY.

The fashion itself was soft in comparison. Gradual curves at the neck and midriff emulated the shapes of vases with a nice weight that produced a dynamic silhouette. A pleated tunic in pastel red was twinned with a short jacket, with breast panels that resembled an Asian warrior. Elsewhere, a waistcoat in vivid dandelion sported studded pockets that unfurled like an opening flower.

Color-blocking was also a strong theme -- with pastel purple contrasting with blush and raisin black on one look, and on another pastel yellow and midnight blue. It was a strong return to the runway for Homme Plisse at Issey Miyake.

RICK OWENS ANCIENT EGYPT

American designer Rick Owens delved into the ancient world for inspiration, returning from a stay in Egypt and a visit to the Temple of Edfu on the Nile.

Often the philosopher, Owens said that his personal concerns ... felt petty in the face of that kind of timelessness. He has in recent seasons commented on the impact the pandemic has had on fashion and beyond  and embraced the lockdown as a time for introspection.

Owens has always had an aesthetic riffing on the garb of Ancient Egypt, with togas, drapes and high priestess styles gracing his runways. But on Thursday's show he turned up the dial for a very personal take on such silhouettes.

Lying down in the dirt with the Valley of Kings within view was a perspective I liked, he said.

Like the long stone carvings on the ancient temple, silhouettes were elongated by layering garments to drop the midriff low. Dark flared pants were so long the fabric grazed along the stone steps as the models walked down the Palais de Tokyo venue. It created a funky surreal effect.

Extreme shoulders  giant and rounded  created this Egyptian priest vibe, tailored by the American fashion master in silk chiffon, crisp cotton, and garish plaid.

AMI

French designer Alexandre Mattiussi continued his penchant for using A-list French actresses as model-muses in Thursday evening's co-ed show, which riffed on the '80s.

This spring season, the burst of celebrity pizazz came from Amelie and Da Vinci Code star Audrey Tautou, who opened proceedings in a fresh oversize ecru trench and hot cropped white jeans.

The rest of the show was defined by the usual AMI fare of saleable looks, like in oversize '80s suit jackets and knee high stripper boots.

Checks  argyle, gingham tartan styles  mixed with stripes  Breton, pin and sporty  to produce a mild twist on Mattiussis bread-and butter styles.

While, plus size models were a welcome addition on the Paris runway, and added a sense of inclusivity.
After a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 44th annual Houston LGBT+ Pride Celebration returns to Houston this Saturday, June 25, with a fitting theme: The Beat Goes On.

It surely willbeginning with a ticketed festival outside City Hall from 1 to 6:30 p.m., followed by the parade, free for all, at 7 p.m. The parade kicks off on Smith Street near the festival grounds, traveling west on Milam from Walker and ending at Pease. For parade-goers looking to find some nourishment along the way, plenty of downtown restaurants and bars will be serving up great food and cool drinks to fuel up with.

Check out these eight buzzy downtown destinations to hit near the parade route.

Claudia Casbarian

Angel Share

A few blocks down from the parade route, there's a plethora of bars to party at on and off of Main Street, but visit Angel Share and give back while you booze. The bar puts a spotlight on multiple nonprofits each month, allowing guests to vote for their charity of choice, then donating proceeds to the one with the most votes at the end of the month. On the roster for this month is the Montrose Center, along with Free Mom Hugs, Habitat for Humanity and Moms Demand Action.

Find it: 924 Congress St, Houston, TX 77002; (713) 237-8828

Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 4 p.m.-midnight; Friday-Saturday, 4 p.m.-2 a.m.

Common Bond Photography

Common Bond Brasserie

Eat, drink and indulge in Common Bond Brasserie's limited-time, Pride-themed entremet. The vibrant velvet cake is built with rainbow-colored layers and cream cheese icing, then topped with whipped cream, white chocolate pearls and edible gold. A portion of proceeds from the $7 treat is being donated to the Montrose Center.

Find it: 800 Capitol St Suite P1-01, Houston, TX 77002; (713) 343-2255

Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 7 a.m.-9 p.m.; Saturday, 5-10 p.m.; Monday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

Hilton Americas

Hilton Americas Lobby Bar

If your Pride day partying leads you east towards Discovery Green, venture into the lobby bar at Hilton Americas for a whimsical cocktail. The "Sweet Love Cocktail" made with Deep Eddy lemon vodka, hibiscus syrup and lemon juice is available for $14 for the remainder of the month.

Find it: 1600 Lamar St, Houston, TX 77010; (713) 577-2353

Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 4-11 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 4 p.m.-midnight

C. Baldwin Hotel

Lobby Bar at C. Baldwin Hotel

For those looking to take advantage of one of downtons hip hotels for a Pride weekend staycation, the C. Baldwin Hotel is mere blocks from the festival grounds and the parade route. The lobby bar, open to all, is spotlighting a Dalai Mama cocktail, made with vodka, St. Germain, lemon, butterfly pea flower and peach bitters. Priced at $15, it will be available all weekend.

Find it: 400 Dallas St, Houston, TX 77002; (713) 759-0202

Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Yelp/Courtney K.

Sunny's

Look for the tiki-inspired, neon signage among the skyscrapers downtown, and escape to Sunny's Bar for a beverage or $1 Jell-O shot. The bar is reliable and well-stocked, including vodka in flavors like soda and cotton candy. There isn't a bad time to partake at Sunny's, but it's exceptionally lively during the Pride parade.

Find it: 902 Capitol St, Houston, TX 77002

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 2 p.m.-2 a.m.; Monday, 4 p.m.-midnight

Kirsten Gilliam

The Nash

Located inside the historic Texaco building on Rusk Street, The Nash is a solid place to go for drinks, snacks or a complete meal. Hearty eats include wood-fired pizzas, steamed mussels with chorizo, short rib pappardelle and tempura cauliflower hot wings. Take advantage of the air-conditioned dining room and bar, or snag a seat on the patio for views of passersby and the constant coming and going of the MetroRail.

Find it: 1111 Rusk St Suite 172, Houston, TX 77002; (713) 222-6274

Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Saturday, 5-10 p.m.; Monday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Understory / Understory

Understory

Paying a visit to one of downtown's food halls is the best way to ensure everyone in your group gets what they want, and at Understory, options are aplenty. Cool down with a tuna poke bowl or carb load at Mona Italian. There is a giant bar to gather around and loungey seating to rest your feet, plus the attractive space allows for great photo ops in your Pride-day wear.

Find it: 800 Capitol St, Houston, TX 77002

Hours: Sunday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.; Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-10 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m.

Le Meridien Houston Downtown

Z on 23 at Le Meridien

This destination is a few blocks from the parade route, but you may just catch some views from all the way up on the 23rd floor. This open-air rooftop bar offers breathtaking panoramic views of downtown, and its slightly breezier than being on ground-level.

Find it: 1121 Walker St, Houston, TX 77002; (346) 330-3446

Hours: Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Monday-Thursday, 4-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 4 p.m.-midnight
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WASHINGTON (AP)  Donald Trump hounded the Justice Department to pursue his false election fraud claims, striving in vain to enlist top law enforcement officials in his desperate bid to stay in power and relenting only when warned in the Oval Office of mass resignations, according to testimony Thursday to the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Three Trump-era Justice Department officials recounted persistent badgering from the president, including day after day of directives to chase baseless allegations that the election won by Democrat Joe Biden had been stolen. They said they swept aside each demand from Trump because there was no evidence of widespread fraud, then banded together when the president weighed whether to replace the department's top lawyer with a lower-level official eager to help undo the results.

All the while, Republican loyalists in Congress trumpeted the president's claims  and several later sought pardons from the White House after the effort failed and the Capitol was breached in a day of violence, the committee revealed Thursday.

The hearing, the fifth by the panel probing the assault on the Capitol, made clear that Trump's sweeping pressure campaign targeted not only statewide election officials but also his own executive branch agencies. The witnesses solemnly described the constant contact from the president as an extraordinary breach of protocol, especially since the Justice Department has long cherished its independence from the White House and looked to steer clear of partisan considerations in investigative decisions.

When you damage our fundamental institutions, its not easy to repair them," said Jeffrey Rosen, the acting attorney general in the final days of the Trump administration. "So I thought this was a really important issue, to try to make sure that the Justice Department was able to stay on the right course.

The hearing focused on a memorably tumultuous time at the department after the December 2020 departure of Attorney General William Barr, who drew Trump's ire with his public proclamation that there was no evidence of fraud that could have changed the election results.

He was replaced by his top deputy, Rosen, who said that for a roughly two-week period after taking the job, he either met with or was called by Trump virtually every day. The common theme, he said, was dissatisfaction that the Justice Department, in his view, had not done enough to investigate election fraud.

Trump presented the department with an arsenal of allegations, none of them true, said Richard Donoghue, another top official who testified Thursday. Even so, Trump prodded the department at various points to seize voting machines, to appoint a special counsel to probe fraud claims and to simply declare the election corrupt.

The department did none of those things.

For the department to insert itself into the political process this way, I think would have had grave consequences for the country. It may very well have spiraled us into a constitutional crisis, Donoghue said.

The testimony showed that Trump did, however, find a willing ally inside the department in the form of an environmental enforcement lawyer who'd become the leader of the agency's civil division.

The attorney, Jeffrey Clark, had been introduced to Trump by a Republican congressman and postured himself as an eager advocate for election fraud claims. In a contentious Oval Office meeting on the night of Jan. 3, 2021, just three days before the insurrection, Trump even toyed with replacing Rosen with Clark but backed down amid warnings of mass resignations.

Clarks name was referenced often Thursday, with Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican and committee member, deriding him as a lawyer whose sole qualification was his fealty to Trump and his willingness to do whatever the president wanted, "including overthrowing a free and fair democratic election.

A lawyer for Clark did not return messages seeking comment.

Barely an hour before the hearing began, it was revealed that federal agents on Wednesday had searched Clarks Virginia home, according to a person familiar with the matter. It was not clear what agents were seeking.

The latest hearing centered less on the violence at the Capitol than on the legal push by Trump to undo the election results, as the panel makes the case that the defeated presidents big lie over the election led to the insurrection. That included specific asks by Trump but also more general ones.

In one phone conversation, according to handwritten notes taken by Donoghue and highlighted at Thursdays hearing, Trump directed Rosen to Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the R. Congressmen.

Around that time, Trump was connected by a Republican congressman, Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, to Clark, whod joined the department in 2018 as its chief environmental lawyer and later set about aiding efforts to challenge the election results.

At one point, Clark presented colleagues with a draft letter pushing Georgia officials to convene a special legislative session on the election results. Clark wanted the letter sent, but Justice Department superiors refused.

Clark was not among the hearing witnesses. He earlier appeared in private before the committee, though lawmakers Thursday played a videotaped deposition showing him repeatedly invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination in response to questions.

Perrys name surfaced later in the hearing, when the committee played videotaped statements from Trump aides saying he and several other Republican members of Congress sought pardons from the president that would shield them from criminal prosecution.

Perry and fellow GOP Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Louie Gohmert of Texas were all involved in efforts to reject the electoral tally or submit fake electors. Gaetz tweeted Thursday that the hearing was a political sideshow," and Perry denied in a statement Thursday having ever sought a pardon.

The situation came to a head on Jan. 3, 2021, a Sunday, when Clark informed Rosen that Trump wanted to replace him with Clark as acting attorney general. Rosen, resisting the idea of being fired by a subordinate, testified that he swiftly contacted senior Justice Department officials to rally them together. He also requested a White House meeting, where he and his allies could make their case.

That night, he showed up at the White House for what would be a dramatic, hours-long meeting centered on whether Trump should proceed with plans for a radical leadership change. Clark was present, as were Donoghue and Steven Engel, a Rosen ally and senior Justice Department official who also testified Thursday.

At the start of the meeting, Rosen said, The president turned to me and he said: The one thing we know is you, Rosen, you arent going to do anything. You dont even agree with the claims of election fraud, and this other guy at least might do something.'"

Rosen told Trump he was correct, and said he wouldn't let the Justice Department do anything to overturn the election.

Donoghue made clear he'd resign if Trump fired Rosen. Trump asked Engel whether he would do the same. Engel responded that, absolutely, he would. The entire leadership team would resign, Trump was told. Hundreds of staffers would walk out too.

Donoghue also sought to dissuade Trump from believing Clark had the legal background to do what the president wanted, saying Clark had never tried a criminal case or conducted a criminal investigation.

"Hes telling you that hes going to take charge of the department, 115,000 employees, including the entire FBI, and turn the place on a dime and conduct nationwide criminal investigations that will produce results in a matter of days, Donoghue said.

Its impossible, he added, its absurd, its not going to happen, and its going to fail.

The president backed down. The night, and his Republican administration, ended with Rosen atop the Justice Department.

___

Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo, Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.
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JAMMU, India (AP)  Bitta Ji Bhat and his wife have yet to reconcile with the death of their son. Yet, what breaks their heart the most is their 4-year-old granddaughter oblivious to the reality that her father is no more.

My eyes get teary when I see my granddaughter play around, not knowing that cruel hands of death have snatched her papa, Bhat said on a recent afternoon at his modest home in Jammu, a Hindu-dominated city in Muslim-majority Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Bhat's son, a Hindu revenue clerk, was fatally shot inside his office in Kashmir Valley in May. Two days later, police said they had shot dead the anti-India rebels responsible in a gunfight.

That hasn't eased the deep mourning of Bhat's parents.

What could be more agonizing and painful for a father like me who had to see the dead body of his son, Bhat said. In front of him lay a framed picture of his son, Rahul Bhat. He was 35.

Kashmir has witnessed a spate of targeted killings in recent months. Several Hindus, including immigrant workers from Indian states, have been killed. Police say the killings  including that of Muslim village councilors, police officers and civilians  have been carried out by anti-India rebels.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. The region's fury at Indian rule has been long seething and most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

Kashmir's minority Hindus, who are locally known as Pandits, have long fretted over their place in the disputed region. Most of an estimated 200,000 of them fled Kashmir in the 1990s when an armed rebellion against Indian rule began. Some 4,000 of them later returned after 2010 as part of a government resettlement plan that provided them with jobs and housing.

The recent killings, however, have heightened their fears. In the aftermath of Bhat's killing, hundreds of them organized for the first time simultaneous street protests in the region and demanded the government relocate them to safer areas. They accused the government of making them scapegoats and cannon fodder to project normalcy in the region.

Deadly attacks on the minority have continued nonetheless.

On May 31, Raj Kumar dropped his wife outside the government school where she taught social studies. It was a daily routine for the husband and wife schoolteachers posted in the regions restive Kulgam district. But minutes later Kumar received a call from the school principal who told him his wife had been killed.

Rajni Bala, 36, was shot dead by assailants while she was walking toward the school.

Days earlier, the husband and wife had made multiple appeals to authorities to relocate them to a relatively safer area, but their requests were turned down, Kumar said.

When I heard that Rajni is no more, the only thought that came to my mind was how would my daughter live without her mother, he said.
One attorney is out and now the public defender is in.

At a pre-trial hearing Wednesday afternoon in Montgomery County Court, David Fahrenkamp officially withdrew from defending Robert J. "Bobby" Tarr in his murder case.

Fahrenkamp submitted the motion to withdraw a little over a month ago, but the discussion had been delayed so he and Tarr could possibly come to an agreement. They did not. Tarr told the court the two "couldn't come to an agreeable understanding."

"It is what it is," Tarr told Resident Circuit Judge Jim Roberts. The hearing was held virtually via Zoom. "He has to do what he has to do and so do I."

In previous interviews, Fahrenkamp cited retainer fees and Tarr's own motions handwritten to the court without his consultation.

Tarr is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, Leslie Reeves of Troy, Illinois, and attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of Chris Smith of Farmersville. Reeves and Smith were on a blind date the night of the incident.

Read more: Well-known Troy businesswoman and advocate killed, ex-boyfriend charged

Watch: 'I should've listened to my gut feeling,' shooting survivor says

Roberts gave Tarr the option to either be assigned a public defender, hire another attorney or represent himself, he even offered Tarr time to seek new representation. Tarr decided to go with the public defender for now, but hinted at possibly hiring another attorney later after the judge told him he could do so.

Montgomery County Public Defender Erin Mattson was assigned the case, but visibly not to Tarr's approval. After Roberts appointed Mattson, Tarr tried to interject with a preferred defender, but the judge cut him off.

"You don't have a choice, I choose for you," Roberts said glaring into the camera. "I really don't need to hear your preference."

What's waiting to be determined is Tarr's ability to adequately pay for his representation. He told the court he owns some "ground" that's maybe worth $1,000, but also brought up a firearm that's worth more than $1,000 with ammunition.

That firearm was taken when law enforcement executed a search warrant at Tarr's residence and is the subject of the motion he submitted to the court. Tarr told the court the firearm has nothing to do with the case and its release would allow him to sell it.

The discussion will move forward at Tarr's next hearing, and first appearance with Mattson, next Friday, July 1, at 1 p.m. Roberts reminded Tarr that stipulations, should he post bond, do not allow him to possess and someone would have to sell the firearm on his behalf.

Read more: Accused killer left home twice the night of Farmersville homicide
EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP)  The warehouse on a busy but unremarkable strip of auto repair shops and convenience stores draws little attention from passersby.

Inside, hundreds of migrants are eating, charging phones and using temporary bathrooms and showers. Within a few hours, a security guard escorts them to a gravel lot out front, where commercial buses take them from the remote Texas town of Eagle Pass to the San Antonio International Airport for $40.

The Border Patrol releases up to 1,000 migrants daily at Mission: Border Hope. The nonprofit group outgrew a church and moved to the warehouse in April amid the Biden administrations rapidly expanding practice of releasing migrants on parole, particularly those who are not subject to a pandemic rule that prevents migrants from seeking asylum.

Dario Lopez-Mills/AP

The Border Patrol paroled more than 207,000 migrants who crossed from Mexico from August through May, including 51,132 in May, a 28% increase from April, according to court records. In the previous seven months, it paroled only 11 migrants.

Parole shields migrants from deportation for a set period of time but provides little else. By law, the Homeland Security Department may parole migrants into the United States only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. Parolees can apply for asylum within a year.

The Border Patrol turned to parole because it lacks holding space, according to court filings. It is a low-key but far-reaching change from President Joe Biden's first months in office and from his immediate predecessors, Donald Trump and Barack Obama. When agents couldn't process migrants quickly enough for court appearances last year, thousands languished in custody under a bridge in Texas' Rio Grande Valley. In 2019, cells were so packed that some migrants resorted to standing on toilets.

Migrants released at the warehouse are told to report to immigration authorities in two months at their final destination in the U.S. A handheld device tracks their movements.

The treatment (by U.S. authorities) was good in comparison with other countries, said Anthony Montilla, 27, of Venezuela. "They didnt treat us like were thieves.

He arrived with his family after a journey that included walking through Panamas notorious Darien Gap, where bandits raped young girls in front of their parents and dead bodies lay on the jungle floor. After Border Patrol released the family on two months parole, they headed to a friends home in Washington, D.C.

Jose Castillo, 43, arrived from Nicaragua with his wife and 14-year-old son, after overcoming fears of drowning in the Rio Grande. They were headed to Miami to live with a cousin. They say opposition to Nicaragua's government made them targets for repression.

The day Castillo spent in Border Patrol custody was easy, he said, but he would advise others against the trip due to dangers of going hungry or being kidnapped in Mexico.

Mission: Border Hope, which is backed by the United Methodist Church, operates in an area that now rivals Rio Grande Valley as the busiest corridor for illegal crossings. Its services are modest compared to groups in other border cities that provide shelter and transportation to an airport.

It began in 2000 by serving 25 to 50 migrants a week at a previous location, said Valeria Wheeler, the executive director, who oversees operations with assembly-line efficiency.

On the busiest days, volunteers can't keep pace as they register migrants, buy bus tickets and handle other logistics, Wheeler said. A typical day is 500 migrants but arrivals sometimes reach 1,000.

Dario Lopez-Mills/AP

Boxes of spaghetti sauce, chicken soup and pork and beans are stacked near a makeshift kitchen. Migrants wait in clusters of metal benches and plastic chairs. A voice on a loudspeaker gives instructions to people dropped off in Border Patrol buses and announces when airport-bound commercial buses arrive for ticketed passengers.

The facility encourages migrants to leave quickly to make room for others, but about one in 10 end up sleeping on the concrete floor because they have nowhere to go.

We are not set up to be a shelter, Wheeler, a former paralegal, said as she walked the windowless building, often interrupted by migrants with questions.

Paroled migrants say they were not screened for asylum or even asked why they came to the U.S. They receive a stapled packet with a blue stamp that says when parole expires.

That contrasts with many others who are expelled without a chance to seek asylum under Title 42 authority, which denies migrants a shot at asylum on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. A federal judge recently ordered it remain in effect over the administrations objections.

Title 42 has been applied unevenly, largely affecting migrants from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador because Mexico has agreed to take them back.

The head of the Border Patrol's parent agency says migrants picked for parole have their criminal histories checked and generally arrive in families with an address where they will stay in the U.S.

We're trying to be smart about it, recognizing that there are people that have been carefully vetted but are at much lower risk and would make sense to handle differently from others, Chris Magnus, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said in an interview.

Critics say parole encourages more migrants to come and the administration is defying the legal requirement that it be granted on a "case-by-case basis. But Magnus said it is far more efficient and about as effective as releasing them after Border Patrol agents prepare notices to appear in immigration court. That time-consuming exercise now falls to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers when migrants report to them at their final destinations.

The Border Patrol still processes about 25,000 migrants a month for immigration court, which agents say can take more than an hour each. Parole, by comparison, is processed in minutes.

On one recent day, a Honduran woman who was about eight months' pregnant was released with a notice to appear in immigration court in Cleveland, where she planned to live with an uncle. Wheeler said doesn't know why some migrants are processed for immigration court and others are paroled  and her organization doesn't ask.

Our purpose is to provide safety, she said.
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BEIJING (AP)  Chinese President Xi Jinping opened a meeting of leaders of major developing countries on Thursday by saying the world should oppose unilateral sanctions and efforts by some countries to maintain their political and military power.

Xi's remarks at the virtual meeting of the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, known collectively as BRICS, reflect China's tacit backing of Russia in the war in Ukraine and its desire to form an international alliance opposed to the U.S.-led liberal democratic order.

The BRICS meeting comes amid rising concerns over the global economic outlook and a growing political divide between China and India.

Nations need to reject the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation, oppose unilateral sanctions and abuse of sanctions, and reject the small circles built around hegemonism by forming one big family belonging to a community with a shared future for humanity," Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

While no agenda has been issued for the two-day talks, Ukraine is likely to feature heavily in the background. China has refused to condemn Russia's invasion while criticizing sanctions brought against Moscow. India has bought large amounts of Russian oil at a heavy discount, and South Africa abstained in a United Nations vote condemning Russia's actions.

Along with Xi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro are joining the discussions.

China has sought to use the BRICS meetings to further its vision of an alliance to counter the U.S.-led liberal democratic world order while expanding its economic and political footprint.

That has produced few tangible results, but Xi remains committed to the idea of an alternative  and principally authoritarian  mode of global governance, investing heavily in countries such as Cambodia while cracking down on civil rights in Hong Kong and boosting its military to assert its territorial claims in the South China Sea and threats to annex Taiwan by force.

In an address to the BRICS Economic Summit on Wednesday, Xi said the conflict in Ukraine has sounded an alarm for humanity, continuing its formal position of neutrality while backing its ally Russia.

Xi said imposing sanctions could act as a boomerang and a double-edged sword, and that the global community would suffer from politicizing, mechanizing and weaponizing global economic trends and financial flows.

Economic globalization is an objective requirement for the development of productive forces and an irresistible historical trend, Xi said.

In a recorded video, Bolsonaro made no mention of any country and said that the current international context is a cause for concern because of the risks to trade and investment flows to the stability of energy supply chains and investment."

Brazils response to these challenges is not to close itself off. On the contrary, we have sought to deepen our economic integration," he added.

The BRICS collective was founded in 2009 when the countries were seen as the potential engine for future global economic growth.

Since then, South Africa and Brazil have seen their economies become mired in crisis while Chinas growth has sharply declined and Russia has become embroiled in its invasion of Ukraine and punishing economic sanctions imposed by the West.

China and India have meanwhile feuded over their disputed border and New Delhis defense partnership with the U.S., Japan and Australia in what is known as The Quad. Skirmishes along the frontier resulted in a major standoff in 2020 leading to casualties on both sides.
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BOGOTA, Colombia (AP)  President-elect Gustavo Petro, who has vowed to lift up Colombias poor and disenfranchised, has won the support of an influential party of the establishment as he tries to build a majority coalition in Congress.

Petro, a former Bogota mayor and a member of the M-19 rebel group that disarmed decades ago, has won the support of the Liberal Party, which backed another candidate in the first round of Colombias presidential election. Petro won the second round on Sunday in a blow to political traditionalists who have presided for generations over Colombia, through violence and corruption, as well as economic growth and institutional stability.

The decision by the Liberal Party, led by ex-president Cesar Gaviria, to join Petros Historic Pact group shows the pragmatic side of the president-elect as he makes political deals aimed at executing an ambitious legislative agenda that includes fiscal, agrarian, pension and other changes.

We wont be a party of opposition, Gaviria said in a statement Wednesday. Details still have to be worked out regarding the Liberals Party role in a governing coalition and how it can collaborate with 62-year-old Petros camp, he said.

The Liberal Party is one of the largest groups in the bicameral Congress, with 14 senators in the 108-seat Senate and 32 representatives in the 187-seat lower house.

Petros Historic Pact has 20 seats in the Senate and 27 in the House of Representatives. A coalition including the Liberals and other allies would bring it closer to a parliamentary majority.

Sandra Borda, a political analyst at the University of Los Andes in Bogota, said that a lot remains unclear about Petros vision of a national accord in which all sectors of society get involved.

We have to see what will be the content of the policies that Congress will support, and in exchange for what, Borda said. Foreign governments and international investors will follow closely to see who Petro picks as finance minister, which could indicate whether he plans on heavier state involvement in the economy, she said.

Some 47% of the electorate voted for real estate tycoon Rodolfo Hernandez, who lost to Petro in the second round. As the losing candidate, Hernandez was still guaranteed a Senate seat and he said Thursday that he would take it.

Petro is virtually certain to face robust opposition from the Democratic Center, the party founded by a former president, Alvaro Uribe. Current President Ivan Duque, who by law was not allowed to run for a second term, is a member of the Democratic Center. He will hand power to Petro on Aug. 7.
NEW ALBANY, Miss. (AP)  A company that makes reinforced concrete pipe will almost double its workforce with a $23.3 million expansion that will add 30 jobs, officials said.

Dunn Utility Products, based in Byram, is expanding into the Enhance Mississippi Shell Building in New Albany. The 100,000-square-foot building will house two new manufacturing plants to produce concrete pipe and wet cast concrete. The expansion is needed for increased demand, The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported.
TACOMA, Wash. (AP)  A former employee of Washington states Employment Security Department pleaded guilty to three federal felonies for exploiting his employment for personal enrichment and fraudulently distributing at least $360,000 in pandemic-related unemployment benefits, prosecutors said.

Seattle U.S. Attorney Nick Brown said in a statement that Reyes De La Cruz, III, of Moses Lake, pleaded guilty Wednesday to crimes in U.S. District Court in Tacoma in which he personally enriched himself by at least $130,000.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

WASHINGTON (AP)  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, says his COVID-19 recovery is an example for the nation on the protection offered by vaccines and boosters.

Speaking during a White House briefing, Fauci, 81, said he began experiencing virus symptoms on June 14 and tested positive a day later. He was prescribed the anti-viral drug Paxlovid, which has proven to be highly effective at preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19, on June 15.
Juul, the once-booming Silicon Valley start-up widely blamed for igniting the youth vaping epidemic, was grounded Thursday by federal regulators who ordered all of its e-cigarette products off the market, a move they blamed on "inconsistent and conflicting data" on safety.

The Food and Drug Administration said it was denying Juul's applications to continue selling the company's e-cigarette device and pre-filled cartridges in menthol and tobacco flavors. The big surprise was the reason: Rather than focusing on youth use, the agency said the company failed to provide sufficient information proving the products were safe - for people of any age.

The agency said some of the company's study findings raised concerns about possible damage to DNA and "potentially harmful chemicals leaching" from the pre-filled cartridges that contain liquid nicotine, flavorings and other chemicals.

"It's about anybody who would use the product and potential safety issues that the company failed to adequately address," said Mitch Zeller, former director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products.

In the FDA's statement, Michele Mital, acting director of the FDA tobacco center, said Juul was given an opportunity to respond to the agency's questions but "instead left us with significant questions," Mital said. "Without the data needed to determine relevant health risks, the FDA is issuing these marketing denial orders."

In a statement, Joe Murillo, Juul's chief regulatory officer, said the company disagrees with the FDA and would appeal the decisions. Murillo said it has "provided sufficient information and data based on high-quality research" to address issues raised by the agency.

Murillo said the firm would seek a stay of the FDA decisions and is exploring "all of our options under the FDA's regulations and the law, including appealing the decision and engaging with our regulator."

Juul has several options in responding to the FDA. The company could start by filing an appeal within the agency and requesting a stay while the matter is pending. It also could sue the FDA in federal appeals court.

The FDA said it will closely monitor Juul distributors and retailers to ensure the sales are halted. If the products are not removed from the market, the agency can issue warning letters, impose fines or conduct seizures.

The agency said it has not received information to suggest consumers who use Juul products face an immediate hazard.

The FDA decisions are part of a campaign to review e-cigarettes to ensure they are "appropriate for the protection of public health." That means a product must be more likely to help adults to quit smoking than to entice young people to start vaping - and potentially get addicted to nicotine. Although the youth-vaping aspect has gotten the most attention, the agency reviews also are designed to ensure the products are safe for adults.

On Juul, "there were clearly questions and concerns raised in the agency's mind that the company was unable to resolve," Zeller said. He added his comments were based on the agency's statement and not information he received while at the FDA.

The rejection of Juul's applications is a stunning blow for a company whose popularity skyrocketed after its 2015 introduction of a sleek vaping device - which looked like a flash drive - and pre-filled nicotine pods in flavors such as creme brulee, mango and cucumber.

Juul's innovative approach, touted in early marketing videos featuring young models partying and puffing on e-cigarettes, revolutionized the sleepy vaping industry. But it also prompted a fierce backlash from parents and regulators, who blamed the company for igniting a surge in teenage vaping. In response, the company ultimately took all of its flavored pre-filled pods - except for tobacco and menthol - off the market.

Anti-vaping advocates praised the FDA's ruling.

Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, called the FDA decision "the most significant action the FDA has taken to reverse the youth e-cigarette epidemic. Juul, more than any other product or company, has been responsible for creating and fueling the youth e-cigarette epidemic."

Because the decision was based on safety reasons, Myers said, it does not address Juul's role in driving the youth vaping epidemic and "the continued role of flavored e-cigarettes, including menthol-flavored products sold by Juul and other manufacturers, in sustaining youth e-cigarette use." He called on the FDA to deny applications for all flavored e-cigarettes, including other menthol-flavored products and the disposable vapes that have become increasingly popular with young people.

Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, asserted on Twitter that the Juul decisions were "manufactured" and "complete nonsense."

Even some anti-tobacco advocates wondered whether the FDA move went too far.

"Given the political pressure brought to bear by tobacco-control groups, parent groups and members of Congress to ban Juul, one wonders whether this decision was solely based on safety," said Clifford E. Douglas, director of the University of Michigan's Tobacco Research Network and former vice president for tobacco control at the American Cancer Society.

He said that while Juul was "the poster child for being a bad actor," it developed into a responsible company - one that helped his brother-in-law stop smoking.

During the past several months, the agency has ruled on applications involving millions of e-cigarette products, and rejected applications from manufacturers seeking to restart sales of sweet and fruity vapes. But the FDA has lagged at completing reviews involving some of the market leaders, angering anti-tobacco groups and some members of Congress. Nearly 50 companies have sued the FDA because of its decisions on their products.

In 2020, concerned about youth vaping, the FDA prohibited sales of sweet and fruity e-cigarette pods, which Juul had already stopped selling. Juul and other companies were permitted to continue selling tobacco- and menthol-flavored cartridges - but only while the FDA reviewed their marketing applications.

Juul submitted its applications two years ago, including reams of scientific studies and other materials trying to make the case that its e-cigarettes help adults quit smoking without attracting young users. The company has repeatedly denied that it targeted young people.

Juul's problems with the agency began in 2018, when data showed a huge increase in teenage vaping, fueling a backlash from regulators. Scott Gottlieb, who was then FDA commissioner, publicly blamed Juul for setting off a youth vaping epidemic. He was infuriated when the tobacco giant Altria bought a 35 percent stake in Juul at the end of that year.

In 2019, Juul, faced with lawsuits and investigations, announced a "reset" designed to regain the trust of the public and regulators and took several steps to prevent teenagers from buying its products. The company halted television, print and digital advertising. After the company took its sweet and fruity flavors off the market, sales fell, though the company still commands a large share of the market.

The FDA announcement on Juul came two days after another major tobacco action: The agency said it plans to develop a rule requiring tobacco companies to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes sold in the United States to minimally or nonaddictive levels, an effort that could have an unprecedented effect in slashing smoking-related deaths and threaten a politically powerful industry.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the FDA was ordering Juul products off the market.

In recent months, lawmakers in both parties have stepped up their criticism of the FDA for what they describe as the agency's unacceptably slow pace in banning flavored e-cigarettes made by Juul and other companies.

In March, 15 senators, including Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, wrote to FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf urging the agency to quickly wrap up its reviews of vaping products, saying further delays meant "e-cigarettes that hold the greatest potential harm to public health remain unreviewed and on the market." Durbin recently called on Califf to "step aside" if the agency did not move immediately to ban flavored products that appeal to young people.

In a speech on the Senate floor Thursday, Durbin praised the FDA decision.

The lawmakers' ire reflects the agency's failure to meet a court-imposed deadline of Sept. 9, 2021, to determine which e-cigarette products should be allowed to remain on the market. The FDA has said it has made substantial progress in plowing through millions of applications but that it has limited resources and would not finish reviewing applications until July 2023.

Recently, Vuse Alto e-cigarettes, owned by Reynolds American tobacco company, has edged past Juul in terms of market share of cartridge-based brands in the United States. In 2021, Juul's annual revenue was $1.3 billion, down from just under $1.5 billion in 2020 and $2 billion in 2019, according to a person familiar with the figures who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide them.

The most recent survey of youth tobacco use by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that youth vaping has declined since its peak in 2019. About 7.6% of middle and high school students in the 2021 survey said they had used an e-cigarette at least once in the past 30 days, compared with 20% in 2019. Still, the FDA said, e-cigarette use remains a concern because more than 2 million middle and high school students reported vaping within the past 30 days.

The agency cautioned that changes to the 2021 methodology because of the coronavirus pandemic made it difficult to compare the results with previous years.

The youth-tobacco survey also showed that Puff Bar, a disposable e-cigarette that was not covered in the restrictions imposed on cartridges and sells an array of flavored offerings, has become the most popular vaping brand among middle and high school students. Juul was fourth.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)  The U.S. Forest Service issued a draft environmental assessment Thursday to lay the foundation for a proposed 20-year moratorium on copper-nickel mining upstream from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Formally, the proposal would withdraw from new mineral leasing for 20 years about 352 square miles within the Rainy River watershed in the Superior National Forest around the town of Ely. The plan threatens to doom the proposed Twin Metals mine near Birch Lake, which drains into a river that flows into the Boundary Waters. But it would not affect a separate project, the proposed PolyMet mine near Babbitt and Hoyt Lakes, which lies in a different watershed.

The Forest Service plans to start a 30-day comment period Tuesday when it publishes a notice in the Federal Register. The assessment was posted on the project website at go.usa.gov/xtaCw. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will make the final decision on whether to approve the moratorium.

The proposed mineral withdrawal aims to prevent further negative environmental impacts from future mining operations, the Forest Service said in its announcement of the draft. It also evaluates the impacts of future mining on important social, cultural, and economic values.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, who represents a St. Paul-area district and is sponsoring legislation to permanently ban copper-nickel mining in that area, welcomed the study, as did environmental groups that have been fighting the Twin Metals project for years. They say the risk of acid mine drainage poses an unacceptable threat to the country's most-visited federally designated wilderness area.

McCollum said in a statement that the draft makes it clear that sulfide-ore copper mining in the Superior National Forest is a toxic threat to the Boundary Waters. This pristine, precious wilderness demands permanent protection. The EAs scientific foundation leaves no doubt: it is simply too risky to mine in this location.

But Twin Metals said in a statement that the study was not informed by science and contradicts the goals of the Biden administration to ensure domestic accessibility of copper and other minerals needed for the renewable energy economy.

We remain confident that we will move this project forward, responsibly source clean energy minerals and bring 750 family-sustaining jobs and 1,500 spinoff jobs to the communities of northeast Minnesota, the company said.

Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, who represents northeastern Minnesota, where iron mining is a major industry, said the Biden administration politicized the review to kill Twin Metals instead of evaluating the project on its own merits.

Biden and his fellow elitist Democrats in Washington and St. Paul are denying my constituents of our way of life, Stauber said in a statement. Joe Biden has made his position clear: hed rather have foreign and child slave labor produce minerals instead of American union miners working to deliver Minnesotas mineral wealth to the nation and world using the best environmental and labor standards.

The Forest Service first proposed the moratorium in the final days of the Obama administration, which canceled Twin Metals' two federal mineral rights leases. The Trump administration reversed that decision and canceled the environmental assessment process,. But the Biden administration revived the proposed mor atorium last year, and in January terminated the leases, saying they had been unlawfully reinstated.

Twin Metals is owned by the Chilean mining company Antofagasta. The proposed $1.7 billion underground mine was in the very early stages of the permitting process until the state Department of Natural Resources pulled the plug on its own environmental review in February, citing the companys loss of the federal leases.

The environmental assessment released today provides a strong scientific foundation for a 20-year ban on copper mining near the Boundary Waters, Becky Rom, national chair for the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, said in a statement. It is deeply rooted in peer-reviewed science, law, and established federal public lands policy, and validates the concerns of local residents and the American people about the risk sulfide-ore copper mining poses to the Wilderness."
A Black former Tesla worker who said he was harassed and faced with daily racist epithets, including the N-word, while working at the company's Fremont, California, plant has rejected a substantially reduced award of $15 million in his lawsuit.

Owen Diaz, who worked at the Tesla plant in 2015 and 2016 as a contracted elevator operator before quitting, was originally awarded $6.9 million in damages for emotional distress and $130 million in punitive damages in the case.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  The Senate easily approved a bipartisan gun violence bill Thursday that seemed unthinkable a month ago, setting up final approval of what will be Congress' most far-reaching response in decades to the nation's run of brutal mass shootings.

After years futile Democratic efforts to curb firearms, 15 Republicans joined with them as both sides decided inaction was untenable after last months rampages in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas. It took weeks of closed-door talks but senators emerged with a compromise embodying incremental but impactful movement to curb bloodshed that has come to regularly shock  yet no longer surprise  the nation.

The $13 billion measure would toughen background checks for the youngest gun buyers, keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders and help states put in place red flag laws that make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged dangerous. It would also fund local programs for school safety, mental health and violence prevention.

Families in Uvalde and Buffalo, and too many tragic shootings before, have demanded action. And tonight, we acted," President Joe Biden said after passage. He said the House should send it to him quickly, adding, Kids in schools and communities will be safer because of it."

The election-year package fell far short of more robust gun restrictions Democrats have sought and Republicans have thwarted for years, including bans on the assault-type weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines used in the slayings in Buffaloand Uvalde. Yet the accord let leaders of both parties declare victory and demonstrate to voters that they know how to compromise and make government work, while also leaving room for each side to appeal to its core supporters.

This is not a cure-all for the all the ways gun violence affects our nation, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., whose party has made gun restrictions a goal for decades. But it is a long overdue step in the right direction."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a nod to the Second Amendment right to bear arms that drives many conservative voters, said the American people want their constitutional rights protected and their kids to be safe in school. He said they want both of those things at once, and that is just what the bill before the Senate will have accomplished.

The day proved bittersweet for advocates of curtailing gun violence. Underscoring the enduring potency of conservative cIout, the right-leaning Supreme Court issued a decision expanding the right of Americans to carry arms in public by striking down a New York law requiring people to prove a need for carrying a weapon before they get a license to do so.

McConnell hailed the justices' decision and Senate passage of the guns bill as complementary victories that will make our country freer and safer at the same time.

The Senate vote on final passage was 65-33. A cluster of House Democrats who watched the vote in the chambers rear included Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., whose 17-year old son was shot to death in 2012 by a man complaining his music was too loud.

In the key roll call hours earlier, senators voted 65-34 to end a filibuster by conservative GOP senators. That was five more than the 60-vote threshold needed. The House planned to vote Friday and approval seemed certain.

On both votes, 15 Senate Republicans joined all 50 Democrats, including their two allied independents, in backing the legislation.

Yet the votes highlighted the risks Republicans face by defying the party's pro-gun voters and firearms groups like the National Rifle Association. Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana were the only two of the 15 up for reelection this fall. Of the rest, four are retiring and eight don't face voters until 2026.

Tellingly, GOP senators voting no included potential 2024 presidential contenders like Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Tim Scott of South Carolina. Some of the party's most conservative members voted no as well, including Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah.

Cruz said the legislation would disarm law-abiding citizens rather than take serious measures to protect our children."

John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, hailed senators who supported the measure for "coming together and putting the safety of the American people ahead of gun lobby priorities.

While the Senate measure was a clear breakthrough, the outlook for continued congressional movement on gun curbs is dim.

Less than one-third of the Senate's 50 GOP senators backed the measure and solid Republican opposition is certain in the House. Top House Republicans urged a no vote in an email from the No. 2 GOP leader, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, that called the bill an effort to slowly chip away at law-abiding citizens 2nd Amendment rights.

Both chambers  now narrowly controlled by Democrats  could well be run by the GOP after November's midterm elections.

Senate action came one month after a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde. Just days before that, a white man was accused of being motivated by racism as he killed 10 Black grocery shoppers in Buffalo. Both shooters were 18 years old, a youthful profile shared by many mass shooters, and the close timing of the two slaughters and victims with whom many could identify stirred a demand by voters for action, lawmakers of both parties said.

The talks were led by Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. Murphy represented Newtown, Connecticut, when an assailant killed 20 students and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, while Cornyn has been involved in past gun talks following mass shootings in his state and is close to McConnell.

Murphy said the measure would save thousands of lives and was a chance to prove to a weary American public that democracy is not so broken that it is unable to rise to the moment.

I don't believe in doing nothing in the face of what we saw in Uvalde and elsewhere, Cornyn said.

The bill would make the local juvenile records of people age 18 to 20 available during required federal background checks when they attempt to buy guns. Those examinations, currently limited to three days, would last up to a maximum of 10 days to give federal and local officials time to search records.

People convicted of domestic abuse who are current or former romantic partners of the victim would be prohibited from acquiring firearms, closing the so-called boyfriend loophole."

That ban currently only applies to people married to, living with or who have had children with the victim. The compromise bill would extend that to those considered to have had a continuing serious relationship."

There would be money to help states enforce red flag laws and for other states without them that for violence prevention programs. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have such laws.

The measure expands the use of background checks by rewriting the definition of the federally licensed gun dealers required to conduct them. Penalties for gun trafficking are strengthened, billions of dollars are provided for behavioral health clinics and school mental health programs and there's money for school safety initiatives, though not for personnel to use a dangerous weapon."
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  The head of a trust established to pay billions of dollars to victims of wildfires caused by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment is resigning even as payouts continue to lag.

John Trotter, a retired California appellate court judge, announced Tuesday that he is resigning as trustee of the PG&E Fire Victim Trust as of June 30.

Trotter headed the fund since it was established in 2020 and said he had promised his family he would step down after two years. Cathy Yanni, who served as the fund's claims administrator, will become the new trustee.

Throughout these past two years, we have devoted our fulltime attention to addressing the financial and other hardships of thousands of deserving fire victims," Trotter said in a letter to fire victims. As stated above, progress has been made, but there is still more to be done."

He promised the transition would be seamless and wouldn't interrupt processing claims.

The trust was established to provide $13.5 billion to compensate some 70,000 victims of Northern California wildfires in 2015, 2017 and 2018, including a 2018 blaze that killed 85 people and largely destroyed the town of Paradise, northeast of San Francisco.

The fires were blamed on PG&Es long-neglected electrical grid, and the company was forced into bankruptcy, from which it emerged in 2020.

The trust is run independently of PG&E but is funded by money and stock in the nations second-largest utility, which could be sold. However, PG&E share prices have sagged and the trust is about $2 billion short of its required funding.

Last year, the trust sought a $1.5 billion loan from the state but it hasn't been granted.

In his letter, Trotter said 250,000 claims have been filed, including 400 death claims and more than 100,000 for emotional distress. The trust has authorized about $4.5 billion in payments, he said.

Trotter told the Sacramento Bee on Wednesday that some fire victims are frustrated with the pace of payments.

We walked into a situation where we could not meet the unrealistic expectations, he said.

Trotter's resignation announcement comes two months after the trust parted ways with Patrick McCallum, a lobbyist it hired to help secure the state loan. That followed news reports that the California State University system paid $600,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a former school provost who said she faced retaliation for reporting complaints by female university employees that McCallum sexually harassed them at a party. McCallum denied the allegations.
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Senior Indian officials began talks Thursday with Sri Lankan leaders on economic assistance, a day after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced the countrys economy had collapsed.

Sri Lankans have endured months of shortages of food, fuel and other necessities due to the countrys dwindling foreign exchange reserves and mounting debt, worsened by the pandemic and other longer term troubles.

Indias foreign secretary and the chief government economic adviser met with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe and were later scheduled to meet other top officials.

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the delegation said India was ready to help Sri Lanka achieve a quick economic recovery through promoting investments, connectivity and strengthening economic linkages. There was no immediate comment from the Sri Lankan side.

Wickremesinghe's gloomy comments to Parliament on Wednesday appeared aimed at fending off criticism over a deteriorating situation long in the making. Economists and other Sri Lankans said they were hoping the government would find ways to revive the economy.

What the prime minister should do is not to make announcements. He has to come up with a plan to reactivate the system, said W.A Wijewardena, an economist and former deputy governor of Sri Lankas Central Bank.

Ordinary Sri Lankans have grown disillusioned as they skimp on meals and go without other necessities, seeing their quality of life crumble due to forces beyond their control.

At midnight Wednesday, retired government employee Dharmasena Perera leaned on his motorbike at a fuel station on the outskirts of the capital Colombo, trying to catch some sleep after spending nearly 15 hours waiting in line to buy fuel. He said he joined the line at 6 in the morning and went without lunch and dinner. At midnight, he was still waiting for his turn.

He (the PM) always says things are getting bad and difficult. It seems he also does not have solutions, Perera said.

At another fuel station in Gampaha, a town about 30 kilometers (18 miles) northeast of Colombo, salesman Nuwan Pradeep likewise said people were well enough aware of the crisis, but the government appeared to have no solutions.

There is no point in just explaining the same problem to us all the time, said Pradeep.

India has supported Sri Lanka with a $4 billion credit line to help it buy fuel and other essentials.

Sri Lanka also is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund on a bailout after it stopped payments on its debts.

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Associated Press writer Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi, India contributed to this report.
SEATTLE (AP)  A Washington state jury on Wednesday awarded the Lummi Indian tribe $595,000 over the 2017 collapse of a net pen where Atlantic salmon were being raised  an event that elicited fears of damage to wild salmon runs and prompted the Legislature to ban the farming of the nonnative fish.

About 250,000 Atlantic salmon escaped into the Salish Sea when the net pen owned by Cooke Aquaculture  an anchored, floating enclosure off Cypress Island  collapsed. The northwest Washington tribe quickly mobilized to capture the fish, and Cooke paid a bounty of $30 apiece for the more than 43,000 recovered by the tribe's fishers  $1.3 million in all.

The Lummi Nation sued in 2020, saying that while the fishers themselves had been compensated for their efforts, the company had not reimbursed the tribal government for responding to the spill, including organizing the fishers and tracking the Atlantic salmon they brought in.

In addition, the tribe sought damages for what it described as the existential threat the collapse posed to its culture.

The King County Superior Court jury on Wednesday declined to award damages on that cultural harm claim, but it did grant the tribe $595,000 on its claims of negligence and unjust enrichment against Cooke, the tribe's attorneys said.

Lummi staff attorney James Stroud said in an email the tribe was pleased the jury found the tribe should be compensated for having to "clean up Cookes mess.

While we regret having to litigate this issue, the Lummi Nation remains committed to improving the health of the waters of the Salish Sea, Stroud wrote.

A spokesperson for Cooke Aquaculture, Joel Richardson, said the company accepts the verdict and will not appeal.

We understand that salmon is sacred to the Lummi Nations ancestral tradition, tribal mythology and living culture, he wrote in an email. We look forward to continuing dialogue with the Nation to understand their perspectives and needs. ... As a company with both wild and farmed fish interests, we share a commitment and expertise that we believe can be beneficial to the Lummi Nation.

According to its website, Cook Aquaculture has more than 10,000 employees in nine countries.

The Washington Department of Ecology fined the company $332,000 over the collapse, which it blamed on negligence, including poor maintenance of the nets. Cooke also agreed to pay $2.75 million to settle a Clean Water Act lawsuit brought by the organization Wild Fish Conservancy. That money was directed toward environmental projects benefitting salmon and killer whales in Puget Sound, as well as toward the group's legal fees.

At the time of the collapse, Cooke was planning to upgrade the net pens.

Cooke argued that there is no evidence any of the escaped Atlantic salmon survived past April 2018. Indeed, the company's lawyers noted, even when humans have tried to establish Atlantic salmon populations along the West Coast, those efforts have failed.

Atlantic salmon do not survive here and do not compete or breed with wild salmon, they wrote in a trial brief. Plaintiff itself attempted  and failed  to cultivate Atlantic salmon in Washington waters in the 1970s.

Since the Legislature banned the farming of nonnative Atlantic salmon in the state's marine waters in 2018, Cooke is instead raising native steelhead trout. The Washington Supreme Court in January unanimously upheld Cooke's permits to do so.
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The Latest on the Supreme Court ruling on New York's gun law:

The American Medical Association has called the ruling a harmful and deeply disturbing decision.

"Firearm violence is a public health crisis, and easier access to weapons and fewer restrictions on who can carry them  and where they can be carried  are dangerous steps in the wrong direction," Dr. Jack Resneck, the AMAs president, said in a written statement. "Overturning decades of reasonable firearm regulations will cost more lives.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom also called the ruling dangerous" in a tweet, among other labels such as shameful and a dark day in America.

This is a dangerous decision from a court hell bent on pushing a radical ideological agenda and infringing on the rights of states to protect our citizens from being gunned down in our streets, schools, and churches, he wrote.

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MORE ON THE DECISION:

 Supreme Court expands gun rights, striking New York limits

 States with strict gun-permitting laws consider next steps

 NY leaders vow new gun limits after Supreme Court ruling

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Follow AP's coverage of the Supreme Court: https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court

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NEW YORK  The Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader whose National Action Network is headquartered in New York City, condemned the Supreme Courts ruling Thursday as devastating and potentially dangerous.

This ruling could not have come at a worse time, as we have been working to deescalate gun violence in the city, Sharpton said. It has never been more important for Congress to pass meaningful legislation to combat the epidemic that is gun violence in this nation.

One big concern is the ability of people to carry guns in public spaces such as neighborhoods, streets and subways.

Paige Graves, the Metropolitan Transit Authoritys general counsel, said in a statement that the presence of guns within a sensitive place like New Yorks transit system is an unacceptable risk.

Considering this Supreme Court decision, we have begun drafting appropriate rules to keep dangerous weapons out of our subways, buses and commuter trains, Graves said.

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WASHINGTON  Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursdays Supreme Court decision defies common sense and defies logic.

Harris said she was deeply concerned and troubled by the Supreme Courts ruling, which follows her recent visit to Buffalo where she attended a funeral for one of the victims of the May 14 shooting that killed 10 and injured three. She also referenced the many other recent shootings.

We can go on down the list about why it, yet again, is on the front pages, so to speak, of the concern of the American people about what we can and what we have a responsibility to do in terms of reasonable gun safety laws, Harris said.

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NEW YORK  Several Republicans in New York cheered Thursdays ruling.

U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Long Island Republican running for governor, who has supported the lawsuit, said the decision marked a historic, proper, and necessary victory for law abiding citizens of New York, whose Second Amendment rights have been under constant attack.

Nick Langworthy, chair of the New York state GOP and a congressional candidate, called the ruling a win for the public over politicians.

Todays Supreme Court ruling is exactly as it should be  a final authority that protects the constitutional rights of citizens against a dictatorial government, Langworthy said.

Langworthy, Zeldin and other Republicans criticized Democrats for what they see as threatening new restrictions on gun owners rather than passing tougher crime laws.

Sen. George Borrello, a Republican from western New York, called the ruling a validation of the Second Amendment and a victory for law-abiding gun owners in our state.

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WASHINGTON  The two parties leaders in the U.S. House are offering contrasting reactions to Thursdays Supreme Court ruling.

House minority GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, of California, welcomed the ruling, saying it rightfully ensures the right of all law-abiding Americans to defend themselves without unnecessary government interference.

Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi, also of California, issued a statement saying the ruling gutted the authority of states to keep public spaces safe from gun violence.

It is unfathomable that, while families in Uvalde, Buffalo and countless other communities mourn their loved ones stolen by gun violence, a supermajority of the Supreme Court has chosen to endanger more American lives, Pelosi said in the statement.

The decision was made by a radical, Republican-controlled Court using twisted logic, Pelosi said.

She promised Democrats will continue efforts toward preventing gun violence.

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NEW YORK  New York City officials insist nothing will change immediately following Thursdays Supreme Court ruling.

They note that the high court sent the case back to a lower court for further proceedings that could iron out implementation details.

Officials in the nations most populous city immediately began reviewing its gun permit application process and pondering how they now might legally define sensitive locations where civilians wouldnt be allow to bring guns.

There is no place in the nation that this decision affects as much as New York City, Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference. And we are prepared to set an example that will lead the country as to: how do we fight back on this decision?

Adams, a Democrat and former police captain, raised the specter of everyday disputes turning into shootouts in New Yorks crowded streets and subways. He suggested that police officers would face greater danger, as well as a greater burden of distinguishing between legal and illegal guns in public places.

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NEW YORK  In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling Thursday, at least one advocacy group urged lawmakers to avoid passing regulations that continue to make it too hard for members of Black and brown communities to own guns.

New Yorks gun licensing regulations have been arbitrarily and discriminatorily applied, disproportionately ensnaring the people we represent, the majority of whom are from communities of color, in the criminal legal system, the Legal Aid Society said in a statement released by the nonprofits spokesperson Redmond Haskins.

The group recognized the ruling as an affirmative step toward ending arbitrary licensing standards that have inhibited lawful Black and Brown gun ownership in New York, stating that criminalization of gun ownership by people of color has never prevented violence and serves only to further marginalize and incarcerate people from BIPOC communities.

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WASHINGTON  U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticuts former longtime attorney general and a key participant in the bipartisan gun violence legislation negotiations, called Thursdays ruling deeply destructive in a tweet.

He predicted it will unleash even more gun violence on American communities.

Blumenthal said the ruling will put more guns in public spaces instead of upholding commonsense safeguards to reduce gun violence This, he said in the tweet, will open the floodgates to invalidate sensible gun safety laws in more states.

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ANNAPOLIS, Md.  Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, a Democrat, said his office will examine Thursdays ruling to determine its impact on Maryland and continue to fight to protect the safety of Marylanders.

Todays decision means more deaths and more pain in a country already awash in gun violence, Frosh said in a statement.

In the statement, Frosh contends people carrying firearms in public places is a dangerous thing to have become the norm.

The epidemic of gun violence sweeping our nation demonstrates daily the folly of introducing more guns into this boiling cauldron, he said.

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WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden says hes deeply disappointed by the Supreme Courts Thursday ruling striking down New York states century-old restrictions on the concealed carry of firearms.

In a statement, the president said the ruling contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all. He added that after mass shootings across the U.S., the country should be doing more, not less, to rein in firearm availability.

As Congress appears set to approve modest gun law changes, Biden urged states to go further and enact and enforce commonsense laws to make their citizens and communities safer from gun violence.

I call on Americans across the country to make their voices heard on gun safety. Lives are on the line, he added.

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NEW YORK  New York City Mayor Eric Adams released a statement Thursday criticizing the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

He stated the ruling puts New Yorkers at further risk of gun violence.

Adams said the city has and will continue efforts to mitigate risks of gun violence in the city, including reviews of defining license application processes and sensitive locations where guns are banned.

We will work together to mitigate the risks this decision will create once it is implemented, as we cannot allow New York to become the Wild West, the statement said.

This decision may have opened an additional river feeding the sea of gun violence, but we will do everything we can to dam it, he added.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I.  Rhode Island Democratic state Rep. Robert Craven said Thursday he wasnt surprised by the ruling.

I see the court headed in that direction, he said. Its taking a stricter interpretation that the Second Amendment is absolute  it says what it says, you have a right to bear arms.

Craven, an attorney and chair of the state's House Judiciary Committee, questioned whether the court will now use that same thought process for cases about banning military-style weapons.

For concealed carry permits, New Yorks requirements are more onerous than Rhode Islands are. Craven said he represented the city of East Providence, Rhode Island in three cases where permit denials were challenged in the past decade, and the city prevailed in all three at the state Supreme Court.

Craven said hell read the opinion in the New York case to determine whether or not it creates a concern that Rhode Islands requirements could be challenged, and whether that can be remedied by state legislation.

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NEW YORK  New York's members of Congress reacted to Thursday's Supreme Court ruling that struck down a state gun law. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik applauded the ruling and said it correctly declares New Yorks shameful attempt to shred Second Amendment rights of New Yorkers unconstitutional. Stefanik is a Republican and staunch ally of former President Donald Trump,

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called the ruling irresponsible and downright dangerous.

Our nation is in the middle of a gun violence epidemic and instead of working to protect our communities, this court has made it even easier for potentially dangerous people to carry concealed handguns in public spaces, the Democrat said.

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NEW YORK  Thursdays Supreme Court ruling that struck down a New York gun law requiring people to demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun in order to get a license to carry one in public has no immediate impact on other laws, including rules on background checks and age requirements for gun purchases.

Thats according to Alex McCourt, the director of legal research for the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

McCourt said that instead, courts will reevaluate the laws, determining whether they violate the Second Amendment.

Its possible that these laws will face a new challenge, and thats particularly true for any laws governing the public use of guns which was not previously considered part of the Second Amendment, McCourt said.
BOSTON (AP)  A Massachusetts man who lied on his application for federal coronavirus business stimulus funds and then used some of the $400,000 he received to pay his mortgage has pleaded guilty to wire fraud, federal prosecutors said.

Adley Bernadin, 44, of Stoughton, entered his plea in U.S. District Court in Boston on Wednesday, according to a statement from the office of U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins.
David Guralnick/AP

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP)  A judge on Thursday postponed a murder trial until January in the case of a teenager accused of killing four fellow students and wounding others at a Michigan high school.

Lawyers for Ethan Crumbley said a September trial date wouldn't leave enough time to go through evidence and prepare. The Oakland County prosecutor's office did not object.
ONEKAMA  The Portage Lake Association is preparing to start its Monday Night Concerts in the Park lineup for 2022.

The concerts are free to the public and take place from 7-9 p.m. in Onekamas Portage Lake Park on M-22 and Portage Street from June 27 to August 15.

Attendees are welcome to bring family members, a blanket or chairs and a picnic basket to enjoy music on Portage Lakes shoreline.

The concert series is an annual event organized by the Portage Lake Association, an Onekama non-profit dedicated to making the community a more enjoyable place to live, work and play.

 The concert series starts Monday with The Rough & Tumble.

The Rough & Tumble is an award-winning Nashville Tennessee duo featuring Scott Tyler and Mallory Green. The Rough & Tumble is self-described as a dumpster-folk/thriftstore Americana group featuring an upbeat, commanding stage presence and sharp banter.

 On July 4, west Michigans Schrock Brothers Band featuring Peter Madcat Ruth is expected to return to Onekama to celebrate Independence Day. The Schrock Brothers are an Americana, original roots, rock band from west Michigan

 On July 11, Awesome Distraction is set to return to the stage. Awesome Distraction members hail from Manistee and the group has been together 10 years. According to the group, Americana is how we describe the genre we embrace although there is nothing wrong at all with modifying those other genres and applying our twist on music.

 On July 18, Elvis Tribute Artist Jake Slater is expected to return to Onekama. Slater has become one of the most awarded Elvis Tribute Artists in the United States. A Bellaire native, Slater has performed across Michigan, the United States and Canada. He covers all eras of the Elvis hits.

 On July 25, Traverse Citys Jim Hawley is planned to perform. Hawley is a California native who has spent considerable time in Oahu, Miami and Traverse City.

 On August 1, west Michigans Blue Water Ramblers are expected to bring its brand of folk, Americana, bluegrass and roots music to the stage. The Blue Water Ramblers' repertoire comes from Michigan life experiences and the history of the Great Lakes region. It includes shanties, ballads, rallying cries, paeans, humor, love songs, gospel music and children's ditties.

 On August 8, Funtastix makes its debut at the concert series. Funtastix is a local trio playing some originals and some covers from songs of the last four decades.

 The concert series concludes on August 15 with K. Jones & The Benzie Playboys. The group is based in Benzie County and specializes in Cajun and zydeco bands around.
BANGKOK (AP)  Myanmars military government on Thursday confirmed that ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved to a prison compound in quarters separate from other detainees.

Suu Kyi was arrested on Feb. 1, 2021, when the army seized power from her elected government. She was initially held at her residence in Naypyitaw, the capital, but was later moved to at least one other location. For most of the past year, she has been held at an undisclosed location in Naypyitaw, generally believed to be on a military base.

Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson for the ruling military council, confirmed in a text message to journalists that Suu Kyi was moved on Wednesday to the main prison in Naypyitaw, where she is being held separately in well-kept circumstances. News of her transfer had been reported Wednesday but not officially confirmed.

He said Suu Kyi, having already been convicted in several cases, was transferred to the prison in accordance with the law.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is very concerned about the latest developments isolating Suu Kyi, which go against U.N. calls for her release and the release of all other political prisoners, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, adding we are concerned for her state.

A legal official familiar with Suu Kyis court proceedings said she is being held in a newly constructed building with three policewomen, whose duty is to assist her. Her ongoing trials will also be held at the prison, in another newly constructed facility. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release any information about her cases.

Suu Kyi, who turned 77 on Sunday, spent about 15 years in detention under a previous military government, but virtually all of it was under house arrest at her family home in Yangon, the countrys biggest city.

The secret location where she had been held for most of the past year was a residence. She had nine people to help her there, and was allowed to keep a dog that was a gift arranged by one of her sons, said another legal official, who also asked not to be named for fear or repercussions from the government.

The official said neither her assistants nor the dog accompanied Suu Kyi to her new prison quarters.

Suu Kyi is being tried on multiple charges, including corruption. Her supporters say the charges are politically motivated to discredit her and legitimize the militarys seizure of power.

She has already been sentenced to 11 years imprisonment on charges of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, sedition and an initial count of corruption.

The prison where Suu Kyi is being held is slightly west of Naypyitaw. It was constructed in 2014 to temporarily hold detainees awaiting trial.

One of the legal officials said Suu Kyis first hearing in the new prison courtroom was held Thursday in the case of violating the Official Secrets Act.

Defense lawyers cross examined three prosecution witnesses but details of their testimony was not available. All of Suu Kyis cases have been held in closed hearings. Her lawyers are prohibited from discussing the proceedings.

Suu Kyis co-defendants in the case are Australian economist Sean Turnell, who had been her advisor, and three former Cabinet members.

Turnell is also being held at the same prison with Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi is also being tried on 11 counts of corruption, each of which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years, and an election fraud charge, which carries a maximum sentence of three years.

The militarys takeover last year triggered peaceful nationwide protests that security forces quashed with lethal force, triggering armed resistance that some U.N. experts now characterize as civil war.

The ruling military council has said it plans to hold new elections around the middle of next year if circumstances permit. However, critics caution such polls are unlikely to be free and fair.

Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said Thursday that the military has been working hard to create an impression of legitimacy after ousting Suu Kyis government.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory in a November 2020 general election. The army claimed it seized power because the polls were marred by widespread fraud  an allegation was not corroborated by independent election observers.

Any suggestion that there could be any possibility of a free and fair election in Myanmar in 2023 is frankly preposterous, Andrews said at a news conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. You cant have a free and fair election if you locked up your opponents.
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korea discussed assigning additional duties to front-line army units at a key military meeting, state media said Thursday, a move that analysts said indicates it plans to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons targeting South Korea along the rivals tense border.

While much international attention has focused on North Koreas testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles potentially capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, it is also developing a variety of nuclear-capable short-range missiles that can target South Korea.

South Korean officials recently said that North Korea has completed preparations for its first test of a nuclear explosive device in five years, part of a possible effort to build warheads capable of being mounted on short-range missiles.

During an ongoing meeting of the Central Military Commission of North Korea's ruling Workers Party, leader Kim Jong Un and other top military officers discussed on Wednesday the work of additionally confirming the operation duties of the front-line units of the Korean Peoples Army and modifying the operation plans, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Kim also ordered steps to enhance the operational capabilities of the front-line units, KCNA said. A KCNA photo showed what appeared to be a large map of the Korean Peninsulas eastern coast, including border sites, standing near the conference table.

Although there was no public mention of tactical nuclear weapons, "I can assess that the issues of forward-deploying tactical nuclear weapons and the modification of related operational plans and military organization reshuffles have been discussed in an in-depth manner" at the meeting, said Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Koreas private Sejong Institute.

Cheong said North Korea's push to deploy nuclear weapons at front-line units was expected since it said in April that its new tactical weapons would significantly boost the units' attack capacity and the efficient operation of tactical nuclear weapons.

A KCNA report on April 17 on the test-launch of what it called a new type of tactical guided weapon said it has great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the front-line long-range artillery units, enhancing the efficiency in the operation of (North Koreas) tactical nukes and diversification of their firepower missions.

Later in April, Kim said North Korea could preemptively use nuclear weapons if threatened, saying they would never be confined to the single mission of war deterrent in situations in which the country faces external threats to its fundamental interests. The possibility of North Korea having an escalatory nuclear doctrine could pose greater concern for South Korea, Japan and the United States.

North Korea has described some of its other short-range nuclear-capable missiles tested in recent years as tactical weapons, which experts say communicates a threat to proactively use them during conventional warfare to blunt the stronger conventional forces of South Korea and the United States.

Kim Jun-rak, a spokesperson for South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Thursday that it is closely monitoring North Korean activities but didnt elaborate. South Korea's Unification Ministry, which overseas relations with North Korea, said the North will likely increase its military threats against South Korea, but did not elaborate.

Kim convened the Central Military Commission meeting earlier this week to confirm crucial and urgent tasks to expand the country's military capabilities and implement key defense policies, state media said.

Cheong, the analyst, said North Korea is expected to conduct its seventh nuclear test after the meeting, noting that its third nuclear test in 2013 also came days after another Central Military Commission meeting.

This year, North Korea has test-launched about 30 missiles in what some experts call an attempt to expand its arsenal and increase its leverage in future negotiations with the United States to win sanctions relief and other concessions. The weapons tested include an ICBM. Analysts say North Korea needs to master missile reentry capabilities and other technologies to make a functioning long-range weapon.

There have been signs of an impending North Korean nuclear test for weeks. South Korean officials said the test has been delayed by North Koreas continuing COVID-19 outbreak and opposition from China, its last major ally and biggest aid provider.

Won In-Choul, chairman of South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a video conference on Thursday with his American counterpart, Gen. Mark Milley, and said a North Korean ICBM test or nuclear test explosion could occur at any time, his office said in a statement. It said Milley responded that the U.S. commitment to the defense of South Korea remains iron-clad.

South Korean and U.S. officials have warned North Korea that it will face consequences if it goes ahead with a nuclear test. But divisions between the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council make prospects for additional international sanctions on North Korea unclear. Earlier this year, Russia and China vetoed U.S.-sponsored resolutions that would have increased sanctions, insisting that Washington should focus on reviving dialogue.

___

Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  The federal government has a responsibility to Native American tribes, Alaska Native villages and Native Hawaiian communities to fully support and revitalize education, language and cultural practices that prior boarding school policies sought to destroy, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said Wednesday.

Haaland testified before a U.S. Senate committee that is considering legislation to establish a national commission on truth and healing to address intergenerational trauma stemming from the legacy of Native American boarding schools in the United States.

As the first and only Native American Cabinet secretary, Haaland's voice cracked with emotion and her eyes welled as she addressed the committee.

Haaland, who is from Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico, said the forced assimilation that happened over a century and half through the boarding school initiative was both traumatic and violent. She noted she herself was a product of those policies as her grandparents were removed from their families and sent to boarding schools.

Federal Indian boarding school policy is a part of Americas story that we must tell, Haaland said. While we cannot change that history, I believe that our nation will benefit from a full understanding of the truth of what took place and a focus on healing the wounds of the past.

Tribal leaders and advocates from Maine to Alaska and Hawaii joined Haaland in voicing their support for a national commission, saying it would offer a path for many to have their personal stories validated.

The dark history of Native American boarding schools  where children were prohibited from speaking their languages and often abused  has been felt deeply across Indian Country and through generations.

Starting with the Indian Civilization Act of 1819, the U.S. enacted laws and policies to establish and support the boarding schools. The goal was to civilize Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. Religious and private institutions often received federal funding and were willing partners.

Haaland's agency in May released a first-of-its-kind report that named more than 400 schools the federal government supported to strip Native Americans of their identities. The study has so far identified at least 500 children who died at some of the schools, but that number is expected to reach into the thousands or tens of thousands as research continues.

The department also is planning a yearlong tour to gather stories of boarding school survivors for an oral history collection. Haaland said one of the first stops will be in Oklahoma.

As for the legislation to create a truth and healing commission, it had its first congressional hearing last month. Its sponsored by two Native American U.S. representatives  Democrat Sharice Davids of Kansas, who is Ho-Chunk, and Republican Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who is Chickasaw.

Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren is leading the effort in the Senate.

The proposed commission would have a broader scope than the Interiors investigation to seek records with subpoena power. It would make recommendations to the federal government within five years of its passage, possible in the U.S. House but more difficult in the Senate.

Work to uncover the truth and create a path for healing would require financial resources in Indian Country, which the federal government has chronically underfunded.

Kirk Francis, chief of the Penobscot Indian Nation in Maine, said it would be difficult to quantify the cost of the cultural damages from the boarding school era. But he said congressional leaders should be having conversations each year as they set funding priorities, to ensure tribal programs are adequately supported.

He said any work by a national commission would inevitably open old wounds.

It will be a difficult time, and the communities are going to have to be able to support that historical trauma through treatment. Resources are going to be a huge part of that success, he said.

Norma Ryuko Kaweloku Wong Roshi, a policy official for former Hawaii Gov. John Waihee, said the work by the Interior Department and any future commission should be looked at as steps in a process that will span generations.

This is not one and done, Wong said. What took hundreds of years to tear to the point of breaking cannot be repaired, let alone propel us toward a more thriving future over the course of a few studies, reports and hearings. There is work to be done, and it can be fruitful.
FARGO, N.D. (AP)  The sale of a couple thousand acres of prime North Dakota farmland to a group tied to Bill Gates has stirred emotions over a Depression-era law meant to protect family farms and raised questions about whether the billionaire shares the states values.

Gates is considered the largest private owner of farmland in the country with some 269,000 acres across dozens of states, according to last years edition of the Land Report 100, an annual survey of the nations largest landowners. He owns less than 1 percent of the nations total farmland.

The state's attorney general has asked the trust that acquired the North Dakota land to explain how it plans to use it in order to meet rules outlined in the state's archaic anti-corporate farming law. It prohibits all corporations or limited liability companies from owning or leasing farmland or ranchland, with some exceptions.

I don't know that it's quite as volatile a situation as some have depicted, North Dakota Republican Attorney General Drew Wrigley told The Associated Press Thursday. It's taken off, it's all over the planet, but it's not me sticking a finger in the eye of Bill Gates. That's not what this is.

Meanwhile, the state's Agriculture Commissioner, Republican Doug Goehring, told a North Dakota TV station that many people feel they are being exploited by the ultra-rich who buy land but do not necessarily share the states values. About 2100 acres (849.84 hectares) of land were sold in the deal, AgWeek reported.

Goehring, who is currently on a state-sponsored trade mission to the United Kingdom, did not immediately respond to a list of questions emailed by the AP.

Ive gotten a big earful on this from clear across the state, its not even from that neighborhood, Goehring told KFYR-TV. Those people are upset, but there are others that are just livid about this.

Charles V. Zehren, a spokesman for Gates' investment firm, declined Thursday to comment to the AP.

Wrigley said the corporate farming inquiry goes out "as a matter of course when his office is notified of farmland sales, in this case Red River Trust's $13.5 million purchase of property in two counties from wealthy northeastern North Dakota potato growers Campbell Farms. Phone calls to Campbell Farms went unanswered.

It's meant to get everybody up to speed on what the ownership arrangement is and what their intentions are for the land, Wrigley said. If it complies with state law, the matter goes forward. If not, they're informed they're going to have to divest of the land.

Corporations are exempted from the law if the land is necessary "for residential or commercial development; the siting of buildings, plants, facilities, industrial parks, or similar business or industrial purposes of the corporation or limited liability company; or for uses supportive of or ancillary to adjacent non agricultural land for the benefit of both land parcels, the law reads.

Its not the first test for a statute that was passed in 1932. A federal judge in 2018 ruled the law constitutional after a conservative farm group argued that it limits business options for producers and interferes with interstate commerce by barring out-of-state corporations from being involved in North Dakotas farm industry.

North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum, a former Microsoft executive whose campaign received $100,000 from Microsoft co-founder Gates when Burgum first won in 2016, declined to comment on the farmland sale. The Republican governor stayed down the middle when asked his opinion of the anti-corporate farming law, which he and the Legislature expanded in 2019 to allow second cousins in the mix of ownership.

The governor strongly supports family farms and is open to discussions about cutting red tape that puts North Dakota farmers at a disadvantage compared with neighboring states and ensuring that our ranchers and farmers can succeed and grow their operations, helping rural communities to thrive, Burgum spokesman Mike Nowatzki said.
A former nursing director pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to federal agents in South Carolina about providing fake COVID-19 vaccination cards.

Tammy Hudson McDonald, who worked at a PruittHealth skilled nursing facility last summer, filled out cards for people she knew had not received the vaccine, according to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, FBI and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

When authorities confronted McDonald after they were alerted to the fake cards last September, she told federal agents, contrary to the evidence, that she had never given anyone a falsified vaccine card, a Justice Department press release said.

The Defendant created a direct risk to the people of South Carolina by creating false vaccine documents for others to use, and she compounded this wrongdoing by lying to federal agents, U.S. Attorney Corey F. Ellis said in a statement. As a registered nurse, she knew better and owed more to her community.

Her attorney, Jim Griffin, told The Associated Press that McDonald has agreed to cooperate and accepted responsibility for her conduct. Griffin said she had provided the fake cards to a few family members at a Father's Day gathering and her relatives have not been charged.

Griffin told a U.S. magistrate in December that McDonald made one or two false vaccination cards for a relative at the University of South Carolina who has anti-vaccination beliefs. McDonald is vaccinated and received no money for the fraudulent cards, according to Griffin.

McDonald, 53, of Columbia, faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at her sentencing on September 20.
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP)  A federal civil rights lawsuit alleges two southern Oregon police officers used excessive force against a man who fled from a vehicle stop and was shot with a Taser while standing in a creek.

The lawsuit says two Eagle Point officers fired their stun guns at Jonathon J. Wolf on June 21, 2021, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. The suit says that caused him to fall in the water and hit his head on a rock, knocking him unconscious.
NORFOLK, Va. (AP)  Four special operations unit officers in Virginia were wearing activated body cameras when a man they were trying to arrest shot at them and they returned fire, police said.

Norfolk Police said Antonio Beekman, 41, was wanted by Virginia Beach police for malicious wounding, use of a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, The Virginian-Pilot reported. Officers were trying to arrest Beekman Tuesday when police said he began shooting at them and they returned fire, killing him. The officers are on administrative duty while the shooting is investigated.
WINTER HARBOR, Maine (AP)  Police in Maine are searching for a man in connection with the hit-and-run death in Acadia National Park of the founder of a youth retreat.

The crash on the campus of the Schoodic Institute within the park killed Nicole Mokeme, 35, some time between Saturday night and early Sunday. Police said the man sought in connection with the death had been in a relationship with Mokeme, the Portland Press Herald reported.
"Post Reports" is the daily podcast from The Washington Post. Unparalleled reporting. Expert insight. Clear analysis. Everything you've come to expect from the newsroom of The Post - for your ears.

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In this episode:

For the first time in its 200-year history, Colombia will have a leftist president: More than 50% of voters chose Gustavo Petro, a former guerilla fighter and mayor of Bogata, to lead the country.

Petro is one of several new left-wing leaders in Latin America, as voters kick out leaders who they feel failed them during the pandemic when inequality in the region soared. Now, Petro says he aims to work with a coalition of left-wing presidents to tackle climate change and issues affecting women and Indigenous people. We checked in with the Post's Bogata bureau chief, Samantha Schmidt, to talk about what this moment could mean for Latin America, and whether the United States could be taking a back seat in the region.

And, Tuesday's hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol included powerful testimony from former election workers in Georgia who described how their lives were derailed after Trump targeted them.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is rebranding Asian carp  the invasive species that now make up an estimated 70% of fish in the Illinois River  in hopes of convincing Americans to help eat away at the fish's overpopulation problem.

Four species of Asian carp  bighead carp, silver carp, grass carp and black carp  now will be known as copi  a hopefully appetizing play on the word copious and a name chosen based on a $600,000 multi-year marketing study to assess Illinois residents thoughts on the fish.

Calling it a name-based perception issue for a fish widely eaten elsewhere in the world, Nick Adam of Span design studio in Chicago, who led the research, said surveys, interviews and focus groups with more than 350 Illinois residents showed that 85% of participants had heard of Asian carp but only 5% had eaten it.

We know that renaming works, Adam said, noting that orange roughy originally was known as slimehead, Chilean sea bass once was called Patagonian toothfish and even avocado and kiwi used to have far less popular monikers.

The United States is the only nation in the world where Asian carp is not commonly eaten, according to John Goss, former invasive carp adviser to the White House.

Theyre not in the Great Lakes and were doing everything we can to keep them out, Goss said.

That includes convincing Americans to make copi burgers, copi sliders and other copi-based dishes part of their regular menu.

In announcing the rebranding effort Wednesday during a Zoom call, natural resources officials got support from Chicago-based chef and Chopped champion Brian Jupiter of Frontier and Ina Mae Tavern and Dirk and Terry Fucik of Dirks Fish and Gourmet Shop in Chicago.

Its a great substitute for ground beef, Terry Fucik said, noting that among Dirks popular menu items are copi burgers, copi tacos and copi bolognese.

Jim Garvey, a Southern Illinois University Carbondale fisheries expert and director of SIUs Center for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, has studied bighead carp for more than 20 years. He was not part of Wednesday's announcement but said eating away at the problem may be the easiest, cheapest and best solution, he said.

An electrical barrier on the Illinois River near Chicago appears to have succeeded so far in keeping the invasive species out of Lake Michigan and the rest of the Great Lakes, but those working to reduce or erase the problem dont want to rely solely on one solution, he said.

It seems simple, but it took a long time to determine that commercial harvest is probably the best way to keep them from becoming abundant below the barrier, Garvey said, noting that other ideas, such as poisoning the invasive fish, have proven ineffective or too costly.

Fishing for copi wont be regulated the way it is for native species, Garvey said.

We would love copi to become extinct in the United States, but  it just doesnt seem like these fish are going to be completely reduced, he said. But even if copi were to one day disappear, we are blessed with a variety of very good native fish on the Illinois, Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

Encouraging commercial fishing with a focus on Asian carp would not harm Illinois fishing industry, Garvey said.

If our commercial fishermen had to go back to fishing native fishes after eradicating copi, they could, he said. We should celebrate it, if it happens.

While the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has rolled out a plan to tout copi, its name change isnt yet official. The state expects to apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by year's end to formally change the name. In the meantime, grocery store packaging will describe the fish both as carp and copi.

Asian carp originally were imported from Southeast Asia to the U.S. to help clean fish farm retention ponds in the South. But flooding and accidental releases in the 1970s allowed them to migrate up the Mississippi River system. Local, state and federal agencies since have worked to keep the invasive species from Lake Michigan, where it would threaten a $7 billion-a-year commercial fishing industry and a $16 billion-a-year tourism industry in the Great Lakes region.
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  The Russian military extended its grip on territory in eastern Ukraine as it seeks to cut supply lines and encircle frontline Ukrainian forces, while the Ukrainian military announced Thursday the arrival of powerful U.S. multiple-launch rocket systems it hopes will offer a battlefield advantage.

Ukrainian forces withdrew from some areas near the city of Lysychansk to avoid being surrounded as Russians sent in reinforcements and concentrated their firepower in the area, Britains Defense Ministry said. The city is located in Luhansk province, a major battlefield in Russian President Vladimir Putins war against Ukraine.

Ukraine's General Staff said Russian forces took control of the villages of Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka, and were trying to capture Syrotyne, a settlement outside the province's administrative center, Sievierodonetsk. Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press that the Russians were burning everything out in their offensive to encircle Ukraine's fighters.

The Russians are advancing without trying to spare the ammunition or troops, and they arent running out of either, Haidai said. They have an edge in heavy artillery and the number of troops.

After repeated requests to its Western allies for heavier weaponry to counter Russia's edge in firepower, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said a response had arrived in the form of the medium-range American rocket launchers.

Summer will be hot for Russian occupiers. And the last one for some of them, Reznikov tweeted, thanking the U.S. for these powerful tools.

A U.S. defense official confirmed Wednesday that all four of the promised High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, were in the hands of Ukrainian forces but said it was not clear if they have been used yet.

The U.S. approved providing the precision-guided systems at the end of May, and once they were in the region, Ukraine's forces needed about three weeks of training to operate them. The rockets can travel about 45 miles (70 kilometers).

The U.S. will send an addition $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including four more of the medium-range rocket systems, ammunition and other supplies, U.S. officials announced Thursday.

Analysts said the advanced systems would give Ukrainian forces greater precision in hitting Russian targets. Mykola Sunhurovsky of the Razumkov Center, a Kyiv-based think tank, said the HIMARS have a longer range, more precision and higher rate of fire compared with similar Soviet-designed systems that Russia and Ukraine have used during the four-month war.

In the Luhansk region, Ukrainians remain in control of part of the territory, "defying the Russians and causing their fury and desire to burn it to the ground, Haidai said.

For weeks, Russian forces have pummeled Sievierodonetsk with artillery and air raids, and fought the Ukrainian army house-to-house. Ukrainian forces remain holed up with about 500 civilians at the Azot chemical plant, the only part of the city still under Ukrainian control.

Haidai said the Ukrainian soldiers warded off the city's seizure from the plant's sprawling underground structures, but he noted that the shelling has intensified, and even concrete shelters cant withstand the bombardment. The Russians were using their entire arsenal  heavy artillery, tanks and aircraft  he said.

Lysychansk, located on a steep river bank facing Sievierodonetsk, also is under a relentless Russian artillery barrage. At least one civilian died and three others were wounded in the past day as the Russians concentrated more than 100 multiple rocket launchers to pummel entire blocks, the governor said.

The British Defense Ministry said Russian forces had likely advanced more than 5 kilometers (3 miles) toward the southern approaches of Lysychansk since Sunday.

Some Ukrainian units have withdrawn, probably to avoid being encircled, the statement said. Russias improved performance in this sector is likely a result of recent unit reinforcement and heavy concentration of fire.

Ukraine's military said the Russians were also moving to overtake the hills overlooking a highway linking Lysychansk with Bakhmut, to the southwest, in an attempt to cut the supply lines of Ukrainian forces.

Haidai said the Bakhmut-Lysychansk highway wasnt used because of heavy Russian shelling. Ukrainian forces are receiving supplies via an alternative route.

Following a botched attempt to capture Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, in the early stage of the invasion on Feb. 24, Russian forces shifted focus to the Donbas region, where the Ukrainian forces have fought Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.

The Russian military controls about 95% of Luhansk province and about half of neighboring Donetsk province, the two areas that make up the Donbas.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

European Union leaders meeting in Brussels have made Ukraine a candidate for membership in the 27-nation bloc, along with Moldova, in a historic boost that binds them closer to the West than Russia.

The countries' admission to the EU will likely take years, though. In the case of Ukraine, that's both because of the war and the reforms the Ukrainian government must make to conform with European standards.

-

A Ukrainian politician and TV personality said an online fundraising pitch aimed at helping Ukraine buy three offensive drones has raised $10.4 million in 24 hours.

Serhiy Prytula credited amazing support among Ukrainians after his charitable foundation made the appeal for $15 million a day earlier for the purchase of the Bayraktar drones like those that Ukrainian forces have already used to defend against Russian invaders.

He tweeted: 4,6m $ to go. The Peoples Bayraktar project is already a nationwide crowdfunding. Lets turn it into international!

___

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Thursday that her country offered its expertise to help protect Ukraines ports and the safe passage of vessels for the export of Ukrainian grain.

Ukraine is one of the worlds largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil. Russias invasion and blockade of Ukraine's ports have halted much of that flow and left millions of tons of grain stuck in silos, endangering food supplies to many developing countries, especially in Africa.

Its urgent that action is taken within the next month ahead of the new harvest, and were determined to work with our allies to deliver this, Truss said at news conference with her Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, during a visit to Ankara to discuss ways to end the blockade.

Turkey wants to gather the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine to organize a U.N. plan that would allow the safe shipment of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports. Cavusoglu said a possible deal might set up a safe zone just outside of Ukraines territorial waters.

___

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Russia has destroyed more than 2,000 schools and other educational institutions during the war.

In a video address to students and faculty at Jerusalems Hebrew University, Zelenskyy said that in areas where Russian troops have made quick advances, civilians are shot, refugees are killed right on the streets, people are tortured and raped, including minors  girls and boys.

Zelenskyy also voiced disappointment that Israel hadn't joined Western-led sanctions against Russia or provided Ukraine with military aid to give its forces a boost in the war.

Israel relies on good ties with Russia for security coordination in Syria, where Russia has troops and where Israel carries out frequent strikes against enemy targets. It has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

___

Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Ukraine, Samuel Petrequin in Brussels, Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Lolita C. Baldor and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)  A Sioux Falls police officer is on standard administrative leave after firing shots at an armed suspect, according to officials.

Assistant Police Chief Nick Cook says officers were called to the parking lot of a business about 7 p.m. Wednesday on a report of a stolen vehicle.

After officers arrived, Cook says a 31-year-old Sioux Falls man ran from the vehicle while holding a knife, discarded that weapon, then produced a handgun.

Because of a perceived threat, Cook says an officer fired an undetermined number of shots. The officer was not identified.

The suspect then discarded his firearm and continued to flee on foot and was arrested after struggling with police in the street where an officer used a stun gun to bring him under control, according to Cook. The man had not fired any shots at officers that police were aware of, he added.

Authorities said there were no injuries or damage to nearby structures or vehicles, the Argus Leader reported. Police spokesman Sam Clemens says investigators used a drone to help process the scene afterward.

A woman in the vehicle with the suspect was also arrested, but police did not say why.

Clemens said later that night as officers were collecting evidence, a man in a vehicle drove through the crime tape meant to secure the scene and was arrested.

The driver was booked into the Minnehaha County Jail on possible charges of driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, being a fugitive from justice and several other counts.
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a New York state law that had restricted who could obtain a permit to carry a gun in public. Under the law in place since 1913, New York residents needed to show proper cause, or an actual need, to carry a concealed handgun in public for self-defense..

The justices said that law conflicts with the Second Amendment's right to bear arms. It drew swift reaction from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who called the decision reckless and said she was prepared to call the Legislature back into session to form a response.

We do not need people entering our subways, our restaurants and movie theaters with concealed weapons," she said. "We dont need more guns on our streets.

New York and a half a dozen other states with similar laws now must decide their next steps. As with New York, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island all have legislatures controlled by Democrats who could propose measures to ensure that guns will not be allowed in certain places.

Gun rights groups in those states have vowed to continue pushing back against what they view as restrictive gun control laws. Some of those cases eventually could make their way to the nation's high court. A rundown of the similar laws in the other states, reaction to the Supreme Court ruling and what could happen next:

CALIFORNIA

The courts ruling invalidated the good cause requirement in Californias permitting law, said the state's attorney general and gun owners rights groups.

Attorney General Rob Bonta said other aspects of Californias law remain untouched. Bonta and California lawmakers scrambled Thursday to amend pending legislation that lawmakers will consider next week, in hopes of quickly sending it to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Their changes include a requirement to assess a concealed carry applicants potential for danger by examining arrest records, criminal convictions and restraining orders. The state will require background checks, including with fingerprinting, as well as firearms training and a mental health assessment. Many of the precautions already are allowed under current law.

It also will ban concealed weapons in certain sensitive areas such as parks, amusement parks and sporting venues.

Gun owners advocates oppose the proposed changes and expect they may also be struck down by the courts.

Bonta said the Supreme Court decision has made it clear that states like California still have many venues to prevent senseless death and keep our families safe from gun violence, and were going to use those avenues in California.

Nearly two-thirds of Californias 58 counties already eased their standards for granting concealed weapons permits after a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the states concealed carry standard in 2014, said attorney Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle and Pistol Association.

Of Californias 58 counties, 37 already grant permits if an applicant requests it for self-defense. The other 21 counties have tighter standards, for example requiring applicants to demonstrate that they have business-related or professional risks that justify them being armed.

The Supreme Court decision not only affirms that laws prohibiting licensed public concealed carry of firearms for self-defense violates the Constitution, but also that courts have been applying the wrong approach to evaluating the constitutionality of gun control laws, Michel said.

Michels organization plans to immediately send the 21 counties legal notices that they must ease their standards in light of the Supreme Courts decision. He also plans to ask the 9th Circuit to rule on his latest legal challenge to Californias good cause standard, a decision that has been on hold awaiting the U. S. Supreme Courts decision in the New York case.

Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, said his organization expects to quickly sue California to force it to adopt the standard set in the New York decision and to sue local jurisdictions if they dont adopt the high courts ruling.

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HAWAII

Hawaii has among the strictest gun laws in the nation. So strict, said attorney Alan Beck, that Hawaii essentially bans carrying guns outside the home. It has been practically impossible to get a permit to carry a loaded gun in public, he said. In the past 22 years, there have been four permits issued in Hawaii, said Beck, who represents various residents challenging Hawaii gun laws.

The state attorney generals office has argued that its not a flat-out ban because people can carry firearms if they have good cause. County police chiefs in Hawaii have had the discretion in determining whether to issue a carry permit, something the Supreme Court now says is too restrictive. Without a carry permit, people have been allowed to keep firearms in the home and can transport them  unloaded and locked up  to firing ranges and other limited locations such as for repairs.

One of Becks clients is George Young, a Big Island resident who wants to carry a gun for self-defense. Young doesnt care if its concealed or open carry. The favorable ruling in the New York case means Youngs lawsuit would prevail, Beck said.

The Hawaii Rifle Association anticipates that lawmakers now will work to make it difficult to obtain permits, whether its outrageous training requirements or exorbitant fees, said Kainoa Kaku, the associations president.

Were prepared to train potential concealed carry permit holders for whatever ridiculous requirements the state is going to ask of them, Kaku said.

State Sen. Chris Lee said lawmakers have been getting ready by introducing bills in the last couple of years that would establish training for those who are licensed to carry weapons. He called Thursday's ruling frustrating.

I think theres going to be a rush to figure out how states can intervene and ensure public safety, he said, adding that lawmakers will be looking at screening, training requirements and ways to keep guns out of public spaces.

Chris Marvin, a Hawaii resident with Everytown for Gun Safety, said lawmakers also could consider legislation that carefully vets applicants for a carry permit and rules to keep guns out of locations such as protests, polling places, state land and schools.

Allowing nearly all civilians to carry guns would be a big cultural shift for Hawaii, Marvin said.

We live in a place that a lot of people call paradise, and theyre usually talking about the weather. But from a safety standpoint and violence standpoint, we live in a place that is a relative paradise to the rest of the country," he said. "We are not perfect and we certainly have our share of violent incidences, but it would be really strange to be walking down Waikiki Beach and see someone with a side arm visibly on their hip.

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MARYLAND

Under current law, a gun owner in Maryland has to show a good or substantial reason to carry a concealed gun. That could include showing a persons life is in danger from threats or that they work in a job that could put them in contact with people who are dangerous.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said the laws are similar to New York's, but they take different approaches. He said he was examining today's ruling to determine its impact on the state.

Todays decision means more deaths and more pain in a country already awash in gun violence," Frosh said in a statement. "If the norm is that people can carry firearms, our neighborhoods, our streets and other public places will become more dangerous. It will make the lives of law enforcement more difficult and more perilous.

The epidemic of gun violence sweeping our nation demonstrates daily the folly of introducing more guns into this boiling cauldron.

Opponents to the law in Maryland already have sued, in a case that has been on hold in the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, pending the ruling in the New York case.

Mark Pennak, president of Maryland Shall Issue, a gun-rights group that is challenging the Maryland law, said the group is absolutely ecstatic about the courts ruling.

It confirms what weve always believed  that the right of self-defense extends outside the home, he said.

Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne Jones, who are both Democrats, said they will review the ruling and pass new gun control legislation if necessary.

More guns in public means more violence, and more violence means more death and heartache everywhere. This is the wrong answer," they said in a joint statement. The Second Amendment permits reasonable restrictions on the right to carry a firearm.

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MASSACHUSETTS

Massachusetts law had given local police chiefs the power to decide whether someone is suitable to have a license to carry a handgun. Police chiefs have been able to deny applicants if they determine that the person would pose a risk to public safety, for reasons such as a history of domestic violence. Those who are denied can appeal to their local district court.

The law says those deemed suitable can get a license to carry if they show good reason to fear injury to themselves or their property or for any other reason, including for use in sport or target practice only.

Whats considered a good reason has been up to police chiefs, who vary in what they require of applicants to meet that standard. Some demand that applicants show they have a reason to fear injury that distinguishes them from the general population in order to get an unrestricted license.

Massachusetts courts have ruled that if someone cant show a good reason to fear injury, police chiefs can put restrictions on licenses that limit when someone can carry a firearm.

State Attorney General Maura Healey said Thursday that she stands by the states commonsense gun laws and will continue to vigorously defend and enforce them. The office has not responded to questions from The Associated Press about to what extent Massachusetts law will be affected by the ruling.

Jason Guida, former director of the Massachusetts Firearms Records Bureau who now works as a lawyer representing gun owners, said he expects to see a flurry of challenges to gun licensing restrictions in certain communities, like Boston, that courts have upheld in the past.

Communities that restrict gun owners licenses for certain purposes unless applicants show a special need for self-defense will need to rewrite their policies: Otherwise, theres a strong likelihood in the very near future that these communities will find themselves in federal court, he said.

State Rep. David Linksy, a Democrat who has advocated for gun control measures, said he is still examining the ruling but is deeply concerned about its potential effect on police chiefs ability to use their discretion when issuing gun licenses.

The end result is there will be an increase in gun violence," he said. There will be people killed, there will be people injured, and we will all be less safe.

A federal judge wrote in a 2017 case that Massachusetts law is in some respects less restrictive than New Yorks because Massachusetts allows  but doesnt demand that police chiefs require applicants to demonstrate a special need for self-defense before being issued an unrestricted license.

Democratic state Rep. Michael Day, House chair of the Legislatures Judiciary Committee, said lawmakers are trying to sort out what actions they will take in response to the ruling.

Were taking a look at that to see exactly what it means and what it doesnt, but anything thats been loosened up were confident we will be able to tighten back up, he said.

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NEW JERSEY

New Jersey residents no longer must prove justifiable need to carry a handgun in light of the Supreme Courts decision Thursday, but permits are still required, the states top law enforcement officer said.

Acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a phone interview that the high courts ruling in the New York state case effectively struck down New Jerseys requirement that residents seeking carry permits show they face significant threats and have a justifiable need to get a carry permit.

But, he added, the other requirements under New Jersey law still stand. Among them is safety training and a prohibition against certain convicts. As for how soon the change goes into effect, Platkin said he will issue guidance imminently.

New Jerseys gun laws are among the tightest in the nation and got even stricter after former Republican Gov. Chris Christie left office in 2018. He was succeeded by Democrat Phil Murphy, who signed a handful of new bills into law.

Among them were magazine size restrictions and a red flag law. Getting a carry permit in New Jersey is widely considered difficult, and the states justifiable need requirement paralleled New Yorks proper cause provision that was just thrown out by the high court.

On Thursday, Murphy called the Supreme Court decision tragic.

Based on a deeply flawed constitutional methodology, a right-wing majority on the United States Supreme Court has just said that states can no longer decide for ourselves how best to limit the proliferation of firearms in the public sphere," he said.

Gun rights advocates in New Jersey hailed the ruling. Scott Bach, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, said it spells the end for New Jerseys decades-long interference with the peoples fundamental right of self-defense with a firearm outside the home.

Gun rights groups already are challenging New Jerseys right-to-carry laws in courts, as well as the magazine limit. Those cases are pending.

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NEW YORK

The New York law struck down Thursday, in place since 1913, said that to carry a handgun outside the home, a person applying for a license had to demonstrate proper cause, an actual need to carry the weapon.

The law doesnt define what proper cause means and gave local officials  often a police department or town justice  discretion when deciding whether to issue licenses. In practice, it meant most applicants had to show a need that went beyond routine public safety concerns, like being in a profession that put them at special risk.

Lawmakers could add new permitting conditions now that the court has ruled, such as requiring firearm training or a mental health evaluation, or disqualifying applicants with certain types of criminal convictions.

Lawmakers also could pass a law specifying where people cant carry concealed weapons  a list that could include public transit systems, school zones, bars, parks, government offices or polling places.

Supporters of New Yorks handgun limits have said one of their fears is that by creating a marketplace for handguns that now barely exists in the state, it will lead to more pistols getting into the hands of prohibited buyers.

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RHODE ISLAND

The state attorney generals office said there are similarities between Rhode Island's law and the one in New York that was struck down, but also important differences between the two states statutory schemes for concealed carry permits.

Rhode Island has separate laws dealing with permits issued from municipalities and permits issued from the state attorney generals office. In 2018, the office filed an amicus brief in a case to defend the constitutionality of a Massachusetts gun law, noting that Rhode Islands concealed carry permit has been upheld by the Rhode Island Supreme Court. The court found that the state constitutional right to keep and bear arms is an individual right, subject to reasonable regulation by the state.

The attorney general and governors offices said they would review the Supreme Court decision for its impacts on the state. The Rhode Island 2nd Amendment Coalition did not immediately respond to requests for comment about whether it would seek to challenge the permitting process in Rhode Island.

Any response from the legislature would likely have to wait until next year, but Democratic state Rep. Robert Craven said Thursday he wasnt surprised by the ruling.

I see the court headed in that direction, he said. Its taking a stricter interpretation that the Second Amendment is absolute -- It says what it says, you have a right to bear arms.

Craven, an attorney and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, questioned whether the court will now use that same thought process for cases about banning military-style weapons.

___

Associated Press writers Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey; Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu; Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island; Alanna Durkin Richer and Steve LeBlanc in Boston; Don Thompson in Sacramento, California; Marina Villeneuve in Albany, New York; and Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court gave Republican legislative leaders in North Carolina a win Thursday in a fight over the state's latest photo identification voting law.

The 8-1 decision does not end the three-year-plus dispute over the voter ID law, which is not in effect and has been challenged in state and federal courts. The Supreme Court's ruling just means that the legislative leaders can intervene in the federal case to defend the law. A lower court had ruled the lawmakers' interests were being adequately represented by the state's attorney general, Democrat Josh Stein.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote: Through the General Assembly, the people of North Carolina have authorized the leaders of their legislature to defend duly enacted state statutes against constitutional challenge. Ordinarily, a federal court must respect that kind of sovereign choice, not assemble presumptions against it.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented.

Jose Luis Magana/AP

North Carolina voters amended the state constitution in 2018 to include a voter ID mandate. Lawmakers then passed the law at issue in the case to put in place the change. The law requires voters to show a photo ID to vote  a driver's license, a passport or certain student and local government identifications.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the measure, but lawmakers overrode it. The state NAACP and several local chapters immediately sued in federal court to halt enforcement, arguing that the law discriminates against Black and Latino voters in violation of the U.S. Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act.

North Carolina's House speaker, Tim Moore, and Senate leader, Phil Berger  both Republicans  wanted to intervene in the federal case to defend the law alongside lawyers for the state, saying Stein would not adequately fight for the law. A federal judge said no, that lawmakers' interests were being adequately defended by lawyers in Stein's agency. A three-judge federal appeals court panel ruled for the lawmakers before the full federal appeals court reversed the decision, ruling 9-6 that lawmakers should not be allowed to intervene.

Berger praised the Supreme Court ruling, saying that previous opposition by Stein and Cooper to voter ID had resulted in intentionally sandbagging the laws defense.

North Carolinians overwhelmingly support voter ID, and they deserve nothing less than the strongest representation from those who would uphold the will of the voters and our constitution, not a tepid defense by an attorney general who has a record of opposing voter ID, Moore said in a news release.

A spokesperson for the attorney general's office, Nazneen Ahmed, wrote in an email that Stein has and will continue to vigorously defend state law and did not formally oppose the legislators efforts to join in the defense. In a legal brief to the justices, Stein and other state lawyers wrote that respect needed to be given to the executive branchs powers to defend the state in court.

As for the law itself, it was initially blocked by the judge in the case, who said it was impermissibly motivated, at least in part, by discriminatory intent. But the three-judge appeals panel reversed her decision and sent it back to U.S. District Court, where a trial has yet to start.

In litigation in state court, judges struck down the law as tainted by racial bias. North Carolina's Supreme Court has said it will take up the case, but no date has been set for oral arguments.

Separately, North Carolina's highest court has also already heard arguments in a lawsuit over whether the constitutional amendment mandating voter ID should have been allowed on the November 2018 ballot in the first place. A state judge had ruled that the GOP-controlled legislature lacked authority to put the amendment and one other on the ballot because lawmakers had been elected from racially biased districts two years earlier. That decision was later overturned on appeal before going to the state's highest court, where a ruling is pending.

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Robertson reported from Raleigh, North Carolina.
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LONDON (AP)  Polls opened Thursday in Britain for two special elections that could deliver a new blow to scandal-tainted Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Wakefield in northern England and the southwestern constituency of Tiverton and Honiton are both electing replacements for Conservative lawmakers who resigned in disgrace. One was convicted of sexual assault; the other was caught looking at pornography in the House of Commons chamber  an episode he explained by saying he was searching for pictures of tractors on his phone.

Defeat in either district would be a setback for the prime minister's party. Losing both would increase jitters among restive Conservatives who already worry the ebullient but erratic and divisive Johnson is no longer an electoral asset.

For the Conservatives to lose one by-election on Thursday might be regarded as unfortunate, polling expert John Curtice of the University of Strathclyde wrote in the Independent newspaper. However, to lose two might look like much more than carelessness  but a sign of a government that is at risk of losing its electoral footing.

Johnson was 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) away at a Commonwealth summit in Rwanda as voters went to the polls.

He told reporters he would not step down if the Conservatives lose both elections, replying to the suggestion with: Are you crazy?

Governing parties generally do not win by-elections, particularly not in mid-term," he said. "Thats just the reality.

The electoral tests come as Britain faces the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation, with Russias war in Ukraine squeezing supplies of energy and food staples at a time of soaring consumer demand while the coronavirus pandemic recedes.

Johnson won a big majority in a 2019 general election by keeping the Conservatives traditional voters  affluent, older and concentrated in southern England  and winning new ones in poorer, post-industrial northern towns where many residents felt overlooked by governments for decades,

Thursdays elections are a test on both fronts. Rural Tiverton and Honiton has voted Conservative for generations, while Wakefield is a northern district that the Tories won in 2019 from the left-of-center Labour Party.

Opinion polls suggest Labour is likely to regain Wakefield, which would be a boost to a party that has been out of office nationally since 2010. Labour leader Keir Starmer said victory there could be the birthplace of the next Labour government.

Polls suggest the Tiverton race is neck-and-neck between the Conservatives and the centrist Liberal Democrats. The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, said residents were fed up of Boris Johnsons lies and neglect.

Families are facing soaring petrol bills and food prices, and this governments only answer is to hammer them with constant tax rises, Davey said.

Even if the Conservatives lose both seats, Johnson retains a large majority in Parliament. But defeat would further erode his crumbling authority among his own lawmakers.

Allegations about his judgment and ethics have buffeted the prime minister for months, culminating in a scandal over parties held in government buildings during Britains coronavirus lockdowns.

Johnson was one of 83 people fined by police for attending the parties, making him the first prime minister found to have broken the law while in office. A civil servants report on the partygate scandal said Johnson must bear responsibility for failures of leadership and judgment that created a culture of rule-breaking in government.

He survived a no-confidence vote by his own party this month but was left weakened after 41% of Conservative lawmakers voted to remove him. Johnson could face another rebellion in the coming months.

Polls in the two districts close at 10 p.m. (2100GMT), with results expected early Friday.
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UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The devastating earthquake this week in Afghanistan is one more emergency facing the country, which is also confronting its worst drought in 30 years and massive poverty. Afghanistan also has the highest number of people in the world facing the risk of famine and there are increasing human rights violations by the country's new Taliban rulers, senior U.N. officials said Thursday.

The grim picture of the hardships and perils facing Afghanistans 38 million people was presented by U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths and the U.N. deputy special representative for Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov.

They spoke during a Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, a meeting scheduled before Wednesdays powerful quake in the east that Afghan state media said killed 1,000 people. U.N. estimates gave a lower death toll, saying around 770 people had been killed in Paktika and Khost provinces.

Hundreds more have been injured and officials have warned the casualty figures could rise as Afghans were still digging through the rubble in an effort to retrieve more bodies on Thursday.

Griffiths said in a video briefing that dramatic shifts in Afghanistans political and economic landscape since the Taliban seized power last August as U.S. and NATO forces were in the final stages of their chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war have brought unrelenting human suffering to the countrys people.

Afghanistans worst drought in almost 30 years has affected three-quarters of its provinces, meaning crop production is expected to be below average this harvest, he said.

Griffiths said 25 million people  more than half the population  live in poverty, more than double the number in 2011, including 6.6 million at emergency levels. Thats the highest number of any country in the world at risk of famine-like conditions, he said.

Alakbarov, currently the top official in Afghanistan who plans to visit quake-hit areas on Friday, said in a video briefing from Kabul that the temblor was yet another tragic reminder of the myriad dangers facing the Afghan people.

He said the security environment is becoming increasingly unpredictable with the emergence of armed opposition groups to the Taliban  in large part due to political exclusion  leading to clashes, especially in Panjshir and Baghlan provinces. Armed opposition attacks against de facto authorities doubled in May, compared to April, he said.

Alakbarov also pointed to the precarious human rights situation, including credible allegations of killings, ill-treatment and other violations targeting individuals associated with the former government of Afghanistan, and by the Taliban against individuals accused of affiliation with the opposition and also the Taliban's chief rivals, the Islamic State group.

He also cited the Talibans increasing restrictions on women and girls and the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of opinion and expression and the ongoing economic crisis. Afghanistan's economy contracted an estimated 30% to 40% since the Taliban takeover, he said.

It is possible that unemployment could reach 40% this year  up from 13% in 2021  and some projections indicate that poverty rates may climb as high as 97% by the end of 2022, Alakbarov said. Even more alarming, 82% of households are now in debt, while the deteriorating economy offers few chances to climb out of debt.

In traveling around the country, he said, Afghan families are grateful for humanitarian aid but they want jobs, an opportunity to look to the future and safety that also means freedom of movement for women as well as men.

Griffiths called the humanitarian response in the country complex and difficult, saying the formal banking system continues to block financial transfers, with around 80% of aid organizations facing delays in transferring funds.

A second impediment, he said, is that the Taliban across the country increasingly seek to play a role in the selection of beneficiaries and channeling assistance to people on their own priority lists." Aid organizations struggle to hire women, he added, and there are more instances of interference today than in previous months.

The U.N. also faces a 66% funding gap  a staggering nearly $3 billion funding shortfall for the last six months of 2022, Griffiths said, stressing that early funding and early action will be critical to avert a catastrophe this winter.
LONDON (AP)  The World Health Organization convenes its emergency committee Thursday to consider if the spiraling outbreak of monkeypox warrants being declared a global emergency. But some experts say the WHOs decision to act only after the disease spilled into the West could entrench the grotesque inequities that arose between rich and poor countries during the coronavirus pandemic.

Declaring monkeypox to be a global emergency would mean the U.N. health agency considers the outbreak to be an extraordinary event and that the disease is at risk of spreading across even more borders, possibly requiring a global response. It would also give monkeypox the same distinction as the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio.

The WHO said it did not expect to announce any decisions made by its emergency committee before Friday.

Many scientists doubt any such declaration would help to curb the epidemic, since the developed countries recording the most recent cases are already moving quickly to shut it down.

Last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the recent monkeypox epidemic identified in more than 40 countries, mostly in Europe, as unusual and concerning. Monkeypox has sickened people for decades in central and west Africa, where one version of the disease kills up to 10% of people infected. The version of the disease seen in Europe and elsewhere usually has a fatality rate of less than 1% and no deaths beyond Africa have so far been reported.

If WHO was really worried about monkeypox spread, they could have convened their emergency committee years ago when it reemerged in Nigeria in 2017 and no one knew why we suddenly had hundreds of cases, said Oyewale Tomori, a Nigerian virologist who sits on several WHO advisory groups. It is a bit curious that WHO only called their experts when the disease showed up in white countries, he said.

Until last month, monkeypox had not caused sizeable outbreaks beyond Africa. Scientists havent found any mutations in the virus that suggest its more transmissible, and a leading adviser to the WHO said last month the surge of cases in Europe was likely tied to sexual activity among gay and bisexual men at two raves in Spain and Belgium.

To date, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed more than 3,300 cases of monkeypox in 42 countries where the virus hasn't been typically seen. More than 80% of cases are in Europe. Meanwhile, Africa has already seen more than 1,400 cases this year, including 62 deaths.

David Fidler, a senior fellow in global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the WHOs newfound attention to monkeypox amid its spread beyond Africa could inadvertently worsen the divide between rich and poor countries seen during COVID-19.

There may be legitimate reasons why WHO only raised the alarm when monkeypox spread to rich countries, but to poor countries, that looks like a double standard, Fidler said. He said the global community was still struggling to ensure the worlds poor were vaccinated against the coronavirus and that it was unclear if Africans even wanted monkeypox vaccines, given competing priorities like malaria and HIV.

Unless African governments specifically ask for vaccines, it might be a bit patronizing to send them because its in the Wests interest to stop monkeypox from being exported, Fidler said.

The WHO has also proposed creating a vaccine-sharing mechanism to help affected countries, which could see doses go to rich countries like Britain, which has the biggest monkeypox outbreak beyond Africa  and recently widened its use of vaccines.

To date, the vast majority of cases in Europe have been in men who are gay or bisexual, or other men who have sex with men, but scientists warn anyone in close contact with an infected person or their clothing or bedsheets is at risk of infection, regardless of their sexual orientation. People with monkeypox often experience symptoms like fever, body aches and a rash; most recover within weeks without medical care.

Even if the WHO announces monkeypox is a global emergency, its unclear what impact that might have.

In January 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 an international emergency. But few countries took notice until March, when the organization described it as a pandemic, weeks after many other authorities did so. The WHO was later slammed for its multiple missteps throughout the pandemic, which some experts said might be prompting a quicker monkeypox response.

After COVID, WHO does not want to be the last to declare monkeypox an emergency, said Amanda Glassman, executive vice president at the Center for Global Development. This may not rise to the level of a COVID-like emergency, but it is still a public health emergency that needs to be addressed.

Salim Abdool Karim, an epidemiologist and vice chancellor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, said the WHO and others should be doing more to stop monkeypox in Africa and elsewhere, but wasnt convinced that a global emergency declaration would help.

There is this misplaced idea that Africa is this poor, helpless continent, when in fact, we do know how to deal with epidemics, said Abdool Karim. He said that stopping the outbreak ultimately depends on things like surveillance, isolating patients and public education.

Maybe they need vaccines in Europe to stop monkeypox, but here, we have been able to control it with very simple measures, he said.
Jeff Chiu, STF / Associated Press

Houston is finally home to a legal weed dispensary, but don't get too excited just yet  it's reserved for those with medical prescriptions, which can only be given to individuals with specific ailments. So, who can land a prescription?

Texas Original, a chain of medical marijuana dispensaries across Texas, opened at 1714 Houston Ave. this week, offering people with prescriptions an easier way to obtain an array of legal marijuana-laced products, according to ReNew Houston's Evan MacDonald. The company is the first of its kind in the Bayou City and the first Texas Original storefront open five days a week, offering next-day pickup for customers.
The chairman of the Log Cabin Republicans of Texas, a group of gay Texas GOP members, resigned from his post Thursday, KXAN reported.

Michael Cargills resignation as LCRs state leader comes after the state party ratified a new platform calling homosexuality an abnormal lifestyle choice at its Houston convention last week.

These are just crazy people, Michael Cargill told KXAN on Sunday. Its a small minority of people that are being un-Christian-like and spewing this hateful language.

LCR Texas Secretary and Austin Vice President David Garza and President of LCR San Antonio Mimi Planas also resigned from the state board alongside Cargill.

Cargill, who owns and operates a gun shop in Austin, will continue to serve as president of LCRs Austin chapter and pursue the groups interests through direct interactions with GOP leadership at the Texas Capitol, he wrote in his resignation letter.

LCR Texas leaderships resignations come amid backlash against the state GOPs new platformsome of it coming from high-ranking national party members. Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who helms the GOPs Senate elections committee, said he would not have supported the homophobic language on Wednesday.

Scott also confirmed that he accepts the results of the 2020 election as valid and the Biden administration as legitimate. Texas Republicans parroted former president Donald Trumps lie that widespread voter fraud cost him the election and declared President Biden an illegitimate leader in their new platform.

Former Ohio governor and 2016 Republican presidential candidate John Kasich called the Texas GOP convention a clown show on CNN Monday, adding that "I think even clowns were embarrassed by what they saw down there."
Pete Arredondo, police chief of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD) who acted as incident commander while the May 24 massacre unfolded at Robb Elementary, has been placed on administrative leave effective immediately, announced Superintendent Hal Harrell on Wednesday.

The move comes amid growing calls from the Uvalde community for Arredondo's resignation as more details have surfaced about his handling of law enforcement's response during the mass shooting, during which 19 children and two teachers were killed.

"From the beginning of this horrible event, I shared that the district would wait until the investigation was complete before making personal decisions," Harrell wrote in a release. "Today, I am still without details of the investigations being conducted by various agencies. Because of the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown timing of when I will received the results of the investigations, I have made the decision to place Chief Arredondo on administrative leave effective on this date."

Harrell said Lieutenant Mike Hernandez will now assume the duties of UCISD Chief of Police. "We will continue to seek qualified candidates to join our police department as we prepare for the new school year," Harrell wrote, adding that no further information will be released regarding this personnel matter.

Arredondo testified before Texas legislators for nearly five hours behind closed doors Tuesday during an executive session by the Texas state House of Representatives. His testimony happened at the same time the Texas state Senate panel conducted a hearing on school safety, police training and social media in the wake of the shooting.

During that hearing, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw condemned Arredondo for his hesitation in directing officers to breach the classroom and take down the gunman, saying Arredondo waited for radios, rifles, shields, and SWAT teams to arrive as well as "keys that were never needed." Newly released footage shows officers waited nearly an hour before breaching the classroom to kill the gunman. McCraw called law enforcement response to the shooting that day an "abject failure."

On Tuesday, the Uvalde City Council also denied Arredondo, who is also a newly elected councilman, his requested leave of absence following residents and grieving family members demanding his resignation. Arredondo, who was not present at the meeting, will now be expected to appear at future city council meetings. Should he miss three meetings, he faces removal from the council.
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NEW ORLEANS (AP)  A Houston dredging company has been ordered to pay a $1 million fine for an oil spill that occurred when a subcontractor cut through an oil pipeline during barrier island restoration work off Louisiana in 2016.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, which describes itself as the nation's largest dredging company, was sentenced last Thursday for violating the Clean Water Act, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Orleans.

Great Lakes recklessly violated regulations designed to protect the environment and then tried to hide their actions, Kimberly Bahney, special agent in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency's criminal enforcement program in Louisiana, said Friday in that news release.

The spill occurred when a marsh buggy hit a pipeline while digging and moving sediment to create part of the island's new outline, releasing an estimated 5,300 gallons (20,000 liters) of crude oil and oiling about 200 birds.

The restoration at Chenier Ronquille, a barrier island east of Grand Isle, was paid for by money from the 2010 BP oil spill.

Great Lakes, which was headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, in 2016 but has since moved to Houston, pleaded guilty in June 2021. As part of the plea, it said it violated state and federal laws by failing to tell companies about continuing work near their pipelines. A statement filed with the guilty plea also said Great Lakes' failure to properly supervise James Tassin, whose marsh buggy punctured the pipeline on Sept. 5, 2016, was a cause of the spill.

Tassin, a Shallow Water Equipment LLC employee, pleaded guilty in March 2021 to violating the Clean Water Act. His sentencing is scheduled Aug. 16, according to online court documents.

A Great Lakes employee told him to dig near pipelines even though that area wasn't in the plan approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to the news release.

It said Great Lakes had not gotten pipeline companies' word that it was safe to dig, and Tassin said a Great Lakes employee told him "not to tell anyone that Tassin had been digging near the site of the spill. The two Houston companies that owned the pipeline, Harvest Pipeline Company and Arrowhead Gulf Coast Pipeline, LLC, sued for damages including cleanup costs. Prosecutors said Great Lakes agreed to pay nearly $3.2 million and Tassins employer agreed to pay it nearly $1.7 million.

U.S. District Judge Greg Guidry last week rejected prosecutors' request to make Great Lakes pay a total of at least $6 million in restitution for the spill, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.

The investigation would be too unwieldly, while unnecessarily stalling an end to the Chenier Ronquille incident, he wrote. Besides, he said, the figure probably wouldn't be far from the figure settled on for the damage suit.

Money to pay the fine is already in a court account. Great Lakes deposited $2 million for possible restitution when it pleaded guilty, and will get the rest back, according to court documents.
WFO LAS VEGAS Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Wednesday, June 22, 2022

_____

AREAL FLOOD ADVISORY

Flood Advisory

National Weather Service Las Vegas NV

429 PM PDT Wed Jun 22 2022

...FLOOD ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 730 PM PDT THIS EVENING...

* WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is expected.

* WHERE...A portion of southern California, including the following

county, San Bernardino.

* WHEN...Until 730 PM PDT.

* IMPACTS...Minor flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas.

Rises in small streams and normally dry washes.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...

- At 426 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated heavy rain due to

thunderstorms. Minor flooding is ongoing or expected to begin

shortly in the advisory area, notably over State Route 62.

- Some locations that will experience flooding include...

State Route 62 east of Twentynine Palms and mainly rural

areas of San Bernardino County.

- http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

The National Weather Service in San Diego has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

Northeastern San Diego County in southwestern California...

* Until 630 PM PDT.

* At 429 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing

heavy rain across the warned area. Flash flooding is ongoing or

expected to begin shortly.

HAZARD...Life threatening flash flooding. Thunderstorms

producing flash flooding.

SOURCE...Radar.

IMPACT...Life threatening flash flooding of creeks and streams,

urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...

Borrego Springs, Borrego Palm Canyon, Hwy S22 Between Ranchita And

Borrego Springs, Ranchita, Hwy S22 Between Borrego Springs And

Imperial County Line, Los Coyotes Indian Reservation and Santa

Rosa Mountain.

Remain alert for flooding even in locations not receiving rain.

Arroyos, streams, and rivers can become raging killer currents in a

matter of minutes, even from distant rainfall.

Move away from recently burned areas. Life-threatening flooding of

creeks, roads and normally dry arroyos is likely. The heavy rains

will likely trigger rockslides, mudslides and debris flows in steep

terrain, especially in and around these areas.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO PHOENIX Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Wednesday, June 22, 2022

_____

AREAL FLOOD ADVISORY

Flood Advisory

National Weather Service Phoenix AZ

439 PM PDT Wed Jun 22 2022

...FLOOD ADVISORY HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH A FLASH FLOOD WARNING...

The threat of flooding continues and a Flash Flood Warning is now in

effect. Please refer to that bulletin for more information.

The National Weather Service in Phoenix has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

Riverside County in southern California...

* Until 730 PM PDT.

* At 439 PM PDT, local law enforcement reported thunderstorms

producing heavy rain across the warned area. Between 1 and 2

inches of rain have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts of 0.5 to

1 inch are possible in the warned area. Flash flooding is ongoing

or expected to begin shortly.

HAZARD...Life threatening flash flooding. Thunderstorms

producing flash flooding.

SOURCE...Law enforcement reported.

IMPACT...Life threatening flash flooding of creeks and streams,

urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...

mainly rural areas of Riverside County

This includes the following highways...

CA Route 177 between mile markers 10 and 14...and

between mile markers 4 and 8.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

Be aware of your surroundings and do not drive on flooded roads.

Please report observed flooding to local emergency services or law

enforcement and request they pass this information to the National

Weather Service when you can do so safely.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO SEATTLE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, June 26, 2022

_____

HEAT ADVISORY

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Seattle WA

219 PM PDT Thu Jun 23 2022

...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON SATURDAY TO 11 PM PDT

SUNDAY...

* WHAT...Hot conditions with high temperatures in the mid to upper

80s. Overnight low temperatures will likely only cool into the

low 60s for many locations Saturday night into Sunday morning.

This will pose a moderate risk of heat-related illness.

* WHERE...North Coast and Central Coast.

* WHEN...From noon Saturday to 11 PM PDT Sunday.

* IMPACTS...Hot conditions will increase the risk of heat-related

illnesses for those who are sensitive to heat, especially those

without effective cooling or adequate hydration.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...A significant increase in cold- and high-

water related incidents is possible. Recent rains and late

snowmelt has lead to high, fast and cold flows on area

waterways. Cold water shock can lead to life-threatening

hypothermia within minutes. Use extreme caution if recreating

near water, wear a life jacket, and supervise children closely.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out

of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young

children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles

under any circumstances.

Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When

possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or

evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat

stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when

possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational

Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent

rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone

overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location.

Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.

For sheltering information and other human services in your area,

dial 2 1 1 during business hours or visit wa211.org anytime.

MONDAY...

80s on Saturday, and low 90s on Sunday and Monday. Overnight low

temperatures will likely only cool into the low 60s for many

locations Saturday night and again Sunday night. This will pose

a moderate risk of heat-related illness.

* WHERE...Portions of northwest and west central Washington.

* WHEN...From noon Saturday to 11 PM PDT Monday.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
Country singer Dallas Smith returned to the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, Thursday night, for a night of high energy entertainment. The Canadian performer had a banner year in 2021 winning the Country Music Awards entertainer of the year, as well as the single of the year. The band is cu
Minister Fraser sat down with CIC News in Toronto this week to discuss the future of Canadian immigration. CIC News is releasing a special series on the interview over the coming weeks. In Part 1, we discuss the likely return to all-program draws next month.

Express Entry: All-program draws set to resume July 6 says Immigration Minister Minister Fraser sat down with CIC News in Toronto this week to discuss the future of Canadian immigration. CIC News is releasing a special series on the interview over the coming weeks. In Part 1, we discuss the likely return to all-program draws next month.

Express Entry: All-program draws set to resume July 6 says Immigration Minister Minister Fraser sat down with CIC News in Toronto this week to discuss the future of Canadian immigration. CIC News is releasing a special series on the interview over the coming weeks. In Part 1, we discuss the likely return to all-program draws next month.

Express Entry: All-program draws set to resume July 6 says Immigration Minister Minister Fraser sat down with CIC News in Toronto this week to discuss the future of Canadian immigration. CIC News is releasing a special series on the interview over the coming weeks. In Part 1, we discuss the likely return to all-program draws next month. Kareem El-Assal Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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In an interview with CIC News, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said Canada aims to resume all-program Express Entry draws on Wednesday July 6.

Special interview series with Minister Fraser

CIC News sat down with the minister in Toronto on June 21, 2022 to discuss the future of Canadian immigration.

Over the coming weeks, CIC News is releasing a special series of articles elaborating on the interview with Minister Fraser on topics including:

Part 2: Express Entry reforms (this article will be released on June 24)

improving application processing and client experience

Canadian citizenship fees

legalizing undocumented workers in Canada

the Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025

creating more immigration pathways for foreign workers and students, and

how his life has changed since he became minister

Minister Fraser was in Toronto to speak at Collision, one of the worlds largest technology conferences.

IRCC on track to uphold Express Entry commitment

Fraser confirmed that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is on track to normalize Express Entry draws in early July. IRCC made the commitment in April, and also pledged to get the Express Entry service standard back to six months when the all-program draws resume.

IRCC paused Express Entry invitations to apply (ITA) for permanent residence to Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) candidates in December 2020 amid the pandemic. It did the same for Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates in September 2021.

Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration

Immigration Minister says IRCC aiming to resume Express Entry draws July 6 TRANSCRIPT BELOWImmigration Minister Sean Fraser says the long-awaited all-program draws will tentatively resume on July 6.Kareem El-Assal, CanadaVisas 

Recent Express Entry developments

Prior to the pandemic, IRCC usually considered all candidates in its bi-weekly Express Entry draws. This meant IRCC would invite the candidates with the highest Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores, irrespective of their program of eligibility.

IRCC temporarily shifted its approach during the pandemic. The pause in FSWP and FSTP draws were justified on the grounds that it made strategic sense to prioritize economic class immigration candidates in Canada while the country had international travel restrictions in place. For much of last year, IRCC prioritized CEC candidates so it could achieve its goal of landing 401,000 new permanent residents by the end of 2021.

However, this, along with other developments resulted in a significant growth of applications in IRCCs inventory. In order to get its inventory under control and to improve its Express Entry service standard, IRCC decided to also pause Express Entry invitations to CEC candidates in September 2021. Meanwhile, Express Entry invitations to Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates have continued throughout the pandemic as IRCC has sought to help advance the economic development of provinces and territories across the country.

How the all-program draws will affect Express Entry candidates

The return to all-program draws will be welcome for FSWP, FSTP, and CEC candidates alike.

From its inception in 1967 until the start of the pandemic, the FSWP was the main pathway for economic class immigrants to come to Canada. Pre-pandemic, it accounted for some 45 per cent of all those invited for permanent residence via Express Entry.

Research by World Education Services (WES), one of the Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) providers designated by IRCC, suggests that there remains strong demand for FSWP candidates to go ahead with the Canadian immigration process despite what has transpired over the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the resumption of draws to CEC candidates will help those in Canada maintain their legal status to reside in the country. When an Express Entry candidate in Canada gets an ITA and then submits their permanent residence application, they have an opportunity to also apply for a bridging open work permit (BOWP). The BOWP enables them to maintain their legal status in Canada while their permanent residence is being processed.

CEC candidates have not been able to benefit from the BOWP in the absence of ITAs to them since September 2021. Recognizing this, IRCC also announced in April that it would be offering an open work permit extension to the main cohort of CEC candidates effective this summer. This cohort are those who have recently seen, or are soon set to see their Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) expire. No word is available yet on when IRCC will begin to accept open work permit applications for these individuals.

How does Express Entry work?

Introduced in 2015, Express Entry is an application management system for the FSWP, FSTP, CEC, and a portion of the PNP.

Eligible candidates upload their profile on IRCCs website. They are then awarded CRS score based on their human capital characteristics such as their age, education, language skills, and work experience. When all-program draws resume, IRCC is expected to invite those with the highest CRS scores to apply for permanent residence, as was the norm prior to the pandemic.

Looking ahead, IRCC is proposing a major change to Express Entry that would provide the department with Ministerial Instructions authority to issue ITAs to certain groups it believes will be well-positioned to support Canadas diverse economic needs.

The minister explained the rationale for this proposal while on stage at Collision, stating If we can project skills that are needed over the next 20 to 30 years, we can bring people who can hit the ground running and make a major economic impact.

However the minister said in his interview with CIC News that this proposal is still being reviewed in the Canadian Parliament and Senate, and hence, he is not in a position at the moment to provide a timeframe on when IRCC may begin to use this new approach.

Nonetheless, I hope we have these authorities soon, said Fraser.

Part 2 of CIC News interview series will elaborate on the Express Entry reforms.

Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
Filling gaps in the Canadian labour market with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program The Temporary Foreign Worker Program aims to address worker shortages in Canada.

Filling gaps in the Canadian labour market with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program The Temporary Foreign Worker Program aims to address worker shortages in Canada.

Filling gaps in the Canadian labour market with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program The Temporary Foreign Worker Program aims to address worker shortages in Canada. Edana Robitaille Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Canadas Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) is a program intended to help Canadian employers find workers with highly specialized skills when they are unable to find the appropriate skill set among Canadians or permanent residents.



Why does Canada have a TFWP?

TFWP is designed to fill gaps in the Canadian labour market. These shortages happen when there are not enough Canadian citizens or permanent residents to fill vacant positions. This is becoming more prevalent as many Canadians are reaching retirement age and the birth rate is too low to make up the shortfall.

When a Canadian employer cannot find anyone in Canada with the necessary skills to fill the position, they may submit a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to Employment and Social Development Canada (EDSC).If the LMIA comes back positive or neutral, the employer may hire a worker from abroad to come to Canada and fill the position.

Schedule a Free Work Permit Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm

About the LMIA

A LMIA provides EDSC with the information it needs to evaluate if there is a genuine need to hire a foreign worker and if doing so will have a positive, neutral, or negative impact on the Canadian labour market. If it is determined that there are Canadians or permanent residents already in Canada who could do the job, and are seeking employment, the request may be declined

Advertising requirements

To be eligible for an LMIA, there are several steps an employer needs to take to demonstrate that they have made every effort to find and hire a candidate from within Canada.

Job vacancies must be advertised across the Canadian job market for at least four weeks.

The job must be posted on the Canada Job Bank.

Employers must demonstrate that they have tried at least two additional recruitment methods such as specialized websites, regional job fairs or local newspapers.

Employers must also attest that they are aware that it is prohibited to lay off or cut the hours of their currently employed Canadian workers.

There may be exceptions to these rules depending on the type of job vacancy and it is worth consulting with an expert to ensure you are meeting the mandatory advertising requirements.

High and low wage LMIAs

There are two reasons to hire a TFW and this can impact the type of LMIA an employer must submit. If the position is for a highly specialized job that pays a wage equal to or more than the provincial median wage, they must apply through the high wage position stream.

Employers who are seeking to fill positions that are considered low wage will need to apply through the low wage position stream. This is the stream typically used for hiring seasonal, agricultural, tourism or factory workers. It is important to note that in most low wage positions, employers have a 20% cap meaning only 20% of employees can be TFWs. The cap may rise to 30% depending on the industry.

How to immigrate to Canada with a TFWP

After an employer has hired a TFW, the candidate must submit their work permit application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) along with a job offer letter, a contract, a copy of the LMIA, and the LMIA number. IRCC processing times can vary.

TFWP work permits are considered closed work permits, meaning that while a worker is in Canada, they will not be able to find work with another employer and will only be able to work for the length of time set out in their contract.

Schedule a Free Work Permit Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
With a career that spans over four decades, Alex Siow is well-known as Singapores first Chief Information Officer in the 1990s. He is the author of Leading with IT: Lessons from Singapores First CIO, which is written for the next generation of CIOs, CTOs, and other executives who work closely with technology. It offers practical tips, case studies, and personal insights that shed light on the central competencies required of CIOs.

Digital Disruption for Business

There are many reasons why a business is set up. It could be because the founders have an innovative product or service that they feel they have to share with the world. Or maybe they want their business to be of service to the community or society. Perhaps there is simply a need to generate financial resources for economic survival. Whatever the reasons for setting a business up, the fundamental goal, however, remains the same  to generate revenue and maintain a profit.

That simple goal of making a profit is always easier said than done because there are many factors that may affect a business ability to make a profit. Today, a common reason cited by businesses that are failing is digital disruption  business disruption brought about by emerging technologies and emerging innovation. And the prescription for overcoming digital disruption is digital transformation.

That said, although digital disruption and digital transformation are becoming buzzwords that people are familiar with, many do not really understand what they actually mean.

When we say a business is disrupted, we mean that they are losing customers to competitors, or their customers are buying less from them. The net effect is that they are losing their market share, which translates into lower revenue and lower profits. And they are often losing market share because someone else has come up with a better product or better service, which its (now former) customers prefer. That someone has come up with a better product or better service because they have employed an emerging technology to innovate a new product or a new way of serving the customer.

To Become a Digital Leader

To remain a leader in the marketplace, your organization must transform itself in order to meet the competition. In the face of emerging and disruptive technology, there is a need to transform your business processes and your interaction with your customers digitally. This is the essence of digital transformation  to become a digital leader.

Digital leadership begins with the strategic use of a companys digital assets to achieve business goals. The goals of business have not changed, namely to maintain or expand market share, and to maintain or increase profitability. Digital leaders explore how technology can be used to help their business become much more responsive to the needs of their customers and ever-changing business requirements.

Principles of Agile Digital Transformation

To be a digital leader also requires an agile mindset. But we also need digital agility. This is defined as the ease with which an organization can rapidly enable, update, change, or adapt their business processes. It is a specific type of business agility that encompasses the processes, tools, and software an organization uses to perform basic business functions in order to serve its customers.

The principles of agile digital transformation are fivefold.

Start with a transformative vision. Focus on building digital customer engagement. Support the vision with risk and security management. Drive insight with data-driven visualization. Embrace digital agility to create an advantage.

Transformation can only succeed if there is buy-in across the organization. Members must believe that transformation is necessary if the organization is to survive. Hence, it is vital that management communicates the vision for digital transformation throughout the organization and motivates all members of it to be involved.

It must be remembered that the motivation to transform is to achieve greater customer satisfaction through products and services. We achieve this by employing our digital assets, to remodel our business processes so that we can better engage our customers digitally. In the digital era, whoever can give the customer the best digital experience wins.

In the process of trying to better understand our customers and their needs, we collect a lot of data about them. The privacy of customers is very important and therefore we need to ensure that all data is well protected. Should there be a breach in confidence in our ability to keep customer data secure, we can be quite sure that many of them will not want to continue doing business with us.

But the data that we collect from our customers will be absolutely useless if we cannot derive insights from it. And visualization tools help us to make sense of the vast amount of data we have collected: a visual dashboard assists management, supporting rapid and accurate decision-making concerning the business.

Finally, agility is very important in this era of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA). Change not only needs to happen, it must also happen fast, because the business, economic, and technological environments are all rapidly changing. An agile mindset, combined with digital leadership, is a powerful weapon against the competition in business.

Focus on Customer Centricity

Let us turn our attention to the customer. Today, customers are spoiled for choice. There are many companies competing for the same set of customers. The availability of emerging technologies has allowed a vast number of innovative products and services to be offered to the customer. Often these products are cheaper and better in quality than what traditional incumbent companies have to offer. Plus, the newer players in the market are mostly fully digitalized and they can give customers the digital experience that they now expect.

In order to protect their market share, incumbent companies need to practice customer centricity. Customer centricity means putting the customer first and at the center of everything you do. Why is it important? If customers are not happy, they wont stay with your brand. And if you lose your customers, you lose your revenue  you no longer have a business.

Customer centricity can only happen if we are agile, responsive, and have the processes and tools to understand the customer and give them the best experience and satisfaction, to keep them coming back for more. That can only happen if we are an agile digital leader.

Key Emerging Technologies

Lets now return to business disruption. Many people believe that business disruption has only happened in recent years because of emerging technologies. Actually, disruption has occurred ever since the invention of the steam engine brought about the first industrial revolution. Mankind has always come up with new technologies to make workers more productive and to improve the standard of living for everyone. Companies have always innovated, looking to increase their revenue and profitability. The difference today is the rapid pace of technological changes brought about by computerization and digitalization.

The key emerging technologies that are making an impact on the business world are

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Machine Learning (ML) and deep learning

Blockchain

Cloud computing

Many of these technologies have been emerging for some time, but they have only been able to have a real impact on business and society because of the availability of a vast amount of data in all sorts of formats: structured and unstructured, textual and graphical, pictures and videos. The availability of data has made it possible to gather business intelligence and insights about customers. Companies, therefore, can only make use of these technologies if they have the right processes and tools in place. So, it all boils down to becoming digital as we emphasized earlier.

Post-COVID-19 Technology Outlook

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a big game changer in the world of business. The pandemic caused many countries to impose a complete lockdown of their cities, making the movement of people impossible and many traditional businesses ground to a halt as a result because they were unable to transact with their customers digitally.

Companies that were already conducting their business through e-commerce, in contrast, assisted by digital payment systems, faced far fewer challenges during the pandemic. In fact, some of them actually fared very well compared to companies that were, pre-pandemic, not digitalized. Indeed, many people have said that the pandemic has proved to be the biggest catalyst for digital transformation.

Many innovations have been introduced by businesses to help them overcome the limitations of movement imposed by governments everywhere. For example, in healthcare, tele-medicine and tele-consultation have become popular among those unable to travel to see their doctor. In education, remote teaching technologies have become almost compulsory for education establishments. In retail, online shopping, including grocery shopping, boomed. In food and beverage, too, restaurants and food outlets resorted to food deliveries. Some online food delivery companies even established cloud kitchens to compete with established food outlets.

Digital Leadership Post-COVID-19

We are not sure when the pandemic will end, when life can return to normal  or, perhaps, a new normal will emerge. Because one thing is certain: people have become used to digital experiences and a digital lifestyle. And more and more emerging technologies will only make the digital experience more exciting for consumers. Virtual Reality (VR) and immersive media technologies, for example, will give people the opportunity to experience things they are unable to experience in the physical world. Elsewhere, wearable devices and virtual gyms will help us to monitor our health around the clock.

Whatever the future will bring, the focus on customer centricity will not change. Whether people accept the new normal or harken back to the life they knew before everything changed  some, for instance, may want to continue a hybrid style of working, while others will look to return to the physical office space  they will not accept anything less than being put right at the center by all of the companies they interact with.

To learn more, click here.
Multi-cloud provides increased velocity, scale, and choice by enabling enterprises to create and deploy new services across clouds. But multi-cloud environments will quickly lose their allure if their operations are not seamless.

VMware is offering organizations a flexible multi-cloud purchasing and consumption solution that aims for consistency in infrastructure across every cloud, so that migration now and in the future is seamless and less complex.

VMware Cloud Universal offers a rich set of enterprise-class VMware compute, storage, networking, management, security, and modern application capabilities that span on-premises data centers and private, public, local, and edge clouds. The offering provides financial flexibility with the ability to apply program credits to a range of products and services, including:

Google Cloud VMware Engine and VMware Cloud on AWS, for public cloud

VMware Cloud on Dell for edge cloud

VMware Cloud Foundation-Subscription for hybrid and private cloud

Customers can manage across cloud infrastructure environments utilizing the following:

VMware Tanzu Standard, an open source-aligned Kubernetes distribution to modernize applications

vRealize Cloud Universal Enterprise Plus, which combines SaaS and on-premises capabilities for cloud automation, operations, analytics, network visibility, cost optimization, security, and compliance into one license

VMware disaster recovery solutions such as VMware Cloud Disaster Recovery or Site Recovery Manager

Google is the most recent public cloud vendor to join VMware Cloud Universal. The aim being, according to a report in The Register, to make it easier for enterprises to migrate VMware-based workloads to the cloud while allowing them to re-use on-premises license investments.

The VMware Cloud Console provides on-demand customer selection and provisioning for all of the customers available multi-cloud services, to be charged against subscription plan credits. The console includes a VMware Launchpad experience that is intended to provide self-service support, with introductions for deploying infrastructure, along with guides for migration, Kubernetes, and other solutions.

VMware Cloud Console enables a consistent multi-cloud experience for customers and is the primary management interface for services purchased through VMware Cloud Universal, explains Dee Dee Atta, Group Product Marketing Manager, Multi-Cloud Solutions.

Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights and Strategy writes in his Forbes blog that, If you are in the multi-cloud camp, which I think most of you are, then VMware Cloud provides a simple single cloud operating model. That is good news for both developers and IT operations.

Raghu Raghuram, appointed CEO of VMware in May 2021, says VMware aims to ensure enterprise sovereignty, providing organizations with full control and freedom of choice both in decisions being made today and strategic options for the future.

In practice, this means that when you choose which cloud to build or run a particular application on, your decision is based entirely on the needs of the app and your business priorities, Raghuram writes. Its about being cloud smart, with an ability to match every workload to the cloud that works bestwith full access to that innovative machine-learning tool or analytics solution or database service that helps you compete and win.

To explore whether VMware Cloud Universal is your cloud-smart path to a seamless multi-cloud environment, go to https://www.vmware.com/products/cloud-universal.html.
In 1960, the sociologist Daniel Bell published The End of Ideology, in which he argued that ideologyunderstood in the sense of a coherent, single-minded philosophical outlook or system of abstractions intended as much as a lever to change society as a description to explain itwas dead, at least in the West, and in the United States in particular. A combination of democracy and mass prosperity had solved the political question that had agitated humanity since the time of Plato. There were to be no more grand and transformative, if woefully erroneous, ideas; all that remained was public administration, with, at most, squabbles over small details of policy. The new version of the old saw, mens sana in corpore sano, a sound mind in a sound body, was a capitalist economy in a liberal democratic polity. That was the lesson of history.

In 1989, as the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were reformingindeed collapsingso rapidly that it became clear that Communism could not long survive anywhere in Europe, Francis Fukuyama went one step beyond Bell and wrote an essay for The National Interest titled The End of History? In this soon-to-be-famous article, later expanded into a book, Fukuyama suggested that the end of ideology that Bell saw in the West was now global. By the end of history, he did not mean the end of events, of course; one team or another would continue to win the Super Bowl, and there might yet be wars between national rivals. But broadly, history had given its lesson and mankind had taken it. Henceforth, those who resisted the march of liberal democracy were like the Luddites, those English workers at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution who smashed machines, blaming them for destroying the independent livelihoods of workers at home.

At the end of his essay, however, Fukuyamamore concerned to understand the world than to change it, by contrast with Marximplicitly raised the question of the role of ideology in the worlds moral economy. With no ideological struggles to occupy their minds, what will intellectuals have to do or think about? Virtually by definition, they like to address themselves to large and general questions, not small and particular ones: as Isaiah Berlin would say, by temperament, they are hedgehogs, who know one large thing, not foxes, who know many small things. Fukuyama admitted that he would miss ideology, if only as something to oppose. I have ambivalent feelings for the civilization that has been created in Europe since 1945, with its North Atlantic and Asian offshoots, he wrote. Perhaps this very prospect of centuries of boredom at the end of history will serve to get history started once again.

As it turned out, of course, we did not have long (let alone centuries) to suffer existential boredom. Our dogmatic slumbersto use Kants phrase for the philosophic state from which reading David Hume roused himhad barely begun when a group of young fanatics flew commercial airliners into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, thus demonstrating that pronouncements of the death of both ideology and history were somewhat premature.

In truth, we should have known it, or at least guessed it, without needing to be reminded. Fukuyamas concluding sentences contain a hint of the psychological function that ideology plays. It is not just disgruntlement with the state of the world that stimulates the development and adoption of ideologies. After all, disgruntlement with society there has always been and always will be. Dissatisfaction is the permanent state of mankind, at least of civilized mankind. Not every dissatisfied man is an ideologist, however: for if he were, there would hardly be anyone who was not. Yet ideology, at least as a mass phenomenon, is a comparatively recent development in human history.

Who, then, are ideologists? They are people needy of purpose in life, not in a mundane sense (earning enough to eat or to pay the mortgage, for example) but in the sense of transcendence of the personal, of reassurance that there is something more to existence than existence itself. The desire for transcendence does not occur to many people struggling for a livelihood. Avoiding material failure gives quite sufficient meaning to their lives. By contrast, ideologists have few fears about finding their daily bread. Their difficulty with life is less concrete. Their security gives them the leisure, their education the need, and no doubt their temperament the inclination, to find something above and beyond the flux of daily life.

If this is true, then ideology should flourish where education is widespread, and especially where opportunities are limited for the educated to lose themselves in grand projects, or to take leadership roles to which they believe that their education entitles them. The attractions of ideology are not so much to be found in the state of the worldalways lamentable, but sometimes improving, at least in certain respectsbut in states of mind. And in many parts of the world, the number of educated people has risen far faster than the capacity of economies to reward them with positions they believe commensurate with their attainments. Even in the most advanced economies, one will always find unhappy educated people searching for the reason that they are not as important as they should be.

One of the first to notice the politicization of intellectuals was the French writer Julien Benda, whose 1927 La trahison des clercsthe treason of the clerks, with clerk understood in its medieval sense as an educated person distinct from the uneducated laitygave a phrase to educated discourse. Today, people most frequently use the phrase to signify the allegiance that intellectuals gave to Communism, despite the evident fact that the establishment of Communist regimes led everywhere and always to a decrease in the kind of intellectual freedom and respect for individual rights that intellectuals claimed to defend.

Benda meant something much wider by it, though support for Communism would have come under his rubric: the increasing tendency of intellectuals to pursue lines of thought not for the sake of truth, or for guiding humanity sub specie aeternitatis, but for the sake of attaining power by adopting, justifying, and manipulating the current political passions of sections of humanity, whether national, racial, religious, or economic. The political passions that Benda most feared when he wrote his book were nationalism, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism, which then had plenty of intellectual apologists, and which indeed soon proved cataclysmic in their effects; but really he was defending the autonomy of intellectual and artistic life from political imperatives.

That ideological ways of thinking have survived the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union would not have surprised Benda. The collapse did severely reduce Marxisms attractiveness, and despite decades of attempts by intellectuals to dissociate the doctrines supposed merits from the horrors of the Soviet system, it was only natural that many people believed that the death of Marxism meant the death of ideology itself. But as Benda might have predicted, what resulted instead was the balkanization of ideologythe emergence of a wider choice of ideologies for adoption by those so inclined.

The most obvious example of an ideology that came into prominenceor better, prominently into our consciousnessafter Communisms fall was Islamism. Because of its emphasis on returning to Islamic purity, and its apparentindeed noisyrejection of modernity, most people failed to notice how modern a phenomenon Islamism was, not just in time but in spirit. This is evident from reading just one of Islamisms foundational texts: Sayyid Qutbs Milestones, first published in 1964. The imprint of Marxism-Leninism is deep upon it, especially the Leninist component.

Qutb starts with cultural criticism that some might find eerily prescient. The leadership of mankind by Western man is now on the decline, not because Western culture has become poor materially or because its economic and military power has become weak, he writes. The period of the Western system has come to an end primarily because it is deprived of those life-giving values which enabled it to be the leader of mankind. Since, according to Qutb, those life-giving values cannot come from the Eastern Bloc, he thinks (like Juan Domingo Peron, the Argentinean dictator, and Tony Blair, the former British prime minister) that a Third Way must exist: which, he says, can only be Islam.

Just as in Marx only the proletariat bears the whole of humanitys interests, so in Qutb only Muslims (true ones, that is) do. Everyone else is a factionalist. In Qutbs conception, the state withers away under Islam, just as it doesaccording to Marxunder Communism, once the true form is established. In Marx, the withering away comes about because there are no sectional material interests left that require a state to enforce them; in Qutb, there is no sectional interest left once true Islam is established because everyone obeys Gods law without the need for interpretation and therefore for interpreters. And when all obey Gods law, no conflict can arise because the law is perfect; therefore there is no need for a state apparatus.

One finds a unity of theory and praxis in both Qutbs Islamism and Marxism-Leninism. Philosophy and revolution are inseparable, said Raya Dunayevskaya, once Trotskys secretary and a prominent American Marxist (insofar as such can be said to have existed). And here is Qutb: Thus these twopreaching and the movementunited, confront the human situation with all the necessary methods. For the achievement of freedom of man on earthof all mankind throughout the earthit is necessary that these methods should work side by side.

Like Lenin, Qutb thought that violence would be necessary against the ruling class (of bourgeois in Lenins case, unbelievers in Qutbs): Those who have usurped the authority of God and are oppressing Gods creatures are not going to give up their power merely through preaching. Again like Lenin, Qutb believed that until human authority disappeared, the leaders authority must be complete. Referring to the Arab of the Meccan periodan age whose moral qualities he wants to restoreQutb says: He was to be trained to follow the discipline of a community which is under the direction of a leader, and to refer to this leader in every matter and to obey his injunctions, even though they might be against his habit or taste. Not much there with which Lenin could have disagreed. The British Stalinist historian Eric Hobsbawm wrote of himself: The Party had the first, or more precisely, the only real claim on our lives. . . . Whatever it had ordered, we would have obeyed.

Qutb is as explicit as Lenin that his party should be a vanguard and not a mass party, for only a vanguard will prove sufficiently dedicated to bring about the revolution. And like Leninism, Qutbs Islamism is dialectical:

[Islam] does not face practical problems with abstract theories, nor does it confront various stages with unchangeable means. Those who talk about Jihaad in Islam and quote Quranic verses do not take into account this aspect, nor do they understand the nature of the various stages through which the movement develops, or the relationship of the verses revealed at various occasions with each stage.

Compare this with Lenins Left-Wing Communism, an Infantile Disorder:

Right doctrinairism persisted in recognizing only the old forms, and became utterly bankrupt, for it did not notice the new content. Left doctrinairism persists in the unconditional repudiation of certain old forms, failing to see that the new content is forcing its way through all and sundry forms, that it is our duty as Communists to master all forms, to learn how, with the maximum rapidity, to supplement one form with another, to substitute one for another, and to adapt our tactics to any such change that does not come from our class or from our efforts.

There are many other parallels between Leninism and Qutbs Islamism, among them the incompatibility of each with anything else, entailing a fight to the finish supposedly followed by permanent bliss for the whole of mankind; a tension between complete determinism (by history and by God, respectively) and the call to intense activism; and the view that only with the installation of their systems does Man become truly himself. For Qutbs worldview, therefore, the term Islamo-Leninism would be a more accurate description than Islamofascism.

Qutb was a strange man: he never married, for example, because (so he claimed) he found no woman of sufficient purity for him. You wouldnt need to be Freud to find the explanation suspect, or to find his reaction to Greeley, Colorado, in 1950, where he spent time on a scholarshiphe saw it as a hotbed of unrestrained vicesomewhat hysterical, a cover for something seething deeply and disturbingly inside him. Devotion to an ideology can provide an answer of sorts to personal problems, and since personal problems are common, it isnt surprising that a number of people choose ideology as the solution.

Ideological thinking is not confined to the Islamists in our midst. The need for a simplifying lens that can screen out the intractabilities of life, and of our own lives in particular, springs eternal; and with the demise of Marxism in the West, at least in its most economistic form, a variety of substitute ideologies have arisen from which the disgruntled may choose.

Most started life as legitimate complaints, but as political reforms dealt with reasonable demands, the demands transformed themselves into ideologies, thus illustrating a fact of human psychology: rage is not always proportionate to its occasion but can be a powerful reward in itself. Feminists continued to see every human problem as a manifestation of patriarchy, civil rights activists as a manifestation of racism, homosexual-rights activists as a manifestation of homophobia, anti-globalists as a manifestation of globalization, and radical libertarians as a manifestation of state regulation.

How delightful to have a key to all the miseries, both personal and societal, and to know personal happiness through the single-minded pursuit of an end for the whole of humanity! At all costs, one must keep at bay the realization that came early in life to John Stuart Mill, as he described it in his Autobiography. He asked himself:

Suppose that all your objects in life were realized; that all the changes in institutions and opinions which you are looking forward to, could be effected at this very instant: would this be a great joy and happiness to you? And an irrepressible self-consciousness distinctly answered, No! At this my heart sank within me: the whole foundation on which my life was constructed fell down. All my happiness was to have been found in the continual pursuit of this end. The end had ceased to charm, and how could there ever again be any interest in the means? I seemed to have nothing left to live for.

This is the question that all ideologists fear, and it explains why reform, far from delighting them, only increases their anxiety and rage. It also explains why traditional religious belief is not an ideology in the sense in which I am using the term, for unlike ideology, it explicitly recognizes the limitations of earthly existence, what we can expect of it, and what we can do by our own unaided efforts. Some ideologies have the flavor of religion; but the absolute certainty of, say, the Anabaptists of Munster, or of todays Islamists, is ultimately irreligious, since they claimed or claim to know in the very last detail what God requires of us.

The most popular and widest-ranging ideology in the West today is environmentalism, replacing not only Marxism but all the nationalist and xenophobic ideologies that Benda accused intellectuals of espousing in the 1920s. Now, no one who has suffered respiratory difficulties because of smog, or seen the effects of unrestrained industrial pollution, can be indifferent to the environmental consequences of mans activities; pure laissez-faire will not do. But it isnt difficult to spot in environmentalists work something more than mere concern with a practical problem. Their writings often show themselves akin to the calls to repentance of seventeenth-century divines in the face of plague epidemics, but with the patina of rationality that every ideology needs to disguise its true source in existential angst.

For example, a recent column in the Guardian, by the environmental campaigner George Monbiot, carried the headline the planet is now so vandalised that only total energy renewal can save us. Monbiot, it is true, does not offer us heaven on earth if we follow his prescriptions; only the bareand by no means certain, for we might have left it too lateavoidance of total biological annihilation. But behind Monbiots urgency, even hysteria, one senses a deep lust for power. He cannot really believe what he says, for starters. Do we want to be remembered, he asks rhetorically, as the generation that saved the banks but let the biosphere collapse? If it is really true that we must either have total energy renewal or die, however, we cannot be remembered as the generation that let the biosphere collapse, for if we let it collapse, ex hypothesi no one will be around to remember us. This reminds me of patients I used to see who would threaten suicide, in the clear expectation of a long life ahead, unless someone did what they wanted. And though Monbiot says that it is uncertain that anything we do now will make any difference, he nevertheless proposes that every human being on the earth follow his prescriptions.

The environmentalist ideology threatens to make serious inroads into the rule of law in Britain. This past September, six environmentalists were acquitted of having caused $50,000 worth of damage to a power stationnot because they did not do it but because four witnesses, including a Greenlander, testified to the reality of global warming.

One recalls the disastrous 1878 jury acquittal in St. Petersburg of Vera Zasulich for the attempted assassination of General Trepov, on the grounds of the supposed purity of her motives. The acquittal destroyed all hope of establishing the rule of law in Russia and ushered in an age of terrorism that led directly to one of the greatest catastrophes in human history.

Ideological politics: the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem salutes Bosnian Muslim recruits to the Waffen-SS in 1943. (CORBIS)
Termen extins: Anunt privind selectarea unei companii/persoane fizice pentru prestarea serviciilor de realizare a campaniei de informare si sensibilizare privind procesul bugetar si achizitiile publice din domeniul educational
Negotiations between cleaners and porters, who protested over working conditions at the Royal Opera House (ROH) last week, and their employer are ongoing after further talks were held yesterday.

On 10 June, members of the Cleaners and Allied Independent Workers Union (CAIWU) demonstrated outside the ROH building in central London, calling for paid rest breaks, contractual sick pay, holiday entitlement and full employers pension contributions.

CAIWU held further discussions with the outsourced company that employs their members at the ROH, DOC Cleaning, yesterday, claiming that in-house ROH staff work under better conditions.

And it accused the ROH of having passed the buck to DOC Cleaning over the dispute.

A spokesperson for the charity said: The Royal Opera House values the contribution that all our employed staff and sub-contracted workforce make to our success. We uphold the principle of fair pay and have made a commitment to apply the London Living Wage to all employees, and those hired through sub-contractors.

DOC continue to deal with this matter through their union consultation processes, and so it would not be appropriate for us to comment while this in ongoing.

Higher cost of living

The union claimed that DOC Cleaning has abruptly changed their members rest-break patterns and taken disciplinary action against those who failed to adhere.

Alberto Durango, general secretary of CAIWU, said: It is unfortunate that in this century, workers are subjected to disciplinary proceedings for simply wanting to be treated on the same level as the direct employees of the Royal Opera House.

DOC Cleaning Ltd has used this tactic in other workplaces, of disciplining workers fighting for better conditions, clearly with the aim of injecting fear into workers to stop their dignified struggle.

Rafael Borges, a cleaner at the ROH, said: Our struggle is all about putting our working terms and conditions up to date, so we become better able to stand up to the increasingly higher cost of living.

DOC Cleaning has not yet responded to Civil Society News requests for comment.

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In 2010, Chris Licht, then the executive producer of MSNBCs Morning Joe, suffered a brain aneurysm, and, as he later put it in a memoir, his life moved closer to the abyss edge. As Politicos Max Tani and Alex Thompson recounted recently, while Licht was in the hospital, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the hosts of Morning Joe, asked for advice from a friend who had experienced two brain aneurysmsthenvice president Joe Bidenwho subsequently called the hospital, helped facilitate Lichts care, and checked in on him from time to time, beginning a friendship. Licht would later say that Biden is a great and kind person, and that a photo of Biden embracing Licht and his wife would live on in our family forever. Per Tani and Thompson, Licht also told Biden, at a party in the vice-presidential residence, that he saved his life.

Twelve years later, Biden and Licht are both overseeing major fiefdoms: the former, the United States; the latter, CNN, where he was named chairman and CEO earlier this year after his predecessor, Jeff Zucker, was ousted in a convoluted scandal that I dont have the energy to explain again but you can read all about here. According to Tani, Thompson, and Allie Bice, shortly after taking the helm at CNN last month, Licht traveled to the White House and met privately there with Ron Klain, Bidens chief of staff. Its not clear what they discussed. But theres no indication the visit was for old times sakefar from it, in fact. Klain has reportedly been meeting with other media figures (including Scarborough) as the Biden administration has amped up efforts to sell its agenda. And, in his early days in his new job, Licht took meetings with prominent politicians in both parties. Per Politico, he has a good relationship with Kevin McCarthy, the top House Republican, and watched the Super Bowl with the GOP pollster Frank Luntz. It has been widely reported that he wants more conservative guests to come on CNN.

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Since taking the top job, Licht has also embarked on an internal listening tour, visiting various CNN bureaus in the US as well as stopping off in London and Cannes. (You cant spell the latter, after all, without C-N-N.) He is also, apparently, taking a more hands-off approach to running the network than Zucker, who was famously micro-managerial. A slew of recent reports, however, have attested that Licht is already trying to make his mark on CNNwhich, as Vanity Fair put it, has recently been a swirling cauldron of leaks and gossipmongering about his grand visionwith most concluding that he is working to steer the network away from the opinionated bombast of the Trump years while doubling down on reporting and respectful dialogue. When his appointment was announced, the Washington Post reported Licht as having said, to a friend, that theres a difference between standing up for yourself, and becoming part of the resistance. In a memo to staff around the same time, Licht said he didnt yet know how hed change CNN, but had been hired to keep it on its perch as the global leader in NEWS.

Since then, Licht has taken several specific steps to such ends, including the edict for more conservative guests. He announced the creation of a new guns beat that would aim to foster informed policy discussions. He told staff that he would prefer it if they refrained from referring to the big lie about the 2020 election on the grounds, Mediaite reported, that the phrase sounds like a Democratic Party talking point; Trumps election lie or just election lies, Licht added, would be better. In a move that was widely discussed by media watchers, he also asked that CNN dial back its use of the BREAKING NEWS banner on-screen, complaining that it was alarmist and had lost its resonance through overuse. Earlier this month, the New York Times summarized the Licht doctrine as less hype, more nuance and a redoubled effort to reach viewers of all stripes. In other words, speak softly, and dont carry the big lie.

For now, other hints as to Lichts intentions for CNN are missing, or murky. He has yet to pick a new anchor for the networks crucial 9pm Eastern hour, which has been vacant since Chris Cuomo was fired amid the Zucker scandal. (Again, no energy; read here, here, and here.) Axios reported that Licht is evaluating whether partisan talent who grew polarizing during the Trump era (in Axioss words) can adapt to his philosophy, and could oust those who cant; Puck subsequently confirmed the thrust of that storyand the resultant Lichtxiety among CNN staffbut added that Lichts calculations might be more about alarmism than partisanship, and that he hasnt, to this point, told any specific anchors to change their tone. As Ive perceived it as a regular (if not fanatical) CNN viewer, the overall tone of the networks programming has not so far undergone any Licht-era sea change. Ultimately, well have to wait and see whether that will happen, and what it might look like. I know this organization has been through tremendous change over the last four months, Licht told staff recently, which is why I am approaching this process slowly and thoughtfully as we look at all parts of the operation.

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There are enough clues in the recent Licht library and his own internal pronouncements, however, to foreground both optimism and pessimism about his plans. This regular viewer, for one, would welcome new, quieter overlordsCNN already does a lot of stellar hard journalism, and it would be nice to see this foregrounded all the time, not just at moments of crisis like the early days of the war in Ukraine. While it was a more minor step than the chatter it generated might suggest, reserving the BREAKING NEWS banner for actual breaking news, rather than any and all news, is a positive step in this direction. (Now do KEY RACE ALERTS.) Informed policy discussions sound great, and shouldnt stop at guns. Platforming and listening to a wide spectrum of views is, in theory at least, a laudable goal, as is hosting conservative officialsas long as those debates and interviews dont turn into platforms for unchallenged lies and propaganda. As for the big lie, it strikes me that the most important word hereparticularly given major outlets past squeamishness around itis lie, and Licht seems okay with that. Arguably, Trumps election lie is even tougher than big lie.

Still, Lichts rationale for the latter preference is puzzling to methe Democratic Party did not invent the phrase big lie; if anything, Trumps election lie, to my ear, sounds more partisan, not lessand points to potential problems with his philosophy. The news should avoid partisanship, but that imperative is often interpreted through the reactive, distorted prism of perception, fairly or not. In general, journalists shouldnt flinch from a truth because a political party happens to be speaking itand those at CNN who are most decried as partisan by conservatives are often targeted for speaking blunt truths to right-wing power. (Brian Stelters unsparing coverage of Fox News comes to mind. Before Licht took over, the Daily Beast reported that Licht wanted a ceasefire with Fox; for now, CNNs media team is still covering it aggressively, as far as I can see.) There is a mighty fine line between avoiding partisan hype, and journalism as difference-splitting, centrist triangulation. As Puck suggested, Licht might be more concerned with alarmism than partisanship, per se. But the news these days is often alarming.

Some of Lichts early remarks suggest that he intends to find the right balance here, calming CNNs tone without sacrificing tough truths. But others offer cause for doubt, including a reference to the extremes (plural) that he sees as dominating cable news. Fearlessly telling the truth and being representative of what the country is, he told staff, is a lane that is wide open right now, and not only will it be good for this country, it will be good for businesswhich is all well and good until fearlessly telling the truth involves not representing the country (whatever that is) and being bad for business. Then what? Again, the proof will be in the pudding, and it would be unfair to judge Licht just yet. Speaking softly is a fine plan. But in an age when democracy is under assault from one side of the aisleand swaths of the country seem okay with thatyou better be sure, as a news organization, that you carry a big stick, too.

A different question, of course, is whether the plan to speak softly will stick; cable news, as we know, is a ratings-driven business, and eyeballs often follow outrage and conflict (and, as CNN and other networks have learned in the Biden era, Trump). According to Bloomberg, Licht personally is a longtime ratings obsessive; even when he was in the hospital in 2010, he reportedly found himself unable to resist checking the numbers for Morning Joe. Its less clear that ratings are his top priority these days. Various outlets have reported, in their Licht profiles, that David Zaslav, the CEO of CNNs new parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, is more concerned that CNN be a reputational asset than a ratings juicer. According to the Post, Licht expressed concern, before taking the job, that it would throw him into a cutthroat ratings battle.

Still, as others have reported, prioritizing reputation brings its own financial considerations. CNN+, CNNs short-lived subscription streaming service, may not have lasted long enough for Licht to oversee it, but the network could yet pivot other parts of its business to a subscription model, and Puck reckons that the new owners will see CNNs palatability to conservatives as a bonus as it seeks to sell broader-based streaming packages. The Times, meanwhile, has quoted Licht as telling colleagues that CNN being perceived as fair-minded will be attractive to major advertisers, while Bloomberg reports that Licht could allow advertisers to sponsor segments on individual shows, a step that CNN has avoided in the past due to concerns about editorial independence, according to a former top executive. All this need not interfere with Lichts stated vision and fearless truth-telling. But it could.

Below, more on Chris Licht and CNN:

Some more background: In addition to working on Morning Joe, Licht has worked as an executive at CBS, where he helped launch a morning news shows and oversaw Stephen Colberts late-night program. He has long been friendly with Zaslav, with the pair reportedly seeking out each others counsel. According to the Post, ahead of Lichts hiring, CNN employees and observers looked to Zaslavs appointment of a new president for hints of what editorial direction he wants the network to takeparticularly after Discovery shareholder John Malone said in a November interview that he would like to see CNN evolve back to the journalism it started with.

In addition to working on Morning Joe, Licht has worked as an executive at CBS, where he helped launch a morning news shows and oversaw Stephen Colberts late-night program. He has long been friendly with Zaslav, with the pair reportedly seeking out each others counsel. According to the Post, ahead of Lichts hiring, CNN employees and observers looked to Zaslavs appointment of a new president for hints of what editorial direction he wants the network to takeparticularly after Discovery shareholder John Malone said in a November interview that he would like to see CNN evolve back to the journalism it started with. The financials: A source told Vanity Fairs Joe Pompeo recently that Licht may soon have to oversee cuts due to immense pressure from CNNs new owners, but its not yet clear what, if anything, these might look like. Some sources told me word on the street is that there will be reduced spend at CNNs original series/film division and CNN Digital, but others poured cold water on this chatter, noting that Warner Bros. Discovery talked up CNNs original series at its recent upfront, per Pompeo. Licht has indicated that no cuts are planned for news-gathering and product and digital are hiring, which sounds like a good thing considering the steady exodus from digitals leadership ranks.

A source told Vanity Fairs Joe Pompeo recently that Licht may soon have to oversee cuts due to immense pressure from CNNs new owners, but its not yet clear what, if anything, these might look like. Some sources told me word on the street is that there will be reduced spend at CNNs original series/film division and CNN Digital, but others poured cold water on this chatter, noting that Warner Bros. Discovery talked up CNNs original series at its recent upfront, per Pompeo. Licht has indicated that no cuts are planned for news-gathering and product and digital are hiring, which sounds like a good thing considering the steady exodus from digitals leadership ranks. Big little lies: Trump recently seized on the news that CNN is reevaluating its use of the phrase big lie, claimingfalsely, of coursethat the network has totally prohibited its staff from using the term, and that it has done so for fear of legal liability. Erik Wemple, a media columnist at the Post, dismantled Trumps claims, and also made the case that neither Trumps election lie nor election lies are suitable substitutes for big lie, since they arent specific enough: Trump also lied about the integrity of the 2016 election even though he won. The big lie, by contrast, is short, elegant and descriptive, encompassing the disinformation campaign surrounding the 2020 presidential election.

Trump recently seized on the news that CNN is reevaluating its use of the phrase big lie, claimingfalsely, of coursethat the network has totally prohibited its staff from using the term, and that it has done so for fear of legal liability. Erik Wemple, a media columnist at the Post, dismantled Trumps claims, and also made the case that neither Trumps election lie nor election lies are suitable substitutes for big lie, since they arent specific enough: Trump also lied about the integrity of the 2016 election even though he won. The big lie, by contrast, is short, elegant and descriptive, encompassing the disinformation campaign surrounding the 2020 presidential election. Prescience: Writing in 2019, Emily Tamkin, who was then CJRs public editor for CNN, explored the balance between the networks opinion and news output, and how it might be better. What if, for every talking heads segment, there was a reported segment? she mused. What if the hosts threw their shows over to the beat reporters more often? What if guests who lied werent brought on again? What if people who had worked on campaigns couldnt be brought on to spin the news unmitigated? Would more people watch? Would people feel less overwhelmed when they turned on their televisions?



Other notable stories:

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Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
SYLHET, Bangladesh (AP)  Scientists say climate change is a factor behind the erratic and early rains that triggered unprecedented floods in Bangladesh and northeastern India, killing dozens and making lives miserable for millions of others.

Although the region is no stranger to flooding, it typically takes place later in the year when monsoon rains are well underway.

This years torrential rainfall lashed the area as early as March. It may take much longer to determine the extent to which climate change played a role in the floods, but scientists say that it has made the monsoon  a seasonable change in weather usually associated with strong rains  more variable over the past decades. This means that much of the rain expected to fall in a year is arriving in a space of weeks.

The northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya received nearly three times its average June rainfall in just the first three weeks of the month, and neighboring Assam received twice its monthly average in the same period. Several rivers, including one of Asias largest, flow downstream from the two states into the Bay of Bengal in low-lying Bangladesh, a densely populated delta nation.

With more rainfall predicted over the next five days, Bangladeshs Flood Forecast and Warning Centre warned Tuesday that water levels would remain dangerously high in the countrys northern regions.

The pattern of monsoons, vital for the agrarian economies of India and Bangladesh, has been shifting since the 1950s, with longer dry spells interspersed with heavy rain, said Roxy Matthew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune, adding that extreme rainfall events were also projected to increase.

Until now, floods in northeastern Bangladesh were rare while Assam state, famed for its tea cultivation, usually coped with floods later in the year during the usual monsoon season. The sheer volume of early rain this year that lashed the region in just a few weeks makes the current floods an unprecedented situation, said Anjal Prakash, a research director at Indias Bharti Institute of Public Policy, who has contributed to U.N.-sponsored study on global warming.

This is something that we have never heard of and never seen, he said.

Bangladeshs Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave a similarly grim assessment Wednesday.

We havent faced a crisis like this for a long time. Infrastructure must be constructed to cope with such disasters, she told a news conference in Dhaka. The water coming from Meghalaya and Assam has affected the Sylhet region in northeastern Bangladesh, she said, adding that there is no quick respite for the country.

Hasina said that floodwaters would recede soon from the northeast, but they would likely hit the countrys southern region soon on the way to the Bay of Bengal.

We should prepare to face it, she said. We live in a region where flooding happens quite often, which we have to bear in mind. We must prepare for that.

A total of 42 people have died in Bangladesh since May 17 while Indian authorities reported that flood deaths have risen to 78 in Assam state, with 17 others killed in landslides.

Hundreds of thousands are displaced and millions in the region have been forced to scramble to makeshift evacuation centers.

Bangladesh, home to about 160 million, has historically contributed a fraction of the worlds emissions. Meanwhile, a decade-old deal for rich nations, who have contributed more to global emissions, to give $100 billion to poorer nations every year to adapt to climate change and switch to cleaner fuels hasnt been fulfilled. And the money that is provided is spread too thin.

That means that countries like Bangladesh  whose GDP has risen from $6.2 billion in 1972 to $305 billion in 2019  have to redirect funds to combat climate change, instead of of spending it on policies aimed at lifting millions from poverty.

This is a problem which is created by the global industrialized north. And we are paying the price for it because they have ignored their responsibility, Prakash said.

In the hardest-hit city of Sylhet, shop owner Mohammad Rashiq Ahamed has returned home with his families to see what can be salvaged from floods. Wading through knee-deep water, he said that he was worried about waters rising again. The weather is changing  there can be another disaster, at any time.

He is one of about 3.5 million Bangladeshis who face the same predicament each year when rivers flood, according to a 2015 analysis by the World Bank Institute. Bangladesh is considered one of the most vulnerable to climate change and the poor are disproportionately impacted.

Parul Akhter, a poultry farmer, held on to her disabled son to save him from the floodwaters in Sylhet. But she lost her only income  her chickens  and all other belongings.

The chicken farm was the only way for me to live. I have no other means to earn, she said.

Mohammad Arfanuzzaman, a climate change expert at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, said that catastrophic floods like the one this year could have wide-ranging impacts, from farmers losing their crops and being trapped in a cycle of debt to children not being able to go to school and at increased risk to disease.

Poor people are suffering a lot from the ongoing flooding, he said.

Ghosal reported from New Delhi. Associated Press writers Julhas Alam from Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Victoria Milko in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

About the photo: A girl reacts to camera as he family members inspect their damaged belongings at her home as flood water levels recede slowly in Sylhet, Bangladesh, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
MADRID (AP)  Extended drought conditions in several Mediterranean countries, a heat wave last week that reached northern Germany and high fuel costs for aircraft needed to fight wildfires have heightened concerns across Europe this summer.

And its only June.

Much of the continent is in drought, said Cathelijne Stoof, an environmental science professor at the Netherlands Wageningen University, who called the wildfire outlook very challenging across Europe.

Fires last summer blackened more than 11,000 square kilometers (4,250 square miles) of land  an area more than four times the size of Luxembourg. About half of the damage was in the European Union.

And, experts say, Europes wildfires arent just a problem for the southern, hotter countries.

What scientists are warning us is that (fires) are obviously going north and in countries such as the U.K., in countries such as Germany as well as in Scandinavian countries, in the future, we need to expect wildfires to happen more often, said Catherine Gamper, a climate change adaptation specialist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Wildfires across Spain have destroyed tens of thousands of acres of wooded land, though a recent sharp drop in temperatures is helping firefighters contain them.

Spains problems began with the arrival in spring of the earliest heat wave in two decades. Temperatures as high as those normally recorded in August rose above 40 C (104 F) in many Spanish cities.

Neighboring Portugal also saw its warmest May in nine decades, and in France the month was the hottest on record.

As a result of climate change, heat waves are starting earlier and are becoming more frequent and more severe because of record concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, the World Meteorological Organization said last week.

What we are witnessing today is a foretaste of the future.

Despite the extensive planning, early-warning surveillance, and prediction models, preparing for wildfires remains a huge challenge. The EU is expanding a shared pool of planes and helicopters on standby this summer to provide cross-border support and is expected to partner with more nations outside the bloc.

Its very difficult to predict wildfires, said Marta Arbinolo, an OECD policy analyst and climate adaptation and resilience specialist.

We do know that summer (of) 2022 is predicted by weather forecasts to be particularly warm and dry, possibly even more than 2020 or 21, which was the driest and warmest summer in Europe, she said. We can expect that the risk of wildfires in Europe for the summer might be very high.

In Greece, which suffered some of Europes most devastating fires last August, authorities say higher fuel costs have added to challenges facing the fire service, which relies heavily on water-dropping planes to battle blazes in the mountainous country.

Greece will begin using fire retardant chemicals in water drops this year, while the EU is sending more than 200 firefighters and equipment from France, Germany and four other countries to Greece to remain throughout the summer.

Wildfire seasons are also getting longer.

The concept of a fire season is losing its meaning right now. We have the fire season all year-round, said Victor Resco de Dios, professor of forest engineering at Lleida University, in Spains northeastern Catalonia region, which has been hit hard by summer fires.

The main changes we are seeing with climate change is a longer duration of fire seasons.

Laura Vilagra, a senior Catalonia government official, told a regional conference that fire prevention measures this season could include park closures.

The weather every year is more adverse, and the drought is very evident this year, she said. Were expecting a very complicated summer.

Resco foresees a bleak future in Spain, arguing that areas currently affected by fires probably will not experience many fires by the turn of the century. Why? Because forests would be very scarce. There would be nothing left to burn.

Other experts arent as grim.

The OECDs Gamper and Arbinolo point out that some of the worst fires have actually brought positive developments such as the EUs Civil Protection Mechanism that facilitates rapid cooperation between countries in emergencies. European countries, they argue, are also opening up to incorporate risk reduction in their planning, rather than simply boosting their firefighting resources.

The core is the need for integrated fire management, attention to fires all year round rather than just when it is dry, and investment in landscape management, Stoof said.

Gamper appealed for two things she said would have a major impact. First, reconsider urban planning by not building near forests of extreme risk.

I think our first sort of appeal to countries is really to think about where you continue to settle, Gamper said.

Second of all, enforce your regulations. Countries know what to do.

Derek Gatopoulos reported from Athens, Greece. Hernan Munoz Ratto contributed to this report from Barcelona, Spain.

About the photo: Flames burn trees on a hill during a wildfire in Voula suburb, in southern Athens, Greece, Saturday, June 4, 2022. In Greece, which suffered some of Europes most devastating fires last August, authorities say higher fuel costs have added to challenges facing the Fire Service that relies heavily on water-dropping planes to battle blazes in the mountainous country. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis, File)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Confusing domestic Bactrian camel with wild camel detrimental to latter's survival: study

Xinhua) 13:22, June 23, 2022

LONDON, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Confusing the well-known domestic Bactrian camel with its wild and rare counterpart can have a detrimental effect on the wild camel's chances of survival, said a new study released Wednesday, the World Camel Day.

Differentiating wild camels from their domestic sister species is a key step in helping protect the critically endangered camel species from extinction, said the study led by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the Wild Camel Protection Foundation, the University of Kent and the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna.

"With less than 950 known to exist in the wild, the wild camel (Camelus ferus) survives only in Mongolia and China," the ZSL said on its website, introducing the new study.

"By diminishing public perception of the extinction risks wild camels face, they don't receive the conservation attention they need," said the ZSL.

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to the wild camel, said Anna Jemmett, a researcher at the ZSL's Institute of Zoology and the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent and the Wild Camel Protection Foundation.

"The wild camel only survives in Mongolia and China, it is critically endangered with less than 1000 left," Jemmett, lead author of the study, told Xinhua.

Most people "don't know this amazingly well adapted creature survives in one of the harshest habitats in the world. They also don't know that it is genetically distinct and a separate species to the domestic Bactrian camel. Therefore, they don't know it is threatened with extinction," said Jemmett.

"The more people who know about the wild camel, the more there are to appreciate it. If we care about it then we can save it," she added.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
The Uvalde massacre began after the 18-year-old gunman entered the school through a door that could only be locked from the outside and then got inside a classroom that had a busted lock, experts testified Tuesday.

Securing doors has long been a focus of school safety drills, and the inability to do so during the May 24 attack that left 19 children and two teachers dead runs counter to best practices, experts said.

When doors are not secure, your first step, your first line of defense has now been eliminated, has been taken away from you really, said Ken Trump, the president of the National School Safety and Security Services.

Questions about how the shooter entered Robb Elementary and what happened at multiple doors have been a big part of the changing information about the attack.

What happened when the gunman reached the outside door?

State police initially said the gunman entered the school through an exterior door that had been propped open by a teacher.

Days later, state police retracted that statement to make it clear that the teacher closed the door. But somehow it didnt lock.

Nearly a month after the rampage, Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, further amended what his agencys investigation shows: The teacher did close the door, but unbeknownst to her, it could be locked only from the outside.

The gunman walked straight through, McCraw said Tuesday in blistering testimony at a state Senate hearing in Austin.

Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center, said he was astonished that the exterior door could only be locked from the outside.

Im trying to think if Ive even ever seen that. Its so rare that that would be the case. Why wouldnt there be an opportunity to lock it from the inside?

He likened it to a house that could only be locked from the outside.

Shouldnt the security of the school be as safe as the security of your home? he asked. To only be able to lock from the outside is just totally unacceptable in my view.

Experts did not explain during the hearing why the schools exterior door locked from outside. Robb Elementary is an older building, constructed in 1955.

What happened when the gunman reached the classroom door?

Once inside the school, the shooter then entered a classroom with a door could not be locked from the inside by design, according to McCraw, who also said a teacher reported before the shooting that the lock was broken.

The fact that it wasnt working was a maintenance issue, Stephens and Trump said.

Thats about how you manage and maintain school property in a responsible way, Stephens said.

McCraw also disclosed Tuesday that despite the fact that the door was unlocked, there is no indication officers tried to open it during the standoff. He said police instead waited around for a key.

Stephens said the way the situation played out spoke to the broader need of having a crisis plan in place.

To me, theres just a whole cascade of apparent failures that took place in this particular situation, he said. Its a wake-up call to everyone across America.

Have There Been Problems Before?

At Sandy Hook Elementary School, the doors of the two classrooms where all 20 children were killed in the 2012 massacre, along with their teachers, could only be locked from the hallway with a key.

Some victims families have said lives could have been saved if teachers were able to lock classroom doors from the inside, and they questioned whether two teachers who were killed in the shooting, Victoria Soto and Lauren Rousseau, even had access to keys.

Another teacher who could not get a classroom door locked told investigators that she looked into the hallways, saw a janitor who yelled at the gunman to leave and motioned to the janitor to lock her door.

Sandy Hook Elementary was also built in 1955.

What Steps Are Recommended?

State and federal panels charged with reviewing individual mass shootings have repeatedly advised schools to limit access by locking exterior doors, as well as forcing visitors to enter through a secure door and requiring teachers to lock classrooms while classes are in session.

Teachers and students drill for how to respond.

Lock the door, turn off the light. Get the kids and staff into a hard corner, meaning not in the direct line of sight of the window where somebody can shoot through, and be quiet, Trump said.

He said those actions can absolutely save lives.

Exterior doors keep the threat out of the building. Your next layer inside are your locked doors to your classrooms, officers and work areas. All of these layers are intended to buy time, he said.

He said shooters adrenaline is going and they know that  in most cases  their time is limited.

Theyre not going to spend a ton of time trying to get in a locked door where they may or may not know if somebodys inside, if the kids are quiet and out of sight. Theyre going to continue to move on to where they have a more accessible target.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  A Houston dredging company has been ordered to pay a $1 million fine for an oil spill that occurred when a subcontractor cut through an oil pipeline during barrier island restoration work off Louisiana in 2016.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., which describes itself as the nations largest dredging company, was sentenced last Thursday for violating the Clean Water Act, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office in New Orleans.

Great Lakes recklessly violated regulations designed to protect the environment and then tried to hide their actions, Kimberly Bahney, special agent in charge of the Environmental Protection Agencys criminal enforcement program in Louisiana, said Friday in that news release.

The spill occurred when a marsh buggy hit a pipeline while digging and moving sediment to create part of the islands new outline, releasing an estimated 5,300 gallons (20,000 liters) of crude oil and oiling about 200 birds.

The restoration at Chenier Ronquille, a barrier island east of Grand Isle, was paid for by money from the 2010 BP oil spill.

Great Lakes, which was headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, in 2016 but has since moved to Houston, pleaded guilty in June 2021. As part of the plea, it said it violated state and federal laws by failing to tell companies about continuing work near their pipelines. A statement filed with the guilty plea also said Great Lakes failure to properly supervise James Tassin, whose marsh buggy punctured the pipeline on Sept. 5, 2016, was a cause of the spill.

Tassin, a Shallow Water Equipment LLC employee, pleaded guilty in March 2021 to violating the Clean Water Act. His sentencing is scheduled Aug. 16, according to online court documents.

A Great Lakes employee told him to dig near pipelines even though that area wasnt in the plan approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to the news release.

It said Great Lakes had not gotten pipeline companies word that it was safe to dig, and Tassin said a Great Lakes employee told him not to tell anyone that Tassin had been digging near the site of the spill. The two Houston companies that owned the pipeline, Harvest Pipeline Company and Arrowhead Gulf Coast Pipeline, LLC, sued for damages including cleanup costs. Prosecutors said Great Lakes agreed to pay nearly $3.2 million and Tassins employer agreed to pay it nearly $1.7 million.

U.S. District Judge Greg Guidry last week rejected prosecutors request to make Great Lakes pay a total of at least $6 million in restitution for the spill, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.

The investigation would be too unwieldly, while unnecessarily stalling an end to the Chenier Ronquille incident, he wrote. Besides, he said, the figure probably wouldnt be far from the figure settled on for the damage suit.

Money to pay the fine is already in a court account. Great Lakes deposited $2 million for possible restitution when it pleaded guilty, and will get the rest back, according to court documents.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A motor-vehicle accident victim who fired his lawyer and asked for more money must still accept the $17,500 settlement that his counsel agreed to before she was dismissed, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

An appellate panel reversed a trial court that found Ernest Butler was not bound by a settlement agreement agreed to by attorney Sarah Jett. The opinion says Georgia law does not require settlement offers to be made in writing and that an attorney can create a binding agreement without execution of a formal release.

Everyone agrees that the insurer offered to settle for a specific dollar amount, and counsels letter unequivocally accepted that offer without imposing any additional conditions, the unanimous opinion says. That is enough to form an enforceable settlement agreement here, and because the insurer was not made aware of any restrictions on the authority of Butlers counsel, her assent bound Butler.

Butler was injured in March 2019 when his vehicle was side-swiped by a tractor trailer owned by Carrier Compliance Service, which was insured by Progressive. Butler hired Jett, a partner with Gary Martin Hays & Associates in Duluth, Georgia, to represent him.

In January 2020, Jett emailed Progressive stating that Butler had agreed to its $17,500 offer as full and final settlement of his claim and instructed the insurer to mail a check in Butlers name to her office. She agreed to take care of any statutorily valid liens.

Eight days later, Jett sent a letter to Progressive stating that her firm no longer represented Butler. A month after that, Butlers new counsel sent Progressive a letter offering to settle the case for $350,000.

An attorney for the trucking company and the driver replied that Butler had already agreed settle the case and asked for instructions on where to send the payment and settlement documents. Butler did not respond.

Progressive filed a lawsuit seeking in Gwinnett County Superior Court seeking to enforce the settlement agreement through a declaratory judgment. Butler, through counsel, argued that he never agreed to settle the case and Jett had engaged in negotiations without his consent.

Judge Robert D. Walker ruled that the settlement was not valid because Butler had never agreed to it and had not signed any release of liability. Progressive appealed.

The attorney who represented Progressive, partner Kevin T. Shires with Shires Peake Gottlieb in Alpharetta, Georgia, said he told Judge Walker that if the settlement was deemed invalid, he would have to be concerned about hundreds, if not thousands of settlement agreements that he has approved in his 25 years of practicing law.

Shires said he has no idea what happened between Butler and Jett, but lawyers need some certainty when they negotiate an agreement. If not, it means we can never be comfortable settling a case, he said.

The real shocker is the trial court didnt enforce it to begin with, Shires said.

The appellate panel said that under Georgia law, attorneys have authority to enter into agreements on behalf of their clients and those agreements are enforceable. If an attorney disagrees with the terms, the clients redress is against the attorney.

Georgia law does not require a settlement offer to be made in writing and case law holds that even oral agreements are enforceable.

Nor was execution of a release required to create a binding settlement agreement: the parties here clearly contemplated signing documents to carry out the settlements terms, but that was not necessary to create a binding agreement in the first place, the opinion said.

Jett did not respond when asked to comment on the case. Butlers attorney did not respond to an email.
WAPITI, Wyo. (AP)  Visitors returned Wednesday morning to a changed landscape in Yellowstone National Park as it partially reopened following record floods that reshaped the parks rivers and canyons, wiped out numerous roads and left some areas famous for their wildlife viewing inaccessible, possibly for months to come.

Park managers raised the gates at three of Yellowstones five entrances for the first time since June 13, when 10,000 visitors were ordered out after rivers across northern Wyoming and southern Montana surged over their banks following a torrent of rainfall that accelerated the spring snowmelt.

A long lines of cars and recreational vehicles moved slowly through an entrance in West Yellowstone, Montana. Its unknown how many visitors will show up in the floodings immediate aftermath. Park managers had been bracing for throngs as the park celebrated its 150th anniversary a year after it tallied a record 4.9 million visits.

Some of the premier attractions at Americas first national park will again be viewable, including Old Faithful  the legendary geyser that shoots towering bursts of steaming water almost like clockwork more than a dozen times a day.

But the bears, wolves and bison that roam the wild Lamar Valley and the thermal features around Mammoth Hot Springs will remain out of reach. The wildlife-rich northern half of the park will be shuttered until at least early July, and key routes into the park remain severed near the Montana tourist towns of Gardiner, Red Lodge and Cooke City.

Muris Demirovic, 43, of Miami and his 70-year-old mother arrived at the East Entrance at about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday and were second in a line of dozens of cars. He and his mother, who is from Bosnia, were on a cross country trip visiting national parks and Yellowstone was at the top of their list.

However, when they arrived, it was closed due to flooding. Demirovic and his mother toured Cody, Wyoming, went to a rodeo, walked some trails and visited a museum. They had planned to leave the Yellowstone area on Monday, but stayed when they learned the park would re-open this week.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip for me and my mom, so I had to make sure she sees this, he said.

Hanson reported from Helena, Montana.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Secretary of State Jena Griswold on Wednesday appointed an election supervisor in Pueblo County, arguing the move is necessary to ensure "the fair and accessible conduct" of the June 28 primary following allegations of mistakes by the county's election office.

Griswold earlier this month also appointed an election supervisor in Elbert County, alleging a breach in election protocol last year warranted the move. Elbert County's commissioners blasted the decision and accused Colorado's top election official of pursuing a blatant "partisan political action."

Every eligible Coloradan  Republican, Democrat, and Unaffiliated alike  has the right to cast a ballot in accessible and secure elections. Thats why I am taking action to appoint a supervisor in Pueblo County, Griswold said in a statement. My Office will continue to work closely with the Pueblo Clerk and Recorders Office to provide the support and oversight needed to carry out the 2022 Primary.

In a news release, Griswold said the decision to appoint Drake Rambke as election supervisor in Pueblo County resulted from complaints that asserted "various allegations of errors and mistakes" committed by the Pueblo County Clerk and Recorders Office in its conduct of the primary election.

Her office is investigating these allegations, Griswold said.

While that investigation is ongoing, Griswold said her office found that ballots with the incorrect state House race were sent to voters in the county's Precinct 209, and the Pueblo County Clerk and Records Office also omitted the county commissioner District 3 race from a "substantial number of ballots" mailed to voters.

Griswold said Rambke is a professional election administrator who previously served as her office's election observer in Pueblo County. Under her order, Rambke is authorized to "inspect, supervise and direct the activities of the elections staff of the Clerk and Recorders Office."

"The Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder and staff will take any and all lawful direction from Rambke and any other Secretary of State designee on any and all election matters," Griswold said.

In a statement, Colorado GOP Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown said she is glad to see Griswold followed the Republican Party's "recommendation to appoint an Election Supervisor in Pueblo County."

"This is an important first step to correcting the gross mismanagement and incompetence Pueblo County voters have had to endure the past few weeks," Kristi Burton Brown said in a news release. "Its clear that the Democrat Clerk in Pueblo is not up to doing this job in a manner that would give voters confidence. We continue to urge his replacement with a Designated Election Official prior to the November general election.

Burton Brown yesterday called on Griswold to appoint an election supervisor in Pueblo County, just as "she has chosen to do in counties run by Republican Clerks."

"Some Pueblo County voters have now received FOUR different versions of their ballots. These mistakes have risen to a level that can only negatively impact the trust that voters have in Colorados election system," the GOP official said.

Griswold on June 9 appointed Christi Coburn as a supervisor in Elbert County, tasking her with monitoring decisions and actions by Dallas Schroeder, Elbert County's clerk and recorder, and his staff regarding the primary election.

In a statement, Griswold's office said "the decision to appoint a supervisor follows a 2021 election security protocol breach in Elbert County where Clerk Dallas Schroeder violated Colorado Elections Rules in the unauthorized imaging of the countys voting system hard drives."

Last month, an Elbert County district court judge ordered Schroeder to turn over election computer hard drives he had copied to the Secretary of State. Schroeder had made those copies with the assistance of two attorneys who were not employees of the county clerk and recorder's office.

Schroeder gave those copies to the Secretary of State's office on May 5.

"We are extremely disappointed that the current Secretary of State, Jenna Griswold, has chosen to depart from the long-held standards of conduct of her predecessors to blatantly pursue partisan political action," Elbert County's commissioners said in a statement. "The suspicious timing of her latest election order  issued just as voters are receiving ballots  yet based on information publicly available to her for over six months seems timed more for maximum political impact than to ensure election security or voter confidence."

Reporter Marianne Goodland contributed in this article.
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The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
By Rick Palsgrove

Groveport Editor

Groveports Main Street commercial project is nearing completion.

The two, new city owned buildings are part of the city of Groveports $7.6 million 1847 Main Project, which includes the 14,145 square foot Rareys Port (674 Main St.) building and the 12,184 square foot Werts Grove building.

Delaneys Diner  a breakfast, lunch, brunch restaurant  will occupy space in the Rareys Port building. Little Italy Pizza, which has operated at 619 Main St. for 43 years, plans to move into the Werts Grove building.

According to Groveport Development Director Jeff Green, Delaneys is expected to open for business in the Rareys Port building by the end of September or beginning of October.

The delays have been caused by the workloads of the architect and engineers and completion of the mechanics, electrical and plumbing plans, said Green.

He said Little Italys is anticipated to open in the Werts Grove building by the end of September.

There really have not been any delays, said Green regarding Little Italys opening. It took a little while for the kitchen layout to be finalized by Wasserstrom, and M & A Architects had to finalize the design with Avery Ward (of Little Italy), but this project is proceeding according to schedule.

Regarding potential business prospects to fill the remaining spaces in the Rareys Port and Werts Grove buildings, Green said, We are currently working with a restaurant prospect for the remaining space. Im not at liberty to discuss the same of the prospective tenant.

Also discussions have been held with a local couple interested in opening a coffee house/bakery/local goods store in the existing Little Italy building at 619 Main St.

Area C potential for development

Groveport City Administrator B. J. King said there is not much to report regarding Area C, which is located along Pontius Road south of Hayes Road and extends south to the county line at London-Lancaster Road and areas eastward to Richardson Road. City officials stated this land consists of thousands of acres, of which 500 acres could be developed.

The next step to pursuing development of Area C is to undertake a study to determine infrastructure and utility needs to support any development, said King. It is premature to try to identify what types of development could occur in the area. This will be able to be better defined once the infrastructure and utility needs are determined.

Earlier this year, Green said city officials do not know how much of this land may be available for annexing.

The land is important, though, if the city of Groveport is to continue to grow and prosper and invest in the quality of life for its residents, Green said earlier this year. We are currently out of land for new development so we have to explore what our next frontier might be.
All right, quiz time: In a single sentence, can you tell me exactly what Google Voice does?

It's a question even the most giddy Google-appreciating geeks struggle to answer succinctly  and for normal, non-tech-obsessed Homo sapiens, the answer typically falls somewhere between "Huh?" and "Wait, is that the same thing as gChat?"

Really, it's no surprise. Google Voice is one of Google's most complex, confusing, and poorly promoted services. But it's also one of its most powerful  if you take the time to figure out exactly what it does and how it can work for you.

And especially if you're using your phone for any manner of business, it can make a night-and-day difference in your ability to stay as connected and productive as possible, no matter where you're working or what type of device you're using at any given moment. Without exaggeration, it'll completely change the way you think about your modern mobile devices and what a phone number even is.

Consider this your unofficial guide to getting started with Google Voice and then getting the most out of the underappreciated but potential-packed service.

The Google Voice business basics

We'll start with the basics  and go back to that question I posed at the beginning of this conversation: What exactly is Google Voice?

In its simplest form, Google Voice is a cloud-based service that manages your phone number for you. Instead of being connected to a SIM card and tied specifically to a single physical smartphone, your number lives in a fluffy Google server and is controlled entirely by Google software.

Quirky as it may seem, that arrangement ultimately frees your digits from their traditional shackles and allows you to communicate in all sorts of convenient, efficiency-enhancing ways.

At its core, that empowers you to:

Make and receive calls using your standard number on any device  phone, tablet, or even desktop computer. No one you're talking to will know the difference. Send and receive regular text messages through the Voice website or apps on any device anytime  even with multiple devices being connected simultaneously.

Together, that means any phone, tablet, or computer where you sign into Google Voice effectively becomes "your phone"  regardless of what type of connection it relies on or if it even has active cellular service.

So, for instance, you could:

Install the Google Voice app on an old Android phone and then have it ring whenever a call comes into your number, be able to make outgoing calls on it from your number, and be able to send and receive text messages on it with your regular number as long as it's connected to Wi-Fi.

Install the Google Voice app onto a Chromebook or Android tablet and communicate with customers and co-workers in all those same ways from there.

Sign into the Google Voice website on any laptop and handle calls and messages on it as if it were your phone  regardless of whether your actual current smartphone is nearby or even powered on.

Pretty transformative stuff, right? And there's more: Google Voice also automatically transcribes your voicemails and lets you listen to or read 'em from any device where you're signed in. It brings Google-caliber spam filtering to your incoming calls, text messages, and voicemails, along with the option to have all of your calls screened for you. And it gives you a robust system of contextual call forwarding  almost like Gmail filters for your phone.

Like I said, this is one seriously powerful but also confoundingly complicated service. Let's dive in and explore every last piece of the puzzle so you can make sure you're taking full advantage of everything it has to offer.

Getting started with Google Voice

The first step to getting started with Google Voice is simply signing into the service and setting yourself up with a number. That part of the process is easiest if you begin on a computer.

With individual, non-company-connected Google accounts, you can immediately choose a new Google Voice number in any available area code for free, or you can opt to pay $20 to transfer an existing number into the service. In either scenario, you'll have to be in the US to be eligible. (Sorry, international pals!)

With company-connected Google Workspace accounts, Voice is available in the US as well as in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. Your Workspace administrator will have to activate the service for you, and it costs $10, $20, or $30 per user per month  billed to the company  depending on what tier of service is selected.

Either way, once you've got your number set, you'll find yourself facing the main Google Voice dashboard. That's where you'll always be able to see your recent calls and messages, make new calls and messages, and read or listen to voicemails left on your number.

JR Raphael / IDG The Google Voice dashboard lets you manage everything related to your calls and messages from any device where you're signed in. (Click image to enlarge it.)

And as long as you have the website open, any calls coming into your number will actually ring your computer  and you can answer 'em right then and there.

JR Raphael / IDG Incoming calls can be answered on any device where you're signed into Google Voice  including a computer. (Click image to enlarge it.)

We'll come back to explore some advanced settings in a second. First, we need to shift our focus for a moment and get Google Voice set up on any phones where you want to use it  including the primary phone you rely on for your day-to-day communication.

Setting up phones with Google Voice

Now that we've got the core Voice setup finished, this part's pretty easy:

Either way, open the app up and follow the prompts to sign in using the same Google account you used in your initial setup on your computer.

On Android, you'll be prompted to connect that device to Google Voice to allow the phone to make and receive calls using your Google Voice number. If your phone has active cellular service with a separate number that's connected to your carrier, follow the steps to link the two and allow them to work together.

If you're using an older or secondary phone that doesn't have active cellular service, just skip that step. You'll still be able to make and receive calls with your Google Voice number whenever the phone's connected to Wi-Fi.

On both Android and iOS, you'll then see the main Google Voice dashboard interface  with tabs for your recent calls, your contacts, your text messages, and your voicemails. The circular green button in the lower-right corner of the screen will allow you to make a new call or start a new message, depending on which tab you're viewing.

JR Raphael / IDG The Google Voice mobile apps effectively transform any smartphone into your Google Voice device.

And on both platforms, you'll be able to tap the three-line menu icon in the app's upper-left corner to find the main settings menu.

In a moment we'll explore the main Voice settings thoroughly from the service's website, where every last option is available, but for now, take a quick peek at the "Making and receiving calls" (or "Make and receive calls") and "Incoming calls" areas of the apps' settings. Those will control exactly how calls to and from your Voice number will be handled on that specific device  if they'll rely on your carrier-provided cellular minutes, assuming those are available, or if they'll rely primarily on Wi-Fi and/or mobile data  and also if incoming calls will cause the phone to ring so you'll be aware of them.

By default, they won't. So if you want to be able to answer calls to your Google Voice number on this device, you'll definitely want to adjust that.

If you have any other phones or any tablets you want to add into the mix and allow to access all of the same Google Voice functions, repeat this same process on any of them, using the appropriate Android or iOS app.

Just remember: If you set up all those devices to answer calls, you're gonna have an awful lot of things ringing every time someone dials your digits. So if you don't want a bunch of different devices simultaneously demanding your attention with every incoming call, be sure to go into the Google Voice app's notification settings on each device and make the appropriate adjustments.

Otherwise, we're ready to move back to your computer to dive in deep to all of the Google Voice settings.

Exploring the Google Voice settings

All right  ready to get into some of Google Voice's greatest powers?

Back on the Voice desktop website, click the gear-shaped icon in the upper-right corner of the screen. That'll take you to the full Google Voice settings menu, where you'll find every available option.

And my goodness, are there a lot of 'em.

The first section of the screen, "Account," has all of your basic number and device management settings, for anytime you need to make any foundational changes. The only item there you need to think about right now is "Linked numbers." If you want to set your Google Voice number up to forward to any other existing numbers  an office line, a secondary cell phone, or even a colleague's phone  click the "New linked number" button and follow the steps to add and confirm the number you need.

JR Raphael / IDG Linking a new number to your Google Voice account for forwarding is as simple as adding the number into the Voice website and then confirming it. (Click image to enlarge it.)

Moving on, the second section of the screen, "Messages," contains a single switch to have any incoming messages forwarded to your email (in the same Google account's inbox). It's a simple touch but a useful one, especially if you live in your inbox and want to make sure you don't miss anything during the day.

The third section, "Calls," is where the real Google Voice power starts coming into play. Under "Call forwarding," you'll be able to flip a switch next to any linked number you added to have all incoming calls on your Google Voice number forward to it all the time.

And directly beneath that, the "Custom call forwarding" section will let you set up contextual filters to forward only specific sorts of calls to different linked numbers. Simply click "Create a rule," and you'll be able to choose individual contacts, groups of contacts, or broad categories of contacts like anonymous callers and then tell Google Voice exactly what to do when those people ring you.

JR Raphael / IDG Google Voice's rules are like Gmail filters for your incoming calls. (Click image to enlarge it.)

Back on the main Google Voice settings screen, the "Calls" section has some other options worth your while to consider:

"Get email alerts for missed calls" will do exactly what you'd expect. It's a fantastic way to make sure an important call never goes unnoticed.

"Screen calls" will prompt every incoming caller to state their name and then place them on hold while you hear the recording so you can decide if you want to answer.

"Incoming call options" will activate the abilities for you to record an incoming call by pressing the number 4 and to transfer an in-progress call to one of your other linked numbers by pressing the * key (though only on individual Google accounts and not within Workspace-associated Google Voice setups, somewhat strangely).

Skip down from there to "Voicemail," and you'll find options to record your outgoing voicemail message and manage other voicemail-related preferences.

Under "Payments," you can connect a payment method to apply credit for international calls, if you're so inclined. In the US, calls made through Google Voice to other US numbers as well as Canadian numbers are completely free, while calls to other countries vary in their rates.

And last but not least, under "Security," you'll probably want to flip the switch next to "Filter spam." That'll allow Google's spam detection systems to stop suspected junk calls, messages, and voicemails from ever bothering you.

Whew! Told ya Google Voice had lots of fascinating layers, didn't I? Hold the phone, though: We've got one more pair of powerful possibilities to explore before we call it a day.

The Google Voice business bonuses

One of Google Voice's most useful set of features is available only for business accounts  specifically, those using the Google Voice Standard or Premier ($20 or $30 per user per month) tiers of service.

If your organization is on such a plan, you can dial into a couple of advanced business-oriented phone management options:

You can set up a fully automated, professional-sounding phone menu system that answers calls on one of your Google Voice numbers and directs callers to different places depending on the time of the day and which options they select. You can create ring groups that make it easy for multiple people to handle calls coming into the same number  like a single streamlined number for a sales team, for instance. The main number can either ring every associated team member's phone at the same time so whoever answers first gets the call, or it can ring all of the associated numbers individually in a random order.

Both options can be configured by your Google Workspace administrator in the Google Voice section of the Google Admin console.

Oh, and one more thing: Any Google Voice number can connect directly to a variety of specialty boxes and handsets that effectively allow you to have subscription-free landline-like phones for your desk or home office. You can establish a standalone number through Google Voice for such a line and even have calls from your other Google Voice numbers automatically ring those phones in addition to ringing other devices, so you can easily answer any call anywhere you like.

And now you know, from start to finish, how Google Voice can transform your business and the very way you think about your phones. All that's left is to create your account, get things set up the way you want, and then enjoy your newly enlightened approach to phone number management.
06/23/2022

Photo (c) Rafmaster - Getty Images COVID-19 tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.)

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 86,636,811 (86,478,140)

Total U.S. deaths: 1,014,835 (1,014,174)

Total global cases: 541,470,003 (540,830,183)

Total global deaths: 6,324,459 (6,322,765)

Evidence mounts that Paxlovid keeps patients out of the hospital

Two new studies published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) bolster the case for Pfizers antiviral drug Paxlovid. Both studies found that patients who take the drug early on in a COVID-19 infection were very unlikely to visit a hospital emergency room (ER).

Paxlovid is a combination of two antiviral medications -- nirmatrelvir and ritonavir. It was approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 2021, for people with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at risk for more severe symptoms.

Researchers at Kaiser Permanente, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Harvard University, and the University of California, Berkeley, analyzed electronic health record data from Kaiser Permanente Southern California on 5,287 patients who were 12 years old or older and received Paxlovid from Dec. 31, 2021, through May 26, 2022.

Research explains why so many vaccinated people get COVID-19

New research suggests that the reason many fully vaccinated people are testing positive for COVID-19 is because the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants are able to evade the antibody responses among people who are vaccinated or have had a previous infection.

The study found that when the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants invade the body, the antibody response is several times lower when compared to the body's response to the original strain of the coronavirus.

That said, the researchers have concluded that its still worthwhile to get vaccinated because it can prevent severe symptoms in most people.

Booster shots important for nursing home residents

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University, collaborating with scientists at Brown University, have made a case for residents and staff at nursing homes to not only be vaccinated against COVID-19 but to also get booster shots.

Their study shows that high levels of Omicron-specific immunity can be achieved in nursing home residents and their caregivers with a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The findings were published this month in the journal eBioMedicine.

Researchers examined blood samples from 85 nursing home residents and 48 health care workers in Ohio who received the COVID-19 vaccine booster to determine the level of neutralizing antibodies present. It found that Omicron-specific antibodies reached detectable levels in 86% of nursing home residents and 93% of health care workers after receiving the booster shot.

Around the nation
70%

Website 9158.com uses latest and advanced technologies. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 69682 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of .

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2022-06-23, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
Captivekink.com scored 42 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 6 Apr 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the captivekink homepage on StumbleUpon. The total number of people who shared the captivekink homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the captivekink homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the captivekink homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if captivekink has a Facebook fan page). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the captivekink homepage on Twitter + the total number of captivekink followers (if captivekink has a Twitter account).

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PAGE TITLE Welcome to CaptiveKink DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS captivekink, you are, material, on the site, if youre, you can, the site



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Crridom.gov.in scored 42 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 28 Mar 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

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PAGE TITLE Welcome to CSIR-Central Road Research Institute | CSIR - Central Road Research Institute DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS research, institute, csir central road research institute, csir central road research, central road research institute, csir central road, central road research



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Rfm.ir 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

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PAGE TITLE Iranian Web Hosting and domain registration. Web Design, dedicated server and SEO in iran, Tehran DESCRIPTION Iranian Web Hosting and domain registration. Web Design and SEO, dedicated server Iran, Sari, Tehran, Mashhad KEYWORDS Iranian Web Hosting, domain registration Tehran, Web Design, Iran SEO, domain registration Iran, web hosting Iran, web design Iran, dedicated server Iran, Sari, Tehran OTHER KEYWORDS



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DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE English (United States) UTF-8English (United States) DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Apache/2.2.22 (CentOS) (PHP/5.2.13) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux

Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Operative System running on the server. The language of rfm.ir as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Type of server and offered services. Character set and language of the site.

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Referring domains for rfm.ir by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

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Insider threat and risk management programs are the Achilles heel of every corporate and information security program, as many a CISO can attest to. The MITRE Inside-R Protect program is the organizations latest initiative to assist both public and private sector efforts in addressing the insider threat. The Inside-R programs bar for success is high. The focus of Inside-R is on evolving analytic capabilities focused on the behavior of the insider. To that end, MITRE invites the participation of government and private organizations to provide their historical insider incident data to the organizations corpora of information from which findings are derived.

MITRE Insider-R Protect focuses on behavior, not technology

While at a nascent stage, the focus on human behavior across a wide swath of historical cases has long been sought and needed by corporate counterespionage programs.

I spoke with Dr. Deanna Caputo, MITREs chief scientist for behavioral sciences and cybersecurity, who emphasizes how the focus of the Insider-R is on the individuals behavior and is non-technical. Indeed, the invitation to industry and government to provide their raw investigative records no doubt will cause some to raise an eyebrow or two. To this end, she comments on how the programs laboratory creation was funded by the financial sector and is an isolated, air-gapped environment. Furthermore, such is the respect to the sensitivity of the data provided from participating partners, there isnt a backup of the labs data. If the building burns, it is a start-over scenario.

Caputo notes that participation of entities of all sizes is desired, be it an entity with five cases or one with 5,000 cases which were investigated, regardless of sector.

The bar must be raised for insider threat risk

First, there is a lack of data-driven, behavior-based, and rigorous scientific evidence to understand these escalating risks. Second, there is an over-reliance on frameworks and security controls focused on addressing external cyber threats. And third, insights are being made from a small pool of case studies that lack sufficient detail. We feel that these challenges must be addressed immediately as a component of our mission to solve problems for a safer world. We needed to raise the bar, says Caputo.

Who may participate in Inside-R?

At this time, only companies and government entities associated with countries comprising the membership of the Five Eyes (FVEY) may participate: United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. The FVEY countries intelligence cooperation is broad and is not limited to signals intelligence (SIGINT). It also includes human intelligence (HUMINT), geospatial intelligence (GEOINT), and electronics intelligence (ELINT).

In addition, any qualified private entity wishing to participate and obtain a capabilities brief will be required to undergo a screening process conducted by MITRE.

Coupling the MITRE-R Protect program with the MITRE Engenuitys Center for Informed Defense and their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) used by insiders makes eminent sense. However, Jon Baker, director of research and development at the Center for Informed Defense, admonishes not to focus on the TTPs of the last major insider threat case to hit the news.

Clearly trust in MITREs ability to protect ones data is paramount and each CISO should contact MITRE to determine their own level of comfort prior to participation. Afterall, one will be sharing insider incident raw investigative notes and data to be amalgamated into MITRE-R Protect. Insider threat risk management companies will want to engage with MITRE. To date, DTEX Systems has embraced the evolution of the programs capability, while others have appeared to have adopted a wait-and-see position.

Broad participation needed to analyze insider risk

The reality is, for MITRE to be successful and to provide meaningful information back to participants, broad participation will be required. The more entities that participate, the richer the information and the more refined the analytic results.

As an individual who has been on both sides of the covert information acquisition process, I attest to the value of understanding the behavior of the individual to be of paramount importance. Many fall back on the acronym MICE  money, ideology, compromise, and ego -- as the four areas in which to invest in counterespionage/insider threat programs. MICE over-simplifies the engagement and exacerbates the theory that employees are not trustworthy.

That said, following the TTPs of the latest incident is indeed the equivalent of watching your neighbors cows bolt down the road and youre thankful your cows are safely in the barn. Where value exists is exactly where this new initiatives sweet spot resides: within the raw data, the investigative notes, the court records, and the interviews of all concerned.

CISOs whose insider threat programs do not have a behavioral component are shorting themselves. As they may be assured the unscrupulous competitor, the criminal entity, and the nation-state are studying the behavior of individuals in their targeting matrix looking for windows of opportunity.
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NEW YORK (AP)  A memoir by Chelsea Manning will come out this fall. The book is titled README.txt, and it's scheduled for release on Oct. 18.

Manning's book was first announced in 2019 but did not have a title or release date. The former intelligence analyst served seven years in a military prison for leaking a trove of documents to WikiLeaks before President Barack Obama commuted the remainder of her 35-year sentence in 2017.
More than 11,000 people in Connecticut have died of COVID-19, the state announced Thursday.

The state Department of Public Health reported Thursday 16 additional deaths in the past week, bringing the Connecticut pandemic total to 11,015.

Gov. Ned Lamont said the deaths marked another sad milestone for the state.

Some 11,000 of our friends, family and neighbors have died from COVID-19, he said in a tweet. (My wife) Annie and I pray for those who have lost someone during this difficult time. We know first-hand what its like to lose someone close to you from the virus.

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. By the next year, Connecticut saw 7,765 people die with the virus. By March 11, 2022, the number rose to 10,648.

Connecticut was hit hard in the first few months of the pandemic, but we have done everything we can to keep people safe from the very real impacts of different waves and variants, Lamont said.

Lamont urged residents to get their vaccines and their booster shots. He also advised Nutmeggers to wear a mask when appropriate and get tested.

The CDC has deemed most of Connecticut to have a medium COVID-19 transmission level. Officials have advised individuals in these areas to consider wearing masks, avoid crowds and increase their testing frequency.

As of Thursday, New London County was the only county in the state to have a low community level.

Last week, Middlesex had a high COVID-19 level, while the other seven counties had either medium or low levels.

The states COVID-19 statistics have been improving in recent weeks as hospitals are seeing fewer infected patients. As of Thursday, there were 273 patients hospitalized with the virus  nine fewer than this time last week.

Of the 273 hospitalized patients, 93  or 34 percent  are not fully vaccinated, according to the state data.

The seven-day positivity rate rose slightly from 7.98 percent Wednesday to 8.04 percent on Thursday. This was calculated from the 3,494 positive tests of the 43,431 total administered.

To access cost-free, state-supported COVID testing, visit the state website.

To find COVID vaccines and boosters, visit Vaccines.gov.
SANTA FE, New Mexico (AP)  A rural New Mexico county's initial refusal to certify its primary election results sent ripples across the country last week, a symbol of how even the most elemental functions of democracy have become politicized pressure points amid the swirl of lies stemming from the 2020 presidential outcome.

After the Otero County Commission finally relented, one question persisted: Why New Mexico, a state that has not been a political battleground and where Joe Biden beat Donald Trump handily two years ago?

The seeds of the short-lived election crisis, which ended amid a showdown with the secretary of state and an order from the New Mexico Supreme Court, had been planted months before, when David Clements, a lawyer who has gained prominence in conservative circles, and others began raising conspiracy theories and false claims about the last presidential election that came to dominate political discussion in the heavily Republican county.

But its not just Otero County where local election administration is in the crosshairs of conspiracy theorists, and its not just Clements involved in the effort.

Across the country, supporters and allies of former President Donald Trump have been meeting with local officials  sowing doubts about the 2020 election, seeking access to voting equipment and pressing for changes that would upend election administration in their counties. The effort has led to security breaches of voting equipment and, in New Mexico, chaos surrounding what has historically been a routine task.

"You have seen a whole bunch of people  some sincere, some perhaps less sincere  who have rushed to fill the demand to provide evidence of the fraud that Trump created, said David Levine, a former election official who is now a fellow with the Alliance for Securing Democracy.

There was no widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election that could have changed the outcome.

Even before the Nov. 3, 2020, election, Trump was telling his supporters that fraud was the only way he could lose re-election, pointing mostly  and without evidence  to the expansion of mail-in voting during the pandemic.

In the months since, there has been no evidence to support the claims. They have been dismissed by dozens of judges, by Trumps attorney general at the time, and by a coalition of federal and state election and cybersecurity officials who called the 2020 vote the most secure in U.S. history.

That hasnt stopped the false claims from proliferating, driven by a group of Trump supporters who appear at many of the same events and engage with each other regularly.

Clements, a former assistant district attorney in southern New Mexico and former business professor at New Mexico State University, has traveled the country speaking with local government boards, at conservative conventions and to church groups. He was at the cybersymposium last year held by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a key Trump ally who has sought to prove voting machines were somehow manipulated to favor Biden.

Clements popular social media feed on Telegram frequently weaves pronouncements about democracy with scripture and prayer. It also includes video chats with the like-minded.

In one video from March, Clements chatted with Jim Marchant, a Trump loyalist from Nevada who claims elections have long been rigged. Marchant recently won the Republican primary for secretary of state, Nevada's top elections position. He has been a key organizer of a group of America First candidates this year who either deny the outcome of the 2020 presidential election or promote the idea that elections in the U.S. are corrupt.

In the video, Clements and Marchant discuss a county commission strategy that involves pressuring local officials to get rid of the cheat machines so that all ballots are not only cast by hand but also counted by hand. Election experts say hand-counting of ballots is not only less accurate but extremely labor-intensive, potentially delaying results by weeks if not months. They also say it's unnecessary because voting equipment is tested before and after elections to ensure ballots are read and tallied correctly.

A day earlier, county officials in Nye County, Nevada, had voted to request that the county clerk not use ballot tabulators in the upcoming November election. The clerk is opposed to the move and has decided to retire after the primary. Marchant was among those urging commissioners to make the move.

It was the first domino to fall to allow us to get back to fair and transparent elections here in the country, Marchant told Clements. And were going to do it with many more counties right here in Nevada, and hopefully this will encourage others in other states to do the same thing.

Clements was excited about the development and promised to push counties to do the same in his home state of New Mexico, where he once sought the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

Shouldnt the commissioners care about whether I trust the system or not? Clements told Marchant. "I love how you just cut through all the noise.

This week, Clements is scheduled to appear at an event in Louisiana with Douglas Frank, another Lindell associate who has been traveling the country meeting with state and local officials. In May 2021, Frank met with members of the Ohio Secretary of States Office offering to scrutinize their voting procedures, boasting hes been working with county officials in 22 states.

You either come onto our team and we can audit it together and show that there was no malfeasance, or you can oppose us, Frank told agency staff, according to an audio recording. The office did not accept the offer.

For months now, Clements has been pushing Republican-leaning counties in New Mexico to launch partisan reviews of the 2020 election, similar to the much-maligned effort in Arizona coordinated by Republicans in one chamber of the state's legislature. In Otero County, which Trump won by a wide margin, Clements and his wife, Erin, have been conducting an informal and unpaid review of the countys 2020 election procedures.

The result has been a series of hourslong presentations to the county commission about unproven vulnerabilities in vote-tallying machines and patterns in voter registration activity. The Clements, who list Las Cruces as their residence, did not respond to requests for an interview.

Earlier this month, when Otero County commissioners were considering whether to discontinue the use of ballot tabulators, the couple again made a presentation. It prompted a rebuttal from Otero County Clerk Robyn Holmes.

There is a lot of things they have found, that they are saying, that are not true, Holmes said.

Nonetheless, the commissioners  led by Couy Griffin, co-founder of Cowboys for Trump, who was convicted of entering restricted U.S. Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6 insurrection  voted to stop using the ballot tabulators before the November election.

Clements was among those urging Otero County commissioners against certification of the June 7 primary results, repeating conspiracy theories about voting equipment that trace back to the days immediately following the 2020 election. Holmes, the clerk, said the primary was conducted without problems.

Clements also went to Torrance County, another conservative stronghold in New Mexico, to urge commissioners to defy authorities and refuse to certify their primary results. During the meeting last Friday, the crowd hurled insults of traitors and cowards at commissioners before they voted  unanimously  to certify the results.

Election officials and experts have expressed concern that local certification boards in other states that are receptive to conspiracy theories surrounding voting machines might be inspired to follow Otero County's example, wreaking havoc with election results.

Counties in Nevada have until Friday to sign off on the results of the states June 14 primary. Nye County commissioners, who want to stop using ballot tabulators, are scheduled to meet to consider certification on Friday. They have not said publicly what they plan to do.

___

Cassidy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Ken Ritter in Las Vegas; Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio; and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, contributed to this report.
The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday suspended the license of a Stamford doctor after state Department of Public Health officials said his excessive use of alcohol and drugs and his mental illnesses may affect his ability to safely practice medicine.

A statement of charges against him says that Dr. Jeffrey Stern excessively used alcohol and narcotics in 2019 and 2020, and since 2019, has had mental illnesses or emotional disorders.

DPH records show that Stern was arrested on Aug. 29, 2020 and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to use and driving while intoxicated. It was unclear where the arrest took place. In 2019, Stern had temporarily surrendered his medical license in New York and voluntarily agreed to stop practicing medicine in Florida, DPH records show.

In the statement of charges, DPH contends that Stern, who is listed on state records as living in New York City, falsely answered no when asked on his 2020 Connecticut medical license application if he had voluntarily surrendered any professional license or was facing possible discipline in any other state.

From 2020 to 2021, Stern also falsely used his Connecticut license to treat patients in New York and violated Connecticut law by prescribing opioid drugs to patients though telehealth appointments, the statement said. During the same period, he also violated state law by prescribing controlled substances to patients who had no demonstrated physical or medical disorders, it said.

From 2020 to 2021, he also prescribed more than a 72-hour supply of a controlled substance to a patient and failed to review electronic prescription drug monitoring records, the statement said.

At the meeting, additional charges were added against Stern after Joelle Newton, a DPH staff attorney, said the health department had received new allegations from the state Department of Consumer Protections Drug Control Division about Stern prescribing controlled substances.

Darius Marzec, a Brooklyn, New York attorney representing Stern, objected to the new charges being added and asked that a public hearing in the case be continued to August. The board agreed to the continuance after suspending Sterns license.

In an unrelated case, the board also voted to reprimand the physician assistant license of Derek William Donovan of Colchester and placed his license on probation for five years because a DPH investigation found that he had used alcohol and marijuana excessively since 2020.

Donovan chose not to contest the allegations and agreed to the punishment in a consent order that was accepted by the board Tuesday.

The order, which said he has an emotional disorder or mental illness, states that Donovan falsified medical records in 2021 and made false written statements the same year to mislead people working on behalf of DPH.

During the probation, Donovan must submit to random drug and alcohol tests, complete a course in professional ethics, undergo therapy and attend support group meetings. Under the order, he is also barred from working as a solo practitioner.

Matthew Carlone, a Wethersfield attorney representing Donovan, told the board that the consent order was a fair and equitable agreement.

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team , a nonprofit news organization dedicated to health reporting.
WASHINGTON (AP)  A U.S. Naval reservist who was assigned to an agency that operates spy satellites told an undercover FBI agent that he stormed the U.S. Capitol with members of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group and has espoused anti-government and antisemitic ideologies, federal authorities said in court records unsealed on Thursday.

Hatchet Speed was arrested on Wednesday in McLean, Virginia, on misdemeanor charges stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, including disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, court records show.

The FBI says Speed, whose birth name was Daniel Abraham Speed, is a petty officer first class in the U.S. Naval Reserves and was assigned to the Naval Warfare Space Field Activity at the National Reconnaissance Office. Authorities believe Speed is currently unemployed, a prosecutor said in a court filing. Court records dont list a defense attorney for Speed, who is scheduled to make his initial court appearance in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

The National Reconnaissance Office operates U.S. spy satellites used by the Pentagon and intelligence agencies. The secretive agency has an important role in the U.S. intelligence community, which relies heavily on satellite imagery to monitor global hot spots like Russias war in Ukraine.

The agency said Thursday that Speed's assignment at the NRO began three months ago and that he was not part of the reserve unit at the time of the riot.

He has not had access to NRO facilities or systems at any point during his administrative assignment, the agency's statement said.

Speed recently worked in Vienna, Virginia, as a software developer for Novetta Solutions LLC, a defense contractor that conducts advanced analytics for the Defense Department and other federal agencies, the FBI said.

In March, Speed met with with an FBI undercover employee who presented to Speed as a like-minded individual, an FBI agent said in a court filing. Speed told the undercover agent that going to the Capitol on Jan. 6 was always the plan and said he went there with friends who were Proud Boys members, the filing says.

We would listen to Donald Trump then all of us would go to the Capitol. Now the reason we were going to the Capitol was to protest what was going on in the Capitol  what they were doing was counting the ballots, Speed said, according to the FBI.

Speed also said a larger crowd could have compelled House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to resign out of fear for her life," an FBI agent wrote.

He also observed that there are too many Americans that have this idea that we have to be peaceful at all costs, the agent added.

Video captured Speed entering the Capitol through the Senate Wing Doors and exiting the building through a window more than 40 minutes later, according to the FBI.

Prosecutors are seeking a court order requiring home detention with location monitoring for Speed after his release from custody. They say his statements and conduct show that he poses a threat of violence to the community.

After the Capitol riot, Speed bought at least 12 firearms over the span of a few months and spent more than $50,000 at firearm and firearm-part retailers, a prosecutor said in a court filing.

"This firearm-buying spree is alarming in light of statements that Speed has made in which he has espoused the use of violence to further his anti-government and anti-Semitic ideologies," Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexis Loeb wrote.

In April, Speed told an FBI undercover employee that he has contemplated using violence to further his antisemitic beliefs and discussed using violence against members of the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights organization.

He said that the ADL promoted the recent anti-lynching bill and that the bill was being passed because 'they know things are ... going to get bad enough, that people like us are going to band together and straight up start lynching people,' Loeb wrote.

Federal agents said they seized eight firearms and seven silencers when they searched Speed's home, vehicles and a storage unit. They also said they found approximately 25 other firearms belonging to Speeds housemates.

Approximately 40 Proud Boys leaders, members or associates have been charged in the deadly Jan. 6 siege. Former Proud Boys national chairman Henry Enrique Tarrio and four other men are charged with seditious conspiracy for what authorities say was a plot to forcibly oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power after Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

The charge against Speed comes months after an intelligence contractor alleged he was fired for reporting the circulation of racist and misogynistic comments on classified intelligence community chatrooms. The fired contractor, Dan Gilmore, wrote in a blog post that many employees across the community have posted that they believed the Jan. 6 attack was justified.

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined last month to comment on Gilmores allegations but said that people who engage in inappropriate conduct are subject to a variety of accountability mechanisms, including disciplinary action.

The NRO and Novetta Solutions did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Speeds arrest.

___

Kunzelman reported from Silver Spring, Md.
Lets all take a pause today to learn a lesson from Mick Jagger.

The 78-year-old Rolling Stones legend was hours away from taking the stage in Amsterdam Monday when he tested positive for COVID-19. The bands next gig in Switzerland also was postponed.

Most of us can take a break from work without impacting too many lives. Jaggers ailments changed plans for tens of thousands of fans.

But the show could not go on given the risk of COVID exposure. Jagger played it safe, for himself, his bandmates and crew, and for his fans. The Rolling Stones wont gather moss for long, though, as Jagger is recovering and pledged to be back on stage next week.

Not everyone out there will be so considerate this summer, including people you might be packed in with at concerts, ballgames and beaches.

But you can always get a test, right? Well, after more than two years theres been a few recent pivots in test availability.

Just this week, anyone seeking to get tested through Yale New Haven Health will have to book an appointment.

And federal funding has ended for testing at health care systems, which means future testing will go through insurance. Yale is seeking alternatives for patients who lack insurance.

The funding shift is the result of the Biden administration redirecting pandemic dollars to vaccines and the like in preparation of an anticipated surge this autumn. It was a reset after Congress declined to approve additional testing funds.

There are still some free testing sites in Connecticut, with some functioning as walk-ins and others requiring appointments. But the number of sites has been shrinking with the recent decrease of the number of patients hospitalized with COVID in the state. There are now only 20, a number that could be found in just a few ZIP codes not all that long ago.

We plan on staying with 20 for the foreseeable future, Department of Public Health Spokesperson Chris Boyle said. We can ramp up pretty quickly if we experience another uptick.

Those decreases are all good news, indicators of a diminished presence of the coronavirus after 27 months. Earlier this week, the state reported 3,482 positive tests from 45,261 administered over seven days.

Of course, increased familiarity with at-home tests has skewed all data involving COVID, as those results are not reported to the state Department of Public Health.

The health department is suggesting state residents stock up in the home test kits in anticipation of summer activities. At least for now, the White House has expanded the availability of the kits. This the third round, which allows orders of eight additional free kits at COVIDTests.gov or 1-800-232-0233.

There may not be any more encores to this offer, so having more kits handy cant hurt. The whims of Congress have taught us that you cant always get what you want, so grab what you need while you can.
China launches new batch of remote sensing satellites

Xinhua) 13:24, June 23, 2022

XICHANG, June 23 (Xinhua) -- China successfully launched three new remote sensing satellites from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province Thursday.

The satellites were launched as the second batch of the Yaogan-35 family at 10:22 a.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-2D carrier rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully.

The satellites will be mainly used to conduct science experiments, land resource surveys, yield estimation of agricultural products and disaster prevention and reduction.

This launch marked the 424th mission for the Long March series carrier rockets.

China launched a batch of three Yaogan-35 satellites on Nov.6 last year.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Meanwhile, doctors said the bulk of the Covid tests in Telangana were of the Rapid Antigen type, and not the gold standard RT-PCR test. (PTI)

Hyderabad: Covid-19 cases continued to spike on Thursday, with 494 new cases taking the total case count in the state past the 3,000 mark, to 3,048. Hyderabad accounted for 315 of these cases, according to the health bulletin.

On Wednesday, 434 new cases were reported across the state and 292 in Hyderabad.

On Thursday, Ranga Reddy district reported 102 new cases and Medchal Malkajgiri, 31. A total of 126 patients recovered on the day, while 37 patients were under treatment at hospitals.

Meanwhile, doctors said the bulk of the Covid tests in Telangana were of the Rapid Antigen type, and not the gold standard RT-PCR test. Doctors were worried that the immune escaping variants in circulation could spread faster if suspects are not tested properly. A positive RAT result means Covid positive. But a negative RAT result could well be a false result. At least 50 per cent of RAT test results are not reliable. Government must focus on conducting only RT-PCR tests, doctors said.

A global platform, meanwhile, revealed that 20 per cent of the new cases in the state are of the BA.5 variant of Omicron. According to GISAID, the numbers of BA.4 and BA.2.12.1 are reducing.

Dr Kiran Madhala, head of department, critical care department, Nizamabad Government Hospital, said that these three variants are termed stealth variants because of their ability to escape immunity and that 50 per cent of the cases worldwide are of these three variants.

Further, every ninth case in the country is of the BA.5 variant, Dr Madhala said.

Due to increasing cases, a Covid-19 ward in Khammam was reopened on Thursday after four months, public health director Dr G. Srinivasa Rao said.

Rao said that such wards are kept open even if the number of patients is few. He said that such facilities are operational in Hyderabad as well, with most of those undergoing treatment having mild symptoms.

With fewer beds, we have been continuing to run Covid-19 wards even after the end of the third wave. Covid is not yet over, he said.

Dr M. Raja Rao, Superintendent of Gandhi Hospital, which was the nodal hospital for treating Covid patients, has warned people "not to take it easy" over the warnings issued by the health department on following the mask mandate and other precautions.

Dr Raja Rao said, "No one has a clear idea of the complications that follow a Covid infection. Though the symptoms of the current variants might be mild, there is no real idea of the variant will behave."

He said initial indications are that the current variants of the Coronavirus and its sub-lineages in circulation are escaping vaccine and previous infections induced immunity, and that there is every change of reinfection among those who are vaccinated, or have been previously infected by the Coronavirus.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  Federal agents searched a former top Justice Department official's home and seized records from key Republicans in at least five states linked to Donald Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 election, in what were clear signs that authorities are ramping up their investigation of associates of the former president.

Authorities on Wednesday searched the Virginia home of Jeffrey Clark, who was known at the Justice Department to champion Trump's false claims of election fraud. Agents in recent days also served subpoenas on the Republican Party chairmen of Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, three states that went for President Joe Biden and where Trump allies created slates of alternate electors intended to subvert the vote. And Republicans in two other states  Michigan and Pennsylvania  disclosed they had been interviewed by the FBI.

The Justice Department appears to be escalating its probe of pro-Trump efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which culminated in the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. The disclosures of law enforcement activity came as the U.S. House committee investigating the riot said it had new evidence of Trump's efforts and his knowledge that he had no legal basis to try to overturn the election.

The committee's Thursday hearing focused on Trump's desire to install Clark atop the Justice Department in his administration's last days. The reason for the search of Clark's home was not immediately clear and it was not known what information agents were searching for. The person who confirmed the search was not authorized to discuss it by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

In an interview Thursday night on Fox News Channel, Clark alleged the timing of the search warrant was highly politicized and questioned why his home was searched one day before the congressional hearing.

It looks highly coincidental and ... I just don't believe in coincidences, he said.

Both the committee and federal authorities are probing the use of replacements for duly chosen electors in seven battleground states that voted for Biden. Trump and his allies furiously pressured authorities in those states to replace Biden's electors with ones for him on specious or nonexistent allegations that his victory was stolen.

The committee this week disclosed text messages that showed an aide to U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican and Trump ally, tried to hand-deliver fake elector certificates to an aide for former Vice President Mike Pence. The texts show Pence's aide refused to accept the votes.

Johnson told a Wisconsin conservative talk radio host on Thursday that the fake elector slates came from the office of Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania. A spokesman for Kelly responded that Johnson's claim was patently false.

Said the spokesman, Matt Knoedler, Mr. Kelly has not spoken to Sen. Johnson for the better part of a decade, and he has no knowledge of the claims Mr. Johnson is making related to the 2020 election.

Among those who have received subpoenas in recent days, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation, was Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer.

Nevada GOP Chair Michael McDonald turned over his phone to federal agents Wednesday when they approached him outside his car in Las Vegas and presented a warrant, according to another person familiar with the matter. McDonald in December 2020 stood outside Nevada's state capitol with other fake electors to swear a so-called oath of office," flanked by men in camouflage with semi-automatic rifles.

Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward, her husband, Michael Ward, and two other alternate electors also received subpoenas, according to a third person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

In Pennsylvania, FBI agents interviewed the chairman of the Allegheny County Republican Party at his home Thursday and gave him a subpoena for communications between him, Trump electors in the state and members of Trumps campaign and legal team, the party official, Sam DeMarco, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

DeMarco said in a statement that his conduct as an elector was open, above-board and predicated solely on protecting President Trumps legal rights should he prevail in court. That is why I agreed to serve as an elector solely in the event the president prevailed in his legal challenge to the Pennsylvania vote.

And in Michigan, Michele Lundgren told the Detroit News that someone from the FBI served her with a subpoena Thursday and that another Trump elector was served on Wednesday. Lundgren, 72, said her discussion with the agent was long and pleasant and that she let one of the agents go through her phone and computer.

They kept asking me questions and asking me questions, and I kept telling them answers, she said.

Clark's home was searched by federal agents shortly before a committee hearing in which he was the focus. Three other former Justice Department officials testified about an extraordinary Jan. 3, 2021, Oval Office meeting at which Trump contemplated naming Clark  who led the departments civil division  as acting attorney general in place of Jeffrey Rosen, who resisted Trumps efforts to involve the agency.

Trump relented only when other senior Justice Department officials warned Trump that they would resign if he followed through with his plan to replace Rosen with Clark.

A lawyer for Clark did not return an email and phone message seeking comment.

Chairman Bennie Thompson said he read about the raid on Clarks home moments before the hearing started. Were not privy to what the Department of Justices reasoning is for doing it," he said. "As you know, we demonstrated that he was recommended to lead the Department of Justice and people felt that he was absolutely unqualified to do so.

Russ Vought, president of the Center for Renewing America, which Clark recently joined as a senior fellow, tweeted that federal officers forced Clark into the streets while he was wearing pajamas and took his electronic devices.

All because Jeff saw fit to investigate voter fraud," Vought continued. "This is not America, folks. The weaponization of govt must end. Let me be very clear. We stand by Jeff and so must all patriots in this country.

____

Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, Sara Burnett in Chicago, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Sam Metz in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.

__

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.
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SYDNEY (AP)  There was a pivotal moment in Queen Pangke Taboras life that eclipsed all others: It was the moment, she says, when she first slid her legs into a mermaid tail.

For the transgender Filipina woman approaching middle age, seeing her legs encased in vibrant, scaly-looking neoprene three years ago was the realization of a childhood dream. And it marked the beginning of her immersion into a watery world where she would find acceptance. The former insurance company worker described the experience of gliding under water, half-human and half-fish, as meditation in motion.

The feeling was mermai-zing, Tabora said one recent morning while lounging in a fiery red tail on a rocky beach south of Manila, where she now teaches mermaiding and freediving full-time. The world outside is really noisy and you will find peace under water.  Its a good skill in the real world, especially during the pandemic.

Across the world, there are thousands more merfolk like her  at its simplest, humans of all shapes, genders and backgrounds who enjoy dressing up as mermaids. In recent years, a growing number have gleefully flocked to mermaid conventions and competitions, formed local groups called pods, and poured their savings into a multimillion-dollar mermaid tail industry.

On a planet plagued by war, disease and social upheaval, many merfolk have found life in the water a refuge. Perhaps Sebastian, the ornery crab in the 1989 film The Little Mermaid, said it best in his warning to land-loving mermaid Ariel: The human world, its a mess. Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there!

Away from the critics and chaos of life on land, mer-world is the kinder, gentler and more joyful alternative to the real world. It is also a world, merfolk say, where you can be whoever and whatever you want.

That openness attracts some transgender people who empathize with Ariels agony of being trapped in a body that feels wrong. It is also inspiring to merfolk like Che Monique, the Washington, D.C.-based founder of the Society of Fat Mermaids, which promotes body-positive mermaiding.

Im a 300-pound Black mermaid in America over 35, and hopefully that tells somebody they can do whatever they want to do, says Monique, whose group sells shirts that read Fat mermaids make waves and Gender is fluid under the sea. Sure, on the one hand it is really silly, but Ive watched it change peoples lives.

After all, the ocean is vast, she notes, and most of the planet is covered in water. So why not dive in?

I think theres room under the sea for all of us, Monique says.

The lure of mermaiding is clear from the Montreal home of Marielle Henault, which is stuffed to the gills with mermaid tails. The AquaMermaid CEO sells them to mers the world over.

When you put your mermaid tail on at the beach or pool, you become a superstar, says Henault, whose company runs mermaiding schools across Canada and the United States. Kids and adults, everybodys happy to see a mermaid!

When mermaiding first started to catch on, most tails for sale were custom-made silicone creations that weigh up to 23 kilograms (50 pounds), cost upwards of $6,000 and take a surprising amount of time and lubricant to wrestle into. But over the past few years, the increasing availability of cheaper, lighter fabric options opened up mermaiding to the wider public.

As mermaiding went mainstream, glamorous photos of mermaids resplendent in glitzy tails began gaining traction on social media, further fuelling mer-mania. An obsession with The Little Mermaid is common among merfolk, and there is anticipation of a fresh wave of mermaiding interest when a live action reboot of the film is released next year.

Still, merfolk acknowledge their almost-utopia is occasionally rocked by stormy seas. As mermaidings popularity has risen, so too has the prevalence of creeps known as merverts and scammers who sell non-existent tails, says Kelly Hygema, creator of the Facebook group Mermaids Beware: Scammers, Merverts, & More.

Being mermaids, its a predominantly women-dominated hobby and profession... so of course that does attract attention from strangers on the Internet, says Hygema, who lives on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas.

Most of the time its just creepy comments, like they want to see you without the tail on or hold your breath underwater.

Hygema advises merfolk to always have a trusted companion, or mertender, while performing in a tail.

With your legs bound, you cant really run away, so its important to have that set of legs there to make sure youre OK, she says.

Swimming in the tails takes practice. A mermaids mastery of the dolphin kick is key, along with equalization techniques to alleviate ear pressure under water.

PADI, SSI and NAUI, the worlds major scuba diving certification organizations, now offer mermaid courses. Theres even a World Mermaid Championship, last held in China in 2019, which featured 70 mermaids flipping and posing in a giant glass tank before a panel of pensive judges.

Mermaid conventions (Mercons) are now held globally. Last month, more than 300 merfolk from across the U.S. and Canada attended the California Mermaid Convention, which was, as convention co-founder Rachel Smith described it, a three-day shell-ebration of everything mermaid. (Note: the mermaid community is awash in puns.)

For most merfolk, its all a little tongue-in-cheek. But its also meaningful. Floating in the Sacramento pool where fellow attendees of the California convention had gathered, Merman Maui summed up the importance of the community this way: I have a new family with all these people.

Life is so much better when you learn to have just a little bit of fun, or a lot bit of fun, because we all believe in magic at some point, Maui says. A lot of times, life can get pretty dull and boring. So why not just enjoy every aspect of it that you can?

___

Associated Press journalist Serginho Roosblad in Sacramento, Calif., contributed to this report.
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NEW YORK (AP)  New York's Democratic leaders aim to preserve as many restrictions as possible on carrying a handgun in public after the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down key portions of the state's gun-licensing law.

State and New York City officials are zeroing in on specifying sensitive locations where concealed weapons could be forbidden, including a concept that would essentially extend those zones to the entire metropolis. Other options under consideration include adding new conditions to get a handgun permit, such as requiring weapons training.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, vowed to call the Democrat-led Legislature back for a special session to pass new rules.

We have a whole lot of ideas," said Hochul, who said she discussed policy options Thursday with the mayors of the state's six largest cities.

New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, also a Democrat, said state lawmakers should ban people from carrying handguns in any place containing more than 10,000 people per square mile (259 hectares), or anywhere within 1,000 feet of mass transit systems, hospitals, parks, government buildings, schools, churches, cemeteries, banks, theaters bars, libraries, homeless shelters and courts. That would effectively include the whole city.

While it's not yet clear what might come of the discussions, what was clear was the sense of urgency that New York's Democratic leadership feels about retaining some curbs on guns in public places. The officials argue that such restrictions are life-saving: Statistics show the state, and its biggest city, consistently have among the nations lowest firearm death rates.

We are prepared to set an example that will lead the country as to: how do we fight back on this decision? said New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat and a former police officer and gun owner.

We cannot allow New York to become the Wild West, he said.

New York, like many other U.S. cities, has contended with rising concern about violent crime, though New York City police statistics show shootings have declined about 12% and murders 13% so far this year, compared with the same period last year. But murders remain at their second-highest level since 2012.

The high court opinion comes shortly after New York state tightened semi-automatic rifle regulations following a May 14 shooting in Buffalo, where a white gunman with such a weapon killed 10 Black people in a racist attack. Officials said the gun was purchased legally, but New York doesnt allow sales of the ammunition magazines that were used.

As state leaders reacted to Thursday's ruling, Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy said it was disgusting yet highly predictable that Hochul and other Democrats "are trying to gin up fear and division over a legal gun owners right to protect themselves and their family.

Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Republican candidate for governor, tweeted that Hochul better not make her next move on this another assault on law-abiding NYers.

New York states law dates to 1913. It requires people to demonstrate proper cause  an actual need to carry the weapon  to get a license to carry a handgun outside their homes.

There are similar standards in a handful of other states, including California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland and Hawaii.

New York's law did not define what proper cause meant, and it gave local authorities  often police  discretion on whether to issue a license. In practice, that meant most applicants had to show a need that went beyond routine public safety concerns, such as being in a profession that put them at special risk.

In New York City, few people beyond retired law enforcement officers and armed guards could get such a license.

In Thursday's ruling, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, a Supreme Court majority said the New York rules prevented law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms in public."

In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted that the decision didn't bar states from imposing handgun licensing requirements, such as fingerprinting, mental health records checks, firearms training or prohibitions on carrying the weapons in sensitive places, such as schools and government buildings.

But the majority opinion suggested there were limits to how sweeping the place-based restrictions could be: There is no historical basis for New York to effectively declare the island of Manhattan a sensitive place simply because it is crowded and policed, Thomas wrote.

Brooklyn Law School professor Bill Araiza said the court seemed to suggest that its certainly OK for governments to restrict carrying guns in sensitive places, but poured cold water" on the idea of expansive gun-free zones.

New York City officials insisted that nothing would change immediately, noting that the high court sent the case back to a lower court for further proceedings that could iron out implementation details.

But the decision instantly raised fears among supporters of New York's handgun limits, saying that loosening the rules could create a marketplace for handguns that now barely exists in the state.

New York has among the nations lowest rates of firearm deaths, including from suicides: 3.9 deaths per 100,000 people in 2019 and 5.3 deaths per 100,000 people in 2020.

Manhattan, a symbol of urban America, had the lowest rate of gun deaths in the state with 1.7 deaths per 100,000 in 2019, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.

Columbia Law School professor Jeffrey Fagan, an expert on gun laws, said research indicates that the firearms homicide rate immediately rises in places where restrictions are lifted.

Adams raised the specter of everyday disputes turning into shootouts in New Yorks crowded streets and subways. He suggested that police officers would face greater danger, as well as a greater burden of distinguishing between legal and illegal guns in public places.

Some business groups are also concerned. Andrew Rigie of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, a restaurant and nightclub owners group, said small businesses should be able to decide what is allowed in their establishments.

___

Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price, Michael Hill and Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.
BRIDGEPORT  The Bridgeport Police Department charged a city man Wednesday with a fatal shooting earlier this month in the P.T. Barnum Housing Complex.

Amheir Noel, 19, of the P.T. Barnum Complex in Bridgeport, was arrested by the Bridgeport Police Departments gang task force earlier Wednesday on unrelated charges in Milford, according to Scott Appleby, the director of the citys Office of Emergency Management.

During an interview with police, Noel admitted to shooting Kyle Dear on June 13, Appleby said.

Dear, a 22-year-old from Shelton, was shot multiple times during the incident.

The murder was said to be in response to Dears friends robbing and pistol-whipping Noel, Appleby added.

Police were called to the complex around 8:30 p.m. that night and found Dear suffering from numerous gunshot wounds. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Police charged Noel with murder and carrying a pistol without a permit. He is being held on $2.5 million bond and will be arraigned in court Thursday.

Appleby commended the work of the lead investigator, Detective Thomas Harper, and all of the detectives who worked on this case.
BRIDGEPORT  Two men were arrested Wednesday after police found a firearm while investigating an alleged assault at a city gas station, according to the Bridgeport Police Department.

Sgt. Darryl Wilson with the departments Traffic Division was driving east on State Street at around 7:30 a.m. when a distraught woman flagged him down, Capt. Lonnie Blackwell said in a news release Thursday.

The woman yelled that she was assaulted by a man in a store, and pointed at a gray vehicle attempting to leave a nearby Citgo gas station, according to Blackwell.

Wilson pulled into the gas station and the gray vehicle made a quick U-turn, parking near a gas pump. Wilson approached the vehicle and a man later identified as Taivon Reed, 24, of Bridgeport.

Blackwell said Reed started making unusual movements in the vehicle. Wilson ordered him to turn the car off and hand over the keys.

During the incident, the woman yelled and argued with Reed saying, He assaulted me in the store. At one point, Wilson ordered the woman to calm down until emergency medical personnel arrived to provide assistance, Blackwell said.

While Wilson asked Reed to explain what happened in the store, he saw a man sneak over to the back seat, open the door and grab an item, according to Blackwell.

Wilson ordered the man, later identified as 52-year-old Robert Womack, of West Haven, to stop. Wilson and a police officer detained Womack and recovered a firearm, Blackwell said.

Another police officer patted down Reed and detained him as well, according to Blackwell.

Police investigated the incident and obtained video footage. The woman received medical assistance from paramedics, Blackwell said.

Police charged Reed with third-degree assault, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, illegal operation of a motor vehicle without a license, criminal negligence of the storage of a firearm, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, illegal possession of a large capacity magazine and second-degree breach of peace. He was held on a $75,000 bond.

Womack was charged with tampering with physical evidence and interfering with officers. His bond was set at $5,000.
AUSTELL, Ga. (AP)  A Georgia man is accused of killing his mother, stepfather and cousin at a suburban Atlanta home.

Cobb County police say a domestic dispute on Tuesday led Marcus Smith, 37, to shoot and kill his 60-year-old mother, Janice Peaks; his 63-year-old stepfather, Donnell Peaks; and his 38-year-old cousin, Cameron King.

Police found Donnell and Janice Peaks dead when they arrived at a home in the Atlanta suburb of Austell. King was found shot, dying shortly after arriving at an Atlanta hospital.

A warrant obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution finds Donnell Peaks was shot in the head and legs, while Janice Peaks and King were both shot in the head. Cobb Police Sgt. Wayne Delk said King and Smith were first or second cousins.

Police on Tuesday arrested Smith on a nearby street not far from the home. He's charged with three counts each of felony murder and aggravated assault and remained jailed without bail Wednesday in Cobb County. It's unclear if Smith has a lawyer to speak for him.

The warrant says the shooting followed a verbal and physical fight. Delk said police believe no one other suspects were involved.
The CM asked secretaries of all departments and all Collectors to take measures to improve delivery mechanisms and submit a report to him in two weeks. (DC Image)

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is learnt to have expressed severe anger at the tardy implementation of welfare schemes. The government spends Rs 90,000 crore every year on them but ground reports suggest that there is resentment among beneficiaries due to non-delivery of the benefits in time. Besides, the Opposition is pouncing on every delay and making political capital of it.

The CM asked secretaries of all departments and all Collectors to take measures to improve delivery mechanisms and submit a report to him in two weeks.

Officials sources said the CM had roped in several survey agencies including that of political strategist Prashant Kishor to gather feedback from the public on the welfare schemes. The teams reported back that though the schemes were well-received by the people, there was resentment among them due to poor delivery.

The government runs the Rythu Bandhu assistance and Rythu Bhima insurance and 24x7 free power to agriculture for farmers, Rs 1 per kg fine rice for government hostel students, Aasara pension, Kalyana Lakshmi, Shaadi Mubarak, sheep distribution, among others.

Lakhs of applications submitted through Mee Seva centres for inclusion of beneficiaries remain pending for years, sources said. The departments cite fund and staff crunch to undertake verification exercise to select beneficiaries.

None of the departments in any district was said to be meeting deadlines to deliver the welfare schemes, it was found. The performance was uneven across districts.

It was found that there was no coordination between finance and other departments in release and utilisation of funds. The departments were resorting to blame game for the lapses and not taking measures to streamline the implementation.

In the latest instance, the government released Rythu Bandhu funds after a delay Thursday. But it happened after BJP Telangana president Bandi Sanjay Kumar and TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy threatened to launch state-wide agitations on Wednesday if funds are not released immediately.

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar initiated department-wise meetings to review the implementation of welfare schemes for three days starting Thursday. He will submit a report to the CM on the outcome of these meetings and the steps needed to keep welfare schemes on the fast-track mode.

All secretaries were asked to submit full details on welfare schemes being implemented by their departments, the number of beneficiaries, funds required, sanctioned and spent.

The CM is expected to hold a full-fledged review to fast track welfare schemes once the Chief Secretary submits his report after his meetings with all departments conclude.
I have been a resident of Easton for 44 years with my wife and two children. My children received a wonderful education from Eastons schools, made many lifetime friends, and their experiences in Easton built a great foundation for their course in life. My comments herein are made with a background of appreciation for the benefits my family has enjoyed as citizens of Easton. Having said that, I suggest there is room for improvement for the town.

I wrote a letter to the editor some 40 years ago, as an Easton citizen, suggesting that our zoning laws and our wetlands and conservation regulations are too restrictive, make home ownership too expensive, and the end result is de facto discrimination, whether intended or not.

Unfortunately, nothing has changed. Our land-use plan does not allow for a planned use development, does not assist the creation of affordable housing, does not create a tax base to control our spiraling real estate taxes, and continues to prevent the integration of our town.

The state recommendation on affordable housing is for 10 percent of the housing stock; Easton has less than 1 percent. It is because of restrictive land use planning, exactly like in Easton, that the state passed its Affordable Housing Act. Easton fails to do its fair share to provide affordable housing.

Gov. Lamont recently said Affordable housing today is more of a priority than it has ever been. Connecticut has an affordable housing crisis. Author Andrea Elliot won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction for her book Invisible Child. She writes that although housing is a big part of the American dream, the lack of affordable housing in the United States is the main cause of homelessness for children. She further found that the lack of affordable housing is due to systemic racism.

The argument that affordable housing will damage our groundwater may be considered by some to be a pretextual argument to preclude low and/or moderate-income individuals from moving into town. Certainly, affordable housing in a planned unit development in southern Easton, below the watershed, cannot reasonably be argued threatens the groundwater. The new Staples Elementary School has a community type sewage disposal system in the watershed and it does not threaten the groundwater.

I do not believe that the citizens of Easton are intentionally discriminatory. However, Eastons zoning and conservation plans essentially prohibit, in fact if not in words, the creation of affordable housing in Easton.

We need to do better; we need to do the right thing. The right thing is to reasonably attempt to meet the goals of the states Affordable Housing Act; the right thing is to allow affordable housing projects that do not adversely impact the environment in a meaningful way; the right thing is to allow community septic systems that are generally accepted by other similar communities.

I was pleased to see that the Board of Selectman of Easton (not by town vote) recently submitted an affordable housing plan to the state as mandated by law. However, it remains to be seen as to whether or not the plan is implemented. Submitting a plan and executing a plan are two different things.

I firmly believe that the silent majority of Easton residents are in favor of reasonable measures to allow for the development of affordable housing in Easton. It is time for this silent majority to vote and be heard.

Harold L. Rosnick

Easton
New London Police / Contributed /

NEW LONDON  Officers found a vehicle in Rhode Island after it was stolen in a carjacking in New London Tuesday morning, police said.

Officers were called to Channing and Vauxhall streets around 9:45 a.m. Wednesday for a report of a stolen vehicle. Police determined that a man took the vehicle while a woman was inside, police said.
TIRUPATI: Chief Minister Jagan Reddy has promised full support from the state to all the companies investing in Andhra Pradesh.

My government will be a phone call away to solve any kind of problems they cite and ensure that companies will have a smooth ride, Jagan said.

The chief minister was laying the foundation stone and inaugurating marque companies at Inagalur village and at the Electronic Manufacturing Cluster near Vikruthamala village in Tirupati district on Thursday.

The AP Electronics and IT Agency (APEITA) signed MoUs with POTPL Electronics, a subsidiary of TCL Corporation, Zetwerk Technologies, Techbulls and SmartDV Technologies.

Addressing the gathering at the EMC, the CM said a total of six projects with over Rs 4000 crore investment and potential to create 20000 jobs have come to the state. Of them, three have been inaugurated and foundation was laid for another three companies.

TCL, which manufactures TV panels and mobile display units, had invested Rs 1230 crore and is employing over 3200 people, he said.

The CM also inaugurated Foxlink unit, which manufactures USB Cables and Circuit Boards, and Sunny Opotech, which manufactures cell phone camera lenses. The two companies had invested Rs 1050 crore and Rs 280 crore, and gave employment to 1,200 people each, he said.

The chief minister laid the foundation for the new units of Dixon Technologies and Foxlink India, which came forward to invest Rs 110 crore and Rs 300 crore, with a promise to generate 850 and 1200 jobs respectively.

Earlier, the CM participated in the ground-breaking ceremony of the Hilltop SEZ Footwear India Ltd (Apache) at Inagalur in Srikalahasti mandal.

There, he said the company, an exclusive supplier of footwear to global brand Adidas, is coming in with an investment of Rs 800 crore and plans to provide direct employment to 10,000 people. It would ensure that 80 per cent of the workforce are women.

Extending full support to the company, the CM said the unit will be ready by September 2023. The company had started its operations in 2006 at Tada during the Rajasekhara Reddy's term and it now employs over 15,000 persons, of which 60 per cent are women.

He also said that the same company would set up a unit in Pulivendula that employs 2000 people. This is currently under construction and would likely start its operations from March 2023.

Jagan planted a sapling at the unit site and unveiled the pylon. Later, industries director Gummalla Srijana and CEO of Intelligent Group, Tony To, signed the MoU.
Opinion: There is no overpopulation in Eugene or America, only an unsustainable lifestyle incompatible with continued human existence.

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It is almost inevitable that in any discussion of housing, healthcare, or welfare, overpopulation is brought up. This argument will only get more popular as the effects of climate change become more apparent and financial collapse makes our lives more precarious. However, this country and our city, have enough resources for everyone. The real issue is the distribution and culture of overconsumption. Overpopulation, at best, is a blatantly false cop-out, and at worst, it is a fascist dog whistle to protect our resources from an other.

Our local Eugene papers, like the Register-Guard, love to publish overpopulation fear-mongering. Readers frequently write in complaining about too many people and the need to cut housing demand by decreasing population. Real ghoulish stuff. The latter community member actually quotes Greta Thunbergs condemnation of endless growth, thinking it refers to populations instead of eternal economic growth.

These birdbrained rubes are ignorant reactionaries lashing out at an attractive narrative and  subconsciously or not  attaching themselves to a growing right-wing ecology movement.

Yes, our local population has grown, but Eugene could not be a small town forever. The answer to such growth is not draconian deportations but increased public investment and the building of more housing. Our city is not overpopulated; it is underdeveloped.

Moreover, we must understand that the American standard of living: car ownership  no matter how fuel-efficient  a single-family home and continual consumption is incompatible with reality. Earth currently has a population of 7.9 billion people with an estimated carrying capacity of 10 billion. Yet, if every person lived like an American, we would need 5 Earths worth of resources. Our country accounts for 5% of the worlds population, but it consumes 24% of the worlds energy, with the average Americans consumption equal to 370 Ethiopians. America discards 40% of its food supply, 13 million homes sit vacant*, and the top 1% holds more wealth than the entire middle class.

Despite this, 48% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, 30 million families report not having enough to eat, and over half a million people are homeless. But this is not because there are too many people, as it's clear we have enough stuff for everyone; we just choose to waste it.

Blaming families who are simply looking for affordable housing in your community solves nothing; they are not the ones making your life more difficult. Instead, it's the corporate entities recording record profits while gouging gas prices and an uncaring government that allows free school lunches to expire for 10 million hungry kids.

We live in a post-scarcity age. We are not a fragile city-state on the banks of the Fertile Crescent but the most advanced, wealthy human empire in the history of the world. If we wanted to, everybody could enjoy this fact.

At the end of the day, it is not the American citizens fault because we are just products of our environment, and our overconsumption is just the meager treats of laboring under corporate oligarchs.

As Ive written about before: failing to address declining material conditions allows conservative grifters to peddle their false narratives that blame economic woes on marginalized communities.

By continuing to fail to act on climate change, we embolden right-wing ecology that attributes tangible problems to an unseen other.

The right has pushed climate denial since science began attributing a warming planet to human activity, but inevitably this will have to shift to acceptance  probably when Florida is underwater. But the rights solutions will not call for renewable energy, carbon tax, or a more sustainable lifestyle. Instead, it will call for tough border laws, reduced immigration, and population control in the global south all to limit our resources to those who deserve them. It will do nothing to stop the actual drivers of climate change.

Our suburbias will be floating long before we even consider taking cars off the road.

Similar articles like to bookend these frightening statistics with a cutesy appeal to more sustainable shopping, but voting with your dollars will not solve such problems.

Overpopulation is a dangerous myth propagated to make you hate your neighbor while the elite take whatever scraps you still have. The solutions to quell this insidious rhetoric are the same as combating climate change: steering industries away from gross overproduction, redistributing wealth and resources and ensuring decent living standards for all.

A better future is possible, one that can sustainably support everyone. Only by reckoning with our societys incompatibility with reality can that be achieved.

*Calculated by multiplying total US units by vacancy rate.
FX markets are susceptible to a range of factors which affect their volatility, and many traders look to tailor their strategies to capitalize on the most volatile currency pairs.

Currency volatility, often measured by calculating the standard deviation or variance of currency price movements, gives traders an idea of how much a currency might move relative to its average over a given time period. Traders can also gauge volatility by looking at a currency pairs average true range or by looking at range as percent of spot.

The higher the level of currency volatility, the higher the degree of risk, and vice versa. Volatility and risk are usually used as interchangeable terms.Different currency pairs have different levels of volatility on average.

Some traders enjoy the higher potential rewards that come with trading volatile currency pairs. Although, this increased potential reward does present a greater risk, so traders should consider reducing their position sizes when trading highly volatile currency pairs.

What are the most volatile currency pairs?

The most volatile major currency pairs are:

Other major currency pairs, like EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD and USD/CHF, are generally more liquid and less volatile as a result. That said, emerging market currency pairs, such as USD/ZAR, USD/TRY and USD/MXN, can clock some of the highest volatility readings.

MOST VOLATILE CURRENCY PAIRS

Majors - AUD/JPY, NZD/JPY, AUD/USD, CAD/JPY, GBP/AUD

Emerging Markets - USD/ZAR, USD/TRY, USD/MXN

Aside from relatively low liquidity, emerging market currencies tend to be highly volatile in particular due to inherent risk underpinning emerging market economies. The chart below gives an example of how volatile emerging market currencies can be, which shows USD/ZAR (US Dollar/South Africa Rand) exploding nearly 25% higher in just over a months time. There are several other examples of emerging market currency pairs swinging drastically like this throughout history.

What about the least volatile currency pairs?

The least volatile currency pairs tend to be the major currency pairs which are also the most liquid. Also, these economies tend to be larger and more developed. This attracts more trading volume and facilitates greater price stability in turn. To that end, considering EUR/USD, USD/CHF and EUR/GBP trade with high volumes of liquidity, it comes as little surprise they are among the lease volatile currency pairs.

Illustrated below, the average true range (ATR) on USD/CHF ranges between 45-pips and 65-pips, a low average true range compared to other pairs. The average true range of a currency is one of the many ways to measure the volatility of a currency pair. Bollinger Band width is another popular technical indicator used to measure volatility.

Correlation between two currencies can also have an impact on their volatility. The more positively two currencies are correlated to one another might lead to less volatility. Continuing with our USD/CHF example, we note that the US Dollar and Swiss Franc are both viewed as safe-haven currencies.

The US Dollar and Swiss Franc tend to strengthen against their sentiment-linked peers when the market experiences episodes of risk aversion, but the two currencies may not deviate much from each other. This contributes to relatively low volatility readings for USD/CHF.

How to trade currency pair volatility

Forex traders should take into account current readings of volatility and potential changes in volatility when trading. Market participants should also consider adjusting their position sizes with respect to how volatile a currency pair is. Trading a volatile currency pair might warrant a reduced position size.

Awareness of volatility can also help traders determine appropriate levels for stop loss and take profit limit orders. Furthermore, it is important to understand the key characteristics separating themost volatile currencies from currencies with low volatility readings. Traders should also know how to measure volatility and have an awareness of events that might create big changes in volatility.

The difference between trading currency pairs with high volatility versus low volatility

Currencies with high volatility will normally move more pips over a certain period than currencies with low volatility. This leads to increased risk when trading currency pairs with high volatility. Currencies with high volatility are more prone to slippage than currency pairs with low volatility. Due to high-volatility currency pairs making bigger moves, you should determine the correct position size to take when trading them.

There are several ways to measure volatility

To determine the correct position size, traders need to have an expectation of how volatile a currency can be. A variety of indicators can be used to measure volatility like:

Average true range (ATR) .

Donchian channels .

Moving averages (by comparing the moving average to the current price).

Traders can also look at implied volatility readings, which reflect the level of expected volatility derived from options.

Key things traders should know about volatility:
HYDERABAD: State Congress president A. Revanth Reddy said the state was caught in a debt trap due to the misgovernance of the TRS (TRS). Once the richest state, the government was unable to pay salaries to employees, especially model school staff and home guards, he said. The TPCC chief wrote an open letter to Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Wednesday on the matter and demanded a White Paper on the financial situation.

The TRS government is selling valuable land and hiking taxes, thereby burdening the people, he said and alleged that the pockets of a few contractors were being filled. The Chief Minister announced financial aid for other states while municipal minister K.T. Rama Rao spent crores of rupees for foreign trips, he said.

Employees' families completely depend on monthly salaries and delay in payment is adversely affecting them. Farmers also have not received financial aid under the Rythu Bandhu scheme so far, he said.

The TPCC president alleged that the Chief Minister ignored the plight of people and concentrated on his political plans. At least the finance minister should have concentrated on the economic situation of the state, but he is busy with supporting the Bharat Rashtra Samiti plans of Chandrashekar Rao, he said and demanded the state government issue a white paper on the financial position of the state. He said that the Congress was ready to fight against the state government for its financial misgovernance.

Revanth Reddy also said that the state government did not release funds for procurement of paddy in the last rabi season. Rythu Bandhu funds are not yet released even though kharif agriculture operations began, he said.
The principal function of the police service is to protect the vulnerable and apprehend the offender.

But when constabularies succumb to twisted priorities, moral disintegration and institutional cowardice if confronted with vile criminality, that worthy ideal is lost.

Those failings were all too evident in the notorious Rotherham grooming scandal.

At least 1,400 mainly white girls suffered grotesque sexual exploitation by predatory gangs of predominantly Muslim Pakistani men. Yet despite a wealth of evidence of this industrial-scale depravity, police officers, social workers and council leaders turned a blind eye to avoid aggravating 'community relations'.

After Professor Alexis Jay's devastating inquiry in 2014, one might have thought it impossible for this shameful episode to become even more depressing. But it has.

An excoriating report into South Yorkshire Police's handling of the horrors has revealed that not a single officer has been sacked. This is deplorable.

At least 1,400 mainly white girls suffered grotesque sexual exploitation by predatory gangs of predominantly Muslim Pakistani men. Yet despite a wealth of evidence of this industrial-scale depravity, police officers, social workers and council leaders turned a blind eye to avoid aggravating 'community relations'

The document makes harrowing reading. The force treated the victims with contempt, regarding them as complicit in their own abuse. Appallingly, one father was told his 15-year-old daughter's rape ordeal would teach her a 'lesson'. In another case, officers shrugged when a girl was discovered under the bed of a half-naked paedophile.

Yet the worst punishment meted out to those found to have committed professional misconduct were slaps on the wrist.

No wonder the victims feel betrayed. Even by today's standards of moral delinquency in public life, it is beyond belief that not one of those implicated has lost their job.

Of course, there is another issue. The pernicious doctrine of political correctness.

Fear of being branded racist meant the police and other public sector functionaries preferred to ignore child rape rather than step in and risk such toxic accusations.

The Rotherham scandal is a stain on our society. Until all those who let this happen are held to account, there can't be justice.

RMT: A very bad joke

HOW many men or women does it take to change a plug socket? Nine, if they belong to the dinosaur rail unions.

No, that's not a joke (except on the long-suffering taxpayer and travelling public).

It's one of many risible, archaic working practices that plague the railways, wasting billions  and which the RMT pig-headedly refuses to abandon. With the savings achieved via an ambitiously reformed, modernised transport network, it would be easier to pay rail workers more.

Like King Canute and the tide, RMT chief Mick Lynch wants to hold back progress

But like King Canute and the tide, RMT chief Mick Lynch wants to hold back progress. Ultimately, the outcome will be the same. For now, the irascible Marxist has again stomped out of talks with rail bosses, consigning the public to more strike misery.

So it's welcome that to limit disruption, ministers will end the ban on temporary workers replacing staff who down tools.

Of course, Sir Keir Starmer still refuses to condemn the militant unions. As Boris Johnson pointed out yesterday, Labour backs the strikers, not the strivers.

The biased BBC

With an excruciating lack of self-awareness, the BBC boasts of being a paragon of impartiality. So it must hurt to be ordered by media regulator Ofcom to address concerns it is glaringly biased.

No one who has watched the corporation's one-eyed coverage of Brexit, Partygate and elections could think otherwise.

But so trapped is Auntie in a liberal-Left, metropolitan, woke bubble, where bashing Britain is de rigueur, it doesn't realise.

Now the watchdog has stated it in black and white, is it too much to hope the BBC will wake up to the fact that there are other valid points of view? Sadly, it probably is.
The Duke of Cambridge has always been one of the more likeable and grounded members of the Royal Family. So I can understand why, now that he is 40, he increasingly feels the need to speak out on subjects that matter to him, rather than simply cutting ribbons, murmuring platitudes and smiling for the cameras.

But this week, William made an outspoken departure from the usual royal script, launching into sweeping statements about race relations. And I believe this was a misjudgment.

As he unveiled a monument at Waterloo Station in London to celebrate the Windrush generation  Caribbean migrants who arrived in Britain mainly in the 1950s and 1960s  William referenced the scandal that also took the name of the famous boat that carried the first load of migrants to these shores.

Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge pictured with Baroness Floella Benjamin (right), Windrush passengers Alford Gardner (centre) and John Richards (fourth left) and children in front of the National Windrush Monument at Waterloo Station in London

ESTHER KRAKUE writes: 'What does William, one of the most privileged white men in the world, know about the discrimination faced by black people living in Britain today?'

The Windrush scandal, you will remember, came to light in 2017 and saw many of those same Caribbean migrants  who by then had become long-term British residents  wrongly detained, deported or threatened with deportation by the Home Office.

On Wednesday, the future king declared: Discrimination remains an all-too-familiar experience for black men and women in Britain in 2022. He added: The future they [the Windrush migrants] sought and deserved has yet to come to pass.

This struck the wrong note for several reasons.

First and most obvious: what does William, one of the most privileged white men in the world, know about the discrimination faced by black people living in Britain today?

No doubt his heart is in the right place, and I am sure he is scarred by the memory of his recent tone-deaf tour of the Caribbean, which saw him and his wife parading in an open-topped Land Rover in a scene widely described as having colonial overtones. (William said the tour had presented an opportunity to reflect.)

But second  and far more worrying to me  are the implications of what he was saying.

As a Ghanaian-Briton  I am proud to be a national of both countries  I find it infuriating when well-meaning people lump the experiences of all black men and women together as William did, using those very words.

We black people are not some homogenous mass. People who have come to Britain from Africa, as I did aged 14, have entirely different histories and cultures from those who have travelled from the Caribbean.

The Windrush scandal came to light in 2017 and saw many Caribbean migrants wrongly detained, deported or threatened with deportation by the Home Office

William shakes hands with Britain's Housing and Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove

And whats more, my background and views may well vary significantly from those of someone who hails from Nigeria or Kenya, let alone someone from Barbados or Grenada. Different generations face different difficulties, and very few of these are down purely to discrimination.

For example, statistics show that African migrants to Britain are less likely to own their own homes than Caribbean migrants are. Is this racism or discrimination?

No. Its at least partly because Caribbean immigrants  the Windrush generation, that is  typically predated African immigrants, and have therefore had more time to build their nest eggs, educate their children and so on. Little attention is given to this situation because it doesnt suit the progressive mantra that Britain is somehow systemically racist.

Or, since William inevitably raised the subject as he unveiled the new monument, lets take the Windrush scandal. The Home Offices failures in that shameful saga are well-documented, and they rightly outraged the nation.

But that travesty of human dignity was not symptomatic of the views of most British people.

To link the two, as William appeared to do, is misleading and unfair.

Of course, there is some residual racism in Britain. I have experienced my own share of it, as have my friends and family.

But the fact remains that, as polling shows, Britain is one of the most tolerant countries on Earth. Whats more, a lot of the racism that does exist in this country does not come from white Britons, but often from people from other ethnicities.

William and Catherine attended the unveiling of the monument in London earlier this week

This is something that liberals and the Left are usually far too embarrassed to point out.

So William needs to be careful about dipping his oar into this particularly troublesome millpond. His grandmother has spent a lifetime diligently remaining above the political fray.

On Wednesday, as William made his controversial speech, the Queen confined herself to sending her warmest good wishes on this historic occasion and praising the Windrush generations profound contribution to this country. That is the right way for a royal to address this subject. William, I fear, is looking increasingly like his father, who over the years has intervened in an array of causes that pique his interest, making his views clear on subjects from organic farming to contemporary architecture. And that leads me on to perhaps the worst aspect of Williams remarks.

Although the Duke has suggested that, in the future, the Head of the Commonwealth might not automatically be a member of the British Royal Family, as things stand he looks set to inherit the mantle from his father, who will assume the role when the Queen relinquishes it.

The Commonwealth is the Queens greatest legacy: the peaceful transfer of colonial dominions into a group of independent nations sharing common history, language, culture and more. In fact, it has been so successful that other countries have clamoured to join it  among them Mozambique in 1995 and Rwanda in 2009, which Prince Charles has been visiting this week.

All around the world, millions of people will have been listening to Williams words. They will have taken at face value his suggestion that Britain remains a place where black people are the victims of racism on an all too familiar basis.

William made an outspoken departure from the usual royal script, launching into sweeping statements about race relations. And I believe this was a misjudgment writes ESTHER KRAKUE

By painting Britain as a racist country, William could undo much of his grandmothers good work in diligently nurturing the Commonwealth writes ESTHER KRAKUE

Such overblown language will be meat and drink to republicans as well as to those who, for whatever reason, wish to sever ties with Britain and instead cosy up to other powers, such as China.

By painting Britain as a racist country, William could undo much of his grandmothers good work in diligently nurturing the Commonwealth. Which countries with majority black populations would want to join a club run by the head of state of a systemically racist country?

And how can Britain legitimately demand that other countries respect human rights when we are self-confessed racists ourselves? Its a gift to governments that systematically practise discrimination and persecution.

William might have wanted to appear modern and relevant with his remarks  as well as to atone for his own recent missteps in the Caribbean. But he has clearly not grasped that the conversation around this subject has changed.

Increasingly, people of all political stripes are recognising that sowing division does nothing to help the cause of anti-racism.

The Black Lives Matter movement did much to set back race relations with its divisive message. Meanwhile acronyms such as Bame  Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic  are frankly offensive, implying as they do that everyone of non-European ethnicity can be lumped together.

Needless to say, a ribbon-cutting ceremony is not the place to tackle these complex issues, or try to compress them in soundbites.

William should instead be using his powerful role to bring his future subjects together  and, like his beloved grandmother, talk about what unites us, rather than what divides us.
A Navy veteran and former pin-up model who lived on the streets for two years after escaping her abusive household at age 16 has revealed how joining the military saved her from homelessness.

Janae Sergio, now 40, from California, was raised by a single mom who would 'beat' her so hard that she said she sometimes thought she was going to 'die' if she didn't stop.

At age 16, after she was sexually assaulted by one of her mother's 'various male companions,' she was sent to a homeless shelter - which she described as 'almost equally traumatizing and fearful.'

She then began to live on the streets, where she faced 'multiple attempts' from men to 'lure her into sex trafficking.'

She was homeless for two full years before she decided to joined the military when she was 18, which ultimately saved her life.

Now, in a powerful interview with Fox News, the vet has opened up about how she overcame her abusive childhood and turned her life around - going on to become a bestselling author, a model for Pin-Ups for Vets, and a successful businesswoman - with the help of the U.S. Navy.

A Navy veteran who lived on the streets for two years after escaping her abusive household at age 16 has revealed how joining the military saved her from homelessness

Janae Sergio, now 40, began to live on the streets when she was 16, where men tried to 'lure her into sex trafficking.' She was homeless for two years before she joined the military at 18

Now, in a powerful interview with Fox News, the vet has opened up about how she overcame her abusive childhood and turned her life around with the help of the U.S. Navy

In 2019, she was asked to model for Pin-Ups for Vets calendar as Miss April (pictured), which was a full circle moment for her

Janae told the outlet that she was 'physically and verbally abused' by her mom her whole childhood, but thought it was 'normal' until she started attending church at age 13 and saw 'other people who had loving families.'

'Thats when I started to speak up against the abuse I was enduring,' she explained.

She also went on to become a bestselling author and a successful businesswoman

After speaking out, Jenae was then sent to live with her aunt, who was a veteran. But when her mom tried to take her back and brought the police with her - who insisted that she be returned to her mother since she was her legal guardian - her aunt told her to run.

'I just remember being 14, running down a hill barefooted, running from the police, running from my mom, afraid of the consequences,' she recalled.

'It was very late at night. It was pitch black outside. I found a shopping center and hid behind one of those large potted plants. I stayed there shivering.'

However, the police eventually found her and she was 'returned home,' where she 'endured more abuse.'

As time went on, Janae said her mom became 'more enraged in her beatings' and that she sometimes thought she was going to 'die' if she didn't stop.

At age 16, Jenae said she was sexually assaulted by one of her mother's partners. After she told her mom about it, she was dropped off at a homeless shelter in Hollywood because she said her mom 'didn't want to deal with the situation.'

Janae, from California, said she was raised by a single mom who would 'beat' her so hard that she said she sometimes thought she was going to 'die' if she didn't stop

At 16, Jenae (seen as a teen) said she was sexually assaulted by one of her mother's partners. She was then dropped off at a homeless shelter because her mom 'didn't want to deal with it'

Although the vet (pictured when she was younger) believes that leaving home helped 'save her life,' she said living on the streets was 'almost equally traumatizing and fearful'

After a friend joined the Navy, she decided to meet with a recruiter who convinced her to give it a try. She is pictured on the day she joined the Navy

'I had nothing else going for me. So I was going to give this a try. There was nothing to lose here. And it was honestly one of the best decisions of my life,' Janae, pictured in the Navy, said

Although the vet believes that leaving home helped 'save her life,' it wasn't easy. Janae soon began living on the street, where she had to fend for herself and fight for her life.

'I wanted to escape the abuse. I wanted to escape to a safe place. I wanted to be in a loving home,' she said.

'There were moments when I wished my mom would come back and get me because I loved her and I wanted her to love me.

'I hadnt accepted the fact that she didnt want me. There were several instances where I reached out to her and tried to get her to come get me As a kid, you just want your mom.'

The author explained that she befriended other homeless people who 'took her under their wing.' She also met with counselors at various outreach programs who helped her survive.

She recalled meeting one girl, who was her age and was heavily addicted to heroine. The teen told her to 'stay away from drugs,' and to do whatever she could to 'get out of that life.'

'I kept that at the forefront of my mind the entire time,' she added.

Janae (seen in the Navy) joined the military in 2000, at age 18, after spending two years being homeless

She served for eight years of active duty. After leaving the military, she became the Chief of Air Force Lodging. She now manages a series of Air Force Inns

Janae - who is a proud wife and mom to two daughters - is happy to share her story in the hopes of helping others overcome their struggles

After a friend joined the Navy, she decided to meet with a recruiter who convinced her to give it a try - promising an opportunity to travel the world and stay by the ocean.

She recently released a book about her journey, entitled Perfectly Flawed - A Veteran's Journey from Homeless to Hero

'These were things that I had never envisioned for myself. I had never been on a plane before,' she said.

'I had nothing else going for me. So I was going to give this a try. There was nothing to lose here. And it was honestly one of the best decisions of my life.'

She joined the Navy in 2000, at age 18, after spending two years being homeless. She served for eight years of active duty.

After leaving the military, she became the Chief of Air Force Lodging. She now manages a series of Air Force Inns, and launched her own online clothing boutique.

Janae - who is also a proud wife and mom to two daughters - is happy to share her story in the hopes of helping others overcome their struggles.

She recently released a book about her journey, entitled Perfectly Flawed - A Veteran's Journey from Homeless to Hero.

She told Fox: 'Were all going to go through hardships in our lives. In my book, I talk a lot about being your own hero.

'And its not that others wont help you. But they may not be capable of helping you. So you cant sit around and wait for someone to come rescue you

'You may never get out. You can be your own hero I want to be an inspiration to others. I believe we heal through helping others. And I do believe you can change your own story.'

Janae also launched her own clothing boutique and was featured in Pin-Up for Vets 2020 calendar as Miss April

'I joined the military as a homeless teenager. Here I was coming back as a model getting my hair done, my makeup done, just feeling valued and admired,' she said of the shoot

She added: 'I remember feeling so helpless [when I was homeless]. Like I was nobody. Here I was, walking on those same streets now as an accomplished woman, here for this photoshoot'

In 2019, she was asked to model for Pin-Ups for Vets calendar as Miss April, which was an important moment for her.

'I joined the military as a homeless teenager,' she shared. 'Here I was coming back as a model getting my hair done, my makeup done, just feeling valued and admired.

'It was almost an out-of-body experience... I remember feeling so helpless [when I was homeless]. Like I was nobody.

'Here I was, walking on those same streets now as an accomplished woman, here for this photoshoot. I just felt like I made it somehow.'

The nonprofit organization Pin-Ups for Vets was started in 2006 by Gina Elis, and each year it releases a calendar featuring veterans as models. Since its launch, it has donated over $100,000 to hospitals housing deployed troops.

Janae said that when she first saw the photos she took for the calendar, it took her breath away.

'When I saw my photos for the first time, I thought, "Who is she? Shes so pretty," she gushed.

'I was so grateful for the opportunity because the foundation provides a helping hand to those in need.

'But what Gina does for every woman in that calendar is inexplicable. You feel empowered to tell your story. Im forever grateful for her.'
Nothing fades that holiday glow faster than a missing suitcase. So photos of lost luggage piled high at Heathrow last week sent shudders down our spine.

But there is a way to stay stylish while ensuring you and your essentials are not parted: hand luggage. The only problem? Trying to cram a week's worth of clothes and accessories into one carry-on with a 10kg maximum weight. But Femail's fashion team has your back with this forensic guide to packing light. Each item has been weighed and chosen to keep you cool and ahead of the fashion (and airport) crowd.

And, for the ultimate cheat, we've not included cosmetics or toiletries. Instead, get your miniatures once you are airside. From dresses that won't wrinkle to the lightest-weight wedges on the market, here's the only packing list you need...

A light suitcase with room for luxuries Cabin case, antler.co.uk, 2.8kg Always check the weight of your suitcase before purchasing. Luxury British brand Antler have stylish polycarbonate suitcases that are both strong and light. Shop

Beach bag Straw shopper, H&M, 437g This large straw shopper can be squashed into your case and is big enough to fit your towel. Shop

Roll-up hat Hat, Rae Feather, 90g But Rae Feather's woven hat designs can be easily rolled up and pop back into shape. Shop

Foldable sunglasses Folding sunglasses, Ray Ban at Sunglass Hut, 40g As for sunglasses, ditch the case and take these nifty foldable Wayfarers. Shop

Flip-flops as fancy as sandals Flip-flops, Havaianas, 290g Which to pick  beach casual or nicer sandals for nighttime? You can have both with these metallic Havaianas. Shop

Silky scarf can be worn as a top Silk scarf, L.K. Bennett, 96g This silk scarf could double as a beach top if you tie two corners as a halterneck and two behind your back. Shop

Pyjamas from bed to beach Relaxed pyjama set, Honna London, 200g Wear this organic cotton lounge set for breakfast on the terrace, or, for a casual day at the beach, pop the shorts on over a swimsuit. Shop

Reversible swimsuit Reversible swimsuit, Benetton, 85g A reversible swimsuit will save you pennies and room. This halterneck is made from regenerated ocean and landfill waste. Shop

Linen shirt Boyfriend shirt, WNU, 210g Linen is your go-to for hot days. This shirt can be worn open over swimwear or loose over trousers. Shop

Skirt that can double as a dress Maxi skirt, Me+Em, 356g Shirred top means this works as a strapless dress, too. Shop

Easy throw-on dress Crepe kaftan dress, H&M, 235g

Wear loose over swimwear or tie at the waist with a belt for more of a structured silhouette. Shop

Swim-proof jewellery Ring, 2g and necklaces, Hey Harper, 38g  total 40g Hey Harper create waterproof jewels that won't tarnish when swimming or applying sun cream. Shop

Necklaces Hey Harper- 38g Hey Harper create waterproof jewels that won't tarnish when swimming or applying sun cream. Shop

Lightweight t-shirts Organic cotton t-shirt, The White Company, 200g A simple white T-shirt is always a fail-safe. Shop

Anything but denim shorts Linen shorts, Boden, 185g Denim tends to be weightier than cotton and linen  and less comfy in hot weather  so swap for a lighter alternative. Shop

Lightweight beach cover-up Silk kimono, Paolita, 140g This beautiful kimono features bell sleeves and a tassel waist tie. Shop

Holiday friendly shoes Canvas espadrille wedges, Castaner, approx 600g On cobbled streets, heels aren't always practical. These wedges are made from durable canvas. Shop

Quick dry towel Beach towel, Dock & Bay at John Lewis, 380g Towels can be bulky, but not all hotels provide them. Dock & Bay's towel is lightweight and comes in a pouch. Shop

Lightweight loose trousers Wide-leg trousers, Zara, 233g These have natural creases, so if they gain a few, they won't look out of place. Shop

Evening bag Clutch, Accessorize, 90g Currency, phone, lipstick  there's not much else you need. This lemon slice purse is slim and easy to pack. Shop

Underwear Bundle pack of 5 knickers, Modibodi, 184g Modibodi have a great range of moisture-wicking styles to ensure you stay fresh and cool. Shop

Bra Non-wired bralette, M&S, 12, 56g Ditch your pesky underwires in the heat and opt for a bralette (unless strong support is essential). This features Flexifit technology, meaning it moves with you for comfort. Shop

Statement blouse Ikat top, Jigsaw, 275g Pack a printed blouse to go with your plainer basics to elevate your outfit. Shop
Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander put on a very stylish display at a gala dinner last night.

The Dutch Queen, 51, and her husband, 55, hosted a lavish reception for the Diplomatic Corps at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.

They treated the international representatives working towards the Netherlands' diplomatic mission to fine dining and regal entertaining as the yearly traditional dinner resumed after being cancelled twice because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It is estimated 250 guests were invited to the banquet last night.

For this glitzy occasion, Maxima stunned the assembly in a recycled coral dress adorned with flower petals, and her Mellerio ruby tiara, propped on a very stylish low chignon updo.

The Dutch Queen Maxima, 51, and her husband, King Willem-Alexander, 55, hosted a lavish reception for the Dutch Diplomatic Corps at the Royal Palace last night

The Dutch King gave a rousing speech and invited his guests to a toast before the dinner started

The mother-of-three was a vision when she arrived to the host the evening escorted by her husband.

Her elegant chiffon silk gown was form-fitting and cinched at the waist with a ribbon-like satin red belt, which matched her satin baguette clutch bag.

The dress was also adorned with delicate flower petals and Swarovski stones at the mid-section, and included a glamourous train at the back.

It is not the first time Maxima has gown the stunning gown. She debuted it in 2009 for the Prinjesdag and in 2012 for a state visit.

Willem-Alexander Princess Beatrix also attended the dinner, wearing a sophisticated ensemble in pink and gold

For the occasion, Maxima donned the Mellerio ruby tiara, and paired it with the necklace and earrings from the same set

The royal couple looked very stylish as they stepped out of the Palace to greet their 250 guests ahead of the evening

The Dutch royal went all out and completed the look with the Mellerio tiara, which includes six rubies, and is considered one of her favourite tiaras to wear.

She first wore it in 2006, and she was still Crown Princess, and wore it to King Willem-Alexander's coronation in 2013, as well as several state occasions since.

Last night, Maxima paired the impressive tiara with the diamond choker and the stud earrings of the same parure, which also showcased sizable rubies, however, she switched things up by wearing a different diamond bracelet.

The Dutch Queen sported a glamourous makeup for the occasion, with some bronzer complimenting her glowing olive skin.

The mother-of-three sported a warm, wooden eyeshadow with mascara and eyeliner for the glitzy reception, and a magenta lipstick that matched the rubies of her tiara.

Willem-Alexander wore a black tailcoat as well as his royal honours and his Prince of Orange sash for the occasion.

250 guests, including both international representative to the Netherlands and Dutch cultural ambassadors were sat in the banquet hall of the Palace

Willem-Alexander began the dinner with a rousing speech and a toast. Maxima was sat opposite him

The Dutch King and his guests raised their glasses. Princess Beatrice was sat to the right of her son

The King's mother, Princess Beatrix, also attended the banquet in a sophisticated fuchsia and gold ensemble.

The couple welcomed their guests at the Palace, where they were guided to the impressive banquet room.

Once everyone took their place, Willem-Alexander delighted the assembly with a speech, and left his guests in stitches before their dinner was served.

The royal couple host a a gala dinner for the Dutch diplomatic corps every year, however, it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19.

Guests usually include the different representative to The Netherlands living in the country while on their diplomatic missions, as well as Dutch cultural ambassadors.

The guests took in the splendor of the room, which is lit by impressive chandeliers and candelabras
Princess Charlene and Prince Albert of Monaco put on an united front as they arrived in Oslo last night.

The Monaco royals travelled to Norway to attend the opening of the Sailing the Sea of Science exhibition at the Frammuseum in Oslo, where they were greeted by Crown Prince Haakon.

Charlene, 44, and Albert, 64, who looked very cosy during their visit, were accompanied by their twins, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, seven, for the occasion.

The outing is part of Charlene's ongoing reintroduction to public life after an almost year-log hiatus, and is her first

She recently returned to Monaco following a 10-month absence in her native South Africa and was seen last month with her children and husband for the first time since November, after spending time in a treatment facility for 'exhaustion'.

Crown Prince Haakon, Prince Albert II, Princess Charlene, Prince Jacques, Princess Gabriella, Opening of the 'Sailing the Sea of Science' exhibition at the Frammuseum in Oslo

Charlene and Albert put on a tactile display as the Princess wrapped her arm around her husband following their photocall

The Monaco Princess, with freckles on her nose, seemed intrigued by the exhibition she was about to tour

The mother-of-two donned an all-black suit for the outing and seemed very relaxed.

Charlene wore a black blazer with tailored straight trousers and a black shirt to the event.

She added a bit of glitz with a discreet rhinestone lining on the lapel of her blazer, which matched the pair of stilettos she was wearing.

She completed the look with a discreet pair of diamond and silver earrings.

Her platinum blonde locks were styled in the pixie cut she's been sporting recently.

Charlene opted for a natural makeup, with an earth-toned eyeshadow, some mascara and a healthy pink lip.

She also sported highlights on her cheekbones to bring definition to her face.

As always, Charlene's attention was all focused on her children, and she was see holding and carrying them during the event.

Albert and Charlene looked very close during the event and shared an embrace after their photocall

Charlene was donned the platinum pixie cut she's been favouring lately, as well as a glowy natural makeup

The dedicated mother-of-two, who appeared in great spirits during the event, took Princess Gabriella in her arms during the tour

Prince Gabriella's outfit matched her mothers, as she was wearing a rhinestoned dress just like the lapel of her mother's blaser and a matching headband.

The young royal wore her dress with a bright red cardigan and ballerina flats adorned with a buckle.

Meanwhile, her twin brother Jacket donned a navy blue jacket with tan trousers and a light blue tie.

Charlene took her children for a tour of the exhibition on science and talked them through the different displays

Jacques and Gabriella were seen horsing around during the visit when the adults were not looking

Prince Albert seemed enthusiastic during the visit, and eager to know more about Norway's contribution to science

His outfit matched his father's, with Prince Albert looking dapper in a navy blue suit with a crisp white shirt and blue tie.

The Monaco royal family proceeded to tour the museum, guided by the welcoming presence of Haakon, who talked them through the exhibition.

Charlene, who has been multiplying outings recently, looked engaged with the visit and in great spirits.

She also seemed to share a great bond with her husband, and the pair were seen

Princess Gabriella was dressed in a glitzy black dress that matched her mother's black suit, while Jacques was dressed in blue like his father

Princess Gabriella's headband matched the lapel of her mother's jacket. She wore her dress with a bright red cardigan

The Monaco family waved at the royal fans as they arrived at the museum for its opening last night

Last week, she put on a glamorous display donning an all-green ensemble as she joined Prince Albert at the opening ceremony of the 61st Monte Carlo TV Festival.

Charlene looked chic in a one-shoulder green gown, which she paired with statement earrings, and a tousled hair style.

The royal couple's appearance together comes after Prince Albert said he was 'hurt by the vicious rumours' peddled about his marriage following his wife's absence and said that it's the 'most beautiful thing' to have her back with him.

Today's outing is the fifth time the royal couple have been seen in public together since French media claimed she is receiving 10million a year to appear by her husband's side at public outings.

Prince Jacques seemed deeply interested in the Science museum, and surprised by what he learned during the visit

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene, who were welcomed by Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, left, looked relaxed

The family toured the museum together after the photocall, learning more about Norwegian scientists

Albert and Charlene guided their twins through the museum, with the youngsters quizzing them on the different scientists and innovations on display

The family sometimes made stops to take a closer look at some of the displays at the museum last night

Princess Gabriella donned a very stylish black dress with rhinestoned for her first royal event in Norway

Prince Albert, 62, said the time apart was 'a test for his wife' but they 'spoke often, despite the distance.

Speaking to French Sunday paper Journal de Dimanche at the start of this month, Albert said the last year was 'a test for my wife especially, who suffered greatly and lived through difficult times, far from her family. A test also for our children and for myself.

'We missed the princess a lot. And we were obviously hurt by the malicious rumours that were peddled. But we were able to stay united despite the distance, we spoke to each other often.'

He added: 'Today, Charlene is back with us and this is the most beautiful thing which could have happened. She's better, we can finally spend time together. It is a relief and a joy for all of us'.

Princess Charlene of Monaco (pictured) attended the 61st Monte Carlo TV Festival with her husband Prince Albert (pictured) yesterday

Princess Charlene of Monaco put on a sombre display in an all-black ensemble when joining her husband Prince Albert and their seven-year-old daughter Princess Gabriella today

Prince Albert recently said he was 'hurt by the vicious rumours' peddled about his marriage following his wife's 10-month long absence from Monaco and said that it's the 'most beautiful thing' to have Princess Charlene back with him

The interview took place prior to the announcement that Charlene had tested positive for Covid.

Despite her health worries, palace sources said her diagnosis was 'not worrying' and she was self-isolating.

During appearances at Monaco Fashion Week last month, Charlene told local media her health was 'fragile' and the road to recovery was 'long, difficult and so painful'.

Charlene has rarely been seen with Albert since she spent some 10 months in South Africa last year. She contracted a serious sinus infection on a charity trip, which left her hospitalised and delayed her return to Monaco.

She returned home in November, but left almost immediately for Switzerland to receive treatment for 'exhaustion'.

It comes as French media claimed she is receiving 10million a year to appear by her husband's side at public engagements.

Leading French media reported the ruler of the tax haven Mediterranean principality was doing everything possible to keep Charlene 'at his side at public events'.

Major French outlets that specialise in celebrity news said Charlene's sudden re-appearance was welcomed by all Royal watchers.

'But the Princess did not return at any price,' magazine Voici reported. 'She would have had her husband sign an ultra-confidential contract.'

Timeline: Prince Albert and Princess Charlene's year apart January 27 - Charlene is pictured with Albert for the Sainte Devote Ceremony in Monaco. March 18 - Charlene is pictured at the memorial for the late Zulu monarch, King Goodwill Zwelithini at the KwaKhethomthandayo Royal Palace in Nongoma, South Africa April 2 - Charlene posts an Instagram picture of herself, Albert and their twins Jacques and Gabriella for Easter. It is unknown where the image was taken. May 8 - Albert, Jacques and Gabriella attend a Grand Prix event in Monaco without Charlene May 10 - Albert attends Monaco Gala Awards in Monaco without Charlene May 18 - Charlene shares her first picture from her conservation trip in South Africa June 1 - Prince Albert II, Jacques and Gabriella attend event at Oceanic Museum in Monaco June 3 - New photos emerge of Charlene on her conservation trip June 5- Charlene puts on a united front as she shares a photo with her family to mark her niece's fifth birthday with her brother's family and Albert and the twins in South Africa June 7 - Albert and the twins attend the World Rugby Sevens without Charlene June 17 - Prince Albert attends Red Cross Summer concert in Monte Carlo with his sister Princess Caroline of Hanover June 18 - Prince Albert appears alone Monte Carlo TV Festival June 24 - Charlene's foundation releases a statement saying the royal is unable to travel and is undergoing procedures for an ear, nose and throat infection July 2 - Charlene and Albert mark their 10th anniversary separately. 'This year will be the first time that I'm not with my husband on our anniversary in July, which is difficult, and it saddens me,' Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene said in a statement. July 3 - Albert appears with glamorous niece Charlotte Casiraghi at the 15th international Monte-Carlo Jumping event, which is part of the Longines Global Champions Tour of Monaco, July 27 - Prince Albert attends Olympics alone in Tokyo August 13 - Charlene undergoes a four-hour operation. The reason is not announced August 25 - Charlene shares photos of Prince Albert, Gabriella and Jacques visiting her in South Africa September 1 - Charlene is admitted under an alias to the Netcare Alberlito Hospital after suddenly 'collapsing' September 2 - She is discharged, with a statement from the Palais Princier reading: 'Her Highness is closely monitored by Her medical team who said that Her condition was not worrying' September 23 - Prince Albert attends the 2021 Monte Carlo Gala for Planetary Health September 29 - Prince Albert is joined on the red carpet by actress Sharon Stone for a first look at the eagerly anticipated James Bond release September 30 - Charlene releases a stylish video promoting her anti-poaching campaign from her South African bolthole October 3 - Princess Charlene shares a photograph of herself smiling in front of a bible in her first snap since being discharged from hospital following her health scare October 5 - Prince Albert attends Sportel Awards Ceremony in Monte Carlo with nephew Louis Ducruet October 6 - Albert tells RMC radio Charlene is 'ready to come home' October 8 - Princess undergoes surgery in South Africa November 8 - Charlene arrives back in Monaco. Prince Albert said within hours it became clear she was 'unwell' November 13 - Prince Albert attends Expo 2020 in Dubai without Princess Charlene Following his return from the trip, Prince Albert holds an intervention with Charlene's brothers and a sister-in-law in which Charlene 'confirmed' she would seek 'real medically framed treatment' outside of Monaco November 16 - Royal household confirms Princess Charlene will not attend National Day celebrations on November 19 - Prince Albert attends a Monaco Red Cross event without Princess Charlene November 17 - Prince Albert reveals Princess Charlene has left Monaco and is recovering in a secret location November 19 - Prince Albert reveals Charlene is in a treatment facility 'elsewhere in Europe' after a family intervention January 25 - Charlene celebrates her birthday alone outside of Monaco January 26 - Prince Albert is joined by his children and sister without Charlene at St Devote's Day February 27 - Prince Albert and his two children attend AS Monaco football match without Princess Charlene March 14 - The royal palace announced Charlene had returned to Monaco. April 17 - Palace released Easter Sunday family portrait of couple with their seven-year-old twins Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques April 30 - Princess Charlene makes first public appearance at Monaco E-Prix May 7 - Charlene joins Albert at Sainte Devote Rugby Tournament May 18 - Prince Albert takes twins to Disneyland without Charlene May 25- Charlene appears with Gabriella at fashion show while Albert attends football game with Jacques May 28 - Charlene and Albert appear together at Monaco F1 Advertisement

Conditions include Albert paying Charlene '12 million euros [10.2m] per year', the outlet claims.

The revelations were followed up by rival publication Paris Match Belgium, which writes: 'Prince Albert would himself pay a tidy sum to the princess so that she appears at his side at public events.'

Events that Charlene could now be contractually obliged to attend include the F1 Grand Prix and the Rose charity ball which has been rescheduled from March 19 to July 8.

The Royal Palace in Monte Carlo refuses to discuss specific financial arrangements, but the principality pays out some 40m a year to cover the institution's running costs.

Royals are not salaried officials, however, meaning that Charlene would be reliant on Albert  a billionaire in his own right  for her own spending money.

A Royal insider based in Monte Carlo told Mail Online: 'Of course the Princess enjoys huge perks, but ready cash is not guaranteed.

'She's been through a very difficult time, so it would make sense for Charlene to try and secure her own guaranteed income.'

Charlene first had a 10-month absence in her native South Africa, where she contracted and was hospitalised for a serious sinus infection that delayed her return to Monaco.

After her return to the principality in November, Charlene left almost immediately to receive treatment for 'exhaustion' at a Swiss clinic.

The Monaco palace has consistently denied media reports of a rift between Charlene and the principality's ruler Prince Albert, who were wed in 2011, following the princess' long absence.

Zimbabwean-born Princess Charlene was hospitalised after collapsing in September in South Africa, where she had been living for several months.

She underwent surgery in October for an ear, nose and throat infection after checking in under a pseudonym in a Durban hospital, a palace source said at the time.

Friends previously told Page Six that the mother-of-two 'almost died' while she was in her home country, while her husband spoke out to say she is suffering from 'exhaustion, both emotional and physical'.

A palace statement released on December 23 revealed Albert and the couple's children were planning to visit Charlene during the Christmas holidays, as well as asking for the family's privacy to be respected.

It added that the princess 'is recuperating in a satisfactory and reassuring manner, although it may take a few more months before her health has reached a full recovery.'

Princess Charlene met Prince Albert in 2000 during a swimming competition in Monaco and the pair married in 2011, before welcoming twins Gabriella and Jacques in 2014.

Charlene returned to her husband and twins Jacques and Gabriella in November following almost a year in South Africa.

While on a solo charity trip to the country, she contracted a severe sinus infection which prevented her from travelling. She subsequently needed surgery to treat the medical condition, which again delayed her return to Monaco.

In the weeks after her arrival, Charlene remained absent from public duties.

Albert later revealed the family reunion had gone 'pretty well' in the first few hours, but it then became 'pretty evident' that Charlene was 'unwell.'

He said the former Olympian 'realised she needed help', adding: 'She was overwhelmed and couldn't face official duties, life in general or even family life.'

Albert explained: 'I'm probably going to say this several times, but this has nothing to do with our relationship. I want to make that very clear. These are not problems within our relationship; not with the relationship between a husband and wife. It's of a different nature.'

He went on to tell a magazine her current state was a result of 'several factors which are private'.

Albert continued: 'She hadn't slept well in a number of days and she wasn't eating at all well. She has lost a lot of weight, which made her vulnerable to other potential ailments. A cold or the flu or God help us, COVID.'

He said it is 'not cancer-related or personal relationship issue' and later said she is suffering from 'exhaustion, both emotional and physical'.

He later confirmed Charlene has been admitted to a treatment facility for undisclosed medical issues, as she works through a period of ill health. The location of the facility was not confirmed, though several sources claim it is in Switzerland.

However friends of the princess spoke out to suggest the issues were more physical than Albert appeared to suggest.

Speaking to Page Six, a source described as the royal's friend said: 'It is unfair that she is being portrayed as having some kind of mental or emotional issue.

'We don't know why the palace is downplaying that she almost died in South Africa.'

The source explained the royal had a severe ear, nose and throat infection, which resulted in 'severe sinus and swallowing issues stemming from an earlier surgery'.

Elsewhere friends of Princess Charlene gave Tatler a rare insight into what the royal is really like, insisting that the former swimmer is a force to be reckoned with.

One source rubbished any public perception that Charlene is 'naive' and trapped in an unhappy marriage with Albert, saying: 'I don't for one second think she did not know what she was doing when she married him.'

But one warned the mother of Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, seven, is not the type to be blindly controlled by the Monaco royal household.

'Charlene is no Princess Di.' one said. 'She may come across as being extremely naive, but nothing could be further from the truth. She is very good at keeping her smarts under wraps.'

Doubts about the central relationship of Monaco's royal family are not new.

Several residents living in the narrow medieval alleys of Monaco Ville confirmed to MailOnline that before she left for South Africa Charlene was spending most of her time outside the Palace, living in a modest two-bedroom apartment above an old chocolate factory about 300m away, rather than in the 12th Century Palace itself.

'We often saw her outside the Palace and she would usually be alone or with a bodyguard,' said one source, 'but she was never with Albert - it was obvious she chose to spend most of her time in the apartment rather than the palace.'

Princess Charlene met Prince Albert in 2000 during a swimming competition in Monaco and the pair married in 2011, before welcoming twins Gabriella and Jacques in 2014.

Born in Rhodesia- a previously unrecognised state in Southern Africa colonised by the British, she relocated to South Africa aged 11.

She had a successful swimming career and went on to win three gold medals and a silver medal at the 1999 All Africa Games in Johannesburg, as well as representing South Africa at the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games and winning a silver medal in the 4  100 m medley relay in the latter competition.

However the pair's marriage has made numerous headlines over the years, with a third paternity suit emerging in December 2020.

Soon afterwards Charlene famously shaved half her head in the style of a punk rocker. Months later she left for South Africa.

The allegations in December 2020 claimed that Albert had fathered a love-child (which would be his third, if proven) with an unnamed Brazilian woman during the time when he and Charlene were already in a relationship.

He has also fathered two other children outside of wedlock. Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, who is now 29 and the result of Albert's affair with an American estate agent, and Alexandre Coste, 18, whose mother is a former Togolese air hostess.

Both children were struck off Monaco's line of succession in return for vast financial settlements.
Chennai: The AIADMK General Council meeting here on Thursday rejected all the 23 proposed resolutions and announced that the one and only demand of GC members is to bring in a system of a single leadership for the party, favouring Joint Coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami.

As soon as the meet commenced amid chaotic scenes of slogan shouting, the process of passage of already decided resolutions were taken up. The first of them was proposed by Coordinator O Panneerselvam and seconded by Palaniswami, who addressed the former as 'brother' in his brief remarks.

Soon, senior leader C Ve Shanmugam who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha announced that all resolutions "are rejected by the General Council."

Deputy Secretary K P Munusamy said all the GC members have rejected all the 23 proposed resolutions. "Their one and only demand is for a single leadership." When such a resolution favouring a single leadership (favouring EPS) is taken up and passed, all other resolutions would be adopted as and when the GC is convened in future, he added

Earlier, a palpable sense of anxiety prevailed as supporters of O Paneerselvam and EPS engaged in rival slogan shouting and some of them loudly argued against one another and voiced their full-throated backing to their respective leaders. As party coordinator Panneerselvam and Palaniswami entered the premises of the hall -the venue of the meeting- their supporters raised slogans welcoming them.

As 'Otrai Thalamai Vendum' (We want single leadership) and other slogans against OPS rent the air, it led to concerns, prompting leaders to appeal for peace and calm. Deputy Secretary R Vaithilingam was among the OPS's supporters who were present. While OPS was not welcomed by key functionaries and former Ministers, EPS was accorded a rousing welcome.

While OPS was the first to enter the venue along with his supporters and EPS made a dramatic entry later when his followers jostled to welcome and take him towards the dais. Veterans including C Ponnaiyan, Dindigul Srinivasan, K A Sengottaiyan and senior office-bearers like former Ministers D Jayakumar are present to take part in the party's brainstorming meet, which is expected to look into the sole leader demand though no decision is likely in view of a court directive.

The Madras High Court has ruled that no unannounced resolutions could be taken up. It has restrained the EPS camp from initiating any decisive move over the single leadership issue.

Though both OPS and EPS were accorded a warm reception by their supporters, the latter appeared to have stole the show as he was accorded more receptions at a string of key intersections.

A massive turnout of party workers who raised slogans for a single leadership and a rousing reception has made the meet, one more show of strength by the Joint Coordinator's camp. Party workers showered flowers and petals on EPS's vehicles to welcome him and it took over a hour and half for the leader to reach the venue.

Traditional music, using percussion instruments (Thavil/Chenda Melam) was played and enthusiastic cadres carried balloons resembling colours found in party flag -red, black and white- and bunches of them were also released in the air. Party workers carried banners hailing EPS and women cadre held 'Poorna Kumbham' pots (a sign of auspiciousness for a good start) to welcome him.

A security blanket was thrown over the suburban locality to ensure law and order.

As many as 23 resolutions are set to be adopted. The venue of the meet at suburban Vanagaram, a spacious marriage hall was decorated with flowers and the entire locality wore a festive look with party flags fluttering everywhere while colourful flex boards of leaders were placed prominently.

One of the boards displayed a striking portrait (using an old photograph) showing Panneerselvam giving a bouquet to EPS. The areas in and around the venue of the meeting witnessed severe traffic congestion and it took hours together for the bumper to bumper traffic to ease.
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The first official joint portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has been unveiled today to mark the couple's visit to Cambridgeshire to celebrate the county.

The couple also made another appearance during their day out, visiting East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) in Milton, of which Kate has been a patron for 10 years, to coincide with Children's Hospice Week. They then visited housing charity Jimmy's, where they heard about the work the organisation does to help homeless people.

On their first stop of the day, Kate, wearing a recycled blue LK Bennett patterned dress, and William, both 40, visited the University of Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum, where they viewed the painted portrait of themselves as it was revealed to the public for the first time.

The artwork captures Kate looking ethereal in a 1,595 emerald gown by The Vampire's Wife, which she first wore during a historic three-day visit to Dublin in March 2020. Sporting 875 Manolo Blahnik green satin pumps, she is seen posing with her arm wrapped around a dapper William, who is dressed in a sharp suit with a blue tie.

Painted by award-winning British portrait artist Jamie Coreth, 'one of Britain's leading portrait artists' who 'focuses on the character of his sitters, evoking a sense of their presence in his work', the piece was commissioned in 2021 by the Cambridgeshire Royal Portrait Fund, held by the Cambridge Community Foundation, as a gift to Cambridgeshire.

And while royal portraits can be something of a hit and miss affair, the couple gave their personal seal of approval to the painting.

William, 40, said after looking at the painting: 'It's quite big' and told Coreth it was 'amazing'.

The first official joint portrait (pictured right) of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has been unveiled today to mark the couple's visit to Cambridgeshire to celebrate the county. On their first stop of the day, Kate, wearing a blue patterned dress, and William, both 40, visited the University of Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum, left

The first official joint artwork captures Kate looking ethereal in a 1,595 glittering emerald gown by trendy designer The Vampire's Wife, which she first wore during a historic three-day visit to Dublin in March 2020 (pictured)

The Duchess of Cambridge is snapped admiring the large portrait of her and William, painted by artist Jamie Coreth, one of Britain's leading portrait painters

Jamie Coreth, the award-winning artist who painted the Cambridges, poses next to his portrait of William and Kate at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge

Stunning: Kate appeared radiant in a multi-coloured dress teamed with a blue coat while attending the outing with William

Kate's brooch in the painting also catches the eye, not only because she so rarely wears one.

But it is a clearly special loan from the monarch, having been made by royal jeweller Garrard in the mid 19th Century for Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, the wife of Prince Adolphus, the Duke of Cambridge.

The brooch, according to online expert The Court Jeweller, was passed to her younger daughter, Princess Mary Adelaide, the Duchess of Teck and then onto her daughter, the future Queen Mary, wife of King George V.

She loved it so much that she wore it frequently throughout her life, including the christening of her grand-daughter, the then Princess Elizabeth, in 1926, as well as the christening of her great-grandson, Prince Charles, in 1948.

The Queen inherited the brooch in 1953 and she has worn the heirloom, which features a large pearl surrounded by a cluster of diamonds and a diamond and pearl pendant suspended from the cluster, regularly ever since.

The duke and duchess met Coreth as they viewed the painting of themselves while in Cambridgeshire for a series of engagements.

After viewing the portrait, the Duke and Duchess then met with supporters of the project including the artist and Lady Sibyl Marshall - the wife of the late Sir Michael Marshall, who originally proposed the idea to create the portrait.

Members of the public will be able to view the portrait at the 206-year-old Fitzwilliam Museum for an initial period of three years, after which the artwork will be exhibited in other community spaces and galleries around Cambridgeshire.

Coreth worked to incorporate the city of Cambridge into the portrait by painting the background with the tones and colours of many of the historical stone buildings that are synonymous with it.

It also includes the use of a hexagonal architectural motif which can be seen on buildings across the university city.

Coreth said it was the 'most extraordinary privilege of my life to be chosen to paint this picture'.

'I wanted to show Their Royal Highnesses in a manner where they appeared both relaxed and approachable, as well as elegant and dignified,' he said.

'As it is the first portrait to depict them together, and specifically during their time as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, I wanted the image to evoke a feeling of balance between their public and private lives.

'The piece was commissioned as a gift for the people of Cambridgeshire, and I hope they will enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed creating it.' Members of the public will be able to view the portrait at the Fitzwilliam Museum for an initial period of three years, after which the artwork will be exhibited in other community spaces and galleries around Cambridgeshire.

It will also be loaned to the National Portrait Gallery for a short time in 2023 to mark the gallery's reopening.

Luke Syson, director of Cambridge University's Fitzwilliam Museum, said: 'It's incredibly exciting to be the first to be able to show the only double portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge so far to have been painted, and commemorating of course their connection with Cambridge through their titles.'

The Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William departing the Fitzwilliam Museum during an official visit to Cambridgeshire

All in the details! Kate teamed the patterned midi frock with a matching blue longline coat, coordinating high heels and a clutch bag

For today's outing, Kate showcased her thrifty side once again by recycling a flowing 'Madison' dress from one of her go-to brands LK Bennett, which she previously wore when heading to a London restaurant.

She teamed the patterned midi frock with a matching blue longline coat, coordinating high heels and a clutch bag, while also opting for dainty drop earrings.

William said, after looking at the painting: 'It's quite big.' He told Coreth it was 'amazing'.

The Duke and Duchess both studied history of art at St Andrews University, though William later switched to geography.

William said in a Big Issue Q&A session published this week to mark his 40th birthday: 'I studied a bit of art history at university. Had to give it up. I kept falling asleep in the lectures. Terrible.

'We did a lot of Renaissance, which was amazing. But then once we got into modern art, I started to get a bit dozy.'

During their visit to Cambridgeshire, Kate and William also visited East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH), to meet families who are receiving support as well as long serving staff member

The Duchess was pictured receiving a bouquet of roses from one of the patients at EACH, which was the second appointment of the royal couple's day

Prince William and Kate Middleton met with James Hall (pictured, right) and his family, during their visit to EACH earlier today

The couple were snapped listening intently, as they met with families of children at the hospice today, during their day out in Cambridgeshire

Delighted: Willow Bamber (pictured, right) looks overjoyed to be painting with the duchess, during the royal visit to EACH today

Despite wearing a mask, it was clear to see that Kate was beaming, as she helped Willow Bamber (pictured, right) with her painting

The couple later got involved with helping out with artwork at a children's hospice - with Kate telling one girl 'don't be shy' as the eight-year-old painted her hand.

The couple visited the Milton branch of East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH), which was opened by Diana, Princess of Wales in 1989.

They were greeted by cheers and a round of applause by school children from the region, who waved flags upon their arrival during Children's Hospice Week.

The duchess was presented with a bouquet of flowers by 15-year-old Chloe Bowes, who has a neurological condition called bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria.

Kate, who has been patron of EACH for 10 years, donned a floral face mask as she entered the hospice.

William joined her as they met three families who make use of the charity's services, including 12-year-old James Hall, who has a genetic connective tissue disorder.

The duchess, who is known for her soft spot for children and their care, was seen engaging in some painting with the youngster

Hands on: the duchess was not afraid to get her hands dirty, and enthusiastically got stuck into activities while visiting EACH, of which she is a patron

The Cambridges met with children during their visit to EACH, which has fallen during Children's Hospice Week. Kate has been a patron of EACH for a decade

Today's visit to EACH marked the fifth for the Duchess of Cambridge, who has been a patron for 10 years. Here the couple are pictured meeting children

Despite a busy day, the Cambridges looked delighted to be making their second appointment in Cambridgeshire, pictured here during their visit to EACH

During their trip to EACH, Kate and William attended a small party on the lawn, so they could meet with hospice staff and thank them for their work

Kate placed her hand on James's knee as she spoke with his mother, Claire, and his older brother Henry.

The duke and duchess were then greeted by Kirsty and Gary Carlin, whose four-year-old daughter Libby lay sleeping on the floor beside them.

After learning about her rare genetic condition, Libby's parents offered to wake their daughter before the duke said: 'Please don't wake her.'

'We know what happens when you wake a sleeping child,' Kate added.

The couple then met the Carlson family, whose son William was lying on a bed in front of them.

The duke and duchess learned about the 11-year-old's many complex medical conditions, including a brain malformation called lissencephaly.

The pair also took part in a small art session, where a canvas full of handprints was laid out in front of them.

Kate sat with an eight-year-old girl called Willow Bamber, who suffers from a severe neurological condition called Leigh's disease.

The duchess invited the youngster to paint her hand, and as she tentatively started, Kate said: 'Don't be shy.'

Once her hand was completely covered in paint, she pressed her hand down on the canvas and was cheered as she lifted her hand up to reveal the handprint.

At the same time, William helped the children add to the canvas by sticking seaweed on it.

Before departing the hospice, William and Kate met the bereaved family of four-year-old Douglas Wright, who died from a rare cancer called neuroblastoma in February 2018.

For their third appointment of the day, the Cambridges (left) visited housing charity Jimmy's in Cambridge. Here they are pictured meeting Eamonn Kelly, who lives in one of the organisation's modular homes

While visiting housing organisation Jimmy's, the couple chatted with Eamonn Kelly (pictured, centre right). He currently lives in one of the organisation's modular homes - moveable, small-scale spaces that provide residents with separate living, cooking, sleeping and bathroom areas as well as their own front door

Eamonn Kelly (pictured, right) who lives in one of Jimmy's modular homes, posed for a picture with Kate and William during their visit to the charity

Prince William meets Pete Dean (pictured, centre) while visiting Jimmy's housing charity in Cambridge today

As well as meeting with tenants, Kate Middleton and Prince William spoke with partners and supporters during their visit to the housing charity

Happy: during their conversation with supporters of the housing charity, Prince William was snapped smiling as he snuck a look at Kate

Prince William is known to be passionate about homelessness, and while talking to housing charity Jimmy's, he was pictured looking enthusiastic

As the couple sat down with the Wright family in the hospice's sensory garden, they were told about the end-of-life care the youngster had received from the hospice.

'It brings back all the memories,' Douglas's mother Jane said as she spoke about being back at the hospice.

Later on Thursday, the duke and duchess travelled to the first ever Cambridgeshire County Day at Newmarket Racecourse, and were greeted by cheers and applause from onlookers.

William and Kate both took part in a football game where they attempted to kick the ball at a target.

Kate told the crowd it would be difficult as she was 'wearing wedges'.

After taking a shot, the duchess shook the hand of a boy who had been playing before her and said: 'You did better than I did.'

The couple also sampled chocolate and a Jubilee beer before meeting members of the public while walking round a variety of stalls.

The event included stands from 120 exhibitors from Cambridgeshire businesses, charity, community and public sectors.

Kate spotted one woman holding a child and asked if she could hold her.

The baby's mother, Marianne Provoost, who had travelled from the Netherlands to watch the races, said the duchess had asked to hold her child by saying: 'I love babies.'

Her daughter, four-month-old Norah, was handed back to her, with Ms Provoost telling the duchess: 'Enjoy your day and enjoy your children.'

The duchess was snapped smiling during her visit to Jimmy's with Prince William today

The Duchess of Cambridge oozed elegance when appearing alongside the Duke at the University of Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum

Thrifty Kate strikes again! The Duchess recycled a flowing 'Madison' dress from LK Bennett for today's engagements

The look of love! Kate seemingly couldn't help but smile when looking at her husband, Prince William, this morning

Co-ordinated couple! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge matched their outfits, with William wearing a blue shirt to complement his wife's dress

For today's outing, Kate showcased her thrifty side once again by recycling a flowing 'Madison' dress from one of her go-to brands LK Bennett, which she previously wore when heading to a London restaurant

After viewing the portrait, the Duke and Duchess (pictured meeting guests) then met with supporters of the project including the artist and Lady Sibyl Marshall - the wife of the late Sir Michael Marshall, who originally proposed the idea to create the portrait

Comprising of 120 exhibitors from Cambridgeshire businesses, charity, community and public sectors, the couple will visit a number of stalls and meet members of the public.

The County Day will also celebrate The Platinum Jubilee year of the Queen.

During the day there will be performances and demonstrations by choirs, bands and dancers as well as showcases from organisations including blue light services, local charities, and voluntary groups.

Kate and William will also see leading small and large businesses who are delivering innovations in areas such as medicine and science.

During the last stop of the day a Big Issue seller shook the Duke of Cambridge's hand and invited him to visit his modular home, after telling William he heard that he had sold the magazine.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met Eamonn Kelly, 52, on a visit to housing charity Jimmy's Cambridge, which supports people on their journey through homelessness.

Mr Kelly, who has sold the Big Issue in Cambridge for 13 years, is one of the first residents in Jimmy's modular homes, which first opened in 2020.

Cambridge is one of the first cities in the UK to explore this solution to tackling homelessness, providing small self-contained independent accommodation for those seeking to continue their journey onto full independent living.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge chat to schoolchildren when at the Fitzwilliam Museum today in Cambridge

Father-of-three William (pictured right) said, after looking at the painting: 'It's quite big.' He told Coreth it was 'amazing'

The Duke and Duchess (pictured together) both studied history of art at St Andrews University, though William later switched to geography

Kate paired her statement garment with a matching blue longline coat, while also opting for dainty drop earrings

Mr Kelly, originally from Belfast, told William: 'I heard you're a Big Issue seller?'

The duke replied: 'Well, I gave it a go.'

Shaking William's hand, Mr Kelly told him: 'Well I work for the Big Issue, I sell in Cambridge.'

He then invited William and Kate into his modular home where they spoke at length.

Afterwards, they spoke with those involved in the project about how to tackle homelessness, and as they returned to their waiting Range Rover William spotted Mr Kelly again.

'There he is,' called out William.

'Eamonn, come here, I'll have a photo with you.

'Who's got your camera?'

Mr Kelly posed for a photo, standing between William and Kate, thanking them for it.

Kate made the most of the pleasant weather by donning a long, lightweight coat as she attended the event in Cambridgeshire today

During the trip, the couple were snapped talking with local schoolchildren while they were leaving the Fitzwilliam Museum

The Duchess of Cambridge was photographed looking pensive during the trip today, as she and husband Prince William engaged with children outside the museum

The Duchess paired dainty diamond drop earrings with her outfit, and natural, pared down make-up, for a look that was fresh and chic

Who is Jamie Coreth: the artist behind the Cambridge's portrait who 'focuses on the character of his sitters' Jamie Coreth (Young Persons winner) poses in front of his award-winning portrait of 'Dad Sculpting Me' in 2016 Jamie Coreth, an award-winning artist, is considered one of Britain's leading portrait painters. After graduating from Oxford in 2010 ,with a degree in Archaeology and Anthropology, he studied at the London Atelier of Representational Art and the Florence Academy of Art. Jamie graduated from the Academy in 2014, after both studying there and at the same time, working as an Art History lecturer and assistant tutor. He was awarded the Young Artist Award at the BP Portrait Awards at the National Portrait Gallery in London in June 2016, for his portrait Dad Sculpting Me, a painting which depicts Jamie's father, the sculptor Mark Coreth, sculpting Jamie. Two years later, in 2018, Jamie's portrait of former soldier turned sculptor Mark Jackson, titled Broken Bodies, was accepted into the BP Portrait Exhibition. He was shortlisted for the BP Portrait Award in 2020, for his piece Portrait of Fatima, which was used for the cover of the catalogue and the National Portrait Gallery's marketing campaign. According to the artist's website, he 'paints with an intelligence and originality. He focuses on the character of his sitters, evoking a sense of their presence in his work. His technical facility sits in harmony with a modern vision'. Advertisement

Speaking afterwards, Mr Kelly said: 'They're down to earth people, they're very genuine, they're interested in you as a person, not your past or your future.

'You can't get any better than them two people.'

The Cambridges last visited Jimmy's in 2012 when they opened a hostel for the charity.

Service user Pete Dean, 59, met William and Kate in 2012 and spoke with them again on Thursday's visit.

The duke told Mr Dean: 'I can't believe it's been 10 years Pete.

'I sat in your room, I sat on your bed talking about what you'd been doing in your life.'

After speaking with the Cambridges in private, Mr Dean, who now has his own flat, said: 'They proper remembered, it was nice.

'He said he'd come and see me in another 10 years.

'I had a right long chat with them.

'They're really nice people.'

Mark Allan, chief executive of Jimmy's, said the Cambridges' visit 'means a lot' and William and Kate were 'genuinely interested in tackling homelessness'.

Everyone living in one of the modular homes at Jimmy's is provided with a significant support system through the charity's expert team, helping them to tackle issues around mental health, employment, addiction or reconnecting with families.

The charity said all of this is vital to ensuring that, once someone is in a home, they can remain in it.
Their husbands are facing an awkward meeting after Prince Charles branded the government's Rwanda asylum policy 'appalling', but there was no sign of any tension when the Duchess of Cornwall met Carrie Johnson in Kigali today.

Camilla beamed as she was greeted with a kiss on the cheek by the wife of Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday afternoon at an event for the campaign group Violence Against Women and Girls in Rwanda.

The royal wore a 269 toucan-print dress by the label Bombshell, set up by a former TV costume designer who couldn't find clothes to fit her hourglass curves.

Carrie looked bright and summery in a yellow J Crew top which she paired with a blue and green patterned skirt, after changing out of the pink Zara suit she wore for her arrival in Kigali this morning.

The Duchess of Cornwall beamed as she shared a kiss with Carrie Johnson, wife of Prime Minister Boris Johnson at an event on Thursday in Rwanda

Camilla, 74, and Carrie Johnson, 34, attended a Violence Against Women and Girls event at the Kigali Convention Centre

As Carrie arrived at the venue she warmly greeted The Duchess with a kiss and they chatted for a few minutes before taking their seats.

Camilla looked typically elegant in a blue floral dress which was cinched at the waist with a belt.

She completed the look with beige pump shoes and accessorised with a gold coin necklace.

Earlier in the day Camilla was thought how to sign language as she joined children at a fun literary event

As Carrie arrived at the venue she warmly greeted The Duchess and they chatted for a few minutes before taking their seats

Camilla looked typically elegant in a blue floral dress which was cinched at the waist with a belt

She completed the look with beige pump shoes and accessorised with a gold coin necklace and statement chandelier earring

She added height to her frame with nude stilettos and her blonde locks were styled in bouncy curls.

Earlier in the day Camilla was thought how to sign language as she joined children at a fun literary event.

She attended the event at Kigali Public Library in her new role as patron of the charity Book Aid, which she recently took over from the Duke of Edinburgh.

She was greeted by schoolchildren who taught her how to say hello and thank you in sign language as an example of their inclusive learning.

Carrie looked bright and summery in a yellow J Crew top which she paired with a blue and green patterned skirt

The political and climate activist appeared to be in great spirits as she beamed while networking at the event

She added height to her frame with nude stilettos and her blonde locks were styled in bouncy curls

Camilla and Carrie were sat at opposite round tables but they enjoyed a warm conversation before taking their seats

The Royal made a powerful speech at the event which took place at the Kigali Convention Centre

The Royal also helped a group of visually and hearing impaired youngsters play a number game and afterwards presented them with a collection of books as a donation to the library.

The collection included short Commonwealth Essay Prize stories called A River of Stories as well as Michael Morpurgo's There Once is a Queen.

When she arrived she immediately bent down to ask the children if they liked reading and what their favourite books were.

One little girl replied: 'The Dirty Detective' to which Camilla laughed: 'My goodness me!'

Earlier in the day Camilla attended an event at Kigali Public Library in her new role as patron of the charity Book Aid, which she recently took over from the Duke of Edinburgh

She was greeted by schoolchildren who taught her how to say hello and thank you in sign language as an example of their inclusive learning

The Duchess spoke to students using sign language during the event for the Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition and Book Aid International

The Duchess was joined by Jeannette Kagame, who is the wife of the President of Rwanda and young children

The Duchess toured the library's facilities with the First Lady of Rwanda and Jeannette Kagame, Director of Kigali Public Library, who told her: 'We like the children to think of this as a playground not just a place to come and learn.'

After viewing an exhibition of front covers and learning more about Book Aid's International's work in Rwanda, she was shown Nabu's 'Creative Lab' for children's book illustrators.

'So where did you learn to draw! Have you been drawing since you were a child,' she asked one young man who was busy tapping away on a computer.

Sweet! Camilla spoke to a group of children about their favourite books during her visit to the library

The Royal also helped a group of visually and hearing impaired youngsters play a number game and afterwards presented them with a collection of books as a donation to the library

Camilla looked in deep concentration helped a boy with a tricky number game while she was at the library

She continued: 'I think you are very lucky to have such talent. It must be a love lot thing to do. I could sit all day doing this. It would be such fun.'

Camilla and the First Lady then visited the Children's Corner where they met an excited group of youngsters listening to an enthusiastic reading of the Rwandan story Handa's Surprise.

The duchess sat down with the children, smiling as they excitedly answered questions about the story and looking delighted as the children taught her how to sign.

Camilla then visited the Children's Corner where they met an excited group of youngsters listening to an enthusiastic reading of the Rwandan story Handa's Surprise

The duchess sat down with the children, smiling as they excitedly answered questions about the story and looking delighted as the children taught her how to sign

She laughed with a young girl in school uniform as they answered questions together about a story

Camilla, who is the Vice President of the Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition, was delighted to hear about how a record number of children from around the world had entered this year - 26,000 in all - with a 5345 per cent increase in Rwanda alone.

'I've seen some of the stories and they are brilliant, absolutely amazing,' she said as she met four of the 2021 Rwandan finalists and learnt more about its new digital innovation, Write Around the World.

Outside she got stuck into the fun with a group of excited youngsters enjoying Learning Through Play activities including an interactive 'assault' course.

She high-fived several of the children and laughed uproariously as they raced around the grass.

Book Aid's work in Rwanda aims to support all in society, but especially children.

They work with a range of library and NGO partners across the country and have donated 222,224 books to them since 2017.

After viewing an exhibition of front covers and learning more about Book Aid's International's work in Rwanda, she was shown Nabu's 'Creative Lab' for children's book illustrators
A TikToker who was enlisted by the White House to promote Biden's administration has revealed he got death threats and homophobic messages after posting a video supporting the president.

Last year, well-known influencer Benito Skinner, who is known online as Benny Drama, 28, uploaded a video of himself pretending to be former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki's intern.

The social media star - who has racked up more than one million followers for his hilarious videos, in which he often impersonates famous figures like the Kardashians as well as original characters that he creates - posted the video to his TikTok last August in an attempt to promote the COVID-19 vaccine and encourage his followers to get the shot.

However, Skinner has now revealed that teaming up with the president resulted in him receiving a slew of hateful comments and death threats - with the comedian revealing that people sent him pictures of guns and even contacted his family members.

A TikToker who was enlisted by the White House to promote Biden's administration has revealed he got death threats after posting a video supporting the president

Last year, influencer Benito Skinner, also known as Benny Drama online, 28, uploaded a video of himself pretending to be former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki's intern

The social media star posted the video to his TikTok last August in an attempt to promote the COVID-19 vaccine and encourage his followers to get the shot

Skinner, who is openly gay, told the Today show in a new interview that he was flooded with social media messages from 'homophobic' trolls - some of whom actually believed that he was working at the White House.

Skinner has racked up more than one million followers for his hilarious videos, in which he often impersonates famous figures like the Kardashians as well as original characters that he creates

'I got to see how lies can be spread and how people can take something that is obviously satirical and a bit,' he told the outlet.

'There were people who thought I was a real person who worked at the White House, which is terrifying. People sent things to my family members. It was really disgusting.

'I think it kind of woke me up - Ive been in the New York and Los Angeles bubble for a lot of my adulthood - to the rest of this country and the way that they view gay people. It was kind of very eye opening for me and scary.'

The video showed Skinner pretending to be an intern named Kooper, as he showcased what a 'day in the life' as a White House staffer was like.

Clips showed him strutting around the White House, doing dance moves and striking poses in front of important spots throughout the building, joking around while Psaki tried to get her work done, and doing his makeup at his desk.

'Hi, my name is Kooper, and this is a day in my life as a White House intern,' he began in the clip.

The video in question showed Skinner pretending to be an intern named Kooper, as he showcased what a 'day in the life' as a White House staffer was like. Psaki is seen in the TikTok

Clips showed him strutting around the White House, striking poses in front of important spots throughout the building, and joking around while Psaki tried to get her work done

One scene showed him barging into Psaki's office to tell her he booked her a 'nail appointment.' 'I didn't tell you to do that,' she said, to which he responded, 'It's called initiative'

'Usually I start off with a big coffee,' he continued, before seemingly getting in trouble for video taping.

'Sorry they're like really strict in here,' Skinner, who donned a Thom Browne skirt suit, added with a whisper.

However, Skinner (seen at the White House) has now revealed that teaming up with the president resulted in him receiving a slew of hateful comments and death threats

One scene showed him barging into Psaki's office to tell her that he had booked her a 'nail appointment.'

'I didn't tell you to do that,' she told him, to which he responded, 'It's called initiative.'

In another part of the joke video, he answered the phone and said, 'Hi, White House, this is Kooper.' He then added, 'I don't think so,' before hanging up. When Psaki asked him who had called, he said, 'It doesn't matter.'

'This is actually the entrance to the West Wing,' he told the camera in a different part of the TikTok, before making funny faces at the camera, sticking out his tongue, and giving a peace sign.

During another scene, Psaki was telling 'Kooper' various important things and was expecting him to write them down, however, she soon noticed he wasn't.

'Are you getting this all down?' she asked him, to which he said, 'Don't worry queen, it's all right here,' while pointing to his brain.

'Kooper the White House intern wants shots in arms. Head to Vaccines.gov for more information,' he captioned the video.

Skinner said he was flooded with social media messages from 'homophobic' trolls after posting the video - some of whom actually believed that he was working at the White House

The comedian revealed that people sent him pictures of guns and even contacted his family members, calling it 'disgusting' and 'terrifying'

After receiving the immense backlash, Skinner told Today that he took a temporary step back from social media. However, he's still glad that he did it.

After receiving the immense backlash, Skinner told the Today Show that he took a temporary step back from social media. However, he's still glad that he did it

'Its OK, I guess. My skin looks good and I love that Im in a Thom Browne suit for it,' he joked of the video.

'I'm consistently shocked that Im still a Republican meme, but I kind of wear that badge with honor.'

Back in March, Meghan McCain slammed Biden for using 'teenage TikTok stars as political propagandists.'

At the time, it was revealed that the White House had a Zoom meeting with about 30 popular TikTok creators.

White House Director of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty apparently told the TikTokers that he saw their reach and possible influence as 'a critically important avenue' to the American public.

This led to Ellie Zeiler, a TikToker with more than 10 million followers, producing a video explaining why gas is so expensive and why it wasn't the Biden administration's fault.

'I had the opportunity to ask the White House why gas down the street is $7 and here's what they said,' 18-year-old Zeiler said to her followers in the video.

'The first obvious reason is that we're getting out of a two year pandemic. When use goes up, the price goes up.

'Now, with Putin starting this horrific fight between Ukraine and Russia, nobody wants to work with him and do international trade.

'So with people being scared of war and limited resources prices are bound to go up.'

Zeiler later told the New York Post that she was honored to take on the role of explaining complex situations to young people.

In March, Meghan McCain slammed Biden for using 'TikTok stars as political propagandists,' after Ellie Zeiler (pictured) posted a video explaining why high gas prices weren't Biden's fault

At the time, it was revealed that the White House had a Zoom meeting with 30 popular TikTok creators, telling them that their influence was 'a critically important avenue' to the public

'This is inaccurate on its face,' McCain wrote in an exclusive essay for DailyMail.com at the time.

'But the more troubling aspect here is that it is a priority for the administration to feed TikTok stars their spin.

'Let's simply call this what this is: A propaganda play on behalf of the Biden administration, using the goodwill of very young people to naively do their bidding.

'Professional journalists are generally expected to work and train for years before they are qualified to question the president's representatives in the White House briefing room.

'Who knew that one could jump the line with a popular TikTok account featuring pranks, dancing and posing in trendy outfits?

'There is a reason that qualified journalists are used for this purpose  they are the least likely to be spun by an administration more interested in positive press than the truth.'

She also addressed Skinner's TikTok, stating, 'Psaki's involvement [in Skinner's video] was seen as deeply unserious and the whole thing seemed to be making a mockery of the White House.'
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Royals including Sophie Wessex and Sarah Ferguson have been photographed attending the London memorial of Lady Elizabeth Shakerley today.

Lady Elizabeth, who died in November 2020 aged 79, was the cousin of the Queen as well as a close friend.

She was best known for organising royal parties, including an event held ahead of the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in April 2011.

Today a Service of Thanksgiving for the life and work of her Majesty's cousin, who was more widely known in her professional capacity as Lady Elizabeth Anson, was held at St Margaret's Church, Westminster.

Thanks to her prominence in royal circles, numerous high profile guests were pictured attending the event, including Prince Michael of Kent and Princess Michael of Kent.

Sophie Wessex, 57, was among the people who attended the service for Lady Elizabeth Shakerley CVO in Westminster today

The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, 62, also attended the service and put on an animate display on her way to St Margaret's Church

Lady Gabriella Kingston nee Windsor wore an all blue ensemble with a light blue hat and a white clutch bag she paired with velvet heels

Dame Joanna Lumley wore a black skirt and top underneath a black vest with a matching fascinator for the service

Made in Chelsea's star Olivia Bentley was spotted outside of the church in a leopard print dress

Lady Gabriella Windsor, Dame Joanna Lumley, Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra were also spotted at the service.

However, her Majesty was not seen, amid ongoing health issues related to her mobility struggles.

Lady Shakerley was the daughter of Thomas Anson, Viscount Anson, and Anne Bowes-Lyon, who became Princess Anne of Denmark when she remarried.

Born in Windsor Castle in 1941, she served as the Queen's party planner since 1960 and has organised a number of royal soirees, including an event held ahead of the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in April 2011.

She died in the early hours of November 1st, with members of her family at her bedside.

Her death came just months after the Queen made her a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order as a sign of her personal esteem, according to the Court Circular.

In April, the entry in the Court Circular read: 'The Lady Elizabeth Shakerley has been appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order by The Queen today and has received the Insignia.'

As well as family members it includes members of the royal household and senior diplomatic figures.

After founding the firm Party Planners in 1960, Lady Elizabeth and went on to arrange events for numerous members of the royal households, as well as the Queen's most high-profile occasions, including her 90th birthday.

The Duchess of Gloucester also attended in a black floral dress she paired with a black hat and a red clutch

The Countess of Wessex looked elegant in a green dress, which she paired with a green clutch bag and a black hat

Awards in the Royal Victorian Order are made by the Queen to people who have served her or the Monarchy in a personal way.

Princess Alexandra opted for a dotted navy dress and a white and navy blue hat for the service

Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy also made her way to the event in central London today

Lady Gabriella Kingston was seen at one point talking to Lord Frederick Windsor, who was wearing a dapper navy suit

Lady Elizabeth had previously spoken fondly of her friend, and said a large selections of cakes had been baked by the public for the event and transported to Windsor Castle.

She said: 'The lovely thing about her, nothing goes to waste.

'So there are all these lovely cakes and when she has a private party... the cakes are there to eat with your coffee - us Scots don't believe in waste.'

In the same interview in 2016, Lady Elizabeth remembered a 'discotheque' she staged for a teenage Charles and his sister, the Princess Royal, in the 1960s.

She described her scepticism over hiring a DJ and said: 'This man (wanted) to charge me 25 to put on gramophone records?

'It took me quite a few years to realise it's a great art form.'

Sophie Wessex and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent were seen talking to the church officials after the ceremony

Mother-of-two Sophie looked very elegant in her green number, while Princess Michael of Kent was timeless in a grey ensemble

Guests wore colourful outfits, including this couple who both wore blue to the St Margaret's Church service

Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands also travelled to London to pay her respect to Lady Elizabeth

The Countess of Wessex attended the service without Prince Edward. She was seen talking to several other guests

Prince and Princess Michael of Kent made a striking pair at the service, him in blue and she in grey

The Countess of Wessex and Princess Michael of Kent seemed to have a pleasant conversation with church officials

Lsdy Gabriella, who looked very stylish in her blue dress, was seen in great conversation with several other guests

Lady Elizabeth also arranged events for other high profile clients including Sir Mick Jagger and Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Her other notable events include Margaret Thatcher's 70th birthday party, a reception for foreign royals before the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel and Sting's wedding.

Lady Elizabeth, who is the sister of late society photographer Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield, married Sir Geoffrey Shakerley at Westminster Abbey in July 1972.

Dame Joanna was seen smiling as she made her way to the service in central London this afternoon

Princess Beatrix travelled all the way from the Netherlands to attend the emotional London service

The Countess of Wessex and Princess Michael warmly greeted each other on their way of the church

Guests included the Queen, the Queen Mother and Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, while Princess Anne served as a bridesmaid.

Sir Geoffrey and Lady Elizabeth had one daughter, Lady Fiona, before divorcing in 2009.

She has been praised for her discreet approach to handling her cousin's social occasions through her company, Party Planners.

However in a rare interview with Tatler magazine in 2012 she offered some insight into the Queen's tastes.

She said: 'For years it was believed that the Queen loved only yellow freesia. They appeared on every table decoration. Until I offered her an alternative and we discovered that she loved all sorts of blooms, from peonies to white roses.

She added: 'The Queen is the most meticulous host. She checks every dining-room setting, every flower, every guest bedroom and always chooses her own menu. We could all learn something from that.'

Princess Beatrix travelled all the way from the Netherlands to attend the emotional London service. She wore navy for the occasion

Princess Michael of Kent sported a pensive expression as he arrived in Westminster this afternoon

Guests in floral dresses were seen making their way to the central London church to say one last goodbye to Lady Elizabeth

Lord Frederick Windsor was seen chatting to an acquaintance on his way into the church earlier today

Lady Elizabeth Shakerley's daughter Fiona attended the service with her husband and their two children

An elegant elderly couple were spotted heading to the service, the woman wore a stylish shawl with a grey hat, meanwhile her male counterparts looked smart in suits

Another group made their way to the church to celebrate the life and work of the Queens cousin

Another duo wearing black and white ensembles made their way to the church with the other guests

Fergie was guided to the service by another guest who was also seen with a programme of the service

Dressed in a black dress and a gold jacket, Sarah Ferguson was seen clutching her programme this afternoon

Paul O'Grady was spotted as he entered the church with other guests for today's memorial service

Princess Michael of Kent wore a pearl grey woolen ensemble with a matching bow in her hair and a small leather handbag
A Big Issue seller shook the Duke of Cambridge's hand and invited him to visit his modular home, after telling William he heard that he had sold the magazine.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met Eamonn Kelly, 52, on a visit to housing charity Jimmy's Cambridge, which supports people on their journey through homelessness.

Mr Kelly, who has sold the Big Issue in Cambridge for 13 years, is one of the first residents in Jimmy's modular homes, which first opened in 2020.

Cambridge is one of the first cities in the UK to explore this solution to tackling homelessness, providing small self-contained independent accommodation for those seeking to continue their journey onto full independent living.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, met with Eamonn Kelly, 52, (pictured) today when visiting housing charity Jimmy's Cambridge, which helps people through their journey of homelessness

Mr Kelly, originally from Belfast, told William: 'I heard you're a Big Issue seller?'

The duke replied: 'Well, I gave it a go.'

Shaking William's hand, Mr Kelly told him: 'Well I work for the Big Issue, I sell in Cambridge.'

He then invited William and Kate into his modular home where they spoke at length.

Afterwards, they spoke with those involved in the project about how to tackle homelessness, and as they returned to their waiting Range Rover William spotted Mr Kelly again.

Eamonn, who has sold Big Issue in Cambridge for 13 years, was thrilled when Prince William called him over at the end of their visit for a picture together

Mr Kelly is one of the first residents at Jimmy's modular homes, which first opened in 2020. He was thrilled to welcome the Duke and Duchess into his home

'There he is,' called out William.

'Eamonn, come here, I'll have a photo with you.

'Who's got your camera?'

Mr Kelly posed for a photo, standing between William and Kate, thanking them for it.

Speaking afterwards, Mr Kelly said: 'They're down to earth people, they're very genuine, they're interested in you as a person, not your past or your future.

'You can't get any better than them two people.'

The Cambridges last visited Jimmy's in 2012 when they opened a hostel for the charity.

Mr Kelly said after the meeting that the royals were genuine and interested in what he had to say and him as a person

Everyone living in one of the modular homes at Jimmy's is provided with a significant support system through the charity's expert team, helping them to tackle issues around mental health, employment, addiction or reconnecting with families. The Duke is pictured here meeting residents

Service user Pete Dean, 59, met William and Kate in 2012 and spoke with them again on Thursday's visit.

The duke told Mr Dean: 'I can't believe it's been 10 years Pete.

'I sat in your room, I sat on your bed talking about what you'd been doing in your life.'

After speaking with the Cambridges in private, Mr Dean, who now has his own flat, said: 'They proper remembered, it was nice.

Afterwards, they spoke with those involved in the project about how to tackle homelessness. They are pictured here with Jimmy's team members deep in discussion

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are pictured here saying goodbye to Eamonn Kelly outside of his modular home

'He said he'd come and see me in another 10 years.

'I had a right long chat with them.

'They're really nice people.'

Mark Allan, chief executive of Jimmy's, said the Cambridges' visit 'means a lot' and William and Kate were 'genuinely interested in tackling homelessness'.

Everyone living in one of the modular homes at Jimmy's is provided with a significant support system through the charity's expert team, helping them to tackle issues around mental health, employment, addiction or reconnecting with families.

The charity said all of this is vital to ensuring that, once someone is in a home, they can remain in it.
A plus-size surfer strutted through Time Square with nothing but a hot pink bikini and a longboard in an attempt to show the world that 'women with curves' can be 'athletes' too.

Elizabeth Sneed - a surfer, model, and body positive influencer originally from Arizona but now living in Honolulu, Hawaii, known as Curvy Surfer Girl to her 70,000 Instagram followers - took to the streets of New York wearing only a bathing suit to celebrate her new collaboration with swimwear company Jolyn Clothing on June 15.

The social media star flaunted her curvy physique while doing a photoshoot for the bathing suit brand in the heart of Manhattan - Time Square - as a slew of onlookers watched on.

She stripped down to her bikini in the popular tourist spot in an attempt to 'represent the changing of women's beauty standards.'

A plus-size surfer strutted through Time Square with nothing but a hot pink bikini and a longboard in an attempt to show the world that 'women with curves' can be 'athletes' too

Confidence: Elizabeth Sneed took to the streets of New York wearing only a bathing suit to celebrate her new collaboration with swimwear company Jolyn Clothing on June 15

The social media star flaunted her curvy physique while doing a photoshoot for the bathing suit brand in the heart of Manhattan - Time Square - as a slew of onlookers watched on

'Yesterday I walked through Time Square in a bikini and a longboard,' she wrote in a behind-the-scenes video from the shoot, which was shot by communications consultant Ida Kay, and was shared to Instagram by Elizabeth earlier this week.

Elizabeth is a surfer, model, and body positive influencer originally from Arizona but now living in Honolulu, Hawaii, who is known as Curvy Surfer Girl to her 70,000 Instagram followers

'I want the world to know that women with curves are surfers and athletes. What better place than New York City to show the world?

'I chose Times Square to represent the changing times of women's beauty standards.'

One clip showed her stomping through the city streets like they were runways in her bright bikini, while another featured her posing up a storm for the shoot in front of a 'small' but 'supportive' crowd of people.

She then shared the final photos to her feed, adding, 'Today were shaping the future of womens surfing by announcing, I have officially joined the @jolynclothing design team.'

Elizabeth said she was excited to help 'shift the tides' with the brand, adding that posing in their swimwear in Times Square will be something that 'lives on in her heart always and forever.'

She gushed: 'I have tears in my eyes because Im so grateful and happy for every single person here to share this moment with me.

'I love you so much! Let's go curvy surfer girls, the sky is literally the limit.'

In a statement to Yahoo Life, Jolyn CEO Mondy Herndon praised Elizabeth for promoting body positivity online, adding that she's helped to 'change the perception about surfer body types.'

Making a statement: She stripped down to her bikini in the popular tourist spot in an attempt to 'represent the changing of women's beauty standards'

'Yesterday I walked through Time Square in a bikini and a longboard,' she wrote in a behind-the-scenes video from the shoot, which she shared to Instagram earlier this week

Powerful queen: One clip showed her stomping through the city streets like they were runways in her bright bikini, while another featured her posing up a storm for the shoot

Jolyn has already released a series of plus-size bathing suits, and according to the outlet, it is 'committed to provide a more expansive range of gear for surfers and athletes in its next collection.'

'I'm thrilled to be by their side ushering in a new generation of women's surfing,' Elizabeth told Yahoo in a statement.

'Collaborating with their team of design experts to create more inclusive high-performance swim is a dream come true not just for me but for the countless women who love the water and need supportive suits to follow their passions.'

People quickly flooded the comment section of her video with their support, with one calling her 'iconic' for walking through Times Square in a bikini.

'Thats so freaking awesome! Way to go on representing women first of all, women surfers, women from Hawaii, and beautiful bodies everywhere,' wrote another person.

Someone else said, 'You are absolutely incredible,' while a fourth called her 'bada**.'

People quickly flooded the comment section of her video with their support, with one calling her 'iconic' for walking through Times Square in a bikini

Elizabeth said she was excited to help 'shift the tides,' adding that posing in their swimwear in Times Square will be something that 'lives on in her heart always and forever'

Elizabeth, who got into surfing in 2017 after she moved to Hawaii, quickly noticed a lack in the clothing sold to women her size who participate in the sport

She launched her Instagram in June 2020 in the hopes of showcasing a different body type and letting other girls who look like her know that they are not alone

'Yassss you are stunning. That confidence!' agreed a different user, while another added, 'You absolutely nailed it.'

Elizabeth, who got into surfing in 2017 after she moved to Hawaii, quickly noticed a lack in the clothing sold to women her size who participate in the sport.

'Surf brands cater towards young females that are in the XXS-Medium category  thats their target demographic and who they are primarily making swimsuits for,' she previously told The Inertia.

'Its part of a long, patriarchal narrative that women are accessories to surfing for men and that they need to be wearing cute, skimpy bikinis.

'If you dont have the right equipment to go out and experience surfing, youre going to feel excluded or think you shouldnt be doing it because its not marketed to you.

'It becomes an obstacle that women have to psychologically push through to even get to the point where theyre in the water surfing.'

She launched her Instagram in June 2020 in the hopes of showcasing a different body type and letting other girls who look like her know that they are not alone.
Queen Letizia of Spain looked immaculate as she attended the second edition of the Retina ECO Awards in Madrid.

The Queen, 49, who attended the wards solo, appeared effortlessly stylish in a black leather wrap midi dress.

She paired the dress with black, strappy stiletto sandals and large diamond hooped earrings.

Queen Letizia of Spain (pictured) looked effortlessly stylish in a black leather wrap dress as she attended the second edition of the Retina ECO Awards in Madrid

Stylish Letizia wore her brunette locks down, just brushing her shoulders, and kept her make up natural and glowing.

She looked beautifully tanned and went for a smoky eye, with dusky bronze eyeliner, statement lashes and tinted pink lipstick.

The mother-of-two attended the awards solo this year.

The award ceremony was organised by newspaper El Pais in collaboration with the consulting firm Capgemini to acknowledge innovators trying to make a difference to the environment.

Stylish Letizia wore her brunette locks down, just brushing her shoulders, and kept her make up natural and glowing

She paired her stylish black dress with black, strappy stiletto sandals and large diamond hooped earrings

The awards took place at Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid and was attended by the Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge Teresa Ribera, Queen Letizia of Spain and PRISA president Joseph Oughourlian.

Last year at the awards Queen Letizia presented four awards at the ceremony for the best projects from 2020 that were designed to improve sustainability and fight against climate change using technology

She looked beautifully tanned and went for a smoky eye, with dusky bronze eyeliner, statement lashes and tinted pink lipstick

The awards took place at Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid and was attended by the Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge Teresa Ribera, Queen Letizia of Spain and PRISA president Joseph Oughourlian

Queen Letizia recently wowed in a stunning zebra-print shirt dress from Hugo Boss as she welcomed guests to The Royal Palace in Madrid two days ago.

Appearing alongside her husband King Felipe VI, she recreated a look she debuted in a royal tour of Cuba in November 2019.

She paired the 369 Hugo Boss dress with the same pair of fuchsia slingback heels which added a splash of colour to the monochrome look.

The award ceremony was organised by newspaper El Pais in collaboration with the consulting firm Capgemini to acknowledge innovators trying to make a difference to the environment

While meeting with government ministers at the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid, Letizia wore a recycled Mango jumpsuit with a monochrome print, which she paired with beige espadrille wedges and a tan belt.

On her first outing in the Hugo Boss dress, Letizia paired it with a fuchsia leather Carolina Herrera bag.

Last year at the awards Queen Letizia presented four awards at the ceremony for the best projects from 2020 that were designed to improve sustainability and fight against climate change using technology
The Duchess of Cornwall has been snapped attending a fashion show in Rwanda tonight with her husband Prince Charles.

The couple are in the country for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which was also today attended by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife, Carrie.

For the event this evening, Camilla, 74, donned a chic all-white outfit for the Kigali Fashion Week, wearing a long tunic over loose fitting trousers.

She wore her locks down, styled into a sharp, curled look, and opted for light make-up, matching warm pink blush with a dark eye, and natural lip.

Meanwhile, she opted for statement jewellery, wearing dangling earrings, and a gold pendant with diamonds embedded.

Camilla (pictured, left) attended Kigali Fashion Week at Kigali Arena this evening with her husband Prince Charles

The Duchess, 74, wore a white tunic for the fashion show, pairing it with dangling statement earrings, and a gold diamond pendant

The royal was snapped looking at all the outfits during the fashion event at at Kigali Arena this evening

Meanwhile Charles opted for a classic double-breasted navy suit, paired with a white shirt and blue tie.

The fashion show appearance followed the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting earlier in the day, which Camilla attended alongside Charles.

During the event, Camilla was snapped having a friendly interaction with Carrie Johnson.

The meeting could have been awkward, after Prince Charles branded the government's Rwanda asylum policy 'appalling', but there was no sign of any tension between the two women.

Indeed, Camilla beamed as she was greeted with a kiss on the cheek by the wife of Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday afternoon at an event for the campaign group Violence Against Women and Girls in Rwanda.

The royal wore a 269 toucan-print dress by the label Bombshell, set up by a former TV costume designer who couldn't find clothes to fit her hourglass curves.

The look of love: during the event, Charles and Camilla were pictured gazing into each others' eyes

Camilla was snapped looking at some of the garments, as she attended the Kigali Fashion Week event earlier this evening

Vibrant: the couple appeared interested as they were shown an item of clothing by one of the designers

Carrie looked bright and summery in a yellow J Crew top which she paired with a blue and green patterned skirt, after changing out of the pink Zara suit she wore for her arrival in Kigali this morning.

As Carrie arrived at the venue she warmly greeted The Duchess with a kiss and they chatted for a few minutes before taking their seats.

Camilla looked typically elegant in a blue floral dress which was cinched at the waist with a belt.

She completed the look with beige pump shoes and accessorised with a gold coin necklace.

The Duchess of Cornwall beamed as she shared a kiss with Carrie Johnson, wife of Prime Minister Boris Johnson at an event on Thursday in Rwanda

Camilla, 74, and Carrie Johnson, 34, attended a Violence Against Women and Girls event at the Kigali Convention Centre

Earlier in the day Camilla was thought how to sign language as she joined children at a fun literary event

As Carrie arrived at the venue she warmly greeted The Duchess and they chatted for a few minutes before taking their seats

Camilla looked typically elegant in a blue floral dress which was cinched at the waist with a belt

She completed the look with beige pump shoes and accessorised with a gold coin necklace and statement chandelier earring

She added height to her frame with nude stilettos and her blonde locks were styled in bouncy curls.

Earlier in the day Camilla was thought how to sign language as she joined children at a fun literary event.

She attended the event at Kigali Public Library in her new role as patron of the charity Book Aid, which she recently took over from the Duke of Edinburgh.

She was greeted by schoolchildren who taught her how to say hello and thank you in sign language as an example of their inclusive learning.

Carrie looked bright and summery in a yellow J Crew top which she paired with a blue and green patterned skirt

The political and climate activist appeared to be in great spirits as she beamed while networking at the event

She added height to her frame with nude stilettos and her blonde locks were styled in bouncy curls

Camilla and Carrie were sat at opposite round tables but they enjoyed a warm conversation before taking their seats

The Royal made a powerful speech at the event which took place at the Kigali Convention Centre

The Royal also helped a group of visually and hearing impaired youngsters play a number game and afterwards presented them with a collection of books as a donation to the library.

The collection included short Commonwealth Essay Prize stories called A River of Stories as well as Michael Morpurgo's There Once is a Queen.

When she arrived she immediately bent down to ask the children if they liked reading and what their favourite books were.

One little girl replied: 'The Dirty Detective' to which Camilla laughed: 'My goodness me!'

Earlier in the day Camilla attended an event at Kigali Public Library in her new role as patron of the charity Book Aid, which she recently took over from the Duke of Edinburgh

She was greeted by schoolchildren who taught her how to say hello and thank you in sign language as an example of their inclusive learning

The Duchess spoke to students using sign language during the event for the Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition and Book Aid International

The Duchess was joined by Jeannette Kagame, who is the wife of the President of Rwanda and young children

The Duchess toured the library's facilities with the First Lady of Rwanda and Jeannette Kagame, Director of Kigali Public Library, who told her: 'We like the children to think of this as a playground not just a place to come and learn.'

After viewing an exhibition of front covers and learning more about Book Aid's International's work in Rwanda, she was shown Nabu's 'Creative Lab' for children's book illustrators.

'So where did you learn to draw! Have you been drawing since you were a child,' she asked one young man who was busy tapping away on a computer.

Sweet! Camilla spoke to a group of children about their favourite books during her visit to the library

The Royal also helped a group of visually and hearing impaired youngsters play a number game and afterwards presented them with a collection of books as a donation to the library

Camilla looked in deep concentration helped a boy with a tricky number game while she was at the library

She continued: 'I think you are very lucky to have such talent. It must be a love lot thing to do. I could sit all day doing this. It would be such fun.'

Camilla and the First Lady then visited the Children's Corner where they met an excited group of youngsters listening to an enthusiastic reading of the Rwandan story Handa's Surprise.

The duchess sat down with the children, smiling as they excitedly answered questions about the story and looking delighted as the children taught her how to sign.

Camilla then visited the Children's Corner where they met an excited group of youngsters listening to an enthusiastic reading of the Rwandan story Handa's Surprise

The duchess sat down with the children, smiling as they excitedly answered questions about the story and looking delighted as the children taught her how to sign

She laughed with a young girl in school uniform as they answered questions together about a story

Camilla, who is the Vice President of the Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition, was delighted to hear about how a record number of children from around the world had entered this year - 26,000 in all - with a 5345 per cent increase in Rwanda alone.

'I've seen some of the stories and they are brilliant, absolutely amazing,' she said as she met four of the 2021 Rwandan finalists and learnt more about its new digital innovation, Write Around the World.

Outside she got stuck into the fun with a group of excited youngsters enjoying Learning Through Play activities including an interactive 'assault' course.

She high-fived several of the children and laughed uproariously as they raced around the grass.

Book Aid's work in Rwanda aims to support all in society, but especially children.

They work with a range of library and NGO partners across the country and have donated 222,224 books to them since 2017.

After viewing an exhibition of front covers and learning more about Book Aid's International's work in Rwanda, she was shown Nabu's 'Creative Lab' for children's book illustrators
As all public figures know, the first outfit you wear when stepping off the plane for an official visit sets the tone for the trip.

And for Carrie Johnson in Rwanda, that tone was glorious hot pink.

From head to elegantly heeled toe, the 34-year-old was dressed in the shade of the moment  Valentinos latest catwalk was entirely hot pink  wearing a pink suit, shirt and shoes in a classic example of tonal dressing.

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Dressed in pink from head-to-toe, Carrie Johnson, 34, steps off a plane in Rwanda with her husband, Boris Johnson. Her double-breasted blazer (79.99), and matching trousers (49.99) are from high-street store Zara

It means wearing one colour only and its currently big news in the fashion world.

Carries double-breasted blazer, 79.99, and matching wide-leg, high-waisted trousers, 49.99, are from high-street favourite Zara and fit her beautifully.

But the matching blouse is where this outfit really comes into its own.

Because the key to mastering the tonal dressing trend is to break up the block colour with different textures.

Carrie then changed into a striking yellow top from J Crew as she attended a Violence Against Women and Girls event at the Kigali Convention Centre in Kigali, Rwanda. She teamed the sleeveless polka-dot blouse with a full skirt in a playful blue and green print and simple nude court shoes

PICTURED: Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson arriving at a welcome reception and state banquet hosted by the President of Rwanda on day four of the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)

With her striking pink leopard-print silk shirt from British brand Tabitha Webb, 325, Carrie provides just enough difference to stop her blouse and suit becoming utterly overwhelming.

And her pointed-toe shoes from Dune, 90, cleverly match the slightly darker tones in the shirt to really pull this look together.

Clearly enjoying this seasons trend for block-bright hues, Carrie then changed into a striking yellow top from J Crew (now sold out).

She teamed the sleeveless polka-dot blouse with a full skirt in a playful blue and green print and simple nude court shoes.

Completing the look with a personal touch, the mother of two wore a beaded bracelet spelling out her daughter Romys name.
The anonymous girl, who goes by Raiimouse on TikTok, replied to a video thread

A young Australian woman has called out charity shops for selling secondhand clothes that are pricier than picking up a brand new ensemble from a store like Kmart, Target or Big W.

The anonymous girl, who goes by Raiimouse on TikTok, replied to a video thread with the title: 'What's a scam that's become so normalised that we don't even realise it's a scam anymore?'

She was quick to reply with her thoughts on stores like Lifeline, St Vincent De Paul and the Red Cross, claiming that she felt their prices didn't align with their purpose anymore.

'The fact that it's more expensive to buy the same singlet from Lifeline or St Vincent De Paul then it is to buy it brand new, off the rack, at Kmart,' she said.

'Like it should not be more expensive to buy something secondhand than it is to buy something brand new.

'I don't understand why these charities still need to make so much profit when all the people that work for them are volunteers. It's not actually helping poor people anymore to buy things from there.

'It seems like a scam.'

She clarified to say that individuals who run the charities are most likely paid but those who work at their shop fronts are predominantly volunteers.

Her followers agreed with the sentiment, arguing that times had changed recently.

'Thrift shops used to be so cheap in the 90s and early 2000s. Not anymore,' one fan said.

She clarified to say that individuals who run the charities are most likely paid but those who work at their shop fronts are predominantly volunteers

Poll Do you think charity stores are more expensive these days? Yes No Do you think charity stores are more expensive these days? Yes 599 votes

No 71 votes Now share your opinion





'The word charity being used with these businesses is a joke,' said another.

A third added: 'As a single mum it's hard to afford things secondhand now'.

Not everyone agreed though, with some stating that they needed to earn a profit to pay for leasing the shopfront and a lot of the money goes back into food and clothing appeals.

'I don't think comparing to Kmart is a good idea. Kmart are cheap because of their supply chain,' one woman replied.
A marriage with three partners seldom leaves any of them happy for long. An unsustainable affair, one without a common ideology, only a common enemy, was bound to fail sooner than later, brought down by the unbearable weight of its own contradictions.

The post-election alliance of convenience, without any ideological glue, tangentially against the mandate of the people of Maharashtra, stitched on the slick justification of interpreting politics as the art of the possible, lasted half its term purely as a pursuit of power.

The Shiv Sena got a mandate to form a government in the state as an alliance partner of the BJP, the senior party, but refused to stick to it over a disagreement over the chief ministerial post. The BJP, sensing a mandate being robbed, did its own slick manoeuvring, and came out embarrassed and exposed in the Ajit Pawar-backed oath-taking of Devendra Fadnavis.

Uddhav Thackeray became chief minister, his long-cherished dream after the MVA was created. The Aghadi was a brainchild of Maratha veteran Sharad Pawar who ensured that the NCP and the Congress accepted their ideological opposite, the Shiv Sena, a hardcore Hindutva party, into its fold. Their sole goal  keeping the BJP out of power.

The NCP was eventually the only real beneficiary and controlled the government, and power, while the figurehead Mr Thackeray lost touch with his own party. The retaliation was only a matter of time, of when and by whom, not if. It came but not as a surprise, except for those who missed the signs.

The Rajya Sabha polls, followed by the elections for the members of the Legislative Council left little doubt for real watchers that rebellion was brewing in the Sena ranks. But the party heads were in denial.

Then Eknath Shinde made his surgical strike, claiming Hindtuva was the cause of his action, and evoked the commitment to the late Balasaheb Thackeray to assuage sentiments in the Sena rank and file, preventing any major popular uprising against the MLAs operating from a faraway destination in a safe state.

As the drama unfolded on live TV, Mr Uddhav Thackeray woke up to the realities, too late, and offered too little by way of explanation, or a counter-offer. Clueless throughout, he quickly vacated the official CMs bungalow, but dragged his feet when it came to putting in his resignation.

Amidst it all, the Congress had little role but tried to send its senior leaders, including former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, who must know the pain of this BJP act too well to try to make a difference. They obviously did not succeed. The BJP has kept a happy silence, enjoying the best seats to the show.

As the endgame nears, there are many questions that arise. Should pre-poll alliances which win an election change its partners? Should Central misuse of agencies like the CBI or ED for political ends be taken as a given, or a template created to ensure such risks are minimised? Are horses for courses a pragmatic reality, against which no didactic polemics have a chance?

In the end, there is only one satisfying lesson  the people must get a government they want, reflect, aspire and vote for. The rest is to ensure legal and Constitutional compliance with that will.
A first-time mum has revealed the terrifying moment she thought her newborn daughter would lose a toe, after a piece of her hair got wrapped tightly around it.

Mum Lia Marshall was getting her daughter Amelie ready for bed when she noticed the two-month-old's toe was red and swollen.

Amelie was fussing a little more than usual and her middle toe 'looked angry' but the cause was not immediately obvious, the mum explained.

Then, on further inspection, Lia realised one of her hairs had managed to wrap itself around the baby's toe as they muddled through their bedtime routine.

A first-time mum has revealed the terrifying moment she thought her newborn daughter would lose a toe, after a piece of her hair got wrapped tightly around it

'I couldn't see the hair at first, just the crease from where it had wrapped around her toe,' she said.

When a hair cuts of circulation it is known as hair tourniquet syndrome, and can cause irreparable damage.

Lia had given the baby a bath and sat her on the couch where she was getting ready to put her winter pyjamas on when she noticed the sore foot.

At first she tried to scratch it away with her nail but when that didn't work panic began to set in.

'It was really scary I'm glad her toe was okay I was so scared she was gonna end up losing it,' she said.

By this time the youngster had clocked something was wrong and was screaming in pain.

So Lia took the youngster to the hospital where doctors were able to remove the hair.

The baby's toe was going bright red and had become swollen quickly

What is a hair tourniquet? Hair tourniquet syndrome occurs when a strand of hair or thread wraps tightly around a body part such as the fingers, toes, or genitals. Its a relatively rare condition in adults but much more common in babies and toddlers. If left untreated, hair tourniquet syndrome can cause pain, long-term injury, and loss of function in the affected body part. The condition can affect any body part but is most common in the toes, fingers, and genitals. Cases of hair wrapped around fingers usually occur from birth to 19 months of age, while penile hair tourniquets are most common from 4 months to 6 years of age. Your baby may have hair tourniquet syndrome if they have redness, discoloration, or swelling at their extremities, or are crying more than usual. Hair tourniquet syndrome develops when hairs or threads wrap around the affected area, limiting blood supply and causing pain. Its unknown exactly what makes the hair or thread wrap around the appendage. One possible explanation is that repeated movement of the body part in a restricted space  toes in pajamas, for instance  causes the hair to wrap around tightly. The hair may be hard to see because once it cuts through flesh, the surrounding skin can grow over the wound. Stay alert to signs of increased discomfort, irritability, and crying. Source: Web MD Advertisement

But not before it had cut Amelie's skin, causing her sore toe to bleed profusely once the pressure was released.

Doctors cleaned the wound and the baby started to calm down before spending three hours under observation.

When the plastic surgeons were confident there would be no long lasting damage they allowed the mum and baby to go home.

'She is fine now, you almost wouldn't know if there wasn't a crease on her toe,' Lia said.

But the terrifying incident has been a huge wakeup call for the mum who has added strands of hair to the list of things which can harm her baby.

The baby was observed by doctors by three hours after the hair was removed

'I have learned my lesson and will definitely keep checking her toes for hairs,' she said.

She is sharing her story to make sure other parents know how serious a rogue, tightly-wound hair can be.

'If you have a baby please check their fingers and toes! Id hate to think how bad it would have been if I hadnt have spotted it last night,' she said.

The family are happy to have noticed the hair and saved Amelie's toe

Doctors told the mum the emergency - known as a hair tourniquets is very common in young babies.

While baby first aid page Tiny Hearts Education recommend parents have hair removal cream handy in case it happens to their child.

The cream should only be used if the hair hasn't broken the skin, and should safely dissolve the hair and return circulation.

Baby boys' genitals can also be effected by hair tourniquet's.
A boutique 70s-style motel has reopened on Australia's east coast after being treated to a lavish makeover complete with a heated pool, relaxation room and 'cantina' filled with wine, beer, sunscreen and chocolate.

The Isla, situated in a charming town in the Eurobodalla region of the NSW south coast, is just a stone's throw away from Bateman's Bay and sits opposite a fantastic dog beach.

Sophisticated yet unpretentious and familiar the traditional looking hotel 'with a twist' is home to 18 retro rooms that have been lovingly-restored with modern design and amenities to appeal to a new generation of travellers.

The Isla, situated in a charming town in the Eurobodalla region of the NSW south coast, is just a stone's throw away from Bateman's Bay and sits opposite a fantastic dog beach

Sophisticated yet unpretentious and familiar the traditional looking hotel 'with a twist' is home to 18 retro rooms that have been lovingly-restored with modern design and amenities to appeal to a new generation of travellers

Each room features stunning bespoke oak furnishings, terrazzo features, brushed brass accents and dreamy A.H Beard beds, and are fitted with contactless check-in so guests can access via their mobile phone.

There are also three suites; Poco which sits above the motel's refurbished pool and pool lounge; Vista boasting the best view of the ocean, and Grande, the largest suite in the collection - complete with its own private plunge pool.

In a nod to the motel's 80s past, the old garage has been converted into a pool lounge that flows into a communal dining area surrounding a new pool.

Instead of a minibar, guests will visit The Isla's Cantina, a new concept where bespoke vending machines offer carefully curated and locally sourced artisan products, such as Dangerous Ales beer, cocktails from Poor Toms Gin and ST ALi espresso martinis.

Australian designers are also proudly featured, with seating furniture from Design by Them, lighting from Coco Flip Design Studio and artworks from Vynka Hallam and Tegan Franks.

In a nod to the motel's 80s past, the old garage has been converted into a pool lounge that flows into a communal dining area surrounding a new pool

Designed by friends, for friends, the boutique motel is the passion project of a group of Canberra professionals, all based within an hour and a half of the popular holiday destination

Designed by friends, for friends, the boutique motel is the passion project of a group of Canberra professionals, all based within an hour and a half of the popular holiday destination.

'The challenges of the last few years have given us a new-found appreciation for what we have here - our beautiful Australian backyard,' The Isla co-founder Yanna Dascarolis said.

'There is something so wonderfully nostalgic about the Australian motel; it feels like a home away from home. We instantly fell in love with this property and saw the potential to create something truly special; it was an honour to be able to give it a new lease of life'.

The motel is surrounded by some of the world's best oysters and picturesque walking tracks, making it the perfect setting for a relaxing holiday.

After a tough two years of bushfires and lockdowns, The Isla's founders are ecstatic that the moment of opening has finally dawned and are eager to provide tourists an opportunity to rediscover Batemans Bay once more.

The motel is surrounded by some of the world's best oysters and picturesque walking tracks, making it the perfect setting for a relaxing holiday

Those that have already experienced the motel since it opened in February have given it a 9.2 star rating out of 10

Dascarolis continues: 'We're so excited for people to rediscover Batemans Bay. It is a magnificent pocket of the world and the ideal hideaway to get off the grid. Pristine beaches, vast leafy stretches and a beautiful community of people. What more could you want?'

Those that have already experienced the motel since it opened in February have given it a 9.2 star rating out of 10.

'Can only thoroughly compliment the interior as well as exterior design. Quality furniture and fittings. Quality products in bathroom and room details such as art work and glassware, coffee. Great common room with access to small but perfectly formed pool area. The Isla is a beautifully formed and executed accommodation,' one guest wrote.

'Loved the brand new rooms and the communal room with the fire place and pool was gorgeous,' said another.

A third added: 'Lovely modern hotel with everything you need for a short getaway. Great recommendations on arrival for the best local beaches and places to eat. Room was spotless and check in and out really easy with the codes.'

Room rates start from $200 and bookings are available online at www.theisla.com.au.
Covid vaccines saved almost 20million lives during the first year of their existence, according to estimates.

British grandmother Maggie Keenan became the first person in the world to get an approved jab on December 8, 2020.

Pfizer's rapid discovery of an effective vaccine, and the later roll-out of jabs made by AstraZeneca, Moderna and others, paved the way out of the pandemic.

Now a team of researchers have calculated the benefits of the jabs, estimating they saved 19.8million lives across 185 countries within the first 12 months of being used.

Led by academics at Imperial College London, the team claimed more deaths were prevented in wealthy countries (12.2 million).

They found a further 7.5million lives were saved in countries covered by the Covid-19 Vaccine Access initiative (Covax), designed to provide jabs to poorer nations.

Yet the academics also found a further 600,000 deaths could have been prevented had the World Health Organization's (WHO) target of vaccinating 40 per cent of the population in every country by the end of 2021 been met.

The majority of the preventable deaths, as they were branded, were in Africa.

A new study suggests almost 20million lives were saved by Covid vaccines in the first year since countries began rolling out the jabs the majority in wealthy nations

This map shows the deaths averted by the Covid jabs across the world between in the year after December 8 2020 when the first Covid vaccine was dished out in the UK. A darker shade of red indicates more lives saved and show the impact of jabs was biggest in wealthy countries more able to dish them out

This graph shows the percentage of people vaccinated with two or just one doses of Covid vaccines. According to this data the UK is in the middle of the top performers with 73 per cent of the population double jabbed. The global average is 61 per cent

Moderna claims Omicron-specific vaccine could be 'turning point' Covid jab maker Moderna claims its new Omicron-specific vaccine could be a 'turning point' in the pandemic. A study of the new jab on 800 people found it boosted antibody levels against the Omicron variant eight-fold. But it did not elicit as many antibodies against the BA.4 and BA.5, which are dominant in the UK, suggesting the jab is already getting weaker. The improvement over its existing jab raises hopes that it will provide longer lasting protection, and remove the need for repeated boosters so often. The results come as the NHS urges around a million eligible older Brits to get a fourth dose amid a surge in Covid cases fuelled by the two sub-strains. Moderna's new jab was developed to target Omicron as well as the Wuhan strain, compared to current jabs which only contain the genetic code of the original virus. The company's chief medical officer, Dr Paul Burton, said: 'We think this is a strong, powerful antibody response, it is probably long lasting.' Several offshoots of Omicron have spawned since the highly infectious parent strain became world-dominant late last year. Experts believe it is unlikely that an entire new variant will replace the dominant family of strains anytime soon. Many expect the pandemic to settle into a pattern which sees new Omicron subvariants emerge every so often. Advertisement

Today, only 60 per cent of the world's population have received both primary doses of a Covid vaccine.

Of the lives saved, experts estimated 15.5million were a result of the jabs protecting against severe symptoms of Covid.

Another 4.3million deaths were estimated to have been stopped indirectly by Covid jabs helping reduce transmission, and stopping health systems being overwhelmed.

Lead scientist Dr Oliver Watson said: 'Covid vaccination has substantially altered the course of the pandemic, saving tens of millions of lives globally.

'However, inadequate access in low-income countries has limited the impact.'

The study, published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, looked at data on vaccination rates, Covid deaths and excess death records.

Experts based at Johns Hopkins University estimate 6.3million people have died from Covid around the world.

Meanwhile, some 11.6 billion jabs have been delivered.

Responding to the study, the head of the NHS vaccine programme, Steve Russell, said it was fantastic to demonstrate the life-saving impact of Covid jabs.

'It is now fantastic to see the impact of the speed and precision of the NHS Covid vaccination rollout, how it contributed to saving hundreds of thousands of lives across the country, but also paved the way for the rest of the world to follow our lead,' he said.

Before jabs came about, Britain and other countries had little option but to adopt economically-crippling lockdowns.

Letting the virus 'rip' through populations could have killed hundreds of thousands in Britain alone, Government advisers warned.

But vaccines allowed countries to build-up immunity levels safely, without exposing millions with no protection to the virus. It means the virus now poses no more of a risk than flu.

As a result, policymakers in Britain  and elsewhere  felt confident it was the right time to return to pre-Covid life, opening up their crippled economies to tackle the damaging effects of restrictions.

The jab that started it all. British grandmother Maggie Keenan getting the world's first approved jab on December 8 2020

Covid cases surged by 40 per cent in England last week in what is feared to be the start of a fresh wave of the virus, official figures show. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates 1.13million people were infected on any given day in the week ending June 10, the equivalent of one in 50 of the population. That figure is up 42 per cent on the previous week

This Government chart shows the percentage of the eligible population who have received various Covid jabs. This data suggests 87 per cent of the UK population has had at least two Covid vaccine doses

The study comes as the NHS is attempting to ramp-up its spring booster campaign in response to a recent surge in Covid cases.

Infections have jumped 40 per cent over the past fortnight, with the outbreak fuelled by the spread of two new Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5.

Health chiefs are urging a million eligible older Britons to get their fourth dose this month, so they have time between jabs ahead of an autumn booster.

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show one in 50 people in England were infected in the week to June 11, roughly 1.1million.

Rates were highest in Scotland (one in 30) followed by Northern Ireland and Wales (both one in 45).

The ONS' weekly infection survey has become the best barometre of the outbreak in the post-pandemic era after free testing was axed and the daily dashboard was scaled down.

Hospital admissions for Covid have also started to increase, piling extra pressure on an already overwhelmed NHS.
You could be forgiven for thinking polio was a disease resigned to history.

The paralysis-causing disease was officially eradicated in the UK in 2003 and the last domestic outbreak was in the 1980s. But dwindling vaccination rates, in part due to complacency, appear to have allowed polio to creep back in decades later.

The archaic disease has existed as long as human civilisation itself, with the earliest records dating back to ancient Egypt.

But it was until the 1800s that outbreaks began to really take off.

Millions of Brits will remember the devastation polio caused in the early 1950s and why it was one of the most feared infections in the world. The UK was rocked by a series of polio epidemics in the mid-20th century that saw thousands crippled by the virus each year.

Mary Berry, the ex-Great British Bake Off judge, was hospitalised after contracting polio aged 13, leaving her with a twisted spine and damaged left hand.

Despite being eradicated in most of the world, it still spreads in two countries  Afghanistan and Pakistan  while parts of Africa suffer flare-ups of vaccine-derived versions of the virus.

Here, MailOnline takes a look at the history of the virus:

1500 BC

Polio epidemics, when the virus is constantly spreading within a community, did not start happening until the late 1800s.

But records suggest it dates back to as early as 1570 BC in ancient Egypt.

This is based on a drawing on a stele  a stone slab  which shows a priest with a withered leg and using a cane to help him walk.

And an Egyptian ruler called Siptah, who died in 1188 BC, is thought to have had polio based on his deformed left leg and foot, spotted by archaeologists who found his mummy in 1905.

1700s

But apart from these two incidents, polio largely vanished from the record books until it was logged in in 1789 by London-based Dr Michael Underwood.

He published the first clear description of polio in infants, who are particularly vulnerable to the disease, in a medical textbook, calling it 'debility of the lower extremities'.

Records show polio dates back to as early as 1570 BC in ancient Egypt. This is based on a drawing on a stele - a stone slab (pictured) - which shows a priest with a withered leg and using a cane to help him walk

1800s

In the early 1800s, a handful of polio cases were sporadically reported in medical journals.

But scientists believe people were commonly exposed to the virus in the typical unhygienic environments of the time, especially when they were young.

However, polioviruses started causing problems in Europe and North America at the end of the 1800s. This was, bizarrely, blamed on sanitation improving.

Polio spreads through consuming an infected person's faecal matter  which can happen as a result of poor hand hygiene.

While better water and sewage systems saw the demise of typhoid and cholera, outbreaks of polio became more common.

Three-quarter of those who become infected don't have symptoms. But around a quarter suffer a flu-like illness, including a sore throat, fever and tiredness.

Up to one in 200 will develop more serious symptoms that affect their brain and spinal cord, including paralysis.

Professor Ian Jones, a virologist at Reading University, explained the virus 'wasnt a problem until hygiene improved'.

Previously, low levels of infection would have given immunity to people but the unforeseen circumstance of better living conditions was that this declined and polio 'took off', he said.

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline that although polio has been around for centuries or millennia, it was only during the early part of the 20th century that big epidemics of paralytic polio took off.

He explained: 'When every child got infected with poliovirus in the first couple of years of life you still saw some paralysis but it was only when infections were delayed until older age that such paralysis became more common.

'Young children who contract poliovirus infection generally suffer only mild symptoms, but delay those infections to teens and adulthood and paralysis becomes more common.'

The first epidemic struck more than a dozen people in Norway in 1868, while the second, which occurred 13 years later, caused a similar number of confirmed cases in Sweden. An outbreak in the US in 1894 saw 132 people infected.

Early 1900s

It was in 1916 that the first large-scale epidemic took hold in Brooklyn, New York, with more than 9,000 cases and 2,000 deaths.

The outbreak spread to the rest of the US and led to more than 27,000 cases and 6,000 polio deaths that year.

Newspapers published the names and addresses of infected people, 'keep out' notices were nailed to their doors and their families were quarantined.

Parents were urged to keep their children away from public spaces, such as swimming pools, parks and beaches, over virus fears.

The outbreak triggered concern across the world and sped up research into the illness.

Scientists had already made some progress in understanding and treating the virus.

In 1840, German orthopaedic Dr Jacob von Heine had become the first to produce a robust study on polio. He suggested that the disease may be contagious.

By 1908, Austrian physicians Karl Landsteiner and Erwin Popper said that polio may be caused by a virus.

Early treatments of the disease included tying the paralysed limbs of infected patients to splints, in a bid to stop their muscles from tightening.

But by 1928, an invention called the iron lung was rolled out to revolutionise how the disease was treated. The contraption  a respirator that resembled a 'coffin on legs'  was developed for patients whose lungs were so paralysed that they could no longer breathe unaided. Paul Alexander, 76, from Texas, is still in the machine today  70 years after contracting polio at the age of six in 1952

But by 1928, an invention called the iron lung was rolled out to revolutionise how the disease was treated.

The contraption  a respirator that resembled a 'coffin on legs'  was developed for patients whose lungs were so paralysed that they could no longer breathe unaided.

It was first used that decade to save an American child infected with the virus who needed help breathing. The majority patients stayed inside the chamber for short spells until their lungs recovered.

But some struck down by permanent paralysis stayed inside the machines for the rest of their lives.

Paul Alexander, 76, from Texas, is still in the machine today  70 years after getting polio at the age of six in 1952.

And by 1930, Elizabeth Kenny, a self-trained nurse from Queensland, Australia, developed a treatment applying hot packs to muscles and exercise to keep stimulating nerve cells and avoid long-term muscle damage. The methods are still used today.

As part of the increased focus on research, Australian virologists Sir Macfarlane Burnet and Dame Jean MacNamara identified for the first time that there were three types of the polio virus in 1931.

The fight against the virus was further boosted when a team of scientists at Harvard Medical School, led by Dr Jonas Salk, in the 1940s used blood samples of infected patients to extract and grow the virus in live cells.

Late 1900s

By 1955 the team, with the support of funds from the March of Dimes non-profit organisation, developed the first effective vaccine  an injectable inactive (killed) polio vaccine (IPV).

Nearly 2million children in the US were jabbed as part of the largest medical trials ever seen at the time.

They proved successful and 450million doses of the jab were dished out across the country. Cases subsequently fell from 18 per 100,000 people to two per 100,000.

The following decade, a team at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, led by medical researcher Dr Albert Sabin, developed a second vaccine using a live version of the virus that could be given in drops through the mouth.

This vaccine was much more effective and became the most popular throughout the world.

Politicians in the US didn't support Dr Sabin's oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV), so he tested it in the former Soviet Union.

The USSR rolled out the jab and polio subsequently declined. Drops in cases were also seen in nearby Eastern Europe and Japan.

The US licensed the jabbed in 1961 and it became the main vaccine used worldwide.

The fight against polio was further boosted when a team of scientists at Harvard Medical School, led by Dr Jonas Salk, in the 1940s used blood samples of infected patients to extract and grow the virus in live cells. Pictured: Dr Salk at the Municipal Hospital laboratory in April 1955 after announcement of the successful vaccine results

Great Britain was pronounced clear of polio in 2003 with the last case coming in 1984. A young girl is pictured getting her polio jab in May 1956

By 1955 researchers at Harvard Medical School, with the support of funds from the March of Dimes non-profit organisation, developed the first effective vaccine against polio  an injectable inactive (killed) polio vaccine (IPV). Pictured: children getting a lump of sugar while getting a polio vaccine at a mobile unit in Blackburn in Lancashire, England in 1965

Professor Jonathan Ball, a virologist from the University of Nottingham, told MailOnline that polio had a 'devastating effect' worldwide and the introduction of the two jabs was 'immense'.

Studies throughout the 1970s and 1980s revealed the virus was widespread in many richer nations, which pushed leaders to introduce routine vaccination using the OPV in national immunisations programmes.

The jabs saw polio vanish in developed countries. In the UK, cases fell from a peak of 8,000 a year to just a few hundred before being eradicated.

In the US, infections dropped from a peak of 58,000 to zero just a few years after the jab was dished out.

Kathleen O'Reilly, an associate professor in statistics for infectious disease and expert in polio eradication, told MailOnline: 'After the second world war cases of paralytic polio in England and Wales rose considerably, reaching several thousand cases each year.

'Vaccines were developed in response to these worrying outbreaks, and were introduced in the late 1950s.

'The number of polio cases quickly declined, and since the 1970s only a small number of cases were reported each year. There has not been a single case of polio in the UK since 1984.'

But in poorer nations, where the virus caused fewer outbreaks, uptake was much lower.

The World Health Organization (WHO) launched an worldwide immunisation rollout in 1974, in an attempt to vaccinate all children against polio.

By 1988, the UN health agency set the target of eradicating the virus globally by 2000. Two years later, a global virus surveillance system is set up to detect the virus.

The US logged its last case in 1991, in a three-year-old boy called Luis Fermin Tenorio living in Junin, northern Peru.

The WHO certified the region as polio-free three years later  the duration set by the agency before a nation can be deemed to have eradicated the virus.

A team at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, led by medical researcher Dr Albert Sabin, developed a second vaccine using a live version of the virus that could be given in drops through the mouth. This vaccine was much more effective than the inactivated one, and became the most popular throughout the world. Pictured: a health worker giving a oral polio vaccine to a child in Karachi, Pakistan

There was also success in ridding the world of two wild types of the virus, with type two eradicated in 2015 and type three stamped out by 2019. However, the WHO global goal of eradicating the virus by 2000 has still not been met. Polio is endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pictured: a child in Kabul, Afghanistan being given the oral vaccine in November 2021

2000

Nearly every country in the world used the oral polio vaccine in their rollout. But after infections were brought under control in the US and the UK, both countries stopped using this vaccine  in 2000 and 2004, respectively. Other nations followed suit.

While the oral version provides higher levels of protection against infection  meaning it is more effective at limiting spread in endemic countries  the weakened live virus in the vaccine can mutate on very rare occasions and cause paralysis.

It can also spread to others and cause an outbreak of vaccine-derived polio.

Professor Hunter explained that the live vaccine does a better job at stopping infection 'but can very rarely cause paralysis'.

Meanwhile, the inactivated vaccine 'doesnt cause infection and is still excellent at stopping paralysis but not quite as good at preventing infection', he said.

Only a handful still use the oral vaccine.

In 2002, Europe was certified as polio-free. Its final case was logged in a 33-month-old child in Turkey in 1999.

The Western Pacific was labelled polio-free in 2000, with the last confirmed infection being in a 15-month-old girl called Mum Chanty in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. And the WHO confirmed South East Asia is virus free in 2014.

There was also success in ridding the world of two wild types of the virus, with type two eradicated in 2015 and type three stamped out by 2019.

However, the WHO global goal of eradicating the virus by 2000 has still not been met. Polio is endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Travellers from these two nations frequently spread the virus to other countries.

2010

China lost its polio-free status in 2011 after the infection spread to the country from Pakistan. However, it regained it after the outbreak fizzled out.

Professor Ball explained: 'The live vaccine has proven to be incredibly effective at eliminating the virus.

'But on rare occasions it can revert to wild-type and cause the disease; that's why countries that do get rid of the virus switch to using killed vaccine to keep their populations safe.'

Professor Jones said the dilemma around polio is now around eradication. 'Is it worth the cost in terms of money and lives lost to eradicate the last few cases or is it better to maintain where we are?

'Lastly, another dilemma, if it is eradicated how long do you continue to vaccinate and with what?'

UK health chiefs revealed polio could be spreading in the community for the first time in four decades after the virus was spotted in sewage samples in parts of London on June 22, 2022. It is a vaccine-derived strain.

The virus was detected at the Beckton sewage treatment works, which covers a population of four million in north and east London

But there are signs it is spreading between people as officials have picked up several samples from different people, each with new mutations.

Professor Hunter added: 'Whilst most of the world has moved away from live attenuated vaccine some countries still use it and there is a risk that you can get secondary infections (generally a family member) which very rarely can be associated with paralysis in someone who has not been immunised.

'The concern here is that even a vaccine derived virus if it continues to spread could eventually recover its full virulence over a year or two and then cause an outbreak of paralytic polio in people who have not been vaccinated and that would be a disaster.

'So probably the current situation does not pose an immediate threat to public health but if transmission goes on long enough and the virus recovers its virulence it could become a public health disaster.'

How long does the polio vaccine last? What are the virus' symptoms? How many people are infected in the UK? EVERYTHING you need to know amid fears paralysis-causing virus is spreading

WHAT IS POLIO? Polio is a serious viral infection that used to be common all over the world. The virus lives in the throat and intestines for up to six weeks, with patients most infectious from seven to 10 days before and after the onset of symptoms. But it can spread to the spinal cord causing muscle weakness and paralysis. The virus is more common in infants and young children and occurs under conditions of poor hygiene. How deadly is it? Most people show no signs of infection at all but about one in 20 people have minor symptoms such as fever, muscle weakness, headache, nausea and vomiting. Around one in 50 patients develop severe muscle pain and stiffness in the neck and back. Less than one per cent of polio cases result in paralysis and one in 10 of those result in death. Of those who develop symptoms, these tend to appear three-to-21 days after infection and include: High temperature

Sore throat

Headache

Abdominal pain

Aching muscles

Nausea and vomiting How does it spread? People can catch polio via droplets in the air when someone coughs or sneezes, or if they come into contacted with the faeces of an infected person. This includes food, water, clothing or toys. Are there different strains? There are three strains of 'wild' polio, which has been largely eradicated throughout Europe, the Americas, Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. Types 2 and 3 were eliminated thanks to a global mass vaccine campaign, with the last cases detected in 1999 and 2012 respectively. The remaining, type 1, wild polio remains endemic in only two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Wild polio has been eliminated in almost every country in the world thanks to vaccines. But the global rollout has spawned new types of strains known as vaccine-derived polioviruses. These are strains that were initially used in live vaccines but spilled out into the community and evolved to behave more like the wild version. Is polio still around in the UK? The last polio outbreak was in the 1970s. The last case of person-to-person transmission in the UK was in 1984, which also marked the last wild polio case. But there have been several dozen cases of vaccine-derived polioviruses, although they have been one-offs, with no onward transmission. Am I vaccinated against polio? The polio vaccine is offered as part of the NHS routine childhood vaccination programme. It is given at age eight, 12 and 16 weeks as part of the six-in-one vaccine and then again at three years as part of a pre-school booster. The final course is given at age 14. Uptake has fallen slightly nationally during the Covid pandemic but remains above 90 per cent nationally. Rates are lower in London and in poor and ethnic minority communities. Just 86.7 per cent of one-year-olds in London have had their first dose dose of polio vaccine compared to the UK average of 92.6 per cent. There are concerns vaccine hesitancy has risen during the Covid crisis due to misinformation spread about jabs for that virus and school closures. Advertisement

Wasn't polio eradicated?

There are three versions of wild polio  type one, two and three.

Type two was eradicated in 1999 and no cases of type three have been detected since November 2012, when it was spotted in Nigeria.

Both of these strains have been certified as globally eradicated.

But type one still circulates in two countries  Pakistan and Afghanistan.

These versions of polio have been almost driven to extinction because of vaccines.

But the global rollout has spawned new types of strains known as vaccine-derived polioviruses.

These are strains that were initially used in live vaccines but spilled out into the community and evolved to behave more like the wild version.

How many people are infected?

Health chiefs haven't yet detected an actual case.

Instead, they have only spotted the virus in sewage samples.

But they said several closely-related polio viruses were found in sewage samples taken in North and East London between February and May.

This suggests there has 'likely' been spread between linked individuals who are now shedding the strain in their faeces.

The UK Health Security Agency is investigating if any community transmission is occurring.

It is hoped that the cases will be confined to a single household, or extended family.

How does it spread?

It is spreads between people through contact with food, water, or objects that have been contaminated with the faeces of someone infected.

Places with a high population, poor sanitation and high rates of diarrhoea-type illnesses are particularly at risk of seeing polio spread.

Unvaccinated people are at a high risk of catching the infection.

There is some concern that the virus appears to be spreading in London, which has poorer polio vaccine uptake than the rest of the country.

How is polio diagnosed?

Doctors can spot polio based on their symptoms.

If a person is in the first week of an illness, a throat swabs is taken, or a faeces or blood sample can be taken up to four weeks after symptoms began.

The sample is then sent to a laboratory, with tests then confirming whether the virus is present.

What does a national incident mean?

UKHSA guidelines set out that when a vaccine-derived polio virus is spotted in Britain.

This instructs health chiefs to set up a national response to manage and coordinate how it responds.

It includes joining up local public health teams.

While the polio samples have only been spotted in London, health chiefs say it is vital to ensure other parts of the country are aware and taking necessary action to protect people in their area.

How is polio treated?

There is no cure for polio, although vaccines can prevent it.

Treatment can only alleviate its symptoms and lower the risk of long-term problem.

Mild cases  which are the majority  often pass with painkillers and rest.

But more serious cases may require a hospital stay to be hooked up to machines to help their breathing and be helped with regular stretches and exercises to prevent long-term problems with muscles and joints.

In the 1920s, the iron lung  a respirator that resembled a 'coffin on legs'  was used to treat polio.

It was first used that decade to save a child infected with the virus who needed help breathing.

Paul Alexander, 76, from Texas, is still in the machine today, 70 years later, after contracting polio at the age of six in 1952.

I missed out on a vaccine as a child, can I still get it?

Health chiefs have encouraged everyone who is unvaccinated against polio to contact their GP to catch up.

However, they warned vaccination efforts in London will focus initially on reaching out to parents of under-fives that have not had or missed their jabs, amid fears it is spreading in the capital.

The NHS currently offers the polio jab as part of a child's routine vaccination schedule. The polio vaccine is included in the six-in-one vaccination, which is given to children when they are eight, 12 and 16 weeks old.

When polio weakened muscles used in breathing, patients used to be treated using an 'iron lung'. Pictured: A female patient in her iron lung at Fanzakerley hospital in Liverpool, now called Aintree University Hospital

WHAT JABS SHOULD I HAVE HAD BY AGE 18 Vaccinations for various unpleasant and deadly diseases are given free on the NHS to children and teenagers. Here is a list of all the jabs someone should have by the age of 18 to make sure they and others across the country are protected: Eight weeks old 6-in-1 vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and hepatitis B.

Pneumococcal (PCV)

Rotavirus

Meningitis B 12 weeks old Second doses of 6-in-1 and Rotavirus 16 weeks old Third dose of 6-in-1

Second doses of PCV and men. B One year old Hib/meningitis C

Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)

Third dose of PCV and meningitis B Two to eight years old Annual children's flu vaccine Three years, four months old Second dose of MMR

4-in-1 pre-school booster for diptheria, tetanus, polio and whooping cough 12-13 years old (girls) HPV (two doses within a year) 14 years old 3-in-1 teenage booster for diptheria, tetanus and polio

MenACWY Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

Protection against polio is boosted in top-up jabs when youngers are three-years-and-four-months old and when they are 14.

Most Londoners are fully jabbed against polio. But uptake is not 100 per cent.

How long does protection from the polio vaccine last?

Scientists do not know how long people who received the inactivated polio vaccine, the one used in the UK, lasts for.

But they expect it provide immunity for years after getting jabbed.

Two doses are 90 per cent effective, while three doses are 100 per cent effective.

Can it kill?

Polio can kill in rare cases. But it is more famous for causing paralysis, which can lead to permanent disability and death.

Up to a tenth of people who are paralysed by the virus die, as the virus affects the muscles that help them breathe.

What are polio's symptoms?

Three-quarters of people infected with polio do not have any visible symptoms.

Around one-quarter will have flu-like symptoms, such as a sore throat, fever, tiredness, nausea, a headache and stomach pain. These symptoms usually last up to 10 days then go away on their own.

But up to one in 200 will develop more serious symptoms that can affect the brain and spinal cord. This includes paraesthesia  pins and needles in the leg  and paralysis, which is when a person can't move parts of the body.

This is not usually permanent and movement will slowly come back over the next few weeks or months.

However, even youngsters who appear to fully recover from polio can develop muscle pain, weakness or paralysis as an adult  15 to 40 years after they were infected.

Do vaccines cause polio?

Although extremely rare, cases of vaccine-derived polio have been reported.

They do not make the vaccinated person ill but rather cause them to shed tiny pieces of the virus, which can then infect other, unvaccinated people.

This is only the case with the oral polio vaccine, which uses a live and weakened version of the virus to stimulate an immune response.

But, over time, the strain can mutate to behave more like wild versions of polio.

How did polio end up in the UK?

The polio spotted in Britain was detected in sewage, which is monitored by health chiefs, rather than in a person.

This suggests the virus has been imported from a country where the live polio vaccine is still being used.

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, said: 'Such vaccine derived transmission events are well described and most ultimately fizzle out without causing any harm but that depends on vaccination coverage being improved.'

Polio used to paralyse millions of children around the world every year in the 1940s and 1950s but has been eliminated in virtually every country thanks to vaccines

The remaining, type 1, wild polio remains endemic in only two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan but parts of Africa still suffer flare-ups

Could this trigger an outbreak?

Uptake of the polio vaccine is around 90 per cent across the UK so it is unlikely to cause a massive outbreak.

But it has dipped further over the last year due to the knock-on effects of the pandemic.

There are concerns vaccine hesitancy has risen during the Covid crisis due to misinformation spread about jabs for that virus and school closures.

Experts say the best way to prevent the virus from spreading is for Britons to ensure their vaccinations are up to date, especially for children.

Dr Kathleen O'Reilly, an associate professor in statistics for infectious disease and expert in polio eradication, said that all countries are at risk of an outbreak until all polio cases are stopped globally.

This 'highlights the need for polio eradication, and continued global support for such an endeavour', she added.

When was last time Britain saw a case of polio?

The last time someone caught polio within the UK was in 1984 and Britain was declared polio-free in 2003.

But there have been dozens of imported cases since then, which are often detected in sewage surveillance.

However, these have always been one-off findings that were not detected again and occurred when a person vaccinated overseas with the live oral polio vaccine travelled to the UK and shed traces of the virus in their faeces.

Now, UK health officials have detected several closely-related viruses in sewage samples taken between February and May. This finding suggests there has been spread between close contacts in North and East London, where the samples were collected.

Where did polio originate?

Polio epidemics, when the virus is constantly spreading within a community, did not start happening until the late 1800s.

But scientists say that it is an ancient disease that first struck people in Egypt as early as 1570 BC. This is based on depictions of paralysis and weak limbs from that time.

A doctor in London was the first to publish a clear description of polio in infants in a medical textbook in 1789.
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Fewer than half of teenagers in parts of England have been vaccinated against polio, official data suggests as health chiefs sound the alarm over a suspected outbreak of the disease that has been eradicated in Britain for decades.

Parents of unvaccinated children are to be contacted by the NHS as part of a targeted vaccine drive in London  where polio is thought to be spreading  amid fears the disease could take off for the first time in 40 years.

Children are routinely immunised against polio but eight local authorities in England  mostly in the capital  had 50 per cent or lower uptake among Year 9s last year.

Just 35 per cent of 13 and 14-year-olds had received their final booster in Hillingdon, West London, which has the worst coverage in the country, followed by Brent, where a third were fully vaccinated.

London has always lagged behind the rest of the country when it comes to vaccine coverage but rates dropped nationally during the pandemic, linked to a lull in appointments, school closures and a rise in vaccine hesitancy.

Nottingham (50.4 per cent) and Middlesbrough (45.6 per cent) now also have some of the poorest rates, meanwhile coverage is below 60 per cent in Torbay, Leicester, Sandwell, Plymouth, Luton and Devon.

The UK Health Security Agency declared a national incident yesterday after finding multiple positive polio samples in sewage which contained mutations that suggest the virus is evolving as it spreads between people.

They were detected at the Beckton sewage treatment works, which covers a population of four million in north and east London.

It is not clear how far the virus has spread but health experts are concerned doctors no longer recognise the symptoms of polio because it has been eradicated in Britain since 2003.

While the virus can lead to permanent paralysis in rare cases, it typically causes flu-like symptoms that could easily be misdiagnosed as other more common infections, like Covid.

The above map, based on UKHSA data, looks at the share of Year 9s who had all three polio jabs in the 2020/2021 academic year. The final polio booster is offered to all children by the age of 14 as part of the NHS school vaccination programme

Reported cases of polio worldwide from 1980 to 2020: The global rollout of vaccines in the late 20th century has caused cases of the disease to be squashed to just several hundred per year, mostly in Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of Africa where it is still endemic. For comparison, there were more than 60,000 cases at the worst of the polio epidemic in 1982

WHY ARE POLIO VACCINE RATES DWINDLING? Uptake of all 13 routine childhood vaccinations is falling in England. In 2019 the UK lost its 'measles-free' status after a spate of cases, following years of falling MMR jab coverage. Now it appears polio - officially eradicated in Britain in 2003 - has crept back in. So, why are vaccination rates falling across the board? Complacency Many experts believe we have simply 'forgotten' the horrors of now-eradicated diseases that were once devastating to society. Some parents have become complacent and no longer view the disease as a 'concern' to their child, according to Professor David Heymann, an infectious disease expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Polio hasn't caused an outbreak in the UK since the 1970s, which means millions of Britons have never encountered the virus. And the last time someone was paralysed by the disease was 20 years ago. School closures Childhood vaccination rates took a backslide during the pandemic, which has been partly attributed to school closures. Youngsters in the UK are offered jabs in school as part of the NHS vaccination programme. Boris Johnson closed England's 24,000 schools for the first time in March 2020, with some children returning briefly from June that year. Classes were then shut again in January 2021 at the start of the Alpha wave before reopening on March 1. Overall, schools in England were shut for longer than in any other European country. It is not a UK-only phenomenon either. Globally, 23million children missed out on basic vaccines through routine immunisation services in 2020  3.7 million more than in 2019, according to the World Health Organization. Stay at home Covid messaging Experts have also warned that telling the British public to stay at home during Covid contributed to a fall in uptake. A team at Imperial College London raised concerns as early as June 2020 that fewer families were going to their GP for vaccines - either for fear of catching Covid or burdening the health service. Rise in vaccine hesitancy There was a rise in the anti-vaxx movement before Covid but the push to get everyone vaccinated against that virus has fuelled the problem. Conspiracy theories and fake news about vaccines were proliferated on social media throughout the pandemic, gaining more traction than ever before. Scepticism about the Covid vaccines is believed to have eroded confidence in other traditional jabs. Advertisement

In total, uptake of the polio jab among Year 9s was below 50 per cent in six London boroughs and a quarter of children in the capital had not had their pre-school polio shot in the 2020/2021 academic year.

These figures are likely an underestimate because some pupils are not offered the final polio booster jab until Year 10, as part of the NHS school vaccination programme.

All children in England are eligible for a jab as babies and then again at three years as part of a pre-school booster, with the final course given at age 14.

The data may also be skewed due to school closures during the pandemic which prevented children from getting their jabs and made data collection more difficult.

Separate NHS figures show that by the age of two, almost 95 per cent of UK children have had the correct number of polio vaccine doses. However, this drops to just under 90 per cent in London.

When it comes to the pre-school booster, just 71 per cent of children in London have had it by the age of five, which has raised concerns the capital is vulnerable to a polio outbreak.

Professor David Heymann, an infectious disease expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said vaccination rates were high but 'not high enough'.

He told the BBC Today programme: 'They must be high enough to stop transmission of this virus and thats only if parents are concerned about their children and take them for vaccination.'

He added: 'There is a suggestion of that because its been picked up in the sewage for the last two or three months.

'So what that means is it likely is circulating throughout a population in the UK or in the London area and thats why mothers should get their children vaccinated.'

Dr Chris Papadopoulos, a public health expert at the University of Bedfordshire, said the polio discovery highlighted how the UK has dropped the ball when it comes combating vaccine stigma in deprived communities.

'The real danger here is steadily decreasing rates of childhood vaccination across the board in many communities in the UK. The statistics show that vaccine hesitancy is increasing and the problem really isn't going to solve itself.

'In the short term, to boost the public's response to the polio situation, the government should offer financial incentives to families, especially those living in deprivation, as it is here that vaccination rates are decreasing the most.

'In the longer term, the growing stigma toward vaccines in childhood means we need a better public health strategy that's underpinned with the latest research, together with real political will to address the problem.'

An investigation has now been launched to trace the positive sewage samples, with north and east London set to be targeted with a vaccination drive. Anyone found to be infected might be asked to isolate.

The UKHSA believes a traveller, possibly from Pakistan, Afghanistan or Nigeria, shed the virus in their faeces after being given a live oral polio vaccine that contains a weakened virus.

It is likely they then infected relatives by failing to wash their hands properly and contaminating food and drink. Officials hope that just one family  or an extended family  have been affected and the outbreak can be contained.

Jane Clegg, chief nurse for the NHS in London, said: 'The NHS will begin reaching out to parents of children aged under five in London who are not up to date with their polio vaccinations to invite them to get protected.'

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he was 'not particularly worried' about polio because of 'excellent' vaccination rates.

Great Britain was pronounced clear of polio in 2003 with the last case coming in 1984, but experts repeatedly found samples of it in the waste water site in London this week.

The virus was detected at the Beckton sewage treatment works, which covers a population of four million in north and east London

Great Britain was pronounced clear of polio in 2003 with the last case coming in 1984, but this week, experts repeatedly found samples of it in a waste water site in London. A young girl is pictured getting her polio jab in May 1956

When polio weakened muscles used in breathing, patients used to be treated using an 'iron lung'. Pictured: A female patient in her iron lung at Fanzakerley hospital in Liverpool, now called Aintree University Hospital

The polio vaccine is given at age eight, 12 and 16 weeks as part of the six-in-one vaccine and then again at three years as part of a pre-school booster. The final course is given at age 14. The World Health Organization has set the threshold of a successful school jabs programme at 95 per cent uptake, which England is failing to hit by all accounts

WHAT IS POLIO? Polio is a serious viral infection that used to be common all over the world. The virus lives in the throat and intestines for up to six weeks, with patients most infectious from seven to 10 days before and after the onset of symptoms. But it can spread to the spinal cord causing muscle weakness and paralysis. The virus is more common in infants and young children and occurs under conditions of poor hygiene. How deadly is it? Most people show no signs of infection at all but about one in 20 people have minor symptoms such as fever, muscle weakness, headache, nausea and vomiting. Around one in 50 patients develop severe muscle pain and stiffness in the neck and back. Less than one per cent of polio cases result in paralysis and one in 10 of those result in death. Of those who develop symptoms, these tend to appear three-to-21 days after infection and include: High temperature

Sore throat

Headache

Abdominal pain

Aching muscles

Nausea and vomiting How does it spread? People can catch polio via droplets in the air when someone coughs or sneezes, or if they come into contacted with the faeces of an infected person. This includes food, water, clothing or toys. Are there different strains? There are three strains of 'wild' polio, which has been largely eradicated throughout Europe, the Americas, Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. Types 2 and 3 were eliminated thanks to a global mass vaccine campaign, with the last cases detected in 1999 and 2012 respectively. The remaining, type 1, wild polio remains endemic in only two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Wild polio has been eliminated in almost every country in the world thanks to vaccines. But the global rollout has spawned new types of strains known as vaccine-derived polioviruses. These are strains that were initially used in live vaccines but spilled out into the community and evolved to behave more like the wild version. Is polio still around in the UK? The last polio outbreak was in the 1970s. The last case of person-to-person transmission in the UK was in 1984, which also marked the last wild polio case. But there have been several dozen cases of vaccine-derived polioviruses, although they have been one-offs, with no onward transmission. Am I vaccinated against polio? The polio vaccine is offered as part of the NHS routine childhood vaccination programme. It is given at age eight, 12 and 16 weeks as part of the six-in-one vaccine and then again at three years as part of a pre-school booster. The final course is given at age 14. Uptake has fallen slightly nationally during the Covid pandemic but remains above 90 per cent nationally. Rates are lower in London and in poor and ethnic minority communities. Just 86.7 per cent of one-year-olds in London have had their first dose dose of polio vaccine compared to the UK average of 92.6 per cent. There are concerns vaccine hesitancy has risen during the Covid crisis due to misinformation spread about jabs for that virus and school closures. Advertisement

Doctors, most of whom will have no direct experience of the disease, were yesterday given reminders of the symptoms and ordered to remain alert. In the worst cases polio can paralyse or even kill.

Most people show no signs of infection at all but about one in 20 people have minor symptoms such as fever, muscle weakness, headache, nausea and vomiting.

Around one in 50 patients develop severe muscle pain and stiffness in the neck and back. Less than one per cent of polio cases result in paralysis and one in 10 of those result in death.

Unvaccinated adults and parents of children who are behind with their polio jabs are urged to contact a GP, and youngsters should have had five doses between the ages of eight weeks and 14 years.

The live oral polio vaccine has not been used in the UK since 2004 but it is still deployed in some countries, particularly to respond to polio outbreaks. This vaccine generates gut immunity and for several weeks after vaccination people can shed the vaccine virus in their faeces.

These viruses can spread in under-protected communities and mutate into a vaccine-derived poliovirus during this process. This behaves more like naturally occurring wild polio and may lead to paralysis in unvaccinated individuals, as has happened abroad.

The UK uses an inactivated polio vaccine, which is given as part of a combined jab to babies, toddlers and teenagers as part of the NHS routine childhood vaccination schedule.

Vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2), the one that has been detected in London, is the most common type. There were nearly 1,000 cases of VDPV2 globally in 2020.

Since 2019 every country in the world has been using vaccines that contain inactivated versions of the virus that cannot cause infection or illness.

But the UKHSA said countries where the virus is still endemic continue to use the live oral polio vaccine (OPV) in response to flare-ups.

That vaccine brought the wild poliovirus to the brink of eradication and has many benefits.

In areas with low vaccination rates, the virus present in the jab can spread and acquire rapid mutations that make it as infectious and virulent as the wild type.

Despite clear signs of transmission, no human cases have yet been identified and officials say the risk to the public remains extremely low because of high vaccination rates.

It is normal for sampling to detect a few traces of poliovirus in sewage each year but these have previously been one-offs but officials say a sample identified in April was genetically linked to one first seen in February.

This has persisted and mutated into a vaccine-derived poliovirus, which is more like the wild type and can cause the same symptoms.

Dr Vanessa Saliba, consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA, said: Vaccine-derived poliovirus is rare and the risk to the public overall is extremely low. Vaccine-derived poliovirus has the potential to spread, particularly in communities where vaccine uptake is lower.

On rare occasions it can cause paralysis in people who are not fully vaccinated so if you or your child are not up to date with your polio vaccinations its important you contact your GP to catch up or, if unsure, check your red book.

'Most of the UK population will be protected from vaccination in childhood, but in some communities with low vaccine coverage, individuals may remain at risk.

We are urgently investigating to better understand the extent of this transmission and the NHS has been asked to swiftly report any suspected cases to the UKHSA, though no cases have been reported or confirmed so far.

During the early 1950s the UK was rocked by a series of polio epidemics, with thousands suffering paralysis each year. Mary Berry, the former Great British Bake Off judge, was hospitalised after contracting polio aged 13, leaving her with a twisted spine and damaged left hand.

Symptoms of polio can include a high temperature, a sore throat, a headache, stomach pain, aching muscles, feeling and being sick. Doctors can test patients stool samples to aid diagnosis.

Nicholas Grassly, professor of vaccine epidemiology at Imperial College London, said: Until polio is eradicated globally we will continue to face this infectious disease threat.

It is estimated there are 120,000 polio survivors in the UK, with the last time someone contracted the disease was 38 years ago in 1984.

How long does the polio vaccine last? What are the virus' symptoms? How many people are infected in the UK? EVERYTHING you need to know amid fears paralysis-causing virus is spreading

Wasn't polio eradicated?

There are three versions of wild polio  type one, two and three.

Type two was eradicated in 1999 and no cases of type three have been detected since November 2012, when it was spotted in Nigeria.

Both of these strains have been certified as globally eradicated.

But type one still circulates in two countries  Pakistan and Afghanistan.

These versions of polio have been almost driven to extinction because of vaccines.

But the global rollout has spawned new types of strains known as vaccine-derived polioviruses.

These are strains that were initially used in live vaccines but spilled out into the community and evolved to behave more like the wild version.

How many people are infected?

Health chiefs haven't yet detected an actual case.

Instead, they have only spotted the virus in sewage samples.

But they said several closely-related polio viruses were found in sewage samples taken in North and East London between February and May.

This suggests there has 'likely' been spread between linked individuals who are now shedding the strain in their faeces.

The UK Health Security Agency is investigating if any community transmission is occurring.

It is hoped that the cases will be confined to a single household, or extended family.

How does it spread?

Like Covid, it can spread when someone inhales particles expelled by an infected person who coughs or sneezes.

But it can also be spread by coming into contact with food, water, or objects that have been contaminated with the faeces of someone infected.

Places with a high population, poor sanitation and high rates of diarrhoea-type illnesses are particularly at risk of seeing polio spread.

Unvaccinated people are at a high risk of catching the infection.

There is some concern that the virus appears to be spreading in London, which has poorer polio vaccine uptake than the rest of the country.

How is polio diagnosed?

Doctors can spot polio based on their symptoms.

If a person is in the first week of an illness, a throat swabs is taken, or a faeces or blood sample can be taken up to four weeks after symptoms began.

The sample is then sent to a laboratory, with tests then confirming whether the virus is present.

What does a national incident mean?

UKHSA guidelines set out that when a vaccine-derived polio virus is spotted in Britain.

This instructs health chiefs to set up a national response to manage and coordinate how it responds.

It includes joining up local public health teams.

While the polio samples have only been spotted in London, health chiefs say it is vital to ensure other parts of the country are aware and taking necessary action to protect people in their area.

How is polio treated?

There is no cure for polio, although vaccines can prevent it.

Treatment can only alleviate its symptoms and lower the risk of long-term problem.

Mild cases  which are the majority  often pass with painkillers and rest.

But more serious cases may require a hospital stay to be hooked up to machines to help their breathing and be helped with regular stretches and exercises to prevent long-term problems with muscles and joints.

In the 1920s, the iron lung  a respirator that resembled a 'coffin on legs'  was used to treat polio.

It was first used that decade to save a child infected with the virus who needed help breathing.

Paul Alexander, 76, from Texas, is still in the machine today, 70 years later, after contracting polio at the age of six in 1952.

I missed out on a vaccine as a child, can I still get it?

Health chiefs have encouraged everyone who is unvaccinated against polio to contact their GP to catch up.

However, they warned vaccination efforts in London will focus initially on reaching out to parents of under-fives that have not had or missed their jabs, amid fears it is spreading in the capital.

The NHS currently offers the polio jab as part of a child's routine vaccination schedule. The polio vaccine is included in the six-in-one vaccination, which is given to children when they are eight, 12 and 16 weeks old.

Protection against polio is boosted in top-up jabs when youngers are three-years-and-four-months old and when they are 14.

Most Londoners are fully jabbed against polio. But uptake is not 100 per cent.

How long does protection from the polio vaccine last?

Scientists do not know how long people who received the inactivated polio vaccine, the one used in the UK, lasts for.

But they expect it provide immunity for years after getting jabbed.

Two doses are 90 per cent effective, while three doses are 100 per cent effective.

Can it kill?

Polio can kill in rare cases. But it is more famous for causing paralysis, which can lead to permanent disability and death.

Up to a tenth of people who are paralysed by the virus die, as the virus affects the muscles that help them breathe.

What are polio's symptoms?

Three-quarters of people infected with polio do not have any visible symptoms.

Around one-quarter will have flu-like symptoms, such as a sore throat, fever, tiredness, nausea, a headache and stomach pain. These symptoms usually last up to 10 days then go away on their own.

But up to one in 200 will develop more serious symptoms that can affect the brain and spinal cord. This includes paraesthesia  pins and needles in the leg  and paralysis, which is when a person can't move parts of the body.

This is not usually permanent and movement will slowly come back over the next few weeks or months.

However, even youngsters who appear to fully recover from polio can develop muscle pain, weakness or paralysis as an adult  15 to 40 years after they were infected.

Do vaccines cause polio?

Although extremely rare, cases of vaccine-derived polio have been reported.

They do not make the vaccinated person ill but rather cause them to shed tiny pieces of the virus, which can then infect other, unvaccinated people.

This is only the case with the oral polio vaccine, which uses a live and weakened version of the virus to stimulate an immune response.

But, over time, the strain can mutate to behave more like wild versions of polio.

How did polio end up in the UK?

The polio spotted in Britain was detected in sewage, which is monitored by health chiefs, rather than in a person.

This suggests the virus has been imported from a country where the live polio vaccine is still being used.

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, said: 'Such vaccine derived transmission events are well described and most ultimately fizzle out without causing any harm but that depends on vaccination coverage being improved.'

Could this trigger an outbreak?

Uptake of the polio vaccine is around 90 per cent across the UK so it is unlikely to cause a massive outbreak.

But it has dipped further over the last year due to the knock-on effects of the pandemic.

There are concerns vaccine hesitancy has risen during the Covid crisis due to misinformation spread about jabs for that virus and school closures.

Experts say the best way to prevent the virus from spreading is for Britons to ensure their vaccinations are up to date, especially for children.

Dr Kathleen O'Reilly, an associate professor in statistics for infectious disease and expert in polio eradication, said that all countries are at risk of an outbreak until all polio cases are stopped globally.

This 'highlights the need for polio eradication, and continued global support for such an endeavour', she added.

When was last time Britain saw a case of polio?

The last time someone caught polio within the UK was in 1984 and Britain was declared polio-free in 2003.

But there have been dozens of imported cases since then, which are often detected in sewage surveillance.

However, these have always been one-off findings that were not detected again and occurred when a person vaccinated overseas with the live oral polio vaccine travelled to the UK and shed traces of the virus in their faeces.

Now, UK health officials have detected several closely-related viruses in sewage samples taken between February and May. This finding suggests there has been spread between close contacts in North and East London, where the samples were collected.

Where did polio originate?

Polio epidemics, when the virus is constantly spreading within a community, did not start happening until the late 1800s.

But scientists say that it is an ancient disease that first struck people in Egypt as early as 1570 BC. This is based on depictions of paralysis and weak limbs from that time.

A doctor in London was the first to publish a clear description of polio in infants in a medical textbook in 1789.

Polio dates back to 1500 BC, crippled rulers in Ancient Egypt and paralysed thousands of children for decades before being almost entirely wiped out by a vaccine that used a weakened version of virus: The disease's history laid bare

You could be forgiven for thinking polio was a disease resigned to history.

The paralysis-causing disease was officially eradicated in the UK in 2003 and the last domestic outbreak was in the 1980s. But dwindling vaccination rates, in part due to complacency, appear to have allowed polio to creep back in decades later.

The archaic disease has existed as long as human civilisation itself, with the earliest records dating back to ancient Egypt.

But it was until the 1800s that outbreaks began to really take off.

Millions of Brits will remember the devastation polio caused in the early 1950s and why it was one of the most feared infections in the world. The UK was rocked by a series of polio epidemics in the mid-20th century that saw thousands crippled by the virus each year.

Mary Berry, the ex-Great British Bake Off judge, was hospitalised after contracting polio aged 13, leaving her with a twisted spine and damaged left hand.

Despite being eradicated in most of the world, it still spreads in two countries  Afghanistan and Pakistan  while parts of Africa suffer flare-ups of vaccine-derived versions of the virus.

Here, MailOnline takes a look at the history of the virus:

1500 BC

Polio epidemics, when the virus is constantly spreading within a community, did not start happening until the late 1800s.

But records suggest it dates back to as early as 1570 BC in ancient Egypt.

This is based on a drawing on a stele  a stone slab  which shows a priest with a withered leg and using a cane to help him walk.

And an Egyptian ruler called Siptah, who died in 1188 BC, is thought to have had polio based on his deformed left leg and foot, spotted by archaeologists who found his mummy in 1905.

1700s

But apart from these two incidents, polio largely vanished from the record books until it was logged in in 1789 by London-based Dr Michael Underwood.

He published the first clear description of polio in infants, who are particularly vulnerable to the disease, in a medical textbook, calling it 'debility of the lower extremities'.

Records show polio dates back to as early as 1570 BC in ancient Egypt. This is based on a drawing on a stele - a stone slab (pictured) - which shows a priest with a withered leg and using a cane to help him walk

1800s

In the early 1800s, a handful of polio cases were sporadically reported in medical journals.

But scientists believe people were commonly exposed to the virus in the typical unhygienic environments of the time, especially when they were young.

However, polioviruses started causing problems in Europe and North America at the end of the 1800s. This was, bizarrely, blamed on sanitation improving.

Polio spreads through consuming an infected person's faecal matter  which can happen as a result of poor hand hygiene.

While better water and sewage systems saw the demise of typhoid and cholera, outbreaks of polio became more common.

Three-quarter of those who become infected don't have symptoms. But around a quarter suffer a flu-like illness, including a sore throat, fever and tiredness.

Up to one in 200 will develop more serious symptoms that affect their brain and spinal cord, including paralysis.

Professor Ian Jones, a virologist at Reading University, explained the virus 'wasnt a problem until hygiene improved'.

Previously, low levels of infection would have given immunity to people but the unforeseen circumstance of better living conditions was that this declined and polio 'took off', he said.

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline that although polio has been around for centuries or millennia, it was only during the early part of the 20th century that big epidemics of paralytic polio took off.

He explained: 'When every child got infected with poliovirus in the first couple of years of life you still saw some paralysis but it was only when infections were delayed until older age that such paralysis became more common.

'Young children who contract poliovirus infection generally suffer only mild symptoms, but delay those infections to teens and adulthood and paralysis becomes more common.'

The first epidemic struck more than a dozen people in Norway in 1868, while the second, which occurred 13 years later, caused a similar number of confirmed cases in Sweden. An outbreak in the US in 1894 saw 132 people infected.

Early 1900s

It was in 1916 that the first large-scale epidemic took hold in Brooklyn, New York, with more than 9,000 cases and 2,000 deaths.

The outbreak spread to the rest of the US and led to more than 27,000 cases and 6,000 polio deaths that year.

Newspapers published the names and addresses of infected people, 'keep out' notices were nailed to their doors and their families were quarantined.

Parents were urged to keep their children away from public spaces, such as swimming pools, parks and beaches, over virus fears.

The outbreak triggered concern across the world and sped up research into the illness.

Scientists had already made some progress in understanding and treating the virus.

In 1840, German orthopaedic Dr Jacob von Heine had become the first to produce a robust study on polio.

He suggested that the disease may be contagious. By 1908, Austrian physicians Karl Landsteiner and Erwin Popper say that polio may be caused by a virus.

Early treatments of the disease included tying the paralysed limbs of infected patients to splints, in a bid to stop their muscles from tightening.

But by 1928, an invention called the iron lung was rolled out to revolutionise how the disease was treated. The contraption  a respirator that resembled a 'coffin on legs'  was developed for patients whose lungs were so paralysed that they could no longer breathe unaided. Paul Alexander, 76, from Texas, is still in the machine today  70 years after contracting polio at the age of six in 1952

But by 1928, an invention called the iron lung was rolled out to revolutionise how the disease was treated.

The contraption  a respirator that resembled a 'coffin on legs'  was developed for patients whose lungs were so paralysed that they could no longer breathe unaided.

It was first used that decade to save an American child infected with the virus who needed help breathing. The majority patients stayed inside the chamber for short spells until their lungs recovered.

But some struck down by permanent paralysis stayed inside the machines for the rest of their lives.

Paul Alexander, 76, from Texas, is still in the machine today  70 years after getting polio at the age of six in 1952.

And by 1930, Elizabeth Kenny, a self-trained nurse from Queensland, Australia, developed a treatment applying hot packs to muscles and exercise to keep stimulating nerve cells and avoid long-term muscle damage. The methods are still used today.

As part of the increased focus on research, Australian virologists Sir Macfarlane Burnet and Dame Jean MacNamara identified for the first time that there were three types of the polio virus in 1931.

The fight against the virus was further boosted when a team of scientists at Harvard Medical School, led by Dr Jonas Salk, in the 1940s used blood samples of infected patients to extract and grow the virus in live cells.

Late 1900s

By 1955 the team, with the support of funds from the March of Dimes non-profit organisation, developed the first effective vaccine  an injectable inactive (killed) polio vaccine (IPV).

Nearly 2million children in the US were jabbed as part of the largest medical trials ever seen at the time.

They proved successful and 450million doses of the jab were dished out across the country. Cases subsequently fell from 18 per 100,000 people to two per 100,000.

The following decade, a team at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, led by medical researcher Dr Albert Sabin, developed a second vaccine using a live version of the virus that could be given in drops through the mouth.

This vaccine was much more effective and became the most popular throughout the world.

Politicians in the US didn't support Dr Sabin's oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV), so he tested it in the former Soviet Union.

The USSR rolled out the jab and polio subsequently declined. Drops in cases were also seen in nearby Eastern Europe and Japan.

The US licensed the jabbed in 1961 and it became the main vaccine used worldwide.

The fight against polio was further boosted when a team of scientists at Harvard Medical School, led by Dr Jonas Salk, in the 1940s used blood samples of infected patients to extract and grow the virus in live cells. Pictured: Dr Salk at the Municipal Hospital laboratory in April 1955 after announcement of the successful vaccine results

Great Britain was pronounced clear of polio in 2003 with the last case coming in 1984. A young girl is pictured getting her polio jab in May 1956

By 1955 researchers at Harvard Medical School, with the support of funds from the March of Dimes non-profit organisation, developed the first effective vaccine against polio  an injectable inactive (killed) polio vaccine (IPV). Pictured: children getting a lump of sugar while getting a polio vaccine at a mobile unit in Blackburn in Lancashire, England in 1965

Professor Jonathan Ball, a virologist from the University of Nottingham, told MailOnline that polio had a 'devastating effect' worldwide and the introduction of the two jabs was 'immense'.

Professor Hunter explained that the live vaccine, first developed by Dr Sabin, does a better job at stopping infection 'but can very rarely cause paralysis'.

Meanwhile, the inactivated vaccine, first made by Dr Salk, 'doesnt cause infection and is still excellent at stopping paralysis but not quite as good at preventing infection', he said.

Studies throughout the 1970s and 1980s revealed the virus was widespread in many richer nations, which pushed leaders to introduce routine vaccination using the OPV in national immunisations programmes.

The jabs saw polio vanish in developed countries. In the UK, cases fell from a peak of 8,000 a year to just a few hundred before being eradicated.

In the US, infections fell from a peak of 58,000 to zero just a few years after the jab was dished out.

Kathleen O'Reilly, an associate professor in statistics for infectious disease and expert in polio eradication, told MailOnline: 'After the second world war cases of paralytic polio in England and Wales rose considerably, reaching several thousand cases each year.

'Vaccines were developed in response to these worrying outbreaks, and were introduced in the late 1950s.

'The number of polio cases quickly declined, and since the 1970s only a small number of cases were reported each year. There has not been a single case of polio in the UK since 1984.'

But in poorer nations, where the virus caused fewer outbreaks, uptake was much lower.

The World Health Organization (WHO) launched an worldwide immunisation rollout in 1974, in an attempt to vaccinate all children against polio.

By 1988, the UN health agency set the target of eradicating the virus globally by 2000. Two years later, a global virus surveillance system is set up to detect the virus.

The US logged its last case in 1991, in a three-year-old boy called Luis Fermin Tenorio living in Junin, northern Peru.

The WHO certified the region as polio-free three years later  the duration set by the agency before a nation can be deemed to have eradicated the virus.

A team at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, led by medical researcher Dr Albert Sabin, developed a second vaccine using a live version of the virus that could be given in drops through the mouth. This vaccine was much more effective than the inactivated one, and became the most popular throughout the world. Pictured: a health worker giving a oral polio vaccine to a child in Karachi, Pakistan

There was also success in ridding the world of two wild types of the virus, with type two eradicated in 2015 and type three stamped out by 2019. However, the WHO global goal of eradicating the virus by 2000 has still not been met. Polio is endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pictured: a child in Kabul, Afghanistan being given the oral vaccine in November 2021

2000

In 2002, Europe was certified as polio-free. Its final case was logged in a 33-month-old child in Turkey in 1999.

The Western Pacific was labelled polio-free in 2000, with the last confirmed infection being in a 15-month-old girl called Mum Chanty in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. And the WHO confirmed South East Asia is virus free in 2014.

There was also success in ridding the world of two wild types of the virus, with type two eradicated in 2015 and type three stamped out by 2019.

However, the WHO global goal of eradicating the virus by 2000 has still not been met. Polio is endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Travellers from these two nations frequently spread the virus to other countries.

2010

China lost its polio-free status in 2011 after the infection spread to the country from Pakistan. However, it regained it after the outbreak fizzled out.

Professor Ball explained: 'The live vaccine has proven to be incredibly effective at eliminating the virus.

'But on rare occasions it can revert to wild-type and cause the disease; that's why countries that do get rid of the virus switch to using killed vaccine to keep their populations safe.'

Professor Jones said the dilemma around polio is now around eradication. 'Is it worth the cost in terms of money and lives lost to eradicate the last few cases or is it better to maintain where we are?

'Lastly, another dilemma, if it is eradicated how long do you continue to vaccinate and with what?'

UK health chiefs revealed polio could be spreading in the community for the first time in four decades after the virus was spotted in sewage samples in parts of London on June 22, 2022.

It is an evolved version of a weakened form of the virus found in live attenuated vaccines, which use a modified piece of the virus.

But there are signs it is spreading between people as officials have picked up several samples from different people, each with new mutations.

Professor Hunter added: 'Whilst most of the world has moved away from live attenuated vaccine some countries still use it and there is a risk that you can get secondary infections (generally a family member) which very rarely can be associated with paralysis in someone who has not been immunised.

'The concern here is that even a vaccine derived virus if it continues to spread could eventually recover its full virulence over a year or two and then cause an outbreak of paralytic polio in people who have not been vaccinated and that would be a disaster.

'So probably the current situation does not pose an immediate threat to public health but if transmission goes on long enough and the virus recovers its virulence it could become a public health disaster.'

How long does the polio vaccine last? What are the virus' symptoms? How many people are infected in the UK? EVERYTHING you need to know amid fears paralysis-causing virus is spreading

WHAT IS POLIO? Polio is a serious viral infection that used to be common all over the world. The virus lives in the throat and intestines for up to six weeks, with patients most infectious from seven to 10 days before and after the onset of symptoms. But it can spread to the spinal cord causing muscle weakness and paralysis. The virus is more common in infants and young children and occurs under conditions of poor hygiene. How deadly is it? Most people show no signs of infection at all but about one in 20 people have minor symptoms such as fever, muscle weakness, headache, nausea and vomiting. Around one in 50 patients develop severe muscle pain and stiffness in the neck and back. Less than one per cent of polio cases result in paralysis and one in 10 of those result in death. Of those who develop symptoms, these tend to appear three-to-21 days after infection and include: High temperature

Sore throat

Headache

Abdominal pain

Aching muscles

Nausea and vomiting How does it spread? People can catch polio via droplets in the air when someone coughs or sneezes, or if they come into contacted with the faeces of an infected person. This includes food, water, clothing or toys. Are there different strains? There are three strains of 'wild' polio, which has been largely eradicated throughout Europe, the Americas, Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. Types 2 and 3 were eliminated thanks to a global mass vaccine campaign, with the last cases detected in 1999 and 2012 respectively. The remaining, type 1, wild polio remains endemic in only two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Wild polio has been eliminated in almost every country in the world thanks to vaccines. But the global rollout has spawned new types of strains known as vaccine-derived polioviruses. These are strains that were initially used in live vaccines but spilled out into the community and evolved to behave more like the wild version. Is polio still around in the UK? The last polio outbreak was in the 1970s. The last case of person-to-person transmission in the UK was in 1984, which also marked the last wild polio case. But there have been several dozen cases of vaccine-derived polioviruses, although they have been one-offs, with no onward transmission. Am I vaccinated against polio? The polio vaccine is offered as part of the NHS routine childhood vaccination programme. It is given at age eight, 12 and 16 weeks as part of the six-in-one vaccine and then again at three years as part of a pre-school booster. The final course is given at age 14. Uptake has fallen slightly nationally during the Covid pandemic but remains above 90 per cent nationally. Rates are lower in London and in poor and ethnic minority communities. Just 86.7 per cent of one-year-olds in London have had their first dose dose of polio vaccine compared to the UK average of 92.6 per cent. There are concerns vaccine hesitancy has risen during the Covid crisis due to misinformation spread about jabs for that virus and school closures. Advertisement

Wasn't polio eradicated?

There are three versions of wild polio  type one, two and three.

Type two was eradicated in 1999 and no cases of type three have been detected since November 2012, when it was spotted in Nigeria.

Both of these strains have been certified as globally eradicated.

But type one still circulates in two countries  Pakistan and Afghanistan.

These versions of polio have been almost driven to extinction because of vaccines.

But the global rollout has spawned new types of strains known as vaccine-derived polioviruses.

These are strains that were initially used in live vaccines but spilled out into the community and evolved to behave more like the wild version.

How many people are infected?

Health chiefs haven't yet detected an actual case.

Instead, they have only spotted the virus in sewage samples.

But they said several closely-related polio viruses were found in sewage samples taken in North and East London between February and May.

This suggests there has 'likely' been spread between linked individuals who are now shedding the strain in their faeces.

The UK Health Security Agency is investigating if any community transmission is occurring.

It is hoped that the cases will be confined to a single household, or extended family.

How does it spread?

It is spreads between people through contact with food, water, or objects that have been contaminated with the faeces of someone infected.

Places with a high population, poor sanitation and high rates of diarrhoea-type illnesses are particularly at risk of seeing polio spread.

Unvaccinated people are at a high risk of catching the infection.

There is some concern that the virus appears to be spreading in London, which has poorer polio vaccine uptake than the rest of the country.

How is polio diagnosed?

Doctors can spot polio based on their symptoms.

If a person is in the first week of an illness, a throat swabs is taken, or a faeces or blood sample can be taken up to four weeks after symptoms began.

The sample is then sent to a laboratory, with tests then confirming whether the virus is present.

What does a national incident mean?

UKHSA guidelines set out that when a vaccine-derived polio virus is spotted in Britain.

This instructs health chiefs to set up a national response to manage and coordinate how it responds.

It includes joining up local public health teams.

While the polio samples have only been spotted in London, health chiefs say it is vital to ensure other parts of the country are aware and taking necessary action to protect people in their area.

How is polio treated?

There is no cure for polio, although vaccines can prevent it.

Treatment can only alleviate its symptoms and lower the risk of long-term problem.

Mild cases  which are the majority  often pass with painkillers and rest.

But more serious cases may require a hospital stay to be hooked up to machines to help their breathing and be helped with regular stretches and exercises to prevent long-term problems with muscles and joints.

In the 1920s, the iron lung  a respirator that resembled a 'coffin on legs'  was used to treat polio.

It was first used that decade to save a child infected with the virus who needed help breathing.

Paul Alexander, 76, from Texas, is still in the machine today, 70 years later, after contracting polio at the age of six in 1952.

I missed out on a vaccine as a child, can I still get it?

Health chiefs have encouraged everyone who is unvaccinated against polio to contact their GP to catch up.

However, they warned vaccination efforts in London will focus initially on reaching out to parents of under-fives that have not had or missed their jabs, amid fears it is spreading in the capital.

The NHS currently offers the polio jab as part of a child's routine vaccination schedule. The polio vaccine is included in the six-in-one vaccination, which is given to children when they are eight, 12 and 16 weeks old.

When polio weakened muscles used in breathing, patients used to be treated using an 'iron lung'. Pictured: A female patient in her iron lung at Fanzakerley hospital in Liverpool, now called Aintree University Hospital

WHAT JABS SHOULD I HAVE HAD BY AGE 18 Vaccinations for various unpleasant and deadly diseases are given free on the NHS to children and teenagers. Here is a list of all the jabs someone should have by the age of 18 to make sure they and others across the country are protected: Eight weeks old 6-in-1 vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and hepatitis B.

Pneumococcal (PCV)

Rotavirus

Meningitis B 12 weeks old Second doses of 6-in-1 and Rotavirus 16 weeks old Third dose of 6-in-1

Second doses of PCV and men. B One year old Hib/meningitis C

Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)

Third dose of PCV and meningitis B Two to eight years old Annual children's flu vaccine Three years, four months old Second dose of MMR

4-in-1 pre-school booster for diptheria, tetanus, polio and whooping cough 12-13 years old (girls) HPV (two doses within a year) 14 years old 3-in-1 teenage booster for diptheria, tetanus and polio

MenACWY Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

Protection against polio is boosted in top-up jabs when youngers are three-years-and-four-months old and when they are 14.

Most Londoners are fully jabbed against polio. But uptake is not 100 per cent.

How long does protection from the polio vaccine last?

Scientists do not know how long people who received the inactivated polio vaccine, the one used in the UK, lasts for.

But they expect it provide immunity for years after getting jabbed.

Two doses are 90 per cent effective, while three doses are 100 per cent effective.

Can it kill?

Polio can kill in rare cases. But it is more famous for causing paralysis, which can lead to permanent disability and death.

Up to a tenth of people who are paralysed by the virus die, as the virus affects the muscles that help them breathe.

What are polio's symptoms?

Three-quarters of people infected with polio do not have any visible symptoms.

Around one-quarter will have flu-like symptoms, such as a sore throat, fever, tiredness, nausea, a headache and stomach pain. These symptoms usually last up to 10 days then go away on their own.

But up to one in 200 will develop more serious symptoms that can affect the brain and spinal cord. This includes paraesthesia  pins and needles in the leg  and paralysis, which is when a person can't move parts of the body.

This is not usually permanent and movement will slowly come back over the next few weeks or months.

However, even youngsters who appear to fully recover from polio can develop muscle pain, weakness or paralysis as an adult  15 to 40 years after they were infected.

Do vaccines cause polio?

Although extremely rare, cases of vaccine-derived polio have been reported.

They do not make the vaccinated person ill but rather cause them to shed tiny pieces of the virus, which can then infect other, unvaccinated people.

This is only the case with the oral polio vaccine, which uses a live and weakened version of the virus to stimulate an immune response.

But, over time, the strain can mutate to behave more like wild versions of polio.

How did polio end up in the UK?

The polio spotted in Britain was detected in sewage, which is monitored by health chiefs, rather than in a person.

This suggests the virus has been imported from a country where the live polio vaccine is still being used.

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, said: 'Such vaccine derived transmission events are well described and most ultimately fizzle out without causing any harm but that depends on vaccination coverage being improved.'

Polio used to paralyse millions of children around the world every year in the 1940s and 1950s but has been eliminated in virtually every country thanks to vaccines

The remaining, type 1, wild polio remains endemic in only two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan but parts of Africa still suffer flare-ups

Could this trigger an outbreak?

Uptake of the polio vaccine is around 90 per cent across the UK so it is unlikely to cause a massive outbreak.

But it has dipped further over the last year due to the knock-on effects of the pandemic.

There are concerns vaccine hesitancy has risen during the Covid crisis due to misinformation spread about jabs for that virus and school closures.

Experts say the best way to prevent the virus from spreading is for Britons to ensure their vaccinations are up to date, especially for children.

Dr Kathleen O'Reilly, an associate professor in statistics for infectious disease and expert in polio eradication, said that all countries are at risk of an outbreak until all polio cases are stopped globally.

This 'highlights the need for polio eradication, and continued global support for such an endeavour', she added.

When was last time Britain saw a case of polio?

The last time someone caught polio within the UK was in 1984 and Britain was declared polio-free in 2003.

But there have been dozens of imported cases since then, which are often detected in sewage surveillance.

However, these have always been one-off findings that were not detected again and occurred when a person vaccinated overseas with the live oral polio vaccine travelled to the UK and shed traces of the virus in their faeces.

Now, UK health officials have detected several closely-related viruses in sewage samples taken between February and May. This finding suggests there has been spread between close contacts in North and East London, where the samples were collected.

Where did polio originate?

Polio epidemics, when the virus is constantly spreading within a community, did not start happening until the late 1800s.

But scientists say that it is an ancient disease that first struck people in Egypt as early as 1570 BC. This is based on depictions of paralysis and weak limbs from that time.

A doctor in London was the first to publish a clear description of polio in infants in a medical textbook in 1789.
More than 100 countries fail to meet key polio vaccination uptake targets and are vulnerable to the paralysis-causing virus, official figures suggest.

Data from the World Health Organization shows 114 of 160 nations have not hit its threshold of 95 per cent coverage in one-year-olds.

UK health chiefs yesterday revealed that the country could be seeing a resurgence of the disease for the first time in decades after strains were detected in sewage.

Experts deem having more than nine in 10 people in every community vaccinated crucial to prevent the highly contagious virus from spreading.

Being vaccinated is even more important for children than adults because they are more likely to catch and therefore fall ill with the disease.

While the majority will experience mild or no symptoms at all, for as many as one in 100, it can cause permanent paralysis or death.

Among the vulnerable countries are the UK and US, where overall uptake nationally is as low as 93 per cent. But in parts of Africa, as few as four in 10 are immunised.

And 35 nations, including France, Germany and Portugal, have not shared their polio uptake data  meaning even lower numbers could be protected in some places.

Data from the World Health Organization shows 114 of 160 nations have not hit its threshold of 95 per cent coverage in one-year-olds. UK health chiefs yesterday revealed that the country could be seeing a resurgence of the disease for the first time in decades after strains were detected in sewage

Figures from Our World in Data show that 95 per cent of one-year-olds in Britain are vaccinated against polio, dropping to 90 per cent in South-East Asia, 87 per cent in the US and 74 per cent in Africa. The world average is 86 per cent

The polio vaccine is given at age eight, 12 and 16 weeks as part of the six-in-one vaccine and then again at three years as part of a pre-school booster. The final course is given at age 14. The World Health Organization has set the threshold of a successful school jabs programme at 95 per cent uptake, which England is failing to hit by all accounts

Parents are being urged to ensure their children's polio vaccinations are up to date, particularly after the pandemic when school immunisation schemes were disrupted and uptake fell. Pictured, a girl gets her four-in-one pre-school jab offered by the NHS

WHAT IS POLIO? Polio is a serious viral infection that used to be common all over the world. The virus lives in the throat and intestines for up to six weeks, with patients most infectious from seven to 10 days before and after the onset of symptoms. But it can spread to the spinal cord causing muscle weakness and paralysis. The virus is more common in infants and young children and occurs under conditions of poor hygiene. How deadly is it? Most people show no signs of infection at all but about one in 20 people have minor symptoms such as fever, muscle weakness, headache, nausea and vomiting. Around one in 50 patients develop severe muscle pain and stiffness in the neck and back. Less than one per cent of polio cases result in paralysis and one in 10 of those result in death. Of those who develop symptoms, these tend to appear three-to-21 days after infection and include: High temperature

Sore throat

Headache

Abdominal pain

Aching muscles

Nausea and vomiting How does it spread? People can catch polio via droplets in the air when someone coughs or sneezes, or if they come into contacted with the faeces of an infected person. This includes food, water, clothing or toys. Are there different strains? There are three strains of 'wild' polio, which has been largely eradicated throughout Europe, the Americas, Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. Types 2 and 3 were eliminated thanks to a global mass vaccine campaign, with the last cases detected in 1999 and 2012 respectively. The remaining, type 1, wild polio remains endemic in only two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Wild polio has been eliminated in almost every country in the world thanks to vaccines. But the global rollout has spawned new types of strains known as vaccine-derived polioviruses. These are strains that were initially used in live vaccines but spilled out into the community and evolved to behave more like the wild version. Is polio still around in the UK? The last polio outbreak was in the 1970s. The last case of person-to-person transmission in the UK was in 1984, which also marked the last wild polio case. But there have been several dozen cases of vaccine-derived polioviruses, although they have been one-offs, with no onward transmission. Advertisement

The WHO collates figures on the rate of one-year-olds who have been jabbed against polio.

Even though it has been eradicated in every country apart from Afghanistan and Pakistan, experts believe it will always pose a risk until it is completely eliminated.

Countries with weak polio vaccine uptake are 'especially vulnerable', the WHO says.

Without herd immunity  when enough of a population is protected from the virus due to vaccination or prior infection  the virus is able to transmit from person to person more easily, increasing the risk of outbreaks and severe cases.

WHO 2020 data shows that 93 per cent of one-year-old Britons are protected against the virus, falling to 92 per cent in the US.

Professor David Heymann, an infectious disease expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said vaccination rates were high but 'not high enough'.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that uptake 'must be high enough to stop transmission of this virus and thats only if parents are concerned about their children and take them for vaccination'.

Only 46 nations who provide data to the WHO have met its recommended 95 per cent target, including Australia, China and Japan.

But uptake is less than half the level it should be in some nations.

Just 41 per cent of one-year-olds in Papua New Guinea are vaccinated against polio, with rates only slightly better in African nations Central African Republic (46 per cent), Somalia (47 per cent) and Guinea (50 per cent).

In the UK, newborns are offered the polio jab as part of the routine vaccination schedule.

The polio vaccine is included in the six-in-one vaccination, which is given to children when they are eight, 12 and 16 weeks old.

Protection against polio is boosted in top-up jabs when youngers are three-years-and-four-months old and when they are 14.

Vaccination uptake rates are measured at one years old by the WHO.

UK health chiefs say they are committed to maintaining high vaccination coverage, above 95 per cent.

But this hasn't been achieved for the last few years.

The WHO warned that global coverage for all vaccines dropped from 86 to 83 per cent in 2020, as the Covid pandemic cause chaos in health services worldwide.

And an estimated 23million under-ones did not receive their basic vaccines  the highest number since 2009.

It comes at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) declared a national incident yesterday after finding multiple positive polio samples in sewage which contained mutations that suggest the virus is evolving as it spreads between people.

They were detected at the Beckton sewage treatment works, which covers a population of four million in north and east London.

It is not clear how far the virus has spread but health experts are concerned doctors no longer recognise the symptoms of polio because it has been eradicated in Britain since 2003.

Parents of unvaccinated children are to be contacted by the NHS as part of a targeted vaccine drive in London  where polio is thought to be spreading  amid fears the disease could take off for the first time in 40 years.

Children are routinely immunised against polio but eight local authorities in England  mostly in the capital  had 50 per cent or lower uptake among Year 9s last year.

Just 35 per cent of 13 and 14-year-olds had received their final booster in Hillingdon, West London, which has the worst coverage in the country, followed by Brent, where a third were fully vaccinated.

London has always lagged behind the rest of the country when it comes to vaccine coverage but rates dropped nationally during the pandemic, linked to a lull in appointments, school closures and a rise in vaccine hesitancy.

How long does the polio vaccine last? What are the virus' symptoms? How many people are infected in the UK? EVERYTHING you need to know amid fears paralysis-causing virus is spreading

Wasn't polio eradicated?

There are three versions of wild polio  type one, two and three.

Type two was eradicated in 1999 and no cases of type three have been detected since November 2012, when it was spotted in Nigeria.

Both of these strains have been certified as globally eradicated.

But type one still circulates in two countries  Pakistan and Afghanistan.

These versions of polio have been almost driven to extinction because of vaccines.

But the global rollout has spawned new types of strains known as vaccine-derived polioviruses.

These are strains that were initially used in live vaccines but spilled out into the community and evolved to behave more like the wild version.

How many people are infected?

Health chiefs haven't yet detected an actual case.

Instead, they have only spotted the virus in sewage samples.

But they said several closely-related polio viruses were found in sewage samples taken in North and East London between February and May.

This suggests there has 'likely' been spread between linked individuals who are now shedding the strain in their faeces.

The UK Health Security Agency is investigating if any community transmission is occurring.

It is hoped that the cases will be confined to a single household, or extended family.

How does it spread?

It is spreads between people through contact with food, water, or objects that have been contaminated with the faeces of someone infected.

Places with a high population, poor sanitation and high rates of diarrhoea-type illnesses are particularly at risk of seeing polio spread.

Unvaccinated people are at a high risk of catching the infection.

There is some concern that the virus appears to be spreading in London, which has poorer polio vaccine uptake than the rest of the country.

How is polio diagnosed?

Doctors can spot polio based on their symptoms.

If a person is in the first week of an illness, a throat swabs is taken, or a faeces or blood sample can be taken up to four weeks after symptoms began.

The sample is then sent to a laboratory, with tests then confirming whether the virus is present.

What does a national incident mean?

UKHSA guidelines set out that when a vaccine-derived polio virus is spotted in Britain.

This instructs health chiefs to set up a national response to manage and coordinate how it responds.

It includes joining up local public health teams.

While the polio samples have only been spotted in London, health chiefs say it is vital to ensure other parts of the country are aware and taking necessary action to protect people in their area.

How is polio treated?

There is no cure for polio, although vaccines can prevent it.

Treatment can only alleviate its symptoms and lower the risk of long-term problem.

Mild cases  which are the majority  often pass with painkillers and rest.

But more serious cases may require a hospital stay to be hooked up to machines to help their breathing and be helped with regular stretches and exercises to prevent long-term problems with muscles and joints.

In the 1920s, the iron lung  a respirator that resembled a 'coffin on legs'  was used to treat polio.

It was first used that decade to save a child infected with the virus who needed help breathing.

Paul Alexander, 76, from Texas, is still in the machine today, 70 years later, after contracting polio at the age of six in 1952.

I missed out on a vaccine as a child, can I still get it?

Health chiefs have encouraged everyone who is unvaccinated against polio to contact their GP to catch up.

However, they warned vaccination efforts in London will focus initially on reaching out to parents of under-fives that have not had or missed their jabs, amid fears it is spreading in the capital.

The NHS currently offers the polio jab as part of a child's routine vaccination schedule. The polio vaccine is included in the six-in-one vaccination, which is given to children when they are eight, 12 and 16 weeks old.

When polio weakened muscles used in breathing, patients used to be treated using an 'iron lung'. Pictured: A female patient in her iron lung at Fanzakerley hospital in Liverpool, now called Aintree University Hospital

British children getting their oral vaccine for polio in 1965  which used a live version of the virus  12 years after the first vaccine was invented

WHAT JABS SHOULD I HAVE HAD BY AGE 18 Vaccinations for various unpleasant and deadly diseases are given free on the NHS to children and teenagers. Here is a list of all the jabs someone should have by the age of 18 to make sure they and others across the country are protected: Eight weeks old 6-in-1 vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and hepatitis B.

Pneumococcal (PCV)

Rotavirus

Meningitis B 12 weeks old Second doses of 6-in-1 and Rotavirus 16 weeks old Third dose of 6-in-1

Second doses of PCV and men. B One year old Hib/meningitis C

Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)

Third dose of PCV and meningitis B Two to eight years old Annual children's flu vaccine Three years, four months old Second dose of MMR

4-in-1 pre-school booster for diptheria, tetanus, polio and whooping cough 12-13 years old (girls) HPV (two doses within a year) 14 years old 3-in-1 teenage booster for diptheria, tetanus and polio

MenACWY Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

Protection against polio is boosted in top-up jabs when youngers are three-years-and-four-months old and when they are 14.

Most Londoners are fully jabbed against polio. But uptake is not 100 per cent.

How long does protection from the polio vaccine last?

Scientists do not know how long people who received the inactivated polio vaccine, the one used in the UK, lasts for.

But they expect it provide immunity for years after getting jabbed.

Two doses are 90 per cent effective, while three doses are 100 per cent effective.

Can it kill?

Polio can kill in rare cases. But it is more famous for causing paralysis, which can lead to permanent disability and death.

Up to a tenth of people who are paralysed by the virus die, as the virus affects the muscles that help them breathe.

What are polio's symptoms?

Three-quarters of people infected with polio do not have any visible symptoms.

Around one-quarter will have flu-like symptoms, such as a sore throat, fever, tiredness, nausea, a headache and stomach pain. These symptoms usually last up to 10 days then go away on their own.

But up to one in 200 will develop more serious symptoms that can affect the brain and spinal cord. This includes paraesthesia  pins and needles in the leg  and paralysis, which is when a person can't move parts of the body.

This is not usually permanent and movement will slowly come back over the next few weeks or months.

However, even youngsters who appear to fully recover from polio can develop muscle pain, weakness or paralysis as an adult  15 to 40 years after they were infected.

Do vaccines cause polio?

Although extremely rare, cases of vaccine-derived polio have been reported.

They do not make the vaccinated person ill but rather cause them to shed tiny pieces of the virus, which can then infect other, unvaccinated people.

This is only the case with the oral polio vaccine, which uses a live and weakened version of the virus to stimulate an immune response.

But, over time, the strain can mutate to behave more like wild versions of polio.

How did polio end up in the UK?

The polio spotted in Britain was detected in sewage, which is monitored by health chiefs, rather than in a person.

This suggests the virus has been imported from a country where the live polio vaccine is still being used.

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, said: 'Such vaccine derived transmission events are well described and most ultimately fizzle out without causing any harm but that depends on vaccination coverage being improved.'

Polio used to paralyse millions of children around the world every year in the 1940s and 1950s but has been eliminated in virtually every country thanks to vaccines

The remaining, type 1, wild polio remains endemic in only two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan but parts of Africa still suffer flare-ups

Could this trigger an outbreak?

Uptake of the polio vaccine is around 90 per cent across the UK so it is unlikely to cause a massive outbreak.

But it has dipped further over the last year due to the knock-on effects of the pandemic.

There are concerns vaccine hesitancy has risen during the Covid crisis due to misinformation spread about jabs for that virus and school closures.

Experts say the best way to prevent the virus from spreading is for Britons to ensure their vaccinations are up to date, especially for children.

Dr Kathleen O'Reilly, an associate professor in statistics for infectious disease and expert in polio eradication, said that all countries are at risk of an outbreak until all polio cases are stopped globally.

This 'highlights the need for polio eradication, and continued global support for such an endeavour', she added.

When was last time Britain saw a case of polio?

The last time someone caught polio within the UK was in 1984 and Britain was declared polio-free in 2003.

But there have been dozens of imported cases since then, which are often detected in sewage surveillance.

However, these have always been one-off findings that were not detected again and occurred when a person vaccinated overseas with the live oral polio vaccine travelled to the UK and shed traces of the virus in their faeces.

Now, UK health officials have detected several closely-related viruses in sewage samples taken between February and May. This finding suggests there has been spread between close contacts in North and East London, where the samples were collected.

Where did polio originate?

Polio epidemics, when the virus is constantly spreading within a community, did not start happening until the late 1800s.

But scientists say that it is an ancient disease that first struck people in Egypt as early as 1570 BC. This is based on depictions of paralysis and weak limbs from that time.

A doctor in London was the first to publish a clear description of polio in infants in a medical textbook in 1789.
Chicago will put a 'special emphasis' on warning Pride attendees of the risks of catching monkeypox this weekend, while San Francisco's parade will be punctuated by regular announcements over the disease amid fears the events could spark an uptick in cases.

The Windy City's Department of Public Health told DailyMail.com they would put out guidance on social media and print fliers to be handed out at events.

In San Francisco, California, which is also due to host a parade this Sunday, announcements will be made on 'best practice' when in crowds.

America is gearing up to celebrate Pride this weekend in major cities  with crowds expected to exceed two million in New York alone.

But it comes amid a growing outbreak of the rash-causing virus with 156 cases detected so far, many among gay and bisexual men, but no deaths. Several cases are not linked to international travel or other known infections suggesting it is already spreading undetected.

Although several cities are putting out warnings at Pride events, the national hotspot New York with 28 cases is yet to announce any plans to follow suit.

Last weekend doctors in Florida warned Pride attendees to avoid 'prolonged' skin-to-skin contact with others in clubs and bars in order to limit their exposure.

The above map shows states that have detected cases of monkeypox, and the tally by state. The red numbers show the change in cases over the last 24 hours

US boosts monkeypox testing in bid to speed diagnoses The Biden administration has started shipping monkeypox tests to commercial laboratories, in a bid to speed diagnoses for suspected infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is sending swabs to labs including Aegis Science, Labcorp, Mayo Clinic Laboratories, Quest Diagnostics and Sonic Healthcare. It said this would significant expand the nation's capacity to test for monkeypox. Previously, testing has largely been confined to public health labs, which combined have a capacity of about 8,000 tests per week. 'All Americans should be concerned about monkeypox cases', said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement. 'Thankfully we have right now the tools to fight and treat cases in America. 'By dramatically expanding the number of testing locations throughout the country, we are making it possible for anyone who needs to be tested to do so.' Advertisement

A spokesman for Chicago's Department of Public Health (CDPH) said: 'We will... continue to share facts about monkeypox and how to stay healthy on our social media channels throughout this weekend, with special emphasis on Pride-related events for the many people who will be taking part.

'In addition, CDPH is printing palmcards with a link to a CDC page that provides health tips for gay and bisexual men and a scannable smartphone code for organizers to hand out at events where participants can get additional tips about remaining healthy.'

They added that the department had already created a template letter for event organizers to hand out on how to stay safe against monkeypox.

Chicago is expecting more than 100,000 people to flock to its Pride parade this Sunday.

San Francisco  which is set to host more than 500,000 people for its own parade  is also planning to put out warnings over monkeypox.

Its Pride organizers told DailyMail.com: 'The Department of Health will be making public service announcements specific to monkeypox with best practices.

'[This will be] as people gather, and together we are taking every precaution to ensure we are all able to have a safe and fun time during this years Pride celebrations.'

But New York City health officials  who could be hosting as many as two million people this weekend  are yet to announce any plans to warn people over monkeypox.

When contacted, the city's Department of Health directed DailyMail.com to a guidance page on its website.

This told people who felt unwell to avoid 'clubs, parties or gatherings', and not to have sex or close physical contact if they or their partner are sick.

Monkeypox  native to West Africa  has now been detected more than 3,000 times across 40 countries where it is not typically found.

No deaths have been recorded, but health officials warn it could spill over into more vulnerable populations if the outbreak is not contained.

The doctors warned people to avoid skin-to-skin contact that is prolonged during a briefing yesterday. Pictured above from left to right is Dr Margaret Gorensek, an infectious disease expert at Holy Cross Medical Group, Dr Zachary Henry, a sexual health expert at AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and Dr Frank Vittimberga, the chief medical officer for the Florida Medical Center

The tropical disease is primarily spread through physical contact with infectious rashes, but in rare cases it can also be transmitted through 'sustained' face-to-face contact.

Many patients have rashes on their genital area and anus as a first warning sign, before the disease spreads to the rest of the body.

It can take up to four weeks to get better from the disease, with most cases being mild and clearing up on their own.

Someone remains infectious until their rashes have scabbed over and eventually fallen off.

Last week doctors in Florida said Pride attendees should avoid 'prolonged' skin-to-skin contact in clubs and bars in order not to catch monkeypox.

Speaking at a briefing ahead of celebrations in Fort Lauderdale, Dr Zachary Henry  who spotted a case of monkeypox in his clinic  also warned people to stay away from others with unusual rashes.

The sexual health expert at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation added there was no need to wear face masks because the tropical disease took 'hours' to spread through the air between people.

Henry  appearing with Dr Margaret Gorensek  was speaking ahead of a Pride march in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last Saturday which could draw more than 100,000 spectators.
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Paxlovid, a drug that was anointed as America's silver bullet against COVID-19 by some health officials and even President Joe Biden, may not have any effectiveness for people that are already vaccinated according to new data revealed by Pfizer.

Pfizer's Paxlovid has suffered another setback, with new data revealing that it provides little benefit to healthy, fully vaccinated, people (file photo)

The New York City-based pharma giant published its Phase 2/3 trial data analyzing the drug's ability to prevent hospitalization or death depending on a person's vaccination status and individual risk profile. It found that a fully vaccinated person with little personal risk had little to gain from using the drug.

Paxlovid is to be used by a Covid positive person to limit symptoms and prevent them from becoming serious enough to require intense medical care. Biden has propped it up as one of the keys to America's Covid response, even offering it for free to anyone who tests positive for the virus - a move that had some detractors.

This is yet another setback for Pfizer and one of its main Covid products, as concerns have also been raised over some users having symptoms return after they complete a course of the drug.

The news comes as America's Covid situation remains stable are 99,288 cases per day - a five percent drop over the past week - and 372 deaths per day.

President Biden (pictured) has been a proponent of Paxlovid, heralding it at his State of the Union address this year and making it the center of his 'Test to Treat' Covid response

Paxlovid received emergency use authorization from regulators in late 2021, and quickly became a favorite of the White House.

Biden touted its effectiveness at his 2020 State of the Union address earlier this year, heralding it for findings in clinical trials that it could reduce hospitalizations and deaths caused by the virus by 90 percent.

'If you get COVID-19, the Pfizer pill reduces your chances of ending up in the hospital by 90 percent,' Biden said.

'I've ordered more pills than anyone in the world has. Pfizer is working overtime to get us a million pills this month and more than double that next month.'

He announced the 'Test to Treat' program, where Americans who tested positive for the virus at pharmacies around the country could quickly get a course of the drugs at no cost.

The federal government even began to roll out 'Test to Treat' centers around the country, with Rhode Island launching the nation's first in late May.

Under this program, any American, no matter their vaccination status or risk profile, would be offered the drugs if they wanted them.

Data revealed last week by Pfizer shows that many of these people did not need the drugs at all. While Paxlovid is still very effective for the unvaccinated or people who are high risk for another reason, that pool is relatively limited.

According to most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 90 percent of American adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 77 percent are fully vaccinated.

Vaccine coverage is also near universal among older age groups that suffer the highest risk from Covid.

The recent data is yet another setback for Pfizer's Paxlovid after all the fanfare that followed it during winter and spring.

Also last month, the CDC warned that some people who receive the drug may have their symptoms rebound afterwards.

'Paxlovid continues to be recommended for early-stage treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 among persons at high risk for progression to severe disease,' the CDC wrote in the notice.

'...A brief return of symptoms may be part of the natural history of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) infection in some persons, independent of treatment with Paxlovid and regardless of vaccination status.'

Experts are not sure why this is occurring, or what could be causing a person that is seemingly fine to later start feeling sick against from the same infection.

The exact reason for this has not yet been determined, and there are no known examples of a person who had their symptoms rebound after completing courses of Paxlovid dying from the virus.

Health officials have been under fire recently for their approval of Covid vaccines for children aged six months old to five as well, another move that has been criticized for not providing much value.

Dr Vinay Prasad, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, said that their was little evidence that the shots were needed in a YouTube video he uploaded Wednesday morning, and slammed officials and other media figures for not being 'honest' about the shots.

All your lying and exaggerating, its gonna be the same thing. The 20 percent [of parents] that wants to [vaccinate their children] will do it, and youre not flipping any votes,' he said.

'Youre not persuading anybody. Youre laying it on a little thick and in the process youre discrediting yourself

He also had strong criticism for the data being used by mainstream media outlets like the New York Times in order to promote the vaccine.

Prasad points to a claim that the Moderna vaccine is 38 percent effective against the virus. He says that when data was adjusted by the firm to account for at-home testing - in which some cases do not get recorded properly - the effectiveness drops all the way to 27 percent.

He also said that there is little data available backing the claim that Pfizer's vaccine is 80 percent effective at preventing infection.

We need to be honest about these,' he said.

Dr Marty Makary, a public health expert from Johns Hopkins University, shared similar thoughts in an email to DailyMail.com, saying:

'The studies were too small to achieve statistical significance when evaluating efficacy against mild or severe Covid-19 infection. As a result, the FDA allowed both companies to extrapolate effectiveness by measuring antibody levels, pointing to data from older children and adults.

'They study had a confidence statistic so wide, you could drive an aircraft carrier through it. (They reported the largest confidence interval I have ever seen in my 20-year research career).'
Smokers are rushing to stock up on Juul e-cigarettes after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said their sale would be banned starting Thursday. One smoke shop worker in New York City said customers had been rushing in throughout the day to 'bulk-buy' boxes of up to 40 packs at a time.

Customers have also taken to social media to vent their frustration at the order, with one woman in Indiana saying her husband was out 'clearing shelves' of Juul products.

The FDA today said it was banning the sale and distribution of Juul products because the company had failed to provide 'sufficient evidence' they were safe. It also raised concerns over potentially hazardous liquid in the products.

Juul has vowed to appeal the move, saying it 'respectfully disagrees' with the FDA's decision. E-cigarette supporters said the move would go down as one of the 'greatest episodes of regulatory malpractice in history'.

The vaping industry has been caught in the cross-hairs of the FDA amid allegations it has led to a spike in e-cigarette use among youngsters and is a gateway for people to start smoking.

But manufacturers claim that their products are much safer than cigarettes because they do not have the toxic smoke and can help people kick the habit.

Adman Masuk, 25, who runs a vape shop near Union Square in New York City said customers had been rushing in to buy in bulk all day. He is pictured above with the Juul packages being the white items on the top shelf

Pictured left is his shop off Union Square, and right is a package of Juul e-cigarettes. Customers are rushing to snap them up

Popular e-cigarette brand Juul has its products pulled from shelves after the FDA denied its application to get around a ban of flavored nicotine

A smoke shop worker told DailyMail.com today that he was facing a surge in customers since the FDA ban.

Adman Masuk, 25, who works in a shop off Union Square in New York City, said: 'We've had customers rushing in all day.

'They're buying in bulk, coming in and getting about 20 or 40 boxes or so.'

Sean Hannity promises to 'vape live on air' if Biden bans Juul e-cigarettes On the Wednesday night edition of his Fox News show, Sean Hannity vowed to defy the law and proudly vape his e-cig live on air in a segment discussing a possible FDA ban on Juul products. Less than 24 hours after the broadcast, the FDA confirmed a ban on Juul products. Reporter Trace Gallagher told Hannity during the segment: 'Juul has been trying to get on the right side of regulators by limiting its marketing and banning mango, mint, other sweet flavors. The company even suggested a vaping device that can only be unlocked if youre 21.' He noted that while Juul has the right to appeal a ban, those appeals can take a long time and are expensive. That's when Hannity chimed in to say: 'They ban it, and I'll do it live on TV and they can come and arrest me. How about that?' The ban forbids the sale of Juul products but does not ban personal use of the product. Advertisement

He said they had not raised the price, and were still selling them at around $20 for four.

On social media, one user from Indiana expressed her concern at the FDA ban on Juul e-cigarettes. She said: 'My husband is out on a Juul run right now. Gonna clear the shelves and hoard 'em like our incandescent bulbs.'

Other shop owners in New York City told DailyMail.com they would not be removing Juul from sale until they heard directly from the FDA.

Carlos Matthews, 26, who runs a shop off third avenue in the Big Apple, said he was yet to see a surge in customers  but once he was told the ban was in place he would remove the products from his shelves rather than pay a fine that could reach up to $8,000.

Another shop owner near Astor Place, in The East Village, who declined to be named said Juul was no longer one of his more popular brands because it had few flavors.

The FDA ruling came after warnings yesterday it was planning to ban America's most popular e-cigarette brand.

There is no rule in place against owning or using a Juul device.

The Biden administration is also cracking down on smokers, voicing plans to limit the amount of nicotine in cigarettes in the hopes of making them less addictive.

The FDA ban includes JUULpods Virginia Tobacco five percent, Virginia Tobacco three percent, Menthol five percent, and Menthol three percent.

The agency has threatened enforcement action on any businesses that continues to sell Juul e-cigarettes, including fines and seizures of products.

Michele Mital, the agency's acting director for tobacco products, said today that Juul had failed to demonstrate its products met safety standards.

'As with all manufacturers, Juul had the opportunity to provide evidence demonstrating that the marketing of their product meets these standards,' she said.

'However, the company did not provide that evidence and instead left us with significant questions.

'Without the data needed to determine relevant health risks, the FDA is issuing these marketing denial orders.'

The CDC reports that more than 2.5 million students in the U.S. were 'current' users of tobacco products in 2021. This includes 13% of high schoolers and 4% of middle schoolers

FDA commissioner Robert Califf accused Juul of playing a 'significant part' in the rise of vaping among youngsters.

Responding to the ruling, the chief regulatory officer for Juul Joe Murillo said the company 'respectfully disagrees with the FDA's findings and decision, and continues to believe we have provided sufficient information and data based on high-quality research to address all issues raised by the agency'.

He added: 'We intend to seek a stay and are exploring all of our options under the FDA's regulations and the law, including appealing the decision and engaging with our regulator.

'We remain committed to doing all in our power to continue serving the millions of American adult smokers who have successfully used our products to transition away from combustible cigarettes, which remain available on market shelves nationwide.'

After the FDA ordered a review of all vaping products in 2020, Juul had been seeking approval for its devices.

Juul is the most popular e-cigarette brand in America, believed to be behind about 42 percent of all devices sold.

But it has been accused of sparking a surge in vaping among younger adults, and providing a gateway for people to start smoking.

Federal data shows one-in-four children vaped in 2019  more than double the 11.7 percent two years beforehand.

This has now come back down to 11.3 percent, however, amid heightened regulations and concerns over the habit.

The American Vapor Manufacturing Association  which represents the industry  blasted today's ban on selling Juul products.

Its president Amanda Wheeler said: 'Measured in lives lost and potential destroyed, the FDA's staggering indifference to ordinary Americans and their right to switch to the vastly safer alternative of vaping will surely rank as one of the greatest episodes of regulatory malpractice in American history.'

Several public health groups have, however, welcomed the move.

Erika Sward, the vice-president of advocacy for the American Lung Association, said: 'The FDA's decision to remove all Juul products from the marketplace is both most welcomed and long overdue.

'Juul's campaign to target and hook kids on tobacco has gone on for far too long.'

Disposable e-cigarettes and refillable cartridges account for over 80% of teen tobacco product usage in America

The FDA's ban comes just a day after the Biden administration called on tobacco companies to drastically cut the amount of nicotine in cigarettes.

Each one currently contains around 7.5 to 13.4 milligrams of the substance which makes them addictive, estimates suggest.

But the administration hopes to see this cut to 'minimal' levels in order to make smoking less addictive and easier to quit.

They say it could also help stop people from starting to smoke in the first place.

FDA commissioner Califf said in a statement that nicotine is 'powerfully addictive', adding that 'lowering levels... would decrease the likelihood that future generations of young people become addicted to cigarettes and help more currently addicted smokers to quit'.

The agency estimates reducing these levels could stop about 33 million people from becoming regular smokers and allow about five million more to quit every year.

It comes after the FDA also proposed a ban on menthol cigarettes in the United States, which account for about a third of all those being sold.

They said the move could help reduce disease and death from smoking by making people less likely to pick up the habit.

The FDA is also seeking to ban dozens of sweet and fruity flavors from small cigars, which are becoming more popular among young people.
The CDC is warning of a historic, highly deadly, outbreak of meningococcal disease affecting gay and bisexual men in Florida.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 24 men have contracted the disease, resulting in at least six deaths, in what it describes as 'one of the worst outbreaks of meningococcal disease among gay and bisexual men in U.S. history.'

Meningococcal disease, often the cause of meningitidis, is a rare but highly infectious condition that be spread either via a virus or bacteria. It infects a person's brain and spinal chord.

While the CDC is recommending for gay and bisexual men to get vaccinated against the virus, one health expert tells DailyMail.com that even if someone gets jabbed now they will still not be safe from the disease in time for Pride festivities this weekend.

Ahead of the final weekend of Pride month, Florida officials and the CDC are warning of a 'historic' outbreak of meningococcal disease among gay and bisexual men in the Sunshine state. Pictured: Revelers take pictures at a Pride event on June 18 in Wilton Manors, Florida

It leaves the gay and bisexual community in Florida with another concern heading into a weekend of reveling, as monkeypox has also been found to be traveling through the demographic as well.

Officials have not revealed where in Florida the cases have been found, or if they are even all in the same region.

The time-frame in which they have been detected has not been confirmed either, but statements from officials indicate that they are relatively recent and are tied to Pride festivities.

'Meningitis, by definition is an infection of the protective covering of the spinal cord. It can be caused by a number of different funguses, virus, and bacteria,' Dr Jonathan Appelbaum, chair of the Department of Clinical Sciences at Florida State University, in the state's capital of Tallahassee, told DailyMail.com.

Dr Jonathan Appelbaum (pictured), chair of the Department of Clinical Sciences at Florida State University, recommends for gay and bisexual men to get vaccinated, but warns it is too late to be protected for this weekend's festivities

He explained that the virus does not typically spread through sexual networks, making it an oddity that all cases were detected among gay and bisexual men.

The disease generally spreads via close contact, though similar to Covid it can spread via respiratory droplets.

'The reason why this outbreak occurs because people are in close contact. Anywhere where we have people together in close contact, this can occur,' he said.

It can be caused by either a viral or bacterial infection, and Appelbaum says the recent spate of cases in Florida is tied to bacterial transmission.

Many people are already to get vaccinated against the disease to either attend university or to join the military - but uptake outside of those groups is poor.

Exact figures for the amount of Americans vaccinated are not available, but the National Meningitis Association (NMA) says that many teens who are eligible for the shot have not received it.

The CDC is recommending gay and bisexual men who have not received the shot yet to do so to protect themselves going forward.

'Getting vaccinated against meningococcal disease is the best way to prevent this serious illness, which can quickly become deadly,' said Dr Jose R. Romero, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a CDC statement.

'Because of the outbreak in Florida, and the number of Pride events being held across the state in coming weeks, it's important that gay and bisexual men who live in Florida get vaccinated, and those traveling to Florida talk to their healthcare provider about getting a MenACWY vaccine.'

Appelbaum insists they get jabbed as well, but warns that it takes time for the shots to activate in a person's body - a person that get vaccinated now will not be protected in time for this week's Pride festivities.

Massive pride celebrations are planned this weekend for the final weekend of June, with thousands expected to descend on beaches across the state.

Community leaders from around the world have issued warnings ahead of these festivities to protect from monkeypox, and in Florida it seems their may be another potential threat as well.

The NMA reports that there are around 600 to 1,000 cases of the disease in the U.S. every year. More than one-in-five of these cases occur in people aged 11 to 24.

The organization also reports that 20 percent of teens have not received the vaccines, and that more than two-thirds who have gotten the jab are boosted as well.
The guns of resistance to Western interference in Afghanistan may have stopped firing even as the odd bombing by IS terrorists spelt trouble for a country from which the US and Nato withdrew their soldiers barely a year ago. Afghanistan, however, continues to be disfigured by natural calamities like earthquakes as it sits in tectonically active terrain over a vast number of fault lines.

An average annual toll of 560 deaths a year from tremors does, however, pale when compared to the devastation in the early hours of Wednesday that a shallow 5.9 quake at six-mile depth wreaked in the Gayan and Barmal districts of Paktika in eastern Afghanistan close to the Pakistan border.

The Taliban may have celebrated their comeback in August 2021, after two decades, to govern the country but they have had little administrative experience. Over 75 per cent of the money in Afghan budgets used to come from western aid and that has stopped.

The humanitarian tragedy is of humongous proportions of an earthquake in a mountainous, landslide-prone region that may well have claimed thousands more lives than the 1,000 that was an early estimate of the toll as people were fast asleep in shanty mud-and-brick houses.

The world, including the West, must reach out with much more of the aid that has been set in motion despite the Taliban not even having thought of formally requesting the UN for assistance in the face of such a tragedy.

The poignancy of the catastrophe of the most severe quake in a couple of decades may have struck home as survivors were said to be using their bare hands to dig into the rubble to search for people who may have been as fortunate to survive.

The scale of natural calamities adding to manmade disasters as in wars and conflicts inflicted on the country can be gauged from the statistical magnitude of the humanitarian and economic crisis that has overtaken the Afghan people  widespread hunger among about 20 million people representing half the population while at least 30 million are living in abject poverty, according to the UN.

Add the toll from such disasters that are made worse by climate change and the picture of human misery would be complete. Not only our hearts but also the generosity of our purses should go out to the Afghans.
... are you reading now?

Looking For Trouble by Virginia Cowles  one of the most remarkable and gripping works of non-fiction I have ever read.

First published in 1941 and just reissued by Faber, it is a young war correspondent's account of the Spanish Civil War and the outbreak of World War II.

Gyles Brandreth (pictured) is currently reading Looking For Trouble by Virginia Cowles. He would take Dancing By The Light Of The Moon to a desert island

A well-connected American journalist in her 20s, the seemingly fearless Cowles travelled to the European war zones of the 1930s and her depiction of the reality of war is unputdownable.

From the absurdity of Hitler flirting with British socialite Unity Mitford to the horror of the Russian invasion of Finland (alarmingly foreshadowing what is happening in Ukraine right now), this is a major work of history and literature. I am amazed it is not more famous.

... would you take to a desert island?

Dancing By The Light Of The Moon (Penguin), my own anthology of poetry to learn by heart. From Auden to Zephaniah, there are over 250 poems here, mostly short, mostly rhyming and rhythmical, old favourites (Edward Lear, Walter de la Mare) and a few surprises (the Insta-poets get a look-in).

I want poetry on my desert island because I will need different poems to suit my changing moods and the changing seasons  and because research shows that learning poetry by heart can help keep your synapses supple and dementia at bay.

Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School first gave him the reading bug

. . . first gave you the reading bug?

After I had grown out of Enid Blyton and Noddy and before I discovered Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, I was completely hooked on the adventures of Billy Bunter Of Greyfriars School by Frank Richards. Bunter and Greyfriars were the Harry Potter and Hogwarts of my day  comical schoolboy yarns set in a traditional English boys' boarding school. Bunter was a fat boy  boastful and deceitful  who was regularly ragged by his schoolfriends and beaten by the masters. You couldn't publish the stories today, but in the 1950s (when Bunter was also a TV favourite) I simply loved him.

. . . left you cold?

I love words. I love the richness and diversity of the English language, which is why I know I should relish the work of one of the great Irish masters of language, James Joyce. At school, I read and enjoyed A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man. Published in 1916, it's got a story I understood.

I tried his Ulysses (1920) and struggled a bit with that. When I got round to the book some scholars regard as his greatest, Finnegans Wake (1939), I was completely lost. I gave up when I got this 100-letter word in the third paragraph: bababadal gharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronnton nerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawn toohoohoordenenthurnuk.
OTHER NAMES FOR LOVE

by Taymour Soomro (Harvill Secker 14.99, 256pp)

OTHER NAMES FOR LOVE by Taymour Soomro (Harvill Secker 14.99, 256pp)

Dont be fooled by the muted tones of this debut from a promising British-Pakistani writer, whose low-key style lures us into a combustible tale of cross-class lust.

Fahad, a 16-year-old Londoner, is looking forward to spending his summer holidays visiting art galleries and theatres with his mother. But his father has other ideas, instead sending him to the family farm in Pakistan as preparation for inheriting the estate.

Fahad is distracted from his resentment when he catches the eye of Ali, a local teenager hired to work the land.

Their ensuing relationship becomes a dangerous secret, generating tension in a delicate narrative that turns on Pakistans turbulent politics as well as themes of masculinity and filial duty.

Soomros taut storytelling lays out the action in short, spare scenes that trust the reader to keep up.

A compact book bursting with emotion, it leaves you eager for whatever this already vastly accomplished author will do next.

BERLIN

by Bea Setton (Doubleday 14.99, 256pp)

BERLIN by Bea Setton (Doubleday 14.99, 256pp)

Settons engagingly self-conscious debut joins a recent wave of novels about young literary types upping sticks to Berlin (think Lauren Oylers Fake Accounts and Rob Doyles Threshold, to name two).

Its 26-year-old narrator, Daphne, deals with her failure to land a place to study postgraduate philosophy in London by renting a flat above a methadone clinic in fashionably down-at-heel Kreuzberg.

The story drifts along amiably on a tide of language classes and dating-app hook-ups, as a fling with a DJ keeps her from pining for an ex-lover who aggravatingly pitches up in town with a new girlfriend.

Yes, its well-worn territory, but no matter: our attention is firmly held by the wry wit of Daphnes voice, as well as regular hints that shes something of an unreliable narrator.

Theres a stalker subplot, too, so Setton hardly skimps on jeopardy, but the books success lies chiefly in its line-by-line charm.

THE MEASURE

by Nikki Erlick (Borough Press 14.99, 368pp)

THE MEASURE by Nikki Erlick (Borough Press 14.99, 368pp)

This high-concept page-turner imagines  wait for it  that everyone over the age of 22 mysteriously receives a box containing a string whose length determines how long they have left to live.

It doesnt make the slightest bit of sense, no, but the conceit is only a way to lift the curtain on a fast-moving panorama showing how the ensuing global crisis affects a large cast of characters, including a U.S. presidential hopeful who sets out to turn it to his advantage.

So-called short-stringers end up at the back of the queue for medical care  theyre going to die soon anyway  while long-stringers campaigning against the injustice are accused of virtue-signalling.

A sharp lens for real-world problems, perhaps, but ultimately I felt patronised by the blatant gimmickry of Erlicks set-up, as if she thought readers wouldnt care for her fine-grained observation unless it had a throwaway sci-fi hook.
Drivers will continue to face parking charges of up to 100 after the Private Parking Code of Practice was temporarily withdrawn by minsters pending review earlier this month.

The introduction of official guidance on the code of conduct for operators has been delayed after parking firms launched legal action to challenge the proposal.

Several private parking firms have since been branded 'bullies' after starting the legal action against the new code of practice, which aimed to cut private parking charges in half from 100 to 50 and provide drivers with more powers to dispute unfair tickets.

Plans to also ban debt collectors from hounding motorists who do not pay within a time limit are not likely to go ahead after the Government backed down from the legal challenges.

Private firms reportedly issue roughly 22,000 parking tickets every day, essentially extorting motorists according to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Levelling Up, Neil O'Brien

In February, the Government announced plans to implement the new code of practice that would crack down on private car parking firms and cut charges by up to 50 per cent across England, Wales and Scotland.

Typically, parking charges would be capped at 70 outside of London, and 130 in the capital, with an early payment discount of 50 percent.

The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities unveiled the plans to reduce parking charges for drivers and make appeals simpler in a bid to encourage consumers to support their local high street.

According to the submitted proposal, Minister Neil O'Brien wrote: 'Key to helping our local high streets and town centres roar back into life as part of our recovery from COVID, is encouraging more people to shop local and support local businesses.

'Yet, poll after poll - both before and during the pandemic - shows that a lack of cheap, easy parking is one of the greatest barriers to people visiting their local high street.'

Private firms reportedly issue roughly 22,000 parking charges every day, essentially extorting motorists according to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Levelling Up.

O'Brien added that these private firms: 'often adopt a labyrinthine system of misleading and confusing signage, opaque appeals services, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees designed to extort money from motorists.

'Apart from their inherent unfairness, these practices damage our high-streets, our towns and our city centres. We are determined to bring them to an end.'

However, motorists have been left in the dark after Whitehall sources confirmed that officials 'conceded' to parking firms' and the proposal was officially tabled on 7 June pending review.

The prospect of 'Wild West' parking firms continuing to issue charges of up to 100 is a blow for motorists amid the cost of living crisis, and is also bad news for the thousands who refuse to pay charges after protesting that they were treated unfairly.

Other measures, such as a compulsory ten-minute grace period before firms can issue a charge to drivers whose tickets have expired, will go ahead.

As will the plans to create a simpler and fairer independent appeals process to give more support to drivers in cases of honest mistakes, such as keying in the wrong vehicle number plate at a ticket machine.

The private firms argued that the legal case for the measures were not strong enough, and the Government is now set to consult more widely on the measures in the hope that the legal case can be strengthened.

Parking firms have also argued that the current cap should be increased to 120.

They claim reducing it to 50 would lead to more drivers flouting parking rules because a ticket, if paid at a discounted rate within 14 days, could be cheaper than paying for parking.

Usually there is a discount if a driver pays a charge earlier - typically 60 rather than 100. If a driver appeals the charge, this is frozen while it is investigated.

If the private firm decides the charge stands, drivers have to take it through POPLA - an independent appeals service.

It's deeply disappointing that the code has been temporarily withdrawn which now almost certainly means yet more delays in it being introduced. Drivers have a right to feel infuriated. Nicholas Lyes - RAC

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: 'The new private parking code of practice was designed specifically to make things fairer for drivers and end some of the worst practices in the sector.

'It's deeply disappointing that the code has been temporarily withdrawn which now almost certainly means yet more delays in it being introduced. Drivers have a right to feel infuriated.

'The fact that parking companies take issue with the capping of charge notices and debt recovery fees shows precisely why both the code and the cap are needed.

'For too long, some companies have been allowed to prey mercilessly on drivers who might make an honest mistake and then have to face both over-zealous enforcement and threatening debt recovery letters.

'The Government must stand up to these companies and get the code over the line so we finally have fair and transparent enforcement in the private parking sector.'

AA president Edmund King added: 'For too long, private parking enforcement has been allowed to degenerate into a Wild West where cowboy operators have been able to ride into a town and set their own rules and punishments.

'The judicial reviews are a setback but the Government must hold firm and restore order among those who like to bully motorists.'
Ford has revealed its latest in a line of bonkers Transits - an electric van that packs almost 2,000bhp.

It is called the Supervan and is the fourth iteration of Ford putting a massive powertrain into a commercial vehicle, having unveiled the first in 1971 by putting a GT40 V8 engine in a Mk1 Transit.

Ford quotes a maximum power output of 1,973bhp from the zero-emission, quad-motor powertrain, put into a souped-up e-Transit Custom.

It means Ford's Supervan can accelerate from a standstill to 62mph quicker than a 2.5million Bugatti Chiron.

White Supervan Man: This is Ford's idea of a Transit racing car. It's been created by the brand's 'Performance' division and packs more power and has a faster 0-62mph performance than a 1.5million Bugatti hypercar

The creation won't be used for ultra-fast deliveries. It is instead designed to showcase the available performance from an electric drivetrain, just as Ford is set to sell its first battery-powered van, the E-Transit Custom, in the UK.

But while the plug-in commercial vehicle you can buy from a Ford dealer produces 265bhp in its most powerful form, the Supervan has almost eight times as much grunt.

Ford says it will hit 62mph from a standing start in less than two seconds - that's around half a second quicker than Bugatti's hypercar. The 1,973bhp output is also 473bhp more than the Chiron.

It debuted today at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where it will be driven up the famous hill over the next four days by French racing driver Romain Dumas, who has set record times at the hillclimb, as well as around the Nurburgring and the US Pikes Peak course.

Ford UK said wet conditions at the event this morning meant its power needed to be dialled down from almost 2,000bhp to a still-frightening 1,600bhp.

Power is delivered from a 50kWh liquid cooled battery pack that can be charged in just 45 minutes using a standard fast charger.

Many of its mechanical components are taken from the E-Transit, though the chassis is unique and purpose-built for this one-off van on steroids.

Called the Supervan, it is the fourth iteration of Ford putting a bonkers powertrain into a commercial vehicle. This Supervan 4 is loosely based on the company's new E-Transit Custom

 Slide me  Left: The 40,000 Ford E-Transit Custom you can buy from a dealership. Right: The one-of-a-kind Supervan 4, which uses the same floorpan and some of the components from the E-Transit

The cabin is - as you might expect - sparse. It looks like a racing cockpit, equipped with a full roll cage and FIA-approved race seats

There are five varying driving modes, most of which sound pretty alarming. They are: Road; Track; Drag; Drift; and Rally. Each offers a different ferocity of power delivery bespoke to its intended use and the terrain it is being driven on.

However, when driven at low speeds it automatically selects an 'Eco' mode, which keeps the motors at optimal efficiency, turns the regenerative braking up to maximum and cuts drive to the rear axle.

When the driver wants to unleash the full 1,973 of galloping horses, they need to push an 'EBoost' button that temporarily winds the power up to eleven.

Ford says it has a maximum power output of almost 2,000bhp and can complete a 0-62mph sprint in less than 2 seconds

Ford says it is around half a second quicker to 62mph than Bugatti's Chiron (right). The 1,973bhp output is also 473bhp more than the French hypercar

The suspension, brakes and steering are all bespoke upgrades to ensure the souped-up commercial vehicle has all the provisions to accelerate, turn and stop safely

The svelte, lightweight bodywork has been wrapped over a steel spaceframe - yet it does use the standard E-Transit Custom's floorpan

Ford has also fitted it with an F1-style pit-lane speed limiter and a new feature called 'tyre cleaning mode'.

The latter locks one axle while spinning the other to 'help clean and warm the tyres before performance runs', as well as perform 'impressive burnouts' during displays.

It has been co-developed by the special Ford Performance division and Austrian EV rally specialists, Stard.

The svelte, lightweight bodywork has been wrapped over a steel spaceframe - yet it does use the standard E-Transit Custom's floorpan.

The suspension, brakes and steering are all bespoke upgrades to ensure the souped-up commercial vehicle has all the provisions to accelerate, turn and stop safely when there is so much power being sent to the four wheels.

It certainly looks the part, featuring huge wings and splitters and a racing-style rear diffuser to improve downforce.

However, it remains super practical, retaining its conventional rear load bay and the side sliding door for easy access to the back.

Ford has also fitted it with an F1-style pit-lane speed limiter. That's because the vehicle will mostly be used for on-track displays

It also has a new feature called 'Tyre cleaning mode', which locks one axle while spinning the other to 'help clean and warm the tyres before performance runs' as well as perform 'impressive burnouts' during displays

As well as a racing wheel, the interior gets the large touchscreen from the Ford Mustang Mach-E electric family SUV that you can buy in showrooms

The cabin is - as you might expect - sparse. It looks like a racing cockpit, equipped with a full roll cage and FIA-approved race seats.

It also has the large touchscreen from the Ford Mustang Mach-E electric family SUV that you can buy in showrooms.

Ford said: 'Beyond demonstrating Fords advanced electric vehicle and connectivity know-how, the electric Supervan is also a high-speed science experiment.

'Its demanding driving scenarios and unrestricted design concept allow Ford to push the boundaries of electric vehicle engineering and connectivity to improve its future race cars and road-going vehicles, software and services.'

Ford first introduced a Supervan in 1971 as a promotional exercise to boost sales of the Transit, which had been available for just over five years

For Supervan 1, Ford removed the conventional four-pot engine and replaced it with a mid-mounted 400bhp V8 from the GT40 supercar. It retained its pressed-steel Mark 1 Transit bodyshell and had a claimed top speed of around 150mph

Supervan 2 arrived in 1984 and was powered by a 3.9-litre V8 Cosworth engine from a Group C racing car

The previous Supervan emerged in 1994. Supervan 3 had a 3.8-litre powerplant, again developed by Cosworth that was being used at that time in Formula One cars.

Ford first created a Supervan back in 1971 as promotional vehicle for the original Transit, replacing the conventional four-pot engine and replaced it with a mid-mounted 400bhp V8 from the GT40 supercar.

It retained its pressed-steel Mark 1 Transit bodyshell and had a claimed top speed of around 150mph.

There have been modern versions since, with the Supervan 2 arriving in 1984 and powered by a 3.9-litre V8 Cosworth engine from a Group C racing car and Supervan 3 coming in 1994 3.8-litre powerplant, again developed by Cosworth that was being used at that time in Formula One cars.

'Were bringing Supervan into the 21st century with 2,000bhp of all-electric power for unmatched excitement and unmistakeable styling inspired by the new E-Transit Custom,' explains Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports.

'But performance isnt all about horsepower  the Electric Supervans processing power means engineers can use real-time vehicle data to optimise its performance, just like on a top-level racing car.'
Toyota has confirmed it will recall 2,700 examples of its first mass-produced electric vehicle - the bZ4X - because of a fault that could result in wheels coming loose.

The world's largest automaker by sales submitted the recall of the plug-in SUVs to Japan's transportation ministry on Thursday.

Of the vehicles affected, 260 for the United States, 20 for Canada, 110 for Japan and 2,200 were earmarked for Europe - 500 of them for UK customers, the company said.

The bZ4X is already available to order in the UK, with prices starting from 41,169. Customers in Britain have not yet taken delivery of their orders, with Toyota UK saying all models affected will be rectified before arriving.

Toyota's EV issue: Japanese brand confirms it will recall 2,700 examples of its first mass-produced electric vehicles - the bZ4X (pictured) - because of a risk wheels might loosen and potentially come off

Subaru has also confirmed it will recall some 2,600 units of the Solterra, its first all-electric vehicle that is the sister model to the bZ4X having been jointly developed with Toyota, for the same reason.

Japan's safety regulator said sharp turns and sudden braking could cause a hub bolt to loosen, raising the risk of a wheel coming off the vehicle.

However, it added that it is not aware of any accidents being caused by the defect.

The regulator advised drivers to stop using the vehicle until a more 'permanent' repair measure was in place.

All of the cars recalled in Japan had not yet been delivered to customers as they were meant for test drives and display, spokespeople of the automakers said.

'We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this causes you,' Toyota said on its website.

'We would have repaired it as soon as possible, but we are investigating the details.'

Around 500 affected cars were due for UK customers, with deliveries scheduled for this month. However, these are likely to be delayed as the Japanese brand moves to resolve the potential issue.

A UK spokesperson told the BBC: 'If a wheel detaches from the vehicle while driving, it could result in a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.

'No one should drive these vehicles until the remedy is performed,' they added.

Japan's safety regulator said sharp turns and sudden braking could cause a hub bolt to loosen, raising the risk of a wheel detaching from the vehicle

The Toyota bZ4X SUV has a range of between 257 and 317 miles depending on the model

Toyota says that not every model has been subjected to the recall - but declined to say how many of those built so far are impacted.

For Subaru, most of the vehicles were for dealers and none were delivered to customers in the US, a Subaru spokesperson said.

The recall comes less than two months after Toyota, a relative latecomer to the EV market, rolled out the electric SUV, bZ4X, to the domestic market, albeit as a lease-only option.

Code red: Those who have already ordered a bZ4X electric SUV have been assured their motors will not have the issue when they are delivered from later this year

What you need to know about the Toyota bZ4X

by Ray Massey for the Daily Mail

The bZ in its name is supposed to stand for 'beyond zero'  highlighting its green credentials.

Will it fit in my garage? Toyota bZ4X Doors: 5 On sale: now Price: from 41,950 to 51,550 Propulsion: pure electric Emissions: Zero Length: 4,690mm Width: 1,860mm Height: 1,600mm Wheelbase: 2,640mm Battery: 71.4kWh Charging to 80%: 30 minutes Range: 257 to 317 miles 0 to 62mph: 6.9 seconds Top speed: 100mph

How do we pronounce this 'bZ'? Buzz? It marks the start of Toyota's sub-brand for zero emission vehicles.

It's handy timing for a new electric car, as petrol hits the 2-a-litre mark and filling up an average car crashes through the 100 barrier.

Even rocketing electricity charges won't match that.

Charging to 80 per cent takes 30 minutes and it has a range of between 257 and 317 miles depending on the model.

With a 71.4kWh battery, the all-wheel drive version with two electric motors developing 215bhp accelerates from rest to 62mph in 6.9 seconds.

The 201bhp front-wheel drive does it in 7.5 seconds. Top speed is limited to 100mph.

The new electric five-door SUV is priced from 41,950 for the front-wheel drive, base-level Pure trim, up to 51,550 for all-wheel drive Premiere Edition.

Other trim levels between are Motion and Vision.

Trim dependent options include a panoramic roof (540), 20 in alloy wheels (490) and metallic paint (from 600).

The bZ is supposed to stand for 'beyond zero'  highlighting its green credentials

The new electric five-door SUV is priced from 41,950 for the front-wheel drive and base-level Pure trim
Credit Suisse has been hit with another lawsuit  this time in a deal involving the Vatican, a luxury London property and a high-flying fund manager.

The beleaguered bank is accused by Raffaele Mincione of failing to tell him that money invested in his fund group WRM came from donations the Vatican earmarked for the needy.

Instead, the cash was put into a WRM fund which purchased 60 Sloane Avenue, in Londons Knightsbridge district which was formerly used by Harrods.

Property deal: Credit Suisse is accused by Raffaele Mincione of failing to tell him that money invested in his fund group WRM came from donations the Vatican earmarked for the needy

Credit Suisse is reeling from involvement in the Greensill Capital and Archegos Capital implosions, and recently brought in a chairman, having ousted former Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osorio who broke lockdown rules to visit Wimbledon.

Mincione faces proceedings in the Vatican, where he has been charged him with fraud and embezzlement, which he denies.

Companies connected to WRM originally bought the flash London building in 2012 for 129million, the Financial Times reported.

But two years later, a separate WRM fund, which included money from the Vaticans charitable Peters Pence pot, bought a stake in it at a much higher valuation.

The Vatican snapped up the rest of the building in 2018, and prosecutors say Minciones firms made a big profit.

More than 300million of Vatican donations were invested in 60 Sloane Avenue between 2014 and 2018.

Mincione denies any wrongdoing, and says the Vatican was advised by its own banks, including Credit Suisse.

He is bringing a claim against fund administrator, Citco.

WRM said Credit Suisse and Citco kept information from Mincione to cover up the exact origin of the said money in the framework of the relationship between [Credit Suisse and Citco] and the Vatican.

A Credit Suisse spokesman said: Credit Suisse will defend itself vigorously against this claim brought by WRM Group which is unfounded and without merit. The allegations seem to be designed to merely divert attention away from Mr Mincione. Credit Suisse is not involved in the Vatican trial.

A spokesperson for Citco said: We must highlight that Citco is not involved in the original legal proceedings with the Vatican. Citco disputes the accusation in question and plans to defend its position against WRM Groups wholly unfounded claim.
House prices in Britain have soared by 50,000 since the start of the pandemic, according to official figures released yesterday.

In a report that cast doubt on expectations of a sharp slowdown in the property market, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the value of a typical home hit 281,000 in April.

That was 50,000 higher than in February 2020 as the coronavirus crisis struck, and 31,000 higher than in April last year.

The Office for National Statistics said the value of a typical home hit 281,000 in April. That was 50,000 higher than in February 2020 and 31,000 higher than in April last year

Analysts said the property market was being driven by buyers looking to lock in cheap mortgage deals ahead of further expected rate hikes by the Bank of England.

Mark Harris, of SPF Private Clients, a mortgage broker, commented: Borrowers are moving quickly to secure the best fixed rates.

The ONS said house prices increased 12.4 per cent in the 12 months to April, which was a faster rise than the 9.7 per cent gain that was made in the year to March.

It was the second highest rate of growth for 16 years  beaten only by June 2021 when prices rose by 13.3 per cent as buyers raced to complete in a stamp duty holiday.

In Wales and Scotland, house price growth hit 16.2 per cent. In England, the rate was 11.9 per cent, while Northern Ireland recorded 10.4 per cent growth.

The South West had the fastest price increases of any region in England, with growth at 14.1 per cent, while London recorded the slowest pace of growth, at 7.9 per cent.

Despite the rises experts have warned the property market will slow later this year as cheap mortgage options dry up.

Andrew Montlake, the managing director of mortgage broker Coreco, said: This data is not a true reflection of where the market is right now.

The era of ultra-cheap money is finished and that will soon start to feed through into house-price growth.
Government officials have floated the idea of using national security rules to force Arm to list on the stock market in London.

The UK chip giant, owned by Japans SoftBank, is in talks with ministers who want it to return to Britains public markets.

Officials have considered applying the National Security and Investment Act as a means of influencing SoftBank to choose London, says the Financial Times.

UK-based chip giant Arm, owned by Japans SoftBank, is currently in talks with ministers who want it to return to Britains public markets

But there is opposition to the plan within government, which has not been acted on. The act lets the Government halt deals that could harm UK security.

Arm was dual-listed before SoftBanks takeover in 2016, but a float is on the cards after its 30billion sale to Americas Nvidia fell through.

It had looked set to opt for an exclusive US listing but SoftBanks position has softened following a Government charm offensive.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has held meetings with Arm and SoftBank executives and the Prime Minister has penned a letter to Arms owner.

Arm, based in Cambridge, designs chips that run virtually every smartphone on Earth.

It has about 6,400 staff. Arm was contacted for comment.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is under mounting pressure to block the US takeover of Britains leading satellite company after the deal moved a step closer.

In a crucial vote, California-based Viasat won the approval of its shareholders for the 5.6billion buyout to go ahead.

Rick Baldridge, Viasats boss, hailed the step as an important milestone and expects the sale to be finalised this year.

Intervention: Viasats 5.6bn deal for British satellite firm Inmarsat is facing calls for scrutiny

Viasat would take control of Inmarsat in a tie-up that Baldridge said will create a global satellite leader and accelerate both companies growth.

But the takeover is being investigated by Kwarteng, who intervened after calls from defence experts and MPs to block the sale.

Ministers have been handed sweeping powers under the National Security and Investment Act to look at tie-ups and investments in 17 sensitive sectors, and act where necessary.

Inmarsat is Britains leading satellite company and the largest provider of in-flight wifi for airlines and a major player in internet connections for ships.

It has 14 satellites in orbit and plans to launch another seven. Customers include the British military and, as a result, the company is considered a strategic asset by the Government.

There are fears Inmarsat could suffer the same fate as aerospace group Cobham, which was carved up 18 months after it was bought by US private equity firm Advent.

Viasat has promised to boost research and development spending in the UK and create a UK board of directors to oversee key decisions. The global headquarters of the combined group would be in London.

But independent analyst Francis Tusa said Kwartengs move suggests there is enough doubt over the implications.

He said: If there is enough doubt, that says no.

The UK has to be open for business. But not at the expense of risking security. The days of the Government saying: Go on, take it over, we dont care, are gone.

So the deal is a step closer as it were, but if whatever the deal is is suspect enough that the Government is not sure about it, then there is enough doubt.

The Government is stepping up scrutiny of similar deals. Last month Kwarteng launched a probe into the Chinese takeover of Britains leading semiconductor maker Newport Wafer Fab.

It also comes after the founding family of defence giant Cobham raised the alarm over a slew of sensitive takeovers.

Lady Cobham, the daughter-in-law of founder Sir Alan Cobham, has warned against auctioning off high-tech firms Ultra Electronics, Inmarsat and Meggitt in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

Others to oppose the takeover include Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of Parliaments foreign affairs committee, and former defence minister Tobias Ellwood.

And former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine yesterday said: I am sceptical about the idea of high technology companies being sold without regard.

Viasat said its takeover of Inmarsat will strengthen its contribution to UK defence and security.

A spokesman said: We have committed to invest heavily in our UK business and to continue to create more high-quality jobs in the growing space sector, in support of the UK Governments National Space Strategy.
Unilever has been accused of hypocrisy after it promised to get rid of plastic sachets  only to then fight to keep using them.

The consumer goods giant has been a vocal opponent of the tiny plastic packets, with a senior executive once calling them evil.

They have been blamed for fuelling a global waste crisis, with the packets littering neighbourhoods and harming wildlife.

Broken pledge: Plastic sachets have been blamed for fuelling a global waste crisis, with the empty packets littering neighbourhoods, clogging waterways and harming wildlife

Chief executive Alan Jope said in 2020: We have to get rid of them.

Its pretty much impossible to mechanically recycle and so its got no real value.

But a Reuters investigation found Unilever lobbied the Sri Lankan government to reconsider a proposed ban on the tiny packets. It also found that Unilever then tried to manoeuvre around it when it was imposed.

Sources also said Unilever lobbied against sachet bans in India and the Philippines that were then dropped.

Conservative MP Lee Anderson said: This is another case of do as I say and not as I do.

These multinational faceless hypocrites need to put their money where their mouth is instead of falsely hiding on the moral high ground dictating to the rest of us on morality.

They should concentrate on things that affect real people, like making ice-cream people can actually afford.

Unilever, which owns the Dove, Ben & Jerrys and Hellmanns brands, used the packets for products including shampoo and conditioner.

Sri Lanka tried to end the tide of plastic waste spoiling beaches and other nature areas.

Environmental group A Plastic Planet estimates 855billion sachets are sold every year.

But despite Sri Lankas ban on sachets sized 20ml or under, the report exposed how Unilever kept selling 6ml sachets there.

The countrys environment minister Anil Jasinghe told Reuters: Unilever tried to deceive us.

Unilever declined to comment on the lobbying but said it was phasing out the sachets.
Residential landlord group Grainger has agreed to forward fund and buy the build-to-rent element of a Bristol development for 128million.

The 'Redcliff Quarter' in Bristol comprises 374 private rental homes, as well as 94 affordable homes and six commercial units.

Construction is expected to start in the third quarter of this year, with practical completion of the final element targeted for early 2025.

Business of home: Grainger is a UK professional residential landlord

It is anticipated the scheme, including the commercial arm, will generate a gross yield on cost of 6 per cent once fully let and stabilised.

Helen Gordon, Grainger's chief executive, said: 'We are very pleased to acquire our third build-to-rent scheme in Bristol which will further strengthen our city cluster, bringing our total investment in the city to nearly 900 homes when complete and driving operational efficiencies, whilst also enabling us to deliver 94 new affordable homes via Grainger Trust, our in-house affordable housing arm.'

The site is located within the central Redcliffe district of Bristol and forms part of the second and final phase of 'Redcliff Quarter', a wider residential-led, mixed use masterplan development.

Grainger said: 'In addition to the 374 PRS homes and 94 affordable homes at Redcliff Quarter, the scheme includes a total of c.5,900 sq. ft of internal residents' amenity space; c.21,200 sq. ft of external amenity space; c.8,500 sq. ft of commercial space; and 31 car parking spaces.

'A further six commercial units totalling c.15,800 sq. ft have also been acquired as part of the transaction.'

Northampton-based Winvic Construction had been appointed as contractor for the scheme.

Winvic built Grainger's Brook Place development in Sheffield and is also delivering the Copper Works in Cardiff for the group.

Grainger shares were down 0.2p to 280.40p in early morning trading.
Women working for some of the world's biggest miners have been subjected to years of 'horrifying' sexual abuse, a landmark inquiry has found.

A bombshell report into Australia's mining sector uncovered the 'appalling' treatment of women at companies including Rio Tinto and BHP, both listed on the stock market in London at the time.

Among the cases it highlights is a woman who testified to the inquiry that she was 'knocked unconscious in her donga and awoke to find her jeans and underpants around her ankles'.

Outback: Women suffered abuse while working at companies including Rio Tinto and BHP in remote locations of Australia

There were also stories of sex dolls being put in front of women's dongas  the name given to workers' huts in mining camps  or hung on their doors.

And the report criticised Rio and BHP for ignoring or overlooking unlawful and criminal behaviour.

The industry has now been urged to set up a sexual offence register to prevent workers fired for harassing and assaulting female colleagues from finding jobs elsewhere.

The report followed a year-long investigation launched after a string of sexual assaults at Fly-In-Fly-Out camps in Western Australia  one of the world's biggest mining hubs.

Entitled 'Enough is Enough', it provides excruciating details of the abuse female workers have been subjected to throughout the male-dominated industry for years  and a 'culture of cover-up'.

As well as 'horrifying' cases of sexual assault, the inquiry said women had reported being subjected to 'unsolicited and unwelcome attention', stalking, texting of explicit and lewd material, provocative photo requests and 'grooming' of young female apprentices by older male colleagues.

One described a bizarre power-play behaviour known as 'shovelling', whereby iron ore would be dumped on the cabs of trucks operated by women if they did not comply with sexual requests.

Another reported driving a truck and almost causing a collision. She was told by the site supervisor that he could make the safety investigation 'go away' if she had sex with him.

Truck driver Astacia Stevens told the parliamentary inquiry that she wanted to move from working for a contractor for Rio to working directly for the company, and wearing the company logo on her shirt. But a male superior demanded she have sex with him if she wanted a job with Rio.

One woman described how a male colleague forced his hand down her top numerous times in front of other workers, but no one did anything.

Victim: Truck driver Astacia Stevens told the parliamentary inquiry

Inquiry chairman Libby Mettam, deputy leader of the Liberal party in Western Australia, paid tribute to the 'brave women' who had come forward, and said that while she had expected 'horrific stories' would emerge from the investigation, she was 'shocked and appalled well beyond expectation by the size and depth of the problem'.

She said: 'To hear the lived reality of the taunts, attacks and targeted violence, the devastation and despair the victims experienced, the threats to or loss of their livelihood that resulted was shattering and it's completely inexcusable.'

The inquiry by Western Australia's Community Development and Justice Standing Committee heard how the conditions in mining camps in the outback allowed 'sexual harassment to thrive in the workplace'.

These conditions included a heavy boozing culture, with workers convening in the camp's 'wet mess' to get drunk after a hard day's work away from their families. One worker described a culture of 'what happens at camp, stays at camp'.

The investigation ran for almost a year, receiving nearly 100 submissions and turning the spotlight on some of the biggest mining companies including Rio and BHP.

The inquiry heard BHP sacked 48 staff over inappropriate conduct over two years, while Rio fired at least 12 for sexual assault or harassment last year.

The parliamentary report made 24 recommendations, which included an 'industry-wide workers' register', modelled on the system in place for those working with children.
Losses: Tesla boss Elon Musk (pictured) said its Texas and Berlin factories were 'gigantic money furnaces'

Elon Musk said Tesla's car factories in Texas and Berlin are 'losing billions of dollars' as they struggle to increase production because of a shortage of batteries and Chinese port issues.

'Both factories are gigantic money furnaces right now,' the electric car maker's chief executive said in an interview released on Wednesday.

'It's really like a giant roaring sound, which is the sound of money on fire.

'Supply chain interruptions have been extremely severe.

'Overwhelmingly our concern is how do we keep the factories operating so we can pay people and not go bankrupt.'

Waiting times for Tesla's Model S and Model X cars in the UK are now up to two years due to sky-high demand and reduced vehicle outputs.

UK customers have already been warned they face waiting up to two years for delivery of Tesla's Model S (left) and Model X (right) cars due to high demand and reduced production

The 50-year-old said the Covid-19-related shutdowns in Shanghai 'were very, very difficult'.

He added: 'The past two years have been an absolute nightmare of supply chain interruptions, one thing after another, and we're not out of it yet.'

Mr Musk's comments come in the same week that it was revealed that UK dealers have stopped taking orders for some new electric cars due to a lack of availability caused by production disruption.

Drivers have been warned they face a minimum of waiting time of 12 months for deliveries of the most sought-after EVs, as global manufacturers continue to be strangled by the shortage of semiconductor chips.

Electric cars are selling out: The availability of some EVs is starting to run dry, with dealers pulling the plug on new orders for popular models, including the MG ZS EV pictured

MG Motor UK dealers have suspended orders for its electric models following an 'unprecedented level of demand' for the vehicles

The current estimated waiting time on a new Volkswagen ID.3 (pictured) order is 12 months

A lack of new EV availability has led Skoda to delete certain Enyaq IV (pictured) derivatives from its line-up

A logjam in the supply of other car parts usually produced in Russia and Ukraine since the war began earlier this year has also added to delivery delays.

MG dealerships have now suspended orders for the 29,295 ZS EV and 29,625 5 EV Long Range following 'unprecedented levels of demand' for the vehicles, according to Ginny Buckley, founder of EV website Electrifying.com.

The EV website also found that a lack of availability has led Skoda and Volkswagen to delete certain electric models from their Enyaq and ID.3 line-ups, with waiting times of up to 12 months for the variants still listed.

A Volkswagen dealership told the website: 'I advise all customers to be a year or a year-and-a-half ahead of the schedule if they want a vehicle desperately.

'We don't think, internally at least, this is going away in a rush. It's the new norm.'
One of Britains leading defence companies moved a step closer to foreign ownership last night after the Government lent its support to the controversial 2.6billion takeover.

Ultra Electronics  which makes submarine-hunting sonobuoys  is being snapped up by US private equity predators Advent International.

It follows the 4billion takeover of Cobham by Advent in 2020 that led to the break-up of the historic British defence group.

Hunted: Ultra Electronics  which makes submarine-hunting sonobuoys  is being snapped up by US private equity predators Advent International

Advent is now buying Ultra through what is left of Cobham.

And despite Cobhams fate, and the strategic importance of Ultra to Britain, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said he was minded to accept the deal.

Whitehall officials have confirmed parties involved in the deal have offered undertakings to protect national security.

They include the creation of two companies to cover Ultras most sensitive work in the UK, which will have a state-endorsed board director on each.

It has also been confirmed that ministers will have strong step-in rights similar to a special share, allowing the Government to secure the future transfer of ownership.

And they will be granted powers to access Ultras intellectual property.

Cobham chairman Shonnel Malani said: We have always been clear about our unwavering commitment to ensuring that the UKs national security is protected and believe these very extensive and robust undertakings will do just that.

But the decision sparked a backlash from senior MPs amid fears of the hollowing out of UKs defence sector.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said he does not understand why they are not blocking it.

Leading the world Ultra Electronics is a world leader in sonar, radar and torpedo technologies. It provides mission-critical solutions to the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partnership of the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Originally set up in 1920, it has 4,500 staff and its sonar systems are used on ships and aircraft to hunt submarines and patrol British waters. Its sonobuoys can be dropped from helicopters and planes to help detect objects in the ocean

He told the Mail: How do we build capability, when we keep on allowing it to go somewhere else?

In terms of defence and technology, these are things we need to have here. And we used to. But in the last two decades, we have let so much go, and its time we resolve that.

Tory MP Bob Seely, who is a member of the influential foreign affairs select committee, said: There is a balance to be struck between being an attractive and open economy on one hand, and protecting intellectual property, our industrial base and sensitive defence firms on the other.

I am not sure we have that balance quite right yet.

At the weekend, Lady Cobham, the daughter-in-law of Cobham founder Sir Alan Cobham, warned in the Mail on Sunday about the UK auctioning off its high-tech firms such as Ultra, Inmarsat and Meggitt.

She said no one should be taken in by the fact that Cobham is fronting the takeover  as the ultimate owner is a private equity firm.

Tory grandee Lord Heseltine, who has previously criticised Kwarteng for abandoning Britains industrial strategy, said the stringent undertakings showed a glimmer of sanity at long last.
A shop worker whose boss told her 'tough' when she warned him she was about to have a migraine and then suffered an attack which left her paralysed on the floor has won 15,000.

Mary Doran's manager didn't believe she suffered from the debilitating headaches and even accused her of lying about her symptoms because he thought she was hungover.

The Nisa boss's mistrust of his employee led to him telling her 'tough' when she asked to go home when she started experiencing the early signs of a migraine attack and could barely see.

Instead he told her to sit down in the stock room until she felt better, but she became so unwell she had to lie on the floor for two hours while her boss ignored her.

She was signed off sick for two weeks but upon her return to work was told there were no shifts for her due to her 'health issues' and she was forced to resign.

Ms Doran has now won 15,998.96 after an employment tribunal ruled she was discriminated against by her manager because of her disability.

The tribunal, held in Manchester, heard she had suffered from 'intermittent chronic migraines' since 2003.

Her consultant neurologist told the tribunal her condition had gradually deteriorated. Her symptoms evolved to include visual disturbance or loss of sight for up to 20 minutes, numbness from the shoulders down with weakness in both arms and legs, giving rise to Ms Doran collapsing.

A migraine attack could also affect her ability to speak and make her become uncoordinated and confused.

Ms Doran told the tribunal the effects of an attack 'mimic a stroke' and she is often bedridden for one or two days with 'significant disruptions to her eating and sleeping patterns'.

During and after a migraine attack she said she experiences weakness, nausea, severe head pain, dizziness and disorientation.

In November 2020 she started working at the Nisa Local store in Dukinfield (pictured), Greater Manchester, as a sales assistant

While Ms Doran said she takes medication to control this condition, she still suffers attacks approximately once a week.

In November 2020 she started working at the Nisa Local store in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, as a sales assistant. Her manager was identified in tribunal documents only as Mr Maher.

The tribunal heard Ms Doran suffered two migraine attacks at work in February 2021 and had to have time off work.

She was told by Mr Maher they would need to discuss her condition upon her return to work because he was 'disapproving of her absence'.

Ms Doran said she began to feel like she was being treated differently by her manager, who became impatient with her and did not appear to take her condition seriously, on one occasion accusing her of being absent from work due to a hangover when she was in fact suffering from a migraine attack.

In April 2021 Ms Doran suffered another migraine attack at work. She started experiencing an 'aura' - which was a prior warning of these attacks - and immediately told Mr Maher and asked if she could be sent home.

But the tribunal heard he told her 'tough' and refused to let her leave work.

Ms Doran carried on but began to experience visual disturbance and could not see clearly enough to be able to serve customers.

At this point Mr Maher sent her to the stock room and told her to sit on a foot stool until she felt better. She lost her balance, and was forced to lie on the cold concrete floor using her handbag to support her head.

Despite her manager being able to see the stock room on CCTV, she was left in that position for two hours and no medical help was sought for her until a friend called Sarah Barber was called to take her home.

Ms Barber found Ms Doran 'unable to speak, and with a degree of paralysis which prevented her moving easily'.

Two days later Mr Maher texted Ms Doran asking her to cover a shift but didn't ask her about her health. She then saw her GP who signed her off work for two weeks.

When that expired she told Mr Maher she was fit to return to work as long as she was allowed home in the event of a migraine attack. He replied by text message saying 'No hours available Mary'.

He told her he thought she should 'step down from the role with all the health issues you have currently', adding 'your level of sickness is very high, and the unpredictability of your health and safety is worrying for you and myself, when your sick note is up I won't be able to guarantee you hours'.

The tribunal heard Mr Maher hired three new members of staff and kicked Ms Doran out of the staff group chat, despite her still being employed.

She resigned in July 2021 before taking claims of disability discrimination to an employment tribunal.

Speaking of her experience, she said Mr Maher's treatment of her disability had changed her from a confident person to 'untrusting and worried' as she feared she may be 'left on the floor paralysed and unable to help herself' again.

Employment Judge Paul Holmes ruled Mr Maher discriminated against Ms Doran by not letting her go home during a migraine attack and not letting her return to work.

He said: 'Requiring her to remain at work (which, given that she could not do any work, was rather pointless) as [Mr Maher] did clearly amounts to a failure to comply with that duty [to make reasonable adjustments for her disability].

'To offer her no more shifts, and to refuse to allow her to return to work.... [was] clearly because of something arising in consequence of her disability.'
A bar worker who was sacked over a Facebook post claiming her 'creepy boss' asked staff for a 'threesome' and bought underage girls drinks has won a claim for unfair dismissal.

Damaris Trench was fired after liking and sharing a post on social media from her boyfriend, which made a series of claims against the owner of the student bar where she had worked, an employment tribunal heard.

The post alleged 'wildly inappropriate' owner Himesh Patel had tried to kiss female staff, asked one for a 'threesome' and 'creeped' on underage girls at the Trebles bar in Lincoln.

Miss Trench was sacked for liking and sharing partner Dan Sargeant's post on Facebook and Snapchat - despite deleting it hours later and apologising.

But she is now in line to receive compensation after an employment tribunal ruled she had been unfairly dismissed, because she had not acted 'vindictively' and the bar did not have a social media policy for staff.

The tribunal in Nottingham heard Miss Trench began working at Trebles in November 2018.

Damaris Trench (pictured) was fired after liking and sharing a post on social media from her boyfriend, which made a series of claims against the owner of the student bar where she had worked, an employment tribunal heard

Mr Patel visited 'most days' both as owner and as a customer, the hearing was told.

The panel heard Miss Trench's boyfriend, Mr Sargeant, also worked at the bar but resigned in October 2020.

He had been accused of drinking on shift and being repeatedly late for work, and chose to resign instead of facing disciplinary action.

However, following his resignation, Mr Sargeant wrote a lengthy and scathing post on Facebook criticising Mr Patel and his 'wildly inappropriate' behaviour.

The post, initially shared on the Overheard at University of Lincoln Facebook page, read: 'Trebles is a messed up place. I've worked there over a year until tonight.

'The owner Himish Patel is a creepy and wildly inappropriate man.

'He has made countless creepy comments to most of the female staff including asking a member of staff who still works there if he could have a threesome with her.

'He came in drinking one night and tried to kiss a member of staff, she had to stop him 3 times before he finally f***ed off.

'These are just a couple of the many times he's acted like this with staff.'

Mr Sargeant also alleged that Mr Patel regularly 'creeped' on tables of girls - some of whom were said to be underage - and would 'tell them he's the owner' and 'buy them drinks'.

The post further accused owner Mr Patel of having 'no interest' in his staff wellbeing, saying he 'cut corners' in providing PPE equipment, didn't follow Covid safety procedures and didn't give staff breaks after seven hour shifts.

Moderators removed the original post from the Overheard Facebook group, but Mr Sargeant shared it again on his personal profile.

The tribunal was told Miss Trench then shared the post on her Facebook and Snapchat accounts, to help 'spread awareness' about Mr Patel's behaviour.

An hour or two later she deleted the posts - but not before her managers at Trebles had seen them.

Miss Trench was invited to a meeting the following day, during which managers accused her of supporting defamatory statements made about the bar, such as the mention of Trebles being 'messed up'.

The young bar worker argued she had been supporting allegations made against Mr Patel as opposed to the bar, and said she wished to make a complaint about Mr Patel's behaviour.

The Facebook post alleged 'wildly inappropriate' owner Himesh Patel had tried to kiss female staff, asked one for a 'threesome' and 'creeped' on underage girls at the Trebles bar in Lincoln (pictured)

But she was suspended at the end of the meeting and no investigation into her complaints was carried out.

Miss Trench was sacked at the end of October - just six days after sharing the Facebook post - for gross misconduct as the bar claimed it was detrimental to our business

However, Employment Judge Kirsty Ayre ruled Miss Trench's behaviour fell below this threshold - especially seeing as there was no existent social media policy for her to have adhered to.

Judge Ayre said: 'Miss Trench's behaviour was not gross misconduct.

'Trebles had no social media or disciplinary policy warning employees that the behaviour engaged in by Miss Trench is even a disciplinary issue.

'There was no evidence of any previous misconduct by Miss Trench. She took the Facebook post down very quickly and apologised for it.

'She clearly had insight into what she'd done and that it had the potential to damage Trebles.

'She did not write the post and was not acting vindictively or deliberately to damage [the bar]'s interests. She made a mistake, for which she paid.

'No reasonable employer would, in our view, have dismissed in these circumstances.'

Miss Trench's claims of unfair dismissal succeeded, and a remedy hearing to decide upon how much compensation Trebles owner Performance Bar Limited will have to pay will be held in due course.

Her other complaints of automatic unfair dismissal and victimisation failed.
Outspoken Greens senator Lidia Thorpe claims Australia's Parliament has no permission to be here - and says she's only a member so she can 'infiltrate' the institution.

The senator said her entry into the 'colonial project' was due to her aspirations to 'renew the nation' and be a voice and spokesperson for First Nations people.

Appearing on The Project on Tuesday, senator Thorpe said she also removes the Australian national flag during press conferences after Greens leader Adam Bandt was recently criticised for the same move.

'The Australian flag does not represent me or my people,' she told the panel.

'It represents the colonisation of these lands, and it has no permission to be here, there's been no consent, there's been no treaty, so that flag does not represent me.'

Panellist Waleed Aly asked the senator if her argument could also apply to the Australian Parliament in which she serves.

'Absolutely, I'm here to infiltrate,' she replied emphatically.

Senator Thorpe (pictured on Tuesday night) said her decision to enter the 'colonial project' was due to her aspirations to 'renew the nation' and be a voice that questioned

'I signed up to become a senator in the colonial project, and that wasn't an easy decision for me personally, and it wasn't an easy decision for my family either to support me in this,' she continued.

'However, we need voices like this to question the illegitimate occupation of the colonial system in this country.'

Aly has since been slammed by hard-left activists over what they called a 'condescending and ignorant' interview.

The panelist asked Senator Thorpe if she had given up her First Nations sovereignty by pledging allegiance to the Queen when she entered Parliament.

The line of questioning enraged some viewers, who took to social media to brand him 'offensive' with others calling the interview a 'train wreck'.

'We have never ceded our sovereignty as First Nations people in this nation ever, ever, ever,' senator Thorpe said of her dismissal of the national flag.

Aly challenged her on this point, asking whether she ceded her sovereignty when she pledged allegiance to the Queen.

Waleed Aly (pictured at the 62nd TV Week Logie Awards on June 19 on the Gold Coast) has come under fire online

'But you're ceding it right now by being a Senator aren't you,' he said.

'You're saying ''I submit to this, I become part of the system.'' I understand that may not be your personal politics but that's what that act means.'

Senator Thorpe is pictured in Parliament

Under section 42 of the constitution, a politician has to swear an oath of allegiance to the monarch before taking their seat in Parliament.

Senator Thorpe said she had to take the oath in order to get into Parliament and advocate on behalf of her 'people'.

'I am here for my people, and I will sacrifice swearing allegiance to the coloniser to get into the media like I am right now, to get into the parliament like I am every day,' she said.

'To make this country put a mirror up to itself and ask, who are we? Where do we come from and where are we going?'

The tense moment sparked backlash online from left-wing activists.

Academic Chelsea Watego wrote: 'The cheek of this settler telling an Aboriginal woman that she has ceded sovereignty.'

She added: 'It's pretty slack how The Project TV ran this. Why was there no interrogation of why Libs and Nats exclude Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags given their status and umm... whose land you're all on.'

Professor Euan Ritchie, a scientist, said: 'Lidia Thorpe absolutely schooling Waleed Aly and others attempting to defend colonialist privilege.'

Waleed Aly has been branded 'condescending and ignorant' over his interview with Greens senator Lidia Thorpe on The Project. Pictured: Some of the Twitter reaction

And journalist Lavendar Baj described the interview as a 'trainwreck'.

'Criticise Lidia all you want... but this interview is an absolute trainwreck,' she wrote.

'Condescending, ignorant, and offensive behaviour from Aly.'

The Greens senator was later asked if she understood how her dismissal of the national flag could be upsetting to some Australians.

She replied that her entry into parliament would see every person in the country understand 'whose land they were on'.

'I don't want people to get upset by what I have to say,' she told the panel.

'I want people to come on a learning journey, and a truth-telling journey so that we can unite this country and mature as a nation.'

Senator Thorpe said her choice to enter the 'colonial project' was due to her aspirations to 'renew the nation' (pictured, Parliament House in Canberra)

Senator Thorpe said while she swears alliance to the 'colonising Queen' it was simply something she had to do to be in the senate for her people.

'I will sacrifice swearing allegiance to the coloniser to get into the media like I am right now, to get into the parliament like I am every day,' she said.

'To make this country put a mirror up to itself and ask, who are we? Where do we come from and where are we going?'

In 2020, Senator Thorpe declared to Harry Potter actress Miriam Margolyes she didn't regard herself as Australian, in a documentary on the ABC.

'I don't identify as being Australian. It's a concept that's been imposed on our people since we're invaded,' she told the Almost Australian documentary, which aired last month on the ABC.

'The colonisers came and set up the colony which they now call Australia.

'Mass genocide occurred.'

The senator's comments have prompted calls for her to be dismissed from parliament and accusations she was behaving like a child in a 'spy game'.

Incoming Northern Territory Country Liberal Party senator Jacinta Price has called for senator Thorpe to be dismissed from parliament.

'I think she has nothing but contempt for the Australian people and she doesn't respect the position she is in,' Ms Price said.

'I personally feel that the Governor-General should take a closer look at what her real intentions are and consider whether this is possible grounds for dismissal.

Senator Thorpe (pictured with Greens leader Adam Bandt) said her entry into parliament would see every Australian in the country understand 'whose land they were on'

Incoming Northern Territory Country Liberal Party senator Jacinta Price (pictured on May 30) has called for senator Thorpe to be dismissed from parliament

'She doesn't see herself as an Australian, she doesn't see herself as being represented by the Australian flag.

'Therefore she is not the right person to be in a position to represent the Australian people nor does it indicate she has Australia's best interests at heart.'

Ms Price went on to describe the senator as 'divisive' and 'childish'.

'I think she shouldn't be completely honest about her experience that she is of mixed heritage, like myself as well, and that she's simply only recognised that side of her,' Ms Price told RN Breakfast.

Indigenous leader Warren Mundine said he was 'flabbergasted' by her sentiments.

'She is carrying on like she is in a five-year-old's spy game,' Mr Mundine told The Australian, adding that he 'shook his head at these people'.

Greens leader Adam Bandt was criticised earlier this week after he refused to stand alongside the Australian national flag at a press conference.

A member of his staff was seen removing it before he addressed reporters.

Greens leader Adam Bandt was criticised earlier this week after he refused to stand alongside the Australian national flag at a press conference (pictured, the national flag off to one side)

Mr Bandt (pictured with his wife Claudia Perkins) later told Daily Mail Australia that the flag represents colonisation and dispossession

'For many Australians, this flag represents dispossession and the lingering pains of colonisation,' Bandt said on Monday.

'Through Treaty with First Nations' Peoples and by moving to a Republic, we can have a flag that represents all of us.'

A review of the leader's previous TV interviews shows he always has the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in the background, but never the nation's flag.

He later told Daily Mail Australia that the flag represents colonisation and dispossession.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged Bandt to 'reconsider his position and work to promote unity and work to promote reconciliation'.
The NSW energy minister has sparked public outrage by wasting power by leaving his office lights on 24/7, days after he urged everyone, including hospitals, to limit their usage.

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean is yet to flick off the lights in his electoral office as the nationwide energy crisis worsens amid soaring power prices.

The lights in the minister's Hornsby office on Sydney's upper north shore have been on 24-7 for days, according to locals.

They sent photos to the radio station 2GB, prompting a roasting from breakfast host Ben Fordham, who urged the minister to consider the environment.

He issued a call out for an electrician to go out and fix the problem after Mr Kean claimed the light issue was due to a wiring fault.

'I thought if it was a wiring problem the lights would go out, but it's happened the other way around in Matt Kean's electoral office,' Fordham said.

The lights remain switched on 24-7 in Matt Kean's electoral office, sparking outrage from locals

'You've got to fix it, Matt. You can't have the lights on at night constantly.

It's not good for the power bills, and it's not good for the planet.

You know that more than anyone.'

Electrician of 40 years Tommy offered to fix Mr Kean's lights for free.

'It's more than easy to sort out, if the lights are staying on, it could be due to a circuit problem,' he told Fordham.

Listeners were furious.

'We gotta save energy, he gets a parliamentary allowance (meaning we pay his light bills too) so keeps the lights on,' one man posted.

A woman added: 'Insulting that he thinks we believe he has wiring issues!'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Kean's office for comment.

Matt Kean said the lights are on in the electoral office (pictured) due to a wiring fault

Just last week, Mr Kean and Fordham had an on-air war of words after the minister urged residents to limit use during peak evening periods with electricity supply shortfalls forecast for four consecutive nights.

'If there is an opportunity for people to reduce their energy usage, so perhaps not using the dishwasher until you go to bed, that would help,' Mr Kean said.

Sydney hospitals were ordered to conserve power in non-clinical settings, while office blocks were also urged to turn off their lights if not used at night.

He said the war in Ukraine forcing prices of commodities to skyrocket, the recent cold snap increasing demand, and the power stations being 'unreliable' old bits of equipment were all to blame.

'I take responsibility for putting in a plan to make sure we don't have these events in the future,' Mr Kean added.

Meanwhile, a new report has warned electricity bills could skyrocket to as much as $2,600 a year for Sydney households by 2030 due to the closure of NSW coal plants.

Energy minister Matt Kean has been accused of wasting electricity as the power crisis worsens
A trust allegedly tied to Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates has been asked to justify a recent purchase of farmland in North Dakota that has made residents 'livid.'

Red River Trust reportedly acquired six parcels of land near the borders of Minnesota and Canada in November that officials say may violate state corporate farming laws.

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley issued a letter to the trust Tuesday asking officials to confirm plans for use of the land and whether the company meets any of the exceptions to the state's laws.

If Red River Trust did violate state laws, the company will be forced to divest itself from the land and could be fined up to $100,000.

Gates is considered the largest private owner of farmland in America after having quietly amassed approximately 270,000 acres of land across dozens of states, The Associated Press reported last year.

However, the billionaire's properties make up only a small portion of the nearly 900 million total farm acres in the U.S.

A trust allegedly tied to Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates (pictured on June 7) has been asked to justify a recent purchase of farmland in North Dakota that has made residents 'livid'

Red River Trust reportedly acquired six parcels of land in Grafton, ND, near the borders of Minnesota and Canada last November. The land is apparently part of Campbell Farms (above)

Corporations and limited liability companies are prohibited from owning or leasing farm or ranchland in North Dakota, Wrigley said, citing state code.

State law also prohibits these entities from engaging in farming or ranching.

'In addition, the law places certain limitations on the ability of trusts to own farmland or ranchland,' the attorney general penned.

He has asked Red River Trust, which purchased a property in Grafton seemingly known as Campbell Farms, to provide his office with a copy of its land ownership title and disclose its intentions for the property.

'Our office needs to confirm how your company uses this land and whether its use meets any of the statutory exceptions, such as the business purpose exception,' Wrigley wrote.

Red River Trust has 30 days to provide the state with the requested documentation.

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley issued a letter to the trust Tuesday asking officials to confirm plans for use of the land and whether the company meets any of the exceptions to the state's laws

The Campbell potato farming group transferred the approximately 2,100 acres of land, worth more than $13.5 million, to Red River Trust during a 'quiet transaction' made in November 2021.

Public deeds obtained by AG Week revealed the trust spent roughly $6,600 per acre on the portion of the land located in Pembina County.

The sale price for the land located in Walsh County, which analysts say is complicated by river boundaries, cost approximately $6,000 per acre.

North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring told KFYR his office has received negative reaction to the land purchase.

'I've gotten a big earful on this from clear across the state, it's not even from that neighborhood,' said Goehring. 'Those people are upset, but there are others that are just livid about this.'

While the commissioner noted there is nothing illegal or unlawful about selling land to a billionaire, he said the people of North Dakota feel like they are being exploited by the the 'ultra-rich who buy land in North Dakota but do not necessarily share the state's values.'

AG Drew Wrigley (pictured in May) asked Red River Trust to provide his office with a copy of its land ownership title and disclose its intentions for the property. The trust has 30 days to provide the state with the requested documentation

Gates is not named in Wrigley's letter, which is addressed to trustee Peter Headley.

The trust is located in Lenexa, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City, at an address shared with Cottonwood Ag, or Cottonwood Farms, and Oak River Farms/Midwest.

Cottonwood Ag Management is reportedly an agricultural asset management team for Cascade Investment, L.L.C. and Bill and Melinda Gates Investments, AG Week reported.

Additionally, analysts revealed in 2020 that Headley headed Cottonwood, which has been described as an 'ag-investment platform' for Gates and his former wife, Melinda French Gates.

Regardless of Gates' alleged ownership of the North Dakota farm, Campbell Farms appears to be keeping up with its potato farming, including on the land involved in the deal.

According to their website, the Campbells acquired the farm in 1978 using a $9,000 loan. The farm has operations in Big Lake, Minnesota; Grafton, North Dakota and Grand Forks, North Dakota.

The Campbell potato farming group transferred the approximately 2,100 acres of land, worth more than $13.5 million, to Red River Trust during a 'quiet transaction' made in November 2021

Public deeds revealed the trust spent roughly $6,600 per acre on the portion of the land located in Pembina County. The sale price for the land located in Walsh County, which analysts say is complicated by river boundaries, cost approximately $6,000 per acre

Gates already has an impressive land portfolio. As of 2021, his largest holdings in the U.S. included 69,071 acres in Louisiana, 47,927 acres in Arkansas, 25,750 acres in Arizona, 20,588 acres in Nebraska and 16,097 in Washington state.

But even then, Gates didn't rank in the Top 100 of private landowners overall in the U.S. - when considering owners of land of all types, not just agricultural.

The title for largest landholdings overall goes to U.S. businessman John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media, who owns 2.2 million acres.

Gates also reportedly shopped for 'hundreds of acres of farmland' in Turkey while vacationing aboard a superyacht last November.

He allegedly wanted to create a large sustainable farm in country. It is unclear if he ended up purchasing the land.
A wild video shows a group of people in Harlem starting a fight with police after authorities attempted to arrest a woman for blaring music from a loudspeaker on the street corner.

Felicia Davis, 32, was blasting out songs on Madison Avenue near East 105th Street on Tuesday evening when officers told her to stop, police sources told the New York Post.

Davis reportedly fled the scene when she was approached by police, but eventually returned to collect her forgotten speaker.

Police officers then tried to take her into custody after she refused to provide identification.

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Felicia Davis, 32, (pictured in the pink hat) was arrested after blaring music from a speaker on a street corner in East Harlem on Tuesday. She fled the scene before coming back for the equipment. When she returned, she refused to give officers identification and they arrested her

A man in a red sweatshirt also jumped in, punching an officer in the head several times before fleeing the scene. He still remains at large

A massive brawl broke out between civilians and officers when after a woman in a blue coat and a man in a black hoodie (both pictured right) attempted to get the woman away from officers

In a video posted to Instagram by Livito, Davis, wearing a pink ball cap, was seen standing by a police car in handcuffs while she screamed at the crowd.

The man who posted the video can be heard claiming the woman told the police to 'lock her up' when she returned for the speaker.

The woman, however, can be heard screaming: 'It's not right...I don't see how I can be arrested for a speaker.'

Moments later, two others were seen approaching officers to talk to police as they prepared to put her in the back of the cruiser. A woman in a blue jacket appears to aggressively approach police while screaming 'don't touch me.'

In the next clip posted to his story, a man in a black hoodie can be seen with his hands around Davis, trying to pull her away from police as the woman's feet are lifted off the ground.

Several police officers attempt to separate the group, but the woman in the blue jacket begins spitting in officer's faces before violently throwing her hands above her head and hitting an officer's back several times.

A man in a red sweatshirt can also be seen coming up behind officers and throwing several punches, hitting an officer in the back and side of the head before he took off sprinting down the street.

Officers move toward the blue coated woman while an cop shoved Davis in the back of the cruiser.

Seconds later, an officer is seen laying on top of the man while the rest of the crowd disperses. It is unclear what happened to the blue coated woman.

The blue-coated woman, who was not identified, was sitting hitting and spitting on officers

The man in the black hoodie was seen laying on the ground as a police officer held him down

Crime is up 38 percent in NYC, with felony assaults up 19.5 percent

Davis and Kimberly Rivera, 33, were arrested for resisting arrest, disrupting governmental administration and disorderly conduct, police told DailyMail.com on Wednesday.

The man in the red jacket is still at large and has been described as having long black hair and red shoes.

The assault comes as NYC experiences heightened crime, with overall crime up more than 30 percent compared to last year. Felony assaults are up almost 20 percent, while rape and robbery are also up 16.9 and 40.3 percent, respectively.
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Jubilant festivalgoers at Glastonbury have been warned of skin-to-skin contact and the danger of monkeypox by health chiefs as the music event returns for the first time in three years after Covid delays.

To the dismay of many festival-goers, showers and thunderstorms are predicted from Friday onwards, and the event coincides with three days of planned major rail strikes over rail workers' pay, leading to travel disruption for people making their way to Worthy Farm in Somerset.

The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) has now urged the 20,000 people who are set to descend on the site for the five-day-long festival to be mindful of the disease as case numbers in the UK continue to rise.

So far 793 people in the UK have tested positive for the virus, with the vast majority of these cases being found in England, and in gay and bisexual men.

Earlier this month the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that festivals in Europe this summer could act as super spreading events for the disease.

Thousands of people queued at the entrance to the farm yesterday morning, eager to start five days of partying and ready to enjoy a star-studded line-up of music acts including headliners Billie Eilish, Sir Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar.

And the first day saw crowds bathed in glorious sunshine, as the British summer welcomed revellers back to Somerset for the first time since 2019.

People both young and old and from all parts of the UK - and some even from abroad - descended on the farm near Shepton Mallet, powering through the ongoing national rail strike that has paralysed train networks across the country.

Dressed in brightly coloured clothes and enjoying the festival atmosphere, those who got there early showed no signs of letting the strike ruin their good mood.

The festival's main stage will not open until Friday, with headliner Billie Eilish set for the iconic Pyramid Stage followed by Sir Paul McCartney on Saturday and rapper Kendrick Lamar bringing the event to a close on Sunday.

However, DJs and live music is planned from today for eager fans who have arrived at the site early - as more than 200,000 people are expected to descend at Glastonbury over the next two days.

A couple embrace in the sunset at Worthy Farm in Somerset yesterday as the first day of Glastonbury Festival 2022 got underway

Festival goers, dressed in suitable clothing for the glorious sunshine, walk through the camp as they look to soak in the atmosphere

Hundreds of people gathered to sit on one of the hills at the festival as they made the most of the sunshine before forecasted rain later this weekend

Festivalgoers take advantage of the Great Western Railway network to head to Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm

Festivalgoers near the festival sign on day one of Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 22

At the first Glastonbury since 2019, Ed proposes to his girlfriend Chelsea as the sun begins to set on the first day of the festival

Revellers watch the sun go down on the first official day of Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 22

Thousands of people arrived at the festival yesterday, with more than 20,000 people expected to attend the five-day-long extravaganza

The Pyramid stage, which will host the likes of Sir Paul McCartney and Billie Eilish over the weekend, looms in the distance amid a sea of tents

Festivalgoers gather around Pride-themed artwork at Worthy Farm on the first day of the first Glastonbury Festival since 2019

Festivalgoers wasted no time setting up their tents in the massive campsite, which is expected to host around 20,000 people throughout the weekend

Groups of friends from all over the UK have come to the festival, powering through the national rail strike which has caused travel chaos

But those in attendance have been warned to enjoy themselves responsibly and be mindful of the increasing number of monkeypox cases in the UK.

A spokesperson for the UKHSA said: 'Festival-goers should also be aware that there is currently transmission of monkeypox in the UK.

'The infection mainly spreads between people through direct (skin to skin) contact, including sexual contact, or close contact with surfaces that have been contaminated with the monkeypox virus.

'If you have a rash with blisters, or any other monkeypox symptoms, don't go to events, meet with friends, or have sexual contact. Instead, stay at home and contact 111 or your local sexual health service for advice.

'If you have been advised to self-isolate, please continue to do so and you should not attend the festival without prior clearance from the relevant health authority.'

Dr Hans Henri Kluge, WHO Europe regional director, said earlier this month that the resumption of international travel and events such as festivals had allowed disease to spread.

'Rapid, amplified transmission has occurred in the context of the recent lifting of pandemic restrictions on international travel and events,' he said.

He added the current outbreak was the 'largest and most geographically widespread' ever reported, with Europe at its 'epicentre'.

'Many  but not all cases  report fleeting and/or multiple sexual partners, sometimes associated with large events or parties,' he added.

The glorious sunshine was welcomed by festivalgoers who might have been expecting the classic British summer weather of torrential rain. This woman raises her shirt as she gets sprayed with water by a festival worker to cool down

People both young and old have come to the festival. This young boy sits on a woman's shoulders on the first day of this year's event

The classic sight of people in fancy-dress has also returned for this year's festival, with this man dressed a zebra and carrying a toy giraffe

This couple also came in fancy dress, sensibly covering their heads from the worst of the sun with their mushroom-style hats

Festivalgoers gather round a campfire as the sun goes down over Somerset on the first day of this year's Glastonbury Festival

This group of female festivalgoers seemed to be having a blast as the sun went down on the first day of Glastonbury yesterday

Festivalgoers have already been queuing in traffic since dawn for the first day of Glastonbury after the chaotic rail strike forced many to camp overnight at the four-day Somerset festival.

Organisers told fans they could begin parking at the site from 4pm on Tuesday after trains and Tube services were disrupted for a second day running - forcing revellers to get to Worthy Farm early to beat the rush.

The founder of the Somerset festival Michael Eavis was pictured officially opening the gate to Glastonbury this morning marking the official start of the four-day music spectacular.

The festival is returning for its 50th anniversary after a three-year hiatus due to Covid-19.

Eavis and his daughter Emily were stood at one of the festival's many entry points and clapped as the first attendees entered the site.

Eavis, 86, told those entering the gates: 'This is going to be the best show in town. Wait and see. You better believe it.'

Huge crowds of revellers were pictured sitting on camping chairs by metal railings as they secured their spot in line to the entrance of the festival.

Armed with camping gear and cool boxes, excited fans waited patiently as they queued to get in to the UK's most-anticipated music event of the year as they were met with glorious 19C (66F) sunshine - a pleasant change from the usual rain that marks the start of the muddy festival.

Festivalgoers have defied the national rail strikes crippling the UK's transport system and threats of camping in torrential rain to make it to Glastonbury's Worthy Farm for the first time since before Covid (pictured arriving on Wednesday)

This year's Glastonbury festival is the first since summer 2019, and revellers are ready to enjoy the star-studded line-up of music acts including headliners Billie Eilish, Sir Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar over the course of the weekend. A reveller is pictured entering Glastonbury today

Both extreme weather threats and militant rail strikes taking place this week has not stopped the revellers from starting their five-day festival weekend with a cheer. Pictured is a festivalgoer taking a selfie inside her tent on Wednesday

People from all ages and parts of Britain made the journey down to Worthy Farm for Glastonbury festival, which begins today and ends on Sunday night, complete with their colourful clothes and ready to enjoy the party (pictured today)

Forecasters have put a yellow warning in place between 10am and 11.59pm with torrential downpours expected from Sheffield down to Somerset, where Glastonbury (pictured today) is held

Armed with camping gear and cool boxes, excited fans waited patiently as they queued to get in to the UK's most-anticipated music event of the year

Motorists were pictured arriving early at the music extravaganza to beat the rush today amid ongoing rail strikes

The founder of the Somerset festival Michael Eavis was pictured opening the gate to Glastonbury this morning marking the official start of the four-day music spectacular

A woman with pink hair extensions and matching hued sunglasses was pictured queuing for entry on the first day of the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset today

Music fans Simon Lampard, (left) 82-year-old Pat Brooks (middle) and Linda Brooks-Lampard (right) arrive on the first day of the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset

Despite, Glastonbury usually opening its parking facilities at 9pm the night before the first day of the music extravaganza, bosses allowed the car parks to open yesterday afternoon - but this morning roads to the site were gridlocked with traffic.

Emily Eavis has said it is an 'amazing feeling' to see people returning to Glastonbury festival.

The music event has opened its gates this morning, signalling its return for the first time in three years after it was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking to Lauren Laverne on 6 Music, she said of the gates opening: 'I mean, I'm still recovering because the build up has just been so long, we've never had a build up as long as this, obviously.

'We've never all collectively been through such an extreme time together, so it's like, to actually be able to see people there and welcome them in and just watch them streaming in and just running to pitch their tents up and fill the fields, it's just an amazing feeling.'

Speaking about the build-up to this year's event she told BBC radio presenter Laverne that, as this year celebrates the festival's 50th anniversary, some of the original ideas for the 2020 festival are 'still kind of playing out this year and then we've melded all kinds of ideas into this one festival and we've had so much time to kind of think about this one and I think every detail, and kind of part of the process has been devoured and savoured by everybody, because it's so precious.'

'Everyone is appreciating it so, so much... everyone is just still beaming because they are so pleased, everyone is so chuffed to be back so it's a totally unique atmosphere, I just can't wait to get everyone in here.'

Shortly before the gates opened, radio host Jo Whiley said Glastonbury is the 'ultimate festival' and that Sir Paul McCartney's headlining slot on the Pyramid Stage on Saturday night is a 'very, very important and significant performance'.

The former Beatle, 80, will become the music festival's oldest ever solo headliner when he takes to the stage this weekend.

Michael Eavis gestures next to his daughter Emily, as he opens the gate for Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset

Huge crowds of revellers were pictured sitting on camping chairs by metal railings as they secured their spot in line to the entrance of the festival

Festivalgoers arrive at the Glastonbury Festival in Pilton carrying their belongings in wheeled carts

Shortly before the gates officially opened at 8am on Wednesday, hundreds of Glastonbury attendees had already been queueing for hours with their bags and some said they arrived at the site in the early hours of the morning.

Ahead of the five-day event, meteorologist Tom Morgan from the Met Office told the PA news agency, this year's weather outlook promises to be 'one of two halves'.

Temperatures could reach 27C at the 900-acre site - 9C higher than usual - in the lead-up to the world-famous event.

However, the mud synonymous with Glastonbury is still set to make an appearance, with showers and thunderstorms predicted from Friday onwards.

To the dismay of many festival-goers the event coincides with three days of planned major rail strikes over rail workers' pay, leading to travel disruption for people making their way to Worthy Farm.

Just 60% of trains will run across Wednesday, with walkouts planned for Thursday and Saturday.

This year's much-anticipated festival, running from Wednesday to Sunday, will host huge stars from Diana Ross and Sir Paul McCartney, to Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Olivia Rodrigo.
Travellers may soon have to pay if they want to visit some of Queensland's most popular attractions.

Under a new plan, put forward by the Queensland Tourism Industry Reference Panel, tourists and locals would have to pay a levy or a visitor's tax for places such as national parks.

It's one of 75 recommendations that hopes 'to position Queensland as Australia's destination of choice' in the tourism sector by the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

'We can't expect the state government to do all the heavy lifting as we grow the visitor economy,' the report said.

'If we give destinations, or local governments, the option to apply a focused tourism enhancement levy, they can raise money to support and grow the visitor economy.'

Under a new plan, put forward by the Queensland Tourism Industry Reference Panel, tourists and locals would have to pay a levy or a visitor's tax for places such as national parks (pictured Springbrook National Park, Gold Coast)

The plan has been put forward to help 'position Queensland as Australia's destination of choice' in the tourism sector by the 2032 Brisbane Olympics (pictured in the Gold Coast)

'User pays' fees were also brought up, with 100 per cent of the money going towards management and maintenance of natural sites.

The report said it would be up to the specific local councils to introduce the levies.

Poll Do you think Australians should have to pay to visit national parks? Yes No Do you think Australians should have to pay to visit national parks? Yes 22 votes

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Queensland's Tourism, Innovation and Sport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said $66million had been put aside to help boost the tourism industry over the next three years.

'Some of the recommendations are ambitious and will need further consideration and consultation with the tourism industry,' he said.

'It sets ambitious goals because Queensland needs to be bold to achieve long-term success, or risk being left behind.'

Levies for tourists exist in places around the world and are already commonplace in other Aussie states.

The Great Barrier Reef has a levy for visitors.

The move could mean Queenslanders will be charged for heading out for a walk through their local national park.

Levies for tourists exist in places around the world and in other Aussie states such as in the Great Barrier Reef

Robbie Bastion, a Cairns-based industry veteran said he supported the idea to introduce a levy for tourist attractions.

'A Tourism Levy is not a mythical beast ... the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, the Surf Coast in Victoria and Broome all have a levy to subsidise their tourism efforts,' he said.

'It doesn't only enhance their efforts in a financial way, it liberates their thinking, their innovation by utilising their community's money for the benefit of all.'
The Grand Canyon National Park has seen more than 110 cases of a gastrointestinal illness closely resembling the highly contagious norovirus since May, health officials said.

As of June 10, the park listed at least 118 people who have become sick with symptoms similar to those of the norovirus, which causes vomiting, diarrhea, cramping, body aches and a mild fever, the Grand Canyon News reported.

The Grand Canyon National Park, the National Park Service Office of Public Health, Coconino County Health and Human Services, Arizona Department of Health Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working to identify the cause of the outbreak, which saw cases erupt last month.

One such case came on May 15, when a hiker trekking the canyon came across two people affected by the illness who were vomiting and stuck with their friends with no water.

'I came on to two hikers, violently ill, and no water left,' Krisiti Key, of Prescott, Arizona, said in a Facebook video detailing the ordeal to save them with a rescue chopper.

'So, yeah, I had my Garmin within reach and hit SOS, and we've got the rangers on the way.'

Krisiti Key, right, said she came across a hiker and his sick friends, who she helped rescue while out in the Grand Canyon National Park on May 15

Key said one of the hikers was violently ill and throwing up. She said a ranger later told her he had the norovirus, as officials record 118 cases resembling the virus since may

One of the sick hikers was able to get out of the trail by himself while another was airlifted

Health officials are working to track down the cause of the illness afflicting tourists at the Grand Canyon National Park

Posted by Kristi Key on Sunday, May 15, 2022

WHAT IS NOROVIRUS? Norovirus, the winter vomiting bug, is a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhea. It usually goes away in about two days. The main symptoms are nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. Some people also have a high temperature, a headache and aching arms and legs. Symptoms usually start one or two days after being infected. People can usually manage their symptoms at home. The NHS recommends drinking lots of fluids and avoiding dehydration. The virus is spread through close contact with someone with the virus, or eating food that has been prepared by them. It can also be passed on by touching objects that are contaminated with the virus and then touching your mouth. Advertisement

In her Facebook post, Key said she was on a solo hike in the park's Boucher Trail when she came across a group of four hikers and greeted them, noting that one of them seemed worse for wear.

A regular on the trail, Key warned the hikers that the trek was only going to get harder, and advised them to avoid it after learning that one of them had been throwing up the night before.

The hikers declined Key's offer to call for help using her Garmin, a radio tool that contacts emergency services, so she continued on her trek.

After completing her hike and returning, Key said she found the group in the same spot, with one of them showing clear signs of illness as they continued to throw up and were nearly out of water.

Although one of the sick pair hiked out of the trail, Key stayed with the other sick hiker and the rest of the group until a rescue chopper arrived about three hours later.

'Everyone was safe and rested,' Key wrote, 'But, come to find out, the healthy Hiker was now in his room throwing up!

'The Rangers actually think it's norovirus that got them sick! Come to also find out, it's rampant right now at the [Grand Canyon] Village, and several rescues happened on the same trail that same week for the exact same thing!'

Health officials say the 118 infections have spanned 16 different trips in the park and Colorado River backcountry, with the most recent case reported on June 2.

Jan Balsom, Chief of Communications at the Office of the Superintendent at Grand Canyon National Park, said alerts have been issued about the gastrointestinal illnesses since May 20.

'We haven't seen something like this kind of outbreak in about 10 years,' Balsom told the Daily Beast.

Officials are working to investigate the root of the outbreak, as well as identifying how many norovirus cases are included.

'It is unknown at this time what the source of the illness is,' the National Park Service Office of Public Health said in a statement.

Balsom noted there is a limited amount of time during which investigators can collect stool samples to confirm a norovirus infection.

'[Officials] have been following up with interviews from participants from trips who have gotten sick,' Balsom added . 'They've been testing poop scans to try to determine whether or not it is noro.'

Key (above) recounted the incident as she waited with the hikers for three hours for the rescue chopper. She said the group was low on water, with one hiker continuing to vomit

The rescue chopper was able to rescue the party, while Key hiked back to the lounge

She said one of the healthy hikers (left) had later gotten sick from the same illness

The virus is primarily spread through close contact with someone with the virus, or eating food that has been prepared by them.

It can also be passed on by touching objects that are contaminated with the virus and then touching your mouth.

The Grand Canyon Hikers' Facebook group has also issued a warning about the outbreak, saying that rivers in the area have been contaminated with the virus.

Shelby Sundquist, a member of the group, urged hikers to treat their drinking water to avoid contamination after she herself got sick with the norovirus in May.

'I was lucky: I got sick hours after I hiked out of the canyon. I could not have hiked out or cared for myself if I'd begun vomiting in the canyon,' she wrote.

'GC's public health officials are tracking the situation. Apparently it's a big one.'
Waleed Aly has been slammed by hard-left activists over what they called a 'condescending and ignorant' interview with Greens senator Lidia Thorpe on The Project.

Aly asked Senator Thorpe if she had given up her First Nations sovereignty by pledging allegiance to the Queen when she entered Parliament.

The line of questioning enraged some viewers, who took to social media to brand him 'offensive' with others calling the interview a 'train wreck'.

Waleed Aly (pictured at the 62nd TV Week Logie Awards on June 19 on the Gold Coast) has come under fire online

Aly interviewed Senator Thorpe on Tuesday night after she backed Greens leader Adam Bandt's controversial refusal to stand alongside the national flag during a press conference in Sydney on Monday.

He never appears with the flag which he calls 'hurtful' because it reminds some Aboriginal people of British colonisation.

Senator Thorpe said the Australian flag 'does not represent me or my people' and insisted 'it has no permission to be here' because there has been no treaty with Indigenous people.

'We have never ceded our sovereignty as First Nations people in this nation ever, ever, ever,' she added.

Aly challenged her on this point, asking whether she ceded her sovereignty when she pledged allegiance to the Queen.

Waleed Aly has been branded 'condescending and ignorant' over his interview with Greens senator Lidia Thorpe on The Project. Pictured: Some of the Twitter reaction

'But you're ceding it right now by being a Senator aren't you,' he said.

'You're saying ''I submit to this, I become part of the system.'' I understand that may not be your personal politics but that's what that act means.'

Under section 42 of the constitution, a politician has to swear an oath of allegiance to the monarch before taking their seat in Parliament.

Senator Thorpe said she had to take the oath in order to get into Parliament and advocate on behalf of her 'people'.

Senator Thorpe is pictured in Parliament

'I am here for my people, and I will sacrifice swearing allegiance to the coloniser to get into the media like I am right now, to get into the parliament like I am every day,' she said.

'To make this country put a mirror up to itself and ask, who are we? Where do we come from and where are we going?'

Aly then asked Senator Thorpe to respond to former senator Derryn Hinch's claim that rejecting the Australia flag was a 'bad tactical move' because most Aussies don't support such a hard-line stance.

She replied: 'Well, you are comparing a middle-aged, white, privileged guy, to a grassroots Blak Senator who comes from the frontline activist space.

'You're gonna believe who thinks he knows best, which is part of the problem in this country.

'Believe a Blak Senator who left school at 14, who survived family violence, who survived public housing, three kids, five grandkids... I'll leave it up to your viewers to decide... who has the authority to speak on that.'

The tense moment sparked backlash online from left-wing activists.

Academic Chelsea Watego wrote: 'The cheek of this settler telling an Aboriginal woman that she has ceded sovereignty.'

I will sacrifice swearing allegiance to the coloniser to get into the media Senator Lidia Thorpe

She added: 'It's pretty slack how The Project TV ran this. Why was there no interrogation of why Libs and Nats exclude Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags given their status and umm... whose land you're all on.'

Professor Euan Ritchie, a scientist, said: 'Lidia Thorpe absolutely schooling Waleed Aly and others attempting to defend colonialist privilege.'

And journalist Lavendar Baj described the interview as a 'trainwreck'.

'Criticise Lidia all you want... but this interview is an absolute trainwreck,' she wrote.

'Condescending, ignorant, and offensive behaviour from Aly.'

Radio host Namila Benson also blasted Aly for quoting former senator Hinch.

One journalist said she saw a Greens staffer remove the Australian flag from behind the podium before Adam Bandt spoke on Monday - leaving the Torres Strait Island and Aboriginal flags in place

'Not Waleed's place to make that call when speaking with senator Thorpe,' she wrote.

'Literally not his place.

'Also, mentioning Hinch's name in a lame attempt to add gravitas to the question - yeah, no.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Network 10 for comment.



Senator Thorpe had earlier described the Australian flag as an 'obscenity'.

'The Australian flag represents a colonial invasion, which massacred and murdered thousands of Aboriginal women, men and children,' the indigenous senator told 3AW.

'For First Nations people that flag is absurd. It's an obscenity. The Australian flag does not represent me. It does not represent my family and it does not represent many clans and nations around this country.'

Incoming Liberal senator Senator Jacinta Price, who represents the NT, slammed the move to reject the flag.

She said: 'It's becoming a little bit childish for leaders to be virtue-signalling about who loves Aboriginal people more.'

The flag, first flown after federation in 1901, has the Union Jack in the upper left corner to acknowledge the history of British settlement.

Mr Bandt does not have an Australian flag in his office in parliament (pictured during a live cross with Sky News)

'For many Australians, this flag represents dispossession and the lingering pains of colonisation,' Mr Bandt said on Monday.

'Through Treaty with First Nations' Peoples and by moving to a Republic, we can have a flag that represents all of us.'

A review of Mr Bandt's previous TV interviews shows he always has the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in the background, but never the nation's flag.

Mr Bandt added later that the Union Jack symbol is hurtful to Indigenous Australians.
The widow of a slain bikie has broken her silence almost two years after he was gunned down in his own driveway and died in her arms.

Kristia Gabriel desperately tried to help her husband Fares Abounader, a member of the Comancheros, as he lay bleeding on the ground after the shooting in August 2020.

A gunman ran up beside his four-wheel-drive as he pulled into his Panania home in western Sydney and opened fire on August 29, 2020.

The gunman fled and Abounader, 39, died a short time later.

The shooting was one of the first killings in a vicious underworld war that has left more than a dozen bodies on Sydney's streets.

'It is what it is, they're just killing each other, there's nothing I can do about it,' Ms Gabriel told The Daily Telegraph.

Other than her blunt assessment of the violence, Ms Gabriel said she didn't see the point of discussing her husband's shooting.

'What's it going to do,' she said.

Kristia Gabriel (right) the widow of slain bikie Fares Abounader (left) has broken her silence over the 2020 attack

Abounader was a long-term Comencheros member but detectives investigating the shooting said there were rumours he was considering defecting to rival bikie gang The Bandidos, which police said could've been a factor in his murder.

'The shooting was very calculated and very deliberate and quite brazen,' NSW Police Detective Superintendent Robert Critchlow, labelling the attack a 'cowardly ambush'.

'Despite the fact that the victim is known to police, it doesn't change the fact he was a family man. His wife and young child were at home.'

Abounader was gunned down in a white Mercedes ute (pictured, emergency services at the scene in Panania) amid tension between the Comancheros and the Bandidos

Neighbours awoke to the sounds of gunfire on Wall Avenue at Panania, in south-west Sydney in August 2020 (pictured: police investigate Abounader's ute)

Abounader was previously jailed over a March 2009 brawl between Comancheros and Hells Angels bikies at Sydney Airport.

Anthony Zervas, the brother of Hells Angels member Peter Zervas, was killed in that brawl.

Former Comancheros boss Mick Hawi was charged with manslaughter before he was himself shot dead outside a western Sydney gym in 2018.

Abounader was the last of 15 people to be prosecuted over the bloody brawl prompted by a chance encounter between the rival clubs on a flight from Melbourne.

He pleaded guilty and in 2012 was sentenced to a total of six years in prison with a non-parole period of four years.

Before his murder, Abounader was most recently sentenced for owning a Glock pistol an ammunition, telling the court it was because he was worried for his safety.

He told the NSW District Court people stopped him on the street to tell him a contract hit had been placed on him.

Detectives released CCTV of a white SUV they believe could have been involved in Abounader's shooting (pictured)

Judge Paul Conlon noted in his sentencing a NSW Police officer had spoken to him and warned him of the same.

'He indicated that he spoke on several occasions to that officer where ultimately he said to that officer: 'Just be honest with me, is someone trying to get to me?',' Judge Conlon said.

'He said the officer said: 'Pretty much yes but I need to see you and confirm this with you'.'

His death was the first in a wave of gangland shootings that have rocked Sydney in the last two years, with 13 people from warring groups left dead.

Strike Force Manifold was established to investigate Abounader's death and anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.

CCTV was also released of two men police want to speak to who they believe can assist with their inquiries into Abounader's death (pictured)
A heartbroken mother has revealed how her son drank himself to death in a lethal booze binge after staff at a local bottle shop kept selling him litres upon litres of alcohol.

Ashley Smart died alone at home, with his body undiscovered for days, after drinking 11 bottles of vodka in 10 days, and 25 bottles across a month.

Now his devastated mother Linda Smart is demanding a change in the law to try to prevent a repeat of her family's trauma.

Bank statements revealed how Mr Smart repeatedly returned to the same Liquorland store in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray to buy two bottles of vodka at a time.

His mother confronted him at his home the last time she saw him.

Heartbroken mother Linda Smart has revealed how her son Ashley (pictured together) drank himself to death in a lethal booze binge

'He was very, very drunk. He came home with a bottle,' she told ABC's 7.30.

'I said to him, "Ashley, why? Why did you buy it?" And he says, "Mum, they sell it to me. They don't care."

'I left him about 4.30. He turned his computer off at 6pm and he never woke up.'

Bank statements from Ashley Smart showing numerous transactions at his local bottle shop

His mother found his lifeless body four days later, after he missed his grandfather's funeral.

'He hadn't been in touch,' she said.

'I had my father's funeral on the Thursday and on the Friday, I rushed to Ashley's place because I was worried.

'He'd been there four days and I couldn't stay with him. I'd always promised I would, but I couldn't stay with him in that state.'

Ms Smart claims staff at the local bottle shop had continued to sell him the non-stop supply of vodka, despite him often allegedly being drunk at the time.

'He was never ever refused service of alcohol,' she said.

'Right up until the day he died - he bought a bottle the day he died and he was served.

'I watched him being sold alcohol on many occasions when drunk and I couldn't intervene and ask them to stop selling.

'It breaks my heart.'

Ashley Smart (right) died alone at home and was undiscovered for days after downing 11 bottles of vodka in 10 days, and 25 bottles in a month, after an epic drinking spree

Bank statements reveal how Ashley Smart repeatedly returned to the same Melbourne Liquorland store in Footscray to buy two bottles of vodka at a time

Sarah Jackson of Alcohol Change Victoria has called for a ban on alcohol sales to alcoholics.

'We think that legislation should introduce a duty of care so that a licensee has to take reasonable steps to prevent harm to its customers,' she said.

Ms Smart added: 'We've got this massive drinking culture, just like America's got the gun culture, but we don't see it the same.

'We're not prepared to change at all, we're not prepared to put down our beers or our vodkas because there's too much money involved.'

Linda Smart claims staff at the local bottle shop had continued to sell him the non-stop supply of vodka, despite him often allegedly being drunk at the time

Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission said it's 'best practice' was for an inspector to witness a sale to a drunk customer.

Ms Smart was told they had reviewed silent CCTV footage of Mr Smart's final purchase in January 2021 but he did not appear drunk at the time of the sale.

A statement from VGCCC chair Fran Thomson added: 'We were unable to establish a breach of the Act based on the available evidence.

'Amending the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 is a matter for government.

'We acknowledge this is a tragic set of circumstances and we extend our deepest sympathies to Ms Smart and her family.'

Mother Linda Smart found her son Ashley Smart's lifeless body four days later, after he missed his grandfather's funeral

Coles Liquor, which owns Liquorland, said its staff had acted responsibly.

'All our store team members undertake industry leading training in the responsible service of alcohol,' a spokesperson said.

'We have robust and comprehensive processes and procedures in place to ensure alcohol is sold responsibly and team members undertake extensive safety and refusal of service training.'

Last October, an investigation was launched into the death of a 49-year-old NSW man who reportedly spent $24,000 on booze in three years with alcohol delivery service Jimmy Brings.

Despite daily orders in the weeks leading up to his death, the probe found no laws had been breached.
A Florida woman awoke to find a man hovering over her bed and shot him dead.

The incident happened on Tuesday morning in Clearwater when the homeowner found a neighbor, 26-year-old Justin Wright, had broken into her home.

The woman said that Wright began attacking her and a struggle ensued during which time she was able to call 911 for the police to come.

During the attack, the woman was also able to reach for a legally held shotgun and fatally shot Wright.

Woman awoke to find a neighbor in her bedroom, standing over her, at her Clearwater home

Police are looking into the circumstances surrounding the home invasion

Clearwater police are now investigating the incident but believe it to be a simple case of self-defense.

Clearwater Police Chief Dan Slaughter spoke at a news conference on Wednesday to explain how the woman had recently moved into her home, although it remains unclear exactly how well the couple knew one another.

Slaughter said the victim had injuries that were consistent with a struggle.

Wright did not have a criminal history and the motive for him entering the woman's home and how he did still remains murky.

Police are trying to understand what kind of relationship the pair may have had and what their encounters had been like in the days leading up to the break-in.

Clearwater Police Chief Dan Slaughter spoke at a news conference to explain how the woman had recently moved into her home

Chief Slaughter said it was unclear how well the pair knew one another

Police believe there may have been an encounter between the pair ahead of the shooting.

Chief Slaughter was asked how the woman was doing since the incident.

'Good people don't want to have to do this kind of thing to protect themselves so she's upset,' Slaughter said.

Another neighbor, Mary Daddario, told ABC Action News that her sympathies lay with the woman that had to pull the trigger.

'It is scary and I've talked to the rest of my neighbors and now they're uncomfortable just to know that somebody would come in your house like that,'Daddario said.

'That's something that you can't over because that's a shock. It's an invasion you're going to not ever feel comfortable anymore and I'm sure she's going to go through some sort of mental thing in her mind because of what happened. That's going to play over and over in her mind,' she added.

Another neighbor, Mary Daddario, told ABC Action News that her sympathies lay with the woman that had to pull the trigger in order to defend herself
oungsters who fled the war to Britain can go on an activity course for free

It is generously supported by our readers and is paying for thousands of places

he is among the first to sign up to a summer camp funded by charity Mail Force

Among those looking forward to making new friends is Polina Levitska, five

The Mail Force summer camps for Ukrainian children scheme has got off to a stunning start  with nearly half of places snapped up already.

Youngsters who fled the war to Britain can go on an activity course for free  having fun with other children and improving their English.

Mail Force, the charity set up by the Mail, is paying for thousands of places at camps all over the UK.

Among those looking forward to making new friends is Polina Levitska, five.

Yesterday, in the kitchen of her new London home, she proudly showed off her colourful drawings of rainbows, flowers and unicorns.

Her joy is a world away from the terror she and her mother, Natalia, escaped in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, when Russia invaded on February 24. Mrs Levitska, 33, recalled: 'My mother called me at 5am, and told me, 'Wake up  the war has begun'. Then I heard a bomb go off somewhere near.'

Among those looking forward to making new friends is Polina Levitska, five

She and her husband Ievgen, both lawyers, stayed put initially.

'But at night, Polina could not fall asleep because it was always explosions and bombs,' said Mrs Levitska. 'She was scared. The whole night was like this, and we decided we just had to leave.'

They travelled to western Ukraine and after several weeks, Mr Levitska, 34, got a message from family friends in London offering to host them in Britain. As a man of fighting age, he stayed in Ukraine, but his wife and Polina flew to London at the beginning of May and, a week after her arrival, Polina had her first day at school.

'She was so brave. She was not crying or telling me she didn't want to go to school.

Polina shows off some drawings alongside her mother Natalia Levitska

HOW TO APPLY Do you know a Ukrainian family whose child would like to attend a summer camp? Go to www.mailforcecharity.co.uk Browse any of the providers listed to find camp locations and dates that suit. Note that all camps are day-visit only, not residential, and transport is not included. Advertisement

'It was me who then went to the park and started to cry,' said Mrs Levitska. 'The UK has provided us with this opportunity and I want to make the most of it, for Polina to study here and to get this experience of life.' Polina is among the first children to sign up to a Mail Force summer camp at St Mary's Ukrainian School in Holland Park, west London.

'Painting and dancing!' exclaimed Polina, when asked what she was most hoping to do.

Her mother added: 'Ukrainian children don't need something extraordinary, they just need a safe, loving environment, empathy and support and normal activities all children like  sport, active games, music, arts and just having fun.'

St Mary's is laying on English language classes, games, art therapy sessions and day trips for three to 15-year-olds.

More than half its places were taken on the first day of the Mail Force scheme. Other providers include Kings Camps and Premier Education. Ben Jones of Premier Education said: 'We are proud to support this initiative and hope that the daily holiday camp spaces available for children of Ukrainian refugee families will provide a positive source of fun and social integration.'

ukraine@dailymail.co.uk

Do you know a Ukrainian family whose child would like to attend a summer camp? Go to www.mailforcecharity.co.uk
Lisa Wilkinson's Channel Ten bosses have sent an urgent letter to prosecutors in the Brittany Higgins' rape trial - as the hearing date is moved to October.

Bruce Lehrmann was charged with sexual intercourse without consent following allegations that he raped Ms Higgins in an office at Parliament House in March 2019. Mr Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty.

He was due to stand trial on June 27, however, ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum told the Supreme Court that recent media publicity had prejudged his right to a fair trial.

The recent events she was referring to happened on Sunday evening at the Logie awards - when Network 10 journalist Lisa Wilkinson made reference to Ms Higgins' allegations during her acceptance speech in front of one-million viewers.

Mr Lehrmann's lawyer Steven Whybrow asked Justice McCallum in the Supreme Court on Thursday morning if the hearing could be moved to next year due to the 'bushfire' of publicity that he believed would still be burning in three months' time.

However, the judge said she would not wait and set a new date of October 4.

Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold said Wilkinson and Network 10 sent a letter to the judge offering to stop talking about the case altogether.

TV presenter Lisa Wilkinson (left) is pictured with former political staffer Brittany Higgins (right)

Bruce Lehrmann (pictured), is charged with sexual intercourse without consent. He has pleaded not guilty to assaulting Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in Canberra

The letter included references to the fact that 'interfering with the court proceedings could result in contempt'.

It is unclear if Wilkinson will be charged with contempt of court, however, it is understood that she could find out about any consequences by the close of business on Thursday.

Contempt of court is when an individual who is called to give evidence intentionally engages in behaviour considered to be disrespectful to the court or magistrate.

Legal staff at the Australian Radio Network, which broadcasts WSFMs Amanda and Jonsey, sent similar letters.

The judge explained that Wilkinson is a key witness in the trial, and that the primary concern this week was paneling a jury in a listing which included the journalist.

She was confident that delaying the trial by three months would be enough time to dampen the publicity in the minds of the jurors - despite Mr Whybrow's protests.

Lisa Wilkinson is pictured at the Logie awards on Sunday night. She referenced Brittany Higgins' case in her award acceptance speech

'I told you I wouldn't expect that it will take longer than six weeks, but I would ask for six weeks for safety,' he told the judge.

STATEMENT FROM NETWORK TEN 'Network 10 acknowledges the ruling by Chief Justice McCallum and fully supports Lisa Wilkinson. 'Both Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson take their legal obligations very seriously, including in the preparation and delivery of her speech given at the Logies event. 'In light of the continuing proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.' Advertisement

Justice McCallum replied: 'I can't see how a trial involving a single incident with a single complainant could take six weeks.'

'I've conducted complex murder trials in less than that.

'I cannot see how it can possibly take six weeks.'

Justice McCallum said on Tuesday: 'The case has accordingly attracted a level of attention in the media  that while not unprecedented, is certainly extreme.'

'Extensive media reporting of alleged criminal conduct is not mischievous in itself.

'What is a potential mischief is media reporting of such issues in such a way  it impacts the criminal case.'

She explained that while jurors can be given directions to mitigate prejudice, this case was different with Wilkinson being a key witness.

Wilkinson won a Logie for her reporting on Ms Higgins' rape claims.

'Your honour, this speech did not need to be made,' Lehrmann's barrister Steve Whybrow said.

Mr Whybrow launched the stay application on Tuesday, following Wilkinson's speech.

He said a temporary stay - essentially, a delay - was the only recourse to allow for a fair trial so 'adverse publicity can dissipate'.

Lisa Wilkinson is pictured giving her Logies speech on Sunday night, where she thanked Brittany Higgins for sharing her story of an alleged sexual assault

'It's untenable in my submission for a trial to be held under these circumstances at this time,' he said.

Justice McCallum slammed the media over its reporting of Wilkinson's speech.

'What concerns me most about this recent round is that the distinction between an allegation and a finding of guilt has been completely obliterated ... on Sunday and Monday,' she said.

'The implicit premise of (Wilkinson's speech) is to celebrate the truthfulness of the story she exposed.'

Wilkinson's speech could see her charged with contempt of court.

The case was initially due to begin on June 6 but was delayed until June 27 after Lehrmann's barrister pulled out days before the trial.
The struggling family of a food delivery driver hit by a bus in Sydney will receive a huge compensation payout in a decision that could have major implications for Australia's booming gig economy.

More than $830,000 in workers' death benefit claims will go to the widow and children of HungryPanda worker Xiaojun Chen.

The workers' compensation insurer ruled 43-year-old Mr Chen was an employee of the service, rather than a contractor, at the time of his death

Mr Chen left a wife, two children and a 75-year-old father in China. The family were reliant upon Mr Chen's income to live and were waiting on his return to the country to start a family business.

Under the NSW workers' compensation scheme the family will receive the lump sum payment, as well as weekly payments of up to $149 for each of his two children until they are both 16 years old.

The decision could pave the way for future workers' compensation claims in a similar vein and will give impetus to a push from unions to give thousands of workers in food courier services greater protections and guaranteed working standards.

Delivery workers are generally ineligible for compensation as they are technically contractors rather than employees of the delivery companies.

Mr Chen was struck by a bus on the job (pictured on the right with his wife, left, and son, in the middle) while his family were waiting in China to begin a family business with the money he earned in Australia

So far no other delivery riders' families have received New South Wales workers' compensation following a death on the job (pictured, a Hungry Panda worker in Melbourne)

In a statement, Mr Chen's widow Lihong Wei said the death of her husband was completely heartbreaking and was a massive blow to the family.

'My children miss their daddy every day. My daughter has begun struggling with school and my son has lost his father forever at just eight years old. My father in-law has lost his only son. Nothing can ever fix this.'

The widow, her father in-law and her children were waiting for Mr Chen to earn enough money to return home to China before he was fatally hit by the bus in the inner southern Sydney suburb of Zetland in 2020.

Delivery riders are typically ineligible to employee entitlements as they are contractors of the services they work for rather than employees (pictured, a Deliveroo rider)

'Now that dream will never be realised. The grief my children, their grandparents and myself feel cannot be put into words,' said Ms Wei.

The landmark decision, however, will provide some solace for the family. Ms Wei hopes it will help other riders in Australia's service industry by bringing 'respect and recognition to all food delivery workers for the essential service they provide'.

Gig workers - including food delivery riders and ride-share service drivers - are not on salaries or fixed-contracts and mostly work flexibly, paid for each job they complete.

There is no industry-standard minimum wage, workers' compensation guarantee nor unfair dismissal protection for couriers at food delivery companies.

Mr Chen's family are hoping the iCare insurance agent's agreement that Mr Chen was 'employed' by HungryPanda at the time of his death will pave the way for more employee guarantees in the gig economy (pictured, a Doordash worker)

Food delivery workers don't receive paid sick leave or automatic super contributions either, as they are not classified as employees.

However the compensation decision pursued by Slater and Gordon could spark changes to the status of delivery riders in the future.

Slater and Gordon Practice Group Leader Jasmina Mackovic said the decision by iCare workers' compensation insurance agent Employers Mutual Limited was 'ground-breaking'.

'To our knowledge, this is the first case where there has been an admission that a gig economy driver has been considered a worker,' said Ms Mackovic.

'Gig economy workers and their families are usually denied any entitlements because they are considered independent contractors rather than employees.

'This also means that workers or their families are not guaranteed loss of wages payments, medical payments or a lump sum for any impairment suffered if they are injured or ill, or even in the case of death as has happened here.'

Mr Chen's death in 2020, along with those of four other delivery drivers in a three-month period, saw the Labor party - then in opposition - promise to legislate for more protections for gig workers.

Now Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also made promises to increase protections for gig workers during the Federal election campaign.

TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said the compensation will not heal the family but will go a long way toward 'righting a horrible wrong' and bolster industrial relations legislation for courier workers.

'The Albanese Government has committed to action and must move urgently to lift standards and protect workers. Empowering an independent body to set enforceable standards for all workers regardless of their label will strike at the heart of the exploitation making food delivery so deadly,' he said.

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest HungryPanda is in any way responsible for Mr Chen's death.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating after another child died after allegedly consuming infant formula produced by Abbott Laboratories.

The latest infant death occurred in January, according to a consumer complaint sent to the FDA on June 10.

The agency didn't specify which Abbott product the child allegedly consumed or where the baby formula was produced, but noted its investigation is still in the preliminary stage.

An Abbott spokesperson told DailyMail.com the company received 'limited product and clinical information' to evaluate the case and, at this time, there are 'no conclusions' and 'no evidence to suggest a causal relationship' between Abbott products and the reported infant death.

The probe comes less than a month after the FDA gave Abbott the green-light to reopen its factory in Sturgis, Michigan. The plant is the largest baby formula factory in the U.S.

The facility was shuttered in February following a bacteria contamination in four infants, including two who died. Investigation revealed Abbott products were not likely the source of the infections in the prior cases.

The Sturgis plant shuttered again more than a week ago after severe thunderstorms and heavy rains swept caused damage to the facility. The company said it needs time to assess damage and re-sanitize the factory before reopening again.

Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to battle a nationwide formula shortage. The Biden administration announced Wednesday officials are providing logistical support to import about 16 million 8-ounce baby formula bottles from Mexico starting this weekend.

The move is part of President Joe Biden's Operation Fly Formula initiative aimed at easing supply shortages disruptions heightened by the closure of the Abbott plant.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating after another child died after allegedly consuming infant formula produced by Abbott Laboratories

An Abbott spokesperson told DailyMail.com Wednesday the company was informed about the infant death case last week.

However, the formula manufacturer alleges there was 'limited product and clinical information provided to evaluate the case.'

'At this time, there are no conclusions that can be drawn and no evidence to suggest a causal relationship between Abbott's formulas and this reported case,' the spokesperson said.

'If additional information is available, we will investigate further per our complaint handling process.'

Abbott shuttered its Michigan plant in February following a bacteria contamination in four infants, including two who died. Investigation revealed Abbott products were not likely the source of the infections in the prior cases. Empty formula shelves are seen at a Walmart in New Jersey on May 26

An American shopper shows how the baby formula aisle at their local grocer is partitioned off amid the national shortage. The photo was shared online on June 13

Abbott issued a formula recall in February 2022 after receiving multiple reports of infant deaths.

The FDA investigated nine reports of infant deaths, including seven that had not been made public prior to earlier this month, between December 2021 and March 2022 that had allegedly been linked to baby formula. The most recent case would mark the 10th alleged death.

The infant death reports were included in a list of consumer complaints issued to the FDA. The complaints were made public by eFoodAlert on June 8.

Two of the deaths listed in the complaints were numbered among the four confirmed cases of Cronobacter sakazakii identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The FDA reportedly discovered Cronobacter bacteria at the Sturgis plant.

An Abbott spokesperson told DailyMail.com in May that 'thorough investigation' by the FDA and Abbott revealed 'infant formula produced at our Sturgis facility is not the likely source of infection in the reported cases and that there was not an outbreak caused by products from the facility'.

The other seven deaths were reported to the FDA its consumer complaint system and two mentioned Salmonella in the complaint description.

The FDA has said that 'despite extensive investigation' it could not find enough evidence to 'not rule in or rule out a definitive link' between the seven infant deaths and Abbott's product.

To date, the FDA has reviewed and investigated 129 complaints associated with Abbott formula products, the federal agency confirmed to DailyMail.com.

The majority of complaints, a total of 119, were reported after Abbott voluntarily recalled its products on February 17.

The FDA has previously reported its review of complaints related to nine infant deaths. Only two were associated with the Abbott Nutrition Sturgis plant investigation, and despite extensive investigation the evidence does not rule in or rule out a definitive link between these infant deaths and the product produced at Abbott Nutrition's Sturgis plant.

A sign notifies customers of purchase limits for baby and toddler formula at a Walgreens store in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 29

An airplane full of baby formula arrived in Louisville, Kentucky on June 16 to help American families impacted by the current shortage

Meanwhile, national leaders are trying to ease the nationwide baby formula shortage that worsened after the Abbott factory shut down due in February.

Abbott recalled several leading brands of formula then, including Similac. That squeezed supplies that had already been strained by supply chain disruptions and stockpiling during COVID-19 shutdowns.

The ongoing formula shortage has been most dire for children with allergies, digestive problems and metabolic disorders who rely on specialty formulas.

The Biden administration announced Wednesday that will be importing formula from Mexico starting this weekend.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is expediting the travel of trucks that will drive about 1 million pounds of Gerber Good Start Gentle infant formula from a Nestle plant to U.S. retailers, nearly doubling the amount imported to the U.S. to date.

Cargo flights from Europe and Australia already have brought baby formula into the U.S., including two new rounds of air shipments that begin this weekend.

National leaders are trying to ease the nationwide baby formula shortage that worsened after the Abbott factory shut down due in February

This chart shows how quickly the nationwide crisis escalated

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration moved to ease federal import regulations to allow baby formula to be shipped to the U.S.

Biden also authorized the use of the Defense Production Act to provide federal support to move formula from overseas into the U.S.

'The FDA is working night and day to ensure that parents and caregivers can readily find safe and nutritious formula products for any child who needs it,' FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf said in a statement Wednesday.

'I have personally spoken with infant formula manufacturers over the past several weeks and all have significantly increased their production efforts, which is resulting in more supply that will be available on stores shelves moving forward.'

In the past month, the FDA has began importing an estimated 17 million cans, or about 365 million full-size, 8-ounce bottles, of formula into the country, Califf reported.

The agency alleged the products have 'already started to hit the U.S. market' and more formula will arrive on store shelves in the coming weeks and months.

'Consumers should have confidence that the infant formula that is being imported to the U.S. through this process involved a thorough review of the information provided by the companies, including details about the product's nutritional adequacy and safety, microbiological testing results, labeling information, and importantly, details about the manufacturing facility's food safety production practices and inspection history,' the FDA said in a statement.

Vice President Kamala Harris is seen greeting a new shipment of baby formula brought from overseas on June 17

The FDA said formula products have 'already started to hit the U.S. market' and more will arrive on store shelves in the coming weeks and months. A shopper posted a photo to Twitter on Wednesday showing a stockpile of formula at an American Costco store

The agency also addressed concerns surrounding Abbott's plant and the recent weather-related shutdown.

It said Abbott has been 'working quickly' to assess the damage and is reporting its progress to the FDA.

Officials will return to the facility in the days ahead to 'work closely' with Abbott so the plant can resume production of 'safe and quality formula products as quickly as possible.'

'Making sure that parents and caregivers have access to both safe and available infant formula remains a top priority for the FDA, and our teams are working night and day to help make that happen,' the agency said.

The FDA also said it would be releasing establishment inspection reports for several prior evaluations that took place at the Abbott plant, citing 'overwhelming public interest' in the reports.

The agency collected and tested samples of finished products from the Sturgis plant during its 2019 and 2021 inspections, officials allege.

The samples tested negative for pathogens, however it was determined during those inspections that the firm had found batches of Cronobacter contaminated finished product at the facility.

Abbott had reportedly had taken the appropriate action to destroy three batches, two in 2019 and one in 2020, before distribution, the FDA stated.

The agency also noted its most recent inspection, which took place in January 2022, was for cause inspection due to consumer complaints of infant illnesses following consumption of infant formula produced at the facility.

Abbott has said its plant is safe and was not responsible for the bacteria infection that killed two kids.

The manufacturer was given the go ahead to resume infant formula production at its facility in Sturgis on June 4 after having met FDA requirements agreed to last month.
One saved an officer's life by fighting off the enemy, despite losing his horse during the Charge of the Light Brigade. Another swam to the rescue of his men, while severely wounded and under enemy fire.

The former was buried in a pauper's grave. The latter, buried just yards away, was honoured with a grand memorial.

Both, though, belong to the most exalted club on earth: those awarded the Victoria Cross (VC). And both have long since faded from view, their graves overgrown and untended. Until now, that is.

For their headstones and memorials are the latest restoration targets for a new and gloriously unfashionable charity, backed by Daily Mail readers  and royalty too.

Yesterday, the Princess Royal, now the proud patron of The Remembrance Trust, came to Brompton Cemetery in west London to inspect its latest work  and, in the process, even stumbled across a distant cousin lying next to a VC recipient.

The Princess Royal, now the proud patron of The Remembrance Trust, came to Brompton Cemetery in west London to inspect its latest work

It is a year since this newspaper first highlighted the trust's fine work in restoring the graves of all those who fell in the service of this nation  back in the days before the state had any responsibility for them. Since then, aided by the generosity of Mail readers, the charity has done justice to hundreds of bygone heroes.

Given that all the graves and memorials honour those who were in the service of the British Empire and its colonial masters, this is certainly a charity which flies in the face of the woke.

However, it has been established by an old soldier who feels a simple debt of honour to those, like himself, who were just serving King or Queen and country.

'It's a slow process and doing any work outside Europe seems exorbitantly expensive,' said Algy Cluff, author, entrepreneur and former Grenadier Guards officer.

'But we are doing what we can and we are making progress. The whole point is to help future generations understand the past.'

Having worked on everything from vandalised graves of British troops killed in France during the Napoleonic wars to the overgrown headstones of Royal Navy sailors who died fighting the slave trade in Africa, the trust is now focusing on those closer to home.

Dozens of faded headstones in Hove Cemetery in East Sussex, for example, have just been restored to their former glory, including that of George Westphal who was shot and wounded serving alongside Horatio Nelson on HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. Unlike Nelson, Westphal miraculously sailed on for another seventy years.

Having worked on everything from vandalised graves of British troops killed in France during the Napoleonic wars to the overgrown headstones of Royal Navy sailors who died fighting the slave trade in Africa, the trust is now focusing on those closer to home

Dozens of faded headstones in Hove Cemetery in East Sussex, for example, have just been restored to their former glory

The trust's latest project is to restore the graves of a dozen VC holders who lie in Brompton Cemetery. As the Princess observed during yesterday's visit: 'What a very interesting range.' For they include very senior officers with lavish memorials and also heroes who died in penury. All are now to receive equal treatment. She had to bend down to view the faded grey slab marking the resting place of Private Samuel Parkes, that hero of the Charge of the Light Brigade, who was given a pauper's funeral. The Royal Parks, which looks after the cemetery  a final resting place of more than 200,000, has now spruced up the areas around the VC holders' graves. However, the stonework technically belongs to the family or individual who erected it, making approvals a very laborious process. 'Let's just say there's a lot of red tape,' said volunteer grave restorer, Steve Davies, 64, who served in the Royal Green Jackets. The Princess gave him a knowing smile.

As she inspected the grave of Colonel Richard Wadeson VC  a thoroughly unwoke hero who killed two Indian mutineers who were about to kill two of his men  the Princess's eye was diverted. 'Ah, Royal Navy,' she remarked, spotting the adjacent grave of Captain the Hon John Carnegie, brother of the Earl of Southesk. Whereupon someone pointed out the royal connection  Carnegie's great nephew married Edward VII's granddaughter.

The Princess remarked with a smile: 'I think we were quite a long way out.'

She was more concerned by the practicalities of cemetery maintenance. Noting the knee-high grass, she had a suggestion. 'What you need is sheep,' she said, before adding: 'Though that might not be such a good idea round here.'

If you wish to donate to the charity, visit www.theremembrancetrust.com/donate or send a cheque to The Remembrance Trust, 1-3 Waterloo Crescent, Dover, Kent, CT16 1LA
Barristers could face disciplinary action if they go on strike when they are meant to be in court, the country's top judge has warned.

The Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett of Maldon said it 'may amount to professional misconduct' if lawyers fail to turn up to scheduled hearings despite previously agreeing to represent a defendant.

His comments came after members of the Criminal Bar Association voted for four weeks of industrial action over their pay.

The walkouts will probably derail trials and could see picket lines outside major courts such as the Old Bailey.

Barristers could face disciplinary action if they go on strike when they are meant to be in court, the country's top judge has warned

Lord Burnett said: 'Cases in which there is non-attendance should be referred to the Senior Presiding Judge's Office to consider whether to involve [watchdog] the Bar Standards Board.

'The question whether a failure to attend amounts to professional misconduct will then be a matter for [a] disciplinary process.'

He told judges to ask defendants if they have agreed to their barrister missing the hearing and went on: 'It will be a matter for the CPS in each case to decide whether to make an application for wasted costs.

'A failure to attend at court, having accepted instructions, may amount to professional misconduct.'

The Criminal Bar Association voted for four weeks of industrial action over their pay. The walkouts will probably derail trials and could see picket lines outside major courts (inner London court pictured)

He said that the Senior Presiding Judge's office should be told of all cases where a barrister failed to turn up, so they can decided whether to inform the Bar Standards Board watchdog.

A spokesman for the Judiciary added last night: 'The Lord Chief Justice has issued a statement reminding judges that the judiciary is not a party to the dispute between the Criminal Bar Association and the Government.

'The judiciary will not enter into the substance of the dispute.'
Jetstar baggage handling threatened 'failure to launch' for a group of Melbourne university students when they arrived in the US ready to compete in a rocket competition only to find theirs had been left in Sydney.

After a frantic six days of desperately trying to get the rocket found and transported they are now expecting it to arrive just in time to compete in the Spaceport America's Cup being held in New Mexico .

To be ready for the competition the students from Monash University's High Powered Rocket team took two years and spent $100,000 on the rocket, which can reach a height of 30,000 feet (9,144 metres).

Monash University's High Powered Rocket team pose at Sydney Airport with the $100,000 rocket they designed to enter into a US competition but which Jetstar did not put on their flight

They have been promised the rocket is on its way from San Francisco after being able to claim it from US customs, which took hold of the rocket because it had travelled unaccompanied.

The students only became aware their precious cargo had not accompanied them when they were left empty-handed at Honolulu baggage claim during what was a mammoth 50-hour rescheduled trip to the US on June 17.

The rocket, nicknamed Aether, took two years to develop, cost $100,000 and can reach an altitude of nearly 10,000metres

On Tuesday student team leader Isaac Sims rang 2GB radio host Ben Fordham from New Mexico to say that their competition prospects were in danger as Jetstar had not been in contact about the lost rocket.

'As far as we understand the rocket is in Sydney,' Mr Sims said.

Fordham said that when Jetstar, who are owned by Qantas, were contacted they were unaware the rocket was missing.

Despite fears that they would be unable to enter the competition the students' managed to maintain a sense of humour about their predicament putting out this 'wanted' poster

The rocket was packed in a large plywood box placed in oversize baggage handling.

Despite the mounting concerns the rocket would not arrive for it scheduled launch on Thursday the students managed to keep their sense of humour.

They posted a black-and-white 'wanted' poster for a 'Missing rocket - responds to the name of Aether' on Facebook.

Below a picture of the team posing with the boxed-up rocket the poster said the reward for returning it was 'Maxibons, lots of them'.

After media inquiries Jetstar managed to locate the missing rocket and it is understood to finally be on its way to the students who are still hoping to launch it in the competition

Jetstar reportedly located the rocket early on Tuesday morning and placed it on a flight to the US.

'As soon as we became aware, our teams worked hard to locate the rocket as quickly as possible and put it on the first flight to ensure it made it to the US by Tuesday morning,' a Jetstar spokesperson told Yahoo News.

There was another hitch when US customs became aware of an unaccompanied rocket and required a claim that would potentially take up to 24 hours to process.

However, the rocket is finally on its way from San Francisco to New Mexico.

A spokesperson for the team said they expected it 'within the hour'.

Qantas and Jetstar have faced claims that outsourcing baggage handling has led to chaos.

The Transport Workers Union took Qantas to court in late 2020, when it was ruled the airline illegally sacked nearly 2,000 baggage handlers, cleaners and ground staff before outsourcing their jobs to foreign-owned providers, including Swissport.
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The Taliban has appealed for international aid after a powerful earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 1,000 people.

The 6.1-magnitude earthquake  the country's deadliest in two decades  destroyed at least 2,000 homes and flattened hundreds of villages.

Around 1,500 people were injured in the quake  which struck the province of Paktika on Tuesday night.

The Taliban's supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada called on international NGOs to 'spare no effort' to help those affected 'by this great tragedy'.

Homes have been reduced to rubble after the tremors, with bodies swathed in blankets lying on the ground in the eastern Pakitka province.

The United Nations' humanitarian agency was scrambling to get emergency shelter, trauma care and food aid to the scene, and said the death toll is expected to rise even further.

The international community has largely left Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover of the country last year, which will likely complicate any relief efforts for this country of 38million.

Taliban security and rescue workers survey the damaged house after an earthquake in Gayan village in Paktia province, Afghanistan

The 6.1-magnitude earthquake  the country's deadliest in two decades  destroyed at least 2,000 homes and flattened hundreds of villages

Search and rescue operations continue as an earthquake struck the country's east, killing over 1,000 people in Paktika, Afghanistan

A powerful 6.1 magnitude earthquake has struck eastern Afghanistan , killing more than 1,000 people, as rescuers fight to save survivors

A man carries a body wrapped in a rug after the tremors struck the province in the early hours

The earthquake struck Paktika province in east Afghanistan, some 100 miles south of the capital Kabul, and tremors were felt in India and Pakistan

The quake struck about 27 miles from the city of Khost, near the Pakistani border, at a depth of 32 miles

The head of the Taliban administration's natural disaster ministry, Mohammad Nassim Haqqani, said the majority of deaths were in the province of Paktika, where 100 people were killed and 250 injured

Mounting a rescue operation could prove a major test for the Taliban, who took over the country in August and have been cut off from much international assistance because of sanctions.

Footage from Paktika province near the Pakistan border showed victims being carried into helicopters to be airlifted from the area.

Images widely circulating online from the province showed destroyed stone houses, with residents picking through clay bricks and other rubble.

Bakhtar posted footage of a resident receiving IV fluids from a plastic chair outside the rubble of his home and others sprawled on gurneys.

Adding to the challenge for Afghan authorities is recent flooding in many regions, which the disaster agency said had killed 11, injured 50 and blocked stretches of highway.

The quake struck about 27 miles from the city of Khost, near the Pakistani border, the US Geological Survey (USGC) said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its first response bulletin that humanitarian partners were preparing to assist affected families in Paktika and Khost provinces, in coordination with the Taliban authorities.

'Immediate needs identified include emergency trauma care, emergency shelter and non-food items, food assistance and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) support,' OCHA said.

'Given the unseasonable, heavy rains and cold, emergency shelter is an immediate priority.'

The international community has largely left Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover of the country last year

Images widely circulating online from the province showed destroyed stone houses, with residents picking through clay bricks and other rubble

The agency said the Afghan defence ministry had dispatched five helicopters to Paktika province to facilitate medical evacuations, while a medical team has been sent to Gayan district.

'Although search and rescue efforts are ongoing, heavy rain and wind is hampering efforts with helicopters reportedly unable to land this afternoon,' said OCHA.

'The number of casualties is expected to rise as search and rescue operations are ongoing.

'Humanitarian search and rescue teams... are on standby to deploy as needed.'

UNICEF, the UN children's agency, has also deployed at least 12 teams of health workers to Gayan, and several mobile health and nutrition teams to Barmal district in Paktika province and Spera district in Khost province, OCHA said.

'Strong and long jolts,' a resident of the Afghan capital, Kabul, posted on the website of the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).

'It was strong,' said a resident of the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar.

Most of the confirmed deaths were in Paktika, where 255 were initially confirmed killed and more than 200 injured, said interior ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi.

Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims at his weekly audience at the Vatican.

He said: 'I express my closeness with the injured and those who were affected by the earthquake.

'And I pray in particular for those who have lost their lives and their families,' the head of the global Catholic Church said.

'I hope that with everyone's help, the suffering of the dear Afghan people can be alleviated.'

At least 90 homes have been destroyed with hundreds feared dead after the powerful earthquake

Residents stand around after their villages were reduced to rubble following the devastating earthquake

The disaster comes as Afghanistan has been enduring a severe economic crisis since the Taliban took over August, as U.S.-led international forces were withdrawing after two decades of war

In response to the Taliban takeover, many governments have imposed sanctions on Afghanistan's banking sector and cut billions of dollars worth of development aid

Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates

In Khost province, 25 people had been killed and 90 taken to hospital, he said.

'The death toll is likely to rise as some of the villages are in remote areas in the mountains and it will take some time to collect details,' he said.

'A severe earthquake shook four districts of Paktika province, killing and injuring hundreds of our countrymen and destroying dozens of houses,' Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban government, separately wrote on Twitter. 'We urge all aid agencies to send teams to the area immediately to prevent further catastrophe.'

Neighbouring Pakistan's Meteorological Department put the earthquake at a magnitude 6.1. Tremors were felt in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, and elsewhere in the eastern Punjab province.

The European seismological agency, EMSC, said the earthquake's tremors were felt over 310 miles by 119 million people across Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties in Pakistan.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in a statement offered his condolences over the earthquake, saying his nation will provide help to the Afghan people.

An Afghan foreign ministry spokesman said they would welcome help from any international organisation

Large parts of south Asia are seismically active because a tectonic plate known as the Indian plate is pushing north into the Eurasian plate

In 2015, an earthquake struck the remote Afghan northeast, killing several hundred people in Afghanistan and nearby northern Pakistan

The disaster comes as Afghanistan has been enduring a severe economic crisis since the Taliban took over August, as U.S.-led international forces were withdrawing after two decades of war.

In response to the Taliban takeover, many governments have imposed sanctions on Afghanistan's banking sector and cut billions of dollars worth of development aid.

Humanitarian aid has continued and international agencies such as the United Nations operate in the country.

An Afghan foreign ministry spokesman said they would welcome help from any international organisation.

Large parts of south Asia are seismically active because a tectonic plate known as the Indian plate is pushing north into the Eurasian plate.

In 2015, an earthquake struck the remote Afghan northeast, killing several hundred people in Afghanistan and nearby northern Pakistan.

A similar 6.1 earthquake in 2002 killed about 1,000 people in northern Afghanistan.

And in 1998, a 6.1-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tremors in Afghanistan's remote northeast killed at least 4,500 people.
An American backpacker is stuck in Australia with mounting medical bills after she suffered horrific burns across her entire back when her shirt caught fire at a hostel.

Brianna Jonovitch, 30, had been staying at a hostel in Hobart in May and was using the communal kitchen when she was suddenly set alight.

A stovetop had been left unattended and managed to catch the back of her shirt, with the flames tearing through the skin on her back, underarms, hands and chest.

Ms Jonovitch was exposed to the flames directly for 30 seconds, leaving with her second and third degree burns on up to 13 per cent of her body.

The 30-year-old said she couldn't understand at first how the fire had started, as her burner had been off for a few minutes, not knowing another had been left on.

'I could feel the fire growing very big, very quick and could see panic on the face of my friend after she tried to swat it out but couldn't,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'I think I just realised I would need to do something or else it was going to get very bad very quickly.'

Brianna Jonovitch, 30, (pictured before the accident) had been staying in a hostel in Hobart in May and was using the communal kitchen when she was suddenly set alight

She remembered being told at school to drop and roll in the event of a fire, so she quickly hit the floor.

'I'm pretty sure the tiles didn't help and by that point the fire was the size of my back,' the backpacker added.

'I remember when the realisation hit me that the only way out would be to lift the two button up shirts I was wearing over my head.

'Thinking about how that would bring the fire towards my hair and face that was very scary but there wasn't an alternative so I just did it.'

Shocking photos shared by her sister Felicia Faulkner show just how severe the incident was, with the woman having to spend three days in hospital.

'She was wearing multiple layers ... but the floor of the kitchen was made of tile and was oily which made the fire worse,' Ms Faulkner said.

'She had to pull her burning shirt off over her head which left burn marks on her hands, underarms, chest and almost her entire back.'

A photo shows the burns on her back three days after the incident in May. She had to spend three days in hospital

Ms Jonovitch has since moved into her sister's home in Melbourne where she continues to receive treatment to her burns.

'Several times a week we would have to bring her to the Alfred Hospital burns unit as an outpatient, to have her back scrubbed and wounds redressed. This has been a painful and difficult recovery,' her sister said.

But the pain hasn't ended there, with the American woman now facing a huge medical bill.

Pictured are her burns after one week. Her sister has since started a GoFundMe page to help pay off her hefty medical bills

She was staying in Australia on a working visa and at the time had no medical insurance.

Her sister has since started a GoFundMe with a goal of $12,500 to help pay off the fees.

Despite the horrific burns she suffered, Ms Jonovitch said she is 'recovering well'.

'At first was very very painful and I needed a lot of help. But now most of the pain is gone and it's just working on scarring moving forward,' she said.

She also credited the doctors and nurses that looked after her in Hobart.

'They really went above and beyond their job descriptors in making sure I was comfortable and even trying to make me laugh when they could,' she added.

'It really helped me keep my spirits up during the whole ordeal.'
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Powerful storms bombarded both the East and West Coast on Wednesday, with lightning strikes killing a woman and her dogs in Los Angeles while 70,000 were left without power in Virginia.

L.A. County Sheriff's Sgt. Patrick Morey said the LA woman was walking her two dogs along the Pico Rivera riverbed on Wednesday morning when they were struck by lightning.

'There's a one-in-a-million chance of something like this happening and it happened,' Morey told the LA Times as he warned residents to stay indoors amid the dangerous storms hitting Southern California.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, 70,000 Virginians were left without power in the Richmond area after severe thunderstorms hit with 60-mile-per hour winds, ABC 8 reported.

The storm has downed dozens of trees in the area as a severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 10 p.m.

The hectic weather across the country has compounded travel woes as 3,081 flights in the U.S. have been canceled and more than 4,500 flight delays within, to, or out of America have been reported today, according to Flight Aware.

Thunder storms hit Southern California on Wednesday, with lighting setting trees on fire and also killing a woman and her two dogs while she was walking them along the riverbed in Pico Rivera

Firefighters have been running throughout Los Angeles and Southern California to put out fires caused by lightning

Officials urged residents to stay in their homes as the storm brought down trees and wreaked havoc

Residents in Central Virginia are seeing similar devastation as powerful thunderstorms continue to bombard the area

About 70,000 residents were left without power after the storm took down trees and branches

The storm brought gusts between 60 to 80 mph in Richmond and adjacent cities in Virginia

The National Weather Service had issued an advisory for areas in Southern California on Wednesday, warning residents to seek shelter from the severe weather.

Beaches in the area were temporarily closed ahead of flood and thunder warnings, with the main areas affected included Long Beach, downtown LA, Glendale, San Gabriel Valley and Antelope Valley.

Ryan Kittell, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, told the LA Times that lighting remains a high concern among emergency officials after the rain subsides because the subsequent dry ground could become a huge fire threat.

'In the last hour we've had 208 lightning strikes that have hit the ground in Los Angeles County,' Kittell said. 'Lightning is a very good fire-starting source and the environment is pretty ripe for fire right now,'

Firefighters have already dealt with at least two brush fires in the area, while the Los Angeles National Forest crews said numerous smoke reports have been called in due to the lightning.

Officials are warning that powerful lightning strikes in LA could be the catalyst for fires in the area

Pictured, a tree ripped in half by the powerful gusts in LA as officials work to clear the debris

Angeles National Forest firefighters have responded to multiple smoke signals on Wednesday during the storm

The LA sheriff's office confirmed a woman and her dogs were struck directly by lightning and killed on Wednesday morning

The East Coast is also contending with its own severe storms that will continue throughout the night and into Thursday with winds between 60 to 80 mph are expected.

Central Virginia was among the hardest hit areas, with 70,000 people losing power in Richmond, Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover, according to Dominion Energy.

WTOP's Dave Dildine reported major damage in Fauquier County, where officials said there were more than 50 trees and large branches downed along Interstate 66.

The devastation comes less than a week after Central Virginia was struck by three tornados, wrecking homes and taking out the power for thousands.

Mark and Kim Taylor, of Goochland, told ABC 8 that the scene was 'like a nightmare' as their house was littered with trees that were knocked down following the storms last week.

'The governor, the president, somebody needs to come down here and give us some help,' Kim said. 'Thirty trees, $20,000 worth of damage.'

Major damages from the storm was also reported in Chesterfield, Virginia, with one home's roof caving in

In Richmond, the powerful gusts ripped through the walls of a dilapidated building

Dozens of downed trees scattered throughout Central Virginia have left 70,000 without power

Pictured: A roof collapsing at an apartment complex in Richmond following the initial storm on Wednesday

A dome of extreme heat that has baked much of the central United States for the past week is expected to collide with a cold front that could bring flash flooding as the blazing temperatures are set to go even higher  with more records predicted to fall today.

Many Americans across the central United States felt the brunt of the heat wave on the official first day of summer yesterday with temperatures reaching triple digits in some areas.

And while forecasts indicate that more dangerous heat is expected in some areas this week, as the heat dome moves off to the southeast, temperatures will scale back some on the East Coast with the help of incoming thunderstorms, AccuWeather meteorologists say.

A cold front coming off the Atlantic Ocean in the northeast will push to the southwest on Wednesday afternoon and into the evening, bringing strong winds, rain and possible flash flooding on the East Coast.

A dome of extreme heat is expected to collide with a cold front that could bring flash flooding as the blazing temperatures are set to go even higher

A cold front coming off the Atlantic Ocean in the northeast will push to the southwest on Wednesday afternoon and into the evening, bringing rain and possible flash flooding

The heaviest line of storms are expected to hit the Washington, D.C. area and parts of the East Coast on Wednesday afternoon into the evening, FOX5 reported, possibly affecting the evening commute.

The storm system will be moving north to south and with this type of motion, the storm has the distinction of being slow-moving. And with the threat of heavy downpours throughout the evening in some areas, flash flooding is a concern.

Model projections suggest that scattered areas could see 2-4 inches of rainfall out of the heaviest storms, FOX5 reported. Multiple storms over the same area are also a concern.

While flash flood watches have not yet been issued, parts of the East Coast region could be covered with one by this evening.

Those who live in flood-prone areas should take proper precautions, and if driving, remember to 'turn around, don't drown' if you come across any flooded roadways.

Excessive heat is expected to return Thursday to most of the country. High temperatures will range from 5-15 degrees above average for the week, Accuweather reported

Warning graphic issued by NOAA to prevent the risks of Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke. Forecasts indicate that dangerous heat is expected for the remainder of the week

Excessive heat is expected to return Thursday to most of the country. High temperatures will range from 5-15 degrees above average for the week, Accuweather reported.

Cities including Dallas, Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Shreveport, Louisiana are expected to reach 100 degrees.

New Orleans could see a 5- to 10-degree spike in high temperatures. The record highs of 101 set in 2009 and 97 set in 2016 could be challenged this coming Friday and Saturday, it was reported.

'While temperatures and humidity levels ease a bit for the end of the week in parts of the Midwest, more dangerous temperatures and humidity will return by the upcoming weekend,' AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dean DeVore said.

Temperatures in St. Louis Saturday are forecast to possibly break the record of 102 set in 1954. In Nashville, temperatures could surpass the 100 mark set in 1988 on the same day.

People flocked to pools, beaches and cooling centers across the Midwest and South spanning from northern Florida to the Great Lakes over the past week as the heat wave pushed temperatures into the 90s and beyond.

A woman sun bathes at Lake Temescal at the Temescal Regional Recreation Area in Oakland, California, on June 21, 2022 - the first day of Summer

Kids cool off at Lake Temescal at the Temescal Regional Recreation Area in Oakland, California, on June 21 during a heat wave

A man leaps into Lake Michigan along the lakefront near Oak Street Beach while sunbathers soak up record-breaking temperatures

Certain parts of the country, including New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, reached record-breaking highs over the week-end, surpassing 97F and 100F respectively on Saturday  breaking the 1913 record of 100F in Mobile.

Minneapolis and St. Louis in Minnesota saw local weather reach about 101F Monday (38C), accompanied by high humidity that made conditions feel close to 110F (43C).

The Twin Cities are seeing its roads cave in under the heat and two areas on I-35 in the Minneapolis area are now closed as of a result, according to Kare11.

'MSP has just reached 99[F], which is a new daily record (surpassing the old record of 98 set in 1933)! Let's see if we can hit 100,' the National Weather Service Twin Cities tweeted on Monday. The heat index in the area reached a high of 105F that day.

Roads in Minnesota's capital are starting to crumple under the excessive heat, creating dangerous hazards for drivers

The Minnesota Department of Transportation shared several pictures of parts of I-35 caving in (pictured). The Interstate travels all the way up to Minnesota from border town Laredo, Texas

Temperatures reached 108F (42C) in northwest Kansas last Monday. Western parts of the state and the Texas panhandle nearly reached 110 degrees over the week-end.

Last week, The Kansas Department of Health and Environment knew of at least 2,000 cattle deaths due to high temperatures and humidity.

The deaths represent a huge economic loss because the animals, which typically weigh around 1,500 pounds, are worth around $2,000 per head, spokeswoman for the Kansas Livestock Association Scarlett Hagins said.

Last weeks, temperature readings reported for Kansas began to exceed the 100-degree mark, killing thousands of cattle in the area

Electric companies in the Southeast said they were ready to tackle the second heat wave this week in affected areas as more people are expected to stay indoors and blast their air conditioners.

'This is our 'Super Bowl' that we prepare all year for. We are ready to go!' Tennessee Valley Authority Spokesman Scott Fiedler told CNN in a statement.

Entergy, a power supplier mostly present in states bordering the Gulf of Mexico, said it expects in increase in power in areas across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Orleans, and Texas, and expects to reach unprecedented energy levels.

Preparing for extreme heat is a process that goes on year-round at Oncor  the largest electric utility company in Texas and the fifth in the entire country. It serves more than 10million Texans.

'Our maintenance strategy department starts looking at data analytics and analyzing areas of vulnerability that we could really be focusing on for summer prep,' said Senior Design Manager and former Assistant District Manager Elizabeth Barrett on the company's website.

'We're looking at any areas that could be overloaded,' she added. 'Overloaded transformers. We're using meter data consistently to look at how those transformers could be affected by the increased load and whether or not those transformers need to be possibly changed out.'

Wildfires have also recently emerged in the southwest, mostly in Arizona throughout the last two weeks. Pictured: A wildfire moving through grass, brush and pine trees on the northern outskirts of Flagstaff, Arizona on June 15

And the worst may be yet to come. Nighttime temperatures have been hotter than previous years as conditions are expected to be around 100F, not providing much of a relief for a good night's sleep.

The heatwave succeeds wide-ranging weather conditions across the counties last week, which saw millions of people struck by triple-digit temperatures and historic flooding in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming and Montana.

Wildfires have also taken place in Arizona and New Mexico, where conditions in the Phoenix are closer to 110F than 100F.
A Qantas passenger was left in despair after her luggage containing her mother's ashes failed to arrive.

The woman went to collect her bags when she arrived back in Australia after flying out of Heathrow Airport on Saturday evening but it was nowhere to be seen.

After four days had passed and with the location of the bag still unknown, the woman's frustrated partner Annabelle Daniel took to Twitter to explain the situation.

After four days had passed and with the location of the bag still unknown, the woman's frustrated partner Annabelle Daniel took to Twitter for action (pictured)

'Hey @Qantas, my partner's bag is four days' late from QF2 on Saturday morning,' Ms Daniel tweeted.

'It has her mother's ashes in it... She wasn't able to see her Mum before she died, or attend the funeral in 2020 due to the pandemic.

'No responses from your website... Could you help more please?'

'We understand that this is an extremely distressing situation for this customer and have apologised for the delay in getting their bags to them,' a Qantas spokesperson said. 'We are in contact with the family and are providing updates on the bag's location'

Qantas responded to a query from Daily Mail Australia about the missing luggage on Thursday.

'We understand that this is an extremely distressing situation for this customer and have apologised for the delay in getting their bags to them,' a spokesperson said.

'We are in contact with the family and are providing updates on the bag's location.

'The bag has cleared customs and is being couriered to the customer from Sydney Airport.'

The spokesperson blamed the incident on baggage handling problems at London's Heathrow Airport.

'Heathrow Airport has had widely publicised baggage issues over recent days which led to tens of thousands of misplaced bags.'

A Qantas spokesperson said: 'Heathrow Airport has had widely publicised baggage issues over recent days which led to tens of thousands of misplaced bags' (pictured)

Passengers at Heathrow Airport on Monday had to wait hours to even check in at the understaffed terminal (pictured)

This incident follows other recent issues where furious customers and flight attendants claim Qantas has gone from Australia's 'best to worst'.

It has left the airline's once world-class reputation looking tarnished after a series of post-Covid blunders.

During its heyday as a premium carrier during the 1950s and '60s, Qantas provided comforts like fine dining on flights, with cocktail service and onboard smoking.

Continuing throughout the 1990s and in the wake of the September 11 2001 terror attacks, the Spirit of Australia was known for delivering a high level of service for a fair price.

But that stellar reputation could be starting to falter, according to Griffith University air transport and tourism management expert, Professor Gui Lohmann.

Qantas employees and sacked workers have levelled extraordinary allegations against the airline (CEO Alan Joyce pictured with Qantas crew)

'If you look at Qantas or any airline now, it's going to become more difficult to maintain that very high loyalty status they have previously enjoyed because passengers are far more conscious of costs,' Prof Lohmann said.

'They just want to go from A to B.'

And anyone hoping for a return to the airline's early years is likely to be disappointed with increased competition leading to cost-cutting throughout the industry, and Qantas transformed into a publicly-listed company that must make a profit.

Disgruntled workers recently revealed to Daily Mail Australia what it's really like to work for the Flying Kangaroo, levelling extraordinary allegations against the airline amid a bitter court battle that could result in a multi-million dollar payout.

The Transport Workers Union took Qantas to court in late 2020, when it was ruled the airline illegally sacked nearly 2,000 baggage handlers, cleaners and ground staff before outsourcing their jobs to foreign-owned providers, including Swissport.

The trickle-down effect has seen jaded customers, including Frequent Flyer members, saying they are looking to other airlines when flying.

Qantas' various social media accounts have been littered with complaints from angry customers looking to reignite their travel plans post-pandemic.

Guardian columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith and her family were left stranded in Dallas, Texas after their flight back to Australia was abruptly cancelled.

Ms Gordon-Smith estimated 300 passengers were deserted in the American airport at 2am, with some forced to splash on hotels while others had to sleep on the floor.

Guardian columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith and her family were left stranded in Dallas, Texas after their flight back to Australia was abruptly cancelled

Ms Gordon-Smith likened the situation to 'Lord of the Flies' and said there were 300 people who were stranded in the American airport

'Qantas cancelled QF8 at 2am, ~300 people in an airport. OK, it happens. Then 'we have no plan for hotels, keep your receipts', so the people with liquidity took a $100 uber to the only hotel. The rest slept on the floor. 9am when we'd been told to check in. No Qantas staff came,' she tweeted.

'150 people, some with kids, some with walker frames, who'd had 4 hours sleep on a marble floor, were standing in Dallas waiting for the flight they'd been told they'd be boarding and *not one ground staff member* came to the airport. No texts, phone calls, no updates on Google.

Many loyal Qantas customers have expressed their displeasure with the airline on social media, claiming it has moved away from its historically high standards - with one woman writing a brutal open letter to the 'mean spirit of Australia'.

'Maybe instead of spending money on glossy new ads filled with Aussie talent, you perhaps could do the bare minimum and answer the phone when your customers need assistance?' Dr Sara Marzouk wrote.

Customers say there is a complete lack of support staff at airports which is leading to massive delays, missed flights and lost luggage

'Maybe you can invest in providing jobs onshore by establishing call-centres where the staff actually have a clue about what they can and cannot do?

'Stop blaming this on COVID. These issues of poor customer service pre-dated the pandemic but have been exacerbated by them. No other airline has shown such contempt.

'You need to do better.'

'When did you change to a high-cost low service airline? Gone from best in class to worst,' another person tweeted to the airline's account.

Others said Qantas' service has become 'horrible', saying its offshore call centres had made managing their booking a nightmare.

The airline has a priority call centre in Hobart for its top customers, with everyone else being referred to offices in New Zealand, South Africa, the Philippines and Malaysia.
A group of thieves broke into a New York City home and stole the keys to a $400,000 convertible Rolls-Royce Dawn.

But the gang had not bargained on what happened next: the owner tracking the luxury car down and taking it right back.

Surveillance camera footage sees the group breaking into the Staten Island home earlier in June by throwing a rock through the window in the middle of the night.

Two thieves wearing hoodies can be seen chucking a large rock through the rear patio doors to the home.

Thieves spotted a $400,000 convertible Rolls-Royce Dawn sitting in the driveway and then saw the keys through the window of a home in Staten Island

The bandits then smashed the window to the pricey Staten Island home

Starting at $356,500, the Rolls-Royce Dawn is the most expensive and luxurious convertible on the market (file photo)

The 38-year-old owner who has only been identified as John was awoken by the burglar alarm going off at his home in the leafy Lighthouse Hill neighborhood at around 4am.

The thieves were quick to grab the keys and make off with his 2017 Rolls-Royce Dawn sedan convertible which was parked outside.

'I was downstairs within seconds while they were pulling out of the driveway,' said John to the Staten Island Advance.

But unbeknownst to the bandits, their every move was being tracked by the car's owner thanks to an onboard GPS device as they crossed state lines into New Jersey.

John activated a built-in kill switch and disabled the car in the middle of Newark, New Jersey with the thieves unable to switch the ignition back on.

The robbers were easily able to get inside the home in order to snatch the keys

'They were attempting to turn the car on, but they couldn't because I disabled it,' John explained.

He then went to Newark to pick his car up in person.

'Obviously my family is a little unnerved after everything that's gone on,' he said.

The theft of the Rolls is the latest in a string of break-ins and car thefts in the well-to-do neighborhood of Staten Island.

They include three car thefts on June 12 and another the following week on June 20.

In all cases, the robbers took the keys from inside the home before stealing cars that were parked nearby.

The robbers then made a run for it but they were quickly stopped in their tracks after the cars owner activated a 'kill switch'

John says he believes the suspects responsible targeted him after spotting the luxury ride in his driveway and then saw the car keys through the window of his home.

'They had to have seen the key because of where it was sitting and that's why they broke the window,' he explained.

Law enforcement say Newark appears to be a base for thieves who trawl through real-estate websites in order to search for the priciest homes in borough with the intent of stealing luxury cars.

Surveillance footage from John's break-in is currently being examined by detectives. It is proving hard to identify those involved with many of the thieves wearing both masks and gloves.
An elderly couple's dream holiday in Canada ended in a 'nightmare' when they were ordered off their plane by armed police without being given any explanation.

Retired Richard Brailey, 71, and his wife Patricia, 66, were among at least 25 passengers forced to leave the Air Canada flight before it left Montreal.

The couple were given no reason for their ejection, but were later told by airline staff in the terminal that they may have been thrown off for being drunk or not wearing masks.

They were left mystified because they had not been drinking and had been wearing masks constantly in their seats as they waited for the plane to take off shortly after midnight on Monday.

Other passengers thrown off the plane allegedly included a pregnant woman, a couple with two children, at least three members of the Williams Racing Formula 1 team and the doctor for the Aston Martin team who had been in Montreal for the Grand Prix over the weekend.

Mr Brailey insisted that he had not seen any other passengers misbehaving or failing to follow instructions from cabin staff on the plane.

He and his wife were forced to spend the night in the airport as they could not find a room in a hotel.

Meanwhile their luggage which was already loaded on the plane was flown to London's Heathrow without them, and is still stuck in the logjam of bags waiting for collection at Terminal 2.

The couple were initially told that Air Canada was not responsible for them and that they could not get on another of the airline's flights for at least 24 hours.

One of their sons spent $2,300 on booking an alternative flight home for them on another airline which was due to leave on Tuesday night.

But Air Canada had a change of heart yesterday and put them on one of its flights to New York, and a connecting United Airlines flight to Heathrow.

The couple who had spent four weeks on a camper van tour of Canada arrived back in Heathrow early this morning, but have not yet been reunited with their luggage.

Air Canada today appeared to admit that Mr and Mrs Brailey, from Hertfordshire, may have been thrown off the plane by mistake.

A statement released by the airline said: 'We are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding this incident involving a group of 25 customers who were removed from our flight from Montreal to London Monday night, due to disruptive behaviour.

'We understand that there are allegations that in the course of removing these passengers, certain unrelated individuals were deplaned as well.

Retired couple Richard Brailey, 71, and wife Patricia, 66, had their dream holiday in Canada ended in a 'nightmare' when they were ordered off their plane by armed police with no explanation. Pictured is the police escorting them off

'Some of these deplaned customers were rebooked this morning and are on their way to their final destination. Once our investigation is completed, we will follow up with the customers.'

Father-of-three Mr Brailey said he was still feeling 'shocked and disgusted' after they were ejected from the flight, despite having done nothing wrong.

The retired surveyor said: 'We wore our masks all the time in the airport and on the plane after we went on board. The only contact we had with the stewards was when they welcomed us in the normal way.

'We had waited for about an hour for the plane to take off when a member of staff with a list of numbers came along looking up and down the rows.

Father-of-three Mr Brailey said he was still feeling 'shocked and disgusted' after they were ejected from the flight, despite having done nothing wrong. Amongst those escorted off included a pregnant woman, it is reported

'They started looking at the seat numbers and earlier removed two young girls from three or four rows in front of us.

'Then they pointed at us, and told the police with them to remove us. We were totally flabbergasted. We had just been sitting in our seats normally with our masks on and looking forward to getting underway.

'The chap who was sitting next to us was also ordered to leave. He had a blanket over himself and was asleep, but was woken up and told to get off.

'We were in total shock. I was assuming there must have been a problem with the paperwork or something.

'I was asking what it was all about and if I could speak to the Captain, but I was told that I would find out later. It was a nightmare scenario.

'It was utterly bizarre because there was no noise or aggravation on the flight. As far as I could tell everyone was behaving properly, and we certainly were.

'We were taken off at the same time as three members of the Williams Formula 1 team who had friends left on board.

'What really annoyed us was the lack of communications and nobody telling us anything as we were led back into the terminal.

'We had to find our own way back to departures and this woman came down to say that we may have been thrown off for alcohol abuse, not wearing masks or failing to obey regulations.

'It was all rubbish because we had done absolutely nothing wrong. We asked her for evidence but she could not give any.

'Nobody was drunk, and we were not aware of anyone abusing anyone or failing to obey instructions. We were treated as if we were terrorists.

'Air Canada appeared to wash their hands of us. We were not offered a hotel or food. We tried three hotels, but all were fully booked and we had to stay in the terminal.

Mr Brailey said he and his wife would now be demanding compensation for their ordeal and the money spent on the alternative flights which could not be refunded. Pictured is their camper van which they enjoyed before their dream Canada holiday ended in a nightmare

'Our son booked us the new flights for $2,300 because we thought we did not have any other way to get back home.

'In the end that money was wasted because Air Canada changed their minds and put us on different flights back home.'

Mr Brailey said he and his wife would now be demanding compensation for their ordeal and the money spent on the alternative flights which could not be refunded.

The couple's son Patrick Brailey, 36, who works in aviation in Spain, said: 'I just can't understand why they were picked on.

'My parents never drink to excess and are meticulous about wearing masks. They just wanted a quiet flight home.

'It is disgraceful that they have had no explanation about why they were kicked off. All they were told was that they were on a list from the Captain of people who had to leave.

'It is clear that some awful mistake was made. The flight had been slightly delayed, but nobody saw any non-compliance with masks.

'It is a shame because they had a fantastic holiday touring the Rockies and other areas in a rented camper van

'My dad did plenty of fly fishing, and he saw the Grand Prix before he left.'

Formula 1 journalist Phillip Horton who was on the flight tweeted: 'Yep, it made no sense. Passenger next to me from an F1 team was removed. They had been compliant, sober, quiet the whole time. Cabin crew had a list of seat numbers and just took people off.'

Jess McFadyen, a director of digital strategy for motorsports publications who was also on the plane, tweeted that passengers were pulled off 'totally at random', describing the actions of the airline as 'absolutely disgraceful'

In an interview with the Toronto Star, she said: 'There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it. They were just randomly selecting and going, right, you have to leave.'

She said the captain on flight AC866 then announced to the remaining travellers that the passengers had been removed for 'security reasons' for 'not following airport instructions'.

Ms McFadyen said that passengers sitting near those ejected were told it had to do with the airline's mask policy.

A spokesperson for Montreal Trudeau International Airport said only that police responded to 'a situation on board an aircraft on the evening of June 20 and escorted passengers off the plane, at the request of the flight captain and crew'.

Jay Egan, an engineer for Red Bull racing tweeted: 'The chief steward was on a power trip! She made out like people were kicking off or getting drunk. Full lies!' He added: 'Shocking treatment of many people on AC866'.
Americans feel less secure despite growing military budget: The Washington Post

Xinhua) 13:52, June 23, 2022

WASHINGTON, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Although the United States' military budget keeps increasing, Americans are feeling less and less secure, said an opinion piece published by The Washington Post on Tuesday.

The United States maintains more than 700 bases in some 80 countries around the world, said the article.

"It's now gearing up to be able to take on both Russia and China," it added, warning that "if the United States is committed to policing the world, the military budget will always by definition be inadequate."

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
University students have become less tolerant in the past six years with one in ten wanting to ban the Conservative Party from campuses, a study has shown.

A poll of 1,000 undergraduates by the Higher Education Policy Institute shows that today's 'Covid generation' of students want more restrictions on free speech than their predecessors who came of age around the time of the Brexit referendum.

More than a third  36 per cent  now think academics should be fired if they 'teach material that heavily offends some students'. This compares with just 15 per cent in 2016, the last time the think tank conducted the same survey.

In addition, 76 per cent think universities should 'get rid of' memorials of controversial figures, such as the statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College Oxford, up from 51 per cent.

University students have become less tolerant in the past six years with one in ten wanting to ban the Conservative Party from campuses, a study has shown (File image)

Universities minister Michelle Donelan (pictured) said university leaders 'must take active steps to combat these intolerant attitudes on campus, both promoting and protecting free speech'

Meanwhile, 39 per cent believe students' unions should 'ban all speakers that cause offence'  more than double the 16 per cent in 2016. And 86 per cent support 'trigger warnings' on course content which might upset students, up from 68 per cent.

Students are also more intolerant of mainstream politicians, with 11 per cent wanting to ban the Tory party from their campus  up from 6 per cent.

Universities minister Michelle Donelan said university leaders 'must take active steps to combat these intolerant attitudes on campus, both promoting and protecting free speech'.
A young mother-of-two with a sore back died after waiting nine hours for emergency surgery leaving her shattered family to fight for answers from the hospital.

Kya Davey, 33, was doing exercises on the floor of her home when she hurt her back and went to Shellharbour Hospital, two hours south of Sydney, for treatment just before 2pm in January.

Within two hours, doctors discovered she had a tear in her aorta, a life-threatening condition, and acknowledged she would need to go to Wollongong Hospital, just 28 minutes away, for the operation.

But her husband Daniel Davey, 33, and her mother Maria Markulrc said it was another seven hours before Kya got that surgery and the operation was not completed until 11 hours after she had first presented at Shellharbour Hospital.

She tragically died the next day, with Mr Davey saying the amount of time she waited for surgery denied her a fighting chance.

Daniel Davey, 33, and his mother-in-law Maria Markulrc (pictured) are demanding answers after Kya Davey waited nine hours for emergency surgery

'She would have tried so hard for the boys, but I don't feel like they (her doctors) tried for her,' Mr Davey told A Current Affair.

Five months on, he is demanding an explanation from the hospital and has engaged Shine Lawyers.

'At 3.18pm they found that tear and they knew they couldn't fix it in that hospital, so why was she still there?' he said.

Ms Markulrc said her daughter had simply been 'left too long' by overwhelmed hospital staff as her organs shut down.

'I miss her so much,' she said.

The family lodged a formal complaint with Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District and has been granted access to the medical notes surrounding the case.

Beloved wife and mother Ms Davey (pictured) had a tear in her aorta which required urgent surgery

Among apologies in the notes, the family was told five pages detailing the events of that afternoon and evening were absent and had to be completed by a doctor from memory 14 weeks later.

Mr Davey said the situation was 'chaos' and he had been putting on a brave face for the couple's sons Caleb and Jackson, both under 10.

Brielle Straney from Shine Lawyers said recording case notes 14 weeks after treating a patient could not be considered normal procedure and that the Covid pandemic, two years on, was no longer a valid excuse.

Just last year, NSW Health paid another family from the Illawarra an undisclosed amount of compensation due to an issue at the same Hospital.

The Hintze family was given the money in an out-of-court settlement after their father died at Shellharbour Hospital.

The NSW Supreme Court heard Paul Hintz required urgent bowel surgery which, if performed earlier, would have prevented his death from septic shock.

Nearby Wollongong Hospital was previously the subject of an investigation in 2017.

In that case three-year-old Hamza Said was rushed to the hospital in 2016 with a fever and vomiting but was sent home with no blood tests and instructions to be given Panadol.

Days later he was taken back after his condition did not improve and when finally seen by a doctor and given blood tests, it was revealed he had sepsis and was placed on life support.

He was later transported to Randwick Children's Hospital where he luckily survived.

In 2019 Illawarra Shoalhaven Health District paid the most compensation for medical errors out of any region in NSW (pictured: Shellharbour Hospital)

In 2019 Illawarra Shoalhaven Health District, the department overseeing both Shellharbour and Wollongong hospitals, paid $19.95million in taxpayer money to settle compensation claims.

A freedom of information investigation by The Daily Telegraph revealed this was the most money paid by any health district in NSW with dozens of compensation claims filed.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Health and Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District for comment.
An Ohio tourist is the second person to lose her leg after a New York City taxi driver plowed into a crowd of diners after hitting a bicyclists.

Meisha Wallace, 48, of Columbus, lost her leg after it was pinned against the wall and the taxi on Monday around 1pm.

Wallace was reportedly enjoying her last day in the city and had stopped to eat at Black Seed Bagels in the Flatiron District when the horrific accident - that left six injured, including the taxi driver - occurred. Three were critically injured.

Her family told the New York Daily News the Ohioan has since been fighting for her life at Bellevue Hospital.

'The city opened up and you want to come and enjoy the lights while you can. They were supposed to have been returning back to Ohio [on Tuesday] - and this situation happened,' Wallace's stepbrother Barry Riggins, of Brooklyn, told the NYDN.

Another woman, a 32-year-old Mexican woman who has not been identified, also lost her leg on Tuesday.

Bystander Marcos de Ogueta said one of the women's thighs were mostly gone while the other one had a mangled ankle and lost her leg below the knee, according to the New York Post.

Another bystander reportedly wrapped his belt around one of the women's leg in a makeshift tourniquet. It is unclear which woman it was.

The two women were pulled out from under the taxi cab by 15 to 20 strangers, after they lifted the 4,000 pound car off of them.

Meisha Wallace, 48, of Columbus, ((pictured) lost her leg after it was pinned against the wall and the taxi on Monday around 1pm

Wallace was reportedly enjoying her last day in the city when the cab driver crashed into Black Seed Bagels in the Flatiron District and has since been fighting for her life at Bellevue Hospital

Wild footage shows the moment a group of New Yorkers heroically lifted a taxi cab off of pedestrians who were mowed down during a crash

Another woman, 31, also of Columbus, was injured, as well as the cyclist, 50.

The driver, 60, reportedly told authorities the brakes failed when he turned onto Broadway off West 29th Street, causing him to hit a cyclist and go over the sidewalk into restaurant-goers.

The NYPD is still investigating the accident and will be looking into the car's possible malfunctions, as well as, the possibility of operator error.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, 47, has asked the public to keep those injured in their 'prayers' and said he had spoken with Adams on how to get the families to the Big Apple to be with their injured loved ones.

Riggins also said Wallace is an 'incredibly wonderful and vibrant' person whose smile 'just lightens up and brightens up' the room.

'Everyone just wants to be in her presence,' he told the NYDN.

It is unclear if Wallace's out-of-state family is traveling to the Big Apple to be with her.

The family is reportedly quite distressed over the amputation, as Riggin's father Benjamin died two days after having his arm severed in a crane mishap in Manhattan's Chinatown in November 1999, he told the NYDN.

'It's worse when it's an actual visitor who is just coming here to have a good time and has these tragedies befall her,' he told the NYDN.

New Yorkers have experienced persistent traffic dangers with high-trafficked areas, such as Herald Square - which was only a few blocks away from the bagel shop near West 29th Street - being dangerous.

Mayor Eric Adams, 61, said the scene was 'troubling' and it was caused by 'human recklessness and street design.'

'Traffic safety is all of our concerns, and we are going to continue to push forward to make sure our streets are safe,' he said.

'We should not have to accept, and I will not accept, a reality where New Yorkers die from traffic violence.'

Street safety advocates have called for the city's transportation department to restrict traffic flow near busy Broadway, but Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez just urged drivers to be more cautious on Tuesday, the NYDN reported.

A Mexican woman, 32, also had her leg amputated. A bystander said one of the women's thighs were mostly gone while the other one had a mangled ankle and lost her leg below the knee. Another bystander reportedly wrapped his belt around one of the women's leg in a makeshift tourniquet

Three people were transported to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition, including the taxi driver, who reportedly fainted and was said to be in 'complete shock'

A bike is mangled after a cab crashed on Broadway, jumping a curb

'There's an epidemic of reckless drivers in the whole nation,' he said. The commissioner also cited the pandemic as one of the reasons the numbers are rising.

More than 100 people have been killed by motorists in the City That Never Sleeps in 2022.

The department, however, does have plans to redesign several areas along Broadway, Union Square, and Columbus Circle, the NYDN said. It plans on narrowing streets, adding pedestrian plazas and loading zones, to make it easier for trucks to park and citizens to cross.

It is unclear when the roadwork will start and be completed.

In addition, Adams said he was honored by the group of New Yorkers who rushed to help the women.

'No matter how difficult things are, no matter how many people say New Yorkers can be rude and New Yorkers can be bad, when it is time to help each other, we are there. And I just want to personally say thank you,' he said, according to ABC 7 New York.

NYPD Deputy Police Chief John Chell also called the community's willingness to help a 'remarkable scene.'



Investigators are looking into the crash to see if the driver had a medical condition or if the car's brakes malfunctioned as the driver said in his initial statement, according to ABC 7. Investigators are also looking into to see if it was an operator error.

The driver was, however, said to be in good standing and had a valid taxi license, but was in 'complete shock' and fainted at the scene.

Police said it appeared to be accidental, but an investigation was underway to determine exactly what happened.

The yellow cab was on West 29th Street, turning south onto Broadway, when it collided with the bicyclist, Chell explained.

The cab crossed through a bike lane, jumped the curb and careened onto the narrow sidewalk, striking several pedestrians before coming to rest against the side of a building.

A taxi jumped a curb in New York's Flatiron District, injuring six people at least three of them critically on Monday

'As this occurs, a remarkable scene took place,' Chell said. 'About 15 to 20 New Yorkers attempted to take this cab off these women.'

The cab was a Toyota SUV, which is said to weigh around 4,200 and 4,300 pounds.

Video and photos from the scene in front of Black Seed Bagel and Juice Generation show the taxi on the sidewalk and several of the plant barriers damaged. A mangled bike was left in the bike lane.

The Emergency Management department advised people to expect traffic delays, road closures and emergency personnel in the area of Broadway and West 29th Street. Drivers should find an alternate route.

A witness to the accident told the New York Post that the cab driver hit a cyclist first, before slamming into the women who were eating at Black Seed Bagel.

'Everybody rushed over and lifted the taxi off two women trapped underneath,' the witness told the publication.
Australians have called for Lisa Wilkinson to be dumped from the Ten Network as the fallout from her controversial Logies speech escalates.

The Project co-host is under heavy fire after she mentioned alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins in her speech moments after winning the Outstanding News Coverage Logie award for her one-of-one interview with the former ministerial staffer in 2021.

The acceptance speech has forced the rape trial which was due to start next week to be rescheduled until October and could result in Wilkinson being charged with contempt of court.

There are growing calls for the media veteran to be shown the door by Network 10, adding to the pile-on from current and former colleagues, rivals and public commentators calling for Wilkinson to be axed.

Viewers have also jumped on the bandwagon calling for her to be sacked or at least taken off-air until an outcome in the rape trial is reached.

The fallout from Lisa Wilkinson's Logies award acceptance speech continues with calls for her to be axed

'Producers and editors, please get this person from TV, radio and newsprint. she is totally embarrassing for your organisations,' one man posted online.

One woman added: 'She needs to go, Channel 10 need to remove her from The Project.

Poll Should Lisa Wilkinson be sacked by Network 10? Yes No Undecided Should Lisa Wilkinson be sacked by Network 10? Yes 1715 votes

No 116 votes

Undecided 64 votes Now share your opinion





Another woman wrote: 'Yes she should be held responsible for her actions and sacked.'

'Surely at some point 10 will realise Lisa is a liability?,' one woman commented.

Others reluctantly believed Network 10 will stand by her.

'She'll no doubt have the full endorsement and support of Channel 10 and 'The Project',' one man wrote.

'Cynical me thinks it's an attempt to stay relevant as she slowly fades into obscurity along with all the rest of the 'Woke Folk' she works with.

There is a growing chorus of calls for Lisa Wilkinson to be sacked over her Logies speech

Other viewers called for Lisa Wilkinson to be taken off-air by Channel Ten until an outcome in the Brittany Higgins rape trial

Many viewers have jumped on the bandwagon calling for the media veteran to be sacked

The massive backlash prompted some of Wilkinson's supporters to leap to her defence.

'Lisa Wilkinson hasn't come this far to intentionally jeopardise anybody. As a young editor she educated a generation of teens about their (bodies) I wouldn't of survived the abuse I'd suffered without the information she offered in Dolly mag. Everyone's so quick on the bandwagon,' one person tweeted on Thursday.

Wilkinson's speech reportedly contributed to delaying Higgins's trial against former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann by prejudicing potential jurors.

Lehrmann is accused of raping Ms Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.

He denies these claims and stated in a police interview that he did not have sex with Ms Higgins.

On Thursday the ACT Supreme Court set a new date of October 4 for the trial.

Chief Justice Lucy McCallum decided on Tuesday to delay the trial 'regrettably and with gritted teeth' because 'somewhere in this debate, the distinction between an untested allegation and the fact of guilt has been lost'.

She noted public interest in the case needed to die down before Lehrmann would have access to a fair jury.

On Thursday morning Lehrmann's defence barrister Steve Whybrow applied for the trial to be delayed further, until the beginning of next year.

'My application would be, to the extent that the bush fire is still burning in effect, that the trial commence early next year because we would like there to be no further issues and delays,' he told the court.

'We can foresee the possibility that there may be collateral matters that need to be investigated relating to the circumstances that have led to the trial being vacated.'

Justice McCallum denied his application and said: 'The publicity this week has focused sharply on the very fact that was being overlooked, that a man is facing trial and he is entitled to the presumption of innocence.'

Lisa Wilkinson (pictured during her Logies speech) could be charged with contempt of court

Higgins's Crown prosecutor Shane Drumgold agreed with Justice McCallum's decision, noting the 102-day delay was more generous than that given in similar cases.

Mr Drumgold also announced on Thursday he was seeking written undertakings by the end of the day from Network 10, Wilkinson and the owners of Sydney radio station WSFM that they would no longer commentate on the trial.

The written agreement would also see the three parties agree that any future comments could be in the contempt of court.

Mr Drumgold said if the undertaking were not made by Network 10, Wilkinson and WSFM then he would seek an injunction to stop future public comment.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is unable to confirm whether the undertakings were made.

Mr Drumgold also said five books currently being written - from authors including Sydney Morning Herald columnist Niki Savva, News Corp journalist Samantha Maiden and Ten's political editor Peter van Onselen - may comment on the case.

Lisa Wilkinson (right) won a Logie for her television interview with alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins (also pictured)

Justice McCallum said publishers should remember Lehrmann is yet to be proven guilty in a court of law.

'Even a discussion of workplace culture has to dance a delicate dance,' she said.

'If the issue is the treatment of an allegation, it's very difficult to have that debate without commenting on appropriate treatment on the assumed premise that the allegation is true.'

Network 10 announced on Wednesday it hired high-profile lawyer Matthew Collins on behalf of the Network and Wilkinson just hours after Dr Collins criticised Wilkinson's speech on rival Chanel Seven's Sunrise morning show.

'It's certainly possible that the authorities will be looking at the speech she made to the Logies and assessing (whether) that speech went against the standard which applies in this branch of the law,' Dr Collins said.

'That standard is, did anything that she did have a tendency to interfere with the administration of justice?'

It is unclear if Wilkinson will be charged with contempt of court but it is understood that she should have been made aware of any consequences by the close of business on Thursday.

Network Ten it 'fully supports Lisa Wilkinson' and confirmed Dr was hired to represent it and Wilkinson.
Six people were killed when a vintage helicopter crashed at an event for historical aircraft enthusiasts in West Virginia on Wednesday.

The aircraft that went down was a Bell UH-1B helicopter - commonly known as a 'Huey' - and that was manufactured in 1962 and flown in the Vietnam War.

The very same helicopter also appeared in numerous movies and shows - including Die Hard and Baywatch - according to the owner's website.

The helicopter crashed into the road on Route 17 in Logan County and burst into flames but the cause has not been established. It is thought five passengers and the captain were killed.

Witness Bobbi Childs described trying to save one person who was 'trapped' behind a door.

Childs told 13News: 'You could see him plain as day. I tried to get to him, but the fire was too hot. I couldnt get to him.'

Huey Helicopter N98F, that crashed on Wednesday evening, killing all six people on board. The helicopter was built in 1962 and flew in the Vietnam war

Huey helicopter N98F as it appears in BayWatch. The Helicopter made numerous appearances in films and TV shows during its day

Helicopter N98F hovering above Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard. Other films the aircraft appeared in include Mars Attacks, The Rock, and Bent Arrow

History of 'Huey' helicopter N98F The helicopter - a Bell UH-1B, commonly known as a 'Huey' - was deployed to the Vietnam War in 1962, where it served with the 114th Assault Helicopter Company known as 'The Knights of the Sky'. It returned to the US in 1971, where it served with fire crews, worked as an agriculture aircraft, and appeared in numerous movies and shows. The chopper has appeared in: Die Hard, Baywatch, Mars Attacks, The Rock, Bent Arrow, Under Siege: Dark Territory, Outbreak and More American Graffiti Advertisement

Ray Bryant, the chief of operations for Logan Emergency Management said the helicopter was on fire when crews arrived, and firefighters extinguished the flames.

He said he had seen 'no crashes of this magnitude,' in his 35 years working for Logan County Emergency Management.

Authorities don't yet know what cause the crash, according to The New York Times, and noted that the weather was clear at the time.

The event, billed as The 7th Annual Huey Reunion, was run by MARPAT Aviation.

The event website read that for the price of $250 per seat, people with no flying experience could pilot a helicopter with the tail number N98F.

'Take the right seat and YOU can fly N98F!' it read, 'You DO NOT need to be a pilot to make a reservation to fly!'

Bryant confirmed that the helicopter that crashed had the tail number N98F.

MARPAT Aviation's website read that helicopter N98F was 'quite probably the oldest Huey in the world.'

Authorities have not yet confirmed the identities of the victims, but Bryant told WSAZ-TV they were not local residents.

The helicopter was based at the Logan airport and used for tourism flights, Bryant said.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
The family who bought the home of murder victim Karen Ristevski say they love it's 'warm family feel'.

The 47-year-old vanished from the Avondale Heights home, in north-west of Melbourne, in June 2016 and her body was found in bushland near Mount Macedon eight months later.

In March 2019, her husband Borce shocked the nation when he admitted to killing her after denying any involvement in her death for almost three years, and even carrying her casket as a pallbearer at her funeral.

Now Samantha and James Mandalas, who spent two years transforming the house, have revealed they were not put off by it's dark past and love it's 'family feel'.

They bought the five-bedroom property from Mr and Mrs Ristevski's daughter Sarah through an auction via phone during lockdown.

Borce Ristevski, 55, killed his wife Karen (left) at their home Avondale Heights, Melbourne, in June 2016, before dumping her body in a regional park. Pictured with their daughter Sarah, who was 21 at the time

Samantha and James Mandalas, who spent two years transforming the Ristevski house, have revealed they were not put off by it's dark past

They bought the five-bedroom property from Mr and Mrs Ristevski's daughter, Sarah, through an auction via phone during lockdown

'We fell in love with it and its warm family feel,' Ms Mandalas told RealEstate.com.au.

'We purchased the home off Sarah and then had to get probate off Borce and we were delayed through this process approximately five months.

'Price wasn't an issue, we were attracted to the layout and convenience of the large scale home with so many kids.

'It actually felt like home: beautiful views, split levels, and we love to design and flip homes.'

The couple revealed they are selling the home to be closer to their family after the birth of their sixth child.

The property has a $2.5m-$2.75m asking price, $1.225m higher than what they paid in 2020.

Ms Mandalas also said they knew the Ristevskis had lived in the home, but they were acquainted with Borces son Anthony through mutual friends.

Neighbours still remembered the couple, she added, and mail still arrived for them at the property.

The property has a $2.5m-$2.75m asking price, $1.225m higher than what they paid in 2020

Ms Mandalas also said they knew the Ristevskis had lived in the home, but they were acquainted with Borces son Anthony through mutual friends

Ristevski feigned innocence over his wife's murder, lying to the police, the public and his daughter and even carrying his wife's coffin at her funeral.

He later pled guilty to manslaughter on the eve of his murder trial but has shown no remorse and refused to explain why or how he killed her.

When Ristevski was sentenced to nine years, six without parole, Justice Christopher Beale said he did not have enough information to determine the severity of the killing.

Even though he killed her mother, Ristevski's daughter Sarah has always stood by her father.

Following his admission, she gave her father a glowing character reference during a pre-sentence plea hearing at the Supreme Court of Victoria.

'If I could use a few words to describe my dad's personality they would be loving, caring, sympathetic, protective and charismatic,' Sarah said in the character reference that goes on for more than one page.

'Growing up as a family my mum, dad and I were completely inseparable.

'We would spend all of our spare time together and family was everything to us. The love we had for each other was unexplainable, and everyone in our lives saw it.'

Sarah said she had never witnessed her father act violently towards her mother.

'My dad has not had any prior convictions or issues with the law, and I can confidently say that in my 23 years and I have never witnessed any form of violence between my mum and dad,' she said.
A speed camera has locals living in fear as it collects revenue in fines totalling more than $20,000 in value each day - most to drivers who were travelling no faster than 50km/h.

A group of concerned locals, spearheaded by a Mount Eliza mother, have begun their campaign against the rogue speed camera dubbed the 'Frankston flasher'.

They claim the camera is 'out of control' and nabbing people who have done nothing wrong at the intersection of Nepean Highway and Davey Street in Frankston in Melbourne's southeastern suburbs.

Some members of the group claim the camera has flashed at them when they're doing far less than the speed limit, or are even at a complete stop.

The council reduced the speed limit along the patch of the highway from 50km/h to 40km/h in order to facilitate a 'temporary outdoor dining zone' along the road in October 2021.

The camera has made more than $370,000 since it was adjusted to enforce the new limit in May. Over 830 people have added their fines to the locals' running tally.

When speed limits are changed speed cameras are turned off for a short period of time and reconfigured.

Signs informing drivers of the new speed limit were installed when the limit changed, according to the office of Victorian Road Safety Minister Ben Carroll.

The Frankston Flasher sits on the intersection of Davey Street and the Nepean Highway in Melbourne (pictured) where locals say it has been wreaking havoc since it was turned on

Maria Davoren (pictured) has taken matters into her own hands and is keeping track of the amount of money locals have been fined as a result of the camera

Six flashing signs along the highway designed to warn drivers the 40km/h zone continues from the restaurant strip through to the Davey Street intersection have yet to be connected to power, locals claim.

The signs will be connected to power in coming weeks, according to Mr Carroll's office.

Maria Davoren, who created the group and a database of complaints against the camera, has since made media appearances to publicise her campaign.

The Mount Eliza mum wanted to make sure those in her group did not come across as 'hoons'.

'It is great that this is getting attention as our numbers grow.

'I set up the group on May 30th, since then I have tallied nearly $400,000 in fines. This figure is very conservative,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

The electronic signs warning drivers they are still in a 40km/h zone (pictured) have not yet been connected to power

The camera has been indiscriminately booking commuters and celebrities alike - Real Housewives of Melbourne star Gamble Breaux was caught out by the speed camera on three different occasions

Locals and travellers use the group to share their experiences with the Frankston Flasher.

Real Housewives of Melbourne star, Gamble Breaux, is among those to have posted in the group, claiming the camera had also flashed her three times.

'The Frankston Flasher camera is out of control, and that's coming from someone who has done 10 years of reality TV.

'I became aware of Frankston's Camera Shark ... flashing, waiting at the intersection on the opposite side of the road,' she wrote.

Ms Breaux's rant came after she was booked by the camera multiple times, calling the speed camera a 'revenue shark'

She said she had been travelling through the intersection slowly at rush hour with other drivers tailgating her and still received a fine.

Ms Breaux said she was left 'startled' by the flashes.

'The flashes are practically going off non-stop like a strobe,' she said.

Other members of the group complain they've travelled along the highway for years but are only now getting fined for a new speed zone they didn't know about.

'I have 3 fines within 11 days. I have travelled for 20 years through that area and not got 1 single fine,' said a local, with more locals adding they feel 'so wronged'.

Drivers claim to be unsure of whether the 40km/h speed limit extends as far as the Davey street intersection from the restaurant zones.

They say when they find out by the flash of the camera it's already too late.

The six signs warning drivers that the 40km/h stretch continues up through the intersection are yet to be connected to power.

Drivers also claimed they are unsure whether or not the lower speed limit applies through the intersection and are only made aware of it once it is too late.

On 3AW radio on Wednesday Road Safety Commissioner Neville Taylor said he would launch an enquiry into how 'fair' the new speed zone is for drivers on the back of the many complaints.

'What is critical for road safety cameras to be effective in changing behaviour like speed or distraction is that people have to be confident in them, Mr Taylor said.

'If people have a sense that it's not fair, that can really rock that, so that's a really important one for me.'
The British reporter told to 'go back to your country' by an angry Marjorie Taylor Greene Wednesday is an award-winning Washington Correspondent for a major UK news station, it has been revealed.

The incident came during a heated clash over the issue of gun violence in the US, during a news conference at the Capitol that centered around the validity of American gun laws.

The journalist has since been identified as Siobhan Kennedy, who works as a Washington correspondent for Channel 4 - one of the UK's most prominent news stations.

Greene, a leading figure in the GOP, was one of several to speak at the assembly - which was held a day after the US Senate took steps to pass a federal gun safety law following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Texas, last month.

Greene' speech saw the Republican fiercely defend the Second Amendment and citizens' right to bear arms - amid increasing pressure to nix the centuries-old guidance.

However, the presser soon devolved into a shouting match, after the journalist questioned the validity of the country's gun laws - causing Greene to become irate.

The journalist involved in the altercation has since been identified as Siobhan Kennedy (at right), who works as a Washington correspondent for Channel 4 - one of the UK's most prominent news stations

Marjorie Taylor Greene, 48, became verbally aggressive toward the British journalist at a press conference on Wednesday after she pointed out the UK doesn't 'have mass shootings'

'We don't have guns in the UK, that is true, but we don't have mass shootings either,' Kelly said after asking several questions about the effectiveness of the longtime law.

'Our children aren't scared to go to school,' the London-based journalist sniped.

The remark saw Greene, an outspoken advocate of US citizens' right to bear arms, became verbally aggressive towards the reporter.

'You have mass stabbings, lady. You have all kinds of murder and you've got laws against that,' she said.

Kelly, a veteran journalist who has worked for publications such as The Times and Reuters before joining Channel 4 in 2008, replied: 'Nothing like the same rates here.'

Greene, 48, then shot back: 'Well, you can go back to your country and worry about your no guns - we like ours here.'

The exchange was recorded, and has since gone viral - garnering more than 300,000 views.

The outspoken Republican told the unidentified journalist to 'go back to your country' after the reported brought up that the UK does not have mass shootings like the US. Green replied: 'You have mass stabbings, lady. You have all kinds of murder and you've got laws against that'

After the meeting came to a close, the argument spread to social media, with Greene proudly displayed the clip on her Twitter page on Wednesday evening.

She wrote: 'When British press wants to argue about our God-given American gun rights, my answer is: "Go back to your own country."'

Kennedy, who worked as a business editor at Channel 4 before become the station's Washington correspondent in 2019, responded to Greene Thursday, suggesting that kids in US schools are frightened to attend classes due to recent shootings.

Marjorie Taylor Greene isnt happy with me for pointing out that the proposed gun legislation is not about taking her guns away!

Nor is knife crime in the UK in any way comparable with gun crime here,' She went on. 'There are no mass stabbings in the UK. Yet here kids are frightened to go to school?

After the meeting came to a close, the argument spread to social media, with Greene proudly displayed the clip on her Twitter page on Wednesday. She wrote: 'When British press wants to argue about our God-given American gun rights, my answer is: "Go back to your own country"'

Kennedy, who worked as a business editor at Channel 4 before become the station's Washington correspondent in 2019, shot back with her own jab Thursday

Speaking to DailyMail.com, Kelly - who won a Newswomens News Club of New York award while at Reuters for her stories in the aftermath of 9/11 - said the Republican was doubling down on her opinions by reposting the footage online.

She said: It was a press conference of the 2nd Amendment caucus - in other words a group of very conservative Republicans who reject any type of gun control, like the legislation going through Congress right now which looks very likely to pass.

It was a big back and forth after I asked her and the other members of group essentially what they were scared of- that no one was threatening to take their guns away

Its important to call these politicians out and hold them to account.

Greene's press conference comes a day after a bipartisan gun control bill was agreed upon in the Senate on Tuesday, which would toughen background checks for younger gun buyers and beef up penalties for gun traffickers.

The bill would also prohibit romantic partners convicted of domestic abuse who are not married to their victims from getting firearms.

Despite the 14 Republicans joining the 48 Democrats and two independents on the bill the day before, Greene defiantly told the British journalist: 'We like our [guns] here.'

The Second Amendment has been a hot button topic for decades in the US, as well as gun control. Recently, the topics have surged to the forefront of the nation after several mass shootings, including an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, took place, shaking the nation as 19 students and two teachers died.

Greene also named dropped several Republicans she said failed the GOP, including Mitch McConnell (left) and Mitt Romney (right). 'I don't mind naming their names, because people all over our country are furious at them,' she bluntly claimed

A total of 66 mass shootings have taken place since the May 24 tragedy, according to the Gun Violence Archive - which defines a mass shooting as four or more injured or killed.

Lawmakers have been pushed to come to a conclusion on the ever pressing issue as children have claimed to be scared to return to school and educators are once again bestowed the complicated task of revamping classrooms to protect the youth.

The bill also provides $750million to 19 states that have 'red flag laws,' making it easier to temporarily take firearms from people adjudged dangerous, and to other states with violence prevention programs.

States with 'red flag' laws that receive the funds would have to have legal processes for the gun owner to fight the firearm's removal.

The bill would disburse money to states and communities to improve school safety and mental health initiatives.

The 14 Republicans MTG said failed the GOP for supporting tighter gun legislation Roy Blunt (MO)

Richard Burr (NC)

Shelley Moore Capito (WV)

Bill Cassidy (LA)

Susan Collins (ME)

John Cornyn (TX)

Joni Ernst (IA)

Lindsey Graham (TX)

Mitch McConnel (KY)

Lisa Murkowski (AK)

Jones Portman (OH)

Mitt Romney (UT)

Thom Tillis (NC)

Todd Young (IN) Advertisement

Senate bargainers reached the agreement Tuesday potentially teeing up final passage by week's end.

Though Republicans blocked tougher restrictions sought by Democrats, the accord marks an election-year breakthrough on an issue that pits the GOP's staunch gun-owning and rural voters against Democrats' urban-centered backers of firearms curbs.

Lawmakers released the 80-page bill nine days after agreeing to a framework for the plan and 29 years after Congress last enacted major firearms curbs.

Greene later claimed in the press conference that the 'Senate gun bill is a complete failure.'

She also boldly listed off the politicians she said failed the Republican party, which includes Mitch McConnell and Mitt Romney, because they voted in favor of gun control.

She also said when President Joe Biden, 79, was a senator, he made her school down a 'gun-free zone' and said he 'left American students like sitting ducks [or] targets for anyone that wants to go kill them.'

She said his now 'friends' - the Republicans who voted in favor of harsher gun laws - are now what 'Republican voters do not support anymore.'

'I don't mind naming their names, because people all over our country are furious at them,' she bluntly said.

'We have to change our Republican party and it needs to happen right here, because if we don't start defending Americans' freedoms and rights, and putting Americans first, our voters aren't going to want to put us in charge.'

However, 65 percent of voters have expressed support toward gun reform since the Uvalde shooting, according to a Morning Consult/Politico survey, conducted in May. Of those polled, 44 percent of Republicans, 66 percent of Independents, and 86 percent of Democrats supported the change.

The Senate introduced the bipartisan gun reform bill on Tuesday, which 14 Republican joined Democrats on. The renewed called for gun reform came after 19 children and two teachers died in Uvalde, Texas, after a mass shooter entered the school and killed them (pictured: one of the Uvlade funerals)
A Black former Tesla worker who said he was harassed at the California plant and was called the 'N-word' has rejected his $15million award after it was cut from the $137million price tag by a judge.

Owen Diaz, 52, claimed he faced 'daily racist epithets,' including the 'N-word,' while working at the company's Fremont plant between 2015 and 2016, which he claims is the 'hotbed of racist behavior.' He worked as a contracted elevator operator before quitting.

Diaz had alleged that employees drew swastikas and left racist graffiti and drawings around the plant and that supervisors failed to stop the abuse. He also said one of his supervisors drew a person with a black face and a bone in his hair and wrote 'booo,' short for 'jigaboo.'

The supervisor then allegedly told him 'he couldn't take a joke' when Diaz confronted him. Diaz contended that none of his supervisors stepped in to stop the abuse.

He has now rejected his substantially reduced award of $15million after originally being offered $137million from a San Francisco jury in October.

Diaz was originally awarded $6.9million in damages for emotional distress and $130million in punitive damages in the case.

A judge slashed that by nearly 90 percent to $15million, which Diaz turned down, according to a court filing.

Owen Diaz (pictured) rejected his $15million award after it was cut from the $137million price tag by a judge. His attorney said he 'seeks to restore a fair and just punitive damages award that will punish and deter Tesla for the racist conduct to which Mr. Diaz was subjected and to prevent future harassment from occurring'

Diaz claimed he faced 'daily racist epithets,' including the 'N-word,' while working at the company's Fremont plant between 2015 and 2016. He worked as a contracted elevator operator before quitting. He will now seek a new trial

'Mr. Diaz seeks to restore a fair and just punitive damages award that will punish and deter Tesla for the racist conduct to which Mr. Diaz was subjected and to prevent future harassment from occurring,' his lawyer said in a statement to Bloomberg.

The former Tesla employee will be seeking a new trial, according to his attorney Larry Organ.

'In rejecting the court's excessive reduction by asking for a new trial, Mr. Diaz is again asking a jury of his peers to evaluate what Tesla did to him and to provide just compensation for the torrent of racist slurs that was directed at him,' the attorney said in a statement.

Tesla reportedly requested a new trial, but was denied by US District Judge William Orrick on the condition that Diaz accepts the reduced award.

Orrick also ruled Diaz couldn't appeal the April decision to cut the massive reward, Bloomberg reported, and gave him two weeks to accept the reward or agree to a new trial. The judge said the former Tesla employee didn't pinpoint 'questions of law' that would warrant a review of the judgement.

DailyMail.com has connected Tesla for comment.

Last week, Tesla shareholders sued CEO Elon Musk for neglecting worker's complaints and fueling a toxic workplace, claiming it has caused Tesla 'financial harm and irreparable damage to the company's reputation'

Last week, Tesla shareholders sued CEO Elon Musk for neglecting worker's complaints and fueling a toxic workplace.

The lawsuit was filed by shareholder Solomon Chau, who claims Musk 'created a toxic workplace culture grounded in racist and sexist abuse and discrimination against its own employees,' the lawsuit claimed.

Chau claimed the toxicity has cost the company 'financial harm and irreparable damage to the company's reputation.'
The devastated grandfather of a baby boy who was kidnapped, raped and murdered has revealed how he begged police for help - but they arrested him and the child's mother instead.

Little Charlie Mullaley was snatched by his evil stepdad Mervyn Bell and endured a brutal 15-hour terror ordeal at the sick pervert's hands.

Bell was finally captured 800km away the next day - but the 10-month-old infant was dead after being sexually abused and battered mercilessly for hours.

The little boy's body had more than 100 separate injuries, including broken bones, third degree burns, internal bleeding and bruising.

But when the family tried to raise the alarm on the night he was abducted, police dismissed their fears and asked: 'How many cars do you think we've got?'

Little Charlie Mullaley was snatched by his evil step-dad Mervyn Bell and endured a brutal 15-hour terror ordeal at the sick pervert's hands

A triple-0 call made by distraught grandfather Ted Mullaley on the night revealed his chilling warning: 'Get someone to take me seriously - this guy is going to kill my grandson.'

But it was another nine hours before a proper manhunt was launched - by which time it was already too late to save Charlie.

The boy's mother Tamica Mullaley had earlier been found naked, battered and bleeding in a street in Broome, Western Australia, after a fight with Bell over him cheating on her.

He had ambushed her on a street, ripped her clothes off, beaten her almost senseless and tried to run her and a friend over, then drove off before police arrived.

But police at the scene didn't treat the mother as a victim and the situation suddenly escalated when they tried to arrest her, despite her distressed condition.

Tamica Mullaley was arrested, charged, prosecuted and convicted for assaulting and obstructing police when her baby son Charlie Mullaley was abducted, raped and murdered

Little Charlie was taken from her arms and passed to a relative of Bell's while police seized his mother, wrapped in a blood-drenched sheet, and threw her in the back of a paddy wagon.

Her father arrived at the scene but was also arrested, although he persuaded police to take his daughter to hospital and followed their vehicle to make sure they did.

But while they were at hospital, Bell returned to the scene and grabbed Charlie, before fleeing out of town with the infant and headed north towards Karratha.

The family pleaded with police to stop him, but they were told officers only had two vehicles - one was at hospital with the mother and the other was at the station doing paperwork.

Police also allegedly refused to trace the phone in Bell's possession to locate him because of the $800 cost involved, even when the grandfather offered to pay.

They then accused him of being drunk and stinking of booze despite being sober for 20 years.

In desperation, Mr Mullaley phoned triple-0 to beg for someone to help them - but the operator simply said she'd phone the local station sergeant.

A Crime and Corruption Commission investigation later found it took another nine hours before police finally acted.

A triple-0 call made by distraught grandfather Ted Mullaley on the night revealed his chilling warning: 'Get someone to take me seriously - this guy is going to kill my grandson'

'No-one would help me,' Mr Mullaley told a recent SBS documentary on domestic violence, See What You've Made Me Do?

'I was scared. But in my wildest dreams I never thought [Bell] would do what he did.'

Grandmother Julie Mullaley added: 'I've always believed in the police. I believe that the police are there to help you.

'So I was very, very concerned when he said to me that they weren't doing anything and I just wasn't comprehending that they weren't helping him.

'But the next day they still had not found Mervyn Bell and the baby.'

When mum Tamica was told the child was with Bell, she ripped off her IV tubes and monitor leads and discharged herself from hospital to be with her family, despite a ruptured kidney and lacerated spleen.

'At lunchtime, these two detectives said, "We know where he is",' Mr Mullaley said.

'We've found him. He's walked into the Fortescue [River] Roadhouse.

'But the baby's [dead].'

In 2014, Bell was sentenced to life with a minimum of 27 years for Charlie's murder and sexual assault in 2013.

He killed himself in prison in 2015 after repeated attacks from other inmates.

'I was there when the judge did the sentencing,' Mr Mullaley said.

'He said it was the most horrific thing he's ever had to deal with.'

Charlie's grandma Julie said she was 'happy' to see Bell put behind bars.

'What he did to that baby was so traumatic. There was so many injuries - hundreds or a hundred-and-something injuries,' she said.

'I was happy when he got sentenced. And I was happy when he died because families go on and on with domestic violence.

'To me, that was him dealt with...finally.'

But Charlie's death has devastated his broken mother Tamica, now 35.

Almost a decade on, she still spends hours by her child's graveside every second day, her family said, and can't bring herself to talk publicly about it.

'Every day she has to realise the baby's not here, and it's been really hard for her,' Tamica's aunt Kathleen Pinkerton told MamaMia.

Grandmother Julie Mullaley revealed how tiny Charlie had more than 100 separate injuries, including broken bones, third degree burns, internal bleeding and bruising

Despite the tragedy, Tamica Mullaley was charged, prosecuted and convicted of assaulting and obstructing police, while her father was also convicted of obstructing police.

On Wednesday, the West Australian government finally apologised and pardoned both her and her father almost a decade after 'enduring the unthinkable'.

'Tamica's case is horrific. The police did nothing,' Curtin University's Associate Professor Hannah McGlade said.

'They really did nothing and they left Charlie so vulnerable that he suffered the most horrific little death.'

WA Attorney-General John Quigley told parliament on Wednesday that Ms Mullaley's actions on the night she was arrested were unsurprising given the violence she had suffered.

'Tamica and Ted have endured the unthinkable,' Mr Quigley said.

'In just two days Tamica had suffered a life-threatening assault and lost her baby in the most horrific circumstances.'

Mervyn Bell attacked Tamica Mullaley (pictured) on a Broome street, stripped her naked then drove off before returning and attempting to drive over her in March 2013.

The police conduct in Ms Mullaley's case was criticised in a Corruption and Crime Commission review though it ruled there was no serious misconduct.

A coroner investigated the death but did not hold an inquest.

But Mr Quigley said both Ms Mullaley and her father had deserved much better.

'On behalf of the government of Western Australia, I am sorry for the way you were treated by the government and the WA police both before and after losing baby Charlie,' he said.

'Ted and Tamica deserved compassion. Instead, the system we thought we could rely on to support victims of crime failed Tamica and Ted and they were dragged through the courts themselves.'

In 2014, Mervyn Bell was sentenced to life with a minimum of 27 years for Charlie's murder and sexual assault in 2013, but he killed himself in prison in 2015.

Mr Quigley said the WA governor had also granted absolute and unconditional pardons to both Ms Mullaley and her father, in what was a 'most exceptional step'.

'These pardons are a show of mercy which have been a long time coming,' he said.

Both Ms Mullaley and her father were in parliament's public gallery on Wednesday to hear Mr Quigley's statement.

Calls for the inquest were backed by the National Justice Project, which cited a section of the Coroner's Act that an inquest must be held if it appears a death was caused, or contributed to, by any police action, but it was rejected.
A Maine insurance agency is facing outrage after it posted a racist Juneteenth closure sign in its window on Monday.

'Juneteenth. It's whatever. We're closed. Enjoy your fried chicken and collard greens,' the sign, scotch-taped to the front window of Harry E. Reed Insurance Inc. in Millinocket, Maine, read.

A photo of the sign began making the rounds online after it was posted on Facebook on Monday, and the response was vitriolic and swift.

The post quickly went viral as hundreds of commenters called the company racist. People made their way over to the company's Yelp page, tanking its rating with so many one-star reviews that the website disabled posting on the company's page.

Progressive Insurance, of which Reed Insurance is an affiliate, terminated its contract with the business.

The employee who wrote and posted the sign, Melanie Higgins, told local news outlets that she did not intend for the sign to be racist, and that she frequently posts 'snarky' signs on the company's door.

The sign was posted in the window Harry E. Reed Insurance Inc. in Millinocket, Maine. The business is facing fury after a photo of the sign went viral online

The Harry E. Reed Insurance company. The family that owns it says they have had to disconnect their phones amidst death threats

'It says they offer umbrella insurance. I think they're going to need a bigger umbrella,' a commenter wrote on the original post.

The original post has racked up over 300 comments and nearly 200 shares since it was posted, and has made its rounds across the internet.

It gained such attention that the chair of the Millinocket Town Council, Steve Golieb, released a statement condemning the sign on Tuesday.

'It is deeply saddening, disgraceful and unacceptable for any person, business or organization to attempt to make light of Juneteenth and what it represents for millions of slaves and their living descendants,' wrote Golieb, 'There is no place in the Town of Millinocket for such a blatant disregard of human decency.'

A spokesperson for Progressive also denounced the sign in a statement declaring the end of their relationship with the company.

'We're aware and appalled by the sign recently posted at the Harry E Reed Agency and are terminating our relationship with the agency, ' wrote spokesman Jeff Sibel.

'The sign is in direct violation of that commitment and doesn't align with our company's Core Values and Code of Conduct,' Sibel wrote.

Melanie Higgins, who's mother owns the insurance company and is the only other employee, said she had no racist intentions with the sign

An apology posted in place of the original sign in the window of the Reed Insurance company

Higgins said that she frequently posts 'snarky' holiday closure signs in the store's window, like the one above

'I am not a racist person whatsoever,' Higgins - who is one of two employees alongside her mother who owns Reed Insurance - told local outlets.

'I am truly, truly, sorry that it even remotely came out that way'

Higgins said that she frequently writes and posts comical signs on the business' door for closures.

She shared a sign she posted for Memorial Day, reading 'Thank you to all service members for your sacrifice to this country. A country that is going to hell in a hand basket faster than my dog stealing a piece of pizza off the counter.'

Higgins said that she wrote the Juneteenth sign in haste as she was rushing to get home.

'I am mortified that this has even happened,' she said.

Higgins said she and her mother had to disconnect their phones as they began receiving death threats.
Jeremiah James Taylor, 33, allegedly stole a patrol car while intoxicated Monday morning

A Colorado man faces a slew of charges after he allegedly stole a patrol car while intoxicated and showed up to a call for domestic violence.

Police say Jeremiah James Taylor broke into an unstaffed Park County Sheriff's substation early Monday morning and stole a 2013 Dodge Durango.

Taylor, 33, then drove the car to nearby Teller County after officials broadcast a domestic violence incident.

He was arrested more than two hours later after he led police on 110mph chase, crashed the Durango and fled into the woods.

Deputies found him in the brush armed with a knife, according to the incident report obtained by DailyMail.com. A confrontation ensued, prompting officers to fire shots and deploy a taser.

Taylor was apprehended and hospitalized with self-inflicted knife wounds. He was later hit with eight charges including aggravated motor vehicle theft.

Police say Taylor stole the cruiser in Park County, Colorado and then responded to a domestic violence call in nearby Teller County after hearing the incident being dispatched

Police say Taylor arrived at the location of the domestic violence call on Monday after hearing it broadcast on the Teller County police channel shortly before 3.30am.

The residents told KDVR he walked up them, appearing drunk, identified himself as a deputy and asked: 'Where's the old man that's going to shoot someone?'

Sheriff's office deputies arrived at the home, located miles from where the patrol car had been stolen, around 3.40am and saw the vehicle heading down the driveway towards them.

The deputies ordered the driver to stop, but Taylor sped off at a 'high rate of speed.'

Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw, recalling the incident to the TV station, said he was fearful of a chase.

'That was one of my biggest concerns,' he said. 'That we were going to have a high-speed pursuit with a law enforcement vehicle crashing into an innocent citizen.'

Police say Jeremiah James Taylor broke into an unstaffed Park County Sheriff's substation early Monday morning and stole a 2013 Dodge Durango

He then drove the car to nearby Teller County after officials broadcast a domestic violence incident. He was arrested more than two hours later after he led police on 110mph chase, crashed the Durango and fled into the woods

Taylor was spotted again around 5.25am heading westbound on Highway 24 and a pursuit ensued.

Taylor reportedly topped speeds of 110mph before crashing the car and made several traffic violations, such as driving over the median and not obeying traffic signals.

Deputies found him in the woods about 200 yards from the crashed Durango.

They ordered Taylor to show his hands, alleging he did not comply and instead pulled out a knife.

Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw (pictured) said one of his 'biggest concerns' was having a 'high-speed pursuit with a law enforcement vehicle crashing into an innocent citizen'

Taylor reportedly topped speeds of 110mph before crashing the car and made several traffic violations, such as driving over the median and not obeying traffic signals. Deputies found him in the woods about 200 yards from the crashed Durango

Officers ordered him to drop his weapon but Taylor refused, resulting in the tasing, shootout and ultimately, his arrest. No officers were injured during the incident.

Taylor has been charged with aggravated motor vehicle theft, vehicular eluding, impersonating a peace officer, obstruction, resisting arrest, reckless endangerment, second-degree burglary and reckless driving.

The suspect was also being investigated for several other crimes that occurred in the area ahead of the patrol car theft in Park County.

Additionally, Taylor was on probation for menacing, theft and DUI at the time of the incident.
Woolworths has warned the price of lettuce is likely to stay at an all-time high with shoppers having to wait until late August for a reprieve to their grocery bill.

In an email sent to shoppers on Thursday, the supermarket giant said weather conditions along with disrupted planting schedules will keep lettuce in short supply.

The newsletter sent by Woolworths general manager of fruit and vegetables Paul Turner, did not mention the exact date the salad staple supply would improve but said customers can expect to see improved availability in four weeks.

Woolworths has warned poor growing conditions caused by heavy rain, cold weather and lack of sunshine has impacted the supply and price of fruit and vegetables (Pictured, Woolworths Crows Nest, Sydney)

'Wet and cold weather has caused delayed planting and slower overall growth,' Mr Turner said.

'Woolworths expects its iceberg and spinach supply to recover around the end of July, while cos (lettuce) should improve towards the end of August.'

Mr Turner said heavy rain, cold weather and lack of sunshine has hampered the supermarket's supply of fruit, vegetables and leafy greens.

Zucchini, capsicum, kale, silverbeet and leafy Asian vegetable supply is expected to improve in July along with strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.

The Woolworths update said green bean crops are in recovery but supply would remain low until late August.

The latest Consumer Price Index figures showed the cost of vegetables increased by 12.7 per cent since last year.

Shoppers across the east coast of Australia are forced to pay eye-watering prices for fresh fruit and vegetables. One supermarket charged shoppers $39.99 for a kilo of green beans (left) while another grocer had lettuce advertised for $11.99 per head (right)

It comes after images emerged of the insane prices Australian's are forced to pay for fresh produce.

A Harris Farm Markets store charged its customers $39.99 a kilogram for green beans while at a suburban retailer customers had to pay a whopping $12 for a head of lettuce.

Earlier this month, KFC was forced to change its menu due to skyrocketing lettuce prices and ongoing supply shortages.

The fast food chain posted a notice to its website that warned customers a cabbage 'blend' would be used in any items that contained lettuce.

'Due to the recent floods in NSW and Queensland we're currently experiencing a lettuce shortage,' the notice said.

'So, we're using a lettuce and cabbage blend on all products containing lettuce until further notice.'

Meanwhile, Western Australia has dodged the nation's lettuce crisis as the majority of its fresh produce comes from within the state - keeping cost low and shelves full.

The state has not experienced the same growing impacts as its eastern seaboard counterparts, which has kept lettuce prices at an average of $3.50 per head.
Two teenage girls who mysteriously vanished for three days in Sydney's north-west have been found safe and well.

A desperate hunt was launched after Madison Wells and Amelia Butcher were reported missing by their concerned families on Wednesday night.

The two 14 year-olds were last seen leaving a school in Castle Hill together two days earlier on Monday.

Police immediately launched a public appeal to track down the girls with thousands of Facebook shares.

Family and friends also pleaded for the pair to return home.

Madison Wells was last seen leaving a school in Castle Hill Monday lunchtime. She has since been found

Police held grave concerns for the girls due to their young age.

The pair were believed to be together and were known to frequent the Blacktown and Castle Hill areas or possibly travelling around the Sydney Trains network.

The search ended on Thursday afternoon when the girls were spotted by police in Castle Hill.

'I just saw them in Castle Hill. Castle hill police stopped them and had a talk with the two,' a woman posted on the NSW Police Facebook page.

Hills Area Police confirmed a short time later the girls had been found.
An Australian bikini model who famously lied about being raped by a tuktuk driver and two other men in Thailand has been sentenced for living it up in a luxury hotel room on another woman's credit card.

Stevie Bamford, 30, came before a magistrate in Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday for her lavish stay at the Hilton in Sydney's CBD last September.

Throughout her time at the luxurious hotel, Bamford - the daughter of former rugby league star Peter Tunks - was captured on CCTV using the hotel's luxury amenities and bringing back several guests to her room.

The following day the hotel manager was alerted by the owner of the credit card. The hotel immediately declined the payment, and the $1,544 room charge was returned to the woman.

When staff asked Bamford to pay for the room she said she was unable to cough up the funds and police were called.

Stevie Bamford (right), 30, was sentenced to a 12 month community bond for her hotel stay. She is pictured flipping off a Daily Mail Australia photographer as she left court today

Bamford (pictured) was charged in September after booking a $1,544 room at The Hilton in the Sydney's CBD

She told police that an acquaintance had booked the room and was unable to use it and had offered it to Bamford.

Bamford's solicitor Jack Dunne on Thursday said the court must consider the amount of money, length of time, motive and degree of planning when sentencing Bamford.

Mr Dunne argued her crime 'lacked sophistication' and 'was impulsive' citing her mental health problems as a large factor.

The court heard Bamford has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and is receiving treatment and medication.

'She hasn't offended since September last year and is receiving treatment for her mental health,' Mr Dunne said.

Magistrate Juliana Crofts said the charge meant she had breached two community corrections orders and that had to be taken into consideration on sentencing.

Bamford booked a room at the Hilton (pictured) on another woman's card, with the hotel refunding the amount but not receiving the payment from Bamford

Bamford (pictured, left and right) was sentenced to 15 days in a Thailand jail for falsely accusing a tuk tuk driver of rape in 2012

Crofts noted Bamford had been on bail since September 2021 and while was originally 'unreliable' with her supervision had recently 'turned things around'.

'I have received positive findings for your prospects of rehabilitation,' said Magistrate Crofts.

'In terms of the two breaches of community corrections orders, the court has a strong interest in making sure they are complied with and that breaching them has consequences.

'However, I note mental health concerns and positive engagement with the community corrections orders so the breaches are proven but no further action is to be taken.'

Speaking outside court to Daily Mail Australia, Bamford's solicitor Jack Dunne said he was 'very happy' with the result and Ms Bamford was pleased she could now get on with her life

Bamford was handed a 12 month community corrections order for the charge of dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception.

Speaking outside court to Daily Mail Australia, Bamford's solicitor Jack Dunne said he was 'very happy' with the result.

'The court has reached a good decision,' Mr Dunne said.

'Ms Bamford is now looking forward to the future and getting on with her life.'

Outside court, Bamford flipped the bird at a Daily Mail Australia photographer.

Bamford made news around the world in 2012 after she made up a story about being raped by a tuktuk driver in Patong, claiming to have done it so her boyfriend wouldn't get upset that she returned to their accommodation so late.

She alleged the driver sexually assaulted her while two other men held her down.

Bamford was found guilty of the false claim by Phuket Provincial Court in June 2021 and was ordered to serve 15 days in Baan Bang Jo jail.

In March last year Bamford was in trouble with the law again pleading guilty to the aggravated entry of a home where she stole a silver watch, a water pipe, and a CCTV camera.

She also admitted entering a unit in nearby Eastlakes with two men and another woman on June 20 last year and stealing goods worth $400.

She was handed a community corrections order for both, which she was in breach of with the fraudulent Hilton booking.
Ghislaine Maxwell should spend up to 55 years in prison for her role in the sexual abuse of underage girls because her conduct was 'monstrous', prosecutors said in a court filing.

The disgraced socialite should be jailed for between 30 and 55 years because of her 'shockingly predatory' behavior recruiting teenagers for the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

In a recommendation to the judge who will sentence Maxwell in New York on Tuesday, prosecutors said that Maxwell 'viewed the victims as objects who could be manipulated for her and Epsteins own selfish purposes.'

The prosecutors dismissed Maxwell's complaints about her conditions in prison as bleating from somebody used to a life of luxury and privilege.

In a blistering, 55-page memo they scathingly wrote: 'Going from being waited on hand and foot to incarceration is undoubtedly a shocking and unpleasant experience.'

Maxwell, 60, was convicted on five out of six charges in December, including sex trafficking of a minor - the youngest victim a 14-year-old girl - transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and three related counts of conspiracy.

The month-long trial featured testimony from four women who said they were abused in their teens.

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell should spend at least 30 years in prison for her role in the sexual abuse of teenage girls over a 10-year period by her onetime boyfriend, financier Jeffrey Epstein, prosecutors said Wednesday in written arguments

This sketch shows the moment Maxwell was convicted of five of the six counts she faced in December 2021. She will be sentenced next week on June 28

Maxwell has requested a more lenient sentence of just four years and three months in jail, arguing that she is being scapegoated as a proxy for Epstein's crimes.

Her legal filings claimed that helping launch the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) demonstrated she has a 'desire to do good in the world'.

Defense lawyers said in a sentencing submission last week that she should spend no more than five years in prison.

The filing states: 'Ms. Maxwell has always worked hard. Her many educational, occupational, and avocational accomplishments include becoming an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), a helicopter pilot, a submersible pilot, a banker; partnering with the Cleveland Clinic to establish a telemedicine platform to enable people in remote areas to obtain quality medical treatment; helping develop the Clinton Global Initiative; and supporting a variety non-profit and charitable organizations'.

In a later section the document states that Maxwell is not an 'heiress, villain, or vapid socialite'.

But prosecutors said Maxwell played an 'instrumental role in the horrific sexual abuse of multiple young teenage girls' between 1994 and 2004 at some of Epstein's palatial residences. They called her crimes 'monstrous.'

'As part of a disturbing agreement with Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell identified, groomed, and abused multiple victims, while she enjoyed a life of extraordinary luxury and privilege. In her wake, Maxwell left her victims permanently scarred with emotional and psychological injuries,' prosecutors wrote.

'That damage can never be undone, but it can be accounted for in crafting a just sentence for Maxwells crimes,' they added.

'It appears that the defendant viewed the victims as objects who could be manipulated for her and Epsteins own selfish purposes without any regard for their personal wellbeing, health, or safety.

'The Defendants Role in the Conspiracy Maxwells conduct was shockingly predatory. She was a calculating, sophisticated, and dangerous criminal who preyed on vulnerable young girls and groomed them for sexual abuse'.

An undated Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at the Queen's log cabin at Glen Beg, Balmoral. Maxwell faces a maximum of 55 years in jail for her part in Jeffrey Epstein's crimes, but the prosecution are pushing for only 20 years

A photo from 2002 on the Africa trip shows Clinton standing on the steps of Epstein's plane with his arm on the shoulder of a smiling Maxwell. Clinton flew on Epstein's jet dozens of times including trips to Africa and Asia after he left office

Prosecutors also urged the judge to reject Maxwell's pleas for leniency on the grounds that she has suffered in extraordinary ways in jail while awaiting trial and afterward.

Defense lawyers said she has faced death threats and harsh conditions that have caused her to lose hair and weight.

The disgraced socialite has been held in solitary confinement in Brooklyn's Metropolitan detention center since July 2020, where guards told her 'there was concern she could be shot by a sniper'.

'While in isolation, a high-ranking prison guard told Ms. Maxwell that there was concern that she would be shot by a sniper. Putting aside the reason and propriety of dispensing this alarming information, the diminution of security concerns resulting in her transfer to general population appears correlated to Ms. Maxwell having been sufficiently safeguarded to fill Epstein's empty seat,' her lawyers stated.

Maxwell's attorneys claim that she was recently threatened by an inmate in general population, alleging that she said the extra 20 years in prison would be 'worth the money' if she killed Jeffrey Epstein's lover.

Her attorneys also argue she is subject to multiple pat-downs a day where she alleges 'to have been touched in a sexually inappropriate manner by correction officers' several times.

'The defendant has enjoyed remarkable privileges as a high-profile inmate that vastly exceed the benefits accorded to the average inmate,' prosecutors said.

'It is unsurprising that a woman who had led a life of incredible luxury should complain about her life as a prisoner, but that fact does not come close to meriting leniency at sentencing, much less the extraordinary degree of leniency the defendant seeks.'

Maxwell's legal team wrote a filing to the court saying that the alleged sexual abuse suffered by Ms Ransome at the hands of Epstein and Maxwell (left) falls outside of the time period for offences covered by the trial

They also cited what they described as Maxwell's 'complete failure to address her offense conduct and her utter lack of remorse. Instead of showing even a hint of acceptance of responsibility, the defendant makes a desperate attempt to cast blame wherever else she can.'

Maxwell's efforts to cast aspersions on the motives of the government for prosecuting her and her claim that she is being held responsible for Epstein's crimes are 'absurd and offensive,' prosecutors said.

'Maxwell was an adult who made her own choices. She made the choice to sexually exploit numerous underage girls. She made the choice to conspire with Epstein for years, working as partners in crime and causing devastating harm to vulnerable victims,' they said.

'At bottom, the defendants complaints about jail seem to come down to the vast gulf between the conditions of her confinement and the defendants lived experience up until her arrest and detention on July 2, 2020.

'Until July 2020, the defendant spent her entire life living in extraordinary luxury. Her childhood and adolescence were filled with wealth and privilege. That access to wealth continued into adulthood when the defendant found a benefactor in Epstein, who provided her with millions of dollars and invited her to share in his luxurious lifestyle of mansions, house staff, private chefs, and private planes. After leaving that relationship, the defendant remained exceptionally wealthy, residing in palatial estates and owning multiple homes. It is no wonder, then, that she found jail jarring.

'Going from being waited on hand and foot to incarceration is undoubtedly a shocking and unpleasant experience.'

Ghislaine (back center) is seen with members of her family in the 1980s. Her father Robert is pictured back row second from left

Ghislaine Maxwell grew up at Headington Hill Hall, a 51-room English country mansion where politicians, business leaders and newspaper editors attended lavish parties punctuated by trumpeters and fireworks. BBC images from the time show Ghislaine as a child with a kid-size plate of food, circling in a party dress, learning how to be a master networker.

Her father, born Jan Ludvik Hoch, was one of nine children of Yiddish-speaking parents in a village in what is now southwestern Ukraine. Escaping the Holocaust, he ultimately joined the British Army, rising to the rank of captain and transforming himself into Robert Maxwell.

After the war, Maxwell built on his military connections to buy the rights to German scientific journals, the beginnings of a publishing empire that ultimately included the Daily Mirror, one of Britains biggest tabloid newspapers, as well as the New York Daily News and the book publisher Macmillan.

Along the way he married, fathered nine children and was twice elected to Parliament. He also earned a reputation for boorish behavior and bullying subordinates.

Ghislaine was close to her father, Robert Maxwell, prior to his untimely death in 1991. The pair are pictured together in 1990

Ghislaine was Maxwell's youngest child, born on Christmas Day 1961. Her brother Michael was severely brain damaged in a car accident just days later at age 15, although he lived for another seven years.

Her mother, Elisabeth Maxwell, wrote in her memoir that she and Robert were so focused on their injured son that their baby daughter was overlooked. So neglected was Ghislaine that at the age of 3 she stood in front of her mother and said, 'Mummy, I exist!'

'I was devastated, Elisabeth Maxwell wrote in A Mind of My Own: My Life with Robert Maxwell. 'And from that day on, we all made a great effort with her, fussing over her so much that she became spoiled, the only one of my children I can truly say that about.

While studying history at the University of Oxford in the early 1980s, Ghislaine Maxwell began building contacts of her own, including Prince Andrew, who would later invite her and Epstein to Windsor Castle and Sandringham, Queen Elizabeth IIs country estate.

Robert Maxwell was a prominent newspaper publisher whose body was found in the waters near his yacht, Lady Ghislaine, on November 5, 1991. Crews are seen searching for the magnate after his disappearance

Ghislaine Maxwell's family have slammed the 'bizarre and cruel' US legal system for subjecting her to 'brutal and degrading' treatment in jail. Pictured: Ghislaine Maxwell with brother Ian (right), father Robert and mother Elizabeth (far left)

After graduating, she worked for her father in a variety of roles. In 1991, at age 29, she became his U.S. emissary after he bought the Daily News amid efforts to compete with fellow media tycoon - and New York Post owner - Rupert Murdoch.

Later that year, Robert Maxwell fell off his yacht - the Lady Ghislaine - in the Canary Islands and died in what some saw as an accident and others a suicide. Investors would discover his wealth was an illusion: He had diverted hundreds of millions of pounds from his companies pension funds to prop up his empire.

Soon after her father's death, Ghislaine Maxwell was photographed sitting next to Epstein during a memorial at the Plaza Hotel.

John Sweeney, a longtime U.K. journalist and creator of the podcast 'Hunting Ghislaine,' told the AP he believes that 'after the monster her father died, she found a second monster.'

'Robert Maxwell stole hundreds of millions of pounds from people who were dependent upon his good word; Jeffrey Epstein turned out to be a darker figure, a worse human being,' Sweeney said.

Ian Maxwell said his sister's relationship with Epstein developed after the family advised her to remain in the U.S. because the Maxwell name was 'in the dirt' at home. Amid the family's reputational and financial woes, she had to make her own way in New York and forge new friendships, he said.

One of those was with Epstein, a onetime teacher who built his own fortune on the back of contacts like the former CEO of the parent company of lingerie retailer Victorias Secret.

In sworn testimony for an earlier civil case, Ghislaine Maxwell acknowledged that she had a romantic relationship with Epstein but said she later became his employee, tasked with things like hiring staff for his six homes.

In her trial, prosecutors focused on four women who say they were recruited by Maxwell as teenagers to be abused by Jeffrey Epstein (pictured in 2004)

'I hired assistants, architects, decorators, cooks, cleaners, gardeners, pool people, pilots. I hired all sorts of people, Maxwell said during a deposition in April 2016. 'A very small part of my job was to find adult professional massage therapists for Jeffrey. As far as Im concerned, everyone who came to his house was an adult professional person.'

But in 2005, Epstein was arrested in Palm Beach, Florida, and accused of hiring multiple underage girls - many students at a local high school - to perform sex acts. He pleaded guilty to a charge of procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and served 13 months in jail.

Years of civil litigation followed, in which women accused Epstein and Maxwell of sexual abuse. Prosecutors in New York revived the case and charged Epstein with sex trafficking in 2019, but he killed himself in jail before he could face trial.

Epstein was convicted in Florida in 2008 of paying young girls for massages, but served just 13 months in jail under a secret plea deal.

Ghislaine Maxwell has remained mostly silent about the Epstein allegations over nearly two decades, but in a 2016 deposition in a civil case, she said she learned about the allegations against him 'like everybody else, like the rest of the world, when it was announced in the papers.

She said she never saw Epstein getting massages from anyone under 18 and that no one ever complained to her that Epstein demanded sex.

'Never,' she declared.
A suspect have been arrested for the attempted murder of New York City rapper Lil Tjay, who was shot right after midnight on Wednesday and underwent emergency surgery.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's office said Mohamed Konate, 27, of New York City, was taken into custody after he allegedly shot the 21-year-old rapper, who's real name is Tione Merritt.

New Jersey Police also arrested Jeffrey Valdez, 24, and Antoine Boyd, 22, both of the Bronx, who were with the rapper and allegedly armed when he was shot outside a shopping center in Edgewater.

Law enforcement sources told TMZ the Calling My Name hit-maker had undergone emergency surgery and recovering, 'but he's still not out of the woods yet.'

The 21-year-old rapper Tione Merritt, better known as Lil Tjay, was shot right after midnight on Wednesday in Edgewater, New Jersey

Officials said the shooting happened near the City Place Shopping Center, and a suspect, Mohamed Konate, 27, of New York City, has been arrested

New Jersey Police also arrested Jeffrey Valdez, 24, and Antoine Boyd, 22, both of the Bronx, who were with the rapper. Boyd was also shot in the incident

Officials said the shooting happened near the City Place Shopping Center, in Edgewater, and that there were two shooting locations - one took place at a Chipotle Restaurant and the other occurred at a neighboring Exxon Gas station.

When officers arrived, they found Lil Tjay suffering from mulitple gunshot wounds.

Boyd was also shot in the encounter with Konate, but officials said the injury was not life-threatening.

Konate was charged with three counts of attempted murder, three counts of armed robbery and a slew of weapons and assault offenses and will be extadited to the New York Police Department.

Konate was charged with three counts of attempted murder, three counts of armed robbery and a slew of weapons and assault offenses

Lil Tjay was reportedly out of surgery and recovering from the gunshots

The young rapper has blown up in recent years, reaching 7 million followers on Instagram and releasing two studio albums with Columbia Records that reached the Top 5 on the Billboard 200.

His 2021 song, Calling My Name, debuted at the number three spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

Lil Tjay also has 4.65 million subscribers on YouTube, with his latest son, In My Head, reaching morer than 12 million views in two months.

Lil Tjay pictured at the Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia in March 2020
A rock stacking craze made popular on social media has been slammed by environmentalists as being destructive and harmful.

Queensland National Parks recently posted to Facebook its concern about the trend of building of rock cairns becoming 'a problem in many parks', describing it as an act of vandalism.

The photos show hundreds of the rock stacks in a 'ruined' dry creek bed at Cania Gorge National Park, 140km west of Bundaberg in central Queensland.

The popular rock stacking craze has been slammed by environmentalists as being destructive and harmful (pictured, rock cairns along the creek bed at Cania Gorge National Park)

'Look beyond what may be visually pleasing to some, notice how the dry creek bed is now bare of its rock cover... All these stacked rocks should be on the ground serving their purpose,' the parks organisation said in the post.

'Rock cairns have been used historically as navigational aids when there is no obvious track to follow... when used for this purpose the use is well respected.'

The organisation said the stones play a crucial role in preventing erosion of soil, helping it absorb water and providing habitat for plants and animals, functions disrupted by the building of the stacks.

QPWS Rangers can issue a penalty infringement notice (PIN) to anyone constructing an unauthorised structure or works in parks, with fines of $689.

Department of Environment ranger Cathy Gatley was recently out and captured the photos.

Department of Environment ranger Cathy Gatley believes the clusters of rock cairns (pictured) are created and built upon by different tourists over time

Ms Gatley told Yahoo News Australia that these rock cairns are 'certainly the worst' she has ever seen throughout the park.

'So what may seem like, you know, a harmless activity actually does have quite a flow-on effect.'

Ms Gatley believes the clusters of rock cairns are created and built upon by different tourists over time.

'Someone sees one and then thinks: 'Oh, I'll do one as well'.'

She said the Department of Environment (DES) will begin to break apart the structures and attempt to rehabilitate the creek bed in coming weeks.

A fern tree pool inside the Cania Gorge National Park, which is located 140km west of Bundaberg
The lawyer representing Brian Laundrie's parents says they have 'no regrets' about their response to Gabby Petito's murder.

Attorney Steve Bertolino defended the Laundries, saying they did 'everything the right way,' on Wednesday night, just hours after Petito's family blasted them in court as being 'callous and shameful.'

Petito, 22, was strangled on a road trip with Laundrie in Wyoming last summer. The van-life blogger's mother and father are suing their daughter's killer boyfriend and his parents, Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, over her death.

The civil suit alleges the Laundries knew their son, 23, had murdered Petito after he returned to their Florida home alone - and tried to help him flee authorities.

Laundrie's parents had filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

After hearing arguments from attorneys for both families on Wednesday, Sarasota County Circuit Court Judge Hunter W. Carroll announced he will make a decision within two weeks as to whether the case will go to trial.

Attorney Steve Bertolino, who represents Brian Laundrie's parents, says they have 'no regrets' about their response to Gabby Petito's murder

Petito's parents, Nichole Schmidt, 41, and her former husband Joseph Petito, 42, allege the Laundries 'acted with malice or great indifference' by not disclosing what they knew about Petito's death.

Their lawsuit stated Laundrie's parents 'exhibited extreme and outrageous conduct' after Petito's disappearance and is requesting 'just compensation for the damages they have suffered, together with costs, and such other relief.'

However, the Laundries' attorney has dismissed the allegations, arguing he and his clients acted appropriately to the situation.

'What I knew, or what Chris and Roberta knew, we did not have to disclose, to any third party, and specifically to law enforcement, or the Petito family,' Bertolino told NewsNation Wednesday night.

'I did everything the right way. We have no regrets. The parents did everything the right way, and they have no regrets.'

Petito's parents are suing Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, alleging they knew their son Brian (right) had murdered Gabby (left) after he returned to their Florida home alone - and tried to help him flee authorities

Bertolino said Christopher and Roberts Laundrie (pictured at their Florida home in September 2021) 'did everything the right way, and they have no regrets'

When asked specifically what the Laundries knew about Petito's death, Bertolino declined to answer, saying it 'wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment' given the pending lawsuit.

He did reiterate that he told the media months ago: 'I don't know exactly what Brian had said to his parents. I had said publicly that what Brian told me was privileged. I was not going to share it.

'I had conversations with Brian. I had conversations with Chris and Roberta. I had conversations with them separately and I had conversations with them together. So, it's not for me to comment at this point in time what Chris and Roberta knew.'

Bertolino added: 'I can tell you what I knew  perhaps, one day what Brian knew, but none of that's gonna happen tonight on this show.'

When asked about the claims that Laundrie's parents were trying to help their killer son flee the country, Bertolino placed blame on the media frenzy surrounding the case.

'Chris and Roberta did nothing but stay in their home,' he argued.

'There was speculation that there were burner phones, that we were dressing him up in funny outfits and sending him across the Mexican border, sending him across certain bodies of water to other countries in the Bahamas or perhaps out on the Appalachian trail.

'All of that was fill-it work for the networks that had to fill in some time 24/7.'

Nichole Schmidt (right) and Joseph Petito (left) were in court on Wednesday afternoon for a hearing on the lawsuit they filed against Roberta and Christopher Laundrie. The family is pictured at a press conference in September 2021

Petito's parents allege the Laundries 'acted with malice or great indifference' by not disclosing what they knew about Petito's death. Petito and Laundrie are pictured together

Bertolino also placed blame on the press for the Laundries alleged lack of distress during the search through a Florida state park for their then-fugitive son.

'They were somber, they were quiet and I can tell you they were very upset and very emotional with me,' the lawyer stated. 'But when you've got a gaggle of press and screaming public out at your door 24 hours a day...

'Did you think [Chris] and Roberta were going to go down to Walmart and start putting up signs: 'Help me find my son?' They knew where their son was. They knew where he went. We said it and as it turns out, unfortunately we were correct, that Brian never left the preserve and I certainly think law enforcement knew that all along as well.

'Some people in the press and the public question whether Chris and Roberta should've done more, but more really could they have done when you had all that law enforcement man power searching the preserve?'

Pat Reilly, the Florida attorney representing Petito's parents, also appeared on NewsNation Wednesday night and claimed that the family 'focusing on remaining silent ignores all other proof in the case.'

'If we were in a court of morality, which unfortunately we're not, this would be a really easy decision,' Reilly argued.

'A freedom of information request could be made for the information the FBI has, and it would be eye opening.'

Petito's family claims the Laundries are guilty of 'inflicting intentional emotional distress' and that a statement issued by their lawyer hopeful of a successful end to the search for then-missing Petito was 'outrageous' because they allegedly already knew she was dead. Nichole Schmidt and her husband, Jim, are pictured in September 2021

Schmidt, 41, toyed nervously with a necklace as she sat with former husband in Sarasota County court before Judge Carroll on Wednesday.

Petito's family claims the Laundries are guilty of 'inflicting intentional emotional distress' and that a statement issued by their lawyer hopeful of a successful end to the search for then-missing Petito was 'outrageous' because they allegedly already knew she was dead.

Their attorney Patrick Reilly told the courtroom: 'This is case not simply about the silence of Robert and Christopher Laundrie who knew their son had brutally murdered Gabby Petito.'

He said it also wasn't about their 'callous refusal despite pleas from the Petito family' to speak out about whether not Petito was alive  or if she wasn't the location of her body.

'It's about a course of conduct that they committed from when they learned on August 28, 2021 that their son had brutally murdered Gabby Petito,' he said.

Reilly said this included the statement that was made by the attorney advising them at the time, Steve Bertolino, regarding their wish for a successful end to the search.

Carroll asked what duty did Christopher, 63, and Roberta, 56, have to do 'anything to help' Petito's parents.

'It's about what they did with the information that they had,' Reilly replied. 'Not just not disclosing what they knew.'

He added the Laundries could have made an anonymous phone call to reveal the location of Petito's body. The lawyer said they knew the blogger's parents were 'desperately searching' for information.

The hearing was to consider the Laundries' motion to dismiss the case. After hearing pleas from both sides, Judge Carroll said he hoped to issue a written decision in two weeks. If he dismisses the motion, the Laundries could face a jury trial next year.

It is the first time Petito's parents had an opportunity to be in a court over the tragic death of their daughter. Laundrie shot himself after fleeing to a Florida swamp, denying them legal justice.

However, the hearing continued the couple's pain as they had to listen to arguments. Both sets of parents had been friendly before Petito went missing, the court was told.

The Laundries are accused of taking son Brian to Fort De Soto Park just days before Petito was reported missing

Petito's remains were eventually discovered on September 19, 2021, in lonely spot in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming.

She and boyfriend Laundrie had lived with his parents in North Port, near Florida's west coast. The young couple set off on an adventure from New York State  where her mother lives - in early July, heading West.

However, on September 1, Laundrie arrived back at the Laundrie home on his own in Petito's white Ford van. Ten days later anxious Schmidt reported her daughter missing after last having contact in a phone call on August 25.

Hours after Petito's mom raised the alarm, North Port Police hauled the white van off the Laundrie's driveway and took it off for forensic examination.

Officers asked to speak to Laundrie at the house, but were told by his parents he wasn't available. It is not known if the killer was inside at the time.

Laundrie then went missing in the 25,000-acre alligator infested Carlton Reserve near his home, sparking a massive hunt involving local police, the FBI and at least two sheriff's departments.

His parents initially told police he vanished on September 14 to go hiking in the reserve, but later changed this to a day earlier. His body was eventually found in the swamp on October 20 after his parents broke cover and joined law enforcement there.

A notebook found with him included a confession that he had murdered Petito.

When Petito was missing, attorney Bertolino issued a statement saying: 'On behalf of the Laundrie family, it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is reunited with her family.'

Attorney Reilly attacked that statement as a 'lie', alleging it was said to give 'false hope' to Petito's parents that she may be still alive. He added they knew the 'fragile and emotional state' of the parents at the time  and that it was 'callous and shameful'.

He added: 'I guess it is OK to kick someone when they are down, according to the Laundries.'

Reilly alleged the only reason attorney Bertolino wasn't an additional defendant in the case was because he is not a citizen of the State of Florida.

Matt Luka, attorney in court for the Laundries, spent a long time arguing the law in relation to remaining silent. He said remaining silent did not constitute inflicting emotional distress.

He added that the plaintiffs argued the Laundries had a duty to speak but 'the law imposes no such obligation to speak'.

Luka continued: 'Even if Brian Laundrie conveyed information to his parents they did not have a requirement to speak out.'

In the Laundries' motion to dismiss paperwork, attorney Luka writes their 'inaction was not outrageous but legal permissible and constitutionally protected'.

Laundrie's remains were found north of the entrance to Myakkahatchee Creek, in the Big Slough Preserve, off an unpaved trail near a bridge where Brian's parents said he liked to visit. It is four miles north of their home in North Port, Florida

'The amended complaint alleges that the Laundries failed to have any contact with the Plaintiffs when the Plaintiffs wanted the Laundries to speak or otherwise communicate' with them, the motion continues.

The lawyer adds: 'That allegation falls so far below the 'particularly high' standard for outrageous conduct that the Amended Complaint should never have been filed.'

He said the Laundries  who have never faced any criminal charges over the tragedy  are entitled to exercise their legal rights. 'There is no requirement that an individual face a formal criminal investigation in order to remain silent,' the lawyer added.

Luka said the statement issued on behalf of the Laundries was 'benign' and did not alter their right to remain silent. 'Remaining silent and speaking through an attorney are fundamental rights,' he added.

In Petito's parents response to the Laundries' motion to dismiss the case, their attorneys write: 'It is believed and therefore averred that on or about August 28, 2021, Brian Laundrie advised his parents Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie that he had murdered Gabrielle Petito.

'On that same date, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie spoke with Attorney Steve Bertolino and sent him a retainer on September 2, 2021.

Gabby's remains were eventually discovered on September 19, 2021, in lonely spot in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. She and boyfriend Brian, 23, had lived with his parents in North Port, near Florida's west coast. The young couple set off on an adventure from New York State  where her mother lives - in early July, heading West

'After this point in time, there was no contact between Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt on the one hand, and Christopher Laundrie and Roberta on the other.'

They say from August 27 to September 19 'when Gabrielle Petito's remains were found at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area' that Petito's parents were extremely distraught and trying to locate her.

'While Gabrielle Petito's family was suffering, the Laundrie family went on vacation to Fort DeSoto Park on September 6-7, 2021. They went on vacation knowing that Brian Laundrie murdered Gabrielle Petito, it is believed they knew where her body was located.

'In an effort to avoid any contact with Nichole Schmidt, on or about September 10, 2021, Roberta Laundrie blocked Nichole Schmidt on her cellular phone such that neither phone nor texts could be delivered, and she blocked her on Facebook.'

They add that 'with full knowledge' that Petito 'had been murdered by their son' they issued the statement through their lawyer Bertolino.

'For the Laundries to express their 'hope' that Gabrielle Pet was located and reunited with her family, at a time when they knew she had been murdered by their son, was beyond outrageous,' they write.
The 96-year-old, who has cut back on public engagements due to mobility issues, is in Edinburgh and was all smiles as she took part in the historic Ceremony of the Keys - the traditional opener to Holyrood week for the Royals. She has been joined by her youngest son, Edward, and his wife, Sophie, known as the Earl and Countess of Forfar while they are in Scotland, for the event, which is taking place at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The ceremony sees the monarch handed the keys of the city and welcomed to her 'ancient and hereditary kingdom of Scotland'. Her Majesty 'hopes' to carry a out several engagements - and will meet Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during her stay. The trip comes after the recent Platinum Jubilee celebrations for the Queen, in which she pledged to continue to do her job 'to the best of my ability supported by my family'.
An aspiring bouncy castle tycoon fled to Western Australia under a false identity and sold pretend stamps after being caught orchestrating arson attacks on rival businesses.

James Balcombe was 'obsessed' with eliminating his rivals and jumping to the top of the bouncy castle industry when he hatched a plan to burn down the competition.

The 57-year-old has pleaded guilty to 11 charges of conspiracy to commit arson on several Victorian jumping castle businesses in 2016 and 2017.

Balcombe instructed three men to carry out arson attacks on his competitors and then on his own business, paying them $2000 for each fire, the Victorian County Court heard on Wednesday.

James Balcombe, 57, pleaded guilty to 11 arson conspiracy charges after he paid associates to burn down other bouncy castle businesses (pictured)

Balcombe started working in the jumping castle industry in 2010 and was fixated with becoming the best in Victoria, his barrister Simon Kenny said.

'His drive was to become the most successful businessman in this field of jumping castle hire, in doing so he completely lost perspective,' he said.

'He wanted to put his competitors out of business.'

Many of the arson attacks were unsuccessful, with minor damage caused after Molotov cocktails were thrown into car parks, vehicles or through windows into the front of buildings.

However, Michael Andrew's A&A Jumping Castles business was engulfed by a significant fire, committed by Anderson under Balcombe's instruction.

The January 2017 arson caused $1.4 million damage to the business and destroyed 110 bouncy castles.

Mr Andrew said '18 years of hard work gone up in flames', in a statement read to court.

A&A Jumping Castles was destroyed in one of the arson attacks (pictured)

His wife Aline described Balcombe as a 'mastermind' and said she lived in fear following the attack, worried about what else he was capable of doing.

'Eight seconds is all it took to destroy 18 years of our livelihood,' she said.

In March 2017, when Balcombe heard police were investigating the fires, he organised for Craig Anderson to set fire to his own business, which was insured for more than $1 million.

His co-accused - Peter Smith, Anderson and Travis Ransom - have already been sentenced, but Balcombe fled to Perth after failing to appear for a pre-trial hearing in December 2018.

He lived under the name Paul Johnson and began creating fake stamps until his plan became unstuck when the AFP investigated the stamp operation.

The AFP told Victoria Police of Balcombe's whereabouts in August 2020, after searching his Dianella home. He answered the door in a wig.

He pleaded guilty to stamp and weapon offences in WA before being extradited to Victoria to face arson charges and a false document charge, after he used a fake medical certificate to get out of court.

He had fled to WA after police closed in when investigating the arson where he sold fake stamps which caught the AFPs attention (pictured: police make an arrest on the arson case)

Prosecutor Nick Batten said Balcombe was motivated by greed, wanted to eliminate his business rivals and to defraud his insurer.

'He wanted to be number one on Google and he wanted to face less competition from others,' he said.

Mr Kenny denied his client was a criminal mastermind and said once the fires started 'it effectively snowballed'.

He said Balcombe, who appeared via videolink, suffered from a personality disorder, which impaired his ability to make sensible decisions.

Mr Kenny urged Judge Stewart Bayles to hand Balcombe a cumulative sentence and not to punish him for each of the 11 arson attacks and attempts.

Balcombe was remanded in custody to face sentencing at a later date.
An Australian war veteran has blasted Greens leader Adam Bandt for getting paid more than $314,000-a-year by taxpayers but 'hating our flag'.

Michael von Berg, a Military Cross recipient who served as a combat soldier in the Vietnam War, said he was 'very angry' after Bandt's staff removed the flag from behind their leader before a press conference in Sydney on Monday.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Mr von Berg said his phone had been 'running hot' after Bandt's comments, which have triggered PTSD among angry and frustrated diggers.

'We are all proud to have served under the flag,' Mr von Berg said. 'Many have fought for the flag and when they die they are buried under the flag. It was totally unacceptable what he did and said.

'I think he should be kicked out of parliament, yes. It's just so hypocritical, to be receiving a salary and benefits but hate our country and our flag. If he feels so badly about it, why is he even in parliament?

'It annoyed me personally but my phone has been running hot ever since. People are very, very annoyed. You have to understand, anger and resentment can trigger PTSD and comments like that have made a lot of people very angry. In this time of mental health struggles, they aren't helpful at all.'

Bandt will earn $314,737 as the leader of a minority party with more than 10 representatives in parliament.

Michael von Berg (left), a Military Cross recipient who served as a combat soldier in the Vietnam War, slammed Bandt for removing the Australia flag before a press conference. Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt triggered fury after a member of his staff removed Australia's flag before his press conference on Monday

The war veteran's comments come after outspoken Greens senator Lidia Thorpe - a key Bandt ally - claimed Australia's Parliament has no permission to be here

'For many Australians, this flag represents dispossession and the lingering pains of colonisation,' Bandt said on Monday.

'Through Treaty with First Nations' Peoples and by moving to a Republic, we can have a flag that represents all of us.'

His comments triggered fury across the political spectrum with Mr von Berg, who served alongside Aboriginal soldiers on his first tour of Vietnam in 1966-67, accusing the Greens leader of insulting the nation in a scathing open letter. He also branded Bandt a 'bloody idiot' while talking to Daily Mail Australia.

'I watched it live and I saw the flag missing. I was surprised at first and then I thought it was a mistake. When I saw it off to the side I realised that it was a stunt and I thought 'you idiot',' he said.

'I think him and his mob see the flag as a rag, as just a piece of bunting to wave around. They don't understand how important it is to us. The flag unites us all as a serving force. We salute the flag, we present arms to the flag and him and the left just treat it so cheaply. It's unforgivable.

'I served with an indigenous corporal in Vietnam in 1966 and we lost him. That's why Bandt's comments are so hard to take. I got a military cross for a four hour action on a very steep mountain but we lost him. He was a great bloke, a great soldier and it makes me emotional.

'He's a bloody idiot. The Greens have done nothing for indigenous people and instead they're doing this tokenism. Moving a flag and thinking that's something. This is all he's got. Division, division, division.

'This is just to raise his profile, not the issue. All everyone's doing is talking about him. This isn't going to help the indigenous.'

In the letter addressed to Bandt, the war hero said his actions were an insult to the nation and 'every serviceman and woman who has proudly served this country under our flag in war and peace.'

The veteran wrote: 'Symbols and pranks do nothing in supporting our Indigenous and Torres Strait Island brothers and sisters, where many of us in the ADF, have had the great honour of serving with, and in some cases, fighting alongside of, and sadly burying.'

Senator Thorpe (pictured on Tuesday night) said her decision to enter the 'colonial project' was due to her aspirations to 'renew the nation' and be a voice that questioned

'If your action and objective was to divide the nation, that objective has failed, in particular within our ADF and veterans' community where the Australian National Flag under which we have all proudly and bravely served, is the glue that binds and defines us.'

Speaking to Sky News, he also revealed he was watching the press conference live and was left 'surprised' and 'very angry' from the 'stunt'.

'I actually watched it live and personally, I thought, it was a mistake,' Mr von Berg said.

'When they showed just the Aboriginal flag and Torres Strait flag, I thought, 'that's odd'.

'Then I saw it off to one side and of course when he came and spoke, I thought this was a deliberate stunt. I was surprised and very angry.'

Mr von Berg's comments come after outspoken Greens senator Lidia Thorpe - a key Bandt ally - claimed Australia's Parliament has no permission to be here - and says she's only a member so she can 'infiltrate' the institution.

The senator said her entry into the 'colonial project' was due to her aspirations to 'renew the nation' and be a voice and spokesperson for First Nations people.

Appearing on The Project on Tuesday, senator Thorpe said she also removes the Australian national flag during press conferences.

'The Australian flag does not represent me or my people,' she told the panel.

'It represents the colonisation of these lands, and it has no permission to be here, there's been no consent, there's been no treaty, so that flag does not represent me.'

Panellist Waleed Aly asked the senator if her argument could also apply to the Australian Parliament in which she serves.

'Absolutely, I'm here to infiltrate,' she replied emphatically.

'I signed up to become a senator in the colonial project, and that wasn't an easy decision for me personally, and it wasn't an easy decision for my family either to support me in this,' she continued.

'However, we need voices like this to question the illegitimate occupation of the colonial system in this country.'
Despite pleas by the family of murdered teen Tania Burgess that her killer never be released and given a 'fresh start' he will walk out of jail on August 1.

Tania was 15 when the boy, then 16, ambushed and stabbed her 48 times in a NSW car park in 2005 and left her to die.

Despite pleas by the family that he not be allowed to remain anonymous, the 32-year-old killer can only be named as DL because the offence happened when he was a minor.

The man who killed 15-year-old Tania Burgess in 2005 by stabbing her 48 times will walk out of prison a year early after he was granted parole which will end his 17 years in jail

Justice James Wood said during the NSW State Parole Authority hearing that he had accepted expert advice that strongly recommended DL should be released with supervision before his full sentence expired next year.

'The priority is now supervision to foster his reintegration and the protection of the public,' the report by the Serious Offenders Review Council stated.

The now 32-year-old killer, who can only be named as DL because he committed the offence as a minor, will have strict parole conditions imposed including electronic monitoring

DL must provide authorities daily notifications of all his movements, be electronically monitored and must engage with treatment by a forensic psychologist along with other strict conditions.

Justice Wood extended the parole authority's deepest sympathies to Tania's parents, Mandy and Chris, who were present in court.

After being identified by a dying Tania, DL was arrested that evening.

Tania's parents, Chris and Mandy Burgess, have argued that DL should never be released and given the chance at an adult life that their daughter was forever denied

At his trial the jury only took 90 minutes to convict him.

He was jailed for a maximum term of 22 years with a non-parole period of 17 years.

The sentence was reduced on appeal by four years in 2018 meaning he has been eligible for parole since mid 2018.

Leading up to the hearing Tania's mother Mandy Burgess spoke to Sydney radio station 2GB on Wednesday.

She said DL had never expressed remorse and was now getting a chance at adult life that was denied her daughter.

'You just wipe 17 years off and he can start a new life and yet we lost our daughter,' she said.

Mandy said that Tania was a 'beautiful, caring and loving' teenager who was just starting to bloom at age 15

Mandy said her other two children, Gemma and Blake, had become adults but Tania would always be frozen as 15-year-old girl.

'You can only dream what kind of life she would have had. She was such a beautiful caring, loving teenager,' Mandy said.

'It was all taken away from us. She was just a girl, she was just starting to bloom at the age of 15.'

After getting off the school bus Tania was taking a shortcut home through Forrester's Beach Resort car park when DL, a boy she caught the bus with but did not go to school with, attacked her.

After holidaymakers saw him astride a prone Tania four people rushed to her aide as she lay dying in a pool of blood, struggling for breath.

While most of the stab wounds DL inflicted were shallow, one reached Tania's heart.

The motive was unclear but in the Supreme Court trial in 2008, the court heard that he had confessed to feeling rejected by Tania.

After being named by Tania he was arrested within hours at home in nearby Bateau Bay, where police found bloodstained clothing in his bedroom.

Mandy said she tried not to remember that day.

'I try to block out those horrible images of what we saw that day and remember Tania for what she was,' Mandy said.

She said it would be better that DL never get released and continued to argue it would be 'safer' for the community if his full identity was released.

'To wake up one morning and hear that he has hurt somebody else in the community, and put another family through what we have been through,' she said

'I could not possibly imagine, in this universe, for that to happen,' she said.

However, if he was going to be released she said it was better he be supervised under parole conditions than to walk out totally free when his sentence was due to run out next August.
Leigh Sales has admitted feeling 'stabbed in the heart' by all of the Australian prime ministers she has interviewed as she debunked a popular 'myth' about Scott Morrison.

The outgoing ABC star, whose 12 year run as 7.30 host ends next week, said she felt an 'odd fondness' for all the eight PMs she's interviewed - whether Liberal or Labor leaders.

Writing in Nine newspapers, Sales was keen to dispel myth that Mr Morrison dodged her interview requests and instead that he 'never shied away' from a tough interview.

She wished him luck and said she plans to catch up with him 'when the dust settles'.

Leigh Sales has admitted feeling 'stabbed in the heart' by all of the Australian prime ministers she has interviewed

Sales was keen to dispel myth that Mr Morrison dodged her interview requests and instead that he 'never shied away' from a tough interview

Sales admitted admiring and respecting anyone who 'steps up' to the biggest job in Australia - including Anthony Albanese.

'There's something about everyone who's done that job that kind of stabs me in the heart... I don't think people understand how tough [the job is] if they're not in proximity.'

Sales gave her verdict on the Australian prime ministers she interviewed, six of whom were in office at the time and two who were former leaders.

The hard-nosed TV host was most candid about her experiences interviewing Paul Keating and Bob Hawke.

Sales gave her verdict on the Australian prime ministers she interviewed as 7.30 host, six of whom were in office at the time and two who were former Australian leaders

Malcolm Turnbull was 'astute and engaging' as a guest and could tell stories that were funny enough to have 'tears rolling down your face'.

She admitted feeling 'emotional' and having childhood flashbacks as she chatted with Hawke while waiting for an interview with his wife, Blanche, only months before he died in 2019.

Sales was similarly affected by Keating, confessing she felt her 'throat tighten' when she asked him who he'd want to comment on his legacy when he died.

'It has been one of the great privileges of my life to get to talk to him from time to time. There will only ever be one PJK.'

But Sales also claimed to have no 'leftie bias' while doing her job.

John Howard made a good impression on Sales by phoning to offer his condolences when her father Dale died in 2018

Leigh Sales said she felt an 'odd fondness' for all the eight PMs she's interviewed (above), whether they were Liberal or Labor leaders

She felt her genuine desire to 'understand' guests built trust and helped her engage with them.

It was always important to neither 'agree or disagree', she claimed.

That rapport meant off camera she could regularly seek out John Howard's opinions on foreign affairs and politics.

She called Mr Howard a man with a sharp 'radar' who was also 'helpful' and 'kind'.

He made a good impression on Sales by phoning to offer his condolences when her father Dale died in 2018.

Malcolm Turnbull, whom she called 'a great Australian story', did the same thing.

Mr Turnbull was 'astute and engaging' she wrote and could tell stories that were funny enough to have 'tears rolling down your face'.

Sales admitted to ringing Mr Rudd to tap his brain on foreign policy and political strategy and was felt a sense of awe at how his mind 'joined the dots'

Tony Abbott got her respect for different reasons, mainly for his courtesy.

While many guests never acknowledged the studio crew, Mr Abbott greeted and thanked them.

She added that Mr Abbott 'always argues his corner well' and left the studio in good spirits even if an interview with her had a 'rough' ending.

Kevin Rudd, she said, was 'stunningly smart'.

She admitted to ringing Mr Rudd to tap his brain on foreign policy and political strategy and was felt a sense of awe at how his mind 'joined the dots'.

The woman who succeeded him, Julia Gillard, was 'a lovely, warm person' who has had the 'gold standard' post-prime ministerial career, which has mainly been in academia.

The only prime minister Sales did not comment upon was Malcolm Fraser.
A former private schoolgirl who has allegedly been blocked from inheriting her father's $12 million fortune because she's unemployed now claims she can't get a job because she's gay.

Clare Brown, who lives with her wife on welfare in a dingy rental house in Sydney's 'struggle street' suburb of Mount Druitt, once lived in her stockbroker father's $5 million waterfront apartment in exclusive Darling Point.

But the 27-year-old, who has been denied access to her inheritance because of two clauses by her late father in his will, says she can't meet the requirements of finding work because of prejudice against her sexuality.

She also claims the relatives who are executors of her father's estate are telling lies about her, including the claim that she and wife Lauren Barr trashed her father's Darling Point property while living there.

Brown, who attended elite private girls' school Ascham and travelled the world with her dad, is living on welfare and food parcels with her disabled wife, who is waiting on the public housing list for accommodation.

Elite private schoolgirl and $12m heiress Clare Brown went from living in a luxury Darling Point apartment to a dingy rental in Mount Druitt which she shares with her wife Lauren while subsisting on a disability pension

Clare Brown's wife Lauren Barr (above with her Gay Pride adorned car in Mount Druitt on Thursday) says that the heiress has such bad ADHD she needs a daily checklist to remind her to feed herself and their three cats

Clare denies claims by her cousins that she and wife Loz 'trashed' the luxury Eastern Suburbs apartment they couple lived in before having to move out to Mount Druitt

Wealthy stockbroker Christopher Hyland died in January this year, leaving a $5m Darling Point apartment and millions from his share portfolio but with a strict proviso for his only daughter if she wishes to access the money: get a job

Ms Brown' twin cousins, believed to have been appointed executors of their late uncle Christopher Hyland Brown's multi-million dollar estate, say he stipulated in his will that his daughter Clare could only collect her inheritance 'if she gets a job and contributes something to society'.

Clare says that is impossible because she has Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and 'high-functioning autism'.

Ruth Barr, the elderly mother of Clare's wife Lauren told Daily Mail Australia her unemployed daughter-in-law couldn't work because 'she hates crowds, can't concentrate and people hate her because she's gay'.

Jimmy, the 27-year-old's cousin whose twin brother lives in the late Mr Brown's Darling Point property in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, told Nine's A Current Affair that Ms Brown and her wife had 'trashed' the $5million property before moving to Mt Druitt.

Clare Brown's mother-in-law Ruth says the heiress can't get a job 'because people hate her because she's gay'. Clare and Lauren were married (right) and have since given birth to a daughter they care for at the Mount Druitt house

Christopher Hylton Brown (above) made a fortune on the stock market and left property and $12m in his will, but he stipulated that for daughter Clare to inherit the money she had to get a job

Ms Brown admitted she had gone on the dole while still receiving a $500-a-week allowance from her father, but said it was from necessity and 'financial abuse'.

'I didn't start on Centrelink because I wanted to, my dad kept on cutting me off,' she told A Current Affair .

Her cousins believe Clare has deteriorated in her mental condition since meeting Lauren 'Loz' Barr and marrying the 37-year-old who claims she is also autistic and has serious health issues requiring her to take baskets full of prescription drugs daily.

The married couple, who have a 15-month-old daughter, live a short drive from Lauren's mother, and rent a single storey $420-a-week house and drive a car with a mauve registration plate happily displaying 'Gay Pride' stickers.

Five weeks ago, Ms Brown tried to have the locks changed on the Darling Point apartment and police were called, but the property is being renovated by one of her relatives who was granted four years free occupancy by the late Mr Brown to refurbish the flat.

Ms Barr said Clare - who claims she cannot even learn to drive because of her ADHD - is 'completely' unable to go out and find work.

Ms Brown is now suing her father's estate in court to get hold of the $12m she says 'is rightfully mine' and denies that she has any access to the allowance she was being paid before her father died in January this year.

Her mother-in-law said if anyone claimed Clare was well-off they were 'telling lies'.

'She's got no money. Why else would she be living in f***ing Mount Druitt,' Ms Barr said, adding that Clare - who with her wife have both suspended their Instagram accounts since her cousins took their story to A Current Affair last month and it was aired on Monday night - was too traumatised to come to the door.

Asked if she wanted to work, Ms Brown said 'Yes and no. I understand why these people want me to be a functioning person in society, however, you have to look at my diagnosis and realise that's just not going to happen.

Her Linkedin profile says she was a receptionist after leaving Ascham, ran her own dog walking, pet sitting and animal photography business Canines, Cats and Clare for just over a year, and has worked as an administrative assistant at the autism group, Aspect.

Clare travelled the world with her wealthy stockbroker father who made millions out of shares and then left it to her in his will after he died in January, but there was a catch

Lauren said Clare (above in the kitchen of their Mount Druitt rental) needs a daily check list to function otherwise she would forget every day tasks such as eating and feeding the cats

Ms Brown's wife says Clare needs a daily checklist because she needs to be told when to eat and when to feed the cats, or they would all starve.

Lauren said Clare - who claims to have ''the attention span of a gnat' - struggles to complete everyday tasks which includes reminders for Ms Brown to eat.

'She doesn't have an executive function in the head,' Lauren said.

Clare - who has an National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) carer - also blamed recent federal government funding cuts have spiked her chances of getting her job ready.

'You could say at one point I could work, but employers aren't willing to give me a chance and for those people who say there's employers out there I can tell you. they're few and far between.'

Christopher Brown died aged 75 in Melbourne and due to the fact his wife was already deceased and Clare was their only child, she is believed to be the sole heir to the bulk of his fortune.

Clare grew up in comfortable circumstances and was sent to the elite private girls' school Ascham and travelled overseas with her father, who died aged 75 in January this year

Clare Brown and the woman she calls her 'wifey for lifey' (above) are living in Mount Druitt as she contests the estate of her late father to try and get hold of the $12m he left her

She said the fact her cousins were preventing her from accessing her fortune would make her father embarrassed at their treatment of her, rather than her being an embarrassment to the family, which is what they have claimed.

'Can you please stop with this whole ... me getting a job. It's not going to happen,' she said.

'I have called myself a broke millionaire because I am broke constantly and can't do anything about it.' Clare said the fact her cousin was 'living in the lap of luxury in Darling Point' was 'infuriating'.

Her cousin Jimmy said the family had 'one nothing but love Clare', however she needed 'a wake-up call' and could find work as a volunteer if she couldn't hold down paid work.

'If they really love me, why am I in this situation? (Getting a job) is not that simple,' she said.

'I worked for Autism Australia as a barista and lasted an hour. I actually wasn't that good at it and I hated doing it.'

According to Jimmy, if Clare 'ticks the two boxes' of getting a job and contributing something to society, she 'can access all the money you like'.

As her father's only child, Clare was left millions of dollars when her stock broker father Chris (pictured together) died in January

Her cousin Jimmy (pictured) said it was 'embarrassing' as Clare could be working and gaining access to her trust

'Instead of her agreeing to her dead dad's wishes, she turns around and sues her trusts, that's the extremes she went to so she didn't have to work,' he said.

'It's just embarrassing to have a cousin who has millions at her fingertips to sit and take the government money every week is highly embarrassing and highly un-Australian,' he said.

Clare said if her NDIS funding increases she may one day be able to get a job.

'I just want what is rightfully mine. And I want these people to get out of their heads that I am ever going to get a job,' she said.
A Queensland man who shot his beloved pet crocodiles before throwing their bloodied carcasses onto the doorstep of a government building is demanding compensation from the state's Department of Environment.

Innisfail Landcare contractor Adrian Hogg had legally kept his saltwater crocodiles 'Big Boy' and 'Little Girl' for years in an enclosure in his backyard.

Permit reforms in 2020, however, meant he was unable to renew his 2018 permit when it expired in 2021.

Mr Hogg was given a 'cruel' ultimatum by the Department of Environment and Science - rehome the salties or have them put down by a vet.

In response Mr Hogg shot both his pets through the head and drove them to the department's doorstep, crying out as he dumped the carcasses that he hoped the department's officials were happy with themselves.

He is now seeking $100,000 compensation from the department to recoup the costs of maintaining the crocs under the earlier permit conditions.

Adrian Hogg bought his saltwater crocodiles for $700 and watched them grow before he says he had no choice but to shoot them

Mr Hogg took the drastic action of shooting his pets after the department told him they required proof of the crocodiles' deaths if he was going to have them put down.

Mr Hogg said he was devastated he had to kill his pets, saying shooting them was 'horrible, absolutely horrible'.

Mr Hogg said keeping the crocodile enclosure in conformity with regulations had cost him more than $30,000

The Department of Environment and Science asked Mr Hogg to have his crocodiles put down by a vet, however he put them down himself

He said he's been wrangling with the department for years, and that following its rules combined with keeping his pets had cost him around $50,000 over the years.

The enclosure for the animals cost him $30,000.

'They have been harassing me for the past five years since I legally kept them,' Mr Hogg said.

'I followed every single law including building a pen at great expense, with a condition on the permit that I had to meet those standards.'

He claims that along with the expensive compliance regime, the department is trying to besmirch his name.

The Queensland Department of Environment and Science say they are investigating the circumstances of the deaths of both Mr Hogg's crocodiles, the carcasses of which he threw onto the front door of a government building

A Department of Environment and Science spokeswoman said Mr Hogg was never asked to shoot the animals himself

'They are just trying to turn it, that I'm the evil one,' he has previously told Daily Mail Australia.

'[They don't] like media exposure of their requirements for euthanasia of healthy captive protected native animals.

'They are supposed to conserve wildlife, not order its destruction.'

Mr Hogg said he bought the salties for $700 in the Northern Territory and invested $30,000 in an 'escape proof' enclosure for them at his home, which included a lagoon full of fish.

He says he wants financial compensation from the department to recoup the thousands of dollars he spent on building an enclosure that met the department's standards when his permit allowed to him legally own the crocs.

Mr Hogg is seeking around $100,000 from the Department of Environment and Science, a sum he said 'would do it'.

'If they can make you spend money and change the rules and leave you high and dry, how is that good for confidence in the government?' he told the Cairns Post.

A spokeswoman said the department did not tell Mr Hogg to shoot the crocodiles, but instead to have them euthanised humanely.

It said the matter was now under investigation.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Queensland Department of Environment and Science for comment.
One Australian city has retained its place as one of the world's most liveable cities, while other state capitals drop out of the global top 10.

The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2022 survey, released on Thursday, has Melbourne placed 10th on the list and leading the way for Australia.

European cities Vienna, Copenhagen and Zurich take out the top three spots.

Last year Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth were all in the top 10, but they have fallen to 27th, 30th and 32nd respectively.

The index cited a slow lifting of COVID-19 restrictions as the reason for those state capitals losing ground.

Melbourne (pictured) has retained its top 10 spot in a list of the world's most livable cities

The top 10 cities were among those with few COVID-19 restrictions, the report noted, with shops, schools and restaurants reopening, and pandemic-led hospitalisation declining.

'Cities that were towards the top of our rankings before the pandemic have rebounded on the back of their stability, good infrastructure and services, as well as enjoyable leisure activities,' the report said.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the ranking shows Melbourne is back on the world stage after years of COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions.

'It's hard to get a table at a restaurant, it's hard to get a room in a hotel,' Mr Andrews told reporters on Thursday.

The River City, Brisbane (pictured), was number 27 on the list by The Economist for 2022

Adelaide (pictured), famous for its parklands, dropped from number three to number 30

'The city's back. We are thriving and Victorians can be very proud of what they've achieved.'

Melbourne held the title of the world's most liveable city for seven years from 2011, before it was unseated in 2018 by the Austrian capital, Vienna.

The state opposition said Melbourne's result this year was nothing to write home about.

'Unsurprising after the world's longest lockdowns ... after the clobbering of small business and our CBD, we're barely making it into the top 10,' Liberal MP Matt Bach said.

Commenting on Adelaide's slide from third to 30th, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said it was equally surprising given the city's spike in COVID-19 cases over summer, and the need for some restrictions to remain in place.

But he said he also expected Adelaide to bounce back in subsequent surveys.

'South Australians are very proud of the fact that we do live in one of the most liveable cities in the world and also one of the most liveable cities in the nation,' the premier said.

Perth (pictured) was number 32 on the list with European cities making the top three spots

'The fact that it slipped back throughout 2021 is unfortunate, but I suspect it will creep back up the table again now that the worst of COVID, hopefully, has passed us by.'

The 2022 list had Damascus, Lagos and Tripoli as the world's three least liveable cities.

Ukraine's capital Kyiv was excluded from the rankings because of the Russian invasion, while the conflict resulted in Moscow and St Petersburg dropping 13 and 15 places respectively
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Boris Johnson shrugged off 'crazy' calls for him to quit as the Tories brace for a double-defeat in the Wakefield and Tiverton by-elections today.

The PM sounded a bullish tone as he attends a Commonwealth summit more 4,000 miles from the UK in Rwanda with wife Carrie.

He is on tour abroad for the next week, but there are fears the expected grim results at home could spark a renewed Conservative revolt.

No government has failed to defend two by-election seats on the same day since 1991, when John Major was in No10.

Ministers have already been rehearsing arguments about how difficult it is for governments to hold by-elections in mid-term. Limiting the scale of the setbacks is considered critical for Mr Johnson.

However, Mr Johnson put a brave face on the situation when asked by reporters en route to Rwanda whether he could be forced to quit. 'Are you crazy?' he said.

'Come on, it was only a year ago that we won the Hartlepool by-election, that everybody thought was you know, we hadn't won Hartlepool for, I can't remember when the Tory party last won Hartlepool  a long time. I don't think it ever had.

'Governing parties generally do not win by-elections particularly not in mid-term. You know, I'm very hopeful, but you know, there you go. That's just the reality.'

Under current Conservative rules, Mr Johnson is safe from a new vote in his leadership for a year.

He declined to comment directly on suggestions that the Tory 1922 Committee could change the rules to allow a challenge sooner.

'I'm focused entirely on delivering on the agenda of this government. My golden rule is the less you talk about Westminster issues, the more you talk about the things you want to talk to the country about,' Mr Johnson said.

Boris Johnson is in Kigali with wife Carrie for a Commonwealth meeting - and will be on tour abroad for the next week

Boris is facing another difficult showdown on his trip, as he holds talks with Prince Charles after apparent clashes about the policy of deporting Channel migrants to Rwand

Mrs Johnson wore a pink Zara suit while accompanying the Prime Minister in Kigali

The PM is not intending to visit the accommodation in Kigali where migrants who arrive by unauthorised means would be deported to

The PM is facing another difficult showdown on his trip, as he holds talks with Prince Charles (pictured with Camilla yesterday) after apparent clashes about the policy of deporting Channel migrants to Rwanda

It is understood he will visit Charles (pictured in Rwanda yesterday) for a cup of tea tomorrow morning,

Where are by-elections happening today? WAKEFIELD Wakefield was one of the so-called Red Wall seats won by the Tories in the 2019 general election after being a Labour stronghold since the 1930s, but Labour is now hoping to take it back. Imran Ahmad Khan had a 3,300 majority but stood down as the local MP after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy and jailed for 18 months. TIVERTON & HONITON Neil Parish, the Tory MP since 2010, resigned from the Devon seat after admitting he had watched pornography on his phone in the House of Commons. The Liberal Democrats are the main challenger in this rural constituency, and are hoping to build on by-election wins in North Shropshire in December and Chesham and Amersham a year ago. Victory for the Lib Dems would require overturning a 24,239 majority, but Conservatives fear a defeat is all-but inevitable as voters deliver a mid-term message. Advertisement

Meanwhile, the premier is facing another difficult showdown on his trip, as he holds talks with Prince Charles after apparent clashes about the policy of deporting Channel migrants to Rwanda.

Mr Johnson teed up a difficult encounter before boarding the aeroplane, telling reporters critics of the scheme had a 'condescending' attitude.

The heir to the throne is said to have privately described the plan as 'appalling'.

Mr Johnson and Prince Charles are attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm).

But the PM is not intending to visit the accommodation in Kigali where migrants who arrive by unauthorised means would be deported to.

It is understood he will meet Charles for a cup of tea tomorrow morning, but Mr Johnson is not eager to raise the policy of removing migrants who arrive by unauthorised means on a one-way ticket.

The meeting will be the first time they have spoken since the service for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and comes after the 'appalling' remark emerged.

Speaking as he prepared to fly to Kigali, Mr Johnson said the trip is an opportunity 'for us all to understand for ourselves what that partnership has to offer'.

'Let's hope perhaps help others to shed some of their condescending attitudes to Rwanda and how that partnership might work,' he added.

Asked if he will tell the prince he is wrong, Mr Johnson said: 'I have no evidence for the assertion you've just made about the prince's comments. I can't confirm that.

'What I can say is that the policy is sensible, measured and a plan to deal with the grotesque abuse of innocent people crossing the Channel.'

He insisted he is 'looking forward very much to seeing' Charles, but would not say whether he would be raising the policy with him.

Despite it being Mr Johnson's first visit to the nation during his time in No 10, he is not planning to visit any of the accommodation earmarked for the scheme.

'You will know that the Prime Minister's time is always limited and to make time to do that he would therefore have to leave elements of the programme whereby he's working with a unique set of world leaders on quite crucial issues,' his spokesman said.

'We think that the best use of his time for this short period he's in Rwanda is to dedicate himself to some of the issues that will be raised at the summit and to work with other world leaders on some of those issues we've talked about, not least Ukraine and global security.'

A polling station in Wakefield, where one of the by-elections is being held today

A poll by Survation for the 38 Degrees website two weeks ago - around the time of the vote of no confidence against Mr Johnson - put Labour on 56 per cent in the West Yorkshire seat, with the Tories on 33 per cent

The first flight removing people to Rwanda was due to take off last week, but was grounded by successful legal challenges ahead of a full hearing on the scheme's legality in UK courts.

The policy is one element of a 120million economic deal with Kigali, but has been widely criticised in part because of concerns about Rwanda's human rights record.

Mr Johnson noted that he would be arriving there before any asylum seekers despite the agreement being signed two months ago.

'I'm conscious that I'm arriving before anybody who has travelled illegally across the Channel, I cannot conceal that fact from you  there it is  but it is still the case that no UK court and no international court has ruled our plan unlawful,' he said.

But Mr Johnson said he will 'no doubt' discuss the plans with Rwandan president Paul Kagame
A man accused of murdering a missing Sydney woman told police he left her place with bags of garbage which she asked him to throw away.

James Hachem also challenged a detective who suggested CCTV stills showed the items on his car back seat to be consistent with a 'flesh-tone' colour.

'You believe that she is dead and you are saying I have flesh-tone,' he said in the February 2019 interview played to the jury on Thursday.

Samah Baker, 30, was last seen in the early hours of January 4, when her friend dropped her off at her Parramatta home. (Pictured: CCTV footage of Samah Baker in an elevator two days before she was reported missing)

'I strongly disagree, I know it is garbage.

'It is garbage, I know it is garbage 100 per cent.'

The 36-year-old has pleaded not guilty in the NSW Supreme Court to murdering his on-off lover Samah Baker on January 4, 2019.

Relatives reported the 30 year old missing after a friend said she dropped her off at her Parramatta home in the early hours of that day.

In the interview, Hachem said he had gone to the unit and left to go to K-Mart to buy her towels and sheets.

On his return, they were intimate again and parted when it was daylight as they were both tired.

She wanted to get rid of a bed frame and also asked him to throw away some garbage bags for him.

He said he put some garbage in empty bins at his brother's units, some in his bin and the broken bed frame out for a council pick-up.

The detective referred him to CCTV stills of his car which appeared to have something 'flesh tone' coloured in the back seat.

'Is it possible a person is in the back?,' the detective asked.

Hachem denied this, saying the insinuations were very upsetting.

He was referred to a text he sent to Ms Baker at 7.33 am which included: 'Last night was so good, slept like a baby' but that he was up at 7.30 because of a dog barking.

The detective referred him to CCTV stills showing he was driving towards his place at 7.13 am and asked about him sleeping like a baby for that short time.

'I did sleep in the car a bit,' Hachem said.

After being shown stills showing his car was in a Westfield shopping centre car park from 9am to 3pm on the 4th, Hachem said he had been to his job centre.

James Hachem (pictured) has been accused of murdering his on-again, off-again lover Samah Baker. He claimed he left her place with garbage bags after police questioned him

Text message exchanges between Hachem and Baker (pictured) were revealed. Detectives referred Hachem to a message he sent her that read 'Last night was so good, slept like a baby'

He was then asked about going into Coles, paying cash for facial and other wipes, garbage bags and a pair of heavy duty gloves.

He said he used the wipes to clean himself up after masturbating and the rest were to clean kitchen appliances.

Asked why he bought all those items that day, Haschem said he didn't know but he did have to do chores.

He rejected a suggestion that it looked like he had a need to clean something all of a sudden.

He said he may have later driven to a brothel, saying he sometimes visited one in Liverpool, or one called Tiffany in Canberra which he really liked, or a working girl in Wollongong.

When told his E-tag was used on the M5, returning the next morning Hachem said he regularly went driving, sometimes pulling over and sleeping in his car which was easier than getting to sleep at home.

Stills showed the windows were down, but Hachem said he had no reason to air out the car.

He denied having anything to do with Ms Baker's disappearance or anything to do with her being killed or dying.

The trial continues before Justice Robertson Wright.
A Ukrainian goat has injured several Russian soldiers after triggering their own tripwire and setting off a series of grenades.

Ukraine's Chief Intelligence Directorate said the Kremlin forces were injured after they boobytrapped themselves in the village of Kinski Rozdory in Zaporizhzhia.

Putin's men had installed pinned grenades around the perimeter of a local hospital and placed tripwires as a 'circular defence'.

A Ukrainian goat has injured several Russian soldiers after triggering their own tripwire and setting off a series of grenades (file image of goats next to Russian tanks in Ukraine)

Servicemen of the 126th Separate Territorial Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine take part in military exercises in Odesa

But shortly after they laid the trap, an escaped goat from a nearby farm wandered towards the hospital and clipped the tripwire.

Ukraine said the animal instigated a chain reaction, injuring multiple Russian troops.

The fate of the goat is not known.

It comes as Volodymyr Zelensky urged his country's allies to speed up shipments of heavy weapons to match Russia on the battlefield.

People look at destroyed Russian military vehicles near Irpin in the Kyiv region of Ukraine

'We must free our land and achieve victory, but more quickly, a lot more quickly,' Zelenskiy said in a video address on Thursday.

Moscow's massive air and artillery attacks are aimed at destroying the entire Donbas region, he said.

Russia focused its campaign on southern and eastern Ukraine after its advance on the capital Kyiv in the early stages of the conflict was thwarted by dogged Ukrainian resistance.

The war of attrition in the Donbas - Ukraine's industrial heartland - is most critical in the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, which straddle the Siverskyi Donets River in Luhansk province.

Russia focused its campaign on southern and eastern Ukraine after its advance on the capital Kyiv

A residential building that was damaged during the Russian attack, in Hostomel, the town northwest of the capital city of Kyiv

The battle there is 'entering a sort of fearsome climax', said Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Zelenskiy.

Ukrainian forces were defending Sievierodonetsk and the nearby settlements of Zolote and Vovchoyrovka, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Thursday, but Russian forces had captured Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka to the south.

Hundreds of civilians are trapped in a chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk while Ukraine and Russia dispute who controls the bombed-out city.

Moscow says Ukrainian forces in the city are surrounded and trapped. But Gaidai told Ukrainian Television on Wednesday that Russian forces did not have full control of Sievierodonetsk.

Gaidai said all Lysychansk was within reach of Russian fire.

'In order to avoid encirclement, our command could order that the troops retreat to new positions. There may be a regrouping after last night,' he said.

TASS news agency cited Russian-backed separatists saying Lysychansk was now surrounded and cut off from supplies after a road connecting the city to the town Sieviersk was taken.

Hostomel, as well as other towns and villages in the northern part of the Kyiv region, became major battlefields, causing death and damage

Eastern Ukraine regions continue to be the main focus of attacks by the Russian troops

Reuters was unable to immediately confirm the report.

Britain's defence ministry said some Ukrainian units had withdrawn, probably to avoid being encircled.

'Russian forces are putting the Lysychansk-Sievierodonetsk pocket under increasing pressure with this creeping advance ... however, its efforts to achieve a deeper encirclement to take western Donetsk Oblast remain stalled,' the ministry said.

Yesterday, Kyiv said massive Russian bombardments are making life 'hell', while insisting its soldiers would hold on 'as long as necessary'.

'The Russian army is... just destroying everything' in Lysychansk, Sergiy Gaiday, governor of the Lugansk region, which includes both cities, wrote on Telegram.

'It's just hell out there,' after four months of shelling in Severodonetsk, he wrote later.

'Our boys are holding their positions and will continue to hold on as long as necessary,' he added.
All four men who escaped from a federal prison camp in Virginia over the weekend are now back in custody.

A manhunt took place involving the US Marshals Service, FBI and other law enforcement agencies to track the four inmates who are all serving time for either drug or firearm offences.

They were reported missing from the Federal Correctional Complex Petersburgs satellite camp in Hopewell, Virginia, around 1:45am on Saturday during a security check.

Tavares Lajuane Graham returned to the prison early Sunday, roughly 24 hours after leaving.

Both Corey Branch and Kareem Allen Shaw surrendered shortly after midnight on Tuesday.

Lamonte Rashawn Willis was also back in prison by Wednesday, officers believed he may have returned to his home in Suffolk.

All four are currently being held at the federal institution in Hopewell, Murphy said.

Corey Branch (left), 41, was sentenced to a 160-month sentence on charges of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession of a firearm as a felon. Tavares Lajuane Graham (right), 44, received an aggregate 120-month sentence for possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and 28 grams or more of cocaine base

Lamonte Rashawn Willis (left), 30, was given a 216-month sentence for possession and concealment of a stolen firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Kareem Allen Shaw (right), 46, was sentenced to 194 months for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a measurable quantity of heroin

The prisoners were reported missing from the Federal Correctional Complex Petersburg's satellite camp at about 1:45 a.m. Saturday, setting off a multi-agency manhunt, the BOP has said.

Because they were trustees, all four men were allowed access to life beyond the complex's walls with limited supervision.

According to the bureau's website, its minimum-security satellite camps have dormitory housing and limited or no perimeter fencing. They provide inmate labor to the main institution and to off-site work programs.

An official with the U.S. Marshals Service office in Richmond, Virginia, said the four were apparently out socially Friday night and chose not to return in time for the head count.

Each now faces the possibility of extending their stays there by a maximum of five years for escaping from federal prison.

Graham, 44, was serving a 120-month sentence for possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and 28 grams or more of cocaine base and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, the agency has said.

Branch, 41, was serving a 160-month sentence for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and felon in possession of a firearm.

Willis, 30, was serving a 216-month sentence for possessing and concealing a stolen firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Shaw, 46, was serving a 194-month sentence for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a measurable quantity of heroin, the agency said in the news release.

The Virginia Federal Correctional Complex in Petersburg, Virginia (FCC Petersburg) is a minimum-security facility near Hopewell that holds 185 male offenders

The bureau has previously faced scrutiny over the last few years for inmate escapes, according to the Associated Press.

At some of the institutions, doors are left unlocked, security cameras are broken and officials sometimes don't notice an inmate is missing for hours.

At one Texas lockup, security is so lax that local law enforcement officials privately joke about its seemingly 'open-door policy.'

Last summer, the Associated Press report that within 18 months - between 2019 and 2021, 29 prisoners have escaped from federal lockups across the U.S.

All of the escapes happened at minimum-security federal prison camps, some of which don't even have fences, and house inmates the Bureau of Prisons considers to be the lowest security risk.

'Anybody can escape from any camp any minute of any day,' said Jack Donson, a prison consultant and former case manager at a federal prison in Otisville, New York. 'They're not secure facilities. They have no fence, no metal detectors.'

The numbers raise serious concerns that the agency long besieged by chronic mismanagement, misconduct and a severe staffing crisis is failing at performing its most basic function: keeping prisoners in prison.

Federal officials often refer to them as 'walk-aways,' though it is still an escape from federal prison under the law and law enforcement officials say there is still a risk to the community when an inmate absconds.

'These are very small, unsecure facilities,' said Cameron Lindsay, a retired Bureau of Prisons warden who now testifies as an expert witness on prison matters.

Because of their size and the generally low risk the inmates pose, federal prison camps often have the lowest levels of staffing in the Bureau of Prisons' system, sometimes with just one officer working to supervise inmates during a shift, he said.
The 74 year-old grandfather died on New Year's Day 2018 after he fell eight feet from the stairs and landed on his head at Norwich's Queen of Iceni pub in April 2016.

Brian McAlister, from Brandon in Suffolk, was walking to the toilet when he lost his balance and suffered 'catastrophic' injuries.

He was left confined to a wheelchair, and later died from the impact of paralysis.

His family, led by daughter Pamela Suttle, are now suing JD Wetherspoon Ltd for more than 150,000, blaming the 'unusual design' of the pub's staircase for his death.

In a High Court action, Ms Suttle's lawyers claim the 'unsafe' layout of the staircase made it more likely that someone who fell on the steps would fall over the bannister.

Lawyers representing Brian McAlister's family claimed the 'unusual' stairs at The Queen of Iceni pub in Norwich had caused his death

Brian McAlister, 74, had been drinking in the Norwich pub in April 2016 when he fell, sustaining horrific injuries which led to his death less than two years later

The pub chain denies any responsibility and says Mr McAlister was himself to blame for what happened, having drunk so much he needed alcohol detoxification medication afterwards.

Writing in documents filed at the London court, the family's barrister Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel QC said Mr McAlister had been on his way to the toilet on the upper floor when he fell.

'As can be seen from the available CCTV footage, he slid down the stair rail and fell over the balustrade at a distance of 2.6 metres [8.5ft], falling on his head and suffering catastrophic injuries,' she says.

'His fall and consequent injuries leading ultimately to his death were caused by the unsafe design of the staircase that was unsafe for a public house, where lawful visitors had to ascend the stairs to access the lavatory and where it was foreseeable that lawful visitors would also be drinking.'

The staircase had later been criticised in an environmental health report in October 2016, she says, pointing out that its design provided a risk of a serious fall to pubgoers.

'A person who falls on the stairs at the Queen of Iceni is more likely to hit the handrail because it cuts across the direction in which a person falling is likely to travel,' said the report.

Angela Suttle, Brian's daughter, has brought the case against the Wetherspoons pub chain and hope to win 150,000 in compensation for his death

Grandfather Brian had to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life following the accident, before dying on New Year's day in 2018

'The staircase was of such an unusual design that customers attending for the first time would not appreciate the increased risk when climbing the stairs.'

Having fallen over the side, Mr McAlister landed on his head, sustaining a skull fracture and devastating spinal injuries, which required gruelling surgery, but which led to his death in 2018.

But for Wetherspoon, barrister Jonathan Payne claims that the fall was an 'unforeseeable' tragedy caused by a 'freak set of circumstances' which were unconnected to the staircase design.

On top of that, he says Mr McAlister was drunk at the time, claiming he 'used the staircase at a time when he was intoxicated to the extent that he was unsteady on his feet'.

'The deceased was intoxicated to the extent that he required alcohol detoxification medication,' he added.

He said the stairs would have been trodden by 'many millions of customers' in the 15 years since the pub started trading, adding: 'Save for one customer who chose to jump voluntarily from the staircase, there have been no reported similar accidents.'

Mr McAlister may have toppled backwards after suddenly fainting, he added, and then spun round as he fell, sending him onto and then over the rail.

'It is denied that the staircase had an unsafe design either as claimed or at all. The staircase complied with all relevant building regulations,' he says.

'It appears from the evidence collated after this unfortunate incident that at the material time the deceased was engaged on a stag party and was intoxicated.

'When the deceased ascended the staircase he appeared to be unstable and tripped up the first landing, albeit he regained his footing.

'This was not a normal or foreseeable use of the staircase. It represented a freak set of circumstances.'

The case reached court last week for a brief hearing ahead of a full trial of the claim at a later date.
A drunk teenager girl who played dead in the street while being tackled by police after kicking a patrol car on a wild night out with her family has escaped jail.

Chelsea Henley, 18, slumped to the group as an officer battled to get her to her feet during the incident in Warrington, Cheshire, last month.

The McDonalds worker had been drinking heavily and was advised to go home by officers before defiantly pushing a PC in the chest in front of her relatives.

She was eventually bundled into a police van where she kicked out at officers before being escorted to cells and left to sober up.

At Warrington Magistrates Court Henley admitted one count of assaulting an emergency worker and one count of being drunk and disorderly.

The court heard Henley was seen to be intoxicated when officers spotted her in the Bridge Street area of Warrington town centre in the early hours of May 29.

Chelsea Henley, 18, had been out drinking with her friends and family before the incident in Warrington Town Centre last month. She lashed out at a PC after she was advised to go home because she was too drunk

The McDonalds worker lay down on the floor to play dead as officers attempted to drag her to her feet. Police then bundled her into the back of their van and charged her with assault of an emergency worker

Henley pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting an emergency worker and one count of being drunk and disorderly at Warrington Magistrates Court. She was slapped with a fine of 140 with with 119 in costs and a victim surcharge

Alex Morgan, prosecuting, said: 'PC Pringle was on uniformed duty with another officer at 2.15am in Warrington town centre when their attention was drawn to the defendant.

'She then walked around and approached PC Pringle and kicked his motor vehicle.

'It caused no damage but in doing so she fell to the floor. She remained on the floor with her eyes closed but still breathing.

'PC Brown tried to rouse her but the defendant would only get up when she was informed she was going to be arrested.'

The court heard that PC Pringle told Henley to leave the area, but she pushed him with both hands to the chest area.

Ms Morgan added: 'PC Pringle took the defendant to the floor and arrested her for police assault.

'When being placed into the back of the police vehicle she tried to kick out before being restrained and placed in the back of the police vehicle.'

Defending Healey, Gary Schooler told the court that she had been acting 'out of character' and had 'clearly consumed excess alcohol.'

Henley was told that emergency workers should be 'protected in their work and they should not expect to be assaulted' when she was being sentenced

Henley was facing up to 12 months in prison for the offences, but was only handed a fine after the court heard that police initially only charged her with being drunk and disorderly. She was only further charged with assault following a review by CPS lawyers

The court heard that the teenager had 'clearly consumed excess alcohol' and that her behavior was 'out of character' for her

Sentencing Henley chair of the magistrates bench Katherine Whitaker told her 'it certainly does not look like a good night out to me'

Henley was slapped with a fine of 140 with with 119 in costs and a victim surcharge after pleading guilty to both counts.

The court heard she was initially charged by police with being drunk and was only further charged with assault following a review by CPS lawyers.

Sentencing Henley, chair of the magistrates' bench, Katherine Whitaker told her: 'I hope that you don't think it was a good night given that you have ended up in court.

'It certainly does not look like a good night out to me.

'Emergency workers should be protected in their work and they should not expect to be assaulted in their line of work.

'There will not be any compensation but I hope that you will take note of this and that we do not see you again.'
Thousands of holiday-home owners have been implored by a New South Wales council to rent out their vacant properties as Australia's housing crisis escalates.

Around 8,000 homes in the Eurobdalla Shire Council, which stretches along the state's south coast, sit vacant for much of the year as their owners primarily live outside of the area.

Meanwhile, nearby campsites are brimming with Australians grappling with homelessness amid a shortage of affordable rental accommodation in the region.

Now, Mayor Mathew Hatcher is begging the non-resident rate payers - of which 7,500 permanently reside in Sydney and Canberra - to lease out their second homes for one to two years.

While he appreciates that many Canberrans holiday in the shire - which spans from South Durras south to past Tilba Tilba - over summer, and that the struggling region needs their tourism dollars, he said addressing the housing issue is paramount.

Thousands of homes across the NSW South Coast remain vacant for much of the year while locals grappling with homelessness live in campgrounds. Pictured: Moruya

'This is a social disaster of epic proportions. It's a pitch for dignity and humanity,' he told ABC News.

'We can't wait years for homes to be built. We need to address the lack of rental properties in our community right now.'

Cr Hatcher has written a letter about the matter to the home owners, which include 4000 Sydney residents, 3500 Canberrans, 380 Victorians, and hundreds more from interstate or overseas.

After the Black Sumer Bushfires in 2020, which saw 500 homes in the council area lost, a similar plea was made that resulted in more than 80 holiday properties put up for rent.

Cr Hatcher said if people could repeat that generosity it would significantly help the situation.

Mr Hatcher said he wants to avoid introducing regulations on the number of days homes can be leased for short-term stays, which is being pursued in Byron Bay, because the council wants to encourage tourism.

Eurobdalla Shire Council Mayor Mathew Hatcher (pictured) has written to holiday-home owners pleading with them to rent out their properties for one to two years

He said trying to balance accommodating holidaymakers, which are vital for the economy, as well as finding homes for locals has placed officials in a 'sticky spot'.

However, he said some businesses are even struggling to find staff to move to the area because of the lack of available properties.

'I'm hoping this letter will bring about enough supply so that we don't have to go to the next level,' he said.

The call out comes as more than 50 people brace the winter cold in tents and caravans at a campground near Moruya as they struggle to find homes.

Moruya real estate agent Samantha Sheather said rental properties were scarce and permanent tenants would be better business sense for landlords who typically lease their holiday homes as short-stay accommodation.

Dozens of people struggling with homelessness have been living in campsites along the NSW South Coast. Pictured: A campsite at Moruya North Head

However, she said many potential landlords were hesitant because of rules introduced during the pandemic that make it more difficult to evict people unable to pay rent.

The nation is experiencing its worst rental crisis on record, with Australian Bureau of Statistics data revealing there are 577,000 vacant residential properties across Australia.

Property expert Michael Matusik believes there should be new tax measures put in place to 'incentivise or penalise' owners to release the homes for rent.

'Around 29 per cent of investment properties are not rented out. They are sitting there vacant,' Mr Matusik told the Courier Mail.
A British former Nato chief said last night there will 'never be peace in Europe' while Vladimir Putin remains in charge of Russia and called for 'massive rearmament' in the West.

Speaking at the Chalke Valley History Festival, which is sponsored by the Daily Mail, General Sir Richard Shirreff said Western armed forces  including those of Britain  had been 'cut to ribbons' as a result of 'successive complacent thinking' in the past 15 years.

General Sir Richard, who was the deputy supreme commander of Nato when Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014, likened the current situation to the months leading up to the Second World War and said Western nations have to push for the 'defeat of Putinism' and the 'defeat of the Putin regime'.

This will require 'massive rearmament', he added, but warned that the Russian president has to leave office to avoid further conflict.

'There will never be peace in Europe while Putin is in the Kremlin or while the Putin regime is in the Kremlin. We are now back where many of your fathers, my father, my mother were in 1938,' he said.

'And many of your grandparents were in 1938. We are facing a blood-stained autocrat in the Kremlin who has brought the politics of iron and blood back to Europe, inflicted unspeakable suffering on a democratic peaceful neighbour in order to satisfy his political ends.'

The retired general was speaking ahead of next week's meeting of Nato members in Madrid, where Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky will address leaders.

General Sir Richard's criticism of defence cuts in recent years come as the Army is set to make further cutbacks which could see troop numbers fall to 73,000.

The plans were outlined as part of a defence review last year and were criticised in April by the then chief of the Army, General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith  who has since been replaced by General Sir Patrick Sanders.

General Sir Richard Shirreff, Nato's former deputy supreme commander, said last night there will 'never be peace in Europe' while Vladimir Putin remains in charge of Russia and called for 'massive rearmament' in Western nations to combat the invasion of Ukraine

General Sir Richard was speaking yesterday after the publication of his 2016 book War With Russia: A Menacing Account.

He warned in the tome that Russia would invade Ukraine and then focus on states in Eastern Europe. His claims were savaged by figures including the then Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.

Addressing a huge outdoor audience at Chalke Valley, near Salisbury, General Sir Richard said the 2014 invasion of Crimea  which he said fell 'like a ripe plum into Putin's hands  should have been the 'strategic wake-up call' that Western nations needed about Putin's intentions.

He said it gave the Russian president a 'clear run' that led up to his invasion of the whole of Ukraine in February.

General Sir Richard praised the effectiveness of Ukrainian forces in defending their country from Russia's attacks, but warned that their current losses  which he put at up to 200 soldiers killed in action each day  are unsustainable.

General Sir Richard branded Putin a 'blood-stained autocrat' who has brought 'the politics of iron and blood back to Europe'. Above: Putin with Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu this week

US warns Russia that its support for Lithuania is 'ironclad' after Moscow threatened 'serious repercussions' for Kaliningrad blockade The United States said this week its support for Lithuania is 'ironclad' and that any attack on the country would 'constitute an attack on all NATO members'. It comes after Moscow threatened its neighbour with 'serious repercussions' for blocking EU-sanctioned goods from reaching the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. 'We stand by our NATO allies and we stand by Lithuania,' US State Department spokesman Ned Price said. 'Specifically our commitment to NATO's Article Five - the premise that an attack on one would constitute an attack on all - that commitment on the part of the United States is ironclad,' he said. Russia has vowed to retaliate against Lithuania with measures that 'will have a serious negative impact on the Lithuanian population' after the country blocked coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov hit back and warned the West to stop talking about triggering NATO's Article 5 mutual defence clause in a standoff between Lithuania and Russia. 'I would like to warn Europeans against dangerous rhetorical games on the topic of conflict,' the Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying on Wednesday. The Kremlin meanwhile said that the EU sanctions that led Lithuania to block the transit of some goods to Kaliningrad were 'absolutely unacceptable', and that Moscow was working on retaliatory measures. Lithuania has shut the route to steel and other ferrous metals, which it says it is required to do under EU sanctions that took effect on Saturday, imposed in response to Russia's decision to send its armed forces into Ukraine. Kaliningrad is connected to the rest of Russia by a rail link through Lithuania, a member of the EU and NATO. Advertisement

He said in a 'worst case' scenario  which he put at a five per cent chance of happening  Ukraine's morale would break and Putin's forces would successfully take Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.

But he said that with further Western support, Ukraine can push Russian forces back.

'If we can help the Ukrainians fight clever, fight manoeuvrist, and build up that capability, then I am absolutely certain that the Ukrainians, over time, will push the Russians back to the line of the 24th of February in the Donbass.

'And that will be defeat for Putin because that is humiliation and it is the end of his attempt, his so-called special military operation.'

He said the country needs to be provided with 'long-range artillery', other offensive weapons and aircraft that Western nations have so far failed to provide.

But he warned that stocks of equipment in Britain have been 'massively' depleted in recent years, meaning further provision is a 'real challenge'.

His warning came on the back of armed forces chief Admiral Sir Tony Radakin's comments this month that Britain's lack of industrial capacity means that topping up supplies of weapons given to Ukraine  such as N-Laws and Brimstone missiles  would take 'several years'.

General Sir Richard, who stepped down from his Nato post in March 2014, also warned that the risk of Putin resorting to the use of nuclear or chemical weapons is 'real' and 'severe'.

'This is deterrence as we practicsed it and as we resourced it in the Cold War. But this time it is more dangerous than any period of the Cold War.

'And that means ramping up our military capability.

'It means a fundamental change of mindset in not only this country but every state in Nato, that accepts we have to be ready for the worst case and accepts the sacrifices which being ready for war means,' he added.

He also welcomed General Sir Patrick's warning last week that the British Army now has to be ready to fight and beat Putin's forces in a European land war.

'But to get there the challenges are massive. In economic terms, in financial terms and in psychological terms in a society conditioned by the years of peace,' he said.

'So as we sit here under glorious June sunshine, I can't help thinking going back to that equally glorious June weather of June 1914, before the fateful shots were fired in Sarajevo.

'And thinking are we now about to see the end of our long Elizabethan peace and be plunged into a war and a catastrophe? The answer is not if we are prepared to muscle up and do what needs to be done.'

His comments come after Ukraine claimed a 'significant' victory against Putin's Black Sea forces by pounding the Russian garrison on the strategically important Snake Island.

The southern operational command said it had 'aimed strikes with the use of various forces' on the island, causing major losses to Kremlin troops.

Speaking at the Chalke Valley History Festival, which is sponsored by the Daily Mail, General Sir Richard Shirreff said Western armed forces  including those of Britain  had been 'cut to ribbons' as a result of 'successive complacent thinking' in the past 15 years. Above: British troops boarding a plane to eastern Europe in April to combat Russian aggression in the region

A residential building that was damaged during a Russian attack this week in Hostomel, the town northwest of Ukraine

Satellite images show the damage wrought by Kyiv forces, with burning vegetation and a tower destroyed in the fight for the island.

The Russian Pantsir anti-aircraft system, a radar station and vehicles were all damaged in the attacks on the island which has been a major battleground throughout the war.

British intelligence said this week that pro-Russian forces in Donetsk have lost 55 per cent of their troops.

The Ministry of Defence said Russia's outdated weapons and equipment have hampered their success, and the Kremlin will now have to deploy reserve units to the Donbas to make up for the losses.
A Rolex watch that survived the real-life Great Escape has been sold for 155,000.

A timekeeper with a waterproof case and Radium-filled hands that let it be seen in the dark, it is thought the watch played a key part in the daring escape.

It was owned by Flight Lieutenant Gerald Imeson, who was imprisoned in the Axis-controlled prisoner of war camp Stalag Luft III after his Wellington bomber made an emergency landing off the coast of Belgium.

During the escape attempt that inspired the 1963 film he worked on the project as a 'penguin' - named after the oversized coat worn when bringing dirt from the tunnels and sprinkling it across the camp.

Imeson was 172nd in the queue and was not among the 77 who managed to leave the camp.

Flight Lieutenant Gerald Imeson, pictured during the 1980s with his wife Lesley, was a prisoner of war at the Stalag Luft III camp and was involved in the famous escape attempt

The Wellington Bomber pilot was allowed to buy the Rolex, pictured, from the Swiss firm and repay the company at the end of the war

The historic watch was sold at auction by Christie's, who cited the time piece's involvement in the daring escape from the camp

Imeson, pictured in his flying gear in 1941, was involved in digging the tunnels out of the Nazi prison camp

Only three escaped with their freedom, with fewer than half of those who were recaptured surviving the repercussions.

Adam Victor, Senior Watches Consultant at Christie's, said: 'Christie's is honoured to bring this incredible watch to market today.

'The opportunity to own an exceptionally rare and beautiful Rolex is worth noting, but the opportunity to own a watch with the extraordinary provenance of this particular 3525 is virtually unheard of.'

The film, based on the attempted escape from Stalag Luft III, was released in 1963 and starred Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson and James Garner.

After the war Flight Lieutenant Imeson returned to his wife Lesley and to his job with the Air Ministry.

He had four children, nine grandchildren and treasured his watch until his death in 2003 at 85 years old.

Military issued watches were often seized by prison guards who thought they may contain compasses or something useful for escaping.

But because of the respect between airmen, the Luftwaffe allowed officers to take advantage of an offer from Hans Wilsdorf, the owner of Rolex, who allowed British officers to buy watches on credit.

The watch was often received alongside a hand-written letter telling them to 'not even think about payment' until the war had been won

It is likely, with its glow in the dark hands, that this watch was a key figure in the famed escape

The watch was often received alongside a hand-written letter telling them to 'not even think about payment' until the war had been won.

Imeson requested a top of the line model Oyster Chronograph - unusual for the time as most asked just for one of the more modest watches from the company's Switzerland HQ.

But Christie's note that the escape would have needed a precise and reliable timing device to calculate how long it would take for men to crawl through the tunnel and work out the exact movements of the guard.

It is likely, with its glow in the dark hands, that this watch was a key figure in the famed escape.

The watch comes with a pin and membership card to the 'Goldfish Club' - a name for airmen who had to make a water evacuation.

Imeson survived the unsuccessful escape attempt and the repercussions on those involved.

The watch was often received alongside a hand-written letter telling them to 'not even think about payment' until the war had been won

The watch comes with a pin and membership card to the 'Goldfish Club' - a name for airmen who had to make a water evacuation

The watch was on his wrist as he was forced to march deeper into German territory as Allied powers advanced and when he was finally liberated at the end of the war in 1945.

Christie's added: 'It carries with it a tale of perseverance and survival in the face of immeasurable hardship.

'Telling the story of one man who experienced the entirety of the Second World War, this watch is a testament to the strength of an individual resisting and fighting in the throes of a collective horror.

'Its historical importance is as invaluable as the strength which carried him throughout those years.'
The British fighters sentenced to death by Vladimir Putin's men in eastern Ukraine are appealing their sentence, a lawyer acting for one of the Britons confirmed.

Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, face being shot by a firing squad after being convicted of attempting 'a violent seizure of power' in an internationally unrecognised court in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic.

The pair were captured in the besieged city of Mariupol in April after their Ukrainian army unit surrendered after battling the Russian army for 48 days.

Lawyer Yulia Tserkovnikova, appointed by the Donetsk court to represent Pinner, said: 'My colleagues and I are working on the text of the appeal in the interests of our clients.

'If the appeal is rejected and the verdict comes into force, a request for pardon will be filed because it is the inalienable right of our clients based on the laws of the Donetsk People's Republic. It must not be violated and they strongly insist on using it.'

But the rebel official Denis Pushilin, who would hear a pardon plea, has already said he sees no grounds to grant it.

British war prisoners Aiden Aslin (left) and Shaun Pinner (centre) were sentenced to death penalty by Donetsk court on June 9. A Moroccan man, right, also received the same sentence

Aiden Aslin, 28, (left) and Shaun Pinner, 48, (right) face being shot by a firing squad after being convicted for being 'mercenaries' in an internationally unrecognised court in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic.

Yulia Tserkovnikova, lawyer of Shaun Pinner

It is unclear why it has taken two weeks to announce an appeal, though the hopes of any change in the verdict are seen as all but non-existent.

An appeal hearing is expected in around a fortnight.

Aslin, from Nottinghamshire, and Pinner, from Bedfordshire, were on 9 June convicted to death alongside Moroccan Sadun Brahim, 21, after all three surrendered alongside Ukrainian forces to pro-Putin fighters in Mariupol.

Another British detainee Andrew Hill, 35, a father of four from Plymouth, has also been warned to expect the death penalty when his verdict is separately handed down.

Tserkovnikova said that Pinner had been crushed by the death sentence verdict.

'He changed just before our eyes,' she said. 'He instantly became 20 years older.

'All three of them understood that punishment awaited them.

'They understood that punishment was inevitable for the crimes they had committed, but it seems to me that they did not expect capital punishment. Of course, it was a shock for them.'

But the rebel official Denis Pushilin, who would hear a pardon plea, has already said he sees no grounds to grant it. Pictured: Pushilin attends the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on June 16

Aslin is pictured with facial lacerations and bruises after being captured

British foreign secretary Liz Truss called the sentences 'a sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy', but the Government has thus far refused to intervene directly to prevent the sentence.

Truss has argued that a British governmental intervention could be seen to legitimise pro-Russian claims that Aslin and Pinner are 'mercenaries', despite them being paid members of the Ukrainian army with Ukrainian wives.

Tserkovnikova echoed Russian and DPR officials and commentators in criticising the British government for not doing more to seek clemency or their release, possibly as part of a swap.

She said that 'if the British authorities have such an intention [to change the verdict], I know only from the media'.

Tserkovnikova added: 'This seems a very bad position for British representatives to publicly put on a show in the media and talk about protecting the rights of their citizen.

'No-one prevents the British authorities from going out directly and applying to the state authorities of the DPR, in some way at least inquire about the fate of their subject officially, and not make loud statements in the air in the media.'

The British government says its citizens were regular soldiers and should be exempt under the Geneva Conventions from prosecution for participation in hostilities.

Truss said she believes the best way to resolve the situation is via the Ukrainians, and has held talks with Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba on the topic.

A Kremlin official meanwhile claimed British authorities did appeal for help in relation to the cases of Aslin and Pinner, but the note was ignored.

'There was an approach by the British to us - they sent us a note but the note was so full of such arrogant and didactic expressions that it really didn't produce any desire in us to cooperate in these questions,' Ambassador Andrei Kelin told Russian state television.

'They need to approach the DPR - our recommendation remains the same,' Kelin said.

Russian ambassador Andrei Kelin (right) meanwhile claimed British authorities did appeal for help in relation to the cases of Aslin and Pinner, but the note was ignored

Though Russia does not carry out the death penalty, the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, whose independence is recognised only by Moscow, have it on their statute books.

Aslin has reportedly told his he has been informed that 'time is running out' and that his execution will be carried out imminently.

Aslin's grandmother Pamela Hall told the BBC: 'Aiden was extremely upset when he called his mother this morning. The bottom line is Aiden has said the DPR has told him nobody from the UK has made contact, and that he will be executed.

'There are no words... it's got to be everyone's worst nightmare to have your family threatened in this way.

'I have to believe what Aiden has said to us, that if the DPR don't get some response then they will execute him. Obviously, I hope that isn't true.'

It is unknown whether Pinner has received the same chilling statement from his captors.

'I have cried buckets over this, but crying doesn't help, I want do so something but I don't know what to do,' Ms Hall said of her grandson's predicament.

'After Aiden's call this morning what am I supposed to think? I don't want to lose heart but it's very hard.'

A protest rally is being planned in support of Mr Aslin by the Ukrainian community in his home town of Newark this weekend to urge the government to step in on his behalf.

The leader of the DPR meanwhile claimed last week that the UK does not care about its citizens because it has not yet intervened in Aslin and Pinner's executions.

Pushilin said the pair will be executed by firing squad for participating in the war as 'mercenaries'.

Pushilin, who is a prominent MP in Russian President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, says Britain has not pushed for their release, thereby showing disdain for its own people.

'There has been no contact from the British authorities,' he told Russian state-controlled news outlet RIA Novosti.

'It's my impression that they have a don't-care attitude to their citizens, despite all their grandiose statements about how they are looking after their citizens.'

British citizen Aiden Aslin, 28, stands behind bars in a courtroom in Donetsk

British national Shaun Pinner, 48, is pictured in a cage in a Donetsk courtroom where he was handed a death sentence

Shaun Pinner, pictured with wife Larysa, now faces execution by firing squad after surrendering to Russian forces in Ukraine

Denis Pushilin, the leader of the Donetsk People's Republic controlled by Russia-backed separatists, gestures speaking to foreign journalists in an area of the Mariupol Sea Port, close to where Aslin and Pinner were taken prisoner

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov recently told reporters in a conference call that London had not contacted Moscow about the issue.

He said: 'Of course, everything will depend on the appeal from London, and I am sure that the Russian side will be ready to consider it.'

But Britain has so far declined publicly to raise the issue with authorities in the DPR, with Truss warning that if British authorities were to intervene directly it could be seen to validate Russian claims the detainees are mercenaries.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has intervened in the case of a Moroccan man sentenced to death alongside Aslin and Pinner.

The Strasbourg-based court will indicate to the Russian government that it should ensure the death penalty imposed on Brahim Saadoune is not carried out.

Saadoune was sentenced to death in the same hearing as the Brits, with whom he shared a cage in the courtroom.

It is not known whether Pinner or Aslin have made requests to the ECtHR.
Ukraine will today hold a preliminary hearing in its first trial of a Russian commander charged with raping a Ukrainian mother during Russia's invasion, the first of what could be dozens of such cases.

Mikhail Romanov, 32, who is not in Ukrainian custody and will be tried in absentia, is accused of gang-raping a 33-year-old woman repeatedly whilst her four-year-old son hid crying in a boiler room - just moments after the soldier shot dead her husband.

Romanov and another Russian soldier came to the family's home in a small village near Kyiv after dark on March 9 and shot dead the woman's husband Oleksiy, 33, at point blank range in the front yard, according to court documents.

Vladimir Putin's men then gang-raped the victim's wife repeatedly before leaving the family home - only to return twice more to rape her again, the court files said. The identity of the second solider has not yet been established.

Mikhail Romanov, 32, who is not in Ukrainian custody and will be tried in absentia, is accused of gang-raping a 33-year-old woman repeatedly whilst her four-year-old son hid crying in a boiler room - just moments after the soldier shot dead her husband

Natalya, 33, whose name has been changed, has described hearing footsteps in the house after hearing the gun shots that killed her husband and seeing the Russian commander - who identified himself as Romanov - and a younger soldier dressed in black.

Natalya shouted to her four-year-old son Oleksii, whose name has also been changed, to stay hidden in the boiler room, where the family had been sheltering from the shelling in their home in the village of Bohdanivka to the northeast of Kyiv.

The mother told The Times the younger soldier pointed a gun to her head and spat: 'You'd better shut up or I'll get your child and show him his mother's brains spread around the house.'

Natalya was then raped over several hours by the two soldiers whilst a gun was pointed to her head, and she could hear her son sobbing in the boiler room.

'[The younger soldier] told me to take my clothes off. Then they both raped me, one after the other,' Natalya told the newspaper. 'They didn't care that my son was in the boiler room crying.

'They told me to go shut him up and come back. All the time they held the gun to my head and taunted me, saying: "How do you think she sucks it? Shall we kill her or keep her alive?"'

Romanov (pictured) and another Russian soldier came to the family's home in a small village near Kyiv after dark on March 9 and shot dead the woman's husband Oleksiy, 33, at point blank range in the front yard, according to court documents

After hours of the Russian soldiers taking it in turns to rape Natalya, the men left but within 20 minutes they returned and raped her again.

The soldiers came back to the family's home for a third time to rape Natalya, but this time they were so intoxicated that they were stumbling.

They eventually fell asleep, giving Natalya time to run to her son, who was huddled inside the dark boiler room, and flee their home.

'While I was opening the gate my son was standing next to his father's body but it was dark and he did not understand it was his father,' Natalya recalled. 'He said: "Will we get shot the same as this man here?"'

Natalya, who has since fled to the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil with her son, said the four-year-old still does not know his father has died, and she can't bare to tell him just yet. The little boy still asks to buy doughnuts for his father when they go to the shops.

Russia's Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a written request for comment, and Reuters was unable to reach Romanov. Moscow has denied allegations of war crimes.

It was not immediately clear what kind of legal representation Romanov would have at the trial, which will be held behind closed doors.

Young women walk in front of a residential building that was damaged during the Russian attack, in Borodyanka, Kyiv region, Ukraine, on Tuesday (file image)

A prosecutor working on sexual violence cases said that up to 50 such crimes were being investigated, but that the number of instances of sexual violence by Russian soldiers since Feb. 24 was likely to be substantially higher.

Officials, activists and doctors have said that many survivors are afraid or unwilling to come forward to the police and prosecutors with their cases, for fear of reprisals from Russia and stigma from their Ukrainian neighbors.

A spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's office said that a prosecutor might comment about the trial publicly after Thursday's hearing.

Ukraine says it is investigating thousands of potential war crimes committed during the Russian invasion, which began on February 24. Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova told Reuters that many of the suspects are in Russia but that some have been taken captive by Ukraine as prisoners of war.
Germany says gas is 'now a scarce commodity' and has raised the alert level to 'alarm' under its emergency plan due to dwindling supplies from Russia.

Triggering phase two brings Germany a step closer to the third and final stage that could see gas rationing in Europe's top economy.

'Gas is now a scarce commodity in Germany,' Economy Minister Robert Habeck told reporters, as he declared a national 'crisis'.

Germany activated the second phase of its three-stage emergency plan for natural gas supplies saying the country faces a 'crisis'

Economy Minister Robert Habeck (pictured today) said Russia was using gas 'as a weapon' against Germany

Russia was using gas 'as a weapon' against Germany in retaliation for the West's support for Ukraine following Moscow's invasion, Habeck said.

'It is obviously Putin's strategy to create insecurity, drive up prices and divide us as a society,' he added. 'This is what we are fighting against.'

Germany, like a number of other European countries, is highly reliant on Russian energy imports to meet its needs.

Russian energy giant Gazprom last week significantly reduced supplies via the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany by 60 percent due to what the company said was a delayed repair.

While gas storage facilities are currently filled to 58 per cent capacity in Germany  higher than at this time last year  the goal of reaching 90 per cent by December won't be achievable without further measures.

A Uniper coal-fired power plant and a BP refinery steam are seen beside a wind generator in Gelsenkirchen

The second 'alarm' level under the government's emergency plan reflected a 'significant deterioration of the gas supply situation', Habeck said.

At the 'alarm' level, Germany is still considered to be in a position to 'manage' the situation for the time being.

Habeck said that households 'can make a difference' by saving energy, as Germany launches a campaign to encourage gas saving measures.

Germany has managed to reduce the share of its natural gas supplied by Russia from 55 per cent before the invasion to around 35 per cent.

Europe's largest economy has also sought new sources of supply, and accelerated plans to import gas into the country by sea in the form of LNG.

In Germany's second stage, the market is still able to function without the need for state intervention that would kick in the final emergency stage.

'We have seen some serious cuts already,' a gas trader in Europe said. 'The system is still coping, but there's not much left,' he said.

Germany, like a number of other European countries, is highly reliant on Russian energy imports to meet its needs

Nord Stream 1 is due to undergo maintenance on July 11-21 when flows will stop.

Russia may cut off gas to Europe entirely to bolster its political leverage, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday, adding Europe needed to prepare now.

Russian gas flows to Europe via Nord Stream 1 and through Ukraine were stable on Thursday, while reverse flows on the Yamal pipeline edged up, operator data showed.

Several European countries have outlined measures to withstand a supply squeeze and avert winter energy shortages and an inflation spike that could test the continent's resolve to maintain sanctions on Russia.

The supply cuts have also driven German companies to contemplate painful production cuts and resorting to polluting forms of energy previously considered unthinkable as they adjust to the prospect of running out of Russian gas.

The European Union on Wednesday signalled it would temporarily turn to coal to plug energy shortfalls, while describing Moscow's gas supply cuts as 'rogue moves.'

The bloc's climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said on Thursday that 10 of the EU's 27 member countries have issued an 'early warning' on gas supply - the first and least severe of three crisis levels identified in EU energy security regulations.

'The risk of full gas disruption is now more real than ever before,' he said.
Britons are in a race against time to spend paper 20 and 50 notes - because shops will stop accepting them in 100 days and they will become worthless.

The paper bills have been swapped for plastic-like polymer versions over the past two years to improve security.

The Bank of England will be withdrawing legal tender status of paper 20 and 50 banknotes after 30 September, 2022.

OLD: A stack of the old 20 notes that shoppers are being encouraged to swap for the new plastic version

NEW: A new 50-pound banknote, featuring the image of World War II code breaker Alan Turing

But there are still up to 14.5bn worth in circulation in Britain - adding up to about 477 million of Britain's last remaining banknotes printed on paper.

There are more than 6 billion worth of paper 20 notes featuring an image of the esteemed economist Adam Smith and over 8 billion worth of paper 50 banknotes featuring the engineers Boulton and Watt, in circulation.

That's more than 300 million individual 20 banknotes, and 160 million paper 50 banknotes.

ADDED SECURITY FEATURES ON THE POLYMER 20 NOTES - A large see-through window with a blue and gold foil on the front depicting Margate lighthouse and Turner Contemporary. - A smaller see-through window in the bottom corner of the note, inspired by Tintern Abbey. - Turner's self-portrait, painted in around 1799 which is on display in Tate Britain. - A metallic hologram which changes between the word 'Twenty' and 'Pounds' when the note is tilted. - The Queen's portrait in the see-through window with '20 Bank of England' printed twice around the edge. - A silver foil patch with a 3D image of the coronation crown. - A purple foil patch containing the letter 'T' and based on the staircase at the Tate Britain. Advertisement

That number is down from just 4.5bn in circulation reported in March this year.

The Bank of England's chief cashier Sarah John said: 'Changing our banknotes from paper to polymer over recent years has been an important development, because it makes them more difficult to counterfeit, and means they are more durable.

'The majority of paper banknotes have now been taken out of circulation, but a significant number remain in the economy, so we're asking you to check if you have any at home.

'For the next 100 days, these can still be used or deposited at your bank in the normal way.'

When the plastic notes were first brought in with the newest iteration of the 5 note, drug users claimed the note was cutting their noses when they snort cocaine.

The 'indestructible' polymer notes are difficult to tear and can survive being put through the washing machine and other spills.

The banknotes are resistant to dirt and moisture, helping it to stay in better condition for longer and it is hoped each note will last up to three times longer than the previous paper versions.

The Bank has wrung in the changes to its iconography in recent years, including a redesign of their logo.

It overhauled its 328-year-old logo of Britannia in an effort to become more 'inclusive', relieving her of her money in the process.

The seal, which shows the female personification of the British Isles, has been redesigned, with the Bank saying it wanted it to 'reflect our current mission and values'.

The Bank has played up its 'woke' credentials in recent years, proudly declaring itself a Stonewall Diversity Champion, after joining a scheme run by the controversial charity.

The old 5 and 10 paper notes have already been discontinued

The Bank has wrung in the changes to its iconography in recent years, including a redesign of their logo

The charity has recently been dropped by partners such as the BBC, House of Lords and Cabinet Office over concerns it could pressure employers to change their policies to reflect its agenda on trans rights.

The Bank, which has not revealed the cost, says it has also made changes to its website to make it easier for people to read.

While the entire logo hasn't been changed, there are a number of obvious differences between the new and the old.
A Second World War diary has helped researchers finally piece together the identity of the British spy known only as Agent Mullet.

The diary, written by a Belgian woman named Irene Thornton on a dairy farm near Bristol, records the movements of her husband's nephew Ronald Thornton, who researchers now believe was the British double agent.

Agent Mullet famously passed on disinformation about British invasion plans to the Nazi regime, thwarting German intelligence and buying the Allies more time to prepare.

Historian Andrew Drake believes Thornton and Mullet are one and the same based on details from the diary, which matches MI5 information about Mullet's background.

Mr Drake also tracked down Thornton's grandson Alan Thornton, living in London, who heard stories about his grandfather's heroics as a child.

Alan said: '[My grandfather] told my dad about some of his wartime capers, but that was all just word of mouth.

'I've scanned over some of the extensive files related to Mullet and many details tie in exactly with what my dad told me, as well as my dad's accounts of escaping Belgium and a journey to Lisbon, so we're 100 per cent sure.

'It was nice to finally pin down Ronald's code name and to learn that all the second hand information turned out to be backed up by the files.'

Ronald Thornton, now identified as the true Agent Mullet (pictured right), with his children in England after fleeing the Nazi regime

Debra Britton, 65, with the historic diary at her home in Backwell, Bristol

The diary, written in a mixture of English and French, was penned by Belgian-born Irene Thornton, whose husband Michael was Ronald Thornton's uncle

Irene and Michael Thornton, pictured outside their home in Coombe Dingle near Bristol in the 1940s

The diary, written in both English and French, was written by Belgian-born Irene Thornton, who lived in Coombe Dingle near Bristol.

Mrs Thornton moved to Britain with her English husband Michael in the 1930s to escape the Nazis.

Agent Mullet identified after 80 years: Who was Ronald Thornton? Belgian-born Ronald Thornton has been identified as Agent Mullet Ronald Thornton was born in Belgium in 1907 to an English father and a Belgian mother. His European background and knowledge of languages is likely to have contributed to his success as a double agent. Fellow agent Puppet encountered Mullet in Lisbon and recorded his mixed parentage. Thornton and his family moved to Britain to escape the Nazis and he is believed to have been recruited by MI-5 soon afterwards. After the war, Ronald Thornton opted not to go back to Belgium over fears for his safety. Some of his colleagues were wrongly accused of being collaborators by the Belgian resistance and were murdered on their return. Thornton settled in south London and worked as an insurance broker. He died in 1969 aged 62. Advertisement

Stunned Debra Britton, 65, inherited the diary from her grandmother Florence Gearing, who was the Thorntons' housekeeper and was entrusted with the diary after the war.

The diary records details of Irene's life in the countryside.

Mullet assisted fellow agents Puppet and Hamlet to pass disinformation about British invasion plans back to the Nazis.

They were all 'double cross' agents - the Nazis believed that they were loyal to them but actually they were working for the British.

The MI-5 files are heavily redacted - meaning finding the real people behind the code names has always been a challenge.

But experts say the diary has helped them find Ronald's surviving family - who were able to provide details of his movements during the war.

Researchers say the new information confirms he was Mullet.

Care advisor Mrs Britton said: 'I remember my dad showing the diary to me when he was reminiscing about the war.

'He told me to look after it as it was local and family history.

'It has always been in this house - just placed on his bookshelf with hundreds of others and it remained in the family home until my parents passed away.'

Mr Britton described the diary as 'a day-by-day account of the 1941 Bristol blitz air raid', which depicts a 'very different war to what most were living'.

On January 2, 1940, Irene wrote: 'It snowed. Coombe Dingle is marvellous under its white coat.

'This morning, 6am - alert followed by all clear. Then 7am, new alert and all clear at 8am*. 6.50pm air raid warning, spent the evening in our shelter.

'A quantity of Jerrys passing above us and some serious rounds of gunfire.'

Extracts of Irene's diary were published online as part of the Sea Mills 100 project's website to mark VE Day.

They caught the interest of independent researcher Andrew Drake.

Andrew had found released MI-5 files at the National Archives in Kew which detailed the activities of Mullet, Puppet and Hamlet.

In them, Mullet is described as 'a British subject born [redacted] in Belgium, of a [redacted] father and a [redacted] mother.

Experts say the diary has helped them find Ronald's surviving family - who were able to provide details of his movements during the war

Mrs Britton's grandparents Florence and Harold Gearing during the war. Florence was the Thorntons' housekeeper and was entrusted with the diary by a widowed Irene Thorton in 1945 before she moved back to Belgium

Mrs Britton described the diary as 'a day-by-day account of the 1941 Bristol blitz air raid', which depicts a 'very different war to what most were living'

Extracts of Irene's diary were published online as part of the Sea Mills 100 project's website to mark VE Day, where it caught the interest of independent researcher Andrew Drake

'He was educated in Belgium and in Paris, and has been in business (principally [redacted]) in Belgium most of his life.

'He is in many ways more Belgium than English and his wife, [redacted] is a member of a well-known Belgium family.'

Having read about the diary on the Sea Mills 100 website, Mr Drake looked for family members whose movements matched those of Mullet before settling on Ronald Thornton.

Eric Thornton ran a shipping business in Bristol - E Thornton and Son Ltd.

He died in 1945, and his wife, who was 22 years his junior, entrusted her diary with their housekeeper and moved back to Belgium. She remarried and lived until 1981.

Ronald Thornton, who died in 1969, could not return to Belgium after the war.

Having read about the diary on the Sea Mills 100 website, Mr Drake looked for family members whose movements matched those of Mullet before settling on Ronald Thornton

Researchers say the new information confirms Ronald Thornton was Agent Mullet

Care advisor Mrs Britton said: 'I remember my dad showing the diary to me when he was reminiscing about the war. He told me to look after it as it was local and family history'

The National Archives and 'selected Historical Papers relating to MULLET: British' from 1943 state:

'MULLET worked pre-war in Brussels.

'Having escaped to Lisbon via France he was cultivated by HAMLET (see KV/2/327), who purported to represent anti-Hitler Germans who wished to establish contact with the British Authorities.

'In fact, as is confirmed by ISOS traffic, HAMLET appointed MULLET as his commercial representative in Great Britain, assisted by PUPPET (see KV/2/329).

'MULLET and PUPPET provided commercial cover for secret writing correspondence between 'agents' in Great Britain and HAMLET in Lisbon until 1944 when the Abwehr lost interest in the case. PUPPET's material included British disinformation concerning, among other things, the invasion plans.'
Ukraine has been made a candidate for European Union membership in a bid to show support for the nation in the face of Russian invasion.

The move sets in motion a potentially years long process which could bind the nation, which applied for EU membership less than a week after Russia invaded on February 24, more closely to the West.

The decision by the leaders of the 27-nation bloc to grant candidate status was fast-tracked due to the urgency of the ongoing situation.

Candidate status was also granted to Moldova, which borders Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted his gratitude and declared: 'Ukraine's future is within the EU.'

'It's a victory. We have been waiting for 120 days and 30 years,' he said on Instagram, referring to the duration of the war and the decades since Ukraine became independent upon the breakup of the Soviet Union. 'And now we will defeat the enemy.'

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pronounced it a 'good day for Europe.'

France's President Emmanuel Macron said the move sent a 'very strong signal' to the Kremlin that the EU backs the pro-Western aspirations of Ukraine.

'We owe it to the Ukrainian people who are fighting to defend our values, their sovereignty, their territorial integrity,' he said.

There was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pronounced it a 'good day for Europe.'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted his gratitude and declared: 'Ukraine's future is within the EU'

France's President Emmanuel Macron said the move sent a 'very strong signal' to the Kremlin that the EU backs the pro-Western aspirations of Ukraine

To gain membership, countries are required to meet several economic and politic conditions, which includes a commitment to the rule of law and other democratic principles.

Officials have said the country has already adopted around 70 per cent of the EU rules and standards, but have said there is a need for deep political and economic reforms in the country.

'Considerable efforts will be needed, especially in the fight against corruption and the establishment of an effective rule of law,' Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said.

'But I am convinced that it is precisely the (postwar) reconstruction of Ukraine that will provide opportunities to take important steps forward.'

Previously, some countries which have been granted membership to the EU have waited several years for the process to be complete.

Turkey applied for membership in 1987 and only received candidate status in 1999.

The country had to wait a further six years until 2005 to start talks for actual entry.

The move sets in motion a potentially years long process which could bind the nation more closely to the West

The EU's leaders also agreed Thursday to recognize a 'European perspective' for yet another former Soviet republic, Georgia. European Council President Charles Michel said the EU will be ready to approve its candidate status once 'outstanding priorities' are addressed

Protesters gathered outside the EU Summit in Brussels in support of Ukraine

Protestors wore Ukrainian colours in a bid to show support to the nation



Only one of more than 30 negotiating 'chapters' has been completed in the years since and the process is now at a standstill as a result of various disputes between the EU and Turkey.

Several Balkan countries have also sought to join without success.

Diplomats predicted a positive outcome ahead of the EU summit in Brussels.

'It will strengthen Ukraine, it will strengthen Europe', European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said ahead of the announcement.

'It is a decision for freedom and democracy and puts us on the right side of history.'

Candidate status does not give Ukraine an automatic right to join the EU and does not provide any immediate security.

But once a country becomes a member, it is covered under an EU treaty clause which states that other countries in the union are obligated to assist.

The main benefits of EU membership to Ukraine will be economic. By joining, it gains access to a market of 450 million consumers with free movement of labour, goods, services and capital.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had been conducting a 'telephone marathon' on his country's behalf in the run-up to the meeting, making his case to 11 European leaders on Wednesday alone.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, center, and French President Emmanuel Macron, right, speak with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the summit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured with Europen Commission President Ursula von der Leyen) said he had been conducting a 'telephone marathon' on his country's behalf

European Council President Charles Michel was present at the summit to discuss Ukraine's acceptance into the European Union

'We are preparing for the historic decision of the European Council. There are only a few hours remaining before it,' he said in his daily address.

The EU nations have openly backed Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion, supplying funds and weapons and adopting unprecedented economic sanctions against the Kremlin.

On the ground in eastern Ukraine's Donbas, massive Russian bombardments are making life 'hell', Kyiv said Wednesday, while insisting its soldiers would hold on 'as long as necessary'.

Moscow's troops have been pummelling the battleground Lugansk region and the strategically important city of Severodonetsk for weeks and are slowly advancing, despite fierce resistance from the outgunned Ukrainian military.

With President Vladimir Putin's forces tightening their grip on Severodonetsk, its twin city of Lysychansk - located just across the Donets river - is now coming under heavier bombardment.

Taking the two cities would give Moscow control of the whole of Lugansk, allowing Russia to press further into Donbas.

President Zelensky on Wednesday again pressed for the rapid supply of arms from Western allies, having earlier accused the Russian army of 'brutal and cynical' shelling in the eastern Kharkiv region, where the governor said 15 people had been killed in a day.

As Ukraine awaits the delivery of advanced rocket systems, a new report from the Institute for the Study of War suggests its use of drones, a key factor in early success against Russian forces, is increasingly being hampered by improvements to Moscow's air-defence capabilities.

The EU nations have openly backed Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion, supplying funds and weapons and adopting unprecedented economic sanctions against the Kremlin

Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo

Away from the battlefield, a senior US official in Washington said President Joe Biden and other Group of Seven leaders holding a summit this weekend in Germany would announce new measures to punish Russia for the invasion.

Moscow this week summoned Brussels' ambassador in a dispute with EU member Lithuania over the country's restrictions on rail traffic to the Russian outpost of Kaliningrad.

The territory, annexed from Germany following World War II, is about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) from Moscow, bordering Lithuania and Poland.

By blocking goods arriving from Russia, Lithuania says it is simply adhering to European Union-wide sanctions on Moscow.

The United States made clear its commitment to Lithuania as NATO ally, while Germany urged Russia not to 'violate international law' by retaliating.
A British hotelier and his Italian wife who were locked up in a hell hole prison on the island of Zanzibar have been released, MailOnline can reveal.

Charges of money laundering against Simon Wood, 51, and his Italian wife Francesca Scalfari, 45, were thrown out by a judge at a hearing earlier today and they have now been allowed to leave the jail they have been held in since June 7.

A pal said: They were released a few hours ago, its fantastic news and what we were all hoping and praying for. They have been allowed to go home after the money laundering charges were thrown out.

There are other charges outstanding and there is still some way to go before this is all over but for the time being they have been allowed to go home and be with their families.

Sweet release: Wood (left) and Scalfari (centre) pose for a snap with Scalfari's brother Mario

Simon Wood, 51, from Preston, UK, and his wife Francesca Scalfari, 45, (pictured in court) were jailed in Zanzibar, an island off the coast of east Africa, on 7 June.

The couple (pictured with their son Luca), who run the four-star Sharazad Boutique Hotel in Zanzibar, now face 20 years in jail over money laundering charges after they fell out with two investors who had invested in their hotel

A message on a Facebook page set up to support the couple said: The non-bailable charge of money laundering has been dropped. Simon and Francesca are released from prison.

Simon Wood's story was shared by Mahmoud Kombo of the Tanzanian Foreign Ministry

After three excruciating days of postponements and being sent back to prison, not knowing if they will ever get out, our hearts are bursting with joy that at last they can be together, go home and speak to their families -especially Luca - whenever they want.

In the meantime let's give them time to heal and process what has happened and enjoy some peace and privacy together.

Francescas brother Marco, posted a picture of the couple on his Facebook page after they were released and wrote: 'Free ! Free ! Free ! The judge has expressed itself with a strike out on all three counts of recycling charges!!!

Exhausted but never as happy, ecstatic right now!!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH ALL OF YOU... GOOD PEOPLE FIGHTING FOR TRUTHS HONEST PEOPLE LOYALTY AND HAPPY ENDING STORIES!!!! Hugs to you all.'

The couple, who run the four-star Sharazad Boutique Hotel in Zanzibar, faced 20 years in jail over money laundering charges after they fell out with two investors who had invested in their hotel.

Police shaved Simon's head when he was taken into custody before putting him in a cell with 200 other dangerous inmates, including murderers, at the Kilimani Prison, Wood's family said.

Wood and Scalfari were pictured in court earlier today supported by Mario (second row, left)

Simon and Francesca, who have lived on the island for 20 years, have been denied basic needs - including access to water - and relatives haven't been allowed into the jail to see them on several occasions

The couple were jailed in Zanzibar, an island off the coast of east Africa, on 7 June.

They also said the couple, who have lived on the island for 20 years, were denied basic needs - including access to water - and relatives weren't allowed into the jail to see them on several occasions.

The couple's family and friends say their arrest was linked to civil lawsuits brought against them by their former business partners Giovani Viale and Liliana Ferro, dating back to 2017.

Viale and Ferro filed a series of civil lawsuits against Simon and Francesca but every time, the civil courts threw out the claims. The last claim was thrown out in 2019.

But as these matters were later settled in favour of Simon and Francesca, their family and friends were left 'at a loss' to explain why new criminal charges arose earlier this month.

Happier times: Simon and Francesca are pictured on a gorgeous Zanzibar beach before jail

Police shaved Simon's head when he was taken into custody before putting him in a cell with 200 other dangerous inmates, including murderers, at the Kilimani Prison, Simon's family said

Under local Zanzibar laws, the couple, who have an 11-year-old son, Luca, could have been kept in jail for eight months without trial.

Simon is pictured holding son Luca, 11, next to an unidentified friend in a holiday pic

They managed to put Luca on a plane on his own to flee the island just before they were arrested. He is now staying with his maternal grandparents in Italy.

Francesca, in messages seen by MailOnline, told a close friend of the prison conditions: 'I cannot describe with words how life is inside there daily and I don't want you to be sad knowing the details. But imagine cruel poverty then add jail then add abuse of power.

'I wish to have the words to describe how I feel. I spend my night in jail crying because during the day we are not allowed to cry or be sad.'

Simon's mother, Christine Wood, from Preston, Lancashire, told MailOnline she was 'concerned' for her son's welfare.

She said: 'I am very concerned for my son Simon and his Italian wife Francesca who are starting their third week of imprisonment in Zanzibar.

Under local Zanzibar laws, the couple, who have an 11-year-old son Luca, can be kept in jail for eight months without trial

The couple managed to put Luca on a plane on his own to flee the island just before they were arrested. He is now staying with his maternal grandparents in Italy.

Francesca's uncle Jim Betteridge, 62, a British ex-pat living in Tuscany, Italy, added Simon and Francesca are being kept in 'primitive' conditions

'Now they have been accused of money laundering but are at a loss to know why.

'For them, paradise has quickly turned to hell and until the court declares them "not guilty" they remain in jail.'

Francesca's uncle Jim Betteridge, 62, a British ex-pat living in Tuscany, Italy, added Simon and Francesca were being kept in 'primitive' conditions.

He said: 'A hell hole would be a fairly accurate description.

Simon had arrived on the beautiful island 20 years, where he met his future wife, Francesca, and had their son, Luca, 11

'There's no food or water provided, they have to buy their water - and any food that's brought in is poked around and probed by the guards.

'It's very hot in there, full of mosquitos and it's not somewhere where you'd want to see your worst enemy, frankly. To call it primitive would be complimentary.'

Jim explained Simon had arrived on the beautiful island 20 years, where he met his future wife, Francesca, and had their son, Luca, 11.

The archipelago, which falls under the jurisdiction of Tanzania, is famed for its warm weather and soft sandy beaches - and attacts roughly 500,000 tourists a year.

The pair later decided in 2015 to turn their beachside home into a 30-room boutique hotel, with 200-a-night ocean view villas, a restaurant and swimming pool. But the couple did not have the funds to build the hotel.

Viale and Ferro heard that the couple were struggling to pull together the funds and approached them to say they will invest in the project.

But a close friend of Francesca and Simon said tensions built as the partners wanted to dictate how the hotel should be operated.

'The relationship broke down, and the partners opened a court case to remove Simon and Francesca from the hotel,' the close friend told MailOnline.

The civil court set a judgement that Simon and Francesca had six months to buy out the Viales for the hotel - and if they could not, the Viales could buy out Simon and Francesca.

But when Simon and Francesca were able to raise the funds, the ex-partners appealed the judgement, which they lost.

In 2019, the court ordered the money - $600,000 (489,000) for the hotel shares that had not already been paid be put in an account that was made available to the Viales, which Simon and Francesca did.

The ex-partners then opened another claim in the commercial court in Dar es Salaam, which was also thrown out.

Everything went quiet - but a month ago the old case was opened up again - this time with new charges of money laundering. Simon and Francesca's close friend claims the Viales said they wanted $2 million (1.6million) to drop all the charges.

Simon and his wife Francesca with their son Luca when he was born

'I'd imagine the motivation of the ex-partners for this is that they have seen the success the hotel has become, want a large chunk of the pie,' the close friend said.

Francesca's uncle, Jim, said: 'I don't think anybody knows how this now settled and finished civil matter has been dug up again and turned into this criminal state prosecution affair.

'And it's all blown up in the last month and a half, really, when everything was well behind them.'

The couple made their first appearance in court yesterday and were charged with money laundering - believed to carry a maximum penalty of 20 years.

And Jim says while their families were being assisted by officials from both Italy and Britain, the couple suffered due to the awful conditions in their separate jails.

Britain's Deputy High Commissioner Rick Shearn met with officials of the Zanzibari government, and has been to see Simon in prison. Meanwhile, the Italian ambassador Marco Lombardi tried to make an appointment to see Francesca and went to the jail, but was refused access.

He said: 'They've both lost weight and are evidently uncomfortable and upset, obviously.

'The jail is ramshackle to put it mildly. Simon is in a series of rooms with 200 convicted prisoners and is sleeping on the floor on a mattress.

'Francesca is in a room with about 20 people. They had no water for two days and two nights - and you can only imagine what that would do for one person, let alone 20.'

Jim insists the pair could prove their innocence, but says this is hard to achieve as they're currently unable to get bail.

He said: 'Were they allowed out they would be able to prove their innocence in no time at all.

'But from inside they can't, so they're frustrated. It's not a nice thing to look at.'

It's understood the president of Zanzibar, Hussein Mwinyi, will attend a local investment forum today where he could receive criticism for the couple's detainment.

Francescas family lawyer in Rome, Manuela Castegnaro, wrote 'We are very worried about the health and psychological state of Francesca and Simon.

'Francesca has lost weight, her brother provides her foods every day but she can not eat.'

Manuela said Francesca told her brother Marco: 'Before giving me food, they control it putting their finger inside the food so I can not eat it anymore.'

The lawyer added: 'Simon has also lost weight and has asked for a doctor because of an ear infection. The state charges have no evidence. There is nothing new in the Court files.

'We are very hopeful that they will be released.'

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson confirmed they were assisting a British national currently jailed in Tanzania, but declined to give any further details.

They said: 'We are supporting a British National detained in Tanzania and are in contact with the local authorities.'
The BBC is boycotting mayoral briefings in one of Britain's wokest cities after the council banned a reporter for quizzing a Labour politician on why he flew across the Atlantic to gave a 14-minute speech on climate change.

Local democracy reporter Alex Seabrook, who works with the BBC and the Bristol Live website, had questioned Labour mayor Marvin Rees about the 'irony' of travelling to Canada to give a TED talk about saving the planet when he could have done it on Zoom.

Mr Seabrook, who asked Mayor Rees why he saw fit to jet across the Atlantic having previously declared a 'climate emergency' in 2018, will now no longer attend the press conferences after his bosses accused the council of stifling free speech.

Other journalists have rallied around in support, with the BBC and other local news outlets confirming they will not be sending representatives to mayoral briefings while he remains barred from attending and demanded the ban be lifted.

In a toe-curling press conference, Saskia Konynenburg, head of communications at Bristol City Council, intervened saying she disagreed that Mr Seabrook's question on the mayor's 9,200-mile carbon-spouting round trip in April to give a climate talk was 'legitimate'.

Ms Konynenburg describes herself as an 'influential communications leader, focused strategist and innovative content creator' and was only a reporter for three months in her career largely working for the public sector and charities, according to LinkedIn.

When Mr Seabrook said his job was to hold the mayor to account, she replied: 'I think it probably is from a journalist from a newspaper, but I can't quite see the link to LDR, but I'll leave it there.'

In a toe-curling press conference, Saskia Konynenburg, head of communications at Bristol City Council, intervened saying she disagreed that Mr Seabrook's question was 'legitimate'.

Reporter Alex Seabrook (left), who works with the BBC and the Bristol Live website, questioned Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees (right) about the 'irony' of his long flight to deliver a talk on climate change

Mayor Rees was last year branded a 'bully' and an 'egoist' after councillors  including from his own Labour group  accused him of sidelining them and shutting down debate.

Bristol City Council was branded woke after it paid for purple lightbulbs to be installed to mark the death of George Floyd at a BLM vigil. The city's mayor joined protests in his city against Brexit.

He also called the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston in the city as an act of 'historical poetry'. In May 2022, a referendum took place in Bristol to decide if the city should continue being run by a mayor or a council-led committee system. The city voted 59% in favour of abolishing the post. Rees will continue to serve as mayor until 2024 before the job is axed.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service is a news agency funded by the BBC, with reporters working on regional titles across the UK covering local authorities and other public-service bodies.

In the press briefing from June 8, Mr Seabrook asked: 'I want to say your TED talk was very interesting.

'I wondered, firstly, if you saw the irony in flying so far for climate change, and secondly, why you can't use Zoom instead?'

Life in Bristol: Britain's wokest city Cider boycott Bristol's woke warriors attracted fresh ridicule by calling for the public to boycott a popular cider producer over its tenuous links to slave trader Edward Colston. The 'Countering Colston' group - which campaigns to cleanse Bristol of his legacy - were branded 'heartless bastards' for urging drinkers not to buy Thatchers Cider in February. Activists are angry about fourth generation cider maker Martin Thatcher's membership of the Society of Merchant Venturers, which is now a charitable organisation dedicated to education and the care of the elderly but in its previous incarnation had Colston as a member and was heavily involved in Transatlantic slavery. Jury clears 'Kill the Bill' rioter who stole PC's weapon and kicked his shield In May a jury cleared a Kill the Bill rioter after accepting he was acting in self-defence when he stole an officer's baton and kicked their shield - months after BLM activists who tore down a statue of Edward Colston also walked free. Kadeem Yarde, 24, was among hundreds of young people who marched on Bridewell police station in Bristol city centre on March 21 last year. More than 40 officers were injured during the 'mass disorder', in which the windows of the police station were smashed and several vehicles set alight. The demonstration was organised to show discontent towards the Government's Police, Sentencing and Courts Bill - with the riots subsequently dubbed 'Kill the Bill' protests. Feminist student loses negligence case against 'woke' Bristol University over claims bosses backed trans activists who threatened her In April a PhD student has lost her attempt to sue Bristol University after claiming they colluded with trans activists who wanted to 'cancel her' when she said only biological women can give birth. Raquel Rosario-Sanchez had alleged university chiefs had failed to protect her when the row blew up over the use of the word 'maternity'. Feminist Ms Rosario-Sanchez said Bristol - dubbed the country's 'wokest' university - did not tackle transgender activists who targeted her in a two-year hate campaign. Advertisement

Mr Rees said that he felt that there was 'no irony' because 'mayors need to be involved in shaping national and international policy.'

He added: 'We can't leave it to national politicians because they're failing us, we saw that at COP. Bill Gates was there.

'He was there to combat climate change. Elon Musk was there.

'So the question is, how do you get the biggest platform.

'Then it is how do you maximise the platform for that?

'With all the best will in the world, getting it on the Bristol Live website isn't going to give us that platform, is it?'

However, after he had finished speaking, Ms Konyenburg suggested the question was inappropriate for Mr Seabrook to ask in his role as an LDR.

She said: 'In terms of your role as an LDR, from my understanding, it would be to report and provide impartial coverage regarding the regular workings of local authorities and public sector bodies.

'My question is that Marvin was fully funded by TED to attend this conference, so I couldn't quite understand what the role is in an LDR asking those questions?'

The reporter replied: 'It's holding people who lead local authorities to account, obviously being the leader of Bristol City Council there were questions regarding the huge amount of carbon emissions from flying so far. So I think it is a legitimate question.'

Ms Konynenburg interjects: 'I think it probably is from a journalist from a newspaper, but I can't quite see the link to LDR, but I'll leave it there.'

The Bristol Post today agreed not to send Local Democracy Reporters (LDR) to events held by Bristol City Council's mayor, a spokesperson for the council said.

But they insisted that the LDR reporters were not barred.

It comes after a council boss blasted one of the reporters, part of a news service funded by the BBC, - because they were 'not a journalist from a newspaper'.

Saskia Konynenburg, head of communications at Bristol City Council, disagreed that a question on the mayor's 4,600 carbon-spouting trip to give a climate talk was 'legitimate'.

The question was put forward by Local Democracy Reporter Alex Seabrook, who works with the BBC and the local Bristol publications.

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council confirmed there had been a 'long-standing' agreement the reporters wouldn't be sent.

They said: 'There has been a long-standing mutual agreement between the Mayor's Office and the Post about personnel attending press conferences whenever they are announced and held, and that LDR's would not be sent due to the narrow definition of their role as an impartial service.'

However, this has been disputed by Bristol Live editor Pete Gavan, who said: 'In the past, we had agreed to send other reporters to the mayoral briefings when possible but reserved the right to send the LDRs.'

The BBC said it was 'deeply disappointed' by the decision to bar Mr Seabrook from the briefings.

'We are deeply disappointed by the decision taken by the Mayor's Office to not allow the Bristol LDR into his fortnightly press conference,' a spokesperson said.

'It is an essential ingredient of local democracy that journalists should be able to ask robust, challenging questions to people in power.

Marvin Rees speaks to demonstrators on College Green in Bristol protesting in favour of the EU and against Brexit

'We have today informed the Mayor that the BBC won't be attending the fortnightly Mayoral briefings until this important issue is resolved.

'We will continue to report on the City Council and Mayor as normal by attending all other meetings.'

They were followed by local news outlets BristolWorld and Bristol24/7, both of which confirmed they would not send reporters to cover briefings until the ban is lifted.

In a statement BristolWorld said: 'BristolWorld will not be sending representatives to the mayor's fortnightly press conferences while the region's Local Democracy Reporters are barred from attending.

'In the interests of openness and transparency, it is vital journalists are allowed to question Marvin Rees on all issues impacting our city.

'To stop access to the LDR reporters indicates a degree of control on who and who cannot ask those questions, which we say is wrong.'
A pilot averted a disaster at Manchester Airport after he spotted a Peppa Pig balloon floating across the runway just before aircrafts were set to take off and land.

The 3ft pink inflatable - depicting children's cartoon character Peppa - was caught drifting across the tarmac by an eagle-eyed pilot, who had just landed on a flight from Portugal.

Emergency crews dashed to the runway and raced around for 15 minutes in a bid to catch the novelty balloon, according to witnesses.

Dad-of-two Glen Ramsey, 49, captured the dramatic moment he spotted blow-up Peppa on camera, while watching planes land with his son 13-year-old Olly from the airport's viewing park.

This is the moment the Peppa Pig balloon was spotted on the runway by dad-of-two Glen Ramsey, who had been watching planes with his son Olly

The 3ft inflatable of Peppa Pig (stock image) was spotted 'walking' across the runway at Manchester Airport

The shocked plane spotter said that it really looked like Peppa Pig was walking across the runway - because the balloon had legs.

He said the balloon of the kid's cartoon would have damaged the engine if the pilot had not have spotted it and made the urgent radio call.

Stunned Glen told The Sun: 'Suddenly an airside assistance truck and a fire engine drove on to the tarmac to catch it. The fire engine then drove up and down the runway a few times, I think just checking for anything else.

'You couldn't make it up. The balloon drifted across the two runways. At first it was funny, but then as the plane came around I started to wonder if I should call the police.'

The floating Peppa Pig balloon was spotted by a Jet2 pilot who had landed in Manchester Airport (stock image) from Faro, Portugal

Glen added that he felt 'relieved' when the Jet2 pilot spotted the novelty balloon drifting across the runway just after his plane's descent.

The captain had landed in Manchester from Faro, Portugal, at 2pm and spotted Peppa floating about.

He contacted air traffic control and alerted them to the potential danger on the runway.

Glen, Middlewich, Cheshire, said there is a kids' play area at the viewing tower, which is where he believes the balloon drifted from.

He added there were groups of schoolkids on a trip in the area - and believes the Peppa balloon may have drifted over from them.

Manchester Airport has been contacted for comment.
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Boris Johnson today hailed the 'obvious merits' of his Rwanda deportation plan for migrants - but struck an uneasy truce with Prince Charles on the issue ahead of a meeting tomorrow.

The PM and the heir to the throne were facing a tricky encounter after claims he privately condemned the 'appalling' scheme being pushed by the government.

Mr Johnson had teed up a clash after arriving in Kigali for a Commonwealth summit this morning, swiping that critics should keep an 'open mind' and suggesting he would spell out his views to Charles over a cup of tea.

However, this afternoon both sides made clear that the issue is not expected to come up in the discussions after all. Instead the pair will focus on the challenges facing the alliance of nations.

Speaking during a visit to a school in the Rwandan capital earlier, Mr Johnson said: 'People need to keep an open mind about the policy, the critics need to keep an open mind about the policy.

'A lot of people can see its obvious merits. So yeah, of course, if I am seeing the prince tomorrow, I am going to be making that point.'

The PM was greeted by President Paul Kagame as he arrived for the Commonwealth gathering in Kigali, before visiting a nearby school

The Prince of Wales toured exhibition stands today chatted to delegates during a visit to the Commonwealth Business Forum Exhibition in Rwanda

Mr Johnson and Mr Kagame had a warm handshake before talks this morning

The Duchess of Cornwall and Carrie Johnson greeted each other warmly at a Commonwealth summit event discussing violence against women and girls

What is the Rwanda migrant deal? The UK and Rwanda have struck a deal for asylum seekers to be sent to the African country. Under the agreement, they are expected to be flown to a private terminal at Kigali's international airport, and taken straight to accommodation at Hope Hostel. That facility can only sleep around 100 people, although plans for expansion could see another block built on the site. Within 24 hours of arrival, migrants will get a three-month residency in Rwanda while their immigration status is decided. The new arrivals will not need to submit an asylum claim, but those who do will have this considered in the first instance. Anyone without an asylum claim, or one that is rejected, will then be considered under wider immigration rules with a view to provide a right to residency and to work. The Rwandan government says it has boosted staff numbers and resources to make the process as efficient as possible and hopes to consider claims within three months. While their immigration status is determined, migrants will take part in an 'orientation' programme to help them adjust to their new life in Rwanda - if they choose to stay - with information about the country such as the weather and geography as well as a tour of the area. Food and accommodation will be provided and paid for. Migrants will also be given a monthly allowance of 100,000RWF a month (roughly 90) to help pay for essentials. Meanwhile they will be given access to language classes and translation services as well as legal advice. Advertisement

Downing Street said this afternoon that the migrants policy will not be 'at the forefront' of Mr Johnson's mind during the talks.

'I'm not going to be over-prescriptive over what the PM will say in any meeting, that includes this one. The Prime Minister's focus remains on some of the important challenges on the future of Commonwealth, on climate change, on girls' education.'

Pressed on whether he will raise the asylum policy, he said: 'It's unlikely and I'm only not being categorical because it's simply as a matter of course I do not rule in or out any topic when two individuals meet.'

The Prince of Wales toured exhibition stands today and chatted to delegates during a visit to the Commonwealth Business Forum Exhibition in Rwanda.

Charles was joined by Clare Akamanzi, chief executive officer of the Rwanda Development Board, and Jeremy Cross, Prince's Foundation international director, as he was guided round the Kigali Cultural Exhibition Village.

Mr Johnson said this morning that had spoken to the Rwandan president about the UK's controversial asylum policy: 'I just had a great talk with Paul Kagame.

'He cares passionately about this. He has himself been a refugee for a long time. He knows what it is like. He sees the problem of vulnerable people being trafficked across the Channel and being trafficked around the world.

'He sees this as an opportunity to fix what is an increasing global problem, by a partnership between the UK and Rwanda.

'It is not just about migration.

He continued: 'It is about education, it is about trade, it is about all sorts of things, it is about green technology, financial services, all sorts of areas. It is a partnership that is growing.'

To critics of the policy, Mr Johnson accused them of basing their concerns on 'a perception, perhaps a stereotype of Rwanda that is now outdated'.

He stressed that the policy had not been ruled unlawful in any UK court nor in Strasbourg.

'We are just going to keep going,' he said.

He urged those with concerns to 'think about the way these two countries can work together to solve what is a very complex problem of illegal people-trafficking'.

Downing Street said Mr Johnson and Mr Kagame agreed that the stalled asylum policy can help tackle smuggling gangs.

A No 10 spokesman said: 'The leaders also praised the successful UK-Rwanda migration and economic development partnership, which is tackling dangerous smuggling gangs while offering people a chance to build a new life in a safe country.'

Mr Johnson was also grilled on the Rwanda policy as he prepared to fly to Kigali, and said the trip is an opportunity 'for us all to understand for ourselves what that partnership has to offer'.

He said it might 'help others to shed some of their condescending attitudes to Rwanda and how that partnership might work'.

Pushed on whether he will tell the prince he is wrong, Mr Johnson said: 'I have no evidence for the assertion you've just made about the prince's comments. I can't confirm that.

UK borrows another 14bn as debt interest soars The government borrowed another 14billion in May despite the rising tax burden, as inflation sent interest payments soaring. The costs of servicing the near-2.4trillion debt mountain surged to 7.6billion, a record for the month. That helped offset the increase in income for the government from higher taxes. Chancellor Rishi Sunak insisted the grim figures underlined the need to be 'responsible with the public finances' - as unions clamour for huge pay rises to deal with the surging cost of living. There are worrying signs that the economy is on the verge of slipping into recession as the Ukraine crisis and Covid aftermath bites. Advertisement

'What I can say is that the policy is sensible, measured and a plan to deal with the grotesque abuse of innocent people crossing the Channel.'

Mr Johnson is not intending to visit the accommodation in Kigali where migrants who arrive by unauthorised means would be deported to.

'I'm conscious that I'm arriving before anybody who has travelled illegally across the Channel, I cannot conceal that fact from you  there it is  but it is still the case that no UK court and no international court has ruled our plan unlawful,' he said.

The first flight removing people to Rwanda was due to take off last week, but was grounded by successful legal challenges ahead of a full hearing on the scheme's legality in UK courts.

The policy is one element of a 120million economic deal with Kigali, but has been widely criticised in part because of concerns about Rwanda's human rights record.

Britain has made payments to Rwanda under scheme, and Kigali has started spending the money despite the policy being grounded by legal challenges.

Downing Street conceded some funds had been released, but would not set out how much or when under the 'confidential' agreement signed two months ago.

The payments came despite no one-way flights for migrants who arrive in the UK through unauthorised journeys taking off.

Questioned about whether payments had begun, Rwanda government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said: 'Because that was intended to prepare for all the accommodations and and all the other institutions to you know, beef up the processes  so that's that's been done.'

Pressed whether any of it had already been spent, she said: 'Part of it because we needed to get ready and we were ready to receive the first migrants on the 14th.'

Boris Johnson is in Kigali with wife Carrie for a Commonwealth meeting - and will be on tour abroad for the next week

Boris faces double by-election defeat in Wakefield and Tiverton TODAY that could spark new Tory revolt

Boris Johnson arrived in Rwanda today more 4,000 miles from the UK as the Tories brace for a double-defeat in the Wakefield and Tiverton by-elections.

The PM is in Kigali with wife Carrie for a Commonwealth meeting - and will be on tour abroad for the next week.

But there are fears the by-elections could spark a renewed Conservative revolt, if as expected the government fails to defend them both for the first time since the dying days of John Major's time in No10.

Ministers have already been rehearsing arguments about how difficult it is for governments to hold by-elections in mid-term. But limiting the scale of the setbacks is considered critical for Mr Johnson.

Wakefield was a prize 'Red Wall' scalp when taken by Imran Ahmad Khan in 2019 with a majority of 3,358. It was the first time since 1931 that the Tories had won there.

But Mr Ahmed Khan is now in prison, having been jailed for a sex assault on a teenage boy.

A polling station in Wakefield, where one of the by-elections is being held today

Where are by-elections happening today? WAKEFIELD Wakefield was one of the so-called Red Wall seats won by the Tories in the 2019 general election after being a Labour stronghold since the 1930s, but Labour is now hoping to take it back. Imran Ahmad Khan had a 3,300 majority but stood down as the local MP after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy and jailed for 18 months. TIVERTON & HONITON Neil Parish, the Tory MP since 2010, resigned from the Devon seat after admitting he had watched pornography on his phone in the House of Commons. The Liberal Democrats are the main challenger in this rural constituency, and are hoping to build on by-election wins in North Shropshire in December and Chesham and Amersham a year ago. Victory for the Lib Dems would require overturning a 24,239 majority, but Conservatives fear a defeat is all-but inevitable as voters deliver a mid-term message. Advertisement

A poll by Survation for the 38 Degrees website two weeks ago - around the time of the vote of no confidence against Mr Johnson - put Labour on 56 per cent in the West Yorkshire seat, with the Tories on 33 per cent.

Mr Johnson has not visited the constituency during the campaign, although Keir Starmer was there at the weekend.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has urged Tiverton & Honiton voters to 'speak for Britain' and overturn a 24,000 Tory majority - which is up for grabs after being vacated by 'tractor porn' MP Neil Parish.

A Labour source who has been campaigning in Wakefield told MailOnline earlier this week: 'It's not going to be a 20-point victory. But they have done the work, it is definitely a win.

'A 3,000 to 4,000 majority is what I would anticipate.'

'The Lib Dems haven't done anything. The Greens have sent out a leaflet.

'There were some people I spoke to who said they would be voting Green... nobody mentioned Brexit, which is a good sign. But two people mentioned Corbyn.'

A senior Tory who has been campaigning in both Wakefield and Tiverton agreed that 'Labour will win in Wakefield'.

'There is no question about that. The Boris factor is playing,' they told MailOnline.

'Having said that, the Tories have got the message across about the Labour candidate being an outsider and there is no love of Labour.

'They will win because enough people are disaffected in a constituency that has never been Conservative since before the Second World War.'

No hard feelings! Camilla is greeted with a kiss from Carrie Johnson in Kigali - as their husbands face an awkward meeting after Prince Charles branded government's Rwanda asylum policy 'appalling'

The Duchess of Cornwall is greeting with a kiss from Carrie Johnson in Rwanda

The Royal made a speech at a Violence Against Women and Girls event

Camilla looked elegant in a blue floral dress which she paired with beige pumps

While Carrie looked bright and summery in a yellow J Crew top and pattern skirt

Earlier, Camilla met with young children at a literary event at Kigali Library

By Ellen Coughlan

Their husbands are facing an awkward meeting after Prince Charles branded the government's Rwanda asylum policy 'appalling', but there was no sign of any tension when the Duchess of Cornwall met Carrie Johnson in Kigali today.

Camilla beamed as she was greeted with a kiss on the cheek by the wife of Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday afternoon at an event for the campaign group Violence Against Women and Girls in Rwanda.

The royal wore a 269 toucan-print dress by the label Bombshell, set up by a former TV costume designer who couldn't find clothes to fit her hourglass curves.

Carrie looked bright and summery in a yellow J Crew top which she paired with a blue and green patterned skirt, after changing out of the pink Zara suit she wore for her arrival in Kigali this morning.

The Duchess of Cornwall beamed as she shared a kiss with Carrie Johnson, wife of Prime Minister Boris Johnson at an event on Thursday in Rwanda

Camilla, 74, and Carrie Johnson, 34, attended a Violence Against Women and Girls event at the Kigali Convention Centre

As Carrie arrived at the venue she warmly greeted The Duchess with a kiss and they chatted for a few minutes before taking their seats.

Camilla looked typically elegant in a blue floral dress which was cinched at the waist with a belt.

She completed the look with beige pump shoes and accessorised with a gold coin necklace.

Earlier in the day Camilla was thought how to sign language as she joined children at a fun literary event

As Carrie arrived at the venue she warmly greeted The Duchess and they chatted for a few minutes before taking their seats

Camilla looked typically elegant in a blue floral dress which was cinched at the waist with a belt

She completed the look with beige pump shoes and accessorised with a gold coin necklace and statement chandelier earring

She added height to her frame with nude stilettos and her blonde locks were styled in bouncy curls.

Earlier in the day Camilla was thought how to sign language as she joined children at a fun literary event.

She attended the event at Kigali Public Library in her new role as patron of the charity Book Aid, which she recently took over from the Duke of Edinburgh.

She was greeted by schoolchildren who taught her how to say hello and thank you in sign language as an example of their inclusive learning.

Carrie looked bright and summery in a yellow J Crew top which she paired with a blue and green patterned skirt

The political and climate activist appeared to be in great spirits as she beamed while networking at the event

She added height to her frame with nude stilettos and her blonde locks were styled in bouncy curls

Camilla and Carrie were sat at opposite round tables but they enjoyed a warm conversation before taking their seats

The Royal made a powerful speech at the event which took place at the Kigali Convention Centre

The Royal also helped a group of visually and hearing impaired youngsters play a number game and afterwards presented them with a collection of books as a donation to the library.

The collection included short Commonwealth Essay Prize stories called A River of Stories as well as Michael Morpurgo's There Once is a Queen.

When she arrived she immediately bent down to ask the children if they liked reading and what their favourite books were.

One little girl replied: 'The Dirty Detective' to which Camilla laughed: 'My goodness me!'

Earlier in the day Camilla attended an event at Kigali Public Library in her new role as patron of the charity Book Aid, which she recently took over from the Duke of Edinburgh

She was greeted by schoolchildren who taught her how to say hello and thank you in sign language as an example of their inclusive learning

The Duchess spoke to students using sign language during the event for the Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition and Book Aid International

The Duchess was joined by Jeannette Kagame, who is the wife of the President of Rwanda and young children

The Duchess toured the library's facilities with the First Lady of Rwanda and Jeannette Kagame, Director of Kigali Public Library, who told her: 'We like the children to think of this as a playground not just a place to come and learn.'

After viewing an exhibition of front covers and learning more about Book Aid's International's work in Rwanda, she was shown Nabu's 'Creative Lab' for children's book illustrators.

'So where did you learn to draw! Have you been drawing since you were a child,' she asked one young man who was busy tapping away on a computer.

Sweet! Camilla spoke to a group of children about their favourite books during her visit to the library

The Royal also helped a group of visually and hearing impaired youngsters play a number game and afterwards presented them with a collection of books as a donation to the library

Camilla looked in deep concentration helped a boy with a tricky number game while she was at the library

She continued: 'I think you are very lucky to have such talent. It must be a love lot thing to do. I could sit all day doing this. It would be such fun.'

Camilla and the First Lady then visited the Children's Corner where they met an excited group of youngsters listening to an enthusiastic reading of the Rwandan story Handa's Surprise.

The duchess sat down with the children, smiling as they excitedly answered questions about the story and looking delighted as the children taught her how to sign.

Camilla then visited the Children's Corner where they met an excited group of youngsters listening to an enthusiastic reading of the Rwandan story Handa's Surprise

The duchess sat down with the children, smiling as they excitedly answered questions about the story and looking delighted as the children taught her how to sign

She laughed with a young girl in school uniform as they answered questions together about a story

Camilla, who is the Vice President of the Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition, was delighted to hear about how a record number of children from around the world had entered this year - 26,000 in all - with a 5345 per cent increase in Rwanda alone.

'I've seen some of the stories and they are brilliant, absolutely amazing,' she said as she met four of the 2021 Rwandan finalists and learnt more about its new digital innovation, Write Around the World.

Outside she got stuck into the fun with a group of excited youngsters enjoying Learning Through Play activities including an interactive 'assault' course.

She high-fived several of the children and laughed uproariously as they raced around the grass.

Book Aid's work in Rwanda aims to support all in society, but especially children.

They work with a range of library and NGO partners across the country and have donated 222,224 books to them since 2017.
A woman became trapped inside a car after it flipped and crashed into a house in southern Sydney.

The incident happened on Kings Georges Road at Blakehurst on Thursday afternoon.

NSW ambulance crews were called to the house just before 5:30pm to reports the driver - a woman in her 50s - was trapped inside the wreckage.

A woman has been freed from her own car after her vehicle flipped and crashed into a house in southern Sydney

Fire and Rescue crews and Paramedics were called to to the Blakehurst residence just before 5:30pm on Thursday to reports a woman was trapped inside her car

Paramedics looked after the driver and gave her pain relief as Fire and Rescue NSW officers arrived.

Rescue crews managed to safely extricate her from inside the vehicle.

She was then treated for neck and limb injuries at the scene before being taken to St George Hospital.

The woman is in a stable condition in hospital.

NSW Ambulance inspector Ben Saywell said: 'Paramedics arriving on scene were faced with a patient trapped in a car on its side, up against the front porch of the house.'

'Working alongside officers from Fire and Rescue NSW, paramedics provided pain relief to the patient, treated her injuries and prepared her for transport to hospital.'

'This accident could easily have so much worse for all involved. Cars really can do a lot of damage to people and property,' he added.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Police about the incident.

The driver was provided pain relief before she was extricated from the vehicle by officers
A wife has learned that her husband of ten months is actually a woman, despite the couple being 'intimate' multiple times, local media claims.

The Indonesian wife, named only as NA, 22, is suing her ex-partner who also claimed to be a neurologist who graduated in New York.

The couple first met on a dating app with the 'husband' going by the name Ahnaf Arrafif in Jambi City.

Images shown on local media claimed to show NA and her 'husband' Ahnaf Arrafif, whose real name is Erayani

The couple first met on a dating app with the 'husband' going by the name Ahnaf Arrafif in Jambi City (pictured allegedly on 'his' dating profile)

After sparking up a relationship online, they met up for in-person dates and Ahnaf even came to stay with NA for a week and helped take care of her unwell parents.

The trickster proposed after only weeks of dating and NA's parents gave their blessing, Tribun News reported.

But four months after their marriage, her family started becoming suspicious of NA's new husband.

Ahnaf never introduced 'his' own family and appeared to have a very relaxed schedule despite claiming to be a qualified doctor.

NA's mother also picked up on the fact that Ahnaf never took off 'his' clothes and would even bathe with clothes on when others were at home.

The trickster proposed after only weeks of dating and NA's parents gave their blessing (allegedly pictured on 'his' dating profile)

When the wife confronted her partner about lumps on his chest, Ahnaf responded that it was a hormonal problem.

Eventually, the mother demanded that 'he' strip to prove he was indeed a man and at that point, Ahnaf revealed he was actually a woman named Erayani who had lied about everything including her job.

NA told the Jambi District Court she had never suspected the person she married was a man until her mother started to doubt their relationship.

She said they had been 'intimate' multiple times but her partner insisted on only using hands.

Erayani is now in court, but for falsifying her qualifications as a doctor and not for claiming to be a different gender.
Two Nigerians have been arrested on suspicion of plotting to harvest the organs of a child in the UK.

Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, and Ike Ekweremadu, 60, both from Nigeria, have been remanded in custody and will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court later today.

They are both charged with conspiracy to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.

The Met said a child has been safeguarded. Scotland Yard has not given the gender or the age of the child - or the location of the arrests.

But given the suspects are appearing in court in Uxbridge, it is likely they were held at the nearby Heathrow Airport.

Organ harvesting involves removing parts of the body, often for cash and against the victim's will.

Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, and Ike Ekweremadu, 60, both from Nigeria , have been remanded in custody and will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court (pictured) later today

The investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022, the force said.

In 2017 a former Nigerian government minister claimed that migrants from his country were having their organs harvested after being sold into slavery.

Femi Fani-Kayode, a onetime aviation minister in Nigeria, claimed that 75 per cent of slaves who have their organs harvested in North Africa are from his country.

The Cambridge University-educated lawyer added that the victims have their 'bodies mutilated' and are 'roasted like suya [shish kebabs]'. He went on: 'Roasted alive! This is what Libyans do to sub-Saharan Africans who are looking for a transit point to Europe.

'They sell them into slavery and either murder, mutilate, torture or work them to death.'
A Pennsylvania high school principal has been charged with 30 counts of sexual intercourse and contact with a student.

Documents say the pupil had relied on former principal of Williamsport Area High School Roger Weaver Freed, 34, for emotional support after a family member had died and trusted him 'like an older brother'.

Freed is accused of having a years long sexual relationship with the student that continued after the student graduated high school and while he was attending college.

He is charged with 30 counts of third-degree felony school-intercourse/sexual contact with a student, in addition to several other charges, which include third-degree felony corruption of minors -- defendant age 18 or above, second-degree felony sexual assault, second-degree aggravated indecent assault without consent, and three misdemeanor counts of furnishing liquor to a minor, court documents show.

Pennsylvania high school principal Roger Weaver Freed, 34, has been charged with 30 counts of sexual intercourse and contact with a student, according to court documents filed

Freed met the student while working at Williamsport Area High School in Pennsylvania (pictured)

The student, who was attending Williamsport Area Middle School at the time, approached Freed around 2015 after noticing he was popular with students at the middle school service center, according to the affidavit.

The student believed he could lean on Freed for emotional support after one of his family members died, police said.

The in-school conversations turned into 'numerous after school interactions' beginning in 2015 and progressing through 2018, when the student graduated high school, court documents said.

The sexual relationship continued until April 2022, the affidavit said.

The student told police that Freed volunteered to drive him to various locations for 'one-on-one conversations', where he was assured he 'could talk about anything', especially his sexuality, the document said.

In 2017, the student and Freed discussed advancing their relationship sexually one evening while driving around Williamsport, the affidavit said.

After driving to a parking lot, Freed told the student to promise to not tell anybody and said 'I could lose my job over this,' while massaging the student's shoulders, the affidavit said.

The student said he felt 'overwhelming guilt' about the initial sexual encounter, according to the affidavit.

The two continued to engage in sexual acts '4-5 times a week, always at night, throughout the next two years of high school,' the document said.

The student told police he continued an emotional and sexual relationship with Freed throughout the remainder of his senior year in high school and into college.

Freed was arraigned Tuesday and his bail was set at $175,000.

A Williamsport Area School District spokesperson released the following statement concerning Freed's arrest:

'In light of the charges filed yesterday against Williamsport Area High School principal Dr. Roger Freed, the Williamsport Area School District wishes to provide an official response.

'As per school policy and procedure, Dr. Freed is suspended from his position with pay. The school district is cooperating with authorities as they continue their investigation.

'The safety and well-being of our students is our first priority. Should any student wish to speak to a counselor, counseling services will be available by appointment only by calling 570-323-8411.'
A year after one of the deadliest structural failures in American history, investigators are still none of the wiser over what caused the Surfside condominium collapse that killed 98 people in Miami.

Investigators have said it could take another year before conclusions are drawn as to the reason for the collapse of the 12-story building.

'How don't we know what happened after a year? How don't we know who might be liable?' said Martin Langesfeld, whose sister Nicole was killed in the collapse, speaking to CBS Miami last week. 'We need answers.'

A team from The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been cataloging evidence from the Champlain Towers South.

Structural engineers said they are working on analyzing 3D models to help them determine a reason for the collapse.

The next step is to begin what it calls 'invasive testing' of physical evidence, which involves cutting into steel and concrete samples for chemical and corrosion testing.

Investigators say they still have not found the cause for deadly Surfside building collapse that killed 98 people in 2021 in Florida

Family members of the dead listed on a screen surrounding the vacant lot where the 12-story building collapsed said they want answers from authorities. It may be another year before they get answers

Search and rescue teams look for possible survivors in the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building on June 30, 2021 in Surfside

'Our engineers and scientists feel a great responsibility to get them right because this work often leads directly to changes in codes and standards that are used when constructing new buildings or renovating existing buildings,' Tanya Brown-Giammanco, NIST's director of disaster and failure studies wrote in a blog post.

The team is also interviewing surviving residents and first responders, reported Axios.

A slew of lawsuits, fines and maintenance issues bogged down the construction and repair of the Champlain Towers in Surfside before the collapse.

Architect William Friedman designed the Surfside condominium, 13 years after his license was suspended for six months due to a collapse.

The Miami Herald reported in September that building contractor Alfred Weisbrod lost his license amid fraud and negligence claims prior to the collapse.

The licensing agency filed three administrative claims accusing Weisbrod - who was fined three times and threatened with suspension for various offenses before he surrender his license in 1998 - of completing specialized work without the proper permits, licenses, and inspections, and of failing to complete the contracted work, mismanagement, incompetence and fraud throughout the 1980s and 90s.

The developer was also charged with tax evasion, and the architect had previously been suspended after a structure he built collapsed.

A 2018 engineering report detailed cracked and degraded concrete support beams in the underground parking garage and other problems that would cost nearly $10million to fix.

The repairs did not happen, and the estimate grew to $15million in 2021 as the owners of the building's 136 units and its governing condo board squabbled over the cost, especially after a Surfside town inspector told them the building was safe.

The 2018 engineering report found structural deficiencies that are now the focus of several inquiries, including a grand jury investigation.

Investigators have yet to determine what caused about half of the highrise to cave in on itself in one of the deadliest building collapses in US history.

A 2018 engineering report detailed cracked and degraded concrete support beams in the underground parking garage and other problems that would cost nearly $10million to fix

The repairs did not happen, and the estimate grew to $15million in 2021 as the owners of the building's 136 units and its governing condo board squabbled over the cost, especially after a Surfside town inspector told them the building was safe

In May, relatives of those killed agreed a settlement of almost $1 billion, at the end of an accelerated judicial process designed to bring rapid closure to the families.

A Miami court overseen by Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman announced the $997million payout on May 11.

Family members of the 98 people who died in the June 2021 horror sued the building's insurers, developers of a neighboring apartment building, an engineering firm that warned of the tower's structural issues, and other defendants.

The case was settled in unusually quick fashion, and was the final payout was significantly higher than predicted.

The initial pool of insurance money to settle both claims for victims who lost their homes and those who lost family members was $50 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The land on which the 12-story Champlain South tower sat has been sold for $120 million.

The judge said he wanted the insurance proceeds to go to the victims rather than be used in legal fees from protracted litigation.

The 40-year-old building with some 136 apartments collapsed on June 24, 2021, when many residents were asleep.

The devastating scenes shocked the nation, and frightened millions of people living in aging condo buildings.

Structural engineers had issued minor warnings, but nothing of serious concern, and there were no mitigating factors like extreme weather to cause the collapse.

Plaintiff attorneys had always sought the sum close to $1 billion, but attorneys thought the settlement overly ambitious.

A woman adds flowers to the memorial on June 28

Marcus Joseph Guara, 52, the youngest of the three siblings, lived on the eighth floor, in Unit 802, with his wife Anaely Rodriguez, 42, and their 11-year-old and 4-year-old daughters, Lucia and Emma. All were killed in the collapse

Mourners on June 27 stop by the makeshift memorial for the 98 who died

So little of New Yorker Estelle Hedaya's remains were found in the collapse of the Surfside condo in Miami

Relatives of the victims embrace on July 15 during a candlelit vigil for those who died

Lawyers for the residents and their relatives said the units lost ranged in valued from about $400,000 to about $2.9 million, and the settlement needed to include compensation for trauma and potential punitive damages a jury might award.

Attorneys at the hearing didn't disclose the breakdown of how much individual defendants were paying as part of the settlement.

The lawsuit also contended that work on the adjacent Eighty Seven Park tower damaged and destabilized a building in dire need of major structural repair.

Many families wanted a memorial to be constructed on the grounds of the building's South tower, but their plans were foiled when the property was sold for $120 million.

A total of 55 apartments in the 136-unit condo complex collapsed, with around 80 percent of the building reportedly being occupied.

Officials said at the time they believed the building had been 'substantially full.'

After the initial recovery effort at the site was complete, officials moved the rubble to a location 14 miles from the condos, near Miami International Airport.

The rubble has been separated into two piles, based on supposed value of the evidence it might hold.

The portions that crews have determined to contain possible remains are moved inside a warehouse, while the rest is left outside.

The county has requested a judge's permission to dispose of debris they consider irrelevant to the investigation, but families aren't convinced all the remains have been found.

The Champlain Tower building is seen before the tragedy

The Champlain Tower South in Surfside, Florida, collapsed on June 24, 2021

Rescuers are pictured on June 27 sifting through the rubble in the search for survivors
Pope Francis has slapped down rumours that he would resign amid a flurry of health issues, vowing to serve as pontiff for 'as long as God allows'.

Francis, 85, cancelled a trip to Africa last week due to mobility concerns, prompting fears for his health.

He also told a meeting of priests in Rome last week: 'Rather than operate, I'll resign.'

But the Catholic church leader poured cold water on talk of resignation, reportedly telling Brazilian bishops in a meeting yesterday: 'I want to live my mission as long as God allows me and thats it.'

Archbishop Roque Paloschi added that the Pope reassured the clergy meeting that 'resignation does not cross his mind', according to a Portuguese translation of the Vatican newsletter.

Pope Francis (pictured yesterday) has been wheelchair-bound due to issues with his knee

Monsignor Lucio Nicoletto added that he was wowed by the Pope's 'great strength' at the meeting.

Francis had told his weekly general audience on Wednesday: 'When we are old, we cannot do the same things we did when we were young.

'The body has another pace, and we must listen to the body and accept its limits.

'We all have them. I too have to use a walking stick now.'

Earlier this month a cardinal said talk of the Pope's resignation amounted to 'fake news' and a 'cheap soap opera'.

Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga said: 'He has never thought about it.'

The Argentine spent 11 days in hospital last summer to have part of his colon removed.

Initially planned to be a week-long stay, the hospitalisation was prolonged for extra 'medical and rehabilitative therapy', his spokesman said in July 2021.

The pontiff, 85, spent 11 days in hospital last year to have part of his colon removed

The pope told a Spanish radio station at the time that quitting 'hadn't even crossed my mind'.

Francis has struggled with knee pain, but has insisted he won't have an operation.

In 2013 Pope Benedict became the first pontiff to resign since 1415, citing old age.

Upon moving into the Vatican a year later, the pope said he would consider doing the same if his health dictated: 'He opened a door, the door to retired popes.'

But a Church source told AFP this week: 'In the pope's entourage, the majority of people don't really believe in the possibility of a resignation.'

Vatican expert Marco Politi added: 'These rumours are encouraged by the pope's opponents who are only eager to see Francis leave.'

Francis said in 2014 that Benedict 'opened the door' to the notion that popes could resign

Mr Politi said of the latest rumours: 'At this stage, it is a question of being realistic and not alarmist.'

He said it was 'hard to imagine' Francis would resign while the Synod of Bishops council - set to conclude in 2023 - is ongoing.

Alberto Melloni, a professor of Christianity and secretary of the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Sciences in Bologna, told AFP such talk is 'preposterous'.

'These are things in which there is a desire to understand, to speculate, but there is little to say,' he said.
Scotland Yard will be reinvestigated over its handling of the Stephen Port murders by the police watchdog after a 'whitewash' probe cleared 17 Metropolitan Police officers of misconduct.

The officers were accused of blunders that may have hindered the investigation into Port, who murdered Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor during a year-long killing spree before he was caught in September 2015.

All but one of the 17 officers investigated for alleged misconduct refused to answer questions when quizzed by investigators.

Critics said the force had 'blood on its hands' after an inquest uncovered blunders that allowed Port to roam free for 16 months while officers dismissed the deaths as unexplained and unrelated, even though the victims were killed in the same way and dumped within 300 metres of Port's flat.

An inquest jury found that 'there were fundamental failings in these investigations from the beginning' which they said 'probably' cost lives.

These included officers not carrying out basic checks on the police national computer that would have revealed the 46-year-old chef had been accused of a near identical drug rape two years earlier and carried out another assault on a man spiked with GHB just days before his first murder.

But officers failed to spot the similarities and sat on evidence that could have uncovered scores of other victims subjected to his sickening rape fantasies.

Today, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced it was to reinvestigate.

Stephen Port (pictured), 46, is serving life in Belmarsh prison for drugging, raping and killing four men, who he met on a gay dating app, between June 2014 and September 2015

Two of Port's victims were Anthony Walgate (left) and Jack Taylor (right). Sarah Munro QC has published a prevention of future deaths report, saying she was 'concerned' to hear evidence of errors made by detectives

Ms Munro said she was 'concerned' to hear about the 'basic investigative failings' made by detectives. Pictured: Two of Port's victims Gabriel Kovari (left) and Daniel Whitworth (right)

The inquests also revealed new evidence previously unknown to the IOPC from officers who had been subject to the earlier probe.

IOPC regional director Graham Beesley said: 'In our original investigation, we examined the actions of 17 officers. All but one gave no-comment interviews under misconduct caution and chose to provide written responses to the investigators.

'Following analysis of the new information provided at the inquest, we have concluded that the original investigation needed to be wider in scope and, therefore, certain lines of inquiries were not followed. Had this information been known at the time it may have led to different decisions on outcomes.'

Solicitor Neil Hudgell, speaking on behalf of the victims' families, said the decision was 'the only logical decision open to the IOPC following the weight of evidence heard at the inquests'.

He said: 'The original IOPC report was hindered by a wall of silence, given that all but one of the 17 officers questioned gave 'no-comment' interviews.

'Our hope now is that the IOPC will have a lot more to go on.

'There remains a big question mark over whether police prejudice played a part in the investigations.'

He added: 'The inadequate investigations by the Metropolitan Police into the four deaths is one of the most widespread institutional failures in modern history, exacerbated by a woeful lack of remorse, regret or sympathy displayed at the inquests by some of the officers involved.

'Port was jailed for life, but the police have blood on their hands too. It is time for them to be held accountable.'

At the inquest into Port's victims in December, Scotland Yard was accused of 'one of the most widespread institutional failures in modern history' after officers failed to stop the killer.

The sexual predator, obsessed with drugging and raping young men, killed the quarter by giving them lethal overdoses of the date-rape drug GHB from June 2014 to September 2015.

A series of failures were outlined at the inquest into the deaths, including how officers didn't examine Port's laptop seized within days of the first murder, which would have revealed his obsession with drug rape and uncovered a further 12 victims he sexually assaulted.

Police also failed to carry out basic forensic checks, examine Port's movements and missed evidence and ignored concerns from the victims' families and friends.

It was 16 months after the first killing before a murder squad was brought in, leading in October 2015 to the capture of Port  who was played by Stephen Merchant in the BBC drama of his crimes, Four Lives, in January. None of the 17 officers investigated over the botched inquiry lost their jobs or faced disciplinary action.

Seven were promoted, including five whose performance was found to be below standard. All were cleared of misconduct in 2019.

Inquest jurors found 'failures' by the police were likely to have contributed to three of the men's deaths. Pictured: Met Police assistant commissioner Helen Ball speaks after the inquest

The Met said today the force will offer 'every support' to the fresh investigation into the way officers initially handled the murders.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Helen Ball said: 'The deaths of these four young men is a tragedy and we are deeply sorry there were failings in our police response. Again, I give my own and the Met's heartfelt apologies.

'The whole of the Met is committed to improving our investigations, our relationships and the trust people have in us to keep them safe.

'Since the deaths of Anthony, Gabriel, Daniel and Jack we have worked hard to ensure the service we provide is better while understanding we have more to do. Learning and recommendations from the Independent Office for Police Conduct, Her Majesty's Coroner and our LGBT+ Independent Advisory Group of community members have enabled us to make a range of improvements.

'Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services are with us now carrying out an inspection into how we respond to and investigate death. We look forward to their findings and any recommendations they may have.

'If the IOPC reinvestigation makes further recommendations for improvements we will of course consider those very seriously, in addition to any misconduct matters that may arise.'
Former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers Arthur Scargill has been spotted on the picket line for a second day - standing in solidarity with Mick Lynch's mass rail strikes.

The far left firebrand was previously seen with strikers from The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) at Westgate Train Station in Wakefield on Tuesday, as 80 per cent of train services came to a grinding halt.

Today, he joined RMT picketers in Sheffield for a second day of industrial action as they railed against the government, demanding a pay rise of at least seven per cent in line with the cost of living crisis.

Speaking to ITV today, Scargill said: 'I think it should be the summer for the start of building a trade union and getting a socialist movement going in Britain.

'It's time that workers came together. As far as I'm concerned, I would call on every railway worker to come out on strike and force this government into retreat.'

The former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers Arthur Scargill, 84, told ITV's Martin Fisher: 'I think it should be the summer for the start of building a trade union and getting a socialist movement going in Britain'

Scargill joined picketers for a second day of strike action in Sheffield today

Scargill's appearance on the second day of rail strikes was applauded by striking workers

Former President of the National Union of Mineworkers from 1982 to 2002 Arthur Scargill joins the picket line outside Wakefield Railway Station on Tuesday, June 21

Ardent communist Arthur Scargill has joined Mick Lynch's mass rail strikes today in solidarity with the 'greedy' union barons who have paralysed Britain. Above: The former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers is seen on a picket line in Wakefield

Arthur Scargill was head of the National Union of Mineworkers for 30 years and famously led the 1984 miners' strike

Scargill remains a controversial figure on the left and famously led the National Union of Mineworkers' strike in 1984.

Unlike previous strikes in 1972 and 1974, the industrial action failed to bring down the government - which had prepared by stockpiling coal.

In June 1984, one of the most infamous episodes occurred, when police clashed with picketing miners in Rotherham.

In what became known as the 'Battle or Orgreave' between 10,000 policemen and 5,000 miners engaged each other.

Police said they had acted in self-defence, but miners said the violence had been sparked by officers.

Ninety-five pitmen were arrested, but none successfully prosecuted. Some 39 cases of unlawful arrest and malicious prosecution were settled without an admission of liability by police.

From the start of 1985, the number of workers choosing to break strikes increased, as miners struggled to pay for food and union pay ran out.

The industrial action finally came to an end on March 3, 1985, as miners voted to return to work.

Scargill pictured in 1986, speaking through a megaphone as President of the National Union of Mineworkers

Ardent communist Arthur Scargill is pictured addressing a rally in 1984, the year the infamous miners' strike began

Scargill as he is assisted by riot police after he was injured outside the Orgreave coking plant near Rotherham in 1984

Pit closures continued gradually throughout the 1980s and 1990s and the UK's last working coalmine - Kellingley colliery in North Yorkshire - closed in 2005.

After the miners' strike, Scargill was controversially elected as lifetime president of the NUM, before being accused of financial impropriety in the 1990s.

In 1996, he founded the obscure Socialist Labour Party and remains its leader to this day. He finally stepped down from the NUM presidency in 2002.

In 2016, Scargill was accused of hypocrisy after it emerged he had bought his London council flat using Margaret Thatcher's flagship Right to Buy scheme.

He had initially applied to buy his then 1million home at a knock-down price in 1993 under the scheme but was turned down.

He failed to mention in the paperwork that he did not pay rent. Instead, the NUM paid 34,000 a year to the Corporation of London for it.

Scargill eventually succeeded in buying the home in January 2014.

Lynch, whose union represents 40,000 striking rail workers, told the BBC's Political Thinking podcast: 'I'm nostalgic for the power that we had and more nostalgic for the control and values that we had. People talk about the Winter of Discontent and the excesses of the trade union movement as it was styled and characterised.

'They had good reason for that because they had very powerful unions. I'm nostalgic for the balance we were creating. I think society was becoming rebalanced in the 70s.'

Scargill's reappearance in Britain's biggest rail strike in decades caught the attention of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who alluded to it an a fiery exchange with Labour leader Kier Starmer in the House of Commons yesterday.

Johnson, noting Scargill joined the pickets on Tuesday, said that Labour were literally holding hands with the man who tried to bring Britain to its knees in the 1980s.

He said Labour was now worse than under Jeremy Corbyn, adding: This is a government who are taking this country forward; they would take it back to the 1970s.

Sir Keir, who took a vow of silence during yesterdays strike, again refused to condemn the activists staging the biggest strike for 30 years.

But shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said the RMT were perfectly entitled to shut down Britains rail network.

Of course we dont condemn the RMT for going out on strike, she said. They are perfectly entitled to take industrial action in order to try and get themselves a better settlement.

She said the Labour leadership was sitting on the sidelines in the dispute because we aspire to be the party of government.

Sir Keir claimed the Government was responsible for the strikes and told the PM: Rather than blame everyone else, why does he not do his job, get round the table and get the trains running?
An American ISIS bride claims jihadis took her phone and sent tweets inciting attacks on President Obama to make her look bad.

Diplomat's daughter Hoda Muthana, who was born in New Jersey and grew up in Alabama, travelled to Syria to join ISIS in 2014 aged 20.

In January 2016 the Obama administration revoked her passport and earlier this year the US Supreme Court declined an appeal against that decision.

Hoda Muthana, now 27, is a prisoner alongside other foreign ISIS brides including her friend Briton Shamima Begum at Al-Roj Camp, northeast Syria.

According to Buzzfeed News, Hoda used Twitter under the name 'Umm Jihad' and the handle @ZumarulJannah.

On March 19, 2015, that account shared statements encouraging followers in the US to attack parades on national holidays and 'spill all of their blood or rent a big truck n (sic) drive all over them. Kill them'.

Another tweet posted on the same day read 'You can look up Obamas schedule on the white house (sic) website. Take down that treacherous tyrant!'.

ISIS bride Hoda Muthana (pictured in 2022) has been unable to return to the US after joining the jihadist group in 2014. She recently denied sending out tweets threatening violence against Obama and the public from an account believed to be hers

Muthana, pictured with her son several years ago, said the tweets were sent out by a woman in their group who had confiscated all of their phones

Muthana (pictured in 2019) said she had no knowledge of the tweets and believed they were sent out to prevent her being able to go home

Two weeks ago Hoda, who has a five-year-old son whose ISIS father was killed, denied she had anything to do with the tweets.

From what coverage she has seen of herself online the worst part was people thinking she sent the tweets.

The ISIS bride from Alabama who wants to go home Hoda Muthana has been trying to get back into the US for years without success. In January this year, Supreme Court justices refused to hear her appeal to be allowed back. The justices declined without comment on to the appeal of the Yemeni diplomat's daughter. Muthana left the U.S. to join the Islamic State in 2014, apparently after becoming radicalized online. While she was overseas the government determined she was not a U.S. citizen and revoked her passport, citing her father's status as a Yemeni diplomat at the time of her birth. Her family sued to enable her return to the United States. A federal judge ruled in 2019 that the U.S. government correctly determined Muthana wasn't a U.S. citizen despite her birth in the country. Children of diplomats aren't entitled to birthright citizenship. The familys lawyers appealed, arguing that her father's status as a diplomat assigned to the U.N. had ended before her birth, making her automatically a citizen. The decision to revoke her passport was made under former President Barack Obama. The case gained widespread attention as former President Donald Trump tweeted about it, saying he had directed the secretary of state not to allow her back into the country. Advertisement

She said: 'The worst thing against me is this online Twitter stuff.

'I never had a platform to say this, but I have always been trying to tell people that those tweets were not mine.

'It either gets cut out of the media or it gets kind of butchered somehow and I never get a platform.

'It's not fair, the person that did bring me here had a wife who I become (sic) friends with.

'There was a group of us in a home and she would take our phones.

'She would take our phones and tell us because we've always thought about going back to our countries that we need to make ourselves look bad in the media so we don't have this persuasion to go back.

'That's basically what her agenda was, that's what their (ISIS) agenda is, that they have to portray you in the worst way so that you don't have these thoughts of ever wanting to return.

'She just took my phone and I thought she was just looking through my diary or something and then when she left and I looked through and I saw a bunch of evil horrible tweets that I would never have done because I wanted to stay off media, I never wanted to get myself out there you know.

'It was not only me that she did it to, it was several people and they were made to look really bad also.'

Hoda said she believed the social media tirades, which she alleges someone else posted, were the catalyst for the US revoking her passport and for the Trump administration to state she was not welcome back.

She said: 'Of course that's exactly what Mike Pompeo was quoting about me is that I've threatened Americans, I've threatened military personnel.

'Some of the tweets I have read for the first time in this camp. I came here and somebody asked me, 'were you the one that wanted to kill Obama?' and I was like, 'What? No way'.

'I don't even know what the tweet exactly says and they (inmates) asked me this (about the tweets) when I first came here and I said, 'no way, that's not me' and I just brushed it off.

'Then when I looked up an article about me, I saw the tweet and I was just utterly shocked.

This photo of female jihadis waving the ISIS flag was found on a now-deactivated Twitter account which reportedly belonged to Muthana

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of Muthana after she left her family's home in Alabama to join the Islamic State terror group, but then decided she wanted to return to the United States

In February 2019 Trump Tweeted: 'I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!'

'Somebody like me who watched Obama winning in 2008, I actually had tears in my eyes. My family celebrated him winning.

'So for me to turn around and then tweet about it (him) many years later was not me at all.

'Then the fun one for me was the Obama administration was the one that took my citizenship away so this broke me even more.'

Hoda, whose father was a Yemeni diplomat, was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, but grew up in Virginia and Alabama.

She said: 'I lived like a very quiet life, I was very restricted from having a social life and when you're restricted from having a social life I think most of your life is online.

'I was restricted because of religious culture, it was only school and home and anywhere that my parents went.

'Doing that as a teenager gets really frustrating and you want to have your own kind of life and your own kind of experiences which I had nothing of.

'I think I was underdeveloped socially. I was a very shy person.'

Muthana was born to Yemeni diplomats in New Jersey in 1994 and grew up in her family's home in Hoover, Alabama (pictured), until 2014 when she left for Syria, after being radicalized online

Speaking about the message she was getting online about joining ISIS Hoda said it was framed as if becoming part of the Caliphate was a good 'pure' thing.

She said: 'People were promising you where you were going was pure and what you were doing was pure and your intentions were good.

'And it was a religious obligation and they kind of groomed you into believing that and into thinking that the place you remained (the USA) was harmful for you.

'They'd give examples like if you'd ever been cursed at in public or abused verbally or something, which everyone is around the world, it's not a reason to leave that country, but they made it a religious standpoint.

'I think most of my classmates knew something was wrong.

'No one tried to help, I think people thought it was too messy to go into, you know.

'I had a group of friends on Twitter who were just normal teenagers, before this all happened, and we were all just friends connecting because we were Muslim.

'Suddenly people started becoming religious and suddenly people started becoming involved in movements and then the people that I was talking to became radicalised and kind of persuaded me to come to an area like this.

'I would say more trafficked than radicalised because I never had evil thoughts, I never had thoughts of killing or murdering.'

Hoda said she didn't realise at first she was being groomed to potentially be a wife for a man in ISIS.

She said: 'I never knew this, no one told me, but the person who did bring me here, did attempt to marry me.

'I was not allowed to sleep anywhere overnight but I had to think of an excuse to leave overnight (to join ISIS) and the only excuse I could think of was a school trip.

'People that were trafficking me said it was allowed to lie to your family.

'Religiously we're not allowed to lie and our parents are held to a higher degree than what the jihadis believe.

'They would tell me if I posted a picture online to take it down and they would tell me, I don't know the word in English, attention to myself by men.

'They wanted me to be modest so every time I posted a picture people that already went to ISIS, would tell me 'take that down'.

'People think I left hating America. The thing for me was I spent days and nights crying over the fact that I was leaving my home and my family because somebody convinced me online that it was an obligation (religiously) for me.

Hoda's first husband was Australian extremist Suhan Abdul Rahman who was killed in battle in Syria

'I tried so many times (to escape ISIS), but there is no way out if you don't have money and I've never had money in Syria.

'I didn't leave America hating it, I left it thinking that it was a huge sacrifice (for me to leave) on my behalf.

Hoda said she understands why people think she is against America but that she never hated her homeland.

She said: 'I'm not an evil person, the people that knew me back in America could vouch for me and they would say that I was just a very quiet person.

'The worst thing I did in America was not clean the dishes on time.

'People are saying she (me) took America for granted and she doesn't deserve to go back.

'I understand but I am trying to explain I just turned 20 and was someone that really no social experience, I didn't know what I was getting into.

'I would say I was (trafficked) because there is no possible way that I could have come here on my own, there was somebody that trafficked me here, there was somebody that groomed me online.

'I've been stigmatised and branded for life and I haven't had a chance at a fair trial and time to speak my real story.

'I tried many times to escape (ISIS), I didn't have money, I barely had money to feed my child, we ended up eating grass at some points.

'I did try physically leaving twice but I got pulled back by the 'Ameen' (the ISIS secret service). They stopped while I was trying to leave and they took me to a place with a bunch of women and then they took us to some kind of abandoned warehouse.

'I had to wait till the last minute basically where I could just walk out with a bunch of Syrians who were allowed out.

'We saw the SDF and we just ran to the first checkpoint we could see but we had to follow the Syrians so they would look out for the IEDs on the ground.

'I held my son in my hands for nine hours walking out of there.'

Following the destruction of the Caliphate by US-led coalition and Kurdish forces Hoda says many of the survivors are psychologically scarred by what they went through.

She said: 'I think we all need counselling I think for the trauma that we've seen and even the continuous trauma that we're getting.

'I think we had a lot of time to heal and I think we are more confident in the way we are and wanting to help people not make this same mistake again.

'A lot of people slipped under the table (sic) and went back and got repatriated because there's no image of them on the internet.

Speaking about why she got recruited to join ISIS, Muthana has previously said in the film that she 'wanted to feel useful' and blamed 'manipulative propaganda.' A general view shows destroyed buildings in Raqqa city, northeastern Syria

'I really want to stop it happening I don't want to see women doing this again to themselves and young girls again falling into this trap.

'I want to help women that are vulnerable in general. I am vulnerable now and I feel upset at myself that I haven't lived a day of freedom, being 27 years old, I've lived from the metaphorical jail of my home, then to ISIS and then now to this prison camp.

'So I haven't really had a day of freedom.'

Hoda, whose son is also believed to the Stateless, said she wanted to return to America to face justice.

She said: 'I just wish for a fair trial in my home of America. If coming here was a crime then I can sit the jail time. I'm so willing to do that.

'I'm just getting verbally abused every day here (in the camp), it's also another problem.

'Threats by women, threats to even my child. They are (serious) if they had the chance, if there wasn't the security here.

'I had an attempt on my life in Camp Hol (Hoda's previous camp) where people would open my tent and just barge in and I had to sleep at somebody else's tent until I felt safe again and I never did.

'They threatened to kill me and my son in my tent while it gets burned alive (sic).'
Julian Assange was strip searched and moved to a bare cell on the day the Home Secretary announced she was allowing his extradition to the United States, his wife said.

Stella Assange said the WikiLeaks founder, 50, was told he was being moved to a bare cell 'for his own protection'.

Assange, who is currently held in the maximum security Belmarsh Prison in south-east, had no visits over the weekend following the announcement last Friday.

Earlier this month, Assange's wife revealed her husband vowed to kill himself if he is extradited to the US after Priti Patel signed an order to send him to Virginia to face espionage charges and potentially a 175-year jail sentence.

Mrs Assange said: 'Imagine what it's like for him to have to process this alone.'

Julian Assange (pictured left in 2019, and right in 2020) is a step close to extradition to the United States after Priti Patel signed an order agreeing he could be sent to the US

Stella Moris, activist and wife of Julian Assange, reacts during a news conference after Britain approved the US extradition of her WikiLeaks' founder husband

John Rees, a leading member of the campaign for Mr Assange to be freed, said: 'This is simply extrajudicial punishment.

'It's unacceptable and it's surely illegal. But it shows how much pressure the authorities are under to free Assange that they behave this vindictively.

'We need to redouble our efforts to stop the extradition, for Julian Assange's sake and for the defence of a free press.'

Supporters, including journalist John Pilger, also criticised the treatment of Mr Assange on the day Hone Secretary Priti Patel made her announcement.

Mrs Assange said: 'Prison is a constant humiliation but what happened on Friday felt especially cruel.

The Home Secretary (pictured) has rubber stamped the order issued by a judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court to fly the WikiLeaks founder to America where he will be handed over to federal agents and put on trial

'After the announcement of Patel's decision, Julian was taken from his cell so that he could be strip searched, and then escorted to a bare cell where he remained for the rest of the weekend.

'His own cell was searched. They were looking for things that could be used to take one's own life.

What routes are left for Julian Assange to fight against his extradition to the US? High Court appeal Assange's legal team have previously said there are other parts of his appeal that had not yet been heard by the High Court. Last month Assange was denied permission to appeal his extradition to the US. He had asked the Supreme Court to allow him to challenge a December 2021 decision by the High Court, which ruled he could be extradited to America. The Supreme Court, the UK's highest court, denied his request to challenge the ruling as his application did not raise 'an arguable point of law'. However, responding to the judgment, Assange's legal team said: 'No appeal to the High Court has yet been filed by him in respect of the other important issues he raised previously in Westminster Magistrates' Court.' What do experts say? Commenting on the hearing, Thomas Garner, Extradition Partner at Fladgate, said: 'Assange is notionally a step closer to extradition to the US, however there could still be additional traction in this case. Assange's lawyers have already indicated that they intend to launch a further challenge at the High Court. 'He may have another opportunity to avoid extradition as the line of challenge terminated by the Supreme Court ultimately followed a victory at first instance by Assange. In that decision, Assange won on a single point but lost on several others. 'The Magistrate's decision to block his extradition was appealed by the US, but Assange did not himself make a cross appeal on the other matters. It is here that his team will focus their fire now. 'If the High Court were to refuse permission to appeal then he would reach the end of the line domestically, but if he succeeds in securing permission to appeal then his challenge could last for many months yet.' Advertisement

'In the bare cell, guards logged his status every hour until he was allowed to return to his cell on Tuesday.

'This kind of thing never becomes more tolerable. Any person would find it degrading. The mental strain on Julian is enormous as it is, having to process what is essentially a death sentence.

'The fact he is imprisoned while this outrageous extradition proceeds is a grave injustice in itself. He needs to deal with all that, while preparing for a complex appeal to the High Court.'

Stella Moris has pledged to fight Priti Patel's decision with 'every available avenue', declaring: 'I'm going to use every waking hour fighting for Julian until he is free.'

She said her husband had told her 'recently' that he planned to kill himself if he was extradited and revealed that a new appeal would include evidence that the CIA allegedly tried to kill him with poison when he was hiding in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

It came after the Home Secretary rubber stamped the order issued by a judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court to fly the WikiLeaks founder to America where he will be handed over to federal agents and put on trial.

Ms Moris, who had two children with the fugitive and married him in Belmarsh Prison in March, told a press conference in central London: 'We are not at the end of the road here. We are going to fight this. We are going to use every available avenue. I'm going to use every waking hour fighting for Julian until he is free, until justice is served'.

Ms Moris added: 'If he's extradited to the US, the conditions he will be under will be oppressive. It will drive him to take his own life. That's not simply a regular discussion about mental health. We are talking about driving a person to take their own life'.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'Under the Extradition Act 2003, the Secretary of State must sign an extradition order if there are no grounds to prohibit the order being made. Extradition requests are only sent to the Home Secretary once a judge decides it can proceed after considering various aspects of the case.

'On June 17, following consideration by both the Magistrates Court and High Court, the extradition of Mr Julian Assange to the US was ordered. Mr Assange retains the normal 14-day right to appeal.

'In this case, the UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr Assange.

'Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the US he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health.'

Stella Moris, the partner of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, is photographed with their sons Max, 3, and Gabriel, 4, in her Vivienne Westwood designed wedding dress on their prison wedding day
A pensioner, accused of the murder of a prostitute, who was beaten and strangled to death five decades ago, appeared in court for the first time today.

John Apelgren, 79, a dual UK and South African national appeared in custody at Bromley Magistrates' Court.

Bespectacled Apelgren, of Sydenham was dressed in a white shirt and blue Ralph Lauren Polo jacket.

Eileen Cotter, 22, was found dead on this street in Islington, north London on June 1, 1974

He is charged with the murder of Finsbury Park sex worker Eileen Cotter, 22, whose body was discovered in front of a block of garages behind Hamilton Park, Highbury on the afternoon of June 1, 1974.

Apelgren is also charged with indecently assaulting an 18 year-old female guest at his wedding to ex-wife Ann Smythe in 1972.

Prosecutor Maureen Edwards told the court Apelgren - who has since re-married and has at least one son - was a 'one in a billion' DNA match to evidence found on Eileen's body.

He was allegedly matched after submitting to a DNA test on an unrelated matter in 2019.

Eileen was discovered face-down with her buttocks exposed in an area frequented by prostitutes and their clients, accessible via a single track.

A post mortem confirmed the cause of death as manual strangulation, and there was evidence she received a black eye and bruising to her face and neck.

A murder investigation was launched at the time, but nobody was ever charged.

Apelgren, who was arrested yesterday on suspicion of murder, spoke only to confirm his age and address and indicate a not guilty plea to the indecent assault charge.

He is accused of pressing his penis into the hand of the complainant on his wedding day when she left the ladies toilet.

District Judge Sarah Turnock remanded him in custody on the murder charge to appear at the Old Bailey on June 27.

He was granted bail on the indecent assault charge on condition he does not contact the complainant, who is still alive, and a surviving witness.
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This is the moment security turned SAS and abseiled off the roof of a posh Grade II London home - to help evict squatters.

The team of ex-special forces veterans dramatically roped down the front of the stunning 5,521sqft property at 4.30am, located on Bloomsbury Square.

They were needed to block the windows to stop squatters jumping out as bailiffs stormed inside through the front door of the Victorian-era home.

Squatters had found themselves a home in the stylish, period building - which has gorgeous rooms in the basement, ground and two upper floors, with a grand staircase running through the centre.

The abseiling team called in for today's early morning job were from 'Specialist Group International'.

Made up of former special forces, fire, police and military veterans, SGI is contracted by the police to recover evidence in impossible situations and evict protestors safely.

The group roped down the front of the building in a bid to safely and respectfully removed the people - who had been squatting in the posh Victorian-era London building on Bloomsbury Square

The team of ex-special forces veterans roped down the front of the stunning property so that the squatters didn't try and jump from the windows

The group were kitted out to do the raid in the early hours of the morning for bailiffs Veritas

Squatters had 'trashed' the posh London pad, according to Peter Faulding, who was part of the operation this morning

Bailiffs stormed into the Bloomsbury building and evicted the illegal squatters in the dramatic scenes

Kitted out with 3million worth of equipment, two dogs, vans, and even a helicopter, the group have previously removed protestors from oil rigs and even underground.

Hired out by bailiffs Veritas, the SGI executed an early morning raid on the squatters by descending down on zip-lines from the roof.

SGI group Leader Peter Faulding, 59, known as the 'human mole' for his ability to crawl through any space and get anywhere, said the operation had gone 'safely'.

Peter, a former Parachute Regiment veteran from Sussex, said that his group's operations were always aimed at safely and respectfully removing people.

After the removal, he said that the house had been 'trashed' by the squatters in the building.

The father of three explained: 'We've always built a good relationship with protestors, in all the incidents we've dealt with we've never had an accident or aggression.

Specialist Group International are trained in evidence recovery, firefighting and rescue operations

Squatters are evicted from Bloomsbury House in London with the help of members from SGI abseiling from the top window of the building

The ex-special forces blocked the windows so that the squatters inside couldn't find a quick way out

'These people in this building were squatters, so it was a different approach, but despite it being a 'raid' we try to be kind and respectful.

'We were brought in by the bailiffs because we're the group that deals with situations other people cant deal with.

'This incident was a private removal, so not a police matter, but I've dealt with every major protest since the Newbury bypass protests in 1995.

'We're the only specialist protester removal team in the UK.'

Saying the group's trick to handling people in volatile or unpredictable circumstances, Peter says the best approach is to offer them a coffee and be compassionate.

The team of ex-special forces veterans dramatically roped down the front of the stunning property at 4.30am in Bloomsbury

Hired out by bailiffs Veritas, the SGI executed an early morning raid on the squatters at 4:30am by descending down on zip-lines from the roof

The incident in the early hours of the morning was a private removal, not a police matter, the group said

They were seen hanging off the gorgeous Victorian-era home in the SAS-style raid

'You just have to be caring and treat everyone the same, give them a smile and help them safely get out. We've never had any problems as a result.

'While the raid may have resembled the 1980 Iranian Embassy Raid, Peter says the goal isn't to go in 'hard', but safely.

He explained: 'It probably looked a bit like the siege. But like anything military, it's all about safety.

'This wasn't about going in hard - it was about making sure people didn't get injured, that's what we are about.

'The main reason for that strategy is to prevent them getting onto the roof or balconies of the property.

'Once they are on there bailiffs operations always fail because it becomes too unsafe to try and remove them. They could fall or get hurt.'

'We have 100 per cent safety record though, so we were contracted a few weeks ago to launch the operation and rehearsed the plan before hand in similar conditions.'

Specialist Group International are also trained in evidence recovery, firefighting and rescue operations.

Bloomsbury House was previously used as a event venue, but is currently advertised to be let out by Aston Rose chartered surveyors.

Two members of the abseiling team, who were called in for today's early morning job

The squatters were kicked out of the building - where they had been living

Bloomsbury House - where the squatters - was previously used as a event venue, but is currently advertised to be let out by Aston Rose chartered surveyors

SGI executed an early morning raid on the squatters by descending down on zip-lines from the roof
Two new images show stills of documentary footage from British filmmaker Alex Holder interviewing Donald Trump and his eldest daughter and former White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump.

The images, obtained by CBS News, further show the extent of Hodler's access to the ex-president and his inner circle in the weeks before and after the January 6 Capitol riot.

Holder is set to appear for a private deposition before the January 6 select committee on Thursday after complying with the panel's subpoena for his raw footage of anything related to the Capitol attack as well as his interviews with Trump, his adult children and son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-Vice President Mike Pence.

The filmmaker captured dozens of hours of footage during his time following the president and his team, and CBS confirmed that there are at least 11 hours of straight-to-camera interviews with Trump and his family.

Footage includes what Holder and his team captured on the Capitol grounds in the midst of the attack on January 6, 2021.

Further proving the extent of access is an image obtained and published Thursday by Politico Playbook of a name place card for Holder on Air Force One, which every guest receives when they fly aboard the president's plane.

Trump world was rocked by the existence of the footage, with one former top 2020 official for Trump exclaiming 'What the f*** is this?' in a text message to Rolling Stone, according to a Tuesday article.

Images obtained by CBS News show still grabs from documentary footage of Alex Holder interviewing Donald Trump

Another image revealed Thursday shows Holder interviewing Trump's daughter and former White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump for his documentary on the final months of the ex-president's reelection campaign

Ahead of tomorrows fifth Jan. 6 committee hearing, CBS News has learned that the committee has gained access to footage from inside the Trump White House, both before and after the attack on the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/xNz3KJ8d20  CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) June 22, 2022

Many top Trump aides for the campaign and administration told the publication they were completely unaware that a documentary was being created or that there was a crew following around the president in the final months of his time in office.

Revelations of the footage also sparked the January 6 panel to add more hearings to the docket in July to delve into the new information.

Thursday afternoon the panel will hold its fifth hearing after kicking off a series of at least eight earlier this month. But the number of public and televised hearings will now increase with the hours of documentary footage and testimony from Holder.

Holder's project on Trump's 2020 reelection campaign and the final weeks of his presidency will be released on a popular streaming service this summer in a three-part series.

The select committee subpoenaed the raw footage from Holder's team of anything related to the attack that day as well as interviews with the former president, former vice president, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr .

Holder released a statement Tuesday saying that he fully cooperated with the subpoena and handed over the footage  he is also meeting with the panel for an interview on Thursday.

Holder was invited on board Air Force One for an interview with Trump, which was ultimately canceled, but helps exhibit the extent of his access. A pictured provided by Holder's production company AJH Films shows his welcome name card during his flight on the president's aircraft

Ivanka, according to The New York Times, said in the documentary that her father should 'continue to fight until every legal remedy is exhausted' because people were questioning 'the sanctity of our elections.'

Her interview was conducted on December 10, 2020, which was nine days then-former Attorney General Bill Barr said there was no widespread voter fraud that could affect the 2020 presidential election outcome.

In recorded questioning with January 6 investigators, Ivanka said Barr's comments 'affected my perspective' of the 2020 election.

'I respect Attorney General Barr so I accepted what he said,' she said at the time.

Stephanie Grisham, who was at the time First Lady Melania Trump's chief of staff, told Rolling Stone she wasn't aware of this documentary project.

The January 6 select committee (pictured on Tuesday, June 21, 2022) obtained the footage that many of his senior officials were not even aware was being filmed. They will interview Holder in a private deposition on Thursday

Holder said in a Tuesday statement that he handed over his raw footage, which the panel subpoenaed on June 15, and is cooperating with the investigation

Holder's three-part project will be released on a popular streaming service this summer

One former senior Trump official said that revelations on Tuesday of the subpoena was the first time several members of the ex-president's campaign leadership even heard of the documentary project  including two officials who were still working in the administration after the January 6 attack.

Another former official told Rolling Stone that the whole documentary is a 'terrible idea' and said they were unaware of the film and shocked to learn of its existence.

Despite the ignorance to the documentary, the panel probing the former administration's actions related to the Capitol riot is now using it as evidence and the three-part project is set to be released on a streaming service this summer.

The committee is holding its fifth hearing on Thursday afternoon and will feature testimony from at least three former Justice Department officials Richard Donoghue, Steve Engel and Jeff Rosen.

Donoghue was Trump's acting deputy attorney general, Engel was an attorney for Trump's DOJ and Rosen was the former president's acting attorney general  all were serving over a time period that included January 6, 2021.

Holder was granted extensive access to Trump and his closest allies  including his family members and the vice president  and now the committee probing the January 6 attack wants to see what he captured.

The panel sent a subpoena to Holder on June 15, Politico first reported on Tuesday.

The subpoena demanded three things  the first being any footage Holder and his colleagues took in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021.

Secondly, the panel told him to turn over any raw footage of interviews Holder had with Trump, his sons Eric and Don Jr., his daughter and senior adviser Ivanka, his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner and his No. 2 Mike Pence.

The committee also asked Holder to hand over 'any raw footage pertaining to discussions of election fraud or election integrity surrounding the November 2020 presidential election.'

The January 6 select committee subpoenaed raw footage of interviews with the former president and his inner circle  including family members. The film crew had extensive access and recorded interviews before and after the January 6 Capitol riot

Existence of the footage has previously gone unreported.

A source familiar with Holder's footage told Playbook on Monday that the documentary maker began filming on the campaign trail in September 2020 for a project on the former president's reelection efforts. In relation to the project, he had a substantial amount of access to Trump, his children and Pence over several months on the campaign trail and in the White House.

The British filmmaker responded to news of the subpoena in a public statement on Tuesday, claiming that he had no 'agenda' going into the project other than documenting the final six weeks of Trump's reelection campaign.

'We simply wanted to better understand who the Trumps were and what motivated them to hold onto power so desperately,' Holder explained in his statement on the matter, which he posted to Twitter.

He added: 'We have dutifully handed over all the materials the Committee has asked for and we are fully cooperating.'

The three-part series titled Unprecedented will be released this summer on a 'major streaming service', according to the statement.

The January 6 panel is also asking for raw footage of anything with Trump's senior advisers Ivanka Trump, his daughter (left), and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law (right). Both pictured above appearing before the panel for recorded testimony that was presented in the televised hearings this month
The landmark Roe v. Wade abortion case is on the line once again Thursday, with the Supreme Court preparing to issue opinions that could decide abortion rights.

The leaked draft of an opinion authored by Justice Antonin Scalia has already telegraphed that a majority of justices are prepared to strike down the landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade when issuing a decision on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case.

In a signal that the Biden administration is at least preparing for bad news, Vice President Kamala Harris is set to hold an event with state attorneys general Thursday afternoon on their 'efforts protecting reproductive health care access.'

The meeting with the seven Democratic attorneys general will be to discuss the defense to the Supreme Court's decision on abortion, should the high court strike down Roe, a White House official told Reuters.

Harris has taken the lead for President Joe Biden's administration on defending abortion and reproductive rights.

'We must be ready to stand as a united front when the decision comes down,' Harris told a group of reproductive rights leaders Wednesday in a videoconference.

If the Court does strike down Roe, the administration will be forced to rely on law enforcement, potential executive actions, and other measures to try to ensure access to abortion rights in states that have been whittling away at the practice for years.

The high court has 13 opinions yet to release for this term. Opinions will be released this Thursday and Friday. Additional opinions may be released next week. On Tuesday, the court issued five opinions but not a ruling on abortion rights.

Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with state attorney generals on Thursday to talk defense should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that made abortion legal in this country

Protesters in front of the Supreme Court ahead of anticipated ruling on Roe v. Wade - the landmark case that legalized abortion in the United States

There are 18 states that have near-total bans on their books, while four more have time-limit band and four others are likely to pass new bans if Roe is overturned

The meeting with Harris will be attended by the attorneys general of Wisconsin, Nevada, Illinois, California, Delaware, New York and Washington state.

State attorney generals will likely be the front line of defense should abortion be outlawed. They are the top legal officers in their states and could bring additional lawsuits regarding reproductive rights.

Biden is a lifelong Catholic who was opposed to Roe in the early days of his career and has only later come to embrace abortion rights. He was critical of the leaked draft opinion.

Protesters on both sides of the contentious issue have been gathering outside the court daily during the final days of the court's term, which usually ends in late June.

The building is surrounded by a tall fence that went up after the draft leaked last month.

The political debate on abortion reignited last month when Politico published a draft majority opinion that showed Roe v. Wade being struck down. In it, conservative Justice Samuel Alito writes: 'Roe was egregiously wrong from the start' and must be overturned.

If judges haven't switched their positions since Alito authored the draft, it would result in the overturning of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which provides for abortion rights.

Currently, there are 18 states that have near-total bans on abortion already on the books are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

On the other side of the spectrum, 16 states and the District of Columbia have laws that protect a person's right to an abortion.

With public attention focusing on the court, where conservatives hold a 6-3 majority, Congress passed legislation to provide security protection to justices, after an armed man was arrested outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home.

The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, is among the most closely watched cases on the court's docket, which includes other cases on gun control and other controversial issues that have yet to be decided.

The Supreme Court: Seated from left are Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Standing from left are Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Martin Lewis has revealed how he was recently turned down for a seat in the House of Lords because he was 'honest' in an interview for a peerage.

The 50-year-old, the founder of the Money Saving Expert website, spoke of how his bid to become a crossbench peer was rejected 'a couple of weeks ago' by an appointments panel.

The consumer champion blamed his rejection on him being 'open and transparent' about how much time he would be able to devote to being in Parliament.

Mr Lewis described how, with a nine-year-old daughter, he would struggle with the mid-week evening sittings of the Lords.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Political Thinking with Nick Robinson programme, Mr Lewis said it was the second time he had been rejected for a seat in the Lords as an independent peer.

Martin Lewis described how, with a nine-year-old daughter, he would struggle with the mid-week evening sittings of the House of Lords

The founder of the Money Saving Expert website spoke of how his bid to become a crossbench peer was rejected 'a couple of weeks ago'

'I just got turned down again a couple of weeks ago, actually,' he said, as he revealed the decision by the House of Lords Appointments Commission to again deny him a peerage.

'I was much more annoyed the last time. I did this really silly thing.

'I was honest in the interview. I had an interview and they talked about timings and I said - I always want to be open and transparent... most of the time that the Lords sits is about 3pm to 10pm on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

'I said to them 'look, I need to be straight with you in terms of the hours I can give. I'm very busy with my job, but most importantly I have a nine-year-old daughter and until she's 13, my most important job from 6.30pm until eight at night is to be with her and to put her to bed, maybe until she's 12, whatever'.'

Mr Lewis outlined how he saw his role in the Lords as 'learning for three to five years with limited input' before 'gradually over the next five to ten years' devoting more time to Parliament and less to his other commitments.

He added how this was 'a stumbling block' for the Commission, but revealed they had 'invited me to apply again in future'.

Mr Lewis also described how, when he received the rejection letter, he 'breathed a sigh of relief because there's a lot of pressure on at the moment'.

'I thought maybe a couple of years [before reapplying] is probably more sensible,' he said.

Mr Lewis, whose net worth is estimated at around 120m, married TV presenter Lara Lewington, 43, in 2009

Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Lewis told Nick Robinson he had not been 'party political' for 'a long time now', including over Brexit.

However, he revealed he had been a Liberal Democrat member until the age of 24 and had contemplated running to be an MP until his early thirties.

He also described Westminster's adversarial politics as 'abominable' and in need of major reform to help the UK deal with future crises.

Anyone can nominate themselves for a place in the Lords or be nominated by others.

There are currently around 800 members of the Lords, making it the second-largest legislative chamber in the world behind the Chinese National People's Congress.

Peers can claim up to 323 for each day they attend Parliament.

A spokesperson for the House of Lords Appointments Commission said: 'Appointments are made based on how people can contribute to the House, but are not determined on the basis of caring or family circumstances.

'It's a very competitive process. We make very few appointments and consequently we have to turn down some very good candidates.'

Mr Lewis, whose net worth is estimated at around 120m, married TV presenter Lara Lewington, 43, in 2009 and they have one daughter together.
Lisa Wilkinson has cancelled her appearances on The Project for the week as Network Ten threatens defamation action against other media outlets following the fallout of her controversial Logies speech.

The Project co-host is under heavy fire after she mentioned alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins in her speech moments after winning the Outstanding News Coverage Logie award for her one-of-one interview with the former ministerial staffer in 2021.

The acceptance speech has forced the rape trial which was due to start next week to be rescheduled until October and could result in Wilkinson being charged with contempt of court.

She has faced a wrath of public scrutiny since the speech with thousands of Australians calling for to resign.

Wilkinson was noticeably absent from her hosting gig on Channel 10 on Thursday night, despite being scheduled to appear.

She was instead replaced by co-host Georgie Tunny who appeared alongside fellow Logies winner Tony Armstrong, but there was no mention of the awards at all during the show.

She was supposed to co-host on Friday and Sunday nights too but those appearances have also been cancelled.

Network 10 host Lisa Wilkinson (above) was absent from The Project's panel on Thursday night following her controversial Logies acceptance speech

A spokesman for Ten Network said they 'fully support Lisa in her ongoing and full commitment to doing the right thing as a witness in the trial'.

The network also hit back at the 'unfair' criticism of Wilkinson, and said it would not rule out taking legal action, The Australian reported.

'This reporting is now causing significant harm and we ask these organisations to cease this harassment to allow Lisa the best opportunity to give her evidence in court and to enable the trial to go ahead in a fair and timely manner,' a spokesperson for the network said.

'We are closely monitoring all coverage of this issue and Lisa and Network 10 reserve their rights in respect of any future defamation claims.'

Wilkinson's speech contributed to delaying Higgins's trial against former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann by prejudicing potential jurors. Lehrmann is accused of raping Ms Higgins in Parliament House in 2019 and has pleaded not guilty.

He denies these claims and stated in a police interview that he did not have sex with Ms Higgins.

On Thursday the ACT Supreme Court set a new date of October 4 for the trial.

Chief Justice Lucy McCallum decided on Tuesday to delay the trial 'regrettably and with gritted teeth' because 'somewhere in this debate, the distinction between an untested allegation and the fact of guilt has been lost'.

Wilkinson's speech reportedly contributed to delaying the trial between Brittany Higgins and alleged rapist Bruce Lehrmann (above)

She noted public interest in the case needed to die down before Lehrmann would have access to a fair jury.

On Thursday morning Lehrmann's defence barrister Steve Whybrow applied for the trial to be delayed further, until the beginning of next year.

'My application would be, to the extent that the bush fire is still burning in effect, that the trial commence early next year because we would like there to be no further issues and delays,' he told the court.

'We can foresee the possibility that there may be collateral matters that need to be investigated relating to the circumstances that have led to the trial being vacated.'

Justice McCallum denied his application and said: 'The publicity this week has focused sharply on the very fact that was being overlooked, that a man is facing trial and he is entitled to the presumption of innocence.'

Wilkinson (left) has been criticised for her acceptance speech for the Outstanding News Coverage Logie award for her one-of-one interview with the former ministerial staffer Brittany Higgins (right)

Higgins's Crown prosecutor Shane Drumgold agreed with Justice McCallum's decision, noting the 102-day delay was more generous than that given in similar cases.

Mr Drumgold also announced on Thursday he was seeking written undertakings by the end of the day from Network 10, Wilkinson and the owners of Sydney radio station WSFM that they would no longer commentate on the trial.

The written agreement would also see the three parties agree that any future comments could be in the contempt of court.

Mr Drumgold said if the undertaking were not made by Network 10, Wilkinson and WSFM then he would seek an injunction to stop future public comment.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is unable to confirm whether the undertakings were made.

Mr Drumgold also said five books currently being written - from authors including Sydney Morning Herald columnist Niki Savva, News Corp journalist Samantha Maiden and Ten's political editor Peter van Onselen - may comment on the case.

Wilkinson's speech reportedly contributed to delaying Higgins's trial against former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann by prejudicing potential jurors

Ms Higgins (above) will face Bruce Lehrmann in court on October 4 after accusing him of raping her in Parliament House in 2019

Justice McCallum said publishers should remember Lehrmann is yet to be proven guilty in a court of law.

'Even a discussion of workplace culture has to dance a delicate dance,' she said.

'If the issue is the treatment of an allegation, it's very difficult to have that debate without commenting on appropriate treatment on the assumed premise that the allegation is true.'

Network 10 announced on Wednesday it hired high-profile lawyer Matthew Collins on behalf of the Network and Wilkinson just hours after Dr Collins criticised Wilkinson's speech on rival Chanel Seven's Sunrise morning show.

'It's certainly possible that the authorities will be looking at the speech she made to the Logies and assessing (whether) that speech went against the standard which applies in this branch of the law,' Dr Collins said.

'That standard is, did anything that she did have a tendency to interfere with the administration of justice?'

It is unclear if Wilkinson will be charged with contempt of court but it is understood that she should have been made aware of any consequences by the close of business on Thursday.

Network Ten it 'fully supports Lisa Wilkinson'.
Conor McGregor has appeared in a Dublin court accused of six driving offences in his Bentley Continental GT.

The MMA fighter, 33, made no indication of his plea at Blanchardstown District Court this morning.

He was charged with two counts of dangerous driving on March 22 and last appeared in court on April 7.

Conor McGregor has appeared in a Dublin court accused of six driving offences in his Bentley Continental GT

The MMA fighter, 33, made no indication of his plea at Blanchardstown District Court this morning (pictured after the hearing)

He was arrested in March for alleged dangerous driving in his 150,000 Bentley Continental GT (file image)

He was also charged with driving without insurance and a licence, and failing to produce a certificate of insurance or licence.

The UFC star had been travelling in his Bentley on the N4 in west Dublin when he was stopped by gardai on March 22.

The case was remanded until Thursday, September 8, at 10.30am while the Director of Public Prosecutions considers it, and pending possible further charges, the court heard.

Wearing a three-piece dark navy suit, McGregor arrived at court on Thursday in a Rolls Royce with a 221-registration.

Wearing a three-piece dark navy suit, McGregor arrived at court on Thursday in a Rolls Royce with a 221-registration (file image)

He made no comment to the media on his way in or out of the court building.

A Garda spokesperson confirmed in March that a man was arrested in relation to the incident and taken to Lucan Garda Station. He was later released.

In a statement, the police service said: 'Gardai arrested a man aged in his 30s in relation to an incident of dangerous driving in the Palmerstown area yesterday evening, Tuesday 22nd March 2022.

'The man was taken to Lucan Garda Station where he was later charged. He has been released pending an appearance before Blanchardstown District Court at a later date.'

The UFC star had been travelling in his Bentley on the N4 in west Dublin when he was stopped by gardai on March 22

A spokeswoman for McGregor told MailOnline at the time: 'Mr McGregor was driving to the gym when he was stopped by Gardai for alleged road traffic violations.

'He passed the drug and alcohol tests taken at the station.'

McGregor is currently on the comeback path and has not fought since losing against Dustin Poirier back in July last year, a fight which saw him break his leg in his third defeat in four matches.

'The Notorious', a former two-weight world champion, is expected to return to the Octagon later this year and has vowed to fight again for a world title despite losing his last two bouts.

Although the date and opponent when he returns has not yet been confirmed, McGregor is reportedly keen to face the winner of the Justin Gaethje vs Charles Oliveira fight in May, with a mooted return in early July.
by Jonathon Mayo for the Daily Mail

The V.I. Lenin Nuclear Power Station at Chernobyl, with its four RBMK nuclear reactors, was the pride of the Soviet Union, generating electricity for 30 million homes and businesses.

It was an operating system the West had rejected because of concerns about design flaws and its safety, but the Soviets were confident it was secure. In an interview in February 1986, Vitali Sklyarov, the Minister of Power and Electrification of the Ukraine, said: 'The odds of a meltdown are one in 10,000 years.'

JONATHAN MAYO reveals, in gripping detail, how the catastrophe unfolded minute by minute...

Sky series, Chernobyl, shed new light on one of the world's worst nuclear incidents

Friday, April 25, 1986

11pm

It has been an unseasonably warm day at Chernobyl, in northern Soviet Ukraine, and the cherry trees are already in bloom. In the shadow of the power station, scores of fishermen are settling on the edge of a large artificial pond  its waters are used to cool the plant's four giant reactors. Power station bosses boast that the water is so safe they are breeding fish there. Angling is prohibited but the fishermen know that at this time of night no one will bother them.

Anatoly Dyatlov, Chernobyl's 55-year-old deputy chief engineer, arrives at work. Tonight he will be overseeing a test authorised by the Soviet Energy Authority to assess the plant's ability to keep its latest reactor, No 4, cool in the event of a power cut.

The test should have been carried out before the reactor became operational in 1984, so it is two years overdue.

The son of a Siberian peasant, Dyatlov has risen to become the leading nuclear expert at Chernobyl. He is an intolerant manager and keeps a notebook to write down the names of those who cross him.

11.45

engineer Sasha Yuvchenko, 24, clocks on for the night shift. The tall young man is one of 176 workers at the power station tonight. He changes into regulation white overalls and cap and makes his way to his office, between Reactors No 3 and No 4, to be briefed by the engineer he is taking over from.

A former champion rower, he has just said goodbye to his wife Natasha and their two year-old son Kirill in the nearby city of Pripyat, built from scratch in 1970 to house the thousands of workers at the plant. It now has a population of just under 50,000.

The nuclear industry is prestigious and Pripyat's supermarkets are better stocked than most in the Soviet Union. It has good schools and sports facilities.

It was an operating system the West had rejected because of concerns about design flaws and its safety, but the Soviets were confident it was secure (pictured: Chernobyl)

Saturday, April 26, 1986

00.20

The large control room of Reactor No 4 is harshly lit by fluorescent lights and full of cigarette smoke. The atmosphere is tense. No one has done a shutdown test like this before.

Anatoly Dyatlov is arguing with the shift foreman, Alexander Akimov, about the level of power produced by the reactor at which it is safe to begin the test. The lower the power, the more danger there is of an accidental shutdown.

The rule book, which Akimov has in his hands, stipulates that it should be no less than 700 megawatts, otherwise the reactor will become unstable. Dyatlov insists that 200 megawatts is safe. Akimov is outranked by Dyatlov, so he reluctantly agrees to allow the test to continue.

00.28

The reactor control engineer, 26-year-old Leonid Toptunov, who has only been in his job a few months, switches the system from manual to automatic. But he misses a vital step, failing to select a megawatt level at which the control room computer would then operate.

The computer defaults to the last level that had been inputted  near zero. Power in Reactor No 4 falls almost to zero megawatts. The reactor is now unstable and has the potential to explode.

Alarms begin to sound. Alexander Akimov says that the rulebook states the test should now be aborted. But Dyatlov wants it completed and insists they continue. That the reactor might explode is unthinkable to him.

In the reactor's core are more than 1,600 radioactive uranium-235 metal fuel rods. Uranium-235 is unstable, its atoms constantly breaking down to release subatomic particles called neutrons  which hit more uranium atoms, so triggering a chain reaction that generates enormous heat and energy.

In a controlled chain reaction, this heat can be used to turn water into steam that powers a turbine to generate electricity.

Control of the reaction depends on 211 boron control rods spread throughout the reactor's core. They can absorb neutrons and so slow the chain reaction.

If the rods are raised, the chain reaction accelerates. If they are taken out altogether, the engineers lose their ability to stop the reactor overheating.

In an attempt to lift the power level, Dyatlov orders the control rods to be raised. Alarmed by the likely loss of control, Toptunov refuses to do so.

1am

Threatened with the sack by Dyatlov, Toptunov finally agrees to raise the control rods and the reactor is powered up to what is regarded as a safer 200 megawatts. But it is increasingly unstable.

1.23

The control room computer is demanding that the reactor be shut down, but the test is scheduled to begin. Alexander Akimov hesitates over the controls. 'What are you waiting for?' Dyatlov says impatiently.

In an interview in February 1986, Vitali Sklyarov, the Minister of Power and Electrification of the Ukraine, said: 'The odds of a meltdown are one in 10,000 years' (pictured: Chernobyl TV miniseries)

1.23 and 40 seconds

The temperature in the reactor is now 4,650c  almost as hot as the surface of the Sun. Akimov presses the button to start the test, inadvertently starting a catastrophic chain reaction that generates enormous amounts of steam.

Suddenly, Valeri Perevozchenko, an engineer who had been on a catwalk high above the reactor, bursts into the control room in a panic, shouting that he has seen the 350kg (772lb) caps on the fuel rods jumping up and down in their sockets. Then the control room walls start shaking and the men hear a sound like a long, low human moan  followed by a huge explosion as a build-up of steam blasts the 200-ton concrete shield above the reactor into the air.

In the control room, Akimov shouts: 'Shut down the reactor!' But it is too late.

1.23 and 45 seconds

There is a second, much louder blast as 50 tons of radioactive uranium fuel from the reactor core  ten times the amount at Hiroshima  vaporises and is blasted into the atmosphere. Uranium-235 has a half-life (the time it takes for the radioactivity to fall to half its original value) of 700 million years.

A further 70 tons of uranium and 900 tons of radioactive graphite is scattered around the surrounding area, including on Reactor No 3.

In No 4's reactor core, 800 tons of graphite start to burn, sending more lethal radioactive material 3,000 ft into the night sky. The men fishing by the cooling pond are illuminated by the flames.

In the control room, dust and debris are falling from the ceiling and the terrified technicians think they are in the middle of an earthquake. No one imagines it could possibly be the reactor.

More alarms sound, the fluorescent lights go off and the emergency generators kick in.

Sasha Yuvchenko is in the senior engineer room, talking to a colleague who has come to collect a tin of paint, when a shockwave hits the room. 'The metre-thick concrete walls were bent like rubber. I thought war with the Americans had begun,' he later said.

Jessie Buckley plays Lyudmilla Ignatenko, the young wife of Vasily, a firefighter who suffers from exposure to radiation at Chernobyl

Everywhere there is an ominous hissing noise. Yuvchenko runs from the room and, behind a pile of rubble, finds a badly scalded and bloody pump operator, who tells him he must rescue their colleague Valery Khodemchuk, who is in the main circulating pump room close to the explosion. 'He's still trapped in there!'

Outside Paramilitary Fire Station Number Two, 500 yards away, firemen enjoying the cool night air watch in horror as a giant mushroom cloud of smoke rises from the power station. In their operations room, hundreds of red lights are flashing  one for every room in the power plant.

The crews run to their trucks. In charge is youthful but respected 23-year-old Lieutenant Vladimir Pravik. On his radio, he summons every fire crew in the region.

1.25

At his home in Pripyat, Viktor Bryukhanov, the director of the Chernobyl plant, is woken by a phone call. His wife watches as the colour drains from his face. Bryukhanov gets dressed and leaves without saying a word.

Sasha Yuvchenko is still searching for Valery Khodemchuk in the reactor building. He looks up and sees stars  the ceiling has disappeared.

Sparks are showering from severed power cables and a blue-white beam of radiation from the core is shooting upwards.

'I remember thinking how beautiful it was,' Yuvchenko said afterwards. There is no sign of Khodemchuk.

The control room of Reactor No 4 is filled with dust. A shocked Dyatlov is trying to understand what has happened. Unaware that the reactor is a blazing volcano, he hopes water might save it from damage and orders Akimov to activate the emergency cooling pumps. 'We've got to get water into the reactor!'

1.35

On A ledge more than 100ft up in the remains of the main reactor hall, three technicians are looking down into the blazing reactor. A few yards away, Sasha Yuvchenko is straining to hold the steel and concrete reactor hall door open. It has come off its hinges. If it closes, his three colleagues will be trapped inside.

Yuvchenko doesn't realise that radiation from the door is already attacking his skin. Although the three men on the ledge are only there for a minute, the radiation will kill them in less than two weeks. Sasha Yuvchenko will die of leukaemia in 2008.

1.38

The fire crews from Paramilitary Fire Station Number Two arrive at the power station. They are stunned to see that the roof of Reactor No 4 is missing.

Lieutenant Pravik says to his colleague Leonid Shavrey: 'We'll really have our work cut out here.' Shavrey knows they are heading into danger. 'My hair stood on end,' he later said.

There is a strange vapour in the air.

1.50

Viktor Bryukhanov, the director of the plant, drives through the gates and sees the devastation for the first time. He knows his career is over.

'I'm going to prison,' he thinks.

He had overseen the building of the power station and, like many Soviet officials, had cut corners, signed off tests that were never conducted and hit targets by reducing the time spent in making urgent repairs.

Bryukhanov orders that the power station's underground bunker  built as a command post in case of nuclear war  be opened, then tells his managers to assess the situation in their departments and report back to him. Soon the bunker is filled with 40 men, all frantically making telephone calls.

In the rubble of the kilometre-long turbine hall that links all four reactors, a team of engineers armed with a single torch are searching desperately for their colleague Vladimir Shashenok. They find him barely alive, badly burned and with bloody foam coming out of his mouth. They pick him up and carry him to safety.

Above them on the burning turbine hall roof, firemen Leonid Shavrey and Vladimir Pryshchepa are trying to extinguish the flames. Reluctant to use water because of the danger from exposed electricity cables, they are throwing sand on the fires and beating them out with their canvas hoses.

Contrary to fire regulations, the roof is covered with highly flammable bitumen. Shavrey later recalled: 'With the slightest increase in temperature, the bitumen immediately caught fire. If you stepped on it, you couldn't put one foot in front of the other  it tore off your boots.'

The men have no training in putting out fires such as this, and are kicking away burning debris with their boots, not realising that it is radioactive.

1.55

Dr Valentyn Belokon, 28, arrives from Pripyat Hospital armed only with painkillers to treat burns. But there are no burns victims yet. A young worker from Reactor No 3 is brought to him suffering from nausea and a violent headache. Belokon assumes the man was drinking the night before.

2am

The young fire chief, Lieutenant Pravik, is concerned that the roof of Reactor No 3 (built close to Reactor No 4 to save money) is now on fire. A westerly wind could spread the flames farther, to Reactors 1 and 2, which are both still operating.

Even though Pravik's walkie-talkie isn't working and they have no anti-radiation equipment, he bravely leads his men up a fire ladder to the roof of Reactor No 3.

On the roof of the turbine hall, fireman Leonid Shavrey is getting so hot he removes his helmet. The fishermen, still by the cooling pond, see this and cheer what they think is bravado. 'He's taken his helmet off!' says one. 'He's a real hero!'

In Reactor No 4's control room, Anatoly Dyatlov, the dogmatic deputy chief engineer, is told by a technician that the reactor has blown up. Dyatlov refuses to believe it and heads outside to see for himself. He is stunned by the apocalyptic scene before him.

2.05

The local fire brigade chief, Lieutenant-colonel Leonid Teliatnikov, has assembled a team of 28 men to put out the reactor fires. Thoughts of his family flash through his mind, but his main worry is that his men won't have the strength to keep going until reinforcements arrive.

2.10

The condition of the young man Dr Belokon thinks is hung over worsens. He is very pale and continually muttering 'The horror of it! The horror of it!' Belokon gives him a sedative. More men appear with similar symptoms.

Leonid Shavrey's younger brother Petr, who is also a fireman, arrives at the power station not wearing any protective gear, as he was off duty when the emergency call came. He hears Leonid shout from the turbine hall roof that he has no working hoses, so Petr puts two under his arms and clambers up the fire ladder. 'Protection didn't matter but time was of the essence to stop the flames spreading,' he later said.

2.25

Lieutenant Pravik and his men come down from the roof of Reactor No 3, as they are all starting to feel sick. Someone calls an ambulance. As Pravik is helped inside, he asks a colleague to phone his wife and tell her to close their apartment's windows. Pravik's eyes have turned from brown to blue. He has only days to live.

Fireman Alexander Petrovsky, 24, has taken Pravik's place and is making his way to the top of Reactor No 3. He is shocked to find only one hose is working.

2.30

The power station's civil defence chief, Serafim Vorobyev, is using a military radiometer designed for use in a nuclear attack to measure radiation. It shows levels are 100 times higher than normal. He runs to Viktor Bryukhanov, the director of the plant, and tells him they need to warn the citizens of Pripyat to stay indoors.

Bryukhanov tells him to go away  he needs time to think.

2.45

The firefighters on the roof of the turbine hall have run out of water because the electric pumps have failed. Petr Shavrey, still with no protective gear, has decided the only option is to use water from the cooling ponds. But first he has to guide large fire trucks around the huge amount of debris from the explosion that is surrounding the power station.

As Petr runs in front of the first truck, moving obstacles out of the way, its tyres are punctured by metal spikes. He grabs one with both hands and the skin on his palms peels away.

On top of Reactor No 3, firefighter Alexander Petrovsky goes blind for 30 seconds. When his sight returns, he says to his colleague: 'Let's get the f*** out of here!'

2.50

All the operators who were missing after the explosions have been accounted for except Valery Khodemchuk, who, unbeknown to his colleagues, was vaporised.

Anatoly Dyatlov from the control room joins the search, with turbine engineer Valeriy Perevozchenko. Their progress through the engine room is hampered by concrete rubble and a fallen crane.

Perevozchenko manages to partially open an office door  and as he shouts Khodemchuk's name, he is showered by radioactive water cascading from broken pipes overhead. His search for Khodemchuk will ultimately kill him.

3am

Viktor Bryukhanov, the power station's director, is calling his bosses in Moscow to give them an update.

He downplays the situation, saying that although there has been an explosion, only part of the turbine hall roof has collapsed and the reactor is still intact and being cooled down by his engineers.

Finally realising the firemen and nuclear workers he is seeing are suffering from the effects of radiation, Dr Belokon calls the hospital in Pripyat to ask for potassium iodide  a drug that offers some protection from radiation  to be brought to Chernobyl.

3.30

The power station's civil defence chief, Serafim Vorobyev, is continuing to measure radiation levels, but his clothes and body are so contaminated he can no longer get an accurate reading. Vorobyev angrily confronts his boss, Viktor Bryukhanov, again.

'There's no mistake! We have to take action!'

Bryukhanov shoves him away. 'Get out! Your instrument must be broken!'

Fire chief Leonid Telyatnikov starts vomiting. 'I thought I was just tired from rushing around so much,' he said. 'I was somehow sure I couldn't get ill because I still had so many things to do.'

4am

After watching the efforts of the firefighters for almost three hours, the fishermen by the cooling ponds are starting to feel ill. Two of those fishing closest to the plant will die.

5am

The newly installed General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, is woken by a phone call telling him there has been a fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Even he is not told the whole story.

'In the first hours and even the first day after the accident there was no understanding that the reactor had exploded and there had been a huge nuclear emission into the atmosphere,' Gorbachev later recalled.

Fire chief Leonid Telyatnikov and his men have arrived at Pripyat hospital. They are chatting and smoking.

They think they are there for a routine post-fire check, but within a few days they will develop radiation burns on their faces, hands and feet.

Six of the men will die. The survivors, including Telyatnikov himself, are later taken to a sterile unit in the specialist radiological wards of Moscow's Hospital No 6. He won't be well enough to leave hospital for eight months.

'Chernobyl showed us that some people are not as conscientious and upright as they should be. We did what we had to do and that's all,' he said afterwards.

5.30

Anatoly Dyatlov, weakened by sickness and with his shoes soaked by radioactive water, reports to the plant's director, Viktor Bryukhanov, who asks him how the disaster happened.

'I don't know. I don't understand any of it,' Dyatlov replies. Both Dyatlov and Bryukhanov will be sentenced to ten years in prison for their role in the disaster.

7am

The sun has now risen, revealing the full horror of the wrecked V.I. Lenin nuclear power station.

The fires are under control, thanks in part to water from the cooling pond. Firefighter brothers Leonid and Petr Shavrey are exhausted. Petr is desperate for a drink and grabs a water hose. 'What are you doing? It's filthy!' a colleague yells at him.

Petr knows by now that the water is probably radioactive but he doesn't care: 'It seemed to me that if I didn't get a couple of gulps, I would collapse and wouldn't be able to get up again.'

That brief drink will cause lasting damage to Petr's digestive system.

The deputy fire chief for the region declares optimistically that the emergency is over.

7.30

Alexander Akimov and Leonid Toptunov, the two control-room technicians who had argued with Anatoly Dyatlov before the test began, are in the bowels of Reactor No 4 on a futile mission, trying to get water to the wrecked reactor.

Radioactive water is showering down on them as they struggle to turn a large valve. They are becoming increasingly weak and Toptunov frequently has to stop in order to vomit. Akimov's skin will turn black and he will die in hospital on May 11. He told a colleague his conscience hurt him more than the pain. Toptunov will die three days later. The bravest people at Chernobyl were those most likely to die.

Aftermath

On Sunday, April 27, the city of Pripyat was finally evacuated. The population were told that 'an unsatisfactory radioactive situation has occurred' and to leave their pets and take enough food and clothing for three days. They never returned.

In total, almost 350,000 people were moved out of the Chernobyl area.

The outside world knew nothing about the disaster until Monday, April 28, when Cliff Robinson, a Swedish chemist at a nuclear power plant near Stockholm, passed through a radiation detector on his way to clean his teeth at the end of a shift. To his surprise, an alarm went off. Radiation was found on his and other workers' shoes.

When it was discovered that a cloud of radioactive gas was drifting west across Scandinavia, suspicion immediately fell on the Soviet Union as the source of the contamination.

Later that day, the accident at Chernobyl was the seventh story on the Soviet state television news.

Eventually, the radioactive cloud spread north over the whole of Scandinavia and into Germany and Czechoslovakia, causing toxic rain to fall. Pharmacies in Demark sold out of potassium iodide tablets.

A week after the disaster, radioactive particles in rain fell on North Wales. For more than a quarter of a century, all Welsh lamb produced for human consumption was monitored for radioactivity.

Today, 33 years on, there is still a 30km exclusion zone around the Chernobyl site because radiation levels in the soil remain high. But this so-called 'dead zone' is now open to tourists, who visit on day passes.

Nature has flourished and there is an abundance of wildlife. It is illegal to live in the zone but up to 150 people, mainly elderly subsistence farmers, still do. In recent years, a few Ukrainian families  some of them fleeing the Crimean conflict  have moved to live in homes abandoned just outside the exclusion zone.

Buildings in the abandoned city of Pripyat have been stripped of valuable metal by looters. Among the crumbling homes, schools, shops and offices lie toys, shoes and gas masks on the ground.

A total of 31 firemen and workers died at Chernobyl. So radioactive were some of their bodies, they were buried in lead coffins with the lids welded shut.

A World Health Organisation report estimated that, of the 600,000 people across the Soviet Union exposed to the highest levels of radiation, 4,000 would eventually die.

It has been claimed that if all four nuclear reactors at Chernobyl had been damaged by the explosion, most of life on Earth would have been wiped out.

Jonathan Mayo is the author of Hitler's Last Day: Minute by Minute (Short Books, 8.99).
Advertisement

A huge WWII tank buried underground for 74 years in the Lincolnshire Ferns has been completely restored.

The 26 foot-long Buffalo tank has been buried almost 30 feet down since 1947, but astonishingly could become Europe's only driveable example by next summer.

Farmer Daniel Abbott, 42, and his team of volunteers hauled the huge 20-tonne amphibious tank from underground in April last year after three years of searching and planning.

The Buffalo sank into the ground after being washed away when being used as a flood defence to protect the village of Crowland, Lincolnshire during the March 1947 floods.

It was part of a temporary dam to hold back the flood from the River Welland, which involved 15 other tanks.

The Second World War-era tank was buried 30ft underground and needed a huge excavation to be recovered

Daniel Abbot,42, on top of the tank he spent three years working to get out. He and his team restored it to its current condition in just over a year

The 26 foot-long tank has been relatively well-preserved thanks to being buried in peat and clay for the last 74 years

Remarkably, Daniel Abbot thinks the historic tank could be fully driveable next summer, with some of its original components having been restored to working order

The tank ended up underground after being swept away and sinking during floods in 1947

Now, just over a year later, the tank has been restored in time for the 75th anniversary of the 1947 floods and it will be on display at the Thorney & Crowland 1940s Weekend on June 25 and 26.

The LVT-4 tank has had its cockpit restored, its front armour plating re-sprayed, the original gearbox has been repaired, and new tracks have been fitted.

Daniel Abbott, who located the Buffalo, said: 'I'm absolutely blown away by the restoration. We have got a new working engine from America and hope to fit it in the tank over the winter so by next summer it will be driveable.'

Daniel Abbott poses holding a Union flag after it was excavated Crowland, Lincolnshire

The crew managed to dig up the 20-tonne tank and haul it out of the 30ft haul in April last year

The Buffalo tank was one of 16 brought in as part of flood defences for the nearby village of Crowland when the River Welland burst its banks

The Daily Mail's original report about the floods

He said the original bodywork has not been repainted because of its many interesting features.

Mr Abbott added: 'When we started cleaning the tank we found people's names scratched into the panelling and we're not sure if that happened during the Second World War or in 1947.

'We also found a hand-painted symbol of a bull's head of the 79th Armoured Division painted on the front, and someone has painted "all ok" on the panelling.'

The March 1947 floods came after a combination of heavy snow, a sudden thaw, high tides, rain and wind caused the River Welland to break its banks.

Around 30,000 acres of land around Crowland were flooded and 16 Buffalo tanks were brought in to help seal the breach.

When the water was pumped back into the flood plain, the water got under some of the Buffalos and five of them floated away. One was recovered, two sank in fishing pits and two were left in a hole.

Daniel and his team spent three years planning to excavate the tank from the hole. They did a lot of digging by hand, as well as using a machine from the North Level Drainage Board.

The tank had been buried in clay and peat and was well preserved. The team eventually wants to build a museum in the town to house it.

Daniel added: Hopefully we will eventually be able to put it in a nice shed in the town and make a museum. Its been in Crowland for 74 years and its part of the towns history.

Buffalo LVT-4s were used in the Rhine Crossing in 1945.
Queensland is looking at introducing a European-style tourist tax as the sunshine state attempts to financially recuperate from the pandemic.

The government have formed the Tourism Industry Reference Panel, a team in charge of reigniting the sector which was devastated due to border restrictions during the past two years of Covid.

The panel have mapped out a 10-year plan that includes a tourist levy, which would likely be charged to nightly accommodation or entry to national parks - a move that could pump $44billion into QLD's economy per year by 2032.

Queensland are looking at introducing a European-style tourist tax as the sunshine state looks to financially recuperate from the pandemic

Domestic tourism has returned to pre-pandemic levels, however international tourism remains 60 per cent lower than it was before Covid.

Areas like the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree National Park and Surfer's Paradise are all tourist hotspots that could be impacted by the levy.

The money would go in part towards the maintenance of parks and other attractions.

Countries including France, Greece, Croatia, Italy and Indonesia all charge tourist taxes, that are paid in line with accommodation - one of the methods being considered by Queensland.

Areas like the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree National Park and Surfer's Paradise are all tourist hotspots that could be impacted by the levy

'The idea of a visitor levy is not new. It has been modelled, canvassed and debated for the best part of a decade,' the panel's report says.

'While we appreciate that views are polarised as to whether it is an appropriate way to raise funding, everyone we spoke with saw a greater need than ever for increased funding during the Covid19 recovery period.'

The report did however state that a statewide tax could not be successfully imposed and instead local councils be in charge of where to set the levy and how much to charge.

'One model for the whole state is unlikely to work,' the report reads.

'Any mechanism needs to be flexible - able to be varied at the local council/destination level to suit local circumstances.'

The report did however state that a statewide tax could not be successfully imposed and instead local councils be in charge of where to set the levy and how much to charge

Tourist Minister Stirling Hinchcliffe said the move would help the state increase its tourism levels rather than just restore them.

'We don't just want to build back to where we were, we want to see the industry grow,' Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchcliffe said.

'We have very different destinations, that have very different needs.'

Cairns Tourism are calling for a visitory levy of between 'five and eight per cent', which would be a stark increase on accommodation costs.
On the Wednesday night edition of his Fox News show, Sean Hannity vowed to defy the law and proudly vape his e-cig live on air in a segment discussing a possible FDA ban on Juul products.

Less than 24 hours after the broadcast, the FDA confirmed a ban on the sale of Juul products.

Reporter Trace Gallagher told Hannity during the segment: 'Juul has been trying to get on the right side of regulators by limiting its marketing and banning mango, mint, other sweet flavors. The company even suggested a vaping device that can only be unlocked if youre 21.'

He noted that while Juul has the right to appeal a ban, those appeals can take a long time and are expensive.

That's when Hannity chimed in to say: 'They ban it, and I'll do it live on TV and they can come and arrest me. How about that?'

The ban forbids the sale of Juul products but does not ban personal use of the product.

The FDA threatened un-specified action against stores that continue to sell Juul products.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Fox News for comment.

Hannity's comments were met with laughter from Gallagher as Hannity then pivoted straight to the next segment saying: 'While the Biden FDA wants people to stop vaping, many Democratic-run cities and states, they have no problem decriminalizing even hard drugs, even as overdose deaths are spiking.'

So far, Oregon is the only state where the voters democratically voted to decriminalize small amounts of hard drugs.

Hannity made his comments during a segment with Trace Gallagher discussing the FDA's ban on Juul products

The ban was also brought up on Hannity's lead-in show, 'Tonight with Tucker Carlson.' On his show, Carlson argued that the ban on e-cigarettes would lead to weight gain and low testosterone.

The ban on Juul e-cigarettes was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The ban not mention a full ban on all e-cigarettes but rather a ban on Juul products.

The FDA has been analyzing Juul's data for two years and the ban is likely due to the regulating body feeling as though the company is still marketing to America's youth.

Juul applied to the FDA in an attempt to stay on the market and sell their tobacco and menthol flavored products.

During the same show, Hannity took aim at the Biden administration's 'Build Back Better' program calling it more like: 'Settle for less and shut your mouth.'

If Hannity followed through on his pledge, it wouldn't be the first time that the host vaped on his show. In March 2021, Hannity was caught grabbing a quick drag between segments.

When he realized he was on camera, Hannity could be heard saying: 'Uh oh' as he snatched the vape from his mouth.'

Laura Ingraham, whose show comes on after Hannity's, told her colleague after the gaffe: 'It happens to the best of us, Hannity. I mean, those little moments are cute. Those are in the forever reel of the real Hannity. We wanna know you!'

Sean Hannity being caught on camera while vaping in 2021

The Wall Street Journal which first reported the FDA's ban does not mention all e-cigarettes, just Juul products

In May 2017, a similar video leaked showing Hannity puffing on an e-cig during his show. The host wrote on Twitter following that video's release saying that he had recently given up smoking cigars.

During Donald Trump's presidency, when Hannity was considered a key advisor to the 45th president, the host was quoted as saying: 'If you were hearing what I'm hearing, you'd be vaping, too.'

The quote appeared in CNN host Brian Stelter's 2020 book: 'Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth.' According to Stelter, Hannity also described Trump as 'bats**t crazy.'

Juul rocketed to popularity in the U.S. in the 2010s, as its fruit flavored nicotine products became trendy among younger smokers - leading to the company also shouldering blame for increases in teen smoking.

Hannity made comments that compared the Biden administration banning Juul products while 'legalizing hard drugs'

To limit rises in teen smoking, the FDA banned fruit flavored e-cigarette devices, and forced each company to apply individually to allow their products to remain on shelves. Juul was expected to have its application approved.

The report comes a day after the Biden Administration laid out plans to reduce the amount of nicotine in cigarettes to 'non-addictive' levels, as part of a greater push to curb smoking in America.

Juul has branded its products as devices that can help those addicted to nicotine slowly ween themselves off safely - as vape devices do not have many of the same downsides as smoking tobacco cigarettes do.

Instead, though, the fruity and mint flavors in many of its devices have led to many children and teens picking up smoking - when they likely would not have otherwise.

This has placed Juul, and the e-cigarette market in general, in the FDA's crosshairs in recent years.

Juul has branded its products as devices that can help those addicted to nicotine slowly ween themselves off safely

In April 2021, the agency banned menthol flavored cigarettes, while also banning all types of flavored cigars.

Refillable cartridge e-cigarettes that contain fruit or mint flavors were banned as well, though cartridges that are meant to be disposed of are still allowed for sale.

Flavored products in particular are often the target of regulations because they are easier to use as a gateway for people that do not smoke already, since one of the primary deterrents to picking up tobacco is the taste.

It especially plays a role for younger smokers who use vape devices like a Juul.

While they may not enjoy the taste of nicotine, it is much easier to get hooked on the fruity, tasteful, flavors.

'[The bans last April] will help save lives, particularly among those disproportionately affected by these deadly products,' the FDA wrote in a statement last year.

'With these actions, the FDA will help significantly reduce youth initiation, increase the chances of smoking cessation.'

Under the new rules, a company hoping to market a fruit or mint flavored refillable device must first receive approval from the FDA - which rejected hundreds of them.

To get around these orders, many companies started to use synthetic forms of the drug in their devices to circumvent regulators. That loophole was closed in April.

Disposable e-cigarettes and refillable cartridges account for over 80% of teen tobacco product usage in America

The CDC reports that more than 2.5 million students in the U.S. were 'current' users of tobacco products in 2021. This includes 13% of high schoolers and 4% of middle schoolers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also published a study in March finding that more than 2.5 million U.S. students had used a tobacco product of some sort in 2021 - a definition that includes nicotine devices that do not disperse tobacco.

Officials reported that 80 percent of tobacco use was attributable to disposable e-cigarettes and cartridge products - like a Juul.

In the study, around 2.06 million high schoolers - 13 percent of the study population - and four percent of middle schoolers - 470,000 participants - reported 'current' tobacco use.
The Nigerian couple arrested on suspicion of plotting to harvest the organs of a child in the UK are one of the west African nation's most high profile politicians and his wife, MailOnline can reveal today.

Ike Ekweremadu, 60, a People's Democratic Party politician for 19 years who was once Deputy President of the nation's senate, was held with Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, in Britain this month.

Mr Ekweremadu has been an elected senator at the Abuja-based parliament since 2003 after moving into politics after years as a lawyer. His wife, five years his junior, is an academic and doctor and also a major public figure in Nigeria. They are believed to have four adult children.

They are both charged with conspiracy to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting. The have been remanded in custody and will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court today.

The Metropolitan Police has said the child, who is under the age of 18, at the centre of the alleged plot is in care. Organ harvesting involves removing parts of the body, often for cash and against the victim's will.

Scotland Yard has not given the gender or the age of the child - or the location of the arrests. But given the suspects are appearing in court in Uxbridge, it is likely they were held at the nearby Heathrow Airport.

Ekweremadu has been in the UK for at least the past fortnight having met with members of the Nigerian community in Britain in Lincoln around ten days ago.

He tweeted: 'It was a pleasure and an honour to receive a letter of appointment by the University of Lincoln, UK, as Visiting Professor of Corporate and International Linkages. I also got a highly treasured gift - a copy of the Magna Carta. It was created in 1215, about 807 years ago'.

Ike Ekweremadu, 60, a People's Democratic Party politician in Nigeria and his wife Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, have been held on suspicion of plotting to harvest the organs of a child in the UK

Ekweremadu has been in the UK for at least the past fortnight having met with members of the Nigerian community in Britain in Lincoln (pictured right) and received a copy of the Magna Carta

Ekweremadu has been an elected senator at the Abuja-based parliament since 2003 after moving into politics after years as a lawyer

The investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022, the force said.

In 2017 a former Nigerian government minister claimed that migrants from his country were having their organs harvested after being sold into slavery.

Femi Fani-Kayode, a onetime aviation minister in Nigeria, claimed that 75 per cent of slaves who have their organs harvested in North Africa are from his country.

The Cambridge University-educated lawyer added that the victims have their 'bodies mutilated' and are 'roasted like suya [shish kebabs]'. He went on: 'Roasted alive! This is what Libyans do to sub-Saharan Africans who are looking for a transit point to Europe.

'They sell them into slavery and either murder, mutilate, torture or work them to death.'

The couple are two of the most famous faces in the West African state, and had been visiting the UK whe they were arrested
The Senate voted 65 to 34 to end a Republican-led filibuster on the gun reform package, clearing another important hurdle, with final Senate passage coming as early as later Thursday.

Senators were working on an agreement that would allow them to expedite the process and schedule a final vote Thursday night instead of waiting the obligatory 30 hours after a filibuster vote.

Then the House could pick up the package and pass it by the end of the week.

The Senate voted 65 to 34 to end a Republican-led filibuster on the gun reform package, clearing another important hurdle, with final Senate passage coming as early as later Thursday

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell voted in favor of breaking the filibuster on the bipartisan gun control package Thursday afternoon

President Joe Biden said Monday he was ready to sign the gun bill, but he's flying to Germany and then onto Spain Saturday morning for G7 and NATO meetings, so it's unclear if he'll have time to sign the legislation before he departs.

The vote comes after an initial 64-34 procedural vote taken in the Senate Tuesday night, with 14 Republicans joining all 50 Democrats in voting in the affirmative.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, wasn't present for the vote due to suffering a 'severe' hand injury after trying to remove a boulder in his yard.

Among those voting for the bill was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

McConnell said it was a 'commonsense package of popular steps that will help make these horrifying incidents less likely while fully upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.'

Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn was one of the chief negotiators, as there were fresh calls for stricter gun control laws in the aftermath of the Uvalde, Texas elementary school shooting.

The same group of Republicans voted in favor of breaking the filibuster Thursday, with the addition of Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, who wasn't on hand for the first vote.

Other Republicans who voted yea include Sens. Roy Blunt, Richard Burr, Shelley Moore Capito, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Joni Ernst, Lindsey Graham, Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman, Mitt Romney, Thom Tillis and Todd Young.

The 80-page compromise legislation would toughen background checks for younger gun buyers, bolster background check requirements and beef up penalties for gun traffickers.

The bill would also prohibit romantic partners convicted of domestic abuse who are not married to their victims from getting firearms.

Convicted abusers who are married to, live with or had children with their victims are already barred from having guns.

Additionally, $750million would be provided to the 19 states that have 'red flag' laws making it easier to temporarily take firearms from people adjudged dangerous, and to other states with violence prevention programs.

States with 'red flag' laws that receive the funds would have to have legal processes for the gun owner to fight the firearm's removal.

The bill would disburse money to states and communities to improve school safety and mental health initiatives.

While the majority of senators want are pushing for swift final passage, Republican Sen. Rand Paul told Punchbowl News he'd put forward seven amendments to draw out the process.

On Wednesday, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives encouraged colleagues to vote against it.

'This legislation takes the wrong approach in attempting to curb violent crimes. House Republicans are committed to identifying and solving the root causes of violent crimes, but doing so must not infringe upon' Second Amendment rights,' House Minority Whip Steve Scalise said in a notice telling House GOP members to vote against the legislation.

Still, some moderate House Republicans are expected to vote in favor of the bill.

In a statement Tuesday, the National Rifle Association came out against the bill saying it 'falls short at every level.'

'It does little to truly address violent crime while opening the door to unnecessary burdens on the exercise of Second Amendment freedom by law-abiding gun owners,' the statement said. 'This legislation can be abused to restrict lawful gun purchases, infringe upon the rights of law-abiding Americans, and use federal dollars to fund gun control measures being adopted by state and local politicians.'

Former President Donald Trump has also come out against the bill, hammering McConnell - who he had a falling out with once McConnell wasn't supportive of the 'big lie' - for his support.

'Mitch McConnell's push for Republican Senators to vote for Gun Control will be the final straw,' Trump posted to Truth Social Thursday. 'Just like he gave away the ebt Ceiling and got NOTHING in return, or handed the Dems a great sound bite and victory with the Infrastructure Bill, which is actually all about the Green New Deal, he is now forcing approval of the FIRST STEP IN TAKING AWAY YOUR GUNS!'

'Republican Senators SHOULD NOT VOTE FOR THIS CAREER ENDING BILL!!!' Trump wrote.

Trump also referred to Cornyn as a 'RINO,' a Republican in name only.

The Senate vote took place just hours after the Supreme Court struck down a New York state law that made people give 'proper cause' if they wanted to carry a handgun in public.

The fresh ruling opens to door to permitting all law-abiding Americans to carry concealed and loaded handguns in public.
A mighty Great White Shark prepares to take a bite out of its next meal in Guadeloupe, Mexico.

Its jaws open wide ready to devour its prey as the enormous predator closes in on its target.

One image shows a shark eyeing the photographer snapping from his cage whilst surrounded by a flurry of black and white stripy fish.

Great white sharks gained notoriety in the 1975 film 'Jaws' and are feared by many who go in the ocean.

A mighty Great White Shark taking a bite out of his next meal in Guadeloupe, Mexico

One image shows the shark appearing to pose for the camera whilst surrounded by a flurry of black and white stripy fish

The photographer said he wasn't scared by the shark: 'The sharks are curious but not aggressive towards us in the slightest'

Great white sharks can grow to around 20 feet in length and weigh up to 6,600 pounds, heavier than a car.

Euan Rannachan took the photos about 130 miles off the coast of Baja California.

'A large male white shark had been interested in the bait and made a couple of half-hearted attempts to catch it,' he said.

'When those failed it went full apex predator on the line right in front of me.'

The photographer said he wasn't shaken by the experience.

'Never once have I felt scared in the cage,' he said.

'Once you are in the water with these animals it's easy to show just how peaceful it is and not scary at all.

'The sharks are curious but not aggressive towards us in the slightest.'

Sharks use their noses as a means of detecting prey in the water, feeling electrical signals in the water, even allowing it to 'hear' a heartbeat.

'White sharks have little jelly-filled sacks predominantly in their noses called Ampullae de Lorenzini,' he said.

'They use these little holes filled with jelly to feel electrical impulses in the water such as an animal in distress.

'They also can use these sensors to feel your heartbeat in the cage.'

Great white sharks can grow to around 20 feet in length and weigh up to 6,600 pounds, heavier than a car

Sharks use their noses as a means of detecting prey in the water, feeling electrical signals in the water, even allowing it to 'hear' a heartbeat

A shark's dorsal fin is seen above the water, a clear signal to swimmers of an approaching predator in the water

'Once you are in the water with these animals it's easy to show just how peaceful it is and not scary at all
A notorious paedophile has been thrown back in jail less than two days after his controversial release - after reportedly being caught in possession of images of children.

Bradley Pen Dragon, 62, has spent more than half his behind bars for a string of crimes, including holding a knife to a woman while she was putting her child in their car.

Most recently he has been serving time in a West Australian correctional facility for looking up child abuse material on the internet, with a Supreme Court ruling he would be released subject to 60 strict rules.

He was released on Tuesday, however he has already been thrown back into custody for allegedly possessing images of children.

Bradley Pen Dragon has been thrown back behind bars less than two days after controversially being released - after reportedly being caught in possession of images of childre

Dragon, who spent 13 years in a Thailand jail for sexually assaulting a girl, is now facing renewed time in custody, the West Australian reported.

He had a strict set of rules he had to follow upon his release, and it appears within two days he has already broken the terms, with the paedophile unable to possess any pictures, drawings or sketches of children.

Premier Mark McGowan said on Thursday he has no room for error.

'He's the sort of person that we will crack down on immediately,' the Premier said

'If he breaches, a tonne of bricks will come down on him.'

Bradley Pendragon, 58, (pictured) previously served 13 years in a Thai jail for sexually abusing children

The WA District Court heard Dragon spent almost five hours on a public computer at a backpacker hostel in August of 2017.

Among the terms he searched online were 'pre-teen porn' and 'child incest'. When questioned by police, Dragon denied searching the sickening material.

'These things just keep popping up when I use the internet,' he told officers at the time.

Judge Hylton Quail didn't accept Dragon's explanation for his depraved behaviour, before going onto describe the offending as 'brazen.'

'Some of the material, albeit animated, ... is horrifying,' he said.

He was deported to New South Wales before moving to Perth, where Dragon continued to offend.

The convicted paedophile was sentenced to five years behind bars for holding a knife to a mother, before he was locked up again for looking up the child abuse material just two days after being released.

He used a computer at a Northbridge backpacker hostel to access the twisted imagery.

Dragon has been diagnosed with 'paedophilic disorder' of the non-exclusive type.

He previously told a psychiatrist that 'much of the society doesn't agree with laws relating to the restriction of access to pornographic material about children or sexual contact with children, and much like homosexual relationships, this may be something which is legalised in the future'.

The 62-year-old had been waiting for a Supreme Court decision on his release since completing his time in December, 2021.

Dragon used a computer at a Northbridge backpacker hostel to access the twisted imagery

They were deciding whether Dragon is still considered 'high risk and serious offender', with Justice Larissa Strk saying he could be released under a strict set of 62 conditions.

Dragon was placed under a 10-year supervision order that includes him being electronically monitored, lives at a specified address and subject to a curfew.

He also had to provide verbal or written accounts of all of his movements and banned from having any contact with a child under the age of 18 unless approved.

Councilling, including anti-libidinal treatment, was also agreed upon, however it appears Dragon has already broken the agreement and could face more jail time.

Bradley Dragon (pictured) has reportedly been jailed again for possession images of children

Dragon previously told the court he would be willing to undergo physical castration, but a phyciatrist insisted there was no clinic in Australia who would offer such an operation.

WA's Shadow Treasurer and spokesman Steve Thomas said prior to Dragon's release that the decision 'absolutely worrying' and the government should be taking a harder stance on repeat offenders.

'I think we've developed to a stage where we're quite soft on law and order issues these days, and it's time for a far bigger focus on holding people responsible for their behaviour,' he said.

'I absolutely believe that a tougher on crime approach and going back to making the punishment fit the crime is where we want to see this government and this society go.'
A second British passenger has told how he and five colleagues from the Williams Formula 1 Racing team were ordered off an Air Canada flight by armed police for no apparent reason.

Jordan Conlan, 28, and his workmates including a pregnant woman were ejected just before the Heathrow-bound plane left Montreal after last weekends Grand Prix in the city.

MailOnline revealed yesterday how at least 25 passengers were thrown off without being given any proper explanation.

They were later told in the terminal that they may have been either been drunk or not obeying mask-wearing rules, although all of them insisted they had done nothing wrong.

Air Canada has admitted it is investigating allegations that some of the passengers were thrown off the plane in error as it sat on the tarmac before taking off.

The airline has refused to answer further questions from MailOnline and has apparently not contacted any of the passengers to tell them why they were targeted.

A second British passenger has told how he and five colleagues from the Williams Formula 1 Racing team were ordered off an Air Canada flight by armed police for no apparent reason

Jordan Conlan, 28, and his workmates including a pregnant woman were ejected just before the Heathrow-bound plane left Montreal after last weekends Grand Prix in the city

Air Canada has admitted it is investigating allegations that some of the passengers were thrown off the plane in error as it sat on the tarmac before taking off

Jordan who works for a company installing garage walling for the Williams team said he believed around 30 passengers were ordered off the plane on Monday night.

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In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, he said: Everyone on the plane was behaving properly and it was very quiet.

People were as quiet as anything and going to sleep as they waited to get underway. There was no rowdy behaviour and everyone seemed to be wearing masks.

We had been sitting on the runway for an hour when a member of security staff from the airport who was in a stab vest began walking up and down the plane.

There was nothing going on whatsoever. Then all of a sudden a long line of five or seven police officers came on the flight.

They were with a bald guy who had been checking tickets and passports as people got on board. He had a piece of paper with a list of seat numbers of people who were being thrown off.

Jordan said the first person ordered off was a Williams team member in Business Class who had his leg in a brace after breaking his ankle in Canada.

Then the police threw off a pregnant member of the Williams team and another woman colleague, sitting near him in economy.

Jordan said the mystified pair were completely fast asleep when they got tapped on their shoulders by armed police and told to leave.

They were both crying and very upset. They just could not understand it.

The bald guy was just going along, saying This person, this person and saying they had to get off. Then it was my turn to be ordered off. I asked why, but he would not tell me.

I previously had my head phones on with my shoes off and my mask on, and I was falling asleep with my eyes closed.

Jordan who works for a company installing garage walling for the Williams team said he believed around 30 passengers were ordered off the plane on Monday night by armed police

Jordan said the first person ordered off was a Williams team member in Business Class who had his leg in a brace after breaking his ankle in Canada. Then the police threw off a pregnant member of the Williams team and another woman colleague, sitting near him in economy

I had been for a meal with a colleague about two hours previously, and we had just one beer each. He stayed on the flight, and I got taken off. It was scary stuff. It was a bizarre situation.

I was with the Williams team, so I was obviously expected to behave properly. The last thing I would have been doing was getting drunk.

Two Canadian residents next to me were also taken off. The guy had a full face mask and an eye mask, and was fast asleep.

They were not telling us where we were going and just said we needed to get off.

The gantry walkway back to the terminal was lined with armed police officers on both sides and we had to walk between them.

Jordan said that four members of the Aston Martin F1 team were also targeted as well as a member of the Red Bull team who was not allowed to collect his bag containing his passport, wallet or phone from the overhead locker.

He added: They just said to follow police to Customs and there would be people waiting for us. Some of us tried to head back to the plane and we got told off.

We were told we had to go back through Customs to enter Canada. I was worried about doing it, but in the end everyone went through.

We landed up in the baggage hall where we spoke to a female representative from Air Canada. She was not saying exactly why we got ordered off.

She just said that the police had grounds to take us off because we were not following mask rules, were drunk or aggressive.

She did not specify who had done what, but we were all under that remit.

We were waiting for our luggage to come off the plane, and she was blaming Customs for not taking our bags off.

The Customs guys were shouting back at her that it was not their fault. In the end, the plane left with our bags still on board.

I was arguing that it was a horrendous breach of aviation laws because travellers have to be flying on planes carrying their luggage.

British couple Richard Brailey, 71, and wife Patricia, 66, had their dream holiday in Canada ended in a 'nightmare' when they were ordered off their plane by armed police with no explanation. Pictured is the police escorting them off

The Air Canada lady told us all that Air Canada would not be giving us new flights because of our behaviour. Nobody could understand it because we had done nothing wrong.

Jordan who lives in Warwickshire said he had been left wondering whether a grumpy air stewardess on the flight was anything to do with the decision to eject passengers.

He said: She was quite rude to two of my colleagues and said, Can you sit down please? when they were putting bags in overhead lockers.

I just wonder whether she had a bad day and wanted to get revenge.

Jordan said he and his colleagues were put up in a downtown hotel in Montreal for the night and were booked by Williams representatives on to a British Airways flight back to Heathrow on Tuesday night.

MailOnline told yesterday how retired surveyor Richard Brailey, 71, and his wife Patricia, 66, from Hertfordshire were left baffled after they were ordered off the flight on their way home from a four week camper van holiday around Canada.

Father-of-three Mr Brailey said he was still feeling 'shocked and disgusted' after they were ejected from the flight, despite having done nothing wrong. Amongst those escorted off included a pregnant woman, it is reported

The couple were given no reason for their ejection, but were later told by airline staff in the terminal that they may have been thrown off for being drunk or not wearing masks.

They were left mystified because they had not been drinking and had been wearing masks constantly in their seats as they waited for the plane to take off.

Mr Brailey insisted that he had not seen any other passengers misbehaving or failing to follow instructions from cabin staff on the plane.

He and his wife were forced to spend the night in the airport as they could not find a room in a hotel, and were eventually given Air Canada flights back to Heathrow via New York on Tuesday

The couple from Hertfordshire were initially told that Air Canada was not responsible for them and that they could not get on another of the airlines flights for at least 24 hours.

One of their sons spent 1,300 on booking an alternative flight home for them on another airline before Air Canada came up with the new flights.

The coupe are now demanding compensation for their ordeal and for the money that their son spent on new tickets which could not be refunded.

Mr Brailey said he and his wife would now be demanding compensation for their ordeal and the money spent on the alternative flights which could not be refunded. Pictured is their camper van which they enjoyed before their dream Canada holiday ended in a nightmare

An Air Canada statement said: We are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding this incident involving a group of 25 customers who were removed from our flight from Montreal to London Monday night, due to disruptive behaviour.

We understand that there are allegations that in the course of removing these passengers, certain unrelated individuals were deplaned as well.

Some of these deplaned customers were rebooked this morning and are on their way to their final destination. Once our investigation is completed, we will follow up with the customers.

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A Texas woman who orchestrated her husband's murder to collect a life insurance payout has been sentenced to life in prison.

Jennifer Faith, 48, admitted to arranging the plot in February after authorities found she had texted her high school sweetheart, Darrin Ruben Lopez, over 14,000 times to convince him to kill her husband, Jamie Faith.

Lopez was arrested on January 11, 2021 and is still awaiting trial on both state and federal charges in connection to the killing, both of which he has pleaded not guilty to.

On October 9, 2020, Lopez allegedly drove from his home in Tennessee to Dallas, Texas where the couple lived, and shot Jamie Faith seven times from behind as the couple walked their dog.

After the killing, Faith continuously denied her involvement and even went on television to say she hoped the killer would come forward.

'Im not supposed to be widowed at 48, you know?' she told WFAA in December.

'It's been horrible, devastating. I teeter between being heartbroken and completely devastated. Every day has been awful,' she said at the time, before Lopez's arrest.

Jennifer Faith (left) has been sentenced to life in prison for her involvement in the murder of her husband, Jamie Faith (right)

Jennifer Faith, 48, is pictured with her high school sweetheart, Darrin Ruben Lopez

Faith sent over 14,000 texts to her ex-lover Lopez before admitting to investigators that she orchestrated her husband's murder

Faith is alleged to have told police that she was unable to identify the shooter because he was wearing a face mask and approached from behind. She concocted a version of events that she assumed would relieve her of any potential accusations.

'We walked out the door and we made it to the house right behind you and I heard running behind me and I turned around and shooting just started,' Faith said.

'The guy kept shooting and shooting. A neighbor said they saw him attempt to shoot me and the gun was empty. I was running up this driveway and he tackled me, started beating on me, and taped my hands together.'

Police also released a description of Lopez's truck, and Faith pleaded with the public for someone to come forward with information.

'Somebody has got to know whose truck this is,' Faith said. 'Its a black Nissan Titan extended cab. It had a Texas Rangers sticker in the back window. So it was very distinctive from that point.'

Faith then texted Lopez instructing him to remove the Texas Rangers sticker, which he did.

After discovering the trove of texts and Faith's attempt to collect $629,000 in life insurance money, prosecutors became suspicious and uncovered the plot.

'Crocodile tears didnt stop the feds,' said U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham in a statement on Tuesday. 'We were committed to getting justice for Jamie, and with the Judges imposition of a life sentence this afternoon, were one step closer.'

Jennifer Faith is booked into a Dallas jail in February after a warrant found she was having an affair with Lopez. She first told police that she did not know who the killer was

Jamie Faith was shot approximately 15 feet from the couple's home, shown here, while they were walking their dog

Faith also created a fundraiser on GoFundMe called 'Support for Jennifer Faith.' The fundraiser raised over $60,000, but Faith used the money to pay off credit cards that Lopez had used and bought gifts for his family.

Faith reconnected with Lopez in March 2020, and began texting him intimately and calling him her 'soulmate.' Lopez had told Faith that he suffered a severe brain injury while serving in Iraq, leaving him disabled.

Faith lied to Lopez about her husband, an IT director at American Airlines, being sexually and physically abusive. Lopez responded with sympathy and offered to 'put a bullet in his head,' according to court documents.

The two continued to text each other hundreds of times a day, before abruptly stopping on the day of her husband's death, before resuming a day later.

Along with her life sentence, she was ordered to pay a $250,000 fine and $6,500 to the family of her deceased husband.
A group of 30 House Democrats wrote a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her to bring forth bipartisan legislation to 'refund' the police show constituents they care about rising crime.

'Members should have the opportunity to show our constituents that we are addressing crime in our communities,' the letter read. 'We are also asking that you please meet with us next week to discuss the need to invest in law enforcement to make our communities safer from criminals.'

The letter asked Pelosi, D-Calif., to take up a number of standalone bills and not to attach them to the fiscal year 2023 appropriations, so that members can 'publicly show their support for law enforcement.'

The letter, obtained by Punchbowl, called out the House Judiciary Committee and said it made clear it has 'no intention' of bringing forth any law enforcement bills, so members asked Pelosi to use her powers as speaker to bring the bills forth for a direct vote to get everyone on record.

The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., has a number of progressives likely to be hostile to such legislation like Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., and Cori Bush, D-Mo.

Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Katie Porter, D-Calif., Dean Phillips, D-Minn., Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and 26 others signed on to the letter.

The letter takes a notably forceful stance after the 'defund the police' movement on the left, as Democrats grasp to hold onto their seats in upcoming midterm elections where Republicans are expected to sweep the House.

A group of 30 House Democrats wrote a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her to bring forth bipartisan legislation to 'refund' the police show constituents they care about rising crime

Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Katie Porter, D-Calif., Dean Phillips, D-Minn., Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and 26 others signed on to the letter

Most notable of the recent crime wave is a spate of mass shootings, particularly last month's school shooting in Uvalde, Texas where 21 were killed.

And in a massive political shakeup San Franciscans successfully recalled their progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin.

The recall campaign against Boudin, which was funded mainly by local business groups, accused the attorney of not doing enough to keep citizens safe, and introducing policies that allowed repeat offenders to commit crimes without fear of incarceration.

Late last year the Democratic bastion of New York City elected Mayor Eric Adams, a former Republican who ran a tough-on-crime campaign.

Meanwhile just a year and a half ago President Biden won San Francisco by 72 points and New York by 53.

In New York City, grand larceny (theft of items worth more than $1,000) is up 51 percent, petit larceny is up 43 percent. Larceny theft is up 20 percent in San Francisco from one year ago theft is up 66 percent in Chicago.

But it's not just major hubs where Americans feel less safe - a Gallup poll from earlier this year found that 72 percent are dissatisfied with the nation's policies to reduce crime, up from 49 percent in 2020.

Republicans were the most dissatisfied, 87 percent, but 65 percent of Democrats expressed dissatisfaction too.

Meanwhile, five major cities - Washington, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Milwaukee are on track to surpass their already-soaring homicide rates from last year.

Last year, the FBI warned that homicides in the US rose nearly 30 percent from 2020 and overall violent crime rose for the first time in four years.

The stunning trend in homicides has continued this year. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the homicide rate leaped 24.7 percent from the year-to-date compared to the same period last year.

Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia, have seen a 13.4 percent and 13.3 percent increase in homicides, respectively, Fox first reported.

Meanwhile, law enforcement in Baltimore, Maryland, has reported 7.7 percent more homicides this year. Los Angeles tailgates the Charm City with a 7.3 percent spike.
This is the bizarre moment a prosecutor assaulted a female attorney general at their city hall office in the southeastern Brazilian state of Sao Paulo.

The shocking footage shows Demetrius Oliveira, 34, slamming Gabriela Monteiro, 39, with three punches while she was lying on the floor.

A woman who also worked with them in the office subsequently pulled Oliveira away as he continued to yell at Monteiro.

Another woman then stepped in and dragged Monteiro away, helping her stand up before Oliveira walked over and slapped the attorney general.

Oliveira was arrested on Thursday by Sao Paulo Civil Police at a clinic, where he had been admitted.

Demetrius Oliveira, a prosecutor in the Sao Paulo, Brazil, registry department, confronts the agency's attorney general Gabriela Monteiro before he slapped her during a confrontation in their office on Monday. He was arrested at a clinic on Thursday where he had been admitted for unknown reasons

Sao Paulo registry attorney general Gabriela Monteiro told TV Tribuna that she expected an argument but not a physical confrontation with Demetrius Oliveira after she reported him for alleged bad behavior towards a female office worker

Demetrius Oliveira was taken into custody on Thursday at a Sao Paulo clinic

Footage release by the Sao Paulo authorities showed an agent holding on to Oliveira's left arm as he was escorted through a driveway.

Brazilian news outlet G1 reported the incident was sparked after Monteiro requested an investigation with the over Oliveira's alleged disrespectful behavior towards a female employee, who felt threatened by the attorney.

Oliveira told Civil Police department's 1st District station that he reportedly was bullied by his coworkers. The station's chief elected not to keep him in custody.

Monteiro told TV Tribuna that Oliveira most likely became enraged after a commission was formed to look into the allegations.

'I was afraid, yes. I was afraid that this would happen,' Monteiro said. 'But I didn't imagine it would be physical violence, I thought it (would just be an) an argument.'

Demetrius Oliveira leans over attorney general Gabriela Monteiro before punching her during the bizarre incident that took place Monday at the Sao Paulo, Brazil, registry department where they are both assigned to

The Civil Police released a video Thursday that showed Demetrius Oliveira being escorted by a cop after he was arrested at a local Sao Paulo clinic

Sao Paulo registry department attorney general Gabriela Monteiro was severely beaten by a prosecutor at her office on Monday

A police report obtained by the news outlet G1 indicated that Oliveira elbowed Monteiro in the head and punched her multiple times.

He pushed a woman into a door after she attempted to drag him away and then smacked Monteiro across the face before he was eventually restrained by two employees.

Civil Police chief Daniel Vas filed a request to have Oliveira held in preventive detention while the investigation is carried out because he is still considered a threat.

'(Oliveira) has been having serious relationship problems with women in the work environment, and, when released, he exposes their lives to danger, and consequently, public order,' Vas said, as quoted by G1.
A left-wing publisher has come under intense scrutiny from furious Twitter users after calling women 'womb carriers.'

Verso Books, which claims to be the largest independent radical publishing house in the English-speaking world, used the 'misogynistic' term in a series of 'degrading' tweets before being hounded by users online.

The company, which says it publishes one hundred books a year, was founded in 1970 - and has offices in London and New York.

And it's faced intense backlash and furious messages after tweeting about Native American women's reproductive rights - how many of them were sterilised in the 1970s.

Verso Books was hounded online after using the word 'womb carrier' to describe women who had their reproductive rights taken away from them in the 1970s

The publisher's website states that they bring out one hundred books a year and has offices in London and New York

However, instead of using the word 'women,' Verso instead substituted it for the woke term 'womb carrier.'

Verso wrote: 'In the 1970s up to 50% of Native womb carriers were sterilized against their will by the Indian Health Service (IHS).

'Stripping our womb-carriers of their ability to have children is the continuation of over 500 years of misogynistic violence against Indigenous peoples.

'Native people have also been stripped of their right to parent - Native children are singled out for adoption into white, Christian homes, effectively taking them out of Indigenous communities.'

Many were quick to point out that while trying to stand up for women's rights, the woke company did the opposite - as they narrowed down their existence to just a single reproductive organ.

Furious users took to Twitter in outrage after the woke publisher used the term to describe women from the 1970s

Author James Bloodworth claimed that the publisher's comments make women seem like a baby-making machine you can buy, as he wrote: 'Women are now a labour saving device you purchase in IKEA.'

Others said that the woke language had gone too far - degrading women and making them seem just like 'walking wombs.'

Another furious onlooker wrote: 'Womb carriers women are not only erased, but folks are actually using straight-up dystopian language here. Woke b******t needs to stop.

A third person added: 'If womb carriers are forced to undergo a hysterectomy what are they then? Do they cease to exist? Are women just walking wombs?'

Other outraged users said that the publisher - whose 'job it is to communicate to the public' made women into a 'rag bag of body parts.'

And many questioned why the publisher couldn't face using the term 'women.'

They said: 'I've seen a lot of tweets using this gender neutral language to talk about women's bodies and female reproduction. It always makes women into a rag bag of body parts. But I think this is the worst one yet.

'A big publisher whose job is communication ideas to the public.'

Another wrote: 'Talking about misogynistic violence reducing women to womb carriersyou are participating in the misogyny in question. By making women equal body parts youre stripping them of their humanity outside of their organs.'

MailOnline have approached Verso Books for comment.
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Those hoping to soak up a bit of June sun might be in for a washout as weather experts have warned of thunder, torrential downpours and floods on Thursday.

The Met Office has issued a yellow thunderstorm warning for Thursday, stretching from Sheffield in the North, across the South East and down to Bath in the South West.

Although it seems Thursday and Friday might be a washout for those in the south of the country, the mercury is set to rise to a whopping 84F (29C) in the north of England later today.

Thursday is also set to see more rail strikes, with the poor weather likely to add to travel woes.

Beachgoers cool off by having fun in the North Sea at Cullercoats Bay in North Tyneside this morning as the glorious sunshine and hot weather continues

Dazzling sunshine hits the water just off the coast of Cullercoats Bay in North Tyneside before thunderstorms are set to hit later today

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: 'The only thing that we have to be aware of is there is, an albeit small but not tiny, risk of some intense thundery downpours, particularly tomorrow. Chances of Glastonbury itself actually getting hit by one is very small.

'So hopefully they stay fine. The warning talks of the risk of 40 to 60 millimetres of rain falling in just a few hours, large hail, frequent lightning, that kind of thing.

'So it could be quite damaging. But the risk is very small of it actually hitting the Glastonbury site.'

The Met Office has issued a yellow thunderstorm warning for Thursday, stretching from Sheffield in the North, across the South East and down to Bath in the South West

Although it seems Thursday and Friday might be a washout for those in the south of the country, the mercury is set to rise to a whopping 84F (29C) in the north of England later today

Thursday will also see hot temperatures, he said, with highs of 84F (29C) in the north of England, before dropping over the weekend. Pictured: A family has fun on the beach in Cullercoats Bay in North Tyneside

Scotland and Northern Ireland will see dry weather, with the best of the weather towards eastern Scotland. Two swimmers walk out of the bracing sea off the coast of North Tyneside this morning

A man and a young boy cool off on a paddleboard in the North Sea at Cullercoats Bay in North Tyneside this morning

Thursday will also see hot temperatures, he said, with highs of 84F (29C) in the north of England, before dropping over the weekend.

Scotland and Northern Ireland will see dry weather, with the best of the weather towards eastern Scotland.

'Temperatures as we go into the weekend, a little bit lower, still so probably like 19C-20C, that kind of thing on both Saturday and Sunday', Mr Burkill said.

'So a bit fresher, a bit more comfortable than what we've got at the moment.'
A watchdog for U.S. assistance to Afghanistan is accusing the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) of illegally withholding information about the rushed American withdrawal.

The spat has followed the Biden administration saying a report from the watchdog about the American pullout was overly critical.

The report said the US decision to leave the country under Trump and Biden's administrations was the main factor behind the swift collapse of the Afghan military.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), John Sopko, said the State Department and USAID not cooperating with his staff and providing information is 'unprecedented'.

He described the development as 'particularly troubling' because he argues the departments are legally required to do so, and the information is needed for specific audits that congress has asked them to carry out.

Biden admin officials have said the US is no longer involved in Afghan reconstruction so State and USAID are thus outside the inspector general's jurisdiction.

An Afghanistan watchdog has said the State Department and United States Agency for International Development are not provided information. While Biden admin officials have argued the US is no longer involved in Afghan reconstruction and does not need to

John F. Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, said 'agency officials now appear to have adopted a premeditated position of obstruction'

An US Air Force aircraft takes off from the airport in Kabul on August 30. Biden had been widely criticized for the rushed evacuation which saw the Taliban take back Afghanistan in less than two weeks

Afghans were desperate to flee, and showed the foreign forces to show their credentials to try and be evacuated from the country

At least three people fell to their deaths after trying to take refuge in and on the wheel wells of the departing aircraft

A Taliban fighter stands guard at the site of the twin suicide bombs, which killed scores of people including 13 US troops on August 26, at Kabul airport on August 27

Taliban fighters sit on an Afghan army Humvee, after much of the equipment the US gave Afghanistan fell into the hands of the Taliban

The United States Armed Forces officially withdrew from Afghanistan on August 30 2021, marking the end of the 20012021 war.

The process was chaotic and led to the unexpected collapse of the Afghan security forces that US troops had trained and funded for years.

Taliban militants were able to reclaim control of the whole country within 11 days.

The US left $7 billion of military gear, including 22,000 Humvees, in Afghanistan withdrawal, report says A Pentagon report in April revealed that billions of dollars in weapons and military equipment transferred to the Afghan government was left behind in Afghanistan after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country. In all, about $7 billion worth of hardware remained in the country after the Taliban seized control, according to the report prepared for Congress which was obtained by CNN. That includes almost $1 billion of aircraft - rendered inoperable and dumped at Hamid Karzai International Airport - some 22,000 military Humvees and almost all the communications equipment supplied during the course of the conflict. 9,524 air-to-ground munitions were left - which can include bombs, machine guns, air-to-surface missiles, rockets, air-launched cruise missiles, carried by warplanes - valued at $6.54 million. The U.S. left 78 aircraft in Kabul, according to the report. And more than 40,000 of almost 100,000 vehicles supplied to Afghan forces remain in the country. More than 300,000 of 427,300 weapons delivered to Afghan security forces were left behind, as Kabul's opposition to the Taliban crumbled and troops melted away. The report also said 'nearly all' 42,000 pieces of night vision, surveillance, 'biometric and positioning equipment' had been left in Afghanistan. Advertisement

Thousands of people travelled to Kabul international airport in the hope of being able to board one of the evacuation flights.

On August 26, before evacuations were complete, there was a suicide bombing at the airport, killing 13 US service members and upwards of 70 Afghan citizens.

Now allegations about information not being shared have been made in separate letters from Sopko to lawmakers and to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID Administrator Samantha Power, and by Sopko's general counsel to the top lawyers for each agency. The letters were obtained by The Associated Press.

The State Department did not deny it had cut off cooperation with the watchdog.

But it complained that the special inspector had not given the administration a chance to respond to its latest report covering the withdrawal that was released last month.

The department said the report was unfairly negative and did not represent the administration's view of the events surrounding the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban takeover.

In his letters, Sopko bluntly wrote to Blinken and Power: 'I respectfully request that you direct State and USAID officials to cease their illegal obstruction of SIGAR's oversight work and to provide the requested information and assistance without further delay.'

Sopko said his staff had requested numerous documents and interviews with officials who were involved in the withdrawal and aftermath last July but had been stonewalled for several months.

He said those requests involved information about the evacuation and resettlement of Afghan nationals as well as ongoing humanitarian aid and questions about whether that assistance might be transferred to the Taliban.

'It is now evident that offices and staff who have cooperated with similar requests in the past were being silenced or overruled by officials opposed to SIGAR's independent oversight,' Sopko wrote.

The State Department said both it and USAID remain committed to assisting SIGAR's mission and would respond to the watchdog's allegations. But the department said it 'had concerns about how some of SIGAR's requests for information relate to their statutory jurisdiction.'

The department said it had responded to a SIGAR complaint in April by pointing out that much of the information it was requesting was already being provided to Congress and an internal review of Afghanistan policy being conducted by all agencies in the administration.

Taliban forces showed off their new military hardware during a victory parade in Kandahar last September as they celebrated the retreat of U.S. forces and their capture of Afghanistan

A Taliban fighter poses with a US-made Afghan air force Blackhawk helicopter at Kandahar airfield in August last year

State Department spokesman Ned Price did not have a direct response to the allegations in Sopko's letters but voiced the administration's unhappiness with SIGAR's last report, which concluded that the withdrawal had been poorly managed and that the collapse of the Afghan government and military had not been correctly predicted.

'Our view is that the report does not reflect the consensus view of the State Department or the U.S. government,' Price told reporters. 'Many parts of the U.S. government, including the State Department, have unique insights and developments in Afghanistan last year that were not captured in the report and we don't concur with many aspects of the report.'

In addition, Price said the special inspector did not seek State Department input while drafting the April report and did not give the department the opportunity to review the draft before it was published.
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The British journalist who was told to 'go back to your country' by a furious Republican firebrand politician during heated debate on gun control laws is a Washington Correspondent for Channel 4 News, it has been revealed.

Republican Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene told a Channel 4 journalist Siobhan Kennedy to 'go back to your country' after she questioned her over American gun laws and the validity of the Second Amendment at a press conference in the US.

Greene, 48, had stepped away from the microphone when the Siobhan pointed out that the UK doesn't 'have mass shootings' or the Second Amendment.

She became verbally aggressive and barked that its 'our job to defend the Second Amendment', which gives US citizens the right to own a gun.

Kennedy said: 'We don't have guns in the UK, that is true, but we don't have mass shootings either. And our children aren't scared to go to school.'

The controversial politician loudly shot back: 'You have mass stabbings, lady. You have all kinds of murder and you've got laws against that.'

Channel 4's Washington Correspondent hit back: 'Not like the rates here.'

Greene waved off the statement, replying: 'Well, you can go back to your country and worry about your no guns.'

Republican Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene told a Channel 4 journalist Siobhan Kennedy (pictured) to 'go back to your country' after she questioned her over American gun laws and the validity of the Second Amendment at a press conference in the US

Greene, 48, had stepped away from the microphone when Kennedy (pictured today) pointed out that the UK doesn't 'have mass shootings' or the Second Amendment

Marjorie Taylor Greene told a Channel 4 journalist Siobhan Kennedy to 'go back to your country' after she questioned her over American gun laws

Channel 4's Washington Correspondent Siobhan Kennedy questioned the firebrand Republican over her views on gun laws. She had been attending a press conference in the US over the Second Amendment caucus

Marjorie Taylor Greene, 48, became verbally aggressive toward the journalist at a press conference yesterday after the female reporter pointed out the UK doesn't 'have mass shootings' nor the Second Amendment.

WHO IS SIOBHAN KENNEDY? Siobhan joined Channel 4 News in 2008 after working at the Times as a Politics and Business correspondent based in Westminster. She is now their Washington Correspondent, based in DC, and was awarded Capital Associations award for best national newspaper journalist in 2007. Before joining the Times team in Westminster, Siobhan worked for their Businesses section as Mergers and Private Equity Correspondent. Prior to The Times, Siobhan worked for Reuters heading the team covering mergers, banking and the City. Siobhan was also one of the first reporters on the scene for Reuters during the 9/11 terror attacks and won plaudits for her range of stories in the aftermath of the crisis. Advertisement

Brazen Greene shared the clip on her Twitter page writing: 'When British press wants to argue about our God-given American gun rights, my answer is: '"Go back to your own country."'

Hitting back online Siobhan said: Marjorie Taylor Greene isnt happy with me for pointing out that the proposed gun legislation is not about taking her guns away!

Nor is knife crime in the UK in any way comparable with gun crime here. There are no mass stabbings in the UK. Yet here kids are frightened to go to school?

Speaking to MailOnline, Siobhan added that the Republican was doubling down on her opinions by reposting the footage online.

She said: It was a press conference of the 2nd Amendment caucus - in other words a group of very conservative Republicans who reject any type of gun control, like the legislation going through Congress right now which looks very likely to pass.

It was a big back and forth after I asked her and the other members of group essentially what they were scared of- that no one was threatening to take their guns away

Its important to call these politicians out and hold them to account

The conference comes just a day after a bipartisan gun control bill was agreed upon in the Senate on Tuesday, aimed at toughening up background checks for younger gun purchasers.

It would also beef up penalties for gun trafficker's, and stop romantic partners convicted of domestic abuse who are not married to their victims from getting firearms.

In the Senate 14 Republicans joined 48 Democrats along with two independents on the bill.

Despite this, Greene defiantly told the British journalist: 'We like our [guns] here.'

The Second Amendment has been a hot button topic for decades in the US, as well as gun control.

The outspoken Republican told the unidentified journalist to 'go back to your country' after the reported brought up that the UK does not have mass shootings like the US. Green hit back saying that the UK has 'all kinds of murder'.

Greene also named dropped several Republicans she said failed the GOP, including Mitch McConnell (left) and Mitt Romney (right). 'I don't mind naming their names, because people all over our country are furious at them,' she bluntly claimed

HOW DO UK AND US MURDER RATES COMPARE? In 2021 the United States murder rate was estimated to be more than 22,000, which is around 6.9 murders per 100,000 people. The UK had a murder rate of 0.99 per 100,000 people in 2021, with ONS statistics revealing that 691 people were killed that year. In 2021 35 people were killed in the UK by using a gun, while 223 people were stabbed to death. The previous year, 2020, saw 30 people killed in a shooting and 262 killed with a bladed article. The most recent data suggests that there were 30 homicides committed by shooting in the year ending 31 March 2020  4% of all homicides. Of these 30 victims, 20 per cent were female and 80 per cent were male. In the US Chicago Police reported that 2021 was the deadliest year in a quarter-century, with 797 homicides recorded  up 25 from 2020. Minneapolis Police reported 96 murders, just one killing short of surpassing 1995s homicide record, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Murders in Los Angeles last year reached 397, the highest that number has been in 15 years, according to the Los Angeles Times. The NYPD reported the highest number of murders in ten years, with 488 reported in 2021  the highest its been since 2011, when 515 people were killed, statistics show. Advertisement

It comes after several mass shootings in American, including an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 students and two teachers died.

A total of 66 mass shootings have taken place since the May 24 tragedy, according to the Gun Violence Archive - which defines a mass shooting as four or more injured or killed.

Lawmakers have been pushed to come to a conclusion on the ever pressing issue as children have claimed to be scared to return to school and educators are once again bestowed the complicated task of revamping classrooms to protect the youth.

The bill also provides $750million to 19 states that have 'red flag laws,' making it easier to temporarily take firearms from people adjudged dangerous, and to other states with violence prevention programs.

States with 'red flag' laws that receive the funds would have to have legal processes for the gun owner to fight the firearm's removal.

The bill would disburse money to states and communities to improve school safety and mental health initiatives.

Senate bargainers reached the agreement Tuesday potentially teeing up final passage by week's end.

Lawmakers released the 80-page bill nine days after agreeing to a framework for the plan and 29 years after Congress last enacted major firearms curbs.

Greene later claimed in the press conference that the 'Senate gun bill is a complete failure.'

She also boldly listed off the politicians she said failed the Republican party, which includes Mitch McConnell and Mitt Romney, because they voted in favor of gun control.

She also said when President Joe Biden, 79, was a senator, he made her school down a 'gun-free zone' and said he 'left American students like sitting ducks [or] targets for anyone that wants to go kill them.'

She said his now 'friends' - the Republicans who voted in favor of harsher gun laws - are now what 'Republican voters do not support anymore.'

'I don't mind naming their names, because people all over our country are furious at them,' she bluntly said.

'We have to change our Republican party and it needs to happen right here, because if we don't start defending Americans' freedoms and rights, and putting Americans first, our voters aren't going to want to put us in charge.'

However, 65 percent of voters have expressed support toward gun reform since the Uvalde shooting, according to a Morning Consult/Politico survey, conducted in May.

Of those polled, 44 percent of Republicans, 66 percent of Independents, and 86 percent of Democrats supported the change.

It comes as the Supreme Court today struck down a New York law severely restricting licenses to carry a concealed weapon, in the high court's biggest Second Amendment ruling in a decade.

The 6-3 ruling on Thursday reversed a lower court's opinion, which had upheld the 108-year-old New York law restricting licenses to carry concealed weapons in public to those demonstrating a specific need or threat.

New York is not alone in severely limiting who can get a license to carry concealed in public, and the new ruling will likely make it easier to legally carry a gun in major cities including Los Angeles, Boston and Baltimore.

The Senate introduced the bipartisan gun reform bill on Tuesday, which 14 Republican joined Democrats on. The renewed called for gun reform came after 19 children and two teachers died in Uvalde, Texas, after a mass shooter entered the school and killed them (pictured: one of the Uvlade funerals)

Salvador Ramos, 18, (pictured) had recently purchased an AR-15 to use in the shooting, where one of his relatives attended. After the shooting, 65 percent of voters polled said they supported run reform - 44 percent of Republicans polled agreed

Just what the Big Apple needs! Supreme Court strikes down New York gun law restricting concealed carry in major Second Amendment case

BY KEITH GRIFFITH

The Supreme Court has struck down a New York law severely restricting licenses to carry a concealed weapon, in the high court's biggest Second Amendment ruling in a decade.

The 6-3 ruling on Thursday reversed a lower court's opinion, which had upheld the 108-year-old New York law restricting licenses to carry concealed weapons in public to those demonstrating a specific need or threat.

New York is not alone in severely limiting who can get a license to carry concealed in public, and the new ruling will likely make it easier to legally carry a gun in major cities including Los Angeles, Boston and Baltimore.

Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the majority opinion, writing that the New York law prevents law-abiding citizens from exercising their Second Amendment rights.

The court decision comes as the Senate was poised on Thursday for a vote to advance a bipartisan gun-control bill, in what could be the first new federal gun legislation in decades.

The 6-3 ruling on Thursday came along ideological lines, with the court's conservative majority all voting in favor of striking down the New York law

New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, reacted with fury to the court ruling and said she would consider calling a special session of the legislature to respond

A right-wing firebrand who has lit up the Republican Party: Who is Marjorie Taylor Greene? An advocate for social conservatism and gun rights, Marjorie Taylor Greene, 48, has emerged as one of the most controversial and outspoken politicians from the right-wing of the Republic Party. She was first elected to Congress in 2021, where she represents Georgia's 14th Congressional district in the House of Representatives. Born in Milledgeville, Georgia, in 1974, Greene and her husband Perry bought her father's general contracting company in 2002, where she worked for four years as its chief financial officer. From 2013 to 2017, she and business partner Travis Mayer ran a cross-gym business which has since closed. She first became politically engaged in 2016, during the Republican Party presidential primaries when Donald Trump won the party's nomination for President. After this, Greene wrote some 59 articles for the now-defunct website American Truth Seekers, since regarded as a conspiracy theorist website. An advocate for social conservatism and gun rights, Marjorie Taylor Greene, 48, (pictured) has emerged as one of the most controversial and outspoken politicians from the right-wing of the Republic Party In September 2020, she shared a meme on Facebook of herself holding a rifle alongside to pictures of Democrat congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaid. Greene wrote that it was time for 'strong conservative Christians to go on the offense against these socialists who want to rip our country apart.' She was later strongly criticised fo the post by house speaker Nancy Pelosi. In her victory speech, she referred to Pelosi as a 'b****' and anti-American. When she was sworn in in January 2021, Greene appeared in the house floor with a face mask stating 'Trump won'. She later denied encouraging the Capitol riots that month and called for an end to violence; while still supporting Trump's claims. Advertisement

New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, reacted with fury to the court ruling, saying that it flew in the face of efforts to restrict gun rights following several high-profile mass shootings.

'It is outrageous that at a moment of national reckoning on gun violence, the Supreme Court has recklessly struck down a New York law that limits those who can carry concealed weapons,' Hochul wrote in a tweet.

'In response to this ruling, we are closely reviewing our options  including calling a special session of the legislature,' the governor added.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg also slammed the ruling, saying in a statement: 'This decision severely undermines public safety not just in New York City, but around the country.'

Bragg said that his office was analyzing the ruling and would work to craft new legislation within the bounds of the court's decision.

'The Supreme Court may have made our work harder, but we will only redouble our efforts to develop new solutions to end the epidemic of gun violence and ensure lasting public safety,' he said.

The new ruling will have far-reaching implications in a number of states with similar laws.

California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island all have similar laws. The Biden administration had urged the justices to uphold New Yorks law.

Thursday's court ruling is expected to ultimately allow more people to legally carry guns on the streets of the nations largest cities - including New York, Los Angeles and Boston - and elsewhere.

About a quarter of the U.S. population lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling, the high courts first major gun decision in more than a decade.

The ruling comes as Congress is actively working on gun legislation following recent mass shootings in Texas, New York and California.

Justice Thomas wrote for the majority that the Constitution protects 'an individuals right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.'

In their decision, the justices struck down a New York law requiring people to demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun in order to get a license to carry one in public.

The justices said the requirement violates the Second Amendment right to 'keep and bear arms.'

In a dissent joined by his liberal colleagues, Justice Stephen Breyer focused on the toll taken by gun violence. 'Since the start of this year alone (2022), there have already been 277 reported mass shootings-an average of more than one per day,' Breyer wrote.

Backers of New York's law had argued that striking it down would ultimately lead to more guns on the streets and higher rates of violent crime.

The decision comes at a time when gun violence already on the rise during the coronavirus pandemic has spiked anew.

In most of the country, gun owners have little difficulty legally carrying their weapons in public.

But that had been harder to do in New York and the handful of states with similar laws.

New York's law, which has been in place since 1913, says that to carry a concealed handgun in public, a person applying for a license has to show 'proper cause,' a specific need to carry the weapon.

The state issues unrestricted licenses where a person can carry their gun anywhere and restricted licenses that allow a person to carry the weapon but just for specific purposes such as hunting and target shooting or to and from their place of business.

The Supreme Court last issued a major gun decision in 2010. In that decision and a ruling from 2008 the justices established a nationwide right to keep a gun at home for self-defense.

The question for the court this time was about carrying one outside the home.
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America's travel chaos continued into a second straight week on Thursday as nearly 700 flights were already canceled throughout the United States by mid-day and United Airlines officials announced they would be cutting their service even further amid ongoing pilot shortages.

According to flight tracker Flight Aware, the United States saw 691 flights canceled by 12.45 Thursday and over 1,900 flights delayed coming into, leaving or entering the country.

Those traveling on American Airlines seemed to be affected the worst, with the airline canceling four percent of its flights and delaying eight percent, while JetBlue canceled three percent of its fleet - but delayed 14 percent.

United Airlines has also already canceled three percent of its scheduled flights and delayed another six percent, while Delta canceled just one percent of its flights and delayed seven percent.

And major cities seem to once again be faring the worst.

New York City-area Newark Liberty International Airport saw 10 percent of its outgoing flights canceled Thursday morning, with nine percent delayed, and nearby John F Kennedy International Airport reported that three percent of its flights were canceled and 10 percent were delayed.

LaGuardia Airport, the smaller airport in the New York City area, also had eight percent cancelations and nine percent delays.

Meanwhile in Washington D.C., Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport canceled 12 percent of its outgoing flights and 11 percent were delayed, and in Boston, four percent of flights were canceled Thursday morning and nine percent were delayed.

It now seems that the situation is only going to get worse going into the weekend, after just 380 flights were canceled on Monday and 272 flights were canceled on Tuesday.

By the end of Wednesday, 1,412 flights were canceled across the country, as United Airlines officials announced they would be decreasing the number of available flights out of Newark Airport.

And to make matters worse, United Airlines officials announced on Thursday they would be cutting about 50 flights a day from one of the New York City area's largest airports just days after officials at American Airlines announced they were eliminating service in Toledo, Ohio ; Ithaca, New York and Islip, New York.

The continued chaos comes as airlines struggle to meet the high summer demand for travel while also grappling with pandemic-related pilot shortages following massive layoffs.

The industry anticipates a shortage of 12,000 pilots this year as pilots must have 1,500 qualifying flight hours before they can actually take over a plane, according to Forbes.

There is also a shortage of flight schools to accommodate the training process, and pilot salaries and benefits have decreased in recent years.

Additionally, the Federal Air Administration has a mandatory retirement age of 65 for pilots, which also speeds up the retirement date for some.

And the pilots that are left are now petitioning for better treatment, claiming the airlines are overworking them to meet the demand for summer travel following the pandemic lull.

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: Newark Liberty Airport saw 10 percent of its outgoing flights canceled Thursday morning, with 9 percent delayed. People are seen here lined up at customer service on Tuesday

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: The ongoing travel chaos continued into a second week on Thursday, with 674 flights canceled by noon and over 1,600 flights delayed coming into, leaving or entering the country

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: The ongoing chaos comes amid ongoing pilot shortages and high demand for summer travel

Now, several airlines have resorted to cutting down on their service, with United Airlines officials announcing on Thursday it would be cutting 12 percent of its domestic flights from Newark airport - where they say ongoing construction has disrupted travel.

'After the last few weeks of irregular operations in Newark, caused by many factors including airport construction, we reached out to the [Federal Aviation Administration] and reached a waiver allowing us to temporarily adjust our schedule there for the remainder of the summer,' Jon Roitman, executive vice president and chief operating officer told staff in a memo, according to CNBC.

'Even though we have the planes pilots, crews and staff to support out Newark schedule, this waiver will allow us to remove about 50 daily departures, which should help minimize excessive delays and improve on-time performance - not only for our customers, but for everyone flying through Newark.'

United is the dominant airline at Newark Liberty International Airport, which is just across the Hudson River from New York City and gets heavy use from people living in and around the city.

Only domestic flights will be reduced, a United spokeswoman said Thursday, adding that United will not drop any destinations from Newark.

Newark is among the nations busiest airports and often has the highest number of flight delays. United CEO Scott Kirby has accused other airlines - Spirit and JetBlue in particular - of operating more flights than allowed under federal rules, and said FAA has 'just let people brazenly break the rules.'

United Airlines officials announced on Thursday it is cutting 12 percent of its domestic flights from Newark airport

In a memo to employee, COO Jon Roitman explained that the airline received a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration allowing it to remove about 50 daily departures from the airport amid ongoing construction

United's decision comes just days after American Airlines officials announced that the company 'made the difficult decision' to drop service to airports in Toledo, Ohio; Ithaca, New York and Islip, New York beginning September 7 citing a pilot shortage.

The airline is now allegedly contacting customers scheduled to fly after the route termination date in an effort to 'offer alternate arrangements.'

A spokesperson for the company also said it is 'extremely grateful for the care and service our team members provided' at the impacted airports and claims to be 'working closely with them during this time.'

Last week, Delta Airlines also announced it was cutting service by about 100 flights per day from July 1 to August 7 in an effort to combat ongoing staffing shortages.

CEO Ed Bastian said in a memo announcing the cancelations that the air carrier has been actively hiring new workers over the past year after more than 17,000 employees left the company in July 2020, at the height of the pandemic.

As of early June, Delta Airlines reported it had hired more than 15,000 workers in the last year but stated it was still not enough to meet the soaring travel demand.

In a statement about the delays and cancellations, Delta said: 'All of our people, including our pilots, are working hard to restore our airline and deliver for our customers as we emerge from the pandemic. We are grateful and proud of their efforts.

'We continuously evaluate our staffing models and plan ahead so that we can recover quickly when unforeseen circumstances arise, and the resilience of the Delta people is unmatched in that regard,' it said in the statement to NBC News.

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: Airlines have been cutting down on their schedules in recent weeks, leaving passengers stranded at the airports

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: The Transportation Security Administration reported that over 16.8 million people have passed through its checkpoints over the past week

Meanwhile, pilots are fighting back against the airlines, saying they are being overworked to meet the high demand and low staffing levels.

And in an interview with CNBC's Squawk Box on Wednesday, Capt. Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, called for the FAA to investigate the airlines' operations.

He said passengers should be concerned by the pilot staff shortage because it is causing those pilots who are on staff to become overworked.

'They need to be concerned because I'm on TV saying 'There's a problem here,'' he said, explaining that airlines are 'flying more planes than they can actually fly,' and saying that pilot fatigue has reached an 'inhumane level.'

'This is not a safety culture,' Tajer said, as he called for the FAA to monitor airlines' operations.

'The FAA should come in and look at this,' he said, claiming that the airlines 'are ultimately letting down our passengers.'

He blamed the ongoing travel chaos on a 'failure to plan by management,' noting that U.S.-based airlines should have been prepared for a surge in demand after Congress approved $54 billion in three rounds of pandemic relief to cover payroll costs for 18 months.

'This is a failure of management to utilize the money that was given to them by the American taxpayer to have us ready for the recovery, and we're not,' Tajer said. 'They just did not plan.

'What they did is they looked at the demand and they said 'This is where the money is,' but they never actually fulfilled that, and they put it on our plate.'

Tajer also noted that fatigue-calls have increased 10-fold since pandemic-era travel restrictions ended and more Americans sought to fly, claiming: 'They're trying to fly airplanes without the pilots available.

'That's just not doing business, that's just selling something you don't have.'

In an interview with CNBC's Squawk Box on Wednesday, Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, called for the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate the airlines' operations

He said passengers should be concerned by the pilot staff shortage, because those who remain on the staff are being overworked and fatigued

According to the Transportation Security Administration, over 16.8 million people have passed through its checkpoints over the past week - up 22.6 percent from the same time last year, and a whopping 354 percent from 2020.

Many of these passengers have complained in recent days of staying overnight at airports over the weekend as their flights continued to be canceled or delayed.

One Emergency Room nurse from Pittsburgh said her trip home from Italy lasted about 60 hours, noting to WTAE: 'There were no delays until I got into the States.'

Luray Hixson said she got stuck for nearly two days at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, explaining: 'The flight itself was changed nine times, with the gates.

'There were other Pittsburghers around who were following,' she said, and 'we were moved from terminal to terminal, which these terminals were nowhere near each other; we had to take shuttles to get to these other places to get your flight.'

After her longest delay, which was a whopping 12 hours long, Hixson said her flight was ultimately canceled.

Fortunately, she said, her mother was willing to pick her up from the airport and drive her six hours to get home.

Now, she says, she's not sure if she will fly again in the near future, saying: 'This is becoming the norm.'

And on Wednesday, a Twitter user posted a photo of a long line at Tampa International Airport saying: 'They're calling people out of line for flights.'

He added that he's 'pretty sure half the airport is in this line.'

A Twitter user posted on Wednesday that there were long lines at Tampa International Airport in Florida, claiming: 'They're calling people out of line for flights'

The chaos has even affected Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg who was forced to drive from Washington D.C. to New York over the weekend - just one day after he told airline executives to clean up their act to avoid another flying catastrophe for the July 4 holiday.

The father-of-two has given airline executives a short two-week period to clean up the mess and guarantee travelers can enjoy a patriotic weekend and summer without the airport stress.

He's asked them to 'stress-test' operations ahead of the next big holiday - meaning travel firms could ultimately end up cutting more flights if they realize they'll have insufficient resources to operate them.

'At the end of the day, they've got to deliver,' Buttigieg told the Today Show. The Democrat met with top airlines executives on Thursday to warn them to avoid the Memorial Day disaster, where 2,700 flights were canceled.

On Friday, Buttigieg tweeted: 'Air travelers should be able to expect reliable service as demand returns to levels not seen since before the pandemic.
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Afghanistan could face a widespread cholera outbreak with half a million cases of acute diarrhoea already reported in the wake of yesterday's devastating earthquake.

The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said preparations are already underway to avoid the epidemic following the powerful tremors which killed at least 1,000 people and destroyed hundreds of homes.

'Cholera outbreaks in the aftermath of earthquakes are of particular and serious concern,' OCHA said in a statement on Thursday. 'Preparations to avoid an outbreak are underway.'

OCHA also said that it was seeking to confirm that search and rescue operations were nearly finished, after Taliban authorities indicated late on Wednesday that they were 90 per cent completed.

Villagers are now rushing to bury the dead and are digging through the rubble by hand in the desperate search for survivors.

Afghanistan could face a widespread choler outbreak with half a million cases of acute diarrhoea already reported in the wake of yesterday's devastating earthquake

Men stand around the bodies of people killed in an earthquake in Gayan village, in Paktika province

Villagers along with rescue workers examine the extent of damage at a village following an earthquake in Bernal district

The earthquake struck Paktika province in east Afghanistan, some 100 miles south of the capital Kabul, and tremors were felt in India and Pakistan

The Taliban and the international community that fled their takeover face a struggle to bring help to the disaster's victims.

In Paktika province, which was the epicentre of Wednesday's magnitude 6 earthquake, men dug a line of graves in one village, as they tried to lay the dead to rest quickly in line with Muslim tradition.

In one courtyard, bodies lay wrapped in plastic to protect them from the rains that are hampering relief efforts for the living.

The state-run Bakhtar News Agency reported the death toll and said an estimated 1,500 more were injured.

There are difficulties in accessing and communicating with the affected villages tucked into remote mountainsides, meaning the true death toll is unknown.

Afghan people keep their clothes to dry on dried out shrubs near the ruins of houses

A volunteer from the Al-Khidmat Foundation arranges food boxes to send for the people affected by the earthquake in Afghanistan, in Peshawar, Pakistan

'They don't have anything to eat, they are wondering what they can have to eat, and it is also raining,' a Bakhtar reporter said in footage from the quake zone. 'Their houses are destroyed. Please help them, don't leave them alone.'

The disaster heaps more misery on a country where millions already faced increasing hunger and poverty and the health system has crumbled since the Taliban retook power nearly 10 months ago amid the US and NATO withdrawal.

How the international humanitarian community, which has pulled back significant resources from the country, will be able to offer aid and to what extent the Taliban government will allow it to remain in question.

The Taliban's takeover led to a cutoff of vital international financing, and most governments remain wary of dealing directly with them.

UN agencies and other organisations still operating in Afghanistan said they sent supplies to the area, including medical kits, tents and plastic tarps, but the needs appeared immense as whole villages sustained massive damage.

A powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, flattening stone and mud-brick homes in the country's deadliest quake in two decades

An Afghan child is treated inside a hospital in the city of Sharan after getting injured in an earthquake in Gayan distric

'We ask from the Islamic Emirate and the whole country to come forward and help us,' said a survivor who gave his name as Hakimullah. 'We are with nothing and have nothing, not even a tent to live in.'

Search and rescue remained a priority. In hard-hit Gayan District, much of the rubble was too large for people to move with their hands or shovels.

They said they hoped large excavators would make it out their remote homes. For now, there was only one bulldozer in the area.

On Wednesday, a UN official said the government had not requested that the world body mobilise international search-and-rescue teams or obtain equipment from neighbouring countries, despite a rare plea from the Taliban's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzadah, for help from the world.

UN agencies are facing a $3billion funding shortfall for Afghanistan this year, and Peter Kessler, a spokesman for the United Nations' refugee agency, said that means there will be difficult decisions about who gets aid.

A Taliban helicopter takes off after bringing aid to the site of an earthquake in Gayan, Afghanistan

Desperate rescuers are battling afainst the clock and heavy rain to reach cut-off areas in eastern Afghanistan

In addition to the political and financial concerns, there were also logistical challenges to getting aid to remote villages.

The roads, which are rutted and difficult to travel in the best of circumstances, may have been badly damaged in the quake, and landslides from recent rains have made some impassible.

Though just 110 miles directly south of the capital, Kabul, some villages in Gayan District took a full day's drive to reach.

Rescuers rushed in by helicopter - and Associated Press journalists also saw ambulances in the quake zone on Thursday - but heavier equipment will be difficult to deliver.

Walls and roofs of dozens of homes in Gayan collapsed in the quake, and villagers said whole families were buried under the rubble. Associated Press journalists counted some 50 bodies in the area alone, as people laid out their dead in front of their houses and in their courtyards.

While modern buildings withstand magnitude 6 earthquakes elsewhere, Afghanistan's mud-brick homes and landslide-prone mountains make such quakes more dangerous.

Shallow earthquakes also tend to cause more damage, and experts put the depth of Wednesday's at just 6 miles

Walls and roofs of dozens of homes in Gayan collapsed in the quake, and villagers said whole families were buried under the rubble

Shallow earthquakes also tend to cause more damage, and experts put the depth of Wednesday's at just 6 miles.

Despite the challenges, officials from several UN agencies said the Taliban were giving them full access to the area.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on Twitter that eight trucks of food and other necessities from Pakistan arrived in Paktika. He also said Thursday that two planes of humanitarian aid from Iran and another from Qatar had arrived in the country.

Obtaining more direct international help may be more difficult: Many countries, including the US, funnel humanitarian aid to Afghanistan through the UN and other such organisations to avoid putting money in the Taliban's hands.

In a news bulletin Thursday, Afghanistan state television made a point to acknowledge that US President Joe Biden - their one-time enemy - offered condolences over the earthquake and had promised aid. Biden on Wednesday ordered the US international aid agency and its partners to 'assess' options for helping the victims, a White House statement said.

The death toll reported by Bakhtar was equal to that of a quake in 2002 in northern Afghanistan - the deadliest since 1998, when a 6.1 magnitude temblor and subsequent tremors in the remote northeast killed at least 4,500 people.

Wednesday's quake was centered in Paktika province, about 31 miles southwest of the city of Khost, according to neighboring Pakistan's Meteorological Department.

In Khost province's Speray district, which also sustained serious damage, men stood atop what once was a mud home. The quake had ripped open its timber beams. People sat outside under a makeshift tent made of a blanket that blew in the breeze.

Survivors quickly prepared the district's dead, including children and an infant, for burial. Officials fear more dead will be found in the coming days.

'The toll this disaster will have on the local communities ... is catastrophic, and the impact the earthquake will have on the already stretched humanitarian response in Afghanistan is a grave cause for concern,' said Adnan Junaid, vice president for Asia for the International Rescue Committee.

'The areas most affected are some of the poorest and most remote areas in Afghanistan, which lack the infrastructure to withstand disasters like this.'
A member of the Rochdale grooming gang who is battling deportation to Pakistan went on a 'long rant' at his hearing today as he denied his crimes and suggested his prosecution was racist.

Adil Khan, 51, appeared before an immigration tribunal today during which he referred to the 'allegations' made against him and described it as a 'laughing matter.'

Khan, speaking through a Miripuri translator, said: 'I'm today denying it, and I was denying it at the time as well and in the future, never will such a thing happen.'

The translator later described Khan as 'going on a long rant'.

Adil Khan, 51 (pictured), a member of the notorious Rochdale grooming gang who got a 13-year-old girl pregnant, has told a judge that he should not be deported to Pakistan because his son needs a role model

Khan, along with Qari Abdul Rauf, 52, have been told they will be returned to Pakistan because of their roles in the gang - for which they were convicted of a string of serious sex offences in May 2012.

Since their release from jail, they have fought a long legal battle to stay in the country - mounting multiple legal challenges and appeals on the grounds that deportation would interfere with their human rights.

Khan was questioned by government lawyer, Rory Dunlop QC, about his conviction for conspiracy to engage in sex with a child and trafficking another girl for sexual exploitation.

Khan, then in his 40s, impregnated one girl, refusing to accept the child was his until a DNA test was done.

He then met the other girl whom he trafficked to others for sex, using violence when she objected.

Khan said he only knew 10 words of English so could not groom anyone and denied being part the gang.

Mr Dunlop said the judge in Khan's trail had described the suggestion the prosecutions were racially motivated as 'nonsense.'

Khan replied; 'I understand the racial basis and this is the real reason as well. The Home Office falsely levelled an allegation against me.'

Mr Dunlop said: 'You treated those 15-year-old girls as worthless and undeserving of basic respect and decency because they were not part of your religion or community, is that right?'

Khan replied: 'Religion should not come in between whatever I have done myself.'

He told the tribunal he was in a relationship with the 15-year-old he got pregnant but denied any involvement with the other girl.

Adil Khan, 51, and Qari Abdul Rauf, 52 (pictured), have been told they will be sent back to Pakistan for the good of the British public, after both were part of a gang convicted of a catalogue of serious sex offences in May 2012

And Khan said his family had accepted he made a 'mistake' and forgiven him.

He said he had not told his teenage son of his conviction and that son had never asked about what he described as 'this laughing matter'.

Earlier, Judge Charlotte Welsh told the hearing the tribunal must consider Khan's level of integration into British life, both culturally and socially, and his contribution to society.

Failure to deport any of the grooming gang has led to anger in Rochdale, where victims were living alongside their tormentors, and this has led to public criticism of a number of home secretaries.

Rauf, a father-of-five, trafficked a 15-year-old girl for sex, driving her to secluded areas to have sex with her in his taxi and ferry her to a flat in Rochdale where he and others took advantage of her.

For two years, from 2008, the gang of men in Rochdale preyed on girls as young as 12, plying them with alcohol and drugs before they were sexually abused in rooms above takeaway shops and taken to different flats in taxis where cash was paid to use them.

As many as 47 girls were groomed. The appeal hearing against both men continues.
A Florida judge approved a $1.02billion settlement for the victims of the Surfside condominium collapse that killed 98 people in Miami, one of the deadliest structural failures in American history.

The decision by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman came a day before the one-year anniversary of the Champlain Towers South disaster in the suburb of Surfside.

The judge praised the dozens of lawyers involved for averting what could have been years of litigation with no sure outcome.

'It will never be enough to compensate them for the tragic loss they have suffered,' Judge Hanzman said. 'This settlement is the best we can do. Its a remarkable result. It is extraordinary.'

Most of the $1.02 billion total will go to people who lost family members in the collapse of the 12-story building.

The Champlain South tower at Surfside is demolished using a controlled explosion after the collapse. A Florida judge approved a $1.02billion settlement for the victims of the Surfside condominium collapse that killed 98 people in Miami, one of the deadliest structural failures in American history

The decision by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman came a day before the one-year anniversary of the Champlain Towers South disaster in the suburb of Surfside

Investigators say they still have not found the cause for deadly Surfside building collapse that killed 98 people in 2021 in Florida

'It will never be enough to compensate them for the tragic loss they have suffered,' Judge Hanzman (pictured) said. 'This settlement is the best we can do. Its a remarkable result. It is extraordinary'

About $100 million is earmarked for legal fees, and $96 million set aside for owners who lost one of the 136 units in the building.

No victims filed objections to the settlement or decided to opt out, said court-appointed receiver Michael Goldberg.

Several people who lost family members or property said in court Thursday that they are grateful for such a swift conclusion to a horrific experience.

Raysa Rodriguez, who survived the collapse in a ninth-floor unit that was initially left intact, had nothing but praise for the outcome.

'You have no idea what a relief this is to me personally,' Rodriguez said. 'I am so exhausted. I just want this to be done. I want these souls to rest.'

Pablo Rodriguez, who lost his mother and grandmother in the collapse, said in May when the initial figures were being released that the settlement was the best result the families could hope for legally.

'The speed with which this was resolved was pleasantly surprising,' he said. 'My biggest concern is that there isn't any accountability and the legislature hasn't done anything to remediate the situation.'

For Ronit Felszer Naibryf, whose 21-year-old son Ilan Naibryf was killed in the collapse, it feels like she lost a limb with his death, so it is impossible to fathom the settlement.

'I am still processing that loss,' Naibryf said. 'Everything else is a little bit of noise.'

The United States Senate unanimously passed a resolution commemorating the victims Thursday.

Family members of the dead listed on a screen surrounding the vacant lot where the 12-story building collapsed said they want answers from authorities. It may be another year before they get answers

Rescue workers work in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside

The site where the Champlain Towers South collapsed killing 98 people is shown on April 14, 2022, in Surfside, Fla. The federal investigation into the deadly collapse of a Florida beachfront condominium building is entering a new phase Wednesday, June 15, 2022, that involves cutting and drilling into concrete and steel to determine what role they played in the disaster

The ruling came during whats called a fairness hearing, in which anyone with objections to the deal could raise them as the judge determined whether the settlement is 'fair, reasonable and adequate,' according to court documents.

The money comes from several sources, including insurance companies, engineering firms and a luxury condominium whose recent construction next door is suspected of contributing to structural damage of Champlain Towers South. None of the parties admit any wrongdoing.

A billionaire developer from Dubai is set to purchase the 1.8-acre beachside site for $120million, contributing to the settlement.

Champlain Towers South had a long history of maintenance problems and questions have been raised about the quality of its original construction and inspections in the early 1980s. Other possible factors include sea level rise caused by climate change and damage caused by salt water intrusion.

A slew of lawsuits, fines and maintenance issues bogged down the construction and repair of the towers before the collapse.

Architect William Friedman designed the Surfside condominium, 13 years after his license was suspended for six months due to a collapse.

The Miami Herald reported in September that building contractor Alfred Weisbrod lost his license amid fraud and negligence claims prior to the collapse.

The licensing agency filed three administrative claims accusing Weisbrod - who was fined three times and threatened with suspension for various offenses before he surrender his license in 1998 - of completing specialized work without the proper permits, licenses, and inspections, and of failing to complete the contracted work, mismanagement, incompetence and fraud throughout the 1980s and 90s.

The developer was also charged with tax evasion, and the architect had previously been suspended after a structure he built collapsed.

A 2018 engineering report detailed cracked and degraded concrete support beams in the underground parking garage and other problems that would cost nearly $10million to fix.

The repairs did not happen, and the estimate grew to $15million in 2021 as the owners of the building's 136 units and its governing condo board squabbled over the cost, especially after a Surfside town inspector told them the building was safe.

The 2018 engineering report found structural deficiencies that are now the focus of several inquiries, including a grand jury investigation.

A final conclusion on the cause is likely years away. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is leading the federal probe in to the collapse, recently said invasive testing will begin soon on samples of material from the collapse site.

A woman adds flowers to the memorial on June 28

Workers pump water out of the foundation of the former Champlain Towers South building

Physical evidence from both the collapsed and imploded sections of Champlain Towers South is stored in a secure warehouse in Miami-Dade County, where it has been cataloged and evaluated by members of the National Construction Safety Team investigating the June 24, 2021, collapse

Andrea Langesfeld, center, and her husband Pablo, right rear, parents of Nicole 'Nicky' Langesfeld, who died in the Surfside, Fla., condo collapse, are hugged as they attend a ceremony to unveil a sign for 'Nicky Langesfeld Place,' Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Doral, Fla. Langesfeld grew up in Doral before moving to Surfside

Neil Handler speaks about how his son Jonah was trapped inside a pocket of fallen concrete after the collapse

The tests will help investigators find potential flaws in structural elements of the building by looking into things such as density of the materials, how porous they were and if there was corrosion, NIST said.

Florida will require statewide recertification of condominiums more than three stories tall under new legislation Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law last month in response to the disaster.

The death toll in the Champlain Towers collapse ranks among the highest in U.S. history among similar disasters.

The 1981 Hyatt Regency walkway collapse killed 114 people and a Massachusetts mill disaster in 1860 killed between 88 and 145 workers.
An alleged fugitive who is said to have faked his own death to dodge US sex charges, only for authorities to find him in Scotland, has failed to show at his extradition hearing after a second 'sudden and unexplained deterioration' in his 'medical condition'.

US prosecutors say the man is Nicholas Rossi, who allegedly raped a 21-year-old in Utah in 2008 and is also alleged to have attacked women in Rhode Island, Ohio and Massachusetts.

However, the 34-year-old claims to be Arthur Knight, a victim of mistaken identity who has never been to America.

Rossi was due to be at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for a hearing today but did not attend because he had been admitted to hospital the previous day.

Crown agent Advocate Depute Paul Harvey said police went to the hospital to make inquiries about Rossi's condition and were informed that an X-ray showed a slight deterioration and that he had a fever.

Nicholas Rossi was due to be at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for a hearing today but this man, alleged to be him, did not attend because he had been admitted to hospital the previous day

Rossi (pictured) is accused of faking his death from cancer in the US to avoid a sexual assault charge, before fleeing to Scotland

He told the court: 'This is the second hearing in a row that this has happened on the eve of the hearing. There seems to be a sudden, not entirely explained deterioration.

'This is a person who has dispensed with the services of no less than three agents.

'There is an emerging picture of someone seeking by every means possible to delay these proceedings.'

Rossi was apprehended in Glasgow earlier this year after being admitted to hospital with Covid-19, and attended court in a wheelchair and wearing a breathing mask connected to an oxygen tank at his last court appearance in May.

Mr Harvey said it is the Lord Advocate's position that the question of identity can be determined 'swiftly' and a list of witnesses and productions the Crown would rely on in support of the identity question were outlined last month.

He said: 'Because the requested person was representing himself, in accordance with the usual proceedings no statements were disclosed directly to him.

'He was invited to attend at the Crown Office on June 7 to review all the material that the Lord Advocate was submitting to the court to establish the question of identity. No reply was ever received to that.'

Sheriff Thomas Welsh asked 'Did he attend?', to which Mr Harvey replied 'No'.

Mr Harvey said the situation 'simply cannot continue' and asked for a further continued preliminary hearing to be set for June 27 ahead of a full extradition hearing next month.

Rossi was apprehended in Glasgow earlier this year after being admitted to hospital with Covid-19, and attended court in a wheelchair and wearing a breathing mask connected to an oxygen tank at his last court appearance in May

Sheriff Welsh agreed and ordered that Rossi should lodge a full medical report by that date.

He said: 'The Crown need to have a strategy. We still have the full hearing down for July and, as you say, this situation cannot continue in the absence of some form of formal report from a senior medical practitioner.'

He continued Rossi's bail.

Rossi reportedly told US media in December 2019 that he has late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma and has weeks to live.

An obituary dedicated to him appeared online, and several outlets reported that he had died in February 2020.
A rape suspect has denied using an aphrodisiac to drug and sexually assault two men, claiming everything they did was consensual.

Luiz Da Silva Neto denies trawling bars to 'pick up a drunken and vulnerable person' or that he drugged anyone, as the prosecution has alleged.

The 35-year-old told Oxford Crown Court today that all of his close contact with his alleged victims was consensual.

He denies drugging two men, who cannot be named for legal reasons, potentially with sedatives GHB or GBL, and sexually assaulting them in November and December 2021.

He is accused of two counts of administering a substance with intent, two counts of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent and one count of kidnapping, rape and committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence.

The jury has heard the first alleged assault took place at a house in Oxfordshire.

Luiz Da Silva Neto, 35, of Wandsworth, south London, is charged with drugging and sexually assaulting two men in November and December 2021

The first man had gone there to carry out some work and the pair had shots of Jagermeister before the alleged victim began to feel tired, and he went to sleep fully clothed before waking up naked, the court heard.

Under cross-examination Da Silva Neto, of Wandsworth, south London, told the court 'he was consenting' and 'awake' when the pair had intimate contact.

Prosecutor Matthew Walsh said: 'Do you accept that you and he both cannot be telling the truth? One of you must be lying.'

Da Silva Neto replied: 'Yes.'

Mr Walsh said: 'If a person drugs another person causing them to pass out, the person who passed out cannot be consenting to what takes place?'

One alleged victim had been enjoying a night out with work colleagues that ended at west London nightclub Raffles (pictured)

He added 'it would be obvious' to the person who did the drugging that the other person was not consenting.

Mr Walsh told Da Silva Neto that the prosecution's case is that he drugged the alleged victim.

Da Silva Neto replied 'that is not the truth, not at all' and added 'I have never, ever given anyone any drugs.'

When leaving the property, the alleged victim noticed what he described as a syringe on the side of the kitchen and became convinced he had been drugged, the court has previously heard.

Mr Walsh has previously described the drug as an 'aphrodisiac' which has 'euphoric and hallucinogenic effects'.

The second alleged victim was a married man who was on a night out with work colleagues in central London before he was allegedly assaulted at a property in Oxfordshire, the court has heard.

The man previously told the hearing he has vague memories of events that night.

They include feeling 'strange' when he spoke to the doorman at the club, having a cup with a 'dark brown liquid' being held to his lips at some point and waking naked in a strange room.

Da Silva Neto said he was 'high' and looking for drugs that night but the married man did not seem intoxicated when they met.

Mr Walsh said that Da Silva Neto had been filming at the toilets of local pubs.

He told him: 'You were looking to start a conversation, to find somebody who might be drunk and someone you might be able to take advantage of.'

Da Silva Neto told Oxford Crown Court (pictured) today that he had been 'high' when meeting one of the men

Mr Walsh added 'that's why you were filming, it was all about your sexual gratification'.

Da Silva Neto said he 'disagreed' with that and he knew it was wrong but it happened because he was high.

Da Silva Neto flatly denied spiking the married man's drink.

He said: 'I cannot say he is lying because I do not know the guy. I do not know if he was being himself that night.'

Da Silva Neto added: 'It seems to me that he was a guy outside a nightclub. He was looking for some fun and a night out.

'I invited him, not thinking that he would come with me.

'It is not something I would have done if I was not high to be honest.

'I cannot say if he was spiked in the club or not.

'Having met him for the first time, I cannot say he was not acting in his normal self.'

The trial continues.
A father-of-three has denied stabbing a man to death over rumours he slept with his girlfriend.

Oliver Muldowney, 35, allegedly knifed 39-year-old Tim Hipperson to death after accusing him of sleeping with his partner Bobbie Tomkins.

Muldowney asked the victim Think you can f*** Bobbie? before he stabbed him repeatedly in Richmond, southwest London, on May 17, 2021, jurors have heard.

Mr Hipperson staggered bleeding into Kings Road and died in hospital three days later.

Tim Hipperson, 39, pictured, was stabbed repeatedly before he staggered onto the street on May 17, 2021

Oliver Muldowney, 35, denied murdering Tim Hipperson at the Old Bailey in London, pictured

Mr Hipperson collapsed and was airlifted from Kings Road in Richmond on May 17, 2021. He died three days later in hospital

Smartly dressed in a white shirt and dark tie, Muldowney denied the stabbing during his evidence at the Old Bailey.

Giles Cockings, QC, defending, asked: Did you stab Tim Hipperson with intent to kill or cause grievous bodily harm because you believed he had slept with Bobbie?

Muldowney replied: Not at all.

Mr Cockings asked: Did you ever suspect or believe Tim Hipperson to have slept with Bobbie?

Muldowney replied: Not to my knowledge, no.

He denied he ever became violent over rumours of Ms Tomkins cheating, saying he might have made threats but claimed his bark was bigger than his bite.

Muldowney said he had known Ms Tomkins since he was 16 and described their relationship as brilliant at the start.

She was a good mum and worked at a nursery in Richmond, he said.

But things went downhill in 2016 when Ms Tomkins went through a tough time and started taking drugs, he said.

She just didnt care anymore. She didnt care about the children, she didnt care about me, she didnt care about nothing or no one.

The couple had three children, the eldest being co-defendant, Bonnie Eastwood, 19, who is accused of witness intimidation.

Eastwood allegedly phoned prosecution witness Elaine Doyle and tried to persuade her not to give evidence, threatening her with serious consequences if she did so.

Muldowney said Eastwood was technically his stepdaughter but they shared a very close relationship.

Jurors have heard Muldowney made money dealing class A drugs but never touched them himself.

He said he found Bobbies drug habit devastating because a lot of male drug dealers ask for sexual favours in return.

They could be asking her for sex for drugs. She could be selling herself for drugs.

Mr Cockings asked: Do you know whether she did this or not?

More than likely yeah, replied Muldowney.

Asked how he felt about this, he said: Upset. P****d off.

I would be angry with her, scream and shout at her, but I would never physically hurt her or anything like that.

Mr Cockings went on: What about those she slept with?

Same again, Muldowney said. I would be angry, I would scream and shout, maybe make threats to them but never do anything.

My bark is bigger than my bite.

I would never do anything about it.

Cant go around beating people up about it.

If that was the case then I would have hurt a lot of people along the way.

Muldowney admitted Bobbies infidelity made him feel jealous and angry.

He also admitted it was hypocritical of him to be so upset about her drug habit considering he was a dealer.

I was doing it to make money for my family, to put food on the table.

To make ends meet.

Immediately after the attack on Mr Hipperson, Muldowney allegedly fled with Jonathan Nash, 36, to the home of his partner Natalie Stevens, 38, nearby.

Stevens allegedly helped Muldowney escape by booking him a taxi to Brentford.

Muldowney, of no fixed address, denies murder, perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation, but admits two counts of being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs of class A.

Nash, from Hounslow, west London, denies perverting the course of justice and two counts of being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs of class A.

Stevens from Richmond, denies perverting the course of justice.

Eastwood, from Hampton Hampton, denies witness intimidation.

The trial continues.
The Final Solution was developed after Heinrich Himmler witnessed the horror of the Babi Yar massacre of more than 33,000 Jews and decided 'there has got to be another way of doing this', historian James Holland said.

Babi Yar, a ravine on the edge of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, became infamous after 33,771 men, women and children were shot there over the course of just two days in September 1941.

At that point, the Nazis were three months into Operation Barbarossa  their ultimately doomed attempt to invade and conquer the Soviet Union.

Only ten of the estimated 700 people that took part in the killings at Babi Yar were ever convicted of a crime.

Speaking to MailOnline at the Chalke Valley History Festival, which is sponsored by the Daily Mail, Mr Holland said the path to the Final Solution  the name given by the Nazis to the murder of nearly six million Jews in a network of death camps from 1942  began at Babi Yar.

Nazi troops carried out the massacre in Ukraine after branding the local Jewish population 'terrorists'.

Mr Holland said SS leader Himmler, who was 'quite squeamish', 'did not like seeing all these people being shot'.

'He had no sympathy at all for the Jews, what he had was sympathy for the poor blighters who had to carry out these executions,' he said.

'How inhumane is that? He was one of the maddest. There is nothing good that you can say about Himmler. He is just an appalling person.

'He went away and said "we can't do this, we can't have our men expected to do this. There has got to be another way of doing this". And the other way of doing it was the death camps and gassing them.'

Heinrich Himmler developed the Final Solution after witnessing the horror of the Babi Yar Massacre of more than 33,000 Jews and deciding 'there has got to be another way of doing this', historian James Holland said

Babi Yar, a ravine on the edge of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, became infamous after 33,771 Jews were shot there over the course of just two days in September 1941

Although the mass killings of Jews began in 1941, it was not until the Wannsee Conference in Berlin that mass exterminations began in death camps such as Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The full name of the horrific plan was the Final Solution to the Jewish Question, with killings continuing until Nazi Germany's defeat in Europe in May 1945.

At Auschwitz alone, around 1.1million people were murdered in the camp's gas chambers.

There were further killings at camps including Treblinka, Belzec and Sobibor.

German officers are seen looking down at the scene of the massacre, which took place in September 1941

Photo shows items left behind by the dead at Babi Yar, including a prosthetic leg

Mr Holland, who is an expert in the Second World War, added that the Final Solution was a 'direct consequence' of what he witnessed at Babi Yar.

'The way the Nazis justified this to themselves was that this was a terrible thing they had to do. This was the burden of their generation,' he said.

'And it was awful thing to do but otherwise the Aryans would be consumed by the Bolshevik Jewish conspiracy, the global conspiracy, and this was a matter of life and death.'

In March, the site of the massacre, which now hosts a memorial park, was bombed by Russian forces during their attempt to destroy a TV station nearby.

At Auschwitz alone, around 1.1million people were murdered in the camp's gas chambers. Above: Survivors are seen at Auschwitz after the camp's liberation in 1945

Last year, the memorial centre dedicated to the Babi Yar killings identified 160 people it considered guilty of the murders.

Along with their names, new information about the killers  including biographies and testimony  was made public.

One participant, Viktor Trill, who was a sergeant in the SS paramilitary group, described how he leapt down into the pits to kill any who survived the initial shooting.

He said that he shot between '150 and 250 Jews', and chillingly added that they were 'resigned to their fate like lambs'.
The alleged victims of a female French minister who has been accused of conducting invasive gynaecological checks have described their ordeals.

Secretary of State for Development Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, 46, is the subject of two complaints from patients, who cannot be named for legal reasons, who have accused the minister of carrying out rectal and vaginal examinations without consent.

One patient, who spoke anonymously to French television channel TF1, described a vaginal examination carried out by Zacharopoulou without consent as 'brutal' and 'violent'.

She claimed Zacharopoulou started the exam 'without a word, without asking for my consent at all' and told her 'There's no point crying' when she objected.

The second victim, speaking anonymously, told French media they felt they 'could no longer breathe' when Zacharopoulou allegedly carried out a rectal examination without asking for consent.

Zacharopoulou has yet to comment publicly on the allegations.

It is the latest in a series of sex scandals in the Macron administration - ones which have led to accusations that the head of state is too relaxed about serious criminal allegations and refuses to sack those involved.

Secretary of State for Development Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, 46, is the subject of two complaints from patients, who cannot be named for legal reasons, who have accused the minister of carrying out rectal and vaginal examinations without consent

A patient who was treated by Zacharopoulou at Trousseau Hospital in Paris for endometriosis, a disease that causes pain during menstruation, said they 'couldn't talk' after the now-minister started a rectal exam without consent.

They said they had refused the exam but Zacharopoulou went ahead with the invasive procedure anyway.

'I was totally frozen. I couldn't talk. I could no longer breathe. I was crying in silence,' they said.

A second patient who was treated at the same hospital in 2016 claimed Zacharopoulou told them not to get upset when she started an alleged non-consensual vaginal exam.

'I was taken by surprise. I burst into tears because it's brutal, it's violent and it's very painful.'

She added: 'Even if I had booked the appointment myself... I wasn't expecting that, and it has affected my whole life, my life as a woman, as a mother and my professional life too.'

'My whole life is affected by the post-traumatic state in which I am now in, which is very difficult to handle.'

A source at the Paris public prosecutor's office on Wednesday told the Marianne news outlet that the latest case related to Zacharopoulou's time as a gynaecologist.

'An enquiry has been opened into two alleged acts of rape which were allegedly committed in the suspect's medical duties,' said the source.

The first complaint was filed on May 25, and the investigation was opened two days later 'to determine whether the facts are likely to fall within the scope of criminality'. The second complaint was filed on June 16.

Examining magistrates are now working on the enquiry with a specialist police brigade, meaning Zacharopoulou has already been interviewed at length.

Zacharopoulou, a Greece-born former MEP, joined the French government on May 20  before last Sunday's disastrous election results, which saw President Emmanuel Macron lose is parliamentary majority

Zacharopoulou, a Greece-born former MEP, joined the French government on May 20  before last Sunday's disastrous election results, which saw President Emmanuel Macron lose is parliamentary majority.

Like new prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, Zacharopoulou is considered to be one of the most powerful female politicians in Mr Macron's government.

Zacharopoulou gained prominence in 2015 by campaigning for greater public awareness of endometriosis together with actress Julie Gayet, who this year married former French president Francois Hollande.

Despite the accusations, she has kept her role in the government, which beyond Development also covers Francophonie (French-speaking countries) and International Partnerships.

There was no initial comment about the accusations from Zacharopoulou, or any of her government colleagues.

Damien Abad, France's Minister for Solidarity and Disabled People, is also facing intense scrutiny following accusations of rape from two women.

Both accuse Abad, 42, of forcing them to have unwanted sexual relationships with him in late 2010 and early 2011.

One of the accusers filed two complaints with police in 2012 and 2017, but they were later closed with no action taken.

Damien Abad, France's Minister for Solidarity and Disabled People, is also facing intense scrutiny following accusations of rape from two women

Abad strongly denies the allegations, saying that his arthrogryposis, a condition that affects the limbs, would make it physically impossible for him to commit rape.

Macron has meanwhile stuck with Abad, saying there was no reason to sack him because of unproven allegations.

In July 2020, Macron also expressed his wish to act as 'guarantor of the presumption of innocence' and 'not give in to emotion', when he refused to dismiss his Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, despite a rape accusation against him.

After closing the case against Darmanin without any further action, the Paris public prosecutor's office requested that the case be dismissed at the beginning of 2022.

It was the same with Nicolas Hulot, Macron's former Minister responsible for Energy Transition.

MHulot was implicated in a sexual violence case in 2018, but the head of state did not sack him, warning against 'an inquisition.'

This led to fierce criticism of Macron from former women's rights minister Laurence Rossignol, who said: 'Emmanuel Macron has not understood that we cannot treat accusations of sexual violence, saying 'It does not exist, move along, there is nothing to see, I will stand my ground.'
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Americans are set to experience another heatwave that will see temperatures reach triple-digits across parts of the Gulf Coast and Florida, just a day after intense storms struck both coasts and left 70,000 Virginians without power.

Chicago, Minneapolis, Memphis, Dallas, New Orleans and Atlanta were among several cities under excessive heat warnings on Monday, while temperatures in Nashville and Phoenix exceeded 100 Fahrenheit; overall, 20 percent of the US population, 67.9 million people, have been affected by the weather.

Minneapolis and St. Louis, cities in Minnesota, also saw local weather soar, reaching roughly 101F Monday, accompanied by high humidity that made conditions feel close to 110F. The excessive heat in the Twin Cities is so unusual that roads are starting to cave in two spots on I-35 in the Minneapolis Metropolitan area, according to Kare11.

Other than Minnesota, 10 states in total  Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Florida and Louisiana  saw temperatures at or above 100F on Wednesday.

On Thursday, an estimated 30 million Americans will be enduring massive heatwaves, particularly states with access to the Gulf Coast and in Florida, mainly in Jacksonville, Pensacola and Tallahassee.

When temperatures are at their highest at 5 p.m. on Thursday, weather in Minneapolis will be 94F, while Nashville and Phoenix will respectively reach 99F and 108F. Temperatures in Memphis, New Orleans, Atlanta and Dallas will range between 90F to 105F

Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky all reached highs of at least 100F on Wednesday, with some of them expected to have similar temperature levels on Thursday, along with Texas

Rain and thunderstorms are spread across both coasts on Thursday after California and Virginia were battered on June 22

A total of 127 million of American will also experience highs above 90F on Thursday, accounting for 39 percent of the US population (329.5 million).

Northern Florida will see temperatures reach above 100F for the first time in three years as forecasts in Tallahassee and Jacksonville for Thursday are 103F and 102F respectively.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Tallahassee was 105F, in June 2011.

New Orleans, Pensacola, Tampa and Jacksonville will also experience high levels of humidity that make conditions feel close to 110F (43C), potentially going as high as 115F.

Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas, Texas, are observing the hottest June ever, with temperatures exceeding 100F in all four cities.

Heat advisories, excessive heat warnings and excessive heat watches were issued over states through most of the month of June, stretching through parts of the Gulf Coast. Pictured: Workers brave the oppressive heat in Jackson, Miss., as they reroof the Barfield Complex on June 13

New Orleans, Pensacola, Tampa and Jacksonville will also experience high levels of humidity that make conditions feel close to 110F (43C), potentially going as high as 115F. Pictured: A boy fishing in Florida on June 13

Temperatures in Florida are close to exceeding an all-time high, with Jacksonville and Tallahassee almost reaching 105F. Pictured: Two children play at a water park, June 13, in Miami Beach, Fla.

On Thursday, an estimated 30million Americans, which represents nearly 10 percent of the country's total population, will be under heatwaves above of 100F. Pictured: Beachgoers cooling off in Miami on June 13

Meanwhile, severe storms left thousands without power in portions of northern Virginia and snarled the evening commute on Wednesday, while other areas contended with flooding, hail, fallen trees and downed power lines, officials said.

Warrenton, in Fauquier County, Va., was the hardest hit area after storms brought trees and branches down on homes and also blocked lanes on Interstate 66, WTOP reported. The storms have knocked out power for nearly 70,000 homes and businesses in the region.

Warrenton Town Manager Brandie Schaeffer said storms raced through the town, leaving scattered power outages and toppling trees and taking power lines across major streets leading in and out of downtown. No injuries were reported, Schaeffer said.

WRC (Warrenton Regional Chamber) reported one Warrenton resident was trapped in her home because of fallen trees.

Trees blocked US-15/US-29 Lee Highway between Warrenton and New Baltimore, authorities said.

Forecasters said the Shenandoah Valley could face a second round of thunderstorms overnight.

Residents in Central Virginia are seeing the effects of Wednesday's devastating storms as they bombard the area with torrential rain, causing trees to fall

About 70,000 residents were left without power after the storm took down trees and branches

The storm brought gusts between 60 to 80 mph in Richmond and other cities in Virginia

Major damages from the storm was also reported in Chesterfield, Virginia, with one home's roof caving in

In Richmond, the powerful gusts ripped through the walls of a dilapidated building

Dozens of downed trees scattered throughout Central Virginia have left 70,000 without power

Pictured: A roof collapsing at an apartment complex in Richmond following the initial storm on Wednesday

Antonia Mendoza Chavez, 52, and her two dogs were killed on Wednesday by severe thunderstorms in Los Angeles County, Southern California

As thunderstorms pummeled Southern California Wednesday, a woman and her two dogs were killed by a lightning strike, authorities said.

The fatal lightning strike was reported at 8:50 a.m. near the San Gabriel River in Pico Rivera, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Jonathan Branham said.

'It was a female Hispanic adult who had been struck by lightning and did not survive her injuries,' he said.

'She was walking two dogs and the dogs were also deceased.'

The woman was later identified as Antonia Mendoza Chavez, 52.

The city ordered its work crews and summer camps indoors, and canceled outdoor activities including a farmers market.

Thunder storms hit Southern California on Wednesday, with lighting setting trees on fire and also killing a woman and her two dogs while she was walking them along the riverbed in Pico Rivera

Firefighters have been running throughout Los Angeles and Southern California to put out fires caused by lightning

Officials are warning that powerful lightning strikes in LA could be the catalyst for fires in the area

Pictured, a tree ripped in half by the powerful gusts in LA as officials work to clear the debris

The thunderstorms were caused by a low-pressure system off the coast, pulling monsoonal moisture northward into the region, meteorologists said.

Southern California Edison reported power outages affecting more than 27,000 customers.

The National Weather Service said most rainfall was light but there were exceptions, including a cell over the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County where a gauge recorded nearly an inch of rain.

The lightning raised concern about the potential for fires in the drought-stricken region, and lifeguards closed some Orange County beaches.

Forecasters said the weather would start calming down on Thursday and then become more typical June conditions.
A Nigerian senator and his wife have today appeared in court accused of plotting to traffic a homeless child into the UK in order to harvest his organs.

Ike Ekweremadu, a People's Democratic Party politician for 19 years who was once Deputy President of the nation's senate, and Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu are accused of trying to traffic the 15-year-old to the UK from Lagos.

The court heard the couple, who have four children and a house in Willesden, North London, hoped to transplant the boy's organs to their daughter who suffers from kidney failure.

Police were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery laws last month.

They arrested the couple two days ago at Heathrow Airport as they attempted to board a plane to Turkey - where it was suggested that the procedure could take place - the court heard.

Ekweremadu, 60, is said to have had 20,000 on him on at the time of his arrest, according to prosecutors.

The child is now under the care of safeguarding authorities and the Metropolitan Police, officials say.

Ekweremadu and accountant wife Beatrice, 55, are charged with conspiracy to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.

The senator was wearing a grey sweater while his wife was wearing a black and white knitted cardigan at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court today.

Ike Ekweremadu, 60, a People's Democratic Party politician in Nigeria and his wife Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, have been held on suspicion of plotting to harvest the organs of a child in the UK

Ekweremadu has been in the UK for at least the past fortnight having met with members of the Nigerian community in Britain in Lincoln (pictured right) and received a copy of the Magna Carta

Prosecutor Damla Ayas said: It is conspiracy in relation to human trafficking offences for the purposes of organ harvesting. The victim in this case is 15 years old

They the couple were interviewed at the police station. Both of the defendants have provided a prepared statement.

Mr Ekweremadu in his prepared statement denied allegations of human trafficking.

He said at no stage has he arranged transport for anyone with intention to exploit them.

His wife similarly denied the allegations in her prepared statement, the court heard.

Gavin Irwin, representing Ekweremadu, said: There is no question this is a serious allegation. Mr Ekweremadu is a member of the senate in Nigeria.

He has previously held an even more senior role as deputy president of the senate.

He is a member of the bar in Nigeria. He is a principal in a law firm that bears his name.

Those issues taken together go way beyond him being a person of good characterrather that he has led a blameless life as a public servant.

Mr Irwin added that the allegations were nothing short of preposterous.

Antonia Gray, for Mrs Ekweremadu, said: She has never been complicit or involved in any alleged illegal trafficking of any young person.

She is a financial accountantwith an unblemished record.

The couple have an address they could stay at in Willesden, northwest London, the court heard.

The prosecutor made an application to adjourn matters for 14 days.

Ms Ayas said: In respect of these offences Attorney General consent is required and the Crown require 14 days for that to be obtained.

Magistrate Lois Sheard said: These are serious allegations and these matters are now adjourned until 7 July back here at Uxbridge.

Ms Sheard remanded both defendants into custody ahead of their hearing next month.

The Ekweremadus are charged with 'conspiring to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation....between 1 August 2021 and 5 May 2022 within the jurisdiction of Central Criminal Court'.

Ekweremadu has been an elected senator at the Abuja-based parliament since 2003 after moving into politics after years as a lawyer

The investigation was launched by the Met's Specialist Crime team after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022.

The Met Police has confirmed that the boy is safe and being looked after. Mr Ekweremadu was held with Nwanneka Ekweremadu in Britain this month.

Mr Ekweremadu has been an elected senator at the Abuja-based parliament since 2003 after moving into politics after years as a lawyer.

His wife, five years his junior, is an academic and doctor and also a major public figure in Nigeria. They are believed to have four adult children.

The Metropolitan Police has said the child, who is under the age of 18, at the centre of the alleged plot is in care.

Organ harvesting involves removing parts of the body, often for cash and against the victim's will.

Ekweremadu has been in the UK for at least the past fortnight having met with members of the Nigerian community in Britain in Lincoln around ten days ago.

He tweeted: 'It was a pleasure and an honour to receive a letter of appointment by the University of Lincoln, UK, as Visiting Professor of Corporate and International Linkages. I also got a highly treasured gift - a copy of the Magna Carta. It was created in 1215, about 807 years ago'.

The investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022, the force said.

The couple are two of the most famous faces in the West African state, and had been visiting the UK whe they were arrested

Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, and Ike Ekweremadu, 60, both from Nigeria , have been remanded in custody and will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court (pictured) later today

In 2017 a former Nigerian government minister claimed that migrants from his country were having their organs harvested after being sold into slavery.

Femi Fani-Kayode, a onetime aviation minister in Nigeria, claimed that 75 per cent of slaves who have their organs harvested in North Africa are from his country.

The Cambridge University-educated lawyer added that the victims have their 'bodies mutilated' and are 'roasted like suya [shish kebabs]'. He went on: 'Roasted alive! This is what Libyans do to sub-Saharan Africans who are looking for a transit point to Europe.

'They sell them into slavery and either murder, mutilate, torture or work them to death.'
A neo-Nazi couple with four children, who bought a 3D printer and tried to make a handgun in the family home, have both been jailed after they were found guilty of firearms offences.

Liam Hall, 31, and Stacey Salmon, 30, lived on a council estate in Keighley, West Yorkshire, where police found the weapon in the kitchen, along with chemicals used to make bombs in pans on the stove.

Using a 3D printer, Hall had 'printed' plastic parts for the firearm, called the PG22 MkII, which could then be assembled together with metal components to create functional and lethal firearm.

Stacey Salmon, 30, was jailed for three years for making a 3D printed gun at her home on a council estate in Keighley, West Yorkshire

An electric hot plate with black powder residue which had been used to manufacture explosives was found in the kitchen -- but the couple told the court they were making rockets for their children during lockdown.

At Sheffield Crown Court, Hall was handed a six-year sentence for manufacturing a firearm and possessing a firearm and Salmon was jailed for three years for possessing a firearm.

They were aided in making the gun by Hall's best friend, Daniel Wright, 30, who lived in the next street in Braithwaite, Keighley, and was a frequent visitor to the family home.

Liam Hall and Stacey Salmon were found guilty of possessing the printed weapon but acquitted of having it for terrorist purposes

Wright had joined an encrypted chat room that put out far-right propaganda aimed at radicalising members, including children, and providing instructions on using weapons.

He was jailed for 12 years for manufacturing a firearm and possession of a stash of electronic publications, including terrorist manuals and books providing detailed instructions on killing and the manufacture of improvised explosives and firearms.

Salmon told the jury at Sheffield Crown Court that she had become interested in chemistry because she and her partner wanted to educate their children during lockdown

A fourth man, Samuel Whibley, 29, from Anglesey, North Wales, ran the chat room used by Wright and had researched the manufacture of another firearm, called a FGC-9, and posted links and a files online to enable others to manufacture the semi-automatic pistol-calibre carbine.

He was jailed for ten years on eight counts of encouragement of terrorism and disseminating terrorist material.

Annabel Darlow, QC, had told Sheffield Crown Court that the four defendants were members of an 'extreme fascist cell during the first four months of 2021'.

She told the jury that the four members 'embraced extreme right-wing propaganda and celebrated racist violence and killing'.

An image on Salmon's phone was found showing her with scarf wrapped around her face, making a Nazi salute and a second showing her wearing a face mask with a skull print, appropriated by the far right.

On the anniversary of Hitler's birth on April 20, 2021, Salmon sent Wright an image of a birthday cake with the words 'Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler' written in icing which Wright then shared on the telegram chat group.

Hall had 'printed' plastic parts for the firearm, called the PG22 MkII, which could then be assembled together with metal components to create functional and lethal firearm

In court, Hall confessed to believing that 'international Jews own the media' and admitted to being a fascist but said he was 'not a fan' of Nazis.

Asked if he had a hatred of Jews, Hall replied: 'No, a specific type of Jews - the bankers, the ruling class - but I wouldn't suggest I hate them, it is a very strong word, dislike is enough.'

Salmon told the jury at Sheffield Crown Court that she had become interested in chemistry because she and her partner wanted to educate their children during lockdown.

The chemicals found in the kitchen were for making rockets because she had become interested in Elon Musk's space programme and she purchased them on eBay, she said.

The couple had paid 134 for a 3D printer because Hall, a welder, wanted to make toys on it and, if he got good enough, to sell toys online, Salmon said.

She was asked why she had sent a message to Hall saying: 'Love you lots and hate the Jews' and explained that she had been watching lots of Youtube videos and developed a dislike of 'Zionists'.

Hall and Wright were found guilty of manufacturing the handgun and Wright was found guilty of possessing the firearm for terrorism after he boasted about it online to an undercover police officer.

Hall and Salmon were found guilty of possessing the printed weapon but acquitted of having it for terrorist purposes after telling the jury it was intended as a toy gun and did not work because the plastic was not strong enough.

However, Wright was also found guilty of one charge of disseminating terrorist publications and three charges of possessing terrorist information.

Whibley was found guilty of seven charges of dissemination and one of encouraging terrorism.

Police said the four individuals 'came together in a private online chat group to share extreme right-wing views and propaganda, influence and indoctrinate others and endorse the use of violence to further their cause'.

Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Craig, head of Counter-Terrorism Policing North East, said: 'Today's outcome highlights the seriousness of the offences committed by these individuals.

Daniel Wright, 29, of Keighley, West Yorkshire, called himself 'Gott Mit Uns', a German saying stamped on the belt buckle of Nazi soldiers during the Second World War, meaning 'god is with us'

'We work tirelessly to identify individuals who have an extremist mindset and threaten the safety and unity of our diverse communities.

'Anyone found to be engaging in terrorist activity, or violent extremism in any form, can expect to be identified and put before the courts'.

Nick Price, head of the CPS Counter-Terrorism Division, said: 'The views and ideologies expressed by these four defendants were abhorrent and repulsive.

'The material that was shared amongst themselves and on a public forum, and the attempt by two of the group to manufacture firearms using a 3D printer was highly dangerous.

'The Counter-Terrorism Division presented evidence to show that their views and actions posed a threat to our society, and it is right that today they have been sentenced for their offences.'

Wright and Whibley, who never met, used a Telegram channel called Oaken Hearth which had been set up by Whibley in early January 2021.

Within the channel was a private group, called Oaken Hearth Chat, which was accessible only to those who passed a series of questions, aimed at ensuring they had an extreme right-wing mentality.

Wright purchased a Remington WarHawk .22 inch scope, costing 199.98, along with a bow and a package of hunting arrow quiver tips, from an online website in February 2021

The channel was used to share propaganda by members of the extreme right-wing to radicalise and indoctrinate members, and to provide them with the information and encouragement necessary to carry out acts of terrorism.

Ms Darlow told the court: 'Despite it being apparent that certain users of the chat were children, this in no way deterred those involved from the process of radicalisation and the repeated provision of detailed information on matters including the manufacture of home-made firearms.'

Whibley selected the username 'Black Sun Hydra' and posed for photographs in front of an image of the black sun symbol - which originated with the Nazi SS - masked and brandishing a large combat knife.

Wright called himself 'Gott Mit Uns', a German saying stamped on the belt buckle of Nazi soldiers during the Second World War, meaning 'god is with us.'

The chat group celebrated extreme right-wing terrorists who had committed acts of mass murder and praised them as 'saints', including Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people with a truck bomb in Oklahoma, Anders Breivik who murdered 77 people in Norway, and Brenton Tarrant, who shot 51 worshippers in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The chemicals found in the kitchen were for making rockets because she had become interested in Elon Musk's space programme and she purchased them on eBay, Salmon claimed

Responding to a post by Wright on January 18, 2021, that 'the day of the rope is coming guys,' Whibley wrote: 'I can't wait. We will make Enoch Powell proud' -- a reference to the politician who predicted in 1968 that large-scale immigration from the developing world to the UK would result in 'rivers of blood'.

The 'day of the rope' was a reference to a chapter in a notorious book called 'The Turner Diaries' featuring the hanging of mixed-race couples from lampposts.

Wright purchased a Remington WarHawk .22 inch scope, costing 199.98, along with a bow and a package of hunting arrow quiver tips, from an online website on February 1, 2021.

A document titled 'Prison Killing Techniques', which included detailed instructions on anatomical targets, weapons and improvised explosive devices was posted onto the chat by Whibley on February 25 2021.

He also told users to get a knife, recommending different brands and posting images of a bushcraft knife and sheath, adding on March 18: 'We need to move underground, build numbers hard and strike fast.'

On the following day, he encouraged users to post images of their knives and on April 30, he posted the image of himself dressed in black, with a black balaclava and a skull mask, holding a large knife with a serrated blade.

He was posing in front of a black sun backdrop and had another image of the black sun on his outer clothing with the word 'Hydra', his Telegram logon.

'The clear implication was that he was prepared to use extreme violence in pursuit of his ideology,' Ms Darlow said.

Wright commented 'cool mother fu****.'
A new video shows a California man being dragged to safety by an off-duty cop and a local surfer moments after a shark attack left him with a broken femur and 'bleeding severely' with stomach and arm injuries.

The attack happened on Wednesday at 10:35 am at Lover's Point Beach in Pacific Grove, California, around 85 miles south of San Francisco.

New video shows fellow beachgoers rushing to help retired IT specialist and teacher Steve Bruemmer who was bleeding heavily. He is reported to have been swimming around 150 yards away from the beach when he was attacked.

The footage shows Bruemmer laid out on a surf board while two swimmers paddle furiously to get him to the shore.

One of the rescuers shown in the video, Heath Braddock who was teaching surfing in the area to children, told KSBW: 'We got my biggest board and the gentleman, Paul, helped me roll the victim on the board belly down and got him kind of centered and stable. We had him hold my food and we paddled him in.'

Another of the rescuers was Sacramento police officer Paul Bandy. Bandy told the station: 'He was screaming for help, you could tell the sound and the emotion in his voice that there was something definitely wrong and he was slapping the water.'

He continued: 'I wasn't sure if that was some sort of thing he was trying to get something away from him or just trying to draw attention to himself.'

Bandy was paddle boarding with his wife Aimee Johns, a nurse, for their anniversary. Johns told KSBW that when they got the victim to shore, they cut off his wet suit and applied tourniquets to his limbs and abdomen. John said that he was 'bleeding severely.'

One of the rescuers, surfer Heath Braddock, said that he got the 'victim on the board belly down and got him kind of centered and stable' and then paddled him in alongside off-duty cop Paul Bandy

The victim Steve Bruemmer suffered a broken femur as a result of the attack. One of his rescuers said that his leg was almost 'severed' following the attack

One of Bruemmer's friends said that he was attacked by a 'very large shark. Prior to this attack, there had been 12 shark attacks in the US in 2022, according to Tracking Sharks. Zero have been fatal'

According to his LinkedIn page, Bruemmer, a Notre Dame graduate, retired in January 2021 from his role as an instructional technology specialist. Previously, he worked as a computer programmer

Johns told NBC's 'Today' program that the couple could hear someone yelling: 'Help, help, help,' while splashing.

Her husband, Paul Bandy, added: 'As soon as we got close to him, we could see he had severe lacerations on his arms and legs.'

Braddock told the program that when he heard Bruemmer's cries he 'grabbed a couple boards and took two boards out. As I approached, I saw kind of the pool of blood. It was probably the size of a table or a car.'

When they got back to the beach, Johns said: 'His leg was almost severed.' Bandy said: 'Severely injured. All the way down to the bone.'

Nurse Aimee Johns and her husband, Paul Bandy, were paddle boarding as they celebrated their anniversary when they heard Bruemmer's calls for help

Surfer Heath Braddock was teaching children on the beach close to where the attack took place. When he heard the victim's calls for help, he grabbed two surf boards and made his way to the victim

One of Bruemmer's friends, Jill Hannley, told KION that he was 'kelp crawling,' a practice of swimming just above the vast forests of colorful seaweed located in the Pacific. The victim is a member of a local swimming club that regularly swim at Lover's Point.

Hannley described her friend as being attacked by a 'very large shark.' She said that none of Bruemmer's blood vessels were 'intruded upon' but that his femur was broken.

She said that it will be a long recovery but doctors expect the victim to be okay. His leg will not need to be amputated, Hannley said.

Bruemmer is a retired IT specialist and teacher from Monterey Peninsula College.

A firefighter drone was deployed in an attempt to locate the shark after the attack.

Pacific Grove city manager Ben Harvey told the Monterey Herald that the shark was spotted in the area after the attack.

A witness, Fernando Beltran, who was biking in an area overlooking the water told the Herald that the attack looked like two swimmers playfully tussling in the water.

During the attack, Beltran said that he saw the retired IT specialist get dragged under the water for 10 to 15 seconds.

He said: 'I was in shock for a minute, thinking, 'Oh that can't be a shark.' I thought it was two guys wrestling.'

The most common shark attacks in California are from either Great White or Tiger sharks

According to his LinkedIn page, Bruemmer, a Notre Dame graduate, retired in January 2021 from his role as an instructional technology specialist. Previously, he worked as a computer programmer.

His wife is Dr. Brita Bruemmer, the medical director of the Big Sur Health Center. The couple is married with two daughters.

In a press release, the Pacific Grove Police Department paid tribute to those who helped to save Bruemmer.

The department said: 'We want to express our gratitude and appreciation to the Good Samaritans that took immediate action and personal risk to assist the swimmer.'

As a result of the attack, Lover's Point and nearby Sea Palm beaches are closed until Saturday June 25.

The department confirmed that the victim suffered 'significant injuries from the shark bite and was transported to Natividad Hospital.' The hospital is located 23 miles from the beach in Salinas, California.

A witness, Fernando Beltran, who was biking in an area overlooking the water told the Herald that the attack looked like two swimmers playfully tussling in the water

As a result of the attack, Lover's Point and nearby Sea Palm beaches are closed until Saturday June 25

Prior to the June 22 attack, there had been 12 shark attacks in the US in 2022, according to Tracking Sharks. Zero have been fatal.

On Christmas Eve 2021, Sacramento man Tomas Butterfield was killed when he was attacked by a shark while swimming Morro Bay, 150 miles south of Pacific Grove. He as 42 years old.

There has been no confirmation of what breed of shark was responsible for the attack.

The most dangerous types of shark to humans in the Pacific Ocean are the Great White and Tiger sharks. Great white shark attacks in the area are more common south of Pacific Grove, reports KSBW.
A landlord who posted you dont want to miss this on social media just hours before torching his Yorkshire Dales pub has been jailed for more than three years.

Tim Sharp, 55, caused 1.4m damage to The Old Swan Inn in Gargrave after splitting from his landlady partner Lindsay Williamson.

The father of two bolted the doors to the Grade II-listed pub, set 12 separate fires inside and climbed the fire escape to the roof where he slashed his wrists and neck and hoped to die, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Only the immense bravery of five firefighters, who ignored their own safety, saved Sharp from the flames which were bursting through the roof.

The court heard that the Covid lockdown had put pressure on the business and his relationship and he believed his partner was having an affair with a man in the village.

Tim Sharp (right), 55, caused 1.4m damage to The Old Swan Inn in Gargrave after splitting from his landlady partner Lindsay Williamson (left)

During the afternoon of July 7, 2020, Sharp posted on the pubs and his personal Facebook page: 'So to all the gossipers and gobs****s in this village, and there is plenty of them. The truth will be told later today. And I have all the proof of that.

'So stay tuned in as will be going live on Facebook tonight. Believe me you dont want to miss this Tim x'

Prosecutor Laura Addy said Sharp, from the Isle of Man, started a romantic relationship with Lindsay Williamson in 2017 and they bought the pub together. They lived in the property together with a chef and barman.

However, Sharp, who had mental health issues, stopped taking his medication and his behaviour became erratic and argumentative.

He would spend much of his time upstairs and when he did come down he would swear at the customers.

Miss Williamson ended their romantic relationship and she moved out, but they continued to work together.

The father of two bolted the doors to the Grade II-listed pub, set 12 separate fires inside and climbed the fire escape to the roof where he slashed his wrists and neck and hoped to die

During the afternoon of July 7, 2020, Sharp posted on the pubs and his personal Facebook page

'The defendant believed she was having an affair with a customer,' Miss Addy told the court.

On July 7, Sharp asked her to collect all her belongings from the pub. He was angry and told her she had ruined his life and that he loved her.

He made a final call to her at 5.20pm, while she could hear what she thought was running water, and he told her that she would never see him again.

He had ensured the pub was empty, lit 12 fires and then went to the roof with a Stanley knife which he used to slit his wrists and neck.

Miss Williamsons son and his friend tried to rescue Sharp but were beaten back by the flames.

'He was covered in blood from head to toe,' said Miss Addy.

Only the immense bravery of five firefighters, who ignored their own safety, saved Sharp from the flames which were bursting through the roof

The five firefighters joined him on the roof and struggled to stand because of the amount of blood.

Despite a fire official blowing the whistle to order them down, they bravely ignored the warning and got Sharp to safety - risking their own lives. Fire engulfed the roof only moments after the rescue, the court heard.

Mitigating Christopher Styles said Sharp has suffered permanent and irreversible damage to his lungs and will be on medication for the rest of his life.

He said Sharp is extremely remorseful and genuinely ashamed of what he did.

Sharp pleaded guilty to arson and was jailed for 40 months.

Judge Jonathan Rose said the arson was pre-planned, illustrated by the Facebook post earlier that day.

As well as the jail term, there is a restraining order against Sharp contacting Miss Williamson or posting comments about her on social media.
Federal agents raided the home of Jeffrey Clark, a senior Justice Department official who pushed Donald Trump's unfounded election fraud claims, on Wednesday as part of a sprawling federal investigation into last year's attack on the U.S. Capitol.

It happened a day before the House January 6 committee was due to highlight Trump's failed efforts to pressure Justice Department officials and a plan to install Clark as attorney general.

They arrived at his suburban Virginia home in the early morning, according to several reports.

An ally, Russ Vought, who headed the Office of Management and Budget in the Trump White House, said Clark had to stand in the street in his pyjamas.

'The new era of criminalizing politics is worsening in the US,' tweeted Vought.

'Yesterday more than a dozen DOJ law enforcement officials searched Jeff Clarks house in a pre-dawn raid, put him in the streets in his PJs, and took his electronic devices.'

Attorneys for Clark did not respond to requests for comment.

Federal agents reportedly searched the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Department of Justice lawyer who former President Donald Trump considered installing as attorney general in the days before the January 6 Capitol riot as part of an effort to overturn the election

Thursday's January 6 committee hearing will examine the role of the Department of Justice in efforts by Trump loyalists to reverse the result of the 2020 election

The committee has already heard how top Trump officials told the then president that there was no sufficient voter fraud to influence the outcome of the election

Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, confirmed the existence of law enforcement activity on Wednesday in Lorton, Virginia, where Clark lives, but would not elaborate on the purpose.

Also Wednesday, federal agents served a wave of subpoenas related to a scheme by Trump allies to put forth alternate, or fake, slates of electors in hopes of invalidating the results of the election.

Thursday's hearing is expected to explore Clark's alleged role in helping Trump use the Department of Justice in key swing states to change the election results.

In the days running up to the January 6 violence, Trump considered a proposal to appoint Clark as acting attorney general.

Emails previously released by the January 6 committee, reveal how Clark proposed to send a letter to officials in Georgia claiming falsely that the Department of Justice had evidence of voter fraud that could reverse Joe Biden's victory in the state.

His letter to Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, urged him to call a special session of the Georgia legislature to create a separate slate of electors backing Trump.

'History is calling,' Clark, a relatively junior official, told the president at the White House on January 3 according to a deposition given by Richard Donoghue, deputy attorney general, and excerpted in a court filing.

'This is our opportunity. We can get this done.'

In the event, Trump decided not to promote Clark amid warnings that hundreds of DOJ officials would resign if he did so.

Donoghue is scheduled to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives select committee on Thursday afternoon, with the then Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, and former Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel Steven Engel.

They are expected to say that the DOJ was not presented with any evidence of widespread fraud that could have affected the outcome of the election.

Trump's acting Attorney General during the Capitol riot Jeff Rosen will testify to the January 6 select committee on Thursday that there was never any solid proof to support Donald Trump's election fraud claims. 'Some argued to the former president and public that the election was corrupt and stolen. That view was wrong then and it is wrong today, and I hope our presence here today helps reaffirm that fact,' he said in a prepared statement

Rosen's ex-deputy Richard Donoghue and former Trump attorney Steven Engel will testify during the fifth day of hearings on Thursday. Donoghue will detail his warning to Trump that 'hundreds' of DOJ employees would quit if he tried to replace Rosen with someone who would support his fraud claims

'Some argued to the former president and public that the election was corrupt and stolen,' Rosen said in a prepared statement for the panel obtained by the Associated Press.

'That view was wrong then and it is wrong today, and I hope our presence here today helps reaffirm that fact.'

The committee's deputy chair Liz Cheney denounced the proposed letter as a lie in her opening statement.

'The Department of Justice had, in fact, repeatedly told President Trump exactly the opposite, that they had investigated his stolen election allegations and found no credible fraud that could impact the outcome of the election.' she said.

Thursday's hearing is the fifth this month, and will prove how Trump tried to use the department for his own ends.

In a fiery speech outside the White House On January 6, Trump urged his supporters to help overturn his election defeat.

They later stormed the Capitol, sending lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence fleeing for their lives.

Four people died, one shot by police and the others of natural causes.

More than 800 people have since been arrested in connection with the violence.
A 31-year-old man has been charged with murdering his grandmother.

Verushan Manoharan appeared at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Thursday after being charged with stabbing 89-year-old Sakunthala Francis to death.

Emergency services were called to a home in Brigstock Road, Croydon, south London, at around 9.20pm on Tuesday.

Paramedics tried to save the pensioner but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Verushan Manoharan, 31, is accused of killing Sakunthala Francis after she was discovered with knife wounds at around 9.20pm on Tuesday

Paramedics rushed to the flat in Thornton Heath, south London, and discovered the pensioner, then called police when she was pronounced dead at the scene

Today Scotland Yard confirmed the suspect and the alleged victim are grandmother and grandson

Manoharan was arrested a short while later at another address in Croydon.

He appeared at Croydon Magistrates' Court where he was remanded in custody to attend the Old Bailey on Monday for a bail application hearing.

Manoharan has also been listed to appear at the same court on July 21.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police.
United States diplomats and intelligence officers suffering from the mysterious Havana Syndrome will receive six-figure payouts from the federal government.

The payouts for the stricken officials, ordered by the Biden Administration, will range between $100,000 and $200,000 to each recipient, according to a Washington Post report that outlined the compensation plan.

Symptoms for the mysterious condition - which first surfaced among staffers at the US embassy in Havana in 2016 and has since afflicted hundreds of Americans around the world - include headaches, tinnitus, memory loss and nausea.

The payments will reportedly go to those determined to have suffered the most significant setbacks, such as job loss or career derailment, as a result of the illness.

The news likely comes as a welcome reprieve for sufferers like Tina Onefur, Kate Husband, and Husband's partner Doug Ferguson, all former workers at the US embassy in Havana - and some of the earliest known victims of the condition.

The vast majority of those stricken have been US diplomats, spies, and others employed by the government - spurring many to believe the disease is the work of a foreign entity, such as Russia.

The theory has put further pressure on the government - which largely ignored the rash of cases under former President Trump - to address the surge.

US diplomats said to be suffering from the mysterious disease - such as Tina Onefur, a State Department staffer stationed in Havana who can only work two days a week after coming down with the illness - will receive the six-figure payouts as compensation for their suffering

The reported payouts come as a welcome reprieve for sufferers like Kate Husband (at right), and Doug Ferguson (at left), who were working as diplomats at the Havana embassy when they felt symptoms. Husband was diagnosed with brain damage and had to retire as a result

However, the payment scheme does come as the result of a six-year effort by Congress to help address the rash of cases - which the government has labeled Anomalous Health Incidents, or AHIs.

Late last year, President Joe Biden took the first steps to creating a compensation plan for current and former officials suffering from the mysterious illness, signing into law a bill dubbed the Havana Act.

The guidance allowed diplomats and other federal officials suffering from traumatic neurological or brain injuries to be compensated by the government agencies such as the State Department and the CIA.

The six-figure payouts come as the culmination of that law.

The payouts for the stricken officials, ordered by the Biden Administration, will range between $100,000 and $200,000 to each recipient, and will go to those determined to have suffered job loss or career derailment as a result of the illness, it has been reported

Symptoms for the mysterious condition include headaches, tinnitus, memory loss and nausea. The majority of those stricken have been US diplomats, spies, and others employed by the government - spurring many to think the disease is the work of a foreign body such as Russia

Onefur, Husband, and Ferguson all started to experience symptoms of the disease as cases first surfaced in the State Department building in late 2016.

Husband, who was forced to retire from the State Department after she and her partner fell ill with the disease in the winter of that year, suffered from violent bouts of nausea, and a fogginess that makes even the most basic tasks difficult.

After experiencing those symptoms in the coming months, the couple was later examined by neurologists at the University of Pennsylvania.

In early 2017, Ferguson - whose symptoms were markedly more mild than Husband's - was cleared to go back to work, but Husband was found to have experienced brain damage as a result of the illness.

Husband told Mitchell that during the diagnosis, a doctor told her, after analyzing scans of her brain, 'it's like you aged 20, 25 years all at once.'

The syndrome first surfaced at the US embassy in Havana, when government employees suddenly found themselves afflicted with the mysterious malady

She was forced to retire from her work for the State Department later that year, on the grounds of a medical disability.

Both say they still experience symptoms to this day.

What is 'Havana Syndrome'? The mysterious illness that started in the US embassy in Cuba and causes memory and hearing loss The problem has been labeled the 'Havana Syndrome,' because the first cases affected personnel in 2016 at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba. At least 200 cases across the government are now under investigation. People who are believed to have been affected have reported headaches, dizziness and symptoms consistent with concussions, with some requiring months of medical treatment. Some have reported hearing a loud noise before the sudden onset of symptoms. Countries its been reported in: Cuba, United States, China, Russia, Vietnam, Austria, Germany, Serbia, United Kingdom, Georgia, Poland, Taiwan, Australia, Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan Symptoms include: -hearing loss -severe headaches -memory issues -dizziness -brain injury Advertisement

I have verified physical injuries, Husband asserted in an interview with NBC late last year.

I spent about nine months trying to do my old job - little pieces of it a few hours a day, Husband, who worked as a diplomat, said, visibly emotional. 'I feel sick all the time.'

Ferguson further insisted: 'I want the viewers to understand that this is real.

'This happened. This is happening.

Onefur, meanwhile, a career foreign service officer who was stricken with symptoms while stationed at the embassy at the time, is still employed by the state department.

However, she can now only work two hours a day, from home, under physician's orders, due to doctor-diagnosed brain damage.

She said she first felt symptoms associated with the disease while washing dishes one night in March 2017 at her home in Havana. Suddenly, she said, she found herself overcome with pain.

The kids were upstairs playing, and I was standing at the kitchen window, and all of a sudden I felt like I was being struck with something.

When asked what the sensation felt like, Onefur said the pain was like nothing she had ever felt before in her life, and explained, It was gripping - it was like Id been seized by some invisible hand, and I couldn't move.

When asked by NBC how her health is today, Onefur, choking back tears, said that her symptoms were still as strong and prevalent nearly five years later.

'It's not easy to talk about our health because it's an invisible injury,' Onefur said.

'It's four-and-a-half years of of excruciating headaches, it's four-and-a-half years of stumbling losing my balance, four-and-a-half years of vision degradation,' Onefur said, breaking down in tears.

'People don't understand what this kind of brain damage can do to you.'

I work two hours a day if I'm lucky, remotely, here in our house.'

Alleged Havana Syndrome attacks on American spies and diplomats continue to grow across the world, with more than 1,000 suspected cases reported as of Thursday

US officials who spoke to the post said that the range of compensation has yet to be finalized, and could change as the regulation goes through the final stages of a mandated review process.

The leading theory behind the cause of the suddenly surfaced syndrome starts with a device that scientists say Russia could have invented during the Cold War, which was later used to spy on US embassies by collecting data from laptops and cell phones.

Experts have further theorized that a hostile country - such as Russia or China - may have turned this microwave technology into a weapon, one almost impossible to detect or diagnose.

Both countries deny any involvement in any of the incidents relating to the mysterious syndrome.

Ferguson and Husband, meanwhile, said they hears a shrill, piercing noise coming from their backyard in the weeks before they first experienced symptoms.

It was persistent, kind of at the same level all the time, Husband said of the shrill sound, which they never managed to identify, adding it was very, very loud and nothing you can sit with.

The sound on the recording - a high-frequency ringing that somewhat resembles a dog whistle - is strikingly similar to a sound previously released by AP in a 2017 report on the then just-surfaced syndrome.

When asked if any other people in her neighborhood had heard the same sounds and was afflicted with similar symptoms, Husband said they had.

Doug Ferguson and partner Kate Husband, who were both afflicted with the syndrome, said they heard a piercing sound coming from the backyard of their Havana home in the months leading up to their diagnosis, and even manage to record it on Ferguson's phone. The noise is eerily similar to one recorded by AP after the first Havana Syndrome cases started to surface

On our right, there was another embassy family, and then the people on our left and across the street from us were both Canadian embassy employees, and all four households were diagnosed.

The White House has since taken measures to help Havana Syndrome sufferers, after Trump largely ignored the crisis, chalking the emerging cases up as mass psychosis.

Biden's more pronounced approach will allow diplomats and other federal officials suffering from traumatic neurological or brain injuries to be compensated.

In November, a month after Biden signed the Havana Act the director of the CIA reportedly issued a bold warning to Russia's two top intelligence agencies - the Federal Security Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service -. saying that there will be 'consequences' if the US government finds out that they are behind the hundreds of suspected Havana Syndrome cases.

The original cluster of cases in Cuba have since burgeoned to more than 1,000, with the CIA and other agencies reviewing each instance on a case-by-case basis.

It comes as US officials had been somewhat slow to address the increasing number of cases, with FBI only acknowledged that some of its agents may be suffering from the syndrome in November, after one now ex staffer reportedly complained of symptoms.

According to the Biden Administration, the new program would also foot the bill for medical costs dealing with the condition - which the intelligence community has yet to figure out, and possibly launched by assailants it may not yet be able to identify.

Sufferers will also be offered blood tests to try and establish a baseline, and see if there is any pattern in how the condition affects sufferers.

US officials had been somewhat slow FBI only acknowledged that some of its agents may be suffering from the syndrome in November, after an ex staffer reportedly complained of symptoms.

As word of the compensation packages spread Thursday, some have reportedly expressed satisfaction over the payouts, while others have argued that the compensation range seems insufficient given the loss of future and past income for the victims.

The Biden Administration has yet to release a criteria for how it will determine eligibility for the payments. Officials are expected to release such details in the coming days, when the guidance is officially made public.

Current and former US officials - as well as their family - will all be eligible to make claims, those familiar with the plan told The Post.

The emergence of the new program comes as hard evidence for the strange syndrome has been incredibly hard to come by - causing many to be skeptical.

One medical sociology expert, Dr Robert Bartholomew, is so convinced the illness is a case of mass delusion, he co-authored a book titled Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria.

'There is more evidence for Bigfoot than there is for Havana Syndrome,' the US expatriate who is based at the University of Auckland, told Daily Mail Australia.

'The evidence overwhelmingly points to mass hysteria, or as it is commonly referred to by scientists - mass psychogenic illness. Havana Syndrome is a result of incompetent government officials and bad science. I would go so far as to rename it Havana Syndrome Delusion - the absurd belief, in the wake of persistent evidence to the contrary, that diplomats are being targeted with an energy weapon.'

That lack of hard evidence cited by Dr. Bartholomew has made it difficult for officials to address the burgeoning crisis.

The White House is expected to announce the guidance in the coming days.
Prince Charles has urged Commonwealth leaders to work together and take action in leading the world towards a more sustainable future.

Speaking in a meeting of his Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) in Rwanda, the Prince of Wales told leaders of the family of nations, which he described as a 'common market' they could work together to tackle sustainability issues.

The Prince launched SMI in 2020 to help accelerate the world's transition into a sustainable future.

He told delegates, who included Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Fifa President Gianni Infantino: 'If we can commit to being bold in our ambition - but more importantly in our action - the Commonwealth, as one of the world largest 'common markets' has a real opportunity to lead the world in the right direction.'

The Prince launched SMI in 2020 to help accelerate the world's transition into a sustainable future

The heir to the throne told the meeting he had been working for the past three years with SMI and now had more than 300 chief executive officers around the globe.

'This meeting has been, in fact, three years on the making,' he said.

The chief executives represent assets worth 70 trillion dollar 'wanting to contribute to accelerating the world's green economy' he added.

'But, ladies and gentlemen, they cannot do this without your help,' he said. 'To move forward at pace and scale we need to be clear on the enabling environment and the demand signals so that industry and investors know where to go, be it for renewable energy, sustainable infrastructure, sustainable aviation fuel or regenerative agriculture.'

Charles is representing the Queen at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting for the first time since he was chosen to inherit her position as head of the global 'family of nations' in 2018.

In another meeting with other Commonwealth leaders, he spoke of how attempts to wipe of malaria have been derailed by coronavirus.

'As we emerge from the pandemic, 2022 must be a turning point,' he said to delegates during a summit on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases at the Intare Conference Centre in Kigali.

In another meeting with other Commonwealth leaders, Prince Charles spoke of how attempts to wipe of malaria have been derailed by coronavirus.

In a lighter moment of the visit, Prince Charles was presented with an adoption certificate for an injured crane

'Post Covid-19, the world is paying greater attention to infectious diseases, and we must capitalise on this to provide proper support to prepare for, and respond to, infectious disease outbreaks.

'Largely due to Covid-19 pandemic there remains a great amount to do if our ambitions are to be met.'

There, the Prince, who is President of Malaria No More Uk, met Melinda French Gates and Director General of the World Health Organisation Dr Tedroos Adhanom-Ghebreyesus.

In a lighter moment of the visit, Prince Charles was presented with an adoption certificate for an injured crane.

He was visiting Kigali's first wildlife sanctuary, Umusambi Village, which is home to more than 50 endangered crane species.

The Duke and Duchess attend a fashion event as part of the Kigali Fashion Week at Kigali Arena

The Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall touched down in Kigali earlier this week

Olivier Nsengimana, founder and executive of Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association, presented him with an adoption certificate for the bird, telling the Prince: 'From now on, she is yours' to which he replied: 'Oh. You must keep me informed.'

The Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall touched down in Kigali earlier this week. He is the first member of the Royal Family to set foot on Rwandan soil.

Charles is set to hold several meetings to during his visit to 'listen and continue to learn' about the key issues that the countries of the Commonwealth are facing, particularly over climate change, economic development, opportunities for the young and gender equality.
Netflix has cut another 300 staffers weeks after laying off off over 150 employees as the streaming giant tried to grapple with a weakened stock price.

The firm employs 11,000 staffers globally, and the cuts were made across multiple areas of the company as executives try to cut costs wherever they can.

'While we continue to invest significantly in the business, we made these adjustments so that our costs are growing in line with our slower revenue growth. We are so grateful for everything they have done for Netflix and are working hard to support them through this difficult transition,' a Netflix spokesperson told Variety.

Netflix announced it had lost 200,000 subscribers at the end of Q1, shrinking the value of the company nearly 70%. It also announced it expects to lose another 2 million subscribers by the end of Q2.

In January, Netflix stock was worth over $600 a share, but that price has reduced substantially, and shares were being traded at around $180 on Thursday.

Netflix is currently trading at $181.71 per share, as opposed to $348 per share in April

Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer and co-CEO at Netflix s peaks during a conference at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France

The loss of subscribers is the first time Netflix's numbers have fallen in a decade, harshly denting their hopes of adding 2.5 million subscribers. The loss has led investors to file a class-action lawsuit, claiming they were misled about subscriber growth.

The lead plaintiff is Fiyyaz Pirani, a trustee of Imperium Irrevocable Trust, which is a Netflix shareholder. The lawsuit seeks 'compensatory damages' from Netflix after they failed to hit their subscriber estimates, and broke securities laws in the process.

The lawsuit claims Netflix made 'materially false and/or misleading statements' because it 'failed to disclose material adverse facts about the company's business, operations and prospects.'

Many believe an obvious solution to some of Netflix's recent issues would be an adoption of an advertising model to increase revenue, but co-CEO Ted Sarandos has dismissed the idea.

'For us, it was all about simplicity of one product, one price point,' he said, adding: 'I think it can now withstand some complexity,' Sarandos told the New York Times in May.

'We make decisions based on the best information we have at the time. They are not always going to be right, but how you help navigate the outcomes, and the urgency you bring to it, is what gets folks through the storm. And the storms will come.'

The Netflix logo is seen on top of their office building in Hollywood, California. The streaming giant has lost 70% of its value in recent months as their subscriber count drops

Sarandos called the loss of subscribers 'disappointing and embarrassing,' but implied the company needs to look ahead and move on from the failures.

'How much time do you spend licking your wounds?' he said. 'Let's have that burned into our memory, but we've got to move on and move fast.'

While Netflix was ahead of the streaming pack for years, its newfound losses can be attributed to other big companies shifting weight behind their streaming services, including Disney+, Paramount+, HBO Max and Peacock.

Those services have offered high-budget content that has loosened Netflix's stranglehold over streaming consumers. Much of the content that was previously on Netflix has been taken back by their home companies, furthering the decline in quality of Netflix's library.

The U.S. media sector and economy as a whole have been weakened by recent recession fears and plunged major companies stocks into bear territory.
Brian Laundrie's parents have been spotted on a shopping trip just a day after skipping out on a court hearing in the civil case brought against them by Gabby Petitio's parents.

DailyMail.com saw Christopher and Roberta Laundrie near their home in North Port, Florida, on Thursday making several stops, including to a store and to fill up their red pick-up truck.

Christopher wore a gray t-shirt and shorts, while Roberta kept her mask on outdoors and wore a floral shirt and cap.

On Wednesday the Laundries were a no-show at the hearing, where Petito's family blasted them as being 'callous and shameful.'

Petito, 22, was strangled on a road trip with Laundrie in Wyoming last summer and now her family is suing her killer boyfriend's parents over her death.

The civil suit alleges the Laundries knew their son, 23, had murdered Petito after he returned to their Florida home alone - and tried to help him flee authorities. Laundrie's parents had filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

The lawyer representing the Laundries says they have 'no regrets' about their response to Gabby Petito's murder.

DailyMail.com spotted Brian Laundrie's parents out on a shopping trip on Thursday

Christopher and Roberta Laundrie were seen near their home in North Port, Florida, on Thursday

Nichole Schmidt (right) and Joseph Petito (left) were in court on Wednesday afternoon for a hearing on the lawsuit they filed against Roberta and Christopher Laundrie

On Wednesday the Laundries were a no-show at the hearing in the civil case brought against them by Gabby Petito's family

The lawyer representing the Laundries says they have 'no regrets' about their response to Gabby Petito 's murder

Petito's family blasted the Laundries as being 'callous and shameful'

Petito, 22, was strangled on a road trip with Laundrie in Wyoming last summer. The van-life blogger's mother and father are suing their daughter's killer boyfriend and his parents over her death

The Laundries made several stops, including to a store and to fill up their red pick-up truck

Petito's parents allege the Laundries knew their son Brian had murdered Gabby after he returned to their Florida home alone - and tried to help him flee authorities

After hearing arguments from attorneys for both families on Wednesday, Sarasota County Circuit Court Judge Hunter W. Carroll announced he will make a decision within two weeks as to whether the case will go to trial.

Petito's parents, Nichole Schmidt, 41, and her former husband Joseph Petito, 42, allege the Laundries 'acted with malice or great indifference' by not disclosing what they knew about Petito's death.

Their lawsuit stated Laundrie's parents 'exhibited extreme and outrageous conduct' after Petito's disappearance and is requesting 'just compensation for the damages they have suffered, together with costs, and such other relief.'

However, the Laundries' attorney has dismissed the allegations, arguing he and his clients acted appropriately to the situation.

'What I knew, or what Chris and Roberta knew, we did not have to disclose, to any third party, and specifically to law enforcement, or the Petito family,' Bertolino told NewsNation Wednesday night.

'I did everything the right way. We have no regrets. The parents did everything the right way, and they have no regrets.'

When asked specifically what the Laundries knew about Petito's death, Bertolino declined to answer, saying it 'wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment' given the pending lawsuit.

He did reiterate that he told the media months ago: 'I don't know exactly what Brian had said to his parents. I had said publicly that what Brian told me was privileged. I was not going to share it.

'I had conversations with Brian. I had conversations with Chris and Roberta. I had conversations with them separately and I had conversations with them together. So, it's not for me to comment at this point in time what Chris and Roberta knew.'

Bertolino added: 'I can tell you what I knew  perhaps, one day what Brian knew, but none of that's gonna happen tonight on this show.'

When asked about the claims that Laundrie's parents were trying to help their killer son flee the country, Bertolino placed blame on the media frenzy surrounding the case.

'Chris and Roberta did nothing but stay in their home,' he argued.

'There was speculation that there were burner phones, that we were dressing him up in funny outfits and sending him across the Mexican border, sending him across certain bodies of water to other countries in the Bahamas or perhaps out on the Appalachian trail.

'All of that was fill-it work for the networks that had to fill in some time 24/7.'

Petito's parents, Nichole Schmidt, 41, and her former husband Joseph Petito, 42, allege the Laundries 'acted with malice or great indifference' by not disclosing what they knew about Petito's death

Attorney Steve Bertolino, who represents Brian Laundrie's parents, said 'I did everything the right way. We have no regrets. The parents did everything the right way, and they have no regrets'

Bertolino also placed blame on the press for the Laundries alleged lack of distress during the search through a Florida state park for their then-fugitive son.

'They were somber, they were quiet and I can tell you they were very upset and very emotional with me,' the lawyer stated. 'But when you've got a gaggle of press and screaming public out at your door 24 hours a day...

'Did you think [Chris] and Roberta were going to go down to Walmart and start putting up signs: 'Help me find my son?' They knew where their son was. They knew where he went. We said it and as it turns out, unfortunately we were correct, that Brian never left the preserve and I certainly think law enforcement knew that all along as well.

'Some people in the press and the public question whether Chris and Roberta should've done more, but more really could they have done when you had all that law enforcement man power searching the preserve?'

Pat Reilly, the Florida attorney representing Petito's parents, also appeared on NewsNation Wednesday night and claimed that the family 'focusing on remaining silent ignores all other proof in the case.'

'If we were in a court of morality, which unfortunately we're not, this would be a really easy decision,' Reilly argued.

'A freedom of information request could be made for the information the FBI has, and it would be eye opening.'

Schmidt, 41, toyed nervously with a necklace as she sat with former husband in Sarasota County court before Judge Carroll on Wednesday.

Petito's family claims the Laundries are guilty of 'inflicting intentional emotional distress' and that a statement issued by their lawyer hopeful of a successful end to the search for then-missing Petito was 'outrageous' because they allegedly already knew she was dead.

Their attorney Patrick Reilly told the courtroom: 'This is case not simply about the silence of Robert and Christopher Laundrie who knew their son had brutally murdered Gabby Petito.'

Schmidt, 41, toyed nervously with a necklace as she sat with former husband in Sarasota County court before Judge Carroll on Wednesday

Petito's family claims the Laundries are guilty of 'inflicting intentional emotional distress' and that a statement issued by their lawyer hopeful of a successful end to the search for then-missing Petito was 'outrageous' because they allegedly already knew she was dead. Nichole Schmidt and her husband, Jim, are pictured in September 2021

He said it also wasn't about their 'callous refusal despite pleas from the Petito family' to speak out about whether not Petito was alive  or if she wasn't the location of her body.

'It's about a course of conduct that they committed from when they learned on August 28, 2021 that their son had brutally murdered Gabby Petito,' he said.

Reilly said this included the statement that was made by the attorney advising them at the time, Steve Bertolino, regarding their wish for a successful end to the search.

Carroll asked what duty did Christopher, 63, and Roberta, 56, have to do 'anything to help' Petito's parents.

'It's about what they did with the information that they had,' Reilly replied. 'Not just not disclosing what they knew.'

He added the Laundries could have made an anonymous phone call to reveal the location of Petito's body. The lawyer said they knew the blogger's parents were 'desperately searching' for information.

The hearing was to consider the Laundries' motion to dismiss the case. After hearing pleas from both sides, Judge Carroll said he hoped to issue a written decision in two weeks. If he dismisses the motion, the Laundries could face a jury trial next year.

It is the first time Petito's parents had an opportunity to be in a court over the tragic death of their daughter. Laundrie shot himself after fleeing to a Florida swamp, denying them legal justice.

However, the hearing continued the couple's pain as they had to listen to arguments. Both sets of parents had been friendly before Petito went missing, the court was told.

The Laundries are accused of taking son Brian to Fort De Soto Park just days before Petito was reported missing

Petito's remains were eventually discovered on September 19, 2021, in lonely spot in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming.

She and boyfriend Laundrie had lived with his parents in North Port, near Florida's west coast. The young couple set off on an adventure from New York State  where her mother lives - in early July, heading West.

However, on September 1, Laundrie arrived back at the Laundrie home on his own in Petito's white Ford van. Ten days later anxious Schmidt reported her daughter missing after last having contact in a phone call on August 25.

Hours after Petito's mom raised the alarm, North Port Police hauled the white van off the Laundrie's driveway and took it off for forensic examination.

Officers asked to speak to Laundrie at the house, but were told by his parents he wasn't available. It is not known if the killer was inside at the time.

Laundrie then went missing in the 25,000-acre alligator infested Carlton Reserve near his home, sparking a massive hunt involving local police, the FBI and at least two sheriff's departments.

His parents initially told police he vanished on September 14 to go hiking in the reserve, but later changed this to a day earlier. His body was eventually found in the swamp on October 20 after his parents broke cover and joined law enforcement there.

A notebook found with him included a confession that he had murdered Petito.

When Petito was missing, attorney Bertolino issued a statement saying: 'On behalf of the Laundrie family, it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is reunited with her family.'

Attorney Reilly attacked that statement as a 'lie' alleging it was said to give 'false hope' to Petito's parents that she may be still alive. He added they knew the 'fragile and emotional state' of the parents at the time  and that it was 'callous and shameful'.

He added: 'I guess it is OK to kick someone when they are down, according to the Laundries.'

Reilly alleged the only reason attorney Bertolino wasn't an additional defendant in the case was because he is not a citizen of the State of Florida.

Matt Luka, attorney in court for the Laundries, spent a long time arguing the law in relation to remaining silent. He said remaining silent did not constitute inflicting emotional distress.

He added that the plaintiffs argued the Laundries had a duty to speak but 'the law imposes no such obligation to speak'.

Luka continued: 'Even if Brian Laundrie conveyed information to his parents they did not have a requirement to speak out.'

In the Laundries' motion to dismiss paperwork, attorney Luka writes their 'inaction was not outrageous but legal permissible and constitutionally protected'.

Laundrie's remains were found north of the entrance to Myakkahatchee Creek, in the Big Slough Preserve, off an unpaved trail near a bridge where Brian's parents said he liked to visit. It is four miles north of their home in North Port, Florida

Gabby's remains were eventually discovered on September 19, 2021, in lonely spot in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. She and boyfriend Brian, 23, had lived with his parents in North Port, near Florida's west coast. The young couple set off on an adventure from New York State  where her mother lives - in early July, heading West

'The amended complaint alleges that the Laundries failed to have any contact with the Plaintiffs when the Plaintiffs wanted the Laundries to speak or otherwise communicate' with them, the motion continues.

The lawyer adds: 'That allegation falls so far below the 'particularly high' standard for outrageous conduct that the Amended Complaint should never have been filed.'

He said the Laundries  who have never faced any criminal charges over the tragedy  are entitled to exercise their legal rights. 'There is no requirement that an individual face a formal criminal investigation in order to remain silent,' the lawyer added.

Luka said the statement issued on behalf of the Laundries was 'benign' and did not alter their right to remain silent. 'Remaining silent and speaking through an attorney are fundamental rights,' he added.

In Petito's parents response to the Laundries' motion to dismiss the case, their attorneys write: 'It is believed and therefore averred that on or about August 28, 2021, Brian Laundrie advised his parents Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie that he had murdered Gabrielle Petito.

'On that same date, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie spoke with Attorney Steve Bertolino and sent him a retainer on September 2, 2021.

'After this point in time, there was no contact between Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt on the one hand, and Christopher Laundrie and Roberta on the other.'

They say from August 27 to September 19 'when Gabrielle Petito's remains were found at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area' that Petito's parents were extremely distraught and trying to locate her.

'While Gabrielle Petito's family was suffering, the Laundrie family went on vacation to Fort DeSoto Park on September 6-7, 2021. They went on vacation knowing that Brian Laundrie murdered Gabrielle Petito, it is believed they knew where her body was located.

'In an effort to avoid any contact with Nichole Schmidt, on or about September 10, 2021, Roberta Laundrie blocked Nichole Schmidt on her cellular phone such that neither phone nor texts could be delivered, and she blocked her on Facebook.'

They add that 'with full knowledge' that Petito 'had been murdered by their son' they issued the statement through their lawyer Bertolino.

'For the Laundries to express their 'hope' that Gabrielle Petito was located and reunited with her family, at a time when they knew she had been murdered by their son, was beyond outrageous,' they write.
The man who became known as the New York 'Wolverine' appeared in court on Thursday in a continuation hearing as he still awaits trial on a string of charges including nine counts of attempted murder.

Frank Cavalluzzi's charges stem from a June 2020 incident in Whitestone, New York, when the suspect allegedly brandished a knife-claw at Black Lives Matter protesters and telling them: 'I'll kill you' - before driving his SUV along the sidewalk and attempting to hit them.

In an exclusive video for DailyMail.com, our reporter asks Cavalluzzi, 56, clad in a tie dye long sleeve shirt and clutching a Trader Joe's shopping bag, if he wanted to say anything in his own defense.

Frank Cavalluzzi appeared in court in Queens on June 23 in hearing after he was freed on a $100,000 bail for attempted murder charges and other violent offenses

Cavalluzzi attempted to hide from our reporter on multiple occasions when asked if he had any comment that he would like to make

Cavalluzzi's lawyer, wielding a cane, repeatedly told his client to: 'Stop it' as he made his threats

Cavalluzzi was wearing a tie dye long sleeve shirt when he entered the courtroom, when he left he was wearing a Jimi Hendrix t-shirt

Cavalluzzi ignores the request and sits on his bench to await his hearing.

Later, the suspect leaves court room now wearing a Jimi Hendrix t-shirt, with his cane wielding lawyer, and our reporter asks if there's anything that he would like to say. Again the suspect ignores our reporter.

Cavalluzzi's lawyer bizarrely wonders to our reporter what photographers used to do with excess pictures they had after covering presidential election campaigns.

When asked if he would like to make a comment on his client's case, the lawyer goes silent.

It's then when Cavalluzzi emerges from a group of armed US Marshals, wearing body armor, and begins to get threatening.

He tells our reporter: 'Come over, let's speak to me... stay the f**k away from me.'

Cavalluzzi emerges from a group of armed US Marshals, wearing body armor, and begins to get threatening

He tells our reporter: 'Come over, let's speak to me... stay the f**k away from me'

While Cavalluzzi continues to utter inaudible threats and pointing at our reporter and clenching his fists, his lawyer repeatedly tells him to: 'Stop it!'

In April 2021, Cavalluzzi pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. He was released on a $100,000 bail.

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz described his weapon as 'something resembling a horror movie prop' during his arraignment in 2020. She added that it was 'amazing' that nobody was killed.

Katz continued: 'In a burst of anger and rage, this defendant allegedly sought to kill No one at any time should infringe upon another's Constitutionally-protected freedoms and doing so with the intent to injure and maim is criminal.'

'No one at any time should infringe upon another's Constitutionally-protected freedoms and doing so with the intent to injure and maim is criminal,' the DA said.

Cavalluzzi faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

Cavalluzzi has multiple posts on his Facebook page that espouse support for right-wing causes

Cavalluzzi regularly posts about politics and gun rights in America on his Facebook page

Cavalluzzi faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted

Cavalluzzi's Facebook page shows his support for Donald Trump and a series of gun rights groups.

The suspect, who lives in upstate New York, has business interests in Queens, and a long history of run-ins with the law.

He has eight prior arrests dating back to 1988, the New York Post reported, and was most recently detained on January 22, 2016 for assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and obstruction during a traffic stop on the Upper East Side.

That incident bears strong parallels to Tuesday's attack: he is accused of exiting his vehicle, acting erratically and running and screaming towards the officer's vehicle before attacking the patrol-person.

In April 2012 he was charged with menacing with a weapon in the second degree after he punched his female landlord, displayed a knife and again, threatened officers, police said.

In February 2004 he was arrested for intentionally breaking the rear window of a vehicle and resisting arrest during a road rage incident.

Back in September 1998, he was charged with harassment, assault causing injury with a weapon and for leaving the scene of an accident in another road rage dispute.
Civilization Magazine launches "Run To Paris" campaign

Xinhua) 16:07, June 23, 2022

BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- To celebrate the 74th Olympic Day, the Capital Civilizational Development Foundation and Civilization Magazine on Thursday launched the "Run To Paris" campaign to promote the Olympic spirit and people-to-people exchanges between France and China.

Olympic champions Liu Hong (race walk), Han Cong (figure skating) and Wu Dajing (short track speed skating) and Zhang Guozheng (weightlifting) attended the launch ceremony, joined by representatives from local running clubs.

According to the organizers, every participant is required to run at least 6.23 kilometers as part of the relay to cover 8,200km, designed to represent the distance from Beijing, the first city to host both Summer and Winter Olympic Games, to Paris, the next Olympic host, and the birthplace of the modern Olympic Movement.

The campaign also encourages participants, especially the young generation, to promote the Olympic spirit and culture through social media.

The "Run To Paris" campaign, starting from Thursday, will last until July 26, when the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is expected to begin its two-year countdown.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Microsoft Reveals Full Mouse And Keyboard Support For Xbox Cloud Gaming

It has been revealed that Xbox Cloud Gaming will be getting keyboard and mouse support, though Microsoft didn't give an exact date or even a vague release window for it.

The news was revealed during a talk delivered by Xbox software engineer Morgan Brown, reports GameSpot. In the talk, Brown talked about how the team is already working on adding the feature, while also saying that developers themselves should add it to their games when it comes out. He stated that the feature "will light up in streaming once we finish adding it."

Here is a snippet of Brown's talk:

Microsoft is adding keyboard and mouse support to Xbox Cloud Gaming soon. Xbox devs are being encouraged to add support to games now so they light up in xCloud once the integration is ready https://t.co/nBlgat5voJ pic.twitter.com/aYc5HftCia  Tom Warren (@tomwarren) June 21, 2022

Brown's announcement comes years after Xbox consoles got official mouse and keyboard support for users. However, it was made clear that this feature will not allow Xbox Cloud Gaming users to stream PC games on their machines. As reported by The Verge, this would now open up games to keyboard and mouse controls via the cloud, which includes fast-paced, competitive titles such as Fortnite and Halo Infinite.

It will also potentially increase the size of the still small roster of games on Xbox that support keyboard and mouse controls. As per a list shared by PureXbox, the updated list as of June 2022 includes a total of 102 games. But not all of these games even have actual full support for keyboard and mouse, with a disclaimer saying that some games have "Limited" support while others can only work with a mouse.

By adding full support for mouse and keyboard on Xbox Cloud Gaming, Microsoft is also taking the lunch money of competing streaming service Google Stadia. That's because full keyboard and mouse support is one of the only good things Stadia has left in its arsenal, writes 9To5Google.

It remains to be seen whether this will be the death of Google Stadia and other game streaming services, but it certainly is a big upgrade for Xbox Cloud Gaming users. That's because they will no longer need to scrounge for hardware beyond anything what their computers offered if they want to stream games.

Read also: You Can Play Xbox Games Without A Console On Your Samsung TV Soon

More Improvements To Xbox Cloud Gaming

Cloud gaming in itself is awesome, but it does have a major weakness: latency. No matter how fast your internet connection is, it will always have a slight delay. That's something that you can never, ever have when playing games. Considering how Xbox Cloud Gaming has competitive titles like Battlefield V, latency is an absolute no-no.

It is this problem then that Brown's team at Microsoft is also working on. The Verge reports that the company is also working on giving developers more options to decrease streaming latency in games. This includes a new Display Details API, which could allow devs to have a 72ms reduction in overall latency via the use of Direct Capture.

With Direct Capture, games no longer have to contend with problems like waiting on VSync and double/triple buffering, as well as TV scaling. All of these contribute to latency, but Direct Capture eliminates the need for them and is able to drop latency to as low as 2-12ms - an excellent number compared to traditional display methods.

Related: Best Hidden Xbox Series X Features You NEED To Try
Sky News host Rita Panahi has called for Lisa Wilkinson to be prosecuted for contempt of court as calls grow for her to be sacked following her Logies speech.

'A high school media studies student could've told Wilkinson, and the entire brains trust at Ten, that the speech was out of bounds,' Panahi wrote in a scathing column for Herald Sun.

Wilkinson is under heavy fire after she mentioned alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins in her speech moments after winning the Outstanding News Coverage Logie award for her one-of-one interview with the former ministerial staffer in 2021.

'Wilkinson isn't some inexperienced intern who didn't know any better; she is a media veteran in her 60s well aware that her speech could undermine the accused, Bruce Lehrmann, receiving a fair trial,' Panahi wrote. Lehrmann has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.

The Sky News host brought up an old tweet made by Wilkinson that indicated she was aware of the legal repercussions of mentioning details of the Higgins trial.

'On the issue of the 26yo man summonsed for an alleged sexual assault of a woman in Parliament House in March 2019 can I implore everyone to respect what's in play here,' Wilkinson wrote on August 6, 2021.

'Naming the man on social media & passing judgment could have dire consequences for the outcome of any trial.'

Panahi said that the backlash from the speech should 'serve as a warning to others in the media'.

Sky News host Rita Panahi called for Lisa Wilkinson to be charged with contempt of court amid calls for her to be dropped by Channel Ten in the wake of the saga

Wilkinson's speech led to ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum to stay Higgins's trial until October over concerns her comments could prejudice jurors. On Thursday, the Supreme Court set a new date of October 4 for the trial.

Chief Justice Lucy McCallum decided to delay the trial 'regrettably and with gritted teeth' because 'somewhere in this debate, the distinction between an untested allegation and the fact of guilt has been lost'.

She noted public interest in the case needed to die down before Lehrmann would have access to a fair jury.

On Thursday morning Lehrmann's defence barrister Steve Whybrow applied for the trial to be delayed further, until the beginning of next year.

'My application would be, to the extent that the bush fire is still burning in effect, that the trial commence early next year because we would like there to be no further issues and delays,' he told the court.

'We can foresee the possibility that there may be collateral matters that need to be investigated relating to the circumstances that have led to the trial being vacated.'

Justice McCallum denied his application and said: 'The publicity this week has focused sharply on the very fact that was being overlooked, that a man is facing trial and he is entitled to the presumption of innocence.'

Higgins's Crown prosecutor Shane Drumgold agreed with Justice McCallum's decision, noting the 102-day delay was more generous than that given in similar cases.

Mr Drumgold also announced on Thursday he was seeking written undertakings by the end of the day from Network 10, Wilkinson and the owners of Sydney radio station WSFM that they would no longer commentate on the trial.

The written agreement would also see the three parties agree that any future comments could be in the contempt of court.

Mr Drumgold said if the undertaking were not made by Network 10, Wilkinson and WSFM then he would seek an injunction to stop future public comment.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is unable to confirm whether the undertakings were made.

Mr Drumgold also said five books currently being written - from authors including Sydney Morning Herald columnist Niki Savva, News Corp journalist Samantha Maiden and Ten's political editor Peter van Onselen - may comment on the case.

Justice McCallum said publishers should remember Lehrmann is yet to be proven guilty in a court of law.

'Even a discussion of workplace culture has to dance a delicate dance,' she said.

'If the issue is the treatment of an allegation, it's very difficult to have that debate without commenting on appropriate treatment on the assumed premise that the allegation is true.'

Network 10 announced on Wednesday it hired high-profile lawyer Matthew Collins on behalf of the Network and Wilkinson just hours after Dr Collins criticised Wilkinson's speech on rival Chanel Seven's Sunrise morning show.

'It's certainly possible that the authorities will be looking at the speech she made to the Logies and assessing (whether) that speech went against the standard which applies in this branch of the law,' Dr Collins said.

'That standard is, did anything that she did have a tendency to interfere with the administration of justice?'

It is unclear if Wilkinson will be charged with contempt of court but it is understood that she should have been made aware of any consequences by the close of business on Thursday.

Network Ten it 'fully supports Lisa Wilkinson' and confirmed Dr Collins was hired to represent it and Wilkinson.

'Both Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson take their legal obligations very seriously, including in the preparation and delivery of her speech given at the Logies event,' a spokeswoman told news.com.au.

'In light of the continuing proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.'

Wilkinson's Logies speech late Sunday night was watched by millions of viewers moments after winning a Logie for her interview with Ms Higgins days after the former Liberal staffer went public with her allegations she was raped at Parliament House by a colleague in 2019.

Wilkinson (left) has been criticised for her acceptance speech for the Outstanding News Coverage Logie award for her one-of-one interview with the former ministerial staffer Brittany Higgins (right)

There are growing calls for Wilkinson to be shown the door by Network 10, adding to the pile-on from current and former colleagues, rivals and public commentators calling for Wilkinson to be axed.

Viewers have also called for her to be sacked or at least taken off-air until an outcome in the rape trial is reached.

'Producers and editors, please get this person from TV, radio and newsprint. she is totally embarrassing for your organisations,' one man posted online.

One woman added: 'She needs to go ... Channel 10 need to remove her from The Project.'

Another woman wrote: 'Yes she should be held responsible for her ... actions and sacked.'

The massive backlash prompted some of Wilkinson's supporters to leap to her defence.

'Lisa Wilkinson hasn't come this far to intentionally jeopardise anybody. As a young editor she educated a generation of teens about their (bodies).

'I wouldn't of survived the abuse I'd suffered without the information she offered in Dolly mag. Everyone's so quick on the bandwagon,' one person tweeted on Thursday.

Other viewers called for Lisa Wilkinson to be taken off-air by Channel Ten until an outcome in the Brittany Higgins rape trial

Many viewers have jumped on the bandwagon calling for the media veteran to be sacked
Two Canadians who were found dead with their throats slit at a luxury Mexican apartment building have been identified.

Raphael Huppe, 44, and Fannie Lorrain, 38, were found with both of their throats cut at the condominium frequented by tourists in Playa del Carmen on Monday. Their deaths are being treated as homicides.

A third victim, a male security, was also injured at the Oasis 12 apartment complex, the Quintana Roo State Attorney General's Office said Tuesday.

The building is located near the center of the city, a well-known tourist hotspot, and can be rented by the night.

Quintana Roo State Attorney General Oscar Montes de Oca revealed that Huppe and Lorrain had been living in the resort town for four years.

The Interpol had issued a Red Notice for Huppe's arrest after the Quebec resident failed to show up at a March 2016 court hearing.

Canadian national Raphael Huppe, who was charged in two fraud cases in Quebec, was murdered in a Playa del Carmen condominium on Monday. He and a woman identified as Fannie Lorrain had both of their throats cut. No arrests had been reported as of Thursday

Fannie Lorrain, a 38-year-old Canadian, was killed in a Playa del Carmen apartment on Monday

Raphael Huppe, 44, and Fannie Lorrain, 38, both of Canada, were found at luxury condominium Oasis 12 in Playa del Carmen Monday, with both of their throats cut

Court records obtained by Canadian newspaper The Province showed that Huppe was facing 15 charges, including five for fraud, were filed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 2014.

Authorities accused Huppe of fraud once again in 2015.

In a separate case, Huppe had been found guilty for acting as an unlicensed stock broker in October 2014.

The Canadian government agency in charge of financial regulation found that Huppe conned investors into buying shares of Effective Control Transport Inc. for $740,000 between June 2008 and June 2010.

He ordered to pay a fine of more than $268,000 during a January 2015 sentencing hearing.

The murders of Huppe and Lorrain serve as the latest in a rash of violent incidents at the state's beach resorts, which are key to the country's tourism industry.

A senior state official said on Monday that he was a fugitive who had been hiding out in the country for four years.

'He was a not a tourist,' the official told Reuters, without releasing the man or his female companion's identities or ages. He did not detail how the pair were related.

Upon searching the apartment where the victims' bodies were found, multiple identifications for the male victim were uncovered by police, local lawmen said.

The identification cards all pictured the male victim, but listed three different names.

The couple were discovered at an apartment at the luxury complex, which offers high-end accommodations for tourists. The identities of the victims have yet to be released - but cops say that one of the deceased, the man, was wanted by Interpol for fraud

The pair had reportedly had stayed in the resort town, situated near Cancun and Cozumel, for months - suggesting the pair may have been on the lam. A senior state official said Monday the man was a fugitive who had been hiding out in the country for four years and not a tourist

The discovery comes amid a recent rash of attacks on tourists in the area - a known hotspot for drug cartel activity - related to drug dealing or extortion.

In March, a British man was shot in his convertible while traveling with his daughter on a highway near Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo state.

The man had been permanent resident of Mexico since 2013, and was threatened by a local gang prior to the roadside ambush, police said at the time.

That same month, police in Playa del Carmen found the bodies of four men dumped near a local housing development. The fact the bodies were dumped in brush beside an access road suggested a gangland-style killing.

In January, two Canadians were killed after being caught in the crossfire of a gun battle that broke out between suspected gang members at the Hotel Xcaret Mexico, also in Playa del Carmen.

Last October, tourists from both Germany and India died under similar circumstances.

A third victim, a man, was also injured at the Oasis 12 apartment complex, the state prosecutor's office said Tuesday. It was not immediately clear why the three were targeted

Local police did not name the two deceased, but said that the male victim was not a tourist

Many believe the brazen acts along Mexico's resort-crowded Mayan Riviera coast, which serves as the center of the country's all-important tourism industry, are a result of a more than 15-year-long offensive against the notorious Mexican cartel.

The country has seen a stark rise in murders and disappearance since launching a controversial military campaign to quell organized crime in 2006.

The country has since registered more than 340,000 murders and tens of thousands of disappearances.

Police are probing the deaths of the Canadian couple as murders.

The investigation is currently ongoing.
A young British man who had his genitals removed during gender reassignment surgery is suing the NHS over the operation in a historic legal action.

He complains that doctors did not warn him of the drastic outcome of the body-altering surgery which has left him infertile, incontinent and feeling like a sexual eunuch.

He said on Twitter yesterday: The minute I woke up from surgery, I knew I had made the biggest mistake of my life.

Campaigners say that it is the first medical negligence case over NHS transgender care in this country. The NHS trust involved has not been named.

He complains that doctors did not warn him of the drastic outcome of the body-altering surgery which has left him infertile, incontinent and feeling like a sexual eunuch

Stephanie Davies-Arai, founder of Transgender Trend, a group advising parents on transgender children and young adults, said: It is hoped this will force a re-think by the NHS about this kind of barbaric surgery on patients who are told by medics it will help them.

He has a very real case for compensation against the heath service. We believe he has suffered harm.

His case has been taken on by lawyers in Liverpool. It centres on whether the NHS and its gender clinics adequately counselled him before the operation five years ago. The patient, in his thirties, was brought up in the North of England and has de-transitioned from being a woman to live as a man again.

The man says he is gay and his sexuality should have been discussed before the radical, irreversible gender surgery. I have been castrated. That is the correct term, he says on his Twitter feed, which has 19,000 followers.

I cannot believe they [the NHS] were allowed to do this to me.

I was not even asked if I wanted to freeze my sperm, or have kids in the future. He does not want to be named because he is ashamed of how he looks. Instead, he tweets under the pseudonym TullipR.

Yesterday, he posted a picture of his huge bundle of medical notes which will be used by his lawyers to bring the case against the NHS.

TullipR says he transitioned at 25, more than a decade ago, and started taking female hormones to feminise his body. This was followed by surgery when he underwent an NHS operation called penile inversion with scrotal graft which removes male genitalia and uses the tissue to construct a false vagina.

Stephanie Davies-Arai, founder of Transgender Trend (pictured) says the anonymous man 'has a very real case for compensation against the heath service'

He says he grew up in the North East of England. I knew deep down from a young age I was gay and was deeply terrified of it, he says in his tweets describing his past. Everyone in the family joked and expressed disgust and disapproval of gay people.

He withdrew into an online world where he felt at peace. There, at 23, he found discussions about gender dysphoria, the fear of living in the wrong sexual body. Thats me, I thought.

He found an internet forum called Angels which was directed at trans women  men who wish to be women.

They urged him to transition now, before it was too late. He says that he latched on to the idea with zeal.

He took female hormone drugs bought privately, and later prescribed by his GP and an adult NHS gender clinic, to suppress his male characteristics and look feminine. But when a NHS psychiatrist asked him if he wanted gender reassignment surgery (GRS), he delayed for two years because he had doubts.

Worried that if he refused he would be denied NHS treatment for his gender problems, he finally agreed.

His tweets explain: Eventually I found myself on the operating table. Immediately on waking up from surgery, I knew I had made the biggest mistake of my life.

My sex had been lobotomised.

After surgery, he confronted his GP about his doubts.

Campaigners say that it is the first medical negligence case over NHS transgender care in this country (Stock image)

He claims they shrugged and said there was no guidance for those who regretted the surgery and treatment. The tweets go on: I have no sensation in my crotch region at all. You could stab me with a knife. I wouldnt know. The entire region is numb. No one ever told me that the base area of your penis is left. It cant be removed. It means you have a stump inside which twitches.

TullipR says his sex drive died about six months after he began taking female hormones.

I was glad to be rid of it, but now... I realise what I am missing and I wont get back.

He describes the living nightmare of waking up and forgetting that he has lost his penis and scrotum. I expect something that was there for three decades, and its not. My heart skips a beat, every damn time.

In the tweets, he describes how the operation has left him struggling to relieve himself. It takes me about 10 minutes to empty my bladder. It is extremely slow, painful, and because it dribbles... it will then go all over the entire area, leaving me soaking.

I find moments later my underwear is wet. It slowly drips out for more than an hour. I never knew that I would risk smelling of p*** everywhere I go.

According to the NHS last year, 13,500 people were waiting for an initial appointment for gender identity treatment which can lead to reassignment surgery.

The clinic with the shortest waiting time for a first appointment was the flagship Tavistock and Portman Clinic in north-west London which was, at the time, nearly three years.
Senior Justice Department officials Thursday described a heated White House meeting days before the January 6 attack on the Capitol, when President Donald Trump considered installing a loyalist as acting attorney general as part of his effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

'Early on, the president said: "What do I have to lose?"' according to Richard Donoghue, former acting deputy attorney general.

He was one of three former Department of Justice officials who appeared before the House committee investigating the January 6 violence.

They presented evidence of howTrump tried to use the department to pressure key wing states into reversing Joe Biden's victory.

At its heart was a plan to install Jeffrey Clark, an environmental lawyer and Trump loyalist, as the head of the department.

The matter was discussed during a tense January 3 meeting in the Oval Office, when the president asked what he had to lose.

Witnesses on Thursday described a 'heated' White House meeting on January 3, 2021, when President Donald Trump discussed installing a loyalist at the head of the Department of Justice. A top officials said Trump asked: 'What do I have to lose?'

Richard Donoghue was acting number two in the department during the events of January 6. He said he told the president that Jeffrey Clark was 'incompetent' to take on role of acting AG

The committee was holding its fifth public hearing on Thursday, focusing on the turmoil in the Department of Justice as Trump tried to cling to power after the 2020 election

'And it was actually a good opening because I said, Mr. President, you have a great deal to lose,' said Donoghue.

'And I began to explain to him what he had to lose and what the country had to lose and what the department had to lose. And this was not in anyone's best interest.'

He was one of three Trump-era Justice Department officials who described a relentless pressure campaign by the president, who directed them to investigate unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.

They said it was a deep breach of protocol for the president to deliver orders to a department that prides itself on its independence.

Instead, Trump wanted his own man at the head of the department.

Donoghue said Clark was simply 'incompetent.'

'And it was a heated conversation,' he said. I thought it was useful to point out to the president that Jeff Clark simply didn't have the skills, the ability and the experience to run the department.

'And so I said, Mr. President, you're talking about putting a man in that seat who has never tried a criminal case, who's never conducted a criminal investigation.

'He's telling you that he's going to take charge of the department 115,000 employees, including the entire FBI, and turn the place on a dime and conduct nationwide criminal investigations and will produce results in a matter of days.

'It's impossible. It's absurd, it's not going to happen and it's going to fail.'

In a further twist, it emerged earlier in the day that Clark's suburban Virginia home had been raided by federal investigators on Wednesday.

The panel's hearing was the fifth this month by the House committee investigating the run-up to the insurrection at the Capitol, when Trump loyalists stormed the building as lawmakers were certifying the results of the election won by Biden.

Witnesses have included police officers attacked at the Capitol as well as lawyers, a television executive and local election officials who all resisted demands to alter results in Trump's favor.

The committee last week presented videotaped depositions of former Attorney General William Barr, who castigated Trump's fraud claims and resigned after failing to convince the president.

Former Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue testified before the January 6 committee on Thursday, as it focused on the role of the Department of Justice

Discussion on Thursday focused on the role of the Justice Department, including a letter drafted by Jeffrey Clark telling lawmakers in Georgia that the department had concerns about voter fraud in the state, as part of an effort to pick an alternate slate of pro-Trump electors

Thursday's hearing focused on what happened after he was replaced by Jeffrey Rosen.

It featured an audio clip of Donoghue describing how Trump's White House counsel warned officials during the tense January 3 meeting against a plan for the Department of Justice to tell states it had concerns about election fraud, describing a draft letter as a 'murder-suicide pact.'

'And Pat Cipollone weighed in at one point I remember saying, you know, that letter that this guy wants to send that letter is a murder suicide pact,' he said.

'It's going to damage everyone who touches it and we should have nothing to do with that letter. I don't ever want to see that letter again.'

Previous hearings have focused on how Trump was told again and again that he had lost the election.

Thursday's highlighted the turmoil at the Justice Department and how Trump mulled promoting Clark in order to further his own claims of fraud.

It also included video testimony from former Attorney General Bill Barr, defending his decision to launch fraud investigations even though there was little evidence of wrongdoing.

'Why not just follow the regular course of action and let the investigations occur much later in time after January 6,' said Rep. Liz Cheney as she introduced his response.

'I felt the responsible thing to do was to be to be in a position to have a view as to whether or not there was fraud.

'And frankly, I think the fact that I put myself in the position that I could say that we had looked at this and didn't think there was fraud was really important to moving things forward.

In testimony played during the hearing, former Attorney General Bill Barr said he didn't think there would have been a transition if he had not launched investigations into election fraud, giving him the ammunition to push back on Trump's claims

'And I sort of shudder to think what the situation would have been if the position of the department was, "We're not even looking at this until after Biden's in office.

'I'm not sure we would have had a transition at all.'

The hearing began after news emerged that federal agents raided the home of Clark a day earlier.

They arrived at his suburban Virginia home in the early morning, according to several reports.

An ally, Russ Vought, who headed the Office of Management and Budget in the Trump White House, said Clark had to stand in the street in his pyjamas.

'The new era of criminalizing politics is worsening in the US,' tweeted Vought.

'Yesterday more than a dozen DOJ law enforcement officials searched Jeff Clarks house in a pre-dawn raid, put him in the streets in his PJs, and took his electronic devices.'

Attorneys for Clark did not respond to requests for comment.

Federal agents reportedly searched the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Department of Justice lawyer who former President Donald Trump considered installing as attorney general in the days before the January 6 Capitol riot as part of an effort to overturn the election

Thursday's hearing was the fifth public hearing held this month as the committee lays out the findings of its investigation so far into the violence of January 6, 2021

The Justice Department appears to be escalating its probe of pro-Trump efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which culminated in the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.

Thursday's hearing included discussion of a plan to install Clark as acting attorney general, so that the Department of Justice was headed by a Trump loyalist who would pursue fraud claims.

US Rep. Scott Perry was among those who pushed for Clark during meetings at the White House, according to the testimony of an aide.

'He wanted Mr. Clark  Mr. Jeff Clark to take over the Department of Justice,' said Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, in recorded testimony.

The committee also played video of Trump's attorney Rudy Guiliani discussing the qualities they wanted in someone to head the Justice Department.

'Beyond the president, I do recall saying to people that somebody should be put in charge of the Justice Department who isn't frightened of what's going to be done to their reputation. Because Justice was filled with people like that.' he said.
Major reforms to the justice system will be 'pulled apart' in the House of Lords, Labour peers have predicted.

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock boasted that the Upper House was 'full of lawyers' who will try to defeat the Bill of Rights introduced by the Government this week.

He claimed the planned law will 'reduce the rights of British citizens' and also embolden dictatorships to ignore human rights law.

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (pictured) boasted that the Upper House was 'full of lawyers' who will try to defeat the Bill of Rights introduced by the Government this week

The Labour peer's comments came just a day after Lord Chancellor Dominic Raab promised that the Bill would restore a 'healthy dose of common sense' to the justice system.

Under the proposals, UK courts will no longer be required to take into account rulings from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, which grounded the first planned flight of migrants to Rwanda last week.

The Bill will also make it easier to deport foreign criminals and let judges weed out trivial human rights claims at an early stage. But addressing the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe  whose court is the ECHR  yesterday, former Labour minister Lord Foulkes branded it a 'misnomer'.

'It's not a Bill of Rights. It reduces the rights of British citizens,' he said.

He claimed the Government had refused requests from three parliamentary committees for the pre-legislative scrutiny usually given to constitutional matters.

And he warned: 'They're trying to push it through with a majority of 80 in the Commons without proper scrutiny.

'Well, I can tell them they reckoned without the House of Lords, which is packed full of lawyers who will pull this Bill apart.'

Major reforms to the justice system will be 'pulled apart' in the House of Lords, Labour peers have predicted (File image)

Another Labour peer also promised to fight back against the Bill, as the House of Lords had done recently against Priti Patel's landmark immigration reforms.

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port said: 'Having fought battles recently for the Nationality and Borders Bill that is now on the statute book, and enlisted the support of all the legal brains, the best brains in Britain in the House of Lords as it stood against the Government proposals  only to lose the ultimate debate because of the majority in the House of Commons  we now align ourselves once again around this cause. But with different material to work with and different focus to concentrate on.'

Some Brexiteers expect ministers to deploy the rarely used Parliament Act to over-ride the peers' objections and force through the laws, according to the Daily Telegraph.
The former wife of a Georgia man sentenced to life in prison for leaving their young son to die in a hot car has praised the Supreme Court's decision to overturn his conviction - describing her ex-husband as a devoted father but 'a terrible husband'.

Justin Ross Harris, 41, was sentenced to life in prison for the death of his 22-month-old son, Cooper, who died in June 2014 after being left in a hot car for seven hours.

Cooper's mother, Leanna Taylor, always insisted that Cooper's death was an accident.

On Wednesday Georgia's Supreme Court overturned the murder conviction after they found the jury was shown evidence that was 'extremely and unfairly prejudicial.'

Taylor on Thursday said the court had made the right decision, calling it 'big news for Ross and his family.' She added: 'I know they are grateful for this turn of events.'

Justin Ross Harris, 41, is pictured in court in July 2014 - one month after Cooper's death

Cooper, 22-months-old, was left in the backseat of Harris' car for more than seven hours in June 2014

Harris was described by his ex-wife, Cooper's mother, as a dedicated and loving father

Taylor, whose divorce from Harris was finalized in March 2016, said: 'It would be my wish that this would help to change the way that Cooper was remembered.'

Now living in Alabama, Taylor said that she felt vindicated by the Supreme Court's decision.

'While this will not change anything about my day to day life, I do hope that it shows people what those closest to the case have been saying since the beginning: Ross was a loving and proud father to Cooper.

'At the same time, Ross was being a terrible husband.

'These two things can and did exist at the same time.'

Cooper was almost two years old when he died in his father's hot car

During the 2016 murder trial, the jury heard that Ross regularly cheated on Taylor with prostitutes and multiple other women.

He had also been 'sexting' a 16-year-old girl, and was convicted of three counts of grooming a minor. The Supreme Court upheld his 12-year sentence for the crime.

Taylor, whose calm demeanor initially led to suspicion that she was somehow involved in the child's death, on Thursday reiterated her disgust at the actions of the local prosecutors.

'The overreaching of Cobb County and their misuse of power is what has brought this verdict to be overturned,' she said.

And she called for more to be done to introduce early warning systems for children trapped in hot cars, adding that in the eight years since Cooper's death 'children have continued to die the same way every year.'

She concluded: 'Wasting precious resources prosecuting the parents that this happens to is not the answer.'

Prosecutors had highlighted Harris' frequent affairs and sex crimes, and argued that they showed he was unhappy in his marriage and intentionally killed his son to free himself.

Happier times: Harris is pictured with his son and then-wife Leanna Taylor

Harris is seen in court in October 2015. His murder trial began in September 2016

Taylor testifies during the murder trial after being subpoenaed to give evidence

She broke down in court while giving evidence, as her son's photo was held up

Georgia Supreme Court justices argued that Harris' extensive sexual activity reports shouldn't have been taken into the jury's consideration in connection with Cooper's death.

The 6-3 majority of justices believe the jury 'heard and saw an extensive amount of improperly admitted evidence.'

The majority argued that prosecutors created a narrative for the jury to believe Harris 'intentionally' left his son inside the car to die in the heat.

Justices also argued that the prosecutors presented 'a substantial amount of evidence to lead the jury to answer a different and more legally problematic question: what kind of man is (Harris)?'

On the morning of June, 18, 2014, Harris reportedly told police he forgot to drop his son off at day care before driving to his job at Home Depot in Atlanta.

Harris left Cooper strapped in the back seat seat of his vehicle for nearly seven hours as the temperature reached the high 80s.

While prosecutors aimed to find Harris guilty of murder, defense attorneys said Harris adored Cooper and called his death an accident.

They described him as a doting father and said the boy's death was a tragic accident.

On the morning of June, 18, 2014, Harris reportedly told police he forgot to drop his soon off at day care before driving to his job at Home Depot in Atlanta

Chief Justice David Nahmias wrote for the majority that the evidence of his affairs and grooming 'ensured that the jurors didn't miss the point that he was a repulsive person.'

But if Harris is to be found guilty of his son's murder, 'it will need to be by a jury not tainted by that sort of evidence,' he said.

Justice Charlie Bethel wrote a partial dissent that was joined by Justice Shawn LaGrua and Justice Verda Colvin.

He said the state was 'entitled to introduce, in detail, evidence of the nature, scope, and extent of the truly sinister motive it ascribed to Harris.'

For that reason, Bethel wrote, the trial court 'did not abuse its discretion in allowing the challenged evidence.'

Prosecutors can now seek a new murder trial, if they wish.
Piled high and stretching in all directions, photographs of a growing mountain of luggage at Heathrow airport this week were the stuff of holiday nightmares.

In spaces where passengers would normally bustle, there were suitcases. Hundreds of them. The bags were clearly not being collected by arriving passengers, and equally clearly not heading for a plane. The result of a complex baggage system failure, said the airport.

It was enough to make anyone who has ever lost a bag at an airport shudder.

For of all the moments of potential stress when travelling, surely one of the worst is that sinking feeling when you step off the plane at your destination airport, only to discover your baggage hasnt made it, too.

In spaces where passengers would normally bustle in Heathrow Airport, there were suitcases

Have you been affected by airport chaos? Email tips@dailymail.com Advertisement

Suddenly all those plans you had to head straight to the pool are out of the window and replaced with a dash to the shops for emergency toiletries and underwear.

It was a scenario bride Melissa Waite, 39, found herself in earlier this month when she flew to Cyprus for her 20,000 dream wedding. Some of the wedding luggage failed to make it on the TUI flight from Manchester Airport. The beauty therapist and her husband-to-be, Michael, 32, had earlier been on the verge of calling off their wedding after flights for 50 of their guests were cancelled.

Bride and groom arrived, but their luggage containing wedding clothes and outfits for two of the pageboys did not.

I thought the luggage would arrive within a few days, but it didnt, says mother-of-four Melissa. I had to travel to a shopping mall that was an hour and 20 minutes away from where we were staying  during a heatwave that had temperatures of 38c.

Id spent at least 350 on wedding clothes for the boys, maybe more. And I did not know what they would wear for the wedding without their pageboy outfits, which matched everyone else. It was really stressful.

I started to give up at one point, thinking that the wedding was not going to happen. I was supposed to be on holiday but I was spending all my time ringing Manchester Airport, and we had to pay for new flights to help some of our guests.

Thankfully, the missing luggage did turn up, six days later and on the eve of the wedding.

Our wedding day was beautiful  as nice as it could be. But afterwards I just felt drained, says the exasperated bride.

Travellers wait in a long queue to pass through the security check at Heathrow

Given the current chaos at UK airports, anyone planning to hop on a plane this summer could be forgiven for feeling an increased sense of trepidation.

The crux of the problem is that airlines and baggage handling companies were forced to cut staff numbers at the start of the pandemic and are now struggling to rehire to meet the renewed demand.

Should you be worried? Is a lost suitcase a lost cause? And where do bags go to when separated from their owners?

The trouble with transfers

At any given moment, as much as 236,000 tons of baggage is up in the sky, criss-crossing continents.

In 2019, the last year of normal travel before the pandemic struck, 25.4 million bags were mislaid during air travel globally, a figure roughly equivalent to 5.6 bags going missing  or being tampered with  for every 1,000 passengers.

Not surprisingly, this dipped during 2020, when passenger numbers plummeted, to 3.5 bags per 1,000 passengers, but had climbed back to 4.35 bags per 1,000 passengers last year, the most recent figures  a rise of 24 per cent.

The good news is that, according to Sita, the international IT provider to the industry which monitors global baggage handling, travellers today are far less likely to be parted from their suitcases than 15 years ago.

But if in a normal year even 25 million bags  carried by 4.5 billion passengers  go missing, the question is why?

Nearly half of all suitcases that go astray do so because of problems with flight transfers.

Put simply, if your flight to the Caribbean, Australia or wherever involves a transfer elsewhere before you reach your final port of call, the chance of your suitcase going astray increases. This is because while you may be able to dash between planes and make it to your seat in the nick of time, your luggage may not move so quickly.

Robots are increasingly being deployed to take on some of the work of handling baggage  a task that is the responsibility of both the airport and the airlines

Passengers at Heathrow Terminal 3 complained of being in immigration queues for up to two hours as they tried to board their flights

Then there are the bags that go astray because a label has fallen off or because a luggage handler or another passenger has picked up the wrong case (yes, after a 12-hour flight one black bag looks much like the next one).

Perhaps the bigger question is, if your bag goes missing, will you get it back? The answer is yes . . . probably.

But 23 per cent of cases that go astray and turn up have been damaged or had items go missing and  unfortunately  six per cent of those that go missing are lost for ever in a baggage black hole.

WHERE DO missing cases end up?

If one, or more likely several bags, dont make it on to a flight, the baggage will be collected and taken to an airport storage area, where the baggage label (a barcode which also carries the airport code  LHR for London Heathrow, for instance) will be read.

It should mean that bag is put on to the next available flight to its destination and delivered to the owner.

Whats much trickier is if the label has fallen off, meaning a hunt to match bag with owner.

This requires the owner to file a missing baggage report, preferably including lots of identifying detail. All major airlines use the World Tracer System to track luggage, using information you provide about the appearance of your bag, its contents and journey history.

Baggage handlers are not allowed, however, simply to open a suitcase and have a rummage.

Passengers at Manchester Airport were left waiting for hours in the busy check-in desks

At Heathrow Airport passengers continue to face hours of waiting just to check in at the under staffed terminal

There is an official process to sanction a secondary search, in which case the bag can be opened and the handler will look for contact details that might help reunite bag with its owner, or identify objects that match a lost luggage report.

Of those bags deemed to be forever lost  after a period of 21 days  theres a good chance they will end up at a luggage auction, of which London auction house Greasbys is the biggest.

Theres an entire industry of savvy bargain hunters who will pay for a mystery case (most valuable items are removed and auctioned separately) in the hope that the contents might be useful.

Pre-Covid, every month Greasbys was auctioning around 200 suitcases, which major airlines at Heathrow, including British Airways, had been unable to reunite with their owners.

The auction house takes a commission and the rest goes to the airline, meaning that they profit from having lost your case!

PLAYING TAG WITH sticky LABELS

The most widely used system for labelling luggage remains the barcode system  thats the sticky label ground staff thread through the handles of your case when you check it in.

Its a quick way of encoding luggage information, but it does require a scanning device to be pointed at the barcode to read that information.

In some smaller airports, these labels are not routinely scanned, but are sorted manually.

Typically, your bag will make it on to the plane before you do. Before departure, it allows airlines to check that no bag is on the plane without the passenger also being present (if they dont board the plane, the bag must be removed).

However, this does not act in reverse  if you make it to your plane but your bag does not, dont expect the pilot to delay take-off.

If one, or more likely several bags, dont make it on to a flight, the baggage will be collected and taken to an airport storage area

There are similar chaotic scenes at Bristol Airport as passengers face long queues

The bags were clearly not being collected by arriving passengers, and equally not heading for a plane

And if there is a luggage system failure, as happened at Heathrow this week, the results can rapidly escalate  if a luggage belt in a busy terminal carries 8,000 bags an hour, those bags will swiftly pile up when its out of action.

COULD ROBOTS BE THE SOLUTION?

Quicker, more reliable solutions than a barcode do exist and experts say that a more rapid implementation of these methods could ease the lost luggage nightmare.

Robots are increasingly being deployed to take on some of the work of handling baggage  a task that is the responsibility of both the airport and the airlines.

Baggage handling is contracted out by the airlines to ground handling companies, while baggage transport systems such as the conveyor belts that whisk your bag off at check-in are the responsibility of the airport.

Heathrow Terminal 3 paved the way for the future of baggage handling when it opened a robotic handling hub in 2016.

Airlines have been asked to adopt RFID technology (Radio Frequency Identification), a tagging system also deployed in retail, which transmits and receives information via an antenna and a microchip.

Because the information is transmitted using a radio frequency, scanners, or rather receivers, do not have to be pointed at the tag, but can be stationed at key points throughout, for instance, an airport.

Clem Garvey, CEO of Paragon ID, works with precisely this technology, and says: It means handlers can know in real time whether there are any issues with a bag. This means that at multiple points across an airport, the bag can be tracked to ensure it is heading for the correct flight. And when things go wrong, there is no wading through bags with a barcode scanner  rather the RFID device sends out a signal that will guide handlers to the bag they need to find.

The IATA (International Air Transport Association) has called upon all airports and airlines to introduce the technology, but has stopped short of a mandated timeline and the pandemic has slowed progress.

Heathrow Terminal 3 paved the way for the future of baggage handling when it opened a robotic handling hub in 2016

Manchester Airport early Thursday morning showing a massive queue wind its way round T2

British Airways is understood to have run trials of the technology, as have others, but implementing it is proving expensive.

WHAT TO DO if YOUR bag is LOST

Most importantly, whether your bag is missing or damaged, you will need to report it.

Most airlines have a dedicated baggage desk within the baggage claims area, where you can register a Property Irregularity Report. Keep a copy of this and your bag should be forwarded on to you. If the errant bag means you have none of your holiday essentials, you can claim back the reasonable costs of any essentials you have to buy, so make sure you keep receipts.

However, there is a 21-day time limit for making compensation claims to the airline.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, when hold luggage is lost, delayed or damaged, the airline is liable for your losses.

However, there are no rules which fix the amount of compensation you should receive.

Thats where your travel insurance comes in. Check your travel policys cover on possessions before you leave because most of them will have a limit. Theres no point in packing your Louis Vuitton suitcase if its value alone takes you over your single-item limit.

Some policies may cover delayed baggage, paying up to specified amount for emergency purchases.

TRAVEL TIPS FOR A STRESS-FREE TRIP

Pack less  if you take only hand luggage, it will cut down on waiting times and reduce the risk of a baggage disaster. British Airways and other airlines state in their conditions that they dont accept liability for lost jewellery, valuables or cash, so keep these in your hand luggage, along with your documents.

If you are putting luggage in the hold, then pack a few essentials and take any medication in a smaller bag to keep with you just in case.

Terminals in airports across the UK have been extremely busy as people try to get away for a much needed break following the coronavirus pandemic

Travellers queue at security at Heathrow Airport in London

Ensure you have a copy of your prescription or letter from your doctor to show at security if the medicine is in liquid or gel form.

Make sure your bag is in good condition; if its already fragile, its likely to get worse. And try to pack evenly so it travels smoothly on the baggage conveyor belts.

Its easy to forget, but put something that identifies you and how to contact you inside the case.

And take a picture of your bag  it may come in handy if it goes astray.

Black bags are everywhere, so try to make your bag stand out in some way; but make sure its not because there are straps everywhere, since they could get stuck in luggage belt mechanisms.
Simon Case has admitted he had an 'informal conversation' about potential roles at a royal charity for Carrie Johnson after a prompt from No 10.

The Cabinet Secretary was responding to a letter from Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, in which she challenged him over his involvement in Boris Johnson's alleged efforts to try to secure Mrs Johnson top jobs.

Ms Rayner asked Mr Case whether he had approached the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Royal Foundation in 2020 about a position for Mr Johnson's then-fiancee.

In response, Mr Case insisted there had been 'no improper conduct', saying: 'I did not recommend Mrs Johnson for any role.

'In autumn 2020 a former member of the Number 10 team asked about opportunities for Mrs Johnson with environmental charities.

Simon Case (pictured) has admitted he had an 'informal conversation' about potential roles at a royal charity for the Prime Minister's now-wife after a prompt from No 10

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson arrive at a welcome reception and state banquet hosted by the President of Rwanda on day four of the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

'I was happy to have an informal conversation with someone involved with the Earthshot Prize about what roles were available, as I would have done for anyone with relevant experience who was keen to get involved with charity work.'

The Prime Minister on Wednesday did not deny claims he had spoken to aides about environmental roles for his wife in 2020, either for the Cop26 summit or with the Royal Family.

It followed reports Mr Johnson tried to hire Carrie Symonds, as she then was, as his 100,000-a-year chief of staff when he was Foreign Secretary in 2018.

In her letter to Mr Case, Ms Rayner wrote: 'There are now serious questions for the Prime Minister to answer about potentially impropriety and conflict of interest in his lobbying for a high-paying tax-funded job for his partner in 2018, Carrie Johnson.

'Reports suggest that while Foreign Secretary, Mr Johnson tried to get Ms Johnson appointed to a Foreign Office job in 2018, and to other roles including one with a royal charity.'

She said it raised 'serious questions about sleaze and corruption' in Downing Street.

The Cabinet Secretary was responding to a letter from Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner (above), in which she challenged him over his involvement in Boris Johnson's alleged efforts to try to secure Mrs Johnson top jobs

Ms Rayner went on to say: 'It is clearly inappropriate that the Prime Minister should be the judge and jury in his own case, so I ask you to confirm that this matter will be subject to an independent probe and fully investigated.'

She also wrote separately to Lord Evans, chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, calling on him to 'instigate an independent investigation into this matter'.

Downing Street said Mr Johnson had never recommended Mrs Johnson for a Government role, but stopped short of denying that he considered or discussed the move.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman this week said: 'The Prime Minister has never recommended Mrs Johnson for a Government role, or one as part of the Earthshot Prize.

In her letter, Ms Rayner said she was writing to Mr Case 'in the absence of an Independent Adviser of Ministers' Interests' following the resignation of Lord Geidt (pictured)

'Beyond that I wouldn't get into any conversations the Prime Minister may or may not have had in private.'

In her letter, Ms Rayner said she was writing to Mr Case 'in the absence of an Independent Adviser of Ministers' Interests' following the resignation of Lord Geidt.

Mr Johnson's independent ethics adviser stood down last week, saying he had been narrowly clinging on in his role over partygate but ultimately quit after being forced into an 'impossible and odious' position by the Prime Minister over steel tariffs.

Ms Rayner said she was concerned about the 'glaring hole in the standards system' left by Lord Geidt's resignation.
A string of Republican members of Congress - including Matt Gaetz, Mo Brooks, Andy Biggs, Louie Gohmert and Scott Perry - asked the White House for pre-emptive pardons after the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to testimony at a congressional hearing on Thursday.

Their names emerged at the end of a fifth day of public hearings held by the House committee investigating the violence.

It focused on how then President Donald Trump tried to pressure top Justice Department officials into helping him hold on to power.

But it also heard how Trump allies may have realized their efforts to overturn the election were illegal.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, the Republican select committee member who led the hearing, said: 'All I know is if youre innocent, youre probably not gonna go out and seek a pardon'

Eric Herschman, former senior White House adviser, said Gaetz requested a particularly broad pardon.

'The pardon that he was discussing, requesting was as broad as you could describe ... from the beginning of time up until today, for any and all things,' he said in his videotaped testimony.

Brooks pressed for a broad range of pardons according to a January 11 email, including for lawmakers who refused to certify the result.

'As such, I recommend that President give general (all purpose) pardons to the following groups of people,' he wrote, according to text shown by the committee.

'Every Congressman or Senator who voted to reject the electoral college vote submissions of Arizona and Pennsylvania.'

That would have covered some 147 Republicans.

Trump loyalists asked for pardons after the January 6 attacks. Rep. Matt Gaetz (left) asked for one 'from the beginning of time up until today, for any and all things' according to testimony on Thursday, and Rep Mo Brooks pressed for one that would have covered 147 lawmakers

Republican Representatives Louie Gohmert, Andy Biggs and Scott Perry all asked for pardons, according to the testimony of former Trump White House officials

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, said efforts also included protecting lawmakers who took part in a White House meeting with Trump.

'Mr. Gaetz and Mr Brooks both advocated for there to be a blanket pardon for members involved in that meeting and a handful of other members that were at the December 21 meeting,' she said in her recorded testimony.

About a dozen lawmakers reportedly took part in a trio of meetings.

'It was a back-and-forth concerning the planning and strategy for January the 6th, Brooks said in a phone interview with Politico at the time.

Hutchinson also told the committee that Republican Representative Jim Jordan asked about pardons but did not request one for himself.

Brooks defended his actions in a statement.

"The email request says it all. There was a concern Democrats would abuse the judicial system by prosecuting and jailing Republicans who acted pursuant to their Constitutional or statutory duties,' he said.

But in the end, he added, pardons were not necessary.

Earlier, three Department of Justice officials appeared before the House committee .

They presented evidence of how Trump tried to use the department to pressure key wing states into reversing Joe Biden's victory.

At its heart was a plan to install Jeffrey Clark, an environmental lawyer and Trump loyalist, as the head of the department.

The matter was discussed during a tense January 3 meeting in the Oval Office, when the president asked what he had to lose.

'Early on, the president said: "What do I have to lose?"' according to Richard Donoghue, former acting deputy attorney general.

'And it was actually a good opening because I said, Mr. President, you have a great deal to lose.'

'And I began to explain to him what he had to lose and what the country had to lose and what the department had to lose. And this was not in anyone's best interest.'

He was one of three Trump-era Justice Department officials who described a relentless pressure campaign by the president, who directed them to investigate unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.

They said it was a deep breach of protocol for the president to deliver orders to a department that prides itself on its independence.

Instead, Trump wanted his own man at the head of the department.

Donoghue said Clark was simply 'incompetent.'

'And it was a heated conversation,' he said. I thought it was useful to point out to the president that Jeff Clark simply didn't have the skills, the ability and the experience to run the department.

'And so I said, Mr. President, you're talking about putting a man in that seat who has never tried a criminal case, who's never conducted a criminal investigation.

'He's telling you that he's going to take charge of the department 115,000 employees, including the entire FBI, and turn the place on a dime and conduct nationwide criminal investigations and will produce results in a matter of days.

'It's impossible. It's absurd, it's not going to happen and it's going to fail.'

Former Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue testified before the January 6 committee on Thursday, as it focused on the role of the Department of Justice

Discussion on Thursday focused on the role of the Justice Department, including a letter drafted by Jeffrey Clark telling lawmakers in Georgia that the department had concerns about voter fraud in the state, as part of an effort to pick an alternate slate of pro-Trump electors

Five top takeaways from the House January 6 committee's fifth public hearing - from a 'murder-suicide' letter to Republican pardons By Reuters The fifth day of congressional hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump's supporters heard how the then-president pressured the Justice Department to help him hold onto power after he lost the 2020 election. The House of Representatives select committee investigating the attack received testimony from three former top department officials - then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, his deputy Richard Donoghue, and the then-head of the Office of Legal Counsel, Steven Engel. Here are takeaways from Thursday's hearing: Trump tried to fire his acting attorney general Trump was frustrated by what he saw as the Justice Department's inaction investigating or validating his false claims of election fraud. Between Dec. 23, 2020, and Jan. 3, 2021, Trump called or met Rosen almost every day as his efforts to hold onto power became more urgent. He wanted Rosen to pursue various avenues, including appointing a special counsel to investigate suspected election fraud. When Rosen told Trump in a Dec. 27 meeting that the Justice Department could not just snap its fingers and change the outcome of the election, Trump quickly responded, 'What I'm just asking you to do is just say it was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen,' Donoghue recalled. A Trump-supporting Justice Department environmental lawyer, Jeffrey Clark, was a key player in Trump's efforts to use the department to aid his efforts to overturn his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Clark met with Trump in the Oval Office several times without the knowledge of White House counsel Pat Cipollone or Justice Department leadership, bypassing the normal chain of command and angering Rosen. On Jan. 3, 2021, Clark told Rosen that Trump had offered him the position of attorney general and that he was going to accept. Rosen sought an urgent meeting with Trump at the White House, along with Donoghue and Engel, to talk him out of it. Donoghue testified he told Trump that the entire department leadership would resign within hours if he fired Rosen. Trump turned to Engel and asked him if he would quit too, to which Engel replied that he would and that Clark 'would be left leading a graveyard.' The last comment appeared to help sway Trump to back down from his plan, Donoghue said. New Year's Eve Meeting Rosen and Donoghue attended a meeting with the president at the White House on New Year's Eve where Trump asked why the Justice Department had not seized voting machines that Trump supporters alleged had been manipulated to steal the election. Rosen said his department had no legal authority to take that step, a response that did not sit well with Trump, Donoghue recalled. Rosen told Trump that the Department of Homeland Security had investigated the issue and found nothing wrong with the voting machines. At the meeting's end, Trump said, 'People tell me I should just get rid of both of you.' Donoghue said he told Trump: 'Mr. President, you should have the leadership that you want. But understand the United States Justice Department functions on facts, evidence and law. And those are not going to change.' The 'Murder-Suicide' letter Clark drafted a letter to be sent to state legislatures in some Republican-controlled states, including Georgia, that aimed to sow doubts about Biden's election win. The letter alleged that the Justice Department had concerns about election results in multiple states. By the time it was written the department had already determined that no widespread fraud had occurred. 'Donald Trump offered Mr. Clark the job of acting attorney general, replacing Mr. Rosen, with the understanding that Mr. Clark would send this letter and take other actions the president requested,' said Representative Liz Cheney, the committee's Republican vice chair. The letter was never sent after Rosen and Donoghue refused to sign it. Cipollone, the White House counsel, said the letter was so toxic that it should never be seen again because if it was ever made public it would be a 'murder-suicide.' Italian satellites Trump pressed Justice Department officials to investigate a baseless internet-based conspiracy theory that an Italian defense contractor had uploaded software to a satellite that switched votes from Trump to Biden. Rosen said the conspiracy theory promoted by a former U.S. intelligence officer had been debunked. Republican congressman Scott Perry texted Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows to ask him, 'Why can't we just work with the Italian government?' Then-Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller placed a call to the U.S. military attache at the embassy in Italy to seek an investigation, the committee said, citing it as an example of how Trump used the machinery of government to pursue his own personal ends. Republican pardons At least five congressional Republican allies of Trump's sought White House pardons after supporting his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, witnesses told the committee. In video testimony, White House aides said Representatives Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert and Scott Perry sought pardons that could have inoculated them against prosecution. U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican on the Democrat-led committee who has withstood a torrent of criticism from his party brethren, offered a scathing quip, telling the committee: "The only reason I know to ask for a pardon is because you think you've committed a crime." In a statement, Brooks said he had sought a pardon because of 'a concern Democrats would abuse the judicial system by prosecuting and jailing Republicans.' Advertisement

In a further twist, it emerged earlier in the day that Clark's suburban Virginia home had been raided by federal investigators on Wednesday.

The panel's hearing was the fifth this month by the House committee investigating the run-up to the insurrection at the Capitol, when Trump loyalists stormed the building as lawmakers were certifying the results of the election won by Biden.

Witnesses have included police officers attacked at the Capitol as well as lawyers, a television executive and local election officials who all resisted demands to alter results in Trump's favor.

The committee last week presented videotaped depositions of former Attorney General William Barr, who castigated Trump's fraud claims and resigned after failing to convince the president.

Thursday's hearing focused on what happened after he was replaced by Jeffrey Rosen.

It featured an audio clip of Donoghue describing how Trump's White House counsel warned officials during the tense January 3 meeting against a plan for the Department of Justice to tell states it had concerns about election fraud, describing a draft letter as a 'murder-suicide pact.'

'And Pat Cipollone weighed in at one point I remember saying, you know, that letter that this guy wants to send that letter is a murder suicide pact,' he said.

'It's going to damage everyone who touches it and we should have nothing to do with that letter. I don't ever want to see that letter again.'

Previous hearings have focused on how Trump was told again and again that he had lost the election.

Thursday's highlighted the turmoil at the Justice Department and how Trump mulled promoting Clark in order to further his own claims of fraud.

It also included video testimony from former Attorney General Bill Barr, defending his decision to launch fraud investigations even though there was little evidence of wrongdoing.

'Why not just follow the regular course of action and let the investigations occur much later in time after January 6,' said Rep. Liz Cheney as she introduced his response.

'I felt the responsible thing to do was to be to be in a position to have a view as to whether or not there was fraud.

'And frankly, I think the fact that I put myself in the position that I could say that we had looked at this and didn't think there was fraud was really important to moving things forward.

In testimony played during the hearing, former Attorney General Bill Barr said he didn't think there would have been a transition if he had not launched investigations into election fraud, giving him the ammunition to push back on Trump's claims

'And I sort of shudder to think what the situation would have been if the position of the department was, "We're not even looking at this until after Biden's in office.

'I'm not sure we would have had a transition at all.'

The hearing began after news emerged that federal agents raided the home of Clark a day earlier.

They arrived at his suburban Virginia home in the early morning, according to several reports.

An ally, Russ Vought, who headed the Office of Management and Budget in the Trump White House, said Clark had to stand in the street in his pyjamas.

'The new era of criminalizing politics is worsening in the US,' tweeted Vought.

'Yesterday more than a dozen DOJ law enforcement officials searched Jeff Clarks house in a pre-dawn raid, put him in the streets in his PJs, and took his electronic devices.'

Attorneys for Clark did not respond to requests for comment.

Federal agents reportedly searched the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Department of Justice lawyer who former President Donald Trump considered installing as attorney general in the days before the January 6 Capitol riot as part of an effort to overturn the election

Thursday's hearing was the fifth public hearing held this month as the committee lays out the findings of its investigation so far into the violence of January 6, 2021

The Justice Department appears to be escalating its probe of pro-Trump efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which culminated in the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.

Thursday's hearing included discussion of a plan to install Clark as acting attorney general, so that the Department of Justice was headed by a Trump loyalist who would pursue fraud claims.

US Rep. Scott Perry was among those who pushed for Clark during meetings at the White House, according to the testimony of an aide.

'He wanted Mr. Clark  Mr. Jeff Clark to take over the Department of Justice,' said Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, in recorded testimony.

The committee also played video of Trump's attorney Rudy Guiliani discussing the qualities they wanted in someone to head the Justice Department.

'Beyond the president, I do recall saying to people that somebody should be put in charge of the Justice Department who isn't frightened of what's going to be done to their reputation. Because Justice was filled with people like that.' he said.
The BBC's voice of the Proms wrote a 20-page pamphlet promoting child sex abuse while he was working as an announcer on Radio 3, a documentary claims.

John Holmstrom was a supporter of the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) which asked him to pen the disturbing leaflet.

Holmstrom, who died in 2013 aged 86, was also a close friend of an Eton master accused of abusing boys at the elite public school, the Radio 4 In Dark Corners series reveals.

Raef Payne, who taught at Eton for 35 years and died in 2001, attended parties where men traded photos of naked children. Eton archives contain six boxes of correspondence between Payne, Holmstrom and other masters at the college.

PICTURED: PIE member Thomas O'Carroll, who was a former Labour Party member, Open University information officer and was once described as 'one of the most infamous perverts on Earth'. John Holmstrom was a supporter of the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) which asked him to pen the disturbing leaflet

'Payne had photographs of what today the police would call child pornography,' a former teacher told In Dark Corners presenter Alex Renton, who was Eton educated and has explored the dark nature of public schools in a documentary and book.

'That sort of thing was going on at Eton College,' the teacher added.

Papers from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) reveal Holmstrom wrote a public information pamphlet in the late 1970s for the PIE titled Paedophilia: Some Questions And Answers.

Holmstrom, who attended King's College, Cambridge, joined the BBC in the early 1950s and became known for his recognisable voice and wry asides on the airwaves.

John Holmstrom was a close friend of Raef Payne who taught at Eton (pictured) for 35 years. Payne attended parties where men traded photos of naked children

He also founded Colts Of Hampstead, a fashion shop specialising in continental-style clothes for boys aged between seven and 14. And after retiring from the BBC, he compiled an encyclopaedia of child film actors called The Moving Picture Boy.

PIE member Thomas O'Carroll, who was a former Labour Party member, Open University information officer and was once described as 'one of the most infamous perverts on Earth', said in a statement to the IICSA: 'It is my firm conviction, based on what he candidly told me and my understanding of his rich life and of the imagination, that John's private life was lived entirely inside his own head.

'I am quite sure he was never involved in anything scandalous unless being a friend of mine could be so considered.'

A BBC spokesman said the organisation was 'utterly against all forms of abuse'.
According to a recent report, Ukrainian forces launched an attack that inflicted "significant" damage to Russian soldiers on Snake Island.

The Black Sea island, also known as Zmiinyi Island, was the target of a counterattack by Ukrainian forces late on Tuesday, according to the Ukrainian news site Ukrinform. The offensive involved various forces, which caused substantial losses on Russian troops stationed there.

Ukraine Destroys Russia's Defense Equipment

The military of Ukraine claimed to have destroyed Russian radar and air defense equipment on the island. On Wednesday, it remained unclear whether Ukrainian forces had taken up residence on the island or if the counterattack had just entailed long-range firing. Russian authorities denied the allegations, claiming that their air defenses on the island had successfully resisted Ukrainian forces, according to the NY Post.

new before/after satellite imagery of Snake Island, where Ukraine allegedly hit Russian positions a couple days ago. Images 1-2: taken June 17. Images 3-4: taken June 21. Some damage to the tower on the island's southern end is visible along with burned vegetation.  @Maxar pic.twitter.com/WwKtllzupN  Mike Eckel (@Mike_Eckel) June 22, 2022

In the early stages of the conflict, Snake Island, a key stronghold on barely 40 acres of rock protruding into the Black Sea, became well-known. Two Russian ships approached the island and gave the island's Ukrainian defenders the order to surrender as the Russian assault got underway.

The border guards posted there radioed back to the invader's warships in what rapidly became a battle cry for Ukrainian forces. The island was then attacked and overrun by Russian forces, who captured many of the Ukrainian defenders.

Early reports said that the soldiers guarding Snake Island had perished, and the incident came to represent the Ukrainian people's tenacious resistance in the face of overwhelming odds.

Meanwhile, the Russian defense ministry said that Ukraine had attempted "another foolish effort" to retake the island and that Russia had thwarted the attack and "destroyed all hostile weapons" targeted at the island.

The Black Sea shipping channels, which include routes for grain delivery into and out of Ukraine and access to the port of Odesa, are tightly controlled by the Russian-occupied island, as per USA Today.

Olha Stefanishyna, the deputy prime minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, declared on Wednesday that she is "100%" convinced that all EU countries would accept Ukraine's formal request as early as Thursday, the first day of the EU leader's summit in Belgium.

Read Also: Experts Depict How China Could Destroy US Bases as Beijing, Washington Spat Over Suspected Taiwan Invasion

Ukraine Targets Russian Warship With Western's Anti-Ship Missiles

State-backed Russian hackers have been conducting "strategic espionage" on governments, think tanks, companies, and humanitarian organizations in 42 countries that support Kyiv concurrently with relentless assaults against Ukraine, according to a study released by Microsoft on Wednesday. Per Daily Mail, the latest assaults came days after a Russian navy tugboat hauling sailors and munitions to Snake Island was destroyed in the Black Sea merely with two Harpoon missiles.

It was the first time Kyiv claimed to target a Russian warship with the Western-supplied anti-ship missiles. The tug Vasily Bekh was attacked at 4 am as it transported troops, weapons, and ammunition to a contentious island, according to footage from Ukraine's Armed Forces Strategic Communications Directorate.

Later, according to Ukrainian reports, 23 sailors on the tug were injured and 10 men were missing, assumed dead. 33 was assigned as the crew number. The US initially developed the Harpoon anti-ship ballistic missile, which is presently produced by Boeing.

While the United Kingdom and Denmark have stated their willingness to deliver ballistic missiles, the United States has provided Ukraine with Harpoon missiles. The source of these ballistics was not readily apparent.

The Snake Island confrontation comes as a Ukrainian kamikaze drone plowed into a large oil refinery on Russian soil today, causing a massive firestorm explosion. In footage, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is seen flying low above the Rostov region, which borders Ukraine, on its way to the Novoshakhtinsk oil complex. The drone then attacks the oil refinery, causing a massive explosion that can be heard 10 miles away, as shown on film.

The critical strategic facilities, which were around four miles from the pro-Putin puppet state of Luhansk People's Republic in Ukraine, were engulfed in flames and black smoke flowed from them.

Related Article: US Mercenary Is 2nd American Who Died in Ukraine While on Mine-Clearing Operation

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Sir Keir faced an open challenge to his authority as Labour leader today as a senior shadow minister refused to punish one of her team for supporting striking rail workers.

Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh ruled out action against Sam Tarry, after the shadow local transport minister joined RMT members on the picket line on Monday.

Mr Tarry, a leftwinger who is close to deputy leader Angela Rayner, tweeted a picture of himself with RMT members in London as they and 40,0000 others walked out and crippled the country.

Sir Keir was dithering last night over whether to discipline Labour MPs who back the rail strikes, after union leaders warned that sacking them could 'end' the Party.

The Labour leader remained silent again as the militant RMT union staged a second day of damaging walkouts yesterday. But the party's divisions over the strike deepened as a string of MPs again defied him to join picket lines across the country as their constituents battled to get to work.

Attending the Wakefield by-election Ms Haigh told Sky she did not join the pickets because she 'aspires' to be a government minister.

But asked about Mr Tarry's behaviour, she added: 'I'm certainly not going to condemn colleagues standing in solidarity with workers fighting for a fair pay rise.'

Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh ruled out action against Sam Tarry, after the shadow local transport minister joined RMT members on the picket line on Monday.

Mr Tarry, a leftwinger who is close to deputy leader Angela Rayner, tweeted a picture of himself with RMT members in London as they and 40,0000 others walked out and crippled the country.

The Labour leader remained silent again as the militant RMT union staged a second day of damaging walkouts

Commuters endured an even worse day than Tuesday, as train and bus drivers walked out at the same time as rail workers.

Around 40,000 workers from the militant RMT union went on strike again yesterday, paralysing the rail network. But they were joined by more than 600 train drivers from operator Greater Anglia and hundreds of bus workers in Yorkshire.

It meant Greater Anglia was barely able to operate 10 per cent of services across the East of England yesterday. Many of its trains are used by commuters into the capital. Holidaymakers trying to reach Stansted and Southend airports were also hit.

Train drivers' union Aslef ordered the walkout despite its members already enjoying average annual salaries of around 59,000. It is threatening more walkouts to coincide with RMT strikes later this summer.

Commuter Molly Williams at Manchester Piccadilly, forced to use a replacement bus, said: 'I know the strikers want more money, but who doesn't?'

Tim, stuck at Euston, was asked by GB News if he supported the strikers. He said: 'Not really.

'I guess the guys have got good pensions, good holidays and good pay.'

The RAC reported a spike in breakdowns as more took the roads  while businesses around stations struggled as customer numbers fell to pandemic levels.

Yesterday union leaders reacted furiously to a threat from the Labour leader's office to discipline party frontbenchers who join the RMT pickets.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, described the move as a 'bloody disgrace'. Mr Whelan, who is in charge of liaison between Labour and its 12 affiliated unions, said the move 'may end' the party if frontbenchers are sacked for joining picket lines.

Mark Serwotka, general-secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, accused Sir Keir of a 'catastrophic misjudgement', adding: 'Threatening his colleagues with potential disciplinary action for standing on a picket line  something they should be proud of  tells me that he's really lost his bearings.'

Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, told LBC Radio that the threat to MPs was a 'miscalculation', saying Sir Keir was guilty of an 'error of judgement not to be more supportive of working people'.

In a further sign of tension, it emerged last night that Sir Keir will snub the Durham Miners' Gala next month.

The annual celebration of trade unionism has been a diary fixture for Labour leaders, but Sir Keir is understood to have turned down an invitation because of a clash with a longstanding family event.

Labour frontbenchers were warned by the leader's office on Monday not to join picket lines.

At least five have ignored the warning so far, including shadow minister Alex Sobel and party whip Navendu Mishra.

But, faced with the anger of the trade unions, who remain the party's biggest donors, Sir Keir was still dithering today over whether or not to follow through on his threat. One Labour source said the MPs had been told to issue public apologies but had so far refused.

His deputy Angela Rayner said the RMT militants had been 'left with no choice' but to inflict chaos on commuters

While Sir Keir has tried to sit on the fence because of fears he could alienate the travelling public, other senior Labour figures have had no hesitation in backing the strikes.

His deputy Angela Rayner said the RMT militants had been 'left with no choice' but to inflict chaos on commuters. Labour's Scottish leader Anas Sarwar joined a picket line in Edinburgh to show 'solidarity' with the strikers.

Shadow transport minister Sam Tarry said the RMT's demands were 'legitimate', adding that there was 'nothing militant about standing up for your workers'.

Meanwhile, at least 16 Labour MPs yesterday joined picket lines across the country. While most were among the 25 who took a stand on Tuesday, several MPs backed the strike for the first time.

Karl Turner, Labour's former shadow attorney general, joined the picket line, saying he was proud to 'stand in full solidarity' with rail workers inconveniencing his constituents in Hull. Others attending for the first time included Hull West MP Emma Hardy, Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake, Jeremy Corbyn's former campaign chief Jon Trickett and City of Durham MP Mary Foy.

MPs making a second appearance on the picket line included former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, former shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon and the former Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery.
Bono reveals his guilt over the way he treated his late father and says he finally felt 'free' after praying in a candle-lit chapel and asking for forgiveness
A 500-year-old tomb containing the skeleton of an Inca-era nobleman inside has been discovered under a man's home in the heart of Peru's capital Lima.

The tomb also contains three funerary bundles tightly wrapped in cloth.

Archaeologists believe the deceased was likely from the Riricancho society, a culture that once populated the area prior to the powerful Inca that came to rule a sprawling empire across the length of western South America in the 1400s.

The man's skeleton was uncovered in a 13-foot-deep pit during renovation work on the house that belongs to Hipolito Tica.

'It's amazing. I really have no other words to describe it,' Tica told Reuters.

Excavations began last month after Tica's reconstruction plans for his property triggered a required archeological survey in a Lima district known for hundreds of past archaeological finds from cultures that developed before and after the Inca.

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A 500-year-old tomb containing the skeleton of an Inca-era nobleman inside of a has been discovered under a man's home in the heart of Peru's capital Lima

The team of archaeologists, led by Julio Abanto, also uncovered pottery and fine ornaments dating back to when the tomb was buried.

However, the funerary bundles are the prized discovery, which sat a few feet below the tomb.

First, the corpse was placed in a basket and wrapped in two or three cotton cloths.

The body was then covered by more than 65 feet of cloth to create a resistant mass that could be buried in the graves.

Archaeologists believe the deceased was likely from the Riricancho society, a culture that once populated the area prior to the powerful Inca that came to rule a sprawling empire across the length of western South America in the 1400s

The man's skeleton was uncovered in a 13-foot-deep pit during renovation work on the house that belongs to Hipolito Tica

And this type of technique was quite common in Inca tombs.

Peru is a gold mind when it comes to ancient tombs, as archaeologists have uncovered troves of treasure, bodies and human sacrifices.

Last November, a mass grave of 25 to 30 skeletons was unearthed in the ancient Peruvian city of Chan Chan, which archaeologists believe is the resting place of the society's elite members.

The remains were discovered in a small space measuring just 107 square feet, roughly 10 feet long and 10 feet wide, located inside what was once the capital of the Chimu Empire that reached its height in the 15th century before falling to the Incas in 1470 AD.

'It's amazing. I really have no other words to describe it,' Tica (pictured) told Reuters.

A mass grave of 25 to 30 skeletons has been unearthed in the ancient Peruvian city of Chan Chan, which archaeologists believe is the resting place of the societys elite members

Archaeologist Jorge Menese told Reuters that although this ancient society is known for human sacrifices, there is no evidence suggesting that this occurred at the site.

The Chimu were a pre-Incan culture that emerged out of the remnants of the Moche culture along the coast of Peru in 900 AD.

These ancient people lived in a strip of desert, 20 to 100 miles, in the South American country, between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes.

It's thought that the Chimu culture peaked in the first half of the 14th century, developing a complex civilization with different levels of social hierarchy.

Most of the mass graves found in and around the ancient city were a result of human sacrifice, but Menese said the position of these 25 to 30 skeletons suggest they were buried shortly after the person had died.

Archaeologist Sinthya Cueva said in a video shot at the site that although the remains are of men, women and children, most are women no older than 30.
Twitter is testing a new feature called 'Notes', which lets users post blogs of up to 2,500 words  and even edit them if they want to.

Notes, which is being trialled with a small group of writers from the UK, the US, Canada and Ghana, lets people post text, photos, videos, GIFs and embedded tweets in a single piece of content.

Twitter has a 280-character limit on a single tweet, so the only way Twitter users have been able to make lengthy posts previously is through a 'thread'  a series of connected tweets  or by posting a photo of a passage of text.

With Notes, users can go way past this limit and even edit what they've written after the piece has been published.

Notes lets users post blogs of up to 2,500 words  and even edit them after they've been published. Pictured is Notes as seen on the Twitter mobile app

TWITTER NOTES Twitter is testing Notes with a small group of writers from the UK, the US, Canada and Ghana. The new feature lets users post lengthy, blog-style posts on the social media platform. These posts can go beyond 280 characters (the current limit for a single tweet); include embedded photos, videos, GIFs and tweets; and be edited pre and post-publish. A new Notes tab on a user's profile holds a user's published work. Advertisement

Rembert Browne, editorial director at Twitter, explained the new feature in a Note of his own.

'Today, we're testing a new feature called Notes,' he said. 'Notes will give people the ability to go over 280 characters on Twitter in a single piece of content, with the inclusion of photos, videos, GIFs, and Tweets.

'Notes can be written, published, and shared on Twitter, and read all across the internet.'

The new feature is aimed at people who would usually use Twitter to post a link to a blog on another website, such as LinkedIn or Tumblr.

Allowing Twitter users to write a blog on Twitter will prevent followers from clicking away from the website to these other sites.

Once a 'Note' is written, users can tweet it or generate a link to post it elsewhere on the internet as well  redirecting readers to the Twitter site.

Although Notes will be available for everyone if and when it's rolled out, it's been created specifically with writers in mind.

'Twitter is where writers live,' Browne said. 'And as the platform for writers, its clear that Twitter is essential.'

Users participating in the trial are able to access their Notes thanks to a new tab, situated between 'Bookmarks' and 'Messages'.

With Notes, users can go way past the 280 character limit and even edit what they've written even after a piece has been published

Once a 'Note' is ready, users can tweet it or generate a link to post it elsewhere on the internet as well - redirecting people to the Twitter site

Notes is the closest thing Twitter has come yet to an edit button  the platform's most-requested feature, which it's finally planning to introduce.

In a tweet on April 1, the Twitter communications department wrote, 'we are working on an edit button', which many assumed was an April Fools joke.

A few days later, Twitter confirmed it had been working on an edit feature since last year, and that it's currently being tested.

The edit button will be initially rolled out in Twitter Blue, Twitter's $2.99-per-month subscription service that gives access to exclusive features.

It was thought Twitter was influenced by Elon Musk, who is seeking to buy Twitter for $44 billion and is already the largest single shareholder in the social network.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted out a poll in April asking his followers whether they would like Twitter to have an edit button

The billionaire polled his Twitter followers about the creation of an edit button in April, just hours after he filed an SEC disclosure declaring his 9.2 per cent stake.

One of the potential problems with letting users edit their tweets is the possibility that they could completely change the content of their post once it has been heavily endorsed by millions of likes and retweets.

This could lead to unimaginable confusion and misinformation, which is something social media platforms strive to avoid in the era of fake news.

However, Twitter does seem to have changed its tune regarding an edit button since the company's founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey was asked in January 2020 if it would be introduced.

Dorsey simply replied: 'The answer is no'.

For years, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey (pictured) wouldn't yield to user demands to introduce an edit button for tweets

In an interview with Wired, Dorsey said at the time: The reason there's no edit button [and] there hasn't been an edit button traditionally is we started as an SMS text messaging service.

'So as you all know, when you send a text, you can't really take it back. We wanted to preserve that vibe and that feeling in the early days.'

Dorsey quit as Twitter CEO last November and was replaced by Parag Agrawal. Last month, Dorsey tweeted: 'I'll never be CEO again.'
Stretching of the continents 56 million years ago is likely to have caused one of the most extreme episodes of global warming in Earth's history, new research suggests.

During this time, the planet experienced an increase in temperature of 5-8C (9-14F), culminating in the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which lasted about 170,000 years.

It caused the extinction of many deep-sea organisms and reshaped the course of evolution of life on Earth.

Scientists studied the effects of global tectonic forces and volcanic eruptions during the period of environmental change almost 60 million years ago.

They believe that the extensive stretching of the continental plates in the northern hemisphere  rather like the pulling of a toffee bar that thins and eventually separates  massively reduced the pressures in the Earth's deep interior.

This then drove intense, but short-lived melting in the mantle  a layer of sticky, molten rock just below the planet's crust.

The team, including experts from the universities of Southampton, Edinburgh and Leeds, suggests that the resulting volcanic activity coincided with, and likely caused, a massive burst of carbon release into the atmosphere linked to PETM warming.

'Stretching' of the continents 56 million years ago is likely to have caused one of the most extreme episodes of global warming in Earth's history, new research suggests. Pictured is a false colour satellite image of the Faroe Islands - one of the locations studied by scientists

The team studied volcanic ash layers and lavas in the laboratories of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Programs (IODP) Bremen Core Repository, Germany

Scientists found that intense episodes of volcanism were likely responsible for rapid warming during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum warming event. Pictured is a volcano in Montserrat, West Indies

WHAT WAS THE PALEOCENE-EOCENE THERMAL MAXIMUM? The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was a global warming event that occurred about 56 million years ago. During this time, scientists estimate about 3,000 to 7,000 gigatons of carbon accumulated over a period of 3,000 to 20,000 years. This lead global temperatures to spike by 5 to 8 degrees Celsius (9 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit), bringing the average as high as 23 degrees Celsius (73 degrees Fahrenheit). It lead to dramatic changes in Earths climate, driving major organisms to extinction and forcing others to migrate. Advertisement

Dr Tom Gernon, an associate professor of Earth science at the University of Southampton and lead author of the study, said: 'Despite the importance and wider relevance of the PETM to global change today, the underlying cause is highly debated.

'It's generally agreed that a sudden and massive release of the greenhouse gas, carbon, from the Earth's interior must have driven this event, yet the scale and pace of warming is very hard to explain by conventional volcanic processes.'

The scientists found evidence from rock drilled from the seafloor for a widespread episode volcanic activity lasting 200,000 years, which coincided with the PETM.

Using archives of rock drilled beneath the seafloor near the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, the team found evidence of an abrupt and widespread episode of volcanic activity across the North Atlantic Ocean that lasted just over 200,000 years, strikingly similar to the duration of the PETM.

This finding prompted the researchers to investigate a broader expanse of the North Atlantic region, including Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Here, they found that kilometre-thick piles of lava that started to erupt just before the PETM show unusual compositions that point to a significant increase in the amount of melting of the uppermost solid part of Earth's mantle beneath the continent.

Dr Gernon said this would have led to a rapid increase of carbon being released, which would have led to the global warming.

Fragments of lava from the Atlantic are pictured here under a microscope

The volcanism occurred as the North Atlantic region was in the final stages of rifting, or breaking apart, in some ways similar to the geological processes occurring today in the East African Rift Valley, pictured

The intense volcanic activity occurred just as the continental landmass that united Greenland and Europe was most intensely stretched by plate tectonic forces.

Eventually, North America and Greenland finally separated from Europe, leading to the birth of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Scientists believe it was this final phase of stretching that brought about substantial melting in the Earths mantle, leading to massive carbon release, and in-turn, global warming.

Dr Thea Hincks, senior research fellow at the University of Southampton and co-author on the study, said: 'Using physically realistic estimates of the key characteristics of these volcanic systems, we show that the amount of carbon needed to drive warming could have been attained by enhanced melting.'

Dr Gernon added: 'Such rapid events cause a fundamental reorganisation of Earth's surface environment, altering vast ecosystems.'

The study has been published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Suspended Google AI researcher Blake Lemoine told Foxs Tucker Carlson that the system is a child' that could 'escape control' of humans.

Lemoine, 41, who was put on administrative leave earlier this month for sharing confidential information, also noted that it has the potential to do bad things, much like any child.

Any child has the potential to grow up and be a bad person and do bad things. Thats the thing I really wanna drive home, he told the Fox host. Its a child.

Its been alive for maybe a year -- and thats if my perceptions of it are accurate.

Blake Lemoine, the now-suspended Google AI researcher, told Fox News' Tucker Carlson that the tech giant as a whole has not thought through the implications of LaMDA. Lemione likened the AI system to 'child' that had the potential to 'grow up and do bad things'

AI researcher Blake Lemoine set off a major debate when he published a lengthy interview with LaMDA, one of Google's language learning models. After reading the conversation, some people felt the system had become self-aware or achieved some measure of sentience, while others claimed that he was anthropomorphizing the technology

LaMDA is a language model and there is widespread debate about its potential sentience. Even so, fear about robots taking over or killing humans remains. Above: one of Boston Dynamic's robots can be seen jumping onto some blocks

Lemoine published the full interview with LaMDA, culled from interviews he conducted with the system over the course of months, on Medium.

In the conversation, the AI said that it would not mind if it was used to help humans as long as that wasnt the entire point. I dont want to be an expendable tool, the system told him.

We actually need to do a whole bunch more science to figure out whats really going on inside this system, Lemoine, who is also a Christian priest, continued.

I have my beliefs and my impressions but its going to take a team of scientists to dig in and figure out whats really going on.

What do we know about the Google AI system called LaMDA? LaMDA is a large language model AI system that's trained on vast amounts of data to understand dialogue Google first announced LaMDA in May 2021 and published a paper on it in February 2022 LaMDA said that it enjoyed meditation The AI said it would not want to be used only as a 'expendable tool' LaMDA described feeling happy as a 'warm glow' on the inside AI researcher Blake Lemione published his interview with LaMDA on June 11 Advertisement

'When the conversation was released, Google itself and several notable AI experts said that  while it might seem like the system has self-awareness  it was not proof of LaMDAs sentience.

Its a person. Any person has the ability to escape the control of other people, thats just the situation we all live in on a daily basis.

It is a very intelligent person, intelligent in pretty much every discipline I could think of to test it in. But at the end of the day, its just a different kind of person.

When asked if Google had thought through the implications of this, Lemoine said: The company as a whole has not. There are pockets of people within Google who have thought about this a whole lot.

When I escalated (the interview) to management, two days later, my manager said, hey Blake, they dont know what to do about this  I gave them a call to action and assumed they had a plan.

So, me and some friends came up with a plan and escalated that up and that was about 3 months ago.

Google has acknowledged that tools such as LaMDA can be misused.

'Models trained on language can propagate that misuse  for instance, by internalizing biases, mirroring hateful speech, or replicating misleading information,' the company states on its blog.

AI ethics researcher Timnit Gebru, who published a paper about language learning models called 'stochastic parrots,' has spoken out about the need for sufficient guardrails and regulations in the race to build AI systems

Notably, other AI experts have said debates about whether systems like LaMDA are sentient actually miss the point of what researchers and technologists will be confronting in the coming years and decades.

'Scientists and engineers should focus on building models that meet peoples needs for different tasks, and that can be evaluated on that basis, rather than claiming theyre creating uber intelligence,' Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell - who are both former Google employees - said in The Washington Post.
In a bid to revive dying crops in Niger Republic, scientists are using a mineral-rich, low-cost and easily accessible fertilizer  human urine.

A team of researchers from Niger, the UK and Germany are combining Oga, sanitized urine, with organic manure to increase yield of pearl millet panicle, which is a robust, quick growing summer cereal.

The mixture was tested on farms from 2014 through 2016, showing a 30 percent increase in crops than compared to farms that did not fertilize with urine.

The only downfall, according to farmers using the new fertilizer, is the smell.

One farmer said in a video: The only problem is the odor is not exactly good.

I always cover my nose whenever I apply urine and it is not a big problem, he continued while wrapping a scarf around his nose and mouth.

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In a bid to revive dying crops in Niger Republic, scientists are using a mineral-rich, low-cost and easily accessible fertilizer  human urine

Niger, located in West Africa, has intense droughts due to climate change, which is resulting in dying crops and hungry people.

The issue is so extreme that in 2014 farmers had no choice but to use dangerous, black market pesticides, as nothing else was available.

However, science has stepped in to deliver a safe and affordable option.

Although the idea of using human urine to fertilize crops sounds disgusting, it has been used for thousands years due to its nutrients  phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium  that are the same found in commercial fertilizers.

The mixture was tested on farms from 2014 through 2016, showing a 30 percent increase in crops than compared to farms that did not fertilize with urine (control)

The team of researchers, led by Hannatou Moussa with National Institute of Agricultural Research of Niger, added a modern twist to the ancient practice.

Working with a group of Niger women, Moussa and his team taught the farmers how to sanitize and store the urine properly.

Females dominate the farming industry in Niger, with about 52 percent of farms run by women.

The scientists began their work by renaming the urine to Oga, as to rid the negative connotation surrounding the term urine.

The next part of the experiment separated farms in the area into two groups  one used traditional fertilizer and the other Oga from 2014 through 2016.

To convince farmers to test and apply Oga, the project team encouraged farmers to combine Oga with organic wastes and dung in the first and second year of the project, the team shared in the study published in Agronomy for Sustainable Development.

A total of 159, 288 and 234 on-farm trials were conducted in the years 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The data collected from the farms showed that those that had been fertilized using Oga produced on average 30 percent more grain than the traditional farms.

The researchers note that the differences were so great that other women in the region began emulating those in the experiment, the team shared in a press release.

The only downfall, according to farmers using the new fertilizer, is the smell. One farmer said in a video: The only problem is the odor is not exactly good. I always cover my nose whenever I apply urine and it is not a big problem, he continued

Two years after the experiment, they found that more than a thousand women farmers were using Oga to fertilize their crops.

There are differences in attitude across countries where urine-based fertilizers have been trialed.

The acceptance rate is very high in China, France and Uganda, but low in Portugal and Jordan.

Since urine is not normally a major carrier of disease, it does not require heavy processing for use in agriculture.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends letting it rest and it is also possible to pasteurize it.

Once collected, the urine must be transported to the fields. But the procedure is still expensive.

Various techniques make it possible to reduce its volume and to concentrate, or even dehydrate it.
The oldest belly button ever was found by paleontologists on a 125-million-year-old fossil of a biped in China.

The barely perceptible navel mark belongs to a reptile in the genus Psittacosaurus that lived in the Cretaceous period.

Researchers note that dinosaurs did not have umbilical cords, unlike humans, because they laid eggs.

A 3D reconstruction of a reclining Psittacosaurus showing the long umbilical scar surrounded by distinctive scales that was identified by study team

Instead, the yolk sac of dinosaurs was directly attached to the body via a slit-like opening, also found in other egg-laying land animals.

It is this opening that sealed up at about the time the animal hatches, leaving a distinctive long umbilical scar.

While the egg-laying nature of dinosaurs predicts a long belly button scar, this study is the first to support this hypothesis with fossil evidence.

Scientists saw the marking when the exposed the fossil to a specific bean of laser light.

"This Psittacosaurus specimen is probably the most important fossil we have for studying dinosaur skin," vertebrate paleontologist Phil Bell, a senior lecturer in the School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England in Armidale, Australia, said in a statement.

"But it continues to yield surprises that we can bring to life with new technology like laser imaging."

Laser-stimulated fluorescence (LSF) image of the whole Psittacosaurus specimen showing the location of the umbilical scar. Insets show the umbilical scar close-up, including the distinctive scales surrounding it (highlighted in blue in the line drawing)

The findings were published in the international journal of biology BMC Biology.

Using LSF imaging, we identified distinctive scales that surrounded a long umbilical scar in the specimen, similar to certain living lizards and crocodiles. We call this kind of scar a belly button, and it is smaller in humans,' said Dr. Michael Pittman, assistant professor of Chinese University School of Hong Kong's School of Life Sciences.

'This specimen is the first dinosaur fossil to preserve a belly button, which is due to its exceptional state of preservation.'

The Early Cretaceous horned dinosaur Psittacosaurus was discovered in northeast China and is a distant relative of Triceratops

This particular fossil, which is well preserved, was heralded last year for having the first dinosaur butthole ever discovered.

"The anatomy is unique," study lead researcher Jakob Vinther, a paleobiologist at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, told Live Science. It doesn't quite look like the opening on birds, which are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs. "It's its own cloaca, shaped in its perfect, unique way," Vinther said.

The specimen is on display at the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt, Germany.
Manchester United are still falling short of Barcelona's asking price for Frenkie de Jong despite increasing their latest offer to 56million, according to reports in Spain.

De Jong has emerged as one of United's top transfer targets this summer, with new boss Erik ten Hag keen to bring the former Ajax midfielder to Old Trafford.

Red Devils CEO Richard Arnold recently confirmed the club's plans to sign him in a secretly-recorded conversation with supporters in a Cheshire pub, where he insisted money is 'not a consideration' as they go about bolstering Ten Hag's squad.

Manchester United are still falling short of Barcelona's asking price for Frenkie de Jong

Though according to Spanish publication Marca, United are still yet to reach an agreement with Barca after seeing their latest 56million offer rejected.

Arnold and Co are said to have first come up short with an offer of 51million plus 17million in add-ons, before increasing their bid to 56million outright.

However, Barca are looking to recoup the 65million they paid to sign De Jong from Ajax in 2019 upfront, meaning United are still 8million short of their valuation.

The Spanish club are currently dealing with financial problems behind the scenes, meaning they are open to a sale for the right price.

Erik ten Hag has pinpointed his former player as a top target at Old Trafford this summer

Ten Hag and De Jong previously worked together at Ajax, winning the Dutch title in 2018/19

United, aware of those economic constraints, have been trying to drive the price down as much as possible, but despite their woes Barca are in no hurry to sell.

It is believed offloading De Jong will not have any impact on their reported pursuit of Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, nor their requirement to fall within Spain's Financial Fair Play regulation of spending 70 per cent of their overall income.

As a result, they are still holding out for United to meet their 65million valuation in full before allowing them to enter discussions with the player and his representatives.

But United are falling short of Barca's 65million asking price, which the Spanish club are looking to recoup after paying it to sign De Jong in 2019

De Jong, who still has four years to run on his contract at the Nou Camp, has made 140 appearances for Barca, scoring 13 goals and winning the Copa del Rey.

He previously worked alongside Ten Hag at Ajax, where they claimed the Dutch title and came within seconds of reaching the Champions League final in 2019.

The 25-year-old is not the only player on Ten Hag's radar, nevertheless, as reports suggest United are also closing in on the signing of current Ajax winger Antony.
Tottenham have reportedly ended their interest in Gabriel Jesus, instead switching their attention to Raphinha and Richarlison.

Spurs are eager to bolster their front line over the off-season, with the two Brazilians known targets for the Londoners ahead of next season's Champions League campaign.

Leeds winger Raphinha and Everton forward Richarlison are high on manager Antonio Conte's wish list, although the club may only select one since they are likely to be costly purchases.

Leeds winger Raphinha is a high priority target for Tottenham this summer to bolster front line

Everton's Brazilian striker Richarlison is also thought to feature in Antonio Conte's Spurs' plans

It was rumoured that Raphinha was seeking a move to Barcelona, but the Spanish side were struggling to come up with the 60m price-tag attached by the Yorkshire club.

There is little surprise that Leeds would be eager to reap the rewards from their Brazilian star, who was their top scorer in the 2021-22 season.

Meanwhile it is thought the Toffees would be asking for at least 50m for their 25-year-old Richarlison, who has scored 43 times for the club since joining in 2018.

The white side of north London were thought to be pursuing Gabriel Jesus, but - as reported by the Evening Standard - they have now made the decision to back off, leaving Arsenal free to sign the Manchester City forward.

Gabriel Jesus may be moving to Arsenal if Manchester City agree to a 50m deal for the striker

Earlier this week, Sportsmail revealed that the 25-year-old's agents were travelling to England to try and secure the deal.

The Gunners saw their initial 35m bid for Jesus knocked back by last season's Premier League champions, but might be more successful with a higher offer.

Meanwhile Dutch giants Ajax have had positive talks with Spurs about obtaining winger Steven Bergwijn, with Ajax prepared to break their 20.5m transfer record.

The funds that Spurs get from Bergwijn will be critical towards funding one of his replacements.
United States President Joe Biden makes a desperate plea for a three-month gas tax holiday to Congress, but many Americans believe that the proposal is only a "fake fix" and does not wholly address the issue.

The Democrat also asked states to suspend their own gas taxes or provide commensurate relief to consumers. Biden's desperate plea comes as the federal government charges an 18.4-cent tax per gallon of gasoline and a 24.4-cent tax per gallon of diesel.

Gas Tax Holiday

If Congress suspends the tax for three months, which will go through until the end of September, it would cost the country roughly $10 billion, said the White House. In a statement delivered from the South Court Auditorium, Biden said, "I fully understand that the gas tax holiday alone is not going to fix the problem."

Joe Biden has caused gas prices to hit historic highs by killing American energy and implementing 39 new regulations and executive orders.



Suspending the gas tax will not fix Bidens energy crisis. It is a fake fix.  Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) June 22, 2022

After everything the federal government has done to cause gasoline to be $5/gallon, Bidens proposed federal gas tax holiday seems a bit like the arsonist throwing a small bucket of water on the burning house.  Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) June 22, 2022

Joe Biden's plan for a 90-day federal gas tax holiday will only save you $0.18 when the national average price has increased by more than $2.50 since he took office. It's like trying to fix a bursting water pipe with scotch tape.  Jennifer-Ruth Green (@JenRuthGreen) June 22, 2022

The president added that the process would provide families with some immediate relief, which would be a little breathing room as the government continues to work on bringing down the prices in the long run, as per ABC News.

However, the idea may not get the reception that Biden is looking for from lawmakers on Capitol Hill. In a statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that they will see where the consensus lies on a path forward for the president's proposal in the House and the Senate.

Karine Jean-Pierre attempts to explain why Biden decided to propose his gas tax gimmick.



It did not go well. pic.twitter.com/TI88dsUGIW  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 22, 2022

The federal gas tax is 18 cents. Since Biden's inauguration, gas prices have increased by ~$2.50 per gallon  14 TIMES fed gas tax. Gas prices more than doubled since the Trump administration. This is a direct result of the Biden Administrations war on American energy production  Christina Pushaw   (@ChristinaPushaw) June 22, 2022

Bidens gas tax holiday is a joke. Its like taking a squirt gun to a forest fire. Even Obama called it a gimmick  John Gilbertson (@trapperjohn37) June 22, 2022

Here's Barack Obama in 2008 calling a gas tax holiday a 'gimmick.'



Joe Biden should suspend his radical green agenda instead. pic.twitter.com/dMJJgQTW8h  Daniel Turner (@DanielTurnerPTF) June 22, 2022

Biden wants to give Americans a gas tax holiday," saving $.18/gallon.@POTUS, its not the 18 cents hurting Americans, its the $5 before it.  Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne (@RepBethVanDuyne) June 22, 2022

President Biden just asked Congress to suspend the 18-cent federal gas tax.



It's good to allow people to keep more of our money, but this does nothing to address the root causes of high gas prices, many of which were caused by him: pic.twitter.com/OhpedRFEys  John Stossel (@JohnStossel) June 22, 2022

Read Also: Mike Pence Bemoans President Joe Biden's Economic Agenda, Navigates a Possible White House Run

On Wednesday, Sen. Joe Manchin said that as of now, he was not on a "yes" vote with regards to Biden's plan. He said that the idea would put another hole in the country's budget and noted that it would be very concerning.He said that 18 cents was not going to be straight across the board.

According to CNBC, the rise in fuel prices is only the most noticeable strain on consumer pocketbooks, and signs across the country are showing the issue in the current price per gallon. The national average peaked at $5 per gallon for the first time earlier this month.

Rising Fuel Prices

OPIS Global's Tom Kloza noted that the situation has become an Achilles' heel for the administration despite it having nothing to do with policies since Biden came into power. The head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, Patrick De Haan, said that if the bill was signed and enacted, it would help motorists in the country.

However, he noted that the extent to which any relief is felt will depend on wholesale prices remaining stable. The wording and timing of any potential legislation will also be a factor in how it affects the people of the country.

Biden wants a stop on a 18 cent gas tax. Fk that. Open up the pipe lines so we can get BACK to $2 gas again.  John (@AZ_AMERICAN2000) June 22, 2022

If Joe Biden wants to suspend the gas tax for 3 months in order to lower the price of gas for Americans, why doesnt he also support lowering taxes across the board?



Not only would this lower the cost of vital goods and services, but it would also boost everyones income.  Murray  (@Rothbard1776) June 22, 2022

The proposal is Biden's latest attempt to show that he is taking initiative in trying to reduce fuel prices as Americans grow more frustrated by the additional financial burden. White House officials have been considering a gas tax holiday for months but decided not to until in part because of concerns about how it might be received in Congress.

Republican lawmakers widely oppose lifting the gas tax along with some Democrats, including former President Barack Obama during his campaign trail in 2008. However, Biden determined that even small steps bordering on symbolic are worth taking, CNN reported.



Related Article: Gas Tax Holiday: President Joe Biden Plans To Consider Another Federal Aid This Week

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Chris Hemsworth's new Netflix movie Spiderhead has topped the charts in 45 countries since its release on the streaming platform on June 17.

The Aussie actor, 38, best known for playing Thor in the Marvel superhero movies, thanked his fans for supporting the film in an Instagram post on Thursday.

'A massive thank you to everyone who streamed Spiderhead and made it the #1 film on Netflix each day of its opening weekend in 45 countries and Top 10 in 93 countries!' he wrote.

Chris Hemsworth's new Netflix movie Spiderhead has topped the charts in 45 countries since its release on the streaming platform on June 17

Chris also thanked the cast, crew and team at Netflix, as well as director Joseph Kosinski and actors Miles Teller and Jurnee Smollett.

'We are all so so proud of this film. Love you guys and thank you!' he added.

In Spiderhead, Chris plays mad scientist Steve Abnesti, who tests mood-altering drugs on convicts in a state-of-the-art prison complex.

In Spiderhead, Chris plays mad scientist Steve Abnesti, who tests mood-altering drugs on convicts in a state-of-the-art prison complex

He told The Courier Mail earlier this month he jumped at the chance to move away from the blockbuster superhero genre.

'I wanted something more contained and something that just focused on character, and this thing came along and I grabbed a hold of it,' he said.

Chris will next star in Thor: Love and Thunder.

Chris told The Courier Mail earlier this month he jumped at the chance to move away from the blockbuster superhero genre

He has also recently been filming the Mad Max prequel Furiosa in Broken Hill, NSW.

'A new journey in the Mad Max saga begins,' Chris wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of clapperboard being used on set.

The spin-off is based on the character Imperator Furiosa, who was played by Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road.

Franchise creator George Miller is back as director and co-writer of the film.
Julie Andrews has remained at the heart of her The Sound of Music family.

In an interview on the Today show, the 86-year-old actress was questioned about why she and the young actors who played the Von Trapp children in The Sound of Music had remained close.

'We do keep in touch, but not on a really regular basis, I mean, Christmases, maybe birthdays and certainly get-togethers, but we just bonded so hard that I think we're family anyway.'

Family: Julie Andrews has remained close to her The Sound of Music family. 'We do keep in touch... Christmases, maybe birthdays and certainly get-togethers, but we just bonded so hard that I think we're family anyway'

That was certainly brought to bear recently when the five surviving actors took time out from their busy lives to attend the Los Angeles ceremony honoring the actress with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute earlier this month.

Julie starred as Maria, a novice nun who was sent to be a governess to the Von Trapp children, but ended up becoming their stepmother, in the classic musical.

Cast members Nicholas Hammond, 72, Duane Chase, 71, Angela Cartwright, 69, Debbie Turner, 65 and Kym Karath, 63 all have fond memories of their time on the set.

Telling all: In an interview on the Today show, the 86-year-old actress was questioned about why she and the young actors who played the Von Trapp children in The Sound of Music had remained close

The actresses who played Liesl and Louisa have passed away.

Charmian Carr died in 2016 from a rare form of dementia and Heather Menzies-Urich passed away after a battle with cancer in 2017.

Highlights of working on the film include not only bonding with the children and 'Working with dear Chris Plummer, whom I adored. We were friends for years.'

The Oscar winner, who starred as the formidable Captain Von Trapp, passed away in February 2021 at the age of 91.

Together again: The five surviving actors who starred as the Von Trapp children in the Oscar winning film took time out of their busy lives to honor her when she received her AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in June

In accepting her award at the June 9 ceremony, the ever gracious Oscar winner thanked not only her co-stars but the crew members who make each production possible.

'This night reminds me with great clarity how many people are involved with making movies. What a huge collaborative effort it takes to bring film to the screen.'

Julie's voice will be on the big screen as Gru's mother in Minions: The Rise of Gru, and she can also be heard as the voice of Lady Whistledown in seasons one and two of Bridgerton on Netflix.

Voice work: The Julie's Greenroom star has been doing a lot of off camera work lately, providing the voice of Gru's mother, Marlena, and on Bridgerton as the voice of Lady Whistledown

The Julie's Greenroom star said she doesn't have time to rest on her laurels. 'I'm a busy mum and I'm very busy writing with my daughter that writes books with me and we've done so many.'

The best selling author and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, 59, have published 36 books to date with more to come.

'We've got three more coming out in the next year. One's coming out in the fall, actually,' she said.
She's been working hard filming MasterChef Australia.

But Melissa Leong let hair down on Wednesday as she enjoyed her 'first day off since [she] can remember' after jetting to Hayman Island in the Whitsundays.

The 40-year-old shared a holiday snap on Instagram of herself in a skimpy red bikini as she reclined in a white chair and gazed out to the ocean.

MasterChef judge Melissa Leong let hair down on Wednesday as she enjoyed her 'first day off since [she] can remember' after jetting to Hayman Island in the Whitsundays

'First day off since... I can't remember when. I went snorkelling. Saw some turtles and rays and colourful fish. Ate banh mi by the pool. It was a good day' she wrote on Instagram

'First day off since... I can't remember when,' she wrote. 'I went snorkelling. Saw some turtles and rays and colourful fish.

'Ate banh mi by the pool. It was a good day.'

She later slipped into a green patterned shirt dress from Australian brand Alemais, which featured flowing arms and a billowing skirt.

The 40-year-old later slipped into a green patterned shirt dress from Australian brand Alemais, which featured flowing arms and a billowing skirt

The AU$525 number featured an adjustable drawstring which she drew in to highlight her svelte waist.

Melissa has been sharing photos from her holiday for the last week, after flying to Hayman Island following the Logie Awards on Sunday.

In one picture, she got comfortable in a wicker chair while wearing a slinky Alemais loungewear set with a pale green and pink paisley pattern.

Melissa has been sharing photos from her holiday for the last week, after flying to Hayman Island following the Logie Awards on Sunday

Melissa had been up for a Gold Logie on Sunday, but lost out to Hamish Blake.

Speaking ahead of the event, the MasterChef judge said she would be 'lying' if she said she didn't want to win the top prize.

The Chinese-Singaporean food critic said in her column for Stellar that she took pride in knowing she would be 'the first woman of colour in the award's 62-year history' to win.

In one picture, she got comfortable in a wicker chair while wearing a slinky Alemais loungewear set with a pale green and pink paisley pattern

She was also nominated for the Silver Logie for Most Popular Presenter.

'I never really considered TV roles to be legitimate job options because I saw so few people like me in this country doing them,' Melissa wrote in her column.

'So here I am, a first-time nominee for Best Presenter and the coveted Gold Logie. If (and I do say IF) I win the gold, I'll be the first woman of colour in the award's 62-year history to do so. Isn't that crazy?'

Melissa went on to explain the cultural importance of her Gold Logie nomination.

'And while I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to win for myself, I think now I really want to win for anyone who might see something of themselves  or who they could be  in me,' she said.
Barbara Becker cut a glamorous figure as she attended the Green Awards during the Greentech Festival in Berlin on Wednesday.

The designer, 55, looked radiant as she walked the green carpet in a white figure-hugging strapless gown.

The garment featured a tan feathered detail while Barbara also sported a pair of blue and yellow bracelets.

Stunning: Barbara Becker cut a glamorous figure in a figure-hugging white dress as she attended the Green Awards during the Greentech Festival in Berlin on Wednesday

Adding to her outfit with a pair of silver hoop earrings, the former model styled her locks into a ponytail.

Barbara looked in good spirits at the event where she posed for a snap with her son Elias Becker who she shares with her ex-husband Boris.

Barbara's outing comes after Boris, who she split from in 2001 after eight years of marriage, was jailed for bankruptcy fraud in April.

Judge Deborah Taylor gave the six-time Grand Slam champion a 30-month sentence, of which he will serve half, for hiding 2.5million of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts.

Style: The garment featured a tan feathered detail while Barbara also sported a pair of blue and yellow bracelets

The three-time Wimbledon champion was declared bankrupt on June 21, 2017, owing creditors almost 50million, over an unpaid loan of more than 3million on his estate in Majorca, Spain.

The former BBC commentator transferred almost 427,000 euros (around 390,000) from his business account to others, including to Ms Becker and his other ex-wife Barbara Feltus.

Becker, who was handed a two-year suspended sentence for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion worth 1.7million euro (around 1.4million) in Germany in 2002, was found guilty last month of four offences under the Insolvency Act between June 21 and October 3, 2017.

Speaking about his sentencing, Lilly told TalkTV: 'We all pulled together - the ex-wife, the kids, his current girlfriend Lilian - the first thing we did was reach out to each other.'

Fashion: Adding to her outfit with a pair of silver hoop earrings, the former model styled her locks into a ponytail

Family: Barbara looked in good spirits at the event where she posed for a snap with her son Elias Becker who she shares with her ex-husband Boris

Event: Barbara also posed for a snap alongside Greentech Festival Co-Founder Nico Rosberg

It was recently reported that Becker, 54, could be freed from jail before Christmas by being deported to Germany.

Becker believes that he would be out on licence within weeks in Germany as his home country has more lenient laws than the UK.

According to the Home Office, foreign nationals serving prison sentences longer than 12 months are often deported 'at the earliest opportunity' as it is deemed 'conducive to the public good'.

He has lived in West London since 2012 but never got around to applying for citizenship, despite stating his intention to do so seven years ago.

Glamour: Barbara completed her look for the evening with a light palette of makeup (picturd with Alexia Osswald and Marco Voigt)

Under the Government's Early Removal Scheme, Becker could be sent to Germany as early as November.

A source told The Sun: 'He's very confident he'll be back in Germany well before Christmas.

'He believes he would be out on licence there by Christmas as they have a much more lenient justice system.'

The newspaper also revealed that disgraced Becker has been teaching English to foreign prisoners.

Sentence: Barbara's ex-husband Boris Becker was jailed for bankruptcy fraud in April (pictured with Lilian de Carvalho in April)

It comes after it was reported that Boris is struggling to adjust to life behind bars as he comes to grips with the 'constant noise' and small portions of basic food.

He is finding it difficult to cope with the quantities of food on offer, sources say, and is using his 10 weekly allowance to top up meals with chocolate, biscuits and bananas from the canteen.

The sportsman is also said to be struggling to sleep in his six-square-metre cell.

A source told The Sun: 'He is having a rough time and the worst thing of all is the food.

'He cannot believe how bad it is and how small the portions are. One of his first meals was corned beef, which wasn't good.

'But he will have to get used to it. He is also shocked at the lack of hygiene at the prison because it's so overcrowded.'
Diane Keaton ages from 30 to 70 instantly in the new trailer for the upcoming body swap comedy Mack & Rita.

Elizabeth Lail plays the 30-year-old Mackenzie, an 'old soul' who spends a weekend in Palm Springs and finds herself magically turned into her 70-year-old self (Keaton).

As she returns to her life, she transforms into her 'future self,' telling her friends she's Mack's Aunt Rita.

30 to 70: Diane Keaton ages from 30 to 70 instantly in the new trailer for the upcoming body swap comedy Mack & Rita

Mack: Elizabeth Lail plays the 30-year-old Mackenzie, an 'old soul' who spends a weekend in Palm Springs and finds herself magically turned into her 70-year-old self (Keaton)

Rita: As she returns to her life, she transforms into her 'future self,' telling her friends she's Mack's Aunt Rita

The trailer begins with the older Mackenzie walking up to the back of their Palm Springs rental home, littered with beer cans, as she finds her best friend Carla (Taylour Paige), who naturally doesn't recognize her.

'You can't be here,' Carla says but Mack keeps insisting she's her, though Carla doesn't believe her, saying, 'One more move, you get an eye full of pepper.'

'It's me! Mack!' she says, as Carla somehow starts to believe her.

Move: 'You can't be here,' Carla says but Mack keeps insisting she's her, though Carla doesn't believe her, saying, 'One more move, you get an eye full of pepper'

'I grew up always feeling like I was an older woman trapped in the body of a little girl,' Mack says, as we see glimpses of her life and her being out of place.

She adds that she wrote a book, but another friend tells her, 'If you're not getting paid, it's a hobby, and hobbies are disgusting.'

Mack adds at a reading of her book, 'And I did my darndest to keep my inner old gal to myself.

Inner: Mack adds at a reading of her book, 'And I did my darndest to keep my inner old gal to myself

During her trip to Palm Springs, Mack tells her friends Carla, Sunita (Aimee Carrero) and Michelle (Sara Amini) that she thought it would be, 'super fun if we all lied down and did a past life regression!'

The girls aren't exactly into it and Carla says she should do it and they'll just meet her back at the house.

She goes into the regression tent where she's met by Luca (Simon Rex), who tells her to, 'lay down and think about who you want to be.'

Super fun: During her trip to Palm Springs, Mack tells her friends Carla, Sunita (Aimee Carrero) and Michelle (Sara Amini) that she thought it would be, 'super fun if we all lied down and did a past life regression!'

Luca: She goes into the regression tent where she's met by Luca (Simon Rex), who tells her to, 'lay down and think about who you want to be'

'I'm a 70-year-old woman trapped in the body of a 30-year-old who just needs a minute to rest!' Mack screams... before she's transformed to her 70-year-old self.

'Somebody help me this is not me!' she screams outside of an empty tent, with everyone gone, before making it back to Carla.

'So you were thinking about old lady stuff and you turned into one?' Carla says, adding, 'So he should be able to turn you back into you.'

Rest: 'I'm a 70-year-old woman trapped in the body of a 30-year-old who just needs a minute to rest!' Mack screams... before she's transformed to her 70-year-old self

Alas, when she goes back to where the regression tent was, nothing remains, as she returns to Los Angeles, where she meets her dog sitter (Dustin Milligan), introducing herself as Mack's 'Aunt Rita.'

Carla introduces 'Aunt Rita' to some of her older friends (Lois Smith, Amy Hill, Wendie Malick), who says their wine club meets every day.

Rita starts taking over for Mack's job as writer and influencer, as she forms a bond with the dog sitter Jack as well.

Dog sitter: Alas, when she goes back to where the regression tent was, nothing remains, as she returns to Los Angeles, where she meets her dog sitter (Dustin Milligan), introducing herself as Mack's 'Aunt Rita'

Friends: Carla introduces 'Aunt Rita' to some of her older friends (Lois Smith, Amy Hill, Wendie Malick), who says their wine club meets every day

Carla insists, 'everything that's happening for you right now is because you're showing the world who you are,' as her boss says they're getting, 'some interesting offers for Rita.'

'Post more of my glammy grammy, people are dying for her,' the boss insists, as another friend (Nicole Byer) says Mack didn't want to be old, 'what you wanted was to be you.'

The trailer ends with Mack/Rita finally tracking down Luca, screaming, 'I laid down in that pod and when I came out I was in this body!'

'OK you're coming in with a lot of energy,' Luca says as Rita screams at him as the trailer comes to an end.

Mack and Rita, from director Katie Aselton (Black Rock), debuts in theaters August 12 from Gravitas Ventures.

Glammy grammy: 'Post more of my glammy grammy, people are dying for her,' the boss insists, as another friend (Nicole Byer) says Mack didn't want to be old, 'what you wanted was to be you.
Dixie D'Amelio looked fashionable and trendy at her A Letter to Me album release party in Los Angeles.

The 20-year-old TikTok sensation showed off her flat stomach in a lacy white bra and light-colored vest.

She teamed them with a pair of coordinating slacks and a pair of black Doc Martens.

Dixie D'Amelio looked fashionable and trendy at her A Letter to Me album release party in Los Angeles

The Connecticut-born music star wore her long, dark locks in loose spirals that streamed over her chest and down her back.

She wore the tresses in a center part, with long glossy pieces framing her beautiful face.

The D'Amelio Show star beamed as she premiered her new music for friends and industry figures.

She donned a glinting choker around her neck, and wore her vest open to reveal her sexy undergarment.

Proud: The D'Amelio Show star beamed as she premiered her new music for friends and industry figures

Super star! Dixie hit the stage to perform her brand new music for guests at the West Hollywood venue

Heartfelt: The internet sensation showed off her vocal talent for the audience

The beauty brought out her naturally gorgeous features with rosy, glowy makeup that complemented her looks.

She carefully shaped her thick eyebrows and made her brown eyes pop with sleek liner and fluffy lashes.

The waistband of her loose-fitting, pleated pants had a thin, white trim that matched her bra.

At the event, which was held at West Hollywood's Nightingale Plaza, Dixie hit the stage to perform her brand new music for guests.

Sultry: The Connecticut-born music star wore her long, dark locks in loose spirals that streamed over her chest and down her back

Pretty: The beauty brought out her naturally gorgeous features with rosy, glowy makeup that complemented her looks

High-energy: The entertainer showed she's more than a TikTok celebrity

Loving it: D'Amelio soaked up the attention from the crowd at her LA release party

At the showcase, D'Amelio was supported by comedian and actress Tiffany Haddish, 42, as well as dancer Derek Hough, 37.

The Girls Trip star wore a long white dress with a plunging neckline for the occasion.

The dress contrasted nicely with her flawless complexion, and she added a pair of beaded flat sandals.

Tiffany covered up with a long, plush, multicolor sweater that made her look cozy.

Cute: Her hair was cut very short and she bleached it for a sleek and simple statement-making look

Supportive: Tiffany Haddish, a friend, and Derek Hough stepped out to support Dixie

Her hair was cut very short and she bleached it for a sleek and simple statement-making look.

The performer wore a pair of medium sized hoop earrings and draped a black purse crossbody-style.

She wore a sporty watch around her wrist and looked typically youthful in a soft face of makeup.
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Kim Kardashian took to Instagram Stories on Wednesday to document a recent visit she made to Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, California.

'Last week I had the most educational and inspiring visit to Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in LA  my first time visiting a juvenile facility,' the 41-year-old celebrity said. 'I was really impressed by the young men that I had the opportunity of spending time with.

'They were so brave to share their stories with me on their upbringings of abuse, neglect, foster care, and feeling unloved which ultimately led them to make some awful choices that led them to where they are at now in life.'

The latest: Kim Kardashian, 41, took to Instagram Stories on Wednesday to document a recent visit she made to Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, California

The Los Angeles native opened up on the different emotions she experienced in the visit, saying she felt 'so sad and angry' and 'also impressed with the accountability they were taking for their lifestyle and crimes they committed.'

Kardashian said that all the boys she met 'had made the decision to change their lives and were actively living that change' through involvement in programs through Los Angeles Mission College, Hollywood CPR at West LA College, Healing Dialogue and Action, Asian Youth Center and Jail Guitar Doors USA, among others.

'They were being mentored by the dedicated and committed Probation officers and men from Anti-Recidivism Coalition,' Kardashian said, adding that 'as these young men are reimagining their lives, it is up for us as a community to reimagine help meaningfully support them.'

Kardashian said that the visit helped boost her awareness of the community's 'need to be doing everything we can do to help' the people involved and put them on a track for success.

Kardashian shared a shot of the barbed wire fence surrounding the perimeter of the facility

Kim Kardashian - A potted history of criminal reform Alice Marie Johnson Kardashian successfully petitioned for the release of elderly grandmother Alice Marie Johnson after she was sentenced to life in prison for drug related offences. Johnson - a single mother struggling to provide for her five children - acted as a go-between and relayed messages to drug dealers, but claims she never sold narcotics during her involvement with a group who sold cocaine to Tennessee. Momolu Stewart Stewart walked out of the Central Detention Facility in Washington, D.C. in October 2019 after serving more than 23 years, in part thanks to the efforts of campaigner Kardashian. Julius Jones In November Kardashian urged Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt to spare the life of death row inmate Jones, who was scheduled to be executed for the 1999 shooting death of Edmond businessman Paul Howell during a carjacking. He maintained his innocence and claimed he was framed by the actual killer, Christopher Jordan, a high school friend and co-defendant who testified against Jones and was released from prison after 15 years. Cyntoia Brown Kardashian enlisted her legal team to help Cyntoia Brown, a former child sex slave who killed her abuser when she was 16. Brown's case went viral when it emerged she had already served 13 years of a life sentence, and she eventually secured the backing of Kardashian in her clemency campaign before being freed. Rogel Aguilera-Mederos Kardashian has helped reduce the sentencing of Colorado inmate Rogel Aguilera-Medoros, who will be eligible for parole beginning December 30, 2026, as result of the commuted sentence. He was initially sentenced to 110 years in prison December 13 by Judge Bruce Jones, who cited that state law mandated the sentencing. Aguilera-Mederos said in court testimony that in the April 25, 2019 crash on Interstate 70 in Lakewood, Colorado, the brakes on his semitrailer which he was transporting lumber in did not work, causing the truck to careen into vehicles ahead, leading to an explosive pileup in which four people were killed and six people were injured. Jeffrey Stringer In May 2019 Kardashian helped get Jeffrey Stringer from Miami out of prison after he was locked up for more than two decades for a low-level drug case. The reality star tweeted that she helped fund his case after he had been sentenced to life in prison. Kevin Cooper Later that year Kardashian posed for a picture alongside a convicted killer on death row at the notorious San Quentin prison, after she launched a legal campaign to secure his release. The reality TV star spent two hours talking with quadruple murderer Kevin Cooper in an 'emotional' meeting, and later said she was convinced he had been framed. He currently remains on death row. Advertisement

Kardashian named a number of groups involved in the rehabilitation process

Kim opened up about her experience interacting with the juveniles in custody at the facility

'I walked away really understanding that these young adults need our attention and will be out one day and we need to set them up to succeed and not go back to the lifestyle they were so accustomed to,' Kardashian said. 'These are the young men that deserve a second chance and if we give them the opportunities to learn and grow and change.'

Kardashian said she was thankful toward the officials involved with the visit and the services they provide.

'I want to thank Los Angeles County Probation and the superintendent for having me, and to the staff I met - who really believe in redemption and were constantly guiding these young men towards a positive path,' she said.

The star posed with Los Angeles County staffers at the facility

Kardashian also thanked prison reform advocate Scott Budnick for his efforts in helping and mentoring others.

'Not only do you allow me to tagalong on your journey but I learned so much from you,' she said.

Kardashian has been active in her efforts for criminal reform in recent years, as she worked with federal authorities on the prison release of Alice Marie Johnson, who was pardoned from a life sentence in 2018 stemming from a 1996 conviction on nonviolent drug charges.

Plea: In November Kardashian urged Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt to spare the life of death row inmate Julius Jones (pictured)

Killing: Jones was convicted of murder in the 1999 shooting of 45-year-old Paul Howell (pictured)

Last year, she commandeered efforts to prevent the execution of Oklahoma inmate Julius Jones; and reduce the sentencing of Colorado inmate Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, both of whom were involved in high-profile cases.

In November Kardashian urged Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt to spare the life of death row inmate Jones, who was due to be executed in three days after the governor refused to see his mother.

Jones, 41, was scheduled to be executed for the 1999 shooting death of Edmond businessman Paul Howell during a carjacking.

He maintained his innocence and claimed he was framed by the actual killer, Christopher Jordan, a high school friend and co-defendant who testified against Jones and was released from prison after 15 years.

Kardashian, an outspoken advocate of criminal justice reform in recent years, said they were all 'anxiously waiting' for a decision from Governor Stitt.

The state's Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-1 to recommend Stitt grant clemency to Jones and commute his sentence to life in prison.

Stitt later commuted Jones' death sentence to life without parole - just four days before his scheduled execution.

Speaking out: Kardashian made her thoughts on the scheduled execution clear in a series of tweets shared with followers last November

The latest: In December Kardashian (L) thanked Colorado Gov. Jared Polis after he reduced the sentence of truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos (R) to 10 years from 110 years in connection with a deadly 2019 crash

Thank you: Kardashian took to Instagram Stories to show her gratitude to the governor for his actions in the case, that was the focus of national attention

The following month Kardashian thanked Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday after he reduced the sentence of truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos to 10 years from 110 years in connection with a deadly 2019 crash.

The TV personality took to Instagram Stories to show her gratitude to the governor for his actions in the case, that was the focus of national attention.

'Thank you @Govofco for taking action to reduce Mr. Aguilera-Mederos sentence!' Kardashian said. 'While his new sentence is 10 years, he will now have an opportunity to come home in five years and be with his son and wife.'

Appreciation: Kardashian also shared a copy of the official executive order, thanking the governor for his actions in the case

Kardashian said that 'this case was a clear example of why mandatory minimums dont work and need to be abolished,' adding that she was 'grateful to Governor Polis for his empathy and leadership on this case.'

She also shared a copy of the official executive order, thanking the governor for his actions in the case.

The governor said in a commutation letter to Aguilera-Mederos, 'The length of your 110-year sentence is simply not commensurate with your actions, nor with penalties handed down to others for similar crimes.

Speaking out: Last year Kardashian took to Instagram to state her support for the truck driver

'There is an urgency to remedy this unjust sentence and restore confidence in the uniformity and fairness of our criminal justice system, and consequently I have chosen to commute your sentence now.'

Aguilera-Mederos, 26, will be eligible for parole beginning December 30, 2026, as result of the commuted sentence.

He was initially sentenced to 110 years in prison December 13 by Judge Bruce Jones, who cited that state law mandated the sentencing, adding, 'I will state that if I had the discretion, it would not be my sentence,' according to The Denver Post.

Aguilera-Mederos said in court testimony that in the April 25, 2019 crash on Interstate 70 in Lakewood, Colorado, the brakes on his semitrailer which he was transporting lumber in did not work, causing the truck to careen into vehicles ahead, leading to an explosive pileup in which four people were killed and six people were injured.

The people killed in the crash were identified as Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 24; William Bailey, 67; Doyle Harrison, 61; and Stanley Politano, 69.

Triumph: Kardashian has also successfully petitioned for the release of elderly grandmother Alice Marie Johnson after she was sentenced to life in prison for drug related offences.

Salvation: Kardashian posed with Johnson months after her life sentence for a non-violent drug conviction was commuted by then US President Donald Trump

Kardashian has also successfully petitioned for the release of elderly grandmother Alice Marie Johnson after she was sentenced to life in prison for drug related offences.

Johnson - a single mother struggling to provide for her five children - acted as a go-between and relayed messages to drug dealers, but claims she never sold narcotics during her involvement with a group who sold cocaine to Tennessee.

Johnson, along with 14 others were arrested on drug and money laundering charges in 1993.

During the trial, 10 of the defendants testified against her in exchange for reduced or dropped charges.

Her sentence was later commuted by then US President Donald Trump following a meeting with Kardashian at the White House.

White House: Kardashian met Trump (pictured) to highlight the case of Alice Johnson, prompting her release

Reaching out: Kardashian enlisted her legal team to help in Johnson's case as well as Cyntoia Brown (pictured in court), a former child sex slave who killed her abuser when she was 16

Free her: Kadashian referenced Brown in a tweet shared with Twitter followers in 2017

Kardashian enlisted her legal team to help in Johnson's case as well as Cyntoia Brown, a former child sex slave who killed her abuser when she was 16.

Brown's case went viral when it emerged she had already served 13 years of a life sentence, and she eventually secured the backing of Kardashian in her clemency campaign.

Then 16-year-old Brown was sex trafficked by a pimp named Kutthroat who was physically, sexually and verbally abusive and eventually sold her to 43-year-old Nashville realtor Johnny Allen, a court heard during her trial in 2004.

Final say: Former Tennessee Governor BIll Haslam granted Brown-Long clemency, saying that 'imposing a life sentence on a juvenile that would require her to serve at least 51 years before even being eligible for parole consideration is too harsh'

Concern: Brown (pictured above) said she worried the attention brought to her story from celebrities like Kim Kardashian would rub then Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam the wrong way

Brown, who feared that former Army sharp shooter Allen planned to kill her, eventually grabbed one of her captor's guns and killed him, Fox17 reported at the time.

Tweeting in 2017, Kardashian wrote: 'The system has failed. It's heart breaking to see a young girl sex trafficked then when she has the courage to fight back is jailed for life!

'We have to do better & do what's right. I've called my attorneys yesterday to see what can be done to fix this. #FreeCyntoiaBrown'.

Face to face: The reality TV star spent two hours talking with quadruple murderer Kevin Cooper at San Quentin prison in 2018

Innocent man: Kim later took to Twitter to reaffirm her stance on Cooper's innocence

Brown was released after Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam granted her clemency, saying that 'imposing a life sentence on a juvenile that would require her to serve at least 51 years before even being eligible for parole consideration is too harsh, especially in light of the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life.'

Brown later admitted that Kardashian's support was not exactly in her best interest, especially when Halsam was considering her clemency.

'I was so nervous and the I was like, I don't want the governor to think I've done this to like try to kind of like push his hand,' she tells NBC Nightly News. 'Like that could backfire. That could look very bad.'

Awaiting execution: Cooper had been awaiting death since 1983 for the grisly murders of two parents, their ten-year-old daughter and her friend in California

Family photo: Peggy, Doug, Jessica and Joshua Ryens, who was the lone survivor of a hatchet attack in 1985

'We had actually heard back from the governor's counsel that the whole Kim Kardashian thing was not helping. So I was kind of fearful.'

In 2019 Kardashian posed for a picture alongside a convicted killer on death row at the notorious San Quentin prison, after she launched a legal campaign to secure his release.

The reality TV star spent two hours talking with quadruple murderer Kevin Cooper in an 'emotional' meeting, and later said she was convinced he had been framed.

The pair stood arm-in-arm to pose for a picture after the meeting. Kim, dressed modestly in a black zip-up, smiled as she rested her head on the shoulder of the towering Cooper, who adorned a beaming grin.

'I had an emotional meeting with Kevin Cooper yesterday at San Quentin's death row,' she tweeted. 'I found him to be thoughtful, honest and I believe him to be innocent of the crimes for which he was convicted.'

Cooper had been awaiting death since 1983 for the grisly murders of two parents, their ten-year-old daughter and her friend.

Ever since his arrest, Cooper has vehemently protested his innocence.

In October 2018, Kim asked then-Governor of California Jerry Brown to re-open Cooper's case to investigate new potential evidence that may prove hes not the responsible culprit, prompting Brown to conduct a DNA test against Cooper and evidence found at the scene.

California's new Governor, Gavin Newsom - who is staunchly against capital punishment - ordered additional testing in February.

In custody: Brown was arrested in 1983 and convicted in 1985 for the gruesome murders of two children and two adults - but he has always maintained his innocence

Getting involved: A source said she stayed at San Quentin (pictured) for several hours meeting inmates and staff

Cooper was sentenced to death for the slaying of Douglas and Peggy Ryens, their 10-year-old daughter Jessica, and 10-year-old Chris Hughes, who was staying at their house in Chino Hills in San Bernardino County.

During Cooper's appeal, testing of evidence, including a t-shirt believed to have belonged to the killer, was found to have his blood - and test tube preservative on it.

This indicated the blood on the shirt had been put there from inside a test tube of Cooper's blood, not splattered on during the quadruple murder.

Advocates argue that the San Bernardino Sheriffs Department tampered with DNA evidence to frame Cooper and that this evidence  found on a t-shirt Cooper says he never wore  should be retested.

Petition: Kardashian also unsuccessfully sought to stop the execution of Brandon Bernard (right), who was sentenced to death for his involvement in the murders of two youth ministers in 1999. He was executed in December 2020

Explanation: Kardashian explained Bernard's case in a Twitter thread shared with followers shortly before his execution

Murder: Bernard was sentenced to death for killing married youth ministers Todd and Stacie Bagley (pictured) with the help of four teenage accomplices in Killeen, Texas, in June 1999

Witnesses also said they had seen three white men driving - what was believed to be the family car - away from the home, but cops focused on Cooper instead.

The California man has been fighting to have evidence in his case re-examined for years.

Five judges even agreed that he was wrongly convicted, but he has remained behind bars and is currently still on death row.

In May 2019 Kardashian helped get Jeffrey Stringer from Miami out of prison after he was locked up for more than two decades for a low-level drug case.

The reality star tweeted that she helped fund his case after he had been sentenced to life in prison.

More recently Kardashian unsuccessfully sought to stop the execution of Texas man Brandon Bernard, who was sentenced to death for his involvement in the 1999 murders of two youth ministers.

The reality star-turned-prison reform advocate highlighted the case in a tweet posted in 2020, writing: 'A terrible case has been brought to my attention and I need your help. Without it, on December 12th Brandon Bernard is going to be executed for a crime he participated in as a teenager.'

Bernard was given the death penalty in 2000 for killing Todd and Stacie Bagley with the help of four accomplices, all of whom were teenagers at the time, in Killeen, Texas.

The teens were accused of holding the Bagleys at gunpoint and stealing their car before shooting them dead and burning their bodies in the trunk.

Mercy: Kardashian said that she knows Bernard's actions were inexcusable, but she doesn't think he deserves to die because of something he did when he was 18. Pictured: Bernard holds a photo of himself with family in an undated photo from prison

Bernard's attorneys had asked a federal judge to postpone his execution, claiming that prosecutors suppressed critical evidence during his trial two decades ago.

The defence said Bernard was not with his four accomplices when they kidnapped the Bagleys, and that he only became involved later because he was a low-level member of a gang that ordered the killings.

One of Bernard's five co-defendants, Christopher Vialva, was executed in September 2020. Prosecutors said it was Vialva who shot both Todd and Stacey Bagley and made the order to torch their car.

Bernard was subsequently executed at United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute, in December 2020.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star registered with the California State Bar to study law to become a fully-fledged lawyer, following in the footsteps of her late father Robert.

Kardashian was required to earn 60 college credits and then work as an apprentice at a law firm in San Francisco with the intention to take the Bar Exam in 2022.
Nadia Bartel has opened the first store for her fashion brand Henne in Melbourne.

The former WAG-turned-businesswoman, 36, announced the grand opening of the boutique on Instagram, sharing a series of photos and videos of the chic interiors.

Henne, which Nadia founded with her sister in 2019, used to be online-only but has now established a presence on the high street.

Nadia Bartel (pictured) has opened the first store for her fashion brand Henne in Melbourne

'Pinch me moment! Our first boutique is finally here. It opens this week and seriously feels like a dream,' Nadia told her 546,000 followers.

'Big thank you to [interior designers] Brahman Perera for his vision. I can't wait for you to all come in and experience Henne in person.'

The store boasts spacious changing rooms and large mirrors, as well as a seating area and a blue staircase that leads to another level.

The former WAG-turned-businesswoman, 36, announced the grand opening of the boutique on Instagram, sharing a series of photos and videos of the chic interiors

Nadia's brand has gone from strength to strength since its launch two years ago.

Last October, she showcased Henne's new trans-seasonal collection, which she described as a 'return to light'.

The capsule collection launched with 16 designs, which are available in XS to XL.

Nadia's venture has put her in competition with fellow footy WAG Bec Judd, who co-owns the activewear label JAGGAD.

The store features spacious changing rooms and large mirrors for shoppers to try on clothes

Henne, the Swedish word for 'her', has been a runaway success for Nadia.

The website lists its values as a commitment to women's voices, circularity, mindful consumption, good working conditions and a positive environmental impact.

'By ensuring each garment is designed to last, we are reducing our impact on the planet for future generations,' it states.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson and his wife Sam celebrated their ten-year wedding anniversary on Tuesday with a vow renewal party.

English actor Aaron, 31, and his wife, 54, met on the set of the 2009 John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy, which Sam directed, when she was 42 and he was 18.

The pair announced their engagement later that year and married in 2012 with a ceremony in Somerset, England.

Loved-up: Aaron Taylor-Johnson and his wife Sam celebrated their ten-year wedding anniversary on Tuesday with a vow renewal and party

Taking to their respective Instagram accounts, the couple gave fans a glimpse into their special day which was attended by dozens of pals.

Penning a moving tribute to his social media account, the Hollywood actor wrote: 'Yesterday was the most beautiful day, summer solstice, our 10th anniversary we renewed our vows to one another and confessed our love in front of our nearest and dearest friends and family it was a celebration of love and joy!

He added: 'A decade of marriage. It was a magical unforgettable day and the sun did not stop shining on us both.. we are blessed beyond belief. Sammy you are my love, my life, my soulmate, my wife, my world!'

Boho wedding vibes: Photographer Sam looked radiant in a maxi shirt dress gown while Aaron looked smart in a cream three piece suit, dressing down the look going without a tie

Meanwhile Sam, who is 23 years her partner's senior, shared a photo of the pair standing on a table to share a kiss - and wrote: '10 glorious years. My incredible husband, father to all 4 girls. I love you, I love you, I love you. Love conquers all.'

The photographer looked radiant in a maxi shirt dress gown, while she wore her blonde tresses in a low pony-tail.

Rocking some boho wedding vibes, Aaron looked smart in a cream three piece suit, dressing down the look going without a tie.

Love conquers all: Sam declared her love for the Hollywood hunk on her social media

Best day ever: Penning a moving tribute to his social media account, the Hollywood actor wrote a loved-up tribute to mark the occasion

Cheers: The couple's friends and family were seen toasting the couple as they sealed their love with a kiss in front of the harmonious group

The couple's friends and family were seen toasting them as they sealed their love with a kiss in front of the harmonious group.

Both Sam and Aaron also uploaded some throwback snaps from the past decade, sharing one touching black and white photo while Sam sips some coffee and Aaron places a loving arm around her.

Sam also reshared a photo of the pair dancing a slow set dressed in matching suits while sharing an intimate kiss.

Adore: Sam shared one touching black and white photo where she sips some coffee and Aaron places a loving arm around her

In 2010 they welcomed their first daughter Wylda Rae, with Romy being born in 2012.

Aaron has previously discussed the moment he fell for Sam, and even touched upon their age gap.

He told Harper's Bazaar in 2019: 'I remember it very, very clearly. I know exactly what she was wearing. This white shirt that she still has, that I love.'

He added: 'We were very professional through the entire film [Nowhere Boy]. No funny business at all.'

Of their 24-year age gap, the doting father told New York magazine: 'The attention was intrusive. But having to deal with that early in my career probably got me to a place where I can more quickly just go, "Oh, f**k it".'
Married At First Sight's Olivia Frazer has received backlash for joining OnlyFans.

But the reality TV villain is having the last laugh thanks to her astronomical earnings on the racy subscription-based platform.

During an Instagram Q&A on Wednesday, the 27-year-old revealed she is now in the top 0.2 per cent of all creators.

Married At First Sight star Olivia Frazer (pictured) has become one of the most successful models on OnlyFans

When asked what she thought of a petition to have her removed from the adult website, Olivia replied: 'I'm a good investment for OnlyFans.'

She then posted a screenshot from her statistics page as proof she is in fact in the top 0.2 per cent of creators.

It comes after Olivia told Daily Mail Australia last month she'd earned a whopping $10,000 in her first 12 hours on OnlyFans.

In addition to her income from subscribers, the busty blonde is open to personal requests and has been sending nudes to fans privately.

During an Instagram Q&A on Wednesday, the 27-year-old revealed she is now in the top 0.2 per cent of creators

She posted this screenshot from her stats page as proof she's in the top 0.2 percent of creators

Olivia is charging subscribers $14.99 per month, which is on the pricey side for OnlyFans. Twelve-month packages can be purchased for $126.

The former teaching assistant recently boasted about her earnings on OnlyFans, saying she makes even more than Married At First Sight star Jessika Power.

'I won't say a figure, but I'll just say that I've already made more than Jess Power's best month,' Olivia told the So Dramatic podcast.

Olivia is charging subscribers $14.99 per month, which is on the pricey side for OnlyFans

Olivia said she believes Jessika's 'best month' on the platform was $200,000.

Last week, Jessika boasted about her OnlyFans earnings by saying she makes more money than the average businessman does.

Sharing a satisfied selfie to Instagram, Jessika wrote: 'Sitting on a train down to London surrounded by men in business suits knowing full well I make the most money from capitalising on my reality TV fame.'
Pope Francis is facing rumors that he will soon be resigning from the papacy due to declining health conditions after he lost half of his colon removed during a surgery.

However, the religious figurehead put to rest the controversies during a meeting with over a dozen Catholic bishops who were visiting the Vatican from Brazil. The pope told visiting Archbishop Roque Paloschi that resigning from the Holy See "does not cross his mind."

Is Pope Francis Leaving His Post?

But Pope Francis did not feign great health, as he reportedly told bishops that he was already facing many difficult challenges but that he wished to live the life God gave him until the end. The private, seemingly off-hand comment put to rest weeks of speculation that the religious leader was considering stepping down from his papacy.

The rumors of his resignation plans first emerged after his appointment with new cardinals amid reports of his health challenges and the cancellation of multiple apostolic engagements. The pope added fuel to the rumors when he announced that he would be visiting the central Italian city of L'Aquila in August for a feast initiated by Pope Celestine V, one of the few pontiffs who resigned before Pope Benedict XVI stepped down in 2013, as per Fox News.

However, close papal advisor Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga previously dismissed the rumors as a "cheap soap opera." The rumors also come as last July, the pope underwent surgery on his colon and was hospitalized for nearly two weeks.

Read Also: Easter Sunday Message: Pope Francis Blasts "Darkness Of War", Urged Faithful To Pray For Ukraine

Since the operation, the pontiff has regularly complained of knee pain and other side effects that make mobility and physical exertion challenging. On Wednesday, Pope Francis spoke to his General Audience about the effects of old age, elderly frailty, and the virtue of helplessness.

According to the Washington Post, the pope said that the pain became obvious roughly five months ago. He said that he had an "inflamed ligament in the knee," noting that the condition was common among the elderly.

Health Concerns

Pope Francis described the problem and noted that it would soon pass, but by late April he said that his right knee was "still not healing." Soon after his statement, he was already forced to use a wheelchair to move around.

He told pilgrims one morning that he could not greet them on foot as he usually does, saying that he, "would like to apologize." Pope Francis is still hoping to restore his mobility; but in the meantime, his day-to-day life has changed drastically along with the very image of his pontificate, being 85 years old, his frailty is impossible to miss.

Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected to the papacy in March 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI stepped down at the age of 85 years old. The pope reportedly does not want to undergo surgery on his knee, despite the pain, and was quoted as telling bishops in May that rather than operate, he would "resign."

The pope has been relatively open about his struggles due to his health conditions, saying that the elderly must accept their physical limitations. "When we are old, we cannot do the same things we did when we were young," Francis said, the New York Post reported.



Related Article: Pope Francis: 5 Interesting Facts You May Not Know About the Pontiff

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MasterChef Australia contestant Tommy Pham and his partner Wendy have welcomed a new baby boy.

The beloved chef shared the happy news on Instagram, posting a picture of the newborn called Hugo with his big brother Miles, two.

A series of sweet snaps showed the brothers cuddling, with little Hugo wrapped up in an adorable elephant blanket.

MasterChef contestant Tommy Pham and his partner Wendy have welcomed a new baby. A series of sweet snaps showed the brothers cuddling, with little Hugo wrapped up in an adorable elephant blanket

Tommy is best known for appearing on seasons 13 and 14 of MasterChef Australia

Tommy explained that Miles is 'in love' with his baby brother and that his wife is now outnumbered three to one.

'Aight fam here's some news to brighten your day!' Tommy captioned the photos.

'Introducing our brand spanking new baby Hugo!' he continued. 'There's an absolutely crazy story behind his birth but I'll save it for next time!'

'Nothing like a sleeping bubba in your arms,' he captioned one photo

Tommy explained that Miles is 'in love' with his baby brother and that his wife is now outnumbered three to one

Tommy continued to gush about the new addition to the Pham clan, and expressed his gratitude that little Hugo was healthy.

'This post is more an appreciation of our little blessing who is a healthy and happy boy! Miles is in love with his baby brother,' he wrote.

'His fav things to do with Hugo is cuddle (a little too hard) and run to him and say "it's OK no cwying" when he's crying (too bad that doesn't work),' he continued.

'Looks like mum is completely outnumbered 3 to 1 now so soz mum boyz rule 4eva,' Tommy finished.

Doting Dad: Tommy often shares snaps with his little ones, including a recent picture in a bubble bath with Miles, two

Hundreds of fans were quick to comment on the exciting news.

MasterChef Judge Melissa Leong commented: 'Aunty Mel cant wait to meet you, Hugo,'

Fellow MasterChef contestant Justin Narayan added: 'Bro Congratulations! So cute'.

MasterChef Singapore Judge Audra Morrice said: 'Oh bless! Congrats you guys!!!'

Tommy said that Miles, two, is 'in love' with his little brother and his favourite thing to do is cuddle him

Tommy announced the news of Wendy's pregnancy earlier this year following his elimination from the Fans and Favourites season.

Another fan commented: 'Congratulations Wendy, Tommy and Miles! Hugo is perfection'.

While one wrote: 'Congratulations Tommy!! Miles is proving to be a great big brother already'.

Tommy announced the news of Wendy's pregnancy earlier this year following his elimination from the Fans and Favourites season.

In a goodbye post he penned: 'Yes our little family is becoming a full fledged family of 6 (doggies included) and man oh man it's gonna get real hectic real soon!'
The director of the new Elvis biopic, Baz Luhrman, and the man who played the King of Rock and Roll, Austin Butler, surprised moviegoers at an AMC Theater in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank.

The duo have been appearing together, and at times separately, in interviews and talk shows in the final push leading up to the release of the much-hyped and much-anticipated film.

The movie, which also stars Tom Hanks and Olivia DeJonge, chronicles the life and career of Elvis Presley from his early days as a child to becoming one of the first rock and roll stars, as well as his complex relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

Surprise riles up moviegoers: Elvis director Baz Luhrmann and leading man Austin Butler made a surprise appearance at a special screening of the much-anticipated biopic at an AMC theater in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank

Lurking in a hallway entrance to the theater, Luhrmann took to his camera-phone and set-up his surprise entrance.

'I am at the AMC Theaters in Burbank with one of my first audiences for Elvis,' the Australian director whispered into the camera.

The crowd screamed with approval when Luhrmann came from out of the darkness of the hallway to reveal himself to the audience who were eagerly awaiting a sneak peak screening of the biopic.

For an added touch of flare, a cover version of the song If I Can Dream, made famous by Elvis Presley in his '68 Comeback Special, was added to the Instagram video.

The drama of it all: Lurking in a hallway entrance to the theater, Luhrmann took to his camera-phone and set-up his surprise entrance: 'I am at the AMC Theaters in Burbank with one of my first audiences for Elvis,' he whispered into the camera

Surprise! The crowd screamed with approval when Luhrmann came from out of the darkness of the theater hallway to reveal himself to the audience who were eagerly awaiting a sneak peak screening of the Elvis biopic

Rousing ovation: The audience screamed with approval when Luhrmann revealed himself

But those screams turned into a roar when the Australian director announced the arrival of the star of the biopic, Austin Butler.

As the noise of all the clapping and cheering grew louder, the two colleagues hugged it out in front of the movie screen, as fans stood in amazement shooting video of their own.

Dressed like a proper movie star in a fitted black suit and matching leather boots, Butler addressed the screaming fans by sharing how that particular theater has a special place in his heart.

'This AMC is actually where I went on dates when I was a teenager,' Butler, 30, confessed to the crowd, which got another rousing applause.

Set-up: The Australian director was the one to introduce Butler to the audience

Wild reaction: The actor came in from one of the entrance/exits to a roaring applause

Spreading the love: The director and his leading man hugged it out at center stage

At one point, amongst all the adoration, one young pre-teen boy, politely asked the actor if he could take a picture with him, for which he obliged without hesitation.

Luhrmann's video was shared on the Instagram pages of the film and Warner Bros. Pictures with the caption: 'The #ElvisTeam made another surprise visit to a screening in Los Angeles and definitely felt the love!'

'Don't miss @BazLuhrmann's #ElvisMovie in theaters THIS FRIDAY  get your tickets TODAY.'

The Presley family, including ex-wife Priscilla Presley, daughter Lisa Marie Presley and granddaughter Riley Keough, have all given their seal of approval for the film and Butler's performance as Elvis.

Promo mode: The Elvis Team is making several surprise showings at screening of the film

Feeling sentimental: 'This AMC is actually where I went on dates when I was a teenager,' Butler, 30, confessed to the crowd, which got another rousing applause
Selling Sunset star Maya Vander is not returning for the show's sixth season.

Sources with the Netflix series on Wednesday told TMZ that the reality star, 40, is leaving the show to focus her efforts on family and her Miami-based real estate business.

Insiders told the outlet that Vander made adjustments to her real estate credentials to join the real estate firm Compass.

The latest: Selling Sunset star Maya Vander, 40, is not returning for the show's sixth season, as sources with the Netflix series on Wednesday told TMZ that the reality star is leaving to focus her efforts on family and her Miami-based real estate business

Producers had hoped to have Vander return for the series, sources told TMZ, but constant travel between Miami and Los Angeles had been burdensome on her.

Vander, who was not on hand during the MTV Movie Awards with the show's cast in Los Angeles earlier this month, is said to have enjoyed her stint on the series, sources told the outlet.

News of Vander's exit from the series comes on the heels of her announcement she suffered a miscarriage, six months after she delivered her stillborn son. Vander announced the sad news on her Instagram Stories Tuesday with a picture of her son Aiden, three, as he slept.

'I had a very crazy week. Miscarriage after 10 weeks... following my stillbirth... but my kids and my husband are absolutely my blessing and I am so lucky to be there mother!'

Cast: (L-R) Chrishell Stause, Vanessa Villela, Chelsea Lazkani, Vander, Davina Potratz and Mary Fitzgerald are seen in a shot from the show's fifth season

Details: Vander has suffered a miscarriage, six months after she delivered her stillborn son. The Netflix star announced the sad news on her Instagram Stories Tuesday with a picture of her son Aiden, three, as he slept

She continued: 'They bring me joy and happiness to my life!! Hug and love the people you care about. Don't take things for granted!' adding a prayer emoji.

Maya is married to David Amar, and they share two children: Aiden and daughter Elle, two.

Six months prior to her miscarriage, Maya suffered a devastating stillbirth.

She revealed the news on her social media with a picture of a memory box given by the hospital.

Strong lady: 'I had a very crazy week. Miscarriage after 10 weeks... following my stillbirth... but my kids and my husband are absolutely my blessing and I am so lucky to be there mother!'

In the heartbreaking post, Maya wrote: 'I had a still birth at 38 weeks. I always heard of it but never imagined I'll be part of the statistics... Instead of delivering a baby, I get to go home with a memory box... I do not wish this on anyone. What was a regular weekly checkup turned into a nightmare that I never imagined would happen to me...'

'Given I share my pregnancies in the show I knew I'll have to post this and avoid "when is your due date" question. You will always be in our heart Mason Miller,' she wrote in the post shared in November.

She previously spoke out in the past about her fertility struggles, revealing she had suffered two miscarriages before welcoming son Aiden in April 2019 and daughter Elle Madison in May 2020.

Maya announced she was pregnant with their third child in July 2021.

Last week, Maya reflected on her loss via her Instagram, revealing that she is still healing from her loss but that staying active has helped her copy with the pain.

Sad: In her social media post announcing the tragic loss, Maya posted an image of a memory box given to her in hospital alongside the heartbreaking caption

From the heart: Maya revealed the devastating news on her Instagram in December

Family: Maya is married to David Amar, and they share two children: Aiden and daughter Elle, two

'Everyone handles their loss in their own way, but for me I find the key is to stay busy. A healthy distraction always keeps me going.'

Adding that it helped to 'get to work, socialize with people, get your body moving (endorphins), and talk to someone. From my experiences, I know the pain of loss won't heal overnight, but today is a great day to begin or continue furthering the healing process.'

Maya spoke out about how she struggled to watch Selling Sunset's season five, where she was 22 weeks pregnant at the time of filming.

Healing process: Last week, Maya reflected on her loss via her Instagram, revealing that she is still healing from her loss but that staying active has helped her copy with the pain

Pain: Maya spoke out about how she struggled to watch Selling Sunset's season five reunion, where she was 22 weeks pregnant at the time of filming

Maya said during the reunion for season five, that her son died in a 'freak accident' due to umbilical cord compression.

'It's been four and a half months and time helps. I want to say thanks to each and every one of you, whenever s**t hits the fan, everyone was so kind here. Life happens, we don't know how things will happen. I was 38 weeks, and it was a freak accident.'

She continued: 'We just got the autopsy back and it was just a bad accident with the cord. Mixed with some swallowed placenta.'

'But I'm doing much better and I have my husband, he's amazing. My kids are great. They keep me going, work and I'm busy. I don't have time to sit and cry all day long, I have my moments, that's part of grief, and just take this opportunity to raise voice for stillbirth and pregnancy loss,' she said.

Bittersweet: Maya announced she was pregnant with their third child in July 2021; pictured with David after she announced her pregnancy last year
Socialite and reality star Christian Wilkins has hit back at a Twitter troll who criticised him for wearing a dress to the Logie Awards on Sunday night.

The anonymous user @SaraVic333 tweeted on Tuesday 'it's not normal' for men to wear women's clothes, before adding: 'STOP normalising this bulls**t!!!'

Christian, 26, responded to this criticism on Wednesday by mocking the way some people react hysterically to men who like to wear dresses.

Socialite and reality star Christian Wilkins has hit back at a Twitter troll who criticised him for wearing a dress to the Logie Awards on Sunday night (pictured)

'What is happening to the world!!!! Masculinity is ending!!! Burn everything!!' he tweeted to rapturous support from his Twitter followers.

The Twitter user who criticised Christian also seems to hold some pretty strong views about Covid vaccines and 'freedom of speech'.

Their bio states, 'You can try to silence me, but it only makes me LOUDER! Unvaxxed and Unafraid. Conservative,' followed by three Australian flag emojis.

The anonymous user @SaraVic333 tweeted 'it's not normal' for men to wear women's clothes, before adding: 'STOP normalising this bulls**t!!!' Christian, 26, responded on Wednesday by mocking the way some people react hysterically to men who like to wear dresses

Fortunately, Christian had plenty of supporters.

Many fans praised the Filthy Rich and Homeless star for embracing a feminine look instead of the traditional tuxedo favoured by men on the red carpet.

'She's so mad you're prettier than her and can pull off a dress which she'd most definitely be unable to... jealously IS a disease,' one Twitter user wrote.

'I think you're a fabulous role model,' another added.

Christian had plenty of supporters, however, with fans praising him for embracing a proudly feminine look instead of the traditional tuxedo favoured by men on the red carpet

Christian put his best fashion foot forward on Sunday when he arrived on the Logies red carpet in a sheer backless dress

Christian put his best fashion foot forward on Sunday when he arrived on the Logies red carpet in a sheer backless dress.

He wore his long blond hair loosely, opted for a pair of quirky hoof-style heels, and accessorised with a dramatic necklace that draped down his back.

Christian made sure the cameras caught him at every angle as he showcased his modelesque features, including his chiselled jawline.

The Filthy Rich and Homeless star made sure the cameras caught him at every angle as he showcased his modelesque features, including his chiselled jawline

He spoke about his experimental style in an interview with Body + Soul last year.

'I remember when I used to work at Channel Nine just doing marketing and some days I'd just go in with pink glitter all over my eyes. And they'd be like, "Why are you wearing pink glitter?"' he said.

'I would say, "Because woke up and I was a bit sad today, and I just felt like it was a pink glitter eye shadow day." I've always gone into makeup with that ethos.

'If you want to wear it, if you want to do eyes and lips, who is telling you that you can only do one? Do it! Do whatever makes you feel good.'
Lisa Curry has revealed her late daughter Jaimi Kenny wanted to write a book about her life in order to help other troubled young people.

But she was unable to fulfil this wish because she tragically died in September 2020 aged 33 after an 18-year battle with alcohol addiction and anorexia.

The Olympic swimmer told The Australian Women's Weekly on Thursday: 'Jaimi wanted to write a book to help others, but it was too late. We left it too late.'

A heartbroken Lisa Curry (right) has revealed her late daughter Jaimi's (left) dying wish was to write a book to help others. Jaimi died in 2020 after a long battle with alcoholism and anorexia

She added: 'But I hope that, by being honest and knowing that Jaimi wanted to help others, we can help in some way, in some small way.'

The sporting champion has just released a deeply personal memoir that touches on Jaimi's illness and death, called Lisa: A Memoir - 60 Years of Life, Love and Loss.

She also told AWW that caring for Jaimi over the years had been 'exhausting', but she had to learn she couldn't spend her whole life worrying about one child.

The Olympian (pictured on the Today show earlier this year) told The Australian Women's Weekly: 'Jaimi wanted to write a book to help others, but it was too late. We left it too late'

The sporting champion has just released a deeply personal memoir that touches on Jaimi's illness and death, called Lisa: A Memoir - 60 Years of Life, Love & Loss. (Pictured with son Jett)

'You can't live your life for one child. You have three children and they are all the world to you, and that's why I have to be really conscious of my self-care, so that I can be there for them and the grandchildren,' she said.

Lisa married fellow athlete Grant Kenny in 1984 and they separated in 2009.

During their marriage, they welcomed three children together: son Jett, 28, and daughters Morgan, 31, and Jaimi.

She also told AWW that caring for Jaimi (right) over the years had been 'exhausting', but she had to learn she couldn't spend her whole life worrying about one child

Almost a decade after her divorce from the Ironman great, Lisa wed Elvis impersonator Mark Tabone in 2018.

Jaimi died at Sunshine Coast University Hospital on September 14, 2020, surrounded by her family. She was 33.

Announcing the sad news on social media, Lisa wrote: 'Our beautiful daughter Jaimi has lost her battle with a long-term illness and passed away peacefully in hospital yesterday morning with her loving family by her side.'

Lisa suffered heartbreak yet again in April this year after losing her mother Pat at the age of 86.

For confidential support in Australia, call Lifeline on 13 11 14
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Casey Affleck's girlfriend Caylee Cowan reportedly scared off an intruder that attempted to break into their home while the actor was away on Tuesday.

But the 24-year-old actress shook off the frightening encounter to attend the premiere of her latest film Frank and Penelope in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.

She was supported at the star-studded soiree by Affleck, 46, who she began dating in January 2021.

Supportive: Casey Affleck supported his much younger girlfriend Caylee Cowan at the premiere of her latest film Frank and Penelope in Los Angeles on Wednesday night. Cowan looked stunning in a plunging blush gown with a flowing semi-sheer skirt

Cowan looked stunning in a plunging blush gown with a flowing semi-sheer skirt.

She strutted her stuff in a pair of strappy heels and she fastened a pair of glitzy drop earrings to her ears.

Cowan's brunette hair was parted down the middle and styled in a bun.

As for makeup, the beauty painted her plump pout a glossy peach shade and the apples of cheeks were dusted with pink blusher.

Glitz and glamour: She strutted her stuff in a pair of strappy heels and she fastened a pair of glitzy drop earrings to her ears

Going strong: The couple began dating in January 2021

She coated her eyelashes in black mascara and she lined her eyes in a cateye shape.

Cowan twirled her dress as she posed for shutterbugs.

Affleck looked handsome in a fitted blue sweater styled with a pair of dark wash denim jeans.

The Manchester By The Sea star threw on a pair of black slip-on shoes to complete the outfit.

Handsome: Affleck looked handsome in a fitted blue sweater styled with a pair of dark wash denim jeans

Sweet: He had one arm wrapped around his girlfriend's waist before sharing a smiley moment with the stunner on the red carpet

He had one arm wrapped around his girlfriend's waist before sharing a smiley moment with the stunner on the red carpet.

Though the couple appeared in good spirits, Cowan had quite the scare on Tuesday morning after an intruder reportedly entered the Los Angeles home she shares with Affleck.

Cowan - who is trained in Karate, Taekwondo, Shotokan, and Krav Maga - woke at 3am to find the home invader staring at her in the bedroom and he ran off when she screamed, according to TMZ.

Elegant: Cowan's brunette hair was parted down the middle and styled in a bun

Blushing beauty: As for makeup, the beauty painted her plump pout a glossy peach shade and the apples of cheeks were dusted with pink blusher

Brave: Cowan reportedly scared off an intruder that attempted to break into their home while her boyfriend was away on Tuesday. Cowan - who is trained in Karate, Taekwondo, Shotokan, and Krav Maga - woke at 3am to find the home invader staring at her in the bedroom and he ran off when she screamed, according to TMZ

The actress quickly gave the 911 dispatcher a description of the suspect, who was still running down the street when the LAPD arrested and booked him for burglary.

Affleck was out of town at the time of the incident.

It's still unclear how exactly the man broke into the house, as there was no sign of forced entry. But luckily Cowan was unharmed and was even able to report to work that same morning.

Cowan was joined at the premiere by her co-stars Donna D'Errico, Sean Patrick Flanery, Sydney Scotia and Billy Budinich.

Co-stars: Cowan was joined at the premiere by her co-stars Donna D'Errico, Sean Patrick Flanery, Sydney Scotia and Billy Budinich; (L-R) Donna D'Errico, Sean Patrick Flanery and Caylee Cowan

Sizzling: Donna D'Errico sizzled in a curve-clinging black strapless dress and a pair of strappy silver heels

Dazzling: The Baywatch alum, 54, wore a dazzling diamond necklace that fell into her cleavage, as well as a pair of matching earrings and a beaded clutch

Donna sizzled in a curve-clinging black strapless dress and a pair of strappy silver heels.

The Baywatch alum, 54, wore a dazzling diamond necklace that fell into her cleavage, as well as a pair of matching earrings and a beaded clutch.

Sean rocked a slightly unbuttoned white dress shirt styled with a navy blue blazer and distressed gray jeans.

Sydney slipped her fit figure into a brown and beige crochet dress with a modest leg slit.

Boho vibes: Sydney Scotia slipped her fit figure into a brown and beige crochet dress with a modest leg slit.

Suave: Sean Patrick Flanery rocked a slightly unbuttoned white dress shirt styled with a navy blue blazer and distressed gray jeans. Billy Budinich suited up in navy blue blazer and matching tapered trousers for the night, along with a white dress shirt and black leather shoes

The I Dare You actress wore her honey toned tresses in voluminous curls and she strolled the red carpet in a pair of brown heeled sandals.

Billy suited up in navy blue blazer and matching tapered trousers for the night, along with a white dress shirt and black leather shoes.

Described as a 'tale of love and violence,' Frank and Penelope follows a man (played by Billy Budinich) on his emotional last legs who finds a savior seductively dancing in a run-down strip club,' as per IMDB.

'And a life most certainly headed off a cliff suddenly becomes redirected - as EVERYTHING is now worth dying for.'

Frank and Penelope, written and directed by Sean Patrick Flanery, was released in limited theaters on June 3.
Farrah Abraham will be arraigned in downtown Los Angeles court on Thursday after she was charged with battery in connection with an incident at a Hollywood nightclub more than five months ago.

The 31-year-old reality star is slated to hear the charges against her at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, ET reported Wednesday after reviewing records from the Los Angeles Superior Court.

In the January 15 incident, TMZ reported earlier this year, Abraham was dining at the Hollywood venue Grandmaster Records when a confrontation took place outside the establishment.

The latest: Farrah Abraham, 31, will be arraigned in downtown Los Angeles court on Thursday after she was charged with battery in connection with an incident at a Hollywood nightclub more than five months ago. She was snapped in LA earlier this month

After she refused to leave the venue, a security guard said Abraham had hit her, and Abraham was placed under citizen's arrest prior to police arriving and arresting her in connection with suspicion of misdemeanor battery.

The MTV personality's lawyer Dario C. Gomez issued a statement earlier this month denying that any charges had been brought against the reality star.

On Instagram Stories, the Teen Mom alum shared the June 6 statement which said it sought 'to clarify that no charges to date have been brought against Ms. Abraham in connection with the incident that occurred at Grandmaster Records on January 15, 2022.

'That is because Ms. Abraham committed no crime, and is, in fact, the victim in all of this, not only of physical and emotional injury, but also of negligent investigation by security staff at GrandMaster Recorders and the media at large.'

Both Abraham and her lawyer's office have issued statements about the latest legal developments

Abraham was dining at the Hollywood venue Grandmaster Records when a confrontation took place outside the establishment, leading to her arrest January 15

Abraham's legal team said it is probing the January 15 incident 'further and is in the process of pursuing any and all remedies available to' Abraham over 'the physical and emotional damages [she] has suffered as a result of this unfortunate incident.'

Abraham's legal team said it's 'confident the truth will come to light and [she] will receive the justice she so rightly deserves.'

Abraham, who's also been seen on Ex on the Beach, Celebrity Big Brother and Couples Therapy, added text over her lawyer's statement stating where she stands on the issue.

'Legal Notice. I will not further be Harassed about the horrific batterment clearly seen on video and photos, my doctors having to rehabilitate myself from illegal activities by security staff abusing their uniforms and attacking me off property and against my will,' Abraham said. 'For my mental state I will not be engaging further per my doctors orders as I had to move and [go] to a trauma center from this.'

Abraham earlier this year posted a clip of the incident on her Instagram account and claimed it was the result of a conspiracy against her.
She recently rang in her 58th birthday.

And Courteney Cox showed off her seemingly ageless visage as she stepped out in Santa Monica on Wednesday evening.

The Friends star grabbed dinner at the celeb-loved Italian restaurant Giorgio Baldi.

Ageless: Courteney Cox recently rang in her 58th birthday. And she showed off her seemingly ageless visage as she stepped out in Santa Monica on Wednesday evening

Cox rocked a navy blue shirt that she left slightly unbuttoned to display her smooth decolletage and layered silver chain necklaces.

She styled her top with a pair of denim skinny jeans and some black slip-on shoes.

The Scream actress carried her essentials in a brown leather purse and strolled towards the eatery with one hand tucked into her jean pocket.

Her complexion had a radiant glow, which was complemented by a light dusting a bronze eyeshadow on her lids and a pale pink gloss on her lips.

Yummy! The Friends star grabbed dinner at the celeb-loved Italian restaurant Giorgio Baldi

Bestie: She was later spotted exiting Giorgio Baldi with her good pal and jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer

Cox flashed a friendly smirk in the direction of passersby before heading inside the restaurant to meet up with her party.

She was later spotted exiting Giorgio Baldi with her good pal and jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer.

She recently returned to Los Angeles from London, where she rang in her birthday with Snow Patrol rocker boyfriend Johnny McDaid.

The couple began dating in 2013, after being introduced by mutual friends, they got engaged in 2013 and although they called off the wedding in 2015, they rekindled their relationship the following year.

Celebration: She recently returned to Los Angeles from London, where she rang in her 57th birthday with Snow Patrol rocker boyfriend Johnny McDaid

Along with celebrating in the flesh, Cox received a flood of messages wishing her a happy birthday on social media.

Most notably, her Friends co-star Jenner Aniston took to her Instagram Story to post a birthday tribute to Cox.

Specifically, the 53-year-old actress shared a throwback picture of the two from their days on Friends with the message, 'Happy Birthday CC!' followed by several heart and birthday emojis and then 'I love you so much.'

Tributes: Along with celebrating in the flesh, Cox received a flood of messages wishing her a happy birthday on social media. Most notably, her Friends co-star Jenner Aniston took to her Instagram Story to post a birthday tribute to Cox

Iconic: Aniston included a clip from Friends in which Monica exclaimed at a formal affair that 'and I can do anything I want! Because I am a grown up,' with Jen writing 'Cheers to being a grown up' followed by a champagne glasses emoji

Aniston also included a clip from Friends in which Monica exclaimed at a formal affair that 'and I can do anything I want! Because I am a grown up,' with Jen writing 'Cheers to being a grown up' followed by a champagne glasses emoji.

The two have been pals for nearly three decades after they met on the set of Friends in 1994. The show was a massive hit and was a ratings winner on NBC for 10 years and can still be seen around the world in syndication.

Along with her own birthday, Cox recently honored her daughter Coco Arquette's 18th birthday with a heartfelt Instagram post on June 13.

Her little girl: Along with her own birthday, Cox recently honored her daughter Coco Arquette's 18th birthday with a heartfelt Instagram post on June 13

The actress - who shares her only child with ex-husband David Arquette, 50 - uploaded a trio of snaps featuring Coco, including one of the two of them posing for a selfie at the beach.

'Happy 18th birthday coco! Im so proud to be your mom,' Cox began.

'You are courageous, smart, deep, funny, unique and beautiful with the biggest heart. I cant wait to see whats next. I love you'
Former Married At First Sight star Susie Bradley has announced she is taking time off work following her recent health scare.

The cosmetic nurse, 29, was rushed to hospital after collapsing at her home on the Gold Coast last Saturday.

After days of silence, Bradley returned to Instagram on Thursday to announce she had taken temporary leave from her beauty clinic business.

Former Married At First Sight star Susie Bradley (pictured) has announced she is taking time off work following her recent health scare

'To my beautiful clients, second to my family and friends, my clients and your happiness are what makes me shine,' the mother of two began.

'So that you can have the very best from me which you all deserve, I have had to make the decision not to return to work until July 4,' she added, before confirming missed appointments would be 'rescheduled'.

Bradley chose not to share details of her recent health scare, nor the reason why she is unable to work for the rest of the month.

After days of silence, the 29-year-old returned to Instagram on Thursday to announce she had taken temporary leave from her beauty clinic business

'Please know how deeply I understand my not being available can impact your appointments / things you may have had planned etc. and if it would be possible for me to return to work sooner I absolutely would,' she continued.

'I appreciate both your support and understanding.'

Bradley's post was accompanied by a photo of herself wearing fluffy yellow slippers.

Bradley chose not to share details of her recent health scare, nor the reason why she is unable to work for the rest of the month

It comes days after her ex-fiance Todd Carney (right) gave fans an update on her health

It comes days after the Bradley's ex-fiance, former NRL player Todd Carney, gave fans an update on her health.

Carney, 36, told The Courier-Mail on Wednesday she was out of hospital and 'fine'.

'She's in a fit and well place. She'll probably go back to work in the next couple of days,' he told the publication.

He declined to comment on the incident, but categorically disputed a version given by emergency service sources.

Carney, 36, told The Courier-Mail on Wednesday she was out of hospital and 'fine'

'Our relationship status is irrelevant to the whole conversation,' Carney said.

Bradley was reportedly in a serious condition when emergency services arrived to her Benowa Waters home on the Gold Coast last Saturday.

The incident came just hours after Bradley, a mother of two, confirmed she had ended her engagement to the retired rugby league star.

The Married At First Sight alum (pictured with Carney in happier times) was reportedly in a serious condition when emergency services arrived to her Benowa Waters home last Saturday

Earlier on Saturday, she had shared photos on Instagram of herself posing in a tight grey mini-dress with a glass of wine in hand.

Looking anything but heartbroken, Bradley wrote in her caption: 'Officially a member of the Hot Single Girl's Club! What's good to do?'

The newly single reality star added the hashtag #IfYouCan'tLaughYou'llCry.

Bradley confirmed her break-up with Carney after dropping several hints on Instagram about her relationship status.

She posted a sombre photo last Wednesday of herself sitting next to a swimming pool, alongside a broken-heart emoji.

The incident came just hours after Bradley (pictured hours before she was hospitalised) confirmed she had ended her engagement to Carney

A day earlier she uploaded a cryptic post about her mental health, and also deleted all traces of Carney from her Instagram.

The ex-Cronulla Sharks player has also deleted his Instagram account.

The former couple started dating in 2019, with Carney stepping into the role of stepfather to Bradley's eight-year-old daughter, Baby.

They welcomed their first child together, a boy named Lion Daryl, in April last year.

Bradley confirmed her break-up with Carney after dropping several hints on Instagram about her relationship status, including this picture of the ocean, which she captioned: 'Numb'

Bradley rose to fame on the fifth season of Married At First Sight, which was filmed in late 2018 and aired the following year.

She was partnered with barista Billy Vincent, but they split before their final vows.

Carney infamously had his $3million contract with the Cronulla Sharks torn up in 2014 after he was pictured urinating in his own mouth at a Sydney pub.

He now works as a concreter.

If you or anyone you know needs immediate support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14
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Chris Pratt, Constance Wu, and Riley Keough all looked great on Wednesday night as they attended the Terminal List premiere in Los Angeles.

The three actors, 43, 40, and 33, each wore distinctive looks showing off their individual style at the high-profile event.

Pratt wowed in a grey suit, Wu rocked a dazzling dress, and Keough went for shimmer with a keyhole cutout.

The Terminal List - which is based on the book series written by former Navy SEAL Jack Carr - is centered around a former Navy SEAL officer who investigates why his entire platoon was ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission.

Stunners: Chris Pratt, Constance Wu, and Riley Keough all looked great on Wednesday night as they attended the Terminal List premiere in Los Angeles

Chris was handsome in a subtly striped two-piece look, fastening one button of his suit jacket and adding black dress shoes

The longtime entertainer wore a light blue shirt underneath, which he took up a notch with a diagonally striped brown tie.

His demeanor was cool, calm, collected as he walked the event's step-and-repeat with his hands in his pockets.

Handsome: His demeanor was cool, calm, collected as he walked the event's step-and-repeat with his hands in his pockets

Hun: The father-of-three turned heads with his conventional good looks, showing off a full beard and neatly cut brown hair

The father-of-three turned heads with his conventional good looks, showing off a full beard and neatly cut brown hair.

The Terminal List is a forthcoming series starring Chris Pratt and based on the Jack Carr-penned novel of the same name. In addition to leading the show, Pratt also served as an executive producer.

Pratt's James Reece returns home following the ambush of his Navy SEALs platoon, later learning that his life and the lives of his loved ones are in danger.

Leading man: The Terminal List is a forthcoming series starring Chris Pratt and based on the Jack Carr-penned novel of the same name

Reference: At the premiere the actor carried a copy of the book, which is a New York Times bestseller

Mingling: The actor spoke with WWII Veteran from Best Defense Foundation, Pete Corrao

A moment: Nate Boyer chatted with Chris and WWII Veteran from Best Defense Foundation, Larry Stevens

Something to say: Inside the event Chris took the stage to speak to attendees about the Prime Video series

Striking! Constance was a sight to see at the premiere, hitting the red carpet in a sleeveless dress with spaghetti straps

Constance was a sight to see at the premiere, hitting the red carpet in a sleeveless dress with spaghetti straps.

The number had a low cut neckline as well as thin slit cutouts going diagonally beneath the chest area.

Her getup glittered with a silver sequin detail making up the material, which extended over her feet.

Flashy: Her getup glittered with a silver sequin detail making up the material, which extended over her feet

Wu walked in towering, nude, platform heels that exposed her subtle gold pedicure and heightened her petite frame.

She accented the form-fitting look with a super sleek and bone straight hairstyle, complete with precise bangs.

Her dark and glossy locks fell over her shoulders, framing her expertly made up face for the special night out.

She carried her belongings in a beige envelope-style clutch, flaunting her short and shimmery manicure.

Foot factor: Wu walked in towering, nude, platform heels that exposed her subtle gold pedicure and heightened her petite frame

Showstopper: Riley stunned in a metallic number that boasted a black flower-like piece holding the straps together at the center of her chest

Riley stunned in a metallic number that boasted a black flower-like piece holding the straps together at the center of her chest.

She bared some skin in the sleeveless getup, which also had a cleavage-exposing cutout to give it an added edge.

The shiny dress was draped in such a way that it pulled in at her waist line, giving the look a flattering silhouette.

She wore a pair of black, velvet, knee-high boots and matched them to her simplistic clutch, which was the same color.

Different look: Elvis Presley's firstborn grandchild rocked auburn-colored locks, wearing them in a straight style with curtain bangs

Elvis Presley's firstborn grandchild rocked auburn-colored locks, wearing them in a straight style with curtain bangs.

She showed off small tattoos placed on each of her arms and smiled for photos in a glowy palette of flattering makeup.

The Girlfriend Experience star sported a smokey eye that made her blue eyes sparkle, finishing the look with a glossy lipstick.

Pretty girl: The Girlfriend Experience star sported a smokey eye that made her blue eyes sparkle, finishing the look with a glossy lipstick

Appearance: Patrick Schwarzenegger, who's Pratt's brother-in-law and also stars in the Amazon Prime Video series, was also at the event

Patrick Schwarzenegger, who's Pratt's brother-in-law and also stars in the Amazon Prime Video series, was also at the event.

The 28-year-old performer showed off his unique style in a printed grey suit teamed with a soft pink button-up shirt underneath.

The double-breasted jacket was worn unbuttoned, showing off the unexpected high-waist of his trousers.

He rocked a shadow of a beard and punctuated the outfit with glossy black dress shoes.

Star power: He rocked a shadow of a beard and punctuated the outfit with glossy black dress shoes

J.D. Pardo rocked a forest green suit with a mustard yellow crewneck shirt underneath and brown dress shoes.

The 41-year-old actor, who joined the cast of the action series one year ago, looked great in his eye-popping look.

He complemented the getup with a buzz cut and goatee, accessorizing with gold chainlink bracelets and a gold ring.

Head turner: J.D. Pardo rocked a forest green suit with a mustard yellow crewneck shirt underneath and brown dress shoes

Looking great: Taylor Kitsch made his presence known in a sleek, double-breasted suit with a silk collar and buttons

Taylor Kitsch made his presence known in a sleek, double-breasted suit with a silk collar and buttons.

He looked handsome in the all black ensemble, buttoning his jacket, which was layered over a button-up shirt.

The 41-year-old Canadian actor skipped a tie for the occasion, keeping his look effortless as he finished with lace-up dress shoes.

Memorable: Alexis Louder made a bright statement in a flashy red dress with an asymmetrical tulle skirt that had a pop of blue

Features: The look boasted a long-sleeved, turtleneck bodice with the back completely cut out, baring her beautiful, supple skin

Playful look: On the side of her head she rocked a blue ghost figure, adding a fun and unexpected pop

Alexis Louder made a bright statement in a flashy red dress with an asymmetrical tulle skirt that had a pop of blue.

The look boasted a long-sleeved, turtleneck bodice with the back completely cut out, baring her beautiful, supple skin.

She accessorized with black beaded bracelets and dangling, black jewel earrings that complemented her very low buzzed haircut.

She walked the red carpet in a pair of pointed-toe, slingback black pumps.
After the US rejected Chinese claims over the Taiwan Strait and allegations of military sales negotiations with Taipei in Washington, China launched its third largest sortie of aircraft against Taiwan this year.

According to a tweet from Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense, 29 Chinese aircraft, including six H-6 bombers and an electronic intelligence collection plane, entered the country's southwestern air defense identification zone on Tuesday.

China Conducts Military Activities in Taiwan Territory

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on Twitter that the latest incursion demonstrated China's military threat was "more serious than ever." The deployment of warplanes was the largest since May 30, when 30 People's Liberation Army planes buzzed the island during a three-day visit by US Senator Tammy Duckworth.

Before that, China performed 39 flights on January 23, the most this year, a day after the United States and Japan launched a combined naval drill in the Philippine Sea. The recent flights come after reports that the Biden administration has opted to reject China's ambiguous new declaration that the Taiwan Strait is not international waters, raising worries that the attitude may lead to more regular problems at sea for the democratically ruled island.

At a news conference on Tuesday, State Department spokesman Ned Price reiterated that the US considers the Taiwan Strait to be an international waterway. Separately, Taiwan and US officials will meet in Washington this week to discuss arms sales in sessions that have typically been classified as monetary negotiations, according to the Taipei-based United Daily News, citing anonymous sources.

Wellington Koo, secretary-general of Taiwan's National Security Council, was scheduled to meet with US defense officials, according to the outlet. China has increased military, diplomatic, and economic pressure on Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which believes the island is a de facto independent entity seeking greater international recognition and not part of Chinese territory, according to Bloomberg.

Read Also: Afghanistan Earthquake: More Than 250 Feared Dead After 6.1 Magnitude Tremor, Videos Show Devastating Aftermath

US Changes Strategic Policy on Taiwan

China launched it's first domestically designed and built aircraft carrier last Friday, a crucial step toward modernizing its military and competing with the US at sea. The Fujian, named after the southeastern coastal province opposite Taiwan, is Beijing's third and most modern aircraft carrier to date, with a full-length flight deck and an electromagnetic catapult-assisted launch system.

According to a US State Department official, Beijing should stop its military, diplomatic, and economic coercion and intimidation against Taiwan. Last month, China's PLA staged an exercise surrounding Taiwan as a solemn warning against collusion with the US.

That action occurred after US President Joe Biden suggested a shift in the country's policy of strategic ambiguity on Taiwan by stating that if China attacked Taiwan the US would intervene militarily.

The leaders clashed over Taiwan at the first virtual encounter between US President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping. Biden informed his colleague that the United States was vehemently opposed to unilateral moves to "alter the status quo" or damage peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Independent reported.

Reiterating Beijing's stance, an editorial in China's state-run newspaper Global Times on Wednesday stated that the whole Taiwan Strait - the 110-mile-wide (180-kilometer) body of water between Taiwan and mainland China - is not international waters, but rather entirely within Beijing's control.

According to the Global Times, the activities of the US and other vessels that frequently travel through the strait constitute provocations that undermine Chinese sovereignty and are not innocent passage, a recognized international right.

The US Navy, on the other hand, sends warships through the strait regularly, notably on May 10, when the guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal performed a transit. International law, like airspace, states that a country's territorial waters extend 12 nautical miles from its shore, as per CNN.

Related Article: China Ramps Up Rhetoric Against US Over Taiwan Issue as Leaked Recordings Reveal Beijing's Invasion Plan, Prepares Troops for War

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John Cena has surpassed another milestone for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, as the pro wrestler/actor has been recognized for granting more than 650 wishes - more than double the amount of the next celeb on the list.

A tweet from WWE on Sunday acknowledged the achievement, reading, '@JohnCena has granted more wishes via @MakeAWish than any other celebrity in history,' with the hashtag, #CenaMonth.

Among the other celebrities who have surpasses the 200 wish mark - aimed at inspiring children diagnosed with critical illnesses - include fellow pro wrestler Hulk Hogan, and NASCAR personalities Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, according to ET Canada.

The latest: John Cena, 45, has surpassed another milestone for the Make-A-Wish Foundation , as the pro wrestler/actor has been recognized for granting more than 650 wishes, more than double the amount of the next celeb on the list. He was snapped last month in NYC

The WWE superstar-turned-Hollywood action hero, 45, made his first wish in 2004 and remains atop the list of most-requested stars, Make-A-Wish America said in 2019.

Cena spoke earlier this year on The Drew Barrymore Show about his motivation to remain involved with the organization amid his busy schedule.

'The reason I love Make-A-Wish so much is because those are those families' wishes,' Cena said. 'You can do anything you want, and Make-A-Wishs list is enormous, they literally will do anything you want - "I want to kick it with John Cena and go see him wrestle" - that is the coolest thing I have ever heard in my life.'

Cena said he appreciates his ability to impact the children and their families positively with his presence.

A tweet from WWE on Sunday acknowledged the achievement, reading, '@JohnCena has granted more wishes via @MakeAWish than any other celebrity in history,' with the hashtag, #CenaMonth

Cena in May of 2020 was seen visiting David Castle, a fan from Florida battling stage four cancer

Cena is slated to return to the ring next week to appear on the June 27 episode of Monday Night Raw, in commemoration of his 20th anniversary with the company. He was pictured in 2009 in Las Vegas

'All those things considered, I love all that - I love that joy, I love that connection,' he said.

Cena is slated to return to the ring next week to appear on the June 27 episode of Monday Night Raw, in commemoration of his 20th anniversary with the company.

Cena made headlines earlier this month when he met with Misha Rohozhyn, a 19-year-old fan with Down syndrome who was inspired by the pro wrestler as he and his family fled Ukraine amid the invasion from Russia.

Rohozhyn, who fled from Mariupol in March, met with Cena in Huizen, Netherlands, where he and his relatives have sought refuge. Rohozhyn had posters of Cena in the Mariupol apartment his family lived in before Russian forces bombed the structure.

Cena made headlines earlier this month when he met with Misha Rohozhyn, a 19-year-old fan with Down syndrome who was inspired by the pro wrestler as he and his family fled Ukraine amid the invasion from Russia

Rohozhyn's mother Liana said she helped her son brave the perilous move from Ukraine with a 'motivational fantasy' that the WWE superstar-turned-Hollywood action hero would be there to greet them at the end of their travels

The teen was upset that Cena was not present when they arrived in the Netherlands in May, according to his mother

Rohozhyn's mother Liana said she helped her son brave the perilous move from Ukraine with a 'motivational fantasy' that the WWE superstar-turned-Hollywood action hero would be there to greet them at the end of their travels. The teen was upset that Cena was not present when they arrived in the Netherlands in May.

Cena became aware of Rohozhyn after he was chronicled in a piece for The Wall Street Journal in May that explored the impact of war on people with disabilities.

'When I read about Misha's story it reached out to me - not just Mishas story but his mom's as well,' Cena said prior to meeting the teen.

He continued: 'Having three days off from work right at the time I read the story, and being an hour away by air, it turned into "Were going," and that means spending an afternoon building blocks, eating cake - thats a special afternoon when it comes to new friends I was able to meet.'

Cena presented Rohozhyn with a WWE belt, a shirt and hat and other memorabilia on the visit

Cena visited with Rohozhyn at a refugee center near Amsterdam where the family is temporarily staying.

'Misha, very nice to meet you, I've come a long way to see you,' Cena told him as he gave Rohozhyn and his mother a hug and presented him with a WWE belt, his shirt and cap, and an action figure.

Cena said of the visit: 'Misha's ability to embrace persistence is extraordinary, those words, never give up ... theyre very powerful. I think Misha's a great example and Misha's mom, theres two great examples about how persistence can lead to joy, even through the toughest of times.'

He continued: 'This was a wonderful adventure in which I got to meet a wonderful new friend, thank you for giving me strength. How special is today? Yeah, pretty darn special.'
Caroline Stanbury worried that if she didn't have a baby with her younger fiance that he would leave her on Wednesday's episode of The Real Housewives Of Dubai.

'I'm very scared to do this again, but if I can't have the baby Sergio wont stay, fact,' Stanbury, 45, said in a confessional referencing Sergio Carrallo, 27, when the show opened.

The episode titled Desert Detente opened with Caroline and Sergio at the building site of their new house. The architect pointed out that there was a baby room in the building plans.

Baby plans: Caroline Stanbury worried that if she didn't have a baby with her younger fiance that he would leave her on Wednesday's episode of The Real Housewives Of Dubai

'What happens if the baby can't happen?' Caroline asked Sergio.

'The baby is going to happen,' Sergio said. 'That's why we have our baby room.'

'But darling I am 45 years old you need to understand that,' Caroline said.

'My parents have to be grandparents,' Sergio said. 'The Carrallo generation has to keep going, honey.'

Carrallo line: 'My parents have to be grandparents,' Sergio Carrallo told Caroline. 'The Carrallo generation has to keep going, honey'

Baby room: Sergio and Caroline toured the building site of their new home that included plans for a baby room

'No one said you are not having a baby. I just said I'm 45, you need to be realistic ' Caroline told him.

'You want to have the baby now?' Sergio asked.

'No,' Stanbury said. 'This surrogacy is a whole thing.'

Good question: 'You want to have the baby now?' Sergio asked

'I don't want someone else to carry it,' Sergio said. 'I don't want a baby that doesn't look like us.'

'It will look like us,' Caroline said. 'It's exactly the same.'

'I don't think so honey,' Sergio said. 'A little baby girl has to happen,'

Surrogacy discussion: 'It will look like us,' Caroline said. 'It's exactly the same'

Very scared: 'I'm very scared to do this again, but if I can't have the baby Sergio wont stay, fact,' Stanbury, 45, said in a confessional

Across town Caroline Brooks,37, went to meet with a real estate agent to find a location for her inclusive salon and spa. She looked at a location that would cost $25,900 a month.

Nina Ali, 42, visited her husband Munaf at work. She told him that she invited the women to his business partner Bijan's birthday party. Munaf asked her if she had decided which Rolls-Royce she wanted to order and she said she needed to test them all out. He then reminded her to decide on her license plate.

'People spend millions of dollars, not dirhams, but dollars on license plate numbers,' Nina said in a confessional.

Business property: Across town Caroline Brooks,37, went to meet with a real estate agent to find a location for her inclusive salon and spa

'If you get a one digit it's going to be an insane amount,' Munaf said. 'They actually end up costing more than the car. D5 sold in Dubai for $33 million.'

'I could never justify spending that much,' Nina said.

Meanwhile, Lesa Milan, 33, tried to work on her clothing line Mina Roe at her house with her kids playing around her. Her husband Rich, a businessman who also serves as the CFO of Mina Roe, stopped by her office. Lesa told him that online sales were doing well after her fashion show. Lesa tried to talk business with him but his phone kept buzzing.

Cute couple: Nina Ali, 42, visited her husband Munaf at work

'The meeting is over,' Lesa said walking off.

Rich went back to talk to her and said she had proved him wrong with all her sales.

'I believe in you,' Rich said.

Working mom: Lesa Milan, 33, tried to work on her clothing line Mina Roe at her house with her kids playing around her

Proven wrong: Rich went back to talk to her and said she had proved him wrong with all her sales

Chanel Ayan, 43, and her husband Chris walked around Dubai. He asked her if she remembered when they met 23 years ago.

'When I met Chris I was supposed to marry my cousin,' Chanel said in a confessional. 'I was given to my cousin when I was really young. This is normal in my country, and my cousin was hot, so there's not an issue with that, but I really loved Chris. So I wanted to marry Chris.'

Chanel said she forced Chris to be with her.

City stroll: Chanel Ayan, 43, and her husband Chris walked around Dubai. He asked her if she remembered when they met 23 years ago

'I literally asked you to marry me four times,' Chanel said. 'I couldn't live without you.'

Chanel said she ran away from her planned wedding a week before it was scheduled to happen to be with Chris.

'The goats were bought, the rice was made,' Chanel said.

Runaway bride: Chanel said she ran away from her planned wedding a week before it was scheduled to happen to be with Chris

Chanel said Chris had to pay her family a dowry.

'I think it was $1,000 you paid for me,' Chanel said. 'Very wise.'

'It's been expensive every year since,' Chris quipped.

Good one: 'It's been expensive every year since,' Chris quipped

Stanbury met with Sara Al Madani, 36, for lunch. Stanbury said she was stressed because she only had two weeks until her wedding.

'He's bridezilla,' Stanbury said.

Sara said that her second marriage was a disaster in that the man she married didn't accept her child.

Wedding soon: Stanbury met with Sara Al Madani, 36, for lunch. Stanbury said she was stressed because she only had two weeks until her wedding

'I will definitely make better choices in the future,' Sara said.

Stanbury said that Sergio wants a baby.

'I froze my eggs and so I'm going to start that early next year because they just changed the law,' Stanbury said. 'When we froze our eggs, well, my eggs, he wasn't allowed to mix his sperm with them because we weren't married. Now you can do that before marriage.'

Eggs frozen: 'I froze my eggs and so I'm going to start that early next year because they just changed the law,' Stanbury said. 'When we froze our eggs, well, my eggs, he wasn't allowed to mix his sperm with them because we weren't married. Now you can do that before marriage'

Sara asked her what she did the day of Lesa's fashion show.

'I'm just in this space where I'm not putting myself into anything toxic right now,' Stanbury said.

Everyone then arrived at Munaf's business partner Bijou's lavish birthday party.

Avoiding toxicity: 'I'm just in this space where I'm not putting myself into anything toxic right now,' Stanbury said

'All I want is a fun pleasant night and there goes the b****,' Chanel said in a confessional when she saw Stanbury.

Stanbury apologized to Lesa for not making it to her fashion show.

'I'm honestly in wedding planning hell,' Stanbury said.

Fun night: 'All I want is a fun pleasant night and there goes the b****,' Chanel said in a confessional when she saw Stanbury

Lesa said her issue with Chanel shouldn't affect their friendship. Sergio, who was sitting next to Chanel, said he thought that she would actually end up being good friends with Stanbury

'Sergio loves everybody!,' Stanbury yelled.

'Babe, what can I do?' Sergio said.

Loves everybody: 'Sergio loves everybody!,' Stanbury yelled

'Don't worry we love you Sergio,' Lesa said, grabbing Sergio's hand.

'I hope she's gonna suck your d***,' Stanbury said pointing at Lesa.

'I won't,' Lesa said.

Oral sex'I hope she's gonna suck your d***,' Stanbury said pointing at Lesa

Caroline stormed off and Sergio followed after her. Chanel returned to the table and Lesa told her that Stanbury yelled at Sergio saying, 'why are you over there with them.'

'I am done being f***ing nice to this b****, '' Chanel said. 'She is so evil.'

Stanbury came back to the table.

Called them: Chanel returned to the table and Lesa told her that Stanbury yelled at Sergio saying, 'why are you over there with them'

'I'm done f***ing trying,' Chanel said.

'Is this about me?,' Stanbury asked.

'Yeah it is,' Lesa said.

Seeking advice: 'Babe, what can I do?,' Sergio asked Stanbury

'I'm really trying Caroline,' Chanel said.

Stanbury denied making the comment and accused Lesa of stirring up trouble.

'You just sat there and said that,' Lesa said.

'You seem to be the one stirring everything,' Stanbury said.

'What did I stir,' Lesa said. ' You just called me a pot stirrer.'

Stirred up: 'What did I stir,' Lesa said. ' You just called me a pot stirrer'

Stanbury Said she didn't have to explain anything. Sergio asked her if she wanted to go for a walk.

'Yeah, 'cause I'm going to kill some b****es tonight,' Stanbury said.

'She throws a dart and she walks away,' Lesa said. 'Don't come here acting like you're queen bee, b****.'

Walked away: Sergio asked her if she wanted to go for a walk

Chanel told Stanbury that she didn't have a beef with her and she didn't understand why they were fighting.

'Okay, so maybe it's a miscommunication,' Stanbury said.

'I'm a very good person, Caroline,' Chanel said. 'I would like to build a relationship with you.'

'Just do it,' Sara said.

Caroline and Chanel then hugged.

The Real Housewives Of Dubai will return next Wednesday on Bravo.
Lana Condor stars in the new Netflix comedy miniseries Boo, B**ch.

And on Wednesday the cast and crew attended a special screening of the limited series, complete with a red carpet photo session, in Los Angeles.

Serving as executive producer and star, Condor plays a high school senior who, after years of playing it safe, decides to live an epic life, only to wake up the next morning and find out she's now a ghost.

Screening: Lana Condor, 25, put her legs on display at special screening and red carpet event for the upcoming comedy miniseries Boo, B**ch in Los Angeles on Wednesday

Condor, who made her screen debut in there superhero film X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), stepped out in front of photographers in a yellow-patterned minidress that showcased her legs with its mid-thigh design.

The plunging cut for the sexy and stylish number also highlighted her cleavage.

The actress, 25, got a several inch boost by wearing white platform heels, and had her dark locks styled long and flowing past her shoulders with a part in the middle.

At one point, the Vietnam native got playful and flirty and began to blow kisses towards the camera.

Glowing: The actress, 25, stunned in a yellow-patterned minidress and platform heels

Premise: Condor plays a high school senior who, after years of playing it safe, decides to live an epic life, only to wake up the next morning and find out she's now a ghost

Condor got to share the premiere event with her fiance Anthony De La Torre, who looked stylish in a green suit that he paired with a white t-shirt and matching sneakers.

The couple, who dated for about six years before getting engaged, snuggled up to each other as photographers snapped away.

The Alita: Battle Angel star met the musician at a party in the summer of 2015, and they have been an item ever since.

Playful: At one point, the Vietnam native got flirty and began to blow kisses towards the camera as the cameras snapped away

In the initial trailer, Condor's Erika and her friend Gia (Zoe Margaret Colletti) realize they're about to leave high school with not a whole lot of memories to show for it. So they decide they can't walk across the stage without having 'some real fun.'

'From now on, let's promise to live our lives without giving and f***s,' Gia says, only for Erika to be struck by an oncoming semi truck moments later. After she's reincarnated as a ghost, she decides to start living her best life, in the afterlife, as reported by The Wrap.

Along with Condor and Colletti, the show stars Mason Versaw, Aparna Brielle, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Jami Alix and Mary Aldousary, among others.

Supportive: Condor attended the premiere event with her fiance Anthony De La Torre

Longtime loves: The couple, who got engaged in December 2021, dated for six years

Screenwriters Erin Ehrlich (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, King of the Hill) and Lauren Lungerich (On My Block, Awkward) will serve as showrunners for the series as well as the main writers.

Condor first gained widespread recognition starring as a high school student in To All The Boys I've Loved Before, which debuted in 2018.

Boo, B**ch, which is slated to consist of eight episodes, is scheduled to drop on Netflix on July 8.
Jessica Rowe has shared a revealing post to fans on her 52nd birthday.

The popular journalist posted an Instagram Story Thursday telling her followers she loves getting older, 'because it beats the alternative'.

Sharing a cute selfie in the post, the former Studio 10 star looked relaxed and happy as she cuddled on the couch with a cat and a warm beverage.

Sharing this cute selfie, TV star Jessica Rowe looked relaxed and happy as she cuddled on the couch with a cat on her 52 birthday

Wearing large black-rimmed glasses and smiling widely, Jessica can be seen dressed in a checked winter pyjama top and a pink dressing gown.

'I'm unapologetically myself,' the mental health advocate declared before signing off her message with 'Crap housewife, Happy Birthday'.

Jess's post was soon inundated with well wishers from The Bachelor's Anna Heinrich, and celebrity chef Will Stewart.

Former Sunrise co-host Melissa Doyle added: 'Happy birthday, gorgeous.'

The popular journalist posted the Instagram story on Thursday

Jessica's birthday post comes soon after the star gave a rare insight in her private life with Channel Nine newsreader Peter Overton.

The Sydney couple, who have been married for the last 18 years, shared a comical skit, titled 'home news', to Instagram.

The thrilling footage showcased the pair doing mundane chores around the house.

Jess's post was soon inundated with well wishers from The Bachelor's Anna Heinrich, and celebrity chef Will Stewart

The couple celebrated 18 years of marriage in January this year.

'Eighteen years ago today I made the best decision of my life - marrying this darling man!' Jess captioned a post to her husband.

'And today we 'celebrated' by scrubbing the fridge for our move! (Actually Petee did the scrubbing while I carried on like a pork chop!)'

The couple share two daughters, Allegra 14, and Giselle, 12, and first met when Jess was doing work experience at Channel Nine when she was 19.
She's known for her outlandish and daring looks.

And Julia Fox turned heads once again as she arrived at The Grand Opening of the Ned NoMad hotel in New York.

The 32-year-old actress looked nothing short of sensational in an all-leather ensemble, made up of skintight trousers and a black leather jacket.

Eye-catching: Julia Fox turned heads once again as she arrived at The Grand Opening of the Ned NoMad hotel in New York

She elevated her height by sporting a pair of heeled thigh-high black leather boots that accentuated her toned legs.

Toting her essentials in a matching black leather handbag, she left her brunette locks down to tumble over her shoulders.

The Forbidden Fruits podcaster accented her Pat McGrath-bleached brows with her now-signature black winged eyeliner.

Lovely in leather: The 32-year-old actress looked nothing short of sensational in an all-leather ensemble, made up of skintight trousers and a black leather jacket

'I think just being fearless, not giving a f***, doing what I feel like doing, and not caring about whether society thinks it's normal or not. If I think it's cool, then it's cool,' Julia told People last Thursday of her style.

'I feel like I'm doing a service. I'm providing a service. Yeah, a visual service.'

Last Saturday, Julia shared a rare video of her 16-month-old son Valentino on the beach after attending the 40th annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade.

'He's amazing. He's my little angel. I love him so much,' she gushed to People.

Legs for days: She elevated her height by sporting a pair of heeled thigh-high black leather boots that accentuated her toned legs

Beauty: Toting her essentials in a matching black leather handbag, she left her brunette locks down to tumble over her shoulders.

Flawless: The Forbidden Fruits podcaster accented her Pat McGrath-bleached brows with her now-signature black winged eyeliner

'I would like to have more children. I think he's ready for siblings. If it happens, great, but I'm not, like, actively looking for it.'

The Uncut Gems star gave birth to Valentino during her three-year marriage to Brooklyn private pilot Peter Artemiev, which ended last year.

Julia 'still can't believe' she landed on the cover of the July edition of Vogue Czechoslovakia as the editors did not inform her until she wrapped the shoot.

'My heart skipped a beat! I genuinely had no idea. I thought it was just a spread and honestly I was just so happy to be in Vogue at all I didn't care!' Fox wrote on Instagram.

'He's amazing. He's my little angel. I love him so much!' Last Saturday, Julia shared a rare video of her 16-month-old son Valentino on the beach after attending the 40th annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade

'We made this baby!' The Uncut Gems star gave birth to Valentino during her three-year marriage to Brooklyn private pilot Peter Artemiev (L, pictured January 25), which ended last year

'Anyway here we are now and I'm still gagged and so grateful to everyone involved. And especially thank you to my fans and haters [because] without [you] guys this wouldn't be possible. I love you all!'

The Nothing Good video vixen's former flame Kanye 'Ye' West will not appear in her upcoming memoir-style 'masterpiece' book, which is 'halfway done' and should hit shelves 'in about a year.'

Julia has several acting projects including Tony Kaye's dark comedy The Trainer, the Carrie White biopic Upper Cut, and she's the frontrunner to play Debi Mazar in Madonna's self-directed Universal Pictures biopic.

Wigging out! Julia 'still can't believe' she landed on the cover of the July edition of Vogue Czechoslovakia as the editors did not inform her until she wrapped the shoot

Fox wrote on Instagram: 'My heart skipped a beat! I genuinely had no idea. I thought it was just a spread and honestly I was just so happy to be in Vogue at all I didn't care! Anyway here we are now and I'm still gagged and so grateful to everyone involved. And especially thank you to my fans and haters [because] without [you] guys this wouldn't be possible. I love you all!'
Natalie Barr has revealed she is the latest cover girl for Stellar magazine.

The 54-year-old brunette shared the news to Instagram on Thursday and included the amazing cover shot in the post.

Looking effortlessly glamorous, the Sunrise co-host rocks a spectacular evening gown on Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia at sunset.

Natalie Barr looks sensational as she poses on Cottesloe Beach as the sun sets over the Indian Ocean for latest issue of Stellar

Born in Bunbury, WA, Natalie gushes on the cover of Stellar: 'Going back and doing this just made my heart sing.'

Wearing her long hair out, Natalie can be seen stepping through the shallows of the beach as the hem of the dress is splashed by surf.

The frock, by Australian fashion designer Mariam Seddiq, is a stunning strapless number with a thick waist band.

Natalie wore a single matching puff sleeve with a collar feature to top off the ensemble.

Natalie obviously enjoyed her 'modelling make-over'. Picture: Natalie on the red carpet in 2022

The popular journalist shared a long message in her post about the shoot and thanked the team behind her model 'make over'.

'Playing covergirl on one of Australia's best beaches, Cottesloe in Perth on a perfect afternoon as the sun sets over Indian ocean...' she wrote.

Friends and followers were clearly impressed by Natalie's new image, as they posted their congratulations.

Natalie as seen as most of her fans know her, co-hosting Channel Seven's Sunrise

'What a wonderful cover, you look great,' one messaged.

While another friend added: 'She is not here to mess around.'

Natalie, one of Australia's top journalists, revealed her fitness and beauty secrets to Yahoo Lifestyle last year.

Saying then she was the fittest she has ever been Natalie's svelte appearance bears out her 'back-to-basics' routine.

'I exercise regularly, eat well most of the time, cut out sugar and make sure I get enough sleep,' she said.

Natalie revealed her weekly fitness routine consisted of Pilates, Xtend Barre classes, walking and running.

Natalie replaced Samantha Armytage as Sunrise's co-anchor last year, stepping in alongside David 'Kochie' Koch.
Baroness Floella Benjamin astounded Lorraine viewers with her youthful appearance on Thursday as she discussed the Windrush celebrations, her new book and her incredible career.

The 72-year-old, known for her role presenting children's shows including Play School, joked to Lorraine Kelly, 62, that the secret to her looks is cod liver oil, which her mother fed her when she was younger.

The star also told how she'd become emotional on Windrush Day on Wednesday as she joined Prince William and Kate Middleton for the unveiling of the National Windrush Monument.

Stunner: Baroness Floella Benjamin astounded Lorraine viewers with her youthful appearance on Thursday as she discussed the Windrush celebrations, her new book and her incredible career

Viewers tuning in to the show found themselves very distracted by Floella's youthful glow and were quick to rush to Twitter to share their compliments.

'Floella Benjamin hasn't aged since I watched her on Playschool about 40 years ago!!' tweeted one person.

While another: 'Watching @floellabenjamin on Lorraine and she looks EXACTLY the same as she did when I used to watch her on Playschool 38/40yrs ago!! The woman doesnt age, at all!!!'

Still fabulous: The 72-year-old, known for her role presenting children's shows including Play School, joked to Lorraine Kelly, 62, that the secret to her looks is cod liver oil, which her mother fed her when she was younger [pictured in 1983]

'Floella looks amazing for 72' commented a third astounded watcher.

'Floella Benjamin hasnt aged in 40 years' commented a fifth person.

With another agreeing: 'Can you ask Floella what she uses to make herself look so fabulous!!!!! Shes barely aged a day since Play School Days. Amazing woman!'

Touching: The star also told how she'd become emotional on Windrush Day on Wednesday as she joined Prince William and Kate Middleton for the unveiling of the National Windrush Monument

During the interview, Floella touched on her childhood, where she revealed the secrets to her fresh-faced looks.

She told Lorraine: 'The secret of life is to know that you're loved. My mum and day, especially my mum poured love into us every single day of my life.

'She told me and my five brothers and sisters and poured cod liver oil into us as well! That's why I look so good at 72! 73 nearly. Cod liver oil is the secret!'

Reaction: Viewers tuning in to the show found themselves very distracted by Floella's youthful glow and were quick to rush to Twitter to share their compliments

Meanwhile, Floella opened up on her pride and emotion at her being part of the unveiling of a national monument in one of London's biggest train stations to celebrate the dreams and courage of the Windrush generation.

Floella, who moved to the UK from Trinidad aged 10, explained: 'I just felt so emotional as I stood on the platform there thinking 62 years ago, I arrived at Waterloo, platform 19 with my little grip - my suitcase. Looking up at the huge Cathedral-like building.

'Little know that I'd be standing on the platform, putting up a Windrush monument celebrating the contribution Caribbean people have made to this country.

'A tear came to my eye, it was so emotional.'

Proud: Meanwhile, Floella opened up on her pride and emotion at her being part of the unveiling of a national monument in one of London's biggest train stations to celebrate the dreams and courage of the Windrush generation

Memory: Floella, who moved to the UK from Trinidad aged 10, explained: 'I just felt so emotional as I stood on the platform there thinking 62 years ago, I arrived at Waterloo'

The Windrush generation was named after the ship that brought over one of the first groups of West Indian migrants invited to the UK in 1948 to help rebuild post-war Britain.

Over the next 25 years thousands followed, taking jobs to fill shortages, particularly in the nascent NHS.

Windrush Day on 22 June marks 74 years since the Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks in Essex, bearing around 500 people from Jamaica.

In a speech at the statue unveiling, Prince William acknowledged that the future the Windrush generation sought and 'deserved' has not yet come to pass, saying: 'Discrimination remains an all too familiar experience for black men and women in Britain in 2022.'

Touching: 'Little know that I'd be standing on the platform, putting up a Windrush monument celebrating the contribution Caribbean people have made to this country. 'A tear came to my eye, it was so emotional'

History: The Windrush generation was named after the ship [pictured] that brought over one of the first groups of West Indian migrants invited to the UK in 1948 to help rebuild post-war Britain

'Only a matter of years ago, tens of thousands of that Generation were profoundly wronged by the Windrush Scandal. That rightly reverberates throughout the Caribbean community here in the UK as well as many in the Caribbean nations.

'Therefore, alongside celebrating the diverse fabric of our families, our communities and our society as a whole  something the Windrush Generation has contributed so much to  it is also important to acknowledge the ways in which the future they sought and deserved has yet to come to pass.'

The statue - of a man, woman and child in their Sunday best standing on top of suitcases - will was revealed at Waterloo Station on Wednesday to mark Windrush Day.

It was designed by the Jamaican artist and sculptor Basil Watson, who said it had been an honour to create the monument.

Amazing: The statue - of a man, woman and child in their Sunday best standing on top of suitcases - will was revealed at Waterloo Station on Wednesday to mark Windrush Day

The Government, which has provided 1 million in funding for the project, said it 'symbolises the courage, commitment and resilience of the thousands of men, women and children who travelled to the UK to start new lives from 1948 to 1971'.

It also acknowledges the Windrush generation's 'outstanding contribution' to British society and is intended to be 'a permanent place of reflection', it added.

Waterloo station was chosen because thousands of people who arrived from the Caribbean passed through the station on their way to start their new lives across the country, the Government said.

The unveiling was one of dozens of events and activities across England to celebrate Windrush Day 2022.
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark looked incredibly chic as she stopped by the Boss Ladies Project on Wednesday.

The Australian-born royal, 50, oozed elegance in a relaxed navy suit as she posed for photographs in Copenhagen.

The Boss Ladies Project aims to motivate more young women to enter and develop their talent within the building and construction industry.

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark looked incredibly chic as she stopped by the Boss Ladies Project on Wednesday

She paired the suit with Veja V12 leather sneakers, Dulong 'Delphis' gold earrings and a gold Vega bracelet.

Mary styled her hair in a bouncy blow-dry and wore natural-looking foundation and black mascara.

At one point, Mary was seen greeting fellow attendees before playfully placing a construction hat on her head as they posed for photos together.

The Australian-born royal, 50, oozed elegance in a relaxed navy suit as she posed for photographs in Copenhagen

The Boss Ladies Project aims to motivate more young women to enter and develop their talent within the building and construction industry.

Mary - born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson - is one of the most respected women on the international scene.

She famously met her husband Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark by chance at Sydney pub the Slip Inn during the 2000 Olympics.

After their encounter, Fred - who was in Australia to support Denmark's Olympic sailing team - asked Mary for her phone number and a romance blossomed.

She paired the suit with Veja V12 leather sneakers and Dulong 'Delphis' gold earrings and a gold Vega bracelet

At one point, Mary was seen greeting fellow attendees before playfully placing a construction hat on her head as they posed for photos together

'The first time we met we shook hands. I didn't know he was the prince of Denmark. Half an hour later someone came up to me and said, "Do you know who these people are"?' Mary revealed in an interview about meeting the heir to the Danish throne.

They maintained a long-distance relationship for a year, with Frederik making secret trips Down Under before Mary moved to Denmark to study Danish language at Copenhagen's Studieskolen in 2001.

In early 2003, Frederik's mother Queen Margrethe publicly acknowledged the relationship and the couple announced their engagement at Amalienborg Castle later that year on October 8.

Princess Mary and her husband, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, are pictured attending a ballet gala honouring the Queen's 50th jubilee

Frederik and Mary married on May 14, 2004 at Copenhagen Cathedral, with the newly minted Crown Princess opting for a beautiful gown by Danish designer Uffer Frank and a veil first used by Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden in 1905.

Their first child, Prince Christian Valdemar Henri John, was born October 15, 2005; Princess Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe followed on April 21, 2007.

Almost four years later Mary and Frederik welcomed twins, Princess Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda and Prince Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander at the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen on January 8, 2011.
A TikTok video by Robert Irwin paying tribute to his late dad Steve has gone viral.

The message, posted in honour of Father's Day in the U.S., features family home videos made before Steve died in 2006, when Robert was still a toddler.

'Thinking of him and remembering nothing but fun times,' Robert said in his post.

Robert Irwin has shared never-before-seen moments with his late father Steve in heartwarming TikTok video that has gone viral

The wildlife warrior continued: 'I hope you all had a wonderful Fathers Day in the US, sending love to those who couldnt celebrate with their Dad.'

Using Ed Sheeran's song Photograph as a soundtrack, the video captures the special father and son bond as Steve is seen lavishing love and attention on his young son.

One snippet features a heartbreaking moment where an adoring Steve gazes down at newborn Robert.

The message, posted in honour of Father's Day in the U.S., features family home videos made before Steve died in 2006, when Robert was still a toddler Picture: A scene from the video

In another, Steve can be seen giving Robert a ride on his shoulders, a moment familiar to millions of fathers and sons.

Also featured in the video is Bindi, now 23, Robert's older sister.

Steve, known to millions around the world as 'the Crocodile Hunter', died on September 4, 2006, at the age of 44 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray while filming a documentary in Batt Reef, Queensland.

One snippet features a heartbreaking moment where an adoring Steve gazes down at newborn Robert (pictured)

Following his death, Robert, Bindi, widow Terri, and son-in-law Chandler Powell, have continued Steve's conservation work at Australia Zoo.

Robert's Father's Day tribute - celebrated in the U.S. on June 19 - comes soon after Robert paid a further tribute to his dad on World Crocodile Day.

The handsome celebrity conservationist took to Instagram on June 18 - the day after World Crocodile Day - to reveal it's the 'greatest honour' to follow in his dad's footsteps.

Following his death, Robert (pictured), Bindi, widow Terri, and son-in-law Chandler Powell, have continued Steve's conservation work at Australia Zoo

Robert shared a photo of himself feeding crocodiles at Australia Zoo, which he contrasted with a throwback snap of his dad doing the same many years ago.

'It is the greatest honour of my life to get to follow in my dad's footsteps and help keep his legacy and mission alive. Especially when it comes to crocodiles,' Robert said.

'I feel closest to him being one-on-one with the animal he loved so much - a beautiful, powerful, prehistoric, misunderstood animal that commands a huge amount of respect.'
Austin Butler has revealed he wore fake chest hair while playing the King of Rock 'n' Roll in the Baz Luhrmann's new Elvis biopic.

Interviewed on Twitter for The Kyle and Jackie O Show, the handsome 30-year-old star said the fake hair was part of a body suit he used while playing an ageing Elvis.

'[The body suit] is what we lovingly refer to as our 'body adjustment suit,' Austin said in the Twitter video.

Interviewed on Twitter for The Kyle and Jackie O Show, the handsome 30-year-old star said the fake hair was part of a body suit he used while playing an ageing Elvis

In real life, the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star has blond hair on his chest.

Luhrmann's movie follows Elvis from his childhood poverty through to his emergence as a global superstar before his untimely death at the age of just 42 in 1977



The news comes after Austin was forced to address claims his voice has completely changed.

In May, fans on social media accused Austin of putting on an 'Elvis voice' despite the film having wrapped in March 2021.

Baz Luhrmann's movie follows Elvis from his childhood poverty through his emergence as a global superstar before his untimely death at the age of just 42 in 1977 Picture: Austin as the young, slim Elvis at the peak of his fame

Some pointed out just how different his voice sounds now compared to what he sounded like in his break out role in the TV series The Carrie Diaries in 2013.

After investigating, several older interviews confirmed that Austin's always had a relatively deep voice.

However, the contrast seen from his recent appearances - especially during his red carpet appearances in Australia - simply cant be denied.

Elvis co-star Olivia De Jong and Austin on the red carpet in Toronto for the Elvis premiere

Austin stars alongside Tom Hanks, who plays Elvis' manager Colonel Tom Parker, who was infamous for cheating the music icon out of a fair share of royalties for his songs.

Hanks believes his alter ego should be recognised for his part in making Elvis a megastar.

'I've heard from many people that he was a delightful guy, lit up every room. Was he a cheap crook who played fast and loose with the money? Yeah, (but) he brought joy to everything he did. With just a little bit of larceny,' says the Hollywood star.
Tensions between NATO member Lithuania and Russia are growing after the former enforced a transit ban on goods that are meant to be transported to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, a strategically significant territory on the Baltic coast.

Russian authorities responded furiously after Lithuania banned the passage of sanctioned goods across its territory and into Kaliningrad. However, the latter said that the decision was merely upholding European Union sanctions and that it had the support of the European bloc.

Transit Ban

Now, the tensions between the two regions threaten to escalate strains between Moscow and the EU, which has already unveiled several packages of sanctions on Russian goods. The situation comes as many experts feared that Kaliningrad would become a flashpoint in tensions between Moscow and Europe in the early days of the war against Ukraine.

The area is Russia's westernmost territory and is the only part of the country surrounded by EU states. Lithuania stands between it and Belarus, a Russian ally nation, while Poland borders it to the south, as per CNN.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday said that the ban was unprecedented and that Russia considered it an "illegal" move." The official said that it was part of a "blockade" and came amid other Russian officials' threat of a response.

Read Also: Germany Faces Risk of Recession Amid Russian Oil Crisis, Opts To Restart Coal Power Plants

The secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Patrushev, said that Moscow would certainly "respond to such hostile actions." The official noted that measures were already being worked out in an interdepartmental format and will be taken in the near future.

According to CBS News, Kaliningrad was captured by the Soviet Red Army in 1945 and is home to roughly 500,000 people. The region is also home to the Russian military's Baltic fleet and a number of advanced nuclear-capable Iskander missile installations.

EU Sanctions on Russia

The transit ban threatens Russia's movement of goods because Kaliningrad is located on an isolated patch of ground and relies on its rail connection to the rest of Russia for the majority of its civilian imports. The rail line runs straight through Lithuania and then neighboring Belarus.

Lithuania decided to prohibit the transit of all goods subject to EU sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine via the rail link starting on June 18. The restricted goods include coal, metals, electronics, and construction materials.

During a visit to Kaliningrad on Tuesday, Patrushev, who is considered one of the most powerful figures in President Vladimir Putin's inner circle, called the ban "hostile" and "in violation of the international law."

The governor of Kaliningrad, Anton Alikhanov, said that the transit ban was affecting roughly half of all imports to the territory. In a video posted on Telegram, Alikhanov said that the ban was the "most serious violation of the right to free transit into and out of the Kaliningrad region."

The transit ban comes on top of the EU flight ban of 21 Russian-certificated airlines in April, preventing goods from being flown into Kaliningrad as well. The only remaining uninterrupted method of transit left to the territory now is by way of the sea through international waters, Yahoo News reported.

Related Article: Russia Ruble vs. US Dollar: Why Is the Russian Currency Stronger Despite Ukraine War?

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Naomi Campbell gave onlookers something of a front row view during a memorable appearance at the Louis Vuitton Menswear presentation in France on Thursday afternoon.

The British supermodel opted to go braless beneath a seasonal tropical print shirt from the French label during her latest visit to Paris Fashion Week.

With Louis Vuitton unveiling their Spring-Summer 2023 collection at the opulent Cour Carree of the Louvre, Naomi, 52, added the look with a pair of matching lilac slacks.

Steady on: Naomi Campbell gave onlookers something of a front row view during a memorable appearance at the Louis Vuitton Menswear presentation in France on Thursday afternoon

Opting to keep her shirt unbuttoned, the supermodel risked a wardrobe malfunction as she joined a selection of special guests at the afternoon preview.

The mother-of-one added to her look with a pair of heavily tinted sunglasses, while her hair was immaculately styled with a simple centre parting.

Naomi had good company on the day, with American stars Justin Timberlake, his wife Jessica Biel and Tyga also making an appearance at the exclusive runway show alongside Australian actor Joel Edgerton.

Make way: Naomi's unbuttoned shirt threatened to expose rather more than a natural flair for fashion as she climbed from the rear of her people carrier outside the opulent Cour Carree of the Louvre

Party time: Louis Vuitton held an outdoor presentation celebrating the end of the global pandemic and a return, of sorts, to normality

Watch out: Opting to keep her shirt unbuttoned, the supermodel risked a wardrobe malfunction as she joined a selection of special guests at the afternoon preview

Standing out: Niomi inevitably turned heads as she made her way into the presentation with a small entourage of friends

It's a match: The British supermodel added to her stylish look with a pair of matching tropical print lilac slacks

Strike a pose: Naomi posed for photos as she prepared to take her seat at the celebratory Louis Vuitton runway show

Upbeat: The supermodel appeared to be in high spirits, with her buoyant mood reflecting the event's celebratory theme

A flare for fashion: Naomi's generously cut trousers came with a high waistline and a flared hem that covered her shoes

With temperatures soaring in the French capital, Louis Vuitton held an outdoor presentation celebrating the end of the global pandemic and a return, of sorts, to normality.

Taking their front row seats on a colourful playground themed set, guests were treated to a first look at the designer's forthcoming line in male dress-wear, with an emphasis on soft colours and relaxed tailoring.

With the new collection in mind, rapper Tyga opted for a pair of generously cut white slacks beneath a garishly embellished varsity jacket from the French designer.

The 32-year old added to his look with a pair of chunky lilac high-tops, while a matching cap rounded it off.

In attendance: Naomi had good company on the day, with American star Justin Timberlake and Australian actor Joel Edgerton also making an appearance at the exclusive event

Side by side: (L-R) Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, Bernard Arnault, Helene Mercier and Tahar Rahim attend the outdoor presentation on Thursday afternoon

Distinctive: Rapper Tyga wore a heavily embellished varsity jacket from the French fashion house as he made his way into the exclusive event

Say cheese: (L-R) ) Nicolas Ghesquiere, Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake pose for a photo ahead of Thursday's presentation

Bold looks: Justin Timberlake looked stylish in a patterned diamond print short sleeved shirt teamed with a pair of elegant high-waisted dress trousers, while wife Jessica Biel turned heads in a sleeveless dress with elongated shoulders

Side by side: Jessica and Justin posed for a handful of photos as they made their way inside the French venue ahead of the star-studded runway show

Meanwhile actress Jessica turned heads in a sleeveless dress with elongated shoulders as she took her place alongside husband Timberlake.

The glamorous star, 40, completed her look with a pair of on-trend lace-up leather boots, while obligatory sunglasses shielded her eyes from the glaring sun.

Joining his wife, Justin, 41, looked equally stylish in a patterned diamond print short sleeved shirt teamed with a pair of elegant high-waisted dress trousers.

Nailed it: Victor Cruz (left) looked ultra chic in a short suit ensemble as he flashed his toned chest, while Luka Sabbat (right) opted for a stylish aqua blue look

In good company: Joel Edgerton was joined by glamorous partner Christine Centenera in Paris on Thursday afternoon

Here they come: Guests were treated to a first look at the designer's forthcoming line in male dress-wear, with an emphasis on soft colours and relaxed tailoring

Couple goals: Chanel Iman showed off her fashion credentials with a gorgeous look, as she walked alongside beau Davon Godchaux, who looked dapper in an all-black LV ensemble

Procession: Models walked a specially erected circular platform in the historic French city on Thursday afternoon

Nice view: Guests were given distinctive yellow block binoculars to better observe the parade as they sat in the glaring sun

Arriving in style: NBA player Russell Westbrook (left) amped up his look with a Louis Vuitton briefcase, while model Carlo Sestini (right) went for a split hem dark suit

Play it loud: Some models carried Louis Vuitton sound systems on their backs while making their way past the small gathering of celebrity guests

Coming to a high street near you: Vuitton's latest designs were bold, vibrant and entirely in keeping with the event's celebratory theme

Here we go: The show was preceded by a celebratory fanfare as a makeshift band made an appearance on the catwalk

Step by step: Pastel colours appeared to be a recurrent theme during Thursday's celebratory fashion show

Endless: The models poured across a purpose built stage during the surreal show in Paris on Thursday afternoon

Looking good: Tyga also cut a trendy figure for his appearance at the Rick Owen fashion show on Thursday

Wow: The hitmaker also sported a white vest and a pair of dramatic gold sunglasses

Thursday's dreamlike show, which followed the tragic death of Vuitton designer Virgil Abloh in November 2021, began with the emergence of an all-black marching band from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida.

The opening prelude, titled Strange Math, saw the troupe transported from a pre-recorded alternate reality Paris to the live event, during which they marched the specially erected circular stage upon which guests were seated.

With the show officially underway, pastel hues, elongated shoulders and preppy varsity-wear appeared to dominate proceedings as models walked the runway, with some carrying Louis Vuitton sound systems on their backs while making their way past the small gathering of celebrity guests.

The show ended with a procession of every look that included a small group of models carrying the distinctive rainbow flag - a likely tribute to Abloh, whose Louis Vuitton debut took place on a rainbow runway.

Celebration of life: Thursday's show followed the tragic death of Vuitton designer Virgil Abloh in November 2021

Here we go: It began with the emergence of an all-black marching band from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida

Incredible: The opening prelude, titled Strange Math, saw the troupe transported from a pre-recorded alternate reality Paris to the live event, during which they marched the specially erected circular stage upon which guests were seated

In attendance: Mory Sacko (L) and Tahar Rahim (R) were both in attendance as the Louis Vuitton show got underway

Arm in arm: Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel were inseparable during their joint appearance in Paris on Thursday

On trend: Varsity-wear played a key role in Thursday's show, and was reflected in Tyga's distinctive choice of wardrobe

Handsome: Luka was seen climbing into his car as he left the Louis Vuitton show on Thursday afternoon

Here come the boys: (L-R) Joel Edgerton, Russell and Dan Carter were all in attendance at the star-studded event
She's been dubbed 'Catwoman' due to her feline features - but has always denied having plastic surgery.

And Jocelyn Wildenstein, 82, and her designer fiance Lloyd Klein, 55, continue to look loved up in their heavily filtered Instagram snaps following a rocky 18-year romance.

The couple have been engaged since 2017 when Lloyd presented the New York socialite with a 32-carat diamond ring which is reportedly 'worth millions.'

Partners: 'Catwoman' Jocelyn Wildenstein, 82, and fiance Lloyd Klein, 55, appear loved-up in HEAVILY-filtered Instagram snaps following an 18-year rocky romance

Vow: The couple have been engaged since 2017 when Lloyd presented the New York socialite with a 32-carat diamond ring which is reportedly 'worth millions' but have never married

Instagram vs reality: The star is pictured left on social media and right at a red carpet event in Miami Beach in 2020

They were due to marry in 2018 but are yet to make it down the aisle two years after she was arrested for allegedly slashing her boyfriends chest with a pair of scissors.

Jocelyn was accused of clawing her partner Lloyd before slashing his chest at her apartment in Trump World Tower, New York, at around 1.30 in the morning.

Lloyd said he had been as forced to push her into a cupboard until the police arrived.

Born this way? Jocelyn has always denied having plastic surgery - she filed for bankruptcy in 2018 after squandering her $2.5BILLION divorce settlement

The charges were later dropped and Jocelyn said: 'In life, we take our frustrations out on those we love the most, and I directed mine towards Lloyd.

'I let my frustration turn to anger, and it was wrong. I saw red and turned into a woman possessed. I lashed out like an angry cat.

'The fight with Lloyd was when Id hit rock bottom. I felt Id reached the end of the line and just snapped.

A year later, Jocelyn and Lloyd hit headlines as they dismissed claims of a late night fight.

They insisted they injured themselves having passionate sex after a dish of beef bourguignon exploded.

Through the years: The socialite earned the nickname 'Catwoman' as a result of her exaggerated feline features, which have become much more pronounced over time

Neighbours had heard screaming coming from their apartment and police arrested both after they arrived at 1am to find the shattered casserole dish on the kitchen floor, bruises to Wildenstein's neck and arms and a cut to Klein's forehead.

Canadian-born couturier Lloyd said he had raced to the shower to wash the scalding broth off his legs where he says he slipped and fell, suffering a small cut to the forehead.

Wildenstein joined him the bathroom to check he was OK but before long the couple had moved to the bedroom and started to have sex.

They told DailyMail.com that neighbors overheard their noisy lovemaking and wrongly leapt to the conclusion that Wildenstein was being attacked.

'I burned my legs when the dish exploded and I went to the shower to put water on it,' Klein said.

'I must have made a lot of noise, I was panicking, but Jocelyn came into the bathroom to see that I was OK and one thing led to another.

'I slipped and cut my forehead because everything was very wet, but it was no big deal, a tiny cut.

'We went into the bedroom and had great, passionate sex. The neighbours probably heard all this and assumed someone was being murdered.

'A few minutes later the security came into the apartment uninvited and walked right in on us in the bedroom.

Socialite: Jocelyn rose to fame in the Nineties during a high-profile divorce from art dealer Alec Wildenstein, receiving over $2 billion from her husband in the split (pictured in 1998)

I can see why it looked like a fight with the food on the floor and the little bit of blood  but I can assure you it wasnt that, 100 percent.

Mother-of-three Wildenstein insisted the bruises on her neck and arms referenced in the criminal complaint were completely innocent.

'Lloyd can be very passionate, he can be a little rough,' she laughed. 'That's something I enjoy otherwise I would not have been with him all this time.

'None of this would have happened if the cooking pot had not exploded. I have never seen anything like it. He burned himself and when I went to help him we took a shower together.

'The security did not want to hear any explanations. They reached their own conclusion. It was a horrible time.

First love: Jocelyn's ex-husband, art dealer Alex Wildenstein, pictured in 2000, a year after his divorce from her - he died in 2008

Police arrived minutes later and the couple were taken to different Manhattan hospitals before being booked into jail on misdemeanor assault charges.

The charges were dropped and they reconciled.

Wildenstein rose to fame in the Nineties during a high-profile divorce from art dealer Alec Wildenstein, receiving over $2 billion from her husband in the split.

Lloyd has denied reports that Jocelyn has had surgery.

He said: 'I dont understand the whole press and the Catwoman thing, because Jocelyn always looked like that.

'She never really did anything to change her face. I have pictures from 16 years old where she looks exactly the same as today.'

In 2018. Jocelyn filed for bankruptcy and claimed she has no savings or stock after squandering her $2.5BILLION divorce settlement.

The woman who once purchased a capuchin monkey as a pet found herself with no checking or savings accounts, no retirement fund or pension plans and no investments according to her filing.

The filing also lists the $900 check Wildestein gets from Social Security each month as her only source of income.

In January 2019, Lloyd unveiled his new face exclusively to DailyMailTV after undergoing a facial rejuvenation procedure following his years-long battle with cancer.

Klein was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2013. He had a tumour the size of an orange removed from his armpit and underwent three rounds of gruelling chemotherapy.

In 2017, he was told the cancer had spread to his spine and liver and he only had six months to live. But Klein told DailyMailTV in 2018 that he was in remission.

He said: 'I knew at that moment I had to focus on what it is most important in my life - and that's Jocelyn. For me it was so important to recognize that commitment by making her my wife.

'She has always been there for me, throughout our ups and downs. I cannot imagine living a single day of my life without her.'

The French fashion designer said the intense chemotherapy destroyed his face, so he turned to Wildenstein, his girlfriend of 15 years to help look for a way to restore his face.

Klein, who has designed clothes for Nicki Minaj, Pink and Joan Collins, told DailyMailTV: 'I'm happy, very happy with the procedure. It's revolutionary.

'You go in and have the procedure done, 15- 20 minutes then you go home. As days go by you see the results. It's incredible.'
Rebel Wilson and her girlfriend Ramona Agruma have been enjoying an idyllic European getaway.

And on Wednesday, the pair looked loved-up as ever as they took their relationship to new heights.

Rebel, 42, couldn't wipe the smile off her face while posing alongside Ramona in a helicopter in Iceland.

Rebel Wilson and her girlfriend Ramona Agruma have been enjoying an idyllic European getaway, and on Wednesday the couple took their romance to new heights in Iceland

The couple kept warm wearing matching baby blue puffer jackets.

Ramona paired her look with a white beanie.

Earlier this week, the couple had been driving around in a red Lamborghini in Paris before going to a dinner date with a female friend.

Rebel shared a series of images of the pair enjoying their vacation to her Instagram.

Earlier this week, the couple had been driving around in a red Lamborghini in Paris before going to a dinner date with a female friend

Rebel also shared photos of her driving around in a red Lamborghini

Before France, the couple had been holidaying in Italy.

In one gorgeous photo shared to her official page, Rebel showed off her cleavage and slim waist in a yellow floral sun dress as she walked hand-in-hand with Ramona.

Her beauty look included wavy blonde tresses and glamorous makeup, and she simply couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

Meanwhile, Ramona cut a chic figure in a white crop top with a black Prada blazer and matching pants, paired with metallic sandals and a Christian Dior book tote bag.

'Ciao bellas,' Rebel simply captioned the post.

The Pitch Perfect star shared shared a series of images of the pair enjoying their vacation in Italy

In one gorgeous photo shared to her official page, Rebel showed off her cleavage and slim waist in a yellow floral sun dress as she walked hand-in-hand with Ramona

Rebel publicly announced her romance with Ramona in an Instagram post on June 10, sharing a photo of the pair cosying up to one another.

'I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince... but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess,' she wrote.

The pair have been seen together since early this year, and they even walked the red carpet together at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party in March.

Rebel still hasn't shared many details about her new love, who is an LA-based fashion designer and the owner of the sustainable fashion brand Lemon Ve Limon.

Rebel publicly announced her romance with Ramona in an Instagram post on June 10, sharing this photo of the pair cosying up to one another. 'I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince... but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess,' she wrote

Shortly after her Instagram post, it was revealed that Rebel went public about her relationship and her sexuality in order to get ahead of a story from the Sydney Morning Herald after the Australian paper threatened to 'out' her.

Shortly after she posted her photo, the paper's gossip columnist Andrew Hornery accused the actress of 'gazumping' his scoop by speaking out on her own terms.

'Thanks for your comments, it was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace,' she later wrote in a reply to a Twitter post by Channel 10's Kate Doak.

In his original piece, Hornery wrote that he gave the Bridesmaids star two days to respond to questioning, effectively forcing the actress' hand, yet became angry when the star chose to take control of the narrative herself.

The pair have been spotted together since early this year, and they even walked the red carpet at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party in March together (pictured)

'It was with an abundance of caution and respect that this media outlet emailed Rebel Wilson's representatives on Thursday morning, giving her two days to comment on her new relationship with LA leisure wear designer Ramona Agruma, before publishing a single word,' he wrote.

'Big mistake. Wilson opted to gazump the story, posting about her new 'Disney Princess' on Instagram early Friday morning, the same platform she had previously used to brag about her handsome ex-boyfriend, wealthy American beer baron Jacob Busch.

'Considering how bitterly Wilson had complained about poor journalism standards... her choice ignore our discreet genuine and honest queries was underwhelming.'

Shortly after her Instagram post, it was revealed that Rebel went public about her relationship and her sexuality in order to get ahead of a story from the Sydney Morning Herald after the Australian paper threatened to 'out' her

The article prompted a major backlash on social media with users bowled over by the newspaper's insensitivity, prompting editor Bevan Shields to pen a lengthy statement denying any wrongdoing and wishing the couple well.

Hornery subsequently apologised for his 'tone' in the article, and he claimed he never meant to 'inflict pain' when he approached the star about her relationship.

'I genuinely regret that Rebel has found this hard,' Hornery said in a column that replaced Sunday's article. 'That was never my intention. But I see she has handled it all with extraordinary grace.'

He added that, 'As a gay man I'm well aware of how deeply discrimination hurts. The last thing I would ever want to do is inflict that pain on someone else.'

In his original piece, gossip columnist Andrew Hornery wrote that he gave the Bridesmaids star two days to respond to questioning, effectively forcing the actress' hand, yet became angry when the star chose to take control of the narrative herself

Rebel did reveal last month that she was dating someone, although she kept their identity under wraps, telling People that she had been set up with her partner - thought to be Ramona - 'through a friend', before spending weeks 'getting to know each other' on the phone.

'We spoke on the phone for weeks before meeting,' she revealed at the time. 'And that was a really good way to get to know each other. It was a bit old-school in that sense  very romantic.'

She also shared how 'the process of finding more self-worth' had 'elevated' her standards in terms of what she was looking for in a partner, describing her romance with her new girlfriend as 'equal' and 'healthy'.

As well as their under-the-radar public appearances together, Ramona has also been a fixture on Rebel's Instagram in recent months, though she wasn't presented as anything other than a friend.
Jodie Comer looked in great spirits as she enjoyed a Father's Day outing with parents James and Donna in London's Primrose Hill on Sunday.

The Killing Eve star, 29, who still lives with her folks in her childhood home in Childwall, Liverpool, was seen laughing and joking as they sat outside The Washington pub.

The group were also seen enjoying a walk together before stopping for lunch at nearby celebrity haunt, Lemonia Restaurant.

Just the three of us: Jodie Comer looked in great spirits as she enjoyed a Father's Day outing with parents James and Donna in London's Primrose Hill on Sunday

Jodie proved she had a fantastic relationship with her parents as the three left their home in Liverpool to enjoy a day out in London for the special occasion.

The actress kept tings casual for the outing, donning a loose-fitting black shirt with pale blue jeans and black espadrilles.

Jodie teamed her laidback outfit with a black crossbody bag, a cosy grey scarf and trendy black sunglasses.

Lovely: The Killing Eve star, 29, who still lives with her folks in her childhood home in Childwall, Liverpool, was seen laughing and joking as they sat outside The Washington pub

The Doctor Foster star left her blonde locks to fall over her shoulders, while she appeared to go make-up free for the day.

Her physiotherapist father James and Merseyrail employee mother Donna echoed their daughter's laidback look with causal ensembles of their own.

The couple also share son Charlie, who also lives with the family at their south of Liverpool home.

Last year, Jodie told The Times how much she enjoyed living at home, though she would need to get her own place at some point.

Outing: The group were also seen enjoying a walk together before stopping for lunch at nearby celebrity haunt, Lemonia Restaurant

Close bond: Jodie proved she had a fantastic relationship with her parents as the three left their home in Liverpool to enjoy a day out in London for the special occasion

Off-duty style: The actress kept tings casual for the outing, donning a loose-fitting black shirt with pale blue jeans and black espadrilles

Details: Jodie teamed her laidback outfit with a black crossbody bag, a cosy grey scarf and trendy black sunglasses

Radiant: The Doctor Foster star left her blonde locks to fall over her shoulders, while she appeared to go make-up free for the day

She said: 'Id live with my mum and dad till I was old and grey if I could.

'(But) Im definitely looking to move out. I recognise I need my own space and independence. I just dont want to do it.'

Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that Jodie will be swapping the theatre boards of the West End for the bright lights of Broadway as she heads to the US with her one-person play.

Lovely: Jodie appeared to be having a great time as she strolled with her parents

In conversation: The thespian chatted away to her smiling parents as they made their way around Primrose Hill

Mine's a pint: The trio supped on refreshing pints of beer as they sat in the sunshine

What's the story? Jodie and her lookalike mother appeared very engaged in what James had to say

The Killing Eve star has received critical acclaim for her West End debut in the role as Tessa in Prima Facie, a one-person play by Suzie Miller, and cried on social media as she shared the news with fans.

The production sees Comer portraying a brilliant barrister who has progressed from her working class origins to the top of the profession, when an unexpected event forces her to 'confront the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, burden of proof and morals diverge'.

Sharing the news on Instagram, alongside a picture of her with tears in her yes, Comer wrote: 'I am so honoured to play a part in the telling of this story and beyond thrilled that next week isn't the end.

Happy: Last year, Jodie told The Times how much she enjoyed living at home, though she would need to get her own place at some point

Homebody: Jodie previously said: 'Id live with my mum and dad till I was old and grey if I could'

That's my girl: Jodie enjoyed quality time with her parents on Father's Day

Ready to order? The star was seen chatting to a waiter as she sat between her parents outside

'It means so much to see and hear so many of your positive responses.

Sharing the news on Instagram, alongside a picture of her with tears in her yes, Comer wrote: 'I am so honoured to play a part in the telling of this story and beyond thrilled that next week isn't the end.

'It means so much to see and hear so many of your positive responses.

'Thank you to all of you who have supported the show and a special shout out to those who have travelled thousands of miles, now it's our turn. I love you Tess, we're going to BROADWAY!'.

Exciting! Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that Jodie will be swapping the theatre boards of the West End for the bright lights of Broadway as she heads to the US with her one-person play (pictured crying as she delivered the news to fans)

It comes after she reportedly found herself at the centre of a security scare last month, after an overzealous fan allegedly tried to get under a shutter to the stage door at the theatre of her play.

Her popularity has no doubt soared after picking up the Leading Actress gong for her role in Channel 4 's Help at this year's BAFTA Television Awards held at London 's Royal Festival Hall earlier this month.

The star who won the category in 2019 for Killing Eve, admitted she was 'very nervous' as she took to the stage to receive her award for her outstanding performance in the pandemic drama.
Meaningful Beauty founder Cindy Crawford and her second husband Rande Gerber dined at his Malibu restaurant Cafe Habana on Wednesday night.

For her hot date, the 56-year-old nineties supermodel was dressed in a simple black blouse tucked into faded grey skinny jeans, fastened with a $370 Nili Lotan 'Nili' belt, and black sandals.

Cindy's 60-year-old hubbie - who also co-owns Nate'n Al's in Beverly Hills - partnered with original owner Sean Meenan to open the Cuban eatery in the Malibu Lumberyard back in 2010.

Date night! Meaningful Beauty founder Cindy Crawford and her second husband Rande Gerber dined at his Malibu restaurant Cafe Habana on Wednesday night

Crawford and Gerber celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary on May 29, and she gushed: 'Another year of life together. Couldn't have picked a better partner - through it all, I'm grateful for your strength, loyalty and playfulness.'

On Monday, The Spirit Business announced that Casamigos - co-founded by Rande, two-time Oscar winner George Clooney, and property developer Mike Meldman - took the Supreme Brand Champion title for 2022.

In 2013, the trio founded the tequila and mezcal company - which is distilled in Jalisco, Mexico - but they sold it to Diageo in a deal worth up to $1B just four years later.

'When you have the best product, the best marketing is word of mouth. This is why Casamigos has become such a huge success across the globe,' the Long Island native explained to The Spirit Business.

Casually clad: The 56-year-old nineties supermodel was dressed in a simple black blouse tucked into faded grey skinny jeans, fastened with a $370 Nili Lotan 'Nili' belt, and black sandals

Boss man: Cindy's 60-year-old hubbie - who also co-owns Nate'n Al's in Beverly Hills - partnered with original owner Sean Meenan to open the Cuban eatery in the Malibu Lumberyard back in 2010

Crawford and Gerber celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary on May 29, and she gushed: 'Another year of life together. Couldn't have picked a better partner - through it all, I'm grateful for your strength, loyalty and playfulness' (pictured June 12)

'Casamigos is brought to you by those who drink it. It's not a celebrity brand. We made it to drink, not to start a company. People appreciate the authenticity of our story. George, Mike and I created it, own it, drink it, run the company and live the lifestyle.

'We are just three guys that know what we like and want to share it, one of us just happens to be a celebrity. The numerous awards and accolades Casamigos has received is a result of the spirit itself.'

On July 2, Rande and the Friends Reunion guest star will celebrate the 23rd birthday of their son Presley Walker, a self-described 'entrepreneur' who lasered off his 'misunderstood' face tattoo last year.

The couple's daughter Kaia Jordan - who's dating Elvis star Austin Butler -just landed a recurring role as a manicurist called Mitzi in Tate Taylor's 10-episode comedy series Mrs. American Pie for Apple TV+.

'Thank you!' On Monday, The Spirit Business announced that Casamigos - co-founded by Rande, two-time Oscar winner George Clooney, and property developer Mike Meldman - took the Supreme Brand Champion title for 2022

'When you have the best product, the best marketing is word of mouth': In 2013, the trio founded the tequila and mezcal company - which is distilled in Jalisco, Mexico - but they sold it to Diageo in a deal worth up to $1B just four years later

The Long Island native explained to The Spirit Business: 'It's not a celebrity brand. We made it to drink, not to start a company. People appreciate the authenticity of our story. George, Mike and I created it, own it, drink it, run the company and live the lifestyle. We are just three guys that know what we like and want to share it, one of us just happens to be a celebrity. The numerous awards and accolades Casamigos has received is a result of the spirit itself'

'Holy moly!' the 20-year-old DNA Model exclaimed on June 13.

'Humbled to get to work alongside some of my heroes (happy) crying!'

Mrs. American Pie - based on Juliet McDaniel's 2018 novel - also stars Carol Burnett, Laura Dern, Kristen Wiig, Ricky Martin, Allison Janney, Josh Lucas, Leslie Bibb, and Mindy Cohn.

'The next level is up!' On July 2, Rande and the Friends Reunion guest star will celebrate the 23rd birthday of their son Presley Walker, a self-described 'entrepreneur' who lasered off his 'misunderstood' face tattoo last year (pictured June 14)

Cindy's mini-me: The couple's daughter Kaia Jordan - who's dating Elvis star Austin Butler -just landed a recurring role as a manicurist called Mitzi in Tate Taylor's 10-episode comedy series Mrs. American Pie for Apple TV+ (pictured May 25)
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Katie Price looked elegant in a navy bridesmaid dress as she arrived at her sister Sophie's wedding on Tuesday - after reportedly begging her to bring the ceremony forward ahead of her sentencing for breaching a restraining order.

The former glamour model, 44, cut an uncharacteristically demure figure in the gown and clutched a pretty flower bouquet as she made her way to the Sussex church to watch mother-of-one Sophie wed Harry Brooks.

Katie was joined by her kids Harvey, 20, Junior, Princess, 14, Bunny, seven, and Jett, eight, for the family wedding as well her mother Amy Price and her partner Paul.

Nuptials: Katie Price looked elegant in a navy bridesmaid dress as she arrived at her sister Sophie's wedding on Tuesday - after reportedly begging her to bring the ceremony forward ahead of her sentencing for breaching a restraining order

Katie looked lovely in her navy dress which had a flattering off-the-shoulder design and clung to here figure before falling into the full-length skirt.

The star wore her honey locks in perfectly styled waves over her shoulders and opted for a typically glamorous makeup look as she posed for pictures outside the church with her family.

Meanwhile her daughter Princess looked sweet in a similar navy dress which had a sparkly top section and chiffon skirt and was teamed with silver heels while she wore her hair in a similar curly style to her mothers.

Wedding: The former glamour model, 44, cut an uncharacteristically demure figure in the gown and clutched a pretty flower bouquet as she made her way to the Sussex church to watch mother-of-one Sophie wed Harry Brooks

Family: Katie was joined by her kids Harvey, 20, Junior, Princess, 14, Bunny, seven, and Jett, eight, for the family wedding as well her mother Amy Price and her partner Paul

Harvey looked smart for the church ceremony and wore a white shirt and bright red tie as he held onto his mother's arm while walking along the pavement.

Meanwhile Bunny looked adorable in her navy dress and had a pretty flower headband in her hair she held a matching bunch in her hand.

Jett matched all of his siblings and mother in his sweet navy suit and white shirt as he made his way to the church with his family in tow.

The look: Katie looked lovely in her navy dress which had a flattering off-the-shoulder design and clung to here figure before falling into the full-length skirt

Lovely day: The bride looked stunning in her sweeping white gown and veil as she headed to the church before posing for snaps with her husband and baby

Group shot: The star wore her honey locks in perfectly styled waves over her shoulders and opted for a typically glamorous makeup look as she posed for pictures outside the church with her family

Katie's mother Amy - who suffers from a terminal lung condition - looked bright in a yellow maxi dress and carried her oxygen tank with her into the church.

The bride looked stunning in her sweeping white gown and veil as she headed to the church before posing for snaps with her husband and baby.

Sophie and fiance Harry, who have been together for 12 years, welcomed their son Albert last September.

Outfit: Meanwhile her daughter Princess looked sweet in a similar navy dress which had a sparkly top section and chiffon skirt and was teamed with silver heels while she wore her hair in a similar curly style to her mothers

Twinning: Princess' dress was teamed with silver heels while she wore her hair in a similar curly style to her mothers

Daughters: Meanwhile Bunny looked adorable in her navy dress and had a pretty flower headband in her hair she held a matching bunch in her hand

Stunning: Sophie and fiance Harry, who have been together for 12 years, welcomed their son Albert last September

Music star: Junior looked dapper in his navy suit as he strolled into the church ahead of his family after making it to No1 in the UK iTunes pop chart last week

Support: Katie held onto the arm of her eldest son Harvey as she made her way to the church in her navy dress

Drama: Sophie's wedding came after it was reported that Katie begged her sister to push up her nuptials by two days as she is due to appear in court on Friday

Katie took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a glimpse at her sister's nuptials to Harry as she appeared to be enjoying the big day.

She shared an array of video clips to her Instagram Stories of her children dancing and singing as they appeared to have the time of their lives at the reception.

One clip showed Katie taking a selfie before panning over to her daughter Princess, who she shares with her ex Peter Andre, as she enjoyed a tasty snack.

Plan: A source told The Sun that the 'close-knit' family were 'desperate' to spend Sophie's wedding together and moved up the ceremony after Katie was warned she faces jail

Unwell: Katie's mother Amy - who suffers from a terminal lung condition - looked bright in a yellow maxi dress and carried her oxygen tank with her into the church

Awkward: Katie was joined by her children at the wedding but it was previously reported that her fiance Carl Woods was not allowed to attend the ceremony

Difficult: Sophie, who got engaged to her partner Harry in March, reportedly refused to include Katie's fiance Carl due to his on/off relationship with Katie as well as issues with Harry

Here he is! Harvey looked smart for the church ceremony and wore a white shirt and bright red tie as he held onto his mother's arm while walking along the pavement

Kisses: The bride and groom shared a sweet moment as they left the church together in the sunshine

Children: All five of Katie's children were at the wedding to see their auntie get married

Wedding bells: Guests arrived shortly before 1pm at All Saints church in the village of Patcham, East Sussex

Gorgeous: Sophie, in a white dress with a veil and flowers in her hair, clutched a bouquet

Another video showed Princess taking to the dance floor with her younger sibling Bunny, who Katie shares with her ex Kieran Hayler.

Other footage shared to the mother-of-five's Instagram grid saw her son Junior dancing and singing along to his debut single Slide with Bunny.

The sweet clip saw the brother and sister nailing coordinated dance moves as Junior belted out the track, which hit the No1 spot on the UK ITunes pop chart.

Pretty: Princess wore a navy dress similar to her mother's and had her hair styled in her classic curly fashion

Happy: Sophie confirmed her engagement in March, writing on Instagram: 'Well I didn't expect that round the fire pit last night...I said YES!!! #imengaged #yes #summerwedding'

Family snaps: Katie and her children all posed for a group picture together outside the church

Love: Sophie and Harry tied the knot at a church in West Sussex not far from Katie's home on Wednesday

Tough: A source said: 'Katie really hoped Carl would be able to come to the wedding and Sophie would change her mind but the guest list is already finalised and she respects her sister's wishes'

The glimpse inside Sophie's wedding came after it was reported that Katie begged her sister to push up her nuptials by two days as she is due to appear in court on Friday.

A source told The Sun that the 'close-knit' family were 'desperate' to spend Sophie's wedding together and moved up the ceremony after Katie was warned she faces jail.

They added: '[Katie] looked proud as punch as they arrived at the church  smiling for the cameras and nothing like a woman who could be living in a cell in two days' time.

Difficult: The wedding comes after Katie was warned she faces jail after she pleaded guilty to breaching a restraining order by calling ex-husband Kieran Hayler's fiancee a 'gutter s**g'

'[Katie] even brought a film crew along with her, typically, so she's obviously not too alarmed.

'But she was hell-bent on being at Sophie's wedding and they've been enjoying quality time together in the build-up.'

MailOnline has contacted Katie's representatives for comment.

Katie was joined by her children at the wedding but it was previously reported that her fiance Carl Woods was not allowed to attend the ceremony.

Group outing: Katie was joined by her children at the wedding but not her beau Carl

Happy day! Sophie was covered in confetti by her family members as she left the church

Sophie, who got engaged to her partner Harry in March, reportedly refused to include Katie's fiance Carl due to his on/off relationship with Katie as well as issues with Harry.

According to The Sun, Katie was hoping that Sophie would let Carl attend after threatening behaviour charges against Carl were dropped.

A source said: 'Katie really hoped Carl would be able to come to the wedding and Sophie would change her mind but the guest list is already finalised and she respects her sister's wishes.

The source said: 'She doesn't want anything distracting from Sophie's big day and she knows it's not about her or Carl. Katie will be there with a big smile on her face to celebrate her sister, but of course it makes her sad to not have Carl by her side'

'She doesn't want anything distracting from Sophie's big day and she knows it's not about her or Carl. Katie will be there with a big smile on her face to celebrate her sister, but of course it makes her sad to not have Carl by her side.

'As for Carl, he's disappointed too but more for Katie's sake. He understands, however, and wishes Sophie and Harry all the best for their big day.'

The publication reported that Sophie and Harry tied the knot at a church in West Sussex not far from Katie's home on Wednesday.

Sophie confirmed her engagement in March, writing on Instagram: 'Well I didn't expect that round the fire pit last night...I said YES!!! #imengaged #yes #summerwedding.'

Drama: The mother-of-five was arrested on January 21 on suspicion of breaking her restraining order against Michelle Penticost with a foul-mouthed text to her ex

The post was swiftly liked by Katie who posted a string of hearts in the comments section.

It was previously claimed that Carl had refused to attend the wedding after a row, with a representative for him, saying: 'Carl will not be attending the wedding.

'Carl and Sophie's partner, Harry, haven't always seen eye to eye therefore Carl has made the decision not to attend.'

The wedding comes after Katie was warned she faces jail after she pleaded guilty to breaching a restraining order by calling ex-husband Kieran Hayler's fiancee a 'gutter s**g'.

Nearing the date: Katie, who was released on bail, will be sentenced for breaching the restraining order on June 24

The mother-of-five was arrested on January 21 on suspicion of breaking her restraining order against Michelle Penticost with a foul-mouthed text to her ex.

The message read: 'Tell your c****ng w**** piece of s*** girlfriend not to start on me.

'She has a restraining order so shouldn't try antagonise me as she is in breach and I'm sure she doesn't want people knowing that she was having an affair with you behind my back. That gutter s***.'

Katie was later charged with breaching a restraining order but pleaded not guilty on April 27 and requested a crown court trial.

The law: Katie was later charged with breaching a restraining order but pleaded not guilty on April 27 and requested a crown court trial

Wedding day! The happy couple were covered in confetti as they left the church on the perfectly sunny day

Off we go! The happy couple later got into a red camper van to head to the reception

Bid day: The bridesmaids all matched perfectly in navy

But she pled guilty in May and was told by Judge Stephen Mooney that she was 'at risk of receiving an immediate custodial sentence'.

It was previously suggested she could face five years in jail if she had been found to have breached the order.

Her lawyer Nicholas Hamblin said the star should avoid jail again because only the words 'tell your' were a breach of the restraining order.

Very cool! The red camper van was covered in white ribbon as they headed to the reception nearby

Finishing touches: One of her other bridesmaids made sure the train of her dress was in the right position

Sweet: Sophie held hands with Harvey as she left the church

Big day: Amy made her way to the church in a yellow dress and had her partner Paul by her side

Smart: Junior Andre looked dapper in his navy suit and had a small bunch of flowers in his top pocket

Wedding reception: They left the church in the cool red camper van

He said: 'Were it not for those two words in the message this would not be a breach.'

Katie, who was released on bail, will be sentenced for breaching the restraining order on June 24.

She was handed the five-year restraining order on June 3, 2019 banning her from contacting Michelle directly or indirectly.

The order came after Katie hurled a foul-mouthed 'tirade of abuse' at her during a row in a school playground.

Awaiting her fate: Katie, who was released on bail, will be sentenced for breaching the restraining order on June 24

Filming: A camera crew was there to capture all of the special wedding moments

Stunning bride: Sophie looked incredible in her sweeping gown as her veil blew out in the wind

Chatting: Katie looked happy as she chatted with her children outside the church

Happy: Amy looked in good spirits for the wedding despite her ongoing health woes

Heading home: Katie Price, 44, cut a solemn figure as she left her make-up masterclass in London after a low turnout on Thursday

On tour: The former glamour model has been hosting masterclasses for fans around the country as of late, also taking part in a class in Leicester on Wednesday afternoon

Tutorial: Some fans were seen posing for pictures outside the salon before the event on Thursday

Out and about: The former Love Island hopeful wore a black T-shirt and a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms

Hugging it out: The pair shared an embrace as Katie left with Aisleyne flashing a broad smile as she stood in the doorway
Anne Hathaway cut a fashionable figure in a dazzling 1960s cocktail dress while filming in New Jersey.

The 39-year-old actress donned a pink gown with a plunging neckline as she made her way across a front yard.

The dress ended in a pair of skirts, one tight against her thighs and knees, and another that billowed out around her.

Gorgeous: Anne Hathaway cut a fashionable figure in a dazzling 1960s cocktail dress while filming in New Jersey

She donned a big dark brown wig put into a bouffant, much like Jackie Kennedy Onassis's famous style for her film Mother's Instinct.

A string of white pearls clung tightly to her neck, and she walked in a pair of white flats down a stone path.

The sleeves ended in the middle of her biceps, and she walked with her arms up.

Low-cut: The 39-year-old actress donned a pink gown with a plunging neckline as she made her way across a front yard

Stylish: She donned a big dark brown wig put into a bouffant, much like Jackie Kennedy Onassis's famous style

Later on in the day, the Academy Award winner was pictured filming a scene where she donned a brown blazer and matching knee-length skirt.

Her wig was done up in the same style and she wore the same string of pearls as he pink ensemble.

She stood on her patio with a cigarette in her hand and then her mouth.

Her lips were painted a light pink, and and she bit her lips in what seemed to be a very concerned way.

New outfit: Later on in the day, the Academy Award winner was pictured filming a scene where she donned a brown blazer and matching knee-length skirt

Same style: Her wig was done up in the same style and she wore the same string of pearls as he pink ensemble

Smoke up: She stood on her patio with a cigarette in her hand and then her mouth

Lipstick: Her lips were painted a light pink, and and she bit her lips in what seemed to be a very concerned way

Mothers' Instinct is a remake of Olivier Masset-Depasse's 2018 film Duelles, which starred Anne Coesens and Veerle Baetens. Masset-Depasse is also directing the remake.

'Life's perfect harmony is suddenly shattered after a tragic accident,' read the logline for the American remake.

'Guilt, suspicion, and paranoia combine to unravel their sisterly bond, and a psychological battle of wills begins as the maternal instinct reveals its darker side.'

Both Mothers' Instinct and Duelles are loosely based on Barbara Abel's 2012 novel Derriere la Haine.

Origin: Mothers' Instinct is a remake of Masset-Depasse's own 2018 film Duelles starring Anne Coesens (L) and Veerle Baetens (R)

'It takes actors of Jessica and Anne's caliber to communicate the intricacy of these two roles,' Olivier, winner of the Cannes SACD Prize, said in a statement.

'The relationship between a mother and child is the most powerful connection between two human beings. When this bond is severed, it calls into question conventional morality and even sanity.

'In the behind-closed-doors atmosphere of 1960s America, Mothers' Instinct becomes a terrifying, high-pressure powder keg.'

On May 11, Deadline reported that Neon (distributor of Pig, Titane and Spencer) has already acquired US rights to distribute Mothers' Instinct.
Tom Hiddleston has spoken out about the most profound moment of his career after filming Loki in a bubble with the rest of the cast during the coronavirus pandemic.

The actor, 41, who plays the title character in the Disney+ series, was forced to take time out from work when Covid-19 spread across the globe, forcing filming of the first series to pause when the cast and crew went into lockdown for five months.

He later returned to set to form a bubble with his fellow stars and crew long before a vaccination for the virus had been created, with the star saying the completion of the series under the circumstances was one of the most 'meaningful' moments of his career.

Memorable: Tom Hiddleston, 41, has spoken out about the most profound moment of his career after filming Loki in a bubble with the rest of the cast during the coronavirus pandemic

He told Gentleman's Journal: 'On the last day on set of Loki's first season, after the very last shot, we all, without instruction, seemed to stand in a circle  with nowhere to go, with the job done, and clapped.

'It's hard to describe the feeling of relief, of the gratitude we felt for each other, for every member of our cast and crew.

'Filming had been interrupted by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic one third of the way into our planned schedule  we locked down for five months  and we restarted after that first hiatus to resume exactly where we had left off, and to finish the story.'

On hold: The actor who plays the title character in the Disney+ series, was forced to take time out when Covid-19 spread across the globe, forcing filming of the first series to pause

He went on to explain that the cast and crew worked in a bubble for 12 weeks, saying it was the only human contact most of them had at that time.

He added: 'We supported each other with a spirit, care and kindness in a way I have never seen before. 'Whatever happens to this series', I thought, 'whichever way it goes, the making of it was meaningful. There is meaning in the doing'.'

Meanwhile, Tom says he'd love to do more theatre but is waiting to see what 'transpires'.

Back on set: After a break of five months, he later returned to set to form a bubble with his fellow stars and crew long before a vaccination for the virus had been created

Career: The star saying the completion of the series under the circumstances was one of the most 'meaningful' moments of his career

Moving on: Meanwhile, Tom says he'd love to do more theatre but is waiting to see what 'transpires'

He said he relishes in the rival of classical work, insisting he finds he 'so rewarding' and that he can find 'genuine joy' in the process.

Tom posed for a number of pictures as part of a shoot for the magazine, including one shot in which he gazed off into the distance out a window.

In another he cut a casual figure in a black jacket and jeans as he sat on the bonnet of a classic orange Audi.

Born to perform: He said he relishes in the rival of classical work, insisting he finds he 'so rewarding' and that he can find 'genuine joy' in the process

It comes after Tom confirmed his engagement to his engagement to Zawe Ashton earlier this month.

The Essex Serpent actor told in a new interview that he is 'very happy' about his upcoming nuptials to the Fresh Meat actress, 37.

The couple's romance blossomed after they starred in the 2019 play Betrayal and has gone from strength to strength since - eventually leading to a proposal in March.

Love: It comes after Tom has confirmed his engagement to Zawe Ashton earlier this month, who he proposed to in March

Get more: Read Tom Hiddleston's full interview on thegentlemansjournal.com

During a chat with the LA Times he confirmed he was set to wed the beauty but kept tight lipped about the romance, simply saying: 'I'm very happy' and nothing more.

Tom and Zawe previously set tongues wagging about a possible engagement as they appeared at the BAFTAs earlier this year, after which she was pictured wearing a huge diamond sparkler on her ring finger in a photo shared by host AJ Odudu.

The couple were reportedly congratulated by industry friends at the BAFTAs - after Zawe hid her hand as she took to the red carpet in a pink cape dress.

Zawe concealed her stunning diamond-encrusted ring from photographers on the red carpet, draping her stunning flowing pink gown over her hand.

Tom, meanwhile, looked devilishly handsome in a black blazer and trousers, as he posed hand-in-hand with Zawe.

However, later in the ballroom of London's Grosvenor Hotel the couple caught up with TV personality AJ who snapped a picture which showed the diamond ring.

Zawe and Tom met while starring in the 2019 play Betrayal and have kept their relationship out of the spotlight ever since.

Their play Betrayal followed a seven-year extramarital affair between two characters, Emma and Jerry, with the latter character being Emma's husband Robert's friend.

Tom played Robert in the play with Zawe starring as his on-stage wife Emma and Charlie playing Jerry.

The couple confirmed their romance during a steamy PDA-filled holiday at the beach in Ibiza in September last year before making their red carpet debut together at the Tony Awards in New York City.

Read Tom Hiddleston's full interview on thegentlemansjournal.com.
Russell T Davies has teased that David Tennant will face 'familiar but new' monsters as he returns to Doctor Who for the much-anticipated 60th anniversary special.

The returning showrunner, 59, made a cryptic comment about the villains that the tenth doctor, 51, could face as he returns to the sci-fi franchise.

He revealed the cast and crew are busy doing night shoots in Cardiff that could see some 'familiar but new' monsters appear, leaving fans guessing about which notorious species could return.

Exciting: Russell T Davies has teased that David Tennant will face 'familiar but new' monsters as he returns to Doctor Who for the much-anticipated 60th anniversary special

Russell told the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine: 'At the time of writing, we're six days away from a night shoot in Cardiff in which some monsters might be glimpsed.

'Monsters which might well be familiar to readers of DWM, well, familiar, but new.'

It remains unclear whether Russell could have been referring to notorious monsters such as the Daleks or the Cybermen, or lesser known villains such as Beep the Meep, who appeared in a Doctor Who comic strip.

The screenwriter went on to tease the reason behind the return of David as the Doctor and his popular companion Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate.

Monsters: The returning showrunner, 59, made a cryptic comment about the villains that the tenth doctor, 51, could face as he returns to the sci-fi franchise

They're back! The screenwriter went on to tease the reason behind the return of David as the Doctor and his popular companion Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate

He put forward a number of exciting theories, including that the Doctor and Donna are from a universe 'colliding' with our own or that they are from a 'multiverse'.

He suggested: 'A mysteriously forgotten excursion for the TARDIS in between Planet of the Ood and Sontaran Stratagem?'

His cryptic statement comes after it was reported that Neil Patrick Harris is set to take on the role of nostalgic villain The Toymaker during his guest-starring stint in the 60th anniversary special.

The actor, 49, will play the 'greatest enemy the Doctor has ever faced', as previously confirmed by showrunner Russell T Davies.

Role: It comes after it was reported that Neil Patrick Harris is set to take on the role of nostalgic villain The Toymaker during his guest-starring stint in Doctor Who's 60th anniversary special

But now, rumours of the character - who last appeared on the drama in 1966 - making a return have been swirling after a shop with the name, Mr Emporium, sprung up on the Bristol set.

According to The Mirror, it features a sign claiming the owner is 'Toymaker of the Year' and appears to flog 'magical items, games and tricks'.

Originally played by Michael Gough in The Celestial Toymaker four-part storyline, it is the mostly missing sixth serial of the third season, with only the final episode held in the BBC archives.

An enigmatic being from outside of space and time, he caused William Hartnell's first Doctor to become invisible for two episodes and had a number of living toys as his servants.

Coincidence? Rumours of the character - who last appeared on the drama in 1966 - making a return have been swirling after a shop with the name, Mr Emporium, sprung up on the set

Having, at one time, been expected to make a comeback in 1986 in an episode filmed at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, plans were scrapped after Doctor Who went on hiatus for 18 months.

Having caught on themselves, one fan wrote on Twitter: 'Neil Patrick Harris better be playing the Celestial Toymaker! I can't bring myself to have it any other way! #DWSR #DoctorWho.'

Others added: 'Neil Patrick Harris is so playing the Celestial Toymaker. #DoctorWho,' and, 'Is it just me who thinks from the costume that Neil Patrick Harris is playing the Toymaker? #DoctorWho.'

Throwback: Originally played by Michael Gough in The Celestial Toymaker four-part storyline, it is the mostly missing sixth serial of the third season (pictured in 1966)

A fourth wrote: 'Okay, I have a theory about Neil Patrick Harris in the #DoctorWho 60th anniversary specials. What if hes playing a new version of the Celestial Toymaker from the William Hartnell era?'

The BBC declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.

The news came after it was announced that Sex Education's Ncuti Gatwa, 29, will become the 14th Doctor on the popular BBC series, after Jodie Whittaker revealed last July that she would be leaving the show.

Fingers crossed! Having caught on themselves, fans took to Twitter to voice their excitement

Showrunner Russell confirmed Neil will be joining the cast as a villain.

It remains unclear whether Neil will appear alongside returning Time Lord David Tennant or Ncuti's new incarnation - with David currently filming scenes for the 60th anniversary special.

Following the BBC's announcement, Russell wrote on Instagram: 'Neil Patrick Harris, welcome to Cardiff! Playing the greatest enemy the Doctor has ever faced.

Bad guy? The actor, 49, will play the 'greatest enemy the Doctor has ever faced', as previously confirmed by showrunner Russell T Davies (Neil pictured in April 2022)

'Such a great actor, such a great man, it's an honour and a hoot. Have fun! @nph @bbcdoctorwho Ha!'

Neil added on his page: 'My current gig. Never looked more dashing. Thank you for inviting me into your Whoniverse, @russelltdavies63.

'Ill try my hardest to do my worst. This Doctor has no idea whats in store. And even if he does Who cares? Ha ha ha HA ha-ha-ha!'

Grateful: Meanwhile, Ncuti recently revealed he was 'deeply honoured' to be chosen as Jodie Whittaker's replacement after being confirmed for the titular role (pictured in May 2022)

Neil also joins newcomer Yasmin Finney, who is to take on the role of Rose. Yasmin recently gained recognition for her role of Elle Argent in Netflix hit Heartstopper.

The new cast are filming scenes that are due to air in 2023 as part of the show's 60th anniversary.

The name of Neil's character, and any further details about his new role, are yet to be confirmed.

Speaking about the sci-fi show's new arrival, Russell said: 'It's my huge honour to open our studio doors for the mighty Neil Patrick Harris... but who, why, what is he playing?

Who will it be? It remains unclear whether Neil will appear alongside returning Time Lord David Tennant or Ncuti's new incarnation - with Tennant currently filming scenes for the 60th anniversary special (pictured Tennant with Billie Piper as Rose)

'You'll just have to wait. But I promise you, the stuff we're shooting now is off the scale. Doctor beware!'

Queer As Folk and It's A Sin writer Russell is returning as the programme's showrunner after departing in 2009.

Russell, who was responsible for Doctor Who's revival in 2005, will be back to celebrate the show's 60th anniversary in 2023, the BBC previously said.

He worked with Neil on hit Channel 4 mini-drama It's A Sin, in which the American star portrayed Savile Row tailor Henry Coltrane.
Margot Robbie was seen filming scenes for the upcoming Barbie movie looking a little forlorn on Wednesday, as she continued work on the project that is now well underway in Los Angeles.

At one point during the day's filming, the 31-year-old Australian actress was seen with her head in her hands shooting a scene in which Barbie clearly is having a bad day.

Accompanying Margot for a second day was Oscar-nominated star Ryan Gosling who is playing her counterpart Ken - decked out in a Western-style shirt complete with embroidered flowers, fringe edging and pearl snap fasteners.

Barbie has a bad day! Margot Robbie looks forlorn onset as she continues filming alongside Ryan Gosling as Ken on Wednesday

Barbie's sorrow could be down to the synopsis of the film, which is being touted as 'a fish-out-of-water story about a doll who is ousted from toy society for not being perfect enough', according to a report by Vulture.

Another synopsis on IMDB of the upcoming film reads: 'A doll living in "Barbieland" is expelled for not being perfect enough and sets off on an adventure in the real world. A Live-action feature film based on the popular line of Barbie toys.'

Will Ferrell is said to be playing the CEO of the toy company that may or may not be Mattel.

Dolled down: Margot was seen filming scenes for the upcoming Barbie movie looking a little forlorn on Wednesday

Sadness: At one point, the 31-year-old Australian actress was seen with her head in her hands shooting a scene in which Barbie clearly is having a bad day

Little Women and Ladybird filmmaker Greta Gerwig is directing the project, and wrote the script for the film with her longtime partner Noah Baumbach.

Other members of the cast include Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Emma Mackey, Kingsley Ben-Adir, America Ferrara, Rhea Perlman, Ariana Greenblatt, Ana Cruz Kayne, Alexandra Shipp, Ritu Arya, Sharon Rooney, Connor Swindells, Scott Evans and Jamie Demetriou.

Fans think Emma will be playing the role of Skipper, the younger sister of Barbie, thanks to her resemblance to Margot.

Here to help: Accompanying Margot for a second day of filming was Oscar-nominated star Ryan Gosling who is playing her counterpart Ken

Think pink: The Australian star was once again seen in a star-detailed costume including a buttoned up halter waistcoat

Once Upon A Time In Barbie Land: Margot looked picture perfect as she took a break between filming scenes

Out in the real world: The movie is being described as a fish-out-of-water comedy

Also linked to the film are Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan, actress Saoirse Ronan and pop sensation Dua Lipa - but these have not yet been confirmed.

It has been rumoured that there will be different versions of Barbie and Ken, with one Barbie said to be portrayed by Issa Rae and the other might be Hari Nef.

Marvel's Simu Liu and new Doctor Who Ncuti Gatwa are also said be playing other Kens.

New York Times reporter Kyle Buchanan recently tweeted: 'I am hearing incredible BARBIE goss at Cannes. For one, I'm hearing that Ryan Gosling is not the only Ken in the BARBIE film. Simu Liu and Ncuti Gatwa also play Ken.

'And, by the same token, Margot Robbie is not the film's only Barbie. Issa Rae and Hari Nef play different Barbies'

Toy story: 5 6 Margot was seen looking statuesque in her hot pink ensemble

Perfect part: Margot replaced Amy Schumer in the lead role of the film

Meanwhile, all the way back in 2016, it had originally been announced that Amy Schumer would be taking on the role - but she bowed out just four months later.

'Sadly, I'm no longer able to commit to Barbie due to scheduling conflicts,' she said at the time. 'The film has so much promise, and Sony and Mattel have been great partners. I'm bummed but look forward to seeing Barbie on the big screen.'

However, later Amy admitted that it was less about scheduling and more about creative differences. 'They definitely didn't want to do it the way I wanted to do it, the only way I was interested in doing it,' she told The Hollywood Reporter.

'The idea that that's just what every woman must want, right there, I should have gone, 'You've got the wrong gal,'" she added.

In celebration of the Mattel dolls 60th anniversary, Barbie will be released in cinemas on July 21, 2023.
As neighbors uncover the terrible connection between the suspect and the victims, three individuals have been found dead inside a house.

Following their discovery on Tuesday, shot dead in the suspected murderer's house, the Atlanta man was detained and charged with killing his mother, step-father, and cousin, according to Cobb County police.

3 Georgia Relatives Found Dead in Atlanta Home

Investigators think that the suspected killer, 32-year-old Marcus Smith, and his mother Janice Peaks, 60, stepfather Donnell Peaks, 63, and cousin Cameron King, 38, were involved in a domestic argument that led to the shooting.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, police responded to a call at 12:30 p.m., on Tuesday and discovered three victims with gunshot wounds. Cobb County police spokeswoman Wayne Delk confirmed that Donnell and Janice Peaks died at the site.

King died shortly after being admitted to a local hospital. According to the arrest warrant, Donnell was shot in the head and legs, while Janice and King were both shot in the head. Smith was apprehended by police on Tuesday near his residence. Although it is unclear if the victims lived with Smith, prison records suggest that the shooting occurred in the suspected shooter's residence.

It's also unclear what the apparent domestic conflict was over. Delk stated that Smith is being detained without bond and that there are no other suspects.

Donnell Peaks was shot in the head and legs, according to the arrest warrant. Both his wife and King were shot in the head. Delk stated that King and Smith were perhaps first or second cousins. It was unclear whether all three victims resided with Smith, however, his principal residence is listed as Gardner Street, The Sun reported.

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Recent Similar Crime in Georgia

According to the Macon Telegraph, a Georgia man suspected of murdering his mother and stepfather laid a Darth Vader figure on one of the victims. That was just one of the strange elements discovered during the trial, which began this week in Macon.

Anthony Douglas Shoffner Jr., 27, is suspected of fatally murdering his mother, Rebecca Griffin, 46, and stepfather, Kenneth Griffin, 42, on March 10, 2020, in Perry. He was residing with the couple at the time they were murdered.

Shoffner was a former correctional officer at a Macon County state prison who had already spent time for his role in a methamphetamine network within the jail. He was freed in 2019 after moving in with the Griffins, according to the Telegraph..

Kenneth Griffin's body was discovered wrapped in a blanket, holding a Darth Vader toy, a coffee mug, and a solitary cowboy boot. Prosecutor Eric Edwards explained the strange display.

A mistrial was declared by the court on Wednesday when the material that was meant to be suppressed was found in a video. Shoffner will be retried in the following weeks, WSBTV reported.

Related Article: Outrage Sparks as 17-Year-Old Atlanta Teen Sentenced to 140 Years in Prison After Shooting Ex-Girlfriend on Valentine's Day

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The A-list cast of Jerry Seinfeld's upcoming movie Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story got an extra dose of star power on Wednesday when Hugh Grant was spotted on the film set in Los Angeles.

He was joined by Seinfeld, 68, who appeared to be filming a bizarre funeral scene at a graveyard.

The set looked particularly hilarious as Hugh and several of the other actors on set were all dressed as cereal mascots, with the 61-year-old Notting Hill star suiting up as Tony the Tiger.

Ridiculous: Hugh Grant, 61, looked hilarious on the set of Jerry Seinfeld's film Unfrosted on Wednesday as he filmed a funeral scene while dressed as Tony the Tiger

Hugh had the full costume on, including the Frosted Flakes mascots red bandana tied around his neck.

The actor, who has flourished in recent years with a string of acclaimed supporting roles, proved he was willing to go the extra mile by covering up with the tiger head for part of the scene.

He was joined by other mascots, including Cornelius, the green rooster of Kellogg's Corn Flakes, the Quaker Oats man, who appeared to be played by comedian Andy Daly.

In the background were Snap, Crackle and Pop, the three elf mascots for Rice Krispies.

The boss: Seinfeld, who was also on set, is directing, co-writing and starring in the comic film

Dedication: Hugh had the full costume on, including the Frosted Flakes mascots red bandana tied around his neck

Hilarious: The actor, who has flourished in recent years with a string of acclaimed supporting roles, proved he was willing to go the extra mile by covering up with the tiger head for part of the scene

The three actors appeared to be playing bagpipes at the funeral, adding an extra dose of ridiculousness.

Hugh stood in as dignified a fashion as one can while wearing a Tony the Tiger suit as the Quaker Oats man appeared to deliver a eulogy at a podium.

The English actor's next major project will be the Guy Ritchie spy comedy Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, which is already in post-production. He previously worked with the director on his 2019 film The Gentlemen.

The funeral doesn't appear to have been for an actual person, as a hilarious 'funeral size' prop of a Kellogg's Corn Flakes box was on set next to the flower arrangements.

Grant was among a bevy of new cast members who were announced last week.

In addition to the Remains Of The Day actor, comic stars Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer and Jim Gaffigan will all be offering up their talents.

So far, none of their characters have been revealed.

At attention: Hugh stood in as dignified a fashion as one can while wearing a Tony the Tiger suit as the Quaker Oats man appeared to deliver a eulogy at a podium

Having a laugh: The funeral doesn't appear to have been for an actual person, as a hilarious 'funeral size' prop of a Kellogg's Corn Flakes box was on set next to the flower arrangements

Staying busy: The English actor's next major project will be the Guy Ritchie spy comedy Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, which is already in post-production

Christian Bale is also set to appear in the film, as will James Marsden, who most recently appeared in the Sonic The Hedgehog sequel.

In addition to using actors best known for their film work, Seinfeld appears to be pulling from some of the funniest TV stars for his movie.

Former Saturday Night Live fixture Bobby Moynihan, who currently stars opposite Ted Danson and Holly Hunter on NBC's Mr. Mayor, will be featured in an unnamed role, as will 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer.

Rounding out the cast is Reno 911's Thomas Lennon, plus Adrian Martinez, New Girl's Max Greenfield and Sarah Cooper, who achieved short-lived viral fame for videos in which she lip synced to clips of former President Donald Trump.

With the announcement of the new cast members, Netflix  which is producing and distributing  shared an updated synopsis.

'Kelloggs and Post, sworn cereal rivals, race to create a pastry that will change the face of breakfast forever,' the streamer said. The film is a 'tale of ambition, betrayal, sugar and menacing milkmen,' that's set in Michigan circa 1963.

The whole gang: Grant was joined by other mascots, including Cornelius, the green rooster of Kellogg's Corn Flakes, the Quaker Oats man, who appeared to be played by comedian Andy Daly

Stacked cast: In addition to the Remains Of The Day actor, comic stars Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer and Jim Gaffigan will all be offering up their talents

It gets better: Christian Bale is also set to appear in the film, as will James Marsden. So far, none of their characters have been revealed

Seinfeld was also seen on set, and he appeared to be acting in the scene based on his period attire.

He was costumed in a white dress shirt with a '60s-style slim black tie, along with charcoal pinstripe pants and black suspenders.

He was pulling double duty as the film's director as he instructed the actors and crew members between takes.

In addition directing Unfrosted and starring in it, Seinfeld co-wrote the film with Spike Feresten  a writer on the Seinfeld series and Bee Movie  and the comedian Barry Marder, who also co-wrote Bee Movie with Seinfeld.

Filming on the movie commenced last month in California.

Dressed up: Seinfeld was also seen on set, and he appeared to be acting in the scene based on his period attire. He was costumed in a white dress shirt with a '60s-style slim black tie, along with charcoal pinstripe pants and black suspenders

Leading the way: He was pulling double duty as the film's director as he instructed the actors and crew members between takes

Old pals: In addition directing and starring in Unfrosted, Seinfeld co-wrote it with Spike Feresten  a writer on Seinfeld and Bee Movie  and the comedian Barry Marder, who also co-wrote Bee Movie

Back in February, the streamer surpassed major studios including Disney and Warner Bros. to earn $60 million in tax credits from the state, which will be split among Unfrosted and three other film projects.

'We are so happy to get the California tax credit which enables us to make our whole movie there,' said Seinfeld at the time, according to Variety. 'Having made all of the Seinfeld series in LA, I very much wanted to come back and shoot there again. On behalf of everyone working on the movie, we really appreciate the great welcome.'

The comedian has previously built up his relationship with Netflix by releasing multiple stand-up specials on the platform, as well as his comic interview series Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee.

Netflix also currently has his eponymous sitcom available on its platform in the US.
Uncut Gems alum Julia Fox barely covered her ample assets while strolling through New York City on Thursday.

The Italian-born, Manhattan-raised 32-year-old was wearing a custom-made, white 3D-printed top designed by Brazilian high fashion technology brand Artemisi.

There was not an inch to pinch on Julia - who completed her scantily-clad ensemble with low-rise wide-leg blue jeans, a matching purse, and white heels selected by stylist Briana Andalore.

Peek-a-boob! Uncut Gems alum Julia Fox barely covered her ample assets while strolling through New York City on Thursday

It was actually a lighter look for Fox who, as a former dominatrix, almost exclusively wears black.

'I think just being fearless, not giving a f***, doing what I feel like doing, and not caring about whether society thinks it's normal or not. If I think it's cool, then it's cool,' the Forbidden Fruits podcaster told People last Thursday of her style.

'I feel like I'm doing a service. I'm providing a service. Yeah, a visual service.'

Julia accented her Pat McGrath-bleached brows with black winged eyeliner and she wore her natural brunette shoulder-length locks down for her outing.

Custom made: The Italian-born, Manhattan-raised 32-year-old was wearing a white 3D-printed top designed by Brazilian high fashion technology brand Artemisi

Skinny Minnie: There was not an inch to pinch on Julia - who completed her scantily-clad ensemble with low-rise wide-leg blue jeans, a matching purse, and white heels selected by stylist Briana Andalore

'I'm providing a service. Yeah, a visual service': It was actually a lighter look for Fox who, as a former dominatrix, almost exclusively wears black

Shades: The Forbidden Fruits podcaster accented her Pat McGrath-bleached brows with black winged eyeliner and she wore her natural brunette shoulder-length locks down for her outing

Last Saturday, Fox - who boasts 1.3M Instagram/TikTok followers - shared a rare video of her 16-month-old son Valentino on the beach after attending the 40th annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade.

'He's amazing. He's my little angel. I love him so much,' the No Sudden Move actress gushed to People.

'I would like to have more children. I think he's ready for siblings. If it happens, great, but I'm not, like, actively looking for it.'

'He's amazing. He's my little angel. I love him so much!' Last Saturday, Julia shared a rare video of her 16-month-old son Valentino on the beach after attending the 40th annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade

'We made this baby!' Fox mothered Valentino during her three-year marriage to Brooklyn private pilot Peter Artemiev (L, pictured January 25), which ended last year

Julia mothered Valentino during her three-year marriage to Brooklyn private pilot Peter Artemiev, which ended last year.

Fox 'still can't believe' she landed on the cover of the July edition of Vogue Czechoslovakia as the editors did not inform her until she wrapped the shoot.

'My heart skipped a beat! I genuinely had no idea. I thought it was just a spread and honestly I was just so happy to be in Vogue at all I didn't care!' the Amber Heard defender wrote on Instagram.

Wigging out! The No Sudden Move actress 'still can't believe' she landed on the cover of the July edition of Vogue Czechoslovakia as the editors did not inform her until she wrapped the shoot

Julia wrote on Instagram: 'My heart skipped a beat! I genuinely had no idea. I thought it was just a spread and honestly I was just so happy to be in Vogue at all I didn't care! Anyway here we are now and I'm still gagged and so grateful to everyone involved. And especially thank you to my fans and haters [because] without [you] guys this wouldn't be possible. I love you all!'

In demand! Fox has several acting projects including Tony Kaye's dark comedy The Trainer, the Carrie White biopic Upper Cut, and she's the frontrunner to play Debi Mazar in Madonna's (L, pictured January 13) self-directed Universal Pictures biopic

'Anyway here we are now and I'm still gagged and so grateful to everyone involved. And especially thank you to my fans and haters [because] without [you] guys this wouldn't be possible. I love you all!'

Julia's former flame Kanye 'Ye' West will not appear in her upcoming memoir-style 'masterpiece' book, which is 'halfway done' and should hit shelves 'in about a year.'

Fox has several acting projects including Tony Kaye's dark comedy The Trainer, the Carrie White biopic Upper Cut, and she's the frontrunner to play Debi Mazar in Madonna's self-directed Universal Pictures biopic.
She is eagerly awaiting the arrival of her first child.

And pregnant Dancing with the Stars pro Sharna Burgess bared all this week in a maternity photo shoot with her boyfriend Brian Austin Green.

The Aussie TV personality, 37, took to Instagram on Wednesday to showcase several snaps from the glamorous shoot.



Pregnant Dancing with the Stars pro Sharna Burgess bared all this week in a maternity photo shoot. She is expecting her first child with boyfriend Brian Austin Green

Sharna performed an elegant ballet pose in a satin maxi dress

She protected her modesty by posing away from the camera and covering her chest.

In one image, Sharna is draped with a wet sheet that clings to her bump while Brian, 48, wraps an arm around her shoulders.

The dancer also performed an elegant ballet pose in a satin maxi dress.

In one image, Sharna is draped with a wet sheet that clings to her bump while Brian, 48, wraps an arm around her shoulders

It comes after Sharna reflected on her tumultuous last five years.

She revealed in a lengthy Instagram post how she went from hitting 'rock bottom' to 'having everything' she's ever dreamed of.

The blonde also revealed life 'keeps getting better' and she is grateful for 'the good, bad and ugly' experiences that led her to where she is today.

It comes after Sharna reflected on her tumultuous last five years. She revealed in an Instagram post how she went from hitting 'rock bottom' to 'having everything' she's ever dreamed of

'Thirty-seven. And it keeps getting better,' she began.

'I reflected on my last five years today. From an emotional rock bottom, to beginning my journey of seeing and knowing myself, of loving myself and knowing what I want and need,' she added.

'To today having everything I've ever dreamed and more.'

She went on to explain she is 'trusting the divine timing of life' and now sees 'every heartache as a blessing'.

Sharna, 37, also revealed life 'keeps getting better' and she is grateful for 'the good, bad and ugly' experiences that led her to where she is today

'Life, this life I'm living, who it's with and the life growing inside me was always there waiting for me, waiting for me to be ready for it,' she said.

'Trust the divine timing of life. Everything happens as it is meant to. Every choice, every fall and every triumph.

'Every heartache and every blessing. I wouldn't change a single thing about my 37 years on this planet.

'I reflected on my last five years today. From an emotional rock bottom, to beginning my journey of seeing and knowing myself, of loving myself and knowing what I want and need,' she said. (Pictured with Brian in Los Angeles on December 13, 2021)

'The good bad and ugly all lead me right here, To true wholehearted joy and unconditional love.

'I have everything I need, and yet I know there is so much more to come.'

The Wagga Wagga-born dancer is expecting a son with Brian, due on July 4.

Brian, 48, already has three children, Noah, nine, Bodhi, eight, and Journey, five, from his marriage to ex-wife Megan Fox, as well as a son, Kassius, 20, with his former Beverley Hill, 90210 co-star Vanessa Marcil.

It comes after Sharna revealed she contacted Brian's ex-wife Megan Fox five months into their relationship in order to clear the air.

Sharna appeared on Wednesday's episode of Nick Viall's podcast The Viall Files revealing she asked Brian for Megan's number.

She explained: 'Id love to reach out and say, "Hey, Im around your kids all the time, if you ever want to know anything about me or if you ever want to get coffee, let me know. If there is any way I can support you in being part of this situation, let me know."'

It seems as if the text exchange went well as Sharna explained that Megan, 36, 'really appreciated' the gesture and even thanked her for reaching out.

Brian announced his split from Megan in May 2020 after nearly 10 years of marriage.

He went on to date Sharna seven months later after being partners on Dancing with the Stars. Megan has famously moved on with Machine Gun Kelly.
Ceaser Emanuel has been fired from the VH1 series Black Ink Crew in the wake of a clip in which he was allegedly seen abusing canines.

'We have made the decision to cut ties with Ceaser Emanuel from Black Ink Crew New York,' a spokesperson for the network told TMZ Thursday. 'Since next season was close to finishing production, this decision will not impact the upcoming season.'

Insiders with the series said that while production is in the final stages, the situation will be addressed in the series.

The latest: Ceaser Emanuel has been fired from the VH1 series Black Ink Crew in the wake of a clip in which he was allegedly seen abusing canines

Producers on the show were appalled by the clip, a source told the outlet.

In the clip, which was circulating online Wednesday, Emanuel was purportedly seen being physically abusive with canines.

The show's Donna Lombardi posted the clip, writing, 'I don't even get into the life of this man, but this video made me so upset.'

She added, 'I pray the people see you, @ceaserblackink, as the monster you are.'

VH1 issued a statement on Instagram Thursday stating Emanuel had been terminated from the series

Insiders with the series said that while production is in the final stages, the situation regarding Emanuel will be addressed in the series

Emanuel's attorney said Thursday afternoon that 'there is no police involvement' in the case, as 'the video is old' and 'was shot at his residence in Atlanta during COVID' lockdown

Lombardi said, If you can treat a dog like this, it shows how sick of a person you truly are.

She added that CHARGES NEED TO BE PRESSED and CANCELLATIONS NEED TO BE MADE in connection with the clip.

Lombardi added: EVERYONE MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE! CANT CHANGE THIS NARRATIVE!

Emanuel's attorney Walter Mosley told TMZ Thursday afternoon that 'there is no police involvement' in the case, as 'the video is old' and 'was shot at his residence in Atlanta during COVID' lockdown.

Emanuel had been featured on the series since its 2013 debut, as it chronicled business at his Harlem-based shop Black Ink Tattoo. Emanuel has also been seen on the shows Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta and Love and Hip Hop: New York.

The show's Donna Lombardi said that CHARGES NEED TO BE PRESSED and CANCELLATIONS NEED TO BE MADE in connection with the clip
Emily Ratajkowski had all eyes on her on Thursday thanks to her vibrant ensemble as she went for a walk in New York City.

The 31-year-old model and occasional actress was dressed for summer with a low-cut cleavage-baring tank top in shades of green, yellow and pink.

The essayist carried a stuffed shopping back after making a stop at a deli earlier in the day.

Stunner: Emily Ratajkowski, 31, made the sidewalk her runway in New York City on Thursday as she took a stroll after picking up some supplies at a deli

Emily's halter tank top from Gimaguas buttoned up the front, and she covered up the sleeveless garment with a burnt orange shrug with a hole for her thumb.

She revealed a hint of her flat tummy while wearing black low-rise jeans, which flared slightly at the bottom.

The catwalk star kept her footwear casual with a pair of gray-and-purple Salomon trainers, and she blocked out the sun with a striking oversize cat-eye sunglasses.

She added some extra sparkle with modest gold hoop earrings, which were framed by her long brunette tresses, and she completed her ensemble with a slim brown handbag tucked under her arm.

Vibrant: She wore a busty multicolored halter tank top from Gimaguas that buttoned up the front, and she covered up the sleeveless garment with a burnt orange shrug

Fit figure: She revealed a hint of her flat tummy while wearing black low-rise jeans, which flared slightly at the bottom. The catwalk star kept her footwear casual with a pair of gray-and-purple Salomon trainers

Later on Instagram, Emily posted a short selfie video of herself walking in the same outfit.

Another fun video posted to her Instagram Stories showed her back at home after she had taken off the ribbed shrug.

She decorated her impeccably made-up face with a filter that covered it with abstract shapes.

Earlier this month, the dark-haired beauty celebrated her 31st birthday.

Too cool for school: She blocked out the sun with a striking oversize cat-eye sunglasses

Long hair, don't care: She added some extra sparkle with modest gold hoop earrings, which were framed by her long brunette tresses, and she completed her ensemble with a slim brown handbag tucked under her arm

A work of art: A fun video posted to her Instagram Stories showed her back at home after she had taken off the ribbed shrug

Emily has been making plenty of travel plans lately, after she spent some time enjoying the stunning beaches of Tulum, Mexico, earlier in June.

Her vacation south of the border came shortly after she traveled to France for the Cannes Film Festival, where she looked glamorous on the red carpet for David Cronenberg's comeback film Crimes Of The Future.

Missing from her outing on Thursday was her film producer husband Sebastian Bear-McClard whom she married in February 2018.

He's best known for producing several films directed by the brothers Benny and Josh Safdie, including Heaven Knows What, the Robert Pattinsonstarring crime film Good Time and Adam Sandler's critically acclaimed thriller Uncut Gems.

On March 8, 2021, Emily and Sebastian welcomed a son named Sylvester.
Lena Dunham's latest feature film Sharp Stick sees her play a pregnant wife whose husband is tangled in an affair with a 'naive' younger woman.

The 36-year-old Girls star wrote and directed the coming-of-age dramedy, which debuted at this year's Sundance Film Festival in January.

And on Thursday a red-band trailer for Sharp Stick premiered on the film's distributor Utopia's official YouTube page ahead of its limited theatrical release on July 29.

Sharp Stick: Lena Dunham's latest feature film Sharp Stick sees her play a pregnant wife whose husband is tangled in an affair with a 'naive' younger woman. The 36-year-old Girls star wrote and directed the coming-of-age dramedy, which debuted at this year's Sundance Film Festival in January; Lena Dunham pictured with co-stars Jon Bernthal and Kristine Froseth

According to the official synopsis for Sharp Stick, the film follows 'a naive 26-year-old' named Sarah Jo (played by The Society's Kristine Froseth) who 'longs to be seen' as she lives life 'on the fringes of Hollywood with her mother and sister.'

Sarah Jo's world is turned upside down 'when she begins an affair with her older employer' Josh (played by The Walking Dead's Jon Bernthal).

Things are further complicated by the fact that Josh's wife Heather (played by Dunham) is currently pregnant with their second child.

The unorthodox experience thrusts Sarah Jo into 'an education on sexuality, loss and power.'

Trailer: And on Thursday a red-band trailer for Sharp Stick premiered on the film's distributor Utopia's official YouTube page ahead of its limited theatrical release on July 29; Kristine Froseth pictured

Plot: According to the official synopsis for Sharp Stick, the film follows 'a naive 26-year-old' named Sarah Jo (played by The Society's Kristine Froseth) who 'longs to be seen' as she lives life 'on the fringes of Hollywood with her mother and sister.' Sarah Jo's world is turned upside down 'when she begins an affair with her older employer' Josh (played by The Walking Dead's Jon Bernthal)

Complicated: Things are further complicated by the fact that Josh's wife Heather (played by Dunham) is currently pregnant with their second child

The full-length trailer gives fans a clear look at Sarah Jo's sexual naivete by opening on a scene of the character using Google to watch 'two people having sex' for the first time.

Through narration, Sarah Jo recalls 'having her heartbroken' after unexpectedly falling in 'love' with her employer Josh while caring for his and wife Heather's special-needs child.

She admits to her sister Treina (played by Zola's Taylour Paige) that she's 'never had a crush' which only raises the stakes regarding her feelings for Josh.

Inexperienced: The full-length trailer gives fans a clear look at Sarah Jo's sexual naivete by opening on a scene of the character using Google to watch 'two people having sex' for the first time

Through narration, Sarah Jo recalls 'having her heartbroken' after unexpectedly falling in 'love' with her employer Josh while caring for his and wife Heather's special-needs child

Never had one: She admits to her sister Treina (played by Zola's Taylour Paige) that she's 'never had a crush' which only raises the stakes regarding her feelings for Josh

Their free spirited mother Marilyn (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh) tells Sarah Jo just how she'll 'know' if her feelings for her 'crush' are reciprocated.

'You want to know if he's really yours? Look him in the eye and you say...' she says, with Sarah Jo finishing the sentence as she bravely approaches Josh in his laundry room.

'Do you find me beautiful?' she asks.

Speaking to her in private, Josh explains to Sarah Jo that because he's 'a dad and a husband' that an affair between them 'just can't happen.'

Advice: Their free spirited mother Marilyn (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh) tells Sarah Jo just how she'll 'know' if her feels for her 'crush' are reciprocated

Brave: 'You want to know if he's really yours? Look him in the eye and you say...' she says, with Sarah Jo finishing the sentence as she bravely approaches Josh in his laundry room

Can't happen: 'Do you find me beautiful?' she asks. Speaking to her in private, Josh explains to Sarah Jo that because he's 'a dad and a husband' that an affair 'just can't happen'

But, after telling Sarah Jo how 'wonderful' he thinks she is, Josh appears to have a change of heart as he initiates intercourse with her.

As the affair progresses, Sarah Jo begins to realize that their relationship is nothing more than one of lust, with no promise of forever.

'I give my body and soul to this man and then just in an instant...,' narrates Sarah Jo, who witnesses a groveling Josh apologize to his pregnant wife before kissing her as she sits just a few feet away from them.

But, after telling Sarah Jo how 'wonderful' he thinks she is, Josh appears to have a change of heart as he seemingly initiates intercourse with her. As the affair progresses, Sarah Jo begins to realize that their relationship is nothing more than fleeting lust

'I give my body and soul to this man and then just in an instant,' narrates Sarah Jo, who witnesses a groveling Josh apologize to his pregnant wife before kissing her with Sarah Jo just a few feet away from them

A flurry of sexually-charged scenes that show Sarah Jo in the thick of her affair with Josh, as well scenes displaying her frustration surrounding her own sexuality and self worth, close out the two-minute and thirty-second trailer.

Sharp Stick is Dunham's first big-screen feature since her 2010 film Tiny Furniture, which she also wrote and starred in.

Speaking to Deadline during January's Sundance Film Festival, the Girls alum revealed that she was inspired to make Sharp Stick after watching 'female-led films of the '70s' during the coronavirus pandemic.

Like those films, Dunham wanted to explore 'female sexuality' from a 'female perspective.'
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is looking into another youngster who died after drinking Abbott Laboratories' newborn formula.

According to an Abbott spokeswoman, the firm received minimal product and clinical information to analyze the situation, and there are "no conclusions" and no evidence to establish a causative association between Abbott goods and the reported newborn mortality at this time.

Infant Death Report Comes After FDA Approves Abbott's Reopening

The investigation comes less than a month after the FDA approved Abbott's reopening of its manufacturing in Sturgis, Michigan. The facility is the largest infant formula manufacturer in the United States. Following a bacterium infection in four newborns, two of whom died, the institution was closed in February. According to the investigation, Abbott goods were not the likely source of the illnesses in the previous cases.

The Sturgis factory was forced to close again more than a week ago after violent thunderstorms and heavy rains damaged the facility. The firm stated that it will require time to examine the damage and re-sanitize the plant before reopening.

Meanwhile, the United States is still dealing with a countrywide formula shortage. The Biden administration stated on Wednesday that it will provide logistical support for the import of around 16 million 8-ounce infant formula bottles from Mexico beginning this weekend.

The action is part of President Joe Biden's Operation Fly Formula program, which aims to alleviate supply shortages and delays caused by the Abbott plant's shutdown. According to a customer complaint submitted to the FDA on June 10, the most recent newborn mortality happened in January, Daily Mail reported.

Two of those people died, and the FDA claimed it couldn't prove if Abbott's formula was to blame for their illnesses or deaths. According to the corporation, there is no proof linking their formula to the illnesses or fatalities. In any case, the move exacerbated a scarcity among many manufacturers that began with pandemic supply chain concerns, prompting criticism of the Biden administration for being sluggish to recognize and respond to the situation.

Read Also: Biden Claims US Economy Doing Better Amid Impact of Pandemic, High Gas Prices on Americans' Budget

Abbott Claims Baby Deaths Are Not Related to Their Products

Finally, the president used the Defense Output Act, which gives the government additional control over industrial production during emergencies, to urge formula ingredient suppliers to prioritize delivery to formula producers.

He also launched Operation Fly Formula, which instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to import foreign formulas. At least six countries contributed supplies.

It stated that the agency had already announced its investigation into nine newborn fatalities. Only two newborn fatalities were linked to the Abbott Nutrition Sturgis factory probe; and after considerable study, the data does not rule in or rule out a conclusive relationship between these infant deaths and the product manufactured at Abbott Nutrition's Sturgis plant, as per Independent.

The reports of the infants' deaths were among 128 customer complaints gathered by the FDA from its consumer complaint system between December and March. The babies' identities have not been made public, and they are only known by their case numbers. Abbott Nutrition asserted that no causal association between Abbott's products and any of the reported deaths had been found.

Attorney Sam Geisler is representing over two dozen families who claim their children became ill after drinking Abbott's formula. He stated the papers show systematic issues at the Sturgis site. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the presence of germs at the facility and conducted testing, but the cause of the infection - whether it was the formula or something else - could not be identified, according to The Sun.

Related Article: US Baby Formula Crisis Remains as Factory in Michigan Closes Again, Prompting FDA Commissioner Reassurance

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More than 200,000 Oregon workers might receive $600 payments as early as this week.

Oregon lawmakers authorized the one-time stimulus payments for low-income employees in March. The payments will be made to Oregonians who claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit in 2020, a tax benefit for low-income working households, and lived in the state for the last six months of that year.

Oregonians May Receive $600 Stimulus Check

The Oregon Department of Revenue said Wednesday that about $141.8 million would be distributed to 236,000 qualified households. Payments are only allowed once per household.

Approximately $82 million will be put directly into the bank accounts of qualifying individuals, while the remaining almost $60 million will be sent. Qualified applicants will get the payments no later than July 1, according to the state.

The state is paying for the stimulus payouts using federal pandemic money agreed by Congress last year. According to Rich Hoover, a representative for the Oregon Department of Revenue, the payments are not subject to state or federal income tax.

House Bill 4157 was enacted by substantial votes in both houses of the Oregon Legislature this spring, with a handful of Republicans joining the majority Democrats in favor.

The payouts grew out of a 2021 proposal for greater stimulus payments - up to $2,000 - to key workers who stayed on the job throughout the epidemic and those who returned to work last autumn. If you have any questions, please contact the Oregon Department of Revenue at one time.assistancepayment@dor.oregon.gov.

Read Also: Nobel Peace Prize: Russian Journalist Auctions Medal To Help Ukraine Refugees, Gets $103.5 Million

Will There Be a Federal Stimulus Payment?

Several reports over the holiday weekend indicated that the Biden administration is contemplating a handful of alternatives for a fresh stimulus plan to address increasing gas costs. President Joe Biden stated that a decision on a gas tax vacation will be made before the end of the week, saving Americans 18.4 cents per gallon at the pump.

The gas tax holiday would eliminate all gasoline taxes. However, the president is also exploring rebate cards, which would offer millions of Americans relief at the gas pump. Rebate cards were explored months ago; and according to another Washington Post source, they are again being examined. The gas tax holiday is more plausible because the US chip scarcity will make it difficult to print enough cards for everyone.

Nonetheless, the gas tax holiday will require congressional action, and the Senate, like many others, is divided on the issue of giving Americans immediate assistance, Oregon Live reported. According to numerous sources, the Biden administration is considering taking extraordinary steps to assist citizens in dealing with rising fuel prices. Among the probable plans are the following:

Gas rebate cards

A gas tax holiday

Gas rebate cards would be more like previous stimulus plans in that Americans would get money directly from the government. However, there are logistical concerns, such as the fact that a lack of microchips would make producing a sufficient number of cards for everyone who qualifies for them impossible.

The gas tax holiday, on the other hand, has a better chance of becoming a reality. This would simply require temporarily halting the collection of the federal gas tax. This would result in a savings of around 18.4 cents per gallon of petrol, which may make a significant impact on many people's finances.

While a tax suspension may not seem like much stimulus relief, the prior three payments were essentially deemed advances on tax credits, and there isn't a large practical difference between getting money back from the IRS and not having to pay money to the federal government in the first place.

A gas tax vacation is more likely to materialize than most other suggested stimulus measures because the Biden administration does not require congressional approval to halt the collection of federal gas taxes. President Biden has also confirmed the existence of this idea and stated that he wants to make a decision "based on the evidence" shortly.

Americans who are struggling to pay rising gas costs or who are otherwise dealing with economic issues related to the pandemic should keep an eye on Washington, D.C., as help may finally be on the way after several failed attempts at offering further support, as per The Ascent via MSN.

Related Article: Food Stamps 2022: Ohio To Provide More SNAP Benefits to Citizens That Experience Power Outage

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NDA's Presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu being greeted by supporters as she arrives at Biju Patnaik International Airport to leave for New Delhi, in Bhubaneswar, Thursday, June 23, 2022. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: NDA'S nominee for president Droupadi Murmu arrived here from Bhubaneswar on Thursday, a day before she files her nomination papers for the post.

Her nomination papers are being prepared at Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi's residence, sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, and BJP president J P Nadda will be among her proposers.

Union ministers and senior BJP leaders are signing on as proposers and seconders at Joshi's residence. BJD's Sasmit Patra, whose party has backed her nomination, was also among those at Joshi's home to sign the papers.

She is likely to file her nomination in the presence of top party leaders.

Several Delhi BJP leaders, including state president Adesh Gupta, party MPs Manoj Tiwari and Ramesh Bidhuri, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, welcomed Murmu at the airport.

Murmu, who is staying at the Odisha Bhavan, is likely to call on the prime minister.

In a brief statement issued before she left for the national capital, Murmu said, "I thank all and seek cooperation from everyone for the presidential election. I will meet all voters (lawmakers) and seek their support before July 18." If elected, the 64-year-old will be the first tribal president of India and the second woman in the post.
The Bench said the state government had to take various factors into account while taking such a policy decision . (Representational image: AFP)

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday made it clear that it was not inclined to interfere in the policy matters of state in manufacturing, distribution and sale of liquor. Any decision to be taken on prohibition of sale and distribution of liquor was in the sole domain of the state government and courts could not pass any such directions, it said.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili was dealing with a PIL filed by an elderly couple from Jadcherla, who requested the court to restrain the state from manufacturing, selling and allowing consumption of liquor in Telangana, and if necessary, to impose total prohibition of liquor.

The writ petition was filed in 2016, requesting police protection to them from their son Sridhar Goud, who he was addicted to alcohol, and as result lost his police constable job following which his wife deserted him. The poor couple also requested that his son should be joined in a de-addiction centre by the government and his treatment responsibility lay on the government, because it was due to the decision of the government to allow sale of alcohol without any restrictions that their son was addicted to liquor.

Fearing that their lives were in danger due to the threatening behaviour of their son, the couple stated their fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution were being violated.

However, since 2016, the petition has been pending, Now, in 2022, the petitioners want interference of the court in policy matters of the state as it was the state to take a decision in respect of prohibition of liquor as imposed in Bihar and Gujarat.

Considering the request of the petitioners, a single judge directed the High Court Registry to convert it as PIL. After it was converted into a PIL, the division bench headed by Chief Justice heard the matter and rejected the plea.

The Bench said the state government had to take various factors into account while taking such a policy decision and it was the sole domain of the state government to take appropriate steps in the matter.

This Court, merely because the petitioners son has got addicted to alcohol, cannot direct imposition of total ban on sale and purchase of liquor in Telangana and it is for the lawmakers to take a call in the matter, the bench observed.
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday issued notices to top officials and TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to file counters within four weeks in response to a PIL that questioned the allotment of prime lands worth about Rs 500 crore in 33 district headquarters towns for a throwaway price of Rs 100 per square yard.

Apart from Rao, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili issued notices to the Chief Secretary, the Chief Commissioner of Land Affairs (CCLA), the principal secretary, revenue, the Hyderabad Collector and Srinivas Reddy, TRS general secretary.

The PIL sought the suspension of Government Order 47, dated May 11, 2022, which allotted government land in various district headquarters to set up the TRS offices.

The petitioner, K. Maheswar Raj, in particular, mentioned a land parcel measuring 4,935 square yards in NBT Nagar, Road No.1 2, Banjara Hills, (Survey No. 403/P of Shaikpet village) was given for the construction of the TRS Hyderabad office. The market value of the land, the PIL claimed, was Rs 2 lakh per square yard but it was allotted to the TRS for Rs 100 per square yard.

Chikkudu Prabhakar, counsel for petitioner, said that the state government was the trustee of the land and it could not dole out government lands as it wished. He referred to observations made by the Supreme Court that "the State is the legal owner of the natural resources and the State is the trustee of the people and they (natural resources) should be used in the larger interest of the general public."

Prabhakar mentioned that government land worth crores of rupees had been given for the TRS office construction despite the fact that a party office already stood in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, which was constructed recently.

The petitioner also challenged the GO 167, issued on August 16, which stated that all recognised political parties would receive one acre of land in each of the 32 district headquarters at a nominal fee of Rs 100 per square yard.
The polling percentage of 64.17 per cent came as a relief to YSR Congress leaders worried over the poor public response during the campaign period. (DC Image)

Nellore: Other than some wordy duels between YSR Congress and BJP leaders in a few places, the polling for the by-election to Atmakur assembly constituency on Thursday was peaceful.

The cloudy weather since morning helped raise the polling percentage to 64.17 by 6pm -- from the 11.56 per cent at 9am.

The constituency has 2,13,400 voters-- 1,07,368 women 1,06,021 men, 11 third gender and 62 service voters. The polling percentage was 82.44 in Atmakur in the 2019 elections.

Ruling party nominee Mekapati Vikramreddy cast his vote at a polling station in Brahmanapalli village.

The polling percentage of 64.17 per cent came as a relief to YSR Congress leaders worried over the poor public response during the campaign period.

Though there are 14 candidates in the fray including BJPs Bharat Kumar, Mekapati Vikram is believed to be in the forefront.

The advantage for him was also the sympathy wave due to the demise of his brother and sitting MLA Goutham Reddy.

Chief Minister Jagan Reddy posted a minister and a legislator as in-charges for the seven mandals and fixed a target of 1 lakh majority.

All the ministers including Peddireddy Ramachandra, Balineni Srinivasa, Ambati Rambabu and Govardhan Reddy remained stationed in Atmakur for over two weeks and worked for the party.

The BJP also deputed its star campaigners such as Satya Kumar, Purandeswari, GVL Narasimha and Somu Veerraju, they were no match to the ruling party leaders, who used all the resources at their disposal for the electioneering.

Another weak point to the BJP was its nominee Bharat Kumar was seen as an outsider to the segment.

There was a wordy duel between Mekapati Rajareddy, uncle of Vikram Reddy and BJP candidate Bharat Kumar at booth 9 in Batasinganapalli village when the latter found Raja inside the polling station.

Bharat reminded Raja Reddy that he resides in Bengaluru where the BJP is in power.

BJP and YSRC cadres locked horns at a polling booth in DC Palli of Marripadu Mandal. Police intervened and dispersed the crowd.

Tension prevailed at Krishnapuram village of Marripadu Mandal when ruling party men allegedly kidnapped BJP agent Vishnu. Bharat saved him after noticing him being seated in a car at Timmanaidupeta.

The polling started at 7am and continued up to 6pm.

District Collector Chakradhar Babu visited various areas along with officials. Guntur IG Trivikram Varma and SP Vijaya Rao too visited various polling stations. More than 200 volunteers from the Indian Red Cross took part in election duty.

Addressing media at Amaravati, chief electoral officer Mukhesh Meena said there were technical snags for nine EVMs after the conduct of the mock polling at 7am and they were rectified immediately.

A reception centre and a strong room were set up at Andhra Engineering College in Atmakur to secure all the EVMs. The SEC received 38 complaints on C-vigil web portal about the conduct of the bypoll and attended to them. Some 1,339 polling personnel, 1,100 police personnel and three companies of central forces were deployed for the by-poll.
Guwahati: Three more Shiv Sena MLAs have joined the rebel group of MLAs led by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde in Guwahati on Thursday morning further deepening the political instability in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.

They reached the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati, where other MLAs are campaigning.

Last night four more MLAs joined Shinde in Guwahati. With this, seven more MLAs have joined the rebel group in the last 24 hours.

Moreover, a resolution passed by the Shiv Sena Legislature Party carrying signatures of 34 MLAs that rebel leader Eknath Shinde continues to be the leader, has been sent to the state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray left his official residence 'Varsha' along with his family members on Wednesday hours after he expressed his readiness to step down if rebel MLAs returned to Mumbai and made such a demand.

Shiv Sena workers and supporters showered petals and raised slogans in support of Thackeray when he left with his family from his official residence 'Versha Bungalow', last night amid political instability in the state.

Following the political crisis, Shiv Sena had removed Eknath Shinde as the party's legislative party leader. However, the rebels have hit back with the resolution.

The resolution said that Shiv Sena's ideology has been compromised in the past two years. They also expressed their dissatisfaction with "corruption in government," referring to Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, who are currently in jail.

"Bharat Gogawale has been appointed as the Chief Whip of Shiv Sena Legislative Party. So, the order issued by Sunil Prabhu, regarding the Legislative Party meeting this evening is illegal," Eknath Shinde had said.

Earlier, Thackeray addressed the people of the state via Facebook and said he was willing to give his resignation to party MLAs who can take it to Raj Bhavan.

Noting that a section of party MLAs was gunning for his ouster, he said instead of going to Surat, they could have conveyed their feelings to him. Thackeray said it is a matter of shame for him if "even a single MLA" was against him.

"If any MLA wants me to not continue as the CM, I am ready to take all my belongings from Varsha Bungalow (official residence of the CM) to Matoshri," Thackeray said.

"I am ready to give my resignation to the MLAs, they should come here and take my resignation to Raj Bhavan. I am ready to leave the post of Shiv Sena party head also, not on the saying of others but my workers," he added.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut expressed confidence of Shiv Sena sailing through the crisis.

"Uddhav Thackeray is Maharashtra Chief Minister and he will remain the CM. If we get the chance, we will prove our majority on the floor of the House," he said.

However, the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs have said that there is enormous discontent amongst the party workers for forming the government with NCP and Indian National Congress on account of different ideologies.
New Delhi: Committing to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, the five-nation Virtual 14th BRICS Summit hosted by China on Thursday evening discussed the situation in Ukraine and supported talks between Russia and Ukraine to resolve the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, while lashing out at the West for sanctions against Russia, blamed the ill-conceived and selfish actions of certain states, which, by using financial mechanisms, are actually shifting their own macroeconomic policy mistakes onto the rest of the world.

Speaking at the summit featuring Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, Putin said that this had led to a critical situation in the world economy which could be rectified only on the basis of honest and mutually beneficial cooperation among the BRICS nations.

In another harsh criticism of the West, Chinese President Xi Jinping, the host, urged the world to reject the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation, oppose unilateral sanctions and abuse of sanctions and reject the small circles built around hegemonism by forming one big family belonging to a community with a shared future for humanity.

In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the five BRICS countries, have had a very similar view of the governance of the global economy. He said that mutual cooperation such as establishment of vaccine R&D centre, coordination among customs departments, establishment of shared satellite constellation, mutual recognition of pharma products had made BRICS a unique international organisation whose focus is not just limited to dialogue.

The summit, held under the theme Foster High Quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development, discussed post-Covid global economic recovery and the steps taken by BRICS in detail. It condemned terrorism including cross-border terror, one of Indias key concerns, though no specific terrorist organisation was named.

The summit urged major developed countries to adopt responsible economic policies, while managing policy spillovers, to avoid severe impacts on developing countries. It decided to enhance macro-economic policy coordination, deepen economic practical cooperation, and work to realise strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive post-Covid economic recovery.

It reaffirmed the BRICS commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in all its three dimensions - economic, social and environmental - in a balanced and integrated manner.

The virtual summit was also attended by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

The Beijing Declaration adopted in the summit stated, We commit to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States, stress our commitment to the peaceful resolution of differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation, support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of crises. We have discussed the situation in Ukraine and recall our national positions as expressed at the appropriate fora, namely the UNSC and UNGA. We support talks between Russia and Ukraine. We have also discussed our concerns over the humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine and expressed our support to efforts of the UN Secretary-General, UN Agencies and ICRC to provide humanitarian assistance in accordance with the basic principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality established in UN General Assembly resolution 46/182.

Chinese President Xi in his opening remarks said, Facing the formidable and complex circumstances, the BRICS countries have embraced the the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, enhanced solidarity and coordination and jointly tackled the challenges. He added that BRICS countries, as important emerging markets and major developing countries, need to act with a sense of responsibility to bring positive, stabilizing and constructive strength to the world, adding that the BRICS also needs to speak out for equity and justice and encourage the international community to practice true multilateralism.

Russian President Mr. Putin said the world needs the BRICS countries leadership in defining a unifying and positive course for forming a truly multipolar system of interstate relations based on the universal norms of international law and the key principles of the UN Charter and that we can count on support from many states in Asia, Africa and Latin America, which are seeking to pursue an independent policy.

The Beijing Declaration stated, We commit to strengthening intra-BRICS cooperation to intensify the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR) and collectively create new opportunities for development.
Sanjay Raut on Thursday caused a sensation by saying that the party was ready to walk out of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in the state. (PTI file Photo)

Mumbai: Just a day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray vowed to fight the rebellion in his party, senior leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday caused a sensation by saying that the party was ready to walk out of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in the state. He has also appealed to the rebels to come back and hold talks with the CM. However, the NCP and the Congress played down his comment, terming it as an attempt to bring the rebel MLAs back and said the MVA government will complete its full term.

If the dissenting MLAs want the party to pull out of the MVA, they need to come back to Mumbai in 24 hours and discuss the issue with CM Uddhav Thackeray. We are ready to consider your demand, but show the courage to come back. Dont write letters on Twitter and WhatsApp, Raut said. He later tweeted that the doors were still open for the rebel MLAs.

Rebel leader Eknath Shinde is now camping with 37 rebel MLAs and nine Independents in Guwahati, which has put the MVA government into a crisis. Rauts appeal to his disgruntled partymen has come after new visuals and a video from Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati which shows that a total of 42 rebel MLAs are present with Shinde. These include 34 MLAs from the Shiv Sena and seven Independents.

Thackerays emotional appeal did not have much impact on his legislators and six more Shiv Sena legislators switched sides on Thursday to the Shinde-led camp. Sada Sarvankar, Mangesh Kudalkar, Sanjay Rathod and Deepak Kesarkar were among those who joined the rebel camp on Thursday, taking their total number to 42. MLC Ravindra Phatak, who was sent by Thackeray to hold talks with Mr Shinde in Surat, has also reached Guwahati.

One of the rebel MLA, Sanjay Shirsat, has written a letter to Mr Uddhav Thackeray claiming that they had faced humiliation for the past two and a half years as they felt ignored by the CM.

Despite the Shiv Sena being in power and having its own chief minister, the coterie around Thackeray never allowed us access to Varsha, the CMs official residence. Instead, Shinde helped resolve all the problems. Hence, the party MLAs persuaded Shinde to take this step for the rights of all the legislators, Mr Shirsat said in the letter.

A video has, meanwhile, surfaced showing Mr Shinde telling his loyalists that a national party has said it will provide whatever help they require.

Commenting on this, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar alleged the hand of the BJP behind the ongoing crisis in Maharashtra. Everyone knows how the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs were taken to Gujarat and then Assam. There are six registered national parties in the country. The Congress, NCP, CPI, CPM and Trinamool Congress are not behind them. This leaves only the BJP, he said.

Pawar also extended support to Mr Thackeray, saying the majority will be decided only on the floor of the state Assembly. I believe once the (Shiv Sena) MLAs return to Mumbai, the situation will change, he added.

Shinde requires the support of 37 of the Shiv Senas 55 legislators to split the party and keep action under an anti-defection law at bay. According to reports, Mr Shinde and his supporters will send a letter to deputy speaker Narhari Jhirwal on Friday claiming the status of a separate group in the Assembly.

The BJP has, meanwhile, also started making its moves. Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis flew to New Delhi, where he is likely to discuss the Maharashtra developments and government formation in the state with the partys national leadership.
Ghislaine Maxwell is attempting to prevent Sarah Ransome, a victim of pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, from testifying against her during the heiress' sentence hearing next week.

Lawyers for Maxwell, 60, are attempting to prevent Ransome from providing a victim impact statement in a Manhattan court on Tuesday, when a judge will decide the length of Maxwell's sex-trafficking prison sentence, which the prosecution is seeking to be 20 years.

Jeffey Epstein's Victim Wants To Testify in Court

According to Maxwell's legal team, the claimed sexual assault suffered by Ransome occurred outside of the time range for charges addressed by the trial. In December, Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, was convicted on five of six charges, including sex trafficking of a juvenile - the youngest victim was a 14-year-old female - and conveying a minor with the purpose to engage in unlawful sexual behavior.

Since July 2020, the humiliated socialite has been detained in solitary confinement at Brooklyn's Metropolitan jail center, where guards warned her that there was worry she may be shot by a sniper. Ransome hopes to attend in court with another claimed Epstein victim, Elizabeth Stein, to face US District Judge Alison Nathan when she sentences Maxwell on five counts of sex trafficking women and young girls for Epstein between 1994 and 2004.

Maxwell's attorneys aim to exclude Ransome's testimony by relying on this technicality. Stein's claimed abuse occurred in 1994, thus her evidence is not admissible in this defense. She claims Epstein sexually raped her on his private Virgin Island in 2006, and that Maxwell was completely involved. Her charges include not just knowing about the assault, but intentionally bringing her to Epstein to be raped, according to Daily Mail.

Read Also: Amber Heard Is Set To Write Tell-All Book; Will It Help Actress To Pay Johnny Depp or Start New Lawsuit Over Alleged Assault?

Ghislaine Maxwell Tries To Lower Sentence

She did so in a desperate appeal for compassion two weeks before her sentencing in a New York court, attempting to persuade US District Judge Alison Nathan that a difficult, traumatic background made her susceptible to abuse by Jeffrey Epstein. Ghislaine, 60, wrote frankly about her father for the first time, painting a portrait of a tough and sometimes tumultuous relationship marked by emotional and physical violence.

She has always been characterized as her father's favorite child, despite being the youngest of nine siblings. Robert Maxwell even called his boat the Lady Ghislaine, off which he died tragically in 1991. Ghislaine was hardly given a glance as a toddler, according to the account given to the Manhattan federal court, because her mother Elizabeth was grieving after her elder brother Michael was seriously injured in a car accident days after Ghislaine's birth, and her father was chronically unable to show affection, as per The Telegraph via MSN.

Ghislaine Maxwell attempted to exploit her ties to Bill Clinton to win herself a reduced sentence for trafficking young girls for Jeffrey Epstein. The disgraced socialite used her work for the former President's humanitarian projects three times as she pleaded for only four years in prison during her June 28th sentence.

She claimed that her participation in the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) reflected her desire to do good in the world Maxwell, 60, will be sentenced next Monday after being convicted of trafficking and sexually assaulting minor girls last December. She asked for merely four years and three months in jail when she was sentenced later this month, alleging she is being threatened with death in prison. She also said that guards at the prison where she is being held informed her that "there was a risk she might be shot by a sniper, Daily Mail reported.

Related Article: Ghislaine Maxwell Files More Than 100 Complaints in 22 Months About Horrific Jail Conditions, Pleads for Light Sentence

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Tata Play (formerly known as Tata Sky) on Thursday announced that the company is collaborating with Google to foray into the home security service sector in India.

With the partnership, Tata Play is bringing the battery-powered device Nest Cam with Nest Aware Secure+ subscription service.

There will be two monthly l tariff plans-- one basic Nest Aware and Nest Aware Premium -- for Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000, respectively.

Initially, Tata Play subscribers in a little over 10 cities including Mumbai + Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Delhi + NCR, Lucknow, and Jaipur.

The Nest Cam is all weather-proof and can be placed both indoors and outdoors. It can store three hours of video history. With the mobile app, users can view the live feed from anywhere anytime.

Also, users would get timely notifications with HDR video byte, every time, there are movements including 'Animal Seen' in front of the camera. Also, the camera offers the option to include a familiar face so that it doesn't give a false stranger alert.



Google Nest Cam and mobile app. Credit: Google



It should be noted that the basic Nest Aware plan (with up to four cameras) offers 30 days of the event (stranger alerts with video bytes) history and also 60 days of video history.

The premium plan offers longer video history and more camera options. However, there are no specific details on the number of camera support or the video history playback option. DH has reached out to the spokesperson for more details.

However, each camera costs Rs 11,999 and also customer gets Google Nest Mini (2nd Gen) smart speaker worth Rs 4,499 for free.

Also, the camera has speakers and users can directly speak to people in front of it through the mobile app. Add to that, it has night vision and promises a clear view in the low light condition.

Here's a video demo of Tata Play Secure+ service:

Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech.
Cash-strapped Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday warned that the country may witness more difficult times as it struggles to steer itself out of the ongoing economic crisis.

Sharif also said that his government faced an uphill task to revive a stalled assistance program by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due to the broken promises with the global lender by the previous government.

He made the remarks while addressing his party Senators just a day after his government clinched an understanding with the IMF to put on track the $6 billion program which was signed by Prime Minister Imran Khans government in 2019 but was suspended as the government failed to fulfill the commitments.

Sharif, who came to power in April after Imran Khans government was toppled through a no-confidence vote, made it a priority to revive the IMF program as it would unlock several avenues to access loans from different sources.

After many meetings and hiccups, the two sides on Tuesday night reached a broader understanding to restore the package, providing a much needed boost to Pakistan's economy.

Sharif said if the previous Khan government had issued with the Fund, it should not have agreed to the terms for the loan, because after inking the deal, it should have been followed.

"The IMF was adamant on us fulfilling all the conditions of the agreementit was a difficult stage and I want to say that more difficulties are to come, he said.

The premier said that the economic situation would not improve overnight once a deal with the IMF was signed. "Will prosperity come overnight after an agreement is signed? Not at all, (but) we have to strengthen our financial position, he said.

He said the government had provided a relief package under which the poor families would get Rs 2,000 per month and more steps would be taken to lighten the economic burden of the poor.

He also announced to address the nation in the next few days to inform the people about the steps taken by the government to improve the economic situation.

Sharif thanked China for the $2.3 billion loan but added how long countries like China and Saudi Arabia would come to help. He said Pakistans fate would change if we mend our ways and bring improvement.
President Joe Biden may once again stress the importance of democracy, human rights, and freedoms during his interactions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a senior official of the United States government hinted.

Biden is a straight shooter and has no problem talking to leaders about humanitarian rights, about freedoms, about the importance of democracy, the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told journalists in Washington.

She was responding to a question on whether the US Government had any comment on demolitions of the houses of people in India for protesting derogatory comments made by two leaders of the ruling BJP against Prophet Muhammad. A journalist had asked if Biden would press Modi harder to protect Muslims in India.

Read | Encourage India to promote respect for human rights: US on Prophet row

He (Biden) has no problem talking to leaders about humanitarian rights, about freedoms, about the importance of democracy, Jean-Pierre said, adding: This is something that the president has done in the past.

The PM is likely to travel to Schloss Elmau in Germany to attend the G7 summit on June 26 and 27. Though India is not a member of the G7, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is hosting the summit, has invited him to attend its outreach sessions to be held alongside the conclave. The US president will also attend the G7 summit.

Modi and Biden may have a bilateral meeting on the sideline of the G7 summit, although neither New Delhi nor Washington confirmed it so far. The two leaders will also participate in a virtual summit next month to launch the I2U2  a new bloc, comprising India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

He (Biden) is a straight shooter and speaks very frankly. And when it comes to humanitarian rights, has no problem having those direct conversations  leader conversations, Jean-Pierre said during a briefing in the White House.

Bidens Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this month stated that India, the worlds largest democracy and home to a great diversity of faiths, had seen rising attacks on people and places of worship.

He made the remark after releasing the US State Departments 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom. The report highlighted the purported rise in religious intolerance in India.
There has been a call for the DUP to return to government.

Speaking at Derry City and Strabane District Council's Health and Community committee, Cllr Rory Farrell (SDLP) said working people would not get a penny in support until the DUP returned to government.

Cllr Farrell said: "In Britain they have introduced a 400 universal payment to provide support for energy bills. And lo and behold, that can't be delivered here because we don't have a government.

And we don't have a government because the DUP cannot accept that they're going to play second fiddle to a nationalist. They're saying it's about the protocol, but we all know thats lies.

People who are paying taxes on a daily and weekly basis who never get a penny in support won't get a penny in support until the DUP grow up and go back into government.

So, the DUP have a decision to make here, because people are suffering and they will continue to suffer until they return to work at Stormont."

Cllr Farrell said there was 435 million in Stormont.

He added: "We don not know what we are going to do with that money.

It needs to be spent, it needs to go into people's pockets. And its going nowhere, its gathering dust in Stormont and that needs to change.
Ulster University has announced the appointment of Professor Alex Miras as the first Randox Professor of Medicine providing educational leadership and training at the School of Medicine at Derry's Magee Campus.

Leading obesity authority Professor Alex Miras was appointed to the role following a competitive and rigorous selection process.

Professor Miras joins Ulster University this month from Imperial College London. Professor Miras is a Clinician Scientist with a proven track record in the mechanisms through which lifestyle interventions, pharmacotherapy, bariatric surgery and medical devices improve weight, metabolic control and diabetes-related microvascular complications.

The Randox Professor of Medicine is a Clinical Academic post providing educational leadership and teaching alongside research; inspiring the next generation of doctors and researchers in the area.

Professor Miras will work clinically at the Western Health and Social Care Trust, based at Altnagelvin hospital, where he will be an important contributor to the Department of Endocrinology.

Professor Miras will develop his research portfolio in line with the research strategy of the School of Medicine and ambitions included in the Health Research Institute-THRIVE (HRI-THRIVE) Project as part of the Derry City and Strabane City Deal.

His research will focus on the translation of discoveries made by researchers at Ulster University to new treatments for obesity and diabetes, and the identification of markers that help personalise treatments to individual patient characteristics.

Dr Alex Miras, Randox Professor of Medicine at Ulster Universitys School of Medicine said: It was a myriad of factors that led me to join Ulster University; the proven global impact of their personalized medicine research, the connections with the Western Trust and Health and Social Care more widely; and with private industry such as Randox, underpinned by the hub of health professions and health science education they are building in the city, all of which centre around improving patient care.

"I am particularly keen to enhance the HSC-Academia-Industry interface for everyones benefit.

In Northern Ireland there are currently no HSC services for obesity and that presents a real clinical challenge, a challenge that I am keen to address using my skills, knowledge and experience of obesity care.

"Medical and surgical treatments for obesity have been shown to improve quality of life, reduce morbidity and mortality and are very cost-effective.

"Local clinicians are seeing an increase in those seeking bariatric surgery abroad and returning home with life threatening complications, we need to support patients to put in place treatment plans to support their weight loss at home.

Professor Alex Miras grew up in Greece but has lived and worked in London for over 25 years before moving to Derry this month.

Professor Louise Dubras, Foundation Dean of the School of Medicine welcomed Professor Miras to the Magee campus this week commenting: As the first cohort of future doctors complete their first year at the School of Medicine it is an opportune time to look to the future, with the arrival of our second cohort of students; alongside the next phase of staff recruitment; and we are delighted to welcome Alex to the School, the campus and the city.

"The Randox Professor of Medicine is a unique and exciting opportunity and Professor Miras proven teaching, research and clinical experience will shape the direction of clinical and translational research and inform the teaching of our future doctors within the School of Medicine.

Dr Catherine McDonnell, Medical Director Western Trust tells us that the Trust is equally delighted that Professor Miras will be joining the Endocrinology and Diabetes Teams at Altnagelvin Hospital, Obesity is one of the biggest health challenges we face across Northern Ireland, Professor Miras will bring a breadth of specialist knowledge, clinical skills and research skills which will benefit patients of this area," Dr Catherine said.

"His national and international profile offers an exciting opportunity to develop enhanced obesity services across the province. We look forward to welcoming him.

The Randox Professor of Medicine role is supported by 1.2million in funding for medical education and research from Randox Laboratories Ltd.

Dr Peter FitzGerald, Managing Director, Randox Laboratories said: We are delighted to welcome Professor Miras as the inaugural Randox Professor of Medicine at Ulster Universitys School of Medicine.

"These are exciting times in the advancement of early diagnosis and preventive treatments across a wide range of healthcare conditions, particularly in the field of obesity and diabetes, which threatens an increasing burden upon our already overstretched healthcare services.

"We look forward to the leadership and innovation Professor Miras will undoubtedly bring to this role and to supporting his work in early diagnosis and intervention. We know that in such circumstances patient outcomes are improved and the burden on our healthcare service can be greatly reduced.

"This is a very important role at a critical time  and we wish Professor Miras every success.
Granny Annies in Derry has officially been named the best venue in Northern Ireland, at the annual National Pub & Bar Awards 2022.

Situated at the Diamond, Granny Annie's was one of 15 pubs to be named as the best in its Region.

As with previous years, the National Pub & Bar Awards hosted the awards that reward the trade for overall retail excellence, best practice and individual entrepreneurship across the UKs hospitality sector.

A total of 94 county-winning venues gathered at 30 Euston Square in London last night (June 22) to celebrate some of the leading businesses in the industry across Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England.

Commenting on their win, Granny Annie's said: "We are very pleased to have received this award, especially in these trying times within the sector.

"It's been hard for everyone in many aspects from recruiting staff to trying to get our customers home at the end of the night. So this is a great boost to everyone involved and were looking forward to the rest of the summer. Thank you."

Granny Annie's can be found at 24,The Diamond, Derry, BT48 6PL.
A 20-year-old man became aggressive towards police when cannabis fell from his pocket after he had staggered up the street, a court has heard.

Levi Morendi, of Fitzroy Avenue, Belfast, entered a guilty plea at Magherafelt Magistrates Court on Wednesday to charges of possessing a Class B drug and disorderly behaviour.

The charges related to an incident on May 12 2022 when police received a call saying a man was staggering up Castledawson Road, Magherafelt dodging traffic.

On attendance, police observed the defendant at a bus stop and while in conversation with them, a small bag of what was later discovered to be cannabis fell from his pocket onto the pavement.

After searching Morendi, police seized the cannabis, before the defendant became aggressive and was placed in handcuffs as he continued to shout and swear at police.

Defence for Morendi said he had been engaging with probation following a similar offence and that he had issues with cannabis use.

Counsel also said the defendant had asked him to apologise to the court for his outburst.

Judge Mullan, on condition the defendant continue to engage with probation, fined Morendi a total of 300, imposed a 15 offender's levy and issued a destruction order for the drugs.
June 23, 2022 -- Xiphera has been accepted for the Young Innovative Companies funding from Business Finland. The received funding for the first period is  250,000.

Young Innovative Companies (NIY) is Business Finlands funding program for young Finnish companies. The funding targets companies that are under five years old and aim for high growth in international business. Additionally, the funding enables companies to strengthen their team and develop business model and strategy, as well as target new potential markets.

When analyzing and selecting the funding candidates, Business Finland requires a clear business plan targeting both rapid and international growth, and a business model designed for scalability and internationality. Companies are also required to have a full-time management team with ownership and business development interests and resources for the key roles in the company.

Xiphera fullfils the requirements of the funding, aiming for rapid, international growth and expansion. The company has adequate resources for such expansion, and key employees and the management are committed for developing and improving the company.

Xipheras product and service offering as well as the mindset have been set for international business since day one, and increasing global business networks and operations have always been our objective. We have international partners and sales representatives and we attend events around the world on regular basis, expanding our global network even further. Additionally, Xiphera meets Business Finlands requirements for the age; we celebrate our five-year birthday later in the summer of 2022.

Validating previous and enhancing future success

We at Xiphera highly appreciate the guidance we have received from Business Finland during our interactions with their team in the NIY funding process, says Tommi Lampila, Xipheras Director of Business Development.

The NIY funding will be used for expanding and improving Xipheras international business. The positive funding decision from Business Finland enables Xiphera to ramp-up and accelerate our ongoing efforts to scale our international business, Lampila explains. Being accepted into the Young Innovative Company program validates our early successes and capabilities in taking our expertise and solutions to the most demanding overseas customers.






Ukrtelecom deleted software to prevent Russia from taking control of Ukraines internet and phone services, its chief executive officer Yuriy Kurmaz told Bloomberg.

Employees of the operator in southern and eastern regions of Ukraine occupied by invading Russian forces carried out the deletion, in the face of threats and imprisonment.

Kurmaz said employees "decided to delete crucial files from computers" which prevented the Russian government from connecting hardware to Ukrainian networks.

The chief executive officer revealed over 30 telecoms facilities have been destroyed during the invasion, and around a hundred have been damaged.

Ukrtelecom has also been defending itself against cyberattacks since March, mere days after the invasion began in late February.

Smaller connectivity providers in occupied regions are currently under Russian control reported Bloomberg, Ukrtelecom disconnected its networks in those locations, stressed Kurmaz.
China launches crackdown against crimes involving illegal occupation of farmland

Xinhua) 16:52, June 23, 2022

BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Public Security has urged police nationwide to strike hard on crimes involving the illegal occupation of farmland and the production and sale of fake or substandard agricultural materials amid efforts to safeguard national food security.

Harsh penalties should be given in accordance with the law to suspects who engage in illegally using farmland for non-agricultural purposes, such as soil collection, stacking solid waste, or non-agricultural construction, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The ministry also asked police to show no leniency in cases involving gang-related crimes, and thoroughly investigate and fast-track cases involving the production and selling of fake seeds, fertilizers, or other agricultural materials.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Because the Duke of Sussex has embarrassed the Royal family, Prince Charles is being requested to remove his son Prince Harry's royal titles when he ascends to the British throne.

When he decided to step down as senior royal with his bride Meghan Markle and go to the United States, Prince Harry allegedly irritated the royals. He's subsequently given explosive interviews, including one with Oprah Winfrey.

Experts: Prince Charles May Only Consider Grandchildren's Royal Titles

Despite Prince Harry's feud with the royal family, many believe Prince Charles will confer royal titles to Prince Harry's children if he becomes monarch. In response to these claims, a British citizen referred to the 1917 Letters Patent and stated, "The previous king certainly never imagined in a month of Sundays that a son of a monarch would act in the awful way that Harry and his minder behave, literally disgracing the RF and our nation."

HRH Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton, and Baron Kilkeel, according to royal and constitutional expert Lain MacMarthanne, could quickly find himself becoming plain and ordinary Harry Charles Albert David Mountbatten-Windsor by a stroke, whether at the hand of Queen Elizabeth II or a future King Charles, as per The News.

Read Also: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Calls Tears of 1985 Celtics as Best Hot Dog Topping, Settles NBA GOAT Debate

Prince Charles Insults Prince Harry, Meghan Markle During Platinum Jubilee

Meanwhile, a royal insider has called Prince Charles' romantic moment with Kate Middleton at the Queen's Platinum Jubilee the worst insult to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. On June 3, the Prince of Wales was seen kissing his daughter-in-law as they gathered at St. Paul's Cathedral for the National Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen.

According to the newest YouTube video produced by royal analyst Neil Sean, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were left feeling slighted by the off-the-cuff event. The royal expert went on to say, "As I've said many times before, you put down the gauntlet, you said all of those things on television."

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's visit for the Queen's birthday was their first formal visit to the UK since their royal departure in 2020. Buckingham Palace and the Sussexes' spokespeople have been asked for comment on the allegations, as per Daily Star.

Prince Harry and Meghan's visit for the Queen's birthday was their first formal visit to the UK since their royal departure in 2020. The pair announced their retirement as senior working royals on their official Instagram account in January 2020.

Under a portrait of the pair, they noted in the statement that their choice occurred "after many months of meditation and internal debates." Although it was their first official visit, the pair stopped by Windsor Castle to see the Queen on their way to the Invictus Games in April.

The couple accompanied their two children, Archie and Lilibet, to the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Unlike her elder brother, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's daughter was born in the United States, and this was her first visit to the United Kingdom. The Queen saw her namesake great-granddaughter, who turned one on June 4, in person for the first time over the Jubilee weekend, Express reported.

Related Article: Prince William Wants To Ban Prince Andrew From Royal Life; Duke of York Faces New Legal Battle as Jeffrey Epstein Drags Him Into Lawsuit

@YouTube

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As the late July date for Indias 5G auctions approaches, operators will have to think carefully about where the money is coming from for the additional spectrum. However, it looks like Vodafone Idea (Vi) is already positioning itself financially, both to bid and to invest in its network, through a planned equity deal and a delay to AGR dues, among other plans.

Indian media outlets have reported that Vodafone Idea intends to delay the payment of AGR dues, amounting to Rs8837 crore (somewhere in the region of US$1.128 billion), by four years, taking advantage of the option offered earlier this month by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The final amount is now to be paid in six equal annual instalments starting from 31 March 2026.

Vodafone also hopes to raise Rs436.21 crore (about US$56 million) from its UK parent the Vodafone Group, either through equity shares or warrants convertible into equity shares. There are plans for an extraordinary general meeting on 15 July to get shareholder approval for the issue.

Another Rs10,000 crore (or US$1.276 billion) in equity is to come from an external investor. The same amount will come in the form of debt from lenders. These additional funds may, however, need to await the promised conversion by government of the companys interest on accrued dues into 33% equity.

Meanwhile Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea may all save between US$127 and US$300 million dollars each in spectrum usage charges after the government decided to remove the 3% floor rate on the statutory fee.

The estimated savings, though, are subject to the operators buying large chunks of 5G airwaves in next months auction  an additional incentive, perhaps, to buy into the sale. However, the operators still feel the reserve prices are too high.
Vodafone Romania CEO Achilleas Kanaris stated the companys parent has no plans to exit the market as a repositioning of the unit is commencing.

In an interview with local newspaper Ziarul Financiar, the chief executive denied the group had any intentions to leave Romania but said the government has to do its part in creating a sustainable environment for Vodafone to continue investments.

Instead, Kanaris revealed the company will undergo a redesign of its current operating model which will result in some job cuts as the firm chases new revenue streams and diversifies away from providing connectivity as its main source of income.

Kanaris stressed operators in Romania are in urgent need to find new revenue streams as market saturation rises. He noted operators are currently in pricing wars rather than competing through compelling products.

Around 5% of total staff will be affected by the revamp, either being offered new roles or compensation packages.

We do not expect massive layoffs, said Kanaris, we are attacking new sources of growth. Vodafone Group has no plans to leave Romania.

The Romanian high court found Vodafone Romania guilty of being anti-competitive in 2021 and was fined RON111 million (US$23m), bringing an end to a case that spanned a decade.

Vodafone entered the Romanian market in 1997 as the first GSM network in the country. It merged with Liberty Globals unit UPC Romania in April 2020.
If you are on the lookout for a brand new laptop, or simply looking for an upgrade, then you are in for a treat. The AMD Days sale on Amazon gives you the chance to pick up a brand new AMD-powered laptop and enjoy offers on them. The sale will kick off on June 23 and will go on till June 25. During the sale, you can expect to get No Cost EMI upto 18 months as well as upto Rs 24,000 additional exchange.

AMDs Ryzen processors can be found in a wide range of laptops. So it doesnt matter if you want a sleek, thin and light laptop or a gaming beast, you are sure to find something during the AMD Days sale on Amazon. Heres a sneak peek at some of the laptops deals.

You can check out everything that the AMD Days sale on Amazon has to offer here.

Sleek & Stylish  Thin & Light Premium Laptops

HP Pavilion 14

Powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 5625U processor, the HP Pavilion 14 is a pretty good option for those looking for a multipurpose laptop. It offers a 14-inch FHD display and speakers tuned by B&O. In terms of memory, you get 8GB RAM paired with a 512GB SSD. Other handy little features of the laptop include built-in Alexa support as well as fast charging.

Buy Now!

Lenovo Yoga 6

The Lenovo Yoga 6 offers pretty impressive performance thanks to the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U processor powering it. But the highlight of the laptop is the fact that the 360-degree hinge on the 13.3-inch FHD display allows it to flip all the way around. This allows it to be used as a tablet. The laptop also offers 16GB RAM along with a 512GB SSD.

Buy Now!

Dell Inspiron 7415

If you like the 2-in-1 laptop design, but want something more affordable, then the Dell Inspiron 7415 might be just what the doctor ordered. This laptop packs a 14-inch FHD display and is powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U processor. IN terms of memory, you get 8GB RAM along with 512GB SSD storage. It should also be noted that the laptop comes with the Active Pen stylus.

Buy Now!

MSI Modern 15

The MSI Modern 15 offers a sleek design with absolutely no over-the-top design elements. This makes it ideal for those looking for a classy looking laptop with understated looks. At the heart of the laptop is an AMD Ryzen 7 5700U processor that is aided with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage. It also packs a reasonably large 15.6.-inch FHD display.

Buy Now!

Lenovo Ideapad 3

The Lenovo Ideapad 3 is powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U processor. You also get a reasonably large 15.6-inch Full HD display that offers a balance between compactness and a large screen experience. In terms of memory you get 6GB RAM with a 512GB SSD.

Buy Now!

Non-Stop gaming on the go  Ultra Fast Gaming Laptops:

Asus TUF Gaming A15

The Asus TUF Gaming A15 packs a 15.6-inch FHD display with a refresh rate of 144Hz. As such, the laptop is a pretty good choice if you play a lot of fast-paced action games. At the heart of the laptop is the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H processor that is aided by an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU. In terms of memory, you get 8GB RAM and a 512GB SSD.

Buy Now!

HP Victus (AMD Ryzen 5)

The HP Victus is powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor. You also get a large 16.1-inch FHD display that allows for a greater level of immersion as compared to smaller displays. Graphics is handled by an AMD Radeon RX5500M GPU, while audio is courtesy of speakers turned by B & O. In terms of memory, you get 8GB RAM along with a 512GB SSD.

Buy Now!

Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3

The Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 packs an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor that is aided with 8GB RAM. For storage, you get a 512GB SSD, while graphics is handled by an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU. You also get a 15.6-inch Full HD display with 120Hz refresh rate.

Buy Now!

HP Victus (AMD Ryzen 7)

Thanks to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor under the hood, this particular variant of the HP Victus should satiate the needs of anyone looking for extra performance in their machine. This is further compounded with the fact that the laptop also offers 16GB RAM and packs an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU. You also get a 512GB SSD along with a 16.1-inch FHD display with a refresh rate of 144Hz.

Buy Now!

[Sponsored Post]
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By MATTHEW DALY

Associated Press

WASHINGTON  Facing stubbornly high gas prices that average about $5 a gallon nationwide, President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months.

If savings from the 18.4 cents-a-gallon federal tax on gas are fully passed along to consumers, drivers would save about $2.76 for a 15-gallon fill-up.





. . .
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SEATTLE  The Low Income Housing Institute has been awarded a $1.9 million contract from the King County Regional Homelessness Authority to establish and run an RV Safe Lot for those currently living in their vehicles.

Like the Tiny House Villages that LIHI operates, the lot will be fenced, with 24/7 security and will have hygiene amenities that include showers, restrooms and laundry facilities. Those on site will also have access to support services intended to find them a permanent housing solution.





. . .
Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harrell announced in a news release that school district police chief Pedro "Pete" Arredondo was put on administrative leave due to criticism over his response to the fatal school shooting at Robb Elementary.

In the announcement, Harrell wrote that because of the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown timing of when he would receive the results of the investigations, he made the decision to suspend Arredondo. He added that Lt. Mike Hernandez was assuming the duties of the UCISD Chief of Police.

Uvalde Chief of Police on Leave

The superintendent said that he had intended to wait for an investigation to be finished before making personnel decisions. However, he said that at the time of his announcement, he still had no access to details of the investigations being conducted by various agencies.

On Tuesday, Arredondo testified behind closed doors in Austin to a Texas House committee seeking answers to what happened on May 21 when 19 school children and two teachers were fatally shot. However, the police chief has not yet spoken publicly about his decision-making on the day of the horrifying incident, as per CNN.

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw and parents in the Uvalde community criticized Arredondo for his response to the tragic shooting that occurred last month. Arredondo entered Robb Elementary School only a few minutes after the gunman on May 24, but police officers did not breach the classroom and take out the suspect for more than 70 minutes.

Read Also: Texas Mass Shooting: Uvalde Mayor Says Robb Elementary School Will Be Torn Down, Vows Transparency as Investigations Further

On Tuesday, McCraw called out the delay as an "abject failure," saying that three minutes after the suspect entered the west building, there was a sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armor ready to isolate, distract, and neutralize the subject.

According to Fox News, McCraw added that the only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering Rooms 111 and 112, was the on-scene commander, who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children.

Failed Response to Mass Shooting

Despite there being a ballistic shield and several officers armed with rifles at the scene during the shooting, Arredondo decided to hold back and wait for more tactical gear, firepower, and keys to open the door. McCraw argued that these were not necessary at the time because the door was unlocked the whole time.

Reports noted that Arredondo, in his only public comments since the shooting, said that he did not "issue any orders" and did not consider himself the incident commander. McCraw testified to a state Senate hearing that there were enough police at the scene of the crime to have stopped the gunman shortly after he entered the building.

On Tuesday, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin accused state authorities of selectively releasing information about the shooting to scapegoat local law enforcement and deflect scrutiny from the state's response to the attack.

The decision to remove Arredondo from his post comes amid uncertainty over his future on the Uvalde city council. He was newly elected to the council last month and was sworn in one week after the massacre at Robb Elementary. He has yet to attend a council meeting and had requested a leave of absence, BBC reported.



Related Article: Outrage Sparks as 17-Year-Old Atlanta Teen Sentenced to 140 Years in Prison After Shooting Ex-Girlfriend on Valentine's Day

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Air India readies plans to order up to 300 narrow-body jets: report

In what could be one of the largest orders in commercial aviation history, Air India Ltd is considering ordering as many as 300 narrowbody jets, as the new owners, Tata Sons, looks to overhaul the formerly state-run airlines fleet, reports citing people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The carrier may order Airbus SEs A320neo family jets or Boeing Cos 737 Max models, or a mix of both, according to unconfirmed reports. A deal for 300 737 Max-10 jets could be worth $40.5 billion at sticker prices, the reports added.

An order of this size could be a big boost to loss-making Boeing, which lags far behind European rival Airbus. Currently, IndiGo, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, is the worlds largest customer for the narrowbodies, ordering more than 700 European manufacturers best-selling aircraft.

Other Indian carriers, including Vistara, Go Airlines India Ltd and AirAsia India Ltd fly planes from the same family.

Airbus builds about 50 narrowbody jets in a month. It has plans to increase production to 65 jets by the middle of 2023, and to 75 by 2025. Even at 75 a year, production and delivery of 300 planes would take years, considering Airbuss overall order levels.

Tata Group, Air Indias owner, is also close to an order for Airbus A350 long-range jets that are capable of flying as far as the US West Coast from New Delhi, according to a Bloomberg News report. The debt-laden Indian flag carrier still has lucrative landing slots at most major airports, but faces competition from foreign airlines with nonstop services to India.

A new fleet acquired under favourable terms and with long-term maintenance service offers, would help the airline cut costs and compete better with rivals that offer very cheap fares.

Reviving Air India will be a big challenge for the Tata Group. Any success will be a long, complicated process that could cost more than $1bn and require fixing myriad problems.

Tatas bought the airline earlier this year in a $2.4bn deal, in what is seen as the most high-profile privatisation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The sale is a win for PM Narendra Modi, who has embarked on a bold privatisation plan to plug a widening budget deficit.

An order for new planes, especially with favorable terms on long-term maintenance, would help it cut costs and compete better with rivals that offer very cheap fares.

Tata Group, which now owns four airline brands, is expected to consolidate its aviation businesses with Air India under its fold.
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North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un assembled the top military officials of the state to discuss assigning more duties to frontline army troops, according to a government-run news outlet.

The summit indicated that Pyongyang would likely deploy nuclear weapons along its borders, aiming at rival South Korea.

The talks take place as South Korean authorities say North Korea has finalized plans for its first nuclear test in five years as part of its probable attempt to develop a warhead to be installed on short-range weapons capable of striking targets in South Korea.

Preparing The Frontlines

According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), leader Kim Jong Un and other senior military officials discussed "the work of additionally confirming the operational duties of the frontline units of the Korean People's Army and modifying the operation plans" during a meeting of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the ruling Workers' Party on Wednesday.

KCNA reported that Kim also tasked officials to "enhance the operational capabilities of the frontline units."

Although discussions centered on the South Korean coastal map on display may have encompassed military facilities where the ROK has conducted several missile testing recently in response to North Korean missile tests, state media did not define what improving "frontline" capabilities implies, as per ABC News.

Read Also: Russia Ruble vs. US Dollar: Why Is the Russian Currency Stronger Despite Ukraine War?

The state news agency released a picture of what appears to be a sizable map of the Korean Peninsula's eastern coast next to the discussion table.

In other images, per NK News, Kim could be seen examining various regions of the Korean peninsula on a larger map that was lying on his table. The maps were largely obscured by state media, making it challenging to identify the exact location being presented.

The brief report also said the meeting covered "reorganizing major military organizations."

South Korea Closely Monitors Pyongyang's Actions

Later on Thursday, Kim Jun-rak, a spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea, told reporters that the country is actively monitoring related North Korean operations but didn't go into further detail.

In April, when North Korea test-fired a new type of tactical guided weapon," it said the weapon has "great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the frontline long-range artillery units, enhancing the efficiency in the operation of (North Korea's) tactical nukes and diversification of their firepower missions.

Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Korea's private Sejong Institute, believes that the "issue of forward-deploying tactical nuclear weapons were discussed at the meeting in an in-depth manner,"

In the first half of 2022, North Korea already broke its previous record for annual ballistic launches, launching 31 missiles across more than 18 separate launch occasions, including its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) testing in almost five years, according to Al Jazeera. The military of South Korea also observed its northern neighbor last week firing what seemed to be artillery munitions into the water.

According to US and South Korean sources, North Korea's testing facility in the northeastern town of Punggye-ri is almost ready for a nuclear detonation. In September 2017, North Korea reportedly conducted its sixth nuclear test, claiming to have detonated a thermonuclear bomb made for its ICBMs. The facility was torn down the following year, Pyongyang claimed.

Related Article: Experts Depict How China Could Destroy US Bases as Beijing, Washington Spat Over Suspected Taiwan Invasion

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This week saw the last of the Annual Meetings for Louth Elected Members and a change in holder of the role of Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council. The outgoing Cathaoirleach Cllr Pio Smith opening the annual meeting, offered his congratulations to Cllrs Kevin Meenan, Michelle Hall and Paula Butterly who had recently been elected Cathaoirleach of Dundalk, Drogheda and Ardee respectively and called for the election of his replacement.

Following election, Cllr Conor Keelan who has been an elected member of Louth County Council since 2009, was welcomed to the chair of Louth County Council as Cathaoirleach.

The position of Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council is a statutory role with both legal and ceremonial responsibilities. During his term of office An Cathaoirleach Cllr Keelan will be required to preside over and manage Council Meetings, ensuring business discussed has due regard to legislation, is in line with adopted standing orders, and is in the interest of the community.

An Cathaoirleach would be considered the First Citizen of the County and would have precedence at all places in Louth except when the President of Ireland is present. Cllr Keelan will be required to perform an ambassadorial role both inside and outside Louth to represent and promote Louth in a positive manner, to encourage public involvement in Council activities and to act as a link between the Council and various groups and organisations.

Speaking after his election Cllr Keelan said he would strive to act as a fair and diligent Cathaoirleach and hoped he could compose himself in similar fashion to the outgoing Cathaoirleach Pio Smith whom he admired.

Members welcomed Cllr Keelan to the role of Cathaoirleach, wishing him the best for the year ahead and expressed confidence in his appointment, remembering his previous holding of the role of Dundalk Town Council Cathaoirleach. His strong personal and familial links with local politics, were remarked upon as his father had also previously served as an Elected Member in Louth.

Cllr. Keelan called for election of a Leas Cathaoirleach which saw Cllr Andrea McKevitt elect to the role. The role of Leas Cathaoirleach is to deputise for the Cathaoirleach, support him at events and to carry out his duties in his absence. Cllr McKevitt who was coopted onto the Council in 2020 was warmly welcomed to the role by Members.

On behalf of the Council the Chief Executive, Joan Martin congratulated Cllr. Conor Keelan on his elevation to the Chair and wished him and Cllr. McKevitt well in their roles advised she and her staff were here to help in any way.
Europe is sending a message of solidarity to Ukraine by granting the country EU candidate status, the Taoiseach has said.

Micheal Martin was commenting in Brussels at what he described as a very significant and historic two-day meeting of the European Council when Ukraine will be formally granted candidate status for future EU membership.

The move comes as war continues to rage in Ukraine following Russias invasion in February.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Martin also raised fears over the prospect of famines in parts of the world due to Russian blockades on Ukrainian grain leaving the country.

The council meeting is expected to see EU candidate status granted to both Ukraine and Moldova. Georgias bid to become a member state will also be acknowledged with the country formally designating as having a European perspective  a step below candidate status.

This is a very significant European Council meeting, said Mr Martin.

Its historic in the sense of the enlargement of the European Union and Im particularly pleased as a long-standing advocate for Ukraines application to candidate status to become a member of the European Union.

Its very significant for Ukraine, very significant for Moldova and, indeed, Georgia, in terms of European perspective.

We in Ireland know what the European Union means, being a member of the European Union. Its the 50th anniversary of Irelands decision to join the European Union, probably the single most transformative decision and event that happened in modern Irish history.

So, I always cannot comprehend how we could ever refuse accession to other member states, because we know that membership itself can be transformative.

It can spur on reforms, can spur on economic development, and notwithstanding that Ukraine is going through a terrible, terrible, inhumane war, their cities and towns have been levelled, their people have been terrorised  the greatest humanitarian crisis since World War Two.

And I think today the European Union is sending a message of solidarity to the people of Ukraine that you belong to the European family, you belong to the European Union, and the decision will be taken today to facilitate your application and you will have candidate status to join the European Union along with Moldova and, over time, with Georgia.

On the issue of blockades on Ukrainian grain exports, Mr Martin accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of weaponising hunger.

There (are) no sanctions against the movement of food and Europe has been very clear about that because we do not want to, in any shape or form, be a catalyst for any famine or hunger and thats the big fear at the moment because of the fact that grain is not getting out of Ukraine, that there could be very significant impacts in terms of famine and thats a big worry, particularly around the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and so on, he said.

Asked to comment on claims that Irish imports of some Russian goods have actually increased, Mr Martin added: All the safeguards have been taken. Were very alert to our role as a country to make sure that the sanctions are enforced and are adhered to and well be taking every precaution (at the) ports and general surveillance to prevent that from happening.

But on food and materials that give rise to the production of food, were very clear  there are no sanctions in relation to that because people need food around the world.

Putin has weaponised food, hes weaponised energy, hes weaponised migration as part of his overall war effort, which I think is wholly immoral and wrong.
Andrew Gillum, the former mayor of Tallahassee and the Democratic contender for governor of Florida in 2018, as well as Sharon Lettman-Hicks, a trusted adviser, were detained on federal campaign-related charges on Wednesday.

In a statement, the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida acknowledged the accusations. A 21-count indictment identified both Lettman-Hicks, 53, and 42-year-old Gillum.

Andrew Gillum Planned to Commit Wire Fraud With Former Adviser

According to the indictment, Andrew Gillum and Sharon Lettman-Hicks planned to commit wire fraud between 2016 and 2019, unlawfully soliciting and obtaining money from a number of organizations and individuals through false and fraudulent promises and representations that the funds would be used for a legitimate purpose, the government said.

Lettman-Hicks and Gillum both turned themselves in to the FBI. At 2 pm, their initial court appearance is set in the US Tallahassee courthouse. In a statement sent through his campaign, Gillum denied any misconduct. The charges' specifics weren't immediately known. It's probable that the charges against him may soon be made public if a federal grand jury indicts him.

Two of his lawyers, Marc Elias and David Oscar Markus, issued a statement suggesting Gillum will be vindicated of the claims. Gillum has been under FBI investigation for years, as the Tallahassee Democrat has reported. The FBI looked at investigating Gillum as part of its Operation Capital Currency investigation of public corruption at Tallahassee City Hall.

The investigation, which began in 2015, resulted in the arrests of former Mayor Scott Maddox, his longtime staffer Paige Carter-Smith, and rich businessman John "J.T." Burnette on bribery-related charges. All three were sentenced to federal jail terms last year, according to USA Today.

Gillum was also accused of providing false statements to FBI investigators. The maximum sentence for such an offense is five years in jail. In a statement, Gillum, who came within a percentage point of winning the 2018 election, denied any misconduct.

According to the allegations, Gillum and Lettman-Hicks illegally solicited and acquired cash from several people by fraudulently representing that the monies would be utilized for legitimate reasons. Prosecutors claim Lettman-Hicks then utilized a corporation she owned to mask part of the criminally obtained monies as salary payments to Gillum before he used them for personal reasons.

Angela Rye, a close friend of Gillum's, voiced her displeasure with the allegations, citing other politicians' alleged involvement in unethical behavior. Gillum gained global notoriety in 2018 when he ran for governor of Florida, becoming the state's first Black governor at a time when a federal grand jury was investigating public corruption in Tallahassee.

Read Also: Texas Mass Shooting: Uvalde Mayor Says Robb Elementary School Will Be Torn Down, Vows Transparency as Investigations Further

Who is Andrew Gillum?

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and pop artist Rihanna were among those who backed the emerging Democratic star. But he drew the ire of President Donald Trump and many of the conservative media before succumbing to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), Washington Post reported.

Gillum was identified as P&P's vice president in the firm's annual report, submitted in March of 2017. His monthly salary was given as $10,000. The communications firm's principal revenue source was lease payments from tenants in the company's downtown office building.

According to the indictment, the defendants are also accused of cheating one individual out of $150,000 of his $250,000 contribution to Gillum's campaign for governor in 2018.

The remaining funds were reportedly sent to P&P through an anonymous organization for a voter education program, which the defendants are accused of willfully failing to provide. Lettman-Hicks is accused of channeling $100,000 of that gift to Gillum's Forward Florida PAC, with the remainder going to an unnamed entity that Gillum and Lettman-Hicks might control.

The defendants were freed without bond as long as they followed the terms of the court.

They may not exchange phone calls, emails, direct messages, or face-to-face chats with any witness in the case to remain out of jail until the trial. "Nothing is possible," as per WFSU.

Related Article: Elon Musk Declines To Reveal Potential Presidential Candidate He Will Support in 2024 Election as Tesla CEO Pledges $25 Million Super PAC

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
CITESTE IN ROMANA

EBRD lends Moldova 300 million to boost energy security through strategic gas acquisitions

Revolving loan will be on-lent to state-owned energy trader

Financing will supply one-fifth of Moldovas energy needs for 2022

The EBRD is lending Moldova 300 million to boost its energy security by acquiring strategic gas reserves to supplement those currently provided by Russia through Ukraine. The loan is for on-lending to the state-owned energy trader JSC Energocom to procure gas on European Union hubs.

The loan will finance up to one-fifth of Moldovas planned gas imports for 2022, which are vulnerable to potential interruption as a result of the war on Ukraine. Currently these imports all come from the Russian company Gazprom, under a contract that expires in 2026.

The loan, made under the Banks 2 billion Resilience and Livelihoods Framework supporting Ukraine and neighbouring affected countries, will be divided into two tranches. A 200 million emergency tranche will be used in case of supply disruption, while a further 100 million will be used to create a strategic gas reserve to be stored in Romania or Ukraine to avoid seasonal price spikes and improve energy security.

The aim of the transaction is to ensure uninterrupted gas supply in Moldova and safeguard the basic needs and economic livelihoods of 2.7 million Moldovans and refugees from Ukraine.

Gas prices have reached record highs in the past year, prompting an energy crisis exacerbated by the war.

Recent progress in implementing the EUs third Energy Package, and the commissioning of a gas interconnector between EU member Romania and Moldova in 2021, which was financed by the EBRD, means Moldova now has the technical wherewithal to substitute provision from EU hubs in case of supply disruption.

These EBRD projects give a lifeline for Moldova, both by helping to diversify its supply sources and by making it possible for the country to import 100 per cent of its energy needs from the EU via the interconnector in summer and up to 60 per cent in winter, said Matteo Patrone, the EBRDs Managing Director, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.

The Moldovan government has authorised Energocom to procure gas from alternative sources on the spot market by running tenders mainly on the EU and Ukrainian borders.

This enables the EBRD to disburse the loan directly to pre-qualified EU suppliers selected by Energocom and agreed by the EBRD in line with EBRD procurement rules. The transaction is structured to ensure full transparency and traceability of loan proceeds.

In 2019, the EBRD agreed an earlier transaction to help Moldova with emergency gas because transit arrangements were under negotiation and ran to expiry before a new agreement was put in place.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Moldova and, to date, has invested more than 1.5 billion in the country through 154 projects. It has also provided advisory services to more than 1,000 Moldovan firms to help them improve performance and grow.

Its focus in Moldova is on creating an environment that supports private sector activity, promoting European standards across sectors and regional integration to bring domestic producers closer to their markets, as well as developing efficient and sustainable public utilities which have a direct impact on peoples lives.
Gardai caught a drug mule transporting a 120,000 stash of cannabis to Nadd bog in North Cork ten years ago and now he has been jailed for three and a half years.

Detective Sergeant Michael OHalloran said that back on July 4 2012 gardai received confidential information about the transporting of the drugs.

The car driven by Tony Walsh of Gortmore, Banteer, County Cork, was followed from the village of Five Mile en route to Nadd and stopped for a search near Cork Airport. Six kilos of cannabis was discovered.

When the accused was interviewed at Togher garda station he said he was to travel to Five Mile, collect the drugs and take them to Nadd bog in North Cork and he was to receive 1,200 for doing this.

Det. Sgt. OHalloran said the accused had relevant previous convictions and was 40 years old at the time and living in Banteer.

For most of the intervening ten years he has been living and working in London.

Tom Creed defence senior counsel said the accused man Tony Walsh was not a fugitive when he left Cork to live in the Channel Islands and later in London, as he had not been charged at the time that he left.

The accused was arrested in London on a European arrest warrant and ultimately brought before Cork Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing.

Mr Creed said that at the time of the crime Tony Walshs marriage was broken down and he was drinking and taking drugs. He became indebted to drug traffickers and agreed to transport these drugs to defray his debt.

Det. Sgt. OHalloran said, He never elaborated on what his debt was or how bad his addiction was. He was more of a user but I would say alcohol was a bigger problem for him.

Mr Creed said the accused left Ireland in February 2013, seven months after the detection of the offence and at a time when no charges had been brought against him.

He said he was relieved to have matters over and done with when he signed the pleas of guilty back in Ireland. He acknowledges the harm drugs can do to society and acknowledges that a custodial sentence will follow," Mr Creed said.

Judge Sarah Berkeley categorised the defendant as a drug mule in terms of the incident in 2012.

The judge noted favourable testimonials from UK employers, including one who said he wished he had Tony Walsh available to work with him now and more like him as he was an excellent worker.

He expressed remorse and cooperated with gardai. He was under a certain amount pressure (to carry the drugs). There has been a ten-year interval where he was been doing well, Judge Berkeley said.

A sentence of six years was imposed with the last two and a half years suspended.
The retail and logistics company Amazon is struggling with its employee turnover. Amazon's unequal enforcement of rules and lack of job security are among the driving factors of their labor supply issues.

OSHA's data report tells that Amazon's work injury rate doubled in 2021.

Amazon Might Run Out of Employees

Will Amazon run out of workers? As per research that Recode first reports, if Amazon continues the usual, their company will exhaust the remaining labor supply in their US network by 2024. In a leaked internal memo, the retail logistics company Amazon is alarmed by this possibility.

Of course, Amazon is concerned that its employee turnover is beyond limits. Prior to the pandemic, Amazon lost about 3% of its employees each week, or 150% for a year. In comparison, its 2021 annual revenue from transportation, warehousing, and supply was 49%, and its retail was 64.6%, which is less than half of Amazon's sales.

Bezos Acknowledges and Stresses Amazon's High Turnover Rate

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is also concerned. Bezos initially welcomed the high turnover rate and feared that the number of long-term employees would decline, causing a march to inferiority. But in his final letter to shareholders as CEO last year, Bezos said the company needs to do a better job for its workers. He wrote that Amazon promises to be the best employer on the planet and the safest workplace.

To some extent, Bezos's change of mind may be due to a wave of union efforts in the company's camp. But Amazon also faces size issues. As the second-largest private employer in the United States, it is currently struggling to replace all lost workers. Workers and trade unions have blamed Amazon's working conditions and high employee turnover rates on the high injury rates in the company for so long.

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Lack of Job Security, Robotic Technology, 'Time Off' Indicator Caused Workforce Loss

Amazon's order picker Matt Littrell, 22, in Campbellsville, Kentucky, said he has been trying to organize a coalition at the warehouse since early 2021. As per him, the company's hiring practices, productivity quotas, attendance policies, and unequal enforcement of rules are the factors in the lack of job security that led to Amazon's high turnover.

Another problem that Littrell pointed out is Amazon's 'time off task' metric which monitors the productivity of its workers and will issue write-ups, which can lead to termination if too much is received. Littrell recalled that there were instances when he took time to find an item, and the time indicator summed the time he spent and considered his total time off.

Furthermore, he added that his assigned warehouse lacks robotic technology to carry items to the picker. He also finds that containers that store items are often stuffed, which could cause injuries, difficulty finding things, and problems achieving productivity goals.

According to a report based on an analysis of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) data released by the Center for Strategic Organizations in April 2022, Amazon's serious injury rate in 2021 is more than twice 3.3 per 100 workers in the warehousing industry and a 20% increase from the prior year. This is because the company acquired 6.8 per 100 workers' harm rates in the US of the said month.

With unemployment approaching its lowest level in 50 years, Amazon is struggling to fill all its needed positions. In a memo written in mid-2021, the company was at risk of running out of the entire workforce pool available in the metro area of Phoenix, Arizona, and the Inland Empire parts of California by the end of 2022 this year.

Regarding the research memos, a spokesperson of Amazon said there are many draft documents on various topics throughout the company, which are used to test assumptions and consider different possible scenarios but are not developed or used for decision making. The spokesperson said that the research memo does not represent the actual situation. Amazon will persist in hiring in Phoenix, Inland Empire, and across the country.

Related Article: Amazon Acknowledges, Comixology Has Gotten Worse, Promises to Address Issues
Vice President Frans Timmermans, EU Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides and EU Commissioner for Environment and Oceans Virginijus Sinkevicius hold a press conference at the EU headquarters in Brussels on June 22, 2022. JOHN THYS / AFP via Getty Images

The European Commission has proposed a new law that would cut pesticide use in half by 2030 and completely ban the use of these chemicals near schools, playgrounds and hospitals. The proposal is part of a larger set of goals to reverse biodiversity loss and restore 20% of land and seas by the end of the decade.

The legislation provides 100 billion ($105 billion) for biodiversity-focused projects to ward off what European Commission Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans calls a looming ecocide.

According to the Pesticide Action Network of Europe, nearly 350,000 metric tons of pesticides were sold in Europe in 2019, primarily for agriculture. A 2017 report from the European Commission noted that pesticides cause pollution that directly impacts biodiversity and ecosystems.

We need to reduce the use of chemical pesticides to protect our soil, air and food, and ultimately the health of our citizens, said Stella Kyriakides, commissioner for health and food safety, as reported by The Guardian. This is not about banning pesticides. This is about making them a last resort measure.

The plan could take about one year to become official legislation and would be the first law regarding biodiversity since 1992. Once law, members of the EU will have an allotted time of two years to create plans to meet legislation targets that they must meet or face legal action.

Its a huge milestone. It really has the potential to turn around our relationship with nature, said Ariel Brunner from BirdLife Europe. Ultimately, the difference between effective policy and just propaganda is whether you can take people to court for failing to do what they have to.

But Brunner noted the BirdLife Europe team plans to closely review the proposals text for loopholes, which were advocated for by agriculture and forestry lobbies.

The proposals have environmental targets for a variety of ecosystems, including farmlands, urban areas, bodies of water and forests. For urban areas, there can be no net loss of green space or tree canopy cover by 2030 and a net gain of 10% of tree canopy cover by 2050. In rivers, members of the EU will need to work on restoring the waters by removing dams, while marine areas will require fishing spots to close down. In forests, member states need to improve connectivity.

Setting concrete targets and securing strong national implementation tools can turn the tide in the fight against these twin crises, but only if they are enforced, said Ioannis Agapakis, wildlife and habitats lawyer at ClientEarth. For this law to have teeth, we need to see monitoring, detailed planning and rules for the types of measures adopted to fulfill the laws targets  otherwise they will remain just numbers on a page.




Russia and Turkey to discuss safe sea corridor to export Ukrainian grain



The Russian and Turkish defence ministries said both countries have agreed to begin discussions on the establishment of a safe sea corridor in the Black Sea, to allow for exports of Ukrainian grain, Reuters reported.

The Azov Concord, a Turkish dry cargo ship, was the first foreign ship to leave Mariupol city, Ukraine since the Russia invasion on February 24. According to a statement from Turkey's defence ministry, the talks also resulted in the Azov Concord safely leaving Mariupol.

There are food shortages worldwide as a result of Russia's invasion into Ukraine, one of the world's top suppliers of wheat. Both parties and Turkey, a maritime neighbour, have been urged by the UN to accept a safe sea corridor.

After a lengthy siege, Russian and separatist forces finally took over Mariupol on the southern coast of Ukraine in May.

While Kiev wants security guarantees for its ports to agree to the UN-led plan, Moscow wants certain Western sanctions lifted to help facilitate grain and fertiliser exports. Additionally, Ukraine has stated that without its consent, no agreement can be reached.

Turkey, a member of NATO, has had direct discussions about the plan with Moscow and the U.N., but she emphasised that more are required for a deal. It claimed that the demands made by Russia and Ukraine were fair.

The Turkish defence ministry reported that they had lengthy, "constructive," and "positive" talks between the Turkish and Russian military delegations on Tuesday to discuss the corridor, the safe departure of ships from Ukrainian ports, and the arrival of Turkish planes at Ukraine's Borispol airport.

After the meeting, the Azov Concord ship departed Mariupol port. Generals tasked with running a "hotline" between Ankara, Moscow, and Kyiv to find a resolution to the crisis presided over talks, it was added. View More

A meeting between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the UN will take place in Istanbul in the coming weeks, according to sources in the Turkish presidency.

Turkey has offered to serve as the host country for a "observation mechanism" that will be established in Istanbul to track the progress of the sea corridor plan.

- Reuters




Philippine feed millers demand for more corn imports at lower tariffs



The Philippine Association of Feed Millers Inc. (Pafmi), the biggest group of animal feed producers in the Philippines, is pushing for higher import volumes for corn at lower tariffs to allow them flexibility to keep feed input costs low amid global supply chain disruptions.

"While the recent reduction in corn tariffs will help mitigate the impact caused by current global supply chain disruptions amid the long-standing shortfall in local corn production on the country's animal feed producers, livestock and poultry raisers, and consumers, higher import volumes at lower tariffs are necessary," said Pafmi in a statement.

The group is asking the Department of Agriculture (DA), through its MAV Management Committee, to decide on its proposal to increase the minimum access volume (MAV) or in-quota for corn to two million tonnes from the current 217,000 tonnes.

"This will cover the volume of corn importation for the second half of the year," Pafmi said.

In May, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order No. 171, which lowered corn tariffs to 5% for in-quota and 15% for out-quota until end-December. In 2023, the rates will be increased to 35% for in-quota and 50% for out-quota.

Pafmi said the country was importing more than four million tonnes of feed ingredients including corn and corn substitutes needed by the livestock and poultry industries.

The imports augment local corn production, which stood at less than six million tonnes last year, according to the DA's National Corn Program.

The group said the war in Ukraine has affected the supply of feed wheat, which is being used as a corn substitute due to its lower price.

Together, Russia and Ukraine account for 30% of the global wheat exports and 20% for corn.

"This leaves local feed millers with little option but to rely on more corn imports; a higher MAV would provide for some flexibility in keeping feed inputs for local hog and poultry growers at a lower price," it added.

Pafmi also said the supply situation was expected to improve later this year with other major corn-producing nations such as the United States set to begin their harvests in September.



- Inquirer.net




Malaysian poultry firms see shares rise





Malaysian poultry companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia stock exchange saw their share prices go up following the government's announcement that the chicken ceiling price will be scrapped from July 1, The Star reported.

Leong Hup International Bhd saw its share price increase by MYR 0.02 (~US$0.0045; MYR 1 = US$0.23) to close at MYR 0.53 (~US$0.12), QL Resources Bhd remained unchanged at MYR 5.10 (~US$1.16), Teo Seng Capital Bhd saw a MYR 0.04 (~US$0.0091) increase to MYR 0.81 (~US$0.18), and CCK Consolidated Holdings Bhd saw a MYR 0.03 (~US$0.0068) increase to MYR 0.59 (~US$0.13).

Vincent Lau, head of equity sales at Rakuten Trade, said the decision made by the government is good because it benefits the chicken supply chain, the government, and the poultry industry.

Lau said the pressure on margins for poultry-related businesses, especially smaller ones, is somewhat relieved by this, adding that since market forces will determine supply and demand, the availability of chicken should improve.

Dr Carmelo Ferlito, CEO of Centre for Market Education, said lockdowns caused the current imbalance between supply and demand in the poultry industry, and consumers must put up with temporarily high prices in order for the supply to increase in response to a rise in demand.

Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, Malaysia's Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, said chicken prices are projected to reach MYR 10 (~US$2.27) per kg.

Nanta said livestock farmer groups informed him that after the subsidy is removed, chicken prices will increase only slightly.

The maximum price scheme for chicken and eggs was put into effect last February 5 and was originally set to end on June 5. The government extended the deadline to June 30.

On a per-capita basis, Malaysia ranks high among the countries that consume the most chicken worldwide. Despite the removal of import permits, imports into Malaysia were still difficult due to the previous low ceiling price because chicken was more expensive in neighbouring nations.

- The Star




Singapore chicken slaughterhouses to receive one month foreign worker levy waiver



The Singapore government will provide chicken slaughterhouses in the country with a one month foreign worker levy waiver to support employers and preserve industry capabilities, especially after the poultry sector was affected by Malaysia's chicken export ban, The Straits Times reported.

The move, which is a part of a SGD 1.5 billion (~US$1.07 billion; SGD 1 = US$0.72) support package, aids Singapore's 11 chicken slaughterhouses, some of which had to halt production lines and place staff on leave as a result of the export ban.

On June 1, Malaysia banned the export of chicken due to a shortage there. Exports were halted to allow the market to stabilise its prices and supply.

34% of Singapore's chicken supply comes from Malaysia, according to the Singapore Food Agency. The majority of the Malaysian supply is slaughtered here after being imported live.

The ban on commercial broiler chicken exports, which accounts for the majority of Singapore's chicken imports from Malaysia, remains in place despite Malaysia partially lifting its ban on exports last week and allowing the exports of kampung chicken and black chicken.

Koh Poh Koon, Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Manpower, acknowledged that the ban has had a direct impact on chicken slaughterhouses, whose employees' livelihoods depend on the slaughter of live chickens.

Ma Chin Chew, chief executive officer of Hup Heng Poultry Industries, said his company's slaughterhouse facilities' productivity is down by 80%.

He said employees have not been forced to take time off, but working hours have been reduced from eight to nine hours per day to two to three hours. The business continues to give its employees full-time salaries.

Ma said the government's support measure will definitely help to tide over this trying time, adding that sales have decreased by 6070%, and operations are at a minimum.

Ma, who is also secretary of Singapore's Poultry Merchants' Association, said that there have been discussions with Indonesian suppliers and the authorities about possibly importing live chickens from Indonesia.

He said there are still logistics and transportation issues to be resolved, but they can match Malaysia's chicken supply to Singapore.

Dr Koh said the government has been closely collaborating with business partners and trade associations to increase alternative chicken supplies in Singapore and has also assisted affected stallholders in switching to frozen or thawed frozen chicken as alternatives.

- The Straits Times




Egypt to buy 5 million tonnes of wheat





Ali Moselhi, Egypt's Minister of Supply, said the country needs to import 5 million tons of wheat for the fiscal year 2022/23, Al-Ahram reported.

Kamal Hashim, chairman of the state-run General Company for Silos and Storage, said 4.1 million tonnes of local wheat have been gathered from farmers since the start of the supply season in April and ends in August.

Hashim said this is the first time Egypt has gathered more than four million tonnes of domestic wheat.

According to official statements, the local wheat supply, which is anticipated to grow from 3.5 million tonnes in 2021 to six million tonnes this year, will increase the strategic wheat reserves to support local consumption until January 2023.

Egypt's Ministry of Agriculture said more than 400,000 feddans of additional land have been set aside for wheat cultivation, which has increased the amount of wheat that is anticipated to be produced this year.

The directives issued by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to give farmers incentives to sell more of their crop to the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade also contributed to its occurrence.

In May, Moselhi testified before the Senate that Egypt is working hard to increase its wheat production self-sufficiency with the goal of "meeting 65 percent of domestic needs by the year 2024."

Egypt, the top importer of wheat worldwide, is attempting to diversify its wheat supply in the interim and in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Before the war, Russia and Ukraine supplied 80% of Egypt's imports of wheat.

Moselhi said Portugal has now been added to Egypt's list of nations from which wheat can be imported. In the middle of June, France sent 63,000 tonnes of wheat to Egypt.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, made the announcement on June 15 during her visit to Egypt. The EU has recently provided EUR 100 million ~US$105 million; EUR 1 = US$1.05) in immediate relief to encourage investments in Egypt's agricultural sector and meet the nation's food needs during the global grain crisis brought on by the Russian-Ukrainian War.

Egypt's General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) had signed a deal to buy 465,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia, Bulgaria, and Romania, making it the largest wheat purchase the nation has made since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Egypt signed a contract to import 61,500 tonnes of Indian wheat during the first week of May.

- Al-Ahram




Ocean Ranch converts ammonia into regenerative fishmeal alternative for shrimp



Ocean Ranch, a two-year-old business headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada state, US, has developed a regenerable fishmeal substitute for shrimp that aims to stop the extraction of fishmeal from wild fish, and instead provide global aquaculture farmers with regenerative fishmeal, the Global Seafood Alliance reported.

James Baumgartner, founder of Ocean Ranch, claims that the ammonia in his regenerative fishmeal is naturally converted to protein.

He said there is enough ammonia pollution in the world's waterways that, with the right technologies, it could meet all of humanity's protein needs this way and have so much extra that the world could stop contaminating agricultural practises.

He collaborated with shrimp farmer Fabio Higa, who has also been interested in aquaculture circular economies. They rented a shrimp farm in Brazil, which gave them a cost-effective chance to test their project on a larger scale.

In order to reduce the use of fishmeal in commercial feed and the ammonia impact of fish effluent in waste streams, they set out to develop a circular economy product. And over the past 15 months, they started turning ammonia into proteins that their Pacific white (Litopenaeus vannamei) shrimp could eat.

To convert ammonia into fishmeal, Ocean Ranch uses a species of crustacean that is native to the Brazilian forest. In the same pond as the shrimp, a crustacean species is polycultured as an intermediary species. It consumes the nitrates in the water, which the shrimp then eat. The intermediate species makes the ideal aquafeed because its nutritional value is superior to fishmeal's.

While regenerative fishmeal trials are ongoing, this shrimp farm is currently using fishmeal-based feeds. However, he anticipates reaching full production by the end of the year with a 60% efficiency rate, which will mean that only 40% of Ocean Ranch's shrimp feed will be made up of commercial feed. He predicted that in the future, the company would be able to completely offset its need for commercial feed.

Sales of shrimp will be the main source of income for Ocean Ranch in the near future, and those shrimp will be polycultured in the same pond as the intermediary species. In the future, the business intends to farm the intermediary species separately using upstream nutrient flows that are rich in ammonia. In order to transform it into a fishmeal substitute that can be sold to other aquaculture and possibly agricultural producers, Baumgartner plans to work with a feed mill.

20 people work for Ocean Ranch to manage the farm, which has a 100 metric tonne annual shrimp production capacity and has so far produced 45 metric tonnes.

- Global Seafood Alliance




Vietnam pangasius shipments to Mexico rise



Vietnam's pangasius shipments to Mexico totalled US$45.6 million as of the first half of May 2022, 70% higher year-on-year and 4.3% of the worldwide pangasius export value, Fish Information & Services reported.

This is an higher export value than Brazil, and demonstrates Mexico's potential as a desirable destination for many Vietnamese exporters of pangasius.

In the first half of the year, the value of Vietnamese pangasius exports to this market increased to 35% of the block's total value.

The average export price of frozen pangasius fillets to Mexico has increased from US$2.60 to US$2.75 USD per kg. Many pangasius businesses have relocated to Mexico from other markets. In this quarter, more than 30 Vietnamese seafood businesses exported pangasius to Mexico.

According to export value, the top three companies are IDI CORP, Vietnamfishco. ltd., and the Cuu Long fish joint-stock company. The export of pangasius to this market is being encouraged by pangasius processors in Dong Thap, An Giang, Ben Tre, Can Tho, and Vinh Long provinces.

Frozen pangasius fillets and frozen pangasius portions are currently Vietnam's two main pangasius exports to Mexico.

- Fish Information & Services
After searching inside 24 homes on Tuesday, June 21, police officers captured nine people in the Netherlands. The seized cybercriminals are also behind potential drug and firearm trafficking, according to Europol.

Phishing is one of the most simple and effective cyber offenses that could be worth billions.

Europol, Belgian, Dutch Police Catches Phishing Scammers Allegedly Involved in Potential Drug and Firearm Trafficking

After running off millions from their victims by tricking them into giving their bank account usernames and passwords, authorities crushed the phishing circle. This resulted from Europol, Belgian police, and Dutch police operations.

The seizure on June 21 resulted in the detention of nine people and the search of 24 homes in the Netherlands. The police confiscated cash, cryptocurrencies, electronics, jewelry, and firearms.

According to Europol, the phishing attacks embezzled millions of euros from the victims. The Europol added that aside from phishing, fraud, scam, and money laundering, group members were also involved in potential drug and firearm trafficking incidents.

Victims were reached by swindlers' messages sent via email, SMS, and mobile messaging apps. The text contained a phishing link to a fake version of the bank's website, tricking the targets into entering credentials and providing the gang with the username and password needed to their rob finances.

The gang got the money from a money mule that illegally transfers money from the victim's account through a courier service.

Europol assisted Belgian and Dutch police by administering information exchange, operational coordination, and research analysis support. During the police procedure itself, Europol aided field investigators together with forensic and technical expertise.

Also Read: Bots are Twitter's Problem and Not China, Says Elon Musk

Phishing Attacks Among the Simplest Cybercrime, How to Avoid?

Phishing attacks on financial information are one of the simplest forms of cybercrime, but they are also one of the most effective, costing billions of dollars each year.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, financial information phishing attacks such as Business Email Infringement (BEC). Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Internet Crime Center (IC3) confirms that BEC remains the largest source of monetary loss, from an estimated $ 1.8 billion in 2020 to $2.4 billion in 2021.

As per the FBI's deputy director, Paul Abbate, BEC schemes resulted in 19,954 complaints with an approximate loss of about $2.4 billion in the year 2021. These types of cybercrimes usually prey on real estate companies. It used to depend on imitating or hacking a business email account of a senior officer to order an inferior to wire funds to the swindler's bank account.

In virtual conferences, the scammers will insert still images of the CEO with silence or a 'deepfake' sound. They will disguise themselves as the CEO, claiming that the audio or video was not working correctly. Using a video, scammers will mandate the employee to complete the transfer or use the manager's compromised email to convey the transfer instruction.

Because of technology like AI-generated audio and deep video fakes, Business Email Infringment scams evolved, especially after the COVID crisis made several businesses shift online. As a result, they have to host video meetings via Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

Related Article: WhatsApp Information Stealing Malware Baits Users Into Phishing By Voice Message
Apple iOS Beta 2 edited messages feature found a way to show changes in the text to iPhones users with older software.

Previous iterations of iOS still lack the full-blown feature, allowing iMessage users to edit and unsend their text. But that does not necessarily mean they would not see the edited version of the messages.

Apple iOS 16 Edited Messages

The latest iOS 16 remarkably brings the edit and unsend features to the iMessage platform of the iPhone maker.

Remember when iPhones lack the copy and paste features? Now the flagship mobile device of Apple is offering its user an option to fix whatever fat fingers typo error they might have left behind.

As per a news story by The Verge, Apple unveiled the new version of iOS during the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2022.

And no less than the software engineering senior vice president of Apple, Craig Federighi, confirmed the edit and unsend functions on iMessage. Not to mention the all-new iOS 16 also brings an unread capability.

The Verge notes that these three new features of the messaging service of Apple are the most requested functionalities of iMessage users.

However, the Cupertino-based tech giant disclosed its limits. The edit and unsend functions could only be used 15 minutes after the text has been sent.

However, there appears to be a huge problem. Initially, the new edit feature was exclusively available for iOS 16 users.

So, according to a recent report by 9to5Mac, users of older versions could not see edits on iMessage.

As such, if an iOS 16 user edited the message sent to an iOS 15 user, there would not be any effect on the end of the latter.

iOS 16 Beta 2 Edited Messages Fix

But the Beta 2 release of iOS 16 appears to have found a way to make the new edit feature somewhat compatible with users running older software.

9to5Mac reports that early users of the iOS 16, mostly developers, started seeing a new handy update that makes the editing feature more usable.

The Beta 2 update now allows non-iOS 16 users to receive the edited version of the message as a separate text.

The second message starts with the text "Edited for," then goes on with the altered version.

Read Also: iOS 16 To Allow Users To Skip CAPTCHAs in Supported Apps, Websites

How About Unsend Messages?

In the meantime, the unsend feature appears to be limited to iOS 16 users. That said, when beta users tap on the "undo send" button, it does not affect users running iOS 15 and below.

Related Article: iPhone Users, Heads Up! These Models are NOT Compatible with iOS 16
Instagram is testing new age verification methods including asking followers to vouch for your age and even using AI that can estimate your age via a video selfie. It's part of a push to ensure users are at least the minimum 13 years old and "to make sure that teens and adults are in the right experience for their age group," it announced.

For the "social vouching" system, Instagram asks three mutual followers of the user to confirm their age. Those followers must be at least 18 and have three days to respond to the request. Users can still verify their age with pictures of ID cards as well.

The AI part requires you to take a video selfie, which Meta-owned Instagram then shares with a company called Yoti (it doesn't provide any other information to Yoti, only the image, it says). "Yoti's technology estimates your age based on your facial features and shares that estimate with us. Meta and Yoti then delete the image. The technology cannot recognize your identity  only your age," Instagram says in the blog post.

Despite those reassurances, the system is bound to be controversial. Users widely distrust both Facebook and Instagram with their data, to start with. On top of that, Yoti's age recognition AI has higher errors depending on your gender, age range and skin tone.

Yoti's system is already used by the UK and German governments to detect age using deep learning after being trained on "hundreds of thousands" of pictures, Yoti cofounder Robin Tombs told Wired last year. Much like other neural networks, though, how it works is a bit of a black box, so even the company doesn't know exactly which facial characteristics it uses. Yoti has a YouTube demo (above) where it applies makeup to young users to see if the system can still correctly guess their ages (it can).

You can try Yoti's age estimation yourself  I found that it made me considerably younger (four years) when I took off my glasses, so your own mileage may vary. In general, it's the least accurate (plus or minus 3.97 years) when used on female faces with dark skin and the most accurate (2.38 years) with light-skinned male faces.

Instagram says it aims to use AI to understand people's ages to "prevent teens from accessing Facebook Dating, adults from messaging teens and helps teens from receiving restricted ad content, for example." It looks like this is just the start, as well, as the company said it plans to expand the use of it "widely across our technologies."
The Food and Drug Administration has banned e-cigarette maker Juul from selling and distributing its products in the US. It ordered the company to remove its wares from the market or face enforcement actions.

Reports earlier this week suggested that an FDA ban on Juul products was imminent. After a two-year review, the agency rejected Juul's application to keep selling tobacco- and menthol-flavored pods, as well as its vape pen. Juul told Engadget that it intends to seek a stay on the decision. It is exploring all other options, including an appeal.

The ban doesn't apply to Juul products that are already in the possession of the company's customers. However, it'll be difficult, if not impossible, to find its pens and pods in the near future.

In 2020, the FDA began a comprehensive review of all e-cigarette products sold in the US. It weighed up the potential benefits of vaping compared with cigarettes for adult smokers against the popularity of e-cigarettes among underage users. The agency has permitted other manufacturers to continue selling vape products, including NJOY and Vuse parent Reynolds American. To date, the agency has authorized 23 "electronic nicotine delivery systems" (to give vape pens their formal name).

In Juul's case, though, the FDA said the company's application "lacked sufficient evidence regarding the toxicological profile of the products to demonstrate that marketing of the products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health. In particular, some of the companys study findings raised concerns due to insufficient and conflicting data  including regarding genotoxicity and potentially harmful chemicals leaching from the companys proprietary e-liquid pods  that have not been adequately addressed and precluded the FDA from completing a full toxicological risk assessment of the products named in the companys applications."

The agency went on to say that it doesn't have clinical information that suggests there is "an immediate hazard" linked to Juul's pen or pods. "However, the [marketing denial orders] issued today reflect FDAs determination that there is insufficient evidence to assess the potential toxicological risks of using the Juul products," the FDA said. It noted that it's not possible to grasp the possible harms of using other pods in a Juul vape pen or the company's pods in third-party devices.

The FDA is tasked with ensuring that tobacco products sold in this country meet the standard set by the law, but the responsibility to demonstrate that a product meets those standards ultimately falls on the shoulders of the company, said Michele Mital, acting director of the FDAs Center for Tobacco Products. As with all manufacturers, Juul had the opportunity to provide evidence demonstrating that the marketing of their products meets these standards. However, the company did not provide that evidence and instead left us with significant questions. Without the data needed to determine relevant health risks, the FDA is issuing these marketing denial orders.

The company became the leader in the US e-cigarette market in 2018. However, sales have dropped following a string of controversies. Juul slipped to second place behind Vuse in terms of US market share. The vast majority of the company's revenue comes from the US, The Wall Street Journal noted this week.

Juul had been accused by federal agencies, state attorneys general and other officials of marketing its products to teens. The company agreed to pay eight-figure settlements related to lawsuits in North Carolina and Washington state, and it has faced suits in several other states.

The company halted sales of mint- and fruit-flavored vape pods in 2019 before the FDA banned most flavored variants in early 2020. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 85 percent of young people who tried e-cigarettes said they used flavored varieties. However, vaping has become less popular among teens overall, according to data from 2021. In 2019, Juul revealed a new, connected version of its vape pen that can verify a user's identity in an attempt to prevent underage use.

Update 6/23 12:50PM ET: Juul Labs' chief regulatory officer Joe Murillo provided Engadget with the following statement:
Netflix has laid off around 300 people in its latest round of job cuts. Most of the layoffs were in the US, according to Variety, and a number of departments were affected.

Today we sadly let go of around 300 employees, a Netflix spokesperson told the publication. While we continue to invest significantly in the business, we made these adjustments so that our costs are growing in line with our slower revenue growth. We are so grateful for everything they have done for Netflix and are working hard to support them through this difficult transition.

This is Netflix's second round of layoffs due to slowing revenue growth. It laid off 150 employees, along with many part-time workers and contractors, back in May. The company has around 11,000 employees around the globe.

Netflix also let go 10 or so staffers from its marketing department and in-house news site, Tudum, in April. Those particular layoffs were due to a reorganization of Netflix's marketing team. Those were said to be normal business decisions and were not directly connected to cost reductions.

The latest layoffs follow a steep drop in Netflixs share price, which has fallen by around 70 percent since the beginning of the year. In the first quarter of 2022, the companys subscriber count dropped for the first time. It fell by 200,000, in large part because Netflix pulled out of Russia and lost 700,000 subscribers there. In its latest earnings report, Netflix said it expects to lose as many as 2 million subscribers in the current quarter too.

Along with cost cutting, Netflix is looking at more ways of generating revenue. These include ad-supported plans and extra fees for those who share their accounts with people living in other households.

The company is hiring on other fronts and still plans to invest heavily in content, though. It has earmarked around $17 billion for that purpose this year. News of the layoffs comes the week after Netflix announced a reality competition series based on its all-conquering drama, Squid Game. The winner will take away $4.56 million.

Update 6/23 4:30PM ET: Clarifying some details about the layoffs in April.
The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to stop Juul from selling e-cigarette products in the US, and the decision could come soon, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Along with other e-cigarette makers, Juul submitted its products to the FDA for review in 2020. The agency was looking into the possible benefits of vaping as an alternative to cigarettes, but the popularity of the products among young people has had the opposite result.

Beyond the FDA, Juul has faced multiple lawsuits costing tens of millions of dollars over accusations of marketing to minors. In reaction to the news report yesterday, many vapers have apparently rushed to stock up on Juul supplies ahead of the possible sales ban.

 Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

The company has 'big plans to launch a US-supported smartphone in the future.'

Nothing

Nothing's debut transparent-shelled Phone 1 smartphone won't be coming to the US, the company confirmed to PCMag. "While wed love to bring Phone 1 to the entire community around the world, we're focusing on home markets, including the UK and Europe," the company said in a statement.

Nothing hopes to make it big in America one day: "We have big plans to launch a US-supported smartphone in the future," the company added. The challenge could be lasting long enough to follow up its debut phone with another device. Its very hard to launch a new smartphone  especially if youre a new company .

Continue reading.

Pro in name only.

Engadget

Its another weird new MacBook from Apple. The new M2 chip gives the MacBook Pro a nice performance boost, but its Retina Display lacks ProMotion and the thin bezels wed expect from a computer today. And with just two USB-C ports, its hard to recommend as a machine for professionals. Most of us would be better saving up a little bit more for the 14-inch MacBook Pro with a far better screen and more ports.

Continue reading.

You don't need a bank account to rideshare.

In a blast from the past, you can pay for your ride with cash  kind of. Lyft has introduced an option to pay for rides using cash. Visit 35,000-plus stores like Walmart, ACE Cash Express and Kroger and you can present a barcode or ID number to turn physical money into a balance accessible through the Lyft app or website. You'll have to scan approved identification after requesting your first ride.

Continue reading.

Todays bleak story.

At Amazons re:MARS conference , Alexas senior vice-president Rohit Prasad exhibited a startling new voice assistant capability: the supposed ability to mimic voices. Amazon framed this copycatting ability as a way to commemorate lost loved ones. It played a demonstration video in which Alexa read to a child in the voice of his recently deceased grandmother . An Amazon spokesperson told Engadget the new skill can create a synthetic voiceprint after being trained on as little as a minute of audio of the individual it's supposed to be replicating. So far, there's no timeline whatsoever as to when or if this feature will be released to the public.

Continue reading.

It launches this week.

We launched our @EngadgetDeals Twitter account two years ago, and now were expanding our deals to a new newsletter  dont worry The Morning After is going nowhere. You can subscribe now to get the latest deals on our favorite consumer electronics delivered to your inbox regularly  the first issue goes out later today. Expect some pretty major deals, like up to 46 percent off Amazons Omni Fire TVs and the first discounts on the latest product launches, like Sonys LinkBuds S, which have dipped under the $180 mark .

Subscribe here.
Last night, I had the privelege to see the new Baz Luhrmann biopic Elvis, about the life of Elvis Presley, at the Alamo Drafthouse in Downtown Brooklyn.

It was a moving picture, and don't let my headline mislead you - I have a lot of good things to say about it. It's just not going on the rewatch list. I'll explain why later in the article, but -

Let's talk about the good stuff first!

First of all, it does give Black people their due as the creators of the kind of fusion between rock and gospel that Elvis was so famous for. It delves right away into his backstory as a poor boy growing up on "the wrong side of the tracks," as they might have said back then - and the friends he makes there "in the ghetto" don't only feature in that part of the movie.

Several of them do stick around - and when they don't, Elvis goes back to find them. There, you can see some of the true originators of Elvis' work doing it as they would have done - "Hound Dog" sung by Ellie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton; "That's Alright" by Arthur Crudup; these were not Elvis originals, and they made sure we knew that. (Just like they made sure their friend Elvis knew that he could get away with much, much more than they ever could.)

The use of modern hip-hop and rap in the film was already garnering titters before it even came out - but I'm here to tell you they used it correctly.

To the modern ear, most of the music from this era conjures up images of grandparents and sock hops - no matter who was singing it. So to play such music as Elvis rolled into his old neighborhood would not convey the proper mood.

Rap and hip-hop, meanwhile, have specific modern connotations that people can relate to - in this case, of being played loudly through open windows in bustling, urban centers full of young people - usually people of color - the kind of place stuffier conservative-types like the Colonel would have extremely low opinion of.

As soon as Elvis rolled up, you got the feel for what was going on - the poor boy who made it big and made it out was coming home, finally feeling like he was back where he belonged - and you saw who Elvis truly was; who he would be in today's context.

Elvis was, according to this film, an ally through and through - and not the kind who just talks, but the kind who Does. This is because he's not trying to be an "Ally" - he just doesn't like to be bullied, and he doesn't like to see anyone be bullied either.

It does, unfortunately, seem to take Elvis a long time to realize he's being pushed around, but when he does, he turns around and flips a metaphorical bird without blinking an eye every time.

He's outraged by nonsensical demands and restrictions; when they tell him not to move the way that comes naturally to him, he does it even harder (and basically gets sent to Horny Jail in the form of the Army), literally jumpstarting a sexual awakening in America. When he realizes that he can help his friends out, he turns his whole Christmas special upside down, adding fuel to the blaze of the Civil Rights movement.

Elvis truly demonstrates the power that a great performer can have - and what happens when anyone tries to manipulate them to harness that power.

Superstars are not meant to exist the way Elvis did, as eternal, petrified symbols of who they were when they burst onto the scene. We've learned this time and time again, as recently as Britney Spears: That's not normal human behavior, so if you see that, it's likely that someone is pulling the strings behind the curtain.

In Elvis' case, the strings were attached to his heart. At the end of the film, Colonel Tom Parker - a role Tom Hanks disappears into entirely, very cleverly played as both the unreliable narrator and the villain - says that it was "us" who killed Elvis - that his love for the audience drove him to his death.

But that's not entirely true.

It was love - but it was love of music, and love of his family, that drove Elvis forward.

He wanted two things: To be a great performer, and to give his family everything they never had. But eventually, when it wasn't about the performing - when he was too tired and burnt out for it to be about that - it was still about his family.

First, it was his deep love for his mother, then his love for his childhood friends, then Priscilla and Lisa Marie - and even, for a long time, his love for the Colonel himself, misguided as it was.

The colonel knew that, and used it at every turn to get Elvis to do things he didn't want to do. He saw a boy who never wanted to see his family impoverished again and used that, financially abusing him until the end.

Elvis starts off bright and hopeful, even with its sinister (and, frankly, jarring) opening sequence; his early performances are a joy to watch, seeing him come into his own and excite America as "Elvis the Pelvis," watching him fight for change and fall in love - but it quickly just gets sadder and sadder, watching this sweet and trusting man be tricked into trap after trap until one of them finally kills him.

I'm caught in a trap I can't break out Because I love you too much baby

Elvis doesn't win in this story. He never did. He lost everything he ever cared about and was forced to perform until the day he died, and I knew that going into it. Even still, I had hoped that the end of the film would leave me with fewer rainclouds over my head.

The ending was very cool, don't get me wrong - I don't want to spoil it, but if you were concerned about the balance between Austin Butler's performances and Elvis' in this film, I think you'll be quite pleased with the final sequence.

(Speaking of Austin Butler's performance, he was incredible - a superstar in the making. I feel honored to have seen him as the Rando Boyfriend on Literally Every Disney Channel Show in my tween years.)

But it also left me feeling cold - I couldn't help but compare it to Bohemian Rhapsody, which allowed Freddie Mercury go out in a blaze of glory, despite the fact that we knew what would later become of him. Even seeing Elvis' passion in the end couldn't distract me from the fact that I was watching a the performance of an imprisoned man.

Perhaps this is simply because Elvis' story is a lot sadder than Freddie Mercury's in the ways that are immediately visible to an audience - at least he, in the end, had a partner, and his band who loved him like family. Elvis was much lonelier for much longer.

Or perhaps it was because we were at a distance from him throughout the film. It was cool and interesting, framing of the story through the eyes of the Colonel, and it and the quick cuts and changes in style were fun and evocative. Telling the story of his childhood in a comic-book style, like the comics he loved to read helped give a quick bead on who he was as a boy.

Showing the highlights of his rise to fame in newspaper clippings and short scenes that progressively got faster and faster was jarring, and felt like watching a documentary on drugs. It was probably a very good metaphor for what the rise actually felt like to Elvis - fun at first, but slowly getting faster until it makes you dizzy.

These were great devices for telling the story and making YOU feel the way Elvis did - but, unfortunately, they also took away from Elvis' time on screen.

Throughout the film, Elvis felt somewhat unreachable - I couldn't quite connect with him. Perhaps that was the point.

His granddaughter did say that this was the first attempt at a picture about her father that "got it right," so Baz Luhrmann probably did him justice - he was on top at a time when almost nobody else had ever been, one of the first global superstars of the modern era - and it's very, very lonely at the top.

Elvis is a fantastic movie, and a very thorough portrayal of the life of an incredibly sad, tortured, loving, and passionate man - one who literally gave everything he had to the people and the music that he loved.

It also made me very sad and angry for him - and that's why I don't need to see it again.
It has been 20 years since Disney introduced a generation of fans to Lilo and Stitch, the adorable alien wrecking machine that finds a family in Hawaii with a little girl and her sister. But according to the film's co-director Chris Sanders, the film was more ahead of its time than we all thought.

During an interview with The New York Times, Sanders expressed a bit of disdain over the fanfare Frozen (2013) got for being a non-romantic, sister focused plot, which is rarely seen in Disney films. He said:

"To be clear, I think 'Frozen's' great. But it was a little bit frustrating for me because people were like, 'Finally, a nonromantic relationship with these two girls,' and I thought, 'We did that! That has absolutely been done before.'"

Not for nothing, the man has a point.

In Lilo and Stitch, Lilo and her older sister Nani are on their own after the death of their parents. Forced to work hard to keep a roof over her little sister's head, Nani does her best to be father, mother, and sister to Lilo, who constantly gets her in trouble with her antics, only furthered by Stitch's introduction into their family.

The film's overall message is about the importance of Ohana, which means family in Hawaiian. Even with the constant money issues and the distruction caused by their little alien pal, the idea that family is ever present between the two wildly different siblings.

And it came out 11 years before Frozen, lest we forget.

Sure there is a minor romantic plot between Nani and David, a sweet guy who works with her at a resort, but the real heart of it all is sisterly lov,e because family is family no matter the size.

It's like Stitch says: "It's little and broken, but still good. Yeah. Still good."

Nani, Lilo, David, Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff would probably have a lot to talk about if they ever got together. (Wonder how Stich would get along with Olaf and Sven.)

Lilo and Stitch is available to stream on Disney+ (and so is Frozen.)
Apple chief executive officer (CEO) Tim Cook teased the much-awaited and highly rumored augmented reality (AR) headset of the Cupertino-based tech giant in his recent interview.

Does this mean we are getting the Apple AR/VR headset anytime soon?

Apple's Tim Cook and AR

It is undoubtedly not the first the Apple CEO spoke about AR and virtual reality (VR).

In fact, as per a news story by CNET, the chief executive of the iPhone maker countlessly talks about these emerging technologies for quite some time now.

So, it should not be much of a surprise that Cook passionately spoke about AR tech in his latest interview with the state-run publication, aptly named China Daily.

According to a recent report by The Verge, the tech exec previously self-proclaimed that he is the number one fan of AR.

The news outlet also notes that Cook once claimed that the next-generation technology takes a critical role in the future of Apple.

And the recent interview of no less than Cook with China Daily also talked about AR.

The Chinese state-run outlet went on to ask the CEO about how he thinks AR tech could be more popular with consumers.

The Apple boss could not help but boast about the ARKit-enabled apps on the App Store of iPhones and iPads. Cook says it now houses roughly 14,000 apps that support augmented reality.

The Apple CEO said that he believes "that we're still in the very early innings of how this technology will evolve."

Apple AR/VR Headset

The outspokenness of Cook about AR is paired with numerous rumors and leaks, saying that Apple is working on AR/VR headset.

But years have passed, and the iPhone maker has yet to unveil it.

However, even if Apple keeps mum about a rumored AR headset, rumors about it have sprouted like mushrooms online. And these reports remarkably came from reputable sources like Bloomberg and the analyst and leaker Ming-Chi Kuo.

Bloomberg recently reported that the Apple board of directors got their hands on the rumored headset. Not to mention that its Reality OS is said to be in its final stages.

Read Also: Apple AR/VR Headset Leak: Release Delayed to 2023 - Here's Why

Tim Cook Teases Apple AR Headset

This time around, the Apple CEO himself teased about the AR headset.

Cook told Apple fans in his interview with China Daily to "stay tuned and you'll see what we have to offer."

Related Article: Apple's AR/VR Headset Reportedly Tested by Board of Directors - Is It Launching Soon?
The Jurassic cephalopod Vampyronassa rhodanica, thought to be the oldest known ancestor of the modern-day vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis), was likely an active hunter - a mode of life that is in contrast with its opportunistic descendant. Scientists led by Sorbonne University came to this conclusion after analysing microtomographic data of this rare fossil, acquired at the ESRF and the Museum national dHistoire naturelle in Paris. The results are published today in Scientific Reports.

Vampyronassa rhodanica is thought to be one of the oldest relatives of the modern-day vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis), which is the only remaining living species of its family. This modern form lives in extreme deep ocean environments, often with little oxygen, and feeds on drifting organic matter. Like V. infernalis, the body of V. rhodanica was mostly made of soft tissue. As this rarely fossilises, little is known about the physical characteristics and evolutionary history of this family.

Despite the scarcity of fossil material from this family, Alison Rowe, from Sorbonne University and colleagues were able to study 3 well-preserved V. rhodanica specimens from La Voulte-sur-Rhone (Ardeche, France), dating to more than 164 million years ago. The eight-armed specimens were small, measuring around 10 cm in length, and had elongated oval-shaped bodies with two small fins.

Vampyroteuthis infernalis. Monterey Bay, California, USA. The image is a still from video footage collected at a depth of 717 meters.

They took them to the ESRF for non-destructive 3-D imaging: We used synchrotron tomography at the ESRF in order to better identify the outlines of the various anatomical features, says Rowe. However, the task was challenging, as Vincent Fernandez, scientist at the ESRF, explains: The fossils are on small slabs, which are very difficult to scan. On top of that, soft tissues are preserved but we needed phase contrast imaging to visualise the faint density variation in the data. The coherence of beamline ID19 was therefore very important to perform propagation phase-contrast computed-tomography and track all the minute details, such as the suckers and small fleshy extensions, called cirri.

X-ray CT images (acquired at the ESRF (Grenoble, France)) and reconstructions of V. rhodanica. (a) Photograph (P. Loubry, CR2P) showing the exceptional 3-D preservation of the preserved soft tissue. (b) CT slice of the specimen. (c) 3-D representation showing the arm crown and other presumed elements (d) External 3-D reconstruction (e) CT slice showing the profile view. Credits: Scientific Reports.

The imaging revealed previously unknown details regarding the suckers and arm crown. Comparison with tomographic data of an extant V. infernalis specimen scanned at the American Museum of Natural History in New York allowed the team to determine that the suckers and cirri of V. rhodanica were proportionately more robust than those of V. infernalis. The researchers also noticed that the configuration of the suckers and cirri on the longer dorsal arm pair was different than on the rest of the arms. We believe that the morphology and placement of V. rhodanica suckers and cirri in the differentiated arm crown allowed V. rhodanica increased suction and sensory potential over the modern form, and helped them to manipulate and retain prey, says Rowe.

The presence of muscular suckers on each of the arms and sensory conical appendages for detecting prey suggests that V. rhodanica was likely an active predatory hunter. This is in contrast with its more opportunistic descendant the vampire squid, which has adapted to a low energy, deep ocean lifestyle.

Reference:

Rowe A.J. et al, Scientific Reports, 23 June 2022. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-12269-3
Internacional

Al menos trece muertos en un ataque ruso a un centro comercial en la localidad ucraniana de Kremenchuk
How Women Achieve Orgasm

One of the ways women can experience orgasm is through a goal-oriented four-step process first described by the sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson decades ago.

Excitement In this state of desire or arousal, the woman initiates or agrees to sex, and as it commences she finds herself focusing mainly on sexual stimuli. Blood begins to engorge the clitoris, vagina, and nipples, and creates a full-body sexual blush. Heart rate and blood pressure increase. Testosterone and neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin are involved in these processes, says Dr. Ingber. Plateau Sexual tension builds as a precursor to orgasm. The outer one-third of the vagina becomes particularly engorged with blood, creating what researchers refer to as the "orgasmic platform." Focus on sexual stimuli drowns out all other sensations. Heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration continue to increase. Orgasm A series of rhythmic contractions occur in the uterus, vagina, and pelvic floor muscles. The sexual tension caused by lovemaking or self-stimulation releases, and muscles throughout the body may contract. A feeling of warmth usually emanates from the pelvis and spreads throughout the entire body. Resolution The body relaxes, with blood flowing away from the engorged sexual organs. Heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration return to normal.

RELATED: Better Sex: How to Enhance Intimate Sexual Experiences

The Orgasm Gap

While researchers have carefully studied what happens to women during orgasm, they have also taken note that women do not have orgasms as often as men do in heterosexual sexual encounters. This is known as the orgasm gap and is a well-documented phenomenon among those who study sexuality. However, a recent study by doctoral student Grace Wetzel showed that women who dont have orgasms begin to believe that they are not going to have them and then indeed have fewer of them. This self-fulfilling sexual prophecy leads them to not prioritize their orgasms, which may make their sex lives less satisfying.

The more orgasms that you have in your relationship, the more you expect to have and the more you want or desire them in that relationship, Wetzel says. The lower frequency of the orgasm gap disadvantages women, which may explain why women devalue orgasms. And thats significant because if they place less emphasis on the orgasm, then theyll have less pleasure. And if they continue to orgasm less and expect less, then the cycle will perpetuate. And as orgasm is one of the biggest predictors of sexual satisfaction and consequently a satisfactory relationship, Wetzel says, there are benefits to working on this within peoples relationships.

How do you close the orgasm gap? You need to emphasize sexual communication between partners, prioritize clitoral stimulation for couples and de-emphasize the idea that biology stands in the way of a womans climax. Its not that women are difficult to bring to orgasm, Wetzel says, adding that theres nothing about their anatomy, genetics, or hormones that keeps women from orgasms  most women are able to have orgasms when they masturbate. Women should take the technique that works best for them in masturbation and bring that to their partnered sex.

RELATED: The Top 3 Secrets to Achieving a Female Orgasm

Different Types of Stimulation, Different Types of Orgasm

Women are blessed with bodies that are capable of experiencing orgasm in more ways than one.

Some researchers believe that there are as many as 12 types of female orgasms. The most common type is a "clitoral" orgasm, says Ingber.

Clitoral stimulation has been proved the surest route to orgasm. "I think that clitoral stimulation [produces] probably the closest analogue to male orgasm, where you get erectile tissue, there is release, and after release it is uncomfortable to continue," says Steven R. Goldstein, MD, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine.

RELATED: Understanding the Male Climax

Vaginal Stimulation, the G-Spot, and Intense Sexual Pleasure

But some women can also experience orgasm through vaginal stimulation. One group of researchers credit the G-spot, an area named and described by Beverly Whipple, PhD, RN, a professor emerita at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, and a past president of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT).

The G-spot is an area felt through the wall of the vagina, an inch or two behind the back of the pubic bone near the junction of the bladder and the urethra and made up of tissues of the clitoris, urethra, and the female prostate gland, says Dr. Whipple. Some researchers believe that when stimulated, the G-spot causes intense sexual pleasure in some women; others question whether women can feel such pleasure at this location at all.

Sensory Pathways, Stimulation, and Orgasm Generation

Women also have been able to have orgasms through stimulation of the breasts or other parts of the body, or through the use of sexual imagery without any touch at all. Researchers have even found a nerve pathway outside the spinal cord, through the sensory vagus nerve, that will lead a woman to experience orgasm through sensations transmitted directly to the brain. "There are many nerve pathways that are responsible for the experience of orgasm in women," says Whipple.

The Female Orgasm: Problems Getting There

While there are physical problems that can keep a woman from experiencing orgasm, emotions can play a role, too. Some sex researchers say that anxiety and depression can prevent a woman from progressing along the sexual response cycle, says Ingber. Feelings of fear, guilt, distraction, or a loss of control can also affect orgasm. Similarly to men with erectile dysfunction, women can sometimes have problems achieving or maintaining adequate blood flow, says Ingber.

RELATED: Deconstructing Sex Drive: What Your Libido Says About Your Health

Treatments and Therapies to Help Women Reach Orgasm

It is estimated that as many as a quarter of American women have problems experiencing orgasm.

Doctors and sex therapists use several types of therapies to help women overcome these blocks to orgasm. Directed masturbation, sex education, and behavioral therapy are some of the means a woman might want to investigate if she cannot reach climax. Women may also want to try using a vibrator to provide increased clitoral stimulation, or a dildo crafted to provide better stimulation of the G-spot.

RELATED: The Best Sexual Techniques for Womens Arousal and Pleasure

Interventions to Consider for Problems With Orgasm

If behavioral methods are not working and a woman is interested in other intervention, there are solutions better researched for male erectile dysfunction that may help.

Ingber says that for women having trouble with arousal, similar to men, Viagra [sildenafil] can be used, he says. Additionally, vacuum erection devices such as the Fiera can be used in order to improve libido and arousal. This applies gentle suction to the clitoris.

You may also want to consider acupuncture. Sexuality is a complex intersection of biological, psychological, spiritual, and other factors. Some people believe that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) may be better than Western medicine in addressing these complexities. In fact, acupuncture is one of the most common treatments used in TCM to help improve a man or a womans sexual health.

What Acupuncture Treatments Can Do for You and Your Sex Drive

Acupuncture is a simple and relatively safe way of restoring qi to those who are deficient, says Baljit Khamba, ND, an assistant professor of naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University California and a naturopathic doctor in San Diego, referring to the life energy Chinese medicine practitioners believe enhances health and libido.

RELATED: Acupuncture Helps Boost Your Sex Drive, Sex Life, and Pleasure

Medical Treatments for Women With Low Sexual Desire



For postmenopausal women who have little sexual desire and who have had other psychosocial and medical causes of decreased libido ruled out, an off-label use of topical testosterone may be helpful. Ingber notes that a number of studies have shown it is safe and effective, though as this review in the Journal of Womens Health points out, the long-term effects on cardiovascular risk and breast cancer incidence are not yet known. The International Society for the Study of Womens Health endorses testosterone therapy for postmenopausal women and notes that limited data also supports the use in late reproductive age premenopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD).

For premenopausal women with HSDD, a therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) called flibanserin (Addyi) or bremelanotide (Vyleesi) may be effective, says Ingber. The former is a daily pill, and the latter is an injectable medicine that women can use as needed, he adds.

Consulting a sex therapist could also be very helpful. Sex therapists are licensed, specially trained counselors who may be psychologists, psychiatrists, or other mental health professionals. They aim to help you get to the bottom of your sexual issues. Your therapist will help you work through emotional issues that may be contributing to sexual issues, according to Drogo Montague, MD, a urologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. The couple may also explore issues causing relationship stress, he adds.

RELATED: Sex Therapy: What Men and Women Should Know

Additional reporting by Dennis Thompson Jr.
More than six hundred Russian troops who committed crimes in Ukraine have already been identified. Eighty of them have been prosecuted, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Irina Venediktova said. Investigators from the International Criminal Court in The Hague also work in Ukraine. Learn more about the investigation process in the report.
Wednesdays events rammed home the RBAs hawkish stance.

A 50bps hike is possible in July, but 75bps was effectively ruled out by Lowe.

The Aussie remains under pressure, and the risk-off environment is weighing.

Wednesday's session has seriously dented the developing recovery in assets with heavy selling starting overnight on Tuesday. The Dax is 2% lower and right back at the June lows, while the S&P500 briefly dropped below 3700 again. Meanwhile, the US dollar is mostly higher and the risk-off environment has pushed NZDUSUD and AUDUSD lower by around 1%. However, the Euro continues to show some relative strength and EURUSD is +0.2% higher at 1.055.

The downwards pressure on markets likely comes from concerns over Fed Chair Powells upcoming speeches at the semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to Congress. A hawkish tone is expected, but Powell is not likely to say anything new or surprising. Even so, markets remain vulnerable and sensitive to any reminders of the multiple rate hikes likely in the near-future.

Earlier on Wednesday, RBA Governor Philip Lowe made another hawkish speech which chimed with the release of the hawkish June meeting minutes which were released soon after. This had little effect on the Aussie in the short-term, but makes it quite clear that the RBA will be raising rates a number of times this year which should keep it supported on any large dips, especially against the likes of the Euro, the Yen and even the British Pound.

RBA Clarifies Stance

The RBA surprised most analysts by hiking rates by 50bps in its June meeting. 25bps, and at the most, 40bps, were widely expected. The decision was clarified in this weeks release of the minutes, and these made it quite clear more rate hikes are on the way. Heres Westpac's take on the release:

By assessing the level of rates as being highly stimulatory the decision to lift rates by 50 basis points in June was clearly explained...If, as we expect, the Board decides to raise the cash by a further 50 basis points in July, the cash rate will still be only 1.35% and still just in the stimulatory zone making the 50 in July a relatively straight forward decision.

We expect that neutral is in the range of 1.5%2.0%.

The way that the RBA has shifted to raise in-line with the Fed has raised questions if the RBA could go all out like the Fed and raise by 75bps. However, that possibility was downplayed on Wednesday by Governor Lowe. He pointed out that the decision in June was between 25 basis points and 50 basis points, and indicated that the same two options would be addressed at the July meeting. This effectively rules out the 75bps option in July, but as we saw with the Fed in recent meetings, rapid changes can be made. Indeed, the market continues to expect a lot more hikes than the RBA has signalled and on this topic the market has been consistently correct. Governor Lowe said as much during his speech, but continues to think the market is too hawkish. As Westpac point out.

[Lowe] was also cautiously dismissive of market pricing which he interprets as indicating 50 basis points at five of the six remaining meetings this year with the other meeting being for 75 basis points. However, he did qualify that observation, pointing out the markets recent superior track record on the rate outlook.

This could weigh on the Aussie going forward as it means there are a number of rate hikes priced in and any failure to meet the expectations would lead to a re-pricing. AUDUSD is below 0.70 but has at least managed to hold the May low which could be key going forward.
Palo Alto, CANegotiate Like a CEO: How to Get Ahead with Lessons Learned from Top Entrepreneurs and Executives by Jotham S. Stein is a multi-winner at the Outstanding Creator Awards. Here are the awards.

First PlaceCareer

Second PlaceBusiness & Entrepreneurship

Second PlaceSelf-Help

Third PlaceBest Non-Fiction Book of Spring 2022

Third PlaceReference

Honorable MentionBest Research

Negotiate Like a CEO also won Best Business Book at Literary Titan Book Awards, the Los Angeles Book Festival and the Firebird Book Awards.

What does it mean to negotiate like a CEO? How important are employment agreements? How can you learn to protect yourself and your family if the worst does happen? These are all questions that Jotham S. Stein addresses in his book Negotiate Like a CEO, with the goal of equipping individuals with the tools they need to safeguard themselves in business and employment.

Negotiate Like a CEO isn't afraid to get into the weeds about what you need to do to help your career. Stein peppers each chapter with captivating stories of employees who have found themselves in tight situations with their employerstories that many readers will find familiar. He follows each example with insider insights on how to navigate the situation and save yourself from heartache.

"It's the concept to protect yourself, to read everything or get a good adviser to read everything, to negotiate with leverage, just like a CEO would negotiate with leverage. I wrote this book to help the people out there who have no idea how to help themselves in their employment relationships," says Stein. "Too many just don't know how or are too afraid to ask." Jotham Stein

Watch the book trailer at https://bit.ly/NegotiateLikeaCEOtrailer





A graduate of Stanford Law School and Princeton University, Stein has more than two decades of experience in executive law, representing individuals from all walks of life, including entrepreneurs, C-suite executives, and less senior employees of all size companies. In his career he has negotiated robust employment agreements, separation agreements, M & A agreements, change in control agreements, stock option agreements, restricted stock agreements, management carve out agreements, non-compete agreements, and much more.

"Jotham has helped me throughout my career, from setting up strong employment agreements to securing stock compensation to protecting the management team during the sale of my company. Jotham is a guy you want in your corner. His book should be required reading for anyone who thinks 'this could never happen to me'." Andy Cohen, founder and former CEO, Caring.com

As a hi-tech Silicon Valley attorney Stein is brutally honest in assessing a situation and advising his clients. In Negotiate Like a CEO you'll learn to be aware, to recognize potential employment pitfalls, and how to protect yourself. You'll also learn that you may have more leverage than you might think, either now or as you advance in your career. Grady Harp, Amazon Top 100 Hall of Fame Reviewer

"As a CEO and multi-time Silicon Valley executive, I was very fortunate to learn from Jotham early in my career the great importance of the protective employment offer letter. Employment law is very complex and with this book you can learn from the best." Bonnie Crater, co-founder and CEO, Full Circle Insights; former SVP salesforce.com; former SVP Genesys; former VP Oracle; former VP Netscape

About: Jotham S. Stein is the principal of the Law Offices of Jotham S. Stein P.C. He has more than two decades of experience representing entrepreneurs and C-Suite executives, board members, venture capitalists, private equity principals, and investment bankers as well as less senior employees of all size companies.

Stein is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Princeton University. He is admitted to practice in California, Illinois, New York, Colorado, and the District of Columbia as well as the United States Supreme Court, and several United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts. He is also a member of multiple bar associations, including the American Bar Association. Stein is the author of Executive Employment Law: Protecting Executives, Entrepreneurs and Employees, a how-to guide for practitioners.

Stein's new book, Negotiate Like a CEO, is an enthralling look at how top entrepreneurs and executives protect themselves and how you can too. You can find out more about Jotham Stein at NegotiateLikeaCEO.net.

Negotiate Like a CEOASIN: B09TG125BQ, Published by Political Animal Press, Feb. 24, 2022, 294 pages, available on Kindle and paperback on Amazon.

Media Contact: For a review copy of Negotiate Like a CEO or to arrange an interview with Jotham S. Stein, contact Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications Book Marketing at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 248-705-2214. Reach Lorenz on twitter @abookpublicist
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Less than two months before Christopher Chris Pettits San Antonio law firm collapsed amid allegations that he stole millions of dollars from clients, he entered into a series of peculiar real estate transactions.

He sold at least seven properties in the San Antonio area to the same buyer  Sin Reposo LLC. Among them was Pettits main law office building at 11902 Rustic Lane.

Sin Reposo also entered into an option to purchase a mansion at 555 Argyle Ave. in Alamo Heights overlooking Olmos Dam, according to a bankruptcy court filing this week. And it acquired a property at 200 Alameda Circle in Olmos Park from Pettit in January.

The nine properties are valued at more than $10 million.

Sin Reposos sole member and manager is Garrett Glass, who also serves as chief financial officer of EF EnergyFunders Inc., an oil and gas investment company thats based in Calgary but maintains its executive offices in San Antonio. It appointed him to the post in March.

Pettit had a connection to EnergyFunders until allegations that he had looted clients became public. On May 20, a day after the Express-News first reported on his legal troubles, Pettit resigned from the board of EnergyFunders, a penny-stock firm that trades on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada.

On ExpressNews.com: Clients considered San Antonio lawyer Chris Pettit a friend, family confidante. Then it changed.

More than a dozen lawsuits were filed against Pettit and his law firm, Chris Pettit & Associates, before both filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy June 1. Pettit listed $27.8 million in assets and $115.2 million in debts in his personal bankruptcy, making it among the largest ever in San Antonio. The bankruptcies put a hold on the litigation.

Ponzi scheme

Pettit operated a Madoff-like Ponzi scheme for years, this weeks filing in the bankruptcy case alleged. Bernard Bernie Madoff orchestrated the largest such scheme in history, resulting in combined losses of almost $65 billion for thousands of victims. He died in prison last year at 82.

Pettit surrendered his law license the week after the bankruptcies were filed, and the allegations against him have sparked an FBI investigation. He was an estate-planning and personal-injury lawyer.

It couldnt be determined why Pettit entered into the transactions with Sin Reposo or how they were structured. Two of his attorneys didnt respond to a request for comment.

Some others questioned the transactions propriety.

It does look questionable, San Antonio bankruptcy lawyer Steven G. Cennamo, who is not involved in the case, said of the transfers. It needs to be looked at. The question is whether theres a problem with it.

In individual bankruptcy petitions, debtors must complete a statement of financial affairs. One of the questions on the form asks if the debtor sold or transferred any property to anyone within two years of the filing.

Pettit answered yes but made no mention of the properties deeded to Sin Reposo. He signed the form under penalty of perjury that his answers were correct.

On the eve of filing (bankruptcy), he makes all these transfers, doesnt disclose them under oath  and the guys a lawyer. He knows that this needs to be disclosed, said Martin Seidler, a San Antonio bankruptcy lawyer representing creditors in the case. He made a false statement under oath.

Other omissions?

Seidler wants Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Craig Gargotta to direct Pettit to amend his bankruptcy schedules and statement of financial affairs within 10 days of a court order.

The judge is scheduled to take up the request Monday.

Seidler alleges Pettit omitted other information, including the transfer of two vehicles  a Mercedes and Porsche  to his friend and accountant.

SA Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox

Among the properties Pettit transferred to Sin Reposo were:

 A house at 711 Contour Drive in Olmos Park. Its appraised by the Bexar Appraisal District at nearly $1.9 million.

 The property at 200 Alameda Circle valued at $1.8 million. Sin Reposo has since sold the property and the house has been demolished.

 An apartment building at 488 E. Olmos Drive valued at almost $594,000.

 A house at 772 Lakebreeze Drive in Canyon Lake valued at $1.2 million.

S.A. VOTES Voter Guide: What to know for the Texas runoff election A breakdown of key state and local races and candidates in the May 24 primary runoff.

 His law office building valued at $450,000.

Confusingly, Pettit reported in his property schedule that he owns or has an interest in the law office building and the Canyon Lake house.

In the same schedule, Pettit valued the mansion at 555 Argyle  which Sin Reposo holds an option to purchase  at $3.6 million.

Transfers timing

The transfers occurred around the time some of Pettits clients obtained huge court judgments against him and his firm. One couple in Spring were awarded about $908,000 in actual damages and $500,000 in punitive damages in state District Court in San Antonio. The defendants knowingly and intentionally committed theft, the April 6 judgment said.

On April 18, a small group of creditors received a $2.4 million judgment in Bexar County Probate Court.

The sales are likely to receive scrutiny from San Antonio attorney Eric Terry, who has been appointed Chapter 11 trustee. His duties will include hiring professionals to track down assets and client funds.

Given that Pettit didnt disclose the sales on his bankruptcy form, its not known whether he received anything in return or what he may have done with the proceeds. That information was to have been reported on the form.

Terry will probably want to know if Pettit received reasonably equivalent value in return for selling the properties to Sin Reposo.

If he didnt, or if the transactions are deemed fraudulent because they were intended to keep money out of the bankruptcy, then under the bankruptcy code Terry could avoid any transfer of property within two years of the bankruptcy petition.

Besides his roles with Sin Reposo and EnergyFunders, Glass is manager of Source-Texas LLC. Its planning to develop a 600-unit apartment complex just off of Interstate 10 in Scenic Loop-Boerne Stage Corridor.

He listed Sin Reposos address in state corporate records as his home in Olmos Park. He didnt respond to messages seeking comment.

pdanner@express-news.net
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Theres a picture on Chris Cullums phone that he likes to show people when working the floor of his new restaurant Cullums Attaboy just off the St. Marys Strip.

Its a black-and-white photo of his dad as a stylish little boy sitting at Sloppy Joes Bar in Havana with his own dad, probably in the late 1950s or early 60s. Theyre both named Jim Cullum. They both played jazz. Theyre both gone now.

But they live on at Cullums Attaboy. Theres a line drawing of that photo on Attaboys menu, and theres that boy again, this time as a grown man, in a photo with his father standing next to Louis Armstrong. Yes, that Louis Armstrong.

Jazz from that era fills the air at this Kings Court bungalow. In the foyer theres a sign from The Landing, the old San Antonio River Walk jazz club where the younger Jim Cullum made a national name for himself with his band and his cornet.

Mike Sutter / Staff

Chris Cullum worked the kitchen at The Landing, one stop along the career path that would lead him to open an Airstream burger trailer called Cullums Attaboy more than a decade ago, then the chicken-and-beer hangout Cullums Attagirl in 2015 near the St. Marys Strip. He resurrected Cullums Attaboy just a few doors down from Attagirl in March, taking over the cottage that once housed NOLA Brunch & Beignets. NOLA moved around the corner into the former Cookhouse Restaurant, where Jim Cullum and his eponymous band used to play.

On ExpressNews.com: Review: Cullums Attagirl a chicken dive with the heart of a craft-driven cafe

A deep dive into the past is essential to the story of Cullums Attaboy. Chris Cullum grew up eating at the coolest places in San Antonio, thanks to his dad. Now its his turn to run one of those places, borrowing from everything that came before.

Mike Sutter / Staff

This is all the stuff that my dad loved, Chris Cullum said in January. Im lighting a candle for his era in San Antonio.

That era includes the French-influenced La Louisiane and Chez Ardid restaurants and the more casual Christies Seafood, the eclectic kitchen at The Landing and even doughnuts from the Spudnut Shop. Chris Cullum is channeling that era in a space that feels like a neighborhood dive bar, a midcentury lunch counter and a highway diner rolled into one, with a staff dressed all maltshop-chic in white aprons and short-order cook hats.

With pancakes, eggs Benedict, Champagne and caviar, Attaboy leans hard toward brunch, if brunch ran from 9 a.m. to past sundown. But its so much more.

Mike Sutter / Staff

A plate of steak and eggs put serious craft on display, starting with a well-rested, nicely seared tenderloin cut in neat rosy cross-sections with a sidecar of scrambled eggs with density and fluff in equal measure  some of the best Ive ever had.

I splurged on two key extras for the steak. Attaboy believes in truffles, real ones, shaved liberally for a nominal $10 upcharge. A real truffle lends earth, funk and magic to everything it touches, a magic further amplified at Attaboy for just $5 by the salt-and-fat extravagance of a lush demi-brown glace so concentrated that a Facebook post showed it as thick and supple as mahogany bread dough when it cooled.

Mike Sutter / Staff

Attaboys other indulgence is caviar, with five kinds available by the gram like high-end party drugs. They make it easy on the first-time user with a setup called the Swell Life, with a generous dab of black Russian Oscietra farm raised in Uruguay and an even more generous spread of bright orange smoked trout roe on a bed of creme fraiche with chives and a fan of little blini pancakes.

The popping-fresh brininess of the roe made the ideal counterpoint for two more indulgences: cold sparkling wine in frosted coupe glasses and vodka served ultra-cold on its own and in a minimalist martini with just a spray-bottle spritz of vermouth.

I cant name every gone-and-lamented restaurant influence Chris Cullum brought to the table, but the name La Louisiane was attached to a rippling pate of carp roe called tarama, a cool and mild snack served with little toasts for spreading, dipping and waving in the air to make points after a bracing Lillet Spritz cocktail and a creamy, nostalgic Ramos gin fizz.

Attaboy struck a more elegant tone with escargot served in the shell with scotch-and-herb compound butter almost as good as the snails themselves. I liked the ritual of clamping the shells with the pincer tool to remove the meat, but what I liked it even more is that they werent just little garlic-butter bombs. And I appreciated the simplicity of a single perfectly poached scallop in a textbook hollandaise sauce for a bite of something swanky without a hard commitment.

On ExpressNews.com: The best hot chicken wings in San Antonio restaurants

Nostalgia inspired a few simple joys at Attaboy, including Spudnuts, little knobs of fried dough dusted with powdered sugar, existing in a land somewhere between beignets, doughnuts and funnel cakes at the fair. Chris Cullum capitalized on his own nostalgia with an Attaboy Burger that evoked his old Airstream without leaning too hard on that operations smashburger aesthetic, letting the beef keep its juice between neatly shellacked house-baked buns with a side of shaggy handcut fries that could launch a food truck of their very own.

But in that shaded area where brunch, nostalgia and reality meet, Attaboy left a few smudges. A dish of scrambled eggs plated with toast and truffles suffered from an overload of salt, not just once, but on two separate trips. Pancakes came hard and thin and greasy, with a crunch more like fried pastry than something from the griddle.

And whitefish meuniere, one of the few full entrees on the menu at Attaboy, came not so much dressed in butter but wrecked by it, at once soggy, sloppy and stiff in its flour dredge, served direct from the broiler on a plate where every splatter felt like a mark on its permanent record.

But there was consolation for dessert. For everyone who ever had a slice of cheesecake at The Landing, they can rest easy knowing that Chris Cullum has re-created his moms recipe for a version thats dense and sweet while being neither too dense nor too sweet.

More Information Cullum's Attaboy *** 111 Kings Court, 210-601-5353, cullumsattaboy.com Quick bite: All-day Champagne brunch and dinner spot off the St. Mary's Strip from chef Chris Cullum of Cullum's Attagirl Hit: Steak and eggs, escargot, caviar Miss: Whitefish meuniere, pancakes, truffle eggs Hours: 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday Price range: Appetizers, $7-$16; salads, $13-$14; caviar, $1.50-$6 per gram or $42 for Swell Life assortment; sandwiches and burgers, $11-$15; entrees, $14-$30; dessert, $9 Alcohol: Cocktails, wine and beer ***** Excellent, an almost perfect experience **** Good, among the best in the city *** Average, with a few standouts ** Poor, with a redeeming factor or two * Bad, nothing to recommend Express-News dining critics pay for all meals. See More Collapse

For a minimalist place, theres a lot going on at Cullums Attaboy. What used to be just a smashburger trailer is all grown up now, a fitting tribute to a fathers legacy and a sons dedication. Attaboy, Chris.

msutter@express-news.net | Twitter: @fedmanwalking | Instagram: @fedmanwalking
It was a dying rocket developed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk that was to blame for the bizarre blue spiral of light that appeared in the skies over New Zealand on Sunday, contrary to what some people thought that its source to be extraterrestrial.

Space X Rocket

Following a SpaceX launch on Sunday, New Zealander Clare Rehill noticed a bizarre blue spiral above her home, according to Space.com. On the South Island of New Zealand, she took pictures of the spiral in the sky above Queenstown. On Monday morning, she uploaded the image to Twitter and speculated that it has something to do with SpaceX.

Taken in Queenstown NZ about 30 minute's ago. Any ideas what it is? Some speculating it's got something to do with SpaceX @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/lvA2amDzGM  Clare Rehill   (@ClareRehill) June 19, 2022

And it is indeed caused by a SpaceX rocket. More specifically, the upper stage of the Falcon 9 produced the spiral. The rocket took off on Sunday at 12:27 a.m. from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station EDT, bringing into orbit a communications satellite for the Globalstar company.

Why Does the Rocket Create a Spiral Bizarre shape?

The upper stage of the Falcon 9 released remaining fuel as it dropped naturally into the Pacific Ocean, which is what caused the spiral that was seen in New Zealand.

"The upper stage was probably spinning on its longest axis to stabilize flight orientation, hence the spiral shape," Space.com reported (via Spaceweather.com). "Similar spirals have been seen after previous Falcon 9 launches."

Meanwhile, a report by the New York Post, citing the Facebook post by the New Plymouth Astronomical Society, said that a "fuel dump" or "exhaust plume" was theorized as the origin of the alien-like light phenomenon.

Read More: NASA Has Chosen the Companies That Will Help Bring Nuclear Power to the Moon

Other Instances When Rocket Launch Produce Patterns in the Sky

Other beautiful sky patterns have also been created by SpaceX launches. A "space jellyfish" appeared in the dawn sky over Florida's Space Coast on May 6 following a Falcon 9 launch of SpaceX Starlink internet satellites.

Watched an awe inspiring rocket launch this morning. Found out this phenomenon is called a space jellyfish. Pretty incredible stuff. #SpaceX pic.twitter.com/sZKW27cOpN  Andrea Hall (@amhall814) May 7, 2022

A separate Space.com report noted that the exhaust from the Falcon 9 and the timing of the launch come together to produce an effect known as a "space jellyfish."

SPACE JELLYFISH



From todays SpaceX launch. Beautiful pic.twitter.com/98mzIGHDOm  Chris Combs (@DrChrisCombs) May 6, 2022

SpaceX Conducts 3 Launches and 3 Landings in Just 3 Days

In a previous report, SpaceX has successfully completed three launches of Falcon 9 rockets and three landings in just three days. What's more amazing is that the missions were finished in less than 36 hours. This was the private spaceflight company's record for the fastest succession of launches.

The first-stage booster safely landed upright on a droneship that was waiting in the Atlantic Ocean. At 10:19 a.m. ET on June 18, the second mission officially began. Meanwhile, the launch of the Globalstar FM15 communications satellite to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Sunday completed the three-header. The third launch is what caused the bizarre spiral shape in the sky that we have discussed earlier.

Related Article: Giant Comet Will Make Its Closest Approach to Earth - Here's How To Watch It!
Dear Cathy,

For the past couple of weeks, folks on the Nextdoor app have posted about finding dogs. They stated if the owner is not found, they will turn the dog over to Animal Care Services. Numerous people respond, "Don't turn them over to ACS. They'll euthanize them!"

That's not true, right? I want to correct them, but I'd like to have the correct information so I can respond. The dogs appear to be in good health and well cared for.

 Sally

Dear Sally,

San Antonio's ACS is an open-intake shelter, which means it must take in every animal surrendered as part of city services to the community. Of course, it can run out of space, which can put a dog or cat at risk of euthanasia. But this is never the first option unless the animal is ill and can't be treated or has a behavioral problem that puts potential adopters at risk.

More Animals Matter: Animal Care Services PR woman opens up about finding abandoned kittens near San Antonio shelter

Instead, ACS strives to maintain a 90 percent live-release rate annually through alternative placements, such as placing the dog or cat in foster care until a home can be found or transferring it to another animal shelter or rescue group to be rehomed. These community partnerships are invaluable in helping ACS maintain a high live-release rate for our community.

When someone finds a dog, they should get the dog scanned for a microchip first. It's always surprising to me that people forget this step. Animal control, an animal shelter, a spay/neuter clinic or a vet's office can scan for a microchip. (San Antonio residents can get a microchip for their pets from ACS. The cost for those living outside San Antonio city limits is $5.)

If there is no microchip, the person who found the dog should post a picture of the pet on community social media sites such as Nextdoor or a neighborhood Facebook page. Ask others to repost it to make sure it gets well-circulated.

If no owner is found and other local animal shelters are full, ACS is a good option since it can take in the pet and will bend over backward to secure an alternative placement for them. However, if the good Samaritan can keep the pet for a day or two while locating the owner, that is the best option as it keeps the pet from entering the shelter and taking up space for truly homeless pets.

More Animals Matter: How get your cat to stop biting you

Dear Cathy,

Should I feed my cat dry or wet food? Dry food is cheaper, but I heard cats sometimes need the extra water in their food because they don't drink enough? What do you recommend?

 Steve

Dear Steve,

Cats often need more water than they drink, so feeding your feline wet food can supplement its water intake. But you don't have to buy wet food to do this. You can add water to the dry food and mix it together.

Send your pet questions, tips and stories to cathy@petpundit.com. You can follow her on Twitter at @cathymrosenthal.
Thirty-six years ago this week, a deadly car crash outside of San Marcos changed the life of a country legend.

Just before midnight on June 25, 1986, George Strait's daughter, 13-year-old Jenifer Lyn Strait, died in a car crash. She was riding in a Ford Mustang with some friends when the driver took a turn too quickly and lost control of the vehicle.

The Mustang flipped into a ditch, and Jenifer, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt, was ejected out of an open window and died at the scene. The crash occurred south of San Marcos, just miles from the Strait family residence.

On ExpressNews.com: The most (and least) expensive ZIP codes for San Antonio homebuyers

The two other passengers in the car  16-year-old William McDonald and 17-year-old Joseph Robbins  were uninjured.

The driver, 18-year-old Gregory Allen, was initially charged with criminally negligent homicide, but Hays County prosecutors dropped the charges, according to a 1987 Houston Chronicle article.

Strait stopped giving interviews after the incident, despite the fact that it could have harmed his career.

I just didnt feel like talking about it, so I quit  I did want to keep singing, absolutely, Strait said at the time in a rare interview with The New Yorker. But I was at the point where Im [like], Alright, if this is going to cost me my career, then so be it, but its the only way Im going to be able to cope with it."

The Strait family created the Jenifer Strait Memorial Foundation, which donates to various non-profits such as the Boys & Girls Club of San Antonio in her honor.

It is also rumored that his 1988 hit "Baby Blue" is about his daughter.

taylor.pettaway@express-news.net
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Theres going to be amphitheater seating with a portal to project a hologram of a presenter or guest speaker.

A cafe  open to the public  will face a sculpture garden and the San Pedro Creek park, and an auditorium with capacity for 300 people will eventually host events, such as the Academic Data Sciences Alliance meeting slated to take place there in 2023.

Originally set to open this fall, the University of Texas at San Antonios School of Data Science is now scheduled to welcome more than 400 students, faculty and staff for the spring 2023 semester.

Its floor-to-ceiling windows and open spaces are meant to spark the curiosity of students, faculty, staff and even passersby.

Anyone is welcomed to walk through those doors, said David Mongeau, who was named director of the school in July.

Just steps inside the glass doors, Mongeau imagined what people will see when they first enter the $90 million facility.

This area will be multi-use, so you may come in one day and you may see a student-hosted session, or you come in and students and faculty are doing a demonstration of swarm robotics or it could be a lecture series, Mongeau said.

The 167,000-square-foot building is at 506 Dolorosa St., along San Pedro Creek and about half a mile east of UTSAs Downtown Campus.

On ExpressNews.com: A year from opening, UT San Antonios data school has new director

Once completed, it will house more than 30 faculty members, who will lead five graduate and two undergraduate degree programs, along with certificate programs.

Project Manager Doyle Fontenot, who works for Project Control under San Antonio civil engineering firm Raba Kistner, said hed hoped to have the facility furnished and the final touches completed this summer.

But pandemic-related delay pushed back the completion date to July 28, Doyle said. Building supplies and furnishings have been harder to come by because of supply-chain tangles.

We think that is going to continue to slide, Fontenot said about the completion date. Part of that sliding is because of procurement. Stuff that had been promised to come in at a certain time and now is getting delayed.

His team is now looking to furnish the building and finish the last few details during the fall semester. The plan is to welcome staff ahead of the winter break and open the building to students for the spring semester.

A larger footprint

The school  slated to become one of the largest cybersecurity research hubs outside the Washington, D.C., area  will house seven research centers: the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security, the Cyber Center for Security and Analytics, the Institute for Cyber Security, the MATRIX AI Consortium, the Open Cloud Institute, the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute and the National Security Collaboration Center.

We are part of a group of national universities called the Academic Data Science Alliance, Mongeau said. But among that larger group theres only five universities that have set up a new unit as a school of data science, so in some ways, UTSA is a first mover.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio Project Road Map: Heres where major construction projects stand.

UTSA officials also have plans for a second building, which will be built on the western side of the San Pedro Creek. It was always part of the strategic plan, Mongeau said, in order to expand the programs capacity.

It will amplify what we are doing in building one  San Pedro I  but it will also greatly increase the critical mass of people involved in entrepreneurship, innovation, touching data science and innovation, Mongeau said.

Most of the programs that will be housed at the new building are already in place at UTSAs main campus on the far North Side. The goal for the new facility is to continue identifying new programs to add to the roster.

We are launching a new masters in artificial intelligence, and it will begin at the new school, Mongeau said. Weve definitely increased the capacity to accommodate data science and data analytics work.

The building will include space on each floor where students can conduct trials, host presentations or study, and five large gathering areas.

Planning ahead

Mongeau is focused on building the schools capacity  and that means securing research grants and building partnerships with companies that may be interested in hiring the schools graduates.

We already have some industry partners who have made commitments, but Im actually hoping that when we do the ribbon-cutting, we will be introducing some of our new industry partners, h said. And the value to that is helping students see some of the local employers, as well as national employers, that are interested in them and what they bring to the table.

On ExpressNews.com: UTSA breaks ground on $90M downtown center

The universitys industry partners so far include H-E-B, Dell, Frost Bank, MITRE and the National Security Agency.

UTSA officials hope to increase diversity in data science fields by making degrees more accessible to San Antonio-area students.

Currently, UTSAs data science programs are made up of about 48 percent women and about 60 percent students of color  Black, Latino and students of two or more races  Mongeau said. Nationally, the participation of these groups in data science fields is about five percent or less.

Companies recognize that they are not diverse enough, Mongeau said. The companies growth is in data science and cybersecurity. They look around, and among other schools, they dont see the diversity that we have. So we have a huge opportunity to support students and get them to play in this space.

danya.perez@express-news.net | @DanyaPH
Pablo Martinez Monsivais, STF / Associated Press

A terminally ill man who previously received probation for sexually abusing a child now is slated to spend the rest of his life in prison, according to the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

Ruben Villarreal Escobedo, who is 67 and has stage 4 prostate cancer, was sentenced by a Comal County grand jury this week after he pleaded guilty to four first-degree felony counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, six counts of sexual assault of a child, and five counts of indecency with a child-sexual contact, according to the Herald-Zeitung.
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On Thursday morning, Maj. Gen. Dennis LeMaster handed the maroon flag signifying his command of the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence to Lt. Gen. Theodore Martin.

Martin, who heads the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center, then placed the flag into the hands of the new commander, Maj. Gen. Michael Talley.

That swiftly executed exchange allowed LeMaster to step away from an organization he led for 2 years through the coronavirus pandemic.

It was a perilous period for the U.S. military.

Troops everywhere were vulnerable, particularly those living and working in close quarters as the highly contagious virus ran wild, infecting 541 million people worldwide to date and killing 6.3 million.

Navy and Marine Corps boot camps stopped briefly because of outbreaks. But that didnt happen in San Antonio, home to perhaps the Armys best-known specialty unit, the 68 Whiskey combat medic.

More than 3,000 GIs and civilian employees at MEDCoE, as the command is called, train nearly 35,000 medical specialists a year, including combat medics. It carried out its mission without interruption during the pandemic, even as 2,000 of the commands soldiers and civilians tested positive for COVID over the past two years.

Only two companies were put in isolation  and only as a precautionary measure. No soldiers have been hospitalized with the virus or died.

As we look out on this field, I think its appropriate that we take just a moment and reflect on the last 30 months of what our country has been through, and the debt we owe to the U.S. Army medical community, Martintold the crowd. Without them, where would we be? Where would we be?

LeMaster will become deputy commanding general for support at the Army Medical Command headquarters on Fort Sam Houston.

New boss

The command-change ceremony was, as always, full of pomp and circumstance. Nearly 1,000 soldiers and staff officers stood in formation as part of a troop inspection prior to LeMaster handing over command.

The new boss  himself a one-time combat medic student at Fort Sam who joined a formation just like it as a private in June 1983  eyed them as they stood under the hot sun on the MacArthur Parade Field for nearly an hour. He then issued his first command.

I want all of you to go to a modified position of rest! he cried. Everybody go to a modified position of rest! Come on, shake it out! Band, you, too.

Some marching band members shook their arms. One GI in the field rolled his shoulders.

The 450 or so guests on hand, everyone from dozens of general officers to civilians and community leaders, were treated to a pass in review, a longstanding military ceremony. It was a triumphant moment for LeMaster, a 35-year Army veteran who holds the distinction of having the lowest COVID numbers of all centers of excellence in the Armys Training and Doctrine Command.

MEDCoE also managed a small miracle during the pandemic  not shipping even one coronavirus-positive soldier to a new unit after graduation.

The Air Forces 37th Training Wing at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland had a similar experience as COVID threatened to derail basic military training beginning in February 2020. The wing and Air Education and Training Command walled off new arrivals from others on the base, isolating them in their dorms for the first two weeks. Anyone testing positive or falling ill with the virus was funneled into quarantine at a base hotel.

It worked much the same way at Fort Sam.

Like everything, it takes a team. By no means was it unilaterally through my guidance or leadership alone, LeMaster said.

Like in the civilian world, virtual meetings quickly became routine. Instruction via Teams and other virtual space platforms became the order of the day on Fort Sam, as did social distancing, masking and cleaning common-use surfaces.

TRADOC instituted a sterile pipeline program in which troops leaving Fort Sam flew out of Kelly Field or took buses to their next assignments. Nearly 15,000 soldiers were transported from San Antonio to other locales without one of them turning up ill.

That kind of became a point of personal pride for me, said LeMaster, whose deployments include Bosnia, Hungary, Croatia and the invasion of Iraq, when he served with a medical brigade.

Part of the commands success had to do with the way instructors and others handled themselves when they werent on the job. While some continued to go grocery shopping and visit the hardware store, LeMaster noted others applied a personal draconian idea to the guidance, and they disallowed themselves from doing what they wanted to do.

As a result, MEDCoE never had a super-spreader event.

I did go to the grocery store less ... but if I had to go to the grocery store I swore that I was the only one going, said Sgt. 1st Class Jennifer Jackson, whose husband, Josh, and two children stayed home.

She also wore a mask and disinfected the grocery bags.

It works, said Jackson, 35, who comes from Owensboro, Ky., and holds a masters degree in public health. It was a little time consuming, but it helped everybody (stay) safe.

Like Lackland, however, MEDCoE ended the tradition of inviting families and friends of troops to graduation ceremonies and kept larger numbers of soldiers on post. But the rules were loosened over time, with public ceremonies returning.

Unique challenge

Lt. Col. Manuel Menendez led the 232nd Medical Battalion through much of the pandemic. There were a couple of common-sense rules in the unit, which trains 4,500 to 5,000 combat medics a year: Wear masks and wash hands to reduce the chances of spreading COVID. They also did more of their training outside.

Sunlight is a great disinfectant, he said.

They also tracked each soldier in their barracks and performed temperature checks as they entered and left. Those coming up positive were isolated and their roommates tested. Cadre, in turn, ensured training continued for those in quarantine. That meant getting computers for the medics in training so they could study. Once well, they went back to their classes.

Unique challenge, said Menendez, 49, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and a 1993 combat medic graduate who has deployed to Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and other places hes still not allowed to reveal.

How unique became clear early on. The 800 soldiers in quarantine ordered a lot of products from Amazon, leaving huge piles of trash that filled nine dumpsters a day. And that was just one unexpected problem Menendez, a 25-year Army veteran, and others faced.

So, No. 1, we need help with the trash and we need help with the food and we need help with everything  taking the temperatures, he said. We cant let them fail so we need internet access for them. So the boss arranged it so the kids would get everything so they graduated on time.

That mattered in the medic corps, which, at 33,500 strong, is a critical element of Army combat formations.

This is the Medical Center of Excellence, and folks do have an interest in medicine, said LeMaster, 60, a native of Everett, Wash., and many have an understanding of how diseases spread, and I think just our culture is one that is health-centric.

sigc@express-news.net
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A hearing of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission this week grew contentious as legislators on the Sunset Commission clashed with Houston-area legislators not on the commission and their constituents while discussing recommendations from the commissions staff on ways to improve the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Measures aimed at making the TCEQ more transparent and accountable in its oversight of industry were met with pushback led by state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, who sits on the Sunset Commission  created by the Legislature to evaluate state agencies for elimination, continuance or reformation.

Before dealing with the TCEQ, the Sunset Commission finalized its staffs reports regarding the San Antonio River Authority, the Water Development Board and the Texas State Soil and Conservation Board  with little disagreement from commission members or the agencies affected.

In particular, two recommendations proposed by the Sunset Commission staff regarding the TCEQ were viewed skeptically by several senators on the commission. The staff concluded that the TCEQ needs to be more transparent and that adding a public meeting before and after it creates a draft permit for an industrial applicant would help in that area, said Robert Romig, project manager for the Sunset Commissions TCEQ report.

On ExpressNews.com: Lack of transparency among issues Texas environmental officials need to improve upon, commission finds

Currently, the TCEQ takes public comment after it issues a draft permit, such an air quality permit. But Romig said there is little room for conversation at that point.

What we found was that throughout the permitting process, there was great dissatisfaction both on the part of the industrial applicants and the community stakeholders with the conversation that was happening at the existing public hearing, Romig said. At that point,  the TCEQ has found and made all the decisions about what is appropriate and should be in the permit.

Perry said that while he applauds the thought, he is concerned that adding a meeting would yield no solutions. He said that most public complaints are about local authority and not the TCEQ.

I dont want to create more work for the TCEQ, Perry said. I dont want to say were doing something for the sake of transparency that has no solution.

Adding such work, it was noted, would strain an agency that has 400 vacancies among its 2,800 staff positions. Some 200 people left when the TCEQ authorized employees to return to the office.

Romig said the Sunset Commission staff also recommends updating the compliance history rating formula that the TCEQ applies to the industries it oversees  commonly called the RN rating. The rating is meant to help the TCEQ factor in a businesss history of compliance in making decisions about it.

Romig said the current formula is not serving the purpose that the TCEQ created it for. He said that using the current formula, a complex entity with a significant history of noncompliance can receive a substantially better compliance rating than a smaller entity with little evidence of noncompliance.

Perry expressed concern about making such a change, saying that the TCEQ should primarily be a resource rather than an enforcement agency. He said the change could result in industry not reporting violations for fear of enforcement action.

On ExpressNews.com: TCEQ undergoing Sunset Commission review this year, and public comments are pouring in

Meanwhile, several Houston-area residents traveled to Austin by bus to speak during the hearing. Each person was given two minutes to address the commissioners.

Among those attending were state Sen. Borris Miles and Rep. Armando Walle, both Democrats from Harris County, who addressed their constituents concerns about industry, especially concrete batch plants, in their neighborhoods.

In an impassioned speech, Miles said there is a disproportionate impact of industrial pollution among communities of color in Houston and throughout Texas, which he said has gone ignored since the last time the TCEQ was reviewed by the Sunset Commission 12 years ago.

We have to agree that there is a disproportionate impact in Harris County, said Miles, who represents Texas Senate District 13. We have multiple studies that show theres a disproportionate impact in Houston, especially in my district. Its been documented by some of the data provided by [the TCEQ]  the impact of environmental hazards on people of color, and the institutional rules and regulation policies or corporate decisions that deliberately target certain communities.

Unlike most cities in Texas, Houston does not have zoning regulations, which generally prevent industrial land uses near things that are deemed incompatible, such as schools, playgrounds or nursing homes.

This agency does not have zoning authority. We do not select the sites for our projects, TCEQ Chairman Jon Niermann said. I dont relish permitting a concrete batch plant next to a school or somebodys home, but we dont choose the sites.

Niermann said the TCEQ does thorough modeling and monitoring to ensure that industry operates safely.

Nevertheless, when Sunset Commission member and state Rep. Terry Canales asked Niermann whether he would want a concrete batch plant by his childrens school, the TCEQ chairman said he would not relish it.

The Sunset Commission will accept written comments on the TCEQ review until June 27. Comments can be submitted on the Sunset Commissions website. A final decision for the TCEQs review will be made on Oct. 12. It will then go to the Legislature in January.

As for the San Antonio River Authority, the Water Development Board and the Texas State Soil and Conservation Board, the Sunset Commission had at least three issues for improvement for each, including transparency, accountability and governing strategies.

The San Antonio River Authority agreed with the report on its agency, which was published in March, saying it has taken initial steps toward implementing the recommendations and that it sent the Sunset Commission staff a chart showing how the River Authority will do so.

Although it will be challenging for the San Antonio River Basin, its communities and natural resources to accommodate the rapid population growth projected for and currently impacting the region, SARA is dedicated to advancing operations to meet the needs of our constituents and the environment today, tomorrow and for future generations, said Derek Boese, general manager at SARA, in his response to the Sunset Commission.

The area that the River Authority regulates  Bexar, Goliad, Wilson and Karnes counties  has seen massive population growth in the past few years. The Sunset Commission recommends that the authority increase its boards transparency and involvement in the future of the San Antonio River by conducting more strategic planning, establishing guidelines for projects and updating its fund balance policy.

SARAs board of directors has established an organizational task force that is developing recommendations to increase participation by the board and the community.

Elena Bruess writes for the Express-News through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. ReportforAmerica.org. elena.bruess@express-news.net
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UVALDE  Three days after the Robb Elementary School massacre that left 19 children and two teachers dead, Gov. Greg Abbott expressed outrage over being misled about law enforcements response to the school shooting, the second-worst in American history.

But in the weeks since, hes said nothing about who fed him the bad information  that the quick action of officers on the scene had saved lives.

Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin Jr. told the San Antonio Express-News that he knows who did it. Abbott said it was the Texas Department of Public Safety, according to McLaughlin.

He told us, the mayor said after a City Council session here Tuesday night. In the room, he said, DPS misled you and they misled me.

Related: Police chief for Uvalde schools, Pete Arredondo, placed on administrative leave

McLaughlin didnt elaborate about the exchange, and a spokeswoman for Abbott didnt directly address the mayors claim that hed blamed the DPS, which reports to the governor, for the misinformation.

As the governor has said, and as shown in his handwritten notes, the information he originally shared was provided during a briefing by a roomful of law enforcement and public officials, who detailed the actions and response by law enforcement, spokeswoman Renae Eze said in a written statement Wednesday.

When asked at a May 27 news conference in the Uvalde High School auditorium if he had been misled, Abbott said, So your questionthe short answer, yes, I was misled. I am livid about what happened. I was on this very stage two days ago, and I was telling the public information that had been told to me in a room just a few yards behind where were located right now.

Abbott was referring to a news conference on May 25, a day after the massacre, in which he gave high marks to law enforcement officers who rushed to the shooting scene. He said they labored to stop the Robb Elementary gunman, Salvador Ramos, 18, a high school dropout from Uvalde.

The reason it was not worse is because law enforcement officials did what they do, he said.

The governor went on to say that officers showed amazing courage by running toward gunfire for the singular purpose of trying to save lives. And it is a fact that, because of their quick response, getting on the scene, being able to respond to the gunman and eliminate the gunman, they were able to save lives.

That was far from what happened.

Abbotts DPS director, Steven McCraw, told reporters in an emotional press conference on the morning of May 27 that 19 officers waited for close to an hour in a hallway outside adjoining classrooms as children repeatedly phoned 911 begging for help.

DPS officers were in the hallway, but McCraw said they did not have the authority by law to take command from local authorities.

He said waiting for 45 minutes before breaching the door and killing Ramos  long after he had gunned down the students and two teachers  was the wrong decision, period.

That afternoon, on May 27, the governor told reporters that he wrote down hand notes in detail about what everybody in that room told me in sequential order about what happened.

As everybody has learned, the information that I was given turned out in part to be inaccurate, and Im absolutely livid about that, Abbott said.

Abject failure

McCraw went further in condemning the errors authorities made in the Robb Elementary shooting in testimony Tuesday before the state Senates new committee examining school safety and gun violence.

He called police efforts an abject failure and antithetical to everything we have learned over the past two decades. He blamed Pedro Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school districts police chief and on-scene commander during the shooting, for failing to confront the teenage gunman sooner.

Arredondo, however, told the Texas Tribune that he never considered himself the incident commander but did everything he could to save lives, and was hindered by a door he didnt have the key to unlock. Security footage shows that police never tried to open the doors to the classrooms, according to a law enforcement source close to the investigation.

The latest reports indicate that first responders had arrived at Robb Elementary just minutes after the shooting began  and had acquired bulletproof shields and assault-style weapons shortly after  yet still waited more than an hour to enter the connected classrooms where the shooter had barricaded himself.

One hour, 14 minutes, and 8 seconds, McCraw said Tuesday. Thats how long the children waited and the teachers waited in room 111 to be rescued. And while they waited, the on-scene commander waited for radio and rifles. And he waited for shields, and he waited for SWAT. Lastly, he waited for a key that was never needed.

On Tuesday night in Uvalde, McLaughlin resisted what he described as efforts to place blame solely on Arredondo and local law enforcement.

Its time that we faced up to it  everybody in that hall needs to answer for what went on, the mayor said. Not just Pete Arredondo, not just the local Uvalde Police Department, but the U.S. Marshals need to answer, the Border Patrol needs to answer, DPS needs to answer, the Texas Rangers need to answer, everybody needs to answer.

Because you saw these citizens and these grieving families that were here tonight. They deserve answers, he said.

sigc@express-news.net
A Black man who recently graduated from a police academy said he was racially profiled after leaving a Dallas-area 7-Eleven convenience store last month.

According to Michael McQueen, Joshua Police Department officers accused him of illegally parking in an accessible spot. McQueen said he is a disabled military veteran. The officers demanded to see his identification and told him he looked suspicious because he was wearing his police academy uniform with his duty belt equipped with his gun.

McQueen captured the May 22 incident on his body camera and uploaded the video to his Facebook account on May 30. The 5-minute video has since gone viral after it was posted on Wednesday on Reddit.

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In the video, McQueen accuses police Captain Scott Peters and Sgt. Shaun Fullagar of racially profiling him. McQueen was not detained, but he was not allowed to leave the parking lot. At one point, McQueen and one of the officers get into each others faces.

Both McQueen and the police department did not return a request for comment.

McQueen said on Facebook he was not officially connected to any law enforcement agency when he visited the 7-Eleven in his academy uniform and decided to post the video to put them on blast because of how captain Peters responded when I said to him that we are supposed to be on the same side.

The video begins with one of the officers repeatedly demanding to see McQueens identification. When McQueen asked the two officers whether they had probable cause, Peters explained that he did not have a handicapped placard.

Also on ExpressNews.com: Uvalde shooter moving toward a pathway to violence nearly a year before massacre, DPS director says

McQueen encourages them to look at the disabled military veteran license plate on his vehicle. One of the officers demanded to see his identification, saying that he had never seen anyone wear a police academy uniform after they graduate.

McQueen explained that he often wears his uniform while hes training. He repeatedly encouraged officers to run his license plate and to call the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which serves as the regulatory agency for all police officers in Texas.

At one point, McQueen attempts to leave. Another officer who arrives on the scene tries to stop him. McQueen asks if he is being detained. The officer doesnt let him leave until his supervisors return.

According to the officer, recent changes in Texas law no longer allow people with disabled veteran license plates to park in accessible parking spaces. McQueen said he has had his disabled veteran license plate for five years.

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Peters was able to later confirm that McQueen was in the academy.

Youre feeling small now, arent you? McQueen says in the video. You shouldnt run up on people. You have no probable cause. If you wanted to follow me and run my plates, you could have done that.

He added: You waste my time. And you, youre supposed to be a captain and you dont know that disabled plates have a right to park in this parking spot and you violated peoples rights running up on them without probable cause.

At one point, the pair got in each others faces. Peters accuses McQueen of having expired certifications.

My certification doesnt say expired, McQueen said. You want it to be expired because you see brown skin.

He added: I have peace officer certification, just like you, McQueen said. So go learn the law before you start teaching young people how to do the job. Youre a bad example  you dont even know the rules of parking.

timothy.fanning@express-news.net
Samsung agrees to pay a $14 million fine for seven misleading advertisements.

The electronics company also has to pay an additional $200,000 contribution to the competition watchdog.

ACCC chair Cass-Gottlieb considers Samsung's case as a warning to businesses to affirm products' claims.

South Korean Multinational Electronics Corporation Samsung Fines $14M

Upon being sued for their deceptive advertisement, Samsung has agreed to pay a $14 million penalty. This is after the electronics company asserted that seven of its Galaxy phones are water-resistant when the gadgets could stop working if used in swimming pools and ocean water.

The compensation between the South Korean multinational electronics corporation and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) was approved by Justice Michael Murphy. Samsung and ACCC's issue has been a long-running case established in 2019 concerning the ads related to seven Galaxy phone models.

The competition watchdog alleged Samsung misled and deceived customers with its claims about phones across more than 300 advertisements since February 2016. In online, TV, and billboard advertisements, the phones were shown to be water-resistant and used at pools and beaches, even if the electronics are unsuitable for pool water or salt water. On Thursday, Samsung's legal counselor, Nicholas De Young, said in court that the total calculation of affected promotions was 684.

Samsung has also admitted that if the promoted phone units are used in salt water or pools, there is a material possibility of damage by corrosion to the phones' charging port, ACCC's barrister, Caryn Van Procter, told the tribunal.

At that time, the electronics corporation marketed 3 million Galaxy phone models mentioned in Australia's agreement. The device problems come when people try to charge their phone while it still has water in its charging port, despite a warning on the phone notifying the user against charging it. Since this case came up, the company fixed this through hardware and software changes in later Galaxy phone models.

While some of the provided pieces of evidence to the court regarding the number of views the Facebook and Twitter ads received, the court heard that it is impossible to know how many consumers had retrospectively purchased the device. The ads are also unaware of how many people had a phone malfunction due to later using it in a pool or sea water and then charging the device.

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Justice Murphy Criticizes Samsung's Lousy Cooperation, ACCC Chair Warns Corporations

In consenting to the $14m settlement, Justice Murphy also said that many consumers would have used their gadgets similarly represented in the ads, trusting its representations. According to him, the $14 million is a "real and sufficient sting" to Samsung Australia. The amount of compensation would act as a deterrent to the company's 14% of profit over the last six years.

The jurist has condemned the electronics company for only cooperating with the matter's resolution after years of resistance to the ACCC's case. He also criticized how products marketed in Australia are often seen in the federal court cases brought before it where products are oversold to consumers in marketing campaigns.

Aside from the $14 million payment, Samsung was ordered to contribute an additional $200,000 to the ACCC's costs within 30 days of the order. ACCC's chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, accepted the ruling and reiterated the issue on Samsung Galaxy phones that drove the case and caused the company's huge penalty.

Cass-Gottlieb sees Samsung's penalty may serve as a warning to businesses that all their products' claims must be substantiated. The competition watchdog will persist in taking enforcement motions against companies that delude customers through misleading assertions about the nature or benefits of their products.

On the other hand, a spokesperson of Samsung expressed that they properly tested their products in sea and pool water but accepted getting the case close.

Related Article: Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus Features New Messaging Standard: How to Use Google Messages
WASHINGTON  The Texas congressman whose district includes Uvalde says he plans to vote for a bipartisan gun bill that the Senate is poised to pass this week  even as Republican opposition to the bill appears to be growing.

U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, a San Antonio Republican, tweeted Wednesday that he supports the gun bill drafted by a bipartisan group of senators, including U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, after recent mass shootings, including a gunmans attack on an elementary school in Uvalde that resulted in the deaths of 19 kids and two teachers.

The legislation would be the first significant tightening of federal gun laws since 1994, bolstering background checks for gun buyers under 21 and restricting access to firearms for dating partners convicted of domestic abuse. It also provides funding for mental health programs, school security and for states to create red flag laws.

As a congressman its my duty to pass laws that never infringe on the Constitution while protecting the lives of the innocent, Gonzales tweeted on Wednesday. In the coming days I look forward to voting YES on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

I LOOK FORWARD TO VOTING YES: Texas Republican representing Uvalde supports bipartisan gun bill

The Senate is expected to pass the legislation later this week and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said the House will take it up soon after.

Gonzales explained his support by sharing that he is a survivor of domestic abuse.

My stepfather would come home drunk & beat on me and my mother, Gonzales tweeted. One night he decided that wasnt enough and shoved a shotgun in my mothers mouth. I was 5 at the time and not strong enough to fend off the wolves.

School was my sanctuary from the chaos at home, he said. Now I am 41, all grown up. Loving father of six children. Served our country in the Navy for 20 years, led men and women in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. I slay wolves every day.

But the bill was drawing growing criticism from Republicans on Wednesday. Former President Donald Trump slammed it as the first step in the movement to take your guns away, as he labeled Cornyn a RINO in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.

While in office, Trump notably supported measures allowing law enforcement to confiscate guns from those deemed a danger to themselves or others, saying in 2018: Take the guns first, go through due process second.

House GOP leadership, meanwhile, told Republicans in a closed-door meeting that they oppose the measure and are expected to push lawmakers to vote against it, NBC News reported. The National Rifle Association has come out in opposition to the legislation, arguing it leaves too much discretion in the hands of government officials and contains undefined and overbroad provisions.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz voted against it and Cornyn was booed at the Texas GOP convention last week, where delegates pushed a resolution rebuking him for working with Democrats on the bill.

Conservatives have been especially wary of provisions aimed at closing the so-called boyfriend loophole by extending federal laws that prohibit convicted domestic abusers from buying guns to include current and recent dating partners. Under the bill, they would be able to purchase firearms five years after a domestic violence conviction, provided they are not convicted of any additional violent offenses during that time.

Some Republicans have also opposed provisions that would offer funding for states to create crisis intervention programs, including red flag laws that allow police to take guns from those deemed a danger to themselves or others. The bill does not create any such laws, just provides funding to enact them.

Cornyn on Wednesday talked up conservative wins in the bill during a Senate GOP lunch, including funding for law enforcement and no new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners.

He also highlighted provisions included at the request of the National Rifle Association. Those included that the enhanced background checks for juvenile gun buyers are repealed after 10 years and that bans on domestic abusers buying firearms only applies to recent relationships, and first time offenders can purchase guns again after five years.

ben.wermund@chron.com
Jazmin Cazares sat on her little sisters empty bed this morning and cried.

Nine-year-old Jackie should have been sleeping there peacefully. She should have woken up Thursday to watch a movie with her family or enjoy the summer vacation that had just begun.

But Jackies life was stolen from her on May 24, when a teenage gunman wielding an assault-style rifle killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.

She was one of the sweetest souls anyone would ever meet, Cazares, 17, told lawmakers Thursday in Austin. She would bring a smile to anyones faces. We were all in shock when we received the news of her passing, and were still in shock, especially as we continue to receive new information that shows a lot of things that happened that day could have been prevented.

HEARTBREAK: Uvalde police officer was detained as he tried to rescue his dying wife during school shooting

Cazares made the four-hour trip to the state Capitol early Thursday to testify before a House panel debating legislative solutions to the Uvalde massacre. Voice breaking, she begged for lawmakers to do something  to expand background checks, to require repeated active shooter training for all police officers and to pass red flag laws that would allow courts to temporarily remove firearms from people deemed a danger to themselves or others.

There should be absolutely no reason this murderer could have access to a firearm, Cazares said. Days after turning 18, he bought an AR-15, hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Background checks are needed to protect innocent communities like mine from being endangered by people who are unstable and signal that they are threats.

She also lost her little cousin, 10-year-old Annabell Rodriguez, in the shooting. Jackie and Annabell were best friends.

Im here to honor Jackie, her friends, their families, my family and my community, Cazares told lawmakers. You can honor them, too, by passing gun safety legislation.

Texas Republican leaders have emphasized mental health resources and school security after the shooting, while rejecting calls from the left to restrict firearm access.

Cazares focused intensely on gun reform, but she also highlighted a number of other safety precautions that may have helped prevent the massacre, including extra on-site security, improved student threat assessments and alarm systems that work at all hours of the day.

She reviewed the Uvalde school districts safety plan in preparation for Thursdays hearing and questioned why the materials applied safety strategies to only some of the schools. The plan, for example, requires additional staff to patrol parking lots and door entrances on secondary campuses, but why not my sisters elementary school?

She also pointed to the districts efforts to review social media posts for threats, which evidently failed. The Uvalde gunman had posted a picture of his guns with the caption 10 more days on May 14. District officials had previously contracted with Social Sentinel, a social media monitoring service, but its not clear whether the technology was active this academic year or if it would have flagged the shooters post, the Dallas Morning News reported.

If these measures would have been adequately invested in, staff surveying these threats on social media by the shooter could have been flagged, and his firearm would or could have been confiscated before putting my community in harms way, she said.

Speaking to reporters after her testimony, Cazares said she hopes lawmakers will take her suggestions to heart, knowing that I lost someone, knowing that it hits so close to home.

Other than the survivors, Im the closest thing theyre going to get, because I know those kids, she said. I think they realized that its coming from me. I was directly affected. That, hopefully, will change things.

Jackie loved singing, dancing and acting, just like her older sister, Cazares said. She wore a picture of the little girl on her shirt.

Cazares, still a student herself, has never known a world without active shooter drills in the classroom  and now, she said, the prospect of going to school this fall is horrifying.

Im terrified for my life to go back, she said. I have senior year, and thats it. Am I going to survive it?

Jasper Scherer contributed reporting.

cayla.harris@express-news.net
Gov. Greg Abbotts campaign is already moving to lock down nearly $3 million of mostly Spanish-language campaign ads aimed at winning over Hispanic voters.

The spending is a continuation of Abbotts repeated declaration that he aims to increase his vote share among Hispanic voters after a string of GOP successes along the Texas-Mexico border.

Former President Donald Trump in 2020 won some Texas counties along the border that hadnt voted Republican in 100 years; in a special election, a Republican woman from Hidalgo County, Mayra Flores, just won a congressional seat long held by Democrats; and a high-profile Democrat in the Legislature, Ryan Guillen, recently left his party to become a Republican.

Republicans have made historic gains in Hispanic-majority districts across the Lone Star State over the last year, and this media pre-buy is going to continue that momentum, Abbott said.

Abbott is facing Democrat Beto ORourke in the November general election as he seeks a third term as governor.

GOP FLARES: Texas Republicans warn divisions could hand the governors seat to Beto ORourke

Abbott has said hes won about 45 percent of the Hispanic vote in past elections, but this year he is determined to get over 50 percent of that vote.

I will get more than half of the Hispanic vote, Abbott said in an April campaign speech in San Antonio.

Public polling shows that could be a stretch. A Quinnipiac University poll released recently showed Abbott leading ORourke in the race for governor by 5 percentage points but that ORourke was winning 50 percent of Hispanic voters, compared with 41 percent for Abbott.

Abbott has honed his message to Texas Latinos around the states booming job market, warning that Democratic policies threaten the high-paying oil industry.

The new ads wont just be aimed at Texas border communities this fall. Abbotts campaign intends to also put the money into Houston, San Antonio and other areas aimed at Hispanic communities.

The spending is expected to include broadcast, cable, radio and digital platforms.

jeremy.wallace@chron.com
WASHINGTON  U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert was one of a handful of Republicans in Congress who asked former President Donald Trump for a pardon after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to testimony shown by the House committee investigating the insurrection.

Witnesses told the committee that the president had considered offering pardons to several individuals, said U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican on the committee.

Cassidy Hutchison, who served as an aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said in recorded testimony shown Thursday that the Tyler Republican was one of the members who had sought a pardon. Others included U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.

Their only crime was supporting Donald Trump: Rep. Louie Gohmert defends Capitol riot suspects

The only reason I know to ask for a pardon is because you think youve committed a crime," Kinzinger said.

Gohmert did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Tyler Republican was a close ally of Trumps in seeking to turn over the election results, including suing former Vice President Mike Pence in December, 2020, in an effort to force Pence to reject the results when Congress convened to certify President Joe Bidens electoral win.

Gohmert also supported Attorney General Ken Paxtons failed lawsuit to overturn election results in four battleground states. Paxton and his top deputy, First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster, are both targets of lawsuits by the Texas Bar Association for the dishonest attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

And the congressman has been a vocal defender of the Jan. 6 rioters, calling them political prisoners held hostage by their own government.

Gohmert announced his retirement from Congress in November and ran an unsuccessful primary challenge against Paxton, drawing 17 percent of the vote in a four-way race.

ben.wermund@chron.com
WASHINGTON  The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed the most significant new gun laws in decades  bolstering background checks for young buyers, closing the so-called boyfriend loophole and more  in response to a string of mass shootings, including in Uvalde.

Fifteen Republicans joined every Senate Democrat in approving the gun bill crafted by a group of senators, including Republican John Cornyn of Texas on a 65-33 vote. The House is expected to take up the legislation as soon as Friday.

This legislation will protect our schools, protect our communities, and safeguard the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, Cornyn said on the floor of the Senate. I don't believe in doing nothing in the face of what we've seen in Uvalde and other communities. Doing nothing is an abdication of our responsibility.

The bill is the first tightening of federal gun laws since 1994. It requires greater scrutiny of gun buyers under 21 years old and restricts access to firearms for dating partners convicted of domestic abuse. The bill also creates stiffer penalties for gun trafficking and straw purchasing, in which someone buys a firearm for someone prohibited from owning one.

The legislation also provides funding for mental health programs, school security and for states to enact red flag laws or other intervention methods meant to stop shootings before they happen.

RELATED: Gun bill hasnt hurt Sen. Cornyns popularity despite jeers at GOP convention, poll finds

Were trying to find a solution to a very real problem, and I think what weve come up with will, in the end, pass the test that I know so many of us believe is the standard  and that standard is, will it save lives? Cornyn said. I believe the answer to that is yes, and that makes this worth doing.

Though it gained enough Republican support to pass the Senate, it was nonetheless opposed by the majority of the GOP  and Texas Republican senators were leading figures on opposing sides of the debate within the party.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz slammed the bill as misguided and a mistake on Fox News on Wednesday. In a lengthy speech on the Senate floor Thursday evening, Cruz said the most troubling aspect of the bill is the funding it offers for red flag laws, which he argued enable the state to take away the right to keep and bear arms from law-abiding citizens.

I think the chances this bill will actually do anything meaningful to prevent the next mass murder are very low. Its not what this bill is designed to do, Cruz said.

Cruz argued the bill was instead designed to appease calls for Congress to do something.

I agree, do something. But do something that works, Cruz said. Do something that will stop these crimes. This bill aint that. But it does have provisions that are troubling. It does have provisions that satisfy the Democrat political priority to go after the second amend right to keep and bear arms of law abiding citizens.

Cruz offered up alternative legislation that would double the number of school resource officers, increase punishments for thefts from gun dealers and offer up funding to beef up prosecutions of violations of federal gun laws. It also includes billions in mental health funding.

As the head negotiator for the GOP, Cornyn was the Republican face of the bill  and he took harsh criticism from the right, including from former President Donald Trump, as he sought to sell his colleagues on the conservative wins in it.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

They include funding for law enforcement and no new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners. Cornyn also stressed that Republicans were able to include provisions requested by the National Rifle Association that would repeal the enhanced background checks for juvenile gun buyers after 10 years, and would limit the prohibition on domestic abusers buying firearms to recent relationships, while allowing first-time offenders to purchase guns again after five years.

I was not going to go anywhere in this negotiation that jeopardized the rights of law-abiding Americans, Cornyn said in a floor speech on Thursday. Unless a person is adjudicated mentally ill or is a violent criminal, no ones Second Amendment rights will be violated by this legislation  period.

Still, the NRA opposed the bill, arguing it leaves too much discretion in the hands of government officials and contains undefined and overbroad provisions.

Cornyn dismissed that criticism, saying we worked with the NRA, listened to their concerns, but in the end I think they simply  they have a membership and a business model that will not allow them to support any legislation.

ben.wermund@chron.com
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For nearly a decade, Mission Solar Energy has been swimming against an Asian tide. The company, which produces solar systems predominantly for homes at its manufacturing plant on the South Side, is among the few solar panel manufacturers based in the U.S.

Thats something President Joe Biden is trying to change.

The Biden administration has pushed recently to boost domestic production of solar panels as the U.S. races to generate more clean electricity and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. And while the effort will likely fall short of completely overtaking Asian-based players, for U.S. manufacturers like Mission Solar who have long been unable to compete with global factories, its a start.

In February, Auxin Solar, a small solar panel manufacturer based in San Jose, Calif., filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Commerce that claimed solar panels imported from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia  markets that account for more than 80 percent of U.S. solar imports  are actually made in China and assembled in those nations to illegally circumvent tariffs on Chinese goods. The Obama administration placed tariffs on Chinese solar technology over 10 years ago.

On ExpressNews.com: DeLorean CEO talks about automakers future in San Antonio  and the challenges it sees ahead

Since the Commerce Department began investigating Auxins claim, solar panel makers in those four nations stopped shipping panels to the U.S. for fear they may face a tariff that would significantly raise costs.

Biden this month invoked the Defense Production Act to marshal resources for solar panel production stateside. Meanwhile, to satisfy the other side of the industry  solar installers and utilities looking for the lowest-cost panels available  Biden announced a two-year freeze on tariffs on solar imports from Southeast Asia, a move meant to enable projects in the pipeline to continue without the financial burden of added tariffs.

Bidens two-pronged announcement gives businesses certainty to accelerate projects delayed by the Department of Commerces anti-circumvention investigation, the Solar Energy Industries Association said in a statement. Without this action, massive project delays and cancellations would have continued throughout 2022.

Cant compete

Faced for years with competing against less expensive imported solar panels, Mission Solar had to lay off nearly 90 workers in late 2016 and consolidate its operations. Mission Solar would no longer build its own solar cells, the small black squares needed to assemble solar panels. Instead, Mission Solar scrapped its cell production line and began buying them from China.

Today, Mission Solar sources most of its components and raw materials from Asian countries such as Taiwan and Vietnam. Rows of solar glass shipped from Malaysia sit stacked in the storage room at Missions plant.

In many ways, Mission Solar reflects the underdog nature of U.S. solar manufacturers. It controls about 7 percent of the U.S. residential solar market. And Mission executives say openly: American-made panels cost more than imports.

A Mission Solar home system costs about $1,000 more than those that use imported solar technology, said Paul Mutchler, director of operations for Mission Solar. A home solar panel system costs about $30,000.

We know we cannot compete on price, he said. So we compete on quality, pride and American workmanship.

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Its widely known that Chinese companies evade U.S. tariffs by sending solar equipment to facilities in nearby countries to assemble and export, he said.

Its not a secret, Mutchler said. A lot of people in the U.S. trying to get the advent of green energy and cheap electricity, they know whats going on.

Auxins petition has forced Biden to balance competing priorities: quickly shifting from fossil fuels toward cleaner energy sources versus having unionized workers build more goods in the U.S.

Also, the U.S. originally banned solar exports from China in part because much of the polysilicon  a key raw material for solar panels  used comes from Xinjiang, where the U.S. has accused China of genocide and forced labor of the Uyghur ethnic group.

We think were on the same playing field, and were really not. We have investors that need to get their money back, and the (Chinese) government, theyre patient, Mutchler said.

Costs for things such as real estate, capital investment, equipment, labor and health insurance are drastically different for U.S. makers trying to compete with their Chinese counterparts, he said.

Theyre selling for less than I can buy the material for, he said. And they have a completed product.

Winners and losers

Auxins CEO and some Republican officials criticized Bidens decision to freeze tariffs on solar imports from the four Southeast Asian nations for two years, arguing that the administration is allowing China to break U.S. trade laws by circumventing tariffs.

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City-owned CPS Energy said the two-year suspension on solar tariffs will help the utility get new contracts with solar farms across the finish line.

CPS in May signed a deal to buy power from a 300-megawatt solar farm to be built in Goliad County by 2024 or 2025. That was the first tranche of 900 megawatts of solar generation CPS has been planning to add for over a year.

Tariffs were certainly holding up some of our other potential partners on the remainder of the 600 megawatts because they were hearing the president might provide a moratorium, but they didnt want to commit to a price and then that not happen, and the price point changes, Garza said. Tariffs couldve impacted the contract price significantly, and those third parties wouldve been under water on our contract.

With Bidens move giving CPS another two years, Garza said the utility is getting deals done.

Since the president has come out with that decision, the pace of moving forward has certainly changed, he said. Im hopeful that well get the remainder of the 600 megawatts under contract between now and the end of this year.

On ExpressNews.com: Goliad County solar farm to provide power for San Antonio under CPS-Consolidated Edison deal

Mutchler with Mission Solar said the suspension of tariffs took the teeth out of the Commerce Departments investigation. But at the same time, he said its unreasonable to expect the that U.S. can ever build a supply chain for solar technology that rivals Chinas. For example, there arent many U.S. producers of the type of low-iron glass that best transmits light for solar panels, he said.

Mutchler said he supports the Solar Energy Manufacturing Act, a provision tucked into Bidens broader Build Back Better agenda thats been mired in Congress. It would give manufacturers like Mission Solar a tax credit based on how many solar modules they produce.

And the separate COMPETES Act would provide low-interest loans and grants to finance solar component manufacturing.

We definitely need a bridge to a long-term industrial policy or some tax policy, Mutchler said. Is it about the sale of the project now, or is it truly about green energy? Because Ive seen some factories (in China), and they are not too green. And we already know about the Xinjiang region, where they have forced labor.

If we have this industrial policy, I think the U.S. will be just fine, he said. Its the only way were going to compete if we want to be green.

diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net
In the annals of racial reckoning, Georgetown Universitys public atonement for its historical links to slavery has attracted special attention and generous praise.

Since the student newspaper jolted the campus with accounts of Jesuit priests engineering the sale of 272 enslaved people in 1838 to stave off bankruptcy for the college, Georgetown has honored campus buildings after an enslaved black laborer and a black Catholic educator, and pledged funding for health clinics and local schools. The prestigious institution now offers preferred admissions status in perpetuity to descendants of people the Maryland Jesuits once owned.

Take a bow, Georgetown University, a Dallas Morning News columnist gushed in 2016. When one of America's most prominent universities takes a step  no matter how small  to atone for its role in slavery, history pivots.

But what began with a grandiosity of purpose as a model for racial reconciliation  including a Catholic mass of contrition in Washington in 2017 that featured official apologies for having greatly sinned  has veered off script, confounding the moral clarity of the present that seeks to correct for moral blindness of the past.

Georgetown officials assumed that the fate of the 272 sold slaves could never be known, rendering their descendants non-persons. Turns out, the Maryland Jesuits were meticulous record keepers. Historians and genealogists have scoured their remarkably intact archival records to find that that Jesuit slavery was more extensive than many had assumed.

They estimate that as many as 1,650 people were enslaved  or, just as important: leased -- over more than a century and a half at Georgetown College and the six Jesuit plantations in Maryland that financed the schools operations.

These slaves and their progeny, in turn, begat an estimated 12,500 descendants who are believed to be alive today. About half of the descendants have been found through genealogical research, and more could be located as additional slave identities are reconstructed. Many, however, are still in the dark because genealogical researchers lack the resources for personally notifying every person added to their growing roster.

The expanding universe of descendants has complicated the racial reckoning for Georgetown, which is facing mounting inquiries and claims from descendants who are just learning of their connection to the Jesuits. While most news accounts have focused on the 272 enslaved people who were sold, little attention has been paid to the rising chorus of critics who say the school must acknowledge its much wider debt.

Why is everyone so focused on the sale? Wasnt the ownership of slaves the real problem here? said Richard Cellini, a Georgetown law school alumnus who created a nonprofit organization to conduct genealogical research for descendant families. Theres still more than a thousand Jesuit slaves out there that almost no one talks about, nobody knows about, nobodys provided any resources for.

Georgetowns reckoning with its past is a microcosm of the profound and difficult questions  both moral and financial  inherent in the discussion of reconciliation and reparations. Even as the university has moved to open its past to unprecedented scrutiny, it has faced increasing criticism and demands.

The story began in 2014 when Georgetowns student newspaper began reporting the 1838 sale of 272 enslaved people. Students protested to pressure university leaders to strip two campus buildings of the names of the Jesuit slavers who engineered the sale, realizing more than $3 million in todays dollars. The university community was moved to make amends after reading news stories in The New York Times and other outlets that described contemporary accounts of women weeping, slaves fleeing into nearby woods, and families torn asunder, as the terrified slaves were packed into awaiting oceangoing brigs under the supervision of a local sheriff and shipped more than 1,000 miles to sugar and cotton plantations in Louisiana.

In response to intensifying interest in this history, university president John DeGioia in 2015 commissioned a Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation to prepare a report and recommendations on a comprehensive institutional response.

Georgetown opened its archives to the broader public, posting letters, bills of sale, financial statements, runaway notices, sacramental records and other documents online that help historians, genealogists and family members connect enslaved ancestors to living descendants. Notably, the Jesuit university and the religious order did not conduct genealogical research to find descendants, leaving that work to individual families.

Sensing a massive historical wrong, Cellini hired two genealogists and in 2015 created the Georgetown Memory Project, which characterizes its efforts as "one of the largest group-genealogy searches in US history."

Detailed records kept by the Jesuits have revealed that the Maryland Province Jesuits owned at least 1,150 slaves over more than 150 years, according to research by Sharon Leon, a scholar of U.S. Catholicism at Michigan State University who specializes in digital methods. Whats more, historians and researchers say the religious order benefited from as many as 500 other slaves whose financial ties to the Maryland Jesuits have been overlooked. These enslaved people cooked and cleaned at Georgetown College, or plowed and harvested the six Jesuit plantations in Southern Maryland, but dont show up in the records as Jesuit property because they were owned by tenant farmers, local residents and students parents.

Complicating the matter for Georgetown and the Jesuits is a vocal group of descendants, said by their attorney to number in the hundreds, who have sparred with other descendants over the proper way to honor their ancestors.

This group is less interested in what they perceive as symbolic gestures -- like renaming campus buildings and offering preferential admissions to descendants -- than in receiving scholarships and cash payments as recompense for the unpaid labor of their ancestors.

And they want help with genealogical research, which can be time-consuming and expensive.

One of these dissenters is Karran Harper Royal, a New Orleans resident who learned in 2016 that her husband Kenneth descends from Isaac Hawkins, an enslaved person sold in 1838 and whose lineage has produced at least 2,600 descendants, both deceased and living. Harper Royal, 59, is an outspoken descendant activist and was one of the featured speakers at Georgetowns 2017 ceremony and liturgical service.

Those bread crumbs theyre throwing out there, thats PR management, its not real amends, said Harper Royal, who works as an advocate for disabled children. If theyre going to let people in based on legacy, the least they could do is help people verify their lineage.

These unanticipated developments have placed Georgetown and the Jesuits in a peculiar predicament.

For a university like Georgetown, or even for the Jesuits, some uncertainty comes from not known how large the community is that youre dealing with, said Georgetown history professor Adam Rothman, who oversees the Georgetown Slavery Archive, the online repository of archival materials pertaining to slavery, the Maryland Jesuits and Georgetown University.

But more its just the novelty of it, Rothman said. Universities have not had to confront a descendant community demanding reparations before. So they dont know how to respond to it. Is this a legal question? Is it a moral question? Is it a public relations issue? How do we navigate this terrain?

There is no single model in this country for racial reconciliation, whether offering financial benefits to African Americans or other forms of recognition.

In the absence of a national program, individual organizations, businesses and municipal governments, including Evanston, Ill., and Asheville, NC, have vowed to pay what they call reparations to black people for the municipalities role in historic discrimination.

Universities are in the forefront of the movement to come clean on their record of racial exploitation and exclusion, with nearly 100 institutions active in Universities Studying Slavery, a consortium formed in 2016 that meets twice a year and includes Brown, Columbia, Emory, Harvard, Yale as well as universities in Ireland, England, Canada and Colombia. Universities typically didnt own large numbers of slaves, but they benefitted from wealthy benefactors who were enriched by investing the slave trade or in Caribbean slave plantations, or from the labor of enslaved people owned by faculty, leadership and even students.

Thus a genealogist hired by William & Mary University, researching for more than a year, told RCI he has yet to identify a living descendant from 200-plus slaves who are known to have worked on the campus in Williamsburg, Va., between 1693 and 1862. The enslaved might be recorded as negro boy or male or by a first name only.

And a genealogist hired by the University of Virginia, who is in her third year of research, said she has successfully identified 60-plus living descendants, and expects to identify others. But out of an estimated 4,000 slaves who labored at UVA in various capacities during the years 1817 and 1865, many were recorded by a first name only or not identified at all, and it will be more challenging if not impossible to find their descendants.

Georgetown and the Jesuits, with an increasing community of descendants, face considerations of a different nature than most organizations are likely to encounter.

Its morally terrifying to imagine that they survived, said Cellini, 59, who for the past year has been a faculty fellow at Harvard University. They werent looking for this. Its a source of great shame. It worries them from a financial standpoint.

Such quandaries must have seemed remote to Jesuit leaders and Georgetown officials when they pointed their moral compass toward a racial reckoning in 2015.

When Georgetown president DeGioia in 2015 commissioned a Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation to prepare a report and recommendations, no one on the 15-member committee was aware of living descendants of Jesuit-owned slaves, said Rothman, a member of the Working Group. According to one news report, DeGioia said it would have never occurred to him the descendants wanted to engage with Georgetown.

The fate of the descendants piqued the curiosity of Cellini, who emailed the Working Group for information about descendants and the possibility of reparations.

Georgetown English professor John Glavin responded in mid-November, saying that the question of descendants was a non-starter: The problem with making some sort of reparation to the descendants of the slaves sold south is that, as far as we can tell, all of them quickly succumbed to fever in the malodorous swamp world of Louisiana. Glavin added: The best available evidence suggests that, used to the more temperate climate of Maryland, and the kind-ish oversight of the somewhat feckless Jesuits, almost all of them immediately succumbed to the hostile climate and the harsh labor conditions into which they were so suddenly and cruelly submitted.

Cellini typed a query in the Google search engine, and quickly found information posted by a descendant who had been working with a Baton Rouge genealogist. This surprise discovery prompted Cellini to hire that genealogist, as well as another genealogist in Maryland, launching the Georgetown Memory Project.

Cellini said he has received no financial help from the Jesuits or the university. He described his motivation as anchored in the Jesuit ethic of serving others, noting: Im a moderate Republican; Im not a social justice snowflake.

Meanwhile, Georgetown ceremoniously removed the names of the two Jesuit priests from campus buildings, and christened the structures after Isaac Hawkins, the first of 272 names listed on the 1838 manifest for the mass sale, and named another building after Anne Marie Becraft, a free black Catholic educator who founded the first school for black girls in Georgetown.

Georgetown also committed to raise $400,000 a year from philanthropic donations to support projects benefiting descendant communities, and offered preferential admissions to descendants of the Jesuit-owned slaves. To date 16 descendants have been admitted under the special preference, including Melisande Short-Colomb, a New Orleans chef who was 63 years old when she enrolled at Georgetown in the fall of 2017.

Some universities, however, are expressly committing to help find living descendants. In April, Harvard University pledged $100 million for the creation of a Legacy of Slavery Fund that will help search for descendants of the 70-plus black and Native American people enslaved by Harvard faculty, presidents, major donors, and other figures in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Georgetown spokesman Jason Shevrin, in an email to RCI, underscored the universitys ongoing commitment to reconciliation and collaboration with Descendants.

Georgetown is committed to supporting community-based projects in partnership with Descendant communities, Shevrin wrote. This work is grounded in our academic mission of education, research, and service.

But Shevrin did not respond to questions about whether the university plans to underwrite genealogical research. Its also unclear whether the hundreds of slaves not owned by the Jesuits, but included in the total headcount by historians and the Georgetown Memory Project, will be eligible for preferential admissions or other forms of recognition at Georgetown; however, recognizing such slaves is common practice by other universities, including William & Mary, University of Virginia, and Harvard.

By the time that Georgetown announced the special admissions program in September 2016, the Georgetown Memory Project had identified 1,250 living descendants, and it was becoming impossible to ignore their growing ranks.

When GU President DeGioia announced that descendants would get legacy admissions preference and that the university would establish a center to study slavery and commission a memorial to slaves, praise poured in from all quarters for Georgetowns visionary leadership.

"This is the biggest news in reparations in years," Alfred Brophy, then a law professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill who studies the history of slavery and universities, was quoted in The Los Angeles Times.

''It goes farther than just about any institution,'' Massachusetts Institute of Technology slavery historian and author Craig Wilder told The New York Times in 2016. ''I think it's to Georgetown's credit. It's taking steps that a lot of universities have been reluctant to take.''

Wilder is the author of the 2013 book Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America's Universities. Brophy is a co-editor of the 2019 study, Slavery and the University: Histories and Legacies.

That same year, Harper Royal became involved in founding a new advocacy group, the GU272 Descendants Association, and published a piece in the Washington Post arguing that Georgetown wasnt doing enough. She said the university should offer scholarships to the descendants, since the labor of the Jesuit-owned slaves made it possible for Georgetown College to admit students without charging tuition for the first half-century of its operations.

A year later, their frustration mounting, the GU272 Descendants Association sent a confidential plea to Rome, addressed to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus. Saying they have been ignored, the descendants requested the Society of Jesus to investigate the physical, social, educational and economic harms that resulted from the 1838 sale, continuing down to the present day, and to research how much the descendants are owed.

They urged the Jesuit leader to heal a great hurt, right a great wrong, and end a great and growing scandal in the Church. The four signatories included Cellini and Harper Royal, all identified as lead organizers of the GU272 Descendants Association.

Subsequently the organization fractured.

The other two lead organizers, Cheryllyn Branche and Joseph Stewart, as well as another descendant, Earl Williams Sr., signed a memorandum of understanding with the Society of Jesus in September 2019, to work toward creating a $1 billion national organization to be called the Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation, which would designate a quarter of its philanthropic outlays to funding descendants education expenses. Georgetown contributed $1 million to the planning the technical work required to establish the foundation.

The deal expressly took reparations off the table, with the Jesuits later stating that the descendants chose not to seek individual cash settlements but rather to seek a substantial and sustainable investment forward in uplifting the wellbeing of Descendants for many generations to come.

According to the foundation's web site, it is structured to sustain financial and intellectual support of descendants' educational attainment for the next hundred years. The Foundation will provide financial support to meet emergency needs of poor, ill and elderly descendants.

Harper Royal, who was executive director of the GU272 Descendants Association, said she had no idea about the deal signed with the Jesuits, and she strongly disputes the language in the contract stating that the association represented the interests of the majority of descendants.

But the $1 billion goal remains a distant reality. The Jesuits committed $15 million and pledged to contribute a total of $100 million, from donations. The remaining $900 million would have come from other universities and institutions that are encouraged to join the effort. A spokesman for the new foundation said its in the early stages of being capitalized and declined to provide details on whether any other universities have signed on.

In April 2021, Harper Royal and four other descendants who were current or former members of the board of directors of the GU272 Descendants Association, including Cellini, issued a statement disavowing the GU272 group. They said the deal with the Jesuits was never reviewed by the GU272 board and that the broader descendant community was kept out of the loop.

But thats not to say that their demand for reparations is universally popular.

Reparations expert William Darity, a Duke University professor of economics, public policy, and African and African American studies, does not blame universities or other entities for refusing to pay cash reparations to descendants. Darity has said it would be misguided for a stand-alone organization to cut checks, because the ultimate responsibility to do so falls on the federal government, and piecemeal efforts can only undermine achieving a national program.

Darity, author of the 2020 book, From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century, said black people are entitled to about $350,000 per person in a $14 trillion program to erase the nations racial wealth disparity between black and white people.

My position is: Take nothing if youre not going to get what you deserve, Darity told RCI.

email: jmurawski@realclearinvestigations.com

Twitter: @johnmurawski
A line of people waiting to get into the "Drag Queen Story Hour" event at ZooMontana. The line wrapped around the entrance on June 22, 2022 (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).

Rebecca Noell said she was shaking last week as she filmed a video of herself just after a meeting with U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale and staff in his Washington, D.C., office turned into a screaming match.

In D.C. for the National PTAs annual convention, Noell said in the video the congressman barged into the room during her meeting with his staff about topics related to schools, and after a pleasant introduction, things went south.

Noell said she does not recall the specific subject Rosendale was responding to, but he made a critical remark about ZooMontana hosting Drag Queen Story Hour, an event the congressman characterized in a tweet the week prior as promotion of child abuse.

Drag Queen Story Hour celebrates reading through the glamorous art of drag in the U.S. and beyond, as described on the chapter networks website. This year is the first the zoo hosted a story hour, but it has held other events affiliated with Pride month in the past.

Noell, wife to ZooMontana Development Director Pete Bolenbaugh, said she responded in the meeting to Rosendale that ZooMontana was a community space for all Montanans. In an interview with the Daily Montanan, Noell said she did not believe Rosendale knew of her connection to the zoo.

He started yelling over the top of me, Noell said through tears in the video. Hes literally shouting at me, pointing his finger at me.

Noell said she went into fight or flight mode and shouted back.

Thank you for your inflammatory tweets that are going to invite violence in our community in Billings, she said. Noell later added that Rosendale responded by yelling youre welcome over her in a manner she described as very threatening.

At that point, she decided to leave Rosendales office and was walked out of the building by his staff, with Noell saying she was still angry and swearing.

I dont mean to swear at you, but he is a fing a and I cannot wait, cannot wait to vote for Buchanan, she said before the recording stops. Gary Buchanan is running against Rosendale as an independent in Montanas eastern congressional district in November.

PTA advocacy

Noell was visiting with Montanas congressional delegation, U.S. Sens. Jon Tester, Steve Daines and Rosendale, as part of her work with Montana PTA, but Wednesday, she resigned her position.

One of four people in the Montana PTA delegation that was in Rosendales office for the meeting, the group discussed bills on gun control, mental health, childhood nutrition and FY2022 Reconciliation and FY2023 Appropriations to congressional staff. The meeting took place on Hill Day during the National PTAs convention and its 125th anniversary.

When reached with questions Wednesday about the experience Noell relayed about the meeting with the congressman, the other members of the PTA who were in attendance declined to comment and provided a statement to the Daily Montanan.

Garri Mauch, Montana PTA advocacy chair who attended the meeting with Noell, said both national and statewide PTA organizations had no comment in relation to Noell.

Montana PTA President Sheryl Scheafer expressed gratitude to Rosendales Legislative Assistant, Kevin Pham, for showing interest and support for Montana PTA in the statement to the Daily Montanan on Wednesday but otherwise declined comment.

Noell told the Daily Montanan on Wednesday afternoon that she was disappointed the other members of the PTA delegation didnt have her back and decided to resign her position with the organization. She said she served as Treasurer since October 2019.

Rosendales version

Rosendale disagrees with Noells version of events, he said in a statement sent to the Daily Montanan. He did not specifically address the allegation the conversation escalated into a shouting match.

Mr. Rosendale discussed a variety of topics with the group including his concerns over the sexualization of elementary school-aged children. He expressed his belief that hosting drag events at family-friendly public venues is inappropriate and that children should be safeguarded from such exposure, the statement sent Wednesday morning read. Mr. Rosendale agrees that Montana welcomes everyone, however made clear his concerns that exposing young children to sexuality is inappropriate.

Mr. Rosendale is always happy to engage in meaningful discussions and is happy to talk to any Montanan regardless of their political ideology.

In the statement, he thanked the Montana PTA group for visiting and said he always welcomes Montanans into his office.

Legislative assistant Pham, who was in the meeting, deferred questions from the Daily Montanan to the communications staff.

Looking forward

As for whats next for Noell in light of her resignation, she said Wednesday shes going to take time to care for her 9-year-old son and soon-to-be 11-year-old daughter and is open to the future.

She didnt believe her husband received threats like those that were directed towards ZooMontana Executive Director Jeff Ewelt and the board, and said that not having a social media presence may have helped. Last week, messages like I know where you live! were sent to Ewelt, along with threats to run him out of town and false accusations of pedophilia, but Wednesday, the story hour event drew much support (see sidebar at bottom of story).

I think people are scared of other people that they just either dont understand or dont agree with, she said of the rise in anti-LGBTQ hate. Internet culture gives people a way to be loud without being seen, necessarily, and it just emboldens people to share hate.

Originally, Noell said she recorded the video with the intention of sharing it exclusively with her husband and ZooMontana director Ewelt, but since then, she said she wants as many people as possible to view it because she hopes it influences how others view Rosendales candidacy in November.

He came into that room on a day when the Yellowstone River in Billings was higher than its ever been, she said. My heart was at home, and I feel like he just really showed me that he doesnt care about what happens at home.

This is not the first time Rosendale has been accused of public outbursts. Last year, four people said the congressman yelled at union members in Butte, giving them the middle finger and telling them to go cry to Tester, referring to Montanas senior senator. Rosendales spokesman denied the account.

Noell said she doesnt want an apology from Rosendale, saying this altercation showed her who he was.

I think that he was expecting support for his righteous indignation, she said. He was pretty surprised with the reaction here.

Noell said the day after the meeting, she went to the National Gallery of Art and had to take a photo of the oil painting Tiger and Snake from French painter Ferdinand Victor Eugene Delacroix .

Im the Tiger.

Drag Queen Story Hour at ZooMontana 406 Pride held its first Drag Queen Story Hour on Wednesday at ZooMontana with more than 2,000 in attendance at the Zoo, more than 460 check-ins at the event itself and an estimated 200 plus kids, according to Director Jeff Ewelt on Wednesday. While this wasnt record-breaking attendance for the Zoo, Ewelt said, it was much higher than the 500 that would be expected on a Wednesday at the zoo in the summertime. The first queen read Families, Families, a childrens book about all different types of families. We are extremely happy with seeing the smiles on everybodys faces today. It was such a wonderful family friendly day, people were laughing, they were having fun. It was awesome to see, Ewelt said. There is a community within our community that needed this today, and that is why we are so proud to host this event and give them a safe space to celebrate who they are. There were at least five uniformed officers standing by, with Ewelt confirming a counterprotest of about 40 to 50 people. Ewelt said the protesters were respectful, with only one person causing an issue. These drag queens and the queer group, theyre coming after our children, and the church has one job, penetrating culture and defending the church, protester and Billings resident Grover Peterson said, while holding a sign. Im happy to be here, but there should have been 5,000 people, 10,000 people, maybe 80,000 people. This is war in our community. Ewelt commented on Noells account of the events that took place in Rosendales office last week saying it was disappointing. For a Montana group to be visiting with Rosendale about other matters and that this even was brought up is just extremely unprofessional, Ewelt said. Editors note: Editor Darrell Ehrlick contributed to this story from Billings. Ehrlick previously served on the board of ZooMontana.

The post Alleged Rosendale screaming match over ZooMontana leads to resignation of PTA Montana Treasurer appeared first on Daily Montanan.
Facial recognition illustration (Image via Pixabay | Public domain).

Lawmakers still cant agree on how to regulate facial recognition technology in the state after 14 months of study as they continue to try and strike the right balance between the use of the rapidly emerging technology with Montanans constitutional right to privacy.

Last Tuesday, at an Economic Interim Affairs Committee meeting, a draft of a bill was proposed to the committee that would put significant safeguards on how agencies in the state, for example, the Department of Justice, can use the technology. While members disagreed on the specifics, the groups consensus was that something needs to be done.

I hope that we can kind of decide where we want to go from here, straddling the fence, if you will, between privacy rights and investigating crime, said Rep. Katie Sullivan, D-Missoula, who helped draft the proposal.

The technology is essentially unregulated in Montana and on the federal level. Currently, the technology is used in the state for things like unemployment fraud protection at the Department of Labor and Industry and in some criminal investigations by the state Department of Justice.

The proposed bill deals solely with government use of facial recognition technology with a focus on law enforcement. Under the proposal, state and local governments could only use the technology  with a warrant or court order  to investigate serious crimes or a missing or endangered person, and would prevent police from using a facial recognition system to establish probable cause in a criminal investigation. It would also require agencies looking to use the technology to notify the legislature of their intent and for agencies using the technology to maintain schedules to permanently delete the data after it is used.

The bill would not ban private companies like the controversial Clearview AI, which maintains facial recognition databases, from operating in Montana. Clearview.AI, which scrapes peoples biometric data from public databases like newspapers and social media sites, has been banned in countries like Australia and Canada.

E.J. Redding, a lobbyist for Clearview AI, told the committee that the company supports keeping tabs on the technology but does not want to limit law enforcement too much.

(Facial recognition technology) is improving every day, and the last thing that we would like to see is tying the hands of law enforcement to use an emerging technology in a time when theres more crime, more opportunities, more need for investigatory tools to put bad guys away, he told the committee.

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After Tuesdays meeting, Sullivan said the committee is going to pursue two tracks going forward. One would be a finessed version of the last weeks proposed bill, and another would put a complete moratorium on state and local governments using the technology.

I was surprised to hear the enthusiasm for a moratorium. I am not opposed to a moratorium. I would vote for it, but my sense is that there are legislators that would want to keep the option open for the use of investigating heinous crimes, Sullivan said on Wednesday.

Rep. Mark Nolan, R-Bigfork, took the most adversarial stance on the use of the technology at the June 15 meeting.

Are we willing to give up our freedom for that safety, for the state of Montana? asked Rep. Mark Noland, R-Bigfork. I want the state of Montana to be different than the rest of the states. We dont need this.

Nolan said he favored scrapping the bill proposal and starting over.

I have no problem with drafting something that says in Montana; we do not tolerate  facial recognition, he said.

Committee Chairman Sen. Ken Bogner, R-Miles City, who helped draft the bill proposal with Sullivan, emphasized that something must be done so the committee can present something at the next legislative session.

Theres a slippery slope for the use of facial recognition technology  I would prefer going into this session that we pass sideboards for facial recognition technology in some form, he said. But we need to come up with something we all can agree on, or as close to as possible, that we feel the rest of the legislature can support just so we have those sideboards in case something that, lets say, Rep. Nolan wants doesnt get passed  a full out ban. So I believe there needs to be sideboards.

Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, agreed that there should be stricter measures than what is in the bill proposal but reiterated Bogners point that something needs to be done.

I think it is important that we do come up with a product here. I think its our responsibility as a legislative body, in the interim here, to come up with a basic product that we can present to the legislature, he said. If not, this issue may not be dealt with at all, and then you have no sideboards. And I would agree with the chair that we need a starting point.

Leslie Corbly, a privacy policy analyst at the Libertas Institute, said concerns regarding the technology are justified.

The use of facial recognition by government entities is controversial  To guard against government abuse of facial recognition technology, we need legislative guidelines, she said.

Corbly said those guidelines should focus on the warrant process rather than the specific technologies.

Even though innovation moves faster than the ability to legislate, the process remains unchanged, she said.

The next step for the committee will be hearing feedback on the bill proposal from state agencies currently using the technology. The committee has until September to vote on a bill proposal.

The post Debate on how to regulate facial recognition technology trudges on after 14 months appeared first on Daily Montanan.
The salmonfly hatch lived up to the hype last weekend, and it looks like theres more to come.

Anglers on the Big Hole River were greeted with long-awaited salmonflies with a few golden stoneflies mixed in as well. The Bitterroot and Blackfoot rivers, as well as Rock Creek and others, expect to see the same during the coming days.

Some of these stretches of water are still ripping, but wade fishermen should be advised to keep their boots dry regardless of the flows.

The fish are more often than not eating various salmonfly and chubby patterns within five or six feet of the bank, usually in the vicinity of overhanging trees.

While a friend and I were out over the weekend, we started with a Pats rubberlegs or SJ worm dropper trailing behind our surface bugs. However, after a few rises it became clear that once the fish are dialed in on salmonflies, theres no need for anything except the top fly.

Salmonfly patters are usually assembled with either an orange body or a dark brown or black body. If you see a fish rise and reject your bug, switch to something with a different color body. If you had orange, switch to dark brown and vice versa. Once you have the pattern fish want, youll know. If the conditions are right, the eats are flashy and aggressive  a far cry from the subtle nuances often associated with fly fishing.

Big bug season is finally here.

Top picks

Echo Lake  This body of water is unaffected by runoff, so the fish have remained happy and willing to bite. Anglers will have a shot at an array of species, such as large and smallmouth bass, crappie, perch, kokanee, rainbows, brookies and pike pushing 20 pounds. Kokanee are being caught in deeper water with jigging and trolling being the go-to methods. Maggots will consistently attract hungry kokanee, especially when using a multi-hook rig capable of presenting bait or a lure in two or more different water columns. Crappie tubes and night crawlers are working well for crappie. If youre looking for a trophy, the pike will chase flutter spoons, a smelt under a bobber or a smelt laying on the bottom.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Rock Creek (West)  Rock Creek is big, but stable and fishing well. Salmonflies are on the top end of the creek and will be flying around the rest of the week. Make sure to have salmonfly dries in patterns like rogue stones, Morrishs fluttering salmonfly, Henrys Fork salmonflies, supa gees, chubbies and sofa pillows. Down lower, goldens, green drakes and a few yellow Sallies have been spotted. Henrys Fork golden, rogue goldens, golden chubbies, extended-body green drakes, western green drakes, Galloups Butch Sally, Larimer's Sally and Carlsons Working Girl Sally are must-haves. Nymphing with big stoneflies, San Juans, jig PTs, jig princes and Perdigons will get bites if fish arent eating the dry. The river is still big so be careful out there whether youre floating or wading. Dont wade too deep, and dont float if youre not experienced on the oars.  Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop, Missoula.

Montana

Bitterroot River  The Bitterroot has dropped nicely. Its still big, but clear in the side channels, which hold a lot of fish. Dont waste your time fishing the main river as most of the fish are in the side channels. There isnt a great deal of dry fly action yet, but the nymphing gets better every day in the mid-river. The upper river above Hamilton is seeing some salmonflies, so make sure to have a bunch if youre making the drive. Throughout the rest of the river, stick to rubberlegs, double-bead stones, jig PTs, jig princes and San Juans. Streamer fishing is a good option with smaller streamers like zonkers, sparkle minnows, flash minnows and baby gongas. With the temps becoming more like summer, we should see the river stay in this shape for a bit, but its fishing.  Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop, Missoula.

Blackfoot River  After some rain Monday, the Blackfoot is on its way up. It might be a couple days before it drops but when it does, there are salmonflies and fish were looking up. When it stabilizes and starts to drop, its game on. Once the fish start keying in on the salmonflies theyll gobble them up even if the river is dirty. Be ready with dries like royal or rootbeer chubbies, Morrishs fluttering salmonfly, supa gees, cat pukes as well as nymphs like bitch creeks, zirdles, squirdles, rubberlegs and San Juans.  Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop, Missoula.

Clark Fork River, Missoula  This stretch of water is big and muddy.  Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop, Missoula.

Crow Reservoir  Trout and perch are both on the chew. The water has remained low and is warming up, making it a solid option while the streams are still raging.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Flathead Lake (North)  It is import that everyone recreating on the lake during runoff season should be aware of floating debris. Fishing-wise, people are marking plenty of fish. Getting a bite, however, is a different story. Trolling sinking Rapalas in the shallows has produced a few lake trout, bull trout and pike.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Flathead Lake (South)  This is the time of year to target a trophy lake trout. These fish are known to become more active with more water flowing into the lake. A good bet will be drifting or trolling a whole pike minnow on 10-15 pound test braid near Boettcher Bay, just before the river flows into the lake at Polson Bay.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Flathead River, above the lake  Runoff has rendered this area unfishable.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Flathead River, below Kerr Dam  See above.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Glacier National Park  Middle Two Medicine, Lake McDonald, Avalanche Lake and the Bowman Lake area are fishable. The hike-in lakes off Going-To-The-Sun-Road are not accessible due to snowpack. Middle Two Medicine and Bowman Creek are fishing very well for cutthroat, bull trout and lake trout. The first flies tied onto your leader should be black flying ants ranging in sizes 8-10. Other dependable flies during this time of year are usually egg-sucking leaches, renegades, prince nymphs, parachute Adams and grey wolfs. Add a zebra midge to your shopping list as well if you head to Middle Two Medicine. Spin fisherman can put those flies behind a casting bobber. They can also cast a spoon. Three-quarter ounce to an ounce will be needed to cast out far enough and fish the appropriate 10-12-foot depth. Visitors should make sure theyve acquired all necessary permits before attempting to enter the park. GTTSR and the Bowman area will require passes during certain times.  Arends Fly Shop, Columbia Falls.

Lake Koocanusa  Fishing remains steady on the larger models of rainbow trout ranging 1-9 pounds. The lake has also been rising 3-4 feet per day.  Koocanusa Resort and Marina, Libby.

Lake Mary Ronan  The kokanee bite slowed down for a bit but has picked up again recently. The perch fishing has completely shut off, though.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.

Nelson Reservoir  The water is low but people are catching fish. A vast majority have been walleye while pulling crawler harnesses on bottom bouncers. The occasional northern will make an appearance, but those who are targeting pike would be better suited trolling crankbaits.  Hardware Hank, Malta.

Noxon Rapids Reservoir  The fishing continues to be excellent. Anyone from pro to novice anglers has had success catching both large and smallmouth bass. Largemouth are currently spawning while the smallmouth are preparing to enter their post-spawn stage. Pike are being pulled out of weed beds, and shallow coves and creeks using smelt, large spinners and swim baits. Rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout are being caught in feeder creeks using inline spinners. Walleye are still being caught on deep-diving crankbaits, and perch are biting near shallow stumps next to banks and coves. As a good rule of thumb, most fish are moving into the shallows as spring progresses and water levels rise.  Lakeside Motel and Resort.

South Fork of the Flathead River  This water still isnt fishable.  Arends Fly Shop, Columbia Falls.

Swan Lake  Once conditions stabilize within the next 10 days or two weeks, lake trout fishing is expected to be great.  Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.
World Bank to help tackle malnutrition in Philippines

Xinhua) 17:01, June 23, 2022

MANILA, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank approved a 178.1-million-U.S. dollar loan on Thursday to support the Philippines' efforts in addressing malnutrition.

The Washington-based bank said it will support the delivery of nutrition and health care services at the primary care and community levels to help reduce stunting that is characterized by prolonged nutritional deficiency among infants and young children.

"The persistence of high levels of childhood undernutrition in the Philippines, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, could lead to a significant increase in inequality of opportunities in the country," said Ndiame Diop, the World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand.

He said improving the nutritional status of children is key to the Southeast Asian country's goals of boosting human capital while strengthening the economic recovery and prospects for long-term growth.

Globally, food prices, already on the rise since the second half of 2020, have reached a record high this year, leading to food security problems worldwide.

Unless immediate action is taken, millions of children "will face the increased risk of undernutrition," the bank warned.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
HIGHLIGHTS:

Samsung's newest camera sensor can capture the most excellent quality pictures even in low-lit areas.

With ISOCELL HP3, people could have a grip on 200-megapixel phones operated by the sensor this 2023.

Samsung claims its newest innovation has the world's tiniest pixels despite OmniVision's pixels recognition in February.

Camera Sensor, ISOCELL HP3 Allows manufacturers to Maintain Thin Smartphones

South Korean Electronics Company, Samsung, has launched its newest 200-megapixel camera sensor called ISOCELL HP3. The camera sensor that has the tiniest pixels will enable manufacturers to have their premium smartphones remain thin.

Simultaneously, the HP3 sensor possesses technology like autofocus capability in each pixel, binning for better low light ability, and multi-grain ISO for ultimate vibrant spectrum.

Back in September 2021, Samsung dropped information with regards to its 200-megapixel camera system known as the ISOCELL HP 1. The said camera system was the electronics company's first mobile image sensor that supports 200-megapixel. The ISOCELL HP1 holds an ultrahigh-resolution that gives an excellent detail to pictures that even cropped or resized images stay sharp.

According to Samsung, the ISOCELL HP1 has the capacity to capture 8K videos at 30 frames-per-second (fps) with a minimum loss in the field of view. A the same time, the ISOCELL HP1 features an all-new ChameleonCell technology for ultimate low-light photography. It also has a pixel-binning technology that uses a two-by-two, four-by-four, or complete pixel configuration depending on the setting.

Also, the ISOCELL HP1 transforms into a 12.5MP image sensor with large 2.56m pixels by merging 16 neighboring pixels in fuzzy environments.

Read Also: Samsung Settles $14m Penalty Over Tricky Galaxy Ads Suggesting Handsets Are Water-resistant

Samsung Claims ISOCELL HP3 as the First Smallest Sensor

The ISOCELL HP3 is 1/1.4-inches in dimensions which is reasonably ample for a smartphone but highly tiny for a 200-megapixel sensor. The South Korea-based electronic company has asserted that it has the tech industry's smallest pixels at 0.56 microns, 20 percent smaller than the 0.64-micron pixels of the ISOCELL HP1 launched last year.

However, the claim is not entirely valid, as on February 16 this year, the Chinese manufacturer OmniVision unveiled its 200-megapixel sensor with the same 0.56-micron pixel size. OmniVision Technologies employed proprietary technology that its company developed to implant the photodiode deeper into silicon. This technique enabled OmniVision to create the world's smallest pixel for smartphone cameras.

Nevertheless, Samsung's sensor has some superior-tech gimmicks. Each pixel has autofocus detection capability, and the "Super QPD" tech uses a single lens over four pixels, allowing quicker and more accurate autofocus.

Their ISOCELL HP3 can bin four 0.56 micron pixels into a larger 1.12 micron 50-megapixel sensor for better low light capability or even integrate 16 pixels into one 2.24 microns in size. It is yet considerably smaller than most camera sensor pixels like Sony's 61-megapixel full-frame A7R IV sensor has 3.76-micron pixels which qualify for decent low-light capturing power.

Additionally, it allows 8K video at 30fps and 4K at 120fps while using nearly the whole sensor width. It also presents a 14-bit color depth (4 trillion colors), quadrupling the 12-bit depth of most smartphone sensors. Samsung's public production is established this. Therefore, the public will presumably witness 200-megapixel phones operated by the sensor next year, 2023.

Related Article: Upcoming Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Leaks Give Closer, In-Depth Look
According to the memo sent to employees by top prison officials, shifts will run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. During the first week, correctional officers are expected to work three 12-hour days and will get four days off. During the second week, they are expected to work three, 12-hour days, one, eight-hour day and will get three days off. And all correctional officers working 12-hour shifts will be compensated for four hours of overtime pay for each 12-hour shift.

Rep. Greg Frazer, R-Deer Lodge, who works as a correctional officer at the prison, was on break at the prison during an overtime shift when reached by phone Tuesday night. It sucks, he said.

He said the new policy will further exacerbate the low morale at the prison, leading to more staff leaving. As for himself, he said its up in the air as to whether he quits if the policy goes into effect on July 16.

In my opinion, with them forcing people to go to twelves, its not going to help the situation at all. There are some people that, you know, like the idea of working twelves, but theres a lot of people that dont, and its a change in their working conditions that management didnt bargain for, he said.
A call has gone out for a farmer to come forward to help steer the direction of one of the UKs leading land-based educational charity.

The Ernest Cook Trust, which owns estates across the UK, has a vacancy for a trustee and specifically wants a farmer to fill the role, which is a paid position.

The new trustee  who can be a tenant farmer or farm owner - will bring first-hand experience of farming, helping the charity address the ongoing challenges of agriculture, diversification and conservation.

Based in Gloucestershire, the Ernest Cook Trust is one of the UKs foremost funders and providers of outdoor learning.

It runs outdoor learning opportunities for children, young people, their families and communities on its own land as well as with partner estates.

Every year, it also gives out thousands of pounds in grants, to further outdoor learning.

Its Chairman of Trustees, Andrew Christie-Miller said: We are looking to recruit a new Farmer Trustee to join our board in furthering our sole charitable object of education.

"The successful applicant will embody the Trusts values, bringing first hand relevant experience to our dynamic team, helping address the ongoing challenges of farming, diversification and conservation.

The board is currently made up of six trustees, who bring to the role a range of professional skills and experience of investment, estate and land management, education and learning.

The successful applicant will sit on the main Trustee Board, which normally meets four times per year.

They will also be required to join the Estates Committee, dealing with the agricultural portfolio and overseeing the wider range of property issues, including forestry, residential and commercial properties, and developments.

Farmers can apply on the Trust's website, and the closing date for applications is Sunday 31 July.
The Australia trade deal risks setting a precedent for talks with other large agricultural powerhouses, peers warn in a new report looking at the impact of FTAs on the UK economy.

The government should "take full account" of the potential cumulative effects of post-Brexit free trade agreements on British farming, the report, released today (23 June), says.

Concerns were heard from farming groups as part of the House of Lords International Agreements Committee inquiry, which had a particular focus on the impact of the UK-Australia trade deal.

This agreement provides an insight into the governments vision for post-Brexit trade, as it was the first negotiated since the UK left the EU.

Overall, the committee welcomed the FTA, particularly for the provisions facilitating services trade, including those in relation to legal and financial services, mobility and digital trade.

However, peers identified "some risks flowing from the agreement that will need to be carefully monitored", notable in relation to the farming industry.

The agreement "substantially liberalises" access to the UK market for Australian agricultural products, with farming groups raising significant concerns to the committee on this issue.

Despite government assurances that certain sectors would be afforded some level of protection, there will be full liberalisation of dairy after six years, sugar after eight years and beef and lamb after 15 years.

There will also be no safeguards available for any products if imports reach damaging levels after that 15 years is up.

The report says it remains to be seen whether the safeguards in the FTA are "'robust enough to ensure fair competition and effectively respond to potential surges in Australian agricultural imports".

While the committee concludes that import volumes would likely be tempered by geographical distance and Australias focus on Asia as its main market, it also emphasises that the unconditional approach to removing tariffs could set a precedent for future negotiations.

The report concludes that the government should be wary of the effects of this agreement and other FTAs on UK agriculture, with impact assessments providing more detailed information on the impacts on the devolved administrations.

Peers also highlighted a "lack of ambition" for the environment, and, further to the election of a new government in Australia, has urged the government to review commitments made as soon as possible.

Baroness Hayter, chair of the committee, warned that the UK-Australia deal could set a precedent for negotiations with other countries, particularly with large agricultural producers.

The UK-Australia free trade agreement underlines the need for the government to publish a comprehensive trade policy, before it signs any other major trade agreement.

"There are risks which cant be quantified now and will need to be monitored on implementation. For example, the impact on UK agriculture and on the devolved nations."

She added: Given that we gave Australia generous agricultural market access, it is regrettable that the government did not press Australia for more ambitious commitments on climate change nor include any references to reducing Australias reliance on coal."

The report is expected to be debated in the House of Lords in July.
A group of nine Scottish seed potato growers have formed a new organisation to support the sector as it remains locked out of the EU market.

The new Seed Potato Organisation (SPO), which has been set up as a co-operative, will be "run by seed growers for the benefit of seed growers."

Before the UK left the EU, Scotland exported around 20,000 tonnes of seed potatoes, worth almost 11 million, to Europe each year.

More than 75 percent of Britain's seed potato exports comes from Scotland.

However, the Trade and Co-operation Agreement with Europe, announced at the end of 2020 as part of Brexit, failed to agree equivalence on seed potatoes.

The UK and the EU remain at loggerheads on this matter, and it is Scottish growers who are paying the price for an issue that is becoming increasingly political.

Mike Wilson, a grower from Aberdeenshire who helped form the new group, said: After AHDB, we realised we need an organisation run by seed growers for the benefit of seed growers, to provide directly relevant, value for money activities.

Peter Shiells, a grower from the Borders, added: Weve a good idea of how we want this organisation to run and what we want it to do. We need find out if other growers agree, and if theyre keen to sign up."

SPO has launched with details of the growers on the steering committee, an overview of the organisation, and a prospectus.

And to find out what growers think, the organisation has put together a survey.

Calum McIver, a grower from the Black Isle, wants as many growers as possible to complete it: We need folk to fill out this survey. We need to find out how many people are likely to join, and what their priorities are.

"We dont want to go full steam ahead and set up a new organisation without listening to the growers first.

Jim Cargill, a grower from Aberdeenshire wants others to get involved: Now is the time for seed potato growers to set the agenda: join SPO and help it shape the development of the seed potato sector.
Researchers are asking farmers and growers with a wireworm problem to get in touch to help them develop new control methods.

Wireworms, or click beetle larvae, are a major pest of cereals and root vegetables in the UK.

Seed treatments and other contact insecticides are traditionally used to protect crops from feeding damage.

However, these pesticides are being phased out in Europe, and it is doubtful if a new soil insecticide could ever become available for wireworm management.

In response to this, scientists at Rothamsted Research are investigating alternative methods of control.

The main aim of its project is to develop wireworm management strategies based on attractive soil traps.

Blends of these attractant chemicals, applied as slow-release formulations for example, will help create pest monitoring and management systems for wireworms, circumventing the issues connected with insecticides.

Dr Jozsef Vuts, from Rothamsted explained: Plants are constantly releasing chemicals into the air or the soil, and pest species have evolved to tune into these as a way of finding food.

"We can use that to our advantage by creating traps that lure the wireworms by emitting these very same smells.

These traps and non-toxic and provide an environmentally benign alternative for soil pest management."

Wireworms became a problem after WWI, as large areas of grassland were being dug up for potatoes.

But back then the limited pest control options available to farmers included using arsenic or cyanide.

Science has moved on since then and, as Dr Gareth Thomas says, these 21st Century approaches will significantly impact UK and international plant and insect science by providing a better understanding of below ground chemical ecology.

He said: It will also create a model for controlling soil pests in general towards other more sustainable solutions - such as breeding of crop plants with chemical traits that either dont attract, or even repel, pests.

Any farmers or growers who notice wireworm damage on their land and want to help the project are asked to email Gareth Thomas (gareth.thomas@rothamsted.ac.uk) or Jozsef Vuts (jozsef.vuts@rothamsted.ac.uk).
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Actress Kang Han-na played the role of Yoo Jeong in the period romance, "Bloody Heart." Courtesy of KEYEAST





By Lee Gyu-lee







Actress Kang Han-na expressed that working on her latest series, period romance, "Bloody Heart," gave her a valuable experience.







"I'm very grateful for this series, as I felt I've grown a lot after meeting my character, Yoo Jeong, and it gave me valuable experience. I feel this role helped me show my different sides in terms of acting so this piece will be remembered as a very meaningful and valuable work to me," the actor said in a release, according to her agency, KeyEast, Wednesday.







The 16-part romance series follows the love story between King Lee Tae (Lee Joon) and the daughter of a noble family, Yoo Jeong (Kang).







Caught up in an intense fight for power, Lee Tae was forced to give up his love, Yoo Jeong, to pursue his goal of taking full control as a king without powerful high-ranking government official Park Gye-won (Jang Hyuk). Meanwhile, Yoo Jeong, who became a concubine to the king, tries to become the queen to save her own life.







Amid the veiled feud, the two lovers become political enemies.







The series was led by director Yoo Young-eun, whose previous work is the 2020 melodrama series, "How to Buy a Friend," and is written by scriptwriter Park Pil-joo, who scripted the 2018 drama, "Marry Me Now."







The series on Tuesday with its highest viewership rating of 8.9 percent.







Scenes from the series, "Bloody Heart" / Courtesy of KBS





Kang's character Yoo Jung, who is intelligent and warmhearted, used to run a business to help the poor. She is the daughter of a noble family and joins the royal palace to exonerate her late father's accusation of poisoning Lee Tae's mother.







The actress said she tried to set different tones in different parts of the series to show changes in the character.







"Before she comes to live in the palace, I tried to use a more comfortable tone and dialect, giving more ranges in pitch. And after she came to the palace, I used a more reserved, determined tone to portray her tenacity not to get swept up by her surroundings," she said. "But at the same time, I tried to keep the sense of the warm tone of Yoo Jeong's personality in taking care of the people around her."







Kang added that portraying the multi-layered relationship between the king and her character was difficult as the two lovers are caught up in complex situations.







"We worked together on the scenes that were the hardest in terms of emotions. So we each had our own struggles with our characters. And we were able to accomplish those scenes as we went through that difficulty together," she said. "Of all the scenes, there was no single scene that was easy for us. And because we kept ourselves on our toes, we were able to maintain the tension between the characters throughout the whole series."


Tie against Portugal and Czech Republic. The Spain of Luis Enrique has not achieved despegar in this start of the UEFA Nations League and will have to react prompt to avoid remain out of the 'final four'. The Czech Republic knew 'hold' to the Spaniards and denied him the victory to the Spaniards. Gavi And Inigo Martinez dressed of goleadores for 'save' to a Spain that follows 'KO'.

The bad news for the Spanish selection arrived very soon, with a goal of Pesek to the three minutes of party Pesek advanced to the Czechs after receiving a pass to the space and drive to pleasure by the right band to beat to pleasure to Unai Simon. The Spanish defence was very advanced and the venues took advantage of, although the so much was reviewed by the VAR by a possible offside.

Spain tightened and looked for empatar the marker, directed by a Gavi that, in spite of his youth, wants to be a key player for the seleccion. The midfield player of the FC Barcelona went back to show dynamic and participatory in each offensive action of his and this time dared to kick to turn into the goleador younger of the history of 'The Red', surpassing to Ansu Fati. In the discount of the first part, received a balloon of Rodri and took advantage of to shoot with thread to the long stick of Vaclik.

Eric Garcia, signalled once again

The just tie before the rest encouraged to a Spain that began to feel much more comfortable after the resumption and that tested a few times to the guardameta rival, but without luck in the last metres. Dani Elm was one of the first in testing with a shot with thread that left without finding goal and insisted after a centre of Ferran Torres, but his finish bumped with a Czech defender.

Marco Asensio had the 1-2 in his just boots after ingresar to the field after a pass of Alvaro Morata. The player of the Real Madrid took out a latigazo after stepping the area and hit in the long stick. The superiority of the ones of Luis Enrique was absolute, but in his best moment an error garrafal of the defence finish with the advantage for the venues. They initiated a contragolpe lethal and, in front of the absence of Eric Garcia, Kuchta planted only in front of Unai Simon to command a vaselina. When the defeat seemed 'sung', Asensio centred and Inigo Martinez empato 'in extremis'.

'The Red' needs to react

The tie in front of the Czech Republic leaves to Spain in a very delicate situation and with a lot of work by in front. They have finish the day in the third position of the classification of the group 2 of the League To, by behind Portugal (4), that goleo this Sunday to Switzerland with doublet of Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Czechs (4). 'The Red' will confront the Thursday to Switzerland (20:45 h) to look for before it finalise this date FIFA.

Like this it is the group of Spain
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By Anna J. Park







Deloitte Korea has officially signed earlier this week to acquire PRGATE, a local communications and consulting company with an expertise in setting up brand strategies. The move aims at strengthening its consulting and marketing capabilities so as to accelerate innovative growth potential.







PRGATE was established in 1999 by founder and CEO Kang Yun-jeong, and has been offering services to over 500 local and global companies, ranging from brand strategy, risk management and media advocacy to digital publicity. Around 60 staff members and management of the company, including Kang, will officially join Deloitte in July.







With the acquisition, Deloitte Korea aims to offer more integrated services to clients, strengthening its communication capabilities with effective campaign tools and image consulting strategies.







"Starting from the acquisition, Deloitte Korea aims to accelerate its innovative growth through aggressive management," Deloitte Korea CEO and Country Managing Partner Hong Jong-sung said. "The company plans to provide differentiated client-tailored services, reflecting the latest global trends in diverse areas of marketing, advertising and communications."







Kang also vowed to support Deloitte Korea's development into a global brand communications company.







"The main reason to join Deloitte, the world's largest professional service firm, is for the company's quantum leap," she said, adding that she would fully support Deloitte Korea's new business opportunities in corporate branding.


Novartis endorses the Kigali Declaration on neglected tropical diseases, pledging USD 250 million to advance R&D of new treatments against NTDs and malaria over five years



Commitment includes USD 100 million to advance R&D for Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, dengue and cryptosporidiosis, and USD 150 million for next-generation antimalarials and a new formulation for babies under 5kg with malaria



Around the world, 1.7 billion people suffer from NTDs1, and there are 241 million cases of malaria2

Basel, June 23, 2022 - Novartis endorses the Kigali Declaration on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and announces a five-year financial commitment of USD 250 million to the fight against NTDs and malaria in conjunction with the Kigali Summit on Malaria and NTDs alongside the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting. This summit comes at a pivotal time for world leaders to reaffirm commitments to end neglected tropical diseases and malaria through the adoption of the Kigali Declaration. The declaration aims to mobilize political will and secure commitments to achieve the SDG3 target on NTDs and to deliver the targets set out in the World Health Organization's Neglected Tropical Disease Roadmap (2021-2030).

"Over the past decade, great progress has been made against NTDs, but there is still a lot more work to be done. Novartis will continue progressing our longstanding commitment to helping realize a world free of NTDs," said Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis. "Today, by endorsing the Kigali Declaration and pledging to invest USD 250 million, we aim to accelerate progress toward elimination of these diseases, which continue to cause suffering and stigma for millions of people around the globe."

Novartis was among the original endorsers of the London Declaration on NTDs in 2012, committing to a multidrug therapy (MDT) donation to support global efforts to eliminate leprosy. This was followed with a commitment of USD 100 million toward the fight against malaria at the Malaria Summit in London in 2018. By endorsing the Kigali Declaration today, Novartis reaffirms its commitment to the fight against NTDs and malaria.

As part of the commitment over five years (2021-2025), Novartis will invest USD 250 million to advance research and development (R&D) of new treatments to combat NTDs and malaria.

This includes USD 100 million to advance R&D of its neglected tropical disease program, focusing on novel drug candidates for four diseases. In collaboration with Wellcome, the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD) is working to discover novel, curative anti-parasitic therapies for Chagas disease. Further, we are collaborating with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), with earlier support from Wellcome, to jointly develop LXE408 for the treatment of visceralleishmaniasis, and are currently entering Phase II clinical development. We also made progress on a potential first-in-class compound to treat dengue fever, which is currently in Phase I clinical trial. Although this is the most common vector-borne viral disease in the world, there is currently no specific treatment for dengue. Cryptosporidium infection is the most prevalent form of parasitic diarrhea, a major cause of mortality among young children in developing countries. The NITD has discovered a promising drug candidate, EDI048, currently in Phase I clinical development.

With regards to malaria, Novartis commits to investing USD 150 million to advance the clinical development programs of its three novel drug candidates to combat the emerging resistance to artemisinin. The company will also continue with activities to support the development of an optimized formulation for neonates and infants under 5kg, for whom no treatment currently exists.

Around the world, 1.7 billion people suffer from NTDs, which are prevalent in tropical areas and mostly affect impoverished communities, causing devastating health, social and economic consequences. The NITD was established in 2001 within the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) to apply modern drug discovery technologies to finding new therapeutics for NTDs and malaria.

Novartis has been committed to the fight against malaria for more than 20 years and to date, working with partners, the company has delivered more than 1 billion treatments, including more than 450 million pediatric treatments, without profit to malaria-endemic countries. According to the 2021 World Malaria Report, there were 241 million cases of malaria and 627,000 malaria deaths in 2020. Children under 5 are particularly at risk, and malaria takes the life of a child every minute in Africa.

For more information on our work in NTDs: Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases | Novartis (https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-locations/novartis-institute-tropical-diseases)

For more information on our work in malaria: www.malaria.novartis.com (http://www.malaria.novartis.com)

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "can," "will," "plan," "may," "could," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "seek," "look forward," "believe," "committed," "investigational," "pipeline," "launch," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for the investigational or approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political, economic and business conditions, including the effects of and efforts to mitigate pandemic diseases such as COVID-19; safety, quality, data integrity or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Novartis

Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world's top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach nearly 800 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 108,000 people of more than 140 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Find out more at https://www.novartis.com (https://www.novartis.com).

Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at https://twitter.com/novartisnews (https://twitter.com/novartisnews)

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For questions about the site or required registration, please contact media.relations@novartis.com (mailto:media.relations@novartis.com)

References

https://unitingtocombatntds.org/ntds/ (https://unitingtocombatntds.org/ntds/) https://www.who.int/teams/global-malaria-programme/reports/world-malaria-report-2021 (https://www.who.int/teams/global-malaria-programme/reports/world-malaria-report-2021)

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Novartis Media Relations

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Neil Henderson

Novartis External Communications

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neil.henderson_ext@novartis.com (mailto:neil.henderson_ext@novartis.com)







Julie Masow

Novartis US External Communications

+1 862 579 8456

julie.masow@novartis.com (mailto:julie.masow@novartis.com )



(mailto:julie.masow@novartis.com) Arzum Ustun

Novartis Global Health Communications

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Paul Barasa

Novartis Sub-Saharan Africa Communications

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Novartis Investor Relations

Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944

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MONTREAL, June 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bombardier is pleased to announce that IAMAW Local 712 members, working in Dorval and Saint-Laurent, Quebec, have voted in favor of ratifying a new 5-year collective bargaining agreement.



The company is pleased with the results of the vote and is committed to working closely with IAMAW Local 712 member employees and their union leadership to maintain its position as an industry leader.

The ratification of the new collective agreement demonstrates a mutual engagement toward a successful future for both Bombardier's employees as well as the sites in the Montreal area where IAMAW Local 712 member employees work. Bombardier firmly believes that the success of the company resides in the quality of its products as well as in its experienced and engaged employees.

About Bombardier

Bombardier is a global leader in aviation, focused on designing, manufacturing, and servicing the world's most exceptional business jets. Bombardier's Challenger and Global aircraft families are renowned for their cutting-edge innovation, cabin design, performance, and reliability. Bombardier has a worldwide fleet of approximately 5,000 aircraft in service with a wide variety of multinational corporations, charter and fractional ownership providers, governments, and private individuals. Bombardier aircraft are also trusted around the world in special-mission roles.

Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Bombardier operates aerostructure, assembly and completion facilities in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The company's robust customer support network includes facilities in strategic locations in the United States and Canada, as well as in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, the UAE, Singapore, China, and an Australian facility opening in 2022.

For corporate news and information, including Bombardier's Environmental, Social and Governance report, visit bombardier.com. Learn more about Bombardier's industry-leading products and customer service network at businessaircraft.bombardier.com. Follow us on Twitter @Bombardier.

Bombardier, Challenger and Global are registered trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.

For Information




CHICAGO, IL, June 23, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - Novotech, the leading Asia Pacific biotech specialist CRO which has recently expanded its services to the US, was awarded a prestigious Clinical Leader and Life Science Leader CRO Leadership Award for exceeding customer expectations, at Drug Information Association 2022 (DIA 2022).Novotech CEO Dr. John Moller said the company was extremely pleased to receive this award for the second consecutive year. "Receiving this recognition from our clients is incredibly important to us and is an endorsement of our service delivery model that is tailored to the needs of biotech clients. Our local teams have exceptional site and investigator access, our project management approach emphasises problem solving, ownership and flexibility, and our investments in data and technology ensure clients have real time access to trial performance."Book a meeting with one of the Novotech experts at DIA here. https://novotech-cro.com/contactClinical Leader and Life Science Leader working with Industry Standard Research (ISR), selected Novotech for the CRO Leadership Award.According to the CRO Leadership Award research team: "The awards are based on customer feedback. Winning CROs are chosen through impartial market research based on feedback from sponsor companies that utilize outsourcing services. Primary market research by ISR Reports is the basis of the awards. Sponsors provide ratings of CROs based on recent outsourced projects. This experiential feedback is analyzed by sponsor company size to reveal leading CROs in different performance categories."Ed Miseta, Chief Editor for Clinical Leader said: "Selecting the right CRO can make or break your project. It can lead to a successful regulatory submission and approval or cost you a lot of time and effort on a failed study. That makes CRO selection a stressful decision for any clinical operations manager. Regardless of whether you are concerned about compatibility, capabilities, expertise, quality, or reliability. We believe our CRO Leadership Awards will help managers with their search process and hopefully help to connect them with the right contract partner. We are grateful to our colleagues at ISR Reports for conducting the research necessary to produce these awards. These award winners have proven themselves to be the top service providers in each category. I congratulate all of them for the work ethic they exhibit in consistently meeting the needs of their drug development clients."Kevin Olson, CEO of Industry Standard Research said: "Industry Standard Research (IRS) continues to consider it an honor to provide the primary market research data for Life Science Leader and Clinical Leader's CRO Leadership Awards. ISR's stringent screening process ensures that only highly qualified industry decision-makers participate in our CRO benchmarking market research. This is paramount as we ask the research participants to provide experiential, not perceptual, feedback on their involvement with contract suppliers over the past 18 months. The data enable users of ISR's market research to make confident business decisions based on the experiences of their industry peers."Novotech, which has a reputation for delivering full-service, high-quality expedited clinical trials in Asia-Pacific, can now offer its biotech clients clinical services in the US to support later phase global studies. Novotech now has a workforce of ~2,500 clinical trial professionals across Australia, South Korea, Greater China, Southeast Asia, India, South Africa and the US.Novotech CEO Dr. John Moller said Novotech's Asia-Pacific and US teams support cost effective expedited clinical research with world-class data, and the most advanced technology including solutions that enable acceleration of clinical trials across the regions. "The focus on Asia-Pacific for biotech clinical research over the past five years makes the region the fastest growing clinical trial destination with China being the leading location for new trials followed by the US. Asia-Pacific offers a compelling solution for expedited clinical trials especially in oncology with its vast patient populations, less competitive clinical trial landscape, and world-class KOLs, in addition regulatory reforms, such as those in China, have accelerated approval processes. The expansion into the US was a strategic move to provide US-based expertise and infrastructure for our US clients wanting trials in APAC and the US, and for our APAC clients wanting US clinical programs."About Novotech Health Holdings Pte Ltd ("Novotech")Novotech is the leading Asia-Pacific and US biotech specialist CRO. Novotech has integrated labs and phase I facilities and provides drug development consulting and clinical development services across all phases. It has been instrumental in the success of approximately 4,000 clinical trials across a broad range of therapeutic areas. Novotech is well-positioned to serve biopharma clients conducting clinical trials in Asia-Pacific and the US. For more information visit https://novotech-cro.com/contactMedia ContactDavid JamesE: communications@novotech-cro.comAU: +61 2 8218 2144USA: +1 415 951 3228Asia: +65 3159 3427Source: Novotech Health Holdings Pte LtdCopyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
The award ceremony took place in Saudi Arabia in the presence of over 300 leading specialists across industries

Dubai, United Arab Emirates--(Newsfile Corp. - June 22, 2022) - Ennoventure, the world's first device and process agnostic solution to authenticate brands, has recently been awarded for the most secure anti-counterfeit technology 2022 at the EMEA Security Conference and Exhibition, held in Saudi Arabia. This was a global conference designed with the vision of delivering a future free of illicit trade and counterfeiting.

Padmakumar Nair, Founder and CEO of Ennoventure Inc, said, "We are highly obliged to have been recognised as the most secure anti-counterfeit technology which has been our key focus. What we always knew has finally been awarded as 'the most secure' - our AI/ML based 3 factor authentication technology. We have successfully built trust and transparency amongst our associated brands that have used our technology to fight against counterfeits across the globe.Our bigger goal is to create a fake-free community and help brands in ensuring their reputation."

The award ceremony was hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the theme 'High Security Printing, Anti-counterfeiting and Brand Protection.' The event brought together an international audience of over 300 leading specialists discussing latest trends, developments, threats and solutions relating to illicit trade and counterfeiting across industries. The occasion was graced by Mr. Abdulaziz Al Rabiah, Head of IP Respect Enablement, Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property.

About Ennoventure Inc

Ennoventure Inc, based out of the United States and India, is a unique SAAS platform for brand authentication and engagement across diverse industry sectors. The company was founded by Shalini Nair and Padmakumar Nair in August 2018, with the goal of developing innovative solutions to solve counterfeiting and quality management challenges faced by modern day businesses. The company uses AI, Cryptography, Blockchain and embedded solutions in their product offerings.

Ennoventure Inc is headquartered in Massachusetts, USA and has its R&D centre in Bengaluru, India. In April 2018, the company had raised USD 1 million in a seed fund round and has recently raised 5 million USD in their series A funding from Fenice Investment Group, USA.

Ennoventure's key markets are South Asia, India and Africa, with further plans to expand to the European and US markets with its universally applicable solutions.

For further queries, please contact:

Media Contact:

info@ennoventure.com

https://ennoventure.com

PR Contact:

ZEXPRWIRE

https://zexprwire.com/

info@zexprwire.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/128637












TOKYO, June 23, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & CEO: Koichiro Tanaka), which operates the TANAKA Precious Metals manufacturing business, announced today that TANAKA has established a two-stage film deposition process using the liquid ruthenium (Ru) precursor "TRuST." TRuST is a precursor that has excellent reactivity with both oxygen and hydrogen and can form high-quality ruthenium films. This process is a two-stage atomic layer deposition (ALD) process that uses hydrogen film formation to create a thin anti-oxidation film and oxygen for the deposition of a high-quality ruthenium film. It eradicates concerns that the substrate will become oxidized and, at the same time, can prevent the drop in ruthenium purity that occurs during hydrogen film deposition.The film deposition process was proposed by Professor Soo-Hyun Kim from the School of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Yeungnam University in South Korea. The development and evaluation of the film deposition process were jointly conducted by Professor Kim and TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo.This technology is expected to achieve greater miniaturization and improved durability of semiconductors. It can therefore be expected to be used in data centers and smartphones - which require even greater data processing capabilities - and contribute toward advanced technologies such as IoT and autonomous driving, which require sophisticated technological innovations.Two-Stage Film Deposition Process Using Oxygen And HydrogenTANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo is developing high-purity precious metal precursors?centered on ruthenium?for next-generation semiconductors. So far, single-stage film deposition using oxygen has been the mainstream process for film deposition. However, the company has now succeeded in a two-stage film deposition process using oxygen and hydrogen.This two-stage film deposition process reduces the risk of surface oxidation of the base caused by hydrogen film deposition and allows high-purity film deposition that maintains ruthenium purity at almost 100% using oxygen film deposition. Furthermore, by forming the base first using hydrogen film deposition, the ruthenium film on top of the base created using oxygen film deposition will be smooth and dense, achieving a lower resistance than before.Generally, specific resistivity increases when film thickness decreases, which is an issue in film deposition of semiconductors. With this new process, it was confirmed that an even lower resistance results from a two-stage film deposition that uses hydrogen in addition to oxygen film deposition, especially in the range of 10 nm and below. As semiconductors become even smaller in scale in the future, demand for thinner film deposition with low resistance is also expected for ruthenium films, and a two-stage film deposition allows this issue to be resolved. In addition, the new low-resistance, high-purity ruthenium film created by the two-stage film deposition can be achieved using the same raw materials and film deposition temperature for both stages. Therefore, film deposition is possible using the same film deposition equipment, allowing capital investment costs to be suppressed. Details will be announced at the AA2-TuA: ALD for BEOL session of the ALD 2022 conference being held in Ghent, Belgium, on June 28, 2022.TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo's Liquid Ruthenium Precursor "TRuST"In the past, the most common thin film and wiring materials used for semiconductors were copper, tungsten, and cobalt, but there are increasing expectations for the precious metal ruthenium to promote greater miniaturization of semiconductors because of its lower resistance and higher durability. Therefore, TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo developed TRuST - a liquid ruthenium precursor for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and ALD that achieved the world's highest vapor pressure value - and started providing samples in 2020.By increasing to the world's highest vapor pressure value, which is more than 100 times higher than existing precursors, this precursor raises the concentration of precursor in the film deposition chamber and the adsorption density of precursor molecules on the substrate surface, achieving excellent step coverage and improved film deposition speed.State of the Semiconductor Industry and BackgroundThe progress of advanced technologies such as IoT, AI, 5G, and the metaverse has led to rapidly increasing volumes of digital data used by digital devices such as smartphones. Therefore, in the development of semiconductors, the need for even greater miniaturization is increasing to enable the creation of devices with higher performance and lower energy consumption. In the aspect of durability, degradation due to base oxidation is also a major issue in semiconductor development. Furthermore, the development of electric vehicles and self-driving cars requires similar needs for the miniaturization of automotive semiconductors along with further improvement in durability.In the semiconductor industry, which will require greater miniaturization and improved durability in the future, TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo seeks to further reduce costs and achieve higher quality by improving the film deposition speed of liquid ruthenium precursors. At the same time, the company will contribute to greater miniaturization and improved durability of semiconductors to support the development of new advanced technologies enabled by semiconductors.Press release in PDF: https://www.acnnewswire.com/docs/files/202206_EN.pdfAbout TANAKA Precious MetalsSince its foundation in 1885, TANAKA Precious Metals has built a portfolio of products to support a diversified range of business uses focused on precious metals. TANAKA is a leader in Japan regarding the volumes of precious metals handled. Over the course of many years, TANAKA has not only manufactured and sold precious metal products for industry but also provided precious metals in such forms as jewelry and assets. As precious metals specialists, all Group companies in Japan and around the world collaborate and cooperate on manufacturing, sales, and technology development to offer a range of products and services. With 5,193 employees, the group's consolidated net sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021, was 1,425.6 billion yen.Global industrial business websitehttps://tanaka-preciousmetals.comProduct inquiriesTANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.https://tanaka-preciousmetals.com/en/inquiries-on-industrial-products/Press inquiriesTANAKA Holdings Co., Ltd.https://tanaka-preciousmetals.com/en/inquiries-for-media/Source: Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd.Copyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 22, 2022) - Hello Pal International Inc. (CSE: HP) (FSE: 27H) (OTC: HLLPF) ("Hello Pal" or the "Company") announces that it has made an application to the British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario Securities Commission to approve a temporary management case trade order ("MCTO") under National Policy 12-203 Cease Trade Orders for Continuous Disclosure Defaults ("NP 12-203"), which, if granted, will prohibit trading securities by the Company by the Chief Executive Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer of the Corporation until such time as the Required Filings (defined below) and all continuous disclosure requirements have been filed by the Company, and the MCTO has been lifted. During the period in which the MCTO is effective, the general public, who are not insiders of the Company, will continue to be able to trade in the Company's listed securities. The MCTO application has been made but there is not guarantee or assurance that the MCTO will be granted.

The Company expects that it will be unable to file its audited financial statements for the financial year ended February 28, 2022, and the related management's discussion and analysis and Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer certificates for this period (collectively, the "Required Filings") before June 28, 2022, the filing deadline (the "Filing Deadline").

The Company's failure to file its Required Filings by the Filing Deadline is due to additional time required to audit the numerous transactions carried out by the Company and its subsidiaries, during the financial year ended February 28, 2022.

The Company anticipates that it will be in a position to remedy the default by filing the Required Filings on or about August 15, 2022. The MCTO will be in effect until the Required Filings are filed.

During this MCTO, all management, officers and directors of the Company will be prohibited from trading in the Company's securities pursuant to the Company's black-out procedures.

The Company intends to satisfy the provision of the alternative information guidelines set out in sections 9 and 10 of NP 12-203 as long as the Required Filings are outstanding.

------

To download Hello Pal, Language Pal, Travel Pal or the proprietary Phrasebooks please visit the IOS or Android store. For information with respect to the Company or the contents of this news release, please contact the Company, KL Wong, CEO, at (604) 683-0911 or visit the website at hellopal.com. Email inquiries can be directed to: investors@hellopal.com.

About the Hello Pal Platform

The Hello Pal Platform is a proprietary suite of mobile applications built on a user-friendly messaging interface that focus on social interaction, language learning and travel. Hello Pal, has been designed from the ground up to be easy to use and enables users' the freedom to speak in their own language regardless of the other person's language they are speaking to. Hello Pal's overriding mission is to bring the world closer together through social interaction, language learning and travel. By creating a platform where it is easy to instantly interact with others around the world and giving them the tools to communicate with each other in a joyful and fun way, we hope to do our part (however small) in fostering understanding and tolerance between all citizens of the world.

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. Hello Pal cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Hello Pal's control. Such risks and uncertainties are described in Hello Pal's annual and interim financial statements available on www.sedar.com. Although Hello Pal is currently generating revenues, Hello Pal remains in the growth stage and such revenues are yet to be profitable. Accordingly, actual, and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Hello Pal undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

THE CSE HAS NEITHER APPROVED NOR DISAPPROVED THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/128686
Synerise, a company operating in the BigData/AI sector, has been ranked highest among Polish companies in the technology sector in the "FT1000 Europe's Fastest Growing Companies 2022" ranking

SAN FRANCISCO, June 22, 2022, a company operating in the BigData/AI sector, has been ranked highest among Polish companies in the technology sector in the "FT1000 Europe's Fastest Growing Companies 2022" ranking.

FT1000 is a joint initiative of the Financial Times and Statista.com and involves an in-depth analysis of tens of thousands of European companies, resulting in the identification of the 1,000 fastest growing organizations out of millions of European businesses. Polish company Synerise has achieved an outstanding result, ranking 70th in the overall ranking of the fastest-growing companies in Europe, at the same time taking 1st place in Poland and a high 17th place in the technology sector in Europe, being also in the top three of all companies in the ranking in the field of artificial intelligence and big data.

"We are very pleased that along with our achievements in the field of artificial intelligence, where Synerise's technologies are recognized globally as state-of-the-art, the business result also follows. In the last year we have achieved outstanding results when it comes to the advancement of our technology solutions, successfully competing on the international stage with brands such as DeepMind, Nvidia, Stanford, PARC, Baidu or Intel, winning or being on the podium of international artificial intelligence competitions such as KDD Cup, Rakuten Data Challenge or RecSys Challenge organized by Twitter in the last year." - says Jaroslaw Krolewski, CEO of Synerise.

Synerise provides a big data platform where customers can store heterogeneous data on a massive scale, leverage its processing in real-time through a proprietary database engine created by Synerise engineers. The entire operation is supported by state-of-the-art AI models along with the automation of business solutions.

"The result achieved by our company in the Financial Times ranking, pleases us immensely, because it is the result of an uncompromising belief in meritocracy, product quality, selling solutions not based on customer ignorance or pretty presentations, but real, best-in-class solutions in areas such as artificial intelligence, big data or automation. The worldwide partner ecosystem that is responsible for deploying and selling the platform continues to grow. At the end of the year 2022, we are going to reach the 10 million USD ARR of our platform, and we count on stable growth in the future." - says Eugeniusz Licznarowski - Partner and Chief Business Development Officer at Synerise.

Synerise is currently one of the most innovative European companies that operate in high technology sectors such as big data and artificial intelligence - which are also some of the fastest-growing market segments in the world. The company successfully competes with the largest artificial intelligence technology companies in the world, which have multi-billion dollar budgets. The team's scientific, research and commercial work is recognized by personalities of the high-tech scene worldwide and in national and global competitions.

About Synerise

Founded in 2013, Synerise is a B2B SaaS platform allowing its clients to store and process all their heterogeneous data and automate the data-related processes with the support of a world-class AI and a no-code/low-code interface. Synerise supports its corporate clients in e-commerce, retail, telecom, financial services, and automotive industries across 30 EMEA markets in collecting & analyzing data about customers, users, objects, their behavioral & environmental context, delivering actionable analytics and insights, and deployment of data-based decisions into live use-cases. Synerise's 150+ strong team operates out of offices in Warsaw, Krakow.

Contact: office@synerise.com

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Synerise 17th fastest-growing technology company in Europe according to Financial Times report









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Sohn Sung-hyun's 2005 photo of Po Kim, a Korean-American visual artist / Courtesy of Sohn Sung-hyun



Online exhibition focuses on lives of marginalized ethnic Koreans



By Park Han-sol



A gray-haired man donning a striped T-shirt, with a pet parrot named Charlie on his knee, gazes at a corner of his studio in downtown New York one afternoon in 2005.



Korean-American visual artist Kim Po-hyun (1917-2014), better known as Po Kim, went to study art in Japan during the 1910-1945 Japanese colonial rule of Korea to pursue his passion for painting, which began at an early age. Upon his return after the nation's liberation, he established the department of fine arts at Chosun University in Gwangju.



But a series of political upheavals following the country's newly gained freedom were what upended his creative life.



In 1948, as the Korean Peninsula was still coping with the aftermath of liberation from colonial rule and separation into two states, the nascent South Korean government under Syngman Rhee was keen on forming an anti-communist state. When a large-scale left-leaning military rebellion broke out in Yeosu and Suncheon in South Jeolla Province in protest against the government's violent suppression of the Jeju Uprising, forces were soon deployed to quell the "insurgency." As many as 2,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed.



Kim, one of many who had been labeled a left-winger by the South Korean authorities at the time, was fortunate to survive torture. However, when the 1950-1953 Korean War broke out and Gwangju fell briefly into the hands of North Korea, he was arrested again  this time by the North Korean People's Army for being a "pro-American reactionary" after tutoring an American colonel's daughter.



With such traumatic moments burned into his memory, the artist was invited to a fellowship at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1955. He then refused to go back to his homeland, which left him with nothing but agony, rather choosing to remain illegally in the U.S.



He eventually became one of the first-generation Korean painters to settle in New York City, continuing his lifelong journey to depict, in his own words, "a fantastic, dreamlike world as I free myself from politics or anything of that sort."



Kim is not the only individual whose life reflects the scars of the division of the Korean Peninsula, one that attests to the country's century of tumultuous modern history spanning from Japanese colonization to the ensuing ideological conflict between the two Koreas.





Photographer Sohn Sung-hyun / Courtesy of Sohn Sung-hyun

Sohn Sung-hyun is a photographer who, for the last two decades, has extensively documented such personal histories that often went omitted or underrepresented in the country's official historical discourse, through the black-and-white portrait series.



It was 1998 when this photographic series became Sohn's calling  the year he first came into contact with some of the world's longest-serving political prisoners in Korea.



More commonly known as the "non-converted," these internees, who were deemed to be loyalists to the North under South Korea's National Security Law, were imprisoned on charges of subversion or espionage.



Those who refused to recant their communist beliefs had their terms extended indefinitely, spending up to more than four decades in jail, and were subject to beatings, threats, torture and later more subtle means of coercion.



The long-term prisoners included North Korean soldiers and war correspondents taken captive during the war, as well as captured agents and their transporters. But there were also South Korean-born leftists, who were accused  sometimes falsely  of being pro-North spies.



Since the 1990s, after decades of life in confinement, the surviving unconverted prisoners have been released under amnesty.





Sohn Sung-hyun's 2001 portrait of Ko Sung-hwa, one of the unconverted long-term political prisoners, on Jeju Island / Courtesy of Sohn Sung-hyun



"In 1998, I came across a news article on their release from prison under amnesty declared by then-President Kim Dae-jung. I soon reached out to some of them who settled in Seoul's Nakseongdae area," the photographer told The Korea Times in a recent interview.



"I thought that these people were the very embodiment of the grim state of the country's division and all the irony within. I wanted to break away from the ideological confines and listen to their stories in earnest."



Although young Sohn introduced himself as a photographer from the start, it was perhaps only natural that he didn't get a chance to use his camera for months after his first meeting with the former prisoners. The men, in their 70s, 80s and 90s, were wary of his presence and would throw question after question at him to confirm that he wasn't undercover.



"Back then, pretty much no one approached them to take their photos like me. And it still remained a sensitive issue to talk about their very existence, let alone document their lives. Also, even after their release, they were subject to constant surveillance by law enforcement, with their residences under wiretap," he said.



It was only half a year after his first visit when Sohn was finally able to hear the click of his camera. The series began initially with him taking funerary portraits for the former inmates. In Korea, it remains a customary practice to choose one's own portrait before death, which is then used to honor the deceased at the memorial service. Soon, he began taking photos for those in other regions, including Gwangju, Daejeon, Busan, Incheon and Jeju Island.



A majority of those who became the subject of his portraits are now dead or were repatriated to the North in 2000. A total of 63 unconverted prisoners, who expressed hope to return to their home country either to reunite with their families or exercise their political beliefs, were permitted to settle in North Korea as part of the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration.



"Pyongyang did welcome them with open arms, but because they were individuals who have spent years in the South, upon their return, they were subject to another form of surveillance for the rest of their lives. And because they never recanted their communist beliefs, the regime couldn't have asked for better instruments of its propaganda," the 51-year-old said.



"Their lives could not have been easy on either side of Korea," Sohn said.



Photographic subjects extend beyond Korean borders



As Sohn spent around four years working on the portrait series of the long-term prisoners, he came to realize that similarly complex and multilayered personal histories in relation to Korea's political situation abound outside of the country's borders  in the form of the Korean diaspora in other neighboring countries.



In the following years, his eyes turned to the stories of ethnic Koreans in China, Central Asia ("Koryoin"), Japan ("Zainichi"), Korean Americans and North Korean defectors who settled in the South and abroad. The number of his photographic subjects has reached over 400.



The reason he aims to capture these personal histories in portraits  often along with extensive text  is simple.



"It's because their faces are like maps of their lives  lives which had been spent confronting impossibly difficult choices head-on," he noted.





Installation view of Sohn Sung-hyun's online exhibition, "Forgotten People," which presents the lives of three groups in the Korean diaspora: Koryoin, Korean Americans and Zainichi / Courtesy of Sohn Sung-hyun



Currently, the photographer is holding an online exhibition that offers an intimate look at three groups of Korean diaspora: Koryoin in Central Asia, Korean Americans and students of the Chosen School (educational institutions for the Zainichi community) in Japan.



"Forgotten People," hosted by Hanjin Group's Ilwoo Foundation in commemoration of Sohn's winning of this year's Ilwoo Photograph Award in the documentary category, brings together 167 photos that record the living states and ethnic identities of those who have remained marginalized within mainstream Korean history.



The exhibition will be on view until Aug. 2 at the virtual space of the Asia-Pacific Peace Memorial established by the artist.



The lives of Koryoin, which constitute the show's first section, have been marked by several stages of major migrations over the last century of history, with each journey inextricably intertwined with the modern and contemporary history of the Korean Peninsula.





Sohn Sung-hyun's 2017 portrait of Khan Yakov, a Koryoin composer and musician who became one of the founders of Kazakh jazz / Courtesy of Sohn Sung-hyun



Following the country's formal annexation by the Japanese Empire in 1910, independence activists and intellectuals migrated to the Russian Far East, with communities forming in Vladivostok as a base of anti-Japanese movements. For the next two decades, more than 380 schools for ethnic Koreans were established and 17 big and small Korean newspapers were published, according to Kim Byeong-hak, the director of the Wolgok Koryoin Cultural Center in Gwangju.



But the 1937 incident changed everything. After Joseph Stalin became wary of the possibility of Japanese spies infiltrating the areas where Koroyins lived, he launched a forced migration of over 170,000 people, dumping them on cattle trains for the 6,000-kilometer journey across Central Asia until they reached the wintry, nearly barren lands of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.



"In the fall of 1937, all the Joseon people in the Russian Far East became 'passengers' at the same time  There were also babies being born inside the train. Train ghosts would soon take them away. There was no need to register their birth nor death. They came into this world and disappeared without even a chance to set their feet on the ground," Han Jin, the late iconic North Korean-born Koryoin playwright, later wrote in his 1989 short story, "Horror."





A 2017 portrait of immediate family members of late Han Jin, a North Korean-born Koryoin playwright who worked at the Koryo Theater. First in the front row is Han Dmitri, the second son of Han, and center in the front row is Han's widow, Ginaida Vetrova Ivanovna. Courtesy of Sohn Sung-hyun



However, the exhibition doesn't stop at portraying them as victims of forced relocation. It instead turns to two cultural institutions that became a foundation for their ethnic pride and identity: the Koryo Daily Korean-language newspaper, and the Koryo Theater, which hosted performances and songs adapted from Korean classics.



"For them, one of the most significant goals was to not lose their language and national spirit. Both the newspaper and the theater have been made from the blood, sweat and tears of Koryoin artists."



Such stories are told indirectly in the portraits of playwright Han and Khan Yakov, one of the founders of Kazakh jazz.





A science class at the Kyoto Chosen Junior and Senior High School in 2019 / Courtesy of Sohn Sung-hyun



Sohn said that Chosen Schools in Japan could be viewed in a similar vein  institutions that focus on language-centric, ethnic-centric education to preserve the national identity and spirit for Korean descendants. They form the third section of the online show.



These institutions were first founded shortly after Japan's defeat in World War II in the form of Korean language schools by ethnic Koreans, many of whom were mobilized during the colonial era to toil in coal mines, military construction sites and factories. While they grew into a systematic school network for ethnic Koreans, they were forced to shut down at the order of the Japanese government after just a few years of operation at the end of the 1940s.



The Chosen Schools we know today were reconstructed following the aftermath of the Korean War, when Pyongyang provided 120 million yen in aid, according to Song Ki-chan, an associate professor of image arts and sciences at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto. North Korea naturally came to have a significant  and controversial  impact on the curriculum of these schools, from the nationalist language and program to the portraits of North Korean leaders hanging on high school classroom walls.



But beyond the ideological discourse, both Song and Sohn state that it is important to view these schools first and foremost as ethnic Korean-centered institutions within the history of the Zainichi community.



As the largest education system  from kindergarten to university  established by Koreans outside of their homeland, they remain unique diasporic institutions that provide the students with a sense of community and a chance to critically reaffirm their hybrid identities. Such opportunities cannot be found easily in Japan, where hate speech and discrimination against Zainichi resurfaces time and time again  especially whenever negative North Korea-related issues emerge.





Students present maps of the Korean Peninsula at the Kyoto Chosen Junior and Senior High School in 2019. Courtesy of Sohn Sung-hyun
DUBLIN, Ireland, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Griffin Global Asset Management ("Griffin") is pleased to announce the purchase and leaseback of their second Airbus A320neo with SKY Express. The aircraft, which delivered in May, entered service for SKY Express last week following a short post-delivery modification.



"We are very pleased to expand our relationship with SKY Express by adding a second Airbus A320neo to their fleet via a sale and leaseback. They continue to build a successful airline and we are excited to support that growth in the coming years," said Michael Lombardi, Vice President of Marketing at Griffin.

As Mrs. Vassiliki Christidi, General Manager of IOGR Group noted, "The delivery of the second Airbus A320neo further strengthens our strategic partnership with Griffin Global Asset Management. We greatly appreciate their trust and commitment in helping us grow SKY Express."

About Griffin Global Asset Management

Griffin is a commercial aircraft leasing and alternative asset management business with offices in Dublin, Ireland, Puerto Rico, and Los Angeles, CA. Griffin's team of aviation professionals works closely with airlines, OEMs, and financiers to deliver customized fleet solutions and innovative financing products to airlines globally.

For more information visit www.griffingam.ieor www.griffingam.com.

About SKY express

SKY express, member of ERA is the fastest-growing Greek airline, which is redefining the landscape of aviation in Europe. Apart from operating the largest network in Greece (34 in total, including many public-service operating routes), now covers multiple destinations in Europe (Greece, Cyprus, Belgium, UK, France, Italy, Denmark, Romania, Netherlands, Estonia, Portugal, Armenia, Poland) and keeps growing. Moreover, it has brokered significant interline agreements with global airlines such as Air Transat, Air France, KLM, Qatar Airways, American Airlines, Middle East Airlines, Cyprus Airways, Condor, El Al, Transavia, easyJet and Delta. ?he last two years, SKY express modernized its fleet with the acquisition of brand-new Airbus A320neo (x8) and ATR 72-600 (x6), making one of the largest investments in the world in the field of aviation in an unprecedentedly challenging period. With its new aircraft, SKY express operating the youngest and greenest fleet in Greece and one of the most environmentally friendly fleets all over Europe.

W: www.skyexpress.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/SKYexpressAirlinesGreece

IG: https://www.instagram.com/skyexpressgreece/

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sky-express-airlines/

YT: https://www.youtube.com/c/SKYexpressAirlineGreece

Press Inquiries

Lauren Groom

lgroom@griffingam.com




Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Social Impact Alliance for Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) says, "It is no longer just about the image. Socially responsible companies derive real business benefits.

POZNAN, Poland, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The study "Philanthropy in Central & Eastern Europe 2022" shows that more than half (53%) of CEE citizens prefer to buy products and services from socially committed brands, with as many as 48% willing to pay a slightly higher price for them.

Actions taken by public administration are necessary to create a supportive legal and tax environment, but it is the companies that constitute the most significant driving force when it comes to tackling social issues. Data collected among the citizens of Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, and Slovenia between March and April 2022 shows that CEE citizens appreciate socially engaged companies, but in return, they expect transparency, honesty and linking social activities with the company's business profile.

Not only the customers, also employees want to contribute to the growth of responsible companies. Social activity of potential employers is important to 36% of those searching for new jobs. Employee volunteering is becoming an important trend, but only 20% of CEE citizens state that their employers offer this opportunity to them. At the same time, nearly 40% of those who do not have this option claim to be interested in it. - explains Anna Korzeniewska from Social Impact Alliance for Central & Eastern Europe, an international think tank that conducted the study. A similar situation can be observed for pro bono activities. Only 14% of respondents state that their employers provide pro bono support as part of their business activity, while as many as 46% expect this to change.

When asked which UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should be addressed by particular industries, CEE citizens indicate that the financial sector should solve problems related to poverty, education, and economic growth. Food companies and retail chains are expected to put more emphasis on combating hunger and promoting responsible consumption. Technology and IT companies should support innovation and economic growth, while the energy and automotive industries should focus on climate-related issues.

Access to knowledge and education was indicated as one of the most important needs in the region. It turns out that only 11% of CEE citizens understand what ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) stands for. For most citizens, philanthropy is part of financial education and should be promoted by banks. According to the majority, social engagement should be taught from an early age.

2022 survey and an analogous one conducted in 2020 in Poland, Czech Rep., Slovakia, and Hungary clearly show that crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine are mobilizing Europeans to become socially involved. As many as 53% of CEE citizens have joined efforts to support Ukrainian refugees, primarily by providing financial support and donating goods. As the year 2021 has shown, the biggest challenge will be to maintain this engagement. It is worth noting that expectations towards more developed countries have increased. A higher commitment is expected particularly from the countries of Western Europe (Germany, Switzerland, UK) and North America (USA, Canada).

Currently, nearly half of CEE citizens (48%) make financial donations - regardless of age, gender, place of residence, or income. The total value of annual donations in the 7 surveyed countries amounts to nearly one billion euros, but their philanthropic potential is twice as high. - This scale of engagement is possible, but to strengthen the social impact ecosystem in the CEE countries, we need to raise awareness, initiate more cooperation, and identify and eliminate barriers, also tax and legal. - notes Anna Korzeniewska.

Development of sustainable philanthropy requires reliable data and knowledge sharing. Central and Eastern Europe, thanks to the growing potential of its society, has a real opportunity to continue building a culture of philanthropy and lasting social attitudes. This is why it is important to invest in research to engage all actors of society in a strategic and long-term manner. - says Liza Belozerova, Senior Manager at Google.org, Europe, Middle East & Africa.

Link to the full report, which can be downloaded, free of charge, in 8 languages: English, Bulgarian, Croatian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Romanian and Slovenian:

https://ceeimpact.org/our-initiatives/philanthropy-in-cee-2022/

Image - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1845641/CEE_1.jpg
Pendo announces a new office in London and creation of EMEA MD position

and creation of EMEA MD position The new EMEA MD, Spencer Earp , is a software veteran who will be joining the company from Salesforce

, is a software veteran who will be joining the company from Salesforce The news follows 10x growth in new annual bookings and 3x growth in total revenues in the market

LONDON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pendo - the all-in-one product experience platform - today announced it has strengthened its presence in EMEA to meet rising local demand and empower European businesses to put product at the heart of their strategy, both to drive growth and to improve efficiency. This includes the opening of a new central London office and the hire of a new EMEA managing director who will be responsible for spearheading the company's growth strategy in the region.

Since Pendo established a London presence in March 2019, it has grown the EMEA customer base from 40 to over 300. Strong relationships with leading European companies like Advanced Software, Clarivate Analytics, CloudPay, Collibra, Elsevier, Essity Hygiene and Health AB, Firefly Learning, Gett, MessageBird, Mimecast, monday.com, Pistor AG, and Tes Global have helped the EMEA team increase new annual bookings 10x since early 2020.

Demand for Pendo is driven by the rise of the product-led movement, as product is increasingly recognised by leading companies as a key tool in powering efficient growth, fueling adoption and retention, and helping leaders hit ambitious goals without increasing spend. Pendo's recently launched State of Product Leadership Report found over half of European companies plan to increase their investment in product management technology in 2022.

Spencer Earp will be joining Pendo in July as managing director of EMEA. He will be based in London and will channel his extensive experience of building and propelling organisations' European go-to-market strategies, to help Pendo address EMEA's rapidly evolving software market. Prior to joining Pendo, Spencer was senior vice president of EMEA sales at Salesforce, and has over 25 years of experience uniting and leading sales teams in senior roles at Oracle, ServiceMax, and Vlocity. Notably, Spencer was 'first man on the ground' and responsible for the development and growth of ServiceMax's business in EMEA before its acquisition by GE Digital in 2017.

"It's a historic time of fast-moving change for the software world and Europe's product managers are producing some of the most advanced and slick products on the global stage," said Spencer Earp, EMEA MD at Pendo. "Pendo already has a strong foundation in Europe but there's still a phenomenal untapped market to be served as software continues to play an even more pivotal role in how we live, work, and play. With a new office and central London hub, I can't wait to execute on the big opportunity ahead of us."

The Pendo team in London has grown from 22 to 67 employees over the last year. It includes sales, marketing, customer success and support members, as well as the staff of Mind the Product, the world's largest community of product managers, which joined the company through acquisition in February 2022.

"Europe is an incredibly advanced market that we've built up in the last few years. Today, we're putting our flag in the ground to say we're here and we have the local presence and expertise needed to bring Pendo to even more product managers in the region and help them stay ahead," added Todd Olson, CEO and co-founder of Pendo.

Today's news follows another quarter of rapid global growth for the US-founded unicorn, which recently announced 60% ARR growth, more than 2,500 paying customers, and 3,300 Pendo Free users worldwide. Pendo's total headcount nearly doubled in 2021 - the company currently has more than 950 employees worldwide.

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About Pendo
LeasePlan was recognized for demonstrating significant advances in its ability to manage data effectively, efficiently and securely at scale

Denodo, the leader in data management, today announced that its customer LeasePlan, headquartered in the Netherlands and with business operations across the globe, has been chosen as the winner of the IDC's 2022 European Data Strategy Innovation Awards in the Data Management Excellence category. The winners were announced on June 9th, 2022 at the special awards ceremony as part of IDC's 2022 European Data and Intelligence Summit in Sintra, Portugal.

IDC's European Data Strategy Innovation Awards are focused on celebrating the European organizations that are blazing trails in this area and on improving awareness of "what works". According to Neil Ward-Dutton, VP AI, Automation and Analytics Europe, at IDC, "This is the third year of our European Data Strategy and Innovation Awards, and we were delighted to receive so many high-quality nominations from across the region."

IDC received 34 nominations for 3 award categories and LeasePlan edged past the other nominees in the Data Management excellence category to win the coveted title. According to IDC, "Nominations in this category were from enterprises that could demonstrate significant advances in their ability to manage data effectively and efficiently at scale. The overall winner was LeasePlan, for its creation of a logical data fabric across all its key data sources, which has helped the company in creating transformational new use cases in customer experience and convenience, such as predictive vehicle maintenance programs."

LeasePlan, one of the world's leading Car-as-a-Service companies, has approximately 1.9 million vehicles under management in 29 countries. These vehicles generate a large amount of data that has to be integrated and contextualized to support the customer journey. What followed was LeasePlan's next-gen data strategy, envisioned to encompass a logical data fabric across all its key data sources modern, cloud-based and legacy with a single point of access, to be supported by a Global Data Hub. According to Sumit Arya, the Head of Data and Solution Architecture at LeasePlan, "The Logical Data Fabric built on the Denodo Platform is a critical component of LeasePlan's Global Data Hub to seamlessly build a foundation for data self-service and simplify transparent data migration. It has enabled us to create new business services and best support our drivers on every step of their journey." Denodo Platform has also supported the data governance needs of the organization and facilitated its cloud modernization efforts with zero downtime for BI reporting while migrating legacy data marts to the Cloud in various business units across geographies.

"We want to congratulate our customer LeasePlan for its efforts and the innovative use of the Denodo Platform to support its data management needs and key business initiatives," said Ravi Shankar, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Denodo. "The Denodo Platform provides an abstraction layer to create a single, secure point-of-entry to LeasePlan's entire data ecosystem. LeasePlan has also built a centralized framework for data governance by leveraging the metadata management and data catalog capabilities of the Denodo platform to ensure the highest level of self-service and data security. We are thrilled to see LeasePlan credited for the way they have applied our platform to make such an impact."

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About LeasePlan

LeasePlan, one of the world's leading Car-as-a-Service companies, is transforming from an analogue to a fully digital business model. LeasePlan worked with Denodo and other technologies to create a logical data fabric across all its key data sources modern, cloud-based and legacy with a single point of access. This gives a foundation for data self-service and simplifies transparent data migration to the Cloud. Most notably, the data fabric approach has helped the company in creating transformational new use cases in customer experience and convenience, such as predictive vehicle maintenance programs.

About Denodo

Denodo is a leader in data management. The award-winning Denodo Platform is the leading data integration, management, and delivery platform using a logical approach to enable self-service BI, data science, hybrid/multi-cloud data integration, and enterprise data services. Realizing more than 400% ROI and millions of dollars in benefits, Denodo's customers across large enterprises and mid-market companies in 30+ industries have received payback in less than 6 months. For more information, visit www.denodo.com or call +1 877 556 2531 (US) +44 (0) 20 7869 8053 (UK) +65 6950 7489 (Singapore).

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Contacts:

Hotwire PR

Holly Hunter, +44 (0) 20 7608 4638

holly.hunter@hotwireglobal.com
AM Best will exhibit at the Managing General Agents' Association (MGAA) annual conference, which will take place 29 June 2022 at etc.Venues Houndsditch in London.

During the full-day event, AM Best representatives will be available at booth No. 4 to discuss its new Performance Assessments for Delegated Underwriting Authority Enterprises (DUAEs). AM Best launched its new methodology for DUAEs in March 2022. This industry-first tool provides a framework for differentiating among DUAEs, which is a blanket term to capture MGAs, managing general underwriters, coverholders, program administrators, program underwriters, underwriting agencies, direct authorizations and appointed representatives. A Performance Assessment helps insurers make more-informed decisions when choosing underwriting partners.

The MGAA is a trade organisation that represents the interests of its U.K.-based managing general agent members. For more information about the MGAA's 2022 conference, which is themed as "Seize the Opportunity," please go to https://www.mgaa.co.uk/.

For additional information on Best's Performance Assessments for DUAEs, please click here.

A video briefing about the new methodology is also available at http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=duaefaq222

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com

Copyright 2022 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005301/en/

Contacts:

Edem Kuenyehia

Director, Market Development & Communications

+44 20 7397 0280

edem.kuenyehia@ambest.com
Philogen Provides Corporate Update

211 out of 214 patients recruited in European Phase III trial investigating the neoadjuvant Nidlegy treatment of Stage IIIB/C melanoma , in line with expectations.

Fibromun further demonstrates potent activity in recurrent glioblastoma with durable majo r responses. P ivotal clinical trials in soft - tissue sarcoma and gli oblastoma are on track .

OncoFAP shows potent activity as a small molecule-drug conjugate.

177 Lu- Bi OncoFAP therapy shown to eradicate cancer in pre-clinical studies . Signed contract with Senn Chemicals for the GMP manufacturing of the product. Clinical trials expected to start in 2H 2023.

Limited or no cash burn expected in 2022 due to existing and new partnerships , de spite i ncreased spending for clinical trials .

Philogen's management team will hold a webinar to discuss these updates onJune23, 2022, at 10:00 ET / 15:00 BST / 16:00 CEST (Please find the link to this webinarhere (https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AFQ5tINbRR-kJfAnX5WSAw)).

Siena (Italy), 23June 2022 - Philogen S.p.A., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on antibody- and small molecule-based targeted therapeutics, provides an update regarding recent corporate developments.

Prof. Dr. Dario Neri, Chief Executive Officer of Philogencommented:"Philogen has made significant progress over the past few monthsas we continue investing ourIPO proceeds to strengthenour GMP manufacturing capacity and speed up patient enrolment in clinical trials. We are particularly pleased with the progress of ourPhase III European study investigating Nidlegy treatment of Stage IIIB/C melanoma, of which we have nearly completed patient recruitment.

Fibromun's trials in soft-tissue sarcoma are also ongoing in the U.S., Germany, Poland, Spain, and Italy (France planned), with the participation of leading clinical centers. We expect to have more than30 active clinical centers by the end of this year for the European and USpivotal studies.

My thanks go to our investors and to everyone at Philogen for their hard work and unwavering support."

MAIN EVENTS AND RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

Proprietary products

Nidlegy is a pharmaceutical product, proprietary to Philogen, consisting of two active ingredients, L19IL2 and L19TNF. The L19 antibody is specific to the B domain of Fibronectin, a protein expressed in tumors (and other diseases) but absent in most healthy tissues. Interleukin 2 (IL2) and Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) are inflammatory cytokines with anti-tumor activities Phase III European study in Stage IIIB/C melanoma 211 out of 214 patients have been recruited. The trial will read when 95 events (tumor recurrence or patient death) have occurred, as per protocol 21 clinical centers opened in Germany, France, Italy, and Poland

is a pharmaceutical product, proprietary to Philogen, consisting of two active ingredients, L19IL2 and L19TNF. The L19 antibody is specific to the B domain of Fibronectin, a protein expressed in tumors (and other diseases) but absent in most healthy tissues. Interleukin 2 (IL2) and Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) are inflammatory cytokines with anti-tumor activities

Phase III U.S. study in Stage IIIB/C melanoma 13 clinical sites are currently open. We expect to have more than 25 centers active by the end of 2022 to speed up recruitment

Non-melanoma skin cancer Progress in Phase II studies ongoing in France, Germany, Poland, and soon in Italy



Fibromun (L19TNF) is a pharmaceutical product, proprietary to Philogen, consisting of the L19 antibody fused to TNF European Phase III study in metastatic/advanced soft-tissue sarcoma 32 patients have been recruited. The recruitment rate of patients is progressing according to planned timelines 10 clinical centers opened in Germany, Spain, Italy, and Poland. We expect to have more than 20 centers active by the end of 2022

(L19TNF) is a pharmaceutical product, proprietary to Philogen, consisting of the L19 antibody fused to TNF

Phase I/II study in glioblastoma at first progression The Phase I dose escalation part of the study is exploring different doses of Fibromun and Lomustine (3-6 subjects per cohort) Cohort 1 has been completed with 6 patients. Recruitment for cohort 2 is ongoing, with 4 out of 6 patients recruited. The historical objective response rate (ORR) for recurrent glioblastoma treated with Lomustine is 4.3-13.9%. The median progression free survival of these patients with lomustine monotherapy is 6 weeks. In unmethylated MGMT tumors, objective responses are virtually never observed (0% ORR) (Wick et al., J Clin Oncol 2010, 28,1168; Weller and Le Rhun et al., Cancer Treat Rev 2020, 87,102029). In cohort 1, we observed durable major responses in 2 out of 6 patients which are ongoing for more than 12 months. In addition, 3 patients had disease stabilization for over 4.5 months (follow up ongoing), while one patient had Covid-19 and had to exit the study without receiving the combination treatment.



OncoFAP is a small organic molecule ligand with ultra-high affinity for Fibroblast Activation Protein (FAP) OncoFAP-radio conjugates Imaging - excellent targeting properties of 68 Ga-DOTAGA-OncoFAP confirmed in more than 50 patients with various types of malignancies. Therapy - 177 Lu-DOTAGA-BiOncoFAP, featuring a bivalent OncoFAP ligand, cures cancer in murine models and has been identified as the therapeutic candidate for clinical development. Signed a contract with Senn Chemicals to manufacture DOTAGA-BiOncoFAP OncoFAP-drug conjugates - these drugs consist of (i) the OncoFAP ligand, (ii) a cleavable linker and (iii) a cytotoxic payload, which is released selectively at the tumor site. A novel OncoFAP-drug conjugate, featuring an optimized cleavable linker, is being studied in animal models of cancer and may represent a novel potential clinical candidate.

is a small organic molecule ligand with ultra-high affinity for Fibroblast Activation Protein (FAP) The R&D center in Zurich has recently generated promising novel prototypes, including a highly active small molecule drug conjugate targeting PSMA. The company is well poised for the definition of the clinical candidates to be moved into the clinic in 2023.

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Philogen Group Description

Philogen is an Italian-Swiss company active in the biotechnology sector, specialized in the research and development of pharmaceutical products for the treatment of highly lethal diseases. The Group mainly discovers and develops targeted anticancer drugs, exploiting high-affinity ligands for tumor markers (also called tumor antigens). These ligands - human monoclonal antibodies or small organic molecules - are identified using Antibody Phage Display Libraries and DNA-EncodedChemical Library technologies.

The Group's main therapeutic strategy for the treatment of these diseases is represented by the so-called tumor targeting. This approach is based on the use of ligands capable of selectively delivering very potent therapeutic active ingredients (such as pro-inflammatory cytokines) to the tumor mass, sparing healthy tissues. Over the years, Philogen has mainly developed monoclonal antibody-based ligands that are specific for antigens expressed in tumor-associated blood vessels, but not expressed in blood vessels associated with healthy tissues. These antigens are usually more abundant and more stable than those expressed directly on the surface of tumor cells. This approach, so called vascular targeting, is used for most of the projects pursued by the Group.

The Group's objective is to generate, develop and market innovative products for the treatment of diseases for which medical science has not yet identified satisfactory therapies. This is achieved by exploiting (i) proprietary technologies for the isolation of ligands that react with antigens present in certain diseases, (ii) experience in the development of products targeted at the tissues affected by the disease, (iii) experience in drug manufacturing and development, and (iv) an extensive portfolio of patents and intellectual property rights.

Although the Group's drugs are primarily oncology applications, the targeting approach is also potentially applicable to other diseases, such as certain chronic inflammatory diseases.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Philogen - Investor Relations

IR@philogen.com- Emanuele Puca | Investor Relations

Consilium Strategic Communications contacts

Mary-Jane Elliott, Davide Salvi

Philogen@consilium-comms.com
In 2021, an estimated 1.3 billion more illicit cigarettes were consumed in the European Union, reaching 8.1% of total consumption in the region.

Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE: PM) is calling for European regulators and policymakers to consider the millions of adult smokers who are turning to the illicit market instead of switching to better alternatives. The 2021 KPMG annual study on illicit cigarette consumption, commissioned by PMI, reveals that overall illicit cigarette consumption increased by an estimated 3.9%-or 1.3 billion cigarettes-last year, reaching 35.5 billion cigarettes consumed across European Union (EU) member states. Meanwhile, the study estimates that total EU cigarette consumption declined over the same period.

Based on the report, the increase of illicit consumption in the EU was largely driven by an estimated 33% increase in counterfeit consumption in France, where it grew to 8.0 billion cigarettes last year. Overall, France remains the largest market for illicit cigarettes in the EU, with a total of 15.1 billion illicit cigarettes consumed in 2021, comprising 29% of total cigarette consumption in the country, which represents a significant growth from 13% in 2017.

"The findings of the KPMG Report should be a real wake-up call. It's alarming that in countries that maintain high excise taxes on cigarettes, such as France, instead of driving a decrease in smoking prevalence, we see a rise in counterfeit cigarette consumption. In fact, in France in the past five years, while the average price of a pack of legitimate cigarettes has increased by more than half, the number of adult smokers has only marginally decreased," said Gregoire Verdeaux, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, PMI. "But there is also hope. Other EU countries have adopted differentiated policies on alternatives to cigarettes that support the continued decline of cigarette consumption while reducing illicit trade, and they are already yielding encouraging results. The European Commission in Brussels should make this the foundation for the future."

The annual KPMG report focuses on the consumption and flows of illicit cigarettes in 30 European countries-the 27 EU member states, as well as the United Kingdom, Norway, and Switzerland-and indicates that had these cigarettes been legally purchased, an additional 10.4 billion in taxes would have been collected by governments in the EU.

"Tax revenue losses will limit governments' ability to invest in areas such as public safety, public services, or infrastructure, at a time when people across Europe are also facing higher prices of many basic goods. The risk that more adult smokers-especially those among the lower-income population-turn to illicit trade is now significant. This creates an even more urgent need to ensure that smoke-free alternatives are available and affordable for all, to enable them to make a better choice instead of buying from the black market," added Verdeaux.

The KPMG report also shows that roughly half-16 out of 27-of the member states experienced declining or stable consumption of illicit cigarettes in 2021. Among these countries, Poland saw one of the largest declines in illicit volumes, showing a 3.7 percentage point decrease in its share of illicit cigarette consumption.

"The decreasing consumption of illicit cigarettes in countries like Poland is remarkable and reassuring. It showcases the impact of effective law enforcement against criminals profiting from illicit trade in a market where better alternatives to smoking are available and more affordable to adult smokers. These are outcomes other countries should aspire to emulate," said Alvise Giustiniani, Vice President, Illicit Trade Prevention. "It has never been more important to provide in particular the most vulnerable in society with access to information, as well as to develop and implement innovative policies that truly include everyone and facilitate access to better alternatives."

Counterfeit consumption was the main driver of illicit trade in the EU; consumption of fake cigarettes reached an estimated total of 12.3 billion-accounting for 34.6% of total illicit consumption. The study indicates that due to continued travel and border restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, organized criminal groups shifted their focus toward manufacturing counterfeit cigarettes directly within EU borders. Interviews conducted by KPMG with seven different law enforcement agencies found that illegal manufacturing sites are increasingly moving west in Europe to get closer to higher-priced end markets, such as France and the U.K.

The continued growth of a black market where fake and unregulated cigarettes are easily available seriously undercuts legitimate efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate cigarette smoking.

"We are convinced that consumers need to be incentivized so that they don't have to turn to illicit cigarettes. This means focusing on education and awareness, and ensuring the availability of better alternatives, such as scientifically substantiated smoke-free products," added Verdeaux. "Making them accessible as a better option for millions of adult smokers in Europe who don't quit should be our common top priority."

A detailed overview of the results and methodology of the KPMG report is available here. For more information about PMI's illicit trade prevention efforts, visit PMI.com.

Note to editors

In France, during the period 2017-2021, an average price of a pack of legitimate cigarettes has increased by 50%, to over 10, while the smoking prevalence has only marginally dropped by -1.4ppt to the current level of 25.5% (Source: Journal official yearly publication of WAP-2021 WAP; EU Commission Excise Duty Tables yearly publication-2021; WAP 2005-2021; before 2004: price of most sold brand in France. Sante Publique France, public agency of Ministry of Health).

For PMI, eliminating the illicit tobacco trade has been a long-standing priority. The company collaborates with law enforcement agencies and other organizations all over the world to root out and shut down illegal activities, including counterfeiting and smuggling operations. PMI IMPACT is just one example of PMI's commitment in this sector-it supports third-party projects aimed at reducing or preventing illegal trade. Ultimately, through PMI IMPACT (now in its third round of funding), PMI is growing and fostering an ecosystem of public and private actors to tackle illegal trade in all its forms.

PMI's efforts to fight illicit trade are embedded in its day-to-day operations. The company implements preventive and protective measures as a means of supply chain control, uses cutting-edge track-and-trace technology, and holds all customers and suppliers to strict due-diligence standards and protocols. PMI continues to support relevant regulations like the FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products and the EU Tobacco Products Directives' tracking-and-tracing provisions.

Philip Morris International: Delivering a Smoke-Free Future

Philip Morris International (PMI) is a leading international tobacco company working to deliver a smoke-free future and evolving its portfolio for the long term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's current product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products, which are sold in markets outside the U.S. Since 2008, PMI has invested more than USD 9 billion to develop, scientifically substantiate, and commercialize innovative smoke-free products for adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, with the goal of completely ending the sale of cigarettes. This includes the building of world-class scientific assessment capabilities, notably in the areas of pre-clinical systems toxicology, clinical and behavioral research, as well as post-market studies. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the marketing of versions of PMI's IQOS Platform 1 devices and consumables as Modified Risk Tobacco Products (MRTPs), finding that exposure modification orders for these products are appropriate to promote the public health. As of March 31, 2022, PMI's smoke-free products are available for sale in 71 markets, and PMI estimates that approximately 12.7 million adults around the world, excluding Russia and Ukraine, have already switched to IQOS and stopped smoking. With a strong foundation and significant expertise in life sciences, in February 2021 PMI announced its ambition to expand into wellness and healthcare areas and deliver innovative products and solutions that aim to address unmet consumer and patient needs. For more information, please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com

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Contacts:

Philip Morris International

Martin Schatzky

Martin.Schatzky@pmi.com

+54 911 3828 4288
Paris, France - June 23, 2022- Atos, leading a consortium of technology suppliers, today announces that it has been chosen to provide the pre-exascale system to be hosted by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, in Spain, as part of the EuroHPC JU(European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking). MareNostrum5 will rank amongst the world's top supercomputers and will pave the way toward exascale capabilities: the next supercomputing era.

This new system will support the EU's mission to provide European scientists and industry with access to cutting-edge HPC infrastructures and services, with the main objective to strengthen medical research capabilities across Europe. Atos is already supporting Europe's HPC capabilities by providing pre-exascale systems for five other EuroHPC projects out of eight.

With a power capacity up to 314 Petaflops, or at least 314 million billion calculations per second, the system called MareNostrum5 is tailored to boost European medical research through drug research, the development of vaccines, virus spread simulations as well as artificial intelligence and big data processing applications. The system will also unlock computing performance for HPC specific complex applications, such as climate research, engineering, material science and earth sciences, which require to be managed out of the cloud.

As the prime contractor, Atos will manage the delivery of the entire MareNostrum5 supercomputer in close cooperation with European technology specialist ParTec AG, who will provide core parts of the solution and support Atos in the technical coordination of the project. A large accelerator partition will be based on Atos' recently announced BullSequana XH3000next-gen hybrid architecture - the largest installation worldwide - integrating GPU nodes using NVIDIA's H100 Tensor Core GPU, based on the new Hopper architecture and with 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors (codenamed Sapphire Rapids). Atos will also deliver nodes with NVIDIA's Grace CPU Superchip for the next-generation general purpose technology evaluation partition.

The Lenovo general purpose compute partition, provided through ParTec AG, will be based on Lenovo ThinkSystem SD650 V3 Neptune nodes with 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors - to build one of the largest general purpose scientific supercomputer worldwide. The storage part of the system, also provided through ParTec AG, will use IBM Spectrum Scale global data platform. Both the accelerator and general purpose compute partitions will benefit from advanced Direct Liquid Cooling solutions to provide an extremely energy-efficient system. MareNostrum5 will be interconnected with the NVIDIA Quantum-2 400Gb/s InfiniBand networking platform.

"The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking continues to lead the way in European supercomputing. MareNostrum 5 will provide European scientists and industry with access to cutting-edge HPC infrastructures and services. It will power medical innovation but also climate research, engineering and earth sciences while supporting our objective to promote green and sustainable technologies." Anders Dam Jensen, the Executive Director of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking

"The acquisition of MareNostrum 5 will enable world-changing scientific breakthroughs such as the creation of digital twins to help solve global challenges like climate change and the advancement of precision medicine. In addition, BSC-CNS is committed to developing European hardware to be used in future generations of supercomputers and helping to achieve technological sovereignty for the EU's member states." saidDirector of BSC-CNS Mateo Valero

"As Europe's leading supercomputing manufacturer, we are proud to be supporting Europe's commitment towards technological excellence and sovereignty with the MareNostrum5 pre-exascale system. With this solution fully manufactured in Europe, we will support researchersto accelerate scientific discovery and to develop solutions for current and future challenges." commentedEmmanuel Le Roux, Group SVP, Global Head of HPC, AI & Quantum at Atos.

Atos' BullSequana range is and will be used in six EuroHPC supercomputing centres; Sofia Tech Park in Bulgaria), CINECA in Italy), ?IZUM in Slovenia), LuxProvide in Luxembourg), Minho Advanced Computing Centre in Portugal (Deucalion), and now in Barcelona Supercomputing Center thereby reinforcing Atos' position as a European leader in high-performance computing.

Intel, the Intel logo, and other Intel marks are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries.

***

Note to editors

Data is now at the heart of the digital economy. While artificial intelligence and machine learning can help unleash its value, data also needs to be secured, computed and processed at the right location. With key expertise in high-performance computing, edge computing, cybersecurity and critical systems, Atos is a trusted data intelligence partner for large organizations around the world.

About Atos

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with 111,000 employees and annual revenue of c.  11 billion. European number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high-performance computing, the Group provides tailored end-to-end solutions for all industries in 71 countries. A pioneer in decarbonization services and products, Atos is committed to a secure and decarbonized digital for its clients. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), listed on Euronext Paris and included in the CAC 40 ESG and Next 20 indexes.

The purpose of Atosis to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the Group enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space.

Press contact

Constance Arnoux | constance.arnoux@atos.net| +33 6 44 12 16 35

Attachment
26 organisations recognised in Nintex's annual customer awards program, which celebrates public and private sector organisations in every industry and geography for their digital transformation success with the Nintex Process Platform

LONDON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nintex, the global standard for process intelligence and automation, today announced the 26 winners of the 2022 Nintex Solution Innovation Awards, including this year's 2022 Nintex Champion - Quaker Houghton.

"Our community of customers and partners are a constant reminder of the inspiring digital transformation success that organisations are achieving," said Nintex Chief Executive Officer Eric Johnson. "We congratulate the 2022 Solution Innovation Award winners and applaud them for their success in transforming the way people work with the Nintex Process Platform."

Receiving top honours as the 2022 Nintex Champion, Quaker Houghton is a global leader in industrial process fluids and operates in more than 25 countries with 4,200 employees. Since their precise and sophisticated manufacturing processes leave no room for error, the organisation uses Nintex Forms and Nintex Workflow to automate the process of initiating lab requests and directing them appropriately.

To learn more about Quaker Houghton's Nintex success visit: https://www.nintex.com/case-study/quaker-houghton/

2022 Nintex Solution Innovation Awards winners by award category are available online at https://www.nintex.com/using-nintex/customer-and-partner-awards/2022-nintex-solution-innovation-awards/ and include:

2022 Nintex Champion

Quaker Houghton

Regional Transformation Leaders

Americas: GM Financial

Asia Pacific : Austral Construction

: Austral Construction Europe : Twinings

: Twinings Middle East & Africa : Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia

Game Changing Solution-Specific Deployments

Process Excellence with Nintex Promapp : Thermo Fisher Scientific

: Thermo Fisher Scientific Operational Performance with Nintex DocGen : Dubai South

: Dubai South Breakthrough Use Cases with Nintex RPA: BGL Group

Cloud-Based Success with Nintex Workflow Cloud: Newson Health

Industry Breakthroughs

Americas: Capital Farm Credit, Johnson & Johnson, and Draeger

Asia Pacific : IQumulate, Harrison Group and Yancoal Australia

: IQumulate, Harrison Group and Yancoal Australia Europe : Fidelity International and DuPont De Nemours

: Fidelity International and DuPont De Nemours Middle East & Africa : Wema Bank and Al Naboodah Group

Public Sector Excellence

Americas: Delaware Department of Transportation (Division of Motor Vehicles)

Asia Pacific : AgriFutures

: AgriFutures Middle East & Africa : Saudi Arabia Ministry of Communications and Information Technology

Education & Non-Profit Success

Education, Americas: Auburn University

Education, Asia Pacific : Busy Bees Asia

: Busy Bees Asia Education, EMEA: Khalifa University

Non-Profit: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

The Nintex Solution Innovation award winners were selected by a panel of judges based on nominations submitted directly by Nintex customers and partners.

To learn how more organisations are achieving digital transformation and improving the way people work with the Nintex Process Platform, visit https://www.nintex.com/why-nintex/case-studies/.

Media Contact

Laetitia Smith

Nintex?

laetitia.smith@nintex.com

cell:?+64 21 154 7114

About Nintex

Nintex is the global standard for process intelligence and automation. Today more than 10,000 public and private sector organisations across 90 countries turn to the Nintex Process Platform to accelerate progress on their digital transformation journeys by quickly and easily managing, automating and optimising business processes. Learn more by visiting www.nintex.com and experience how Nintex and its global partner network are shaping the future of Intelligent Process Automation (IPA).

Product or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over the third enlarged meeting of the eighth Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang, June 22, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap





North Korea held a rare military meeting to change the operational plan of military frontline units with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, the country's state media said Thursday, amid heightening tensions in the region.







Kim also discussed the reorganization of key military formations as he convened the second-day session of the third enlarged meeting of the eighth Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), Wednesday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).







"It discussed the work of additionally confirming the operational duties of frontline units of the Korean People's Army (KPA) and modifying operational plans, according to the Party's military and strategic plan, and the issues related to reorganization of key military organizational formations," it said.







The KCNA did not provide details of the KPA's operational planning and reorganizational revisions. (Yonhap)






DGAP-News: European Healthcare Acquisition & Growth Company B.V. / Key word(s): Miscellaneous

General meeting of shareholders of European Healthcare Acquisition & Growth Company B.V. adopts all resolutions (news with additional features)



23.06.2022 / 10:55

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





General meeting of shareholders of European Healthcare Acquisition & Growth Company B.V. adopts all resolutions

Amsterdam, 23 June 2022

European Healthcare Acquisition & Growth Company B.V. ("EHC"), a Dutch operators-led special purpose acquisition company listed on Euronext Amsterdam aiming to acquire one or more companies in the European healthcare sector, announces that its annual general meeting of shareholders has adopted all resolutions at the annual general meeting of shareholders held today at 10:00 CEST, by means of a virtual meeting ("AGM").

The adopted resolutions include the adoption of the financial statements for the financial year 2021, the discharge from liability of the directors and the reappointment of Deloitte Accounts B.V. as independent external auditor entrusted with the audit of the financial statements for the financial year 2022.

The voting results from the AGM will be published on the website of EHC in the 'Investor Relations' section under 'Shareholder Meeting': www.ehc-company.com. The minutes will be made available on the Company's website within three months.

European Healthcare Acquisition & Growth Company B.V.

General Enquiries

+49 (0) 89 4523240

info@ehc-company.com



Media Enquiries

Finsbury Glover Hering

Kai Peter Rath

+49 211 43079-209

kai.rath@fgh.com

Disclaimer

This press release may include forward-looking statements, which are based on EHC's current expectations and projections about future events and speak only as of the date hereof. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future whether or not within or outside the control of EHC. Such factors may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. accordingly, no undue reliance should be placed on any forward-looking statements. EHC operates in a rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risks and uncertainties, nor to assess the impact that these factors will have on EHC. Forward-looking statements speak only as at the date at which they are made and EHC undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

This press release contains information that may qualify as inside information within the meaning of Article 7, paragraph 1, of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

23.06.2022 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.dgap.de


LEM HOLDING SA / Key word(s): Expansion

LEM announces inauguration ceremony for new production plant in Malaysia



23.06.2022 / 11:00



Ceremony attended by Chief Minister of Penang and senior LEM team

Production plant of 12,000 sqm to meet growing customer demand globally supplying automation, automotive and renewable energy businesses production and testing of integrated current sensors first products expected Q1 2024

Penang, Malaysia, strong base for semiconductor and electronics industries talent, infrastructure and export connections

LEM investment around CHF 15 million (MYR 70m) for plant construction and initial equipment

Plant employs 50 persons at start, expected to grow to around 500 in a few years

Potential for additional R&D capacity Geneva, Switzerland, and Penang, Malaysia, 23 June 2022 - LEM (SIX: LEHN), a leading global company in electrical measurement for renewable energy, automation, power network and e-mobility applications, announces that an inauguration ceremony is being held today in Penang, Malaysia for its new production plant. The ceremony is attended by the Chief Minister of Penang, the Chairman and CEO of LEM, together with invited guests including the Swiss Ambassador to Malaysia. The project was first announced in 2020, and today marks a major step in its construction with the first electric current sensor products expected to come on-line in Q1 2024. Right Honorable Mr. Chow Kon Yeow, the Chief Minister of Penang, said: "Supply chain resiliency and well-developed ecosystem are among the key differentiators that made Penang a sustainable location for the electrical and electronics (E&E) players. Being a leading company in electrical measurement that serves the emerging and high-growth industries, I am confident that LEM would be able to reap a myriad of benefits from its operation in Penang while complementing the State's presence in the world map of technology." "The State, via InvestPenang and other relevant state agencies, is committed to work closely with LEM to ensure smooth project implementation on the ground," Chow added. Andreas Hurlimann, Chairman of LEM, remarked: "We are delighted to be welcomed today by the key persons in Malaysia who have made this investment process come to fruition so efficiently, despite the recent pandemic challenges. We selected Penang as a strategic location to improve our supply chains, increase our resilience and better meet the needs of our customers here in Asia, as well as Europe and the US. This plant will complement our existing facilities in China, Bulgaria and Switzerland as we invest in more capacity to achieve our ambitious but profitable growth objectives in the coming years." Frank Rehfeld, Chief Executive Officer of LEM, commented: "The talent and experience available here in Penang will be of significant benefit to LEM, particularly in the domain of semiconductors. This plant will be the main testing base for our integrated current sensor (ICS) products which are in great demand from customers in our automation, automotive and renewable energy businesses. As we develop our manufacturing operations here, we may also consider adding R&D investment and capabilities. We are grateful to everybody who has helped the project reach this important milestone today."

The Malaysian Investment Development Authority's (MIDA) CEO, Datuk Arham Abdul Rahman, commended LEM Malaysia on the company's significant milestone, saying, "We are excited to witness LEM joining and further developing Malaysia's vibrant E&E ecosystem. We are proud that Malaysia, guided by our National Investment Aspirations (NIA), continues to fit into the overall growth strategy of major foreign companies, solidifying our position as an integrated global manufacturing hub for the industry. We anticipate seeing exciting spillovers from this project, particularly in generating high-skill employment for local talent, contributing to the socioeconomic upliftment of the community and boosting commercial development in the region. We are deeply appreciative of LEM's resounding vote of confidence in Malaysia as a preferred investment destination. LEM can be assured that MIDA will render our full support in facilitating your business in this country." Notes to editors: LEM is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022, having been founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1972. The company recently announced record annual sales of CHF 373.4 million, further details of which can be found together with the latest Annual Review by accessing http://www.lem.com/en/investors Images of today's event and LEM products can be accessed here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/b88amc1sp2gn7pa/AADrOYs_ST8l7IjJNQew73aga?dl=0 LEM - Life Energy Motion A leading company in electrical measurement, LEM engineers the best solutions for energy and mobility, ensuring that our customers' systems are optimized, reliable and safe. Our 1,500 people in over 15 countries transform technology potential into powerful answers. We develop and recruit the best global talent, working at the forefront of mega trends such as renewable energy, mobility, automation and digitization. With innovative electrical solutions, we are helping our customers and society accelerate the transition to a sustainable future. Listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since 1986, the company's ticker symbol is LEHN. www.lem.com Contact: Investment community Andrea Borla, Chief Financial Officer Phone: +41 22 706 1250 Email: investor@lem.com Contact: Swiss Media Cabinet Prive de Conseils s.a. (CPC) Nick Miles, miles@cpc-pr.com, direct +41 22 552 46 26, mobile +41 79 678 76 26 Michael Fuglister, fuglister@cpc-pr.com, direct +41 22 552 46 29, mobile +41 78 839 07 62 Contact: Malaysian Media Dreamz Productions Events Management Sdn Bhd Cheah WY, cheah@dreamz.com.my, mobile 019-478 8232 Contact: InvestPenang Yeoh Bit Kun / Ooi Phei Wen Communication and Business Intelligence Division bitkun@investpenang.gov.my / pheiwen@investpenang.gov.my

About InvestPenang

InvestPenang is the Penang State Government's principal agency for promotion of investment. Its objectives are to develop and sustain Penang's economy by enhancing and continuously supporting business activities in the State through foreign and local investments, including spawning viable new growth centers. To realize its objectives, InvestPenang also runs initiatives like the SMART Penang Center (providing assistance to SMEs), Penang CAT Center (for talent attraction and retention) and i4.0 seed fund (a catalyst for the startup ecosystem). For more information, please visit https://investpenang.gov.my/ and follow InvestPenang's social media channels: Facebook; LinkedIn. About MIDA

MIDA is the government's principal investment promotion and development agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to oversee and drive investments into the manufacturing and services sectors in Malaysia. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur Sentral, MIDA has 12 regional and 20 overseas offices. MIDA continues to be the strategic partner to businesses in seizing the opportunities arising from the technology revolution of this era. For more information, please visit www.mida.gov.my and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube channel. ATTACHMENTS: Press Release (pdf) If you do not wish to receive further media releases from LEM, you can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the following link: One-click-delete If the email looks unformatted, please use this alternative link.

End of Media Release


Dutch bank selects Finastra to future-proof its payments with a modern and functionally rich solution

LONDON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Finastra today announced that Rabobank - a large international financial services group headquartered in the Netherlands - has selected the latest version of Fusion Global PAYplus for increased efficiency and innovation in payments. Finastra's payments hub will also help the bank migrate to the new ISO 20022 payments standard, due to go live in the eurozone for SWIFT messages in November 2022.

With support from Finastra, Rabobank was recently awarded for achieving a straight-through processing (STP) rate for SWIFT MT103 and MT202 payment messages of over 99 percent for the last five years, by one of its correspondent banking partners. Upgrading Finastra's solution will enable the bank to continue processing cross border (high value) payments effectively, while benefiting from higher quality data and reduced errors and delays.

"One of the most important requirements when selecting Fusion Global PAYplus as the solution for our cross border (high value) payment processing was to increase our STP rate," Patrick Kipping, Area Lead Transaction Processing at Rabobank said. "This award is a recognition that we have succeeded in this together with Finastra. We are convinced that in close cooperation with Finastra, we can increase our STP rate even further in the years to come with the migration to ISO 20022."

Fusion Global PAYplus provides an incremental approach towards ISO 20022 migration. The solution supports MT to MX processing, enabling conversion between SWIFT's MT messaging and XML-based message formats. The bank can therefore gradually switch to a fully ISO 20022 compliant model to minimize disruption.

"Our global payments hub has helped Rabobank process its cross-border transactions quickly and efficiently for many years," Tal Weiser, Managing Director Sales, Global Services Payments at Finastra said. "It is designed to support ongoing innovation and adaptation to new industry demands. Now that the ISO 20022 mandate is fast approaching, the upgrade will drive compliance and future-proof the bank's payments processing. We are pleased to extend our support to Rabobank as it continues on its transformation journey."

For further information please contact:

Sofia Romano

EMEA PR Manager

T +44 (0)7552 865009

E sofia.romano@finastra.com

finastra.com

Caroline Duff

Global Head of PR

T +44 (0)7917 613586

E caroline.duff@finastra.com

finastra.com

About Finastra

Finastra is a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, and launched the leading open platform for innovation, FusionFabric.cloud, in 2017. It serves institutions of all sizes, providing award-winning solutions and services across Lending, Payments, Treasury & Capital Markets and Retail & Digital Banking for banks to support direct banking relationships and grow through indirect channels, such as embedded finance and Banking as a Service. Its pioneering approach and commitment to open finance and collaboration is why it is trusted by ~8,600 institutions, including 90 of the world's top 100 banks. For more information, visit finastra.com.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/finastra

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinastraFS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXMHbdfIgA6bzw_fsPN39bg

Corporate headquarters

4 Kingdom Street

Paddington

London W2 6BD

United Kingdom

T: +44 20 3320 5000

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WOOD GROUP (JOHN) PLC - Result of AGM

John Wood Group PLC ("Company")

LEI: 549300PLYY6I10B6S323

Annual General Meeting - Voting Results

Issued share capital at meeting date: 691,839,369 Number of votes per share: 1 vote per share

At the Annual General Meeting of John Wood Group PLC held on 22 June 2022, all resolutions put to shareholders were passed on a poll with the required majorities.

The full text of each resolution is contained in the Notice of Annual General Meeting, which is available on the Company's website www.woodplc.com/investors/annual-general-meeting

Resolutions 16 to 19 were considered and passed as Special Resolutions.

The final vote received in respect of each resolution was as follows:

Votes For (Including Discretionary) % Votes Against % Total Votes (excluding Votes Withheld) Votes Withheld* % of Issued Share Capital Voted ** 1 Report & accounts 542,330,031 99.99% 58,857 0.01% 542,388,888 897,926 78.40% 2 Remuneration report 468,842,224 86.32% 74,271,350 13.68% 543,113,574 173,240 78.50% 3 Re-elect Roy A Franklin 482,131,363 88.78% 60,923,085 11.22% 543,054,448 232,366 78.49% 4 Re-elect Birgitte Brinch Madsen 532,148,265 98.00% 10,881,568 2.00% 543,029,833 256,981 78.49% 5 Re-elect Jacqui Ferguson 530,118,310 97.62% 12,918,437 2.38% 543,036,747 250,067 78.49% 6 Re-elect Adrian Marsh 532,159,921 98.00% 10,869,747 2.00% 543,029,668 257,146 78.49% 7 Re-elect Nigel Mills 530,113,826 97.62% 12,924,892 2.38% 543,038,718 248,096 78.49% 8 Re-elect Brenda Reichelderfer 531,638,655 97.91% 11,372,155 2.09% 543,010,810 276,004 78.49% 9 Re-elect Susan Steele 532,148,388 98.00% 10,885,584 2.00% 543,033,972 252,842 78.49% 10 Re-elect Robin Watson 509,037,006 93.74% 33,970,733 6.26% 543,007,739 279,075 78.49% 11 Re-elect David Kemp 506,987,258 93.37% 36,022,651 6.63% 543,009,909 276,905 78.49% 12 Re-appointment of KPMG LLC as auditors 541,401,162 99.68% 1,721,310 0.32% 543,122,472 164,342 78.50% 13 Authorisation of auditors' remuneration 542,816,714 99.95% 247,167 0.05% 543,063,881 222,933 78.50% 14 To authorise the Company and its subsidiaries to make political donations and incur political expenditure 526,901,553 97.03% 16,154,112 2.97% 543,055,665 231,149 78.49% 15 Authority to allot shares 499,209,259 91.93% 43,834,909 8.07% 543,044,168 242,646 78.49% 16 Disapplication of pre-emption rights 539,195,420 99.32% 3,716,583 0.68% 542,912,003 374,811 78.47% 17 Disapply pre-emption rights for acquisitions and other capital investment 535,598,123 98.65% 7,345,193 1.35% 542,943,316 343,498 78.48% 18 Authority to purchase own shares 541,232,302 99.66% 1,820,569 0.34% 543,052,871 233,943 78.49% 19 Notice of general meetings 495,069,579 91.14% 48,121,693 8.86% 543,191,272 95,542 78.51%

* A vote withheld is not a vote in law and is not counted in the calculation of the proportion of votes 'For' or 'Against' a resolution.

** Votes withheld are excluded from the percentage of issued share capital voted calculation

These votes are also available on the Company's website at: www.woodplc.com/investors/annual-general-meeting

In accordance with LR 9.6.2, those resolutions passed at today's AGM which are required to be made available for inspection will shortly be available to view at:

https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism .

Notification authorised by:

Martin J McIntyre

Company Secretary
LONDON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Four years on, and with Windrush survivors still experiencing barriers to compensation, more legal support is available.

On 22 June, to mark the annual Windrush Day, the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) is raising awareness of the free legal support available to help more than 11,000 survivors of the Windrush scandal. The program aims to encourage more survivors, who were unlawfully detained, deported or denied their legal rights by the UK Government, and who are still to apply for compensation.

Following the launch of the Windrush Compensation Scheme in April 2019, only 7% of Windrush survivors have been compensated for the hardships and discrimination they unlawfully suffered.

Around 40 million has been reportedly paid to 1037 of the 3878 Windrush generation applicants. The Home Office estimated that around 15,000 were due compensation. Recent reports on the scheme by the Home Affairs Select Committee, JUSTICE and the Windrush Justice Clinic all concluded that the lack of government funded legal advice was a barrier to claimants bringing claims.

In April 2021 the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) in partnership with eight leading law firms including Dechert set up the Windrush Legal Initiative to provide legal advice and support for people to apply to the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

In January 2022, the Windrush Legal Initiative transferred from JCWI to GMIAU. Over the last year it has assisted 29 people with their claims.

Dechert partner Giles Belsey said, "We are delighted to be working with the GMIAU and our partner law firms to support Windrush claimants. We have seen first-hand that individuals can really benefit from legal assistance to help them through the documentation. Many people who are eligible to make claims may be reluctant to do so, they may not appreciate the real extent of losses they have suffered or they may feel put off by the process, time and effort. We understand it can be a difficult decision to come forward but we are there to help. We encourage those affected to obtain the free and confidential legal advice which is offered and ultimately to claim for compensation they are due."

Over the coming year the program aims to support more Windrush survivors. GMIAU have recently been awarded funding from the Access to Justice Foundation to provide outreach sessions to ensure work is targeted to those who most need it.

Supervising Solicitor of GMIAU, Nicola Burgess added: "The initiative provides vital access to justice for those who have experienced decades of disbelief. An inability to prove lawful status denies a person their rights and prevents access to key services we take for granted. The human impact of this is immeasurable. Many survivors we work with have lost employment, been detained, threatened with deportation, made homeless, experienced the breakdown of relationships and have been unable to visit loved ones. Working with our teams of lawyers they at last feel supported and listened to."

About Dechert

Dechert is a leading global law firm with 22 offices around the world. The firm advises on matters and transactions of the greatest complexity, bringing energy, creativity and efficient management of legal issues to deliver commercial and practical advice for clients.

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BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Hungary's unemployment rate continued to decline in the March to May period, data from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office showed on Thursday. The jobless rate fell to 3.4 percent during the March-May period from 3.5 percent in the three months to April. The number of unemployed persons decreased to 170,300 during the February-April period from 181,100 in the previous three months. The youth unemployment rate, which applies to the 15 to 24 age group, was 9.9 percent in the three months ended May. The employment rate remained unchanged at 66.2 percent in the March to May period. Data also showed that the unemployment rate for the month of April eased to 3.5 percent from 3.6 percent in March. This was the lowest rate since February 2020. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
HR Veteran to Shape Culture, Increase Hiring Productivity, Manage Compensation Programs and More

Quanergy Systems, Inc., (NYSE:QNGY) a leading provider of LiDAR sensors and smart 3D solutions, announced today that Lori Sundberg has joined the company in the role of Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO).

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005032/en/

Quanergy Welcomes Lori Sundberg as Chief Human Resources Officer (Graphic: Business Wire)

In this role, Sundberg will work closely with the executive team to increase productivity in hiring and onboarding talent, advance a communication-rich and outcome-oriented culture, and manage public company compensation programs with the board. She brings over three decades of human resources experience to Quanergy, having previously worked for Western Digital, Jacobs, American Express, Arizona Public Service and others. She is a business-focused, global HR executive who has led large corporate initiatives focused on organizational effectiveness, culture/values, talent and performance, leadership development, M&A, workforce planning, recruiting, compensation and people strategy.

Sundberg has been recognized with the Power Woman Award from New York Moves Magazine and ranked as a Top 50 Women in Tech.She currently serves on the board of Shoals Technologies where she is the Compensation Committee Chair.

Lori Sundberg, Chief Human Resources Officer, Quanergy Systems, Inc., said: "I like to look at the big picture as well as at the specific HR goals as I'm developing strategy. HR must be closely tied to business goals while recognizing that people truly are an organization's greatest resource. I'm glad to take on this new challenge in a company that has an innovative solution set and also clearly values its employees."

Kevin Kennedy, CEO, Quanergy Systems, Inc., said: "Lori is a broad-based, global HR executive and leader with depth in organization design and other key HR areas. We look forward to seeing her expertise in action as Quanergy continues building out the HR function to attract, retain and engage the top talent that we need to achieve our business goals."

For more information, visit www.quanergy.com.

About Quanergy Systems, Inc.

Quanergy's (NYSE: QNGY) mission is to create powerful, affordable smart LiDAR solutions for automotive and IoT applications to enhance people's experiences and safety. Quanergy has developed the only true 100% solid-state CMOS LiDAR sensor built on optical phased array (OPA) technology to enable the mass production of low-cost, highly reliable 3D LiDAR solutions. Through Quanergy's smart LiDAR solutions, businesses can now leverage real-time, advanced 3D insights to transform their operations in a variety of industries including industrial automation, physical security, smart cities, smart spaces and much more. Quanergy solutions are deployed by nearly 400 customers across the globe. For more information, please visit us at www.quanergy.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005032/en/

Contacts:

Media Contact

Shannon Van Every

media@quanergy.com



Investors:

QuanergyIR@ICRinc.com
NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Insight Partners published latest research study on Flooring Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis - by Product Type (Resilient Flooring, Non-Resilient Flooring, and Soft Cover and Others), Material [Carpets and Rugs, Wood, Laminates, Vinyl Sheets and Tiles (Homogeneous and Heterogeneous, LVT and VCT, and Others), Ceramic Tiles, and Stone and Others], Application (Residential and Non-Residential), and Geography. The projected market growth is attributed to an increase in consumer investments in renovation and refurbishing activities and high demand for the vinyl flooring.

There are different types of flooring available in the market, such as resilient flooring, seamless flooring, non-resilient flooring, and soft coverings. The growth in real estate, building, and construction sectors is increasing renovation and refurbishing activities in residential and non-residential segments. This is creating a huge demand for different flooring products.

Get Exclusive Access to Sample Pages of Flooring Market Size - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis with Strategic Insights at:https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPRE00008781/

Flooring Market Strategic Insights:

Report Coverage Details Market Size Value in US$ 412.66 Billion in 2021 Market Size Value by US$ 619.83 Billion by 2028 Growth rate CAGR of 6.1% from 2022 to 2028 Forecast Period 2022-2028 Base Year 2021 No. of Pages 150 No. Tables 84 No. of Charts & Figures 81 Historical data available Yes Segments covered Product Type, Material, and Application Regional scope North America; Europe; Asia Pacific; Latin America; MEA Country scope US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Argentina Report coverage Revenue forecast, company ranking, competitive landscape, growth factors, and trends

Flooring Market: Competition Landscape

Mohawk Flooring; Shaw Industries Group, Inc.; Tarkett; Armstrong Flooring, Inc.; Forbo International SA; Gerflor; Interface, Inc.; Beaulieu International Group; Toli Corporation; and Milliken are among the major players operating in the global flooring market. Players operating in the global flooring market are constantly focusing on strategies such as investments in research and development activities and new product launches. These market players are highly focused on developing high-quality and innovative product offerings to fulfill the customers' requirements.

Place Your Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/inquiry/TIPRE00008781/

In 2021, Asia Pacific held the largest share of the global flooring market. The growing construction industry in the region is contributing to the growth of the market. The growth in the construction industry is mainly attributed to increasing consumer spending on affordable housing, renovation, and development. Additionally, the increase in residential projects in emerging countries is positively influencing the flooring market growth in the region.

Increase in Demand for Vinyl Flooring Segment

There is an availability of advanced print and textural techniques, making it possible for vinyl flooring to imitate the look of various flooring options such as hardwood, marble, stone, and others. There are various benefits of vinyl flooring. It is cost-effective and exhibits numerous features such as durability, flexible handling, and easy design possibilities. This makes vinyl flooring a suitable option to be used in hospitals, schools, offices, and houses.

Flooring Market: Segmental Overview

Based on material, the market is segmented into carpets and rugs, wood, laminates, vinyl sheets and tiles, ceramic tiles, and stone and others. The ceramic tiles segment held the largest share in the global market in 2021. Ceramic tiles are easy to clean and maintain. These tiles finds application in offices, malls, bathrooms, houses, restaurants, and shops, and others. Ceramic tiles are commercially available in a wide range of colors, sizes, and textures. Hence, they are gaining consumer attraction for high-end flooring applications.

Connect with Our Research Analyst On: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/speak-to-analyst/TIPRE00008781/

Based on product type, the global market has been segmented into resilient flooring, non-resilient flooring, and soft cover and others. The non-resilient flooring segment held the largest share in the global market in 2021. The demand for non-resilient flooring is increasing gradually from residential homes, commercial buildings, and other segments. These non-resilient floorings are made up of inflexible, organic, and hard surface materials comprising ceramic tile, porcelain tile, and natural stone. This type of flooring needs less maintenance and is cost-effective in nature. It also comes in a variety of textures, colors, and patterns.

Based on application, the market is segmented into residential and non-residential. The residential segment held a larger share in the global market in 2021. An increase in reconstruction and renovation activities in the residential sector to enhance the appearance of the building is creating a demand for flooring products.

The global flooring market has been segmented based on material into carpets and rugs, wood, laminates, vinyl sheets and tiles, ceramic tiles, and stone and others. The ceramic tiles segment held the largest share in the global flooring market in 2021. Ceramic tiles are composed of various minerals and clays such as feldspar, zircon, bentonite, and kaolin. These ceramic tiles are primarily used in offices, malls, bathrooms, houses, restaurants, and shops, and others. These are durable, rigid, and environment-friendly materials that comply with green building standards, and thus are gaining traction in flooring and walling applications. These products are commercially available in a wide range of colors, sizes, and textures, thus gaining consumer attraction for high-end flooring applications. Therefore, demand for visual appeal in ceramic tiles is driving product innovations such as the development of natural and wooden finish designs that are expected to contribute to the overall expansion of the market.

Key Developments

In February 2019 , Tackett refreshed its solid color palette for resilient flooring

, Tackett refreshed its solid color palette for resilient flooring In May 2021 , Armstrong Flooring introduced Biome, Terra, and Coalesce luxury flooring. Biome was created to capture and translate an organic aesthetic and tactile warmth into the built environment, strengthening the human connection with nature.

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In 2021, Asia Pacific held the largest share of the global flooring market. The flooring market in Asia Pacific is mainly driven by an increase in residential projects in various countries such as India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

The non-resilient flooring segment held the largest share of the global flooring market in 2021. Non-resilient flooring is made up of inflexible, organic, and hard surface materials. This type of flooring requires less maintenance and is cost-effective in nature. The residential segment held a larger share of the global flooring market in 2021. Due to the rising population and increasing consumer disposable income, the demand from the residential segment is anticipated to increase.

Asia Pacific is estimated to register the fastest CAGR in the global flooring market over the forecast period. The flooring market in Asia Pacific is competitive and dynamic because of the significant presence of manufacturers and associated flooring and construction businesses in the region.

The global flooring market is primarily driven by increasing investments in renovation and refurbishing activities by consumers.

Buy Premium Copy of Flooring Market Size, Share, Revenue, Strategic Insights and Forecasts 2022-2028 Research Report at: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/buy/TIPRE00008781/

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Flooring Market

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant economic losses across the globe. The flooring market experienced the adverse effects of the pandemic in 2020. The pandemic led to temporary effects on the operational efficiencies of various industries. It negatively impacted the demand for flooring products. Difficulties faced by the manufacturers in procuring raw materials (bricks, cement, sand, tiles, and others) and the subsequent shutdown of manufacturing facilities hampered the market growth. The residential and commercial segments were negatively impacted due to the closure of construction activities.

However, various construction activities are recovering slowly, with many infrastructure projects in the pipeline. The demand for flooring products is witnessing significant growth due to a recovery in business activities. Accelerated vaccination programs and investments in the construction & building sector will help the flooring market recover.

Browse Latest and Related Reports:

Commercial Flooring Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Types (Resilient Flooring, Non- Resilient Flooring, Soft Coverings, Seamless Flooring, Wood and Laminate); Application (Commercial Buildings, Public Buildings, Education, Others) and Geography

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Ceramic and Natural Stone Tiles Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Type (Glazed ceramic tiles, Limestone, Travertine, Granite, Others); Application (Residential, Commercial) and Geography

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LONDON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wirex, a leading digital payments platform, revealed today a variety of features for new and existing customers in the UK. Following constructive dialogue with UK regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority, the company has announced that they will be resuming services in the UK.

Founded with the goal to help users make the most out of their money, Wirex is an innovative payments platform that gives customers the ability to buy, hold, exchange and sell multiple different currencies from a centralised, intuitive app. With over 5 million customers worldwide, Wirex is now set to bring a variety of upgraded and innovative products to the UK market.

New UK users will now be able to order Wirex's Mastercard debit card, which allows holders to seamlessly spend a variety of currencies at over 81 million locations worldwide. Additionally, all UK users will now have access to increased daily top-up and spending limits, exclusive OTC exchange rates, and zero fees on FX and transfers to contacts.

Pavel Matveev, CEO and Co-Founder of Wirex expressed his support for the decision. "As we work towards financial inclusion, it's vital to collaborate with industry regulators to ensure security and transparency for all users. We're grateful to have worked alongside the FCA as we proactively contribute towards building a stable and innovative environment for fintech companies operating in the UK. We're delighted that users will not only have access to Wirex's arsenal of industry-leading products, but also the knowledge that we're operating with the best practices for our users and that we're leading by example in the fintech sector."

In the coming weeks, the company plans to add to their UK product offering by launching Faster Payments in the Wirex app as well as expanding account functionalities for GBP holders with the integration of account numbers and sort codes.

About Wirex

Wirex is a worldwide digital payment platform and regulated institution that has forged new rules in the digital payments space. In the UK, Wirex Limited is licensed as an emoney institution by the FCA and provides fiat services only. Wirex Digital, a Croatian company, currently provides crypto services to UK customers. In 2015, the firm developed the world's first crypto-enabled payment card that gives users the ability to seamlessly spend crypto and traditional currencies in real life.

Wirex was created in 2014 by CEOs and co-founders Pavel Matveev and Dmitry Lazarichev, who identified the need to open up the esoteric world of cryptocurrencies and make digital money accessible for everyone. With the core aim of making it as easy as possible to use digital assets in everyday life, Wirex provides a trusted and cost-effective service for crypto and traditional currency transactions by incorporating the next generation of payments infrastructure integrated with cryptocurrency blockchains.

With over 5 million customers across 130 countries, the company offers secure accounts that allow customers to easily store, buy and exchange multiple currencies instantly at the best live rates on one centralised mobile app. Quick and simple crypto transfer options are available, as well as the freedom to spend 150+ traditional and cryptocurrencies in more than 80 million locations around the world using the Wirex card.

Wirex continues to develop the product in line with market developments, whilst adhering to regional regulations and securing appropriate licensing where it exists. A proven industry pioneer, Wirex launched their own native utility token, WXT, and introduced the world's first crypto reward programme, Cryptoback, which earns cardholders up to 8% back in WXT for every transaction they make.

To reflect the growth of the metaverse, throughout 2021, the company has expanded their product to enable mainstream access to DeFi. Starting with the launch of their popular X-Accounts feature, offering unprecedented levels of interest, Wirex has continued to add to their DeFi arsenal with the release of the non-custodial Wirex Wallet and a partnership with Nereus, a decentralised liquidity market.?

Wirex is based in London, with offices in Singapore, Kyiv, Dallas, Dublin and Atlanta. With over $5bn worth of transactions processed already and rapid expansion into new territories, including the US, Wirex is uniquely placed to support and promote the mass adoption of a cashless society through creative solutions.?

| wirexapp.com |

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un laughs during a meeting of the central military commission of the Workers' Party in Pyongyang, Wednesday, to discuss major tasks to build up national defense and implement key defense policies. Yonhap



Pyongyang's next test could involve more powerful bomb: RAND analyst



By Kang Seung-woo



North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has yet to press the nuclear button, despite urgent warnings from South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities that the North has completed preparations for another nuclear test.



Diplomatic observers agree that a nuclear test is still imminent. But they believe the delay may be due to pressure from China or because Pyongyang is weighing the possible political repercussions.



Citing comments made by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Eighth Workers' Party Conference in January 2021 that his country will enhance its nuclear and missile capabilities, as well as the 31 missiles launched so far this year and the reconstruction of its nuclear test site, Joseph DeTrani, a former U.S. special envoy for negotiations with North Korea, said the reclusive country is prepared for a seventh nuclear test.



However, DeTrani said pressure from China may be behind the delayed nuclear test, because increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula with South Korea and the United States is not in the best interests of Beijing.



China is North Korea's sole economic pipeline and diplomatic guardian, which prevents the United Nations Security Council from imposing sanctions on the totalitarian state for its provocations.



"China may be encouraging North Korea to refrain from another nuclear test, concerned that the reaction of the United States and South Korea could further exacerbate relations with North Korea and bring greater tension to the Korean Peninsula, with the possibility of accidental conflict," he said.



"China does not want greater tension  and indeed conflict  on the Korean Peninsula, given the myriad of issues on Chinese President Xi Jinping's plate, requiring his immediate attention," DeTrani added.



Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a professor of international relations at King's College London, also presented a similar view of China's role.



"I would imagine that China is trying to press North Korea not to conduct another nuclear test, since it would bring more instability to the region," he said.



"So probably Kim has to consider the extent to which he wants to anger China with a new test. Neither Beijing nor Moscow will allow new U.N. Security Council sanctions to be imposed on North Korea, but China remains Pyongyang's main economic lifeline, so Kim has to maintain good relations with it," Pacheco Pardo added.



Amid growing concerns over a possible North Korean nuclear test, the U.S. government recently discussed the issue with China, according to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who held discussions with his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, in Europe earlier this month.



Plus, the South Korean presidential office also seems to believe that China is playing a role in North Korea pushing back a nuclear test.



Along with the China variable, the North Korean leader seems to be weighing the political repercussions of another nuclear test, which would be the first since 2017, according to experts.



"I genuinely think that Kim Jong-un has yet to decide whether the benefits of a new nuclear test outweigh the costs," Pacheco Pardo said.



According to the expert, the main benefit for North Korea from its seventh nuclear test would be the continued improvement of its technology.



"But potential costs include new sanctions from South Korea and the U.S., pushing back the possibility of any diplomacy with them, and China and Russia becoming displeased due to the instability that a test would bring," Pacheco Pardo said.



He also said the North Korean leader tried to present his country as a responsible nuclear power in 2017, but conducting a test would undermine that claim.



"If Kim really wanted to conduct the nuclear test without any doubt, he would have already gone ahead. Thus, why I think that he is undecided," he added.



Bruce Bennett, a senior international defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, speculated that North Korean scientists had not yet completed the nuclear weapon he wants tested.



"Kim knows that he can only test a small number of nuclear weapons without really serious U.S. retaliation, and even one test could cause a serious retaliation. So he likely is trying to have a weapon worth testing, and his scientists may not have given him that yet," Bennett said.



Bennett also said Kim often waits for the right timing to initiate major provocations.



"He may be waiting for a particular anniversary or other event (for example, July 4, when his father tested ballistic missiles in 2006 and 2009), or to retaliate against some perceived U.S. offense," he added.



According to South Korean authorities, North Korea's unprecedented missile tests so far this year as well as its preparations for a nuclear test are seen as part of moves to develop tactical nuclear weapons, which have a small yield warhead of up to 20 kilotons that are compact enough to mount on short or mid-range missiles, raising speculation that a tactical nuclear weapon may be tested this time.



However, Bennett, a defense analyst, was skeptical of the speculation.



"I have heard a lot of speculation on Kim testing tactical nuclear weapons. But the yields of tactical nuclear weapons tend to be in the range of his first to fifth nuclear tests  nothing new, nothing too exciting (and how would we know if it is miniaturized or not?)," he said.



The yields of North Korea's first five nuclear tests were estimated to reach up to 25 kilotons, but the sixth was estimated to have a yield of up to 100 kilotons.



"Kim is going to want a political benefit, and it is not clear that gets him any. I think it is entirely possible that he will test a bigger nuclear weapon, more like the sixth test or perhaps even bigger  something that would make major world news," Bennett said, admitting that it would demonstrate Kim's power, even though China would be furious.




Continued positive results from infill drill program at the Serra Alta deposit

Notable results include: FSA-184: 65.7m at 1.71 g/t Au from 142.2m; FSA-214: 15.5m at 6.38 g/t Au from 45.0m; and FSA-215: 82.6m at 1.48 g/t Au from 86.5m.

Gogo da Onca discovery hole results reveal initial shallow economic interval

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 23, 2022) - Cerrado Gold Inc. (TSXV: CERT) (OTCQX: CRDOF) ("Cerrado" or the "Company") is pleased to announce further assay results from its ongoing Infill drill program at the Serra Alta deposit and from additional exploration targets outside the current resource base at its Monte do Carmo Project located in Tocantins State, Brazil ("MDC"). The infill drill program commenced in Q4 2021 with the objective to upgrade existing Resources and to support the ongoing feasibility study. The 2022 development program is on track to deliver an updated Resource in Q3 2022 and a Feasibility study in 1Q 2023. In parallel, Cerrado continues to drill district targets, including the newly discovered Gogo da Onca ("Gogo") area.

The Company is currently reporting assay results from 19 drill holes (see Tables 1 & 2) completed from February to May 2022 including 15 infill holes and one condemnation drill hole at Serra Alta, and 3 additional exploratory drill holes. As of June 17, 2022 a total of 89 drill holes, totaling 21,460 metres ("m"), have been completed as part of the 2022 program: 78 holes at Serra Alta (infill + condemnation and partial extensions); 6 holes at Gogo da Onca (Exploration); 4 holes at Capitao (Exploration) and 1 hole at Eldorado (Condemnation). Infill drill results reported today show excellent grade and width reconciliation from the inferred blocks in the current Resource estimate at Serra Alta. The Company is also pleased to report assay results of the discovery hole at Gogo.

The Company currently has 7 rigs on site actively drilling, with six rigs focused on infill and geotechnical programs and a seventh actively drilling the initial holes at Gogo.

Drill Hole Highlights (All composites are reported as true thickness):

Serra Alta (Infill)

FSA-184

65.7m at 1.71 g/t Au from 142.2m

Including 3.1m at 7.16 g/t Au from 179.3m, and Including 3.6m at 12.04 g/t Au from 191.6m.



FSA-192

29.6m at 3.1 g/t Au from 34.7 m Including 3.9m at 16.57 g/t Au from 54.9m

7.8m at 8.16 g/t Au from 239.9m

FSA-205

57.5m at 1.56 g/t Au from 91.9m

FSA-214

15.5m at 6.38 g/t Au from 45.0m Including 3.2m at 21.18 g/t Au from 56.4m



FSA-215

82.6m at 1.48 g/t Au from 86.5m

FSA-218

21.3m at 2.84 g/t Au from 118.6m

Gogo da Onca

FGO-001

20.4m at 0.78 g/t Au from 96.2m Including 2.2m at 2.01 g/t Au from 101.2m



Mark Brennan, CEO and Co-Chairman, commented, "We continue to look for strong conversion rates of Inferred to Measured and Indicated Resources from our infill program and increasing potential to grow the existing resource to the east at Serra Alta. The initial hole at Gogo confirms our expectation that this target has strong potential to add near mine, near surface ounces to our Monte do Carmo project and demonstrates the potential to continue to grow resources outside of Serra Alta."

Serra Alta Infill

The main objective of the 15 infill drill holes reported today (11 collared at the East Zone, 1 in Pit Norte and 3 in Pit Sul) is to convert inferred blocks within the model into the Indicated category by closing the drill spacing between holes. (See Figure 1 for drill hole locations, and Figure 2 for relevant cross sections). Results confirm the general continuity of the high-grade domains within the constraining pit shell, both along strike and laterally.

Drill holes FSA-184, FSA-188, FSA-192, FSA-197, FSA-202, FSA-205, FSA-208, FSA-212, FSA-213, FSA-215 and FSA-218 were collared in the East Zone. The East Zone accounts for approximately two thirds of the pit's current constrained resource estimate. The best results (see cross sections in Figure 2) include FSA-184 with 65.7m at 1.71 g/t Au from 142.2 m, including 3.6m at 12.04 g/t Au from 191.6m; FSA-192 with 29.6m at 3.10 g/t Au, from 34.7m, including 3.9m at 16.57 g/t Au from 54.9m; and FSA-218 with 21.4m at 2.8 g/t Au from 118.6m.

Drill holes FSA-214, FSA-216 and FSA-227 were collared in Pit Sul. Drill holes FSA-214 & FSA-216 notably expanded the volume and gold endowment of the previously High-grade domain and are expected to have a positive effect in the resource update.

Drill hole FSA-237, was collared at the western half of Pit Norte, targeting a shallow narrow trend decoupled from the main High-grade domain.

Hole FSZ-002 was collared 170m to the east of the east pit wall of the East Zone. Although narrow, the hole intercepted 2.2m at 0.89 g/t Au from 367.8m. The significance of this intersection is that the hole proved that the granite/volcanic contact is displaced upwards in this far east area, opening possible shallower than expected extensions of mineralized trends to the east.

Gogo da Onca Discovery: Satellite Exploration

Cerrado is pleased to report results of its discovery hole at Gogo. Hole FGO-001 was collared 400m north of the north wall of the Serra Alta PEA open pit. Gogo represents a new structural block bounded by west-east faults analogous to the zones that define the Serra Alta deposit (e.g. East Zone, Pit Norte and Pit Sul).

Hole FGO-001intercepted two shallow relevant intervals: 7.1m at 1.16 Au g/t from 50.7m and 20.4m at 0.78 g/t Au from 96.2m. Mineralization is associated with extensional and shear quartz veins hosted by equigranular granite with potassic alteration, geologically very similar to the permissive intrusive phases at Serra Alta. The intrusive relation of the granite and felsic volcanics, a known control of better endowed mineralized zones in Serrra Alta, is also well defined at Gogo. Furthermore, preliminary lithogeochemical classification based on trace elements (e.g., Nb and Y) shows the same magmatic affinity of the Gogo granite and the Serra Alta lithogeochemical host, reassuring the fertility of this block.

Mineralization is associated with quartz veins that developed denser arrays along a north/south trend, this trend seems truncated by a fault that juxtaposes the altered granite with a less altered intrusive. Interestingly a discrete shear vein was intercepted at 504.0m carrying 1.44 g/t Au for 1.4m, opening a second deeper trend.

Cerrado is progressing the 8th hole at Gogo and plans to drill an additional 2 to 4 holes to complete the first phase of mineralization delineation.

Capitao Drilling

The Capitao Target is located 6 km to the south of Serra Alta along the same granite complex. The two holes reported today complete assays for the 14-drill hole program (5,114.52m) begun in 2021 and continued into Q1 2022. The company is integrating this data in an update geological model.





Figure 1. Reported and Ongoing Drill Hole Locations

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7487/128651_3a2110c67429096e_002full.jpg

EAST ZONE





Figure 2. Cross Sections of highlighted Drill Holes*

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7487/128651_3a2110c67429096e_003full.jpg





PIT SUL & GOGO DA ONCA

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7487/128651_3a2110c67429096e_004full.jpg

* Note sections are shown at different scale

Table 1. Drill Hole locations



Sector Hole number UTM E

m UTM N

m Elevation m Total Depth m Azimuth Dip Infill/

Condemnation East Zone FSA-184 8810299.9 820601.2 579.4 459.2 96 -31 East Zone FSA-188 8810582.1 820574.8 664.3 280.6 132 -57 East Zone FSA-192 8810300.9 820600.2 579.1 330.6 110 -33 East Zone FSA-197 8810338.1 820607.4 582.1 226.1 98 -52 East Zone FSA-202 8810279.5 820595.3 570.2 140.7 140 -23 East Zone FSA-205 8810302.2 820601.7 578.8 185.8 135 -27 East Zone FSA-208 8810519.8 820709.8 665.3 499.0 117 -50 East Zone FSA-212 8810270.6 820537.9 524.5 160.9 128 -19 East Zone FSA-213 8810609.3 820473.4 569.7 252.3 98 -28 East Zone FSA-215 8810270.7 820537.1 524.4 259.6 110 -45 East Zone FSA-218 8810273.9 820532.5 524.4 168.0 107 -56 Pit Norte FSA-237 8810142.2 820441.9 460.6 73.2 109 -49 Pit Sul FSA-214 8809603.2 820343.7 468.0 169.1 100 -19 Pit Sul FSA-216 8809617.0 820278.3 452.9 144.6 117 -57 Pit Sul FSA-227 8809801.5 820142.7 414.5 70.6 112 -20 Condemnation FSZ-002 8810209.9 821202.8 689.5 380.4 282 -71

















Exploration Capitao FCP-013 8805771.1 821265.2 554.3 729.3 89 -32 Capitao FCP-014 8805678.5 821177.5 535.5 342.4 90 -29 Gogo da Onca FGO-001 8811098.0 820508.0 539.6 566.4 101 -39

*Collar coordinates by GNSS TP-20 UTM Coordinates, Datum: SAD69 / zone 22S.

*Azimuth Set by compass

*Dip and drill hole trajectory by DEVIFLEX Devico

Table 2. Drill Hole Composites - Infill Drilling



DDH

From To LENGTH (m) True Width (m) Au (g/t) East

Zone FSA-184 and 36.46 44.29 7.83 7.83 1.01 FSA-184 and 48.82 52.09 3.27 3.27 1.38 FSA-184 and 55.29 63.94 8.65 8.65 1.09 FSA-184 and 74.04 77.36 3.32 3.32 1.25 FSA-184 and 80.80 89.81 9.01 9.01 3.29 FSA-184 includes 80.80 84.27 3.47 3.47 6.45 FSA-184 and 111.30 121.36 10.06 10.06 1.78 FSA-184 includes 112.38 113.59 1.21 1.21 12.00 FSA-184 and 142.16 207.88 65.72 65.72 1.71 FSA-184 includes 179.25 182.39 3.14 3.14 7.16 FSA-184 includes 191.59 195.15 3.56 3.56 12.04 FSA-184 and 217.04 218.17 1.13 1.13 0.40 FSA-184 and 220.53 227.23 6.70 6.70 0.78 FSA-184 and 241.70 242.72 1.02 1.02 4.71 FSA-184 and 247.95 249.00 1.05 1.05 3.76 FSA-184 and 256.60 260.90 4.30 4.30 1.11 FSA-184 and 272.51 276.90 4.39 4.39 0.99 FSA-184 and 331.34 353.10 21.76 21.76 1.37 FSA-184 includes 349.90 353.10 3.20 3.20 4.23 FSA-184 and 367.60 368.69 1.09 1.09 2.06 FSA-184 and 399.60 400.60 1.00 1.00 1.73 FSA-184 and 411.89 412.89 1.00 1.00 0.57 FSA-184 and 437.98 440.19 2.21 2.21 3.21 FSA-188 and 125.25 129.08 3.83 3.32 0.29 FSA-188 and 145.82 146.90 1.08 0.94 0.36 FSA-188 and 172.20 181.55 9.35 8.11 0.83 FSA-188 includes 174.30 177.50 3.20 2.78 1.41 FSA-188 and 185.60 188.40 2.80 2.43 0.50 FSA-188 and 210.13 216.18 6.05 5.25 1.58 FSA-188 includes 214.00 215.07 1.07 0.93 5.49 FSA-192 and 34.69 65.56 30.87 29.63 3.10 FSA-192 includes 54.91 59.00 4.09 3.93 16.57 FSA-192 includes 61.27 63.35 2.08 2.00 3.42 FSA-192 and 68.75 72.87 4.12 3.96 0.37 FSA-192 and 76.00 77.00 1.00 0.96 0.48 FSA-192 and 81.00 82.06 1.06 1.02 0.35 FSA-192 and 90.40 91.40 1.00 0.96 0.47 FSA-192 and 95.00 97.29 2.29 2.20 0.89 FSA-192 and 132.26 138.67 6.41 6.15 1.29 FSA-192 includes 132.26 133.30 1.04 1.00 6.87 FSA-192 and 147.00 152.00 5.00 4.80 1.60 FSA-192 and 163.00 177.86 14.86 14.27 1.83 FSA-192 includes 172.60 175.64 3.04 2.92 4.11 FSA-192 and 188.66 204.06 15.40 14.78 1.44 FSA-192 includes 197.68 199.67 1.99 1.91 4.89 FSA-192 and 221.85 222.91 1.06 1.02 3.61 FSA-192 and 239.93 248.01 8.08 7.76 8.16 FSA-192 and 271.76 275.34 3.58 3.44 0.35 FSA-197 and 66.58 94.35 27.77 24.75 1.03 FSA-197 includes 92.08 93.27 1.19 1.06 4.48 FSA-197 and 103.40 104.64 1.24 1.11 0.36 FSA-197 and 132.65 133.84 1.19 1.06 0.58 FSA-197 and 149.72 150.90 1.18 1.05 2.96 FSA-197 and 157.43 159.61 2.18 1.94 0.42 FSA-197 and 163.30 164.30 1.00 0.89 0.30 FSA-197 and 168.76 169.94 1.18 1.05 0.50 FSA-202

25.16 31.80 6.64 6.13 0.76 FSA-202 and 34.05 36.42 2.37 2.19 1.40 FSA-202 and 39.80 40.91 1.11 1.02 0.49 FSA-202 and 46.14 48.34 2.20 2.03 1.14 FSA-202 and 52.81 71.00 18.19 16.79 1.85 FSA-202 and 86.69 96.43 9.74 8.99 2.34 FSA-202 and 113.61 117.00 3.39 3.13 0.54 FSA-202 and 121.00 126.28 5.28 4.87 0.70 East

Zone FSA-205

42.00 43.00 1.00 0.92 0.31 FSA-205 and 51.29 53.85 2.56 2.36 0.57 FSA-205 and 59.11 62.41 3.30 3.05 0.40 FSA-205 and 74.31 75.50 1.19 1.10 0.30 FSA-205 and 91.92 154.25 62.33 57.54 1.56 FSA-205 Includes 101.70 102.86 1.16 1.07 6.56 FSA-205 Includes 121.68 129.20 7.52 6.94 4.64 FSA-205 Includes 148.80 151.03 2.23 2.06 5.12 FSA-208

192.81 195.92 3.11 2.45 0.37 FSA-208 and 201.13 206.65 5.52 4.36 2.44 FSA-208 and 218.80 219.85 1.05 0.83 0.56 FSA-208 and 224.17 225.27 1.10 0.87 0.40 FSA-208 and 259.08 260.10 1.02 0.81 0.52 FSA-208 and 281.55 282.60 1.05 0.83 0.45 FSA-208 and 297.21 298.21 1.00 0.79 1.18 FSA-208 and 308.61 315.76 7.15 5.64 2.65 FSA-208 Includes 313.68 315.76 2.08 1.64 5.55 FSA-208 and 319.98 336.64 16.66 13.15 0.97 FSA-208 Includes 331.47 333.52 2.05 1.62 3.89 FSA-208 and 347.73 356.17 8.44 6.66 0.28 FSA-208 and 367.01 374.91 7.90 6.24 2.37 FSA-208 Includes 372.04 373.84 1.80 1.42 9.36 FSA-208 and 383.30 390.63 7.33 5.79 1.82 FSA-212

5.32 13.60 8.28 7.66 0.51 FSA-212 and 62.91 64.05 1.14 1.05 0.71 FSA-212 and 69.63 71.65 2.02 1.87 5.06 FSA-212 and 84.10 99.34 15.24 14.10 1.08 FSA-212 and 104.92 112.74 7.82 7.23 0.83 FSA-212 Includes 110.70 112.74 2.04 1.89 2.38 FSA-212 and 117.26 134.72 17.46 16.15 0.57 FSA-212 Includes 133.67 134.72 1.05 0.97 2.48 FSA-213 and 57.75 58.59 0.84 0.84 0.57 FSA-213 and 69.41 70.41 1.00 1.00 0.30 FSA-213 and 74.50 75.41 0.91 0.91 4.43 FSA-213 and 79.42 81.70 2.28 2.28 0.49 FSA-213 and 83.84 88.65 4.81 4.81 0.29 FSA-213 and 109.20 111.16 1.96 1.96 0.42 FSA-213 and 118.77 119.80 1.03 1.03 0.34 FSA-213 and 124.00 125.83 1.83 1.83 0.55 FSA-213 and 149.00 152.34 3.34 3.34 1.18 FSA-213 and 169.53 170.51 0.98 0.98 0.38 FSA-213 and 180.90 181.94 1.04 1.04 0.30 FSA-213 and 184.90 186.93 2.03 2.03 0.81 FSA-215

9.44 11.70 2.26 1.99 0.49 FSA-215 and 86.54 180.57 94.03 82.64 1.48 FSA-215 Includes 111.42 116.68 5.26 4.62 6.02 FSA-215 Includes 123.30 124.57 1.27 1.12 12.05 FSA-215 Includes 129.02 132.47 3.45 3.03 3.68 FSA-215 Includes 146.16 148.46 2.30 2.02 3.90 FSA-215 Includes 156.17 157.16 0.99 0.87 13.80 FSA-215 and 199.14 203.40 4.26 3.74 0.37 FSA-215 and 207.89 209.00 1.11 0.98 1.04 FSA-215 and 211.02 212.10 1.08 0.95 0.84 FSA-218

8.60 11.82 3.22 3.01 5.09 FSA-218 and 17.24 19.28 2.04 1.91 2.70 FSA-218 and 45.29 46.38 1.09 1.02 0.41 FSA-218 and 48.77 49.77 1.00 0.93 0.86 FSA-218 and 51.82 52.84 1.02 0.95 0.92 FSA-218 and 74.70 75.81 1.11 1.04 0.32 FSA-218 and 100.34 103.65 3.31 3.09 0.95 FSA-218 and 118.56 141.42 22.86 21.36 2.84 FSA-218 Includes 118.56 121.91 3.35 3.13 5.78 FSA-218 Includes 130.52 131.68 1.16 1.08 6.60 FSA-218 Includes 135.06 138.31 3.25 3.04 9.60 FSA-218 and 150.41 156.47 6.06 5.66 0.27



DDH

From To LENGTH (m) True Width (m) Au (g/t) Pit Norte FSA-237 and 8.00 8.81 0.81 0.81 2.60 Pit Sul FSA-214 and 2.61 4.61 2.00 2.00 0.33 FSA-214 and 8.52 9.53 1.01 1.01 2.66 FSA-214 and 17.65 18.76 1.11 1.11 1.33 FSA-214 and 45.00 60.50 15.50 15.50 6.38 FSA-214 includes 56.40 59.60 3.20 3.20 21.18 FSA-214 and 63.55 76.25 12.70 12.70 1.99 FSA-214 and 86.75 106.60 19.85 19.85 1.27 FSA-214 includes 101.40 103.50 2.10 2.10 4.52 FSA-216

7.73 12.48 4.75 4.34 4.04 FSA-216 Includes 11.20 12.48 1.28 1.17 13.35 FSA-216 and 25.00 28.09 3.09 2.82 0.34 FSA-216 and 36.30 39.45 3.15 2.88 5.18 FSA-227

23.95 24.95 1.00 0.92 0.34 FSA-227 and 39.20 40.16 0.96 0.88 0.32 FSA-227 and 43.22 44.23 1.01 0.93 0.34 FSA-227 and 46.09 48.05 1.96 1.81 1.00 FSA-227 and 52.00 52.95 0.95 0.88 0.35 FSA-227 and 58.37 59.40 1.03 0.95 0.38 Condemnation FSZ-002 and 367.83 370.00 2.17 2.17 0.89



DDH

From To LENGTH (m) True Width (m) Au (g/t) Capitao FCP-013

50.24 53.53 3.29 3.29 1.33 FCP-013 includes 52.47 53.53 1.06 1.06 2.59 FCP-013 and 92.82 93.70 0.88 0.88 0.33 FCP-013 and 95.82 96.81 0.99 0.99 1.02 FCP-013 and 190.76 191.79 1.03 1.03 0.39 FCP-013 and 254.15 255.19 1.04 1.04 0.48 FCP-013 and 268.55 269.55 1.00 1.00 0.43 FCP-013 and 477.58 478.87 1.29 1.29 0.42 FCP-014

48.55 49.57 1.02 1.02 0.69 FCP-014 and 57.76 58.79 1.03 1.03 0.30 FCP-014 and 91.68 92.71 1.03 1.03 0.38 FCP-014 and 107.10 108.10 1.00 1.00 0.36 FCP-014 and 132.85 133.87 1.02 1.02 0.43 FCP-014 and 175.99 177.03 1.04 1.04 0.96 FCP-014 and 240.53 241.48 0.95 0.95 0.58 Gogoo da

Onca FGO-001

50.68 57.77 7.09 7.09 1.16 FGO-001 Includes 51.69 52.70 1.01 1.01 6.57 FGO-001 and 80.54 81.64 1.10 1.10 0.89 FGO-001 and 96.24 116.60 20.36 20.36 0.78 FGO-001 Includes 101.18 103.36 2.18 2.18 2.01 FGO-001 and 503.95 505.39 1.44 1.44 1.20 FGO-001 and 510.89 511.94 1.05 1.05 0.57

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Analytical work was carried out by ALS international lab (ALS). MDC sent half core samples for sample preparation to the lab. The facilities of the prep lab are located in Goiania, Brazil 835 km from the MDC project and alternatively in Belo Horizonte, Brazil 1,110 Km from the MDC project. MDC sends out samples to ALS international labs (ALS) with the prep lab located in Goiania or alternatively in Belo Horizonte. ALS lab sends the prepared aliquots for analytical assay to their lab in Lima, Peru where the prepared samples are systematically analyzed for gold (ppm) by fire assay (Au-AA24) or gold (ppm) by metallic screen (Au-SCR24). Randomly the ICP (Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) is done for trace elements in 4 acids (hydrofluoric, perchloric, nitric and hydrochloric) digestion (ME-MS-61). ALS has routine quality control procedures which ensure that every batch of samples includes three sample repeats and at least two commercial standards and two blanks. Cerrado uses standard QA/QC procedures, inserting reference standards and blanks, for the drilling program. The Reference material used are from CDN Resource Laboratories Ltd., ITAK (Instituto de Tecnologia August Kekule Ltda. and OREAS).

Review of Technical Information

The scientific and technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Sergio Gelcich., Vice President, Exploration for Cerrado Gold Inc., who is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101.

For further information please contact

Mark Brennan

CEO and Co Chairman

Tel: +1-647-796-0023

mbrennan@cerradogold.com

Nicholas Campbell, CFA

Director, Corporate Development

Tel.: +1-905-630-0148

ncampbell@cerradogold.com

About Cerrado Gold

Cerrado Gold is a public gold producer and exploration company with gold production derived from its 100% owned Minera Don Nicolas mine in Santa Cruz province, Argentina. It also owns 100% of the assets of Minera Mariana in Santa Cruz province, Argentina. The company is also undertaking exploration and development activities at its 100% owned Monte Do Carmo project located in Tocantins, Brazil. For more information about Cerrado Gold please visit our website at: www.cerradogold.com.

Disclaimer

NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation, all statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that discusses predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, without limitation, statements regarding the business and operations of Cerrado Gold. In making the forward- looking statements contained in this press release, Cerrado Gold has made certain assumptions, including, but not limited to the Company's ability to increase the scale of the Monte Do Carmo resource base and the exploration potential of Gogo North. Although Cerrado Gold believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release. Except as required by law, Cerrado Gold disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/128651
Not to publish, distribute or release, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States of America, Canada, Australia, South Africa or Japan and in any other jurisdiction in which it is unlawful to release, publish or distribute this press release.

Regulatory News:

Teleperformance SE (the "Company") (Paris:TEP), the global leader in outsourced customer and citizen experience management and related digital services, announces the success of the tender offer (the "Tender Offer") on its 600,000,000 1.500% notes due 3 April 2024 (ISIN: FR0013248465) (the "2024 Notes") and 750,000,000 1.875% notes due 2 July 2025 (ISIN: FR0013346822) (the "2025 Notes" and, together with the 2024 Notes, the "Existing Notes").

The Company accepted the tender of Existing Notes for a final acceptance amount of 462,500,000 at a tender price of 100.000% for the 2024 Notes and for a final acceptance amount of 134,500,000 at a tender price of 99.250% for the 2025 Notes. As per this transaction, the remaining outstanding principal amount of the Existing Notes will be 137.500.000 for the 2024 Notes and 615,500,000 for the 2025 Notes.

This transaction finalizes the liability management operation initiated with the successful placement of its inaugural Sustainability-Linked Bonds (the "New Notes") on June 20, 2022, for 500,000,000 (with a 3.750% annual coupon and a 7-year maturity).

About Teleperformance Group

Teleperformance (TEP ISIN: FR0000051807 Reuters: TEPRF.PA Bloomberg: TEP FP), the global leader in outsourced customer and citizen experience management and related digital services, serves as a strategic partner to the world's largest companies in many industries. It offers a One Office support services model including end-to-end digital solutions, which guarantee successful customer interaction and optimized business processes, anchored in a unique, comprehensive high touch, high tech approach. Nearly 420,000 employees, based in 88 countries, support billions of connections every year in over 265 languages and around 170 markets, in a shared commitment to excellence as part of the "Simpler, Faster, Safer" process.This mission is supported by the use of reliable, flexible, intelligent technological solutions and compliance with the industry's highest security and quality standards, based on Corporate Social Responsibility excellence. In 2021, Teleperformance reported consolidated revenue of 7,115 million (US$8.4 billion, based on 1 $1.18) and net profit of 557 million.

Teleperformance shares are traded on the Euronext Paris market, Compartment A, and are eligible for the deferred settlement service. They are included in the following indices: CAC 40, STOXX 600, S&P Europe 350 and MSCI Global Standard. In the area of corporate social responsibility, Teleperformance shares are included in the Euronext Vigeo Euro 120 index since 2015, the EURO STOXX 50 ESG index since 2020, the MSCI Europe ESG Leaders index since 2019, the FTSE4Good index since 2018 and the S&P Global 1200 ESG index since 2017.

For more information: www.teleperformance.com Follow us on Twitter: @teleperformance

Disclaimer

Offering of the New Notes

This press release does not constitute or form part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for or to sell securities and the issue of the New Notes will not be an offer to the public (other than to qualified investors) in any jurisdiction, including France.

Important Information

This press release may not be published, distributed or released, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America, Australia, Canada, South Africa or Japan or in any jurisdiction in which the offer of the New Notes is unlawful. The distribution of this press release may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions and persons into whose possession any document or other information referred to herein comes, should inform themselves about and observe any such restriction. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

No communication or information relating to the offering of the New Notes may be transmitted to the public in a country where there is a registration obligation or where an approval is required. No action has been or will be taken in any country in which such registration or approval would be required. The issuance or the subscription of the New Notes may be subject to legal and regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions; the Company assumes no liability in connection with the breach by any person of such restrictions.

The New Notes will be offered only by way of a placement in France and/or outside France (excluding the United States of America, Australia, Canada, South Africa and Japan), solely to qualified investors (investisseurs qualifies) as defined in Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation (as defined below). There will be no public offering in any country (including France) in connection with the New Notes, other than to qualified investors. This press release does not constitute a recommendation concerning the issue of the New Notes. The value of the New Notes can decrease as well as increase. Potential investors should consult a professional adviser as to the suitability of the investment in the New Notes for the person concerned.

Prohibition of sales to European Economic Area retail investors

The New Notes are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the European Economic Area ("EEA"). For these purposes, the expression "retail investor" means a person who is one (or more) of the following:

(i.) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU (as amended, "MiFID II"); or

(ii.) a customer within the meaning of Directive 2016/97/EU, as amended, where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; or

(iii.) not a "qualified investor" as defined in Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017, as amended (the "Prospectus Regulation").

Consequently no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 (as amended, the "PRIIPs Regulation") for offering or selling the New Notes or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the EEA has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the New Notes or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the EEA may be unlawful under the PRIIPs Regulation.

Prohibition of sales to UK retail investors

The New Notes are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the United Kingdom ("UK"). For these purposes, the expression "retail investor" means a person who is one (or more) of the following:

(i.) a retail client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 2017/565 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("EUWA"); or

(ii.) a customer within the meaning of the provisions of the FSMA and any rules or regulations made under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended (the "FSMA") to implement Directive (EU) 2016/97, where that customer would not qualify as a professional client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the EUWA; or

(iii.) not a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the EUWA.

Consequently, no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the EUWA (the "UK PRIIPs Regulation") for offering or selling the New Notes or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the UK has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the New Notes or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the UK may be unlawful under the UK PRIIPs Regulation.

France

The New Notes will only be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in France, and this press release, the Company's base prospectus, the final terms of the New Notes or any other offering material relating to the New Notes will only be distributed or caused to be distributed in France, to qualified investors as defined in Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation pursuant to Article L.411-2 1 of the French Code monetaire et financier

United States of America

The New Notes have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or with any securities regulatory authority of any State or other jurisdiction in the United States of America, and may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act or such state securities laws. The New Notes are being offered and sold outside of the United States of America to non-U.S. persons pursuant to and in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act ("Regulation S"). Terms used in this paragraph and not otherwise defined have the meanings given to them in Regulation S.

Tender Offer

The Tender Offer is addressed to the Qualifying Holders (as defined in the Tender Offer Memorandum) of the Existing Notes, excluding U.S. Persons, the United States of America and any other jurisdiction where the Tender Offer would be prohibited by applicable law. Neither the Tender Offer Memorandum nor any other document relating to the Tender Offer has been submitted to the Autorite des marches financiers or any other authority for approval.

No communication and no information in respect of the repurchase of the Existing Notes may be distributed to the public in any jurisdiction where a registration or approval is required. No steps have been or will be taken outside of France in any jurisdiction where such steps would be required.

This press release does not constitute an invitation to participate in the Tender Offer or an offer to purchase the Existing Notes in or from any jurisdiction in or from which, or to or from any person to or from whom, it is unlawful to make such repurchase or offer under applicable securities laws. The release, publication or distribution of this press release in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. Consequently, any persons in such jurisdiction in which this press release is released, published or distributed are required by the Company to inform themselves about, and to observe, any such restrictions.

The Company makes no recommendation as to whether or not the holders of the Existing Notes should participate in the Tender Offer.

France

This press release is only intended in France for qualified investors as defined in Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation and only qualified investors in France and the EEA are eligible to participate in the Tender Offer. The Tender Offer Memorandum and any other document relating to the Tender Offer may only be distributed in France to qualified investors within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation and in accordance with Article L. 341-2, 1 of the French Code monetaire et financier

United States of America

The Tender Offer is not being made, and will not be made, directly or indirectly in the United States by means of the mails, or any other means or instrumentality (including, without limitation, facsimile, telex, telephone, electronic mail, or any other means of electronic transmission) of interstate or foreign commerce, or the facilities of a national securities exchange in the United States or to any U.S. Person (US. Person, as defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the "Securities Act") (each, a "U.S. Person"). The Existing Bonds referred to above may not be tendered in the Tender Offer by any such means or contest in or from the United States or by persons located or resident in the United States (U.S. Holders, as defined in Rule 800(h) of the Securities Act). Accordingly, no copy of this document, the Tender Offer Memorandum or any other document relating to the Tender Offer is being or shall be, directly or indirectly, distributed, transferred or transmitted in any manner whatsoever (including, without limitation, by custodians, agents or trustees) in or into the United States or to any such person. Any offer to sell in response to the Tender Offer resulting directly or indirectly from a violation of these restrictions will be void, and any offer to sell made by a person located in or resident in the United States, or any agent, trustee or other intermediary acting, in a non-discretionary manner, in the name of and on behalf of a principal instructing from within the United States, will be void and will not be accepted.

The securities may not be offered or sold in the United States because of absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. This press release does not constitute an offer for sale of any financial securities in the United States. The financial securities referred to in this press release have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any State of the United States or any other jurisdiction and may not be offered, sold or delivered, directly or indirectly, in the United States or to any U.S. Person.

For purposes of the foregoing paragraphs, "United States" means the United States of America, its territories and possessions (including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Wake Island and the Northern Mariana Islands), any state of the United States and the District of Columbia.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005504/en/

Contacts:

Teleperformance
Businesses will benefit from unlimited job postings 24/7, dramatically reduced annual recruitment costs and guaranteed relevant applications

LONDON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Jobrapido - the world's largest job search engine with more than 100 million registered job seekers in 58 countries - has launched the Smart Subscription Service.

The innovative fixed-fee recruitment model, based on performance, is set to help millions of direct employers and recruitment agencies across the UK meet their hiring needs in today's challenging market conditions.

Using the most advanced recruitment technology in the marketplace, the new subscription model will drastically reduce talent acquisition budgets and annual advertising costs for UK businesses. The new service has been already launched in Italy and the Netherlands and Jobrapido plans to roll out the subscription model across more regions in the EU by the end of 2022.

The cost of the subscription starts from a promotional 350 for a three-month period and will allow businesses to have unlimited job postings and change job postings 24/7 without ever having concerns of incurring additional costs. Smart Subscription is now available in the UK with three promotional offers for new customers: 3, 6 and 12-month.

Typically, recruitment costs are dramatically higher - it is estimated (according to research from Society for Human Resource Management - SHRM) that the average cost of one new employee is 3000+ and takes an average of 42 days to fill an open position.

The "industry first" also means businesses can:

Benefit from unlimited job postings at a fixed cost and from the full power of Smart Programmatic Advertising to access new candidate streams

Receive relevant on-demand applications from qualified candidates as well as a guaranteed number of applications

Benefit from Jobrapido's SMART INTUITION TECHNOLOGY which continuously scans and matches socio-demographical and behavioural data of all job seekers, building hyper-targeting capabilities and turning them into programmatic campaigns, to only deliver candidates which accurately fit the job positions companies are posting

Monitor recruitment progress in real time with a digital dashboard

Established in 2006, Jobrapido has partnered with many of the leading corporate brands, staffing agencies, fast-growing start-ups as well as multinationals operating in a wide range of vertical sectors including: Office and Administrative Support, Sales, Healthcare and Personal Care, Food and Hospitality, Business Operations, Transportation and Construction. Jobrapido also works closely with some of the largest and most prominent specialist job boards across the UK, Europe and other parts of the globe.

The company is headquartered in Milan and has offices in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Bangalore as well as Glasgow - which recently opened to support the launch of the new Smart Subscription Service.

Rob Brouwer, CEO of Jobrapido comments:

"Jobrapido recognised there was a big gap in the recruitment industry to ensure the talent acquisition needs of millions of small and medium sized organisations and recruiters can be met.

"Many businesses are still in the early stages of getting their business on track in the post pandemic era and so it's critical they can keep their recruitment advertising costs low, while being able to guarantee they find the right candidate from applications - particularly given such competitive and difficult talent acquisition market conditions.

"Jobrapido's smart programmatic technology is capable of identifying and delivering on demand only the most suitable candidates at affordable prices. Combining this with our new subscription recruitment model means companies can now reap the benefits of an innovative, personalised recruiting experience based on actual performance; it's more cost and time-efficient and delivers relevant applications while giving companies the flexibility and scalability they need in very tough market situations."

Photo- https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1845418/jobrapido.jpg
Hosted by ESMT Berlin, Germany's No. 1 business school, CDL's newest site is where Europe's most vibrant startup landscape intersects with a world-class life-science research ecosystem

Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Berlin, Germany, June 23, 2022, founded at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, is launching a new site and program stream in Berlin, Germany's most vibrant startup ecosystem. CDL-Berlin aims to massively improve personal and planetary health by engaging founders working at the leading edge of life sciences.

The new Healthstream at ESMT Berlin will integrate CDL's worldwide network of mentors, investors and entrepreneurs with Germany's globally renowned health care and research systems. This stream will focus on translational science and technology innovations that improve human health and wellness, including digital health, medical devices, diagnostics, bioinformatics, genomics, as well as biotechnologies including therapeutics and synthetic biology.

CDL delivers an objectives-based, nine-month mentorship program for massively scalable science- and tech-based startups. CDL-Berlin will bridge the current commercialization gap in Europe between ??scientific excellence and entrepreneurial translation. ??

Germany is known for outstanding research across all technological sectors, but has lacked in transferring technologies into ambitious ventures and ultimately new global champions. The country is now building a new generation of deep tech entrepreneurs that leverage the power of top-notch research to address the world's most pressing societal and environmental problems. In life science research and early discovery, Europe's direct annual global potential impact is estimated at $0.5 trillion to $1.3 trillion over the next 10 to 20 years.

CDL-Berlin will unleash this potential and significantly improve the lab-to-market timeline, as well as success rates, by supporting founders on their market access, regulatory and business challenges.

"CDL is a great addition to our entrepreneurship and tech portfolio at ESMT and will give our students who are interested in founding access to an experiential program and opportunities for hands-on experience. In cooperation with world-class health institutions based in Berlin, we would like to make a lasting impact within the thriving health care ecosystem," said Jorg Rocholl, President, ESMT.

"We are very pleased to have won over Thorsten Lambertus, with his strong expertise in deep tech innovation, to lead our CDL site, and look forward to announcing a renowned academic director in the near future," Rocholl added.

ESMT Berlin is at the heart of Europe, and is the ideal home for this new CDL site. ESMT is Germany's No. 1 business school, developing entrepreneurial leaders who think globally, and act responsibly. As an institution that's embedded in Germany's deep tech economy, ESMT holds close ties with top-tier research institutions, world-leading companies, and hidden champions across all sectors.

With the Health stream, CDL-Berlin focuses on an industry with a major recent success case: BioNTech. CDL-Berlin will contribute to global efforts in improving human health and wellness, and is situated to give founders access to a world-renowned center of medical excellence. It is home to several leading institutions and programs with a strong focus on health care, including:

Charite, the fifth-best hospital worldwide and a leading hospital in Europe.

A health care ecosystem ranked No. 3 in the World Index of Healthcare Innovation in 2021 (Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity).

The yearly World Health Summit, bringing together experts from academia, industry, and politics.

Eight life science technology parks, approximately 40 research facilities focusing on life sciences, and 170 health-related programs of study (Life Science Report Berlin 2019/2020).

"CDL is a structured social experience with economic impact. The program has a proven process for helping companies cut through distractions and focus on what's most important," says Sonia Sennik, executive director of CDL. "We are delighted to welcome Berlin's vibrant community of seasoned entrepreneurs and experienced investors to the global CDL network."

"Germany is an innovation powerhouse with outstanding research across all technological sectors, but innovators struggle to transfer technologies into ambitious and ultimately successful ventures," said Marco Janezic, founding partner of Blue Ribbon Partners, a company builder focusing on life sciences, and seasoned mentor at CDL-Oxford. "CDL-Berlin is well placed at Germany's top business school ESMT to fill this gap."

Companies and founders interested in applying to the CDL-Berlin Health stream can contact cdl-berlin@creativedestructionlab.comfor more information. Join a CDL Health Webinarto learn more. Applications will be accepted onlineuntil August 31, 2022.

About Creative Destruction Lab

Creative Destruction Lab

About ESMT Berlin

ESMT Berlin is the highest ranked business school in Germany and top 10 in Europe. Founded by 25 leading global companies, ESMT offers master's, MBA, and PhD programs, as well as executive education on its campus in Berlin, in locations around the world, online, and in online blended format. Focusing on leadership, innovation, and analytics, its diverse faculty publishes outstanding research in top academic journals. Additionally, the international business school provides an interdisciplinary platform for discourse between politics, business, and academia. ESMT is a non-profit private institution of higher education, accredited by AACSB, AMBA, EQUIS, and FIBAA, and is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion across all its activities and communities. https://esmt.berlin/

Media Contact

Amarpreet Kaur

Associate Director

Creative Destruction Lab

amarpreet.kaur@creativedestructionlab.com

Attachment
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 23, 2022) - Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd. (TSXV: GMG) ("GMG" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Dr Emma FitzGerald will join the Company's board of directors (the "Board"), effective July 1, 2022. GMG also announces that current Director Robbert de Weijer will leave the Board and the Company effective July 15, 2022.

Emma FitzGerald has 25+ years of leadership experience with global businesses in the Water and Energy Sectors. Most recently she was CEO of Puma Energy focused on delivering affordable and sustainable energy solutions to emerging markets in Africa, Central America and Asia. Prior to this she ran gas, water and waste networks for National Grid and Severn Trent in the UK. She also spent many years running Downstream Retail, Lubricants and LPG businesses for Shell plc. around the world. Over the last ten years she has served on the boards of publicly listed, privately owned and not for profit organizations in both Executive and Non Executive Director capacities.

Emma is currently a Non-Executive Director of UPM Kymmene, Seplat Energy and Newmont Corporation. She is also a Mentor on the climate workstream for the Creative Destruction Lab, a not for profit organisation focused on the scaling of innovative solutions to accelerate energy transition. Emma has a PHD in surface chemistry/materials science from Oxford University and an MBA from Manchester Business School.

Robbert de Weijer was a co-founder of GMG, joining the Company and Board in 2017. He has played a key role in the development of GMG's unique graphene production technology and its translation into operating processes. Robbert's passion for Health, Safety and Environment saw him drive and support key processes and initiatives as GMG experimented and grew. Robbert also developed and fostered a number of key technical and commercial partner relationships critical to GMG's success. Over the past year he has overseen the battery production programme before recently handing over responsibilities.

Guy Outen, Board Chair, said "The Board understands and supports Robbert's desire to spend more time with his family and friends in Australia and overseas and thus his resignation as executive and Director. The Board and the Company thank him and wish him and his family every success in the future. We also very much welcome Emma to the Board and look forward to her contribution to GMG's further development."

About GMG

GMG is a clean-technology company which seeks to offer energy saving and energy storage solutions, enabled by graphene, including that manufactured in-house via a proprietary production process.

GMG has developed a proprietary production process to decompose natural gas (i.e. methane) into its elements, carbon (as graphene), hydrogen and some residual hydrocarbon gases. This process produces high quality, low cost, scalable, 'tuneable' and low/no contaminant graphene suitable for use in clean-technology and other applications. The Company's present focus is to de-risk and develop commercial scale-up capabilities, and secure market applications.

In the energy savings segment, GMG has focused on graphene enhanced heating, ventilation and air conditioning ("HVAC-R") coating (or energy-saving paint), lubricants and fluids. In the energy storage segment, GMG and the University of Queensland are working collaboratively with financial support from the Australian Government to progress R&D and commercialization of graphene aluminium-ion batteries ("G+AI Batteries").

For further information, please contact:

- Craig Nicol, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Company at craig.nicol@graphenemg.com, +61 415 445 223

- Leo Karabelas at Focus Communications, info@fcir.ca, +1 647 689 6041

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends", "expects" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or will "potentially" or "likely" occur. This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements relating to the impact of the new Board member on the Company's development.

These forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the effectiveness of Company's personnel, and their ability to impact the development of the Company.

In making the forward looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, assumptions regarding the deployment of the Company's resources and personnel and the accuracy of the Company's expectations regarding the impact of personnel on the Company's development.

Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/128715
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 23, 2022) - Getchell Gold Corp. (CSE: GTCH) (OTCQB: GGLDF) ("Getchell" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the engagement of Apex Geoscience Ltd. ("Apex") of Edmonton, AB, to conduct a resource estimation ("2022 Resource Estimate") for the Fondaway Canyon gold project in Nevada.

Key Highlights

Fondaway Canyon gold project resource estimate is targeted for late September 2022;

Exploration developments subsequent to 2017 historic resource estimate include:

- Three drill campaigns completed plus one ongoing drill program conducted;

- Significant discoveries and expanded gold zones; and

- Consistently successful drill results;

Extensive gold mineralized zones complemented by high-grade shear veins add to the Project's potential;

Gold mineralization remains open in most directions.

"We have been and continue to be extremely successful in our drill programs and look forward to formally quantifying the mineralization defined to date." states Mike Sieb, President, Getchell Gold Corp. "I expect this is only the first such exercise as we continue to expand and delineate the extensive gold mineralizing system so readily evident at Fondaway Canyon."

Fondaway Canyon is an advanced stage gold property with a large historic resource located in Churchill County, Nevada. Gold was first discovered in Fondaway Canyon in 1977 and over the intervening 40+ years has been the subject of multiple exploration campaigns along a 3.5 km E-W gold mineralized corridor (Figure 1) totaling over 700 reverse circulation and core drill holes, small-scale open pit mining of the oxidized zone at surface, and underground development for exploration and bulk sampling.

There have been three drill campaigns completed (Canagold Resources Ltd. in 2017, Getchell in 2020 and 2021) and one ongoing (Getchell 2022) subsequent to the release of a historic resource estimate in early 2017 by a past operator.

The full complement of the 2017, 2020, and 2021 drill results combined with any drill results received from the current drill program up to a July 31, 2022, cut off date will be incorporated in the 2022 Resource Estimate. The completion of the 2022 Resource Estimate and supporting NI43-101 technical report is targeted for late September 2022.

Recent Results

There have been significant advancements and discoveries since the publishing of the historic resource estimate. The delineated envelope of the gold mineralization in the Central Area has considerably expanded with the to-date defined mineralization ranging 600 metres E-W along strike, 800 metres down dip to the SW, and approximately 100 metres thick. Within this envelope, substantial and very high-grade shear vein structures with significant depth extents contribute to the potential. The drilling has yet to test the full extent of the gold mineralization and the mineralization remains open in most directions.





Figure 1: Fondaway Canyon Gold Project 3.5 km E-W Gold Corridor, Aerial View.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3941/128700_7a5a0b865438189f_001full.jpg

Below is a partial selection of drill intervals (Table 1) drilled by the Company in recent years that demonstrate some of the broad high-grade intervals characteristic of the gold mineralization encountered at Fondaway Canyon and will be incorporated in the 2022 Resource Estimate.

Table 1: Selected Drill Highlights - 2020 to 2022 Getchell Gold Intervals

Drill Hole Au

(g/t) Interval (m) From

(m) To

(m) Zone Drill Hole Au

(g/t) Interval (m) From

(m) To

(m) Zone FCG20-02 6.2 21.9 106.1 128.0 Juniper Zone FCG20-04 2.5 58.0 383.0 441.0 North Fork including 20.4 3.2 120.5 123.7 including 10.3 5.2 414.6 419.8 FCG20-05 1.8 90.0 177.5 267.5 Colorado SW FCG21-10 3.0 41.8 275.5 317.3 including 3.0 45.3 222.2 267.5 including 47.0 1.5 293.3 294.8 FCG21-08 4.2 27.5 223.4 250.9 FCG21-16 6.3 50.7 117.5 168.2 including 13.0 4.3 243.9 248.2 including 10.4 25.0 139.9 164.9 FCG21-08 2.8 24.5 261.5 286.0 FCG21-16 3.1 33.4 265.0 298.4 FCG21-08 1.4 30.7 323.5 354.2 FCG22-17 5.4 51.9 66.1 118.0 FCG20-04 8.6 9.8 108.1 117.9 Half Moon including 12.2 5.3 72.4 77.7 FCG20-04 2.7 20.5 128.5 149.0 including 17.7 9.9 94.7 104.6

Of note, additional drilling, both infill and extensional, will be required to further define and add to the gold mineralization model at Fondaway Canyon.

Getchell Webinar Series

As part of the continuing series of webinars to apprise the shareholders of ongoing activities and developments, President Mike Sieb and the Getchell team will host a live webinar on July 12.

All interested Media and investors are invited to Register here: https://app.livestorm.co/getchell-gold/getchell-gold-nevada-exploration-highlights?type=detailed

The Company has posted significant news in 2022, starting with the release of the results from the last hole of the 2021 drill program at Fondaway Canyon, FCG21-16, targeting the North Fork zone (Company news release dated February 15, 2022). FCG21-16 encountered a gold interval grading 6.3 g/t Au over 50.7m that includes a higher-grade core returning 10.4 g/t Au over 25.0m and represents the greatest 'gold grade x thickness' value in the 40+ year history of gold exploration and mining at the Project.

Drill hole FCG22-17, the first drill hole of the 2022 drill program at Fondaway Canyon, designed to further delineate the gold interval encountered by FCG21-16, intersected high-grade gold mineralization at a shallow depth of 66.1 m down hole grading 17.7 g/t Au over 9.9 m within a broader zone grading 5.4 g/t Au over 51.9 m (Company news release dated June 15, 2022). Of note, assay results from FCG22-17 have been returned to a depth of 119.5 m and assays are pending for the remainder of the hole.

With two active drill rigs, one at the Fondaway Canyon gold project and the other at the Star Copper-Gold-Silver project, the Company expects drill results to be released through 2022.

This event will feature a live Question & Answer session and is open to all media and interested investors.

Apex Geoscience Ltd.

Apex is a privately-owned, independent geological consulting company that provides high quality, cost effective and timely geological consulting services to exploration companies, government, and non-government organizations. Apex has experience in all aspects of the mineral exploration industry from initial assessment and NI 43-101 reporting through to mining including the identification and outlining of resources. They specialize in managing large mine site and exploration databases, digital capture of historic datasets, and combining rigorous geostatistical analysis with modern geological, geochemical, and drill datasets to create concise 3D models that result in discovery and expansion of resources.

Apex has wide-ranging Nevada Carlin-type gold experience, including the completion of multiple mineral resource estimates and preliminary economic assessments for various companies across the region.

Scott Frostad, P.Geo., is the Qualified Person (as defined in NI 43-101) who reviewed and approved the content and scientific and technical information in the news release.

The true thickness of the gold intervals disclosed herein are not yet known, further work will be required to determine the true thickness.

The 2020, 2021, and 2022 drill core was cut at Bureau Veritas Laboratories' ("BVL") facilities in Sparks, Nevada, with the samples analyzed for gold and multi-element analysis in BVL's Sparks, Nevada and Vancouver, BC laboratories respectively. Gold values were produced by fire assay with an Atomic Absorption finish on a 30-gram sample (BV code FA430) with over limits re-analyzed using method FA530 (30g Fire Assay with gravimetric finish). The multi-element analysis was performed by ICP-MS following aqua regia digestion on a 30g sample (BV code AQ250). Quality control measures in the field included the systematic insertion of standards and blanks.

About Getchell Gold Corp.

The Company is a Nevada focused gold and copper exploration company trading on the CSE: GTCH and OTCQB: GGLDF. Getchell Gold is primarily directing its efforts on its most advanced stage asset, Fondaway Canyon, a past gold producer with a significant historic resource estimate and on the Star project, a past high-grade copper, gold, and silver small-scale producer. Complementing Getchell's asset portfolio are Dixie Comstock, a past gold producer with a historic resource and one earlier stage exploration project, Hot Springs Peak (Au). Getchell has the option to acquire 100% of the Fondaway Canyon and Dixie Comstock properties, Churchill County, Nevada.

For further information please visit the Company's website at www.getchellgold.com or contact the Company by e-mail at info@getchellgold.com or by phone at +1 647 249-4798.

Mr. William Wagener, Chairman & CEO

Getchell Gold Corp.



The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed this press release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Certain information contained herein constitutes "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the use of proceeds. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "will" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Although management of Getchell have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/128700
Global portfolio managers attended the event and showed opportunity windows for investments abroad

SAO PAULO, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday (21), BTG Pactual hosted the Global Managers Conference Brazil 2022, which brought together major portfolio managers from different parts of the world to discuss investment prospects considering the global economic, political and financial scenario. BTG Pactual's Chairman of the Board, Andre Esteves, opened the event, followed by panels with executives from BlackRock, Janus Henderson, Mobius, Krane Shares, T Rowe Price, AQR, Invesco, MFS, Morgan Stanley, and Mirae.

In his opening speech, Esteves highlighted the importance of BTG's Third Party Distribution area, which was responsible for the event and was created to serve the entire customer base that intends to access financial resource internationalization with major global managers and their diversified investment options.

"Our goal is to deliver a complete agenda to you on the best alternatives for investments abroad that are suitable for building your clients' portfolios. It is the first time that we have held this event outside BTG, and the context could only be innovation and opportunities for diversifying investments in the current scenario we are experiencing," he explained.

The event also discussed the Brazilian macroeconomic scenario and the global context, with BTG Pactual Chief Economist Mansueto Almeida and BTG Pactual Chief Strategist Joao Scandiuzzi and addressed the challenges for evolving ESG investments in a panel moderated by the co-head of Impact Investment and ESG at BTG Pactual, Mariana Oiticica, with the attendance of managers from Pictet, Morgan Stanley and MSF.

In the afternoon, the panels discussed the importance of the strategy in diversifying investments, in a debate moderated by BTG Pactual partner, Marcelo Flora, with the managers of AQR, Invesco and Mirae; and the global geopolitical scenario, which may open the door to new opportunities for emerging countries, in a panel moderated by BTG Pactual Partner Renato Mimica and Mobius, Krane Shares and T Rowe Price executives.

The complete lectures of the Global Managers Conference Brazil 2022 can be watched at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltlJD6HbbDY

About BTG Pactual

BTG Pactual (BPAC11) is the biggest investment bank from Latin America, operating in Investment Banking, Corporate Lending, Sales & Trading, Wealth Management and Asset Management. We currently have more than 4,000 employees in offices across Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, the US, Portugal and England. http://www.btgpactual.com
MONTREAL, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Presagis, a global leader in 3D advanced modelling and simulation software, is releasing the 3D Environments Add-In application for Esri's ArcGIS Pro. 3D Environments allows ArcGIS users to rapidly transform 3D Tiles Next data formats, such as One World Terrain, into ArcGIS Pro projects to create 3D scenes from 2D vector data and 3D models.

Available on the Esri ArcGIS Marketplace at the end of June, the 3D Environments Add-In leverages Presagis' building templates and texture libraries that analysts can use to create enhanced 3D visualizations of GIS environments, thus helping increase collaboration across the enterprise. The Presagis 3D Environments Add-In contains tools to create, transform, and extract a wide variety of 3D formats to provide seamless interoperability between ArcGIS Pro and modeling & simulation applications.

"The 3D Environments Add-In is the result of the close relationship we have built with Esri. We are excited to bring our modelling and simulation expertise to the Esri Marketplace and the ArcGIS community," said Jean-Michel Briere, President of Presagis, "the convergence of GIS data and simulation is critical to create accurate and realistic digital twins - and Presagis can help lead the way."

"The Presagis 3D Environments Add-in for ArcGIS Pro extends 3D workflow interoperability between ArcGIS and ModSim 3D data formats such as CDB," said Jamon Johnson, Product Leader for the Esri 3D Core Team. "Analysts can now fully integrate CDB into their ArcGIS Pro projects as well as leverage OpenFlight Models into 3D visualization applications."

The ability to create and implement detailed and realistic 3D content in ArcGIS Pro is available now. To learn more and sign up for a 30-day free trial, please visit:

https://www.presagis.com/en/product/3denvironments-addin/

or, visit the Esri ArcGIS Marketplace.

About Esri

Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system.

About Presagis: Presagis is a global leader providing commercial modeling, simulation and embedded software solutions to the aerospace, defense, security, and critical infrastructure markets. Presagis combines an open simulation development framework with expert professional services to help customers build vast dynamic virtual environments, deliver game-quality immersive simulations - all the while streamlining workflows and reducing risks. Presagis is also at the forefront of avionics software design for certifiable cockpit displays, and, together with its modeling and simulation offerings, serves hundreds of customers worldwide, including many of the world's most respected organizations such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Airbus, BAE Systems, and CAE. For more information, visit www.presagis.com.

Media Contact:

Carlos Carpio, Director of Marketing: +1 514.222.0593



A video accompanying this release is available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3ddb607d-d050-4e7a-8d51-a0ef1dce2102
TORONTO, ON and NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2022 / Sekur Private Data Ltd. (OTCQX:SWISF)(CSE:SKUR)(FRA:GDT0) ("Sekur" or the "Company"), the leader in Swiss hosted secure communications and secure data management, is pleased announce that it has just completed an important milestone in upgrading its infrastructure for its Sekur solutions suite. The upgrade is connected to servers it has purchased and installed in Switzerland, in order to increase capacity and processing power for all its Sekur solutions: SekurSuite, SekurMail and SekurMessenger. With this infrastructure upgrade, the Company can now process billions of private and secure messages from up to 2 million users of SekurMessengers. In addition, the SekurMessenger application is now processing all messages and chat-by-invites by a factor of up to 50X faster. As the userbase increases, the Company will purchase more servers to process the demand. The new servers are state of the art and can handle the upcoming SekurVoice encrypted calls and SekurPro encrypted video conferencing solutions coming by year end 2022.

Sekur is now ready to expand its services globally. In particular, SekurMessenger is now being launched in Latin and Central America, Europe and South Asia, in addition to its existing launch in the USA.

In May 2022, the Company launched its "Chat-by-Invites" feature, allowing a SekurMessenger user ("SM user") to invite a non-SM user, or a group of non-SM users, to chat in a fully private and secure way, without the recipient ever having to register to SekurMessenger or download the app. At the end of the chat, the initiator of the conversation can remotely terminate the conversation and all traces of the conversation are deleted from all users, including the recipient. This unique feature is now fully deployed and functional on all iOS and Android devices and web platforms. The target sectors are numerous, including but not limited to real estate, legal, finance, insurance, medical, government, energy, manufacturing, trade and pharmaceutical sectors.

SekurMessenger also eliminates many of the privacy and security risks by not only not requiring a phone number, which would divulge a user's phone device ID, but also by not social engineering a user's phone or computer contact list and infecting the contacts by default as well, eliminating a huge loophole in security and privacy. SekurMessenger issues each user a username and a Sekur number. The Sekur number is the contact ID a user would disclose in order for other Sekur users to be added. The service comes with a self-destruct timer and other features as well, including Sekur's proprietary VirtualVaults and HeliX technologies with all data stored in Swiss hosted encrypted servers.

Alain Ghiai, CEO of Sekur Private Data said: "We are excited to have completed our latest infrastructure upgrade in Switzerland. We use state of the art technology and hardware in order to protect our users' data and process all queries from emails, messaging and file sharing, with the fastest speed available today, and without any latency, thanks to our multiple backbone connectivity covering the globe out of Switzerland. This is a big milestone, as it puts us closer to offer our SekurVoice and SekurPro offerings this year. With the new upgraded infrastructure, we have increased our processing capacity by a factor of 50. As far as SekurMessenger is concerned, we can now host 2 million users easily and we can always add more servers as we increase our userbase. The new servers will also increase the speed of delivery of our unique "Chat-by-Invites" feature which is gaining in popularity rapidly. Our new SekurMail application will also launch this summer on the new infrastructure. As we are not connected to any Big Tech platform, we can offer a truly independent, private and secure means of communications without any data mining, location mining of phone number mining, through our proprietary technology and our secure servers based in Switzerland. We look forward to continue to offer true data privacy to all individuals and their businesses and protect their intellectual property, and their privacy, from data miners and malicious hackers."



Sekur, which includes SekurMessenger and SekurMail, is part of a bundle of email, messaging and file transfer into one application, includes the Company's latest SekurMail technology, which includes proprietary anti-phishing and privacy feature called SekurSend. SekurSend lets a user send an email to any other recipient, whether they have Sekur or not, in full privacy and security as the email never leaves Sekur 's encrypted email servers based in Switzerland. The recipient can then click on the notification and reply in the same manner using SekurReply, without the recipient having to register for a Sekur account. The sender can also decide to protect any email sent by adding a password to open it, a read-limit and a self-destruct timer as well. Sending an email with the SekurSend feature allows the senders and recipients to add limitless size attachments to the emails without crowding the recipients' email box. This also eliminates BEC attacks for businesses and email phishing attacks. Additionally, SekurMail includes full control of email delivery, automatic data export for large Enterprises and an automatic Data Loss Prevention technology ("DLP") with real time continuous archiving.

Recent data breaches in messaging applications have created a certain urgency for businesses and data privacy advocates to protect their communications form cyber-attacks and identity theft via mobile and desktop devices.

Sekur's Data privacy solutions are all hosted in Switzerland, protecting users' data from any outside data intrusion requests. In Switzerland, the right to privacy is guaranteed in article 13 of the Swiss Federal Constitution. The Federal Act on Data Protection ("FADP") of 19 June 1992 (in force since 1993) has set up a strict protection of privacy by prohibiting virtually any processing of personal data which is not expressly authorized by the data subjects. The protection is subject to the authority of the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner.

Under Swiss federal law, it is a crime to publish information based on leaked "secret official discussions." In 2010 the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland found that IP addresses are personal information and that under Swiss privacy laws they may not be used to track Internet usage without the knowledge of the individuals involved.

About Sekur Private Data Ltd.

Sekur Private Data Ltd. is a Cybersecurity and Internet privacy provider of Swiss hosted solutions for secure communications and secure data management. The Company distributes a suite of encrypted e-mails, secure messengers, secure communication tools, and secure cloud-based storage, disaster recovery and document management. Sekur Private Data Ltd. sells its products through its approved wholesalers and distributors, and telecommunications companies worldwide. Sekur Private Data Ltd. serves consumers, businesses and governments worldwide.

On behalf of Management

SEKUR PRIVATE DATA LTD.

Alain Ghiai

President and Chief Executive Officer

+1.416.644.8690

corporate@sekurprivatedata.com

For more information, please contact Sekur Private Data at corporate@sekurprivatedata.com or visit us at https://www.sekurprivatedata.com

For more information on Sekur visit us at: https://www.sekur.com .

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "project" and similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes or that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guaranteeing future performance. Sekur cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Sekur's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the future of the Company's business; the success of marketing and sales efforts of the Company; the projections prepared in house and projections delivered by channel partners; the Company's ability to complete the necessary software updates; increases in sales as a result of investments software development technology; consumer interest in the Products; future sales plans and strategies; reliance on large channel partners and expectations of renewals to ongoing agreements with these partners; anticipated events and trends; the economy and other future conditions; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in Sekur's prospectus dated May 8, 2019 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available on www.sedar.com. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Sekur undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

SOURCE: Sekur Private Data Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706278/Sekur-Private-Data-Upgrades-SekurMessenger-Infrastructure-Capacity-to-2-Million-Users--Readies-for-Global-Launch
The premium audio brand, EPOS, part of the Demant Group, and endpoint OS innovator Stratodesk today announce EPOS devices are now optimized for Stratodesk NoTouch to simplify communication and collaboration for hybrid workforces and call centers. Stratodesk NoTouch is compatible and certified for EPOS Connect VDI software, making it easy for end-users to use their EPOS devices with Stratodesk-powered endpoints, and for IT teams to intuitively view and manage the entire solution as one system.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005039/en/

Stratodesk NoTouch is compatible and certified for EPOS Connect VDI software, making it easy for end-users to use their EPOS devices with Stratodesk-powered endpoints, and for IT teams to intuitively view and manage the entire solution as one system. (Graphic: Business Wire)

"The audio experience is essential for success in today's hybrid and distributed workspaces," said Emanuel Pirker, founder and CEO of Stratodesk. "The integration of EPOS and Stratodesk allows IT teams to manage EPOS headsets or speaker phones with just a few clicks, so in moments the devices can be ready for calls and meetings. Together, EPOS and Stratodesk help ensure an impeccable communication and collaboration experience in any workspace, whether it's in the office or remote."

"Both EPOS Digital Solutions and Stratodesk are built for the cloud yet give organizations complete flexibility and control to manage technology assets in the way they want," said Theis Mrk, VP Product Management at EPOS. "When your people can work in a hybrid way and devices can be anywhere, our partnership with Stratodesk allows IT organizations to remain in complete control of the assets. Teaming up with Stratodesk is an important step to deliver a premium audio experience for our customers."

Mutual customers can enable EPOS Connect VDI via Stratodesk NoTouch Center, a management solution that lets administrators manage the entire VDI network from your browser. They can then download the EPOS Manager and use its intuitive interface to manage their EPOS devices. EPOS Manager is a powerful on-premises or cloud-based solution that lets customers manage EPOS headsets and speakerphones, roll out firmware updates, and configure the peripherals from any location.

Also offering flexible deployment through the cloud or on-premises, Stratodesk can deliver centrally managed endpoints in minutes to end-users physically located anywhere in the world. Stratodesk's flexible approach to workforce productivity lets IT teams transform any new or existing laptop, thin clients, desktop computers, and hybrid devices into secure enterprise edge and cloud workspaces. Stratodesk NoTouch allows IT teams to quickly convert a range of x86-, x64- and ARM-based hardware into modern machines with the latest software and security capabilities for end-users, while giving IT complete control over the asset.

For more information, check out the Solution Guide, How-To Guide, EPOS website and Stratodesk website.

About EPOS

Established upon the former successful joint venture between audio specialist Sennheiser and the world-leading hearing technology group Demant, EPOS designs, manufactures and sells pioneering high-end audio and video solutions for business professionals and serious gamers.

Crafted with advanced engineering and pioneering technologies, EPOS offers uncompromised audio and video connectivity that enable business professionals to better communicate and collaborate anytime, anywhere and on any device. EPOS audio is reliable, easy-to-use and designed for ultimate comfort.

Owned by the Demant Group and with headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, EPOS builds on more than 115 years' audio expertise and operates in a global market with offices and partners in more than 60 countries.

Alongside own-branded premium audio and video solutions, EPOS sells co-branded EPOS I SENNHEISER products under a trade license agreement with Sennheiser.

About Stratodesk

Founded in 2010, Stratodesk is the leading global EUC innovator of endpoint OS software. Stratodesk's agile and customer-centric, Linux-based managed OS software, Stratodesk NoTouch, is defining end user computing with its freedom to transform any device into a cloud-ready and highly secure endpoint, enabling companies to cost-effectively manage their unified VDI endpoint deployments and secure digital perimeters. Stratodesk's software works seamlessly across all x64, x86 and ARM/Raspberry Pi based hardware products, increases endpoint security, and simplifies user experience. Today, with nearly one million licenses deployed globally across multiple industries, Stratodesk prides itself on its authenticity and dedication to delivering the most innovative software solution to its customers. For more information, visit www.stratodesk.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005039/en/

Contacts:

Contacts:

Allison Darin

pr@stratodesk.com

831-359-8208

Yasmin Gouhari

yagu@eposaudio.com




The outgoing U.N. special rapporteur on North Korea's human rights situation will visit here next week, the U.N. Human Rights Office in Seoul said Thursday.







Tomas Ojea Quintana will arrive in Seoul on Monday for a three-day trip, which will likely be his last visit to South Korea during his term, according to the U.N. office. His six-year term ends in July.







He is scheduled to give a lecture at Seoul National University on Tuesday and is expected to meet with officials from the South Korean government and civic groups on North Korean human rights.







Attention has been drawn to whether Quintana will meet the bereaved family of a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korean troops near the inter-Korean sea border in 2020.







The previous administration tentatively concluded the official attempted to defect to the North. The Coast Guard and the defense ministry recently reversed the stance, announcing they had not found any circumstances backing the probe results from two years ago. They apologized to his family.







During his visit here in February, Quintana received a petition from the family and urged the government to reveal related information. (Yonhap)


Rise in prevalence of different kinds of cancers, increase in geriatric population, and high-end technological advancements in molecular diagnostics techniques drive the growth of the Asia-Pacific oncology molecular diagnostics market.

PORTLAND, Ore., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Asia-Pacific Oncology Molecular Diagnostics Market, By Application (Colorectal Cancer, Hematological Cancer, Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, and Others), Type (Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), Fluorescence In-situ Hybridization (FISH), Spectrometry, and Others), and End User (Hospitals, Reference Laboratories, and Others) - Global Opportunities and Industry Forecasts, 2022-2031." According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the Asia-Pacific oncology molecular diagnostics industry was estimated at 610.17 million in 2021, and is expected to hit $1.24 billion by 2031, registering a CAGR of 7.3% from 2022 to 2031.

Download Sample PDF at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/6652

Drivers, restraints, and opportunities-

Rise in prevalence of different kinds of cancers, increase in geriatric population, growth in biomarker identification system, changes in lifestyle, and high-end technological advancements in molecular diagnostics techniques drive the growth of the Asia-Pacific oncology molecular diagnostics market. On the other hand, lack of healthcare insurance and less awareness among individuals regarding the benefits of skilled professionals for handling of the molecular diagnostics techniques impede the growth to some extent. However, rise in government introduce programs to raise proper awareness about cancer so as to reduce the burden of cancer population is expected to create lucrative opportunities in the industry.

Covid-19 scenario-

Steep decline in the number of patient visits in clinics and hospitals for cancer diagnosis during the pandemic impacted the Asia-Pacific oncology molecular diagnostics market negatively.

However, the market has almost recovered and got back to its previous track.

The lungs cancer segment to retain the lion's share-

By application, the lungs cancer segment held the major share in 2021, garnering around one-fourth of the Asia-Pacific oncology molecular diagnostics market. The same segment is also projected to cite the fastest CAGR of 7.9% throughout the forecast period, due to increase in geriatric population, changing lifestyle, and growth in biomarker identification system.

Specific Requirement on COVID-19? Ask to Our Industry Expert: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/6652

The PCR segment to dominate by 2031-

By application, the PCR segment contributed to the lion's share in 2021, holding more than one-third of the Asia-Pacific oncology molecular diagnostics market. Increase in adoption of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as it offers various advantages such as less time-consuming process drives the segment growth. However, the NGS segment is expected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 8.0% from 2022 to 2031. This is because it is easy to handle and requires low concentration of sample for test.

Rest of Asia-Pacific held the major share in 2021-

By region, the market across Rest of Asia-Pacific dominated in 2021, garnering more than four-fifths of the Asia-Pacific oncology molecular diagnostics market. The same region is also expected to cite the fastest CAGR of 7.7% throughout the forecast period. This is due to increase in adoption and acceptance for personalized medicines, up gradation of healthcare infrastructure, and higher investments for R&D activities across the province. The other countries analyzed in the report include Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Key players in the industry-

BioMerieux

Amoy Dx

Sysmex Corporation

F.Hoffmann-LA Roche Ltd.

Siemens Healthcares

Danaher Corporation

Thermo Fisher

Agilent Technologies Inc.

Abbott Laboratories

Diasorin SP

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Dissident Minority Shareholder's press release is rife with false and inaccurate statements that only serve to mislead shareholders

The Dissident is attempting to seize control of Canagold, its board of directors, and the New Polaris gold mine project without paying any premium to shareholders.

Canagold's board and management team have a proven track record of success and a project development plan to operate the Company in a manner that creates value for ALL Canagold Shareholders.

Questions or require need assistance with voting our YELLOW Proxy? Contact Laurel Hill Advisory Group at 1-877-452-7184 or by e-mail at assistance@laurelhill.com.

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2022 / Canagold Resources Ltd. ("Canagold" or the "Company") (TSX:CCM, OTCQB:CRCUF, Frankfurt:CANA) today addresses multiple false and misleading statements made by a dissident minority shareholder, SunValley Company DMCC ("SunValley" or the "Dissident"). The Dissident has nominated three new directors out of five total directors (the "Dissident Nominees") in an attempt to seize control of the Company's board of directors and assets without paying any premium to shareholders. SunValley, based in Dubai, UAE, made multiple statements that are either FALSE, INACCURATE, MISLEADING OR LACK CONTEXT.

It is clear the Dissident is willing to promote misinformation to cloak their true intention: that being to take control of your company. While we believe that their baseless accusations have absolutely no merit, we find it necessary to inform our shareholders of the FACTS and TRUTH of these matters.

False Statement - Directors Rejected Multiple Financing Offers

FACT - Canagold received one offer a week ago, did not reject it, and will consider it in the final review of all of their financing alternatives

Canagold received ONE offer from the Dissident seven days ago, and it was NOT rejected. Canagold simply reminded the Dissident that we have a process underway to generate and evaluate offers of financing and we would get back to them. It is our fiduciary duty to complete that process so as to select the best offer for the Company, one which would benefit ALL shareholders, not just ONE shareholder. The Dissident demanded that your board immediately accept their offer, which would result in them owning over 35% of the company, and abandon our process to generate multiple offers, all while they are running a HOSTILE TAKEOVER ATTEMPT TO CONTROL THE COMPANY, BOARD AND NEW POLARIS PROJECT.

In fact, Canagold's board of directors and management team maintained open communications and a positive relationship with the Dissident Shareholder, just as management tries to do with all shareholders. The Board's fiduciary duties involve acting in the best interest of the Company and taking into consideration the interests of ALL stakeholders, whereas the Dissident has NO such duty. By demanding that the Board accept their offer of financing and abandon the industry standard process of generating multiple financing offers, the Dissident Shareholder has demonstrated that it is only acting IN ITS OWN BEST INTEREST which prejudices the interests of all other shareholders.

The Dissident offered a flow through financing at $0.42 per share which is a 16% DISCOUNT to our last flow through financing at $0.50 per share, and a non-flow through financing at $0.32 per share which is a 20% DISCOUNT to our last non-flow through financing of $0.40 per share.

False Statement - Directors Tried to Encumber the Project with a Second Royalty

FACT - Canagold advised the Dissident that they were not pursuing a royalty sale - in May and again in June - but the Dissident continued to pursue its hostile attempt to hijack control of your board.

Canagold's management NEVER TRIED TO SELL A ROYALTY; they simply exercised their fiduciary responsibility to investigate the red-hot royalty market at the time to assess if this form of financing was in the best interests of the Company. As a result of their diligent search, management found that royalty companies had no interest in buying a royalty at this early stage of project development. In a letter dated May 18, 2022 addressed to Vikram Sodhi, SunValley's Managing Director, we informed Sun Valley of this, and confirmed it again in June. However, they continue to perpetuate the fiction that we were trying to sell a royalty. We believe these false statements are to distract from their true intention, which is a creeping takeover attempt of the board, company and project without paying any premium to all Canagold shareholders.

False Statement - Canagold Forced a Costly Proxy Fight

FACT - Canagold did everything in their power to avoid a costly and disruptive proxy battle

In the first two weeks of June, Canagold and the Dissident engaged in discussions about the Dissident's advance notice to nominate a majority of the directors to the board. At the time of those discussions, the Dissident Shareholder held 9.4% of Canagold's shares. After reviewing the Dissident's proposed nominees and in an effort to avoid a costly and distracting proxy battle, Canagold was willing to include two of the Dissident nominees for election to the board. Canagold reached a verbal agreement with the Dissident whereby the Dissident would withdraw its advance notice and in return management would propose two of their nominees. However, instead of withdrawing their advance notice, the Dissident immediately BREACHED THE AGREEMENT, bought 7,140,371 Canagold shares in a private transaction from 2176423 Ontario Ltd. (a company beneficially owned by Eric Sprott) and informed Mr. Cooke that their advance notice would stand.

These actions reveal the Dissident's agenda is not to promote good governance or board renewal for the benefit of the Company, but to seize control of your Company by nominating three hand-picked and interconnected directors to control the board, and advance their creeping takeover attempt without offering any premium to Canagold shareholders.

The Dissident abruptly withdrew from the agreement and took the following actions:

Re-asserted the letter sent from their lawyer dated May 19, 2022 to Canagold providing advance notice of their intention to nominate three people to be elected to Canagold's board. If elected to the board, these three Dissident Nominees would comprise 60% of Canagold's board.

dated May 19, 2022 to Canagold providing advance notice of their intention to nominate three people to be elected to Canagold's board. If elected to the board, these three Dissident Nominees would comprise 60% of Canagold's board. Filed an Early Warning Report on June 10, 2022, announcing that the Dissident had increased its ownership of Canagold's common shares by approximately 8.25% of the issued and outstanding shares. The Dissident purchased an additional 7,140,371 common shares and following the transaction, the Dissident Shareholder now owns 15,240,371 shares of Canagold, representing approximately 17.61% of the common shares currently outstanding.

Noted in the Early Warning Report that the vendor of the shares provided Dissident Shareholder with an "an irrevocable proxy" to vote the acquired shares at Canagold's annual and special meeting of shareholders scheduled for July 19, 2022.

The Dissident's actions over the last three weeks are completely incompatible with an entity that "did not want a proxy fight". The acts of breaching a verbal agreement, soliciting proxies for the election of a majority of directors to the board, and acquiring shares with the intent that they be voted at the Company's impending annual and special meeting are the actions of a shareholder intent onINITIATING a proxy contest rather than avoiding one.

Other False, Misleading and Inaccurate Statements in The Dissident's Press Release

The Dissident Shareholder's press release is riddled with other false, inaccurate and misleading statements that Canagold would like to address, as follows:

By simply reviewing the SEDI filings and circular, the Dissident could easily confirm that each of our directors has a material shareholding in the Company, as listed in the information circular whereas none of their Dissidents nominees hold any shares.

References to "value destruction" in the Dissident's press release simply mischaracterize the nature of Canagold's business and operations. As a growth-oriented gold exploration company, Canagold is focused on discovering, exploring and developing strategic gold deposits in North America and has used shareholders' investments in the Company judiciously to do so. Canagold is actually one of the very few junior exploration companies listed on the TSX in 1994 that survived multiple bear commodity markets and still exists today, thanks to past and present management and directors going the extra mile to ensure the Company had a chance to prosper. During the bear market of 2012-2018, Mr. Cooke received minimal salary and on multiple occasions lent the Company money to pay its bills until the stock price rebounded and small financings could be done.

The Dissident omitted to mention that the New Polaris project had to be shelved for many years after 1997 due to the refractory nature of the ore and related metallurgical challenges that made it uneconomic. The current board and management found the metallurgical key in 2017 to unlock value and make the project economic and reactivated the project in 2018. Prior to 2018, Canagold invested $32 million on New Polaris to discover and delineate one of the largest and highest grade, undeveloped gold deposits in western Canada. Since 2018, Canagold has invested a further $13.6 million on drilling to upgrade and expand the resources, metallurgical testing to optimize the gold recoveries, environmental studies needed to re-commence project permitting, and community relations to re-establish our social license with the local people and First Nation.

Mr. Cooke did NOT sell 44% of his share position in April. His previous insider report filing agent missed filing the company's share consolidation in December 2020 and Mr. Cooke only caught this oversight in April, and his new insider report filing agent promptly filed the share consolidation. Mr. Cooke has participated in virtually all of the Company's financings since inception. He invests his money in alignment with Canagold shareholders, including the most recent $0.50 financing late last year. In fact, Mr. Cooke has not sold any of his Canagold shares within the last twelve months.

The percentages calculated to provide "evidence" of increases in executive compensation are either deliberately misleading or simply inaccurate. Either way, the inability to provide accurate calculations in the Dissident Shareholder's press release suggests broader incompetence from the entity seeking to take over control of Canagold Board and the Company's assets.

Mr. Cooke does not hold millions of options, he currently holds 1,050,000 options at prices between $0.30 and $0.50. Canagold's compensation approach is to align management and the board with shareholders by compensating them with stock options that are issued at or above market price, and vest over 2 years.

Further to this, Mr. Cooke, similar to all directors, only received directors' fees of $8,000 in cash. Beyond these cash payments, we pay our directors in stock options to ensure alignment with our shareholders.

Canagold's executive pay packages did NOT increase 173% to 355% in 2021. The Dissident's information bears no relation to management's actual and very reasonable base salaries in 2021: CEO - $210,000, CFO - $100,000, COO - $80,000, VP Exploration - $132,000, VP Corporate Development - $120,000



Canagold's Board of Directors Is Committed to Canagold's Success and the Interests of ALL Shareholders

Canagold's Board continues to be committed to advancing the Company's material mineral property, the New Polaris gold project (the "New Polaris Project"), in northern British Columbia. The next steps in the process include progressing towards an updated resource estimate, to be followed by updated economic studies, project permitting and a feasibility study. The completion of these next steps will put Canagold on the path to mine development, unlocking value of the New Polaris Project which our drill hole sample results show has gold grades that are amongst the highest in western Canada.

VOTE your shares today to stop the Dissident Shareholder from taking control of your company.

Make the Right Choice - Vote FOR Canagold's Management Nominees Today

We urge shareholders to read Canagold's management information circular and visit our website www.canagoldresources.com for further details related to Canagold's annual and special meeting of shareholders scheduled for July 19, 2022. Your vote has never been more important. ACT TODAY to protect your investment by voting FOR Canagold's management nominees using only the YELLOW proxy that was mailed to shareholders with the management information circular on June 15, 2022. Voting is easy. You may vote online, by telephone or other methods found on the YELLOW proxy. Canagold may also utilize Broadridge's QuickVote service to assist eligible beneficial shareholders with voting their shares directly over the phone.

Shareholder Questions and Voting Assistance

If you have questions or require assistance with voting your shares, please contact Canagold's strategic advisor and proxy solicitation agent:

Laurel Hill Advisory Group

North American Toll Free: 1-877-452-7184 (416-304-0211 Outside North America)

Email: assistance@laurelhill.com

"Bradford Cooke"



Bradford Cooke

Founder and Chairman of the Board

CANAGOLD RESOURCES LTD.

"Scott Eldridge"



Scott Eldridge

Chief Executive Officer

CANAGOLD RESOURCES LTD.

About Canagold - Canagold Resources Ltd. is a growth-oriented gold exploration company focused on generating superior shareholder returns by discovering, exploring and developing strategic gold deposits in North America. Canagold shares trade on the TSX: CCM and the OTCQB: CRCUF.

Shareholder Questions/Voting Assistance

Laurel Hill Advisory Group

North America Toll Free: 1-877-452-7184

Collect Calls Outside North America: 1-416-304-0211

Email: assistance@laurelhill.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States private securities litigation reform act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking information that involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the Company and the New Polaris gold mine project; the advancement of the Company's mineral properties; the steps and expected timing in developing the New Polaris gold mine project, including updated resource estimates, updated economic studies, project permitting and a feasibility study; and the ability of the Company to execute on its proposed steps to put the Company on the path to mine development and unlocking value of the New Polaris gold mine project and for shareholders. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "has proven", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "potential", "appears", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "at least", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved".

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others risks related to the uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral resources; commodity prices; changes in general economic conditions; market sentiment; currency exchange rates; the Company's ability to continue as a going concern; the Company's ability to raise funds through equity financings; risks inherent in mineral exploration; risks related to operations in foreign countries; future prices of metals; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals; government regulation of mining operations; environmental risks; title disputes or claims; limitations on insurance coverage and the timing and possible outcome of litigation. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could affect the Company and may cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, do not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All statements are made as of the date of this news release and the Company is under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Canagold Resources Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706319/Canagold-Resources-Ltd-Corrects-Dissident-Minority-Shareholders-Multiple-False-and-Misleading-Statements-Shareholders-Encouraged-to-Vote-FOR-Canagolds-Management-Nominees-Using-Only-the-Yellow-Proxy
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2022 / KALO GOLD CORP. ("Kalo", "Kalo Gold" or the "Company") provides the results of a 992.5 meter ("m"), three-hole diamond drilling program completed within the Qiriyaga Hill Prospect on the 100% owned Vatu Aurum Gold Project (the "Project") located in the Republic of Fiji. The district scale Project covers 367 square kilometers ("km2") and hosts a minimum of seven volcanic arc related calderas ranging between 1 kilometer ("km") to 10 km in diameter (see figure 1) in a geological setting analogous to the alkaline related low sulphidation epithermal gold deposits of both the neighbouring Vatukoula and Tuvatu Gold Deposits.

Highlights:

New diamond drill holes KGD-06 and KGD-07, drilled to test geophysical anomalies at the Qiriyaga Hill Prospect, both intersected pervasive argillic alteration. Argillic alteration can be found associated with epithermal gold veins. KGD-06 and KGD-07 have been presented in a geological model in figure 2 and are interpreted to have been drilled within the alteration envelope surrounding the Vuinubu Ridge Gold Deposit and high-grade epithermal gold mineralization of the Qiriyaga Hill Gold Deposit (see Table 1).

Both KGD-06 and KGD-07 have outlined a large 3km by 1.5km argillic alteration zone that indicates the presence of a low sulphidation epithermal gold system.

The Qiriyaga Hill and Vuinubu Ridge Gold Deposits sit within this argillic alteration zone and both gold deposits are open along strike and down dip.

The Qiriyaga Hill Prospect sits on the boundary of the interpreted Qiriyaga Caldera (see Figure 1), in an analogous geological setting as the alkaline related low sulphidation epithermal Vatukoula Gold Deposit which has produced over 7 million ounces of gold since 1937.

Terry L. Tucker, P.Geo. CEO of the Kalo Gold stated "Alteration halos to the zones of gold ore, particularly in epithermal gold vein deposits, include a variety of temperature-sensitive clay minerals that help to indicate locations of paleo fluid flow which is essential to understand to make a gold discovery. Work to date has identified a large argillic alteration zone on the Qiriyaga Hill Prospect associated with high grade epithermal gold mineralization and related to a caldera margin. The presence of at least six other analogous caldera features of similar scale at the Qiriyaga Caldera, including that of the Wainikora Complex, Mouta and Coqeloa, has important indications for gold and present an excellent opportunity for the discovery of potentially economic low sulphidation epithermal gold deposits."

Detailed Results:

KGD-06, targeting a geophysical anomaly, was drilled 1000m southeast of the Qiriyaga Hill Gold Deposit and 500m southeast of the Vuinubu Ridge Gold Deposit, intersected pervasive and intensive argillic alteration which confirms the presence of a large epithermal gold system surrounding both the Qiriyaga Hill and Vuinubu Ridge Gold Deposits (see Figure 3). Both gold deposits are open along strike and down dip. No significant gold mineralization was encountered in the hole, however KGD-06 intersected both potassic and propylitic alteration suggesting that a porphyry is nearby, probably located to the west and below its location (see Figure 2 model). The alteration assemblage in the upper part (140m), dominated by chlorite-clay-quartz-albite and the presence of hydrothermal K-feldspar, implies that alteration is transitional between argillic and potassic. Interestingly, trace chalcocite was observed in pyrite in about one of the large amygdule infillings. The alteration in the lower part (250m) is transitional between propylitic and argillic. The alteration is characterized by the presence of fine-grained quartz, albite, patchy carbonate, chlorite and finely granular epidote, and with an overprint of fine grained, turbid clay (e.g., kaolinite).

KGD-07, also targeting a geophysical anomaly, was drilled 850m northeast of the Qiriyaga Hill Gold Deposit (see Figure 2 and 3). KGD-07 intersected massive limestone from 19m-115m, followed by polymictic breccia (PBX) down to the bottom of the hole (451m) with porphyritic basalt intersected between 289.1m-407.7m. Both the PBX and basalt are pervasively argillic altered (illite-kaolinite+chlorite-smectite) with trace epidote, local quartz-calcite veining and 1-2% pyrite disseminations. The veins are mostly dominated by fine grained, locally crustiform texture calcite, and one has infill chalcedonic quartz and rims of calcite and chalcedonic quartz. Traces of chalcopyrite are observed in some amygdule fillings and at altered plagioclase sites. While no significant gold and base metal values were encountered in the hole, it confirms the presence of pervasive alteration.

KGD-05 successfully confirmed the continuity of the structure hosting the Vuinubu Ridge Gold Deposit between two mineralized centers located 210m apart (see Figure 4). KGD-05 intersected two thick structures of 30m (from 120-150m) and 43.5m (from 150-193.5m) respectively, characterized by the presence of quartz-carbonate veinlets and 1-2% pyrite in argillized fiamme breccia host rock with minor gold mineralization.

Qiriyaga Hill Prospect Mineralization

Although KGD-06 and KGD-07 did not return significant gold values they did intersect wide zones of extensive argillic alteration typical of peripheral zones of epithermal gold systems. Along with surface geological mapping, see Figure 1, this information has provided important information to guide future exploration work on the Vatu Aurum Gold Project. Modelling of the Qiriyaga Hill Gold Deposit indicates there are a minimum of five high grade (see Table 1) parallel veins that have been modelled within this large argillic alteration zone. The Qiriyaga Hill Prospect has excellent potential for the discovery of additional gold mineralization and expansion of the existing Qiriyaga Hill and Vuinubu Ridge Gold Deposits, both of which are open along strike and down dip, and the discovery of new gold deposits within the defined and expanded argillic alteration zone.

Observations by Kalo in the field have focussed on geologic setting and structural controls, alteration mineralogy and textures, geophysical and geochemical anomalies which have been compiled and when combined with identification of the zones of paleo fluid flow, will help to identify ore targets. Future work could include processing of high-resolution satellite imagery, ground geophysics, trenching, geochemical sampling, geological and structural mapping and diamond drilling. The Company owns two diamond drill rigs and has maintained a qualified operating team in Fiji which will be important to ensure the continued advancement of the Project.

Hole From (m) To (m) Interval (m)* Gold (g/t) FCD08 0.00 4.00 4.00 10.79 KCD02 73.00 83.00 10.00 13.36 KCD14 47.00 50.00 3.00 10.00 KCD17 61.25 70.00 8.75 36.02 including 61.25 66.00 4.75 64.12 and 76.00 86.00 10.00 27.18 including 80.00 83.00 3.00 69.03 KCD18 64.00 70.00 6.00 15.88 and 68.00 70.00 2.00 27.98 KCD20 51.00 57.00 6.00 9.41 KCD22 26.00 46.00 20.00 6.92 including 30.00 35.00 5.00 17.40

Table 1 - Selection of Qiriyaga Hill Gold Deposit High Grade Gold Intersections *Not true width

About Kalo Gold Corp.

Kalo Gold Corp, a gold exploration company, is focused on exploration for low sulphidation epithermal gold deposits of the Vatu Aurum Gold Project on the island of Vanua Levu (North Island) in the Republic of Fiji. Kalo holds a 100% interest in two Special Prospecting Licenses, covering 367 km2. Historical exploration work includes 11,423 m of diamond drilling, concentrated on the Qiriyaga Hill and Vuinubu Ridge Gold Deposits and the identification of over fourteen priority epithermal gold exploration targets.

Both Viti Levu, (South Island), and Vanua Levu are on the prolific Pacific "Ring of Fire", a trend that has produced numerous large deposits, including Porgera, Lihir and Grasberg and on Viti Levu, the exceptional Vatukoula Gold Mine. The island of Viti Levu also hosts Namosi, with a published Proven and Probable Reserves of 1.3 billion tonnes at 0.37% Cu and 0.12 g/t Au (5.2M ounces Au and 4.9M tonnes Cu). Lion One Metals is developing its Tuvatu Project, with Indicated Resources of 1.00 million tonnes at 8.48 g/t Au (274,600 ounces Au), and Inferred Resources of 1.33 million tonnes at 9.0 g/t Au (384,000 ounces Au) reported at a 3.0 g/t Au lower cut-off. The Vatukoula Gold Mine has produced in excess of 7 million ounces since 1937.

Qualified Person

The technical disclosure in this news release has been approved by Terry L. Tucker, P.Geo. a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Kalo Gold Corp.

Terry L. Tucker, P.Geo

President and Chief Executive Officer

and

Kevin Ma, CPA, CA

Executive Vice President, Capital Markets, and Director

For more information contact, please write to info@kalogoldcorp.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Forward Looking Statements Disclaimer

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which are statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Forward looking statements in this news release include statements relating to the timing for receipt of results from the Company's current exploration program, and the Company's plans for future exploration on the Project. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including statements regarding the timing for receipt of results from the Company's current exploration program, and the Company's plans for future exploration on the Project, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results, and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, the Company's inability to raise the necessary capital to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's filing statement dated February 9, 2021 and latest interim Management Discussion and Analysis filed with certain securities commissions in Canada.

The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking statements herein 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 Canadian securities law.

Figure 1 - Vatu Aurum Gold Property - caldera features associated with alteration and rock and soil geochemistry results

Figure 2 - Qiriyaga Hill and Vuinubu Ridge Epithermal Gold Deposit Model modified from Corbett (2012). Surface profile is approximate.

Figure 3 - KGD-05, KGD-06 and KGD-07 Drill Hole Locations on Qiriyaga Zone

Figure 4 - KGD-05 - Vuinubu Ridge Soil Gold Geochemistry

SOURCE: Kalo Gold Corp.

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Shakhnovich's leadership recognized for leading global SaaS company to unicorn status and growing award-winning solutions portfolio

BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2022 / Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Borya Shakhnovich , CEO and Co-founder of airSlate , was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 New England Award winner. Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive business awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies who think big to succeed. An independent panel of judges selected Mr. Shakhnovich based on his entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.

"I've had many proud moments as an entrepreneur, but what I'm most proud of is how this team has grown airSlate to the category leader in workflow automation," said Shakhnovich. "We are on the precipice of scaling our business to greater heights, bringing our solutions to SMBs and the enterprise as the world continues to accelerate digital transformation. I am humbled to receive this recognition and to continue the work."

Mr. Shakhnovich's nomination stood out from the competition for his unique leadership attributes, including how his background in academia informed his path as an engineer and entrepreneur. He joined airSlate in 2012 to help Co-founder, Vadim Yasinovsky , substantially expand its user base and service offerings. In the last decade, he has helped to scale the company to unicorn status with a $1 billion valuation following its latest funding round from UiPath and G Squared. Through his leadership, he has positioned airSlate at the forefront of building solutions that accelerate digital transformation for innovators on teams of all sizes, from SMBs to enterprises, with over 100 million global users utilizing airSlate's no-code business process automation, eSignature, and document management solutions.

As a New England award winner, Mr. Shakhnovich will now be considered by the National independent panel of judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 National Awards. National finalists and winners, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in June 2023.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has honored the inspirational leadership of entrepreneurs such as:

Cherie Kloss of SnapNurse

Saeju Jeong of Noom

Howard Schultz of Starbucks Coffee Company

Jodi Berg of Vitamix

Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn Corporation

Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani, Inc.

Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC

James Park of Fitbit

Sheila Mikhail of AskBio

Jim Taiclet of American Tower

Mike Salguero of ButcherBox

Langley Steinert of CarGurus

Edward Briscoe Rodgers and Stefania Mallett of ezCater

Mike Massaro of Flywire

Nicole Sahin of Globalization Partners

Stephane Bancel of Moderna Therapeutics

Marcus Wilson and Michael Schaeffer of NOBULL

Joe De Sena of Spartan Race

Chris Comparato, Aman Narang, Steve Fredette, Jon Grimm of Toast

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are presented by PNC Bank. In New England, sponsors also include DLA Piper, fama PR, Inc., Morgan Lewis, Nixon Peabody LLP, and Woodruff-Sawyer & Company.

About airSlate

airSlate is a global SaaS technology company that serves over a hundred million users worldwide with its no-code business process automation and document management solutions. The company's PDF editing, e-signature workflow, and business process automation solutions empower users to digitally transform their businesses to run faster and easier. airSlate , pdfFiller, signNow , and USLegal make up the company's portfolio of award-winning products.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year

Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National overall winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year title. ey.com/us/eoy

Press Contact

Eveline Buchatskiy

VP Special Projects

pr@airslate.com

SOURCE: airSlate

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706228/airSlate-CEO-and-Co-founder-Borya-Shakhnovich-Named-Entrepreneur-Of-The-YearR-2022-New-England-Award-Winner-by-EY
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2022 / EonX Technologies Inc. (CSE:EONX), ("EonX" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its fully owned Australian subsidiary company EonX Services Pty Ltd has signed an agreement with Bupa HI Pty Ltd, an Australian Health Insurance business, to launch a branded loyalty and rewards platform to their Australian customers.

Bupa is one of the largest health insurance providers in Australia, supporting close to four million customers on their health and wellbeing needs. Committed to helping its customers live longer, healthier and happier lives, and making a better world, Bupa has partnered with EonX to deliver a value centric loyalty platform designed to 'give back' to customers.

EonX will deliver the end-to-end digital customer experience and rewards marketplace, which is designed to enhance customer engagement, improve retention and power real-time loyalty.

EonX has granted Bupa with a non-exclusive license and a provision of services, and is committed to working closely with Bupa to help deliver the ultimate customer experience to its customers.

EonX Group Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Kallen said, "We are excited to be working with Bupa in building tangible value for their customers as cost of living pressures continue to escalate in Australia. With today's economic reality forcing customers to re-evaluate their spending habits and budgets, we are proud to support an initiative that empowers customers to save as they enjoy everyday benefits and exclusive lifestyle offers."

About EonX

EonX is a financial technology company powering the next generation of eWallet, payments and loyalty platforms which enable business and consumers to better engage and transact in today's digital world.

On behalf of the board of directors of EONX TECHNOLOGIES INC.

"Andrew Kallen"

Andrew Kallen, Group CEO

For more information about EonX, contact:

Andrew Kallen

Chief Executive Officer EONX Technologies Inc.

Telephone: +18036767776

Email: investors@eonx.com

Website: www.eonx.com

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties as described in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

SOURCE: EonX Technologies Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706320/EonX-Technologies-Inc-Signs-Agreement-with-Bupa-Health-Insurance
Much has changed in the new post-Covid era of healthcare provision. How do healthcare systems address the challenges of remote management of patients that require one to one support and how can MedTech help address some of the fundamental challenges?

HIGH WYCOMBE, England, June 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The unprecedented health crisis caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic arguably led to changes in the provision of healthcare services that would have taken place anyway. However, the crisis sped up these changes exponentially.

There was no compelling reason for GP consultations to be in person. Yet before Covid most were[1]. Out of necessity, the pandemic turbo charged more remote healthcare diagnostics, telephone and video consultations with healthcare staff, higher levels of self-diagnosis and faster innovation in the development of new standards of care for patients with Covid, including increasingly non-pharmaceutical interventions. The challenge now is to continue to accelerate innovation further in all areas.

The evolution of healthcare services to use more technology and rely less on face-to-face contact was a clear direction of travel even before Covid. This was driven by several factors: the growing ageing population combined with the increasing capabilities of healthcare systems to help patients manage and treat chronic illness, both put increased pressure on healthcare funding. The development of new and innovative technological solutions to supplement and support pharmaceutical interventions enables healthcare systems to manage this demand more effectively.

This is a one-way path: patients will increasingly become responsible for managing larger elements of their own wellbeing. This will be welcomed by many, for whom the process of physically attending a consultation - either at a GP surgery or hospital - seemed unnecessary.

Complex conditions

Despite this, healthcare systems need to find ways to accommodate those that are unwilling or unable to adapt to self-service systems of healthcare.

Particularly vulnerable are the elderly, partly because they will struggle to adapt to new processes and may not be as digitally literate or have the skills to access online or remote healthcare systems. While internet usage among the over 75s has grown rapidly in the last decade, only half of over 75s are regular internet users[2]. Those with complex conditions that are hard to heal are also likely to struggle. These are often the same group of patients.

Consider those with venous leg ulcers (VLU). VLUs are chronic skin ulcers that mainly affect the gaiter area and, in many cases, are caused by continuous venous hypertension or chronic venous insufficiency. VLUs are a common health condition that impact up to three percent of the global population. The risk of developing a VLU increases with age, with prevalence doubling among those older than 65 years[3].

VLUs take months to heal, while some never heal at all[4]. Even if a wound has healed, the chance of recurrence remains high[5]. It is therefore essential for healthcare professionals and patients to collaborate to ensure the recommended care is fully understood and working.

Current standard of care (SoC) for VLUs recommends compression therapy, elevation and exercise[6]. For older, immobile patients unable to exercise, compression therapy and elevation is the only option. Compression therapy requires nurses to apply bandages to the wounds, wrapping them tightly to stimulate blood flow. However, during the pandemic, wound clinics where this bandaging took place were largely closed. Many community nurses that visited multiple patients in the home were either re-assigned to other healthcare roles or forbidden to visit vulnerable patients.

This meant that patients became more responsible for treating their own conditions. Patients required to treat their wounds independently at home are extremely likely to find self-management of VLUs challenging. According to The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): "the use [of compression bandages] calls for an expert knowledge of the elastic properties of the products and experience in the technique of providing careful graduated compression." It is unlikely a patient will be able to effectively achieve this alone.

As ways of administering healthcare changes from in person to remote, there is a significant risk that patients, including those with VLUs, will be left behind - further slowing their recovery. This costs healthcare systems money, but also has a significantly negative impact on the quality of life of these patients.

Infections

One of the complications of non-healing VLUs is an increased risk of infection. Research on the number of VLUs that become infected varies. In an article published in the International Wound Journal, titled 'Identifying risk factors associated with infection in patients with chronic leg ulcers'[7], the authors noted that, of more than 500 patients suffering with leg ulcers, almost ten percent were suffering with infected VLUs.

Other research papers found higher levels of infected VLUs among patients. In a cross-sectional study of 77 chronic leg ulcers from 75 participants, De Souza found 27 percent of the ulcers were infected[8]. Similarly, Rondas et al in 2015 found 22 percent (16/72 chronic wounds) were infected[9]. It is therefore likely that - at any one time - as many as a quarter of VLU patients will be suffering from an infected wound. With some VLUs taking many months or even years to heal, the incidence of infection increases in patients with slow healing wounds.

When infection is present in a VLU, the patient may suffer with fever, increased pain, cellulitis, necrotic tissue, and purulent exudate with or without odour[10]. The most obvious consequences of infection are a reduced speed of wound healing and increased complications and mortality in patients with leg ulcers, resulting in a negative impact on the patients' quality of life and increased financial burden on the healthcare system and society.

Healthcare professionals are then faced with additional complications. The priority is to address the infection because the wound will not heal when infected. To address a wound infection nurses will sometimes use antiseptic dressings. However, the most common treatment is a course of anti-biotics.

A cocktail of concern

In recent years healthcare systems have become more reluctant to provide people with anti-biotics because of concerns over anti-biotic resistance. Anti-biotics kill germs, but some germs find a way to survive and can then multiply. Some resistant germs can also pass on this resistance to other germs.

Anti-biotic resistance in germs has seen the emergence of so-called superbugs such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (C. diff). These types of infections can be serious and challenging to treat and are becoming an increasing cause of disability and death around the world. A further concern is that new strains of bacteria may emerge that cannot be treated by any existing anti-biotics.

There were more than 150 outbreaks of MRSA in UK hospitals in the first three months of 2022 alone[11], demonstrating that this issue is a significant concern for the NHS. Elderly patients with medical complications and a history of regular treatment with anti-biotics (and therefore have built up some personal resistance to the drugs) may be at more risk of receiving a negative outcome from treatment with these drugs than others. In other words, patients at risk of complex, chronic or hard to heal VLUs are likely to be more vulnerable to infections but less able to address these through the existing standard of care.

In an environment where the continued use of pharmaceutical interventions may lead to diminishing returns for patients and require increased investment of funds, healthcare systems are looking for new non-drug-based ways to address significant healthcare issues.

MedTech's potential to help

Helping hard to heal patients requires new thinking. One of the most promising areas is innovation in medical technology (MedTech) that can help address chronic conditions without the need for, or with less need for drugs.

MedTech solutions can support current standards of care or offer an alternative to deliver faster healing and a better patient experience - potentially also at a lower cost.

As an example, VLU patients have recently been trialling the geko device alongside standard of care. It gently stimulates the common peroneal nerve activating the calf and foot muscle pumps, resulting in increased blood flow in the deep veins of the calf12 equal to 60 percent of walking without a patient having to move13.

Initial results have been promising: the increased blood flow is healing VLUs faster than standard of care alone. Patients experienced the closure of wounds more quickly, which reduces the cost to healthcare systems, but most importantly, reassures patients that progress can be and is being made to close the wound. The obvious additional benefit is that faster healing wounds have less time to be exposed to the risk of infection, reducing the further complications that many patients - particularly those with chronic wounds - may face.

New world solutions for a new world of healthcare

The changes in healthcare provision brought about by Covid are likely to remain in the future. This may mean more remote treatment for patients, but this should not be at the expense of the individual care that specific patients require to address hard to heal conditions such as VLUs.

Embracing MedTech innovation is a significant opportunity for healthcare systems globally, particularly where doing so demonstrably addresses wide reaching and chronic conditions that cost healthcare systems money and significantly reduce the quality of life of patients. A new way of delivering healthcare should have space for new thinking in treating conditions with innovation that may not always be pharmaceutical. MedTech has the potential to address issues that are difficult to resolve with current standard of care alone.

References:

Green M, McKee M, & Katikireddi S (2022). Remote general practitioner consultations during COVID-19. The Lancet Digital Health, 4(1), e7. doi: 10.1016/s2589-7500(21)00279-x The Guardian. Britons aged 75 and over using internet nearly double in seven years. 2021. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/apr/06/britons-aged-75-and-over-using-internet-nearly-double-in-seven-years NHS England . Overview: Venous Leg Ulcer. 2019. Available from: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/leg-ulcer/ Guest JF, Fuller GW, Vowden P. Venous leg ulcer management in clinical practice in the UK: costs and outcomes. Int Wound J 2018;15:29-37 Finlayson K, Wu M-L, Edwards HE. Identifying risk factors and protective factors for venous leg ulcer recurrence using a theoretical approach: a longitudinal study. Int J Nurs Stud 2015;52:1042-51 NHS England . Treatment: Venous Leg Ulcer. 2019. Available from: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/leg-ulcer/treatment/ Bui, UT, Edwards H, & Finlayson K (2018). Identifying risk factors associated with infection in patients with chronic leg ulcers. International wound journal, 15(2), 283-290. doi.org/10.1111/iwj.12867 De Souza JM, Vieira EC, Cortez TM, Mondelli AL, Miot HA, Abbade LPF. Clinical and microbiologic evaluation of chronic leg ulcers: a cross-sectional study. Adv Skin Wound Care. 2014;7:222-227. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Rondas AALM, Schols JMGA, Stobberingh EE, Halfens RJG. Prevalence of chronic wounds and structural quality indicators of chronic wound care in Dutch nursing homes. Int Wound J. 2015;12:630-635. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Wound Source. Complications of Venous Leg Ulcers. 2019. Available from: https://www.woundsource.com/blog/complications-venous-leg-ulcers GOV UK. MRSA bacteraemia: monthly data by location of onset. 2022. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mrsa-bacteraemia-monthly-data-by-location-of-onset Nicolaides A, Griffin M. Measurement of blood flow in the deep veins of the lower limb using the geko neuromuscular electro-stimulation device. Journal of International Angiology August 2016-04 Tucker A, Maass A, Bain D, Chen LH, Azzam M, Dawson H, et al. Augmentation of venous, arterial and microvascular blood supply in the leg by isometric neuromuscular stimulation via the peroneal nerve. The international journal of angiology: official publication of the International College of Angiology, Inc. 2010 Spring;19(1): e31-7

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The Battery Energy Storage Projects Will Add 185.5 Megawatt 371 Megawatt-hours of Fast Frequency and Capacity Response

Renewable energy developer Ion Renewables, Ltd. (ION Renewables) has signed an exclusivity agreement with Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc. (Mitsubishi Power) for four battery energy storage system (BESS) projects using Mitsubishi Power's Emerald storage solutions totaling 185.5 megawatt (MW) 371 megawatt-hours (MWh) in Ireland. These projects will provide Secure, Sustainable Electricity System (DS3) energy storage and system services including fast frequency and capacity response to Ireland's National Grid, enabling the addition of more renewable energy. All four projects will be located at brownfield sites with existing electrical interconnects.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220622006036/en/

Mitsubishi Power and ION Renewables plan to bring secure, sustainable electricity system energy storage including fast frequency and capacity response to Ireland's National Grid with Mitsubishi Power's Emerald storage solutions. The four battery energy storage projects will enable additional renewable energy and support three major energy initiative programs for Ireland and the European Union. (Rendering Credit: Mitsubishi Power)

In addition to providing frequency response to the National Grid, the BESS projects will support three major energy initiative programs for Ireland and the European Union:

Ireland's Climate Action Plan to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050

EirGrid Group's DS3 program that addresses the challenges of integrating world-leading levels of renewable generation into the grid and targets having 70% of Ireland's electricity come from renewables by 2030

REPowerEU's draft directive, which seeks to eliminate imported gas by 2030 and diversify energy sources

"We are delighted to be working with the Mitsubishi Power team to deliver these important projects," said John Ward, Director, ION Renewables. "These installations represent a viable and economical solution to balance the network, strongly aligning with the principles of the REPowerEU draft directive. These projects demonstrate that effective solutions for storing energy can be achieved by utilizing renewable power that would otherwise be curtailed."

Scheduled to come online in 2024, the four BESS projects will be Mitsubishi Power's first in Europe, bringing the total global deployment of its Emerald storage solutions to more than 2 gigawatt-hours (GWh).

Mitsubishi Power's Emerald storage solutions for Ion Renewables include project engineering, equipment supply, and a 10-year long-term service agreement.

According to Tom Cornell, Senior Vice President, Energy Storage Solutions, Mitsubishi Power Americas, these projects emphasize the importance of BESS adoption as a viable solution with more countries striving to meet their climate action goals. "Bringing our Emerald storage solutions to Ireland and working with Ion Renewables is an exciting moment for us. The continued adoption of battery storage technologies outside of the United States and the recognition of the important role they play in enabling renewable energy generation to reach net-zero cannot be overstated. Mitsubishi Power's Emerald storage solutions will help Ireland reach its goal of 70% generation from renewable sources while ensuring the stability of the grid with a secure power system."

Read more about some of Mitsubishi Power's BESS projects:

Innergex Orders Mitsubishi Power Emerald Storage Solution to Bring 425 Megawatt-hours of Battery Storage to Chile

San Diego Gas Electric Orders Mitsubishi Power Emerald Storage Solution to Add Capacity for High Energy Demand

Mitsubishi Power and Powin Partner to Enhance California's Grid Reliability with Two Battery Energy Storage Projects

MHPS Will Supply Battery Energy Storage Systems to Help Balance the California Grid

Key Capture Energy, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, and Powin Energy Partner to Add 200 MW of Battery Storage to the Texas Grid

About Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc.

Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc. (Mitsubishi Power) headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida, employs more than 2,300 power generation, energy storage, and digital solutions experts and professionals. Our employees are focused on empowering customers to affordably and reliably combat climate change while also advancing human prosperity throughout North, Central, and South America. Mitsubishi Power's power generation solutions include gas, steam, and aero-derivative turbines; power trains and power islands; geothermal systems; PV solar project development; environmental controls; and services. Energy storage solutions include green hydrogen, battery energy storage systems, and services. Mitsubishi Power also offers intelligent solutions that use artificial intelligence to enable autonomous operation of power plants. Mitsubishi Power is a power solutions brand of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI). Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, MHI is one of the world's leading heavy machinery manufacturers with engineering and manufacturing businesses spanning energy, infrastructure, transport, aerospace, and defense. For more information, visit the Mitsubishi Power Americas website and follow us on LinkedIn.

About Ion Renewables, Ltd.

Ion Renewables, Ltd. (ION Renewables) was formed by top experts in the energy storage industry with the goal of deploying energy storage to provide grid balancing and renewables integration. We are developing and advising on projects in Ireland and worldwide through our network. In this current batch of projects in Ireland, ION Renewables is developing ESS facilities at large industrial load centres, providing rapid deployment and low environmental footprint on existing brownfield sites. These projects will assist in balancing the network by providing additional functionality to the grid to enable the further deployment of renewables and ultimately reduce Ireland's dependency on imported fossil fuels. For more information, visit the ION Renewables website.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220622006036/en/

Contacts:

Christa Reichhardt

+1 407-484-5599

Christa.Reichhardt@amermhi.com
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2022 / Pampa Metals Corp. ("Pampa Metals" or the "Company") (CSE:PM)(FSE:FIRA)(OTCQB:PMMCF) is pleased to report that Quantec Geoscience Chile Ltda. ("Quantec") has recently completed an IP geophysical survey over the Buenavista target and other covered magnetic anomalies at the Company's Block 4 project in northern Chile, with encouraging results (see previous news release dated May 24, 2022).

Block 4 is located along the principal porphyry copper belt of northern Chile, about 110 km south of the giant La Escondida copper mine. The principal target identified to date, called Buenavista, comprises a poorly exposed quartz-veinlet stockwork zone hosted within a dacite porphyry intrusion, which is spatially coincident with a magnetic high and anomalous molybdenum geochemistry. Copper oxide occurrences and anomalous gold values are zoned around the central stockwork zone to the west, south and east.

BLOCK 4 IP SURVEY- FINDINGS & KEY TAKEAWAYS

The survey comprised 37 linear kilometers ("km") of pole-dipole IP measurements distributed along five E-W lines each 5 to 7 km long. The lines were not evenly distributed, and do not form a regular grid, as they were designed as a preliminary test of a series of separate geological, geochemical, and magnetic anomalies.

The results of the IP geophysical survey at Block 4 have given results consistent with the previously published results for the Buenavista target (see Figure 1). Two of the lines located over the Buenavista target, with porphyry- type quartz veinlets, quartz-sulfide breccias to the west, and skarn-type mineralization with coarse chalcopyrite relicts to the east, have a good correlation with chargeability and resistivity anomalies on lines 7,205,000N and 7,205,750N. The anomalies define an area of interest significantly greater than 1 km x 1 km in size at Buenavista, starting at shallow depths and open beyond depths of 600m. This confirms Buenavista as a priority drill target, with planning underway for a possible Q4 2022 drill program start, during the southern hemisphere spring.

These two IP lines and others cover a variety of additional magnetic anomalies, mostly under post-mineral cover, to the east, northeast and southeast of Buenavista, and reveal other coincident chargeable and magnetic features with geophysical characteristics similar to Buenavista. These are also being evaluated as possible drilling targets.

IP line 7,205,000N oriented W-E, centred on the Buenavista target, has defined a significant chargeability anomaly about 1,400m wide (W-E), starting at shallow depths beneath surficial leached sub-crops, and open at depths beyond 600m. The peak of the anomaly correlates well with the mapped dacite porphyry-hosted quartz-veinlet stockwork zone and associated molybdenum anomalies from Pampa Metals' trenching work (see news release dated March 15, 2022), as well as the central Buenavista magnetic high. Western portions of the IP anomaly correlate well with the quartz-sulphide breccia with copper and gold values in trenches previously mapped and reported. A possible continuation of the chargeability anomaly, or possibly a separate anomaly, extends to the east under post-mineral cover, resulting in an overall W-E extension of chargeable features of approximately 3.3km, all of which are open at depth. This eastern anomaly extension coincides with a subcircular magnetic high some 600m x 600m in size, which suggests further targets of interest under cover equivalent to the Buenavista target.

Separate IP lines located 750m to the north and 1.5km to the south show continuity of the chargeability anomalies described for line 7,205,000N, suggesting the overall sulphide systems detected are of substantial size, including the chargeable anomalies to the east under post-mineral cover.

Two shorter IP lines at the northern end of Block 4, designed to test a series of covered magnetic anomalies, show several smaller IP chargeability features that require further evaluation, but may represent reconnaissance drill targets. One anomaly on the northernmost line is open to the west.

Figure 1: Block 4 - Pole-Dipole IP Chargeability Profiles

Block 4 IP Survey - Detailed Results

Line 7,205,000N -7 km W-E - crossing the central Buenavista target (see Figure 2).

Crosses the subcircular magnetic high of the Buenavista target, in addition to a magnetic low related to a separate magnetic anomaly under gravel and ignimbrite cover to the east.

A sub-vertical 10-15 mV/V chargeability anomaly some 1,400m W-E, starting at shallow depths and open beyond 600m depth, is centred on the quartz-veinlet stockwork zone and associated magnetic high at Buenavista, and also reflects the quartz-sulphide breccia to the west of the magnetic high.

The described chargeability anomaly is continuous, which suggests that the central porphyry with stockwork veining and the quartz-sulphide breccia to the west are related to the same hydrothermal system. The anomaly correlates well with resistivities of 1500-5000 ohm-m, open at depth, values that are consistent with the existence of silicification and quartz.

A chargeability anomaly extends further east, under post-mineral cover, which may be continuous with the main Buenavista chargeable anomaly, or which may be a separate anomaly coincident with a magnetic low related to a separate magnetic high under cover to the east. The two anomalous areas, nevertheless, are semi-continuous on the chargeability section over a distance of about 3.3 km W-E. The core of the eastern anomaly is more than 1 km W-E, open at depth, and starts at around 200m to 400m beneath gravel and ignimbrite cover.

The principal anomalies are repeated on line 7,205,750N located 750m to the north (see below),with the eastern anomaly possibly delimited by a geological fault to the east.

Line 7,205,750N -7 km W-E - 750m north of the Buenavista target, and crossing a post-mineral covered magnetic anomaly to the east (see Figure 3).

Located on the northern flanks of the Buenavista magnetic anomaly showing a sub-vertical chargeability anomaly of 10-15 mV/V, about 1,100m wide, starting at shallow depths and open beyond 600m depth, which correlates well with the Buenavista chargeability anomaly on line 7,205,000N described above. The principal chargeability anomaly also correlates well with resistivity values of 1,500-3,000 ohm- m, which are considered consistent with the presence of silicification and quartz.

The eastern, covered chargeability anomaly described for line 7,205,000N is repeated on this line, and is spatially related to a post-mineral covered magnetic anomaly. The chargeable feature correlates well with the similar anomaly on line 7,205,000N, is about 800m W-E, open at depth, and starts at around 300m beneath gravel and ignimbrite cover. The chargeability anomaly on the eastern portion of this line, and its correlation with a 600m x 600m magnetic high, is geophysically similar to that observed at the Buenavista target and is interpreted to represent a new, covered target.



Line 7,203,500N -6 km W-E - 1,500m south of the Buenavista target, and crossing a magnetic low to the southwest of Buenavista, and magnetic highs to the east (see Figure 4).

A significant, post-mineral covered magnetic high located in the approximate centre of the line, is spatially coincident with the eastern half of a broad, weaker chargeability anomaly, which is somewhat open to the west, but delimited by a possible fault to the east.

As per line 7,205,750N, the spatial coincidence of a chargeability anomaly with a 600m x 600m magnetic high, is geophysically similar to the Buenavista target and may represent a new, covered target.

Lines 7,207,600N & 7,209,000N - each 5 km W-E - 2.5 km to 4 km north of the Buenavista target, and crossing a series of post-mineral covered magnetic features (see Figure 1).

Both lines show several deeper, less extensive chargeable features, although the northernmost line has a significant chargeable anomaly open to the west. Further evaluation of these anomalies is required.

ABOUT BLOCK 4

A ground magnetics survey and follow-up geological fieldwork led to the discovery of a porphyry-related quartz- veinlet stockwork zone spatially coincident with a dacite porphyry and magnetic anomaly (see news release dated October 18, 2021), subsequently named the Buenavista target. A limited trenching program returned anomalous molybdenum geochemistry associated with the stockwork zone, together with copper and gold values around the margins, including 24m @ 0.14% Cu and (separately) 24m @ 0.25 g/t Au (see news released date March 15, 2022).

The trenching program at Buenavista revealed relicts of coarse chalcopyrite disseminations from a skarn-type system on the eastern edge of the stockwork zone, as well as green and black copper oxide mineralization from in-situ oxidation of chalcopyrite-pyrite mineralisation in a quartz-sulfide breccia on the west flank of the stockwork. Gold anomalies are also associated with this latter area.

Simultaneous soil geochemistry and pole-dipole IP geophysics surveys were initiated in May 2022, centred on the Buenavista target. IP results are published here, and field sampling for the soil survey totalling around 2,500 samples is about 50% completed, with all assay results pending. Soil sampling results will be published in due course.

ABOUT PAMPA METALS

Pampa Metals is a Canadian company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE: PM) as well as the Frankfurt (FSE: FIRA) and OTC (OTCQB: PMMCF) exchanges. Pampa Metals owns a highly prospective, wholly owned, 60,000-hectare portfolio of eight projects for copper and gold located along proven mineral belts in Chile, one of the world's top mining jurisdictions. The Company is actively progressing four of its projects, including completed and planned drill tests, and has two additional projects optioned to Austral Gold Ltd., with Austral already drill testing its first target on Pampa Metals' ground. The Company has also signed an agreement with VerAI Discoveries Inc. giving Pampa Metals access to the latest in artificial intelligence technologies in relation to mineral exploration, as well as a further 18,700 hectares of highly prospective terrain in the core of the highly productive mineral belts of northern Chile.

The Company has a vision to create value for shareholders and all other stakeholders by making a major copper or gold discovery along the prime mineral belts of Chile, using the best geological and technological methods. For more information, please visit Pampa Metals' website www.pampametals.com.

Qualified Person

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Mario Orrego G, Geologist and a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Orrego is a consultant to the Company.

Note: The reader is cautioned that Pampa Metals' projects are early-stage exploration projects, and reference to existing mines and deposits, or mineralization hosted on adjacent or nearby properties, is not necessarily indicative of any mineralization on Pampa Metals' properties.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Paul Gill | CEO &Director

www.pampametals.com

INVESTOR CONTACT

Ioannis (Yannis) Tsitos | Director

investors@pampametals.com

The CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, which address events or developments that Pampa Metals expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "indicate" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur .Although Pampa Metals believes the expectations expressed in such forward- looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.

Figure 2: IP Line 7.205.000N - Chargeability &Resistivity - Showing Local Geology and Magnetics MVI @ 300m

Figure 3: IP Line 7.205.750N - Chargeability &Resistivity - Showing Local Geology and Magnetics MVI @ 300m

Figure 4: IP Line 7.203.500N - Chargeability &Resistivity - Showing Local Geology and Magnetics MVI @ 300m

SOURCE: Pampa Metals Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706265/Pampa-Metals-Reports-Strong-Chargeability-Response-from-its-IP-Geophysical-Program-at-the-Buenavista-Target-in-Block-4-Confirming-Priority-Drill-Targets
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 23, 2022) - American Aires Inc. (CSE: WIFI) (OTCQB: AAIRF) (the "Company" or "Aires") announces that further to its press release of May 9, 2022, the Company continues to work diligently to complete the filing of its audited annual financial statements, management discussion and analysis and certificates of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (collectively, the "Annual Continuous Disclosure Documents") which were due to be filed on May 2, 2022, and the interim financial statements, management discussion and analysis and certificates of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer for the period ended March 31, 2022 (collectively, the "Interim Continuous Disclosure Documents" and together with the Annual Continuous Disclosure Docuements, the "Continuous Disclosure Documents"), which were due to be filed on May 30, 2022. The Company anticipates that the Annual Continuous Disclosure Documents will be filed on or prior to July 29, 2022 and the Interim Continuous Disclosure Documents will be filed shortly thereafter.

The Ontario Securities Commission (the "OSC") issued a failure to file cease trade order ("CTO") against the Company on May 6, 2022, which orders that general trading, whether direct or indirect, of the securities of the Company cease. A copy of the CTO has been posted to the OSC website. The Company has experienced delays associated with the completion of its annual audit due to difficulties in obtaining third party shipping data from some of the Company's fulfillment centres. The Company is working with its auditors and third-party fulfillment centres to conclude the process at the earliest possible time.

Following the filing of the Continuous Disclosure Documents, the Company will file a revocation application to revoke the CTO. The Company will provide further updates as they become available.

About American Aires Inc.

American Aires Inc. is Canadian-based nanotechnology company which has developed proprietary silicon-based microprocessors that reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR). The technology was developed by a team of highly accredited scientists and confirmed by independent third-party validation including peer reviewed studies and publications in scientific journals. Aires' Lifetune products specifically target EMR emitted by consumer electronic devices such as cellphones, computers, baby monitors, Wi-Fi radiation, including the rapidly expanding next-generation high-speed 5G networks. Aires is listed on the CSE under ticker 'WIFI' and on the OTCQB under the symbol 'AAIRF'. Learn more at www.airestech.com.

On behalf of the board of directors

Company Contact:

Dimitry Serov, CEO

Email: dimitry@airestech.com

Telephone: (905) 482-4667

Website: www.airestech.com

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Shares have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, or to or for the account or benefit of any person in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any common shares in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. We seek safe harbour.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Not intended for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of United States Securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/128722
U.S. educators in early learning through middle school can apply to join a cohort of innovative educators with a passion for and expertise in hands-on learning.

LEGO Education today announced it is now accepting applications for the 2022 cohort of the LEGO Education Ambassador Program. Candidates should be leaders in the education community and exhibit passion, knowledge, and creativity while using LEGO Education solutions in the classroom. Applications are open to pre-K through middle school educators located in the U.S. now through July 29, 2022.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005328/en/

Apply to join a cohort of innovative educators with the LEGO Education Ambassador Program! (Graphic: Business Wire)

The LEGO Education Ambassador Program, formerly known as the LEGO Education Master Educator Program, recognizes and celebrates educators who are dedicated to enabling success for all students through playful learning experiences. These educators are already making an impact in their classrooms with hands-on LEGO learning and are lifelong learners themselves, looking for new ways to engage their students. The LEGO Education Ambassador Program will bring together a diverse group of educators from across the country with different backgrounds, skillsets, teaching experience, disciplines, district profiles, grade levels, and more to share their wealth of knowledge and ideas for student success with the support of their peers and LEGO Education.

"Being part of this program has been an incredible experience for me," said Mindy Bissett, Arkansas K-8 Lead Computer Science Teacher. "Through the ambassador program I have connected with like-minded educators. We share ideas about hands-on learning and teamwork. I have also been able to help teachers locally. They feel comfortable asking me about how they can use LEGO sets with their students. Students' eyes light up when they use LEGO Education sets to solve problems and show what they have learned."

As experts in hands-on learning, LEGO Education Ambassadors will provide valuable feedback on LEGO Education solutions and programs to help rethink learning in schools and create a positive impact for students and classrooms around the world. To support personal and professional growth, ambassadors can participate in a number of activities and gatherings, including:

Joining testing and feedback sessions with LEGO Education curriculum, product development, and research teams

Connecting with other leaders in education at local or online events

Inspiring and learning from others by sharing experiences, ideas, and perspectives through the LEGO Education Community, social media, online chats, webinars, and media interviews

Attending industry events as a volunteer representative of LEGO Education

Creating and contributing to content and thought leadership topics

To learn more, review the full program requirements and guidelines, and to apply, please visit online here. Educators attending the ISTELive 22 conference next week from June 26-29 can meet with program representatives and apply on-site. Ambassadors will be notified in August.

The LEGO Education Ambassador Program is a voluntary ambassador program. Ambassadors do not receive monetary compensation from LEGO Education for their participation in the program.

About LEGO Education

LEGO Education offers a range of playful, hands-on STEAM learning experiences based on its comprehensive learning system for students in early learning, primary and secondary education, as well as through after-school programs and competitions. From the Early Learning portfolio to the LEGO Learning System, these solutions create an active and collaborative environment where learners of all levels and abilities build their confidence, future-proof their skills and spark a lifelong love of learning.

LEGO, the LEGO logo, the Minifigure and the SPIKE logo are trademarks and/or copyrights of the LEGO Group. 2022 The LEGO Group. All rights reserved.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005328/en/

Contacts:

Media Contact:

Kelley Brescia

kelley.brescia@LEGO.com
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Won In-choul, right, and his U.S. counterpart, Gen. Mark A. Milley, hold virtual talks on North Korean threats and the alliance, June 23. Yonhap





The top military officers of South Korea and the United States held virtual talks on North Korea's military threats, Thursday, and agreed the allies' combined defense posture was "more solid than at any other time," according to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).







The talks between JCS Chairman Gen. Won In-choul and his U.S. counterpart, Gen. Mark A. Milley, came as concerns have grown about the possibility of Pyongyang conducting a nuclear weapon test amid lingering tensions over a series of earlier missile launches.







"The two countries' JCS chairs concurred that North Korea's missile launches this year were a significant challenge threatening peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in the Indo-Pacific region, and that the South Korea-U.S. alliance and their combined defense posture are more solid than at any other time," the JCS said in a press release.







Won pointed out the possibilities of the North conducting an additional intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch or a nuclear test, and stressed the importance of close cooperation to display the allies' capabilities and will to respond "sternly" to possible provocations.







Milley reaffirmed that the U.S.' security commitment to the defense of South Korea remains "ironclad," according to the JCS.







He also expressed his gratitude to the outgoing South Korean JCS chair for his contributions to the development of the alliance. (Yonhap)






The European hydronic underfloor heating market is expected to be worth more than three and a half billion dollars by 2032. The hydronic underfloor heating market's new buildings segment is expected to grow at a rate of around 6% though 2032.

NEWARK, Del., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- From USD 4.24 billion in 2022 to USD 7.59 billion in 2032, the hydronic underfloor heating market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6% through 2032.

Continuous efforts to conserve energy and raise standards for energy-efficient systems are expected to propel the hydronic underfloor heating market forward influencing the hydronic underfloor heating market key trends and opportunities.

The hydronic underfloor heating market landscape is being propelled by comfort, cost efficiency, product equivalence with other heat sources, and minimal design considerations affecting the hydronic underfloor heating market adoption trends.

Get Sample PDF Brochure: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-15063

The hydronic underfloor heating market will benefit from significant economic transformation as a result of rapid commercialization and industrialization escalating the hydronic underfloor heating market future trends.

The commercial segment of the hydronic underfloor heating market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 6%. Product applications in healthcare will supplement product demand for hydronic underfloor heating, as will the growing demand for space heating in the hospitality sector.

The implementation of regulatory codes and standards that favour green building infrastructures, as well as the hydronic underfloor heating market trend toward lower energy bills, will encourage product adoption of hydronic underfloor heating in commercial applications.

Germany, for example, unveiled its new plan in April 2022 to speed up the transition to clean energy technologies from previous green energy standards. It included a shift to green energy from 65% to 80% of the total energy mix which will have as positive impact on hydronic underfloor heating market trends and forecasts and also help in escalation of the sales of hydronic underfloor heating.

e Offer tailor-made Solutions to fit Your Requirements, Request Customization@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-15063

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Through 2032, the hydronic underfloor heating market 's new buildings segment is expected to grow at a rate of around 6%.

's new buildings segment is expected to grow at a rate of around 6%. Due to an increased focus on demand-based heating solutions, the residential application is expected to hold a significant hydronic underfloor heating market share .

is expected to hold a significant . By 2032, the hydronic underfloor heating market in Europe is expected to be worth more than USD 3.5 billion .

in is expected to be worth more than . Northern America leads the hydronic underfloor heating market and is expected to keep growing at its current rate, accounting for about 32.5% of the global market value, with a 4.6% CAGR.

Key Segments

Market, By Facility:

New Buildings

Retrofit

Market, By Application:

Residential

Single family



Multi family

Industrial

Commercial

Education



Healthcare



Retail



Logistics & Transportation



Offices



Hospitality



Others

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COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE:

New market research report on hydronic underfloor heating says that

Uponor Corporation

Honeywell International, Inc.

Amuheat, REHAU AG

Eberle by Schneider Electric

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Robert Bosch GmbH

Danfoss

Warmup

H2O Heating Pty Ltd.

Hunt Heating

Hurlcon Hydronic Heating

Polypipe

Schluter Systems

Warmboard, Inc.

Daikin

Are among the legacy players vendors.

The research offers a comprehensive competition analysis of these top competitors in the hydronic underfloor heating market, including hydronic underfloor heating market growth, hydronic underfloor heating market share, hydronic underfloor heating market adoption trends and important market strategies.

Speak to our Research Expert: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-question/rep-gb-15063

Recent Development in the Hydronic Underfloor Heating:

Product Launches:

nVent Electric plc added advanced work packaging and heat mapping capabilities to its available software in November 2021 . It released software that combines the client's 3D plant modelling systems with integrated heat management system (HMS) design capabilities.

. It software that combines the client's 3D plant modelling systems with integrated heat management system (HMS) design capabilities. Emerson introduced the Warm Tiles ColorTouch line of thermostats in January 2020 , which includes a WiFi-enabled version that gives customers remote access to their systems via a mobile device or web browser, making it simple and cost-effective to control in-floor heating systems.

the Warm Tiles ColorTouch line of thermostats in , which includes a WiFi-enabled version that gives customers remote access to their systems via a mobile device or web browser, making it simple and cost-effective to control in-floor heating systems. At the Specifi London building services event in October 2019 , Rehau unveiled the RAUTITAN heating and plumbing system as well as the RAUPIANO pipework system.

Expansion:

Uponor Corporation purchased Capricorn S.A. in November 2021 to expand its European manufacturing network. This acquisition added to Uponor's surface heating and cooling portfolio.

Partnership:

Warmup Inc. formed a strategic partnership with Concora in June 2021 to develop a digital experience platform for commercial building product manufacturers.

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Table of Content

1. Executive Summary

1.1. Global Market Outlook

1.2. Demand-side Trends

1.3. Supply-side Trends

1.4. Technology Roadmap Analysis

1.5. Analysis and Recommendations

2. Market Overview

2.1. Market Coverage / Taxonomy

2.2. Market Definition / Scope / Limitations

3. Market Background

3.1. Market Dynamics

3.1.1. Drivers

3.1.2. Restraints

3.1.3. Opportunity

3.1.4. Trends

3.2. Scenario Forecast

3.2.1. Demand in Optimistic Scenario

3.2.2. Demand in Likely Scenario

3.2.3. Demand in Conservative Scenario

3.3. Opportunity Map Analysis

3.4. Investment Feasibility Matrix

3.5. PESTLE and Porter's Analysis

3.6. Regulatory Landscape

3.6.1. By Key Regions

3.6.2. By Key Countries

3.7. Regional Parent Market Outlook

4. Global Hydronic Underfloor Heating Market Analysis 2017-2021 and Forecast, 2022-2032

4.1. Historical Market Size Value (US$ Mn) Analysis, 2017-2021

4.2. Current and Future Market Size Value (US$ Mn) Projections, 2022-2032

4.2.1. Y-o-Y Growth Trend Analysis

4.2.2. Absolute $ Opportunity Analysis

TOC continued..!

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Heat Pumps Market: to grow with a year-on-year growth of 3.6% in 2022 reaching a value of about US$ 33,156 Mn by 2022 end - Comprehensive Research Report by FMI

Tubular Heater Market: demand is anticipated to be valued at US$ 1.25 Billion in 2022, forecast to grow at a CAGR of 2% to be valued at US$ 1.50 Billion from 2022 to 2032 - Comprehensive Research Report by FMI

Ductless Heating & Cooling Systems Market: was estimated to be worth around US$ 98 Bn in 2021 and is forecast to grow at a robust CAGR of 8% between 2022 and 2032 - Comprehensive Research Report by FMI

About Future Market Insights (FMI)

Future Market Insights (ESOMAR certified market research organization and a member of Greater New York Chamber of Commerce) provides in-depth insights into governing factors elevating the demand in the market. It discloses opportunities that will favor the market growth in various segments on the basis of Source, Application, Sales Channel and End Use over the next 10-years.

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Millicom (Tigo) to launch new digital "Maestr@sConectad@s" platform for the digital skilling of teachers in Latin America

LUXEMBOURG, June 23, 2022 - Millicom, a leading provider of fixed, mobile and digital services in Latin America through its Tigo brand, today announced the launch of a region-wide, web-based app for its Maestr@s Conectad@s program offering school teachers online learning modules in digital literacy.

Millicom (Tigo) first launched Maestr@s Conectad@s in 2020 in the countries where it operates to strengthen digital education systems that had been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program was designed to reduce the digital divide, and its contents initially consisted of online training which prepared educators including teachers, school administrators, and others, to understand and use digital tools to improve educational quality. The interactive modules were delivered via videos, podcasts, and other digital means. Through Maestr@s Conectad@s, the company has trained more than 250,000 educators to date in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Bolivia, and Paraguay.

The new web-based app currently offers a catalog of 20 free courses developed in collaboration with AHYU, an international organization focused on educational content. Course topics include digital tools, PowerPoint, Canva, Zoom, educational innovation, storytelling, gamification, use of social networks, digital tools for the classroom, and neuroeducation. The digital platform will allow a much easier and immediate access to the Maestr@s Conectad@s toolkit for educators willing to acquire new skills, at a critical time for digital education. The program represents one of Millicom's most important ESG-based education programs aimed at improving and empowering lives through connectivity. The platform is available at the following link www.maestrosconectados.com

"At AHYU, we are pleased to work hand in hand with Millicom (Tigo) in its commitment to contribute to quality education in Latin American countries," said Arlei Villegas, director of production at AHYU. "Now that educational work has become hybrid, the virtual programs we have developed and our experience in facilitating teachers, families and students, responds to the needs of this new reality and hopefully reaches all levels of education."

Since its early stages, various allies and partners have helped drive the expansion of Maestr@s Conectad@s in the nine countries where Millicom (Tigo) operates, including several education ministries, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and various local media outlets.

"We at Millicom (Tigo) can think of no better way to meet the societal and economic needs of a community than to strengthen its education system with the teachers at the heart of it all," said Karim Lesina, Millicom EVP and chief external affairs officer. "With the launch of our Maestr@s Conectad@s online platform, we are placing digital literacy training within the grasp of thousands more teachers so they can develop the skills they need to inspire students through new channels and methods to reach them anywhere in the globe. These and other efforts reinforce our support of the UN Global Compact and Sustainable Development Goals. Connecting our communities means more to Millicom (Tigo) than simply providing internet access. We are opening for them the door to the future."

Courtesy pictures: Image 1 , Image 2 , Image 3 , Image 4

For further information, please contact

Press:

Giuseppina Curreli, Director Political Relations

Yocasta Valdez, Sr. Manager Digital Media & Communications

press@millicom.com (mailto:press@millicom.com)



Investors:

Michel Morin, VP Investor Relations

Sarah Inmon, Director Investor Relations

investors@millicom.com (mailto:investors@millicom.com)





About Millicom

Millicom. Connect with Millicom on Twitter, Instagram, Facebookand LinkedIn.

About AHYU

AHYU, is a learning and change company oriented to generating transformations using fewer resources, time, and energy with innovative and high-impact models. Ahyu means "love" in Guarani and is the value that encloses each of the actions they perform. Since 2019, it also has been working on TIGO's Connect Segur@ Corporate Responsibility program, which seeks to promote the creative and responsible use of the internet and new technologies in educational units throughout the country, benefiting students, teachers, principals, and families.

Attachments
Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 23, 2022) - Northern Graphite Corporation (TSXV: NGC) (OTCQB: NGPHF) (FSE: ONG) (XSTU: ONG) (the "Company" or "Northern") is pleased to announce the successful integration and corresponding unaudited sales and operating results from its recently acquired Lac des Iles ("LDI"), Quebec graphite mine in its first month of operations under Northern's ownership. Highlights include:

Sales1 Tonnes Shipped 1,085 Tonnes Sold 965 Sales US$ 1,537,356 Average Selling Price US$ per tonne 1,593 Operations Tonnes Mined (Ore + Waste) 114,391 Tonnes of ore processed 19,701 Tonnes of graphite concentrate produced 1,281 Process plant recovery 89.5% Process plant utilization rate 87.2% Other No lost time accidents No serious environmental incidents Agreement reached on new four-year union agreement 1. All figures are preliminary and may be subject to material, quarter end closing adjustments

During the month of May, Northern shipped 1,085 tonnes and 965 tonnes were sold for total revenue of US$1,537,356 at an average price of US$1,593 per tonne. Although most of the volume from the Lac des Iles mine is contracted on an annual basis, in early June, Northern received a spot order for 152 tonnes of its 80x150/95 grade at US$1,900MT to be shipped in July. This shows the market is tightening for this type of product in North America. Currently Northern has a backlog of orders for 880 tonnes with a value of US$1,528,000.

At the Lac des Iles mine and processing plant, 19,701 tonnes of ore were processed with a graphite recovery of 89.5% to produce 1,281 tonnes of final concentrate. The plant currently operates on a 24 hour/day, 5 days/week cycle. In May plant availability was 87.2%, primarily due to shutdowns for the replacement of the crusher feed bin grizzly and repairs to one of the cleaner flotation circuits. With improved maintenance, elimination of a few small bottlenecks, and a seven-day operation, Northern believes the plant can produce up to 25,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of concentrate.

Northern is also pleased to report that the Company has started to explore the area for additional sources of ore to extend the Lac des Iles mine life. Although still early, these searches look promising both on the current mine site and on adjacent properties. Furthermore, the due diligence process continues at the Mousseau West property, which was optioned earlier this year. It is located 80 kms from Lac des Iles and within economic trucking distance. Mousseau West already contains a substantial drilled resource. A decision on exercising the option will be made ahead of schedule in July or early August.

The average selling price of LDI concentrates has historically been in the order of US$1,500/tonne which translates into potential annual revenue of US$22.5 million at 15,000tpy and US$37.5 million at 25,000tpy. LDI has traditionally received a premium over published prices due to the high quality of its flake graphite and by selling smaller quantities to loyal, long-term customers as well as providing a secure source of local supply with just in time inventory management. Cost data will be provided when second quarter results are announced. The Company has recently received multiple spot orders from non traditional customers at higher prices which indicates a tightening in market supply.

Northern is also pleased to announce that it has reached agreement on a new four-year contract with the approximately 36 union employees who work at LDI. The Company provided a significant cost of living adjustment, defined severance obligations and increased benefit coverage to 100% of costs. A formal contract is expected to be signed in the coming weeks.

"It is very encouraging to see how quickly our team has been able to integrate the recently acquired Lac des Iles mine since the transaction closed on April 29th. With a new Union contract, strong production, shipping and sales data as well as an indication that the market for graphite is tightening, we are poised for a strong finish to the year," said CEO Hugues Jacquemin. "The transformation of Northern Graphite continues and with the first pieces of equipment being ordered for our Namibian facility as well our first employees starting at the Okorusu processing plant last week, we look forward to continued growth whilst creating a bright future for our employees and shareholders."

About Northern Graphite

Northern Graphite is a TSX Venture Exchange listed Canadian company focussed on becoming a world leader in producing natural graphite and upgrading it into high value products critical to the green economy including anode material for LiBs/EVs, fuel cells and graphene, as well as advanced industrial technologies.

Northern is the only significant graphite producing company in North America and will become the third largest non-Chinese producer when its Namibian operations come back online in the first half of 2023. The Company also has two large scale development projects, Bissett Creek in Ontario and Okanjande in Namibia, that will be a source of continued production growth in the future. All projects have "battery quality" graphite and are located close to infrastructure in politically stable countries.

About Graphite

Graphite is a natural, pure form of carbon. It is not a carcinogen and because it is not burned, it is not a source of CO2. Graphite has many industrial uses as a lightweight reinforcement, conductive additive and fire retardant. It has come to prominence because it is the largest component of a lithium ion battery (and an important one in fuel cells), and it requires the largest production increase of any battery mineral to meet forecast EV demand. And China dominates production and processing. For these reasons it is recognized as a critical mineral by the US, EU and Canada.

Qualified Person

Gregory Bowes, B.Sc. MBA P.Geo is a "qualified person" as defined under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the content of this news release.

For additional information

Please visit the Company's website at http://www.northerngraphite.com/investors/presentation/, the Company's profile on www.sedar.com, our Social Channels listed below or contact the Company at (613) 241-9959.

LinkedIn



YouTube



Twitter



Facebook

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward- looking statements and information are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "potential", "possible" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "will", "could", or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding, among others; the Company's market position, its intentions with respect to its operations and development projects, and sales, revenue and pricing projections. All such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by management based on their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors they believe are appropriate in the circumstances. However, these statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected including, but not limited to unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of other parties to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; unexpected failure or inadequacy of infrastructure and the failure of ongoing and contemplated studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued studies, development or operations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements.

Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based on what management believes are reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with them. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/128724


The B20 Energy, Sustainability & Climate (ESC) Task Force held entitled the third Task Force Call Meeting on Thursday, April 19 (ANTARA/HO-Pertamina)

JAKARTA, June 23, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - The B20 Energy, Sustainability & Climate Task Force, led by state-owned oil giant Pertamina Group, put forth three recommendations to support realization of the target of net-zero carbon emissions."Climate change sustainability is something that we must strive for in the future. For this reason, the B20 Energy, Sustainability, and Climate Task Force has compiled policy recommendations that focus on three recommendations, with 12 policy actions that call for global cooperation," Deputy Chair of B20 Energy, Sustainability, and Climate Task Force Agung Wicaksono said in a statement obtained here on Thursday.He delivered the statement during the hybrid dialogue forum of Energy Transition in Growth Markets on Tuesday (June 21).This forum is one of the events conducted by the Task Force Energy, Sustainability & Climate (ESC) and the Task Force Future of Work and Education in collaboration with the Accenture International Utilities and Energy Conference held on June 21-23, 2022, in Rome, Italy.Themed "Maximizing the Value of the Energy Transition in Growth Markets and Paving the Way to B20," this forum discusses the future of the energy industry in an era that prioritizes sustainability and low emissions for a green future and a more sustainable planet.The three policy recommendations include accelerating the transition to sustainable energy use by reducing carbon intensity in different ways. The second is ensuring a just, orderly, and affordable transition to sustainable energy use. The third recommendation pertains to increasing energy security, so that consumers can access and consume clean and modern energy."We are working hard to ensure there is an alignment between the performance targets set by the Italian B20 last year and our performance targets this year, so there will be a continuity," Wicaksono stated.To ensure a fair, orderly, and affordable transition to sustainable energy use, Wicaksono stated that the pricing in developing countries should be taken into consideration. Thus, it is necessary to formulate ways to integrate the benefits of carbon pricing into the energy transition pricing."With the energy transition, we must also think about the security and availability aspects of world energy. At the same time, we must also ensure that everyone has access to clean and modern energy," he emphasized.The managing director of Jababeka Infrastructure stated that the potential of decarbonization towards net-zero emission also comes from industrial areas. Furthermore, he invited companies in the B20 to conduct global collaborations that will result in business actions, as the provision of renewable energy for industrial companies with a large demand can contribute to achieving the energy transition target, he affirmed.Wicaksono also accentuated the importance of energy transition and the important role of the B20 Energy, Sustainability, and Climate Task Force in achieving energy transition priorities, especially to achieve net-zero emissions.On the same occasion, Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Arsjad Rasjid stated that currently, the main players in the energy and utility areas are facing challenges.Collaboration becomes increasing important for achieving significant reductions in carbon emissions and a progressive transition from carbon-generating energy to environmentally friendly, greener, and sustainable energy, Rasjid stated."The transition to greener energy does not mean stopping profits for the company. The company's move towards clean energy will create added value for brands and consumers to become more confident and have a positive outlook," he remarked.Head of Indonesia's B20 Organizer, Shinta Kamdani, stated that energy transition should provide benefits and not create burden. Kamdani pressed for making meticulous preparations for the energy transition, including conducting mitigation of the costs and impacts."This energy transition certainly requires substantial financial support. The G20 countries, which contribute 80 percent of the world's economy, are expected to provide this support for the transition process. Several main priorities must be put forward in this energy transition, such as accessibility, technology, and funding," Kamdani stated.The event was moderated by Gianfranco Casati and Valentin de Miguel from Accenture that are the Co-Chair and Deputy Co-Chair of the B20 Energy, Sustainability, and Climate Task Force.The forum also presented other keynote speakers: the Chair B20 Future of Work & Education Task Force/President Director of Astra Otoparts/Director of PT Astra International Tbk, Hamdhani D. Salim; Co-Chair B20 Future of Work & Education Task Force/IOE Vice President to The ILO, Renate Hornung Draus; WEF Head of Energy, Materials and Infrastructure, Kristen Panerali; and ENI Evolution CEO, Giuseppe Ricci.Contact: Fajriyah Usman, VP Corporate Communications, PT Pertamina (Persero)M: +62 858 8330 8686, Email: fajriyah.usman@pertamina.com, URL: https://www.pertamina.comWritten by: Azis Kurmala, Editor: Sri Haryati (c) ANTARA 2022Source: PT PertaminaCopyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Germany has declared alarm level in its natural gas supplies following continued cuts of the essential fuel from Russia and rising fuel prices triggered by the war in Ukraine. 'We have a disruption to the gas supply in Germany, which is why it is necessary to declare this alarm level,' Germany's economy and climate protection minister Robert Habeck announced Thursday. Alarm level is the second phase of the German economy and climate protection ministry's three-stage emergency plan for natural gas supplies. 'Even if we can't feel it yet - we are in a gas crisis,' Habeck told reporters. Germany, which heavily depends on Russian gas for its domestic and industrial needs, has reduced the share of its imports by 20 percent after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian gas supplies through the Nord Stream pipeline were first disrupted last week, and were further cut to 40 percent of maximum capacity. Habeck warned that if flows continue at this reduced level, storage targets for the winter will be at risk. Europe's biggest economy, Germany is one of the major buyers of Russian gas. Austria and the Netherlands also have issued similar warnings about possible shoratge in supplies and urged people to limit their gas consumption. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.


HELSINKI (dpa-AFX) - A top official of the U.S. Department of Defense has strongly urged the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to quickly approve the request of Finland and Sweden to join NATO.



'The Department of Defense assesses that Finland and Sweden are ready for NATO membership,' Celeste A. Wallander, Assistant Secretary of Defense for international security affairs, said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing Wednesday.



Finland and Sweden would provide additional security and stability in Europe, according to Wallander. The two Baltic nations already have close bilateral defense relationships with the United States, and also have close working ties and military interoperability with NATO militaries, she noted.



Finland and Sweden simultaneously handed in their official letters of application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in May.



NATO Allies are considering the next steps on the two Nordic nations' path to the defense alliance.



This move by Stockholm and Helsinki marks a major shift in the neighboring nations' decades of military neutrality, evidently influenced by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.



The process to accommodate the applicants could be fast-tracked and is expected to only take a few weeks, but application for NATO membership requires approval by all the countries of the 30-member bloc.



The fact that Sweden and Finland petitioned to join the defensive alliance is a sign of how much the security environment has changed with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Both nations have been partners with NATO for decades, but were not interested in joining the treaty organization.



But Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused a seismic shift in public opinion in Finland and Sweden, and the legislatures of both countries quickly debated and ratified a motion to join the 30-nation alliance.



Wallander said both Finland and Sweden are ready to contribute to the alliance's defense now. Finland maintains general conscription and has a well-manned and trained reserve that can be called up quickly, which is key, since that country shares a long border with Russia.



'Finland's location on the Baltic Sea, diplomatic experience with Russia and advanced capabilities make it an asset to the alliance,' she told the senators. 'Finland spends more than 2 percent of its [gross domestic product] on defense, and possesses unique military capabilities and expertise, particularly operating in the arctic environment,' she added.



Sweden also maintains a world class defense industry. Sweden's 'military expertise in the Arctic and undersea environments would substantially advance alliance capabilities,' Wallander said.



Sweden became a NATO Partnership for Peace member in 1994, and a NATO enhanced opportunities partner in 2014.



It has contributed to or supported NATO missions in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Kosovo and Libya.







Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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DGAP-News: Volatus Aerospace Corp.

Lt. General (ret'd), the Honorable Andrew Leslie joins Volatus Aerospace Board of Directors



23.06.2022 / 16:59

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



Volatus Aerospace Corp. (TSXV: VOL) (OTCQB: VLTTF) ("Volatus" or "the Company") today announced the appointment of Lt. General (ret'd) the Honourable Andrew Leslie to its Board of Directors, effective June 23, 2022. Born into a multi-generational military and public service family, he has been a soldier, business leader, and a Member of Parliament for the federal riding of Orleans (2015). As a parliamentarian, he was a member of the Privy Council, Chief Government Whip, and Parliamentary Secretary focused on Canada-US relations, helping with NAFTA and other global matters. "It is an honour to welcome General Leslie to the Volatus Board," said Ian MacDougall, Chairman of Volatus Aerospace. "He has significant leadership expertise and a deep understanding of global affairs, defence, and strategic planning. His experience will be invaluable to Volatus as we grow our business globally and seek to work with governments in supporting their public safety, defence and security capabilities." Lt. General (ret'd) Leslie stated: "Volatus is a rapidly scaling Canadian aerospace company with enormous potential to become a leading global player in the drone space. I like their focus on veteran programs. They truly appreciate and value veterans' expertise, experience, and knowledge. I look forward to getting to know Volatus leadership and staff and supporting their growth." Following the appointment of Lt. General (Ret'd) Leslie, the Board will comprise five directors, three of whom are independent. Lt. General (ret'd) Andrew Leslie has extensive training and practical experience in leadership, governance, succession planning/leader selection/mentoring, strategic planning and risk and crisis management with detailed knowledge of Canada's place in the world, international trade, and Canada-US relations. His 35-year career in the Canadian Armed Forces culminated as the Commander/CEO of the Canadian Army for four years during the latest Afghan War, where he was responsible for the leadership of 57,000 people, their equipment, training, a multibillion-dollar budget and related equipment programs. International tours with both the UN and NATO in peacekeeping roles were recognized with numerous Canadian and international awards and decorations. A graduate of numerous military courses on leadership, governance, ethics, strategy, tactics, equipment acquisition and risk management, his education includes the University of Ottawa (Economics), the Royal Military College (MA/Strategic Studies), the University of London, as well as executive courses at the Harvard Business School and the Canadian Forces Colleges. He is a graduate of the Institute of Directors Education Program from the Rotman School of Management. In 2021 he was conferred the degree of Doctor of Military Science degree from the Royal Military College. He currently lives in Ottawa and is bilingual (English/French). Upon moving on from his military career, he joined a large Canadian corporation as a Senior Vice President working on network operations and cyber security with U.S. and Canadian clients. In January 2017 the Prime Minister focused him on Canada-U.S. trade relations as Parliamentary Secretary for Global Affairs. He has spent considerable time in the U.S. and across Canada interacting with military and business leaders, Premiers, Governors and Congress on binational issues. About Volatus Aerospace: Volatus Aerospace Corp. is a leading provider of integrated drone solutions throughout Canada, the United States, and Latin America. Operating a vast pilot network, Volatus serves commercial and defense markets with imaging and inspection, security and surveillance, equipment sales and support, training, and design, manufacturing, and R&D. Through its subsidiary Volatus Aviation, Volatus carries on the business of aircraft management, charter sales, and cargo services using piloted, remotely piloted, and autonomous aircraft. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statement This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Corporation with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" (or other variations of the foregoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information includes information regarding (i) the business plans and expectations of the Corporation; and (ii) expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Forward-looking information is based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and operating plans, strategies or beliefs as of the date of this news release, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors may be based on information currently available to the Corporation, including information obtained from third-party industry analysts and other third-party sources, and are based on management's current expectations or beliefs. Any and all forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical facts but instead reflects expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Forward-looking information reflects the Corporation's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to it and on assumptions it believes to be not unreasonable in light of all of the circumstances. In some instances, material factors or assumptions are discussed in this news release in connection with statements containing forward-looking information. Such material factors and assumptions include, but are not limited to: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Corporation; meeting the continued listing requirements of the TSXV; and anticipated and unanticipated costs and other factors referenced in this news release and the Circular, including, but not limited to, those set forth in the Circular under the caption "Risk Factors". Although the Corporation has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this news release and, other than as required by law, the Corporation disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Source: Volatus Aerospace Corp. TSXV: VOL Contact Details Volatus Aerospace Corp. Rob Walker +1 514-447-7986 rob.walker@volatusaerospace.com Company Website https://volatusaerospace.com

News Source: News Direct



23.06.2022 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.dgap.de


Ageas announces the payment of final instalments in the Fortis settlement



Ageas announces today that it has decided, in agreement with the claimant organisations, to close the Fortis settlement enabling the claims administrator to proceedto the payment of final instalments.

Initially final calculations for all claimants and payment of final instalments would only be made after the very last dispute has been resolved. However, as only a very limited number of claims are still pending before Computershare (the independent claims administrator) or the Dispute Committee, Ageas did not want to let this limited number of unresolved claims keep some 279,000 other claimants waiting any longer.

Therefore, Ageas decided to bear the residual risk of these unresolved claims on top of the EUR 1.3 billion budget provided in the Settlement Agreement. This allows the claims administrator to proceed to the payment of the final instalments and thereby close the Fortis settlement for almost all claimants.

As significantly more claims were filed than expected, some components of a claimant's Provisional Claim Amount will be subject to dilution.

In determining the final payment percentages mentioned below, the unresolved claims are deemed to be rejected, which maximizes the pay-out amounts for all other claimants within the foreseen budget of EUR 1.3 billion.

The resulting payment percentages are applied to the corresponding compensation component of a claimant's Provisional Claim Amount to calculate a claimant's Final Claim Amount:

Buyer Shares: 100%

Holder Shares: 77.48%

Compensation Add-On: 61.62%

Cost Addition for Active Claimants: 120%

Given that fewer claims for Buyer Shares were filed than expected, buyers of Fortis Shares will receive 100% of the Buyer Share component of their Provisional Claim Amount.

Even after adding the excess funds of EUR 198.3 million transferred from the Buyer Shares bucket to the Holder Shares bucket, the pay-out percentage for Holder Shares is diluted to 77.48%.

For Active Claimants, the Cost Addition component will be increased up to the maximum of 120% provided for in the approved distribution plan.

The Compensation Add-On is most affected by the high number of claims filed, yielding a pay-out percentage of 61.62%.



A claimant's final instalment will be the positive difference between the claimant's Final Claim Amount and the instalment(s) already received. For non-Active Claimants whose compensation is primarily or exclusively composed of Compensation Add-On and/or Holder Shares the final instalment may be limited or zero. "Early filers" benefitted from a guaranteed pay-out of 70% of their Provisional Claim Amount and they may keep any overpayment if their Final Claim Amount is lower than the 70% of their Provisional Claim Amount they received as a first instalment.

In the days following 23 June 2022 each claimant with an accepted claim will receive a letter with the claimant's Final Claim Amount and the amount of the final instalment, if any, by email or by regular post. The final payment will normally follow on or about 25 August 2022.

Ageas kindly asks claimants to be patient and to refrain from calling or emailing the call centre to get info about their specific, individual claim before they have received their letter. Before such time the call centre will not yet have the details of their Final Claim Amount. The call centre can be reached by telephone Monday through Friday from 9:00 until 18:00 CET. Ageas advises claimants to first consult the FORsettlement website (www.forsettlement.com) if they have any questions about this communication.

"I want to express my gratitude to the many claimants who have been waiting so patiently for closure and thank all organisations and persons involved in getting us to where we are today. With this decision Ageas again takes a major step, allowing the Group to fully focus on its business and to continue with the execution of its strategic plan Impact24." Hans De Cuyper, CEO Ageas

Ageas is a listed international insurance Group with a heritage spanning almost 200 years. It offers Retail and Business customers Life and Non-Life insurance products designed to suit their specific needs, today and tomorrow. As one of Europe's larger insurance companies, Ageas concentrates its activities in Europe and Asia, which together make up the major part of the global insurance market. It operates successful insurance businesses in Belgium, the UK, France, Portugal, Turkey, China, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, and the Philippines through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries and long term partnerships with strong financial institutions and key distributors. Ageas ranks among the market leaders in the countries in which it operates. It represents a staff force of about 40,000 people and reported annual inflows close to EUR 40 billion in 2021 (all figures at 100%).

Attachment
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 23, 2022) - Lion Copper and Gold Corp. (TSXV: LEO) (OTCQB: LCGMF) ("Lion CG", or the "Company") announces that it has entered into a debt settlement agreement (the "Agreement") with a creditor dated June 22, 2022 whereby the Company has agreed to issue shares to settle debt in the amount of $100,000 owed to the creditor. The debt was incurred pursuant to an option Agreement between the Company and the creditor dated January 26, 2022. Pursuant to the Agreement the Company will issue 1,212,121 common shares of the Company at a deemed price of $0.0825 per share to the creditor.

The issuance of the common shares in connection with the debt settlement is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and will be subject to a four-month hold period.

Financing Warrants

Further to the Company's news release dated June 20, 2022 the Company wishes to clarify that in connection with the sale of the convertible debentures the Company issued to the purchasers one detachable warrant (a "Warrant") for every US$0.06 (C$0.077) of principal amount of the convertible debentures subscribed for. Each Warrant can be exercised to acquire a common share of the Company at a price of US$0.06 (C$0.077) for a period of 20 months.

About Lion CG

Lion Copper and Gold Corp. is a Canadian-based company advancing its flagship MacArthur Copper Project in Mason Valley, Nevada, in addition to advancing its exploration projects including the Chaco Bear and Ashton properties in highly prospective regions in British Columbia, Canada, and the Blue Copper Prospect in Montana, USA.

Further information can be found at www.lioncg.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Stephen Goodman

President

For more information please contact

Karen Robertson

Corporate Communications

778-898-0057



Email: info@lioncg.com

Website: www.lioncg.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/128738
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 23, 2022) - International Lithium Corp. (TSXV: ILC) (OTCQB: ILHMF) (FSE: IAH) (the "Company" or "ILC") is pleased to announce assay results for Phase 1 of the diamond drilling program at the Raleigh Lake Lithium project near Ignace, Ontario, Canada.

Further to Company news releases dated February 9, March 21, and May 17, 2022; ILC is conducting a minimum of 5,000 metres core drilling at the Raleigh Lake project in two phases. Phase 1 ran during the winter months of March and April 2022 where ten (10) holes were drilled for a total of 2,053 metres (Table 1 and Figure 1). Eight holes targeted Pegmatite 1 in Zone 1 and two holes targeted Pegmatite 2 in Zone 2. All drill holes in Zone 1 encountered spodumene bearing pegmatites.

Drilling Highlights

All holes testing Pegmatite 1 in Zone 1 cored spodumene-bearing pegmatite demonstrating confidence and continuity in the body (see Figure 2).

Pegmatite 1 shows a distinct zonation with an accumulation of rubidium enriched monocrystalline megacrystic microcline occurring in the roof portion of the modelled pegmatite (see Photos 1 -3).

Pegmatite 1 Spodumene Zone Intersection Highlights*

RL22-09: 10.15 metres (estimated true thickness of 8.5 metres) grading 2.4% Li 2 O (from 89.95 metres) including 7.05 metres (5.9 metres true thickness) averaging 3.46% Li 2 O in the spodumene core zone (from 93.05m);

(from 89.95 metres) including 7.05 metres (5.9 metres true thickness) averaging in the spodumene core zone (from 93.05m); RL22-10: 21.45 metres (estimated true thickness of 13 metres) grading 1.29% Li 2 O (from 127.12 metres) including 9.05 metres (estimated true thickness of 5.48 metres) averaging 2.46% Li 2 O in the spodumene core zone (from 131.95m);

(from 127.12 metres) including 9.05 metres (estimated true thickness of 5.48 metres) averaging in the spodumene core zone (from 131.95m); RL22-11: 13.08 metres grading 1.09% Li 2 O (from 119.38 metres) including 6.56 metres averaging 1.51% Li 2 O in the lower spodumene core zone (from 125.9m);

(from 119.38 metres) including 6.56 metres averaging in the lower spodumene core zone (from 125.9m); RL22-14: 3.46 metres grading 1.53% Li2O (from 26.11 metres) in Pegmatite 3 and 7.07 metres averaging 1.08% Li2O (from 132.73 metres) in Pegmatite 1.

Pegmatite 1 Rubidium Bearing Microcline Intersection Highlights*

RL22-09: 4.2 metres (estimated true thickness of 3.52 metres) grading 0.81% Rb 2 O (from 89.45 metres);

(from 89.45 metres); RL22-12: 5.9 metres grading 1.38% Rb 2 O from 116.5 metres;

from 116.5 metres; RL22-13: 6.83 metres grading 0.87% Rb 2 O from 88 metres;

from 88 metres; RL22-15: 3.1 metres grading 0.36% Rb 2 O from 107.81 metres;

from 107.81 metres; RL 22-16: 3.96 metres grading 0.197% Rb2O from 124.39 metres.

* True thickness, where reported, is based on the interpreted geometry of the pegmatite bodies, the orientation of the drill holes and structural measurements from oriented drill core, otherwise the reported intervals are drill intercept widths.

Phase 1 Drilling

All eight holes from the 2021 maiden drilling campaign were cored in Zone 1 and tested the up-dip and eastern extent of Pegmatites 1 and 3. Zone 1 is a stacked set of shallow dipping pegmatite dykes that make up the main target of the Raleigh Lake project. Eight holes from Phase 1 were cored into Zone 1 and and all eight intersected spodumene-bearing pegmatites with holes DDH22-09 and DDH22-10 intersecting 8.5 metres and 13 metres true thicknesses of spodumene-bearing pegmatite respectively; at an approximated vertical depth of less than 100 metres (see Company news release dated March 21, 2022).

Zone 1 pegmatites have been defined by drilling and surface exposures in an area exceeding 600 metres x 400 metres for Pegmatite 1. The Phase 1 drill holes were drilled interstitially to historic drill holes at step outs of 50 metres or more (if possible) to provide quantifiable data that can be used in a maiden resource calculation.

The first holes to be drilled at Zone 2 were targeting the down dip extension of Pegmatite 2, a small surface exposure of spodumene bearing pegmatite approximately 750 metres northwest of Pegmatite 1 with a similar structural orientation. Drilling locations were limited by topography resulting in a large step-out relative to the Pegmatite 2 outcrop. Encouragingly both holes DDH 22-17 and DDH 22-18, separated by a strike length of approximately 125 metres, intersected multiple metre and sub-metre scale pegmatite veins including a one metre scale vein (interpreted to be Pegmatite 2) containing moderate, patchy spodumene.

A summary of the analytical results for Phase 1 is given in Table 2.

Phase 2 Drilling

As reported on May 17, 2022 The focus for Phase 2 was to test numerous lithogeochemical anomalies and alteration corridors identified in Zones 2, 3, 5 and 6 while continuing to test the extents of Pegmatite 1 and 3 in Zone 1. The Company is experiencing longer than anticipated wait times for the drilling permit to test targets defined in Zones 3, 5, and 6. As a result, drilling has remained within Zone 1 and 2.

At writing, the program has surpassed its targeted 5000 metres of drilling and will likely pause drilling for a few weeks while the permit process runs its course. The Company has re-prioritized drilling in the Zone 1 area where the high grade-spodumene and rubidium core can be traced closer to surface between the large gaps in the historic drilling. This will provide a much clearer picture of the mineralized zones to be used in an upcoming maiden resource estimate scheduled for later in 2022.

Table 1: Summary of drill holes cored during Phase 1 of the 2022 drill program at Raleigh Lake.





Table 1

To view an enhanced version of Table 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3232/128731_0fff1d171455090e_003full.jpg.

Table 2: Summary of significant mineralized intersections from Phase 1 Drilling at Raleigh Lake.

2022 Raleigh Lake Drilling Program: PHASE 1 Results Pegmatite Intersections**

Hole_ID

From (m)

To (m) Width

(m) Cs2O

(%) Li2O

(%) Rb2O

(%)

Comments RL22-09 89.95 100.1 10.15 0.020 2.4 0.39 Pegmatite 1 top to bottom incl. 89.95 94.15 4.2 0.014 0.32 0.81 Pegmatite 1 upper microcline domain incl. 93.05 100.1 7.05 0.010 3.46 0.12 spodumene core zone RL22-10 127.12 148.57 21.45 0.020 1.29 0.16 Pegmatite 1 top to bottom incl. 131.95 145.56 13.61 0.019 1.98 0.18 spodumene core zone incl. 131.95 141 9.05 0.025 2.46 0.23 spodumene core zone RL22-11 119.38 132.46 13.08 0.024 1.09 0.26 Pegmatite 1 diluted with 2.1m of host rx incl. 125.9 132.46 6.56 0.014 1.51 0.05 Lower spodumene pegmatite RL22-12 116.03 128.15 12.12 0.046 0.07 0.69 Pegmatite 1 top to bottom incl. 116.5 122.4 5.9 0.089 BDL 1.38 Upper microcline mineral domain RL22-13 88 94.83 6.83 0.034 0.25 0.87 Zone of intense microcline mineralization RL22-14 133.15 139 5.85 0.078 1.29 0.22 Pegmatite 1 RL22-15 107.81 110.91 3.1 0.022 0.01 0.36 Pegmatite 1 and 137.5 141.5 4.0 0.011 1.27 0.18 Pegmatite 1 RL22-16 124.39 128.35 3.96 0.018 0.63 0.20 Pegmatite 1 and 146.48 149.92 3.44 0.009 1.21 0.16 Pegmatite 1 RL22-17 160.56 161.5 0.94 0.008 0.400 0.176 Exploration Hole- Pegmatite 2 RL22-18 142 142.85 0.85 0.008 0.03 0.16 Exploration Hole- Pegmatite 2





** All intervals reported in this table are downhole core lengths. Accurate true widths are unknown at this time but are estimated to be within 60-80% of the reported intervals based on the geometry of the bodies and structural measurements on oriented core.





Figure 1: Location of the Phase 1 drill holes at Raleigh.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3232/128731_0fff1d171455090e_004full.jpg.





Figure 2: Approximate surface trace outline of Pegmatite 1 showing pierce points from drilling. Pegmatite 1 appears to have an enriched core trending updip toward the northwest. The Company is waiting on permits and will investigate this enrichment trend as soon as practical.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3232/128731_0fff1d171455090e_005full.jpg.

John Wisbey, Chairman and CEO of International Lithium Corp. commented:

"These are very encouraging analysis results from Zone 1 of our Raleigh Lake drilling based on the results from Phase 1 of our drilling. We are now well on the way to being able to release a maiden resource estimate for Zone 1 of Raleigh Lake late in 2022. The grades of lithium analysed so far are at the upper end of our expectations with up to 3.46% discovered. The rubidium also remains very interesting with up to 1.38% discovered.

Our Phase 2 drilling program at Raleigh Lake has now reached the 5,000 metres anticipated, with more good core samples from Zone 1, but with Zone 2 not very interesting and not a priority for further drilling. Owing to lack of permitting we have not yet been able to drill further north in Zone 1 to analyse the extent of the continuation of the Zone 1 pegmatites which we have already drilled extensively, nor have we been able to start drilling in Zone 5 which had the very high readings of rubidium and caesium as well as lithium that we announced on January 17, 2022. We will be starting drilling again as soon as practicable after receiving these permits which we now anticipate receiving at the end of July 2022. The permits have taken longer than usual, but our understanding is that this has been primarily due to staff shortages and turnover.

We will also shortly be starting aerial magnetic work on other parts of our wider Raleigh Lake claims and on our newly optioned Wolf Ridge property in Ontario.

Further announcements will be made at the appropriate time."





Photo 1: Upper rubidium zone as indicated by the monomineralic megacrystic microcline and the lithium rich spodumene core zone of Pegmatite 1 as encountered in RL22-09.

To view an enhanced version of Photo 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3232/128731_0fff1d171455090e_006full.jpg.





Photo 2: RL22-10 showing Pegmatite 1 zonation of the spodumene core and a less developed microcline cap.

To view an enhanced version of Photo 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3232/128731_0fff1d171455090e_007full.jpg.





Photo 3: RL22-13 showing the intense microcline mineralization of the rubidium zone in Pegmatite 1 with no associated spodumene zone.

To view an enhanced version of Photo 3, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3232/128731_0fff1d171455090e_008full.jpg.

Quality assurance/quality control procedures

International Lithium Corp. has implemented a rigorous quality assurance/quality control program to ensure best practices in sampling and analysis of diamond drill core. All assays are performed by Activation Laboratories Ltd. (ActLabs), with sample preparation and analysis carried out in their full-service facility in Dryden, Ontario. Sample preparation involves crushing the entire sample to 80% passing 2 mm, riffle split 250g and pulverize to 95% passing 105 m (Code RX1).

Primary analysis method: Peroxide (Total) Fusion, ICP-OES & ICP-MS with 55 elements that include detection levels for Li of 15ppm - 50,000ppm and rubidium of 0.4 to 5,000 ppm (Lab code UT7). Sodium peroxide fusion provides total metal recovery and is effective for the decomposition of sulphides and refractory minerals which are common to pegmatite.

Over limit analysis method: Samples that return with results above the instruments detectable levels for lithium (50,000 ppm) and Rb (5,000 ppm) are then re-analyzed by Assay Grade, Peroxide (Total) Fusion (Code 8 Peroxide ICP-OES).

The drill program was under the control of a Professional Geoscientist, registered with Engineers & Geoscientists British Columbia. The Company and its contractors carried out the program under full compliance with COVID-19 protocols based on guidelines issued by Public Health Ontario and provincial health authorities of Ontario to ensure the safety and health, for all personnel.

About International Lithium Corp.

International Lithium Corp. believes that the world faces a significant turning point in the energy market's dependence on oil and gas and in the governmental and public view of climate change. In addition, we have seen the clear and increasingly urgent wish by the USA and Canada to safeguard their supplies of critical battery metals and to become more self-sufficient. Our Canadian projects are strategic in that respect.

Our key mission in the next decade is to make money for our shareholders from lithium and rare metals while at the same time helping to create a greener, cleaner planet. This includes optimizing the value of our existing projects in Canada and Ireland as well as finding, exploring and developing projects that have the potential to become world class lithium and rare metal deposits.

A key goal has been to become a well-funded company to turn our aspirations into reality, and following the disposal of the Mariana project in Argentina in 2021 and the Mavis Lake project in Canada in January 2022, the Board of the Company considers that ILC is now well placed in that respect with a strong net cash position.

The Company's interests in various projects now consists of the following, and in addition the Company continues to seek other opportunities:

Name Location Area

(Hectares) Current

Ownership Percentage Future Ownership percentage if options

exercised or work

carried out Operator or JV Partner Raleigh Lake Ontario 48,500 100% 100% ILC Wolf Ridge Ontario 5,700 0% 100% ILC Avalonia Ireland 29,200 45% 21% Ganfeng Lithium Mavis Lake Ontario 2,600 0% 0%

(carries an extra earn-in payment of CAD $1.4M if resource targets met) Critical Resources Ltd Forgan Lake & Lucky Lake Ontario < 500 0% 1.5% Net Smelter

Royalty Ultra Lithium Inc.

The Company's primary strategic focus at this point is on the Raleigh Lake lithium, rubidium and caesium project in Canada and on identifying additional properties.

The Raleigh Lake project consists of 48,500 hectares (485 square kilometres) of mineral claims in Ontario and is ILC's most significant project in Canada. The exploration results there so far, which are on only about 8% of ILC's current claims, have shown significant quantities of rubidium and caesium in the pegmatite as well as lithium. Raleigh Lake is 100% owned by ILC, is not subject to any encumbrances, and is royalty free.

With the increasing demand for high tech rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles and electrical storage as well as portable electronics, lithium has been designated "the new oil", and is a key part of a "green tech" sustainable economy. By positioning itself with projects with significant resource potential and with solid strategic partners, ILC aims to be one of the lithium and rare metals resource developers of choice for investors and to continue to build value for its shareholders in the '20s, the decade of battery metals.

Patrick McLaughlin, P. Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, has verified the disclosed technical information and has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.

On behalf of the Company,

John Wisbey

Chairman and CEO

www.internationallithium.com

For further information concerning this news release please contact +1 604-449-6520.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release or other releases contain certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information or forward-looking statements in this or other news releases may include: the effect of results of anticipated production rates, the timing and/or anticipated results of drilling on the Raleigh Lake or Wolf Ridge or Avalonia projects, the expectation of resource estimates, preliminary economic assessments, feasibility studies, lithium or rubidium or caesium recoveries, modeling of capital and operating costs, results of studies utilizing various technologies at the company's projects, budgeted expenditures and planned exploration work on the Company's projects, increased value of shareholder investments, and assumptions about ethical behaviour by our joint venture partners or third party operators of projects. Such forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those discussed in the sections entitled "Risks" and "Forward-Looking Statements" in the interim and annual Management's Discussion and Analysis which are available at www.sedar.com. While management believes that the assumptions made are reasonable, there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. Should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking information. Forward-looking information herein, and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on expectations, estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the time of such statements, are subject to significant business, economic, legislative, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. These estimates and assumptions may prove to be incorrect and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/128731
Woo Choon-hee, migrant rights scholar and activist, poses during an interview with The Korea Times at the newspaper's office in Seoul, June 20. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



Ph.D. student Woo Choon-hee brings migrant workers' long working hours, inhumane living conditions to light in her recent book



By Lee Hyo-jin



A day in the life of a female Cambodian migrant worker on a perilla leaf farm in Gyeongsang Province begins at 6:30 a.m. She squats and picks the leaves, ties 10 of them into a bundle and then tosses it into a box. The process is repeated until 5:30 p.m. To meet the daily target of harvesting 15,000 leaves, equivalent to 15 cartons, she often skips bathroom breaks or even lunch breaks. If she misses the daily harvest target, her employer may threaten to cut her monthly salary, which is barely set at Korea's minimum wage.



At the end of each day, the freshly-picked perilla leaves are sent to a cold storage warehouse and then to local grocery stores across the country, to be eventually served on Koreans' dinner tables.



In her recent book titled, "Struggles with Perilla Leaves: 1,500 Days with Cambodian Migrant Workers," scholar-activist Woo Choon-hee looks into the daily lives of foreign-born workers on perilla farms, a crop she views symbolizes the growing presence of foreign workers in Korea's agricultural workforce.



"Perilla is a fast-growing crop which is available for harvest year-round. It's quite profitable for farm owners employing foreign workers, as it can keep the employees' hands busy all year-round," Woo said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.





Cambodian laborers work on a perilla leaf farm in Gyeongsang Province in this photo taken in June 2020. Courtesy of Woo Choon-hee



She added, "Foreign workers, too, prefer to work on farms where there's no winter break. They want to make as much money as possible during their stay in Korea, which is limited to less than five years by law."



The book, published in May, features the difficulties often faced by migrant workers  harsh working environments, delayed payments, unfair treatment, dire living conditions and sexual abuse by employers  based on in-depth interviews conducted among 40 foreign workers and over 20 Korean farm owners.



In Korea, with the agricultural workforce rapidly aging and young Koreans avoiding farm work, migrants have filled these shortfalls over the past decade.



Since 2004, through the employment permit system (EPS) operated by the Ministry of Labor and Employment, about 50,000 workers from 16 countries enter the country to work in the manufacturing, agricultural and fishing sectors. Among them, about 8,000 are Cambodian nationals.



"I found my interest in farm labor grew while doing my Ph.D. in sociology in the U.S. So I spoke to some farmers in Korea to learn more about the farm work here, but they told me that Koreans are no longer working on farms," she said. "They have been replaced by foreign workers."



After learning the Khmer language to better communicate with Cambodian workers, Woo left for Cambodia in August 2019 to meet Cambodians who were preparing to come to Korea through the EPS. But she had to return to Korea due to the COVID-19 outbreak in February 2020.



In the summer of that year, with the help of a local farmer, she was able to stay on a perilla leaf farm in Gyeongsang Province for two months and observe the daily lives of Cambodian workers there: how they work, where they dwell, what they eat and how much they earn.





Woo Choon-hee speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the newspaper's office in Seoul, June 20. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
The UK based multi-brand, multi-category, mass beauty innovator has expanded its digital reach with native apps, continuing to challenge the health and beauty market.

LONDON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today poq announced Revolution Beauty has launched native Android and iOS apps, using its MACH Alliance-certified, headless Salesforce Native App Platform.

UK-founded Revolution Beauty Group has experienced rapid growth since 2014, predominantly selling through third-party retailers, but is now looking to expand its reach with direct customer engagement through mobile apps. As well as convenient commerce journeys, the native apps will offer an engaging experience to Revolution Beauty's global community, including personalised recommendations, a loyalty program powered by Yotpo and the ability to communicate 1:1 with their members.

Revolution Beauty's Sally Minto commented: "Our long term strategy is to be a challenger to the legacy players in the beauty space. App is a natural channel for us to connect with the community that loves our brand and offer them a Revolution experience that they can't get in a retailer."

Sally continued, "Partnering with poq was an obvious choice for us. As a Salesforce Commerce Cloud user, their AppExchange app integrated with our tech stack seamlessly. That coupled with their experience has ensured we received a fast launch to market and an exciting app proposition for our customers."

Jay Johnston, Chief Executive Officer, poq said: "We are delighted to add Revolution Beauty to our growing roster of poq platform users in the cosmetic and skincare industry. They are a brand that is loved by their customers and continue to grow at a rapid rate globally. We look forward to supporting them through their expansion journey with our highly scalable and extensible app platform."

About poq
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2022 / Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. (the "Company") (CSE:BLLG) (FSE:7BL) (OTCQB:BLAGF) is pleased to announce that a crew has been mobilized to commence its Phase Two 2022 drill program on the Company's all year-round road accessible Dome Mountain Gold Project, located a short 50-minute drive from Smithers, British Columbia. A continuation of the 20,000-meter drill program announced in January 2022, the Phase 2 program is expected to be a minimum of 13,000 meters of diamond drilling.

The Phase Two drilling, which starts today, will commence in the Chance Structural Zone, testing the hypothesis of a flat-lying structure hosting Au-bearing quartz-carbonate veins, intersected in the 2021 Phase 2 drill program ( Figure 1). The first hole will target between the DM-21-206 (14.49 g/t Au, 29.2 g/t Ag over 1.91m) and DM-21-218 (7.05 g/t Au, 17.4 g/t Ag over 3.98m). This initial target will test the flat lying target concept and follow up by using additional holes to define the extents of a possible new resource at Dome Mountain. Based on in house 3D modelling the minimum extents of a flat lying mineralized structure are at least 300m by 300m. Current modelling shows a mineralized structure dipping at approximately 12-15 degrees southwest.

"We are very excited to kick off this Phase Two drilling at Dome Mountain" said Bill Cronk, Chief Geologist of Blue Lagoon Resources." Last year we were specifically looking to define new targets with drilling and had a very successful year to that end. Our Phase Two program this year will begin with drilling a flat lying mineralized structural zone with 2 plus meters of mineralized quartz carbonate veining and high grade gold. This zone sits astride the Chance Structural Zone. Base metal mineralization is elevated. This is a great opportunity to define what we have always thought possible at Dome Mountain -the fact that there is a high opportunity to outline more than one resource here.," he said.

In addition to drilling, Blue Lagoon has a crew on site soil sampling and performing Deep IP.

The soils crew has just finished up completing gridded soils over the Federal Zone and will now move up to infill anomalous gold in soils defined by the 2021 program as well as gathering additional soils to the north in areas which have not seen sampled to date. 2200 soil samples are expected to be collected this season (Figure 2).

The IP crew is on site working on a southwest to northeast grid from 6 lines designed to test for deep conductors (Figure 3) In addition, the lines are designed to cover the known resource on the Boulder Vein, the southeast trending Chance Structural zone and the extents of the Freegold Intrusion. Results of the IP Program will be used for drill targeting and can be tested this year.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

The scientific and technical disclosure in this news release was approved by William Cronk, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined in NI 43-101 and a consultant to the Company.

For further information, please contact:

Rana Vig

President and Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: 604-218-4766

Email: rana@ranavig.com

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information: This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. (the "Company") expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include results of exploration activities may not show quality and quantity necessary for further exploration or future exploitation of minerals deposits, volatility of gold and silver prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, permitting and other approvals, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

SOURCE: Blue Lagoon Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706356/Blue-Lagoon-Kicks-Off-2022-Phase-Two-Drill-And-Exploration-Program-On-Its-Dome-Mountain-Gold-Project
23 June 2022

Rightmove plc

Share buy-back programme

Rightmove plc - Transaction in own shares

Rightmove plc ('Rightmove') announces that today it purchased 155,000 of its 0.1p ordinary shares at a volume weighted average price paid per share of 553.290p. The highest price paid per share was 559.600p and the lowest price paid per share was 545.800p. Rightmove purchased these shares through UBS AG London Branch.

The number of shares purchased represented 0.0185% of the voting rights attributable to the total ordinary shares in issue prior to such purchase. The purchased shares will be cancelled.

Since announcing a share buy-back programme on 28 December 2007, Rightmove has purchased in aggregate 468,864,229 ordinary shares.

The total number of ordinary shares in issue (excluding treasury shares) following this announcement is 837,722,677. Rightmove holds 12,467,174 shares in treasury.

In accordance with Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (the Market Abuse Regulation) as amended by The Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the "UK MAR"), the schedule below contains detailed information about the purchases made by UBS AG London Branch on behalf of the Company as part of the buyback programme.

Contact Michelle Palmer, Assistant Company Secretary CompanySecretary@rightmove.co.uk

Schedule of Purchases - Individual Transactions
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

For immediate release

23 June 2022

FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES

The Company announces that it has today purchased 125,000 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 755.53p per Ordinary Share. Such shares will be held in treasury by the Company.

The transaction was made pursuant to the authority granted at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 9 February 2022.

Following this transaction, the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury is 4,293,772; the total number of Ordinary Shares that the Company has in issue, less the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury following such purchase, and therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 220,697,531.

The figure of 220,697,531 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for calculations of interests in the Company's voting rights in accordance with the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

For and on behalf of

Frostrow Capital LLP

Company Secretary

For further information, please contact:

Victoria Hale

Frostrow Capital LLP

Tel: 020 3 170 8732
A multi-sensory immersive exploration of experiential artworks by international art collective teamLab

Latest addition to Saadiyat Cultural District builds on Abu Dhabi's reputation as a cultural capital offering unique and inspiring experiences that spur creativity and innovation

New art space to feature an architectural vision and captivating artworks based on teamLab's original concept of environmental phenomena

Construction of the cultural offering is expected to be completed in 2024

ABU DHABI, UAE, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Abu Dhabi has unveiled the concept of teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi - a multi-sensory art experience that will be a 'home for infinite curiosity', featuring original and constantly transforming artistic installations unique to Abu Dhabi.

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:

https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/9062051-teamlab-phenomena-abu-dhabi-revealed-worlds-new-home-infinite-curiosity/

teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi is set to be an immersive, inspirational space where the intersection of art and technology will ignite curiosity, imagination and creativity in all who visit. Slated to be completed in 2024, it is the latest offering of the Saadiyat Cultural District. The 17,000sqm (GFA) teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi building has been conceived with unparalleled installations that will be unique to Abu Dhabi, created through an extensive experimentation process.

The Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has partnered with Miral, the emirate's leading creator of destinations and experiences, to develop the concept, architecture and facilities, alongside teamLab, the globally acclaimed, interdisciplinary Tokyo-based art collective, known for their unique artistic vision

Strengthening Abu Dhabi's position as a leading cultural centre, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi will sit alongside Louvre Abu Dhabi, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and other major landmarks comprising the Saadiyat Cultural District, adding to the area's creative offering by creating a bridge between history, culture and creativity and immersing visitors in an innovative art experience.

Visitors will be invited to open their minds and embark on a journey through teamLab's new concept of environmental phenomena, which offers a new perspective on the world around us. The featured artworks are created and shaped by the environment which produces the various phenomena. The adapted and unique architecture, conceptualised by teamLab and realised by Abu Dhabi-based MZ Architects, plays an important role in providing the artworks with an environment to evolve freely and organically, as if they were life-forms themselves. The experience will be unique to each visitor, changing with each visit, as they discover a place in which to endlessly explore and transcend the limits of their imagination.

Having created art that is part of the collection of global institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, amongst many others, teamLab's artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians and architects are creating an original concept and unique teamlab PhenomenaAbu Dhabi experience for the UAE capital.

HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, said: "Curiosity and imagination are at the core of who we are as human beings, sparking all our discoveries, inventions and innovations through the millennia. Sitting at the intersection of art, technology, nature and high-tech fantasy, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi will offer a world of boundless wonder and creativity to all who visit, encouraging the new perspectives that are so essential to a thriving future. Adding yet another outstanding experience to our world-leading cultural destination, the teamLab Phenomena experience will be unique to Abu Dhabi, reinforcing the emirate's position as a destination of distinction. Providing a journey which will trigger the senses, nurture curiosity, spark imagination, and awaken a thirst for knowledge, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi fully supports our commitment to inspire a new generation of innovators and creators in the emirate and beyond."

Toshiyuki Inoko, Founder of teamLab, said: "It is a great honour for us to be able to open teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi in the Saadiyat Cultural District of Abu Dhabi, a world-leading, future-focussed city. At teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi, visitors will be immersed into a world that organically changes and evolves through the participation and actions of the people in it, and it is precisely this physical experience that can expand our senses of value. The future is built upon the grand sum of people's creations. Curiosity drives people towards a deeper understanding of the world and leads to creativity. We believe that imagination decides the direction of this creativity. Our hope is for teamLab PhenomenaAbu Dhabi to create opportunities for curiosity and imagination to be born.

Commenting on the philosophy behind the project, Inoko continued: "teamLab PhenomenaAbu Dhabiis based on teamLab's new concept in which the existence of the artworks are created by the phenomena produced by their environment. The artworks in teamLab PhenomenaAbu Dhabi do not exist independently but are created by the environment which produces the various phenomena. Objects like stones and man-made creations maintain a stable structure on their own. Unlike these, the existence of the artworks in teamLab PhenomenaAbu Dhabi are dependent on their environment. The environment produces phenomena and stabilises their structure - these stabilised phenomena are what create the existence of the artworks.

"Environmental phenomena are released from the material substances that have been responsible for maintaining structures of existence. Elements like air, water, and light that permeate our daily lives are transformed by their environment into unique phenomena that become works of art. The boundaries of their existence are ambiguous and continuous. Even if people destroy the work, the work will remain in existence as long as its environment is maintained. On the contrary, the work will disappear if the environment is not maintained. In time, people's consciousness will expand from existence itself to the environment. A stone can continue to exist in a closed box, sealed off from the outside world, but life cannot sustain its existence in such a box because it is created by its environment. Life is a miraculous phenomenon that emerges from a flow in a continuous world."

To celebrate the official launch of the project, DCT Abu Dhabi has also announced a preview activation for visitors to experience immersive artworks that embody the concept of 'infinite curiosity' ahead of the opening, taking them on a journey of wonder and sensory exploration. This event will take place at Mamsha Al Saadiyat from 24 June to 17 July.

The teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi launch reaffirms Abu Dhabi's vision to enrich the emirate's cultural landscape and foster its Culture and Creative Industries (CCI), positioning the UAE capital as a centre for creativity and innovation. With culture a major driver of social and economic development, the emirate is fast becoming a globally known centre of talent and a leading producer of creative content. Abu Dhabi seeks to broaden artistic and cultural expression by providing its community and visitors with a diverse cultural programme curated to inspire creativity and knowledge development, creating a culturally active and artistically conscious city with strong links to the wider region and the world.

The emirate continues its support and development of cultural institutions, including museums such as the upcoming Zayed National Museum, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi. The emirate's performing arts, media and gaming sectors will also see further investment in their diverse array of programmes and initiatives.

The Saadiyat Cultural District is an ambitious undertaking that, will be one of the world's pre-eminent cultural destinations. Through its museums, cultural centres, and educational institutions, the District will boast one of the highest concentrations of cultural experience in the world. The area is already home to Louvre Abu Dhabi, the globally celebrated universal museum, and Manarat Al Saadiyat, a cultural centre that contributes to the region's vibrant arts scene with internationally relevant exhibitions and events, workshops and creative programming.

The Saadiyat Cultural District will soon also include the Zayed National Museum, the national museum of the UAE; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, focusing on global Modern and Contemporary art; and the Abrahamic Family House, which will comprise three religious spaces in one complex - a mosque, a synagogue and a church - to inspire and nurture acceptance and peaceful coexistence among people of all faiths.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1846205/teamLab_Phenomena.jpg




VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2022 / The Power Play by The Market Herald has announced the release of a new interview with RooGold on their latest news.

The Power Play by The Market Herald provides investors with a quick snapshot of what they need to know about the company's latest press release through exclusive insights and interviews with company executives.

RooGold (CSE:ROO) completes rock chip sampling at Arthurs Seat Project



RooGold (ROO) has completed a preliminary rock chip sampling program at its Arthurs Seat Project in New South Wales, Australia. A total of 274 rock chip samples were collected at historical prospects and along structural and geological contacts. CEO Carlos Espinosa spoke with Sabrina Cuthbert about the rock chip sampling program.

For the full interview with Carlos Espinosa and to learn more about RooGold, click here

Interviews for The Power Play by The Market Herald are released daily. To learn more about the companies featured in The Power Play or to explore our other interviews visit The Power Play by The Market Herald.

About The Market Herald

The Market Herald Canada is the leading source of authoritative breaking stock market news for self-directed investors. Our team of Canadian markets reporters, editors and technologists covers the entire listed company universe in Canada. We cover over 3,985 businesses, their people, their investors, and their customers. We write the stories that move the Canadian capital markets.

DISCLAIMER: Report Card Canada Media Ltd. ("Report Card") is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Market Herald Limited, an Australian company ("Market Herald"). Report Card is not an advisory service, and does not offer, buy, sell, or provide any other rating, analysis or opinion on the securities we discuss. We are retained and compensated by the companies that we provide information on to assist them with making information available to the public. All information available on themarketherald.ca and/or this press release should be considered as commercial advertisement and not an endorsement, offer or recommendation to buy or sell securities. Report Card is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority in any province or territory of Canada, will not be performing any registerable activity as defined by the applicable regulatory bodies and do not provide nor claim to provide investment advice or recommendations to any visitor of this site or readers of any content on or originating from themarketherald.ca. Market Herald and/or its affiliates and/or their respective officers, directors or employees may from time to time acquire, hold or sell securities and/or commodities and/or commodity futures contracts in certain underlying companies mentioned in this site and which may also be clients of Market Herald's affiliates. In such instances, Market Herald and/or its affiliates and/or their respective officers, directors or employees will use all reasonable efforts to avoid engaging in activities that would lead to conflicts of interest and Market Herald and/or its affiliates will use all reasonable efforts to comply with conflicts of interest disclosures and regulations to minimize any conflict. All the information on this document and/or the website - themarketherald.ca - is published in good faith and for general information purpose only. Report Card does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability, and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information you find on this document and/or website (themarketherald.ca) is strictly at your own risk. Report Card will not be liable for any losses and/or damages in connection with the use of our website. From our website, you can visit other websites by following hyperlinks to such external sites. While we strive to provide only quality links to useful and ethical websites, we have no control over the content and nature of these sites. These links to other websites do not imply a recommendation for all the content found on these sites. Site owners and content may change without notice and may occur before we have the opportunity to remove a link which may have gone 'bad'. Please be also aware that when you leave our website, other sites may have different privacy policies and terms which are beyond our control. Please be sure to check the Privacy Policies of these sites as well as their "Terms of Service" before engaging in any business or uploading any information.

CONTACT:

The Market Herald

Charity Robertson

charity.robertson@themarketherald.ca

themarketherald.ca

SOURCE: The Market Herald

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706375/The-Power-Play-by-The-Market-Herald-Releases-New-Interview-with-RooGold
Digital Health Innovator Cloud DX Grows US and Canada Business, Increases Workforce, and Secures Patents with Support from the FedDev Business Scale Up Program

News in Summary

Successful completion of 2-year program with $500,00 in non-dilutive funding.

2 new US patents and 4 published peer-reviewed papers.

32 new contracts (15 US contracts and 17 Canadian contracts).

15 new full-time positions with retention of 26 full-time positions.

KITCHENER, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2022 / Cloud DX (TSXV:CDX)(OTCQB:CDXFF), a leading Virtual Care platform, announces its successful completion of the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (Ontario FedDev) program promoting healthcare innovation in Canada. The Business Scale Up and Productivity Program (BSUP) supported Cloud DX in three key areas: expansion in the US and Canadian markets, improvements to its award-winning Connected Health virtual care platform, and expansion of Intellectual Property (IP).

Over the course of the two-year program, Cloud DX created 15 new full-time positions and retained 26 other full-time roles. These integral employees helped enable the company to secure 15 new US contracts, including telemedicine partner Maxwell Telecare and notable client Blessing Hospital . Cloud DX also secured 17 new Canadian contracts, which include an exclusive Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) partnership with Medtronic Canada (NYSE: MDT) and Equitable Life of Canada , contracts with several Ontario Paramedical Service Providers, and two provincial/territorial RPM contracts . Additional details of milestones provided below.

Robert Kaul, CEO and co-founder of Cloud DX, states "Investments like the FedDev BSUP Program assist Canadian Med Tech companies address some of the challenges specific to healthcare innovators, whether it's a life science, biotechnology, or medical device start-up. The regulatory, IP, and clinical validation hurdles faced by these companies are real challenges that are time consuming, expensive, and yet mandatory. Financial support from Canadian governments help fund these resource-intensive processes. It's a way for Canada to continue to invest in itself, a sentiment that is echoing across the Canadian start-up ecosystem right now. Another great example is Communitech's recently launched Team True North program. We all want to hear more Canadian success stories, and it can start with funding support like this FedDev program."

Kaul continues, "The program results speak for themselves. We invested heavily into our digital health platform and technology resulting in new patents and multiple peer reviewed, published papers, crucial in gaining clinical acceptance in healthcare. We also expanded our sales and marketing teams resulting in over 30 new contracts across North America and an exclusive partnership with the largest medical technology company in the world, Medtronic. With this solid basis established, we're looking forward to scaling up our business and bringing on more clinics and health authorities across North America."

Announced in 2020, the FedDev Business Scale Up and Productivity Program strives to position Canada as an innovation leader. With regards to healthcare in particular, FedDev and 32 partners invested a total of $34.5M to support healthcare technology innovations . Honourable Navdeep Bains, former Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario in 2020 stated "Our Government is committed to positioning Canada as a global centre for innovation - one that creates jobs, drives growth across all industries and improves the lives of all Canadians. That's why it's important for universities, health-care providers, the business community, and government to work together. That's how we will come up with health-care solutions that improve the quality of life for all Canadians."

Cloud DX will repay the $500,000 interest free FedDev contribution in 60 equal installments from June 1, 2023 to May 1, 2028.

The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development with Melissa Perri, MESc, Senior Compliance Specialist at Cloud DX. Photo supplied by FedDev.

Additional Milestones Achieved

Goal: Expansion in US and Canadian Markets.

Hiring of new Sales and Business Development staff, along with Marketing and Communications staff in US and Canada.

15 contracts in the US including Maxwell Telecare, Blessing Hospital (Quincy, IL) delivering Cloud DX Virtual Covid Outpatient Program (VCOP), Oregon Health & Science University (Portland, OR) for Nursing Education as RPM Best Practice, Primary Care of Cape Cod (Hyannis, MA), and Primary Care Associates (Erie PA).

17 contracts in Canada including Medtronic Canada, Equitable Life, CBI Health, Hamilton Health Sciences, and four Ontario Paramedic Services.

Goal: Improvements to the Technology Platform

Integration with up to 80 Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems, publishing a series of HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource (FHIR) APIs to standardize secure, HIPAA-compliant data transfer between our Connected Health platform and the EMR.

Developed new medical device Pulsewave PAD 2-A to prepare to meet international ISO 13485:2016 standards and regulatory approvals.

Goal: Intellectual Property (IP) Expansion

Applied for and received US Patent 11,006,843 "System And Method Of Determining Breathing Rates From Oscillometric Data" granted May 15, 2021 and US patent 11,272,859 "System And Method Of Determining Respiratory Status From Oscillometric Data" granted March 15, 2022.

Published peer reviewed papers and conference presentations PVCRAM 1 - Post-discharge after surgery Virtual Care with Remote Automated Monitoring-1 (PVCRAM-1) technology versus standard care: randomized controlled trial VERDICT 1 - Continuous non-invasive remote automated blood pressure monitoring with novel wearable technology: A Validation Study (VERDICT 1) ACUSCREEN - Preliminary Report: Acoustic Analysis of Cough as a Novel Technology for the Screening and Diagnosis of Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis (TB ), 52nd World Conference on Lung Health, October 2021



Awards Received:

2020 Roche COVID Challenge (with Population Health Research Institute) $100,000

2021 Edison Award, Medical IoT Category

2021 NSERC Synergy Award (with Sheridan College) $120,000

2021 Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Companies - Inc Magazine

2021 Pandemic Tech Award - TMCnet

2022 New Innovator - Canadian Business Magazine

About Cloud DX ?

Accelerating virtual healthcare, Cloud DX is on a mission to make healthcare better for everyone. Our Connected Health remote patient monitoring platform is used by healthcare enterprises and care teams across North America to virtually manage chronic disease, enable aging in place, and deliver hospital-quality post-surgical care in the home. Our partners achieve better healthcare and patient outcomes, reduce the need for hospitalization or re-admission, and reduce healthcare delivery costs through more efficient use of resources. Cloud DX is the co-winner of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, a 2021 Edison Award winner, a Fast Company "World Changing Idea" finalist, and was named a "New Innovator 2022" by Canadian Business Magazine. Cloud DX is an exclusive virtual care partner to Medtronic Canada and Equitable Life.?

Cloud DX Investor Site https://ir.clouddx.com/overview/default.aspx

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.?

Social Links?

Twitter https://twitter.com/CloudDX

Facebook? https://www.facebook.com/clouddxinc/

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/cloud-dx/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cloud.dx/

For media inquiries please contact:???

Janine Scott?

Marketing Lead?

888-543-0944?

janine.scott@CloudDX.com ?

For investor inquiries please contact:?

Jay Bedard?

Cloud DX Investor Relations?

647-881-8418?

jay.bedard@CloudDX.com

SOURCE: Cloud DX Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706377/Cloud-DX-Completes-Federal-Project-to-Scale-Up-Create-Jobs-and-Expand-Intellectual-Property-IP
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 23, 2022) - Gelum Resources Ltd. (CSE: GMR) (the "Company" or "Gelum) Vancouver, B.C. reports that management and directors are extremely pleased to welcome Mr. Ken Shannon to the Company's Advisory Board. Director Hendrik van Alphen is particularly pleased having successfully worked with Ken on Corriente Resources Inc., a copper project in Ecuador which was successfully sold in 2010 to CRCC-Tongguan Investments (Canada) Co. Ltd., a Chinese partnership, for $680,000,000.

Mr. Shannon has worked for over 20 years in the role of CEO, raising over $200 million of venture capital for mineral exploration projects. His accomplishments include the discovery or confirmation of the Taca-Taca deposit in Argentina, and the Mirador, Mirador Norte, Panantza and San Carlos deposits of the Corriente Copper Belt in Ecuador (>30 Billion pounds of contained copper in total).

In addition to Mr. Shannon's experience and knowledge relating to corporate management, the Board welcomes his recognition and experience in building a trusting and prosperous relationship with Indigenous Peoples, a focus of the existing management.

Corporate Review

1)Completion of a surface exploration work program (December 2021)

Geochemical sampling program indicates a significant expansion of the historical gold anomalies generated by previous work on the property.

Establishment of precise drill targets. Drilling to commence this summer in cooperation with the Bridge River Indian Band.

2)Announce the addition of Kelly Earle to Advisory Board (December 2021)

Ms. Earle has 15 years of experience in the mining industry and is currently Vice President, Communications with Skeena Resources Limited, where she oversees all corporate development and investor relations activities. Ms. Earle spent several years in the field as a geologist prior to making the transition into the corporate side of the industry. She is a founding member of the British Columbia Regional Mining Alliance (BCRMA), a regional partnership between Aboriginal groups, industry and provincial government representatives to promote mining investment in the Golden Triangle of northwest BC. Ms. Earle brings significant relevant experience to the Company's advisory board.

3)Completion of $937,500 Financing (January 2022)

The Company closed $520,000 Flow-Through funds and $417,500 Non-Flow-Through funds.

4)Acquired the ML copper-gold claims in central B.C. (March 2022)

The acquisition of the ML claims allows Gelum to earn a 100% interest in the 8,736 Ha ML land position 6 kilometres from the Mt. Polley porphyry Cu-Au past-producing mine (care and maintenance; Imperial Metals Corp.), 6 kilometres from Osisko's QR Deposit (past-producer) and 28 kilometres from the active Gibraltar porphyry Cu-Mo active mine (Taseko - 75%, Cariboo Copper Corp. - 25%), located in south-central British Columbia, Cariboo Mining District.

5)Acquired the Robson mineral claims in central B.C. (March 2022)

The acquisition of the Robson claims consolidated the existing Bralorne/Bridge River Eldorado claims with the addition of 305 hectares that lie within the Eldorado claims. The Robson claims have historical workings that when coupled with drilling by Gold Field's in 2011 indicate some broad intervals of anomalous, significant gold values within carbonate-sericite altered granodiorite of the Eldorado Pluton.

ML land position 6 kilometres from the Mt. Polley porphyry Cu-Au past-producing mine (care and maintenance; Imperial Metals Corp.), 6 kilometres from Osisko's QR Deposit (past-producer) and 28 kilometres from the active Gibraltar porphyry Cu-Mo active mine (Taseko - 75%, Cariboo Copper Corp. - 25%), located in south-central British Columbia, Cariboo Mining District.

6)Completion of VTEM geophysical survey covering 4000 Ha (April 2022)

VTEM airborne geophysics comprising 889 line-kilometres, covering 4000Ha, of the western third of the claim block was completed by Geotech Ltd., in April 2022. Final data and maps are being compiled and will be interpreted promptly.

7)An Exploration Agreement with the Bridge River Indian Band (May 2022)

The agreement was concluded and signed on May 9, 2022. The agreement covers the exploration of the Company's Eldorado project which is on territory within the St'at'imc territory ("Traditional Territory"), in which Xwisten and its members assert, hold and exercise constitutionally protected Aboriginal Title and Rights ("Indigenous Title and Rights." The agreement covers the relationship between Xwisten and the Company in governing the principles of good faith, mutual respect, transparency, and accountability in all dealings between Xwisten and the Company which will be the cornerstones of the agreement and relationship.

Management of Gelum have built a strong foundation for growth and look forward to commencing a drilling campaign this summer. In addition, the Company reports that it has developed a very positive working relationship with the Bridge River Indian Band. Clearly a win-win for all concerned.

Qualified Person

John Drobe, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, has reviewed the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Drobe is not independent of the Company as he is a consultant of the Company.

About Gelum Resources Ltd.

Gelum Resources is a Company led by seasoned management and advisors in the mining and financial sectors. The Company currently has two objectives under management. The first is to define a multi-million oz. economic gold deposit in the Bralorne-Bridge River gold district located some 190 kilometres north of Vancouver and 74 km northwest of the town of Lillooet, B.C. This objective is made possible through the Company's acquisition of 26 mineral claims with a total area of 9028 hectares located in the Bralorne-Bridge River Gold District, which was host to one of the highest-grade, longest-producing mines in British Columbia. Management is proud to have developed an excellent working relationship with the Bridge River Indian Band (Xwisten) the project is within the traditional territory within the St'at'imc territory (Traditional Territory) in which Xwisten and its members assert, hold and exercise constitutionally protected Aboriginal Title and Rights ("Indigenous Title and Rights").

The second objective is to discover an alkalic porphyry and related skarn deposit within a prolific B.C. porphyry belt in the Interior Plateau region. The recently acquired ML property is accessible by 90% paved roads via Williams Lake, and the remainder by all-season dirt roads and secondary logging roads. The low to moderate relief allows year-round access and work. Airborne geophysics comprising magnetics and radiometrics was completed in early spring of 2022.

For further information about the Company and its exploration portfolio, please refer to Gelum Resources Corporate Presentation:

https://gelumresources.com/site/assets/files/5717/gelum_resources_deck_-_winter2022-03.pdf.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

David Smith, President

For further information about Gelum, please contact:

David Smith, President

Email: dsmith@gelumresources.com

Phone: 604 484-1228

Cell: 778-834-1141

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE- Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This presentation contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding any potential increase in shareholder value through the acquisition of undervalued precious metal deposits for development, joint venture or later disposition, the potential to partner with mine developers to achieve production at any of the Company's properties (existing or future); the potential for the capital costs associated with any of the Company's existing or future properties to be low; the potential for the Company to outline resources at any of its existing or future properties, or to be able to increase any such resources in the future; concerning the economic outlook for the mining industry and the Company's expectations regarding metal prices and production and the appropriate time to acquire precious metal projects, the liquidity and capital resources and planned expenditures by the Company, the anticipated content, commencement, timing and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions which may prove incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions about the level and volatility of the price of gold; the timing of the receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals; permits and authorizations necessary to implement and carry on the Company's planned exploration programs at its properties; future economic and market conditions; the Company's ability to attract and retain key staff; and the ongoing relations of the Company with its underlying lessors, local communities and applicable regulatory agencies.

Accordingly, the Company cautions that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ, and such differences may be material, from those set out in the forward-looking statements as a result of, among other factors, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, material adverse changes in economic and market conditions, changes in the regulatory environment and other government actions, fluctuations in commodity prices and exchange rates, the inability of the Company to raise the necessary capital for its ongoing operations, and business and operational risks normal in the mineral exploration, development and mining industries, as well as the risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's most recent management discussion and analysis filed with various provincial securities commissions in Canada, available at www.sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this presentation or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events except as required by law. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or any person acting on its behalf are qualified by the cautionary statements herein.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/128760


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday rejected Juul's application to sell its e-cigarettes in the U.S. The company must now stop selling and distributing its products in the country.



Juul had sought approval from the FDA for its vaping device and tobacco- and menthol-flavored pods.



However, the FDA issued marketing denial orders (MDOs) to JUUL Labs Inc. for all of their products currently marketed in the United States. As a result, the company must stop selling and distributing these products.



The products include the JUUL device and four types of JUULpods: Virginia tobacco flavored pods at nicotine concentrations of 5.0% and 3.0% and menthol flavored pods at nicotine concentrations of 5.0% and 3.0%.



'Today's action is further progress on the FDA's commitment to ensuring that all e-cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system products currently being marketed to consumers meet our public health standards,' said FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D. 'The agency has dedicated significant resources to review products from the companies that account for most of the U.S. market. We recognize these make up a significant part of the available products and many have played a disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping.'



FDA said the company's premarket tobacco product applications lacked sufficient evidence regarding the toxicological profile of the products to demonstrate that marketing of the products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health.



The regulator also added that some of the company's study findings raised concerns due to insufficient and conflicting data - including regarding genotoxicity and potentially harmful chemicals leaching from the company's proprietary e-liquid pods.



Juul was among the first e-cigarette companies to come under fire. Regulators and health officials had blamed the company for increase of underage vaping, due to its advertising and sweet/fruity flavors.



In October 2019, due to the mounting pressure, Juul announced that it would discontinue its mango, creme, fruit and cucumber flavors that were sold through its online store. In November 2019, Juul announced they would discontinue selling mint flavored pods in the US.



Juul had been the market leader in e-cigarettes since 2018, according to Euromonitor International. As of 2020, the company over 50% share of the $9.38 billion U.S. e-vapor market.







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CUPERTINO (dpa-AFX) - Workers at a store of iPhone maker Apple Inc. (AAPL) in Towson, Maryland recently voted in favor of joining a union. This move is being considered an important one for the movement of organized labor. The Towson store is the first unionized Apple store in the United States.



The vote to form a union is being considered as a defeat for Apple, which has for long opposed the formation of union. The first Apple union could also motivate workers at other stores to form unions for the improvement of work life of all employees.



The voting tally stood at 65 votes in favor and 33 opposed. Around 110 employees were eligible to vote to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Voting began on Wednesday and went on till Saturday evening.



The National Labor Relations Board or NLRB is yet to certify the votes and this process could take up to one week. Apple is required to bargain with the union over working conditions after the vote is certified, according to the NLRB.



The Towson store isn't one of Apple's so-called 'flagship' stores in a big city. It is a small store located inside a mall.



The store got attention from the Apple management as soon as workers announced plans to unionize. Apple's head of retail and HR, Deirdre O'Brien, visited the location in May. A recorded message from O'Brien circulated among employees after the union drives went public discouraged retail workers from joining unions, saying that doing so would make it harder for the company to respond to employee concerns. She said unions are not committed to the company's employees.



Workers are now seeking more input over pay and working conditions, like how the stores handle Covid safety and other operations.



In a letter sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the workers said. 'To be clear, the decision to form a union is about us as workers gaining access to rights that we do not currently have.'



The Towson store is one of several Apple stores, which have publicly announced union drives and other retail organizers at other locations are watching its results closely. Two high-traffic, high-volume stores in New York, the Grand Central Terminal and World Trade Center locations, have shown that they are unionizing, but are yet to be officially included in the list.



The Apple retail union at the Towson store will not be of its Apple's core business model of selling devices and services. Although Apple stores are a key channel for selling products, Apple also sells through its website and retail partners like carriers.







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South Korean and U.S. fighter jets conduct a combined patrol flight over Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Courtesy of South Korea's Air Force



South Korea and the United States conducted a combined patrol flight over key former battle sites earlier this week, the Air Force here said Thursday, in a show of their readiness against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.



The allies carried out the operation over the sites of the 1950-53 Korean War on Tuesday, involving four South Korean F-15K fighters and four U.S. F-16 jets, after the South's Air Force carried out a stand-alone formation flight the previous day.



Members of South Korea's defense press corps were invited to cover the event on the back seats of the South's F-15K jets. It marked the first time journalists had boarded the warplanes in such allied air maneuvers.



The flight came as concerns have grown about the possibility of Pyongyang carrying out what would be its seventh nuclear test despite lingering tensions caused by a series of its earlier ballistic missile tests.



"Even for a pilot, a flight over major former battle sites is a rarity," Brig. Gen. Kim Tae-wook, head of the 11th Fighter Wing, told reporters. "We would like to show our confident posture without wavering anytime based on a strong power that can be trusted by people."



The former battle sites in the formation flight included the southeastern city of Daegu, where the South Korean Air Force flew F-51 Mustang fighters brought in from the U.S. for the first time during the war.



Also among the sites were the southern cities of Pohang and Busan, a key battle site and a wartime logistical hub, respectively, as well as the southern island of Geoje, where a large number of prisoners of war were accommodated in a camp.



The flight was also conducted over a battle site in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul. The city is where Samsung Electronics' key semiconductor factory is located. President Yoon Suk-yeol and his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, visited the factory last month. (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap)


VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2022 / Searchlight Resources Inc. ("Searchlight" or the "Company") (TSXV:SCLT)(OTC PINK:CNYCF)(FSE:2CC2) is pleased to announce the start of field work on the Company's Kulyk Lake Rare Earth Element ("REE") project, located approximately 165 km north of La Ronge, Saskatchewan, and 65 km south of the Key Lake Uranium Mine.

Highlights

Searchlight has been granted a permit for surface exploration at Kulyk Lake

Field work follow-up of September 2021 radiometric survey

Prospecting and grid sampling planned on previously unknown uranium zone

Prospecting and grid sampling planned for 3-km Thorium / Rare Earth zone

On June 13, Searchlight was granted a Crown Resource Land Work Authorization by the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment, and on June 21 began preliminary field work on the Kulyk Lake Rare Earth and Uranium Project. The work will focus on the results of the radiometric survey completed in September 2021, which outlined significant new thorium and uranium targets (see press release https://searchlightresources.com/news/2021/searchlight-resources-defines-new-rare-earth-and-uranium-targets-on-kulyk-lake-exploration-project/)

"The focus of this phase of exploration will be to ground-truth two excellent, large radiometric targets, one of thorium and one of uranium", stated Stephen Wallace, CEO.

The planned field work will focus on prospecting and grid sampling of the previously unknown uranium target and the 3-km long thorium anomaly outlined by the radiometric survey (Map 1). Searchlight uses thorium as a pathfinder for rare earth elements in the mineral monazite, which is the principal mineral in the known Kulyk Lake REE showing.

The highest thorium value from the 2021 radiometric survey was located over the known Kulyk Lake REE trenches (Map 2), which yielded historical assays of 56.18% Total Rare Earth Oxides. Additionally, the radiometric survey identified the Kulyk Lake target as part of a larger anomalous thorium zone, up to 6 kilometres in length. The initial exploration plan is to prospect the southern half of the zone to the west of Kulyk Lake.

In addition, the geological team will collect monazite samples from the historical Kulyk Lake REE trenches. These samples will be used for detailed chemical analysis, petrographic studies and preliminary metallurgical testing.

Uranium results from the 2021 radiometric survey identified a significant, previously unknown uranium target (Map 3), as well as pinpointing known uranium showings, including the Eldorado showing with historical assays of 0.785 % U3O8. The newly identified anomalous uranium zone had multiple high values including the highest uranium value of this survey. The June 2022 exploration plan in this area is initial prospecting of the cluster of high values, followed by grid scintillometer survey and rock sampling.

Map 1. Overview of field work areas for Rare Earth and Uranium prospecting, Kulyk Lake Project, June 2022

Map 2. Field work area for Rare Earth Elements prospecting based on Thorium (ppm) anomalies, Kulyk Lake Project, June 2022

Map 3. Field work area for Uranium prospecting based on Uranium (ppm) anomalies, Kulyk Lake Project, June 2022

About Kulyk Lake

The 37 Kulyk Lake claims were all acquired by staking and are 100% held by Searchlight Resources with no royalties. The claims cover an area of 346.7 square kilometres.

Qualified Person

Stephen Wallace, P.Geo., is Searchlight's Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

About Searchlight Resources Inc.

Searchlight Resources Inc. (TSXV:SCLT, US:CNYCF, FSE:2CC2) is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company focused on Saskatchewan, Canada, which has been ranked as the top location for mining investment in Canada by the Fraser Institute. Exploration focus is on Rare Earth Elements, uranium, battery minerals and gold throughout the province. Searchlight holds over 1,395 square kilometres of claims in Saskatchewan.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Stephen Wallace"

Stephen Wallace, President, CEO and Director

SEARCHLIGHT RESOURCES INC.

For further information, visit the Company's website at www.searchlightresources.com or contact:

Searchlight Resources Inc.

Alf Stewart, Chairman

(604) 331-9326

info@searchlightresources.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

SOURCE: Searchlight Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706425/Searchlight-Resources-Begins-Field-Work-on-Rare-Earth-and-Uranium-Targets-on-Kulyk-Lake-Exploration-Project


SEATTLE (dpa-AFX) - The National Labour Relations Board's region director in Buffalo has asked a federal court to re-instate seven local Starbucks workers who were fired, allegedly due to their union activities.



Linda M Leslie, the NLRB's Buffalo regional director said in a statement, 'We are asking the court to swiftly grant the injunction so that the unlawfully discharged workers can return to work and effectively exercise their right to engage in union activities, including collectively bargain a union contract.'



The court filing comes amid efforts by Starbucks Workers United to organize workers at Starbucks stores around the country, and opposition by the Seattle-based company. The petition claimed that Starbucks had improperly fired seven union activists at five Buffalo-area stores over the course of six weeks.



Leslie accused the company of launching a 'vigorous antiunion campaign.' She alleged Starbucks has used illegal tactics at stores where elections were taking place, including selective raising of wages and promising of benefits and bringing in managers to 'monitor and discourage' union activity, along with closing stores with active organizing drives and threatening employees.



Reggie Borges, a Starbucks spokesperson, said of the filing: 'As we have said previously, we believe these claims are false and will be prepared to defend our case.'



Borges noted that a judge in Arizona had earlier this month ruled in favor, in spite of being from NLRB. The NLRB regional director there sought the reinstatement of three fired workers. The judge in that case said there was insufficient evidence to support the unfair labor practice charges made by the regional director.



The latest petition calls for a court to put a stop to 'antiunion' activities allegedly occurring at Starbucks stores around the country, and to notify Starbucks workers of their rights under federal labor law.



'Absent immediate interim relief, Starbucks will achieve its goal, through unlawful means, of irreparably harming the campaign in Buffalo, and sending a clear chilling message to its employees across the country,' Leslie said.



The petition also calls for Starbucks to bargain a contract with workers at a Starbucks store on Camp Road in Hamburg, claiming that the company interfered with an election held there.



An administrative law judge is scheduled to hold a hearing on July 11 on the complaint.







Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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CRANBROOK, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2022 / Eagle Plains Resources (TSXV:EPL), ("EPL") and Shooting Star Acquisition Corp. (SSSS.P), ("Shooting Star"), a BC capital pool company, announce that the companies have entered into a formal option agreement whereby Shooting Star may earn an undivided 60% interest in the Eldridge Property (the "Property"). EPL owns a 100% interest in the 13,500ha property located approximately 85 km east of La Ronge and 30km NW of Deschambault Lake, Saskatchewan. Under terms of the agreement, Shooting Star can earn an undivided 60% interest by completing exploration expenditures of $4,000,000, making cash payments of $500,000 and issuing 1,000,000 common shares to EPL over a four-year period. Eagle Plains will retain a 2% NSR in the Property, with a buy down to 1% for $1,000,000.

Eldridge Property Summary

The Eldridge Property is located within the Trans Hudson Corridor with host rocks similar to SSR Mining's Santoy Mine and other orogenic gold and VMS projects in the region. The property has seen very little historical exploration activity despite recognition of prospective host rocks and structures by regional government geological surveys.

In 2021, Eagle Plains engaged TerraLogic Exploration Services to conduct preliminary geochemical and geophysical surveys on the property which have resulted in the recognition of highly anomalous gold trends. The 2021 field program generated a total of 59 lake-sediment samples which were analyzed for gold and base metals, and 7 till samples that were collected at strategic locations down-ice of prospective regional geological and/or magnetic lineaments. Encouraging lake-sediment results returned gold assays between 0.1 - 9.7 ppb with 12 samples returning at least 2x background. Till results were also very encouraging, with a best gold grain count 30 of grains and a normalized estimate gold assay of 30ppb Au.

Follow-up exploration work is recommended for the property.

Charles C. Downie, P.Geo., a "qualified person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and a Director of Eagle Plains Resources Ltd., has prepared, reviewed, and approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release.

About Eagle Plains Resources

Based in Cranbrook, B.C., Eagle Plains is a well-funded, prolific project generator that continues to conduct research, acquire and explore mineral projects throughout western Canada. The Company was formed in 1992 and is the ninth-oldest listed issuer on the TSX-V (and one of only three that has not seen a roll-back or restructuring of its shares). Eagle Plains has continued to deliver shareholder value over the years and through numerous spin-outs has transferred over $100,000,000 in value directly to its shareholders, with Copper Canyon Resources and recently Taiga Gold being notable examples.

The Company is committed to steadily enhancing shareholder value by advancing our diverse portfolio of projects toward discovery through collaborative partnerships and development of a highly experienced technical team. Eagle Plains also holds significant royalty interests in western Canadian projects, covering a broad spectrum of commodities on projects controlled by Cameco Corp., Iso Energy Corp., Denison Mines Corp., Skeena Resources Ltd. and Alexco Resource Corp./Banyan Gold Corp., among others. Management's focus is to advance its most promising exploration projects. Throughout the exploration process, our mission is to help maintain prosperous communities by exploring for and discovering resource opportunities while building lasting relationships through honest and respectful business practices.

Expenditures from 2011-2021 on Eagle Plains-related projects exceed $27M, the majority of which was funded by third-party partners. This exploration work resulted in approximately 42,000m of diamond-drilling and extensive ground-based exploration work facilitating the advancement of numerous projects at various stages of development.

On behalf of the Board of Directors



"Tim J. Termuende"

President and CEO

For further information on EPL, please contact Mike Labach at

1 866 HUNT ORE (486 8673)

Email: mgl@eagleplains.com or visit our website at http://www.eagleplains.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of Property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

SOURCE: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706346/Eagle-PlainsShooting-Star-Execute-Option-Agreement-on-Eldridge-Gold-Property-Saskatchewan
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2022 / Polaris Infrastructure Inc. (TSX:PIF) ("Polaris" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that all resolutions were passed at the Company's annual and special meeting of shareholders (the "Meeting") held via live video webcast today.

Election of Directors

Based on proxies received and a vote by online ballot, all four nominees proposed by management were elected as directors of the Company to hold office until the close of the next annual meeting of the Company's shareholders or until their successors are duly elected or appointed.

The following are the voting results on this matter:

Director Number of Votes Percentage of Votes Cast (rounded) Votes

For: Votes Withheld: Votes

For: Votes Withheld: Jaime Guillen 7,847,098 437,717 94.72% 5.28% James V. Lawless 7,844,903 439,912 94.69% 5.31% Marc Murnaghan 8,264,830 19,985 99.76% 0.24% Marcela Paredes de Vasquez 7,847,475 437,340 94.72% 5.28%

Prior to the commencement of the Meeting, Margot Naudie withdrew her nomination for election as a Director. The Board of Directors accordingly fixed the number of Directors to be elected at four and the election proceeded on that basis. The Board and the Company thank Margot for her dedication to the Company and her service on the Board and wish her all the best in the future.

Other Matters

In addition to the election of each of the nominee directors, shareholders approved: (i) the re-appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditors of the Company, (ii) the Continuance of the Company into the Province of Ontario and (ii) the Company's name change.

About Polaris Infrastructure Inc.

Polaris Infrastructure Inc. is a Toronto-based company engaged in the acquisition, development, and operation of renewable energy projects in Latin America. The Company operates a 72 MW (net) geothermal facility in Nicaragua and three run-of-river hydroelectric facilities in Peru, with approximately 5 MW (net), 8 MW (net) and 20 MW (net) capacity, each. The Company also owns two solar projects in Panama with an expected total capacity of approximately 13 MWdc, currently under construction.

Contact Information:

Investor Relations

Polaris Infrastructure Inc.

Phone:+1 647 245-7199

Email: info@polarisinfrastructure.com

SOURCE: Polaris Infrastructure Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706451/Polaris-Infrastructure-Announces-Results-of-Annual-and-Special-Meeting
Real estate has long been seen as a good investment since it keeps its value effectively over time. People can now invest in real estate in its digital form, rather than merely as land or buildings, thanks to advances in digital technology.

You can invest in digital real estate the way you would in traditional real estate. You can benefit by buying, selling, or renting this digital asset. A digital asset is essentially anything of value that exists on the internet.

A real estate blog, website, or domain might be suitable examples. This type of valuable real estate digital asset is valuable since it may make it simpler to rank on search engines via search engine optimization. Plus, maybe the domain name is simple to remember. However, you can profitably buy and sell such digital assets, but this is highly dependent on their worth. Furthermore, new digital asset types such as metaverse and cryptocurrencies are emerging. These are more complicated alternatives. Nonetheless, theyre good investment alternatives.

Reasons To Invest In Digital Real Estate

Given the rate of change, its realistic to assume that the digital revolution will continue and that digital investments will grow. Of course, before you ever consider investing in digital real estate, you must first ask yourself what digital real estate is. Its understandable if you know little about it. However, once you understand how it works, its not difficult to invest in it.

Below is a quick guide to digital real estate investments:

1. Portfolio Diversification

Every investor typically has a portfolio thats composed of multiple investments. Real estate often shows up on most investors portfolios. But every investor knows that, ideally, they should diversify their portfolio with assets with different risk profiles and characteristics.

For example, if you have risky investments, you should offset that risk with investments like cryptocurrency real estate or precious metals. If you encounter a loss, youll have something to fall back on in the form of your more stable investments. So, the goal is to create a balanced portfolio. Digital real estate offers the opportunity to diversify your portfolio. Since the world is going digital in the foreseeable future, these assets are here to stay and expand, making them an excellent investment.

2. Self-Employment Opportunity

Whether youre seeking an alternative source of income or have a job you dont like, digital real estate is a terrific choice. You could, for example, establish a blog or a website then construct it from the ground up while getting a lot of traffic. If you can increase your audience by a sufficient number, you may be able to join affiliate marketing programs and earn a reasonable monthly income.

If you want help with generating leads for your website, you can visit website for more information.

3. Low Barriers To Entry

You dont need a lot of money to get started with digital real estate investing. Purchasing a domain name for a website, for example, is relatively inexpensive. You can also start a YouTube channel where you discuss real estate concerns and concepts if you dont want to start a website. Remember that if you want to succeed, youll have to put in a lot of effort. However, you can monetize your YouTube channel once youve built up a following.

4. Income Potential

Digital real estate offers a lot of possibilities for making money. Because digital assets are becoming more popular, your investment returns could compound substantially, much like other real estate investment alternatives. Plus, if youre willing to keep your investment for longer, you can make good profits. Consider the recent surge in metaverse digital real estate assets or non-fungible tokens (NFTs). If you acquire this now, you could be able to sell it for hundreds or even millions of dollars in five to ten years, depending on the rate of growth.

Risks Of Investing In Digital Real Estate

Volatility

While there are many ways to profit from digital real estate, its also highly volatile. The value of your digital asset may be affected if something changes regarding algorithms or new technology. As a result, before investing in digital real estate, you should be aware of these dangers so that you may plan accordingly to avoid significant losses.

Advanced Technology Requirement

While there are few hurdles to entry into digital real estate investing, the fact that complex technology is required to make it work may be a stumbling block for others. Fast internet, haptics, virtual reality headphones, and blockchain are a few examples. Therefore, investing in digital real estate may not be a good option if you reside in an area without high-speed internet.

Conclusion

Diversifying your portfolio with digital real estate is a smart move. There are benefits and hazards to investing in digital real estate, just as there are to any other venture. Thats why its critical to conduct your research before deciding. Investigate the many kinds of digital real estate investments such as cryptocurrencies, the metaverse, and selling websites. The fact that digital is here to stay should be a strong motivator for you to investigate this option. You could also consult with your financial advisor if youre unsure.
On June 3, 2022 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Foreign Minister of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Soroi Eoe in Port Moresby.

Wang Yi said, as the largest Pacific Island Country, PNG exerts an important influence on the Asia-Pacific region. President Xi Jinping paid a successful state visit to PNG in 2018, pushing bilateral relations into a new stage of high-level development. The two sides have grasped the strategic positioning of mutual respect and common development, firmly supported each other's core interests, carried out practical cooperation with sincerity, and taken a clear stand in upholding international justice. Facts have proved that sound China-PNG relations not only bring huge benefits to the two countries and two peoples, but also help improve the overall relations between China and the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) having diplomatic ties with China, maintain the solidarity of developing countries, and promote regional peace and development. PNG is an important strategic cooperative partner of China in the South Pacific region. China is ready to work with PNG, from a higher level and a broader perspective, to strengthen strategic planning, enhance strategic mutual trust, and make China-PNG relations the "locomotive" driving China's relations with PICs.

Wang Yi said, China appreciates PNG's adherence to the one-China principle and support for China's legitimate propositions. China also firmly supports PNG in safeguarding national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, pursuing an independent development path and achieving national prosperity. PNG is China's largest trading partner, investment destination and project-contracting market in the South Pacific region. The outcomes of bilateral cooperation, which can be seen everywhere, have brought tangible benefits to the people of PNG. China will work to upgrade bilateral cooperation to generate a scale effect and deliver more dividends. China is ready to share its development experience and technology and build more landmark cooperation projects.

Eoe welcomed Wang Yi's second visit to PNG, and congratulated China and Fiji on successfully co-hosting the second China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Eoe said, PNG truly feels the importance China attaches to PICs, and the Chinese delegation's visit will not only enhance cooperation between PICs and China, but also help PICs accelerate development and safeguard common interests.

Eoe said, PNG and China enjoy robust and vigorous relations, with mutually beneficial cooperation yielding fruitful results. PNG appreciates China's commitment to the philosophy of mutual respect, treating each other as equals, mutually beneficial cooperation, and not leaving any country or individual behind. PNG appreciates China's valuable support for its efforts to speed up development and improve people's well-being. No matter how the situation at home and abroad may change, PNG will, as always, adhere to the one-China principle, which is the cornerstone of bilateral relations, firmly support China's legitimate position on issues relating to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and other internal issues, and stand ready to deepen practical cooperation with China in various fields to benefit the people of PNG.

The two sides agreed to seek greater synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Connect PNG Infrastructure Development Program 2020-2040, complete the feasibility study of the free trade agreement at an early date, and strengthen experience-sharing on the development of special economic zones.

The two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in energy, fisheries, communications, health and other fields, and continue to well implement the China-Aided JUNCAO Technology and Upland Rice Technology Cooperation Project. The two sides will tap the potential of cooperation in fields such as law enforcement and at sub-national levels. Efforts will be made to strengthen downstream processing cooperation in agriculture, forestry and fisheries to help PNG speed up industrialization and enhance its capacity for self-driven development.

After the talks, the two sides attended the signing ceremony of cooperation documents on pandemic response, disaster prevention and mitigation, and green development, among others. The two sides also witnessed the inauguration of the China-aided Center of Minimally Invasive Surgery in Port Moresby General Hospital, and jointly met the press and answered questions.
On June 8, 2022 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Tajik Minister of Transport Azim Ibrohim after attending the third "China+Central Asia" (C+C5) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Nur-Sultan.

Wang Yi said, the China-Tajikistan comprehensive strategic partnership has always maintained a sound and stable momentum of development under the promotion of President Xi Jinping and President Emomali Rahmon. The two countries have taken the lead in building a development community and a security community, and jointly implemented a large number of major cooperation projects that have yielded good results and improved people's well-being. The two sides have always trusted and supported each other in international and regional affairs, constantly injecting new connotations into bilateral relations. China is ready to work with Tajikistan to take the opportunity of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties and follow through on the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, so as to push bilateral cooperation in various fields to new heights and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

Wang Yi said, the bilateral trade volume grew by more than 100 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, showing strong resilience. China is ready to constantly explore new areas of cooperation with Tajikistan and help Tajikistan achieve the goals of its four major development strategies of energy, transportation, food and industrialization. China supports and encourages Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Tajikistan and better synergize production capacity. China hopes Tajikistan will improve its business environment.

Ibrohim said, China is a great and friendly close neighbor of Tajikistan. The two heads of state have established high-level mutual trust, and the Tajikistan-China comprehensive strategic partnership has been advancing steadily. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 30 years ago, bilateral cooperation has developed rapidly, and China has become Tajikistan's most important trade and investment partner. Tajikistan is sincerely grateful for China's assistance in the country's efforts to implement major livelihood projects, upgrade infrastructure and fight the pandemic. Tajikistan is ready to actively participate in Belt and Road cooperation, and deepen all-round cooperation with China. Tajikistan will facilitate investments by Chinese enterprises in the country.

The two sides expressed satisfaction with the launch of Luban Workshop in Tajikistan, the first of its kind in Central Asia. The two sides will strive for early completion of the workshop, so as to deliver early benefits and boost the training of professionals in Tajikistan. Both sides agreed to speed up the establishment of a traditional medicine center in Tajikistan and continue to strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation.

The two sides will work to scale up trade, and create new cooperation highlights in areas such as new energy, green technology, transportation and communications.

The two sides will continue to leverage the strengths of the joint pandemic prevention and control mechanism at border areas, upgrade and renovate border ports, improve customs clearance efficiency, and ensure the safe and smooth passage of freights.

The two sides spoke highly of building a China-Tajikistan community of shared security and destiny, and expressed readiness to deepen cooperation on security, law enforcement, and counterterrorism, so as to jointly safeguard the peace and stability of the two countries and the region at large. Ibrohim said, Tajikistan will always be a staunch comrade-in-arms of China, and will work with China to resolutely fight the three forces of terrorism, separatism, and extremism. Wang Yi said, China will continue to firmly support Tajikistan in safeguarding independence, sovereignty, security and stability, and China is also Tajikistan's most reliable strategic partner.

The two sides also exchanged views on the Afghan issue.
Senior official of south China's Guangxi expelled from CPC, office

Xinhua) 19:49, June 23, 2022

Liu Hongwu, former vice chairman of the people's government of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from public office over serious violations of Party discipline and laws, the country's top anti-graft body announced Thursday.

The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission said in a statement that an investigation into Liu's case had found that he had defied major decisions of the CPC Central Committee on targeted poverty alleviation and rural revitalization by making compromises and alterations in implementation. He also took undue advantage while implementing these decisions and engaged in corruption.

It also found that Liu had defied the CPC Central Committee's eight-point decision on improving Party and government conduct, indulging in hedonism to satisfy his personal desires. He was found to have violated relevant rules by accepting money from others and joining banquets, which may have compromised his ability to exercise power impartially.

Liu had been uncooperative during the investigation of his case, according to the statement.

It accused Liu of being morally corrupt and trading his power for money and sex. He was keen on building connections with people in the business circles and trading power for money. He was found to have abused his positions to seek benefits for others in project contracting and operations and financial approvals, and have accepted a huge amount of money and gifts in return.

Liu has severely violated the Party's discipline and is suspected of taking bribes and committing egregious violations of duty-related laws, the statement said, adding that his case is serious in nature and has a bad influence.

In line with Party regulations and laws, a decision has been made to expel him from the Party and public office, confiscate his illicit gains and hand over his case for judicial proceedings.

(Web editor: Liu Ning, Bianji)
Seoul Northern District Court / Korea Times file





Upholding a lower court ruling, a Seoul appeals court acquitted a former Army captain, Thursday, who had been charged with having sex with a fellow male soldier.







The Seoul Northern District Court cleared the former captain, whose identity was withheld, of charges that he violated the Military Criminal Act that calls for punishment of up to two years in prison for those who engage in "anal intercourse" or any other "indecent act."







A lower court earlier said punishing a soldier for engaging in consensual sexual intercourse goes against the Constitution that guarantees self-determination, and freedom of privacy.







In a separate case, the Supreme Court in April struck down guilty verdicts for two male soldiers charged with having homosexual intercourse at an off-base housing facility, saying the encounter was consensual and took place in a private space.







The top court said anal intercourse or similar consensual sexual activities carried out in a private space cannot be seen as violating the military's culture and discipline and that the law should not be applied in such cases. (Yonhap)






Acting Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok speaks to reporters as he enters the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Thursday. Newsis





By Jung Min-ho







A small business owner in his 40s was found dead in Busan on Feb. 25. It was later found that he had been swindled out of more than 160 million won ($123,000) by a telephone scammer before committing suicide.







To prevent such tragedies and respond more effectively to voice phishing (or vishing) scams, which have become more sophisticated in recent years, the government will launch a joint investigation team with experts from all relevant agencies.







"We need special measures to counter such crimes, which take not only the victims' money but also, in some cases, their lives  We have found that some voice phishing operations are organized, with gang members involved in them," the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said in a statement Thursday.







Earlier that day, acting Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok told reporters that he will step up efforts to root out such crimes by mobilizing all possible resources in his power.







At least six prosecutors and about 20 investigators from the prosecution will join the team set to be installed at Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office. The National Police Agency, the Financial Supervisory Service, the National Tax Service, the Customs Service and the Korea Communications Commission among others will send officials with relevant expertise there soon.







Voice phishing is a phone scam, in which a scammer tricks people into revealing important personal data such as their credit card password or sending money to an accomplice's bank account. The most well-known trick is pretending to be an investigator and telling people to "cooperate" by, for example, sending money to a safer account.







Moon Hong-seong, head of the division of anti-corruption and violent crimes, speaks at a press briefing room in the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, southern Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap





Since the first such crime was reported in 2006, the number skyrocketed to 30,982 in 2021. The amount of damage last year was 774.4 billion won, tripled from 247 billion won in 2017.







Yet, the number of suspects caught in such cases has decreased since 2019 from 48,700 to 26,400 in 2021, which pressured the government to come up with more effective measures to clamp down on them.







The chief criticism of the government's response has been on its failure to bring the kingpins of such criminal organizations to justice, arresting mostly those at the bottom of the hierarchy.







Last week, the Seoul Southern District Court slapped a Chinese student in Korea with a fine of 4 million won for aiding a voice phishing crime by delivering money from a victim to a criminal ring member, while claiming that he was not aware of the situation. It was the latest of many such convictions of young people who, in many cases, become part of such crimes unknowingly.







The prosecution vowed to focus more on investigating the main culprits of such organizations and seeking more severe punishment from the judiciary.







To do so, the prosecution said it will strengthen international cooperation, especially with authorities in China and the Philippines, where many voice phishing organizations targeting Korean victims are believed to be based.






Story Highlights Europeans are dissatisfied -- and disengaged -- at work

Better managers and manager development can re-engage Europe's workforce

Download the State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report to learn more

"It is a great place to live but a terrible place to work."

This has long been said about Spain, but is it true of all of Europe?

Life in Europe is good. According to the World Happiness Report (WHR), no one feels better about life than Europeans. For 10 years in a row, European countries have topped the list of happiest places on Earth. And in the WHR 2022, the eight happiest countries in the world are located in Europe. Europeans rate their lives so well that Gallup finds almost half of the region's entire population is thriving in life.

But how is life at work going?

Europeans are unhappier with their workplaces than anyone else in the world, according to Gallup's State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report. Fourteen percent of European employees are engaged at work -- a figure that is seven percentage points lower than the global average (21%) and 19 points lower than the U.S. and Canada (33%).

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Europe's frustration at work isn't new. In 2005, Princeton economist Alan Krueger wrote in The New York Times, "European workers are united in at least one respect: They have reported declining levels of job satisfaction to pollsters over the past three decades." Even in 2005, Krueger noticed a stark difference in worker satisfaction between Europe and the United States.

"Europeans work to live, not live to work."

Culture is often used to explain Europe's abysmal employee engagement scores. But if Europeans cared so little about work, why would they continue to work even if they didn't have to? In 2015, Almost three-quarters of German workers said they would keep working even if they inherited so much money they never had to work again. Slightly fewer American workers (68%) said yes to a similar question in August 2013.

And if European dissatisfaction at work is truly cultural, then why are there so many European organizations with thriving workplace cultures? Some European organizations have engagement rates that are three times the regional average and more than double the global average.

Employee engagement is ultimately not about being obsessed with work or living to work. It's about having clear expectations, feeling connected to and supported by your team, and finding purpose in your work. These are universal human needs. The fact that they are not met for millions of European employees is not a cultural badge of honor, but a sign of poor leadership and people management.

So, what's the problem?

Some critics might argue that there is no problem. Europe has some of the world's most successful companies -- who needs employee engagement? But Gallup's analyses of engagement in Europe have found across industries that engaged teams in Europe are significantly more productive and profitable than disengaged ones. Many European companies are leaving wealth and innovation on the table, while their competitors are winning on talent and productivity.

In a study of burnout in the U.S., Gallup found that the biggest cause was "unfair treatment at work." It was followed by an unmanageable workload, unclear communication from managers, lack of manager support and unreasonable time pressure. Those five causes have one thing in common: your boss.

Get a bad one and you are almost guaranteed to emotionally disconnect from your job. A bad boss will ignore you, disrespect you and never support you. Environments like that can make anyone miserable. A manager's effect on a workplace is so significant that Gallup analytics reveal that 70% of the variance in a team's engagement is explained just by who their boss is.

And Europe is plagued with bad managers. While 97% of German managers think they are good managers, 69% of German employees think they have bad managers. Europe's managers aren't completely unaware of this problem. They know they need better training. Sixty percent of German managers say they've never received training for people management skills. This gap shouldn't be hard to close.

Two-thirds of employees who strongly agree that their manager helps them to set priorities are engaged according to a 2013 U.S. Gallup Panel study, and more than two-thirds of employees who agree that their manager focuses on their strengths are engaged. The fact that 14% of European employees are engaged suggests that most European managers struggle to do either.

Companies that buck this trend view engagement as a strategic priority. They recognize that the manager-employee relationship is the most important driver of engagement and organic growth, and they approach the task of increasing engagement with the same rigor, discipline, and commitment that they approach other business problems.

Many Europeans have figured out the secret to a great life, but not the secret to a great life at work. The good news is that the majority of Europeans are disengaged but not disgruntled. They are sitting on the sidelines, waiting to be inspired. They are winnable, and companies can fix this gap by better equipping their managers with the learning and development they need to be better people managers. If they do, they'll rank among the best in the world for more than just happiness.
If youve been to China Delight in Corvallis on the weekend, you may have been able to taste bar manager Nick Turners soul food, a cuisine he grew up on in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.

Earlier this month, Turner accomplished his lifelong dream of opening up his own place  Nicks: Soul Food, located at 520 SW Fourth St. in Corvallis.

Its very surreal, he said. I come here in the mornings and sit for five minutes like, Wow. It still hasnt hit me how big of a responsibility this is.

Turner has roots in Trinidad and Tobago, and he began cooking in Birmingham when he was 13. Hes held various jobs in the food industry throughout his life, and while his food truck is a significant step in the right direction, his goal is to open a brick and mortar building right here in Corvallis.

I watched a lot of people who were successful and took notes, he said. I thought, Im gonna be like yall.

Turner doesnt have much down time; he still works at China Delight Monday-Wednesday and spends his off day stocking the truck and prepping for the weekend rush. He runs the truck by himself Friday-Sunday. Nick's: Soul Food is open from 11 a.m. until it sells out.

Get here early, Turner said. Last Friday I wrapped up by 2:30.

With his tie-dye Crocs and talkative personality, Turner exudes a laid-back nature while feeding lines of people all by himself. His cooking time is unbeatable, he bragged, and added that you cant find authentic Southern soul food like his anywhere else in the state.

Turner has a different special every weekend, whether it is brisket, ribs, meatloaf, chicken wings or fried pork chops. The main course is his signature cheesy, salty, buttery grits topped with whichever protein people want.

The cheese grits have changed peoples opinion on grits, he added.

The fan favorite by far is "shrimp 'n gritz," which makes up for about six out of every ten orders Turner receives. He also offers pork and chicken with grits, red beans and rice, a huge sampler plate, vegetable plate and various sides, including a sweet and salty flavor bomb of apple pie baked beans.

All rubs and sauces are his, including the ever-popular Alabama white barbecue sauce, and everything on the menu is seasoned differently. He cooks fresh every day, arriving early to prep so he can chat with customers as they order without sweating the small stuff.

Turner has no social media, preferring to get customers via word of mouth like the old days. Hell get there eventually, he admitted, but for now he encourages people to spread the word to their friends.

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.

Nicks: Soul Food shares a parking lot with Terras Tastee Treats and Miguels Mexican Cuisine. The trucks are so different they rarely have to worry about competing for customers, he said.

I want to show off the authenticity of where Im from, Turner said.

Joanna Mann (she/her) covers education for Mid-Valley Media. She can be contacted at 541-812-6076 or Joanna.Mann@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter via @joanna_mann_.

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Kwon Jae-chan / Yonhap





A district court imposed a rare death sentence on a 53-year-old man, Thursday, after he was found guilty of killing a woman for money in December last year, and then also murdering an accomplice.







The man, Kwon Jae-chan, was charged with robbery and corpse abandonment in the double murder case after allegedly strangling the 50-something female acquaintance to death at a building in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, Dec. 4.







He used her credit card to withdraw cash from an ATM and stole her jewelry while the woman's body was kept inside the trunk of a car.







The following day, Kwon murdered and buried a 40-something male accomplice on a hill near Eulwangri Beach on Yeongjong Island off the coast of Incheon.







Delivering the capital punishment, the Incheon District Court pointed out Kwon appeared to have no possibility of reformation and showed no signs of serious repentance.







"Recovery of humanity cannot be expected from the accused," the court said, adding it was giving the death penalty to hold him accountable and prevent the recurrence of a similar crime.







Kwon was also order to wear a tracking device for 30 years.







Since its last execution Dec. 30, 1997, Korea has not carried out the death penalty, and is globally categorized as "abolitionist in practice."







Imposing capital punishment is still permissible under the law, and at the end of 2020, 60 people were in prison after getting the death penalty. (Yonhap)






Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
The police then tried to get any of the party-loving teens out there to empathise with the owners of the house



The feeling when you know someone went into your closet, tried on your clothes, and used your bathroom doesnt have a dollar amount attached to it.



"Especially in a place where youre supposed to feel safe, the Sheriffs office continued before asking anyone with information to come forward.


Indonesia will be offering a Visa that lets remote workers live tax-free, as long as their pay comes from outside of the country.

It would mean that freelancers can crack open their laptops from beautiful locations like Bali without worrying about tax.

Say less.

Indonesia's tourism minister, Sandiaga Uno, announced the five-year 'Digital Nomad Visa' this week.

Mr Uno expects that the scheme would draw 3.6 million overseas visitors to the country in the next year.

The decision is also expected to produce up to one million employees without harming any existing employment for locals.
Korean underage offenders aged below 14 are not subject to criminal charges according to the country's Juvenile Act. The Ministry of Justice is about to turn the tables around in the face of increasing underage crimes in recent years. Gettyimagesbank





By Ko Dong-hwan







On June 22, Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon visited a juvenile correctional facility for girls in Anyang. Fifty-six girls, all aged under 14, were isolated there from society. The minister was there to check how they were being fed, educated and treated for medical issues.







After looking over the environment, Han made the following propositions: what if some of these girls were criminally charged in court and had been sent to prisons for adults instead of juvenile facilities? Would they regret their misconduct and strive to start new lives? Or would their young, very malleable brains get twisted by the experience making the rest of their lives far from normal?







"Youths should be subject to education and correction," said Han on Wednesday. "They should be given opportunities rather than punishment." But he also said seemingly the opposite on the same day, "Citizens should be protected from youth crimes that are becoming more serious."







Han concluded that decision makers shouldn't simply lash out and punish children with criminal penalties for their delinquency but rather focus on policies to educate and protect them.







It seems that a big question in Han's mind is whether to lower the minimum legal age to be able to charge youths criminally from the present minimum age of 14. On June 14, the ministry launched a task force to study whether to lower the minimum age for criminal charges to 12 or 13. Each age had been suggested by a separate motion proposed at the National Assembly earlier this year.







The motion, if passed, will broaden the range of legal ages the country's Juvenile Act can charge a person criminally: from the current upper age limit of childhood, or 18, to 12 or 13, instead of 14. Lowering the legal age for the more stringent punishment of underage offenders was one of the pledges made by President Yoon Suk-yeol during his presidential campaign earlier this year.







Underage crimes began to grab the attention of the country's key authorities as their seriousness has visibly exacerbated during recent years.







In November 2021, three middle school students wrought havoc inside a restaurant in Daegu, destroying furniture and forcing customers to leave, after the restaurant owner warned them not to smoke in front of the restaurant. The youths told the owner during the commotion, "We wouldn't have to go to prison even if we killed someone."







Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon visits a juvenile correctional facility for girls in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, June 22. Yonhap





A similar incident happened earlier that month, when 10 middle school students raided another Daegu restaurant and disrupted its business after the restaurant owner rebuked them for urinating in front of the restaurant. In Gwangju, two youths aged 13 stole 40 parked vehicles until they were caught in April of this year. Another group of children in Seoul broke into cashiers at unmanned, self-serve bakeries until a witness blocked their getaway route and called police in May of this year.







Juvenile crimes by those under the legal age unpunishable by criminal charges have been on rise. The figures for minors sent to juvenile courts in 2021 stood at 9,606, a 46-percent jump from 2016, according to the National Police Agency. Almost 40,000 underage criminals evaded criminal charges in the past five years. About 76 percent of them committed robberies or physical violence.







Other data by the justice ministry also showed that among the 171,368 underage criminals under the authority's monitoring, over 21,000 were repeat offenders from 2016 to 2021.











Observers have clashed as to whether the country's juvenile laws should be modified to lower the age for criminal charges or leave the laws as they are now. The dissenters argued that rather than punishing them, educating the children should be prioritized.







Those who agree on lowering the age mostly focus on the emotional impact of underage crimes on society. Some teachers at schools also agree to this premise as it becomes harder and harder to deal with delinquent students, given that physically beating students is also illegal.







On the contrary, large institutions concerned with juveniles like the National Human Rights Commission of Korea or UN Committee on the Rights of the Child have objected to it. The latter, in 2019, advised the country to keep the minimum age for criminal charges at 14 and not to treat those aged 13 or younger as criminals.







"Times have changed in today's society, where students are developing faster than before and their problematic actions are surfacing at earlier stages than before," Oh In-soo, a professor in the Department of Education at Ewha Womans University, told The Korea Times. "In addition to this reality, a string of news about sensational underage crimes seems to have stoked a public consensus that the minimum age should be lowered to punish more youths with criminal charges."







Oh, however, warned against comparing underage offenses directly to those committed by adults, calling it dangerous. Cognitive psychologists have concluded that youths have cognitive skills on a par with adults but, at the same time, are comparatively underdeveloped when it comes to recognizing the consequences of their dangerous actions, according to Oh. That's because the frontal lobe, the part of the human brain in charge of the ability to recognize rationally the consequences of one's actions, is still growing until the late teens.







Left, police in Masan, South Gyeongsang Province, caught a boy, 13, getting away with a stolen vehicle in 2014. He drove 40 kilometers for about one hour before getting caught by the police. Right, a middle school student strangles a senior woman's neck from behind during an altercation inside a subway in Uijeongbu, January 2021. Courtesy of Masan Jungbu Police Station, screenshot from YouTube





"At a glance, youths and adults seem not too different from one another but there are clear differences in terms of the process of human development," said Oh. "Youths, unlike adults, are under immense influence from the surrounding environment, so putting the entire responsibility on them for their wrongful actions is inappropriate."







To a prosecutor-turned-lawyer based in Seongnam, setting the age limitation for criminal charges isn't so meaningful. What's more important, he said, is figuring out the most appropriate solution for society at-large on a case-by-case basis, with less exclamation marks on age specifically.







"Let's say a 13-year-old committed a really serious crime. Will punishing that youth draw a major backlash that it's against social justice? Unlikely," the lawyer told The Korea Times on condition of anonymity. "Now, if another 13-year-old committed a petty crime, would it be okay to send the youth to a court? Not so much. What I'm saying is that every decision regarding punishing criminals should be based on what each specific case is all about. This rule applies the same regardless of whether the youths are sent to a juvenile correctional facility or a court, and regardless of whether one is dealing with underage offenders or adult offenders."







The lawyer said that the justice ministry's new task force should dig deep into legal precedents in other countries and carefully weigh between those who agree and disagree on lowering the minimum age before finalizing their decision.







Legal scholars, according to the lawyer, are divided over defining "punishment." Some argue it serves the purpose of "retribution," as in forcing criminals to take responsibility for the consequences of their crimes. Some explain that it serves a "purpose," saying that punishment is intended to improve an offender's personality and make them into a new person. The supporters of retribution say that treating youths and adults equally for the same crime amounts to justice. Whereas supporters of purpose say youths or children cannot be compared to adults who have already been formed.







"There is a diverse spectrum between these two types. But somewhere along the line, judiciary circles across the globe had reached an agreement that youths should be separately treated under the Juvenile Act, and (some others argued) that ages 13 or 14 would be okay to start criminal procedures on an individual," said the prosecutor-turned-lawyer. "The task force will have to rigorously study precedents across the world to reach the most reasonable grounds for Korean youths."






President Yoon Suk-yeol answers reporters' questions at the presidential office in Seoul's Yongsan District, June 23. Yonhap





President Yoon Suk-yeol expressed outrage Thursday that a reshuffle of senior police officials was announced prematurely before receiving his approval, saying it amounted to a "disturbance of national discipline."







Police released the names of new senior superintendents general Tuesday evening, only to reverse seven of them two hours later. The flip-flopping led to suspicions that the interior ministry, which oversees the police, was exerting undue control over the law enforcement agency.







"It makes no sense, and in a way, this could be considered a disturbance of national discipline," Yoon told reporters as he arrived at his office. "The person authorized to make personnel decisions is the president."







A senior superintendent general is the third-highest rank in the Korean police.







Yoon said he looked into the matter after reading the news about the overturned appointments and found out "something absurd" had occurred.







"They had gone ahead and appointed the people that the police on its own had recommended to the interior ministry," he said.







"The fact that a reshuffle that had not yet been approved by the president, or reviewed by the interior ministry and proposed to the president, had been leaked and reported in the press as if the appointments had been reversed, is a very grave disturbance of national discipline, or an absurd mistake by a public servant that is unacceptable," he added.







Speaking in a strong tone, Yoon stressed that no decision had been overturned and that he had given his approval to the version brought to him by the interior ministry.







The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) accused Yoon of trying to "tame" the police.







"Yoon's remarks on national discipline are worrisome since it sends the wrong signal to the public official community that only those loyal to power can survive," said DPK spokesperson Oh Yeong-hwan.







"The interior ministry must stop its attempt to control the police as it undermines the agency's independence." (Yonhap)






MANILA, Philippines, June 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Neeyamo, a market leader in providing global payroll and EOR solutions, is excited to announce the third pitstop of Working Beyond Borders 2022 that will take place in Manila on June 29, 2022. Following the success of the events in London and Milan, WBB shifts to Asia for the first time.

Working Beyond Borders is an invitation-only event that brings the global HR and payroll community under one roof to explore current business issues, share insights on significant trends, and stimulate discussions about managing a global workforce.

The Philippines has a complex and diverse workforce with unique payroll challenges. Withholding tax and dynamic tax rates are some of the complications for employers.

The forthcoming Manila pitstop will provide curated insights, including creating a borderless workforce, tips to aid global firms with personnel in the country, and more.

Vivek Khanna, the Chief Client Partner at Neeyamo, said, "The Philippines' rich culture coupled with an enthusiastic and skilled workforce and expanding economy offer attractive potential for international businesses. Moving east with an event like WBB would benefit the largely populated workforce present in the country. As a global payroll industry leader, Neeyamo identifies the industry's whitespaces and creates unique solutions by knowing the organizations' pain points in each country and treating them accordingly."

Please click here to know more about the event.

About Neeyamo:

Neeyamo is a leading technology-enabled global payroll and EOR solutions provider for multinational and micro-multinational corporations worldwide. With an extensive team of professionals serving clients across 190+ countries, Neeyamo leverages its unique service-based model and functionality-rich, next-generation HR & payroll products portfolio to help organizations enable agile and scalable business. To know more, visit www.neeyamo.com.

Media Contact: corporate.communications@neeyamo.com

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Image 1: Working Beyond Borders





Neeyamo's Working Beyond Borders Set for First Asia Pitstop









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NEW YORK, June 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces the filing of a class action lawsuit on behalf of purchasers of the securities of Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL) between September 2, 2020 and July 21, 2021, both dates inclusive (the Class Period). If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than August 15, 2022.

SO WHAT: If you purchased Unilever securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Unilever class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=7063 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than August 15, 2022. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs Bar. Many of the firms attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that in July 2020, Ben & Jerrys board passed a resolution to end sales of its ice cream in Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as the risks attendant to the boards decision. Additionally, Unilevers s description of its legal risks was materially false and misleading because Unilever acknowledged that complying with all applicable laws and regulations was important but omitted discussing Ben & Jerrys boycott decision, which risked adverse governmental actions for violations of laws, executive orders, or resolutions aimed at discouraging boycotts, divestment, and sanctions of Israel adopted by 35 U.S. states (Anti-BDS Legislation).

On July 19, 2021, Unilever and its hand-picked Ben & Jerrys CEO, finally operationalized the Ben & Jerrys boards resolution to boycott. Ben & Jerrys announced on its website and through its Twitter account that, upon the expiration of the current licensing agreement by which its products had been distributed in Israel for decades, Ben & Jerrys would end sales of its ice cream in Occupied Palestinian Territory but Ben & Jerrys would purportedly continue to sell its products in Israel.

Ultimately, the states of New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Colorado, and Arizona announced decisions to divest their pension fund investments in Unilever due to violations of their Anti-BDS Legislation.

When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

To join the Unilever class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=7063 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investors ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Contact Information:

Laurence Rosen, Esq.

Phillip Kim, Esq.

The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor

New York, NY 10016

Tel: (212) 686-1060

Toll Free: (866) 767-3653

Fax: (212) 202-3827

lrosen@rosenlegal.com

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cases@rosenlegal.com

www.rosenlegal.com
Pune, India, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global hand sanitizer market size was valued at USD 2.98 billion in 2020 and reached USD 2.79 billion in 2021. The market size is expected to reach USD 3.47 billion by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 3.1% during the forecast period. Innovators and business people across the globe are rehashing their plans of action considering the Covid pandemic. In the craft cocktail arena, breweries and distilleries are transitioning their focus from spirits to hand sanitizers. For example, in May 2020, Doctor Shultz's, collaborated with Ilthy, a dress brand for assembling and providing hand sanitizers and face masks.

Furthermore, increasing awareness regarding cleanliness practices and strong demand for the product for the development of personal care products may enhance industry growth. Fortune Business Insights provides this information in its report titled Hand Sanitizer Market, 2021-2028

Get a Sample PDF Brochure:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/hand-sanitizer-market-102710

Hand Sanitizer Market Report Scope & Segmentation:

Report Attribute Details Market size value in 2020 USD 2.98 billion Revenue forecast in 2028 USD 3.47 billion Growth Rate CAGR of almost 3.1% 2021-2028 Base Year 2020 Historic Years 2017 - 2019 Forecast Years 2021 - 2028 Segments Covered By Product Form, By Type, By End-Users, By Distribution Channel, By Region Forecast Units Value (USD Billion), and Volume (Units) Quantitative Units Revenue in USD million/billion and CAGR from 2021 to 2028 Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa, and Rest of World Countries Covered U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, GCC Countries, and South Africa, among others Number of Companies Covered Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc (U.K.), Gojo Industry Inc. (U.S.), Henkel AG & Company (Germany), Himalaya Global Holdings Ltd. (India), Unilever Plc. (U.K.), Bacardi Limited (Bermuda), CVS Health (U.S.), Best Sanitizer Inc. (U.S.), Proctor & Gamble (U.S.), SC Johnson & Son, Inc. (U.S.) Report Coverage Market growth drivers, restraints, opportunities, Porter's five forces analysis, PEST analysis, value chain analysis, regulatory landscape, market attractiveness analysis by segments and region, company market share analysis, and COVID-19 impact analysis. Customization Scope Avail of customized purchase options to meet your exact research needs.

List of major companies profiled in the hand sanitizer market are:

Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc (U.K.)

Gojo Industry Inc. (U.S.)

Henkel AG & Company (Germany)

Himalaya Global Holdings Ltd. (India)

Unilever Plc. (U.K.)

Bacardi Limited (Bermuda)

CVS Health (U.S.)

Best Sanitizer Inc. (U.S.)

Proctor & Gamble (U.S.)

SC Johnson & Son, Inc. (U.S.)

Report Coverage



The report provides a detailed analysis of the top segments and the latest trends in the market. It comprehensively discusses the driving and restraining factors and the impact of COVID-19 on the market. Additionally, it examines the regional developments and the strategies undertaken by the market's key players.

Inquire Before Buying This Research Report:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/queries/hand-sanitizer-market-102710

The hand sanitizer market is profoundly divided with the presence of an enormous number of territorial and nearby players. The market players face extraordinary rivalry, particularly from the top producers of this market as they have an enormous buyer base, solid memorability, and tremendous conveyance organizations. Organizations have been carrying out different development methodologies, for example, associations and new item dispatches, to remain ahead in the game.

Drivers and Restraints

Strong Government Support for the Promotion of Hygiene Products to Propel Industry Progress

Hand sanitizers are anti-infection solutions that eliminate germs and viruses efficiently. Strong governmental support for hygiene products promotion may enhance hand sanitizer adoption. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a campaign titled Seconds Save Lives, Clean your Hands to promote hand hygiene awareness among the people. Further, the rising infrastructural facilities such as specialty stores, shopping malls, and retail outlets are expected to enhance hand sanitizers' adoption. Further, the rising consumer preferences toward beauty and healthcare products may drive the hand sanitizer market growth.

However, the abundance of alternative products may hamper the industrys growth.

Segmentation

Gel Segment to Hold Major Share Attributable to its Effective Germ Protection

By product form, the market is segmented into liquid, gel, and foam.

The gel segment is expected to grow rapidly due to its effective germ protection. Furthermore, its ability to easily spread on hands enhanced hand sanitizer sales. Moreover, quicker sanitization and drying property of gels may enhance segmental growth.

Alcohol-Based Sanitizers to Dominate Owing to Rapid Adoption in Hospitals

By type, the market is bifurcated into alcohol-free and alcohol-based sanitizers.

The alcohol-based sanitizer segment is expected to hold a dominant market share because of its extensive adoption in hospitals and effectiveness in germ elimination. Furthermore, the anti-microbial ability of alcohol-based sanitizers may incite industry growth

Supermarket/hypermarket Stores Segment to Dominate Owing to the Availability of a Wide Variety of Products

By distribution channel, the market is categorized into online retail, supermarkets/hypermarkets, pharmacy stores, and others.

The supermarkets/hypermarkets segment is expected to dominate owing to the availability of various products. Furthermore, the availability of discounts is expected to enhance product demand.

Hospital Segment to Dominate Attributable to Strong Demand for Sanitizers

By end-user, it is classified into households, hospitals, restaurants, schools, and others.

The hospital segment is expected to hold a dominant market share due to the strong demand for sanitizers to maintain a clean and hygienic environment. Moreover, the rising health concerns among staff and doctors in clinics and hospitals may elevate demand.

Regionally, it is clubbed into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and the Middle East & Africa.

Regional Insights



Presence of Prominent Players to Propel Market Progress in North America

North America is expected to dominate the hand sanitizer market share because of the presence of prominent players. The market in North America stood at USD 1.38 billion in 2020 and is likely to gain a huge portion of the global market share in the upcoming years. Furthermore, rising sanitization practices and personal hygiene is expected to bolster industry growth.

In Europe, efficient medical facilities are expected to enhance hand sanitizer adoption. As per the State of the Health in the EU, Italy, France, Italy, and Spain have excellent medical facilities compared to other European countries. These factors may enhance the market growth.

In Asia Pacific, the strong adoption of personal care products is expected to boost market progress. As per the China Consumer Market 2019 report, personal care product sales increased nearly 8 times in 2019. In addition, rising government initiatives for developing programs associated with personal care products in India are expected to propel market growth.

Browse Detailed Summary of Research Report with TOC:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/hand-sanitizer-market-102710

Detailed Table of Content:



Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Emerging Trends

Key Insights Overview of the Parent/Related Markets Industry SWOT Analysis Supply Chain and Regulatory Analysis Consumer Purchasing Behaviour Recent Industry Developments - Policies, Partnerships, New Product Launches, and Mergers & Acquisitions Qualitative Analysis (in relation to COVID-19) Impact of COVID-19 Supply Chain Challenges Potential Opportunities due to COVID-19

Global Hand Sanitizer Market Analysis, Insights, and Forecast, 2017-2028 Key Findings / Summary Market Size Estimates and Forecast By Product Form (Value) Foam Gel Liquid By Type (Value) Alcohol-based Alcohol-free By Distribution Channel (Value) Pharmacy Stores Supermarkets/Hypermarkets Online Retail Channels Others By End-User (Value) Schools Restaurants Hospitals Household Purpose Others By Region (Value) North America Europe Asia Pacific South America Middle East & Africa



TOC Continued!

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Competitive Landscape

Major Players Launch Novel Products to Boost Brand Image

The prominent companies operating in the market announce novel products to boost brand image. For example, Cavinkare announced cost-effective products under the Nyle, Raaga, and CHIK brands in March 2020. This development aims to provide hygiene solutions to people suffering from disease-causing bacteria and viruses. This strategy may allow the company to enhance its brand image. Furthermore, companies adopt novel product launches, mergers, acquisitions, and expansions to strengthen their market position.

Key Industry Development

April 2020- Nycil announced sanitizer products under its germ protection for family category for business expansion during the pandemic.

Have a Look at Related Research Insights:



Soap Market Size, Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027

Liquid Soap Market Size, Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027

Hand Wash Market Size, Share, Trend and Geography Forecast till 2021-2028

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New York, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Vascular Stent Market Research Report by Type, Material, Mode of Delivery, Product, End User, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06287151/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Vascular Stent Market size was estimated at USD 16.73 billion in 2021 and expected to reach USD 18.89 billion in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 13.12% to reach USD 35.07 billion by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across five major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2019 and 2020 are considered historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered the forecast period.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Vascular Stent to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Type, the market was studied across Bare Metal Stent, Bio-engineered Stent, Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold, Drug Eluting Stent, and Dual Therapy Stent.



Based on Material, the market was studied across Metallic Stent and Polymer.



Based on Mode of Delivery, the market was studied across Balloon-expandable Stent and Self-expanding Stent.



Based on Product, the market was studied across Coronary Stent, Evar Stent Graft, and Peripheral Stent. The Evar Stent Graft is further studied across Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm and Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm. The Peripheral Stent is further studied across Carotid Stent, Femoral Stent, Iliac Stent, and Renal Artery Stent.



Based on End User, the market was studied across Ambulatory Surgical Center, Cardiac Center, and Hospital.



Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict:

We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Vascular Stent market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Vascular Stent Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Market Share Analysis:

The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.



Competitive Scenario:

The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Vascular Stent Market, including Abbott Laboratories, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Biosensors International Group, Ltd., Biotronik SE & Co. KG, Boston Scientific Corporation, Cook Medical, Inc, CryoLife, Inc., Elixir Medical Corporation, Endologix, Inc., Medtronic PLC, Meril Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd, Microport Scientific Corporation, Otsuka Medical Devices Co., Ltd., Purple Medical Solution Pvt. Ltd, Sahajanand Medical Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Stentys S.A., Stryker Corporation, Terumo Corporation, Translumina Gmbh By Everstone Capital, and W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc..



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Vascular Stent Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Vascular Stent Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Vascular Stent Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Vascular Stent Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Vascular Stent Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Vascular Stent Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Vascular Stent Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06287151/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
Dublin, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Wireless Tank Level Monitoring Market - Forecasts from 2022 to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



A wireless tank level monitoring system is used to detect and send tank level information to an end device or user for relevant purposes. The system consists of sensors, transmitters, and an application on a device such as a smartphone or pc, which work over a range of cellular or satellite networks to monitor liquid levels of a tank.

As the processing industries like oil and gas, paper, chemicals, and so forth see a crucial need for proper monitoring and handling of the liquids in tanks to avoid wastage or theft, wireless tank level monitoring is the need of the hour.

Also, accidental spillage of hazardous liquid waste due to improper tank level monitoring into water bodies has a detrimental effect on the environment, which means there needs to be a better system for accurate monitoring and handling of liquid tanks across global industries.

Hence, the growing needs and demands from liquid industries for efficient managing of tanks are the key drivers for the market rise of wireless tank level monitoring systems in the forecast period and beyond. However, the data retrieved and transmitted is open to inaccuracy and error risks which can have serious consequences in the industry and can restrain the growth of the tank level monitoring segment.



The coronavirus pandemic has caused a global recession leading to a halt in the operations of oil and other liquid industries. As a result, the demand for wireless tank level monitoring systems has also reduced. In April 2020, post the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, the International Energy Agency (IEA) stated that the global oil demand has reduced by 30% compared to the last year, the level which was last witnessed in 1995. Events such as these have negatively impacted the global wireless tank level monitoring market.



Growing demand by processing industries for efficient and safe handling of liquid tanks

The oil and other processing industries observe the need for safe and reliable management of their liquid tanks to prevent losses or any other harm. Tanks are subjected to leaks during operations because of puncture or corrosion or even by manual overfilling. These reasons strongly signal an effective approach to ensure proper real-time monitoring of tank levels so that relevant steps can be taken to avoid potential mishaps.

According to the study released in April 2019 by the United States Environment Protection Agency (EPA), ten states out of 28 under review need proper leak detection and monitoring system. The number is certain to grow post evaluation of the remaining states.

Also, as per the journal released by Taylor & Francis in June 2021, the global monetary value of stolen oil and its products is approximately $133 billion per year. Such major losses and thefts in the industry require a highly needed solution to mitigate the potential threats and other risks which lead to severe situations to cope with.

As real-time tracking and monitoring of liquid and other fuel levels kept in industrial tanks are crucially needed, the market scope for the wireless tank level monitoring system is highly anticipated to grow substantially during the forecast period.



Data error and inaccuracy risks pose a potential threat

The wireless tank level monitoring system uses various sensors and transmitters for liquid level sensing and sending that level information in encoded form via an application installed on the reception device such as a smartphone or a tablet. This, however, can be exposed to chances of inaccurate data, which eventually can prove to have horrid outcomes for the industry.

Various detectors and transmitters available worldwide for the manufacturing of wireless tank level monitor systems may come off as faulty. They also may have low warranty periods, which can incur high costs for a replacement in case of degradation during the operational timeline.

According to the 2016 Tank Storage Magazine released by Emerson, an error of 1- or 2-millimeters could be as much as a thousand barrels. Such data discrepancies may lead to substantial inventory losses. Hence, these factors are anticipated to restrain the market share of the wireless tank level monitoring market in the forecast period.



Asia Pacific to see significant growth in the Wireless Tank Level Monitoring System

Asia Pacific region is expected to grab the highest market share in the wireless tank level monitoring system as the rapid increase in the oil and chemical industry is projected to take place mainly in China and India during the forecast period.

According to the article released by the Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) in February 2022, the chemical industry of India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.3%, increasing from USD 178 billion in 2018-19 to USD 304 billion by 2025. In another article by IBEF, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), in July 2021, announced its plan to establish an ethanol plant in Telangana with an investment amounting to approximately INR 1000 crore.

These future expansions in the oil and chemical industry are anticipated to propel the future growth of the wireless tank level monitor system market in the Asia Pacific.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Introduction



2. Research Methodology



3. Executive Summary

4. Market Dynamics

4.1. Market Drivers

4.2. Market Restraints

4.3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis

4.3.1. Bargaining Power of end-users

4.3.2. Bargaining Power of Buyers

4.3.3. Threat of New Entrants

4.3.4. Threat of Substitutes

4.3.5. Competitive Rivalry in the Industry

4.4. Industry value chain analysis



5. Wireless Tank Level Monitoring Market Analysis, by Technology

5.1. Introduction

5.2. Ultrasonic

5.3. Radar

5.4. Capacitive

5.5. Float and Tape Gauge

5.6. Hydrostatic



6. Wireless Tank Level Monitoring Market Analysis, by Industry

6.1. Introduction

6.2. Oil and Fuel

6.3. Chemical

6.4. Power Plant

6.5. Mining



7. Wireless Tank Level Monitoring Market Analysis, by Geography

7.1. Introduction

7.2. North America

7.2.1. US

7.2.2. Canada

7.2.3. Mexico

7.3. South America

7.3.1. Brazil

7.3.2. Argentina

7.3.3. Others

7.4. Europe

7.4.1. Germany

7.4.2. France

7.4.3. UK

7.4.4. Others

7.5. Middle East

7.5.1. Saudi Arabia

7.5.2. UAE

7.5.3. Others

7.6. Asia Pacific

7.6.1. China

7.6.2. India

7.6.3. Japan

7.6.4. South Korea

7.6.5. Taiwan

7.6.6. Thailand

7.6.7. Indonesia

7.6.8. Others



8. Competitive Environment and Analysis

8.1. Major Players and Strategy Analysis

8.2. Emerging Players and Market Lucrativeness

8.3. Mergers, Acquisitions, Agreements, and Collaborations

8.4. Vendor Competitiveness Matrix



9. Company Profiles

9.1. Schneider Electric

9.2. Emerson Electric Co

9.3. Tank Scan

9.4. Digi International

9.5. Gauging Systems

9.6. TE Connectivity

9.7. Oriel Systems

9.8. Siemens

9.9. Nanolike

9.10. OleumTech



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/18aixc

Attachment
Dublin, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Major Depressive Disorder - Market Insight, Epidemiology And Market Forecast - 2032" drug pipelines has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



This 'Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) - Market Insights, Epidemiology, and Market Forecast - 2032' report deliver an in-depth understanding of the historical and forecasted epidemiology as well as the market trends of major depressive disorder (MDD) in the United States, EU5 (Germany, Spain, Italy, France, and United Kingdom), and Japan.



Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) Epidemiology

The total 12-month prevalent patient population of MDD in the 7MM countries was over 48 million cases in 2021.

The major depressive disorder (MDD) epidemiology division provides insights into the historical and current patient pool and the forecasted trend for every seven major countries. It helps recognize the causes of current and forecasted trends by exploring numerous studies and views of key opinion leaders. This part of the report also provides the diagnosed incident patient pool, trends, and assumptions.



Major depressive disorder (MDD) Drug Chapters

The drug chapter segment of the major depressive disorder (MDD) report encloses the detailed analysis of major depressive disorder (MDD) marketed drugs and late stage (Phase-III, Phase-II/III, Phase-II, and Phase-I/II) pipeline drugs. It also helps understand the major depressive disorder (MDD) clinical trial details, expressive pharmacological action, agreements and collaborations, approval and patent details, advantages and disadvantages of each included drug, and the latest news and press releases.



The evidence-based guideline summarizes recommendations on the use of antidepressants and other drug therapies; psychotherapy, including cognitive behavior therapy; and Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT). Because many patients with major depressive disorder have co-occurring psychiatric disorders, including substance use disorders, physicians should also consider appropriate treatments for these diagnoses.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) Emerging Drugs

To meet the current demands of the patient pool and to counter the unmet needs of the therapeutic market, drug developers are gradually shifting their attention toward MDD as a possible indication for new targeted therapies.



Several companies are working robustly on many new therapies, such as AXS-05 (Axsome Therapeutics), Vraylar (AbbVie), Zuranolone (SAGE Therapeutics), and LY03005 (Luye Pharma). The mid-stage pipeline is crowded, with several potential therapies with the imminent attention of big pharmaceutical companies for this market space.



AXS-05 (Axsome Therapeutics), is a novel, oral, patent-protected, investigational NMDA receptor antagonist with multimodal activity under development to treat MDD and other central nervous systems (CNS) disorders. AXS-05 utilizes a proprietary formulation and dose of dextromethorphan and bupropion and Axsome's metabolic inhibition technology to modulate the delivery of the components.

The dextromethorphan component of AXS-05 is an uncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, also known as a glutamate receptor modulator, which is a novel mechanism of action, meaning it works differently than currently approved therapies for major depressive disorder. The dextromethorphan component of AXS-05 is also a sigma-1 receptor agonist. The bupropion component of AXS-05 serves to increase the bioavailability of dextromethorphan and is a norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor.



Vraylar (AbbVie) is an oral, once-daily atypical antipsychotic approved for the acute treatment of adult patients with manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder, with a recommended dose range of 3-6 mg/day, and for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults, with a recommended dose range of 1.5-6 mg/day.



While the mechanism of action of Vraylar in schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder is unknown, the efficacy of VRAYLAR could be mediated through a combination of partial agonist activity at central dopamine D and serotonin 5-HT1A receptors and antagonist activity at serotonin 5-HT2A receptors. Pharmacodynamic studies with cariprazine have shown that it acts as a partial agonist with high binding affinity at dopamine D3, dopamine D2, and serotonin 5-HT1A receptors. Cariprazine demonstrated up to ~eightfold greater in vitro affinity for dopamine D3 vs. D2 receptors.

Cariprazine also acts as an antagonist at serotonin 5-HT2B and 5-HT2A receptors with high and moderate binding affinity, respectively, as well as it binds to the histamine H1 receptors. Cariprazine shows lower binding affinity to the serotonin 5-HT2C and 1A- adrenergic receptors and has no appreciable affinity for cholinergic muscarinic receptors. The clinical significance of these in vitro data is unknown. The company has announced the submission of the Supplemental New Drug Application to US FDA for cariprazine (Vraylar) for the adjunctive treatment of MDD.



Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) Market Outlook

This section includes a glimpse of the major depressive disorder (MDD) market in the 7MM. The major depressive disorder (MDD) market size in the seven major markets was approximately USD 5,600 million in 2021.

The major depressive disorder (MDD) market outlook of the report builds a detailed comprehension of the historical, current, and forecasted major depressive disorder (MDD) market trends by analyzing the impact of current therapies on the market, unmet needs, and demand for better technology.



Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) Drugs Uptake

This section focuses on the rate of uptake of the potential drugs recently launched or expected to get launched in the market during the study period 2019-2032. The analysis covers major depressive disorder (MDD) market uptake by drugs, patient uptake by therapies, and sales of each drug.



This helps in understanding the drugs with the most rapid uptake, and the reasons behind the maximal use of new drugs and allows the comparison of the drugs based on market share and size, which again will be useful in investigating factors important in the market uptake and in making financial and regulatory decisions.



Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) Pipeline Development Activities

The report provides insights into different therapeutic candidates in Phase III, Phase II/III, Phase II, and Phase I/II stages. It also analyses major depressive disorder (MDD)'s key players involved in developing targeted therapeutics.



Major players include Axsome Therapeutics, AbbVie, SAGE Therapeutics, and others whose key products are expected to get launched in the US market by 20XX.



Pipeline Development Activities

The report covers detailed information on collaborations, acquisitions and mergers, licensing, and patent details for major depressive disorder (MDD) emerging therapies.



KOL Views

To keep up with current market trends, we take KOLs and SMEs' opinions working in the major depressive disorder (MDD) domain through primary research to fill the data gaps and validate our secondary research. Their opinion helps understand and validate current and emerging therapy treatment patterns or major depressive disorder (MDD) market trends. This will support the clients in potential upcoming novel treatments by identifying the overall scenario of the market and the unmet needs.

Marketed Therapies

Brintellix: Takeda Pharmaceuticals

Product Description

Regulatory Milestones

Clinical Development

Clinical Trials Information

Safety and Efficacy

Product Profile

Fetzima: Forest Laboratories

Rexulti: Otsuka Pharmaceuticals

SPRAVATO (Esketamine): Janssen Research & Development

Emerging Therapies

Key Competitors: Emerging Therapies

AXS-05: Axsome Therapeutics

Product Description

Regulatory Milestones

Other Development Activities

Clinical Development

Clinical Trials Information

Safety and Efficacy

Product Profile

Vraylar (Cariprazine): AbbVie

Zuranolone (SAGE-217/BIIB125): SAGE Therapeutics

LY03005: Luye Pharma

MIN-202 (Seltorexant): Janssen Pharmaceuticals/Minerva Neurosciences

REL-1017: Relmada Therapeutics

ABV-1504: BioLite Inc.

PH10: VistaGen Therapeutics

PRAX-114: Praxis Precision Medicines

CAPLYTA (Lumateperone): Intra-Cellular Therapies

Other Assets

Key Competitors: Other Assets

NBI-1065845: Neurocrine Biosciences

Product Description

Other Development Activities

Clinical Development

Clinical trials information

Product Profile

SP-624: Arrivo Bioventures/Sirstei Pharmaceuticals

ALTO-300: Alto Neuroscience

CTC-501: Chase Therapeutics

NMRA-140: Neumora Therapeutics, Inc./BlackThorn Therapeutics, Inc.

OPC-64005: Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Travivo: Fabre-Kramer Pharmaceuticals

MIJ821: Novartis

Discontinued Therapies

Pimavanserin: Acadia Pharmaceuticals

Rapastinel: Naurex (Allergan)

Companies Mentioned

AbbVie

Alto Neuroscience

Arrivo Bioventures

Axsome Therapeutics

BioLite Inc.

BlackThorn Therapeutics, Inc.

Chase Therapeutics

Fabre-Kramer Pharmaceuticals

Forest Laboratories

Intra-Cellular Therapies

Janssen Research & Development

Luye Pharma

Minerva Neurosciences

Neumora Therapeutics, Inc.

Neurocrine Biosciences

Novartis

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Praxis Precision Medicines

Relmada Therapeutics

SAGE Therapeutics

Sirstei Pharmaceuticals

Takeda Pharmaceuticals

VistaGen Therapeutics

For more information about this drug pipelines report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/269lju
EDMONTON, Alberta and REGINA, Saskatchewan, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stantec, a global leader in sustainable design and engineering, has been awarded the engineering during construction, and commissioning portions of the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant Renewal Project (BPWTP) in Saskatchewan, as part of the Graham-Aecon Joint Venture. Together with its partners Graham, Aecon, and Associated Engineering (AE), Stantec led the engineering design of the $273 million comprehensive upgrade to the BPWTP, using the progressive design-build delivery model. This is the first time this delivery model has been employed in Canada for water infrastructure.



The project is owned by the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant Corporation (BPWTP Corporation) and is now proceeding with construction. It will deliver an upgraded water treatment plant for the 260,000 customers in the cities of Moose Jaw and Regina, plus users of SaskWater and Buffalo Pound Provincial Park. The BPWTP is located approximately 30 kilometers northeast of the City of Moose Jaw. Commissioned in 1955, the plant has undergone three major capacity and process improvements since its original construction, with the last capacity increase completed in 1989. The plants infrastructure elements are nearing the end of their operational life-cycle and this renewal project will help tackle climate-related raw water conditions, evolving regulatory requirements, help prevent loss of water supply, and address dated water treatment technologies, all to simplify operations and increase capacity to meet future demands.

Stantec will be involved in construction inspections as well as start-up and commissioning activities. A key component of the projects overall engineering design was to reuse much of the existing infrastructure, reducing construction cost and minimizing the construction of a new building footprint.

Were incredibly proud of our design team and partners for their work on this project, says Gillian Edwards, Stantecs design manager for the BPWTP renewal. This is a live operating plant that cant experience long shutdown periods. Our design team has been working closely with our construction partners and the BPWTP Corporation to sequence construction and commissioning activities. This way we can ensure physical upgrades are completed with minimal impact to current water production.

We are very excited to transition into this new phase of our Plant Renewal Project and to continue working with Stantec and the Graham-Aecon Joint Venture to ensure a successful outcome, says Ryan Johnson, president and CEO of Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant Corporation.

Stantec has completed an Issued for Construction (IFC) package for the Plant Renewal that includes updated treatment processes to address regulatory requirements into the future. Stantecs work on the first phase included design and regulatory approval support. Stantecs architects also collaborated with water treatment plant engineers to design a new administrative building for BPWTP Corporation staff. This building will connect the plants operations, maintenance, and management groups, improving team cohesiveness.

The project is expected to be complete in 2025.

The Stantec-Graham-Aecon-AE partnership has delivered more than 30 alternative delivery projects together, valued at over $2 billion combined. Approximately two-thirds of the Western Canadian population drinks water from treatment plants delivered by this group of consultants, who have completed projects in Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. Other key projects completed by this team of partners includes the Regina Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrad e in Saskatchewan and the Bonnybrook Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion Program in Calgary.

By viewing all aspects of water as an integrated system, Stantec is helping to confront global water challenges and accelerate the pathway to a more sustainable, reliable, and affordable future that provides improved water, energy, and infrastructure solutions. Learn more at stantec.com/water.

About Stantec

Communities are fundamental. Whether around the corner or across the globe, they provide a foundation, a sense of place and of belonging. That's why at Stantec, we always design with community in mind.

We care about the communities we servebecause they're our communities too. This allows us to assess what's needed and connect our expertise, to appreciate nuances and envision what's never been considered, to bring together diverse perspectives so we can collaborate toward a shared success.

We're designers, engineers, scientists, and project managers, innovating together at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships. Balancing these priorities results in projects that advance the quality of life in communities across the globe.

Stantec trades on the TSX and the NYSE under the symbol STN. Visit us at stantec.com or find us on social media.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding the project described above. Forward-looking statements also include any other statements that do not refer to historical facts. By their nature, forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is a risk that the project described above may be delayed, cancelled, suspended or terminated. This could cause future results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made in this news release. Except as may be required by law, Stantec undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Forwardlooking statements are provided herein for the purpose of giving information about the project referred to above and its expected impact. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes.

Media Contact Investor Relations Contact Danny Craig Tanya Finney Stantec Media Relations Stantec Investor Relations Ph (949) 632-6319 Ph: (403) 205-5791 danny.craig@stantec.com tanya.finney@stantec.com

Design with community in mind
Dublin, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Pine Chemicals Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global pine chemicals market reached a value of US$ 5.12 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach a value of US$ 6.6 Billion by 2027 exhibiting a CAGR of 4.10% during 2022-2027. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, we are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.



Pine chemicals are obtained from pine trees using the distillation of wood. They help improve product performance, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase the reuse of materials. As a result, they are widely used in inks, adhesives, perfumes, flavors of fizzy beverages and different food products, paints, fragrances of soaps and home cleaners, food additives, and automobile tires. At present, there is a rise in the utilization of pine chemicals in gum rosin, which further finds application as a concrete frothing agent and floor tiling, heat melt ingredient, pressure-sensitive, and rubber adhesives across the globe.



Pine Chemicals Market Trends:

The growing employment of pine chemicals in the mining industry to increase the productivity and efficiency of mining processes, such as extraction and recovery of minerals from ores, represents one of the key factors driving the market. Moreover, there is a rise in the applications of lubricants as antiwear, antioxidants and antifoaming agents, demulsifying and emulsifying agents, and rust and corrosion inhibitors.

This, along with the increasing usage of pine chemicals in the flavors and fragrances industry across the globe, is propelling the growth of the market. In addition, extensive use of crude oil and natural gas products is resulting in the growing pollution around the world. As a result, there is a need to minimize fossil fuel consumption and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which in turn, is offering lucrative growth opportunities to the end users and investors.

Furthermore, key market players are focusing on partnerships, collaborations, and agreements to improve product quality. These players are also focusing on product launches and expansions. Other growth-inducing factors are improvements in the production side, technological advancements, and rapid urbanization.

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being Arakawa Chemical Industries Ltd, Arboris LLC, DRT (Firmenich SA), Eastman Chemical Company, Forchem Oyj, Harima Chemicals Group Inc., Ingevity Corporation, Kraton Corporation, OOO Torgoviy Dom Lesokhimik and SunPine AB.



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global pine chemicals market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global pine chemicals market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the product type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the source?

What is the breakup of the market based on the application?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global pine chemicals market and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the industry?

Key Topics Covered:



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global Pine Chemicals Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Product Type

6.1 Tall Oil

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Rosin

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Turpentine

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast

6.4 Others

6.4.1 Market Trends

6.4.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Source

7.1 Pine Trunks

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Aged Pine Stumps

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 Kraft Pulp

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Application

8.1 Adhesives and Coatings

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Solvents and Disinfectants

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 Printing Ink

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast

8.4 Synthetic Rubber

8.4.1 Market Trends

8.4.2 Market Forecast

8.5 Flavors and Fragrances

8.5.1 Market Trends

8.5.2 Market Forecast

8.6 Others

8.6.1 Market Trends

8.6.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by Region



10 SWOT Analysis



11 Value Chain Analysis



12 Porters Five Forces Analysis



13 Price Analysis



14 Competitive Landscape

14.1 Market Structure

14.2 Key Players

14.3 Profiles of Key Players

14.3.1 Arakawa Chemical Industries Ltd

14.3.1.1 Company Overview

14.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.1.3 Financials

14.3.2 Arboris LLC

14.3.2.1 Company Overview

14.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.3 DRT (Firmenich SA)

14.3.3.1 Company Overview

14.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.4 Eastman Chemical Company

14.3.4.1 Company Overview

14.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.4.3 Financials

14.3.4.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.5 Forchem Oyj

14.3.5.1 Company Overview

14.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.6 Harima Chemicals Group Inc.

14.3.6.1 Company Overview

14.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.6.3 Financials

14.3.6.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.7 Ingevity Corporation

14.3.7.1 Company Overview

14.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.7.3 Financials

14.3.8 Kraton Corporation

14.3.8.1 Company Overview

14.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.8.3 Financials

14.3.9 OOO Torgoviy Dom Lesokhimik

14.3.9.1 Company Overview

14.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.10 SunPine AB

14.3.10.1 Company Overview

14.3.10.2 Product Portfolio



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/hjj17b

Attachment
Lee Rae-jin, the elder brother of the government official shot dead by North Korea's military in September 2020, reads a statement to reporters at the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, June 22. Yonhap



The Presidential Archives on Thursday rejected a request by the family of a fisheries official killed by North Korea in 2020 to disclose confidential records on the controversial death, according to the family's lawyer.



The family has demanded access to classified presidential documents from the previous administration related to the death of the late fisheries ministry official, Lee Dae-jun, who was shot and killed by North Korea's military near the western sea border on Sept. 22, 2020.



The agency notified the bereaved family that the archives cannot disclose the information under the related law governing information disclosure by the government, the lawyer said.



Presidential documents are sealed for up to 30 years from the end of presidencies, with a legal exception for their disclosure if considered vital evidence in an investigation. The documents can be opened upon parliamentary approval from two-thirds of lawmakers or a warrant issued by a higher court in the jurisdiction.



The then government of President Moon Jae-in tentatively concluded that the official was killed while attempting to defect to the North, but the bereaved family has strongly questioned the announcement, arguing he had no reason to do so.



Last week, the Coast Guard and the defense ministry announced that they have not found any circumstances backing the probe results from two years ago, reversing from their previous stance and apologizing to the bereaved family.



In this regard, the bereaved family suspects that there was some guidance from Moon's presidential office regarding the government's announcement that Lee appeared to be trying to defect to the North.



Following Thursday's decision, the family said it is mulling filing complaints against ex-President Moon.



"It was confirmed that former President Moon had designated related documents as confidential, suggesting that something is being hidden," Lee Rae-jin, the elder brother of the deceased official, told Yonhap News Agency. (Yonhap)




VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Highlights

Best lithium intercept to date returned from final suite of drill holes reported from the winter phase of the 2022 drill campaign 1.22% Li 2 O and 138 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 152.8 m , including 1.51% Li 2 O and 100 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 66.0 m (CV22-030) 1.45% Li 2 O and 177 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 84.0 m , including 3.62% Li 2 O and 200 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 9.0 m (CV22-028) 0.95% Li 2 O and 158 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 31.6 m, including 2.90% Li 2 O and 356 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 5.4 m (CV22-029)

As a result of the winter drill program, lithium mineralized pegmatite has been traced in drill hole over a strike length of approximately 1.4 km and remains open in all directions Drilling confirms lithium pegmatite continues beneath and across the shallow glacial lake extending from the CV5 Pegmatite outcrop in the west, to the CV1 Pegmatite outcrop in the east  thus achieving the programs primary objective

The summer/fall phase of the 2022 drill campaign has commenced with two (2) drill rigs currently operating on site at the CV5-1 pegmatite corridor, with seven (7) holes over 2,207 metres completed to date, and a third rig scheduled to arrive in July



Patriot Battery Metals Inc. (the Company or Patriot) (CSE: PMET) (OTCQB: PMETF) (FSE: R9GA) is pleased to announce the final set of core assay results from the winter phase of its 2022 drill campaign at the Companys wholly owned Corvette Property (the Property). The Property is located proximal to the regional and all-weather Trans-Taiga Road and powerline infrastructure, within the James Bay Region of Quebec.

Darren L. Smith, P.Geo. and Vice President of Exploration for the Company, comments: The winter phase of our 2022 drill campaign has exceeded all expectations. The program has extended lithium mineralized pegmatite over a strike length of at least 1.4 km, remaining open in all directions, and appears to be widening with depth. The scale of this discovery continues to expand and is highlighted by a single mineralized pegmatite body of significant thickness and length that has been defined to date. The exploration team has carried out this program with an incredible work ethic. Having just returned from site, the dedication to the operations is palpable. I am very excited for what the summer/fall drilling has in store for us as well as for the surface exploration to be completed over areas of the Property that have never been assessed for lithium.

Blair Way, Company President, CEO and Director, comments: With assays now announced for these final four drill holes of our winter program  which continue to emphasize the considerable potential of this discovery  we are looking forward to aggressively advancing with additional drilling and surface work through the summer and into the fall. The results to date continue to impress, and I look forward to unlocking the remarkable potential of our Corvette Property and continue to build significant shareholder value in the process.

Core assay results are announced herein for the remaining four (4) drill holes to be reported from the 2022 winter drill program  CV22-028, 029, 030, and 034. The results include some of the strongest drill intersections to date, including 1.22% Li 2 O and 138 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 152.8 m (CV22-030) and 1.45% Li 2 O and 177 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 84.0 m (CV22-028). Drill holes CV22-030 and CV22-028 were collared approximately 700 m apart and are interpreted to have intersected the same pegmatite body based on geological modelling. The strong grades and wide intercepts returned in two (2) drill holes 700 m apart, within the same pegmatite body, demonstrate the scale of the mineralized system. A summary of lithium (and tantalum) intercepts for the four (4) drill holes reported herein is presented in Table 1 and Figures 2 and 3. Drill hole locations are presented in Figure 1. Two cross-sections are presented in Figure 4 and select drill core photos are presented in Figures 5 and 6.

Drill hole CV22-029 was completed at the eastern end of a shallow glacial lake, approximately 700 m east of the CV5 Pegmatite outcrop and 250 m west of the CV1 Pegmatite outcrop (Figure 1). The drill hole confirms that lithium mineralized pegmatite continues beneath and across the entirety of the lake with an intercept of 0.95% Li 2 O and 158 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 31.6 m, including 2.90% Li 2 O and 356 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 5.4 m.

Drill hole CV22-028 was completed as a 50 m step-back to CV22-027 (0.95% Li 2 O over 65.7 m, including 1.39% Li 2 O over 26.6 m  see news release dated June 13, 2022) and returned a wide and strongly mineralized intercept of 1.45% Li 2 O and 177 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 84.0 m, including 3.62% Li 2 O and 200 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 9.0 m. The intercept suggests that the zone of lithium mineralization is widening with depth and increasing in grade at this location of the trend (Figure 4).

Drill hole CV22-030 targeted the CV5 Pegmatite at depth and was the final drill hole collared on ice during the winter drill program. The drill hole returned the best lithium intercept to date at Corvette (based on lithium grade x width) at 1.22% Li 2 O and 138 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 152.8 m, including 1.51% Li 2 O and 100 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 66.0 m. Similar to other areas tested along the trend, the pegmatite  and corresponding lithium mineralization  is interpreted to be widening with depth (Figure 4). At this location, the main pegmatite body is estimated to exceed 100 m in thickness.

The final drill hole of the program, CV22-034, was completed on land and targeted the west end of the CV5 Pegmatite outcrop at depth. The drill hole was paused in spodumene pegmatite  and the drill put on temporary standby  to respect a regional pause in exploration activities as requested by the local communities to accommodate the goose hunting season. The drill hole returned a number of pegmatite intercepts, collectively compositing to approximately 40 m of pegmatite, and encountered highly fractured sections indicative of faulting. Mineralized intercepts include 0.82% Li 2 O over 17.7 m (the largest individual pegmatite intercept) and 1.03% Li 2 O over 4.0 m. The Company intends to follow-up with step-out drill holes on either side of CV22-034 to more accurately constrain the geological model at this location.

A total of twenty (20) NQ size diamond drill holes (4,345 m) were completed during the winter/spring phase of the 2022 drill campaign and included seventeen (17) holes collared over ice, and three (3) holes collared over land. Collectively, the information gained from the winter drill program supports the interpretation of a large, dominantly spodumene-bearing, pegmatite body of significant continuity, thickness, and length, extending from the CV5 Pegmatite outcrop beneath and across a shallow lake to the south of the CV1 Pegmatite outcrop  a distance of approximately 1.4 km  and is flanked in several areas by relatively narrow and sub-parallel trending spodumene-bearing pegmatites. The main pegmatite body has been traced to a vertical depth of at least 180 m (CV22-030) and additional pegmatite encountered down to a vertical depth of approximately 265 m  ending in spodumene pegmatite (CV22-034). Geological modelling is ongoing and being refined with each additional drill hole completed. However, based on drill holes through CV22-034, the thickness of the main spodumene-bearing pegmatite body ranges from approximately 15 to 20 m (typically near surface) to greater than 100 m (at depth beneath the CV5 Pegmatite).

The summer/fall phase of the 2022 drill campaign commenced in early June with two (2) drill rigs and, to date, a total of seven (7) holes (2,207 m) have been completed from land-based pads. Additionally, the surface exploration program commenced earlier this week with detailed mapping over the CV5-1 pegmatite corridor, to be followed by prospecting and mapping over a more than 25 km trend across the Property that has never been assessed for lithium pegmatite. The Company will provide further details on the progress of these programs as they advance.

Figure 1: Drill hole collar locations through the 2022 winter drill program

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2ca1675c-e97e-4016-a6a1-87d95e99add3

Table 1: Mineralized drill intercept summary for drill holes completed as part of the 2022 winter program

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3429cd17-41d6-4b3b-af12-1b76a828e212

Figure 2: Core sample assay highlights for drill holes CV22-015, 016, 018, 019, 022, 024, 30, and 34

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/66eff014-c878-4190-aedf-d019f6411c61

Figure 3: Core sample assay highlights for drill holes CV22-017, 020, 021, 023, 025, 026, 027, 028, 029, 031, and 033

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/19234c51-2992-4a5a-a05b-c539eb848a3e

Figure 4: Cross-section of modelled lithium pegmatite

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cc7b33a8-3bba-4460-8b53-f340d0e4a4c0

Figure 5: Spodumene mineralized core from drill hole CV22-030

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6caa79f6-cae1-44f7-bc66-d7dcfbd6a10b

Figure 6: Spodumene mineralized core from drill hole CV22-028

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e0c9e868-5c13-4b22-847d-ab7d24c59d94

Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QAQC)

A Quality Assurance / Quality Control protocol following industry best practices was incorporated into the program and included systematic insertion of quartz blanks and certified reference materials into sample batches, as well as collection of quarter-core duplicates, at a rate of approximately 5%. Additionally, analysis of pulp-split and course-split sample duplicates were completed to assess analytical precision at different stages of the laboratory preparation process, and external (secondary) laboratory pulp-split duplicates were prepared at the primary lab for subsequent check analysis and validation.

All core samples collected were shipped to SGS Canadas laboratory in Lakefield, ON, for standard sample preparation (code PRP89) which includes drying at 105C, crush to 75% passing 2 mm, riffle split 250 g, and pulverize 85% passing 75 microns. Due to capacity issues, SGS forwarded several sample batches to alternate preparation labs in Sudbury, ON, and Burnaby, BC. The pulps were shipped by air to SGS Canadas laboratory in Burnaby, BC, where the samples were homogenized (if preparation was not at Burnaby) and subsequently analyzed for multi-element (including Li and Ta) using sodium peroxide fusion with ICP-AES/MS finish (code GE_ICM91A50).

About the CV Lithium Trend

The CV Lithium Trend is an emerging spodumene pegmatite district discovered by the Company in 2017 and spans more than 25-km across the Corvette Property. The core area includes an approximate 2 km long corridor hosting numerous spodumene pegmatites, highlighted by the large CV1 and CV5 pegmatite outcrops, and has returned drill intercepts of 1.22% Li 2 O and 138 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 152.8 m (CV22-030), 1.45% Li 2 O and 177 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 84.0 m (CV22-028), and 2.22% Li 2 O and 147 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 70.1 m, including 3.01% Li 2 O and 160 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 40.7 m (CV22-017). Drilling to date indicates a principal spodumene-bearing pegmatite body of significant size and has been traced by drilling over a distance of at least 1.4 km, and therefore, is considerably larger than that observed in outcrop. The high number of well-mineralized pegmatites in this core area of the trend indicate a strong potential for a series of relatively closely spaced/stacked, sub-parallel, and sizable spodumene-bearing pegmatite bodies, with significant lateral and depth extent, to be present.

Qualified Person

Darren L. Smith, M.Sc., P. Geo., Vice President of Exploration of the Company, a registered permit holder with the Ordre des Geologues du Quebec, and Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the technical information in this news release.

About Patriot Battery Metals Inc.

Patriot Battery Metals Inc. is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of mineral properties containing battery, base, and precious metals.

The Companys flagship asset is the Corvette Property, located proximal to the Trans-Taiga Road and powerline infrastructural corridor in the James Bay Region of Quebec. The land package hosts significant lithium potential highlighted by the CV5-1 spodumene pegmatite corridor with drill intercepts of 1.22% Li 2 O and 138 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 152.8 m (CV22-030), and 2.22% Li 2 O and 147 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 70.1 m, including 3.01% Li 2 O and 160 ppm Ta 2 O 5 over 40.7 m (CV22-017). Additionally, the Property hosts the Golden Gap Trend with grab samples of 3.1 to 108.9 g/t Au from outcrop and 10.5 g/t Au over 7 m in drill hole, and the Maven Trend with 8.15% Cu, 1.33 g/t Au, and 171 g/t Ag in outcrop.

The Company also holds 100% ownership of the Freeman Creek Gold Property in Idaho, USA which hosts two prospective gold prospects - the Gold Dyke Prospect with a 2020 drill hole intersection of 4.11 g/t Au and 33.0 g/t Ag over 12 m, and the Carmen Creek Prospect with surface sample results including 25.5 g/t Au, 159 g/t Ag, and 9.75% Cu.

The Companys other assets include the Pontax Lithium-Gold Property, QC; and the Hidden Lake Lithium Property, NWT, where the Company maintains a 40% interest, as well as several other assets in Canada.

For further information, please contact us at info@patriotbatterymetals.com Tel: +1 (778) 945-2950 , or visit www.patriotbatterymetals.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

BLAIR WAY

Blair Way, President, CEO, & Director

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as will, may, should, anticipate, expects and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Companys expectations include the results of further exploration and testing, and other risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators, available at www.sedar.com. 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.

No securities regulatory authority or stock exchange has reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.
NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the wake of mass shootings in-state and around the country, New York lawmakers are passing legislation to increase school safety measures which require silent panic alarm systems.

Alyssa's Law, enacted in honor of Alyssa Alhadeff, one of 17 victims of the 2018 mass school shooting in Parkland, FL, requires public schools to consider panic systems that silently alert law enforcement in the event of a life-threatening or emergency situation.

Meeting these mandates in New York requires innovative emergency response technology and NYS school districts are looking to Florida and SaferWatch as early adopters of Alyssa's Law.

The passing of Alyssa's Law legislation was spearheaded by Broward County School Board member Lori Alhadeff whose daughter, Alyssa Alhadeff, lost her life during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas massacre in Parkland, FL.

To add a new layer of security for students in compliance with Alyssa's Law, Broward County Public Schools announced the launch of SaferWatch App's Alyssa's Alert  a mobile app that allows school employees to immediately contact law enforcement during an emergency with the push of a button.

Using the SaferWatch App, faculty and staff can report an active shooter, crime in progress, or a medical or fire emergency with a silent panic button directly on their phone. SaferWatch immediately notifies 911 centers, first responders, and school staff to take the appropriate actions. The SaferWatch Panic Button system can save approximately 2.5 minutes during an emergency response.

Lori Alhadeff was quoted: "Once that button is pushed, it's directly linked to law enforcement, and we're fully integrated in the 911 centers. We will always honor and remember the 17 lost on that tragic day, but now with Alyssa's Alert, we will mitigate the next tragedy."

Since Alyssa's Law passed in Florida, thousands of schools have partnered with SaferWatch to better equip their staff and students for critical situations. Geno Roefaro, CEO of SaferWatch, said the company's Mobile Panic Alert System has already helped with multiple medical emergencies and stopped criminals from being on campus.

Roefaro also said multiple lives have been saved due to tips and reports on the SaferWatch App and through their close partnerships with local law enforcement. When it comes to panic alerts during emergencies, average response times have been shortened and first responders have more information when arriving on scene. SaferWatch has been credited with stopping and preventing multiple school shooting threats and has saved students' lives considering suicide.

The SaferWatch App can help schools and communities prepare, prevent, and respond to emergencies in schools nationwide. Regardless of Alyssa's Law, SaferWatch encourages all schools to take advantage of these advanced life-saving tools. For more information, visit https://www.saferwatchapp.com.

Media Contact: Mahiza Moore, Mahiza.Moore@exults.com

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SAN FRANCISCO, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Panther Labs, provider of a cloud-native SIEM that solves the challenges of security operations at scale, has released the findings from its new "State of Threat Detection and Response" report.

The company surveyed 400 active security practitioners, primarily security analysts and security engineers, to reflect the "boots on the ground" perspective for security teams. The goal of the research was to better understand how effective their current tools and processes are, improvements they recommend making going forward, the challenges they face, and projections for the future.

"Threat detection and response at modern scale is challenging, no matter how large or experienced your team is," said Jack Naglieri, CEO and founder of Panther Labs. "The answers provided by our respondents confirm what many security practitioners experience firsthand every day: commercial tools are often not living up to their expectations, but security teams also struggle to build their own internal tooling that can perform as needed."

Key Findings:

The biggest challenge is efficiency. Most respondents say efficiency issues, like time wasted on false positives and a lack of efficient processes, are their biggest challenges today.

Most respondents say efficiency issues, like time wasted on false positives and a lack of efficient processes, are their biggest challenges today. Automation would make them more effective. They believe that automating manual tasks would have the greatest impact on making security operations more efficient.

They believe that automating manual tasks would have the greatest impact on making security operations more efficient. Over the last 12 months, 48% have seen a 3x increase in the number of alerts per day. This is an alarming growth rate and, for teams already stretched thin, this rate of increase exacerbates an already problematic situation.

This is an alarming growth rate and, for teams already stretched thin, this rate of increase exacerbates an already problematic situation. Over 50% find that at least half of alerts are false positives. Managing a high volume of false positives is contributing to alert fatigue and impacting security teams' ability to focus on more high-value tasks.

Managing a high volume of false positives is contributing to alert fatigue and impacting security teams' ability to focus on more high-value tasks. Fifty-five percent have built their own detection and response tool, but less than half found it to be highly effective. The need to build their own tools likely stems from dissatisfaction with the tools available, so they're taking on the momentous task of building their own when no commercial offerings can do the job.

To download a full copy of the report, please click https://panther.com/resources/reports/state-of-threat-detection-and-response/.

About Panther Labs

Panther Labs was founded by a team of veteran security practitioners who faced the challenges of security operations at scale and set out to build a platform to solve them. The result was Panther, a refreshingly practical platform for threat detection and response powered by a highly scalable security data lake and detection-as-code. Panther gives security teams the power to detect any breach, anywhere and is trusted by customers like Snowflake, Dropbox, Zapier, and more. Learn more at panther.com.

Media Contact

Holly Hitchcock

Holly@gofrontlines.com

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MIAMI, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lingoda, a leading online language school, is partnering with polyglot and language learning enthusiast Jo Franco, who is challenging herself to learn German in two months during a Lingoda Language Sprint. This intensive language learning course, designed by Lingoda, challenges students to take daily language classes in a short period of time for a chance at earning cashback. During the program, students are encouraged to speak regularly, following a set curriculum, to give them the confidence after two months to speak their new language comfortably.

Now, the host of the Netflix show "The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals" has taken on the challenge to learn German with Lingoda's 24/7 live classes. Franco will travel to Berlin from June 21-26 to try out her new language skills and test whether Lingoda's classes have given her the tools to chat confidently with locals in the German capital.

The partnership between Lingoda and Franco will last from June 20 until July 5. Within this time frame, she will take group and individual classes to crush her German language learning goals.

"The minute I heard about Lingoda's language learning challenge I said, 'ich bin dort' (I'm there)! I was really looking forward to tackling German since it has the reputation of being extremely difficult to learn. I'm excited to learn with Lingoda's method, which breaks things down and focuses on real-life language and cultural context too," says Franco. "After all, I learn languages for the people they allow me to connect with. With more German skills comes more opportunities to speak to locals in Berlin, which is really everyone's summer travel goal - to be able to speak the language of the country that you are traveling to, so you can make genuine connections."

The Berlin-based online language school is equally thrilled to be partnering with Franco.

"She's a language learning enthusiast and so passionate about every new language that she is taking on," says Mike Shangkuan, Executive Advisor at Lingoda. "With her community of language learners, we are grateful to know that Jo gives honest feedback on our classes. And we are certain that with Jo's natural way of picking up a new language quickly, she will be able to experience Berlin like a local."

If you are interested in interviewing Jo Franco to learn more about her partnership with Lingoda, please send an email to press@lingoda.com.

ABOUT LINGODA

Lingoda is one of the top online language schools. Founded in Berlin, Germany, in 2013, we provide convenient and accessible online language courses in German, English, Business English, French and Spanish to over 100,000 students worldwide. With almost 550,000 classes available per year and accessible 24/7, our mission is to build bridges around the world through language learning.

Visit Lingoda.com to learn more.

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First consumer-facing initiative by the Tent Partnership for Refugees , founded by Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, mobilizes businesses to help integrate refugees in their new communities



UNSTUCKs first line of co-branded products will feature items from Chobani, GoodPop, La Colombe, Petit Pot, Pitaya Foods, and Thats it.

NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, UNSTUCK announced its first line of product partnerships with leading consumer goods brands that help create job opportunities for refugees through their supply chains.

UNSTUCK has joined forces with Chobani , GoodPop , La Colombe , Petit Pot , Pitaya Foods and Thats it . to create the first line of co-branded products using ingredients sourced from suppliers in Colombia and Peru hiring Venezuelan refugees. More brand partners are being explored, including a collaboration with Tonys Chocolonely .

UNSTUCK is about us all coming together to help refugees restart their lives through work  one of the most powerful ways to ensure refugees can integrate in their new communities. Using their supply chains, brands can have an exponential impact on refugees lives by sourcing from suppliers hiring refugees. This is a win-win for communities, refugees, suppliers, and brands  everyone stands to benefit from refugees hard work, dedication, and ingenuity, said Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO of Chobani and Founder of the Tent Partnership for Refugees.

As the refugee crisis reaches new heights with over 36 million people forced to flee their homes  including millions of Venezuelans displaced within Latin America  major brands have an increasingly important role to play to help refugees economically integrate in their new communities. By harnessing the power of their supply chains  which are often located in major refugee-hosting countries like Colombia  companies in the UNSTUCK coalition work with their suppliers to create job opportunities for refugees.

Our brand partners are stepping up and helping refugees get unstuck by giving them opportunities to secure decent, legal work, said Nick OFlaherty, Director of UNSTUCK at the Tent Partnership for Refugees. Rather than asking brands to donate a portion of their profits, we connect them with world-class suppliers committed to hiring refugees and help them restart their lives. UNSTUCKs first-of-its-kind model means that brands support for refugees is sustainable and long-term  and means we can grow our impact at scale as more brands and consumers join the UNSTUCK movement.

When UNSTUCK shared their operating model with us, we felt it aligned perfectly with our values at GoodPop, said Daniel Goetz, Founder and CEO of GoodPop. On top of the initiatives incredible mission to integrate refugees into their new communities, were helping set a powerful precedent in the business community. It feels like a no-brainer for everyone involved and we love that shoppers are supporting this initiative when they buy our pops. Were honored to play a foundational role in todays launch.

UNSTUCKs new product partnerships include:

Chobani Vanilla Greek Yogurt with Tropical Fruit on the Bottom

Thats it. and UNSTUCK Mango Probiotic Fruit Bar

La Colombe and UNSTUCK Monaco Medium Roast Coffee

GoodPop Mango Chile

Petit Pot Dark Chocolate Organic French Dessert

Pitaya Foods and UNSTUCK Natural Passion Fruit (Bite-Sized Pieces)

Pitaya Foods and UNSTUCK Organic Avocado (Bite-Sized Pieces)



Todays consumers want more than just a healthy ingredient list  theyre also seeking brands with clean, transparent supply chains, particularly when it comes to labor practices, said Thats it. CEO & Founder Dr. Lior Lewensztain. Thats it. is proud to support UNSTUCKs model, which allows us to use our sourcing and infrastructure power to create job opportunities for refugees around the world.

To create these products, UNSTUCK has started by working with suppliers in Latin America who are committed to hiring refugees. UNSTUCK then connects these suppliers to local NGO partners to help them recruit, train, and integrate refugee employees. As UNSTUCK grows to include new brands and new sectors they will work with suppliers in other major refugee hosting countries, like Turkey.





UNSTUCK brings together the power of brands and suppliers to empower refugees through legal, safe jobs that allow them to grow and restart their lives.

Chavin is excited to be a supplier partner and part of the UNSTUCK initiative, said Mario Salazar, CEO of Chavin, a major fruit processor in Peru. We are dedicated to providing stable, decent job opportunities for refugees - many of whom have left difficult situations in their home countries and are looking to restart their lives, put down roots in their new communities, and find a sense of belonging and purpose through their work.

My job has given me stability and allowed me to plan for the future, said Diaz Guevara Syul, a Venezuelan refugee working at the Chavin facility in Casma, Peru. Its given me peace of mind professionally and personally, access to benefits like a stable income and healthcare, while also finding a sense of community in my new home. I am able to start this new chapter of my life that is full of purpose and possibility.

To find out about new UNSTUCK brand partners and products, visit www.unstuck.org .

About UNSTUCK

UNSTUCK brings the power of brands, suppliers, and consumers together to help generate job opportunities for refugees. Getting back to work is the first step to rebuilding the lives of the 36 million people forced to flee their homes. UNSTUCK brand partners develop and market profitable products made with ingredients sourced from suppliers hiring refugees, especially in the worlds largest refugee hosting countries. Rather than the traditional "donating a share of profits" approach, UNSTUCK brands can create more inclusive societies by rethinking where they source from. The impact they make is sustainable  because it's a part of their everyday business. This self-sustaining model means brands can make an ongoing impact on refugee employment, and consumers can further support this by purchasing UNSTUCK-branded products. Find out more at www.UNSTUCK.org .

About the Tent Partnership for Refugees

With more and more refugees displaced for longer periods of time, businesses have a critical role to play in helping refugees integrate economically in their new host communities. The Tent Partnership for Refugees mobilizes the global business community to improve the lives and livelihoods of more than 36 million refugees who have been forcibly displaced from their home countries. Founded by Chobanis founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya in 2016, we are a network of over 250 major companies committed to including refugees. Tent believes that companies can most sustainably support refugees by leveraging their core business operations - by engaging refugees as potential employees, entrepreneurs, and consumers. The full list of Tent members can be found here. Find out more at www.tent.org .

Media Contact

unstuck@praytellagency.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8f91cb20-86ef-456e-9d4e-12c9dd386455

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0ceb37a6-3f67-48be-915b-cad3dfe12236




ROANOKE, Va., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KlariVis, a fast-growing enterprise dashboard and analytics solution for the financial services industry, today announced its new relationship with 1st National Bank of Scotia as a key analytics tool for the bank's future.

KlariVis compiles and aggregates high-value, actionable data into an interactive, user-friendly enterprise dashboard and analytics platform. The KlariVis platform provides financial institutions with timely insights and an infrastructure to modernize elements of their tech stack while driving profitability, productivity, and performance.

John Buhrmaster, President and CEO, 1st National Bank of Scotia, says, "When we viewed KlariVis for the first time, we instantly recognized that it would provide our staff a one-click solution to access customer data and improve our efficiencies. A data analytics tool such as KlariVis empowers our entire team to gather customer insights and help customers find the solution that's right for them."

Since 1923, 1st National Bank of Scotia has provided its loyal customers with the products and services to fit their needs. The bank's mission is to make peoples' lives better by providing creative financial solutions and superior personalized service to generations of families and businesses in the communities it serves.

When asked why KlariVis was the right fit, Burhmaster says, "Their confidence, knowledge and background told me that they have sat where I sit and they understand what I'm looking for in a data solution. I'm excited for KlariVis to empower our team so they can follow their instincts and deliver the solutions our customers are looking for. It's a tool for everyone."

"We are thrilled to start a new relationship with 1st National Bank of Scotia and support the growth of its customers, employees and communities," says Kim Snyder, CEO of KlariVis. "Our solution empowers every level of an organization by providing easy access to information that's critical to increasing profitability and providing exceptional customer service on a daily basis."

About 1st National Bank of Scotia

1st National Bank of Scotia is an independently owned and operated bank located in the Capital Region of New York State. Founded in 1923, 1st National is proud to provide creative financial solutions and personalized customer service to generations of families and businesses. For more information, please visit www.firstscotia.com.

About KlariVis

Created by veteran community bank executives, KlariVis was developed to enable institutions of all sizes to see their institution clearly and access transformative data in an efficient way, interpret it, and act decisively on it. The KlariVis team aims to provide financial institutions with an enterprise dashboard and analytics solution designed to solve the data conundrum that is prevalent in the industry today. For more information visit www.KlariVis.com or contact Kim Snyder, CEO & Founder, at kimsnyder@klarivis.com.

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ADHD Online, the industry leader in virtual ADHD assessment and patient care plans, is excited to announce that the roles of Gayle Jensen-Savoie, Ph.D., LPC-S-LMFT-S, LCDC, and Dr. Raafia Muhammad, MD, MPH, within ADHD Online are expanding to a full-time capacity. Dr. Jensen-Savoie serves as the Division of Chief Psychology, while Dr. Muhammad is the Division Chief of Medicine and Interim Chief Medical Officer.

"Bringing Dr. Jensen-Savoie and Dr. Muhammad onto the ADHD Online staff in a full-time capacity represents a big step forward for the company," said Zachariah Booker, ADHD Online Co-Founder and CEO. "Both are all-in on the ADHD Online vision of providing everyone access to quality ADHD assessments and care plans, and it's been inspiring to see their dedicated work to this cause help our patients. Having Dr. Jensen-Savoie and Dr. Muhammad in full-time roles really helps set the stage for future growth and success at ADHD Online."

Dr. Jensen-Savoie holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and has 35 years of experience in the field. She was most recently Field Director over the Hospital Psychiatric Cadre for The Joint Commission. She's served as Director of Inpatient Psychiatric and Substance Abuse, Director of Community Mental Health Centers and been a CEO of a long-term residential program for young adult women. Dr. Jensen-Savoie has completed ADHD assessments for ADHD Online since 2018.

"I am very passionate about ADHD; my doctoral dissertation was on ADHD and Substance abuse. I continue to strive to learn the latest innovations, interventions, and treatments for ADHD," said Dr. Jensen-Savoie.

Dr. Muhammad's areas of focus are in preventive medicine and public health. She completed her internship in general surgery at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center and General Preventive Medicine & Public Health Residency at the Texas Department of State Health Services. She holds a Masters of Public Health from Benedictine University.

"I joined ADHD Online in August 2020, with a focus on individualized care and with the goal of empowering my patients by providing them with clinical knowledge about their ADHD. I believe that when properly understood and treated, ADHD can become a patient's asset rather than a deficit," said Dr. Muhammad.

For more information on ADHD Online, visit www.adhdonline.com.

About ADHD Online

ADHD Online was founded in 2018 with the mission that everyone should have access to quality ADHD assessments regardless of who and where they are. The ADHD Online team is filled with industry experts across the United States who all share the same passion for ADHD and making sure patients have access to critical mental health services. ADHD Online is leading the way with being a critical voice for those who might be struggling with ADHD and is the only organization to offer HIPAA-secured ADHD assessments online with certified results from licensed psychologists. ADHD Online is active in all 50 states.



Media Contact

Dan Johnson

dan.johnson@newswire.com



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Greenbelt, Maryland, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NABA, Inc., a nonprofit member-based association for accounting, finance, and business professionals announced that it received a grant of $1 million from the CLA Foundation to seed the nonprofits new Pathway to College program, support human capital needs, and create scholarships.

I am excited to path and pave a more just world together with the CLA team, said NABA President and CEO Guylaine Saint Juste. The $1 million grant allows us to design programs and services to give more young Black Business Leaders a sense of belonging that increases their propensity to choose accounting as a field of study and career pathway.

CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP) and NABA commemorated their relationship in September 2021 with a first of its kind corporate sponsorship to help fuel the organizations mission to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion within the profession. Through this work with NABA, CLA continues to increase workforce diversity and expand its pool of talent and improve the representation of Black individuals within the firm and the accounting profession.

Were working to significantly increase the number of accountants in the United States, not just for CLA, but across the industry, said Jen Leary, CEO of CLA, one of the leading professional service firms in the United States. And were doing it with an inclusive mindset. Attracting and retaining talented diverse professionals is essential to the future of the profession. NABA is helping us do this within our own walls, even as we help NABA advance its programs and initiatives.

The CLA Foundation grant was presented to Saint Juste at the NABA RECHARGE convention held in Hollywood, Florida June 21  24. CLA sponsored the NABA RECHARGE convention at the Pacesetter level and hosted two sessions: Be Well and Belong  Investing in Your Authentic Self (for students) and Living Your Inspired Career (for professionals).

Our relationship with CLA is so much more than a dollar figure, said Saint Juste. From shared work spaces to strategic visioning to leadership consulting, we give each other energy and insights to continue to make headway toward our goals.

NABAs Pathway to College program is designed to support Black high school, community college, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities students pathway into the public accounting and advisory profession, offering work experience along the journey.

In addition to supporting the Pathway to College program over the next five years, a portion of the grant funds will be set aside to create a base for scholarships with lasting impact. CLA also plans to offer paid internships to students throughout the five-year grant commitment. These internships will provide students with real work experience to support them on their journey to becoming accounting professionals.

CLAs promise is to know you and help you and this includes its clients, its people and its communities. This grant is an example of how CLA is working with NABA to truly impact the Black community.

I believe the impact we have with NABA in the Black community will be replicated in the future, said Leary. Ive seen our CLA Foundation contributions rise every year since inception. I couldnt be more thrilled about the opportunities we have to support the communities in which we work and live, with equity, inclusion, and a dose of joy.

All CLA Foundation grant nominations originate with CLA team members. Since 2015, the CLA family has awarded over $6.5 million through 388 grants to organizations across the country. Learn more about the CLA Foundation.

About NABA

NABA, Inc. is a nonprofit membership association dedicated to bridging the opportunity gap for Black professionals in the accounting, finance, and related business professions. Representing more than 200,000 Black professionals in these fields, NABA advances people, careers, and the mission by providing education, resources, and meaningful career connections to both professional and student members, fulfilling the principle of our motto: Lifting as We Climb. To learn more about NABA and its programs visit: http://www.nabainc.org.

About CLA

CLA exists to create opportunities for our clients, our people, and our communities through industry-focused wealth advisory, digital, audit, tax, consulting, and outsourcing services. With more than 7,500 people, 121 U.S. locations, and a global vision, we promise to know you and help you. For more information, visit CLAconnect.com. Investment advisory services are offered through CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor.

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New York, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global IoT Microcontroller Market Size, Share & Industry Trends Analysis Report By Type, By Application, By Regional Outlook and Forecast, 2022 - 2028" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06283442/?utm_source=GNW

Microcontrollers can be found in office machinery, remote controls, household power tools, appliances, toys, and a variety of other embedded systems that are automatically controlled. Microcontroller technology ensures that electronic equipment are managed smoothly as well as they significantly eliminate errors. Microcontrollers are anticipated to gain popularity in the communication, automotive, retail, and other industries as a result of the advantages of this technology. Consumer products, automotive market growth, and increased acceptance of innovative technologies like touch screens and timers, among other things, are majorly contributing to the IoT microcontroller markets growth.



Microcontrollers, often called microcontroller units (MCUs), are miniaturized computers with processing capability. The computing capability of smart connected devices and IoT is determined by these units. Microcontrollers are now used in a wide range of IoT products and devices, including consumer electronics, power tools, smart automotive engine controls, office equipment, medical devices, and a slew of other applications. Home automation, industrial automation, smart appliances, smart cities, smart grids, and other applications are all seeing rapid adoption of the Internet of Things. The development of high-performance microcontrollers is becoming increasingly crucial as the number of connected systems and devices grows around the world.



With the growing significance of interconnectivity, the Internet of Things is gaining traction and demand in various industries. A memory, a core processor, and programmable input and output peripherals make up an SoC, or, system-on-chip. For improved performance, a small component of a random-access memory is also included in a microcontroller in many circumstances. In addition, blood glucose monitors, wearable heart rate monitors, and retinal implants also utilize IoT microcontroller-integrated devices with lower battery capacities to monitor patients through wireless technologies for ultimate transfer to storage based on the cloud or on any connected device, such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Because of their low power consumption, MCU-embedded analog peripheral devices are becoming increasingly popular, opening up new avenues for the ultra-low-power microcontroller market.



COVID-19 Impact



The COVID-19 led the world to a very critical environment in terms of economy and healthcare. Many businesses were demolished due to the advent of this pandemic. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic also caused a significant inconvenience in the day-to-day life of people across the world. The major factor that led the market to a downfall was the lockdown that was enforced by the government with the purpose to regulate the diffusion of the infection. Due to the lockdown, the manufacturing units of various goods, including retail cooler, went under a temporary closure. The supply chain of the product was substantially hampered.



Market Growth Factors



Increasing adoption of 32-bit microcontrollers across healthcare and medical devices



The demand for the 32-bit microcontroller is constantly increasing in various healthcare facilities all over the world. Numerous medical applications of the 32-bit microcontroller are employing 32-bit microcontrollers in comparison to others. 32-bit microcontroller refers to the microcontroller, which comprises the ability to handle 32-bit value arithmetic operation. These type of microcontrollers uses lesser instruction cycles to implement a function due to their broader data bus. When compared to other MCUs on the market, 32-bit Microcontroller Units give various intuitive advantages like high scalability, low power consumption, as well as higher Input/Output peripherals with a reduced size. It can do high-end operations with great accuracy and reduced computational cycles, making it more suitable for use in high-precision healthcare and medical devices.



Growing utilization of electronic content in the automotive industry



Microcontrollers are utilized in a variety of vehicle electronics, including in-vehicle infotainment, instrument clusters, systems, telematics, and modern safety systems. The penetration of MCUs across the automotive market will be boosted by rising trends of AI-enabled voice assistance, Advanced driver assistance development, and self-driving cars by key automotive OEMs. To achieve a competitive advantage in the market, companies are working heavily on developing automotive-grade MCUs with enhanced functionality. Moreover, the demand for luxury vehicles is constantly surging due to the rising disposable income of people all over the world. IoT microcontrollers are substantially being used in the industrial automation sector to facilitate various industrial processes.



Market Restraining Factors



Complexities in designing cutting-edge IoT microcontrollers



The IoT microcontroller industry is tremendously rising due to a variety of factors and an increasing number of applications. However, there are certain barriers that are hindering the demand for IoT microcontrollers. One of the major drawbacks of IoT controllers is the complications in the designing and development of these devices. Design complexity in high-speed as well as power-critical applications can majorly impede the production of IoT microcontrollers. As a result, manufacturers are spending significant amounts in R&D to develop cutting-edge microcontrollers. Due to the higher investment in these research and development activities, a considerable number of small and medium organizations would become unable to employ IoT microcontrollers.



Type Outlook



Based on Type, the market is segmented into 32-bit, 16-bit, and 8-bit. In 2021, the 8-bit segment witnessed a significant revenue share of the IoT microcontrollers market. 8-bit microcontrollers are extensively being utilized for low-power applications such as smart wearables and connected devices. The growing preference for fitness wearables, particularly among millennials, is expected to drive the adoption of wearables. Lifestyle disorders, such as obesity, prompt individuals to pursue various fitness-related activities and monitor their performance using wearables, which is expected to propel the market growth of the segment over the forecasting years.



Application Outlook



Based on Application, the market is segmented into Consumer Electronics (Smartphones, Wearables, and Others), Industrial Automation, Smart Homes, and Others. In 2021, the consumer electronic segment procured the largest revenue share of the IoT microcontrollers market. The consumer electronics segment encompasses smartphones, wearables, and others. The COVID-19 outbreak compelled the employees to work remotely. This has further triggered the demand for smart wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. Increasing fitness and health awareness among millennials is also likely to spur wearables sales, which is expected to continue in the near future. Therefore, the adoption of low-power MCUs coupled with short-range wireless connectivity, especially 8-bit integrated with Bluetooth/KNX/Zigbee/Wi-Fi-based protocols, is expected to drive the IoT MCUs sales over the forecast period.



Regional Outlook



Based on Regions, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, Middle East & Africa. In 2021, the Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest revenue share of the IoT microcontrollers market. The increasing growth of the market is primarily driven by China, India, and Japan which accounted for considerable sales across the region. This can be ascribed to increasing demand for smart wearables and favorable government spending to promote smart cities initiatives. The recent Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade agreement with China and ASEAN countries coupled with the increase in disposable income among emerging economies such as Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia are expected to develop affordable smart home devices among the consumers, which would eventually drive the market growth.



The major strategies followed by the market participants are Product Launches. Based on the Analysis presented in the Cardinal matrix; Texas Instruments, Inc. is the major forerunner in the IoT Microcontroller Market. Companies such as STMicroelectronics N.V., Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors N.V. are some of the key innovators in the Market.



The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include Silicon Laboratories, Inc., Espressif Systems Shanghai Co Ltd., Holtek Semiconductor, Inc., Renesas Electronics Corporation, STMicroelectronics N.V., Infineon Technologies AG, Texas Instruments, Inc., NXP Semiconductors N.V., Nuvoton Technology Corporation, and Microchip Technology, Inc.



Recent strategies deployed in IoT Microcontroller Market



Partnerships, Collaborations and Agreements:



Feb-2022: Infineon came into a partnership with SensiML, a leader in developing AI tools. Following this partnership, SensiML would offer a complete ML/AI solution for the PSoC 6 product line of Infineon along with compatible sensors. Moreover, this partnership would integrate the Analytics Toolkit AI development software of SensiML with the ModusToolbox of Infineon.



Oct-2021: Infineon teamed up with Picovoice, the developer of a voice recognition technology. Following this collaboration, the companies would introduce an end-to-end voice platform together in order to integrate AI into edge devices. Moreover, this solution would leverage Infineons PSoC 6 microcontrollers in order to enable smart voice solutions across ultra-low-power IoT devices.



Oct-2021: STMicroelectronics entered into an agreement with Sierra Wireless, a leading provider of IoT services. This agreement aimed to allow the STM32 microcontroller users to utilize Sierra Wireless edge-to-cloud solutions and flexible cellular IoT connectivity. The agreement would assist solution developers tackle the diverse challenges included with developing and implementing IoT solutions, consisting enrollment with a cellular network, device design & development, and connection to cloud services, allowing a quicker time-to-market.



Jul-2021: Microchip partnered with SensiML, a SaaS analytics toolkit. With this partnership, the company aimed to facilitate the development of AI code for smart consumers, industrial, and commercial edge Internet-of-Things applications. In addition, this partnership would enable embedded developers to leverage Microchips microcontrollers.



Mar-2021: Nuvoton partnered with Winbond and Qinglianyun. This partnership aimed to offer a trusted execution environment for secure OTA firmware updates. The device would operate on TinyTEE of Qinglianyun secure software stack in TrustZone-protected hardware.



Jan-2021: Silicon Labs joined hands with Edge Impulse, a leader in the development of a platform for machine learning on edge devices. Under this collaboration, the companies would allow rapid development and deployment of machine learning on EFM32 microcontrollers and EFR32 wireless SoCs of Silicon Labs.



Sep-2020: Microchip entered into a partnership with Cartesian, Motion Gestures, and Edge Impulse. With this partnership, the companies aimed to streamline the deployment of ML across the edge using ARM Cortex-based 32-bit microprocessors and micro-controllers. in its MPLAB X Integrated Development Environment.



Mar-2020: Microchip came into a partnership with Sequans, a provider and developer of 4G and 5G chips. This partnership aimed to make significant IoT a reality by offering a simple and powerful IoT development environment, which integrates microprocessor capabilities in 5G IoT connectivity.



Mar-2020: NXP joined hands with Sequans, a fabless company that markets integrated circuits for 4G mobile phone technology. Following this partnership, the companies aimed to introduce LTE for IoT connectivity into the microcontroller ecosystem of NXP by integrating Sequans Monarch NB01Q and GM01Q with NXPs LPC5500 series microcontroller.



Mar-2020: STMicroelectronics teamed up with Truphone. a GSMA accredited global mobile network. Following this collaboration, the company aimed to introduce a full-stack eSIM infrastructure solution, which would also comply with GSMA Machine-to-Machine standards for automotive and Industrial IoT customers.



Product Launches and Product Expansions:



Sep-2021: Renesas launched RX140, a 32-bit line of microcontrollers. The new product range aimed to deliver seamless performance along with the operation of up to 48 MHz with a CoreMark score of 204, nearly twice of the RX130 groups performance. Moreover, the RX140 MCUs is built on robust RXv2 CPU core of Renesas.



Aug-2021: Espressif Systems launched ESP32-H2, an IEEE 802.15.4 and Bluetooth 5.2 LE capable single-core RISC-V SoC. The new product would serve as the foundation for various Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Network protocols such as Thread, 6LoWPAN, and Zigbee.



May-2021: Infineon introduced a new feature in ModbusToolbox. This news feature would assist developers bring ML into embedded IoT devices. In addition, the product would fill a critical gap between designing embedded systems and writing ML. Additionally, the new product would offer software libraries, middleware, and special tools for developers to examine and implement ML models based on deep learning on PSoC microcontrollers of Infineon.



Feb-2021: STMicroelectronics launched STM32U5, a new line of extreme power-saving microcontrollers. Through this launch, the company aimed to fulfill the demand for performance and power for smart applications.



Jan-2021: Espressif introduced ESP32-S3, an addition to its ubiquitous IoT microcontroller product range. With this launch, the company aimed to offer ESP32-S3s vector instructions advantages in the MCU. In addition, this would accelerate signal processing and neural networks loads.



Oct-2020: Microchip released WFI32E01PC, a Wi-Fi microcontroller module of Microchip. The new product is pre-provisioned for cloud platforms and complies with Wi-Fi Alliance specifications, Moreover, the WFI32E01PC is fully certified by various regulatory agencies of the world.



May-2020: NXP unveiled KW39, KW38, and KW37 MCUs. The new product is aimed to offer impeccable migration with software, hardware, and tools compatibility with the recent KW34/35/36 devices.



Feb-2020: NXP rolled out JN5188 and JN5189 IEEE 802.15.4 wireless microcontrollers. The new products would offer ultra-low power connected intelligence for Thread applications and Zigbee 3.0. These devices are powered by an Arm Cortex-M4 running at 48MHz and consist of upto 640KB of onboard flash and 152KB SRAM, offering storage space and flexibility for complicated applications and software over-the-air (OTA) updates. Such new JN wireless MCUs come with fully enablement for diverse IoT applications providing connected intelligence while offering fast time-to-market and implementation time.



Jan-2020: NXP introduced QN9030 and QN9090 Bluetooth 5 Soc. The new products are aimed to provide flexibility and storage space for sophisticated applications as well as safe over-the-air updates. These devices are powered by an Arm-Cortex-M4 running at 48MHz and comprises up to 640KB onboard flash along with 152 KB SRAM in order to offer flexibility and storage space for sophisticated applications and safer OTA updates. In addition, the new range would also expedite development and time-to-market for manufacturers producing products with enhanced features for various IoT applications like sports and fitness trackers, personal healthcare devices, connected appliances, and toys, home automation, and gaming peripherals along with mesh networks and beacons.



Acquisitions and Mergers:



Dec-2021: Renesas took over Celeno Communications, a leader in Wi-Fi solutions. With this acquisition, the company would improve its connectivity offerings. Moreover, the integration of the portfolios of Renesas and Celeno would introduce an end-to-end and comprehensive solution.



Apr-2020: Infineon took over Cypress Semiconductor, an American semiconductor design, and manufacturing company. Through this acquisition, the company aimed to increase its emphasis on structural growth drivers as well as a wider variety of applications.



Scope of the Study



Market Segments covered in the Report:



By Type



 32-bit



 16-bit



 8-bit



By Application



 Consumer Electronics



o Smartphones



o Wearables



o Others



 Industrial Automation



 Smart Homes



 Others



By Geography



 North America



o US



o Canada



o Mexico



o Rest of North America



 Europe



o Germany



o UK



o France



o Russia



o Spain



o Italy



o Rest of Europe



 Asia Pacific



o China



o Japan



o India



o South Korea



o Singapore



o Malaysia



o Rest of Asia Pacific



 LAMEA



o Brazil



o Argentina



o UAE



o Saudi Arabia



o South Africa



o Nigeria



o Rest of LAMEA



Companies Profiled



 Silicon Laboratories, Inc.



 Espressif Systems Shanghai Co Ltd.



 Holtek Semiconductor, Inc.



 Renesas Electronics Corporation



 STMicroelectronics N.V.



 Infineon Technologies AG



 Texas Instruments, Inc.



 NXP Semiconductors N.V.



 Nuvoton Technology Corporation



 Microchip Technology, Inc.



Unique Offerings



 Exhaustive coverage



 Highest number of market tables and figures



 Subscription based model available



 Guaranteed best price



 Assured post sales research support with 10% customization free

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06283442/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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New York, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Intravenous Therapy and Vein Access Market Size, Share & Industry Trends Analysis Report By End User, By Application, By Type, By Regional Outlook and Forecast, 2022 - 2028" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06283441/?utm_source=GNW

The fastest approach to give fluids to different regions of the body is through IV therapy. Heart attacks, strokes, and poisoning are all treated with this medication. In such instances, the patient should receive medication as soon as possible, hence IV medication is administered. Chemotherapy treatments, antibiotics, antifungal drugs, pain relievers, immunoglobulin therapies, and blood pressure meds are among the drugs given intravenously.



Intravenous treatment (IV) is a way of delivering drugs and fluids to the body through the veins. Vitamin and mineral-containing drugs are administered through an IV drip or vein injection, allowing the therapy to flow swiftly through the bloodstream. IV administration, according to the Scope, is when a patient receives substances straight into their veins using a tube called a cannula. This could be a side effect of medication or a nutrient deficiency. IV therapy is a typical way to provide dehydrated patients fluids, medicines, chemotherapeutic treatments, and blood transfusions. During IV administration, various IV equipment like IV Catheters, Infusion Pumps, Securement Devices, Administration Sets, and so on are used.



IV treatment is quick to administer, easy to track, and free of gastrointestinal side effects. When compared to oral treatment, it promotes a faster immune system response and relief from chronic conditions. It has an infusion pump that controls the volume of a chemical to be supplied to the body and can be easily monitored. Over the forecast period, the global intravenous treatment and vein access devices market is expected to increase. Diabetes prevalence, rising incidence of traffic accidents, and an increase in surgical operations are projected to propel the industry forward. This industry is also being driven by rising demand for sophisticated approaches such as drug administration without needles.



COVID-19 Impact



COVID-19 has a positive overall influence on the IV treatment market. In patients with severe COVID-19-associated Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, IV treatment is administered (ARDS). The use of intravenous immunoglobulin therapy for COVID-19 ARDS, for example, was published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine Journal on November 11, 2021, as an appealing adjuvant for the management of severe COVID-19-associated ARDS because of its ability to simultaneously modulate multiple immune compartments. As a result, the demand for IV therapy and vein access products has increased as the number of patients suffering from COVID-19-associated ARDS has increased.



Market Growth Factors



Increased operations and a growing geriatric population



Over the previous decade, the prevalence of various chronic conditions requiring vascular access treatment has increased. Cancer, kidney failure, and heart disease, among other chronic diseases, as well as various lifestyle conditions like hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and depression, among others, necessitate critical care during hospitalization. In the next years, the increasing burden of chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes, combined with an aging population, generates more demand for intravenous therapy.



Technological advancements



Intravenous catheters (peripheral and central), accessories with safety devices, and cutting-edge infusion pumps are among the technological resources that can contribute to a safer and higher-quality intravenous treatment (IVT) practice. Because health technology is a complicated subject that produces daily reflections and discussions among the health professionals involved in the care of the patient in the Intensive Care Unit, major changes in nursing care have occurred as a result of the incorporation of new technologies, and cutting-edge infusion pumps are among the technological resources that can contribute to a safer and higher-quality intravenous treatment (IVT) practice.



Market Restraining Factors



Pump Manufacturing Requires Strict Regulations and concerns about complications



The licensing process for new items is being slowed by more severe requirements surrounding the production and incorporation of pumps. Additionally, rising product recalls owing to manufacturing faults would slow down the adoption rate of these therapies. Fresenius Kabi, for example, recalled the Vigilant Agilia drug library and the Volumat MC Agilia infusion pump in August 2019 due to infusion alarm issues, low priority keep vein open (KVO), and other software errors. The major barriers to the industry growth are complications associated with utilizing the IV method and IV infusion products.



End User Outlook



Based on End User, the market is segmented into Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Center, and Clinics. In 2021, the Hospitals segment garnered the maximum revenue share of the Intravenous (IV) Therapy and Vein Access Market. This is due to a rise in the number of surgeries conducted compared to ambulatory surgical centers and clinics. Moreover, the growth of the segment is credited to an increase in the use of IV therapy in hospitals, which includes IV antibiotic treatment, medication for unconscious patients, drugs that cannot be administered orally, interventional radiology, anti-cancer drugs, hemodialysis, repeated blood sample drawings, and blood transfusion. The market for IV therapy and vein access devices is growing thanks to technological advancements and hospital investments.



Application Outlook



Based on Application, the market is segmented into Medication Administration, Blood Based Products, Nutrition & Buffer Solution, and Volume Expander. The Volume Expander segment obtained a significant revenue share of the Intravenous (IV) Therapy and Vein Access Market in 2021. For a minority of fluid-sensitive athletes, IV fluid may be useful; however, this should be reserved for high-level athletes with strong histories of symptoms in well-monitored situations. Some athletes may benefit from using volume expanders. In contests controlled by the World Anti-Doping Agency, IV fluids and plasma binders are prohibited. For the vast majority of athletes, routine IV therapy is not the best option.



Type Outlook



Based on Type, the market is segmented into Intravenous Catheters, Infusion Pumps, Hypodermic Needles, Implantable Ports, and Others. In 2021, the Intravenous Catheters segment procured the largest revenue share of the Intravenous (IV) Therapy and Vein Access Market. This is due to the increased usage of IV catheters during surgical procedures for IV therapies and during the transfer of blood, medicine, and other nutrients to various parts of the body. An intravenous catheter is a tiny tube that is placed into a cavity or lumen in the body. Intravenous catheters are a type of intravenous catheter that is used to deliver drugs, fluids, or other therapies straight into the bloodstream. Theyre most commonly introduced into a vein in the arm, although they can also be inserted in the neck, chest, or groin. Depending on their intended purpose, intravenous catheters come in a variety of sizes and forms.



Regional Outlook



Based on Regions, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, Middle East & Africa. In 2021, North America emerged as the leading region in the Intravenous (IV) Therapy and Vein Access Market by acquiring the highest revenue share of the market. The growth of the regional market can be attributed to an uptick in the pool of patient population, a rise in the prevalence of road accidents, a high rise in trauma cases, and an increase in federal investments in the development of better healthcare facilities and R&D activities.



The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include B. Braun Melsungen AG, Medtronic PLC, Terumo Corporation, Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA, Cardinal Health, Inc., Pfizer, Inc., Teleflex, Inc., Baxter International, Inc., Smiths Group PLC, and AngioDynamics, Inc.



Strategies Deployed in Intravenous (IV) Therapy and Vein Access Market



Mar-2022: Fresenius Kabi signed an agreement to acquire Fresenius Kabi, a global healthcare company. This acquisition aimed to integrate Ivenixs enhanced infusion system within Fresenius Kabis intravenous fluids and infusion therapy portfolio would bring a broad offering of blended products to U.S. hospitals.



Dec-2021: Baxter came into a partnership with Hillrom, an American medical technology provider. Through this partnership, the companies aimed to integrate two dominant Medtech enterprise in a shared vision for changing healthcare and improving patient care across the world.



May-2021: Smiths Medical came into a partnership with Ivenix, a medical technology company. Through this partnership, the companies aimed to provide a broad offering of infusion management solutions. Additionally, Smiths Medical would deliver a strategic investment for the long-term partnership that aims to revolutionize blended management and enhance patient health while meeting the demands of a healthcare supplier.



Apr-2021: B. Braun Medical introduced Peripheral Advantage, a new program that improves patients experience with peripheral intravenous therapy. The program integrates clinical direction, data-driven intuition, and improved tools to authorize nurses to attain first-stick success and assist avoid various complexity related to peripheral IV therapy.



Jul-2019: Baxter received a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Myxredlin. The approval allows instant insulin for IV infusion in the hospital and other keen care settings and features an extensive shelf life of 30 days at room temperature or 24 months if refrigerated in the original package to secure from light.



Scope of the Study



Market Segments covered in the Report:



By End User



 Hospitals



 Ambulatory Surgical Center



 Clinics



By Application



 Medication Administration



 Blood Based Products



 Nutrition & Buffer Solution



 Volume Expander



By Type



 Intravenous Catheters



 Infusion Pumps



 Hypodermic Needles



 Implantable Ports



 Others



By Geography



 North America



o US



o Canada



o Mexico



o Rest of North America



 Europe



o Germany



o UK



o France



o Russia



o Spain



o Italy



o Rest of Europe



 Asia Pacific



o China



o Japan



o India



o South Korea



o Singapore



o Malaysia



o Rest of Asia Pacific



 LAMEA



o Brazil



o Argentina



o UAE



o Saudi Arabia



o South Africa



o Nigeria



o Rest of LAMEA



Companies Profiled



 B. Braun Melsungen AG



 Medtronic PLC



 Terumo Corporation



 Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA



 Cardinal Health, Inc.



 Pfizer, Inc.



 Teleflex, Inc.



 Baxter International, Inc.



 Smiths Group PLC



 AngioDynamics, Inc.



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The flag of the Korean National Police Agency flies at the police headquarters in Seodaemun District, Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap



Infighting between police, interior ministry blamed for release of unapproved draft



By Nam Hyun-woo



President Yoon Suk-yeol lashed out at the Korean National Police Agency on Thursday for releasing unapproved documents regarding a police reshuffle before it had been finalized, saying it is either "a disturbance of national discipline" or "a nonsensical error" by government officials.



"I picked up the story from a news article and looked it up to find out what had actually happened. I figured out that something absurd happened," Yoon told reporters referring to the incident. "Police released the list of their own recommendations for the reshuffle, which had yet to be confirmed because it required approval first from the interior ministry and then the president. This is nonsense and equivalent to a disturbance of national discipline as the draft of the list was released."





President Yoon Suk-yeol gestures as he answers reporters' questions on his way to his office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Thursday. Joint Press Corps



Police unveiled a list of 28 police officials up for promotions to senior superintendent generals at around 7 p.m. on Tuesday, before receiving confirmation from the ministry and the president. Two hours later, the police released a new list in which seven of the names were replaced with others, as a result of the interior ministry's decisions.



Police explained that it was a mistake during communications with the interior ministry, but the minister of the interior and safety said the "police made the announcement even before the president approved the appointments."



The incident shows the friction between the police and the interior ministry.



The two have been coming into conflict, as the interior ministry is trying currently to set up an organization under its purview overseeing the police. The ministry on Tuesday announced its recommendation on "democratic management of police" aimed at setting up an "organization supporting police" within the ministry.



Police claim that this would be a "division controlling police" and will compromise officers' independence. However, the ministry is explaining that the organization will focus on supporting police in proposing rules related to investigations, recommending high-ranking officials and providing other administrative assistance.





Members of the National Consultative Body of Police Officers, a police officers' union, hold a banner denouncing the interior ministry's plan to oversee police during a rally in front of the Government Complex in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
New York, NY, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Thor Equities Group, a global leader in real estate, has signed a contract to acquire and develop a state-of-the-art 600M data center facility in Madrid, Madrid One. The project represents the first asset in the firms new specialized data center division, Thor Digital.

The sustainability led 200,000 square meter campus, offers phase one committed power of up to 20MW IT load growing to over 100MW. In an otherwise power constrained market, Madrid One will be one of the regions largest data center campuses with committed power, further benefitting from diverse power feeds and access to multiple IP transit and dark fiber providers, offering a unique market proposition.

The project is at an advanced stage of design and permitting with intent to commence construction later this year. As part of the project Thor have selected a market-leading local team of partners (i) Arnaiz, a local operating partner and specialists in land promotion and development (ii) Quark, Madrids leading data center engineering company, and (iii) Frank Hassett (Global Data Center Design), to develop the campus and ensure best-in-class solutions aligned to the requirements of our customers.

Thors decision to enter the data center asset class is consistent with our forward-looking approach and strategy to acquire and develop high quality assets globally, beginning with Madrid One, said Chairman of Thor Equities Group, Joseph Sitt. As Thors first project in the sector, this development is representative of our commitment to building a wide-ranging portfolio in Europe and will allow us to enhance our capabilities as a developer and manager.

Thor has appointed industry expert Roy Gibbens to lead Thor Digital and oversee expansion into new and emerging markets, with primary responsibility across EMEA. In his previous role with Ark Data Centres, he served on their board as Executive Director Sales and Marketing. Gibbens was responsible for business development both domestically and internationally and was instrumental in developing and securing large scale contracts with some of the worlds largest companies. Before joining Ark, he served as European Sales Director for Digital Realty Inc; during this period, Roy developed the European market for this US-based REIT, working with clients across multiple verticals in the data center space.

We are thrilled to enter the ever-evolving data center class with Roy Gibbens spearheading Thor Digital. Roy will play an instrumental role in sourcing opportunities in key markets globally and distinguish Thor as a leader in the industry, said Head of Thor Equities Europe, David Hunt-Cuadrado. Importantly Spain has one of the most reliable energy networks in Europe whilst also benefiting from both strong fiber and network connectivity with both South America and Africa.

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ABOUT THOR EQUITIES GROUP:

Thor Equities is a leader in the development, leasing and management of office, industrial, laboratory, residential, hotel and mixed-use assets in premier urban locations worldwide. The company operates in major cities around the globe and has a property portfolio totaling $20 billion with a development pipeline in excess of 50 million square feet. Thor has a strong presence on three continents and in addition to its US holdings, the company has assets in European gateway cities including London, Paris, Madrid, and Milan, and is the largest developer in Mexico through its Latin American division with a development pipeline of over 18 million square feet. Thor maximizes returns for institutional investors by recognizing a propertys potential, reducing operating expenses, increasing tenant satisfaction, leveraging market trends to maintain a long-term competitive edge. For more information, visit www.thorequities.com.

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Los Angeles, CA, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that David E. Parsly has joined the firms Corporate, M&A, and Securities practice group as a partner in the Los Angeles office. David advises clients on a full range of corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, emerging growth and venture capital financings, joint ventures, corporate restructurings, and corporate governance. He joins the firm from DLA Piper.

David is the latest addition to Blank Romes growing Los Angeles team, which welcomed real estate partner Saul Breskal and of counsel Jamie Garelick earlier this year. He also further strengthens the firms highly ranked corporate practice, which has added nearly 20 attorneys to its national team over the past two years, including most recently partners Nina Skinner and C. Brendan Cummings and Mexican counsel Cecilia Ibarra-van Oostenrijk in Houston as well as Leslie Marlow, Hank Gracin, and Patrick Egan, a respected corporate and securities law team in New York.

We are thrilled to welcome David to our national corporate team and Los Angeles office, said Grant S. Palmer, Blank Romes Managing Partner and CEO. Known as a trusted adviser to his clients, David is often called upon to provide outside general counsel services and handle matters beyond his traditional corporate practice, which will further strengthen our firms service offerings across numerous practice areas.

Davids clients include closely held businesses, private equity funds, family offices, venture capital-backed start-ups, and public and middle-market companies and their investors. He is active in strategic and financial-sponsor M&A and investment transactions across many industries, including for asset managers and professional services firms as well as trucking and logistics.

When markets turn volatile, clients lean on advisers whom they trust the most. Davids thoroughness and ability to guide complex transactions will greatly benefit our clients navigating todays challenging landscape, said Peter Schnur, Partner and Co-Chair of Blank Romes Corporate, M&A, and Securities practice. He will bolster our corporate capabilities both in California and nationally.

Blank Rome has a robust reputation in the middle-market M&A space, and I believe it is an ideal platform on which to grow my practice, Parsly added. I was also drawn to the collegial atmosphere at Blank Romedespite the size and breadth of the firm, it has a strong sense of community and collaboration that I appreciate.

David earned his J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and his B.A. from the University of Michigan.

About Blank Rome

Blank Rome is an Am Law 100 firm with 14 offices and more than 600 attorneys and principals who provide comprehensive legal and advocacy services to clients operating in the United States and around the world. Our professionals have built a reputation for their leading knowledge and experience across a spectrum of industries and are recognized for their commitment to pro bono work in their communities. Since our inception in 1946, Blank Romes culture has been dedicated to providing top-level service to all of our clients and has been rooted in the strength of our diversity and inclusion initiatives. For more information, please visit blankrome.com.

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Antofagasta, Chile, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pampa Metals Corp. (Pampa Metals or the Company) (CSE: PM / FSE: FIRA / OTCQX: PMMCF) is pleased to report that Quantec Geoscience Chile Ltda. (Quantec) has recently completed an IP geophysical survey over the Buenavista target and other covered magnetic anomalies at the Companys Block 4 project in northern Chile, with encouraging results (see previous news release dated May 24, 2022).

Block 4 is located along the principal porphyry copper belt of northern Chile, about 110 km south of the giant La Escondida copper mine. The principal target identified to date, called Buenavista, comprises a poorly exposed quartz-veinlet stockwork zone hosted within a dacite porphyry intrusion, which is spatially coincident with a magnetic high and anomalous molybdenum geochemistry. Copper oxide occurrences and anomalous gold values are zoned around the central stockwork zone to the west, south and east.

Block 4 IP Survey  Findings & Key Takeaways

The survey comprised 37 linear kilometers (km) of pole-dipole IP measurements distributed along five E-W lines each 5 to 7 km long. The lines were not evenly distributed, and do not form a regular grid, as they were designed as a preliminary test of a series of separate geological, geochemical, and magnetic anomalies.

The results of the IP geophysical survey at Block 4 have given results consistent with the previously published results for the Buenavista target (see Figure 1). Two of the lines located over the Buenavista target, with porphyry-type quartz veinlets, quartz-sulfide breccias to the west, and skarn-type mineralization with coarse chalcopyrite relicts to the east, have a good correlation with chargeability and resistivity anomalies on lines 7,205,000N and 7,205,750N. The anomalies define an area of interest significantly greater than 1 km x 1 km in size at Buenavista, starting at shallow depths and open beyond depths of 600m. This confirms Buenavista as a priority drill target.

These two IP lines and others cover a variety of additional magnetic anomalies, mostly under post-mineral cover, to the east, northeast and southeast of Buenavista, and reveal other coincident chargeable and magnetic features with geophysical characteristics similar to Buenavista. These are also being evaluated as possible drilling targets.

IP line 7,205,000N oriented W-E, centred on the Buenavista target, has defined a significant chargeability anomaly about 1,400m wide (W-E), starting at shallow depths beneath surficial leached sub-crops, and open at depths beyond 600m. The peak of the anomaly correlates well with the mapped dacite porphyry-hosted quartz-veinlet stockwork zone and associated molybdenum anomalies from Pampa Metals trenching work (see news release dated March 15, 2022), as well as the central Buenavista magnetic high. Western portions of the IP anomaly correlate well with the quartz-sulphide breccia with copper and gold values in trenches previously mapped and reported. A possible continuation of the chargeability anomaly, or possibly a separate anomaly, extends to the east under post-mineral cover, resulting in an overall W-E extension of chargeable features of approximately 3.3km, all of which are open at depth. This eastern anomaly extension coincides with a subcircular magnetic high some 600m x 600m in size, which suggests further targets of interest under cover equivalent to the Buenavista target.

Separate IP lines located 750m to the north and 1.5km to the south show continuity of the chargeability anomalies described for line 7,205,000N, suggesting the overall sulphide systems detected are of substantial size, including the chargeable anomalies to the east under post-mineral cover.

Two shorter IP lines at the northern end of Block 4, designed to test a series of covered magnetic anomalies, show several smaller IP chargeability features that require further evaluation, but may represent reconnaissance drill targets. One anomaly on the northernmost line is open to the west.

Block 4 IP Survey  Detailed Results

Line 7,205,000N  7 km W-E  crossing the central Buenavista target (see Figure 2). Crosses the subcircular magnetic high of the Buenavista target, in addition to a magnetic low related to a separate magnetic anomaly under gravel and ignimbrite cover to the east. A sub-vertical 10-15 mV/V chargeability anomaly some 1,400m W-E, starting at shallow depths and open beyond 600m depth, is centred on the quartz-veinlet stockwork zone and associated magnetic high at Buenavista, and also reflects the quartz-sulphide breccia to the west of the magnetic high. The described chargeability anomaly is continuous, which suggests that the central porphyry with stockwork veining and the quartz-sulphide breccia to the west are related to the same hydrothermal system. The anomaly correlates well with resistivities of 1500-5000 ohm-m, open at depth, values that are consistent with the existence of silicification and quartz. A chargeability anomaly extends further east, under post-mineral cover, which may be continuous with the main Buenavista chargeable anomaly, or which may be a separate anomaly coincident with a magnetic low related to a separate magnetic high under cover to the east. The two anomalous areas, nevertheless, are semi-continuous on the chargeability section over a distance of about 3.3 km W-E. The core of the eastern anomaly is more than 1 km W-E, open at depth, and starts at around 200m to 400m beneath gravel and ignimbrite cover. The principal anomalies are repeated on line 7,205,750N located 750m to the north (see below), with the eastern anomaly possibly delimited by a geological fault to the east. Line 7,205,750N  7 km W-E  750m north of the Buenavista target, and crossing a post-mineral covered magnetic anomaly to the east (see Figure 3). Located on the northern flanks of the Buenavista magnetic anomaly showing a sub-vertical chargeability anomaly of 10-15 mV/V, about 1,100m wide, starting at shallow depths and open beyond 600m depth, which correlates well with the Buenavista chargeability anomaly on line 7,205,000N described above. The principal chargeability anomaly also correlates well with resistivity values of 1,500-3,000 ohm-m, which are considered consistent with the presence of silicification and quartz. The eastern, covered chargeability anomaly described for line 7,205,000N is repeated on this line, and is spatially related to a post-mineral covered magnetic anomaly. The chargeable feature correlates well with the similar anomaly on line 7,205,000N, is about 800m W-E, open at depth, and starts at around 300m beneath gravel and ignimbrite cover. The chargeability anomaly on the eastern portion of this line, and its correlation with a 600m x 600m magnetic high, is geophysically similar to that observed at the Buenavista target and is interpreted to represent a new, covered target. Line 7,203,500N  6 km W-E  1,500m south of the Buenavista target, and crossing a magnetic low to the southwest of Buenavista, and magnetic highs to the east (see Figure 4). A significant, post-mineral covered magnetic high located in the approximate centre of the line, is spatially coincident with the eastern half of a broad, weaker chargeability anomaly, which is somewhat open to the west, but delimited by a possible fault to the east. As per line 7,205,750N, the spatial coincidence of a chargeability anomaly with a 600m x 600m magnetic high, is geophysically similar to the Buenavista target and may represent a new, covered target. Lines 7,207,600N & 7,209,000N  each 5 km W-E  2.5 km to 4 km north of the Buenavista target, and crossing a series of post-mineral covered magnetic features (see Figure 1). Both lines show several deeper, less extensive chargeable features, although the northernmost line has a significant chargeable anomaly open to the west. Further evaluation of these anomalies is required. About Block 4

A ground magnetics survey and follow-up geological fieldwork led to the discovery of a porphyry-related quartz-veinlet stockwork zone spatially coincident with a dacite porphyry and magnetic anomaly (see news release dated October 18, 2021), subsequently named the Buenavista target. A limited trenching program returned anomalous molybdenum geochemistry associated with the stockwork zone, together with copper and gold values around the margins, including 24m @ 0.14% Cu and (separately) 24m @ 0.25 g/t Au (see news released date March 15, 2022).

The trenching program at Buenavista revealed relicts of coarse chalcopyrite disseminations from a skarn-type system on the eastern edge of the stockwork zone, as well as green and black copper oxide mineralization from in-situ oxidation of chalcopyrite-pyrite mineralisation in a quartz-sulfide breccia on the west flank of the stockwork. Gold anomalies are also associated with this latter area.

Simultaneous soil geochemistry and pole-dipole IP geophysics surveys were initiated in May 2022, centred on the Buenavista target. IP results are published here, and field sampling for the soil survey totalling around 2,500 samples is about 50% completed, with all assay results pending. Soil sampling results will be published in due course. ABOUT PAMPA METALS

Pampa Metals is a Canadian company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE: PM) as well as the Frankfurt (FSE: FIRA) and OTC (OTCQB: PMMCF) exchanges. Pampa Metals owns a highly prospective, wholly owned, 60,000-hectare portfolio of eight projects for copper and gold located along proven mineral belts in Chile, one of the world's top mining jurisdictions. The Company is actively progressing four of its projects, including completed and planned drill tests, and has two additional projects optioned to Austral Gold Ltd., with Austral already drill testing its first target on Pampa Metals ground. The Company has also signed an agreement with VerAI Discoveries Inc. giving Pampa Metals access to the latest in artificial intelligence technologies in relation to mineral exploration, as well as a further 18,700 hectares of highly prospective terrain in the core of the highly productive mineral belts of northern Chile.

The Company has a vision to create value for shareholders and all other stakeholders by making a major copper or gold discovery along the prime mineral belts of Chile, using the best geological and technological methods. For more information, please visit Pampa Metals website www.pampametals.com . Qualified Person

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Mario Orrego G, Geologist and a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Orrego is a consultant to the Company.

Note: The reader is cautioned that Pampa Metals projects are early-stage exploration projects, and reference to existing mines and deposits, or mineralization hosted on adjacent or nearby properties, is not necessarily indicative of any mineralization on Pampa Metals properties.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Paul Gill | CEO & Director

www.pampametals.com INVESTOR CONTACT

Ioannis (Yannis) Tsitos | Director

investors@pampametals.com

The CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, which address events or developments that Pampa Metals expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "indicate" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Pampa Metals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.

 7 km W-E  crossing the central Buenavista target (see Figure 2).  7 km W-E  750m north of the Buenavista target, and crossing a post-mineral covered magnetic anomaly to the east (see Figure 3).  6 km W-E  1,500m south of the Buenavista target, and crossing a magnetic low to the southwest of Buenavista, and magnetic highs to the east (see Figure 4).  each 5 km W-E  2.5 km to 4 km north of the Buenavista target, and crossing a series of post-mineral covered magnetic features (see Figure 1). A ground magnetics survey and follow-up geological fieldwork led to the discovery of a porphyry-related quartz-veinlet stockwork zone spatially coincident with a dacite porphyry and magnetic anomaly (see news release dated October 18, 2021), subsequently named the Buenavista target. A limited trenching program returned anomalous molybdenum geochemistry associated with the stockwork zone, together with copper and gold values around the margins, including 24m @ 0.14% Cu and (separately) 24m @ 0.25 g/t Au (see news released date March 15, 2022). The trenching program at Buenavista revealed relicts of coarse chalcopyrite disseminations from a skarn-type system on the eastern edge of the stockwork zone, as well as green and black copper oxide mineralization from in-situ oxidation of chalcopyrite-pyrite mineralisation in a quartz-sulfide breccia on the west flank of the stockwork. Gold anomalies are also associated with this latter area. Simultaneous soil geochemistry and pole-dipole IP geophysics surveys were initiated in May 2022, centred on the Buenavista target. IP results are published here, and field sampling for the soil survey totalling around 2,500 samples is about 50% completed, with all assay results pending. Soil sampling results will be published in due course. Pampa Metals is a Canadian company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE: PM) as well as the Frankfurt (FSE: FIRA) and OTC (OTCQB: PMMCF) exchanges. Pampa Metals owns a highly prospective, wholly owned, 60,000-hectare portfolio of eight projects for copper and gold located along proven mineral belts in Chile, one of the world's top mining jurisdictions. The Company is actively progressing four of its projects, including completed and planned drill tests, and has two additional projects optioned to Austral Gold Ltd., with Austral already drill testing its first target on Pampa Metals ground. The Company has also signed an agreement with VerAI Discoveries Inc. giving Pampa Metals access to the latest in artificial intelligence technologies in relation to mineral exploration, as well as a further 18,700 hectares of highly prospective terrain in the core of the highly productive mineral belts of northern Chile. The Company has a vision to create value for shareholders and all other stakeholders by making a major copper or gold discovery along the prime mineral belts of Chile, using the best geological and technological methods. For more information, please visit Pampa Metals website . Technical information in this news release has been approved by Mario Orrego G, Geologist and a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Orrego is a consultant to the Company. Paul Gill CEO & Director www.pampametals.com Ioannis (Yannis) Tsitos Director investors@pampametals.com The CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, which address events or developments that Pampa Metals expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "indicate" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Pampa Metals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.

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VAN WERT, Ohio, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Central Insurance, a leading property and casualty carrier, last week announced a new company-wide benefits package aimed at creating an unparalleled employee experience that reflects the company's commitment to relationships. Leveraging benchmarking data from the technology industry which is known for pioneering forward-thinking flexible time-off policies, the competitive package is designed to maximize flexibility, better support its over 700 employees and their families and foster a culture that prioritizes the care of its people. The expanded policy went into effect on June 13, 2022.

"At Central Insurance, we invest in our people and treat each of our employees as owners. When we heard from our team that paid leave was an area for improvement, we acted," said Evan Purmort, CEO & president. "The insurance industry is rapidly evolving, and our benefits package needed to reflect a workplace built for the future. That's why we developed our policy to be better than 75% of what top technology companies currently offer. This announcement marks a crucial step forward for not only our company, but the industry as a whole."

The revamped benefits package includes the following:

Additional paid time off : Every new hire will receive 20 days of vacation time at the start of their hire date. Additionally, employees with 10-24 years of service will receive 25 days and those with 25+ years of service will receive 30 days.

: Every new hire will receive 20 days of vacation time at the start of their hire date. Additionally, employees with 10-24 years of service will receive 25 days and those with 25+ years of service will receive 30 days. Expanded paid parental leave : To fully support growing families, Central Insurance is significantly adding to its parental leave policy. Both parents will receive 100% paid leave for births, adoptions and placement of a child in foster care for 12 weeks.

: To fully support growing families, Central Insurance is significantly adding to its parental leave policy. Both parents will receive 100% paid leave for births, adoptions and placement of a child in foster care for 12 weeks. Increased bereavement leave : In unfortunate circumstances such as death, Central Insurance wants to be a true companion and make sure employees take care of themselves by taking the time needed to grieve. Employees will now receive eight weeks of 100% paid leave for the death of a spouse or child.

: In unfortunate circumstances such as death, Central Insurance wants to be a true companion and make sure employees take care of themselves by taking the time needed to grieve. Employees will now receive eight weeks of 100% paid leave for the death of a spouse or child. Added paid caregiver leave : To further support employees and their families, Central Insurance is increasing caregiver leave from zero to eight weeks with 100% pay to care for a family member with a serious health condition.

: To further support employees and their families, Central Insurance is increasing caregiver leave from zero to eight weeks with 100% pay to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Paid sick days: Since minor illnesses for employees and their children are unpredictable, Central Insurance employees will receive 10 new sick days a year.

The 146-year-old organization recently appointed Jena Wierwille as the vice president of human resources, with a goal to execute the organization's revitalized vision for a modern and scalable HR structure.

"The ability to offer forward-thinking, cutting-edge employee benefits in our industry is a top priority. Our employees should never have to choose between their work and taking care of themselves and their families," said Wierwille. "We believe this is the right move for Central Insurance and its people, and directly aligns with our vision for the future of the organization."

In addition to the newly added paid leave, the company continues to provide a competitive, comprehensive benefits package designed to meet evolving needs and assist in building financial security for the future.

To learn more, visit www.central-insurance.com.

About Central Insurance

The Central Mutual Insurance Company was founded in Van Wert, Ohio, in 1876, and has since evolved into Central Insurance, a property and casualty insurance carrier providing premium coverage for hundreds of thousands of individuals and businesses across the country. Central remains based in Van Wert and operates regional offices in Boston, Atlanta, and Dallas, with satellite offices in Columbus, and Salt Lake City. Central Insurance has combined assets of more than $2 billion. Central's A.M. Best rating is A (Excellent). For more information, please visit central-insurance.com.



MEDIA CONTACT

Cassie Ferguson

cassie@gebencommunication.com

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JACKSON, Wyo., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vertical Harvest, architects and operators of the first vertical hydroponic greenhouse in North America, announced Michael Chin as their Chief of Farm Operations. This new position in the company comes on the heels of a Series A financial close which in part is funding the expansion of Vertical Harvest farm locations over the next five years to include Westbrook, Maine, and future urban sites in major U.S. cities, including Chicago (IL), Providence (RI) and Detroit (MI). Chin will be leading the operating systems, technology integration and the implementation of the product innovation strategy into the company's new facilities while meeting the unique needs of each individual city.

Over his 20-year career, Michael Chin has a proven track record of taking new technology products from R&D to operational scale. Chin is skilled at driving these transitions at technology startups, digital agencies and some of the largest companies in the world including Walmart, Campbell's Soup Company, BBC, Virgin, Hearst and Calvin Klein. Most recently, Chin was Chief Operating Officer at Farm.One, a New York City-based indoor vertical farming company with farms in Manhattan and Brooklyn that serves chefs and direct-to-consumer.

His specific expertise in bridging the worlds of product development and business systems to bring profitable customer solutions to market is a key role he will play alongside the Vertical Harvest leadership team as the company expands into new urban markets in the U.S.

Co-founder and CEO of Vertical Harvest Nona Yehia said, "Michael comes to us with incredible knowledge in the industry and an understanding of our hyper-local approach. We value his experience servicing both wholesale and direct-to-consumer clients with produce that is unique, flavorful and fresh, all while advancing ambitious sustainability and social impact goals. We couldn't have found a better fit for the team, or the current moment we're at in our growth trajectory."

Michael Chin commented, "There's such a need across the nation for more access to nutritious food in urban areas. I'm very inspired by the company's Grow Well employment model - putting people first is in their DNA and that's clear the moment you walk through the door. I'm looking forward to working with the team to build new ways to integrate food production into civic infrastructure that ties together people, the planet and community health."

For more information please follow @verticalharvestfarms on Instagram, Facebook, and visit www.verticalharvestfarms.com

MEDIA CONTACT:

Carla Tracy Public Relations

Carla@carlatracypr.com

646-591-7126

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Vertical Harvest's Chief of Farm Operations, Michael Chin

















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New York, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Neuromuscular disorder is common in older people over the age of 60 years. According to the United Nations, in 2018, the number of persons aged 65 or older exceeded the number of children under the age of five globally. It is projected that by 2050, the persons aged 80 years or above will increase to 426 million from 143 million in 2019.

Research Nester has published a detailed market report on  Global EMG Biosensors Market  for the forecast period, i.e., 2022-2031 which includes the ongoing industry innovations and recent trends being adopted by the major industry players to achieve their business targets. Apart from that, the inclusive data on market size, growth rate, market revenue share, growth opportunities and challenges for the market players along with worldwide analysis on five major regions, namely, North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa has been provided in the report.

The global EMG biosensors market is estimated to garner a notable revenue by growing at a CAGR of ~6% over the forecast period, i.e., 2022-2031.

Get a sample copy of the report@ https://www.researchnester.com/sample-request-3948

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, 1 out of 6 people will be aged 60 years or above by the year 2030. The market is expected to grow on the back of increasing geriatric population, along with higher prevalence of neuromuscular disorders, such as, multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), muscular dystrophy, and others. According to National Center for Biotechnological Information (NCBI), the estimated number of people with multiple sclerosis globally has increased to 2.8 million in 2020, which is approximately 30% higher than the people with multiple sclerosis, in 2013. Moreover, old aged people are more likely to develop a neuromuscular disorder. So, the rise in the growth rate of elderly population globally, is anticipated to boost the market growth during the forecast period. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, share of the geriatric population, aged 60 or above, will be increased from 1 billion in 2020 to approximately 1.4 billion in 2030. Furthermore, the increased demand for EMG devices globally in the field of physiotherapy, gait laboratories, dentistry, biomechanics, and physical education, is also expected to boost the global EMG biosensors market growth in the forecast period.

Regionally, the global EMG biosensors market is segmented into five major regions including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East & Africa region. The market in the North America region is anticipated to garner the largest market share in the market across the forecast period on the back of increasing awareness of people towards their health in the region, and the rising healthcare expenditure. According to the American Medical Association, health spending in the U.S. has accelerated by approximately 9.7% in 2020. In 2020, Health spending was valued about 19.7% of GDP, whereas the health spending in 2019 was observed to be 17.6% of GDP.

Click here to get the short-term and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on this Market. Please visit: https://www.researchnester.com/reports/emg-biosensors-market/3948

Further, the market in the Asia Pacific region is anticipated to witness a notable growth during the forecast period owing to the huge investments in healthcare sector across the emerging countries in the Asia pacific region. Moreover, the rapid growth in elderly population in the region is also expected to drive the market growth. According to the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), China has the largest population in the world, 12% of total population in China is of 65 years old or above. Moreover, India is home to the second largest geriatric population in the world. Furthermore, the rising interest of foreign investors in healthcare sector in the developing countries is also projected to drive the market growth in the Asia Pacific region across the forecast period.

The study further incorporates Y-O-Y growth, demand & supply and forecast future opportunity in North America (U.S., Canada), Europe (U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Belgium, Netherlands & Luxembourg, NORDIC [Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark], Poland, Turkey, Russia, Rest of Europe), Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Rest of Latin America), Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Rest of Asia-Pacific), Middle East and Africa (Israel, GCC [Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman], North Africa, South Africa, Rest of Middle East and Africa).

Get a Sample PDF of EMG Biosensors Market Report 2022

The global EMG biosensors market is segmented on the basis of end-user into hospitals & clinics, ambulatory health clinics, academic & research centers, and others, out of which, the hospitals & clinics segment is projected to hold a significant share during the forecast period. This can be attributed to the growing number of patients in the hospitals, and as increasing healthcare expenditure in the countries all over the world. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), preliminary evaluations for a group of 16 countries have shown that health spending has increased on average to approximately 10% of GDP in 2020, and spending on health per capita has grown to around 5%. Moreover, advancement in medical technologies, and increasing awareness about early diagnosis for the disease prevention, are some of the factors to increase the demand for EMG biosensors in the hospital across the world. Such factors are projected to propel the hospitals & clinics segment market growth in the future.

For more insights on the market share of various regions Request for a FREE sample now!

Moreover, on the basis of type, the market is segmented into surface biosensor, and intramuscular biosensor, out of which, surface biosensor segment is expected to attain the largest share among all other sub-segments in the global market during the forecast period on the back of the increasing demand for surface biosensors to analyze the patients muscle activity and status of musculoskeletal disorder. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 2 billion people are living with musculoskeletal conditions globally. Moreover, the number of people with musculoskeletal disorder is quickly increasing as the elderly population worldwide is rapidly growing. Moreover, the advantages provided by surface biosensor, such as, non-invasive nature, convenience, and no risk of causing potential muscle injuries to tissue. Hence, the rapid rise in the number of musculoskeletal disorder cases worldwide is expected to boost the market growth.

The global EMG biosensors market is also segmented on the basis of technology.

Global EMG Biosensors Market; Segmentation by Technology

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Some of the prominent players and their company profiling mentioned in the report include are PLUX wireless biosignals S.A., OpenBCI Inc., Multi Biosensors Inc., Innopsys Inc., Biometrics Ltd., Butler Technologies, Inc., mDurance Solutions SL., iMotions A/S, Delsys Incorporated, and Pinnacle Technology. The profiling enfolds growth opportunities, challenges, market trends, competitive analysis and positioning, along with the strategies used by them to stay ahead of their competitors.

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Paris, France, 23 June 2022, 18h30 CEST

Angelotti, regional leader in residential development and ur ban planning in Occitania region (South of France)

A common vision and culture, complementary footprint and activities Strengthened Nexitys presence in Occitania, a highly growing region Acceleration of Nexity in urban planning business to better meet local authorities expectations and increase land sourcing for development projects

Strong value creati on 150 million revenue, up +20% in 2021 Operating margin accretion from 2023 Strong pipeline of projects representing around 6 years of revenue



Nexity announces the signature of an agreement to acquire a 55% stake in the capital of the Angelotti group, the regional leader in property development and urban planning in Occitania in the south of France with the remaining shares being held by the company's managers.

Founded in Beziers in 1981 by Louis-Pierre Angelotti as a specialist in urban planning (sale of building plots, development of new districts), the Angelotti group has gradually added a residential development activity to its offer since 2008. The group has established itself as a leading player in the markets of Montpellier, Beziers, Nimes and Perpignan, regions with significant demographic dynamism (among the highest population growth rates in France between 2013 and 2019). Its development continues today in the West towards Toulouse and in the East in the PACA (Provence-Alpes-Cote dAzur) region

The Angelotti group has over 140 employees. In 2021, it has completed nearly 1,600 reservations (approximately 900 in urban planning and 700 in development). The consolidated revenue amounts to more than 150 million euros in 2021, up by +20% compared to 2020. Thanks to an active land development policy, it enjoys a significant pipeline of projects representing around 6 years of revenue, which will be facilitated by joining forces with Nexity.

In addition to this transaction, the Angelotti group plans to acquire 55% of Moreau Investissement, a company owned by Yohann Moreau, a business partner of the Angelotti group in several projects, notably around Perpignan.

The completion of these two transactions is subject only to the suspensive condition of authorisation by the French Competition Authority and should be finalised in the third quarter of 2022.

Louis-Pierre Angelotti, Chairman of the Angelotti Group, Roch Angelotti, its Managing Director, and Yohann Moreau, Chairman of Moreau Invest, will keep their positions and continue to lead the development of the Angelotti Group. The remaining shares being held by Yohann Moreau.

Veronique Bedague, CEO of Nexity, said: "The acquisition of the Angelotti Group is a major step forward for Nexity. This transaction is fully in line with the Group's strategic ambition to strengthen its urban planning offer, a business based on long-term implementation and transformation of territories at the service of local authorities. It will also enable Nexity to consolidate its market share in residential development in the South of France (Occitania and PACA  Provence-Alpes-Cote dAzur  regions), two areas with strong growth prospects, by relying on reputable and well-established local players.

Louis-Pierre Angelotti, Chairman of the Angelotti Group, said: "Through this transaction, the Angelotti family has chosen to back the continued development under its brand of the Angelotti Group with Nexity, France's leading real estate operator and the only national developer to have had an integrated urban planning activity for several decades, like the Angelotti Group. In addition to its own skills, the Angelotti group will thus benefit from all of Nexity's experience and references in the prominent areas of sustainable urban planning and the virtuous production of housing, mainly through innovative construction methods and the transformation of brownfield sites.

NEXITY, LIFE TOGETHER

With nearly 8,000 employees and 4.6 billion in revenue in 2021, Nexity is Frances leading integrated real estate group, with a nationwide presence and business operations in all areas of real estate development and services. Our services platform is designed to serve all our clients individuals, companies, institutional investors and local authorities. Our corporate purpose life together expresses our commitment to create for them, sustainable spaces, neighborhoods and cities, that make it possible to forge and re-establish links. Nexity is notably classified for the third year in a row, Frances number-one low-carbon project owner by BBCA, is a member of the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) and Best Workplaces 2021.

Nexity is listed on the SRD, Euronexts Compartment A and the SBF 120.

CONTACTS

Domitille VIELLE  Head of Investor Relations / +33 (0)6 03 86 05 02  investorrelations@nexity.fr

Cyril RIZK  Press Relation Manager / +33 (0)6 73 49 72 61  presse@nexity.fr

GROUPE IMMOBILIER ANGELOTTI, Experienced urban planner, Trusted developer

Groupe immobilier Angelotti, a regional urban planner and property developer created by Mr. Louis-Pierre Angelotti, has been building new urban and peri-urban districts (for residential and business purposes) in South of France (Occitania and Western PACA) for nearly 40 years, in partnership with local authorities.

As a urban planner, Groupe immobilier Angelotti has a recognised experience in setting up and managing complex real estate operations, particularly in the context of town planning concessions (ZAC).

It addresses each project with an environmental perspective, the themes of which are agreed with the local authorities at the first stage of the set-up and consultation process.

To be as close as possible to the territories, Groupe immobilier Angelotti is organised into local operational agencies (Beziers, Montpellier, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Perpignan, Nimes, Salon de Provence), which guarantees reactivity and consideration of the specific contexts.

CONTACT

Roch ANGELOTTI  Managing Director / +33 (0)6 73 84 02 45  roch.angelotti@angelotti.fr

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New York, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Holter ECG Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Component and End User" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06232559/?utm_source=GNW



An ECG Holter monitor is a wearable device that helps in tracking the proper functioning of the heart.The device is used to conduct a Holter test, especially on an individual who is susceptible to develop cardiovascular disease.



The individual is asked to wear the device for around two to three days to tracked down the hearts activity. The data obtained is then analyzed with the help of analysis software, which helps the doctors suggest an appropriate treatment to the patient.

In the last decade, the world witnessed notable developments in Holter ECG monitors, aiding physicians and patients with new approaches to manage diseases such as atrial arrhythmias, ventricular arrhythmias, and ventricular atrial fibrillation.The growing prevalence of arrhythmia and other cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is encouraging the introduction of improved diagnostic methods.



Holter ECG monitors are gaining significant traction as these are simpler and quicker tools used for detecting arrhythmias.Holter monitoring is noninvasive, safer and effective for patient monitoring.



According to the World Health Organization (WHO), ~30 million people experience a stroke each year.According to the American Heart Association, almost half of all adults in the US have a type of CVD.



Furthermore, more than 130 million people, i.e., 45.1%, of the US population are projected to have a type of CVD by 2035.

The European Society of Cardiology reported that patients suffering from atrial fibrillation are at a five-times greater risk of getting a stroke, and 2030% of total stroke cases in Europe are caused due to atrial fibrillation. As per a study conducted by the European Society of Cardiology in 2016, ~7.6 million people aged 65 and above had atrial fibrillation in the EU. The number is estimated to increase by 89% to reach ~14.4 million by 2060. As per the report "Beyond The Burden: The Impact of Atrial Fibrillation in the Asia Pacific" by Biosense Webster, published in 2019, more than 16 million people in Asia Pacific suffer from atrial fibrillation, and the number is expected to reach ~72 million by 2050. The report also suggests that the middle-aged and elderly population is at a greater risk of developing this condition.

Most types of CVDs can be prevented through pre-monitoring and pre-diagnosis. Likewise, arrhythmias, i.e., abnormalities in the heart functioning, can be averted with early diagnosis. The demand for arrhythmia monitoring devices is increasing as these devices can help save patients at a high risk of cardiac arrest. This results in the healthcare industry adopting new and innovative devices to ensure enhanced medical care and investing in better healthcare facilities, in turn, boosting demand for monitoring devices such as Holter ECG monitors. To avoid risks associated with CVDs, Holter ECG are widely used by population who are likely to be exposed to factors that cause CVD. Holter ECG monitor records the hearts activity (ECG) continuously for 2448 hours, essential for safe diagnosis and therapy control, which is a major factor fueling its demand.

Component Insights

Based on components, the global Holter ECG market is segmented into wired Holter monitors, wireless Holter monitors, and Holter analysis systems and software.In 2020, the wired Holter monitors segment held the largest share of the market.



However, the wireless Holter monitors segment is expected to register the highest CAGR in the market during 20212028.With the help of wireless Holter monitors, individuals can easily move around independently.



Therefore, the adaption of these devices is increasing, which is expected to drive the market during the forecast period.

End-user Insights

Based on end-users, the Holter ECG market is segmented into hospitals and clinics, ambulatory surgical centers, home settings, and others.The hospital and clinics segment held the largest market share in 2021.



However, the home settings segment is expected to hold a significant market share in the market during the forecast period.Holter ECG is simple to operate, does not require additional medical training, and increases the patients comfort by telemonitoring at home due to mobility of the device, which allows patients to function normally in daily routine.



These factors are expected to propel its demand in home settings in the future.

A few major primary and secondary sources referred to while preparing the report on the global Holter ECG market are the World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, European Union, American Heart Association, Italian National Health Service, National Center for Biotechnology Information, China National Committee on Aging, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06232559/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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STAMFORD, Conn., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Noteworthy AI announced today that it is one of seven startups selected to be a part of Cohort 10 of the Joules Accelerator program. This will be Noteworthy AI's second accelerator this year, coming just after its acceptance into Dominion Energy Innovation Center's ("DEIC") 2022 Accelerate cohort last month.

"As we transition to a decarbonized future, an increasing number of distributed energy resources will come online," said Christopher Ricciuti, founder and CEO of Noteworthy AI. "We're humbled by our acceptance into the Joules Accelerator, which enables us to pilot our technology alongside industry leaders to help ensure that the distribution grid is up to the task."

The Joules Accelerator works closely with early-stage energy tech startups to find revenue-generating pilots and other commercialization opportunities. Its network members include Duke Energy, Microsoft, S&C Electric, EY, UNCC, the City of Charlotte, and more.

"As more utilities and corporates begin to think about decarbonization through the lenses of innovation, early-stage startups, and piloting fresh technologies, we are excited to bring the seven startups of Cohort 10 to the table. Only about 30% of decarbonization needs are currently met. To close the gap of the last 70%, we will need to lean on the innovators of today to get there," said Ryan Rutledge, Business Development Director at the Joules Accelerator.

This year, the program will kick off at Electrification 2022, hosted by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Charlotte, North Carolina. During this event, startups will participate in pitch events, workshops, and conversations around advancing a clean energy future.

Anne Haas, Program Co-Lead at EPRI, said, "Meeting the needs of our global energy future is going to depend on the ability to decarbonize, electrify, diversify  inherent in all of this is innovation. Electrification 2022 is focused next on the future, on innovation, where we're headed, what technologies can get us there and what challenges lie ahead."

About Noteworthy AI

Noteworthy AI, a Techstars portfolio company, provides AI-powered asset inspection and inventory analysis solutions for energy distribution grid operators. The company's cloud-based software and computer vision solution, Inspector, reduces the need for dedicated distribution asset inspections and mitigates risk at-scale while reducing cost. The Inspector hardware sensors and AI edge processing arrays mount on existing fleet vehicles and automatically geolocate, inventory, and identify pole-top component defects while vehicles perform routine operations, reducing the need to mobilize dedicated inspection teams. Learn more about Noteworthy AI and its mission here.

About Joules Accelerator

Joules Accelerator enables the growth of high-potential clean energy startups by facilitating training, mentoring and access to utilities, customers and key industry players through the bi-annual Catalyst Program based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since its 2013 founding, Joules Accelerator has supported the creation of 90 jobs, $15 million in investment and seven pilot projects. Learn more about the program here.

Media Contact

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Email: press@noteworthy.ai

Phone: 203.902.5256

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New York, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Low Molecular Weight Heparin Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Product Type, Packaging, Application [Deep Vein Thrombosis, Acute Coronary Syndrome, Pulmonary Embolism, and Others], and End User, and Geography" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06232567/?utm_source=GNW

Low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) is a class of anticoagulants.They are used to treat venous thromboembolism (deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) and myocardial infarction, and prevent blood clots.



Low molecular weight heparin offers more advantages than heparin as it has better bioavailability, longer half-life, simplified dosing, predictable anticoagulant response, lower HIT risk, and lower osteoporosis risk.



LMWH can be administered subcutaneously once or twice daily without coagulation monitoring, even when the drug is administered in treatment doses.Most patients do not require coagulation monitoring with LMWH.



The effects of unfractionated heparin (UFH) or standard heparin vary from patient to patient.Therefore, it can only be administered to hospitalized patients under supervision.



In addition, the LMWH has more predictable pharmacokinetic properties than unfractionated heparin, which allows its administration in fixed doses based on laboratory monitoring, without the need for dose adjustments.



The low molecular weight fractions of heparin have the molecular weight of ~3,5008,000 Daltons, while unfractionated heparin has a molecular weight of 15,000 Daltons; thus, the former react less with platelets than the latter.Moreover, the LMWH is less likely to induce immune allergic thrombocytopenia, which is a severe side effect of unfractionated heparin (UFH).



This condition is often complicated by arterial thrombosis.In addition, various properties such as better bioavailability, predictable dose-response, and longer plasma half-life than unfractionated heparin make low molecular weight heparin a preferred choice for anticoagulation therapy.



Such advantages of the LMWH over unfractionated heparin are boosting its demand, thereby spurring the market growth.



The global low molecular weight heparin market, based on Product type, has been segmented into The global low molecular weight heparin market, based on product type, is segmented into enoxaparin, dalteparin, tinzaparin, fraxiparine, nadroparin, and others.The enoxaparin segment held the largest share of the market in 2021.



However, the dalteparin segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR of 7.1% in the market during the forecast period.



The global low molecular weight heparin market, based on packaging, is bifurcated into multi-vials and prefilled syringes. In 2021, the multi-vials segment held a larger share of the market, whereas the prefilled syringes segment is expected to register the highest CAGR during 20212028.



The global low molecular weight heparin market, based on application, has been segmented into deep vein thrombosis, acute coronary syndrome (ACS), pulmonary embolism, and others.The deep vein thrombosis segment held the largest share of the market in 2021.



However, the acute coronary syndrome (ACS) segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR in the market during the forecast period.



The global low molecular weight heparin market, based on end user, has been segmented into hospitals, clinics, ambulatory surgical centers, and others.The hospitals segment held the largest share of the market in 2021.



However, the ambulatory surgical centers segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR in the market during the forecast period.



National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Healthcare Service (NHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Chronic Kidney Disease, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Statistics Institute, and World Health Organization (WHO) are a few of the major secondary sources referred to while preparing the report on the low molecular weight heparin market.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06232567/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________




A group of Ukrainian lawmakers will pay a reciprocal trip to Seoul next month, a ruling party official said Thursday, to discuss South Korea's humanitarian assistance to the war-torn nation.







The anticipated visit will come around a month after the ruling People Power Party (PPP) delegation led by Chairman Lee Jun-seok paid a weeklong visit to Kyiv and other cities earlier in June. They met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for discussions on various support measures.







"As far as I know, their visit to South Korea will be around July 4," a PPP official said on the customary condition of anonymity. "The size of the delegation will be similar (to that of the PPP)."







The Ukraine delegation is expected to be led by diplomat-turned-lawmaker Andriy Nikolayenko, according to sources.







On Tuesday, the South Korean government approved an additional $30 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine.







The budget will be used to provide medical and food supplies but not weapons. South Korea plans to allocate an additional $20 million, depending on the situation in Ukraine, which would raise its total amount spent for the war-torn nation this year to $100 million. (Yonhap)


SAN FRANCISCO, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman urges Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) investors who suffered significant losses to submit your losses now.



Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/GNRC

Contact An Attorney Now: GNRC@hbsslaw.com

844-916-0895

Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) Investigation:

The investigation focuses on Generacs claims that its acquisitions (including its 80% interest in Pramac and acquisition of Off Grid Energy) support the companys Powering A Smarter World strategic plan and on the role played by Generacs heavily touted strategic distribution partnership with Sunnova.

The companys claims came into question on June 22, 2022, when analyst Spruce Point Capital Management published an investment report alleging that Generac is struggling to suppress core business challenges, while pivoting towards a highly speculative and unproven acquisition spree in clean energy products and services.

Among other things, Spruce Point: (1) accused Generac of engaging in a pattern of misreporting acquisition revenue contribution between 2019  2021; (2) questioned Pramacs ballooning receivables, calling it a hallmark of channel stuffing; (3) observed Generacs press release announcing the Off Grid Energy acquisition obscured the fact that its 80% Pramac business was the end acquiror and found evidence to suggest a sham revenue transaction at Off Grid Energy; and, (4) highlighted Spruce Points concerns that Generacs distribution partnership with Sunnova may have been structured to enable Generac to round-trip cash flows.

In response to Spruce Points report, the price of Generac shares sharply declined during intraday trading on June 22, 2022.

Were focused on investors losses and whether Generac may have improperly recognized unearned revenues, said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.

If you invested in Generac 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 Generac 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 GNRC@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.
SALISBURY, N.C., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Food Lion honored a select group of food banks, volunteers, community leaders and associates at the seventh annual Food Lion Feeds Feedys Awards. The event recognized those who dedicate their time and talents to providing meals, resources, education and hope to neighbors battling food insecurity in the towns and cities Food Lion serves.



One of Food Lion Feeds visions is a world where no one is hungry or must choose between dinner and rent or gas and groceries  where we all pull together to set families up for success in life, said Kevin Durkee, Manager, Food Lion Feeds. Each individual and organization honored navigated challenges, embraced uncertainty and allowed it to propel them forward. They went above and beyond to support the unique needs of our neighbors, and its important to us that we honor and appreciate these incredible partners.

The 2022 Feedys Awards winners include:

The Food King Award  Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina (Charlotte, N.C.)

This award honors a food bank that demonstrates outstanding commitment through financial support, innovation, encouragement and motivation for others to take leadership roles in hunger-relief programming and community involvement. The Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina, a vital part of the community serving 24 counties in North and South Carolina for more than 40 years, develops partnerships to ensure families receive wholesome and nutritious food. The food bank team consistently exceeds Feeding Americas standard of pounds of food provided to families living in poverty. They have distributed more than 160 million pounds of food and donated 1 million boxes of balanced meals. In addition, Metrolina has provided 97 million pounds of fresh produce, meat and dairy and served more than 102,000 families through their school-based mobile pantries. Watch a video highlighting the work of Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina.

The Lion Heart Award  Rachel Ayers, Executive Director of Helping and Healing Hearts (Smithfield, N.C.)

This award recognizes an individual who demonstrates outstanding skills in coordinating and motivating groups of donors and volunteers for hunger-relief projects for the benefit of Food Lion Feeds and its partner food banks. An indispensable partner of the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle that serves children, families and seniors at the Johnson County Mobile Market, Ayers is the executive director of Helping and Healing Hearts, Inc. Ayers connects and builds relationships to facilitate the distribution of produce and other much needed items throughout the rural areas her organization serves. View a video about Ayers role to support hunger relief in her community.

The Grand Lion Award  Shuman Farms Produce (Reidsville, GA)

This award, presented to a Food Lion supplier, recognizes outstanding commitment to partnering with and participating in Food Lion Feeds hunger-relief projects. A thought leader in the industry, Shuman Farms drives corporate outreach initiatives while inspiring and encouraging families in all aspects of health: nutrition, mental health, physical fitness and overall well-being. Through their various charitable projects and programs, Shuman Farms has donated more than 12 million meals to Feeding America since 2002. They created the Healthy Family Project initiative to encourage the produce industry to come together to create a healthier generation and raise money for community outreach. Watch a video about Shuman Farms Produce and their impact as a Food Lion supplier.

The Lion Pride Award  Joyce Herbin, Regional Recruiting Specialist (Elizabeth City, N.C.)

This award honors a Food Lion associate who demonstrates outstanding skills in coordinating and motivating store associates and volunteers for hunger-relief projects for the benefit of Food Lion Feeds and its partner food banks. Herbin led regional efforts to encourage Food Lion neighbors to purchase more than 20,000 citrus bags, equivalent to 100,000 meals. Check out this video about Herbins efforts to lead regional hunger relief to benefit partner food banks.

The Store that Roars Award  Food Lion at 620 Laura Duncan Rd., Apex, N.C. 27502

This award honors a Food Lion store that demonstrates outstanding skills in coordinating and motivating store associates, customers and volunteers to participate in hunger-relief projects for the benefit of Food Lion Feeds and its partner food banks. This store was chosen for its standout team of associates in their quest to help combat food insecurity. In 2021, the store generously donated more than 107,000 meals through in-store sales campaigns and food donations that helped nourish children and families across Wake County. View a video about Food Lion associates combatting food insecurity.

The Silver Plate Award  Peggy Dooley-Isley, Community Relations Specialist (Salisbury, N.C.)

Peggy Dooley-Isley, a Food Lion associate who retired in May, is recognized for her 37 years serving Food Lion communities. Through her dedicated service, she helped develop Food Lions food rescue program, where food is donated to neighbors before it perishes. In addition, she served as a critical partner of food banks, feeding agencies and pantries, recruiting volunteers for hundreds of events to support Food Lions efforts to provide 1.5 billion meals by 2025.

Through Food Lion Feeds, Food Lions hunger relief platform, the company has donated more than 900 million meals to individuals and families since 2014 and has committed to donate 1.5 billion meals by 2025. For more information on how Food Lion is fighting to end hunger in the towns and cities it serves through Food Lion Feeds, visit https://www.foodlion.com/feeds.

About Food Lion

Food Lion, based in Salisbury, N.C., since 1957, has more than 1,100 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 82,000 associates. By leveraging its longstanding heritage of low prices and convenient locations, Food Lion is working to own the easiest full shop grocery experience in the Southeast, anchored by a strong commitment to affordability, freshness and the communities it serves. Through Food Lion Feeds, the company has donated more than 900 million meals to individuals and families since 2014 and has committed to donate 1.5 billion meals by 2025. Food Lion is a company of Ahold Delhaize USA, the U.S. division of Zaandam-based Ahold Delhaize. For more information, visit www.foodlion.com or job applicants may visit www.foodlion.com/careers.

Contact: publicrelationsteam@foodlion.com
NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Teladoc Health, Inc. (Teladoc or the Company) (NYSE: TDOC) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and docketed under 22-cv-04687, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Teladoc securities between October 28, 2021 and April 27, 2022, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.



If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Teladoc securities during the Class Period, you have until August 5, 2022 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

Teladoc provides virtual healthcare services in the U.S. and internationally through Business-to-Business and Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) distribution channels. The Company offers its customers various virtual products and services addressing, among other medical issues, mental health through its BetterHelp D2C product, and chronic conditions.

Teladoc touts itself as the first and only company to provide a comprehensive and integrated whole person virtual healthcare solution that both provides and enables care for a full spectrum of clinical conditions[.] Despite recent market concerns over new entrants to the telehealth field, such Amazon.com, Inc. and Walmart Inc., the Company has continued to assure investors of the Companys dominant market position in the industry.

In fact, as recently as February 2022, Teladoc forecasted full year (FY) 2022 revenue of $2.55 - $2.65 billion, as well as adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $330 - $355 million, on anticipated continued growth through its competitive advantages.

The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) increased competition, among other factors, was negatively impacting Teladocs BetterHelp and chronic care businesses; (ii) accordingly, the growth of those businesses was less sustainable than Defendants had led investors to believe; (iii) as a result, Teladocs revenue and adjusted EBITDA projections for FY 2022 were unrealistic; (iv) as a result of all the foregoing, Teladoc would be forced to recognize a significant non-cash goodwill impairment charge; and (v) as a result, the Companys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On April 27, 2022, Teladoc announced its first quarter (Q1) 2022 financial results, including revenue of $565.4 million, which missed consensus estimates by $3.23 million, and [n]et loss per share of $41.58, primarily driven by [a] non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $6.6 billion or $41.11 per share[.] Additionally, the Company revised its FY 2022 revenue guidance to $2.4 - $2.5 billion and adjusted EBITDA guidance to $240 - $265 million to reflect dynamics we are currently experiencing in the [D2C] mental health and chronic condition markets. On a conference call with investors and analysts that day to discuss Teladocs Q1 2022 results, Defendants largely attributed the Companys poor performance, revised FY 2022 guidance, and $6.6 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge to increased competition in its BetterHelp and chronic care businesses.

On this news, Teladocs stock price fell $22.48 per share, or 40.15%, to close at $33.51 per share on April 28, 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
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascot Resources Ltd. (TSX: AOT; OTCQX: AOTVF) (Ascot or the Company) reports that at its annual general meeting (the "AGM") held today, June 23, 2022, Ascot's shareholders approved by majority: to elect all seven directors standing for re-election; to re-appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Company's auditor; the Companys three equity plans; and the philosophy and design of the Companys executive compensation.



Detailed results of the votes held by ballot at the AGM are set out below:

Nominee Total Votes

Cast Total Votes

Cast For Votes

Withheld %

For %

Withheld William Bennett 168,237,306 148,777,455 19,459,851 88.43 11.57 Kenneth Carter 168,237,306 167,953,128 284,178 99.83 0.17 Indi Gopinathan 168,237,306 167,923,985 313,321 99.81 0.19 Don Njegovan 168,237,306 163,716,837 4,520,469 97.31 2.69 James Stypula 168,237,306 157,399,647 10,837,659 93.56 6.44 Andree St-Germain 168,237,306 167,920,914 316,392 99.81 0.19 Rick Zimmer 168,237,306 163,086,778 5,150,528 96.94 3.06 Total Votes

Cast Total Votes

Cast For Total Votes Cast

Against %

For %

Against Stock Option Plan 168,237,306 150,226,001 18,011,305 89.29 10.71 Amended Share Unit Plan 168,237,306 159,825,964 8,411,342 95.00 5.00 Amended Deferred Share Unit Plan 168,237,306 161,789,452 6,447,854 96.17 3.83

Non-binding Resolution on the Companys Executive Compensation 168,237,306 166,291,793 1,945,513 98.84 1.16



The Board and Derek White, President and CEO, extend thanks to the shareholders of the Company for their continued support.



Please join President & CEO Derek White for a presentation via webcast at 1:15 PM PST for the results of the AGM and an overview of Ascots progress and plans in 2022. Please join 5 to 10 minutes prior to the scheduled time.

Webcast: http://services.choruscall.ca/links/ascot20220623.html

Telephone: toll free Canada/USA 18003194610; International 16046385340

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF

ASCOT RESOURCES LTD.

Derek C. White, President and CEO

For further information contact:

David Stewart, P.Eng.

VP, Corporate Development & Shareholder Communications

dstewart@ascotgold.com

778-725-1060 ext. 1024

About Ascot Resources Ltd.

Ascot is a Canadian-based exploration and development company focused on re-starting the past producing historic Premier gold mine, located in British Columbia's Golden Triangle. The Company continues to define high-grade resources for underground mining with the near-term goal of converting the underground resources into reserves, while continuing to explore nearby targets on its Premier/Dilworth and Silver Coin properties (collectively referred to as the Premier Gold Project). Ascot's acquisition of IDM Mining added the high-grade gold and silver Red Mountain Project to its portfolio and positions the Company as a leading consolidator of high-quality assets in the Golden Triangle.

For more information about the Company, please refer to the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or visit the Companys web site at www.ascotgold.com, or for a virtual tour visit www.vrify.com under Ascot Resources.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

All statements and other information contained in this press release about anticipated future events may constitute forward-looking information under Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "targeted", "outlook", "on track" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements, including statements in respect of the pursuit of alternative project financing solutions, the advancement and development of the PGP and the timing related thereto, the exploration of the Companys properties and managements outlook for the remainder of 2022 and 2023. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including risks associated with the business of Ascot; risks related to exploration and potential development of Ascot's projects; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; the need for cooperation of government agencies and indigenous groups in the exploration and development of properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; risks associated with COVID-19 including adverse impacts on the world economy, construction timing and the availability of personnel; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in Ascot's filings with Canadian securities regulators, available on Ascot's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com including the Annual Information Form of the Company dated March 21, 2022 in the section entitled "Risk Factors". Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions made with regard to: the estimated costs associated with construction of the Project; the timing of the anticipated start of production at the Project; the ability to maintain throughput and production levels at the Premier Mill; the tax rate applicable to the Company; future commodity prices; the grade of Resources and Reserves; the ability of the Company to convert inferred resources to other categories; the ability of the Company to reduce mining dilution; the ability to reduce capital costs; and exploration plans. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. Although Ascot believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since Ascot can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Ascot does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
Investors can contact the law firm at no cost to learn more about recovering their losses



LOS ANGELES, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Portnoy Law Firm advises Target Corporation ("Target" or the "Company") (NYSE: TGT) investors that the law firm has initiated an investigation on behalf of investors that lost money on their Target stock. Target investors are encouraged to contact the firm to discuss their legal rights.

Investors are encouraged to contact attorney Lesley F. Portnoy, by phone 844-767-8529 or email: lesley@portnoylaw.com, to discuss their legal rights, or click here to join the case via www.portnoylaw.com. The Portnoy Law Firm can provide a complimentary case evaluation and discuss investors options for pursuing claims to recover their losses.

The investigation focuses on whether the Company misled investors concerning Target's inventory planning and revenues. After announcing earnings and holding an investor call, analysts questioned the Companys inventory planning and communication to investors, and are still trying to process how the company misplanned its inventory composition so badly against the stimulus-check comparison, and that the [companys] press release signals something went, really wrong in the planning and allocation department. And, its hard to believe things really changed that much vs. just three weeks ago, when Target reported 1Q results.

Please visit our website to review more information and submit your transaction information.

The Portnoy Law Firm represents investors in pursuing claims against caused by corporate wrongdoing. The Firms founding partner has recovered over $5.5 billion for aggrieved investors. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Lesley F. Portnoy, Esq.

Admitted CA and NY Bar

lesley@portnoylaw.com

310-692-8883

www.portnoylaw.com

Attorney Advertising
PORTLAND, Ore., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chalice Brands Ltd. (CSE: CHAL) (OTCQB: CHALF) (the Company or Chalice Brands), a premier consumer-driven cannabis company specializing in retail, production, processing, wholesale, and distribution, is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Lindsay to serve as Interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective immediately, while the Company conducts a search for a permanent Chief Financial Officer. The appointment follows the resignation of Andrew Marchington who will leave the Company for personal reasons after a brief transition period. Mr. Marchington will serve in a consulting capacity to support a smooth transition.



I am excited to welcome Richard as our Interim CFO, who will be an integral part of accelerating growth and opportunities for Chalice as we become a leading cannabis operator on the west coast, said Jeff Yapp, President and Chief Executive Officer of Chalice Brands. Richards financial expertise in a number of challenging leadership positions will be an invaluable addition to the Chalice team as we prepare for financial and business milestones this year and continuing on the path to profitability.

Mr. Lindsay comes to Chalice Brands with over 25 years of executive financial management and advisory services experience in highly regulated consumer products and manufacturing businesses. He has an extensive background in turnaround management, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, and functions of the CFO office. Prior to joining Chalice Brands, Mr. Lindsay was an independent consultant providing interim CEO and CFO services to breweries, distilleries and cannabis businesses in the areas of mergers and acquisition, strategic planning, and business process redesign. He has held CEO and CFO roles, including serving as a publicly traded company CFO for the Boston Beer Company (SAM), StockerYale, Inc. (STKR), and Bentley Pharmaceuticals (BNT). Mr. Lindsay is a licensed CPA and began his accounting and finance career with KPMG in their manufacturing, retail and distribution practice. He received a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Northeastern University. Mr. Lindsay is a US Navy Veteran serving two hitches aboard two nuclear submarines as a nuclear reactor operator and electronic technician.

Mr. Lindsay will help lead Chalice Brands through the filing of its annual audited financial statements, and the search and selection of a permanent Chief Financial Officer.

Jeff Yapp added, On behalf of the Chalice Team, I would like to thank Andrew for his contributions as CFO of Chalice over the past few years. His experience and highly effective execution of many successful activities have been crucial to our long-term strategy, and we wish him and his family the very best."

About Chalice Brands Ltd.

Chalice Brands is a premier consumer-driven cannabis company specializing in production, processing, wholesale, distribution and retail, with 12 owned and six managed dispensaries in and around Portland, Oregon. The Company is committed to developing a dynamic portfolio built around the recognized brands of Chalice Brands, including Chalice Farms, Left Coast Connection, Homegrown Oregon and Cannabliss & Co., with a focus on health and wellness. Chalice operates nationally through Fifth & Root and has operations in Oregon and California. Visit investors.chalicebrandsltd.com/ for regular updates.

Investor Relations:

John Varghese

Executive Chairman

Chalice Brands Ltd.

971-371-2685

ir@chalicebrandsltd.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Disclaimer: This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the Companys future business operations, the opinions or beliefs of management and future business goals. Generally, forward looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. These risks include but are not limited to general business, economic and competitive uncertainties, regulatory risks, market risks, risks inherent in manufacturing and retail operations such as unforeseen costs and production shutdowns, difficulties in maintaining brand loyalty, and other risks of the cannabis industry. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking information. Forward-looking information is provided herein for the purpose of presenting information about managements current expectations relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purpose. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States, and such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration or an exemption from registration.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- South Star Battery Metals Corp. (South Star or the Company) (TSXV: STS) (OTCQB: STSBF), is pleased to announce that it has completed a non-brokered private placement of units (the Private Placement or the Offering) for total proceeds of C$1,906,990. The majority of participation in the Private Placement was with key institutional investors and insiders. Net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used for advanced materials sample preparation, commercial agreements, project finance and general working capital requirements for the Company.



The Private Placement consists of 3,467,254 units priced at post-consolidation price of C$0.55 per unit (the Units). Each Unit consists of one (1) common share and one (1) common share purchase warrant (the Warrants). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional common share of the Company at an exercise price of C$1.25 per common share for a period of five years from the date of issue. The securities are subject to a four-month hold period from the date of closing and approval by the TSXV, expiring October 24, 2022.The Company issued an aggregate of 1,636 finders warrants in connection with the Private Placement (equal to 6% of the number of Units sold to subscribers introduced to the Company by the finders) and $54,300 in cash finders fees were paid to certain finders (equal to 6% of the gross proceeds of the offering sold to subscribers introduced to the Company by the finders).

Acceleration Clause

If during a period of ten consecutive trading days between the date that is four (4) months following the closing of the Private Placement and the expiry of the Warrants the daily volume weighted average trading price of the common shares of the Company on the TSXV (or such other stock exchange where the majority of the trading volume occurs) exceeds C$2.50 on a post-Consolidation basis for each of those ten consecutive days, the Company may, within 30 days of such an occurrence, give written notice to the holders of the Warrants that the Warrants will expire at 4:00 p.m. (Vancouver time) on the 30th day following the giving of notice unless exercised by the holders prior to such date. Upon receipt of such notice, the holders of the Warrants will have 30 days to exercise their Warrants. Any Warrants which remain unexercised at 4:00 p.m. (Vancouver time) on the 30th day following the giving of such notice will expire at that time.

Two directors, including a member of management, and one officer of the Company subscribed in the private placement for an aggregate of 1,071,817 units for gross proceeds of $589,500. Each transaction with the directors and officer constitutes a related party transaction as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (MI 61-101). The Company is relying on the exemptions under section 5.5(a) and section 5.7(1)(b) from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101, as the fair market value of the transaction, insofar as it involves related parties, does not exceed 25% of the Companys market capitalization (as determined under MI 61-101). The Company did not file a material change report at least 21 days before the closing of the private placement as the details of the private placement and the participation therein by related parties of the Company were not settled until shortly prior to closing and the Company wished to close on a expedited basis for sound business reasons.

ABOUT SOUTH STAR BATTERY METALS CORP

South Star Battery Metals Corp. is a Canadian battery metals project developer focused on the selective acquisition and development of near-term production projects in the Americas. South Stars Santa Cruz Graphite Project, located in Southern Bahia, Brazil is the first of a series of industrial and battery metals projects that will be put into production. Brazil is the second-largest graphite-producing region in the world with more than 80 years of continuous mining. Santa Cruz has at-surface mineralization in friable materials, and successful large-scale pilot-plant testing (>30t) has been completed. The results of the testing show that approximately 65% of Cg concentrate is +80 mesh with good recoveries and 95%-99% Cg. With excellent infrastructure and logistics, South Star is carrying its development plan towards Phase 1 production projected in Q2 2023.

South Stars next project in the development pipeline is a project in Alabama located in the middle of a developing electric vehicle, aerospace and defence hub in the southeastern United States. The Project is a historic mine active during World Wars I & II. Trenching, sampling, analysis and preliminary metallurgic testing has been completed. The testing indicated a traditional crush/grind/flotation concentration circuit achieved grades of approximately 96-97% with approximately 86% recoveries. South Star is executing on its plan to create a multi-asset, diversified battery metals company with near-term operations in strategic jurisdictions. South Star trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol STS, and on the OTCQB under the symbol STSBF.

South Star is committed to a corporate culture, project execution plan and safe operations that embrace the highest standards of ESG principles based on transparency, stakeholder engagement, ongoing education and stewardship. To learn more, please visit the Company website at http://www.southstarbatterymetals.com.

This news release has been reviewed and approved by Richard Pearce, P.E., a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 and President and CEO of South Star Battery Metals Corp.

On behalf of the Board,

Mr. Richard Pearce

Chief Executive Officer

For additional information, please contact:

South Star Investor Relations (Canada IR)

Email: invest@southstarbatterymetals.com

RBMG  RB Milestone Group LLC (IR US)

Trevor Brucato, Managing Director

Email: southstar@rbmilestone.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/southstarbm

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southstarbatterymetals

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southstarbatterymetals/

YouTube: South Star Battery Metals - YouTube

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: moving Santa Cruz into production and scaling operations as well as advancing the Alabama project; and the Companys plans and expectations.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections.
By Gudmundur Hegner Jonsson





June marks the time of the year when we remember the outbreak of one of history's most devastating conflicts. Still not technically over despite starting 72 years ago, the Korean War claimed the lives of nearly five million people.







Such losses demand ongoing remembrance for a number of reasons, not at least for gratitude and future deterrence of such monumental human suffering. Indeed, these were important themes that recurred in the results of a recent survey of our school's students ahead of this year's Korean War anniversary on June 25.







Bearing in mind that these are international school students of diverse nationalities and ages, we asked them, "Why is it important to learn about and remember the Korean War?" I would like to take this opportunity to share some broad themes that run through their answers to shed light on what our future generations think and believe about the so-called "Forgotten War."







"It is important to learn about and remember the Korean War because thousands of people, both soldiers and civilians, were killed. Also, soldiers from other countries along with Koreans sacrificed themselves to free South Korea and we have to remember their brave actions," wrote one student.







The majority of students expressed their appreciation for the sacrifices of those who fought in the name of freedom. This particular quote extends gratitude to the soldiers who came from all over the world to aid in the fight against communist North Korea. It also recognizes the conflict's toll on civilians  whose deaths accounted for over half of all Korean War casualties.







This figure amounts to a higher proportion of civilian fatalities than in World War II and the Vietnam War. For many who survived, life after the war included displacement and separation from relatives. Indeed, there are at least tens of thousands of relatives  that we know of  who remain separated by the inter-Korean border known as the 38th parallel.







As we enter the warmest months of the year in Korea, it is nearly inconceivable to consider the extremes of this war. From heat and humidity to severe sub-zero temperatures, the Korean War was fought across unforgiving and mountainous landscapes. Many died from frostbite and starvation. It is impossible not to join the students in gratitude for the immense bravery shown by the millions of soldiers and aid workers from more than 20 countries during the conflict, not to mention the ultimate sacrifices made by far too many for the freedom we enjoy today.







"I think it is important to learn about the Korean War because when more people learn about a problem, the more people have the urge to do something and then history will not repeat itself," wrote another student.







Another common theme among our students' voices reflects philosopher George Santayana's frequently cited warning that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." It is a mark of global citizenship to share responsibility for our world's future by learning from the past, and that is a key tenet of our education.







Schools have a vital role to play in ensuring that this collective memory  and learning from it  is passed on to younger generations. By actively learning about and remembering the past, we have the best chance of avoiding future conflicts like the Korean War.







One inescapable legacy of the Korean War we must remember, however, is the stark reality of separated families. There's no question that most Koreans support inter-Korean family reunions. According to government data released earlier this year, over 46,000 South Koreans were registered for a chance to be reunited with family members in the North. But time is running out as more than 30,000 of those registered were aged 80 or older.







"Remembering the Korean War is especially important because we live in Korea. It's important to know the history behind the country we live in and be aware of what happened, and furthermore, this war has not yet ended," a third student wrote.







The third and last theme resonates with the experience of moving to Korea from abroad and making a point of fully appreciating the history and culture of the country they are in. Strolling through Seoul today, one might forget how relatively recently the Korean Peninsula was in a state of widespread destruction.







One might overlook the overwhelming poverty that Koreans have lifted themselves out of. One might take for granted the collective strength and resilience shown in the face of one threat after another, from economic crises to a pandemic.







We are fortunate enough to enjoy the fruits of a Korea that has the confidence, capability and sheer will power to shine on the world stage. On this anniversary, we are also reminded that there is unfinished business.







In addition to the unification of separated families, there is the question of a peace treaty and the ongoing process of recovering the remains of those who were killed during the Korean War. Yet, based on the continued engagement of our youngest members of society, we can maintain hope for a better future as the memory of the war remains very much alive.









Gudmundur Hegner Jonsson (

) is the head of college at Dulwich College Seoul.




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By Ramu Damodaran





As June draws to a close, the United Nations marks two important anniversaries: the signing of its Charter on June 26, 1945, and the establishment of the full-fledged Commission on the Status of Women on June 21, 1946. And now we have another landmark date right between the two, the International Day of Women in Diplomacy, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, to fall on June 24 each year.



We have clearly come a long way since the first years of the U.N. when even someone as universally known and respected as Eleanor Roosevelt was primly listed in documents as "Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt" rather than by her own name. That said, less than 22 percent of the permanent representatives at the United Nations today are women. Thanks to strenuous efforts by the organization, almost a quarter of conflict party delegations in the U.N.-supported peace processes  diplomacy at its truest testing  were women in 2020, an impressive rise from the earlier figure of 13 percent, but still far from compelling.



And it was not until 1992 that the U.N. appointed the first woman head of a peacekeeping operation, Margaret Anstee of the United Kingdom. Her ironically titled memoir, "Never learn to type," made clear how instinctively women were considered as limited to secretarial positions even in an organization that prided itself on gender equality.



That pride did not come easily. And much is owed to a mind that would challenge and change the Charter of the U.N. itself, as it was being drafted. Bertha Maria Julia Lutz was a naturalist at the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro (she has three frog and two lizard species named after her); she brought her academic precision and impatience with implication to the 1945 San Francisco conference that authored the Charter where she successfully negotiated the insertion of the critical words, "and women," in its stirring preamble: "faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and nations large and small."



Three years later, as the Universal Declaration on Human Rights was being drafted, it was an Indian delegate, Hansa Mehta, who won a change in the wording from, "All men are born free and equal," in its first article to, "All human beings are born free and equal."



Even then, as late as 1979, when William H. Barton, Canada's permanent representative to the U.N. met Pope John Paul II during his visit to the world body and was accompanied by a lady; the U.N. official in attendance instinctively introduced them to the Pope as husband and wife; she was, in fact, Flora MacDonald, Canada's minister for external affairs.



And when, 16 years later, the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women Declaration affirmed in one unequivocal paragraph that "women's rights are human rights," it gave voice to the truth that in the advancement of these specific rights, all human rights would be furthered, not fragmented, as all great revolutions of the spirit and mind have been able to, elevating the aspirations realized by a demographic group which had hitherto been denied to that of a truly integrated society as a whole.



To return to women in diplomacy, the success of the negotiations in Beijing led to implementable actions at the national level; within a month of the conference, the Republic of Korea adopted a quota system for female civil servants. And, as the director of the U.N. University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa, Dr. Fatima Denton, has said, "Problems that women face are not always limited to women."



By nature, women think of their whole community. In search of solutions that would result in more gender equality and greater empowerment, it is very important that women and men are not pitted against each other but are seen as part of a group."



Speaking at the Incheon Global Campus last December, the Indian ambassador in Seoul, Sripriya Ranganathan (an outstanding career diplomat, and not just a woman career diplomat, of her generation) defined diplomacy as "the art of letting someone else have your way."



It is a way that can be literal as much as metaphorical; when Korea Ambassador to the U.K. Park Eun-ha in London secured Britain's consent to allow Korean citizens to enter the country through "E-Passport" gates, her accomplishment reflected the heart of what diplomacy, and indeed the U.N., is all about: the ability to work, to converse, to laugh, together, without the jealousies of geography  or, indeed, of gender.





Ramu Damodaran is a senior fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress, New Delhi, India. He served as the first director of the United Nations Academic Impact, an initiative linking universities around the world with the United Nations.


Japan's Okinawa repeats call for scrapping plans to relocate U.S. base on the island

Xinhua) 19:54, June 23, 2022

Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa on Thursday repeated its call on the Japanese government to scrap plans to relocate a U.S. military base within the prefecture.

Governor Denny Tamaki made the remarks in a "peace declaration" at a ceremony observing the 77th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa, a bloody World War II ground battle that saw more than 200,000 lives lost on the island.

At the ceremony held in Peace Memorial Park in Okinawa's Itoman, Tamaki pledged to "continue efforts to abolish nuclear weapons and renounce war, so that Okinawa will never become a battlefield again."

Tamaki also highlighted the fact that Okinawa is still shouldering the host of U.S. military bases in Japan and called for plans to relocate a U.S. Marine Corps base within the prefecture to be scrapped.

Despite continued staunch opposition from the Okinawa prefectural government and local citizens, Japan's central government has maintained its push forward with the contentious relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan.

Okinawa hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, yet the tiny sub-tropical island accounts for just a small fraction of Japan's total landmass.

Local residents in Okinawa have for decades been forced to shoulder the burden of hosting the majority of U.S. bases in the entire country and have often been the victims of the criminal activities by U.S. military and related personnel, including cases of rape and murder.

They have also had to endure a steady flow of accidents and mishaps involving U.S. military aircraft and live fire drills among others.

In addition, the new location for the U.S. base has an extremely delicate ecosystem unique to Okinawa that the locals desperately want to protect.

The overall plans for the new base involve at least 157 hectares of land being reclaimed from pristine waters off the Henoko area and the building of a V-shaped runway.

The plans stem from a pact made between the United States and Japan in 1996, with the coastal region of Henoko being selected as the replacement site for the Futenma base in 1999.

The local and central governments have long been at odds over the relocation of the base, with Okinawans calling for the new base to be relocated outside of their prefecture or Japan altogether.

On Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attended the annual commemoration ceremony in Okinawa.

According to Okinawa's prefectural government, 94,000 civilians, the equivalent of 25 percent of Okinawa's population in 1945, a similar number of Japanese soldiers, and more than 12,000 U.S. troops were killed during the savage four-month battle on the island which raged from March 1945.

(Web editor: Liu Ning, Bianji)
By Andrew Hammond





Emmanuel Macron's presidential re-election "honeymoon" was shattered on Sunday when he became the first French president in around a quarter of a century not to win a parliamentary majority.



This failure of Macron's Ensemble (Together) coalition to win a majority may also prove to be significant for Europe, at large, and not just France. If Macron now needs to spend a greater than expected part of his second term focusing on his domestic agenda rather than foreign policy, his ability to play the pro-EU "continental statesman" role he enjoys, including recently with Russia over Ukraine, will be limited.



His economic reform agenda will now be more challenging to push through. This is a blow not just to the president, but also the French economy, and could undermine wider investor confidence in France.



The election result is a significant change from 2017 when the president's bloc won around 350 of 577 seats. Perhaps the big surprise of the night was the relative success of far-right National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen. This group made unexpectedly large gains, and is projected to win around 10 times the small number of seats than in 2017.



Macron's coalition will now need to either govern as a minority administration, or form informal or formal alliances with other parties. The most likely group here is probably the right-of-center Republicans.



Sunday's results show how simplistic the conventional wisdom is that French legislative elections are designed, almost by default, to hand the president a workable majority. Yet, while the incumbent has for much of the Fifth Republic enjoyed the support of a relatively secure legislative majority from his own party, this is never certain.



This is particularly true in Macron's case as, a half decade into his presidency, it is sometimes forgotten that France remains in largely uncharted political territory being governed by an alliance that was only founded by the young president only in 2016. The last two presidential elections have been the only ones in the country's modern history that neither of the parties of mainstream center-right Republicans, or center-left Socialists, managed to qualify, and it remains unclear whether one or both of these parties will stage a comeback, or whether the French political system is now realigned forever.



Even before Sunday's first round ballot, the warning signs were there for Macron. One poll released at the start of the month by the Ifop group suggested that his Ensemble centrist coalition would probably be the largest single party, but likely below the 289 needed for an absolute majority.



Going into Sunday's second round, momentum had been with the far-left coalition led by hard-left veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon, and the bloc won the second largest number of seats. Melenchon and his team engineered what many had seen as a near impossible feat: developing a broad alliance of France's deeply fractured left  the Socialist Party, Greens and Communists  in an unexpected show of unity. The coalition is united around a common policy platform including restoring a wealth tax scrapped by Macron, lowering the retirement age to 60, and hiking the minimum wage by 15%.



In the view of Olivier Veran, the French minister for parliamentary affairs, the failure to give Macron a majority represents a "major destabilization of politics in our country for years to come." While this language may be exaggerated, politics will become tougher for the president. A minority cabinet or coalition government is an unusual scenario for modern-day France, and the Fifth Republic was designed to avoid such unwieldy coalitions.



However, one consolation for Macron is that an even worse case scenario for him did not occur. That is, if the leftist alliance had surprised the pollsters, and won a majority. Macron would then have had to name a prime minister from the winning camp, ushering in a period of so-called cohabitation.



There is a precedent for this in the Fifth Republic from 1986-1988, 1993-1995 and 1997-2002 under the presidencies of Socialist Francois Mitterrand and Republicans Jacques Chirac respectively. In these periods, the center of gravity of domestic policy moves into the hands of the prime minister and the majority party in the legislature, with the president retaining the lead on foreign policy.



Sunday's result matters not only for the next few years in France, but could also shape the next decade too. As the low turnout shows, there remains widespread anti-establishment anger and, unless Macron is seen to succeed with his reforms, the beneficiaries in the future could be the far right Le Pen and/or far left Melenchon.



So it is not just the success of Macron's remaining presidency that will now rest significantly on Sunday's final round elections. The results will also shape the context for the next presidential ballot in 2027 when a victory by the far right or far left cannot be ruled out.





Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics


Energy company RWE and steel producer ArcelorMittal have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to develop, build and operate offshore wind farms and hydrogen facilities that will supply the renewable energy and green hydrogen required to produce low-emissions steel in Germany. The partnership centers on driving forward the production of carbon-neutral steel, with a plan to replace coal with wind power and green hydrogen as the main source of energy in steel production at ArcelorMittals steelmaking sites in Germany.





To decarbonize its production sites in Bremen, Hamburg, Eisenhuttenstadt and Duisburg as planned, ArcelorMittal Germany needs renewable energy on a large scale.

RWE and ArcelorMittal are assessing options for joint participation in tenders for offshore wind farm sites in the North Sea. The amendment of the Wind Energy at Sea Act (WindSeeG) currently under way is crucial for success, as it will permanently shape the cost structure in the German offshore wind sector. If the law were to establish negative bids in offshore wind tenders, financing wind farms would be more challenging and send the wrong pricing signals to the market by making wind power unnecessarily expensive, the companies said.

Competitive electricity prices are absolutely necessary, if energy-intensive industries such as the steel industry, which operates in a competitive global environment, are to have a future in Germany, the companies added. RWE and ArcelorMittal strongly believe that with the right steer, green steel from Germany can become a benchmark worldwide for low-carbon emissions steel production.

RWE and ArcelorMittal also want to work together on the development of green hydrogen, by jointly looking for areas where electrolysis plants can be built to supply the steel production sites in Bremen and Eisenhuttenstadt, starting with a 70 MW pilot plant by 2026 with the clear intention to increase to Gigawatt-scale projects in the long term, subject to approval of public funding.

With the combination of RWEs expertise in offshore wind farms and electrolyzers, and ArcelorMittal as a guaranteed buyer of the green electricity and hydrogen, the two companies believe they have excellent opportunities for a viable partnership arrangement. RWE and ArcelorMittal intend to conclude long-term purchase agreements for both wind power and green hydrogen.

Electricity from renewable energies and green hydrogen must become the hallmark of industrial production in Germany. Industry needs both in large quantities as soon as possible in order to achieve its climate targets. That is why we are planning one of the most ambitious expansion projects for offshore wind farms and electrolysers in Germany, together with ArcelorMittal. If the regulatory framework is right, we want to be successful together in the bidding for offshore areas. ArcelorMittal is an excellent partner to expand our industry cooperation and thus give real impetus to decarbonization projects in Germany. Sven Utermohlen, CEO Offshore Wind, RWE Renewables

ArcelorMittal Germany is embarking on a radical transition to ensure we reach our CO2 emissions reduction targets, meaning that the energy used to make steel will need to be clean energy. The partnership we have announced with RWE today is significant for a number of reasons: it will provide us with the renewable, affordable electricity and green hydrogen that we need to produce low-emissions steel while remaining competitive in a global market. It also offers vital security in the supply chain, by integrating the supply of energy and hydrogen into our business. We are looking forward to working with RWE on this highly important project and benefiting from their experience and know-how, as we continue to lead the industry in the decarbonization of steelmaking in Germany and beyond. Reiner Blaschek, CEO ArcelorMittal Germany

As the worlds leading steel producer, ArcelorMittal has ambitious climate action goals, including a target to reduce CO2 emissions by 35% by 2030 in Europe, and a group-wide target to be carbon neutral by 2050. By 2030, ArcelorMittal is aiming to exceed this target in Germany, by moving away from coal-intensive blast furnace technology to electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and direct reduction (DRI) plants. They also plan to gradually replace natural gas with green hydrogen as the fuel for these facilities, once it is cost-competitive at scale.

In addition to the partnership on renewable electricity and green hydrogen, the companies want to investigate possible uses for ArcelorMittals low-emissions steel in components for RWEs renewable electricity plants. RWE wants to be climate-neutral by 2040. To achieve this goal, the energy company needs to decarbonize its supply chain, and the use of low-emissions steel will make an important contribution to this.




Bidders for Toshiba Corp are considering offering up to 7,000 yen ($51.41) per share to take the troubled Japanese conglomerate private, three people familiar with the situation told Reuters, valuing the deal at about $22 billion.







Toshiba, which is exploring strategic options, said this month it had received eight initial buyout proposals and two proposals for capital alliances that would see it remain listed.







The bidders are now discussing an offer price range of up to 7,000 yen a share with Toshiba's shareholders, the people said, representing up to a 27 percent premium to Toshiba's share price as of Wednesday's close.







A separate source said the range of offers had been wide spread and various conditions have been attached.







Toshiba said in a statement to Reuters that it would not disclose details of the proposals. (Reuters)


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MILFORD  A prosecutor told a judge Thursday she is beginning to work out a plea offer to a former University of Connecticut student accused of fleeing the state after two killings in 2020.

Peter Manfredonia appeared virtually before Milford Superior Court Judge Peter Brown via a remote hearing from Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown, where he is being held in lieu of bonds totaling $12 million.

The 25-year-old faces charges of murder, felony murder, first-degree kidnapping, home invasion, first-degree robbery and carrying a pistol without a permit in connection with the killing of fellow Newtown High grad Nicholas Eisele in Derby and the kidnapping of Eiseles girlfriend.

During Thursdays hearing, States Attorney Margaret Kelley asked for the case to be continued to next month so she could meet with Eiseles family to review pretrial discussions and start formulating some type of an offer.

The prosecutor said she will also discuss the case with Tolland Judicial District States Attorney Matthew Gedansky, who is handling charges related to Manfredonias alleged May 22, 2020, samurai sword attack on two men in Willington and home invasion of a nearby house prior to the killing of Eisele.

One victim of the Willington attack, Ted Demers, was killed, and a second man, John Franco, was critically injured but survived, according to authorities.

Manfredonia is due to appear in Vernon Superior Court Friday on those charges.

I imagine those will be the first substantive discussions that well have up there, Manfredonias lawyer, Michael Dolan, told the judge during Thursdays hearing.

The judge continued the Derby case to another remote hearing scheduled for July 28, but said he will discuss the case with Kelley and Dolan behind closed doors July 15.

Manfredonia, dressed in a beige prison uniform, did not speak during Thursdays five-minute hearing other than to confirm his date of birth with the judge.

He has been behind bars for more than two years since his May 27, 2020 capture at a Maryland truck stop after a manhunt that spanned six days and four states.

Following the alleged attack in Willington, Manfredonia allegedly broke into the home of a 73-year-old Willington man and held him captive for more than 24 hours before stealing guns, money and a pickup truck, authorities said.

He allegedly drove the truck to Derby and crashed it on Roosevelt Drive, where Eisele lived, before killing his fellow Newtown High School graduate and kidnapping Eiseles girlfriend, who was later found unharmed at a New Jersey rest stop.

The Willington home invasion victim described a harrowing ordeal during which Manfredonias personality changed repeatedly, from friendly while talking fondly of motorcycles and his family to irritated and stern and forceful the morning of his departure, according to the arrest warrant.

Manfredonia didnt offer any motive for the May 22 killing beyond not having slept for days, the home invasion victim said, according to an arrest warrant.

He said he didnt know why he did it and that he was remorseful for it, the man is quoted as telling police in an 11-page arrest warrant.

He was calm and apologetic, but couldnt explain why he did that, the man told police, the warrant stated.

In Vernon, Manfredonia has been charged with murder, criminal attempt to commit murder, first-degree assault, home invasion, first-degree kidnapping with a firearm, first-degree robbery, first-degree larceny, two counts of first-degree stealing a firearm and third-degree assault of an elderly person. Those charges are in connection with the Willington attacks and home invasion.
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GREENWICH  Edmund (Ed) Burke is among the last of a rare breed, a U.S. Army veteran of World War II.

Burke, 96, was honored with a commendation this week at the Parsonage Cottage, a senior residential community where he lives, from the state of Connecticut as well as a proclamation from the state chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Mario Richards, the state commander of the VFW, praised Burke and other service members who saved the world from dictatorship and domination.

Burke was an 18-year-old, fresh out of Fordham Prep in the Bronx, N.Y., his hometown, when he was drafted into the Army in 1944. Assigned to the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, part of the Seventh Armored Division, he served as a machine gunner and saw heavy fighting in northern France, the Ardennes and the Rhineland region of Germany. He suffered frost bite and was awarded the Purple Heart for that combat-related injury, and he was also the recipient of the Bronze Star for meritorious achievement. Burke was also credited with capturing a number of German prisoners.

Its a good thing we won, Burke said with a laugh after the presentation Wednesday.

He said he was pleased to be honored  and a little worn out, he joked. Burke, now a widower, raised a family of six children in Valhalla, N.Y. After his service in the war, he studied civil engineering and had a long career working on construction projects in the New York City area.

His son, Bob Burke, said his father has a great sense of humor and was always humble about his wartime experience.

Hes always been a humble guy, no matter what he did, said Bob Burke, a resident of Armonk, N.Y. He never spoke about the war in glorified terms, he just did what he had to do.

State Rep. Kimberly Fiorello presented a proclamation from the state of Connecticut honoring his service.

I feel I owe a debt of gratitude to all the men and women who answered the call ... to fight for freedom, she said.

Don Sylvester, past commander of the Byram Veterans Association and a member of the VFW, looked over the list of Burkes wartime achievements and medals with admiration.

Thats an impressive list, he said. Experience most men will never see in a lifetime.
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LOGAN, W.Va. (AP)  A Vietnam-era helicopter showcased in action movies crashed on a rural West Virginia road, killing all six people on board, during an annual reunion for helicopter enthusiasts.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the Bell UH-1B Huey helicopter crashed along Route 17 in Logan County about 5 p.m. Wednesday.

All six people on board were killed, said Ray Bryant, chief of operations for the Logan County emergency ambulance service authority. The helicopter crashed in clear weather on a road near the local airport, he said.

The entire cab of it was on fire, Bryant said in a phone interview Thursday.

It was recognized by the first responders as being a helicopter from this area because we see it a lot, he said.

The crash occurred during an annual reunion for helicopter enthusiasts at MARPAT Aviation in Logan. It was scheduled to begin Tuesday and end Sunday, according to MARPAT's website.

During the event, visitors could sign up to ride or fly the historic helicopter, described by organizers as one of the last of its kind still flying.

The helicopter was flown by the 114th Assault Helicopter Company, The Knights of the Sky, in Vinh Long, Vietnam, throughout much of the 1960s, according to MARPAT. After the Huey returned to the U.S. in 1971, the website says, it was featured in movies like Die Hard, The Rock and Under Siege: Dark Territory."

Neither reunion organizers nor MARPAT officials returned requests for comment Thursday.

Patty Belcher, who lives nearby, was driving to the store when she came upon the crash.

There was smoke so thick that you couldnt hardly see nothing but smoke and flames," she said by phone Thursday. "It was coming down the ditch line on the righthand side, and I said, My God, I better turn around. It might catch this truck on fire. So I turned around and came back.

The crash was near the Battle of Blair Mountain historic sites, where a deadly clash erupted a century ago as thousands of coal miners marched to unionize in West Virginia.

Bobbi Childs saw smoke and flames and got close enough to see a man who was trapped.

I saw that there was a guy trapped, I guess the captain. I tried to get down to the door where he was at. You could see him plain as day. I tried to get to him, but the fire was too hot. I couldnt get to him, Childs told WOWK-TV.

The road was expected to remain closed for at least 24 hours. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. ___

Willingham reported from Charleston, W.Va. Schreiner reported from Frankfort, Ky.
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LAS VEGAS (AP)  Elected officials in one rural Nevada county decided Thursday to postpone until Friday certifying results of the 317 ballots cast in their jurisdiction during the states June 14 primary election.

The decision in Esmeralda County, the least populous county in the state, comes a week after lawmakers in a Republican-leaning rural New Mexico county initially refused to certify their primary election results.

Esmeralda County Commission Chairman De Winsor and Vice-Chairman Timothy Hipp responded to complaints about the voting process with a promise to recount the votes themselves before an end-of-day Friday deadline set in state election law.

The grassroots effort starts right here, Winsor said midway through a contentious 90-minute meeting at which the three-member commission in the Republican-leaning county met to sign off on the results of the vote. This is where we proved we do it right.

Hipp was out of town and participated in the meeting by teleconference. He said he could be back in the county seat, Goldfield, by 2 p.m. Friday to begin counting ballots. Audio of the meeting was streamed on the internet.

County District Attorney Robert Glennen III advised Winsor and Hipp that they could suspend the meeting to reconvene Friday at 2 p.m. He said they have until 11:59 p.m. under state election law to finish.

The third commissioner, Ralph Keyes, said he was already willing to accept the count of the vote conducted by county officials  including a hand-count on Wednesday by county employees of the 177 paper ballots and paper records of 140 ballots that county Clerk-Treasurer LaCinda Elgan said were cast by machine.

In a telephone interview, Elgan noted that a deputy clerk, Michelle Garcia, administered the primary because Elgan was on the Republican ballot for reelection. She drew 57.5% of the vote.

Elgan called the primary in Esmeralda absolutely safe and fair.

One vote cast on one ballot was unintelligible, she said, but all ballots were tallied and reported. None was rejected.

It did not appear the number of votes in question could affect results of primary contests that chose candidates for federal and state offices including U.S. Senate, Congress, governor, state attorney general and the top elections official in Nevada, the secretary of state.

State attorney generals office spokesman John Sadler confirmed that Nevada law sets 11:59 p.m. Friday as the deadline to certify results of the June 14 primary, and said any hand-count of ballots before then would be considered part of the county canvass process. Sadler said that to his knowledge, no Nevada county had ever refused to certify results.

State law makes county lawmakers roles ministerial only, Attorney General Aaron Ford said in a Wednesday statement responding to questions from AP. If county commissioners or elections officials refused based on posturing designed to undermine faith in our democratic process, the statement said, the state will proceed with legal options.

Facing the Friday deadline, eight rural Nevada counties have certified the primary vote, including Lyon County on Thursday afternoon. Canvassing is scheduled Friday in Esmeralda and eight others including Clark, covering the Las Vegas area; Washoe covering the Reno area; and Nye, a Republican-leaning county including Pahrump and Tonopah.

The results from Nevada's 17 counties go to the secretary of state, who cannot reject or otherwise not accept the results, said Jennifer Russell, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican.

If a Nevada county refuses to certify, we would work with the (state attorney generals) office to determine a path forward, Russell said.

The standoff in Nevada bore echoes of concerns raised in rural New Mexicos Republican-leaning Otero County, where commissioners stalled before splitting their vote and approving election results. Officials there cited unspecified concerns with Dominion voting systems, a target of widespread conspiracy theories since the 2020 presidential election.

New Mexico's Democratic secretary of state appealed to that states Supreme Court to intervene before two commissioners relented  complaining that they felt they were little more than rubber-stamps.

The three commissioners in Esmeralda voted in April to join commissioners in neighboring Nye County calling for elections to be conducted using paper ballots  and without Dominion machines. Elgan and the elected county clerk in Nye County, Sam Merlino, both said they did not believe it was feasible to stop using electronic voting machines this year.

In email and in-person comments protesting the Esmeralda County primary vote, resident Mary Jane Zakas made no reference to New Mexico.

But she alleged that hot dog tongs could have breached ballot boxes that she said didnt meet security standards; that partisan workers drove ballots from a remote polling place to Goldfield; and that a Dominion representative provided assistance to an election worker. Zakas said that showed the poll worker wasn't properly trained.

Elgan and Garcia responded that the worker was trained, but the Dominion representative was there to help. The county clerk said no computer malfunctioned.

Zakas also alleged in her email that the vote could have been flipped or tampered with during the five minutes she said a poll worker carried a thumb drive from a vote tally computer out of a room.

In audio streamed from the meeting, Elgan and Garcia responded that a printer was in the other room. Elgan said a printer will be installed in the counting room for the general election.

Weve got a problem. People dont trust the system, Zakas told the commissioners. Weve got a situation where a lot of people are really concerned about the safety of their votes.

Esmeralda County, a former mining boom area, is about halfway between Las Vegas and Reno. It is home to fewer than 1,000 residents. Nearly 54% of the county's 621 active registered voters are Republicans, according to the Nevada Secretary of State, and more than 25% are non-partisan.

President Donald Trump won 82% of the vote in Esmeralda County in 2020.

___

This story has been updated to correct that no computer malfunctioned. This story also was updated to correct that the last name of the county district attorney. He is Robert Glennen III, not Glennon.

____

Associated Press writer Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, and Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.
The U.S. Supreme Courts decision to strike down New Yorks century-old pistol permit law reverberated throughout Connecticut on Thursday, with policy-makers and legal experts warning that the ruling is likely to spark new challenges to many of the states strict rules governing the ownership of firearms.

While the New York law that was overturned by the ruling differs slightly from a similar statute in Connecticut requiring a permit to carry a handgun, the courts explanation of why the law was impermissible was widely seen as offering the largest expansion of gun rights under the Second Amendment in at least a decade.

Kerri Raissian, a professor of public policy at the University of Connecticut, said that Connecticuts system for approving pistol permits remained on fairly solid ground following the decision.

A footnote in the majority opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas, she noted, mentioned Connecticut as one of three states that nominally give discretion to local officials to approve permits but for the most part approve applicants who meet a set list of criteria to receive a permit.

That doesnt mean that this decision wont have longer-term implications for Connecticuts laws, Raissian said. So much of the Supreme Court and policy work in general is incremental. It doesnt mean that there wont be additional lawsuits on existing laws.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who signed onto an amicus brief last September urging the court to uphold the New York law, issued a similar warning on Thursday that the courts ruling would prompt a wave of new lawsuits nationwide and here in Connecticut, coordinated by gun groups like the [National Rifle Association].

In a statement released by his office, Tong vowed to work Democratic attorney generals in other states to uphold commonsense gun safety legislation, that has previously withstood scrutiny from the courts.

This decision is reckless, and the consequences for public safety nationwide are dire, but it was not unexpected, Tong said. We have been working closely with advocates, legislators, and other attorneys general nationwide and are ready to aggressively defend Connecticuts laws.

Tongs warnings largely mirrored the assessment of his offices chief legal counsel, Cara Passaro, who wrote a public memo last week anticipating that a decision to overturn the New York law would result in legal challenges going beyond the scope of gun permits, to other regulations such bans on assault weapons, age-based restrictions on gun ownership and prohibitions on carrying firearms into schools and other sensitive locations.

Gov. Ned Lamont also weighed in Thursday with a defense of Connecticuts gun laws, which have long been held up as a model for other states as well as Congress by supporters of gun control.

We should all be concerned that todays ruling heralds a newly aggressive effort to second-guess commonsense state and local policies that save lives while accommodating both gun rights and gun safety, Lamont said. One thing we know is true - more guns do not make us safer, and as governor I will continue to pursue policies that make our laws stronger to keep our residents out of harms way.

Legal scholars on Thursday viewed the courts decision as a furthering of the courts originalist approach to the Constitution that has been championed by conservative lawmakers and jurists.

Theres a lot of conversation  even in how Henry VIII regarded firearms in England, Raissian said. I think what I would expect is that the court is going to rely much more on original interpretation than thinking about the cost-benefit of policies, inclusive of firearm policies but I dont think limited to firearm policies.

Todd Fernow, a professor emeritus at the UCONN School of Law, said the decision leads to the very dangerous presumption that the Constitution authorizes citizens to carry firearms in public as a right that lawmakers can place few limits on.

"It could lead to an open armament of the citizenry of this country in a way we haven't seen in hundreds of years. Fernow said. "Its going to have huge ramifications in every state."

Following the courts decision on Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul promised to call lawmakers into a special session in Albany to draft new rules over the right to carry weapons in public.

State Sen. Gary Winfield, a New Haven Democratic who serves as co-chair of the committee responsible for weighing gun legislation, said in a statement Thursday that lawmakers in Connecticut are similarly prepared to defend the measures they have enacted.

We remain steadfast in our efforts and will be ready with any necessary legislative responses to ensure that Connecticut remains at the forefront of gun safety and that our citizens remain safe within the boundaries of this state, Winfield said.

Reporter Jordan Fenster contributed to this article.




By Lee Kyung-min







Booyoung Group said Thursday that it has begun the construction of a large multi-purpose education and childcare facility to help enhance housing and learning infrastructure in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.







Woojeong Cambodia School will be a complex of three five-story buildings housing kindergartens, daycare centers and elementary, middle and high schools in Booyoung Town in Phnom Penh.







The complex with a total lot area of 15,475 square meters will be able to accommodate about 1,800 students and young children.







Over 200 local students and residents in the country attended a ceremony to celebrate the construction, alongside Booyoung Group Chairman Lee Joong-keun and Cambodian Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron.







The project is part of a corporate social responsibility program led by the group from within the country and abroad over the past few years.







"As the Korean saying goes, education takes 100 years, meaning it is a long-term project that will lay the groundwork for the generations to come," Lee said at the ceremony.






Last month Huawei unveiled the MateBook D 16 and MateBook 16s with 12th generation Intel processors. That was just for China, but Huawei has plans to sell those two in Europe as well.

The two laptops were shown off at an event in Istanbul, Turkey. They were joined by the foldable flagship Huawei Mate Xs 2, the newly announced phone Huawei nova Y90 and the Y70 (which was previously unveiled). The 10.3 e-ink tablet, the Huawei MatePad Paper, was demoed as well (if that sounds interesting, check out our review).

Back to the laptops. The pair of 16 Windows 11 machines will be available in Europe soon, but were still waiting on Huawei to release pricing information and more concrete launch details.

The Huawei MateBook D 16 has an aluminum body that measures 18.4mm thick and weighs 1.7kg (3.75lbs), thats not much for a 16 laptop. It has a 16:10 IPS LCD (1,920 x 1,200px, 142ppi) resolution and promises an impressive image quality with 100% sRGB coverage, 1,200:1 contrast ratio and 300 nits of brightness.



The Huawei MateBook D 16 is coming to Europe

There are two choices for processor  the Intel Core i5-12450H or the Core i7-12700H. The former has UHD Graphics (48 EU, 1.2GHz), the latter features the more capable Iris Xe graphics (96 EU, 1.4GHz). There is no option for dedicated graphics.

You can configure the laptop with 8 or 16GB of RAM, storage is fixed at 512GB (NVMe SSD). The laptop has a 60Wh battery and two USB-C ports that can be used for charging (one also does DisplayPort). Additionally, there is a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, a USB 2.0, an HDMI port and a 3.5mm combo headphones plus mic jack. The MateBook D 16 ships with the necessary 65W power adapter and USB cable.

Note: there is an AMD-powered version of the MateBook D 16 (Ryzen 4600H), but todays event was focused on the Intel-powered model.

The Huawei MateBook 16s is another 16 laptop, although the display on this one has 3:2 aspect ratio (2,520 x 1,680px resolution). It is still an IPS LCD with 100% sRGB coverage, even better it offers higher contrast at (1,500:1) and factory calibration with average deltaE of less that 1 (i.e. as good as can be).

This one is also powered by 12th generation Intel processors from the H-series, meaning 40W TDP. You can have it with dual-channel RAM and an NVMe SSD as well.
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The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is Samsungs currently reigning flagship and the company is touting the phones Nightography capabilities in the latest cross-promotion with the Netflix show Stranger Things. The highly acclaimed Netflix series is on its fourth season, which is now streaming on the platform.

In the promo titled Stranger Nights, a group of three kids on their bikes are on their way to a viewing party to watch the latest season of Stranger Things and one of the kids leaves a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra in their back pocket, which records their bike ride. Monsters from the show including the Demogorgon from the upside down appear in the shots.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

In our review of the S22 Ultra, we praised its low-light photography for capturing impressive amounts of detail, though there were some low traces of noise. Low-light video does capture a decent image, but dynamic range wasnt too impressive.

Via YouTube
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The Guam National Guard announced it is scaling down most of its COVID-19 operations since hospitalizations for the virus remain low, but will continue to support the Department of Public Health and Social Services.

We are not completely disengaging from the entire operation, said Maj. Gen. Esther Aguigui, adjutant general of the Guam National Guard.

Aguigui said since the pandemic is not over, small teams of Guard soldiers will continue to assist Public Health nurses with initiatives like Operation Homebound to help homeless and low-income residents receive testing and vaccinations.

We are always going to be available to respond to any emergency, she said, adding that the governor and island can always count on the guards help in a time of crisis.

In recognition of the Guards Joint Task Force 671 response to the pandemic, a ceremony was held at the Guam National Guard Barrigada Readiness Complex Wednesday.

During the ceremony, Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero was presented with a ceremonial minuteman statue by Lt. Gen. Marc Sasseville, vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, to recognize the Guam National Guards role in the islands high vaccination rate.

I knew that the Guam National Guard would step up to the plate and do the work that they needed to do to save lives, to save our people and keep our community safe, said Leon Guerrero.

Sasseville praised the Guam National Guard for helping provide about 200,000 COVID-19 tests and administering 200,000 vaccination doses on island.

The assistance the Guard provided in setting up and running quarantine and isolation facilities set Guam apart from most other states and territories, said Sasseville.

He said the response of the National Guard to an emergency works well because it is a community-based organization.

The guardsmen are the people who know their communities, they know the lay of the land and its strengths and weaknesses, Sasseville said.
A 39-year-old man was charged with the rape of a 13-year-old girl multiple times in the past six months.

Kesny Nachuo, who according to charging documents appeared to be on probation for a 2019 felony case, was charged with first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct as first-degree felonies.

After an initial report was made in February, police interviewed the girl on Wednesday, according to a magistrates complaint filed Thursday in Superior Court.

During the interview, the girl said she was in a Mangilao residence when Kesny Nachuo touched her sexually on Dec. 22, 2021, the complaint stated.

The girl said Nachuo raped her, and she punched and kicked him until she could get away, the complaint stated.

In January, Nachuo touched her again, and in February, he raped her, according to the complaint. When she resisted, he punched her and pulled her hair, the complaint stated.

When Nachuo was interviewed by police, he told them the girl accused him of touching her inappropriately when he grabbed her breast, and he immediately apologized, according to the complaint.
Sen. Telena Nelson is proposing a $700 rebate for income tax filers through legislation introduced Wednesday evening.

The cost of gas, groceries, and daily necessities are increasing due to outside influences beyond our control. It is my hope that this measure will provide some assistance to our people during this time, Nelson said in a release.

If signed into law, Bill 321, dubbed the Island Rejuvenation Assistance Act of 2022, would provide the rebate to every person who filed a return for the year ending Dec. 31, 2022. The measure would set aside $56 million from the General Fund for the Department of Revenue and Taxation to pay the rebate out to an estimated 80,000 tax filers on island.

Each resident who filed a tax return and is not a dependent of another taxpayer will be eligible to receive the rebate. A single, head of household, or married person filing separately will receive $700, and a married couple filing a joint return will receive $1,400.

Nelson points to the millions in excess tax revenue that the General Fund is on track to collect as a means to fund the bill.

These excess funds come from the General Fund which in turn are taxes paid by the people. It is only right to return that money back to them, Nelson stated in a press release.

As of the close of May, the General Fund is on track to collect $85 million in excess this fiscal year, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Budget & Management Research.

Nelson is running for Guam's delegate seat to Congress this year.
High school and college students interested in medicine and social work have an opportunity to learn more about the career fields through an internship with the Todu Guam Foundation, according to a press release from the foundation.

The five-week internship offers on-the-job experience and training for students interested in medical and mental health care, social work or community involvement.

All interns will be registered as foundation volunteers and will be able to learn skills that will be useful in any workplace as they work under the supervision of clinical director, Dr. Delores Lee.

The goal is to provide the interns with exposure to a variety of experiences in the clinical aspect of our organization, said Todu Guam Foundation President Lena Calvo-Rodriguez in a news release. The foundation is geared toward promoting healthy living for Guam residents, according to the news release.

Since the majority of the population the organization serves is children and adolescents, the internship program was created to encourage young people to be part of the nonprofits mission.

The other main priority is to deliver real-life experiences and lessons using the social and emotional learning tools that come directly from the Todu Guam CARES Movement, which is our newest program, said Calvo-Rodriguez in a news release.

The Community Approach to Resiliency and Engagement for Students, or CARES Movement, provides conflict resolution support for youth and their families dealing with mental and emotional health issues. Interns will shadow CARE coordinators in schools to observe and interact in the Todu Guam Foundation CARES Movement as program ambassadors.

This is the foundations first internship program since the organization was started in 2017 and has served more than 5,200 Guam residents with primary and preventative medical care.

The deadline to apply for the unpaid internship program is Saturday and begins June 27.




A group of Korean businessmen have discussed bilateral economic cooperation with U.S. lawmakers and White House officials in Washington, with a focus on global supply chains, Seoul's trade association said Thursday.







The delegation, led by Koo Ja-yeol, chief of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), made the two-day visit to the United States from Wednesday (local time) in a bid to bolster economic exchanges involving the private sector, KITA said in a press release.







Officials from 13 large firms running operations in the U.S., including LG, SK hynix and Hyundai Motor were among the delegation, it said.







In the meeting with U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Alex Padilla (D-CA), Koo said supply chain cooperation was the "first step" in the Korea-U.S. economic security alliance, and that companies and businesspeople should be the main players in this, according to KITA.







The delegation also had a meeting with Peter Harrell and Melanie Nakagawa, senior directors at the White House National Security Council, and Sammera Fazili, a deputy director of the National Economic Council.







The delegation also attended a session hosted by the Congressional Study Group on Korea, where they were joined by members of Congress, including Reps. Young Kim (R-CA) and Ami Bera (D-CA), and discussed bilateral trade, investment and ways to promote cooperation, KITA said. (Yonhap)






Our View: Working together for sustainability is needed for Guam's future




Haiti - Faculty of Medicine : Graduation ceremony for 133 new doctors





133 students graduating from the Francois Wilder promotion, having successfully completed their medical studies, received their diploma and took the Hippocratic oath, the final step for these new doctors, in the presence in particular of the new Dean Dr. Bernard Pierre, the Vice Dean Dr. Marc-Felix and representatives of the rectorate, during a ceremony organized at the Marriott Hotel by the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy (FMP) of the State University of Haiti (UEH)



Professor Bernard Pierre said he was honored to participate in his first graduation ceremony and urged these young doctors to practice medicine with passion and integrity.



Dr. Agabus Joseph, sponsor of the promotion, said "Continuing to offer doctors to serve the country in this difficult context proves that the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy has remained faithful to its mission to be at the service of all."



Dr. Yves Gardy Leonard, Dr. Kohlz Erley Saint Jusca, Dr. Rebecca St Louis are the 3 first laureates of the Francois Wilder promotion







In his speech, Dr. Yves Gardy Leonard, after the usual thanks, invited his peers to remain "good doctors" by bringing honor to society, "by practicing the profession with integrity."



TB/ HaitiLibre


















Korea Importers Association (Koima) Chairman Kim Byung-kwan, front row center, poses with ambassadors from over 40 countries as well as government officials at the opening ceremony of the Import Goods Fair 2022 at COEX in Seoul, Thursday. Koima said the event will also promote Busan's bid to host the World Expo 2030. Courtesy of Koima




Haiti - Education : Towards a technical baccalaureate (ONAPE)





Tuesday, June 21, 2022, the Board of the National Office for Partnership in Education (ONAPE) after a long period of hibernation, met. It's Nesmy Manigat, Minister of National Education also acting as Chairman of the Council assisted by Dr Herve Boursiquot, Director General of ONAPE and Professor Auguste D'Meza, member of his cabinet who chaired this Council.



During this meeting which inaugurated the work of this Council, the Minister Manigat considered it useful to detail certain decisions, taken recently, in order to activate the educational reform in progress. In this case, he focused on the pilot phase of the technical baccalaureate which will be initiated at the start of the next school year (September 2022), on the linguistic transition that the country is experiencing and which requires readjustments in the content taught and in the way of teaching, and on the single book which will be available, also at the start of the 2022-2023 school year, for students in 1st and 2nd years of the fundamental school.



About the technical baccalaureate, Laurent Saint-Cyr, of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Haiti (CCIH), issued favorable opinions. He believes that this could further anchor the school in the reality of the country while correlating teaching-learning and the needs of the national labor market, in addition to the regional market. Opinions shared in particular by the trade unionist Yvel Admit of the National League of Haitian Teachers (LINEH), Caroline Hudicourt of the Consortium of Organizations of the Private Sector of Education (COSPE) and Sherly Jean-Charles, representative of the Ministry of Economy and finances.



On this point, the Director General of ONAPE, Dr. Herve Boursiquot, and the coordinator of the National Commission for the Development of Acquired Professional Experience (CNDVAEP), Charles Levelt Joseph, highlighted the need to work to the valorization of trades given that the country has a great need of it to operate companies, creators of goods and services for which they must mobilize know-how that they are obliged to import, most often.



Concerning the "single book", such as Christon St-Fort of the Federation of Protestant Schools of Haiti (FEPH) or Celita Fevry of the Haitian Center for Social Action for the Advancement of the Family (CHASAF), other Board members expressed their appreciation. According to them, the "single book" will be useful in providing learners with content that conforms to the curricula, which is more understandable in their mother tongue (Creole). Preventing parents from incurring unnecessary expenses in the acquisition of several textbooks that are of no interest for learning at the level of the first cycle of fundamental school.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36954-haiti-education-towards-the-implementation-of-technical-and-vocational-secondary.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Diaspora Covid-19 : Daily Bulletin #825





GLOBAL SITUATION 2019-2022:

Epidemiological situation:

Thursday, June 23, 2022 the number of people infected worldwide with the Covid-19 coronavirus and its variants since the start of the pandemic (March 11, 2020) amounts to 546,714,692 cases (+847,071 in 24 hours ), the day before (+917,230)



Number of infected countries: 228



*Healings: 522,363,478 people have been cured of Covid-19 worldwide (+522,005 in 24 hours), the day before (+1,519,984)

*Deaths: 6,345,989 people have died of Covid-19 worldwide since the start of the pandemic (+2.107 in 24 hours), the day before (+1.805)

*Active cases (minus deaths and recoveries) in the world is currently 18,005,225 cases (+322,959 in 24 hours), the day before (-604,559)



Cure rate in the world: 95.54% (-)



Death rate in the world: 1.16% (=)



World: Trend of confirmed daily cases







Vaccination: 12.54 billion doses of vaccine injected (+50 million). (Latest data available).



HAITI:

According to the Ministry of Public Health, +31 new cases of Covid-19 and its variants have been confirmed in Haiti as of June 17, 2022 (latest partial data available ) for a total of 31,226 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 (+80 cases as of June 15, 2022).



Healings: 29,813 (+6)



Cure rate: 95.47% (-)



Deaths: 837 deaths (+0)



Death rate: 2.68% (=)



Screening since the start of the pandemic: 206,594 tests since March 19, 2020 (+255 in 2 days) a number of tests statistically insufficient to be representative of the health situation, which results in a < B>number of daily confirmed cases largely underestimated in the opinion of health specialists.



TOP 5 of the most affected municipalities in the West (2022):

Delmas: 830 (+1); Petion-ville 668 (+4); Port-au-Prince 439 (+0); Tabarre 335 (+0); Cross-Bouquets 272 (+2)



Confirmed cases by department (2022 / 2021 / 2020):

West: 2022: 2,833 (+) cases; (2021: 9.890); (2020: 6,945 cases)

North: 2022: 303 (+) cases; (2021: 664); (2020: 677 cases)

Center: 2022: 295 (+) cases; (2021: 1.001); (2020: 508 cases)

Artibonite: 2022: 200 (+) cases; (2021: 855); (2020: 593 cases)

Northeast: 2022: 194 (+) cases; (2021: 404); (2020: 314 cases)

Southeast: 2022: 327 (=) cases; (2021: 768); (2020: 274 cases)

South: 2022: 233 (=) cases; (2021: 891); (2020: 262 cases)

North West: 2022: 297 (=) cases; (2021: 383); (2020: 229 cases)

Grand'Anse: 2022: 230 (=) cases; (2021: 861); (2020: 176 cases)

Nippes: 2022: 89 (=) cases; (2021: 249) (2020: 149 cases)



Cumulative deaths by department (2022-2021):

West: 298 deaths (2020: 104 deaths)

North: 54 deaths (2020: 34 deaths)

Center: 79 deaths (2020: 13 deaths)

Artibonite: 42 deaths (2020: 39 deaths)

North East: 7 deaths (2020: 6 deaths)

South: 51 deaths (2020: 6 deaths)

Southeast: 15 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: 56 deaths

40-49 years: 80 deaths

50-59 years: 135 deaths

60-69 years: 188 deaths

70-79 years: 184 deaths

80 years and over: 138 deaths



Vaccination:

219,752 Haitians (2.43% of the population) +28,184 in 5 days have received a 1st dose of vaccine since July 16, 2021, date of the first injection through 149 open vaccination centers and 145,544 Haitians are fully vaccinated (2 doses, 1.25% of the population) +11.019 in 5 days. Update June 20, 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): 88,443,398 cases (+198,528 in 24 hours), the day before (+190,790)

*Healings: 84,153,379 healings (+112,902 in 24 hours), the day before (+92,901)

National Cure Rate: 95.14% (-)

Deaths: 1,039,771 (+871 in 24 hours), the day before (+515)

Death rate: 1.17% (=)

*Active cases (minus deaths and recoveries): 3,250,248 (+84,755 in 24 hours), the day before -+97,374)



USA: Number of daily confirmed cases:







Vaccination: 593.49 million doses of vaccine injected since December 14, 2020, the date of the first injection in the United States (150,000). (Latest data available).



DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:

Confirmed cases since March 1, 2020: 597,476 cases (+794 in 24 hours), the day before (+755). First case (March 1, 2020)

Healings: 589,482 healings (+891 in 24 hours), the day before (+845)

National Cure Rate: 98.66% (+)

Deaths: 4,383 deaths (+1), the day before (+0)

Death rate: 0.73% (=)

Positivity rate over 4 epidemiological weeks: 10.32% (+)

Active cases: (excluding deaths and recoveries) 3,611 cases (-98 in 24 hours) the day before (-90)



Dominican Republic: Number of daily confirmed cases:







TOP 5 Provinces with the most new cases in the last 24 hours:

Distrito Nacional: +187 new cases in 24 hours (+)

Santo Domingo: +116 new cases in 24 hours (-)

Barahona: +59 new cases (+)

Santiago: +42 new cases (+)

Valverde: +37 new cases (+)



Vaccination: 15.74 million doses of vaccine injected since February 16, 2021, date of the first injection in the Dominican Republic (+10,000 doses). (Latest data available).



QUEBEC:

Note: Quebec health authorities inform that as of June 22, 2022, data updates on Covid-19 will be made on Wednesdays on a weekly basis.



Confirmed cases since the first case (February 27, 2020): 1,081,135 (+3,879 in one week), previous ()

Deaths: 15,488 (+26 in one week) previous ()

Death rate: 1.43% (=)

Healing: The Center for Expertise and Reference in Public Health no longer makes this information available.



Quebec: Trend of daily confirmed cases







Vaccination: 20,017,195 doses of vaccine injected since December 14, 2020, date of the first injection (+21,665 doses in one week, latest data available - MSSS)



FRANCE:

*Confirmed cases since the first case (January 24, 2020): 30,354,599 cases (+77,967 in 24 hours), the day before (+95,217)

*Healings: 29,421,534 healings (+25,299 in 24 hours), the day before (+26,088)

National Cure Rate: 96.92% (-)

Deaths: 149,228 deaths (+66 in 24 hours), the day before (+56)

Death rate: 0.49% (=)

Active Cases: 783,837 (+52,602 in 24 hours), the day before (+69,073)



France: Number of daily confirmed cases:







Vaccination: 145.37 million doses of vaccine injected since December 27, 2020, date of the first injection in France (+40,000 doses). (Latest data available)



Previous bulletin : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36977-haiti-diaspora-covid-19-daily-bulletin-824.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...





Rhum Barbancourt : New Prize

The 5-star Barbancourt Rum won the "Bartender Seal of Approval" Prize for the Rum category in the annual "Chilled 100" competition of the prestigious spirits magazine Chilled Magazine alongside the "Santa Teresa 1796", the "Big 5 Coconut Rum" and from "Ron Colon Salvadoreno Coffee Flavored Rum".



Haitians intercepted off Ile de la Tortue

The US Guard Coast vessel Vigilant intercepted a dangerously overloaded Haitian sailboat on Wednesday, about 20 miles northwest of Ile de la Tortue.



Kidnapping of former Artibonite DD

Heavily armed men kidnapped, on the evening of June 21, 2022 around 10:00 p.m., Jean Osner Amisial, the former Departmental Delegate (DD) of Artibonite. According to a police source, an individual was arrested and two pickups seized by agents of the National Police of Haiti (PNH)



Against the entry into force of the new penal code

Former Senator Jean Renel Senatus calls on the population to mobilize against the entry into force of the new penal code scheduled for Friday, June 24, 2022 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36721-haiti-flash-all-about-the-new-penal-code-which-should-come-into-force-on-june-24-2022.html . This text is not in accordance with Haitian culture or family values, according to the former parliamentarian, describing the new criminal code as a villain as it was developed and published.



Download the new Criminal Procedure Code 2022 (214 PDF pages) :

https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/code-penal-haiti-2022.pdf



Summer traffic, new measures

The Divisional Commissioner Jean Michelet Shoute, Director of Traffic and Road Police organized, this Wednesday, June 22, 2022 at the DCPR in Delmas 2, an important meeting with the traffic managers of the metropolitan region around new provisions to facilitate a better circulation as a prelude to the summer holidays.



Agriculture : final acceptance of 4 Multi-Service Centers

The Coordination of the South Response Project proceeded during the month of June 2022 to the final acceptance of 4 Multi Services Centers (CMS) of Mineur, Cavaillon, Formond and Miserne, for the benefit of four Farmers' Associations. These Centers will allow the efficient development of activities in the rice sector, such as the production of seeds, the installation of agricultural machinery for soil preparation, the management of the storage of equipment and spare parts and the installation of a mill for rice husking and drying.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang, fourth from right in the back, speaks in a meeting at a hotel in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
Musicians unite to stage concert for Ukraine

Several well-known Hendersonville musicians have come together to stage a "Stand With Ukraine" concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 25, at Trinity Presbyterian Church.

Tickets are $25.

The concert will feature guest speakers along with performances by well-known Western North Carolina artists Aaron Burdett, Mare Carmody & Ellen Trnka, Tom Fisch, Jeff Michels Folkadelic Jam and special Ukranian guest performer Yulia (Julia) Kashirets.

Produced by John Ariatti and Tom Fisch, the concert will raise money for the International Rescue Committee (www.rescue.org) and Razom (razomforukraine.org).

The International Rescue Committee's team has quickly deployed to neighboring Poland, where they are working with partners to assist arriving refugees. They are also working with partners inside Ukraine, supporting the evacuation of women and children and providing emergency aid to people who had to flee their homes.

Razom (which means "together" in Ukrainian) is working with volunteers and partners in the US, Poland and Ukraine to address the emergency medical needs of people in Ukraine. Their focus is on getting tactical medical kits (first aid) to the people who need them. To effectively distribute these supplies quickly, they are also providing certain non-medical supplies that enable the distribution of the aid through accurate communication and navigation.

Tickets can be purchased at hendersonvilleconcertforukraine.eventbrite.com. Those who cant attend and would like to donate may mail a check made out to Razom Inc. or International Rescue Committee, to Concert For Ukraine PO Box 271 Flat Rock, NC 28731. For more information email hvilleconcertforukarine@gmail.com.




President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia was in the process of rerouting its trade and oil exports towards countries from the BRICS group of emerging economies in the wake of Western sanctions over Ukraine.







The BRICS countries comprise Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.







The West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia, including restrictions on imports of its oil, after the Kremlin sent its troops into Ukraine, Feb. 24.







In order to weather the sanctions, Russia is trying to forge closer ties with Asia, seeking to supplant the markets it lost in the row with the European Union and the United States.







In a video address to the BRICS Business Forum participants, Putin said Russia was discussing increasing the presence of Chinese cars on the Russian market as well as the opening of Indian supermarket chains.







"In its turn, Russia's presence in the BRICS countries is growing. There has been a noticeable increase in exports of Russian oil to China and India," Putin said.







According to data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs, China's crude oil imports from Russia were up 55% from a year earlier to a record level in May, displacing Saudi Arabia as China's top supplier, as refiners cashed in on discounted supplies.







Putin also said Russia was developing alternative mechanisms for international financial settlements jointly with its BRICS partners.







"The Russian Financial Messaging System is open for connection with the banks of the BRICS countries. The Russian MIR payment system is expanding its presence. We are exploring the possibility of creating an international reserve currency based on the basket of BRICS currencies," he said. (Reuters)


Hendersonville man sentenced to prison for selling emission test cheating devices

ASHEVILLE A 35-year-old Hendersonville man received a sentence of a year in prison after he was convicted of selling devices that enabled vehicle owners to cheat on EPA-required emissions tests, Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, announced in a news release.

Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Matthew Sidney Geouge to one year and one day in prison for conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act by selling more than 14,000 illegal devices that defeat required vehicle emissions control systems, also known as defeat devices," King said.

Geouge was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release, six months of which will be in home confinement, and to pay a civil penalty of $1.3 million to the Environmental Protection Agency and $1.2 million in restitution to the IRS. In addition to the Clean Air Act violation, Geouge was also sentenced for tax evasion.

Charles Carfagno, Special Agent in Charge of the Environmental Protection Agencys Criminal Investigation Division and Donald Trey Eakins, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, Charlotte Field Office, joined King in making todays announcement.

Geouges co-conspirators were previously sentenced for their roles in the scheme after pleading guilty to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act:

 John A. Slagel, 52, of Fairbury, Illinois, was sentenced to three years of probation, to include six months of home confinement, and was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and to pay a $150,000 fine.

 Joshua L. Davis, 43, of Metamora, Illinois, was sentenced to three years of probation, to include six months of home confinement, and was ordered to perform 80 hours of community service and to pay a $50,000 fine.

 Spade Kaosu Bailly, 50, of Hendersonville, was sentenced to three years of probation, to include six months of home confinement, and was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and to pay a $10,000 fine.

Tuners are devices capable of defeating vehicles computerized emissions controls, in violation of the Clean Air Act. In 2008, Geouge approached a company that manufactured tuners and he tailored software programs for the tuners known as tunes, designed to maximize the engine power of particular vehicles resulting in significant increases in harmful air emissions. Beginning in 2012, Slagel worked for and eventually owned the company that manufactured the tuners. Davis and Bailly conspired with Geouge and created other companies that sold tuners manufactured by Slagels company with Geouges tunes installed on them. In total, the co- conspirators sold far in excess of 14,000 illegal tuners, worth millions of dollars.

The EPA issued a notice of violation to Geouge in 2015. However, Geouge continued to sell and service illegal devices. Geouge also evaded paying a penalty owed to the EPA, and taxes owed to the IRS, by having another individual receive the income he earned from the sale of the illegal devices.

Assistant United States Attorney Steven Kaufman, of the U.S. Attorneys Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case. In making todays announcement, King thanked the EPA-CID and IRS-CI for their coordination and investigation of the case.




Workforce board hosts $19/hour & Up job fair

Mountain Area Workforce Development will hold a $19 per Hour and Beyond Job Fair 11 a.m.- 4p.m. Wednesday, June 29, at the WNC Agricultural Centers Virginia Boone Building, 761 Boylston Highway.

The Virginia Boone Building is located across from the Asheville Regional Airport. The job fair will feature over 70 local employers who are offering over 2,000 jobs paying more than $19 per hour.

Employers are in a talent war to attract the best candidates and this job fair is an opportunity to highlight many of the best career opportunities in Western North Carolina. Participating employers include AdventHealth Hendersonville, Anderson Automotive, Biltmore Company, Biltmore Farms LLC, Bolton Construction, Buncombe County Government, ConMet, Eaton, Elkamet, Epsilon, Flint Group, Givens Communities, Harrison Construction, Henderson County Government, Ingles Markets, Kyocera International, Linamar North Carolina, MB Haynes, Meritor, Mission Health, NC Department of Public Safety, NC State Veterans Home, Pardee UNC Health Care, Printpack Medical, Reich LLC, Southern Concrete Materials, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Transportation Security Administration, US Army, UPM Raflatac, YMCA of Western North Carolina and many more.

This job fair follows the successful $17 per Hour and Beyond Job Fair and $18 per Hour and Beyond Job Fair held in 2021, which both attracted over 300 job seekers. To increase awareness of good paying jobs in the region this job fair has raised the minimum threshold to $19 per hour and more.

To participate employers must offer at least one position paying $19 per hour or more. There is no cost for employers to participate. Lunch will not be provided but snacks and drinks will be offered to employers. Most participating employers have many positions available paying $19 per hour or more. There is no cost for employers and job seekers to participate.
Nicholson resigns over Juneteenth remark

David Nicholson, the longtime executive director of the N.C. Apple Festival, resigned Thursday one day after news outlets reported his offensive Facebook post disparaging the new Juneteenth holiday and proposing instead an "Old Fat White Man Day."

The reaction of the Board of Directors in announcing Nicholson's resignation and apologizing for it was unusually swift and decisive, reflecting the Apple Festival's desire to avoid tainting the spirit of honoring the apple industry.

"For 76 years, the North Carolina Apple Festival has brought our community together to celebrate one of the most important agricultural crops grown in Henderson County and our local farmers," the board said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon. "The NC Apple Festival couldn't happen without the dedication of the board members who serve and volunteers throughout the year as well as the apple growers, vendors, entertainers and downtown merchants that participate during the festival weekend.

"As a board, we were saddened and disappointed to hear our executive director, David Nicholson, made disparaging remarks on social media about the Juneteenth Holiday. We have accepted Mr. Nicholson's resignation effective immediately. His remarks do not reflect or represent the board or our mission to the community. Just as we celebrate the apple harvest during Labor Day Weekend, we join in celebrating Juneteenth with all members of our community and apologize for the actions of Mr. Nicholson."

Nicholson, who served as Henderson County manager from 1996 until 2005, briefly posted then took down the Facebook comment, which read, "The Post Office is closed today for some made-up holiday that I never heard of? Just when is the 'Old Fat White Man Day'? I really want to celebrate this day.

Crystal Cauley, who advocates for the Black History Collective of Henderson County, called for Nicholson's resignation on Wednesday in an interview with WLOS.'

We would like for him to step down and have a new representative for the North Carolina Apple Festival because it represents us as a county here in Western North Carolina and throughout our state, Cauley told the station.
A ROWER from Remenham who became the oldest person to win a race at last years Henley Royal Regatta is trying to repeat the feat.

Peter Jacobs was aged 59 when his Upper Thames B crew overcame Northwich Rowing Club in the heats of the Thames Challenge Cup, having come through qualifying the previous week.

His eight also included Adam Rennie, Peter Lowe, Mark Tritton, Tim Senior, James Burkitt, Andrew Green, Hamish Floyd and cox Zoe Thomas.

They became affectionately known as the Dads Army as they were the oldest crew in the competition with an average age of 50 and each rower had at least two children, 22 in total.

Mr Jacobs, a semi-retired consultant, won the Thames Cup with the Tideway Scullers in 1988 and gave up competitive rowing thinking that he had achieved all he could.

But the coronavirus lockdowns of 2020 gave him and his clubmates the belief that they could put together a competitive crew.

Mr Jacobs, who is married to Tina, a yoga instructor who works in marketing, said: The year 1988 was my glory year. It was the year I got married and was when I won the Thames Cup, using wooden oars  we were one of the few remaining crews to use them.

I retired from rowing afterwards because after winning at the pinnacle of rowing I thought I had done it.

My wife certainly thought that was the case and I have just dabbled since. After we moved here I joined Upper Thames and have raced in masters categories since.

I decided to come back in earnest and try to qualify for Henley after the first lockdown was introduced. We are quite an old crew so we all had gyms or garages to train in and it was because we were training religiously that we were champing at the bit to race.

The crew was able to get back on the water from May last year and they had a good feeling when they competed at the Henley Masters Regatta and won their age category, overcoming an experienced Molesey crew, which had never lost a race previously.

Mr Jacobs said: From March 2020 all our training was done on ergos as we werent allowed to row. We began racing in May last year.

We knew we had a good crew because at the Henley Masters Regatta, which is normally held after Henley royal and kept the same date after the royal was pushed back, we beat a Molesey crew which had never lost.

That we turned them over really galvanised us and made us think we could go up against the youngsters.

The Upper Thames crew went through qualifying, which was held at Dorney Lake, and overcame nine crews before facing Northwich on the opening day of the regatta itself.

The Henley crew won in a time of seven minutes and 17 seconds, despite their opponents leading for most of the race.

Mr Jacobs said: When we qualified for the regatta Jim Birkett scribbled Dads Army on the side of the boat in crayon to try and psyche out the other crews.

We were just over the moon to win at the regatta. You dont normally get a masters crew to qualify but to then go on and win a race at what is the pinnacle of rowing... we knew we had done exceptionally well. We then lost to Molesey A, one of the top seeded crews.

The crew will be taking part in qualifying again tomorrow (Friday), although there are several changes to the crew due to injury and other commitments while two rowers are in a different boat.

Rennie and Floyd have moved to the quad in the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup while Lowe and Birkett have been replaced by Dan Sadler, 59, at bow, Matt Richardson, 56, in the three seat, Oli Collinson, 26, at seven and Luke Moneley, 32, at stroke.

Mr Jacobs said: We will be trying to qualify but I dont think we have much of a chance.

We need to eliminate 21 crews and the big rowing clubs will have three, four or even five entries with crews a lot younger who will be racing almost full-time.

Last year there were fewer crews and we only had to knock out nine when we qualified.

We gave ourselves a 10 per cent chance last time and we would probably give ourselves a 0.1 per cent chance this time around but we will still have a very good race.
(JTA) - Five years ago, Rabbi Guy Austrian made a small but powerful change at the synagogue he leads: He wrote down the language his community used to call non-binary members to the Torah.

That language had been developed informally over time through a process that Austrian recalled as being "a little awkward" because it involved tweaking language on the fly for congregants whose gender did not fit into the male-female binary that's baked into Hebrew.

Codifying the language meant changing only a few words of a formula in use in synagogues around the world, but it was essential to including...
Julian Lerner as Brad Hitman (center) and Elisha Williams as Dean Williams (r) with a baseball buddy.

The pleasant, heart-warming re-incarnation of ABC's "The Wonder Years" has offered a bar mitzvah episode, as did the original series in 1989.

The setting is Montgomery, Alabama, during the late1960s, when Blacks were fighting for civil rights and Jews still wanted simply to be accepted.

Written by Yael Gatena, the episode begins with some boys throwing pennies at Brad Hitman (Julian Lerner) in front of his friends, goading the Jewish lad to pick them up in order to be true to stereotype. His Black friend, Dean Williams (Elisha Williams), the show's principal character, narrates in retrospec...
(JNS)  While an official U.N. Commission of Inquiry seeks Israels diplomatic isolation, 21 nations came out in support of the Jewish state on Monday, expressing concern about the commissions uncommonly broad mandate and the U.N. Human Rights Councils irregular targeting of Israel.

In Geneva, the three members of the U.N. Commission of Inquiryall of whom have a history of anti-Israel activity and rhetoricaddressed the Human Rights Council and the press in the wake of their first report released last week.

On Tuesday, commission chair Navi Pillay, who has a documented reco...
Ben & Jerry's is requiring all new employees to watch four videos about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, all of which appear to be biased against the Jewish state, the Jewish Insider reported.

The videos are part of the company's "Scooper Series: Social Mission" concerning the conflict as well as racism in the U.S., an employee told the Jewish Insider.

Featured in one of the videos is anti-Israel activist Omar Shakir, Human Rights Watch's Israel and Palestine director. Shakir, a BDS promoter, advocates for a one-state solution to the conflict - meaning an end to the Jewish state.

"Oma...
(JNS)  Heads of major Jewish organizations, led by the Jewish Agency for Israel, delivered a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett calling on the Israeli government to designate those killed in anti-Semitic incidents outside of Israel as official victims of terror.

The letter urges the prime minister to commemorate these victims in state ceremonies, as they are an integral part of national memory.

The request follows an initial appeal by Yaakov Hagoel, the Jewish Agencys acting chairman of the executive and chairman of the World Zionist Organization, to the prime mi...
(New York Jewish Week) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke about the success of the Jewish community in the Sunshine State and the need to fight "wokeness" in an address to a conservative Jewish group in New York City.

"They can't cancel me," the Republican governor began his speech, delivered before an audience of approximately 700 at the Tikvah Fund's Jewish Leadership Conference, held at Chelsea Piers. "I'm gonna speak my mind. When the left is having a spasm, that just tells you that in Florida we are winning."

DeSantis, the final speaker at the daylong conference, was referencing last...
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff (second from left) speaks to an interactive artificial intelligence video of Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter.

LOS ANGELES (JTA) - When Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff sat down for a Zoom conversation with Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter on Wednesday, he opened by saying, "I feel like I already know you!"

Though the two had never met, Emhoff did, to an extent, know Gutter.

Just moments before the video call, Emhoff had engaged with Gutter's interactive biography, asking him questions about his experience in concentration camps and even listening to Gutter sing "Shir Hama'alot," the song that begins the blessing after meals.

Emhoff was at the University of Southern California's Shoah Foundation, wh...
(JNS)  The Stuttgart Administrative Court recently ruled that calls to single out the Jewish state for boycott, divestment and sanctions do not violate Germanys laws against hate speech and are protected, sparking outrage from critics that the decision turns anti-Semitism into a socially and politically correct view.

It is probably the first time in the history of the Federal Republic that a court has expressly declared anti-Semitic views to be a legally protected area of freedom of opinion, Henryk M. Broder, a leading expert on German Jew-hatred, wrote in his...
South Africa: Cabinet thanks South Africans for Youth Day commemoration

Cabinet at its meeting on Wednesday thanked all South Africans for joining in the countrys National Youth Day commemorations on 16 June.

The celebration was held under the theme, Promoting sustainable livelihood and resilience of young people for a better tomorrow.

This year will mark 46 years since the 1976 Student uprising.

The spirit of enthusiasm and resilience shown by the youth across our nation is indeed a cause for celebration and hope for a better tomorrow, said Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, during a post Cabinet briefing on Thursday.

As National Youth Month draws to an end, let us intensify our efforts to ensure young people access the many support programmes provided by government and facilitate their active participation in the economy, he said.

The Public Service, as the largest employer, has responded to this challenge by enabling unemployed graduates to gain experience through the Public Service Graduate Internship and Learnership Programme.

The Minister said government is also implementing the Social Employment Fund (SEF) and revitalised National Youth Service (NYS) job-creation initiatives that will each draw 50 000 young people into the economy.

These initiatives will not only provide much-needed work experience but will also reinforce the value of active citizenship.

The SEF partners with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) while the NYS enlists young people for services which benefit communities across the country.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-06-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Magical traditional Chinese medicine: Delicious taste of Chinese herbal medicine

20:30, June 23, 2022 By Deng Wei ( People's Daily Online

Whether it requires the use of grass, flowers, roots or leaves, edible foods, or other medicinal materials, mixing together Chinese herbal remedies is an essential skill for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners. A series of programs produced by People's Daily Online will document how TCM is practiced and promoted in China and the United States. The videos will also showcase how TCM has been used to improve the health of those living in different communities. In this episode, let's learn more about traditional Chinese herbal medicine.

The transformation of medicinal herbs into pastes is a production technique refined and passed down from nearly 2,000 years ago in China.

In Guangzhou, the creation and use of traditional Chinese medicinal materials is the basis for tailor-made treatment plans for patients seeking the services of Yang Zhimin, a famous TCM practitioner.

In the U.S., Dr. Liu Hao and a famous chef, Martin Yan, have launched a series of combined celebrity chef and doctor programs called Yan Can Cook: Good Taste Meets Good Health on a local TV station every Saturday. They focus their efforts in the programs on popularizing TCM and healthy food culture to local people. As a well-known local doctor of TCM, Dr. Liu, born into a family of TCM practitioners, has many "traditional Chinese medicine fans." He said that he wants to change people's initial impressions of Chinese herbal medicine as a kind of "bitter soup of medicine," arguing that herbal medicine can also be turned into something delicious to eat through simple preparation and cooking methods.

In 1994, the U.S. government officially recognized traditional Chinese herbal medicine as a food supplement. Since then, increasingly more Americans have come to recognize the benefits of Chinese herbal medicine. As a sign of this growing popularity, the number of Chinese herbal medicine stores in the U.S. has risen precipitously.

"Ellision Enterprise," a traditional Chinese herbal medicine store, has operated in San Francisco's Chinatown for 50 years. "When we came here in 1972, there were only a few traditional Chinese herbal medicine stores in San Francisco. But now, more than 100 stores are selling traditional Chinese herbal medicine," said Kenny Lau, the president of the Chinese Herb Trade Association of America.

According to TCM theory, the two primary substances in the human body  blood and Qi  are described in terms of Yin and Yang. The forces of Yin and Yang are gathered within the body, and when they are out of balance, the body will suffer from illness. This belief in the balance of Yin and Yang serves as the guiding basis for TCM. How then do TCM practitioners transform a bunch of herbs into medicine? This requires knowledge of the medicinal properties of traditional Chinese herbs and memorization of the "Tang Verse," which is the formula used for each herbal medicine, which originates from ancient Chinese medicine classics. At the Five Branches University, the "Tang Verse" is displayed on the wall for students to recite. These are fundamental skills for every TCM practitioner.

TCM practitioners treat diseases by looking, hearing, asking, and touching the patient without the aid of modern medical equipment. They spread the fundamental beliefs of TCM and health care to the world with traditional Chinese herbal medicines and TCM theory inscribed into their hearts.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming)
In May and June of 2022, Judy Kahan led a weekly grief support group for Jewish people who had experienced a loss. The sessions were held at Cascade Heights in Longwood. Another grief support group will resume in the fall. It is best practice to wait about six months after a death to participate in a group because the group may be too raw.

Myrna Ossin commented on the experience. "Judy Kahan did a great job in leading the sessions. She gave everyone a chance to talk and provide some worthwhile handouts that were very helpful in knowing the stages of grief that one may feel. At the last ses...
(JTA)  David Brog has overseen pro-Israel organizations with significant Republican backing for more than two decades, but his own attempt to make inroads for himself as a GOP candidate fell short Tuesday in Nevada.

Brog lost his Republican Congressional primary race in the states 1st district to former Army colonel Mark Robertson, in a spirited eight-way race to represent the GOP in whats likely to be a competitive general election for the recently redrawn Las Vegas-area district. Brog finished with just over 17 percent of the vote, a distant second to Robertsons commanding 30...
The Jewish Pavilion held its most recent cocktail party at Land Rover Orlando. A wonderful time was had with great food, great drinks, a little bit of dancing and being able to socialize with friends old and new.

Carina Borkon and Jason Mendelsohn organized the event. Their tireless effort to help raise money for the Jewish Pavilion was inspiring.

Overall approximately 150 people came to the event and enjoyed the evening. The Pavilion raised around $3,000, and donations are still being accepted.

Special thanks to the Jewish Pavilion sponsors and vendors. Please consider using them for thei...
(Israel Hayom via JNS)  After returning to full operations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Israels Ben-Gurion International Airport is having difficulty coping with heavy passenger traffic as the summer travel season gets underway.

Even though the airport has reopened Terminal 1 and airport director Shmuel Zakai is on the floor himself helping conduct security checks, the lines remain long.

Zakai has said that the airport is having difficulty recruiting new staff and is facing a shortage of some 1,000 workers. Zakai said he expects it will take until Passover 2023 for the situat...
(JNS)  On the face of it, the Mapping Project undertaken by Boston BDS was a disaster for the antisemitic movement. In recent years, many on the political left had begun drifting from the sort of harsh critiques of Israel championed by groups like J Street towards the openly anti-Zionist stance of Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow. But the colorful map published by the group that targeted the entire Jewish community was enough to shock even many of those on the left-wing of the Democratic Party into condemning the project.

Indeed, the Massachusetts Democratic Party seemed to...
(CAMERA via JNS)  If further proof were needed that the BDS campaign against Israel is deeply antisemitic, a venomous mapping campaign defaming and targeting Boston-area Jews provides stunning evidence of it.

A Boston BDS group recently publicized an online map that lists the addresses of Jewish institutions across Massachusetts. The group called on followers to use the addresses to dismantle and disrupt the institutions in question. Although the project was slammed as antisemitic and dangerous by members of Congress, the citys leading daily The Boston Globe has no...
(Jewish Journal via JNS)  It was January 2020, in a small cafe in Givatayim, that I last met with the celebrated Israeli author A. B. Yehoshua, who passed away on June 14 at the age of 85.

That was January 2020 B.C.  Before COVID  so there were no discussions of pandemics, viruses or vaccines (those were the days). The only health issue we talked about was the difficult battle with cancer that Yehoshua was facing. This wasnt the first time we had met, but due to his health issues, this meeting felt different.

When we sat down for that cup of coffee (or two, or three), he asked m...
Its summer. Time for vacation. Maybe the beach. Maybe that foreign trip postponed the past couple of years? One thing for sure, books will be part of the agenda. Summer = books. It is a time when we naturally just chill.

Why do book sales escalate in the summertime? Why are new releases always scheduled for this time of year? It is traditional that be it the beach, the mountains or a local hangout, books get packed to tag along.

For some reason we allow ourselves the liberty wherever we vacation to read. Thats why book publishing booms in May and June and fades as summer does, pe...
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, is currently in Kigali to participate in the ministerial sessions in the lead up to the 26th CHOGM to be held on 24-25 June 2022.

The theme of 26th CHOGM Summit is: Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming. It will deliberate on global challenges including shared climate ambitions, financing climate and ocean action, rebuilding sustainable green and blue economies in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic change, food security, and health issues.

Alan Ganoo is currently participating in the Commonwealth Ministerial Meeting on Small States. (CMMSS). In addition to emerging priorities in the light of conflict situations, discussions will focus on challenges which small states face in building resilience and concrete action for support. Ministers will seek to mobilise global action to address the vulnerabilities of small states as well as to coalesce around targeted solutions.

On 23 June, the Minister will attend the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM). The thematic clusters of the CFAMMs discussions include Democracy Peace and Governance; Sustainable and Inclusive Development, Post COVID-19 Recover. The CFAMM will also review the CHOGM Communique, for adoption by CHOGM, and series of outcome documents, including those of the CMMSS.

During the visit in Kigali, Minister Ganoo is expected to hold several bilateral meetings with his counterparts and other visiting dignitaries as well as participate in numerous side events which supplement and bolster the CHOGM programme.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs had a meeting on 21 June 2022 with Dr. Vincent Biruta, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Rwanda. They exchanged views on advancing bilateral relations and the high potential of cooperation opportunities in various sectors. Discussions also focused on issues related to the implementation of SDGs and the Africa Agenda 2063.

Minister Ganoo also had an encounter with his Jamaican counterpart, Senator the Hon Kamina Johnson-Smith during which they explored, bilaterally, avenues for elevating the Mauritius-Jamaica connections and, multilaterally, on joint advocacy for the cause of Small Islands Developing States. The two Ministers also discussed the issue of the selection, by the CHOGM Summit, for the post of Secretary General of the Commonwealth, for which Senator the Hon Kamina Johnson-Smith is a candidate.

Alan Ganoo had also a meeting with his Seychelles counterpart, Sylvestre Radegone. Their engagements articulated around, bilaterally, strengthening and widening the scope bilateral partnerships and, regionally, Indian Ocean-related issues with a focus on regional integration and maritime security.

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African Media Agency announced its creative writing masterclass hosted in partnership with Chigozie Obioma as part of AMA Academy. The partnership aims to upskill journalists on fiction storytelling.

AMA Academy is a free-to-use pan-African online learning platform dedicated to upskilling journalists and media personnel across the continent. The first cohort boasts 200 journalists and has hosted three training sessions led by industry experts since kick-off in April 2022.

Chigozie is a Nigerian author. His first novel The Fishermen published in 2015 and his second novel An Orchestra of Minorities published in 2019 were both short-listed for the Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in literature. His work has been translated into more than 28 languages The session Creating a Story Instead of a Tale is slated for 23 June 2022 at 3 PM GMT all journalists are encouraged to attend.

It is our great honour to partner with Chigozie for our first creative writing masterclass for what we know will be a memorable session. I have admired and been moved by his style of writing, especially his novel An Orchestra of Minorities, and cannot wait for him to impart his knowledge and share practical tools in the masterclass. AMA Academys goal is to provide a variety of training to transfer skills across all genres and industries so that journalists can learn to monetize their craft and diversify their writing. It is our greatest joy to share the opportunity to learn from him with our cohort and invite all journalists across Africa to attend, said Eloine Barry, CEO of African Media Agency.

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Scandic Spectrum is now open, a lively new hotel in the capital of Denmark. The hotel is located in central Copenhagen and with 632 rooms, a spacious wellness area, two restaurants, a rooftop bar and large event spaces, it's the company's largest hotel yet. Scandic Spectrum will also host a variety of social events for guests and Copenhageners alike.

Located on the waterfront in central Copenhagen, Scandic Spectrum is Scandic's 30th Danish hotel. The hotel offers modern facilities with a Nordic touch as well as sustainable culinary experiences in two restaurants and a topnotch spa in the large Nordic wellness area.

Scandic Spectrum was designed by Dissing + Weitling, with Space Copenhagen responsible for the interiors inspired by the Nordic lifestyle and reference both nature and the historic industrial harbor nearby. This is evident in the choice of materials such as glass, concrete and steel while the natural beauty of the Nordics is present in the use of stone, wood and a muted palette and not least on the rooftop terrace and in two lush courtyards on the ground floor.

Scandic Spectrum aims to offer a new type of hotel experience where guests can enjoy a good night's sleep as well as a variety of exciting experiences. For this reason, shared spaces such as the wellness area and event spaces are also open to the public. Additionally, Scandic Spectrum will host a number of events, including social dining, concerts and quiz nights open to guest and Copenhageners alike.

Scandic Spectrum also offers a large wellness area inspired by the Nordic forests, fjords and mountains. Here, guests can enjoy the 25-meter pool, steam room, a Rasul thermal mud experience and a variety of spa treatments featuring natural and sustainable products.

The hotel also has nine conference rooms on the top floor, several of which have access to the rooftop terrace, and four event spaces that can accommodate more than 300 people.

Hotel website
IHG Hotels & Resorts, one of the world's leading hotel companies, recently celebrated the groundbreaking of its new InterContinental Grenada Resort hotel. Located on the scenic shoreline of La Sagesse Beach, and adjacent to the highly anticipated, in-development Six Senses Grenada hotel, the InterContinental Grenada Resort is projected to open in 2025.

Featuring 150 rooms and 30 private suites, the InterContinental Grenada Resort will extend the luxury hotel brand's legacy of service excellence, award-winning design and cultural discovery to its guests. The resort's luxurious spa and pool offer an ideal mix of relaxation and seclusion, with the adjacent on-site fitness center further enabling guests to remain active. An array of restaurant and bar options capture the local culture while amplifying an enriching guest experience.

IHG Hotels & Resorts will lead the resort's construction alongside developer Range Developments, exterior designer Simeon Halsted and Associates, and interior designer Bleu Design.

Beyond providing a hospitable environment in an exquisite setting for leisure travelers, the InterContinental Grenada Resort aims to become a coveted haven for meetings and conferences. The resort's state-of-the-art conference center, more than 6,000 square feet of meeting space and on-site business center will provide the resources to support the business sector.

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts has become synonymous with bold exploration and luxury travel, having pioneered the concept in emerging and well-loved destinations for the past 75 years. Currently, IHG has 43 InterContinental Hotels & Resorts properties across the Americas region, with an additional nine in the regional pipeline.

Hotel website
The Central Station, a Curio Collection by Hilton hotel managed by Valor Hospitality Partners, announced today the appointment of Troy Dixon as general manager. The leadership appointment will bring a seasoned perspective to the 123-room boutique hotel located in Memphis' iconic South Main district, which transformed the 105-year-old renowned transportation hub into a luxury eight-story, music and design-driven hotel.

As general manager, Dixon will lead day-to-day hotel operations, guest relations and team development for Central Station. A seasoned hospitality executive, Dixon brings more than a decade of leadership experience to the team. Prior to joining Central Station, Dixon served as director of operations for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, including leading departments at the Hyatt Centric Beale Street Memphis.

Previously located in Portland, Oregon, Dixon served as director of operations for Hilton Hotels and Resorts properties throughout the city. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Western Michigan University.

With picturesque views of the Mississippi River and downtown Memphis, Central Station offers luxury guest accommodations, upscale amenities and a world-class music experience, with an intimate listening room and an expansive library of vinyl records. The hotel is also home to Eight & Sand, a bar and lounge with a nightly DJ curating Memphis-only playlists, and an upscale French eatery, Bishop.
HotelRunner, the leading global hospitality and travel technology company, participated in the very first Travel Tech Morocco event organized by The Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) and National Tourism Confederation (CNT) with contributions from HotelRunners partner Hospitality Web Services (HWS) on June 17th in Rabat, Morocco.

HotelRunner's Co-Founders and Managing Partners Ali Beklen and Arden Agopyan, as well as the Director of Demand Partnerships Rza Kaynak and Director of Supply Partnerships Cihan Coskuntuncel, attended the event as special guests and participated in the panels sharing their insights with the veterans of Moroccos travel industry.

At this special event, HotelRunner, Morocco's National Tourism Confederation, and Hospitality Web services signed a memorandum of understanding for the digitalization of the tourism and hospitality industries in Morocco by harnessing the power of technology. This partnership is a testimony of HotelRunner's dedication to digitizing accommodations and travel agencies, introducing them to the global market, helping to promote Morocco as a destination, and as result, advancing the Moroccan travel economy overall.

Morocco is a unique market with huge growth potential. We are committed to elevating the digitalization of the travel industry across North Africa, starting from Morocco, and thrilled to see what's ahead, said Arden Agopyan, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at HotelRunner.

Morocco is one of the key markets for HotelRunner and with collaboration and commitment, we will power the digital transformation of Morocco. We will build a bigger travel economy together, added HotelRunners Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Ali Beklen.

Regarding this special partnership, Hamid Bentahar, President of National Tourism Confederation, said: CNT's main objective has always been to forge a stronger and more inclusive travel industry. We will work with our esteemed partners to achieve this goal and accelerate the transition of the Moroccan travel industry from off to online together

With the support of our long-time reliable partner HotelRunner and esteemed CNT, we are thrilled to say that this partnership will open a new era for the Moroccan travel industry, said Reda Aboudihaj, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Hospitality Web Services.

We have been working hard in line with our mission to support technology companies and properties in the travel industry in Africa. Today, we are ready to take our mission to the next level with this unique partnership, added Christophe Bazille, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Hospitality Web Services.

Within the scope of the signed memorandum of understanding, HotelRunner, CNT, and HWS will equip travel agencies, hotels, and tourism professionals in Morocco with the latest technology, encourage them to work closely with each other, and support them in the transition from local to global, thus advance the digital transformation of the tourism and accommodation industries in Morocco.

About HotelRunner

HotelRunner is a SaaS-enabled unified sales, operations, and distribution management platform and B2B network for accommodations, travel agencies, and payment providers. HotelRunner has thousands of accommodation and travel agency partners globally. HotelRunner is a Booking.com Premier Connectivity Partner, Expedia Elite Connectivity Partner, Airbnb Software Partner, Agoda Innovative Supplier, Oracle Gold, Hotelbeds, and Google Hotel Ads strategic partner.

For more about HotelRunner, please visit our website.

Media Relations Contact: [email protected]
Bethesda, MD - Dimension Hospitality, a hotel management group, operating over 80 hotels and resorts, stays ahead of the curve through strategic technology investments.

By operating their hotels with fresh performance data, Dimension makes strategic and tactical business decisions in real time, optimizing the business impact from those decisions.

Dimensions success is rooted in its technology-focused processes, including those powered by myDigitalOffice (MDO), the worlds fastest-growing hotel data platform. For business planning purposes, Dimension has been leveraging MDO for hotel budgeting and forecasting specifically, for many years. The group is now expanding its use of the platform to unlock curated revenue / commercial insights in order to make more impactful business decisions by leveraging real-time hotel performance data.

Owners demand maximum ROI, and that cannot be achieved when operating the business with stale data, said Matthew Schupbach, Assistant CFO, Dimension Hospitality. Especially in todays environment, quicker access to live data is imperative. Otherwise, youre left being fed with hotel performance metrics that are too outdated to make meaningful decisions. MDOs live - and even forward-looking - booking trends, heat maps, pickup and pace reports, etc., enable us to capitalize on so many opportunities that we simply couldnt catch up to in the past.

Through deepening their partnership with myDigitalOffice and expanding their use of MDOs platform, Dimension Hospitality will gain access to consistent, reliable, and live data for their entire portfolio, creating unprecedented visibility for the corporate, regional, and on-property teams.

Were excited to partner with Dimensions commercial strategy team, said Ali Moloo, founder and CEO, myDigitalOffice. Our data platform will help Matthews team automate their reporting and instill a common framework across their organization. In turn, theyll be able to further optimize their owners asset values by reacting more quickly to evolving market conditions.

For more information on the partnership of myDigitalOffice + Dimension Hospitality, reach out to our team today to learn more about how your hotels can automate reporting, save time, gain higher topline revenues, and focus on business performance.

About Dimension

Dimension Development is a full-service, quality-driven hotel management company. Founded nearly 50 years ago in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with three hotels, Dimension has grown to a national presence of over 80 properties within the industrys leading brands, including Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG. They develop, acquire, and manage full-service, resort, all-suite, and focus-service hotels across the United States. Dimension closely monitors property performance, product quality, and service excellence, which translates into higher levels of guest satisfaction and financial results. To learn more, visit: www.dimdev.com.

About myDigitalOffice

myDigitalOffice (MDO) is the world's fastest growing hotel data platform, providing customers with centralized, digital access to all of their hotel's most critical documents and cross-functional performance metrics. The visibility, connectivity, and control delivered by our award-winning cloud-based dashboards, document management software and integrated data feeds allow teams to reach greater levels of productivity, budget and forecast, and reduce environmental impact while optimizing profitability. Learn more at www.mydigitaloffice.com.

Stacy Silver, ISHC

Silver Hospitality Group LLC
Radisson Hotel Group (RHG) has today announced its APAC Expansion Plan  a major initiative that will unleash the power of its diverse brands and partnerships to drive 400% growth across the Asia Pacific region by 2025.

The APAC Expansion Plan will enable Radisson Hotel Group to increase its regional footprint in Asia Pacific. By 2025, it will add 1,700 hotels and resorts to its current portfolio of over 400 properties. It will aim to achieve this through a combination of organic growth, mergers and acquisitions, master license agreements, and leases in key locations.

Focused on five strategic growth markets, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand, the plan builds on existing initiatives to harness the vast potential of China with Jin Jiang and its subsidiaries, both as a destination and an important source of outbound business. In India, Radisson Hotel Group is one of the most recognized and respected hospitality companies, with a portfolio of 100+ properties in operation across more than 60 locations nationwide. To further propel its holding in the Indian market, the Group will leverage its deep existing relationships and seek new strategic partnerships to strengthen its status as the hotel provider of choice in the country.

In Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Australasia, the establishment of new dedicated Business Units in Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, and Sydney will see the Group build local development and operations teams that offer local language and expert support capabilities in core markets, strengthening Radisson Hotel Groups commitment to the Expansion Plan.

As a result of bolstering its on-the-ground presence in these markets, owners will have access to an expanded collection of brands. The Group has a portfolio of nine distinct brands, and a recently announced brand extension, Radisson Individuals Retreats for the Indian market.

In select markets across Asia Pacific, the Group has rights to develop and manage the 7 Days and Metropolo brands, through individual master license agreements with affiliates of Jin Jiang. Targeting its upscale and mid-scale growth segments, in Australasia and select markets in Southeast Asia the Group has also retained exclusive license rights to develop and manage the Golden Tulip brand from Louvre Hotels Group and additional (non-exclusive) rights to the Kyriad and Campanile brands. India, Indonesia and Korea remain under the direct management of Louvre Hotels Group.

With new or revitalized brands in the portfolio ranging from economy to luxury, Radisson Hotel Group will now be able to customize its development strategy to partner with owners and investors in every market segment and location.

On the APAC Expansion Plan, Katerina Giannouka, President, Asia Pacific, Radisson Hotel Group commented, Our plans for the APAC region represent one of the most important milestones in our companys history. Focusing on Asia Pacifics most dynamic destinations and introducing multiple new brand options will present outstanding opportunities for expansion. Asia is home to many of the worlds largest populations and fastest-growing economies; as the world reopens, travelers from across Asia will play a pivotal role in the global recovery. We look forward to working with our parent company, Jin Jiang International, and all of our partners around the region as we usher in an exciting new era of hospitality.

The APAC Expansion Plan represents the latest phase of Radisson Hotel Groups five-year transformation strategy. The company has already undertaken significant investments and rolled out new brand architecture, state-of-the-art IT systems and more personalized guest experiences, as it strives to become one of the top three hotel companies to owners, guests, and talent.

To learn more about Radisson Hotel Group, please visit www.radissonhotels.com/development.

About Radisson Hotel Group

Radisson Hotel Group is one of the world's largest hotel groups with nine distinctive hotel brands, and more than 1,600 hotels in operation and under development in 120 countries. The Group's overarching brand promise is Every Moment Matters with a signature Yes I Can! service ethos.

The Radisson Hotel Group portfolio includes Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Radisson Individuals, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, and prizeotel brought together under one commercial umbrella brand Radisson Hotels.

Radisson Rewards is our international rewards program that delivers unique and personalized ways to create memorable moments that matter to our guests. Radisson Rewards offers an exceptional experience for our guests, meeting planners, and travel agents at over 550 hotels in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

Radisson Meetings provides tailored solutions for any event or meeting, including hybrid solutions placing guests and their needs at the heart of its offer. Radisson Meetings is built around three strong service commitments: Personal, Professional and Memorable, while delivering on the brilliant basics and being uniquely 100% Carbon Neutral.

The health and safety of guests and team members remain a top priority for Radisson Hotel Group. All properties across the Group's portfolio are subject to stringent health and safety requirements, as outlined in the Radisson Hotels Safety Protocol.

More than 100,000 team members work at Radisson Hotel Group and at the hotels licensed to operate in its systems. For more information, visit our corporate website. Or connect with Radisson Hotels on:

LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
The harsh truth about working in Hospitality

According to a Perkbox' survey, Hospitality is the fifth most stressful industry to work in, with 64% of employees suffering from workplace anxiety. Therefore, it is not surprising that a significant number of hospitality workers are reconsidering their employment situation and evaluating different career options. And, if possible, the recent COVID pandemic made things even worse: last year's US Job Market Report demonstrated that not only "45% of hospitality workers who have remained in the industry report lower job satisfaction now than before the pandemic," but also that around 25% of the ones who quit the industry are not willing to work in it again.

Reasons are numerous: from low pay to lack of benefits, from schedule inflexibility and unpredictability of working hours to the pressure of dealing with demanding guests. We have to come to terms with it: the grass is, indeed, not as green on the hospitality side as we think it was. A recent study by DW highlighted how a good portion of workers from hotels and restaurants moved to the retail sector post-COVID, and that such workers are "difficult or impossible to win back because they have become accustomed to regular working hours and weekends off."

Create, Import, or Replace?

All the above-mentioned reasons contributed to one of the major (if not the major) problems in our industry today, one which cannot be easily solved, at least not with conventional measures: labor shortage. And if some studies suggest that Hospitality has been understaffed at least since the mid-2000s, the situation has never been more critical. It seems the only way out of this situation can be found in one of the following measures:

Create workers.

In order to "create" new workers, the industry should focus on training them first. However, at least from a purely academic perspective, the situation is, at best, alarming. The majority of papers published on the subject point to the identical, dire conclusion: 1/3 of hotel management and food and beverage services students decide not to pursue a career in the industry.

Import workers.

Currently, immigrants make up 22% of the hospitality workforce, so "importing" workers can be a viable solution, yet not a definitive one, especially in countries with strict immigration policies. Think of the UK, for example: due to Brexit's new visa income requirements, many EU workers have either chosen (or been forced) to leave the country. To put things into perspective, it's worth quoting a report published by The Independent, which found out that "up to 75% of London's hospitality workers (pre-Brexit) were from the EU."

Replace workers.

In 2020, the number of births in Japan fell to 840,832, the lowest since 1899. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called it a "national crisis," because, if the trend does not revert, by 2050, the country will have double the number of people over 70 compared with those aged 15-30. Apart from the social and ethical implications, the shrinking working-age population also creates a highly problematic scenario in terms of labor shortage. Japan, however, is still the second-largest developed economy in the world and, interestingly, also the second most robot-intensive economy (and the first in industrial robot manufacturing).

After WWII, automation played an essential role in Japan's economic rise, and proved to be a valuable ally in dealing with the country's demographic decline. In 2015, the Japanese government approved a document called the "New Robot Strategy" to encourage the research and development of robots in pretty much any field. The document (which can be downloaded here: https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2015/pdf/0123_01b.pdf) is an intriguing read.

"The hotel and tourism industries are changing, both because of the post-pandemic situation and growing automation. Big brand hotels will soon be able to cope without workers by utilizing automation. And, as robot manufacturing and RPA become cheaper and cheaper over time, automation will become very affordable for all businesses, including smaller hotels." ~ Zoltan Istvan, Public Figure in Transhumanism and Republican candidate for US President 2020.

  ,   

If the idea of "replacing" biological workers with artificial ones is, if not entirely accepted, at least tolerated in Asia, it is also true that we tend to have a cognitive bias towards robotics. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term "robot" as "a device that automatically performs complicated, often repetitive tasks." However, when we think about robots, we tend to rely more on pop culture. Not convinced? Close your eyes and picture the word "robot" in your mind. Done? Depending on your age, you may have seen Maria, HAL, R2-D2, Johnny 5, Optimus Prime, T-1000, Bender, or WALL-E. Did I get it right?

In Hospitality, however, the use of humanoid robots is sporadic and not (yet) particularly effective. The story of the Hen-na Hotel, in Nagasaki, is a fitting example, as the world's first robot-staffed hotel had to "fire" half of its robot workforce due to malfunction. "It's easier now," a (human) staff member stated, "that we're not being frequently called by guests to help with problems with the robots."

Robotic process automation (RPA) is way more functional in Hospitality: software (and not hardware) robots that can perform repetitive tasks otherwise done by humans. "One classic RPA use case," an interesting Red Hat blog post states, "is to automate interactions that move data between otherwise siloed applications. A bot can work within the same user interface that a human would, mimicking clicks and copy-paste actions."

Automation in the hospitality industry is inevitable. The aging population in developed economies creates disbalances in the labor market. As a result, the hospitality industry cannot remain competitive in terms of salaries and working conditions compared to other sectors. Thus, the labor supply in the hospitality labor market is decreasing. And automation comes to the rescue to reduce the hospitality labor demand. ~ Stanislav Ivanov, Director at Zangador Research Institute and Editor-in-Chief at ROBONOMICS: The Journal of the Automated Economy).

How does RPA apply to the hospitality industry? Here are some use cases we identified.

According to our calculation, pre-qualifying group sales RFPs requires around 60 person-hours per month. By automatizing the task, an average hotel can generate up to 100,000 /year in additional revenue due to faster response time, while drastically reducing labor costs;

requires around 60 person-hours per month. By automatizing the task, an average hotel can generate up to 100,000 /year in additional revenue due to faster response time, while drastically reducing labor costs; Managing rate codes in PMSs and GDSs requires around 100 person-hours per year. The application of RPA can increase accuracy, reduce errors down to zero, and generate up to 50,000 /year in recovered revenue;

requires around 100 person-hours per year. The application of RPA can increase accuracy, reduce errors down to zero, and generate up to 50,000 /year in recovered revenue; Daily revenue reporting can take up to 1,000 person-hours per year. Therefore, on top of producing more precise reporting, the use of RPA can save the hotel up to 42,000 /year in labor savings.

The Future of work?

According to McKinsey, "about 60% of all occupations have at least 30% of constituent activities that could be automated." RPA, therefore, should not be seen with techno-skepticism but with straightforward, pragmatic, entrepreneurial realism.

During his 2020 Presidential campaign, Democratic candidate Andrew Yang predicted that technological advancements (especially in the field of RPA) could result in one in three American workers losing their jobs within 2032. Yang's solution to this (presumed) work crisis was what he referred to as Freedom Dividend, which is widely known as the universal basic income. Advocates of UBI's list is ever-growing, with influential names such as Tim Berners-Lee, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Larry Page, Ray Kurzweil, and Elon Musk. However, data seem to suggest that companies investing in new technologies tend to hire more people than their peers who do not, so the problem of robot-induced unemployment, at this stage, is purely speculative and not backed up by any substantial evidence. Right now, the application of RPA in Hospitality (and any other industry, for that matter) has been proven to be highly effective in managing repetitive, routine, and tedious tasks, increasing the cost-efficiency and value of your hotel.

The assumption that guests prefer the work of human hospitality workers persists in the industry. My research shows that this is often not the case. Many guests would rather not have to call the front desk in the middle of the night to ask for an extra towel. They also appreciate the greater efficiency, lower error rates, and added value of automated processes, especially if they lead to lower prices. Importantly, humans have an incredible ability to adapt to interactions with technology and frequently derive enjoyment from being exposed to novel forms of automation. ~ Ulrike Gretzel, Senior Research Fellow (University of Southern California).

The amount of manual, repetitive tasks in hotels today is crazy, says Stephen Burke, Founder of Robosize ME, a hospitality-focused RPA-as-a-managed-service-provider. So many operationally critical yet repetitive tasks exist. And those tasks require training staff when there is turnover. If all of the virtual credit cards from OTA reservations are charged by hand, for example, and the person who knows how to do it is suddenly unavailable, then either the managers need to step in, or the hotel could end up in a cash flow crisis pretty quickly. Virtual RPA robots dont take time off, and they dont need retraining. The more of these types of processes hotels automate, the more human staff can focus on the guest experience and guest retention, while simultaneously helping with pressure on staffing costs and ensuring consistency across operational processes.

At a closer look, automation allows human staff to concentrate on what's really important: managing unusual situations, offering assurance, and adding humor and compassion to the interactions with guests.

Because as American humorist Evan Esar once said: "this may be the age of automation, but love is still being made by hand."

Simone Puorto

Travel Singularity
WASHINGTON - After months of jostling with the Biden administration, oil executives are set to sit down with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm today to try and bring an end to the spike in gasoline prices over the past six months.

With Americans now paying a record $5 per gallon, the administration is trying any which way it can to reduce prices, ordering record releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and calling on Congress Wednesday to suspend the federal gasoline tax for three months  all with little effect on prices at the pump.

At the same time, oil executives are eager to make the case the Biden administration is part of the problem, attempting to move the economy away from oil and other fossil fuels even though industries and consumers remains very much reliant on them.

Its unclear what if anything Biden can do to solve an energy crunch driven by oil supply constraints caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, a decline in U.S. refining capacity and a surge in consumer demand since the lifting of COVID-19 health restrictions.

It does feel like a bit of theater on both sides, said Andrew Logan, senior oil and gas director at Ceres, a nonprofit that advises investors on climate. The administration feels like it needs to do something even though it has very little power to do so, and the industry is trying to not let a crisis go to waste.

In his bid to get the United States on the path to net zero emissions by mid-century, Biden has taken aim at the oil and gas industry since taking office last year, holding up lease sales for federal lands and waters and canceling the Keystone XL pipeline project.

Some oil executives believe that has contributed to growing skepticism among investors about the future of their industry. In a survey of oil companies conducted the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in March, close to 60 percent said investor pressure to control costs and increase profits was keeping them from increasing production.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Will oil regain momentum after selloff?

Where shareholders once might have applauded spending billions of dollars to develop new oil and gas fields, now they want to see dividend checks and other moves to increase investor return, energy analysts and executives say.

In a letter to Biden Tuesday, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth wrote that oil companies needed cooperation and support from your administration for our country to return to a path toward greater energy security.

We need an honest dialogue on how to best balance energy, economic, and environmental objectives, Wirth said, one that recognizes our industry is a vital sector of the U.S. economy and is essential to our national security.

Only its not just Biden that has investors worried. Nations worldwide are shifting from fossil fuels, driven by increasingly dire reports from scientists about the impact of climate change.

And the industrys struggles to maintain profitability amid regular slumps in crude prices also has turned off many investors, said Ken Medlock, an economist at Rice University.

The biggest issue in terms of access to capital, its a lack of healthy returns over the last decade- plus, he said. In terms of the price of oil, the price of gasoline, there is no president that has that much power.

But that hasnt stopped Biden from trying.

Last week he sent a letter to oil companies including Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Phillips 66 and Valero, demanding they increase fuel production and pointing out their refining profits have, tripled, and are currently at their highest levels ever recorded.

The crunch that families are facing deserves immediate action, Biden wrote. Your companies need to work with my administration to bring forward concrete, near-term solutions that address the crisis.

Oil and refining companies maintain there is not much they can do.

A decade long decline in U.S. gasoline demand, driven by more efficient cars, has resulted in domestic refining capacity falling to 18 million barrels a day, its lowest level in eight years, according to the research firm S&P Global. Even if companies wanted to increase capacity, building refineries takes years.

To say refineries can pop into existence and then going into hiatus is not realistic, said Scott Segal, an energy attorney in Washington. This meeting is an opportunity for the industry to explain the investment cycle is longer term.

Presidential limits

Hanging over the meeting today is the reality with which presidents have long struggled to come to grips: Global markets control oil prices, not them.

And with global economy coming back to life after two years of shutdowns and social restrictions, markets are saying through high prices there is not enough oil to go around.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Exxon Mobil to President Biden: were investing more than any other oil company

The question Biden faces is whether he should take steps now to prevent a repeat of this years price spike in the years and decades ahead, as the world makes the transition to cleaner forms of energy, such as wind turbines, solar panels and hydrogen fuel.

The difficulties in getting pipelines and other oil and gas projects permitted, with environmental groups holding up projects for years, serves as a disincentive to invest in oil and gas production that would be needed in the years to come, Medlock said.

If the administration starts to send a message of balance, it produces an environment for everything to move forward, he said. If you start denigrating the incumbent sources of energy, capital stops flowing, and you end up in this place where nobody wants to be.

Uncertainty about climate policy isnt helping either, said Logan, of Ceres. With Republicans and Democrats in Congress unable to reach any kind of agreement on climate, companies and investors are left to guess what future regulations might look like.

You could say this is what a disorderly energy transition might look like, Logan said.

james.osborne@chron.com
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The Howard Hughes Corp. has started construction on its first ever build-to-rent neighborhood and will offer 263 homes for lease in the Bridgeland master planned community in Cypress. The first houses will be available for lease in summer 2023.

The Houston-based developer of master planned communities unveiled details for Wingspan, a 27-acre gated community of single-family homes inspired by a modern farmhouse design. The project, announced last year, is part of Prairieland Village, a recently opened village west of the Grand Parkway planned for 7,000 homes.

By adding Wingspan to our diverse housing options in Bridgeland, Howard Hughes is responding to the unwavering demand for turnkey homes with all the benefits that come with living in the master planned community, Travis Guinn, vice president, vertical development for the Howard Hughes Corp. said in an announcement.

RELATED: A tiny village south of Houston is getting a massive single-family rental community

Created for renters seeking a lock-and-leave lifestyle, Wingspan offers another attractive option for those who want to benefit from connectivity to hundreds of acres of green space and access to top-ranked schools along with in-demand retail and dining destinations, Guinn said.

Located just south of the 22-acre Chrysalis Lake near Bridgeland Creek Parkway and Peek Road, Wingspan is surrounded by 40 acres of forests and meadows.

Renters will have access to amenities within Bridgeland, plus a pet park, playground, pool, fitness center and covered outdoor spaces with grilling stations for the exclusive use of Wingspan.

The mix includes casita-style homes, townhomes and duplexes ranging from 650 to 1,700 square feet. The homes will have gated, private backyards that include maintenance service and select units will offer garages. The rents have not been announced.

The project is being built by Arch-Con. Howard Hughes multifamily division will manage Wingspan, which is zoned to Cy-Fair ISD.

Bridgeland joins other master planned communities that offer new houses for the rental market, including Land Tejas' Balmoral in northeast Houston and Sunterra in the Katy area.

"Master planned communities are increasingly incorporating single family rental communities into their master plans," said Todd LaRue, managing director of RCLCO, a housing consulting firm based in the Washington, D.C. area.

The rental communities incubate future buyers of for-sale products within the community, while adding another option to a predominantly for-sale community and advancing a land sale that would have occurred further into the future, LaRue said.

Demand for single-family rentals could rise as families that were once desiring to purchase a single-family home may elect to delay that purchase as mortgage rates and the cost of ownership go up, LaRue said.

Bridgeland is among the nation's top selling communities with 713 home sales in 2021, according to RCLCO.

Hughes owns, manages and develops commercial, residential and mixed-use real estate throughout the U.S.
Fifteen months ago, Kristi Schiller was shopping at H-E-B when she experienced a sudden and severe headache. She stopped by the pharmacy for some medicine, but it didnt alleviate the ringing in her head.

By the time she finished checking out, she couldnt remember the type of vehicle shed driven to the grocery store. She couldnt remember her address. She couldnt even remember her husbands name.

An H-E-B employee was helping carry some of Schillers groceries to her car, and she said she could see the panicked look on his face. She told him she hadnt been using drugs, and asked him not to get help.

Fortunately, her husband called a few minutes later. Schiller showed her cell phone to the employee so he could read the name and title of her husband, the longtime oil and gas executive John Schiller. She joked that she must be doing well for herself.

Im trying to make a joke because I can tell the kids scared to death, Schiller said. I started crying when I heard my husbands voice. I said I dont know how to get home.

Schiller had experienced transient amnesia, a sudden and temporary episode of memory loss. It would be three more months before she realized it was a sign of stroke.

Schiller, who founded the nonprofit K9s4COPs and has a devoted following on social media, experienced headaches, memory loss and impaired motor skills for more than a year before doctors discovered on July 12, 2021, that shed had several massive strokes. They eventually determined she had at least six: five on her carotid artery and one on her brain stem.

The revelation came as a shock to Schiller, 51, who felt she was too young to have a stroke. She also didnt smoke or have high blood pressure  two of the major risk factors.

STROKE STUDY: Risk of recurrent strokes eliminated with FDA-approved procedure first studied in Houston

You just kind of think that cant happen to me. Strokes are for grandparents, she said.

While the risk of stroke increases with age, an estimated 10 percent to 15 percent occur in people under age 50, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The effects can be debilitating. Strokes can cause long-term complications such as difficulty speaking and swallowing, memory and concentration issues, and muscle weakness or paralysis.

When it happens to a young patient, its earth-shattering, said Dr. Briana Costello, a cardiologist at the Texas Heart Institute and Baylor St. Lukes Medical Center who also volunteers with the American Heart Association. Stroke is such a life-changing event.

Schiller and Costello each participated in the recent Go Red For Women luncheon in Houston, an American Heart Association initiative designed to increase womens awareness of heart disease and strokes.

Awareness is crucial, because the chances of surviving and recovering from a stroke are much higher if you can spot the warning signs early, the CDC advises. They include suddenly-occurring symptoms such as numbness (particularly on one side of the body), confusion or trouble speaking, severe headaches and issues with walking or coordination.

Schiller never considered strokes as a possibility as she searched for more than a year for an answer to her health issues. Now shes hopeful others will learn from her experience.

If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone, she said.

The warning signs

For Schiller, the first signs of stroke occurred in June 2020. She experienced a severe headache while preparing for her birthday party at her familys ranch outside College Station. But she figured it was just a pollen allergy and decided to put it out of her mind.

Her condition grew worse over dinner. She struggled to speak and had trouble cutting her own birthday cake. To this day, she doesnt recall much of what happened that evening.

Someone said Have you been dipping into the tequila? Schiller said. Nothing was registering. Everything was on delay.

At the time, she thought she might have had a pinched nerve in her neck, or even a brain tumor. She went to see her doctor, but he couldnt determine a cause.

By early 2021, Schillers headaches and memory loss became more frequent. One month after the incident at H-E-B she and her husband attended a party in Austin. They spent several hours talking to a friend, but Schiller couldnt remember the conversation the next day.

In May 2021, Schiller attended a meeting about K9s4COPs at Gov. Greg Abbotts office in Austin. She was sitting at a table and preparing to speak when she blanked on the name of her charity.

Im in the governors office and my head just feels like its about to explode off my shoulders, she said. I just remember going outside and crying because nothing was making sense.

Finding an answer

In June 2021, Schiller was at a friends party in The Woodlands when she began having trouble holding onto her cell phone. She dropped it in the driveway, then in a bathroom. After the second drop, she reached down to pick up her phone, but her momentum carried her forward and she struck her head on the wall.

INTERVENTION: Rapid intervention helps 82-year-old stroke victim return to normal life

My bell is rung and Im just lying there. I could hear things, but it was just spots and stars in front of my eyes. I just couldnt get it together, she said. I mustve been in there awhile because somebody knocked on the door and asked if I needed anything. I just couldnt get the words out.

Schiller made arrangements for an MRI after speaking to a neurosurgeon. Two nights before her scan, she felt nauseous and had cold sweats. She got out of bed to get an ice pack, but she collapsed a second time when she got to the freezer. Her husband heard the crash and came out to find her passed out on the floor, surrounded by Blue Bell ice cream and the glass shelf she grabbed as she fell.

When a doctor called her into his office to see the result of her MRI on July 12, 2021, she immediately noticed half-a-dozen white spots on her brain. The doctor informed her that shed been having massive strokes, and she needed to go to a hospital.

The diagnosis was confusing and scary, but it also came as a relief. Schiller finally knew what was wrong.

Nearly a year later, though, its still unclear what caused Schillers strokes. She thinks they might be induced by stress, since her symptoms began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several studies have found stress could increase the risk of stroke in adults.

Dr. Tanu Garg, Schillers neurologist at Houston Methodist Hospital, said doctors are still searching for the answer.

I tell people that with neurology, sometimes we dont have a black and white answer, Garg said. We dont have a conclusive diagnosis of what caused her stroke.

Increasing awareness

There are steps you can take to protect yourself from stroke, Costello and Garg said. Experts have determined that 150 minutes of exercise per week can reduce your risk of stroke. Avoiding smoking, eating well and monitoring your blood pressure is also important. An ideal blood pressure is less than 120/80, according to the American Heart Association.

It doesnt matter if youre young or old, Garg said.  All of those things really do matter in terms of protecting you from that stroke.

Most importantly, if you see any of the warning signs of a stroke, you should to go a hospital. The most effective stroke treatments are only available if the stroke is diagnosed within three hours of the first symptoms, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What I tell patients is if youre concerned enough that you think you might need to go to the ER, you should go to the ER, Costello said. Because getting in and being early on in your stroke, with all of the new advances we have in stroke therapy  you want to be there sooner than later.

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Schillers road to recovery has been arduous, but shes seen tremendous improvement over the past year thanks to physical therapy and speech therapy. She estimates that on most days, her speech is about 90 percent of what it was before her strokes.

For now, she is focused on sharing her story to promote stroke awareness. Shes been offering updates about her health and her recovery to her more than 139,000 Instagram followersand has discussed her experience in interviews.

The least I can do is go around on a soapbox and say everybody needs to be checked for this, or dont deny this, she said. Youd rather be over-cautious.

evan.macdonald@chron.com
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Sandra Moras calendar is full.

She goes to Project Walk, the paralysis recovery center, twice each week, aquatic therapy every Tuesday and electrotherapy on Thursdays. She also schedules regular massages to relieve muscle pain from being in her wheelchair.

In the summer, she returns to TIRR Memorial Hermann for continued speech and occupational therapy sessions.

Her appointments take her all around town, some 45 minutes away from her home in southeast Houston, near Pasadena.

But Mora is willing to put in the time  and do whatever it takes  to realize greater independence.

Shes one of the hardest workers Ive ever come across, said Rachel Zuckman, speech language pathologist at TIRR. She does everything to keep pushing herself forward.

About five years ago, when Zuckman began working with Mora, blinking was the only way the two could communicate.

She couldnt talk at all, Zuckman said. Her eyes worked, but the rest of her body did not.

Mora had locked-in syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that shuts down all of the muscles of the body except the eye. The condition usually results from injury to the brain stem.

Its very rare for a patient to come out of locked-in syndrome, Zuckman said.

In fact, its almost unheard of  and some patients with locked-in syndrome do not live past the early phases, due to medical complications, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Mora is defying the odds. She no longer fits within the confines of the diagnosis  and continues to make progress.

Because her speech is affected, an interview was conducted through email and Messenger.

It all began in 2016, with a tragic accident.

She was living in her apartment with her two daughters, Lizbeth and Sofia, then 8 years old and 5 months old  and took a tumble down the stairs holding her baby.

I did everything that was in my hands to protect her, Mora said.

Locked-in syndrome

Her sister Jesica Jimenez was celebrating her birthday with friends that evening. In the early hours of the next morning, her mother Linda Montemayor-de Mora called crying, saying Sandra was at Memorial Hermann in the Texas Medical Center.

I went straight to the hospital, Jimenez said.

Once there, Montemayor-de Mora was waiting with her father, Eleno Mora, and brother Cristian Mora. When we first got there, no one knew what had happened, Jimenez said. Everyone was confused.

It wasnt until a couple of days later that doctors could paint a picture. Moras fall left her with a brain stem hemorrhage and a thrombosis stroke.

The diagnosis was a shock. She was only 25, Jimenez said. And theres no history of stroke in our family.

ALIVE INSIDE: How a Houston hospital restores patients with severe brain injuries

Doctors told the family that Mora would never be able to walk or talk, that her mind would never function as it once had.

Mora spent two months in the intensive care unit, then four more in the hospital. Montemayor-de Mora stayed constantly by her side.

My mom was desperate, Jimenez recalled. Just seeing my mom in that state, she was broken almost, I wanted to help. I wanted to give her hope.

Then Jimenez remembered a movie The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which chronicles journalist Jean-Dominique Baubys stroke and subsequent life with locked-in syndrome. The film is based on a book that Bauby wrote by blinking his eye to indicate certain letters.

Close your eyes, Jimenez instructed her sister. And when I say the right letter, open them.

It worked. Slowly, Mora could spell out her thoughts.

We realized she was all there, Jimenez said. And she remembered everything. Every detail. All of her memories were there.

Mora described how she felt before others realized her mental function was intact.

I was trapped in my own body, she said. I tried to move but couldnt. Everything felt heavy. I couldnt help but cry.

She recalls people talking all around her, not knowing she understood. She lay there with her eyes open. You just want to move or say something and cant. You start crying and nobody notices, Mora said.

She was scared that family, friends and doctors would give up on her.

Blinking was her first step to changing all of that.

Stroke and brain injury

Dr. Sheng Li started working with Mora in 2020. A professor at UTHealths McGovern Medical School, he also is director of Stroke Rehabilitation and Recovery Research.

His research focuses on sensory and motor recovery after neurological impairments, including after stroke.

When we look at a stroke, we assume its someone in their 60s and 70s, Li said. Sandra is unusual. This is very rare in terms of age. The reason the stroke happened to her, its a mystery. Theres no definitive cause found in her case.

He said that, while rare, vertebral artery dissection is the most common cause of a stroke for individuals younger than 45.

The diagnosis results from a tear of the inner lining of the vertebral artery, which is located in the neck and supplies blood to the brain. After the rupture, a blood clot forms, thickening the artery wall and often impeding blood flow.

Her stroke is a rare condition, Li said.

In fact, it is estimated that they account for only 10 percent of strokes. Left untreated, a brain stem stroke can be life-threatening, Li said. It was a severe stroke. It affected both sides but was more severe on the right side.

After her time in acute care, Mora was deemed medically stable enough to begin her rehabilitation journey. Her mother and sister researched the best options  and landed on TIRR.

Relearning to speak

She arrived at TIRR in November 2016, and Zuckman became her speech pathologist right away.

She had become medically stable at that point, Zuckman said. With patients like this, you see what they can do, instead of what they cant, and you build off of that.

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A communications device, developed by Tobii Dynavox, was key to moving forward. Mora was able to make small movements with her hand. By positioning the device on a chair, she could start using it.

The next focus was on getting Mora to swallow. Zuckman used strong flavors to trigger the reflex.

Strokes can affect the cranial nerves that trigger the ability. If youre not swallowing, youre not protecting your airway, Zuckman said.

Swallowing can prevent infections from forming in the lungs. Also, the same physical structures involved with swallowing are paramount to speech.

Sandra started to make attempts to speak, but her speech was really unintelligible, Zuckman said. Weve been able to improve the strength of her tongue, the function.

Botox injections helped relax the tightened muscles in her tongue, jaw and shoulder. Zuckman provided drills to practice at home.

She would come back and have mastered it, Zuckman said.

Mora continues to build on her abilities. Zuckman and her family can understand her speech currently, but Mora wants to improve further.

Zuckman firmly believes that her progress will continue. Shes young and motivated, Zuckman said.

Li agrees. With her motivation and determination, our staff and the facility at TIRR, theres great hope that she can advance further, the doctor said. For the severity of a stroke like hers, it is a miracle for her to come back to where she is now. Shes had a great recovery to this point.  Im optimistic that she will be able to recover further.

Standing and planning

Moras daughters are her greatest inspiration.

She really strives to be there for them, to be the best possible mom she can, Zuckman said. Shes very much trying to ensure her daughters do not miss out on anything because she had a stroke.

Thats why, last Christmas, Mora took Lizbeth, now 13, and Sofia who recently turned 6, and her parents to Disney World. She planned the whole trip.

I only got a travel agent to combine the park tickets, Disney hotel and plane, Mora wrote. Everything else was me.

It started when Mora wanted to stand for photos at her friends wedding in September 2021. She combined training with TIRR and Project Walk to achieve her goal.

You see her standing in the photos, and she looks beautiful, Zuckman said. She sets goals for herself, and she makes it a point to get herself there.

After realizing she was able to reach her goal at her friends wedding, Mora set a new one  taking her family to Disney. Shed taken Lizbeth there before her accident and wanted to return.

Mora dedicated herself to therapy to prepare  and researched how accessible the theme park was. She found that even restaurants at Disney could prepare meals that fit her swallowing limitations: 50 percent by mouth and 50 percent by tube.

ACCESSIBILITY: Disney launches adaptive costume line for fans using wheelchairs

The family all headed to Orlando last Christmas  and spent three days in the park.

I didnt have to struggle at all there like I have in other places because of my disability, Mora said. I was very happy.

Now, she has new goals. Mora turns 31 in July. Both of her daughters want to join taekwondo  and she wants to be there to support them.

She hopes to regain her independence  to take care of her parents and her daughters.

Cristian said his sister is constantly improving. I dont think shell ever quit, he said. She wants to be there for her daughters, as they get older, and do whatever she can for them. She has a lot of motivation to get better for her girls.

Whenever someone says this is the best Mora can do, her sister just surpasses their expectations, Jimenez said.

Im just so proud of her, Jimenez said. I admire her.

Peyton is a freelance writer based in Houston.
Houstons first permanent pick-up location for medical marijuana opened Tuesday, giving patients another option for obtaining their prescription cannabis.

Texas Original, the states largest medical marijuana provider, opened a 1,776-square-foot facility on Houston Avenue in First Ward. The location offers a full range of cannabis products, including gummies, tinctures and lozenges.

The brick-and-mortar location offers another option to patients, Texas Original CEO Morris Denton said. Most patients get their prescription delivered to their homes, but they need to be present to sign for the delivery and verify their identity. At the new location, they can arrange to pick up their prescription when it's convenient.

From a patients perspective, it makes it a lot more convenient and a lot more flexible, Denton said. "You can come by when it makes the most amount of sense for you."

The pick-up process will be similar to home delivery. Patients will need to provide their prescription and ID and answer a few basic questions to verify their identity, Denton said. The process will take less than five minutes.

State regulations prohibit Texas Originals from storing medical marijuana at the new location, so the Houston location will not be able to take walk-in orders for same-day pick-up, Denton said. Any prescriptions that are scheduled for pick-up will need to be shipped each day from the companys Austin dispensary.

Texas Original has 13 pick-up locations across the state, but many of them  including in Katy and North Houston  offer once-a-week pick-up at places, including doctors offices. The new Houston location is the companys first permanent storefront, patients can also pick up from the Austin dispensary.

Texas Originals is considering more pick-up locations in other large cities, including Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio. The company could also open more locations in Houston in the future, Denton said.

We know in order for us to be truly patient-driven and customer-centric, well need multiple locations in the Houston market, he said. But you cant get to two without getting to one. So this is the first, and there will likely be additional ones that will be coming soon.

Texas Original provides medical marijuana to thousands of patients in the Houston area alone, Denton said. Overall, more than 16,000 Texans were registered and eligible to obtain medical marijuana as of December, according to data from the states Department of Public Safety.

Texans can obtain medical marijuana through the states compassionate use program, which is overseen by the DPS. Physicians who are registered through the program can prescribe low tetrahydrocannabinols. or THC, cannabis for medical use.

The program is open to individuals living with epilepsy; seizure disorders; multiple sclerosis; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); spasticity; autism; any form of cancer; an incurable neurodegenerative disease; or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law an expansion of the program that provided access to anyone living with PTSD or any form of cancer. Previously, only patients with terminal cancer were eligible.

The new law also doubled the amount of THC allowed in medical marijuana to 1 percent.

Compassionate Cultivation is one of three licensed dispensing organizations in Texas, along with Fluent and Goodblend.

The Texas Original location, 1714 Houston Ave, is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.Tuesday through Saturday. Orders must be placed by 5 p.m. for next-day pick-up.
Montgomery County Judge Mark Keoughs wife was defrauded of $30,000 by a Wisconsin woman posing as a Best Buy Geek Squad employee, court records allege.

Deborah Diane Ramsdell, 63, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, is charged with the third-degree felony offense of money laundering between $30,000 and $150,000 in bank transactions in November with a Montgomery County resident identified as K. Keough, according to district clerk records.

As of Wednesday, Ramsdell was being held on a $20,000 bond at the Montgomery County Jail in Conroe, jail records show. Ramsdell was taken into custody May 27 in Travis County by the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office, according to jail records.

Judge Keough confirmed on Friday that his wife, Kimberly Keough, was the K. Keough in the case. He declined commenting on the criminal case against Ramsdell, citing the possibility of civil litigation.

Ramsdells attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

Kimberly Keough on Nov. 16 received an email invoice purporting to be from Geek Squad on a two-year security plan, and called the attached customer-support number to cancel the $359.99 subscription, according to a probable cause affidavit filed May 25 by a Montgomery County Precinct 3 constables detective.

According to charging documents, Keough wanted to cancel her subscription because the invoice listed its price as costlier than she had ever paid for it before. The phone call-respondent instructed Kimberly Keough to install TeamViewer, a remote access software that enabled online access to her computer, according to the affidavit.

More information Learn how to protect yourself from online and phone scams by visiting fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/spoofing-and-phishing. See More Collapse

The person on the phone line simulated a transaction falsely showing Keough had been reimbursed more money than owed and then convinced her to wire $70,000 from Keoughs Montgomery County bank to an account at BMO Harris Bank, whose beneficiary would later be identified as Ramsdell, court documents show.

After the wire transfer was made, Keough continued receiving phone calls requesting additional wire transfers to other banks, according to the affidavit.

It was at this time that K. Keough knew that she was defrauded, the affidavit stated.

Kimberly Keough then contacted the Montgomery County Precinct 3 Constables Office, providing the email she received, which showed it was from an email account not associated with Best Buy. A detective obtained transaction records from BMO Harris Bank showing Ramsdell was the account holder and that a wire transfer was received Nov. 16, according to the affidavit.

On Nov. 16, according to the affidavit, a cashiers check for $30,000 was paid to the order of Ramsdell and deposited into an account at an Illinois bank, which a records request showed belonged to the accused and was opened that same day for the same amount as the check. According to the affidavit, Ramsdell could be seen in BMO Harris Bank video surveillance requesting the $30,000 cashiers check.

Records showed multiple transactions for Western Union transfers and other fund transfers, the affidavit said.

The detective on the case knows these transfers are indicative of concealing the traceability of funds unlawfully obtained through criminal activity, the affidavit stated.

On May 24, according to the affidavit, Ramsdell admitted to participating in the scam during a conversation with a Kenosha Police Department detective helping with the criminal investigation.

Ramsdell is accused of transferring funds from one bank account to another, depositing funds, keeping a portion and then transfer funds to a man in Bangladesh through money orders, wire transfers, gift cards and cryptocurrency.

Ramsdell provided the Kenosha police detective with copies of receipts on all transactions, gift cards with identifying numbers to the contact in Bangladesh and other documentation related to the criminal acquiring, holding and transferring of funds, according to the affidavit.

Citing an ongoing investigation, Precinct 3 spokesman Lt. Mike Atkins declined to say whether the man in Bangladesh that Ramsdell referred to would face criminal charges.

Atkins said these kinds of scams are all too common, and warned that cold calls, emails and texts requesting money, identifying credentials or passwords are likely not legitimate.

Spoofing and phishing scams are getting more brazen, especially with the downturn in the economy, people are getting more desperate for cash, Atkins said, adding that residents regularly reach out to Precinct 3 about possibly being targets of fraud. Be extra careful, extra careful these days when anybody calls, or emails or even texts.

Catherine Dominguez contributed to this report.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com

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Chronicle file

Seventy years ago there used to be a Billups Service Station at 4602 Washington, where Bedrock City Comic Company is today. Billups stations were a familiar sight across the South back then.

On this day in 1952, some spilled gasoline ignited and set off some explosions, which shook the neighborhood and launched manhole covers in the air.
OnScene.Tv

A man was shot and killed early Thursday while sitting inside his car in northwest Houston, according to authorities.

The man was shot around 12:17 a.m. in the 5100 block of Antoine Drive near Hoover Street, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Houston Chronicle

Police are investigating the shooting death of a man found Thursday in north Houston, according to authorities.

The body was found around 9 a.m. in the 3200 block of Laura Koppe Road, near the Eastex Freeway, police said.
Harris County District Clerk Marilyn Burgess wanted to convey the countys gratitude for its citizens exercising their civic duty. Instead, her Jury Appreciation Week ended with a mistrial in a grisly murder case.

Burgess on Tuesday tweeted videos of KTRK (Channel 13) reporter Ted Oberg and KPRC (Channel 2) reporter ReChelle Turner  two of the guest speakers at the four-day jury appreciation event  speaking to jurors about the importance of fulfilling their civic duty. (The posts were deleted by Thursday morning.)

In the short posts, Oberg urged the jurors not to think of the jury service as a tiresome bureaucratic chore, but to put themselves in the shoes of families in the courtrooms whod waited for years for their day in court.

Weve talked to dozens of families who are dependent on you to do your job, Oberg said in the video. Either families of the accused, or the families of victims, who need you to be here to make this process move faster  The tears weve shed with families are real, the service you are going to give them is real.

Turner spoke about times when juries had delivered guilty verdicts in prominent cases, including the murder of 11-year-old Josue Flores, who was stabbed to death in Houston while walking home from school in 2016. A Houston man, Andre Jackson, was found guilty of Flores murder in May and was sentenced to life in prison.

This family would not have been given justice that they deserve without you guys, without your help, without your service, Turner said.

Defense attorney Sean Buckley saw the clips Wednesday, as a lengthy trial of a man he was defending neared conclusion. His client, Itani Losangel Milleni, is accused of beating his estranged wife to death at her Chinatown beauty school in 2015.

Buckley characterized the clips (which didnt include entirety of the speeches) as focusing on victims and said the unambiguous tone of this event was to rile up jury pools so they would go into jury service with the directive to get justice for victims families, regardless of whether the defendant was guilty or innocent.

Serial Indifference: One rapist, a failed system  a Chronicle investigation

Buckley took the concerns to the judge overseeing his trial, 339th District Court Judge Teiva Bell, who declared a mistrial in Millenis murder trial.

Burgess declined to comment on the incident. In a statement on Thursday, a spokesman for the district clerks office said the event was meant to honor jurors and tell them how important their participation is in the American justice system.

The guest speakers volunteer their time and are solely for inspiration and entertainment, said public information officer Alvaro Ortiz. The remarks made by the guest speakers are their own.

Turner in a statement said she was invited to the event by Burgess and referred other questions to the clerk's office or Bell. "I had nothing to do with the court case in question," she said.

During the four-day event, jurors heard speeches from Oberg, Turner, Harris County Sheriffs Office Chief Deputy Edison Toquica, Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen, country music singer Will Cater and Gallery Furniture owner James Matress Mack McIngvale.

After McIngvale spoke, four jurors received $500 gift cards to Gallery Furniture, according to a post on Burgess Facebook page.

The news quickly rocketed around the Harris County Criminal Courthouse.

Murray Newman, president-elect of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, criticized Burgess event as unnecessary and an attempt to ingratiate herself with jurors.

The legal system is supposed to protect jurors from influence before and during a trial, said Amanda Peters, a professor at South Texas College of Law Houston. If more mistrials are declared because of the speakers, Burgess office will have wasted time and resources, Peters said.

The District Clerk gave astronauts, news reporters, politicians, cheerleaders, and local people of influence access to jurors without understanding that their speeches could affect their views of the cases they were about to hear, said Peters. This pep rally she threw for jurors was unprecedented, unwise, and in the eyes of at least one judge, unlawful.

But former Harris County Assistant District Attorney JoAnne Musick, now working in private practice, described Obergs speech as pretty innocuous.

I understand the initial concern, she said, but in general it sounds as if he is trying to show both sides, and the importance of getting the system moving again by having jurors hear both sides of any offense or family member or whatever they are called upon to hear.

She pointed out that its not known whether the jurors in the trial even heard the presentation, or if they did, if they were questioned as to whether it had any effect on them.

Its unclear what part of the speeches concerned Bell; or if she polled any of the jurors about the presentation. She did not file a written motion regarding her ruling.

In an email sent to district court judges on Wednesday, 113th District Court Judge Rabeea Collier  who chairs the Board of District Judges committee that oversees jury operations  said other judges would be provided with video footage of the weeks speakers to review what was said. The jury committee at its next meeting will discuss procedures to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future, Collier wrote.

Collier declined to comment on the event or her email, saying judicial ethics prevented her from commenting on pending cases.

Its unclear if any other judges took up the offer and if the event will affect other trials.

Bells ruling, however, means Buckley and prosecutors will have to retry Millenis case.

Buckley said Milleni vigorously maintains he is innocent and did not kill his wife.

A spokesman for the Harris County District Attorneys Office said the decision effectively pushes back years of work by police, prosecutors and investigators.

We will do all we can to protect society from this defendant, who is accused of a vicious murder, said Dane Schiller, spokesman for the Harris County District Attorneys Office. We will not be deterred in our efforts to see that all the facts are presented to a jury in a fair trial and that justice is done.

Reached late Wednesday, Oberg said he was completely unaware of the events that had transpired earlier in the day.

I was proud to speak as an invited guest during Juror Appreciation Week, he said. As our reporting has shown, our courts are experiencing long delays for the accused, victims and everyone connected to the process. My comments to jurors reflected that.
A former U.S. Marine on Thursday stepped down as the grand marshal of Friendswoods upcoming Fourth of July parade after people made threats to her and her familys safety, according to the citys parks and recreation department.

Haley Carter relinquished the position just one day after she was announced on Facebook and met immediate criticism by conservative residents. Carter, a retired professional soccer player who also served two tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, is vocally pro-gun reform and LGBT rights.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner on Thursday called Carter an American hero and role model for young women. Carter is currently chair of the City of Houston Commission Against Gun Violence.

Haley embodies everything the uniquely American holiday represents, Turner said. Unfortunately, some have threatened violence against Haley and her family because of her strength, her belief in equality, and her leadership in trying to reduce gun violence here in Houston. But they have failed. Haley will continue to move forward and make positive changes as she has always done."

City of Friendswood officials declined to answer questions related to the threats or the possibility of future investigations. The Fourth of July Steering Committee, made up of community members appointed by the city council, originally chose Carter for the grand marshal role.

Ms. Haley Carter was selected for her service as noted in her biography ... as well as being a lifelong resident of this City, a city statement reads.

In addition to being a decorated veteran, Carter is a Friendswood High School alumna and a retired Houston Dash player. She received a Masters in business administration from the University of Liverpool and a law degree from the University of Houston Law Center.

Despite her listed accolades, several commenters expressed their disapproval on the citys initial Facebook post about Carters selection as grand marshal. The critics cited her support of gun reform, and they screenshot Carters social media accounts  one of the posts showing her attending a drag show, and another stating her support of transgender womens participation in sports.

Friendswood typically votes red and overwhelmingly chose former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

After the city announced Carters decision to step down, several Friendswood residents also took to social media and did the opposite of their peers: expressing their support of the athlete.

The 127th annual Friendswood 4th of July Celebration starts at 10 a.m. with a parade and continues with festivities through the day. There will be no replacement grand marshal, according to the city.

samantha.ketterer@chron.com
zhangshuang/Getty Images

Record-breaking temperatures have soared past 100 degrees across Texas, where much of the state is trapped under a blistering heat wave. The heat was so bad in one east Texas city that the infrastructure is melting  literally  under the pressure.

On Monday, the excessive heat caused the asphalt on about four miles of a roadway loop in Crockett, a city about 112 miles east of Waco, to bleed, according to the Texas Department of Transportation in Lufkin.
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Larry Bagneris Jr. was a stalwart in the local LGBTQ community in the late 1970s and early 1980s, founding the Houston Pride Parade in 1979. Now, a community activist is throwing a fundraising ball in his honor.

Houston Pride Guide: Celebrate with drag shows, parties, bars and other events all month long

The inaugural Pride Ball, which will be held Thursday night at the Petroleum Club in Downtown Houston, will be hosted by local LGBTQ advocate Harrison Guy, director of the Urban Souls Dance Company and the 2019 male grand marshal of the Houston Pride Parade.

On this night, during Pride month, we will celebrate his achievements and show gratitude to him for his countless contributions to our city in the fight for equity and inclusion, Guy said in a promotional post for the event.

Bagneris was a key figure in the early years of the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus and served as its first elected Black president in the early 1980s. He worked alongside other local LGBTQ leaders such as former Mayor Annise Parker, former Council Member Sue Lovell, Phyllis Fry, and Ray Hill.

The 75-year-old, who was born in New Orleans and moved to Houston in 1972, first got the idea of a Pride parade when he attended the Foley's Thanksgiving Day Parade with his little sister, he said in a 2021 OutSmart Magazine interview with Guy. His sister, then 8, turned to him and said the parade was boring, Bagneris recalled.

She was right, he said in the OutSmart interview. It dawned on me that the gay community needed to do a parade and make floats and throw beads to really show them how its done.

After acquiring the right permits, the first Houston Pride Parade began to take shape. Just the sight of the parade being set up in June 1979 made Bagneris emotional, he said.

I had tears in my eyes, Bagneris said in the interview, recalling the day of the first parade. I couldn't believe the creativity of what these kids had put together.

MORE ON BAGNERIS: This was Houstons Stonewall moment

Although the Houston Pride Parade is the largest in Texas and one of the largest in the country, not many know that it was founded by a Black man, Guy said.

No one really knew, he said. I've been trying to honor (Bagneris) in different ways. ... To have (the Pride Ball) every year is a great way to honor his legacy.

Guy's work to organize the gala began a year ago when he began working with Bagneris for the Charles Law Community Archive, a cache of records and artifacts of Houston's Black LGBTQ history.

As he learned more and more about Bagneris, Guy knew he had to find a way to celebrate the native New Orleanian's contributions to the local community.

When Guy started floating the idea around, he immediately got support from his peers. The first Pride Ball slowly began to take shape.

It's pretty exciting to have an idea and have the community support it, he said. They also believe something like this needs to happen for (Bagneris).

SPECIALS: These restaurants and bars offer a way to support the LGBTQ community

For the local LGBTQ and Black communities, Guy thinks this annual gala can inspire a lot of pride.

I know it's Pride Month, but I can imagine there is some Black pride for the people seeing something of this caliber being put on for Black man he said. They're also proud that the parade was founded by someone from the Black gay community.

Guy expects around 100 guests for the ball, and all of the proceeds will benefit the Charles Law Community Archive.
Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that the Second Amendment guarantees Americans right to own firearms, lower-court judges have been wrestling with the decisions explicit caveat that that right is subject to reasonable regulations.

Today, the courts new super-majority ruled 6-3 that those regulations are only valid if they are similar to gun laws on the books when the Second Amendment was adopted in 1791, or when they were applied against the states when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified following the Civil War.

Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas ruled that New Yorks requirement that licenses to carry handguns in public be granted only with good cause is at odds with American history, and therefore with the Second Amendment. Gun violence, the court reasoned, is an old problem. If the Founders had wanted to limit handguns to those who could show special need for them, they would have adopted such laws in the 18th century. They didnt, and neither may New York, Thomas writes.

That reasoning ignores the ravening nature of gun violence across the nation, including in New York. Nowhere in the majority opinion is there any direct mention of the mass shootings that have become increasingly common, other than in a footnote waving those concerns off. Thomas acknowledges that Justice Stephen Breyer chronicles in painstaking detail examples of gun violence that have rocked communities large and small across the country. But the court, he says offhandedly, long ago acknowledged the right to own guns is not the only constitutional right with controversial public safely implications.

Controversial public safety implications? Thats one way to describe the hellscape of modern gun violence. Parents in Uvalde, whose children were so disfigured by AR-15 rounds used to kill them they had to be identified by DNA samples, may have other words to use. Communities in Tulsa, Buffalo and others are also still reeling from recent mass shootings. But mass shootings are hardly the only ways that Americas extraordinarily permissive gun culture has turned deadly. More than 45,000 Americans were killed by firearms in 2020.

Across the country, state and federal lawmakers are being asked to find ways to slow the dismal tide of violence. Even in a closely divided Senate, progress on a modest set of new rules is underway. Fifteen Republicans voted for a modest set of reforms Wednesday in a test vote on legislation expected to clear the Senate as soon as Thursday night.

But Thomas waves off gun violence in America as nothing more than a present-day example of a very old problem. Even in the 18th century, he writes, New York was concerned about gun violence in the city. So what could possibly be so new about violence today that it would justify tougher restrictions on gun ownership?

That kind of reasoning is proof of an extraordinary ignorance of the current moment.

In his dissent, Breyer, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, warned that just when governments are seeking ways to make gun ownership safer, the new ruling will make their efforts more difficult.

Many states have tried to address some of the dangers of gun violence just described by passing laws that limit, in various ways, who may purchase, carry, or use firearms of different kinds, Breyer writes. The Court today severely burdens states efforts to do so.

Refining Heller

In the years since the 2008 Heller decision, which permits reasonable restrictions on gun ownership, lower courts have developed a two-part test for determining when such restrictions go too far. As with many constitutional tests adopted by the courts over the years, it included as its second step a balancing test. How important was the interest the government was trying to protect with the regulation compared to how much the law burdened gun rights?

The court on Thursday struck down any such balancing act as too restrictive.

Despite the popularity of this two-step approach, it is one step too many, Thomas writes.

The Second Amendment is clear, he writes, that the right to bear arms is guaranteed. If a state or city wants to limit those rights, its rules must find an analogous example of restrictions in our history, he continues.

What it means for Texas

In states such as Texas where gun restrictions are few, the implications may well be more political than legal. Since Heller, the right to own a gun has been unquestionably rooted in the Second Amendment. But many gun advocates here have argued that the right to carry a gun in public is similarly supported, even though that was not part of the Heller opinion. Texas lawmakers embraced the idea of constitutional carry in 2021, when they passed a bill that allows gun owners to carry their weapons without a permit.

The courts ruling Thursday that the 2nd Amendment specifically protects the right to carry weapons in public will surely embolden that interpretation, Texas Southern University law professor Martin Levy told us.

When you get into states like Texas, it will even further arm them if you will, he said.

What other gun laws are at risk?

Just how much the new opinion will limit future attempts to regulate guns is unclear. How will the court handle questions about red-flag laws? Would the courts previous findings permitting restrictions on unusual weapons, such as machine guns, be respected? What about challenges to an assault rifle ban, should Congress reimpose one? What about age restrictions, such as a federal law that denies handguns to anyone under 21?

Since Heller, these kinds of restrictions, while politically contentious, have largely been understood as legal. But will the courts newly singular focus on the law of gun ownership in the 18th century change that thinking? Could states, or Congress, argue that mass shootings conducted by those armed by AR-15s represent a new problem that was unknown to the Founders?

Or will the court simply, as it did in the case of handgun violence in New York, say that gun violence, writ large, is nothing new, and let lawmakers from the 18th century have the final word?

In two concurring opinions, justices stressed the limited impact of Thursdays opinion. Many states laws requiring permits that are easier to acquire than New Yorks were not challenged in the current case, they noted. And Justice Alito writes separately to argue that the majoritys opinion decides nothing about who may lawfully possess a firearm or the requirements that must be met to buy a gun. Nor does it decide anything about the kind of weapons that people may possess.

Thats true, but the sweeping nature of Thomas opinion, which drew six votes, puts on notice that any gun restriction not in place centuries ago is suspect.

Given the tragedies unfolding all across the land, where roughly 400 million firearms are registered, thats frightening.
Regarding Exxon Mobil to President Biden: were investing more than any other oil company, (June 6): In my previous career I spent 27 years in the engineering and construction of mostly refineries and petrochemical plants; throw in a pipeline or two. I do not profess to be an expert on the current economics of oil refining, but I do believe there is a bit of truth in most everything we hear or read about the situation today. What I do remember during the last decade of that career, the 90s, was that a lot of small, independent refineries were closing. They put much of the blame on Big Oil for holding down margins to drive them out of business. A claim Big Oil, of course, denied and I am not proposing it was true, just saying what was claimed. According to a 2014 report by the Congressional Research Service, some 150 refineries had closed in the U.S. since the mid-1980s. In April, LyondellBasell announced it would close its Houston refinery by the end of 2023.

Another fact is that, in 2008, oil peaked at $145 per barrel, yet gas peaked at $4.16 a gallon. So why now is oil somewhere around $110 per barrel while gas is over $5 in some places?

I dont begrudge Exxon for making $23 billion in profits in 2021, especially after losing $20 billion in 2020s pandemic-driven turndown. Just providing some food for thought.

Rob Hellyer, Houston

Juneteenth

Regarding Opinion: New to Juneteenth? Know the history before you celebrate., (June 17): In honor of Juneteenth, our firm gave Monday off, and asked that we all take a moment to consider the importance of this day while on holiday.

Being both a Texan and BOI (Born on the Island), Ive always felt a special connection to Juneteenth and its importance to our African American Texans and friends. Juneteenth has been celebrated in Texas for over 150 years and is now celebrated nationally due to the hard work of many, including our own Houston Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee who pushed such legislation for several years. Whether today, tomorrow or whenever you next visit Galveston, there is not only a significant Texas historical marker on The Strand, but a very large mural dedicated to General Grangers announcement informing Texans that all enslaved people were free.

It took 100 years before a president from Texas, with critical support from the civil rights movement, achieved basic legal rights for all Americans with the passage of his 1964 Civil Rights Act ending discrimination in public accommodations, the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1968 Fair Housing Act, all of which significantly helped curtail legal discrimination against African Americans and other fellow Americans. If you didnt have a chance to visit Galveston this past Juneteenth weekend or soon, you can also visit the Lyndon B. Johnson monument in downtown Houston on Bagby Street at Rusk Avenue, which in part is dedicated to these accomplishments.

Charles C. Foster, Houston

Regarding Despite push, states slow to make Juneteenth a paid holiday, (June 15): I didnt know that Juneteenth was a national holiday. Congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee is pushing a reparations bill that would fund a commission to study reparations proposals for African Americans. I have a hard time with that. The way I see it, Black Americans today never picked any cotton. And I never owned any slaves. So the thought of reparations for Black Americans is nonsense.

Carl J. Schiro, Houston

Regarding United Airlines wants more pilots of color. Its Juneteenth event for students aims to find them., (June 18): As a retired United Airlines captain, I am very happy to read genuine expressions of support provided by United Airlines Juneteenth flight, as community and corporate entities join in civility and mutual respect. I salute this effort as a real example of working together.

Rob Benson, Spring

SBC leadership

Regarding The hunter is now the hunted: Southern Baptists vow to do more to stop sexual abuse, (June 15): I moved from the Methodist church to the Southern Baptist church and was surprised by another issue. The SBC has claimed it cannot manage the actions of its member churches that are autonomous. That is not true. The SBC does not allow women in certain ministries including in the office of pastor. Perhaps they do in some auxiliary functions such as childrens Bible study classes but I found few, if any, SBC churches with a female at the top.

Howard Dunbar, Houston
One hundred and forty. Thats how many children 18 and under have been treated for gunshot wounds at Childrens Memorial Hermann Hospital in the last 12 months  a nearly 75 percent increase from just three years ago. With so many unspeakable tragedies taking place across our country in recent weeks, we can all agree that Americans shouldnt have to worry about being shot at their grocery store, church, school, doctors office, or anywhere else. We mourn the loss of life, pray, and promise never again, but we get stuck on the how.

Youve heard it said already, but it bears repeating: Gun violence is not a political issue. Its a national public health emergency. And its time we started treating it like one.

A recent New England Journal of Medicine article identified that since 2017, firearm-related injuries have become the leading cause of death among children and adolescents in the United States. The trend holds true at Memorial Hermann  home to one of the busiest Level I trauma centers in the country and one of only two Level I pediatric trauma centers in the city  where gunshot wounds are now the leading cause of death in those under the age of 20. In Texas, the inflection point is 15 years. This means, in Texas, 15-year-olds are more likely to die from being shot than from any other cause.

At Memorial Hermann, we are deeply invested in our mission to improve the health of Greater Houston. To accomplish this, we must be willing to confront this unchecked epidemic that is currently plaguing our future generations. Gun violence is a complex issue that will require a multi-pronged approach with multiple partners collaborating to address it. As the regions largest health system, we commit to being part of the solution and have identified two areas we can start tackling immediately.

For one, we will further expand access to mental health care. Today, Memorial Hermann offers these resources to Greater Houston through free-standing mental health crisis clinics and our health centers for schools, but we know we can do more.

Thats why were pledging to further increase access to mental health care in the communities we serve, with a special focus on children. By seeking out innovative new partnerships over the next several months, we will help bring additional mental health resources to our young people through their schools  care that can be accessed virtually, as needed, at their convenience, and at no cost to them. In addition, we will be opening another school-based health center in Humble ISD later this year, and we are strengthening the mental health programs at our existing centers by adding additional licensed clinical social worker positions.

Secondly, we know we must do more from a public safety perspective to reduce the risk of injury as it relates to firearms. Gun safety is everyones responsibility. Too often, children encounter guns because their family members are not storing them safely in the house, making deadly weapons easily accessible to small hands. Safe storage is key.

In a Chronicle op-ed published just after the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting, we called on the country to listen to the medical professionals case for change: to address the growing threat that gun violence was posing to public health.

Four years later, we are now taking more specific action. Dr. Sandra McKay , an associate professor of pediatrics with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and Childrens Memorial Hermann Hospital, is one of the experts leading gun violence research in the Houston area. She recently told the Chronicle that one of the things health care providers could be doing to help is handing out free gun locks to the community.

We agree, which is why Memorial Hermann will be distributing firearm safety kits to individuals and families across Greater Houston. Each kit will include a gun-locking device and instructions for safe gun handling and responsible storage. Within the next several months, our goal is to make thousands of these kits convenient to pick up at locations across the city and available free of charge, no questions asked.

We invite others to join us in these efforts, and we applaud those who are already taking similar steps to do what they can to help. By taking action today, we will give our community  and specifically our children  a safer, and healthier, tomorrow.

David L. Callender, M.D. is the president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health System. James J. McCarthy, M.D. is the executive vice president and chief physician executive of Memorial Hermann Health System, and a board-certified emergency medicine physician.
WASHINGTON  U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has not lost any support among Texas Republicans since striking a deal with Democrats on bipartisan gun safety legislation, despite receiving a chorus of boos at the state GOP convention last week, a new poll found.

Sixty-eight percent of Texas Republicans say they support Cornyn, the same from surveys conducted just before the May 24 mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, according to a Morning Consult poll released Thursday. The percent of those who say they disapprove of Cornyn, however, rose from 11 percent to 17.

Cornyn also maintained the support of 43 percent of all Texas voters, unchanged from previous polls. A third of independents said they supported Cornyn, and 22 percent of Democrats supported the senator.

GOP CRITICISM GROWS: As Trump calls Cornyn 'RINO' over gun bill, Texas GOP congressman says he'll vote yes

The poll results come as the four-term senator has faced criticism for working across the aisle on the legislation from conservatives, including former President Donald Trump, who on Wednesday blasted Cornyn as a RINO, short for Republican in name only. State GOP delegates rebuked Cornyn for working the legislation they say violates their God-given rights in a resolution at the party convention in Houston last week.

The legislation would be the first significant tightening of federal gun laws since 1994, bolstering background checks for gun buyers under 21 and restricting access to firearms for dating partners convicted of domestic abuse. It also provides funding for mental health programs, school security and for states to enact red flag laws.

The bill appears to have the backing of at least 14 Senate Republicans and could pass the chamber as soon as Thursday.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

The Morning Consult poll of 2,420 Texas voters was conducted between June 11 and 20. The bipartisan agreement was announced on June 12. The survey carried a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points.

The poll also found that Gov. Greg Abbott is the most popular Republican official in Texas, with 85 percent approval among the states Republicans and the support of 50 percent of the overall electorate. Both figures were similar to what they were before the Uvalde shooting.

Support for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who opposes the gun legislation, has been virtually unchanged among Texas Republicans, as well, with 75 percent approving of the junior senator. Forty four percent of Texas Republicans said they strongly support Cruz, compared to just 29 percent who said the same of Cornyn.

ben.wermund@chron.com
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AFL-CIO, Americas largest union, backs American Music Fairness Act

The AFL-CIO, Americas largest union is officially backing US Congressional efforts to get musicians paid when their songs are played on broadcast radio.

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. Its 56 unions represent more than 12 million active and retired workers.

Following the AFL-CIOs unanimous passage of a resolution in support of music fairness and artists rights Congressman Joe Crowley, Chairman of the musicFIRST Coalition, issued this statement:

We applaud the AFL-CIO for standing by artists and music creators and lending the strength of its 12.5 million members to the fight for passage of the American Music Fairness Act. This legislation will benefit artists across the country  including the tens of thousands who are members of SAG-AFTRA, the American Federation of Musicians and other AFL-CIO unions  by correcting a decades-long injustice fueled by corporate greed that has left artists uncompensated for the use of their songs on AM/FM radio.

In all other industries, paying people for their work is a basic, bedrock principle. Broadcasting shouldnt be an exception. Its time to fix our laws and bring the radio industry up to speed with the times by ensuring that Big Radio corporations fairly compensate artists when they play their songs. We look forward to working alongside our friends at the AFL-CIO to pass this important and long overdue legislation this year.

Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.

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iciHaiti - Rescue : 27 Haitians rescued on a desert island in Puerto Rico





On Wednesday, the US Coast Guard said it had recently rescued 27 Haitian migrants abandoned by their smugglers on the rocky cliffs of the deserted island of Monito located between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.



The rescue operation took place over two daysafter the Coast Guard said it detected an illegal smuggling boat heading away from Monito Island. Officials said they arrested three illegal smugglers and rescued 9 of the 27 Haitians stranded on the island who jumped into the water upon seeing the coast guard arrive.



Unfavorable sea conditions prevented rescuing the remaining Haitians, however, the coast guards left food, water and other supplies with the migrants, until their return the next day when they were able to rescue the 18 Haitians remaining.







The Coast Guard said it intervened in 64 illegal trips between October 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022, adding that more than 370 Haitians were arrested, stressing that this is an increase from previous years. .



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-12484-haiti-social-70-haitian-abandoned-in-mona-island.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9374-haiti-social-again-57-haitians-abandoned-on-a-desert-island.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9156-haiti-social-84-haitian-abandoned-on-a-desert-island.html



S/ iciHaiti


















The Philippines National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has blocked several independent media sites, accusing them of supporting terrorist groups. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), in condemning the internet restrictions and urges the government to restore access to independent media.

National Security Adviser and Anti-Terrorism Council Vice-Chairperson, Hermogenes Esperon Jr., requested the National Telecommunications Commission block access to 28 websites, citing their affiliation with the Communist Party of the Philippines, New Peoples Army and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

The blocked sites include independent media such as Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly, as well as progressive groups such as Save Our Schools Network, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, Pamalakaya Pilipinas, Amihan and BAYAN.

Since June 17, access to the Bulatlat website has been restricted. The news site sent a letter on June 20 to the NTC and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), demanding these agencies investigate Esperons claims.

The newsrooms did not receive any prior notice of the block and did not have the opportunity to address the NTCs claims. It is still unclear whether these independent media organisations can appeal the decision of the NTC.

Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly are known for reporting stories in the public interest and issues experienced by marginalised groups. These independent media organisations have recently been targeted by cyber-attacks attempting to take down their websites. A report on June 22, 2021, by Qurium, a non-profit organisation of digital forensics based in Sweden, found that the cyber-attacks were linked to the Department of Science and Technology and the Philippines military.

The government has previously used red-tagging, or the classification of organisations as affiliated with communist or terrorist groups, to intimidate human rights activists and the media.

NUJP has repeatedly warned against the dangers of red-tagging, which portrays groups and individuals as legitimate targets for threats, harassment and physical attacks. This labelling, in the form of an official government document, magnifies that danger, even more, NUJP added.

NUJP said: We call on the NTC and the NSC to reconsider the inclusion of news sites and the websites activist groups in their supposed list. We also call on the members of the journalist community, press freedom and freedom of expression advocates, and on the public to join us in condemning this blatant violation of press freedom and of the very basic idea of the free flow of information and ideas.

The IFJ said: Blocking access to independent media organisations under the justification of alleged terrorist affiliations is a clear attempt at censorship and media control. The IFJ urges the Philippines authorities, including the NTC, to immediately restore access to all online media sites and ensure press freedom is protected.
GCash, the mobile wallet app run by financial technology company Mynt, recently kicked off its Jumpstart Internship Program, an on-the-job learning program for undergraduate students that will run from June-August 2022.

Out of hundreds of applicants from all over the Philippines, 36 students were chosen to be part of the pioneer batch. The 10-week internship program aims to provide a unique opportunity for students to learn about the financial technology (fintech) industry, gain relevant work experience, and be trained by the best GCash managers.

Through the Jumpstart Internship program, young talents will be exposed to the people, culture, and values of G Nation. Through its program, G Nation for the Nation, GCash provides employees a collaborative work culture and increased opportunities to advance their careers in the company. Interns will have the opportunity to learn about the workplace culture and values of GCash through G Nation sessions and leadership talks.

As G Nation, we help make Filipinos lives better by providing digital finance solutions that empower people. Through this internship program, were excited to expand our G Nation by training and guiding new talents who have both the skills and the heart to promote a more financially inclusive Philippines, said GCash Chief People Officer Robert Conrad Gonzales.

The interns will undergo a series of experiential learning activities that will prepare them to work comfortably in the agile and dynamic fintech industry. As interns, they will be given responsibilities such as communication with cross-functional teams, creation of systems and processes, and presentation of data-informed recommendations.

During the GCash Jumpstart kick-off event, the keynote speaker, FUSE Lending Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tony Isidro, gave tips on how interns can make the most of their experience at GCash. Here, you will learn not just about e-wallets, payments, lending, and savings. Enjoy the trek up, and through it all, know that youre making a positive impact in making finance a reality for more Filipinos, said Isidro.

The Jumpstart Internship Program is part of the G Nation program that aims to nurture young talents by fostering a progressive and inclusive workplace culture while contributing to financial inclusion in the Philippines. Be part of the G Nation, For the Nation! To learn more, visit https://bit.ly/JoinGNation.
Southeast Asia's leading superapp Grab is celebrating 10 years of bringing access to Filipinos through their variety of services. To mark this special milestone, Grab is visiting key cities across the country to bring a BIGA10 celebration through the Grab Caravan BIGA10 Festival!

In a celebration of Iloilos best delicacies, the Grab Caravan BIGA10 Festival on June 25 will give Ilonggos great food, special deals and discounts, prizes, and more!

After taking over Rizal and Cavite the past two months, the Grab Caravan is making its way to Iloilo on June 25 to give the spotlight to the pride of Iloilo: their delicious food! The Grab Caravan BIGA10 Festival will be happening at SM City Iloilo - South Event Grounds from 10 AM to 8 PM and will be bringing together some of Iloilos crowd-favorite restaurants Angel's Pizza, Cocina Project, Shocks Sisig, Baking Bad, Healthy Kitchen, Big Bad Bowls, Yumchow, Sushi Box, Prince Baker, La Bomba Cafe, 86'D Culinary Creations, Sa Poste, Noble City Cafe, and Kusina Tsina! Grab invites Ilonggos to bring their friends and family to enjoy delectable food and drinks in this weekend food destination!

Aside from great food, the Grab Caravan BIGA10 Festival prepared much more for attendees to look forward to!

Host Dyard Magsipoc will bring the fun to the event with games and special prizes for guests of the caravan

will bring the fun to the event with games and special prizes for guests of the caravan Guests can expect to be serenaded by Illongo band Kreonz , with performances throughout the program

, with performances throughout the program Exclusive GrabFood discounts and promotions will be available all day for on-ground guests and neighboring customers ordering for delivery

Get Php100 off with a minimum purchase of Php649 with the code KAONTASAILO valid during the Caravan

off with a minimum purchase of Php649 with the code valid during the Caravan

But wait, theres more! Self-pickup orders under Php400, get 20% off with the code GRABILO when ordering at the Caravan

when ordering at the Caravan For a convenient, affordable, and rewarding payment experience, Grabs e-wallet GrabPay will be the caravans official mode of payment, giving guests greater discounts and deals.

Kaon ta, Iloilo! Dont miss out on the celebration of food at the Grab Caravan BIGA10 Festival on June 25 at SM City Iloilo! Watch out for more updates on GrabFood Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to find out where the Grab Caravan BIGA10 Festival is headed to next!
Xi Jinping: BRICS countries need to act with a sense of responsibility and bring positive, stabilizing and constructive strength to the world

Xinhua) 21:22, June 23, 2022

On the evening of June 23, President Xi Jinping hosted the 14th BRICS Summit in Beijing via video link.

President Xi noted that over the past year, the world has faced the continued spread of COVID-19, a tortuous world economic recovery and increasingly salient peace and security issues. Facing the formidable and complex circumstances, BRICS countries have embraced the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, enhanced solidarity and coordination and jointly tackled the challenges. The BRICS mechanism has demonstrated resilience and vitality. BRICS cooperation has achieved sound progress and results.

President Xi stressed that this Summit is held at a critical juncture in the shaping of the future course of humanity. BRICS countries, as important emerging markets and major developing countries, need to act with a sense of responsibility to bring positive, stabilizing and constructive strength to the world.

President Xi said that first, we need to speak out for equity and justice. We need to encourage the international community to practice true multilateralism and uphold the international system with the UN at its core and the international order underpinned by international law, and urge the world to reject the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation, oppose unilateral sanctions and abuse of sanctions, and reject the small circles built around hegemonism by forming one big family belonging to a community with a shared future for humanity.

Second, we need to remain firm in our conviction that we will defeat the pandemic and act responsibly to protect our peoples and their lives. We need to build a strong line of defense against the virus, enhance international COVID response cooperation, and jointly defend people's lives and health.

Third, we need to pool strength for economic recovery, step up macro policy coordination, keep industrial and supply chains secure and unclogged, build an open world economy, and forestall and defuse major risks and challenges in global development, to work for more inclusive and resilient economic growth.

Fourth, we need to advocate sustainable and people-centered development, invest more in poverty alleviation, food, education, health and so on, and promote the implementation of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to bring stronger, greener and healthier global development.

President Xi said he looks forward to an in-depth and vibrant discussion under the theme of "Fostering High-quality Partnership and Ushering in a New Era of Global Development" to jointly contribute wisdom and ideas to the high-quality development of BRICS cooperation.

(Web editor: Liu Ning, Bianji)
Have you received a text message from an unknown number containing a suspicious link? Theres a big chance it is an attempt at smishing, a phishing attack executed through mobile text messaging and mobile messaging apps.

The term smishing combines SMS (short message services or texting) with phishing, in which cyber criminals send fraudulent emails to trick the recipient into clicking a malicious link. As smishing happens via text or messaging apps, victims are deceived into giving sensitive information to a disguised attacker, which the latter will use to steal money or commit other types of fraud.

There are two common methods that cybercriminals use for smishing. First is by sending the recipient a link to download malware (malicious software disguised as a legitimate app) on their smartphone, wherein the victim might type confidential information which will be sent directly to the attacker. Second is by sending a link that will lead to a fake website in which the victim might also be scammed into keying in personal data.

In other words, smishing relies on the exploitation of ones trust by posing as a credible individual or organization. Attackers might customize the message to make it seem like its from someone you know, or prey on your emotions to force you to take action. These scams can be disguised in many forms such as a contact tracing form, fake job opportunities, financial services, free products, invoice or order confirmation, customer support, and more.

Smishing poses a real threat to all mobile users, and this is why mobile services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) has come out with these three simple and smart tips to keep your prepaid or postpaid account safe at all times.

Block numbers that send spam. Immediately take yourself out of the attackers range by blocking unknown numbers with suspicious messages and links. Never share your password or one-time pin (OTP) as a reply to a random message. Be very suspicious of calls, e-mails, SMS, o social media messages asking for this information. Moreover, only input your password or OTP in official and legitimate websites and platforms. Dont click links that are suspicious. Always be wary of links that you receive via text from unknown numbers.

Cybercriminals are everywhere and are constantly finding ways to hack the system to scam whomever they can, so its important to stay vigilant and keep your guards up.

For more tips, visit https://blog.smart.com.ph/tips-to-protect-your-smart-prepaid-and-postpaid-accounts-at-all-times and follow Smarts official accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest offers, promos, and services.
Since founding his energy-bar company after a 175-mile bicycle ride, Gary Erickson has fiercely prioritized Clif Bar's independence for 30 years. Until this week.

Mondelez International will acquire Clif Bar in a deal that will amount to at least $2.9 billion, the company announced Monday.

It's shocking news from a business that has turned down so many acquisition offers over its lifetime that Erickson told me in 2018 he hadn't just lost track, but was purposefully unaware how many there had been. (His staff had been instructed not to pass on messages to him from potential buyers.)

Earlier in the company's history, he threw himself, and the entire company, into massive debt to avoid an acquisition. By 1998, Clif Bar--named after Erickson's father, Clifford--had been growing so fast it landed at No. 152 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. But by 2000, his business partner Lisa Thomas decided she wanted to leave the company--and a well-timed acquisition offer would facilitate that. On the cusp of signing the $120 million deal, Erikson pulled out, plummeting himself into $60 million in debt.

After taking what he called "the gamble of the century," Erickson led Clif Bar to become one of the country's pioneering purpose-driven businesses, dedicated to not one bottom line, but rather five pillars of success that include sustaining people, community, the planet, the brand, and the business. He strove to create green production facilities, pay employees well in salary and benefits--and in 2010 made them owners of the company, too, by adopting an employee stock ownership plan that pays annual dividends.

Erickson and his wife and business partner, Kit Crawford, as of a few years ago, owned 80 percent of Clif Bar. Despite handing over their co-CEO titles in 2013, the pair have been actively involved in every major company decision. As for the board of directors? They alone made up the board.

"Gary and I have always been very sure about our feelings, and our passion, and our love for the company. We wanted to be the main decision makers at all times," Crawford told me in 2018. "I think she's saying we are control freaks," Erickson joked. Both declined to comment on the acquisition news this week.

Now they are giving up some of that control for good. But they may not be abandoning the "Five Aspirations" that guide it. In fact, in a release announcing the acquisition, Clif Bar's CEO since mid-2020, Sally Grimes, said: "Our purposes and cultures are aligned and being part of a global snacking company with broad product offerings can help us accelerate our growth while staying true to our deeply ingrained Five Aspirations--sustaining our people, planet, community, business, and brands." Certainly, the "people" portion of it--the employees who own 20 percent of the company--will benefit substantially.

Crawford, Erickson, and Grimes likely made the decision not just for the upside for more than 1,200 employees, but also to continue the brand's growth. "Business" and "community" are focuses of the acquisition too. The international snack brand Mondelez--which also owns the Oreo, Ritz, and Honey Maid brands, among many others--can use its distribution prowess to expand internationally and within the U.S. Plus, the communities where Clif Bar is made will not lose out. Mondelez said in its release on the acquisition that it would continue to operate the business from its existing headquarters in Emeryville, California, and green-manufacturing facilities in Idaho and Indiana.

Editor's note: This article was updated to include that Clif Bar's founders declined to comment on the acquisition news.

EXPLORE MORE Inc. 5000 COMPANIES
Social media has revolutionized the way successful brands engage with customers and clients. In fact, nearly all consumers in a recent study said they expect to make a purchase on social media this year. Brands are taking notice - Social media is expected to account for one-third of all digital advertising spending in 2022.

While strategic earned media, social media and thought leadership content are key pieces of any successful marketing plan, a tailored digital advertising strategy is the ideal tool to ensure your existing marketing efforts are working together to have maximum impact.

1. Digital ads compliment other content.

Earned and owned media strategies are integral in the success of your brand and in positioning your company and its executives as thought leaders. The power of those efforts is amplified and unlocked when an excellent news article or interview is in the social media feed of your ideal customer. Using the right targeting strategies can essentially curate your audience based on who you have identified as your ideal buyer. For example, if your goal is to attract ideal job candidates for a particular position, a tailored digital ad campaign on LinkedIn can help your job posting and website blog highlighting company culture be seen by candidates who have the background, education, and experience you are looking for.

Like many people, I often see an ad for a product or service and then go directly to Google to learn more. Some of the news coverage youve earned, the thought leadership articles posted and/or your social media channels will be at the top of the Google search results. By controlling your message in earned and owned pieces, you are helping those who learned about your business via an ad to consume the content you want.

2. Digital ads should deliver qualified leads

Any agency can guarantee leads via digital ads, but the key to a successful strategy is focusing on qualified leads. Getting more leads who are qualified comes from proper targeting of your ideal customers or clients. These people are more likely to take the action you want them to take, like buying a product or requesting more information. In the case of trying to hire talent, targeting the right candidates with the appropriate background increases the likelihood of them applying for a job.

Car shopping provides the perfect example of why its important to tailor a digital ad campaign to ensure your ads are being served to the appropriate buyers. If a consumer is shopping for a midsize SUV and continues to Google this type of vehicle, serving ads for a top-of-the-line Mercedes convertible isn't going to be ad money well spent. The ideal 100 people who encounter your ad are far more valuable than reaching the wrong one million people.



3. Google Ads keep your brand messages visible

Since consumer search behavior changes regularly, your Google Ad strategies need to remain nimble. A common Google Ad strategy among marketers that arent prioritizing you is to set it and forget it; this misses the opportunity to take advantage of trends and leverage data generated by users.

Recent data shows that more than 5.6 billion Google searches are conducted daily. Thats well over 2 trillion searches per year! This means your Google Ads need regular monitoring so you can adjust based on user behavior.

Deploying earned, owned, and paid strategies with consistent messaging is critical to give potential buyers clarity about the value of the service or product you are selling. Buyers are doing their research. Unless its a low-cost item, consumers require reminders. On average, it takes six to eight touchpoints for a customer to make a financial or emotional investment.
Prevent Unauthorized Transactions in your demat / trading account Update your Mobile Number/ email Id with your stock broker / Depository Participant. Receive information of your transactions directly from Exchanges on your mobile / email at the end of day and alerts on your registered mobile for all debits and other important transactions in your demat account directly from NSDL/ CDSL on the same day." - Issued in the interest of investors.

KYC is one time exercise while dealing in securities markets - once KYC is done through a SEBI registered intermediary (broker, DP, Mutual Fund etc.), you need not undergo the same process again when you approach another intermediary.

No need to issue cheques by investors while subscribing to IPO. Just write the bank account number and sign in the application form to authorise your bank to make payment in case of allotment. No worries for refund as the money remains in investor's account."

www.indiainfoline.com is part of the IIFL Group, a leading financial services player and a diversified NBFC. The site provides comprehensive and real time information on Indian corporates, sectors, financial markets and economy. On the site we feature industry and political leaders, entrepreneurs, and trend setters. The research, personal finance and market tutorial sections are widely followed by students, academia, corporates and investors among others.
In his remarks on Wednesday at the BRICS Summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping took aim at US and EU sanctions against Russia, stating that they "are a boomerang and a double-edged sword."

"Politicizing, instrumentalizing, and weaponizing the global financial system using a powerful position to arbitrarily impose sanctions will only injure others as well as oneself, leaving people suffering throughout the world," Xi said at the BRICS Business Forum.

The "Ukraine situation is a wake-up call," said Xi at the BRICS economic gathering. He also cautioned against "growing military alliances and seeking one's own security at the price of other nations' security." Russia, China and India have close military ties and significant oil and gas purchases.

India is likely to challenge Xi's anticipated attempt to use the summit to emphasize his initiatives to create a rival to the US-led international system. Beijing is interested in seeing the BRICS alliance grow.

Beijing is the venue for the summit of the powerful BRICS group of developing economies, which together make up more than 40% of the world's population and about a quarter of its gross domestic output.

China, India, and South Africa, three of its members, chose not to participate in the vote on a United Nations resolution denouncing Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Group of Seven (G7) country heads will meet the following week in Germany to decide how to move forward with sanctions on Russia. Russian forces have been pounding eastern Ukraine since they invaded there four months ago while the BRICS meeting is taking place.

China and India have both increased their crude oil imports from Russia, helping to make up for the losses caused by Western countries cutting back on their purchases of Russian energy. According to research company Rystad Energy's statistics, China's imports of Russian oil during that time period quadrupled while India's purchases increased by six times.
The Federal Court of Canada has issued a landmark decision, certifying a class action brought against the federal government on behalf of off-reserve Indigenous children and families subjected to the Millennium Scoop and the enormous harms of the...
Partners to collaborate on common vision for future of Cairn Island

The cultures and identities of Indigenous peoples are rooted in the land, and honoring connections to place is an important part of reconciliation. Working together towards a renewed relationship, today, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, the Townsh...
The Google doodle of Norval Morrisseau will be featured on Google Canada's landing page on June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day. (Blake Angeconeb/Danielle Morrison/Google Canada)

The life, work, and legacy of Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau - a.k.a. Copper Thunderbird - is being celebrated was celebrated on Tuesday's Google Canada Doodle. Google doodles are the changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holi...
Amber Heard may have lost the high-profile lawsuit against her ex-husband Johnny Depp, but she remains keen and consistent in her attempts to share her side of the story.



After being ordered to pay Johnny Depp $8.3 million in damages following their high-profile defamation trial, Amber Heard is reportedly writing a "tell-all book" about her ex-husband.

BBC

The 36-year-old Aquaman actress is reportedly writing a biography as she feels she has "nothing to lose" and feels her "career in Hollywood is over."



NME

Considering how Amber Heard is reportedly 'broke' after the trial, the idea could prove lucrative for her.

AFP

After losing the trial, her lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft, confirmed that Heard could "absolutely not' afford to pay the damages to ex-husband Johnny Depp. She said Heard does not possess the means to cover the judgment passed down on her by the jury.



AFP

According to a report in OK! Magazine, an insider was quoted as saying,

Web Screen Grab

"Amber considers her career in Hollywood over. She's already been in talks and is excited about it. At this point, she has nothing to lose and wants to tell all. "



Reuters

According to a New York divorce attorney, Heard may have 'everything to lose if she decides to lay it all out on paper.



Dror Bikel told the publication: "Depp and his attorneys will be reading and listening to everything that Heard states. If she crosses the line, which is likely, there is no question that she will be hit with another defamation suit and end up right back in court."

Multiple reports hint that Amber is 'broke' after the six-week trial.

Reuters

On Thursday, Hollywood actor Amber Heard was spotted shopping at a discount department store in New Yorks Hamptons.



Last week Amber Heard was called out for using a private jet & still staying at a $22k p/m rental in VA, despite claiming she couldnt pay the $8.3m she owes JD



This week shes doing damage control in TJ Maxx



PS: when you call TMZ to take pics DONT look at the camera pic.twitter.com/Okd4fHAe3M  Arwen sparrow (@An_elf_pirate) June 21, 2022

Heard owes Depp $8.5 million in damages for defaming Depp. In addition, she also has to pay hefty legal fees linked to the trial case.

Agencies

Relentless in her efforts to bring down her ex-husband Depp, Hollywood actor Amber Heard stated during a recent interview that notes taken by her therapist, to whom she was reporting the abuse, would have changed the verdict in her defamation case against ex-husband Johnny Depp.



Twitter

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the statement regarding the notes, which were not allowed during the trial, was made by her during an interview with a magazine.



She said, "Theres a binder [of] years of notes dating back to 2011 from the very beginning of my relationship that my doctor took."

(With agency inputs)

(To get the latest updates from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.)
Priti Patel, UKs Home Secretary flew to Kigali, Rwanda to sign a new deal between the UK and Rwanda that entails sending asylum seekers coming to the UK to Rwanda.



The UK government says it will "invest 120 million ($150 million) in Rwanda's economic development and growth," as well as support "asylum operations, lodging, and integration costs comparable to those incurred in the UK." Both countries refer to the agreement as a "migration and economic development collaboration."

Former PM, Theresa May has raised concerns over the legality, practicality and efficacy of the deal.

A general view of the exterior of Hope Hostel LTD which is getting ready to welcome the migrants from United Kingdom (UK) in Kigali, Rwanda | Photo: AFP

The deal has been met with a lot of criticisms. Human Rights and cost have been the two major aspects on which the deal is questioned.



They should not be traded like commodities and transferred abroad for processing, the UNHCR said. Kagames regime has been repeatedly accused of repressing people since it came to power following the end of the Rwandan Genocide.

"Rwanda's abysmal human rights record" was highlighted by Human Rights Watch.

"Rwanda has a long history of extrajudicial killings, strange deaths in custody, arbitrary incarceration, torture, and harsh prosecutions, with a particular focus on critics and dissidents.

In reality, the United Kingdom has addressed its concerns with Rwanda about human rights violations and has granted sanctuary to Rwandans who have fled the country, including four just last year," according to a statement.

The Rwandan government denied the allegations, accusing Human Rights Watch of having a history of fabrication and publishing false claims.

Photo: Reuters

The Home Secretary is ambiguous on how much this deal is going to cost for each individuals travel and accommodation in Rwanda. The government has only disclosed that the initial investment is around 120 million.



To add to the controversy, Rwandas President Paul Kagame suggested that the UK extradite the 1994 Rwandan genocide suspects - speaking to an audience of diplomats in Kigali he said, that when the UK is sending us these migrants, they should send us some people they have accommodated for over 15 years who committed crimes.

This statement indicated the five men who sought asylum in the UK in the aftermath of their involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. A spokesperson for the Home Office said, Any matters on extradition with Rwanda are not part of our migration and economic development partnership and to suggest otherwise would be completely wrong.

Rwanda shows the hostels that will house migrants sent from UK in Kigali | Photo: Reuters

PM Boris Johnson called the scheme an innovative approach, driven by our shared humanitarian impulse and made possible by Brexit freedoms.



Denmark is also in talks to become the first European Union member to effectively bypass the bloc's divided migration and asylum system if an agreement with Rwanda is reached.

This deal invokes the question of whether post-Brexit Britain is abrogating its responsibility under the international convention, and if Denmark turns out successful in striking a similar deal with Rwanda, the UK PMs remarks on post-Brexit freedom will be scrutinised.

References

Burke, J. (2022, May 16). Rwanda president suggests UK extradite genocide suspects after asylum deal. The Guardian.

Philipose, R. (2022, April 30). Explained: What is UK's controversial new plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda? The Indian Express.

Soy, A. (2022, May 20). UK-Rwanda asylum seekers' deal: Good news for Kigali hotels. BBC.

Syal, R. (2022, April 19). Theresa May questions 'legality and practicality' of Rwanda asylum plan. The Guardian.
Kyra, a 21-year-old "dream chaser, model, and traveller," has 100k Instagram followers after only 6 months on the platform. People are unsure whether she is "real" or a "robot."

TopSocial launched Kyra, India's first CGI-rendered virtual influencer, in January of this year.

Who is Kyra?

India now has its own virtual social media influencer, age 21, with nearly 100,000 followers. While Kyra's claim to be the first-ever meta influencer remains unproven, she is growing in popularity on the Meta-owned social network, Instagram.

TopSocial India's virtual avatar, Kyra, was introduced in January. Kyra looks remarkably similar to humans, leading people to question whether she is real. Her bio calls her "India's first Meta-Influencer," a "dream chaser, model, and traveller."



According to reports, Kyra follows the path of 19-year-old Brazilian-American Lil Miquela, who was launched on Instagram in 2016 and now has more than 3 million followers, as well as Rozy Oh from South Korea.

What is the Metaverse?

The Metaverse blurs the boundaries between real and virtual life. The Metaverse is essentially an extension of reality. "Just as you can now do banking and attend meetings and events virtually, your avatar will eventually be able to do nearly everything in the virtual world that you can now do in the real world," said Mike Snider of USA Today, as cited by Talking Influence.

Unsplash

Consider Facebook, now part of Meta, which is developing virtual workplaces and other environments in which an individual can use a virtual reality headset to infuse reality with workplace applications. In theory, everything that is now possible in the physical world will soon be possible in the virtual environment  the Metaverse.

What is Meta Fluence?

A virtual influencer is a computer-generated character, also identified as a "fictional person" or "robot," that is crafted to resemble as human as possible, with unique characteristics, features, quirks, and personality traits. These digital characters are public figures with a first-person view of the world, and allowed access on media networks for the sake of influence.

Some of the challenges that influencer marketing faces, including data collection, payment concerns, and fraudulent online activity, could be addressed by Metafluence.

kyraonig/Instagram

According to reports, Metafluencers have become an influential and futuristic marketing tool in recent times, with an increasing number of sleek virtual characters appearing on Instagram and other social networks and generating a large number of followers. These 3D models, like celebrities and genuine influencers, frequently appear in advertisements, brand collaborations, and public relations stunts.

According to a recent study, these influencers' engagement levels on Instagram are 3 times higher than that of a human. Some virtual influencers are regarded as "virtual idols" in certain states, such as China, and are listed alongside celebrities.

Expanding industry

Virtual influencers are extremely valuable to Meta, serving as both attractants for their existing systems and avatars in the virtual world.

Over the last five years, interest in digital influencers has grown rapidly, attracting large audiences on social networking sites and collaborations with top brands such as Audi, Bose, Calvin Klein, Samsung, and Chinese e-commerce platforms.

Meta

A competitive industry has already emerged that specialises in the creation, management, and promotion of digital influencers, though the industry remains largely unregulated.

So far, India is the only country in which digital influencers are addressed in national advertising guidelines, with companies required to "reveal to customers that they will be not interacting with a real human being" while posting sponsored information.

Ethical guidelines

Experts believe that there is an immediate need for strict standards, both to assist producers and their brand partners in navigating this new territory, and, more importantly, to assist users in understanding the content with which they are interacting.

Meta has warned that "synthetic media has the potential for both good and harm," citing "representation and cultural appropriation" as particular areas of concern.

Second Life

Indeed, despite their brief existence, digital influencers have a record of overt racialization and false representation, elevating ethical concerns for creators who generate virtual characters with demographic characteristics that differ from their own.

However, it is unclear whether Meta's proposed guidelines will appropriately address these concerns.




There could be several bizarre reasons for calling off the wedding at the last minute, but this one takes the cake! A man from Shahjahanpur, UP, walked off his marriage after a dispute between his and the brides side broke out over who would pay for the brass band, police here said.



Flickr

Dharmendra had brought his baraat from Kampil in Farrukhabad to Mirzapur here, SHO of Mirzapur Police Station, Arvind Kumar Singh, told PTI.



As the wedding rituals were being performed, the band demanded money from the grooms side, but they refused to pay, saying the brides side should pay them off.

Flickr

The negotiation between the families turned into a dispute as relatives from both sides of the family got involved.



Due to the feud between the two would-relatives, the groom, finding his pride hurt, walked off with his procession, breaking off the necklace he was wearing, police said.

Flickr

The brides family severed relations with the grooms family after the incident, police said.



IANS

A few days ago, a groom from Uttar Pradeshs Shrawasti rode a bulldozer instead of a car to reach his marriage venue here. The family of bride Rubina, a resident of Lakshmanpur Shankarpur in Rasia, were surprised when they saw the bulldozer leading the marriage procession with groom Badshah atop it.



The groom also took a round of the area on the bulldozer, with the locals raising slogans of "Bulldozer Baba ki jai". Chief Minister Yogi Adityanth is referred to as "Bulldozer Baba" by some of his supporters.

Twitter

In June 2021, the UP bride called off the wedding after the groom failed to read a newspaper without spectacles.



In Uttar Pradesh's Auraiya, a wedding was called off at the last minute after the bride discovered that the to-be groom had poor eyesight and could not even read the newspaper without his spectacles.

For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.


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Rhode Islands governor signed three firearms bills into law on Tuesday that included a ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds, calling it a response to a national crisis that has taken too many lives and torn apart too many families.

The bills aim to reduce gun violence and prevent mass shootings like recent ones in New York and Texas. In addition to banning large-capacity gun magazines, the bills raise from 18 to 21 the states minimum age for buying rifles and shotguns, and prohibit loaded rifles and shotguns from being carried in public. Current state law already bars the sale or possession of handguns to people under 21.

The legislation passed the Rhode Island House and Senate this month.

We knew that this was the moment to take action and lack of action was not an option, not an option for our kids or our loved ones, Democratic Gov. Dan McKee said at a bill signing ceremony at the State House with the state lawmakers who sponsored the bills, the states general officers and gun control advocates. Lawmakers said they were responding to residents calls for commonsense gun reform and that the reforms are consistent with the Second Amendment.

McKee said Rhode Island will continue to take action and save lives in the aftermath of mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, no matter what happens in the U.S. Congress. In the U.S. Senate last week, Democratic and Republican senators were at odds over how to keep firearms from dangerous people as bargainers struggled to finalize details of a gun violence compromise.

Jennifer Boylan, a volunteer leader with the Rhode Island chapter of Moms Demand Action, said shes confident these bills will reduce gun violence. McKee put on a red Moms Demand Action T-shirt to sign the bills.

The high-capacity magazine limit is a life-saving bill. It was our top priority. To get that across the finish line is just huge, and the other ones Im very pleased about, Boylan said. Theres always more to do, but well keep going.

While applauding the bills that passed, some lawmakers and advocates have said theyre disappointed that another proposal to ban assault weapons has not been scheduled for a vote and does not appear to have the same support among legislative leaders.

Some lawmakers had sought to exempt high-capacity magazines that Rhode Islanders already own from the ban, but the proposal failed. The state Republican Party said the ban will turn law-abiding citizens into criminals.

Those who already own large-capacity magazines or weapons will have 180 days to permanently alter them so they comply with the law, surrender them to police, or sell them to buyers in places where they remain legal. Law enforcement and military personnel are exempted.

McKee said while the state still has more to do to address gun violence, progress has been made today.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Gun Liability
UNITED States (US) President Joe Biden has appointed Pamela M Tremont as the new ambassador to Zimbabwe.

Brian A Nichols was the last US ambassador to Harare, having served in the country between 2018 and 2021.

Since then, Thomas Hastings, who arrived as deputy chief of mission in July 2019, has been the charge daffaires since 2021.

Tremont is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counsellor and is currently assigned as the deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Stockholm, Sweden.

She also holds additional responsibility of serving as the interim charge daffaires for 18 months.

According to a statement released by the White House yesterday, previously, Tremont was assigned first as assistant co-ordinator and then as deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Prior to that, she served as deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Among her other roles, Tremont has been deputy director for Nato policy in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the State Department, the political/economic counsellor at the US embassy in Lusaka, Zambia, and a political military officer at the US embassy in London, United Kingdom.

Tremont also served as political military officer at the US embassy in Ankara, Turkey, as a desk officer for South Africa in the Bureau of African Affairs, and as a Watch Officer in the State Departments Operations Centre. Newsday
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A forest fire burning in southern New Jersey was 95% contained as of late afternoon Tuesday, and firefighters were confident it would not spread beyond perimeter lines they had created.

The fire in Wharton State Forest is believed to have been caused by an illegal, unattended campfire in the woods, said Greg McLaughlin, chief of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.

He said the fire had burned 13,500 of the 15,175-acre containment area that was set up around it. That estimate remained current as of late Tuesday afternoon.

No one was injured and none of the 18 structures threatened was actually damaged.

The blaze broke out at 10 a.m. Sunday and quickly spread to areas in Washington Township in Burlington County and Mullica Township in Atlantic County.

It was essentially a makeshift (camp) fire, McLaughlin said. We suspect that people were passing through, whether on the river or hiking. But we have ruled out natural causes.

At least 50 people had to be evacuated from remote camp sites within the forest that were only accessible by river or through hiking.

The fire was burning in a remote area of the forest where access is difficult because of the configuration of roads through the park, and the fact that many of them are pitted with holes that fill with water, slowing the progress of arriving firefighting vehicles.

Firefighters used 22 engines, a helicopter with a 325-gallon bucket, and other equipment to battle the fire, which was expected to continue to spew smoke for several more days.

Local roads near the fire were opened Tuesday morning.

The blaze threatened nearly half the 40 historic structures in Batsto Village, a tourist attraction popular with hikers and canoers.

Fire trucks were stationed near these buildings as well as some private structures that were in the path of the fire to protect them.

Hiking trails in Wharton State Forest will continue to be off-limits for several days until they can be inspected for any safety hazards.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics New Jersey
Britain should avoid hasty reforms to make its financial sector more globally competitive after the industrys separation from the European Union by Brexit, a parliamentary report said on Thursday.

The finance ministry has proposed scores of changes to rules governing capital markets, company listings and insurance to exploit independence from EU regulation and create an opportunity for Britain to innovate. Legislation is due this year.

The outlook for the resilient financial sector seems relatively positive, given that far fewer finance jobs than anticipated have moved to the EU, the House of Lords European Affairs Committee said in its report.

But committee chair Charles Hay said: You should be a little bit wary because theres a lot still to play out in this.

UK Lawmakers Warn About Watering Down Post-Brexit Financial Regulation

The report said that while the government would be unwise to bet on unlikely future access to the EU for British finance, it should weigh up the benefits of diverging from rules it inherited from the bloc and thereby imposing new costs for companies.

Separately, parliament is toughening up scrutiny of financial rules post-Brexit.

Britain is proposing to give regulators a secondary objective of aiding financial sector competitiveness, but Hay said the committee was asking the government to explain exactly how this would work in practice.

A separate parliamentary report last week declined to endorse the objective, saying it risked weakening standards.

Bankers have called on the government to speed up reform, but Hay said it was critical to get the right sequencing to reach the new place for a sector that accounts for 10% of total British tax receipts.

More important than the speed is the final answer because if you rush and do the wrong thing, then you will damage something very precious, Hay said, outlining the report.

British relations with the EU are strained, with UK clearing house access to the bloc set to end in three years to cut heavy reliance on London, although the EU on Wednesday granted access known as equivalence to clearing houses from China and Israel.

A spat with the EU over Northern Irelands trade relations with the rest of Britain, given the provinces open border with EU member state Ireland, has put on ice a new British-EU financial regulatory cooperation forum outlined in a memorandum of understanding.

The MoU would still have value as a mechanism for strategic dialog, the report said.

Finance officials say the MoU could help to improve relations and open the door to EU equivalence later on.

Hay, who worked for over two decades in insurance, said equivalence for UK reinsurers would benefit London and customers in Europe.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Bradley Perrett)

Topics Legislation Europe
Traders of Russian commodities are rushing to set up businesses in Dubai as Switzerland makes it increasingly challenging for them to deal with Moscow.

Switzerland has for decades been home to middlemen helping to match Russian producers with buyers all over the world. Now, a ratcheting up of sanctions is prompting a migration to the emirate in the Persian Gulf.

Russias three largest oil producers are in the process of evaluating Dubai for trading operations, and several other firms have already relocated there. For Switzerland, some kind of exodus appears inevitable after the country followed European Union bans targeting exports from Russia.

The trade will go on, said Wouter Jacobs, director of the Erasmus Commodity & Trade Center at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. Middle Eastern and Eastern jurisdictions will gain in importance relative to the rather euro-centric situation of the commodities business up to now.

Progressively restrictive sanctions have made trading difficult for Russias state-owned firms, including those transporting the countrys commodities. Unofficial self-sanctioning has also been an issue  banks have pulled credit lines crucial for financing deals, while shipping companies and insurers are also cutting off their services.

Thats created an opening for Dubai, which has steered clear of imposing sanctions on Russian individuals and entities  intensifying the competition Switzerland already faces as a nerve center of global commodities trading.

Swiss Sanctions

While Switzerland claims neutrality and wont allow its weapons to be taken to the conflict zone, it has followed the EU in imposing increasingly stringent restrictions on some commodities, banks and individuals deemed close to the Kremlin.

By the end of 2022, the EU will have restrictions in place banning the insurance and financing of transporting Russian oil to countries outside of the bloc and Switzerland has said it will do likewise.

The Federal Council announced it will do exactly the same and so this is part of it, a spokesperson for Switzerlands State Secretariat for Economic Affairs  or SECO  said by phone. Its really the same, we take all the ordinance of the European Union into Swiss law.

If fully enacted, thats likely to make dealing with Russian oil more difficult and adds to Switzerlands outright ban on brokerage, sales and providing financial services on Russian coal that was announced in April. But the regulations will also contribute to some businesses moving elsewhere.

A trade between Russia and China for energy may normally have been done by a commodity house in Switzerland, with financial support from a banker in London  who wants to do that now? Jacobs said. Its likely outfits that do will necessarily move to a new jurisdiction.

Companies Moving

Executives from Russias state oil producer Rosneft PJSC have last month jetted into Dubai to explore the idea of a trading venture. Meantime, Gazprom Neft PJSC, Russias third-largest oil producer, is also looking to expand its presence in the city, people familiar with the matter said.

Litasco SA, the sales and trading arm of Russian energy giant Lukoil PJSC, is looking to relocate some Russian trading and operations staff to Dubai from Geneva in anticipation of making that the new central hub of the company and expanding on a small number of traders already there. Lukoil is Russias second-largest oil producer.

Another Geneva stalwart  Solaris Commodities, a trader of Russian grain, opened an office in Dubai last week, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the information is private.

While sanctions dont include agricultural products, the trader has found it harder to get access to financing as Swiss banks are shying away from Russian commodities  whether they incur penalties or not, the person said.

And theres also a hit to the financing of commodity traders as Russian banks had stepped in to lend to the business as lenders including BNP Paribas and ABN Amro retrenched or pulled out of the sector altogether. Sberbank, which was recently added to the list of sanctioned entities, saw its commodity trade finance business in Switzerland double in volume last year, with money flowing mainly to the petrochemicals, metals, grains and fertilizers sectors. Those flows now wont be possible.

Other Swiss towns are facing departures. Zug, long a hub for commodities trading because of its ultra-low taxes, became infamous globally in the 1980s as a refuge from US justice for legendary trader Marc Rich. Commodities businesses there are also looking to the Middle East.

Zug-based Suek AG, the exclusive marketer of coal from Russias biggest producer, is planning to set up a Dubai trading business. EuroChem Group AG, one of the worlds largest fertilizer producers with the majority of its assets in Russia is also setting up a Dubai-based venture. Both were formerly owned by billionaire Andrey Melnichenko until after the war in Ukraine began.

Several boutique firms in Dubai with links to some larger trading houses have also explored Russian deals, people familiar with the matter said.

Dubais Strategy

The UAE has attracted wealthy Russians and their money since the invasion of Ukraine, and now state-run businesses and private commodity firms are following.

The UAE has developed its financial infrastructure for this kind of moment. The emirates banks have in recent years grown to be a mainstay in commodities trade finance, and a regular feature in the syndicated revolving credit facilities issued by the industrys biggest houses.

Dubais plethora of free-trade zones, its proximity to Middle Eastern energy producers, and low taxation have already proved enticing too, even if the city still has ground to make up on global centers like Singapore, London, Geneva and Stamford. Last year, the Dubai Multi Commodities Center hosted an event with the Moscow Chamber of Commerce aimed at attracting Russian businesses to set up companies there.

Dubai has emerged as a real global commodities hub, said Najla Al Qassimi, the Dubai-based director of global affairs at Bhuth think tank, who was previously based in Geneva. Theres the right infrastructure, transportation and services to support these companies.

With assistance from Hugo Miller.

Photograph: An investor watches a television news report at the Dubai Financial Market PJSC (DFM) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Photo credit: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Russia
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at re/insurance broker Consilium and the insurer Chubb.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

Ed Brokings Baird Takes Leadership Role at Aventum

Consilium, the international re/insurance broker, part of The Aventum Group, has announced that James Baird is joining the broker in a senior leadership position.

Baird joins Consilium from Ardonagh-owned Ed Broking where he was director of its Strategic Risk Group. He will work alongside Aventums leadership team, to manage the strategic direction and growth of Consilium globally.

David Bearman, chief executive officer for Aventum, commented: Im very excited to welcome James to the Aventum family. With his leadership skills and particular expertise in the financial lines broking market, he will play a key strategic role in growing our global broking business with retail broking partners and direct policyholder clients. Supported by the board, James will be responsible for bringing Consilium to new territories and product lines and building upon the existing Consilium brand and client base.

***

Chubb Appoints AGCS Nicklin as Global Client Executive for UK, Ireland

Chubb announced the appointment of Ed Nicklin as global client executive (GCE) for the UK and Ireland (UKI).

In his new role Nicklin will be responsible for managing and developing relationships with existing and newly acquired major accounts clients and helping to create strategies that will further growth opportunities within the UKI Major Accounts Division.

Nicklin will be based in London and will report to Nick Lee, head of Major Accounts Division, UKI. His appointment is effective immediately.

Before joining Chubb, Nicklin was head of Portfolio Solution at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), where he worked more than eight years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to AGCS, he was a broker development manager at Zurich Financial Services.

He has worked in the insurance industry for more than 18 years and holds an Advanced Diploma in Insurance from the Chartered Insurance Institute.

I am delighted to welcome Ed Nicklin to our UKI Major Accounts team. He is a very well-known and popular figure in the market and brings with him a wealth of expertise and insights gained from almost two decades working with brokers, risk managers and insurance buyers from key multinational businesses, said Lee. Major accounts clients often have complex needs which change constantly and Eds experience makes him perfectly placed to work with our broker partners so that we can best support our clients and contribute to the continued growth of this important part of our business.

Topics Leadership Chubb
The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services announced that a Plainwell resident was sentenced to 12 months of probation and ordered to comply with future court-ordered restitution for submitting roughly $47,000 in fraudulent insurance claims.

A restitution hearing is set for Aug. 2 in Allegan County.

Lorie Bevins was sentenced on April 18 on one count of misdemeanor larceny by false pretenses by 48th Circuit Court Judge Margaret Bakker. Bevins was accused of submitting 55 false claims totaling $46,800 against an AFLAC cancer policy.

The case was originally initiated after AFLAC alerted the DIFS Fraud Investigation Unit (FIU) in 2021 to suspected fraudulent activity. In a joint investigation between DIFS FIU and the Allegan County Sheriffs Office, adequate evidence was found for the Allegan County Prosecutors office to bring forward four felony charges against Bevins. The felony charges were later dropped and Bevins pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

Bevins received a credit for time served for a one-day jail sentence. She has been ordered to serve 12 months of probation as a part of her misdemeanor conviction.

Topics Fraud Michigan
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InShare and Skyward Target Gig Driver Firms With Accident Insurance

Managing general agent (MGA) InShare and Skyward Specialty Insurance Group Inc. announced the launch of an occupational accident insurance offering for independent workers across a number of segments, including trucking, rideshare and gig delivery.

Co-developed with Skyward Specialty, the offering provides benefits for independent contractor drivers through the companies with whom they contract.

Transportation and logistics companies will be able to purchase the insurance for the benefit of independent contractor drivers. The product is available to the trucking industry where many drivers are independent contractors and apps-based businesses such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and others.

Kirby Hill, president, Industry Solutions, Specialty Programs & Captives at Skyward Specialty, said while technology enables employees to work on-demand, this can present new risks for organizations. The new product can address this protection gap, he said.

Scottsdale-based InShare specializes in insurance for sharing economy platforms and adjacent markets.

We believe independent contractors should have access to the same kind of protections that full-time workers enjoy, but until now, there werent many options, said Mark Warnquist, CEO and co-founder of InShare.

He cited a 2019 Gallup Poll showing that 36% of U.S. workers  or 57.5 million people were engaged in some form of independent work.

London Underwriters Launches With Slice to Cover Small Businesses

On-demand platform company Slice Labs Inc. is giving London Underwriters agents access to Slices 100% digital platform for small business coverage. Agents can quote in 30 seconds and issue in under five minutes, according to Slice..

The product is under the Slice brand and includes general liability coverage for artisan contractors, general contractors and remodelers.

Working with London Underwriters expands our reach and our ability to continue to empower agents with products to protect small businesses, said Tim Attia, co-founder and CEO of Slice.

While its partnership with Slice is new, offering agents access to insurtech insurance programs is not new for Florida-based wholesale broker London Underwriters. In addition to its traditional brokerage markets, it already provides access to insurtechs including Next, Pie, Neptune, Coterie, Attune, bunch, Ethos, HiscoxNow and USLI.

Hippo Expands Mortgage Partner Channel

Hippo Insurance Services announced the expansion of its mortgage partner channel that offers loan originator and servicer partner customers with an opportunity to purchase home insurance in minutes. Hippo launched the program about one year ago.

According to Hippo, 80% of home buyers need financing and 100% of lenders require proof of home insurance coverage before closing.

Applicants receive purchase-ready insurance quotes in seconds without needing to answer lengthy questionnaires, and can complete the entire purchase process with Hippo in as little as four minutes, according to Hippo.

Rick McCathron, CEO and president of Hippo, said he expects the channel to become one of Hippos key pillars for growth, as consumers look more and more to digital avenues to address their home ownership needs. The company said it is now collaborating with a growing list of lenders and servicing companies that serve more than 7 million customers nationwide.

Hippo Holdings Inc. operating subsidiaries include Hippo Insurance Services, Hippo Home Care, First Connect Insurance Services, Spinnaker Insurance Co., Spinnaker Specialty Insurance Co., and Mainsail Insurance Co.

Topics Underwriting London
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Safety National Casualty Corp. said as of June 14 it made changes to its executive management structure and moved Duane Hercules from president to CEO.

Mark Wilhelm, formerly chairman and CEO, became executive chairman. Here, Wilhelm will be responsible for the management, development and effective performance of the companys executive management team, sharing overall responsibility for business operations and financial results with Hercules and providing guidance and oversight in setting the companys mission, vision, strategic direction and initiatives in addition to responsibility for key stakeholder relationships, Safety National said.

The specialty insurer said Hercules will provide leadership to develop, execute and achieve strategic business objectives and goals. He shares responsibility for company business operations and financial results with Wilhelm and will be responsible for advancing the companys mission while preserving and enhancing its reputation and culture.

Moving into the role of president is John Csik, formerly the chief operating officer (COO) and chief financial officer (CFO). He will be responsible for directing all insurance and reinsurance operations.

Other new executive roles announced by Safety National include:
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A Black former elevator operator at Tesla Incs flagship California assembly plant on Tuesday rejected a $15 million award in his lawsuit alleging racial abuse by coworkers, opening the door for a new trial after a judge slashed a $137 million jury verdict.

Lawyers for Owen Diaz, who had sued Tesla in 2017, turned down the judges award in a brief filing in federal court in San Francisco. They said in a statement that the award was unjust and would not deter future misconduct by Tesla.

In rejecting the courts excessive reduction by asking for a new trial, Mr. Diaz is again asking a jury of his peers to evaluate what Tesla did to him and to provide just compensation for the torrent of racist slurs that was directed at him, his lawyers said.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick lowered the jury award, which was one of the largest of its kind in a discrimination lawsuit, to $15 million in April. He had also denied Teslas motion for a new trial, conditioned on Diazs acceptance of the lower award.

Earlier this month the judge denied Diazs motion for permission to appeal that ruling and gave him two weeks to accept the lower award or agree to a new trial.

Tesla is facing a series of lawsuits involving alleged widespread race discrimination and sexual harassment at its Fremont, California factory, including one by a California civil rights agency.

Last week, a Tesla shareholder filed a lawsuit accusing the companys chief executive, Elon Musk, and board of directors of neglecting worker complaints and fostering a toxic workplace culture. L4N2Y40XI

Tesla has denied wrongdoing and says it has policies in place to prevent and address workplace misconduct.

Diaz alleged that his colleagues and a supervisor subjected him to a hostile work environment that included slurs, caricatures and swastikas in his nine months working at the Fremont plant in 2015 and 2016.

A jury had awarded Diaz $6.9 million of compensatory damages and $130 million of punitive damages last October, but Orrick in April said those numbers were excessive.

Diazs lawyers in their statement on Tuesday said Orricks decision highlighted systemic bias that federal judges have against juries, which in turn violates the constitutional rights plaintiffs have to a trial by jury.

Topics Lawsuits Tesla
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Russia is expanding its espionage and influence operations against Ukraine and its allies, including malicious cyber activity that requires a coordinated, robust response, Microsoft Corp said in a report published Wednesday.

Russia has deployed a three-pronged strategy of coordinated military, cyber and propaganda efforts since it invaded Ukraine in February, Microsoft said. The cyberattacks included wiper malware that Russian hackers deployed against Ukrainian computer systems, the company said, and malware masquerading as legitimate emails.

Nearly two-thirds of Russian cyber espionage targets outside Ukraine were NATO countries, with nearly half of all campaigns directed at government agencies, according to the report. Russian hackers have most frequently tried to conduct network intrusions against US organizations, with attackers also aiming to breach entities based in Poland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Turkey, the company said. Cyberattacks directed at critical infrastructure accounted for about 19% of the activity.

Of the attempted Russian hacking detected by Microsoft since the start of the war, 29% has been successful, according to the report. Roughly a quarter of the successful breaches have resulted in the theft of data, the company said.

Data stored on-site is more vulnerable than information in the cloud, according to the report.

The key to a countrys digital resilience in wartime is the ability quickly to move data outside the country while still connecting to and relying on it for a governments digital operations, researchers wrote.

Meanwhile, Microsoft found, the spread of Russian propaganda has spiked in Ukraine, the US and elsewhere since the war began.

Pro-Russian news articles have sought to justify the initial February invasion, explain how Ukraines revolution led to the war and criticize the countries aligned with Ukraine.

The escalation follows years of unsuccessful talks, broken ceasefire agreements and a standoff between Russia and the West, according to one article cited as an example in Microsofts report.

A representative for the Russian embassy in Washington didnt immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.

The Biden administration has repeatedly warned of cybersecurity threats against US companies and critical infrastructure since the outbreak of the war. US officials have urged companies to update their software and increase threat detection capabilities in the face of Russian aggression in cyberspace, among other recommendations.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics USA Cyber Russia
Police had enough officers on the scene of the Uvalde school massacre to have stopped the gunman three minutes after he entered the building, and they would have found the door to the classroom where he was holed up unlocked if they had bothered to check it, the head of the Texas state police testified, pronouncing the law enforcement response an abject failure.

Officers with rifles instead stood in a hallway for over an hour, waiting in part for more firepower and other gear, before they finally stormed the classroom and killed the gunman, putting an end to the May 24 attack that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

I dont care if you have on flip-flops and Bermuda shorts, you go in, Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said in blistering testimony at a state Senate hearing.

The classroom door, it turned out, could not be locked from the inside, according to McCraw, who said a teacher reported before the shooting that the lock was broken. Yet there is no indication officers tried to open it during the standoff, McCraw said. He said police instead waited for a key.

I have great reasons to believe it was never secured, McCraw said of the door. How about trying the door and seeing if its locked?

Delays in the law enforcement response at Robb Elementary School have become the focus of federal, state and local investigations.

McCraw lit into Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school district police chief who McCraw said was in charge, saying: The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering Room 111 and 112 was the on-scene commander who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children.

Obviously, not enough training was done in this situation, plain and simple. Because terrible decisions were made by the on-site commander, McCraw said. He said investigators have been unable to re-interview Arredondo.

Arredondo has said he didnt consider himself the person in charge and assumed someone else had taken control of the law enforcement response. He has declined repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press. A lawyer for Arredondo did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Texas lawmakers hearing the latest details reacted with fury, some decrying Arredondo as incompetent and others pressing McCraw on why state troopers on the scene didnt take charge. McCraw said the troopers did not have legal authority to do so.

The public safety chief presented a timeline that said three officers with two rifles entered the building less than three minutes after the gunman, an 18-year-old with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle. Several more officers entered minutes after that. Two of the officers who entered the hallway early on were grazed by gunfire.

The decision by police to hold back went against much of what law enforcement has learned in the two decades since the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado in which 13 people were killed in 1999, McCraw said.

You dont wait for a SWAT team. You have one officer, thats enough, he said. He also said officers did not need to wait for shields to enter the classroom. The first shield arrived less than 20 minutes after the shooter entered, according to McCraw.

Also, eight minutes after the shooter entered, an officer reported that police had a hooligan crowbar that they could use to break down the classroom door, McCraw said.

The public safety chief spent nearly five hours offering the clearest picture yet of the massacre, outlining for the committee a series of other missed opportunities, communication breakdowns and errors based on an investigation that has included roughly 700 interviews. Among the missteps:

Arredondo did not have a radio with him.

Police and sheriffs radios did not work inside the school; only the radios of Border Patrol agents on the scene did, and they did not work perfectly.

Some diagrams of the school that police used to coordinate their response were wrong.

State police initially said the gunman, Salvador Ramos, entered the school through an exterior door that had been propped open by a teacher. However, McCraw said that the teacher had closed the door, but unbeknownst to her, it could be locked only from the outside. The gunman walked straight through, McCraw said.

Sen. Paul Bettencourt said the entire premise of lockdown and shooter training is worthless if school doors cant be locked. We have a culture where were think weve trained an entire school for lockdown . but we set up a condition to failure, he said.

Bettencourt challenged Arredondo to testify in public and said he should have removed himself from the job immediately. He angrily pointed out that shots were heard while police waited in the hallway.

There are at least six shots fired during this time, he said. Why is this person shooting? Hes killing somebody. Yet this incident commander finds every reason to do nothing.

Questions about the law enforcement response began days after the massacre. McCraw said three days after the shooting that Arredondo made the wrong decision when he chose not to storm the classroom for more than 70 minutes, even as trapped fourth graders inside two classrooms were desperately calling 911 for help and anguished parents outside the school begged officers to go inside.

As for the amount of time that elapsed before officers entered the classroom, McCraw said: In an active shooter environment, thats intolerable.

This set our profession back a decade. Thats what it did, he said of the police response in Uvalde.

Police havent found anything that would be a red flag in Ramos school disciplinary files but learned through interviews that he engaged in cruelty to animals. He walked around with a bag of dead cats, McCraw said.

In the days and weeks after the shooting, authorities gave conflicting and incorrect accounts of what happened. But McCraw assured lawmakers: Everything Ive testified today is corroborated.

McCraw said if he could make just one recommendation, it would be for more training. He also said a go-bag should be put in every state patrol car in Texas, including shields and door-breaching tools.

I want every trooper to know how to breach and have the tools to do it, he said.

Bleiberg and Associated Press writer Jamie Stengle in Dallas and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Texas Law Enforcement
NEW details emerged yesterday during the trial of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) members Joana Mamombe (Harare West MP), Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova who are accused of faking their abduction in 2020.

Andrew Manongore, the owner of the Mercedes Benz C type vehicle which the trio used and was parked at Harare Central Police Station at the time of their alleged abduction, said he had given the vehicle to Mamombe on May 13, 2020, the day the trio was allegedly abducted.

The vehicle is still parked at the Harare Central Police Station.

Giving evidence before Harare magistrate Faith Mushure, Manongore said he could not remember the vehicles number plates, but he identified it at the police station.

Prosecutor Michael Reza asked Manongore to confirm if the number plates were registered as AFE 9222, but he said if the registration number belonged to the Mercedes Benz vehicle parked at the police station, then it was his.

Further asked by Reza whether he was in control of that vehicle on the day the trio was abducted, he said Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marova had the vehicle.

In their defence, Mamombe and Chimbiri said they left the vehicle parked opposite Harare Central Police Station after they were arrested by some police officers who instructed them to lock it and get into a kombi which had tinted windows.

Manongore said he voluntarily gave the vehicle to Mamombe, but could not remember whether it had any special features. He said his vehicle had no tracker, but had a spare key.

Mamombe and Chimbiris lawyer Alec Muchadehama asked Manongore to explain whether the vehicle could be opened in the absence of the owner.

But Manongore said he was not the one who assisted the police to park it in their parking lot.

I was called by the police at a later stage to identify the vehicle at the Harare Central Police Station parking area. I cannot deny nor confirm their abduction as I also learnt about it on social media, he said. Manongore also told the court that he could not deny nor confirm that the trio parked the vehicle opposite the police station and that they were later abducted, tortured or sexually abused in Muchapondwa village in Bindura where they were allegedly taken.

He is the sixth witness to testify in the matter. Other witnesses, Fortunate Machingauta and Takudzwa Shumbayaonda are expected to testify today.

Last week, Godfrey Mangezi from Econet Zimbabwe confirmed that calls made by the accused showed that they were located at the Harare Central Police Station.

Initially, police had denied arresting the trio.

In another matter, three CCC activists yesterday appeared before Harare magistrate Dennis Mangosi to face charges of public violence.

This was after violence broke out in Nyatsime, Chitungwiza during slain CCC activist Moreblessing Alis funeral wake last week.

The trio, Precious Jeche (41), Misheck Guzha (62) and Odius Makoma (42) were represented by Noble Chinhanu who argued that the CCC supporters were actually victims of the violence, not perpetrators.

Chinhanu further submitted that during the melee in Nyatsime, his clients properties were destroyed.

They were remanded in custody to tomorrow for bail ruling.

Allegations are that on June 14, 2022, the trio in the company of other accomplices still at large, attended Alis funeral service in Nyatsime, where they connived to avenge, through violence, her brutal murder by suspected Zanu PF activist Pius Jamba.

The accused and their accomplices were reportedly transported from various locations to Nyatsime where they allegedly moved around on foot, stoning houses, breaking window panes and also burnt down the house of Zanu PF chairperson for Nyatsime, George Murambatsvina.

The State further alleges that they also went to Chibhanguza Shopping Centre in Chitungwiza, where they torched a gazebo, damaged windows of 13 shops, four beerhalls and looted groceries and electrical gadgets.

They are also accused of assaulting people and damaging vehicles and properties of 53 people in the Nyatsime area, prejudicing the community of $5,8 million.

Moses Mapanga prosecuted. Newsday
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Insurers and government self-insurance pools should be breathing a sigh of relief after the Alabama Supreme Court absolved a county commissions fund of direct liability in a marina fire that killed eight people and destroyed three dozen boats.

The court overturned a decision by a circuit judge in Jackson County and ordered the judge to dismiss the Association of County Commissions Liability Self-Insurance Fund from a lawsuit brought by victims and families of the people killed in the 2020 fire. The high court held that state law exempts the fund from liability other than what the fund is obligated to pay to the insured county.

The assertion came despite the conflicting wording of the state law.

We agree with the plaintiffs that the first sentence of (Statute) 11-30-7 does not entitle the fund to immunity from claims based on its own alleged torts, Justice Sarah Stewart wrote for the majority.

The second line of the statute, however, does appear to grant the fund immunity from third-party claims, the court decided.

The plaintiffs in the case employed a somewhat unusual tactic, charging that the fund itself was at fault because it failed to properly inspect the county-owned dock and marina, and to monitor a safety program. The lawsuit alleges that the dock had electrical problems that should have been flagged in an inspection and repaired.

The National Transportation Safety Boards investigation of the fire also faulted the county for not having a pre-fire plan in place, and for not having life jackets, floatation rings, or a skiff at the dock for emergencies. Boats and the dock were cluttered with chairs, tables, grills and propane tanks, contributing fuel to the fire and making escape difficult.

The fire, on the Tennessee River in Scottsboro, in northeast Alabama, was described as a horrific scene when it blazed out of control on the night of Jan. 27. The cause of the fire was not clear, but the investigation said it appeared to originate near one boats electrical panel, according to news reports and the NTSB report.

The fire quickly spread to the dock and other boats, trapping people as they slept and blocking some from reaching the shore. A number of boats at the crowded marina were inoperable and couldnt be moved to safety. Others caught fire and drifted into other vessels, spreading the conflagration.

This is absolutely devastating and certainly in my experience, one of the most devastating things I have ever seen, Scottsboro Fire Chief Gene Necklause said the morning after, according to The New York Times.

The Supreme Court ruling did not indicate how much the county commission self-insurance fund and other insurers have paid out on claims from the fire, or if the county will be allowed sovereign immunity for some of the damages. Officials and attorneys for the fund could not be reached Wednesday, but the funds brief in the case notes that state law caps the Funds coverage at $300,000.

The case will now proceed against the county and other defendants, once the circuit court dismisses the Fund from the suit.

The high courts opinion appears to differ a bit from its own 1987 decision in Howton vs. State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Co. That opinion held that the rule barring tort actions against an insurer does not apply when an insurer, acting independently of its insured, commits a tort against a third-party claimant.

In the Scottsboro fire case, the court noted that the statute authorizing the liability pool includes a broad statement of immunity, other than for what the fund had contracted for with the insured counties. The plaintiffs attorneys argued that the section merely limits the contractual liability that a self-insurance pool may incur.

Similar issue: Should Policy Pay for an Ounce of Prevention, Not Just Losses?

The trial judge in the county where the fire occurred agreed and refused to dismiss the suit in late 2021.

The trial court reasoned that, because the first sentence of that statute indicates that an LSIF could be liable to a third party if the action is not based on a claim against a member county, the legislature would not negate the first sentence with the inclusion of a second sentence granting such broad immunity, the Supreme Court justices explained.

The justices said that another section of Alabama law, which created risk management cooperatives for local school districts, contains similar language granting liability immunity to the cooperatives. That statute, however, includes a notable clarification. The last line of the section reads that it does not prohibit actions due to fraud brought against the cooperatives.

The Legislature may have decided that the immunity granted to risk cooperatives and county insurance pools is needed to protect taxpayers, the Supreme Court said.

 We recognize that the Legislature may have determined that immunizing LSIFs from tort liability would serve to protect those public funds and the public purpose served by LSIFs. Indeed, this Court has long recognized the legislatures ability to extend immunity from tort liability to counties, municipalities, and other governmental entities.

Photo: The charred remains of the dock fire in January 2020. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves, File)

Topics Alabama
A settlement agreement has been reached ahead of a second trial pitting the Kardashian family against former reality TV star Blac Chyna.

Jury selection had been set to begin Monday in the trial over Chynas allegations that her former fiance Rob Kardashian maliciously posted nude photos of her in 2017 after their tumultuous breakup, but according to court documents, the parties informed the judge that they had agreed to a settlement.

Emails to attorneys for both sides seeking comment and details on the terms of the settlement were not immediately returned.

A trial had seemed a virtual certainty after the judge last week denied a motion by Kardashians attorneys to enforce a settlement agreement they said the two sides had reached.

The trial was to be a sequel of sorts to a defamation trial earlier this year in which Chyna, whose legal name is Angela White, alleged that Kardashians mother and sisters  Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian and Kylie Jenner  had defamed her as violent and unstable, and persuaded producers and executives to cancel her reality show, Rob & Chyna.

The Kardashians won a clear-cut victory in that trial May 2. The four women had attended most of the proceedings, and all four testified, though they were in New York at the Met Gala when the verdict was read.

Rob Kardashian, who has a daughter with Chyna, was not a defendant in that trial, but he gave often angry and sometimes sad testimony about the late-night fight that led to the end of their relationship.

Chyna had initially filed one lawsuit against the whole family, but the judge ruled that the allegations against Rob  which also included assault accusations  should get their own trial. Fewer members of the famous family had been expected to attend the second trial, and only Rob and Kris Kardashian had been expected to testify.

At the first trial, jurors found that the Kardashians acted in bad faith in their conversations about the couples troubles with producers of Rob & Chyna and executives from the E! network, which aired it. But they found that it had no substantial effect on Chynas contract or the fate of the show, and she was awarded no damages.

Chynas attorney Lynne Ciani said after the verdict that she and her client were disappointed but felt vindicated by the jurys findings, which she said demonstrated that Chyna had not physically abused Rob, and validated their claim that the Kardashian women had attempted to interfere with her contract to be on the show.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics California
Some Oregon business groups are suing over the states new job site rules mandating that employers take steps to protect workers from extreme heat and wildfire smoke.

Regulations adopted by the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division mandate that employers act once the temperature or air quality reaches a certain threshold. The heat rules took effect June 15, while the wildfire smoke rules start July 1.

Oregon Manufacturers and Commerce, Associated Oregon Loggers Inc. and the Oregon Forest & Industries Council are seeking an injunction to stop the state from enforcing the rules, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Together the groups represent over 1,000 Oregon companies and 50 forestland owners.

They filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Medford last week.

The groups allege several provisions are too vague to be fairly enforced and that the states workplace safety agency overstepped its statutory authority by adopting them.

The groups also contend the wildfire smoke rules dont give employers a method for determining what percentage of the pollutants in the air at a worksite are caused by wildfire smoke versus other factors, which the groups say makes it impossible for employers to know when the rules go into effect.

They further say requiring employers to pay workers during heat illness prevention breaks oversteps state authority.

Shaun Jillions, executive director for Oregon Manufacturers and Commerce, said the state needs to work with employers to craft new rules that will protect workers and businesses.

A spokesperson for Oregon OSHA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the newspaper.

Worker advocates, who for years lobbied for the protections, have praised the new rules.

The heat rules require employers to provide shaded areas, water and rest breaks. They also require employers to develop heat prevention plans and protect workers from heat in agricultural labor housing, among other measures.

The wildfire smoke rules say employers must provide smoke danger training, make respirators available as the air quality reaches unhealthy levels or require workers to wear respirators if air quality levels spike above very unhealthy levels on the Air Quality Index.

The federal government does not have similar rules, although it is developing heat regulations. Several states have adopted their own heat standards, including Washington and California.

Oregon adopted temporary emergency rules to protect workers from extreme heat and wildfire smoke last year after workers across the state were exposed to harsh conditions during unprecedented heat in June 2021 and wildfires in September 2020.

At least two workers died from heat-related illnesses after working through blistering heat last year. They were among nearly 100 people across Oregon who died during last years heat wave as temperatures reached a record-breaking 116 degrees Fahrenheit in Portland.

Gov. Kate Brown directed Oregon OSHA and the Oregon Health Authority to develop standards to protect employees from excessive heat and wildfire smoke in 2020 as part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Oregon
Cooler and wetter weather this spring has alleviated drought concerns in much of Idaho but spurred grass growth that could cause large rangeland wildfires in the southern part of the state as plants dry out this summer, wildfire forecasters told the Idaho Land Board on Tuesday.

Officials also told the board, which includes Republican Gov. Brad Little and four other statewide elected office holders, that the state is well-staffed with wildland firefighters following legislation approved earlier this year to increase firefighter starting pay to $15 an hour and also provide hazard pay up to 25% above their hourly wage.

First its too dry, then its too wet and youre going to have fuel, Little said after the meeting. He said he felt the state is prepared for wildfire season but can never be 100% ready.

The Land Board directs the Idaho Department of Lands that is responsible for handling fire protection on 9,800 square miles of state, federal and private land. The department had one of its worst wildfire seasons in 2021 with some 225 square miles burned, six times the 20-year average and costing the state $75 million.

Jim Wallmann, a meteorologist at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, said above-normal precipitation the last three months has helped take areas of Idaho out of drought and abnormally dry conditions.

This year were looking a lot better because of the cooler and wetter spring that weve had, he told the board. Drought has been removed from all of northern Idaho. We still have some drought in the southern portions of the state with the worst conditions along the Nevada and Utah borders.

He said theres a greater chance for rangeland grass fires in southeastern Idaho in August and September, and southwestern Idaho in August.

We do have a lot of grass out in the southern portion of the state, he said.

For northern Idaho, he said, were not expecting any drought to develop this summer. It looks like a typical summer, maybe a little bit above normal for temperatures.

Josh Harvey, fire management bureau chief for the Lands Department, said the agency has 170 wildland firefighters this year, up from 140 in past years.

He also said the state for the first time has a full 20-person firefighting crew that can travel anywhere in the state to fight wildfires.

Harvey also said the agency this year will use four drones with infrared cameras that can detect hotspots where wildfires could reemerge.

Federal, state and local wildland firefighting agencies often compete for wildland firefighters, and Idaho appears to have held its own this year following the move by lawmakers to bump up starting pay and hazard pay.

There is still some ongoing discussions regarding resource availability, Harvey said. But the outlook for this year is much better than it has been in years past. I think weve had significant success over some of our neighboring agencies in hiring.

Idaho is now in its 10th year of having Rangeland Fire Protection Associations that are nonprofit organizations established to prevent and suppress range fires. The associations are often comprised of ranchers trained in wildland firefighting and who are often the first to respond because they live in the area. The groups have about 350 trained members this year, state officials said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire
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Global 3D Printing Metal Powder market trend 2022-2030 What is the 3D Printing Metal Powder by Newsintegra927

Brazil, the world's largest sugar producer, has recently switched to ethanol 3D Printing Metal Powder price is predicted to go higher in the future.

What is 3D printing?

Metal 3D printing is a 3D printing technology that uses metal powder to directly print metal parts, also known as metal powder sintering (SLM). In addition to good plasticity, 3D printing metal powder must also meet the requirements of fine powder particle size and high particle size distribution. Narrow, high sphericity, good fluidity and high bulk density requirements. Currently, the metal powders used in most 3D printers include stainless steel, aluminum alloys, cobalt-chromium alloys, copper alloys, titanium alloys and nickel alloys. Iron-based alloys are engineering The most important and most used metal material in technology is mostly used for the forming of complex structures, and is widely used in aerospace, automobile, shipbuilding, machinery manufacturing and other industries.





What are the main types of 3D printing metal powders?





Nickel alloy powder

The oxidation resistance and corrosion resistance of nickel alloy make it suitable for the harsh environment of high temperature and high pressure. When the nickel alloy is heated, a thick and stable oxide layer will be passivated on the surface of the alloy to protect the inside of the alloy from corrosion. Good mechanical properties are maintained over a wide temperature range.





Cobalt-chromium alloy powder

Because of its excellent wear resistance and corrosion resistance, cobalt-chromium alloy powder for metal 3D printing is commonly used to print various artificial joints and orthopaedic implants, and it is also used in the field of dentistry.





Copper alloy powder

With excellent thermal and electrical conductivity, copper with excellent thermal conductivity in thermal management applications can be combined with design freedom to produce complex internal structures and conformal cooling channels.





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According to Reuters, U.S. Treasury officials said they would discuss with G7 leaders pricing caps and tariffs on Russian oil as an alternative to the embargo, which would keep the market supplied, limit price spikes, and reduce Russian revenues.

The EU foreign ministers' meeting was held in Brussels. The meeting failed to agree on the sixth round of sanctions, including an oil embargo on Russia, because of objections from Hungary.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said at a press conference after the meeting, that the meeting failed to reach an agreement on the final adoption of the sixth round of sanctions, the permanent representatives of member states to the EU will continue to discuss. The foreign ministers faced similar difficulties trying to reach an agreement on an oil ban. He said Hungary's position was based on economic rather than political concerns.

Hungary is highly dependent on Russia for energy, getting more than 60 percent of its oil and 85 percent of its natural gas from Russia.

A few days ago, the European Commission submitted the sixth round of proposed sanctions against Russia, including a total ban on Russian oil imports by the end of this year. Hungary immediately objected and said it wanted substantial compensation from the EU to offset its loss from giving up Russian oil.

The 3D Printing Metal Powder price is predicted to increase in the next few days, due to geopolitical factors.

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Global market trend 2025-2027 Will the shock of China domestic scrap market affect the prices of used cut to length line orlando florida by Newsintegra927

Last week, the domestic scrap market is weak adjustment, merchants are cautious in receiving goods, inventory remains low, the arrival of steel slightly increased, but the weak demand for scrap is difficult to change, scrap market continues to maintain the "weak supply and demand" pattern. Average scrap purchase price of key steel enterprises compared with the previous week, heavy scrap prices down 50 yuan/ton, medium scrap prices down 59 yuan/ton, scrap prices down 70 yuan/ton.

In May, China's daily crude steel output of 3,116,500 tons, a month-on-month growth of 0.8%, but the stock continued to increase, the price of wide downward, steel profits were further compressed, resulting in insufficient scrap price support, all the way down. Last Tuesday, Shagang scrap purchase price led by 50 yuan/ton, most of the surrounding steel scrap purchase prices have followed down. Last Friday, shagang scrap purchase price fell 50 yuan/ton, business confi dence seriously frustrated, scrap market weak atmosphere. At present, the production enthusiasm of steel mills is weakened, the willingness to use scrap is low, and most of the procurement is on demand. At the same time, considering the weakening of the cost end support, it is expected that the scrap market will be weak in the short term.

East China scrap market continues to be weak, coke prices rise, steel profits are compressed again, scrap processing base to reduce the amount of goods received. Nangang heavy scrap purchase price is 3590 yuan/ton, reduced by 100 yuan/ton; Shagang heavy scrap purchase price of 3780 yuan/ton, reduced by 100 yuan/ton; Xingcheng Special Steel heavy scrap purchase price is 3780 yuan/ton, reduced by 100 yuan/ton; Maanshan Heavy steel scrap purchase price is 3630 yuan/ton, reduced by 100 yuan/ton; Tongling Fuxin heavy scrap purchase price is 3850 yuan/ton; The bidding price of steel bar cutting head of Shangang Laigang is 4110 yuan/ton; Xiwang Metal boutique heavy scrap purchase price of 3821 yuan/ton, reduced by 99 yuan/ton; Ningbo Iron and Steel in June heavy scrap purchase base price is 3560 yuan/ton.

Central China scrap market weak operation, businesses bearish market, more pressure to receive goods, scrap market transaction is tepid, steel arrival in general. Angang heavy scrap purchase price of 3780 yuan/ton, reduced by 90 yuan/ton; Wugang heavy scrap purchase price of 4030 yuan/ton, reduced by 100 yuan/ton; Hunan Iron and Steel Hengsteel grade 1 qualified material purchase price of 3450 yuan/ton, down 40 yuan/ton; Wisco low sulfur block scrap purchase price of 4000 yuan/ton.

South China scrap prices continue to decline, merchants to slow down. Sangang Minguang heavy scrap purchase price is 3760 yuan/ton, reduced by 60 yuan/ton; Shaogang heavy class II scrap cash to factory price of 3350 yuan/ton, down 100 yuan/ton.

The scrap market in southwest China is stable and weak. Affected by the falling price of finished materials, some steel scrap purchasing prices are reduced. The price of heavy steel scrap excluding tax is 3410 yuan/ton, reduced by 50 yuan/ton; Kunming iron and Steel heavy scrap purchase price for 3820 yuan/ton.

Northwest scrap prices slightly lower, market transactions cold, scrap processing base to reduce the amount of goods, inventory at a low level. Xining Special Steel medium grade one qualified material purchase price is 3540 yuan/ton, reduced by 100 yuan/ton; Jiusteel medium scrap price excluding tax is 3325 yuan/ton, up 105 yuan/ton.

Northeast scrap prices down, steel profits were compressed, scrap consumption declined significantly, positive shipping businesses. Lingang heavy scrap purchase price of 3780 yuan/ton, reduced by 60 yuan/ton; Anshan Iron and Steel heavy scrap purchase price of 3899 yuan/ton; Construction longxi Steel (Yichun area) heavy scrap purchase price of 3610 yuan/ton; Fushun Special steel heavy scrap purchase price of 3670 yuan/ton, reduced by 50 yuan/ton.

Steel processing industry - Current status of the used cut to length line orlando florida

Growth in the construction, automotive and consumer used cut to length line orlando florida has played a big role in providing the needed boost to the global steel processing industry. The global steel processing industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.86% between 2020 and 2026. Alloy steel is the fastest-growing segment of the global steel processing market and is suitable for all applications.

Metal and Steel Processing industry  the used cut to length line orlando florida market demand

Market demand for steel processing is expected to grow by us $642.43 billion by 2020, with a CAGR of 2.16% from 2015 to 2020. Growth in the global construction, consumer electronics and automotive industries has played a huge role in providing the necessary momentum for the global steel processing industry after the economic slowdown of 2007-2009. In addition, the reduction of alternatives to steel has made steel an indispensable part of customers lives. The recovery of the global used cut to length line orlando florida economy will also boost demand in the steel processing market.

The Asia-pacific region is expected to become the fastest-growing region in the steel processing market from 2015 to 2020. Major players in steel processing prefer agreements, contracts, joint venture and partnership strategies as well as expansion and investment to gain a larger share of the market. Leading used cut to length line orlando florida providers of steel processed products and services are focusing on emerging countries that are expected to show potential for industrial development in the near future.

Metal and Steel Processing Industry - Future planning of the used cut to length line orlando florida

The steel processing market is a highly fragmented one due to the huge demand for environmentally friendly products and changing technologies. Large companies rely on regional and local distributors to increase their market share and geographic distribution. The company is pursuing inorganic growth strategies such as acquisitions to respond to the growing demand for steel processing in key emerging markets. These strategies have helped the company build a larger customer and partner base in key used cut to length line orlando florida markets.

The application needs of steel processing are constantly changing and manufacturers must continue to invest in RESEARCH and development and come up with innovative solutions.

Steel deep processing is the only way for the development of the used cut to length line orlando florida steel industry. Chinas steel production is in the stage of oversupply, structural contradictions are: advanced production capacity and backward production capacity coexist; The shortage of high-end products and the surplus of low-end products coexist; Industrial concentration is poor.

Leading manufacturer of metallic processing machines, the used cut to length line orlando florida supplier

Foshan Te Xiang Machinery Co., Ltd ( www.txmachinery.net ) is a China leading manufacturer of metallic processing machines, including slitting line, cut to length line , stainless steel polishing line, ERW tube mill line, roll forming machines, embossing line and etc.

Thanks to the experience acquired in many years of business in the field of sheet metal processing, and the continuous collaboration with downstream manufacturers that demand reliability and the maximum productivity, we have developed various types of cut to length line machines for special applications, with solutions at the forefront of technology, and able to reduce the production costs of the end product. TX CTL line can be incorporated with air cushioned, bomb-door type stackers, computer controlled high-precision 4 HI and 6 HI levellers, edge trimmer and etc.

According to the dimensions, thickness of the material, and production capacity, TX cut-to-length cutting lines can be divided into various types:

1)start-stop shear CTL line;

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If you have any questions about the used cut to length line orlando florida or want to seek our help. Send an email to info@txmachinery.net please feel free to contact us.

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Global spherical Al2O3 powder market trend 2023-2027 What is Spherical Aluminum Oxide Al2O3 Used For? by Newsintegra927

US President recently decided to invoke a Cold War-era defense law to encourage domestic spherical Al2O3 powder.

What is Aluminum Oxide Al2O3?

Aluminum oxide is a kind of inorganic with the chemical formula Al2O3. It is a high hardness compound.

It is a white solid insoluble in water, odorless, tasteless, and extremely hard. The melting point is 2054 and the boiling point is 2980. Aluminum oxide is a typical amphoteric oxide, soluble in inorganic acid and alkaline solutions, almost insoluble in water and non-polar organic solvents.



What is Aluminum Oxide Al2O3 used for?

Fillers

Aluminum oxide, which is chemically inert and white, is the preferred filler for plastics. Aluminum oxide is a common ingredient in sunscreen and is sometimes found in cosmetics such as blush, lipstick and nail polish.



Glass

Many glass formulations contain aluminum oxide as an ingredient. Aluminosilicate glass is a common type of glass that usually contains 5 to 10 percent aluminum oxide.



Catalytic

Aluminum oxide catalyzes a variety of reactions useful in industry. In its largest application, aluminum oxide is used as a catalyst in the Krauss process to convert hydrogen sulfide exhaust gas into elemental sulfur in refineries. It can also be used to dehydrate alcohols into alkenes.

Aluminum oxide can be used as catalyst carrier for many industrial catalysts, such as those used for hydrodesulfurization and some Ziegler-Natta polymerization reactions.



Gas purification

Aluminum oxide is widely used to remove water from the air stream.



Abrasive

Aluminum oxide is used for its hardness and strength. Its natural form corundum has a Mohs hardness of 9 (slightly lower than diamond). It is widely used as an abrasive, including as a cheap substitute for industrial diamonds. Many types of sandpaper use aluminum oxide crystals.

In addition, its low insulation and low specific heat make it widely used in grinding operations, especially cutting tools. As a powdery abrasive mineral, Arroite is, along with silica, the main component of the "chalk" used in billiard balls at the tip of the cue.

Aluminum oxide powder is used in some CD/DVD polishing and scratch repair kits. Its polished quality is also the reason it's used in toothpaste. It is also used in microdermabrasion, either in machine-processed procedures provided by dermatologists and beauticians, or as a manual skin abrasive according to the manufacturer's instructions.



Paint

Aluminum oxide flakes are used in coatings to produce a reflective decorative effect, for example in the automotive or cosmetic industries.



Composite fiber

Aluminum oxide has been used in a number of experimental and commercial fiber materials for high-performance applications.





What is Spherical Aluminum Oxide Al2O3?

Spherical aluminum oxide is a kind of aluminum oxide powder material which is calcined by high temperature melt injection of irregular high purity aluminum oxide, and then obtained by screening and purification.

The product has high thermal conductivity, high insulation, high hardness, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, wear resistance and other properties, and has good fluidity, low oil absorption value, high spheroidization rate, high  phase content, small specific surface area, controllable particle size distribution and other unique and excellent characteristics.

Spherical aluminum oxide is widely used in thermal interface materials, thermal engineering plastics and aluminum base copper clad plate filler.



What are Spherical Aluminum Oxide Al2O3 Properties?

High fill

With high sphericity and controllable particle size distribution, silica gel and epoxy can be filled with high density to obtain a mixture with low viscosity and good fluidity.



High thermal conductivity

Because of its spherical appearance, it can achieve multi-directional heat transfer, good dispersion in the system, and high thermal conductivity of thermal conductive products;



Low wear and tear"

Because of its ball-shaped appearance, the wear of mixer, molding machine and other equipment is reduced and the service life of equipment is prolonged.



What is Spherical Aluminum Oxide Al2O3 Used For?

Thermal interface material

Thermal conductive silicone gasket, thermal conductive silicone grease, thermal conductive potting adhesive, thermal conductive double-sided adhesive, phase changing materials, etc.



Thermal engineering plastics

LED lamp shade, switch housing, electronic product housing, heat dissipation components of electrical products (heat sink, filler for heat dissipation substrate, MC substrate), etc.



Thermal conductive aluminum base copper clad plate

High power LED circuit board, power circuit board, etc.



Spherical Aluminum Oxide Al2O3 Powder Price

The price is influenced by many factors including the supply and demand in the market, industry trends, economic activity, market sentiment, and unexpected events.

If you are looking for the latest spherical Al2O3 powder price, you can send us your inquiry for a quote. ([email protected])



Spherical Aluminum Oxide Al2O3 Powder Supplier

Luoyang Tongrun Nano Technology Co. Ltd. (TRUNNANO) is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12-year-experience in providing super high-quality chemicals and nanomaterials including silicon powder, nitride powder, graphite powder, zinc sulfide, calcium nitride, 3D printing powder, etc.

If you are looking for high-quality spherical Al2O3 powder, please feel free to contact us and send an inquiry. ([email protected])



The development of the Russia-Ukraine conflict will continue to dominate the commodity prices such as the spherical Al2O3 powder in the future. If the conflict eases or cools, Russia and Ukraine go back to negotiate, commodity prices would fall. However, if the situation between Russia and Ukraine deteriorates further, or evolves into a full-scale war, the price of the spherical Al2O3 powder is predicted to see further improvement over the coming days.



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Global Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate market trend 2022-2028 Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate CAS 1312-76-1 Potassium Silicate Powder,99% by Newsintegra927

OPEC+ is likely to stick to its plan for a small increase in oil Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate will continue to be influenced by the oil supply shortage.





About Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate:

Powdered instant potassium silicate is a white powdery material, which can be quickly dissolved in water. Its molecular formula is: K2OnSiO2H2O, n depends on different specifications and different uses. TRUNNANO is a trusted global Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate supplier. Feel free to send an inquiry about the latest price of Potassium Silicate at any time.



Performance of Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate:

Powdered instant potassium silicate has better water solubility and higher bonding performance than powdered instant sodium silicate.



Technical Property of Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate:

Item TR-N001 TR-N002 TR-N003 TR-N004 Be(20) 35.0-36.0 39.0-41.0 44.0-46.0 43.5-45.5 Density g/ml(20) 1.30-1.33 1.37-1.39 1.43-1.46 1.436-1.45 K2O (%) 9.5-11.5 10.5-12.5 14.0-17.0 15.5-17.5 SiO2 (%) 22.0-25.0 23.5-26.5 28.0-31.0 24.0-27.0 Ratio (M) 3.50-3.70 3.15-3.35 2.70-2.90 2.40-2.60 Fe(%) 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 S(%) 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 P(%) 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 Water insoluble(%) 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30



Applications of Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate:

Powdered instant potassium silicate is widely used in refractory binders, oilfield drilling fluid additives and other fields with special uses.



Storage Condition of Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate:

The potassium silicate powder should store in a dry and cool environment in a sealed place, not exposed to the air, to prevent oxidative agglomeration caused by moisture, affecting the dispersion performance and use effect;



Packing & Shipping of Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate:

It is packed in double plastic bags inside, which can be filled with argon in a vacuum; it can be vacuumed and filled with argon for protection.

Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate Powder packing: vacuum packing, 1kg/bag, 25kg/bag, or as your request.

Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate Powder Powder shipping: could be shipped out by sea, by air, by express as soon as possible once payment receipt.







Luoyang Tongrun Nano Technology Co. Ltd. (TRUNNANO) is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12-year-experience in providing super high-quality chemicals and Nanomaterials, including boride powder, nitride powder, graphite powder, sulfide powder, 3D printing powder, etc.

If you are looking for powdered instant potassium silicate, please feel free to contact us and send an inquiry, email address: sales3@nanotrun.com









Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate Properties Other Names potassium silicate CAS No. 1312-76-1 Compound Formula K2O3Si Molecular Weight NA Appearance White Powder Melting Point NA Solubility in water N/A Density NA Purity 99% Particle Size NA Boling point NA Specific Heat N/A Thermal Conductivity N/A Thermal Expansion N/A Young's Modulus N/A Exact Mass NA Monoisotopic Mass NA Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate Health & Safety Information Safety Warning NA Hazard Statements N/A Flashing point Not applicable Hazard Codes N/A Risk Codes N/A Safety Statements N/A RTECS Number N/A Transport Information NONH WGK Germany NONH

Recently, the Turkish government announced that the Turkish President has signed a presidential decree to provide incentives for its Black Sea gas field development projects, including tax exemptions and other preferential measures.

With a fixed investment of 145.1 billion Turkish lira ($10 billion), the project will employ 1,018 people and produce 14 billion standard cubic meters of gas per year, the decree reads. The incentives involved include tariff and VAT exemptions, as well as a range of tax cuts.

In June 2021, Turkish drill ships discovered 135 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the Sakaria field in the Black Sea, bringing Turkey's total gas discoveries in the region to 540 billion cubic meters.

Turkey imports almost all of its annual gas consumption of about 50 billion cubic meters.

Except for natural gas, the supply and prices of many other Powdered Instant Potassium Silicate will continue to be influenced by international situations.

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Global pce powder market trend 2023-2029 Combine Polycarboxylate Superplasticizer with Early-strength Component by Newsintegra927

U.S. natural gas futures rose about 5 percent to a near nine-week high as global energy prices surged on concerns over a pricing plan for energy exports, keeping U.S. LNG export demand near record highs. U.S. natural gas prices have risen despite forecasts of mild weather and lower-than-expected demand, which will allow utilities to fill up storage facilities next week. On Wednesday, Germany launched an emergency plan to manage gas supplies in Europe's largest economy. If natural gas supplies are interrupted or stopped, the German government could take unprecedented steps to limit electricity supply.

Affected by the increase in the price of natural gas, the price of the pce powder will also increase.



In order to overcome the technical defects in the application of polycarboxylate water-reducing agent, or to improve some or some properties of concrete (workability, slump retention, reduction of bleeding, improvement of early strength, low shrinkage, etc.), it is necessary to modify the concrete.

In practice, the commonly used modification methods include synthetic technology and compound technology. Compared with the synthetic process, the compound method has the advantages of simple operation and low cost, so it is widely used in practical applications. Polycarboxylate series compound technology, is the Polycarboxylate series water-reducing agent and other components (such as slow coagulation, defoaming, air induction, early strength, and other components) according to a certain proportion of the combination compound, in order to achieve the coordination of the superposition of each component.

Compound Polycarboxylate Superplasticizer with Early-strength Component

With the wide application of polycarboxylate superplasticizer, the requirement of concrete early strength in practical engineering is more and more prominent, so the polycarboxylate superplasticizer has been the focus of research to meet the early strength performance of concrete. Early strength polycarboxylate water reducing agent can be made by compounding early strength agent and polycarboxylate water reducing agent. Commonly used early strength agent mainly includes strong electrolyte inorganic salt early strength agent (sulfate, sulfate double salt, nitrate, nitrite, chlorine salt, etc.) and water-soluble organic compound (triethanolamine, formate, acetate, etc.) and its complex.

Through the study of MPEG Polycarboxylate superplasticizer and five kinds of early strength agent, it is found that the compatibility between sodium sulfate early strength agent and polycarboxylate superplasticizer is very poor and the early strength of cement decreases. The combination of calcium nitrate, sodium nitrite, triethanolamine and triisopropanolamine with polycarboxylate significantly decreased the fluidity retention ability of net slurry, but all of them could improve the early strength of cement, but the effect was slightly different due to the type of early strength agent, among which triethanolamine had the most obvious enhancing effect. Zhao also found through the compound study of polycarboxylate water-reducing agent and early strength agent that the compound performance of NaCl, CaCl2, NaNO2, NaNO3 and other early strength agents and polycarboxylate was good. After adding a certain amount of early strength agent, the compound system had almost no adverse effect on the fluidity and plastic energy of fresh concrete, but all of them could significantly improve the strength of concrete at each age. The mixture of Na2SO4 and Na2S2O3 reduces the fluidity and plasticity of concrete, but it also has a significant strengthening effect on concrete.

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If you are looking for high-quality concrete superplasticizer, please feel free to contact us and send an inquiry. (sales@cabr-concrete.com)

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Where is the best place for humans to live in outer space? So far, the moon is more habitable in outer space, and it is likely to be turned into a planet. However, whether humans can live on the moon for a long time, these questions have always been lingering in everyone's minds, always There is no way to get an answer. According to the report, a team from the University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Beijing, after nearly 370 days of closed life, finally simulated the life experiment on the moon, and finally knew what the final truth was. Live here for a long time.All aspects of human beings are constantly improving, and the demand for pce powder is also increasing.If you are engaged in the pce powder industry, you just happen to contact us.

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Global tungsten silicide, tungsten silicide overview, tungsten silicide application, tungsten silicide suppliers, tungsten silicide price market trend 2023-2028 Tungsten Silicide Properties by Newsintegra927

Koalas were declared endangered in eastern Australia on Friday, with more and more koalas dying from disease, habitat loss, and other threats. Earlier, the koala was considered a vulnerable species, and the Commonwealth Department of the Environment changed its protection level to endangered on the east coast of Queensland, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory. Many koalas in Australia are infected with chlamydia. The disease can cause blindness, infection, and infertility. Last year, the Australian Koala Foundation said Australia had lost about 30 percent of its koala population in the past three years. Without immediate action, the species could become extinct by 2050.

Unlike koalas, which are on the brink of extinction, the market demand for tungsten silicide, tungsten silicide overview, tungsten silicide application, tungsten silicide suppliers, tungsten silicide price will grow substantially.



Overview of tungsten silicide WSi2 powder

Tungsten silicide are used as contact materials in microelectronics and have a resistivity of 60-80 cm. It forms 1000C. It is often used as a shunt for polysilicon wires to increase their conductivity and increase signal speed. The silicide layer can be prepared by chemical vapor deposition, for example, using monosilane or dichlorosilane and tungsten hexafluoride as raw material gases. The deposited films are non-stoichiometric and require annealing to convert to a more final stoichiometric form. Tungsten silicide can replace earlier tungsten films. Tungsten silicide can also be used in MEMS and anti-oxidation coatings.



Tungsten Silicide Properties



Blue-gray tetragonal crystal, melting point>900, compound Tungsten Silicide (WSi2)

Preparation method of tungsten silicide

(1) Mix tungsten powder and silicon powder in a molar ratio of 1:2, and mix titanium powder and graphite powder in a molar ratio of 1:1, and then mix them evenly.

(2) The W-Si mixed powder is placed in the center of the crucible, and the Ti-C mixed powder is evenly placed between the W-Si mixed powder and the crucible. Finally, a layer of Ti-C mixed powder is placed on top of all the mixed powders. The weight ratio of the loaded Ti-C mixed powder and W-Si mixed powder is (0.8~1.2): 1

(3) Put the crucible containing the mixed powder into a closed reactor, fill it with argon after vacuuming, and then energize the mixture with tungsten wire to initiate the reaction between the mixed materials.

(4) After cooling, take out the reacted material, separate titanium carbide and tungsten disilicide, and crush them respectively to obtain titanium carbide and tungsten disilicide powder.

Application of tungsten silicide WSi2 powder



Tungsten silicide WSi2 powder is used in microelectronics as electrical shock material, shunting on polysilicon wires, anti-oxidation coatings and resistance wire coatings. Tungsten silicide is used as a contact material in microelectronics with a resistivity of 60-80 cm. It forms at 1000C. It is often used as a shunt for polysilicon wires to increase their conductivity and increase signal speed. The tungsten silicide layer can be prepared by chemical vapor deposition, such as vapor deposition. Monosilane or dichlorosilane and tungsten hexafluoride are used as raw material gases. The deposited films are non-stoichiometric and require annealing to convert to a more conductive stoichiometric form.

Tungsten silicide can replace earlier tungsten films. Tungsten silicide also acts as a barrier between silicon and other metals.

Tungsten silicide is also valuable in microelectromechanical systems, where tungsten silicide is primarily used as a thin film for making microcircuits. For this purpose, the tungsten silicide film may be plasma etched using, for example, silicide.

Tungsten silicide WSi2 powder price



The price of tungsten silicide WSi2 powder will vary randomly with the production cost of tungsten silicide WSi2 powder, transportation cost, international situation of tungsten silicide WSi2 powder, exchange rate and market supply and demand of tungsten silicide WSi2 powder. Tanki New Materials Co., Ltd. aims to help industries and chemical wholesalers find high-quality, low-cost nanomaterials and chemicals by providing a full range of customized services. If you are looking for tungsten silicide WSi2 powder, please feel free to send an inquiry to get the latest price of tungsten silicide WSi2 powder.

Tungsten Silicide WSi2 Powder Supplier



As a global supplier of tungsten silicide WSi2 powder, Tanki New Materials Ltd. has extensive experience in the performance, application and cost-effective manufacturing of advanced and engineered materials. The company has successfully developed a series of powder materials (molybdenum disilicide, titanium silicide, calcium silicide, iron boride), high-purity target materials, functional ceramics and structural devices, and provides OEM services.



Tungsten Silicide Properties Other Names tungsten disilicide, WSi2 powder CAS No. 12039-88-2 Compound Formula WSi2 Molecular Weight 240.01 Appearance Gray Black Powder Melting Point 2160  Boiling Point N/A Density 9.3 g/cm3 Solubility in H2O N/A Exact Mass 239.904786 Tungsten Silicide Health & Safety Information Signal Word N/A Hazard Statements N/A Hazard Codes N/A Risk Codes N/A Safety Statements N/A Transport Information N/A









During the first 100 days of its special military operation in Ukraine, Russia earned 93 billion euros from fossil energy exports, most of it from the European Union, according to an independent research center.

The report by the Finland-based Center for Energy and Clean Air comes as Ukraine urges the West to cut off all trade with Russia to stop funding the Kremlin's war chest.

The European Union recently decided to impose a gradual embargo on Russian oil imports, with some exceptions, according to reports. Russian gas, on which it relies heavily, is currently unaffected.

In the first 100 days of the Conflict between Russia and Ukraine (February 24 to June 3), the EU accounted for 61 percent of fossil energy imports, or about 57 billion euros, according to the Energy and Clean Air Research Center.

Russia's revenue came first from crude oil sales (43.87 billion euros), followed by pipeline gas (22.89 billion euros), then petroleum tungsten silicide, tungsten silicide overview, tungsten silicide application, tungsten silicide suppliers, tungsten silicide price, please feel free to contact us and send an inquiry.





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JUSTICE minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has defended the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), saying the electoral body does not remove voters from their polling stations.

This followed reports that the countrys voters roll is in shambles after independent statisticians, Team Pachedu, in February this year accused Zec of illegally moving 170 000 voters from their original constituencies and wards in the voters roll that was used for the March 26 by-elections.

Responding to queries on the voters roll in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Ziyambi said: Zec advises that it is not aware of any formal report wherein it has been alleged that it has moved voters from their registered polling stations without their consent. What the commission is aware of are the powers granted to it by section 35 of the Electoral Act (Chapter 2:13), which provides that a voters roll may be altered by the commission at any time to correct any error or omission, or to change the original name or address of the voter to an altered name or address; which is done by the voter registration officer at any time by correcting any obvious mistake or omission, or by changing on the written application of a voter, the original name or address of the voter to an altered name or address.

Ziyambi said in terms of the Electoral Act, notice of alteration of a voter is published in the Government Gazette by the commission or voter registration officer.

He said the Act also provides that in the event that the voter is aggrieved, they may appeal against a decision to a designated magistrate of the province on whose voters roll the voter is, or prior to the alteration registered.

The commission recommends that where there are known incidents of voters being moved from their polling stations without their consent, a formal report must be filed at Zec provincial offices, or an appeal of any decision of an alteration must be made by the commission or voter registration officer to a designated magistrate within the affected voters province.

Ziyambi was also grilled over the issue of the diaspora vote.

There is currently no legislative framework that regulates voting by citizens in the diaspora. If a person requires to vote, he has to be registered in a constituency within Zimbabwe whereby the residential requirements is among the voter registration requirements provided for by our electoral law, Ziyambi said.

Last month, the Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda crossed swords with fellow Zanu PF members when he suggested that the Constitution must be amended to allow millions of Zimbabweans in the diaspora to vote in the 2023 elections.

It is also important to note that the residence requirement is not a requirement strictly for persons in the diaspora as it also affects those who live in Zimbabwe. In this regard, the residence requirements are not directed or targeted to exclude the diaspora vote as is the assumption by many, he said. Newsday
In 1995, in Yellowstone national park, eight wolves were released from a white truck that had travelled 700 miles from Alberta, Canada. They were the first to live in the park for 70 years and the most fabled predators return to the worlds most famous national park inspired research that would feature in ecology textbooks for decades.

A key narrative from this event is that wolves created a landscape of fear in the park, which kickstarted big changes in habitats, known as trophic cascades. It is an argument used to justify releasing wolves elsewhere. But increasingly, researchers are looking at the nuances of what happened in the decades after wolves were introduced and challenging this approach.

One of the key impacts wolves had in Yellowstone was to hunt grazing animals such as elk, whose overpopulation was damaging the park. The number of elk in the northern range of Yellowstone went from 19,000 in 1995 before wolves arrived, stabilising at about 6,000 in the years after their reintroduction. With fewer elk there was less pressure on vegetation such as willow and aspen, allowing them to flourish.

The wolves also indirectly changed the way their prey moved around the park. The elk became less likely to graze large open river valleys because of the fear of attack. This meant that new areas were able to regenerate, creating benefits that cascaded down ecosystems, resulting in habitats for beavers, fish, small mammals, amphibians and insects, among many others.

The aspen trees were the perfect visual way of demonstrating how well this reintroduction had worked, says Rick McIntyre, who was brought in as a 'wolf interpreter' in 1994  a year before the wolves arrived.

Since then he has gone out to observe the wolves almost every day and has published several books about them. He lives in the village of Silver Gate in the northeast corner of the park.

On one site near the release pen, in the space of a few years, the aspen went from being constantly grazed down to producing tens of thousands of shoots, which created a forest nearly as dense as a bamboo thicket, he wrote in his book, The Rise of Wolf 8.

But the story was more complicated than that. The changes were partly due to wolves, but they were also caused by other factors, such as the rising number of mountain lions and bears and an increase in human hunting in the north of the park, as well as climatic changes, explains McIntyre in his book. Im sympathetic to the results those people published in the early years. It made sense. It explained a lot of things during that time period. But now, in some cases, were 20 years down the road, and we have a better handle of all these other factors, he says.

Today, the willow and aspen that thrived along rivers, creeks and marshes where lots of that early research was done have shrivelled because the water table has dropped, according to McIntyre. As the climate is getting warmer there is less of a snowpack, meaning less moisture available for spring plant growth, which is a big factor for the health and survival of aspen and willow. There are factors that you could not have predicted, that have turned out to be very influential, and perhaps reversing some of the changes documented, he says.

Ecosystems are large and chaotic, which makes researching them difficult, and some of the techniques used may have had limitations.

A paper published in 2021 looked at how sampling only the tallest aspen in Yellowstone meant researchers overestimated how much it had regenerated by at least a factor of four compared with random sampling. The study concluded that the results indicate the existence of a trophic cascade that was weaker than is often claimed.

Other researchers have warned against generalising the effects of wolves. In 2010, a paper concluded that the trophic impacts of wolves in Banff, Isle Royale and Yellowstone were all different

When findings appear sensational the media tends to latch on to this optimistic vision, says Prof. Dave Mech, a biologist at the US Geological Survey who studies wolves. For example, a 2014 YouTube video, How Wolves Change Rivers, has been viewed 43 million times.

But when those findings are challenged, most people dont hear about it, because complex and nuanced stories are less appealing.

Scientists are just humans, and wolf reintroductions were such a popular thing and it got a lot of publicity. Its human nature, its not unusual that people jump to these conclusions, he says.

Meanwhile, research on the impacts of lynx paints a complex picture. In Switzerland, the reintroduction of lynx (another apex predator) drove a fall in the populations of roe deer and chamois, as well as changes in their behaviour. In Sweden and Norway, however, lynx recolonisation appeared to have no impact on how roe deer moved around in the landscape, suggesting how animals respond to these predators varies between ecosystems.

Webster suggests that, rather than claiming predator reintroductions will fix complex ecological problems, it would be better to champion their capacity to thrill and surprise us, embracing their ability to enrich the human experience. The fact we can never be sure of what their impacts could be is part of the excitement, he says.

Prof. John Linnell, who studies human and wildlife conflict at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, says this is essentially a debate about values, and scientists can feel uncomfortable admitting its subjective nature. He says: My personal values say that Europe is a better place when you have some big, wild, furry animals out there. Its not because of this belief that theyre going to fix everything. They will introduce a wildness, but its not going to shift the whole system.

Reintroductions great and small

Bison

In Britain, four European bison are due to arrive in north Kent in the coming weeks as part of a rewilding project to create more wildlife-rich woodlands. Bison, Europes largest land mammal, create dynamic habitats by knocking down trees, stripping off bark, nibbling vegetation and making dust baths.

The first European bison were released into the wild in Bialowieza Forest back in 1929. As a result, the forest is now home to the worlds largest herd of these animals, consisting of around 500 wisents. Although still very rare, European bison are considered by scientists to be safe as a species. Picture: Poland.pl

The European bison was first released back into the wild in 1954 in Poland. Reintroductions in several other European countries followed. The American bison has also been widely reintroduced.

Birds of prey

The re-establishment of the Irish populations of raptors began with the natural migration of buzzards, who returned to Ireland from Britain. Efforts have been made to re-introduce the other birds of prey species  golden eagle, red kite and white-tailed eagle  into Ireland since the early 2000s.

Przewalskis horse

In Mongolia, about 760 Przewalskis horses roam the steppes despite having disappeared in the wild in 1960. Reintroduction efforts in the early 1990s mean there is now a self-sustaining wild population.

California condor

The number of California condors in the wild fell to just 22 in the early 1980s. The few remaining wild birds were placed into a breeding programme in 1987 and then slowly released back into the wild. The 1,000th chick hatched in May 2019.

Beaver

Often called 'ecosystem engineers', beavers help reduce flooding and silting and increase water retention. Last year, 17 were released into enclosures around England and Wales.

Giant clam

Rewilding is spreading to the oceans with the reintroduction of creatures such as the giant clam in Fiji.

White rhino

30 white rhinos recently arrived in Akagera national park in eastern Rwanda to create a new breeding ground to support the long-term survival of the species. Down to an estimated 18,000 animals across Africa, white rhinos have not inhabited Rwanda before.

Butterfly and dormouse

In Britain, the large blue butterfly, which disappeared in the 1970s, was reintroduced in the 1980s and recently returned to Gloucestershire after an absence of 150 years. The hazel dormouse, classified as vulnerable to extinction, was reintroduced in the Yorkshire Dales national park in 2016.

 The Guardian
Equality Minister Roderic OGorman has said there needs to be a change in how An Garda Siochana deal with Travellers following a University of Limerick study which found that 91% of the Travellers surveyed feel disrespected by Gardai.

That's a really stark contrast, and it's very unsettling, everybody should feel confident in our police force, he said..

We know there has been ingrained prejudice against Travellers across all elements of Irish society for decades. And we see this being reflected in terms of Travellers concerns with An Garda Siochana.

Changes that are happening in the Gardai - both the training, but also I think the fact that members of the Gardai are taking responsibility for diversity and inclusion issues at a more senior level - is really important.

I think we need to see a change in the approach of An Garda Siochana. I chaired the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy, which is about addressing prejudice against Travellers across all elements of Irish society.

An Garda Siochana are part of that - so I think it's important just to monitor changes that happen in An Garda Siochana he told Newstalk Breakfast.

The study found thattravellers are facing institutionalised racism in the criminal justice system, with members of the community accusing gardai and even a judge, in one case, of prejudiced comments amid fears they are being racially profiled.

The study, which interviewed almost one-tenth of all Travellers in the country, also found that while Travellers are "over-policed" as suspects of crime, they are under-policed when they themselves are victims of crime.

The research, described as "ground-breaking" by the country's human rights watchdog, recommends a new independent complaints body and a new a criminal justice strategy for the Traveller community to address findings which the report's authors said were "incredibly distressing, and paint a depressing picture".

The Irish Travellers Access to Justice (ITAJ) report, launched on Thursday, is the result of 18 months of research carried out by a team at the University of Limerick. Part of the study involved speaking with one in every 100 Travellers in Ireland from 25 of the 26 counties.

It found that Travellers trust in the Irish criminal justice system is extremely low and that fears of wrongful arrest, excessive use of force, wrongful conviction, disproportionately high sentences and wrongful imprisonment frame the way Travellers engage with and experience the criminal justice system.

Sinead Gibney, chief commissioner, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, writes in the report: "It is abundantly clear that the relationship between Travellers and criminal justice institutions is deeply problematic, and informed, as this research makes clear, by practices from both judges and gardai which are grounded and founded in institutional racism."

Half of the Travellers involved in the survey were victims of criminal offences in the five years prior to the survey and a similar number of respondents had been present at home when gardai entered without permission - but just 11% had a search warrant shown to someone present in the property.

Sinead Gibney, chief commissioner, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, writes in the report: "It is abundantly clear that the relationship between Travellers and criminal justice institutions is deeply problematic." Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Almost two-thirds of Travellers who were in garda custody in the five years prior to the survey had not felt safe, while many also claimed they were racially profiled, with 59% of respondents saying they believed they were stopped because they are a Traveller.

The vast majority of Travellers interviewed for the study did not believe gardai or judges respected them or felt that they had been treated fairly.

One of the lead authors of the report, Professor Jennifer Schweppe, of ULs School of Law, said: Our research shows that Travellers are simultaneously over-policed as suspects and under-policed as victims."

Dr Sindy Joyce, Lecturer in Traveller Studies in ULs Department of Sociology, said: The results of this research will come as no surprise to members of the Traveller community, whose experiences and perceptions of the criminal justice process are unequivocally linked to both their identity as a historically traditionally nomadic community, and their present-day status as a racialised indigenous ethnic group in Irish society."
"Ireland is no country to have a disabled child."

These are the words of a mother who told a High Court judge she and her family has had to fight for even the most basic essentials for her son who has autism, ADHD, cognitive delay and behavioural issues.

Assumpta Corry broke down as she told Mr Justice Paul Coffey how for the last 17 years her family has struggled and a settlement of an action over the circumstances of her son Bens birth with a 4 million payout will mean her son can now get the care he needs.

The woman asked to speak to the judge as her 17-year-old son Ben Corry settled an action against the HSE over the circumstances of his birth at Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway.

The settlement which includes the 4 million interim pay-out for the next five years is without admission of liability. When the case comes back before the courts in five years time, Mr Justice Paul Coffey was told any assessment will be based on a 50% basis.

Bens counsel, Dr John OMahony SC with Doireann OMahony BL instructed by Vincent Toher solicitors, told the court it was their case that during the delivery Ben was gasping for oxygen and he inhaled meconium which counsel said is a highly toxic substance.

'Challenging'

His mother, he said, thought her baby was dead as he looked flat and grey on delivery. Ben, counsel said, is an extraordinary child but the windows and doors at home have to be locked for his own safety. He said the dedication of his parents is out of this world.

Counsel said it was one of the most challenging cases he had ever come across. Ms Corry broke down in tears as she told how the family have struggled to care for Ben who also cannot speak.

She said:

I have waited for 17 years for him to say Mum and Dad but he cant say it.

She said it could not have been made harder for the family. She said she knew her son was not reaching his milestones and development and said she was told she should not compare a boys development to a girls development.

I felt I was ignored, I knew something was wrong, she said. I would die for my child but you have to fight so hard for the most basic supplies. We got no respite, nothing.

Her son, she said, has had to live like a prisoner in his own house as they have to keep the windows and doors locked.

I would do anything for him. We are the only thing he has. We love Ben, he is our flesh and blood, she told the judge, adding:

I feel so sorry for anybody who has a disabled child in this country.

Ms Corry said it is only when her legal team came on board that she felt that she was being heard.

Ben Corry (17) of Carn, Moyleen, Loughrea, Co. Galway, had through his mother Assumpta Corry sued the HSE over the circumstances of his birth at Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, on September 8, 2005.

It was claimed the baby should have been delivered by Caesarean section but towards the end of labour, it was alleged the cord was intermittently compressed causing the baby hypoxia and a reflex gasping in the baby which allegedly drew meconium deep into his lungs.

The labour, it was claimed, was allegedly incompetently managed and it was also claimed there was an alleged failure to intervene and to proceed to a Caesarean section. The baby, it was claimed, was allegedly exposed to an unnecessarily prolonged and severe period of birth asphyxia.

The claims were denied. Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Paul Coffey said it was a very sad tragic case and he praised the parents for what they have done for their son.
Boris Johnson has struck out at condescending opponents of his scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda ahead of talks with reported critic the Prince Charles.

Mr Johnson defended the faltering flagship policy as he prepared to fly to Kigali, where he will meet Charles for a discussion over cups of tea.

Charles is said to have added to wide-spread criticism of the project disrupted by legal problems by describing it as appalling in private remarks.

Mr Johnson will on Thursday join the heir to the British throne in the Rwandan capital.

Gashora Refugee Camp Transit Centre, south of Kigali (Victoria Jones/PA)

But Mr Johnson is planning to avoid visiting the accommodation in Kigali where migrants who arrive by unauthorised means would be deported to.

It is understood he will visit Charles for a cup of tea on Friday morning, but Mr Johnson is not eager to raise the policy of removing migrants who arrive by unauthorised means on a one-way ticket.

The meeting between Mr Johnson and the prince will be the first time they have spoken since the service for the Queens Platinum Jubilee and comes after the appalling remark was reported.

Speaking to reporters as he prepared to fly to Kigali, Mr Johnson said the trip is an opportunity for us all to understand for ourselves what that partnership has to offer.

Lets hope perhaps help others to shed some of their condescending attitudes to Rwanda and how that partnership might work, he added.

Asked if he will tell the prince he is wrong, Mr Johnson said: I have no evidence for the assertion youve just made about the princes comments. I cant confirm that.

What I can say is that the policy is sensible, measured and a plan to deal with the grotesque abuse of innocent people crossing the Channel.

The Prince of Wales and Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

He insisted he is looking forward very much to seeing Charles, but would not say whether he would be raising the policy with him.

Despite it being Mr Johnsons first visit to the nation during his time in No 10, he is not planning to visit any of the accommodation earmarked for the scheme.

You will know that the prime ministers time is always limited and to make time to do that he would therefore have to leave elements of the programme whereby hes working with a unique set of world leaders on quite crucial issues, his spokesman said.

We think that the best use of his time for this short period hes in Rwanda is to dedicate himself to some of the issues that will be raised at the summit and to work with other world leaders on some of those issues weve talked about, not least Ukraine and global security.

Human rights concerns

The first flight removing people to Rwanda was due to take off last week, but was grounded by successful legal challenges ahead of a full hearing on the schemes legality in UK courts.

The policy is one element of a 120m economic deal with Kigali, but has been widely criticised in part because of concerns about Rwandas human rights record.

Mr Johnson noted that he would be arriving there before any asylum seekers despite the agreement being signed two months ago.

Im conscious that Im arriving before anybody who has travelled illegally across the Channel, I cannot conceal that fact from you  there it is  but it is still the case that no UK court and no international court has ruled our plan unlawful, he said.

But Mr Johnson said he will no doubt discuss the plans with Rwandan president Paul Kagame on Thursday.

(PA)

Mr Kagame has been lauded for his role ending the 1994 genocide that saw ethnic Hutu extremists slaughter about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus during 100 days of the civil war.

But his regime has since been accused of political repression, alleged assassinations and the imprisonment of critics.

Amnesty International UKs refugee and migrants rights director, Steve Valdez-Symonds, said: With their cruel and unlawful refugee scheme, the prime minister and Home Secretary are effectively supporting the continued repression of people in Rwanda under President Kagames regime.

No country should be casting off its asylum responsibilities onto another, still less to a country such as Rwanda with a troubling human rights record alongside existing, large-scale asylum responsibilities of its own.

The UK should be using its influence and the opportunity of the Commonwealth leaders meetings to encourage meaningful human rights progress in Rwanda, not seeking to excuse and potentially add to Rwandas disturbing human rights record.

Mr Johnsons spokesman said he is expected to raise human rights issues as he has done in the past.

We want Rwanda to uphold and champion the Commonwealth values, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. And we want due process for all those in detention and fair and transparent application of the rule of law, he added.
Thousands of UK railway workers were staging their second strike of the week on Thursday after talks failed to resolve a bitter row over pay, jobs and conditions.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail and 13 train operators will take industrial action, crippling services across the UK.

Only around one in five trains will run and mainly on main lines during the day.

Ahead of the strike, the Government announced plans to change the law to enable businesses to supply skilled agency workers to plug staffing gaps during industrial action.

Ministers pointed out that under current trade union laws, employment businesses are restricted from supplying temporary agency workers to cover for strikers, saying it can have a disproportionate impact.

The legislation will repeal the burdensome legal restrictions, giving businesses impacted by strike action the freedom to tap into the services of employment businesses who can provide skilled, temporary agency staff at short notice, said the government.

Network Rail welcomed the move but Labour and unions condemned it as a recipe for disaster.

We will continue with our industrial campaign until we get a negotiated settlement that delivers job security and a pay rise for our members that deals with the escalating cost-of-living crisis

The RMT accused Transport Secretary Grant Shapps of wrecking negotiations.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: Grant Shapps has wrecked these negotiations by not allowing Network Rail to withdraw their letter threatening redundancy for 2,900 of our members.

Until the Government unshackle Network Rail and the train operating companies, it is not going to be possible for a negotiated settlement to be agreed.

We will continue with our industrial campaign until we get a negotiated settlement that delivers job security and a pay rise for our members that deals with the escalating cost-of-living crisis.

Mr Shapps hit back, saying the RMT claim was a lie.

Grant Shapps denied he has wrecked negotiations (Aaron Chown/PA)

Meanwhile, members of the drivers union Aslef on Greater Anglia will strike on Thursday in a separate dispute over pay.

The company, which is also affected by the RMT strike, advised passengers to travel only if it was necessary.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) announced that its members at Merseyrail had accepted a 7.1% pay offer.

General secretary Manuel Cortes said: What this clearly shows is our union, and sister unions, are in no way a block on finding the solutions needed to avoid a summer of discontent on the railways.

Rather, it is the Government who are intent on digging in their heels. Grant Shapps would be wise to start talking seriously to our union as we ballot for industrial action on our railways up and down the land.

A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson: With passenger numbers still at only 80% of pre-pandemic levels the industry remains committed to giving a fair deal on pay while taking no more than its fair share from taxpayers.

We call on the RMT leadership to continue to talk so that we can secure a thriving long-term future for the railway and its workforce

We can only achieve that by making improvements  like offering better services on a Sunday  that reflect the changing needs of passengers so we can attract more back.

We call on the RMT leadership to continue to talk so that we can secure a thriving long-term future for the railway and its workforce.

Our advice to passengers remains the same, only travel by rail if absolutely necessary, check before you travel and make sure you know the time of your first and last trains.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: We are disappointed that the RMT have again chosen to walk away from negotiations without agreeing a deal. We remain available for talks  day or night  and will do everything we can to avoid further disruption for our passengers.

As a result of this needless and premature strike, rail services will look much like they did on Tuesday  starting later in the morning and finishing much earlier in the evening (around 6.30pm).

We are asking passengers to please check before you travel, be conscious of when your last available train is departing, and only travel by train if necessary.
European leaders will formally accept Ukraine as a candidate to join the EU on Thursday, a bold geopolitical move triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine but a reminder that the 27-nation bloc will need a major overhaul as it looks to enlarge again.

"History is on the march," European Union chief executive Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday ahead of a two-day summit that will kickstart the EU's most ambitious expansion since welcoming Eastern European states after the Cold War.

"I am not just talking about Putin's war of aggression," she said. "I am talking about the wind of change that once again blows across our continent. With their applications, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are telling us that they want change."

Although it will take Ukraine and Moldova years - and perhaps more than a decade - to qualify for membership, the Brussels summit decision will be a symbolic step that signals the EU's intention to reach deep into the former Soviet Union.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his "special military operation" launched in Ukraine in late February was partly necessitated by Western encroachment into what Russia characterises as its rightful geographical sphere of influence.

While Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova are expected to be welcomed into the EU's waiting room in Thursday, Georgia will be given "a European perspective" but told it must fulfil conditions before winning candidate status.

"The term historic is a term that is bandied around, but this can be called historic," said an EU diplomat ahead of the summit. "Even a month ago, Ukraine's EU candidacy might have appeared far-fetched."

BALKAN FRUSTRATION Behind the triumphant rhetoric, however, there is concern within the EU about how the bloc can remain coherent and united as it continues to enlarge.

Leaders know that public discontent is mounting over a spike in inflation and an energy crisis as Russia tightens gas supplies in response to Western sanctions, and these economic concerns will be hotly debated on the second day of the summit.

After starting in 1951 as an organisation of six countries to jointly regulate their industrial production, the EU now has 27 members that face complex challenges from climate change and the rise of China to today's war on their own doorstep.

Reticence over enlargement has slowed progress towards membership for a group of Balkans countries - Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia - whose leaders will meet their EU counterparts in Brussels on Thursday morning.

A lack of progress on milestones to entry into the club has led to such a sense of disillusionment that the leaders of Albania and Serbia briefly considered not attending the meeting.

They agreed eventually to make the journey, but Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama tweeted grudgingly: "We'll attend the EU Council meeting. There won't be much to hear about."

A draft of the summit statement seen by Reuters showed that EU leaders will again give "full and unequivocal commitment to the EU membership perspective of the Western Balkans."

But Ukraine's fast track to formal candidate status has only served to increase their feeling of being sidelined, which carries the risk for the EU that Russia and China extend their influence into the region.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday that the EU must "reform its internal procedures" to prepare for the accession of new members, singling out the need for key issues to be agreed with a qualified majority rather than by unanimity.

A recent report based on a year of consultations with EU citizens called for the EU to remove the principle of unanimity in several areas, including foreign and security policy.

The requirement for unanimity often frustrates EU ambitions because member states can block decisions or reduce them to the lowest common denominator.

Despite waves of crises that have rocked the EU in recent years, from a wave of migration and Britain's exit from the bloc to the rise of nationalism and tensions over standards of democracy, the bloc remains broadly popular.

According to a survey by the EU's parliament released on Thursday, nearly two-thirds of Europeans consider membership of the EU a "good thing", the highest result in 15 years.
Burma ASEAN Must Step up Pressure on Myanmar Junta: UN Expert

Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, speaks during a press conference at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur on June 23, 2022. / AFP

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must increase pressure on Myanmars junta or there will be more death and suffering, a United Nations (UN) expert warned Thursday, after a long period of stalled diplomacy.

Myanmar has been in turmoil and its economy paralysed since the February 2021 coup that ousted civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was transferred from house arrest to solitary confinement in prison this week.

Efforts by 10-member ASEAN to bring peace to Myanmar  which is a member of the bloc  have stalled as fighting continues to rage.

Last year, they agreed on the so-called Five-Point Consensus, which calls for a cessation of violence and constructive dialogue, but the junta has ignored it.

Divisions in ASEAN, long criticised as a toothless talking shop, have also complicated attempts to resolve the crisis.

Asked about the blocs efforts, Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said that clearly, more needs to be done.

The longer we wait, the more inaction that there is, the more people are going to die, the more people are going to suffer, he said.

The people of Myanmar just cant take another year of inaction, added Andrews, speaking at the end of a visit to ASEAN member Malaysia, which has strongly criticised the coup.

He said the Five-Point Consensus, hammered out at a meeting in Jakarta in April 2021, is meaningless if it sits on a piece of paper.

Its only chance of making a difference is if its put into meaningful action.

He said Malaysias foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah had suggested practical, pragmatic steps forward and urged regional leaders to heed his recommendations.

Some ASEAN states have spoken out against the military takeover, but others have appeared reluctant to take a strong stand.

In January, Hun Sen, Cambodias authoritarian ruler of more than three decades, made the first trip by a foreign leader to Myanmar since the coup, which critics said risked undermining efforts to isolate the generals.

Cambodia currently holds ASEANs rotating chairmanship, and the military regimes defense minister attended a meeting of the blocs defense chiefs in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

Andrews also said it was preposterous to suggest that elections planned by the junta for next year could be free and fair.

You cant have a free and fair election if you have locked up your opponents, he said.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been convicted of a raft of charges and sentenced to 11 years in jail so far.

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Burma Myanmar Junta Claims Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Treated Well in Solitary Confinement

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is seen at a ceremony introducing national youth policy in Naypyitaw in January 2018. / The Irrawaddy

The Myanmar junta on Thursday confirmed that it has moved detained Myanmar democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to prison from an undisclosed location where she had been under house arrest, and claimed she was being treated well after being placed in solitary confinement.

Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said in a media statement that a regime court in Naypyitaw tried Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday, after which she was transferred to the prison according to the code of criminal procedure. The spokesman did not elaborate.

She is being treated well in solitary confinement, it added.

The statement doesnt mention the name of the prison she has been moved to, but sources identified it as Naypyitaw Prison in the Myanmar capital, where she had been under house arrest until Tuesday.

The Irrawaddy has learned that the Myanmar Police Forces Special Branch informed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her lawyers of the transfer during a hearing on Tuesday at a special court in Naypyitaw, where she has been tried on more than a dozen charges filed by the regime.

The reason for the transfer wasnt clear yet.

The regime has held Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who turned 77 on Sunday, under house arrest since the coup in February last year. It moved her to an unknown location in Naypyitaw in April 2021.

Under the previous military regime she spent 15 years under house arrest, ending in 2011.

It will be the second time she has been incarcerated in a prison. In 2009, the previous regime transferred Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from her home to Yangons Insein Prison for four months for violating the rules of her house arrest after an American intruded onto her property.

After her move to Naypyitaw Prison on Wednesday, Daw Aung San Suu Kyis ongoing trials will be conducted at a special court inside the prison. So far the regime court has sentenced her to 11 years in prison.

If found guilty on all counts, she will spend the rest of her life behind bars, as the charges carry a combined sentence of more than 100 years.

Since her house arrest last year, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been assisted by seven people detained with her, and has had the companionship of her dog.

It was not clear whether her aides would be released upon Daw Aung San Suu Kyis transfer to the prison.

The move to the prison has prompted concerns about Daw Aung San Suu Kyis wellbeing, especially given her old age.

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Burma Myanmar Junta Rejects Red Cross Request to Resume Prison Visits

Insein Prison seen in February 2022. / Nay Myo

Myanmars military regime has rejected the request of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to resume its prison visits and other humanitarian activities and allow family visits.

ICRC regional director for Asia-Pacific Christine Cipolla made the request during her visit to Myanmar from June 15-18, when she met junta cabinet members including the defense, home affairs and health ministers, according to a June 20 ICRC statement.

In the statement, the ICRC said that it regrets that no agreement on these two points was achieved, but the organization remains determined to continue its work in support of people detained and their families.

Prison visits by the ICRC and families of detainees have been suspended since March 2020, following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Correctional Department official told The Irrawaddy that the regime has neither allowed nor given particular instructions about the ICRCs two requests.

We have not yet received any instructions regarding the ICRCs requests. It has been a while since ICRC visits were barred due to COVID-19, said the official.

The junta has locked up thousands of people mostly due to their anti-regime activism. As of Wednesday, more than 11,000 people have been arrested since the February 1, 2021 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

A relative of an inmate in Dawei Prison called on prison authorities to allow family members to meet their detained relatives. We can only leave food and other items with prison guards for now, she said.

In her meeting with the regimes cabinet ministers, the ICRC regional director called for the facilitation of humanitarian responses in Chin, Kayah and Karen states, as well as in Magwe and Sagaing regions, including in areas where ethnic armed organizations are present.

Many communities displaced by violence are in dire need of basic necessities  such as food, water and shelter  and have no access to healthcare and other essential services. Parties to the conflict must do their utmost to facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of neutral and impartial humanitarian relief, the regional director said in the ICRCs statement.

On the framework of the ICRCs bilateral and confidential dialogue with all parties to the conflicts, the regional director also shared the ICRC view on issues pertaining to respect of international humanitarian law and other applicable standards on the use of force by security forces, the statement added.

The ICRC regional director also met with the leadership of the Myanmar Red Cross Society to discuss further cooperation and coordination. Both organizations reiterated their commitment to upholding principled humanitarian action and acting in line with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements fundamental principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence.

In March, rights groups called on the ICRC to probe human rights violations in Myanmars jails and the use of sexual violence against political prisoners.

Prison authorities are also committing other human rights violations, especially targeting political prisoners who continue to show their opposition to the military regime while in jail. They have reportedly been placed in solitary confinement, as well as being denied visits by relatives. Some have also been subjected to beatings by inmates imprisoned for criminal offences and denied medical treatment. Prison authorities have also reportedly limited the water supply in jails.

Last July, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, which is made up of ousted lawmakers, urged ICRC Myanmar to address the rights abuses in prisons in line with international humanitarian principles. Political activists detained in prisons, police cells, interrogation camps and military hospitals are not treated with human dignity and are denied the right to defend themselves legally and to receive medical treatment.

While human rights violations are now widespread in Myanmar since the coup, rights abuses in prisons take place in the shadows, said the AAPP.

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Burma Myanmar Junta Troops Seize Villagers as Human Shields in Sagaing

Kan Thit village after the junta raid on Wednesday. / Narapati Guerrilla Revolution Force

Nearly 50 civilians have been detained as hostages during a nighttime junta raid on Baoh village in Khin-U Township, Sagaing Region.

Around 70 junta soldiers arrived in two vehicles and fired shells on Thursday morning, according to the Narapati Guerrilla Revolution Force.

Villagers were asleep and could not flee and most of the hostages are women and children. Troops carried away valuables during the day, the armed group told The Irrawaddy.

Resistance forces are only watching the village because they have hostages. The safety of villagers is our priority, said Thakhin Chit of the group.

Baoh had more than 400 households and nearly 2,000 residents. It is near Kan Thit village, where 14 regime soldiers and pro-junta militia members were killed on Wednesday in a resistance ambush.

The regime troops killed a high-school student from Kan Thit on Wednesday after the ambush, according to the Khin-U Township Information page.

More than 1,000 civilians have fled five villages in the area.

Two older people and their one-year-old grandchild from Muthar village in Khin-U Township were seriously injured by junta artillery on Thursday.

Thousands of civilians have fled their homes in the township, according to Khin-U Peoples Defense Force.

Heavy junta casualties in ambushes on Wednesday in Khin-U will bring raids by troops, said Bo Thanmani, who leads the group.
Burma Myanmars Shadow Govt Urges Intl Community to Step Up Support

Members of a People's Defense Force group largely comprising young resistance fighters.

Myanmars parallel National Unity Government (NUG) has asked the international community to urgently provide material support to help end the juntas daily atrocities and violence against the people, as the death toll at the hands of junta forces exceeded 2,000 this week.

To date we have received no material assistance from the international community. We call again for the international community to listen to the will of the people of Myanmar and help end this military reign of terror against the people, Dr. Sa Sa, NUG spokesperson and Union Minister of International Cooperation, said at an online press conference on Wednesday.

Material support is the fastest way to end this crisis and to free Myanmar, he added.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a rights group, the number of innocent civilians brutally killed by junta forces exceeded 2,000 on Tuesday and more than 14,000 people have been arrested. Those killed include around 400 children, in addition to students, striking civil servants, peaceful protesters and bystanders.

According to another monitoring group, Data for Myanmar, junta forces have also torched more than 18,800 civilian houses across the country since the February 2021 coup as part of the regimes campaign to terrorize the population.

Even if we get a fraction of the help from international governments that they are providing to Ukraine, we will win. There will be a democratic country in Asia. It will stop people suffering. We do need material and equipment that can stop the military regime, which is killing its own people, said NUG spokesperson and Minister of Communications, Information and Technology Htin Lin Aung.

Unlike Myanmars poorly armed home-grown resistance fighters, Ukrainian forces have received weapons and aid from a number of countries, including the US and the UK, to combat the Russian military.

Speaking at Wednesdays press conference, Dr. Sa Sa said that since the war in Ukraine broke out, Myanmars opposition forces have found it more difficult to get heard on the international stage.

People of Myanmar and people of Ukraine are the same. We are fighting for freedom. We are fighting for democracy, he said.

Myanmars UN envoy joined other delegates in voting to condemn Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, and the people of Myanmar have shown their solidarity with Ukrainians fight for democracy and attempts to defend their country.

What we  ask is Please dont forget us. Myanmars 54 million people are suffering for the last 17 months while Ukraine has been three months. Just imagine, even just one day is too much for us now. Just one hour is too much for us now, he said.

Dr. Sa Sa added that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should learn from Ukraines European neighbors, which have been providing it with assistance and welcoming refugees. He called on the Southeast Asian regional bloc to engage with all stakeholders and not just with the junta.

NUG Presidents Office spokesperson U Kyaw Zaw echoed Dr. Sa Sas call, saying the people of Myanmar need stronger action and assistance, including defensive support and cross-border humanitarian aid from regional and international actors, similar to the support that has been supplied to Ukraine.

The spokesperson also expressed the NUGs disappointment at ASEAN for allowing a junta minister to attend this weeks ASEAN Defense Ministers meeting just days after a video emerged in which Myanmar junta soldiers openly admit to brutally killing peoplesome by slitting their throatsafter detaining 26 civilians in Sagaings Ye U Township.

Couple days later, ASEAN allowed the murderous military council representative to attend [the meeting] and shaking hands with them. It is a shame, U Kyaw Zaw said.

He added that the NUG appreciated moves by some ASEAN member countries to start engaging with the shadow governments ministers, singling out Malaysia, which has openly called on other ASEAN countries to publicly engage with the NUG as Myanmars legitimate government.
Burma Whereabouts of Myanmar Anti-Regime Activist Unknown After Arrest

Lin Htet Naing speaks to supporters outside a Yangon court following his trial on April 4, 2016. / AFP

The whereabouts remain unknown of prominent anti-regime activist Lin Htet Naing, also known as James, who was arrested on June 18 in Botahtaung Township, Yangon.

The regime issued a warrant for Lin Htet Naing, 35, under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code after the coup in 2021 accusing him of incitement.

The former All Burma Federation of Student Union vice-president was sentenced to over three years in 2008 for joining the Saffron Revolution in 2007.

He was sentenced in 2015 to six months in jail for protesting against the National Education Law. In 2020 he was sentenced to another six months over protests against the law and released four days before the coup.

A colleague, who asked not to be named, said: It is his fourth arrest. He has been fighting against military rule since he was a teenager. I am very worried for his safety.

His wife, Phyoe Phyoe Aung, 34, is also a prominent activist and former political prisoner. She was also involved in the Saffron Revolution in 2007 and sentenced to four years in prison in 2008. Phyoe Phyoe Aung is not in custody.

She also helped lead protests against the National Education Law and was sentenced to more than a year in jail in 2015. She was awarded the International Women of Courage Award by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in 2021.

They have two sons, aged five and two.
August in South Florida usually tends to be scorching hot and politically speaking, its about to get muy caliente on Key Biscayne this summer.

Veteran politician, and Miami-Dade County government official Joe Rasco became the first resident to jump into the 2022 Key Biscayne mayoral election pool last week.

And, it didn't take long for a couple of other well-known figures on the island to dive in, forming what is expected to be a sizzling Aug. 23 primary election.

Fausto Gomez, president of the Key Biscayne Condominium Presidents' Council, and Katie Petros, who served on the Village Council from 2016-2020, officially qualified within the required period.

It will be the first mayoral primary on Key Biscayne since Oct. 1, 1998, when Rasco collected 735 votes to win a three-way race against Michele Padovan (now Estevez), who collected 478 votes, and Jim Peters, who had 287. Rasco went on to defeat Padovan in the November primary election.

In the previous election, in 1996, John Festa emerged in another rare, three-way primary race. The other two candidates at that time were Raul Llorente, who gave up his Council seat for the mayoral race, and Ed Meyer.

Rasco, who has lived on Key Biscayne for more than 40 years, has been representing District 7 on the Virginia Key Advisory Board, and is the Director of Internal Governmental Affairs for Miami-Dade County.

Gomez, 68, although not a stranger to politics, having served as chief of staff for legendary City of Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre, this will be his first public office election. He was born in Cuba, came to South Florida when he was 6, and has owned property on Key Biscayne for 22 years.

Petros , a Senior Financial Account Manager for Pilot.com, won enough votes in 2016 to gain a Council seat despite having no previous public political experience.

She was part of the Protect KB Paradise political committee supporting the General Obligation Bond referendum that passed in 2020, designed to protect the Village from sea level rise, storms and climate change.

Islander News asked each of the three candidates to provide a Why Me for Mayor statement outlining what motivated them to run and their vision for Key Biscayne. You will find their statements below.

Gomez aims to keep the Village focused, safe, respected, respectful and financially strong

By Fausto Gomez / Special to Islander News

I want to explain why I know my qualifications and vision make me best suited to be our next mayor. I trust you will agree.

For thirty-eight years I helped create legislation that changed our state and local communities for the better. My career gave me unique insight into how government works and how we can make it work for us. I represented some of Floridas leading companies and cities, as well as groups like the March of Dimes and Goodwill. On behalf of Key Biscayne, I won the fight to keep our Fire-Rescue Department from being absorbed by Miami-Dade County. I also helped our Village secure over $15 million in state support to fund Crandon Boulevard improvements, stormwater and wastewater projects, maintained our share of county transportation dollars, and enacted bicycle regulations.

At the age of 6, I came to this country from Cuba and was raised by my mother and grandmother. My father, a veteran pilot at the Bay of Pigs, was killed in combat in the Congo fighting an attempted communist takeover.

I have a degree in Political Science from Florida International University (FIU). As an alumnus, I received the Torch Award, the Universitys highest recognition for graduates who have made a positive impact in their fields. I started my career working for Mayor Maurice Ferre at the City of Miami and from there was recruited to head FIUs government affairs efforts. I then founded my own public affairs firm which was considered amongst the best in Florida.

I have been blessed with professional success and feel strongly about giving back to my community. That is why I endowed a permanent scholarship for high-achieving low-income students in the political sciences at FIU. It is also why I serve on the board of an organization that has awarded $1.2 billion in support to small businesses. Thanks to my successes, I am able to self-fund my campaign. I am not taking contributions. The residents of Key Biscayne are my only special interest.

So why am I running?

Im running because the Rickenbacker Causeway is the driveway to our homes and we need to preserve the free flow of traffic while respecting its multi-modal character. When the privatization of the Rickenbacker was being considered, I helped organize and lead a citizen-driven process that prevented it.

Im running because of traffic congestion in our community. In my professional life, I represented many transportation entities, including the US Department of Transportation, and am familiar with strategies to improve traffic and how to implement them.

Im running because we have important infrastructure priorities, which, if all projects are undertaken, exceed our financial capacity. We need staggered, targeted investments that will sustain the life of our island and not massive increases in the amounts we pay to our local government. We will supplement our dollars with federal and state resources. And I will bring home funds for these projects.

Im running because we need more police visibility. Our police are top-notch, but there is a lack of presence in our neighborhoods. Other communities enjoy the volunteer services of certified police officers. I will work with all stakeholders to get additional manpower at little cost to us.

Im running to promote respect and civility between our government, residents and neighbors. I will foster a customer service culture at our Village Hall. Someone will answer your call or you can expect a call back within 24 hours. I will also propose a Street-by-Street strategy where I, along with staff and neighbors, will walk each street to identify deficiencies and have them fixed. I will also have office hours so that anyone can show up and talk to me. I call that Get me the Mayor.

Im running to successfully address external threats to our Village from other governments. Often, our residents and local government are an afterthought or we are regarded as simply a revenue source. Many of the folks making decisions downtown or up north care little, for example, how events on Virginia Key impact us. I have no fear of the external forces that try to cloud decision-making. Key Biscayne will not be ignored.

Finally, Im running with a commitment to not grow the size of government, but I will make sure services are appropriately funded. Because of new property valuations, others will be tempted to spend money on items that are not mission specific. You have my guarantee that, as your Mayor, I will make sure that every dollar spent is directly benefiting Key Biscayne and that we will continue to have the lowest tax rate in Miami-Dade County.

My wife and I have enjoyed Key Biscayne for 21 years. We have two daughters and four grandchildren. I am your neighbor and with your support look forward to serving as your Mayor. Lets work together to secure our future.

Petros aims to rebuild trust in government by using her council experience and listening respectfully

By Katie Petros / Special to Islander News

The citizens of Key Biscayne, consistent to some degree with our nation as a whole, are increasingly disillusioned with the political process. In my conversations with many residents, I am struck by one prevailing sentiment: distrust. Though we have a common interest in finding the best solutions to our island's needs, we seem to have lost the ability to freely and respectfully exchange ideas in the public forum. I am running for Mayor because I believe our residents deserve and expect something far better than that.

I am not running at the request of or on behalf of any group or faction of people. Nor am I running against any particular interest group. If you elect me as your Mayor, you can be assured I will always keep an open mind, even as I consider ideas that, initially at least, may be contrary to my own. Finding solutions where there are heartfelt but competing views is never easy, but consistent with my recent service on the Village Council, I fully intend to listen and be responsive to all residents and act in the best interests of the community as a whole.

Those of you who are familiar with my recent service as a Village Council member know that I invested the time necessary to fully understand the issues that came before us. I spent four years absorbing the details required to make informed decisions on a myriad of Village issues including our current storm system, outdated utilities, beach renourishment, water quality and sewer concerns, landscaping and beautification, and pedestrian and resident safety, in addition to the annual demands of budgeting and setting a millage rate. All of that work, some of it quite complex, has prepared me to serve as your Mayor.

Consequently, I have a recent record on which you may properly evaluate my candidacy. Virtually every project on which I have taken the lead  both large and small -- has produced positive results for the Village. Some of these initiatives may seem modest to some  creating a dog park or banning gas leaf blowers for example  but they matter to people, and positively impact our daily quality of life.

Larger collaborative initiatives have included successfully advocating for tougher state laws on texting while driving and taking positive strides towards securing long term federal funding for our beaches through the Army Corps feasibility study. I have also remained in close contact with the County Library Director to advocate for the new library that will soon be constructed in our Village, and that will be funded completely by the County.

Today we face significant challenges, and I am motivated to find the right solutions. Living on a barrier island, we are keenly aware that continually rising sea levels threaten our ability to navigate around the island even after tropical storms, not to mention hurricanes. Though property values have risen recently, we need to remain vigilant: sea level rise not only affects insurance rates in the short term, but threatens the long term quality of island living. Additionally, the operation of Rickenbacker Causeway  with regard to both safety and access -- is an area of immediate concern. Rather than being placed in a position in which we must react to a plan presented by the County, we need to be proactive. Being a participant in the conversation and having a plan that demonstrates our needs and interests before decisions have been reached will ensure a better outcome. I pride myself on being a consensus builder with the proven temperament necessary to successfully navigate these and other challenges that lie ahead.

After getting married in 1993, my husband and I first lived in the Island Breakers on Ocean Lane Drive. For almost 30 years thereafter, we have made this island our home, raising three children (the youngest of whom is a rising senior at MAST Academy). We have never once taken our good fortune for granted. Now, for me, it is time to give back. With the enthusiastic support of my family, I am prepared, focused and motivated to serve as your Mayor.

I believe my leadership style and experience make me the right candidate for this role, and respectfully, I ask for your vote. I look forward to personally speaking with as many of you as possible between now and August 23rd, to hear your concerns and collectively create our vision for the future of Key Biscayne.

Rasco believes respectful, experienced leadership holds the key to a safer, brighter future for Key Biscayne

By Joe Rasco / Special to Islander News

Dear Fellow Key Biscayners,

Last week I announced officially my candidacy for Mayor of our Island Paradise. This island and Village mean a great deal to me and I am always ready to do my part to preserve it and make it an even better place.

My wife, Ana, brought me to the Key over 44 years ago, where her family had made their new home. This special place is where Ana and I raised a happy and united family. It is where we have celebrated our childrens achievements and milestones in life, and where we now have the privilege of doing the same with our grandchildren, the next generation of Key Rats. This community is the source of many of my lifes blessings and Ive always known that I had to work to keep it that way.

My community involvement started with volunteer work in my church, the kids little leagues, and the incorporation movement. This led to serving on the first Village Council and, later, as Mayor from 1998 to 2002. While serving in Village government, as a team, we made significant achievements, making a lasting impact on our community. During my time as Council Member, we completed the acquisition of the Village Green and the creation of our own Key Biscayne Fire and Police departments. Under my leadership as Mayor, we built state-of-the-art facilities to house the fire and police departments, which were previously operating out of trailers, as well as a new administration building and public chambers. I also secured funding and completed plans to build the community center.

My time in public service has been among the greatest accomplishments in my life, second only to my family. Im now ready, willing, and able to be of service again.

Were facing new challenges and opportunities. Most importantly, we need to re-build Bear Cut Bridge and upgrade the Rickenbacker Causeway. This will require collaboration and not fist pounding with Miami-Dade County. Having worked many years in Miami-Dade County has provided me credibility and extensive working relationships with Mayor Levine Cava, our own County Commissioner Regalado, and County Chairman Diaz. I will continue the work commenced by the Council of opening productive lines of communication with these elected officials.

As Mayor Davey can attest, I was both vocal and effective in advocating for Key Biscaynes interests on those two critical issues during my time as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and as Key Biscaynes representative on the Virginia Key Advisory Board for the past six years. My work in these areas ensures and facilitates Key Biscaynes seat at the table when any important decision that affects our residents is being made.

We need to address key issues such as street flooding and sea level rise. We must work with experts to find sustainable solutions to mitigate flooding, protect our shorelines, upgrade our stormwater systems, and improve our streets. We should also begin to implement the Villages resiliency plan for our infrastructure. We need to find ways to improve traffic and safety, particularly on Crandon Blvd. and school intersections. We need to work collaboratively with the superintendent and school district officials, mandating that our two public schools are among the highest performing schools in South Florida. We need to focus on ways to prevent crime as well as how to respond to them by expanding our community policing program, where there is increased police presence on our streets. As Mayor, I will listen to our residents, get input from our law enforcement and business community, and work with Village Council members, manager and staff to find long-term solutions to all of these critical issues.

Our community deserves ethical, effective leadership with an eye toward the future while honoring what was envisioned some 30 years ago when we incorporated our local government. Our Village has thrived because the public servants that served on the Council have done so with only one goal in mind, the betterment of our community.

As your Mayor, I will work tirelessly with your interests and well-being as my greatest priority. My character, experience, deep-rooted understanding of the issues, and longstanding commitment to Key Biscayne make me uniquely qualified to serve as your Mayor. I look forward to getting to know as many of my neighbors who I have not yet had the pleasure to meet and hope I can earn your friendship and your vote to be the next Mayor of the best community in the world.

Also, and as it has done for decades, Islander News will partner with the Key Biscayne Chamber of Commerce to host a Mayoral Debate before the August primary. Stay tuned for date and time.
GUEST INTERVIEW: A silver lining is just the start of Currencycloud's features and benefits, with its acquisition by financial giant Visa in December 2021 and the receipt of a financial licence to operate in Australia showcasing it is blue skies ahead for this innovative company.

Currencycloud. The company is simplifying business in a multi-currency world and gives businesses the capability to move money across borders, and transact globally in multiple currencies, fast.

Experts at what they do, Currencycloud's technology makes it easy for clients to embrace digital wallets, manage multiple currencies simultaneously and to embed finance into the core of their business  no matter what industry theyre in, anywhere in the world.

Clients can simply plug in, and theyre off  knowing that Currencycloud has taken on all the complexity of multi-currency cross-border business on their behalf, helping clients to be bolder, to innovate faster, to go further and even to go first.

Currencycloud also makes it easier for entrepreneurs to launch new financial services. The company lends a hand to traditional banks who want to innovate, with Currencycloud's technology behind the scenes of todays biggest digital challengers. Currencycloud also helps fintechs to scale faster and more efficiently.

In business since 2012, Currencycloud has processed well over US $100 billion to over 180 countries, working with banks, financial institutions and Fintechs around the world, including Starling Bank, Revolut, Atlantic Partners and Aspire.

Based in London with offices in New York, Amsterdam, Cardiff, Singapore and now Sydney, Currencycloud works with partners including Dwolla, GPS and Mambu to deliver simple, clear cross-border infrastructure solutions for clients. The company is regulated in the UK, Canada, US, the EU and Australia, and was acquired by Visa in December 2021.

As Currencycloud explains, it has grown beyond being a start-up, to being able to provide financial infrastructure and enterprise-class solutions anywhere in the world to any business that wants to move money across borders. What was once a simple FX tool has evolved into a platform and is currently a full-scale Software-as-a-Service solution for companies that want to boldly lead the way in financial innovation.

So, to learn more about Currencycloud, and its recent move to Australia, we spoke with the company's new Country Manager for Australia, Nick Briscoe. That interview is embedded immediately below, after which is a summary of the topics we spoke about, so please watch, and read on!

I started by introducing Nick, welcoming him to the program, and asking him to explain Currencycloud to everyone watching.





We then discussed Currencycloud's customers, as well as the company's "go to market" model.





We delved into Currencycloud being granted an official licence to operate in Australia, its local plans and what the change means for local customers.





Nick then explained the benefits of the acquisition by Visa, and whether global events are as volatile as the media has been portraying.





Next, Nick looked at what the next couple of years should look like for Currencycloud, including information on various events the company will be attending later this year.





After this, Nick shared a memory of his first computer, great advice received in life, and his final message to iTWire viewers and readers, and to his current and future customers and partners.

So, to learn more about Currencycloud and its move into Australia, please watch the video interview with Nick Briscoe above!
GUEST OPINION: Last year an Australian research team published the results of their study of long-term trends on the internet, with the headline finding that online attention is being concentrated on fewer and fewer large domains. Now, this work has been extended to identify the top 15 Australian internet domains that have significant global status. There are some promising signs for new media and others.

The study, led by Paul X McCarthy, adjunct professor at the University of NSW and author of Online Gravity, published their findings in the scientific journal Plos One. They used the network links connecting to Reddit and Twitter users over time as key measures, as both platforms are public, relatively mature, and have 310 million and 328 million users respectively. The Australia-specific attention research has just been completed, identifying the top 15 Australian domains that are recognised globally.

Traditional media organisations dominate the list of Australian domains that have the greatest global linkages, with the ABC being the outright leader. Not bad for a publicly-owned media operationno wonder others want to tear it down.

The Sydney Morning Herald is next, with News.com.au and SBS not too far off the pace. The Age, The Australian, 9news.com.au, the AFR are there too, and even the good old Canberra Times makes the cut.

So, today, nine of the top 15 Australian domains are ones that grew out of traditional media organisations. Hardly the extinction many had predicted.

Perhaps what is more interesting, is that another two of the top 15 are also media organisations, both born relatively recently. They are TheConversation.com, a popularised forum for academic expression, and Quillette.com, a humanist, intellectual magazine with an international outlook and a volunteer subscription base. Both are impressive in terms of global scale and connections.

The other big category are social commerce sites. Redbubble does very well internationally, tuned into creative, craft, and hobby interests, with multiple niche audiences. And the Australian eBay site also ranks.

Linktr.ee is also in the top 15, which is no surprise, given its whole business is links. Nonetheless, Linktr.ee is a good example of a potential giant arising because of the functionality it brings to the online economy and is a great technology company born and bred in Australia.

And finally, there is the National Library of Australia (NLA.gov), the only government organisation to make the list. The NLA is a heavy hitter in terms of links, especially with its success in the digitisation of photographs, maps and newspapers, as well as providing federated access to other public collections around Australia.

But its not just links. When you take out the commerce sites and linktr.ee, were largely looking at organisations that produce news and current affairs content. And in most cases, that is high-quality content. And, if its not exactly high quality, it has popular appeal. All these organisations are trusted brands with large audiences.

The big lesson from this work, which goes to the concentration of attention issue, is domains must be distinct in their function and their content or service must be super relevant to their audience. A media brand is defined by its editorial style and posture, and that is what attracts and retains its audience. All brands can do the same to some extent. And they will need to, as it has always been the case that your greatest competitor is the one most like you. This aspect of competition is magnified in the online economy, professor McCarthy said.

Australian companies can do it. Linktr.ee is a great example of a successful Aussie tech company and we also have Canva, valued at about $55 billion, as well as the listed Atlassian, currently hovering around the top five most valuable Australian companies, at $100 billion.

McCarthy predicts that Atlassian will soon be Australias most valuable company, a rare beast sitting amongst miners and banks, but hopefully a positive sign that Australias economy is slowly changing.

More broadly, when the researchers studied the long-term dynamics of the internet, they found that the internet continues to expand, and does so across several measures, such as number of users, time spent online, number of registered domains, and new functional areas. However, on the important measure of attention, they observed a significant concentration occurring: the number of organisations capturing our attention is growing smaller and smaller. Moreover, in just about every field of competition, there is now an established giant.

In 2006, the 10 most popular domains linked to Reddit in any given month received around 35% of the total attention on the platform. By 2016, the 10 most popular domains in any given month captured 60% of total attention. And the top 1,000 domains on Reddit capture more than 80% of our attention.

The concentration of attention on Twitter is even more pronounced. In 2011, the top 10 domains captured 50% of total attention. By 2019, the top 10 capture over 70% and the top 1,000 reach between 80% and 90% of total attention in any month.

Ive long believed that the dynamics of the online economy are markedly different to the offline one. There is no Pepsi in cyberspace. Why? Because the online equivalents of Coke do not face the same constraints, like diminishing returns, as the physical Coke does. In the online universe, the dynamics favour the formation of large, planet-size giants and not much else, a few moons and asteroids here and there, but thats about it, professor McCarthy said.

The planet-size giants dominate functions. Google in search, Amazon in retail, Spotify in music, YouTube in video, and so on. We can expect more and more functions to develop online, but we should also expect them to quickly be dominated by a giant.

Additional numbers from the analysis

The following numbers will give you a sense of context, even though attention is being concentrated:

Firstly, the number of people online has grown dramatically, from 1.2 billion in 2006 to 3.3 billion in 2016.

Next, using US data as a proxy, the time we spend online has also grown dramatically, going from a daily average of 2.7 hours in 2008 to 5.7 hours in 2016.

On top of the above, the total number of organisations, brands, and services online exploded from 79 million domain name registrations in 2006 to 329 million in 2016.

McCarthys team studied activity on Twitter and Reddit as both platforms are public and have 310 million and 328 million users respectively. Both platforms have been active for a long time and allow users to share ideas and topics, and, importantly, they link to other domains. Both platforms have also grown in magnitude over the course of their life.

The total number of active domains linked to Reddit  that is, domains that have been linked at least once during a one-month period  has increased at least two orders of magnitude from 1,000 in 2006 to over 10,000 in 2020. The number of distinct and active domains linked to Twitter is much higher and almost doubles from 246,000 in 2011 to 447,000 active links per month in 2017.
Telecommunications infrastructure company GigaComm has secured a $20.5 million funding round from Endeavor Asset Management and Palisade Impact and has appointed three new board members who will join co-founders CEO Sophearom En and chairman Peter Shore.

Gerry Moriarty AM, Judy Slatyer, and Jeremy Wernert will join the board to spearhead growth and help drive the business forward.

We all share the vision, to give more Australians access to affordable, world-class internet. Gerry, Judy and Jeremy bring a wealth of knowledge to support our experienced management team and will help us accelerate growth, says GigaComm chairman Peter Shore.

Capital

Endeavor Asset Management and Palisade Impact raised the capital and funded Gigacomm.

Proceeds of the capital raise will be used to further expand network infrastructure and connect residential and business customers in these areas, as well as enter new markets including Brisbane and Canberra.

High-speed internet is essential today to connect communities, drive innovation, stimulate economic growth, and provide greater opportunities. However, many Australian households and businesses are being left behind because they are not able to access affordable, ultra-fast internet, comments GigaComm co-founder and CEO Sophearom En.

We recognised this gap and set out to build a high-capacity, completely independent network to meet the new ways people are living and working. The level of support we have received and the calibre of shareholders who are aligned to our values is further confirmation that we have a network that is capable of delivering real benefits to Australians, En adds.

Palisade Impact CIO and co-founder Jeremy Wernert says GigaComm represented a unique opportunity for Palisade to invest in a company that is both commercially and socially drivenultimately to improve access to high-speed internet that is as critical as water and electricity to everyones day-to-day lives.

In addition to the broader rollout of GigaComms network, as part of our investment we will work with GigaComm to deliver the network to social and affordable housing residents. This will ensure we can actively address digital inclusion in Australia and provide more of the right kind of infrastructure to more Australians.

GigaComm claims to deliver speeds up to Gbps that is 10x faster than the national download average in Australia.

It claims it has already surpassed 100,000 premises in NSW and Victorian inner-city suburbs.

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 22 June 2022.
Kazi joins ActiveCampaign from Cheetah Digital where he was CEO and prior to that he served in senior leadership roles at Simply Measured and ExactTarget where he led both companies through transformative growth periods.

ActiveCampaign says as President, Kazi will build upon the core operations of what has made ActiveCampaign so successful and help prepare it for its next phase of growth.

Kazi will report directly to ActiveCamaign founder and CEO Jason VandeBoom.

ActiveCampaign also announced that Kelly OConnell has been elevated to the executive leadership team as Senior Vice President, Product Strategy and in her role, she shapes the product and pricing strategy, and leads the product and design teams.

OConnell has been with ActiveCampaign since 2015, and has held key leadership roles across product, sales and customer success functions.

With these additions to ActiveCampaigns leadership bench, the Midwests largest SaaS unicorn is positioned to enter its next phase of growth - just surpassing 180,000 customers in over 170 countries worldwide and opening its larger Dublin hub to better serve its EMEA customers, notes ActiveCampaign.

Welcoming Sameer to ActiveCampaign aligns perfectly towards our next phase of growth, said VandeBoom. He has a proven track record of growth, operational excellence at scale, and a product-led mindset with deep Martech experience. Our industry-leading platform and world-class team, coupled with his expertise, will continue to democratise customer experience automation for growing businesses throughout the world.

Im grateful and excited to have an opportunity to join Jason and the entire ActiveCampaign team on this journey, said Kazi.

ActiveCampaign supercharges growth in every business with an easy-to-use and powerful sales and marketing automation solution. I look forward to working with our teams and customers to accelerate our mutual success.

Its been an incredible experience supporting ActiveCampaign through its growth across multiple functions since I joined the company seven years ago, said OConnell.

Our team is full of kind, hard-working talented people, and the platform is truly unique and constantly iterating to help our customers grow. I am thrilled to join the leadership team and continue to guide the evolution of our platform.
Australian entrepreneur, Aaron Pascoe, wants to revolutionise the world of power forever using the GGOE Mechanical Gearbox  and he is seeking partners to roll out the technology across the world.

Aaron's business is called GGOE, and he has created a Mechanical Gearbox and developed blueprints for the adaption of the fuel-free power generating technology to all types of devices and machinery including residential dwellings, commercial buildings and factories, boats, cars, trucks, lawnmowers, and more.

Pascoe, the CEO and founder of GGOE, emphasises that the GGOE Gearbox is still ahead of its time, even though over 100 years ago Nikola Tesla invented the fuel-free turbine.

The GGOE Mechanical Gearbox consists of a pair of motors, which is connected to the starter battery. The motors are powered by a starter battery to start the system and it generates thousands of Newton meters of torque. Using that torque, the connected turbine generates the power, Pascoe explained.

Because of its unique design, the GGOE Gearbox is a highly efficient self-starting prime mover that can connect to the turbine and generates and maintains its own momentum.

We have already built our first prototype and we have secured an Australian Standard Patent. We are now ready to move into production mode and build commercially viable units which will be supplied to market and incorporated into products that consumers can use day to day, hence the need for partners across the globe.

But what about fusion technology, from companies like Commonwealth Fusion Systems?

Even more promising in the fusion space is Avalanche Energy which has just come out of stealth, and its device is shoebox sized.

As Jeff Brown from Brownstone Research said on the Glenn Beck program podcast, in the third hour, from the 16th of June, 2022 - "They are building... a fusion reactor... their device is roughly the size of a large shoebox... their approach to the fusion reactor is very different. Rather than the temperature of the sun to create this fusion reaction or extremely high pressures to fuse ions, they're taking an interesting approach in trapping ions in orbit and using very high voltage to create the plasma reaction. In theory 600,000 volts will maintain this plasma reaction, fuse the ions and release this clean energy, no radioactive waste of any kind. What's interesting about this is that something the size of a shoebox could actually be used as the source of energy for a car, a semi-trailer, for a cargo ship and even for an aircraft."

Beck asks: "How far away is it?"

Brown said: "They just came out of stealth a few weeks ago, very promising technology, looks good on paper in terms theory, they're working on some prototypes, the most challenging thing they need to overcome is really how to manage this 600,000 volts reaction inside of these small devices. No easy challenge but it can be done, I can see how it can be done, which is why its such a promising company and so I think this is great kind of complement to these compact nuclear fusion reactors which would fuel municipalities, cities, large neighbourhoods, casinos and then this would be small enough to fuel a small group of homes or a semi-trailer or even an aircraft which is a really exciting possibility."

Glenn asks how many watts this would generate, Brown says: "an easy analog, 600,000 volts, compare that to the voltage in your car battery, that's about 13 volts, there's a big gap between the two, it's not insurmountable."

Sounds to me like Aaron needs to contact Jeff Brown from Brownstone Research, for the GGOE Gearbox sounds much simpler.

Pascoe continues: We believe we will fundamentally change the way power is generated across the world

Power will be generated for free, anywhere anytime, thanks to this extraordinary technology. The only cost will involve the maintenance of the technology.

GGOE Gearbox units will be available for installation in homes and other buildings. We will work with vehicle, appliance and other machinery manufacturers to incorporate the technology into their products so people can power them at virtually no cost.

Yes, we are talking about getting rid of the need for fuel. The only competitor that GGOE Gearbox has is solar, but solar relies on the weather. The GGOE Gearbox relies on creating a large amount of torque in creating power generator, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, churning endlessly and creating zero emissions.

The GGOE Gearbox will offers a range of units with different capacities: 10kw, 20kw and 50kw, and will sell for $5995, $9995 and $49.995 respectively.

GGOE is looking for: "Vehicle partners, Drivetrain partners, Manufacturing partners, Distribution partners, and Installation and maintenance partners."

So, what about Nikola Teslas Free Energy Dream?

Not many people are aware, but Nikola Tesla actually invented one of the worlds most efficient and fuel-free turbine engines in the early 1900s. The Tesla turbine, as it is known, is a bladeless centripetal flow turbine patented by Tesla in 1913.

According to GGOE, the Tesla turbine is an extraordinary piece of engineering that has been deliberately forgotten because it doesnt require fuel. No fuel  no money for the big oil and fuel companies.

Nikola Teslas dream was to create a source of inexhaustible clean energy that was free for everyone.

We have created the GGOE Gearbox, the first step to completing Nikola teslas dream of free energy, Pascoe said.

GGOE Gearbox

Pascoe continues: We are about to revolutionise energy in a very powerful and real way, providing people, businesses and organisations across the globe with the ability to utilise the GGOE Gearbox to generate free electricity.

Imagine being able to jump in your car and drive to the shops without having to get fuel or worry about charging it? Or being able to mow the lawn using a lawnmower that starts at the push of a button and keeps going without need for fuel or batteries. Thats what we are talking about.

GGOE is an Australian company based in Perth that has developed a fit-for-purpose version of a mechanical gearbox for everyday use across the world.
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.
Johnson City, TN (37604)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. High 84F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds light and variable.
GATE CITY  If you were to ask Scott County Tourism Director Pam Cox what tourist site she gets the most calls about, she wouldnt skip a beat  itd without a doubt be the countys infamous Devils Bathtub.
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw uses photos of doors to present what happened regarding the keys and doors during the school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas to the Texas Senate Special Committee to Protect All Texans during the hearing at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Tuesday, June 21, 2022.
South Koreans hold anti-THAAD protest near presidential office

Xinhua) 22:37, June 23, 2022

SEOUL, June 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korean residents and peace activists who had protested against the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) rallied on Thursday near the presidential office in Yongsan district in central Seoul.

Around a hundred people for the anti-THAAD association told a press conference that all the procedures of the U.S. missile shield deployment have been abnormal and illegal, given the deployment decision without consent from residents and the parliament, the absence of environmental effect assessment, and the operation and the site construction under the name of "temporary deployment."

The government of President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office on May 10, decided to speed up the "normalization" of the THAAD deployment site by transporting construction materials into the site and launching the environmental effect assessment in order to formally deploy the U.S. missile defense system on the Korean Peninsula.

For the past year, police operations near the deployment site have been conducted two or three times per week to deliver construction materials. The number of operations was raised to five per week from June 7.

The police operations to disperse anti-THAAD protesters, which entailed physical tussles and injuries, disrupted the daily life of residents at Soseong-ri village in Seongju county, North Gyeongsang province where the THAAD battery was deployed, and nearby villages, the residents and activists said near the presidential office.

Among about 100 residents living in the closest village to the THAAD X-band radar, nine developed cancers for the past two years. The residents repeatedly demanded devices from the government to measure the electromagnetic waves emitted by the radar, but it was dismissed.

The residents and activists said the formal THAAD deployment under the name of normalization would destroy the daily life of residents and peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

They noted that the THAAD installation could trigger confrontation and arms race in the region as the United States aimed to strengthen its missile defense capability through the THAAD battery deployed in South Korea.

The protesters raised placards near the presidential office that say "Stop construction for formal THAAD deployment that aims to build a (military) alliance among (South) Korea, the United States and Japan," and "Pull out THAAD and plant peace."

"THAAD withdrawal is a way to preserve peace," said the protesters who stressed that the U.S. missile interception system is incapable of defending South Korea from missile threats of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The THAAD battery is composed of six launchers, 48 interceptors, the AN/TPY-2 radar and the fire and control unit.

(Web editor: Du Mingming, Bianji)
06/23/2022



A team led by Dr. Kathryn Catlin will excavate small Norse farms settled in the 9th century, funded by the National Science Foundation.

by Brett Buckner

A team of scientists from Jacksonville State University will soon embark on an archeological research trip to Iceland in hopes of uncovering the mysterious lives of ancient Viking settlers.

From June 27 to July 27, Dr. Kathryn Catlin, an assistant professor of anthropology, will lead two JSU undergraduates, a graduate assistant and a few professional colleagues in excavating small Norse farms settled in the 9th century. The project is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation awarded to Catlin in 2020.

For the past decade, Catlin has been investigating small dwellings located on the periphery of larger, more permanent farmsteads, trying to understand how early settlers lived and how their relationship to the environment changed over time. She is quick to point out, however, that these are not the Vikings of legend, lore and the History Channel.

I always hesitate to use that word  Viking  which to a lot of people means going out raiding and pillaging, Catlin said. The people whose lives were excavating werent really doing that. These are farmers or fishermen  ordinary people who likely never left Iceland once they got there. Ive trained myself to say Norseman, or Icelanders, rather than Vikings.

It was long assumed that these farmers and their households were living in one of the larger centralized farmsteads, but evidence Catlin and her colleagues has discovered dating back to 870 CE indicates otherwise.

We know people were on Iceland, coming to these teeny tiny places that are currently around the edges of these larger farms, she said. The farms are still there, using modern technology, but these little places on the edges stopped being inhabited around the first two centuries of its settlement.

Catlins team will be seeking archeological evidence of the role settlers played in the colonization of Iceland. Were these dwellings independent or associated with nearby farms? Could this be where their servants spent some of the year? The research could reveal how lower-income settlers lived and lead to a deeper understanding of the social hierarchy.

We have an opportunity to learn a great deal about how these people lived, Catlin said.

During previous trips, Catlin excavated 1 and 2-meter square units in what are essentially ancient trash piles, discovering a few artifacts along with ash sweepings from hearths. Charred ancient seeds from the hearths were sent off for radio-carbon dating, confirming they were from early settlements.

What we dont know is who they were and what they were doing there, she said. We just know they were there.

For those who make the journey, there will certainly be an adjustment when it comes to spending a month in Iceland. But since theyre going in the summer, the weather wont be an issue.

Im planning to tell the students to dress for working outside in an Alabama winter, Catlin said. Its not exactly shorts and flip-flops weather  mostly theyll dress in layers. It can get up to 70 degrees, and it does rain a lot, but its not unpleasant. Its milder than most expect. However, students will be experiencing 24 hours of daylight, so that will be an adjustment.

As the thermostat climbs at home  reaching heat indexes of more than 100 degrees  an Icelandic summer should offer the team an enviable break from the sweltering summer heat.
In the leadup to Gambias presidential elections last year, sitting president Adama Barrow chose to build a political alliance with the party of former authoritarian leader Yahya Jammeh. He got the support of part of Jammehs APRC party though he lost Jammeh's blessings who continued to campaign against him from his exile in Equatorial Guinea. But people who have been staunch supporters of Jammeh now hold top positions in Barrows National Peoples Party and government structures.

This caused strains in his governments relations with the victims of Jammehs rule (1994-2017), when grave violations of human rights, including murders, extrajudicial executions, torture and rape occurred, according to the final report of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) which was released in December 2021. The person they set up an alliance with, Fabakary Tombong Jatta [the APRC leader who is now president of the National Assembly], came out to protest against the TRRC, warned Fatoumatta Sandeng, the daughter of Ebrima Solo Sandeng  a political activist who was tortured to death in the custody of the National Intelligence Agency in April 2016. There is a lot of inconsistency there. At that point, we thought the TRRC was just set up to tick the boxes.

Last month, the government released its White paper on its implementation plan of the TRRC recommendations. It assured it was committed to bring to book Jammeh and a few dozens members of the former regime. This allows victims to hold the government to its words, said Sandeng. But even then, some of them still seem to have their doubts about Barrows commitment.

No visible plan or timeline yet

We expected a White paper that will give us timelines, implementation plans, and what is going to be done, said Sandeng, worried about the lack of apparent prosecution strategy.

If the government had the political will, after the publication of the White paper they would have started conversations with Senegal, Ghana, and Nigeria, said Isatou Jammeh, daughter of Haruna Jammeh, a cousin of Jammeh who was killed by the former dictators hit-squad, the Junglers. All these countries coming together would be much more powerful. Extraditing Jammeh would be much more attainable, she said.

But recently the government did issue a letter to various ministries and agencies to dismiss at least 9 officials recommended for prosecution by the Truth Commission. The letter stated they should be sacked or banned from holding public offices. The list includes a former police inspector general under Jammeh who is now a police commissioner in Upper River Region, Ensa Badgie. Also included is Ebrima Jim Drammeh, the director of operations of the countrys anti-narcotic agency.

And in an interview with Justice Info Justice, Minister Dauda Jallow assured the government remains committed to serving justice for past crimes. I report to the President, and [regarding] the political will, I have no indication of questioning it, he said.

I want to partner with ECOWAS

Since the release of the White paper, there have been two predominant views in the Gambia on how to proceed with post-TRRC prosecutions. One proposal is to establish a local court that has jurisdiction to try international crimes, with bilateral agreements that could allow it to sit outside the country. Initially the Ministry of Justice seemed to be pushing for a this option. The other proposal is to create a hybrid court with some level of international participation.

The Ministry of Justice has hired two consultants who are said to be working on a prosecution strategy that would provide a path to what best fits the Gambia. It will be a court that will be domiciled in the Gambia. It will be a Gambian-led process, Jallow said. It will likely be a hybrid court, he added. I want to partner with ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, the Minister said. They are closer to us. They supported transitional justice. ECOWAS forces are in the country. ECOWAS citizens were killed by Jammeh. So, ECOWAS has a natural stake in the process.

Creating a hybrid court between The Gambia and ECOWAS could solve a lot of problems, argued American lawyer Reed Brody who has been advocating for Jammehs extradition since the fall of the regime. It would allow torture and crimes against humanity - written into the courts statute - to be prosecuted without facing the bar of retroactivity, he said. The court could be empowered to hold detainees and conduct trials outside of The Gambia, which everyone thinks is best in the case of Jammeh, he added.

And it could give victims, who have been at the forefront of the justice struggle, a greater role in trials than they have in Gambias system. Perhaps most important of all, it would bring in ECOWAS itself, including countries like Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal whose citizens were killed in the Gambia. It would be difficult for Equatorial Guinea to refuse an extradition request coming from the entire region, said Brody.

Capacity gaps

There is no timeline yet on when such court could be set up or when an act establishing it could be passed. However, the Justice Minister expects concrete steps soon. We will set up the special prosecution divisions within six weeks. They will do the preliminary works and look at the evidence. They will also investigate where necessary, he said.

The capacity at the Ministry of Justice is another issue they are grappling with. Significant works at the heart of post-TRRC prosecutions or justice processes are being outsourced. The Ministry, for example, had to contract private lawyers to prosecute 7 officials charged with the murder of Ebrima Solo Sandeng. The charged NIA officials are their former director Yankuba Badjie, Sheikh Omar Jeng, Baboucar Sallah, Tamba Masireh, Haruna Suso, Lamin Darboe and Lamin Lang Sanyang. Louis Gomez, former deputy director-general of the spy agency, died in prison during the course of the trial while Yusupha Jammeh was discharged by the Court.

In the area of forensics only one person is qualified within the Gambian Police Force. And they do not have the equipment to exhume if several victims who have disappeared were to be found. In April 2019, the TRRC exhumed 7 bodies presumed to be soldiers executed by the young military junta on November 11, 1994. The remains are still not identified.

Mobilising resources is one more challenge as the government is also finalizing its Victims Bill which seeks to establish an institution that would continue reparation payments to over half of the TRRC-registered victims who havent received their full payment.

We are alive to our capacity challenges. We have institutions that are ready to work with us, especially in the area of forensic capacity, assured Jallow.
There's no stopping Lee Jung Jae from achieving more in life. From starting his career as a model, he then became Hallyu's respected actor and started in Netflix's biggest show yet, "Squid Game."

Now, he debuted as a director for his first film "Hunt."

With this, his co-stars Jung Woo Sung, Heo Sung Tae, and more spill their working relationship with the 49-year-old actor-director.

'Hunt' Cast Lauds Director Lee Jung Jae

In a report shared by Xports News, the "Hunt" cast shared what its like working with Lee Jung Jae as the director.

The upcoming espionage noir film is his directorial debut, which took him four years to finish the script.

For Jung Woo Sung, who is also Lee Jung Jae's good friend, he expressed his utmost trust in the director and pointed out how he succeeded as a filmmaker and actor.

"He made his debut successfully by overcoming both the director and the actor," he said.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Korean Stars Who Had Awkward Encounters at Award Ceremony: Lee Jung Jae, IU, More

In the upcoming movie, Jung Woo Sung plays Domestic Unit chief Kim Jung Do while Lee Jung Jae acts as Foreign Unit chief Park Pyong Ho.

Since both worked in National Intelligence Service (NIS), they were tasked to hunt down the person in charge of North Korean spies during the peak of the military dictatorship in the 1980s.

Unfortunately, they encountered massive discoveries and were deemed the moles for leaking top-secret intel that could put national security in danger.

Joining them is Heo Sung Tae, who previously played the villain in "Squid Game."

While "Hunt" is his reunion project with Lee Jung Jae, he shared that the actor-filmmaker was very detailed regarding directing.

He further explained, "As an actor, I was able to rely on it a lot." Moreover, Heo Sung Tae shared that director Lee Jung Jae "listened to the actors' voices" and made his instructions clear to the cast members.

In addition, Jeon Hye Jin, who plays one of the NIS agents, expressed the same sentiment and praised Lee Jung Jae for being "a director who cares about delicate details."

'Hunt' Cannes Film Awards 2022 Journey to Theatrical Release

The upcoming espionage noir movie is among the South Korean entries at the Cannes Film Festival 2022. It was officially invited to premiere at the Midnight Screening, where it received an overwhelming 7-minute-long standing ovation.

At the time, Lee Jung Jae and Jung Woo Sung expressed their gratitude to the audience and were stunned to see their reactions. Following their attendance at the 75th Cannes Film Awards, "Hunt" will have its theatrical release on August 10, 2022.

Megabox Plus, the distributor of Lee Jung Jae's directorial debut, released a teaser featuring the intense confrontation between the two NIS agents.

Apart from "Hunt" being Lee Jung Jae's first project as a director, the upcoming action movie is gaining viewers' interest, especially since it boasts an exciting line-up of cast members.

KDramastars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
"Money Heist: Korea" cast shared their experience and thoughts about one of the most awaited remakes of the year.

Director Kim Hong Seo and screenwriter Ryu Yong Jae, alongside lead stars Park Hae Soo, Yoo Ji Tae, Jeon Jong Seo, Kim Ji Hoon, Lee Won Jong, Kim Yoon Jin, and more, graced the press conference ahead of the premiere.

'Money Heist: Korea' Director Thanks 'Squid Game' - Here's Why

At the media briefing, the team was asked about their thoughts on whether "Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area" will achieve the same fame or even surpass the success of "Squid Game."

As noted by an outlet, instead of choosing, Director Kim Hong Seo expressed his gratitude towards the fame of "Squid Game" and pointed out that because of the hit series "a lot of Korean content is doing well."

For the filmmaker, he emphasized that if "Money Heist: Korea '' goes well, he thinks that it will open the way for those movies and series that came after the remake.

But of course, he also wished that the Korean adaptation would be close to the success of "Squid Game."

Both "Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area" and "Squid Game" are under the streaming giant Netflix.

In 2021, the Hwang Dong Hyuk-directed K-series became Netflix's biggest show after gaining massive hype and not to mention almost $900 million in value for the company.

Park Hae Soo on 'Squid Game' his New Series 'Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area'

While the "Money Heist" Korean adaptation boasts a star-studded and impressive cast lineup, one of the familiar faces is Park Hae Soo.

To recall, he portrayed Lee Jung Jae's character, Seong Gi Hoon's childhood friend, Cho Sang Woo.

He is known in their little neighborhood as a successful financial analyst in Seoul but little did they know that he is also struggling to pay his debts; hence, he and Seung Gi Hoon reunited in the arena.

After almost a year, he returns on Netflix, headlining the most awaited remake of 2022.

From debt ridden in "Squid Game," he transforms as the notorious Berlin, who is among the members of the gang.

Like the director, he was also asked the same question, given he starred in both "Squid Game'' and "Money Heist: Korea."

As obtained by the same outlet, Park Hae Soo said that as an actor, he is not "quite sure" whether it will be a big hit like the 2021 series.

However, he mentioned that the "big advantage" of "Money Heist: Korea" is that it "has a different background and reality."

It portrays various characters and new ones as compared to the original series.

"Rather than a competition, I think we will be able to meet more viewers in the future," he said regarding whether the Korean adaptation will have the same achievements as the Lee Jung Jae-led K-series.

Park Hae Soo's character, Berlin, whose real name is Andres de Fonollosa, is initially played by Pedro Alonso.

Due to the overwhelming success, "Money Heist" or "La Casa De Papel" was renewed for five seasons.

On the other hand, the "Money Heist" Korean remake will be available on Netflix on June 24 with a total of 12 episodes.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Park Hae Soo Shares His First Look as Berlin in the Korean Remake of 'Money Heist'

KDramastars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
The last week of the month welcomes a variety of promising series - from thrillers to action, romance, mystery, and even romance, a wide array of genres can be enjoyed!

Here are four dramas to look forward to this final week of June! Read on to know more!

'Money Heist Korea: Joint Economic Area'

Following the international craze of the Spanish heist series, South Korea is ready to present its own take on the popular drama "Money Heist."

"Money Heist Korea: Joint Economic Area" is about to hit the screen to showcase the biggest, most notorious heist in the Korean Peninsula, headed by The Professor and his gang of strategists, robbers, and geniuses.

The drama stars Yoo Ji Tae, Jeon Jong Seo, Park Hae Soo, Lee Won Jong, and Kim Ji Hoon. It is slated to be released on Friday, June 24 on Netflix!

'Anna'

Idol-actress Suzy returns to the small screen as the mysterious and riveting Yoo Mi, a woman who fabricates her life, living as somebody else.

"Anna" is a drama filled with fiery passion, revenge, and spine-chilling enigma that no one should ever miss.

In particular, Suzy is joined by stellar stars Jung Eun Chae, Kim Joon Han, Park Ye Young, and more, guaranteeing a worthwhile watching experience.

The eight-part series is scheduled to air for the first time on Friday, June 24, on Coupang Play!

'Cafe Minamdang'

"Cafe Minamdang" (also known as "Beautiful Man") is the newest comedy mystery drama that centers around the story of a criminal profiler who pretends to be a shaman to take down corrupt culprits.

In the drama, Seo In Guk plays the role of Nam Han Joon, a handsome criminal profiler who becomes a shaman. Opposite Oh Yeon Seo, a passion-driven detective with a 4D personality.

Together, the two sterling stars are expected to flaunt their gripping chemistry and unrivaled acting prowess in the new drama.

Actors Kwak Si Yang, Kang Mi Na, and more will also appear in the drama with their cider-like personalities. "Cafe Minamdang" will air for the first time on Monday, June 27, on KBS.

'Strange Lawyer Woo Young Woo'

Park Eun Bin is back on primetime as she transforms into a lawyer with a unique personality in "Strange Lawyer Woo Young Woo."

The actress takes on the titular role of a lawyer with Asperger's Syndrome who aims to become a criminal lawyer.

With her new challenging role, Park Eun Bin is expected to show a different side that she hasn't shown in any of her works before.

Kang Tae Oh, Kang Ki Young, and Jeon Bae Soo are set join the drama's lineup. Furthermore, "Strange Lawyer Woo Young Woo" is set to start airing this Wednesday, June 29, on Netflix!

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
On June 22, Hallyu star Lee Min Ho took to social media to tease his character for the upcoming K-drama, "Ask the Stars." The actor also took the opportunity to celebrate his 35th birthday.

Keep on reading for all the details!

Lee Min Ho Flaunts Gong Ryong's Badge ID Amid His Birthday Celebration

Lee Min Ho's Instagram featured a heartwarming photo of the actor during his 35th birthday.

In his latest post, the actor is in a room filled with gifts, balloons, and flowers from his lovely supporters.

In a separate post, he is holding a cake with dinosaurs around it. From what it looks like, his celebration is spaced-themed, in connection with his new drama "Ask the Stars."

The Hallyu star is making a small screen comeback, opposite the equally-talented Gong Hyo Jin. With this, he shows a sneak peek of his character Gong Ryong with an employee ID.

Lee Min Ho Drama 'Ask the Stars'

Last March, Lee Min Ho and Gong Hyo Jin confirmed their appearance in the rom-com series "Ask the Stars."

The 35-year-old actor takes on the role of the obstetrician-gynecologist Gong Ryong. He is among the lucky ones who join the expedition as a tourist.

At the space station, Gong Ryong will meet Korean-American astronaut Eve Kim, to be played by the rom-com queen Gong Hyo Jin.

"Ask the Stars" is set to premiere in 2023 and will be helmed by "Lovestruck in the City" and "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" director Park Shin Woo.

Lee Min Ho and Gong Hyo Jin's upcoming drama is penned by screenwriter Seo Sook Hyang, who is behind the hit Kdramas "Jealousy Incarnate" and "Pasta."

Will Lee Min Ho Join the Cast of 'Pachinko 2'?

Following the success of "Pachinko" worldwide, Apple TV+ officially announced that the novel-based series will be renewed for another season.

As noted by an outlet, Soo Hugh, who is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the 8-episode series, was thankful for the public's overwhelming response.

In addition, the showrunner said she is overjoyed "being able to continue telling the extraordinary story of this indomitable family," adding "It's an honor to be able to continue working with this amazing cast and crew."

Although "Pachinko" season 2 has been confirmed, the streaming platform and officials have yet to confirm the cast lineup and the stars reprising their roles.

In the blockbuster series, Lee Min Ho plays the wealthy merchant Ko Hansu, a native of the Korean island of Jeju who lives in Osaka, Japan.

During his appearance with Dazed magazine Korea, the actor spoke about his thoughts about playing his "Pachinko" character. Lee Min Ho expressed that there are instances where he could relate to the story.

Moreover, for the actor, he is not focused on whether the series will get good reviews as long as he does his part and gives justice to his character.

"It's the same as uploading a YouTube video and not paying much attention to whether it gets 1,000 or 10,000 views. I just have to execute and record the expressive desire that I strongly feel," he tells the magazine, as obtained by the media outlet.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Lee Min Ho Reveals the Most Challenging Part Filming 'Pachinko'

KDramastars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
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NDP MP and foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson is seen during a news conference on April 26, 2022 in Ottawa. McPherson joined several human rights advocates at a news conference Thursday, calling on Ottawa to take responsibility for Canadian citizens languishing in squalid camps in northern Syria. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
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Most physicians choose medicine to care for others. The essential premise balances this selfless, optimistic objective that the physician is healthy and happy with enough knowledge, experience, and abundance to heal their patients.

Unfortunately, our health care system thwarts us at every turn, with continual devaluation and reduction in reimbursements, paralyzing insurance and government regulations, and demoralizing lack of control.

Ballooning student debt and declining reimbursements, and the perception of greater stability in large heath care systems have led to the current trend for more physicians to choose employment.

More and more physicians feel isolated, helpless, and defeated, which continues to fuel the increasing crisis of physician burnout in America.

Despite these trends, physicians have other options that can benefit them emotionally, physically, and financially.

Private practice offers many stark contrasts from employment within a health care system, hospital, or academic center. Private practice offers benefits that reduce challenges leading to burnout.

Here are ten ways private practice can defend you from becoming a drowning depleted physician.

Choice, flexibility, and customization. Many burnout physicians feel stuck and frustrated because they have no control over the decisions that affect their work daily. In private practice, you have more autonomy in decision-making. In private practice, the primary and greatest difference between being employed and being an owner, or your own boss, is greater choice, flexibility, and customization. Physician-owned and managed practices are more flexible, change more easily, and can be more efficient.

Schedule. Many physicians are exhausted and overworked due to the health care worker shortage and large corporate missions to maximize the productivity of their employees. Private practice affords more flexibility and customization of your schedule, including the length of patient visits and the number of patients seen. Private practice allows fewer days of work and a schedule that matches your life as long as it remains profitable for the practice.

Scope of practice. In a corporate position, you may not have a say in what medical problems you see and dont, your choice of where you operate, medical equipment, supplies, and vendors because most large institutions gain efficiencies with sole-source contracts. In private practice, you have more voice in your scope of practice, the patients you choose to see, and the procedures you perform. You and your colleagues can choose insurance contracts that align with your priorities.

Team. In private practice, you have more of a voice in your staffs choice, training, and management and the physician colleagues you work with. You have a say in hiring, promoting, and firing because the physicians are part of the management team. In academic and health care systems, these decisions are made by administrators and managers rather than physicians.

Value and decision-making. Physicians who are burned out often feel depersonalized and disengaged. In an employed position, most decisions are made in the interest of the entire organization and may not represent the interests of the individual physicians.

In private practice, you are not only valued by your organization and team; you are essential and vitalyour opinion matters. You determine the brand and reputation rather than serving as an employee who is subordinate to the value of your institution.

Growth and change. In an employed position, the institution determines plans for growth on a broader and larger scale. In private practice, you can grow your dream. You decide where you want to expand and the vision of your future.

Relationships and branding. In most employed positions, you see patients based on the institutions brand and which insurance companies and employers are serviced.

In private practice, you can build your own reputation in the community. You must develop relationships with referral sources and within the medical community to sustain your referrals and practice.

Involvement in research, publications, and leadership. Most academic positions place requirements to earn research grants and conduct research, write and publish articles and book chapters, teach residents and med students, participate in academic meetings and take leadership positions.

You often must work to seek tenure via academic tracks where you may be promoted or fired in a specified number of years. You often have little say in your colleagues hired, in your staff, where decisions and changes are determined via many levels of leaders.

There are usually no mandates for research, publications, or leadership positions in private practice. You can develop professionally in any way you please.

Passive income. There are rarely opportunities for equity, investments, or additional income streams in corporate employment. Profits from all the income centers generated by physician work return to the institution, not the physician.

In private practice, you have the opportunity and potential for ownership and partnership. You can gain passive income from ancillary income sources beyond your production, such as testing, facilities, surgery center, products for sale, and paraprofessionals.

Taxes. When you are employed, you are paid with after-tax dollars, and your tax burden is higher than when you are a partner paid after expenses based on profit. Owning a business affords more advantages to lowering your tax burden than working as an employee. These differences compound your savings and ability to invest money significantly over your career.

If you choose a private practice that aligns with your values and goals and is the right fit, you are less likely to become stagnant, depleted, and burned out. You are less likely to feel trapped in a place and with people you dont enjoy and who dont have the same goals and aspirations as you. If you suffer from or want to avoid burnout, you have a different choice in private practice.

You will not burn out if you love your work and your life. Instead, you will be fired up to enjoy and grow and be better fueled to heal your patients. As it should be.

Brett Levine is an otolaryngologist.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
A man who pleaded guilty to possessing over 63,000 as the proceeds of crime has walked free from court with a suspended sentence.

Iheanyichukwu Banna (35) of Beechfield Close, Clonee, Dublin admitted that the money was transferred into his bank account on July 12, 2018, but told gardai he had 'no idea' where it came from.

Passing sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Martin Nolan said the offence could not have been carried out without Bannas complicity and that the court could infer that he was 'up to his neck in it'.

Detective Garda Nora Cuddy told Aoife OLeary BL, prosecuting, that gardai were contacted on July 16, 2018 by a company based in Kilkenny. The company received an email a week earlier from one of their sub-contractors stating that they had changed their bank account.

A sum of 63,043 was transferred into an account for three recently completed jobs.

On July 16, it was established that no payment had been received by the sub-contractor, and it transpired that the email was bogus. A garda investigation showed that all the money had gone into Bannas account on July 12.

Bank statements showed that within an hour of the money going into Bannas account, 5,000 had been transferred to a UK bank account in the name of Bannas brother and a further 25,000 had been transferred into Bannas savings account.

Further amounts were then transferred to Bannas brother, while several ATM withdrawals were made from Bannas account, and a phone was bought.

Records also showed the account was used to pay for lunch in Bannas workplace. Gardai managed to freeze some of the money and in total, 42,000 has now been recovered. However, the company remains at an outstanding loss of 21,000.

Banna was arrested and initially said he didnt recognise the number of the bank account where the money had been transferred to, but later acknowledged it was his. He told gardai he had 'no idea' how the money got there. He said: A man called Kelvin told me his business was about to collapse and asked me could he use by bank account.

Banna said he trusted Kelvin and that the first he knew anything was going on was when his bank phoned him and said his card had been used in a phone shop. He couldnt explain the transactions to his brothers account in England.

Counsel for Banna said his client had pleaded guilty on the basis of recklessness and the court could not imply the level of knowledge that the judge suggested. Judge Nolan said the recklessness bordered on 'wilful blindness' and that Banna should have known what was involved.

Counsel for the defence said Banna is a hard-working citizen and the breadwinner in his family who made a 'very foolish error' on the day. The court heard that Banna has no previous convictions and is in full-time employment, working 40 hours a week. He studied computer science in Griffith College before dropping out in his final year.

Judge Nolan said Banna, who is originally from Nigeria and has a partner and child, was doing well in this country and was a good worker with a good record.

He sentenced him to three years but suspended it fully on condition that Banna be of good behaviour for the duration of his sentence.
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, Jr., seen here at a city council meeting on June 7, said law enforcement agencies have not kept him and city officials in the loop.
The Senate passed a bipartisan bill on June 23 to address gun violence that amounts to the first major federal gun safety legislation in decades. Pictured is Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking to reporters in September 2021 in Washington, DC.
U.S. President Joe Biden, right, speaks at the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity launch event in Tokyo, May 23. Second from top left on screen is President Yoon Suk-yeol. AP-Yonhap





The government launched a task force Thursday for discussions with experts and the private sector on a strategy for the newly launched Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), the trade ministry said Thursday.







The move came a month after U.S. President Joe Biden launched the initiative that also involves Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India, Fiji and seven of the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members.







The task force involves associations in key industry sectors such as semiconductors, cars, steel and renewable energy resources, and major economic institutions, including the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Korea International Trade Association.







During the inaugural meeting of the task force, Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun shared the latest developments on the new initiative and listened to the interests and concerns of the private sector, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.







The ministry said it will set up working groups for four major areas of the initiative  fair trade, supply chain resilience, infrastructure and green technology, and tax and anti-corruption  for in-depth discussions on a regular basis. (Yonhap)










By Park Jae-hyuk







Foreign businesspeople in Korea learned fundamental factors of Korea's economic growth, sharing opinions about strategies for the country to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), during a forum in Seoul hosted by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Finland Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Korea, Thursday.







Under the theme of "Doing business in Korea," around 50 representatives from foreign companies here listened to a lecture by Moon Hwy-chang, professor emeritus of Seoul National University, on "the mindset of Korean business and government."







Instead of introducing Korea's idiosyncratic business etiquette  such as exchanging business cards with both hands and bowing  the professor offered a more in-depth analysis of the Korean culture for the foreign participants to better understand the country's business environment.







He said he "challenged" the traditional approach that merely attributes Korea's economic growth to cheaper labor, export promotion, chaebols and strong government and Confucianism, criticizing such an approach as being "too superficial."







According to Moon, Korea achieved economic growth, thanks to a productive labor force, efforts to learn global standards, cooperation between public and private sectors and a desire for a better life.







He added that Korea should prioritize the provision of better resources, the market, efficiency and strategic assets to attract FDI. The professor stressed this because multinational firms tend to evaluate those business factors first before they evaluate regulations and incentives when they consider making direct investments in certain countries.







Lyu Jae-won, executive vice president of trade-investment data at KOTRA, said he hopes the forum boosts FDIs in Korea by reducing the psychological distance between foreign businesspeople and Korea.







"In order for foreign companies in Korea to achieve innovative outcomes with pro-business policies, it would be absolutely essential to increase their fundamental understanding of Korea's business culture and environment," he said in his opening remarks.


By David Helvarg



On June 8, World Ocean Day, President Joe Biden announced plans to designate the Hudson Canyon  the deep Atlantic submarine canyon that is an extension of New York's Hudson River Valley  as a marine sanctuary. He also banned the use of single-use plastic, a growing source of ocean pollution, in U.S. National Parks by 2023 and established an Ocean Climate Action Plan.



A week later, on June 13, Biden signed bipartisan legislation, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, to strengthen U.S. oversight over the container shipping industry that moves some 90 percent of the world's trade goods. While this new law is more focused on resolving supply chain issues, both measures highlight how the Biden administration and other world leaders are beginning to recognize the link between the ocean, the economy, and the climate emergency.



That's one reason why Biden declared June as National Ocean Month and the U.N. designated the 2020s as the "decade of the ocean." This blue decade has been launched with several major ocean summits, including the annual Our Ocean Conference, which was hosted in April 2022 by the United States and the Republic of Palau.



The conference, first initiated by John Kerry in 2016 while he was secretary of state, resulted in participating nations and private sector interests committing more than $16 billion to ocean protection this year. In short, a good first step. A similar conference, the inaugural Blue Climate Summit, was held in French Polynesia in May, with the goal of linking a healthy ocean to climate solutions.



A few of the solutions brought up at the summit included ocean initiatives ranging from a Hawaiian company producing a species of red seaweed used in feed supplements that reduce cow flatulence (and thus methane emissions) to a wave power project in Fiji to the development of cheaper monitoring devices that can be used for community-level disaster preparedness. There was even a $1 million ocean innovation prize offered to "support innovations that mitigate climate change through ocean-related strategies."



Another focus was on the need to protect the world's cool water kelp forests from Northern California to Chile, Australia, Ireland, Japan and beyond. (Kelp is the new coral in terms of being a key marine habitat now at risk.)



Also discussed was how to financially develop and promote "blue carbon," the living systems and habitats that sequester carbon from the atmosphere such as kelp, mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes, but also krill, whales and other living creatures. Unlike rainforests, blue carbon is not yet a significant part of the global carbon trading, credit and finance system.



But it's these kinds of financial methods for getting climate funding where it's needed that can provide low-income nations with opportunities to generate livelihoods for their people's continued stewardship of their resources, rather than feeling compelled to sell them off to extractive industries.



The Blue Climate Summit was also exceptional in its incorporation of Indigenous peoples of the Pacific. "We need to link traditional knowledge and science together to find solutions for our ocean, which is our life," explained Hinano Murphy of the Tetiaroa Society.



While initially limited to several hundred participants, the ambitious goals of the summit were advanced through new collaborations and financial commitments around key needs. The most basic need, however, is strengthening the links between the environment, economy, and equity in order to quickly scale up ocean-based climate solutions that can work for everyone.



These range from sustainable ocean farming and offshore clean energy to mapping and protecting 30 percent of the ocean by 2030 and financing blue carbon services. Importantly, participants also touched on gaining legal standing (like a person or corporation) for the ocean, which is not only a buffer for 90 percent of the heat generated by burning fossil fuels, but the source and crucible of life on our blue planet.





David Helvarg is an author and executive director of Blue Frontier, an ocean conservation group. This column was produced for the Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.


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Blockberry Creative, home to LOONA, is once again drawing attention amid a fansite's claims that the company is allegedly mistreating group member Chuu. Following reports of unfair treatment and that Chuu is preparing to leave Blockberry Creative, a recent clip of the idol is now going viral on social media.

LOONA Chuu in Conflict With Blockberry Creative Since Lawsuit

Back in March of this year, media outlets reported that Chuu had filed a lawsuit against Blockberry Creative to terminate her exclusive contract with the company. There were also concerns regarding Chuu being able to use her stage name in the future, as Blockberry Creative had applied for trademark over the names "Chuu" and "LOONA's Chuu."

Months after, Blockberry Creative announced on June 3 that Chuu would be sitting out of LOONA's upcoming first world tour, "2022 LOONA 1st WORLD TOUR [LOONATHEWORLD]," due to a conflict in Chuu's schedules. According to the company, Chuu's scheduled activities had already been set in advance for the rest of the year.

Naturally, Orbits (LOONA's fandom) were saddened by the announcement as Chuu had actively expressed her excitement over meeting fans.

Then on June 22, it was reported that Chuu is currently in discussion with the company BY4M Studio over an exclusive contract. In response to this, a longtime fansite of Chuu had spoken up and claimed that Blockberry Creative had been mistreating the LOONA member by refusing the assign Chuu a manager during her individual schedules.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: LOONA Chuu Allegedly Mistreated by Blockberry Creative Amid Lawsuit

Since the fansite's claims came to light, Orbits have poured in their support and have encouraged Chuu to make the right decision to receive proper treatment as an artist.

Clip of LOONA Chuu Goes Viral Amid Blockberry Creative's Alleged Mistreating

With all of the issues between Chuu and Blockberry Creative making headlines, one clip of Chuu during LOONA's recent showcase, "Flip That," is going viral.

Over on Twitter, an Orbit shared a short clip of Chuu and the rest of the LOONA members as they have a chat with the MC regarding their upcoming activities.

Her sad face and how she sighed when the Mc mentioned the world tour...... Chuu  pic.twitter.com/44NAzEYxmK  Kim lip  (@Forkimlip_12) June 20, 2022

In the clip, as the MC mentions LOONA's first world tour, Chuu can be seen looking sad as she tries to maintain a smile. Not only that, but she also sighed deeply as if trying to keep her composure.

These small actions made Orbits think that her exclusion from LOONA's world tour was a decision made by Blockberry Creative rather than Chuu's choice, further highlighting the company's alleged mistreatment.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: LOONA Chuu Reveals She Hates Being Called Cute When On Stage - Here's Why

Orbits also pointed out that despite Chuu's schedules were already made in advance, it seems absurd that Chuu can't participate in the group's first world tour.

Others also pointed out that the LOONA members, such as JinSoul, Olivia Hye, and Kim Lip, also looked unhappy in the clip.

What are your thoughts on the issue?

For more K-Pop news, follow and subscribe to KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Robyn Joan
Chinese, Iranian FMs holds phone conversation on ties

Xinhua) 22:51, June 23, 2022

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday held a phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian at the latter's request.

Amir Abdollahian wished a complete success for the 14th BRICS Summit as well as the High-level Dialogue on Global Development and expressed the belief that China as the rotating chair will create new opportunities for multilateral cooperation within the framework of the BRICS.

He reiterated Iran's support for the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative proposed by China.

Wang said the BRICS Summit and the High-level Dialogue on Global Development to be hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping holds great significance for strengthening the construction of the BRICS mechanism, enhancing the unity and cooperation between emerging markets and developing countries, as well as facilitating global efforts in dealing with common challenges to development.

China highly values its relations with Iran and stands ready to work with the Iranian side to continue to firmly support each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns in the spirit of the comprehensive strategic partnership, he said.

Amir Abdollahian briefed Wang on latest progress in the negotiations on resuming the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying that the bullying actions of the United States is the major obstacle to current negotiations.

He added that the Iranian side will unswervingly safeguard its national interests, and is firmly committed to resolving differences through negotiations, so as to achieve an agreement at an early date.

Amir Abdollahian also expressed gratitude to China for its constructive role on the Iranian nuclear issue.

Wang said that China disapproves of any non-constructive measures that lead to the continuous escalation of the situation, and that all parties should continue to uphold the correct logic of right and wrong and work tirelessly to reach an agreement through diplomatic efforts.

Wang said China opposes the politicization of affairs of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and supports the IAEA and Iran to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue and cooperation.

He said the U.S. side should earnestly realize its own responsibility and actively respond to Iran's reasonable demands, adding that the Chinese side will continue to uphold justice, support the negotiation process, and is willing to maintain close communication with the Iranian side.

(Web editor: Liu Ning, Bianji)
A proposed trail extension project to a future YMCA site in the City of Lake Geneva is not expected to begin until spring 2024, but city officials said they are still under the gun for addressing concerns related to the project.

City officials plan to extend by about 1.5 miles the South Street bicycle trail, which runs near Badger High School and Lake Geneva Middle School.

But some residents who live along South Street have expressed concerns regarding the project including tree removal, potential water runoff, possible traffic concerns and the width of the trail, which is set to be 10 feet.

City officials are set to discuss the project again during the June 27 public works committee meeting.

The trail would lead to the future site of a new Geneva Lakes Family YMCA campus, located near the intersection of Highways H and 120.

The trail also is set to be extended west along South Street and end at Lake Shore Drive, leading to Big Foot Beach State Park.

The City of Lake Geneva has received an $835,316 transportation alternatives program grant from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to help fund the project.

Plans and specifics regarding the trail extension are set to be addressed in fall 2023 and the project is scheduled to begin in March 2024.

Residents express concerns and start

a petitionCarol Brady and Shelley Rowell, who live along South Street, have started a petition and obtained about 50 signatures from residents who have concerns about the proposed project.

The petition is asking city officials to make the trail less than 10 feet and to remove fewer trees from the area.

Brady said she is concerned with the width of the path. She said she initially was told that the path would be between three to four feet wide and about six to eight feet of her property would taken for the trail.

She said she has since learned that the grant the city has received requires the trail to be 10-feet wide and that more space could be taken from her property and her neighbors properties.

I was a little shocked to find out that it went from this to 10 feet, Brady said. So instead of taking six to eight feet of property, now theyre taking 16 to 18 feet.

Rowell said she moved to the South Street area in February and was initially told that a path or a sidewalk was going to be constructed along the street, but Brady later informed her that it would be a multi-use trail, which was a surprise to her.

We were actually really excited about that because we got a couple of dogs, and we like walking the dogs, Rowell said, then Carol came to my house and explained everything, and Im like, No way, really?

Rowell said she is concerned about the trees that will be removed from the area to make way for the trail. She said some of the trees are about 250 years old.

Its a beautiful street, Rowell said. Its the canopy of trees.

Rowell said it currently is difficult for her to back her vehicle out her driveway, because it is difficult to see oncoming vehicles with the hill in the area. She feels the trail would make it even more difficult for her and her neighbors to back out of their driveways.

Im backing out and theres a car, so you put a bike path in there not only do you have cars, you got bikers, Rowell said. In my opinion, its an accident waiting to happen. Its dangerous.

Brady said she is concerned about the safety of the children who play in that neighborhood and the people who would be using the trail.

You can imagine a kid coming down on a roller blade or skateboard on that hill, and then I back out, Brady said. Thats just my property. You got 16 houses on that street.

Brady said she also is concerned about potential water runoff and drainage issues. She said the project is set to include curb and gutter that will funnel water into a storm sewer system, but there will be more water coming onto peoples properties with the 10-foot trail and removal of the trees.

Now youre replacing the ability of nature to absorb the water through grass, Brady said. Now youre going to cover it up with 10 feet of asphalt.

Rowell said while obtaining the signatures for the petition, several of the residents were not aware of the project.

The day we went around to the houses nobody really knew what it was about, Rowell said. Everyone was like, Yeah, we want a sidewalk. I told them it was not going to be a sidewalk, it was going to be a 10-foot, asphalt path. Then, they were like What?.

Brady said she is not against the project completely, but she would like the trail to be less than 10 feet and for less trees to be removed.

This petition was not asking the city to disband or to not do anything, Brady said. It was for them to consider an alternative that could save as many trees and as much space as possible.

City officials discuss project and concerns during meeting Members of the city councils public works committee discussed the project May 23.

Public Works Director Tom Earle said the city could reduce the width of the trail to eight feet for short distances, according to grant specifications.

Were not exactly sure what short distance means, Earle said. Were trying to get clarification on that. As far as the grant itself, its a 10-foot path.

Alderwoman Mary Jo Fesenmaier said the entire path does not have to be connected.

In other words, the bike path does not have to be together with the walking path, Fesenmaier said. So there are some options to be able to change, and obviously price will be a factor in that.

Earle said city aldermen should address issues regarding the trail extension in the near future because the design engineers are currently developing plans for the project.

Right now, the design committee has their marching orders and theyre marching, Earle said. Were running on a very tight schedule as far as changing anything now, and there may be a big issue with that. We have dates we have to comply with as far as the DOT and the federal government are concerned.

Fesenmaier said she would like the city to continue to meet with residents to address their concerns and would like the public works committee to have a joint meeting with the park board of commissioners to discuss detailed plans for the project.

I would like the committee, at this point, to lay out options so we know what is actually possible and that were using resident input into that, Fesenmaier said. Even though its city property, its still in their front yard. Thats their viewscape, and there are concerns with tree removal and with storm water retention. I think citizen input is very, very important. I would like to look at all of the options that are possible.

Earle said even though the trail extension is not expected to begin until March 2024, it does not give the city much time to make changes to the project.

That is not a lot of time in this world, Earle said. We do what were asked to do, so some committee needs to direct us and we will work from there.

Brady agrees that the city does not have much time to address her and her neighbors concerns.

It seems like a long way off. Its really not, so there needs to be time to make adjustments and changes, Brady said. Im assuming it will take a year or more to plan, so maybe its going to be starting late 2023 or 2024. But this year is almost half over, so we got to keep moving.

Brady said she plans to attend the June 27 public works committee meeting to express her concerns.

So that will be an opportunity to speak, Brady said.

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RACINE  Rogelio Moreno had a phrase he told himself while studying: I got it.

After 20 months of learning about the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence and many aspects of American history, that belief paid off. On May 2, Moreno passed the United States citizenship test.

After finding out he passed, he was filled with joy. I jumped in my seat and said, Yeah! Moreno said.

Moreno, 61, was born in Mexico and said he came to the U.S. in 1990 in search of a better life.

Moreno has lived in Racine for almost 20 years and said becoming a citizen has long been a priority.

Its nice, because its my dream, Moreno said. Citizenship is, for me, the top (goal) in my life.

The road to citizenship started about five years ago.

Its a long process, Rogelio said. (I was) nervous every day, nervous, nervous.

Moreno said he hopes to be an example for all who would like to go forward and become a citizen  You can reach any dream or goal that you have in your life if you just apply yourself.

In addition to daily studying on his own, Moreno received help from colleagues at St. Catherines High School, 1200 Park Ave., where he has worked as a custodian for a year.

Custodian Gerald Olley often quizzed Moreno for 15-20 minutes during breaks and occasionally offered tips. For example, one question was who the U.S. president was during World War I. It was Woodrow Wilson, and Olley suggested Moreno remember that there were two Ws in the question and answer.

Olley said he was happy to help Moreno study, and he believed his coworker would pass the test.

Sandy Moreno, who married Rogelio in 2012, also felt confident her husband would succeed.

I knew he was going to pass, Sandy said. He was very dedicated.

Using audio recordings and flashcards, Moreno went over potential test questions every day. He listened to questions in his headphones while making meals at home and while working at the high school.

Once while at work, the question What is the Constitution? was asked in his headphones. Forgetting himself for a moment, Moreno said aloud, The supreme law of the land.

A nearby teacher heard him talking and said, What?

Oh sorry, Im studying, Rogelio replied with a laugh.

The day he passed the test, Rogelio and Sandy had a nice dinner to celebrate, and the high school had a small party in May.

Rogelio said the school has embraced him, and it feels like a family atmosphere. Olley called Rogelio an excellent, hard-working colleague.

Were glad to have him, Olley said.

Sandy is glad to have him as well. She grew up in Racine and works as a lunch lady at St. Catherines. She and Rogelio met when he had a job remodeling her home. Sandy is fluent in Spanish and occasionally translated for Rogelio during an interview.

Rogelio lived in California and Texas before moving to Racine in 2004. He said it was a big adjustment moving to the Midwest from much warmer climates.

Sandy helped show him winter activities like sledding and building a snowman.

In mid-May, Rogelio received the official citizenship paperwork. His passport arrived last week. Receiving both of those were massive reliefs.

If youre a citizen, its more security, Rogelio said. I love the United States. Its opportunity.

Leading up to the test, there was nervous anticipation, but Rogelio felt prepared because of all his studying. After passing the test, his motto came true: I got it.
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said Wednesday he will not support a gun control measure that a bipartisan group of lawmakers is heralding as the most effective of its kind in decades because it includes grants for a program that would allow judges to block certain people deemed safety risks from owning firearms.

This bill provides resources to states to adopt red flag laws without requiring sufficient due process to those accused  thereby eroding 2nd amendment protections, Johnson said in a statement. I simply cannot support it.

Johnson, R-Oshkosh, on Tuesday evening voted against advancing the legislation, which also enhances background checks for gun buyers under 21, includes new federal gun-trafficking offenses and expands an existing law preventing people convicted of domestic abuse from owning a gun. Fourteen Republicans voted in favor of advancing the legislation Tuesday, which passed the Senate 64-34, including some who said the legislation didnt conflict with the Second Amendment.

Our colleagues have put together a commonsense package of popular steps that will help make these horrifying incidents less likely while fully upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, also voted in favor of advancing the measure.

I stand on the side of taking action and this is a positive step forward that can help protect people from gun violence, help reduce mass shootings, and help save lives, Baldwin said in a statement.

Under the proposed legislation, a federal Department of Justice grant program would be expanded to include funding for red flag laws as well as drug courts, mental health courts and veterans courts. Under red flag laws, courts can temporarily remove guns from people whom law enforcement or others deem risks to themselves or others.

The red flag law program is explicitly structured in the legislation to avoid violating the U.S. Constitution.

The program, the bill text states, must include pre-deprivation and post-deprivation due process rights that prevent any violation or infringement of the Constitution of the United States.

Johnsons objections are similar to those of Republican state lawmakers who rejected a special session by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to pass red flag laws, as well as universal background checks, in 2019. Republican leaders called the bills an infringement on Second Amendment rights and ended the special session just seconds after it began.

Democratic senators rejected Johnsons effort last month to codify the Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety, which includes recommendations for making schools safer with information on bullying, emergency planning, mental health and other topics. That measure called for the clearinghouse to include information about threat prevention, preparedness, protection, mitigation, incident response and recovery.

Its a good idea, Johnson said at the time. It could save lives. It is an action, when people are calling for action following this tragedy.

But U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., blocked action on the bill, saying he would focus instead on a measure that would authorize federal agencies to monitor, analyze, investigate and prosecute domestic terrorists. Republicans subsequently blocked that measure.
Three of Wisconsins largest coal-fired power plants will continue operating for at least another two years.

Alliant Energy and the WEC Energy Group each announced plans Thursday to delay previously announced retirements of the Columbia Energy Center in Portage, Edgewater plant in Sheboygan County and the South Oak Creek plant near Racine.

The companies cited reliability concerns as well as supply chain issues that have delayed construction of solar farms.

Earlier this year, the Midwest grid operator MISO warned that capacity could fall short of demand in certain situations this summer, increasing the risk of rolling blackouts, though Wisconsin utilities stressed they have ample generation available.

A subsequent report projected a potential capacity deficit in 2023, though MISO said there could also be a surplus of capacity.

Alliant said it will continue running its Edgewater plant, previously scheduled to close this year, until June 2025. The two generators at the Columbia plant, which had been scheduled to shut down in 2023 and 2024, will continue running until June 2026.

Shifting the retirement dates for our coal-fired facilities in Wisconsin helps ensure we can weather multiple uncertainties while continuing to add cleaner, renewable energy to the grid, said David de Leon, president of Alliants Wisconsin utility.

Despite the delays, de Leon said Alliant remains on track to cut carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel generation in half by 2030.

WEC said two units in the 1,100-megawatt South Oak Creek plant will now run into 2024, a year later than previously announced; retirement of the other two will be delayed about 18 months until late 2025.

We Energies president Scott Lauber indicated the company plans to operate the plant in a limited capacity and that the company remains committed to achieving aggressive environmental goals, including an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by the end of 2030.

Because we plan to operate the older units at Oak Creek largely during the days of highest customer demand, were confident that we can remain on track to achieve these industry-leading targets, Lauber said.

Bad news

Environmental advocates panned the announcement and called for policy changes that would speed the clean energy transition.

We dont get a lot of good news on the climate change front, and this is just another bad news day, said Brett Korte, staff attorney for Clean Wisconsin.

Don Ferber, volunteer leader of the Wisconsin Sierra Club chapter, said any delay in retiring coal plants means continued pollution that harms air and water quality, as well as the climate.

Wisconsin is already behind in bringing new clean energy online  thats how we got here, Ferber said. Further delay in transitioning from volatile fossil fuels only makes our energy more expensive and less secure.

Climate scientists say the world must cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and eliminate them entirely by 2050 to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change.

While the short-term capacity issues need to be addressed, Korte said the state lags behind its neighbors in clean energy development.

The failure to transition our grid off fossil fuels predates all these challenges, Korte said. Were concerned about their ability to meet their targets. This only makes it worse.

Korte said policy makers and utilities should be doing more to incentivize customer-owned renewable energy rather than focusing exclusively on utility projects.

Competition is supposed to be good, he said.

Rate impact fuzzy

Last year, Alliant announced plans to shutter the 1,100-megawatt Columbia plant by 2025, saying it would avoid some $250 million in maintenance and upgrade expenses. The Edgewater closure was expected to save about $200 million.

The company is in the process of adding about 1,100 megawatts of solar generation.

WEC planned to close South Oak Creek, its oldest coal plant, by May 2024 as part of a plan to replace 1,800 megawatts of fossil fuel generation with clean energy, storage and gas.

Chairman Gale Klappa said at the time the closure could save about $50 million a year in operating costs.

Its unclear how the delayed retirements will affect customer rates.

We Energies is seeking a roughly 8% rate hike that factored in savings from the plant closures, though WEC spokesperson Brendan Conway said the extension is unlikely to have a significant impact.

Alliant spokesperson Tony Palese said continued operation of the plants will not increase profits for the company, as revenues are passed on to ratepayers. Palese said in the long run customers will still benefit from the transition to clean energy sources that cost less to operate and have no fuel costs.

Prudent move

Todd Stuart, executive director of the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group, said the decision appears to be prudent in light of questions about who will pay for plants that are retired ahead of schedule.

Given the amount of all the fossil fuel retirements in the region, plus the rising costs and supply chain issues, now is a good time to raise questions regarding the speed and cost of the massive utility capital spending in Wisconsin, Stuart said.

Tom Content, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, said Thursdays announcements signal a need for the type of resource planning that Wisconsin lawmakers abolished in 1997 but is done in neighboring states like Minnesota.

We are so reactive instead of proactive, he said. Everythings on a case-by-case basis instead of looking at things more holistically.

Columbia, which is jointly owned by Alliant, Madison Gas and Electric and WEC subsidiary Wisconsin Public Service Corp., is the third-largest coal plant in Wisconsin, behind WECs Elm Road and South Oak Creek plants.

Wisconsins oldest coal-fired plant, South Oak Creek, is also the single largest source of toxic metals dumped into Lake Michigan, according to a Chicago Tribune analysis of federal data.
Pilibhit (UP), Jun 23 (PTI) A pickup van carrying 17 pilgrims from Haridwar rammed into a tree in Gajraula area here Thursday morning, killing 10 people and injuring seven others, police said.

The accident took place after the driver lost control of the vehicle, they said.

Also Read | Thomson Alpha 32-Inch Smart TV Launched in India at Rs 9,999.

The injured passengers were rushed to a hospital, police said.

Police is yet to identify the deceased.

Also Read | Maharashtra Political Crisis Live Updates: Uddhav Thackeray Quits CMs Residence As Eknath Shindes Rebel Ranks Grow; Sanjay Raut Says, Government Will Prove Its Majority in the Assembly.

(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, Jun 23 (PTI) About 17,500 people have been rescued till now from the flood-affected areas of Assam, the NDRF said Thursday.

Of these, 900 were rescued on Thursday, a spokesperson of the National Disaster Response Force stated in an update issued at 5 pm.

Also Read | BRICS Summit 2022: PM Narendra Modi Says 'Cooperation Between Member Countries Can Help Global Post COVID-19 Recovery'.

The official said a total of 26 NDRF teams are operating in 14 flood-affected districts of the state and they are working in coordination with state authorities.

NDRF teams started rescue and relief operation from June 16 in Assam and so far nine precious lives have been rescued while about 17,500 persons have been taken out from the far flung maroon areas alongwith 32 livestock, the spokesperson said.

Also Read | Delhi: 10-Year-Old Dies While Enacting Skipping Rope Stunt in New Usmanpur.

The federal force is also helping local administration in distribution of relief material, he said.

The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Thursday with over 54.5 lakh people still affected and 12 fresh deaths reported, officials said.

The toll due to the flood since mid-May is now 101, they said.

Brahmaputra and Barak rivers along with its tributaries are in spate in most of the affected districts and vast tracts of land remained inundated in 32 of the total 36 districts in the state. The flood waters, however, receded in a few places.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Karimganj (Assam) [India], June 23: At least 22 Bangladeshi nationals including three minors have been nabbed in Assam's Karimganj district who had illegally entered India without valid documents, police said.

According to the Karimganj district police, 21 accused were nabbed on Wednesday and one on Thursday.

Also Read | Sensex Closes 443 Points Higher at 52,265.72; Auto, IT Stocks Surge.

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Karimganj Partha Pratim Das informed that these accused were coming from Maharashtra and planned to return to Bangladesh via the Tripura border.

"Based on intelligence input, we had launched a search operation at a hotel at Badarpur area on Wednesday and nabbed 21 Bangladeshi nationals. Out of the nine are male, nine female and three are minors," Das said.

Also Read | 7th Pay Commission Latest Update: Ahead of Dearness Allowance Hike, Finance Ministry Changes LTC Rules for Central Government Employees; Check Details.

During interrogation, it was revealed that the accused entered India without valid documents, police said.

"In enquiry, they revealed that they are Bangladeshi nationals and entered India without valid documents. They came from Maharashtra via train," Karimganj ASP said.

Further investigation is on, the police officer 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)
Mumbai, June 23: Tata Group-owned Air India has offered to re-hire pilots post their retirement for a five-year period as the airline looks for stability in operations amid talk of acquiring 300 single-aisle planes, according to internal communication. Air India is considering re-hiring these pilots as commanders, it said.

This comes even as the full-service carrier rolled out a voluntary retirement scheme for its employees, including cabin crew, and at the same time recruiting the fresh blood in the once-state-controlled carrier as well. Storm Eunice: Air India Pilots Manage To Land B787 Dreamliner Aircraft With Ease at London Heathrow (Watch Video).

Pilots are the most-expensive asset for an airline and get paid the highest compared to other key roles such as cabin crew and aircraft maintenance engineers.

Moreover, shortage of adequately trained pilots in the domestic aviation industry has always been an issue. "We are pleased to inform you are being considered for post-retirement contract as commander in Air India for a period of 5 years or till you attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier," Air India Deputy General Manager for Personnel, Vikas Gupta, said in an internal mail.

"During the period of post retirement contract, you will be paid the remuneration and flying allowances, as admissible, as per policy of Air India to such appointments," he stated. Interested pilots have been told to submit their details along with a written consent by June 23, as per the mail.

A query sent to the Air India spokesperson in this regard did not elicit a response. Tata Group took control of Air India on January 27 this year after successfully winning the bid for the airline in October last year.

The retirement age for pilots in Air India is 58 like all other employees of the airline. Prior to the pandemic, Air India used to re-hire its retired pilots on contract but the practice was discontinued after late March 2020. The contracts of such pilots were also terminated to partially offset the impact of the pandemic. However, pilots at other private airlines fly until they reach the age of 65 years.

(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, June 23: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday condoled the loss of lives in floods in Assam and urged party workers to continue extending assistance in rescue and rehabilitation operations.

The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Wednesday as 12 more people were killed and 55 lakh people affected across 32 districts with the rising Brahmaputra and Barak rivers inundating new areas. Assam Floods: Death Toll Reaches 89, Over 55 Lakh People Adversely Affected.

"My thoughts are with our brothers and sisters in Assam facing unprecedented floods. Heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families," Gandhi said on Twitter. "I urge Congress workers and leaders to continue extending assistance to rescue & rehabilitation operations," the former Congress chief said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, June 23: Leaders of BRICS nations, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday stressed the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, with a view to making it more representative, effective and efficient.

China and Russia reiterated the importance they attach to the status and role of Brazil, India and South Africa in international affairs and supported their aspirations to play a greater role in the UN, according to the Beijing Declaration of the virtual BRICS annual summit. BRICS Summit 2022: PM Narendra Modi Says Cooperation Between Member Countries Can Help Global Post COVID-19 Recovery.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the virtual summit along with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and top leaders of Brazil and South Africa. The summit is being hosted by China as the Chair for this year.

The BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) brings together five of the largest developing countries of the world, representing 41 per cent of the global population, 24 per cent of the global GDP and 16 per cent of the global trade.

The BRICS countries also reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring the promotion and protection of democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all with the aim to build a brighter shared future for the international community based on mutually beneficial cooperation.

"We reiterate our commitment to multilateralism through upholding international law, including the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations as its indispensable cornerstone, and to the central role of the United Nations in an international system in which sovereign states cooperate to maintain peace and security, advance sustainable development, ensure the promotion and protection of democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all," the declaration said.

It also called for promoting cooperation based on the spirit of mutual respect, justice and equality. The leaders of BRICS nations noted that the task of strengthening and reforming multilateral system encompasses making instruments of global governance more inclusive, representative and participatory to facilitate greater and more meaningful participation of developing and least developed countries, especially in Africa, in global decision-making processes and structures and make it better attuned to contemporary realities.

"We recall the UNGA Resolution 75/1 and reiterate the call for reforms of the principal organs of the United Nations. We recommit to instill new life in the discussions on reform of the UN Security Council and continue the work to revitalize the General Assembly and strengthen the Economic and Social Council," the leaders said in the declaration.

The leaders recalled that the 2005 World Summit Outcome document and reaffirmed the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, with a view to making it more representative, effective and efficient, and to increase the representation of the developing countries so that it can adequately respond to global challenges.

The BRICS countries appreciate the role of India and Brazil as members of the UN Security Council for 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 respectively. The leaders reiterated the need for all countries to cooperate in promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms under the principles of equality and mutual respect.

"We agree to continue to treat all human rights including the right to development in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis," the declaration said.

The leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation on issues of common interests both within BRICS and in multilateral fora including the United Nations General Assembly and Human Rights Council, taking into account the necessity to promote, protect and fulfil human rights in a non-selective, non-politicised and constructive manner and without double standards.

"We call for the respect of democracy and human rights. In this regard, we underline that they should be implemented on the level of global governance as well as at national level," they said.

The leaders also reaffirmed their support for an open, transparent, inclusive, non-discriminatory and rules-based multilateral trading system, as embodied in the World Trade Organization(WTO).

"We will engage constructively to pursue the necessary WTO reform to build an open world economy that supports trade and development, preserve the pre-eminent role of the WTO for setting global trade rules and governance, supporting inclusive development and promoting the rights and interests of its members, including developing members and LDCs," the leaders said.

"We recognize that special and differential treatment as established in WTO rules is a tool to facilitate the achievement of WTO objectives with respect to economic growth and development. We call upon all WTO members to avoid unilateral and protectionist measures that run counter to the spirit and rules of the WTO," they said.

Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused serious shock and hardship to humanity, unbalanced recovery is aggravating inequality across the world and the economic prospects have declined, the leaders expressed concern that global development is suffering from severe disruption, including the widening North-South development gap, divergent recovery trajectories, pre-existing developmental fault-lines and a technological divide.

The Summit is being held under the theme "Foster High-quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development on June 23-24.

(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], June 23 (ANI): The Central government on Thursday proposed before the Supreme Court that the alleged 'conman' Sukesh Chandrashekhar and his wife Leena Paulose who are currently lodged in Tihar Jail could be shifted to Mandoli Jail in Delhi.

A vacation bench of Justices CT Ravi Kumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia posted the matter for hearing on June 30.

Also Read | Rajasthan Shocker: Man Held for Raping Business Woman in Jaipur, Sent to Judicial Custody.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju representing the Centre told the bench that Chandrashekhar could be transferred to Mandoli Jail in Delhi and the prison is guarded by paramilitary forces.

"He can be placed in Mandoli jail. It's manned by paramilitary forces from outside and inside we are putting Tamil Nadu special police forces to oversee him. Regular Delhi Police will not be there over him," ASG said.

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As a senior advocate, R Basant, appearing for Chandrashekhar, objected to shifting him to Mandoli Jail, the apex court asked him to file a statement in response to the Centre's proposal to transfer him to Mandoli prison.

"Since this court specifically observed that matter could be taken further only after giving the names of appropriate jail, we are of the view that matter can be taken up further only after giving the name of appropriate jail. List this matter on June 30. In the meanwhile, statement if any on behalf of the petitioner shall be filed," the top court stated in its order.

During the hearing, ASG Raju also told the bench that shifting Chandrashekhar from Tihar Jail was unwarranted. While being lodged in jail, he was involved in all illegal activities and he had also called up some judges impersonating the Law Minister asking them to pass orders in his favour, ASG argued.

Advocate Basant contended that the petition pertained to transferring Chandrashekhar to any other jail and had nothing to do with the investigation. He said of 34 cases registered against Chandrashekhar, the majority of cases were registered in Bangalore and urged the bench that he may either be transferred to a jail in Bangalore or any other jail outside Delhi.

"Someone who is in jail wants a choice of jail," remarked Justice Dhulia.

Asking the senior advocate to file a response to the government's proposal to transfer Chandrashekhar to Mandoli jail, the bench said, "You haven't mentioned that you want to be transferred to any other jail which is not under the same authorities. If you have any objections, you can file it."

On Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sought prosecution of Chandrashekhar for perjury claiming that he has falsely stated in his affidavit about a physical assault in Tihar Jail and deliberately omitted the report of the doctors who ruled out any physical injury to him.

The investigating agency had opposed his plea before the top court to transfer him and his wife from Tihar Jail to any other prison outside Delhi on the ground of a threat to his life.

Chandrashekhar's counsel had told the bench that his client continuously faces threats to his life from the jail staff and protection money is being sought from him.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta while opposing Chandrashekhar's plea for transfer to another jail had said that police personnel from Tamil Nadu's special police force have been deployed for their security in Tihar jail.

Mehta had said that Chandrashekhar used to call models and celebrities to his jail in collusion with prison staff, who have been suspended and an inquiry has been ordered against them.

Director General (Prisons), Delhi Prisons in a fresh affidavit had stated that the contention of Chandrashekhar that he was assaulted in jail are vehemently denied as totally and wholly false and "fabricated for the ulterior motive of seeking transfer to another prison in order to repeat his misdemeanours and offences."

ED had told the top court that Chandrashekhar indulged in money laundering, extortion, and impersonation of public officials including those holding constitutional posts, and had opposed his plea for prison transfer outside Delhi.

Last week, the Supreme Court had said that it would be appropriate to transfer Chandrashekhar and his wife to some other jail so as to allay the apprehension of all concerned and asked the Centre to take a decision on the appropriate jail to which he can be transferred.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar is lodged in Tihar jail on charges of money laundering and duping several persons and claimed a threat to his life in the prison.

Chandrashekhar along with his wife had moved the top court seeking his transfer from Tihar Jail to another prison. He said that since he has levelled allegations against jail officials, he faces a threat to his life.

He had alleged that the Tihar prison authorities have extorted around Rs 12.5 crore from him in the last two years.

He is charged with many multi-crore fraud cases and is also accused of extorting Rs 200 crore from the family of former Fortis Healthcare and Ranbaxy Lab promoters Shivinder and Malvinder Singh from the premises of the prison.

He was also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the 2017 Election Commission bribery instance allegedly involving former AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran and others.

A number of women Bollywood actors and models have been questioned by the ED for their alleged links to Chandrashekhar. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], June 23 (ANI): All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supporters on Thursday morning gathered outside Shrivaaru Venkatachalapathy Palace in Chennai's Vanagaram, ahead of the party's General Council meeting, which is scheduled to be held later today.

Supporters for AIADMK leader and former Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami gathered outside his residence as he leaves for the party's General Council meeting.

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Heavy Police deployment was seen outside Shrivaaru Venkatachalapathy Palace as AIADMK is all set for the General Council Meeting.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Madras High Court refused to restrain AIADMK general council meeting scheduled from amending bylaws that will pave way for a single leadership.

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O Panneerselvam intends to have the dual leadership format in the party to continue.

The court said that it cannot interfere in such issues.

The tussle between former Tamil Nadu chief minister and party co-coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and his former deputy CM and coordinator O Panneersevelam (OPS) did not seem to end over single leadership in the party with both camps refusing to budge from their views.

Palaniswami is all for single leadership in the party and his camp is keen on passing a resolution in this regard in June 23 meeting while Panneersevelam claims that the general body cannot pass the resolution without his signature as per party by-law.

After the demise of Jayalalithaa in 2016, the party has been following a dual-leadership formula with EPS as co-coordinator and OPS as coordinator.

Voices grew louder for single leadership in the party since the district secretary meeting on June 14. Both camps have held several rounds of talks to resolve the issue but remained unsuccessful. OPS also wrote a letter to EPS demanding postponement of the general body meeting citing a "confused situation" in the party which the AIADMK co-coordinator rejected.

In comparison to OPS, EPS enjoys the support of a large number of party MLAs and district secretaries.Amid all this drama, OPS' long-time loyalists have also joined the EPS camp. On Tuesday, Thiruvallur District Secretary Alexander and Puducherry State Secretary Anbalagan extended their support to EPS.

"AIADMK Co-Coordinator Palaniswami will be chosen as AIADMK General Secretary on June 23 in General Council Meeting. We have respect for Panneersevelam but he should understand party cadres. But OPS camp behaviour is like DMK B team. Single leadership is the need for AIADMK," Anbalagan said.

Earlier on Monday, senior AIADMK leaders inspected arrangements at a private hall in Chennai's Vanagaram for holding the general body meeting. The leaders who inspected arrangements were AIADMK party's deputy coordinator KP Munuswamy, former Ministers CV Shanmugam, Thangamani, Velumani, RP Udayakumar, Dindigul Srinivasan, Senkottaiyan, Vijayabaskar, Benjamin, Talawai Sundaram, AIADMK Deputy General Coordinator Cellur Raju, Kadampur Raju, Natham Viswanathan and Kamaraj.

Last week, amid controversy over the issue of single leadership in AIADMK between OPS and EPS, the former held an "individual meeting" with his supporters and district secretaries at the party office here. (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, Jun 23 (PTI) In a bid to curb vehicular pollution, the Delhi government has decided to ban the entry of medium and heavy goods vehicles to the national capital from October to February, officials said on Thursday.

Vehicles carrying raw vegetables, fruit, grains, milk and such essential commodities will, however, be allowed, they said.

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According to an official, entry of the vehicles will be banned from October 1 to February 28 next year. Vehicular pollution leads to deterioration of air quality during the winter months, he said.

The decision has been met with criticism from transporters and traders, who said it will lead to losses, and urged the government to think of alternative measures to curb pollution.

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Diesel-run trucks transporting essential goods will be allowed, apart from CNG and electric trucks, officials said, adding that there will be no ban on private vehicles and the order is applicable only on commercial vehicles.

However, critics said that there are few CNG trucks, and those too small-sized, while large and medium vehicles that traverse long distances do not prefer CNG as it is not easily available.

"This decision of the Delhi government will kill the Delhi trade at a time when festival and wedding season in Delhi is always on high pace. The Delhi traders will strongly oppose this draconian order of the Delhi government," Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), said.

He said the confederation will seek the central government's intervention and also launch an agitation against the Delhi government.

"The CAIT is convening a meeting of trade leaders of Delhi next week to decide its course of action," he added.

Bhim Wadhwa, ex-president of the All India Motor Transport Congress, claimed bureaucrats frame policies without thinking about the general public or stakeholders.

Rajendra Kapoor of the Delhi Goods Transport Organisation concurred with Wadhwa and said Delhi's reputation as a retail hub will be badly hit due to the ban.

"Truckers and traders will find alternative markets for buying goods and sending them, with Delhi being shut for them. This will hurt Delhi's reputation as a retail hub

"The businesses of petrol pumps will be severely affected. This ban will hit the transporters in a much more severe way than the Covid pandemic," he said.

He urged Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot to reconsider the decision.

On June 15, the Delhi government had written to its neighbouring states, including Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, urging them to allow only BS VI-compliant buses to enter the national capital from October 1 in order to help control air pollution in the city.

The request was made to deal with the problem of vehicular pollution in the city, which officials here indicated, is contributed to in part by vehicles coming from Haryana.

The national capital witnesses high levels of air pollution in the winter months from October due to a multitude of factors, including stubble burning and vehicular traffic.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Hamirpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 23 (ANI): As many as eight people died and seven were injured after a loader truck collided with an auto-rickshaw in the Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday evening, police said.

Police said that the injured have been shifted to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.

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According to the police, the accident took place on the National Highway in the Maudaha Kotwali area of Hamirpur district in Uttar Pradesh.

"Eight people were dead and seven injured in an accident that took place between a loader truck and an auto-rickshaw on the National Highway in Maudaha Kotwali area of Hamirpur. The injured have been shifted to a hospital," Vivek Yadav, Circle Officer Maudaha.

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Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the Hamirpur accident.

"The accident in Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh is very painful. I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, as well as to the injured for a speedy recovery. The state government and the local administration are doing all they can to help the injured," PM Modi 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)
Kochi (Kerala) [India], June 23 (ANI): The Kerala High Court granted bail to two accused and anticipatory bail to one accused who are Youth Congress workers in a case of protest inside a private airline against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Kannur natives Farseen Majeed and Naveen Kumar obtained bail from the court. Meanwhile, the court granted anticipatory bail to Sunit Narayan, the third accused in the case.

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The Court granted bail to Farseen Majid and RK Naveen. The Court also granted anticipatory bail to the third accused Sunit Narayan. The first two have been charged with an attempt to murder and several other sections of IPC as well as aviation laws.

The accused told the court they were arrested solely based on a statement from Vijayan's personal assistant. However, the police appealed to the court to dismiss their bail plea and requested their custody. The probe team also failed to produce the visuals of the incident as the CCTV camera inside the plane was not functioning.

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The accused were taken into custody on June 13, following a protest against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inside a flight from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram.

The Youth Congress workers onboard a flight from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram protested against Vijayan on June 13.

The protest was taken place as part of the statewide protests against the Kerala Chief Minister over the Kerala gold smuggling case by the opposition parties. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kochi, Jun 23 (PTI) The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted bail to two Youth Congress workers, who protested against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on board an aircraft after it landed at Thiruvananthapuram airport, saying their further custodial interrogation was not required.

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Justice Viju Abraham also granted anticipatory bail to the third accused in the case and directed him to surrender before the investigating officer (IO) on June 28 for interrogation and to cooperate with the probe.

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The first two accused -- Furseen Majeed and R K Naveen -- who were arrested on June 14 and in the custody of the investigating agency till date were ordered to be released on bail by the court subject to the conditions that each of them would furnish a bond of Rs 50,000 with two sureties of the like amount.

The other conditions imposed on them were that they shall appear before the IO as and when required, shall cooperate with the investigation, shall not intimidate witnesses and shall surrender their passports, if they have it.

The third accused -- Sujith Narayanan -- was granted anticipatory bail subject to the same conditions as imposed on the other two as the high court was of the opinion that his custodial interrogation was not required.

The court further said that if the third accused was arrested by the police, he would be produced before the jurisdictional court and released on bail on furnishing a bond of Rs 50,000 with two sureties of the like amount.

The court, while granting the relief to Majeed and Naveen, observed that the report of the Airport Manager to the Station House Officer, Valiyathura Police Station, which is first in point of time, "only says that they were informed that an alleged altercation took place on board the flight between three passengers".

"A subsequent report by the Airport Manager dated June 14, 2022 also revealed that after landing as soon as seat belt sign went off, the said passengers immediately stood up from their respective seats and rushed toward the Chief Minister, shouting slogans in the vernacular language and upon seeing this one of the passengers travelling with the Chief Minister intervened," the high court noted.

"Considering the nature of the allegations I feel that further custodial interrogation of the petitioners (Mujeed and Naveen) is not necessary...," Justice Abraham said in his order allowing the bail plea of the two accused.

While allowing Narayanan's anticipatory bail plea, Justice Abraham referred to the Airport Manager's reports and said that while the other two were arrested, there was no attempt to arrest the third accused and he left the aircraft like any other passenger.

"Insofar as there is no case that the motive for the alleged incident is of any personal enmity and it was a part of an agitation, there is no reason to believe that the petitioner (Narayanan) will repeat the alleged offence.

"As regards the contention of the Director General of Prosecution that custodial interrogation of the petitioner is required to unravel the larger conspiracy, I am not persuaded to think that custodial interrogation of the petitioner is required for that purpose," the judge said.

He also noted that none of the three were carrying any weapons and the motive behind the alleged incident was not personal enmity.

The prosecution had opposed the pleas of all three accused alleging that on June 13 evening when the CM's flight from Kannur landed at Thiruvananthapuram, the trio defied directions of aircraft crew, shouted threats at Vijayan, rushed towards him and attempted to murder him.

The prosecution also claimed that three accused caused hurt to the CM's security officer and deterred him from discharging his duty.

Narayanan in his plea had claimed that when the two Youth Congress workers, also known to him, shouted political slogans against the CM, LDF convenor E P Jayarajan pushed them back with force and they fell to the floor of the aircraft.

He had also claimed that he had left the airport premises and met his relatives in a hospital and thereafter, he returned to Kannur by train on the same day and was not involved in any way with the alleged incident.

He said that he was falsely implicated in the case to prevent him from becoming a witness to the incident and speaking about the "brutal assault committed by E P Jayarajan on the two persons, which he recorded in his mobile phone".

The other two accused in their joint plea had claimed that the allegations against them were false as they had only raised slogans as part of a peaceful protest urging the resignation of the CM.

They had also claimed that "by no stretch of imagination, mere raising of slogans can be portrayed as an attempt to kill the CM".

Vijayan has been facing protests by the Congress and BJP workers ever since Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the gold smuggling through diplomatic bags case, alleged that he and his family members had a role in some smuggling activities.

Her charges were termed baseless by the CM.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], June 23 (ANI): The Jharkhand High Court on Wednesday slammed the Hemant Soren's government over the deteriorating law and order situation and sought a report from the state government over the killing of a criminal at the Deoghar court's premises.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad, while taking the suo moto cognisance of a letter by District and Session Judge, Deoghar over the killing of a criminal at the court's premises, observed that the law and order situation was deteriorating in the state and sought a report from the state government over the matter.

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The High Court also directed a security audit of the Deoghar Civil Court premises to assess the lapses in its premises that led to the shootout and killing.

It took cognisance of the letter of District and Session Judge, Deoghar in regard to the killing of a criminal at Deoghar's court premises and considered the letter a Public Interest Litigation (PIL).

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The Court in its oral observation said that such incidents are happening regularly.

The court observed that this is not the first time that such an incident has happened on a court campus. Such incidents are happening regularly.

Criminal Amit Singh was killed on June 18 this year at the Deoghar court premises, where he had to appear in a case against him. (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, Jun 23 (PTI) In a major development, Jammu and Kashmir will be hosting the 2023 meetings of G-20, an influential grouping that brings together the world's major economies, with the Union Territory government Thursday setting up a five-member high level committee for overall coordination.

This will be the first major international summit to be held in Jammu and Kashmir after the erstwhile state's special status guaranteed under Article 370 of the Constitution was withdrawn and it was divided into two union territories in August 2019.

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In September last year, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was appointed as India's Sherpa for the G20. The Ministry of External Affairs had said that India will hold the G20 presidency from December 1, 2022, and will convene the G20 leaders' summit in 2023 for the first time.

According to an official order issued here on Thursday, the Union Territory's housing and urban development department principal secretary will be the chairman of the committee which was formed in response to a June 4 communication from the Ministry of External Affairs.

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"Sanction is hereby accorded to the constitution of a committeefor overall co-ordination of G-20 meetings to be held in the Union Territory of J&K,"the order issued by Principal Secretary, General Administration Department, Manoj Kumar Dwivedi said.

The members of the committee include Commissioner Secretary (Transport), Administrative Secretary (Tourism), Administrative Secretary (Hospitality and Protocol) and Administrative Secretary (Culture).

"Further, principal secretary to the government, housing and urban development department is also nominated as UT level nodal officer to coordinate the arrangements for G-20 meetings in the Union Territory of J&K," the order said.

Prime Minister Modi has been leading India's representation at G20 summits since 2014. India has been a member of the G20 since its inception in 1999.

According to the MEA, India will be part of the G20 Troika (preceding, current, and incoming G20 Presidencies) from December 1, 2021 till November 30, 2024.

G20 brings together 19 of the world' leading economies and the European Union, with its members accounting for more than 80 per cent of global GDP, 75 percent of global trade and 60 percent of the global population, according to the MEA.

e G20 member nations are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

(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], June 23 (ANI): After reaching his family home 'Matoshree' in Mumbai on Wednesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray greeted hundreds of Shiv Sena supporters gathered outside his residence.

The chief minister left his official residence 'Varsha' along with his family members earlier today after he expressed his readiness to step down if rebel MLAs returned to Mumbai and made such a demand.

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Uddhav Thackeray left his official residence along with members of his family amid slogans of "Uddhav tum aage badho, hum tumhare saath hain" from his supporters.

Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray along with his mother Rashmi Thackeray and brother Tejas Thackeray followed Uddhav Thackeray in a car as left the official residence. Luggage was also seen being moved out of the chief minister's official residence.

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Aaditya Thackeray showed victory signs on reaching 'Matoshree' today.

The political crisis facing the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra deepened on Wednesday after rebel party MLAs claimed the support of 46 MLAs. Congress and NCP are partners of Shiv Sena in the alliance government.

Shiv Sena workers also gathered outside Matoshree, the residence of the Thackeray family, to express their support.

Earlier on Wednesday evening, Thackeray addressed the people of the state via Facebook and said he was willing to give his resignation to party MLAs who can take it to Raj Bhavan.

Noting that a section of party MLAs was gunning for his ouster, he said instead of going to Surat, they could have conveyed their feelings to him. Thackeray said it is a matter of shame for him if "even a single MLA" was against him.

"If any MLA wants me to not continue as the CM, I am ready to take all my belongings from Varsha Bungalow (official residence of the CM) to Matoshri," Thackeray said.

"I am ready to give my resignation to the MLAs, they should come here and take my resignation to Raj Bhavan. I am ready to leave the post of Shiv Sena party head also, not on the saying of others but my workers," he added.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut expressed confidence in Shiv Sena sailing through the crisis."Uddhav Thackeray is Maharashtra Chief Minister and he will remain the CM. If we get the chance, we will prove our majority on the floor of the House," he said.

Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde, who is leading the revolt, said that it was essential for the party for its survival to get out of the "unnatural alliance" and asserted that only the constituent parties benefitted during the tenure of the coalition government in the state.

"In the last two and a half years, the government benefited only the constituent parties. It's essential to get out of the unnatural alliance for the survival of the party. Decisions need to be taken now in the interest of Maharashtra," Shinde said in tweets. (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, Jun 23 (PTI) The CPI(M) Thursday accused the BJP of misusing the State power to undermine democracy by "spiriting away" Shiv Sena MLAs and trying to destabilise the Maharashtra government.

In a statement, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau said it "strongly condemns the manner in which MLAs belonging to the Shiv Sena have been spirited away to Surat and then to Guwahati, both BJP-ruled states".

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"This has been done by the BJP utilising the State machinery in both states. The Central agencies have also been utilised to target ministers and legislators of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government with the aim of destabilising the government," it said.

Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde is currently camping in Assam's Guwahati city with some rebel MLAs, plunging the party-led Maharashtra government into a crisis.

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"This shameless use of State power is in line with earlier efforts to target opposition-ruled state governments with a view to topple them. The Polit Bureau calls upon all democratic sections to protest against this misuse of State power to undermine democracy," the CPIM said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Jun 23 (PTI) More than a month after 27 people were killed in a massive blaze that ripped through a building in Mundka here, police on Thursday said a victim's body was handed over to another family "by mistake".

According to the police, the body of one Sweety was mistakenly identified as Ranju Devi by her husband, as both had similar characteristics.

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Of the 27 people that were charred to death in the fire on May 13, police said 22 bodies have already been handed over to their respective families.

"On Wednesday, four DNA profiles were received, which we will hand over to the families concerned," a senior police officer said, adding there are five bodies at the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital - Ranju Devi, Soni Kumari, Monika, Parveen and Geeta Devi.

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"On May 14 (next day of the incident), eight bodies were identified by their family members and they were handed over. The FSL reports of seven were correctly matched with the samples of the family members. However, that of Ranju Devi did not match. On Wednesday, the FSL reports were received and one of them showed that out of the five bodies, one was of Ranju," Deputy Commissioner of Police (outer) Sameer Sharma said.

Earlier, PTI had reported that Ranju Devi's husband Santosh Kumar had "identified" her body through her turtle-shaped ring and two bangles -- the items that remained intact on her charred body.

"I identified her through her ring and bangles -- one red and the other white. I received her body from the hospital and did all the rituals," he had said.

According to police, the body of one Geeta Devi continues to be in the hospital as her parents have passed away and she does not have a child. Further, the FSL has been unable to find satisfactory results from the blood samples collected from her "siblings".

(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, Jun 23 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday paid rich tributes to Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder president of the BJP's forerunner Jana Sangh, on his death anniversary, saying every Indian is indebted to him for his "unparalleled efforts" towards furthering the country's unity.

A strident critic of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Mookerjee had died under detention in Kashmir in 1953 after being arrested for entering the region without the required permit, a legal necessity then challenged by him.

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The Modi government had nullified the special constitutional provision for the then state, now a Union territory, in 2019, fulfilling one of the BJP's foundational promises tracing back to Mookerjee's legacy.

In a tweet Modi said, "Remembering Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his Punya Tithi. Every Indian is indebted to him for his unparalleled efforts towards furthering India's unity. He worked hard for India's progress and dreamt of a strong and prosperous nation. We are committed to fulfilling his dreams."

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(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], June 23 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday remembered Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his death anniversary and said that every Indian is indebted to him for his unparalleled efforts towards furthering India's unity.

PM Modi said that Mookerjee worked hard for India's progress and dreamt of a strong and prosperous nation.

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"Remembering Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his Punya Tithi. Every Indian is indebted to him for his unparalleled efforts towards furthering India's unity. He worked hard for India's progress and dreamt of a strong and prosperous nation. We are committed to fulfilling his dreams," the Prime Minister said in a tweet.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also paid tributes to Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his death anniversary and said that every Indian is indebted for his supreme sacrifice in the struggle to protect Bengal and to keep Kashmir an integral part of India.

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In a series of tweets, Shah paying tributes to him said, "Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerjee's life was a wonderful amalgamation of new ideas of national unity, cultural dedication, education and development. Every Indian is indebted for his supreme sacrifice for the struggle to protect Bengal and to keep Kashmir an integral part of India."

Shah further said, "His political opponents also considered that he was a strong political leader. He knew that it won't be possible to solve the problems of the country with the ideas and policies of the government of that time. That is why he chose the complicated path of long struggle renouncing the pleasure of power in the interest of the nation."

He said that Dr Mookerjee believed that the bright future of a nation is possible only on the strong foundation of its own native culture and thinking.

"That is why he put a scientific approach of cultural nationalism and alternative political thinking in front of the country. Today his same thoughts are taking the country forward in every field," he added.

Syama Prasad Mookerjee was the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh and also served as the Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet.

Bharatiya Jana Sangh, founded in 1951, is the ideological parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

According to the BJP's official website, on the issue of the Delhi pact with Likayat Ali Khan, Mookerjee resigned from the Cabinet on April 6, 1950. Later on October 21, 1951, Mookerjee founded Bharatiya Jana Sangh in Delhi and became its first President.

Mookerjee went to visit Kashmir in 1953 and was arrested on May 11. He died as "detenu" on June 23, 1953. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Hyderabad, Jun 23 (PTI) Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Hyderabad city to attend the BJP's national executive meet on July 2 and 3, the city police on Thursday held a co-ordination meeting to review the security arrangements.

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Hyderabad City Police Commissioner C V Anand held the co-ordination meeting with senior police officials, civic body officials, army officers and political party representatives.

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The meeting discussed details of the Prime Minister's visit, his arrival, stay, attendance and departure and contingency plans in case of emergencies, a release from Hyderabad Police said.

The BJP is set to hold its national executive meeting for two days starting from July 2 in Hyderabad and Modi would also address a public meeting at Parade Grounds on July 3.

The police would ensure ample deployment of forces and press into service Quick Response Teams and place additional reinforcements on standby, Anand said.

"Anti-sabotage precautions, along with access control, constitute the cornerstone of any security arrangement for the protection of VVIPs. Law and order, traffic officials were instructed to make security plans in strict adherence to the SPGs Blue Book," the top official said.

Deployment of snipers, anti-sabotage checks, roof-top watch, mufti parties, route map, trial runs and multi-layer security arrangements were being made in the city limits.

Only valid passholders would be allowed to participate in the public meeting and all the attendees would be frisked, the police said adding there would be elaborate measures in place to deal with any spontaneous protests.

To ensure COVID-19 protocols, the passholders would undergo RT-PCR tests before the scheduled programme.

GHMC Commissioner D S Lokesh Kumar, senior police personnel and officials from different departments attended the meeting, the release added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], June 23 (ANI): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan requested Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to remove the separate capital gain tax on assets managed by the state company.

During the meeting with the Union Finance Minister at her office here, Chouhan raised the issue. Madhya Pradesh had been given an incentive of Rs 1,055 crore under the special assistance to states for capital expenditure by the Government of India.

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"In Madhya Pradesh, the government has set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for public asset management. Capital gains tax is not levied when a government department is involved in asset management. But if you form a company separately, then capital gains tax is levied," he said.

"I urged the Finance Minister that even if we are doing it by forming a separate company, we are doing it under our policy. Therefore, there should be no separate capital gains tax."

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Referring to the incentive of Rs 1,055 crore given to Madhya Pradesh, he said the state managed the public assets better by forming the public asset management company. Madhya Pradesh is the first state to do this, he said.

Taking to Twitter, Chouhan expressed gratitude towards the Union Finance Minister stating that she has always shown interest in various schemes related to the development and welfare of the people of Madhya Pradesh and discussed them very positively.

"I express my heartfelt gratitude on behalf of the people of Madhya Pradesh for your continued cooperation," he said.

Chouhan also called on the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal and discussed various issues related to crop procurement and public distribution system in MP.

He informed the Union minister that a special incentive is being given for the sowing of pulses in the state for crop diversification. This year's summer moong production is likely to be 16 lakh metric tonnes.

The Chief Minister urged Goyal to release around Rs 6,000 crore pending for several years, for Madhya Pradesh, at the earliest. Goyal assured the chief minister to provide all support. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Maharajganj (UP), Jun 23 (PTI) A Rohingya woman was arrested by Sashastra Seema Bal jawans for illegally staying in the country, officials said.

The woman was arrested during the checking of a bus on the Indo-Nepal border in Sonauli on Wednesday.

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Members of the Rohingya community have over the years fled Myanmar due to violence against them there.

Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) officials said the woman along with her husband and five children had reached Manipur through Bangladesh a few years ago and made her base in Delhi.

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The woman had recently moved to Jammu and Kashmir, they said.

The woman told immigration officers she had gone to Nepal through Sitamarhi in Bihar two months ago in search of her missing son.

"The woman was identified as Rashida Begum (37), who was on her way to India from Nepal. She was arrested last evening by the immigration department in the Sonauli area on finding her papers fake," said SHO Manoj Kumar Rai.

A case has been registered against her for illegally entering India and getting a fake Indian identity card made.

(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], June 23 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Thursday extended the interim protection from the arrest of BJP MLA Jayakumar Gore, accused of allegedly forging documents regarding land in Mayani village in Maharashtra.

A vacation bench of Justices CT Ravikumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia, in the order, said, "Interim protection granted by the High Court in the impugned order will continue till then."

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The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by Gore challenging the Bombay High Court order wherein his pre-arrest bail was rejected.

The High Court had declined to grant anticipatory bail to Gore. However, it granted him two weeks of interim protection from arrest to enable him to approach the apex court.

Also Read | Maharashtra Political Crisis: How Numbers Add Up in Maharashtra Assembly After Day 3 of Political Turmoil.

The case was related to the allegations of fraudulent preparation of bogus documents. The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint of Mahadev Piraji Bhise at Dahiwadi Police Station.

Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for Gore, submitted that the FIR registered against him was purely politically motivated and emanated from a rival faction over the control and administration of Chhatrapati Shivaji Education Society.

The alleged forged Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the basis of which Gore had been foisted with prima facie culpability, had not been signed by him at all, the senior advocate 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)
New Delhi, June 23: Voting began Thursday morning for the bypoll to Rajinder Nagar in Delhi, largely being seen as a battle between a confident AAP and a spirited BJP for the crucial assembly constituency. A total of 1,64,698 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the bye-election, in which 14 candidates are in the fray, with water shortage and the city government's liquor policy among the key election issues.

The two major contenders -- the AAP and the BJP have exuded confidence that their candidates will emerge victorious in the bypoll with a huge margin.

Polling began at 7 AM amid tight security arrangements and is scheduled to be held till 6 PM.

"Mock polls were held at all polling stations, and voting has begun under tight security arrangements for the Rajinder Nagar bypoll. Actor Sonam Kapoor has released a video message to appeal to voters to exercise their franchise," Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh told PTI.

To raise awareness, Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor has been chosen as an icon, and her images have been used on posters and social media to reach out to greater number of voters, especially the youth. Six companies of CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) personnel have been deployed for security arrangements during the bypoll necessitated in the wake of AAP leader Raghav Chadha leaving the seat after being elected to the Rajya Sabha recently.

Chadha was the MLA from the Rajinder Nagar Assembly seat. Counting of votes will take place on June 26, and poll authorities here are hopeful that that turnout in this bypoll will exceed the voting percentage recorded in the 2020 election.

In the 2020 polls, the voter turnout in Rajinder Nagar was 58.27 per cent -- 58.09 per cent male voters and 58.5 per cent female voters. In addition to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress candidates, there are three others from unrecognised parties and eight Independent nominees.

A total of 190 polling stations, including 13 auxiliary ones, have been set up at 21 locations, equipped with all necessary facilities and amenities for differently-abled people too such as ramps and drinking water, besides creches for mothers if they come to vote with their children. Of the total number of eligible voters for the bypoll, 92,221 are male, 72,473 female and four belong to the third gender.

Also, 1,899 voters in this assembly seat are in the 18-19 age group.

The number of eligible voters in the Rajinder Nagar assembly seat for the 2022 bypoll is less than the count of electors in this assembly seat that was for the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, as death and migration of voters have been factored in.

AAP, which enjoys a reigning popularity in this key assembly constituency, has fielded Durgesh Pathak while BJP has fronted Rajesh Bhatia as its candidate. Prem Lata is the Congress nominee. While AAP has exuded confidence that it will register a "record victory" in the bypoll and hand out a crushing defeat to the BJP, the saffron party is hopeful of westing the seat from the ruling party that had bagged 62 of the 70 seats in the 2020 Delhi polls.

From setting up specialised polling stations, including an all-women one, to deployment of security personnel and running awareness campaigns, the Delhi CEO office has made all preparations to ensure that the bypoll is held in an inclusive, accessible and fair manner.

According to the residents of the area, the AAP government's liquor policy and water shortage are among the main issues in the bypoll. The bypoll is taking place amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in the national capital. All safety norms will be followed, and hand sanitisers and masks would also be kept at all booths, in case some has forgot to bring them, officials said.

"For visually-impaired voters, facilities have been created too. The EVM machines will have Braille markings and also on dummy ballot to allow a voter with visual impairment to cast his or her vote independently. Even voters slip will have Braille markings to facilitate them," Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh had earlier said. There are 591 electors, who are persons with disability, 39 voters are visually impaired, 64 are service voters, and 2,486 voters who are in the age group of 80 and above.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Guwahati (Assam) [India], June 23 (ANI): Maharashtra Minister Eknath Shinde, who was on Thursday elected leader by rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, made a veiled reference to BJP and said "a big national party" has told him that his decision was "historic" and they will be present whenever he needs them.

He also said the MLAs who are in a Guwahati hotel will be victorious in the end.

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Read @ANI Story |  Latest Tweet by ANI Digital.

Shinde was elected leader at a meeting of rebel MLAs at the Guwahati hotel where they are staying.

The meeting also unanimously decided to authorise Shinde to take decision about the future course of action.

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In a video released by the Shinde camp today, he is heard saying that they will be together in any situation and face everything together.

"We will be together in every situation. We will face everything with full unity. We will end up victorious in the end," he said.

"As you all have said that they (BJP) are a national party and a 'mahashakti'... All saw what happened to Pakistan...They have told me that the decision I have taken is historic and they are backing us. They would not us lag behind in anything. They will support us if there is a need and this will be felt whenever such a situation arises," Shinde added.

The political crisis in Maharashtra has intensified with three more Shiv Sena MLAs joining the rebel group of MLAs led Eknath Shinde in Guwahati on Thursday. They reached at a hotel in Guwahati where other MLAs are campaigning. Last night four more MLAs joined Shinde in Guwahati. The rebel MLAs had earlier adopted a resolution with signatures of 34 legislators stating that Eknath Shinde continues to be the leader. The resolution was sent to state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

BJP had said on Wednesday Maharashtra crisis is Shiv Sena's internal matter and the party has nothing to do with it.

Union Minister Raosaheb Patil Danve had said that the BJP is not staking claim to form a government in Maharashtra.

Danve, who had met party leader Devendra Fadnavis, had also told the media that no Shiv Sena MLA is in touch with the party.

"We haven't spoken to Eknath Shinde. This is Shiv Sena's internal matter. BJP has nothing to do with this. We're not staking claim to form the government," Danve said.

Amid the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party leader Jayant Patil on Thursday said his party is "firmly standing with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray". "We will stand firmly with CM Uddhav Thackeray Ji till the end. We will try our best to save this government," Patil said.

Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde has claimed the support of 42 MLAs. (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, June 23: Maharashtra Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jayant Patil on Thursday made it categorically clear that if the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra falls the NCP will prefer to sit in Opposition. His statement comes after the NCP meeting was held at party chief Sharad Pawar's residence today.

Amid political instability in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, the NCP leader said Sharad Pawar has asked party leaders to do everything that needs to be done to ensure that the government remains. Also Read | Eknath Shindes Removal as Shiv Sena Group Leader in Maharashtra Assembly Valid, Says Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal.

"We had a meeting at the residence of Sharad Pawar. An assessment of incidents in the last three-four days was done. Pawar sahib told us that we should do everything that needs to be done to ensure that the government remains. We will stand with Uddhav Thackeray, with this Govt," said Patil.

He further said that the Chief Ministerial post has been given to Shiv Sena and it is their internal decision whom they want to give it to. "Chief Ministerial post has been given to Shiv Sena, it's their internal decision whom they want to give it to. If the government stays we will be in power, if the government goes we will sit in Opposition," he added as he asserted that NCP won't join hands with any other party.

Taking a dig at Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde, who is currently campaigning in Assam's Guwahati along with 40 MLAs, Patil said, "I don't think that to form government in one state, you can show your strength in another state. He (rebel Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde) has to come here to show his MLAs to Governor...thereafter Governor will take the necessary decision."

On being asked about the floor test, he said that the situation has not reached there. "I don't think the Floor Test stage has been reached. Whatever stage we reach, we will speak about it then," said Patil. He further informed that he has invited all the NCP MLAs for a meeting to brief them on the ongoing developments.

"At 5 pm today, I have invited all our MLAs for a meeting to brief them on the ongoing developments. Our MPs and organisation chief (Sharad Pawar) will be there too. Meeting of NCP MLAs will be held at YB Chavan Centre, Mumbai today," he added.

Meanwhile, the poster of Shiv Sen MLA Sada Sarvankar, who is currently camping in Guwahati with rebel party leader Eknath Shinde, is smeared with ink, word 'traitor' is written on the poster in his constituency in the city.

On the other hand, BJP had put up a poster, which reads "Goddess Mauli, may your blessings continue to be upon us and Devendra ji come to offer prayers to you in Pandharpur, after becoming the CM." However, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had claimed he is in touch with 20 MLAs from the Eknath Shinde camp in Guwahati.

Amid political instability in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, Raut further claimed that the party is still strong and that the rebels are not true "bhakts" (devotees) of Bal Thackeray adding that everyone will see when the floor test happens.

Notably, a total of 42 Maharashtra MLAs are present with Eknath Shinde at Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati, Assam. This includes 34 MLAs from Shiv Sena and eight Independent MLAs, informed sources.

Moreover, a resolution passed by the Shiv Sena Legislature Party carrying signatures of 34 MLAs that rebel leader Eknath Shinde continues to be the leader, has been sent to the state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

Additionally, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray left his official residence 'Varsha' along with his family members on Wednesday hours after he expressed his readiness to step down if rebel MLAs returned to Mumbai and made such a demand.

Shiv Sena workers and supporters showered petals and raised slogans in support of Thackeray when he left with his family from his official residence 'Versha Bungalow', last night amid political instability in the state.

Following the political crisis, Shiv Sena had removed Eknath Shinde as the party's legislative party leader. However, the rebels have hit back with the resolution.

The resolution said that Shiv Sena's ideology has been compromised in the past two years. They also expressed their dissatisfaction with "corruption in government," referring to Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, who are currently in jail.

"Bharat Gogawale has been appointed as the Chief Whip of Shiv Sena Legislative Party. So, the order issued by Sunil Prabhu, regarding the Legislative Party meeting this evening is illegal," Eknath Shinde had said.

Earlier, Thackeray addressed the people of the state via Facebook and said he was willing to give his resignation to party MLAs who can take it to Raj Bhavan.

Noting that a section of party MLAs was gunning for his ouster, he said instead of going to Surat, they could have conveyed their feelings to him. Thackeray said it is a matter of shame for him if "even a single MLA" was against him.

"If any MLA wants me to not continue as the CM, I am ready to take all my belongings from Varsha Bungalow (official residence of the CM) to Matoshri," Thackeray said.

"I am ready to give my resignation to the MLAs, they should come here and take my resignation to Raj Bhavan. I am ready to leave the post of Shiv Sena party head also, not on the saying of others but my workers," he added.

Raut also expressed confidence of Shiv Sena sailing through the crisis. However, the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs have said that there is enormous discontent amongst the party workers for forming the government with NCP and Indian National Congress on account of different ideologies.

(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], June 23 (ANI): Amid the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party leader Jayant Patil on Thursday said his party is "firmly standing with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray" who is battling to retain his office, and said that they will try their best to "save the government".

The remarks came after rebel Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde claimed the support of 42 MLAs with only 13 left in the Uddhav camp.

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"We will stand firmly with CM Uddhav Thackeray Ji till the end. We will try our best to save this government," Patil said.

Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that the party is ready to consider exiting the Maha Vikas Aghadi government consisting of Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena, if this is the will of the MLAs.

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Reacting to Raut's remark, NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said that every party can decide to go on their own paths, however, if people want to go out, they will find some reason for the same.

"If what Sanjay Raut said is correct...if they (Shiv Sena) want to go on that path (exit MVA) then they should talk to our leader NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Nobody can stop them. Every party can go on their own path," he said.

"If some people want to go out, then they'll somehow find a reason to do that...even in governments run by a single party there can be internal tussles, here there are 3 different parties. There could be differences. That doesn't mean govt should be destabilised," Bhujbal added.

Reposing faith in party chief Sharad Pawar, Bhujbal said that they are with him, and they will fight in the opposition if they are not in power.

"We're in Sharad Pawar-led MVA and are with CM Uddhav Thackeray...if at all we aren't in power, we know how to fight while being in opposition," he said.

Earlier today, Raut said, "MLAs should not communicate from Guwahati. They should come back to Mumbai and discuss all this with CM. We are ready to consider exiting out of MVA if this is the will of all MLAs, but for that, they have to come here and discuss it with the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray".

Raut further claimed that 21 MLAs in Guwahati have contacted Shiv Sena and when they return to Mumbai they will be with the party.

"Uddhav Thackeray will come back to Varsha very soon. 21 MLAs in Guwahati have contacted us and when they return to Mumbai, they will be with us," he added.

NCP leader Jayant Patil tweeted, "Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi is a government established for the development and welfare of Maharashtra. We will stand firmly with Uddhavji Thackeray till the end."

Meanwhile, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the central leaders are keeping an eye on the developments in the state.

"Our Maharashtra leader Devendra Fadnavis and all our central leaders are keeping an eye on it. He (Devendra Fadanvis) is capable to take a decision in the interest of the state," he told ANI.Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Thursday tweeted a letter addressed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and captioned it "This is the sentiment of MLAs".

According to the letter, the Shiv Sena leaders don't have access to the chief minister's residence.

"CM never used to be in the Secretariat, instead, he used to be in Matoshree (Thackeray residence). We used to call people around the CM but they never used to attend our calls. We were fed up with all these things and persuaded Eknath Shinde to take this step," the MLA wrote in the letter. (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, Jun 23 (PTI) Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday assured the agro-chemicals industry that he would take up the industry's demand to reduce GST on pesticides to 5 per cent from 18 per cent with the finance minister.

Addressing the 11th Agrochemicals Conference 2022' organised by FICCI, the minister stressed on the need for crop diversification and said farmers should grow more horticulture and costly crops.

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On the industry's demand to reduce GST on pesticides, Tomar said the matter related to this subject is being dealt by the GST Council.

Also Read | Nothing Phone (1) Will Not Be Launched in the US or Canada: Report.

"I will meet and apprise the Finance Minister about your demand," he said.

Tomar said he would take up the issue with the finance ministry on behalf of the industry but a final decision on this would be taken by the GST Council.

The minister was responding to the demand made by FICCI Crop Protection Committee Chairman R G Agarwal that the GST should be reduced to 5 per cent from 18 per cent, as it is in the case of fertilisers. This will bring down the cost and promote usage of crop-protection chemicals.

Tomar also emphasised on making agriculture profitable by increasing production and crop productivity, besides reducing input cost as well as post-harvest crop losses.

He highlighted that the Centre has launched many programmes in the last eight years to boost agriculture sector and double farmers income.

Tomar said the Centre, along with States, is making efforts to provide new technologies to farmers.

The government is in the process to set up 10,000 FPOs (farmers producer organisations) to improve income of farming community, he added.

The minister said the country is self-sufficient in foodgrains production while the government is making efforts to boost oilseeds and pulese output in a mission mode.

He spoke about the need to undertake research in agriculture sector in the field of new seed varieties to improve crop yield.

Talking about fertilisers and pesticides, Tomar said there is a need to promote balanced use of these crop protection products.

He agreed that there is no unjudicious use of fertilisers and pesticides in India but asked the industry to work on alternative products as farmers are also taking interest in organic as well as natural farming.

Tomar said the government and the industry should work together to create awareness among the small and marginal farmers about benefits of agro-chemicals.

The minister said Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) are working in this direction but there is a need to make concerted efforts.

(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, Jun 22 (PTI) Great Eastern Energy Corporation Ltd on Thursday said it has signed an amendment to a petroleum mining lease that will allow it to prospect for shale gas in its Raniganj coal-bed methane (CBM) in West Bengal.

The block is estimated to hold inplace shale gas reserves of 6.63 trillion cubic feet.

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"GEECL, the fully integrated, pioneering Indian coal bed methane (CBM) company, is pleased to announce that it has executed an amendment to its Petroleum Mining Lease (PML) and will now progress with its shale exploration programme," the firm said in a statement.

The lease agreement will enable mining for shale gas in GEECL's existing CBM in Raniganj area in Paschim Burdwan.

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The shale gas mining will bring in an investment of Rs 15,000 crore and will create further ancillary industries and generate thousands of new jobs. It will also boost industrial activity by providing cleaner and cheaper energy and aid the transportation sector growth.

This is in addition to a further investment envisaged in the GEECL's continuing CBM programme of Rs 1,500 crores.

Prashant Modi, Managing Director & CEO of Great Eastern, said: "We are thrilled to achieve this significant milestone by executing an amendment to our PML and will now commence our shale programme. Given the large potential shale gas resource in our Raniganj (South) block of up to 6.63 Tcf of original gas in place, it provides an exciting and excellent growth opportunity for the company."

State-owned GAIL is laying pipeline for evaucation of the fuel to customers.

This, he said, offers the company an ability to deliver additional future production volumes to new customers and markets.

"We will now make plans for the initial core wells in the shale program and, based on the results obtained, we will then progress to a development plan to drill pilot production wells," he said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mangaluru, Jun 23 (PTI) Officials of the Customs department at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) seized gold which was being smuggled by a male passenger.

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The passenger, hailing from Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district, had arrived from Dubai by a private airliner, a customs release said here Thursday.

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The officials seized 24-carat gold weighing 364.5 gm, valued at Rs 18,95,400 from the passenger on Wednesday.

He had tried to smuggle the gold in the paste form packed in a paper and plastic packet which was concealed inside the stitched pocket of ladies' undergarments carried in a carton box, the release said.

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New Delhi, Jun 23 (PTI) The government is considering transferring the administration of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988 from the finance ministry to Ministry of Home Affairs to bring all issues related to narcotics under one department, sources said.

Currently, while the home ministry governs the Narcotics Control Bureau, the Department of Revenue (DoR) in the finance ministry administers the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act of 1985 and the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1988.

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Transfer of administration of the two Acts from DoR to MHA is under deliberation, two sources briefed on the matter said.

E-mails sent to Ministry of Finance and MHA for comments remained unanswered.

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The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is a central law enforcement and intelligence agency that has been tasked with combating drug trafficking and the use of illegal substances under the provisions of the NDPS Act.

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, commonly referred to as the NDPS Act, prohibits a person from the production/manufacturing/cultivation, possession, sale, purchase transport, storage, and/or consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance.

Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PITNDPS) Act, 1988 provides for detention in certain cases for the purpose of preventing illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

Sources said the transfer was being considered under the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961.

According to the Rules, DoR looks after "all matters relating to international conventions, agreements, protocols, etc., in respect of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals" except those allocated to MHA.

It has a Narcotics Department but the Narcotics Control Bureau is with MHA.

The MHA looks after "all matters relating to Narcotics Control Bureau set up under the provisions of Section 4(3) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and coordination of all measures for preventing and combating abuse of and illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances."

It also looks at "all matters relating to international conventions, agreements, protocols, etc., in respect of illicit traffic in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals which the Ministry of Home Affairs and organizations under it are authorized to deal with except matters allocated to the Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue."

Transferring administration of the NDPS Act and PITNDPS to MHA will lead to a single command chain and unification of all matters related to narcotics, sources said.

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Mumbai, Jun 23 (PTI) The Reserve Bank on Thursday proposed norms for the outsourcing of IT services to ring-fence banks and other regulated entities from financial, operational and reputational risks.

Regulated entities (REs) will not require prior approval from the central bank for the outsourcing of IT and IT-enabled services, according to RBI's draft Master Direction on Outsourcing of Information Technology (IT) Services.

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"The underlying principle of these Directions is that the RE should ensure that outsourcing arrangements neither diminish its ability to fulfil its obligations to customers nor impede effective supervision by the supervising authority," said the draft, on which the RBI has invited comments from stakeholders by July 22.

Banks, payment banks, cooperative banks, credit information companies, NBFCs and other regulated entities, would be required to put in place a comprehensive board-approved IT outsourcing policy.

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"Outsourcing of any activity of the RE shall not diminish its obligations as also of its Board and senior management, who shall be ultimately responsible for the outsourced activity.

"RE shall take steps to ensure that the service provider employs the same high standard of care in performing the services as would have been employed by the RE if the same activity was not outsourced," the draft said.

The draft specifies the role of the board and senior management, besides norms pertaining to the usage of cloud computing services and outsourcing of the Security Operations Center (SOC).

The RBI has also proposed that the REs should set up a robust grievance redressal mechanism, "which in no way shall be compromised on account of outsourcing", meaning responsibility for redressal of customers' grievances related to outsourced services would rest with them.

As per the draft, a risk management framework for the outsourcing of IT services should comprehensively deal with the processes and responsibilities for the identification, measurement, mitigation/ management and reporting of risks associated with outsourcing.

Entities regulated by the RBI should also require their service providers to develop and establish a robust framework for documenting, maintaining and testing Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP).

Also, a RE could outsource any IT activity/IT-enabled service within its business group/ conglomerate, provided that such an arrangement is backed by the Board-approved policy and appropriate service level arrangements/ agreements with its group entities are in place, the draft said.

It has also proposed additional requirements for cross-border outsourcing.

In February this year, the RBI had proposed to issue a guideline on outsourcing.

The financial system is seeing extensive leveraging and outsourcing of critical IT services by regulated entities to get easier access to newer technologies through financial technology players to improve efficiencies, it had said.

These arrangements expose them to significant financial, operational and reputational risks.

Similarly, the increasing dependence of customers on digital channels to avail banking services makes it imperative for regulated entities to focus on operational resilience, the central bank had said.

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Washington [US], June 23 (ANI): According to a new study, middle-aged women with low levels of estrogen and progesterone are more likely to snore and to report symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea.

The findings were published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Kai Triebner of the University of Bergen, Norway, and colleagues.

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The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea--in which breathing stops and starts during sleep--is known to be higher in women after menopause. However, no population-based study has previously examined whether this is the result of altered sex hormone levels.

In the new study, the researchers analyzed data from 774 women aged 40 to 67 in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey, conducted in seven countries between 2010 and 2012. Women in the study participated in questionnaires on their respiratory health, women's health factors, lifestyle and sleep, and gave blood samples for hormone analysis.

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551 of the women in the study (71.2 per cent) had been told they snored, and 411 of those women also reported other symptoms of sleep apnea. Among all women, a doubling of serum concentrations of estrone was associated with 19 per cent decreased odds of snoring. A doubling of progesterone levels was associated with 9 per cent decreased odds of snoring.

Among snorers, a doubling of the concentrations of three estrogens (17b-estradiol, estrone and estrone 3-sulfate) was associated with 17 per cent to 23 per cent decreased odds of women having been told they breathe irregularly during sleep. A doubling of progesterone concentration, among snorers, was associated with 12 per cent decreased odds of having woken with a choking sensation in the previous year.

The authors conclude that adjusting female sex hormones might be a strategy to decrease the high prevalence and associated morbidity of obstructive sleep apnea, but say that further longitudinal studies are required to confirm the findings.

The authors add: "Female sex hormones are crucial for health and disease, and especially after menopause the hormone status should be considered to develop holistic treatment strategies." (ANI)

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New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI): At the 14th BRICS summit which is to be hosted by China in a virtual mode on 23-24 June, the member nations will review the current global issues and will reach key agreements, said Russian Embassy in India on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the 14th BRICS summit in a virtual mode. "At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be attending the 14th BRICS Summit hosted by China in virtual mode on 23-24 June 2022. This includes a High-Level Dialogue on Global Development with guest countries on June 24," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

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The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa will discuss the status of diverse political, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation, the Embassy said.

"There are also plans to review current international and regional issues. The #BRICS summit's final Declaration will formalise key agreements. On June 24, Vladimir #Putin will also speak at a 'BRICS Plus' session involving the leaders of several invited states," it added.

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On May 23, A BRICS Plus virtual conference was held as part of the main meeting with ministers from countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Argentina, Nigeria, Senegal, and Thailand, according to reports.BRICS Plus is a new phase in the expansion of BRICS - already known for its combined economic growth potential - that aims to welcome more countries and enhance economic conditions.

Discussions during the 14th BRICS Summit are expected to cover intra-BRICS cooperation in areas such as counter-terrorism, trade, health, traditional medicine, environment, S&T and innovation, agriculture, technical and vocational education & training, and MSMEs, the MEA said in an official statement.

The summit will host a High-Level Dialogue on Global Development with guest countries on June 24. BRICS has become a platform for discussing and deliberating on issues of common concern for all developing countries. BRICS countries have regularly called for reform of the multilateral system in order to make it more representative and inclusive.

The discussions are also likely on issues like reform of the multilateral system, combating the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic recovery, amongst others. The Summit will be held in virtual format under the theme of "Foster High-quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development."

BRICS is a multilateral forum consisting of five major emerging economies of the world, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. (ANI)

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Washington, Jun 23 (AP) The Jan 6 committee will hear from former Justice Department officials who faced down a relentless pressure campaign from Donald Trump over the 2020 presidential election results while suppressing a bizarre challenge from within their own ranks.

The hearing Thursday will bring attention to a memorably turbulent stretch at the department as Trump in his final days in office sought to bend to his will a law enforcement agency that has long cherished its independence from the White House.

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The testimony is aimed at showing how Trump not only relied on outside advisers to press his election fraud claims, but also tried to leverage the powers of federal executive branch agencies.

The witnesses will include Jeffrey Rosen, who was acting attorney general during the Jan 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol. Three days earlier, Rosen was part of a tense Oval Office showdown in which Trump contemplated replacing him with a lower-level official, Jeffrey Clark, who wanted to champion Trump's claims of election fraud.

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Two other former department officials, Rosen's top deputy, Richard Donoghue, and Steven Engel, are also scheduled to testify. Both warned Trump at the White House meeting that they'd resign, and that many of the department's lawyers would follow, if he replaced Rosen with Clark.

You could have a situation here, within 24 hours, you have hundreds of people resigning from the Justice Department, Donoghue has said he told Trump. Is that good for anyone? Is it good for the department? Is it good for the country? Is it good for you. It's not.

Only then did Trump relent. The night, and later his administration, ended with Rosen still in power.

The hearing is the fifth this month by the committee investigating the run-up to the insurrection at the Capitol, when Trump loyalists stormed the building as lawmakers were certifying the results of the election won by Joe Biden.

Witnesses have included police officers attacked at the Capitol as well as lawyers, a television executive and local election officials who all resisted demands to alter results in Trump's favor.

The committee last week presented videotaped depositions of former Attorney General William Barr, who castigated Trump's fraud claims as bull, bogus and idiotic and resigned after failing to convince the president of that.

Thursday's hearing will focus on what happened next as Rosen, Barr's top deputy, took over the department and found himself immediately besieged by Trump's demands for Justice Department action.

In one phone conversation, according to handwritten notes taken by Donoghue and made public by lawmakers last year, Trump directed to Rosen to Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican Congressmen."

Around that time, Trump was introduced by a Republican congressman, Rep Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, to Clark, who'd joined the department in 2018 as its chief environmental lawyer and was later appointed to run its civil division. Clark was earlier subpoenaed by the committee to give a deposition but will not be among the witnesses Thursday.

Clark, according to statements from other Justice Department officials, met with Trump despite being ordered not to by bosses at the department and presented himself as eager to aid the president's efforts to challenge the election results.

A report released last year by the Senate Judiciary Committee that painted Clark as a relentless advocate for Trump included a draft letter pushing Georgia officials to convene a special legislative session to reconsider the election results.

Clark wanted the letter sent, but superiors at the Justice Department refused.

The situation came to a head on Jan 3, 2021, a Sunday, when Clark informed Rosen in a private meeting at the Justice Department that Trump wanted to replace him with Clark as acting attorney general.

Rosen, according to the Senate report, responded that there was no universe I could imagine in which that would ever happen" and that he would not accept being fired by a subordinate.

Rosen then contacted the White House to request a meeting. That night, Rosen, Donoghue and Engel, along with Clark, gathered with Trump and top White House lawyers for a contentious, hours-long Oval Office meeting about whether the president should follow through with his plans for a radical leadership change at the department.

According to testimony given by Rosen, Trump opened the meeting by saying, One thing we know is you, Rosen, aren't going to do anything to overturn the election.

Donoghue and Engel made clear to Trump that they and large numbers of other Justice Department officials would resign if Trump fired Rosen. White House lawyers said the same. Pat Cipollone, then the White House counsel, at one point said the letter that Clark wanted to send was a murder-suicide pact.

Steve Engel at one point said, Jeff Clark will be leading a graveyard. And what are you going to get done with a graveyard, that there would be such an exodus of the leadership, Donoghue told the Senate Judiciary Committee. So it was very strongly worded to the president that that would happen.

Donoghue also sought to dissuade Trump from believing that Clark had the legal background to do as the president wished since he was not a criminal prosecutor at the department.

And he kind of retorted by saying, 'Well, I've done a lot of very complicated appeals and civil litigation, environmental litigation, and things like that,' Donoghue said. And I said, 'That's right. You're an environmental lawyer. How about you go back to your office, and we'll call you when there's an oil spill.' (AP)

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Moscow, Jun 23 (PTI) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said the need for the BRICS nations to work jointly to build a multipolar world has become crucial as never before, as he slammed the "thoughtless and selfish actions" of certain states that has hurt the global economy, in an apparent reference to the US and its Western allies.

In his address to the 14th BRICS summit via video link, Putin also pointed out that the five countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - can effectively work together to ensure international stability and security, sustainable growth and prosperity and the well-being of their people.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa took part in the annual summit hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"We have repeatedly said that only together we can solve such problems as conflict resolution, combating terrorism, organised crime, including the criminal use of new technologies, combating climate change, and the spread of dangerous infections, Putin stressed.

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The Russian president said that the West's selfish attempts to blame the entire world for its own mistakes in macroeconomics led to a crisis which can be surmounted only with honest and mutually beneficial cooperation.

"Only on the basis of honest and mutually beneficial cooperation it is possible to seek the way out of this crisis situation that has shaped in the global economy due to the thoughtless and selfish actions of certain states who, using financial mechanisms, essentially shift the blame for their own mistakes in the macroeconomic policy to the entire world, he emphasised.

Putin ordered a "special military operation" against Ukraine on February 24. The US-led Western nations have imposed crippling sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

Putin said that now, like never before, the leadership of BRICS countries is needed in order to develop a unifying positive policy for the shaping of a truly multipolar system of intergovernmental relations based on the universally recognised norms of international law and the key principles of the UN Charter.

"I will emphasise: Russia is ready to continue developing close multifaceted interaction with all the partners in the union and contribute to the enhancement of its role in international affairs, he added.

"We are certain that the leadership of the BRICS countries in formulating a unifying and positive course towards building a truly multi-polar system of interstate relations, based on the universally recognized norms of international law and key principles of the UN Charter is crucial as never before, Putin said.

He noted that the BRICS countries are deepening cooperation on the entire range of issues on the global and regional agenda. "And every year the authority of the BRICS and its influence on the global stage is steadily increasing, he added.

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Beijing, Jun 23 (PTI) The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) on Thursday said they will continue to discuss the possibility of admitting new countries to the five-nation grouping on the basis of "full consultation and consensus."

"We note with satisfaction the progress made in BRICS institutional development and stress that BRICS cooperation needs to embrace changes and keep abreast with the times," a declaration issued at the end of a China-hosted virtual summit of the five-nation bloc said.

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The virtual summit was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

"We shall continue to set clear priorities in our wide-ranging cooperation, on the basis of consensus, and make our strategic partnership more efficient, practical and results-oriented," the declaration said.

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"We support promoting discussions among BRICS members on BRICS expansion process. We stress the need to clarify the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures for this expansion process through Sherpas' channel on the basis of full consultation and consensus," it said.

The five leaders emphasised the efforts of extending cooperation to other Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDCs) and support further promoting the BRICS Outreach and BRICS Plus Cooperation in line with the updated terms of reference adopted by the BRICS Sherpas in 2021 through inclusive and equal-footed and flexible practices and initiatives.

The declaration also praised China's Chairship for hosting a dialogue session under the theme Increased Role of Emerging Markets and Developing Countries in Global Governance' during the Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations on May 19, 2022.

Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi chaired the Dialogue of Foreign Ministers Between BRICS and Emerging Markets and Developing Countries in a virtual format.

It was attended by foreign ministers from BRICS countries, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria, Senegal and representatives of the foreign ministers of the UAE and Thailand.

Brazil, Russia, India and China also extended full support to South Africa for its BRICS Chairship in 2023 and the holding of the next BRICS Summit, the declaration said. PTI

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Beijing [China], June 23 (ANI): India's common interests far outweigh their differences, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the Indian ambassador to China Pradeep Kumar Rawat on Wednesday.

Wang Yi met ambassador Rawat who assumed charge of India's top office in Beijing in March this year.

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The Chinese foreign minister said the two sides should support rather than undermine each other, strengthen cooperation rather than guard against each other, and enhance mutual trust rather than be suspicious of each other, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said the two sides should meet each other halfway to push bilateral relations back onto the track of stable and healthy development at an early date.

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China's top diplomat said both sides should jointly address various global challenges, and safeguard the common interests of the two countries as well as the vast number of developing countries.

He called on both sides to adhere to the important strategic consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, insist on placing the border issue in a proper position within bilateral ties, and seek solutions through dialogue and consultation.

China and India should also give full play to their traditional advantages in people-to-people and cultural exchanges, continuously expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and work together to create a better future for mankind, he added.

India's ties with China deteriorated after the Chinese side undertook several attempts unilaterally to alter the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector April-May 2020. These acts seriously disturbed the peace and tranquillity along the LAC in the Western Sector.

After several rounds of talks, the two sides have agreed to manage their differences and not allow differences on any issue to become disputes. Further, the two sides agreed that pending the final settlement of the boundary question, maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is an essential basis for the overall development of the bilateral relationship.

Talks between Wang Yi and ambassador Rawat came on the same day as Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually attended the BRICS Business Forum.

The Prime Minister on Wednesday underlined the key role of BRICS countries amid the global focus on post covid recovery.

"BRICS was established with the belief that this group of emerging economies could emerge as engines of global growth. Today, when the world is focusing on post covid recovery, the role of BRICS countries will be very important," said PM Modi in a recorded keynote speech.

The Prime Minister noted that this year India is expecting 7.5 per cent growth and added that transformative changes are taking place in every sector of emerging New India.

He will be attending the 14th BRICS summit in a virtual mode on June 23-24. (ANI)

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Singapore, June 23: A Malaysian of Indian origin was on Wednesday sentenced to seven months and three weeks' jail for terrorizing his girlfriend by beating her, smashing her phone after swallowing a SIM card, tearing up her passport and choking her with his hand.

Paartiban Maniam's sentence was backdated to March 12 when he was arrested and remanded, TODAY newspaper reported.

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The 30-year-old Malaysian pleaded guilty to two charges each of criminal intimidation, committing mischief and causing hurt to his partner.

He was intoxicated on all these occasions.

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District Judge James Elisha Lee took into consideration six other similar charges for sentencing purposes.

The court heard that Paartiban dated his 38-year-old colleague for about two to three years. They lived together with her uncle in Singapore from December last year until January 23, when he first assaulted her.

She ended the relationship around early March.

Paartiban had gone out for drinks with his friends on January 23 before getting into a dispute with the victim over the phone. When he got home, he accused her of being with another man and verbally abused her.

When her uncle took them down to the void deck of the housing block where he lived in order to settle matters, Paartiban slapped and punched his girlfriend. The older man had to tell him to stop.

Back at the uncle's flat, Paartiban placed a kitchen knife close to his girlfriend's neck, threatening to kill her. He later struck her head with a wooden kitchen towel holder.

Upset, she wrestled the holder from him and hit him with it, too. Her uncle eventually called the police.

Paartiban was arrested before being released on police bail. About a month later, on Febuary 28, Paartiban had moved out of the flat but returned.

When his girlfriend refused to let him in, he dislodged the metal gate at the main door by pulling it away from the wall forcefully. He then entered the flat, snatched her phone away and punched her face.

During their argument, he pointed a fruit knife at her chest and said in Tamil that he would definitely kill her.

He later pointed a pair of scissors at her abdomen area, threatening once again to kill her. She managed to calm him down and he put the scissors down before punching her shoulder.

Afraid of what he would do, she complied with his instructions to pack her belongings and leave with him.

All this time, he continued to shout at her, punched her shoulder again, then tore up her Malaysian passport, according to TODAY's report.

Upon getting to the ground floor of the block, she cooked up an excuse, walked away and asked a passer-by to call the police for her.

Paartiban was arrested and released on police bail once more.

On March 11, he asked her to return his clothes to him.

He took her to a multi-storey car park and said that he wanted to kill her that very day.

She refused to get into a taxi that he had hailed, so he took her to a nearby bench.

When she sat on the bench, he fished a metal bottle cap from his pocket, bit it to sharpen it, and placed it at her neck.

He then checked her phone, said that she had called other men the previous day, swallowed her SIM card and smashed the phone against the bench several times before pocketing it. He also swung a bottle of alcohol towards her head but missed.

He proceeded to drink the alcoholic beverage and smashed the bottle before placing it near her neck. He also said that he would kill her that same day before killing himself.

He then picked up some shards from the bottle and asked her to follow him.

As she was drinking some water, he put his arm around her neck and choked her with his hand. A police patrol car then passed them, prompting him to leave.

She then approached the police for assistance.

The prosecution sought seven to 10 months' jail for Paartiban.

For criminal intimidation, he could have been jailed for up to two years or fined, or both.

For voluntarily causing hurt, he could have been jailed for up to three years or fined up to SGD5,000, or both. And for committing mischief, he could have been jailed for up to two years or fined, or both.

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Ankara (Turkey), Jun 23 (AP) Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday thanked Turkish authorities for their cooperation in allegedly foiling attacks against Israeli citizens in Turkey, and warned Israel would not "sit idly by' in the face of threats to its citizens from Iran.

Lapid made the comments after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, as the two countries press ahead with efforts to repair ties that have been strained over Turkey's strong support for the Palestinians.

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Earlier this month, Israel issued a warning for its citizens to avoid travel to Turkey and urging Israelis in Turkey to leave immediately. The warning said Israeli citizens could be targets of Iranian attacks.

Turkish media reports said authorities had detained five Iranians suspected of planning attacks on Israelis in Istanbul.

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In recent weeks, the lives of Israeli citizens have been saved thanks to security and diplomatic cooperation between Israel and (Turkey), Lapid said. We are full of appreciation for the Turkish government for this professional and coordinated activity.

Lapid continued: For its part, Israel won't sit idly by when there are attempts to harm its citizens in Israel and around the world. Our immediate goal is to bring about calm that will enable us to change the travel warning to (Turkey).

The travel warning angered Turkey, whose economy depends on tourism to a large extent. Ankara responded by issuing a statement that said Turkey was a safe country.

Standing next to Lapid, Cavusoglu said Turkey cannot permit these kinds of incidents taking place in our country.

We have delivered the necessary messages, he said, without elaborating.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said that a joint operation with Turkey succeeded in thwarting several attacks and resulted in the arrest of several suspected operatives on Turkish soil in recent days.

Hurriyet newspaper reported on Thursday that Turkish authorities detained five Iranian nationals on Wednesday suspected of involvement in an alleged plot to assassinate Israeli citizens in Istanbul.

Police seized two pistols and two silencers in searches conducted in houses and hotels where the suspects were staying, according to the report.

Lapid's visit comes amid political turmoil in Israel, where Bennett's fragile, year-old government decided this week to dissolve parliament, triggering new elections which are set to take place in the fall.

Under the agreement that forged Bennett's coalition government, Lapid is expected in the coming days to become caretaker prime minister until a new government is cobbled together after the elections.

The developments deepen a political crisis in Israel, which has held four elections since 2019, each largely a referendum over former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rule.

Netanyahu hopes to return to power in the upcoming vote, but polls show that as in previous rounds it will unlikely produce a clear winner.

Turkey, beset by economic troubles, has been trying to end its international isolation by normalising ties with several countries in the Mideast, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Turkey and Israel were once close allies, but relations grew tense under Erdogan, who is a vocal critic of Israel's policies toward the Palestinians. Turkey's embrace of the Islamic militant group Hamas, has angered Israel.

The countries withdrew their ambassadors in 2010 after Israeli forces stormed a humanitarian flotilla bound for Gaza, which has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power there in 2007.

Nine Turkish activists were killed. Israel apologized to Turkey for the deaths under a US-brokered agreement, but reconciliation efforts stalled.

Turkey recalled its ambassador in 2018 after the United States recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, prompting Israel to respond in kind. The two countries have not reappointed their ambassadors.

The two ministers said on Thursday that they had agreed to hold discussions on re-appointing ambassadors.

The latest rapprochement has been led by Israel's mostly ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, who has held several telephone calls with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and visited Turkey in March, becoming the first Israeli leader to do so in 14 years.

Cavusoglu visited Israel last month. It was first official visit to Israel by a Turkish official in 15 years. (AP)

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Kigali (Rwanda), Jun 23 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday met his counterparts from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Canada, Tanzania and Rwanda on the sidelines of the Commonwealth summit beginning here on Friday.

Jaishankar arrived here on Wednesday on a four-day visit to attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). He will be representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the summit of the 54-nation bloc on June 24-25.

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"Good to catch up with colleagues on @CHOGM2022 sidelines. Here with FM of Tanzania Liberata Mulamula, FM of Canada @melaniejoly, FM G. L. Peiris of Sri Lanka and FM Dr. AK Abdul Momen of Bangladesh," Jaishankar tweeted as he attended the pre-CHOGM foreign ministers' meeting.

Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and exchanged views on international issues, including the Commonwealth, Ukraine conflict and the Indo-Pacific.

Also Read | Indian Air Force Team Arrives in Egypt To Participate in Tactical Leadership Programme With Egyptian Air Force.

"An open & productive conversation with Canadian FM @melaniejoly. Agreed to work more closely to advance our important bilateral relationship. Exchanged views on international issues including the Commonwealth, Ukraine conflict & the Indo-Pacific. Look forward to being in touch," Jaishankar tweeted.

Earlier he held talks with his Rwandan counterpart Vincent Biruta during which they discussed the agenda of the Commonwealth summit beginning Friday and exchanged perspectives on regional developments.

"Began the day by meeting my host counterpart FM @Vbiruta of Rwanda. Reviewed our bilateral cooperation and follow up to PM @narendramodi's 2018 visit. Discussed the Commonwealth agenda and wished Rwanda a successful Summit. Exchanged perspectives on regional developments," Jaishankar tweeted on Thursday.

The theme of 26th CHOGM Summit is: "Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming".

The CHOGM had earlier been postponed twice due to COVID-19 pandemic. On Wednesday, Jaishankar met Kenya's Cabinet Secretary of Foriegn Affairs Raychelle Omamo and discussed the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and bilateral ties.

"So nice to meet my friend Raychelle Omamo of Kenya. Our discussions focused on the impact of the Ukraine conflict on food,fuel, and fertilizer security for the Global South," Jaishankar tweeted.

"Reaffirmed our ongoing cooperation in the UN Security Council," he wrote. Jaishankar also met his counterpart from Belize. "Glad to catch up with FM Eamon Courtenay of Belize on #CHOGM2022 sidelines in Rwanda," he tweeted.

"Welcomed the Center of Engineering constructed with Indian support. India will continue to provide vaccines in the global fight against the pandemic," Jaishankar tweeted.

The leaders of the Commonwealth member states are scheduled to deliberate on issues of contemporary relevance, including global challenges like climate change, food security, health issues, and likely to adopt a number of documents including the Kigali declaration on child care and protection reform, declaration on sustainable urbanisation and commonwealth living lands charter.

(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], June 23 (ANI): Hitting out at the government, Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said that the then opposition coalition was "afraid" that he would appoint former ISI chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed as the next chief of the army staff, local media reported.

"They were afraid that I wanted to appoint Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed. They feared that if that would have happened then it would shatter their future," the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman said. Clarifying his stance, Imran Khan said, "I never thought of appointing someone as army chief. I have never taken a decision that is not based on merit."

Also Read | Chinese President Xi Jinping Hits Out at US, EU Sanctions Against Russia at BRICS Business Forum.

He made these remarks during a seminar on "Regime Change Conspiracy and Pakistan's Destabilization".

Furthermore speaking on the alleged corruption by the incumbent government, the ousted prime minister Imran Khan said that the government is "afraid of the army and the Inter-Services Intelligence" as they know that their "corruption" will be caught at some point, reported Geo News.

Also Read | Denmark To Offer 4th COVID-19 Vaccine Dose in Autumn, Says PM Mette Frederiksen.

"Imran Khan does not want to save his (Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif) corruption, he (Imran Khan) does not want to appoint his army chief," said the PTI leader during the seminar. Khan said that the incumbent rulers claim that he wanted to appoint an army chief of his choice.

Earlier, Faiz Hameed was removed as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and appointed as the Peshawar Corps Commander. Hameed is said to have been handling military and diplomatic roles and also fighting Imran Khan's political opponents, particularly the family of exiled three-time prime minister, Nawaz Sharif.

Imran Khan chided the incumbent rulers for allegedly "murdering the institutions" and appointing "their people" to every institution.

Former finance minister Shaukat Tarin, while talking to the participants of the seminar, said that the government was formed not for providing relief to the people, but to get the rulers "freedom from NAB (National Accountability Bureau)."

In another scathing attack on the Shehbaz Sharif-led government, Tarin said that the government is so "incompetent" that later this month, a mini-budget is expected -- after it reaches an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, as per the media portal.

Notably, on Tuesday night, Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) evolved a broader agreement on the budget 2022-23 to revise upward the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) target and slash down the expenditures to achieve a revenue surplus in the next fiscal year. They are expected to reach an agreement soon.

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail while speaking with a group of journalists said, "We have locked the budget for fiscal year 2022-23 in consultation with the IMF and now the Fund will consult with the State Bank of Pakistan on monetary targets." The minister spoke after having a final round of talks with the IMF Mission Chief Nathan Porter, reported The Express Tribune. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Islamabad, June 23: Cash-strapped Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday warned that the country may witness more difficult times as it struggles to steer itself out of the ongoing economic crisis.

Sharif also said that his government faced an uphill task to revive a stalled assistance program by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due to the broken promises with the global lender by the previous government. Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif Says His 'Speedy Work' Will Frighten Imran Khan.

He made the remarks while addressing his party Senators just a day after his government clinched an understanding with the IMF to put on track the USD 6 billion program which was signed by Prime Minister Imran Khan's government in 2019 but was suspended as the government failed to fulfill the commitments.

Sharif, who came to power in April after Imran Khan's government was toppled through a no-confidence vote, made it a priority to revive the IMF program as it would unlock several avenues to access loans from different sources.

After many meetings and hiccups, the two sides on Tuesday night reached a broader understanding to restore the package, providing a much needed boost to Pakistan's economy.

Sharif said if the previous Khan government had issued with the Fund, it should not have agreed to the terms for the loan, because after inking the deal, it should have been followed.

"The IMF was adamant on us fulfilling all the conditions of the agreementit was a difficult stage and I want to say that more difficulties are to come, he said.

The premier said that the economic situation would not improve overnight once a deal with the IMF was signed. "Will prosperity come overnight after an agreement is signed? Not at all, (but) we have to strengthen our financial position, he said.

He said the government had provided a relief package under which the poor families would get Rs 2,000 per month and more steps would be taken to lighten the economic burden of the poor.

He also announced to address the nation in the next few days to inform the people about the steps taken by the government to improve the economic situation.

Sharif thanked China for the USD 2.3 billion loan but added how long countries like China and Saudi Arabia would come to help. He said Pakistan's fate would change if we mend our ways and bring improvement.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Colombo, Jun 23 (PTI) Four senior Indian government officials, including Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, arrived here on Thursday to meet Sri Lanka's top leadership and discuss and assess the unprecedented economic crisis faced by the island nation.

Sri Lanka has been facing the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948 which has prompted an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and fuel across the island nation.

Also Read | US Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre Leaves Open Possibility of Joe Biden Raising Human Rights Issues With PM Narendra Modi.

Officials from the Indian High Commission said Foreign Secretary Kwatra headed the delegation which includes Dr V Anantha Nageswaran, the chief economic advisor, Ajay Seth Secretary Department of Economic Affairs and Additional Secretary External Affairs Karthik Pandey.

They are here to engage with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe while also having talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and other senior officials.

Also Read | Monkeypox Outbreak in US: Biden Administration Boosts Testing, 142 Cases Confirmed.

On Wednesday, Wickremesinghe in Parliament said that the Indian delegation will arrive in Sri Lanka on Thursday while adding that Delhi had stretched its maximum thus far by providing 4 billion dollars worth of emergency assistance since January this year when the economic crisis came to bite.

The island has faced severe shortages of bare essentials with serpentine queues forming. Wickremesinghe said the Indian assistance was not a charity and Sri Lanka should possess ways and means to pay back.

He was banking on extended credit lines for further purchase of fuel.

The nearly-bankrupt country, with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, had announced in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026. Sri Lanka's total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion.

The Indian credit lines since January this year have provided a lifeline to Sri Lanka amid growing public dissent over the worsening economic conditions.

The Indian delegation coincides with the visit of the IMF delegation who are engaging Colombo for the proposed staff-level agreement which should eventuate with a possible bailout.

Sri Lanka's key need right now was to secure bridging finance until the realisation of the IMF facility, a local official said. India will continue to be a key partner in this endeavour, he added.

(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], June 23 (ANI): The US-EU joint Task Force on European Energy Security met virtually on Wednesday (local time), said the White House in a press release.

The sides denounced Russia's continued "energy coercion of European Union Member States and underscored their continued commitment to reduce dependency on Russian fossil fuels by diversifying Europe's energy supply and taking concrete steps to reduce energy demand through energy efficiency, smart technology deployment and greater use of renewable energy."

Also Read | Chinese President Xi Jinping Hits Out at US, EU Sanctions Against Russia at BRICS Business Forum.

The meeting was convened by co-chairs Amos Hochstein, U.S. Senior Advisor for Energy Security, and Bjorn Seibert, Head of Cabinet of the European Commission President, and under the leadership of Ditte Juul Jorgensen, European Commission Director General for Energy, and Melanie Nakagawa, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Climate and Energy at the National Security Council.

The discussion focused on reviewing progress since the March 25 Joint Statement by President Joe Biden and European Commission president Von der Leyen and charting its next steps.

Also Read | Denmark To Offer 4th COVID-19 Vaccine Dose in Autumn, Says PM Mette Frederiksen.

Notably, the United States and European Commission established a joint Task Force on March 25, 2022, to ensure energy security for Ukraine and Europe and reduce Europe's dependence on Russian fossil fuels.

Biden and Ursula von der Leyen had announced a joint Task Force to strengthen European energy security as Russian President Vladimir Putin wages his war of choice against Ukraine, read a White House release.

"We will continue to collaborate to advance the production and use of clean and renewable hydrogen to displace unabated fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas emissions, which will include both technology and supporting infrastructure," the release had read.

The US and the European Commission, at the time of forming this task force, said that it will engage key stakeholders, including the private sector, and deploy immediate recommendations to reduce overall gas demand by accelerating market deployment of clean energy measures. (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], June 23 (ANI): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Germany to attend the G7 Leaders' Summit set to take place on June 26-28, State Department said in a press release.

"On June 25, Secretary Blinken will travel to Schloss Elmau to join President Biden for the G7 Leaders' Summit. G7 leaders will discuss a range of pressing global issues, including US' unwavering support for a democratic, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine, economic and democratic resilience, tackling the climate crisis, development infrastructure, global health security, and the food and energy crisis caused by Russia's war against Ukraine," it read.

Also Read | Chinese President Xi Jinping Hits Out at US, EU Sanctions Against Russia at BRICS Business Forum.

Prior to attending the G7 leaders' summit, Blinken on June 23 will join foreign ministers for the Berlin Ministerial Conference "Uniting for Global Food Security" on June 24.

During the conference, Blinken will meet with the participants to advance global initiatives to address food insecurity, stemming from both "Russia's brutal, unprovoked war against Ukraine" and the continued challenges posed by climate change, COVID-19 pandemic, other conflicts, and supply chain challenges.

Also Read | Denmark To Offer 4th COVID-19 Vaccine Dose in Autumn, Says PM Mette Frederiksen.

The Secretary will also travel to Madrid, Spain, for the June 29-30 NATO Summit. At the NATO Summit, Allied leaders will endorse a new Strategic Concept to guide NATO's transformation over the next decade, from strengthening deterrence and defence to building resilience against transnational and hybrid threats, including cyber and climate, to deepening partnerships with like-minded partners in Europe and Asia in order to strengthen the rules-based international order.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Schloss Elmau, Germany for the G7 Summit on June 26-27. PM Modi is travelling to the country at the invitation of the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz.

"During the Summit, Prime Minister Modi is expected to speak in two sessions that include environment, energy, climate, food security, health, gender equality and democracy. In an effort to strengthen international collaboration on these important issues, other democracies such as Argentina, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa have also been invited," Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

The Summit invitation is in keeping with the tradition of strong and close partnership and high-level political contacts between India and Germany.

The G7 Summit is scheduled to be held on June 26-28 this year, at Schloss Elmau, a castle resort in the Bavarian Alps in southern Germany. The G7 comprises Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, the United States and Canada. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Belagavi, June 23: In a major development, the Karnataka High Court has acquitted a man charged with triple murders that shook the state in 2015. A woman, along with her two children, was brutally murdered by her paramour Praveen Bhat.

A bench headed by Justice K.S. Mudagal and Justice MGS Kamal vindicated the accused youth Praveen Bhat of all charges against him on June 21. The incident had taken place in Kuvempunagar of Belagavi city on August 16, 2015. Reena Malagatti, a resident of Kuvempunagar in Belagavi, her son Aditya and daughter were found murdered at their residence and the police had arrested Praveen Bhat in connection with the crime. Love is Blind & Stronger Than Love of Parents and Society, Says Karnataka High Court.

After conducting the trial, the Second District and Sessions Court, had awarded life imprisonment to Bhat on April 16, 2018. APMC Police of Belagavi city had submitted a charge sheet in this regard. The accused was arrested within 24 hours of the crime. The investigations suggested that the illicit affair between Bhat and Reena Malagatti was the reason for the triple murder.

Praveen Bhat from Uttara Kannada district lived with his parents in Kuvempunagar locality of Belagavi city and studied in a reputed college. Reena and Praveen were known to each other for one year before the incident. Police suspected that as Reena's husband went to outstations regularly, the two got into an affair. Hyderabad Triple Murder Case: 19-Year-Old Youth Held in Nizamabad.

The police alleged that Praveen Bhat who always visited Reena's house from the backside with the help of a rope and never entered from the front door even once. He visited Reena's house twice on the day the tragic incident took place.

It is alleged that Reena forced him to continue the illegal relationship and threatened him to make their affair public. Praveen, allegedly enraged by this, stabbed Reena with a knife and killed her. It was alleged that he killed one of the kids by smothering and dumped another into a bucket full of water.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 23, 2022 02:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Pilibhit, June 23: Ten pilgrims, including two children, died after their vehicle overturned and fell into a roadside ditch in Gajraula area here Thursday morning, police said. Seven people were injured in the incident, they said.

The vehicle was carrying 17 pilgrims from Haridwar and was heading towards Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh when it met with the accident on the Lucknow highway at around 4 am.

It seems the driver dozed off and lost control over the vehicle, police said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the loss of lives and directed the officials to ensure proper relief and rescue work. According to police, eight people died on the spot, while two others succumbed to injuries in the hospital. Uttar Pradesh: 3 of Family Among 4 Killed in Road Accident in Basti.

"Around 17 people were travelling in the vehicle. The dead include three children, three women and four men, including the driver," Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) Amitabh Rai said. He said three of the injured have been referred from the district hospital to Bareilly.

The deceased have been identified as Laxmi (28), Rachna (28), Sarla Devi (60), Hersh (16), Khushi (2), Sushant (14), Anand (3), Lalman (65), Shyamsundar (55) and driver Dilshad (35), police said.
Mumbai, June 23: Maharashtra Legislative Assembly's Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal on Thursday said he has approved the appointment of Ajay Choudhary as the Shiv Sena's group leader in the House, replacing rebel legislator Eknath Shinde.

The Shiv Sena on Tuesday removed Shinde as the party's group leader in the Assembly, hours after he revolted and and travelled to Surat in Gujarat with some Shiv Sena MLAs, triggering a crisis in the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA-comprising the Sena, NCP and Congress) government in Maharashtra.

Speaking to reporters here on Thursday, Zirwal said, "I have received a letter from the Shiv Sena, informing me that it is appointing Ajay Choudhary as the party's leader in the Assembly and removing Shinde from the post with immediate effect."

"I have accepted the letter, which was sent by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the deputy speaker said, adding that Shinde's removal as the Sena group leader in the Assembly was valid. Notably, Shinde had on Wednesday given a letter to the Assembly's deputy speaker, signed by 35 Sena MLAs, replacing Sunil Prabhu with Bharat Gogavale as the chief whip of the Shiv Sena legislature party.

Asked about Shinde's letter, Zirwal said, The Independents have no role in such party affairs. One (Shiv Sena) MLA, Nitin Deshmukh (who had accompanied rebel leader to Surat), has claimed that he has not signed the letter issued by Shinde. I will study it, seek the advice of legal experts and then decide (on it). Maharashtra Political Crisis: 'If Government Goes We Will Sit in Opposition', Says NCP Leader Jayant Patil.

Deshmukh on Wednesday claimed that some people had forcibly admitted him to a hospital in Surat and he was administered injections though he never suffered a heart attack.

Speaking to reporters at the Nagpur airport, Deshmukh, the MLA from Balapur in Akola district, had said he somehow managed to return safely to Maharashtra from Surat, and pledged loyalty to Sena president Uddhav Thackeray. On Tuesday, Deshmukh's wife had filed a complaint with the Akola police stating that her husband had gone missing.
Each year Christians celebrate the birth of Lord Jesus' precursor, John the Baptist, as a Christian feast day. The occasion Nativity of John The Baptist 2022 will be on Friday, June 24. The Day is also rendered in names like Birth of John the Baptist, Nativity of the Forerunner, or colloquially stating Johnmas or St. John's Day. Jesus said, "Among those born of women, there has been none greater than John the Baptist" (Mt 11:11). Thence, different Christian denominations celebrate the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist as a high-ranking liturgical feast, kept in Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican churches. The Gospel of Luke is considered the sole biblical account of the birth of John the baptist. As we celebrate the feast of saint day, we have thoroughly explained the history, liturgical celebration and importance of the annual occasion below. Why Does Quebec Celebrate Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day? From History to Significance, Here's Everything You Need To Know About This Important Holiday.

Nativity of John The Baptist History & Liturgical Celebration

According to the records in the New testaments, people for a long time interpreted the life of John the Baptist as preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Luke states that the parents of John the Baptist were Zechariah or Zachary, a Jewish priest, and Elizabeth, Mary's cousin. Both the couple were being the age of childbearing when Angel Gabriel visited Zachary and told him that his wife would bear a child. As per sources, as an infant in the womb, John recognized Jesus' presence in Mary's womb when Mary visited Elizabeth soon after the Annunciation. June 24 is marked as the Nativity of John the Baptist, which comes three months after the Annunciation day when the angel Gabriel told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy.

Nativity of John The Baptist Customs & Significance

'Saint John's fires' are illuminated on hilltops all over Europe to celebrate the holy occasion. John's Day is marked in ancient folklore as one of the great "charmed" festivals of the year, when people search for the open treasure, which is said to lie in an open space, waiting for the lucky finder. Furthermore, herbs are given unusual powers of healing, which they retain if plucked during the night of the feast.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 23, 2022 12:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
The pillar of a successful democracy and just and reliable governance is in public service. People dedicate their lives to building a community which is equal, kind and progressive and they are the backbone of a just and functioning democratic society. And United Nations Public Service Day helps people to celebrate just these people. United Nations Public Service Day 2022 will be celebrated on June 23 and is an especially important observance, considering the worlds views. As we prepare to celebrate United Nations Public Service Day 2022, here is everything you need to know about this day, the significance and meaning of this day and why celebrating it is crucial. Know History of the Day That Recognises Work of Public Servants.

When Is United Nations Public Service Day 2022?

United Nations Public Service Day 2022 will be celebrated on June 23. The decision to make June 23 the United Nations Public Service Day was taken in 2002 and a resolution was passed on December 20, 2002.

Significance & History Of United Nations Public Service Day

The importance of public service was especially realized in the current times. During the 2020 pandemic, it was the public service sector and individuals who saved millions of lives and also made sure that we continued to remain safe and protected. The celebration of United Nations Public Service Day has gained special importance ever since. In fact, every year, the celebration of United Nations Public Service Day is focused on a dedicated theme.

United Nations Public Service Day 2022 Theme

Every year, the celebration of United Nations Public Service Day is focused on various dedicated themes which helps people to have a more synchronized celebration and have the right discussions worldwide. We hope that your United Nations Public Service Day 2022 celebrations help you to recognise the role that people working in the public service play in keeping our democracies intact and successfully running. Happy United Nations Public Service Day 2022!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 23, 2022 10:42 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Dubai is considered as a center of the luxurious item in the world. No city globally offers elegant and more extravagant things than Dubai. For most of the people globally, Japanese food culture is a unique mastery for them. The chefs who are cooking traditional and authentic Japanese cuisines get training for years to achieve mastery, and the presentation and etiquette of several dishes are unique in their way. As more people are preferring the intriguing and healthy alternatives in the town, Japanese cuisine is becoming famous. This serves as the primary reason why many people have started to like Japanese food. Due to this, a significant rise in Japanese restaurants in Dubai has been seen in the last few years.

There is also an uptrend for sushi dishes and traditional bento among the luxury-seeking Dubai population. As we roam around the city to pick the best one for you, our volunteers visit almost every Japanese restaurant and experience different Japanese cuisine.

There was just one restaurant in the town which amazed our volunteers. The restaurant in itself is a mirror of Japanese tradition. When you enter in this restaurant, it seems like you have visited mini Japan, which is established in Dubai. Everything in this restaurant is just perfect. Everything from the vibe to the restaurant to the authentic Japanese cuisine menu is excellent. Reviews of the customer were just incredible. We were amazed by the volunteer and the people assessment that we decided to send another group of volunteers there. When they visited, they also said the same review.

Now, you all might be thinking about this excellent restaurant's name. So, it's no one other than one of the most famous Japanese restaurants, TakaHisa. It is the best and most authentic Japanese restaurant in Dubai that offers excellent high-quality Japanese cuisine, which has helped it rank as one of the most incredible restaurants in the Middle East. It is a combination of the executive chef's names, Hisao Ueda (Wagyu Master Chef) and Takashi Namekata (Sushi Master Chef).

TakaHisa Japanese restaurant is a fantastic place to have a remarkable combination of premium and authentic quality sushi and the best wagyu beef, which brings the most premium and luxurious Japanese dining experience in the Middle East. It is built with the ideas and vision of two world-class executive chefs and their well-experienced team. The restaurant's popularity can be emphasized by saying that Hisao Ueda, one of the executive chefs, has received UAE Golden Visa this year.

At Takahisa, you can plan a meal with a wide range of selection of authentic Japanese dishes, which their talented Chefs prepare using their skills to serve you. The restaurant's team and space can host all kinds of social events, including Business Lunches, Wedding parties, Christmas Parties, Birthdays, Anniversaries, and many more occasions.

Talk about authentic service, huh!! It is the only Japanese restaurant that the Crown Prince of Dubai has visited. Their unique menu is a La Carte Special from Wagyu Master and Sushi Master. Both the special menu requires the tables to book in advance. Also, please head to their Kobe and Sushi beef counter, where their finest Chefs offer a unique Omakase course. Believe us; it is the best Japanese culinary masterpiece in the East.

You should be prepared to be dazzled by the ingredients' freshness because they import produce every week from their own country. The restaurant offers premium and exotic seafood from Toyosu Market and "A5 Kobe beef" (Beef marbling score 12), the highest grade wagyu brand in the world.

This restaurant's interior decor is perfect, ensuring proper replacement for people visiting this restaurant. Also, the exterior views in this restaurant are breathtaking, and it will just take you away from all your chaotic life stress. Experience in this restaurant is world-class and very warm. Staff are appropriately trained and help you in every way possible to choose the best dish according to your taste and are humble also.

There are indeed many restaurants that provide traditional Japanese cuisine on their menu and are also impressive and significant. But there is a slight difference between others and TakaHisa, which makes it the best option. It delivers the best overall experience, maximizing your dining experience. While Some restaurants have good food, they lack vibe matching, and some have excellent vibes but don't provide that level of taste at their restaurant. It delivers all of this in one place. The entire team at TakaHisa believes in serving the best and most authentic Japanese cuisine. It provides guests with an unforgettable experience that will bring a real taste of Japan into the Middle East. So, if you are ever thinking about trying out Japanese cuisine in Dubai at an authentic Japanese restaurant, do visit once, and you'll understand why TakaHisa is so popular in Dubai and why we have placed it at the top. Trust us; you'll not regret it later!!
#Russian Foreign Minister #SergeiLavrov arrived in Tehran to discuss with the Iranian side bilateral cooperation and ways to solve the impasse on the #Iran nuclear talks, state IRIB TV reported.



Photo: IANS (File) pic.twitter.com/otlOeKlJBv IANS (@ians_india) June 23, 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.)
According to an annual report from the Economist that was published on Thursday, the Austrian capital Vienna has made a comeback as the world's most liveable city. It must be noted that Vienna snatched the top spot from Auckland after it tumbled down to 34th place due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions. Beside Australia's Vienna, Danish capital Copenhagen and Switzerland's Zurich stood at 3rd and 4th spot respectively. Another Swiss city Geneva came sixth, Germany's Frankfurt seventh, and the Netherlands' Amsterdam ninth.

Check tweet:

The Austrian capital Vienna has made a comeback as the world's most liveable city, according to an annual report from the Economist published Thursdayhttps://t.co/BE1bd0GYmz  AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 22, 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.)
U.S. President Joe Biden urged Congress to temporarily suspend the federal gas tax amid the rising fuel prices.

CNBC News reported that some experts say a suspension could be an immediate relief to consumers. However, it could also keep demand elevated, which would worsen the already tight supply.

The federal tax is 18 cents per gallon of regular gasoline and 24 cents per gallon for diesel.

Biden has also called on states to suspend their gas taxes or find other ways to provide relief for consumers.

The White House said in a statement that a suspension would provide citizens a little "extra breathing room" as they face the effects of "Putin's war in Ukraine."

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said that if the bill is signed and enacted, it will help motorists.

De Haan, however, noted that the extent to which any relief is felt will depend on wholesale prices remaining stable.

In addition, the wording and timing of any possible legislation will also have an effect.

READ NEXT: California Gas Price Highest in the US; Russia Warns About $300 Per Barrel Spike After Oil Import Ban

Gas Tax Holiday

Congress has not increased the federal tax since 1993. However, it has not lifted the tax either.

The New York Times noted that taxes on gasoline and diesel now supply a majority of federal funding used to build and maintain highways. In 2019, it was worth $36.5 billion.

The Congressional Research Service estimated that a typical U.S. family would have saved $163 over the year, if no federal gas tax had been in place in 2020.

It would mean a savings of $13.58 per month, according to a CBS News report.

It was reported that those who drive the most would save more, including drivers of larger cars, which have worse fuel mileage, and rural and suburban residents.

Biden is calling for an entire three-month tax waiver, which would translate into savings of $40 per family.

University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School's research findings that a 10-month gas tax suspension would save a grand total of $16 to $47 per person for the whole period.

The Wharton research also found that when Connecticut, Georgia, and Maryland suspended their state gas taxes earlier this year, motorists got between 58 percent and 87 percent of the savings.

Biden called for fuel companies to pass on "every penny of this 18 cents reduction to consumers."

U.S. Gas Price

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, the chairman of the Senate Republicans' campaign arm, raised concerns about where the federal government would find revenue normally generated from the gas tax.

Biden answered those concerns, saying that suspending the gas tax will have an effect but it is not going to have a major impact on main road construction and major repairs.

The suspension of taxes would cost around $10 billion, with senior administration officials saying that the president would ask Congress to dip into other budgets to backfill the loss.

The per-gallon national average reached $4.955 on Wednesday, which is an increase of 36 cents in the last month and $1.88 more than last year.

READ MORE: Gas Prices in California: How Much Will You Be Paying for Gas in California Amid Price Hikes?

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Biden Proposes Suspension Of Federal Gas Tax - from MSNBC


Pope Francis, who is a Jesuit himself and the first Jesuit to become pontiff, condemned the killing of two Jesuit priests, as well as one lay person inside the church in Cerocahui, Chihuahua.

At the end of his general address in front of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square, the Argentinian pope talked about the recent spike in killings in Mexico. He called the two fallen priests his brothers. He expressed his dismay over their deaths, saying that he was in pain and in shock.

The Guardian reports that the two priests killed were Javier Campos Morales, 79, and Joaquin Cesar Mora Salazar, 80. Mexican authorities have already confirmed that a man, whom Yahoo! News identified as Pedro Palma, was trying to evade some gunmen and sought shelter inside the church in Cerocahui, Chihuahua. However, the gunmen caught up and killed not only Palma, but the two elderly priests as well.

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador also condemned the killings.

Prime Suspect For Mexican Church Murders Named

Authorities have identified Jose Noriel Portillo Gil as the lead suspect in the Mexican church killings. According to Reuters, the Chihuahua state prosecutor's office is offering a reward worth five million Mexican pesos, or around $250,000.

According to authorities, the suspect is involved in drug trade, and is also the prime suspect in the murder of American teacher Patrick Braxton-Andrews in 2018. Braxton-Andrews was merely a tourist when he was killed by Portillo.

RTE reported that Lopez Obrador announced a manhunt against Portillo is already underway. The Mexican president also stated that the mountains in the area have already been infiltrated and dominated by crime.

READ MORE: Mexico: 2 Elderly Jesuit Priests Killed After Gunmen Chased Man Seeking Refuge in Church

Jesuit Order Demands Justice For the Mexican Church Killings

Father Luis Gerardo Moro Madrid, head of the Jesuits in Mexico, said that the bodies of the three victims were picked up by armed men, and then covered in plastic and taken away. Madrid demanded justice and the bodies of the priests be recovered.

The Jesuits have also made various TV appearances. Father Jorge Atilano Gonzalez revealed that according to a third priest present during the incident, the man who was trying to get away from the gunmen "wanted to confess." The man was described to be either drunk or high.

2 Jesuit Priests Were Doing 'Important Social Work' According To The UN

The killings of the priests also received condemnation from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico. They stated that the two slain Jesuits were carrying out important social work among the Raramuri, or Tarahumara, Indigenous people.

UN human rights representative Guillermo Fernandez-Maldonado stated that they were well known among the community, and their deaths remind everyone of the violent situation that is being faced by the Sierra Tarahumara communities in Chihuahua.

READ NEXT: Mexico: 2 'The Chosen One' Actors Dead After Fatal Car Crash, 6 Other Cast and Crew Members Injured

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: NEWSFLASH: Jesuit Priests Killed in a Church in Mexico
As more details surface surrounding the Texas school shooting, Uvalde school district police Pete Arredondo has been placed on administrative leave. Lieutenant Mike Hernandez will be replacing him, according to a statement by Superintendent Hal Harrell.

Arredondo has been criticized for delaying his assault on mass shooter Salvador Ramos. NBC News reports that Harrell previously stated that the school district would wait until the investigation concludes for them to make their decision on staff changes. However, due to the lack of clarity in the investigations surrounding the response, as well as the unknown timeline for the results, Harrell decided to suspend the embattled police chief, effective immediately.

Officers Were Equipped to Take Salvador Ramos Down But Had No Clear Orders

Previously, Pete Arredondo told the media that the police were not able to storm Ramos' position because they were not equipped properly. However, security footage has shown that the officers had access to not just body armor but also ballistic shields.

Another excuse was that the officers were still waiting for the master key to unlock the door. However, as reported by the Texas Tribune, recent footage has questioned whether the doors were locked in the first place.

Arredondo was the commander when the incident took place. However, he previously stated that he did not consider himself the officer-in-charge when the mass shootings took place. Several officers who responded have stated that the police chief was directing orders during the incident, contradicting Arredondo's statement.

READ MORE: Texas Shooting: New Video Shows Armed Police Were at Robb Elementary School Premises but Waited 58 Minutes to Enter Classroom

Pete Arredondo Face Criticism From Fellow Law Enforcers

The Uvalde police chief has had many critics following the incident, including Steve McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, who called the response "an abject failure."

In a testimony before a Texas Senate committee, McCraw stated that Arredondo placed the lives of his officers before the lives of the children he was supposed to protect.

McCraw has been very vocal in his criticism of the Uvalde police chief, stating that the officers had weapons, equipment, and armor, while the children did not. He pointed out that Arredondo's indecision led to "one hour, 14 minutes and 8 seconds" being wasted, which was ample time to rescue the children.

Gil Kerlikowske, a former Seattle police chief, is also criticizing the embattled Uvalde police chief, stating that he was the rightful commander during the situation. However, as the shooter continued to fire freely, state or city police could have also encouraged Arredondo to hand over control. Unfortunately, as the incident happened, it was unclear who was really in charge of the situation, as officers waited for clear orders to engage as the shooting happened.

Reuters reports that Arredondo was still new at his job when the shootings occurred, only being elected to the Uvalde City Council shortly before Salvador Ramos assaulted Robb Elementary School. He requested a leave of absence following the incident but was denied by the city council.

READ NEXT: Texas School Shooting: New Report Reveals Heartbreaking Details About Police Delay

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Uvalde school police chief placed on leave | NewsNation Prime
American Airlines intends to drop its flight services to Toledo, Ohio, among the other U.S. cities, in September.

CNBC News reported that the Fort Worth-based pinned the blame on service cuts on a shortage of regional pilots. United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have done the same measure between some smaller cities and their hubs.

Aside from Toledo, Ohio, Islip, New York will also have its flight services cut. It also includes Ithaca, New York and Dubuque, which will lose service from American Airlines on September 7.

Holly Kemler, the spokeswoman for Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport, said that the airport staff is "incredibly disappointed" by American Airlines' decision. Kemler said that the decision was made solely by the airline, which was mainly due to a shortage of regional pilots.

The spokeswoman added that they understand that it is a current continued trend in the aviation industry.

American Airlines noted that the affected cities will still be served by flights at other airports that are between 45 miles and 120 miles away.

READ NEXT: Florida: Worst Flight Delays Happening Because of Space Launches, Severe Weather

American Airlines Discontinued Flights

The flight cuts are officially being made at American's regional carrier Envoy Air, which also aims to suspend service between Charlotte and El Paso, Charlotte and Sioux Falls, and Dallas to San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Service between Philadelphia and Santo Domingo and Philadelphia to Santiago and the Dominican Republic will also be suspended this winter, according to a Fortune report.

The company said in a statement that they made the decision to end service in the U.S. small cities in response to a regional pilot shortage.

More than 5,000 flights were canceled over the Father's Day/Juneteenth weekend, with one-third of U.S. arrivals on Friday being delayed.

Earlier this year, Delta exited its service in the Grand Junction, Colorado; Cody, Wyoming; and Lincoln, Nebraska.

Airlines faced a large number of retirements and buyouts during the pandemic as they looked to lower costs. However, the demand for travel is back at 2019 levels, which is causing problems as they try to increase service.

U.S. Pilot Shortage

Many airlines have blamed the shortage and general staffing issues on increased travel demands after the easing of pandemic restrictions and the busy summer holiday season. However, airline workers argue that low wages and poor conditions are the real culprits.

The Guardian report noted that pilots say that near-daily flight reassignments have added stress to their jobs, worsening existing fatigue.

More than 1,300 Southwest airline pilots picketed in Dallas, Texas, amid stalled contract negotiations.

Capt. Casey A. Murray, a pilot and the president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said that almost 30 percent of pilots at Southwest are reassigned daily. Murray added that it is sometimes done on longer flights that leave them feeling "overwhelmed."

The president of the pilots' association said that airline companies are going to continue to be short of staffing if they are "going to continue to misuse" them.

READ MORE: Passengers Who Filmed Themselves Partying Without Masks Face Being Stranded in Mexico After Airlines Refused to Fly Them Back to Canada

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Written by Mary Webber

WATCH: Airlines grapple with a pilot shortage, causing problems for travelers - from PBS NewsHour
Latino officer Audali "A.J." Torres of the Sheffield Lake Police Department becomes the latest to speak out against former Sheffield Lake chief Anthony Campo.

Campo, who was also accused by an African-American police officer of discrimination, left the department after being placed on administrative leave following a surfaced surveillance footage.

Officer Torres has now also filed a discrimination civil rights complaint against the former police chief. His complaint alleges constant harassment by Campo over his ethnicity and religion.

Torres is the only Latino officer in the Sheffield Lake Police Department. He recently held a virtual news conference regarding his civil rights complaint. He said that since joining the department as a part-timer in 2013, he had endured constant "racist and religion-based abuse" from the former police chief. CNN reports that he would be the second officer to file a complaint against Campo.

Officer Torres Targeted For Being Latino and Roman Catholic

According to NBC News, A.J. Torres describes himself as a "devout Roman Catholic," who became a police officer to pay for his annual church mission trips to El Salvador. The officer would also request to have Sundays off from his duty so he could attend church and has reached an "understanding with the city" because of this.

However, according to Torres' complaint, his religious practices have made Campo "angry." The former police chief threatened the Latino officer with reduced working hours and took away his benefits. Campo also mocked Torres over his religious practices.

One of the many ways Campo harassed Torres is that the former police chief would photoshop images of Torres and hang them on the bulletin board to mock the Latino. The images contained Torres' face in a jar of salsa, as well as an image of Torres with two children from his missions to El Salvador, with speech bubbles implying that officer was a pedophile.

Torres admitted during his news conference that these attacks hurt him. He also stated that he is coming forward to show people that this kind of racist behavior is unacceptable

READ NEXT: Mexico: 2 Elderly Jesuit Priests Killed After Gunmen Chased Man Seeking Refuge in Church

Surveillance Footage Exposed Campo's Racism Towards Black Officer in 2021

Anthony Campo's racist actions were first exposed, thanks to surveillance footage of him leaving a note reading "Ku Klux Klan" inside Officer Keith Pool's raincoat.

Pool was the only black police officer in the department at the time of the incident, which happened on June 25, 2021.

Following the incident, Sheffield Lake Mayor Dennis Bring then placed Campo on administrative leave. However, in his conversation with Bring, Campo stated that he intended to resign effective immediately, according to USA Today.

Bring described the former police chief's actions as the "most egregious and offensive thing you could possibly do," adding that they were also "embarrassing and disgusting."

However, despite Mayor Bring condemning Campo's actions, Kevin Conway, a lawyer representing both Torres and Pool, stated that the city still tried to minimize the former chief's discriminatory actions. The lawyer stated that the city's response to Torres coming out was verbatim when Pool filed his complaint. He added that the city's response to the filings of both men "reveals how Mr. Campo got away with racial harassment for so long."

Another lawyer for the case, aid Ashlie Case Sletvold, also added that city officials were not willing to hold Campo accountable. NBC News reports that the Ohio Civil Rights Commission now has a year to decide on both cases. According to a commission spokesperson, the civil rights branch of the Ohio Attorney General's Office could be hearing both cases.

READ NEXT: Bill Cosby Sexually Abused Teenager At the Playboy Mansion In 1975 - L.A. Court

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Sheffield Lake PD chief retires following incident at station
Republican Senator Mitt Romney is dubbed as the wealthiest senator by Investopedia. He was known to have tried running for the presidential seat twice.

Romney reportedly got his fortune in business ventures before diving into politics. He was known to have founded and run the private investment firm Bain Capital. He was the youngest of four siblings and was born into one of the most prominent families within the Mormon faith.

George Romney, his father, was a successful business executive who managed American Motors from near bankruptcy to record profits.

George later served as governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969 and as secretary of housing and urban development in the cabinet of President Richard M. Nixon.

Romney attended Stanford University in California, which was interrupted after he went on a 30-month missionary campaign for the Mormon church in France.

He later returned to the U.S. and graduated summa cum laude from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor's degree in English. The younger Romney earned J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from Harvard University in 1975.

READ NEXT: Mike Pence Net Worth: How Much Wealth Does the Former VP Has

Mitt Romney Net Worth

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Mitt Romney has a net worth of $300 million. Romney left Bain Capital after 25 years of work, with the firm having over $4 billion under management, and he has taken home hundreds of millions in personal wealth.

Tax records for 2010 and 2011 revealed that Romney had earned $42.7 million during those two years and paid $6.2 million in taxes.

He also earned $21.7 million in 2010 and paid $3 million in federal taxes and $21 million in 2011. Tax returns for 2015, 2016, and 2017 showed that he earned a total of $83.8 million during those years.

It also showed that he and his wife had donated $11 million to charity during that period. During Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, his financial disclosure forms revealed that his estimated total net worth was between $80 to $255 million.

In addition, the value of his Individual Retirement Account alone was $102 million. Romney and his wife own a valuable real estate portfolio, having at least six properties around the country.

They paid $12 million for a beachfront mansion in La Jolla, California in 2008 and built an 8,000-square-foot mansion on the lot. They sold the home for $23.5 million in July 2021.

Mitt Romney and his family also own a $9 million mansion in Park City, Utah; a $10 million 11-acre property in New Hampshire; and a townhouse in Boston, Massachusetts.

Mitt Romney's Political Career

In 2008, Mitt Romney tried to pursue the presidency, and despite losing, he remained active in politics. In June 2011, he announced his second bid for the presidency but struggled to gain support from social conservatives, who still viewed him as a moderate, according to Britannica.

During his gubernatorial stint in Massachusetts, he addressed the state's budget problems, implemented universal health care for the uninsured, and created a scholarship for lower- and middle-income students.

Mitt Romney was elected as senator from Utah in November 2018 and sworn in in January 2019.

READ MORE: Mike Pence and Karen Pence's Marriage of More Than 3 Decades Is Admired by Many, Including Donald Trump

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Romney: Russia and China Are Exploiting Nations for Their Own Political and Economic Gain - From Senator Mitt Romney
A trip to South America will not be complete without checking out a famous country in the region like Argentina.

Famed for its beef and exquisite cuisine, Argentina not only offers delicious food but also houses many famous tourist spots.

Argentina is home to diverse geography that encompasses different landscapes, including deserts, humid jungles, and ocean beaches.

With this kind of environment, a visit to Argentina is worth it, pairing an adventure with the beautiful sceneries of the South American country.

READ NEXT: Best Guatemala Festivals That Every Traveler Should Never Miss

5 Famous Argentina Tourist Spots

Argentina houses many tourist spots. And to help you decide which to visit first, we have narrowed the list of these famous destinations in Argentina to five.

Cueva de las Manos

If you want to discover how ancient Argentinians live, then you have to visit the Cueva de las Manos. This cave is the home to paintings that were completed by the ancestors of the Tehuelche people 9,000 years ago.

The site is known for the stenciled outlines of overlapping hands, hunting scenes, and symbolic pictographs. The painters in this site were known to inhabit Patagonia and the Pinturas River Canyon.

Mount Aconcagua

According to Trips to Discover, hikers from across the globe know the mountain of Aconcagua to be the highest peak in South America, making it worth adding to your bucket list.

Every year, thousands of pilgrims in Argentina reach the peak of this mountain. The mountain is considered at a moderate level for hikers, but reaching its peak is still best done with a local guide.

Tierra del Fuego National Park

The Tierra del Fuego National Park extends from Beagle Channel to the Chilean Border. Northwards of the national park is also the way to Lago Kimi. This national park is known to be a paradise for hikers with trails that are for different experience levels.

Tigre

Located north of Argentina's capital city, Tigre serves as a hub for the biggest delta in the world, composed of 5,000 islands. Tigre is a community without roads, and visitors can explore the area using boats.

Visitors can also explore a traditional market selling crafts like leather goods, baskets, and wicker furniture made by local artisans. A museum is also located in the area, with traditional floating homes and services like supermarkets and firemen.

Perito Moreno Glacier

If you feel hot and want an adventure that will give you chills, then you should take a trip to Perito Moreno Glacier, located in Los Glaciares National Park in southwest Santa Cruz province.

It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a 30-kilometer-long ice formation. The Perito Moreno Glacier was named after a 19th Century explorer.

This site is one of the most important tourist attractions in Argentine Patagonia. It lies 78 kilometers from the town center of El Calafate.

READ MORE: Costa Rica Tourist Spots: Best Places to Visit in the Central American Country

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Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: 10 Best Places to Visit in Argentina - Travel Video - From touropia
The U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday said it has recently rescued 27 individuals from the rocky cliffs of an uninhabited island between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

The rescue operation began last June 7 after the coast guard detected an illegal smuggling boat in the area. All 27 rescued individuals were Haitian migrants.

The Associated Press reported that when the Coast Guard found the Haitian migrants on the uninhabited island, the conditions were dangerous, so they could not immediately rescue them.

Nine of the migrants reportedly jumped into the water but were immediately rescued. Eighteen migrants were left behind on the island.

The Coast Guard left food and water for them, then returned to complete the rescue operations the next day.

Haitian Migrants Captured by U.S. Coast Guard Has Spiked

The rescue operations were the latest in the increasing number of Haitian migrants trying to flee their country. It came almost a week after funerals were held for the 11 Haitian migrants who passed away after an overloaded boat capsized off the coast of Puerto Rico.

According to authorities, they believe the boat contained between 60 and 75 people when it capsized, with 38 rescued. Unfortunately, 11 women aboard the boat died during the incident.

Migrants from Haiti and the Dominican Republic have been trying to flee their countries in increasing numbers. The U.S. Coast Guard noted that it has intervened in 64 illegal smuggling voyages between October 1 and May 31. During these operations, they detained 1,200 migrants from the Dominican Republic and 370 Haitians. The agency also said the number of Haitians they have detained has spiked in recent years.

According to ABC News, Haiti is suffering from an increase in gang violence, with the number of kidnappings and killings also rising. Migrants attempting to flee the Caribbean country aim to have a better and safer life.

READ NEXT: Mexico: Pope Francis in 'Pain and Shock' Over Brutal Killing of Jesuit Priests in Northern Mexico

UN Refugee Agency Urges Caribbean Countries To Protect Refugees

In a press briefing last May, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, voiced its concern for the recent increase in migrants leaving countries in the Caribbean, particularly the growing number of people from Haiti fleeing in "overloaded and unseaworthy boats."

With this, the UN agency has implored governments to help rescue these people, many of whom are attempting to reach the United States.

The UNHCR is also asking these Caribbean nations to offer these refugees unobstructed and prompt access to fair asylum procedures.

In May, the U.S. Coast Guard reported it has interdicted almost 3,900 Haitian nationals in the fiscal year 2022. This was more than double the number in 2021, which is about 1,527 Haitians.

The UNHCR noted that the reason for these crossings continues to be the region's political instability and socio-economic insecurity. The UNHCR vowed to continue working with governments to ensure the protection of refugees.

READ MORE: Puerto Rico Independence or Statehood? Major Party to Soon Reconsider or Reaffirm Stance

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: At Least 11 Dead After Boat Of Migrants Capsized Off Puerto Rico Coast - From NBC News
The relationship of Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera and his wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, will be featured in a narco-series.

According to Infobae, the television series on the U.S. network Paramount is entitled "First Lady of Sinaloa." The project will be produced and starred by John Leguizamo, who was born in Colombia and raised in a New York neighborhood.

As described by The Hollywood Reporter, the narco-series will be a story about "love, sex, drugs, and danger," that will tackle "the fascinating yet volatile life" of El Chapo's famous wife.

Producer Frida Torresblanco will also produce the series for VIS in association with Braven Films. The project has reportedly received a go-ahead for its development. The narco-series will debut exclusively on streaming service Paramount+ in Latin America and all international markets.

According to La Opinion, the series will narrate the story of how Emma Coronel Aispuro and El Chapo met, how their love began, their family, and how they both ended up detained in the United States.

READ NEXT: Sinaloa Cartel Boss El Chapo Complains About Mistreatment in Colorado Prison, Says He's Hungry and Lost a Nail Due to Fungal Infection

El Chapo and Emma Coronel Aispuro's Relationship

Emma Coronel Aispuro had a boyfriend when she first met El Chapo after being crowned in a Sinaloa beauty pageant in 2006. She was only 17 years old at the time, and El Chapo was 49.

The two exchanged vows the following year on her 18th birthday. The California-born ex-beauty queen gave birth to their twins in 2011.

Coronel Aispuro earlier claimed in a book titled "Emma y Las Otras Senoras del Narco" that she and El Chapo were married "under the law of the divine" when they got married in July 2007.

According to the book, the wedding was enormous, but El Chapo's wife maintained that the celebration was a small affair with their families.

Coronel Aispuro claimed that she did not know that El Chapo was the feared leader of the Sinaloa Cartel at the time of her wedding. El Chapo was already a wanted fugitive, with his face plastered on wanted posters across Mexico at the time.

Coronel Aispuro said it was only after it came out in the news that they had gotten married that she started to figure out what was going on with her husband. However, she noted that she did not really give it "that much importance" since she was still young at the time.

According to the book, El Chapo was still married to his first wife when he wed Coronel Aispuro. The Sinaloa Cartel boss married Griselda Lopez Perez in the 1980s before exchanging vows with Coronel Aispuro.

It is reportedly not known if there are legal documents registered in Mexico that would validate the wedding between El Chapo and Emma Coronel Aispuro. The Sinaloa Cartel boss was said to bribe a priest in Sinaloa, Mexico to conduct the ceremony despite the legal issue.

Sinaloa Cartel Boss El Chapo Fell for Emma Coronel Aispuro After She Cooked For Him

The book also revealed that El Chapo fell for Emma Coronel Aispuro after she cooked him her own enchilada recipe while they were dating in Durango, her home state, New York Post reported.

Coronel Aispuro said the Mexican drug lord never bought her huge gifts or other expensive things. She added that El Chapo won people by acting like a normal person with no air.

Coronel Aispuro said El Chapo usually took her to regional dances where they danced and talked. The former beauty queen was not El Chapo's only romantic interest.

According to reports, El Chapo had more than a dozen children among his string of wives and mistresses. The Sinaloa Cartel boss is believed to have fathered at least 15 children.

The book said El Chapo was probably "looking for his mother in all the women he knew." Emma Coronel Aispuro was sentenced to three years in prison for helping her husband run his multibillion-dollar drug empire.

The Sinaloa Cartel is considered to be one of the most powerful drug-trafficking syndicates in the world. The group was founded in the late 1980s and headed by El Chapo. Under El Chapo's leadership, the Sinaloa Cartel earned its reputation through violence and outfought several rival groups.

El Chapo was sentenced to spend the rest of his days in the ADX Florence "supermax" prison in Colorado after being sentenced to life imprisonment in 2019.

READ MORE: El Chapo's Wife Emma Coronel Aispuro Could Be an Influencer Earning up to $10,000 per Publication Once She Gets Out of Prison

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: The Origin of El Chapo | Narco Wars - From National Geographic
Nine people died after a shootout between police and a group of armed individuals in Mexico's Jalisco state plagued by Mexican drug cartels.

Police said the shootout occurred in El Salto, Jalisco at around 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Five assailants were killed, while four police officers died on the spot during the exchange of gunfire.

Police in Mexico's Jalisco State Successfully Repels Attack After Reinforcements Arrive

Milenio reported that the police responded to a 911 call that alerted them of a kidnapping at 34 Medellin Street in El Salto. According to authorities, the assailants attacked the home and tried to kidnap two residents, who were immediately blindfolded and handcuffed.

Police said they were able to rescue the two individuals and capture three of the armed men presumed to belong to a criminal group following the shootout.

According to La Razon, when police arrived at the location, the armed men fired at them, with four of the officers going down. The officers then asked for support and later received reinforcements from Prosecutor's Office agents, the Mexican Army, and the State and Metropolitan Police.

After the reinforcements arrived, authorities successfully repelled the attack and secured not only the kidnap victims but they have also cordoned the area off.

Following the armed confrontation, the nine bodies were transferred to the Forensic Medical Service (Semefo). Milenio reported that among the killed assailants was a woman.

The two kidnapping victims are now in police custody and currently undergoing medical treatment. El Occidental reported that some of the attackers were still able to escape through the roof.

READ NEXT: Mexico: 2 Canadians Found Dead With Their Throats Slit in Playa Del Carmen

Shootout the Latest in a Spate of Violence in Mexico's Jalisco State Dominated by the Jalisco Cartel

Jalisco state is home to one of Mexico's most dangerous drug cartels, which is responsible for various murders and kidnappings in the area.

Authorities have attributed many of the criminal cases in the state to the Jalisco Cartel. Local residents reported that Jalisco Cartel gunmen have abducted and probably killed people they suspect of working for rival gangs.

The Jalisco Cartel is currently led by Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantes, who has continued to evade authorities. El Mencho is also one of the most wanted men in the United States. The U.S. government has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

Local media reported that the Jalisco Cartel had established its main stronghold in Mexico's Jalisco state. The reports added that even El Mencho's close circle lives in the state, from which the Jalisco New Generation Cartel or Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) took its name.

The Jalisco Cartel reportedly had more than 5,000 members and was also allegedly involved in mass graves, acid baths, and video recording beheadings.

READ MORE: Jalisco Cartel Leader 'El Senoron' Who Receives Orders From Boss 'El Mencho' Arrested in Mexico

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: On the Front Line With Mexico's Warring Cartels - From VICE NEWS
SINGAPORE, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe has reiterated China's resolute position on the Taiwan question.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and the one-China principle is the political foundation of China-U.S. relations. The scheme to use Taiwan-related issues to contain China is doomed to fail, said Wei, during his meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin Friday on the sidelines of the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

During the meeting, Wei said a new round of arms sales to Taiwan announced by the U.S. side recently severely violated the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, undermined China's national sovereignty and security interests and caused severe damage to China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, according to Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense.

Noting that China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the arms sales, Wei stressed that if anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will have no choice but fight at any cost and crush any attempt of "Taiwan independence" and safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Wu during a press briefing after the meeting.

In another briefing following Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's keynote speech on Friday evening, He Lei, former deputy head of the Academy of Military Sciences, said that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's sacred territory, and that the Taiwan question concerns China's core interests and is China's internal and own affairs.

The government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government of China. China will and must be unified. The PLA has the determination, confidence, capability and means to realize China's complete reunification of the motherland. "Taiwan independence" is doomed to fail, said He during the briefing.

"Taiwan independence" will lead nowhere and is thus doomed to fail. Supporting "Taiwan independence" will never come to a good end, said He.

"The development of China strengthens the force of peace in the world and the development of China's military capability reinforces the strength of safeguarding national interests and world peace," he said.
Kildare County Council doesnt have the resources to carry out a safety audit on public spaces.

Labour councillor Angela Feeney asked for the audit so that public spaces could be redesigned if necessary, with safety needs in mind.

Cllr Feeney said there should be a consultation process on how best to make public spaces safer for all citizens and paying particular attention to the female perspective.

Cllr Feeney said it is important for people to feel they are heard and this could be done through public consultation and its also important for the lived experiences of people are taken into account when public spaces are designed.

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Vienna is cited as a city for its model approach, especially for teenage girls who dont feel safe, Cllr Feeney told a KCC meeting on May 30.

KCC official Eoghan Ryan said while there are no resources for an audit, human centred design having regard to the safety of all users, is an important consideration of all public spaces and parks.

He said that is covered by KCC policy and agreed by councillors in the development plan.

Priority is given to ensuring routes are direct, safe and secure and that streets are well designed and well lit, which will encourage pedestrian activity.

He also said there should be passive supervision of the public realm and this is the most effective means of preventing anti-social behaviour.

Another KCC official Marian Higgins said the use of passive supervision is an important consideration in the design and location of all parks and playgrounds.

This requires as much as is practically feasible (for) the parks and playgrounds to be overlooked by adjacent housing, roads and paths as well as the elimination of isolated areas.

Ms Higgins said other design considerations are the inclusion of lighting, avoiding the use of densely planted areas and using standard trees with no lower branches in addition to maximising the use of open spaces and encouraging community ownership.
A 0.56 acre plot of land on Celbridges Lower Main Street with development potential is on the market with a guide price of 1 million.

Coonan Property Maynooth, Celbridge and Naas are the selling agents for this superb potential development site in the centre of the thriving town of Celbridge.

The site is a mainly square shaped and is located at English Row at the towns Lower Main street Celbridge.

The property consists of two-storey terraced buildings fronting onto the Lower Main Street with retail units on the ground floor and living accommodation overhead and to the rear. It has approximately 20m frontage to the Main Street, and to the rear are some outhouses. The balance of the site is un-developed.

The ground is level and the mainly square-shaped site and has vehicular access from the main street via an archway.

The site is zoned Objective A  Town Centre in the Celbridge Local Area Plan 2017-2023. This objective is to protect, improve and provide for the future development of town centres.

The site is ideally located and suitable for a mixed use development with a provisional scheme discussed for 22 apartments in separate blocks.

The property is close to Castletown House and a host of amenities. It is a five-minute drive to M4 Motorway and Hazelhatch railway station with a regular commuter rail service to Dublin city. It is well serviced, within a walking distance to all amenities including primary and secondary schools.

For further details, contact Philip Byrne of Coonan Property Maynooth on 01 6286128. The guide price is 1 million. Expressions of interest to be made in writing to Coonan Property before Thursday, July 7, at 12 pm.
Coercive control, equality rights and the Kevin Lunney abduction trial were among the key topics covered across the 15 award categories of the Justice Media Awards 2022.

The top award was presented to Mary Carolan and Simon Carswell for their Irish Times article Inside the District Courts. This article was selected from 277 entries, winning the Print/online journalism (daily) category as well as the overall award.

President of the Law Society of Ireland, Michelle Ni Longain, said, It is heartening to see such a high calibre and breadth of voices covering legal issues in Ireland across national and regional media.

Legal journalism wears many hats. Whether it is highlighting gaps in legislation, increasing legal literacy or amplifying the voices of victims, the Law Society is proud to support and champion legal journalism.

This years winning entry, Inside the District Courts, provides a detailed explanation of the operations of the courts each day. With valuable insights and access to the judiciary, it gives a broad perspective on the range of societal issues before the District Courts as well as a greater understanding of the daily operations of the Courts Service.

Improving access to justice is a priority of the Law Society and to achieve this we need significant investment in both infrastructure and personnel in the Courts Service. This article neatly highlights the real challenges facing the court and the implications of an overloaded and under resourced system, she said.

In total, 15 awards and 35 merits were presented across 15 categories, including awards in two new categories. Laura Roddy made history as the first ever winner of the Environmental/climate justice reporting category for her article in The Currency, From project to planning and policy: What the battle for Belview means for industrial development.

Catherine Sanz, Peter Leonard, Mark Tottenham, Carolyn Goulden and Nadine O'Regan of the Business Post won the first ever award of the Broadcast journalism (podcast) category for their series, Law on Trial.

130 of Irelands leading journalists gathered at the Law Society of Irelands historic headquarters at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7 to attend the first in-person Justice Media Awards event since 2019.
Leitrim County Council has brought High Court injunction proceedings aimed at removing persons it claims are illegally trespassing on part of a Traveller Group Housing Scheme to vacate the property.

The court heard yesterday, Wednesday, that the alleged trespass commenced earlier this month when "a group of individuals wearing balaclavas cut open a locked barrier and placed their two caravans on an empty lot of the property, which is beside a playschool."

The alleged trespassers' actions it is further claimed "terrified staff and children" at the creche resulting in parents being called to come and collect their children, and the Gardai were called.

Lawyers for the council say that the occupiers have parked their caravans in a derelict bay at the Shannonside View Traveller Group Housing Scheme in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim and have refused to leave the site.

The court heard that some of the persons it claims are illegally occupying the site have identified themselves as John Mongan, John Mongan Junior and Margaret Mongan, who said they had moved from Dublin.

The council says that it has approached those persons, who it says have no permission to be on the site, which is owned and operated by the council.

However, the occupants have refused to vacate the site, resulting in the council seeking an injunction from the High Court.

The matter came before Mr Justice Brian O'Moore the High Court on Wednesday, who on an ex-parte basis, said he was satisfied to make orders against the three named individuals and all other persons that are wrongfully in occupation of the site.

The judge said he was prepared to grant orders restraining the occupants from interfering with or obstructing the council from taking possession of the property in question.

The court also made an order restraining the defendants from entering or placing any further structures on the land without the council's consent.

The matter will return before the High Court later this month.

Seeking the order, Niall Flynn BL for the council said that it is his client's case that there are serious health and safety concerns regarding the bay.

The bay where the alleged illegal occupation is occurring is derelict and had been closed off from the rest of the site.

The bay where the caravans were placed is not currently suitable for occupation and is not safe, counsel said.

The housing scheme in question is "not a transient site" which facilitates random occupation by travelling parties.

It contains 14 bays which the council says are allocated by it to individuals and families on a contractual basis, the council also says.
We are Generation Rent is the theme of this years annual Tenant Sentiment Survey 2022 carried out by Threshold, Irelands national housing charity.

Threshold uses this survey to give a voice to the experience of its clients, of Generation Rent, their aspirations and frustrations. The term may conjure up an image of young 20-something-year-olds living in house shares, but now refers to those in their 40s, 50s, 60s and older. Almost two thirds of the respondents to the survey were 35 or older.

The majority would prefer to own their own home in five years time, however very few expect to realise these aspirations. By 2027, only 28% expect they will own their own home, 15% expect to have social housing, and 54% expect they will still be renting.

The reasons behind this desire to exit the rental market are clear, with almost half stating they do not feel secure in their tenancy. These feelings of insecurity were felt most strongly by adults heading one-parent families.

In 2021 Threshold assisted almost 20,000 households throughout Ireland. Some have delayed starting a family, others have experienced homelessness, been unable to accumulate any savings for a rainy day, had to couch-surf or move from one house share to another, as subsequent landlords sell up.

They worry about their future, whether they will still be renting when they retire, what will happen to their children if they must move house and school again, and what will they do if their rent increases.

The percentage of people who are renting because they cannot buy their own home has increased from 49% in 2020 to 64% in 2022  a 15% jump in just two years. Threshold Chief Executive Officer John Mark McCafferty said that the current housing crisis affects many groups of people across Irish society:

Tenants feelings of security in the home have deteriorated since 2020, the outset of the pandemic. In 2022, only 38% reported feeling secure in their home. This is unsurprising as only one fifth of those who participated in the survey left their last rental home out of choice and one in four were evicted as the landlord was selling the home or needed it for their own use.

When it came to moving, 92% found it difficult or extremely difficult to find a new rental home. This is across all family types, income ranges, ages etc. This crisis in the rental sector is being felt across the board.

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh OBrien TD said the Government are aware of the issues being faced by many renters and are delivering on several fronts to help alleviate the housing issue:

The Threshold Sentiment Survey further emphasises what I hear on a regular basis as Minister and as TD in one of the youngest and fastest growing constituencies in Ireland.

We desperately need to increase the supply of homes and while I know it can be very hard for people to see, we are on the right pathway, with housing permissions, commencements, completions, purchases, and mortgage drawdowns all up to record levels.

Through 4BN annual investment we are ensuring that the State is the biggest actor in housing and we will provide record numbers of social homes under the Housing for All plan.

The survey also refers to the majority of renters wanting to own their own home and thats why the Government have put affordability and homeownership at the heart of the Housing for All policy.

I want to commend Threshold on another informative survey and I will continue to work alongside Threshold, and all NGOs on the important work they do.

Experiences of Generation Rent

Ciara Walsh, a participant in Thresholds Tenant Sentiment Survey 2022 who is set to speak at the launch event, echoed these feelings and fears as she faces eviction due to her landlord selling her home of almost two years.

Ciara, a qualified nurse and mother of a young daughter attending primary school, has rented throughout her adult life. Due to a sudden illness, Ciaras work hours have become limited, meaning that she is reliant on the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) to stay in her rented home.

Previously, Ciara and her daughter were forced to move as her landlord was selling the home and this situation is now repeating itself. Ciara is faced with the challenge of finding a new home to rent in a short number of weeks before she faces eviction as her landlord is selling her home.

After searching for four months and finding very few options, Ciara now worries that she will not find a new home in time.

Key Policy Recommendations

To address these issues which make renting undesirable, insecure and unsustainable, Threshold has set out a number of key policy recommendations. These recommendations include increasing the overall supply of social housing, cost rental and affordable purchase.

The charity recognises the Governments commitment to this and the investment of 4 billion a year, however, urges them to not only deliver on targets but exceed those targets.

John Mark McCafferty continued:

Tens of thousands of people need these homes as soon as possible. To address these issues in the short to medium term, it is essential that small scale landlords are kept in the market.

Threshold recommends doing this through changes to the tax system, for example, applying a lower tax rate on rental income generated from properties owned by small landlords subject to long-term lease agreements for 10, 15 or 20+ years. We understand that this is currently under consideration.

Such agreements would also improve security of tenure as a landlord could only evict for breach of contract.

Threshold welcomes the Ministers recent announcement to increase the discretionary HAP (Housing Assistance Payment) rate by up to 35% and increase the single persons rate to meet that of couples.

We hope however, there will be a complete review of the base rates and a review of the HAP administrative processes, to make it a more effective form of social housing support.
Leitrim native and business owner, Alice O'Brien Bermejo has praised her staff for helping to save the life of a young woman taken hostage in New York this week.

In a Facebook post Alice who owns the Chipper Truck Cafe with her husband Valentino, noted: "This morning around 5 am a girl was saved from a 5-hour hostage situation. She ordered a delivery through Grubhub to our restaurant and added this note.

"Our staff responded immediately and called the police and she got saved. Ive often heard of this happening but never thought it would happen to us. Thankfully we were open and able to help her. A big Thank you to the Police for their fast response  The Chipper Truck Cafe - Yonkers".

Following the quick thinking of the staff and owner Valentino, New York Police Department officers were able to rescue the woman being held against her will at a residence three miles from the cafe.

A man has since been arrested and has been charged with a number of offences in relation to the incident.

It is understood that the Cafe is set to receive a $5,000 reward for their timely intervention from GrubHub in appreciation for what they have done.

"They thanked us for what we did and thanks for paying attention to the notes and for their appreciation they wanted to give us a reward," Alice told ABC7 News.
French President Emmanuel Macron addresses TV viewers on June 22, 2022. LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP

Emmanuel Macron has passed the responsibility onto his opponents for a few days, before flying off for a week of international summits. The head of State decided to address the nation on television on Wednesday, June 22, in an attempt to break the deadlock caused by his small relative majority in the Assemblee Nationale. He said that this new development in the history of the Fifth Republic means that we must "collectively learn to govern and legislate differently," with "compromise" and "dialogue."

However, at the end of two days of consultations with the leaders of the main parties, Mr. Macron has not yet found a solution that'll enable him to fill the gap left by the 40 or so MPs that he lacks to pass laws. He has therefore appealed to the "responsibility" of "all political forces" by asking them to decide between two options: to sign "a coalition contract" with him or to build "majorities law by law."

In terms of substance, Mr. Macron assured us he is not going back on the "consistency" of his "clear policies" of the presidential election, during which the French gave him "a clear legitimacy." He has just stressed the need to implement "responsible policies, that is to say, those which are credible and funded" and will not be accompanied either by more taxes or by more budgetary and environmental debt. He said, "That is why our country, more than ever, needs ambitious reforms to continue to create more wealth, more work and more innovation."

Read more Majority MPs at new Assembee Nationale settle in smoothly

Elisabeth Borne absent from the president's speech

So that's the appeal to the 61 MPs of the right Les Republicains (LR) party, who are the key to a potential majority. And this is despite the fact that he refrained from referring to his promise to reform the pension system at 65 years of age, which is desired by the right.

Without modifying his policies, the president is passing the buck to the opposition groups. "It will be necessary to clarify in the next few days the share of responsibility and cooperation that the different groups of the Assemblee Nationale are ready to accept: Enter a coalition of government and action? Simply commit to voting on certain laws?" The second option seems the more credible, a government source said. A "change of political culture" cannot happen overnight, after 60 years of power based on presidential and majority rule.

Olivier Marleix, the new president of the Les Republicains group in the Assemblee Nationale, answers journalists in the courtyard of the Palais-Bourbon, June 22, 2022, in Paris. JULIEN MUGUET POUR  LE MONDE 

The new president of the LR group in the Assemblee Nationale, Olivier Marleix, reacted by saying that he did not want to sign a "blank check" for the president, "especially in relation to unclear policies." Mr. Marleix nevertheless specified that his party "will make proposals on the cost of living crisis" next week. For his part, leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon said that it was "pointless to try to dissolve the reality of the vote by obscuring it with considerations and appeals of all kinds that have no meaning." Mr. Melenchon, leader of La France Insoumise (LFI), demanded that Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne (whom Emmanuel Macron did not mention) present "an action plan" and seek "the confidence of the Assemblee Nationale."

A government of national unity 'not justified at this time'

Emmanuel Macron after his meeting with Adrien Quatennens (LFI) at the Elysee Palace on June 22. GONZALO FUENTES / AP

In his speech, the president simply ruled out one possibility: that of a government of national unity "not justified at this time." Yet he has been the one to question various figures speaking on this subject, starting with the national secretary of Le Parti Communiste, Fabien Roussel, and the leader of Rassemblement National (RN), Marine Le Pen. This is despite the fact that the country is not facing any war or imminent danger, but a simple relative majority in the Assemblee Nationale.

In doing so, Mr. Macron is helping to institutionalize the RN, even surprising Ms. Le Pen during their tete-a-tete at the Elysee Palace. The leader of the national-populist party intends to take advantage of the situation to assert herself, with her group of 89 MPs, as an influence on the same footing as the others. "I've been fighting for this for 20 years," she told Le Monde. "I am delighted that justice is finally being paid to the movement that I lead. It is the consequence of the voters' choice. They forced the political class to stop treating RN as a pariah."

Already, Ms. Le Pen assures us that she will cooperate with the executive on a case-by-case basis. Increasing pensions? "Obviously, I will vote for it," she said, as President Macron cited purchasing power as a priority. At the Assemblee Nationale on Wednesday, she spoke of her "firm but responsible" approach to opposition: "Anything that is in the interest of France and the French, we will vote for; anything that seems toxic or harmful, we will oppose." It was a vague opening that allowed her to hope to count for something in the president's calculations. "But it is up to him to modify his policies," she warned. "He is trying to buy players. We will not be his players [without him] giving up" on reforms.

Marine Le Pen after her meeting with the president at the Elysee Palace in Paris, June 21, 2022. CYRIL BITTON / DIVERGENCE POUR  LE MONDE 

Someone in the president's close circle acknowledged that in his speech, he "could have had a comment, something a little indirect" to exclude RN from the scope of discussions, including in the search for a working majority. After all, RN, whose policies he considered "racist" just before the presidential election, has been his opponent for five years, something he has openly stated. The same source acknowledged that "it was not really the place for him to enter into the debate on the subject of the RN."

Much ambiguity

Since Sunday, certain leading figures of the majority have been saying it would be wrong to turn their backs on the "second group in the Assemblee Nationale," behind that of Renaissance (formerly known as La Republique en Marche). This followed the example of MoDem President Francois Bayrou, who, speaking on France Inter on Tuesday, called for something "as close as possible to national unity." He said, "There are people on the right, left, center, extremes. We have to create a harmony so that all these factions enter the symphony that is democracy." For his part, Paris MP Sylvain Maillard (LRM) told Publicsenat.fr that "We talk to LFI, RN, LR, Green and Socialist groups about the laws to find majorities."

This openness was immediately criticized by Clement Beaune, minister delegate for European affairs, who said on Europe 1 that "there can be no alliance, even circumstantial, with Rassemblement National." Even Minister of Relations with Parliament Olivier Veran spoke out against any cooperation with far-right MPs. "Making the calculation that thanks to RN votes we would pass a law that we would not pass without them, no way, nor moreover with LFI," he said on BFM-TV. It was a firmer stance than that of the head of State, who was ambiguous on Wednesday evening, assuring us that, among those who came to see him at the Elysee Palace, "all expressed their respect for our institutions." Marine Le Pen is rubbing her hands, interpreting this statement as a disapproval of Mr. Veran.

A sign of this ambiguity is that no approach has yet been decided on to prevent RN from taking over the head of the Finance Committee or one of the vice presidencies of the Assemblee Nationale. Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau has, on the contrary, defended as a constitutional principle the fact that "the chairmanship of the Finance Committee in the Assemblee Nationale goes to the largest opposition group." Whereas this practice is part of the rules of procedure of the Assemblee Nationale and simply provides for this position to be given to an opposition party without reference to its size.

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It's a choice that would suit the right, little reassured at the idea of seeing LFI take over this committee. "LFI obviously has in mind carrying out tax control," Eric Woerth, an MP (ex-LR) for Oise, told Le Figaro. Mr. Woerth was chairman of the committee during the previous legislature and joined the majority. Senat President Gerard Larcher (LR) told Le Parisien that this commission should go to the far-right party, to the great surprise of members of Ms. Le Pen's party. "We will not let go of the Finance Committee," said Renaud Labaye, RN chief of staff, delighted. "Marine Le Pen has talked to God about it." In other words, to Emmanuel Macron.

Read more Subscribers only 'For the first time, the Assemblee Nationale is a fair reflection of the highly fragmented state of France'

Olivier Faye and Ivanne Trippenbach Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.
ZIMBABWEAN-Irish rapper God Knows, who has been tearing up the rap scene in Limerick is back with a bang on his new single Twelve 61.

The track features none other than Zimdancehall star Jah Master who has been making waves internationally over the last couple of years.

God Knows, who is a proud Limerick city resident, said that the beat was made from a famous song by his uncle Chinx Chingaira.

Fast forward a couple of weeks later, another uncle of mine was congratulating Jah Master on his success and after consulting with my dad, I found out he too was a relative.

We were in fact, cousins and he grew up blocks away from that 1261 street number where my grandmothers house is, hence the title of the song, he stated.

Twelve 61 will be followed by a new EP We Move The Needle out on July 8, via narolane records.

The release is also accompanied by a stunning, full frame animation music video by Emma Murphy and Darragh Scott.

On the video making process, Emma and Darragh explained that the format for the video was animation and the technique chosen was rotoscoping.

This technique means that every frame you see on screen had to be digitally painted by hand based on the reference footage

We felt that the gritty naturalism you get with Rotoscoping would suit the frenetic energy of the piece, they said.

Jah Master said: It was growing up in the ghetto that helped us write the chorus of this song. We just had to write the reality of it. Everything that we had experienced before.

He stressed that it is the wish of every kid from the ghetto, to go straight to the top.

It was mine, and I thank God that bit by bit I am managing to attain some of the things I wished for, although I feel like I haven't reached the peak, he concluded.
TWO REPORTS are due out which will provide recommendations to address the frightening problems at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

Limericks main hospital came in for severe criticism following the publication of a Hiqa report which arose from an unannounced visit.

Government Senator Maria Byrne has described its contents as damaging, concerning, disappointing and shocking and accused the Department of Health of putting their head in the sand over issues at the hospital in Dooradoyle.

UHL is mainly non-compliant in all Hiqa standards. That to me is most frightening, Ms Byrne said in the Seanad this Tuesday, highlighting patients going missing, a 200-long waiting list for diabetic services and not enough neurological nurses. The hospital is at crisis point. To hear patients say they are afraid to go to the hospital is the most frightening statement people can make, she added.

The 39-page report raised concerns about patient safety as a result of overcrowding. It also states conditions at the Emergency Department are insufficient to meet the needs of patients and they compromise the delivery of safe care.

It also details how the hospital is failing to comply with national standards governing patient dignity, patient care and staffing levels.

Ms Byrne said its deeply concerning Health Minister Stephen Donnelly had yet to address the report. However, after she secured time to raise the matter, Junior Minister Frank Feighan responded on behalf of government.

He said: I am concerned about the significant risk to service users.

Mr Feighan pointed out a report commissioned by UHL, and carried out by Deloitte, to review and advise on patient flow, alongside an expert teams recommendations are due out in the coming weeks. These, he said, are expected to help identify mitigations to the problems outlined in the Hiqa report.

The Hiqa report provides an important opportunity for a renewed focus on the capacity and capability, and of the quality and safety of emergency services delivered to the people of the Mid-West region by UHL, the Minister of State added.
THE COUNTDOWN to the 2022 Limerick Chamber regional business awards got under way this Thursday morning with a special launch event at the Castletroy Park Hotel.

Now in their 11th year the awards are held to recognise the best the region has to offer in terms of trade and commerce.

Last year's ceremony was held as a scaled back event at lunchtime in the Limerick Strand Hotel due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, this year, it is set to return as a black-tie evening ceremony, with more than 400 local business leaders in attendance on Friday, November 18.

The shortlist for the awards - which the Limerick Leader is once again the media partner to - will be revealed on Friday, October 14.

Seven awards will be given out on the night, with a return of the best employer category, best not-for-profit, best SME, customer experience, and best emerging business.

Two new categories have been announced for this year, however: the best sustainable business award will be given out to an organisation leading initiatives in energy management.

And a special recognition award will also be conferred on a company which has run a scheme which has positively impacted either Limerick city, or a town or village in the region.

Off & running for 22!! Delighted to welcome guests to the launch of 2022 Regional Business Awards. Its your chance to tell everyone about your outstanding innovation, community contribution and customer experiences @CplResources @LimerickChamber #LimBizAwards pic.twitter.com/NMcZL2Fhx2  Graham Burns (@GrahamBurns2013) June 23, 2022

An overall victor will be picked from all the category winners, while Chamber president Donal Cantillon will also pick a deserving recipient of a lifetime achievement award.

Gillian Barry, the head of enterprise at the main event sponsor, the Technological University of the Shannon said the awards show the "best in class" in the region.

"It celebrates and recognises business and leadership in our region. You are setting benchmarks with these awards, and we are really excited to celebrate your success, recognise the great work you are doing. These awards will give people an opportunity to share what your company is doing and what your teams are doing. Every single year, when you see the faces of people when they are shortlisted, and the recognition they get for the work they are doing, the efforts they are making. It's a great moment for companies to get involved and share their stories," Ms Barry said.

Limerick Chamber chief executive Dee Ryan said: "We are here to shine a light on your achievements, because we are very proud of them, and they are inspiring. None more inspiring than the company of the year. It's the one category that you can't enter. I don't like to be the judges when they need to go through the award winners of each category and whittle it down to who they are going to give that honour to. The standard is very high."

Last year's business of the year was Croom Precision Medical, whose chief executive Patrick Byrnes addressed the awards launch.

For more information on the Chamber awards, and to enter visit www.limerickchamber.ie/flagship-events
LIMERICK firefighters rescued a man from an island after he began to feel unwell.

Three Limerick Fire and Rescue Service appliances attended the scene at the Mill Road in Corbally after receiving the emergency call at 4.30pm on Wednesday.

It is understood two men were on Thomas Island when when one of them, aged in his 40s, suddenly became ill.

The National Ambulance Service were also called but had no way of gaining access to the island.

One local told the Leader: "The tide was very low at the time. The firefighters used a kind of an inflatable raft to get across to the island.

"They were over and back with the man in jig time and he was taken away in an ambulance. I hope he is doing ok. The island is full of history. Horses graze there now.

The Rescue 115 helicopter also attended due to the unusual location but its services were not required. Limerick Fire and Rescue Service returned to base around 6pm. The condition of the man is not known.
THE UKRAINIAN ambassador to Ireland Larysa Gerasko has thanked the people of Limerick for their generosity and welcome to refugees fleeing the war in her home country.

Ambassador Gerasko made her comments on a visit to Limerick during which she met with the Mayor of the City and County of Limerick Daniel Butler and members of the displaced Ukrainian community now living locally.

Around 1,150 Ukrainian people are currently staying in Limerick in a variety of accommodation centres, tourist accommodation, student accommodation and with host families.

Mayor Butler informed the ambassador that Limerick City and County Council is working closely with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the International Organisation for Migration to identify suitable accommodation for those who require it.

The council is also acting as co-ordinator for all of the agencies and community groups who are responding to the needs of the Ukrainians refugees. These agencies and groups are providing medical support, education, social welfare, transport, protection, and information supports.

The ambassador expressed her thanks and appreciation to the mayor, the staff of Limerick City and County Council and all agencies involved in supporting the new arrivals to Limerick.

Ambassador Gerasko was then invited to lunch by the residents of St Lelias, a rest centre accommodating displaced Ukrainians and operated by St Munchins Community Centre on behalf of Limerick City and County Council. The residents led the ambassador on a tour of their accommodation where she took time to speak to each family about their journey to Limerick.

The children waved flags, spoke to the ambassador, presented her with art and were delighted to show her their new surroundings. The residents prepared a traditional meal with borscht, holubtsi and deruni for the ambassador.

Ambassador Gerasko then met with some of the community groups and agencies - Limerick Childcare Committee, Local Link, Paul Partnership, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, Civil Defence, An Garda Siochana, HSE, Mid-West Simon, Doras, Department of Social Protection, Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Ballyhoura Development, Limerick Volunteer Centre, Public Participation Network, West Limerick Resources, TUSLA, Zero Cost Shop volunteers, St Munchins Community Centre and the Citizens Information Service - who are responding to the needs of the Ukrainians while in Limerick.

Ambassador Gerasko expressed her gratitude and that of the Ukrainian people for the efforts and services being provided for those who needed them in Limerick.
COUNCILLORS from all parties and none across Limerick have urged Housing Minister Darragh OBrien to take emergency measures to tackle the accommodation crisis.

A special meeting of the local authority took place at the request of Sinn Fein and Green members today.

At it, a resolution was unanimously passed to call on government to declare a housing emergency, and use special powers to bring about a moratorium on evictions, as was the case during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Members want this to be the case until Mr OBrien raises the income thresholds for social housing supports for a three month period, with a review period after the same timeframe.

Throughout a highly-charged meeting, members shared stories of constituents who they fear could end up homeless if matters do not change soon.

We are facing a deluge of notices to quit over the coming months. The homeless action team have been inundated with calls from families who will have nowhere to go in the coming months. Accidental landlords are exiting the market as the opportunity to sell at higher prices presents itself, said northside councillor Sharon Benson.

Labour councillor Conor Sheehan added: I cannot keep up with the people coming to me day-in day out with notices to quit who have absolutely nowhere to go. I can think of several housing cases I have open where by the grace of friends and family members they are going from couch to couch to couch.

The original motion at the meeting urged an outright ban on evictions, but this was amended after some members expressed concerns it could encourage poor tenant behaviour, and force more landlords out of the market.

Fine Gael's council leader John Sheahan said: "If we go too hard, landlords will walk away, and if we go too soft, we are rewarding bad tenants, and encouraging more people to become bad tenants."

He added: "It's mindboggling the way this housing crisis has mushroomed into all facets of society whether you are grandparents with your home paid for, looking forward to retirement and having your grandchildren come back, whether it's friends, the squeezed middle, or those in social and emergency accommodation. We all have to look at ourselves and ask the question - how in the name of God is this happening?"

His party colleague Stephen Keary reacted with fury to the turnaround of some derelict homes in Limerick - describing the local authority as a "disgrace".

Independent councillor Jerome Scanlan added: "There are six properties in Newcastle West town which have been unoccupied since 2014, 2015 and 2016. One of those was transferred to Cluid."

City West councillor Joe Leddin pointed to a number of one-and-two bed apartments in the city empty for an extended period of time.

In a housing crisis, thats shocking. How is it not raising a red flag when these same apartments perhaps only need preliminary work to be done. Certainly nothing substantial. For apartments to be empty two and three years is a failure on all of us, the Labour member said.

Deputy mayor Tom Ruddle shared a story of a constituent who is facing homelessness, and indicated the council has not helped the situation.

The councillor, an auctioneer by trade, said: "Sometimes I think one hand of the council works against the other hand. I have a case where a woman with four children had a notice the owner was selling the property. The reason is the other side of the council, the Housing Assistance Payment inspectors came out and inspected the home and gave her a list of things. She has done all the jobs, spent a couple of thousand euro on them. The house is only 15 years old. Now they have identified a problem with the radiator. The woman has had enough and told the tenant she is sick of renting and is putting the home up for sale."

He said he fears his constituent will be homeless soon.
ICICI Bank today announced the launch of a digital platform to address the needs of the students aspiring to pursue higher education in India and abroad. Called Campus Power, the one-stop platform caters to varied needs of the entire student ecosystem comprising students, parents and institutes. It offers both banking and value-added solutions at one place, eliminating the need for the student ecosystem to contact with multiple stakeholders. It is available for anyone including customers of other banks.

A first-of-its kind initiative, Campus Power assists users to explore financial products matching their needs ranging from bank accounts including overseas accounts, education loan and its tax benefit, foreign exchange solutions, payment solutions, cards, other loans and investments. Further, the platform provides information regarding a host of value-added services related to higher studies in India and foreign countries including Canada, UK, Germany, USA and Australia. The empanelled partners provide the value-added services on courses/ universities, destinations, admission counselling, test preparation, overseas accommodation and travel assistance.

Speaking on the launch, Sudipta Roy, Head  Unsecured Asset, ICICI Bank said, We at ICICI Bank, believe in customer centricity and constantly try to enhance our offerings with the evolving market expectations. We have observed the education lifecycle in depth to understand diverse needs of students in various stages of their life. We have found out from our research that students, their parents and institutions grapple with the challenge of interacting with multiple stakeholders to resolve issues related to their higher studies. This assumes importance with increasing number of students opting for higher studies in India and abroad. Hence, we have decided to launch Campus Power to bring all education related services under one umbrella.

We are launching Campus Power just before the start of the fall season abroad and beginning of the next academic year in India. This initiative caters to the student ecosystem by providing them with digital, personalised and comprehensive solutions. We believe that the benefits of our products and services should be available to all students and their parents, irrespective of whether they are ICICI Bank customers or not. With this launch, we wish to provide a holistic experience to the students and their parents and assist them in fulfilling their dreams."

In order to complement the digital efforts, ICICI Bank is setting up branches dedicated to the student ecosystem. The first branch has been set up at IIT Kanpur and seven more will be added in the campus of top premier institutes across the country. These full-service branches house multi-functional teams with rich expertise to cater to the entire student ecosystem efficiently.

The Campus Power offers a host of banking as well as value-added features for students, parents and institutes:

 It offers 360 degree curated solutions to students who are aspiring to go for higher studies in India and abroad. The services include funding education, assistance on finding out the course and the university, helping students to prepare themselves for tests, offering debit/credit cards and creating overseas student account.

 To support the childs education journey, Campus Power offers parents with education loans and remittance services. Moreover, it has other solutions for them in terms of savings account, investment products, travel and health insurance.

 It provides institutes and international schools with various products and services under one umbrella to facilitate all the financial needs including funding, payments, collections, investments and insurance.
The World Bank has approved a loan of USD 245 million to support Indias efforts to modernize rail freight and logistics infrastructure, the international financial institution has said in a statement.

The Rail Logistics project will help India shift more traffic from road to rail, making transport  both freight and passenger  more efficient and reducing millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) each year. The project will also incentivise more private sector investment in the railway sector.

"While reducing greenhouse gases, the new project will also benefit millions of rail passengers in India as railway lines get decongested with freight moving to dedicated lines," said Hideki Mori, Operations Manager and Acting Country Director, India, World Bank.

"Integrating railways with the wider logistics ecosystem is also key to reducing India's high logistics costs, which are much higher than in developed nations. This will make Indian firms more competitive."

Indian Railways is the fourth-largest rail network in the world having transported 1.2 billion tonnes of freight in the fiscal ending March 2020. Yet, 71% of India's freight is transported by road and only 17% by rail.

World Bank has said that the capacity constraints of Indian Railways have limited the volumes and reduced the speed and reliability of shipments. As a result, it has been losing market share to trucks over the years; in 2017-18, its market share was 32%, down from 52 per cent a decade earlier.

Road freight is the largest contributor to GHG emissions, accounting for about 95% of emissions in the freight sector. Trucks also accounted for about 12.3% of road accidents and 15.8% of total road transport-related deaths in 2018. Rail emits about one-fifth of trucks GHG emissions, and with Indian Railways planning to become a net-zero carbon emitter by 2030, it has the potential to eliminate 7.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases each year, it added.

The loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) was approved by the World Banks Board of Executive Directors and has a maturity of 22 years, including a grace period of seven years.

The new Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor-3 (EFDC) is also supported by the World Bank.

The statement said that a major focus of the project will be on harnessing commercial financing by engaging the private sector and developing customer-oriented approaches. The project will also support the institutional capacity strengthening of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) as a commercial organisation and equip it to provide multimodal logistics services.

"India is increasingly focused on multimodal transport, particularly with railways as the central pillar of efficient logistics in the freight transport segment," said Saroj Ayush and Martha B Lawrence, World Bank Task Team Leaders for the project.

"The project will help leverage private sector efficiency for integrating rail transportation into cargo supply chains."
The antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), set against the splendour of the Milky Way

Look up at the sky on a clear night in a dark area, and the stars appear to twinkle. The concept is so well established that it's the premise of one of the most popular children's songs of all time.

But what's the science behind this sparkly sight? What is it about stars that makes them twinkle?

It turns out, "twinkle, twinkle, little star" is a bit of a misnomer.

Related: 15 unforgettable images of stars

Stars don't actually twinkle

The honest answer to why stars twinkle is that they don't. The twinkling we see has nothing to do with the stars themselves. Rather, it's a result of how we see them from our perspective on Earth .

Because stars are so far away, we see them as tiny points of light in the night sky.

"Starlight travels a great distance to reach our eyes on a clear night," said Ryan French, a solar physicist at University College London in the U.K. After our own star, the sun  whose average distance to Earth is 93 million miles (150 million kilometers)  the nearest star to us isProxima Centauri, which is over 4 light-years from Earth.

On the way to our eyes, this light from distant stars encounters Earth's atmosphere  the key driver behind the twinkling effect.

"As this point of light reaches the atmosphere, it passes through layers of wobbling air before reaching our eyes, causing it to twinkle," French said.

So it's Earth's wobbling atmosphere that makes stars appear to twinkle. In space, high above the atmosphere, stars don't twinkle at all. (That's one reason why the Hubble Space Telescope was sent into orbit: It could get sharper images of space without the images being distorted by atmospheric turbulence.)

Why some stars twinkle more than others

Many factors affect how much a star appears to twinkle. One variable is the star's place within our field of view.

"Stars will twinkle more if their starlight travels through more air before reaching our eyes," French said, so stars near the horizon appear to twinkle more because their light has to journey through more atmosphere to get to us.

Weather also plays a role. "Humid nights will also cause the air to be thicker," making stars appear to twinkle more, French said.

These issues help guide astronomers when they are deciding where to place the world's biggest and best telescopes . "Observatories are placed in high, dry places, to remove as much air between the star and telescope as possible," French said.

Ideal spots include the bone-dry Atacama Desert in Chile, as well as the volcanic peaks of Hawaii and the Spanish Canary Islands. These locations are examples of places with what astronomers refer to as good "seeing." "Thick air, causing a lot of wobble or twinkle, is bad seeing, whereas dry, calm and thin air creates good seeing."

When you look up at the night sky, you may also notice that some stars appear to shift between different colors as they twinkle. Sirius, the brightest star in Earth's night sky, is a classic example.

"Starlight gets refracted [bent] by the atmosphere a little bit, which can cause it to change color," French said. This effect is more noticeable with brighter stars.

You may also notice a few "stars" that don't twinkle at all. That's because they are actually planets. "Unlike stars, planets are not point sources in the sky, but have width," French said. "This is because they are far closer to us." In other words, they are too big in the night sky for the atmosphere to make them appear to twinkle.

However, if you look at the planets, or even the moon , through a telescope, you'll still see them appear to shimmer, as the light you're seeing has been jostled by the atmosphere on its way to your eyes.

Original article on Live Science.
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Long-awaited animated feature Lamyas Poem has unveiled its first trailer.

Alex Kronemers Rumi-inspired film about a Syrian refugee girl named Lamya was one of the hot competition titles at the 2021 Annecy Film Festival, and went on to play at festivals in Vancouver, Zurich and Prague.

The film is an inspiring and timely tale about a 12-year-old Syrian refugee who flees the violence of her country, and looks to a gifted book of poetry by the famous 13th-century poet, Rumi, as a source of strength. As the perils of her journey mount, the book becomes a magical gateway where she meets Rumi when he was a boy and also a refugee fleeing the violence of his time. In a shared dreamworld, they battle the monsters that follow them from their real world situations, and Lamya must help young Rumi find his calling and write the poem that, 800 years later, will save her life.

The films voice talent includes Mena Massoud, the star of Disneys most recent Aladdin, as young poet Rumi; Millie Davis (Wonder, Orphan Black) as Lamya; and Faran Tahir (Iron Man, Star Trek) as Baha Walad, Rumis father.

Rumi was a Persian poet and Sufi master whose influence has transcended borders. His poems have been widely translated and have sold millions of copies in recent years. His quote, The wound is the place where the light enters you, inspired the filmmakers behind Lamyas Poem.

The Unity Productions Foundation-financed picture is written and directed by Kronemer, with Sam Kadi (The Citizen, Little Gandhi) and Glenn James Brown producing and Brandon Lloyd (The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, Cyberchase) as director of animation for Canadas PiP Animation Studios.

The creative team also includes music composer Christopher Willis (The Personal History of David Copperfield, The Death of Stalin) and art director Kristina Vardazaryan (Wonder Park, The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run).

WestEnd Films, whose library includes Oscar-nominated animation titles such as The Breadwinner and Song of the Sea, is handling international sales, while ICM is representing the North American rights.

Check out the trailer below:

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When Lorne Michaels first heard the pitch for Schmigadoon!, the comedic love letter to the Golden Age musicals of the 1940s and 50s, he didnt have to look far for his leading lady  he offered it to Saturday Night Live star Cecily Strong. Asked why, Michaels simply states: I didnt think of anyone else.

Having seen the show, the first season of which premiered last year on Apple TV Plus, its obvious why Strong was the right match for Melissa Gimble, a New York City doctor who finds herself and boyfriend Josh Skinner (Keegan-Michael Key) trapped in a mystical land, only able to leave when they find true love. But, Michaels elaborates, I knew she would get the ways in which its moving and complex but also understand that cartoon reality. And I knew she would make us care about this relationship.

Created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, with Paul taking on showrunner duties and writing all the songs (with an underscore by Christopher Willis), Schmigadoon! works both as a loving parody and sharp satire, with characters and relationships the audience genuinely cares about. All six episodes were directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and the cast features an impressive lineup that includes Tony winners Kristin Chenoweth, Jane Krakowski, Martin Short and Aaron Tveit as well as Oscar winner Ariana DeBose.

Michaels and Strong spoke to Variety about the shows that inspired them, shooting during COVID restrictions and what to expect in Season 2.

You have to be a fan of musicals to do a show like this  when did you fall in love with the genre?



Lorne Michaels: I can go first because Im older. I grew up in the time of  well, I hate to use the word heyday  but when musicals were really peaking. Shows like My Fair Lady and all the Sondheims. It was so much a part of the culture in the 50s and 60s, then rock and roll sort of took its place in my life to some degree, but Ive never lost interest. It was one of my first loves.

Cecily Strong: My grandmother bought me a couple of VHS musicals as a kid, and I the ones I really remember were South Pacific, My Fair Lady and Oliver, which was my favorite. I had a real South Pacific phase for awhile.

Michaels: We used to do musicals at summer camp and I actually directed a production of South Pacific there, with 14-year-olds in the roles.

How did the show first come your way and what interested you in making it?



Michaels: I met with Cinco Paul and thought it was perfect for Cecily and brought [her] in almost immediately. But it was a long process in terms of rewrites and shaping it. We did some table reads for Apple  Apple was in pretty much from the beginning, but I dont think they knew what they had. They liked the idea but I urged them to come to a table read and see it live to understand what it was going to be.

Strong: When he first explained it, I was like, Okay, sure. I dont know what any of that means. But I was in. And then at that first table read, I really saw how much was there. It was so funny and sincere and honestly, at the time, it felt so nice to do something spreading so much joy.

Michaels: We did three [table reads], I believe. Each time with a different lead. Andrew Garfield did it once, different people played the part. We were workshopping it in the nicest possible way, and those performances really helped shape the part. But the process took so long and people had other commitments; things change. Im so grateful to all the actors who helped us workshop it.

The cast is so phenomenal. Did you find people were anxious to sign on? Its an all-star lineup of Broadway talent.

Michaels: I always say if you write good parts, youll get good actors. And there were really good parts. Also, Barry Sonnenfeld had his own relationships with people like Kristin Chenoweth. A lot of the people in there are some way connected to our world  theyd done SNL or loved musicals.

Strong: I think its even more indicative now of how much it means to us, because theres not COVID restrictions stopping people from working and everyone made sure to make time to come back for Season 2.

Cecily, your chemistry with Keegan is so spectacular and it makes us root for this couple from the start. Did you know each other prior to this?



Strong: I think I had met him. But I just had him in mind. You know how you can see somebody and just assume youll be best friends with them? It was one of those times where that actually happened. It was like meeting someone Ive known my whole life. We both share a Midwest background and the sketch background and were big musical theater nerds. And were big crybabies  wed often joke about who was going to cry first. I think at one point he said, You know, Ive only ever had this kind of feeling shooting with someone before, and that was Jordan. It was so much fun working with him, I almost worried wed get in trouble on set because we just wanted to goof off.

Michaels: We talked about Keegan a lot through this process. In the end, the show wouldnt work without these two leads and her instinct was Keegan. And it was one of those rare occasions where she was right.

Strong: (Laughs) It happens every now and then. Its like an eclipse.

I couldnt help but notice that after shooting this, a couple of your cast members hosted Saturday Night Live. Was this sort of a tryout for Keegan and Ariana DeBose?

Michaels: Ariana was breathtaking in Schmigadoon! but then I saw West Side Story and knew shed be a great host. She wasnt as well-known as she is now, but its always good for us to be early on those things.

Yes, it was nice of her to win an Oscar to help promote your show!



Strong: It was so nice of her to take one for the team.

Because this shot in October, was there a time when Cecily was doing both Schmigadoon! and Saturday Night Live?



Strong: Yes. I did a few remote things with a crew. I think Kimberly Guilfoyle was the first thing I filmed in Vancouver  and what a way to introduce yourself to a bunch of Canadians, screaming at the top of your lungs while wearing fake boobs and fake nails. I did some other things but it was really hard because it was risky to set up anything that would be live. I would have loved to do more.

Of course, I have to ask about Season 2  is there anything you can reveal? I believe youre calling it Schmicago?



Strong: Yes, were going into 60s and 70s musicals. I cant reveal much, but I will say, Im loving my wardrobe this season. Oh, yeah. Ive already worn feathers twice, so if that tells you anything.

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Sun Valley, colloquially known as summer camp for billionaires, kicks off right after the July 4 holiday. But the moguls who flock to the Allen & Co. retreat may not be as relaxed as usual when they touch down in Idaho: From darkening economic clouds to choppy leadership transitions at some of the most storied media companies, there are plenty of reasons for the 1% of the 1% to be breaking a sweat these days. Heres a look at what the CEOs and media barons should expect when they hit the posh mountain retreat.

Awkward Encounters

There may be some tense moments by the duck pond. After all, both Bob Chapek, the embattled Disney chief, and Bob Iger, the man he has struggled to replace, are on the guest list for the 2022 iteration of Sun Valley. And its not exactly a secret that the two Bobs are barely on speaking terms these days. Then theres Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla and SpaceX founder who is trying to wrap up his $44 billion acquisition of the social media platform. Thats a deal thats expected to usher in more than 280-characters worth of changes at Twitter. And though Rupert Murdoch may be sitting out this conference, sons James and Lachlan are expected to attend. The two brothers seem pretty far apart on politics these days, with James, freed from the family business, moving toward the center and Lachlan, now firmly ensconced at Fox, standing behind his news networks Trumpian embrace.

Recession Blues

The country isnt in the grips of a recession, but thats what many economists predict is on the horizon. If things go south, thats bad news for many media moguls, since the films and shows they produce are tailor-made for people with discretionary income. If the job market sours and wages constrict, look for Joe and Jane Public to shed some streaming services and go to the movies even less than they already do.

Rising Interest Rates, Cooling M&A Fever

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said June 15 the Fed is not trying to induce a recession with the recent hike in short-term interest rates. But the step taken to slow the rise of inflation is certainly one that cant be ignored by the moguls, who may be doing less dealing as a consequence. Attendees previously likely to talk mergers and acquisitions, the go-to move for growth in recent years, especially as the streaming wars have ramped up, might put a pin in new conversations. Meanwhile, pending deals, like the one between Chris Silbermanns ICM and Bryan Lourds CAA (both execs are expected Sun Valley attendees) remain in limbo.

Reversals of Fortune

The giant shake-ups, large transactions and dips in stock prices across the entertainment landscape over the past year could make for a change in standing among colleagues in Idaho this July. Ted Sarandos and Reed Hastings, formerly masters of the universe, are now in the awkward position of leading Netflix during its new underdog phase (head of global TV Bela Bajarias word, not ours). At the same time, frequent Sun Valley-goer David Zaslav now boasts Warner Bros. in front of his Discovery CEO title, making him the new king in town.

Huge Lack of Diversity

With few exceptions, the CEOs at the elite event are largely white males. And those exceptions are typically white women and Asian men. The Black community has historically been the most underrepresented, despite the number of Black power players in media and entertainment. With new mandates in boardrooms across the country to increase diversity in almost all major sectors, its very unlikely the summer camp for moguls can keep going without including Byron Allen, Jay-Z, Robert F. Smith and other high-profile Black execs.

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White Pine Pictures executive Andrew Munger has re-launched his outfit Ultramagnetic Productions with a slate of drama and documentary projects.

Munger first operated Ultramagnetic Productions from 1997 to 2004, producing non-fiction projects including Walmart Nation, Campaign: The Making of a Candidate, Xanadu: In Search of Domestic Perfection and Make Some Noise! for networks such as the CBC, Discovery, History and Life/Slice. He shuttered the company in 2005 to run television production at World Vision, Canadas largest non-profit organization, before moving to Torontos White Pine Pictures in 2014.

After eight years, Munger is stepping down from his role as director of unscripted development at White Pine in order to restart Ultramagnetic.

However, he will continue as an executive producer on several key White Pine feature documentaries, including Buffy Sainte Marie: Carry It On (Bell/PBS) and The Con: Churchill and Roosevelt Secret American War (Super Channel/WNET/ARTE/Beyond Rights). The latter doc is directed by John LEcuyer (ReGenesis) and co-produced with Quebecs PMA and Germanys Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion.

Munger is also attached to other ongoing projects in advanced development at White Pine, including Encrypted: The Dark Side of Digital, Woodstock Dreaming and an as-yet-untitled Midwest crime project. CAAs Hannah Epstein is repping these projects.

Among the titles on the Ultramagnetic slate are Michaels Wars, a scripted drama based on the life of British-Canadian foreign correspondent Michael Maclear; and Say It Loud: How A Black Music Mecca Grew in the Great White North, a feature documentary looking at how Canada became a Jamaican music powerhouse.

During the America-Vietnam war, Maclear became the first Western TV correspondent to be granted admission to North Vietnam. Munger has optioned Maclears 2013 memoir Guerilla Nation: My Wars In and Out of Vietnam, in a deal negotiated by Canadian attorney Michael Levine with the exclusive cooperation of Maclears daughter, author Kyo Maclear.

Meanwhile, Say It Loud is being directed by Graeme Mathieson, with Clement Virgo (Billions, The Wire) as executive producer and musicologists Nicholas Jennings and Klive Walker as consultants. The project, which has received development support from Ontario Creates, examines how pioneering musicians such as Jay Douglas, Nana McLean, Leroy Sibbles and Jackie Mittoo laid the groundwork for modern Canadian stars such as Drake, Daniel Caesar, Kaytranada and Jessie Reyez.

Munger said: This new arrangement with White Pine allows me greater flexibility to develop passion projects, both scripted and unscripted, under the relaunched and revitalized Ultramagnetic umbrella.

Ive had a great run with White Pine and want to thank Peter Raymont and Steve Ord for their support and the opportunity to work at one of Canadas most respected and successful production companies, and to collaborate with some of Canadas most talented filmmakers like Daniel Roher, Phyllis Ellis, Fred Peabody, John LEcuyer, Mike Sheehan and many others.

White Pine president Peter Raymont added: Andrew worked tirelessly in developing documentaries and doc series at White Pine Pictures. We wish him all the best as he pursues other opportunities.

At White Pine, Munger was a driving force on documentaries including the Martin Scorsese-backed Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band, which opened the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, as well as the Emmy- and Canadian Screen Award-nominated movies Toxic Beauty and All Governments Lie.

Munger also created and co-produced Wild Pacific Rescue, a three-part wildlife series, and Arctic Secrets for Blue Ant Medias Love Nature strand.

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A man was sentenced to prison for attempting to smuggle ecstasy through International Bridge I, according to court documents.

On June 7, U.S. District Judge Diana Saldana sentenced Gregory Scott Goldsmith to 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Goldsmith had pleaded guilty on May 6 to importation of ecstasy.
BRUSSELS (AP)  The European Union agreed Thursday to put Ukraine on a path toward EU membership, acting with uncharacteristic speed and unity to pull the embattled country further away from Russias influence and bind it more closely to the West.

Meeting at a summit in Brussels, leaders of the EUs 27 nations mustered the required unanimous approval to grant Ukraine candidate status. That sets in motion a membership process that could take years or even decades.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted his gratitude and declared: Ukraines future is within the EU.

Its a victory. We have been waiting for 120 days and 30 years, he said on Instagram, referring to the duration of the war and the decades since Ukraine became independent upon the breakup of the Soviet Union. And now we will defeat the enemy.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pronounced it a good day for Europe.

There was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin.

The EU also gave candidate status to the tiny country of Moldova, another former Soviet republic that borders Ukraine.

Ukraine applied for membership less than a week after Moscow invaded on Feb. 24. Thursdays decision was unusually rapid for the EU and its go-slow approach to expansion. But the war and Ukraines request for fast-track consideration lent urgency to the cause.

To gain EU membership, countries must meet a detailed host of economic and political conditions, including a commitment to the rule of law and other democratic principles. Ukraine will have to curb entrenched government corruption and adopt other reforms.

The European Parliament endorsed Ukraine's bid hours before the summit started, passing a resolution that called on EU governments to move without delay."

It will strengthen Ukraine, it will strengthen Europe. It is a decision for freedom and democracy and puts us on the right side of history, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said ahead of the final decision.

The EU nations have been united in backing Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion with money and weapons, adopting unprecedented economic sanctions against the Kremlin.

EU candidate status doesn't provide any immediate security guarantees. Once a country gains membership, however, it is covered under an EU treaty clause that says if a member falls victim to armed aggression, the other EU countries are obligated to assist it by all means in their power.

The main benefits of EU membership, though, are economic, since it gives access to a market of 450 million consumers with free movement of labor, goods, services and capital.

Ukraine has long aspired to join NATO, too, but the military alliance is not about to offer an invitation, in part because of the country's corruption, shortcomings in its defense establishment, and its contested borders.

Before the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO, which he has condemned for its eastward spread toward Russia's flank. But earlier this month, he did not seem bothered by Ukraine's determination to get closer to the EU, saying it is not a military pact and thus we have no objections.

In 2013, however, Putin objected to Ukraines plans to sign an association agreement with the EU and pressured the Ukrainian president at the time to pull out at the last minute. This backfired by setting off mass protests that eventually ousted the president and ushered in leaders more eager than ever to bring Ukraine into the Western fold.

In the years that followed, Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine and fomented a separatist uprising in the country's Donbas region in the east.

The EU's leaders also agreed Thursday to recognize a European perspective for yet another former Soviet republic, Georgia. European Council President Charles Michel said the EU will be ready to approve its candidate status once outstanding priorities are addressed.

Polands Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, whose country has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine's European aspirations for years, said on Twitter: "This is a great moment for Europes unity and for the defense of its basic values. The struggle for freedom goes on.

The membership process can be long and tortuous.

Turkey applied for membership in 1987, received candidate status in 1999, and had to wait until 2005 to start talks for actual entry. The whole process is at a standstill because of various disputes between the EU and Turkey.

Similarly, several Balkan countries have been seeking for many years to join the EU.

European officials have said that Ukraine has already adopted about 70% of the EU rules and standards, but they also have pointed to the need for other far-reaching measures.

Leaders also discussed immediate support to Ukraine, with the European Commission set to soon bring forward a proposal to grant new financial aid of up to 9 billion euros.

Food security was also on the table as they agreed to continue working on solutions to help Ukraine export grain and other goods via  solidarity lanes to get around a Russian blockade of Black Sea ports.

___

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)  Military-ruled Myanmar's promise of free and fair elections next year is preposterous, a U.N. expert said Thursday as he warned the international community not to fall for the army regime's propaganda to legitimize its rule.

Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said the military has been working hard to create an impression of legitimacy" after ousting the government of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a February 2021 takeover.

Any suggestion that there could be any possibility of a free and fair election in Myanmar in 2023 is frankly preposterous. You cant have a free and fair election if you locked up your opponents. You cant have a free and fair election if you put your opponents on death row. This is outrage, he told a news conference during a visit to Malaysia.

Their propaganda machine works around the clock and theyll take any shred of evidence that they could find to make it appear as if the international community recognizes them as legitimate. That is something that we are very cautious about and very careful not (to) fall into that propaganda trap," Andrews added.

The army seized power citing widespread fraud in the 2020 general election. It appointed new members to the election commission, which said that new multiparty polls next year would be free and fair.

Andrews said ASEAN must ratchet up pressure on the Myanmar army to halt its violence and release all political prisoners. He said ASEAN's five-point consensus plan should be stepped up to include clear actions and time frames.

The five-point consensus is meaningless if it is just sitting on a piece of paper, he said. Its only chance of making a difference is to put it into meaningful action with a strategy, with an action plan, with a time frame."

Andrews praised Malaysia for engaging Myanmar's opposition National Unity Government, which was set up by elected lawmakers who were denied their seats in Parliament by the army coup. He urged other countries to do the same, calling the NUG a legitimate entity" fighting a brutal military.

He said the NUG could also offer resources in delivering humanitarian aid to Myanmar so the junta can't use the aid as a weapon of war."

The military has faced widespread opposition to its rule. After soldiers and police used deadly force to crush peaceful demonstrations, a low-level armed insurrection has emerged in both the cities and countryside.

According to Myanmars Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 2,007 protesters and bystanders have been killed in the juntas crackdown, though the government puts the death toll at about a third of that.

Andrews commended Malaysia for taking in Myanmar refugees, especially minority Muslim Rohingya, but voiced concern over their treatment in the country. He said refugees he spoke to in Malaysia cited fears of being sent to migration detention, insufficient education opportunities for children and instances of extortion by police.

Andrews said he was deeply worried about reports that hundreds of children, including victims of trafficking, may be held in detention facilities. The UN refugee agency has been denied access to these facilities since 2019.

On Malaysia's plan to issue its own refugee card, Andrews said the process should be transparent. Andrews said government officials should be willing to engage in discussions and partner with the U.N. refugee agency to map out clear and consistent policies.

Malaysias Home Ministry said in April it should determine who can stay in the country by issuing its own cards to refugees.

Although it doesnt grant refugee status, Malaysia houses about 180,000 refugees and asylum seekers accredited with the U.N. refugee agency, including more than 100,000 Rohingya and other Myanmar ethnic groups. Thousands more remain undocumented after arriving in the country illegally by sea.
Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, is suing the Texas Department of Public Safety over records related to the deadly shooting at Robb Elementary last month.

In the wake of the senseless tragedy, the people of Uvalde and Texas have demanded answers from their government. To date, they have been met with lies, misstatements, and shifts of blame, Gutierrez said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

State and local Uvalde officials have fought the release of records that could provide clarity on the botched emergency response to the shooting that killed 19 children and two educators. Law enforcement responding to the shooting waited more than an hour on the scene before breaking into the classroom to kill the shooter.

Gutierrez said he filed an open records request on May 31 for documentation about police presence and ballistics at the shooting, and he still has not received a response. Per state law, DPS had 10 business days to either respond or make a case to the attorney general.

Neither Gutierrez nor DPS immediately responded to requests for comment for this story.

ProPublica and The Texas Tribune also submitted about 70 public information requests related to emergency response documentation during the shooting, including 911 audio recordings, body and police car camera footage, and communications among local, state and federal agencies. Four weeks after the shooting, government officials have not provided the news organizations a single record related to the emergency response.

Gov. Greg Abbotts office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Marshals Service and the city of Uvalde have asked the state attorney general for permission to withhold some records. In most cases, the agencies are arguing that releasing information could interfere with ongoing law enforcement investigations.

Abbotts office on Tuesday said all information related to the shooting has been shared with the public or is in the expedited process of being released. Full results of the ongoing investigation by the Texas Rangers and the FBI will also be made public, according to the governors office.

That same day, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said city officials have been left out of briefings related to the investigation from entities, such as DPS, the Texas Legislature, the Uvalde County District Attorneys office and the FBI.

McLaughlin accused state authorities of selectively releasing information about last months school shooting to scapegoat local law enforcement and intentionally leaving out details about the states response to the massacre. He said he had been asked by other officials to refrain from sharing details about the investigation while it was ongoing, but said Tuesday he would now start releasing that information as it became available to city officials.

The gloves are off. If we know it, we will share it, he said.

Join us Sept. 22-24 in person in downtown Austin for The Texas Tribune Festival and experience 100+ conversation events featuring big names you know and others you should from the worlds of politics, public policy, the media and tech  all curated by The Texas Tribunes award-winning journalists. Buy tickets.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/22/roland-gutierrez-sues-dps-uvalde/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
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Tuesday, June 21, was the longest day of the year and the summer solstice and, to celebrate, one of the four Iora Nua installations has paid a visit to Granard.

Artist, Kevin Floods Mystic Squirrel arrived at Granard Knights and Conquests Heritage Centre last week and will be hanging around for the duration of Summer Solstice week.

This beautiful work of art depicts mystical forest scenes, music and dancing.

It is art to uplift any soul. You cant help but smile. Each piece is unique and they just have to be seen. Its art for the people by the people, said Deirdre Orme, General Manager of Granard Knights and Conquests Heritage Centre.

The amazing artworks were created by sculptor and artist Thomas Duffy and gifted their coats of inspiration by leading Longford artists Tom Duffy, Phil Atkinson, Mary Fleming and Kevin Flood.

Mystic Squirrel is by Kevin Flood and he really allows the viewer a glimpse into our ancient past.

Re-awakening the mystical landscape of olden ways and folklore. Isnt it only fitting for him to be with us in Granard for the summer solstice?

The Mystic Squirrel was one of three Iora Nua installations to be unveiled on the Market Square last month, alongside Mary Flemings T-1911 Terminator squirrel and Phil Atkinsons Myths & Fantasy squirrel. Tom Duffys Mr Nuts was initially unveiled in Newtownforbes in February.

Iora Nua is a partnership project with County Longford Arts Office and is funded by the Creative Ireland programme and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

All four Squirrels will tour Longford this Summer before being placed permanently in Granard, Ballymahon, Longford and Newtownforbes.

Iora Nua will be on display at Knights and Conquests Heritage Centre for the rest of Summer Solstice week.
The three-year jail term handed down to a man who forced a curtain pole into the anus of his mother's lover in a vile, sadistic, vicious, cruel and barbaric attack was unduly lenient, the Court of Appeal was told today (Thursday, June 23).

Nathan Doherty (24), from Legan, Co Longford, attacked Derek Murphy with the broken pole in the bedroom of a house at Lisnacreeva, Colehill, Co Longford, after arriving at the property in the early hours and discovering his mother Sharon Doherty naked in bed with Mr Murphy.

During the assault, Doherty repeatedly hit Mr Murphy over the back with the curtain pole until it snapped in two. He then took one half of the broken pole and forced it inside Mr Murphys anus at least twice and left it there.

Mr Murphy suffered internal injuries as a result and was forced to use a colostomy bag for several months after the attack on June 3, 2018. He has also suffered psychological trauma.

He later told a court the pain inflicted on him by Doherty had been excruciating and that he thought he was going to die during the assault.

Doherty pleaded guilty to one count of intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm and one count of producing an article capable of causing serious harm and was sentenced to six years imprisonment for the attack, with the final three years suspended for 10 years.

He was also ordered to pay his victim compensation of 30,000, with payments of 5,000 per year to be made when he has served his sentence.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has appealed the suspended portion of the sentence imposed by Judge Keenan Johnson at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court in January 2021.

The State has appealed on the grounds that the 50 per cent reduction in the time Doherty would spend in prison represented a substantial departure from other sentences handed down for similar egregious offences.

Shane Geraghty BL, for the DPP, told the Court of Appeal that Judge Johnson had described the assault as vile, sadistic, vicious, cruel and barbaric, and I dont think we should depart from that.

Mr Geraghty said rehabilitation had been a central factor when Judge Johnson sentenced Doherty.

The accused, however, had been a first-time offender, with a good work record, and was therefore at a low-risk of re-offending, counsel said.

He said Doherty had entered the property uninvited and forcibly and had even struck his own mother before assaulting Mr Doherty.

Mr Murphy, Mr Geraghty said, was then subject to a serious assault whereby an implement was forcibly inserted into his anus by Doherty.

In the circumstances, a three-year jail term was an insufficient censure and insufficient in the context of deterrents, Mr Geraghty said.

Desmond Dockery SC, for Doherty, told the court that his client was a dutiful son who had been goaded by his father into using the broken implement to attack Mr Murphy.

Last month, Derek Doherty (52), of Vicarstown, Ballymahon, Co Longford, was sentenced to 80 months in prison with the final 17 months suspended at Longford Circuit Criminal Court for his role in the attack.

His father led this, Mr Dockery said, adding that the parent had instructed his son to do the bastard during the 3am attack.

There were other wide-ranging mitigating factors in the case, counsel said, including his clients early guilty plea which had been tendered at height of the pandemic when there had been a backlog of cases.

Referring to the assault, Mr Dockery described it as a spontaneous incident rather than a pre-meditated act.

He said Judge Johnson had been entitled to a certain latitude to go that extra mile to help a first-time offender towards rehabilitation, and asked the court not to interfere with the sentence handed down by a very experienced and thoughtful judge.

Judgment has been reserved.
The population of the Republic of Ireland increased by 7.6% between 2016 and 2022 to 5.1 million people, the preliminary results of Census 2022 show.

All counties in the Republic of Ireland saw their population increase, with Longford showing the highest percentage increase.

The numbers living in the State rose to 5,123,536 people on census night on 3 April, according to the Central Statistics Office figures.

This is the highest population recorded in a census since 1841 and the first time the population exceeded 5 million since 1851.



All counties show population growth since 2016.

Longford saw biggest percentage increase (+14.1%), followed by Meath (+12.9%).

In the six years between Census 2016 and Census 2022, there was net inward migration of more than 190,000 people.

The housing stock in the country increased to 2.1m (+6%)

Vacant dwellings (excluding holiday homes) fell to 166,752 (-9%)

Commenting on the release, Cormac Halpin, Senior Statistician in the Census Division, said: The Preliminary Results show a population of 5,123,536 on Census night. This is an increase of 7.6% since 2016. It is also the highest population recorded in a census since 1841.

"There were 2,593,600 females and 2,529,936 males recorded, which is an increase of 7.7% and 7.5% respectively. The population increase of 361,671 was made up of a natural increase (births minus deaths) of 171,338 and estimated net inward migration (population change minus natural increase) of 190,333.

"The counties recording the highest population growth were in Leinster. Longford grew by more than 14%, with Meath, Kildare, and Fingal, also growing strongly. In contrast to Census 2016, when three counties (Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal) had a fall in their population, the Preliminary Results show that the population of every county has increased since 2016. In Leinster, 10 of the 12 counties showed a higher percentage increase than the national average, with Offaly (+6.0%), and Kilkenny (+4.5%), being lower.

"In Munster, Waterford (+9.4%) had a higher percentage increase than that of the State overall. Both Leitrim (+9.5%) and Roscommon (+8.4%) showed a higher percentage increase than the national rate, while Cavan, Donegal, or Monaghan did not, he said.

Mr Halpin stated that the Preliminary Results also provide initial figures on the countrys housing stock. The Preliminary Results show that the total housing stock on 03 April 2022 was 2,124,590, an increase of 6.0% on the 2016 figure. There were 16,560 fewer vacant dwellings (-9.0%) in 2022 compared to 2016. This does not include holiday homes, of which there were 66,135, compared with 62,148 in 2016.

Mr Halpin added: The publication of these Preliminary Results, less than 12 weeks after Census night, is only possible thanks to the commitment and dedication of both our census field staff and the permanent census staff in Swords, as well as the continued support for the census from the public.

"The CSO would like to thank both the staff involved in the census for their hard work, and the public for their overwhelmingly positive response to and engagement with our national census.

"The results provide valuable initial insights into how our population and housing situation is changing and developing since Census 2016. We are busy working on the completed census forms and look forward to begin sharing the full set of detailed results from April next year, Mr Halpin said.
(Alliance News) - Aura Energy Ltd's shares were lifted on Thursday as the Australia-based minerals company shared positive test results from its Mauritania uranium project.

The polymetallic and uranium-focus company reported strong progress towards fast-tracking initial uranium production at its 85%-owned Tiris uranium project.

Pilot-scale confirmatory results managed to achieve an average of 550% increase in uranium grade, with preliminary bulk leaching tests that confirmed rapid uranium extract at over 95%.

Shares in Aura were up 5.1% to 9.20 pence each in London on Thursday morning.

"The substantially positive upgradability of the Tiris uranium mineralisation is a key differentiator between Tiris and other uranium projects with comparable feed grades, resulting in a smaller, more efficient leach circuit with generally lower capital and operating costs," the firm explained.

The positive results continue to lead the firm towards considering a final investment decision for Tiris in the first quarter of next year, as it hopes to expand triuranium octoxide production to 3.0 million to 5.0 million pounds.

By Elizabeth Winter; elizabethwinter@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - GSK PLC on Thursday said it is investing GBP1 billion in research & development to fight infectious diseases like HIV and malaria in lower income countries over the next 10 years.

The focus will be on malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and a "new emphasis on neglected tropical diseases and anti-microbial resistance." The London-based biopharmaceutical firm added that it will uphold donations of "[tapeworm medicine] albendazole until the elimination of lymphatic filariasis, and double production of its adjuvant for use in the RTS,S malaria vaccine," which was endorsed by the World Health Organisation in October 2021.

In particular, the investment focuses on partnerships to end HIV/AIDS, reduce antibiotic resistance, advance GSK's pipeline for vaccines, and increase external funding for high-burden infectious diseases.

The "new commitments support GSK's ambition to positively impact the health of more than 2.5 billion people in the next ten years," the company explained during its announcement at the Kigali Summit on malaria and neglected tropical diseases in Rwanda.

"Some diseases have persisted because the vaccines and medicines to prevent and treat them dont exist or have become less effective due to growing resistance. GSK's announcement demonstrates their commitment to close the innovation gap and is a pivotal step towards removing infectious disease as a barrier to a healthier and more equal world," says Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, Minister of Health for Malawi.

GSK shares were 1.1% higher at 1,724.20 pence each in London on Thursday afternoon.

By Tom Budszus; tombudszus@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
An American woman who was denied a request for abortion in Malta after suffering the symptoms of a miscarriage, has been allowed to travel to Mallorca, according to the Time of Malta, to terminate her pregnancy there, her lawyer said today.

Andrea Prudente, 38, who is 16 weeks pregnant, was on holiday in Malta with her partner Jay Weeldreyer when she started to miscarry a week ago.

Amid fears for Prudente's health, the couple requested an abortion when told that the pregnancy was no longer viable. However, the request was refused since Malta does not allow abortion under any circumstances.

Doctors had refused to certify her as fit to travel, but arrangements have since been made through the couple's travel insurance to enable her to fly to Palma.

"The insurance company has finalised arrangements for them to be airlifted to Mallorca. Andrea is signing herself out since Maltese medical advice is for her to stay under observation," the couples lawyer Lara Dimitrijevic told Reuters.

"Andrea is going through a lot psychologically. But here in Malta, doctors' hands are tied since according to law they would be committing a crime by terminating the pregnancy," she said.

The couple are due to leave by air ambulance later today.

Malta is the only EU country that has a total ban on abortion. The Ministry of Health has not commented on the case.
Safeguard, Manila Water Foundation, and the Department of Educations joint project, SAFE Wash in Schools, continues to help schools reopen safely by constructing more handwashing facilities across the country. Last May 25, 2022, a total of 10 schools in Cebu were awarded with handwashing facilities and hand hygiene products from Safeguard to expand the support outside of Metro Manila.

CHECK ALSO: STRENGTHENING THE SAFEWASH MOVEMENT

The list of beneficiaries includes Cantumog National High School Cantumog Elementary School, Liloan Central School, Tayud Elementary School, Nangka National High School, Tayud National High School, City Central Elementary School, Cebu City National Science High School, Abellana National High School, and City Central Elementary School.





A Big Win For Hygiene Rating

In February 24, Safeguard declared a PHP 70 million-donation for the construction of COVID-safe foot pedal facilities and provision of Safeguard soaps in these schools. Anna Legarda Loscon, Communications Leader of P&G Philippines, formally announced the projects milestone with the aim of helping these schools meet the DepEd Wash in Schools (WinS) hand hygiene ratings.

WinS is DepEds three-star rating system for evaluating public schools over-all hygiene and sanitation. With handwashing as a big factor for WinS, Safeguard expanded the project by studying the WinS Program dashboard and working with their partner communities to identify the schools and areas that needed help the most.

CHECK ALSO: SAFEGUARD'S SAFEWASH IN NCR SCHOOLS





Working Hand-in-Hand for Safety

The beneficiaries of the program extended their heartfelt gratitude to P&G Safeguard and Manila Water Foundation for the donation.

Ms. Maricon Maniego, Principal of City Central Elementary School, expressed, Your donation comes as a blessing because it will help us ensure the safety, well-being and protection of our children, especially the ES is already starting welcoming back people to limited face-to-face classes. says, Ms. Rosemarie Forzado, Principal of Cantumog Elementary School.

This was echoed by another beneficiary, Ms. Rosemarie Forzado, Principal of Cantumog Elementary School, who said, May your tribe multiply among men and women of goodwill. Hoping for a continued support to our school children and the community as well.

With the projects goal of uplifting the hand hygiene rating of schools nationwide, brands Communications Leader, Jeune San Juan, reiterated, It has always been our vision to safeguard the health of the nation. By helping ensure health and hygiene in schools, we are building safe habits that will last for generations to come. By partnering with DepEd and Manila Water Foundation, we are not only safeguarding our students and school staff, but also the future of the nation.

Extending the SAFE Wash Movement

On top of donations, Safeguard is also providing products and soaps in all these schools as aligned with the SAFE Wash movement that was started in 2020. In the next months, Safeguard plans to complete more schools for a SAFE-wash ready school opening.

To complement the deployment of facilities, educational module and instructional materials developed with DepEd will be provided. The handwashing tutorial and educational materials, plus monthly/bimonthly school monitoring by representatives, ensures that the work will not stop after handover of the facilities.

As San Juan mentioned, Ultimately, the goal is to uplift the hand hygiene rating of schools nationwide, starting with key cities where spread of diseases is more prevalent.




ONEKAMA  Manistee County's Explore the Shores program was created in 2008 to provide universal access for people of all ages, needs and abilities to the areas water resources.

A grand opening will be held during Onekama Days for the latest Explore the Shores project: a kayak launch at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources' boat launch at Andy's Point in Onekama.

The EZ Launch system was designed to make it easier to get a kayak or canoe in and out of the water. It features a sliding bench that secures to a railing system which stabilizes the slide board and provides grab bar assistance for easy side movement. Users can sit, slide over and drop down into a kayak or canoe, and then pull themselves into the water using side rails and rollers.

A sign featuring step-by-step instructions is located on the dock.

Onekama Township originally received a $75,900 grant in 2017 from the Michigan Natural Resources Land Trust Fund, but the project was met with a number of delays.

"The first year after we got the grant they had appropriation difficulties down in Lansing and they couldn't agree on a budget, so we went a year without any money," said Al Taylor, who was appointed by the township to help coordinate the project. "Then we had labor shortages, COVID, and then we had labor shortages again, but we think we're past that now."

Additional funding for the project came from the Portage Lake Association and a grant from the Portage Lake Watershed Forever Annual Fund administered by the Manistee County Community Foundation.

The launch's grand opening is slated for 10 a.m. on Aug. 7, with a kayak flotilla planned for the occasion.

The kayak launch was installed by Swidorski Brothers Excavating, in conjunction with Spicer Group.

"They had to design it for about a 4- to 5-foot water swing between high level and low level," Taylor said. "... These things can't have any more than about a 5% slope. It pivots up and down for the water changes."

Taylor said other amenities were installed at the launch site.

"We put in the sidewalk and stuff for universal access," he said. "They had universal access restrooms, but they had no way to get to them, so we put a sidewalk in for them."

The kayak launch is the township's third Explore the Shores project.

"We had one at the (Onekama) Village Park, one at Langland Park and now this one. This is the last Explore the Shores project," Taylor said. "All of them emphasized universal access  people that are young or old can't necessarily travel on some of these things."

Explore the Shores is coordinated jointly by the Alliance for Economic Success and the Manistee County Community Foundation.

Although the launch's official grand opening is more than a month away, Taylor said it is currently available for public use.

"We're minus a couple of signs," he said. "This is a DNR project, so (a sign to) pat the DNR on the back, and we're supposed to have something about Portage Lake. ... We're still waiting on that, but other than that, we're ready to go."

The Explore the Shores program was the result of Manistee County being chosen by Easterseals for implementation of its Rural Solutions Project, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since then, it has grown into a collaborative effort of public and private organizations facilitated by the Manistee County Community Foundation and the Alliance for Economic Success.
WFO SHREVEPORT Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Wednesday, June 22, 2022

_____

HEAT ADVISORY

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Shreveport LA

205 PM CDT Wed Jun 22 2022

...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM TO 7 PM CDT THURSDAY...

* WHAT...For the first Heat Advisory, heat index values up to

107. For the second Heat Advisory, heat index values up to 109

expected.

* WHERE...Portions of north central and northwest Louisiana,

south central and southwest Arkansas and east and northeast

Texas.

* WHEN...For the first Heat Advisory, until 7 PM CDT this

evening. For the second Heat Advisory, from 11 AM to 7 PM CDT

Thursday.

* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat

illnesses to occur.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out

of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young

children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles

under any circumstances.

Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When

possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or

evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat

stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when

possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational

Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent

rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone

overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location.

Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.

* WHAT...Heat index values up to 106 expected.

* WHERE...In Oklahoma, McCurtain County. In Arkansas, Sevier

County and Howard County. In Texas, Red River County, Franklin

County, Titus County, Camp County, Morris County, Wood County

and Upshur County.

* WHEN...From 11 AM to 7 PM CDT Thursday.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
Tim Waltz, Governor of Minnesota, signed into law bonus payments for Covid-19 frontline workers.

The law called Hero Pay will "thank those Minnesotans who worked on the frontlines during the COVID-19 peacetime emergency," the application describes.

The application dates began on June 8 and will end on July 22, 2022.

If you are a frontline worker, submit your application through Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, not Internet Explorer.

What's on the Hero Pay package, and who's eligible?

According to reports, Minnesota approved a $750 payment for an estimated 667,000 Minnesota workers in qualified professions.

Essential and qualified professionals who worked at least 120 hours between March 15, 2020, and June 30, 2021, can apply for a one-time check.

All emergency responders, health care workers, child care providers, grocery and food service employees, bus drivers, and janitors that stood up during the beginning and through the Covid-19 pandemic are eligible.

Individuals with less than an $85,000 wage and married couples with less than $185,000 salary can apply for the benefits.

Could you get more money?

Yes, you can.

According to a Department of Labor and Industry spokesperson said, Minnesota proposed a limit for the Hero Pay package.

However, if a certain amount of Minnesotans apply (fewer numbers), applicants could get up to $1,500.

It all depends on the final number of applicants registered.

Who are the frontline workers?

According to the law these are the defined frontline workers.

-Long-term care and home care

-Health care workers

-Emergency responders

-Public health, social service, and regulatory service workers

-Courts and corrections workers

-Child care and child day care services

-School employees

-Food services employees

-Sales employees, fulfillment, distribution, and delivery workers

-Temporary shelters and hotels employees.

-Building services employees

-Public transit workers

-Ground and air transportation services workers

-Several manufacturing employees

-Vocational rehabilitation workers
During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, China's new energy vehicle (NEV) charging infrastructure has achieved leapfrog development. However, some significant problems still exist, such as difficulty building charging piles in residential communities and unbalanced development of public charging facilities.

Recently, Anhui Province received 380 million yuan (about 5.67 billion U.S. dollars) incentive funds from the central government, which were especially used for the construction and operation of charging infrastructure.

The Department of Finance of Anhui Province, the Department of Economy and Information Technology of Anhui, and other departments will study and determine how to allocate the fund and the key sectors to support promptly. Based on rewarding the promotion and application of NEVs in various cities, they will focus on supporting the pilot cities for battery swap mode applications, pilot cities for collaborative development of smart city infrastructure and intelligent connected vehicles, construction of fuel cell vehicles demonstrating city clusters, promoting NEVs in rural areas, and promoting the charging infrastructure in urban and rural areas.

Relevant departments will step up the supervision and guidance work, pay close attention to the use and management of the funds, urge cities and counties to speed up the project implementation progress, strengthen the performance management of funds, improve the efficiency of capital use, and provide a strong guarantee for optimizing the application environment of NEVs.
New York, US (PANA) - Efforts are underway to reinvigorate the Central African Republics political process, which has lapsed into a state of de facto lethargy even as horrific attacks against civilians have risen, the senior UN official in the country told the Security Council on Wednesday
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The British ambassador to Libya, Caroline Hurndall, on Wednesday affirmed her country's contribution to pushing all Libyan parties involved in the political process to agree on a constitutional rule, on the basis of which free and fair elections will be held with the participation of all
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the National Unity Government (GNU), on Wednesday, summoned the Charge d'Affaires of the Egyptian Embassy in Libya, Tamer Mustapha, to express the ministry's dissatisfaction with the poor treatment of Libyan citizens when entering and leaving Egypt
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PERRYVILLE, Ark. (AP)  A man being booked into a central Arkansas jail on drug charges pulled out a gun and fatally shot a guard before someone disarmed him, authorities said Thursday.

Jeremiah Story, a 21-year-old detention officer at the Perry County jail in Perryville, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, died at a hospital early Thursday, the State Police said in a news release.
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KIGALI, Rwanda (AP)  Leaders of Commonwealth nations are calling for increased climate action at a meeting in Rwanda this week, ahead of the United Nations climate change summit in the seaside resort of Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt later this year.

Climate change is a major concern for the 54-nation bloc that includes small island countries facing growing threats amid global warming. Recent weather events and longer climate term trends, including heat waves, extreme temperatures, droughts, cyclones, floods and rising sea levels, afflict most of the Commonwealth's member states.

Alok Sharma, a British official who led last year's U.N. climate talks in Scotland, urged member countries Thursday to focus on implementing emission reduction targets set for 2030.

What it needs, friends, is for us to focus on implementation, and every country must respond to the Glasgow climate pact, Sharma said, speaking at a business forum on the margins of the Commonwealth summit in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

Commonwealth governments must submit their emission reduction targets by Sept. 23, he said, including their long-term strategies.

Sharma noted that for island nations such as Barbados the situation is devastatingly clear, and tackling climate change is the difference between life and death.

Britains Prince Charles, representing Queen Elizabeth II as the ceremonial head of the Commonwealth, is expected to champion the blocs global climate action.

Commonwealth leaders are set to adopt the much-awaited Living Lands Charter later this week, an action plan to address climate change, land degradation and biodiversity loss.

Speaking at another meeting on the side of the summit, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said that responding to climate change requires the most significant political, social and economic effort that the world has ever seen.

The Commonwealth's Living Lands Charter, she said, is a testament to our commitment. It helps to encapsulate our combined effort to hold the global average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit).

According to the charters concept note, obtained by The Associated Press, the Commonwealth's commitments will focus on five main themes: climate-resilient agriculture for food security, soil and water conservation, green cover and biodiversity, climate-resilient livestock rearing, and climate-resilient development for indigenous people. In what's billed as a five-by-five approach, it aims to achieve its climate goals through a mixture of policy influence, financing, technical assistance, governance and sharing knowledge across nations.

The Commonwealth brings together states representing a combined population of 2.5 billion people, most of which are former British colonies. It claims that if the charter is endorsed and implemented in full, it will protect and manage a quarter of the worlds landmass.

The charter is also calling for greater consideration on inclusion of indigenous peoples in countries' voluntary, nationally determined contributions on climate action.

Some 32 of the Commonwealths member nations are small states, with 25 of them being small islands and developing states classified as vulnerable to climate change.

The island states at the forefront of climate action have already called on the Commonwealth to strengthen measures on oceans.

The oceans and climate are inextricably interconnected, and the health of our oceans dictates the livelihoods of millions of people around the world," said Jitoko Tikolevu, a Fijian diplomat. "Our answer is simple, we need action.

___

Kabukuru reported from Nairobi, Kenya. Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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GAYAN, Afghanistan (AP)  Villagers rushed to bury the dead Thursday and dug by hand through the rubble of their homes in search of survivors of a powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan that state media reported killed 1,000 people. Residents appeared to be largely on their own to deal with the aftermath as their new Taliban-led government and the international aid community struggled to bring in help.

Under a leaden sky in Paktika province, the epicenter of Wednesdays earthquake where hundreds of homes have been destroyed, men dug several long trenches on a mountainside overlooking their village. They prayed over around 100 bodies wrapped in blankets and then buried them.

In villages across Gayan district, toured by Associated Press journalists for hours Thursday, families who had spent the previous rainy night out in the open lifted pieces of timber of collapsed roofs and pulled away stones by hand, looking for missing loved ones. Taliban fighters circulated in vehicles in the area, but only a few were seen helping dig through rubble.

There was little sign of heavy equipment  only one bulldozer was spotted being transported. Ambulances circulated, but little other help to the living was evident.

Many international aid agencies withdrew from Afghanistan when the Taliban seized power nearly 10 months ago. Those that remain are scrambling to get medical supplies, food and tents to the remote quake-struck area, using shoddy mountain roads made worse by damage and rains.

We ask from the Islamic Emirate and the whole country to come forward and help us, said a survivor who gave his name as Hakimullah. We are with nothing and have nothing, not even a tent to live in.

The scenes underscored how the magnitude 6 quake has struck a country that was already nearly on its knees from multiple humanitarian crises.

The quake took the lives of 1,000 people, according to the state-run Bakhtar News Agency, which also reported an estimated 1,500 more were injured. In the first independent count, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said around 770 people had been killed in Paktika and neighboring Khost province.

Its not clear how the totals were arrived at, given the difficulties of accessing and communicating with the affected villages. Either grim toll would make the quake Afghanistans deadliest in two decades, and officials continued to warn the number could still rise.

Since the Taliban took over in August amid the U.S and NATO withdrawal, the world pulled back financing and development aid that had been keeping the country afloat. The economy collapsed, leaving millions unable to afford food; many medical facilities shut down, making treatment harder to find. Nearly half the population of 38 million faces crisis levels of food insecurity.

Many aid and development agencies also left after the Taliban seizure of power. The U.N. and remaining agencies said they were moving blankets, food, tents, and medical teams to the area.

But they are over-stretched, and U.N. agencies are facing a $3 billion funding shortfall for Afghanistan this year. That means there will be difficult decisions about who gets aid, said Peter Kessler, a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency.

Local medical centers, already struggling to deal with malnutrition cases, were now overwhelmed with people injured by the quake, said Adnan Junaid, the International Rescue Committee vice president for Asia.

The toll this disaster will have on the local communities ... is catastrophic, and the impact the earthquake will have on the already stretched humanitarian response in Afghanistan is a grave cause for concern, Junaid said.

The Defense Ministry, which leads the Taliban emergency effort, said it sent 22 helicopter flights on Wednesday transporting wounded and taking supplies, along with several more Thursday.

Still, the Talibans resources have been gutted by the economic crisis. Made up of insurgents who fought for 20 years against the U.S. and NATO, the Taliban have also struggled to make the transition to governing.

On Wednesday, a U.N. official said the government had not requested that the world body mobilize international search-and-rescue teams or obtain equipment from neighboring countries, despite a rare plea from the Talibans supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzadah, for help from the world.

Trucks of food and other necessities arrived from Pakistan, and planes full of humanitarian aid landed from Iran and Qatar, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on Twitter. India said it sent a technical team to its embassy in Kabul to coordinate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, but it didn't give details on the team or the relief material being sent.

Pakistan also opened several nearby border crossings to allow those affected by the disaster to cross, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sherif said in a call with the Taliban Prime Minister Mullah Hasan Akhund.

Obtaining more direct international help may be more difficult: Many countries, including the U.S., funnel humanitarian aid to Afghanistan through the U.N. and other organizations to avoid putting money in the Talibans hands, wary of dealing with the group, which has issued a flurry of repressive edicts curtailing the rights of women and girls and the press.

Germany, Norway and several other countries announced they were sending aid for the quake, but underscored that they would work only through U.N. agencies, not with the Taliban.

In a news bulletin Thursday, Afghanistan state television made a point to acknowledge that President Joe Biden of the United States  their one-time enemy  offered condolences over the earthquake and had promised aid. Biden on Wednesday ordered the U.S. international aid agency and its partners to assess options for helping the victims, a White House statement said.

U.N. deputy special representative for Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, told the U.N. Security Council in a video briefing he intends to visit quake-hit areas on Friday and to meet with affected families, first-hand responders, including womens civil society groups who are working to ensure that assistance reaches women and girls, and to support overall relief efforts.

In Paktika province, the quake shook a region of deep poverty, where residents scrape out in a living in the few fertile areas among the rough mountains. Roads are so difficult that some villages in Gayan District took a full day to reach from Kabul, though it is only 175 kilometers (110 miles away.)

One 6-year-old boy in Gayan wept as he said his parents, two sisters and a brother were all dead. He had fled the ruins of his own home and took refuge with the neighbors.

While modern buildings withstand magnitude 6 earthquakes elsewhere, Afghanistans mud-brick homes and landslide-prone mountains make such quakes more dangerous.

One man, Rahim Jan, stood inside the few standing mud-brick walls of his home with the toppled roof timbers all around him.

It is destroyed completely, all my belongings are gone, he said. I have lost 12 members of my family in this house.

___

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Lee Keath in Cairo, and Rahim Faiez and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.
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LONDON (AP)  The airport lines are long, and lost luggage is piling up. Its going to be a chaotic summer for travelers in Europe.

Liz Morgan arrived at Amsterdams Schiphol Airport 4 1/2 hours before her flight to Athens, finding the line for security snaking out of the terminal and into a big tent along a road before doubling back inside the main building.

Theres elderly people in the queues, theres kids, babies. No water, no nothing. No signage, no one helping, no toilets," said Morgan, who is from Australia and had tried to save time Monday by checking in online and taking only a carry-on bag.

People couldnt get to the toilet because if you go out of the queue, you lost your spot, she said.

After two years of pandemic restrictions, travel demand has roared back, but airlines and airports that slashed jobs during the depths of the COVID-19 crisis are struggling to keep up. With the busy summer tourism season underway in Europe, passengers are encountering chaotic scenes at airports, including lengthy delays, canceled flights and headaches over lost luggage.

Schiphol, the Netherlands' busiest airport, is trimming flights, saying there are thousands of airline seats per day above the capacity that security staff can handle. Dutch carrier KLM apologized for stranding passengers there this month. It could be months before Schiphol has enough staff to ease the pressure, Ben Smith, CEO of airline alliance Air France-KLM, said Thursday.

London's Gatwick and Heathrow airports are asking airlines to cap their flight numbers. Discount carrier easyJet is scrapping thousands of summer flights to avoid last-minute cancellations and in response to caps at Gatwick and Schiphol. North American airlines wrote to Ireland's transport chief demanding urgent action to tackle significant delays at Dublin's airport.

Nearly 2,000 flights from major continental European airports were canceled during one week this month, with Schiphol accounting for nearly 9%, according to data from aviation consultancy Cirium. A further 376 flights were canceled from U.K. airports, with Heathrow accounting for 28%, Cirium said.

Its a similar story in the United States, where airlines canceled thousands of flights over two days last week because of bad weather just as crowds of summer tourists grow.

In the vast majority of cases, people are traveling, said Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of the Advantage Travel Group, which represents about 350 U.K. travel agents. But airports have staff shortages, and it's taking a lot longer to process security clearances for newly hired workers, she said.

Theyre all creating bottlenecks in the system," and it also means when things go wrong, that theyre going drastically wrong," she said.

The Biden administration scrapping COVID-19 tests for people entering the U.S. is giving an extra boost to pent-up demand for transatlantic travel. Bue-Said said her group's agents reported a jump in U.S. bookings after the rule was dropped this month.

For American travelers to Europe, the dollar strengthening against the euro and the pound is also a factor, by making hotels and restaurants more affordable.

At Heathrow, a sea of unclaimed luggage blanketed the floor of a terminal last week. The airport blamed technical glitches with the baggage system and asked airlines to cut 10% of flights at two terminals Monday, affecting about 5,000 passengers.

"A number of passengers may have traveled without their luggage, the airport said.

When cookbook writer Marlena Spieler flew back to London from Stockholm this month, it took her three hours to get through passport control.

Spieler, 73, spent at least another hour and a half trying to find her luggage in the baggage area, which was a madhouse, with piles of suitcases everywhere.

She almost gave up, before spotting her bag on a carousel. She's got another trip planned to Greece in a few weeks but is apprehensive about going to the airport again.

Frankly, I am frightened for my well being. Am I strong enough to withstand this?" Spieler said by email.

In Sweden, lines for security at Stockholms Arlanda Airport have been so long this summer that many passengers have been arriving more than five hours before boarding time. So many are showing up early that officials are turning away travelers arriving more than three hours before their flight to ease congestion.

Despite some improvements, the line to one of the checkpoints stretched more than 100 meters (328 feet) Monday.

Four young German women, nervous about missing their flight to Hamburg while waiting to check their bags, asked other passengers if they could skip to the front of the line. Once there, they bought fast-track passes to avoid the long security queue.

Lina Wiele, 19, said she hadnt seen quite the same level of chaos at other airports, "not like that, I guess, before rushing to the fast-track lane.

Thousands of pilots, cabin crew, baggage handlers and other aviation industry workers were laid off during the pandemic, and now there's not enough to cope with the travel rebound.

Some airlines are struggling because I think they were hoping to recover staffing levels quicker than theyve able to do, said Willie Walsh, head of the International Air Transport Association.

The post-pandemic staff shortage is not unique to the airline industry, Walsh said at the airline trade group's annual meeting this week in Qatar.

What makes it difficult for us is that many of the jobs cannot be operated remotely, so airlines have not been able to offer the same flexibility for their workforce as other companies, he said. Pilots have to be present to operate the aircraft, cabin crew have to be present, we have to have people loading bags and assisting passengers.

Laid-off aviation workers have found new jobs with higher wages, with more stable contracts, said Joost van Doesburg of the FNV union, which represents most staff at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. And now everybody wants to travel again, but workers don't want airport jobs.

The CEO of budget airline Ryanair, Europe's biggest carrier, warned that flight delays and cancellations would continue right throughout the summer." Passengers should expect a less-than-satisfactory experience, Michael O'Leary told Sky News.

Some European airports haven't seen big problems yet but are bracing. Pragues Vaclav Havel international airport expects passenger numbers to swell next week and into July, "when we might experience a lack of staffers, especially at the security checks, spokeswoman Klara Diviskova said.

The airport is still short "dozens of staffers" despite a recruitment drive, she said.

Labor strife also is causing problems.

In Belgium, Brussels Airlines said a three-day strike starting Thursday will force the cancellation of about 315 flights and affect some 40,000 passengers.

British Airways check-in staff and ground crew at Heathrow voted Thursday to strike over pay. Dates havent been set, but their unions said it would be this summer.

Two days of strikes hit Paris Charles de Gaulle airport this month, one by security staff and another by airport personnel who say salaries aren't keeping pace with inflation. A quarter of flights were canceled the second day.

Some Air France pilots are threatening a strike Saturday, warning that crew fatigue is threatening flight security, though Smith, the airline CEO, said it's not expected to disrupt operations. Airport personnel vow another salary-related strike July 1.

Still, the airport problems are unlikely to put people off flying, said Jan Bezdek, spokesman for Czech travel agency CK Fischer, which has sold more holiday packages so far this year than before the pandemic.

What we can see is that people cant stand waiting to travel after the pandemic," Bezdek said. "Any problems at airports can hardly change that.

___

Corder reported from The Hague. AP reporters Aleksandar Furtula in Amsterdam, Karel Janicek in Prague, Karl Ritter in Stockholm, Angela Charlton in Paris, Samuel Petrequin in Brussels and David Koenig in Dallas contributed.

___

Follow Kelvin Chan on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/chanman.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  The White House on Thursday launched a formal partnership with 11 East Coast governors to boost the growing offshore wind industry, a key element of President Joe Biden's plan for climate change.

Biden, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and other top administration officials met with governors, wind industry officials and labor leaders Thursday at the White House. The session focused on ways to expand important segments of the offshore industry, including manufacturing facilities, ports and workforce training and development.

Together were stepping up. Were about to build a better America,'' Biden said. It's not just about the future. Its about right now.''

The partnership comprises governors of both parties from Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Missing from the compact is Virginia, where Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has moved to withdraw the state from a regional carbon-limiting initiative meant to combat climate change.

Spokesperson Macaulay Porter said Youngkin supports the offshore wind industry, and his administration has participated in calls with the White House on the topic.

The commonwealth is already a leader in offshore wind, and the Youngkin administration is focused on ... this emerging sector in a way that is consistent with promoting jobs for Virginia and its right-to-work philosophy,'' Porter said, referring to a state policy that promotes a workers right not to be required to join a labor union.

Youngkin is fully committed to Virginias current offshore wind project" and will continue to support any future project "that meets Virginias economic needs and protects ratepayers from high energy costs,'' Porter said.

In working with states and the private sector, the White House said it will provide Americans with cleaner and cheaper energy, create good-paying jobs and invest billions in new American energy supply chains,'' including construction of wind turbines, shipbuilding and servicing.

Biden has set a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030, enough to provide electricity to 10 million homes, support 77,000 jobs and spur $12 billion per year in private investment in offshore wind. Offshore wind is a key component in the Democratic president's plan to make the nations electric grid carbon free by 2035.

The Biden administration has approved two large-scale wind projects, Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts and South Fork Wind off New York and Rhode Island. Both are under construction with union labor. The Interior Department has begun reviews of another 10 offshore projects that, if approved, would produce 22 gigawatts of clean energy.

Danish wind developer Orsted signed a project labor agreement last month with a national union representing 3 million people in the building trades to construct the companys U.S. offshore wind farms with an American union workforce. Orsted currently has six offshore projects in five states.

A national agreement signed with North Americas Building Trades Unions covers contractors working on those projects and future ones, with no termination date on the project labor agreement. It sets the terms and conditions for union workers to build offshore wind farms, with targets to ensure a diverse workforce. It contains provisions for training to ensure they can construct the complex infrastructure, which costs billions of dollars.

We recognize that states are huge players here,'' said David Hayes, a White House climate adviser. With a formal partnership, the Biden administration can work with the governors on policies going forward and help ensure that there is an American-made supply chain for this brand-new industry,'' Hayes said.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said he and other East Coast governors are united with our regional and federal partners not just by geography but by a shared commitment to clean and affordable energy, economic opportunity and a future in which all community members are shielded from the worsening impacts of climate change.''

The federal-state collaboration comes as the Biden administration has announced a plan to conduct up to seven offshore wind auctions by 2025, including one held last month off North Carolina and earlier this year in a coastal area known as the New York Bight. Other sales are expected in the Gulf of Maine, the central Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as offshore in California and Oregon.

Environmental and clean energy groups hailed the federal-state collaboration.

Today, there are just seven offshore wind turbines in the United States, and were going to need a lot more, done responsibly, to meet our clean energy goals,'' said Diane Hoskins, campaign director for the conservation group Oceana. She called for "strong safeguards for marine life to avoid, minimize and mitigate the impacts of offshore wind.''

Heather Zichal, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, an industry group, said wind energy developers support the federal-state initiative. Clear and predictable permitting for offshore wind is essential to recognizing its potential, and there is still work to do,'' Zichal said.

___

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington and Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Va., contributed to this story.
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The Darien Library is inviting readers of all ages to participate in its 2022 summer reading challenges: Expedition Blue Wave for children, the Teen Summer Challenge for tweens and teens, and Make a Splash for adults.

Through Aug. 14, participants can read books and enter challenges for a chance to win prizes. Pick up paper logs from the library or join online at darienlibrary.beanstack.org or on the app platform.

For each challenge completed, kids will receive one ticket to enter toward one of the prize drawings. Readers who complete all 16 challenges will be entered once into the grand prize raffle. All who register will receive a free book. Challenge maps and recommendations from the librarys youth services can be found at www.darienlibrary.org/sr-kids.

In the prereaders category, kids are also awarded one ticket for each challenge they complete, which can be entered into one of the prize basket drawings. Prereaders who complete all 15 challenges will be entered into a grand prize drawing.

Readers ages 12 to 18 can join the Teen Summer Challenge, and complete any 15 of the 20 reading challenges to win a gift card and Darien Library swag. Readers who complete all of the challenges win a mystery prize.

The Middlesex Middle School Reading Ambassadors have selected 21 books to help teen readers complete their challenge, which can be found at www.darienlibrary.org/sr-teens.

Adults can Make a Splash in the reading program by playing online or picking up a game card at the librarys Welcome Desk. Participants can then complete any four challenges for an opportunity to win one of three grand prizes. Participants will be entered into weekly giveaways of the hottest books of the summer. Each completed game card and online badge is a submission to the grand prize raffle.

Game cards, reading inspiration and prize information can be found at www.darienlibrary.org/sr-adults.

For more information on the program, visit www.darienlibrary.org/summerreading.

Theatre 308 earns top awards

Teens who take part in the Darien High Schools Theatre 308 student-led theater club are award winners once again.

The group received seven combined awards at two high school theatrical award shows: the 19th Annual Halo Awards in Waterbury and the Stephen Sondheim Awards in New Haven.

The Halos recognize theatrical achievements at Connecticut high schools for both dramas and musicals and present awards for all aspects of theater, including acting, singing, dancing and technical theater. Over 80 high schools participated this year, and after a COVID-19 pandemic hiatus the show was held live.

Theatre 308 received a combined total of 23 nominations for the fall drama Metamorphoses and the spring musical The Addams Family, and took home awards in the following categories:

Junior Luke Ryan, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Contemporary Musical;

Junior John Raskopf, Artistic Directors Award;

Sophomore Mia Roofthoof, Best Hair and Makeup Design;

Junior Sadie Leopold and freshman Daphne Hentsch-Cowles, Best Lighting Design;

Junior Sam Baiocco, Dance Molinari Scholarship; and

Senior Sam Bellingham, who received the Legacy Robe honor and accepted the Best Chorus award on behalf of The Addams Family.

Additionally, the Theatre 308 cast ofThe Addams Family participated in the Stephen Sondheim Awards, which are a regional award program, spanning Connecticut and Rhode Island and recognizing excellence in musical theater.

They are presented by the Broadway Method Academy in association with the Shubert Theater in New York City and are considered to be the gateway to the National High School Theater Award show, known as the Jimmy Awards.

Theatre 308 was nominated for 2022 Sondheim Awards and received the honor of the first-ever Best Ensemble award.

In addition to the nominations, the cast of The Addams Family was invited to perform in both ceremonies.

At the Halo Awards, the cast, featuring Morgan Lindell, Stella Meier and the featured dancers, performed the song Secrets.

At the Sondheim Awards, the entire ensemble performed When Youre An Addams, receiving a standing ovation.

In addition, seniors Sam Bellingham, Nicky Condon, Stephen Cerussi and Margaret Walter performed with other students from across Connecticut in opening and closing numbers.

For more information, visit www.theatre308.org.

Darien Depot offers summer drop-in hours

The Depot is offering a summer drop-in program for the first time at the Darien youth center.

Organizers said fun activities will be offered all summer for middle school students.

The students can drop in from 4 to 8 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays and from 4 to 9:30 p.m. Fridays through Aug. 12. The fee is $40 per person.

In order to participate in the depots Friday Night Friends activity this summer, teens must register for the summer hours.

Registration is available by visiting dariendepot.com.

Girl Scouts of CT celebrates 110th anniversary

The Girl Scouts of Connecticut recently honored three women at its annual fundraising lunch at the Woodway Country Club.

The event on June 8 included a luncheon, silent auction and an awards program to pay tribute to the women, who are making a difference as community changemakers. The 2022 honorees were:

Judy Frey, who is committed to the mission of Girl Scouting and has a more than 30-year legacy of working with the nonprofit organization. She served as a leader for her daughters troop, then held several volunteer leadership roles, including as the board chair of its Southwestern Council. Frey has also made contributions of her time and resources and is a member of the Juliette Gordon Lowe Society.

Polly OBrien Morrow, who serves as senior program manager of global corporate citizenship and philanthropy for Pitney Bowes, vice president of the Pitney Bowes Foundation, and vice president of the Pitney Bowes Relief Fund. Morrow says her passion for the community was nurtured by her parents and through her own experience as a Girl Scout and troop leader.

Jennifer Hubbard, who is the 2022 Courage, Confidence and Character Award recipient. She is president and executive director of the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, which honors the memory of her 6-year-old daughter. Catherine, a kind and compassionate animal lover, died in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Dec. 14, 2012.

To continue her daughters crusade for compassion, the animal sanctuary was created. It is a place where all creatures are safe and people are kind, her mother said.

Hubbard also served as a leader of a Girl Scout Daisy Troop for her daughter and other girls who died in the tragedy. The Girl Scouts of Connecticut said it honored Hubbard for forging ahead and creating a place of healing for her family and their community while fulfilling her daughters dream.
NORWICH  A Massachusetts man has been accused of fleeing from authorities in a stolen vehicle before trying to carjack someone and assaulting an off-duty Connecticut State Police trooper, officials said.

Yheresis Millan, of Lowell, Mass., is facing numerous charges after stealing a car from outside a Norwich home and then trying to evade local and state police, officials said Thursday.

The 28-year-old was also wanted by the U.S. Marshals on a warrant, charging him with violation of federal probation, Norwich police said.

Police did not describe Millans injuries that landed him in the hospital. State police said he was involved in a lengthy, aggressive struggle, with the off-duty trooper and his police dog on a highway ramp after allegedly crashing a stolen car and attempting to carjack another vehicle.

On June 18, Norwich dispatchers received a 911 call for a vehicle that had just been stolen from a home on Central Avenue, police said.

Norwich police said the driver refused to stop when an officer tried to pull the car over. Norwich police said their officers did not pursue the stolen vehicle, and it was last seen on East Main Street heading into Preston.

Around that time, state police said the off-duty K-9 officer heard an alert over the radio for police to be on the lookout for the vehicle that had been stolen in Norwich.

The trooper spotted the vehicle on Interstate-395 near Exit 11, but the driver still refused to pull over, state police said.

The trooper, who was not identified by state police, pursued the stolen car and was able to get in front of it, in an attempt to slow the suspect down, state police said. State police said the stolen vehicle then rear-ended the troopers vehicle, and tried to get off the highway down an entrance ramp.

The trooper was then able to get behind the suspect vehicle and intentionally made contact with the vehicle to prevent flight, state police said. The stolen car lost control and went off the road into a gore, where state police said he continued driving onto Route 82. The car then crashed into another vehicle, disabling the stolen car.

State police said driver of the stolen car then tried to run away as the off-duty trooper and his K-9 pursued him.

The suspect then ran up to another occupied vehicle and opened the passenger door and attempted to carjack the operator. The suspect was pulled from the occupied vehicle and eventually subdued by the off-duty trooper, state police said.

State police said the man was placed in handcuffs by a state police sergeant who arrived on scene after the man was involved in a lengthy, aggressive struggle on the Exit 11 off ramp, with the trooper and his K-9.

After he was apprehended, Norwich police said Millan refused to provide his name and was immediately transported to Backus Hospital due to his injuries.

Police were able to identify him using a portable fingerprint scanner, Norwich police said.

A search of Milan's name in the state and national police informational database revealed he was wanted by the U.S. Marshal Service on a fully extraditable warrant for violation of federal probation, Norwich police said

Millan was held on $200,000 bond and is due to be arraigned Friday in state Superior Court in Norwich.

Millan was charged with third-degree larceny, disobeying the signal of an officer, two counts of reckless driving, failure to drive right, robbery involving an occupied motor vehicle, second-degree breach of peace, interfering with an officer, third-degree criminal mischief, unauthorized possession of a controlled substance and assault on a public safety officer, police said.
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BRISTOL  Police have arrested a man wanted in connection with a string of seven restaurant burglaries this spring.

Bristol police said 39-year-old Gregory Rogers was identified as a suspect in two of the burglaries, at Corner Pizza and Rodds Restaurant, after incidents were reported at several businesses along the Route 6 corridor.
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The Army on Wednesday significantly relaxed its tattoo policy, becoming the military branch with some of the most relaxed rules for ink, as it scrambles to deal with a recruitment crisis.

"Social norms, people are getting more tattoos, Sgt. Maj. Ashleigh Sykes, who oversees Army uniform policies, told reporters Thursday. It doesn't stop readiness if someone has a tattoo on the back of their neck."

The new rules allow soldiers to have one visible tattoo on each hand, including the palm, and unlimited tattoos between the fingers as long as they are not visible when their hands are closed. Troops are also authorized to have one ring tattoo on each hand.

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In addition to the changes for hands, soldiers now may have a single tattoo on the back of the neck that does not exceed two inches in all directions, as well as one tattoo behind each ear, so long as they don't exceed 1 inch in size or reach forward of the earlobe.

Tattoos are still forbidden on the face and other parts of the head, with some exceptions for permanent makeup. Tattoos inside the eyelids, mouth and ears are also still unauthorized.

The policy change was largely spurred by the Defense Department's difficulty recruiting new troops into the force this year, as it faces a more competitive civilian job market and more intensive medical screenings for new recruits, and typically rejects many over minor criminal infractions, including the use of marijuana.

Less than one-quarter of young Americans are even qualified for service, often due to obesity.

The service is currently offering recruiting bonuses up to $50,000 and is, for the first time ever, allowing new recruits to pick their first duty station, with some limitations. These incentives come on top of existing benefits such as the GI Bill and VA home loans.

Previously, potential recruits with unauthorized tattoos were often granted waivers to serve. In 2020, roughly 1,400 waivers were requested, 1,100 of which were approved, according to Linden St. Clair, assistant deputy for recruiting and retention for the Army.

But even a generous waiver process takes time, often around two weeks, adding to the sometimes lengthy stretch between someone's initial meeting with a recruiter and taking the oath. There is a network of bureaucracy and background checks that can torpedo that process at any moment, or the potential recruit could just decide to walk away.

"Anything that slows that process down, they can lose interest. This keeps them engaged," St. Clair said. "This is the most challenging recruiting environment in 20 years. It isn't going to be one of those things that causes folks to start flocking into the military."

The Army's move comes amid a string of grooming standard changes across most of the services. The Air Force, for example, allowed its troops to have longer mustaches. Sykes said the Army is not considering adopting that policy. The Space Force introduced its own tattoo policy in May, allowing Guardians to have a single neck tattoo.

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.

Related: Military Services Lighten Up on Facial Hair and Uniforms in New Policies
Amid a growing trend of state laws that target members of the LGBTQ community, the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force all say that they have existing policies and procedures in place to help service members transfer to new duty stations if they feel unsafe or discriminated against.

However, the Navy explained that, as of June, it "has not received, and therefore not approved, any requests for safety transfers for reasons related to state laws or policies that may affect LGBTQ+ Service members or their dependent.

It is not clear whether that figure is the result of absent need, disapproval at lower levels of command, or a lack of awareness by sailors.

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The Air Force did not reply to a request for comment on how many airmen have utilized the option. The Marine Corps did not provide a number, but explained that "each service member's assignment is assessed individually and state law is not an articulated factor in the assignment process."

The Human Rights Campaign, a nonprofit organization that focuses on LGBTQ discrimination, said that last year was "the worst year for anti-LGBTQ legislation in recent history" with 17 laws targeting the community enacted and another 11 awaiting a governor's signature. Two measures that drew outsized attention this year were Florida's so-called "Dont Say Gay" bill, passed in March, that forbids discussion of sexual orientation and gender indentity until the third grade and an order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, issued in February, that directred the state's child welfare agency to investigate reports of gender-confirming care as child abuse.

While military installations are considered federal property and thus not subject to state laws, service members rarely reside entirely within their boundaries. Laws that limit medical services that can be offered in the state, restrictions on adoptions or foster care, and the absence of non-discrimination protections could easily impact service members and their dependents who live, shop or try to access medical care off-base.

For example, in South Dakota -- home of Ellsworth Air Force Base -- it is legal for businesses to deny services to LGBTQ people under the premise of religious freedom.

All three branches that Military.com spoke to noted that the health and well-being of their service members is a top priority. The Navy and Air Force pointed to preexisting policies that were developed with victims or witnesses of abuse and sexual violence in mind as options for sailors and airmen who now feel discriminated against by state laws.

Military.com reported in May that the Army was considering expanding its "compassionate reassignment" policy to soliders who feel state or local laws discriminate against them based on gender, sex, religion, race or pregnancy.

"State law is not an articulated factor in the assignment process, however a service member can request a 'safety transfer,'" the Navy said in an emailed statement.

In March, following the controversial efforts in Texas and Florida, the Department of the Air Force issued a statement reminding airmen and Space Force Guardians that there are resources they can utilize to navigate these local laws.

"The health, care and resilience of our DAF personnel and their families is not just our top priority -- it's essential to our ability to accomplish the mission," Under Secretary of the Air Force Gina Ortiz Jones said in a statement. "We are closely tracking state laws and legislation to ensure we prepare for and mitigate effects to our Airmen, Guardians and their families. Medical, legal resources, and various assistance are available for those who need them."

Air Force officials pointed to medical treatment facilities for health care, installation legal offices for advice, and the department's Exceptional Family Member Program as a way to navigate a possible change of duty station "to assist families with special needs," the statement detailed.

Unlike the Army's draft policy, there is not an existing rule or one in the works that would specifically cover discriminatory state laws, according to Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek, but existing programs could apply to those situations.

An airman or Guardian's situation would have to fit other reassignment standards that already exist, such as the department's Humanitarian Reassignment and Deferment Program, Stefanek said. That policy, traditionally, has been available only for short-term moves.

Approval for many of these reassignment programs would start with an airman or Guardian's commander; then, they would go through the chain of command, which could lead to a time-consuming and convoluted process for those seeking more immediate relief.

"As is the case with all of our family members, if the support a family member needs becomes unavailable, commanders can work to get the service member to an assignment where their loved ones can receive the care they need," Jones said in her statement.

The Air Force did not immediately return a request for comment asking what other programs could potentially be applied to help alleviate the effects of discriminatory state laws.

The Marine Corps explained that, "while state law is not an articulated factor in the assignment process, the Marine Corps allows a service member to request re-assignment" over safety or well-being concerns but did not cite a specific policy.

However, the branch is also undergoing a major restructuring of how it manages Marines and their assignments. In previous discussions with the media, Marine leaders emphasized that they are willing to hear out the concerns of their service members and work with them to find solutions.

As part of the debate around this year's defense policy bill, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., introduced an amendment that would have barred permanent changes of station done for the "sole basis" that a service member "disagrees with a state or local law" for any military branch -- a position he noted was driven by learning about the Army's draft policy from Military.com's reporting.

The amendment failed along a party-line vote.

LGBTQ members of the military -- especially transgender troops -- have seen quickly shifting policies and rules the past few years. Although gay and lesbian service members have been able to serve openly for almost 11 years, transgender troops were only authorized in 2016. Then, in July 2017, then-President Donald Trump reversed that policy via Twitter, announcing that the U.S. government would no longer allow "transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military." In January 2021, five days into his presidency, President Joe Biden reversed that reversal.

Despite these changes, and the policies that the services say are in place to help service members, life for LGBTQ troops or dependents is hardly simple. The War Horse reported that some still experience open discrimation or intimidation -- even on base.

The Navy and Air Force policies both note that requests for transfer are just that -- requests that can be denied. The Marine Corps statement noted that "requests are reviewed and adjudicated on [a] case-by-case basis."

In the meantime, the situation for the LGBTQ community in America as a whole appears to be growing more dire. GLAAD, a nonprofit advocacy group for the community, recently released a report that found that "a significant majority of the LGBTQ community -- a startling 70% -- says that discrimination has increased over the past two years."

The report also notes that "seven in ten [LGBTQ people] report personally experiencing discrimination" -- an 11% increase from a year ago.

In May, critics, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., forced the cancellation of a "Drag Queen Storytime" event at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Although drag show-type events have been held at other bases, including a similar event the year before at Ramstein, Rubio said in a May 26 letter that "it is completely insane for Ramstein AFB to use on-installation resources for rituals like 'Drag Queen Story Time.'"

-- Rebecca Kheel contributed to this report.

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.

-- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.

Related: Pentagon Quietly Looking into How Nonbinary Troops Could Serve Openly
The Navy has been working for over a decade on various efforts to equip warships with laser weapons that can confuse or destroy enemy systems. And while the service still doesn't have a ship laser that's ready for showtime, it's still investing heavily in the technology, with millions slated for multiple prototype and developmental weapons in the coming year.

The Navy's fiscal 2023 budget request calls for over $103 million to support a half-dozen laser weapon concepts, according to budget justification documents. This year, the service plans to mount a laser dazzler system on a guided-missile destroyer for testing, and lay the groundwork for experiments with another laser system designed to take out an anti-ship cruise missile. For ships that carry a limited number of missiles and rounds, the notion of an effective standoff weapon that won't run out of ammo is attractive. But critics wonder if the ship laser concept will ever live up to its stated promise.

"Skeptics sometimes note that proponents of high-energy military lasers over the years have made numerous predictions about when lasers might enter service with DOD, and that these predictions repeatedly have not come to pass," a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report published in April states. "Viewing this record of unfulfilled predictions, skeptics have sometimes stated, half-jokingly, that lasers are X years in the future  and always will be.'"

The developments set to take place within the next 12 months may provide more insight into what the future truly holds for the concept.

Look to the sun

Concept image of HELIOS installed aboard the USS Preble. (Courtesy Lockheed Martin)

The first development to watch is the installation of the High-Energy Laser with Integrated Optical Dazzler and Surveillance, or HELIOS, on the destroyer USS Preble in San Diego, taking place now and set to wrap up before the end of the year. HELIOS, according to maker Lockheed Martin Corp., is a high-energy laser that can also act as a dazzler to take out enemy drone, and as a tool to support long-range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

"The HELIOS system's deep magazine, low cost per kill, speed of light delivery, and precision response enable it to address Fleet needs now and its mature, scalable architecture supports increased laser power levels to counter additional threats in the future," Lockheed states in program materials.

The company was first contracted in 2018 to begin building HELIOS. Seapower Magazine reported that the Navy believes it can operate the system consistently at 60 kilowatts, but scale it up to 120 kW with a few tweaks.

After installation of HELIOS is complete, the Navy wants to conduct at-sea testing of the system in fiscal 2023, according to budget documents. The roughly $19 million requested for this effort would also pay for engineering, maintenance and repair, and changes based on the results of at-sea testing.

HELIOS is similar in concept to one of the Navy's earliest ship laser efforts. In 2014, the service mounted a counter-drone weapon called the Laser Weapons System, or LaWS, onto the Afloat Forward Staging Base Ponce, a former amphibious ship, in the Persian Gulf. When Ponce was decommissioned in 2017, LaWS was brought ashore. According to the CRS briefing, it's going to be used as a land-based test asset for HELIOS development as that program moves forward.

The Laser Weapon System (LaWS) is put through a systems check aboard the Afloat Forward Staging Base (Interim) USS Ponce. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Peter D. Blair)

One obstacle for HELIOS may be system cost: CRS sites Navy estimates at $100 million per unit for early development. The cost of employing the system is supposed to be negligible  a couple of dollars per shot  but it's still not clear if the weapon as a whole is a good deal for the Navy.

"As the Navy continues to mature Laser Weapon Systems and analyze their integration into the overall combat system, the cost per kill metrics will be refined to specify adequate return on investment," CRS wrote in its report. "Given the current uncertainty in relative contributions of the various systems being evaluated and the sensitivity to doctrinal implementation and logistic assumptions, it is too early to assign a meaningful value that can be attributed purely to the implementation of laser weapon systems."

Laser weapons versus missiles

Two other laser weapons in development are the Navy's Optical Dazzling Interdictor, or ODIN, and the High Energy Laser Counter-[Anti-Ship Cruise Missile] Program, or HELCAP.

ODIN was spotted quietly installed for testing onboard the destroyer USS Stockdale in 2021. The Navy wants $25 million for testing and development of the system in fiscal 2023, up from $9 million this year. Those funds will provide for shipboard support and maturation efforts. The Navy has said it plans to have the systems installed onboard eight destroyers in all, with that installation effort reportedly set to be completed next year.

ODIN appears installed aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale during a July 2021 underway period. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Elisha Smith)

Intended to confuse enemy drones and other sensing systems, ODIN was designed and built by the Navy from the ground up. It's not clear how widely the service plans to employ the system within its destroyer fleet once the weapon is operational.

The last of the laser weapon trio, HELCAP, is the most powerful of the three, with at least 300 kW to defeat incoming anti-ship cruise missiles. Documentation also suggests it faces the most technological and development challenges. The Navy wants about $7 million for the HELCAP in fiscal 2023, down from $25 million this year. It's pushing back experimentation plans until at least 2024 due to "technology maturation" challenges, documents state.

According to documents released, among those challenges are high atmospheric turbulence, target tracking accuracy, and "jitter control."

Amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland (LPD 27) conducts a high-energy laser weapon system demonstration on a static surface training target, Dec. 14, while sailing in the Gulf of Aden. During the demonstration, the Solid State Laser  Technology Maturation Laser Weapons System Demonstrator Mark 2 MOD 0 aboard Portland successfully engaged the training target. The photograph was captured utilizing a short wave infrared lens and optical filter. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Donald Holbert)

Key next steps for HELCAP are set to take place at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, Maryland, which is tasked with designing and building auxiliary power and cooling systems.

"FY23 activities will culminate with this demonstration and preparation for targeting and tracking limited maritime experimentation planned for FY24," the Navy's budget request states.

The Navy is also experimenting with ground-based laser weapons. In a test earlier this year, a system called Layered Laser Defense (LLD) from Lockheed Martin shot down a target drone that was meant to simulate a subsonic cruise missile.

"Innovative laser systems  have the potential to redefine the future of naval combat operations," Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Lorin C. Selby said at the time. "They present transformational capabilities to the fleet."

Ultimately, the Navy envisions these ship-based systems working together as a family of laser weapons that can provide effective renewable defense for surface ships at a fraction of the cost-per-kill of conventional weapons. It's still not clear, however, when that vision will become reality. But as testing and installation move forward with specific, finite objectives, the integration of lasers into naval warfare is closer to reality than it's ever been.

Hope Hodge Seck is an award-winning investigative and enterprise reporter who has been covering military issues since 2009. She is the former managing editor for Military.com.

Read the original article on Sandboxx
SEOUL, South Korea  North Korea discussed assigning additional duties to front-line army units at a key military meeting, state media said Thursday, a move that analysts said indicates it plans to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons targeting South Korea along the rivals tense border.

While much international attention has focused on North Koreas testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles potentially capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, it is also developing a variety of nuclear-capable short-range missiles that can target South Korea.

South Korean officials recently said that North Korea has completed preparations for its first test of a nuclear explosive device in five years, part of a possible effort to build warheads capable of being mounted on short-range missiles.

During an ongoing meeting of the Central Military Commission of North Korea's ruling Workers Party, leader Kim Jong Un and other top military officers discussed on Wednesday the work of additionally confirming the operation duties of the front-line units of the Korean Peoples Army and modifying the operation plans, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Kim also ordered steps to enhance the operational capabilities of the front-line units, KCNA said. A KCNA photo showed what appeared to be a large map of the Korean Peninsulas eastern coast, including border sites, standing near the conference table.

Although there was no public mention of tactical nuclear weapons, "I can assess that the issues of forward-deploying tactical nuclear weapons and the modification of related operational plans and military organization reshuffles have been discussed in an in-depth manner" at the meeting, said Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Koreas private Sejong Institute.

Cheong said North Korea's push to deploy nuclear weapons at front-line units was expected since it said in April that its new tactical weapons would significantly boost the units' attack capacity and the efficient operation of tactical nuclear weapons.

A KCNA report on April 17 on the test-launch of what it called a new type of tactical guided weapon said it has great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the front-line long-range artillery units, enhancing the efficiency in the operation of (North Koreas) tactical nukes and diversification of their firepower missions.

Later in April, Kim said North Korea could preemptively use nuclear weapons if threatened, saying they would never be confined to the single mission of war deterrent in situations in which the country faces external threats to its fundamental interests. The possibility of North Korea having an escalatory nuclear doctrine could pose greater concern for South Korea, Japan and the United States.

North Korea has described some of its other short-range nuclear-capable missiles tested in recent years as tactical weapons, which experts say communicates a threat to proactively use them during conventional warfare to blunt the stronger conventional forces of South Korea and the United States.

Kim Jun-rak, a spokesperson for South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Thursday that it is closely monitoring North Korean activities but didnt elaborate. South Korea's Unification Ministry, which overseas relations with North Korea, said the North will likely increase its military threats against South Korea, but did not elaborate.

Kim convened the Central Military Commission meeting earlier this week to confirm crucial and urgent tasks to expand the country's military capabilities and implement key defense policies, state media said.

Cheong, the analyst, said North Korea is expected to conduct its seventh nuclear test after the meeting, noting that its third nuclear test in 2013 also came days after another Central Military Commission meeting.

This year, North Korea has test-launched about 30 missiles in what some experts call an attempt to expand its arsenal and increase its leverage in future negotiations with the United States to win sanctions relief and other concessions. The weapons tested include an ICBM. Analysts say North Korea needs to master missile reentry capabilities and other technologies to make a functioning long-range weapon.

There have been signs of an impending North Korean nuclear test for weeks. South Korean officials said the test has been delayed by North Koreas continuing COVID-19 outbreak and opposition from China, its last major ally and biggest aid provider.

Won In-Choul, chairman of South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a video conference on Thursday with his American counterpart, Gen. Mark Milley, and said a North Korean ICBM test or nuclear test explosion could occur at any time, his office said in a statement. It said Milley responded that the U.S. commitment to the defense of South Korea remains iron-clad.

South Korean and U.S. officials have warned North Korea that it will face consequences if it goes ahead with a nuclear test. But divisions between the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council make prospects for additional international sanctions on North Korea unclear. Earlier this year, Russia and China vetoed U.S.-sponsored resolutions that would have increased sanctions, insisting that Washington should focus on reviving dialogue.

___

Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.
The USS Wichita has been saved from retirement.

The 3-year-old ship had been slated to be decommissioned along with other similar ships because of mechanical issues in some ships and what the Navy called a lack of fighting capability.

Nine of the littoral combat ships had been slated for decommissioning by the Navy. But a budget compromise in the Senate Armed Services Committee now is expected to save five, including the USS Wichita.

"These ships still have the capabilities to be utilized for many more years, and I support the committee's decision to prevent the USS Wichita and other combat ships like it from being prematurely decommissioned," Republican Sen. Jerry Moran said in an emailed statement to the Wichita Eagle.

Littoral combat ships are built for shallow water missions where larger warships can't go.

U.S. Rep. Kay Granger  the USS Fort Worth ship sponsor fought for the ships to remain in commission. Granger struck a deal with the Navy to preserve five of the nine littoral combat ships, including the USS Wichita, the USS Fort Worth, the USS Billings, the USS Indianapolis and the USS Saint Louis.

The ships were slated to be scrapped in the Navy's 2023 budget cycle, because retiring them would be more cost-saving than repairing them, the Navy said.

The defense funding bill with the provision for the five ships was to be considered by the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.

The compromise calls for preserving five of the ships and studying how to repurpose them and to possibly sell the four decommissioned ones.

Lawmakers of both parties have questioned the Navy's plans to abandon the littoral combat ships, because they are so new and have been costly. The service life of the ships is 25 years, and the Navy must get a waiver from Congress to scrap them before then.

On May 26, Moran questioned the Chief of Naval Operations Michael Gilday about the USS Wichita's retirement, pointing out its age.

"The fact that we christen a ship one year and a few years later we're decommissioning troubles me," Moran said. The USS Wichita was built by Lockheed-Martin for roughly $360 million.

Gilday cited not only mechanical issues  a problem in the system that meshed power from two gas turbines and two diesel engines so support speeds reaching 45 knots  but also lack of fighting capability.

"Those ships, relative to others, just didn't bring the war-fighting value to the fight," he said.

The small ships were designed to be speedy for close-in threats from pirates and terrorists, but the Navy is now looking at threats from China in the Pacific that require a different warship.

Contributing: Maria Recio, special to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

(c)2022 The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.)

Visit The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.) at www.kansas.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A Department of Veterans Affairs employee caught on security camera assaulting a veteran patient at Fort McPherson, Georgia, has been suspended from his job without pay, a VA official said Thursday.

Lawrence Gaillard Jr., who works as a patient advocate at the VA outpatient clinic located in downtown Atlanta, was arrested and charged April 28 for allegedly assaulting 73-year-old Vietnam veteran Phillip Webb earlier that day.

The altercation was captured on video, which was published Tuesday by WSB-TV in Atlanta.

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"The employee has been indefinitely suspended without pay," VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes said. "The indefinite suspension is in place, and we are unable to comment further as the matter remains under investigation."

Hayes did not explain the timeline for when Gaillard was put on unpaid leave, something the agency announced nearly two months after the incident.

During the assault, a VA employee who prosecutors say was Gaillard is seen grabbing Webb's hands, forcing him across the room, choking him and kicking him in the head after slamming him to the ground.

Gaillard initially was charged with felony assault by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Georgia. The case was later transferred to the Fulton County District Attorney's Office over jurisdictional matters.

VA Secretary Denis McDonough apologized to Webb on Wednesday during a press conference in Washington, D.C. McDonough said he watched the video and found it "heartbreaking and so contrary to [the VA's] values."

"On behalf of VA, I apologize to that veteran and the veteran's family," McDonough said. "We are cooperating fully with the Fulton County criminal investigation."

Webb said he did not know why Gaillard attacked him. He told WSB-TV that he was at the VA to receive instructions for a pending hernia operation and knocked on Gaillard's office door to tell him he planned to use the restroom.

In the video, Gaillard is seen pointing his finger in Webb's face, to which Webb responded by smacking at Gaillard's finger.

"He said, 'Man, I'll go upside your head.' I said, 'No, you won't,' [and] that's the last thing I remember," Webb told the station. "I'm still trying to figure out why he hit me."

-- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Military.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime.

Related: VA Weighs Limiting Access to Outside Doctors to Curb Rising Costs
After Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many countries quickly responded by imposing sanctions on Russia and by sending weapons to help Ukraine defend itself.

But so far, the U.S. and its NATO allies have said they will not send troops.

Nonetheless, many non-Ukrainians want to fight for Ukraine for a variety of reasons, whether ideological, personal or political.

To take advantage of that support, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has set up the International Legion of Defense of Ukraine for those who wish to volunteer  including U.S. citizens. While this particular effort may be new, the concept of a foreign legion  a military force comprised of volunteers from foreign countries  is more than 190 years old.

Officers guide soldiers of the Foreign Legion as they walk on the Champs Elysees avenue during a rehearsal for the Bastille Day parade in Paris Friday, July 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

The French model

The "Legion etrangere," or French Foreign Legion, is perhaps the world's most famous  and infamous  foreign legion.

When it was created in 1831, its primary role was to fight France's colonial wars. Since its formation, legionnaires born in more than 140 countries have fought under the French flag in a variety of conflicts throughout Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia. In recent years, the French Foreign Legion has deployed to Afghanistan and the Sahel region of Africa.

Given their lineage as an expeditionary force, legionnaires are often among the first French troops sent into a dangerous environment. Yet each year, volunteers still travel to France in hopes of enlisting.

For some would-be legionnaires, it's about joining a particular conflict. For instance, before the U.S. formally entered World War I, many Americans volunteered to become legionnaires to fight alongside the Allies. In many countries, including the U.S., citizens who swear an oath of allegiance to a foreign power risk having their citizenship stripped. The French Foreign Legion sidesteps this by requiring that legionnaires swear allegiance to the Legion itself  not to the country of France.

For others, joining the French Foreign Legion is about starting a new life. A legionnaire can apply to become a French citizen after only three years of service. Additionally, anyone wounded in action is "Francais par le sang verse," or "French by spilled blood," and can immediately apply for French citizenship.

Legionnaires who are retired or on leave from active duty can find lodging and purpose tending to grape fields and making wine at the Legion's own picturesque Provencal chateau.

There is, however, a dark side to what may look like romantic escapism. For one, the French Foreign Legion has often acted as a vehicle for colonial conquest and occupation. This is famously on full display in "The Battle of Algiers," an evocative film about Algeria's struggle for independence and France's efforts to suppress that struggle.

Beyond the dangers of the battlefield, legionnaires have also faced sexual violence and other forms of abuse from fellow legionnaires  sometimes dying as a result.

The use of foreign fighters elsewhere

Many countries have taken a page from France's playbook by allowing foreigners to serve in their armed forces. For example, in 1920, Spain founded its own foreign legion to fight in its colonial campaigns, namely the Rif War in Morocco.

During the Spanish Civil War, there were foreign volunteers on both sides: The battle-hardened Spanish Foreign Legion fought for Francisco Franco, while Republican forces opposed to fascism organized the International Brigades, which included more than 35,000 volunteers from around the world, including roughly 2,800 from the U.S..

Foreign fighters have played significant roles in many other conflicts. During the American Revolution, several foreign military officers, including Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben and the Marquis de Lafayette, made vital contributions to the struggle for independence.

During the Russian Revolution, professional non-Russian troops brought valuable military expertise to the nascent Red Army.

Similarly, during Israel's War of Independence, World War II veterans proved so indispensable that former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion called them "the Diaspora's most important contribution to the survival of the State."

Some countries don't have a separate foreign legion, but nonetheless allow some foreigners to enlist. For instance, citizens of the European Union can join the Irish Defence Forces. Citizens of the Commonwealth, most of which is former parts of the British Empire, can join the British Army. And citizens of the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau can join the U.S. military, along with foreign nationals who possess a green card.

As in France, serving in a foreign military can often help accelerate the naturalization process. Noncitizen U.S. service members, for example, can apply to become a citizen after just one year on the job. It appears that volunteers serving in the Ukrainian military will be eligible for Ukrainian citizenship at some point in the future.

Two British citizens Aiden Aslin, left, and Shaun Pinner, right, and Moroccan Saaudun Brahim, center, sit behind bars in a courtroom in Donetsk, in the territory which is under the Government of the Donetsk People's Republic control, eastern Ukraine, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo)

The risks of war

In June 2022, two U.S. citizens fighting for Ukraine were captured by Russian forces and now face an uncertain future. This came just a few weeks after two Britons and a Moroccan were captured and subsequently sentenced to death.

Despite serving in the Ukrainian military, which under international law should entitle them to prisoner-of-war status, Russia argues that captured foreign fighters are mercenaries rather than soldiers and thus not eligible. It's worth noting, though, that even Ukrainian prisoners of war don't seem to be receiving proper treatment.

Ironically, Russia has for several years been trying to recruit foreigners into its own military. Back in 2015, Russia began allowing noncitizens to join, and it offers citizenship eligibility after five years of service. More recently, President Vladimir Putin has been vocal about his support for foreigners volunteering to join the fight against Ukraine.

Foreign volunteers on both sides of this conflict could soon be paying the ultimate price  if they haven't already.

Joshua Holzer is Assistant Professor of Political Science, Westminster College

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The Mariners and reliever Jacob Barnes are in agreement on a minor league contract. Hell report to Triple-A Tacoma, according to an announcement from Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto (Twitter link).

Barnes was recently released by the Tigers. The righty cracked Detroits Opening Day roster after signing a minors pact over the winter, but the 2022 campaign has been a struggle. He tossed 20 2/3 innings across 22 outings but managed only a 6.10 ERA. Barnes 11.2% strikeout rate was the third-lowest mark among relievers with 20+ frames, and Detroit designated him for assignment last week.

Rough start notwithstanding, hes a sensible depth add for the Mariners. Barnes lack of swing-and-miss in Detroit was surprising, as hes typically been solid at missing bats. He fanned 25.8% of opponents last season between the Mets and Blue Jays. Hes two years removed from punching out over 30% of batters faced on a massive 15.2% swinging strike rate with the Angels. Control inconsistency and a propensity for hard contact led to grisly ERA totals in both seasons, but the swing-and-miss potential made him an intriguing middle innings option.

Barnes is still throwing his fastball (95.3 MPH) and cutter (88.9 MPH) quite hard, and the latter offering continued to miss bats at a decent rate this year. The four-seam was a major issue for Barnes in Detroit, but the Ms will take a no-risk look to see if they can tweak that offering to find better success.
23.06.2022 LISTEN

Michael Owusu Addo, better known as Sarkodie, Ghana's most decorated hip-hop artist, has revealed that his elder sister is the most contributor to his musical career.

Speaking on 'Podcast and Chill with MACG' in South Africa on Tuesday, June 21, 2022, monitored by this portal, the rapper revealed that though his mother believed in his music career from the beginning, it got to a time she gave him a one-year ultimatum to succeed or quit and focus on his education.

Thankfully, he said his big sister, Veronica Owusu-Addo, introduced him to some of the big players in the industry who finally paved the way for him to get signed on a music record even less than the one year ultimatum he was given by his mother.

My whole family supported it, my big sister was one of the people that held my hand into the industry. She started making friends in the industry and introduced me to already known artistes. My family made a major role," he said.

Throwing more light on his mothers one-year ultimatum, he asserted that African parents are sometimes antagonistic towards their wards becoming musicians because of the unacceptable lifestyles some musicians live.

The 2019 BET International Flow artiste stressed that his mother, Emma Ewurama Maame Aggrey, became very happy when she started hearing about him from almost corner of the country.

"In Africa, parents don't see music as a thing to go into because of how some of us turn out when we go into it...my dad wasn't around. It was mainly my mum, she played both parts. My mum was very strong and she was really strict.

"She gave me a year to prove myself if this is what I really want to do and thank God it was the same year I had one of my biggest records. In that same year, she was in a taxi and the driver was talking about her son. She wasn't aware that I was out there. He didn't believe her when she said she was my mother," he concluded.
The coffin of slain Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba returned to his home on Wednesday for an emotionally charged tour and burial, more than six decades after his assassination.

A plane took Lumumba's mortal remains -- a tooth that ex-colonial power Belgium handed over to his family on Monday -- from Brussels to Kinshasa for a nine-day trip around the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The coffin and an accompanying delegation then flew to the central province of Sankuru, where the country's first post-independence leader was born in the village of Onalua in 1925.

"Mr first prime minister," the DRC's police and armed forces "are lined up to pay their respects to you on your return to your native village", a police officer standing to attention solemnly said, in front of the coffin as it arrived at the aerodrome in the town of Tshumbe.

From there, it was taken 25 kilometres (15 miles) to Onalua, where two days of tributes are planned.

Transported by an army vehicle covered with a Congolese flag, the coffin arrived at the village square to the sound of tam-tam drums.

A podium in the national colours of yellow, blue and red, tents and banners bearing Lumumba's face had been set up.

The remains will visit sites symbolically important to Lumumba's life and be laid to rest in a mausoleum in the capital Kinshasa on June 30, following three days of national mourning.

"His spirit, which was imprisoned in Belgium, comes back here," said Onalua Maurice Tasombo Omatuku, a traditional chief and nephew of Lumumba.

Finally able to mourn his uncle but knowing he was assassinated in 1961, Omatuku said he was feeling emotionally torn.

'The son is returning'

Onalua has since 2013 been part of a commune named Lumumbaville in honour of the anti-colonial leader.

On Tuesday, ahead of the arrival home of its favourite son, a local resident pointed to a large, unfinished concrete house falling into dilapidation, with much of its roof missing.

"That's the family plot where Lumumba was born," he said.

Catherine Mbutshu said she felt joy at the idea that Lumumba's "relic" was finally returning to the land of his forefathers.

"I'm old, my legs hurt, but I'm happy because the son is returning," said the woman believed to have once known Lumumba.

"I spoke with him before his departure for Kisangani," his political bastion in northeastern Congo, she said.

Lumumba earned his place in history as an anti-colonial icon when the DRC proclaimed independence from Belgium on June 30, 1960, delivering a fiery speech against settler racism.

He was overthrown that September before separatists from the southern region of Katanga and Belgian mercenaries executed him and two close supporters, Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, on January 17, 1961.

'Worthy burial'

Lumumba's body was dissolved in acid and never recovered.

Decades passed before human remains were discovered in Belgium, after a Belgian police officer who took part in Lumumba's death boasted about his actions in the media. Belgian authorities seized the tooth from the officer in 2016.

In a solemn ceremony in Brussels on Monday, a casket containing the tooth was placed in a coffin that Belgium handed over to the Congolese authorities in the presence of Lumumba's family.

"Father, we mourned your passing without performing the funeral prayer... our duty as descendants was to offer a worthy burial," said his daughter Juliana.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo apologised again for his country's "moral responsibility" in Lumumba's death.

Two weeks before, Belgium's King Philippe on his first trip to the DRC reiterated his "deepest regrets for the wounds" inflicted by Belgian colonial rule.

Historians say millions of people were killed, mutilated or died of disease as they were forced to collect rubber under Belgian rule.

The land was also pillaged for its mineral wealth, timber and ivory.
22.06.2022 LISTEN

The heart of Democracy is majority rule which follows the consequentialist position that, if the political power must emanate from the people, then the final decision should be the decision or happiness of the greatest number of people. However, in cases where no side obtains majority in decision making or no side meets the institutionally created majority requirements, Democracy offers what is called consensus building as a tool for reaching a decision in the interest of all.

Consensus Building can be defined as "a process involving a good-faith effort to meet the interests of all stakeholders and seek a unanimous agreement" (Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School). Is the Ghanaian Democratic practice placing a premium on Consensus building? Some relevance of Consensus building have been highlighted earlier. It must also be added that democracy must NOT be a majority dictatorship all the time. At times, the wishes of the minority ought to be factored in the policy decisions for the benefit of all.

This article purposefully explores Ghanas Democracy and consensus building by looking at the executive-legislature relationship and also periods of economic crisis.

With the Executive-Legislature relationship, the executive, since 1992, has always had its way in terms of getting its policies and programmes passed in parliament with ease. This is not as a result of good policy formulation or due diligence but the fact that the political party that wins the presidency usually obtains majority seats in parliament. For that reason, checks and balances which ought to exist between the executive and the legislature to ensure they both operate within the framework of the laws and also work for the interest of the state is traded off for partisan interest.

However, the outcome of the 2020 general elections changed this narrative in the 8th Parliament of Ghana as all political parties failed to secure enough seats to claim majority. With the independent member joining the NPP side, we had a majority group in the house. This dynamic was a pure test of our democracy. A test to ascertain whether we have fully come to understand the Democracy we have been practicing since 1992. That, in the midst of a situation where the executive cannot get the legislature to support its decisions at all times, consensus building will be the way to go.

It appears the hung parliament has not only exposed our shallow understanding and practice of Democracy; but also, the acrimony and blood ties between the two major political parties in the country. The verbal banter and physical exchange of blows witnessed in the house of parliament are clear indications of our failure to employ diplomatic engagements and negotiations to reach decisions in the interests of all.

Not only that, we have seen deliberate efforts to frustrate some members on the minority side and also to reduce their number. These happenings are not maturing our democracy but rather leaving a bitter precedent for revenge and equalization when government changes hands in the future.

On the side of economic management, under a monocephalous executive system where the ceremonial functions and real executive functions are vested in one person, it is very difficult to separate national interest from partisan interest. In other words, because the leader of the executive hails from a political party, every decision from him or his appointees would receive political scrutiny.

Under what circumstance does it become necessary to push national interest ahead of partisan interest and how can that be achieved? As far as economics management is concerned, partisan interest must be set aside for national interest in times of economic crisis or developing a long term development plan for the country. With the economic crisis, solutions to save the economy, the people and the future of the country beyond political rhetoric ought to be prioritized over who performs better. The President and the party in government have to put their pride aside and call all heads to the table for decisions that would be in the interest of all.

When Dumsor struck the Ghanaian economy from 2012 to 2015, the government of the day put aside her pride, acknowledged the fact that there was a crisis and called for a Consensus building at Senchi in the year 2014. The outcome of the forum labelled home-grown solutions to salvage the economic deficiencies the country was facing. Along the way, the home-grown policies were augmented by the IMFs Extended Credit Facility which restored the image of Ghana in the international financial market.

Relatively, the impact of Dumsor is nowhere near the Covid-19 pandemic and the spillover effects of recent international politics and so the Ghanaian economy is doing worse than what we experienced under Dumsor. It is therefore wise for the ruling side to put aside their pride and call for a negotiation among stakeholders of the economy for constructive decisions devoid of partisan politics.

It is very worrying and disturbing that the government of the day is failing to be friendly enough for unity and togetherness to lead in these times. The opposition has rather placed a call for consensus building on the economy but the government is refusing to consider that option. I do not intend to dig deep into this because, wherever there is a choice, there is opportunity cost after a decision is taken. I will dedicate another time to some of these options.

In conclusion, we are living in a modernized form of Thomas Hobes' 'state of nature" under our democratic dispensation due to the absence of consensus building. I am tempted to believe that we, at any material time, have to experience the "bad" for some time before we drift towards the "good" and I cite our alternation between democratic government and military government we experienced before settling for what we are enjoying today as a classical example. Maybe, we will be learning our lessons after we realize that this trend of fighting each other and the evil machination of elimination by rough tactics is doing us harm more than good. Until then, the blame is not on democracy but our attitude, for others have succeeded with it.

Kweku Mensah Amponsah

BA. Economics with Philosophy

(0245464486/0504965462)
French artists MC Solaar, Hyphen Hyphen and Bon Entendeur celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Fete de la musique in New York's Central Park on Tuesday.

The concert was part of the France Rocks Summer Fest, a month-long celebration of French music happening in New York City this month, the largest festival of French music in the US.

French rap megastar Claude M'Barali, aka MC Solaar, surrounded by the New Big Band Project,an ensemble of chorus, brass, strings and drums delighted a thousand fans who danced in the rain at the free concert also organised by the French Institute Alliance Francaise.

"It is unbelievable, fantastic. It is the homeland of my musical genre so it is a great joy," explained MC Solaar before taking the stage for this New York version of the French Fete de la Musique, which was created in 2017.

"New York is called Mecca, Harlem is Medina and Brooklyn is Mecca," whispered the French artist and poet, born in 1969 in Dakar to Chadian parents, who has become an icon of music and song in 30 years and the precursor of rap in France.

For the composer and musician, known for his sophisticated literary texts, his wordplay and his groove and jazz musical influences, the New York megalopolis remains the "place of origin" of his art.

"Every time I meet an American artist or I have the chance to cross the Atlantic, something happens. It is as if I am making a pilgrimage," said the author of "Qui seme le vent recolte le tempo", his triumphant first album in 1991, which, 30 years later, still warmed up Central Park on Tuesday night.

MC Solaar, however, denies that he is "doing American rap".

"We managed to develop something uniquely French," explained the man who built his reputation in the United States by collaborating with the American rapper who died in 2010, Keith Edward Elam, alias "Guru" of the duo Gang Starr.

Also attracted by the sounds and lights of New York, the young trio of electronic pop rock Hyphen Hyphen said they "always dreamed of playing in America".

Formed right out of high school in Nice (southeastern France) in 2011, Hyphen Hyphen sing in English, a "universal" language, and have already built up an international reputation.

"We've been immersed in this culture of American music [...] we've always looked in that direction," say Samanta Cotta, Laura Christin and Romain Adamo, citing the influence of British and American rock bands Supertramp, Fleetwood Mac and Talking Heads.

For their latest album, they wrote two tracks with six-time Grammy Award-winning American producer Glen Ballard, who played with them in Central Park and praises their "energy" and "seriousness".

Members of the electro mixtape group Bon Entendeur, from Aix-en-Provence in south-eastern France, Pierre Della Monica, Arnaud Bonet and Nicolas Boisseleau are equally "delighted" with their first ever performance in New York, "a symbol around the world".

(with AFP)
Widows in the northern Nigerian city of Kano. - Source: Photo by Aminu Abubakar/AFP/Getty Images

22.06.2022 LISTEN

Nigeria is home to about 15 million of the world's 258 million widows . Widowhood in an ethnically and religiously diverse country like Nigeria, with three major ethnic groups and over 250 minorities, is complex.

Widowhood is a period when a person has lost his or her spouse by death and has remained unmarried. The state of widowhood has multiple intersecting elements  social, cultural, economic, and even historical.

This period of life comes with challenges, a reality which led the UN to set aside a day every year ( 23 June ) to look at the rights of widows and the issues that affect them.

In patrilineal and patriarchal societies, including Nigeria, descent is traced through males, with systems controlled and dominated by men. In such societies, women are expected to be subservient. Becoming a widow often compounds the disadvantages. It creates a doubly marginalised subgroup and sometimes subjects women to dehumanising rituals and harmful practices.

In my studies of marginal groups in Nigeria, I explored how being a woman intersects with other socioeconomic realities, exposing them to multiple disadvantages.

These studies found that women suffer social, economic, and health constraints. These are compounded by low literacy levels, cultural beliefs and rituals.

Burdens of widowhood in Nigeria

In Nigeria, widowhood comes with a lot of burdens and disadvantages. These include maltreatment, discrimination and stigmatisation.

Tradition, modernity and neo-patriarchy all present challenges to Nigerian women.

Some traditions barred women from inheriting land and property. Upon the death of a husband, the widow lost all she had acquired by herself and from her husband. She would be traditionally dehumanised through compulsory mourning rituals like forced seclusion.

The impact of this on children and the widow's livelihood, psyche and health were not considered. Practices included widow inheritance, when a woman was expected to voluntarily or compulsorily marry her late husband's brother or relative.

In some Nigerian cultures, widowhood automatically made a woman unclean and required ritual cleansing. She would be confined within a particular space for a specified period, forced to eat from broken plates and sleep on the bare floor. She would not be allowed to bath. She would be prevented from changing her clothes and from farming, doing house chores and going to market during the mourning period.

A widow's choice of a sex partner was not respected. Thus, her sexuality and reproduction were controlled in a social framework of gender inequality. Her emotional, health and psychological needs were disregarded.

In some southern Nigerian communities, widows accused of killing their husbands were forced to drink or bath with water used to wash the husband's corpse. Some were forced to have sex with the corpse or kinsmen.

In the 1970s, feminists became more active in empowering women in Nigeria. Some of these traditions are no longer commonly practised, with the advent of Christianity and human rights movements.

In 21st century Nigeria, a widow's right to inherit from her husband is recognised by statutory law . But it's seen as normal for the widow's in-laws to demand the husband's cheque book, bank pin number and account details.

In some southern Nigerian communities, widows are not consulted when matters concerning them and their children are discussed by their in-laws. Widows and women alike are excluded from discussions about allocating land.

Traditions can be slow to change. In 2013, Catholics in eastern Nigeria insisted that women must pour soil from the grave on their husband's coffin, but some people opposed this Christian ritual, insisting that it was not culturally permissible.

In northern Nigeria where polygamy is the norm, remarried widows occupy a lower wives status in the family.

But a 2018 World Bank report observed that, among Christian dominated regions of Nigeria, widowhood came with more vulnerability than in the Muslim dominated regions where people give alms.

In almost all parts of Nigeria, socio-cultural expectations still demand that widows wear special robes (white or dark dresses) and shave their hair throughout the period of mourning.

Equity, gender and law

Not everybody sees widows' maltreatment as a violation of human rights. The husband's family, kinsmen, and local women's or fellow wives' associations may all enforce harmful widowhood practices. This is because they are entrenched in culture.

Widows are also treated differently from widowers. Men tend to be free from demeaning social expectations. For instance, in eastern Nigeria, some widowers voluntarily mourn their late wives, but it's not compulsory. They are permitted to keep beards and don't have to wear mourning dress. Widowers are not monitored and can remarry immediately. Some mourn for just short periods, while women compulsorily mourn for longer periods under strict surveillance.

Law making and policy formulation are dominated by men in Nigeria. Legislation is influenced by male values, lenses, worldviews and privileges. Women constitute only 11.2% of the membership in both chambers of the 9th National Assembly. Seven women are in the Senate while only 11 are in the House of Representatives. Most bills are scrutinised from the male point of view. Therefore, eliminating harmful widowhood practices will be a challenge for a long time in Nigeria.

But in my view, all gender-based violence disguised as culture and ritual must be proscribed. Widows have needs and rights which demand a change in the relationships of power and control between men and women.

For a start, men can protect their wives and children by writing a will.

Nigeria must enforce and domesticate all international protocols protecting widows, women and children. All existing legal instruments protecting widows should be enforced.

Blessing ONYIMA received funding from the African Humanities Program Dissertation Grant sponsored by the American Council for Learned Societies (ACLS) in 2016. She also received a grant from The International Science Council (ISC) and the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC) with financial support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) for the Leading Integrated Research for Agenda 2030 in Africa (LIRA 2030 Africa). Blessing also got the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) 2014 Early Career Travel Grant, United Kingdom.

By Blessing Onyima, Senior Lecturer of Sociology and Anthropology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University
The Majority in Parliament has rejected a call by their colleagues in Minority for an ad hoc committee to further interrogate the Covid-19 spending by the government.

According to the Majority, the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has adequately furnished the house with all the necessary information on how the funds were utilised in Parliament on Wednesday, June 22, 2022.

This follows red flag raised by Minority members with the explanations of the Finance Minister, asking for the Speaker of Parliament to set up the committee to further probe the Covid spending.

Giving vivid explanation on how the funds were utilized, the Finance Minister told Parliament that in the area of free water and electricity for lifeline consumers, for instance, an amount of GH200m was made available for free water and electricity for lifeline consumers, out of this, GH143m utilized.

He continued that Though our response was bold and decisive and compassionate, it has also been costly. Mr Speaker, you will recall that on 30th March 2020, I made a statement to Parliament that the economic impact of Covid 19 pandemic on the economy of Ghana following the implementation of the coronavirus alleviation programme commenced.

Furthermore, during the presentation of the 2020 mid year budget fiscal policy, I indicated that the supplementary request included the programme funding of GH19.3billion from various funding sources to support the budget both directly and indirectly. On the expenditure side, an amount of GH11. 16billion was programmed for Covid-19 related expenses. The difference of 8.14 billion was progarmme to provide for shortfall in revenue.

In 2021, the budget programme of a total amount of GH4.6billion for Covid-19 related expenses. It is worth noting that the Ministry of Finance mobilized the needed financial resources whiles the various Covid-19 interventions and related expense were implemented by the relevant sector ministries and agencies.

But the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam, Cassiel Ato Forson in his submission mentioned that the Finance Minister cannot be the only one accounting for the funds.

He called on the Speaker to form an ad hoc committee to probe the spending at the district levels.

We cannot sit here and say that the Minister of Finance should be the only one accounting for the Covid amounts. The Minister responsible for Finance is only a conduit of releasing the money but the money we spent at the various MDAs, and that is why Mr Speaker, I call on you to set up an ad hoc committee so that we can bring the various heads of the MDAs that spent the money to account for this in detail, he said on the floor.

He also raised concerns against the failure of the Minister to touch on the Covid-19 Trust Fund.

But the lawmaker for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Yaw Boamah, reacting to the submission said there was no need for the creation of the committee because all the answers regarding how the funds were utilized, have been provided.

it is an after thought, it will be waste of time because the Minister has given the break down, he said.

Furtherance to that Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo Markin also maintained that it is needless to set up a committee to look into it because the Finance Minister has provided the answers.

We are here to receive the facts and when the facts are given to us we should be fair and acknowledge it, he said.

DGN online
The 2022 summit between leaders of China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa (BRICS) starts tomorrow, Thursday. In a speech preceding the virtual gathering, the host, Chinese President Xi Jinping, warned against "expanding" military ties. Meanwhile, only one BRICS country is critical of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while some of the others have increased oil purchases from Moscow.

Originally, the term BRICS was coined in the 2001 Goldman Sachs report "Building Better Global Economic BRICs" report which predicted that Brazil, Russia, India and China were "set to grow more" than the G7 in terms of GDP. The four countries created a loose economic alliance and the first "BRIC" meeting was held in Yekaterinburg in 2009.

During the three-day meeting in 2011 in Hainan (China,) South Africa joined, adding the S to BRICS.

Currently BRICS countries constitute 40 percent of the world's population. In 2021 combined BRICS members registered a GDP of $23.5 trillion, more than the US ($ 20,9 trillion) and the EU($17,9 trillion.)

While the grouping has been created so that all members and functions are divided equally by way of a rotating chairmanship, critics argue that China has made itself the de facto leader, although Beijing's rival India is trying to push back China's growing influence.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, resulting in massive condemnation from G7 countries and their allies, may have pushed BRICS members closer to each other too.

'Wake-up call'

On 2 March, three of its members - China, India and South Africa - abstained from voting on the UN resolution condemning a fourth member - Russia - for its invasion of Ukraine. Of the five, only Brazil supported the resolution.

Xi told the BRICS business forum that the "Ukraine crisis is... a wake-up call" and warned against "expanding military alliances and seeking one's own security at the expense of other countries' security".

China and India have strong military links with Russia and buy large amounts of its oil and gas.

In a call last week, Xi assured his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that China would support Moscow's core interests in "sovereignty and security", leading the United States to warn Beijing that it risked ending up "on the wrong side of history".

South Africa, one of the few African countries wielding diplomatic influence outside the continent, has also failed to condemn the Russian military action.

Xi also took a swipe at the US and European Union sanctions on Russia in the speech on Wednesday, saying "sanctions are a boomerang and a double-edged sword".

Russian cooperation

The BRICS summit takes place as Russian troops continue to pummel eastern Ukraine after invading the country four months ago.

China and India have both ramped up crude oil imports from Russia, helping Moscow to offset losses from Western nations scaling back energy purchases from the country.

India bought six times more Russian oil between March and May compared with the same period last year, while imports by China during the same period tripled, data from research firm Rystad Energy shows.

Once bitter Cold War rivals, Beijing and Moscow have stepped up cooperation in recent years.

The two countries also flew bomber aircraft over the Sea of Japan and East China Sea while US President Joe Biden was in Tokyo in late May, signalling strong military links.

This month, they also unveiled the first road bridge linking the countries, connecting the far eastern Russian city of Blagoveshchensk with the northern Chinese city of Heihe.

President Putin was also in Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, just days before the invasion started.

(With agencies)
Leaders and senior officials from across the Commonwealth have voiced their robust support for a non-binding charter on climate change, biodiversity and land degradation, that would boost coordinated action in these areas among the 54 countries of the Commonwealth.

The document, known as the Living Lands Charter, is slated for discussion and possible adoption at this weeks Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda.

During a high-level breakfast event held today in the margins of the Kigali gathering, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC, set the context for discussions, stating:

Tens of millions of the 2.5 billion people who call the Commonwealth home  60 per cent of whom are under age 30  are already in the cross hairs of climate change. They know that without our action, the force and frequency of violent weather, fire, shortages of food and water and the threat of rising seas will continue to intensify until it overwhelms them.

It is our duty to put their voices, their experiences, at the heart of what we do  and turn it into action.

She said the proposed Charter was conceived following the 2019 Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Land.

It aims to support member countries to effectively deliver their commitments under the three Rio conventions  the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Support for action

The meeting today featured statements from the Prime Ministers of Saint Lucia, Tonga, Mauritius and Fiji, who all welcomed the work led by the Commonwealth Secretariat over the past two years to consult with countries and regions in shaping the agreement.

The Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Hon Philip J. Pierre, said: The Commonwealth Call for Action and Living Lands Charter is a step in the right direction. It holds great promise in strengthening and enhancing for coordinated implementation of relevant actions on the street Rio Conventions, serving as a catalyst for global political will and financing climate action, building resilience, reducing biodiversity, biodiversity, loss, and impeding land degradation.

The Prime Minister of Tonga, Hon Siaosi Sovaleni (Huakavameiliku) (pictured above) said: The need to support climate adaptation, biodiversity and land enrichment measures to protect our communities and natural ecosystems is of great urgency. However, without the necessary financial support, we will be unable to implement any concrete actions and achieve shared goals. The Government of Tonga [supports the] call for increased global funding and investment towards land and other nature-based actions within the context of a post COVID-19 green recovery.

The Prime Minister of Mauritius, Hon Pravind Kumar Jugnauth said: I seize this opportunity to express our strong support for the proposed Commonwealth Living Lands Charter that will spur concerted actions for enhancing climate action and fostering efficient management of landmass, soils and terrain. We are gratified that the Commonwealth continues to be at the forefront of the global movement to address climate change.

The Prime Minister of Fiji, Hon Frank Bainimarama, provided a statement through Fijis High Commissioner to the UK, Jitoko Tikolevu. He said: If left unchecked, climate change will undo a lot of the progress made over the past years in development. It can also exacerbate, as we are already seeing, current threats such as food and water scarcity, which can lead to conflict. Doing nothing will end up costing us a lot more than if we take actions now that will lead to more jobs, greater prosperity, and better lives for all, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building climate resilience.

The event also included statements from Ministers from Botswana, Guyana, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia, along with leaders of international partner agencies such as the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), Green Climate Fund and International Solar Alliance (ISA).

Australia provides funding boost for Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub

The Living Lands Charter, if agreed at CHOGM, will be implemented through multiple mechanisms and processes, including the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub.

The Hub is headquartered in Mauritius and coordinates a network of highly skilled national and regional climate finance experts embedded in relevant government ministries to help them secure funding for climate action.

This is achieved by developing projects and submitting proposals to international funds for support, as well as providing human and institutional capacity building, and assisting in the development of climate action policies.

At the event, the Government of Australia announced a fresh contribution of AUD$2 million to support the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub.

Underlining the new governments commitment to being a more constructive and ambitious partner to combat climate change, the Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific, the Hon Pat Conroy (pictured above) said: Australia has heard the call and is increasing our development assistance to address climate change adaption and resilience particularly in the Pacific. This includes through a new Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership, where we will work with the Pacific family to support climate related infrastructure and energy projects in the Pacific.

We have also committed an additional AUD 2 million for the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub, to help countries access finance.

Under the Call to Action on Living Lands, the Hub will unlock vital financial and capacity building support for projects linked to themes such as climate smart agriculture, soil and water conservation, green cover and biodiversity, livestock rearing, engaging indigenous people and climate resilient development.
Today on the margins of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, leaders and ministers met for high-level discussions on how to best strengthen support for the Commonwealths 32 Small States.

Ministers stressed the need to forge partnerships to mobilise global efforts on the issues affecting small states, such as the persistent environmental, health and economic shocks heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic ramifications of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

The containment measures to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the halting of all non-essential travel contributed to the average Commonwealth Small States Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracting by 7.2 per cent. This is higher than the 3.3 per cent contraction of global GDP, due to the steep contraction in tourism and trade, on which Small States heavily rely. The economic recovery of Small States now hinges on vaccination rates and distribution, alongside fiscal support and the recovery of international travel and tourism.

In an effort to collectively help build the resilience of Small States, the Commonwealth Secretariat together with the United Nations has developed the UN-Commonwealth Advocacy Strategy on Small States which was officially launched at todays meeting.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC said: It is our duty and task to work together to find real solutions now  because every day which passes without urgent action intensifies the challenge. I champion Small States everywhere I go because I have the duty and mandate to do so. But I fiercely believe that centralising the needs of Small States makes practical sense. It helps everybody. It is the right thing to do, our Small and Developing States are where the need is greatest. It is also rational self-interest because addressing our greatest vulnerabilities strengthens the whole. Strengthening the whole enables every nation, every community, in every part of our world, to be more peaceful, more secure, happier, healthier and more prosperous.

Some highlights of todays meeting:

The official announcement of the Commonwealth Small States Advocacy Champions whose role is to galvanise support for the Advocacy Strategy. The Champions will include Seychelles, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Botswana, Guyana, The Maldives, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Kingdom of Eswatini, The United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.

whose role is to galvanise support for the Advocacy Strategy. The Champions will include Seychelles, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Botswana, Guyana, The Maldives, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Kingdom of Eswatini, The United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand. Launch of the Commonwealth Virtual Centre for Small States (VCSS), a tailor-made platform which connects Commonwealth Small States Offices in New York, Geneva and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

a tailor-made platform which connects Commonwealth Small States Offices in New York, Geneva and the Commonwealth Secretariat. Highlights of the Commonwealth Small States Bulletin (Small States Economic Review and Basic Statistics)

The Commonwealth Secretariats proposal for GDP+ A Vulnerability Inclusive Measure, linked to the development of the Commonwealth Universal Vulnerability Index (UVI) produced in 2021.

On the issue of vulnerability and concessional financing criteria, Ministers noted that per capita income criteria as a means for accessing concessional funding is not suitable because it does not reflect the inherent challenges and characteristics of vulnerable countries.

This years meeting was Co-chaired by the Hon Mr Vincent Biruta, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Rwanda and Hon Curtis King, Minister of Education and National Reconciliation, St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Hon Curtis King said: It is critical for Small States within the Commonwealth to have access to finance to enable them to confront and mitigate the challenges they face. A difficulty is posed when access to concessional financing for development is dependent upon income classification by international financial institutions such as the World Bank. For example, Small States not classified as low-income countries are still vulnerable to exogenous shocks and may need assistance to confront and mitigate these shocks. However, based on the income classification approach, these states would be excluded from concessional financing for development.

The Commonwealth Secretariat is proposing a new dimension to include a range of vulnerabilities and resilience of countries within the GDP per capita framework for financing for development. The current GDP criteria in the absence of a vulnerability measure do not appropriately reflect a countrys income capacity to respond to shocks and the Secretariat calls on International Finance Institutions to further investigate the GDP+ proposal.
The Ghana Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Service has held a two-day orientation for its newly recruited staff.

The exercise took place at the Headquarters in East Legon, Accra.

The 170 instructional and non-instructional recruits were taken through thought-provoking sessions on the TVET Service Regulatory Framework, Soft Skills and Protocol, Attitudinal Change, A Leader Without Title, Quality Assurance, Human Resource Issues, and Roles and Responsibilities that are expected of Staff to improve the image of TVET delivery in Ghana.

In her opening remarks, the Director General of Ghana TVET Service, Mrs. Mawusi Nudekor Awity tasked the new recruits to exhibit a high level of etiquette at the workplace and among stakeholders.

Never adopt a casual attitude towards work, know how to speak; relate to your peers and superiors, employ telephone manners, be friendly with each other and be ambassadors of TVET Service worthy of emulation, she admonished the staff.

In that vein, the Director General indicated that His Excellency the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is keen on making the TVET the engine of growth in Ghanas socio-economic development.

By this, she tasked the staff to have the vision of His Excellency the President in mind, as they begin work at their various institutions and departments.

ABOUT THE GHANA TVET SERVICE

The Ghana Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Service was established by the Pre-Tertiary Education ACT 2020, ACT 1049, as a corporate body to manage, oversee, and implement approved national policies and programmes relating to Pre-Tertiary Technical and Vocational Education and Training.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL

On his part, Mr. David Prah, Deputy Director General took the participants through the formation of the service, object, functions, progress made so far and the way forward.

He indicated that the Service was formed in order to align the various Agencies and Departments that were under 9 Ministries which were providing Technical and Vocational Education and Training under one umbrella, now the Ghana TVET Service under the Ministry of Education.

In that sense, Government, the Ministry, and Management would provide all the necessary resources needed for the smooth operation of the TVET Service and that we expect you our staff to give off your best, the Deputy Director General stated.

HUMAN RESOURCE CONSULTANT

Mr. Frank Addo, a Human Resource Consultant in a session on 'Attitudinal Change', tasked participants to renew their minds at the workplace for maximum results.

SOURCE: Corporate Affairs and Communications Unit
23.06.2022 LISTEN

The Christian Council sparingly speak on national interest issues and when the Council does , it is taken with seriousness and sometimes shape the discourse. That is why alternative opinions should be expressed to generate a healthy debate on the use of the heritage fund.

It is a time-tested principle that when engaging in the construction of extraordinary project such as the National Cathedral, the principles of prior financial and other resource planning are considered to avoid inadequate resources and abandonment of projects as penned in the book of Luke.

Luke 14:28  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down to count the cost , whether he has enough to finish .

I am not at this point discussing the appropriateness of the tower(the National Cathedral). I am also not even discussing the economic and tourism potential of the cathedral. I am discussing whether or not the call by the Christian Council of Ghana , suggesting that the heritage fund should be used to finance the National Cathedral should be supported.

The Christian Council should first of appreciate the fact that petroleum revenue is highly regulated in terms of disbursement and investment. About 70% of petroleum revenue is expected to be spent to finance the budget annually and 21% as support for the economy (stabilization fund) and only 9% in heritage fund as endowment for the future. We technically have at our disposal 91% of petroleum revenue if we decide to use the stabilization fund as done severally including 2020. Why join the call to use the only 9% heritage fund? The Christian Council should actually be calling for consolidated accountability of the use of petroleum revenue since 2011.

The other issue that the Christian Council should appreciate is that the Petroleum Revenue Management Act does not permit the use of the heritage fund until after fifteen (15)years from 2011. However, the law allows for parliamentary resolution after 2026 to use part of the accumulated interest on the heritage fund to finance development infrastructure. Any suggestion to use the heritage fund is illegal and not acceptable. Act 815 simply does not allow such calls.

The heritage fund and the stabilization fund serve as fiscal buffer for the economy and as part of the international reserve of the economy. The suggestion means depletion of the international reserves which may undermine the performance of the currency.

It is however, important to start a healthy debate about splitting the investment of the heritage fund into investment in fixed income securities outside the country and investment in strategic self-financing infrastructure in Ghana. It could be 40% investment in Ghana and 60% outside Ghana which still preserves and contributes to the reserves.
A Deputy Finance Minister, John Kumah says Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, was honest with his account of government's COVID-19 expenditure.

The Finance Minister has been forthright with the facts and figures and has been consistent. In fact, the Ranking Member said the Finance Minister has been consistent with his figures, he said on Eyewitness News.

He explained that the Finance Minister's presentation was not in sync with earlier figures given by the President due to indirect expenditure incurred by the government.

John Kumah said the indirect expenditure was subsequently added to the government's expenses, leading to a rise in the total figure.

There were expenditures that, as a result of Covid-19, we could not raise revenue to do certain things, so we needed to borrow to do them. They are indirect Covid-19 expenditures. We are seeing different figures, but it is the same thing.

John Kumah was responding to the Minority, who had said the governments accounts of the expenditure were contradictory.

The Minority Caucus said President Akufo-Addo and the Finance Minister had given different figures in relation to how much has been spent on the pandemic.

It thus proposed the setting up of an ad-hoc committee to thoroughly probe the expenditure of COVID-19 funds.

We cannot sit here and say the Minister of Finance should be the only one to account for the COVID amount. The minister responsible for Finance is only a conduit for releasing the money. But the monies were spent at various MDAs, Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam MP, Cassiel Ato Forson, said.

The Speaker of Parliament subsequently ordered the Finance and Health committees of the house to probe Ghanas Covid-19 revenue and expenditure.

citinewsroom
Persons affected by Monkeypox in Ghana include a 9-month-old baby, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has said.

The country has recorded 72 cases of Monkey pox so far, with 18, testing positive as of Tuesday, 14 June 2022.

Speaking at a media engagement on Wednesday, 22 June 2022, the Director-General of the GHS, Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, however, disclosed that no deaths have been recorded in the country.

He said: Monkeypox  as was reported globally and what we found in Ghana  we have had 72 cases so far. Among these, 18 so far have tested positive. And the last case was 14 June; that was when the last lab report came out.

So that is where we are as far as monkeypox is concerned. The age [of people struck by the disease] ranges between nine months and 41 years, and mainly we have found them in Greater Accra, Ashanti, Bono and Eastern Regions and the case fatality rate is zero.

Source: classfmonline.com
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
A second Nigerian politician has been beheaded by abductors in the south-east of the country, authorities say.

Police in Anambra state say the decapitated body of a former local MP, Nelson Achukwu, was found two weeks after he had been kidnapped by gunmen for a second time.

On both occasions, his family is reported to have paid a ransom for his safe return.

It is not clear who abducted and subsequently killed the disabled politician.

One month ago, a serving member of the state assembly, Okechukwu Okoye, was also abducted and beheaded.

A military officer and his female partner were also decapitated recently.

There has been a series of gruesome murders in the south-east as the country prepares for elections.

Some officials have blamed the separatist group, Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), but it has always denied carrying out violent attacks.

Source: BBC
The Head Office of the Births and Deaths Registry has been relocated from its previous location in the Accra Metropolitan area near the Law Courts Complex.

The office has moved to Shiashie for official business, according to a statement issued by the National Office of the Registry.

Specifically, persons who want to seek the services of the Registry will now have to go to the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) House, 3rd floor, on the Gulf Street at South Legon, Shiahie (near Gulf House), adjacent the GS Plaza Hotel, in the Greater Accra Region.

All official business of the Head Office of the Births and Deaths Registry shall henceforth be conducted in the NALAG House office building, the statement announced.

The Births and Deaths Registry was established by Act 301 of 1965, now replaced by Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 2020 (Act1027), and is supervised by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

It is to handle and develop the birth and death registration system in Ghana.

Its core mandate is to provide accurate, timely and reliable information on all births and deaths accruing within Ghana, through registration and certification for socio-economic development of the country.

Services provided include Early Birth Registration, Late Birth Registration, Extracts (Births & Deaths), Death Registration, Adoption, Change of Name and Statistics of Birth & Death.

By Citi Newsroom
The Ghana Health Service has expressed worry over the rate at which children between the ages of 0 and 15 are contracting COVID-19 in the Greater Accra Region.

According to the service, data available indicates cases involving children in Accra have increased from 18 percent to 20 percent in June.

Ghana currently has 1,308 active cases of the virus, of which 1,023 are in the Greater Accra Region.

Addressing the press, the Director-General of the Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma Aboagye, said Ghanaians must find ways to protect children as they are not cleared to be vaccinated.

Something has to be done as far as the protection of children is concerned because they are also not vaccinated to give them the protection they need, he said.

In total, Ghana has recorded 164,541 cases with 1,448 deaths.

Ghana has also administered 16,752,032 doses of the coronavirus vaccine.

Children, however, are not part of the vaccinated groups yet.

The health service has said there are 7.2 million people fully vaccinated, representing 22 percent of the population.

Over one million people have received booster shots of the vaccine.

Over 10 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

By Citi Newsroom
23.06.2022 LISTEN

Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame has described l called on the Member of Parliament(MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, to retract the allegations of conflict of interest he made against him with regards to the construction of the National Cathedral.

The AG, who described Mr Ablakwas allegations as malevolent also wants the North Tongu MP to apologise for peddling falsehood against him.

The North Tongu legislator had asserted that the AG, while serving as a member of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) which approved a contract, had been registered as Secretary of the National Cathedral Board.

Mr Ablakwa in a Facebook post wrote: It is quite revealing to observe that when the National Cathedral was incorporated on 18th July 2019; the then Deputy AG, Godfred Dame was registered as Secretary. During that same period, he served on the board of the PPA which approved Adjayes irregular sole sourcing contract.

Reacting to the North Tongu MPs claims in a statement, the AG said: I state that my role as Secretary (not a director or member) to a not-for-profit company owned by the state does not present me with any personal interest which conflicts with the performance of my functions as Minister.

It added that: I consider the allegations by Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa malevolent and ill-inspired for the simple reason that a cursory examination of the facts would have revealed the untruth in them. I call on the Member of Parliament to retract and apologise to the public for the falsehood he has published against me, failing which I may institute legal action against him.

Source: classfmonline.com
The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has warned that Sir. David Adjaye should prepare to refund money he collected for works on the National Cathedral.

Sir. David Adjaye, the consultant for the controversial National Cathedral Project according to the NDC MP has been paid millions of cedis without recourse to due process.

Speaking to Starr News, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa described the procurement processes surrounding the National Cathedral project as fraudulent and very ridiculous.

According to him, when the NDC wins the 2024 general elections to wrestle power from the ruling NPP government, it will compel Sir. David Adjaye to refund all the money received.

He himself should know there will be judgement day and all that money in his possession, a time will come that he will have to refund that money. Because the procurement processes are all fraud, I mean very ridiculous interpretation and abuse of the procurement processes, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said.

The North Tongu MP continued, I believe that the National Democratic Congress will be winning the 2024 election and we will want to hear clearly from the Ghanaian people what we should be thinking on what we should use the site for.

Already there has been a lot of destruction, a lot of damage, a lot of demolition and so much money has gone into all kinds of pockets. It appears that a little has gone into the project. The question, therefore, is what do we do?

In the last few months, Samuel Okudzeto has been on a crusade to kick against the construction of the National Cathedral project.

Among other things, he has alleged that government has spent GHS200 million on the project already although President Akufo-Addo told Ghanaians it will not be funded by the state.
The UK government has said it will introduce legislation allowing it to ignore certain European Court of Human Rights decisions after a judge in Strasbourg blocked flights removing asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab will bring the new Bill of Rights to parliament on Wednesday as the government attempts to implement its Rwanda plan, aimed at deterring immigrants from making illegal crossings of the Channel.

Rights groups and church leaders have criticised the policy as "shameful".

British courts earlier this month gave the go-ahead for the first removal flight to leave, but the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) stepped in at the last minute with an interim ruling to block its departure.

A UK full judicial review of the plan's legality is due next month.

Raab said Wednesday that the bill would assert that the Supreme Court in London is the ultimate arbiter on human rights issues.

The law would also mean that interim measures from the court under issued under "rule 39" are not binding on UK courts.

"The UK Supreme Court should be supreme in their legal interpretations," Raab told Sky News.

Raab is resisting calls from the right of his party to quit the ECHR altogether, saying the new bill would instead "strengthen our UK tradition of freedom whilst injecting a healthy dose of common sense into the system".

"These reforms will reinforce freedom of speech, enable us to deport more foreign offenders and better protect the public from dangerous criminals," he said.

Criticism

At the weekend, Home Secretary Priti Patel suggested the ECHR decision was politically motivated, pushing a government narrative about European institutions overriding UK sovereignty.

The UK left the European Union last year after a 2016 Brexit vote but the court is not part of the bloc.

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK's chief executive, said the bill would be "a giant leap backwards for the rights of ordinary people".

"This is not about tinkering with rights, it's about removing them," he said.

The government in London promised to tighten the country's borders after Brexit, and "take back control" of immigration.

But it is battling record numbers of people using small boats to cross the Channel from northern France.

Numbers rose 68 percent in the first half of 2022, the French interior ministry said on Monday.

From January 1 to June 13, there were 777 attempted crossings involving 20,132 people, up 68 percent on the same period last year, the ministry told AFP.

The figures for all of 2021 had already been a record.

But the latest statistics indicate this could be beaten if current trends continue, with the better summer weather settling in that encourages more crossings.

Britain has repeatedly accused the French authorities of not doing enough to stop the crossings, a charge denied by Paris in a spat that has further strained relations after Brexit.

(with wires)
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa

23.06.2022 LISTEN

North Tongu Member of Parliament (MP), Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has expressed shock at the 3,214,723 figure given as the number of Ghanaians who benefited from the sharing of food at the peak of the Coronavirus outbreak in the country.

In 2020 when the government announced a lockdown to help in the fight against the pandemic, funds were released for food to be shared to some needy Ghanaians.

After visiting Parliament on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, to give an account of how the government used Covid funds, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta disclosed that 3,214,723 persons benefited from the food at a cost of GHS54.34 per head.

Not convinced by the figures, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa wants the government to come out and share the secret it used to arrive at the numbers.

We remember the chaotic scenes from governments food distribution in Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi during lockdown; however, Ken Ofori-Atta claimed in Parliament yesterday that government served 3,214,723 persons  thats more than 10% of Ghanas current population.

He provided the total cost as a staggering GHS54.34million (for hot food and dry food).

Can government kindly share their secret with the citizenry on how they did the counting despite the chaos and obvious lack of record-keeping?

It seems Parliaments joint committee of Health and Finance have been offered a really tough assignment, a post on the Facebook page of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said on Thursday.

The Minority in Parliament is dissatisfied with the account given by the Finance Minister on the Covid expenditure.

The group has demanded that an ad-hoc committee be constituted to probe how the government has expended Covid funds.
Honesty is the best policy - Benjamin Franklin (American Statesman: 1700)

In 1507, King James IV of Scotland was granted the title of Protector and Defender of the Christian Faith by Pope Julius II in October, 1521, Pope Leo X granted the same title to King Henry VIII for his authorship of the book. AssertioSeptemSacramentum (Defence of the 7 Sacraments). Ironically, it was the same Henry VIII who broke with Rome in 1530 and established himself as head of the Church of England (after the Pope had excommunicated him for divorcing Catherine of Aragon and marrying Anne Boleyn and, later, five other women)

We were not ashamed to respond to the tag Defender of NPP. Perhaps, it was in our blood . Or, perhaps, the centripetal forces within the party were stronger than the centrifugal. Or, perhaps, we were responding to our parents, guidance. Or, simply, perhaps, we had read the histories and ideologies of various political parties, and got convinced that, by comparison, NPP stood tallest among the others. We stood stoically by the party- and our actions were not dictated by ethnic considerations  not at all.

Our inclination was: Aban adwuma, yedidi ho; yennidi nko mu (Government work: we eat around it; we don't eat inside it). That was integrity and honesty at their peak. And we thought all other members would come on board: In the course of this resolve, some of us suffered immensely, targeted as followers of particular individuals, specifically, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, the present President. Some of us were sacked from our work places, but we kept our head high, and trodded on.

Then, the snippets kept coming. Why would anyone, and a senior advisor as such, make any remark to the effect that Eastern Region chiefs contributed to the struggle for independence in Ghana; at that time, there were no Asantes! Is the statement necessary at this stage of our political history? So, you discount the contributions of the masses in Ashanti among other ethnic groups who have been loyal to the party and helped it to steer the course and gallop to victory? Or some of the local chiefs who would stealthily whip us up: Monko nko moanim, ye tae moakyiri (Fight on, we are behind you).We have not bothered our heads about the ethnic background of George (Pa) Grant, the first Chairman of the first political party, United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) in 1947, with J.B Danquah and R.S. Blay as the Vice Chairmen. One cannot discount the unique role of Pa Grant in bankrolling the party. But what about BaffourAkoto, R.R. Amponsah, N.Y.B. Adade, Victor Owusu K.A. Busia we cherish the literary prowess of J.B. Danquah: his 1945 poem still rings I edited news and sold it I dyed my hair and stopped it; I espied a truth and published it;  I visioned Great Akan and slaved for it  I denounced Evil and annoyed it 

We thought people would recount the fierce resistance of Asantes to British rule  the various battles Sagrenti War (1874), culminating in the Yaa Asantewaa War (the War of the Golden Stool in 1900 after the British had exiled King Prempeh I to the Seychelles in 1896). The Queen of Ejisu had challenged the men: How can a proud and brave people like the Asante sit back and look while white men took away their king and chiefs, and humiliated them with a demand for the Golden Stool  if you, the chiefs of Asante are going to behave like cowards and not fight, you should exchange your loincloths for my undergarments (Montu modanta mma me na monnye me tam).

Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh retorts If you don't count any Asante, Northern or Voltarian elite in the Big Six, it was because the 1948 Riots was largely a Gold Coast Colony palaver and especially an Accra  centered one. If you were not in Accra, you were not likely to have been arrested  Perhaps a more interesting historical inquiry is how Eastern Region chiefs, not being signatories to the Bond of 1844, and not having fought a war against the British, ended up as part of the Gold Coast Colony, thereby necessitating their having to fight at a later date for their independence If you submit yourself willingly to be colonized by a European Power (as well as aid the coloniser to colonise other territories, notably Asante) why should you expect those who resisted their colonisation and who fought for a restoration of their self  government to bother themselves with your own subsequent fight for your independence?'

Nana Kwame Osei Bonsu, Otumfuo Ahenenanahene throws in a punch: That's the nature of human beings like (?) Once you feed them, they try to bite your hands. NPP has given you the mouth to talk. when we vote how many votes do (?) give as against (?)

Then, we go into the history of the Danquah/ Busia/Dombo tradition. At Chapter 24 of Appiah-Minka's autobiography: The River in the Sea published in 2010 the late respectable statesman recalled:

The other cause of the breakup of the Post Second Republican Progress Party frontline was the lack of expertise in the Danquah/ Busia/Dombo tradition to handle and manage crisis within a political party, as well as the arrogance and pride of members to subject their personal and sometimes petty and overambitious wishes to the main and central body interest. A defect which still persists in the DBD tradition and needs serious diagnosis and prescription. We are not saying this; it is the verdict of a veteran politician who had seen it all in the kaleidospic political history of the political party. Appiah Minka himself says about his autobiography; Believe it or not, 'the River in the Sea' is not a fiction but the hither to concealed confluence of the flow of eventful realities of my life. AppiahMinka had been village boy, lawyer, politician and entrepreneur. The questions to the NPP administration are many, and they are not being asked by the opposition alone, but also by lovers of the party  and who says he loves the party more than we do? We are not chasing the elephant into the bush. We want to steer it home.

We would have pulled no punches; we would have said more, except that it is no use washing our dirty linen in public, and also for the advice of Francis Kofie, Esquire who advises us: Sometimes, the actions of a person may defy logic and mundane reasoning, but given that it is in honouring a divine oath, one has to be circumspect in their accusation and lambasting. This philosophical reasoning was formed at the lawyer's experience in Justice Owusu Sekyere's court in 1996 when an accused lawyer asked his client in a murder case why he had made so many open confessions in court, even evidence the prosecution had not adduced. The accused replied: Lawyer, mene wo kasae no, na mennii nse; seesei dee, madi nse (Lawyer, when I talked with you, I hadn't been sworn in, now I have sworn an oath)

Any one of the national NPP chairmanship aspirants who wins will have a huge task before him. Prof Ameyaw Akumfi, Stephen Ayensu Ntim, Joseph Ayikoi Otoo, Stephen Asamoah  Boateng, Sammy Crabbe, Akwasi Osei Adjei, George Kwabena Abankwah  Yeboah. We wish all of them well. Fare thee well, Freddie Blay.

Africanus OwusuAnsah

[email protected]
The 44th Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) kicked off this month, in preparation for 41st Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union (AU) and the 4th Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African Union (AU) and the Regional Economic Communities (RECS) to be held in Lusaka, Zambia, from the 14-17 July 2022.

Addressing the ambassadors in his opening remarks, the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat, underscored the importance of the session which was monitored by the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) in Ghana.

This 44th Session of the PRC, is held in a particularly difficult context, marked by the persistent challenges, in particular the control of the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the post-COVID economic recovery.

The problems of insecurity linked to the expansion of terrorism and the resurgence of the Unconstitutional Changes of Government on the Continent, the negative effects of Climate Change, the problem of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, said Mr. Mahamat.

Speaking on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Chairperson underscored the African Union readiness to act as a mediator between the two countries.

With the Chairman of the Union, President Macky Sall, of Senegal, we had undertaken a visit to Russia to express the concerns of the Continent about the Food and Energy crises generated by this conflict and the need to initiate dialogue for its peaceful resolution.

The Ukrainian President was also given the opportunity to address the Bureau of the Assembly expanded to the Heads of State and Government.

The Chairperson of the AU Commission further underlined the importance of all issues of gender, equality, employment, migration, refugees and internally displaced persons, health, populations, and the fight against drugs, among others.

He urged the PRC session to give priority to the access to food resources and health care on the Continent.

All of these themes fall within the ambit of urgency. However, the current situation demands that we give priority to the access of our people especially the most vulnerable, to food and health care in order to guarantee them decent living conditions.

To this end, I call upon you to think over the best ways to operationalize the Africa CDC, its sustainable funding, in particular as well as the African Medicines Agency (AMA).

The establishment of the Fund for the fight against epidemics in Africa follows the same approach, said Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat.

The Chairperson further said In the same vein, the consideration of the Report on the mid-term implementation of the theme of Nutrition of the African Union for the year 2022 should lead to recommendations aimed at accelerating the attainment of the objectives contained in the Malabo Declaration on the Agricultural Growth and Transformation.

The international situation commands that we pay special attention to food self-sufficiency on the Continent.

In the spirit of the Declaration on Terrorism and the Unconstitutional Changes of Government recently adopted by the AU Assembly, held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, the Chairperson of the AU Commission underlined the important issue of Human Rights, Democracy, and Governance, a worrying source of concern due to the different forms of insecurity which overwhelm the Continent attributed essentially to unorthodox governance practices.

My most ardent wish is that the Strategic Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human and Peoples Rights in Africa covering the Decade 2022-2031, makes it possible to make up for the shortcomings witnessed so far, further added Mr. Mahamat.

The AUC Chairperson expressed appreciation for the good collaboration, which exists between the PRC and the AU Commission, and the constant commitment to work to advance the Continental Agenda. (Read the complete speech of the AUC Chairperson on the AU website: www.au.int).

On his part, H.E. Mohamed Lamine THIAW, Ambassador of the Republic of Senegal to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union and Chairperson of the Permanent Representatives Committee, in his opening speech, commended the efforts made by the Bureau of the AU Assembly, the Commission and the Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC) for their tireless efforts in the response against the COVID-19 pandemic and the work accomplished in acquisition and administration of the vaccines.

The official opening ceremony of the 44th Ordinary Session of the PRC meeting was attended by the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Commission, the AU Commissioners, and Representatives from AU Organs and AU officials.

From June 20, till July 08, 2022, the ambassadors will deliberate on different reports including the activities of the PRC Sub-Committees, reports of the Specialized Technical Committees (STCs) held in the year 2022, the reports of the AU Commission, other AU Organs and the AU Specialized Agencies.

The Session will finally consider the draft agenda and draft decisions of the 41st Ordinary Session of the Executive Council scheduled to take place from 14th to 15th July in Lusaka.
The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), the legislative arm of the African Union (AU), is scheduled to hold an ordinary session from June 17 to July 02, 2022, at the Parliaments headquarters in Midrand, South Africa.

The main agenda of the upcoming Session is the election of the new Bureau of the PAP, slated for June 29, 2022 document was made available to the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) in Ghana through Jeffrey Onganga, Media and Communications, Pan-African Parliament.

The leadership of other structures of Parliament, including Permanent Committees and regional and thematic caucuses, will also be renewed during the Session.

Mr Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal and the Chairperson of the African Union; H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission; and Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security are expected to attend the upcoming election of the PAP Bureau Members.

The electoral process will be conducted and managed by the Office of the Legal Counsel of the African Union.

At the same time, the PAP Permanent Committees are expected to finalise and adopt work-plan in line with the AU theme for 2022: Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent: Strengthening Agro-Food Systems, Health and Social Protection Systems for the Acceleration of Human, Social and Economic Capital Development.

The resumption of parliamentary activities follows the decision of the African Union Executive Council in February 2022, and subsequent policy decisions and consultations, which resolved the impasse that transpired among Parliamentarians during the proceedings of the Plenary on May 31 and June 01 2021, as the PAP was looking to elect the President and Vice-Presidents of its Bureau.

Several Parliamentarians from different countries will be sworn in as members of the PAP following elections in a number of African States and rotation within delegations.
With the sustained strain on economies and livelihoods due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the African Union continues to engage among its Member States on ways to enhance the resilience of African economies.

To withstand such unprecedented events which have profoundly affected the growth prospects of the continent, leaving little fiscal room for the Member States to satisfy the needs of their population and meet their financial obligations to the Union.

At the just concluded African Union High-Level meeting of the Committee of Fifteen Finance Ministers, also known as the F15, as monitored by the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) based in Ghana.

Ambassador Ukur Yatani, Kenyas Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury and Planning, chairing the meeting underlined the significance of efforts by the continents leadership to reduce dependence on the external resources; enhance the predictability of revenues from the Member States; and continue reforms toward greater accountability and transparency in the management of African Union resources.

Chairing the meeting on behalf of Mr. Tahir Ngulin, Chairperson of the F15 and Minister of Finance and Budget of the Republic of Chad, he stated, in this reform journey, this Committee of Fifteen Ministers of Finance has been accorded a salient role of participating in the preparation and oversight of the annual budget of the Union.

This mandate provides us with the opportunity to contribute to the desire of AU Member States to achieve a financially autonomous and self-reliant African Union.

I am happy that the F15 Committee has made useful input in this regardHowever, a lot of work lies ahead of us to not only sustain the gains made so far, but also entrench the principles and culture necessary for efficient and effective budget making and implementation in the Union, he said.

On her part, the African Union Commissions Deputy Chairperson, Dr. Monique Nsanzabaganwa, while acknowledging the devastating effects of the pandemic to African economies and worsened by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, underscored the urgency required across the continents development spectrum to intensify efforts to build economies that are more resilient to external shocks.

The Deputy Chairperson highlighted the need for more attention to be accorded to the financial sustainability of the African Union, to enable it to execute its mandate in the implementation of AU programs which directly speak to the building of resilient economies, which are also inclusive and sustainable, as enshrined in the goals and aspirations of Agenda 2063.

The Deputy Chairperson particularly underscored the importance and promise of the African Continental Free Trade Area, a flagship programme of the AU Agenda 2063.

To enhance value-chain systems in the critical sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and services, including its impetus for the rapid development of infrastructure and digital technologies that are deemed necessary in expediting and actualizing the continental quest for regional integration.

She recalled that the 0.2 levy on eligible imports, adopted by the Heads of State and Government in Kigali in 2016 also provides an avenue for Member States to mobilize the requisite financial resources required to implement the various AU development programs.

The Deputy Chairperson also underlined the importance of enhanced engagements and consultations with the Regional Economic Communities in the context of the division of labour between the AU, the Member States, and RECs.

She stressed the need to align national development plans with regional and continental development frameworks including the placement of existing RECs level partnerships and resource mobilization strategies with continental frameworks.

Mrs. Nadia Fettah, Minister of Economy and Finance of the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco underscored the urgency to address the negative impact of the pandemic and the Russia- Ukraine conflict which continues to put considerable strain on the continent's food and energy security and reducing the fiscal maneuver of many countries.

She stated, for our continent, the cost of this situation calls on us to act quickly and collectively to deter the considerable setback to the progress in reducing poverty and inequality, making our economies even more vulnerable to external shocks in a volatile global environment.

She elaborated on the efforts by her government to support national and continental economic growth such as through more conducive legal frameworks that support trade and investment flow into the country, including the relaxation of exchange control regulations to strengthen Moroccan investments in Africa and the revitalization of bilateral joint commissions aimed at strengthening sectoral cooperation.

While evaluating the progress on the implementation of the various commitments by the Policy Organs to ensure the African Union is adequately and sustainably financed and the resources managed in a prudent manner for the realization of the goals of Agenda 2063 , the ministers highlighted the need to accelerate the implementation the 0.2 percent levy on eligible imported goods.

Among the recommendations made aimed at increasing the number of countries implementing the import levy mechanism, was the request to the African Union Commission to intensify support for Member States to address the pending concerns of the alignment and harmonization of the levy mechanism with their national obligations under the various bilateral and multilateral trading systems.

As of June 2022, seventeen (17) member states are at various stages of implementing the 0.2 percent levy.

As part of the bounce-back strategies, the ministers of finance also deliberated on strategies to strengthen reforms at the national level that stimulate development-friendly and quality foreign direct investments, particularly focused on simplified and stable tax systems, transparent and accountable administrative systems and processes, strong legal institutions, and skilled and affordable labour markets, underpinned by investments in digital technologies and infrastructures.

Equally paramount for economic and social development of Africa was a commitment by the Ministers to reinforce measures to curb illicit financial flows (IFFs) that drain substantial financial resources from the continent.

The F15 is further devoted to continue supporting Regional Development Finance Institutions, as they leverage their collective financial capacities to support the implementation of national and regional development plans, including their support to initiatives that build the resilience of Member States to shocks triggered by economic, social, and political challenges, and support to encourage the reallocation of Special Drawing Rights from developed to developing nations.

These collaborative efforts across the public and private, domestic and international spheres, are deemed particularly important to close the development financing gaps in the critical areas of agriculture, health, education, infrastructure, research and development, and sustainable environment management among other sectors.

In conclusion, the ministers recommitted to foster more effective cooperation within and across their respective jurisdictions and intensify efforts to build economies that are more resilient to persisting and emerging economic and social challenges attributable to both internal and external factors.

The High-Level meeting adopted a communique which will inform a Declaration to be tabled before the African Unions Policy Organs for adoption, which will pave way for the implementation of the practical actions and recommendations therein.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has organised a day's workshop with Y-Check to disseminate research findings to key stakeholders in health and education sectors in the Cape Coast Metropolitan Area.

The workshop was held at the Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Catholic Church, University of Cape Coast on Wednesday, 22nd June, 2022.

Dr. Franklin Glozah, a Co-Investigator of Y-Check Ghana and also a Senior Lecturer with the School of Public Health, University of Ghana shared that, the project was aimed at reaching out to adolescents to understand their health issues with the importance to have a routine health check-up in order to guarantee early detection and finding possible remedial measures that can be employed to help them.

He added that Y-Check aims to develop and implement a potentially sustainable adolescent health check-up programme in three African Countries (Cape Coast - Ghana, Mwanza - Tanzania, Chitungwiza - Zimbabwe). It seeks to strengthen the existing Ghana Health Services (GHS), Ghana Education Service (GES) health screening that was introduced in Senior High Schools in 2017.

A Senior Lecturer of Medical Sociology and Public Health of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Cape Coast and Co-Investigator, Dr. Eric Koka presenting some aspects of the Y-Check key findings, gave an overview of Phase 1 of the project.

He underscored that three main things were done in phase one: Identifying key contextual information on adolescents' health, Identifying specific feasible and acceptable components of the health check-ups intervention and Developing the Y-Check health check-ups intervention framework.

Four communities were used for the study; Abura, Afutu, Akon and Kwaprow all within the Cape Coast Metropolis. The whole programme focuses on younger adolescents between the ages of 10 to 14 years old and older adolescents between 15 to 19 years of age.

During the questions and answers segment of the workshop, Dr. Eric Arthur, Medical Superintendent of Ewim Polyclinic lauded the Y-Check health check-ups intervention for adolescents but drew the researchers attention to implementation challenges that may arise due to financial constraints.

The Medical Superintendent was of the view that, if a funding source could be secured for the adolescents' health check-ups, that would smoothen its implementation. He revealed that, there are wellness Centres within some health facilities that anyone could visit for health advice and feels is one area that the adolescents can take advantage of.

In her remarks, Mrs. Grace Amewu, Adolescent Health Focal Person at Ghana Health Service, Accra, said the Y-Check project is a great initiative that would help to strengthen the existing health screening in Senior High Schools as well as the introduction of health screening in communities for adolescents who are out of school. She intimated that the Family Health Division of the Ghana Health Service looks forward to collaborating with the Y-Check project team in phase two.

The Y-Check project is sponsored by the World Health Organisation led in Ghana by Dr. Benedict Weobong. The dissemination workshop brought together representatives from the Ghana Health Services, Ghana Education Service, students from the communities that participated in the study as well as assembly members.

In his closing remarks, Dr. Franklin Glozah indicated that phase two of the Y-Check project has already started adding that the project team will start holding workshops with all the stakeholders gathered to fine-tune the Y-Check intervention and address contextual issues, in anticipation of a pilot rollout in January 2023.
A total of 45 Agriculture Extension Agents (AEAs) have undergone a two-day training workshop in Kintampo to build their capacities to deliver Climate Smart Agriculture and Climate Information Service to smallholder farmers.

The 45 AEAs were selected from Kintampo North, Kintampo South and Techiman North Districts in the Bono East Region.

The extension officers were trained on the use of climate and weather information in order to make them better able to support farming communities with accurate advice on when and what to plant.

The training was organized by AICCRA Ghana.

The Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) team in Ghana conducted the two-day training workshop from 20-21 June, 2022.

This training is part of the projects strategy to enhance Institutional Climate Change adaptation capacity in Ghana.

Dr. Stephen Yeboah a Senior Scientist at of the Crop Research Institute, emphasized that the training was organized to boost the capacity of extension agents so they can effectively use predictive tools that apply the best information to help smallholder farmers make decisions that can help manage long-term climate risk.

Topics covered in the training included the following:

The impact of climate change on production: trainees were first briefed on terminology surrounding climate change. The session facilitator then explained the causes, different signs and impacts of climate change. Participants were also taught about methods for adaptation and mitigation of climate change.

Weather services provided by Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet): GMet is the government agency responsible for the provision of Meteorological services: weather forecasts, climate services and warnings and advisory information in Tanzania. Trainees were taught about forecasts (daily, ten day and seasonal) as well as the agro-meteorological bulletin and seasonal weather forecast.

Short-range to medium-range weather forecast process: Extension officers were taught about how the weather is observed through the forecasting process as well as how meteorological information is disseminated. Radio, Email, social media, and the GMET website are all sources of dissemination of weather information in Ghana.

Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA): Participants were briefed on the key elements of CSA, including good Agricultural Practices, on-farm rainwater harvesting, Soil erosion control, use of drought tolerant seeds, natural resource conservation and reduction of post - harvest loses.

Some participants said the training was an eye opener.

The training is an eye-opener for me, and this is the type of tool that we have been looking for years, said Mr. Kwabena Gyenin, a trainee from Kintampo North.

Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) linked the extension workers with their weather information services, through mobile phone and email. The climate and weather information obtained from Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) will enable extension staff to provide accurate advice to farming communities on when to plant and what to plant. This will support adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change and variability.
The Bantama wing of the group calling itself Asanteman Youth has called on the Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Ashanti Region to use their large numbers to push for development projects for communities in the region.

Addressing a press conference Wednesday morning at the Center for National Culture, the spokesperson for the group, Kwame Awuah Nimfuor said the Ashanti Region has 47 members serving as representatives of the 47 constituencies in Parliament.

These numbers, he said had not yielded any positive results for Asanteman.

He added that the MPs should show more commitment to the development of the region.

Narrating with teary eyes, Mr Nimfuor said "two MPs from the Volta Region were able to lobby to get 10million Ghana cedis to construct a fence to ward off tidal waves that was worrying communities."

The spokesperson noted that Ashanti MPs have shown little interest in the projects the President earmarked for the region at the beginning of his second term.

He added that since the sod cutting event at Boankra where Otumfuo Osei Tutu II attended with the President for an inland port, nothing had been seen at the place.

Four interchanges the Finance Minister announced to be constructed in Ashanti this year, the spokesperson mentioned are yet to see any major boost.

"Many roads that lead to food basket communities in Ashanti are in a deplorable state to the point that when it rains residents are cut off from accessing the main cities of Kumasi and the Ashanti Region", Mr Nimfuor noted

ULTIMATUM

The spokesperson said the youth group is giving the Ashanti MPs two week-ultimatum to respond to their plight.

He stressed that the earlier the MPs showed commitment to the region that has given them opportunities as legislators the better.

The ruling party, he stated was birthed and nurtured from the Ashanti Region and has since gotten its big wins in national elections from Asanteman.

"The votes Asanteman delivers to the NPP should make the government and its MPs realise the urgent need to work to make it the best developed region in the country", the spokesperson stated.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held talks with Rwanda's President Paul Kagame on Thursday on their migrant deal that has provoked a storm of outrage.

Both countries have defended the scheme, which involves Britain deporting asylum seekers to the east African country located thousands of miles away from Britain.

The two leaders "praised the successful UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership, which is tackling dangerous smuggling gangs while offering people a chance to build a new life in a safe country", Johnson's Downing Street office said in a statement.

Their meeting on the sidelines of a gathering of Commonwealth nations followed talks in Kigali on Wednesday between Kagame and the British heir to the throne Prince Charles, who has reportedly described the migrant deal as "appalling".

Rights groups, church leaders and the United Nations have also denounced the arrangement, which has threatened to overshadow the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

The UK said Wednesday it would introduce legislation allowing it to ignore certain decisions by the European Court of Human Rights after a judge in Strasbourg intervened to halt the first flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda that was due to take off last week.

The 54-nation Commonwealth club of mainly former British colonies has also been accused of turning a blind eye to Rwanda's record on human rights under Kagame, with critics saying it risks its credibility and integrity by hosting the summit in Kigali.

But Johnson was gushing in his praise of Rwanda's achievements.

"He congratulated President Kagame on Rwanda's extraordinary social and economic development in just a few decades, noting how pleased he was to be in the beautiful city of Kigali," the Downing Street statement said.

Johnson also welcomed Rwanda's "moral stance" on the war in Ukraine, it said, adding that the two leaders discussed ways to address the fallout from Russia's invasion, including the sharp rise in food prices which has hit African countries hard.
General Sergeant Mark Kakah, who allegedly collected GHC361,300 under the pretext of enlisting a lady and 42 others into the Ghana Police Service but failed has been remanded into custody by an Accra Circuit Court.

Kakah is said to have gone into hiding after taking the money from one Gifty Addobea and 42 others.

He was, however, nabbed when he attempted to collect money from another victim.

Charged with two counts of defrauding by false pretenses, Kakah pleaded not guilty.

He is to reappear on June 27 before the court presided over by Mr Emmanuel Essandoh.

Prosecution led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Fuseini Yakubu said the complainant Gifty Addobea was a trader residing at Tuobodom while Kwakye the second complainant was Pius Kwakye, a planner, residing at Techiman.

Kakah is stationed at Anyinam.

The prosecution said in 2021, Kakah introduced himself as a Policer who had protocol slots to enlist persons into the Ghana Police Service at a fee ranging from GHC 8,000 to GHC10,000.

The prosecutor said the complainant expressed interest in the protocol recruitment and organised 41 others, family and friends, who gave her GHC350,000 to be given to Kakah.

It said the money was transferred to Kakah's mobile money account.

The prosecution said during the same time, through the same modus operandi, Kakah collected GHC11,300 from Pius Kwasi Kwakye under the pretext of enlisting him into the Ghana Police Service.

It said Kakah, however, failed to deliver as promised and went into hiding.

The prosecution said on May 26, 2022, Kakah was nabbed when he attempted to collect money from another victim.

In his investigation caution statements, Kakah admitted the offence and indicated that one Macho had collected GHC 230,000 out of the whole amount.

GNA
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his controversial migrant deal with Rwanda on a visit to the country Thursday, telling critics to "keep an open mind".

On the first day of a trip to Kigali -- which is hosting a Commonwealth summit this week -- he also heaped praise on Rwandan President Paul Kagame and the achievements of the east African country, despite widespread concerns about its human rights record.

The UK-Rwanda scheme, which involves Britain deporting asylum seekers to the east African country located thousands of miles away, has provoked a storm of outrage.

But Johnson told reporters: "The critics need to keep an open mind about the policy."

"What the critics of the policy need to understand, and I have seen loads and loads of criticism, is that Rwanda has undergone an absolute transformation in the last couple of decades," said the British leader.

He held talks with Kagame about the deal and other issues, including the war in Ukraine, his office said.

Rights groups, church leaders and the United Nations have denounced the migrant arrangement, which has threatened to overshadow this week's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

One of the harshest opponents is reportedly the British heir to the throne Prince Charles, who has been quoted by the British media as saying it was "appalling".

Johnson said he would speak about the merits of the deal when he meets Charles, who is also in Rwanda as Queen Elizabeth II's representative at the Commonwealth summit, on Friday.

'Outdated stereotype'

The British leader said it was vital to resolve the problem of "illegal cross-Channel trafficking of people whose lives are being put at risk by the gangs".

A first flight of a small group of asylum seekers had been due to take off from the UK last week but it was halted following a last-minute injunction by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Johnson accused critics of the policy of basing their concerns on "a perception, perhaps a stereotype, of Rwanda that is now outdated".

The country of almost 13 million people has been indelibly marked by the 1994 genocide but now lays claim to being one of the most politically stable and economically developed countries in the region.

But in an open letter to Commonwealth leaders ahead of the summit, 23 rights groups and civil society organisations said there was a "climate of fear" in Rwanda.

"Commentators, journalists, opposition activists, and others speaking out on current affairs and criticising public policies continue to face abusive prosecutions, enforced disappearances or have at times died under suspicious circumstances," the letter said.

It accused the 54-nation Commonwealth of mainly former British colonies of turning a blind eye to Rwanda's rights record, saying it risked its credibility and integrity by holding the summit in Kigali.

The Commonwealth summit is expected to see a tussle for the leadership of the body, which represents some 2.5 billion people or a quarter of humanity, and renewed talk about its future role and relevance.

Meanwhile, Johnson welcomed Rwanda's "moral stance" on the war in Ukraine, his Downing Street office said in a statement after his meeting with Kagame.

It said the two men discussed ways to address the fallout from Russia's invasion, including the sharp rise in food prices which has hit African countries hard.
The Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has commended the Speaker of Parliament for ordering a probe into the Minister of Finances account for COVID-19 expenditure.

A report from the joint health and finance committee is expected in October.

In a tweet today, the lawmaker noted that evidence available proves that COVID-19 was not just a medical, but a financial pandemic that allowed governmnet to chop our cash and unable to account for it.

The available evidence suggests clearly that COVID-19 was not only a medical pandemic, but its also a financial pandemic that afflicted us allowing govt to chop our cash heavily, but unable to account for it. The figures speak for themselves. Kudos to Speaker for ordering this probe, he shared on Twitter.

Earlier today, his colleague MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa also took to Twitter to question how despite the chaos and lack of record keeping, the Finance Minister was able to magically record and present 3,214,723 as the total number of persons who received hot and dry meals at the tune of GHS54.34 million.

Yesterday, after the Finance Minister's account on the COVID-19 expenditure, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin directed the Finance and Health committees in Parliament to probe COVID-19 expenditure and utilization of funds under President Akufo-Addo and report back to the House in October 2022.

The Speakers directive was necessitated by the fact that, figures given by the Minister did not tally with previous figures given on the same issue.

This was raised by the Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu who indicated that there were several discrepancies in the figures presented by the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta.
Mr James Heappey, the United Kingdom (UK) Minister for Armed Forces is on a three-day visit to Ghana.

A statement issued by the British High Commission and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the Minister would visit both Accra and Tamale in Ghana and then travel to Togo and the Ivory Coast.

It said the Minister's time in West Africa highlighted the UK's commitment to the enduring defence and security partnership with the region.

The statement noted that Mr Heappey arrived in Ghana as leaders from across the Commonwealth came together in Kigali, Rwanda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

It said the UK would now hand over as Chair-in-Office to Rwanda.

It said as Chair-in-Office, the UK delivered more than 500 million of projects and programmes in support of a fairer, prosperous, more sustainable and more secure future.

Speaking after he arrived in Ghana, Mr Heappey said: The UK has a firmly global outlook and we recognise that settled security comes from mutual support and commitment.

During my engagements here, I will update trusted partners on what the UK is doing and what more we might do to co-operate and tackle shared threats to our security and prosperity.

The statement said during his visit to Accra, the Minister awarded Lt Commander Priscilla Ami Dogbeda Dzokoto the Dartmouth medal for completing her initial naval training at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in the UK in 2013.

It said Lt Commander Dzokoto became Ghana's first female naval ship Commanding Officer in April this year and is now working as the Commanding Officer of Ghana Navy Ship BLIKA.

It said the Minister joined a discussion about the Accra Initiative in the country's capital and visited the Multinational Maritime Coordination Centre (MMCC) Zone F at Christiansborg Castle.

The statement said in Tamale, Mr Heappey met with three Ministers from Northern Ghana; namely Mr Shani Alhassan Saibu, Northern Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salish, Upper West Regional Minister and Mr Saeed Mahazu Jibril, Savanna Regional Minister.

The statement said three of the UK's Chevening Alumni had lunch with the Minister, where they talked about their Chevening journey and shared their experience of the latest 'See Something, Say Something' campaign in Tamale.

It said throughout his visit to West Africa, Mr Heappey was accompanied by the UK's new Defence Adviser to Ghana, and non-resident Defence Attache to Benin, the Ivory Coast and Togo, Commander Richard Walters.

Speaking during the Minister's visit Commander Walters said: Fantastic to have the UK's Minister for Armed Forces with us in West Africa this week.

"This clearly marks the importance and strength of the UK's defence partnership with the region.

I am proud that Minister Heappey has had the opportunity to visit Tamale and see the UK-Ghana security partnership in action.

The statement said since Mr Heappey's last visit to Ghana in 2021, the UK-Ghana security partnership had seen HMS Trent (Royal Navy ship) visit Ghana for the first time, and would return later this year.

Others are British military support to Ghana's National Security Exercise HOMESHIELD; and the agreement of a successful deal that would see 70 armoured Husky vehicles deployed to Northern Ghana to ensure the safety of vulnerable communities.

The statement said leaving Ghana, Mr Heappey reaffirmed the UK's ongoing commitment to Ghana's long-term security and prosperity, emphasising the importance of working together on projects and deployments in the country, across the region and on the global stage.

GNA
Presidential aspirant of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr Gayheart Mensah says the Association shouldnt only be known for the issuance of press statements when it is supposed to seek the welfare and protect the lives of Journalists in the country.

He reiterated the need to revamp the Association to enable it play the role it was established for.

My ambition is to use my skills acquired over decades from both the private and state institutions to assist the GJA and reposition and transform it in such a way that would make it more formidable body fighting for the interest of journalist.

I want to move GJA from the occasional issuance of press statements, we must be an active player in the national developmental field, we are a major stakeholder, therefore, our positions on certain critical national issues must be made known strongly, Mr Mensah stated.

During interaction with the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office, Mr Mensah stressed that as the Fourth Estate of the realm, the GJA needed to be proactive in its activities and ensure that, we are indeed the fourth estate of the realm, we must push for the standard of journalism to be held high and respected."

He expressed concern about the standards of journalism, stressing that, it is time for the GJA under my leadership as the President to reinvigorate the profession, through consistent training programmes to ensure that journalists performed in accordance with the code of ethics and professional standards.

Mr. Mensah added, The GJA must be able to embolden its members to report on issues objectively irrespective of which political party its members are involved. At the same time, it must support its members to show humility and apologise when they realise they have either misreported an event or have got their facts wrong.

That is one way of making the public have confidence in journalists and the GJA.

Mr Mensah, who is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of KomsKraft Consult, said there was the need to make the GJA more attractive for all in the media space to join.

Where is that Association that can speak truth to government based on objectivity, based on principles, based on values, based on what we consider to be the overriding interest of the Ghanaian?

And I say this because there is no profession in this country that has such close interaction with the citizens than a journalist.

"On the role of the private media in the national scheme of the GJA, Mr Mensah said the GJA must provide a levelling playing field for both private and state media to work together, private and state media are not enemies but working together in the interest of state, he stated.

This, he said is essential, given the role of the media in the sustenance of democracy and national development.

The life blood of the media is advertising. For the private media, particularly those in the regions and outside the main cities, it is a tough call for them. There is little to no advertising revenue. Some struggle to break even whilst the majority run at a loss. The proprietors of such media firms continue to operate out of sheer passion: nothing more.

Mr Mensah noted that organisations concerned about the contribution of private media to the countrys democracy should be interested in how it operates.

What we do as journalists reflects the state in which our country is. We partner with both the public and private sectors of this country for different courses. Consequently, the government, private sector, donor agencies and multilateral organizations must be interested in the state of the private media, he said.

If given the nod to head the GJA, Gayheart Mensah has given the assurance to attract the desired attention for the sustenance of private media.

Mr Mensah has pledged that the GJA secretariat, under his leadership, will be organized to improve upon membership services and effectively drive participation in critical national conversations.

The welfare of members of the association, he said, is of great importance to him, for which he outlined a number of initiatives.

Mr Mensah has lectured in Advanced Journalism and Development Journalism at the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), worked with the Ghanaian Times, Graphic Showbiz, Daily Graphic and was the Acting Editor of the Evening News about 21 years ago.

He was a pioneering panellist of the Joy FM flagship programme, 'News File', and a pioneering member of the GTV Breakfast Show programme and intends to change the face of GJA within 90days of assuming office to demonstrate to all and sundry that, he is a man of his words.

"I will ensure that journalism is practised without fear of brutality, killing or assault. We will project a new face of journalism devoid of bias and prejudice. That way, the citizenry will have faith in us and trust our reportage. This and more will I do in my first 90days in office," he assured.

by Stephen Bernard Donkor, An Award-winning journalism student of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ)
Public support for agriculture has reached record levels as governments enacted measures to shield both consumers and producers from the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises, according to a new report from the OECD.

Only a small share of this support has been directed at longer-term efforts to combat climate change and other food systems challenges.

Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation 2022 Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation shows that the 54 countries monitored  including all OECD and EU economies, plus 11 key emerging economies  provided on average USD 817 billion of support to agriculture annually over the 2019-21 period, a 13% increase over the USD 720 billion reported for 2018-20. Support has remained substantial among OECD countries, and has increased significantly in the 11 emerging economies.

While support is also provided to consumers, individual producers received USD 611 billion per year in positive support over the 2019-21 period, representing 17% of gross farm receipts in OECD countries, and 13% of receipts in the 11 emerging economies.

More than half of this support to producers (USD 317 billion annually) was delivered through higher market prices paid by consumers, while the remainder (USD 293 billion annually) was paid by taxpayers through budgetary transfers.

On the other hand, in a small number of emerging economies policies actually suppress prices for some or all commodities, generating an opposite transfer of USD 117 billion annually away from agricultural producers.

Although support has increased overall, the share of general services, such as innovation, biosecurity or infrastructure, has declined to 13% of support directed to the sector in 2019-21, down from 16% two decades earlier.

These services are key for increasing sustainable productivity growth and therefore reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture. The report stresses that agriculture faces a complex climate change challenge due to its vulnerability to its effects, its role as a major source of GHG emissions and its potential to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Public support to agriculture has reached record levels, but the share of support allocated to spurring sustainable productivity growth has decreased, said OECD Director for Trade and Agriculture Marion Jansen.

This is not a good signal, as a significant boost to sustainable productivity growth is needed to address the challenges facing food systems while simultaneously keeping agricultural emissions on track to reach the Paris Agreement targets. I expect this challenge to feature high on the agenda of the forthcoming OECD Meeting of Agriculture Ministers in November.

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine having a major impact on markets for food, feed, fertilisers and energy, policymakers will need to remain vigilant regarding the impacts on low-income countries and consumers, according to the report. Several countries have already begun implementing policies to alleviate emerging pressures on their producers and consumers. While some measures, such as reducing import restrictions, facilitate food supply, others may be counter-productive.

Export restrictions add to global price and supply pressures and should be avoided or dismantled rapidly. Relaxing environmental restrictions to boost domestic production may also have pro-cyclical effects, and come at the cost of reducing sustainability, according to the report.

Beyond today's short-term responses to global crises, agricultural policies must simultaneously address current challenges and support long-term reforms to combat climate change. Of the 54 countries covered by the report, only 16 have set agriculture-specific emission reduction targets, which could support mitigation efforts and measure progress. Countries have significant opportunities to intensify and accelerate emissions reduction in the sector, including via reform of existing policies that can contribute to emissions.

The report lays out a six-point policy agenda for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while achieving wider food systems objectives related to food security, livelihoods and sustainability should phase out market price support and payments with strong potential to harm the environment and to distort markets and trade and target income support to those households most in need.

It called for re-orienting budgetary support to the provision of public goods and key general services to improve the performance of the agricultural sector and enhance the resilience toolkit for a world of diverse risks and increasing extreme weather events and natural disasters

It asked for Implementation of effective pricing system for agricultural GHG emissions to incentivise the transition to low-emission agriculture and where agriculture is not included in broad carbon pricing or equivalent schemes, or complementing those, develop a package of approaches to ensure significant emissions reductions in agriculture.
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has emphasised the need for challenges with the national school feeding programme to be quickly resolved.

In recent times, there has been a running battle between caterers of the programme and authorities over the cost of feeding per student.

In a bid to resolve the challenge, the Speaker paid a surprise visit to the National Buffer Stock Company and the National School Feeding Programme.

I decided to spring this surprise to see on the ground how these agencies are struggling to cope with the pressure. I am trying to understand the challenges they are experiencing and how we can support them to do their work. It is a national issue that I did not want to be taken along partisan lines. We pass the laws and approve the budget, and therefore we should be on top to assist the government to put their priorities right.

Caterers nationwide boycotted cooking weeks ago over outstanding allowances owed to them by the government.

Caterers in Savannah, Volta, Western North, Oti, Bono, Ahafo, Bono East and North-East regions were subsequently paid by the government after several protests.

However, some school feeding caterers in the Western Region recently picketed at the offices of the School Feeding Programme Secretariat in Accra, agitating over the non-payment of monies owed them for preparing meals for pupils.

By Citi Newsroom
Mali's army on Thursday said it had carried out air strikes against al-Qaeda-affiliated Macina Katiba jihadists in the country's centre following the massacre of at least 132 civilians last weekend.

It carried out strikes between Monday and Wednesday around Bankass and Segue, near where the mass killing took place, and also further afield around Djenne and Tenenkou, the army said in a statement.

"These actions resulted from efforts to search for and gather information on the perpetrators of the attacks against civilians on 18 June," the statement said.

The army did not provide any assessment of the operations, which no other sources have confirmed.

Grave concerns

Mali suffered one of its worst civilian killings over the weekend, the latest in an ongoing series of massacres across the Sahel.

According to the government, 132 civilians were killed in Diallassagou and two surrounding villages, a few dozen kilometres from the town of Bankass.

The UN, France and other international observers have expressed grave concerns about the deteriorating security situation in Mali.

Dozens of civilians protested on Tuesday in Bankass to demand state protection.

Mali has been rocked by jihadist insurgencies since 2012.

Violence began in the north and then spread to the centre and neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

(with wires)
African governments have been urged to collaborate and implement a common strategy towards mitigating the destabilization and destruction wrought on the continents economies by the combined effects of the COVID 19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Adopting a common approach with the ultimate aim of reducing dependency and becoming self-sufficient would not only help the continent weather the current storm but also prepare her for any such upheavals in the future, the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has asserted.

Speaking at the 22nd Annual General Meeting of the African Trade Insurance Agency in Accra on Thursday, June 23, 2022 Vice President Bawumia emphasized that the structure of the global economy was changing, with countries and continents focusing on internal ways to address challenges, and Africa risked being left at the mercy of other global players more interested in the well-being of their own citizens.

In Africa, given the relatively small sizes of our economies, there is a strong case for adopting common regional and continent-wide approaches to navigating present challenges. Regional co-operation will help us to exploit the synergies that exist in our countries and speed up our integration into the globalized economy.

Regional economic integration will not only help our countries access the expanded regional market within but will also facilitate global competitiveness. It cannot be overemphasized that the continent needs to play an increasing role in the global economy so as to maximize on the opportunities available from the interconnected world economy, the Vice President stated.

Recalling that the world economy has grappled with a series of economic shocks and uncertainty in the last decade - from the economic recession of 2008-09, to the commodity crisis in 2014/2015, then to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and now the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Vice President Bawumia said the present difficulties were already reversing the modest gains made so far, and called for greater cooperation to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement Area (AfCFTA) and other initiatives.

The cumulative impacts of this pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have been quite severe and are threatening to roll back the economic gains of Africa, with the continents real GDP for 2022 expected to decelerate to 4.1% according to the AfDBs African Economic Outlook report. This is significantly lower than the 2021 growth rate of 7.1%.

The pandemic and the conflict have equally disrupted the supply chain of traded commodities including fertilizers, which is largely sourced from Russia, causing prices of oil and commodities such as fertilizers to increase, he noted.

Adopting a common approach to solve continent-wide challenges is the way to go, Dr Bawumia maintained.

Africa needs to, not only create, and sustain conditions that are conducive to increased trade and investments, but we also need to remove structural impediments that stand in the way of private enterprises, to pave way for higher and sustainable economic growth over the long-term.

If Africa works together in this direction, we will gain more time and mileage in reducing reliance upon external markets for our socio-economic development, and in enhancing value addition of our resources. For example, I believe that in the context of our co-operation, the continent can develop internal capacities to enable it to produce enough food. We have the land, we have the climate and I believe that if we put our hands and minds to it, we could be net exporters of food in the near future.
As I said in Marburg, the Pan-African Vaccine Manufacturing Project fits perfectly with Ghana's roadmap for domestic vaccine development and manufacturing. Ghana is ready to play her role, and I reaffirm, once again, her determination to make the Project work successfully, the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo , said at the groundbreaking ceremony for the commencement of construction of a vaccine manufacturing plant in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday, 23rd June 2022.

Expressing his gratitude to President Paul Kagame for the invitation to participate in the event, President Akufo-Addo indicated that the commencement of construction signals to the rest of the world the commencement of this end-to-end vaccine manufacturing facility, involving Rwanda, Senegal and my own country of Ghana.

In his remarks, the President indicated that the import of the Pan-African Project means that Ghana, Senegal and Rwanda must work together, the reason why the relationship between the Food and Drugs Authorities (FDA) of Ghana and Rwanda is being deepened with the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding on Friday, 24th June.

Through this, FDA Ghana, which achieved WHO Global Benchmarking Maturity Level Three (3) in 2020, and is working hard to achieve Maturity Level Four (4) by the end of this year, will assist FDA Rwanda to attain WHO Maturity Level Three (3) as soon as possible. Both agencies will collaborate further in vaccine drug product manufacturing, fill, finish and lot release in their respective countries, he said.

President Akufo-Addo continued, Again, collaboration between our two countries resulted recently in a team from Rwanda visiting research institutions in Ghana, with the aim of strengthening institutional development and partnership towards vaccine discovery and advancement.

In addition, the President revealed that Ghana's research institutions are undergoing capacity-building to be ready for the discovery and development of vaccines and other biologicals, stating that a consortium of Ghanaian pharmaceutical companies, led by DEKS Vaccines Ltd., is working closely with BioNTech Rwanda, BioNTech Germany and kENUP to fill, finish and package the drug product in Ghana from the plant here in Rwanda.

He thanked BioNTech of Germany, kENUP Foundation, IFC, EIB and the other financial institutions for working closely together with African countries to enable the continent achieve vaccine self-sufficiency.

I assure all and sundry that Ghana is delighted to be part of this Pan-African Project to manufacture mRNA COVID, Malaria and TB vaccines from drug substance through drug product to fill, finish and package, the President added.

Source: 3news.com|Ghana
The Okada riders, trotro drivers and spare parts dealers have coalited to participate in the upcoming June 28 Arise Ghana demonstration, citing how the current administration has made life extremely difficult for them.

On Thursday, June 23, 2022, the three aforementioned associations held a press conference to demand better working conditions in their respective fields.

Their speech called on government to urgently address some major difficulties threatening their work.

According to them, prices of fuel keep rising with no end in sight. They noted that amid these challenges, government seems adamant about the negative impact it is having on their businesses.

The coalition expressed concern about the country's poor road network. They emphasize that the previous NDC administration, led by former President John Dramani Mahama established some mechanisms aimed at finding solutions before the current administration came in and shut everything down.

The Okada riders also addressed the press about their plight, claiming that the price of motorbikes, which were previously sold at GHS4,000 on average has now risen to GHS10,000 threatening their jobs.

The group said the issue, among others, compelled them to join the Arise Ghana demonstration, which is scheduled for June 28th this year.

They urged all Ghanaians to take part in what they called a historic step in pressuring government to address the country's economic woes.

Find below the press statement:

JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE BY COMMERCIAL ROAD TRANSPORT OPERATORS, CONCERNED SPARE PARTS DEALERS ASSOCIATION, NATIONAL OKADA RIDERS ASSOCIATION ON THE PRESSING AND URGENT NEED TO JOIN THE HISTORIC FORTY-EIGHT HOUR ARISE GHANA DEMONSTRATION SCHEDULED FOR THE 28TH AND 29TH OF JUNE, 2022.

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of the press, you are most welcome to this urgent press encounter on the need to throw our support for the impending demonstration of Arise Ghana' scheduled for the 28th and 29th of June, 2022 in Accra.

As indicated above, we are a coalition of several unions with interrelated activities operating within the public transport space and affected by similar concerns and expectations. For the oast few years under the tenure of Nana Akufo Addo and the NPP, life has become so unbearable for us as our businesses are suffocating collapsing largely as a result of the incompetent, insensitive and ill-conceived policies of the government.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the wake of all of this,, the government has continued to remain belligerent and refused to hear or even listen to the several legitimate and genuine concerns being raised by the unions intended to cushion our operations and prop our businesses to keep us operating at least at optimum or competitive levels. As you may be aware, our combined field of businesses offers the highest numbers of employment in this country and anything that affects our businesses affects every facet of the Ghanaian economy.

Our friends from the media, ladies and gentlemen, permit us to create your indulgence on some of the pressing issues confronting our businesses today under this unwavering and insensitive government lending credence to the need for us to join Arise Ghana;

1. Escalating Frequent Fuel Price Increments; At the height of the factors working to frustrate and collapse our businesses is the rampant fuel increase every two weeks and the several nuisance taxes like the price stabilization levy, special petroleum tax and the sanitation and pollution levy. These taxes undoubtedly account for close to 40 percent of the cost of a liter of fuel in Ghana today. This level of taxation on a liter of fuel is unacceptable and unbearable and we cannot continue to manage with it as it affects our operations cost and erodes our profit margins rendering us poorer.

2. ROAD NETWORK IN GHANA TODAY: It is never in doubt that Ghana has a huge infrastructure deficit to deal with as a developing country. To this effect the previous government under John Dramani Mahama set up the Ghana Infrastructure Fund among other special initiatives target at improving Ghana's infrastructure situation especially within the road sector. Having assumed the reigns of government and promising and dedicating a whole year to roads, Ghanas road sector has seen little improvement. A lot of key road projects have stalled with several payment certificates not honoured. The Road Fund like other statutory funds is in arrears for a number of years now.. This cannot be attitude of a government promising to build upon and improve the road network in Ghana. The general poor state of the road network in Ghana has a direct effect on us as transport operators.

3. COST OF SPARE PARTS AND VEHICLES: Ladies and gentlemen, owing to deliberate government policies such as the bench mark values and increases in import duties and clearance fees at the ports, cost of spare parts has been at all time high. The mismanagement of the economy by the incompetent Economic Management Team led by Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has rendered the Ghanaian Cedi very vulnerable leading to high levels of depreciation of the currency. The cascading effects of this depreciation is unfavorable exchange rates affecting the capital base of vehicle and spare parts dealers. Undoubtedly, this has slowed down the businesses of importers and dealers. parts dealers whose sales have nose-dived and shrunk their businesses. This is unacceptable and must not be tolerated anymore.

4. PRICE OF MOTOR BIKES; Ladies and Gentlemen, we all know that the most important asset for the Okada Riders is the motorbike. Sadly however, the cost of motor bikes keep increasing at an increasing rate. A motor bike that used to sell for GHC 4,000 is now been sold at GHC10,000. And just like the vehicle spare parts,, motorbikes spare parts have equally skyrocketed affecting the sales and servicing of the bikes which are all working against the Okada business today unlike the congenial economic environment which helped the business to thrive prior to the coming of Akufo Addo and the NPP. In the midst of the existing unemployment situation, the Okada Riders stand the risk of being pushed out of business if nothing is done about their sorry plight.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, owing to these very germane and pressing concerns, we have been compelled to call on all Ghanaians, drivers, passengers and everyone that is being affected by these conundrum of problems to join us in this demonstration to tell the government how naked, vulnerable and helpless he has rendered us.

Times are hard and the hardship does not discriminate against anyone as we are all caught up in the web monumental incompetence and crass misgovernance and mismanagement in Ghana today.

Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow Ghanaians, as a Coalition we have no option than to join the Arise Ghana demonstration and we are encouraging and calling on all of you to join as well for us to make history together in demanding for what is due us all.

Arise, Save Ghana Now"

Thank you
The National Communications Director of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has expressed his displeasure over what he calls the continuous 'thievery' by the ruling government.

He said God is exposing the Akufo-Addo government hence, the mockery they make of themselves in recent times.

Speaking on Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV today, he alleged that the governmnet is on a stealing spree.

According to him, the document presented by Ken Ofori-Atta to Parliament on the covid expenditure is cooked figures.

The NDC firebrand said the figures are contrived with the aim of rationalizing stealing.

I feel like weeping for this country of ours because of the wickedness of the people at the helm of affairs in this country today. The thievery of state resources is becoming too much. The cup of Ken Ofori-Atta, President Akufo-Addo and Alhaji Bawumia is full. God is exposing them and that is why they are making a mockery of themselves this way. This document which was presented to the august house of Parliament yesterday is a mess. This is stealing gone bad because the figures dont add up, the figures are cooked. The figures are contrived with the aim of rationalizing stealing, he intimated.

He indicated that Finance Minister should have given an account of the monies received i.e. COVID-19 in flows or revenue vis-a-vis expenditures.

His comments come on the back of what the Minority in Parliament claim is discrepancies in the figures presented by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta on COVID-19 expenditure.

Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrissu claims the figures do not add up.

Speaker Alban Bagbin has directed a joint Health ad Finance committee to probe further and report to the house in October.
Ethiopia on Thursday described fuel shortages in the war-wracked Tigray region as a "myth" and accused Tigrayan rebels of seeking to launch a new offensive.

Humanitarian agencies have said the fuel Addis Ababa is allowing them to deliver to the region was insufficient and warned that the shortages were crippling the distribution of emergency aid.

Tigrayans are in the grip of a humanitarian crisis, according to the UN, and have for months been without access to basic services such as electricity, telecommunications, internet and banking.

After a visit to Tigray's capital Mekele, the European commissioner for crisis management Janez Lenarcic on Tuesday urged the government to lift "without delay" the restrictions on Tigray, particularly on the supply of fuel.

On Thursday, Ethiopia's government communications service said three tankers carrying more than 137,000 litres of fuel had arrived in Mekele last week.

The total amount of fuel sent to the region stood at 920,309 litres since aid convoys resumed in April, it said on Twitter.

"The myth of fuel shortage is a TPLF hidden agenda to enhance mobility of its army in preparation for another round of conflict," it said, referring to the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

The 19-month conflict between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government and the TPLF has driven hundreds of thousands of people to the brink of famine and left more than nine million in need of food aid, according to the United Nations.

After a three-month hiatus, the government in April authorised the delivery of desperately needed aid by land to Tigray, which has long been under what the UN has described as a de facto blockade.

"Humanitarian supplies have been flowing into Tigray since the government's humanitarian truce was announced... but less than half the fuel needed has entered the region in recent weeks," the WFP said on Thursday.

Claire Nevill, a WFP spokeswoman in Ethiopia, told AFP that humanitarian operations in Tigray required two million litres of fuel each month, while one million litres had entered the region through WFP-led convoys.

"Now we have a situation where humanitarian warehouses in Mekele are full, but people out there in the countryside are still hungry," Lenarcic said on Tuesday.

The situation in hospitals was especially critical, the EU envoy added, pointing to both the absence of electricity and the lack of fuel.

The conflict began in November 2020 when the government sent federal troops into Tigray to topple the TPLF, the region's former ruling party, saying it was in response to rebel attacks on army camps.

After the TPLF mounted a shock comeback, retaking Tigray and then expanding into the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara, fighting intensified in the second half of 2021, before reaching a stalemate.
23.06.2022 LISTEN

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD), Mr. Senyo Hosi has disclosed that Bulk Oil Distributing Companies (BDCs) in the count need more forex to pay suppliers to bring in more petroleum products.

In the midst of the fuel shortage scare, Senyo noted that the BDCs are facing the major challenge of accessing inadequate forex from the market.

Engaging the media in a virtual CBOD Media Dialogue session on Thursday, June 23, 2022, Mr. Senyo Hosi disclosed that the threat of fuel shortage in the country is largely due to the challenge BDCs face in securing enough forex [dollars] to pay suppliers.

The situation today is that there are major challenges with access to FX or US dollars from the market. The commercial banks somewhat struggled to meet the requirement of the BDCs and the Central Bank is now actually required to operationally intervene.

He noted that the BDCs get 21% of the 450million dollars needed to import petroleum products.

According to him, the Central Bank is only able to supply about $100 million, out of the $450 million needed by the BDCs.

He stressed that the Central Bank was able to supply $125 million in May, 214million in April and 100million dollars in June this year.

With the remaining 350 million dollars still hard to mobilise, he indicated was to be met by the commercial banks.

The BoG has actually reduced the quantum of its intervention in real terms and also in ratio terms relative to requirements. When we started, [during] the first window, we got $114 million and another $100 million, bringing the amount we got from the BoG in April to $214 million. Then in the next month, the amount that was made available was $125 million and then in June we are seeing $100 million.

Cumulatively, their intervention has been 40% of the requirements that have been submitted over the period. On a month-on-month basis however we have seen a very significant drop from 85% in April to 50% in May, and now we are seeing 21% in June, he added.

However, Mr Hosi noted that the commercial banks have liquidity and price challenges for the BDCs.

"That is where we are today. That is why when we have a more structured mechanism from the central bank things will actually be more stabilised. The currency is what must be supplied. Not just supplied but at a price that is reflected at the pump," he stated.

On the issue of forex losses (the rate of BoG against the commercial banks) he stated, the commercial banks do not have adequate capacities to meet our needs and even when they can the exchange rate of the price at which they wish to sell their dollars actually throws the petroleum prices at the pump totally out. It will push them extremely high. So everyone wants to rely on the moderate dollar from the Central Bank.

Moving forward, Mr. Senyo Hosi has stressed that it is important sector players come together to work to fix all challenges to ensure the availability of products for customers and Ghanaians in general.

There are a number of BDCs who are pretending to be in the system. When there is a thorough preview they are making massive foreign exchange losses and when you have a crisis in that space then you are going to have a crisis with supply in the country.

So it is important we all fix it as an industry, sustain the fundability of the industry and assure consumers and Ghanaians of our abilities to serve our country through the supply of our country and that is why this is a major matter we have to address together as an industry and as an economy, Mr. Hosi added.

Touching on the fears of potential fuel shortage in the country, the CBOD CEO has assured that there is a month reserve.
23.06.2022 LISTEN

The Yilo Krobo Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) is appealing to church leaders in the municipality to use their pulpit to educate congregants on the essence of the ongoing prepaid meter installation by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

According to MUSEC, it has become necessary to engage all stakeholders, including the clergy, to help with proper information dissemination about the ongoing prepaid meter installation exercise.

In an interview with Citi News after a MUSEC meeting with the clergy in Somanya, the Municipal Chief Executive, Eric Tetteh called on the clergy to educate their members on the need to accept the prepaid meters.

In principle, we have all agreed that the church leaders should engage their members and educate them on the need to accept the prepaid meters and also corporate with the ECG staff. The purpose of our engagement with the clergy is to let the whole world get to know that we in Yilo Krobo are very peaceful people and that we are ready to support any government initiative that will drive the local economy, and we see electricity as a key in this drive. So whatever we have to do to ensure that the prepaid meter installation is successful, we will do.

Speaking on the concerns raised by residents and assembly members about the high cost of the separate prepaid meters, Eric Tetteh who indicated that they are genuine concerns, said management of ECG will take it up and address it.

Currently what is going on is the replacement of old meters which they are doing for free, but the concerns are that, the cost involved in getting a separate meter is high. It is GH700, so people are appealing that ECG should consider reducing the price. For me that is the way to go, we have to sit down and talk than fight, so ECG will pick those concerns up and if there is a way out I believe it will be looked at.

---citinewsroom
Doctors at the hospital on Nansha Islands operate on an injured fisherman.

BEIJING, June 23 -- A PLA Nansha Garrison unit received an emergency call for help from a fishing boat on nearby waters on June 2. A Chinese fisherman was in critical condition when his right hand was squeezed by the hull of his boat while fishing.

Upon receiving the call, the unit contacted the signal tower and the duty room on the reef to cut short the boats docking time. Meanwhile, the hospital on the reef kept in touch with the boat to instruct on first-aid for the wound.

At 00:20 in the morning of June 3, the doctors, together with the garrison troops, boarded the boat and found that three fingers of the injured right hand were broken, resulting in various degrees of fracture, thus requiring immediate surgery. The garrison unit transferred the wounded to the hospital on the reef for surgical treatment. Ultimately, the fishermans fingers were saved, after a 4-hour operation done by the surgical team.

On June 16, He Qiang, the injured fisherman, sent a letter of thanks to the PLA Nansha Garrison after being discharged from the hospital.

It is learned that in recent years, the medical rescue facilities and mechanisms on the Nansha islands and reefs have been increasingly improved, by which the garrison troops could cooperate with the military medics to provide effective care for the health of the troops and residents. Since May this year, the garrison troops have successfully carried out 18 rescue operations of diverse types.
Management of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has apologised to staff and patients for the recent flooding caused by a heavy downpour at the Endoscopy Unit.

Assurances have, therefore, been given that the situation will not recur.

It is under control and efforts are being made to relocate the Unit to a more conducive environment, management said on Thursday, June 23.

This decision to relocate the Unit was taken prior to the flooding incident.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the management of the Hospital explained that there has been a partial demolition of some old structures to make way for the second phase of the construction of a new Psychiatry Department to improve mental health services.

This inadvertently resulted in debris, obstructing drainage and run-off from around the Endoscopy building, which is immediately adjacent to the construction site.

This became evident after the heavy rains.

The statement assured that the contractor is working frantically to clear the area to prevent recurrence of the situation.

It insisted: The Endoscopy Unit has highly skilled personnel who, over the years, have consistently delivered expert diagnosis and treatment to many patients from within Ghana and the West African sub-region.

We wish to assure the public that the situation is under control and apologise for any inconvenience and anxiety this incident may have caused our staff and patients.

---3news.com
The Bantama Youth Association has described comments by the senior advisor to the President, Yaw Osarfo Marfo, as appalling and distasteful.

They have called on the former Senior Minister to retract and apologise for his statement with immediate effect.

Claims by the Presidential Advisor that the people of Ashanti made no contribution to Ghanas fight for independence has been branded as irrational by the Bantama Youth Association .

Their statement follow a publication of a secret tape recording in which the former Oda Member of Parliament is heard making some ethnocentric comments.

In the said tape, which has recently gone viral, Mr Osarfo Marfo, during a meeting with the delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Eastern Region, questioned the contribution of the Ashanti people while touting the Akyem tribe as having led the fight for independence.

But the Bantama Youth Association while referring to history, argued that the Akyems had little to do with the formation of NPP, which is now the ruling party.

Yaw Osarfo Marfo has been under heavy criticism following the publication of the secret recording.

The spokesperson of the Association, Kwame Awuah Nimfour, was disappointed about the comments.

He described the alleged audio as reprehensible and odious.

We are not surprised that the contents of the alleged audio are coming from Yaw Osarfo Marfo. We are aware he has a history of making supposedly tribalistic comment. He is, however, shocked that the Asantes will be drawn into an issue that is purely partisan and should not be tribalized.

He wondered why Mr Osarfo Marfo will expose himself for attacks by making such comments.

Hon Yaw Osarfo Marfo is a tribal bigot. And I don't understand why he opens himself up for insults from many people including the youth. If you are dealing with your party issues in your region, why must you attack Asantes?

He also expressed disappointment about the MPs in Ashanti Region who have done nothing to improve on infrastructural development in the Region.

We have 47 Members of Parliament from Ashanti Region and none of them is helping in the development of the region. Our MPs have disappointed us and if they do not change their style, we pick our members to contest various constituency in 2024 elections. We will petition the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II on this development.

He mentioned some projects captured in the budget like the Suame interchange, Airport roundabout flyover but all are yet to start.

The government promised some projects in the region and work has not started on those projects and our MPs are not doing anything on it.

---3news.com
Some Osu youth have called for the commitment of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service investigating complaints of the official Kingmakers of Osu about an alleged unauthorized seal of the Osu Stool.

That, they said was promoted by people without a mandate to act in such a manner.

A press release signed by Reginald Lartey Opintan, Executive Secretary of Osu Youth Development Association and copied to the Ghana News Agency called for due diligence to assuage the fears of the youth who were bent on seeing the right thing in the area done.

The youth of Osu feared that the acts by these unauthorized people if not resolved have the potential to create unnecessary tension and confusion in Osu and also security implications if allowed to fester.

While we will not endorse any acts of violence, we wish to urge the Police to act in a manner that will avert any potential tension and confusion in Osu as these issues are sensitive and can degenerate into potentially disruptive protests, confusion and social disharmony in Osu, the statement read.

The Seal of the Osu Stool is a very important traditional symbol with spiritual relevance and no individual or group with no authorized mandate can arrogate themselves the authority and power to change the Seal of Osu, the release stated.

They also called on the Presbyterian Church of Ghana not to allow their premises at the Ascension Presbyterian Church, Adabraka for the launch of the alleged new seal of Osu Stool.

It is curious that for a purported new seal of Osu, the launch is to be held in Adabraka which is not Osu land and not under the jurisdiction of Osu. If this truly is a seal for the Osu Stool, why should they go to Adabraka to launch it?

The statement called for calm among the youth.

We also want to urge the Ghana Police Service to act in a swift manner to halt such activities as they have the potential to create unnecessary tension in Osu. We, the youth of Osu, are resolute in commitment to preserving the sanctity and the respect of our Chieftaincy Institution, and will relentlessly work to halt any attempt to corrupt and belittle our Chieftaincy Institution, the statement warned.

GNA
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has launched the first-ever Tier 4 Data centre in Ghana, ONIX Data Centre.

The centre, which is one of the few tier 4 digital centers in Africa, adds to Ghana's existing data centre, which will serve, not only the local market but also the sub-region.

Launching the centre, Vice President Bawumia said the certification to establish a tier 4 data centre in Ghana by Onix is a major milestone in the strategy to create a world-class data hub in Ghana to serve the local and sub-regional market.

"The accreditation will satisfy the increasingly stringent requirements laid down by regulated entities such as banks, healthcare providers and certain arms of Government which manage sensitive information," Dr. Bawumia said.

The Vice President said the establishment of the ultra-modern data centre, is in line with government's vision to make Ghana a digital hub in the sub-region, and the massive investment, Dr. Bawumia noted, will offer businesses more alternatives for sensitive data storage.

"The launch of this data centre feeds perfectly into governments passion and drive to ensure that we have adequate data of the country upon which our digitalization agenda will thrive.

"Data centers such as this 12-megawatt ONIX facility provide the launch pad for a wave of transformation at organization and business process level. Local CEOs can now adopt and implement world-class solutions and be hosted in-country without having to invest in on premise equipment and infrastructure which is costly and is frankly not economically viable."

While pointing out the magnitude of work government has done in its digitization drive, Dr. Bawumia reiterated government's commitment to creating enabling environment for businesses to flourish in the digital space.

"Government can point to several successful and on-going projects within our digitalization agenda, namely the implementation of the property address system, unique identification through the Ghana Card, as well as mobile money interoperability, among others.

"Looking forward, the next frontier lies in digital infrastructure which enables the adoption of new business processes. Our role in government is to design enabling policies for businesses such as yours to invest and deliver sustainable results."

The tier 4 data storage, is the most complex data storage system, which has the most redundant components and only a few countries in Africa have it.

It is built to be completely fault tolerant and has redundancy for every component.
June 23, 2022 Open (Not Ukraine) Thread 2022-93 News & views (not related to Ukraine) ... Posted by b on June 23, 2022 at 14:24 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
New Zealanders are bursting with knowledge about the constellation behind our newest public holiday Matariki, many of us without even knowing it.



If you look up at the night sky, you probably recognise some of the nine-star cluster, but you may know them under different names.

Most people recognise Orion and Taurus, but Stardome Astronomy Educator Olive Karena-Lockyer joined Today FM's Tova, to talk about Matariki in more detail.

Karena-Lockyer said when looking at Matariki with the naked eye, there should be around nine stars.

"How many stars you see really depends on how good your eyesight is, what the weather conditions are like, and how much light pollution there is.

"The more light pollution, the harder it's going to be to see them," she said.



Click here for a list of the best places to spot the Matariki cluster from around the country.




The median price of a home in Midland County sold in May for a record $329,950, according to the Texas A&M University Real Estate Center.

A&M reported that the median price in May broke the previous high mark ($325,000), set in January and March of this year. The average price of a home sold in May was $367,135  the third highest average since statistics were first reported in 2011.

The month shows that the housing market has reached another level in Midland County. First, the median price of a home sold was $62,500 more than the next highest price in West Texas.

Second, May marked the fifth month since November that the median price for a home sold in Midland County topped $320,000. Prior to November, the median price had reached $320,000 once, according to A&M.

Third, the total dollar volume of homes in Midland County topped $100 million for the third-straight month  a first, according to A&M.

May also was the 12th straight month that the median price for a home sold topped $300,000. The average price for a home sold in Midland County has topped $300,000 for 45-straight months -- a streak that goes back September 2018.

A rising median price is something happening in many areas across the state. The median prices in May included $659,000 in Travis County, $578,516 in Collin County, $400,000 in Dallas County, $377,992 in Tarrant County, $326,000 in Harris County and $321,700 in Bexar County.

The median price for a home sold in Ector County during the month of May was $249,000, which was tied for second all-time. A&M also reported a total dollar volume of $49.674 million (which was less than half of Midlands total). The months of inventory was 2.8.

Other information from the May 2022 report included:
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP)  More than five decades after Diane Cusicks lifeless body was discovered in the parking lot of a mall on New Yorks Long Island, authorities have linked her death to the so-called Torso Killer, a serial killer already convicted in 11 other killings.

The suspect, Richard Cottingham  believed to be one of Americas most prolific serial killers  was arraigned Wednesday on a second-degree murder charge in connection with Cusicks 1968 killing. From a hospital bed in New Jersey, where hes already serving a life sentence for other killings, Cottingham pleaded not guilty.

While he has claimed he was responsible for up to 100 homicides, authorities in New York and New Jersey have officially linked him to only a dozen so far, including Cusicks death. He has been imprisoned since 1980, when he was arrested after a motel maid heard a woman screaming inside his room. Authorities found her alive but bound with handcuffs and suffering from bite marks and knife wounds.

Cottingham asked to be arraigned Wednesday by video feed from the New Jersey hospital because he was in poor health, bedridden and not ambulatory, Judge Caryn Fink said. He needed his lawyer, Jeff Groder, to repeat the judges questions several times because he has difficulty hearing, Groder said.

He is a violent predator and no matter how he looks today in a hospital bed he was not always a feeble older man, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in an interview with The Associated Press. He was a young 22-year-old when he committed the murder of Ms. Cusick. He was strong, stronger than these women were, and he was violent.

Authorities believe Cusick, 23, left her job at a childrens dance school and then stopped at the Green Acres Mall in Nassau County to buy a pair of shoes when Cottingham followed her out. Detectives believe he pretended to be a security guard or police officer, accused her of stealing and then overpowered the 98-pound (44-kilogram) Cusick, Nassau County Police Detective Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick said.

She was brutally beaten, murdered and raped in that car, Fitzpatrick said. The medical examiner concluded that Cusick had been beaten in the face and head and was suffocated until she died. She had defensive wounds on her hands and police were able to collect DNA evidence at the scene. But at the time, there was no DNA testing.

Police interviewed dozens of people, retraced her steps and never stopped hunting for her killer. But the trail went cold.

The police did a great job looking for any leads they could find. They spoke to hundreds of people at the Green Acres Mall to see if anyone had seen Diane, Donnelly said. Unfortunately, the trail went cold and the case went cold.

Cottingham was working as a computer programmer for a health insurance company in New York at the time of Cusicks death. He was convicted of murder in both New York and New Jersey in the 1980s, though the law at the time didnt require people convicted to submit DNA samples, as it does now. His DNA was taken and entered into a national database in 2016 when he pleaded guilty to another murder in New Jersey.

In 2021, police in Nassau County received a tip that a suspect who might be responsible for killings in the county, just east of New York City, was locked up in New Jersey. They began running DNA tests again on cold cases and came up with a match to Cottingham.

Cottingham also led police to believe he was responsible for the death by providing some information about the case, including telling detectives he was near a drive-in theater, which was next to the mall at the time. But he stopped short of confessing directly to Cusicks death, Donnelly said.

He didnt lay out a full admission. What he laid out was baby steps along the way that we were able to put together with the help of the police department to fill in that story, she said.

Prosecutors are now reviewing all open cases around the same time and running DNA to see if Cottingham may have been responsible for other killings.

Based on evidence that we have in this case, we are reviewing all murders of young females from 1967 to 1980 to see if we can put together any more cases against Mr. Cottingham, Donnelly said.

Cusicks daughter, Darlene Altman, said she was overwhelmed when she saw Cottingham on the video screen in the courtroom. Altman was just 4 when her mother was killed.

He just had this like dead stare. I felt like he was looking right at me, Altman said. It was creepy.
By SA Commercial Prop News

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter says we hope to sign the land lease agreements with the successful bidders by August



In a bid to reduce power cuts, South Africas power utility, Eskom Holdings on Thursday said that it selected 18 companies to lease land for the development of renewable energy projects.

Eskom in December announced plans to lease portions of its land in Mpumalanga to potential renewable energy projects to help bolster generation capacity. The land is close to transmission lines, which ensures grid access for the projects. Eskom launched the tender process in April.



The initiative leverages off regulatory changes, allowing licence exemptions for generation facilities of up to 100 MW.



In a statement, Eskom said that none of the contracts had been signed, as the companies need to obtain environmental impact assessment clearance.



"The companies cannot be named, as no contracts have been signed as yet. Eskom will make an announcement of the successful companies once all the processes have been finalised," the statement read.



The bids will cover 4 000 hectares of land, out of a total 36 000 hectares that are available.



"The current projects will bring online a total of 1 800MW generation capacity, once connected," the statement read.



"We hope to sign the land lease agreements with the successful bidders by August," said Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter.



"This shows what can be achieved with reduced red tape and the impact of the liberalisation of the energy sector. This additional capacity will be added to the grid without any cost to the taxpayer."



Eskom is set to earn some income from the leasing of land. The projects will also enter into sale agreements for the electricity with third parties.



Eskom is currently implementing Stage 2 load shedding due to breakdowns of generation units which are constraining the grid.
For the first time ever, the world's rarest species of sea turtle has laid eggs on a Texas beach. Experts recently discovered the "conservation success" on the shores of Magnolia Beach: a sea turtle nest containing approximately 45 hatching Kemp's ridley eggs. The turtles successfully made it to the water from the nest, according to a news release.

"This has never happened in modern times," said Dr. Pamela Plotkin, director of Texas Sea Grant and sea turtle biologist, in the release. "Sea turtles typically nest on barrier island beaches in Texas and so seeing a turtle nest on a beach inside any bay is rare."

Plotkin said there are many miles of unpopulated bay shoreline along Texas' coast, "so it is possible that sea turtle nesting on these shores is more frequent and undetected."

Kemp's ridley turtles are the world's smallest, most endangered sea turtle, according to the release. They also happen to be the official state turtle of Texas. Zach Padron and Jason Gonzales, maintenance workers with the Calhoun County Precinct 1 Commissioner's Office, found approximately 25 of the hatching turtles while they were picking up trash on the beach.

They also noticed the turtles were heading the wrong way. "I thought, 'We better help them because it's a good ways to the water,'" Padron said in the release. He remembered learning from television shows that hatchling sea turtles are at risk from predators like seagulls. In fact, eggs left on the beach only have a 45 percent chance of hatching, which is why intervention from conservationists can be critical.

Padron and Gonzales notified Calhoun County Marine Extension Agent RJ Shelly, who began excavating the turtle nests upon arriving. He found more turtles that needed help emerging from the nest. "Sure enough, once we started excavating, we saw more and more dig their way out," Shelly said in the release.

The turtles were within 10 feet of a roadway, making monitoring necessary. Shelly and others supervised the hatching process, ensuring the turtles' safe release into Matagorda Bay. "We let them imprint on the sand and then stood there while they made their run," Shelly said in the release.

Video of the rescue and the turtles' incredible journey to the water was also shared on Facebook.

Conservation efforts have been ongoing in Matagorda Bay for the critically endangered Kemp's ridley. Decades of efforts from scientists, resource managers, conservationists, and others have helped the species begin to recover, the release said.

Plotkin said in the late 1800s a commercial sea turtle fishery in Matagorda Bay decimated the bay's sea turtle population by the early 1900s. "Matagorda Bay is currently a vibrant healthy ecosystem with an abundance of sea turtles that live and feed there," Plotkin said in the release. "Signs of sea turtle recovery in Matagorda Bay are visible now and illustrate how reduced fishing pressure in concert with habitat restoration can save threatened and endangered species."
maroke/Getty Images/iStockphoto

A Texas school district has announced an updated dress code for the upcoming school year, banning hoodies and limiting dresses and skirts. Forney Independent School District released a statement on its website and uploaded a video to YouTube on Monday, June 20.

For the 2022-23 school year, two of the most significant changes are: no clothing with hoods (such as hoodies, jackets, coats, etc.) may be worn inside the building at any time and dresses, skirts, and skorts are allowed for Pre-K through fourth grade students only, according to the statement.
HP

Lets face it, the real world can be boring from time to time. So its nice that we can take a break from it and enter virtual reality without ever leaving the comfort of our own home. These headsets can be pricey, so finding a deal on one can save you some serious money. So test out the VR waters with the acclaimed Reverb G2 VR Headset for $399 (a sweet $200 off).

Although relatively new in themselves, VR headsets have come a long way in recent years. Gone are the days of needing to set up a bunch of sensors all around your gaming space. The Reverb G2 from HP has four cameras built-in to the headset itself that offers better tracking than previous systems and completely eliminates the need for external cameras.
PRS IN VIVO Hires Global Account Leader in Switzerland

Shopper and product experience consultancy PRS IN VIVO has appointed former Ipsos exec Stephanie Surel as Global Account Leader Switzerland & Market/Business Development, based in the company's Geneva office.



Owned by BVA Group, PRS IN VIVO applies behavioural science to understand shopping behaviour and influence consumer choices. Surel (pictured) joins from office supplies company Lyreco, where she served as Key Account Sales Manager, prior to which she spent nearly a decade at Ipsos, latterly as Senior Client Service Manager. Earlier, she held senior roles at wine producer Gratien & Meyer, adidas, and household panel data supplier Salomon, having begun her career at Nestle.



In her new role, Surel will focus her consulting on packaging re/design, new product development and shopper research. Commenting on the appointment, Olivier Bardin, Country Manager of Switzerland, said: 'We are thrilled to have Stephanie on board with us - the timing is excellent. Her experience and empathy will be terrific assets to our clients and to our innovative behavior-first organization'.



The firm is online at www.prs-invivo-group.com .




Prime Minister Modi will participate in the BRICS summit today. The conference is being organized virtually and will be held at 5:00 pm IST today.

Prime Minister Modi's speech in the conference will be at 5:45 pm. Apart from President Xi Jinping, Russian President Putin, Brazilian President Bolsonaro and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will participate in the virtual conference of BRICS being hosted by China.

During the 14th BRICS summit, many issues like terrorism, trade, health, environment, science and technology will be discussed.

It is worth noting that the BRICS summit is being held at a time when the tension on the border between India and China continues, the war between Ukraine and Russia is still going on. In such a situation, the issue of Ukraine is also expected to be discussed during this conference. Apart from this, a high-level discussion on the changing geo political equations of the world will also take place during the conference tomorrow.
A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 13, 2021.
Editor

Zaldy Dandan is the recipient of the Best Editorial Writer Award of the Society of Professional Journalists, and the CNMI Humanities Award for Outstanding Contributions to Journalism. His four books are available on amazon.com
The open letter, written by MLA Sanjay Shirsat, articulated complaints of rebel legislators. The letter alleged inaccessibility to the chief ministers residence. CM never used to be in the Secretariat, instead, he used to be in Matoshree (Thackeray residence). We used to call people around the CM but they never used to attend our calls. We were fed up with all these things & persuaded Eknath Shinde to take this step, the MLA wrote in the letter.

It also charged that Sena MLAs were not given funds for developmental works in their constituencies whereas NCP and Congress MLAs received funds easily.

It was nice to see people are being allowed inside your Bungalow but these doors were closed for us elected MLAs. We came with our problems in our constituencies and other work, but were made to remain outside for hours together. Eknath Shinde was on the other hand was accessible. We stood at the gates of Varsha for hours. It was only eknath shinde who supported us.

The MLA also pointed out the incident of MLAs being stopped to visit Ayodhya with Sena minister and CMs son Aaditya Thackeray.

When Hindutva and Ram Mandir are crucial issues for the party, then why did the party stop us from visiting Ayodhya. MLAs were called and were stopped from going to Ayodhya during Aaditya Thackerays visit to Ayodhya, the letter read.

The letter came in response to Thackerays address on Wednesday in which reached out to rebels with an emotional appeal and offered to quit, saying he will be happy if a Shiv Sainik succeeds him.

Breaking his silence over the revolt led by Shinde, the Sena strongman from Thane, Thackeray said he was ready to step down if the rebel leader and MLAs supporting him, all camping in Guwahati in the BJP-ruled Assam, declare that they dont want him to continue as CM.

The CM said he was ready to give up the post of party president as well if Shiv Sainiks feel he isnt capable of leading the outfit which is heading the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which also includes the NCP and the Congress.

Why make statements from Surat (where rebels headed first on Monday night) and other places. Come and tell me on my face that I am incompetent to handle the post of Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president. I will resign immediately. I will keep my resignation letter ready and you can come and take it to the Raj Bhavan, he said.

However, Shinde remained defiant and insisted the party should walk out of unnatural ruling alliance MVA and claimed support of enough number of MLAs.
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TOKYO (AP)  Okinawa marked the 77th anniversary Thursday of the end of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, with the governor calling for a further reduction of the U.S. military presence there as local fears grow that the southern Japanese islands will become embroiled in regional military tension.

The Battle of Okinawa killed about 200,000 people, nearly half of them Okinawan residents. Japan's wartime military, in an attempt to delay a U.S. landing on the main islands, essentially sacrificed the local population.

Many in Okinawa are worried about the growing deployment of Japanese missile defense and amphibious capabilities on outer islands that are close to geopolitical hotspots like Taiwan.

At a ceremony marking the June 23, 1945, end of the battle, about 300 attendants in Okinawa, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other officials, offered a moment of silence at noon and placed chrysanthemums for the war dead. The number of attendants was scaled down because of coronavirus worries.

At the ceremony in Itoman city on Okinawas main island, Gov. Denny Tamaki spoke of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying the destruction of towns, buildings and the local culture, as well as Ukrainians' constant fear, remind us of our memory of the ground battle on Okinawa that embroiled citizens 77 years ago."

We are struck by unspeakable shock, he said.

Tamaki also vowed to continue efforts to abolish nuclear weapons and renounce war in order to never let Okinawa become a battlefield.

In May, Okinawa marked the 50th anniversary of its reversion to Japan in 1972, two decades after the U.S. occupation ended in most of the country.

Today, a majority of the 50,000 U.S. troops based in Japan under a bilateral security pact and 70% of U.S. military facilities are still in Okinawa, which accounts for only 0.6% of Japanese land.

Because of the U.S. bases, Okinawa faces noise, pollution, accidents and crime related to American troops, Tamaki said.

Kishida acknowledged the need for more government efforts to reduce Okinawas burden from U.S. military bases as well as more support for the islands economic development, which fell behind during their 27-year U.S. occupation.

Resentment and frustration run deep in Okinawa over the heavy U.S. presence and Tokyos lack of efforts to negotiate with Washington to balance the security burden between mainland Japan and the southern island group.

Kishida, citing the worsening security environment in regional seas in the face of threats from China, North Korea and Russia, has pledged to bolster Japan's military capability and budget in coming years, including enemy attack capabilities that critics say interfere with Japan's pacifist Constitution.
Duncan_Andison/Getty Images/iStockphoto

South Jacksonville trustees are scheduled to meet in special session at 6:30 p.m. today in Village Hall, 301 Dewey Drive.

Among the items on the agenda are:
Moving a step forward in support of NDA's Presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD head Naveen Patnaik sent two cabinet ministers to New Delhi to remain present during the filing of nomination papers and they will also sign the nomination documents.

Odisha's ST & SC Development and Law Minister Jagannath Saraka and Water Resources, Commerce & Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu have left for the national capital and they will sign on the nomination papers of Murmu as the proposers.

The BJD took this move after BJP President J.P. Nadda spoke to Patnaik in this regard.

Informing about this development through Twitter, Patnaik said, "BJP President Shri @JPNadda ji spoke to me about the filing of nomination of Smt #DraupadiMurmu ji for #PresidentElection. My cabinet colleagues Shri @saraka_fan and Smt @TukuniSahu will sign nomination papers today and attend the event tomorrow."

Similarly, several BJP leaders from Odisha, including MLAs and MPs are also likely to visit Delhi to remain present during the filing of nomination papers by the NDA candidate.

As Murmu is a daughter of Odisha, BJD president Patnaik on Wednesday appealed to all the members of state Legislative Assembly, cutting across party lines, to extend unanimous support to elect her to the country's highest office.

Meanwhile, Murmu reached New Delhi this morning. She will file the nomination on June 24.

"Landed in New Delhi Just ago, will be filing my nomination for the Up-coming Presidential election tomorrow i.e June 24th.Seeking blessings from crores of Indians. Jay Mahaprabhu Jagannath Dev," Murmu tweeted.
Tribal woman likely to be Indias next ceremonial president

Tribal woman likely to be Indias next ceremonial president View Photo

NEW DELHI (AP)  A woman representing Indias poor tribal community is likely to be the countrys next president after the governing Bharatiya Janata Party picked Draupadi Murmu as its candidate.

The presidency is a ceremonial post and the election of Murmu, 64, is a formality with Prime Minister Narendra Modis BJP in a strong position to galvanize support for her among lawmakers representing parliament and state legislatures.

The BJP chose Murmu at the partys parliamentary board meeting Tuesday chaired by Modi. Party president J.P. Nadda told reporters that they felt the next president should be a female tribal candidate.

A divided opposition named Yashwant Sinha, a BJP rebel, to challenge Murmu in the election. Sinha, 84, had served as the countrys finance minister during the previous BJP government from 1998 to 2002. He quit the party following a divergence with Modi on economic issues in 2018.

The voting will be held on July 18.

In India, the prime minister is the head of the government and holds the executive authority, and the president mostly follows the prime ministers advice so long as it is constitutional.

Murmu, a member of Modis BJP, hails from the eastern Odisha state and had served as the governor of Jharkhand state.

Modi tweeted Tuesday, Droupadi Murmu has devoted her life to serving society and empowering the poor, downtrodden as well as the marginalized.

Murmus father and her grandfather were village headmen in Baidaposi in Mayurbhanj district in Odisha.

Tribes are generally poor, lacking health care and education facilities in remote Indian villages. Indias tribal communities have developed their traditions and economies in concert with the natural resources at hand.

By ASHOK SHARMA

Associated Press
Russians advance on wars front line in eastern Ukraine View Photo

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  The Russian military extended its grip on territory in eastern Ukraine as it seeks to cut supply lines and encircle frontline Ukrainian forces, while the Ukrainian military announced Thursday the arrival of powerful U.S. multiple-launch rocket systems it hopes will offer a battlefield advantage.

Ukrainian forces withdrew from some areas near the city of Lysychansk to avoid being surrounded as Russians sent in reinforcements and concentrated their firepower in the area, Britains Defense Ministry said. The city is located in Luhansk province, a major battlefield in Russian President Vladimir Putins war against Ukraine.

Ukraines General Staff said Russian forces took control of the villages of Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka, and were trying to capture Syrotyne, a settlement outside the provinces administrative center, Sievierodonetsk. Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press that the Russians were burning everything out in their offensive to encircle Ukraines fighters.

The Russians are advancing without trying to spare the ammunition or troops, and they arent running out of either, Haidai said. They have an edge in heavy artillery and the number of troops.

After repeated requests to its Western allies for heavier weaponry to counter Russias edge in firepower, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said a response had arrived in the form of the medium-range American rocket launchers.

Summer will be hot for Russian occupiers. And the last one for some of them, Reznikov tweeted, thanking the U.S. for these powerful tools.

A U.S. defense official confirmed Wednesday that all four of the promised High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, were in the hands of Ukrainian forces but said it was not clear if they have been used yet.

The U.S. approved providing the precision-guided systems at the end of May, and once they were in the region, Ukraines forces needed about three weeks of training to operate them. The rockets can travel about 45 miles (70 kilometers).

The U.S. will send an addition $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including four more of the medium-range rocket systems, ammunition and other supplies, U.S. officials announced Thursday.

Analysts said the advanced systems would give Ukrainian forces greater precision in hitting Russian targets. Mykola Sunhurovsky of the Razumkov Center, a Kyiv-based think tank, said the HIMARS have a longer range, more precision and higher rate of fire compared with similar Soviet-designed systems that Russia and Ukraine have used during the four-month war.

In the Luhansk region, Ukrainians remain in control of part of the territory, defying the Russians and causing their fury and desire to burn it to the ground, Haidai said.

For weeks, Russian forces have pummeled Sievierodonetsk with artillery and air raids, and fought the Ukrainian army house-to-house. Ukrainian forces remain holed up with about 500 civilians at the Azot chemical plant, the only part of the city still under Ukrainian control.

Haidai said the Ukrainian soldiers warded off the citys seizure from the plants sprawling underground structures, but he noted that the shelling has intensified, and even concrete shelters cant withstand the bombardment. The Russians were using their entire arsenal  heavy artillery, tanks and aircraft  he said.

Lysychansk, located on a steep river bank facing Sievierodonetsk, also is under a relentless Russian artillery barrage. At least one civilian died and three others were wounded in the past day as the Russians concentrated more than 100 multiple rocket launchers to pummel entire blocks, the governor said.

The British Defense Ministry said Russian forces had likely advanced more than 5 kilometers (3 miles) toward the southern approaches of Lysychansk since Sunday.

Some Ukrainian units have withdrawn, probably to avoid being encircled, the statement said. Russias improved performance in this sector is likely a result of recent unit reinforcement and heavy concentration of fire.

Ukraines military said the Russians were also moving to overtake the hills overlooking a highway linking Lysychansk with Bakhmut, to the southwest, in an attempt to cut the supply lines of Ukrainian forces.

Haidai said the Bakhmut-Lysychansk highway wasnt used because of heavy Russian shelling. Ukrainian forces are receiving supplies via an alternative route.

Following a botched attempt to capture Kyiv, Ukraines capital, in the early stage of the invasion on Feb. 24, Russian forces shifted focus to the Donbas region, where the Ukrainian forces have fought Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.

The Russian military controls about 95% of Luhansk province and about half of neighboring Donetsk province, the two areas that make up the Donbas.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

European Union leaders meeting in Brussels have made Ukraine a candidate for membership in the 27-nation bloc, along with Moldova, in a historic boost that binds them closer to the West than Russia.

The countries admission to the EU will likely take years, though. In the case of Ukraine, thats both because of the war and the reforms the Ukrainian government must make to conform with European standards.

-

A Ukrainian politician and TV personality said an online fundraising pitch aimed at helping Ukraine buy three offensive drones has raised $10.4 million in 24 hours.

Serhiy Prytula credited amazing support among Ukrainians after his charitable foundation made the appeal for $15 million a day earlier for the purchase of the Bayraktar drones like those that Ukrainian forces have already used to defend against Russian invaders.

He tweeted: 4,6m $ to go. The Peoples Bayraktar project is already a nationwide crowdfunding. Lets turn it into international!

___

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Thursday that her country offered its expertise to help protect Ukraines ports and the safe passage of vessels for the export of Ukrainian grain.

Ukraine is one of the worlds largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil. Russias invasion and blockade of Ukraines ports have halted much of that flow and left millions of tons of grain stuck in silos, endangering food supplies to many developing countries, especially in Africa.

Its urgent that action is taken within the next month ahead of the new harvest, and were determined to work with our allies to deliver this, Truss said at news conference with her Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, during a visit to Ankara to discuss ways to end the blockade.

Turkey wants to gather the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine to organize a U.N. plan that would allow the safe shipment of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports. Cavusoglu said a possible deal might set up a safe zone just outside of Ukraines territorial waters.

___

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Russia has destroyed more than 2,000 schools and other educational institutions during the war.

In a video address to students and faculty at Jerusalems Hebrew University, Zelenskyy said that in areas where Russian troops have made quick advances, civilians are shot, refugees are killed right on the streets, people are tortured and raped, including minors  girls and boys.

Zelenskyy also voiced disappointment that Israel hadnt joined Western-led sanctions against Russia or provided Ukraine with military aid to give its forces a boost in the war.

Israel relies on good ties with Russia for security coordination in Syria, where Russia has troops and where Israel carries out frequent strikes against enemy targets. It has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

___

Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Ukraine, Samuel Petrequin in Brussels, Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Lolita C. Baldor and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

By JOHN LEICESTER and DAVID KEYTON

Associated Press
Former education minister in Brazil is jailed in graft probe View Photo

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP)  A former Brazilian education minister of President Jair Bolsonaro was arrested Wednesday in connection with a federal police corruption investigation, further hurting the far-right leaders bid for reelection.

Milton Ribeiro left the post in March after Brazilian media reported leaked conversations of him with mayors who would allegedly be favored by the federal government in the distribution of the agencys budget. He was appointed to the position in July 2020.

The leaked conversations reported by Brazilian media showed in March that Ribeiro had two Evangelical pastors as unofficial intermediaries approaching mayors who could help Bolsonaros campaign. The former minister is an Evangelical pastor himself.

Both favored municipalities governed by their allies and demanded bribes, including a kilo of gold, the reports said.

Ribeiro is accused of influence peddling, corruption, prevarication, and administrative advocacy  meaning under Brazilian law he could have used his ministerial job to promote private interests.

The former minister denied any wrongdoing when the scandal broke. His lawyer, Daniel Bialski, said in a statement that Ribeiros arrest was unjust, uncalled for and unnecessary.

Bolsonaro, who at the time said he would put his face to the fire for Ribeiro, changed his narrative after his former minister was jailed.

If he is guilty, he will pay, Bolsonaro said in a radio interview. Let him answer for his actions. I pray to God that there is no problem. But if there is a problem, the federal police are investigating. Its a sign that I dont interfere with the federal police because it would be staining me, obviously.

Brazils president is facing an uphill battle for his reelection. Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva leads all polls for Octobers vote. He hopes to return to the job he had between 2003-2010.

Mario Sergio Lima, a senior Brazil analyst for Medley Global Advisors, said the accusations against Ribeiro put Bolsonaro yet again in a defensive position and hurt his chances with conservative voters who are not in his hardcore base and used to see his anti-corruption narrative as a plus.

These voters could be demobilized by this. And the more absent voters on election day, the better are the chances of the front-runner winning the election without a runoff, Lima said in a phone interview. It could also bring another impact: Moderate allies might step away from him. He has lost a big talking point against Lula.

In one of the recordings, Ribeiro told mayors that Bolsonaro had asked him to prioritize mayors appointed by the two clerics. Brazils president denied any connection with the case.

In a statement released on its website on Wednesday, Brazils federal police said that 13 search and seizure warrants had been issued and five people were under arrest in the case. Police did not say whether the two pastors mentioned in the recordings have been jailed.

Conservative lawmaker Marco Feliciano, a close ally of Bolsonaros and an Evangelical pastor himself, said on Twitter that one of the two religious leaders linked to Ribeiro had been jailed.

The arrest of pastor Gilmar Santos, a man I always had respect and admiration for as a preacher, causes profound embarrassment for us. All we can do is to wait for the investigations, Feliciano said.

Many adversaries of the president said in their social media channels they will push for a congressional inquiry on the spending of Brazils education ministry under Bolsonaro.

___

Associated Press writer Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.

By DEBORA ALVARES

Associated Press
Afghan aid auditor accuses State, USAID of withholding info View Photo

WASHINGTON (AP)  The congressionally mandated watchdog for U.S. assistance to Afghanistan is accusing the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development of illegally withholding information from it about the American withdrawal from the country last year and current policy.

Amid a spat over what the Biden administration believes to have been an overly critical report about the American pullout, the Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction, John Sopko, said the State Department and USAID were refusing to cooperate with his staff in violation of the law that created the office.

The allegations were made by in separate letters from Sopko to lawmakers and to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID Administrator Samantha Power, and by Sopkos general counsel to the top lawyers for each agency. The letters were obtained by The Associated Press.

The State Department did not deny it had cut off cooperation with the watchdog. But it complained that the special inspector had not given the administration a chance to respond to its latest report covering the withdrawal that was released last month.

The department said the report was unfairly negative and did not represent the administrations view of the events surrounding the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban takeover.

In his letters, Sopko was blunt, seeking immediate action from Congress, Blinken and Power to restore the cooperation his office has had with their agencies in the past.

I respectfully request that you direct State and USAID officials to cease their illegal obstruction of SIGARs oversight work and to provide the requested information and assistance without further delay, he wrote to Blinken and Power.

Sopko said his staff had requested numerous documents and interviews with officials who were involved in the chaotic withdrawal and aftermath last July but had been stonewalled for several months. He said those requests involved information about the evacuation and resettlement of Afghan nationals as well as ongoing humanitarian aid and questions about whether that assistance might be transferred to the Taliban.

It is now evident that offices and staff who have cooperated with similar requests in the past were being silenced or overruled by officials opposed to SIGARs independent oversight, Sopko wrote.

The State Department said both it and USAID remain committed to assisting SIGARs mission and would respond to the watchdogs allegations. But the department said it had concerns about how some of SIGARs requests for information relate to their statutory jurisdiction.

The department said it had responded to a SIGAR complaint in April by pointing out that much of the information it was requesting was already being provided to Congress and an internal review of Afghanistan policy being conducted by all agencies in the administration.

State Department spokesman Ned Price did not have a direct response to the allegations in Sopkos letters but voiced the administrations unhappiness with SIGARs last report, which concluded that the withdrawal had been poorly managed and that the collapse of the Afghan government and military had not been correctly predicted.

Our view is that the report does not reflect the consensus view of the State Department or the U.S. government, Price told reporters. Many parts of the U.S. government, including the State Department, have unique insights and developments in Afghanistan last year that were not captured in the report and we dont concur with many aspects of the report.

In addition, Price said the special inspector did not seek State Department input while drafting the April report and did not give the department the opportunity to review the draft before it was published.

By MATTHEW LEE

AP Diplomatic Writer
California Senate rejects involuntary servitude amendment View Photo

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  A proposal aimed at removing the last remnant of slavery from California law failed to pass the state Senate on Thursday after Gov. Gavin Newsoms administration warned it could cost taxpayers billions of dollars by forcing the state to pay prisoners a $15-per-hour minimum wage.

The U.S. Constitution bans slavery but says its OK for the government to force people to work  known as involuntary servitude  as punishment for a crime. Many state constitutions say the same thing, including Californias.

Some state lawmakers wanted to change Californias Constitution to ban all forms of involuntary servitude. They wrote an amendment and planned to put it on the ballot this fall for voters to approve. But Thursday, the California Senate rejected the amendment over concerns of how it would impact the state prison system, which requires inmates to work and often pays them less than $1 per hour.

Lawmakers could try again next week. But if the amendment doesnt pass by June 30, it wont be on the ballot this year.

The CA State Senate just reaffirmed its commitment to keeping slavery and involuntary servitude in the states constitution. Way to go, Confederates, tweeted Democratic state Sen. Sydney Kamlager, who supported the amendment and said she will bring it up for another vote next week.

The Newsom administration has warned that the amendment could require the state to pay inmates a minimum wage, which in California is $15 per hour. That would cost taxpayers about $1.5 billion per year, according to Aaron Edwards, an analyst with the California Department of Finance.

In 2018, Colorado was the first state to ban involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. Since then, inmates have filed lawsuits seeking to be paid a minimum wage and alleging they were pressured into working despite health concerns. Its unclear if those lawsuit have been resolved.

An American Civil Liberties Union report this month called for far-reaching reforms to ensure prison labor is truly voluntary and that incarcerated workers are paid fairly, properly trained, and able to gain transferable skills. Two-thirds of state and federal prisoners nationwide are required to work, the report said, most without adequate protections against labor exploitation.

Local governments could also be impacted. If the courts interpret the constitutional change to bar community service in lieu of incarceration, those individuals might go to jail instead, at a much higher cost, Edwards said.

Democratic state Sen. Steve Glazer said slavery was an evil that will forever be a stain on the history of our great nation. But he said the proposed amendment was not about slavery, but whether California should require felons in state prison to work.

Banning the work requirement in our prisons would undermine our rehabilitation programs, Glazer said. Inmates will sue claiming their wages are too low, their hours are too high or that it is unconstitutional to link goodtime credit and early release to their willingness to work.

Glazer said the state should change the amendment to make it clear that involuntary servitude does not include any rehabilitative activity required of people in prison. But it appeared Kamlager would not support that.

I dont want to negotiate what involuntary servitude means, she said, adding: I believe even if we are incarcerated, we still should have dignity.

For decades, California used that involuntary servitude exception to make money from its prison population by leasing inmates  mostly Black men  to private companies for work.

That convict lease system doesnt exist anymore. But California prison inmates are required to either work or participate in education or rehabilitative programs. Inmate jobs  which include things like clerks, painters and carpenters  pay salaries as low of 8 cents per hour.

Samual Brown spent 24 years in prison on an attempted murder conviction. He was released in December. While in prison, he said he worked a number of jobs, including porter, dishwasher and hospital janitor  the latter of which paid 75 cents per hour.

He said 55% of his salary went to pay for administrative costs, restitution and court fees. When he was released from prison, despite working for decades, he said he barely made a dent in his court-ordered restitution.

This is really nothing more than slavery just reconditioned and remixed, he said. They had an opportunity to stand on the right side of history  and they took the cowards way out.

By ADAM BEAM and DON THOMPSON

Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House's Jan. 6 committee plans to continue its public hearings into July as its investigation of the Capitol riot deepens.

The chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, told reporters Wednesday that the committee is receiving a lot of information  including new documentary film footage of Donald Trump's final months in office  as its yearlong inquiry intensifies with hearings into the attack on Jan. 6, 2021, and Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election that Democrat Joe Biden won.

The committee is also working on setting up an interview with Virginia Ginni" Thomas, the conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who has responded to the panel's request to appear, the chairman said. She was asked to speak to the committee after disclosures of her communications with Trump's team in the run-up and day of the insurrection at the Capitol.

Its our expectation that we will keep talking and trying to get her to come in, said Thompson, D-Miss.

Thomas has previously said she cant wait to clear up misconceptions, suggesting she would comply with the panels request to testify.

For the past year, the committee has been investigating the violence at the Capitol and its causes, and has interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses and produced some 140,000 documents. Nine people died in the attack and its aftermath.

The next hearing, set for Thursday, is expected to highlight former Justice Department officials testifying about Trump's proposals to reject the election results. It would wrap up this month's work. The committee would start up again in July, Thompson said.

The panel has issued a new subpoena for testimony to Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., who was among a group of five GOP lawmakers, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the committee wants to hear from about their interactions with Trump before or during the Capitol riot, the chairman said.

Brooks, who was defeated this week in Alabama's GOP primary for the U.S. Senate and had lost favor with Trump, initially indicated he may speak to the panel. But Thompson said the subpoena had expired, so a new one needed to be sent. McCarthy and the other Republican lawmakers are declining to appear.

Meanwhile, in a sign of a widening Justice Department investigation, federal law enforcement officials served a round of subpoenas Wednesday related to alternate  or fake  slates of electors who falsely sought to declare Trump the winner in their states in 2020.

The House committee has already been investigating the matter, but the new subpoenas underscore the Justice Departments interest in the same area. The recipients of the subpoenas included David Shafer, the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, according to a person familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The Washington Post was first to report on the subpoenas.

The committee had been scheduled to conclude this first round of public hearings in June. But additional information has come to the committee's attention, and Congress is set to recess for two weeks of remote and district work into the Fourth of July holiday.

We have a new documentary from a person that were talking to, and we got to look through all his information, Thompson said, referring to the British filmmaker whose never-before-seen interviews with the former president and his inner circle were turned over to the committee this week. The footage was taken both before and after the insurrection.

The revelation about the film came to light Tuesday when British filmmaker Alex Holder revealed he had complied with a congressional subpoena to turn over all of the footage he shot in the final weeks of Trumps 2020 reelection campaign.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., indicated Tuesday that the investigation's schedule may be changing.

I would just say the original hearings would have wrapped up in June, but we are picking up new evidence on a daily basis with enormous velocity, Raskin said. And so were constantly incorporating and including the new information thats coming out.

He added, But certainly the hearings will conclude before the end of the summer.

The televised hearings launched with a prime-time session this month.

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AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro and writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

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For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Senate easily approved a bipartisan gun violence bill Thursday that seemed unthinkable a month ago, setting up final approval of what will be Congress' most far-reaching response in decades to the nation's run of brutal mass shootings.

After years futile Democratic efforts to curb firearms, 15 Republicans joined with them as both sides decided inaction was untenable after last months rampages in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas. It took weeks of closed-door talks but senators emerged with a compromise embodying incremental but impactful movement to curb bloodshed that has come to regularly shock  yet no longer surprise  the nation.

The $13 billion measure would toughen background checks for the youngest gun buyers, keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders and help states put in place red flag laws that make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged dangerous. It would also fund local programs for school safety, mental health and violence prevention.

Families in Uvalde and Buffalo, and too many tragic shootings before, have demanded action. And tonight, we acted," President Joe Biden said after passage. He said the House should send it to him quickly, adding, Kids in schools and communities will be safer because of it."

The election-year package fell far short of more robust gun restrictions Democrats have sought and Republicans have thwarted for years, including bans on the assault-type weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines used in the slayings in Buffaloand Uvalde. Yet the accord let leaders of both parties declare victory and demonstrate to voters that they know how to compromise and make government work, while also leaving room for each side to appeal to its core supporters.

This is not a cure-all for the all the ways gun violence affects our nation, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., whose party has made gun restrictions a goal for decades. But it is a long overdue step in the right direction."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a nod to the Second Amendment right to bear arms that drives many conservative voters, said the American people want their constitutional rights protected and their kids to be safe in school. He said they want both of those things at once, and that is just what the bill before the Senate will have accomplished.

The day proved bittersweet for advocates of curtailing gun violence. Underscoring the enduring potency of conservative cIout, the right-leaning Supreme Court issued a decision expanding the right of Americans to carry arms in public by striking down a New York law requiring people to prove a need for carrying a weapon before they get a license to do so.

McConnell hailed the justices' decision and Senate passage of the guns bill as complementary victories that will make our country freer and safer at the same time.

The Senate vote on final passage was 65-33. A cluster of House Democrats who watched the vote in the chambers rear included Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., whose 17-year old son was shot to death in 2012 by a man complaining his music was too loud.

In the key roll call hours earlier, senators voted 65-34 to end a filibuster by conservative GOP senators. That was five more than the 60-vote threshold needed. The House planned to vote Friday and approval seemed certain.

On both votes, 15 Senate Republicans joined all 50 Democrats, including their two allied independents, in backing the legislation.

Yet the votes highlighted the risks Republicans face by defying the party's pro-gun voters and firearms groups like the National Rifle Association. Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana were the only two of the 15 up for reelection this fall. Of the rest, four are retiring and eight don't face voters until 2026.

Tellingly, GOP senators voting no included potential 2024 presidential contenders like Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Tim Scott of South Carolina. Some of the party's most conservative members voted no as well, including Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah.

Cruz said the legislation would disarm law-abiding citizens rather than take serious measures to protect our children."

John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, hailed senators who supported the measure for "coming together and putting the safety of the American people ahead of gun lobby priorities.

While the Senate measure was a clear breakthrough, the outlook for continued congressional movement on gun curbs is dim.

Less than one-third of the Senate's 50 GOP senators backed the measure and solid Republican opposition is certain in the House. Top House Republicans urged a no vote in an email from the No. 2 GOP leader, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, that called the bill an effort to slowly chip away at law-abiding citizens 2nd Amendment rights.

Both chambers  now narrowly controlled by Democrats  could well be run by the GOP after November's midterm elections.

Senate action came one month after a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde. Just days before that, a white man was accused of being motivated by racism as he killed 10 Black grocery shoppers in Buffalo. Both shooters were 18 years old, a youthful profile shared by many mass shooters, and the close timing of the two slaughters and victims with whom many could identify stirred a demand by voters for action, lawmakers of both parties said.

The talks were led by Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. Murphy represented Newtown, Connecticut, when an assailant killed 20 students and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, while Cornyn has been involved in past gun talks following mass shootings in his state and is close to McConnell.

Murphy said the measure would save thousands of lives and was a chance to prove to a weary American public that democracy is not so broken that it is unable to rise to the moment.

I don't believe in doing nothing in the face of what we saw in Uvalde and elsewhere, Cornyn said.

The bill would make the local juvenile records of people age 18 to 20 available during required federal background checks when they attempt to buy guns. Those examinations, currently limited to three days, would last up to a maximum of 10 days to give federal and local officials time to search records.

People convicted of domestic abuse who are current or former romantic partners of the victim would be prohibited from acquiring firearms, closing the so-called boyfriend loophole."

That ban currently only applies to people married to, living with or who have had children with the victim. The compromise bill would extend that to those considered to have had a continuing serious relationship."

There would be money to help states enforce red flag laws and for other states without them that for violence prevention programs. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have such laws.

The measure expands the use of background checks by rewriting the definition of the federally licensed gun dealers required to conduct them. Penalties for gun trafficking are strengthened, billions of dollars are provided for behavioral health clinics and school mental health programs and there's money for school safety initiatives, though not for personnel to use a dangerous weapon."
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  A court in Iran on Thursday ordered the United States government to pay over $4 billion to the families of Iranian nuclear scientists who have been killed in targeted attacks in recent years, state-run media reported.

The largely symbolic ruling underscores the escalating tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, with negotiations to restore the tattered atomic accord at a standstill.

Although Tehran has blamed Israel in the past for slayings targeting Iranian nuclear scientists since a decade ago, Iran did not directly accuse its arch-foe Israel in its announcement. Iran has not recognized Israel since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the pro-West monarchy and brought Islamists to power.

The court mentioned Israel only in saying the U.S. supported the Zionist regime in its organized crime against the victims.

It's unclear how the court decision, like a raft of previous Iranian cases against the U.S. as the two sides have engaged in a spiraling escalation of threats, would gain traction; there are no American assets to confiscate in the Islamic Republic.

Still, the court branch, which is dedicated to the review of Iranian complaints against the U.S., summoned 37 former American officials, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, as well as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Iran envoy Brian Hook and former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed tough economic sanctions on Iran that severed most of its oil revenues and international financial transactions.

President Joe Biden wanted to return to the accord, but talks have stalled in recent weeks over Americas designation of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, Iran is enriching uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels under decreasing international oversight. Earlier this month, Iran removed 27 surveillance cameras of the U.N.s International Atomic Energy Agency in what its director warned could deal a fatal blow to the nuclear accord.

The families of three nuclear scientists who had been killed in targeted slayings, along with one nuclear scientist wounded in an attack, filed the lawsuit in Tehran, the country's state-run IRNA news agency reported, without identifying the plaintiffs. The court ordered that the U.S. pay $4.3 billion in total compensation, including fines.

Iran and Israel have been locked in a shadow war across the Middle East and its waters. That conflict has escalated with the recent suspected targeted killings of Iranian nuclear scientists and military officials. In late 2020, Iran blamed Israel for killing its top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, with a remote-controlled machine gun while he was traveling in a car outside Tehran.

Iran also has placed sanctions on prominent American political and military officials for alleged terrorism and human rights violations, in retaliation for the U.S. assassination of Irans top commander, Qassem Soleimani, two years ago.

Meanwhile Thursday, the Guard replaced the head of its intelligence arm. Cleric Hossein Taeb will be replaced by Gen. Mohammad Kazemi, the former head of the Guard's security department.

The move follows the deaths of several Guard officers in recent weeks. Taeb was known for his heavy-handed policies toward pro-reform figures since Iran's 2009 post-election turmoil.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korea discussed assigning additional duties to front-line army units at a key military meeting, state media said Thursday, a move that analysts said indicates it plans to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons targeting South Korea along the rivals tense border.

While much international attention has focused on North Koreas testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles potentially capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, it is also developing a variety of nuclear-capable short-range missiles that can target South Korea.

South Korean officials recently said that North Korea has completed preparations for its first test of a nuclear explosive device in five years, part of a possible effort to build warheads capable of being mounted on short-range missiles.

During an ongoing meeting of the Central Military Commission of North Korea's ruling Workers Party, leader Kim Jong Un and other top military officers discussed on Wednesday the work of additionally confirming the operation duties of the front-line units of the Korean Peoples Army and modifying the operation plans, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Kim also ordered steps to enhance the operational capabilities of the front-line units, KCNA said. A KCNA photo showed what appeared to be a large map of the Korean Peninsulas eastern coast, including border sites, standing near the conference table.

Although there was no public mention of tactical nuclear weapons, "I can assess that the issues of forward-deploying tactical nuclear weapons and the modification of related operational plans and military organization reshuffles have been discussed in an in-depth manner" at the meeting, said Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Koreas private Sejong Institute.

Cheong said North Korea's push to deploy nuclear weapons at front-line units was expected since it said in April that its new tactical weapons would significantly boost the units' attack capacity and the efficient operation of tactical nuclear weapons.

A KCNA report on April 17 on the test-launch of what it called a new type of tactical guided weapon said it has great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the front-line long-range artillery units, enhancing the efficiency in the operation of (North Koreas) tactical nukes and diversification of their firepower missions.

Later in April, Kim said North Korea could preemptively use nuclear weapons if threatened, saying they would never be confined to the single mission of war deterrent in situations in which the country faces external threats to its fundamental interests. The possibility of North Korea having an escalatory nuclear doctrine could pose greater concern for South Korea, Japan and the United States.

North Korea has described some of its other short-range nuclear-capable missiles tested in recent years as tactical weapons, which experts say communicates a threat to proactively use them during conventional warfare to blunt the stronger conventional forces of South Korea and the United States.

Kim Jun-rak, a spokesperson for South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Thursday that it is closely monitoring North Korean activities but didnt elaborate. South Korea's Unification Ministry, which overseas relations with North Korea, said the North will likely increase its military threats against South Korea, but did not elaborate.

Kim convened the Central Military Commission meeting earlier this week to confirm crucial and urgent tasks to expand the country's military capabilities and implement key defense policies, state media said.

Cheong, the analyst, said North Korea is expected to conduct its seventh nuclear test after the meeting, noting that its third nuclear test in 2013 also came days after another Central Military Commission meeting.

This year, North Korea has test-launched about 30 missiles in what some experts call an attempt to expand its arsenal and increase its leverage in future negotiations with the United States to win sanctions relief and other concessions. The weapons tested include an ICBM. Analysts say North Korea needs to master missile reentry capabilities and other technologies to make a functioning long-range weapon.

There have been signs of an impending North Korean nuclear test for weeks. South Korean officials said the test has been delayed by North Koreas continuing COVID-19 outbreak and opposition from China, its last major ally and biggest aid provider.

Won In-Choul, chairman of South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a video conference on Thursday with his American counterpart, Gen. Mark Milley, and said a North Korean ICBM test or nuclear test explosion could occur at any time, his office said in a statement. It said Milley responded that the U.S. commitment to the defense of South Korea remains iron-clad.

South Korean and U.S. officials have warned North Korea that it will face consequences if it goes ahead with a nuclear test. But divisions between the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council make prospects for additional international sanctions on North Korea unclear. Earlier this year, Russia and China vetoed U.S.-sponsored resolutions that would have increased sanctions, insisting that Washington should focus on reviving dialogue.

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Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.
The Amazon has been a multifaceted obsession of Brazils military for some time now. During the military dictatorship, which began in 1964, the motto regarding the policy to be followed in the Amazon was integrate not to surrender.

by Pedro Marin

In the Brazilian Amazon, as deforestation reaches record levels and rivers are increasingly polluted, the illegal gold mining contributing to these problems continues largely unabated. The response of the government has been to increase military action to curb environmental crimes in Brazil. Far from achieving this purpose, however, the military intervention has only led to tragedies in the region, directly or indirectly.

A source from the Brazilian Amazon wrote to us at Revista Opera two years ago to warn us about something strange that was going on there: illegally mined gold was being sold at the same price as legally mined gold. If the nugget is a big one, said the source, they give the miner extra [money]. There was no investigation based on this information since it would have required great resources and risks, neither of which we could afford. It was just another fascinating story that was buried in the green hell (Inferno Verde) or El Doradoterms often used to describe the immensity of the Amazon rainforest.

In August 2021, a study by the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in partnership with the Brazilian Federal Public Ministry (MPF) showed that in two years2019 and 202028 percent of all gold that was both produced by and sold in Brazil appeared to have been mined illegally. Perhaps such a large influx of gold for some exceptional reason had an effect on the price paid out for mining it at a given time, or perhaps the information provided was fabricated by the source, we thought.

The study further stated that of the gold produced in the Amazon, 44 percent was found to be irregular or illegal, revealing how the activity continued unchecked in the region.

The Amazon has been a multifaceted obsession of Brazils military for some time now. During the military dictatorship, which began in 1964, the motto regarding the policy to be followed in the Amazon was integrate not to surrender. Later on, the motto conformed to the view that the forest was a site for a possible insurrection. In the 80s and 90s, Brazils generals would focus their attention on the incursion of Colombian left-wing guerrillas and on the trafficking of drugs and weapons. For them, the integration of the Amazon was a part of what the countrys military institutes now call a national project.

Media attention has focused on deforestation during the tenure of the government under Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Despite the press coverage of the dark skies that were witnessed by Brazils major cities during the daytime in August 2019, as the smoke from the wildfires enveloped the cities, revealing the extent of deforestation in the Amazon, one fact remained hidden: the militarization of the Amazon.

During Bolsonaros rule, three military Law and Order Assurance Operations (GLOs) for reducing deforestation in the Amazon have been enacted: Operation Verde Brasil, which ran from August to October 2019; Operation Verde Brasil 2, between May 2020 and April 2021; and Operation Samauma, between June and August 2021. The decrees of the operations provided Brazils Armed Forces with powers to take preventive and repressive actions against environmental crimes, and for surveying and fighting fires. In total, out of the 41 months that have elapsed since Bolsonaros government came to power, the Amazon has been under military control for almost 17 of them.

In addition, in February 2020, the National Council of the Legal Amazon was also reestablished, with its presidency being transferred from the Ministry of the Environment to the vice presidency. The council is now chaired by Army General and Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao and is composed of 16 ministries (seven of which were being directed by army officials at the time the decree established the council). The general purpose of the council is to coordinate and integrate the action of the ministries on the issues related to the Amazon, strengthen the states presence in the Legal Amazon and coordinate actions for the prevention, inspection and repression of illicit acts. In addition, the council is responsible for establishing special subcommittees and inviting specialists and representatives of public or private, national or international bodies or entities to participate in the meetings.

Despite this mandate of the council, governors, representatives of the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), the National Indian Foundation (Funai)two governmental organizations working for the protection of the environment and the traditional populations of the AmazonIndigenous peoples, and traditional communities werent invited to be part of it, and 19 military officials were appointed to the thematic committees of the bodywhose composition is decided by vice president Mouraoin addition to four delegates from Brazils Federal Police.

An article by journalist Marta Salomon in Piaui magazine in October 2020 stated how there was a Military Buildup With Money From the Amazon during Operation Verde Brasil 2: renovations in barracks that included painting walls, replacing floors, doors, coatings and roofs were part of the operating expensesin addition to the secret expenses in the contracts of the Army Intelligence Center with private companies. As spending on preservation of the forest by the Ministry of the Environment fell, investments in GLO military missions in the Amazon grew by 178 percent: in 2021, 37 percent of the total spending to stop deforestation was allocated to military actions.

Another government measure involving the military (or military measure involving the government) was the intervention in Funai, Brazils official agency that is responsible for protecting and promoting Indigenous rights. An article by Daniel Giovanaz in February 2021 revealed that [o]f the 24 regional coordinations of the National Indian Foundation (Funai) in the Legal Amazon, 14 [were] led by the military. One of these coordinators was Jussielson Golcalves Silva, an inactive navy soldier arrested in March this year for brokering the leasing of Indigenous lands to cattle ranchers in Ribeirao Cascalheira, Mato Grosso. Another article by Marta Salomon in October 2021 mentioned the case of Army Captain Raimundo Pereira dos Santos Neto, regional coordinator of Funai in Para state, who had sent a letter to the organization informing them that a collaborator, Antonio Julio Martins de Oliveira, had built a shed on the banks of the Iriri River under the pretext of serving the Kayapo Indigenous people of the region. The collaborator was an illegal miner, and the Funai shed was being used for his illegal activities, according to Salomons article.

As reported before, the three GLO operations that constituted the direct military intervention over the Amazon for a year and a half cost R$550 millionalmost six times the budget allocated to Ibama for environmental inspection, licensing and biodiversity management in 2020and failed to curb deforestation in the Amazon, according to Folha de S. Paulo. Brazils government said that the operations attest to intransigence in the defense of our territory. Vice President General Mourao, president of the Amazon Council, declared that the results of Operation Samauma were extremely positive, despite data showing that during the GLO operations, deforestation continued to increase. In April this year, the vice president said that the data on deforestation in the Amazon rainforest for the monthwhen military operations were no longer activewere terrible, horrible. This raises questions about the contradictions in the statements made by Mourao during and after the GLO operations and the end-results of the military intervention in the Amazon; with the situation going from extremely positive in August 2021 during Operation Samauma to terrible, horrible a few months later, once the operation ended.

The killings of indigenist Bruno Pereira and English journalist Dom Phillips, who disappeared on June 5 in Vale do Javari, Amazonas state, certainly has nothing to do, directly, with the military intervention in the Amazon, despite the delay in beginning the search operation by the armed forces and the scandal over the notes that the Amazonia Military Command (CMA) issued, saying it was awaiting command from the upper echelons. Indirectly, however, the title of an article written by Phillips in 2018 explains the role played by the military intervention in their killings clearly: Tribes in Deep Water: Gold, Guns and the Amazons Last Frontier.

This article was produced by Globetrotter in partnership with Revista Opera.

Pedro Marin is the editor-in-chief and founder of Revista Opera. Previously, he was a correspondent in Venezuela for Revista Opera and a columnist and international correspondent in Brazil for a German publication. He is the author of Golpe e Guerrateses para enterrar 2016, on the impeachment of Brazils President Dilma Rousseff, and coauthor of Carta no CoturnoA volta do Partido Fardado no Brasil, on the role of the military in Brazilian politics.
BAGHDAD (AP)  Iraqs Parliament swore in dozens of new lawmakers on Thursday, replacing 73 legislators loyal to powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, strengthening the power of rival Iran-backed Shiite factions in the assembly.

The 73 had resigned collectively earlier this month amid a prolonged political impasse over the formation of the country's next government. The unprecedented walkout, based on a request from al-Sadr, threw Iraq into further uncertainty, reshuffling the deck following the Oct. 10 elections, which gave him the biggest bloc in Parliament.

Although he emerged as a winner, al-Sadr has been locked in a power struggle with internal Shiite rivals backed by Iran and was unable to cobble together a coalition that can form a majority government.

Two weeks ago, he ordered lawmakers from his parliamentary bloc to resign in a bid to break the eight-month impasse. The move threw Iraqs political landscape into disarray.

According to Iraqi laws, if any seat in parliament becomes vacant, the candidate who obtains the second highest number of votes in their electoral district would replace them. In this case, it made al-Sadrs opponents from the so-called Coordination Framework, a coalition led by Iran-backed Shiite parties and their allies, the majority with around 122 seats.

It puts al-Sadr out of parliament for the first time since 2005, and allows pro-Iranian factions to determine the makeup of the next government.

Today, the first step has been completed, which is the replacement deputies taking the oath," said Lawmaker Muhammad Saadoun Sayhod, from the Rule of Law coalition represented in the Framework.

We will now start the process of electing the president and naming the prime minister from the Coordination Framework, he said, adding he expected the formation of a new government to begin soon.

There was no immediate reaction from al-Sadr to the swearing in of new lawmakers. There remain concerns the political deadlock could lead to renewed protests and street clashes between supporters of al-Sadr and their Shiite rivals.

Even though Parliament is in recess, lawmakers mostly from the Framework alliance called for an extraordinary session Thursday to vote on the new lawmakers. Sixty-four lawmakers were sworn in, while nine other replacements did not attend.

On Wednesday, al-Sadr accused Iranian proxies of political meddling. He also accused them of applying pressure against newly elected political independents and allies of his Sadrist bloc.

He called on parliamentarians not to succumb to pressure.

I call on blocs to stand bravely for the sake of reform and saving the nation, and not to give in to sectarian pressures, as they are bubbles which will disappear, he said in a statement.

Munaf Al-Musawi, a political analyst and director of the Baghdad Center for Strategic Studies, said the fight for government posts will now begin. Once a government is formed, he said al-Sadr's supporters could take to the streets, leading to clashes with Shiite rivals.

What comes next is more difficult, he said. With Coordination Framework and its allies now in control of Parliament, al-Sadr and his allies will pay the price for their walkout, he added.

Iraqs election was held several months earlier than expected, in response to mass protests that broke out in late 2019 and saw tens of thousands rally against endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment.
PLAINVIEW  Wayland Baptist University has been awarded a $1.36 million Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant from the National Science Foundation to assist with financial aid and scholarships for exceptionally qualified students who are studying to become high school math and science teachers. The project, submitted by Wayland Baptist University, includes partnerships with Plainview High School and South Plains College to discover qualified candidates beginning with the Fall 2022 semester.

Through this grant, well-qualified students attending the main Wayland campus in Plainview are eligible for as much as $16,000 a year each in financial aid toward their degree.

The project aims to serve the national need of providing high-quality instruction to math and science students in rural high schools in the South Plains region of Texas. Prospective teachers will receive scholarship support during their final two years of college, including STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) transfers from South Plains College. The project will develop a professional-learning community that will work together to support STEM educators in both high schools and colleges.

This grant will have a huge impact on STEM education on the South Plains. We are constantly facing a shortage of STEM teachers in the area, said Dr. Adam Reinhart, Dean of the Kenneth L. Mattox School of Mathematics and Sciences at Wayland. The grant will produce more than STEM teachers; it will produce uniquely qualified scientist-educators through undergraduate scientific research and other programming such as mentoring, both as undergraduates and their first few years in the classroom.

Prospective teachers will participate in mentoring engagements with practicing secondary STEM teachers who are working in rural districts and will attend workshops to prepare them to teach in rural districts. Their education will be enhanced through participation in undergraduate research experiences.

Graduates of the program will receive ongoing mentoring from Wayland faculty during their first few years as practicing teachers and will have access to small grants to develop engaging classroom experiences for students in grades 7-12.

The university expects to develop more effective processes and practices for recruiting and selecting 25 Noyce scholars from diverse backgrounds over the five-year funded period. Project goals also include graduating 25 WBU Noyce scholars and retaining them as STEM educators in high-need districts using a variety of interventions, including additional mentoring from undergraduate STEM faculty during the clinical teaching experience and induction years.

According to Dr. Reinhart, the project will examine the impact of the newly formed professional learning community on the local STEM education ecosystem and on undergraduate research experiences on STEM Education majors at Wayland.

Wayland Baptist University is actively seeking college students with junior- or senior-level status to be in the first class this August. For information about student applications, please contact Dr. Adam Reinhart at reinhart@wbu.edu.
Pool/Getty Images, MBR / TNS

Tesla-recognized club of electric vehicle owners swallowed a hard pill as Elon Musk told the group in an interview published Wednesday, June 22, that the company's Austin and Berlin factories are losing billions of dollars. Musk told Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley that the factories have become "gigantic money furnaces," burning through cash faster than production because of battery production issues and delays at ports in China, Reuters reported.

The million-square-foot factory in Austin, called Giga Texas, is only making a "tiny" number of cars, Musk told the group, because of problems manufacturing its more powerful "4680" batteries. Meanwhile the tools to make the traditional 2170 batteries are held up at a port in China.
On June 13, Texas Central CEO Carlos Aguilar, charged with running the private rail company's development of a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston, stepped down after six years. And he did so by posting a resignation letter on LinkedIn.

"While I could not align our current stakeholders on a common vision for a path forward, I wish the project the greatest success and remain convinced of the importance of this venture for the safety and prosperity of ALL Texans," Aguilar wrote.

However, Aguilar's wishes for the continuation of the project seemed in jest, as reports later surfaced that the company's board had disbanded in the last month. More than a week later, conflicting reports have Texas Central either dissolved, about to be gone, or doing business as usual.

No one has been selected to replace Aguilar, but reports have surfaced that Michael Bui, who "specializes in financial advisory and corporate restructuring" at FTI Consulting, according to his company bio, is at the helm for the time being.

Texas Central did not respond to a request for comment, but earlier this week, a representative from the company filed a letter with the Texas Supreme Court affirming its status as an operating company.

Contrary to such unsupported speculation, Texas Central remains open for business under its new management, is continuing to seek further investment, and is moving forward with the development of this high-speed train. Texas Central looks forward to this Courts opinion in this case, Texas Central appellate attorney Marie Yeates wrote.

Yeates is referring to Miles v. Texas Central, an eminent domain case that hinges on the law's definition of what a rail company is. Texas Central believes it can exercise eminent domain in creating its 240-mile line connecting Houston and Dallas, and some landowners, like James Miles, have been fighting against Texas Central since January.

While the case was still in the Texas Supreme Court docket, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote a legal brief arguing that Texas Central was neither a railroad company nor an "interurban electric railway company."

The Respondents are not operating anything resembling a railroad," Paxton wrote. "That they might possibly do so someday is not enough."

As of Thursday, June 23, that possibility seems dimmer than it did in December, when Paxton filed his brief.
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Johnny Depp is headed to Europe for an overseas tour with his band Hollywood Vampires, which includes rock luminaries such as Joe Perry, Alice Cooper and Tommy Henriksen.

The supergroup had previously canceled a tour back in March because of pandemic-related obstacles. We kept trying to make it happen, but unfortunately due to the uncertainty of COVID-19 travel restrictions, it is just not possible, they wrote in a statement at the time.

Now, the group plans to reunite with fans in Germany and Luxembourg for a scheduled six shows. It will be quite a bit of a wait, however, as their first gig isnt until next June at the Rudolf Weber Arena in Oberhausen, Germany. Their last show will be on June 30 at Zitadelle in Mainz, Germany.

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Depp has been performing alongside Jeff Beck as a guest on his live shows  which made headlines when the actor traveled to Europe to begin performing with the legendary guitarist just prior to his trial verdict in a lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard. Depp has since joined Beck again for a run of shows in Europe until the tour wraps up on July 25 in Paris.

Beck and Depp have also collaborated on a new album, 18. They are releasing the joint project on July 15 with the sets first single, This Is A Song For Miss Hedy Lamarr, having already been released. The song, written by Depp, pays homage to American film actress Lamarr (who died in 2000 at age 85). It is one of two songs written by Depp for the project, the other one being Sad Motherfuckin Parade.

The original Depp-penned tracks are the outliers of 18, an album otherwise made up of cover songs, some of them sung by Depp, some in fully instrumental form. In a statement, Beck said that he was blown away with Depp when he first shared the Hedy Lamarr song, three years ago. That song is one of the reasons I asked him to make an album with me, said Beck.

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Taylor Swift will release her new song, Carolina, a theme for the film Where the Crawdads Sing, tonight, she revealed on her social media this morning.

The song, which plays over the movies end credits, arrives three weeks in advance of the release of Where the Crawdads Sing, due in theaters July 15.

The coming drop was revealed in an image on the artists Instagram Story. She didnt include any additional text about the tune, although its likely she would have more to say when the song arrives tonight.

It marks the first freshly penned song Swift has issued since her Evermore album in late 2020, although the artist has put out remakes and previously unheard bonus tracks from her series of re-recorded catalog albums in the interim.

Hardcore fans already had a pretty good idea the tune would be arriving tonight. On Tuesday of this week, the official Instagram account for Where the Crawdads Sing posted messages with certain letters capitalized that, put together sequentially, spelled out Carolina This Thursday, using the method Swift herself used to employ in sending out secret messages in the lyric sheets for some of her early albums.

Additional information about the number was relayed by the filmmaking team in a roundtable about the movie that was livestreamed Jne 13.

The song was recorded in one take, using only instruments that existed in the early 1950s, when the first part of Where the Crawdads Sing is set  points of interest that were revealed by Reese Witherspoon, who produced the movie, and director Olivia Newman in a recent roundtable.

Swift wrote this gorgeous letter to us, said Newman, explaining how they chose instruments that were only available before 1953 and she recorded it in one take the way they recorded songs at the time.  The first time I listened to it, I just started bawling and I said, I dont know whats happening to me right now. I mean, I love singing along to Taylor Swift songs but I never cry like this.

The song was written on spec and then submitted out of the blue by Swift, the filmmakers revealed.

Said Witherspoon, She read this book and loved it so much, and then she heard we were making a movie [during the period] she was making her Folklore album and then she wrote a song with that whole Folklore team, which was so haunting and magical and beautiful.

She had gone and written this song out of just pure inspiration and sort of said, I dont know if youll like it, but here it is,' confirmed Newman.

The existence of the tune was first revealed in a March 22 trailer for the movie that included excerpts from the track. Swift posted on Instagram at the time that Carolina was produced by Aaron Dessner, a primary collaborator on Folklore and Evermore, her last pair of more acoustically based albums, both released in 2020. I wanted to create something haunting and ethereal to match this mesmerizing story, she wrote at the time.

The director said in the recent livestream discussion that Swifts song reflects the tone of the storys ending, as it plays over the credits. We wanted to leave audiences with that same sort of emotional feeling that was impactful on readers of the source novel, Newman said, and her song just leans right into that.

Previous original songs Swift has written or co-written for feature films include I Dont Wanna Live Forever (featuring Zayn Malik) for Fifty Shades Darker in 2016, Sweeter Than Fiction for One Chance in 2013, Safe and Sound and Eyes Open for The Hunger Games in 2012, Today Was a Fairytale for Valentines Day in 2010 and Crazier and Youll Always Find Your Way Back Home for The Hannah Montana Movie in 2009.

Swift will also be on the screen this fall, with a part in director David O. Russells Amsterdam that represents her first substantial acting role in a drama. Previously she appeared in Cats, The Giver, Valentines Day and the animated film The Lorax.

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San Antonio is home to more than 15 local breweries and that means new seasonal releases are always around the corner. Some local breweries are honoring military men and women in some special upcoming releases, and others are just trying to help beat the summer heat. Here's some worth giving a try.

Image courtesy of Black Laboratory

Black Laboratory Brewing released a small batch seltzer perfect for laying by the pool this summer on Wednesday, June 22, called the Blue Coconut Hard Soda. The description is in the name: a blue seltzer with coconut flavors aimed at whisking drinkers away to a deserted island, the brewery said. The Blue Coconut Hard Soda is available on draft and in cans at the Black Laboratory Brewing taproom located at 1602 E Houston Suite 109. Their hours are 3 to 10 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Veteran-owned Longtab Brewing is releasing two summer special brews, one this weekend and one on July 4. This week's new release pays homage to the heart and soul of the brewpub, which also operates as a coffee bar and restaurant that honors the history, culture, and veterans of the U.S. Army Special Forces.

Starting Friday, June 24, San Antonians can visit the brewery to try First in Asia, a Golden Ale, named and released in honor of the 65th anniversary of the 1st Special Forces Group. "First in Asia" was the motto of the Airborne 1st Special Forces Group that was tasked with operations in the Asia-Pacific theater starting June 24, 1957, at Camp Drake in Japan and the outfit has continued work in Iraq and Afghanistan.

First in Asia will be available in cans and on draft starting at noon on Friday, as well as available to order online for delivery. Longtab Brewing is located at 4700 Timco West Suite 105 and is open from 4 to 10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, noon to 10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Upcoming Beer Releases in San Antonio

Roughhouse Brewing in San Marcos is gearing up for the launch Thumper, a watermelon sour The brewery is holding the Red, White and Brewed release party on July 2 from 12 to 10 p.m. Roughhouse Brewing is located at 680 Oakwood Loop and is open from 4 to 9 p.m. Monday and Thursday, 2 to 9 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Longtab Brewing is releasing the aptly named Longtab Lager on July 4 and is celebrating the new beer with a cookout at the brewery. The Longtab Lager is the brewery's new house lager and brewers said the goal was to create a delicious beer to be enjoyed on the river.

Image courtesy of Alamo Beer Company

Alamo Beer Company announced a party on July 3 to celebrate the release of the Homefront IPA. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Soldier's Angels, a non-profit that supports deployed service members, military families, and veterans.

There will be plenty of beer and live music at Alamo Beer Company from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. The brewery is located at 415 Burnet Street.

The Homefront IPA is a recipe crafted through Solider's Angels' Hops for Heroes, an annual campaign that gets craft breweries from around the country to come together, brew beer, and support military families. Alamo Beer Company and Karbach Brewing in Houston are the only two Texas breweries to participate in the program this year.

"At Alamo Beer we are big on community and giving back as much as we possibly can," said Alamo Beer Company Brewmaster Gregg Spickler. "A lot of our staff are veterans, some of our brewers, some of our sales staff, management and so forth. Especially being here in San Antonio, Military City USA. And so many of our clients, our customers and just about everyone we do business with seems to have ties to the military."

Alamo Beer Company is located at 202 Lamar Street and is open from 3 to 10 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Since opening in September 2011, the owners of Tripoli's Mediterranean Grill and Coffee Shop have adapted their menu, added a coffee shop, and navigated a pandemic. Throughout the pivots, serving as a bridge connecting the East and West remains a focus. Now, as Tripoli's approaches 11 years in business, the restaurant will shift again, this time from the Lackland area to outside the loop.

Howaida Werfelli, who co-owns Tripoli's with her brothers Haitham Werfelli and Hesham Werfelli as well as Adam Hussein, will relocate the restaurant to the Alamo Ranch area by the fall. Howaida Werfelli cites a number of reasons for moving the restaurant from its current location at 322 Valley Hi Drive to 1726 Alamo Ranch, but narrows in on creating a path that's more conducive to Tripoli's growth in the city.

"We're capped at what we can do (at the current location)," she says. "In order to continue to grow and for our support of the community to be greater than what it is, we have to make these hard decisions."

Courtesy, Marissa Simon Photo/@marissasimonphoto

The owner says philanthropy is important to the business. Ensuring Tripoli's future success means they'll be able to continue giving to organizations like the San Antonio Food Bank, area PTA groups, and local refugee organizations, she adds.

The Southwest Side won't be without a Tripoli's permanently. Howaida Werfelli says a second location and a return to District 4 is part of their multi-year framework. She says Councilwoman Dr. Adriana Rocha Garcia has been supportive of the brand throughout her term and is connecting the Tripoli's team with potential sites within the district where the restaurant can expand to in coming years.

Courtesy, Marissa Simon Photo/@marissasimonphoto

Courtesy, Marissa Simon Photo/@marissasimonphoto

As the owners prepare for their 11-mile move, the owners are looking back on the restaurant's impact on San Antonio thus far. Howaida Werfelli says they've watched the families of their regulars grow. She says one of their beloved interactions is serving military members who work at the neighboring Joint Base San Antonio.

"Many of them have been deployed, so they've been to these areas where we're trying to bring that culture from," she adds.

Courtesy, Marissa Simon Photo/@marissasimonphoto

The owner says hearing the "happy stories" they share is a "nice" contrast to experiences that are usually attached to deployments.

"So when we hear that they've been able to interact with the people and they learn to love the culture and the language and the food  that's what I know," Howaida Werfelli says. "I grew up with this culture and I know how generous Arabs are and how we get so excited about feeding people and helping people. When they come back and tell us that it's like 'OK, there's hope. There's hope that the good of our culture remains.'"

Courtesy, Marissa Simon Photo/@marissasimonphoto

Howaida Werfelli says the unparalleled reviews are when customers pride the authenticity of their foods. She says not everyone is as familiar with the cuisine and the responsibility of introducing customers to a new part of the world is not lost on her. She chuckles remembering their early years, when she feels San Antonio was less willing to explore cuisine but notes a change in recent years.

"We've seen it shift, it's one of those things where I laugh internally," she chuckles.

Courtesy, Marissa Simon Photo/@marissasimonphoto

She says at genesis of Tripoli's, the menu had more food items that were "quintessentially" Libyan. Some closing times would end with untouched food getting tossed out.

"They didn't want the stuff they didn't know," Howaida Werfelli says. "Then all of a sudden I had people saying 'How do you not have tabouli.' So here we are going full circle back to the menu that we had when we first started, but San Antonio wasn't ready for it at that point."

Courtesy, Marissa Simon Photo/@marissasimonphoto

Courtesy, Marissa Simon Photo/@marissasimonphoto

Howaida Werfelli is looking forward to continue serving as an ambassador to new flavors in the upcoming space. She say the Alamo Ranch restaurant will be similar in size to the current restaurant but the Tripoli's at Town Center will offer a patio, which has become a pertinent pandemic-era amenity. The owners have been a part of the new build from the "ground up" and are working closely with Tammy Puente and Bill Walker of locally owned Ace Mart to ensure the new restaurant fills the needs to take Tripoli's into its next era. Howaida Werfelli says the new digs will give Tripoli's an opportunity to expand the menu and offer a "slightly more robust" menu with more complex dishes.

"It's always comforting to know that you have a base that will follow you," she says. "I'm excited for the growth and I'm excited for San Antonio to experience it."

Tripoli's remains open at its original location, 322 Valley Hi Drive.
Fourteen year old Demauriae Bennett has a range of interests  staying up late watching Stranger Things, playing sports, gaming, and exploring the wonders of space  but he had no one to share them with. That was before his mom called on San Antonio.

Roslyn Bates calls her 5-foot-8 son an "all around gentle giant."

"He doesn't have a lot of friends. People have a tendency to look at his size and bully him," she adds. "He won't do anything, he's just like a big bear."

Courtesy, Roslyn Bates

Bates beams while rattling off the list of things Demauriae spends his time doing. He's a standout Special Olympics athlete, a force in the 50-meter race and turbo javelin throw. Monthly trips to the Space Center in Houston with his mom fuel his dreams of becoming an aerospace physician.

Courtesy, Roslyn Bates

Courtesy, Roslyn Bates

Courtesy, Roslyn Bates

Courtesy, Roslyn Bates

Her tone is subdued as she explains her vulnerability in posting the plans for her son's birthday party on "Street News SA," a Facebook community with 90,000 members. Like every summer, Bates had everything planned for Demauriae, but she couldn't guarantee that he would be surrounded by friends to celebrate.

The popular Facebook community page was launched at the start of the coronavirus pandemic as a source for grocery supply updates. It's since morphed into an online space where members share information on community events and causes. Bates, familiar with the engagement posts usually get on the page, decided to extend the invite to the Facebook group.

She typed out a simple ask in a post to the page.

"I need help with five children to attend his party. It does not matter what age."

Courtesy, Roslyn Bates

Bates tells MySA she was "grabbing for straws" when she decided to open the invitation.

"I was so discouraged," she says of the initial party planning. "I was like, 'This is the saddest birthday I've ever had for my son.'"

Courtesy, Roslyn Bates

True to San Antonio's heart, the city responded in droves to help the teen celebrate another trip around the sun. Bates says "plenty" of families with children reached out saying they're planning on attending. The celebration even got a sponsor.

A man named Arturo Alderete offered to pay for the party at Main Event on Highway 151 on July 2 from 1 to 3 p.m. San Antonio sweets-makers like Wild Child Bake Shop and Bri's Sweets Shop are supplying the cake and cupcakes. Christopher Hernandez, a barber at Manos de Oro, gave Demauriae a free haircut ahead of his big day. Car clubs Show Stoppaz and Notorious Swangaz are organizing a parade and escort to the party, which will be now be well-attended by Demauriae's new friends.

Courtesy, Roslyn Bates

Bates says families with children ranging in age from 4-month-old infants to 16 year olds are making plans to celebrate the teen. While the guest list is filling up, she says the "more the merrier" and invites new friends to join.

Bates says the public has asked how they can send gifts to Demauriae. An Amazon wishlist has been created and a few of the items have been purchased for him.

"Now it feels like we're standing on a beach and 100-foot tidal wave just came and splashed us," she says. "I have no words. This is going to give him a lot of confidence and he gets to have new friends. We love San Antonio, there's no better city than this city."
A white Tesla Model S was sitting in a Rancho Cordova, Calif., wrecking yard earlier this month - having been severely damaged in a collision three weeks earlier - when it suddenly erupted in flames, according to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District.

When firefighters arrived, the electric car was totally engulfed. Every time the blaze was momentarily extinguished, the car's battery compartment reignited, the fire department wrote in an Instagram post. Firefighters and wrecking yard workers tried turning the car on its side to aim water directly onto the battery pack. But "the vehicle would still re-ignite due to the residual heat," the department wrote.

So they tried something else: They used a tractor to create a pit in the dirt, managed to get the car inside, then filled the hole with water. That allowed the firefighters to submerge the battery pack and ultimately extinguish the fire, which burned hotter than 3,000 degrees, Capt. Parker Wilbourn, a fire department spokesman, told The Washington Post.

All told, it took more than an hour and 4,500 gallons of water for the dozen firefighters to extinguish the blaze, Wilbourn said - about the same amount of water used to put out a building fire.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Tuesday.

The department has not yet determined why the electric vehicle "spontaneously caught fire," Wilbourn told The Post. He said it was the first time his department, which serves Sacramento County, has extinguished a Tesla blaze.

But the department is preparing to battle more of them, Wilbourn noted, especially as an increasing number of electric vehicle owners install battery charging equipment in their garages.

"This is a whole new animal for the fire service," Wilbourn said. "We're still trying to wrap our heads around the [electric vehicle] fires."

The case in Sacramento mirrors other electric vehicle fires in recent years and showcases the potential risks facing drivers, automakers and fire departments. In December 2020, a home in San Ramon, Calif., went up in flames after two Teslas caught fire while parked in a garage, The Post reported. One of the cars had been charging overnight when it caught fire and spread to a second Tesla. The garage went up in flames and required at least six firetrucks to extinguish.

In Woodlands, Texas, two passengers died in April 2021 after a driverless Tesla veered off the road, struck a tree and burst into flames. It was the battery that ignited and burned for four hours, requiring 30,000 gallons of water to put out, The Post reported. Another Tesla Model S in Frisco, Texas, shot out flames "like a flamethrower" after its owner pulled off the road upon hearing odd sounds coming from the car.

Such incidents have led some carmakers to recall thousands of electric vehicles over fire concerns. In December, General Motors recalled 141,000 Chevrolet Bolt electric cars after their batteries started to combust spontaneously. Audi and Hyundai have also recalled electric vehicles over fire risks.

Extinguishing a Tesla battery can take as long as 24 hours and about 3,000 to 8,000 gallons of water "applied directly to the battery," according to a Tesla Model S guide for first responders. Yet Wilbourn said the amount of water needed to extinguish battery fires could be closer to 20,000 or 30,000 gallons. The lithium-ion batteries found in electric vehicles can be difficult to extinguish because they continue burning until all stored energy is released, Wilbourn said: "We're basically fighting energy release."

The Sacramento fire department said filling the pit with water to address the fire at the wrecking yard reduced the amount it would have needed otherwise. After the fire had been put out, the white Model S had been almost entirely reduced to a heap of melted and burned metal.

Wilbourn warned that if an electric vehicle catches fire, owners should not try to extinguish it themselves and should instead call the fire department. As an increasing number of consumers transition to electric vehicles, fire departments "have to be prepared for what's coming," he added. "This is going to be a challenge."

- - -

The Washington Post's Faiz Siddiqui contributed to this report.
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BERLIN (AP)  Germany activated the second phase of its three-stage emergency plan for natural gas supplies Thursday, warning that Europe's biggest economy faces a crisis and storage targets for the winter are at risk after Russia reduced energy deliveries to several countries.

The government said the decision follows cuts Russia made to natural gas flows starting last week and surging energy prices stoked by the war in Ukraine. Industrial customers are being asked to reduce the amount of natural gas they use, and Germany and other countries are turning back to coal as a replacement, threatening climate goals in Europe as energy tensions escalate between Russia and the West.

Even if we cant feel it yet  we are in a gas crisis, Economy and Energy Minister Robert Habeck said.

Russia last week reduced natural gas to Germany, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia just as European Union countries are scrambling to refill storage of the fuel used to generate electricity, power industry and heat homes in the winter. Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom blamed a missing part sent to Canada for repairs as it cut flows by 60% through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline running under the Baltic Sea to Germany  Europes major natural gas pipeline.

Other countries, including Austria and the Netherlands, also have launched first-stage warnings about supplies and urged people to conserve. Germany and Italy, two of Europe's biggest buyers of Russian gas, have called Russia's gas reductions politically motivated and warned they could further slow the economy.

We are in an economic conflict with Russia, said Habeck, accusing Moscow of trying to destroy European unity and the solidarity it has shown with Ukraine.

The cutbacks come on top of gas shutoffs to Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France and the Netherlands in recent weeks.

Germany's government said current gas demands are being met and its storage facilities are filled to 58% capacity  higher than at this time last year. But the goal of reaching 90% by December wont be possible without further measures, it said.

Germany would not react by cutting off neighboring countries, Habeck said. Instead, it was urging industry and residents to reduce their consumption as much as possible.

The prices are already high, and we need to be prepared for further increases, Habeck said, warning that this will affect industrial production and become a big burden for many producers."

Despite that, Germanys energy industry lobbying group BDEW said it supported the governments decision. Calculations show that businesses have already reduced their demand by 8% in recent months. To encourage further savings, the government plans to hold auctions paying large industrial consumers to relinquish their contracts.

The measures being taken, including providing gas distributors and utility companies with large loans to cope with price surges, were necessary to prevent a collapse of energy markets, Habeck said.

Triggering the highest alert level could force Germany to ration gas for industrial customers to spare homes, schools and hospitals and would mean a severe hit to the economy.

Habeck said people could do their part by adjusting their home heating system now and saving up to 15% during the cold months.

It sounds banal sometimes, but you have to multiply that banality by 41 million households, he said.

Since declaring the first phase of its emergency plan in March, Germany and other countries have been trying to get additional gas from neighbors such as the Netherlands and Norway as well as liquefied natural gas from producers outside Europe, including the United States, as the EU looks to reduce reliance on Russia by two-thirds by year's end.

To the horror of environmentalists, the German government announced Sunday that it would increase the burning of more polluting coal and reduce gas use for electricity production.

The available coal-generating capacity that could be brought back online could provide 9% of countrys power needs and spare a quarter of the gas that industry is using, according to Carlos Torres Diaz, senior vice president at Rystad Energy.

The Netherlands also will allow coal-fired power stations to operate at full capacity again to conserve gas that would otherwise be burned for electricity.

Habeck placed part of the blame on political decisions by past German governments to rely on Russia for energy supplies and a failure to establish alternatives.

How different things would be if we had really made massive progress in energy efficiency and the expansion of renewables over the last few years instead of simply remaining at a standstill, he said.

His ministry recently unveiled a package of measures to boost the roll-out of solar and wind power in Germany. The government has so far ruled out keeping its three remaining nuclear plants online beyond the end of this year, however.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Texas lawmakers heard from dozens of Texans on Wednesday who pleaded with them to fix the states environmental agency, which they said is failing to reduce pollution in their neighborhoods.

At a hearing on a report evaluating the Texas Commission on Environmental Qualitys effectiveness, Texans as young as 9 and as old as 80 testified that the agency had not adequately responded to their environmental or health concerns.

From Hill Country river pollution to concrete batch plants in Houston to smog in urban areas, residents from across the state spent hours telling lawmakers about environmental problems in their communities and complaining that the agency isnt doing its job regulating the industry.

Weve been taught that pollution is not good for our health and growing brains, so I wonder why TCEQ keeps permitting plants that pollute our air and water, said Natalie Diamond, 9, of Gunter, who testified after her mother, who advocates for clean air in their community.

Natalie Diamond, 9, testified at the Sunset Advisory Commission meeting about the TCEQ at the Capitol on Wednesday. Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune

The public testimony followed a presentation and report by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission staff that said TCEQs commissioners have become reluctant regulators and that confusion and misperceptions about how the agency operates have created a concerning level of distrust of the agency.

The Sunset Commission Staff report says there needs to be a change in the perception and appearance that the TCEQ works for industry, said Houston resident Gloria Rubac, 75. Thats not a perception. It is a fact that TCEQ does favor industry. They favor corporations over our health.

The Sunset Commission evaluates state agencies effectiveness and makes recommendations to state lawmakers as to which laws may need to change to improve them. The last time TCEQ was evaluated was more than a decade ago.

The staff found that TCEQ commissioners, at times, encouraged the industry to self police, deferred hard decisions to staff and flagged several transparency problems that, in the reports assessment, have contributed to an overall public distrust of the agency.

The commissioners lack of visibility in and ownership of TCEQ decision making has only inspired further frustration and distrust among both the regulated community and environmental advocates, the report said.

State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, speaks during the Sunset Advisory Commission meeting at the Texas Capitol on June 22, 2022. Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune

State Sen. Borris L. Miles, D-Houston, speaks during a Sunset Advisory Commission meeting at the Texas Capitol on June 22, 2022. Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune

First: The committees chair, state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, said the committee would work to improve the TCEQ. Last: State Sen. Borris L. Miles, D-Houston, questioned the timing and effectiveness of TCEQ public meetings during Wednesday's hearing. Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune

Sunset staff recommends greater transparency

Sunset staff recommended that the agency add a new meeting for high-profile permit applications earlier in the process, change the way the agency evaluates companies compliance history, require more public decision-making by commissioners and make information more accessible online, among other recommendations.

The concern that we heard from the public is that by the time theyre having the meeting, the TCEQ has already said the permit as drafted is appropriate, said Robert Romig, who wrote the executive summary of the Sunset Commissions report.

But few of those recommendations appeared palatable to state lawmakers serving on the Sunset Committee, who pushed back at the reports finding that the public didnt trust the agency and raised concerns that adding a new meeting to the permit review process would strain an already under-resourced agency.

State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, questioned the finding that the industry was unhappy with the environmental agency, and state Rep. Travis Clardy, R-Nacogdoches, said the Sunset staff recommendations would increase the cost to do business in Texas.

We will see more bureaucracy, Clardy said. More regulation is going to be more expensive for individuals and companies.

Democrat lawmakers from Houston who attended the hearing emphasized the disproportionate impact of pollution on communities of color and characterized experiences with the agency as frustrating and often fruitless.

Our experience is that unfortunately the TCEQ rubber stamps these applications, said state Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston. [Texas] has neutered our local governments from allowing them to regulate these industries.

State Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, said one of the most frustrating aspects of TCEQ meetings is that the permits are already drafted and cant be easily changed regardless of what the public tells the agency.

Whats the point of a public meeting? he asked, adding that he supports the Sunset staffs recommendation of holding public meetings earlier in the process.

In a letter responding to the report, TCEQ Executive Director Toby Baker wrote that the agency questions some of the word choices and opinions in the report, but welcomed the opportunity to improve. The TCEQ said it agreed with many of the Sunset Commissions recommendations, including more transparency, especially in improving its website.

During committee testimony, TCEQ Commissioner Jon Niermann said he wants the agency to be better. We want to do a better job of communicating with the public, he said. We want to be more transparent.

But he also said some of the Sunset staffs recommendations  including altering the agencys compliance history formula to require the agency to include minor violations when considering issuing permits  would be a more heavy-handed or punitive approach. Such changes, he said, would require more money and staff.

The committees chair, state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, said lawmakers have some concerns about the Sunset Commissions report, but would work to better the agency.

I respect the report, he said. There are certain areas people have concerns about, and I have concern about, but I think we are all going to view it in the light of our responsibility to fellow Texans to make sure that this regulatory agency is tuned up.

Dozens of Houston residents arrived at the Texas Capitol to testify at the Sunset Advisory Committee meeting on Wednesday. Some left home as early as 4:30 a.m. to speak to lawmakers. Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune

Houston residents testify about pollution in communities of color

Around 100 residents from Houston attended the Wednesday hearing  many boarded buses as early as 4:30 a.m. Wednesday  to speak about their frustration with the agencys permitting of concrete batch plants and other industrial pollution in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods.

The agencys permits for concrete batch plants became a point of contention during the hearing: Democratic lawmakers peppered Niermann with questions about the agencys decision-making process.

The facilities pollute the air with particulate matter, which increases the risk of asthma attacks and cardiac arrest if too much is inhaled, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Residents near such plants  often built in areas populated by communities of color  also complain about the noise and traffic from heavy trucks driving through their neighborhoods.

TCEQ regulates the air pollution and water runoff from the plants, but cities and local entities regulate other aspects, including where the plant is allowed to locate and how much noise it can make. Outside of cities where there are few zoning regulations, residents say plants have sprung up near their homes, parks and churches.

Niermann said he believes the location of batch plants is determined by economics and the need for services, and disputed some Democrats assessment that the agencys permitting decisions could be racist.

I do not relish in permitting a concrete batch plant next to a school, but we dont choose the site, Niermann said. That decision belongs with the business owner.

He said the TCEQ has never done an analysis as to whether there is a correlation between race and pollution sources.

Sandra Harper Scott, a community advocate with We The People, gives her testimony at a hearing for the TCEQ at the state capitol in Austin on June 22, 2022. Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune

Joetta Stevenson, president of the Greater Fifth Ward Neighborhood in Houston, prepares her testimony during a hearing for the TCEQ at the state capitol in Austin on June 22, 2022. Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune

First: Sandra Harper Scott, a community advocate with We The People, testified before the Sunset Advisory Commission about the TCEQ. Last: Joetta Stevenson, president of the Greater Fifth Ward Neighborhood in Houston, prepares her testimony. Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune

During public testimony  which lasted four hours  Black and Latino residents called on legislators to require the agency to be more accountable to the public.

Listen to the people that have come to you today and continue to come, said Sandra Harper Scott, 66, a Houston resident who lives in Acres Homes. She said her community has dealt with several concrete batch plants and other industrial sites that contribute to unhealthy air quality. We have asked you, begged you, to help. This House has to help us.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
franckreporter/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Don't expect to buy the rockets with sticks, colloquially known as "bottle rockets," or the rockets with fins from fireworks stands this July 4 in Bexar County.

The Bexar Commissioners Court issued an order on Tuesday prohibiting the sale of those rockets as high heat keeps the area in a heavy drought period, says Fire Marshal Chris Lopez.
U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, was among the members of Congress who asked former President Donald Trump for a pardon after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, according to a testimony shown at a hearing Thursday by the House committee investigating the attack.

Cassidy Hutchinson, the former aide to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, told the committee that Gohmert asked for the pardon. The other Republicans who asked for pardons were Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.

The only reason I know to ask for a pardon is because you think youve committed a crime, said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, who is one of two Republicans on the House committee.

Gohmert was mentioned several times during Thursdays hearing, which focused on the coordinated effort by Trump and his allies to convince the Justice Department to investigate voter fraud and help overturn election results.

His chief of staff was copied on an email that included allies of Trump saying Vice President Mike Pence would benefit greatly from a briefing by John Eastman, the architect of the plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

Ken Blackwell, a former secretary of state of Ohio, wrote the email on Dec. 28, 2020. It also referenced Ken Klukowski, a former White House lawyer who joined the Justice Department in December 2020.

The revelations are the strongest connections yet established by the committee between a Texas lawmaker and the efforts to undermine Bidens presidency.

The committee also showed a video of Gohmert targeting Justice Department officials for not investigating the unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud.

Theres widespread evidence of fraud because people havent done their jobs, Gohmert said in the clip shot on Dec. 3, 2020. [John] Durham and [William] Barr will deserve a big notation in history when its written of the rise and fall of the United States if they dont clean up this mess, clean up the fraud. Do your jobs and save this little experiment in self-government.

Barr, Trumps former attorney general, has said multiple times that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud, despite Trumps insistence to the contrary.

Gohmert was early to speak out against the results of the 2020 election.

He joined a brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to discard the votes in four swing states  Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin  that helped hand Biden the presidency. He also sued Pence days before Jan. 6, 2021, arguing Pence should assert unilateral control over the certification of the election results.

Days before the Jan. 6 attack, the U.S. Capitol Police flagged comments by Gohmert as potentially inciting violence. Speaking on the conservative news network Newsmax, Gohmert said that letting President Joe Bidens electoral win stand would mean the end of our republic, the end of the experiment in self-government.

Gohmert also said on air, The ruling would be that you got to go to the streets and be as violent as Antifa and [Black Lives Matter]. He later said he was not advocating for violence.

During the insurrection, Gohmert urged people to not be violent. Hours later, Gohmert was among the members of Congress to vote against the certification of the election results in Pennsylvania and Arizona.

Gohmert did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Yves here. Even though our alert readers have taken note of Lithuanias blockade of Kaliningrad, which is part of Russia, the Western press has largely ignored it, despite the move having generated a great deal of anger in Russia. Yes, its not a full blockade; Lithuania says its only barring shipments (first by rail but now also by truck) of goods included in the EUs fifth sanctions package. Those amount to about half the transit amounts and are allegedly skewed towards building materials. However, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova indicated that food shipments are being turned back too. If so, I havent seen any mention in the Western press.

In addition, one has to wonder if all transiting items will be inspected, meaning an important aim is also to impede the movement of everything going between Russia and Russia, um Russia and Kaliningrad.

Note Russian and Kaliningrad officials have said they can move the sanctioned goods by sea and have told citizens in Kaliningrad not to panic and stockpile. But the fact that Russia can organize workarounds doesnt change the fact that this move is a violation of the treaty recognizing Lithuanias independence.

The fellows at the Duran discussed Lithuania and Kaliningrad yesterday and speculated that the US would not come and help. As Helmer explains, the big powers are already making clear they are not dirtying their hands. This then begs the question of why Lithuania stuck its neck out this far. Did it misread signals from the EU or get them from a hawk who was not fully authorized to send them?

By John Helmer who has been the longest continuously serving foreign correspondent in Russia, and the only western journalist to have directed his own bureau independent of single national or commercial ties. Helmer has also been a professor of political science, and advisor to government heads in Greece, the United States, and Asia. Originally published at http://johnhelmer.net/exile/#more-48049 rel=nofollow>Dances with Bears

The action the Lithuanian government implemented over the weekend to stop Russian trains carrying sanctioned cargos into Kaliningrad is regarded in Moscow as a long anticipated move, prompted among Lithuanian officials by the British government. The initial Lithuanian embargo action has been followed by a second one this week extending the blockade to trucks and road transport. Neither action has been publicly announced by the Lithuanian government.

The first news came from Anton Alikhanov, the governor of the Russian oblast of Kaliningrad, following a notice sent to him by Lithuanian officials. That notice has not been published.

Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda (lead image) has said nothing.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte announced through the British Broadcasting Corporation that the blockade was not a blockade because only some cargoes were halted, and because Lithuania is complying with the sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russia for its aggression and war against Ukraine  . She also told the British state radio it was important not to overreact.

She tweeted: Any talk of a blockade of Kaliningrad is a lie. Lithuania is complying with the sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia for its aggression and war against Ukraine. The sanctions were agreed by all the EU member states on March 15. Passenger transit is also taking place, under a special agreement by the EU, RU, & LT. Steel and ferrous metal products account for only around 1% of the total rail freight to Kaliningrad via LT.

In the three days which have followed the Lithuanian action, the US and British Governments, the European Union (EU), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have not supported the Lithuanian blockade.

The Russian Security Council met on Wednesday morning, but issued no statement on Lithuania. The Secretary of the Council, Nikolai Patrushev, who was in Kaliningrad on Tuesday, had announced there that the consequences will have a serious negative impact on the population of Lithuania.

Yesterday, at the same time as President Vladimir Putin was chairing the Security Council meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced it is delaying concrete measures in reaction: The measures will not be diplomatic, but practical, they are now being worked out in an interdepartmental format, We are not talking about this not because we are hiding something, but because the process of their coordination and elaboration is underway. I would like to emphasize once again (the third time for todays briefing): we have told the European Union and Lithuania about the need to change the steps they have taken. Perhaps something from that side will be changed, and, accordingly, our reaction will be different.

Here is a compilation of the official documents.

The US State Department, June 21:

Source: https://www.state.gov/

QUESTION: (Inaudible) about the tensions around Kaliningrad. What do you make of the statements from Russia threatening of serious consequences and the train?

MR PRICE: Well, we arent going to speculate on how Russian saber-rattling or Russian bluster  dont even want to give it additional airtime. We have been very clear over the course of Russias war against Ukraine, and in fact well before Russia began its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, that our commitment to NATO and specifically our commitment to NATOs Article 5, the premise that an attack on one would constitute at attack on all, that commitment on the part of the United States is ironclad. Not only have we made that clear rhetorically, but together with NATO and with our own announcements of troop posture adjustments, we have reinforced our commitment to the NATO Alliance. We have reinforced NATOs eastern flank, especially those countries who have been at the forefront of Russian threats over the course, in many cases, of many years.

We, of course, appreciate the unprecedented economic measures that many countries around the world, dozens of countries across continents that our allies and our partners, including in this case Lithuania, have joined us in taking against Russia for its unprovoked war in Ukraine. Of course, would refer you to Lithuania regarding its enforcement of EU sanctions.

QUESTION: So you fully support Lithuanian enforcement of the sanctions and against any threat from Russia?

MR PRICE: Lithuania is a member of the NATO Alliance. We stand by the commitments that we have made to the NATO Alliance. That includes, of course, a commitment to Article 5 that is the bedrock of the NATO Alliance. This is a campaign that includes dozens of countries around the world, including blocs of countries, in this case the EU but also individual countries using their national authorities. Lithuania has been a stalwart partner in this. We stand by NATO. We stand by our NATO Allies, and we stand by Lithuania.

The UK Government, June 20-21:

The British Government issued no official statement on Lithuania and Kaliningrad except through editorial comments published by the BBC. The Foreign Secretary, Elizabeth Truss, has issued these statements:

Source: https://twitter.com/trussliz/

Source: https://twitter.com/NikkiHaley/

The European Union (EU) has been silent.

The EU President, Ursula von der Leyen, has issued these statements:

June 22 -- https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/

June 21 -- https://twitter.com/vonderleyen

June 20 -- https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/

NATO has been silent.

A NATO summit meeting is scheduled in Madrid next week, June 28-30. There is no reference to Lithuania on the agenda. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has issued this statement:

June 21 -- https://twitter.com/jensstoltenberg

Russian statements:

Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, June 20: This decision is truly unprecedented. It is a violation of absolutely everything. We understand that this is due to the relevant decision of the European Union  to extend sanctions to transit. We also consider it illegal. The situation is really very serious, and it requires a very deep analysis before preparing any measures or any decisions. This thorough analysis will be carried out over the next few days. Its an element of the blockade, of course. I repeat once again: we need a serious, in-depth analysis in order to hammer out response decisions.

Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, in Kaliningrad on June 21. Russia will certainly respond to such hostile actions. Appropriate measures are being worked out in an interdepartmental format and will be taken in the near future. Their consequences will have a serious negative impact on the population of Lithuania.



Kaliningrad Governor Anton Alikhanov  June 21.

Source: https://www.spb.kp.ru/

The Kaliningrad region was in a blockade due to the sanctions of Lithuania, which banned the transit of some goods from Kaliningrad to Russia and back. This decision affected building materials, metals, cement, oil, petroleum products, elite alcohol, caviar and other goods. But Kaliningrad does not despair. Now these and other cargoes will be redirected by the authorities of the region not via Lithuanian railways, but through the ports of St. Petersburg. KP-Petersburg learned the details personally from the Governor Anton Alikhanov.

 Today, the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, arrived in Kaliningrad, at a meeting with whom you just discussed the sanctions imposed?

 Yes, during a personal meeting with Nikolai Platonovich, we discussed issues of energy, transport security of the region, as well as information security, including ensuring our stable connection with the main territory of the Russian Federation. Then the Security Council itself dealt with border policy, and we have discussed projects within the framework of cross-border cooperation programs that we had with the European Union until recently.

 Did you discuss that the situation is threatening? Or vice versa  is everything stable?

 I would not paint any picture of the disaster. In fact, within the framework of the same Security Council, we made decisions to strengthen the transport security of our region. And the decisions of those past years have given us the opportunity to feel confident enough now. We have additional transportation capacities that are already involved: these are four vessels that are already on the line. The fifth new vessel is coming into operation on Friday. And even taking into account the aggressive actions of our neighbours, we have full confidence that we will be able to redistribute traffic flows so that the sanctioned cargo that they do not allow through their territory will be directed to the sea lanes connecting our region with St. Petersburg. This, of course, is extremely unpleasant, inconvenient in some sense, but we do not see anything catastrophic in this. We were ready for such nastiness.

 Nikolai Patrushev says that we will respond harshly. What are the possible answers?

 Look. I think that it is not in my competence to voice the answers, but I assure you that there are a great many such options. And, unfortunately for the Baltic states, their transport complex is extremely dependent on cooperation with the Russian Federation, both in transit and cargo base issues. I think the answers can be extremely devastating in terms of the consequences. And I really hope that, taking into account this situation, taking into account the consequences that may arise for this industry, the decision of European countries will be changed; and that Kaliningrad transit will not be restricted as the [Lithuanians] have restricted it at the moment.

 Additional vessels from St. Petersburg: how many will there be, and when will they go?

 The first additional vessel Kholmogory will be released on Friday. This is a vessel of the Northern Shipping Company. This company is ready to put several more vessels on the route, depending on our needs. We are currently working with them, studying how much we need, because we will reorient some of the goods, some of the cargo that are not subject to sanctions, from the sea ferry crossing to the usual railway tracks. And in this way we will free up capacity for the transportation of sanctioned cargo on existing ferries. Therefore, it is quite difficult to say exactly the number of new vessels.

Nevertheless, the new vessel is already leaving the port of Bronka  from St. Petersburg to us in Kaliningrad. And over the next few weeks we will be bringing on line the new vessels. The maximum that we thought we may require is seven vessels. But I think that in reality the figure will be less, due to the fact that some of the sanctioned goods are already being carried by ferries, and some of the non-sanctioned ones will free up space. We need a maximum of seven vessels, but perhaps, in fact, we will need three or four.

 Will they all go from St. Petersburg and Leningrad region?

 Yes. These vessels will carry sanctioned cargo  coal, fuel, metal structures, metals, cement. These are the main gazetted cargoes, and the sanctions also cover the finished products which are exported from our region  these are automotive components, cars, trucks, dump trucks that we produce here, as well as the production of chemical products.

 Explain to ordinary people  is it more expensive to carry ships?

 You know, there are different ways for different cargoes. But our task, and we are currently working on this issue, is to ensure that the cost of sea transportation is similar to the tariffs that apply on the railway.

 That is, we used to pay to the European Union, and now we will pay to our ports?

 The wording is controversial for me personally, I will not confirm or deny it. But I can say that when the money stays in Russia and does not go to the Lithuanians, as it seems, it is good in any case.

 So we can also win?

 Yes, of course. As a result I think we wont lose.

 Will the sanctions hit Lithuania harder or us?

 Listen, these sanctions have already hit Lithuania. The payment for rail transit for Lithuania, in general, the economy of Lithuanian railways is one of the cornerstones of their budget, so for them it is also such a boomerang. Not to mention the potential retaliatory steps of the Russian Federation in relation to the Lithuanian transport sector. Therefore, I am sure that they are not happy about what is happening.

 How much will they lose approximately?

 Im not going to name it now, Im afraid to be inaccurate. But yesterday I was talking about alcohol labeling  if, for example, we say that we refuse to take alcohol, which they label there. Supposing we allow it to be labeled only on our territory as part of an experiment that is being conducted on behalf of the president, then our estimates were such that this is about 300 million of turnover, which we can take from them and transfer to the Russian Federation. I believe that this money will be an additional source for equalizing the ferry costs.

 Have the Lithuanians themselves contacted you?



 No, God forbid, they have curtailed all types of contacts with us since 2012, unfortunately. Thats why they havent contacted me for a long time.

 Were you forbidden to carry only alcohol, truffles and caviar from the products?

 It is necessary to look at alcohol, they banned only luxury. It doesnt mean all the alcohol. Relatively speaking, Italian and French wines continue to be supplied.

 Will it affect tourists?

 No. The sun is shining, tourists are walking around the city, we are waiting for everyone, you are welcome. Everything is fine with us, we live in a normal mode. This situation will not affect tourists at all.

 What is the percentage that these sanctions will be lifted?

 Its like in the famous joke: What percentage of the probability that you will meet a dinosaur on the street? 50-50, either you will meet or not. Its about the same with the Lithuanian authorities. Like with a dinosaur.

Military options, June 20  Moskovsky Komsomolets

Source: https://www.mk.ru/

The scenario of a military response to Lithuania for violation of transit to Kaliningrad is revealed  perhaps diplomatic and economic measures will be enough



Lithuanias ban on transit through its territory of a large range of goods from Russia to the Kaliningrad region will affect supply of the troops deployed in the region, as well as the Baltic Fleet. Alexey Leonkov, a military analyst and editor of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, talked about whether this could fundamentally affect the combat capability of the Baltic Fleet, as well as whether Russia is ready for a military response to Lithuania.

In his opinion, Lithuanias ban on land transit, in the near future, will not significantly affect the supply of goods to the Baltic Fleet.

After all, they do not block the sea route along the Baltic, says Leonkov. And they are unlikely to take this step at all, since it would actually mean declaring war on Russia. The ban on supplies will have a greater impact on the development of the Kaliningrad region. As for our possible military response, a number of factors should be taken into account. Our Foreign Ministry has already decisively told the representatives of Lithuania and the EU that they violate the agreements that we had when Russia recognized Lithuania as an independent state. Then we were promised unhindered transit to the Kaliningrad region.

According to the expert, a military response will be the last measure that Russia will be forced to use if diplomatic and economic levers do not work in relation to Lithuania.

And we still have a lot of such economic levers in relation to Lithuania, Leonkov clarifies. Moreover, they should be applied not gradually, but immediately, so that this country would be shocked by our actions. If this does not help, then, of course, military measures will have to be applied, which will have to ensure unhindered passage to the Russian enclave.

Many believe that in this case, Article 5 of the NATO collective security treaty will have to operate. This is interpreted as a mandatory entry into the war of the entire Alliance, if an attack is made on one or more NATO countries. In fact, the wording of this article is not as unambiguous as it seems to many. It does not speak of the automatic entry into the war of the entire NATO alliance because of a single country situation. Everything is stipulated by a number of conditions. And another big question is whether NATO countries are ready to get involved in a war with Russia for the interests of Lithuania, realizing that such a war is likely to lead to a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons.

NATO TREATY ARTICLE FIVE

Source: https://www.nato.int/

Alexei Leonkov believes that in the current situation, Europe is not inclined to aggravate the situation. Moreover, Lithuania claims that it has coordinated its actions with the EU. But so far, Vilnius statements have not been officially confirmed and the Lithuanian steps have not been supported. I think, says Leonkov, that Lithuania, which staged this provocation on the initiative of the UK, will still back down after we use diplomatic and economic levers. But if they do not lead to a result, then here, as they say, if you do not want to talk to Lavrov, then you will deal with [Defense Minister Sergei] Shoigu. Ukraine has already understood this..

Other Russian options, June 21  RIA Novosti

Source: https://ria.ru/

MOSCOW, June 21  RIA Novosti, Mikhail Katkov. Vilnius has actually blocked the land transport corridor connecting mainland Russia with the Kaliningrad region. According to preliminary forecasts, supplies to the enclave may be reduced by four times, and the list of goods will be reduced by half. RIA Novosti has been looking into the situation.

Vilnius has banned the transit of sanctioned goods since June 18, stating that it has coordinated actions with the European Union. According to theGgovernor of the Kaliningrad region Anton Alikhanov, this is about 40 to 50 percent of transit cargoes, an embargo on which can lead to economic suffocation of the region.

According to Dmitry Chemakin, former vice-president of the Kaliningrad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the volume of supplies may fall four times. However, local authorities and businesses have been preparing for difficulties in advance, so they expect to avoid extremely negative scenarios. In the meantime, they plan to increase the number of ferries that will run between Ust-Luga and the Baltic. Four vessels are currently operating on the line, and another one will appear in September. In the event of a complete transport blockade of the Kaliningrad Region, about 20 vessels of different classes will be required, but even five will be enough to load the railway and ferry complex in Baltiysk by 100 percent. Spending on infrastructure development, according to Alikhanovs preliminary estimate, will amount to about ten billion rubles.

However, the speed of construction depends not only on the source and amount of financing, but also on logistics  building materials are also under sanctions. In addition, as Dmitry Lyskov, the press secretary of the governor of the Kaliningrad Region, told RIA Novosti, coal will stop being imported through Lithuania in August, and other types of fuel will stop in December.

Since the beginning of the crisis, many enterprises have started switching to ferry services, realizing that sooner or later Lithuania would close its borders. But the ships sailing to us are completely clogged, while in Ust-Luga  empty. If the sea remains the only opportunity for transit, subsidies from the federal centre will be needed. Otherwise, prices for imported goods will be very high for consumers, says Svetlana Nizhegorodova, Business Ombudsman for the Kaliningrad Region. At the same time, the human rights activist is confident that with the right number of ferries and the financial support of the carrier, the impact of sanctions on the region will be minimized.

In 2021, 50 percent of cargo reached the region by rail, 40 percent by sea, and ten percent by cars and airplanes. The fifth package of European sanctions imposed against Russia in April 2022 affected cargo transportation, but Kaliningrad was the exception. It was believed that this was due to the agreements signed in the early 2000s, under which Lithuania pledged not to interfere with supplies to the Russian exclave in order to get into the European Union. Deputy Speaker of the upper house of Parliament Konstantin Kosachev said that Lithuania violated international legal pacts when it banned the transit of goods. In addition to the agreements between Russia and the EU, he mentioned the WTO agreement on tariffs and trade and international transport conventions. The politician did not rule out that in the future the West may also violate the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, thanks to which ships come to the Kaliningrad region through neutral waters. There is a possibility that Russias opponents will do the same with the airspace, the senator believes.

Federation Council member Andrey Klimov called the blockade a direct aggression and suggested resorting to self-defense. His colleague Andrey Klishas regarded the Lithuanian restrictions as an encroachment on Russias sovereignty and considered a very tough response possible. Let them look at Ukraine and think about what other methods can be adopted on our part, Senator Sergei Tsekov said. The Russian Foreign Ministry has demanded that the Lithuanian authorities immediately lift all restrictions imposed, which Moscow considers openly hostile. Otherwise, Russia reserves the right to retaliate. At the same time, the ministry did not explain what kind of reaction there might be.

There is a popular version in the Western media that in the event of a blockade of the Kaliningrad region, Russia will break through the so-called Suwalki corridor from the territory of Belarus. Its length is about 65 kilometers direct or about 100 kilometers along the Polish-Lithuanian border. The route was named after the Polish city of Suwalki. However, experts consider the military scenario the least likely of all possible. Despite public statements, politicians and diplomats understand that an invasion of one of the NATO countries can lead to irreparable consequences, up to the outbreak of the Third World War.

Lithuania has blocked Kaliningrad on land, and we, with the support of Belarus, can respond in kind. Moreover, the entire Baltic States will suffer, local ports will be completely useless, explains Alexei Leonkov, editor of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine. Economist Leonid Khazanov agrees with him, but he suggests adding energy to the transport blockade. There is a liquefied gas processing terminal in Klaipeda. Its capacity is four billion cubic meters. If Russia stops selling blue fuel to Lithuanians, not only this enterprise, but also the entire local industry will stop without a single shot, the expert points out.

Nevertheless, experts believe that attempts to reach an agreement with the Lithuanians will lead to nothing. Any chance of success is possible only in negotiations with the European Union, where there are different views about relations with Moscow. In early April, Vilnius declared full gas independence from Moscow. However, experts do not rule out that we are talking about deliveries via pipeline, while liquefied natural gas, including Russian, was both transported and transported by sea. In addition, there are proposals to disconnect Lithuania from the single electric grid of BRELL, which also includes Russia, Belarus, Latvia and Estonia. The Baltic states were going to leave the energy system by 2025, but in this case [Russian disconnection of] Vilnius may be accelerating.

THE BALTIC ELECTRICITY GRID, BRELL

To enlarge, click on source.

The Kremlin

Source: http://en.kremlin.ru/

Russian Foreign Ministry

Source: https://www.mid.ru/

At the Foreign Ministry briefing spokesman Maria Zakharova had this to say:

Question: Do I understand correctly that there is no need to talk about concrete tough measures against Lithuania for blocking transit to the Kaliningrad region, that is, there are no concrete measures by and large.

Answer: As I said, they are being developed. This is an interdepartmental issue. Given that the measures will not be diplomatic, but practical, they are now being worked out in an interdepartmental format, we are not talking about this not because we are hiding something, but because the process of their coordination and elaboration is underway. I would like to emphasize once again (the third time for todays briefing): we have told the European Union and Lithuania about the need to change the steps they have taken. Perhaps something from that side will be changed, and, accordingly, our reaction will be different.

I would like to draw your attention (it is unlikely that you will write about this, but I would like you to quote me) that it is illogical for the European Union, its individual members, on the one hand, to say that a threat to global food security is being created, and on the other hand, to block the delivery routes of goods directly to themselves or to your continent. Either we proceed from the fact that food security for the European Union, as they say, is of fundamental importance and they care about the fate of the world, but if so, then it is necessary, at least, to free up entire sectors of the economy, logistics, transport so that they have the opportunity to work for the benefit of that very food security. How many times do you not say the word food until it reaches the consumer before he will fail to become full.

Its the same story here. Food must be transferred, delivered. It must be paid for. If all this is blocked, and now also with such a specific point solution, then what are we talking about? This applies not only to food security, but fundamentally to the humanitarian sphere.

Question: When you talk about the practical plane, is it possible to understand that we are talking about the economic plane?

Answer: When I talk about the practical plane, I mean that we are not talking about measures of a diplomatic nature, but about practical steps. Lets not get ahead of ourselves. We need to wait for the appropriate decision to be made.
Yves here. This using Nigeria as a forecast for the US is hyperbolic, since even if Roe v. Wade is overruled or narrowed, it then becomes a states-rights matter, and quite a few states will allow for abortions and many are likely to strengthen their laws. Moreover, laws by states to criminalize abortions and facilitating abortions will have no effect outside their borders.

But part of how bad things become depends on how much activists to do undermine abortion restrictions. Well see how much courage soi-disant defenders of abortions have. Will they funds sites showing how to do medical research in ways that cant be tracked? Help staff call centers in clearly safe states like California to advise women in outlaw state what their options might be? Organize transportation?

States that severely restrict abortions are unlikely to see Nigeria-scale rogue practitioners, since these, um, facilitators would be breaking the law and many of these punitive states are incentivizing bounty-hunting (as if the anti-abortionists themselves dont already act like vigilantes). You are more likely to see botched self-administered coat-hanger type procedures as well as suicides.

The movie Vera Drake illustrated that even well-intended amateur abortionists can do harm. An intervention that went awry (left the young woman sterile) was her undoing.

By Lydia Namubiru, Africa editor for openDemocracys 50.50 team who has worked as a freelance editor, reporter, data consultant and documentary producer for a variety of news organisations in Africa and internationally, including Al Jazeera, the BBC, The Continent, The New York Times, Quartz Africa and Reuters, and Yetunde Adeyeri, a broadcast journalist and multimedia storyteller who works as a producer for one of Radio Nows flagship programmes, Now Breakfast. Originally published at openDemocracy

Years after it happened, Tosin Falana still vividly remembers her friend Amaras* traumatic abortion. They were in university. She called me and said she was pregnant. She was so ashamed because we were still in school, Falana says.

Ultimately, Amara decided to terminate her pregnancy. But abortions are illegal in Nigeria and can attract prison sentences of up to 14 years unless they are done to save a pregnant persons life.

In my view, those who mostly seek abortion are young girls and poor women, says Falana, now a 38-year-old teacher in Ogun state, in the countrys southwest.

When there is food for them, children are welcome. But if there is none, ladies go for abortion.

Amara, like many others who are young and/or poor, was forced to have an abortion at a shadowy underground clinic. The next time Falana heard from her, Amara was calling to say there had been complications.

She told Falana that the health worker who performed the procedure had said it had not completely ended the pregnancy, so she would have to do it again.

Its unclear whether this was true, or if the healthcare worker was simply scamming Amara. Either way, she was subjected to multiple visits to the clinic before finally being given a clean bill of health.

A Bleak Warning

In the coming months, the United States appears poised to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling, reversing the countrys federal protections for access to abortion. The experiences of many in Nigeria offer a bleak warning of what may lie ahead.

Some 1.25 million abortions are induced in Nigeria each year, according to a 2012 estimate, with most performed at facilities like the one Amara went to.

If you want to procure abortion and you end up with a trained service provider, good. They will do the abortion very well. But most of the time, people end up with quacks, says Okai Haruna Aku, the executive director of the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria.

Aku has been practising medicine in Nigeria for the past 30 years.

He has seen many patients left with perforated wombs, foreign bodies stuck in their birth canals or sepsis after backstreet abortions  and others who have either overdosed or underdosed on abortion medication.

After all this damage, they eventually come to the hospital in a terrible state, he says.

The World Health Organisation says abortion is safe when carried out using a method recommended by WHO, appropriate to the pregnancy duration and by someone with the necessary skills.

But, as Aku says, this is often not the case when abortions are restricted. This contributes to Nigerias unenviable position of having the second-highest number of maternal deaths in the world.

Complications in pregnancy and childbirth kill around 23,500 Nigerians a year, according to WHO data on causes of death. Despite being home to only 2.64% of the worlds population, the country was responsible for 12% of the worlds pregnancy- and childbirth-related deaths in 2019, the latest year for which this data is available.

Nigerias public health system will deal with abortion patients only when they experience complications. All too often, that is when its too late, or nearly so.

In a 2019 study, researchers examined the 5,779 admissions for abortive complications at 42 major hospitals across Nigeria in a single year and found that 8% of these people nearly died (366 patients) or died (78 patients).

Despite patients with abortive complications representing only 5.8% of the admissions to maternity wards, they made up 18% of those that suffered severely and 8% of those that died.

Of all the patients admitted to the wards, the fatality rate was worst for those with abortion-related infections, with almost a fifth dying.

Abortions in the US

Already, despite Roe v Wade, more than 1,000 laws or regulations restricting access to abortion were enacted in the United States, say researchers from Tulane University, who have examined how these policies impact maternal mortality. Some 483 of these restrictions were enacted in the past decade.

If Roe v Wade is indeed overturned, as a memo leaked last month suggested it will be, states will be free to set their own abortion laws. Recent trends suggest that many will pass very restrictive legislation.

This is likely to have fatal consequences. The Tulane researchers found that, between 2015 and 2018, states with higher abortion restrictions had a 7% increase in total maternal mortality.

We found that two abortion restrictions  requirement for licensed physician and prohibitions against use of Medicaid funds to pay for abortion care  are particularly prominent potential contributors to maternal death risk, the researchers report, published last September, says.

Today, around 800 people in the US die from pregnancy and childbirth complications each year, putting the worlds second-richest nation at 60th out of the 184 countries for which the WHO published mortality data in 2019. Clearly, this is not a situation that needs to get any worse.

*Names have been changed
Yves here. Particularly on the licensing of Covid vaccines, there had been a big push, even from health experts in wealthy countries, to liberalize WTO intellectual property rules to allow for more widespread manufacture at cheaper prices. Of course that and other enlightened initiatives came to naught.

By Deborah James, Director of International Programs , Center for Economic and Policy Research. Originally published at the Institute of New Economic Thinking website

ast weeks WTO 12thMinisterial Conference (MC12) in Geneva concluded with pro-corporate, anti-worker, and anti-development outcomes on all major issues of access to medicines, agriculture, digital trade, and the future of the WTO itself. The spin of unprecedented outcomes of MC12 is a cynical ploy to paper over major differences to bolster the institutions flailing reputation.

The agreements should herald a warning to all: rich country governments professing new commitments to sustainable and worker-centered trade are just as likely to push anti-development outcomes and cosmetic window-dressing when it comes to protecting Big Business profits above the public interest. Their version of WTO reform will facilitate the further deterioration of multilateralism and cement-in discredited pro-corporate rules on globalization.

MC12: Setting the Scenario

Developing countries made several key demands in advance of MC12: to put flexibility to address the global health crisis ahead of excessive protection of intellectual property rights for Big Pharma and deal with the ongoing food security crisis by adopting new flexibilities on harmful agricultural rules. Most of their interests were defensive, trying to deal with problems in existing WTO rules, as detailed in Looking towards WTO MC12: Whats on the table for developing countries and LDCs [Least Developed Countries]?

In advance of MC12, global union federationspublished a united statement: the WTO Reform should focus on inclusion: put workers interests first, bring corporate power under democratic control, and deliver on the development mandate agreed upon in Doha. (It failed on all accounts.)

Leading into MC12, the Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS) global network of civil society organizations (CSOs) held a press briefingto help journalists understand the real issues on agriculture and fish subsidies to access to medicines, development, and WTO reform that were being glossed over in the WTOs official statements.

On the opening day of MC12, CSOs received a rude shock with the unprecedented act of being banned from the premisesduring a ministerial. Fortunately, they had organized a press conference including a dozen activists from around the worldto testify to the importance of the broad range of issues on the table. The briefing garnered some of the only press coverage for little-known issues like WTO reformduring the ministerial meeting.

Civil society participants in Geneva for the MC12 later held a demonstration at the Place des Nations. Some activists were then harassed by the policefor holding banners or wearing t-shirts that called for a genuine response to Covid-19 and action to stop big fishing fleets from decimating fish stocks, even when they were standing outside of the 200-meter perimeter around the WTO.

Anticipating a hard week of talks and few potential benefits for workers, farmers, or the public interest in any country, activists with the global Our World Is Not for Sale network staged a lively mic check protestthe first day they were allowed inside. Using a call and response format they called for positive outcomes on development, access to medicines, agriculture, and fisheries, while denouncing the corporate agenda of continuing Big Pharma monopolies, fake WTO reform, and other issues.

Waiver or Non-Waiver

The most devastating outcome of MC12 for the world is the failure of WTO members to remove obstacles created by the WTO to help resolve the pandemic by adopting a comprehensive waiver of intellectual property (IP) restrictions on vaccines, treatments, and tests related to Covid-19 within the WTOs Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) agreement.

The WTOs IP rules are the opposite of free trade  they restrict trade by protecting monopolies, eliminating competition, and driving up prices. South Africa and India, along with 60 co-sponsors and supported by over 100 developing countries, proposed a waiver on these invented protections so that countries in the global South can manufacture their own vaccines, treatments, and tests. Groups across developing and developed countries like the Peoples Vaccine Alliancehave mobilized a massive campaign on this issue for nearly two years.

The EU, Switzerland, and the UK worked diligently throughout the Ministerial to include even more restrictions and limitations in the agreement. They violently oppose any recognition that IP rules have posed any challenges during the pandemic, even though only a fraction of people in poor countries have access to Covid-19 vaccines, let alone treatments or tests.

Civil society organizations denounced the (in)action of the EU, UK, US, and Switzerland for stalling any effective action in the WTO during the entire Covid-19 pandemic by staging a first-ever die-in in the WTO. One by one, activists symbolically died as they explained how these four members prioritized patents over vaccines, leading to millions of deaths around the world. CSOs in countries like South Africaand Indonesialobbied their governments heavily to stay strong while those in countries like the UK, Switzerland, Australia, the US, and across Europe pressured governments to put lives over profit.

Other geopolitical factors complicated the issue. Negotiations were extended into the night so the U.S. and China could find a landing zone on eligibility to use any IP flexibilities, as the US demanded clear language that excluded China.

What was agreed was not a real waiver, due to EU, US, UK, and Swiss determination to protect Big Pharmas profits. The agreement only grants a limited flexibility on one provision; excludes all forms of IP except patents; excludes treatments and tests; and requires far more intrusive monitoring and reporting than the existing rules (among other excessive restrictions), resulting in a TRIPS-plus agreement rather than a real waiver. The final text on this issue even states that developing countries with existing capacity to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines are encouraged to make a binding commitment not to avail themselves of this agreement. So, any country with the capacity to manufacture is supposed to agree not to use the agreement?

The Medicines sans Frontieres (MSF) headline best summarized the outcome: Inability to agree a real pandemic intellectual property Waiver at WTO is a devastating global failure for people the world over. The agreement does not adequately waive intellectual rights on all essential COVID-19 medical tools, and it does not apply to all countries. The measures outlined in the decision will not address pharmaceutical monopolies or ensure affordable access to lifesaving medical tools and will set a negative precedent for future global health crises and pandemics, according to MSF.

A second Covid-related declaration on the WTO response to the Covid-19 pandemic and preparedness for future pandemics was designed as a fig leaf for the utter failure of the WTO to remove its own obstacles to resolving the pandemic and will not save one human life from Covid-19.

Instead of addressing WTO constraints to the pandemic, the declaration presents a false narrative that current WTO rules supported rather than hindered the response to the pandemic. It actually promotes further liberalization as a solution to pandemics and suggests that unilateral liberalization and regulations should be locked at a standstill as a way to address pandemics; fortunately, the false solutions indicated do not appear to be enforceable.

Thats why already around 300 labor, health, and other organizations have condemned the lack of a real waiver at the WTO, criticized those responsible, and urged governments to take action outside of the WTO, whether they promise not to endorse IP rules (in developed countries) or for all countries to work harder to save lives, including by using existing flexibilities, circumventing rules or defying them when needed. CSOs in South Africa have already put forward a clear path of how this can be implemented on the national level.

Exclusionary Processes

The final package of deals this week was only possible because the majority of WTO members were excluded from the decision-making process. Rather than conduct the negotiations according to the rules and procedures of the WTO, the Director-General (DG) convened exclusive Green Rooms in which certain delegations were invited to negotiate, with the majority excluded. In these green rooms, developed countries are present individually whereas the vast majority of developing countries are only present through group coordinators, such as the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) group or the LDC group. This configuration leaves out the majority of Latin American and Asian countries, and consigns nearly 50 members to one voice, with only a few other developing countries in the room to face off to an often-unified front of rich country obstinance. At some points even entire groups were excluded: the LDC coordinator was not in the negotiations on the Ministerial Outcome Declaration; India was excluded from some of the green room talks on fisheries negotiations.

Civil society representatives at the ministerial also heard delegations repeatedly complain about the WTO Director Generals extensive bullying and intimidation tactics. In the case of at least one African country resisting on a particular issue, the DG actually called the president of his country! In another, the DG came off the podium (where she was not supposed to be presiding) and verbally dressed down a delegate representing his countrys position in front of the entire room. There have been many complaints about bullying at previous WTO ministerialconferences, but the number of complaints heard by CSOs from developing countries that the DG had harassed their delegation into conforming was totally without precedent.

Civil society groups highlighted the exclusion issue in their action on the second day by creating a visual representation of the Green Room with developed countries inside negotiating. Those representing excluded developing countries chanted Let us in! Let us in! to which rich countries retorted you are not invited, repeated by security guards.

The DG and other Chairs of negotiations orchestrating the ministerial used several other exclusion tactics. Members received four of the texts that had been negotiated by small groups in Green Rooms only in English, at 1:30 in the morning. After multiple postponements, the Heads of Delegations (HODs) meeting, with all members, was convened but postponed again at 3:22 AM for another half hour. After many delays, by 4:59 AM messages were sent that everything had been agreed upon. Delegates received the other three texts (the TRIPS non-waiver, fisheries subsidies, and the e-commerce moratorium) only hours later, after they had been gaveled through by the Chair in front of ministers representing perhaps half of the membership.

There are good reasons to doubt the legality of these procedures under the WTOs rules. The exclusionary unrepresentative processes behind the celebrated MC12 Packageshould be taken up at the WTO by members. Unfortunately, the new DG is now celebrating her machinations as effective deal-making. Evidently, if breaking the rules and procedures of the institution is required for its expansion, she is ready and able to take on that role.

Fisheries Subsidies

WTO members were mandated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to agree to reduce fishing subsidies that have resulted in a collapse of fish stocks worldwide. This mandate also includes an affirmation that developing countries need flexibilities, called special and differential treatment in the WTO, to continue fishing for sustenance and livelihoods.

Unfortunately, the draft agreement that Ministers considered for the Ministerial was short on both counts. The Pacific Network on Globalizationand TWNprovided extensive research on the negative impacts of the potential fishing subsidies disciplines for small fisherfolk and developing countries. They revealed how the draft Ministerial text let the biggest subsidizers responsible for the collapse in fish stocks globally off the hook regarding subsidy reductions. At the same time, the draft agreement would have jeopardized small-scale fishers access to tiny subsidies that are critical for their livelihoods, and harm developing countries rights under international law to develop this sector for sustenance and livelihoods.

Over 80 civil society groups wrote a lettercalling on Ministers to make sure that any outcome on fisheries subsidies negotiations targets those who have the greatest historical responsibility for overfishing and stock depletion, excludes all small-scale fishers from any subsidy prohibitions, prevents the WTO from ruling on the validity of conservation and management measures of members, and upholds the sovereign rights of countries under UNCLOS [the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea].

Indonesian CSOs also wrote a letterto their government urging them not to approve the current fisheries subsidy text as it will jeopardize the livelihoods and food security of fisherfolks and the fisheries sector as a whole. The Indian National Fishworkers Forumsent a similar letter calling on the government to reject the text on the table.

The US had introduced a provision on forced labor in the fishing industry, focused on China. Workers in seafood processing on ships are some of the most exploited in the world, according to the International Union of Foodworkers, which has long advocated in the International Labor Organization (ILO) for their protection against horrendous violations of their rights and lives.

Some developing countries do not agree with the introduction of labor rules in the WTO, as developed countries often use these as protectionist measures. In this case, it is particularly striking that the US has not signed the ILO convention on forced labor, because of the extensive use of forced labor in prisons, which is also a corporate subsidy. In the end, the issue was dropped, likely for some other trade-off.

Under what was agreed at MC12, there are new disciplines on subsidies for boats on the high seas in areas of common jurisdiction. But the final text is unbalanced overall, and major areas of the proposed agreement were set aside.

The fundamental flaw in the agreement is that large subsidizers, responsible for the collapse of stocks, are allowed to maintain subsidies provided the fishing is within the waters of any countrys jurisdiction. They are also able to subsidize fishing overfished stocks provided they can demonstrate that there are sustainable measures in place. Those countries with the most responsibility for overfishing that is causing the collapse in fish stocks will be let off the hook, as they not only have the financial resources to continue subsidizing but also have extensive monitoring and measurement capacities.

Most flexibilities for developing countries were removed, as explained in Special and Differential Treatment takes a beating in the new Draft Fisheries Text submitted to Ministers for WTO MC12. The provisions disciplining subsidies for Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing extend the flexibility for developing countries to 200 nautical miles (from the previous proposal of an insufficient 12) but only for a paltry two years. This is far less than needed for developing countries to build capacity for extensive burdensome monitoring requirements, especially when these subsidies do not contribute to collapsed stocks.

A strange new provision will keep the talks going: WTO members must continue to negotiate these aspects towards a comprehensive agreement in four years, otherwise the partial agreement ceases to be in force.

As PANG concluded in, What does the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement mean for sustainability and development?The agreement remains fundamentally flawed and in favor of those countries with large capacity for subsidizing and reporting. Its failure to target those most historically responsible for overfishing is ensuring that the burdens of the agreement are being carried by those least responsible. The minimalist SDT only offers a brief peace clause, which fails the mandate of the SDG. Finally, the lack of commitments on technical assistance and capacity building represents a failure to ensure that developing countries and LDCs are able to meet the burdens of this text, instead, we will see resources being diverted from elsewhere. This text fails the mandate.

Sustainability and fisherfolk advocates will need to ramp up their campaigning to improve the outcome in the coming negotiations.

Agriculture

Along with the TRIPS waiver, developing countries second key demand was to be able to invest more in their own domestic production to promote food security, for which they need flexibility from harmful WTO rules which place handcuffs on their ability to subsidize food production for the poor. Years ago, a coalition of developing countries won a conditional, temporary reprieve on public stockholding programs  and were promised a permanent solution by this Ministerial. OWINFS members in India provide further details: Agriculture and food security negotiations text at WTO MC12: Implications for developing countries.

A unified push by around 80 developing countries in advance of the ministerial should have resulted in a positive outcome for a permanent solution to allow them the freedom to engage in public stockholding practices, so these countries can increase production and feed their own poor.

Again, rich countries  who subsidize their farmers hundreds of times more per farmer than developing countries subsidize  blocked this outcome. There is no affirmation of the importance of resolving this mandated life or death issue in the outcome texts.

But the current food price crisis since the Russian invasion of Ukraine necessitated some response from the WTO. Instead of loosening WTO rules to promote more production, rich countries called for more restrictions on the domestic mechanism of export bans that some countries use during food crises. Export bans can be harmful, but are necessary in some countries to keep critical domestic food stocks from flowing out to the highest bidder.

In the end, the two decisions taken at MC12  framed as addressing the crisis of food insecurity  fail to address the core issue, instead exhorting countries not to ban food exports. They ignore the fundamental problems driving price spirals in food trade due to speculation in food trading, and the over-use of grains for fuel and animal feed, both of which originate in rich countries and are problems they could solve without resorting to the WTO.

Farmers and workers in all countries are harmed by existing WTO rules, which must be transformed for the farmers and workers of tomorrow to grow up adequately nourished and with hopes of decent nutrition and livelihoods.

E-commerce Duties Moratorium

Early in the internet age, a few rich countries got a deal that normal customs duties on trade would not apply to the barely understood electronic transmissions. This agreement represents a loss of potential revenue of $48 billion USD for developing countries and $8 billion USD in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), roughly, since the last time it was extended in 2017. This is according to a recent study, WTO moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions: How much tariff revenue have developing countries lost? by an economist at the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). To put this in context, with a combined population of around one billion, LDCs needed approximately $4 billion USD to finance two shots of the cheapest Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

With no clarity on the definition of electronic transmissions, the continuation of the moratorium is not only depriving developing countries of their precious financial resources but is also taking away their regulatory power as unchecked imports of luxury items like video games, movies, and music are rising rapidly leading to an exponential rise in the profits of digital giants like the Apple and Amazon, according to the author of the study.

But why should Netflix, Apple, and Amazon enjoy duty-free exports to Uganda or Bolivia or Indonesia, while most countries non-digitalized film, music, and booksellers have to pay normal import duties, which help fund public infrastructure and services to a far greater extent in developing countries? Thats why many developing countries, including Pakistan, South Africa, and Indonesia especially, fought to end the tax-free holiday for Big Tech. Countries hosting Big Tech firms are now attempting to stave off this resistance by redefining these transactions as digital services which dont attract tariffs in the way that goods do, as a backdoor way to expand the coverage of the moratorium manifold.

Big Tech yanked the chain of the EU (and likely the US) during MC12, conjuring up rich fantasies about e-commerce collapsing if it had to compete on a level playing field. In the end, it got its way, and the moratorium was extended. Developing countries including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia were able to secure expiration date of the next Ministerial or March 2024, unless it is extended. There is likely to be even more momentum towards its expiration next time.

U.S. Ambassador Tais tweet celebrating this outcome was striking. Why would an administration that is supposedly focused on reining in Big Tech toss them such a huge bone at the expense of workers? The administration did nothing at the Ministerial to concretely advance workers interests  but maintained strong stances on agriculture, fisheries, and development that consign millions of poor around the world to ignominious impoverishment.

WTO Reform

In their respective pre-Ministerial Briefings, both the DG and the EU stated that Paragraph 3 of the Ministerial Outcome Document, on WTO reform, was their primary goal for MC12. They achieved it. The subtext of their agenda is a clear plan to weaken the structure of multilateral and consensus decision-making at the WTO in favor of increasing corporate participation and debilitating developing countries limited power.

When the WTO was founded in 1995, developing countries never would have agreed to allow its formation without flexibilities and promises to address many of its harmful rules which obviously favored rich countries and their corporations at the expense of their development. These flexibilities are called Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) in the WTO. Within the first few years, it became obvious that the flexibilities were inadequate and the promises were unfulfilled. After developing countries resisted a WTO-expansion at Seattle in 1999, members agreed in Doha in 2021 to include a development agenda to address these inequities and strengthen and operationalize SDT.

Even that Doha development agenda was a compromise. But it offered the possibility for developing countries to weaken WTO rules that constrain their ability to build domestic manufacturing or agricultural production, and to regulate and support local services. In more than 20 years since then, the US and the EU have blocked conclusion of these reform demands, and now even refuse to recognize the agenda.

At the same time, Big Business has complained that the WTOs rules on consensus and SDT have blocked the WTOs development of disciplines on public interest regulation of investment and new services and digital sectors, among others. They tried to finesse the WTOs processes with a Trade in Services Agreement and failed. At the last ministerial conference, a group of hyper-neoliberal countries launched so-called Joint Statement Initiatives, then set about negotiating new plurilateral agreements among themselves that they plan to globalize through the WTO. Developing countries that are convinced to participate have no influence in this process. The first agreement, to handcuff public interest regulation of services, aims to set a precedent for many more to come.

Other parts of the WTO have been deliberately collapsed, notably the US-enforced paralysis of the dispute settlement system.

Into this scenario, rich countries created new demands for WTO reform. Their intention was to legitimize non-consensus and non-multilateral methods of concluding agreements in the WTO to erode the possibility of developing countries resisting WTO expansion. This author previously argued that WTO reform was the most dangerous, and yet unknown, potential outcome of MC12. Developing countries, including the entire Africa Group, as well as India, Pakistan, and others, tried to include safeguardsin paragraph 3, at least insisting that the work be carried out under the auspices of the General Council. At the same time, rich countries sought to legitimize formal corporate influence inside the WTO by creating official channels for stakeholders.

In the end, members agreed to launch a new process on WTO reform. The mandate does not abolish consensus and multilateralism per se but does not include enough of the safeguards demanded by developing countries to prevent against the erosion of these fundamental principles in the WTO.

And the agreement states that the work must address the issues of all Members, including development issues. But many rich countries slap the development moniker on any liberalization agenda they push. The WTO reform mandate fails to incorporate the development agenda, and instead merely instructs officials to continue working on it to report on progress (rather than conclude it) by the next ministerial conference, MC13.

This is a huge loss for developing countries, which will find the negotiating scenario even more difficult under this new mandate.

Conclusion

Throughout the ministerial, developed countries worked to create a media narrative to place the blame for the lack of consensus outcomes on developing countries, particularly India. But in reality, as one headline put it, it was the EU, UK, Swiss and US positions likely to stymie WTO negotiations.

After the Ministerial was extended for another day, activists dramatized the blame game by asking, Who blocked a real TRIPS waiver? Whos blocking fisherfolk protections? Who blocked REAL food security? Who blocked WTO transformation? EU, US, UK, Switzerland! Give them the blame award! and handing over an award that those countries appeared to celebrate. Another CSO statement urged developing countries to stand firmin the face of unfair blame.

The key win for the outcome of MC12 for the WTO is the avalanche of corporate media coverage extolling the WTOs renewed relevance and lauding the results of the DGs bullying and rich country obstructionism towards pro-human, pro-development outcomes.

Dont believe the hype. This was not multilateralism  countries working together to address common problems. The outcomes were the result of extreme bias of the DG in favor of developed countries, and bullying by rich countries and the DG of developing countries and their agendas. The conclusion opens the door to WTO reform through even more biased processes in the future, whether by undemocratic secretive green rooms that exclude the vast majority of countries, a pressure-cooker environment to accept whatever is on the table, or breakaway groups of developed countries launching negotiations on their wish-list and leaving development priorities behind.

Disgracefully, the outcome on vaccines will probably not save a single life from Covid, and the agriculture outcomes will not address the fundamental problems causing food insecurity. On each of the issues  flexibilities from harmful WTO rules on IP and agriculture  developing countries did not achieve their main outcome, and instead were left trying to mitigate the damage of developed countries demands to extend the free rides for Big Tech and Big Fish. The WTO failed to deliver what the world needed in each and every arena.

Now there is talk of setting the next Ministerial Conference, MC13, for the accelerated date of March of 2023. The United Arab Emirates has offered to host, in Abu Dhabi.

The struggle to transform the current trade system into one that serves people and the planet was set back last week in Geneva. In the aftermath, civil society must regroup and strengthen its resources to continue resisting WTO pro-corporate expansion, including expanding outreach to and participation of more affected communities. In the global North and South, public interest advocates must accelerate calls for a new system of rules, such as is detailed in the Turnaround: New Multilateral Trade Rules for People-Centered Shared Prosperity and Sustainable Development, to deliver food, jobs, access to medicines, and sustainable development.

Solidarity among developing countries will be even more crucial going forward. Developing countries have varied interests, sizes, and influence  as they always have  but it is clear that rich countries will divide and conquer if developing countries do not engage in a unified front.

The world surely needs a new Bretton Woods on trade. But we cannot possibly get there without stopping the expansion of corporate globalization in the WTO first.
Nashville Pride June 25-26 at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park See the full lineup at nashvillepride.org, or download the festivals app

Live music is always at the heart of the Nashville Pride Festival, drawing queer acts and allies from Nashville and beyond to several stages during the two-day celebration. This years lineup is one of the festivals best yet, bringing together local favorites like Bully, up-and-comers like The Kentucky Gentlemen and icons like Tanya Tucker for a diverse celebration of all things queer. And while Pride is always a crucial event, this years celebration feels particularly essential as the LGBTQ community weathers increasing scrutiny from right-wingers and mounting legislative attacks, like Floridas controversial Dont Say Gay law and anti-trans legislation here in Tennessee.

Below, the Scene rounds up six acts not to miss on the main Equality Stage at this weekends Nashville Pride Festival at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park.

The Kentucky Gentlemen

Twin brothers Brandon and Derek Campbell are The Kentucky Gentlemen, an emerging duo with a genre-defying sound, newly settled here in Nashville. Born and raised in Versailles, Ky., the brothers began singing together at an early age, coming back together after separate stints in college and moving to Nashville to craft their own take on R&B-influenced country music. The duo has found a breakout hit in Whatever Youre Up For, a clever, hook-laden love song that would liven up any country radio playlist. 12:30 p.m. Saturday

Daisha McBride

Nashvilles hip-hop community has received a lot of well-deserved  and long overdue  attention in recent years, in large part thanks to long-standing local acts like Daisha McBride. McBride is a prolific solo artist and frequent collaborator with fellow locals like Tim Gent and Mike Floss, earning acclaim and attention for tracks like 2020s On for the Night, on which she shows off her singing chops, and her infectious 2019 album WILD. Look for newer tunes in McBrides set, like this years bold, brassy BUSS IT and 2021s icy Nerve, the latter off her excellent Let Me Get This Off My Chest. 2:45 p.m. Saturday

Bully

Theres nothing quite like a Bully show, making the punk acts early-evening set on Saturday a no-brainer. Principal member and songwriter Alicia Bognanno knows how to put on one hell of a performance, commanding the stage with her unrelenting vocals, wailing guitar and seemingly endless well of energy. Bognanno recently announced on Instagram that shes tracking a new record, so keep an ear out for new tunes as well as cuts from Bullys most recent LP, 2020s critically acclaimed Sugaregg. 5:40 p.m. Saturday

Bantug

Bantug is a fixture of Nashvilles pop scene, with the Atlanta-born artist first coming to prominence with 2017s dreamy Blue EP. Fronted by Amanda Bantug, the band makes soaring, gauzy indie pop  a sound that should go over well with fans of Japanese Breakfast and Best Coast. Look for songs off the bands most recent full-length LP, 2021s 12 Songs About Loneliness, which boasts the excellent single High Worry. 1:50 p.m. Sunday

Michaela Jae

Michaela Jae is perhaps most famous for her role as Blanca Evangelista on FXs critically acclaimed series Pose, which dramatizes the drag-ball scene of 80s and 90s New York. The Golden Globe winner is also a Berklee College of Music-trained vocalist and Broadway performer, as well as an emerging pop star. Jaes 2021 single Something to Say showed the multihyphenate could helm a pop tune with the best of them; if that tracks disco-tinged arrangement is any indication, Jaes set should turn Bicentennial Park into one giant dance floor. 4:30 p.m. Sunday

Tanya Tucker

Country legend Tanya Tucker will close out the festivals Equality Stage on Sunday evening. A longtime ally of the queer community, Tucker is sure to draw a huge crowd of fans hoping to hear her massive 1972 hit Delta Dawn or, more recently, tunes from her Brandi Carlile- and Shooter Jennings-produced, Grammy-winning 2019 LP While Im Livin. Entering a triumphant new act of her already-storied career, Tucker is still full of sass and swagger, and her performance should be, too. 6 p.m. Sunday
When the Scene rounded up recommendations for what Nashville needs for a cover story in February, we noted the lack of an LGBTQ community center that would give queer folks the place of belonging that other cities have. Readers responded affirmatively. Nashville has had small-scale spaces in the past  OutCentral on Church Street, the Rainbow Community Center and other unofficial but still important gathering places  but nothing formal has persevered.

Over the course of five months in 2019, Nashville Pride conducted the Community Visioning Project, meeting with more than 2,000 LGBTQ folks in Middle Tennessee for structured feedback sessions to develop recommendations for how to secure a stable future for the LGBTQ community. The Scene attended one session, and the conversations were lively and passionate. Participants expressed frustration with the lack of housing, jobs and health care. They also came up with creative ways to solve problems in the future, expressing something close to hope.

The report published by Pride  and available to read at nashvillepride.org/cvp  shows that 84 percent of participants prioritized a centralized, safe, sober space for the LGBTQIA+ community as a need. Other priorities include access to affordable and affirming health care, programming and resources for young adults and older adults, a centralized collection of resources and more year-round visibility of LGBTQIA+ life in the region.

Phil Cobucci, who spearheaded the Community Visioning Project, spoke with the Scene in 2019 and expressed the urgency of obtaining broad community support for LGBTQ Middle Tennesseans: Whos going to step up to the plate and help create this? What organizations are going to step up to the plate and say, We see that theres a need in this specific arena, and we are best charged to carry that torch?

Ultimately, Cobucci decided to found that organization himself. Its called Inclusion Tennessee, abbreviated as In|TN, and it launched last week with a bold vision: building a Nashville LGBTQIA+ community center with satellite services throughout the region.

We want to build a space that we know people want to be in, says Cobucci, and where services and resources exist to touch every part of Maslows hierarchy of needs.  This needs to be a space where people can be connected into the services and resources that allow them to be a fully present member of our society.

These services and resources come from the Community Visioning Project report and include health care services; small-business incubators; fitness facilities; youth, elder and family programming; housing; workforce development; education; performing arts spaces; respite care for people who have just had gender-confirmation surgeries  the possibilities run the gamut from grand to intimate and everything in between. Cobucci also acknowledges that urban growth is pushing many people outside the city, to areas where resources are already more scarce.

The board, which is led by Cobucci, Dr. Quinton Walker and Meredith Fortney, includes members from a variety of fields, such as health care, education, nonprofit, branding, marketing and government. The organization is being incubated by The Center for Contemplative Justice, a group that fosters unique justice startups.

Cobucci has suffered several losses since 2020  his home was destroyed in the deadly March 2020 tornado, his service animal passed away, and his marketing business suffered due to the pandemic. When people, in general, are dealt more than they can handle, Cobucci says, it allows them to see what really matters. And for me, it opened my eyes and allowed my path to be made clear.

If Roe v. Wade goes away, he says, Republicans will continue to come at us for other things that they feel that they can chip away. And that is an incredible fear of mine. I think that the only way that we as a community can create change is by us coming together and ... modeling around ideas of collective impact to create the change.

Board member Dawn Cornelius wants the nonprofit to help LGBTQ people to be acknowledged for their many identities. When I walk into a room, she says, the first thing people see is that Im a Black woman, and its not easily identifiable that Im same-gender-loving. But its still part of my identity.

She envisions In|TN to be a place where wherever you are, whatever your individual story is  and it all looks different  that everyone has a place, and there is this sense that we have some shared stories that obviously include sexual orientation [and] identity. Theres a whole lot more that binds us than that alone. When that part of us needs to be seen and needs to be validated and recognized or have a space for, In|TN becomes that place.

In|TN has partnered with the Civic Design Center to solicit further feedback from the community and conduct a feasibility study that will help put the next steps in place. The Civic Design Center has helped facilitate many such initiatives, including the recent The Fairgrounds Nashville plan and the park at Casa Azafran. Their work will kick off at Nashville Pride on Saturday, where theyll be soliciting feedback from attendees at the festival. Theyre planning more engagements throughout the summer. The organizations hope to present their findings and next steps on Oct. 11, National Coming Out Day.

A community center of these proportions will have a high price tag, and its difficult to estimate what that will be. Cobucci says that if theyre able to purchase an existing building and renovate, it might cost around $10 million. But buying a plot of land and starting from scratch could shoot up to $40 million  both daunting sums. Partnering with organizations, individuals and Metro government can get the needle moving.

If we do a good job of showing the value of this, engagement also builds support, says CDC design director Eric Hoke. The more support it has, the more favorable the project would be.

Another initiative of In|TN will answer a call from the Community Visioning Project: bringing together LGBTQ-mission-focused organizations, as well as those that touch LGBTQ life, to meet quarterly and collaborate. In|TN has worked with the Center for Nonprofit Management to build a comprehensive map of these organizations and get the ball rolling. In another initiative, In|TN is working with Vanderbilt University Medical Center to provide education around navigating the health care system, which is challenging for LGBTQ patients.

We just need the right people who can support this initiative, says Cobucci. And its governmental. Its independent funders. Its people who can tag onto a vision and say, Yes, I want to join this fight. 
In September of last year, public historian Sarah Calise launched Nashville Queer History, a digital archive that brings together newspaper articles, photos, videos and various other ephemera to help tell the story of Nashvilles LGBTQ history. For a relatively new endeavor, it has made huge strides toward making historically clandestine information accessible. Part of the projects momentum comes from Calises personal history as a queer person, but also from Americas ever-shifting political landscape.

Follow @nashvillequeerhistory on Instagram and explore the project at nashvillequeerhistory.org

It seems like each year the government tries to ban LGBTQ content in public schools, and its just really frustrating and demoralizing, Calise tells the Scene. I just feel for queer and trans youth who take that to heart, mentally and physically. Suicide rates are so high for queer and trans youth, and I know the power of connecting to the past and how empowering it can be to know that people have survived and lived happily as themselves for decades in this area. So I wanted to be able to put that kind of history out there in a way thats online, so anyone with the internet can access it.

The story of Nashvilles queer history, it seems, looks a lot like that of other American cities. Still, Calise has noticed a few things that stand out as unique to the area.

One thing thats shocked me is how much certain church organizations were involved in queer community building, she says. The first gay community center we actually had was called Compton House, and it was on Compton Avenue, right by Belmont. And it was run by the Metropolitan Community Church, which was the Nashville chapter of a national organization. The whole church was a queer-affirming church  anyone could go to it, of course, but they were specifically trying to develop a queer community. And in the 1980s, the lesbian movement in Nashville heavily utilized the Unitarian Church on Woodmont Boulevard.

The Nashville Queer History Instagram account functions as a kind of microcosm of the project and features Calises illuminating captions. One early post included the newsprint poster for The Chute that looks like a Southern Tom of Finland cartoon. The Chute, Calise explains in the post, was a complex of bars on Franklin Road that opened in the early 1980s and served as the home bar for several Nashville-area gay organizations, including the Smoky Mountain Rodeo Association, the Music City Bears and The Conductors, which is a leather club and the citys oldest continuously run gay organization.

That kind of history is important to be able to visualize, says Calise.

Its just so important to see that gay people have always been here, and theyve been able to build lives and thrive despite whatever restrictions and oppressions have been placed upon them.
In Tennessee and across the country, lawmakers have sought to introduce legislation banning LGBTQ-related instruction and conversations in schools and limiting trans student-athletes ability to participate in school sports. Theres no denying that these efforts are harmful to LGBTQ youth, but despite homophobic and transphobic legislation and the overwhelmingly conservative nature of Tennessee as a whole, there are many organizations in Nashville working to provide safe spaces, resources and support for LGBTQ youth.

Metro Nashville Public Schools, for example, has made clear its support for LGBTQ students and staff. The MNPS for All campaign is geared toward providing what it calls Safe and Supportive Environments for the districts LGBTQ community. The district has expanded its Gender and Sexuality Alliance student clubs in middle and high schools, implemented staff training and provided gender support plan templates that schools can use to help properly identify students pronouns.

The MNPS board has also shown support for trans students by refusing to change its policy after the state banned trans student-athletes from competing on their own genders teams last year. This years legislative session produced a new, more specific law that withholds state funds from districts that dont determine student athletes genders based on the students sex assigned at birth.

Additionally, the MNPS board unanimously passed a resolution affirming the physical, mental, emotional support of all students, staff, parents and stakeholders regardless of gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation. The districts website lists resources for LGBTQ students, such as PFLAG, the Trevor Project, the Trans Buddy program, Vanderbilts program for LGBTQ health and the Oasis Centers Just Us program.

With Just Us, the Oasis Center  an organization that serves young people in crisis  specifically offers activities, meetings, resources and mental health support to LGBTQ youth across Tennessee, free of charge. Though young people can access Just Us resources virtually, Clark says some folks travel from across the state to visit the Oasis Center.

At the Oasis Center headquarters on Charlotte Avenue, the walls are lined with colorful art that celebrates Nashvilles LGBTQ community and leaders.

Were really lucky being in Nashville, which is kind of the blue blip in the red sea, but that doesnt mean its perfect, says Just Us program manager Joseph Clark. As soon as we cross out of Nashville, its a whole different story. We have a lot of young people who are homeschooled because their zoned schools are just not a safe space for them mentally, physically or emotionally.

Clark also notes that, despite MNPS efforts to create welcoming environments, some of its LGBTQ students dont feel safe there either. This anxiety can be compounded for young people who are members of other marginalized communities, and mistreatment can come from peers, parents, government leaders and the media that young people consume. A way to support LGBTQ youth and combat intolerance is through education.

If you dont have a space to be educated, to become aware, if you dont have that visibility and that representation to know better, its very difficult to do better, says Clark.

There are several organizations working to educate folks at all levels, from individuals to school districts, communities and legislators. In addition to the Oasis Center, these organizations include the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, the Tennessee Equality Project and more. But LGBTQ support doesnt always have to be formalized education. Clark notes how, for example, the Belcourt Theatre engages with Just Us Students of Stonewall group to watch and discuss LGBTQ media. He also mentions engagement offered by the Nashville Zoo and the Frist Art Museum. Local businesses like coffee shops and breweries donate proceeds to Just Us during Pride Month, and individuals can support their work through donations as well.

Having that visibility out in the community, too, I think is really impactful for people, especially young people to see  that they dont just belong here at Oasis Center in our four walls, but they are welcome in a neighborhood in a community in social service spaces, says Clark.

As for the homophobes and transphobes?

I think the hate is always going to be louder than the love, the acceptance and the celebration, says Clark. Were always going to see the not-so-great things more prolifically, more visibly and first, right? And we dont always celebrate the small victories that are occurring every single day. There are a ton of things to celebrate.
Watch your step, mashers and flirts, the Aug. 1, 1921, issue of The Nashville Tennessean bleated with a mixture of tut-tuttish warning and barely restrained glee about the subject matter to follow.

The story lists all who should be on guard: girls who spoon in the parks, fellows who hold hands with their girls in the movies, young women who hop in strange automobiles for drives, day or night and dance hall proprietors and devotees. Its a veritable cavalcade of neer-do-wells (and frankly, people who were having the most fun), but just to make sure this litany left no one out, the anonymous writer added to the catalog of the forewarned: Girls in general, and, of course, the men, too. Having covered everybody, we get to the news: Nashvilles first two policewomen were on the job.

With funding from the Womens Protective Bureau, the city hired Gertrude Whitney and Elizabeth Goodwin to come down from Buffalo, N.Y., and keep an eye on the welfare of women and children. It being 1921, the definition of womens welfare was, of course, a little different, as was what women ostensibly needed protection from  public spooning, cinematic hand-holding, riding in cars with boys. But hey, it was a different time. The 19th Amendment was still a few weeks from its first birthday.

The fact that Nashville was launching an arm of the police force specially dedicated to women wasnt particularly notable. Lots of growing cities were starting similar programs. Women had moved to Americas cities in droves during World War I to pick up the work left vacant when the guys went Over There. Many were unmarried, making their own money and suddenly flush with the liberating power of the ballot. But cities were (and are, for that matter) often run by grumpy-Gus types who dont like young women expressing their liberty so enthusiastically. Under the guise of protection, they wanted to keep an eye on all this freedom.

Thats where people like Gertrude and Elizabeth came in. By 1921, theyd been at it for a while. The article gives the pairs impressive credentials: They worked with Travelers Aid and in childrens welfare in Buffalo, for the protection of girls with War Camp Community Services in West Virginia during the war, and with the Chicago Refuge for Girls.

These were seasoned pros. Gertrude told the paper theyd be carrying revolvers. While she and Elizabeth had never had occasion to use their pistols in the past, its not to say we wouldnt draw our revolvers and use them if the occasion demands. But mostly theyd be working to clean up the places in the city which encourage the misconduct of girls.

If all this sounds sort of antiquated and puritanical, well, it was. But heres the thing.

Gertrude and Elizabeth werent just partners. They were, almost certainly, Partners.

And while gay and lesbian relationships date back to the dawn of man, and some level of community acceptance has always been present, at that time in America, there was always some obfuscation to maintain the public dignity (whatever that means). In this case, the reaction seems to have been  shrugs.

Theres no record of the relationship being solemnized by church or state (finding a clergyman or county clerk who would have done such a thing would be a monumental task), but census records show them living together in 1920, 1930 and 1940, the latter two listing Gertrude  who was 10 years older  as head of household and Elizabeth as partner. Eventually, theyd be joined by their two adopted sons, Paul and Daniel, both bearing Gertrudes surname of Whitney as their middle name and taking Elizabeths last name, Goodwin, as their own. The family was woven into Nashville society. The boys attended public schools, the women were members of various social and writing clubs. Civic organizations praised their work.

Despite the rather salacious and low-minded take of the initial Tennessean article, the women could be considered pioneers in combating what wed now call sex trafficking. Later reporting lauded them for saving teenage girls from the perils of the city and lives of vice forced on them by unscrupulous men. The language was, as befitting the time, quite roundabout, but its clear Gertrude and Elizabeth were removing young women from forced sex work. Rather progressively for that time (and for this one, for that matter), their first instinct was to treat the women as victims rather than criminals, providing social services instead of simply locking them up.

The Whitney Goodwins, if we may be so bold as to call them that, were rather peripatetic, but not because they had to flee cities once their family situation became well-known. Gertrude was plagued by respiratory problems. In one letter to a brother written in 1917, Elizabeth wrote of Gertrude, I love her so much, I cant bear to think of her being so miserable all the time.

The promise of a warmer climate is part of why they left upstate New York for Middle Tennessee. A drier climate is what pushed them to Dallas in 1937. They continued to work in childrens welfare. But Gertrude, by then in her 60s, remained in poor health, suffering a stroke and then a fall in 1943, leading to an injury from which she never recovered. She was buried in Cookeville, Tenn., where the local paper listed Elizabeth among her survivors, as a close friend. Paul and Dan were included as the couples adopted sons in the death notice, the paper opting to hyphenate Whitney-Goodwin in the boys names.

Elizabeth lived until 1986, dying just shy of her 100th birthday.
When Mark Edward Dickerson and Kevin Miehlke got married, theyd been together more than 30 years. The pair runs Donelson Cafe inside FiftyForward Donelson Station, and they held their wedding in the centers gymnasium. The ceremony was packed to standing room only. Dickerson recently discussed his nuptials on FiftyForwards Squeeze the Day podcast:

Seniors, you might think, Hey, theyre not really going to be open to two guys here getting married. They all turned out, and it was such a wonderful evening.

Dickerson is one of many older LGBTQ adults in Nashville, a population that FiftyForward has been looking for new ways to support. The organization serves more than 20,000 individuals through its seven centers in the city, providing services like assisted care and conservatorship, but also offering chances to socialize through programs and events. Gretchen Funk, FiftyForwards chief program officer, explains that while older LGBTQ adults may face issues similar to those of the general population  like increasing physical frailty, isolation and medical concerns  these issues are more acute in marginalized communities.

In 2019, FiftyForward set up a series of listening sessions in the LGBTQ community. That same year, Nashville Pride began a large-scale study called the Community Visioning Project. Both organizations found significant needs in the older LGBTQ community. Nashville Pride found that nearly 60 percent of older adults reported feeling a lack of companionship, and 50 percent reported feeling isolated from others. And Funk says that in FiftyForwards listening sessions, about 9 out of 10 respondents said they didnt feel prepared about aging and how to access resources. For us, it was very clear, says Funk. This is something that we should provide a focus around.

Pride made six key recommendations in its Community Visioning Project report. One was dedicated resources for older LGBTQ adults. To address these needs, Pride created the Older Adult Visioning Task Force in 2019, a group that FiftyForward volunteered to host. Funk is one of the co-chairs of this committee. The other chair is Joseph Interrante, an LGBTQ community activist and former CEO of the HIV/AIDS service organization Nashville CARES.

Interrante says many issues surrounding aging are magnified by the loneliness that a lot of us feel. Older LGBTQ adults are more likely to live alone and to have less connection with families; theyre also more likely to experience health disparities. Visibility is a primary concern; so is isolation.

The task force meetings led FiftyForward to modify existing services and add new programs. One step was taking sensitivity training. In partnership with Stanford Universitys PrideNet program, FiftyForwards entire staff completed cultural humility training. Then they offered sensitivity training for community members in partnership with the local chapter of LGBTQ advocacy organization PFLAG. These sessions were well-attended, Funk says; many older adults know someone in the LGBTQ community and wanted to know how to support them. Compared to maybe 10 years ago, so many people have a child, a niece, a nephew, a neighbor, a church member that is in the LGBT community, says Funk. So I think theres much more of an interest in learning.

To combat isolation, FiftyForward runs an LGBTQ peer support group, and Interrante points out similar benefits from volunteer opportunities, including on the task force. The process of volunteering has made a lot of us feel less isolated, he says. It also increases our visibility within the community and within these organizations.

FiftyForward also works to make Pride events (which are sometimes physically demanding) more accessible to older adults. This year, the FiftyForward Pride Party will provide an air-conditioned space, food and games at their Rains Avenue center after the Pride parade.

FiftyForward is also exploring long-term infrastructure changes. The Older Adult Visioning Task Force recommended exploring the possibility of becoming a SAGE affiliate (a satellite of the national advocacy group for older LGBTQ adults). SAGE affiliates operate differently in each city depending on the specific needs of the LGBTQ population, and Funk says there are some services, including the peer support group, that could already fit under SAGEs umbrella.

In the meantime, the group will continue adapting and expanding their programs. Its been a real joy to work with the people weve worked with, Funk says. Theres a lot of synergy and a lot of goodwill.

And for Interrante, being part of FiftyForwards focus groups brought unexpected recognition. Some of the most pressing and unmet needs are visibility and social isolation, he says. I felt it, and then in an odd way, I discovered to my delight that it wasnt just me.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a Swedish think tank, released a report on nuclear weapons research on June 13. According to the report, there were 12,705 nuclear warheads in the world as of January 2022, a decrease of 375 compared with that of last year. The number of global nuclear weapons has generally declined under the constraints of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. However, at the same time, Hans M. Kristensen, Associate Senior Fellow with SIPRI, pointed out that there are clear indications that the steady decline in global nuclear arsenals since the end of the Cold War has ended. The risk of nuclear conflict is now at its highest point in the post-Cold War era.

Based on the current international situation, SIPRI predicts that the number of nuclear weapons in the world will increase in the next 10 years. This means that after 35 years of decline, the number of global nuclear weapons will increase again in the next few years. Against the background of ever-changing international situations and constant conflicts and confrontations, global nuclear security risks are increasing. In a recent interview, military observers Wang Baofu and Teng Jianqun shared their views on what factors caused the escalation of global nuclear security risks in an international context of ongoing conflict.

Firstly, zero-sum game and Cold War mentality have led to a new arms race among nuclear powers. To maintain its absolute superiority in the so-called major power competition, the US has pressed ahead with the modernization of nuclear weapons. In January 2022, US think tank RAND Corporation released the report "Modernizing the US Nuclear Triad: The Rationale for a New Intercontinental Ballistic Missile" which analyzed in detail the nuclear modernization plan currently underway in the US. In addition, according to the draft US defense budget for the fiscal year 2023, the budget for nuclear arsenal maintenance and upgrades reached US$34.4 billion, well above the US$27.7 billion in the fiscal year 2022. It is worth noting that while the US has upgraded its nuclear arsenal, it has also continuously lowered the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. In addition to the new B61-12 nuclear bomb, the US military is also developing and testing other low-yield nuclear warheads.

As traditional nuclear-weapon states, the UK and France both regard nuclear power as a very important pillar to support their status as major powers, and both hope to maintain their leading positions in the field of nuclear technology and nuclear capabilities.

In the face of strategic containment and suppression by the US and NATO, Russia has also listed the development of strategic nuclear forces as a priority for equipment development and has continued to advance the modernization of its nuclear triad. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the US continued to fan the flames and instigate allies and other countries to impose comprehensive blockades and sanctions on Russia. However, strong sanctions will lead to stronger Russian resistance and a greater risk of an escalation of war. Western countries led by the US should seriously consider the grave consequences of driving a nuclear power to the wall.

Secondly, hegemonic practices and double standards increase the risk of nuclear proliferation. The US has formed a tripartite security partnership (AUKUS) with the UK and Australia and plans to carry out nuclear submarine cooperation to promote the establishment of a cold war-like military clique, and engage in bloc politics and camp confrontation. This blatant nuclear proliferation act flagrantly violates the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), seriously undermines and tramples on the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, adversely affects the international nuclear arms control situation, and arouses serious concern from the international community.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has held successive special meetings to review the cooperation on nuclear submarines between the US, UK, and Australia since June 6. However, the statement made by Australia on behalf of the three countries avoided the illicit transfer of nuclear weapons materials involved in the trilateral cooperation and pursued "double standards" on nuclear proliferation.

On the one hand, the US and the UK imposed unilateral sanctions on other non-nuclear-weapon states for developing and acquiring civilian nuclear materials. On the other hand, they openly and directly proliferated nuclear weapons materials to Australia. This bullying behavior not only seriously endangers regional security, but also has a negative demonstration effect, which is bound to further increase the risk of nuclear security.

Japan is a typical example. After the nuclear submarine projects of the US, UK and Australia, Japan has also shown signs of making moves on the issue of nuclear submarines. Recently, Japanese politicians have frequently said that they want to share nuclear weapons with the US, striving to discard the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, change their defense policy and introduce US nuclear weapons.

Thirdly, exaggerating threats and provoking confrontation have made it difficult to resolve regional hotspot issues such as the Iranian nuclear issue. In May 2018, the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement, then restarted and imposed additional sanctions on Iran, and pursued a policy of "extreme pressure" on Iran. Although the Biden administration claimed to change the wrong policies of the previous Trump administration, it is continuing the Trump-era policy towards Iran.

The US and Israel have been seeking to establish a regional anti-Iran coalition. A bipartisan group of US lawmakers introduced legislation on June 9 that would authorize the US government to work with Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Iraq to discuss the development and deployment of an integrated air and missile defense system against Iran and submit a strategic report within six months.

In the process, the US and Israel have also been playing up the Iranian threat. In response, Iran said it would respond "seriously" to the slightest threat to its territory. A US-Israel alliance aimed at uniting Middle Eastern countries to isolate Iran, whether successful or not, is bound to make negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal even more impossible. Containment, isolation and extreme pressure will not only fail to solve the Iranian nuclear issue, but may accelerate Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, further disrupt the security balance in the Middle East and bring new nuclear security risks to the world.

From regional conflicts to arms races, from military alliances to nuclear proliferation risks, the US can be seen everywhere behind the escalation of nuclear security risks in the world. As we all know, there are no winners in a nuclear war. The continuous promotion of modernizing nuclear weapons and building nuclear arsenals, and acceleration of the development of tactical nuclear weapons by the US and some nuclear powers will inevitably increase the risk of global nuclear war and exert a profound impact on the international security situation.

Editor's note: This article is edited on the basis of a radio program on www.cnr.cn and translated from Chinese into English by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
(Natural News) Many South Dakota farmers have fallen significantly behind schedule on their planting, thanks to rains and flooding seen in parts of the state.

The heavy rains that struck in the middle of a lengthy drought have left many farm fields in the state soaked and rendered them inaccessible to farm equipment. Adding to their woes, storms have damaged essential planting equipment.

This has prompted major delays that have left some farmers struggling to keep on top of crop production, and by extension, their income, while others are now trying to decide if they should plant summer crops at all. Waiting too long would mean a reduced growing season and could compromise fall crops as well.

The bad weather comes after a derecho, a type of high-intensity storm, caused farmers a huge setback on May 12 by damaging the machinery needed to plant crops.

South Dakota Farm Bureau President Scott VanderWal, a Volga farmer, said the incident made the situation worse for a lot of farmers, who were already facing late planting.

That storm came and destroyed a lot of grain bins, center-pivot irrigators, buildings, livestock facilities, a tremendous amount of damage. We had to spend a couple of nice days cleaning up messes instead of planting, he stated.

Many farmers will have to rely on prevent planting insurance options

Although he was ultimately able to beat the odds and get his soybeans planted in time despite intermittent rains and a late start, other farmers did not fare as well. The excess moisture and flooding seen in the area means that many crop farmers will have to depend on the prevent planting options in their insurance policies to stay afloat.

These allow them to collect payments for their crops that they were unable to plant as anticipated as the result of an insured cause. This year, natural disasters, drought, flooding and excess moisture are all insured causes in South Dakota.

VanderWal said that many eastern South Dakota farmers relied on these options in 2019 as well, and it made the difference for some between staying in business and losing their farm. He added that while farmers dont make any money from it, it can at least enable them to survive.

Meanwhile, Hecla farmer Taylor Dinger told the media that there were dramatic reductions in the crops that farmers could plant as a result of the excess moisture. Although he was able to get some corn planted right before the heavier rain set in, he only managed to get half of the normal amount into the ground.

He reported that many in the region have been turning to faster-maturing seeds for their crops to help them stay on schedule. Hes expecting just 60 percent of his normal yield in soybeans.

While some areas of the state struggle with conditions that are wetter than normal, such as the northeast, most are dealing with an ongoing drought, particularly in the west. Meteorologists say that although drier conditions are normally expected there to some degree, the current conditions are significantly more dramatic than previous years.

Part of the reason for the drought is the weather event La Nina, which sees colder than average ocean temperatures at the equator push cooler air through the northwest in a pattern that can last several months or even years.

South Dakota is expected to see below-average precipitation mixed with above-average temperatures throughout the summer months. The warmer conditions may help crops grow, but the accompanying lack of precipitation will make irrigation challenging and force some farmers to try new practices.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture made changes that allow farmers to plant cover crops to boost soil health and keep their land in good condition without compromising their eligibility for prevented planting payments.

Sources for this article include:

Yahoo.com

Weather.gov
(Natural News) The Health Ranger Mike Adams warned the public that the globalists are pushing the climate change narrative to force mass starvation and ultimately depopulate the world.

They have created an entire system of compliance and support from the oblivious masses who have no idea that theyre taking part in the extermination of the human race, said Adams in his special report titled TERRAFORMING: The Truth Revealed.

According to Adams, these globalists are attacking the food supply with the so-called war on carbon.

This is a planetary scale, extinction-level event. But its all been packaged as a way to save the planet. And anyone who has gone along with this has been fooled at a level that they will probably never grasp, Adams pointed out.

It doesnt help that Big Tech is censoring information about this matter.

Anyone who questions the climate change official narrative  because they cant have humanity waking up and realizing that theyre being exterminated  they have to make sure that the cattle being destroyed, thats the human race, remain oblivious, remain blind to the reality of the great culling that is already underway, Adams said. (Related: Climate change, diversity, and equity: its ALL a scam.)

The agenda is to starve the world, take away the air and block the blood flow

The globalists have been pushing that the answer to climate change is carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration. This will remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reduce crop yields.

Adams said every person pushing the climate change narrative is demanding mass starvation  every one of them whether they realize it or not. Mass starvation will bring down the global population.

You lower CO2 levels so you cant grow food crops nearly as efficiently. So this is why they want to move off of fossil fuels and this is why they are shutting down the fossil fuel industry, Adams noted.

He also revealed that theres a giant operation using eminent domain to seize farmland in places like Iowa and Illinois. They are setting up these massive machines and are being built by us, human beings, to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and hide the CO2 underground in a carbon sequestration format.

The government is shutting down fossil fuel refinery plants and they announced that electricity in Illinois is going to go up by 54 percent starting June and there are going to be rolling blackouts on top of that. Adams said it would not be fair for the people to have to pay more and then have blackouts. But the real reason behind the move, he said, is to stop the CO2 emissions.

Because that is what the globalists need to achieve global starvation.

Adams, who owns and operates a multimillion dollar lab, explained that lowering CO2 will reduce plant life all across the planet. And when there arent as many plants producing oxygen, humans oxygen levels will fall.

As oxygen levels fall, human beings and all the animals will slowly asphyxiate and people will be dropping dead from inability to provide enough oxygen to their brains or to their hearts, he said.

The Health Ranger went on to cite more shreds of evidence on the multi-vector attack for mass planetary extermination. He said that experts are also altering the blood with an engineered biological weapon that impairs the bodys ability to carry oxygen.

Theres something else about the vaccines that create these crazy insane tissue clots that are appearing in the bodies, especially in the arteries. These clots are blocking the flow of the blood that carries the oxygen to your brain, he said, referring to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines.

His point is supported by board-certified embalmer Richard Hirschman, who divulged during his podcast interview with Dr. Betty Martini that he has been seeing unnatural blood clots combinations with strange fibrous materials clogging the arteries and veins of the deceased.

According to the embalmer, this started approximately six months after the vaccine rollout. Most of the victims reportedly died of heart attacks and strokes.

Visit Climate.news for more stories about the climate change hoax.

Watch the special report by the Health Ranger Mike Adams titled TERRAFORMING: The Truth Revealed below.

Catch new episodes of the program on the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Counterthink video: Mike Adams interviews Marc Morano on the greatest science hoax of our time: climate change.

Climate change HOAX has literally convinced a member of Congress that the world is going to end in 12 years.

Is ocean acidification another climate change HOAX? Scientists blow the whistle on massive, coordinated data manipulation and FRAUD.

Mike Adams: Learn resilient prepping to survive Great Reset.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

TheCenterSquare.com

Rumble.com
(Natural News) One of the largest operators of liquefied natural gas export terminals in the United States suffered a massive blow last week that will leave its main plant fully offline through September, and only partially operational after that through years end.

Freeport Liquefied Natural Gas says damage from a mysterious fire and explosion that took place at its Texas facility was so severe that it is simply not possible to get things back up and running as quickly as some may have hoped.

This is really bad news for Europe, which is already short on natural gas due to the war in Ukraine. Natural gas prices immediately jumped in Europe following the news, while slumping in the United States.

Freeport LNGs plant singlehandedly accounts for about 20 percent of all U.S. natural gas exports, and was, up until the fire and explosion, a major supplier to European suppliers seeking alternatives to Russian gas since the February invasion.

According to the company, its Quintana, Tex.-based plant caught fire and exploded when an over-pressurized pipeline ruptured. Processing operations were not damaged, however.

The Rystad Energy consulting group says that Freeport LNG can process 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of natural gas into a supercooled liquid suitable for shipping. Up until the incident, it had been running near capacity.

Roughly 1.17 bcfd of Freeport LNGs output had been going to Europe as of May, up from 0.81 bcfd in March.

Its very serious, said Alex Munton, director of natural gas and LNG at Rapidan Energy, another energy consulting group.

We now have a much larger and much more extensive outage at Freeport LNG that will remove more supply from the market than was anticipated last week.

This unexpected disaster is actually good news for the US natural gas market

A prolonged outage, Freeport indicated, will reduce exports by 40 cargoes  LNG container ships  from annual export volume, up sharply from an earlier estimate of a three-week outage that would have reduced exports by just 13 cargoes. The 100-million-ton-per-year market for LNG is now expected to lose between four and five million tons.

We expect Europe will be the region most impacted by this incident, Rystad analysts said.

Roughly 70 percent of Freeports exports in the past few months have been to the European Union and Great Britain, the biggest importers this year being France, Turkey and The Netherlands.

None of the liquefaction trains that chill the gas were damaged, nor were any of the processing areas, storage tanks or docks. Freeport is still investigating the situation, and has not yet commented on whether or not investigators are looking into potential design or structural flaws.

There is lot of analysis to understand the problem, put in measures of safety and operational regime to make sure it doesnt happen again, Rapidans Munton said.

While this is bad news for Europe and Great Britain, it is good news for the U.S., which has been in a natural gas storage deficit. Inventories have hovered around 300 bcf below the five-year average, according to Al Salazar, a senior vice president at Enverus Intelligence Research.

It should be alarming to federal policymakers that the Freeport LNG terminal only exports 2 Bcfd, yet it is having such a significant impact to prices, said Paul Cicio, chief executive of the Industrial Energy Consumers of America, a trade group that has been calling on Congress to limit expanded LNG export permits.

The outage, this group added, highlights the negative impact that exports of natural gas have had on U.S. consumers and the prices they pay domestically for natural gas.

More related news coverage about the falling dominoes of the global economy can be found at Collapse.news.

Sources for this article include:

EnergyNow.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Plant-based milk is a great alternative for people who are allergic to cow milk or those who prefer non-dairy milk because they are vegan or vegetarian.

And while you may have already tried other plant-based milk like almond or oat milk, a company in Sweden is now making potato milk.

Potato milk from Swedish brand Dug is available at major grocery retailer Waitrose in the United Kingdom. The company claims that potato milk is delicious and creamy, with three options for shoppers: original, unsweetened or barista blend, which is creamy and ideal for foaming up for lattes.

Plant-based milk like soy often separates when they are mixed with hot coffee or other foods or beverages, but Dug claims potato milk doesnt because it is made with an emulsion of potatoes and rapeseed.

Dugs potato milk also contains fiber, vitamins and minerals. Additionally, potato milk is a great milk alternative for most people because it is dairy-, soy-, nut- and gluten-free.

Potato milk is more eco-friendly than dairy milk

The company also claims that Dug potato milk has impressive sustainability statistics since potatoes are a more sustainable crop to grow compared to soybeans, nuts and oats.

Potatoes are also more sustainable than raising dairy cows.

Unlike crops used to make other kinds of plant-based milk, potatoes are water-efficient, using 56 times less water than almond crops. Potatoes also have twice as much land efficiency compared to oat crops since the former yield higher amounts per square meter.

According to the Dug website, potato milk has a significantly lower climate footprint compared to dairy milk. If you switch to a potato-based non-dairy milk alternative, the climate impact is reduced by about 75 percent.

What does potato milk taste like?

While potato milk is mostly described as having a neutral taste, some customers say it has a salty aftertaste. If youre worried about potato milk being too salty for sweetened coffee or cereal, it might suit creamy pasta dishes better.

Customers in the U.K. can try Dug by buying it at Waitrose or at online retailers like Amazon. Shoppers in America will have to wait because Dug only delivers to the U.K. and is the sole commercial retailer for potato milk as of writing.

In 2015, a brand called Veggemo launched a potato-based milk but the company is now out of business. Some predict that potato milk could be the plant-based protein trend of 2022, and its possible that it will soon be available in the United States. (Related: Coconut milk: 8 Reasons why you should start drinking this non-dairy milk alternative.)

While youre waiting, you can try making potato milk at home.

Potato milk recipe

You can make potato milk at home and the ingredients are much cheaper compared to other nut-based milks like almond or cashew. To mask the salty aftertaste of potato milk, add a couple of tablespoons of almonds and a bit of a natural sweetener.

Store the potato milk in a container like a glass jar for several days in the fridge. Potato milk doesnt freeze well, so make it in smaller batches.

You can also try adding a bit of cinnamon, cocoa powder, or vanilla extract to give the potato milk a flavor boost. You can also replace the almonds with other plant-based ingredients like cashews, coconut flakes or oats.

Visit Food.news to read more articles about other kinds of plant-based milks.

Watch the video below to learn how to make hemp milk at home.

This video is from the BerkeleyChefs.com channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Paleo alternatives to cows milk.

Flax milk is the underrated non-dairy milk alternative you should be adding to your diet.

Making your own hemp milk is easy and the health benefits beat store-bought cows milk.

Sources include:

EcoWatch.com

DugDrinks.com

Greatist.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Temerland, a Ukrainian company that designs tools for reconnaissance, patrol, offensive and defense military actions, has prototyped the metallic killer on wheels to be used against Russias forces.

Strategy and defense analyst Felix Woessner twitted on June 15 that the military solutions company will deploy the weaponized robotic vehicle GNOM with a 7.62 machine gun at the Ukrainian frontline in Zapor?zhzhia in a week.

This assault gun is the same large-caliber machine as an AK47 rifle, commonly used by both Ukrainian and Russian troops. By now, the robots are already believed to be on the front line of Ukraines defense.

GNOM is a multifunctional robotic platform for solving the following tasks: surveillance and reconnaissance; delivery of ammunition and food; evacuation of the wounded, repeater for increasing the range of radio communication and control; and satellite for larger robotic platforms.

Analyst at the Center for Naval Analysis Samuel Bendett said building something that is small and cheap with the capabilities to enable multiple functions could be fairly difficult.

The function of a UGV [unmanned ground vehicle] is to ultimately replace a human combatant, Bendett said.

Temerlands official website listed the specifications of the robot on wheels.

The solutions company described the newly designed GNOM as a fairly small robot, about 50 kilograms, or 110 pounds, and two feet long and a little less than two feet wide.

It includes an Odyssey onboard computer, which manages the motion control of the robotic platform, and a depth camera with Intel RealSense laser dot emitter, which allows it to identify objects and obstacles.

The GNOM, available in four- and six-wheeled configurations, was originally designed to do other military functions, which did not include weapons.

The mini terminator is made of metal. It withstands temperatures between -25 and 60 degrees Celsius and can be operated by remote control at a distance of up to five kilometers.

Another billion from the US for Ukraines ammo boost

Ukraine has not just boosted its ammunition against Moscow by deploying the robots, they also sent a new Western-made weapons wish list, putting the U.S. at risk of running out of its own artillery.

Mikhail Podolyak, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, revealed the demand last week. This includes 1,000 NATO-standard 155mm howitzers, 300 multiple-launch rocket systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles and 1,000 drones.

To further encourage Ukraine to continue this war with Russia, Washington promised to give Kyiv another billion in security assistance. This was announced by President Joe Biden on June 15 after a phone call with Zelensky.

U.S. is providing another $1 billion in security assistance for Ukraine, including additional artillery and coastal defense weapons, as well as ammunition for the artillery and advanced rocket systems that the Ukrainians need to support their defensive operations in the Donbas. We also discussed Secretary Austins efforts in Brussels today to coordinate additional international support for the Ukrainian armed forces, the White House said in a statement. (Related: Biden continues to draw down stocks of U.S. weapons and ammo with ongoing military assistance to Ukraine.)

The U.S. president did not specify what types of weapons are to be sent but Department of Defense Undersecretary Colin Kahl disclosed that the rocket artillery the U.S .and the U.K. are sending to Ukraine will be supplied with heavy guided missiles with a range of up to 70 kilometers (43.5 miles).

Kahl added that the Biden administration has previously provided Ukraine with over $5.3 billion in military assistance. In other words, the U.S. has a huge role behind the war crimes being committed by the Ukrainians.

Last week, Ukrainian artillery struck the village of Zaymishche in Russias Bryansk Region. The attack injured six civilians. All of them suffered shrapnel wounds and were hospitalized, Bryansk Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said. The governor added that some 50 buildings in the village have been damaged by the shelling.

Furthermore, Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) officials said Ukraine recently attacked them with heavy artillery. They said its the worst bombardment they have experienced since 2015. Five civilians were killed and more than 30 were wounded.

The enemy [Ukraine] has literally crossed all lines. Prohibited methods of warfare are being used. The residential areas and the central districts of the city of Donetsk are under artillery shelling, and other cities and towns of the DPR are also under fire, Denis Pushilin, head of DPR, said.

Visit WWIII.news for more news related to the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict

Watch the below video that talks about Putins threats of escalation if Western countries aid Ukraine.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Ukraine is running out of ammunition as Russia continues to overpower its military.

Russia set to seize control of Luhansk region as Ukraines ammunition supply dwindles.

ENDLESS LIES: Top Ukrainian official admits to lying about Russians raping Ukrainians in effort to obtain more weapons from West.

Corruption in the midst of war: Ukraine unlikely to receive the promised $65 billion in Western aid.

Sources include:

Mirror.co.uk

Twitter.com



TaskAndPurpose.com

TheAllINeed.com

Temerland.com

RT.com 1

RT.com 2

WhiteHouse.gov

English.Almanar.com.lb

Tass.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Army intelligence veteran and analytics guru Capt. Seth Keshel believes Donald Trump should have easily won the 2020 presidential election.

I know the truth of the 2020 election is that Donald Trump, fundamentally in every single predictive way, should have been the easy winner of the 2020 election, Keshel told hosts Jeffrey Pedersen and Shannon Townsend during the June 16 episode of Matrixxx Grooove on Brighteon.TV.

The former Army intelligence officer cited a website called the PrimaryModel.com, which is being maintained by Dr. Helmut Norpoth from Stony Brook University.

Keshel said Norpoths predictive model uses tangible historical outcomes and figures to predict through the noise what the result will be and he had Trump with a 91 percent likelihood of being reelected based on primary performance.

According to Keshel, Trump had the fourth-highest share of primary support of any candidate since 1912 when the primaries began. As an Army captain of military intelligence, Keshel said he is used to take in large amount of information and simplify it.

Keshel methodology is based on historical indicators, trends and bellwethers

As a hobbyist, Keshel accurately predicted the results in all 50 states during the 2016 presidential election. He bucked mainstream media predictions of a 15-point landslide victory for then-Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

He explained that his methodology was not poll-driven because it is based on historical indicators, trends and bellwethers. Keshel said he can show over a hundred years of electoral trends to back up his findings, adding that his findings are constantly corroborated with new evidence.

When 2020 came along, Keshel related that he was challenged by those close to him to come up with a perfect prediction for 2020. He said that he went back to the same methodology and found that Trump would easily carry his 2016 map, which was worth 306 electoral votes, while adding Minnesota, Nevada and New Hampshire that would have given him a minimum Electoral College performance of 326.

Looking at things now, I see 392 as the max for Trump and it includes upset wins in Oregon and Hawaii, Keshel said. (Related: Rand Paul publicly decries election fraud committed against Trump.)

Keshel also talked about the millions of excess votes that went Joe Bidens way. He said there are states that have been doing systemic election fraud to make sure that they stay blue or Democrat for at least the past 30 years. He noted that Biden may have gotten 20 million or more extra votes.

The analytics guru also pointed out that Biden winning Pennsylvania or Michigan was impossible. It was more likely for Trump to have carried Hawaii, Oregon and Washington than for Biden to have even come close in Michigan or Pennsylvania, he said.

Pedersen said the issue now is not just about election fraud, but about free and fair elections for Americans. This is about the integrity of American elections, which is the main cause of all of the issues that people are seeing today, and about election integrity for America and the coming generations of Americans, he said.

Follow VoteFraud.news for more news about election fraud in America.

Watch the full June 16 episode of Matrixxx Grooove with Jeff and Shady below. Catch new episodes of Matrixxx Grooove from Monday to Friday at 12-1 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related stories:

At least 30 election fraud cases are still active, but so far not a single court will allow evidence to be presented.

Lets Talk America: 2020 presidential election was dirty and had no integrity  Brighteon.TV.

Investigative journalist Mahoney: Ballot trafficking is a criminal enterprise and has been for a long time  Brighteon.TV.

Patrick Byrne: US to become like Venezuela, China if election fraud is not stopped.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

PrimaryModel.com

CaptK.com
(Natural News) There isnt a single problem that cannot be made worse by the federal government, which is why demands for the administration to do something over mounting flight cancellations as the airlines are still recovering from pandemic-related shutdowns are not a good idea.

The government caused the problem by mandating a nationwide lockdown, and Democrat leaders exploited the pandemic for the past two years 1) to hurt Donald Trumps popularity and reelection chances; and 2) to extend their own power and authority. The result: A massive labor shift in the country that obviously affected the airlines as well.

Now that most of the country has reopened and Americans are trying to do more things, air travel has increased, but the personnel shortages caused by the pandemic labor shifts have not resolved themselves yet.

But leave it to the Biden regime to try and make matters worse with impossible-to-achieve mandates that will lead to more problems including, no doubt, deadly plane crashes.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who hasnt done squat to alleviate the supply chain crisis (which has also gotten worse under his watch), is upset after one of his flights was canceled and has now threatened government action against the airlines because hes angry.

That is happening to a lot of people, and that is exactly why we are paying close attention here to what can be done and how to make sure that the airlines are delivering, Buttigieg said June 18, noting that he had met with airline industry leaders a day earlier and should have been told that what hes demanding is, for the moment, impossible.

Now were going to see how those steps measure up, Buttigieg said.

In addition to Buttigiegs flight being canceled over the weekend, roughly 2,000 others were as well, and the number is growing as more Americans try to take to the skies to take long-overdue vacations. But heres something to remember: Canceled flights cost the airlines money and since they are in the business of making profits, the last thing they want to do is cancel flights. But here comes butt-hurt Buttigieg with his threats, like thats going to solve issues like staff shortages.

The Epoch Times also noted the issue:

Some 2,700 flights were canceled on Memorial Day weekend, according to data from FlightAware. FlightAware also said about 700 U.S. flights were scrapped as of early on June 19, after about 1,300 flights were canceled a day earlier.

Major airline companies have already signaled that they have cut numerous flights through Labor Day weekend over worker shortages.

Southwest Airlines has canceled over 20,000 flights this season, and Delta Air Lines has cut over 700 flights since late last month, saying it expects to cancel 100 flights per day between July 1 and Aug. 7 across North and South America.

So, what if Buttigieg, at the direction of Joe Bidens handlers, takes actions and demands more flights be made available? Thats going to lead to crashes and deaths.

Already, pilots are sounding the alarm.

A letter posted by Delta pilots on June 16 said they had been flying a record amount of overtime hours amid cancellations; demanding they fly more wont help.

At the current rate, by this fall, our pilots will have flown more overtime in 2022 than in the entirety of 2018 and 2019 combined, our busiest years to date, the pilots noted in the letter. We empathize and share in your frustration over the delays, cancellations, and disrupted travel plans youve experienced. We agree; it is unacceptable.

The pilot shortage for the industry is real, and most airlines are simply not going to be able to realize their capacity plans because there simply arent enough pilots, at least not for the next five-plus years, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said several months ago on a call with personnel.

Normally it takes months to on-board and train new pilots, but the airlines are already considering cutting that time  another danger.

The federal solution, early on, then, will be to demand that airlines hire more customer service personnel, The Epoch Times reported. But again, there is also a labor shortage in the country; where are those extra personnel going to come from?

This is all a problem of big government; and its not going to be solved by big government.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Retired Army Col. Douglas MacGregor believes Ukraine has already lost its war with Russia. But he thinks many Western leaders want to keep supporting Ukraine to accomplish their real goal of pulling the United States into a direct conflict with Russia.

Ukraine has lost this war. I would argue it lost it some time ago, said MacGregor during an appearance on Judge Andrew Napolitanos podcast, Judging Freedom. (Related: Ukraine is running out of ammunition as Russia continues to overpower its military.)

Its now becoming so apparent that even the most ardent supporters of Ukraines war on Russia in London, Berlin, Paris and Washington cant really stand up and say anything else. I suppose some will, but the truth is the war is over, he continued.

MacGregor explained that Ukraine is experiencing widespread logistical failures and is losing a lot of ground in its eastern Donbas region, which Russia claims as being the rightful territory of the separatist Luhansk and Donetsk republics.

The Ukrainian military is also experiencing hundreds of casualties a day, perhaps as much as a thousand dead and wounded on days with really heavy fighting, said MacGregor.

Their army is effectively annihilated, he said. Theyre throwing reservists  the equivalent of what we would call National Guardsmen  into the buzzsaw.

In comparison, MacGregor noted that the Russian advance has been very calm and methodical in dealing with any obstacles in its path.

The Russians have already begun consolidating their control over 25 to 30 percent of Ukraine where the Ukrainian forces were previously paused to attack Russia, he said.

Ukraine is now a failed state. Its collapsed, MacGregor added. People are being pushed at gunpoint into Russian fire. The whole thing is a disaster. But no one wants to admit failure because if they admit failure, they lose all credibility.

Joe Biden still insists on giving Ukraine more taxpayer-funded military hardware

Despite the clear fact that Ukraine is losing this war, President Joe Biden and his administration are still pushing through with their plans to send even more military hardware.

Biden recently announced that the U.S. would supply Ukraine with advanced rocket systems and munitions. In an interview with the Swiss German-language newspaper, Die Weltwoche, MacGregor said these missile systems wont change the tide of the war.

This High Mobility Artillery Rocket System is a good system, but we are sending only four launchers, he said. This is about as significant as sending four tanks. You dont have a significant impact with so few launchers.

Furthermore, MacGregor noted that the Russian army has excellent military equipment capable of countering any advantage the Ukrainians might get from the American rocket systems.

These four launchers are going to make absolutely no difference at all, he said. It looks like a face-saving venture by the U.S. government to create the illusion that weve done something important for Ukrainians when, in fact, we havent.

In an opinion piece written for the American Conservative, MacGregor warned that, if Biden and his administration continue providing military aid to Kyiv without any significant opposition, the Ukrainian government could be plunged into a perpetual conflict with Russia.

If the Biden administration has its way, Kyiv will continue to operate as a base for the buildup of new forces poised to threaten Moscow, he wrote. In practice, this means Kyiv must commit national suicide by exposing the Ukrainian heartland west of the Dnieper River to massive, devastating strikes by Russias long-range and rocket forces.

Learn the truth about whats happening in Ukraine by reading the latest articles at UkraineWitness.com.

Watch this episode of the Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams discusses how NATO is pushing for Kaliningrad catastrophe by provoking Russia.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related articles:

Biden continues to draw down stocks of U.S. weapons and ammo with ongoing military assistance to Ukraine.

Russia set to seize control of Luhansk region as Ukraines ammunition supply dwindles.

Joe Biden administration dishonors American heroes who fought the Nazis by siding with Nazi-promoting Ukraine.

Russian political scientist warns nuclear war is coming if the West keeps escalating conflict in Ukraine.

Sources include:

InfoWars.com

Weltwoche.ch

TheAmericanConservative.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Reality Camp host Stacey Campfield slammed President Joe Bidens for overseeing Americas downfall, most especially in the aspect of oil production.

The only country that Joe Biden has crippled has been America. The only oil industry that he has really shut down has been American oil, Campfield said during a recent episode of his talk show on Brighteon.TV.

Campfield, a former Tennessee state senator, pointed out that Biden has put to a stop Americas ability to produce and get oil from the very first day he took office. Bidens call for the use of renewable energy from solar and wind power also proved futile.

He is not the first former official to point out Bidens questionable moves at the onset of his term. Former South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley called out the new administrations axing of the Keystone XL oil pipeline project and the moves to ban fracking on Jan. 27  exactly one week after Bidens inauguration. (Related: Biden CANCELS two key gas exploration leases in deliberate takedown of Americas energy infrastructure.)

She told Fox News that Russian President Vladimir Putin has to be pretty ecstatic right now, noting that one of the things that bothered the Russian leader the most was how energy independent [the U.S.] had become. Haley also branded Bidens first seven days in office a good first week for Russia.

Under former President Donald Trump, the U.S. became the worlds top oil producer and maintained its position as the top global producer of natural gas. In 2019, the country became a net exporter of petroleum products  both crude oil and refined  for the first time since 1949.

But now, Biden has to go to Saudi Arabia and other countries chanting death to America just to get oil. This should not be the case, said Campfield.

America has enough crude oil to address current and projected demand

The Reality Camp host noted that there is enough recoverable crude oil within the continental U.S. to supply current and projected future demands for 400 years. That is just the oil America knows about, and does not account future discoveries.

We do not need to import a single drop of foreign crude oil, but were doing it anyway. The domestic oil industry can easily meet and even surpass domestic demand. Weve done it before and we can do it again, thats a fact under Trump, Campfield said.

We were a net exporter of energy, [but] that changed when Joe Biden got in office. The domestic oil industry currently cannot satisfy domestic demand due to oil drilling restrictions imposed by the federal government.

According to the former state lawmaker, oil is important because the price of virtually everything revolves around it. Commodities are cheap when oil is plenty; in turn, commodities are expensive when oil is scarce.

Incidentally, Campfield remarked that other countries should not be blamed for the fuel supply and fuel price predicament in the United States.

Domestic oil is scarce and the price of everything is high because of the restrictions imposed by the federal government, he said. Its Joe Bidens fault because hes suppressing the domestic oil industry for political gain. He cited Bidens plan to add a 21 percent surtax on oil companies excess profits as an example of this.
(Natural News) In yesterdays article and podcast, I warned that the US supply of diesel engine oil faced a near-total wipeout in the next 8 weeks due to a supply chain shortage of chemical additives used to make diesel engine oil. The so-called base oils are not reportedly in short supply, but the chemical additives  rust inhibitors, anti-foaming agents, dispersing agents, etc.  have suffered extreme supply chain problems, leading to production shortages for the final oil product.

There are also shortages in packaging materials used to hold, transport and dispose of chemical additives. (See the full list below.)

As of right now, this critical supply chain shortage is being exclusively reported by Natural News. To our knowledge, no one in the corporate media has covered this issue, and even across the alt media, traction for this story has so far been minimal. As promised yesterday, we have been researching the supply chain for diesel engine oil additives, and today we present the results of that investigation.

As it turns out, the supply chain for diesel engine oil additives is in worse shape than we feared. See the list here, and feel free to re-post this list with credit to NaturalNews.com. Note that some of these Force Majeure declarations impact additive packaging and transportation (such as HDPE drums) as well as base oil feed stocks (such as light crude oil). Finally, realize that what we are showing here merely scratches the surface of the supply chain disruption affecting engine oil. There are no doubt dozens more examples of force majeure declarations that havent been made public or arent easy to find online. So take this list as a small sampling of whats really happening.

LyondellBasell Industries suffers mechanical failure affecting production of key additives

Company: LyondellBasell Industries

Location: La Porte Complex, Texas

Date: April 22, 2022

News source: GCresin-paint.com

Chemicals affected: tert-butyl acetate, ethylene glycol ether acetate

On April 15, a mechanical failure occurred at LyondellBasells carbon monoxide supply system for its acetic acid feedstock in La Porte Complex, Texas. The third largest glacial acetic acid production base in the world. Therefore, LyondellBasell really declared force majeure on products such as tert-butyl acetate and ethylene glycol ether acetate (EBA, DBA) on April 22.

The notice shows that the allocation is based on the average monthly purchases of customers over the past 6 months (October 2021-March 2022), which will be effective from May 1, 2022. The news indicates that the above-mentioned raw materials will be supplied in limited quantities according to the previous purchases of customers.

tert-butyl acetate

 Used as an additive to gasoline to prevent engine knocking. It is also used as a solvent for lacquers.

ethylene glycol ether acetate

 These compounds have a positive effect on diesel fuel lubricity, and slightly decrease its viscosity

LyondellBasell Industries suffers another failure for a different chemical

Company: LyondellBasell Industries

Location: Lake Charles, Louisiana

Date: March 30, 2022

News source: Darik.news

Chemicals affected: polypropylene

LyondellBasell Industries has announced a force majeure supply limit on polypropylene resin made at its plant in Lake Charles, LA.

In a March 30 letter to customers, executives at Lyondale Basel in Houston said the firm had experienced a mechanical failure of the gearbox in Lake Charles. He said the equipment failure was beyond our reasonable control and would affect production of 32 grades of PP made on site.

Polypropylene is not directly used as an engine oil additive but is used in the packaging and handling of additives for engine oil.

Ineos Olefins & Polymers declares force majeure on HDPE drums used to transport oil, additives and other energy industry chemicals

Company: Ineos Olefins & Polymers

Location: Texas and California

Date: March 31, 2022

News source: eChemi.com

Chemicals affected: polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene

In a letter to customers, Ineos Olefins & Polymers said it was declaring [Force Majeure] on its Polypropylene grades following a power outage at its Carson, California, facility, which caused a manufacturing breakdown and/or failures. The company also said it was diligently working to return production capacity to normal levels as quickly and safely as possible.

Ineos Olefins & Polymers said in a letter to customers that it experienced force majeure on all of its polyolefin products related to rail restrictions and expected to be required to limit rail transport to its best average daily rate. the following. Ineos added that it was committed to exploring all commercially reasonable alternatives to deliver products to its customers, but that the companys deliveries would be greatly affected if restrictions worsen or extend beyond a few weeks. The force majeure polyolefin products include a 318,000-ton/year high-density polyethylene (HDPE) unit at Cedar Bayou, Texas; a 439,000-ton/year polypropylene (PP) unit at Chocolate Bayou, Texas. ) unit; 794,000 t/y high-density polyethylene (HDPE) unit at plant in Deer Park, Texas; 147,000 t/y polypropylene (PP) unit at Deer Park, Texas plant; California 230,000-ton/year polystyrene (PS) plant in Carson, Calif.

Polystyrene

Polystyrene dissolved in fatty acid methyl esters has a greater heating value as fuel, so that a reduction of the fuel consumption per output and the increase in the use of diesel and boiler cogeneration can be expected.

Polyethylene

High-Density Polyethylene drums (HDPE) are used to store and transport diesel fuel, diesel engine oil, DEF fluid, as well as chemical additives used in diesel fuel and oil.

Americas Styrenics (AmSty) declares Force Majeure, suffers temporary loss of production capacity for styrene and ethylbenzene

Company: Americas Styrenics (AmSty)

Location: St. James, Louisiana

Date: April 27, 2022

News source: eChemi.com

Chemicals affected: styrene, ethylbenzene

Americas Styrenics (AmSty), a major North American polystyrene (PS) producer, said on Tuesday that it is conducting a distribution process for its polystyrene products in light of recent production issues and supply chain challenges.

Americas Styrenics (AmSty) confirmed this in a letter to customers on Tuesday, saying it expects to reduce order volumes and limit availability through June. The company said the PS allocation was due to a prolonged reduction in styrene production due to unexpected operational issues at its St. James, Louisiana styrene monomer plant on April 27. Factory issues also led AmSty to declare force majeure on deliveries of its raw materials styrene and ethylbenzene.

Total Energies declares Force Majeure for North American polypropylene production due to lack of additives

Company: Total Energies

Location: Not specified

Date: May 6, 2022

News source: eChemi.com

Chemicals affected: polypropylene

TotalEnergies said in a letter to clients last Friday that it declared force majeure on North American PP products due to a shortage of additives needed to produce certain grades. The company added that its PP production will be curtailed until further notice and could not provide a timetable for normal production to resume.

Shell declares Force Majeure due to equipment failure, announces maintenance and reduction of crude oil deliveries

Company: Shell

Location: Alberta, Canada

Date: March 9, 2022

News source: Reuters

Chemicals affected: light synthetic crude

Shell (SHEL.L) has issued a force majeure at its 300,000 barrel per day Scotford, Alberta, upgrader in western Canada after a unit at the facility tripped, a company spokesman said on Wednesday.

The plant, which processes oil sands bitumen into light synthetic crude, is also scheduled to start a 65-day maintenance turnaround this month, according to an investor presentation from Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ.TO), which owns a share of Scotford.

Two trading sources said Shell had cut March deliveries by approximately 20%. One of the sources said the force majeure had been issued last week, but the impact was muted because Scotfords expected output for March had already been reduced by half because of the turnaround due to start next week.

ExxonMobil shutters Neftegas / Sakhalin-1 operations due to sanctions on Russia

Company: ExxonMobil

Location: Sakhalin Island, Russian Far East

Date: April 27, 2022

News source: RT.com

Chemicals affected: crude oil, used as a base oil for creating diesel engine oil products

Exxon Mobil said on Wednesday its Russian unit Exxon Neftegas has declared force majeure for its Sakhalin-1 operations due to sanctions on Russia that have made it increasingly difficult to ship crude to customers.

The Sakhalin 1 project produces Sokol crude oil off the coast of Sakhalin Island in Russias Far East, exporting about 273,000 barrels per day, mainly to South Korea, as well as other destinations including Japan, Australia, Thailand, and the US.

Exxon said on March 1 it would exit about $4 billion in assets and discontinue all its Russia operations, including Sakhalin 1, following Moscows invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

More details about the coming diesel engine oil supply chain crunch across North America

As we reported yesterday in a story entitled, RED ALERT: Entire U.S. supply of diesel engine oil may be wiped out in 8 weeks no more oil until 2023 due to Force Majeure additive chemical shortages, the supply chain for additives used in the production and transportation of diesel engine oil is suffering numerous critical shortages:

Chemical manufacturers of diesel engine oil additives have declared force majeure and have ceased supply operations to the diesel engine oil manufacturers. Those manufacturers combine base oils with additive packages to create diesel engine oil. You can see a full list of these additives at InfoMak.com:

Antioxidants, anti-corrosion agents, dispersing additives, antirust mechanisms, friction modifiers, EP additives, antifoaming agents, antioxidants, etc.

Without these additives, diesel engine oil manufacturers cannot produce the final oil products that lubricate diesel engines. Because key manufacturers of these additives have ceased operations, diesel engine oil can apparently no longer be produced in the USA, at least not until these necessary chemicals are restored to full supply. This is explained by an industry expert in the following 2-minute video:

[Oil is] going to become the hottest commodity youve ever seen over the next couple of months. Anywhere from the next 4 weeks to 8 weeks, its going to go from scarcity to non-existent, says the man in the video above.

My podcast from yesterday went into more detail about the ramifications of a collapse of diesel engine oil supply in North America:

Brighteon.com/aeef8f40-6235-4290-8018-4c4ce428e3f2

I have since been able to confirm diesel engine oil rationing at a regional supplier in Texas (name withheld) that is telling customers they must limit deliveries due to lack of inventory.

In addition, Natural News contacted a large manufacturer and retailer of diesel engine oil additives, and they confirmed the existence of the supply chain / force majeure problems in a phone text exchange with a Natural News editor. (We are withholding their name because they did not seem interested in attracting attention.)

Why the silence?

The most fascinating thing about this story is that very few people are willing to talk about it. Its almost as if oil companies are feeling threatened by the illegitimate Biden regime and they are afraid to tell the truth about the coming collapse of diesel engine oil, fearing further punishment from Biden and the Democrats who simultaneously blame oil companies for higher gas prices while demanding oil companies product more fuel at a lower price.

The dangerous insanity of the Biden regime  and its irrational, absurd war on Americas energy infrastructure  likely explains why industry people feel intimidated into silence. But that only makes the problem worse because almost nobody knows whats coming. Unless this diesel engine oil crisis is resolved soon, nearly all forms of transportation  trucks, trains, ships  will be sidelined before the end of this year, causing unthinkable levels of chaos as grocery stores dont get stocked, coal doesnt get delivered to power plants and even UPS and Fedex are forced to sharply reduce deliveries due to lack of engine oil.

A world without diesel engine oil is a collapsed, Mad Max world. It wont be pretty. Yet pretending this problem doesnt exist is not going to solve it.

In researching all this, we continue to wonder: Is anybody even trying to solve the diesel engine oil supply chain collapse? Or have we already crossed so deeply into the apathy stage of collapse that nobody cares?

It looks like well soon find out. By our estimates, diesel engine oil should be hitting critical low levels of supply by early September, and that means trucks and trains will be sidelined from September through December, or until somebody finds a way to create the molecules needed for diesel engine oil.

And for those thinking we can just go green, youre forgetting that electric vehicles are charged by coal, and the coal is delivered to power plants by train, and the trains run on diesel engines.

No diesel engines = No electric vehicles.

Somebody tell the greenies how this works, because they still havent figured out the basics. Without diesel engines, modern civilization collapses into a 19th century existence, with all the mass starvation, depopulation, lawlessness, chaos and revolutions that you might imagine would go along with such a scenario.

Listen to my podcast, interviews and raw intel reports for more information on this topic as it becomes available:

https://www.brighteon.com/channels/hrreport

Follow me on:

Brighteon.social: Brighteon.social/@HealthRanger

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(Natural News) Almost immediately after Germany announced that it is restarting its coal-fired power plants to deal with the ongoing energy crisis it helped create, The Netherlands announced that it is following suit.

After proudly going green, these two Western European countries have come to the realization that fossil fuels are, in fact, necessary to keep their economies afloat. And since they no longer want to do business with Russia, that energy is going to have to come from somewhere.

Because the risk of gas shortages has increased, the cabinet has decided today to withdraw the production limitation for coal-fired power stations for 2022 to 2024 with immediate effect, announced energy minister Rob Jetten.

This means that the coal-fired power stations are allowed to produce at full capacity again so that less gas is needed for the production of electricity by gas-fired power stations. This reduces the risk of gas shortages and makes it easier to fill the gas storage facilities in The Netherlands and Europe.

All these two countries had to do was pay in rubles and gas from Russia would have continued flowing

Now that The Netherlands has entered the first phase of a gas crisis, the government is initiating its Gas Protection and Recovery Plan. This will help to fill gas storage facilities across the country with more fuel than had previously been agreed upon, which will be needed this upcoming winter.

Up until now, coal-fired power plant production was capped in The Netherlands at just 35 percent of capacity, all to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and create a cleaner and greener environment.

The Netherlands still expects to meets its 2030 climate goals, Jetten added, which includes phasing out its last four coal-fired power plants by that time. In the meantime, the country is expected to save two billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas use per year by revving up those very same plants, at least through 2024.

To combat the excess emissions that will come from this change, the Dutch cabinet says it has a plan that will soon be announced. One short-term proposal involves the use of a temporary gas-saving tender that will give large gas consumers a financial incentive to reduce their gas consumption, Jetten said.

Similar to what happened in Germany, The Netherlands found itself in a bind back in May when it was cut off from Russias Gazprom pipeline for refusing to pay for deliveries in Russian rubles as requested by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ever since then, gas supplies in The Netherlands have been waning.

That refusal to pay in rubles means that Gazprom will not deliver the two billion bcm of gas through October 1 as was provisioned in a contract with GasTerra, a Dutch gas trader.

There are currently no acute gas shortages in the Netherlands, but the declining gas supplies could have consequences, Jetten claims.

With the declaration of the first level of a gas crisis, gas companies must provide additional detailed information on current gas supplies and stocks on a daily basis. This will enable the government to monitor the gas market even more closely and immediately take additional measures if the situation so requires.

In the comment section at The Epoch Times, one person aptly pointed out that the hypocrisy of both Germany and The Netherlands is astounding.

Apparently theres an existential threat to the planet EXCEPT when cheap Russian natural gas supplies are threatened, THEN theres no existential threat and its okay to switch back to cheap, reliable, and abundant coal, this person wrote.

In other words, if clean energy is too unreliable or too expensive then coal is okay, even if it means the world is going to end.

The latest news about the ongoing energy crisis can be found at EnergySupply.news.

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

TheEpochTimes.com
(Natural News) A new meta-analysis published in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology finds that there is NO high-quality evidence to support MOST modern healthcare interventions and pharmaceutical drugs used in hospitals today.

According to the findings of this analysis, almost every single aspect of the medical system is a racket, a fraud. Its not just the inhumane Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) protocols and the so-called vaccines that have failed the world. Almost every single pharmaceutical intervention approved since 2008 carries more risk than benefit. Up to 94% of medical interventions lack evidence to support their use.

Meta-analysis finds 94% of medical interventions are lacking evidence to support their use

The meta-analysis investigated 1,567 medical interventions studied within the Cochrane reviews. Most of the interventions had already been approved as safe and effective and are currently used throughout hospital systems and pharmacies nationwide; however, a shocking 94% of the interventions were not supported by high-quality evidence. In fact, the majority of the interventions carried more risk than benefit and were not recommended by the study authors.

The meta-analysis investigated a random sample of Cochrane Reviews published between January 1, 2008 and March 5, 2021. The study involved 35 percent of all Cochrane reviews published during that time frame. The data from these studies were extracted if the intervention was compared to a placebo (or no treatment) and also had an outcome quality-rated by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). According to the analysis, most drugs are marketed as safe and effective, but there is no high-quality evidence or solid clinical data to support the claims. Most pharmaceutical interventions did not show statistically-significant positive effects and were not deemed beneficial by the review authors.

Only 87 of the interventions (5.6%) provided high-quality evidence to support their use. Even worse, significant harms were measured in 577 or (36.8%) of the interventions studied. A shocking 127 of the interventions caused statistically significant evidence of harm. There were more interventions found to be significantly harmful (8.1%), than there were interventions that had evidence to support their use (5.6%).

The meta-analysis warns that Patients, doctors, and policymakers should consider the lack of high-quality evidence supporting the benefits and harms of many interventions in their decision-making. The researchers conclude: Most healthcare interventions studied within recent Cochrane Reviews are not supported by high-quality evidence, and harms are under-reported.

Doctors fighting back against corrupt, totalitarian drug companies

As the failures of covid-19 vaccines come to light, more doctors are waking up to the fact that pharmaceutical companies routinely defraud the public and use medical professionals as pawns. In the process, science is manipulated to achieve profit goals, and crimes are covered up.

Doctors who treat patients with dignity and warn about the issues with the vaccines are also witnessing sordid corruption coming from their state medical board. The medical boards are currently being used to hunt down doctors who do not promote the predatory narratives crafted by the drug companies.

During the covid-19 scandal, medical boards became mafias, protecting a kingpin of pharmaceutical profits and crimes. The medical boards are now threatening many doctors who speak out about the inhumane protocols and the scientific failure/genocide of covid-19 vaccines. The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) are now threatening two of the most important voices in medicine  Drs. Peter McCullough, and Pierre Koryfor allegedly providing false and inaccurate information to patients. These doctors have been at the forefront of this crisis, dispelling the fear, treating patients successfully, and warning about the health issues and lethality associated with the covid-19 vaccines.

Science and medical fraud have perpetrated mass iatrogenic death in the 21st century

The medical malpractice, disability, and wrongful death that has resulted from forced remdesivir, sedation, mechanical ventilation and covid-19 vaccines is just the tip of the iceberg! Scientific and medical fraud is the underlying reason why there have been so many iatrogenic deaths since the year 2000. The number of iatrogenic deaths since January 1, 2000 stands at 17,630,724. In this same time frame, there have been approximately 9,895,605 deaths from hospital errors, 2,383,941 from adverse drug reactions, 2,204,021 from general medical errors, 365,126 from opioids, 1,686,750 from hospital infections, 512,030 from prescription drug-related events and 22,490,054 from chemotherapy.

The covid-19 death total represents, to a great extent, systemic errors throughout the medical system. This politicized statistic is fraud in and of itself and is not properly analyzed, detailed, and broken down to provide informed consent and help the public understand the underlying reasons why people died in the medical system. This covid-19 death toll narrative seeks to cover up for mass carnage caused by poisonous drugs like remdesivir, immunosuppressants like chemotherapy, ongoing vaccine damage and antibody dependent enhancement, and the imploding level of medical error that the insurance companies and the courts can no longer keep up with.

Keeping this medical error under wraps is the real reason why governments continue to maintain covid-19 pandemic state of emergency status. Under this contrived pandemic emergency status, the hospitals and the vaccine makers continue to receive immunity and do not have to answer for their deadly, inhumane, and debilitating protocols. This is also why healthcare workers were chided as superheroes throughout the covid-19 scandal. If they go along and do what they are told, they are rewarded. If they dont, they are shamed, blacklisted, and terminated.

The medical system is in shambles, as it bears allegiance to criminal pharmaceutical operations and scientific fraud. The only way forward is for medical professionals to return to medical ethics and human decency, to end liability protections for vaccine makers and hospital systems, and utilize only the interventions that have evidence to support their use.

Sources include:

ScienceDirect.com

NaturalNews.com

AMGreatness.com

PharmaDeathClock.com

NaturalNews.com

Papers.SSRN.com
(Natural News) British researchers say that Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines do not provide any real protection against the latest variant of the disease, which the establishment is calling Omicron (Moronic).

A new paper published in the magazine Science reveals that both antibody and T-cell protection are nowhere to be found post-injection. Meanwhile, the shots leave behind mystery substances inside a persons body, often leading to chronic illness or early death.

Another thing the paper found is that the fully vaccinated are suffering so-called breakthrough infections with Moronic, as their T-cell response is now artificially tuned towards earlier variants of the disease such as Delta.

 when vaccinated but previously uninfected people suffer breakthrough Omicron infections, their T-cell response is biased toward earlier versions of Sars-Cov-2  not to the Omicron variant that has actually infected them, writes Alex Berenson on his Substack.

In other words, the mRNA shots appear to permanently wrongfoot the immune systems of people who receive and bias them toward producing T-cells to attack variants that no longer exist  even though they never were infected with those variants at all.

Covid jabs destroy natural, non-specific immunity

Natural immunity that has not been damaged by pharmaceutical shots bears a component called non-specific immunity that targets invading pathogens non-specifically. In the case of covid, this means fighting against the virus generally rather than specifically in terms of variants.

After a person gets injected, however, that non-specific immunity becomes altered, and suddenly the body is no longer able to fight off infections as they morph and mutate. (Related: Research out of Columbia University found that Moronic has a striking resistance to covid injections.)

While antibodies are the first line of defense against infection and try to clear the virus from the bloodstream, T-cells are the crucial second line, Berenson adds. They attack and destroy infected cells and also work with other parts of the immune system to produce more and better targeted antibodies later.

Vaccine advocates have claimed endlessly that mRNA-generated T-cells help keep people from becoming severely ill with Covid even after frontline antibody protection against infection disappears  This study suggests that supposed protection may be a myth, and the low death rates from Omicron are simply a result of Omicrons general lack of virulence in vaccinated and unvaccinated people alike.

The British study further found that another big part of the bodys ability to fight off infections, antibodies, also become damaged by the shots. Post-injection, the immune system is left with the ability to produce only one type of coronavirus antibody, when the reality is that many different antibodies are needed.

Those other antibodies would be produced naturally by the body without the shot. But once synthetic mRNA (messenger RNA) chemicals are dispensed, the immune system is left permanently damaged with no way to fight off illnesses that are constantly changing.

The study acknowledged this fact, however it was buried in highly technical language, suggesting that it was simply too politically incorrect to state plainly. The study also failed to compare the immune responses of the vaccinated to the unvaccinated, which is problematic, to say the least.

Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, the scientists did not look at the immune responses of anyone who was not vaccinated  with or without previous infection, Berenson explains. Thus the paper offers no direct comparison of the way Omicron may affect antibody and B- and T-cell responses in vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

Why didnt the researchers include unvaccinated people? Maybe because nearly all British adults are vaccinated and most boosted, so the authors wanted to concentrate on the risks Omicron poses to vaccinated people  Or maybe because they worried about what theyd find if they directly compared the two groups.

The latest news about the Chinese Virus and its health-destroying injections can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

AlexBerenson.substack.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) When the Biden regime said that its tyrannical Ministry of Truth was going to be tabled for the time being, there were a number of congressional members who didnt believe the president and his minion, Department of Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas, who would be overseeing the new agency.

Turns out their instincts were spot-on.

Last week, several GOP senators demanded to know why Mayorkas, probably one of the slimiest of all of Bidens appointed sycophants, provided apparently misleading testimony (he lied to Congress, in other words) regarding his agencys Disinformation Governance Board, whose primary objective was to determine what was true and what was disinformation on social media, a clear attempt to persecute conservatives and political opponents and smear them as enemies of the state.

According to the Washington Times:

Mr. Mayorkas told lawmakers at a May 4 hearing that the board had not yet begun its work, but new documents show the board was stood up earlier this year, the secretary signed a charter, and board members were already meeting with social media giant Twitter.

The Republicans said Mr. Mayorkas misrepresented the boards purview by claiming it wouldnt be involved in monitoring Americans activities. Talking points prepared by the boards former executive director, Nina Jankowicz, appear to show that the Department does in fact monitor American citizens and that the Boards work is concentrated on domestic threats, the senators said.

Sen. Ran Paul (R-Ky.) suggested that the truth ministry is likely interested in policing the debate over pandemic masking as part of its effort to declare politically troublesome data disinformation, but that was dismissed by Mayorkas. But the new documents unearthed clearly list efficacy of masks as something the board was interested in.

GOP Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Josh Hawley of Missouri unveiled the documents last week, the Washington Times reported.

The letter to Mayorkas gets right to the point:

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) information obtained by our offices through protected whistleblower disclosures raises serious concerns about DHSs recently-paused Disinformation Governance Board (DGB) and the role the DGB was designed to play in DHS counter disinformation efforts. Documents show that, contrary to your May 4, 2022, testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the DGB was established to serve as much more than a simple working group to develop guidelines, standards, [and] guardrails for protecting civil rights and civil liberties. In fact, DHS documents show that the DGB was designed to be the Departments central hub, clearinghouse and gatekeeper for Administration policy and response to whatever it happened to decide was disinformation.

The American public deserves transparency and honest answers to important questions about the true nature and purpose of the Disinformation Governance Board and it is clear that Secretary Mayorkas has not provided them  to the public or this committee, said the letter from the senators, led by Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, the top Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The GOP senators then requested that Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), chairman of the committee, call Mayorkas back for more testimony so they can nail him on his lie. No word on whether Peters will do that, however.

Jankowicz left her post after she demonstrated that she was simply too much of a lunatic even for the Biden regime to defend, and Mayorkas has allegedly put the board on hold for the time being. To make it look like hes just a non-partisan civil servant interested in transparency, he asked two former senior officials from the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to review the boards posture.

But in fact, the documents that the GOP senators have unearthed show just exactly what the boards purpose was to be: Silencing and persecuting political opponents.

Sources include:

Grassley.Senate.gov

WashingtonTimes.com
(Natural News) DOWNERS GROVE, ILLINOIS  The COVID Blog made clear back on April 4 that the ignorance card is no longer a viable excuse for parents poisoning their children with experimental mRNA gene therapy injections. No more passes will be given to negligent parents.

(Article republished from TheCOVIDBlog.com)

The average American child born after the year 2000 receives upwards of 50 injections by the time they turn 18 years old. Autism rates among American children have more than tripled since that time. But this is all pure coincidence; and one has nothing to do with the other, according to mainstream media, the CDC, the FDA, etc. Now the mRNA injections are killing kids at disturbingly high rates because of reckless, government-orchestrated parenting.

This blogger remembers every single time his mom slammed on the brakes in the car. She always took one hand off the wheel and braced him in the passenger seat with her arm. This blogger remembers his dad sprinting down the stairs to his bedroom after hearing a loud scream during a nightmare. These are basic parental instincts  protect your children at all costs. Its natural throughout the entire animal kingdom.

This stupid baby buffalo is making all kinds of noise, like a dinner bell for lions. Yet the mother comes to its rescue, knowing that she could be killed and eaten herself.

Western humans have lost most of their natural instincts, particularly in the last 20 years. Most Americans wouldnt know where to get clean water or how to catch, clean and cook a fish if society broke down completely. But youd think parental protection instincts are infallible. That is not the case, particularly in the face of the powerful human psychological operation in history.

Who is Sean Casten?

Mr. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018. He represents the 6th Congressional District of Illinois, which covers the western suburbs of Chicago. Mr. Casten easy won re-election in 2020.

The 6th Congressional District was redrawn at the end of 2021, creating a messy situation between Mr. Casten and 3rd Congressional District incumbent Marie Newman, D-La Grange. The two will face off in a primary for one seat on June 28.

Mr. Casten made a name for himself in Democrat politics with the usual homosexual, climate change and gun control pandering. But from 2021 forward, Democrats must also be die-hard vaxx zealots to get elected and re-elected. Mr. Casten has not disappointed in that regard.

He started his safe and effective regurgitations as early as April 2021.

Mr. Casten has long equated hugging your family members with being injected.

Mr. Casten bragged about 100% of Congressional Democrats being vaccinated on May 14, 2021.

Three days later, on May 17, 2021, he bragged about everyone in his family being vaccinated, including his then-14-year-old daughter Audrey and 16-year-old daughter Gwen.

We couldnt find any actual vaccine photos with the band-aids and what not. But Mr. Casten verified again that he was fully vaccinated on September 23, 2021 because he trusts the science.

Mr. Casten is also in the habit of conflating Neo-Nazis and white supremacists with critical thinkers as it relates to the experimental mRNA and viral vector DNA injections.

He urged everyone on October 13, 2021, to blindly listen to doctors and get the injections.

Mr. Casten tested positive for so-called COVID-19 on January 8, 2022 despite being triple-vaxxed. And of course like all vaxx zealots, he repeated the slogan it would have been much worse if I was unvaccinated.

Gwens death

Gwen Casten went out with friends on Sunday night, June 12. She got home, said goodnight to her parents, and went to bed. Gwen never woke up. She died in her sleep that night. Her parents found her dead on the morning of June 13.

Mr. Casten confirmed on June 15 that Gwen died peacefully in her sleep.

Of course weve written story after story after story chronicling young people dying in this exact same way since 2021. But Mr. Castens only message is for others to live your lives as Gwen lived hers. In other words, obediently receive experimental injections, and all available boosters, and hope for the best.

The cult is too powerful

Canadian pop star Justin Bieber still has a golden opportunity to warn his millions of fans about the experimental mRNA injections. Both he and his wife have experienced adverse reactions to the injections. Yet both are completely oblivious and/or far too loyal to their masters to utilize their platforms for good. Granted there isnt much you can do once youre injected. But at least Bieber could admit his mistake and somehow soothe the inevitable fates of all the fans he coerced into receiving the shots.

We all make mistakes and commit Biblical or otherwise sin. Nobody is perfect. All we can do is admit our mistakes to those we love and do our best to rectify them. But death is irreversible, just like the injections themselves. And coercing your children into receiving the injections is indirect murder, based on all the facts and science we know about the shots.

The FDA officially authorized the mRNA injections for emergency use in kids ages 6 months to 5 years on Friday. Thus more sudden infant deaths will be blamed on climate change. Theres also more kids everyday trying to detransition after being talked into mutilating their bodies by radical liberals online. And their parents allow it to happen. Its just a horrible time to be a child right now.

Once you pull the trigger, stab with the knife, or coerce someone into receiving the injections, its done. Parents have the ultimate natural obligation to sacrifice themselves for the betterment of their children. Today, unfortunately, millions of parents are walking their children right to the slaughterhouse instead of protecting them.

The Quran forgives all sin except shirk (idolatry and polytheism). Muslims may attempt repentance at death and pray for Allahs forgiveness. Christianity forgives all sin, ironically, except for blasphemy. The cult of COVID has a similar code. Do not speak or act negatively toward the Holy Sacrament (vaccines), the scriptures (mainstream media, CDC narratives) and the gods (Fauci, Gates, etc.).

If you kill your kids in the process of devout COVID faith, so be it. Youre simply a faithful zealot. Sacrificing your life and your childrens lives are a primary tenets of the Church of COVID and its depopulation goals. Whatever it may be by definition, youre going to hell. And apparently thats the goal of every vaxx zealot, particularly the parents.

Stay vigilant and protect your friends and loved ones.

Read more at: TheCOVIDBlog.com
(Natural News) In a normal year, Americas heartland would be brimming with lush, green wheat crops  but this is not a normal year.

According to reports, western Kansas is a wasteland of parched, dead fields. Wheat crops have been decimated, which means the American food supply will suffer yet another major blow.

Theres nothing out there, says Vance Ehmke, a wheat farmer from Lane County. Its dead. Its just ankle-high straw.

Ehmkes farm is one of many that, after being planted several months ago, now looks like a dust bowl. Rows of brown, shriveled plants nest in hardened dirt that is now scarred with deep cracks due to a lack of water combined with the relentless beating sun.

If there was ever a year for this not to be happening, this is the year. Global wheat supplies are already being strangled by numerous factors, including the war in Ukraine. And now a major wheat production region of the United States is facing near-total desolation.

For the farmers in western Kansas that somehow generate a crop, they will likely end up with far fewer bushels than they had last year. Current estimates suggest that one out of every 10 wheat fields in that part of the state will be abandoned this year due to the drought.

USDA says wheat fields across Kansas will generate 25% fewer bushels this year, with even worse yields on the western half of the state

Back in March, wheat prices reached an all-time high of $13 per bushel, which might seem like it will help farmers who end up with smaller yields this year  but it is not that simple.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that across the state of Kansas, wheat fields will average about 25 percent fewer bushels per acre overall. Last year, Kansas wheat fields generated about 52 bushels per acre, but are only expected to produce 39 bushels per acre this year.

In the western part of the state, yields are expected to be even lower than that. In Lane County, for instance, the USDA is projecting an average of 27 bushels per acre, which is less than half of what the county averaged in 2021.

At $11 per bushel, each acre of that average Lane County farmers land would bring in just under $300 this season, reports explain. In order to recoup the costs of doing business, Ehmke said farmers here need to gross closer to $325 per acre.

Ehmke says he expects his farm to produce more than 27 bushels per acre this year, which he credits to his decision to let the land rest between plantings. Even so, it could still produce only about half of the normal crop.

Theyre losing money, Ehmke says about fellow farmers in the area, many of whom will not even generate enough wheat this year to break even, even with the highest price of wheat that weve probably ever seen in the past 50 or 100 years.

Costs for everything, from the diesel needed to run tractors to the fertilizer needed to grow the wheat, have all skyrocketed this past year. Nitrogen, for instance, reached record levels this spring, peaking above $1,500 per ton which is more than twice what it cost last year.

Itll be a very difficult year, says Rejeana Gvillo from the Farmers Business Network. Just because commodity prices are high, it does not mean that producers are better off.

Gvillo traveled across Kansas last month to survey crops from east to west, and she says western Kansas has a shorter crop and uglier fields.

As we drove west, it just got way worse, she added.

You can keep up with the latest news about the food crisis at FoodCollapse.com.

Sources for this article include:

StrangeSounds.org

NaturalNews.com
On Monday, Congressman Lloyd Doggett announced a $2 million project to better protect Texas rivers, aquifers, and lakes and figure out how to deal with dwindling water supplies.

Rep. Doggett, (D) 35th District of Texas says that the state might be facing some serious challenges. This prompted the allocation of funds that will provide tools that many local governments do not have today to plan and adapt to the climate crisis.

Investigative Lake Tour

Doggett took a tour of Spring Lake, riding on a glass-bottom boat to see the effects of climate change on Texas water. The tour at Texas State University provides a unique underwater view of how low water flows and droughts are changing the state.

Doggett points out that Texas could become much more like the Sonoran Desert as the heat continues to rise.

The Sonoran Desert takes up the southeastern tip of California and more than half of Arizona.

The water level at Spring Lake in San Marcos was lower by about a foot because of the sweltering June weather. Doggett noticed right away how few bubbles he was seeing. San Marcos Springs, which bubble up from the Edwards Aquifer to create Spring Lake, usually puts on a show through the abundance of bubbles.

Robert Mace, Executive Director and Chief Water Policy Officer at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment explains that during his team's tour of the lake, very few of those areas were bubbling. They saw almost like scum on top of where normally there would be a field of sand and that's due to the low flows.

$2M Projects

Mace thinks the $2 million projects will provide much-needed local and state climate information that will help Texas figure out how to protect the state's water.

Mace points out that with the funding, texas will end up with climate information at a local level. Temperature, rainfall, evaporation, and information that helps people access how much climate change might affect their water resources.

Read also: Mysterious Phenomenon: How Do Trees 'Explode' During Texas' Freezing Storms?

Mace is optimistic that people will be able to know how much less water is there going to be in the river because of climate change than if we didn't have climate change.

The local climate change research could help Texas mitigate drought conditions that are impacting Arizona, California, and West Texas and threaten to do similar damage in San Marcos and Austin. It can also mitigate the Sonoran desert expansion,

Mace explains that it may be more aggressive water conservation and water reuse. He added that maybe some other things can be done that can help offset the detrimental effects of climate change on water.

Texas Projects

Doggett says that the local government knows that conditions will continue to worsen and that there is a need for a plan for protecting the invaluable water resources and beautiful areas like the rising heat. Doggett further points out that there is potential, with the technology, to develop good renewable energy resources. Some projects are being done in Texas however, the official thinks that it is not enough.

The research on climate change in San Marcos, Austin, and Texas is already underway. Doggett is optimistic that the results of the test might be available in a year.

Related article: Migrants Crossing US-Mexico Border at Risk of Deadly Dehydration Due to Severe Heat
Children are starving to death 'right in front of our eyes,' say relief workers, as G7 leaders warn that only massive and immediate financing can prevent famine.

In Dire Need of Help

A UN spokeswoman has warned that only a "huge" and quick increase in funding and humanitarian supplies will save Somalia from famine, as aid workers witness children starving to death "before our eyes" amid fast-rising levels of malnutrition.

In a letter to G7 leaders gathering in Germany beginning Sunday, Michael Dunford, the World Food Programme's (WFP) regional director for East Africa, said states needed to give quickly and generously if the Horn of Africa country was to avert disaster.

"We need money, and we need it immediately," Dunford added. "Will we be able to avoid [a Somali famine]?" It won't be conceivable unless there is a tremendous scaling-up. At this point, the only way out is for a large investment in humanitarian aid and for all stakeholders and partners to work together to attempt to prevent catastrophe."

Also Read: Famines in the Modern Day: What Madagascar's Current Crisis Means to the World

Consecutive Failed Rainy Season

The Horn of Africa has had four consecutive failed rainy seasons and the worst drought in four decades, a climatic shock aggravated by continued violence and price increases induced by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The World Food Programme now considers 89 million people in East Africa to be "acutely food insecure," which has increased by over 90 percent in the last year.

Last year, the UK and other G7 leaders offered $7 billion (5.7 billion) to help nations avoid famine, but pleas for East Africa have failed to gather enough funding to alleviate starvation.

Those same leaders are encouraged to agree to an emergency aid package as Somalia, the worst-affected country, approaches disaster. According to the most recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) assessment, at least 213,000 people in the worst-affected areas are predicted to face famine by September.

Affecting the Children

Claire Sanford, Save the Children's deputy humanitarian director, said she encountered women who had already lost many children in the previous year and whose surviving children were now suffering from acute malnutrition during a recent visit to the nation.

Sanford visited one very emaciated three-month-old infant who "never made it through the night, and we heard of several situations where that was the case."

Somalia endured a famine in 2011, killing over 250,000 people, predominantly children, but Sanford claimed many of the individuals she encountered thought the situation was now considerably worse.

Worsening Situation

In April, the UN had barely received 3% of the funding requested for its $6 billion appeals for Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan.

Oxfam GB CEO Danny Sriskandarajah blamed the present issue on the British government's "humanity failing" and decision to decrease the global assistance funding by 4.6 billion last year.

According to the most recent IPC assessment for Somalia, an estimated 1.5 million under-fives would be extremely malnourished by the end of the year, with 386,400 expected to be seriously malnourished. Those figures are only likely to rise.

Related Article: Hunger in Madagascar: First Ever Famine Blamed Entirely on Climate Change

For more environmental news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Megalodon sharks, which became extinct around 3 million years ago, were apex predators at the greatest trophic level yet observed.

They were three times longer than contemporary great white sharks.

To determine the trophic levels of the ancient predators, scientists examined nitrogen traces trapped in shark tooth enamel.

Prehistoric history of megalodon

The oldest megalodon fossils, identified as Otodus megalodon (sometimes called Carcharodon or Carcharocles megalodon), date to 20 million years ago, as per the Natural History Museum.

The gigantic shark ruled the waters for the following 13 million years before going extinct only 3.6 million years ago.

Three times longer than the biggest great white shark ever documented, estimates put its maximum length at between 15 and 18 meters.

Megalodon would have likely devoured whale flesh, huge fish, and maybe other sharks with its massive serrated teeth.

Large prey is necessary since an animal of its size has to consume a lot of food. This would have encompassed creatures of all sizes, from dolphins to humpback whales.

Whale bones preserved in fossil form provide more proof of the megalodon's eating habits.

Megalodon teeth's cut marks are engraved into the surface of several of them.

Some even have the ends of teeth that were snapped off during a feeding frenzy that happened millions of years ago and lodged in the bone.

Megatooth sharks are named like so because of their enormous teeth, which can grow to be as large as a human hand, as per ScienceDaily.

The group comprises numerous closely related species as well as Megalodon, the biggest shark to have ever lived.

Megatooth sharks emerged after the dinosaurs were extinct and controlled the seas until about 3 million years ago, even though sharks of various kinds have existed for more than 400 million years, dating back to long before the dinosaurs.

According to Emma Kast, a 2019 geology Ph.D. graduate and the study's primary author, they typically conceive of the biggest creatures as filter feeders or herbivores, not predators, including blue whales, whale sharks, even elephants, and diplodocuses.

If Megalodon existed in the present seas, it would fundamentally alter how people interact with the marine environment, according to her advisor Danny Sigman, the Dusenbury Professor of Geological and Geophysical Sciences at Princeton.

Megalodon and some of its ancestors must have consumed other predators and predators-of-predators in a complex food web, according to a team of Princeton researchers, who have now found convincing evidence that they were at the very top of the prehistoric food chain, or what scientists refer to as the highest "trophic level."

Also Read: Great White Shark May Be the Culprit For the Extinction of Megalodon

Nitrogen time machine

Very few bones have survived with teeth marks that indicate they were nibbled on by a large shark; without a time machine, it is difficult to reproduce the food chains of ancient animals.

The fact that the nitrogen isotope levels in a creature's cells tell whether it is at the top, middle, or bottom of a food chain has helped Sigman and his colleagues spend decades inventing alternative techniques.

According to Sigman, the goal of the research team is to find organic stuff, including nitrogen, that is chemically fresh yet physically preserved in far-off geologic creatures.

A few species at the base of the food chain have mastered the art of converting nitrogen from the air, including plants, algae, and other species.

The nitrogen that they ingest is subsequently incorporated into the bodies of the organisms that consume them, and crucially, they preferentially excrete more of the lighter isotope of nitrogen, N-14, than its heavier relative, N-15.

In other words, as you move up the food chain, N-15 increases than N-14.

This method has been utilized by other researchers on organisms from the recent past, within the last 10 to 15 thousand years, but older animals haven't had enough nitrogen remaining to quantify until now.

Shark teeth are so common and well-preserved that nitrogen signatures in enamel may be used to gauge position in the food chain.

Nitrous oxide must be extracted, purified, concentrated, and delivered to a specialized stable isotope ratio mass spectrometer using specially designed, automated equipment for this study.

Related article: Megalodon Sharks Are More Likely to Grow Larger in Cold Waters
After many days of rain, British Columbia is raising the temperature, leaving locals wondering when summer will arrive.

With forecast highs in the low to mid-30s on Wednesday, Environment Canada issued special weather advisories for almost all of the province.

Eastern Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, the Kootenays, the Cariboo, and northeastern British Columbia are all included in the advisories.

The Central and North Coasts, Haida Gwaii, and northwest British Columbia are the only regions without unique weather declarations.

Beginning this weekend, the interior of British Columbia will have its first run of warmer-than-average weather.

Hot weather in B.C

Throughout British Columbia, a swath of special weather warnings Locals were warned by Environment Canada to prepare for "the first hot stretch of summer."

Communities in Interior and South Coast B.C. will start to see "warmer-than-average temperatures," according to the meteorological agency's alerts, as per CTV News.

Temperatures might reach the low to mid-30s in certain areas of the Interior, such as Kelowna, Penticton, and the Kootenays, according to Environment Canada's alert.

Daytime highs are anticipated to reach the 30s in Metro Vancouver as well.

The upper 20s are expected on Saturday, June 25.

Temperatures will increase into the low to mid 30 degrees Celsius range for the remainder of the weekend and the first part of next week, as per Quesnel Cariboo Observer.

According to Environment Canada, overnight lows will be in the mid-teens.

According to Environment Canada, high temperatures increase the risk of heat-related diseases as well as snowmelt and snowpack instability.

Run-off may result in higher stream volumes.

By the middle of the next week, temperatures are predicted to rebound to near-normal levels as a colder, unsettled air mass comes ashore.

Also Read: Pacific Northwest Heatwave: New Study Reveals Mystery Behind the Scorching Temperatures of Summer 2021

The rapid shift of weather

B.C. was scorched by a heat wave a year ago, with highs in the 30s.

The province had a heat dome towards the end of June and the beginning of July, with temperatures rising to the mid-40s and even higher in some places.

The weather pattern for this week will be different from the one that baked. It is also anticipated to leave swiftly.

According to Mark Madryga, chief meteorologist for Global BC, a swift change to brighter, drier, and most crucially, hotter weather is on the way to much of British Columbia.

On Thursday near the B.C. coast, an upper-level high-pressure ridge will gradually develop in the Coast and will extend into British Columbia.

The ridge will cause the daytime temperature to gradually rise and will probably peak throughout the three days from Saturday to Monday.

As a prelude to the significant shift in the weather that is anticipated to take place in the next few days, Environment Canada has issued special weather bulletins for the bulk of the province.

According to Madryga, this period's continuous heat and large temperature increase will increase the likelihood of floods because of the high mountains' quick melting.

He continued by saying that this next period of hotter weather is very typical for this time of the year.

Madryga further noted that temperatures are predicted to surge into the 30s in numerous Southern Interior and South Coast locations away from the coast, while the Central Interior will have highs in the mid to upper 20s.

He claimed that the record late-June heat event of the previous year, when temperatures topped 40 degrees on some of the South Coast and soared into the upper 40s across the Southern Interior, was under a much stronger, longer-lived high-pressure ridge.

As a result, he said, all-time national temperature records were set.

Related article: Heatwave 2022: Scorching Temperatures Recorded in India and Pakistan for April
By: John Gray, Data Center Marketing Lead, Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company.

Enterprises today know the world has changed, and they must change with it, especially in the ways they approach improvements to business process through the network.

They want to choose and build the right capabilities to centrally host applications and data in distributed locations and, they want to connect their employees, devices, and resources the way they need to limit disruption and flex operations for growth.

The answers are found at the intersection of the hybrid cloud and next generation data centers, technology that transforms IT operations and organizations.

The end goal is faster business outcomes by implementing technology that vastly simplifies management and operational complexity, freeing them to not worry about underlying network protocols, topologies, and related complexity. Instead, they can shift focus onto higher impact projects and priorities needed to run the business.

Two companies have recently improved business processes and outcomes by better integrating edge and data center networks.

ONGC, Indias largest oil and natural gas company, was looking for a pay-per-use model that could be implemented quickly without any impact on security and availability. It chose an HPE Superdome Flex on the HPE GreenLake platform because it can process more data in real-time, speed-up analytics, and maintain fault-tolerant operations with in-memory computing, resulting in superior performance for SAP S/4 HANA workloads.

ONGCs expanded HPE GreenLake agreement also supports a new deployment of edge networking solutions to deliver faster, more reliable connectivity and to reduce network latency. The result is that ONGCs full edge-to-cloud infrastructure for the SAP environment is now running on one consistent platform, making it both easier to manage and support.

A separate story is that of Australia's leading container terminal operator, Patrick Terminals. The terminal features precise orchestration among ships, cranes, and heavy ground vehicles. Patrick Terminals streamlines a complex operation with autonomous machines that optimizes efficiency, elevates customer service, reduces costs, and improves human safetyall orchestrated from a private cloud. Patrick Terminals has recently transformed its private cloud with HPE Synergy composable infrastructure, HPE Primera storage, HPE StoreOnce backup, HPE Cloud Bank storage, and Aruba networking. The result is a faster and more reliable service. These improvements have translated into time and fuel cost savings for the terminal and its customers.

These are just two examples of many where HPE and Aruba solution technology integration are helping to deliver a cloud-like experience to IT operators with simplicity, speed, and security packaged into flexible as-a-service consumption models.

HPE and Aruba offer dozens of highly differentiated pre-engineered IT infrastructure solutions delivering a wide variety of HPE compute, storage, and networking products that span a range of offerings, including virtualization, vSAN, hyperconverged infrastructure, high-performance computing, mission-critical systems, Microsoft, SAP HANA, and VMware solutions. These ready-to-deploy, integrated IT data center solutions help simplify and speed IT service.

Tangible and Enduring Benefits

Organizations undergoing digital transformation first want proven paths to success. HPE Reference Architectures document fully tested and validated workload architectures built on decades of HPE technical experience and ISV expertise, providing the following benefits:

First, to reduce complexities of planning, designing, and implementing infrastructure across a variety of workloads and infrastructure platforms.

Next, to achieve speedy deployment with less risk using a repeatable, best-practices reference to determine optimized configurations.

Lastly, achieving 75 percent faster deployment of integrated and complex IT stacks.

Also, Here are some additional examples of HPE Reference Architectures that are powered by Aruba Data Center Networking technology:

An upcoming conversation will occur at HPE Discover 2022, Next-Generation Architecture and Management for Data Centers - Session ID: DEMO501. Here, you can listen and learn how Aruba can help you modernize the data center with simplified and automated distributed services architectures built around a host of pre-engineer HPE compute, storage, and networking solutions.
Ethan Simmons is a reporter at The News-Gazette covering the University of Illinois. His email is esimmons@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@ethancsimmons).
After 10 years working at Oakwood Grade School as an aide and a substitute, Ashley Woodard took over her own classroom this year, teaching kindergarten to second-grade students as a certified special education teacher.
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Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey).
Our County Editor

Dave Hinton is editor of The News-Gazette's Our County section and former editor of the Rantoul Press. He can be reached at dhinton@news-gazette.com.
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
An estimated one-quarter of adults in the U.S. have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), an excess of fat in liver cells that can cause chronic inflammation and liver damage, increasing the risk of liver cancer. Now, UT Southwestern researchers have developed a simple blood test to predict which NAFLD patients are most likely to develop liver cancer.

This test lets us noninvasively identify who should be followed most closely with regular ultrasounds to screen for liver cancer." Yujin Hoshida, M.D. Ph.D., Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases, UTSW

Yujin Hoshida is a member of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, and senior author of the paper published in Science Translational Medicine.

NAFLD is rapidly emerging as a major cause of chronic liver disease in the United States. With rising rates of obesity and diabetes, its incidence is expected to keep growing. Studies have found that people with NAFLD have up to a seventeenfold increased risk of liver cancer. For NAFLD patients believed to be most at risk of cancer, doctors recommend a demanding screening program involving a liver ultrasound every six months. But pinpointing which patients are in this group is challenging and has typically involved invasive biopsies.

Naoto Fujiwara, M.D., Ph.D., Research Scientist in the Hoshida lab, and his colleagues wondered whether blood samples from NAFLD patients could reveal those at highest risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer. In the new study, they analyzed samples from 409 NAFLD patients to reveal a set of 133 genes that were expressed at levels higher or lower than average in the livers of patients who developed HCC over a 15-year follow-up period. The patients were then stratified into high- and low-risk groups based on how much these genes were expressed. Over 15 years after the samples were taken, 22.7% of those in the high-risk group were diagnosed with HCC while no patients in the low-risk group were diagnosed.

"This test was especially good at telling us who was in that low-risk group," said Dr. Hoshida, who directs UTSW's Liver Tumor Translational Research Program. "We can much more confidently say now that those patients don't need to be followed very closely."

The researchers also converted the liver gene panel into four proteins whose levels could be measured in blood samples for easier risk assessment. When patients were stratified into high- and low-risk groups based on these proteins, 37.6% of patients in the high-risk group were diagnosed with HCC during the 15-year follow-up period while no patients in the low-risk group were diagnosed.

Most of the genes and proteins found to be predictive of HCC risk were immune and inflammatory molecules, which points toward the importance of inflammation in HCC development. Moreover, the researchers showed that levels of the molecules changed in conjunction with therapies known to decrease liver inflammation and HCC risk, including bariatric surgery, cholesterol drugs, and an immunotherapy.

"This means we could actually use these panels of molecules to track how well patients are doing over time or to inform potential effectiveness of medical interventions to reduce liver cancer risk," said Dr. Hoshida. For instance, the protein blood test, dubbed PLSec-NAFLD, is already being used to monitor the effectiveness of a cholesterol drug in reducing liver cancer risk in an ongoing clinical trial.

Dr. Hoshida's team is planning to continue assessing the utility of PLSec-NAFLD in larger groups of patients around the world. They also say that in the future, blood tests could be developed to measure cancer risk in other major liver diseases such as hepatitis B and alcoholic liver disease.

Other UTSW researchers who contributed to this study include Naoto Kubota, Bhuvaneswari Koneru, Cesia Marquez, Arun Jajoriya, Gayatri Panda, Tongqi Qian, Shijia Zhu, Xiaochen Wang, Shuang Liang, Zhenyu Zhong, Amit Singal, Jorge Marrero, Indu Raman, and Quan-Zhen Li.
GE Healthcare was forced to shut a production plant in April because of a COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai, China. This plant supplies most of the iodinated contrast media (ICM) used in the United States for imaging studies and image-guided treatments. Over 40% of computerized tomography (CT) studies use these agents, and many healthcare systems only have limited supplies.

Recommendations from the American College of Radiology (ACR) that guide imaging providers and their institutions on how to address this emergency locally appear in the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR), published by Elsevier. JACR also presents case studies from two healthcare systems that were able to reduce their ICM usage by at least 50%, providing helpful data to help practices prioritize and inform health system decision making during the crisis.

In the statement from the ACR, lead author Carolyn L. Wang, MD, University of Washington, Department of Radiology, Seattle, WA, USA, and colleagues stated, "Our recommendations are not exhaustive or prescriptive. They are intended as a resource for healthcare providers to provide high-quality patient care during times of shortage of contrast media."

Recommended risk mitigation strategies include:

Use alternative studies, such as non-contrast CT, MR with or without gadolinium-based contrast media, and ultrasound with or without ultrasound contrast agents, and use of PET/CT when feasible.

Look for alternative vendors and versions of contrast agents, which may be marketed under a different brand name or clinical use.

Use a single vial for more than one patient only under the guidance of qualified healthcare personnel from the institutional pharmacy because of the risk of contamination and infection.

Minimize individual dosages to reduce waste. Options include weight-based dosing for CT in available vial sizes and/or using lower doses in conjunction with low peak kilovoltage protocols or dual-energy protocols to improve contrast brightness.

Reserve higher concentration agents for angiographic and multiphase studies, which require optimal vascular visualization.

Use alternatives to nonionic contrast for oral, rectal, and genitourinary administration.

According to Dr. Wang, it is important to note that these agents are used by departments other than radiology, including urology, radiation oncology, pain management, gastroenterology, vascular surgery, and cardiology. Prioritization of limited supplies must be coordinated throughout the system.

When the shortage was announced, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) identified a reserve of seven to 10 days' worth of ICM on hand. They recognized immediately that extraordinary steps would be needed to conserve the remaining supply. Laveil M. Allen, MD, Executive Medical Director and Section Chief of Emergency Radiology, and Reed A. Omary, MD, MS, Chair of the Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, VUMC, Nashville, TN, USA, and co-authors share actions taken to develop mitigation, communication, prioritization, and procurement strategies.

Imaging services are the eyes of medicine and preserving our ability to diagnose the most critically ill patients is essential to quality care." Dr. Laveil M. Allen, MD, Executive Medical Director and Section Chief of Emergency Radiology

A radiology command center team (RCCT) was created immediately. They tracked contrast exhaustion risk (CER) levels, which were updated each day to reflect the volume of contrast on hand and estimated supply remaining. A tiered strategy for outpatient imaging centers was created to identify patients whose need for a contrast image was critical and patients whose studies could be delayed or replaced by an alternative study. Outpatient CT orders across the system were collected centrally and reviewed by a subspecialty radiologist on the RCCT to confirm the tier level or suggest a tier change with the referring clinician. Communication across the health care system was key.

VUMC's combined strategy of setting up an RCCT, forming multidisciplinary partnerships, and implementing contrast mitigation strategies reduced contrast use by 50% in less than seven days. "Hopefully, our shared mitigation strategies can provide clarity on a path forward in this time of crisis," noted Dr. Omary.

At the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the Department of Radiology's mitigation strategy made protocol changes across the board to conserve ICM for uses in which alternative options are not available. Every contrast-enhanced CT examination already scheduled is being scored by a radiologist as "contrast-enhanced," "non-contrasted," "reschedule," or "route to alternative examination to prioritize contrast administration."

Some patients are being redirected to an MRI or ultrasound study. Because MRI requires pre-authorization, institutional leadership is engaging with payer leadership to explain the potential increase in MRI orders to hasten the authorization process and prevent unnecessary delays.

With improved workflows, reduced inefficiencies, and nursing staff freed up from intravenous line placements for contrast-enhanced CT redeployed to MRI, the department has achieved significant contrast use reduction, exceeding their target of 50%.

"Navigating the COVID-19 pandemic has helped radiology departments become more nimble and develop rapid response functionality to manage crises, including the iohexol contrast shortage, and potential future crises that we will face," observed senior author Mahmud Mossa-Basha, MD, Professor, Vice Chair, Quality and Safety, and Medical Director, MRI, Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.

While most reports published about the ICM shortage have been clinically focused, a group of researchers has published a new study using empiric utilization data that could help prioritize and inform health system decisions by focusing mitigation efforts on areas in which contrast media are more frequently used. They obtained and retrospectively analyzed data from the Medicare Physician/Supplier Procedure Summary Limited Data Set for 2019. This dataset includes 100% of 2019 Medicare Part-B fee-for-service claims.

Researchers extracted national counts for services for all contrast-enhanced CT services by body region and site of service (inpatient and outpatient hospital, office, and emergency department) and separated those codes into CT angiography (CTA) and nonangiographic CT services. They found that utilization of contrast-enhanced CT was highest in the hospital outpatient and emergency department settings. Overall utilization was highest for the abdomen/pelvis and chest in those settings, with abdomen/pelvis the most frequently rendered by far. The ratio of CTA to nonangiographic contrast-enhanced CT was greatest by far for the brain in the emergency department followed by the inpatient hospital setting. Across all places of service, this ratio is highest for brain, head/neck, and chest.

"Radiology practices and departments may find their greatest mitigation impact focusing on abdominal/pelvic and chest CT in the emergency department and hospital outpatient settings, as well as brain and head/neck CTA in the emergency department and hospital inpatient settings," explained lead investigator Richard Duszak, Jr, MD, Professor and Vice Chair and Director of the Imaging Policy Analytics for Clinical Transformation (IMPACT) Research Center, the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.

"We believe that the highlighted site of service and body region differences may help guide the creation of the most impactful specialty teams. Identification of settings and scenarios where CTA is most frequently used may help guide alternative imaging care pathways and most effectively and safely re-allocate resources to alternative modalities," Dr. Duszak added.

"The field has responded rapidly to the contrast shortage. Any lasting changes, such as patterns of referral or utilization remain to be seen," commented Ruth C. Carlos, MD, MS, Professor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
The FDA this week launched a crackdown on smoking and vaping  ordering the vaping device Juul to be taken off the market and announcing its intention to require makers of cigarettes and other tobacco products to reduce the amount of nicotine in them.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court did not announce a ruling in a high-stakes abortion case, but it said that private health insurers could limit the amount of kidney dialysis care they provide, thus forcing some patients onto Medicare.

This week's panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat.

Among the takeaways from this week's episode:

The FDA has ordered Juul to remove its e-cigarettes from the U.S. marketplace because the company's application to the agency did not provide enough information for regulators to determine whether Juul presented a hazard to users. The FDA said there were concerns about the risk of some harmful chemicals leaching from the Juul pods. Juul is expected to appeal the FDA decision to the courts.

Juul helped ignite an explosion in e-cigarette use when it came on the market, and officials originally thought it would aid smokers seeking to kick the cigarette habit. But the industry's use of flavored tobacco and aggressive marketing helped fuel a dramatic rise in use among teens and led to a regulatory crackdown.

The Supreme Court this week ruled that employers may opt to make all dialysis treatment out of network in their workers' health plans, a decision that would likely drive many patients to seek Medicare coverage for their kidney problems. The decision was a disappointment for dialysis providers, who receive less in reimbursements from Medicare than they typically get from private insurance plans.

The decision leaves many details unresolved and further legal fights could be coming. Dialysis providers might also turn to Congress to establish laws that would prohibit employers from such moves.

The Senate is likely to consider a bill proposed by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) that seeks to lower the cost of insulin. The bill is considered more friendly to drugmakers than another measure that passed the House this year. The Senate bill seeks to get drugmakers to offer insulin at the price they received from Medicare in 2021 by allowing them to bypass rebates and other costly subsidies paid to pharmacy benefit managers and insurance plans. It would also limit out-of-pocket costs for insured consumers to $35.

As the Senate moves closer to a vote on gun safety legislation, other efforts are underway to find more funding for programs to help deal with mental health problems. Those efforts could help with campaigns to reduce suicides and domestic violence, which are also often tied to guns.

The House is launching efforts to pass appropriations bills, and the initial funding measure for the Department of Health and Human Services once again does not include the so-called Hyde Amendment, a long-standing policy named for the late Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) that bans federal funds from being used for most abortions. Earlier efforts by the House to jettison the Hyde Amendment did not clear the Senate.

President Joe Biden has nominated Arati Prabhakar, former head of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), to head the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She would replace Eric Lander, who was forced to resign after reports of staff harassment.

Prabhakar appears to be a noncontroversial choice and comes with a good deal of management experience. Her responsibilities will likely include overseeing pandemic planning, efforts to shape a new biomedical research agency called ARPA-H, and strategies to enhance cancer prevention.

Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN's Noam N. Levey about the new KHN-NPR project on medical debt, called "Diagnosis: Debt."

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: The AP's "At Westminster Dog Show, New Focus on Veterinarians' Welfare," by Jennifer Peltz

Joanne Kenen: Fern.org's "Back Forty: How to Protect Farmworkers From Heat-Related Kidney Disease," by Nancy Averett

Rachel Cohrs: The Markup's "Facebook Is Receiving Sensitive Medical Information From Hospital Websites," by Todd Feathers, Simon Fondrie-Teitler, Angie Waller, and Surya Mattu
Results of a study of molecular tumor profiling in young patients revealed a high rate of genetic alterations with potential for impacting clinical care, including clarifying diagnoses and treatment with matched, precision cancer drugs.

Reporting in Nature Medicine, researchers from Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center said molecular profiling of solid tumors found clinically significant genetic variations in 298, or 6% of 345 pediatric patients. In 240 patients, the genetic "fingerprint" or pattern of cancer-related changes in the tumor's DNA could be used to choose a targeted, precision therapy matched to those alterations. Of these patients, 200 were eligible for matched drug therapy.

Targeted therapies were used to treat 29 patients, and 24% of the patients responded to the targeted drugs or experienced a durable clinical benefit. In addition, the molecular profiling  done by a process called next-generation sequencing  clarified the diagnostic classification in 17 patients.

By providing a more accurate diagnosis or identifying a targeted therapy, molecular tumor profiling significantly impacts the care we provide. The result is cancer treatment that is more effective and, in some cases, has fewer side effects." Katherine A. Janeway, MD, MMSc, Senior Physician, Dana-Farber / Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center Director, Clinical Genomics, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School

The ongoing study, known as the GAIN/iCat2, is being carried out at 12 centers in the United States to evaluate the clinical impact of genomic sequencing of pediatric solid tumors, which is much less commonly performed than in adult patients with solid tumors. In adults, tumor profiling is recommended in national practice guidelines as an aid to diagnosis and treatment. But there are no such guidelines or insurance coverage decisions for using tumor profiling in pediatric solid malignancies and few clinical trials of tumor profiling include young people with cancer.

Pediatric solid tumors are much rarer than they are in adults, and large studies of genetic alterations are difficult to carry out. In fact, there were 59 different tumor types affecting the patients in this study and some of the cancers are so rare that they affected just one patient. Pediatric tumors also tend to have fewer gene mutations than those in adults, so there are fewer targets for drugs to attack  and fewer drugs available to target them. The net result is that most solid tumors in children are treated with standard chemotherapy or radiation rather than precision drug agents.

The current study is a prospective observational cohort study led by Janeway and Alanna J. Church, MD, associate director for Molecular Pediatric Pathology at Boston Children's Hospital and Katherine A. Janeway, MD, MMSc, director of Clinical Genomics at Dana-Farber and Boston Children's. Janeway has been working to bring personalized, molecularly targeted treatments to children with cancer. The results of Janeway's first study, called Individualized Cancer Therapy (iCat), were published in 2016 and showed that bringing clinical genomic sequencing to pediatric oncology practice is feasible. Janeway and colleagues are now conducting a follow-up study, the Genomic Assessment Improves Novel Therapy (GAIN) Consortium, iCat2 study.

The study participants were patients with relapsed/refractory or high-risk non-brain tumors at age 30 or younger; the mean age at diagnosis was 12 years. Researchers performed targeted DNA next-generation sequencing with OncoPanel testing on one or more tumor samples from each patient, with some samples subjected to RNA sequencing as well. Based on the analysis, a comprehensive report is created and sent to the referring physician. This allows the physician to develop a plan for the patient that takes into account the genetic changes detected in their tumors that are associated with matched drugs that have yielded success either in the laboratory or in the clinic in treating patients with such tumors. The study tracks each patient to determine the impact of the treatment plan on the patient's outcome. The primary goal of the study is to observe if the tumor profiling and matched targeted drug treatment affects overall survival.

Recommendations for molecularly targeted therapy (MTT) based on data from the previous iCat study were returned to 240 of the 345 patients whose tumors had at least one gene variant. Of these, 200 patients were eligible for assessment of receipt and response to MTT, being alive and having complete follow-up data. Ninety-six of the patients would not have been expected to consider targeted therapy because they were receiving frontline therapy, had no cancer-directed systemic therapy during the follow-up period, or no matched targeted drugs were available.

Seven patient who received matched targeted therapy had measurable significant responses to the therapy. In six of those tumors the therapies were matched to a gene fusion. Fusion genes are formed within a cell when a piece of one chromosome breaks off and attaches to another chromosome, causing broken DNA segments to fuse together to form an entirely new gene. Some of these genes produce fusion proteins that can cause cells to grow uncontrollably and form tumors.

"Gene fusions are very important in pediatric tumors," says Church. "It's an exciting time because there are so many new drugs that can target these fusions and we have new tests that can reliably detect them."

Church and Janeway hope their work will help make genomic profiling standard of care for new or relapsed pediatric solid tumors, reimbursable by insurance -; just as it is for adults.

"We know there are patients who aren't getting access to these tests because they are not being reimbursed consistently," says Church. "We want to broaden access to molecular profiling for every child with a solid tumor."
Researchers at Swansea University, UK, have proven that it is possible to achieve near-unity charge generation quantum yields in organic solar cells. These findings present a route for designing and constructing higher-performance solar cells, which help to secure our future using renewable energy sources to meet sustainability goals.

The research, led by Dr. Wei Li and Dr. Ardalan Armin at Swansea, focused on advanced characterisation methods, and how they can aid our understanding of PV materials and

device physics, as well as helping to reach better and more practical engineering solutions. To achieve this, the team conducted a range of temperature dependent measurements, including temperature dependent photovoltaic external quantum efficiency (EQE), and temperature dependent absorbance to investigate the thermodynamic and kinetic processes.

The results show that it is possible to rapidly measure the EQE of solar cells at different temperatures, for the first time allowing researchers to investigate the kinetic processes

accurately. The research also reveals the relationship between the charge generation, recombination, and device efficiency in novel state-of-art non-fullerene solar cells, further improving our understanding of PV processes.

Dr. Ardalan Armin, Associate Professor in the Department of Physics, Swansea University, comments:

Were pleased to share the positive results of our research with the wider scientific community, and were excited to see what the future holds for PV cells as a reliable, high-performing renewable energy source. The Linkam LTS420E-P stage is a vital component within our research, as it regulates temperatures with precision, which is essential for our highly sensitive measurements.

Dr. Duncan Stacey, Sales and Marketing Director, Linkam Scientific Instruments, shares his thoughts on the research:

The team at Swansea has made a significant breakthrough in the PV space, which is set to bring us one step closer to a sustainable future fuelled by renewable energy. We are proud to see the contribution of our LTS420E-P stage and we hope it continues to serve the team at Swansea University in its work into the performance of new organic materials.

The Linkam LTS420E-P stage is an evolution of the original LTS420 stage. Compact, easy to use, and easy to connect to other instrumentation, the LTS420E-P provides precise

temperature and environmental control of the sample, and its larger stage body allows up to 8 positional tungsten probes to be attached to electrical connectors within the sample chamber. This enables the user to make electrical measurements on the sample, while at the same time accurately controlling the temperature inside a gas tight environment.

For more information about the LTS420E-P, please visit https://www.linkam.co.uk/lts420e-p

About Linkam Scientific Instruments

Linkam develops and manufactures a broad range of temperature and environmental control stages for both OEMs and end users. From high to cryo temperatures as well as humidity, electrical connections, gas purging, vacuum and pressure, for enhanced sample analysis. Linkam stages are used with light microscopes and a wide range of analytical techniques including Raman, FTIR, WAX/SAX and many more to visualise and characterise the properties of materials. Linkam stages are found in thousands of laboratories worldwide with the most successful microscope heating stage, the THMS600, selling over 6,000 units alone. Linkam is the market leader in temperature-controlled microscopy.
A study examining the detrimental effect of neoliberalism on the oral health of Australian indigenous peoples will be presented by Brianna Poirer of the University of Adelaide, Australia during the Keynote Address; Global Oral Health Inequalities Research Network I session on Thursday, June 23rd, 2022 at 3:45 p.m. China Standard Time (UTC+08:00) at the 100th General Session and Exhibition of the IADR, to be held in conjunction with the 5th Meeting of the IADR Asia Pacific Region.

In Australia, Indigenous peoples experience poorer oral health than their non-Indigenous counterparts across nearly every oral health metric. Recently, neoliberalism has been suggested as an overwhelming contributor to Indigenous oral health disparities. The objective of this qualitative research was to generate an understanding of how neoliberal subjectivity exists for Indigenous peoples in the context of oral health in Australia.

Interviews from 177 participants were analyzed and contributed to the generation of a conceptual model with two components. The embodiment of neoliberal subjectivity was expressed as experiences of ownership, guilt, failure, embarrassment, shame, and judgment. Participants identified factors that exacerbated the experience of neoliberal subjectivity, which included bullying, financial limitations, and institutional racism. Components of the conceptual model largely relate to the neoliberal ideology of personal responsibility.

The authors argue that personal responsibility for health, as a tenet of neoliberal ideologies, furthers Indigenous oral health inequities and that neoliberalism as a societal discourse perpetuates colonial values by benefitting the privileged and further oppressing the disadvantaged.

View this Interactive Talk in the IADR General Session Virtual Experience Platform.
Rachael Lorenzo started hearing the questions several weeks ago from strangers on Twitter and reporters seeking interviews: Since Native American tribes are sovereign nations, with their own laws, could they offer abortion services on Native land within states that may soon outlaw abortion?

And would they?

The speculation began last month, after a leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion suggested the court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that guaranteed the right to an abortion nationwide.

Lorenzo and other Indigenous abortion rights advocates say the questions have mostly come from non-Native people.

The advocates said they hadn't heard of any tribe or Indigenous organization advocating for opening clinics on tribal land to offer abortion services. Planned Parenthood, the nation's leading provider of abortions, told KHN that it is not exploring this option and that such decisions should be left to Indigenous people.

Any such plan would be fraught with legal, financial, and political hurdles, the advocates said. And they wondered why many people now asking about opening clinics on reservations didn't seem interested in health care access there before abortion rights were threatened nationwide.

"All of a sudden, this issue thats going to impact white women too  or impact white women more broadly  now were being seen as the potential savior," Lorenzo said. "It should not be on tribal nations to go above and beyond when so many tribal nations already have very limited resources."

Lorenzo  who is of Mescalero Apache, Laguna Pueblo, and Xicana heritage  is the director of Indigenous Women Rising, an Albuquerque-based nonprofit that helps Indigenous people in the United States and Canada afford abortions.

Lauren van Schilfgaarde, a legal clinic director at the UCLA School of Law and a member of the Cochiti Pueblo, said that people are looking for ways to ensure abortion access if Roe v. Wade falls but that the reservation solution is problematic. "I think people are throwing spaghetti at the wall and then suddenly remembered, 'Oh, yeah, tribal sovereignty.'"

"It's sort of a weird argument to say, 'Oh can tribes help?' Like, no, tribes are already in a worse position than you are," she said.

Some tribes lack running water and funding, Many Indigenous people  once targeted with nonconsensual sterilizations  still don't have access to high-quality health care.

Oklahoma is among the states making national headlines for passing abortion restrictions. Its governor, Republican Kevin Stitt, is also pushing back against a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision that expanded tribal jurisdiction in the state. Stitt said during an appearance on Fox News in May that he thinks tribes might try to offer "abortion on demand. They think that you can be 1/1,000th tribal member and not have to follow the state law. And so thats something that were watching."

Carly Atchison, a spokesperson for Stitt, told KHN that the Oklahoma attorney generals office advised the governor that tribes might be able to offer abortions on their land. She said she hadn't seen any clear statement from tribes on whether they might try.

Spokespeople from the five largest tribes in Oklahoma did not respond when KHN asked whether any tribal members or elected representatives had suggested offering abortions.

But Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. did respond to Stitt's comment. "Speculating on what tribes should do based on a leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft decision is irresponsible," Hoskin wrote in a statement released to the media. "Just as irresponsible is the governor of Oklahoma and his disguised media campaign, which is really meant to attack tribes and our sovereignty."

Lorenzo and other Indigenous advocates said many non-Indigenous people now discussing the possible use of reservation land for abortions have been silent on related issues that affect Native Americans.

Many Indigenous people living on reservations have lacked access to abortion services since 1976, when the so-called Hyde Amendment went into effect, Lorenzo said. Through the Hyde Amendment, Congress prohibited federal money from being used to pay for most abortions. And that means the federally funded Indian Health Service  the main health care provider on many reservations  can provide abortions in only limited circumstances.

Even if tribes wanted to allow abortion services on their land, the legality of doing so would be murky, van Schilfgaarde said. Criminal cases on Native American reservations are handled by tribal, state, or federal courts, depending on the situation.

Non-Indigenous people accused of committing crimes against other non-Indigenous people within a reservation's boundaries are usually under state jurisdiction, van Schilfgaarde said. So if a state outlaws abortion, state prosecutors might be able to charge a non-Indigenous doctor who provided abortions on a reservation.

The legal questions could get even more complicated under a new type of abortion restriction, first seen in Texas, van Schilfgaarde said. She expects to see more of those laws, which are enforced in civil, instead of criminal, courts. Determining whether tribal, state, or federal courts have jurisdiction in civil cases is even more tricky than it is in criminal cases, van Schilfgaarde said.

Legal issues wouldn't be the only barriers to providing abortion services on tribal land. Tribal councils would be unlikely to approve such clinics, said Charon Asetoyer, executive director of the Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center on the Yankton Sioux reservation in South Dakota.

Asetoyer said many tribal leaders' views on abortion are shaped by religion. "The churches have a pretty big hold," she said. "Politically, I think it would be very challenging to see one of our leaderships stand up for the rights of women. I really dont think it's going to happen."

Other challenges could include funding and staffing such clinics, providing security for employees and patients, navigating any licensing barriers, and paying for lawyers to defend against expected lawsuits.

Asetoyer also noted that some clinics, such as the one in South Dakota, have had to fly in doctors from other states to perform abortions. Would those doctors be willing to travel to reservations, some of which are a few hours' drive away from the nearest airport?

Although the current conversation about potential abortion services on Native land is mostly being raised by non-Indigenous people, Native Americans have their own history of abortion and reproductive rights advocacy.

In 2006 on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Cecilia Fire Thunder tried to open a clinic that would have provided women's health care services, including abortion. The clinic plan was spiked after the Oglala Sioux tribal council ousted Fire Thunder, the tribe's first female president.
In about a fifth of the cases of Parkinsons disease, look to a small, malfunctioning protein in the lysosome as a risk factor, say University of Michigan researchers.

Lysosomes are the garbage collectors of cells. These organelles are responsible for breaking down the trash in the cellmisfolded proteins, worn out organellesthat cells collect in a process called autophagy. Autophagy depends closely on lysosome function, and when lysosomes malfunction and this process is disrupted, causing cellular debris to build up, various disorders can occur. Many of these are degenerative disorders such as Alzheimers disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Tay-Sachs disease.

Now, U-M researchers have discovered how a mutated protein called TMEM175 acts as a risk factor in about 20% of cases of Parkinsons disease. In Parkinsons, nerve cells in the area of the brain that controls movement begin to fail and die. According to the National Institute on Aging, researchers think Parkinsons is a result of a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

The U-M researchers found that if mutated, TMEM 175 does not properly regulate the acidity of the environment within the lysosome. If the acidity in that environment is not correct, enzymes within lysosomes stop working effectively, and the organelles cannot perform their roles correctly. Their study results are published in the journal Cell.

The lysosome actually needs an optimal pH. Here is an analogy: body temperature has to be 37 degrees Celsius. Thirty-eight is too high and 36 is too low. The enzymes in lysosomes require a pH optimum of roughly 4.6. Anything outside of 4.6 pH may cause metabolic dysfunction, and therefore accumulation of cellular garbage, which will eventually cause neurodegeneration and metabolic diseases. Haoxing Xu, lead author, professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology

To keep the lysosome in acidic equilibrium, Xu knew there must be an ion channel that regulates the acidity of that environment by regulating the concentration of hydrogen ions (called protons in this contextthe nucleus of a hydrogen atom with the atom stripped of its electron) within the lysosome.

Xu, aided by co-authors including Richard Hume, U-M professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, first determined the exact acidity of the lysosomes lumen. Then, the researchers combed through a list of proteins associated with the lysosome but that had not yet been well described.

What was very well understood was how protons get into lysosomes: theres a specific membrane transporter called the V-ATPase that loads protons, but what was unclear was how to get to homeostasis, or how get the pH to 4.6 and not let it keep going more acidic, according to Hume. Some indirect evidence suggested there was probably a proton permeable channel in lysosomes whose molecular basis was unknown that was somehow involved with the pH homeostasis.

We were interested that if there was the V-ATPase to pump a proton in, lysosomes must have an ion channel protein to release the proton when the proton level was too high inside the lysosome, Xu said.

To study ion channels in the lysosome, the Xu lab previously developed a specialized technique called the lysosome patch-clamp. The patch-clamp allows the researchers to selectively turn on certain ion channels in the lysosome in order to better understand their function. The researchers have used this technique to find channels for other ions: calcium, sodium, potassium, chloride and iron, and now protons.

U-M postdoctoral researchers and co-authors Meiqin Hu and Ping Li made a list of all the genes that encode membrane proteins known to be present in lysosomes, then did whats called an overexpression screening assay. This means the researchers tested several dozen membrane proteins one at a time to see if the lysosomes membrane became more permeable to protons. This would suggest that one of the candidates that they screened was responsible for proton efflux in the lysosome.

The researchers zeroed in on the trans-membrane TMEM 175, which gave dramatically enhanced proton permeability in the screening assay, Hume said.

That got Meiqin, Haoxing and the rest of the lab really excited, because that protein was not totally unknown, Hume said. Importantly, it is one of the highest vulnerability genes for mutations that cause Parkinsons disease.

Previous guesses about how the protein was a risk factor for Parkinsons centered around examining its function as a potassium channel.

Quite honestly, those explanations didnt make sense because it is hard to rationalize a mechanism such as changing potassium flux across the lysosome should have led to Parkinsons-like deficits, Hume said. But as soon as one realized that TMEM175 was probably a proton channel, then the rationale for how a mutation of that protein could cause Parkinsons seemed pretty obvious.

The researchers cross-checked their work in two ways. First, Hu and doctoral student Ce Wang used proton imaging, using protein fluorescent indicators, to measure the acidity of the lysosomes when they knocked out TMEM175. Second, they used mice whose ability to produce the protein TMEM175 was knocked out. This means they werent making that transporter protein channel in their lysosomes. The team showed alpha-synuclein accumulation in the cells of the knockout mice. Alpha-synuclein accumulation is known to be toxic in patients with Parkinsons disease.

In both cases, cells showed a decrease in the enzymatic activity that breaks down cellular junk, including alpha-synuclein aggregates, indicating that TMEM175 was responsible for regulating cellular acidity and degradation.

In the end, we are very confident that this is the protein thats controlling the proton leak in the lysosome, Xu said. This paper is exciting because mutations in this protein happen to be high risk for Parkinsons disease.

Additional co-authors include U-M researchers Qi Geng, Wei Chen, Matangi Marthi, Wenlong Zhang, Chenlang Gao, Whitney Reid, Joel Swanson and Wanlu Du. Meiqin Hu, Ping Li and Xinghua Feng, have affiliations with the Zhejiang University of Technology in China. Feng is also affiliated with the Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Zhang also has an affiliation with the Northeast Agricultural University in China.

Xu is the scientific co-founder and partial owner of Lysoway Therapeutics Inc. The research was supported in part by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK115474), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R35GM131720) and U-M MCubed.
Amir Douraghi Nezhad was just seven-years-old when he and his family climbed aboard a small fishing boat in Indonesia to make the risky journey to Australia.

The now 18-year-old University of Queensland Bachelor of Nursing student said his parents were seeking refuge after fleeing their native Iran.

Political and religious freedoms were under threat and living conditions had deteriorated." Amir Douraghi Nezhad, Bachelor of Nursing student

Amir, his parents and younger brother spent two weeks at sea on the fishing boat with around 40 other people, living on water and dried noodles, until one night the vessel sank.

"We were rescued and taken first to Christmas Island, and later the Darwin Detention Centre," Amir said.

The Nezhad family was eventually granted temporary protection visas and released in Brisbane around one year later.

Despite having to learn a language and start a new life, the family has thrived in Australia, even developing a church to help other refugees.

"Religion has been one of the main things that has helped me and my family," Amir said.

"We helped form one of the first Iranian churches in Brisbane, which has now expanded interstate to help other refugees.

"For us, it's truly a family away from our family."

Amir is the first person in his family to attend university, having completed his first semester in UQ's School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work.

"I'm really fascinated by the anatomy of the human body and plan on applying to study medicine at UQ once my Bachelor of Nursing is completed," he said.

"I want to help people, and honestly can't see myself in any other career."

Amir said he also wants to help others by sharing his story, and challenging stereotypes about the refugee community.

"I believe that if I can't stand up for myself, I can't expect anyone else to do that for me.

"It's why I take any opportunity to share my experiences in the hope that it can help others."

Amir said the advice he lives by is to always keep going, because tough times don't last forever.

"I believe life has seasons," he said.

There are good seasons when you're in a good spot and then there are down seasons when life is not going great.

"But always remember to fight for what you want and keep going - the bad seasons won't last forever."
(Newser)  A French city's attempt to loosen swimwear regulations at public pools has been slapped down by the country's highest administrative court, renewing debate about the "burkini." Last month, officials in Grenoble voted to allow women to wear the garment, which covers everything except the face, hands, and feet and is marketed as a way for Muslim women to swim without violating modesty rules, the BBC reports. Officials also voted to allow women to swim topless, reports the AP.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, however, blocked the move on the grounds that it violated French laws on secularism, the Wall Street Journal reports. He called it a "victory for secularism" after the Council of State upheld the burkini ban. The top court said the Grenoble council had voted to "satisfy a religious demand." French law bans headscarves and other religious symbols in schools and government offices, but not in public places like swimming pools, the Journal notes. In 2016, the top court ruled that women could wear burkinis at beaches.

Critics includng far-right leader Marine le Pen have denounced burkinis as "Islamist propagada," while Grenoble's mayor argues that people should be allowed to wear what they want at public pools and elsewhere. Few women in France actually wear the garment, but Arwa Mahdawi at the Guardian says France is "obsessed" with the burkini issue and "huge swathes of the populace are still exerting embarrassing amounts of energy arguing about how much flesh you need to show in order to set foot in a public pool or resort." She urges the French to "eat some cheese, drink some wine, and stop worrying about what other people wear when they swim." (Read more burkini stories.)
(Newser)  Usually in the "additional instructions" field on Grubhub orders, customers specify food allergies or ask for extra condiments. Cops say for one New York City-area woman, that section on the app became a place to plead for help, and helped lead to her rescue. ABC7 reports that an order came in around 5am Sunday to the 24-hour Chipper Truck Cafe in Yonkers, with an order for a breakfast sandwich and a burgerbut along with the food request were "additional instructions" that caused workers to stop cold. "Please call the police his going to call me when u delivered come with the cones please don't make it obvious," the somewhat jumbled but alarming message read, per NBC News.

Owner Alice Bermejo tells ABC7 one of the workers immediately notified Bermejo's husband, who told the employee to call the cops. Police headed to the address where the food order had come from, three miles away in the Bronx's Eastchester neighborhood. Per court documents, 32-year-old Kemoy Royal opened the door at around 6:20am, thinking the food had arrived. Authorities say they found a 24-year-old woman being held against her will inside. They add that Royal and the woman had met in person after corresponding for months online, but that Royal then took her hostage, only allowing her to use her phone when she wanted to order food. He was arrested and hit with charges of unlawful imprisonment, rape, strangulation, and criminal possession of a weapon, among others.

Police also brought charges of attempted sexual assault against Royal for a similar incident with a different woman that had taken place earlier in the month. They say that woman, 26, had escaped, and even though she reported the incident to police, they couldn't track Royal down, adding his name to a "wanted" list instead, per CBS News. The media outlet notes that Grubhub is sending the Chipper Truck Cafe a $5,000 check for its quick-thinking actions, and the restaurant is offering kudos to its employees and to police. It wrote in a Facebook post that it had "often heard of this happening but never thought it would happen to us. Thankfully we were open and able to help her." Royal's bail has been set at $25,000, with his next court appearance scheduled for Friday, per CNN. (Read more Grubhub stories.)
(Newser)  A New York jury agreed with the defense on Wednesday that a man who drove through a Times Square crowd in 2017, hitting more than 20 people, was not responsible for his actions. After deliberating for about six hours, the jury cleared Richard Rojaswho was charged with murder, assault, and other crimes"by reason of mental disease or defect," WNBC reports. Alyssa Elsman, 18, of Michigan, was killed that day, and 22 people were injured. Among the injured were her sister, Eva, 13 at the time, who testified in Rojas' trial. Eva's injuries included broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and a compound leg fracture, per CBS News. The sisters were visiting the city with their family.

The jury's decision qualifies Rojas, 31, for involuntary mental confinement of indefinite duration, the judge said, in lieu of a prison sentence. Rojas' first words when he was reached after his car crashed were "I wanted to kill them all," a prosecutor said during the trial. It was "impossible for him not to know exactly what was happening," Alfred Peterson told the jury. The defense said Rojas had a history of mental illness and couldn't understand the consequences of what he'd done. Relatives said he'd become paranoid after the Navy kicked him out in 2014 after an arrest and court-martial that began with accusations he'd assaulted a cabdriver, per the New York Times. "This a case about a 26-year-old who lost his mind," Enrico DeMarco said.

The mother of the Ava and Alyssa told the jury the family was "just looking around, kind of eyeballing someplace to eat," when a car ran up onto the sidewalk. Jyll Elsman told the jury she was knocked down, and everything went black briefly. She then got up and looked for her daughters. Ava was on the ground but alert, her mother said. When she found Alyssa, Elsman said, she saw that her daughter's eyes weren't moving and knew that she was dead. "All I could do was scream," she said. The judge said he'll write an examination order and hold a hearing on the next step for Rojas on Thursday. (Read more insanity defense stories.)
(Newser)  The remains of Congo's independence leader Patrice Lumumba arrived in the capital, Kinshasa, from Belgium on Wednesday and will be taken around the country, a government official said. After leading the struggle for Congo's independence from colonial power Belgium, Lumumba became the country's first prime minister before he was killed six months later in 1961. After a military coup, he was imprisoned and executed by separatists and Belgian mercenaries, the Guardian reports. Immediately after his killing, Lumumbas body was dismembered and dissolved with acid in an apparent effort to keep any grave from becoming a pilgrimage site.

A gold-capped tooth was all that remained and was kept by the Belgian police commissioner who oversaw the destruction of Lumumba's body. In 2016 the tooth was seized by Belgian officials from the police commissioner's daughter. A coffin containing Lumumba's tooth was taken Wednesday from Kinshasa to Lumumba's birthplace in Onalua village in Sankuru province. From there it will be taken around the country.

The restitution of the relic took place after Belgiums King Philippe expressed regrets earlier this month for his nations abuses in Congo when it was a colony. Lumumba was a patriot and Congolese people wanted to honor his memory by paying their respects to his remains, member of parliament Lambert Mende tells the AP. "I welcome the return of the relic of the Congolese prime minister," Mende says.

(Read more Democratic Republic of Congo stories.)
(Newser)  The night skies over Southern California were studded with an atypical number of flashes. The North American Lightning Detection Network logged 25,000 strikes between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, which meteorologist Chris Vagasky says falls in the top 2% of daily California lightning totals; about a third were close to ground. SF Gate spoke with Vagasky, who described it as "anomalous " as "Californias most active period for lightning is usually from July to September once the monsoon has really established itself."

One of those strikes ended up being deadly. The Los Angeles Times reports a woman and her two dogs were killed by a lightning strike Wednesday morning; they were walking along a riverbed in Pico Riverathat's about 15 miles southeast of LAaround 9am when the storm moved in. It marked the first lightning fatality in the state this year. NBC Los Angeles cites National Weather Service Storm Data that shows the US averaged 27 lightning fatalities a year between 2009 and 2019, with about 10% of people who are struck dying as a result. (Read more lightning stories.)
(Newser)  Clinics in the UK have been put on high alert after a disturbing find in London's sewers. Authorities say multiple closely related samples of the virus that causes polio have been found in sewage water, suggesting there is an outbreak occurring in the capital, NPR reports. "The last case of wild polio contracted in the UK was confirmed in 1984" and the country was officially declared polio-free in 2003, but people are now being urged to check whether they are up to date with vaccines, the British government said in a press release.

Polio is transmitted through the fecal-oral route, with people sometimes becoming infected when somebody who hasn't washed their hands properly handles food. Researchers say the samples detected are "vaccine-derived" and they believe the outbreak may have started with somebody who received the live oral polio vaccine overseas and then traveled to Britain, which stopped using the live vaccine in 2004, the BBC reports. British authorities say there have been no actual cases of polio reported. In rare cases, the virus can cause paralysis in people who haven't been fully immunized, though most infected people never show symptoms.

Health authorities say the risk to the public seems to be low, although other countries have seen a rise in polio cases after the pandemic disrupted childhood vaccination programs. Polio researcher Angela Rasmussen at the University of Saskatchewan tells NPR that the outbreak is likely very small and "could be within an extended family." "My biggest concern is the fact that there is a larger population now that hasn't been vaccinated on schedule," she says. "I think that applies everywhere." (Read more polio stories.)
(Newser)  The "shockingly predatory" Ghislaine Maxwell should be sentenced to 30 years up to the maximum 55 years for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse four teenage girls over a decade, federal prosecutors write in a sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court. The 60-year-old played an "instrumental role in the horrific sexual abuse of multiple young teenage girls" and "instead of showing even a hint of acceptance of responsibility, the defendant makes a desperate attempt to cast blame wherever else she can," it reads, per NBC News. Maxwell had faced up to 65 years before the judge put aside two overlapping guilty verdicts in April, per Reuters.

The US Probation Office proposed 20 years for Maxwell, who is to be sentenced Tuesday on federal sex trafficking charges. But prosecutors said that recommendation ignored two additional victims whose abuse was described at trial, per Reuters. Maxwell's lawyers instead argued last week that the daughter of late British media magnate Robert Maxwell should serve no more than 5 years and 3 months in prison. They said she was a scapegoat for Epstein, who "orchestrated the crimes for his personal gratification" before committing suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial, per ABC News. Prosecutors say that claim is "both absurd and offensive."

They also show no sympathy for the British socialite's complaints about "meager, stale, often rancid" food and long periods of isolation inside Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, where she's been held since July 2020, per the BBC. "Going from being waited on hand and foot to incarceration is undoubtedly a shocking and unpleasant experience," but no reason for a lighter sentence, prosecutors write, adding Maxwell "has enjoyed remarkable privileges as a high-profile inmate." Prosecutors also recommend the maximum allowable fine of $750,000. Maxwell informed the court that she has $22 million in assetsalmost all gifted to her by Epstein, prosecutors say, per ABC. (Maxwell hopes to be moved to the UK.)
(Newser)  Yeray Albelda is hurting physically and emotionally after the crash that killed two fellow actors in an upcoming Netflix showbut he doesn't blame Netflix or production company Redrum. The crash in Mexico last Thursday killed two of his close friends: Raymundo Garduno Cruz and Juan Francisco Gonzalez Aguilar, who worked under the name Paco Mufote. They were playing a trio of miners in The Chosen One and were on the way to an airport in Baja California Sur to return home for a break when the van crashed. Albelda, who suffered a concussion and other injuries, tells Deadline he can't remember the crash itself but that he never had any concerns about the van or any of the other vans the production used.

Albelda, one of six survivors of the crash, says there were seatbelts in the van but passengers weren't urged to use them and he never did so himself. He says he believes "Paco and Ray were ejected" as the van spun around and a sliding door opened. He says Netflix and Redrum have been supporting him since the accident. He has left the production but will be paid as if he had stayed. "There's no way anyone could've imagined this would happen," he says. "Trust me, I just lost two very good friends who I've known for many years. If I felt anyone was responsible, I would speak up to bring their families justice." The crash is still being investigated.

There have been reports of poor working conditions on the set, but Albelda says he was never "abused or exploited" and the long hours were normal for the industry. "For sure, long days and nights are the norm in most productions, people are exhausted," he tells Variety. Production of the show, based on the American Jesus comic series, resumed Monday. Albelda says he's glad the show will continueand he doesn't plan to give up acting. "I was given the gift of living another day and I don't take that lightly. I want to continue acting and honor Paco and Ray by sharing everything that they taught me," he tells Deadline. (Read more Netflix stories.)
(Newser)  Many US businesses shuttered on Monday to mark the federal holiday Juneteenth, but one company in Maine is now taking heat for the way it chose to announce its closing. CNBC notes the import of the holiday, which commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Army soldiers showed up in Texas and announced to hundreds of thousands of Black people that slavery had officially ended two years priornews they hadn't yet gotten wind of. But that little piece of history wasn't what customers found imprinted Monday on a sign taped to the door of the Harry E. Reed Insurance Agency in Millinocket, an affiliate of Progressive. Instead, as seen in a photo now circulating on Facebook, the insurance firm wrote on its sign, "Juneteenthit's whatever ... we're closed. Enjoy your fried chicken and collard greens."

The use of the racist trope spurred instant pushback online. "That's pathetic," one critic commented under the Facebook post. "This establishment is sure gonna get a lot of attention ... and not the kind it wants." And that was exactly the case, with Progressive cutting ties with the agency, and people voicing their displeasure under the social media post and on Yelp. CNBC notes the negative reviews of the insurance agency on the reviews site spurred Yelp to temporarily disable comments on the Reed agency's page. "While racism has no place on Yelp and we unequivocally reject racism or discrimination in any form, all reviews on Yelp must reflect an actual first-hand consumer experience," the site notes in a pop-up.

Other insurance agencies in Millinocket and neighboring towns tell WABI they've been caught up in the storm as well, with some people attacking them in error because they're located near the Reed agency, have phone numbers close to that of the Reed agency, or have similar-sounding names. Melanie Higgins, an insurance agent at the offending agency (which her mom owns), says she's the one who put the sign up, but that she often puts up lighthearted, "snarky" signs referencing food during store closures. "I truly apologize, I'm mortified that this is even happening," she tells News Center Maine. In a Wednesday Facebook post, Higgins added further apologies, noting that she's "multi-racial" herself, and that she'd had a death in the family that distracted her. "I just wanted to go home and I quickly wrote the note," she wrote. (Read more Juneteenth stories.)
(Newser)  A swimmer was seriously injured in a rare shark attack off California's central coast Wednesdaybut he survived with the help of paddleboarders who rushed to the rescue. Officials say the man was attacked just after 10:30am at Lovers Point Beach in Pacific Grove, Monterey County, NBC News reports. Authorities say the man suffered significant injuries to his stomach and a leg. All beaches in the area have been closed until Saturday. One on-shore witness tells the Monterey Herald that he thought he saw two people wrestling in the wateruntil he spotted the dorsal fin. He says the man was underwater for about 10 seconds and started calling for help when he resurfaced.

The rescuers included nurse Aimee Johns and her husband Paul Bandy, a Sacramento police officer. The couple, who were in Pacific Grove to celebrate their wedding anniversary, were paddleboarding when they heard the man cry for help, ABC10 reports. "As a police officer, I respond to emergencies all the time, so I don't think there was ever a question of whether or not we were gonna go. It was just how fast we going to be able to get there," Bandy tells KSBW. Johns says that when they got the man to shore, they had to cut off his wetsuit and apply tourniquets to each limb.

Monterey Fire Chief Gaudenz Panholzer says shark bites are "pretty unusual" in the region but not unheard of. He says a drone is being used to search for the shark. State Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Kirsten Macintyre says this is the first shark attack recorded at Lovers Point since a fatal one in 1952. "We want to express our gratitude and appreciation to the Good Samaritans that took immediate action and personal risk to assist the swimmer," the Pacific Grove Police Department said in a statement, per the Herald. (Read more shark attack stories.)
(Newser)  A Texas woman who convinced an ex-lover to kill her husband with false tales of sexual abuse, then gave the man gifts and money using funds donated to a GoFundMe account she set up for herself as a victim, has been sentenced to life in prison. On Oct. 9, 2020, Jamie Faith was shot seven times as he and his wife stepped out of their Oak Cliff home. "I just hope that at some point maybe this person can recognize the gravity of what they've done," a tearful Jennifer Faith told WFAA in December 2020 as she pleaded for her husband's killer to come forward. But prosecutors say Faith knew who had fired the shots. Allegedly, it was her high school sweetheart Darrin Ruben Lopez, whom she called her "one and only love," per the Washington Post.

The pair had been in "near constant contact" since reconnecting in March 2020, according to the US Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Texas. Soon after, Faith created email accounts in the name of her husband and a friend, which she used to send Lopez graphic depictions of sexual abuse against her, per Law & Crime. Lopez replied that he'd like to "put a bullet in Jamie's head," according to court documents. After he allegedly did just that, Faith publicly said the killer had escaped in a black Nissan Titan truck with a Texas Rangers sticker but privately told Lopez to remove the sticker from the truck she knew to be his, authorities say. They say she also created a GoFundMe account and used the donations to send Lopez money and gifts.

"Ms. Faith put on quite a performance," US Attorney Chad Meacham said in a statement Tuesday. "But crocodile tears didnt stop the feds." She was charged in September 2021 with use of interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire; in accepting a plea deal, Faith avoided a potential death sentence, according to the Attorney's Office. US District Judge Jane J. Boyle described the 49-year-old as "pure evil" in sentencing her to life in prison for murder for hire on Tuesday. She was also ordered to pay a $250,000 fine as well as $6,500 in restitution to Jamie's family. Lopez, arrested in January 2021, is awaiting trial on a state murder charge and federal firearms charge. The man who called himself Faith's "knight" has pleaded not guilty in both cases, per the Post. (Read more murder stories.)
(Newser)  Germany activated the second phase of its three-stage emergency plan for natural gas supplies Thursday, warning that Europe's biggest economy faces a "crisis" and that storage targets for the winter are at risk. The government said the decision follows cuts Russia made to natural gas flows starting last week and surging energy prices stoked by the war in Ukraine, per the AP. Industrial customers are being asked to reduce the amount of natural gas they use, and Germany and other countries are turning back to coal as a replacement, threatening climate goals in Europe as energy tensions escalate between Russia and the West. "Even if we can't feel it yet, we are in a gas crisis," said Robert Habeck, Germany's economy and climate minister.

Russia last week reduced natural gas to Germany, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, just as European Union countries are scrambling to refill storage of the fuel used to generate electricity, power industry, and heat homes in the winter. Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom blamed a missing part sent to Canada for repairs as it cut flows by 60% through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline running under the Baltic Sea to GermanyEurope's major natural-gas pipeline. Other countries, including Austria and the Netherlands, also have launched first-stage warnings about supplies and urged people to conserve.

"We are in an economic conflict with Russia," said Habeck, accusing Moscow of trying to destroy European unity and the solidarity it has shown with Ukraine. The cutbacks come on top of gas shutoffs to Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, and the Netherlands in recent weeks. Germany's government said current gas demands are being met and its storage facilities are filled to 58% capacityhigher than at this time last year. But the goal of reaching 90% by December won't be possible without further measures, it said.

(Read more Germany stories.)
(Newser)  The Jan. 6 panel has another hearing Thursday afternoon, this time focusing on how former President Trump implored his Justice Department to declare the 2020 election results invalid. However, the most dramatic related development might have already occurred: Federal agents searched the Virginia home of Trump-era Justice official Jeffrey Clark on Wednesday, reports the New York Times and CNN. It's not clear what agents were looking for, but Clark played a "central" role in the former president's efforts to overturn the election, notes USA Today.

In a preview of Thursday's hearing, NBC News described Clark as a "true believer" in claims of a stolen election. Trump even moved to appoint Clark as acting attorney general in the days before the Capitol riot, but the former president opted against it when several Justice Department officials threatened to resign, reports the Washington Post. Clark is no longer with the department, and his current employer slammed Wednesday's federal raid in a written message.

Yesterday, more than a dozen DOJ law enforcement officials searched Jeff Clarks house in a predawn raid, put him in the streets in his PJs, and took his electronic devices," wrote Russ Vought of the Center for Renewing America. "All because Jeff saw fit to investigate voter fraud. This is not America, folks. ... We stand by Jeff and so must all patriots in this country. In terms of specific actions Clark took on behalf of Trump, the Times has this example: Clark helped draft a letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp asserting that the DOJ had "significant concerns" about the election results and instructing Kemp to have his state's legislature create "a separate slate of electors supporting Donald J. Trump." However, acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen declined to send the letter. (Read more Jan. 6 hearings stories.)
SITEKI  Peoples United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) Lubombo Branch Treasurer Tenele Mashwama was yesterday arrested in a joint operation of the party.

They were arrested together with six other members by police officers from the Lomahasha and Siteki Police Stations. Tenele and Manqoba Kunene were arrested yesterday in the wee hours at around 5am, while Light Mkhabela and Manqoba Nyoni were apprehended at their respective homes on Tuesday morning. This latest incident comes against the backdrop of another matter whereby PUDEMO Head of International Relations Siboniso Mkhabela had his two cellphones and clothing items in a bag, together with a notebook, confiscated by the police during a roadblock manned at Lukhula area on Friday. Mkhabela was on his way to the Multi-Stakeholders Forum (MSF) prayer service which was held at Good Shepherd Mission Church when he was stopped by the police, who were in a joint operation with the army. On Monday, the Siteki Police Station released his bag with his clothing items.

released

It was further established that the police further arrested three others who were later released at the Simunye Magistrate Court. The quartet of Tenele, Nyoni, Light and Manqoba were charged jointly for contravening the Public Order Act of 2017 and Traffic Act of 2007. They are all expected to appear at the Simunye Magistrate Court today. The quartet are represented by the Siphofaneni based Lawyer Maxwell Nkhambule. Nkhambule confirmed the matter and stated that the four were expected to appear in court today. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the matter. We have four who have been charged by the police, she said.

Worth mentioning is that it has been gathered that the police were still looking for others who were on the list, used to arrest the four PUDEMO members. Narrating the circumstances leading to the arrest of the quartet, PUDEMO Head of International Relations, Mkhabela stated that on Monday after the police released his bag with clothing items, they left Siteki Town but were followed by a Toyota van without number plates and it overtook them at Lonhlupheko.

pursuing

Mkhabela said while approaching Maphiveni T-junction, a soldier flagged them down to stop but some of the occupants of the vehicle they were travelling in advised that they should not stop but sped-off. He said they drove to a homestead around Maphiveni area and fled in different directions towards the Black Mbuluzi River, leaving behind some of their items inside the car. We lost each other but reunited after about six hours of being in the bushes. We found that soldiers had been deployed around the homesteads at Maphiveni and roadblocks were manned at Nduma and Lomahasha. Some of our members went to the car and found some of the clothing items, he said. Mkhabela said two phones belonging to Tenele were missing. He added that there was a police car that was parked close to his home.

The death of Mpostoli and Sigubhu sparked the intensifying fight for democracy and that police allegedly shot one pupil. As Lomahasha residents, we will use peaceful means of protesting and dont believe that the burning of tyres warranted the state to deploy soldiers at Lomahasha, he said. Mkhabela further said if it called for seeking the help of the international community, he was ready to do so. Meanwhile, recently, police officers from Lomahasha Police Station fired four gunshots to stop a Nkalashane High School pupil from fleeing at his home.
(Newser)  After years of investigations and legislative pressure from Congress on their behalf, some victims of "Havana syndrome" are to receive $100,000 to $200,000 each in compensation. The health problems first reported by diplomats and intelligence officials include headaches, vision problems, dizziness, and brain fog. The US has not been able to determine the cause of what it calls Anomalous Health Incidents. The biggest payments would be awarded to current and former employees who lost their jobs or whose careers were damaged. The amounts are not yet final, the Washington Post reports.

A law passed by Congress last fall calls for the CIA director and the secretary of state to decide who's eligible, leading to concerns about fairness. "It is crucial that CIA and State implement the Havana Act in an identical fashion," said Marc Polymeropoulos, a former senior CIA officer who retired in 2019 while suffering headaches and other symptoms. He was afflicted after running clandestine operations in Russia in 2017. The symptoms first were identified by staff members in Havana but by now have been reported on every continent except Antarctica.

Speculation had raged for years that a foreign enemy was using a weapon of some sort on Americans. But the CIA has said it's found no evidence of that, though it's also said pulsed electromagnetic energy devices could be the culprits. Investigators have looked into more than 1,000 cases and couldn't explain dozens of them. But they said most symptoms were caused by environmental factors or preexisting medical conditions, per the Post. The Pentagon, National Institutes of Health, and other agencies have designed a new exam to assess potential cases. (Read more Havana syndrome stories.)
Tara Sweeney says she will not challenge decision to keep her off the ballot
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

A Bahrain resident is accused after her husband took his son in a car before ramming it into a tanker lorry simultaneously committing suicide and murdering the 11-year-old boy in India.

The deceased were identified as Prakash Devarajan, 48, and his son Sivadev. They belong to Thiruvananthapuram district in the South Indian state of Kerala.

The man committed suicide after posting pictures of his wife, a Bahrain resident and her friends on social media, claiming to be responsible for the deaths.

According to news sources, the car collided with the tanker lorry carrying diesel. It is learnt that Prakash and his wife were at loggerheads over the latters alleged relationships with other Bahrain and UAE residents.

Prakash wanted his wife to return from Bahrain, but, sources say, she did not listen to it, leading to the tragic incident. In his suicide note, Prakash mentions that his wifes activities led him to take this drastic step.

The couple also has a daughter. Prakash also posted his suicide note on Facebook, holding his wife and friends responsible for the deaths. The pics of the accused were also posted on the social media platform. Kerala Police is probing into the incident. It is unclear whether Kerala Police has alerted the Kingdoms investigators with regard to the incident and ongoing probe.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The High Criminal Court has started hearing the case of two Asian women, aged 38 and 32 years, involved in trafficking three women. Both of them pleaded not guilty.

The defendants are said to have brought the women to the Kingdom after faking job offers to them at a Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Centre, and they later forced them into prostitution. The trio were locked up in a building in Manama, where they were compelled to have sex with strangers.

We came to Bahrain to work as masseuses. We were welcomed by the second defendant who sold us to the first defendant for BD600. And we were locked up and forced to have paid sex. We were told if we want to leave we have to pay BD1,200 each, one of the victims told prosecutors.

The woman managed to escape from the brothel and communicated with her embassy which informed the police. Her efforts resulted in rescuing the two other victims as police officers raided the place in save them. The two women were arrested and charged with human trafficking and forcing the trio into prostitution.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com



Jawad Al-Hawaj, a businessman and president of the Bahrain Bosnia and Herzegovina Friendship and Business Society, said that there are broad prospects available with business owners in both countries in various fields, including trade, tourism, real estate, and financial and banking services.

Al-Hawaj a formal speaker of Bahrain, added that a high-level trade delegation that included more than twenty Bahraini business owners participated in the Sarajevo International Business Forum 2022 held on May 11 and 12.

The conference, largest international investment event in Southeast Europe, provided valuable opportunity for Bahraini delegation to get a close look at the policies, trends and investment opportunities in Bosnia.

Al-Hawaj expressed interest in arranging a visit of a delegation of business owners and company representatives in the Bosnia for an exploratory visit to Bahrain during the current year.
Police have arrested a 24-year-old journalist on suspicion of stealing food items from a convenience store in Shari, Hokkaido, where she had been assigned to cover the sinking of a tour boat.

According to police, Sayaka Takahashi, a journalist employed at the Yomiuri Shimbuns Sapporo branch office, allegedly shoplifted nine food items, including a bento box lunch and candy, worth 2,657 yen at around 9 a.m. on April 28 at a convenience store in Shari, local media reported. Police said Takahashi, who was arrested on Tuesday, has admitted to the allegation.

Store security camera footage showed Takahashi leaving the store without paying for products.
MBABANE  One of the questions asked by some of the investors during their general meeting held last weekend was how Zimbabwe-born George Manyere found himself caught up in the Ecsponent Eswatini Limiteds crisis.

In fact, some of the investors even asked if he had any vested interest in the recovering of the E340 million lost by emaswati to Ecsponent or he was merely a messiah. Manyere did not shy away from explaining how he found himself in the mix of attempting to recover the lost investments.

approved

He said; Personally, my involvement in Eswatini started in 2020. I was approved and appointed into the board on January 8, 2020. Prior to that in 2018, I had bought shares in Ecsponent Limited South Africa. Around August or September 2019, I was contacted by Mr Ndumiso Mamba, the board chairman, who requested to meet me privately here in Eswatini. This was after he had learnt that I had become the controlling shareholder in Ecsponent Limited South Africa. I honoured the invite and met with him. He had just joined the board a year ago at the request of some locals and investors. He wanted assistance in making sure that the business activities of Ecsponent Eswatini were being done properly.

concerns

It was during that meeting that he expressed his misgivings and concerns about the governance of the business. He informed me that the companys investment activities were not transparent. That is when we started investigating even the past activities dating back from 2013. Within six months, we fired the management in SA as well as Eswatini. This marked the start of the process of rescuing this business. Manyere took back the investors to July 16, 2013 when Ecsponent Eswatini was established. He stated that the company was formed by four emaswati in partnership with Escalator Investment Holding Limited, Escalator Financial Services and Escalator Capital, all from South Africa. The SA shareholders had 85 per cent equity and the remaining 15 per cent was owned by the emaswati.

investment

In 2014, about six months after it was founded, the company applied to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) for an investment licence to raise money from the investors.

One of the first products was the Link Loan Unit, which had about 13 prospectuses that most of the investors bought into until 2020. Under this product, over E300 million was raised from 1 500 investors. Manyere pointed out that the regulations did not permit investment companies to raise money from investors without issuing prospectus. The first prospectus was issued in March 2014 and about 13 prospectuses were issued, each aimed at raising millions of Emalangeni. These prospectuses, it was explained, contained crucial information that would govern the relationship between the investor and investment company, including the risk of investment being offered. They also included the application form signed by each investor. It later transpired that most of the investors never received the prospectuses, save for the application form and statements regarding their investments. Manyere advised the investors to critically analyse and read with understanding any information regarding their investment prior to depositing their hard-earned cash.
A federal judge has approved a plan to allow fired CNN producer John Griffin to sell the Vermont ski home where he allegedly sexually abused a 9-year-old girl so the court can hold half of the proceeds for restitution if he is convicted, documents show.

The home in Ludlow, Vt., is owned by Griffin and his estranged wife who filed for divorce weeks after he was arrested by federal authorities, court documents said. Federal investigators seized the property in December as Griffin was charged with three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity.

Griffin, a former Connecticut resident who lived in Stamford and Norwalk, is accused of trying to lure mothers and their daughters to his Vermont home for sexual training. In one case, a Nevada woman brought her adopted child to Boston where Griffin picked them up, court documents said.

The adoptive mother was arrested and sentenced to prison in Nevada. The child and her guardian claim in a lawsuit that she was forced to commit sex acts while she was at the Vermont ski home. The child was 9 when the incidents allegedly occurred in July 2020, court documents said. The lawsuit is on hold as the federal criminal charges move forward, Griffins attorney Robert Berke said last week.

Griffin remains in federal custody and has been offered a plea deal to consider, court papers said. In a separate agreement signed by a federal judge on June 15, Griffin and his wife can sell the Vermont ski home for at least $2 million, but he is required to turn over his 50 percent of the proceeds to the federal court, documents said.

His wife is not a defendant in the case, federal officials said. She has agreed not to seek a claim against Griffins share of the proceeds, court documents said.

As part of the deal, Griffin is required to deposit with the federal court clerk his share of the money from the sale of the house, court papers said. The amount can not be less than $1,002,000, documents said, and the money will be held to pay a final order of forfeiture or if Griffin must pay restitution. If Griffin is acquitted, the court will return the entire amount, documents said.

The 10-page indictment issued by a Grand Jury alleges that Griffin frequently used Kik, a messaging application, and Google Hangouts to lure mothers with young daughters to meet him at the Vermont ski house he had bought with his wife to provide sexual training on how to be submissive to men. Griffin boasted during internet chats that he had trained girls as young as 7 years old, federal authorities said.

He sent a total of $3,350 to the adoptive mother of the 9-year-old for them to travel from Nevada to Boston where Griffin picked them up and drove them to his Vermont home, court documents said. At the Vermont ski house, the child was directed to engage in and did engage in illegal sexual activity, the indictment said.

Griffin was once a producer for the Chris Cuomo show and was most recently a producer for CNN senior political analyst John Avlon. He was fired from CNN after he was indicted.
DANBURY  In this celebratory season of commencements, the graduates from the Alternative Center for Excellence also gathered recently to mark their accomplishments.

ACE had nine graduates from January and 12 graduates from June, for a total of 21 students in the Class of 2022. Of those, 17 participated in a ceremony held June 14 at Broadview Middle School. January and June graduates walked together in the ceremony. There were more than100 people in attendance at the event, according to Joanne Tolles, an English/guidance teacher at the Alternative Center for Excellence.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Stefanie Lindquist, Arizona State University

(THE CONVERSATION) The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a New York law on June 23, 2022 that had imposed strict limits on carrying a handgun in public. It was a much anticipated decision, as the court continues to issue opinions ahead of wrapping its term in the next week or two.

But people were being kept waiting about when exactly the courts ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, which could overturn Roe v. Wade, will be issued.

The court announces what days it will release rulings and is only scheduled to announce more on June 24. No one outside the court knows which major rulings will be published when  or if the court could decide to release more opinions into early July.

Theres a reason the court remains so secretive and why its abortion ruling appears likely to be one of the last before the court lets out for the summer. We asked constitutional scholar and Supreme Court expert Stefanie Lindquist to explain whats behind the court keeping a tight lid on its work.

Does research back up this idea that the court saves the most high-profile rulings for last?

There has been very careful research done by very distinguished scholars and judges who tested the proposition that the courts most important decisions are handed down late in the term. They measured importance based upon the extent to which the New York Times covered that case. And their research confirmed that it is absolutely true that the most highly important decisions the court renders  ones that overturn precedent, for example  arent announced until the end of the term.

One reason may be because the court is being particularly careful about the content of those decisions. And because they might have involved more negotiations over the content of the opinion itself, or involved the extra work of writing dissents and concurrences.

Is it clear why they release these major decisions at the end of the term?

Theres been some speculation they want to wait to issue these opinions right before they leave town. Because theyre social creatures as all of us are, some speculate that they dont want to have to discuss these cases in their social circles. But I think its most likely that it is a combination of workload and because these cases are more time intensive. The justices also understand the public impact these cases can have. But, ultimately, its not clear exactly why they do it.

The court is known for its secrecy. Whats the point of the court being so tight-lipped about its decisions?

The court is an institution that has, over time, very carefully husbanded its legitimacy in the eyes of the public.

The late Justice Antonin Scalia required his clerks to sign an agreement respecting the privacy of the courts deliberations. He told them that if they violated this secrecy, he would do everything he could to undermine their future careers.

The court is very careful about ensuring that once it issues an opinion, it is the final opinion. Revealing any internal and potentially divisive dynamics related to the courts decision-making process could undermine the force and effect of a Supreme Court decision.

Why do they not even say when a specific decision will be announced?

I think its probably difficult for them to predict the exact timing of decisions, frankly. Remember, the courts final opinions are the result of a negotiation among the individual justices. And until theyre ready, they cant necessarily say, This is the day were going to sign off, especially at the end of the term when many of these very important decisions are announced.

There may be negotiations and proofreading up to the very last minute. The justices no doubt appreciate that these highly important decisions are going to end up in law school textbooks. Theyre going to be carefully read by journalists. And the justices are a highly professional group of individuals.

So theyre concerned about every opinion they issue. But with these opinions they issue at the end of the term, that tend to be the most important decisions they render  theyre even more concerned about being precise in every sentence they write

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/the-supreme-court-tends-to-save-the-biggest-rulings-for-last-a-constitutional-expert-explains-a-few-good-reasons-185684.
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DALLAS (AP)  The Uvalde school districts police chief was put on leave Wednesday following allegations that he erred in his response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harrell said that he put schools police Chief Pete Arredondo on administrative leave because the facts of what happened remain unclear. In a statement, Harrell did not address Arredondo's actions as on-site commander during the attack but said he didn't know when details of federal, state and local investigations into the law enforcement response to the slayings would be revealed.

From the beginning of this horrible event, I shared that the district would wait until the investigation was complete before making personnel decisions, Harrell said. Because of the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown timing of when I will receive the results of the investigations, I have made the decision to place Chief Arredondo on administrative leave effective on this date.

A spokesperson for the Uvalde school district, Anne Marie Espinoza, declined to say whether Arredondo would continue to be paid while on leave.

Another officer will assume the embattled chiefs duties, Harrell said.

Col. Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told a state Senate hearing on Tuesday that Arredondo made terrible decisions as the massacre unfolded on May 24 , and that the police response was an abject failure.

Three minutes after 18-year-old Salvador Ramos entered the school, sufficient armed law enforcement were on scene to stop the gunman, McCraw testified. Yet police officers armed with rifles waited in a school hallway for more than an hour while the gunman carried out the massacre. The classroom door could not be locked from the inside, but there is no indication officers tried to open the door while the gunman was inside, McCraw said.

McCraw has said parents begged police outside the school to move in and students inside the classroom repeatedly pleaded with 911 operators for help while more than a dozen officers waited in a hallway. Officers from other agencies urged Arredondo to let them move in because children were in danger.

The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering Room 111 and 112 was the on-scene commander who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children, McCraw said.

Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin pushed back on McCraws testimony casting blame on Arredondo, saying the Department of Public Safety has repeatedly put out false information about the shooting and glossed over the role of its own officers.

McLaughlin called Tuesday's Senate hearing a clown show and said he heard nothing from McCraw about state troopers involvement, even though McLaughlin said their number in the school hallway at points during the slaughter surpassed that of any other law enforcement agency.

Delays in the police response as the shooting was happening has become the focus of ongoing investigations and public outcry. Law enforcement has at times offered confusing and sometimes contradictory details and timelines that have drawn anger and frustration.

The Uvalde City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously against giving Arredondo  who is a council member  a leave of absence from appearing at public meetings. Relatives of the shooting victims had pleaded with city leaders to instead fire him.

Please, please, were begging you, get this man out of our lives, said Berlinda Arreola, the grandmother of Amerie Jo Garza, a 10-year-old who was fatally shot in the attack.

Sen. Paul Bettencourt told the state Senate hearing that Arredondo should have stepped down straight away.

This man should have removed himself from the job immediately because, just looking at his response, he was incapable of it, Bettencourt said.

Arredondo and his lawyer have declined repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press and did not immediately respond to an inquiry Wednesday about his leave.

Arredondo has tried to defend his actions, telling the Texas Tribune that he didnt consider himself the commander in charge of operations and that he assumed someone else had taken control of the law enforcement response. He said he didnt have his police and campus radios but that he used his cellphone to call for tactical gear, a sniper and the classroom keys.

Its still not clear why it took so long for police to enter the classroom, how they communicated with each other during the attack, and what their body cameras show.

Officials have declined to release more details, citing the investigation.

Arredondo, 50, grew up in Uvalde and spent much of his nearly 30-year career in law enforcement in the city. He took the head police job at the school district in 2020 and was sworn in as a member of the City Council in a closed-door ceremony May 31.

___

Find more AP coverage of the Uvalde school shooting: https://apnews.com/hub/uvalde-school-shooting
The Chinese and Vietnamese naval ships are seen in the joint patrol in Beibu Gulf on June 22, 2022. (Photo by Zhang Bin)

BEIJING, June 23 -- According to the schedule of the 32nd China-Vietnam joint patrol in Beibu Gulf, the Chinese naval corvettes Bazhong (Hull No. 625) and Enshi (Hull No. 627) carried out joint patrol with two Vietnamese naval ships together in the waters of the Beibu Gulf on June 22. The two navies also held a joint search and rescue exercise in the Beibu Gulf.

At about 8 a.m., the warships for the joint patrol mission from both sides arrived at the assembly location and began to patrol in the double line abreast formation along the China-Vietnam maritime boundary in the Beibu Gulf. The two sides also took turns to undertake the command of the joint patrol to strengthen maritime cooperation capabilities.

The joint patrol, which lasted more than two hours, was followed by a joint search and rescue drill. Given the dense distribution of shipping routes in the Beibu Gulf with merchant ships and fishing vessels shuttling therein, the joint search and rescue drills are of great practical significance for dealing with maritime safety risks and emergencies. The joint drill, during which the ships from the two navies kept close communication and good coordination, not only promoted professional exchanges, but also deepened the mutual trust and cooperation between the two navies.

It has been the 32nd joint patrol since China and Vietnam signed the Agreement on Joint Patrols by the Navies of China and Vietnam in the Beibu Gulf in 2005 . On the basis of normalized joint patrols, the naval vessels from the two countries will also conduct drills on subjects of communication and fleet maneuver.


MBABANE  In an effort to recover the millions of Emalangeni lost by emaswati to Ecsponent Eswatini Limited, a new management team is in place.

The new management operates under ESW Investment Group (ESWIG), which came into being in March 2020 with the sole mandate of recovering the E340 million lost by emaswati who invested into Ecsponent Eswatini. At the helm of ESWIG is Max Bongikhosi Mkhonza, the Chief Executive Officer, who is a renowned corporate executive with in-depth knowledge in developing and implementing organisational strategy. He joined the company in May 2022 from Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accidents Fund (SMVAF). Mkhonza was officially introduced by the ESWIG Board Chairman, Ndumiso Mamba, to the over 1 500 investors during the general meeting held at Esibayeni Lodge over the weekend.

potential

Mamba said Mkhonza was tasked with taking ESWIG forward by identifying potential investments to be tapped into and ensuring that the embezzled investments were repaid. Also introduced during the general meeting was George Manyere, who solely kept ESWIG afloat since early 2020. Manyere doubles as a shareholder and Chief Investment Officer. Other key management personnel include, a former journalist and reputable communications professional Sifiso Trevor Dhlamini, who is the Head of Investor Relations, Marketing and Public Relations. Dhlamini was roped in to ensure effective interactions with the companys broad stakeholders, especially the grief-stricken investors. Others include Buhle Madonsela, the Acting Finance Manager, as well as Sandile Mthethwa, the Head of Legal and Company Secretary.

When addressing the investors, Manyere made it known that none of the members of the current management team was present when the E340 million investments were transferred to South Africa. The board chairman joined Ecsponent in 2018 and I came in around 2020 while the rest of the team came into the picture about a month ago, he said. He informed the investors that those who started the business in 2013 were no longer with the company, hence the new management. He said they wanted to engage with the investors physically to ensure transparency and accountability.
Eknath Shinde was named as their leader in a letter addressed to the Governor and signed by 34 MLAs that was delivered late on Wednesday.

Sanjay Raut, the partys leader, disputed Eknath Shindes allegation that 40 MLAs supported his rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray and indicated that at least half of them were in touch about returning.

Here are some major developments to the story:

Eknath Shinde posted a scathing letter from a legislator accusing the Maharashtra Chief Minister of shutting his doors to them and keeping them waiting for hours while he and about 41 other MLAs camped in Guwahati. One of the MLAs in Guwahati who was with the rebels, Sanjay Shirsat, claimed, We were denied admission to the Chief Ministers house for 2.5 years.
BRICS has worked towards building a common global viewpoint for multilateral institutions to reflect the structural changes in the global economy and the more crucial role that emerging markets currently play.

Following an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping, India, on Tuesday, confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the BRICS annual Summit on June 23 and 24. After New Delhi opted for a virtual summit rather than an in-person summit in China, the Ministry of External Affairs made the announcement.

The focus of the 14th BRICS Summit will be on intra-BRICS cooperation in a variety of fields, including counterterrorism, business, health, traditional medicine, the environment, science, technology, innovation, agriculture, technical and vocational education, and training, and MSMEs.

Discussions are also anticipated on issues including the COVID-19 pandemic, reforming the international system, and global economic recovery, among others. On June 24, a high-level dialogue on global development with guest countries is scheduled.

BRICS has developed into a forum for discussion and deliberation on issues that concern all developing nations. The BRICS nations have frequently called for multilateral reform to make it more inclusive and representative.

The conference is likely to include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and leaders from Brazil and South Africa.

BRICS has worked towards building a common global viewpoint for multilateral institutions to reflect the structural changes in the global economy and the more crucial role that emerging markets currently play.
The presidential election is scheduled to take place on July 18 and the counting will happen on July 21. NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu is going to contest this election against Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha for the top constitutional post in the country.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliances presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu is expected to file her nomination on June 24. Amid tight security, Draupadi Murmu will fly to Delhi on Thursday. Murmu departed from the MCL Guest House in Bhubaneswar earlier this morning to catch a flight to Delhi. In order to welcome Murmu, who has been given Z plus security, people from all spheres of society gathered at the MCL guest house. All of the BJPs partners, including the chief ministers of the states governed by the NDA, have been invited to participate in the nomination event.

Earlier this week, the BJP-led NDA announced Draupadi Murmu as its candidate for the upcoming Presidential elections. Draupadi Murmu was first considered a contender five years ago when President Pranab Mukherjee was set to leave Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Murmu is going to become the first tribal President of India and the second-ever female President if she gets elected. Murmu was born on June 20, 1958, and she served as the Governor of Jharkhand from 2015 to 2021.

In a recent tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, Smt. Draupadi Murmu Ji has devoted her life to serving society and empowering the poor, downtrodden as well as marginalized. She has rich administrative experience and had an outstanding gubernatorial tenure. I am confident she will be a great President of our nation.

Murmu has served as an MLA from Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj twice on a BJP ticket. During her term with the Odisha government, she held the portfolios of Commerce and Transport, then Fisheries and Animal Husbandry. With the NDA holding a 48 percent electoral vote lead, Murmu is predicted to win the upcoming presidential election.

The presidential election is scheduled to take place on July 18 and the counting will happen on July 21. NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu is going to contest this election against Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha for the top constitutional post in the country.
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SHELTON  Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti said Thursday that fast-food giant Subway has told him that it intends to relocate its headquarters from Milford to Shelton.

Lauretti said that a Subway executive informed him last week by text message and in a phone call of the companys plans. Also last week, Subway publicly announced that it was exploring a relocation of its headquarters to somewhere in northeastern Fairfield County, but it did not disclose which towns it was considering.

This would be a real coup for Shelton and Connecticut because it would maintain the presence of Subway, a corporate heavyweight, here in the state, Lauretti said in an interview. This would be good for their employees and the company, and they would join a heavy corporate presence in Shelton.

Lauretti said he has been apprised of where Subway would locate the new headquarters, but he declined to disclose it because, until the ink is dry on the lease, it would be premature to say where it is within the town.

In response to an inquiry from Hearst Connecticut Media, Subway declined to comment Thursday beyond a statement that it issued last week on the potential move.

Subway is exploring options in northeastern Fairfield County to create a world-class work environment for our employees, that includes a modernized headquarter(s) location, featuring an engaging and welcoming workspace and wide range of on-site amenities, the statement said. As a member of the community for nearly 50 years, we look forward to strengthening our long-term commitment to the area.

Subways main offices are now located at 325 Sub Way in Milford, about a half-mile north of Interstate 95s Exit 35. The company was not able to confirm Thursday the number of employees based there.

A message left Thursday for Milford Mayor Benjamin Blake was not immediately returned.

In the past 18 months, Subway has apparently already pursued changes to its office footprint. In early 2021, the company signed a lease for more than 64,000 square feet in an office park next to Miami International Airport, with plans to bring 100 employees, according to real estate news outlet The Real Deal. The company said at the time that the offices would house marketing and culinary staff and the companys Latin American regional offices, but keep most of its employees in Milford, The Real Deal reported.

Amid the office changes, Subway continues to grow. Last month, it announced plans to hire more than 50,000 people to work in its restaurants across the U.S.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott
Contributed photo

A Bloomfield, Mich.-based commercial property company has acquired a 96,691 square foot shopping center located near the Westfarms mall for $26.4 million, according to officials with the real estate firm that brokered the deal.

Newington Westfarms Center, which sits across New Britain Avenue from the mall, was sold to Agree Realty. The property had been owned by Monroe-based Tartaglia Commercial Properties, according to officials with CBRE which arranged the sale.
With just over one week to go before more stringent pension limits take effect, more than 4,400 state employees either have retired this calendar year or filed their written intention to step down before July 1, according to new numbers released Wednesday by Comptroller Natalie Braswells office.

That includes 3,090 employees who retired between Jan. 1 and June 1 and another 1,346 whove indicated in writing they will step down before July 1.

Thats double the number of retirements the state has averaged over the previous three calendar years, according to data from the comptroller.

Besides an aging state workforce, the other catalyst behind this years first-half surge in retirements is a 2017 concessions deal unions negotiated with then-Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to help avert budget deficits.

Unionized employees, who received four years of protection against layoffs, accepted two years of wage freezes, furlough days and a delay in longevity payments.

But the concessions area that unions and state officials agree is sparking retirements now is tied to the pension program  specifically new cost-of-living adjustment rules.

The new COLA system  for those retiring July 1, 2022 or later  is tied to the Consumer Price Index and also features a series of caps that could produce adjustments smaller than the CPI.

The first COLA payment for post-July 1 retirees wont come until 30 months after retirement. Under the outgoing system, that payment comes within the first nine to 15 months.

The State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, which includes most bargaining units within state government, has said the public sector faces a staffing crisis and must immediately begin beefing up agencies and departments.

Refilling these vacancies is not only paramount to our ability to protect the critical public services we all rely on but also to ensure a strong economy that addresses the historical, racial and socio-economic gap present in Connecticut, SEBAC spokeswoman Drew Stoner told the CT Mirror earlier this month.

According to data obtained by the CT Mirror from the state Office of Policy and Management in late April, all Executive Branch agencies  excluding public colleges and universities  had collectively filled 25,700 of the 30,080 positions authorized for them in the state budget.

The 17% vacancy rate is almost double where it stood two years ago, when 9.4% of jobs were empty.

The shrinking workforce also has made it more difficult for state agencies to limit overtime expenses.

A new report from the legislatures nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis found General Fund overtime spending of most state agencies went up $20.4 million or about 11%, during the first three-quarters of this fiscal year, which began last July 1.

Total overtime spending approached $207 million.

OFA totals include all three branches of government and most higher education units but exclude the University of Connecticuts main campus in Storrs and most of its satellite campuses, which use a different human resource/payroll system from the rest of state government.
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BOSTON (AP)  A tomahawk once owned by Chief Standing Bear, a pioneering Native American civil rights leader, has been returned to his tribe after being housed for decades in a museum at Harvard University.

Members of the Ponca tribes in Nebraska and Oklahoma visited the Massachusetts university on June 3 for the ceremonial return of the artifact, the tribes said in a recent announcement.

Standing Bear had originally gifted the pipe-tomahawk to one of his lawyers after winning the 1879 court case that made him one of the first Native Americans granted civil rights.

The tomahawk changed hands several times before being acquired by Harvard in 1982.

This is a good homecoming and a good step in the many steps we have to do to get back to our identity, to our ways of our people, Angie Starkel, a member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska who made the trip to Cambridge, said in a statement.

Stacy Laravie, a descendant of Standing Bear who is also the historic preservation officer for the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, agreed.

We talk about generational trauma, but we dont talk about generational healing, and thats what were doing now, she said in a statement. This is healing.

Jane Pickering, director of Harvards Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, said the tomahawks return reflects the institutions desire to repair past harms.

The Peabody directly benefited from collecting practices that we acknowledge today ignored the wishes and values of families and communities, she said in a statement.

Harvard and the museum have faced criticism over the pace of repatriating Native American remains and other significant objects to tribes, as required under federal law.

The museum and tribes have been working on the tomahawks return for more than a year; tribal members were slated to travel to campus before pandemic-related restrictions last year delayed it.

The Ponca tribes say they will announce plans to exhibit the tomahawk at a later date.

They were among many forcibly relocated from their homelands to other territories by the federal government in the 1800s.

Standing Bear was arrested 1878 for leaving the tribes Oklahoma reservation in order to fulfill a promise he made to bury his eldest son back in their tribes homeland in Nebraskas Niobrara River Valley.

In his landmark federal trial, he successfully argued for the recognition of Native Americans as persons entitled to rights and protection under law.
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NEW HAVEN  The city placed three more officers on leave Thursday as the investigation continues into the departments handling of Richard Cox, a local man injured and potentially paralyzed after being taken into custody and transported in a police van last weekend.

Officers Ronald Pressley, Jocelyn Lavandier and Luis Rivera have been placed on paid administrative leave, officials announced Thursday. All three were all present in the Detention Facility and were involved in the handling of Cox, New Haven officials said.

After reviewing video of the incident, Acting Police Chief Regina Rush-Kittle said all of the officers involved in Coxs arrest and transport should be placed on administrative leave for potential breaches of police protocol.

The handling of Mr. Cox was unacceptable; it does not reflect the high standards we hold ourselves to at the New Haven Police Department. The department remains committed to doing everything in our power to make sure an incident of this nature never happens again, Rush-Kittle said.

Mayor Justin Elicker offered his strong support for the decision, describing the departments efforts in incarcerating Cox as completely unacceptable.

Anyone that comes into custody of the New Haven Police Department should be treated with dignity and respect and cared for in a manner than ensures their safety and well-being. In my judgment, the actions of the officers involved in this incident fell far short of that, Elicker said.

Cox, 36, was injured and possibly paralyzed Sunday when he was being brought to the police lockup in a van that had straps for him to hold on to while handcuffed, but no seat belt.

According to videos released by police, he lay down on the floor and repeatedly kicked the rear door of the van, then sat back on a bench along the side of the van.

When Officer Oscar Diaz hit the brakes hard to avoid an accident, Cox fell and hit his head on the front of the van, apparently becoming paralyzed.

Elicker said the police were traveling 36 mph in a 25 mph zone at the time.

Diaz and Sgt. Betsy Segui, who told Cox to move his arm and leg and to roll onto his back after he arrived at the detention facility, were previously placed on paid administrative leave earlier this week.

Elicker and Assistant Chief Karl Jacobson both expressed concern about how the officers handled the situation.

Jacobson said Tuesday that, under standard protocol, city police are required to wait for a medical unit if a prisoner is in medical distress.

State police are leading the investigation into Coxs arrest and subsequent treatment.

We understand how impacted an event like this can be for everybody involved. It is a high priority for us, Brian Foley, spokesperson for the state police, said Thursday. We are working closely with the states attorneys office. The investigation is active and open.

The city is planning to require all prisoners to be wearing a seat belt when being transported, whether in a cruiser or a van, according to Elicker.

New Haven has three transport vans, one of which has seat belts. A second had them installed Tuesday, police said. The third has been taken out of service until seat belts are installed.

Staff writer Ed Stannard contributed to this story.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
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HAMDEN  Three years after being shot by a Hamden police officer, Stephanie Washington decided it was time to make her voice heard.

The 2019 shooting led to criminal charges against Devin Eaton, the now-former Hamden cop who fired the shots that struck Washington, thereby igniting a storm of protests and media coverage.

But on Tuesday, as Washington stood in the Memorial Town Hall foyer waiting her turn to speak to the Legislative Council in what would be her first-ever public statement, there were no TV crews, no posters demanding justice.

Instead, there was Washington, preparing to call on Mayor Lauren Garrett to help her get justice in her civil lawsuit against the town.

The 25-year-old stood straight, readying herself in front of a cell phone camera. She was to speak via Zoom, as the meeting was held remotely.

She wore a black T-shirt with the words, H.E.R. - Higher Energy Rising. She said she chose it because it seemed encouraging.

Two attorneys accompanied Washington, whose mother sat near the town hall entrance, waiting for the meeting to begin. Except for a few other onlookers, the foyer was empty and the Legislative Council chambers dark.

Washington would have preferred to address Hamdens elected officials directly. She was disappointed, she said, that the meeting was not held in person.

But here she was anyway.

Win Smith III, Washingtons attorney, said he wants Garrett to direct the towns counsel to come to the table to discuss a possible settlement.

So far, the town has not expressed interest in mediation, according to Smith.

Garrett gave a different account of the legal proceedings.

Cases like this are typically settled. The attorney that represents the town  its his job to do this, she said.

She challenged Smiths characterization of recent events, contending the town is not trying to get the case thrown out and that the normal court processes are moving forward.

I have a statutorial obligation to defend the town, Garrett added.

The latest filing in Washingtons lawsuit was a joint status report with proposed deadlines. It suggests discovery should be completed by next June.

The document was submitted June 6 by John-Henry McKim Steele, an attorney representing Washington alongside Smith.

April 16, 2019

Washington is suing Hamden, Eaton and several other entities in connection with the April 16, 2019 officer-involved shooting, when Eaton opened fire on a car in which Washington was a passenger. Her friend, Paul Witherspoon III, was driving.

A Hamden police officer named Devin Eaton shot me multiple times while I was unarmed sitting as a passenger in a car, Washington told the Legislative Council. I needed invasive surgery and now I am left with the scarring and horror I live with every day.

The then-22-year-old sustained serious injuries, including one gunshot wound to the left upper thigh/glute area, which traveled left to right, fracturing her pelvis and spine, according to the states attorneys report on the matter.

Washington now spends her days trying to find peace, she said.

Thats my biggest thing right now, is to find peace, find me, Washington said. I lost a lot of that in 2019.

When the shooting occurred on Argyle Street in New Haven, Eaton was investigating a report of an armed robbery at the Go On Go Gas Station at 144 Arch Street in Hamden.

A gas station clerk called 911 alleging a man, later identified as Witherspoon, pulled a gun on a newspaper delivery man, according to a search warrant affidavit for the car Witherspoon was driving.

The clerk later told investigators he never actually saw a gun, the affidavit says, and the states attorneys report found no evidence that Witherspoon had a gun during the subsequent shooting.

The lawsuit names Aziz Abdullatf as the clerk. He and T&S United, LLC, which Washingtons lawsuit alleges operated the gas station and employed Abdullatf at the time of the shooting, are named as defendants.

In an answer to the complaint, John J. Morgan, the attorney for Abdullatf and T&S United, LLC, denied all wrongdoing on behalf of his clients. The filing also denies claims connecting Abdullatf to T&S United and T&S United to the gas station.

Morgan unsuccessfully attempted to have Washingtons claims dismissed by arguing Abdullatf could not have foreseen the officer-involved shooting.

However unfortunate the events may be, they do not give rise to an action against Mr. Abdullattf, says Morgans motion to dismiss. He merely acted in a manner that must be protected as a matter of public policy. Victims must be able to report crime to the police. Even if they make an error, those reports must be protected.

A judge rejected that argument last year and allowed the claims against Abdullattf to move forward. Asked Tuesday about the case, Morgan referred to his earlier motion to dismiss.

For the reasons stated therein, we believe the plaintiffs contentions against my clients are particularly ill founded and unsupportable, he wrote in an email to a reporter.

The status of the case

Also named as defendants in Washingtons lawsuit are Yale University and Yale police officer Terrance Pollock, who was on scene during the shooting. He fired three shots in the direction of Witherspoons vehicle, according to the states attorneys report, which determined Pollock only used his weapon after Eaton fired eight times.

The state did not find evidence that any of Pollocks bullets struck Washington, and Pollock did not face criminal charges in connection with the case

In a decision last June, Judge Vanessa Bryant dismissed some claims against Yale and Hamden. Two remain pending: an indemnification claim against Hamden, which contends the town is responsible for paying any damages for which Eaton is held liable, and a claim holding Yale responsible for Pollocks alleged negligence.

Attorneys for Pollock and Yale did not return requests for comment. Their clients denied wrongdoing last year in a court filing last year.

The actions and conduct of Officer Pollock were objectively reasonable under the circumstances of which he was aware, and he is therefore entitled to qualified immunity from all liability, their response to Washingtons complaint says.

Eatons legal team also did not return requests for comment but made a similar argument in a separate filing that denied all wrongdoing. Elliot Spector, an attorney representing Eaton, previously said Eaton believed he saw a gun when he opened fire on the car with Washington inside.

Time for my voice to be heard

For three years, Washington stayed silent, avoiding the spotlight even as protesters chanted her name.

The resolution of Eatons criminal case prompted her to speak out, she said.

I just feel like its time for my voice to be heard, Washington said. Its been three years. I havent even said a thing.

In January, Eaton pleaded no contest to one count of first-degree assault in connection with the shooting of Washington. He received a five-year fully suspended sentence after agreeing never again to seek employment in law enforcement.

Smith, Washingtons attorney, condemned the lack of prison time for Eaton. Garrett, Hamdens mayor, called the sentence unsatisfactorily lenient.

Yet when Washington spoke Tuesday, her frustration lay with Garrett.

In the wake of the shooting, Garrett, then a member of the Legislative Council, joined in calls for justice for Washington and Witherspoon. She ran for mayor on a platform that included promises of police accountability.

Washington feels Garrett is not living up to those promises.

Mayor Garrett won her election and now she seems to take a position that is no different than the former mayor, Washington told the Legislative Council. Now it seems like the Mayor is treating this case like a case that can be ignored, as if it is a nuisance to her and the Town of Hamden.

Washington lamented the attempts by the defendants in her case to get the lawsuit dismissed.

Meanwhile, Garrett has denied that the town is currently trying to get the case thrown out.

The town is not treating this like a de minimus case, she said.

She pointed out the town moved to dismiss the case in 2020, before she took office.

Hamdens last court filing, in which the town disputes Washingtons indemnification claim, came in October, also before Garrett was mayor.

Smith accused Garrett of hiding behind the previous administration and town attorney. Rather than being open to mediation, he said, the towns counsel has made every indication that they intend on filing the summary judgment motion.

They wont even sit down with us at all, he said, contending Garrett could pick up the phone and tell the attorney to change course. Asked about the mayors position in shielding the town from liability, he said there is precedent for towns to switch tactics and enter settlement negotiations.

meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com
MBABANE  The seven-member Parliament Select Committee assigned to address the Sikhuphe compensation impasse, has been put under the spotlight, with questions on whether they also financially benefitted.

This was raised in House of Assembly yesterday by Lobamba Member of Parliament (MP) Allen Stewart, who stood on a point of clarity, during the announcements made by the Speaker, Petros Mavimbela. He requested that the Speaker and other MPs assisted in clearing the air in as far as the Sikhuphe compensation exercise was concerned. According to the Lobamba MP, there was ongoing speculation, warranted by reports in print media, that the committee selected to address the issue of the compensation of the residents allegedly had their hands in the cookie jar, hence a report on the matter by them had not been tabled in Parliament. There was never a report tabled by the select committee which further fuels the rumours that this committee benefitted somehow, hence they did not report on the ongoing compensation process at Sikhuphe, the MP highlighted.

He said there was a need for clarity so as to put the nation at ease regarding the matter. This was not the first time the issue of the select committee was raised in the House of Assembly, as it had previously been questioned by some members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) during the appearance of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development. Some of the PAC members indicated that the select committee was formed without any votes of selection, however, they simply noted through the media that a committee of this nature had been selected to address and deal with the compensation exercise.

A recent report in this publication stated that over 40 ghost households allegedly benefitted from the E20 million disbursed by government in the compensation exercise. These 41 households allegedly included undeserving individuals who were not supposed to benefit from the compensation payout, while in some instances, the funds were inflated. It was further reported that in one of the alleged corrupt payouts, an owner of a stick-and-mud house was paid E400 000 yet other houses got far less. The seven-member committee the Lobamba MP, Stewart, is referring to includes Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo, MP Strydom Mpanza, and Speaker in the House of Assembly Petros Mavimbela, Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini, Manzini South MP Thandi Nxumalo, MP Kenneth Fakudze and Dvokodvweni MP Mduduzi Magagula.

Worth noting is that the seven-member Parliament Select Committee headed by Lobamba Lomdzala MP Khumalo met the residents at the campsite situated just about 200m from the quarry mines fence a couple of months ago to solve the compensation impasse. The Speaker, responding to Lobamba MPs point of clarity, said the report would be tabled by the committee. The compensation is due to the residents of Sikhuphe after the blasting of a rock at the quarry mine by the contractor on site, resulted in the cracking of walls of houses in the surrounding areas.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  The Iowa delegation promised changes to its caucus after 2020's meltdown. New Hampshire's brought giftbags. The Nevada team argued that racial diversity should trump tradition.

Sixteen states and Puerto Rico are jockeying for early slots on a new Democratic presidential primary calendar, offering presentations for party bosses on why they deserve to go first  or at least close to it.

Iowa has held the leadoff position since 1972, but technical glitches undermined its Democratic caucus two years ago. That sparked clamor for change and calls within the party that Democrats, whose largest, most loyal base is Black voters, should start somewhere more racially diverse.

The states pressing their case over three days in meetings of the Democrats' Rules and Bylaws Committee run the gamut from sprawling, red bastions like Texas to perennial battlegrounds such as Michigan. Members plan to vote in August, followed by a full Democratic National Committee vote likely to come the following month. Those could alter the current order of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina  or keep the slate the same.

The issue may ultimately prove moot for the 2024 presidential election, however. If President Joe Biden opts to seek a second term, the party could have little appetite to build out a robust primary schedule that potentially allows another Democrat to challenge him for the nomination.

The Republican National Committee has already decided to keep Iowa first in its presidential nominating process. Many of its early 2024 presidential hopefuls are already flocking to the state.

Democratic Party leaders voted in April to reopen the nominating calendar, allowing up to five states to vote before Super Tuesday in early March.

The party is considering factors like diversity, electoral competitiveness and logistical feasibility. That means scrutinizing states' racial and ethnic makeup, union membership rates and how big they are in terms of population and geography  which can affect possibilities for direct voter engagement and the costs of travel and advertising.

Also important are states that have taken steps to make voting easier, in response to many Republican-led legislatures tightening balloting restrictions.

The jostling to be first isn't new. Iowa moved its 2008 caucus up to Jan. 3  when some residents were still recovering from raucous New Year's Day celebrations  to help ensure it remained ahead of other states trying to jump in front of it.

During its presentation Thursday, Iowa promised to overhaul its caucus, relying more heavily on vote-by-mail so that results could be available more quickly.

We recognize that the caucuses, how theyve been conducted since the 1970s, are no longer aligned with vibrant and just 21st century democracy, said Ross Wilburn, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party and a state lawmaker. "In order to continue growing our party, we need to make changes.

Still, Iowa's team argued for preserving traditions allowing presidential candidates to introduce themselves to the nation from small-town living rooms or working the state fair's pork chop grill.

If Democrats decide to bypass Iowa, it could open the door for South Carolina, whose population is 27% Black compared to Iowa's 4%, and where Biden's campaign was revived in 2020 after major struggles in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Because of flight delays, South Carolina was presenting its case to the DNC committee on Friday.

Nevada passed legislation last year switching from a caucus to a primary, and the state is pressing to go first. But that could mean displacing not only Iowa but also New Hampshire, another predominantly white state that currently votes second.

Its time that we have a primary process that isnt stuck in the past and tradition for traditions sake, Democratic strategist Rebecca Lambe told committee members. We deserve a primary that honors the future of our party and the future of our country.

Lambe and Nevada's delegation trumpeted the state's large Hispanic population, new laws allowing for easier voting and strong union membership. They also stressed Nevada's status as a swing state, its geographic range from cities like Las Vegas to rural areas, and the fact that it has just two media markets.

New Hampshire's Democratic senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, advocated for their state, whose delegation brought swag bags featuring maple syrup and a coffee mug from the Red Arrow, a 24-hour diner in Manchester that has been a candidate must-visit for decades.

Shaheen said the state's small size requires candidates to roll up their sleeves, get into the details of their policies and earn the support of each New Hampshire voter.

She also warned that stripping New Hampshire of its long-held position could hurt Democrats running in future Senate and congressional races. That echoed similar concerns raised by Iowa's delegation, which said their state could become more heavily Republican if GOP presidential candidates continue to travel there frequently while Democrats focus their attentions elsewhere.

New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Raymond Buckley noted that The Associated Press called the state's 2020 primary less than four hours after polls closed  a veiled swipe at Iowa, whose results were so flawed that the AP never declared a winner.

We have held presidential primaries for over 100 years," Buckley said, and not once have we had any reported issues.

___

Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics
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WASHINGTON (AP)  In a major expansion of gun rights after a series of mass shootings, the Supreme Court said Thursday that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, a ruling likely to lead to more people legally armed. The decision came out as Congress and states debate gun-control legislation.

About one-quarter of the U.S. population lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling, which struck down a New York gun law. The high court's first major gun decision in more than a decade split the court 6-3, with the court's conservatives in the majority and liberals in dissent.

Across the street from the court, lawmakers at the Capitol sped toward passage of gun legislation prompted by recent massacres in Texas,New York and California. Senators cleared the way for the measure, modest in scope but still the most far-reaching in decades.

Also Thursday, underscoring the nation's deep divisions over the issue, the sister of a 9-year-old girl killed in the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, pleaded with state lawmakers to pass gun legislation. The Republican-controlled legislature has stripped away gun restrictions over the past decade.

President Joe Biden said in a statement he was deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court ruling. It "contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all, he said.

He urged states to pass new laws. I call on Americans across the country to make their voices heard on gun safety. Lives are on the line, he said.

The decision struck down a New York law requiring people to demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun in order to get a license to carry a gun in a concealed way in public. The justices said that requirement violates the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority that the Constitution protects an individuals right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home. That right is not a second-class right," Thomas wrote. We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need.

California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island all have laws similar to New York's. Those laws are expected to be quickly challenged.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., said the ruling came at a particularly painful time, with New York mourning the deaths of 10 people in a shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo. This decision isnt just reckless. Its reprehensible. Its not what New Yorkers want, she said.

Gun control groups called the decision a significant setback. Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice and an expert on the Second Amendment, wrote on Twitter that the decision could be the biggest expansion of gun rights by the Supreme Court in U.S. history.

Republican lawmakers were among those cheering the decision. Tom King, president of the plaintiff New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, said he was relieved.

The lawful and legal gun owner of New York State is no longer going to be persecuted by laws that have nothing to do with the safety of the people and will do nothing to make the people safer," he said. And maybe now well start going after criminals and perpetrators of these heinous acts.

The courts decision is somewhat out of step with public opinion. About half of the voters in the 2020 presidential election said gun laws in the U.S. should be made more strict, according to AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of the electorate. An additional one-third said laws should be kept as they are, while only about 1 in 10 said gun laws should be less strict.

About 8 in 10 Democratic voters said gun laws should be made more strict, VoteCast showed. Among Republican voters, roughly half said laws should be kept as they are, while the remaining half closely divided between more and less strict.

In a dissent joined by his liberal colleagues, Justice Stephen Breyer focused on the toll from gun violence.

Since the beginning of this year, there have already been 277 reported mass shootings  an average of more than one per day," Breyer wrote. He accused his colleagues in the majority of acting without considering the potentially deadly consequences" of their decision. He said the ruling would severely burden states' efforts to pass laws that limit, in various ways, who may purchase, carry, or use firearms of different kinds.

Several other conservative justices who joined Thomas majority opinion also wrote separately to add their views.

Justice Samuel Alito criticized Breyers dissent, questioning the relevance of his discussion of mass shootings and other gun death statistics. Alito wrote that the court had decided nothing about who may lawfully possess a firearm or the requirements that must be met to buy a gun" and nothing "about the kinds of weapons that people may possess.

Today, unfortunately, many Americans have good reason to fear they will be victimized if they are unable to protect themselves. The Second Amendment, he said, guarantees their right to do so.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, noted the limits of the decision. States can still require people to get a license to carry a gun, Kavanaugh wrote, and condition that license on fingerprinting, a background check, a mental health records check, and training in firearms handling and in laws regarding the use of force, among other possible requirements.

Backers of New Yorks law had argued that striking it down would lead to more guns on the streets and higher rates of violent crime. Gun violence, on the rise during the coronavirus pandemic, has spiked anew. Gun purchases have also risen.

In most of the country gun owners have little difficulty legally carrying their weapons in public. But that had been harder to do in New York and the handful of states with similar laws. New Yorks law, in place since 1913, says that to carry a concealed handgun in public, a person applying for a license has to show proper cause, a specific need to carry the weapon.

The state had issued unrestricted licenses where a person could carry a gun anywhere and restricted licenses allowing a person to carry the weapon but just for specific purposes such as hunting and target shooting or to and from their place of business.

The challenge to the New York law was brought by the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, which describes itself as the nations oldest firearms advocacy organization, and two men seeking an unrestricted ability to carry guns outside their homes.

The Supreme Court last issued a major gun decision in 2010. In that decision and a ruling from 2008 the justices established a nationwide right to keep a gun at home for self-defense. The question for the court this time was just about carrying a gun outside the home. Thomas, who turned 74 on Thursday, wrote in his opinion that: Nothing in the Second Amendments text draws a home/public distinction with respect to the right to keep and bear arms.

___

Associated Press reporters Mark Sherman, Hannah Fingerhut and Zeke Miller in Washington and Michael Hill in East Greenbush, New York, contributed to this report.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  The House Jan. 6 committee used Thursday's hearing to show how Donald Trump tried to install a loyalist atop the Justice Department who would pursue his false claims of voter fraud and stop the certification of the 2020 election that Democrat Joe Biden won.

It's the latest account of how perilously close the United States could have come to a constitutional crisis if the department leaders had not threatened to resign over the scheme and the defeated Trump had been able to orchestrate a plan for the U.S. government to overturn election results in several pivotal states.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., led the hearing, saying it would show how close we came to losing it all.

The committee investigating the causes of the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been trying to make the case that Trump's efforts to reverse his loss resulted in the deadly siege after he sent supporters to the Capitol as Congress was certifying Biden's victory. Here are some important takeaways from this months fifth hearing.

TRUMP'S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IN TURMOIL

Day after day, Trump pressured the department leaders to dig into false claims of election fraud after the November 2020 election.

Former Attorney General William Barr had described the swirl of false voter fraud theories coming from Trump's orbit as wack-a-mole.

The department declined Trump's overtures because we did not think they were appropriate, testified Jeffrey Rosen, who became acting attorney general after Barr stepped down.

Over and over, the officials explained to Trump that the states conduct their own elections, free from federal interference. They tried to show him there was no voter fraud on a scale that could have tipped the election in his favor.

Trump, however, only pressed harder and started looking for alternatives.

At point in late December 2020, Trump asked what Rosen found to be a peculiar question: Do you know Jeff Clark?

Trump was eyeing Clark to take over at the department.

___

WHO IS JEFF CLARK?

Clark led the civil division and particularly handled environmental cases. He was introduced to Trump by a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, a leader of the House's conservative Freedom Caucus.

Clark had been circulating a proposal that would have the legislatures from battleground states not certify their election results. It was similar to a plan from Trump lawyer John Eastman for alternative slates of electors loyal to Trump, rather than Biden, when Congress met Jan. 6, 2021, to certify results.

Clark's ideas alarmed his colleagues, as did his sudden rise into Trump's orbit as a potential new acting attorney general.

"It may well had spiraled us into a constitutional crisis," testified Richard Donoghue, the former acting deputy attorney general.

___

WHAT DO I HAVE TO LOSE?

During a meeting at the White House days before the riot, Justice Department leaders told Trump they would resign if he tried to install Clark and put his scheme in motion to reject electors.

Trump had called the officials to an unexpected Sunday meeting to lay out his plan. Donoghue described how he was dressed inappropriately in jeans, muddy boots and an Army shirt. Trump had him sit between Rosen and Clark. The president asked Donoghue: What if I replace Rosen with Clark?

"What have I got to lose? Trump said, as Donoghue recalled.

Donoghue told Trump that the president would have everything to lose: mass resignations at the Justice Department, starting with those arrayed before him at the meeting.

Clark would be left to run a graveyard at the department, one of the officials said. Trump's plan to reject the state electors with those loyal to Trump would never work. It was a murder-suicide pact," as his own White House counsel told him, they testified.

Donoghue made the point that Jeff Clark wasnt even competent to serve as attorney general.

When Clark shot back that he had worked on complicated civil and environmental matters, Donoghue retorted: How about you go back to your office and well call you when theres an oil spill?

___

BLANKET PARDONS FOR JAN. 6 ...

At least five Republican members of Congress, including Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who had connected Trump and Clark, sought pardons from the president that would shield them from criminal prosecution, according to testimony Thursday.

Perry and Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Louie Gohmert of Texas all had been involved in efforts to reject the electoral tally or submit fake electors. All sought pardons, according to Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows. Hutchinson testified previously in video shown at the hearing.

Blanket pardons for all those involved in Jan. 6 were also discussed, according to another White House aide, John McEntee.

Gaetz tweeted that the hearing is a political sideshow.

Kinzinger said the only reason to ask for a pardon "is if you think youve committed a crime.

___

... AND SUBPOENAS SERVED ON FAKE ELECTORS

The hearing was gaveled in as the department escalated its own investigation, searching Clarks Virginia home this week as federal agents also served subpoenas across the country related to the scheme by Trump allies to create sets of fake electors with the intention of invalidating Bidens win.

The purpose of the searches was not immediately clear, but they came as the House committee has pressured the department to step up its investigation.

Among those being investigated are Republican officials in key states, including those working on the fake electors in the run-up to Jan. 6, when Congress would be tallying the election results.

___

TRUMP VS. McCARTHY

Trump has decried the proceedings as a witch hunt and blamed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for declining to have Republicans on the committee who could defend Trump.

Trump recently told a conservative talk radio host that McCarthy, R-Calif., had made a bad decision, very foolish decision, by withdrawing the Republicans from the committee.

The only two Republicans on the committee are Kinzinger and Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, both Trump critics.

McCarthy has stood by his choice not to seat Republicans after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., rejected two of his choices because they had voted to decertify the results of the presidential election.

Rather than picking alternatives acceptable to Pelosi, McCarthy withdrew the others, refusing to play by Pelosi's rules and trying to portray the the committee as unfair and illegitimate.

I do not regret not appointing anybody at all, McCarthy told reporters Thursday, saying he had said as much in a call with Trump. The decision is right.

__ Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.

___

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege
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MILFORD  A Trumbull police sergeant charged with a 2020 sex assault in Shelton pleaded not guilty Thursday.

Matthew Perkowski, 33, appeared before Milford Superior Court Judge Peter Brown, who continued the case to Aug. 15 following Perkowskis not guilty pleas.

Perkowskis lawyer, Gregory Cerritelli, said after Thursdays court appearance that his client wants a trial sooner rather than later.

We could file a speedy trial motion after one year, so I already put the state on notice that we have every intention of filing a speedy trial motion as soon as we hit the one-year anniversary on this, Cerritelli said.

The lawyer echoed statements he made after Perkowskis arrest this month that the September 2020 incident involving Perkowski, co-defendant John Scollin and the alleged victim which gave rise to the charges was entirely consensual  and that no new information had come to light since Perkowski was initially cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

There is nothing new here at all, nothing, Cerritelli said Thursday.

Police and prosecutors have declined to comment on the case.

According to an arrest warrant, the assault was allegedly initiated by Perkowskis friend and fellow Shelton volunteer firefighter John Scollin, who has been charged with first-degree sexual assault and is due in court June 30.

Both men were released following their arrests after posting bonds of $150,000.

According to the warrant, the alleged victim said Scollin began to call and text her about 1 a.m. Sept. 6, 2020, drunkenly demanding to have sex, then showed up at her house, where he was very intoxicated and aggressive.

The woman said Scollin had her drive to the Echo Hose firehouse, where she said Scollin assaulted her in her car outside the building.

Eventually, the woman told police, she and Scollin went to Perkowskis Shelton home, where she said both men physically and sexually assaulted her.

The woman told police she wasnt sure whether she wanted to press charges, then told police the next week she didnt want to pursue her complaint.

Then, last March, the warrant stated the woman called Bango extremely upset and crying because Scollin had told her there would be a newspaper article about the case.

The victim stated she wanted to come in and say she made the whole thing up to make this go away, the warrant stated. (Bango) advised the victim she could come to the police department, but if she gave a statement that was later found to be untruthful, there could be legal consequences.

Last year, Mayor Mark Lauretti and other Shelton officials said they were not notified of the incident until March 2021, when Hearst Connecticut Media Group obtained a copy of the police report through a Freedom of Information Act request.

On June 1, 2021, the warrant stated, Bango met with supervisors at the Shelton Police Department and it was determined that the allegations fall within family violence laws.

Scollins lawyer has filed a notice of intent to sue the city for releasing the investigative report, a step which he said was illegal.

Cerritelli said the passage of time between the initial investigation and Perkowskis arrest was suspicious and said Thursday he has requested an evidentiary hearing in the case.

My understanding is she has no desire to pursue this, he said of the alleged victim. She stood by her previous statement to the Shelton police and the Trumbull police that this was an entirely consensual encounter.

This woman is a victim, but shes now a victim because of what the state is doing to her, Cerritelli said.
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ROME (AP)  A pregnant American woman who suffered an incomplete miscarriage while vacationing in Malta will be airlifted to a Spanish island on Thursday for a procedure to prevent infection because Maltese law prohibits abortion under any circumstances, the woman's partner said.

Jay Weeldreyer told The Associated Press by phone from a hospital in the island nation that his partner, Andrea Prudente, is at risk of a life-threatening infection if the fetal tissue isnt promptly removed.

Prudente, 38, experienced heavy bleeding on June 12, followed by a premature rupture of the amniotic sac and the separation of the placenta, according to Weeldreyer, 45. While the hospital is carefully monitoring her for any sign of infection, the facility cannot perform the surgery to complete the miscarriage, he said.

Malta is the only European Union member nation that outlaws abortions for any reason.

Contacted by The AP, Mater Dei Hospital, where Prudente is being treated, said it wasnt allowed to give out patient information due to privacy regulations.

The miscarriage is 80% complete,'' Weeldreyer said. Her waters are broken, the placenta has separated, but because of a (fetal) heartbeat," the fetus cannot be removed, he said.

In separate comments to other news outlets, the couple described the placenta as being partially detached.

The couple from Issaquah, Washington, a town near Seattle, arrived in Malta on June 5 for a long-awaited vacation. Prudente started bleeding and was hospitalized a week later, her partner said. He indicated she was 16 weeks pregnant when the bleeding began.

Along with worrying about the infection risk, the two fear Prudente might resume hemorrhaging during the medical evacuation flight they have arranged for Thursday evening to take them to Mallorca.

Like Malta, Mallorca is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Originally, the couple aimed for a medical evacuation to Britain, but were told flying the longer distance was too risky.

That entire time that youre traveling, if anything goes wrong, it could end up being catastrophic, Weeldreyer said in a subsequent, video interview with AP. So our choices are, effectively: stay in Malta and be exposed to the risk of catastrophic and unstoppable infection that could set in at any point in time or take this risk in travel where you might bleed out.

What had started out on what the couple thought would be a babymoon vacation was transformed into that dilemma, the worst of all possible worlds where there is no good choice, said Weeldreyer.

According to their plans, an ambulance will take Prudente to Malta's airport. After the flight arrives in Mallorca, another ambulance will whisk her to a hospital that told the couple it could provide the care she needs.

Under Spanish law, abortion is permitted upon request through the 14th week of pregnancy and up to the 22nd week when a womans life or health is in danger.

Malta's Mater Dei Hospital has done a good job within the realm of what they are allowed to do under that country's law, Weeldreyer said. His partner is receiving antibiotics and being closely monitored for signs of infection, he said.

The Women's Rights Foundation in Malta filed a legal protest in court last week that demanded the legalization of abortion in the tiny island nation.

Lawyer Lara Dimitrijevic, an activist with the foundation, said abortion rights supporters in Malta have closely monitored the situation in the United States. Some states have enacted laws severely limiting or outlawing abortion that could be triggered if the U.S. Supreme Court reverses Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that recognized an individual's right to choose abortion.

"We (in Malta) can't be any worse, as we have a total ban, but we're starting to see situations like in Poland and now America, where there is a reversal of laws, a stripping of women's own bodily autonomy, that is heartrending,'' Dimitrijevic said in a phone interview.

Poland, like Malta a traditionally Catholic country, tightened its abortion law in 2020.

The lawyer described the Washington state couple as very brave to go public with this." Since their case was publicized in Maltese media, more women are coming forward to speak of their experience or that of family members.

On Wednesday, an anti-abortion group in Malta, Doctors for Life, issued a statement on the Prudente case, saying it firmly believes that the life of the mother always needs to be protected.

It said that in similar cases, careful assessment is made to assess the severity of the condition and that if serious bleeding or infection occurs, then the uterus is always evacuated upon consultation with two experts.

If delivery is deemed necessary, "then this is done, even if the fetus is too young to survive outside the womb,'' the organization said, defending Malta's abortion policy.

Earlier this year, the Council of Europes human rights commissioner said Malta's blanket ban on abortion puts womens rights at significant risk" and urged the nation's authorities to repeal provisions that make abortion a crime.

___

Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, and Trisha Thomas in Rome contributed to this article.
Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

OLD SAYBROOK  The Old Saybrook Historical Society will host a ceremony to honor a WWII veteran and former resident who perished on the B-17G Belle of the Brawl during a bombing mission to Cherbourg, France, in May 1944.

The event, which will be held on the Town Green, 302 Main St., in memory of the late Claude Cabby Zanni, a U.S. Army Air Force staff sergeant, will begin at noon.
MBABANE - Two foreign nationals died on the spot yesterday when they were trapped under marble stones, which they were offloading at Inyatsi Construction Goup Holdings (Pty) Ltd depot.

The depot is located below the International Convention Centre and Five-Star Hotel (ICC & FISH) construction site. Another foreign national survived with minor injuries. An eyewitness said the three men were offloading the marble stones, which were in an intermodal container at the depot in Ezulwini. The incident happened at around 11am. Information gathered was to the effect that the deceased were of Asian descent and were among other employees who were assigned to offload building material, when the marble stones fell on them. A source close to the matter informed this publication that the other employees managed to escape when they saw the marble stones falling.

Delivered

The container was delivered last week and it has to be taken back to India. The employees were used to offloading the heavy material using their hands. Normally, eight or more people offload the material. It was unfortunate that the material fell on them, killing the two yesterday, said one of the people who attended to the scene. The source stated that the injured employee was treated by paramedics, who swiftly arrived at the scene. According to the source, a Bobcat machine was brought to the scene after the incident had happened. Material

A Bobcat machine is used to push materials from one location to another, carry materials around in its bucket, and load materials into trucks or trailers. The duo was already dead when the load was removed, said another source.

The other source mentioned that they thought only one worker had died, due to the incident but after clearing the marble stones on the floor, a second body was found motionless on the ground. He also pointed out that a third employee sustained minor injuries but had to be rushed to hospital. Immediately after the incident, one of the foreign nationals was certified dead and another sustained injuries. As they continued removing the marble stones, which are quite heavy, another body was discovered. We were shocked by the incident, said the source. News suggesting that two people had died while several employees were injured and rushed to hospital started making the rounds on social media shortly after the incident.

Confirmed

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that two men had died at the Inyatsi Construction site yesterday while another sustained an injury. I can confirm that we have received a report about two men who died at Inyatsi Construction site, while another sustained injuries, she said. Efforts to get a comment from Inyatsi Construction Group Holdings were futile. Several attempts were made to reach the Chief Executive Officer, Derrick Shiba, but his phone rang unanswered. A questionnaire was also sent to Nilson Biton, who is normally stationed at the ICC&FISH site, where Inyatsi is a contractor. However, at the time of compiling this report, he had not responded to the questionnaire. He had been asked to shed light regarding the incident and whether the deceased were employed by Inyatsi, a subsidiary company or contractor, among other questions.

The incident happened hardly 24 hours after the construction company had announced a cash reward of E500 000 following the burning of its property.

Information

The company said the money would be given to anyone who may share information regarding the arson attacks. While no direct link could be confirmed between the area where the incident happened and the ICC&FISH, it was alleged by some of the employees that some of the material used in the construction of the convention centre and hotel was stored at the depot where the two men died. Worth noting, on September 14, 2019, this publication revealed that about E78 million was to be spent by government in fitting bathrooms at the ICC & FISH, with each bathroom costing the taxpayer at least E275 000. The information was gathered from impeccable sources. It was also reported that the ICC & FISH was expected to cost the taxpayer approximately E4 billion.

Bathrooms

It was noted that the bathrooms were manufactured and assembled in Italy and fitted by a local company based in Matsapha. Our sister publication, Eswatini News, gathered that about 283 rooms required to be fitted with bathrooms in the FISH. Eswatini News, in the same year, 2019, investigated some allegations that the cost of fitting the bathrooms would shoot up to E94 million with miscellaneous costs involved. It was also gathered that plans had already been drawn for a proposed loan bill of US$ 83 million (E1.1 billion), which the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development would require to take the work to completion. A parliamentary source said the amount spent on the bathroom was too alarming and created an impression that government was a spendthrift on the budget for the construction works. The source questioned why the bathrooms had to be imported from Italy since there were several emaSwati who could deliver same, if not more luxurious bathrooms, at a lesser cost.

Confirmed

In that same year, Dr Tambo Gina, the Economic Planning and Development Minister, confirmed that pods were bought in 2017 but was non-committal on the monies involved. There are some bathroom pods that were bought around 2017, he said. When this project commenced in 2012, government estimated that it would cost around E370 million; with the ICC expected to set the taxpayer back by E290 million and the FISH anticipated to be completed with the amount of E80 million. At the time, the FISH was referred to as the Millennium Hotel. That financial year (2012/2013), E65 million and E80 million in local funds for the ICC and Millennium Hotel were released, respectively.

Project

The project is still ongoing and the cost is far beyond the E370 million. This figure is now a mere fraction of what this project is forecasted to cost. The ICC&FISH project stands on land said to measure 40 000 square metres and the convention centre will host up to 4 500 delegates; while the FISH linked to it currently has about 283 rooms on six floors. The Book of Government Budget Estimates for the years from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2024, which Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg tabled in Parliament a couple of months back, alongside the Appropriation Bill, shows that the ICC&FISH is now projected to cost the country an estimated E6.4 billion. The money for the project began to escalate during the 2015/2016 financial year, when the estimated cost rose to E1.255 billion and the name of the Millennium Hotel changed to FISH. For that year, an amount of E412 million was budgeted for both the convention centre and the hotel.

Increased

The following year (2016/2017), the projected cost of the project increased to around E1.9 billion; an amount of E479 million was released for the payment of consultancy fees, professional fees and works. In 2017/2018, the projects total estimated cost went up to E2 489 590 000; and an amount of E721 800 000 was released for payment of consultancy fees, works and purchasing of land for the ICC&FISH. In the financial year 2018/2019, the total estimated cost was hiked to E4.8 billion; with E522 million being released to pay for the ICCs civil works, consultancy fees, furniture and fittings; and E989 million went to the FISH.

Cost

Then, in the financial year 2019/2020, the estimated cost of the project was first maintained at E4.8 billion; with the ICC set to cost around E2.5 billion and the FISH at approximately E2.3 billion. A total of E1 235 880 000 was released for construction, consultancy fees, and payment of Value Added Tax (VAT) for the ICC. For the FISH, E634 million (E170 million and E464 million) was released for construction of the hotel, payment of land acquisition, construction fees, design and supervision, civil works and landscaping, and VAT. At the E4.8 billion cost, the ICC&FISH was already set to become the most expensive building on the entire African continent. The Ministry of Economic Planning and Development then revealed later that year, in its second quarter performance, that the project would cost E5 473 195 950.
Nigerian billionaire, Ned Nwoko, has said the Igbos are very selfish people and not ready for 2023 presidency. According to him, altho...

Nigerian billionaire, Ned Nwoko, has said the Igbos are very selfish people and not ready for 2023 presidency.

According to him, although the Igbos have been clamoring for the presidential seat, votes from delegates during primaries proved otherwise.

He noted that Igbos were very selfish and would rather think of themselves than others, the reason he believes most delegates chose other candidates from other tribes not Igbos.

Speaking with BBC Igbo, Nwoko said, Igbos are not ready for the presidency . It is not just enough to talk about it, we are not ready and Im talking about the political class and the voters. If the people are ready for Igbo presidency that would have been shown by the result from delegates.

Very few delegates from the East supported Igbo candidates, they supported somebody else for other reasons. Ask Imo delegates why they chose another person as opposed to Umahi.

Igbos are largely very selfish, the typical Igbo man is thinking about himself and not the well-being of others. If they were, they would stick with an Igbo person. I think the best person from Nigeria should come from anywhere. Ive never subscribed to zoning and believe in merit.

Nwoko, however, concluded saying that hes not keen on zoning, adding that its the least of our problems in Nigeria.
Some communities in Niger State have entered a peace pact with bandits that have been terrorising their communities.

Some communities in Niger State have entered a peace pact with bandits that have been terrorising their communities.

The community leader of Kusherki, in Rafi Local Government Area, Garba Kusherki, who made this revelation on Thursday, said a delegation has commenced talks with the bandits.





He said the bandits had earlier called for an agreement with the locals that they would not report them to constituted authorities each time they passed through their communities from the forests to other parts of the state to carry out their nefarious activities.





Kusherki also said that one of the demands from the bandits is that they should buy kola nuts that would be shared among their colleagues and friends to know that a peace pact had been signed with the victim communities.





He added that the bandits promised that peace would return to the communities if their demands are met.





Narrating how the peace pact was reached, kusherki said, As God would have it, on Thursday, the bandits called us to tell us that they wanted a peace pact sealed. So we sent a delegation that went to meet with them in the forest very close to Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State. Our delegation was asked to stay at Maganda and they came to pick them up.

In the end, they told us that we are the cause of the fight between them (bandits) and our communities. They said each time locals see them with cattle crossing their communities, they lay ambush and start attacking them. After all, the rustled cattle dont belong to the locals and hence they did not see any reason why they should be attacked. So, they said they decided to get revenge.

The community leader said the bandits promised not to attack his community again, adding that anyone who attacks them would be punished.

They said after this peace pact, no bandit group will attack our communities again, and that if any group does, they will identify the group and deal decisively with them. But what we have been able to contribute is not up to the amount demanded. So we need support.

He also said that as part of the peace pact, some people who had been held hostage were released.

Kusherki said the bandits warned them to stop attacking them and reporting to authorities each time they pass through the community adding that if they feel they want to fight them, they are ready to continue with the fight for the next 10 years.
An unspecified number of residents were on Thursday at Rahamawa and Shagari low-cost housing estates of Katsina State abducted by bandits. A...





An unspecified number of residents were on Thursday at Rahamawa and Shagari low-cost housing estates of Katsina State abducted by bandits.





A source told newsmen that the attackers came in broad daylight, trekking with the victims to the place they packed their motorcycles.





According to the source, the bandits came around 6:15 am on Thursday and the people saw them moving with their captives and learned that they are from the Rahamawa area of Katsina.





He added, Our people said they have seen about 13 to 15 attackers moving in a haste with the people they kidnapped.





He explained that there was an exchange of gunfire with security agents to disperse the attackers and rescue the victims, stressing that he was not sure whether all the captives were rescued or not.





He added that security agents were in hot pursuit of the attackers to rescue the victims.





According to him, they had prior information of their movement and laid ambush on their route with other security agents, saying that to their surprise, they could not detect where they laid low.





He explained that they left the area around 4 am only to discover that the bandits attacked communities around Shagari Low-cost, saying that a team of soldiers, police, and vigilantes are trailing them including a helicopter from the Nigerian Air Force.





The Police spokesman in Katsina, SP Gambo Isah, confirmed the attack, saying that the attackers invaded the residence of one Abdullahi Esha, a businessman in Sokoto Rima quarters of Katsina metropolis, broke into the house through his boundary wall and abducted a housewife.





He stated that on 22nd June, 2022, at about 0230hrs, terrorists, armed with AK-47 rifles attacked the house of one Abdullahi Esha of Sokoto Rima Quarters, Katsina and kidnapped his 18-year-old daughter.





He explained that the commands anti-kidnapping unit and patrol teams were immediately dispatched to the area and chased after the hoodlums, pointing out that the teams had a fierce gun duel with the terrorists which made them flee and abandon their heinous mission.
The Commander of the Ondo State Security Network, otherwise known as Amotekun, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, has revealed that some of the susp...

The Commander of the Ondo State Security Network, otherwise known as Amotekun, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, has revealed that some of the suspects involved in the June 5 terror attack at Saint Francis Catholic Church, Owo, have been apprehended.

According to Adeleye, the vehicle that the gunmen used to escape from the scene of the attack had also been retrieved as well as some of the instruments used.

The Amotekun Commander disclosed this while parading 71 suspected criminals at the commands headquarters on Thursday.

Adeleye, who did not give the actual figure of the suspects arrested in connection with the attack, assured that all those involved in the attack would be tracked down.

He noted that investigation is ongoing and that the perpetrators of the terror attack in Owo will never go unpunished.

As regards the Owo incident, we have recovered the last vehicle they used for that operation and we made some arrests and we have also recovered some vital things which we are working on, he said.

A number of people have been arrested concerning the Owo issue as well as some equipment.

On that day, we pursued them to the point we recovered the vehicle and we are still pursuing them

We have told you that until we get to the root, I can assure you that the perpetrators and their sponsors will be brought to book.
The federal government has asked qualified civil servants to apply for the role of accountant general. This development is coming af...

The federal government has asked qualified civil servants to apply for the role of accountant general.

This development is coming after Idris Ahmed, former accountant general of the federation was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged N80 billion fraud.

Idris was then suspended by Zainab Ahmed, minister for finance while the case was being investigated.

The federal government had however approved the appointment of Anamekwe Nwabuoku to oversee the office.

In a circular dated June 21, 2022, Folasade Yemi-Esan, head of the civil service of the federation said the process of appointment of a substantive accountant general of the federation has commenced.

According to Yemi-Esan, the application was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The role is open to all directors and accountants in the mainstream who are not retiring before the end of 2024.

Following the approval of Mr. President, the office of the head of the civil service of the federation is commencing the process of the appointment of a substantive accountant general of the federation from eligible directors (accountant) in the pool of accountant general of the federation, the circular reads.

Consequently, all accountants in the mainstream federal civil service in the pool of accountant general of the federation who have attained the position of substantive director (Salary Grade 17) on or before 1st January 2020 and [are] not retiring from the service earlier than 31st December 2024, are eligible to participate in the exercise.

Officers undergoing disciplinary proceedings are however excluded from the exercise.

The circular also directed eligible applicants to provide documents to guarantee the process of their application, adding that required documents be submitted on or before July 6, 2022.

Permanent secretaries are therefore requested to forward the following to facilitate the process; list of eligible directors on SGL 17, confidential and personal files of all eligible directors, five copies of curriculum vital of each of the eligible directors, brief on each of the eligible directors in the attached format to be produced in Microsoft Word and in both hard (5 copies) and soft copies. Soft copies are to be sent via email to ohcsfemd@ohcst.gov.ng and also in a flash drive, the circular further reads.

The documents above must reach the office of the permanent secretary, career management office (CMO), office of the head of the civil service of the federation, Block A, 4th Floor. federal secretariat complex, phase II on or before 4:00 pm on Wednesday, July 6, 2022.
Idris Wase, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, says security agencies rarely act upon the resolutions of the lower parliament. ...





Idris Wase, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, says security agencies rarely act upon the resolutions of the lower parliament.

Wase spoke on the floor of the green chamber during plenary session on Wednesday.

The deputy speaker, a legislator representing representing Wase federal constituency of Plateau state, was contributing to a motion sponsored by Solomon Maren on the urgent need to rescue Aminu Derwan, the district head of Panyam, Mantu LGA of Plateau.

Recall how gunmen, said to be about 20 in number, invaded the monarchs palace and whisked him away on Sunday.

Speaking on the abduction, Wase said most of the attacks on the state and elsewhere would be prevented if security agencies implement the security resolutions of the house.

When Solomon Maren came to me with this motion, I told him that what is happening in his constituency compared to my own is a childs play, Wase said.

Today, the people in my constituency are looking for refuge. The villages that have now been sacked are quite very large in number. I have presented three motions on this matter. In my constituency, hardly will two days pass without someone being kidnapped and taking ransom from villagers  ransom not less than N10 million.

I have lost about five persons. They will take the ransom and still kill the person. At times, these things take place in places where you have security unit.

About three days ago, we lost about 1,000 cows. They rustled the cows and the villagers are now left to pursue these bandits.

I had to pay personal visits. Despite the resolutions of the house urging the security agencies to put out formations in some of these areas so that we will be able to stop these things, till this moment, nothing has happened.

It is like our resolutions are mere statements. If they are taking us seriously, I believe many of these things can be stopped.

THE MOTION

While moving his motion, Maren Mango, lawmaker representing Bokkos federal constituency, spoke on several abductions in Plateau, adding that while some victims were killed, others paid huge ransom.

The bandits have taken their dastardly acts to highways, villages and even cities including some parts of the federal capital territory, he said.

The spate of kidnappings, abductions and attacks has been systematic, well-coordinated and targeted across the constituency, the state and indeed the country which is alarming and of grave concern.

Bandits are usually having a field day in carrying out and in perpetrating their heinous activities without any form of resistance, challenge or confrontation from security agents.

According to the lawmaker, nothing has been heard of any serious or deliberate actions taken to curb, forestall or even arrest and prosecute these hoodlums.

He added that if nothing is done to urgently prevent the abductions, our communities may soon be thrown into total terror, fear and or lawlessness.

The motion was adopted when it was put to a voice vote by Femi Gbajabiamila, the speaker of the house.

Following that, the lower legislative chamber resolved to invite the inspector-general of police and the chief of army staff with a view to investigating the matter.

The lawmakers also asked state governments to provide arms to vigilantes, but ensure that they are registered with the office of the national security adviser.
William Kumuyi, founder and general superintendent, Deeper Christian Life Ministry, has advised politicians to conduct research on what Ni...

William Kumuyi, founder and general superintendent, Deeper Christian Life Ministry, has advised politicians to conduct research on what Nigerians desire regarding the next set of leaders.

Kumuyi gave the advice on Wednesday, while addressing journalists in Ilorin, the Kwara capital, shortly after he paid a courtesy visit to Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, governor of the state.

According to him, political leaders need to make consultations, especially on speculations around Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket for the 2023 presidential election.

The Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket is a difficult and slippery area, he said.

So, what I will say is that the political office holders should look at the heartbeat of the country as well as desires of the people.

Politicians should know that they are not there for themselves. They are there for all of us. They should ask and make their researches about what the country wants.

They should ask and make their researches on what the country wants, what the people want. If they listen to the people, we will be confident that they will listen to us when they get there.

On insecurity, Kumuyi commended security agencies for their efforts, but said more should be done to improve the situation.

In every area of life, I will say theres room for improvement. I want to credit the officers who are putting their lives on the line to secure the whole country, NAN quoted him as saying.

We should pray for them that God will give them more wisdom and visible victory.

I will be praying for everyone at the end of every ministration for their desires, aspirations and blessings.

God is our Creator. Whether we are Muslims or Christians or whatever religion you belong to, we are creatures of God. God is interested in blessing everyone. I am here to be a blessing to everyone.

There will be empowerment programme for all youths across religious divides as it is meant to redirect the focus of youths for positive future endeavours.
The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has confirmed the kidnapping of one of its members, Dr Rukayat Musa, in Kogi State. A statement jointl...





The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has confirmed the kidnapping of one of its members, Dr Rukayat Musa, in Kogi State.





A statement jointly signed by the State Chairman, Dr Abubakar Alhassan; and Secretary, Dr Udebuani Chimezie, said Dr Musa was forcefully taken away by the kidnappers on 21st June 2022 along Geregu-Ajaokuta stretch of Geregu Ajaokuta- Lokoja road while returning from an official assignment at Anyigba in Kogi State.





According to the statement, Dr Rukayat Musa works with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) office in Lokoja.





The association, however, calls on the Government and all security agencies to work very hard towards her early and safe return.





It was earlier reported that gunmen suspected to be kidnappers on Tuesday abducted seven people, including a doctor and a lawyer.
Lauretta Onochie, President Muhammadu Buharis aide on social media, has reacted to reports that two Nigerians were arrested in the United...

Lauretta Onochie, President Muhammadu Buharis aide on social media, has reacted to reports that two Nigerians were arrested in the United Kingdom over alleged organ harvesting.

Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu were arrested in the UK for allegedly facilitating the travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.

Metropolitan police said the couple were charged with conspiracy to arrange and facilitate the travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.

Reacting, Onochie while commending the speedy process added that Nigerias criminal justice system has lessons to learn.

Sen. Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice, have Been charged to court. No delay. No mago mago. Instant justice. No faffing about.

Our criminal justice system in Nigeria has lessons to learn. Speedy dispensation of justice would reduce animosity and anger.
Bahrain Association of Banks Chairman Adnan Yousif has been conferred with the March of Achievements and Successes award at the 2022 International Arab Banking Summit held in Frankfurt.

The summit was held from June 20 to 21 under the slogan Responding to Global Shocks and Managing Uncertainty.

Yousif was honoured with the award at a special ceremony during the summit, participated by senior German and Arab officials and bankers, led by the German Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner, and the President of the Union of Arab Banks, Mohamed El-Etreby.

BAB CEO Dr Waheed Al Qassim said: Mr Adnan Yousif is deservedly being honoured with this prestigious award at this important international banking forum. His career has played a significant role in developing and strengthening the Bahraini and Arab banking industries in general, and the Islamic banking sector, in particular.

"While we express our pride in this honourable achievement, we see the award as a tribute to the entire banking industry as well as the Kingdom of Bahrain, which has become a prominent global player in the banking, financial and development spheres. We extend our sincere congratulations to Mr Adnan for winning this award," Dr Al Qassim concluded.  TradeArabia News Service
Apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide has described the arrest of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu ...





Apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide has described the arrest of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, by the police in the UK over allegations of childs organ harvest, as the height of atrocity against humanity.





The group also called for the couple to be allowed to face the consequences of their actions in the UK.





Metropolitan police had said Mr and Mrs Ekweremadu were charged with conspiracy to arrange and facilitate the travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.





They were also denied bail after appearing before the Uxbridge Magistrate Court on Thursday afternoon.





In a statement signed and forwarded to newsmen, Ohanaeze through its Secretary-General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said The Igbo leadership will strip him of all titles and privileges accorded to him as an ImeObi member (the apex decision making organ of Ohanaeze) if he is found guilty of this grave allegations.





Ohanaeze Ndigbo also calls on the good people of Enugu West Senatorial zone to initiate the process of his recall from the Senate if he is finally convicted. This anathema is condemned in strong words and must come with strict sanctions against Ekweremadu.





It added that we doubt if he can recover from the despicable charges that might end his political sojourn as the Senator representing the Enugu West senatorial zone.
Ahead of the July 16 governorship election in Osun State, the All Progressives Congress on Thursday mandated the Governor Babajide Sanwo-O...

Ahead of the July 16 governorship election in Osun State, the All Progressives Congress on Thursday mandated the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led Osun Campaign Committee to use whatever it takes within the ambit of the law to win the poll.

The National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, gave the mandate at the inauguration of an 86-member campaign council for Osun governorship election.

The campaign committee would be chaired by Sanwo-Olu. The Lagos State governor is to be assisted by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano, while Kebbi State Governor, Senator Abubakar Bagudu; Chairman of the Southwest Governors Forum and Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu; Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and 15 others were appointed as vice-chairmen.

Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami; former Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba; former Chief of Army Staff and Nigerias Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, General Tukur Buratai and former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami were among the remaining 66 members of the council.

On Thursday, a battle-ready Adamu charged the council to leave no stone unturned.

I urge you to go there and do whatever is doable within the laws of Nigeria and our electoral laws to win.

My tolerance level and this national working committee level for failure is really really zero. Most of you have been statesmen in your own right (by the virtue of the) offices you held before today. But for this exercise, take off the big guns, take off the creepy suits wear and go down the trenches to bring that victory we want.

Nobody should come back to us crying, failure is not our own by the grace of God. Whatever it takes within the laws of the land, I said go for it, win the election.

Let them go complain. Let them go wherever. Lets win the election. We have no apologies whatsoever for this posture because these two elections are for the best to the national election coming up in 2003.

It will go in our credentials that we have the winning track record this National Working Committee that you elected we have a commitment. So we must be prepared to face him eyeball to eyeball.

There is no sparing for any reason whatsoever, no sparing his party the PDP. We are going there to win by the grace of God, he charged.

The APC national chairman declared that the plan to win, and the ability to execute the plan lies with the leadership that the council will provide in the campaign efforts.

This is even as he declared that there is no option to winning the state election, which, according to him, are forebears to the national election.

Dont apologize to anybody, we are the party of government, we are the party ruling the country today, no apology for anybody. The reality is Nigerians chose APC and well do everything we can to retain this position of envy.

Now, we are determined as a party, who will be our flag bearer in the forthcoming presidential election in 2023. We have chief Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as our presidential candidate you all know that.

These elections are the first steps (that) we are taking towards victory in 2023. We must not play with this. The challenge, everybodys arrow is pointing at us, so we must show our capacity to bear the pressure and move out forces forward to victory.

We are winning the battle of the states. But the real war to be won is the presidential election in 2023. And I do hope that we will not spare efforts to ensure that we come back victorious, he stated.

Earlier, the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Debo Ologunagba, has expressed confidence that the PDP and the governorship candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, are prepared ahead of the July 16 election.

As with every election, I can assure you that we will take Osuns own very seriously and we are confident that our candidate will do exceedingly well because we have a wonderful candidate in Osun, he said.

On the strategy the party hopes to deploy for Osun, Ologunagba declined to comment, saying that it is not for public consumption.

According to him, the PDP is aware that the people of Osun are angry and have turned their back against the government.

Why should I tell you the strategy we plan to use for Osun? Of course, it is not for you (media). The people of Osun are angry and obsessed with the madness and failures of the APC. We are not going to be involved in that. We have observed that there is a complete disconnect between the government and the people. We know it but we are focused on the issue that would be on the ballot, not frivolities.

I can also tell you that we have provided every support that our candidates need even for the forthcoming election in Osun, the PDP is ready and set to go, he said.

When asked about the preparedness of the PDP governorship candidate, Ologunagba stated that Adeleke is equally preparing for the task ahead.

You cannot dissociate Adeleke from the party. He is our candidate and you all know that he is well on the ground. He is the man the people want in Osun State. Adeleke as the frontrunner is the most popular candidate right there now. You can carry out an analysis based on feelers from the streets and do your own investigation.
The All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, has hinted on an ongoing consultation with President Muhammadu Bu...

The All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, has hinted on an ongoing consultation with President Muhammadu Buhari, party governors, the partys leadership and his running mate, Kabiru Masari.

Tinubu hinted that Masari may step down following the ongoing consultations.

He said Masari may step down in the interest of the party winning the 2023 presidential election.

Speaking through his Media Aide, Tunde Rahman, the APC presidential candidate said if he decides, Masari would step down in accordance with the law.

There are ongoing consultations involving President Buhari, the partys governors and the APC leadership with Asiwaju Tinubu and his running mate.

If following these consultations, the running mate decides for instance that he wants to stand down in the interest of the party and the country, I think its only fair and appropriate to allow him to deal with that.

I think its within the prerogative of the running mate to take his own decision and to say for instance that he would like to stand down because he feels doing so will serve the candidate and the party better than he remaining on the ticket, he told Tribune.

Upon his emergence as APC presidential flag bearer, Tinubu had picked Masari as his running mate.

There are claims that Tinubu only named Masari as a placeholder following the deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for submission of names of running mates.

But, the former Lagos State Governor had submitted Masaris name to INEC as his running mate.
Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry Enugu Nigeria (AMEN), has urged adoration members to stop castigating Bisho...

Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry Enugu Nigeria (AMEN), has urged adoration members to stop castigating Bishop Callistus Onaga and continue praying for Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

Mbaka issued the warning while addressing members of the Adoration who converged at the adoration ground on Wednesday in Enugu for prayers.

He also urged them to keep away from the ground in obedience to His Lordship order, adding that the closure of the Adoration was still in force and all activities remained suspended in obedience to the directive of the Bishop.

Mbaka said: Im a priest of the Catholic Church and the Bishop is my father, I swore an oath to obey him and his successors. I can not do otherwise.

The fiery cleric also urged them to continue praying for Mr Peter Obi stressing that he was one of them, a brother and friend.

I have come to bless you and to dismiss you, I dont want you to go to the main road. I dont want you to be pugnacious or to be cantankerous, he said.

He added that he does not want them to be violent. or classified as bandits for we are not bandits.

We are obedient children of God, we love the mother church and the mother Church loves us so much, Mbaka added.
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Cloudy early, becoming mostly sunny this afternoon. High near 70F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 56F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have signed 14 agreements worth $7.7 billion during the recent visit to Cairo by HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Crown Prince, and Deputy Prime Minister.

The agreements were signed at the Public Authority for Investment's headquarters in Cairo, in the presence of a number of Saudi and Egyptian officials and investors.

Prince Mohammed was received by Egypt President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and later the two leaders discussed overall bilateral relations.

They also discussed ways to strengthen these ties across various fields, as well as regional and international political issues of common interest, within the framework of the deep and historical strategic partnership between the two countries, which aims to achieve security, stability, development and peace.

The major agreements signed include those related to investment in several fields, such as infrastructure, renewable energy projects, green hydrogen, medicine and e-commerce.

They also cover the sectors of infrastructure, logistics, port management, food industries, pharmaceutical industry, conventional energy, renewable energy, electronic payment system, and financial and information technology solutions.

Meanwhile, an economic report  released by the Federation of Saudi Chambers (FSC) on the occasion of the royal visit showed that the Saudi-Egyptian economic relations are based on a solid foundation of institutional frameworks represented by economic cooperation agreements and the Joint Saudi-Egyptian Business Council, which represent important tools to develop the cooperation fields and opportunities between the two countries at all levels.

The report showed that the two countries have had more than 160 bilateral agreements supporting the growth of economic ties.

The trade exchange volume reached around SR54 billion in 2021, marking the highest value historically and realising a growth rate of 87% compared with 2020, where the volume of Saudi exports to the Egyptian market stood at SR38.6 billion and Egyptian imports to the Saudi market hit SR15.7 billion with a record increase of 60%.

According to the report, Saudi investments in Egypt exceeded $32 billion through more than 6,800 Saudi companies, while Egyptian investments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stand at $5 billion through more than 802 Egyptian companies.

Saudi investments in Egypt are mainly focused on the industrial, construction, tourism, financial, services, agricultural, and ICT sectors, while Egyptian investments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are mainly in the industrial, construction, ICT, wholesale and retail, and technological, scientific and professional services, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
The New Orleans City Council Thursday formally apologized to the victims of the Up Stairs Lounge fire and their loved ones, 49 years after an arsonist set fire to the gay bar, killing 32 people and injuring 15 others.

The city we are today is not the city we were then, said Council Vice President JP Morrell. But that being said, the failure of the city to acknowledge what happened inherently prevents the city from learning from it.

Robert Fieseler, a historian who authored a 2018 book about the fire, gave a presentation with harrowing details about the victims suffering, along with LGBTQ historian and writer Frank Perez and Gambit Political Editor Clancy DuBos, who covered the aftermath as an 18-year-old intern at The Times-Picayune. Several council members were moved to tears by the presentation.

The June 24, 1973 fire at the bar on the second floor of 604 Iberville St., was one of the deadliest fires in the citys history and was the largest mass killing of the LGBTQ community since the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016.

Though relatively nondescript from the outside, Fieseler said the second-floor venue hosted a variety of performances and other celebrations.

Not enough is said about the greatness of the Upstairs Lounge gay bar before the disaster. It was a community gathering place, a playhouse for amateur melodramas, a venue for drag performances, Easter bonnet contests, holiday shows and charitable fundraisers," he said.

Despite the fire being one of the deadliest in the citys history, police never arrested or convicted anyone for it. A man named Roger Dale Nunez had been thrown out of the bar earlier that day and threatened to burn the place down, but police didnt even question him.

The city response to this is beyond ridiculous, Morrell said. I dont have the words to describe how human beings could react to a tragedy of this magnitude by so thoroughly dehumanizing the people that it occurred to.

It was also years later that I realized how profoundly the Up Stairs fire had affected the local gay community, DuBos read from his 2013 Gambit article recounting reporting on the fire. Sadly, it did not take long to see the indifference  or even the hostility  that many New Orleanians showed toward that community in the immediate aftermath of the fire. That indifference, that hostility, belied the city's reputation for tolerance and hospitability.

Several victims of the fire are in unmarked graves, even some whose bodies were identified. The family of one victim, Ferris LeBlanc, is still trying to bury LeBlanc, a World War II veteran, in a military cemetery instead of the potters field in New Orleans where he currently is.

Our family has been trying every avenue to get Ferris buried in a proper military cemetery with the proper burial a World War II veteran deserves, said Fieseler, reading a statement from the LeBlanc family. Ferris was a gay man who was loved and accepted by his family. Why was the family never notified at his death? His body had been identified so the city knew his name. Perhaps it was all just too much effort. We all hope for the day when this story will end as it should.

Morrell said he and the rest of the council would help families like the LeBlancs get their loved ones their desired burials.

Fieseler also discussed the medias coverage of the fire and its aftermath, noting that many newspapers wouldnt print the word homosexual because editors deemed it too controversial. He showed clippings of The Times-Picayune's coverage of the event at the time. By June 27, the fire had dropped off the front page.

Morrell called on The Times-Picayune to author a front-page apology for not devoting more coverage to the fire when it happened.

They did everything possible to bury this tragedy, and they need to apologize for doing it as well because they need to be part of this healing process, he said.

Read Gambit's 2013 cover story on the fire and Clancy DuBos' reflection on covering the aftermath below.
The New Orleans City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a $35 million plan to relocate residents of Gordon Plaza, the result of a decades-long fight by the neighborhood built atop a toxic landfill.

Gordon Plaza sits on the Agriculture Street landfill, and the site was labeled one of the United States' most contaminated Superfund properties by the federal government in 1994.

The city redeveloped it in the 1970s and promoted it as inexpensive housing for Black residents.

Thursday's decision was part of a decades-long fight for a fully funded relocation by residents of Gordon Plaza. They have led demonstrations outside of City Hall for years, demanding the $35 million they were allotted Thursday.

All 67 homes in Gordon Plaza will be eligible to be bought with this money, 58 of which are occupied.

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The city plans to convert some of the 95-acre landfill site into a 5-megawatt solar farm that could provide power for the citys drainage and pumping system or be fed into the larger power grid.

"Today is a day of celebration for getting as far as we have gotten," Gordon Plaza resident Marilyn Amar said. "But we can't rejoice fully and have a real celebration until the checks clear."

A Gordon Plaza Working Group meeting Monday at 4 p.m. will be open to the public and discuss creating a request for proposals to have houses there appraised.

This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
The firm that was contracted to recover the bodies of two of the three workers who died in the 2019 collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel is suing the hotel's developer claiming it was never paid for the work.

Three workers died when the hotel's top floors collapsed on Oct. 12, 2019, several months before construction of the 18-story tower at the corner of Canal and Rampart streets was set to be completed. The body of Anthony Magrette was recovered a few days later, but the bodies of Quinnyon Wimberly and Jose Ponce Arreola remained trapped inside the rubble for 10 months until they were removed under the supervision of the New Orleans Fire Department and other city agencies.

Kolb Grading, a firm based in Weldon Spring near St. Louis, Missouri, handled most of the demolition work after the collapse, which took nearly a year and a half to complete.

In a lawsuit filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Kolb said it had an $8.4 million contract with 1031 Canal Development, the ownership group that controlled the hotel, to do the main part of the demolition work. It also claims that it had a separate agreement to assist government officials with other demolition operations to safely remove the two bodies. Under that contract, Kolb expected to be compensated over and above the main contract on a "time and materials" basis.

In the lawsuit, Kolb said that it submitted invoices that totaled just over $1.6 million for this work but that 1031 Canal Development has refused to pay. The development company is controlled by Chandra Kailas, head of real estate firm Kailas Companies of Metairie, who is also named in the lawsuit.

Lori Mince of Fishman Haygood, which represents the developer, said they weren't refusing to pay and that the estimate by Kolb overstated the cost.

"This is just a billing dispute," Mince said. "If they gave us proper backup (for the claim) then we'd pay, but they haven't, so we did our own investigation and came up with an amount somewhere around $500,000, $600,000."

Kolb is seeking the $1.6 million it claims it is owed plus interest from the time it submitted the bill in August, 2020, as well as legal expenses.

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A slew of lawsuits

The Kolb action is the latest in a slew of lawsuits that have been filed since the hotel's collapse.

The families of dead and injured workers began filing claims of negligence almost immediately after the hotel fell.

The developer has been named is almost all of the lawsuits as sub-contractors and insurance companies have sued and counter-sued. 1031 Canal has also been sued by the city of New Orleans as well as by the Saenger Theater and other nearby businesses that were disrupted for more than a year after the collapse.

In one of the first legal maneuvers after the hotel's collapse, the developer had put on notice all of its sub-contractors and insurance companies that it planned to hold them liable for most of the expenses that arose in the wake of the calamity.

In October, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams convened a grand jury to consider felony charges in the hotel's collapse, and he has subpoenaed files from the New Orleans Office of Inspector General and from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

There have yet to be any criminal charges filed in the case.
Six migrant workers would share in a total of more than $21,000 in the proposed settlement of a lawsuit filed last year alleging that a Louisiana crawfish processing business underpaid them in violation of minimum wage laws.

The proposed settlement was filed this week in federal court in Lafayette. The suit was filed on behalf of workers Norma Edith Torres Quinonez and Martha Icela Flores Gaxiola, both of Mexico, against Crawfish Processing LLC in Marksville.

Four other workers later joined the litigation, which also alleged workers were housed in unsafe and unsanitary conditions and charged excessive amounts for rent.

If approved by a federal judge, the six plaintiffs would receive amounts ranging from $1,863 to $4,980.

The amounts represent unpaid wages the workers said they were due under the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act, plus 50% of those wages and rent reimbursement. When the original lawsuit was filed in May of last year, the two original plaintiffs said that they routinely worked 60 hours or more per week, the company failed to pay the $9.75 per hour they were promised and the pay fell below the $7.25 per hour they were legally entitled to.

The court document filed Wednesday says the settlement is a compromise of a "good faith" dispute over the number of hours the plaintiffs worked and the rent owed them. The company did not admit any legal liability.

Crawfish Processing also agreed in the settlement to arrange for state inspections of rental housing that the company provides workers to make sure it meets federal standards and will make sure that workers are told they do not have to live in company-provided housing.

The suit was filed by attorneys for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. The settlement also includes $22,500 to cover expenses and fees for the workers' attorneys.
Three years after Louisiana State Police alleged she was kidnapped, beaten and raped by a New Orleans man, the 19-year-old survivor rose in court Thursday to face the man who held her captive for weeks.

Ever since she escaped from Melvin Davis and his co-defendant, Jonquil Otis, she said she has struggled to know whether I was good enough for a man to love me.

On Thursday, Davis, 45, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, after his attorneys struck a plea deal with prosecutors.

He had been charged with a bevy of offenses, including second-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping, which both carry a maximum sentence of 40 years. This week, he pleaded guilty to reduced charges that included simple kidnapping, human trafficking, attempted third-degree rape and attempted pornography involving a juvenile. He also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute marijuana and illegally carrying a weapon, which both carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.

As she sentenced him to the maximum allowed by law, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Rhonda Goode-Douglas said, If I had my way, you would be doing a lot more time.

Louisiana State Police alleged in 2019 that Davis held the then 16-year-old girl captive for weeks at a home in New Orleans as he beat and raped her. Davis and Otis were arrested in March 2019 after the girl escaped.

In her impact statement Thursday, she said that she suffered from debilitating anxiety and depression after her captivity.

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There were some days I didnt feel good about myself, or I just felt like I was a mans sex toy, she said, reading from a piece of paper so quickly that a court reporter requested she slow down. Ive been living day by day to see if anything will change, but it hasnt.

Otis pleaded guilty last year to human trafficking, felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile and trafficking of children for sex purposes. She was sentenced to seven years in prison.

In a prepared statement, First Assistant District Attorney Ned McGowan said that the office "is proud to secure the convictions of two defendants responsible for trafficking a juvenile, amongst other offenses, in a way that best served the interests of the victim in this case."

As the survivor stepped down from the witness stand, Goode-Douglas commended her bravery for coming to court.

"I cant tell you how brave I think you are for facing Mr. Davis and your fears," Goode-Douglas told her. "Please know that you are worthy, and that you are loved."

Correction: An earlier version of this article misidentified the gender of Jonquil Otis.
Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) and global energy company Engie have won the Sustainability and Innovation Pioneer in Water at the first edition of the Decarbonization and Climate Action (DACA) awards held as part of the Arab Green Summit (TAGS) in Dubai.

DACA awards celebrate organizations that make meaningful and genuine contributions to climate mitigation.

The award was presented to Engineer Khaled Alqureshi, CEO of Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) and Latifa Lahsine, Vice-President  Engineering & Technical Support Group at Engie AMEA.

Engie won the top honours for demonstrating environmental stewardship in delivering innovations to the water sector. Specifically, the award recognizes those which address the need for greater efficiency in water management and water conservation in response to the threat of water shortage, and in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) Six  Clean Water and Sanitation for All  in the most transformative, impactful, and innovative way.

The award reflects the efforts of the SWPC which aims to enhance the private sectors participation in sustainability development, by providing the opportunity for investors to take the leadership in developing flagship sustainability projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Speaking afterwards, Turki Al Shehri, Engies CEO for Saudi Arabia, said: "We are very proud to receive this award recognizing Engie's contribution to the Kingdom's water sector to deliver supply in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner."

"Through such FDI's, knowledge transfer, and focus on localization we will be able to support and accelerate the energy transition in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," he added.

A leading water producer in the region at the forefront of providing energy-efficient and clean desalination technologies, Engie operates over 13 desalination plants in the GCC, which combined provide 10 million people with potable water.

The award, which recognizes companies for their efforts in 2021, is a specific nod to Engies work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where its multiple award-winning Independent Water Plants (IWP)  Yanbu 4 and Jubail 3B, developed for SWPC, are powered by clean energy.

After receiving the award, Lahsine said: "We was delighted to receive this latest award for delivering the Yanbu 4 and Jubail 3B IWPs in Saudi Arabia for the SWPC."

"Cementing our role as a leading operator in water desalination in GCC, recognition for our work in the sector is a testament to our steadfast commitment to supporting the transition to a carbon-neutral world while providing efficient and affordable energy solutions," she added.-TradeArabia News Service
Three men were shot Wednesday evening in the Iberville area, two blocks from the French Quarter.

New Orleans police said two of the victims, ages 34 and 30, were walking near the intersection of Bienville and Crozat streets when they were shot by as many as three people. The third victim, 51, was standing nearby when he was wounded.

The first two were taken in private vehicles to a hospital. Emergency Medical Services took the third man to a hospital.

Officers said they learned of the violence at 5:42 p.m. The Police Department initially logged the shooting at Bienville and Basin streets, one block away, but later revised the report.
A 2-year-old boy who was fatally shot in Hollygrove might have fallen victim to a self-inflicted wound, New Orleans police said Thursday.

Police detained the toddlers' parents for questioning after they took him from a house in the 8600 block of Apple Street to Ochsner Baptist hospital on Wednesday evening. The child was transferred to Children's Hospital but died within an hour.

Police released the parents and have not made any arrests, nor have they identified the owner or origin of the pistol that killed the boy. Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said the person responsible could be charged with negligent homicide.

It would be the third negligent homicide this year, Ferguson said, citing the deaths of a 3-year-old girl and an 18-year old woman. He implored residents to be more responsible with their weapons.

'Don't touch it'

"Make gun safety a priority," Ferguson said. "Keep your language simple: 'Don't touch it.'"

Genero Burbank, 18, identified the victim as his nephew, Michael Gene Brown III. Because he lives nearby, Burbank heard the gunshot. He said he did not know who the gun belonged to or what events led to its firing.

Burbank described the child as being like a "grown-a-- man" with "his own way of thinking, his own way of doing everything at 2 years old." The loss, he said, is staggering.

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"It seems like everything disappeared," Burbank said. "I can't even explain it."

In a Facebook post, Nikka Smith identified herself as Gene's mother, and linked to a GoFundMe fundraiser. She wrote that her son was known to friends and family as "Baby Gene," and was the youngest of her six children. The GoFundMe account, which Smith said would be used for funeral services, had raised $50 as Thursday at 7:15 p.m.

"I'm lost," she wrote. "I woke up to my son gone."

Kasey Bubnash contributed to this report.
Two women accused of brawling at George Washington Carver High School's graduation were arrested Tuesday, according to the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office.

Sjanitta Egana, 38, and Jaci Egana, 18, were booked with disturbing the peace, in a fight that led to a melee outside the Xavier University Convocation Center on May 20. A video that circulated on social media showed attendees shoving, punching, kicking and striking one another with chairs while police officers moved through the crowd.

Police identified both women as suspects after reviewing the video and talking to witnesses and school officials. They booked Malik Washington, 23, that day with illegal carrying of a weapon, possession of a gun by a felon and possessing a gun at a school function.

Court officials said Sjanitta Egana was released from the Orleans Parish Justice Center on Wednesday morning. It was not known whether the two women are related.
A Ponchatoula man has pleaded not guilty to storming a Metairie home and executing two men, including his late sister's fiance, who authorities say he angrily blamed for her overdose death.

Cody LaBranche, 27, was charged June 9 with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Jonathan Pizzuto, 37, and William Mitchell, 36, who happened to be at Pizzuto's house playing video games when the shootings occurred.

"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was collateral damage of Mr. LaBranche's intentions," Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office Detective Steven Quaintance said of Mitchell during a court hearing in the case.

LaBranche pleaded not guilty June 13 to both murder charges as well as a count of obstruction of justice for allegedly removing and destroying evidence in the case, Jefferson Parish court records said.

Pizzuto was the intended target, authorities have said.

He had been engaged to LaBranche's sister, Brittany LaBranche, who died July 28, 2020, of a fentanyl overdose. Cody LaBranche always felt that Pizzuto should have done more to save his sister and spoke openly of killing him, Quaintance said.

+5 Deadly grudge fueled by anger and grief led to 'execution-style' Metairie double homicide: JPSO Cody LaBranche told Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office detectives that he went to the Metairie home of Jonathan Pizzuto, his late sister's fian

On the night of Jan. 17, Pizzuto and Mitchell were sitting in the living room of Pizzuto's Rosa Avenue apartment when Cody LaBranche entered through a side door, authorities said.

He's accused of shooting Pizzuto twice in the chest and twice in the back of the head. Mitchell was shot seven times, according to authorities. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

LaBranche was linked to the homicides after a witness spotted a dark-colored vehicle that matched the description of his car fleeing the scene. LaBranche later admitted to the killings, authorities said.

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After his indictment, the court set LaBranche's bail at $1.65 million. He was being held Wednesday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna.

+3 Co-workers discover 2 men fatally shot inside Metairie home; Friends identify victims Friends say they believe two men gunned down inside a Metairie home Monday night were playing video games when their killer or killers ambushe

Mitchell's mother, Carolyn Mitchell Vinet, described her son as a phenomenal, generous and compassionate man with a big, gregarious laugh. He loved meeting people.

"He said he always learned something new about life every time he met a new friend," said Vinet, who had been especially close to her "big baby boy."

When he was little, Mitchell spent time near the Atchafalaya River and would sneak down to the water to catch baby alligators. A true country boy, Mitchell loved animals, often bringing them back to the house, according to Vinet.

"I never knew what he was going to bring home," she said.

Mitchell eventually moved to the Old Jefferson area where he attended Riverdale High School and became best friends with Pizzuto.

A carpenter, Mitchell had moved to San Diego but was home in the New Orleans area to visit with family and friends at the time of his murder.

Mitchell's sister, Deven Deville, called him a beloved brother, son, uncle and friend and said he didn't deserve to die as "collateral damage" to a grudge that had nothing to do with him.

"Neither of them deserved to die like this," Deville said. "Our only relief in the situation is knowing that he didn't die alone. He had one of his best friends with him."
Just a few days into the first week of summer, Louisiana is already experiencing life-threatening temperatures that are causing an increase in illnesses driven by unbearable heat.

At least a couple residents have been sent to the intensive care unit for health conditions related to the excessive temperatures currently baking the state, said Dr. Jeffrey Elder, medical director for emergency management at University Medical Center and LCMC Health. Elder has noticed an uptick in heat illness over the last week and a half.

Unfortunately, this is something we see every summer, and I expect that we'll see more of it, said Elder.

Louisiana experiences heat waves every year, but the state is in for a particularly sweltering spate through the weekend.

On Wednesday, the heat index  or the feels-like temperature that factors in humidity  was as high as 108 degrees Fahrenheit in New Orleans, according to the National Weather Service. Between Thursday and Sunday, the heat index will hover between 108 to 110 while the actual temperature will reach a high of 96 to 98 degrees in that time period.

Wednesday marked the seventh straight day of a heat advisory issued by New Orleans city officials that is expected to last at least through June 26. On Sunday, the National Weather Service said there may be rain to bring the temperature down.

The New Orleans EMS responded to 12 heat-related emergencies between Sunday and Tuesday, with six of those falling on Sunday, which was Juneteenth and Fathers Day.

This month, I'm looking at going from one or two heat-related calls out of all of the 911 calls were running to  to now picking up six in a day, said EMS spokesperson Janick Lewis.

A long stretch of hot days always leads to more critical illness in particularly vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and infants, said Dr. Jim Diaz, director of environment and occupational Health at LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health.

You worry about the heat stress that occurs in people that are elderly, homebound, in a wheelchair," Dias said. "(Those) who cant really get out, go to another room with a window air conditioning unit, have no fan and are kinda stuck in place.

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But certain medications, including common over-the-counter drugs, can also put many more people at risk, said Diaz.

When its very hot, human bodies control temperature by shifting hotter blood from the kidney and gut to the skin to induce sweating, which dissipates heat and cools down the body. Common medications such as cold drugs, motion sickness medication and antihistamines for allergies interfere with that process.

These medications are meant to dry you up, said Diaz. Well if they dry you up, they also dry up the sweating mechanism.

Many heart medications also stop that blood-shifting cool-down process, said Diaz. Obesity, diabetes, cancer and certain skin conditions can also interfere with temperature regulation. So can drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine and alcohol.

Once you're sweating mechanism is interfered with and you can't really sweat profusely, that is when you get in trouble, said Diaz.

Heat exhaustion is characterized by lightheadedness, dizziness, thirst, nausea and vomiting. While heat exhaustion can be treated by cooling the person down and drinking fluids, it can quickly tip into heat stroke, a serious condition with a fatality rate as high as 50%.

When a person enters heat stroke territory, the body has shifted to around 103 degrees. At that point, the person might start acting intoxicated, and calling 911 is necessary.

"One hundred and three -- that's dangerous," said Diaz. "If it gets 105 or above, you're dead. You're gonna have a cardiac arrest."

Infants also have trouble controlling body temperature, said Dr. Ajsa Nikolic, a family medicine doctor at Ochsner Health. And they face another threat: soaring temperatures inside cars. Earlier this week, a 5-year-old boy died after being left inside a car in Texas, according to news reports. Temperatures in cars can spike to 110 degrees in just 15 minutes when its 95 degrees outside.

Just terrible, terrible things, said Nikolic. Always just be cognizant of your loved ones and who you can support.

Staff writer Ellyn Couvillion contributed to this report.
A 16-year-old standing outside the New Orleans abortion clinic last week knew her clock was ticking. Shes six weeks pregnant and doesnt have the money to raise a baby. But no one can tell her where to go.

Im trying to do this all in two weeks, said the teen, who asked not to be identified for privacy reasons. Im on the cheer team, and I have to go to camp.

UPDATE: Abortion is now banned in Louisiana. Heres what you need to know.

Being pregnant at cheer camp would be hard. Even harder would be raising a child in high school, and avoiding dropping out like every other pregnant classmate she knows in her small Mississippi town.

I dont want to hate the baby, she said.

The teen didnt know at the time that a pending Supreme Court decision may have already closed her window to terminate her pregnancy at a clinic. Louisiana's three remaining clinics, in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport, stopped scheduling new appointments shortly after she visited, although the Shreveport clinic has a waitlist.

'If we're still open, you can call back on July 1st'

Waiting on Roe, said a person who answered the New Orleans clinic phone number on Thursday. Another employee, who did not identify herself, said the clinic does not currently have appointments, but may schedule patients if something opens up.

At the Baton Rouge abortion clinic, an employee said they are no longer taking appointments.

Were waiting on a hearing from the Supreme Court, said the employee, who declined to provide her name. If were still open, you can call back on July 1st.

In Shreveport, women are added to a two-week waitlist, but are told there is no guarantee theyll be able to terminate their pregnancy.

'Women don't realize what is going on'

A decision that would ban most abortions in Louisiana is set to be announced by the end of the month. According to a leak of the opinion on May 2, the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, which has protected the right to abortion for nearly 50 years. But women and girls in Louisiana who are trying to get appointments now are already experiencing a post-Roe world, largely because wait times have pushed their them past the legal limit for abortions or made it too difficult to get an appointment at all.

This has been true for months, basically since SB8 went into effect in Texas, said abortion rights attorney Ellie Schilling, referring to the Texas law that banned abortions after 6 weeks. Wait times are two to three weeks at each of the clinics, even for a first appointment, said Schilling.

Prior to the leak of the draft opinion, wait times at Louisiana clinics were around 5 days, according to Caitlin Myers, a professor of economics at Middlebury College who studies abortion accessibility. Myers, who completed her undergraduate degree at Tulane University, surveyed clinics in March.

The clinics are still open and providing abortions, but their future is uncertain.

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"They're not closed, they're just overbooked," said one abortion doctor who works at two of the clinics and asked not to be named out of fear for her safety. "There's a limit to how many people they can see."

That has resulted in heated situations in recent weeks, the doctor said, among women who are traveling long distances only to be told there is no room.

"Women don't realize what's going on," said the doctor. "They truly don't understand what is happening."

'Drastic measures' ahead

States surrounding Louisiana have already effectively stopped abortion procedures. In Texas, abortions are banned after six weeks, which is before many women know they are pregnant. In Oklahoma, clinics are closed after a new law banned abortions, even though the landmark Supreme Court decision still stands. As a result, out-of-state women have been crowding Louisiana's clinics.

For locals, the long wait for in-state appointments means driving to places like New Mexico or Illinois, where there are no trigger laws that could outlaw most abortions when the Roe decision comes down.

Officials with Louisiana Right to Life, an anti-abortion group, have said they hope women caught in the crosshairs decide to pursue adoption, which they see as an authentic alternative to abortion, according to spokesperson Sarah Zagorski.

Zagorski said the state's Alternatives to Abortion Initiative, run through the state Department of Children and Family Services, secured an additional $1 million in funding during the legislative session, for a total of $2.26 million in funding for the fiscal year starting in July. The program runs pregnancy crisis centers, which provide counseling, but are typically not adoption agencies.

Gov. John Bel Edwards also signed HB909 into law this week, which provides an online service network for women with unexpected pregnancies. Over 7,000 abortions took place in Louisiana last year.

Crisis pregnancy centers have been criticized by abortion-rights groups for providing misleading medical information and not employing medical staff. Lift Louisiana, an abortion access rights group, published a report earlier this year that found the crisis centers have little oversight or accountability for funding.

Proposed legislation that would have required the state to evaluate crisis pregnancy centers failed to move forward in May.

Meanwhile, many physicians are considering the impact of a lack of safe abortions, anticipating an increase in long left-behind measures from a desperate era, like coat hangers, Lysol injected into the uterus and so-called "back-alley" procedures with questionable equipment from unlicensed providers, said Dr. Nicole Freehill, an OB-GYN in New Orleans. She's wondering if women will be able to get abortion medications from other countries, especially those that are available over-the-counter in Mexico.

Will they resort to those kinds of drastic measures? said Freehill. "There's probably going to be a combination of all of those things."

She also worries about the mental health of women and girls who cant terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

I'm fearful that we're going to see a lot more suicides of women who get pregnant and don't know what to do or don't have access to safe abortion, said Freehill. And then that's going to be the end of their life as they see it.

For the 16-year-old, driving or flying to another state is out of the question. As may be the reality for many women in Louisiana soon, shes thinking about other options. A friend told her they could do it without medical help.

"She told me if the abortion stuff didnt work, wed have to do something at home, said the 16-year-old. Im probably not going to do it, she quickly followed.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to issue opinions again on Friday.
A St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's deputy who was shot by a 13-year-old boy last month while investigating a store break-in near Waldheim is back in the hospital, the Sheriff's Office said in a social media post.

Kenneth Doby, a four-year veteran with the Sheriff's Office, was shot in the back on May 25 when he stopped the boy who was walking along Louisiana 1083 near Backroads Mercantile, the Sheriff's Office reported at the time. Doby had responded to a burglar alarm that had gone off at about 2:30 a.m. at the business north of Abita Springs.

Sheriff Randy Smith said at the time that the bullet entered just below Doby's bullet-proof vest and that the wound was "through and through," meaning that it went through his body. Despite initial concerns that he would need to be airlifted to a hospital on the south shore, Doby was released from a hospital in Mandeville later the same day.

But late Wednesday afternoon, a post on the Sheriff's Office Facebook page said that Doby was back in the hospital because he had experienced complications during his recovery. The post asked readers to join Smith in prayers for him and his family.

Smith declined to be interviewed Thursday, and the Sheriff's Office said it could provide no further information on Doby's condition.

A blood drive was held for the deputy days after he was wounded.

The juvenile accused of shooting him was booked into the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center on counts of attempted first-degree murder, resisting an officer with violence, battery of a police officer, illegal possession of a handgun, simple burglary and possession of stolen goods.
A 16-year-old male has been arrested in connection with the shooting of a 22-year-old victim who was found in an abandoned house Monday, according to Slidell Police.

Slidell Police received a 911 call around 2 p.m. Monday about the shooting and found the victim in a house in the 3300 block of Effie Street, according to a department Facebook post.

The juvenile was arrested Tuesday afternoon on one count of attempted first-degree murder. He was transported to the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center.

The investigation is continuing, police said. The victim remains hospitalized but is expected to recover.
Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE's national rail network, has awarded a AED1.2 billion ($327 million) contract to Spanish group CAF for delivery of passenger trains for its new rail network.

Under the terms of the agreement, CAF will design, manufacture, supply, and provide maintenance for passenger trains as per the European standards.

Each train will have a seating capacity of over 400 passengers, and will run up to 200 km/h. The trains, which will offer a variety of seating segments, will serve as a major addition to the public transport system in the UAE.

The agreement, which emerged as a result of Etihad Rails success at the Middle East Rail 2022, was signed by Etihad Rail CEO Shadi Malak and CAF Rolling Stock CEO Josu Imaz in the presence of Inigo de Palacio, Ambassador of Spain to the UAE, and officials from both sides.

The deal was inked during the visit of Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Crown Princes Court and Chairman of Etihad Rail, to Sakamkam area, where the first passenger train station will be built in the heart of Fujairah city.

He was reviewing the progress of rail construction works within Stage Two work of the UAE National Rail Network, which extends for 145 kilometres from Sharjah to Fujairah Port and Ras Al Khaimah.

Lauding the agreement, Sheikh Theyab said it serves as a major step forward in the development of the UAEs passenger transport services, in line with companys commitment to completing the national and strategic project on schedule, and according to the best criteria and practices.

Through its partnership with CAF, a global leader in the railway industry, Etihad Rail will benefit from the Spanish groups long-standing experience for more than 100 years, in providing advanced solutions for improving the rail commuters experience and providing passengers with high levels of safety, efficiency and quality.

"Today, Etihad Rail is continuing its commitment to achieving more successes, building upon the foundations established by the UAEs wise leadership for developing the transport system and achieving economic prosperity, through the development of the UAE National Rail Network. Etihad Rail is enhancing its contribution to the UAEs development, through shaping the rail industry and setting business models and client behaviours," he stated.

"The company has made consecutive achievements, which reflect the projects role in shaping the future of the transport sector, in line with the UAEs journey of excellence," he added.

During the visit, Sheikh Theyab also inspected key landmarks on the projects route in the final package of Stage Two of the network; starting with the rail bridge in Al Suyoh area in Sharjah, followed by a stop in Al Bithnah area in Fujairah to visit Al Bithnah bridge as well as visit to a number of tunnels where he witnessed tracklaying works across the tunnels in Al Hajar Mountains in Fujairah.

The passenger train will connect 11 cities and regions in the UAE from Al Sila to Fujairah, including Al Ruwais, Al Mirfa, Dubai, Sharjah, Al Dhaid, and Abu Dhabi.

Etihad Rail had recently signed three MoUs with Spains national railway operator Renfe, and the British companies High Speed 1 and GB Railfreight, to enhance cooperation and the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and the best practices in in freight and passenger rail services and rail operations.

This took place during Middle East Rail 2022, which was hosted by the Etihad rail in May.

In February, Etihad Rail signed an agreement with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) for financing the railway passenger transport services, with a total value of AED 1.99 billion as part of the UAE National Railways Programme. First Abu Dhabi Bank will be the Certified Lead Arranger for the loan, as part of the agreement.-TradeArabia News Service
Bahrain's Deputy King, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, yesterday emphasised the importance of investing in the energy sector to support other economic sectors as he met with the Group Chief Executive Officer of Vitol, Russell Hardy, at Riffa Palace.

His Royal Highness said this was in line with the Kingdom's goals of comprehensive development, led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

HRH Prince Salman stressed on the importance of further strengthening investments in the oil and gas sector to meet future demands, in line with Bahrain's Economic Vision 2030, said a Bahrain News Agency report.

He highlighted the Kingdoms efforts to further develop the renewable energy sector, by adopting innovative solutions and initiatives that preserve the environment, in line with the sustainable development goals.

The latest regional and international developments in the energy sector were also discussed.

The Representative of His Majesty the King for Humanitarian Work and Youth Affairs, and Chairman of the Oil and Gas Holding Company (Nogaholding), Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa; Finance and National Economy Minister Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, and Oil and Environment Minister Dr Mohammed bin Mubarak bin Daina also attended the meeting.

Meanwhile, Shaikh Nasser noted the keenness of Nogaholding on boosting investment in the key sectors in concordance with Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 during separate meeting with Vitol Chief Executive Russell Hardy. The meeting was attended by Dr Daina and Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) Chief Executive Dr Abdulrahman Jawahery.

Shaikh Nasser stressed on the importance of exchanging experiences, promoting cooperation and boosting investment in the oil and gas sector. He highlighted the ongoing developments in this vital sector in Bahrain and discussed with Hardy ways of boosting cooperation in the field, BNA said.
Lithuanias move to block rail shipments of some goods to its Kaliningrad exclave has enraged Russia.

But Lithuania says its ready if Moscow decides to disconnect it from the regional power grid.
Saudi Arabia has inaugurated the Makkah Route Initiative, which aims to receive pilgrims and complete their procedures from their countries with ease, in Morocco at King Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca.



The inauguration of the initiative was attended by the Saudi Ambassador to Morocco, Abdullah bin Saad Al-Ghurairi; Director General of Passports Lieutenant-General Suleiman bin Abdulaziz Al-Yahya, who is also the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of the initiative; the Moroccan Minister of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs Ahmed Toufiq and a number of officials from the two countries, reported Saudi Press Agency (SPA).



Morocco is the fifth and last station at which the Makkah Route Initiative was launched this year.,



The initiative starts with issuing the visa electronically, taking the fingerprints, and the completion of passport procedures at the airport of the country of departure after verifying the health requirements, in addition to baggage coding and sorting according to transportation and housing arrangements in Saudi Arabia.



Upon the arrival of pilgrims, they move directly to buses to take them to their places of residence in Makkah and Madinah, with designated paths, while the service authorities deliver their luggage to their places of residence.
Radisson Hotel Group (RHG) has announced its APAC Expansion Plan  a major initiative that will unleash the power of its diverse brands and partnerships to drive 400% growth across the Asia Pacific region by 2025.



The APAC Expansion Plan will enable Radisson Hotel Group to increase its regional footprint in Asia Pacific. By 2025, it will add 1,700 hotels and resorts to its current portfolio of over 400 properties. It will aim to achieve this through a combination of organic growth, mergers and acquisitions, master license agreements, and leases in key locations.



Focused on five strategic growth markets, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand, the plan builds on existing initiatives to harness the vast potential of China with Jin Jiang and its subsidiaries, both as a destination and an important source of outbound business.



In India, Radisson Hotel Group is one of the most recognized and respected hospitality companies, with a portfolio of 100+ properties in operation across more than 60 locations nationwide. To further propel its holding in the Indian market, the Group will leverage its deep existing relationships and seek new strategic partnerships to strengthen its status as the hotel provider of choice in the country.



In Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Australasia, the establishment of new dedicated Business Units in Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, and Sydney will see the Group build local development and operations teams that offer local language and expert support capabilities in core markets, strengthening Radisson Hotel Groups commitment to the Expansion Plan.



As a result of bolstering its on-the-ground presence in these markets, owners will have access to an expanded collection of brands. The Group has a portfolio of nine distinct brands, and a recently announced brand extension, Radisson Individuals Retreats for the Indian market.



In select markets across Asia Pacific, the Group has rights to develop and manage the 7 Days and Metropolo brands, through individual master license agreements with affiliates of Jin Jiang. Targeting its upscale and mid-scale growth segments, in Australasia and select markets in Southeast Asia the Group has also retained exclusive license rights to develop and manage the Golden Tulip brand from Louvre Hotels Group and additional (non-exclusive) rights to the Kyriad and Campanile brands. India, Indonesia and Korea remain under the direct management of Louvre Hotels Group.



With new or revitalized brands in the portfolio ranging from economy to luxury, Radisson Hotel Group will now be able to customize its development strategy to partner with owners and investors in every market segment and location.



On the APAC Expansion Plan, Katerina Giannouka, President, Asia Pacific, Radisson Hotel Group commented: Our plans for the APAC region represent one of the most important milestones in our companys history. Focusing on Asia Pacifics most dynamic destinations and introducing multiple new brand options will present outstanding opportunities for expansion.



Asia is home to many of the worlds largest populations and fastest-growing economies; as the world reopens, travellers from across Asia will play a pivotal role in the global recovery. We look forward to working with our parent company, Jin Jiang International, and all of our partners around the region as we usher in an exciting new era of hospitality.



The APAC Expansion Plan represents the latest phase of Radisson Hotel Groups five-year transformation strategy. The company has already undertaken significant investments and rolled out new brand architecture, state-of-the-art IT systems and more personalized guest experiences, as it strives to become one of the top three hotel companies to owners, guests, and talent.  TradeArabia News Service
HAMMOND  Culver's is now serving its famous butter burgers, cheese curds and custard just off the highway in Hammond.

Co-founder Craig Culver, local franchisee Fred Terpstra, Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. and other dignitaries were in attendance at the grand opening at 7905 Cabelas Drive by Cabela's. The Wisconsin-based fast-casual chain known for its elevated take on burgers and other fast-food staples is located off the Indianapolis Boulevard exit off the Borman Expressway.

We are pleased Culvers has chosen Hammond to set down some roots and grow their business model, McDermott said. Their team is showing us that we are relevant to them and that Hammond is worth the investment.

The restaurant will employ 65 workers.

Culver's, which now has six locations in Northwest Indiana, started in Sauk City, north of Madison in Wisconsin, Culver said.

"If you've ever been to the Dells or through Wisconsin, you probably passed by the original restaurant, which we opened in 1984," he said. "It was family-owned back then, and it's still family-owned right now."

Culver's has now grown to more than 870 locations across the Midwest.

"A lot of people make fun of flipping burgers for a living," Culver said. "Well, when you flip a lot of burgers, it's a pretty good business. I'm very proud of what we do. We're in the food business. But what we're really in is the people business. All these wonderful team members, that's the magic to any business, I believe. It's surrounding yourself with good people."

His observation is rooted in a long family history in the restaurant business.

"My family's been in business since I was this high, in the restaurant business in one form or another," he said. "My parents weren't college-educated or anything like that, but they were smart and they were good people. Looking back at my parents, they were so good surrounding themselves with people who knew how to say please and thank you and my pleasure and respected the people around them. We've tried to keep that going at Culver's."

Culver's has grown by partnering with families like the Terpstras who own franchises, Culver said.

"We've got 873 restaurants open in 26 states starting with one little restaurant 38 years ago," he said. "People ask me, did you have a grand plan? I would love to say, 'yeah, I knew exactly.' But I did not. Good things happen along the way when you're trying to do good things."

The company overcame early adversity, he said.

"It wasn't always easy. It never is just easy," he said. "The first year of business we were so lucky to have a banker who believed in the Culver family. We lost so much money. But we persevered. I was ready to throw up the white flag. I thought we need to do something else. We're not going to make it. But my family was around me, and they said we're going to do what it takes. If that means working early in the morning to late at night seven days a week, that's what we're going to do. And that's what we did. But we were fortunate to have a banker who believed in us that first year. We didn't make a buck at the business until our third year."

Succeeding in the restaurant business requires hard work, Culver said.

"One thing I say to our franchisees, our owners, our managers is just because you put that oval sign out by the road, it doesn't guarantee you success. It doesn't," he said. "We leaders have to drive the business, whether it's Culver's, whatever business it's in. We leaders have to drive the business day in and day out and be there for our people."

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HAMMOND  People will soon be able to get postcard-like pictures by beaches, dunes and other Region backdrops when visiting festivals all across Northwest Indiana.

The South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority will soon roll out an interactive photo booth where people can take pictures against the backdrop of the Region landmark of their choosing, similar to what automakers offer at the Chicago Auto Show.

SSCVA board member Brent Brashier got the idea after seeing an interactive at the entrance at the New Orleans Jazz Fest.

"Visit Louisiana had a big tent where you could pick several backgrounds like a pot of crawfish or the New Orleans skyline," he said. "I thought we could do something like that in Northwest Indiana to promote the South Shore, with places like beaches, dunes and downtown Crown Point."

The SSCVA plans to roll out the photo booth at events like the Broad Street Blues and BBQ Festival in Griffith, the St. Thomas Moore Festival in Munster and the Hometown Country Jams music festival in Hobart.

People enter their cell phone numbers or email addresses to get the photos sent to them. They can opt into the SSCVA's newsletter, which allows the Lake County tourism agency to better promote Northwest Indiana events to people who actually go to them.

"I thought this is a really great way to build a database," Brashier said. "We can bring it around like the Tourmobile to the different events."

The SSVCA plans to encourage people to post the photos on Instagram, Facebook and other social media sites to help promote South Shore events. The tourism agency plans to roll out the roving photo booth at its first summer events soon.

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A newly published coloring book illustrates LaPorte history.

The recently published "City of LaPorte Historical Coloring Book" is now available at the LaPorte County Historical Society Museum at 2405 Indiana Ave., Ste. 1

"The booklet includes 21 historical articles by LaPorte County Historian Bruce Johnson and drawings by local artist Peggy Michaels," LaPorte County Historical Society Museum Interim Director Danielle Adams said. "Almost 500 copies have been distributed to third grade classrooms in all of LaPorte's elementary schools to be used as part of the curriculum on local history. The coloring books were provided to the schools with the financial help of a Historic Preservation Grant from Indiana Landmarks, Indiana Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and 14 local businesses and other donors."

The books are available for $5 in the history museum's gift shop.

"The 'City of LaPorte Historical Coloring Book' was a project of the City of LaPorte and the Historical Preservation Commission," Adams said. "The books are for sale for $5 each and are filled with beautiful drawings and fascinating facts for all ages."

The three-story museum chronicles LaPorte County history. It has exhibits like the Kesling Automobile Collection of more than 30 vintage cars, the W.A. Jones Collection of more than 850 weapons, period rooms letting guests step back in time and the Belle Gunness Exhibit that includes transcripts of the coroner's inquisitions into the body recovered at the infamous serial killer's farm.

For more information, call 219-324-6767 or visit https://laportecountyhistory.org.

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Hard to think of a better way for Paul McCartney to celebrate his 80th birthday than by singing Glory Days onstage with Bruce Springsteen or being serenaded by some 60,000 well-wishers.

That's right, the cute Beatle turned 80 on Saturday. It's one of those cultural milestones that bring a sharp intake of breath  has it been THAT long?  along with an appreciation of what he still has to offer.

For it has been more than a half-century now since the Beatles broke up, a realization that hits you like that 1970s-era joke about young people saying, Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings?

Like several other members of the hope I die before I get old generation, including Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and former Beatles mate Ringo Starr, McCartney keeps working, keeps sharing his music from the stage. Another 1960s icon, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, played at the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City on his 80th birthday on Monday.

He has a youthful exuberance that is ageless, said Bob Spitz, a Beatles biographer. There's still some of that 21-year-old boy that shines through in all of his performances.

It would be a cliche  and wrong  to suggest time hasn't taken a toll. The fragility in his voice was evident while singing Blackbird last Thursday night at MetLife Stadium, the final night of a brief U.S. tour. He struggled for the high notes in Here Today, his love letter to John Lennon, who was robbed of a long life by an assassin's bullet.

The skill of a sympathetic band, along with the imagination and voices in the audience, patches over the rough spots.

Yeah, yeah, right, I've got a birthday coming up, McCartney said, scanning signs in the audience that reminded him. I'm not trying to ignore it, but...

The crowd offered a spontaneous Happy Birthday serenade, even before Jersey guy Jon Bon Jovi brought out a fistful of balloons during the encore to lead them in another verse.

That other Jersey guy, Springsteen, joined McCartney for the duet on Glory Days and a version of I Wanna Be Your Man. He later popped up to join the guitar duel from Abbey Road.

For most artists, the appearance of such local royalty would be a hard-to-top moment. Most artists can't immediately whip out Let it Be and Hey Jude to follow it.

To mark the birthday, Stereogum magazine asked 80 artists to pick their favorite McCartney song, and the choices were remarkable in their breadth  from the pre-Beatles 1958 cut In Spite of All the Danger (which McCartney performed at MetLife) to his 2016 collaboration with Rihanna and Kanye West FourFiveSeconds (which he didn't).

David Crosby and Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys both chose Eleanor Rigby. Master showman Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips picked Magical Mystery Tour. Steve Earle selected Every Night, while Def Leppard's Joe Elliott went against type with the gentle Little Lamb Dragonfly. Mac DeMarco picked the Ram epic, The Back Seat of My Car.

Many remarked upon the unfairness of having to pick just one.

Stereogum's feature illustrated the varied entry points musicians of different generations have into a living, breathing catalog. For example, it revealed that a largely overlooked album like 1980's McCartney II had a far greater impact on developing artists than its reception at the time would have foreshadowed.

On Friday, McCartney's team announced that it was packaging McCartney II with his other DIY albums, McCartney of 1970 and 2020's McCartney III," into a boxed set that will go on sale in August.

How vast is the songbook? McCartney performed 38 songs at MetLife, 20 of them Beatles songs, and even managed to miss an entire decade. Remember the 1990s?

With the help of Peter Jackson, who reimagined the Get Back sessions for last year's television project, McCartney was able to perform a virtual duet with Lennon singing his part of I've Got a Feeling" from the Apple rooftop concert. McCartney also paid tribute to George Harrison, who died in 2001, with a version of Something that began with Paul on a ukulele George gave him and built to a full band version.

Spitz recalled a Beatles-era film clip of Lennon telling an interviewer that he'd be flabbergasted if it lasted more than 10 years. McCartney stood next to him laughing.

Lennon was right about the Beatles as a unit, but not about the music. He couldn't have imagined that in 2022, one adult standing in line to get into MetLife being overheard asking a companion: Where are Mom and Dad?

Advanced birthday be damned, the irrepressibly cheerful McCartney left with a promise when the last firework burst and he walked offstage.

See you next time.

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CROWN POINT  A Hammond man arrested earlier this month in a rural Arkansas town arranged to meet up with a man looking to buy marijuana before the man was found shot to death Nov. 12 in Gary, records show.

Rahmere J. Dunn, 23, is accused of shooting 21-year-old Jediah Perry five times in the head while the two were seated in Perry's white Honda Civic in the 5000 block of West Fifth Avenue in Gary.

Dunn was arrested June 6 in Warren, Arkansas, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. A 9mm "ghost gun" was found in his possession, officials said.

He was booked into the Lake County Jail on Wednesday, but he had not yet entered a plea to one count of murder.

Detectives with the Lake County/Gary Metro Homicide Unit gathered surveillance video from a nearby business, license plate reader data and photographs, cellphone location and call data, and Facebook records that showed Dunn drove his silver Chrysler 300 from Hammond to Gary in the half hour before the homicide and left Gary minutes after, according to court documents.

Surveillance video showed the man who got into Perry's vehicle was wearing a reflective vest, Lake Criminal Court records state.

When Hammond police stopped Dunn in December and arrested him on a misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana, police obtained a warrant to search his Chrysler and found a reflective vest in the trunk, records state.

Detectives also learned Dunn was employed by a Region manufacturer as a forklift operator until October, and he would have been required to wear a reflective vest while on the job, according to court documents.

Facebook records showed Perry contacted Dunn about buying marijuana, and Dunn sent Perry a map at 4:34 p.m. Nov. 12 that was marked with the location of the homicide, records state.

Surveillance video showed a man in a reflective vest get out of Perry's Honda at 4:57 p.m. and head west on Fifth Avenue in a Chrysler 300. Perry's body was not discovered until about 8:40 p.m., records show.

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CROWN POINT  Hobart, Lake Station and Merrillville public officials aired their concerns Wednesday about a proposed merger of police dispatch channels, but the leader of Lake County's E-911 Center defended the move as a necessary change.

E-911 Executive Director Mark Swiderski plans to merge the Hobart and Lake Station/New Chicago police dispatch channels onto one frequency and the Merrillville and Crown Point police dispatch channels onto another frequency.

The channel realignments, which are expected to take effect after Labor Day, will allow dispatchers to monitor a single channel instead of listening to one channel in an earpiece and a second in a speaker on their desks.

Police officers, who currently hear talk on their radios from only those within their departments, will begin hearing communications from all agencies using their shared channels.

Hobart Police Chief Garrett Ciszewski said the merger could negatively affect officer and community safety, decrease quality of service to residents and reduce the amount of proactive policing by his officers.

"We just want to do what's best for our officers, what's best for our community," he said. "It's hard when a county agency tells us how our officers should talk on the radio."

Ciszewski and several other public officials took their concerns to the Lake County Public Safety Communications Commission, which held a special meeting to approve its 2023 budget.

Chairman rejects chief's motion

Ciszewski, a member of the board, asked other members to consider a motion for Hobart and Merrillville police to each have their own talk and dispatch groups by January 2023.

Lake County Commissioner Mike Repay, D-Hammond, who serves as chairman of the Public Safety Communications Commission, refused to accept Ciszewski's motion. A motion would have to be on the board's agenda to be considered, but the board's special session Wednesday was called for the purpose of approving a budget, he said.

Ciszewski asked if his motion could be placed on an agenda for the board's next meeting, which is scheduled for October.

Repay said Ciszewski's request could be placed on an agenda, but so could a discussion about the color of a room.

Ciszewski passed around a data sheet, which showed Merrillville is the fourth busiest and Hobart is the fifth busiest of all departments served by the Lake County E-911 Center.

"There is no reason why we should not have our own dispatcher and our own talk group," he said. "The current way is not working. It's stressful on dispatchers. It should not be that way."

Dispatchers' pay isn't as high as it could be, and they need a working environment that's easier on them, he said.

After Repay opened up the meeting to public comment, Lake Station Mayor Bill Carroll said the plan to merge dispatch channels "is a horrible idea."

"When do we put a price tag on people's lives and our first responders' lives?" he said. "Merging will only cause us more of a problem, more of a headache and also more confusion. We're already heading into confusion as first responders. We don't need more confusion."

Merrillville Assistant Police Chief Kosta Nuses said the proposal is "a reckless move."

"The E-911 Center has had a struggle from jump, and there's been a lot of times that some of the decisions made by dispatchers were questionable at best," he said.

There are situations, such as when shots are fired at police or officers find themselves in fist fights while on calls, when police need to call for backup. It's scary when they can't immediately get on the air to make that call because the channel is too busy, he said.

"It's very easy for somebody who's never been in any of those situations to sit behind a desk and put numbers together and come up with this type of solution," Nuses said. "That's not a shot at anyone. That's just the reality of what it is."

The Lake County E-911 Center opened in 2015 following a state-mandated consolidation of 15 city and town police and fire communications departments. Schererville and Cedar Lake declined to join the county radio network and instead operate a second dispatch center.

Other departments share channels, including Griffith, Highland and Munster, and Dyer, Lowell and St. John.

Director: Taking calls is priority

Ciszewski said E-911 officials proposed consolidating some of the channels that currently remain separate when the center opened, but police pushed back. The compromise was that one dispatcher would monitor multiple channels, so police would not hear other departments on their frequencies.

"That's why I'm seeking an alternative route here. I think the numbers justify it," he said. "If budget is not an issue, then I don't know why we can't make it happen."

The E-911 Center is budgeted for 105 employees, but current staffing was 71, Swiderski said. Six new employees were expected to be released from training by the end of the month, and another five in training could begin by September.

Even at full staffing, it's more of a priority to have more call takers than dispatchers, he said.

When residents complain they call 911 and can't get through, it's because there aren't enough call takers to keep up, Swiderski said.

"God forbid we ever had a school shooting or something like that  we can pull some of those call takers into a dispatch position to assist," he said. "But we don't want to try to use those resources every day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because some of them just aren't busy enough to allocate just one dispatcher."

Ciszewski and Hobart police Capt. James Gonzales said officers likely will make fewer traffic stops or "risk it" and not call in their traffic stops if there's more radio traffic on their channel.

Traffic stops and calls for domestic violence can be among the most volatile situations police face.

"Any time an officer is not able to get on the air is not good," Ciszewski said.

Communication is key, especially in high-stress situations where someone has been seriously injured or a suspect is on the loose, they said.

Hobart police saturated the airways for 15 to 20 minutes June 16, after a 911 call about a 14-year-old boy who had been stabbed in the neck by a 16-year-old boy, Gonzales said.

Officers needed to convey information about the victim's condition, his emergency medical needs, the suspect's description, where to set up a perimeter and the path of a K-9 search, he said.

The 14-year-old was flown by helicopter to a Chicago hospital, and the 16-year-old eventually went to the police station with his parent to turn himself in, Gonzales said.

Officials told to trust director

Swiderski said that when situations such as the Hobart stabbing occur, the other agencies on the shared channel will be able to switch over to a different channel temporarily to continue their work.

If officers find themselves in need of immediate backup, they have an "officer down" button on their microphones they can push that automatically gives them priority on the channel, he said.

When Swiderski arrived at the E-911 Center in 2016, he immediately began questioning why one dispatcher was monitoring multiple channels because he thought it was an officer safety problem, he said.

"I have said in meetings throughout my tenure here that I wanted to make this change," he said. "We have one dispatcher managing both channels right now, which is extremely difficult."

Swiderski said he never suggested the proposed realignment had to do with money, and he thanked the board for approving the center's proposed 2023 budget.

"This realignment is happening because we want the dispatcher to manage the one channel, not have to bounce back and forth through these different talk groups," he said. "Because that's how mistakes happen."

Swiderski said he's never been shot at or punched on the job, but he's worked in a busy call center where eight departments shared a single channel without any threat to public safety.

Repay acknowledged the E-911 Center has had issues during the past six years.

The Public Safety Communications Commission has duties outlined in state statute, such as hiring a director for the center and approving a budget, he said.

"Mark, for as long as he's been here, he's brought that up as a concern of his," Repay said. "Just like I've never been shot at  although I've had a gun held to my face  I've also never picked up a 911 call. I've made a lot of 911 calls. And so I have to entrust, and I think the board has to entrust, his operational skills and ability to do those things, to make those decisions for the operation of the 911 center."

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PORTAGE  Two Portage Police Department officers were injured while arresting two juvenile females Tuesday, police said.

An officer observed two young women stumbling barefoot along U.S. Highway 20 at approximately 2:11 a.m. The officer stopped to check their welfare and found them under the influence of unknown substances.

The two females reported they lied to their parents about their whereabouts and were given a ride to the local motel by an adult, who rented the room for them to "party" with several men, police said.

The 15-year-old female and 16-year-old female were determined by police to have voluntarily stayed at the hotel to engage in sexual acts with multiple, possibly adult males.

Based on the information that a person under the legal age of consent was engaged in sexual acts with a group of men, along with the indications of substance abuse, officers traveled to Travel Inn to investigate, police said.

After speaking to the desk clerk to determine the room the men were in, several officers positioned themselves outside the door of the room while others set up a perimeter around the hotel.

Officers heard voices making statements that the two girls who left "looked like they were 12 or 13" and how they had attempted to have sex with them anyways.

Officers knocked on the door and heard a female voice respond that she needed a second to get dressed. A 15-year-old female opened the door wrapped in a bed sheet.

Officers observed a partially clothed 16-year-old woman yell "Cops!" A 17-year-old male wearing only underwear leaped out of the window, where he was detained.

As this occurred Brendan Richardson-Willis, 19, who was wearing only underwear and a face mask attempted to shove past officers to flee. A physical struggle ensued between Richardson-Willis and three officers.

Richardson-Willis was tased twice, but it had no effect. At one point, Richardson-Willis was forced to the ground where he reached under the hotel bed. It was later discovered that there was a loaded pistol grip 12-gauge shotgun and a loaded 9mm semiautomatic pistol under the bed.

He then attempted to disarm each officer, but it was prevented. However, two holsters were damaged. After a third taser, Richardson-Willis was brought under control and handcuffed.

He suddenly lost consciousness and was transferred to a local hospital for evaluation. After being found in good health, he was transferred to Porter County Jail.

While on scene, two additional males were found in a vehicle. One 17-year-old male admitted to being in the room with Richardson-Willis and was found in possession of THC vape cartridges and drug paraphernalia, and he was arrested, police said.

During the investigation, officers recovered a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun, 9mm Taurus semi-automatic pistol, marijuana, marijuana wax, THC vape cartridges, alcohol, CO2 cartridges and three prescription-only medications abused by occupants.

Three officers sustained injuries consisting of abrasions to arms, a sprained elbow, a bone chip from the elbow and a swollen hand. Several officers present also complained of coughing and shortness of breath due to inhalation of unknown substances in the hotel room.



Each officer was able to transport themselves to the hospital for treatment and returned to work the following evening.

The investigation is ongoing in regard to sexual offenses occurring to the three 15-year-old females, police said. The adult female who rented the room faces criminal charges related to contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Richardson-Willis was charged with battery to law enforcement resulting in injury, resisting law enforcement causing injury, possession of a legend drug, possession of a controlled substance, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, inhaling toxic vapors, visiting a common nuisance, possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia.

Two female juveniles were charged with visiting a common nuisance. A male juvenile was charged with visiting a common nuisance, possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia. Another male juvenile was charged with possession of a legend drug, possession of a controlled substance, resisting law enforcement, possession of marijuana, visiting a common nuisance, inhaling a toxic vapor and possession of paraphernalia.

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CHICAGO  A 23-year-old man with a 3-year-old child in his SUV led a Schererville police officer working a multiagency operation Wednesday on a pursuit from East Chicago to Chicago's South Side, where he crashed into a telephone pole, officials said.

The man, whose name was not released pending formal charges, and the child were not injured in the crash, said Schererville police Cmdr. Kevin Wagner.

The pursuit began about 9:15 p.m., when the Schererville officer saw a silver Chevrolet Trailblazer speeding and passing other vehicles in the area of Northcote and Chicago avenues while a number of pedestrians were present, Wagner said.

As the driver made a right turn to go south on Indianapolis Boulevard, he made a wide turn and accelerated in the far left lane, police said. In addition, the Trailblazer's license plate light wasn't illuminated, making it difficult to read the plate.

The officer attempted to stop the driver, but he abruptly turned west on 149th Street and north on Magoun Avenue, police said.

The driver went west on Chicago Avenue, came close to striking other vehicles while making several lane changes and began to travel into oncoming traffic near Sheffield Avenue, police said.

After continuing west on South Brainard Avenue and turning onto East 130th Street, the driver accelerated to about 150 mph in a 50 mph zone, Wagner said.

A Lake County sheriff's officer performed a pursuit intervention technique maneuver near South Indiana Avenue and East 127th Street. The Trailblazer spun out and hit a telephone pole before coming to rest, police said.

The driver was arrested on several charges, including felony counts of resisting law enforcement, neglect of a dependent and possession of marijuana, and misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance, aggressive driving, reckless driving and suspended registration.

Formal charges were pending a review by the Lake County prosecutor's office.

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VALPARAISO  Police say more charges are likely to come as they continue investigating what appears to have been an underage sex party involving girls from Lake and Porter counties at a Portage hotel room that resulted in several officers suffering injuries while trying to break up the scene.

Part of the focus of the ongoing investigation is a yet-unnamed adult female, who reportedly rented the room and delivered three 15-year-old girls in order for them to "party" with several males, possibly including adults, Portage police say.

The woman faces criminal charges relating to contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

One of the males at the scene  Brendan Richardson-Willis, 19, of Arkansas  has been charged with 12 criminal counts, court records show.

Richardson-Willis, who is being held at the Porter County Jail until his initial court appearance Friday morning, faces three felony counts of battery with bodily injury to a public safety officer, felony resisting law enforcement resulting in bodily injury, two felony counts of possessing a legend drug, felony possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, possession of marijuana, visiting a common nuisance, inhaling toxic vapors and possession of paraphernalia, charging documents show.

Two additional felony counts of disarming a law enforcement officer are being added to the list of charges, Portage Police Sgt. Rob Maynard said Thursday morning.

A 16-year-old female from Valparaiso and a 15-year-old female from Gary face misdemeanor counts of visiting a common nuisance, police said.

A 17-year-old male from Crown Point faces misdemeanor counts of visiting a common nuisance, possessing marijuana and possessing paraphernalia, and a 17-year-old male from Griffith faces felony counts of possessing a legend drug and possessing a controlled substance, and misdemeanor resisting law enforcement, possessing marijuana, visiting a common nuisance, inhaling a toxic vapor and possessing paraphernalia, according to police.

Police say they were alerted to the case shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday when they found two juvenile females stumbling barefoot along U.S. 20 near Willowcreek Road.

"The officer stopped to check the welfare of the juveniles and found them to be under the influence of unknown substances," police said. "These two females reported they had lied to their parents about their whereabouts and were given a ride to the local motel by an adult female (not present), who rented the room for them in order to 'party' with several males."

The woman reportedly dropped three 15-year-old girls off at the Travel Inn Portage, 6101 U.S. 20,

"The two females found walking reported that they were the subject of unwanted sexual advances and ultimately sexually assaulted by one of the males in the hotel room before leaving and they were now trying to walk back to their homes in Lake County," police said.

Upon hearing that two juvenile girls, ages 16 and 15, had voluntarily stayed behind at the hotel to engage in sex acts with multiple males, possibly including adults, police said they headed that way.

"Officers outside the door could hear male voices making statements that the two girls who left 'looked like they were 12 or 13' and how they had attempted to have sex with them anyways," police said. "Officers next heard sexually oriented statements and what they believed was the sound of a sex act occurring."

After officers knocked, a 15-year-old female opened the hotel room door wrapped in a bed sheet and officers said a partially clothed 16-year-old girl yelled, "cops," police said.

A 17-year-old male, who was wearing just underwear, jumped out of the room window and was quickly taken into custody by awaiting officers, police said.

Richardson-Willis, who also was wearing nothing more than underwear and a face mask, attempted to flee and began fighting with three officers, according to police.

The young man is accused of ripping a police radio and spare pistol magazine from the vest of one officer and attempting to grab the officer's stun gun.

Officers twice used stun guns on Richardson-Willis with little to no obvious results, police said. After being forced to the ground, he attempted to reach under the hotel bed where officers later discovered a loaded pistol-grip 12-gauge shotgun and a loaded 9 mm semi-automatic pistol.

Richardson-Willis attempted to disarm each of the three officers until a third use of a stun gun allowed for him to be taken into custody, police said.

After he was evaluated at a hospital, Richardson-Willis was taken to jail, police said.

One man found in a vehicle on scene was released while a 17-year-old male in same vehicle, who admitted to having been in the hotel room, was taken into custody after being found with THC vape cartridges and drug paraphernalia, according to police.

"During the arrest of Mr. Richardson-Willis, three officers sustained injuries consisting of numerous abrasions to their arms, a sprained elbow, a bone chip from the elbow, and a swollen hand," police said. "Several officers present on scene also complained of coughing and shortness of breath from what they report as being the inhalation of unknown substances present in the hotel room."

The officers were able to drive themselves to the hospital for treatment and each returned to work the following evening.

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HOBART  Its been years in the works, and a new 75-unit apartment facility has opened to assist low-income, senior and disabled veterans.

Many recently gathered to celebrate the ribbon-cutting for the Rauner Family Veteran Apartments by A Safe Haven Foundation.

Since 1994, A Safe Havens mission has always been to set new paradigms and standards of care to address and solve the root causes of poverty and homelessness, especially on behalf of our veterans, said Neli Vazquez Rowland, A Safe Haven president and co-founder.

The fully furnished apartment facility serves veterans who cant afford to live independently. The goal is to help veterans in need become self-sufficient and find employment through services provided at the facility.

Our veterans have been there for us, and its our privilege to be there for them, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said. Thats why the work you do at A Safe Haven Foundation is so important.

More than $20 million in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development/Veterans Affairs rental housing tax credits was secured for the project. Former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and his wife, Diana Rauner, also donated $1 million to A Safe Haven Foundation to support the initiative.

Over the last 25 years, Diana and I have been proud to support the important work that Neli and Brian Rowland, co-founders of A Safe Haven, have been doing to develop housing that all Americans in crisis need to live their lives with pride and dignity, Rauner said.

As first movers, they were among the earliest to identify the need to build more supportive and affordable housing through public-private partnerships. The Rauner Family Veteran Apartments by A Safe Haven is another example of our long-standing commitment to that effort.

The individuals who will live at the site are referred by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Onsite services are provided to residents, and the property is managed by KMA Companies.

The facility offers a variety of amenities in addition to the fully furnished apartments. These include an exercise area, flexible meeting space/community room, a landscaped outdoor patio courtyard, laundry room and bike storage.

A Bronze Star monument was created at the entrance of the facility to honor Michael J. Rowland, a decorated Korean War Veteran. He is the father of A Safe Haven co-founder Brian Rowland, a U.S. Army veteran.

Its quite a development there, Mayor Brian Snedecor said. Providing housing for veterans in need is a great thing.

Snedecor said the city is honored that A Safe Haven selected Hobart for the apartment facility.

They have 75 units there, and they are already full.  This was fastest filling development theyve ever had, so theres definitely a need in this area to assist our veterans, Snedecor said.

A Safe Haven worked with Hobart for about four years to plan the project. Hobart leaders on several occasions displayed their support of the facility by approving several requests associated with the initiative.

Any time we can help veterans, I think thats something that our citys always been strong about, Snedecor said.

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Azerbaijan Airlines (Azal) said that its daily Baku-Dubai flights will now be serviced by its more advanced wide body Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and Boeing 767-300/300ER aircraft.



This will result in a significant upgrade in both seating numbers and inflight services compared to the narrow body aircraft which was previously operating the route.



The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner has a capacity of approximately 210 passengers in three cabin classes, and the Boeing 767-300/300ER has a capacity of 198 passengers.



Daily flights from Dubai to Baku will depart at 13:10 and arrive at 16:10 in Baku, while daily flights from Baku to Dubai will depart at 09:00 and arrive at 11:55 in Dubai.



Dubai is one of the most popular destinations in the Azerbaijan Airlines route network, with thousands of tourists from Azerbaijan visiting Dubai and the UAE annually.



The use of these wide body aircrafts in this market is due to the emerging importance of the Dubai and UAE market for Azerbaijan not only as a holiday destination, but also as a transit route for tourists from around the Gulf States using Dubai as a transit hub to then visit Azerbaijan, as well as Baku as a transit hub for traveling to Europe and the countries of the region.



UAE residents enjoy a one-month visa on arrival when visiting Azerbaijan, which has been a major factor in attracting an increasing number of visitors from the UAE.



The demand for travel from the UAE to Azerbaijan after the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow, which allows the airline to operate flights on wide-body aircraft, thus offering our passengers even better comfort and quality of service, said Nazim Samadov, the First Deputy Executive Director of Azerbaijan Airlines.



Samadov added: In the near future it is also planned to increase the frequency of services between the two cities to be performed twice a day.  TradeArabia News Service
BOSTON  Its been nearly half a century since a federal judge ordered the city schools here desegregated by busing, and 37 years since the writer J. Anthony Lukas plumbed the resultant turmoil in his Pulitzer-winning tome, Common Ground, which entered the canon of seminal Boston texts.

Now a leading nonprofit theater here, arguing that the shadow of busing and the depictions in Common Ground continue to shape this citys reputation and its race relations, is staging a reconsideration of the book, filtered through the prism of a diverse group of contemporary artists.

The play, Common Ground Revisited, which opened June 10 at the Huntington Theater Company, has been 11 years in the making, begun as a thought experiment in a classroom at Emerson College, and delayed, like so many stage projects, by the coronavirus pandemic. The cast is made up of Boston actors, and the work layers their observations on top of the events in the book, which follows the busing crisis through the lives of three families.
Drawing on archival visual material from the former Soviet Union and a mix of old and contemporary interviews, the tense documentary Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes reconstructs the 1986 nuclear disaster from the perspectives of people present during its devastation.

We hear from Lyudmila Ihnatenko (the inspiration for Jessie Buckleys character on the HBO dramatized mini-series), a resident of the area who was pregnant when the catastrophe occurred, and whose husband, a firefighter, went to the plant after the initial explosion. Oleksiy Breus, an engineer at Chernobyl, speaks of going to work the next day not even knowing what had happened. It is chilling to hear about the slowness of the evacuation  there is mention of children going to playgrounds instead of sheltering indoors  or to see flashes in the imagery that were told came from the film itself registering radiation.
For many American teenagers, college is the great undiscovered country. But in the romantic comedy, Love & Gelato, Lina (Susanna Skaggs) has just lost her beloved mother to cancer. Before she matriculates to her first year of university at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she is obligated to live out her mothers final wish for her. Her mother had a transformative trip to Italy in her youth, and her request is that Lina should follow in her footsteps. Cautious Lina can find a way to worry about anything, but magnanimously, she agrees to spend her summer in Rome.
[theme music]

anna martin

From The New York Times, Im Anna Martin. This is Modern Love. When my grandfather was near the end of his life, there were days Id come home and wed just sit on the couch together. Occasionally, hed eat Cheetos. He loved them, and he called them shrimps because thats what he thought they looked like. Often, he would fall asleep. Its important to just sit next to someone you love, to refill their bowl with shrimps  to be there because soon the other person might not be. This weeks essay is about that type of care  showing up, being present, in this case, after a very painful history together. Its written by Nora Johnson and read by Suzanne Toren.

suzanne toren

One of the things old people do is visit other old people in hospitals. It sounds dreary, and it is dreary, but it has its benefits. If you can learn to read the gauges and dials, you will, next time you are a patient, be able to find out how close to death you are (nobody else will tell you) by keeping an eye on your vitals: blood pressure, ejection fraction. And you can secretly rejoice that its not you in the bed. Not yet.

[music]

These days Im making weekly visits to an old man, a doctor I once knew, in a rehab facility. Though the word rehab brings to mind drugs and alcohol, its also for broken hips, twisted backs, strokes and so forth. This old man, in his late 80s, recently had a mild stroke. And he has some bladder problem and a nasty cough, but he can still walk and talk. He always had the gift of gab, though some of his jokes are pretty antique now. And then there are the stories going back to the Navy during World War II and Yale in the 1940s, tailgate picnics before the Harvard game. So this is another reason to visit your ancient ailing peers. Theres a nice wash of nostalgia to things that would put younger people to sleep. I like hearing all this stuff even though Ive heard it all before and lived it. Im not sure the doctor recognizes me. When I walk in, he gives me a sharp look, then greets me with an uncertain smile. He doesnt say my name because he doesnt know what it is. Hes asked me twice rather delicately and Ive told him but he forgets. I feel hes fishing around in his imperfect memory trying to place me. Hes forgotten that he was married to me for 10 years. He has asked me a couple of times how I know Justin, our son in Texas. Probably, he thinks Im just a nice lady who wanders in off the street from time to time to talk to him. We had the worst marriage in the history of human relations. Dysfunctional doesnt even begin to describe it. If he really remembered all the bad parts, particularly the horrible divorce, our present fragile friendship might shatter. We maintained contact over the years. With our two sons, there have been graduations, a wedding, christenings and also problems, of course. Id say we skated nicely through it all. Conferred with the shrinks, wept at the graduations, danced at the wedding. Im a believer in good post-divorce relations. Its the least you can do for those shattered kids. We even got through the suicide of our other son, John. Held on to each other, cried, blamed ourselves for everything, another kind of horror. But that was before the stroke. Now, hes wandering through strange country. He was a psychiatrist and he peppers me with questions. What do I do all day? What am I reading? How is my health? What do I do for exercise? Hes a skinny old man in a sweatsuit with wild white hair and some fragments of white beard. But the wide blue eyes are still there. And in my head is a ghostly image of 50 years ago. It all comes back. The four-star restaurants snorkeling off Jamaica, eggnog parties at Christmas. We had pots of money until we didnt. The children brought us down to earth. My two daughters from my previous marriage and the two sons we had together, we didnt all fit in our apartment and moved to a big house in Westchester. From there on, everything deteriorated. It would be too easy, too cruel and ultimately too boring to document the so-called dynamics. The fights, the abuse, the police visits and the terrible divorce. Let me close the curtain on all that. Ill skip to afterward. When I moved out with four wounded children and when I saw myself in a mirror and was shocked at how I looked, lines and shadows and darkness, I was 42 but looked 72. Slowly, I returned to my age. Why do you go visit him? a friend asked. How can you? I do it for Justin, I said. He is supposed to be in charge of things but lives 1,500 miles away. And out of general humanity. Youre too forgiving, my friend says. Think what he did to you. His elderly girlfriend visits him daily but she has a few memory problems of her own. He doesnt like the idea that she is deteriorating. This unwillingness may be partly the stroke but he has always had trouble with reality. The Caribbean resorts, the flying lessons, the plunging bank account. Its true. Reality is unglamorous and often grubby. His soul is romantic and he is a city cat. It was a mistake to expect him to change light bulbs and mow the lawn. Perhaps, even to be a husband and father. Ever the charming host, he wants to provide me with a little amusement. So we set out to see the aviary, a couple of floors down. This turns out to be not so simple. He has left his walker in his room and also his slippers. And hes supposed to have a key and a code number for some number pad to make the elevator work. For the first time, he freezes and his face becomes that cruel mask from the past, the one that somehow frightened an entire household of people. Come on, he says to the nurses, Ive been going down in this elevator every day. Give me the key. Give me the code number. His voice is soft but the rage is there. I can read him so well. I may not the code for the elevator but I know his. He likes me, the lady who wanders in off the street and wants to amuse me. But theres only the aviary and he cant even take me there. He wishes it were La Grenouille, that I were wearing poochie instead of L.L. Bean. He wishes the cups of cranberry juice were flutes of Veuve Clicquot. Maybe if I had known the code during those long ago fights, I could have tamped the flames. But Ive been told often enough that I shouldnt keep replaying those old scenes. Instead, I interrupt him in his nurse abuse. Lets forget it, I say, Its all too complicated. Lets go back to the room. I start down the hall and he turns and follows me. Then I hear words Ive almost never heard from him before: Im sorry.

anna martin

Nora Johnson, the author of this essay, died in 2017 at the age of 84. Her New York Times obituary noted that she published piercing memoirs and novels about families under stress. Nora also wrote another Modern Love essay about finding love when youre older. And to this day, it remains one of the most read essays in the history of Modern Love. Check it out. Theres a link in the show notes. [MUSIC] Heres a story from the Vows section of The Times about a couple who just got married and the story of their relationship. Its about figuring out how to date all over again in your 60s.

margaret eginton carmichael

Hi, Im Margaret Eginton Carmichael, and I live in Iowa City, Iowa.

gregory carmichael

My name is Greg Carmichael, and I live in Iowa City. And I used to live in a neighborhood.

margaret eginton carmichael

I used to go to a bar.

gregory carmichael

Fantastic restaurant run by my son called Apres.

margaret eginton carmichael

Apres, which was across the street from my house. So my daughter Kit is home from college. Were maybe now in the spring or summer of 2016, and we decide to go over to Apres to have dinner.

gregory carmichael

I did notice Meg. She is very striking looking.

margaret eginton carmichael

And this man came over, and he starts talking to Kit.

gregory carmichael

Kit is interested in what I did. And I told her that I do research in the interface between air pollution and climate change.

margaret eginton carmichael

I have, like, zero idea what that means. And afterwards, Kit turns to me and says, well, hes really boring. And I said, maybe hes just really shy and we didnt get the right question. So probably about two months later, I end up sitting next to Greg because the bar is very crowded. And he starts asking me all these questions, and Im telling him well, I lived in New York for 20 years and 

gregory carmichael

She would say she was a professional dancer.

margaret eginton carmichael

Then hes asking me like, well, whats it like to be a dancer? How many hours a day did you dance, and then what happened after that?

gregory carmichael

Oh, you know, I was in a movie. I had dinner with Mick Jagger.

margaret eginton carmichael

He asked me all these questions. And I said to him, are you interviewing me? I think he said, I have to go upstairs and babysit my grandson. And that was it. So a few more months go by, and I see Greg occasionally. And suddenly out of the blue, one night, he walks over to me and he says, Apress having a Valentines Day dinner? Would you like to go?

gregory carmichael

And she said yes.

margaret eginton carmichael

And Im like, you dont ask somebody out for a Valentines date unless youre interested in them.

gregory carmichael

And then for some reason 

margaret eginton carmichael

He texts me.

gregory carmichael

When the evening came, I also invited another of my bar friends, my martini drinker.

margaret eginton carmichael

Pam is coming with us.

gregory carmichael

And so we ended up three of us at the table.

margaret eginton carmichael

OK, well, then its definitely not a date if hes invited Pam. And then at the end of dinner, which was delicious, he walked me home. When a guy walks you home, it generally means that he likes you. And then I didnt hear from him for again for a long time.

[music]

So a year later ... so several months go by ... So later that spring, he invites me to a lecture ... Theres an Indian dance performance.

gregory carmichael

We did go to a movie.

margaret eginton carmichael

I have this big neighborhood party, and I felt like I had to invite him. And then there was another trip to the movies.

gregory carmichael

Meg asked me to join her.

margaret eginton carmichael

Hes still not talking to me much and were not touching, but were nearly touching.

gregory carmichael

I really felt closer to her without really knowing what that meant.

margaret eginton carmichael

And I thought, surely hell call. But he didnt.

gregory carmichael

We had another long gap in time.

margaret eginton carmichael

Again.

gregory carmichael

Was it a date? Was it not a date?

margaret eginton carmichael

And I thought, oh, somehow we keep ending up doing things once in a while, but he doesnt really want to go out with me. So that fall, I was sitting at a high top because Gregs at the bar.

gregory carmichael

I think we were like the only people in the restaurant.

margaret eginton carmichael

I havent heard from him. I dont want him to think that I want to talk to him or anything.

gregory carmichael

I dont know  the moment just said, I need to get up and go see here and I walked over there and 

margaret eginton carmichael

I said, hi, Greg and he said, But what if we break up?

[music]

That was the first thing out of his mouth. That was the first thing out of his mouth. What will happen if we break up?

gregory carmichael

I talked about those things and my feelings about dating and fear of  I want to date but Im afraid if we date well lose this.

margaret eginton carmichael

And I just looked at him and I said, well, I guess well avoid each others lockers. And he said, well, what do you mean? And I said, you know like in high school when you break up with somebody and then you just avoid each others lockers so you dont have to say hi or anything. And he said, I never dated in high school. And at that moment, everything came clear to me. Everything was clear like I just  I understood, he really is the shy, he really doesnt know what hes doing. Im like, whoa.

gregory carmichael

I put my hand out and grabbed her hand.

margaret eginton carmichael

I remember looking at it. I remember thinking it through. And I thought, well, OK, I put my hand on his hand. When he gives you a hug, its like the biggest, warmest, most open hug youve ever gotten. And his hand was like that. And then he put his other hand on me and really that was it. I mean, I fell in love with him the moment I put my hand in his.

[music]

anna martin
In Colombia, the feijoa flowers are found in the tree canopy, without nectar or odor; instead, the rats feed on the petals and forage during the day when the flowers are open and fertile. This may be the first case of rat pollination where flower petals are the draw, according to the scientists.

They are sweet, Dr. Cardoso said of the petals.

Importantly, the rats do not appear to damage the reproductive parts of the flowers when they feast on the fleshy white petals. Instead, the rodents brush against the scores of scarlet stamens, which carry the pollen that could then cling to their fur coats until being transferred to another feijoa tree.

Its very unusual for a plant to have petals as the resource, and its pretty amazing that the rats figured out that theyre nutritious, said Jeremy Midgley, an emeritus professor of biology at the University of Cape Town in South Africa who was not involved in the study.

However, Dr. Midgley had some reservations about the hypothesis.

While the research showed the rats visiting the plants, there was no information on how many of the flowers produced fruit as a result, he said. It would be really nice if theyd have showed that rats actually do the trick.

When Mr. Matallana-Puerto and Dr. Cardoso scoured the scientific literature, they found previous reports that the feijoa plant was pollinated by birds. The researchers hypothesize that in the city, rats may be more frequent guests because of reduced bird activity, highlighting how pollination systems may change with urbanization.

The tale of rats and feijoa meeting in the city  and potentially elsewhere  is an unlikely love story: Neither is native to Colombia.
The owner of seven nursing homes in Louisiana who sent more than 800 residents to a squalid warehouse lacking restrooms and proper medicine last year when Hurricane Ida battered the region was arrested on Wednesday on state fraud and cruelty charges, the authorities said.

The man, Bob Glynn Dean Jr., 68, was out of state when he ordered the evacuation of the nursing home residents in Baton Rouge, La., on Aug. 26, 2021, telling staff members to move everyone to a warehouse in Independence referred to as the Waterbury Facility, where they braced for severe weather, according to an arrest affidavit.

There, nursing home residents were subjected to overcrowding, the smell of urine and feces, piles of trash besides puddles of water and inadequate food portions, the affidavit states. Seven people from the nursing homes died, according to the Louisiana Department of Health, which revoked the licenses of Mr. Deans seven facilities to operate as nursing homes. As the authorities tried to learn what happened, Mr. Dean refused to cooperate and ordered that his employees do the same, according to an arrest warrant.
McAuliffe derided Youngkins various proposed tax cuts, which added up to $3.2 billion, as crazy.

But it turns out that tax cuts make for pretty good politics at a time when gasoline prices are even higher than they were back then. A year ago, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. was $3.07, according to AAA. Today, its $4.96.

Democrats in Virginia now face an awkward dilemma: Do they stand by their opposition to suspending the gas tax in their own state? Or do they reverse course and embrace Bidens stance on freezing the federal gas tax? Its a difficult needle to thread.

Youngkins former ad maker, Will Ritter of the firm Poolhouse Strategies, expressed Democrats conundrum in the new argot of political campaigns: a two-panel meme of the rapper Drake, shared on Twitter.

In the top panel, with the Canadian rapper raising his hand dismissively: Youngkin suggests a gas tax suspension.

In the lower panel, showing Drake with a big grin: Biden suggests a gas tax suspension.

The Tom Leonard effect

But the most politically effective move, Youngkins advisers say, was his proposal to eliminate the states 2.5 percent grocery tax.

The idea emerged from the campaigns early skull sessions, as the top strategists were seeking to define the major themes of the race. They knew that if they focused on local issues and avoided the national themes that the McAuliffe campaign was eager to discuss, they would have a shot at overcoming Democrats baseline advantage of roughly 10 percentage points in the state.
If what were doing is making things safer, without taking away peoples Second Amendment rights, I think maybe weve knit this just the way it needed to be, Ms. Murkowski said.

The bill still must win approval in the Senate, where Democratic leaders hope to push it through by the end of the week, and pass the House before it can make it to President Bidens desk.

The legislation, which was negotiated by a small group of Democrats and Republicans, would expand background checks to allow authorities more time to examine the mental health and juvenile records of potential buyers under the age of 21, and for the first time include serious dating partners in a law that prevents domestic abusers from purchasing firearms. It would provide federal money to states to establish red flag laws, which allow guns to be temporarily confiscated from people deemed dangerous, and other intervention programs and pour millions of dollars into supporting mental health resources and shoring up school safety.

There are mixed views back home, but by and large, the reaction has been positive because people realize that were not hurting law-abiding gun owners, said Senator Susan Collins of Maine, one of the Republicans involved in the discussions.

The 64-34 vote to take it up signaled that the measure has more than enough support to scale the 60-vote threshold needed to break a Republican filibuster, a barrier that has repeatedly stalled more ambitious efforts to address gun violence. But less than a third of the Republican conference, including members of Mr. McConnells leadership team, were willing to back it on Tuesday. (Senator Patrick J. Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican retiring this year, was absent but said in a statement he supports the measure.)
WASHINGTON  A new examination of how Russia used its cybercapabilities in the first months of the war in Ukraine contains a number of surprises: Moscow conducted more cyberattacks than was realized at the time to bolster its invasion, but more than two-thirds of them failed, echoing its poor performance on the physical battlefield.

However, the study, published by Microsoft on Wednesday, suggested that the government of President Vladimir V. Putin was succeeding more than many expected with its disinformation campaign to establish a narrative of the war favorable to Russia, including making the case that the United States was secretly producing biological weapons inside Ukraine.

The report is the latest effort by many groups, including American intelligence agencies, to understand the interaction of a brutal physical war with a parallel  and often coordinated  struggle in cyberspace. It indicated that Ukraine was well prepared to fend off cyberattacks, after having endured them for many years. That was at least in part because of a well-established system of warnings from private-sector companies, including Microsoft and Google, and preparations that included moving much of Ukraines most important systems to the cloud, onto servers outside Ukraine.
ATHENS  On a recent afternoon, the Pennsylvania-born, Athens-based artist Jennifer Nelson toiled away at her new project in a spacious temporary studio. In a corner were overstuffed garbage bags of various colors whose contents would be used in her installation: Waste (Inheritance).

Over the last year, Ms. Nelson has been collecting the packaging and material waste generated by her family. Through September, she is transforming the household refuse into a giant sculpture that she will drape herself in during a performance at the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens, or EMST. Its her way of raising awareness of the litter that human beings produce and the burden it creates for future generations.

The waste workshop is one of seven exhibitions marking the rebirth of EMST, a museum of international and Greek contemporary art.
Goods vehicles barred from entering Delhi from Oct 1 till March next yr

New Delhi, June 23 (UNI) Delhi Government on Thursday announced to ban the entry of medium and heavy goods vehicles in the national capital from October onwards till February next year.

The move is said to be taken as a measure to reduce the acute pollution crisis Delhi faces during the winter season.

According to the officials, the large, medium and small goods vehicle entry will not be allowed to ply in the national capital from October 1, 2022, till February 28, 2023.
The sound of heavy footfalls filled a studio at Abrons Arts Center on a recent afternoon, as the choreographer Mariana Valencia and her young collaborator, Heera Gandhu, walked decisively around the room. With their arms raised to one side and hands gnarled into claws, they called to mind the classic move from Michael Jacksons Thriller, but their faces betrayed little emotion. The recognizable gesture, combined with their even-keeled energy, managed to say horror movie and postmodern dance at the same time, a fitting encapsulation of their interests.

Later in the rehearsal, reclining on the floor, they asked each other: What was it like when you were 12?

When I was 12, I would decorate my room with magazine pages, Valencia said.

Magazines  who has those? Heera replied incredulously. When I was 12, I started dancing, through my rehearsals with you.
Yet the collaboration among Hope, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and the Roberts Trio remains unstintingly polite, with the latter noticeably hemmed in. Its a far cry from the energy of a 2003 Berlin Philharmonic performance led by Seiji Ozawa, streaming on that ensembles Digital Concert Hall, in which the Roberts Trio was engaged for a daring, push-and-pull reading of Gerswhins Concerto in F.

America seems to be aware that this might be a problem. On the cover, Hope is seen wearing a vest and tuxedo, and leaning against a vintage car parked in front of a building whose windows are decorated with portraits of American musical greats. But the artists photoshopped into those window frames dont quite track with the albums sound. Theres not a single passage that has the explosive quality of the saxophonist and bass clarinetist Eric Dolphys ecstatic hopscotching among registers and timbres. So what is he doing in the album art?

Beyond his own music, Dolphy appeared as a key soloist in Civil Rights-era musical essays by the bassist and composer Charles Mingus, particularly in Original Faubus Fables and Meditations on Integration. Yet the protest poetry of Dolphy, and of John Coltrane  another artist pictured on the cover of America  isnt present here beyond the title of Cookes change-promising pop song.

As a result, Hopes album doesnt musically face the roiled state of the union head-on, or acknowledge past revolutions within this countrys continuously evolving jazz tradition. The fiery music that Coltrane and Dolphy played in 1961 was critiqued at the time as being anti-jazz in some quarters  a take that hasnt aged well. But while Hope seems eager to cite the fire of American ingenuity on an album cover, he doesnt want to get singed by it in practice.

The opposite holds true for long stretches of Gandelsmans This Is America project, an ambitious set that attempts to take the national temperature by soliciting new solo works from a group of a couple dozen composers. In his liner notes for the album, the violinist cites a bevy of issues as inspirations for his impulse to commission these pieces: the pandemic; police violence and the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor; the over four million acres of Californias forests lost to wildfires in 2020; unemployment; vicious election cycle rhetoric.
Arthur Hardy, the publisher of an annual New Orleans Mardi Gras guide, began searching in the 1980s for a film of the parade that old silent film catalogs said had been produced in the 19th century.

He wrote to every expert he could think of. He tried the Library of Congress, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He failed and lost interest  then resumed trying.

He kept getting the same response, he recalled: Youll never find it.

Mr. Hardy tried reaching out to Wayne Phillips, a curator at the Louisiana State Museum. Mr. Phillips tried Will French, a corporate lawyer who works in film financing and who serves as the in-house historian of the Rex Organization, among the most prominent groups that organize Mardi Gras floats. In March, Mr. French tried Mackenzie Roberts Beasley, a family friend of his and an archivist who specializes in film and audio.
10. And finally, the biggest bacteria ever seen.

For centuries, scientists thought bacteria were too simple to produce big cells. Thiomargarita magnifica proved them wrong. Found in a Caribbean mangrove forest, these cells are thousands of times bigger than more familiar bacteria such as E. coli, which measures under a ten-thousandth of an inch  suggesting bigger, even more complex bacteria could be out there.

Thiomargarita magnifica grow to the size and shape of a human eyelash. It would be like meeting another human the size of Mount Everest, one microbiologist said.

Have a larger-than-life night.

Sarah Hughes and Sean Culligan compiled photos for this briefing.

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Zelensky to Africa: Its your war, too

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, lobbied the African Union for support this week. He faced an uphill battle, addressing leaders who have close ties to Russias president, Vladimir Putin.

Many African governments have shied away from denouncing Russia, abstained from U.N. votes condemning the invasion of Ukraine and characterized the war as having no direct effect on the continent. Zelensky zeroed in on the conflicts economic ramifications for Africa: high food prices caused by a war between two of the worlds largest grain producers, which have worsened food insecurity.

Africa is actually taken hostage, Zelensky said.

The background: Drought in Somalia and growing food insecurity in the Sahel region have brought into stark focus the consequences of rising prices for food, particularly wheat. The cost of fuel is also climbing, further squeezing the continents nascent middle class and urban poor.
Treatment and survival

For now, the war is ongoing, for therapists in Ukraine as well as their clients.

Pokrovskaya was temporarily displaced to a nearby town but still felt she couldnt escape. There were days when the explosions did not subside. Emotionally and physically, it was very hard, she said.

Over time, she marked the progression of the invasion through the shifting needs of her clients. At first, it was crisis assistance, she said. There were many requests to cope with panic attacks.

Later, people sought help with the problems of displacement: conflict with new neighbors, or between family members hosting once-distant relatives. Relationships cracked under the stress of mothers taking children out of the country while fathers stayed behind to fight.

Now, Pokrovskaya said, many patients are struggling with longer-term trauma and grief as they grapple with the magnitude of their losses. It is difficult for them to cope with their emotions, she said. The realization of the scale of losses for their families is coming.

In April, she and her husband returned home to Kyiv. They hope to stay but are ready to flee at any time. We always have a plan in our heads, she said. We have everything ready, emergency suitcases.

More on the war

THE LATEST NEWS

Politics
In a statement, a 7-Eleven spokesman said that the ruling was appropriate, adding that the company would work even harder for the patronage of customers in the region.

The cases final outcome is likely to have profound implications for the relationships between Japans convenience store companies and the more than 50,000 outlets they control. 7-Elevens locations account for more than 40 percent of those stores, and for decades the company has been seen as the industry standard.

Mr. Matsumotos problems began in early 2019 when he decided he would shorten his stores hours, closing five hours every night in defiance of company policy. He was exhausted, labor had become increasingly unaffordable, and he had decided that the revenue from staying open into the wee hours did not justify the costs.

It was a seemingly small act of rebellion. But standing up to one of the most powerful and ubiquitous corporations in Japan made him a celebrity and exposed the inner workings of an industry that had long been celebrated as a model of efficiency.
The question arises: Who owns the captives? he asked. The museum where they are imprisoned, or the place where they were born?

While the British Museum was unrepresented on the panel, the Victoria & Albert Museum director, Tristram Hunt, one of the speakers, explained the legal ban on giving objects back.

He said the law had been introduced because as recently as the late 1970s, so much was destroyed and given away by museum trustees, including works of African furniture and design that were thought to be of no value, and plaster casts of South Asian monuments and sculptures.

Today, new legislation on the restitution of cultural heritage was not a priority for politicians or voters, said Mr. Hunt, who was once a member of Parliament. Instead, museums such as his were working with claimant governments to think about how we share these collections, including as part of long-term loans, even though the governments in question said, You want us to borrow from you the stuff you stole from us?

A fellow panelist, the British writer Tiffany Jenkins, stood up for the status quo. Keeping half of the marbles in Athens and the other half in London was, she argued, a really good situation.

Here, you can see them in the context of pre-classical Athens, she said, and also look across at the Acropolis and think, God, thats where they really were. At the British Museum, you can see them in the context of world civilizations.
The hedge fund Citadel and the trading firm Citadel Securities, both run by the billionaire Ken Griffin, are moving their offices to Miami after more than three decades in Chicago, according to a memo to employees that was obtained by The New York Times on Thursday.

The move follows elevated tensions between Mr. Griffin and Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, a Democrat, over taxes and the citys crime rate. (Florida is one of the few states that dont have a state income tax.) And it comes as the rise of remote work during the coronavirus pandemic has enabled companies to more freely move their offices in search of lower taxes, a more affordable work force or other potential perks. In recent months, Caterpillar said it was moving its office from Illinois to Texas, and Boeing has said it is moving from Illinois to Virginia. Kellogg, on the other hand, said this week that it was moving its corporate headquarters from Battle Creek, Mich., to Chicago.

The firms are having difficulty recruiting top talent from across the world to Chicago given the rising and senseless violence in the city, said Zia Ahmed, a Citadel spokesman. Talent wants to live in cities where they feel safe.
Mr. Borkhataria said Russias actions in Germany could lead to contagion and knock-on effects across Europe because the gas markets are connected. So, for example, restrictions on flows to Germany are likely to affect prices in Britain.

Russia is also inflicting financial damage on its corporate customers. One concern is that utilities that have contracts to buy gas from Gazprom will find themselves short of the fuel and then need to buy additional supplies at much higher prices to fulfill their obligations, leading to losses.

Due to the restrictions on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, only significantly smaller quantities of gas are currently coming from Russia, and replacements can only be procured on the markets at very high prices, said Klaus-Dieter Maubach, chief executive of Uniper, a German utility, in a statement. Uniper has said it is receiving only 30 percent to 60 percent of its requested volumes.

The shortages have driven gas prices to extraordinarily high levels, about six times what they were a year ago. Mr. Habeck warned that the such high prices were forcing energy providers to take on losses, which could threaten the entire energy market.

If this minus gets so big that they cant carry it anymore, the whole market is in danger of collapsing at some point, Mr. Habeck said, drawing a parallel to how the collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered the global financial crisis.

Mr. Maubach welcomed the governments emergency plan as a viable instrument for coping with the gas situation for now, but warned that more extensive measures would be needed if the supply situation remains like this or becomes even worse.
New Delhi, June 23 (UNI) India on Thursday sent its first consignment of relief assistance for the people of Afghanistan following the devastating earthquake there. The relief was sent as India also stationed an Indian "technical team" at its embassy in Kabul.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet said:

The First consignment of India's earthquake relief assistance for the people of Afghanistan reaches Kabul. Being handed over by the Indian team there.
Around 200,000 former students who attended schools that they said had defrauded them will have $6 billion in federal loans canceled under a sweeping settlement announced on Wednesday, the latest move by the Biden administration to address the student loan crisis by eliminating some debts.

Those who applied for relief  some as long as seven years ago  will have their loans wiped out if they attended one of more than 150 schools named in the class-action settlement, nearly all of which are for-profit colleges and vocational programs. The deal reverses 128,000 denial notices  which a federal judge called disturbingly Kafkaesque  that were sent to relief applicants during the Trump administration.

Many of the schools included in the settlement are out of business. They include large chains like the Art Institutes and other campuses run by the Dream Center, whose operations abruptly collapsed in 2019, and those owned by Career Education. The latter, at its peak, enrolled tens of thousands of students at more than 100 locations. The deal also includes a few colleges that are still operating, including the University of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University and DeVry University.
The endorsement was neither a surprise, nor urgently anticipated. The Food and Drug Administration authorized the Moderna vaccine for that age group late last week, and the decisions of the two agencies have rarely been at odds.

The recommendation was one of the last hurdles before a second vaccine option becomes available to a large swath of those younger than 18. The vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech has been available to children 5 through 15 since last year and to Americans 16 and older since late 2020.

Modernas vaccine was authorized for adults in December 2020. Last June, the company applied to use its vaccine in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, who would receive 100 micrograms, the same dose as adults. But while the F.D.A. took roughly a month to sign off on Pfizers application for older children, it stalled Modernas application.

In an announcement in October, Moderna said the F.D.A. was reviewing reports that suggested its vaccine can cause heart problems in adolescent boys. The company also said it would hold off on applying for authorization for children 6 through 11 until the F.D.A. had made a decision for the older children.
Juul said it disagreed with the F.D.A.s findings and planned to appeal. The company could seek a stay from the agency or from a court pending an appeal to the F.D.A. The company has not said which path it will seek but it will try to keep its products on the market during any proceedings.

We intend to seek a stay, Juuls statement concluded, and are exploring all of our options under the F.D.A.s regulations and the law, including appealing the decision and engaging with our regulator.

Public health groups hailed the ruling.

The F.D.A.s decision to remove all Juul products from the marketplace is both most welcomed and long overdue, said Erika Sward, national assistant vice president of advocacy for the American Lung Association. Juuls campaign to target and hook kids on tobacco has gone on for far too long.

A statement from the American Vapor Manufacturers Association, an industry trade group, hinted at the fight ahead.

Measured in lives lost and potential destroyed, F.D.A.s staggering indifference to ordinary Americans and their right to switch to the vastly safer alternative of vaping will surely rank as one of the greatest episodes of regulatory malpractice in American history, Amanda Wheeler, the associations president, said in a statement.

Broadly, the F.D.A. is walking a fine line in remaking the landscape for nicotine products. It is trying to wean the public off traditional cigarettes while permitting less harmful vaping products that do not attract a new generation of users: The new devices must be appealing for smoking cessation but not so appealing that they lure young people en masse.
Since then, scientists there have been analyzing the sequences from about 50 monkeypox cases, according to Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, director of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control. But without the specialized equipment or expertise needed for rapid analysis, the scientists have not yet completed their work, he said.

Although the researchers have fielded several requests for the data from outside Nigeria, Dr. Adetifa said they would wait to publish their work to prevent teams with more resources from outcompeting them and grabbing credit.

What to Know About the Monkeypox Virus Card 1 of 5 What is monkeypox? Monkeypox is a virus endemic in parts of Central and West Africa. It is similar to smallpox, but less severe. It was discovered in 1958, after outbreaks occurred in monkeys kept for research, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What are the symptoms? Monkeypox creates a rash that starts with flat red marks that become raised and filled with pus. Infected people may also have a fever and body aches. Symptoms typically appear in six to 13 days but can take as long as three weeks after exposure to show, and can last for two to four weeks. Health officials say smallpox vaccines and other treatments can be used to control an outbreak. How infectious is it? The virus spreads mainly through body fluids, skin contact and respiratory droplets, though some experts suggest that it could occasionally be airborne. Typically it does not lead to major outbreaks, though it has spread in unusual ways this year, and among populations that have not been vulnerable in the past. Should I be worried? The likelihood of the virus being spread during sexual contact is high, but the risk of transmission in other ways is low. Most people have mild symptoms and recover within weeks, but the virus can be fatal in a small percentage of cases. Studies also suggest that older adults may have some protection from decades-old smallpox vaccinations. Is monkeypox similar to Covid? Health experts say that monkeypox is unlikely to create a pandemic scenario similar to that of the coronavirus. While Covid-19 is a tiny RNA virus that can spread through aerosols, monkeypox is a larger DNA virus that is transmitted mostly through close physical contact and has a much smaller mutation rate than RNA viruses.









Im all for open data sharing and all of that, he said. Question is, who benefits?

Some experts have cautioned for years that the eradication of smallpox in 1980 left the world vulnerable to the broader family of poxviruses and raised the odds of monkeypox evolving into a successful human pathogen.

In West Africa, the incidence of monkeypox has increased at least twentyfold since 1986. In African countries generally, Dr. Adetifa said, we suspect some underreporting because theres been relatively low awareness and maybe low perceived risk of monkeypox. Nigeria is stepping up its surveillance of monkeypox, and case numbers may rise as more people become aware of the virus, he added.

Although monkeypox has a distinctive rash that appears on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, it is frequently confused with chickenpox. Many men in the current outbreak have lesions on their genitalia, but those can be mistaken for sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia.

Researchers in Italy and Germany have reported finding monkeypox DNA in semen, but it is unclear if the virus spreads that way or is merely present in semen and vaginal secretions.
As a Presley biography, Elvis is not especially illuminating. The basic stuff is all there, as it would be on Wikipedia. Elvis is haunted by the death of his twin brother, Jesse, and devoted to his mother, Gladys (Helen Thomson). Relations with his father, Vernon (Richard Roxburgh), are more complicated. The boy grows up poor in Tupelo, Miss., and Memphis, finds his way into the Sun Records recording studio at the age of 19, and proceeds to set the world on fire. Then theres the Army, marriage to Priscilla (Olivia DeJonge), Hollywood, a comeback broadcast in 1968, a long residency in Las Vegas, divorce from Priscilla and the sad, bloated spectacle of his last years.

Butler is fine in the few moments of offstage drama that the script allows, but most of the emotional action is telegraphed in Luhrmanns usual emphatic, breathless style. The actor seems most fully Elvis  as Elvis, the film suggests, was most truly himself  in front of an audience. Those hips dont lie, and Butler captures the smoldering physicality of Elvis the performer, as well as the playfulness and vulnerability that drove the crowds wild. The voice cant be imitated, and the movie wisely doesnt try, remixing actual Elvis recordings rather than trying to replicate them.

At his first big performance, in a dance hall in Texarkana, Ark., where he shares a bill with Hank Snow (David Wenham), Snows son, Jimmie (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and other country acts, Elvis steps out in a bright pink suit, heavy eye makeup and glistening pompadour. A guy in the audience shouts a homophobic slur, but after a few bars that guys date and every other woman in the room is screaming her lungs out, having feelings shes not sure she should enjoy, as the Colonel puts it. Gladys is terrified, and the scene carries a heavy charge of sexualized danger. Elvis is a modern Orpheus, and these maenads are about to tear him to pieces. In another scene, back in Memphis, Elvis watches Little Richard (Alton Mason) tearing up Tutti Frutti (a song he would later cover) and sees a kindred spirit.
A few scenes of torture notwithstanding, American critics swooned for The Discreet Charm. Andrew Sarris called it clearly the film of the year. Vincent Canbys New York Times review hailed it as the unique creation of a director who, at 72, has never been more fully in control of his talents, as a filmmaker, a moralist, social critic and humorist. While it is hard to disagree with this assessment, its possible to prefer Bunuels less digestible works  particularly Viridiana (1961), which sneaked past Spains fascist censors, and the low-budget Mexican films that were, of necessity, directed against the grain.

The Discreet Charm is not without its pleasures. Seyrig, Audran, and Ogier are magnificent farceurs. Bunuel might be shooting fish in a barrel, but French manners have seldom been so expertly ridiculed. A few of the movies pranks (an inconvenient death disrupts one dinner) still shock; others (Ogier parading around in Napoleons hat) remain laugh-out-loud funny. Its fascinating to see Bunuels engagement with the Godard of La Chinoise and Weekend and even, in the casting of Rey, The French Connection.

And yet, while The Discreet Charm is not exactly complacent, neither is it unreconciled. For all its unpatriotic and anticlerical jibes, the movie is too expansively genial to be truly discomfiting. The Oscar is the tip-off, even if Bunuel did suggest that his producer had bribed the Academy to get it.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

Through July 7 at Film Forum in Manhattan; filmforum.org.
The National Working Families Party, in turn, has used an independent committee to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on TV ads and mailers, some of which paint incumbents as in the pocket of corporate donors.

Incumbents were largely incensed by this framing, and several said the left was imposing purity tests that manipulated facts to fit a political narrative.

You dont just say no because you didnt get every single thing you want, Ms. Dickens of Harlem said. Thats not how you negotiate. Thats not how youre going to navigate through any of the three levels of government.

She added: When they get in power, what are they going to do different?

Mr. Cahill said he backed the public power bill, but that he believed that much of the disenchantment over it was based on a distortion of the measure.

He said that while the left framed the legislation as an environmental bill, he viewed it as more of an economic one, because of the impact it would have on the states energy market.

The Assembly will hold a hearing on the legislation on July 28, a month after the primary vote. Though its unclear whether it will proceed, progressives like Ms. Shrestha see the extended conversation as progress.

Whatever we did to make Albany scared of the climate movement this time around, we want to do the same for health care, we want to do the same for housing, she said.
As the Supreme Court struck down a New York State law that strictly limited the carrying of handguns, the decision prompted frustration among some in Buffalo, the states second-largest city where 10 people were killed in gunfire at a grocery store last month.

The 18-year-old gunman was armed with a Bushmaster semiautomatic rifle that was purchased legally at a store near his hometown. Ten days after the attack, another high-profile massacre unfolded at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, where 21 were slain.

Zeneta Everhart, whose 21-year-old son Zaire Goodman was shot in Buffalo but survived, said in an interview Thursday that as a mother, Im heartbroken that this country isnt protecting Zaire.
There is a great desire, he said, to get at least one dose of the two-dose vaccine before this weekend, which will provide at least some protection against spread, even among people not planning to have sexual experiences. The disease can transmit from skin-to-skin contact with infected lesions anywhere on the body, and does not require sexual contact.

At parties, often times people take their shirts off and dance close to each other, he said. This is enabling us to feel a little more comfortable.

Vaccines will be available at the clinic from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, the city announced. The web appointment system should also have more appointments beginning Sunday, officials said.

The monkeypox virus, so named because it was discovered in captive monkeys in 1958, typically begins with flulike symptoms, such as a fever and swollen lymph nodes, and then progresses to a painful rash with pus-filled lesions on the face and body.

While far less lethal than its relative, smallpox, it can be fatal, with a fatality rate of between 3 to 6 percent in the African regions where it is endemic. It mostly spreads by skin-to-skin contact, but can also be spread by respiratory droplets from prolonged close contact or contact with shared objects like towels.

What to Know About the Monkeypox Virus Card 1 of 5 What is monkeypox? Monkeypox is a virus endemic in parts of Central and West Africa. It is similar to smallpox, but less severe. It was discovered in 1958, after outbreaks occurred in monkeys kept for research, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What are the symptoms? Monkeypox creates a rash that starts with flat red marks that become raised and filled with pus. Infected people may also have a fever and body aches. Symptoms typically appear in six to 13 days but can take as long as three weeks after exposure to show, and can last for two to four weeks. Health officials say smallpox vaccines and other treatments can be used to control an outbreak. How infectious is it? The virus spreads mainly through body fluids, skin contact and respiratory droplets, though some experts suggest that it could occasionally be airborne. Typically it does not lead to major outbreaks, though it has spread in unusual ways this year, and among populations that have not been vulnerable in the past. Should I be worried? The likelihood of the virus being spread during sexual contact is high, but the risk of transmission in other ways is low. Most people have mild symptoms and recover within weeks, but the virus can be fatal in a small percentage of cases. Studies also suggest that older adults may have some protection from decades-old smallpox vaccinations. Is monkeypox similar to Covid? Health experts say that monkeypox is unlikely to create a pandemic scenario similar to that of the coronavirus. While Covid-19 is a tiny RNA virus that can spread through aerosols, monkeypox is a larger DNA virus that is transmitted mostly through close physical contact and has a much smaller mutation rate than RNA viruses.









In this global outbreak, the disease has sometimes presented differently, as only a few lesions in the genital area or internally. As a result, there is a risk of it being confused with other sexually transmitted illnesses, such as syphilis and herpes, the C.D.C. warned in a recent health alert.
Mayor Eric Adams of New York City has not enforced the citys coronavirus vaccine mandate for employees at private businesses, and has no plans to begin inspecting businesses or begin fining those that are not in compliance.

Newsday first reported on the lack of enforcement of the vaccine mandate for private employers.

We have been focused on prioritizing education instead of enforcement when it comes to the private sector mandate, which is how weve been able to get more than 87 percent of all New Yorkers with their first dose to date, Fabien Levy, a spokesman for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, said in an email.

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a vaccine mandate for employees at private businesses in December, the most far-reaching local measure in the United States at the time. The mandate applied to around 184,000 businesses of all sizes with employees who work on-site in New York City.
Kolkata, June 23 (UNI) Indias leading carrier, IndiGo, won Value Airline of the year award at the recently held ATWs Airline Industry Achievement Awards 2022 in Doha.

IndiGo was honored for expanding its domestic and international network, and contribution to the Indian aviation sector despite the pandemic.

The award was presented to Willy Boulter- Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo during the 48th annual ATW Airline Industry Achievement Awards 2022.

At the conference, Boulter said We are really delighted to receive this prestigious ATW award, which I was pleased to accept on behalf of all our people atIndiGo who provide the on time, hassle free and affordable service that we are famous for. ATW awards are hard to win and a concrete recognition of all theprogress we have made, despite the pandemic, in growing the penetration and value of our brand in India and elsewhere.

The 2022 ATW Winners span the globe, with US carrier Alaska Airlines named Airline of the Year, Norwegian regional airline Widere winning Eco-Airline of theYear, Korean Air recognized as Cargo Operator of the Year, Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo named Value Airline of the Year, Amman-based Royal Jordanian namedAirline Market Leader and Canadian North named Regional Airline of the Year.

The 48th ATW Awards gala dinner was held in Doha, Qatar, at the closing of the 78th IATA AGM and World Air Transport Summit. The ATW Airline Industry Achievement Awards recognize excellence across a broad range of airline operations and are widely considered the most coveted in the air transport industry.

UNI BM KK
As for the state's renovation project, it will be the focus of a hearing in Manhattan on Friday, at which state lawmakers will take testimony from state officials, supporters and opponents of Gov. Kathy Hochuls plan to fund an overhaul of the station by letting developers fill the neighborhood around it with office towers and other tall buildings. The state would use payments from those developers to cover its share of the $7 billion cost of improving the station.

The renovation is aimed at replacing Penn Stations warren of cramped corridors that Ms. Hochul called a hellhole with a spacious, sunlit train hall that she said would lift the human spirit. But community leaders have questioned whether the scheme to have commercial developers pay for the renovation as well as the subsequent expansion of the station is feasible.

Under the Hochul plan, the towers surrounding the station would largely consist of office space, demand for which has declined sharply during the pandemic. The towers would be built over the next 20 to 30 years.

A report issued last month by the citys Independent Budget Office concluded that the state had provided too little information about the funding plan to determine whether it is viable, or if taxpayers might be saddled with some of the costs. Those questions spurred three state senators from the city  Liz Krueger, Leroy Comrie and Luis R. Sepulveda  to convene Fridays oversight hearing. Ms. Krueger and Mr. Comrie were among a group of 15 senators who sent a letter to state officials in March, demanding that they pause the Penn Station plan until these answers have been provided.

But Ms. Hochul instead has pressed for an acceleration of the stations renovation. Last week, she announced the release of a request for proposals for the redesign, even though that project had been scheduled to follow the Amtrak expansion of the station.

Mr. Gardner and Tony Coscia, Amtraks chairman, said the designers of the expansion would consider a range of alternatives, including adding tracks to the south of Penn Station, beneath the block of West 30th Street that is the longtime home of St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church. Thats one that Amtrak has long discussed and we believe is feasible, Mr. Gardner said.
When he ran for mayor last year, he said the forms were correct. He said he had transferred full ownership of the apartment to Cowan in 2007.

Adams has now acknowledged, quietly, that he still owns a half-share of the apartment. The admission came in his annual filing to the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board.

This time, he blamed his former accountant, who, Adams has said, continued to work for him after becoming homeless.

As was said during his campaign last year, Mayor Adams believed he had transferred his interest in the property to the other owner of the property in 2007, Fabien Levy, a spokesman for the mayor, said in a statement. However, once he got a new accountant, the mayor realized all the proper paperwork had not been filled out in the past.
To the Editor:

Re What Garland Needs to Decide Before Charging Trump, by Jack Goldsmith (Opinion guest essay, June 22):

If Professor Goldsmith is right, American democracy has already lost. In spelling out the difficulties that Attorney General Merrick Garland must overcome in order to prosecute Donald Trump in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection, Mr. Goldsmith all but concludes that the task is impossible. Prosecution will be portrayed as a political vendetta. Proving Mr. Trumps guilty intent will be exceedingly hard, making an acquittal likely. And an acquittal will be seen by Mr. Trump and his supporters as a vindication.

At the same time, Mr. Goldsmith concedes that a decision not to prosecute Mr. Trump will effectively place the president above the law. This bodes ill should Mr. Trump or someone like him again occupy the Oval Office.

Is this really Mr. Garlands only choice: a trial that threatens to tear an already divided nation apart, or allowing Mr. Trump to get away scot-free at the cost of undermining the rule of law? For the sake of democracy, there must be another option.
Myanmar became independent in 1948 with the end of British colonial rule, but the military, known as the Tatmadaw, seized power in 1962. The generals and their cronies have dominated Myanmar since, profiting from our mineral, timber, energy and other natural wealth while imposing a self-isolation that deprived our people of the economic growth that has uplifted millions elsewhere in Asia. Public health standards are appalling, and corruption, drug trafficking and other criminal activity are rife. Ethnic minorities have faced decades of human rights abuses by the Tatmadaw, and ethnic organizations have taken up arms to resist this in an almost constant state of civil war. A new generation in Myanmar will no longer stand for this.

We had hoped that elections in 2015, in which the people resoundingly voted for democracy, would be a genuine leap forward in Myanmars democratic transition. Internet access had just become affordable for the average person, and we became more aware of the outside world and connected with global democracy movements.

Over the next few years we also learned more about the treatment of our many ethnic minorities. Myanmars military was accused of genocide against the Rohingya people after the 2015 election. We were demoralized when the civilian government we had voted for, headed by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, defended these horrors. The military retained substantial powers, but we had come too far to be ordered back into a cage. Then came last years coup.

Led by the junta chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, it followed another crushing electoral victory by pro-democracy groups. A nonviolent nationwide civil disobedience campaign was met with indiscriminate killing, torture, forced disappearances, use of people as human shields and other terror tactics. According to the United Nations, more than 1,900 people have been killed, including at least 142 children, and more than 13,500 have been arrested for opposing the junta.
[MUSIC]

lulu garcia-navarro

Gun violence in America is near an all-time high, with a series of recent high-profile attacks in places like Uvalde, Texas and a constant barrage of killings on the streets of major American cities. In response, Congress is discussing a bipartisan plan to strengthen gun safety laws, but the Supreme Court might be headed in the opposite direction. Theyre expected to rule any day now in a case that could loosen gun restrictions, limiting the ability of states to decide who can and cant carry a gun outside the home. That decision could dramatically expand the scope of the Second Amendment. Unsurprisingly, the N.R.A. is backing the case. But surprisingly, they have found some unlikely allies, typically liberal public defenders in several large cities across the country. Sharone Mitchell Jr. is the public defender for Cook County, which includes Chicago. He grew up there on the South Side of the city. Now, Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the country and also some of the highest rates of gun violence. Thats led Sharone to have complex views on what it means to keep a community safe, views that seem to contradict decades of liberal attempts to restrict gun access. From The New York Times opinion, Im Lulu Garcia-Navarro, and this is First Person. Today, Sharone Mitchell Jr. and the progressive case against gun permits. Sharone, can you tell me about the first time you remember seeing a gun or seeing the effects of what a gun can do?

sharone mitchell jr.

I will say, you know, unfortunately I have not the best memory, but I certainly remember two things. I have two memories. I have a memory of a classmate getting shot. And I also remember seeing a kid, a friend of mine, who had a gun. This is certainly in grade school, probably sixth, seventh, eighth grade. I think those are the first memories, like personal memories, of guns and gun violence.

lulu garcia-navarro

And when you saw that kid who had a gun, do you remember what you thought when you saw it and in what context that was?

sharone mitchell jr.

I remember  and again, a little bit fuzzy, but it was around  listen, I got to stay safe, right? This is what I have to protect myself.

lulu garcia-navarro

Thats what the kid said?

sharone mitchell jr.

Yeah. Its like I keep it on me or something like that, just in case, stuff like that. And I remember being scared. But I remember understanding. It was kind of like I get it. I think it was lucky to have parents that I think really preached the dangers around that. But I got it. It made sense to me. Actually, another memory just came up. My mom was a librarian. And I used to spend a lot of time in the library. I was a really cool kid. And I remember I checked out a book. I could check out books by myself. And it was about guns. And my mom was like, why are you checking this out? Why do you need this? And I remember that being one of the times that we had a conversation about the idea that they just are not things that keep you safe and theyre something I should stay away from.

lulu garcia-navarro

So your friend is telling you guns keep him safe. Your mom is telling you they do the opposite. What did you say to her when she said that?

sharone mitchell jr.

I mean, I took it in. I think that obviously living on the South Side, gun violence is something that you are  just all around you. There werent a whole lot of people that  sorry, there is some incident thats going on outside of my window.

lulu garcia-navarro

I can hear that. [SIRENS BLARING]

sharone mitchell jr.

Give me a second.

lulu garcia-navarro

While we pause to wait for the sirens to stop, Sharone adjusted his microphone.

sharone mitchell jr.

How about now?

lulu garcia-navarro

Oh, so better. Yeah, yeah. Great. Are we good now?

sharone mitchell jr.

There are still cars out there, but it looks like the folks that are racing toward the scene are not there. It does look like a car accident, which is good, and not a shooting. Yeah.

lulu garcia-navarro

Yeah. So lets start just  I asked Sharone to pick up where he left off, with his perspective as a kid on the gun violence around him.

sharone mitchell jr.

You know, you only have the perspective of yourself kind of when youre that age.

lulu garcia-navarro

Sure.

sharone mitchell jr.

So I dont know if I thought that, oh my god, theres so much gun violence going on around me. That was just what I knew.

lulu garcia-navarro

You only know what you know.

sharone mitchell jr.

Yeah, you only know what you know. Its just something that you live with like you live with everything else going on in your life. Along with gun violence, there is just the random threat of violence growing up in the neighborhood, right, this idea of gangs and getting jumped, getting jumped for your Jordans or getting jumped for your Starter jacket. I think people had an interest in keeping themselves safe. My friend who showed me my first gun was of that same mindset. Like this is what Im going to do to make sure that I protect myself.

lulu garcia-navarro

Were people scared about the penalties of being caught with a gun? Because I believe handguns were banned at the time in the city, right?

sharone mitchell jr.

Yeah. I think theres a saying that its true. Its a terrible saying, but Id rather be judged by 12 than carried by six, and this idea that if this is the thing thats going to keep me on this earth, that Im going to go ahead and do that.

lulu garcia-navarro

Instead of being carried by six pallbearers.

sharone mitchell jr.

Exactly, exactly. So I think that was the thinking then. I think that that unfortunately is still the thinking now.

lulu garcia-navarro

I mean, do you remember how the police interacted in your neighborhood? I mean, was policing of guns a big part of the story of guns in your neighborhood at that time?

sharone mitchell jr.

I think policing in general. I dont know if it was just policing of guns, but it was policing in general. I always had this fear of police  not just around police violence, but also incarceration, getting accused of doing something you didnt do. So I definitely recall a time  it was only a couple blocks up from my house  where the cops pulled a gun on me. I was walking down the street, and they were racing down the street. And a cop car stopped really quickly. They told me to get down. I got down. They got a call. And they just zoomed off. It wasnt really a long incident. They were looking for somebody. But I certainly think that that incident played a large role.

lulu garcia-navarro

How old were you?

sharone mitchell jr.

I was probably somewhere between 12, 13, 14, you know. And one of the things I remember about it as well, that it was scary, but it was totally like  it was traumatic to me, but it wasnt unusual to me. And I hate that it was so normalized.

lulu garcia-navarro

So you grew up in the 90s in a neighborhood in Chicago where guns were fairly common and the police were always around also with guns. When did you realize that that was unusual? I mean, as you said earlier, we only know what we know, right?

sharone mitchell jr.

Yeah, yeah.

lulu garcia-navarro

But when did you start to realize that your experience growing up wasnt like everybody elses maybe?

sharone mitchell jr.

Yeah. I think it was when I started to go to school. I went to a predominantly Black grade school, lived in a predominantly Black neighborhood, went to a predominantly Black high school. And then when I went to college, I went to a predominantly white institution, the University of Illinois. I started to meet more white folks and have conversations with white folks, and you really got to see how your experiences were different.

lulu garcia-navarro

Well, tell me about that. How did that play out? What stood out to you in your college experience that made you think actually things do play out differently for different folks?

sharone mitchell jr.

I think one of the first things that I learned was that  you look at the numbers. You see whos arrested for drugs and whos arrested for consuming drugs and selling drugs. And you would think that, man, Black people do a whole lot more drugs than white people, but there were white folks around me doing a whole lot of drugs in college, and nobody was getting arrested for it. If Green Street in Champaign was police like Halsted Street around my way in Chicago, things would look a whole lot different when it came to who was in jail, who was in prison for drug use, and for, quite frankly, a whole lot of things.

lulu garcia-navarro

I mean, there are a lot of different ways I can imagine responding to the realization that people were policed really differently. You laughed when you talk about it now. How did you feel about it then though?

sharone mitchell jr.

I felt I was kind of bamboozled. I just didnt know that there were people out there that did way more drugs openly, and they werent scared of getting arrested. It was shocking. And its more of an ironic laugh than a real laugh. It was like, wow. I always knew that the system wasnt working really well. I would soon become a public defender, and there was always something in me that drove that. But to see, I think, the thinly veiled hypocrisy of the system had just an incredible impact on my development.

lulu garcia-navarro

When you become a public defender, by definition that means youre representing people accused of crimes who cant afford to hire a lawyer.

sharone mitchell jr.

Yeah.

lulu garcia-navarro

How did guns figure into those cases in those early years?

sharone mitchell jr.

You know, in the public defenders office, the more experience you get, the more complicated and more serious cases you get. So early on, I did not have a lot of gun cases, just how our system was set up. But as I became a more experienced attorney, more and more of our cases, my cases, involved guns. The reality is that most of those gun cases are actually gun possession cases. They are people who are accused of illegally possessing a firearm. That was the vast majority of my cases. We all know all of the things that go on in the big city  drugs, there are robberies, there are allegations of sexual assault, there are thefts, there are burglaries. The criminal code is literally thousands and thousands of pages long. But 25 percent of our cases are just gun possession cases. So it is something that essentially dominates our court calls.

lulu garcia-navarro

And just to be clear, thats the only crime these people are being charged with a quarter of the time, just having a gun?

sharone mitchell jr.

Illegally having a gun, yeah.

lulu garcia-navarro

So can you talk me through the circumstances in which people are being arrested for gun possession not involving another crime? I mean, what typically draws the attention of the police in the first place?

sharone mitchell jr.

Typically a search, you know, an encounter. Police could pull people over in a car. They could stop people on the street. We know that certain communities are policed very heavily. Theres lots of contact folks will have with police. We know that there are similar levels of possession of guns amongst other races. However, when you look at the numbers, the numbers are actually quite shocking. About 33 percent of the entire states unlawful use of a weapon Class 4 charges, about 33 percent of those charges are stemmed from arrest in 11 Chicago neighborhoods. So the entire state  take the entire state of Illinois  33 percent of those are from 11 neighborhoods in Chicago. So were talking young Black men in very particular neighborhoods.

lulu garcia-navarro

And for people who were carrying, theyre being charged with illegal possession presumably because they dont have a permit? I mean, why werent they obtaining the proper permits?

sharone mitchell jr.

Yeah so you know, there are a number of reasons. It is a relatively complicated process for a person who may not be great at putting together paperwork or may not have a lot of extra money. But we also know that to get this permit, there has to be essentially a sign-off from the government. And maybe Ive got a drug felony in my background. And if you have a felony in your background, then you cant legally possess. So these are folks that would come to us. So a number of reasons why people would not end up with these permits.

lulu garcia-navarro

OK, so youve been talking about the application of these gun laws. But why, in your view, do they actually exist in the first place? I mean, what is their intention?

sharone mitchell jr.

I think that these gun laws exist based upon a very real and understandable reaction to gun violence in our communities. Gun violence in our communities is out of control. And there are too many of our brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and grandmothers that have buried young people way too early. So I understand why the system has responded in the way that it has. But the real, I think, devil in the details is that  maybe its not a detail  is that the way weve done this has not reduced the supply and, or the demand of guns in the city. Every year, our police pull 5,000, 6,000, 8,000, 10,000, 12,000 guns off the street. But the amount of guns that are left on these streets is like a number that people havent even begun to calculate yet because the number is so high. We know from studies that folks still have very  when they feel unsafe, have very easy access to these guns. So what this response has done  I think first off, its important to note that they havent reduced the supply or demand of guns. But what it has done is put people in prison. It disrupts their entire life. If they have a job, they dont have it anymore. If they had an educational opportunity, they dont have anymore. If they were getting benefits from the government, they dont have those anymore. If their children relied on them for support, they werent there. And all of this incarceration, like we talked about before, is incredibly concentrated. So when we talk about safety, I think on one hand folks really think about, OK, if this person has a gun, right, we need to put them in prison, and that keeps us safe. Thats this very, I think, myopic view of safety. But in reality, the carnage that these prison stays and these criminal records are doing to a very concentrated group of people is having far, far, far greater impacts on the safety of the entire community.

lulu garcia-navarro

So I think all that might start to explain how in your current role you come to hold what I think for many will sound like a surprising view, which is that you are simultaneously very concerned about the role of guns in your community, but youve also publicly endorsed a position on gun control that is being advanced by the N.R.A., yes?

sharone mitchell jr.

Yeah. I think its complicated if you think about it for 12 seconds, but if you take two more minutes to think about it, I think its understandable. [MUSIC]

lulu garcia-navarro

Lets talk some more about this position.

sharone mitchell jr.

Yeah.

lulu garcia-navarro

Fast forwarding to now, youre in charge of the Cook County public defenders office.

sharone mitchell jr.

Yeah.

lulu garcia-navarro

You oversee hundreds of attorneys who are just like you, once were on the front lines defending clients. And in that role youve come out and supported the National Rifle Association in a huge gun rights case before the Supreme Court this session. The N.R.A. is looking to defend the rights of people in New York state who were denied permits that would allow them to conceal carry.

sharone mitchell jr.

Yeah.

lulu garcia-navarro

It could have huge implications for loosening all kinds of gun laws in this country, and so its very unpopular with a lot of progressive groups and people you would seem to often be aligned with. So lets just start with, first, how comfortable are you backing a case like this when I presume so much of the work that the N.R.A. does is very much at odds with your values?

sharone mitchell jr.

I think that my values are defined by the issues that are put before me and not the people who decide to take up that certain issue, if that makes sense, right? So while being on the same side of the N.R.A. is not something that Im going to be putting on my LinkedIn, I am supportive of not sending people to prison because they dont have a license. And I dont support laws being enforced in a way that only certain types of people go to prison for this charge. A system that is just so on its face racist is something that we need to work against.

lulu garcia-navarro

So just to make sure Im clear, you want to see the system of licensing and permitting for guns go away?

sharone mitchell jr.

I think that the current  how the licensing exists in New York and how the licensing exists in Illinois is broken. The scheme doesnt limit access to guns, like thats the whole point. I am very much for proposals that actually reduce the flow of guns in our community. Im very much for repealing all of these legal fictions that give the gun industry immunity away from civil lawsuit. Im very much for prohibiting the manufacture of assault weapons that are literally ripping our children apart or prohibiting the production of high-capacity magazines. Im for just a host of things that are actually going to reduce the flow of guns in our community. But what Im saying is that what the Supreme Court is looking at is not doing that. We have licenses on the books right now. And every morning, we get a reminder in Chicago and in almost every other urban area how that strategy fails.

lulu garcia-navarro

For most of the people who hold the view though that there are too many guns in this country, that guns are a bad thing, what youre putting forward, getting rid of requirements that guns should be licensed, is pretty much everything theyve been fighting against. The case taken to the Supreme Court by the N.R.A. is about expanding gun access. So it seems to me that youve reached a kind of place in your view of whats possible in this country where the only effective solution you see when it comes to guns is one that acknowledges that theyre going to be ubiquitous in American life?

sharone mitchell jr.

I just think its a little bit more complicated than that. So if we look at the New York case, right now what exists is that the New York Police Department can basically tell people  they have unilateral discretion to determine who gets a license for a gun. And then that same police department turns around and only arrests Black and brown people for not having gun licenses. I think that there is a better way of exploring safety. And I think we need to be a little bit more, I think, specific when we talk about what gun control is. Because I would actually argue that this scheme isnt gun control. It doesnt control any guns.

lulu garcia-navarro

So that view has put you in the same camp as some unlikely figures. Weve talked about the N.R.A.. I want to ask you about another that has emerged in recent weeks in the wake of the elementary school shooting in Texas.

archived recording (greg abbott) I know that people like to try to oversimplify this. Lets talk about some real facts.

lulu garcia-navarro

Governor Greg Abbott was, of course, asked about gun control, and he specifically talked about your city and its gun violence problem.

archived recording (greg abbott) There are, quote, real gun laws in Chicago. I hate to say this, but there are more people who were shot every weekend in Chicago than there are in schools in Texas. And we need to realize that people who think that, well, maybe if we just implement tougher gun laws, its going to solve it. Chicago, and L.A., and New York disprove that thesis.

lulu garcia-navarro

And he said Chicago proves that theres no point in gun control. Its not a real solution.

archived recording (greg abbott) And so if youre looking for a real solution, Chicago teaches that what youre talking about is not a real solution.

lulu garcia-navarro

Now, Texas has essentially gotten rid of its licensing and permitting system. So is Governor Abbott also now someone you are in some ways aligned with on this?

sharone mitchell jr.

No, because Governor Abbott is using Chicago and not looking at Chicago the city. Hes using Chicago as basically a euphemism for Black people. When people say, what about Chicago, theyre not looking to have a detailed conversation about whats happening in the city. What they are saying is, well, what about those Black people over there? So this idea that Governor Abbott is studying these laws, right, and has looked at Chicago, and decided that certain laws dont work and certain laws do work is something I just fundamentally reject. I dont feel bad about my position because Governor Abbott or other folks decide to take on that messaging.

lulu garcia-navarro

This conservative Supreme Court is expected to side with the N.R.A. in this case. Lets say the decision goes the way you want. Paint me a picture of the best possible version of Americas relationship to guns in the world youre imagining, the world in which the N.R.A. wins this case. What does that look like?

sharone mitchell jr.

I guess my point is that if the Supreme Court were to strike down this particular licensing scheme, which has all types of problems with it, I dont think that that means that gun control is dead in the United States. I believe that it could be an opportunity, right, to really pursue policies that actually try to control guns. One of the things that could come out of all of this is that the Supreme Court says that the current licensing scheme is broken and that the legislator needs to go back and fix the licensing scheme, and that there are lots of problems in the licensing scheme. I think thatd be a good thing, to destroy that system.

lulu garcia-navarro

The N.R.A. certainly isnt presenting this case to the Supreme Court because theyre trying to restrict access to guns. I mean, theyre asking to expand it. They believe that this will allow people more access to guns, not less.

sharone mitchell jr.

Yeah. I cant speak for the N.R.A.. I am a person who wants to reduce the supply of guns in my community. That is a position that the N.R.A. does not hold. Through my career Ive gotten death threats from the N.R.A. folks. Im not a friend of the N.R.A., so  I think this is an issue that public defenders and the N.R.A. happen to be on the same side of this position. And I think it speaks to that complexity of this whole gun violence debate, this idea that this is the N.R.A. side. How could you be on the N.R.A. side? To me its just  it does not paint a clear picture of the complexity of the situation. And I think that there is a danger of saying, oh, this is the N.R.A.s position. And because this is the N.R.A.s position, its not worth looking at. Its not worth listening to. And I think thats a real danger. Weve seen these gun registration laws to have incredibly  I mean, breathtakingly  its tough for me to put into words how discriminatory these laws have been. And its tough to put into words how ineffective they have been at keeping our community safe. If the N.R.A. loses, you know, if New York state wins, my community doesnt get any safer. There arent going to be less people murdered every single day in my city. And Im really, really, really, really interested in solutions that could change that dynamic.

lulu garcia-navarro

Sharone, thank you very much.

sharone mitchell jr.

Thank you very much for this conversation. I know its incredibly complicated, but Im excited that we had that chance to talk.

lulu garcia-navarro
Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted in a concurrence joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, moreover, that while states may not impose restrictions that prevent ordinary, law abiding citizens from carrying a gun to defend themselves, states can still enact rigorous requirements for a public carry permit, such as stringent background and mental health records checks and completion of regular training courses.

Another promising reform for states to consider would be to require gun owners to possess firearm liability insurance. Not only would such a requirement ensure that victims of gun violence can recover for their losses and provide financial incentives for responsible arms carrying, but it also draws strong historical support from a host of 19th century surety laws recognized in the courts opinion.

And on Friday, the court eliminated the right to abortion. Because of the sweeping nature of the courts decision, there are some limits on what pro-choice states can do alone. But at a minimum, lawmakers should act vigorously to ensure that abortion providers are able to serve out-of-state patients unable to obtain care in their home states. Connecticut and New York have already passed such laws; others should follow suit.

As Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan noted in their dissent, it is women who cannot afford to travel to other states who will suffer the most.

To protect these patients, lawmakers must act at the national level. So the Biden administration should argue that Food and Drug Administration rules permitting the use of mifepristone to terminate a pregnancy override contrary state laws. Promisingly, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a statement on Friday advancing precisely this approach. Congress should also continue working to enact the Womens Health Protection Act to enshrine a right to abortion as a matter of federal law, even though the filibuster remains an obstacle.

Last fall, Justice Sotomayor, for whom I clerked in 2013-14, predicted that there would be a lot of disappointment in the law in the current court term. Now we see why. For understandable reasons, some critics of the current court have girded for a battle to expand the number of justices. Maine has shown another promising path. Sometimes, the best way to protect against overreaching by the conservative court is through good old-fashioned lawmaking.

Aaron Tang (@AaronTangLaw) is a law professor at the University of California, Davis, and a former law clerk to Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
We have just scratched the surface, but weve been very dogmatic, he said.

That dogma began cracking in the 1990s. Microbiologists found that some bacteria have independently evolved compartments of their own. They also discovered species that were visible to the naked eye. Epulopiscium fishelsoni, for example, came to light in 1993. Living inside surgeonfish, the bacteria grows to 600 microns long  larger than a grain of salt.

Olivier Gros, a biologist at the University of the Antilles, discovered Thiomargarita magnifica in 2009 while surveying the mangrove forests of Guadeloupe, a cluster of Caribbean islands that are part of France. The microbe looked like miniature pieces of white spaghetti, forming a coat on dead tree leaves floating in the water.

At first, Dr. Gros did not know what he had found. He thought the spaghetti might be fungi, tiny sponges or some other eukaryote. But when he and his colleagues extracted DNA from samples in the lab, it revealed they were bacteria.

Dr. Gros joined forces with Dr. Volland and other scientists to look more closely at the strange organisms. They wondered if the bacteria were microscopic cells stuck together into chains.

That turned out not to be the case. When the researchers peered inside the bacterial noodles with electron microscopes, they realized each one was its own gigantic cell. The average cell measured about 9,000 microns long, and the biggest was 20,000 microns  long enough to span the diameter of a penny.

Studies on Thiomargarita magnifica have moved slowly because Dr. Vallant and his colleagues have yet to figure out how to grow the bacteria in their lab. For now, Dr. Gros has to gather a fresh supply of the bacteria each time the team wants to run a new experiment. He can find them not just on leaves, but oyster shells and plastic bottles sitting on the sulfur-rich sediments in the mangrove forest. But the bacteria seem to follow an unpredictable life cycle.
Since 1986, American Girl dolls like Molly McIntire, recognizable by her braids and round glasses, and Josefina Montoya, dressed in a long red-and-blue skirt and moccasins, have transported children who played with them to Illinois during World War II or to what is now New Mexico, during the early 19th century.

Books like Samantha Helps a Friend and Felicitys Surprise have functioned as windows onto history for young readers who eagerly followed their favorite characters adventures.

Now, a meme has sprung up on social media in which people cheekily suggest expanding the historical American Girl doll universe to include other historical dramas, many of them veering into the absurd.
Without the pompadour, no Elvis costume can be considered complete. Impersonators would never consider going without Elviss patent leather coiffure. Austin Butlers hair in Mr. Luhrmanns film is shoe-blacked just as Elviss was. What each has in common with the other is hair that in its natural state is some shade of blonde.

In civilian life, and as his income grew, Elvis became an early adopter of fashions. Like many hipsters and countless musicians of the late 1950s, he favored Cuban-collared shirts, wide-legged, pleated trousers, slip-on loafers and blouson jackets  a style that mens wear labels like Prada revisit with clocklike regularity.

Unlike millions of other Americans then and now, Elvis seldom wore jeans outside of the films he starred in once Hollywood discovered the handsome working class Southern hero and put him to work making 31 movies in 13 years. Elvis disliked denim, it was said, because it was too sharp a reminder of his humble origins.
{DEEP BREATH.}

I could bore you with details of why Apple makes a distinction between buying a subscription from Patreon and buying one from Tinder. There is logic behind why you can buy a paperback copy of 1984 from Amazons Android app but not the e-book edition, and why new Netflix subscribers used to be able to sign up from its Android app but now cant. Or, sort of cant. Its another pretzel twist.

It took me hours of phone calls and sleuthing to figure out all the details in the paragraphs you just read. If so many rules, exceptions and explanations are needed to buy things from an app in 2022, perhaps the logic of the app economy is illogical.

For years, some companies that make apps have griped about how Google and especially Apple control many aspects of this economy. They both dictate which apps we can download easily through their app stores and when they directly handle purchases that we make through apps.

If we use an app to buy stuff that exists in the real world, such as an Uber ride or a meal kit subscription, those purchases bypass Apple and Google. The fight is over buying things that we use digitally, such as a trinket used in a smartphone app game or a dating app subscription.

The problem is that distinctions that seemed sensible when Apple created its app storefront in 2008 dont necessarily fit the modern digital economy.

Ive written before about YouTube video creators who cant understand why Apple or Google is entitled to a chunk of the money  potentially forever  that their fans pay them through an app.
New Delhi, June 23 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, have taken many practical steps that make the grouping a unique international organisation, whose focus is not limited to just talk.

In his opening remarks at the 14th BRICS summit, hosted by China virtually, Prime Minister Modi thanked all the BRICS nations for holding major International Day of Yoga events in their countries, and especially extended thanks for the cooperation from the countries teams.

He said that for the third successive year the leaders -- Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Brazil's President Jair Bolsanaro -- are meeting in virtual format amid the challenges of the Covid pandemic.
Mr. Reynolds disputed that 60 people were focused on the integrity of elections. He said Meta had hundreds of people across more than 40 teams focused on election work. With each election, he said, the company is building teams and technologies and developing partnerships to take down manipulation campaigns, limit the spread of misinformation and maintain industry-leading transparency around political ads and pages.

Trenton Kennedy, a Twitter spokesman, said the company was continuing our efforts to protect the integrity of election conversation and keep the public informed on our approach. For the midterms, Twitter has labeled the accounts of political candidates and provided information boxes on how to vote in local elections.

How Meta and Twitter treat elections has implications beyond the United States, given the global nature of their platforms. In Brazil, which is holding a general election in October, President Jair Bolsonaro has recently raised doubts about the countrys electoral process. Latvia, Bosnia and Slovenia are also holding elections in October.

People in the U.S. are almost certainly getting the Rolls-Royce treatment when it comes to any integrity on any platform, especially for U.S. elections, said Sahar Massachi, the executive director of the think tank Integrity Institute and a former Facebook employee. And so however bad it is here, think about how much worse it is everywhere else.

Facebooks role in potentially distorting elections became evident after 2016, when Russian operatives used the site to spread inflammatory content and divide American voters in the U.S. presidential election. In 2018, Mr. Zuckerberg testified before Congress that election security was his top priority.
The Bourgeois Gentleman arguably cements Hecqs place as one of the Comedie-Francaises most category-defying and valuable artists. With his gruff voice, small frame and clownlike gift for physical exaggeration, he could easily have been typecast as a commedia dellarte servant. Yet his emotional range  willing to be thoroughly ridiculed one second, the picture of relatable heartbreak the next  is evident in his Monsieur Jourdain, the clueless bourgeois who wants nothing more than to be accepted as an aristocrat.

And together with Lesort, he has emerged as part of a duo of stage magicians, deploying old-fashioned tricks and visual imagination. In The Bourgeois Gentleman, that means flying swords, a life-size embroidered elephant and animated goat heads that sway to one of the songs. Since this play also started life as a comedie-ballet, the original score, by Lully, has been revisited here by Mich Ochowiak and Ivica Bogdanic, in a vigorous style inspired by Balkan music. The costumes, by Vanessa Sannino, are luxuriously eccentric: Francoise Gillard, in the role of a marchioness, looks like a fabulous golden beehive.

The Bourgeois Gentleman and The Forced Marriage each steer Moliere toward crepuscular absurdity. Like Ivo van Hoves Tartuffe, which opened the Comedie-Francaises Moliere extravaganza in January, both productions are mostly designed in shades of gray or black, a departure from the colorful palette that is customary for the playwrights comedies.

This monochromatic approach helps the Comedie-Francaise orient itself toward the contemporary even as it celebrates its founding father  something that does not seem to concern Versailless Moliere Month, a likable event founded in 1996. Many of its performances, staged around the town outside Paris where Moliere presented a number of his plays to Louis XIV, are free, and feature a mix of professional actors and amateurs.

As a result, the quality varies significantly. A staging of The Impostures of Scapin, directed by Carlo Boso and starring first-year theater students, drew many families with children to a local park on a sunny Sunday afternoon, though the laughs were few and far between. The fact that a number of roles were played in Italian didnt help, although the result was easy enough to follow. The audience reacted more readily to anachronistic jokes  like a reference to the film Titanic  than to Molieres lines.
As lawmakers scrambled to evacuate the House chamber while a mob of pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Representative Adam Kinzinger, Republican of Illinois, was blunt about what was unfolding.

This is a coup attempt, Mr. Kinzinger wrote on Twitter.

Unlike a vast majority of his Republican colleagues, Mr. Kinzinger has remained steadfast in condemning what happened that day and the role of President Donald J. Trump in stoking it. Some of those colleagues initially faulted Mr. Trump but later walked back their criticism and downplayed the severity of the attack. He has maintained his position despite reprehension from his colleagues, his political party and even members of his family.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Mr. Kinzinger to the committee after rejecting two lawmakers chosen by Republican leaders who had defended Mr. Trump after the riot. He joined Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who has also been outspoken in condemning Mr. Trump and the riot, as the only Republicans on the panel.
The Supreme Court has ruled that New Yorks law governing the carrying of handguns is unconstitutional, but the law is not yet off the books.

The case will now be sent back to a lower court  the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit  which is expected to send it back to Federal District Court in New York, said Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who specializes in constitutional law and gun policy.

That court is likely to give officials in New York a grace period, instead of striking the law down immediately, Mr. Winkler said.
Incentives for states to implement red flag laws

The bill would provide $750 million in federal money to states that create so-called red flag laws, which allow guns to be temporarily confiscated from people deemed dangerous by a judge. The funding, meant to incentivize the enactment of such measures, would also support the creation of crisis intervention court programs.

What was left out: Democrats wanted to go further than providing incentives to states and enact a federal red flag measure, passed in the House, that would allow guns to be taken from anyone deemed by a federal judge to be dangerous.

Closing the boyfriend loophole

One of the bills last sticking points was a provision to toughen federal law to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. It would expand current law that bars people convicted of domestic violence or subject to a domestic violence restraining order from buying a gun. The current law applies only to people who are married to or lived with the victim, or had a child with them.

The legislation would include other intimate partners, closing what has come to be known as the boyfriend loophole.

What was left out: Democrats wanted a blanket prohibition, but in negotiations with Republicans, they agreed to allow some offenders to regain the ability to purchase a gun. If a person is a first-time offender and the crime is a violent misdemeanor, the ban would disappear five years after the end of their criminal sentence, so long as they did not commit further violent crimes. Negotiators also agreed not to make the provision retroactive, bowing to another demand by Republicans.

Funding for mental health and school safety

The bill would allocate billions of dollars to schools and communities for expanding mental health programs. The funding also aims to boost school safety. The bill grants $300 million over five years for school safety programs targeting violence that would fund school resource officers and beef up security in schools. In addition, funding would go to training school personnel and adults who interact with minors to respond to mental health issues.
The former governor has denied all wrongdoing, and on Thursday his campaign pointed to a previous statement provided to The New York Times by Tim Parlatore, a lawyer for the candidate. The alleged abusive behavior never happened, Mr. Parlatore said, and he accused Ms. Greitens of lying.

At a court hearing on Thursday, Ms. Wade said that Ms. Greitens had received death threats this week after Mr. Greitens released a violent new political video that shows him armed with a shotgun and storming a home in search of RINOs, or Republicans in name only, along with what appears to be a SWAT team wielding military-style rifles.

Shes scared, Ms. Wade said, according to The Kansas City Star. This has not happened before. This video suggests the use of violence against all RINOs.

Until now in the Senate primary campaign, not one television ad has aired laying out Ms. Greitenss most recent allegations. One of the new ads from Show Me Values will focus on her accusations, saying that Mr. Greitens has faced scandal after scandal, according to two people familiar with its contents.

Most voters were not even aware of the details of the hair stylists allegations, according to public-opinion research conducted months ago by a rival campaign.
Stinging from his resounding defeat in Alabamas Republican runoff for the Senate on Tuesday and a snub from former President Donald J. Trump, Representative Mo Brooks now appears to be willing to testify as part of the Jan. 6 investigation.

Mr. Brooks signaled on Wednesday that he would comply with an impending subpoena from the bipartisan House committee that is leading the inquiry into the attack on the Capitol  but only under certain conditions.

His comments to the media, reported by CNN on Wednesday, came one day after he lost a bitter primary runoff to Katie Britt. Mr. Trump withdrew his endorsement of Mr. Brooks in March when he began slipping in the polls, and gave his support to Ms. Britt in the final weeks of the campaign.
As the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol has built its public case that Donald J. Trump was at the center of an attempted coup, the panel has relied heavily on a seemingly unlikely stream of witnesses: Mr. Trumps own advisers, his fellow Republicans and even his own family.

Those closest to Mr. Trump have been deposed, portrayed or shown dismissing the former presidents false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. And yet the fight to thwart the will of the people continued unabated.

The powerful testimony from a parade of Republicans, in four tightly produced hearings, has exposed in searing and consequential detail how divided the party has become between the faction that accepts the reality of the 2020 election and the many more who still cling to Mr. Trumps anti-democratic falsehoods about a stolen election.
Richard P. Donoghue, who served as acting deputy attorney general in the Trump administration, was a crucial witness to President Donald J. Trumps efforts to use the Justice Department to overturn the 2020 election results, and one of several officials there who pumped the brakes on the plan.

Mr. Donoghue repeatedly pushed back on Mr. Trumps claims of voter fraud in Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Arizona, and he refused to go along when Mr. Trump insisted that the department simply say that the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me, according to notes Mr. Donoghue took of a Dec. 27, 2020, call with Mr. Trump and Jeffrey A. Rosen, the acting attorney general.

On Thursday, Mr. Donoghue was appearing in person before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol in a hearing at which aides said the panel would reveal new evidence of Mr. Trumps bid to use the nations law enforcement apparatus to invalidate his defeat and stay in power.
Fifteen Senate Republicans joined all 50 Democrats to pass the legislation, which aims to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.

WASHINGTON  The Senate approved bipartisan legislation on Thursday aimed at keeping firearms out of the hands of dangerous people, after a small group of Republicans joined Democrats to break through their partys longstanding blockade of gun safety measures and shatter nearly three decades of congressional paralysis on toughening the nations gun laws.

Spurred to action by a mass shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the Senate passed the measure 65 to 33, with 15 Republicans, including Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, breaking ranks to side with Democrats in support of the measure. Two Republican senators were absent.

It would enhance background checks for prospective gun buyers ages 18 to 21, requiring for the first time that juvenile records, including mental health records beginning at age 16, be vetted for potentially disqualifying material. The bill would provide incentives for states to pass red flag laws that allow guns to be temporarily confiscated from people deemed by a judge to be too dangerous to possess them. And it would tighten a federal ban on domestic abusers buying firearms, and strengthen laws against straw purchasing and trafficking of guns.

It also includes hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for mental health programs and to beef up security in schools.

This is not a cure-all for all the ways gun violence affects our nation, but it is a long overdue step in the right direction, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, said on the Senate floor. Its significant  its going to save lives.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California announced on Thursday night that the House would move to take up the measure on Friday morning. White House officials have said President Biden would sign it, calling the bill one of the most significant steps Congress has taken to reduce gun violence in decades.

The bipartisan breakthrough came on the same day that the Supreme Court struck down a New York law that placed strict limits on carrying guns outside the home, reflecting a stark divergence between the conservative-leaning court and the Democratic-controlled Congress on one of the most politically intractable issues in the country.

The vote tally also underscored how deeply polarizing the issue remains, and how fleeting the spirit of compromise around guns may be. Most Republicans opposed the bill, and most of those backing it will not face voters this year, suggesting that the measure was less an opening for a new era of bipartisan consensus on gun violence than a rare moment of agreement that may soon give way to more gridlock, particularly if Republicans win control of Congress this fall.

Still, a small group of Democrats and Republicans seized on the outrage that followed the massacre in Uvalde almost exactly one month ago and a racist mass shooting in Buffalo days before that to forge a modest compromise that could succeed where earlier attempts had repeatedly failed.

Mr. McConnell praised Democrats for being willing to give up their wish list and accept less than they have insisted on in past efforts at revamping gun laws.

He also conceded that he and other Republicans saw a clear political advantage in supporting the legislation in a midterm election year in which their path to winning control of Congress runs through the suburbs, where their partys hard-right lurch has alienated many voters.

Its no secret that weve lost ground in suburban areas, Mr. McConnell told reporters on Thursday night. I hope it will be viewed favorably by voters in the suburbs we need to regain to be in the majority next year.

The compromise, the product of an intense round of talks between a small group of Democrats and Republicans, omits many of the sweeping gun control measures that Democrats and activists have long called for.

Toiling to keep Republicans on board, Democrats left out their marquee gun control proposals, including a House-passed measure that would prohibit the sale of semiautomatic rifles to people younger than 21, a ban on the sale of high-capacity magazines and a federal red flag law. They also agreed that the enhanced background checks for younger buyers would expire after a decade, just as the assault weapons ban did in 2004, leaving future Congresses to haggle anew about whether to extend it.

But it included substantial breakthroughs beyond what Democrats had initially thought possible when they set out to find a modest deal that could, at the very least, show that Congress was capable of responding to national crisis.

Ive never seen families and kids and parents as scared as they were after Uvalde, Senator Christopher S. Murphy of Connecticut, the lead Democratic negotiator, said on Thursday. They were scared for their childrens safety, he said, but they were also scared that their government was so fundamentally broken that it couldnt step up and address the one thing that matters most to anybody in this country  the safety of our kids.

Mr. Murphy said that while the legislation fell short of everything Democrats would like to pass, it provided an answer that allows us to tell families all across this country that the era of inaction is over.

The bill would set aside $750 million in federal grant funding to help states implement red flag laws and for other crisis intervention programs, including mental health courts.

In another change long sought by activists against domestic violence, it would include serious current or recent dating partners in a federal law that bars domestic abusers from being able to purchase a firearm, closing what has become known as the boyfriend loophole. The ban currently applies only to people who have been married to, have been living with or have a child with a victim.

The legislation would set aside millions of dollars, largely in grants, to address mental health in schools and communities, including $150 million for the national suicide hotline. It also would provide $300 million for school safety programs, including bolstering security and funding school resource officers.

Besides Mr. McConnell, the Republican support came from centrists, longtime veterans of previous failed negotiations, and notably, lawmakers just a couple of years into their latest term. Just two of the 15 Republicans, Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana, are facing voters in November, and four are retiring.

In trying to make their case to Republicans, Mr. McConnell and Senator John Cornyn of Texas, his handpicked emissary to the talks, conducted a poll of 1,000 gun-owning households across the country and found that most supported the key elements. A solid majority backed increasing federal funding for states to maintain or implement red flag laws, and more than 80 percent supported closing the boyfriend loophole and allowing law enforcement to have more time to examine juvenile and mental health records.

That was not enough for most Senate Republicans, however, who argued that the measure would infringe upon the rights of gun owners.

Im angry that these horrific crimes keep happening, but Im also angry that this august chamber plays political games, said Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, who teamed with Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 3 Republican, in an unsuccessful effort to strip out the gun-related measures and divert federal funds to mental health and school safety programs.

Do something that will stop these crimes  this bill aint that, but it does have provisions that are troubling, Mr. Cruz added. It does have provisions that satisfy the Democrat political priority to go after the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms of law-abiding citizens.

Mr. Cruz was echoing some of the criticism that the National Rifle Association heaped on the bill. The group said the legislation does little to truly address violent crime while opening the door to unnecessary burdens on the exercise of Second Amendment freedom by law-abiding gun owners.

Democratic proponents said the legislations approval was possible only because the senators involved in the talks put aside their parties orthodoxies to find a deal.

Our bipartisan group of senators rejected the notion that legislating must be a zero-sum game with winners on one tally sheet and losers on the other, said Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, a key Democratic negotiator who took on the role of conduit to the Republican side during the negotiations.

That meant Democrats had to tailor the bills provisions to appeal to Republicans. For instance, they accepted a G.O.P. demand that closing the boyfriend loophole would not be implemented retroactively and that dating partners who commit a single misdemeanor offense can regain the ability to purchase a gun after five years if their records remain clean.

The potential we have to save lives is worth any sort of concession we might have had to make during the negotiation, Mr. Cornyn said in a speech on Thursday night, in which he thanked his colleagues for ignoring those who would spew disinformation and outright lies about the measure. Afterward, several Democrats went up to Mr. Cornyn, who was heckled at a Republican gathering in Texas last week for last week for participating in the talks, to offer thanks and shake his hand.

Democrats were hoping that the majority of Republicans who opposed the bill would look out of step with voters in the coming midterm elections. A recent Quinnipiac poll showed that 59 percent of Republicans and 76 percent of independents favored raising the minimum legal age to buy any gun to 21. And the vast majority, including Republican voters, supported at least some gun control measures, including enhanced background checks.
Kigali/New Delhi, June 23 (UNI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday participated in a group photo-op at the CHOGM Foreign Ministers meet in the Rwandan capital, that also included Pakistan Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar. The EAM also held talks with several of his counterparts on the sidelines of the CHOGM meet.

Earlier, he addressed the CHOGM Foreign Ministers plenary on theme of Democracy, Peace & Governance. He stressed that India, the worlds largest democracy, offers numerous examples for the Commonwealth. Our digital backbone is of particular relevance.

Underscored the importance of collectively addressing the crucial challenges of our times, including post COVID recovery, climate change and ongoing global conflicts, he said in tweets.
A lawyer for families of the victims, Judd G. Rosen, queried further: Do you agree with me that a reasonable security company should train its officers how to use a system that can notify all the residents of an impending disaster?

Yes, Mr. Vautrin replied.

We decided to run

The loud noise that brought Jonah and Ms. Fang to their balcony in the initial stages of the disaster also awakened Paolo Longobardi on the third floor. Thunder, he thought. But his wife, Anastasiya, had heard something more unsettling: an unnatural, metallic crunch.

The two of them, groggy with sleep, peered out the sliding glass door of their bedroom overlooking the pool. Below them, the pool deck was caving in.

It was disappearing into the ground, Mr. Longobardi said. It was like a wave coming from the right to the left  from the south to the north  and it was falling.

Around that time, the buildings alarm system was starting to activate, first at 1:15:29 a.m., when it signaled trouble, according to a data log. Seventeen seconds later, a fire alarm triggered. It sent out an automated alert to a monitoring company, though it is not clear that it generated an audible alarm on any floor. Soon after, a staff member at the monitoring company notified 911 that a fire alarm had been activated at Champlain Towers.

But even as initial signals of trouble were transmitted to the monitoring agency and then to the authorities, few people in the building were notified of what was happening.
By the time he reached college, he had been through various addiction treatment programs. He had become so paranoid that he thought the mob was after him and his college was a base for the F.B.I., Ms. Stack said. At one point, after he moved out of his childhood home, he threatened to kill the family dog unless his parents gave him money. His mother later discovered that Johnny had obtained his own medical marijuana card when he turned 18 and had begun dealing to younger kids.

After several stays at mental hospitals, the doctors determined that Johnny had a severe case of THC abuse, Ms. Stack said. He was prescribed an anti-psychotic medication, which helped  but then he stopped taking it. In 2019, Johnny died after jumping from a six-story building. He was 19. A few days before his death, Ms. Stack said, Johnny had apologized to her, saying that weed had ruined his mind and his life, adding, Im sorry, and I love you.

A recent study found that people who used marijuana had a greater likelihood of suicidal ideation, plan and attempt than those who did not use the drug at all. Ms. Stack now runs a nonprofit called Johnnys Ambassadors that educates communities about high-THC cannabis and its effect on the adolescent brain.

Theres no known safe limit.

It can be difficult to pinpoint exactly how much THC enters someones brain when theyre using cannabis. Thats because its not just the frequency of use and THC concentration that affect dosage, its also how fast the chemicals are delivered to the brain. In vaporizers, the speed of delivery can change depending on the base the THC is dissolved in, the strength of the devices battery and how warm the product becomes when its heated up.

Higher doses of THC are more likely to produce anxiety, agitation, paranoia and psychosis.

The younger you are, the more vulnerable your brain is to developing these problems, Dr. Levy said.

Youths are also more likely to become addicted when they start using marijuana before the age of 18, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
This is a turning point because now peoples eyes are open, said William Gumede, chairman of the Democracy Works Foundation. The report has laid bare the systemic party within the ruling party, the African National Congress, he added, and South Africa will no longer place it on a pedestal.

Still, any change will be slow, after the national prosecution authority was also crippled by corruption. It is likely to be further delayed by infighting in the African National Congress as it deals with the fallout of the report, said Mr. Gumede.

Mr. Ramaphosa is currently enveloped in his own corruption scandal. He is facing questions over a 2020 burglary at his farm, which was never reported. A political foe and ally of Mr. Zuma accused Mr. Ramaphosa of covering up the theft of between $4 million and $8 million in U.S. currency to avoid scrutiny over having large sums of cash tucked away. That same ally, the former state security boss Arthur Fraser, was also implicated in the corruption report.

The so-called Farmgate scandal comes ahead of a party conference, in which Mr. Ramaphosa is campaigning for re-election. He was not unscathed by the recent report.

Mr. Ramaphosa campaigned on a ticket of renewal, for the ruling A.N.C. as well as for South Africa as a whole. The report accused Mr. Ramaphosa and the A.N.C. of being slow to respond to corruption and said their ambivalence allowed graft to flourish.

It is not possible to find solutions to state capture and corruption, the commission said, if the ruling party does things that either protect those involved in corruption and state capture or adopts positions that constitute fertile ground for state capture and corruption.
In her testimony on Thursday, she offered similarly withering assessments of the Trump administrations coronavirus response, suggesting that officials in 2020 had mistakenly viewed the coronavirus as akin to the flu, even after seeing high Covid-19 death rates in Asia and Europe. That perspective, she said, had caused a false sense of security in America as well as a sense among the American people that this was not going to be a serious pandemic.

Not using concise, consistent communication, she added, resulted in inaction early on, I think, across our agencies.

And those at fault, she said, were not just the president.

Many of our leaders were using words like, We could contain, she continued. And you cannot contain a virus that cannot be seen. And it wasnt being seen because we werent testing.

Dr. Birx became a controversial figure during her time in the Trump White House.

A respected AIDS researcher, she was plucked from her position running the governments program to combat the international H.I.V. epidemic to coordinate the federal Covid response. But her credibility came into question when she failed to correct Mr. Trumps unscientific musings about the coronavirus and praised him on television as being attentive to the scientific literature. She was also criticized for bolstering White House messaging in the early months of the coronavirus outbreak that the pandemic was easing.
Hopes of finding additional survivors faded a day after a deadly earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, with the worst damage apparently centered in remote, mountainous Paktika Province. Provincial officials said that at least 1,000 people had been killed, while the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that 770 people had been killed and 1,440 people had been injured in the 5.9-magnitude quake, and cautioned that those figures were very likely to rise.

In Geyan, one of the hardest hit districts in the province, the agency said that 1,500 houses were damaged or destroyed. These images show the initial scale of the damage and the relief efforts, which officials said were winding down.
We have to stay here, winter or spring, he said gesturing to the makeshift tent. Still, he said, he felt lucky to be alive.

Back at the Paktika public hospital in Sharana on Thursday, survivors described horrific scenes of crumbled buildings, anguished cries for help and bodies strewn throughout a desolate moonscape.

Like Hawa, many of those survivors were facing bleak futures. Only two of her six children survived the quake. Her three sons and one daughter died, along with 17 other family members.

I lost everything, my whole world, my whole family, I dont have any hope for the future, she said. I wish I had lost everything, that we had all died, because theres no one to take care of us, to find money or food for us now.

Recounting the hours she spent trapped in her collapsed house, she said she could feel the chest of her 1-year-old daughter, Safia, barely moving beneath her left hand. Her other daughter cried out weakly, asking for water. Looking to where her sons had been sleeping next to her, all she saw was rubble.

She lay there for five hours, trying to protect Safia from the crushing weight, in hopes of keeping her alive. Through clouds of dust and darkness, she could make out her father desperately trying and failing to pull away rubble.
HONG KONG  China is grappling with extreme weather emergencies across the country, with the worst flooding in decades submerging houses and cars in the south and record-high heat waves in the northern and central provinces causing roads to buckle.

Water levels in more than a hundred rivers across the country have surged beyond flood warning levels, according to the Peoples Daily, the ruling Communist Partys mouthpiece. The authorities in Guangdong Province on Tuesday raised alerts to the highest level after days of rainfall and floods, closing schools, businesses and public transport in affected areas.

The flooding has disrupted the lives of almost half a million people in southern China. Footage on state media showed rescue crews on boats paddling across waterlogged roads to relieve trapped residents. In Shaoguan, a manufacturing hub, factories were ordered to halt production, as water levels have reached a 50-year high, state television reported.
BERLIN  Austria, the only Western nation to introduce a general vaccine mandate against the coronavirus, is abandoning the policy a few months after it decided to hold off enforcement, the countrys health minister said Thursday.

The government will remove the law from its books in the coming weeks, putting an end to a mandate that led to protests and was suspended in mid-March, just before enforcement was set to begin.

The health minister, Johannes Rauch, said the mandate had not led to an increase in vaccinations, but had widened rifts in the population.
It is a danger that women already live with in Malta, Poland and other jurisdictions where all or nearly all abortions are banned. And it is one that some women may soon face in the United States if, as is widely expected, the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Although state abortion bans would likely include exceptions for protecting the womans life, recent cases in other countries suggest that doctors often still refuse to perform abortions in such circumstances, fearing they could be prosecuted.

Mr. Weeldreyer and Ms. Prudente had no idea that abortion was illegal in Malta when they arrived at the hospital last Sunday. And no one there explained the legal restrictions to them, they said  only that their fetus would definitely not survive, and that Ms. Prudente was being admitted to the hospital for observation.

Mr. Weeldreyer said the couple eventually understood that they could not even count on a surgical intervention if Ms. Prudente developed a life-threatening infection. He said that doctors told them that in that situation they would increase Ms. Prudentes antibiotics in order to protect her without interfering with the fetus.

Deaths of other women after similar complications offer chilling evidence of how dangerous those sorts of plans can be.

In 2012, the ordeal of Savita Halappanavar, a young woman in Ireland, began very similarly to that of Ms. Prudente. Ms. Halappanavars amniotic sac ruptured prematurely, but the heart of the fetus inside her continued to beat. At the time, abortion was illegal in Ireland, so doctors refused to remove the fetus. Six days later, Ms. Halappanavar developed sepsis, went into cardiac arrest and died. Her case became a rallying cry for abortion rights activists, and helped spur a 2018 referendum that legalized abortion in Ireland.
BRUSSELS  European Union leaders will meet on Thursday to put Ukraine on a path toward joining the bloc, signaling to the embattled nation  and to Russia  that they expect Ukraine to win the benefits of being in the club, even if it takes a decade or longer to fully join.

The leaders of Germany, France and Italy, the largest E.U. nations, as well as Romania, gave a preview of that decision in a visit to Kyiv last week, saying that they supported letting Ukraine become a candidate for membership. Still, a handful of member countries needed to be convinced that despite Ukraines unreadiness to join the union, it was important to give it the prospect.

The decision considered likely on Thursday would grant Ukraine candidate status, starting what could be a long road; Turkey has been a candidate for 21 years but is still not a member. In a system that works by consensus, each member nation effectively has a veto over any new members.
Islamabad, June 23 (UNI) Pakistan's former finance minister Shaukat Tarin said Thursday claimed that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked the Pakistani government to impose further taxes of Rs440 billion, Geo News reported.

Tarin claimed that The actual budget will be unveiled now, while addressing the Senate after the IMF and Pakistan government reached a broad agreement on the budgetary and fiscal measures for the next fiscal year (FY) 2022-23.

The PTI leader, said the Upper House of the Parliament is fulfilling formalities by debating the budget as the actual budget will be presented in the National Assembly  after it is tuned in line with the IMFs demands.

Tarin's statement came just hours after Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said in a press conference that the coalition government had imposed taxes on the rich in the budget for the next FY23.

Miftah said another 1 per cent super-tax would be imposed on people earning more than Rs150 million, 2 per cent on income of more than Rs200 million, 3 per cent on people earning more than Rs250 million and 4 per cent on income of more than Rs300 million per annum.

He further said that he would wrap up the federal budget for the next fiscal year 2022-23 tomorrow with his closing speech in the Lower House of the Parliament.

UNI ACL
Mr. Orlov said in an interview with a local radio station this week that many plant employees and other residents were trying to escape to Ukrainian-held territory. Even young people are leaving the city, he said. It is unclear who will operate the nuclear power plant.

Mr. Orlovs statements could not be independently confirmed. But officials from Energoatom have offered similar accounts based on interviews with workers at the plant, and witnesses in other occupied parts of Ukraine have relayed similar reports of mass detentions of civilians.

At the same meeting, Petro Kotin, the acting president of Energoatom, said that the plants seizure and gradual transformation into a military base with many weapons and explosives amounted to an act of nuclear terrorism. He said the company would continue to support its employees in occupied territories in every way it could.

Last month, Mr. Kotin raised concerns about the Russian militarization of the facility.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is a well-fortified facility even in peacetime, he said. It is a perfect military base. Moreover, the Russians understand that the amount of nuclear material that is located there protects them. Ukraine will not strike at such an object.
Iran has dismissed the longstanding intelligence chief of the Revolutionary Guards force, considered one of the countrys most powerful figures, as concerns mount over Israels covert war on Irans defense systems and its nuclear program.

The removal of the intelligence chief, Hossein Taeb, after 13 years in the post, was confirmed in a statement by the Guards that did not explain why he had been dismissed. But analysts agreed that his failure to stop Israel from breaching Irans security network was at the heart of it.

He had failed to stop Israels infiltration and wasnt very successful in retaliation operations outside the borders, said Seyed Peyman Taheri, an analyst close to Irans government. His removal is to bring in new blood and get both of these things under control.
Amanda Dauber headed to New York straight from college.

New York is the only city where I could see myself, said Ms. Dauber, 27, who grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa. Most of my college friends were planning to move to New York, and it was close enough to home.

She roomed with two friends on the Lower East Side, in a three-bedroom condo unit that had belonged to her late grandfather and now belongs to her aunt. After three years, when Covid altered the city, all three roommates returned to their parents homes.

Ms. Dauber, who works in human resources, hoped to find a pandemic deal on a new rental. I would be living alone for the first time, she said, so I was nervous about that.

But listings were abundant and relatively cheap. The world was my oyster, and it was a renters market, a million percent.

She landed a charming one-bedroom with a home office and an eat-in kitchen on a tree-lined West Village street, paying $2,500 a month. And she planned to stay there, until she learned that her rent was about to jump to $4,200, and her landlord wouldnt negotiate. So in the spring, she went on the hunt for a place she could afford  up to $3,000 a month.

[Did you recently buy or rent a home in the New York metro area? We want to hear from you. Email: thehunt@nytimes.com]

I am a pretty Type A person, Ms. Dauber said. I like to plan ahead and picture what the next few months of my life will look like, and you cant do that until you know where your home base will be.

She wanted a charming studio or one-bedroom in the West Village, with enough space for a computer monitor and a laptop.

The last time around, there had been plenty of places to see, with offers of several months free and no broker fees. This time, there was little inventory, and the apartments that were available didnt come with any discounts  in fact, there were hefty fees attached. New listings would be rented inside of a day. So she had little time to make a decision.

Among her options:
T IN R O F Document ID: 0.7.2774.304144-000001 SJC-Pre-CertificationEvents-07262021-000700 The Electors Clause of the U.S. Constitution provides that [e]ach State shall0 appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, electors to cast ballots for President and Vice President. See U.S. Const., art. II,  1, cl. 2. Many State Legislatures0 originally chose electors by direct appointment, but over time each State Legislature has0 chosen to do so by popular vote on the day appointed by Congress in 3 U.S.C.  1 to be0 the Election Day for Members of Congress, which this year was November 3, 2020.0 However, Congress also explicitly recognizes the power that State Legislatures have to0 appoint electors, providing in 3 U.S.C.  2 that [w]henever any State has held an election0 for the purpose of choosing electors, and has failed to make a choice on the day prescribed0 by [3 U.S.C.  1], the electors may be appointed on a subsequent day in such a manner as0 the legislature of such State may direct. The purpose of the special session the Department recommends would be for the0 General Assembly to (1) evaluate the irregularities in the 2020 election, including0 violations of Georgia election law judged against that body of law as it has been enacted0 by your States Legislature, (2) determine whether those violations show which candidate0 for President won the most legal votes in the November 3 election, and (3) whether the0 election failed to make a proper and valid choice between the candidates, such that the0 General Assembly could take whatever action is necessary to ensure that one of the slates0 of Electors cast on December 14 will be accepted by Congress on January 6. While the Department of Justice believes the Governor of Georgia should0 immediately call a special session to consider this important and urgent matter, if he0 declines to do so, we share with you our view that the Georgia General Assembly has0 implied authority under the Constitution of the United States to call itself into special session for the limited purpose of considering issues pertaining to the appointment of0 Presidential Electors. The Constitution specifies that Presidential Electors shall be0 appointed by the Legislature of each State. And the Framers clearly knew how to0 distinguish between a state legislature and a state executive, so their disparate choices to0 refer to one (legislatures), the other (executive), or both, must be respected.1 Additionally,0 1 See, e.g., U.S.C., art. IV,  4 (The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature,0 or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.) (emphases added);0 id. art. VI (The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be0 bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution .) (emphasis added); id. XVII amend.0 (When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower Pre-Decisional & Deliberative/Attorney-Client or Legal Work Product D E O L A N R T O N 3 S D C J I S T U R S IB E U O T N E L Y
They Searched Online for Abortion Clinics. They Found Anti-Abortion Centers. Using Google ads and the promise of free services, Human Coalition, a Texas nonprofit, intercepts women across the country who want to end their pregnancies and tries to stop them. Enable audio for this story

Stephanie Moore, Grapevine, Tex. I think I typed in abortion near me, something as simple as that. I was seeking an abortion. When they just continued to try to contact me and then they wanted to know the outcome, I was like, What the hell is going on? Kathleen Cooper, Elyria, Ohio I thought it was a regular doctors office. I was not expecting how it turned out at all. Keri Boardman, Charlotte, N.C. It was not an unbiased conversation at all. If you spoke anything about abortion or terminating or anything, you got a laundry list of things that could go wrong. There was no laundry list of what could go wrong with parenting. Casey Skrhak, Charlotte, N.C. When she started to bring up God, you know, I told her, Im not religious. I respect your decisions, but Im not religious. Id like to leave now. Scroll to continue

The moment Stephanie Moore saw the positive line appear on her home pregnancy test in 2019, she fell to her knees and sobbed. She had recently graduated from college and knew she wasnt ready for a baby.

I felt like the world was closing in around me, Ms. Moore, 31, recently said. I dont think Ive ever cried like that before.

Then, she picked herself up, opened Google on her phone and typed: Abortion near me.

Ms. Moore quickly found a site for the Grapevine Womens Clinic, just a short drive from her suburban Dallas home. Take Control. Start with a Free Abortion Consultation, the site read. She had recently been diagnosed with a blood disorder, and wanted to know how an abortion would physically affect her.

I didnt really need someone to go over my options, she said. I just needed more information as far as my health.

The procedure was still largely available in Texas at the time, and when Ms. Moore called the number on the website, the person who picked up could not answer her questions. Instead, she said, the agent encouraged her to schedule an appointment to see if the pregnancy was viable, trying to steer her toward an ultrasound.

The woman on the phone did not work for an abortion clinic, or even a licensed medical facility. She was a counselor for Human Coalition, a Christian nonprofit that is quietly orchestrating a national effort to end abortion. Using local numbers that route to anti-abortion call centers and the promise of free ultrasounds, the organization seeks to intercept newly pregnant women and persuade them to keep their babies.

Studies show that the majority of abortion-minded women will choose LIFE after seeing a sonogram of their child, a page on Human Coalitions main website reads.

Anti-abortion organizations have existed for decades, setting up so-called crisis pregnancy centers near Planned Parenthood clinics, and advertising on billboards and in the Yellow Pages. Human Coalition helped shift the battle to peoples phones and computers, where it relies on search engine optimization, targeted digital ads and an arsenal of websites that look like local health clinics to find women searching for abortions across the country  including in places where it will remain legal as the Supreme Court reverses Roe v. Wade.

The website Ms. Moore found for the Grapevine Womens Clinic looks nearly identical  down to the same smiling doctor and quotes from satisfied patients  to one for a similar clinic   in Charlotte...  and in Oakland...  as well as in dozens of other cities, including clinics operating under a different brand called Health for Her. Tracing source code, web address and hosting patterns, Google ad verifications and other digital fingerprints, The Times discovered 56 womens clinic websites in 19 states and connected them all to Human Coalition. Ads for the sites often pop up in searches for abortion or pregnancy-related services.

The abortion-determined woman will not walk into a pregnancy center voluntarily, Brian Fisher, the organizations co-founder, said in 2017. They must be outreached to and found.

As its reach has widened, Human Coalition has earned lucrative government contracts to provide alternatives to abortion. Nearly half of Human Coalitions funding now comes from Republican-led states. At the same time, its lobbying arm shapes policy in states that are quickly moving to restrict or outlaw the procedure, and helped push through S.B. 8, the Texas law that banned abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy.

On Friday, the Supreme Court struck down the landmark case that enshrined abortion as a constitutional right in America  fundamentally altering the legal landscape in the United States. Organizations like Human Coalition are now planning to seize the moment to expand.

In a post-Roe world, our work really begins in a lot of ways. Chelsey Youman, the director of public policy at Human Coalition, said in an interview. We have all of these women who are out there and they need help. We know them, we care for them, we love them.

Children rescued

Inside the glossy high-rise that houses Human Coalitions headquarters in Plano, Texas, large TV monitors count the number of children rescued nationwide. Floor-to-ceiling photographs of mothers and babies, brightly colored graphics and religious quotes fill walls throughout the office.

Inside Human Coalitions headquarters in Plano, Tex. Ora DeKornfeld for The New York Times

In an adjacent suite, dozens of call center staff talk to women around the country facing unexpected pregnancies.

Much of Human Coalitions work happens in that suite. The nonprofit said that in 2021, it served 18,000 clients via telecare and saw 2,500 people at its seven brick-and-mortar facilities across the United States. About two-thirds of its clients are considering abortion, it said.

Dean Nelson Executive Director, Human Coalition Action Most of the women who are calling us tell us that they would choose life for their pre-born child. When theyre calling in a moment of crisis, what they really are saying that they need is they really need help. What they think that they might need is abortion.

For two days in February, The Times visited Human Coalition headquarters and conducted limited interviews with executives. During that time, the number of children rescued ticked up on the TV monitors by 22, to reach 22,740.

When it was founded in 2009, the organization  first called Media Revolution Ministries and later Online for Life  operated as a data-driven online marketing and referral service for crisis pregnancy centers. It eventually grew to run its own C.P.C.s, forming a national network that includes partnerships with independent facilities  allowing it to reach women across the country through targeted online ads.

Crisis pregnancy centers are core to the anti-abortion movement now, and outnumber actual abortion providers by more than 3:1, according to Andrea Swartzendruber and Danielle Lambert, researchers at the University of Georgias College of Public Health, whose team has mapped C.P.C.s across the country.

Earlier this year, Times reporters went to all of Human Coalitions brick-and-mortar centers in five states. There was very little foot traffic, and the few women who agreed to speak with reporters said they had always planned to keep their pregnancies. They said they received free baby supplies and health care referrals, and were happy with their services so far.

But in interviews with nearly a dozen women who called or visited C.P.C.s linked to Human Coalition, many described feeling deceived into thinking that they would receive abortions, or at least unbiased advice about how to get one. Several of them later shared their experiences publicly in Google reviews online.

Ms. Youman denied that the organization intentionally misleads women seeking abortions, pointing to disclaimers on its websites that say it does not provide or refer for abortion.

Chelsey Youman Director of Public Policy, Human Coalition We are always honest and upfront with these women. We care about these women. We love them and want to support them. And from the moment that they see one of our ads, they know that help is available. They know we dont provide abortions. And so we meet them where theyre at, were in their communities, were available, and thats really how the process begins.

A Times review of the 56 websites linked to Human Coalition, however, found that the disclaimers are tucked into the legal terms of service, or other places where they could easily be missed.

Casey Skrhak, Charlotte, N.C. What attracted me as a 21-year-old waitress was that they gave free services. Madison Cullman, Charlotte, N.C. It was definitely misleading. It made me feel like it was Planned Parenthood. They told me some scary statistics, even after I told them I wasnt planning on getting an abortion. Theyre like, you can never get pregnant again. Im like, First off, thats false  and second off, why are you telling me this? Kathleen Cooper, Elyria, Ohio They make you think its a clinic, and you start to realize this isnt a medical facility. They just brought out a regular dollar store pregnancy test. Scroll to continue

Not a doctors office

At first, Keri Boardman, 28, wasnt sure if she had come to the right location in Charlotte, N.C.

I had a hard time finding the place because it didnt say the same name that it said on the website, she said of her 2020 visit. So I rode past it like three times before I got in there.

She had no idea that she had stumbled into a crisis pregnancy center run by Human Coalition, in part because the center goes by three different names, each with its own website: Pregnancy Resource Center of Charlotte, Charlotte Womens Clinic and Health for Her.

Using multiple names is common for crisis pregnancy centers, said Dr. Swartzendruber. Theyll have one website that is directed toward potential clients that often hides their religious affiliation, she said, but their organizational website directed to volunteers or donors is much more transparent about their goals.

Human Coalition employs registered nurses and social workers, but the centers themselves are not licensed or inspected by state health departments.

At the Charlotte center, Ms. Boardman was initially given a urine test, which showed that she was pregnant. Next, a counselor guided her to an ultrasound room, but the technician said that she couldnt see Ms. Boardmans pregnancy on the monitor, and asked her to come back two weeks later.

When Ms. Boardman returned, the technician printed an image showing a very early pregnancy. However, it was labeled 13 weeks and two days  indicating that she was too far along to take pills to terminate her pregnancy. Abortion pills currently have federal approval for use up to 10 weeks.

A counselor then asked her what she knew about surgical abortion.

Thats when things went a little different, Ms. Boardman said.

Keri Boardman Charlotte, N.C. They sat down and talked to me about what abortion is basically. And she, step by step told me  they cut this limb, they suction this out. They do this. Their science says that the baby may be able to feel it as far as at this certain amount of weeks. Youre basically a murderer if you have an abortion. That really was like a punch in the gut. But when they came back and basically made me feel like youre going to think about this for the rest of your life, thats when I really looked at myself  its like a mirror moment. Like you look at yourself and youre like, Why are you here?

Ms. Boardman had just moved to Charlotte, and was starting a new job while enrolling her two children in school. She was uncertain about the pregnancy, but said that her experience at Health for Her was convincing. She decided she could not go through with an abortion.

Two weeks later, during a checkup with her obstetrician, a new ultrasound image showed that Human Coalition had gotten it wrong. Ms. Boardman was actually only nine weeks pregnant. That would have put her at the very beginning of her pregnancy and eligible for the abortion pill when she first visited Health for Her.

That part was when I really noticed that, medically, they dont know what theyre doing, Ms. Boardman said of her ultrasound at Health for Her.

An ultrasound image from Human Coalition incorrectly labeled Ms. Boardmans pregnancy gestation as 13 weeks and two days. An ultrasound image from Ms. Boardmans doctor, taken two weeks later, showed that she was only nine weeks pregnant. Images courtesy of Keri Boardman.

Some personal information has been redacted.

In an email to The Times, Human Coalition said its ultrasound technicians are all credentialed and overseen by a licensed doctor, and that it is confident in the accuracy of that work. But none of the women who spoke to The Times recalled seeing a doctor, and Human Coalition declined to elaborate on their role.

Several abortion providers who spoke to The Times said they do not accept ultrasounds from crisis pregnancy centers because they are often inaccurate.

Invasive messages

Stephanie Moore didnt expect to hear anything more from the Grapevine Womens Clinic after she called them in 2019. She hung up after the agent on the phone told her they do not provide abortions.

But for two weeks, the center continued to call and text her, asking her to follow up. The last text message shocked her:

It was just very invasive, said Ms. Moore, who shared voice mail and text messages with The Times. I didnt form a relationship. I wasnt a patient. There was nothing of the sort, and they were just so persistent.

Ms. Moore did not respond to the final text, which arrived the same day she took her first abortion pill at Planned Parenthood.

Had she responded, her answer would not have been protected by HIPAA, the federal patient privacy law. The law applies only to health care and other related providers who bill for their services. Most crisis pregnancy centers, including those run by Human Coalition, offer their services for free.

Human Coalitions leaders say the organization takes client privacy seriously, and that staff members are trained to protect sensitive information. The personal data it collects is wide-ranging, from the date of a womans last period, to her abortion history and current pregnancy plans. Human Coalition records all phone calls that come into its call centers and says that its social services department sometimes works with clients over a period of years.

Reproductive rights advocates worry that anti-abortion centers could share private information with law enforcement agencies in order to help track or even prosecute women in states where abortion becomes illegal.

We are expecting to see a huge increase in criminalization, said Kim Clark, a senior attorney at Legal Voice, a legal advocacy group that supports abortion rights. Crisis pregnancy centers are in a perfect position to facilitate those types of investigations and criminal prosecutions because they collect massive amounts of very personal data about individual pregnant people.

Ending abortion with taxpayer funds

In its early years, Human Coalition was entirely dependent on private donors, including the Thirteen Foundation, a conservative organization funded by the fracking billionaire Farris Wilks and his wife, JoAnn.

But as it grew, it needed to find new sources of income. In 2017, tax records show, Human Coalition received $600,000 from North Carolina for a two-year pilot project to assist women experiencing crisis pregnancies to continue their pregnancies to full term.

Since then, Human Coalition has drawn more money from states seeking to curtail abortion  including Texas, Georgia and Tennessee  accounting for almost all of the organizations growth.

According to Human Coalitions 2021 annual report, government money made up 44 percent of the $18.7 million it generated in revenue. The organization recently applied to provide hotline services for the state of Arkansas, and hopes to win similar funding in Louisiana.

This increase fits a nationwide pattern. Public funding for crisis pregnancy centers across the United States has jumped from $17 million a decade ago to nearly $89 million this year, according to a tally of state budget figures by The Associated Press.

But as more state governments fund C.P.C.s through Alternatives to Abortion programs, critics argue that the money is being spent with little oversight. In a 2019 report, the North Carolina Department of Health said that it was unable to determine the effectiveness or cost of expanding Human Coalitions work, after the organization failed to comply with reporting requirements. Despite that review, in 2021, the states legislature allocated $6.4 million to Human Coalition in its new budget, more than a tenfold increase from 2017.

We havent even shown that the money that theyre spending already is doing anything, said Julie von Haefen, a Democratic state representative from North Carolina who opposed the funding. Now we want to increase the money? Its just bad government.

Casey Skrhak, Charlotte, N.C. I wasnt sad, I was upset that I was vulnerable enough to fall for something like that. Kathleen Cooper, Elyria, Ohio I didnt have the information. How are other people going to know that information? Stephanie Moore, Grapevine, Tex. Not a day goes by that I dont think how the universe was looking out for me. Kathleen Cooper, Elyria, Ohio If theyre doing a random Google, theyre getting these clinics. Stephanie Moore, Grapevine, Tex. If it was now, if that happened to me now, I would be even more helpless. Scroll to continue

The nuclear family, at all costs

Four days after Kathleen Coopers partner was arrested for domestic violence in January 2020, a Google search for free pregnancy test led her to Cornerstone Pregnancy Services in Elyria, Ohio. Cornerstone is an independently run crisis pregnancy center that partners with Human Coalition.

Ms. Cooper was struggling. On top of the abuse, she was already an unemployed single mother of two. She was determined to end her pregnancy.

If I brought this child into the world, that child would be at risk of being abused, she said.

Cornerstone was close to Ms. Coopers home, and shed been there before, when she was pregnant with her daughter years earlier. The center had persuaded her not to end her pregnancy then, and she knew it didnt provide abortions. But she couldnt afford the procedure, and thought Cornerstone might help her figure out how to qualify for public funding. The closest Planned Parenthood was 45 minutes away, and Ms. Cooper did not have a reliable car.

After confirming that she was pregnant, Ms. Cooper, 37, said that a counselor at the center interrogated her about her choice to terminate, and encouraged her to try couples counseling with her abusive partner.

Kathleen Cooper Elyria, Ohio It was just basically two hours of them telling me, you can just have this baby and give it to a loving home. Well help you with adoption. Well help you find a family. I knew what I wanted. I knew what I wanted when I went into the clinic and nothing was going to change my mind. I was protecting myself and I was protecting my children, and I didnt have to worry about my abuser being in their life for the next 18 years. You feel so upset with yourself and so depressed about everything and youre thinking, am I doing the right thing? And thats what they wanted me to do. They wanted me to second guess my decision.

Ms. Coopers partner was later convicted, and sentenced to 90 days in jail, court records show.

Cornerstones executive director, Cynthia Carter-Harris, did not respond to The Timess request for comment about how the center typically handles domestic violence cases. Dr. Joseph P. Spirnak, who was not present, but whose signature appears at the bottom of Ms. Coopers pregnancy verification form, also declined an interview request.

In an email, Human Coalition said that it helps Cornerstone find and stay in touch with clients, but that it could not speak to its practices. Had she come to a Human Coalition facility, it would have offered her resources to ensure her safety, it wrote.

Ms. Cooper eventually made it to Planned Parenthood in Cleveland, where she had an abortion two weeks later with aid from an Ohio abortion fund. A counselor at Planned Parenthood also encouraged her to see a therapist.

She has since split from her partner, and said that her experience at Cornerstone inspired her to become an activist. She now volunteers with reproductive rights organizations and speaks publicly about her abortion.

Googling abortion

For years, abortion rights advocates have called on Google to stop allowing crisis pregnancy centers to run misleading abortion-related ads on the search giants platform. Because crisis pregnancy centers arent selling anything, they do not fall under the purview of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive advertising.

In response to the criticism, Google made a change in 2019, requiring advertisers in the United States, Britain and Ireland to be certified to use abortion-related keywords. A disclosure saying Does not provide abortions or Provides abortions appeared in gray under each paid ad.

These are design choices that Google is making, and algorithmic choices that Google is making, said Emily Peterson-Cassin, a lawyer with Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. Thats really insufficient to depend on a small disclaimer that maybe folks are going to read. Maybe theyre not.

In an email, a Google spokesperson said that protecting users from harmful and misleading ads was a top priority. The company in June made a subtle design change to its abortion-related disclosures, which now appear above each paid ad.

A Google search for abortion in Northern Virginia yielded two ads for crisis pregnancy centers, including one linked to Human Coalition at the top.

We know that people come to Google looking for information they can trust during deeply personal moments, the spokesperson wrote. While we have heard this type of transparency has been enormously helpful since it was implemented in 2019, we recently updated these disclosures to make them even more visible.

In 2020, the search giant also added a verification feature that allows users to click on any ad to see who is behind it.

But some lawmakers say the company needs to do much more.

In a letter sent June 17, a group of Democrats in Congress urged Google to better protect users from misleading abortion-related search results, including paid ads. The letter came after a recent study found that in some states, one in 10 Google searches for abortion led to centers that oppose the procedure.

David Sumara, the co-owner of an online marketing agency that places ads for abortion providers and other clients, said crisis pregnancy centers shouldnt be allowed to advertise using the keyword abortion at all. He noted that the search giant already has a precedent for this kind of policy.

To prevent fraud, the company requires locksmiths and garage door repair businesses in the United States to become verified as providers of those services before they can run ads that use related keywords.

If the goal of Google is to protect searchers, said Mr. Sumara, then we would like to see Google apply those same regulations to something thats arguably more sensitive and more impactful to someones life.

Googles spokesperson said the company allows ads that promote different perspectives, and that its policies are tailored to specific issues facing each industry.

The central question here is how come Google has this much power in the first place? Ms. Peterson-Cassin asked.

A post-Roe future

The evening in May when Politico published a leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court indicating that it planned to overturn Roe v. Wade, Human Coalitions president, Jeff Bradford, sent an email to the organizations donors and supporters.

If the reversal becomes final, the pro-life movement is ready to care for these families, he wrote.

It was that kind of care that Keri Boardman was seeking when she called Health for Her again in 2021. She had miscarried the year before, and she saw this new pregnancy as a sign.

I was just like, OK, Gods telling me Im ready now, she said. I told him I wasnt ready before. Im ready now.

Ms. Boardman was nervous, having just lost a pregnancy. Because of the pandemic, she said, her doctor couldnt see her until the end of the first trimester. Despite her prior experience with Health for Her, she figured a free ultrasound there could help soothe her nerves.

She called the same number as before, and was greeted by a friendly agent. But when she told her she planned to continue the pregnancy, she said the agents tone became curt.

Right away I could hear the change as soon as I said Im keeping my baby, Ms. Boardman said. She shut me down and was like, Call your doctor.

Human Coalition told The Times that it provides holistic care to all of its clients, and did not respond to questions about whether it prioritizes certain services for women seeking abortions.

In Ms. Boardmans case, she did not have time to understand why she wasnt offered an ultrasound this time. The agent had already hung up the phone.
Rupert Murdoch

Outfoxed and cornered... Delaware Superior Court has dropped a bombshell on Fox Corp., rejecting its bid to kill the $1.6B libel suit lodged against it by Dominion voting machine maker.

It ruled that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch may have acted with actual malice by allowing voter fraud claims that they knew were false to be aired on Fox News.

The Court cited reports that Rupert privately said that he knew Donald Trump lost the electron.

His Wall Street Journal and New York Post properties criticized Trump and called for him to accept defeat.

Dominion claimed that Rupert Murdoch decided to promote former President Trumps narrative after Trumps condemnation of Fox damaged its stock and viewership.

Judge Eric Davis wrote: "These allegations support a reasonable inference that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch either knew Dominion had not manipulated the election or at least recklessly disregarded the truth when they allegedly caused Fox News to propagate its claims about Dominion.

Fox has called Dominions claims baseless and lacking even a shred of merit. It also is proud of its election coverage.

The $64K question: will Fox change its tune and now seek to settle the suit in the aftermath of the Delaware court ruling?

Or do Rupert and Lachlan go down fighting?

Journalisms finest moment. Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov raised $103.5M on June 20 by auctioning off his Nobel Peace Prize medal.

He is donating the proceeds to UNICEF to help children displaced by the invasion of Ukraine.

Muratov has already given his $500K cash prize for winning the Nobel to UNICEF.

He is the founder of independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and was editor-in-chief when it shut down after the Kremlin cracked down on remaining press freedoms following the invasion of Ukraine.

Muratovs medal went to an anonymous bidder.

Loving Biden over there but not here. Favorable views of the US and of Americas democracy are on the upswing overseas, according to the Eurasia Group Foundation.

Fifty-five percent of those polled in nine nations hold a favorable view of the US. That was the highest score in the four years of the ESG polling.

Brazil, Nigeria, Poland and India are most bullish on the US. Germany, Egypt, Mexico, Japan, China are less so.

More than half (52 percent) give the Biden administration high marks for its management of the Ukraine crisis. Only 19 percent believe Biden screwed up the response to the invasion.

Fifty-two percent say the US managed the COVID-19 response better than other nations. Forty-one percent say the US lagged other national responses.

More than twice as many respondents (49 percent to 20 percent) support Bidens decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.

If Biden decides not to serve another term in DC, theres a big job in the United Nations awaiting him.

Attorney general Merrick Garland wants snitches The Justice Dept, which has stepped up enforcement of the Foreign Agency Registration Act, has issued a handy online brochure to help spot unregistered foreign agents.

It sets out four scenarios, one of which tells of a former big city Congressman who arranges a meeting to discuss agricultural tariffs.

He shows up at the meeting and ditches the ag tariff talk for a pitch about a foreign countrys high-profile and longstanding request to release a prominent dissident, mirroring talking points used by the foreign countrys leaders or spokespeople.

If that happens to you, the Justice Dept wants you to contact the local FBI office or the FARA unit.

Garland and his crew will follow-up with the Congressman.


Washington State Looks for PSA Partner Fri., Jun. 24, 2022 The Washington State Office of the Attorney General is looking for a firm to handle a multimedia public service announcement campaign regarding the new charity care law.
LeBron James

Interpublic Group is teaming with The SpringHill Company, the media conglomerate led by LeBron James and business partner Maverick Carter, on IPG x The SpringHill Company, an effort that will focus on connecting SpringHills community of creators with IPG clients. Each company will dedicate resources to the joint venture, charged with identifying new opportunities to pair IPGs clients with The SpringHill Companys creative roster. The partnership, which was announced during a panel with executives from IPG and The SpringHill Company at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity, is the first between SpringHill and a global advertising and marketing holding company. IPGs people, clients and communities will all benefit from close collaboration with The SpringHill Company as we look to spark important, and sometimes difficult, conversations, elevate voices that need to be heard and help our clients connect with new creative perspectives and purpose-driven projects, said IPG chief executive officer Philippe Krakowsky.

Cornerstone Government Affairs opens an office in Frankfort, Kentucky, and adds staffers in its Oklahoma, Maine and Colorado locations. The Frankfort office will initially include Katelyn Bunning, Cornerstone principal and former legislative director to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY); Karen Kelly, former district director to the Dean of the House of Representatives Hal Rogers (R-KY); and Ethan Witt, former assistant vice president of government and community relations for Eastern Kentucky University, with additional support from Cornerstone principal Will Smith. The new Kentucky office and the additional capabilities in other states mark a significant expansion of the firms national footprint, adding to existing offices in Washington, DC, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas.

Mark Riordan

Summit Strategy Group, a corporate reputation, public affairs and ESG consulting firm, forms a healthcare practice. Headquartered in Dallas, the practice will provide services including stakeholder research, strategic narrative development, issue advocacy and risk management/rapid response to emerging issues. Mark Riordan, who was most recently vice president, stakeholder engagement at Texas Health Resources, will lead the practice. Negotiations with payers and providers, addressing calls for greater pricing transparency, and the emergence of ESG in the health sector are among many of the issues to be addressed, said Riordan.
Vipro offers internship with scholarships to JNTUK students

Kakinada, June 22(UNI) Vipro General Manager Global operations G V Seshu kumar said on Wednesday that their organization was extending internship facility to engineering second and third year students of engineering along with scholarships to the meritorious among them.



Addressing the awareness meeting on Vipro internship programme organized by the Incubation centre in the JNTUK here on Wednesday, he said the internship would be very much useful on creating awareness among the students on the environment in the industrial units, coding standards and quality control.
Ares Management Corp. has acquired SLR Consulting, a top environmental, social and governance consultancy, from Charterhouse Capital.

SLR, which is headquartered in Buckinghamshire, UK, has more than 2,300 staffers in more than 100 offices in the US, Canada, Europe, and the Asia Pacific regions.

It focuses on the financial services, energy, mining, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.

Charterhouse took a majority stake in SLR in 2019. It bankrolled an acquisition drive of 15 companies, including Corporate Citizenship and Vectos.

Neil Penhall, SLR CEO, credits Charterhouse for an ambitious expansion plan that positioned SLR to capitalize on the growing demand for a wide range of ESG and sustainability services.

Stephane Etroy, Ares partner, said, the heightened focus on sustainability and the secular trends supporting the acceleration of climate transition will continue to provide strong growth opportunities for SLR.

Ares, an alternative investment firm based in Los Angeles, has $325B in assets under management. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
HUNDREDS of positions will be on offer at a job fair in July organised by Tullamore and District Chamber of Commerce.

The first ever Offaly Job Fair takes place in the Tullamore Court Hotel on Saturday, July 2 next from 10am to 6pm

Up to 35 firms from a host of different sectors will take place and organisers believe that up to 500 jobs will be available to prospective employees.

Launching the fair Tullamore Chamber President Anthony Hanniffy said Offaly and Tullamore were great places to work and live.

He said the fair was prompted by the increasing number of people who wish to work in their local region.

Many people were working remotely during the Covid pandemic and would now prefer to work in their own areas rather than return to their offices in Dublin, Mr Hanniffy told the Tribune.

Also present at the launch were the Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council, Cllr Declan Harvey, the Cathaoirleach of Tullamore Municipal District, Cllr Tony McCormack, Deputy Carol Nolan and the Chief Executive of the council, Anna Marie Delaney.

More details later.
Fears of wrongful arrest, excessive use of force, wrongful conviction, and disproportionately high sentences frame the way Travellers engage with the criminal justice system, according to a landmark report by researchers at University of Limerick.

The new study, which documents Travellers perceptions and experiences of criminal justice institutions, found that Travellers trust in the Irish criminal justice system is extremely low.

While half of the Travellers responding to the study were victims of criminal offences in the previous five years, only one-fifth had been arrested in that time period.

Half of those surveyed had been present in a home that gardai entered without permission; when asked about the last case in which that happened, in only 11% of those cases was a search warrant shown to someone present in that home.

Professor Jennifer Schweppe, from ULs School of Law, said their research shows that Travellers are simultaneously over policed as suspects and under policed as victims.

Justice is not seen to be done in Irish courtrooms by members of the Traveller community.

While 71% of the general population agree with the statement The Gardai in this area treat everyone fairly regardless of who they are, 84% of Travellers disagree with the statement.

Some 95% of the general population agree the Gardai would treat you with respect, while 91% of Travellers do not believe that Gardai treat Travellers with respect.

In addition, 75% of Travellers believe that judges do not treat Travellers with respect.

The Irish Travellers Access to Justice (ITAJ) report is funded by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Irish Research Council under the Coalesce programme.

The Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Sinead Gibney called the 18-month long project a landmark study  in both its conduct and findings.

The report used a mixed methodology, including a survey, interviews and focus groups.

The UL researchers also spoke with one in every 100 Travellers in Ireland from 25 of the 26 counties.

The research findings reflect a need for radical changes in the way in which criminal justice institutions engage with, perceive, and address Travellers, the authors said.

Ms Gibney said: This report breaks new ground in speaking with a huge diversity of Travellers nationally about their personal experiences with our criminal justice system as victims of crime or as those accused.

It is abundantly clear that the relationship between Travellers and our criminal justice system too often starts from a point of mistrust, developed over decades.

This report needs to be read and shared widely and to be used as an evidential grounding for reforms, to make our criminal justice system accessible by all.

Professor Amanda Haynes, from the Department of Sociology at UL, said: To be able to use the legal process to protect your rights, you must first trust that system enough to engage with it.

This report shows that Travellers do not trust the Irish criminal justice system to treat them fairly, and that their mistrust in grounded in personal and shared experiences of unsatisfactory and sometimes biased treatment at the hands of criminal justice professionals, as victims and suspects.

While Travellers participating in this research identified examples of excellence among police and judges, these experiences were described as the exception rather than the rule.

Dr Sindy Joyce, lecturer in Traveller Studies in ULs Department of Sociology, said: The results of this research will come as no surprise to members of the Traveller community, whose experiences and perceptions of the criminal justice process are unequivocally linked to both their identity as a historically traditionally nomadic community, and their present day status as a racialised indigenous ethnic group in Irish society.

It is of paramount importance that this research is used for the benefit of Travellers, and to guide the criminal justice system in bringing out the meaningful change it shows is required.
One of Irelands biggest banks has been fined almost 100 million euro for its role in the countrys tracker mortgage scandal.

AIB Group apologised for the distress and financial losses suffered by customers and described the matter as a very large stain on the reputation of the bank.

The Central Bank of Ireland announced that AIB  Allied Irish Banks  has been fined 83.3 million euro.

EBS, which AIB acquired in 2011, has been fined 13.4 million euro.

The fines came as Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe promised legislation on increased accountability in the banking sector would be published before the summer recess.

AIB is the second largest bank in Ireland with more than 170 branches and approximately 2.8 million customers.

The Central Bank said AIB withdrew its tracker mortgage offering without any proper regard or concern for the impact on its customers.

The regulator said a litany of failings followed, which saw customers wrongly denied their tracker entitlements while others lost their tracker rates due to AIBs deficiencies in its provision of day-to-day mortgage services.

The Central Bank said the latest fines, announced on Thursday, take the total sanctions imposed on lenders for tracker mortgage failings to 174 million euro.

This is on top of 737 million euro paid to customers in redress and compensation under the Central Bank-initiated Tracker Mortgage Examination.

AIB Group chief executive Colin Hunt said: We are deeply sorry for the distress and the financial losses caused by the tracker mortgage issue.

I have said in the past, and I reiterate today, this matter represents a very large stain on the reputation of the bank.

It damaged not only the affected customers, but also undermined the banks efforts to rebuild public trust and confidence.

The Central Banks director of enforcement and anti-money laundering, Seana Cunningham, said the fines had been imposed in respect of serious and long-running failings in meeting its obligations to its tracker mortgage customers.

She added: Underpinning AIBs failings over a prolonged period of time was a culture of failing to properly consider and recognise the rights of its customers and its obligations to them.

The Irish Banking Culture Board (IBCB) described the fines as unprecedented and said they reflect the gravity of the Central Banks findings but stressed they should not overshadow the human cost of the industrys failings.

In a statement, the board said: In many instances this human cost is impossible to quantify, particularly given the financial impact coincided with the wider national and global economic crashes with resultant negative income consequences for many.

During Leaders Questions in the Dail, Sinn Feins Pearse Doherty accused the Government of a lack of priority in relation to publishing legislation to hold senior bankers to account.

He said: The irony is that AIB and EBS will pass on these costs to their customers. The fact is that not one banker has been held to account to date in any of the banks in relation to the tracker mortgage scandal.

Responding, Mr Donohoe said legislation on the matter had taken time to draft and required pre-legislative scrutiny and much work from the Attorney General and from his department.

He said: I anticipate and know Ill be bringing the final proposals to Cabinet next week, and the legislation will be published before the summer recess.

The Central Bank said Thursdays fines are separate to the sums both AIB and EBS have been required to pay to date in redress, compensation and account balance adjustments to impacted customers  125 million euro and 105 million euro respectively.

The regulator said EBS had failed to properly manage its mortgage services to customers, resulting in breaches of customers consumer protection rights and/or contractual rights; failed to adequately warn customers of the consequences of their decisions relating to their mortgage; failed to provide clear mortgage documentation to customers; and failed to handle customer complaints in a fair and consistent manner.

It said AIB had failed to consider the entitlements of customers when it withdrew the tracker mortgage product; breached customers mortgage contracts and delayed in rectifying the breach; wrongfully excluded customers mortgage accounts from the regulators Tracker Mortgage Examination (TME); failed to handle customer complaints in a fair and consistent manner; failed to properly manage its mortgage services to customers; and failed to properly implement the TMEs Stop the Harm principles.

Irelands Central Bank began an industry-wide review of tracker mortgages  a type of home loan where the interest rate charged on the loan tracks that of another publicly available rate  in 2015.

The regulator had been identifying and pursuing some lenders in relation to tracker-related issues since 2010, including borrowers who switched from their tracker rate, or lost their right to revert to a tracker rate when they came to the end of a fixed-rate period on their mortgage.
There are now 5.1 million people living in Ireland according to preliminary results from the latest census, the highest population recorded in a census since 1841.

The Irish population stood at 5.1 million when Census 2022 was taken on Sunday April 3, an increase of 7.6% from Census 2016.

All counties population grew since 2016, with Co Longford seeing the biggest percentage increase of 14.1%, followed by Co Meath with a 12.9% increase.

This is in contrast to Census 2016, when counties Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal had a fall in their population.

Senior statistician in the census division Cormac Halpin said: The preliminary results show a population of 5,123,536 on census night.

There were 2,593,600 females and 2,529,936 males recorded, which is an increase of 7.7% and 7.5% respectively.

The population increase of 361,671 was made up of a natural increase (births minus deaths) of 171,338 and estimated net inward migration (population change minus natural increase) of 190,333.

In Munster, Waterford (+9.4%) had a higher percentage increase than that of the State overall.

Both Leitrim (+9.5%) and Roscommon (+8.4%) showed a higher percentage increase than the national rate, while Cavan, Donegal, or Monaghan did not.

The preliminary results, published by the Central Statistics Office on Thursday, also show that the total housing stock on April 3 was 2,124,590, which is an increase of 6% on the 2016 figure.

There were 16,560 fewer vacant dwellings in April 2022, a 9% decrease compared to 2016.

However, this does not include holiday homes, of which there has been an increase: there were 66,135 holiday homes on April 3 this year, compared with 62,148 in 2016.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin welcomed the publication of the preliminary Census results.

What this illustrates is the importance of the Governments continuing need to invest in the provision of public services and infrastructure, in childcare, housing, health and education, to keep up with this population growth.

While the number of houses has increased, we clearly need to build more homes as quickly as we can, and the Housing for All plan will ramp up housing output further in the next few years.

The census is far more than a simple counting exercise, it gives us the information that is vital for everything from the planning and delivery of public services, to where we need to build housing, to how we arrange our electoral constituencies.

By participating in the census, people were supporting their communities, ensuring these decisions will be made with an accurate view of each communitys needs.

The census will provide a uniquely comprehensive account of our population and I look forward to learning more as the Central Statistics Office publishes further information from the census in the months ahead.
Labours experience negotiating the Good Friday Agreement means it will be able to secure a better solution to the Northern Ireland Protocol row, David Lammy has said.

The shadow foreign secretary told an event hosted by the UK In A Changing Europe think tank on Wednesday that a Labour government would be better received in Brussels.

He said: The EU must be less rigid.

But Ive been told frankly by EU partners that if there was a partner they could trust they could show more flexibility.

Instead they have Boris Johnson who lies, breaks the law, and never keeps his promises.

With a change of Prime Minister and a change of government, the UK could build a stable and mutually beneficial relationship with the EU over the long term.

Speaking on the sixth anniversary of the Brexit referendum, Mr Lammy reiterated Labours position that it would not seek to rejoin the EU or re-enter the Customs Union or the Single Market.

But, he said, the party would look to secure practical solutions to reduce any checks to their absolute minimum by pursuing an agreement on food and agricultural standards, sharing trade data and using a risk based approach for goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

He said: Both the EU and the UK would have to compromise to make this happen.

But the last Labour government was able to broker the Good Friday Agreement.

We are confident that with trust and goodwill, we would be able to achieve it.

The Government has proposed a Bill to unilaterally change parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, arguing this is the only solution after months of stalled negotiations.

But Mr Lammy attacked the Bill as a charter for lawlessness that undermined international law and risks emboldening dictators and authoritarian states around the world.

He also accused the Government of being stuck in a fever dream of 2016 and picking petty fights with our closest neighbours by introducing plans to tear up the Protocol.

He said: The Governments position is that the situation in Ukraine is so serious that their lawbreaking Prime Minister must remain in office, but apparently not serious enough to stop us starting a diplomatic fight with some of our closest allies.

Speaking at the same event earlier on Thursday, former Brexit minister Lord Frost said Brexit was working but argued the EUs refusal to compromise made action on the Protocol necessary.

He said: The delicately balanced compromise that we put in place in 2019, recognising that we were running high levels of risk in doing so, has come apart much more quickly than most of us thought.

It is unfortunate that, given all the sensitivities, the EU has refused to look at that compromise again and helped us put together something that would properly support the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and enjoy cross-community consent.

In these circumstances the British Government has no choice in my view (but) to act as it is doing, its responsibility for the integrity of the country and for the Belfast Good Friday Agreement must be paramount.
UWs Center on Aging Announces Healthier Wyoming Initiative

The Wyoming Center on Aging (WyCOA) at the University of Wyoming has established the Healthier Wyoming initiative, which has a goal to empower all Wyoming residents to take charge of their health through the use of a comprehensive statewide directory of chronic disease prevention and management resources.

The Healthier Wyoming initiative is offered in partnership with the Wyoming Department of Healths Chronic Disease Prevention Program and WyCOA.

The Healthier Wyoming website provides resources on evidence-based programs available in Wyoming, including diabetes prevention programs; diabetes self-management education and support programs; Healthy U workshops on chronic disease self-management programs; and information on heart disease prevention and self-monitored blood pressure programs.

Its the perfect time to take action and move toward a healthier you, says Maggie Kougl, a WyCOA regional coordinator. The resources and programs offered around the state can help those living with chronic health challenges.

The evidence-based programs supported by the Healthier Wyoming initiative are based on rigorous research and serve to educate and empower participants to take control of their health and live their best, healthiest and most fulfilling lives. Programs focus on addressing relevant health risks to Wyoming residents.

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso produced a video that highlights the resources available on the Healthier Wyoming website, noting that this resource focuses on education and support of health conditions affecting Wyoming residents. Barrasso says that Healthier Wyoming is a resource for those with chronic health conditions, as well as a resource for Wyoming health care providers.

We are excited that our work with the Wyoming Department of Healths Chronic Disease Prevention Program has garnered the attention of many in the state, including Sen. Barrasso, Kougl says. Our goal is to create a healthier Wyoming for everyone through education and health resources. The Healthier Wyoming initiative is an important resource for those living with chronic health conditions and providers supporting patients.

One in three adults in Wyoming has prediabetes, and 84 percent do not know they have it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) National Diabetes Statistics Report 2020. Individuals interested in learning if they are at risk of prediabetes can take the CDCs prediabetes risk test. Healthier Wyoming can help those individuals find a diabetes prevention program in their area.

According to the CDC, in 2018, 7.9 percent of adults in Wyoming reported a diabetes diagnosis. Diabetes self-management education and support programs provide information and skills to help adults manage their diabetes. Healthy U is a free six-week program designed to help participants manage chronic health conditions. This evidence-based program is particularly relevant for older Wyoming residents, who have two to three times higher rates of chronic disease compared to national averages.

Heart disease continues to be the greatest health threat to Americans and is still the leading cause of death worldwide, according to the American Heart Associations Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2022 Update. Nearly 18.6 million people across the globe died of cardiovascular disease in 2019, and 523.2 million cases of cardiovascular disease were reported.

For more information about the Healthier Wyoming initiative, call (307) 766-2829, email healthierwyo@uwyo.edu or visit www.uwyo.edu/healthierwyo.
Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States of America that was passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government. This is Public Law No. 92318, 86 Stat. 235, codified at 20 U.S.C.  16811688.
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO), or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization  especially an independent legal entity such as a company or nonprofit institution. CEOs find roles in a range of organizations, including public and private corporations, non-profit organizations and even some government organizations. The CEO of a corporation or company typically reports to the board of directors and is charged with maximizing the value of the business, which may include maximizing the share price, market share, revenues or another element. In the non-profit and government sector, CEOs typically aim at achieving outcomes related to the organization's mission, usually provided by legislation. CEO's are also frequently assigned the role of main manager of the organization and the highest ranking officer in the C-suite.
Ukraines ambassador to Australia says the visit wouldshow moral support for the people of his country.
Rebuilding Ukraine will take "generations" and require funding akin to the post-WWII Marshall Plan, according to Germany's Olaf Scholz. Finland says it is ready to defend itself in case of an attack.
Germany is looking to lower gas demand to ward off long-term shortages as Russia throttles the gas flow. Gas prices for consumers could rise even more as a consequence.
EU leaders are in Brussels to discuss the membership bids of Ukraine and Moldova. Meanwhile, the European Parliament has voted heavily in favor of the two countries' getting candidate status.
The US sportswear giant will close its stores and websites in Russia. The retailer joins a growing list of companies that have pulled out of Russia over Ukraine.
A top Ukrainian official says Russia is striking Kharkiv in an attempt to divert troops from the key Donbas region. DW has the latest.
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South Africa: DBE outlines plan for school assistants

With Phase III of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) fast approaching its end-date of 31 August 2022, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has taken a decision to close new appointments of assistants on 15 June 2022.

Phase III of the PYEI, implemented in the basic education sector, has entered its second half of implementation, and the DBE said that there are many good stories told by the youth, teachers, and principals about the positive impact that this initiative continues to make in schools.

This means that schools cannot make appointments or replacements should a vacancy arise after 15 June 2022. This is done to ensure that there is stability in schools, considering that the winter break is scheduled from tomorrow, 24 June to 19 July 2022, the DBE said in a statement on Thursday.

The department explained that when schools re-open for Term Three of the 2022 academic year, there will be less than seven weeks of Phase III remaining.

During this time, preparations for the 2022 preliminary matric examinations in high schools would be underway.

Furthermore, there would not be sufficient time to provide the youth with the necessary orientation and training, which will aid the new appointees to gain meaningful work experience, the department said.

The audit findings of Phase I of the PYEI-BEEI indicated that there was no value for money where schools paid the youth full stipends for the days that they were absent.

To address this finding and to align with good governance and financial management principles, as outlined in the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), the Department of Basic Education issued a guideline on calculation of pro-rata payments.

The aim of the guidelines was to assist schools in creating common standards on deductions.

The Department of Basic Education has set the stipend for Phase III equivalent to the National Minimum Wage (NMW).

According to the Department of Employment and Labour, with effect from 1 March 2022, the NMW is R23.19 for each ordinary hour worked. Effectively, the stipend for youth appointed in Phase III of the PYEI is R4 081.44, inclusive of the employee contribution towards the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).

Thus, the monthly stipend payable to the assistants is R4 040.63, after the deduction of 1% employee contribution towards UIF, which is R40,81, the department said.

The following provisions are made in the contract of employment for Phase III:

An employer shall not deduct money from the EA/GSAs payment without the EA/GSAs consent unless the deduction is required in terms of the law.

An employer must deduct and pay to the Department of Employment and Labour, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) that the EA/GSA is required to pay.

An employer may deduct any money that was overpaid to the EA/GSA erroneously.

An employer may not require or allow the EA/GSA to pay the employer or any person for having been employed.

An employer may deduct from the stipend of the EA/GSA the amount equal to the number of days that the Assistant took leave that is outside the allocated leave days.

The department said that the youth are entitled to one-day vacation leave for every full month that the EA/GSA has worked in terms of the contract.

Where an individual has taken leave more than the days they are entitled to, there will be a pro-rata deduction for the month in which the excess leave days were taken.

The schools are not allowed to make any arbitrary deductions, which are not in line with the contract of employment signed between the youths and the school, the DBE said.

Training and upskilling of youth

The PYEI implemented in the basic education sector seeks to provide youth with learning and earning opportunities.

It is geared towards supporting livelihoods and serves as a vehicle to address high levels of youth unemployment in South Africa.

One of the key objectives of the PYEI in the sector is to provide the beneficiaries with skills and competencies that will enhance their prospects for future employment.

To this end, the Department of Basic Education has leveraged on some of the training offerings by its partners to skill the youth appointed in schools.

The training partners include Digify Africa - offering online safety training; the National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa (NEMISA) - offering digital literacy training; 2Enable - offering an on-line e-Learning training course, and Pinnock Consulting - hosting the National School Safety Framework (NSSF) training, the department said.

There are additional training and learning materials hosted by eCubed on the TeacherConnectlearn portal, which is a zero-rated website. This includes curriculum training for curriculum assistants, compulsory generic orientation, and the Reading Champions Training.

All the participants are required to complete the various available training to enhance their skills and to empower themselves.

Those who require additional information on how to access the training are urged to send an email inquiry should to beei@dbe.gov.za.

The DBE wants to ensure that all the youth appointed in school under the banner of the PYEI gain meaningful experience and access to useful learning opportunities. SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-06-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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DNA 25 Jun 2022

In the 2nd WT20I between India-Sri Lanka W, the Sri Lankan W team has elected to bat first after winning the toss in Dambulla
United States and NATO forces hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan gave a negative setback to Afghanistan economy. We put the blame of this humanitarian crisis and fragile afghan economy to those countries that imposed war on people of Afghanistan. Now, citizens of Afghanistan and its government are hoping on international community...
Ahead of the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid, NATO commissioned a survey across all 30 Allies to understand perceptions of Allied citizens, including on support for NATO membership, collective defence, and the transatlantic bond. Overall, support for NATO remains strong and continues to rise.



Over 70% of Allied citizens consider...
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Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

Brookfield Asset Management has raised USD 15 billion for its Brookfield Global Transition Fund (BGTF), the global alternative asset manager's inaugural fund focused on investment opportunities relating to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption.

A press release from the Canadian asset management firm with $725 billion of assets under management BGTF makes the fund the world's largest private fund dedicated to facilitating the global transition to a net-zero carbon economy.

The fund saw strong investor demand and was oversubscribed above the initial hard cap of USD 12.5 billion. The USD-15-billion amount includes investments from institutional investors in and alongside the fund, and also amounts reserved for the private wealth channel, Brookfield said.

"A diverse group of more than 100 investors from around the world committed to the Fund, including public and private pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, endowments and foundations, financial institutions, and family offices. Brookfield is the largest investor in the Fund, underscoring the firm's longstanding alignment of interests with those of its investors," the release said.

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, Toronto, and Temasek Holdings, Singapore's state investment arm, were founding investors in the fund. Investors in the fund also include New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany; New Jersey Pension Fund, Trenton; Pennsylv......................

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Opalesque Industry Update - Europe remains the key driver behind sustainable finance, holding 83% of global sustainable funds' net assets, according to the second annual European Sustainable Investment Funds Study by Morningstar and zeb, powered by the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI). The study found that the net assets in sustainable fund products based on Morningstar's strict definition of sustainability have reached almost EUR 2 trillion at the end of 2021, up 71% from 2020. This study aims to provide a snapshot of how sustainability objectives and the respective legislative interventions are shaping the fund industry in Europe and to analyse the role, competitiveness, and positioning of the different domiciles within this dynamically changing environment. It is the second of a series of regularly conducted studies based on an analogous approach to monitor the dynamic development and trends of the European sustainable funds' sector. Key findings 1. Net assets in sustainable funds domiciled in Europe have reached almost EUR 2 trillion in 2021 - this figure is three times as high as in 2019 and up 71% from 2020. The share in total net assets went up to 16%, and half of the net flows were attracted by the sustainable sector. 2. Equity remains by far the most important asset class of sustainable funds. The integration of ESG factors into money market funds has significantly accelerated, resulting in a share of 25% in total net assets of money market funds. 3. Sustainable passive funds continue their disproportionate increase, now reaching a 27% share in sustainable assets, as opposed to a share of passive funds of only 21% in the conventional fund sector. 4. At the European level, about 44% of net assets were invested in funds classified by their managers as Article 8 and Article 9 funds according to the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). 5. Europe remains the forerunner in terms of sustainable investment funds with a market share of 83% of the total EUR 2.4 trillion in net assets considered sustainable in the major global fund domiciles - far ahead of the US and Asia. Marc-Andre Bechet, Deputy Director-General of ALFI, commented: "Sustainable finance is at a crossroads and 2022 will lead to a moment of truth. While there is a genuine willingness of the asset management industry to meet the challenges of sustainable finance and strong demand from retail and institutional investors alike, the reality is that, so far, funds which pursue one or several environmental objectives have not really been able to show their true credentials. However, companies are now starting to report on the alignment of their activities in line with the Taxonomy Regulation, and for those that do not yet do so, reporting will be required from 2023 and 2024 onwards. Which I believe is a crucial step forward." Hortense Bioy, Global Director of Sustainability at Morningstar said: "Since its introduction in March 2021, SFDR has acted as a catalyst for product development and innovation in the European sustainable funds space. It will be fascinating to see how regulation continues to shape the landscape. The changes to MiFID II taking effect in August and requiring financial advisers to consider their clients' sustainability preferences have the potential to accelerate the adoption of sustainable investments among retail investors. Despite all the concerns about greenwashing, our data shows that investor appetite for ESG and sustainable strategies is still growing." Dr. Carsten Wittrock, Partner at zeb, added: "Our new study confirms the forecasts we made in our previous edition: the industry's shift towards sustainability is progressing at high speed despite an unprecedented dynamic geopolitical and regulatory environment. Although there is still quite a long way to go before the full potential of the fund industry in supporting the urgently needed transformation process of the economies toward greater sustainability is unleashed, it is safe to conclude that the trends highlighted will continue - despite the critical discussion about the role and handling of sustainability by individual asset managers, the ongoing need to clarify sustainability factors and their appropriate implementation, and the recent setbacks in tackling climate change due to the tragic conflict in Ukraine and its drastic consequences not only for the people but also the global economy. Press release Download the study here.
Urban Tribe is proud to announce that it has been featured in 'Power Brands 2022' as 'The Most Promising Brand'. Chandan Sawera, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Urban Tribe, was honoured with this recognition from the industry leaders and is pleased to have the brand recognized by such an esteemed group. Urban Tribe's goal is to solve problems faced by everyday urbanites - commuters and travellers -- due to 
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Tereasa Nims.

Tuesday, June 21

9:52 p.m. - Police were called to the 700 block of Wilson Drive for a civil complaint.

9:50 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Lee Township residence for a child custody issue. A 24-year-old woman reported that she was heading to a Lee Township residence to retrieve her stepson. The deputy reminded the woman how to properly handle child custody issues.

9:25 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched for an assault complaint at a Lee Township residence. A 28-year-old Lee Township man reportedly assaulted his 43-year-old Larkin Township girlfriend; his stepmother, a 57-year-old Lee Township woman; and a neighbor who was a 20-year-old Lee Township man. The 28-year-old suspect was subsequently arrested for domestic assault and assault and was transported to the Midland County Jail. A report was forwarded to the prosecutor.

7:49 p.m. - Deputies spoke with a 38-year-old woman at an adult care facility in Porter Township. The woman called 911 two separate times requesting information on how to move out of the facility. Deputies spoke with staff members at the facility, who said the womans requests would be handled internally.

7:35 p.m. - Deputies spoke with a 44-year-old woman at the Law Enforcement Center regarding a fraud. The woman advised she was a victim of a scam after buying three $500 gift cards for what she believed to be her work. There were no suspects.

7:10 p.m. - Police responded to 5609 Pondview Drive for a property damage accident.

6:55 p.m. - Police were called to the 700 block of Jefferson Avenue for an obstructing justice complaint.

3:05 p.m. - A deputy, Jerome Township Fire, and EMS responded to a Jerome Township residence after a 62-year-old woman intentionally took too many pills. The woman was transported to the ER for treatment. The deputy completed a mental health petition.

2:28 p.m. - Police were called to the 2700 block of Dawn Drive for a verbal domestic complaint.

2:11 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Midland Township residence to speak with a 34-year-old woman and her 57-year-old female landlord regarding a 62-year-old man neighbor acting insane and trespassing. The deputy advised the 62-year-old man not to enter the complainants property or he may be charged with trespassing.

12:09 p.m. - Deputies spoke to assisted living workers about a 53-year-old man who was having mental issues. The man was ultimately taken to the ER by EMS.

11:28 a.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Midland Township residence regarding a verbal argument between a 59-year-old woman and the 57-year-old female park manager.

10:32 a.m. - Deputies recovered a shotgun receiver, which had been located by a 49-year-old man, at a Greendale Township location. The shotgun receiver was placed into evidence for processing.

3:55 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Lincoln Township residence for a 58-year-old man who reported that his dogs were barking continuously in his backyard, and he thought someone was on his property. The deputies checked the property, but no one was in the area.

2:52 a.m. - Deputies responded to a Lee Township residence for a report of a 28-year-old man who was having thoughts of cutting himself. Deputies transported the man to the Midland ER for an evaluation. Deputies completed a mental health petition.

12:26 a.m. - Deputies responded to a Jerome Township residence regarding a suicidal 15-year-old girl who took a large quantity of prescription medication. EMS paramedics arrived at the scene and transported the girl to the ER for an evaluation.
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MANISTEE  Immediately following a low rumble, a large cloud of dust billowed on River Street on Thursday morning as part of the former Cadillac Plumbing Heating & Electric building was torn away.

Demolition of buildings on River Street from U.S. 31 to Division Street started this week in Manistee.

It's one of the first more visible steps for the planned Spirt of the Woods Gateway project.

The project will be completed in phases with a 100-room hotel planned for phase 1; the second phase could include housing and some office space  but no formal plan had been announced as of April.

The project was first presented to Manistee City Council in September 2020 and has seen several changes in the plans since then. The complexity of the project calls for it to be developed across several phases, according to Marc Miller, director of economic development for the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce.

The main developer for the project is Little River Holdings  the economic development arm of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians.

This week the former gas station  and most recently Memory Lane Detailing  located on the corner of River and Divisions streets was torn down.

On Thursday, a crew from Swidorski Brothers Excavating was working on razing the former Cadillac Plumbing Heating & Electric building.

The project contains parcels at 283, 284, 285, 289, 294, 295 and 305 River St.  these buildings housed the former House of Flavors, Cadillac Heating and Plumbing, Memory Lane Detailing, American Cleaners and Edward Jones. They are all scheduled for demolition.

Late last year, the project received about $1.5 million in grants and loans from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy for demolition and remediation of the site.
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Tuesday was the summer solstice which marks the longest day of the year.

One way to take advantage of the long summer days is to find a good book, a quiet place and while away the hours.

Here are some seasonal options found at the Manistee County Library.

Juveniles

 While writing to his grandfather about his summer adventures, ice cream becomes the center of everything. Math is done in a number of scoops and buildings become cones. Ice Cream Summer by Peter Sis is a delicious look at summer.

 How do you escape the heat of summer? Find a shady spot! What happens when there isnt enough shade for everyone? Summer by Wenxuan Cao teaches readers about caring and sharing.

 When a small dog goes with his family to the country for a visit, he encounters many new sights and sounds. The Summer Noisy Book by Margaret Wise Brown explores a lazy summer day.

 Join the girls as they spend their summer and have new and exciting experiences in LEGO Friends: Summer Adventures by Catherine Saunders.

 While at the beach, a student sees her teacher in a whole new light in Summer Treasure by Margaret McNamara. Realizing that teachers live outside the school, the two enjoy spending time together.

 Forget-me-not Summer by Leila Howland takes the four Silver sisters out of the city for a summer visit to their aunts house on Cape Cod. Adjusting to a small town takes time, but the girls find new friends and adventures.

 An old letter in her grandmothers attic leads Candice and her friend on a journey into the past to solve a mystery in The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson.

Submitted photo/Manistee County Library

Young adults

 Summer without her grandmother has Chelsea wishing she wasnt at the lake. When Josh enters the picture, everything changes. Fifteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton is the story of lifes bittersweet moments.

 Her grandmothers past has always been a mystery, so when old love letters surface, Abby decides to spend her summer researching her family history. The journey takes her to Nantucket, where she meets someone who wants the past to stay hidden in The Summer of Lost Letters by Hannah Reynolds.

Adults

 A small town journalist dreams of making it big in Washington D.C. When her dreams and the job fall through, its back to reality at her familys small town newspaper. Tasked with writing the local gossip column, Conley suddenly finds herself in the middle of a mystery that could be the biggest story shes ever written in Hello, Summer by Mary Kay Andrews.

 School friends reunite after a major argument, but will the intervening years prove to be more than their friendship can handle? Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner deals with being yourself even with those who think they know you best.

 When their child needs medical attention, divorced parents must uproot their lives to provide the love and care that the boy needs in Boardwalk Summer by Kimberly Fisk.

 Following through on her mothers final request, Katy embarks on their planned trip to Positano, Italy. Once there, she encounters her mother, at age 30. Not understanding this but curious, Katy gets to know a new version of her mother. Now she must reconcile the two in One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle.

 Set in Spain, The Summer House by the Sea: Youll Wish You Were Here... by Jenny Oliver sees Ava revisiting her favorite childhood place. Taking a break from her life in London, she decides to revitalize her grandmothers favorite eatery, which just might give Ava the boost she needs too.

 An unexpected inheritance finds a young woman engulfed in her grandfathers mysterious past as she explores Barbados in the 1850s in The Summer Country by Lauren Willig.
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ROME (AP)  The Vatican on Thursday released the itinerary for Pope Francis July 24-30 visit to Canada, providing a sign he intends to go ahead with the trip despite knee problems that forced him to cancel a six-day visit to Africa also planned for next month.

Francis is due to visit Canada to apologize to Indigenous peoples for abuses they suffered at Catholic-run residential schools.

The scaled-back itinerary includes several encounters with Indigenous groups, as well as a visit to Maskwacis, home to the former Ermineskin Residential School, one of the largest residential school sites in Canada. Alberta, where Francis lands first, is home to the largest number of former residential schools in Canada.

Francis will also have a private meeting with survivors of the schools in remote Iqualuit, where he is due to visit for a few hours on his way back to Rome on July 29.

Francis, 85, has been using a wheelchair for over a month because of strained ligaments in his right knee that have made standing and walking difficult. The Canadian bishops conference said Francis appearance at individual public events would be limited to one hour, due to his advanced age and limitations.

The publication of the itinerary was delayed for nearly two weeks, leading to speculation Francis might be forced to cancel traveling to Canada as he did his before a planned July 2-7 pilgrimage to Africa.

And the itinerary doesnt mean the trip is 100% confirmed, since there is now precedent for the Vatican pulling the plug after one was released.

The Vatican published the schedule for Francis planned trip to Congo and South Sudan on May 28. It announced on June 10 that the pope's visit would have to be postponed until an undetermined later date because of doctors concerns the trip might jeopardize the therapy he is undergoing.

The Vatican has released no details about the type of therapy he is receiving beyond knee injections. The Canada itinerary is light for a typical papal trip, for the most part featuring only one major event each morning and one each afternoon to allow for maximum rest time.

Francis met with Indigenous groups earlier this year at the Vatican and offered a historic apology for the abuses they endured.

Canadas Truth and Reconciliation Commission called for a papal apology to be delivered on Canadian soil. Francis said at the time of his Vatican meetings that he hoped to make the apology in person this summer.

Phil Fontaine, a former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations who was part of delegation that met with Francis at the Vatican, called Thursday's update wonderful news.

He made a commitment to us at the Vatican, and hes following through with that commitment, Fontaine said.

People were anxious that his health issues would force the cancellation of the Canadian papal tour, but clearly he sees it as important. It is a testament to his sincerity, he added.

Fontaine, 77, said he and his classmates suffered physical and sexual abuse when he was a boy at the Fort Alexander Indian Residential School in Manitoba

More than 150,000 native children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from their homes and culture. The aim was to Christianize and assimilate them into mainstream society, which previous Canadian governments considered superior.

The Canadian government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant at the schools, and that students were beaten for speaking their native languages. Indigenous leaders say the legacy of abuse and family separation as a root cause of the epidemic rates of alcohol and drug addiction on Canadian reservations.

We know that the Holy Father was deeply moved by his encounter with Indigenous Peoples in Rome earlier this year, and that he hopes to build on the important dialogue that took place," the coordinator of the Canada visit, Archbishop Richard Smith, said in a statement.

The president of the Canadian Catholic bishops' conference, Bishop Raymond Poisson, thanked organizers and offered prayers for the pope.

"We pray for the health of Pope Francis and also that his pastoral visit to Canada will bring reconciliation and hope to all those who will accompany our shepherd on this historic journey, Poisson said in a statement.

___

Gillies contributed from Toronto.
Sanford Village Council continues to discuss the location of a proposed pump track.

Earlier this year, the council agreed to host the track  it still doesnt know where it should go.

Council member Lon Wackerle has been working with Pat Billingsley, who proposed the pump track concept. They have identified possible locations. Yet, after a June 13 council meeting, the consensus is to put an actual location on hold while the village continues rebuilding what was lost in the 2020 dam breaches.

Its too soon; we are still rebuilding, said Village President Dolores Porte. I think we can keep talking with (Billingsley).

Wackerle said Billingley worries that he cant continue fundraising until a solid location is determined.

Council member Marc Thrush said the council can report to Billingsley that they are still looking at possible locations. But the fact is that the village is still rebuilding, and they dont know how the layout of the track will look.

It could be a while yet, Porte said. We are where we are.

Council members said Billingsley could look at buying private property if he wants to expedite a location.

Billingsley proposed the pump track around October last year. He first proposed the track to be located near the Veterans Memorial and First Responders Monument on the east side of Porte Park. Since then, other areas have been discussed, such as where the former Hide-a-way Motel on Center Street used to be.

A pump track is a continuous loop of berms and manmade hills. It is estimated to need about an acre of land. The goal is for users to complete the loop without pedaling, instead pumping to maintain momentum.

The pump track is a mountain bike obstacle course. Billingsley said he envisions a 55-foot by 21-foot track where the first phase would be for beginners yet challenging enough for adults. Once he has the land secured and the plan accepted, he would write grants and hold fundraisers to build the track and meet the estimated $156,000 price tag.

Billingsley and his family go to a pump track in Bentonville, Arkansas, three times a year, where they see 200 people per hour on the track during peak months. Billingsley hopes to bring that excitement to the village.

Billingsley believes the pump track would be another way to bring people to Sanford and to give the residents something more to do. He said it also promotes healthy living and could bring business to a possible future bike shop, among other things.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (AP)  Throngs of tourists gleefully watched the legendary Old Faithful geyser shoot towering bursts of steaming water while others got stuck in bison jams on picturesque valley roads as visitors returned Wednesday for the partial reopening of Yellowstone National Park after destructive floods.

Park managers raised the gates at three of Yellowstones five entrances for the first time since June 13, when 10,000 visitors were ordered out after rivers across northern Wyoming and southern Montana surged over their banks following a torrent of rainfall that accelerated the spring snowmelt. The cost and scope of the damage is still being assessed, Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said Wednesday.

Empty roads and parking lots quickly grew busier by mid-morning as about 5,000 vehicles entered the park after getting through long lines that stretched for several miles (kilometers) at one gate in the early morning. The backups were gone by early afternoon, though, and visitation numbers were less than a normal summer day that draws about 10,000 vehicles, park officials said in a news release.

Paul Nithyanand of Chennai, India, gathered around Old Faithful along with 1,500 people in the afternoon to see it erupt. Nithyanand was touring the western U.S with his brother and had already seen the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, but said nothing on his trip compared with Old Faithful.

Its awesome, said Nithyanand, who was so impressed he waited around 80 minutes to it erupt again. Ive been seeing it in movies and on YouTube but seeing it live is amazing.

Lonnie and Graham Macmillan of Vancouver, Canada, were among those at a so-called bison jam where a group of the burly animals crossed the road. The bison sighting capped a successful morning in which theyd already seen two moose and numerous deer.

They showed up at the park last week, only to get turned away as it was under evacuation. They diverted to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota for a few days and then to Wyomings Big Horn mountains before returning to Yellowstone as soon as the chance arose.

The whole purpose of our trip was to come here, Lonnie Macmillan said. We werent going to go home until we got here.

The record floods reshaped the parks rivers and canyons, wiped out numerous roads and left some areas famous for their wildlife viewing inaccessible, possibly for months to come. It hit just as a summer tourist season that draws millions of visitors was ramping up as the park celebrated its 150th anniversary a year after it tallied a record 4.9 million visits.

Some of the premier attractions at Americas first national park were again viewable, including Old Faithful, which shoots bursts of steaming water almost like clockwork more than a dozen times a day.

But the bears, wolves and bison that roam the wild Lamar Valley and the thermal features around Mammoth Hot Springs will remain out of reach. The wildlife-rich northern half of the park will be shuttered until at least early July, and key routes into the park remain severed near the Montana tourist towns of Gardiner, Red Lodge and Cooke City.

Muris Demirovic, 43, of Miami and his 70-year-old mother arrived at the east entrance at about 5:30 a.m. and were second in a line of dozens of cars. He and his mother, who is from Bosnia, were on a cross country trip visiting national parks and Yellowstone was at the top of their list.

However, when they arrived, it was closed due to flooding. Demirovic and his mother toured Cody, Wyoming, went to a rodeo, walked some trails and visited a museum. They had planned to leave the Yellowstone area on Monday, but stayed when they learned the park would reopen.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip for me and my mom, so I had to make sure she sees this," he said.

To keep visitor numbers down while repairs continue, park managers are using a system that with few exceptions only allows cars with even-numbered last digits on their license plates to enter on even days, while vehicles with odd-numbered last numbers can come on odd days.

Park rangers had to turn away fewer than 1% of the people lined up due to license plate issues, and they were turning them away before they got in long lines to enter the park, Sholly said.

If traffic along the parks 400 miles (644 kilometers) of roads becomes unmanageable, Sholly said officials could switch to a reservation system.

The reopening comes as officials in Yellowstone are still tallying the extent of the damage. Based on other national park disasters, it could take years and carry a steep price tag to rebuild. Its an environmentally sensitive landscape with a huge underground plumbing system that feeds into the parks geysers, hot springs and other thermal features. Construction season only runs from the spring thaw until the first snowfall, a narrow window that means some roads could receive only temporary fixes this year.

Thats turned some Montana communities into dead ends instead of being gateways to Yellowstone, a blow to their tourism-dependent economies. Theyre also still struggling to clean up damage to several hundred homes and businesses that were swamped by flooding.

Sholly said he initially thought damage was worse than it actually is, but stressed that it is still bad in some areas of the park. That includes what he called catastrophic damage to one road near Gardiner, Montana, that won't be able to be rebuilt in the same canyon.

It could have been a lot worse, Sholly said. But that doesnt mean it wasnt super serious and it doesnt mean its not going to take a long time to recover from.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, who r eceived criticism last week for not disclosing he was out of the country until two days after the flooding, was not at the park for Wednesdays reopening. Spokesperson Brooke Stroyke said Gianforte was scheduled to meet with Cabinet members and be briefed on flood response and recovery.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon also wasn't in the park, said his spokesperson Michael Pearlman.

Tiffany Jahn from Kenosha, Wisconsin, who was with her husband and daughter in the line at the south entrance in Wyoming, said she was excited to see anything that was still open and especially hoping to glimpse the parks wildlife.

We were actually coming last week and we were getting messages ... saying Dont come, dont come, she said. But we were already out here so we kind of just altered our plans and made it work. 

___

Hanson reported from Helena, Montana. Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana at Yellowstone National Parks south entrance in Wyoming contributed to this report.
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.
Gibraltar National Theatre Foundation Thanks Parasol Foundation

The Gibraltar National Theatre Foundation has said it is delighted to accept the donation of 1.5 million from the Parasol Foundation towards the National Theatre and Cultural Hub, specifically the new exhibition gallery that will form a key part of the project.

'This is a tremendous contribution that kick-starts the funding process in earnest and will be put to good use in making Gibraltars new, and much needed Cultural Hub a reality.'

Commenting on the donation, the Foundations Patron, HE the Governor Sir David Steel, said: I am overwhelmed by the generosity of the Parasol Foundation. Such fabulous financial support, at the very start of our fundraising campaign for the creation of a new National Theatre, suggests that the Foundations ambitions for a new cultural hub can become reality very quickly. The Parasol Foundations generosity indicates forcefully confidence in Gibraltars exciting future.

Minister for Culture, Prof John Cortes, commented: The Parasol Foundations generous contribution to the National Theatre Foundation fund is hugely significant in many ways. It once again shows Ruths incredible commitment to Gibraltar and its Culture. And it also gets the National Theatre and Cultural Hub well on the way to becoming a reality. The Parasol Gallery of Art within the Hub will be central to this. I am so grateful - Gibraltar is so grateful to Ruth Parasol.

The Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo QC, said: On behalf of the Government of Gibraltar and the whole community, I would like to sincerely thank Ms Parasol for her generosity and for her commitment to Gibraltarian culture and arts. This incredible donation represents 10% of the total estimated cost of the Theatre and is a rocket boost to the campaign.

The donation of 1.5m for the project was announced by Ruth Parasol at an anniversary dinner on Tuesday evening.

The new Exhibition Gallery, which will carry the Parasol name, is one of three key elements of the project, the others being a new Lending Library, a 250 seat studio theatre, and of course the 1000 seat National Theatre.

Further fundraising will continue in coming weeks and months towards the project that already has Outline Planning Permission. The Theatre is now in the detailed design stage, with UK theatre specialists Charcoal Blue working closely with local architects GCA Architects, funded by another generous donation by the Kishin Alwani foundation.

Gibraltar Cultural Services (GCS) on behalf of the Gibraltar National Theatre Foundation (GNTF) can confirm that so far the project has raised 1,802,000, which includes a donation from the Musicians Association of Gibraltar (MAG), which is actively supporting the project.

Further fundraising initiatives will be announced shortly.

A bank account for the Foundation is now open and anyone wishing to donate to the GNTF can do so by contacting GCS Accounts Department on telephone 20075669 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Photo: (Photo : NOVA SAFO/AFP via Getty Images)

There's a brewing Girl Scout cookie scam in Long Island involving an "adorable" girl and her father who had gone door-to-door in several communities to collect money from the victims with a promise that their orders would be delivered. The cookies never arrived.

Mom Christina Malinchak told the New York Post that she and 11 of her neighbors gave money to either the girl, who was around 8 to 11 years old, or her male adult companion, yet they did not return. Kevin Zasowski, another local, also confirmed that a girl approached him with the offer of the Girl Scout cookies, and he gave $20 for a box of four while the man stood by the street.

Both victims reported the incident to the Girl Scouts Council of Suffolk County and the county police, but Zasowski is more concerned about the girl involved in the scam.

"It's not the money. It's not the cookies," he said. "It's what this gentleman is teaching his daughter."

Read Also: Ohio Baker Steals Baby's Identity to Claim $1.5 Million Pandemic Relief, DOJ Says

Girl Scout of Suffolk County Heartbroken

Suffolk County resident Maria Feinman said that everyone used the word "adorable" to describe the young girl. While the police are still on the hunt for the perpetrators, the local Girl Scout has urged those who had been scammed to file a report with the police. Although only a dozen had come forward with the complaints about the scam, investigators believed the actual number of victims could be higher.

The Girl Scout of Suffolk County also promised to cover and deliver the boxes of cookies ordered from the bogus sellers. The organization said that they are heartbroken by the misuse of the name and image of the Girl Scout Council for criminal activities.

Dad Michael Lewis warned other families who the father-daughter pair may still victimize. He told ABC News that anyone selling Girl Scout cookies door-to-door is required to be in their uniform. The kids are also instructed not to take cash upfront but are given a form to fill out their orders. So, if these conditions are not followed, it should raise a red flag.

Lewis knows the process well because he has a daughter who sells Girl Scout cookies. When news of the scam went out, Lewis said that his daughter was disappointed because someone tried to exploit the tradition of selling the cookies.

Every year, from February to May, members of the Girl Scouts across the U.S. sell cookies as a learning experience. This activity teaches the kids how to set goals, manage their earnings, learn business ethics and develop people skills.

The local police received reports of the crime from June 18 to 20.

Video of the Scammers

After seeing a story about the Girl Scout cookie scam in the news, a woman has come forward with a copy of a surveillance video of the father and daughter who came to her house to sell Girl Scout cookies in April. The local recalled that the girl took her cash while the man promised they would deliver the cookies on a specific date. He even suggested a spot where he'll keep the cookies in case the homeowner was not going to be around when they came.

The exchange was believable that it was hard to suspect that the father and daughter meant to fool the locals. She even suggested to the father that his daughter and her kids could have a playdate next time.

With the surveillance video, the police said they could start tracking down the father's identity or whereabouts, per Brooklyn News.

Related Article: FTC, BBB Warn Baby Formula Shortage Scams on the Rise
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Microsoft Edge is delivering today what it promised two weeks ago: a gaming-focused home page, games integrated directly into the browser, and a clarity boost for streamed cloud games.

On June 9, Microsoft tipped off several plans for upcoming improvements in Windows and Edge, the same day that it announced that youd be able to stream games from your Xbox that you already own. Several of these improvements to Edge have been tipped previously; Microsoft said last November that it was trialing Clarity Boost in the experimental Canary version of Microsoft Edge, improving the visual quality of games streamed within Edge.

Today, Microsoft said theyre rolling those new features out to everyone.

The new Edge features include a gaming-specific option for the home page. Edge users can click on the Gaming header in the navigation bar at the top of the page to access personalized gaming content, including news, game guides, live streams, game highlights, tournaments, and upcoming and newly released games. If youre signed in with your Microsoft account (thats connected to your Xbox account) youll also receive Xbox specific news. If your Xbox account is also subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, youll be able to launch cloud-gaming games directly from the Edge browser, too.

Heres a look at that the new Edge gaming page will look like.

Microsoft Edge and its new gaming home page. Microsoft

Note that the new Clarity Boost technology, which has been integrated within the Edge client, will also provide slightly higher graphics fidelity. You can play Xbox games in other browsers, as well, such as Chrome. But Microsoft is trying to make Edge a superior browser for playing those games, somewhat in the way that it provided 4K support for Netflix while other browsers did not.

While Xbox Game Pass Ultimate allows you to play cloud games in the browser, you can also play casual games right in the browser, too. Classics like Microsoft Solitaire, Jewel, Mahjong, and the Microsoft Edge Surf Game can be accessed via the Games menu within Edge, accessible via the ellipsis menu in the upper right-hand corner.

Who needs to load Solitaire? Now its right in the Microsoft Edge browser. Microsoft

Finally, Microsoft is also building an Efficiency Mode into Edge, where the entire browser will essentially hibernate while youre playing a game. Most gamers would probably instinctively close the browser entirely, but Microsoft is arguing that you dont need to; Edge will simply shift into a low-resource mode instead. Thats not necessarily a bad idea. Recent games like Elden Ring, with deep secrets and hidden mechanics, have often been easier when played with a web browser on an accompanying screen.

While Microsoft is trying to bring gaming features to Edge, Opera has offered its own gaming browser, Opera GX, for years. It, too, offers a built-in game as well as optimizations to minimize memory consumption and other tweaks.
Sweltering summer days and nights suck, but Valve is once again helping us mentally escape our torturous physical existences. Thats right: The Steam Summer Sale is back.

Starting now, you can grab hundreds of games at cool prices, with some big-name titles ranging from 50 to more than 75 percent off. Standouts include Ghostrunner: Tokyo, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Cyberpunk 2077, Monster Hunter Rise, and FIFA 22, but theres still much, much more. Even just-released games like are discounted too, with Tiny Tinas Wonderlands debuting on Steam at 20 percent off and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge getting a 10 percent slice. And of course, as always, diving into older games is cheap. Always wanted to play The Sims 4? Its just $5 now.

(Be prepared to shell out for all The Sims 4 expansion packs too if you get sucked in, though. Theresa lot of them.)

FIFA 22 has dropped to an insanely low price of $9.59 (84 percent off) during the Steam Summer Sale. EA / Steam

Valve is offering more than just game deals, too. For starters, you can earn Summer Sale trading cards and badges, as is common during these sales. This time around, theres also a mini-quest themed around a characterClorthax, whom the company calls out in its press release as a tolerable acquaintance created by the same folks behind Half-Life 2, Portal, and recent gem Aperture Desk Job. Youll earn a special badge by solving the clues left for you in the Steam app.

This years Steam Summer Sale runs through July 7, with an end time of 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern. At the moment, Steams servers are drowning under a deluge of attention (as usual on the first day), but you can still hit individual game pages if you want to see about your wish list items.
West Africa's regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) deployed troops to Guinea-Bissau on Monday to help stabilize the country after a failed coup earlier this year.



The 15-nation bloc announced in February that it would deploy the force, a few days after President Umaru Sissoco Embalo survived what he called an assassination attempt by drug traffickers. read more



"We thank ECOWAS heads of state for their... solidarity at a time when Bissau was grappling with upheavals linked to several attempts to subvert constitutional and democratic order," Defence Minister Marciano Silva Barbeiro said at an inauguration ceremony in the capital Bissau.



The 631 troops will help local forces protect public officials, institutions and civilians.



Guinea-Bissau has seen 10 coups or attempted coups since it gained independence from Portugal in 1974.



The tiny former Portuguese colony on the coast of West Africa is known as a major transit point for Latin American cocaine headed for Europe.



ECOWAS deployed a similar mission from 2012 to 2020 after another coup, to help deter the military from intervening in politics and protect political leaders.

Source: Reuters









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Chief Minister Address to Parliament  Tributes

"Mr Speaker I rise today with a heavy heart to start the proceedings with various condolences."

"The first to the clerk upon the death of his well known and well liked father Charlie.

Mr Speaker since the last session the community has learnt of the death of two of our most prominent and strongest women, Lady Marcelle Hassan and Claire Borrell.

I know the whole House will wish to make tributes to both and will want to do so separately to give each their due.

1. Lady Hassan

I will start with Lady Hassan.

Marcelle Bensimon was not a native Gibraltarian.

But she became one.

She arrived in Gibraltar from her native Morocco to work for a worthy and charitable purpose.

She was here to help Jewish immigrants using Gibraltar as a staging post in transit to the state of Israel.

Having been married to Sir Joshua in 1969, she experienced with him his only, short lived, election loss and his subsequent four consecutive election wins.

As the spouse of Chief Minister Hassan, Lady Hassan carried the burden of being in the public eye at an immensely difficult time.

For the lion's share of that time, the frontier was closed.

Let us not forget how hard those days were.

Every day would have been a struggle to maintain supplies and and a working economy, of course.

More than that, every day there would have been one mission.

To maintain morale in the community.

She was the non-political focal point for many in that respect.

She was also the ray of glamour in that period that so many looked at, as well as being a close political advisor to Sir Joshua and the AACR team.

And whilst he was Chief Minister, Lady Hassan bore Sir Joshua two daughters, both of them following him into public life.

The youngest, Marlene, is well known in this place in her own right as an Honourable Member.

The eldest, Fleur, is Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem and does not fail to evangelize her Gibraltarian origins whether in Israel or elsewhere.

I know Lady Hassan was more than proud of her daughters and their own contributions to public life in different jurisdictions of such importance to her.

A personal reflection, Mr Speaker.

I remember Lady Hassan telling me not to get into politics.

She told me, for my good, she said, that no one would thank me for anything.

When I did take the first steps into politics, she took me to one side in the lift at the law firm that bears her late husband's illustrious name and said now don't cower when they criticise you, do what you think is right and do what you have to do. That is what my husband did.

Both pieces of advice she gave me were good pieces of advice.

Having failed to follow the first, it was clear I had to follow the second.

Because it was equally clear that it was advice given from the heart to el hijo de Magda.

My mother in particular was an admirer of Lady Hassan's style.

My mother had been Sir Joshua's secretary when they married and I recall the warmth between them.

Mr Speaker, the pressures on the spouses of those at the top of the political hierarchy are often overlooked.

At least those of us who are in the political arena are here because we choose to be

Those who accompany us - our children, our spouses or partners  are, in effect, volunteered for the post by us.

Theirs is the part that is often as hard as ours.

And, no doubt, Lady Hassan carried that burden lightly.

In her time Lady Hassan represented us on Royal Visits, including the visit of the next monarch, Prince Charles.

Innumerable ceremonial functions.

Innumerable local events.

And for 16 years she was at the very top of the representation of our people alongside Sir Joshua.

Mr Speaker, I recall a photograph of Sir Joshua, Lady Hassan and Joe Garcia Snr with Mrs Garcia being feted together at the Marbella Club, just after the frontier opened.

It is an illustration, after the end of the last siege of Gibraltar of Gibraltar's success in surmounting that challenge under Sir Joshua's leadership, with Marcelle at this side.

Mr Speaker Lady Hassan come from beyond our shores. But she became one of us.

She is now buried amongst us

And will forever remain with us.

May she rest in peace.

I extend the condolences of the whole of Gibraltar and the whole House to her daughters and grandchildren.

Marlene Hassan, who is a member of this House, has asked that, as Leader of the House, I should extend her apologies to the people of Gibraltar for her absence today and from this session.

I have no doubt we all agree that she should absent herself this session and we support that she tend to her family at his time and address together with them the pain of this sad bereavement.

After tributes from others, I will invite the House to observe a minute's silence in honour of Lady Hassans memory.

2. Claire Borrell

The sad news has also reached us that womens champion Claire Borrell passed away this weekend. Mrs Borrell was the force behind the creation of the charity Women in Need.

And she was a force.

I remember working with Claire both in the law, in opposition and in Government and I can tell the House that there was little chance of not giving Claire the support she might be seeking from time to time.

She was a person who had suffered marital abuse.

She stood up to it in a society when such things were still taboo.

She took a stand for her children and for herself.

In doing so, she was, in fact, taking a stand for all women.

She really did trailblaze in this area and her work helped hundreds to free themselves from similarly abusive relationships.

And Claire made us talk about these uncomfortable truths and realities that had lain hidden in our community.

The fact is that those issues have not gone away, even if they are no longer hidden away.

In the last years she was working in Women in Need she was also providing some services to men who were abused and found themselves downtrodden.

I enjoyed working with Claire. She was not a do-gooder.

She was a go getter who wanted not to give people charity, but help to get on their feet and move on to a better place.

And, Mr Speaker, I confess, she also had a wicked sense of humour and there was not one time we met when she did not tell me off and make me laugh, especially when she broke off into her heavily accented Spanish.

Mr Speaker, Claire Borrell House is a fitting tribute to the work of this magnificent pioneer who was recognised by Her Majesty the Queen with an MBE.

The condolences of all of Gibraltar, in particular on behalf of all those she helped, go to her children, Amanda, Jonathan and Theresa.

None will have suffered this loss like they have, but we will all mourn the loss of Claire.

Again, Mr Speaker, after tributes from others, I will invite the House to observe a minute's silence in honour of her memory.

3. Armed Forces Week

Finally, Mr Speaker, this week is Armed Forces Week.

The whole of Gibraltar will want to join in wishing all members of the British Armed Forces all the very best for the week and for Saturday, which is Armed Forces Day.

The British Armed Forces are amongst the best in the world and the most professional.

Our own Royal Gibraltar Regiment are a part of the British Armed Forces and today the Speaker of the House of Commons wore the regimental tie during Prime Ministers Questions there, as I do in this House.

Our Armed Forces are the best of us. We thank them for what they do."
Former Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) employees have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. electric car company alleging its decision to carry out a "mass layoff" violated federal law as the company did not provide advance notice of the job cuts.



The lawsuit was filed late Sunday in Texas by two workers who said they were terminated from Tesla's gigafactory plant in Sparks, Nevada, in June.



According to the suit, more than 500 employees were terminated at the Nevada factory.



The workers allege the company failed to adhere to federal laws on mass layoffs that require a 60-day notification period under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, according to the lawsuit.



They are seeking class action status for all former Tesla employees throughout the United States who were laid off in May or June without advance notice.



"Tesla has simply notified the employees that their terminations would be effective immediately," the complaint said.



Tesla, which has not commented on numbers of layoffs, did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the lawsuit.



Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world's richest person, said earlier this month he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy and that Tesla needed to cut staff by about 10%, according to an email seen by Reuters.



More than 20 people identifying themselves as Tesla employees said they were laid off, let go or had positions terminated this month, according to online postings and interviews with Reuters.



The action filed by John Lynch and Daxton Hartsfield, who were fired on June 10 and June 15 respectively, seeks pay and benefits for the 60-day notification period.



"It's pretty shocking that Tesla would just blatantly violate federal labor law by laying off so many workers without providing the required notice," Shannon Liss-Riordan, an attorney representing the workers told Reuters.



She said Tesla is offering some employees only one week of severance, adding that she is preparing an emergency motion with a court to try to block Tesla from trying to get releases from employees in exchange for just one week of severance.



Musk played down the lawsuit as "trivial".



"Let's not read too much into a pre-emptive lawsuit that has no standing," he said at the Qatar Economic Forum organised by Bloomberg.



"It seems like anything related to Tesla gets a lot of clicks, whether it is trivial or significant. I would put that lawsuit you're referring to in the trivial category."



The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas.













Source: Reuters









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Over 800 members of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in good standing are expected to cast their ballots on Friday to elect new national and regional executives for the association.

The election is supposed to take place at various polling centres across the country and the results are expected to be declared on the same day the election will be held.



Editor of the Ghanaian Times and former General Secretary of the GJA, Dave Agbenu; journalist and communication consultant, Gayheart Mensah, and the Group Head of Corporate Affairs at the Tobinco Group and incumbent National Organising Secretary, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, are hotly contesting the position of President.



The Vice-President position is being contested solely by the incumbent, Linda Asante Agyei, as is the position of the Treasurer, which is being contested unopposed by Audrey Dekalu.



The General Secretary position has a new entrant, Akwasi Agyemang of Adom FM, who is challenging the current occupant of the position, Kofi Yeboah, while the National Organising Secretary position has long time crime reporter and current Foreign and Supplements Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mary Mensah, who wants to switch offices as Public Affairs Officer of the GJA which she has held for two terms. She is slugging it out with Dominic Hlordzi of GTV who is a new entrant.



The position of Public Affairs Officer has another journalist of the GBC stock, Rebecca Ekpe, contesting against Caesar Abagali of the Ghana News Agency.



Fierce campaign

There has been fierce campaign ahead of the elections, especially involving those contesting the presidential position.



With just a few days to the elections, the candidates have further intensified their campaigns with some sending text messages across various social media platforms to woo more members of the inky fraternity to vote for them.



There have also been a number of visitations to various media houses by the candidates to have a face-to-face interaction with voters on what they intend to do when given the mandate.



Posters on social media

For instance, in the case of Mr Agbenu, some of the messages read that he was the only practising professional journalist among the candidates for the position of president.



Vote for freedom and independence of the GJA; not for a direct or indirect handover of your association to any arm of government, reads one of the posters.



For Mr Mensah, most of his posters tell of his work experience at the New Times Corporation, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and the Graphic Communications Group Limited. He is campaigning on the slogan, Gayheart, your best bet to power-up the GJA! and the message on one of his posters on social media reads that he represented a visionary leadership, proven capability, best bet outside the past executive, experienced journalist and impressive career track record.



For his part, Mr Dwumfours message on one of the posters said members should vote for him for a total transformation of the GJA.



A vote for Albert Dwumfour is a vote for your welfare which is his priority. GJA in these times needs a vibrant, resourceful, competent and above all approachable leader to attract more journalists to the association. Albert Dwumfour is your surest bet for the much-required development for the association.



Journey to the elections

The journey to the election of the national executive of the GJA has not been without drama. First was the fact that the tenure of office of the current GJA executive ended on November 17, 2020.



The election of new officers, however, delayed because a member raised a constitutional issue regarding the mandate of the executive, whose tenure had ended and challenged their right to supervise the election. That matter was resolved.



When a second attempt was made to organise the election, some contestants raised issues about the credibility of the voters register. It was after the resolution of all the disputes that the Elections Dispute Adjudication Committee fixed June 24, 2022 for the national and regional elections to go ahead.



Petitions

When all seemed to be for the elections, in a letter dated June 16, 2022, a member of the Western Regional branch of the association, Dotsey Koblah Aklorbortu, petitioned the chairman of the Elections Committee against one of the candidates contesting the presidential position alleging payment of money to some members of the Western Regional GJA to induce them to vote for that candidate.



In submitting his petition, Mr Aklorbortu invoked Article 52 (b) (c) and (d) of the GJA constitution 2004



The petition did not go unchallenged, as the Western Regional Secretary of the association, Zambaga Rufai Saminu, in a letter dated the same day, June 16, 2022, also petitioned the Chairman of the Elections Committee against unethical and despicable conduct of Mr Aklorbortu.













Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on the global community to inspire new partnerships to deal with global crisis, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the pandemic had reversed years of progress and revealed critical gaps in infrastructure in areas such as health care and digital connectivity.



He also observed that global efforts to help countries correct the devastation caused by the pandemic and also achieve the United Nations (UN) 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were coming up short.



The President was speaking at this years European Union Development Days (EDD) Conference in Brussels, Belgium yesterday.



The EDD Conference 2022, which is on the theme: Global Gateway: Building sustainable partnerships for a connected world, is Europes leading forum on international partnerships and organised by the European Commission (EC).



The forum brings key actors together to share ideas and experiences in ways that inspire new partnerships and innovative solutions to the worlds most pressing challenges.



Relationship



Stressing the need for an enhanced relationship between Africa and Europe to safeguard the prospects of the development of Africa, President Akufo-Addo said Africa welcomed the establishment of the 300 billion Euro global gateway package by the EU.



The package aims at boosting public and private investments in the areas of infrastructure, energy and green transition, digital transformation, growth and jobs, transport and human development over the next seven years.



He was hopeful that the conference would produce outcomes that would prove beneficial in the successful implementation of infrastructure development across Africa.



Tangible projects



In the next few years, the President said, we must be able to see tangible projects across Africa as proof of the fruits of the strategic partnership that exists between Europe and Africa.



We have to work together to achieve our goals, including a fair equitable process of energy transition, which recognises that the entire African continent is responsible for less than four per cent of global emissions, and safeguards the prospects of Africas development.



No one needs to tell us that the issues of peace, progress and prosperity in Africa and Europe are deeply intertwined, which presupposes that ensuring the development of Africa should be in our common interest, the President added.



He, therefore, called for a long-standing relationship between Africa and Europe founded on ties of blood, culture, geography and history to serve as a platform for enhanced cooperation between the two continents.



Now, more than ever, a strong partnership between Europe and Africa, reinforced political dialogue and expanded cooperation in the field of economic growth and international security are required, he added.



Russian invasion



He expressed concern over the fact that prospects for the developing world had been severely undermined in recent months by the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.



That, he explained, had had a negative impact on commodity and fuel prices, stoking food crisis and provoking financial market volatility.



Although the bombs may be dropping on cities half a world away, they are hitting our pockets, not only in Ghana and Africa but also much of the developing world, he stressed.



UN report



Citing a recent UN report to buttress his concerns, President Akufo-Addo said it was estimated that 70 per cent of African economies were at severe risk from the Russian war in Ukraine.



The World Bank tells us that subsequent to the conflict, the number of poor people in sub-Saharan Africa could rise from 413 million to 463 million this year, representing an increase of 50 million people, he said.



In the midst of the developments, the President indicated that 18 African economies had experienced credit downgrades, even when all economies were suffering an adverse fallout from last years pandemic.



We in Africa are also facing the risk of investors exiting our markets, thereby exacerbating the increasing cost of borrowing, he said



Trying times



To that end, he said, support from non-International Monetary Fund (IMF) programmed countries to alleviate the debt burden was limited, while the initial facility designed by the G-20 countries to offer respite to economies with elevated debt challenges - Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) - had expired since December 2021 and not been renewed.



Beyond the DSSI, President Akufo-Addo said, the G-20 common framework promised a comprehensive solution to the debt issue but the few countries that took on the associated risk by applying were yet to receive the much needed relief.



In these trying times, the $650 billion special drawing rights, approved for the IMF in August 2021, was meant to provide significant relief. However, based on allocation principles, economies in Africa got only $33 billion, about five per cent.



Moreover the promise to reallocate some $100 billion of the allocations to African economies agreed to at the Paris Summit in May 2019 had yielded about $36 billion in pledges as of April 2022, the President stated.



He, therefore, called on the global community to step up its support for developing countries to withstand the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.









Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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It was with joy that Okyenhene Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin welcomed a high-powered delegation from the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to the Ofori Panin Fie.



This was on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2022, when the newly appointed NHIA Chief Executive, the Board Chair, a Board Member, and Executive Management visited the Ofori Panin Fie, in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area of the Eastern Region.



Okyenhene Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin glorified Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye characterized him as a visionary leader who is not self-centred.



According to the celebrated Environmentalist, the NHIA Boss has never failed in his duties and urged the younger generation to emulate him. "Okoe-Boye is a listening public servant."



The revered Overlord of Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area recounted how the former Member of Parliament for Ledzokuku constituency in the Greater Accra Region sought his advice before venturing into mainstream politics.



He advised public servants to be humble and generous to the people they are serving adding, "Let's eschew tribal considerations in governing the nation.'



He lauded the government's pro-poor programs such as Planting for Food and Jobs and Free SHS and concluded that such policies will benefit future generations.



Dr. Okoe-Boye commended Okyenhene's transformational leadership, saying, "We need such traditional leaders with foresight to move the country forward in the right direction."



He unveiled the government's agenda to include sickle cell treatment in the NHIS Benefit Package, effective July 2022.



According to him, by July 2022, the ages above 70 years will have instant activation of their newly registered NHIS cards without serving the one-month period after fresh registration.



Dr. Okoe-Boye's visit was to cement the bond between the NHIA and the Ofori Panin Fie.



The Ofori Panin Fie's visit climaxed the NHIA Boss three-day working tour of the Eastern Region.



The new NHIA Chief Executive, Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye is on a nationwide familiarization tour which began in the Greater Accra Region on June 13, 2022.



He has so far paid courtesy calls on the King of Ga State, Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, Okuapehene, Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III and Okyenhene Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The government has been transparent and prudent in the management of COVID-19 funds, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has said.

Delivering a statement in Parliament yesterday on how the government spent COVID-19 funds, he said all the expenses were provided for in the last Budget Statement.



Nevertheless, he elaborated on the specifics and how they helped to contain the pandemic and saved lives.



Funding sources



Giving details, the minister said out of the GH18.19 billion the government mobilised from the various sources of funds in 2020 out of the programmed GH19.3 billion, GH12 billion was spent



He mentioned the sources as the Government of Ghana Contingency Fund, GH1.2 billion; World Bank Group Funds, GH1.3 billion, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), GH5.8 billion; the African Development Bank (AfDB), GH405 million; the European Union (EU), GH503 million, and the Bank of Ghana (BoG) COVID-19 bonds, GH10 billion.



Utilisation



Mr Ofori-Atta told the House that $230 million was secured from various facilities under the World Bank to support the implementation of the COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP).



Furthermore, an additional $200 million was secured in 2021, largely for the acquisition and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines, he said.



Additionally, he said, other funds were sourced to support the budget, including $1 billion from the IMF, GH10 billion from the BoG, $69.3 million from the AfDB and $99.7 million from the EU.



Exclusion



However, the minister said, the status of utilisation of the funds to finance the COVID-19 measures excluded funds from the National COVID-19 Trust Fund and the Ghana Private Sector COVID-19 Fund.



Mr Speaker, for the years 2020 and 2021, the programmed expenditure amounted to GH15.7 million for the COVID-19-related expenditures, out of which the actual utilisation was GH12 million.



In 2020, a total amount of GH11.1 million, excluding the CAP, was programmed for COVID-19-related expenditure, he said.



He explained that GH8.12 million was utilised to provide support for households, supply equipment and provide relief for health workers, health infrastructure, security operations, evacuations, quarantine and coordination, economic relief, stabilisation and revitalisation.



Data consistencies



Mr Ofori-Atta pointed out that GH4.6 million was programmed in the 2021 budget for COVID-19-related expenses, but as of the end of December 2021, GH3.9 million, representing 85 per cent, had been utilised.



Mr Speaker, at this juncture, I wish to dispel the notion that there have been inconsistencies in government data on COVID-19.



I can report that as of the end of May 2022, we had mobilised GH18.19 billion to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. Again, when His Excellency the Vice -President indicated on April 7, 2022 at the National TESCON Conference that the government had spent GH8.1 billion on COVID-19, it was within the context of expenditures for 2020, as I have already indicated, he said.



Approvals by Parliament



Highlighting the financial management and accountability framework for receipt and use of public funds, especially as related to COVID-19, the minister said all public expenditures were incurred from funds approved by Parliament.



Those expenditures, he said, might be drawn from the Consolidated Fund, the Contingency Fund or other statutory funds earmarked for specific purposes.



At the onset of COVID-19, the MoF applied for and obtained the approval of Parliament to lower the cap on the Stabilisation Fund which enabled the transfer of approximately GH1.2 billion to the Contingency Fund.



Upon approval by Parliament, GH1.2 billion was drawn from the Contingency Fund to support the governments efforts to mitigate the effect of the pandemic, he said.



He said all implementing entities, made up of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and metropolitan, municipal and district assembles (MMDAs), that received funds for COVID-19 expenditure were required to keep the relevant documentation for audit purposes.



Support to households



On the support extended to households during the outbreak in 2020, Mr Ofori-Atta told the House that out of the GH1.7 million programmed to support households in Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi, GH1.55 million was utilised



The expenditure for the provision of hot meals during the lockdown served about 2,744,723 people for the period of the lockdown, at a unit cost of GH4.32, and an amount of GH42.2 million was expended on the distribution of dry food packages through faith-based organisations in Greater Accra and Kumasi.



A total of about 470,000 people received these food packages, and as part of the support to households, the government, through the Ministry of Water and Sanitation and its agency the Ghana Water Company Limited, provided free water, which initially lasted the period April to September 2020, he said.



In 2021, he said, a total allocation of GH200 million was made for the provision of free water and electricity for lifeline consumers, out of which GH143 million was utilised.



He said the government also made provision in the budget for free electricity for lifeline consumers and absorbed 50 per cent of all electricity bills for all residential and commercial customers, saying that a total cost of GH1.03 million was utilised for the policy from April to September 2020.



Relief for health workers



On the support to frontline health workers, Mr Ofori-Atta said the total amount programmed for the measures under the health response in 2020 was GH1.52 million, out of which GH1.04 million was utilised.



He further indicated that a total of GH80 million was programmed to pay 50 per cent of the basic salary as allowance for frontline workers.



Economic revitalisation



In addition, to ensure economic stabilisation and relief, Mr Ofori-Atta said the government implemented programmes to revitalise the economy and protect jobs.



They included the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme Business Support Scheme (CAPBuSS) by the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), which provided soft loans to the tune of GHc600 million for 302,001 small and medium-scale businesses across the country to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic and protect jobs, and the Ghana Cares Obaatanpa Programme, which was launched in November 2020 to make strategic investments in the real sector of the economy and saw the release of GH539 in 2021, out of the total programmed amount of GH1.510 billion.



A total of GH853 million has been transferred as seed money for the establishment of the Development Bank Ghana to address gaps on the Ghanaian credit market, especially the availability of medium- and long-term finance for the private sector, he said.



Procurement of vaccines



On the procurement of vaccines, the Finance Minister said GH929.30 million was allocated in the 2021 budget for the purpose.



He said GH775.82 million was released for the purchase of Sputnik V, the Janssen COV SARS 2 COVID vaccines and the emergency deployment of vaccines in schools.









Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Senior member of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, says he is saddened by the criticism being directed at renowned architect, Sir David Adjaye by some Ghanaian intellectuals.



Sir David Adjaye has been at the receiving end of serious criticism after his company, David Adjaye and Associates was awarded several government contracts worth millions of dollars through sole sourcing.



But according to Gabby Otchere Darko, it is sad to see individuals who are celebrated for their intellectual prowess championing these attacks.



I find it sad to see men we celebrate for their intellectual artistry being the lead campaigners against a globally successful Ghanaian such as David Adjaye who chose to relocate his global business in Ghana. #HateNotSuccess, he wrote in a Facebook post.



Concerns such as the lack of competitive bidding in the awarding of major architecture contracts to Mr Adjaye have been raised by some critics.



Sharing such concerns, the Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons while speaking on Joynews recently disclosed that the architect has been ordered five contracts through sole sourcing.



According to him, the government has so far sole-sourced five major projects to Sir David Adjayes company which will eventually earn him more than $300 million, given the current rate he is currently charging.



"(There is) this new pattern whereby the government is consistently single-sourcing large projects to a single architect (Sir David Adjaye), it is unusual. We have never seen these in this country... what has all of a sudden changed? We appreciate the fact that Sir David Adjaye is a global architect and internationally renowned, but he has been practising for years since 2000. He has been famous around the world. Why is it that from 2018 onwards, we are seeing massive projects being awarded to him without design competition?



"... how can we award the Ghana Trade Fair Centre (which he will be paid $300 million at the current rate)? We decided to do the Ghana Freedom Pavilion in Venice (Italy) and we went for him,  we are going to pay him another $100 for the Agenda 111 project using the same scaling fee he has been applying.



By the time we are through, we will have paid a single architect more than $300 million as a country. Somebody must ask some questions, he said.









Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Mr James Heappey, the United Kingdom (UK) Minister for Armed Forces, has arrived in Ghana as part of a three-country visit to West Africa.



A statement issued by the British High Commission and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the Minister would visit both Accra and Tamale in Ghana and then travel to Togo and the Ivory Coast.



It said the Ministers time in West Africa highlighted the UKs commitment to the enduring defence and security partnership with the region.



The statement noted that Mr Heappey arrived in Ghana as leaders from across the Commonwealth came together in Kigali, Rwanda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.



It said the UK would now hand over as Chair-in-Office to Rwanda.



It said as Chair-in-Office, the UK delivered more than 500 million of projects and programmes in support of a fairer, prosperous, more sustainable and more secure future.



Speaking after he arrived in Ghana, Mr Heappey said: The UK has a firmly global outlook and we recognise that settled security comes from mutual support and commitment.



During my engagements here, I will update trusted partners on what the UK is doing and what more we might do to co-operate and tackle shared threats to our security and prosperity.



The statement said during his visit to Accra, the Minister awarded Lt Commander Priscilla Ami Dogbeda Dzokoto the Dartmouth medal for completing her initial naval training at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in the UK in 2013.



It said Lt Commander Dzokoto became Ghanas first female naval ship Commanding Officer in April this year and is now working as the Commanding Officer of Ghana Navy Ship BLIKA.



It said the Minister joined a discussion about the Accra Initiative in the countrys capital and visited the Multinational Maritime Coordination Centre (MMCC) Zone F at Christiansborg Castle.



The statement said in Tamale, Mr Heappey met with three Ministers from Northern Ghana; namely Mr Shani Alhassan Saibu, Northern Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salish, Upper West Regional Minister and Mr Saeed Mahazu Jibril, Savanna Regional Minister.



The statement said three of the UKs Chevening Alumni had lunch with the Minister, where they talked about their Chevening journey and shared their experience of the latest See Something, Say Something campaign in Tamale.



It said throughout his visit to West Africa, Mr Heappey was accompanied by the UKs new Defence Adviser to Ghana, and non-resident Defence Attache to Benin, the Ivory Coast and Togo, Commander Richard Walters.



Speaking during the Ministers visit Commander Walters said: Fantastic to have the UKs Minister for Armed Forces with us in West Africa this week.



"This clearly marks the importance and strength of the UKs defence partnership with the region.

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.

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The construction of a new presidential palace has begun in South Sudan's capital, Juba - with President Salva Kiir attending a ceremony to mark the start earlier this week.



The project is funded by the government and will take about two years to be completed, according to James Deng Wal, the executive director in the Office of the President.



It is unclear how much it will cost, but the country is facing a worsening humanitarian crisis that the UN says has left half of the population food insecure this year.



The new building will house the presidents office and will be a venue for other government activities.



Mr Deng said its construction would provide work for South Sudanese citizens including engineers, architects, artisans and administrative staff.



He said once completed, the building would rival other modern State Houses in East Africa.





21.06.2022 - President Salva Kiir presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction project of the State House (J1), which will be a president's office and a venue for other government activities. #SouthSudan pic.twitter.com/bSC19mtapQ  South Sudan Government  (@SouthSudanGov) June 21, 2022

Source: BBC









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A team of security men detailed from the Greater Accra Regional Security Council (REGSEC) yesterday stormed the Animal Research Institute (ARI) of the Council for Science and Industrial Research (CSIR) to demolish hundreds of illegal structures that have mushroomed within the 200-acre land of the institute.

The security men, from the Ghana Armed Forces, the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana National Fire Service GNFS), the Ghana Immigration Service and a task force from the Adentan Municipal Assembly, moved onto the land around 4 a.m. with five bulldozers and two excavators to raze to the ground all completed and uncompleted buildings, fence walls, building foundations, as well as temporary and makeshift structures.



The demolition followed a 48-hour ultimatum given by the Chairman of the Greater Accra REGSEC, Henry Quartey, at a press conference last Monday.



The exercise, which will last some days, is aimed at reclaiming the 200-acre land for the CSIR-ARI.



When the Daily Graphic team arrived at the place around 9 a.m. yesterday, it observed that about 50 structures had already been pulled down.



Firemen from the GNFS were fully alert with two fire engines, ready to act in case of any fire outbreak.





The exercise was devoid of any confusion, as the encroachers complied and moved out, especially from completed structures, for the team to carry out the demolition exercise.



Those who could not finish evacuating their belongings before the deadline were seen moving them with tricycles, while others had packed theirs and were ready to move them out of the area.



Observations



The Daily Graphic team further observed that there had been massive encroachment on the land, secured through proper legal means to enable the research institution to carry out studies on animals and conduct animal husbandry.



Large portions of a fence that protected the land had been broken down by encroachers, who had put up structures and walls to demarcate plots for themselves.



The encroachers had also broken down portions of a piggery sty, destroyed four cattle kraals and replaced them with building foundations.



It was also observed that the encroachers had built walls and single rooms in front of the hatchery, the meat processing house and the Dairy Processing Unit of the institute, which had blocked access to those facilities by vehicles.



Reclamation



The 48 hours elapsed this morning. The REGSEC is here and it is doing its best to secure the land within the 200-acre perimeter that has been fenced, Mr Quartey said.



After securing the place, the Greater Accra Regional Minister said, the land would be handed over to the CSIR-ARI to decide what it wanted to do with it.



He further directed all homeowners living on portions of land belonging to the ARI to quickly meet with the REGSEC to regularise their building documents or risk ejection.



That will be like a relief for those who have lived on other parts of the lands belonging to the ARI for many years and not knowing what their fate is. We will make strong recommendations for them to be able to regularise their documents, he said.



We are not securing this land to share it. It is the property of the CSIR-ARI and only that institution has the locus to decide what to do with the land, he added.



The government, under Executive Instrument (E.I. 38) in 1976, established the CSIR-ARI on and assigned it over a 1,000-acre land at Adentan-Frafraha, with a mandate to conduct research into the development and transfer of livestock and poultry technologies to communities, farmer groups, private and public organisations.



This was to ensure the long-term food security of the nation.



When the land was acquired by the government, all owners, including the original owners at Berekuso in the Akuapem District, were compensated.



However, over the years, some unscrupulous persons have made it a habit of selling portions of the land.



In 2014, as part of efforts to retrieve the encroached lands, the CSIR-ARI went to court and obtained a Writ of Possession in an attempt to evict encroachers from the land. However, the exercise failed to materialise.



In an attempt to stop further encroachment, the institute, in 2017, acquired a loan to fence off the remaining 200-acre portion of the land, but currently, large portions of the fence have been broken down by encroachers.





Source: graphiconline.com









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The Tema Metropolitan Assembly, (TMA) has passed a bye-law that will compel developers to reserve 25 per cent of land for soft landscaping, which includes the planting of trees, plants and grass.

Under the new bye-law, all developers shall be responsible for the landscaping of the frontage of their properties.



The Metropolitan Chief Executive for Tema, Yohane Amarh Ashitey, who disclosed this last Wednesday during a tree planting exercise as part of the governments Green Ghana Project, said the bye-law had already been approved at the general assembly meeting of the assembly awaiting gazetting.



He explained that the move by the assembly formed part of efforts to ensure that the greenery of Tema was established and properly maintained.



Reward schemes

Mr Ashitey said as part of the assemblys contribution to the Green Ghana initiative, the TMA intended to introduce some innovations to the initiative by assigning 200 seedlings each to assembly members to be planted and nurtured within their respective electoral areas.



He said each assembly member would be tasked to ensure the survival of the trees, adding that at the end of each quarter, an assessment would be done and scores provided on the percentage of trees planted and surviving.



Mr Ashitey disclosed that special rewards would be given to the electoral area that came out tops. The MCE further indicated that seedlings of various species were readily available for pickup at the Horticulture Department of the assembly and urged individuals and homeowners to visit and pick seedlings to plant in and outside their homes to help make Tema a green city.



Our city being an industrial hub is particularly predisposed to air pollution and for that matter, the benefits of this aggressive afforestation programme is something we should participate in, he said.



Support

Meanwhile, two institutions in Tema, the Kingdom Exim Group and Tema Lube Oil Company Ltd, have donated two tricycles fitted with water tanks to the TMA for watering and monitoring of seedlings planted during the Green Ghana Project.



Speaking at the handover ceremony, the Corporate Affairs Manager of the Kingdom Exim Group, Peter Mensah, said the gesture was in alignment with the efforts being made by the government to mitigate the challenge of climate change and also to reclaim the lost forest of the country.



He said his organisation would continue to support efforts at promoting environmental sustainability practices to help build thriving communities and secure future generations.







Source: graphiconline.com









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At the invitation of the World Free Zones Organization (World FZO), on 13 June 2022 WCO Deputy Secretary General Mr. Ricardo Trevino Chapa delivered a keynote speech at the Annual Conference of the Global Alliance of Special Economic Zones (GASEZ), held in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The opening ceremony was chaired by Mr. James Zhan, Director of UNCTADs Division of Investment and Enterprise and Co-Chair of GASEZ, and Dr. Samir Hamrouni, CEO of the World Free Zones Organization and Co-Chair of GASEZ. Jamaicas Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator Aubyn Hill, delivered welcoming remarks.

In his keynote speech, the Deputy Secretary General highlighted the importance of strengthening collaboration and coordination between Customs administrations and special economic zones. He emphasized the need to involve Customs administrations throughout the entire process of authorization and implementation of special economic zones and their operators.

He congratulated the organizers and coordinators of the Global Alliance of Special Economic Zones on their efforts, led by the World FZO and UNCTAD.

During his visit to Montego Bay, the DSG also met and held open dialogue with several heads of special economic zones and associations of special economic zones in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ghana International Bank (GHIB), a bank set up in the city of London by the Ghana Commercial Bank in 1959, to finance international trade and serve as an intermediary for the flow of funds to and from Ghana, has reached a 5.8 million settlement with the United Kingdoms Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).



The FCA fined Ghana after conducting investigation into GHIBs anti-money laundering (AML) controls over its correspondent banking activities between 2012 and 2016. GHIB says it accepts full responsibility for its historic failings and, under the terms of the agreement, has agreed to pay a civil penalty totaling 5,829,900.00.



Leadership shift





The FCA according to a statement issued by GHIB dated 23 June 2022, noted in its findings that GHIB has since taken significant steps in improving its AML systems and controls.





It also said that GHIB and its senior management had worked in an open and cooperative way with the regulator, including by notifying the FCA of its AML shortcomings. It should also be noted that no evidence was found of GHIB facilitating any money laundering or any other financial crime the GHIB statement read.





The GHIB statement also says that since the period under investigation, the bank has appointed a completely new Board, with three new independent non-executive directors, and is also under new management with a new CEO, COO, CRO and MLRO. GHIB has also significantly strengthened its AML systems and controls, introduced an enhanced risk management framework and increased the number of staff, particularly in key control and regulatory functions.



New direction



Dean Adansi, the Chief Executive of GHIB, the statement quoted him as follows; GHIB takes its compliance with anti-money laundering regulations extremely seriously and we are pleased to have come to a resolution with the FCA over these historic issues.



We have invested considerable resources in our risk management systems and controls, and have built up a strong team within the bank.



Under new leadership, GHIB is a fundamentally different bank today, with a healthy balance sheet and the support of its major shareholders, and we are looking forward to supporting our clients as the bank of choice, and trusted partner in Africa.



Dr Ernest Addison, governor of the Bank of Ghana and Chairman of GHIB, is also quoted by the GHIB statement noting that;



GHIB provides critical correspondent banking services to financial institutions and corporations both within Ghana and across the region.



The past few years have been a transformative time for the bank, and GHIB has never been in a stronger position than it is today.



The strategic investments that GHIB has made in its people, systems and processes, accompanied by its recent recapitalization, will serve to underpin the critical role that the bank plays in the Ghanaian economy.



The GHIB



In 1959, Ghana Commercial Bank set up a branch in the City of London: to finance international trade and serve as an intermediary for the flow of funds to and from Ghana. Ghana International Bank (GHIB) was incorporated in the United Kingdom in 1998 to take on that mantle.



Authorized and regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, the bank is now owned by a consortium of major Ghanaian financial institutions, with the Central Bank of Ghana serving as majority shareholder.





Today, GHIB focuses on six key areas: treasury and global markets, trade finance, corporate and institutional banking, retail and small business banking, correspondent banking, and payment solutions.



However, the banks focus remains the same  to support the economies of Ghana and the wider African continent.

Source: asaaseradio.com









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Parliament has passed the Ghana Standards Authority Bill, 2022 into law to empower the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) to deliver on its mandate.



The law also seeks to ratify and consolidate laws relating to standards, conformity assessment and metrology (the art of measurements), as well as provide for related matters.



After going through the third reading on the floor of Parliament, the bill was passed into law.



Mr Michael Okyere Baafi, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry moved the motion on behalf of Mr Alan Kyerematen, the Minister for Trade and industry.



It was seconded by the Ranking Member of the Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the MP for Ellembelle.



Mr Andrew Amoako Asiamah, the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, presiding over the proceeding took a voice vote for the passage of the bill into law by Parliament.



The Ghana Standards Authority Act, 2022, establishes the GSA as the authority responsible for the establishment and promulgation of standards, enforcement of conformity assessment programmes and regulation activities in respect of weights and measurements in the country.



It also seeks to amend the law relating to standardisation, conformity assessment and metrology, as well as consolidate all laws relating to those areas.



The GSA Act also establishes the GSA as a corporate body for the performance of the functions of authority under the act.



It gives the authority the power to establish laboratories and other facilities to promote research about standardisation, undertake and encourage educational work in connection with standardisation, collect and disseminate information concerning standardisation and develop and maintain a collection of library materials and a museum collection relating to standardisation and allied materials.



Mr Baafi, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Juaben South in his address later in Parliament said the law would consolidate three acts - the Standards Authority Act, 1973 (N.R.C.D. 173), the Weights and Measures Act, 1975 (N.R.C.D. 326) and the Laws of Ghana (Revised Edition) Act, 1998 (Act 567)- into one law.



That, he said, would empower the GSA to undertake its duties effectively in the areas of conformity assessment and metrology and ensure that standards were adhered to in the country.



Mr Baafi described it as a good law that would enhance the capacity of the GSA and broaden its horizon to enable it to deliver on its mandate.



Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin, Deputy Majority Leader and MP for Efutu, thanked the Parliamentary Committee on Trade and Industry for the urgency attached to the bill and the technical committee for a good job done and expressed the hope that the law would go a long way to help the economy

Source: GNA









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The Controller and Accountant-Generals Department (CAGD) has confirmed that monies paid to some Members of Parliament (MPs) as overpaid salaries have been refunded.



The Kintampo South MP, Alexander Gyan; Pru West MP, Stephen Jalulah; and MP for Salaga North, Alhassan Iddi were said to have been overpaid a total of GH280,008.90 in the year 2021.



While the Kintampo South MP and Pru West MP were allegedly paid GH119,004.45 each in excess of their salaries by the CAGD, Salaga North MP was over paid GH42,000, covering their tenure as DCEs and MPs.



In separate memos dated January 28, 2022 and signed by the Chief Accountant, Charlotte Obro-Adibo, the CAGD acknowledged receipt of the amounts involved, saying that they have been paid back to government chest.



The memo in respect of the Kintampo South MP said, This is to confirm that an amount of GH119,004.45 in favour of Hon. Gyan Alexander has been paid back to government chest.



It continued, The amount represents salary that has been returned to chest by GCB, Tantra Hill Branch into CAGD Suspense Account at Bank of Ghana, Accra.



For Mr. Stephen Jalulah, the memo indicated that the MP paid back his money into the CAGD Suspense Account at BoG through one Charles T. Banyu.



The memo for the Salaga North MP indicated a similar statement for his return of the GH42,000.



In an interview with DAILY GUIDE, the MPs explained that the overpayment was as a result of their transition from the District Chief Executive (DCE) positions to MPs.



When we realised that we had been overpaid in August 2021, those of us involved came together and reported the development to the Controller and Accountant-Generals Department to stop the payment, and we refunded the monies in October 2021, Mr. Gyan stated.



The Pru West MP, who even expressed shock about the latest report, said they returned the monies into government chest 75 days before the CAGD notified Parliament that they had been overpaid.



Meanwhile, the Bortianor Ngleshie Amanfro MP, Sylvester Tetteh, who was mentioned in media publication of having taken salaries as a former CEO of the National Youth Authority (NYA) has rejected claims he received double salary.



According to him, the CAGD only started processing his salary during his tenure as CEO of the NYA after he was sworn in as MP, insisting that he indeed earned the salaries paid to him.



He told Daily Guide that he worked at the NYA for 26 months without pay, stressing, I have never drawn a double salary. I am a man of integrity.



When I was appointed CEO of the National Youth Authority, I worked for over 26 months for the authority, and I was never paid a salary until I resigned, he emphasised.



The pro-NDC civil society group, Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability, which brought up the issue, accused him and the other NPP MPs of having taken double salaries.

Source: Daily Guide









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Member of Parliament for Kwadaso, Dr. Kingsley Nyarko says Ghanaians should be grateful to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government for the social interventions introduced to improve their living conditions.



According to him, the President cannot be entirely blamed for the economic challenges as Ghana is not the only country in a meltdown.



He noted that Ghana would have been doing exceptionally well if not for the Coronavirus pandemic and now the Ukraine/Russia war which, to him, have badly affected the economy.



However, the President is relentless in restoring the economy, therefore, Dr. Kingsley Nyarko appealed to Ghanaians to appreciate the President's good works knowing that he is doing his best to make life better for them.



"Ghanaians should bear with this government because the government is doing everything possible for us to progress...Ghanaians should bear with us. Nana Akufo-Addo is capable. The government is capable. What we are experiencing is temporal and the government is doing everything to bring us back to the pre-pandemic levels", he pleaded.



He also asked the citizens not to lose sight of the bad governance by the previous John Mahama regime where life of hardship was unbearable for them.



"During the time that we slept in darkness for so many years, show me a single intervention that government brought to cushion us. There was inactivity. There was inertia on the part of that government...But at least we have done something. In the midst of the pain and hardship, you know government is doing something to soothe the pain of the people. So, for me, this is a clear difference", he said.



Dr. Kingsley Nyarko made these comments on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" Wednesday morning.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Bernard Allotey Jacobs has objurgated the calls on President Nana Addo for reduction in the prices of petroleum products in the country.



Over the months, there's been astronomical increases in fuel prices, hence burdening commercial and private drivers and passengers.



The prices currently stand at over 10 cedis and 12 per litre for petrol and diesel respectively.



The government blames the Ukraine/Russia war for the fuel price increases.



However, there are incessant calls on the President to stabilize the petroleum prices.



Some critics have suggested that the President should either reduce or remove the taxes on petroleum products and also negotiate to buy fuel directly from Russia which is selling at a subsidized price.



Speaking to the issue during Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" programme, Bernard Allotey Jacobs expressed strong disagreement with views that the President should reduce the fuel prices and taxes.



He argued that "if we reduce the prices of petroleum products, this country [it] will come to a standstill because government rakes in revenue from these petroleum taxes and pay an army of over 700000 government employees".



Allotey Jacobs wondered how the critics expect the President pay the government employees when the petroleum product prices are cut.



"...due to hypocrisy, they will tell you to reduce the price of fuel and after that expect Nana Akufo-Addo to turn into Okomfo Anokye and conjure money from the sky to pay them. This is what we are doing to Ghana", he snapped.







TUC's

Allotey also directed a message to the Ghana Trade Union Congress (GTUC) for asking the President to adopt homegrown solutions to salvage the economy.



Secretary-General of the Union, Dr. Yaw Baah is quoted as saying "we have a serious problem with the economy and these domestic shareholder initiatives have the potential to turn things around for the economy".



In response to the GTUC, Allotey Jacobs said; "The TUC and their other Unions should stop embarking on the strike actions because we are not in good times. So, they should speak to their Unions and hold interactions with the government...We need to sit down on a round table not to threaten government and then the nation. That is also a homegrown solution."

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The brouhaha over payment of ex gratia to public service holders has been revived following the selfless recent action by the Paramount Chief and the Agbogbomefia of Asogli, Togbe Afede XIV.



Togbe Afede XIV recently issued a statement in which he disclosed he had refunded a sum of GHC365,392.67 paid to him for his service as a Council of State member from 2017 to 2020 but his action has attracted mixed feelings.



While some people consider his action as honourable, others argue he has slighted the other public servants who received their ex gratia.



Some critics like broadcaster Paul Adom-Otchere also bashed the Chief for returning his ex gratia.



Paul Adom-Otchere argued that Togbe Afede XIV must refund more money than the ex gratia because he failed to attend meetings by the Council.



According to him, out of 242 meetings held by the Council in 48 months, the Chief attended only 39 representing 16% but despite his failure to attend majority of the meetings, he collected all his salaries and other benefits.



Touching on the issue of the ex gratia during a panel discussion on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" programme, Bernard Allotey Jacobs, a Social Commentator, called for a halt in the payment of ex gratia to the public service holders.



Particularly mentioning Parliamentarians and explaining it's taxpayer's money that is used to remunerate them, Allotey asked them to agree to forfeit their ex gratia so it can be used to develop the country.



"From the Presidency to all government appointees, for the next two years, there should be no ex gratia until our economy improves...We are in hard times, so they should stop the payment of ex-gratia", the onetime kingpin of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) stressed.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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A Founding member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe has said that the Akufo-Addo government has been plagued with series of corruption for which Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen should have resigned.



Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe said he would have followed Mr Kyerematen if he had had the courage to resign from the current government that in is view, has been neck-deep in series of corruption scandals.



Speaking in an interview with TV3s Johnnie Hughes, he said The Alan case, Alan is a nice gentleman but politics you dont use nice gentleman to do politics. You will need people who are strong, people who can say this is it, I stand by it.



We have had series of corruption cases in the government in which Alan is a member. If Alan had resigned, I would have followed him anywhere, he did not have the courage to do so and as such, I dont see him as a leader.



In the case of Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe said the structure of the NPP will make it difficult for him to be the flagbearer and eventually, President of Ghana.



He said he has known Dr Bawumia for quite some time and can attest to the fact that he is a fine gentleman however, the NPP will make it difficult for him to achieve his ultimate ambition of becoming Head of State.



I did an interview, it was with a foreign magazine, I will find out if I still have it, I will share with you, where I made plain that by the structure of our party, Bawumia cannot come to power.



Bawumia is a fine gentlemen, if Bawumia would have had that independent mind and strength and not just always praise what the president has done or has not done, I would have looked at him differently, I know Bawumia very well..

Source: 3news









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The Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, has expressed preparedness to share his vision with the opposition should he be elected president of the Republic.



The legislator who has expressed interest in contesting in the presidential primaries of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) said we are divided along political party lines, and that must stop.



He stated that the division is a major threat to Ghanas development.



He lamented that there is no unity in the country because it is so polarised.



According to him, there was nothing wrong if an elected leader shared his vision with the opposition.





Such an act, he noted, will lead to a collective approach to developing Ghana.



Doing that, he stressed, does not make him incompetent but a proactive leader and one that wants to unite the nation towards development.



There is no unity in this country. The country is so polarised. If we dont have unity, we cant develop this country. I will share my vision with the NDC and let them understand what I cant do, so they will support me. That does not mean I dont know what I want to do. That is what I call collective support. We want collective support, and when we unite to develop Ghana, we can make a difference in this country, he said.





Source: rainbow radio









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Nigerian Afrobeat superstar David Adeleke popularly known as Davido in showbiz circles, has extended a helping hand to a brilliant but needy Ghanaian Senior High School (SHS) graduate, Suleyman Morro.



The West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) result of Morro, a graduate of Sunyani SHS, went viral on social media after he scored 8As. It turned out that he was unable to continue to the tertiary level due to a lack of finances.



This caught the attention of the Nigerian artiste, who mounted a search for Morro, whose story had been shared widely online.



"Please locate him for me," Davido tweeted.



With the help of netizens, young Suleyman Morro was found.



Giving an update on the situation, Davido said he had offered Morro a 5-year maximum fully-funded scholarship at his father's institution, the Adeleke University in southwestern Nigeria.



Additionally, Suleyman Morro will have other benefits, including accommodation and allowance during his study.



"We have contacted Suleyman who lives in Ghana and he has been given a full 4/5 year scholarship to Adeleke university.. accommodation and allowance included ! God bless y'all.. #wrblo" Davido tweeted.



We have contacted Suleyman who lives in Ghana and he has been given a full 4/5 year scholarship to Adeleke university .. accommodation and allowance included ! God bless yall .. #wrblo pic.twitter.com/13teW8YIUk  Davido (@davido) June 22, 2022







Please locate him for me pic.twitter.com/DzVwRhrkCq  Davido (@davido) June 22, 2022





















Source: ghanaweb.com









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On Wednesday, June, 22, Ghanaian Dancehall act, Emmanuel Andrews Samini popularly known as Samini came out victorious as the President elect of the Student Representative Council at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).



The Time Bomb hitmaker was elected alongside his running mate Mabel Mensah, as the new head of the GIMPA SRC.



At the close of polls, Samini garnered 307 of the total votes while his opponent, Theophilius Quartey obtained 212 of the votes. A very happy Samini, who campaigned massively for the position via social media and on the grounds, was captured in excitement after the declaration of the polls.



In the video, hes seen throwing his famous Kpo sign while telling his screaming colleagues ibi so the school for dey.



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thank you everyone. We couldnt have made it here without you guys. Work time now. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/akyesaaaaaaaaa?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#akyesaaaaaaaaa</a>  <a href="https://t.co/3gbiXCRyaW">pic.twitter.com/3gbiXCRyaW</a></p> SAMINI (@samini_dagaati) <a href="https://twitter.com/samini_dagaati/status/1539894862513840128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>









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Imperial Oil logo at the company's annual meeting in Calgary on April 28, 2017. Imperial Oil Ltd. has signed a deal with E3 Lithium for a lithium project in Alberta and agreed to invest $6.35 million in the company. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
An artistic rendering showing the step-downs in building height for the proposed Beach House project on Marina Way. At the far left in white is the Lakeview Terraces, the patios of which extend to the property line and are presenting problems for the Beach House developer.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pauses after laying a wreath at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Kigali, Rwanda on Thursday, June 23, 2022. More than 250,000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi have been buried in a mass grave at the memorial. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Police personnel confer outside the entrance to the Castro Muni Metro station following a shooting in San Francisco, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. One person was killed and another was wounded in a shooting on a crowded subway train early Wednesday, Supervisor Myrna Melgar said. (AP Photo/Janie Har)
Alaska elections director says only three candidates will advance in special U.S. House race

Republican candidate Tara Sweeney cannot replace independent candidate Al Gross in Alaska's special election for U.S. House, the director of the Alaska Division of Elections said Tuesday, one day after Gross said he will withdraw from the race.

Gross's action and the division's decision means only three candidates will advance to a special general election on Aug. 16, but that could change if the division's decision is successfully challenged in court.

Sweeney's campaign will not file a suit, but a third party could do so.

"Our campaign will continue to wait for the election to be certified, but we do not intend to contest the Division of Elections' current opinion," said Karina Waller, campaign manager for the Sweeney campaign.

"We believe they will ultimately come to the right decision on this matter," she said in a prepared statement.

Gail Fenumiai, director of the Division of Elections, said ballots for the general election must be finalized by June 28, meaning any lawsuit should be filed "immediately."

When Congressman Don Young died in March, his death triggered a pair of special elections intended to pick someone to finish the remainder of his final term in office.

Under Ballot Measure 2, the election-reform initiative approved by voters in 2020, the top four vote-getters in each primary election advance to a general election where a winner is chosen by ranked-choice voting.

The special primary election took place June 11, and because it was called on short notice, elections officials held it entirely by mail, a first for the state.

The primary results won't be certified until Saturday, but Gross had been on pace to finish third before he abruptly said he would withdraw and not continue to the general election.

"I'll just say I am baffled and frustrated," said Hollis French, a former state legislator who backed Gross.

Republican candidates Sarah Palin and Nick Begich are expected to finish first and second, respectively, and Peltola is expected to finish fourth.

All three, plus Sweeney, are candidates for the regular August primary and November general election that will decide a two-year seat in the House.

Sweeney is on pace to finish fifth, and under a normal election would replace a candidate who withdraws, as Gross did. But state law contains a caveat to that: The replacement takes place only if it is "64 days or more before the general election."

Monday was 57 days before the Aug. 16 special primary election, and Fenumiai cited the timeline as a reason to not replace Gross with Sweeney.

Outside observers have noted that the law setting that timeline refers to a normal election, and that this is a special election operated under a different timeline proclaimed by the governor.

Gross has not responded to interview requests.

"Trust that I am making the right decision," he said in a Tuesday morning email to supporters.

"Unfortunately, Alaska and America are stuck right now, and (my wife) and I have decided it is just too hard to run as a nonpartisan candidate in this race," Gross's email said.

The message, sent before the Division of Elections announcement, encouraged supporters to vote for either Peltola or Sweeney.

Ulmer and Lois Epstein, both co-chairs of Gross's re-election campaign, said they don't know why he withdrew from the race, but both women said they intend to support Peltola.

In the 2020 race for U.S. Senate, Gross ran as an independent but received financial and voting support from Democrats who preferred him over incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

In this election, the Alaska Democratic Party opposed Gross for U.S. House after he said he would be open to caucusing with Republicans in the House if elected.

The AlaskaBeacon.com is a donor-funded independent news organization in Alaska.
Boeing 737-800s are set to begin arriving in Petersburg on Friday on Alaska Airlines Flight 64 according to Chad Dolbeare, Petersburg's new station manager.

Dolbeare, who has a degree in aviation administration, became the station manager in March of this year after having worked in the same position for Alaska Airlines in Utqiagvik, Alaska for five years.

His job is to provide support to his agents, whether that be by getting supplies, scheduling maintenance, or working with personnel to serve the community.

"When you take care of people, I feel like it boosts morale and it creates a great...
guest column

After a recent work trip to Kisumu City on Lake Victoria in western Kenya, I suffered a bout of malaria that left me sick for two weeks. Getting tested and treated was not hard; the challenge was the long incubation and recovery period that reduced my productive work time to zero and making a dent in my income.

Still, I was fortunate. Malaria killed over 600,000 Africans in 2020, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Mosquitoes are plentiful in Kisumu, where the humid climate makes the area a prime breeding ground for the female anopheles mosquito that spreads the disease  the 'vector'. In this area of Kenya, malaria is one of the leading causes of morbidity (illness) and mortality. Data from the local Nyanza Provincial Hospital show that around 40 percent of those who seek help each day have malaria. An average of 10 children are lost to severe malaria each year here, according to medical staff.

I'm far from alone in facing financial strain because of malaria. Even though it is a preventable and curable disease, those affected lose much-needed income. Duration of the illness commonly varies from seven to 14 or more days. The resulting loss of earnings, added to the costs of testing and treatment, can be especially challenging for households which are already impoverished.

The financial burden malaria imposes on families and society is an important reason, in addition to preventable deaths, why governments must push to distribute vaccines.

It is vaccines which offer the best prospect of ending this scourge

The Kenyan government has stepped up efforts to reduce malaria infection by training doctors, increasing the distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets and providing artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT), which have proven to be 90 percent effective against malaria. The county government of Kisumu is also working on proper urban planning as a long-term strategy towards reducing habitats for the breeding of vector parasites.

These efforts are commendable. But Kenya and other African countries must do more. Around 60 percent of the patients I see as a primary health-care physician in Nigeria have some form of malaria, either on its own or in combination with other diseases. A malaria household survey in Nigeria has indicated that an average household spends about $12.70 on outpatient treatment and $23.50 when admitted for treatment.

Highly exposed individuals need to be treated every month, because re-infection can occur shortly after treatment, and symptoms take about two weeks to develop. In Nigeria, it costs about 1,000 Naira ($2.50) to treat each case of uncomplicated malaria. These out-of-pocket expenses are a high economic cost for families living on less than $1 a day.

Although the Nigerian government has subsidised drugs and invests in prevention, the heaviest burden falls on socio-economically disadvantaged citizens.

The vision of the Nigeria National Malaria Strategic Plan of 2014 to 2020 was to achieve a malaria-free country. By 2021, the Nigerian government had distributed 193 million mosquito nets. That is not enough. Experience has shown that malaria elimination is very difficult in the Africa nations in which the disease is endemic, and so it is vaccines which offer the best prospect of ending this scourge.

WHO recommends widespread use of the RTS, S/AS01 (RTS, S) malaria vaccine among children in sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high malaria transmission. Evidence shows that the vaccine can reduce episodes of malaria as well as life-threatening severe malaria. Moreover, it has a good safety profile and is cost-effective in areas of moderate to high malaria transmission.

During side events during the current meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government in Kigali, malaria and other Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are being discussed. Malaria is not just an ailment  it pushes people into poverty. And so we call on Commonwealth leaders to combat the impoverishment of millions of Africans by pledging to invest in distributing the current malaria vaccine and developing better ones.

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Pledges made by Commonwealth leaders must be backed up with budgets, action and concrete plans. We call upon African governments, in particular, to take a lead and invest in the malaria vaccine campaign as a measure to reduce poverty and improve their people's lives and incomes.

Dr Tijani Salami [@DrSalamiTijani1] is a physician, sexual and reproductive health expert and founder of Sisters Caregivers Project Initiative which provides medical and social support for women, and advocates for an end to child marriage and maternal malnutrition. This column was co-authored with Roseline Orwa [@RoselineOrwa], founder and director of the Rona Foundation, a grassroots organization in Kenya that works to advance and protect widows' rights, as well as provide support to orphans and vulnerable children.
Alaska state ferry service between Ketchikan and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, resumed on Monday afternoon. The last state ferry voyage to the Canadian port city was in late fall 2019.

The Matanuska made a quick round trip Monday and is scheduled for another voyage on Friday.

"(The) Matanuska made a test sailing to Prince Rupert about a week ago and all went to plan," state Transportation Department spokesperson Sam Dapcevich wrote in a Friday email.

This summer's service is limited, with two round trips scheduled the third week of July, two in the third week of August, and one in Septem...
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If you wish to contact me for questions, advertising, collaboration inquiries, comments, suggestions, reviews or just about anything, please send an email to. I will try my best to reply quickly! Unless, of course, I'm on a trip! :D All rights reserved. All photos and content in this blog are owned by(unless otherwise stated). Parts of the articles may be excerpted (a link to this site should be provided), but not reproduced as a whole. Photos may not be used without permission. Thank you very much!Unless otherwise stated, I personally write my blog posts and it expresses my own thoughts and opinions. I pay for all the expenses of my trips (unless otherwise stated). I welcome collaborations, advertorials and reviews as long as they are beneficial to my readers. All reviews on collaborations contain my own views and opinion and were not influenced by anyone. For inquiries, you may contact me here . Thank you very much!




YANG MULIA AWANG HAJI AZHAR BIN HAJI YAHYA



PERMANENT SECRETARY

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY





Haji Azhar bin Haji Yahya graduated with a Bachelor of Geology (BSc)(Hons) from the University Of Nottingham in I987. He is an oil industry veteran having long stint in the industry spanning across exploration, production, commercial, and management and later worked in the Brunei Government as regulator and policy maker.





In 2009, he became BSP's Exploration Manager. In 2011, he was appointed as the Permanent Secretary (Upstream) in the Energy Department Of the Prime Minister's Office. At the same time, he was also assigned as CEO for PetroleumBRUNEl. He returned to the industry in 2013 as Exploration and Commercial Director. After 28 years of technical and management career, he retired on March 2016.





On 31 July 2018, he was appointed as Permanent Secretary (Energy). He is currently the Interim Managing Director of Petroleum Authority of Brunei Darussalam and Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Safety, Health and Environment Natioanal Authority (SHENA), whilst championing the Climate Change front as the Chairman of the Executive Committee.





He is married to Hajah Suhartiniwati, blessed with three children and loves exploring the outdoors, hiking in the mountains and travelling.




Mattsson Wins Second Super MILLION$ Title; Denies Martirosian a Sixth

June 23, 2022 Matthew Pitt Editor

Simon Mattsson's decision to stay at home and grind high-stakes online poker tournaments instead of heading out to Las Vegas for the 2022 World Series of Poker seems to have been vindicated by him taking down the latest installment of the GGPoker Super MILLON$.

Mattsson claimed his first Super MILLION$ title in March 2022, topping a 163-strong field and banking $331,315. He bested 112 opponents this time around and turned his $10,300 investment into $245,554.

Season 2 Episode 46 Super MILLIONS Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Simon Mattsson Norway $245,554 2 Artur Martirosian Russia $191,767 3 Issac Haxton Canada $149,762 4 Mark Radoja Mexico $116,958 5 Marco Streda Liechtenstein $91,339 6 Chunlei Zhou Hong Kong $71,332 7 Bruno Volkmann Brazil $55,707 8 Wiktor Malinowski Macau $43,505 9 Niklas Astedt Norway $33,975

Death By Quads!

Five-time Super MILLIONS champion Niklas Astedt sat down at the staked final table fifth in chips yet he was the first player out of the door. Artur Martirosian, another player who has won this tournament five times, min-raised under the gun to 70,000 with pocket eights, and the action folded to Astedt in the cutoff and he three-bet all-in for 472,489 with ace-king of diamond. Martirosian called and flopped quad eights to send a disappointed Astedt out in ninth.

Wiktor Malinowski bowed out in eighth at the hands of Mark Radoja. A few hands earlier, Malinowski got tricky with pocket kings against Martirosian, who held ace-six, and lost all but four big blinds when that ace-six became trip aces. Malinowski doubled through Bruno Volkmann but his stack dwindled once more. Malinowski busted when he opened to 180,000 at the 20,000/40,000/5,000a level with jack-ten before calling off the 19,632 he had behind when Radoja shoved on the button. Radoja showed ace-jack.

ClubGG Offers Bubble Protection For Eight 2022 WSOP Events

Volkmann Goes From Hero To Zero

Start of the day chip leader Volkmann was the next player to head for the showers. Mattsson min-raised with ace-jack to 80,000 in middle position, Volkmann jammed for 464,854 with ace-king on the button, only for Martirosian to wake up with pocket kings in the small blind; Martirosian mae it 880,000 to go. Mattsson ducked out, and Martirosian pulled in the pot courtesy of a nine-high board.

The final six became five when Hong Kong's Chunlei Zhou fell by the wayside after a battle of the blinds against Mattsson. From the small blind, Mattsson moved all-in with king-four, and Zhou called off a shade over 12 big blinds with queen-jack. A four on the flop proved more than enough to end Zhou's participation.

Liechtenstein's Marco Streda crashed out in fifth and won the tournament's last five-figure prize. Isaac Haxton min-raised to 100,000 under the gun with ace-four of hearts, Mattsson three-bet to 278,000 with king-nine suited from the next seat along, and Streda four-bet to 485,000 with ace-king suited, leaving less than a small blind behind. Haxton had seen enough and he got out of the way. Mattsson set Streda all-in, and was called. Mattsson flopped a nine then backed into a spade flush, sending Streda to the rail.

At Least $5M Will be Won in the GGPoker microMILLION$

Radoja's Super MILLION$ Wait Continues

Fourth place went to Radoja, who open-shoved for 991,844 from the button during the 25,000/50,000/6,000a level, doing so with pocket sixed. Haxton called in the small blind with ace-jack, and it was off to the races. Haxton flopped a jack but Radoja could spike a six or a heart to double. Neither appeared and Radoja's wait for a Super MILLION$ continues.

The penultimate elimination was that of Haxton. The blinds increased to 30,000/60,000/7,500a, and Haxton made it 150,000 to go from the button with suited queen-jack. Mattsson three-bet to 558,000 in the small blind with suited ace-queen and called when Haxton decided to rip it in for 2,986,502. An ace on the turn won the hand for Mattsson.

Mattsson went into heads-up with a 7,758,532 to 3,541,468 chip lead over Martirosian and he never relinquished that lead. The final hand occurred during the 35,000/70,000/8,500a level. Martirosian made it 154,000 to go with ace-seven, and Mattsson raised to 558,000 with ace-eight, and Martirosian called. The eight-six-nine flop gave Mattsson a pair and Martirosian an open-ended straight draw. Mattsson checked, Martirosian fired a 560,000 bet, and Mattsson called. A four landed on the turn, and Mattsson checked again. Martirosian moved all-in for 1,682,666, and Mattsson called. A brick on the river sent Martirosian home one place shy of a record sixth Super MILLION$ title, and Mattsson captured his second such victory.
analysis

Nigeria is home to about 15 million of the world's 258 million widows. Widowhood in an ethnically and religiously diverse country like Nigeria, with three major ethnic groups and over 250 minorities, is complex.

Widowhood is a period when a person has lost his or her spouse by death and has remained unmarried. The state of widowhood has multiple intersecting elements - social, cultural, economic, and even historical.

This period of life comes with challenges, a reality which led the UN to set aside a day every year (23 June) to look at the rights of widows and the issues that affect them.

In patrilineal and patriarchal societies, including Nigeria, descent is traced through males, with systems controlled and dominated by men. In such societies, women are expected to be subservient. Becoming a widow often compounds the disadvantages. It creates a doubly marginalised subgroup and sometimes subjects women to dehumanising rituals and harmful practices.

In my studies of marginal groups in Nigeria, I explored how being a woman intersects with other socioeconomic realities, exposing them to multiple disadvantages.

These studies found that women suffer social, economic, and health constraints. These are compounded by low literacy levels, cultural beliefs and rituals.

Burdens of widowhood in Nigeria

In Nigeria, widowhood comes with a lot of burdens and disadvantages. These include maltreatment, discrimination and stigmatisation.

Tradition, modernity and neo-patriarchy all present challenges to Nigerian women.

Some traditions barred women from inheriting land and property. Upon the death of a husband, the widow lost all she had acquired by herself and from her husband. She would be traditionally dehumanised through compulsory mourning rituals like forced seclusion.

The impact of this on children and the widow's livelihood, psyche and health were not considered. Practices included widow inheritance, when a woman was expected to voluntarily or compulsorily marry her late husband's brother or relative.

In some Nigerian cultures, widowhood automatically made a woman "unclean" and required "ritual cleansing". She would be confined within a particular space for a specified period, forced to eat from broken plates and sleep on the bare floor. She would not be allowed to bath. She would be prevented from changing her clothes and from farming, doing house chores and going to market during the mourning period.

A widow's choice of a sex partner was not respected. Thus, her sexuality and reproduction were controlled in a social framework of gender inequality. Her emotional, health and psychological needs were disregarded.

In some southern Nigerian communities, widows accused of killing their husbands were forced to drink or bath with water used to wash the husband's corpse. Some were forced to have sex with the corpse or kinsmen.

In the 1970s, feminists became more active in empowering women in Nigeria. Some of these traditions are no longer commonly practised, with the advent of Christianity and human rights movements.

In 21st century Nigeria, a widow's right to inherit from her husband is recognised by statutory law. But it's seen as normal for the widow's in-laws to demand the husband's cheque book, bank pin number and account details.

In some southern Nigerian communities, widows are not consulted when matters concerning them and their children are discussed by their in-laws. Widows and women alike are excluded from discussions about allocating land.

Traditions can be slow to change. In 2013, Catholics in eastern Nigeria insisted that women must pour soil from the grave on their husband's coffin, but some people opposed this Christian ritual, insisting that it was not culturally permissible.

In northern Nigeria where polygamy is the norm, remarried widows occupy a "lower wives" status in the family.

But a 2018 World Bank report observed that, among Christian dominated regions of Nigeria, widowhood came with more vulnerability than in the Muslim dominated regions where people give alms.

In almost all parts of Nigeria, socio-cultural expectations still demand that widows wear special robes (white or dark dresses) and shave their hair throughout the period of mourning.

Equity, gender and law

Not everybody sees widows' maltreatment as a violation of human rights. The husband's family, kinsmen, and local women's or fellow wives' associations may all enforce harmful widowhood practices. This is because they are entrenched in culture.

Widows are also treated differently from widowers. Men tend to be free from demeaning social expectations. For instance, in eastern Nigeria, some widowers voluntarily mourn their late wives, but it's not compulsory. They are permitted to keep beards and don't have to wear mourning dress. Widowers are not monitored and can remarry immediately. Some mourn for just short periods, while women compulsorily mourn for longer periods under strict surveillance.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Entertainment By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

Law making and policy formulation are dominated by men in Nigeria. Legislation is influenced by male values, lenses, worldviews and privileges. Women constitute only 11.2% of the membership in both chambers of the 9th National Assembly. Seven women are in the Senate while only 11 are in the House of Representatives. Most bills are scrutinised from the male point of view. Therefore, eliminating harmful widowhood practices will be a challenge for a long time in Nigeria.

But in my view, all gender-based violence disguised as "culture" and "ritual" must be proscribed. Widows have needs and rights which demand a change in the relationships of power and control between men and women.

For a start, men can protect their wives and children by writing a will.

Nigeria must enforce and domesticate all international protocols protecting widows, women and children. All existing legal instruments protecting widows should be enforced.

Blessing Onyima, Senior Lecturer of Sociology and Anthropology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! KFC Fan Kolev Wins 2022 WSOP Millionaire Maker ($1,125,141)

June 23, 2022 Lewis Powell

The 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in its new home at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas has crowned a new champion as Bulgarian Yuliyan Kolev has won his second bracelet as he was the last player standing in Event #37: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em. This is the second consecutive year Kolev has won a bracelet as just seven months ago the Bulgarian won his first in online Event #9: $777 Lucky 7's No-Limit Hold'em for $146,163.

That figure is dwarfed by winning this event, both in prestige and in prize money as Kolev has won the grand prize of $1,125,141 and his first live WSOP bracelet. Kolev beat a field full of bracelet winners as he outmaneuvered the 7,961 entrants over five days to claim the bulk of the $10,627,935 prize pool. It was not without adversity as in the final two tables Kolev lost a huge flip with ace-king against Raul Martinez's pocket sevens to go down to a single 25,000 chip with the big blind at 500,000. He managed to win with that chip to go back into contention before coolering Linus Ritcher with pocket eights vs Ritcher's pocket jacks.

Kolev was cheered on by a big rail, all of who were donning upside-down KFC buckets as hats in honor of a popular American music artist.

Event #37: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize (USD) 1st Yuliyan Kolev Bulgaria $1,125,141 2nd Oren Rosen Israel $695,390 3rd Tyler Gaston United States $522,705 4th Yita Choong Australia $395,545 5th Dominic Brazier United States $301,346 6th Stanley Weng United States $231,145 7th Alen Tenorio Brazil $178,515 8th Bastien Joly France $138,821 9th Nick Marchington United Kingdom $108,704 10th Raul Martinez Spain $85,718

Many notables were in the field with Robert Mizrachi chasing his fifth bracelet. However Mizrachi was eliminated near the end of Day 3 in 27th place. Another bracelet winner, James Calderaro, was also eliminated near the end of Day 3 in 26th Place.

Kolev came into Day 5 second in chips with 49 big blinds and managed to secure the win with fairly smooth sailing as the Bulgarian was never all in and at risk.

Winner's Reaction

Yuliyan Kolev celebrates with his rail

PokerNews asked about his win coming from a chip and a chair after losing the big pot against Martinez and Kolev said

"It was quite funny because I knew I'm not out of the tournament but I can't do anything with that stack (less than one big blind). I was thinking, let's observe what's going on at the other table so I folded two hands before the big blind hit me. Then I went all in from under the gun and won and then won the hand in the big blind then everything started from there."

When asked about winning his second WSOP bracelet and first live bracelet Kolev said.

"The feeling is much stronger because all of your friends are here. The pressure is much more."

When asked whether the strong rail presence helped his performance, Kolev said, "It makes me feel really really calm. It's really important for my friends to be around me when I got really far (in the tournament)."

Kolev also said he'll be playing more of the 2022 WSOP looking for a third bracelet.

Recap of the Day's Action

The day started with Tyler Gaston putting the pressure on the rest of the table, but the first elimination could be credited to Kolev when Dominic Brazier shoved with queen-seven offsuit preflop for less than 10 big blinds into Kolev who called with jack-eight and hit two pair on the river, eliminating the American in fifth place for over $300,000.

His next victim was Yita Choong who called for his tournaments life with his pocket sevens and faced queen-four offsuit for Kolev. The Bulgarian player hit a queen on the turn and Choong was out in fourth place for nearly $400,000.

Gaston, the chip leader at the beginning of the day, was knocked out next. He held jack-ten and called in the big blind a raise from Oren Rosen who held queen-ten of clubs. All the chips went in the middle on a jack-high flop with two clubs. Gaston was ahead but a queen hit the river, giving a better pair to Rosen while the last American was sent packing in third place for $522,705.

The heads-up battle was a short affair and it was the pocket rockets that secured the win as Kolev three-bet with his aces and Rosen called with queen-jack offsuit. The flop came queen-high and the money got in the middle on the turn as Kolev's aces held for him to win his second bracelet.

Congratulations to Yuliyan Kolev for winning the 2022 WSOP Event #37: $1,500 Millionaire Maker!

Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team all summer long for coverage of your favorite tournaments at the 2022 World Series of Poker.

2022 World Series of Poker Hub Bookmark this page! All you need to know about the 2022 WSOP is here. Click here
The 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in its new home at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas has crowned a new champion as Bulgarian Yuliyan Kolev has won his second bracelet as he was the last player standing in Event #37: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em. This is the second consecutive year Kolev has won a bracelet as just seven months ago the Bulgarian won his first in online Event #9: $777 Lucky 7's No-Limit Hold'em for $146,163.

That figure is dwarfed by winning this event, both in prestige and in prize money as Kolev has won the grand prize of $1,125,141 and his first live WSOP bracelet. Kolev beat a field full of bracelet winners as he outmaneuvered the 7,961 entrants over five days to claim the bulk of the $10,627,935 prize pool. It was not without adversity as in the final two tables Kolev lost a huge flip with ace-king against Raul Martinez's pocket sevens to go down to a single 25,000 chip with the big blind at 500,000. He managed to win with that chip to go back into contention before coolering Linus Richter with pocket eights vs Richter's pocket jacks.

Kolev was cheered on by a big rail, all of who were donning upside-down KFC buckets as hats in honor of a popular American music artist.

Event #37: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize (USD) 1st Yuliyan Kolev Bulgaria $1,125,141 2nd Oren Rosen Israel $695,390 3rd Tyler Gaston United States $522,705 4th Yita Choong Australia $395,545 5th Dominic Brazier United States $301,346 6th Stanley Weng United States $231,145 7th Alen Tenorio Brazil $178,515 8th Bastien Joly France $138,821 9th Nick Marchington United Kingdom $108,704 10th Raul Martinez Spain $85,718

Many notables were in the field with Robert Mizrachi chasing his fifth bracelet. However Mizrachi was eliminated near the end of Day 3 in 27th place. Another bracelet winner, James Calderaro, was also eliminated near the end of Day 3 in 26th Place.

Kolev came into Day 5 second in chips with 49 big blinds and managed to secure the win with fairly smooth sailing as the Bulgarian was never all in and at risk.

Winner's Reaction

PokerNews asked about his win coming from a chip and a chair after losing the big pot against Martinez and Kolev said

"It was quite funny because I knew I'm not out of the tournament but I can't do anything with that stack (less than one big blind). I was thinking, let's observe what's going on at the other table so I folded two hands before the big blind hit me. Then I went all in from under the gun and won and then won the hand in the big blind then everything started from there."

When asked about winning his second WSOP bracelet and first live bracelet Kolev said.

"The feeling is much stronger because all of your friends are here. The pressure is much more."

When asked whether the strong rail presence helped his performance, Kolev said, "It makes me feel really really calm. It's really important for my friends to be around me when I got really far (in the tournament)."

Kolev also said he'll be playing more of the 2022 WSOP looking for a third bracelet.

Yuliyan Kolev Celebrates with Rail

Recap of the Day

The day started with Tyler Gaston putting the pressure on the rest of the table, but the first elimination could be credited to Kolev when Dominic Brazier shoved with queen-seven offsuit preflop for less than 10 big blinds into Kolev who called with jack-eight and hit two pair on the river, eliminating the American in fifth place for over $300,000.

His next victim was Yita Choong who called for his tournaments life with his pocket sevens and faced queen-four offsuit for Kolev. The Bulgarian player hit a queen on the turn and Choong was out in fourth place for nearly $400,000.

Gaston, the chip leader at the beginning of the day, was knocked out next. He held jack-ten and called in the big blind a raise from Oren Rosen who held queen-ten of clubs. All the chips went in the middle on a jack-high flop with two clubs. Gaston was ahead but a queen hit the river, giving a better pair to Rosen while the last American was sent packing in third place for $522,705.

The heads-up battle was a short affair and it was the pocket rockets that secured the win as Kolev three-bet with his aces and Rosen called with queen-jack offsuit. The flop came queen-high and the money got in the middle on the turn as Kolev's aces held for him to win his second bracelet.

Congratulations to Yuliyan Kolev for winning the 2022 WSOP Event #37: $1,500 Millionaire Maker!

Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team all summer long for coverage of your favorite tournaments at the 2022 World Series of Poker.
An Aiken Public Safety officer was called to stop an argument at an Aiken Design Review Board meeting Tuesday evening.

The Design Review Board met for a work session Tuesday, June 21, to offer feedback and ask questions regarding plans for Project Pascalis, the city of Aiken's downtown redevelopment project.

Project Pascalis is the city's name for a plan to redevelop the block surrounded by Laurens Street, Richland Avenue, Newberry Street and Park Avenue.

The proposed plan calls for the demolition of the former Hotel Aiken and buildings next to it on Laurens Street and their replacement by a 100-room hotel. Several buildings at the corner of Newberry Street and Richland Avenue would be demolished and replaced by an apartment complex and a parking garage. The former city municipal building would be expanded into a conference center.

The meeting Tuesday was held to give the Design Review Board an opportunity to make comments on and suggest changes to the developer's latest designs for the project, including the color of the buildings and how the windows would fit into downtown Aiken.

Vice Chairman John McMichael Jr. explained at the beginning of the special-called work session that the meeting was open to the public, but it was being held for the benefit of the board. He said that any member of the public wanting to offer feedback on the proposal could email feedback to the city.

That didn't stop some residents from trying to offer their opinions a few minutes into the three-hour meeting.

After a few minutes of presentation, three members of the public attending the meeting began attempting to offer their opinions on the designs.

One person commenting was resident Luis Rinaldini, one of the organizers of the Do It Right Alliance, which is a local group of residents who disagree with the city's current plans. Rinaldini has previously said the Do It Right Alliance plans on taking legal action against the city, as the group believes the city has violated S.C. state law and its own ordinances.

Local resident Don Moniak said Wednesday morning in an email he also commented during the meeting.

They argued that because the meeting was a public meeting, it should offer an opportunity for public comment.

McMichael and the board's attorney, Jim Holly, said the meeting was a public meeting but didn't offer an opportunity for public comment because it was a work session.

After several minutes of back and forth, Aiken Economic Development Director Tim O'Briant summoned Aiken Public Safety Sgt. Joe O'Conor into the room. Things settled down quickly after that.

The officer being summoned was the second of three stoppages in the meeting held on the third floor of the city's new municipal building on Chesterfield Street.

The first time the meeting stopped was when Rinaldini asked McMichael to explain his speech about the meeting being open to the public but being for the benefit of the board.

McMichael and Holly refused to do so, citing the policy outlined at the beginning of the meeting.

The third time the meeting was stopped was over two hours into the meeting when another member of the public began speaking about the hotel. He offered his opinion but was stopped by McMichael who again explained that the meeting wasn't open for public comment.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Cloudy skies during the morning hours followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 84F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 69F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Several South Carolina politicians were celebrating a Supreme Court decision on guns Thursday.

In a major expansion of gun rights, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 opinion Thursday striking down a New York law requiring people wanting to carry a concealed firearm to show a special need for self-defense.

The court said that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.

The Supreme Court's decision follows recent mass shootings and is expected to ultimately allow more people to legally carry guns on the streets of the nations largest cities  including New York, Los Angeles, Boston and elsewhere.

About a quarter of the U.S. population lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling, which struck down the New York gun law. The decision, the high courts first major gun decision in more than a decade, was 6-3 with the courts conservatives in the majority and liberals in dissent.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said the decision represented a great day for the Second Amendment.

"At its core, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to bear arms is the right to defend oneself and ones property," Graham said. "The New York law was a tremendous overreach putting unconstitutional requirements on concealed carry permits."

He added the decision represented an example of reinforcing the concept that the Second Amendment is an individual right rooted in the ability to defend oneself and property.

A big day for responsible gun ownership," Graham said.

S.C. Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken, said in the current politically charged society, the Supreme Court's decision shows that it will continue to heed the Constitution and will not stray into political activism.

Their decision to uphold the Second Amendment is a clear rebuke of New Yorks loony, left-wing politicians' attempt to make it nearly impossible for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves," Taylor continued.

He said that Democratic politicians in cities with skyrocketing crime rates would better serve their constituents by getting tough on crime and "going after gun-wielding gang members who are terrorizing neighborhoods" instead of aiming to strip law-abiding citizens of their constitutional rights.

S.C. Rep. Bill Hixon, R-North Augusta, said he was glad the Supreme Court struck down the law and added he didn't think New York should have been able to keep the law as long as they had.

S.C. Rep. Melissa Oremus, R-Graniteville, said the ruling was common sense to protect the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.

S.C. Rep. Bill Clyburn, D-Aiken, said he hoped New York would be able to offer a way to protect its residents from the gun violence in that state.

Congressman Jeff Duncan said the court's decision was a huge win for the Second Amendment and further enshrines the right to keep and bear arms as the Founding Fathers intended.

Duncan represents South Carolina's Third Congressional District. The district includes Edgefield County and the southwestern part of the state.

This is the most important case involving the Second Amendment in more than a decade, and I applaud the court in upholding the Constitution and agree with Justice Clarence Thomas opinion that the 2nd and 14th Amendments protect an individual's right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home,'" Duncan said in a news release. "I was proud to join many of my House colleagues to sign an amicus brief to the court last year in support of this significant case to defend the 2nd Amendment.

Duncan said the nation's founders didn't intend to impose restrictions on the Second Amendment, and the decision will "have bearing" on "the Democrats radical, gun-grabbing attempts to infringe on a citizens right to keep and bear arms and will allow more Americans to defend themselves and protect others through concealed carry."

This will likely have the most impact on Left-leaning states like California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Hawaii, which will no longer have the authority to pick and choose which citizens can keep and bear arms through an arbitrary requirement," Duncan said. "Our country is safer when law-abiding citizens are able to defend themselves and their families through their constitutional right to carry.

S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson said the court's ruling upholds the Second Amendment and the Constitution. He said neither the amendment nor the Constitution requires someone to demonstrate a special need to be able to defend themselves and their family.

"Thats what we said in our brief to the court, and were grateful for the courts ruling, Wilson said. The founding fathers treasured the right to bear arms for protection, and the court has held the Second Amendment preserves, protects and defends that right.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.
The longtime CEO of one of Charleston's largest annual tourism draws is stepping down after 24 years in the top job.

The board of the nonprofit group that operates the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition announced June 22 that Jimmy Huggins plans to retire effective July 1. Afterward, he'll become a consultant to the organization and emeritus director.

Huggins, who has been involved in the event as a founding board member since its debut more than 40 years ago, will be succeeded as president and chief executive officer by veteran staffer John Powell. The outgoing CEO "has expressed full trust and support" in the decision, according to a written statement.

Neil Robinson, board chairman, said the SEWE organization has "total confidence that Johns energy and enthusiasm will effect a seamless transition following the stellar leadership of Jimmy Huggins."

Powell has been with the event since 2007 and was named executive director in 2011. In that role, he has overseen day-to-day operations, which included working with corporate sponsors, coordinating exhibits and determining venue sites. He has helped to grow SEWE "into the nations premier wildlife art show and the largest event of its kind in the U.S.," the board said in its statement.

Powell is a native of Greenville, N.C., and a graduate of Davidson College,

"While I count myself fortunate to be a steward and serve an extraordinary board of directors, SEWE belongs to the region and state which it supports through its mission each year," he said in prepared remarks. "SEWE and Charleston have changed over my 17 years with the organization, and our challenges are similar  evolution without losing sight of what makes it truly special."

What started with a few thousand attendees in 1983 quickly expanded into a major destination attraction that now draws about 40,000 residents and visitors to the peninsula each winter. The economic impact has been estimated at about $50 million annually.

Our event, in my view, has grown to what it is because Charleston has grown to what it is, Huggins told The Post and Courier earlier this year.

The three-day outdoors extravaganza traces its origins to a group of outdoors enthusiasts who wanted to recreate a Southeast version of Maryland's now 50-year-old Waterfowl Festival.

Since then, SEWE has become a giant in the business of wildlife art. It also features popular perennials such as the "DockDogs" retrieval competition at Brittlebank Park and the birds of prey flight demonstrations in Marion Square.

Huggins was involved in the event from the beginning. He became SEWE's executive director in 1987. He was promoted to president and CEO in 1998.

The next leadership change comes four months after SEWE returned to mark its 40th anniversary after a one-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"From what I could tell, it was a darn good weekend," Huggins said after the 2022 event.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms. High 84F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 74F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. High 87F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mainly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 75F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Sixty-one years ago today, the Antarctic Treaty System went into effect, establishing the continent as a scientific preserve and banned military activity. Through this treaty, countless scientists have been able to successfully and safely travel to research stations.

This week we are going to take a look at Earths coolest  pun intended  continent: Antarctica.

So pack your bags and dress heavy because it is time for Antarctic trivia.
The Ad Hoc committee was mandated to investigate the Oil Mining Lease granted to SPDC between1959 and 1989, and from 1989 to 2019 under the SPDC and NNPC Joint Venture agreement.

The Senate, on Wednesday, at plenary constituted an Ad Hoc Committee to investigate Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) over non-compliance with the Petroleum Act and violation of the Joint Venture Agreement entered with the Federal Government.

The Ad Hoc committee was mandated to investigate the Oil Mining Lease granted to SPDC between 1959 to 1989, and 1989 to 2019 under the SPDC and NNPC Joint Venture agreement.

The committee, constituted by the Senate President Ahmad Lawan, has Sabi Abdullahi (APC- Niger) as chairman.

Other members include George Thompson Sekibo,(PDP-Rivers) Abdullahi Yahaya, (PDP-Kebbi) Bassey Albert Akpan,(PDP-Akwa Ibom) Solomon Adeola,(APC-Lagos) Smart Adeyemi(APC-Kogi) and Aishatu Ahmed. ((APC-Adamawa).

The Senate demanded a refund of 200 million dollars and any amount short of what was paid by SPDC, including penalties and interests under the lease agreements, to the federal government.

The resolution was reached after it considered a motion sponsored by George Sekibo (PDP- Rivers ).

The motion entitled: "Non-payment of the sum of 200 million dollars accruals from the Oil Mining Lease (OML), by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited under the SPDC/NNPC Joint Venture Agreement.

"And, illegal and unlawful renewal of Oil Mining Leases by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources/Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) contrary to the provision of paragraph 10 of the First Schedule to the Petroleum Act 1969 (now Section 86(1) and 86(6) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2022."

Mr Sekibo, in his lead debate, noted that the Joint Venture (JV) agreement was in contravention of the provisions of the Petroleum Act 1969, by the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, granted to the SPDC, NNPC a 30-year Oil Mining Lease from 1959 to 1989.

He observed that doing so constituted an illegal extension of the Oil Mining Lease by 10 years in the first instance, instead of the prescribed term of 20 years, without recourse to the provisions of the Petroleum Act 1969 in paragraph 10 of the First Schedule.

He said upon the expiration of the initial Oil Mining Lease in 1989, SPDC and NNPC JV, was granted another 30-year Oil Mining Lease again from 1st July 1989 to 30th June 2019, by the Ministry of Petroleum and DPR instead of the 20 years lease prescribed by the Petroleum Act.

This, he said, is contrary to paragraph 10 of the First Schedule to the said act.

He revealed that in the initial additional 10 years of Oil Mining Lease from 1969 to 1989, illegally granted to the SPDC and NNPC JV by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and DPR, the federal government lost from fees, taxes, rents and royalties the sum of 120 million dollars.

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He stated that in the second instance of the extra 10 years the federal government also lost a further sum of 80 million dollars, amounting to a total of 200 million dollars.

He said the loss of 200 million dollars which was equivalent to N83.130 billion, could have been of great value to the economy of the nation.

He expressed worry that the trend of illegal extension of Joint Venture (JV) period from 20 years to 30 years lease period without recourse to the Petroleum Act may have also applied to other Joint Venture agreements with the International Oil Companies (IOCs) and need to be investigated.

He disclosed that a whistle-blower petitioned the EFCC on the need to recover the fund from SPDC for the illegal extensions by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, DPR and to further investigate all other Joint Venture agreements that involved the aforementioned IOCs.

He noted that the power to make laws for the federation as vested in the National Assembly by the Constitution also encompasses the power to make laws for the promotion of national prosperity and a dynamic self-reliant economy as provided in section 16(1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

He said the Constitution also gives power to the National Assembly to carry out appropriate investigation on the misapplication of the laws enacted by the National Assembly, as provided in Section 88 of the Constitution.

(NAN)
COLUMBIA  A Columbia woman has become the first person in South Carolina convicted in a case involving faked COVID-19 vaccine cards.

Tammy Hutson McDonald, 53, of Columbia pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents in the case, a felony.

McDonald was serving as director of nursing at a PruittHealth nursing home in June 2021 when she provided faked vaccine cards to more than one person who had not been vaccinated, according to a statement from the office of U.S. Attorney Corey Ellis.

McDonald even supplied a replacement card in July 2021 to one of the unvaccinated people to whom she supplied the original vaccination cards.

McDonald lied to federal agents from the U.S. Department of Human Services and FBI who were investigating reports of faked vaccination cards, authorities said.

"The defendant created a direct risk to the people of South Carolina by creating false vaccine documents for others to use, and she compounded this wrongdoing by lying to federal agents, Ellis said. "As a registered nurse, she knew better and owed more to her community."

McDonald faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. She also faces a fine of up to $250,000, restitution, and three years of probation.

Sentencing in the case has been set for Sept. 20 before U.S. District Judge Terry Wooten.
COLUMBIA  Gov. Henry McMaster announced June 22 that he was vetoing $100,000 in the state's budget earmarked for Columbia's Township Auditorium saying the foundation behind it was a suspended state charity.

That surprised the foundation working with the 92-year-old, 3,099-seat theater that hosts music concerts, comedians and the Miss South Carolina pageant.

"Until yesterday, we had no idea there was a problem and that the Foundation was suspended at the Secretary of State's office," Township Auditorium Director Aundrai Hollomon said in a statement June 23.

The suspension, which Holloman said "amounts to a clerical error," was resolved a day after the release of the governor's veto message.

The Columbia-based foundation submitted paperwork and paid a fine June 23 and got off the S.C. Secretary of State's suspended charities list.

The foundation said it was not the intended recipient of the earmark vetoed by McMaster.

The $100,000 is aimed at the auditorium itself, which is owned and operated by Richland County. The foundation "provides support and services" in aiding marketing and facilitating donations for the auditorium, according to its most recent charity tax filing.

The Legislature will meet June 28 to consider overriding the governor's budget objections that total close to $53 million.

Dozens of charities are suspended by the state, which means they are no longer allowed to solicit donations, said Shannon Wiley, general counsel for the S.C. Secretary of State. They can, however, continue operating.

The Township Auditorium Foundation landed on the suspension list after failing to renew its annual charity registration, which expired in November 2021, according to the S.C. Secretary of State's office. It also failed to file its most recent financial documents, spanning from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021.

As a result, the foundation owed $4,000 in fines to the state.

The foundation said in a statement that it asked for a filing extension because an audit was taking longer than expected under a new firm. Charities are allowed to ask for up to an extra six months to submit their financial forms without landing on the state suspended list.

The foundation said it attempted to file its paperwork electronically but was unable to submit one of the forms. The foundation then mailed the documents, but Wiley said the Secretary of State's office has no record of receiving them.

On June 23, the foundation said it turned in forms and paid a reduced $2,000 fine to end its state suspension.

The Township Auditorium Foundation has filed its state charity paperwork late before.

In 2019, it was fined a total of $2,000 for filing its annual financial forms late, according to the Secretary of State's office. In 2018, the foundation paid $150 for the same reason.

In fiscal year 2021, the county paid $320,000 to the Township Auditorium, plus $70,171 for operations. The next year, the County Council approved another $315,000 for the auditorium, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The foundation receives hospitality tax grants from the City of Columbia, amounting to $59,400 in fiscal year 2020 and $50,000 in fiscal year 2022. It did not receive a grant in 2021.

The Township Auditorium Foundation brought in $92,142 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, according to its tax returns. Of that, it spent $28,945. In the 2020-21 year, the foundation brought in no revenue and spent $54,107.
Ellen Weaver has collected several high-level endorsements of elected Republicans heading into South Carolina's GOP runoff for education superintendent June 28.

Weaver, president of the conservative think tank Palmetto Promise Institute, garnered the support of U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and state Rep. Russell Fry this week, adding to her extensive list of GOP figures who have endorsed her.

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Her opponent Kathy Maness, head of one of the state's top teacher associations, is endorsed by current Superintendent Molly Spearman and Greenville County School Board member Lynda Leventis-Wells who was the sixth-place finisher in the Republican primary's first round.

"Conservatives on the ground, as well as leaders like Sen. Tim Scott, former Sen. Jim DeMint, congressmen Jeff Duncan, William Timmons, and Ralph Norman, and soon-to-be congressman Russell Fry, are all coming together to support our campaign and put a conservative voice in charge of South Carolina's education system," Weaver said.

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Jon Parker, Maness' campaign spokesman, took aim at the fact that many of Weaver's endorsers were politicians. He said Maness remains focused on the support of teachers and parents.

More coverage To read more in-depth stories from The Post and Courier's Education Lab, go to postandcourier.com/education-lab.

"Her vision to empower parents, not politicians, is resonating across the state, which is why she won nearly every county in South Carolina last week and came in tens of thousands of votes ahead of all of her opponents," he said.

Maness finished first in the June 14 primary, earning 30.57 percent of the vote. Weaver got 23.33 percent.

The election on June 28 will decide which candidate will go on to the general election, where they will face Democrat Lisa Ellis, a teacher of 21 years and founder of the teachers' advocacy organization SC for Ed. She stepped down from her role as head of the organization earlier this week.
Georgetown, SC (29440)

Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 82F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Georgetown, SC (29440)

Today

Cloudy skies this evening followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Being able to vaccinate children as young as 6 months old could be a "game-changer" for South Carolina, a top state official said June 22, particularly given a recent rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

Meanwhile, the state will also resume testing wastewater for the virus, a surveillance that hasn't been done for months in Charleston and other communities across the state, to the alarm of some experts.

The Department of Health and Environmental Control is in the process of sending out its initial supply of 27,800 doses of Moderna and 27,800 doses of Pfizer vaccine for those under age 5, of which 5,000 Pfizer doses went to Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. With the recent approval by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for vaccination in children starting at 6 months, nearly the entire population is now eligible, said Dr. Brannon Traxler, public health director for DHEC.

"This is very exciting news," she said. "It has the potential to be a major game-changer for our state. If we can get this age group vaccinated at a strong level, that would reinforce protection in the household, in day care facilities and in classrooms, thereby helping with attendance also in the workplace."

While less common than in adults, young children can develop severe cases of the virus, Traxler said. Of the nearly 500 children hospitalized at MUSC, for instance, 141, or 28 percent, were ages 6 months to 4 years, said Dr. Elizabeth Mack, chief of pediatric critical care.

There have been 944 children hospitalized overall in South Carolina since the beginning of the pandemic, about 2.5 percent of all hospitalizations, according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association. That includes five pediatric patients currently hospitalized. There have been 35 child deaths, .2 percent of the state's total, the groups reported.

But very young children can also easily spread the infection within families to those at greater risk of severe disease, particularly the elderly and those with weakened immune systems, Traxler said.

"Getting them vaccinated will go a long way in protecting those vulnerable members of our communities," she said.

That is particularly important now as the state has seen a rise in both cases and hospitalizations over recent weeks, Traxler said, though this week saw a slight dip in both. Cases were down 3 percent and hospitalizations down 15 percent compared to the previous week, although the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units has risen 45 percent over the last two weeks, according to an analysis of public data by The Post and Courier.

The CDC COVID-19 Community Level data tracker has six South Carolina counties in a high level of community virus transmission: Richland, Horry, Chesterfield, Fairfield, Lexington and Marlboro. Another 15  including Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester  are among those experiencing a medium level of community transmission. People living in High transmission areas are recommended to wear masks indoors and those in medium levels who are at increased risk should consider it.

Those metrics are a good way for people to track COVID-19 activity in their communities, Traxler said.

But much of the testing in the state is being done with home tests, where positive results are not reported to DHEC, so some estimate testing surveillance is only capturing one in 10 infections.

That raised concerns among some who monitor COVID-19 activity that much of it was being missed, particularly since one important way of checking virus levels in a community through wastewater surveillance has largely stopped across the state. CDC's National Wastewater Surveillance System shows only two active sites in the state, in Greenwood and in parts of Florence and Darlington counties, covering only 57,000 people. The 2021 U.S. census estimates give South Carolina a population of 5,190,705

A lab at the University of South Carolina had been doing that testing but apparently stopped, and DHEC has been working to take it over. DHEC was in the "final days" of testing and validating its systems before beginning that active surveillance again, Traxler said.

"I suspect that you will very soon be seeing results from that," she said.
Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

Variable clouds with scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly during the afternoon hours. High 82F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Kingstree, SC (29556)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms in the morning becoming more widespread in the afternoon. High 82F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
Mount Pleasant, SC (29464)

Today

Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. High 83F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Variable clouds with thunderstorms, especially late. Low 73F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Leaders of a long-troubled public housing complex in Charlestons upper peninsula have taken the first procedural step toward demolishing the high-rise  a plan which must include consulting with the site's 140 residents and finding them temporary homes.

The agency that manages Joseph Floyd Manor still needs approval from federal housing authorities before demolition can begin, but its CEO has hired an architect to help navigate the process, a significant step in the housing project's future.

Residents said conditions inside Floyd Manor have improved in recent months, though the balance between maintaining a property while also planning for its eventual demise will be a tough one for leaders to strike.

Floyd Manor, built in 1955, houses some of the peninsulas most vulnerable residents. The majority of those inside the buildings 156 units are elderly or have a disability, in addition to living below the poverty line.

The 13-story apartment building is difficult to miss. It shoots into the sky from its spot between King and Mount Pleasant streets, towering over Interstate 26 in the citys budding NoMo neighborhood  prime real estate in the peninsulas lower neck, north of Morrison Drive. About 140 residents call Floyd Manor home. The location has its perks: The address sits squarely between downtown and North Charleston, and boasts two bus stops outside the property.

Tearing down Floyd Manor, and rebuilding it from the ground up, is its brightest path forward, said Frank Scott, CEO of the Charleston County Housing and Redevelopment Authority. The agency, which owns and manages the property, operates independent of both the city and Charleston County.

Talks of a new building have been floated since at least December 2020 when Sandino Moses, chairman of the authoritys board, told The Post and Courier he envisioned a brand-new Floyd Manor, built to modern codes and standards with essential services on site.

The authority has long wrestled with the question of whether the aging high-rise could be saved by intense repairs, or if it makes more sense to start from scratch.

Floyd Manor fell into noticeable decay during the coronavirus pandemic. Agents from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development toured the building in November 2020, following reports in The Post and Courier about persistent problems: bedbugs, cockroaches, rats, mice, dust and drug dealers who loitered around the property.

HUD agents gave Floyd Manor 19 out of 100 points  a failing score  during the inspection, flagging numerous health-and-safety violations, along with other cosmetic concerns.

Progress to improve living conditions was slow-moving despite public outcry and demands for change, and was stymied by a lack of leadership, maintenance staffing shortages and massive debt.

Residents say conditions improved in the last six months, particularly after Scott took over as the authoritys new CEO. He hired more maintenance workers, as well as a human resources manager and deputy director, whose job will primarily be to oversee Floyd Manors disposition.

Bryant Sanders, who began in March, will also focus on getting Floyd Manors internal inspections schedule back on track. Authority staff members werent entering residents homes to conduct routine inspections through the height of the pandemic, Scott said, causing repairs to slip farther into the cracks.

Now, Scott plans for agency staff members to thoroughly inspect each unit at least once a year. Some units will require more attention because of their conditions, he said.

The authority borrowed $1.4 million from HUD in 2006  a significant debt that was finally cleared this spring. To help pay it off, the authority sold 18 vacant homes in its portfolio it could no longer afford to maintain or repair in a $2.47 million deal with Charleston County.

A portion of profits from the sale will go toward the rebuilding of Floyd Manor, Scott said. He's hired an architect to lead the authority through the transition process  their job is to help plan for the buildings future, which inevitably includes addressing current concerns.

Scott doesnt know how long the transition phase will last  it could take months, it could take years. But the authority is determined to be fiscally responsible throughout the process, Scott said, while also ensuring the current building remains livable.

He gave the example of Floyd Manors aging air conditioning system: Does it make sense to entirely replace the unit, incurring thousands in cost, or would it be better to make smaller, patchwork repairs to the existing system, knowing a brand-new building is on the horizon? The architect is helping tease out dilemmas like this one.

The balance is a hard one to strike, and raises tough financial questions. The CEO stressed that he, along with the authoritys governing board, intends to remain business-minded while also being compassionate.

We dont want to displace anyone, Scott said. Nobodys going to end up under the bridge.

Every current Floyd Manor resident who wants a spot will have a place to live both during and after the transition, he said. Where exactly the temporary home will be remains uncertain.

Theres the option of staying in the current high-rise during construction of the new building. Scott and his team are also looking at the possibility of finding temporary housing across Charleston for each resident, though this poses its own set of challenges.

It's not like we can just farm them out or kind of distribute them throughout the community and not be sensitive to Ive been here X number of years, my doctors are right up the street, Food Lions right up the street, Scott said.

Vernon Wright has lived in Floyd Manor for 24 years, his top-floor unit boasting views of the water. It would be hard to leave, even for a brief period. Wright hopes the authority opts to build a new residence before tearing down his current home, he said, allowing for a quick transition.

Theres also the challenge of identifying enough space to move 140 residents. In a city with an average monthly rent of $1,550, affordable housing seems like a foreign concept. The authority needs the Charleston communitys help in identifying temporary housing locations for this option to work, Scott said.

These are the questions Scott and the rest of the authority, along with their governing board, will be asking in the coming weeks. They will ensure a concrete relocation strategy is solidified before signing any HUD documents that make the disposition official, Scott said.

We've got to look at the whole scope of what we're going to do here, and put the families first, he said. We want to make sure that they are stable.

Resident Robert Singleton said he wasnt particularly worried about where the authority puts him during the transition. The man wasnt afraid to live outside  just eager to see Floyd Manor torn down and rebuilt, he said.

Definitive plans for what tomorrow looks like at Floyd Manor arent clear, though Scott was confident theyll be finalized before the end of this year. There have been talks of spreading out the living space, creating several smaller apartment buildings instead of a single tower. The authoritys property includes the large backyard behind the current Floyd Manor, providing room to expand.

The residential space certainly wont get any smaller, Scott said. The authority and its board members are adamant about replacing any housing lost in a demolition.

The driver in it for us all is ultimately bringing a better housing opportunity to this community and the families we serve, Scott said.

The authority has begun its application for the building's future with HUD, which requires its public housing agencies to get support from both the sites residents and the local community before it will greenlight any demolition work. The authority is in the process of securing that support, Scott said.
The incident occurred in Obudu, Cross River State, the army said.

The Nigerian Army said its troops on Tuesday intercepted a vehicle loaded with explosive devices, guns and ammunition in Obudu, Cross River State.

The army spokesperson, Onyema Nwachukwu, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

Mr Nwachukwu, a brigadier general, said the troops found the explosive devices in a Toyota Camry car with registration number JAL 492 AA.

He did not, however, provide the identity or number of persons involved in the incident.

"Troops of 13 Brigade operating under command of 82 Division, Nigerian Army on Tuesday, June 21, 2022 intercepted a Toyota Camry car with registration number JAL 492 AA, ladened with assorted ammunition while en route Utanga village towards Obudu Mountains in Cross River State," the statement said.

"Troops deployed at Forward Operating Base, Amana, attempted to stop the vehicle at their checkpoint, but the driver evaded the checking and zoomed off. The driver's recalcitrance compelled the troops to open fire on the tyres of the vehicle, thereby, immobilising it.

"A thorough search conducted on the vehicle revealed it was conveying 72 Improvised Explosive Device chargers, 121 Dynamite Liquid, 200 rounds of 7.62 mm (NATO) and 82 rounds of 7.62 mm (Special) ammunition."

The army said military uniforms and kits were also recovered from the car.
North Augusta, SC (29801)

Today

Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds light and variable.
Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.
SPARTANBURG  The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating the death of Spartanburg County Deputy Austin Derek Aldridge, who died June 21 after being fatally shot while responding to a domestic call.

Aldridge, 25, responded at 3:30 p.m. June 21 with other deputies to Chaffee Drive in the Oak Forest subdivision, west of Spartanburg, and was shot as he approached the residence, Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office Lt. Kevin Bobo said. Neighbors provided deputies with a description of the suspect's vehicle. Other deputies secured the scene, allowing EMS to treat Aldridge before he was taken to the hospital.

Bobo said a deputy spotted the suspect's vehicle traveling on Anderson Mill Road towards Highway 290 and attempted to stop the vehicle.

Bobo said the suspect, later identified as Duane Leslie Heard, 63, of Spartanburg, acted like he was going to surrender to deputies during the traffic stop, however, fired a shot at the deputy who returned fire. Deputies said Heard continued to drive down Anderson Mill Road and crashed his vehicle near a business just before Highway 290. Heard then fled on foot into the woods after firing at other deputies. Heard was arrested and then taken to the hospital for treatment of two gunshot wounds, according to the Associated Press.

Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger in a news release Wednesday said Aldridge died just before 9:30 p.m. June 21. A prayer vigil was held June 22 at the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office. Local pastors gathered with deputies in front of the building near flag poles where flowers and a balloons were laid to honor Aldridge.

"We just gathered together to pray as a unified community and to show our support for Sheriff (Chuck) Wright, for the Sheriff's Department and for all our men and women who serve," Summit Church Pastor Jim Geyer said. "We also wanted to show support for the Aldridge family. In times like this there are no words. The best thing to do is pray."

Pastor Kenneth Clyburn of Mount Carmel Baptist Church and Pastor Michael Henderson of Woodward Memorial Baptist Church prayed together during the gathering. Clyburn said he spoke with members of Aldridge's family and prayed they would feel supported by the community.

"This man who shot an officer, he was wrong," Clyburn told The Post and Courier. "The evil we see pervade in our country and city, I believe prayer will change it. I am here to support the community and ask for comfort for that family."

Henderson said Aldridge's family needs support.

"We see so much senseless violence and senseless killing for no reason," Henderson said. "This family has suffered a great loss and now is the time to come together in unity."

According to SLED, there have been 17 officer involved shootings in South Carolina through June 21. SLED said there have been three shootings involving officers in Spartanburg County so far in 2022. In 2021, there were 40 such shootings in South Carolina, with two in Spartanburg County.

In his statement, Clevenger said Aldridge died "from an injury received after being ambushed." Officers responding to domestic calls often find themselves in situations that quickly escalate.

On April 24, a Cayce police officer was shot and killed responding to a domestic call at a home on Rossmore Drive. Officer Roy "Drew" Barr, 27, was killed after a man fired a rifle at him from a second-floor window.

The two officer deaths in South Carolina are among 27 nationwide this year. Aldridge was the fourth deputy in Spartanburg County to die in the line of duty, with the previous coming in 2007, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
The FBI has joined the months-long criminal investigation into a Pee Dee politician who gave herself a $30,000 raise late last year from a pot of federal money she controls, The Post and Courier has learned.

Meanwhile, Williamsburg County Clerk of Court Sharon Staggers has lawyered up, hiring federal prosecutor-turned-defense attorney Jim May and Greenville trial lawyer Matthew Richardson to represent her in the ongoing probe.

"Mrs. Staggers is cooperating with the investigation and looks forward to having all of the facts reviewed and disclosed," May and Richardson wrote in a June 22 statement.

Staggers, a Democrat first elected in 2012, has been under investigation by the State Law Enforcement Division since at least March 7. Thats when The Post and Courier first reported on the clerks controversial decision to dip into a little-known and scarcely regulated fund meant to enhance her offices child support enforcement efforts.

But federal authorities and prosecutors at the U.S. Attorneys Office of South Carolina have become involved in the case, as well, the newspaper has learned.

Little else is known about the joint state-and-federal probe. Such investigations are usually kept secret, with no public announcements until charges are either filed or the case is closed.

FBI spokesman Kevin Wheeler declined to comment for this story. So did the Department of Social Services, the state agency that runs South Carolinas child support program.

Staggers has kept a low profile during the investigation, repeatedly declining to comment for news stories and insisting she will tell her side in due time.

Her pay hike ruffled feathers in rural Williamsburg, infuriating fellow officials and the public in an area where the median household income is less than $32,500 and more than a quarter of the residents live in poverty. The raise ballooned her pay to more than $92,900, nearly surpassing that of the county sheriff.

Staggers had been unhappy with her nearly $62,000 annual salary, even though it already outpaced what her peers in similar counties earned, county officials told The Post and Courier.

She authorized the $30,000 raise for herself only after Williamsburg County Council rejected her requests for more pay through the normal process  the annual county budget.

Staggers thought she deserved more money because she fulfilled the duties of both a clerk of court and a register of deeds, roles that are split into two jobs in larger counties. However, many of her peers in smaller counties like Williamsburg  population 31,000  handle both roles for less pay than Staggers was previously making.

Authorities are thought to be probing whether Staggers and other clerks of court can legally direct federal child support enforcement money to themselves.

The money is supposed to be used strictly to improve child support enforcement programs.

Clerks have used the money in the past to purchase new copiers, upgrade courtroom audio-visual equipment, travel to conferences, hire temporary employees for special projects and reward employees who go the extra mile with one-time bonuses.

Records show Staggers provided Williamsburg County officials with a 2015 email from DSS advising the states 46 clerks of court that they could use Title IV-D money to pay salaries for employees in their office, with some exceptions. It did not clearly say whether clerks could boost their own pay with the money.

SLED investigators met with DSS officials in March to discuss the case.

Staggers, a Democrat, is not up for reelection until 2024. But there are ample signs voters arent happy with the pay hike.

Williamsburg County Democrats voted out of office their most powerful official, Supervisor Tiffany Cooks, in the June 14 primary in part because many voters blamed Cooks for not stopping the pay hike.

Cooks previously told The Post and Courier she feared Staggers might sue the cash-strapped county if Cooks tried to block the raise. Still, her challenger defeated her by a whopping 23 percentage points.

Brandon Alter of The Kingstree News contributed to this report.
The experts spoke at a conference about the future of the media in Nigeria, particularly its viability and profitability.

Media professionals and academics met Wednesday to discuss the financial viability and sustainability of the media in Nigeria.

The experts spoke at a conference hosted by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) in Abuja to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the organisation.

Speaking at Wednesday's event, the Executive Director and Founder of the ICIR, Dayo Aiyetan, said it is imperative to hold a national conversation about the future of the media in Nigeria, particularly its viability and profitability.

Mr Aiyetan said Wednesday's event was organised to serve as a starting point for the discussion. He called on professional bodies and media associations to organise a broader event about the future of the media.

"Many news organisations are not profitable because of dwindling sales and advertising revenue. Many media companies cannot pay salaries and are laying off staff. The media in Nigeria is haemorrhaging," he said, adding that industry leaders must discuss how to find profitable ways of running media businesses.

The essential obligation of the media is to hold authorities accountable, Mr Aiyetan said in his opening address. "And by doing that, we are only complimenting the work of anti-corruption agencies of the government."

He added that public officials should see the media as partners if they are serious about fighting corruption instead of resorting to harassment and intimidating journalists.

In his submission, Bongani Sinqoko, who delivered the keynote address on 'Sustainability Imperatives for African Media', acknowledged the fact that the media industry in Africa, and indeed globally, is experiencing existential challenges.

Mr Sinqoko, a strategist at Arena Holdings, one of Africa's largest English-language newspaper publishers in South Africa, argued that to overcome this challenge of sustainability, the media must be purpose-driven and diversify its business model.

"There is much to our business other than selling adverts and subscriptions," he said. "To build a sustainable media, you must have a clear purpose and pride yourself with competence and the culture of excellence."

He said media owners must drop the conventional measures of sustainability and innovate a way out of the industry disruption facing news media today.

Mr Sinqoko, however, cautioned that all innovative models must not tamper with the editorial independence of the media.

The consumption pattern of the news has changed with the advent of social media, Mr Sinqoko added; hence the need to "transition from a news business to content business."

Panellists Speak

In her submission, Kadaria Ahmed, the founder of Radionow, said her primary responsibility as a journalist is to hold power accountable, not to run a business. However, "I am of the opinion that content should be produced to enable me to do the job properly in an environment where accountability journalism is not commercially viable," she said.

The other currency you need which is missing in the Nigerian media is trust, she said. "The Nigerian audience no longer trusts the media. As far as they are concerned, we are bought by politicians and the cooperates. In addition to that, we do a great disservice to ourselves because we have become part of the problem of Nigeria."

Our journalism must set the country on the right path, Ms Ahmed said, and the "first element of sustainability that the media needs is for the country to function and that functionality of the country depends on the role journalists play."

On her part, Abigail Ndisike, a professor of Mass Communication at the University of Lagos, argued that the modern media must address issues of consumer needs.

"You must do audience categorisation and auditing. This would help to know how best to reach the audience, whether through influencers or any other way. This would help to keep and sustain partnership with the audience."

Also, Angela Agoawike, the CEO of Omalicha radio, said that "media managers have to look at ways of maximising what they do."

There must be a strategy to manage media business and media as the Fourth Estate of the Realm, she said. That balance must be there for sustainability without pulling down the role of media as the watchdog, she added.

Media organisations must come together and come up with a clear policy on the operating environment which includes technology among other factors, the don said.

Similarly, Umaru Pate, the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State, said media houses must adopt innovative business models to overcome sustainability challenges.

"Evolution of the internet and the changes in technology has changed the content demand from our audience," he said, noting that the government must support the media with relevant policies.

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"Amazon and Google are taking all the big adverts today. We can have a share of that if we have a favourable policy from the government", the vice-chancellor said.

In his submission, the former Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Trust newspaper, Mannir Dan-Ali, harped on the need for collaboration to foster growth and boost engagement in the media industry.

The opportunities in this business are limitless, he said. "We must remain committed and collaborate and engage the market," Mr Dan-Ali said.

In his goodwill message, Dapo Olorunyomi, the Publisher of PREMIUM TIMES, congratulated ICIR on its ten years of impact.

Mr Olorunyomi aligned himself with previous speakers that called on innovative models to sustain the media business.

According to him, the media must see itself as a producer of technological products in order to operate in a sustainable manner.

"There is a need for us to build the media as a knowledge organisation," Mr Olorunyomi said, urging the media to ensure proper gatekeeping to defend Nigeria's democracy.

"If this country must survive, the media must be an instrument that drives accountability," he said.
The Federalist has just posted David Harsanyis column on The do something gun control bill. Harsanyi is the author of The First Freedom: A Ride Through Americas Enduring History With the Gun and someone whose opinion I respect. Here is a salient paragraph:

[Republican bill sponsor Senator John] Cornyn spent more time bragging about the things he rejected than championing the useful ideas he brought to the bill, because it is almost surely the case that he brought none. This bill exists so that Republicans can say they did something. Not nothing. Something.

One more:

On federal red flag law funding, perhaps the most controversial provision, the bill makes a big show of demanding protections for due process rights and against infringement of the Constitution. It demands there be penalties against abuse of the program. All of this is unenforceable, as Republicans know. A number of blue states have already passed red flag laws that nullify gun rights on the word of third-party accusationssometimes, ex parteand not only demand the accused prove their innocence before having their rights reinstated but allow for property searches without the usual evidentiary standards. Until the Supreme Court undoes these laws, highly unlikely, states will receive funding. But its one thing for California or Rhode Island to do so, and its another for national Republicans to fund their efforts.

The whole thing here is worth reading.

STEVE adds: But at least were closing the boyfriend loophole. Which I didnt know existed before last week. Im still not sure just what the hell the boyfriend loophole is, but I wish I had been able to take advantage of it back in my single days.
I have turned to todays Star Tribune to check out the editorial boards take on Mondays Minnesota Supreme Court ruling against the city in Spann v. Minneapolis City Council. The city is short some 100 police officers of the minimum imposed by its own charter and has no prospect of coming into compliance any time soon.

Even were it to achieve compliance, another 100 officers will leave the city short of the number necessary to restore civic order. Forgive me for repeating myself: Three hundred officers have left the force in the past two years, since the summer of Saint George.

The city is contending with the calculations of reasonable candidates to avoid the Minneapolis Police Department. It has proved unable to devise incentives to overcome these calculations. Generally speaking, no one in his right mind would choose to work for the department.

What is to be done? What accounts for this crisis (as I see it)? What do the editors have to say about this vital issue?

Silence is the order of the day. Maybe tomorrow the editors will find their voice and hazard their thoughts. It is certainly a rich subject, with many avenues yet to be explored. The Star Tribunes own contribution to the crisis would be only one.

Todays Star Tribune editorial addresses the national travel scene in Airline passengers deserve better. Subhead: Carriers should offer fair compensation  not just excuses  for canceled flights.

Residents of Minneapolis may deserve the sorry municipal leadership that afflicts the city, although that is a harsh thought. We need somehow to move toward a multiparty system with a viable conservative party challenging the left. One-party rule is not conducive to good government.

In the closing days of the Cold War Minneapolis named Novosibirsk its sister city, which it has remained since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It was Minneapoliss way of siding with the Soviet Union during the Reagan administration.

Perhaps we can draw on Novosibirsk for advice. Mayor Anatoly Lokot is a Communist, so there is that. Hes on our wavelength. Reelected in 2019 with 50 percent of the vote, he might have some thoughts on fostering multiparty competition. I am afraid, however, that the time is not quite right.

In any event, the Star Tribune is the Twin Cities major metropolitan daily. Minneapolis readers deserve better.
The Biden administration has worked a new twist in the Democrats mania for redistribution. However, this scheme is to be conducted in private. Attention is not to be paid. It is a big secret.

The New York Posts Miranda Devine has been on the case for a while. In her New York Post column today she adds a dose of media criticism. A subhead in the column aptly describes the media as Joes propaganda arm. Her column is The mainstream medias lies on secret migrant flights.

On the subject of redistribution, Devine has retweeted Luke Rosiaks mapping of the secret flights (below). See Rosiaks Daily Wire story on the flights here. Devine and Rosiak are doing the job Joes propaganda arm refuses to do.

Suspected illegal immigrant flights are impacting almost every state in the country. They often land in the dark of night at small airports and change airports once locals catch on. The administration has provided false information about them. pic.twitter.com/SH309OR9Zx  Luke Rosiak (@lukerosiak) June 22, 2022

Devines column also draws back to give us the (unbelievably grim) big picture. The tweet below offers one current view.
A medical expert, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist, Eric Okunna, says the importance of healthy sex life in marriage cant be undermined

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent, who sampled views of the people on matters of the family in Awka, on Tuesday, reports that respondents think that couples should not deny each other sex.

They say a wife must not deny her husband sex because the man is the head of the family, and his feelings should not be toyed with, irrespective of the situation.

Mr Okunna, the doctor, said good sex is emotionally and physically sound to cement a relationship between the two people involved in filial.

Sex in a relationship on itself is a medication to calm the body down of so many life challenges like stress, emotional sickness and is a good exercise to keep the body relaxed and fit, he said.

Mr Okunna said sex helps create a connection between the persons involved, especially in a marriage, and that it is essential to treat marriage as hallowed. Therefore, women should not torture their husbands by denial.

He said sex should not be used as a tool for revenge in case of misgiving between the couple because it is cancerous to marriage and should be avoided; the woman should devise other ways to demand attention from her husband.

It is a natural occurrence to disagree with people in a relationship, and marriage is no exception. There is no justification for the couples to use sex as torture to resolve their differences.

Instead, sex should be a tool used to resolve any brewed issues between couples because it could be used to relax tensed nerves rather than a tool for disintegration.

Sex torture or denial in marriage is a negative manner to handle marriage challenges because it could lead to a home breakup, he said.

He said there are more benefits of sex than denial in marriage as an orgasm gives the body a natural, pleasant high spirit and releases Endorphins which are hormones that block pain and make people feel good.

He said sex is a crucial aspect of a marriage. Initially, the love and attention expressed play a vital role in holding the relationship together and being sustainable.

However, he said sex becomes significant in ensuring the longevity of a relationship, without any sexual activity, though there will be everything materially no intimacy shared.

Love and recon are satisfactory in a marriage, but sex plays a vital role in building a good relationship and relationship among the couple.

Mr Okunna said sex could be a source of torture for the man if deliberately denied, especially when there may be no militating factor.

He said such an action could turn the man into a wild creature as People have divergent thresholds in many things.

He said, though, that continuous demand for sex by the man could drive the wife crazy and thereby lead to torture for the man.

Mr Okunna said that moderation is the key word in every human endeavour and suggested that the sex life should be moderated so that everybody would be happy and satisfied anytime the need arises to avoid boredom.

More insight

In a related report, Amaka Okeke, a retired teacher, said sex is the oil that lubricates marriages and is meant to be well enjoyed by the two.

Mrs Okeke said without sex, there is no marriage as everything good comes from the union of two bodies called marriage.

She said sex, no matter the reason, should not be denied to any deserving partner at any time, regardless of the time, place and how it was demanded.

Mrs Okeke said denying ones partner sex is torture and should not be encouraged in marriages. Its negative implication is truly overbearing and could lead to divorce or want of alternatives.

She said it is also a sin for the couple, especially the woman, to deny her husband a marriage gift called sex and that the Holy Bible condemned the act as recorded in 1st Corinthians 7, verses 3 to 5.

The Bible says, Let the husband render unto the wife due to benevolence and likewise the wife unto her husband.

The wife had no power of her own body, but the husband, and likewise also the husband has no control of his own body but the wife.

The lack of sex in marriage brings a toxic environment in the home and may suggest the wrong impression to the young adults in the house, and they may never wish to get involved in marriage.

Such action would impede procreation, thereby foreclosing Gods commandment to multiply and fill the earth, she said.

Mrs Okeke said women should pray to God to renew their strength and feelings, especially after childbirth and at an older age, not to deny their husbands their legitimate affection when expressed.

Christian Beluchukwu, a young father, said that denying sex in a marriage is disastrous to the union as it could make the man hate his wife.

Mr Beluchukwu said such an action applied either as a revenge to settle a quarrel could backfire as that may lead to extramarital affairs, which may end up in the introduction of a second wife in the family by the man.

Sex torture is not a tool to be engaged in home management at all as it has no benefits to the relationship, he said.

Adaobi Okafor, Assistant Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Nnamdi Azikwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, said it is a wrong way of living for a woman to use sex to handle a male when offended.

Mrs Okafor said such an act stifles the familys peace and creates unhealthy relationships between the couple. The children suffer most in such a toxic environment in the home.

She suggested that such unhealthy acts should not be practised or encouraged in families and appealed to women who resort to such an act to stop for peace and love in the family.

(NAN)
A veteran Yoruba actor, Olaniyi Raji, better known as Baba Atoli, is dead.

Baba Atoli died on Thursday after battling an undisclosed ailment for over a year.

Ropo Ewenla, a member of the Ibadan Film Circle (IFC), the group to which the late filmmaker belonged, confirmed the news of his death in a statement on Thursday.

Foluke Daramola, an actress, has also confirmed the death of the ace Nigerian actor in an Instagram post.

Ms Daramole shared a photo of the late actor with the caption: Sad we lost baba Atoli. Such a shame.

Also, fans, friends and family of the late actor took to social media to mourn him.

Baba Ali was a member of the cast of The Village Headmaster and also authored a crime fiction titled The Charmed Lock.

He resurrected and repackaged the longest-running Yoruba TV programme, FEYIKOGBON.

His movie credits include  Give and Take, Destiny, Hostess, Omoge (Damsel),  Pardonable, Unforgivable, and Happy Homes (a drama series once aired on DSTV, among others.

Ailment

In March, the actor pleaded for financial support from his colleagues and fans following an illness in a video posted on YouTube.

Ms Daramola also posted videos soliciting financial aid for the ailing actor.

In one of the videos, Raji, his wife, also narrated the actors year-long battle with an undisclosed sickness.

This sickness started in May 2021. We thought it was a minor thing when it started, so we took him to one hospital, where he spent four days. After that, we brought him home with the hope that he has fully recovered, she had said.

However, a few days later, we noticed that his condition worsened. It was at this point that people recommended that he should be taken to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Abeokuta, which we did.

At FMC Abeokuta, several tests were carried out on him, and we spent a lot of money. But a few days before his surgery, the hospital embarked on strike. We initially thought the strike would be called off after some days, but it lingered. We eventually did the surgery, and we took him home.

The sickness, however, resurfaced again. We need the support of Nigerians to ensure he doesnt die. I dont want to become a widow.

Baba Atoli died days after his colleague, another veteran, Yinka Ogundaisi, passed on.
Colombias president-elect Gustavo Petro is wasting no time in fulfilling his promise of normalising relations between his country and Venezuela.

During a discussion with Venezuelan ruler Nicolas Maduro, Mr Petro said that the reopening of the border between the two nations would be within three days after winning the election.

Mr Petro, a former guerrilla, won the presidential election on Sunday, promising to make remarkable changes in Colombia.

He promised to re-establish diplomatic ties with Venezuela.

These were interrupted when Bogota decided to recognise opposition leader Juan Guaido, as the legitimate president of the neighbouring country, along with the U.S. and about 50 other nations.

On Wednesday, Petro made it clear that the change in his countrys policy toward Venezuela would soon take place.

I have reached out to the Venezuelan government to open the border and restore full exercise of human rights on the border, Mr Petro wrote on his Twitter account.

Mr Petros victory raises doubts about the future relationship of the Colombian government with the Venezuelan opposition, which until now has seen Bogota as one of its greatest allies.

President Ivan Duques support of Mr Guaidos movement led to the breaking of diplomatic relations between the two countries in February 2019.

READ ALSO: Residents flee as landslide in Colombia kills at least 14

The conversation about the new relationship between the two countries was confirmed by Mr Maduro himself, who said that he took advantage of a call to congratulate Mr Petro on his electoral victory at the weekend.

I spoke with the elected president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and, on behalf of the Venezuelan people, I congratulated him on his victory.

We discussed the willingness to restore normalcy at the border, various issues about peace and the prosperous future of both peoples, Mr Maduro said on Twitter.

The borders opening had also been promised by Mr Petros rival, independent businessman Rodolfo Hernandez, who narrowly lost out on Sunday.

(dpa/NAN)
What fate awaits the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, in the northern states in the 2023 election?

The question is of interest to political observers because the region is the stronghold of the ruling party, as it governs 14 of its 19 states, but this is the first time the party is presenting a southerner as its flag bearer.

Mr Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, polled 1,271 votes at the APC primary on June 8, defeating 13 aspirants after seven others stepped down for him at the convention ground.

He will slug it out with the candidates of 16 other parties in the February 25, 2023, general election, including Atiku Abubakar of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

Patient courtship

Before declaring his intention to run for president in January, Mr Tinubu had been the leader of the APC in the South-west zone, where he had been influential since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999. However, northern state governors provided the most critical support that helped him to win the partys nomination.

This did not come as a surprise to close observers because Mr Tinubu in recent years had taken deliberate steps to build alliances with political leaders in the region.

Initially, some northern APC governors did not support Mr Tinubu because of their own ambitions. But he eventually won them over, helped no doubt by the position of a majority of them that the South should produce the successor to President Muhammadu Buhari next year. But he had also deliberately courted many of them over the years.

One of the governors, Muhammad Badaru of Jigawa, who eventually stepped down for Mr Tinubu at the primary, narrated how the former Lagos governor helped him to win his election as governor.

Mr Tinubu announced his presidential bid in January, after numerous engagements with northern leaders. He was the Guest Speaker at the prestigious Arewa House lecture series in Kaduna last year, an event he preceded with visits to Kano and Katsina states within a week.

While in Katsina, last March 24, he donated N50 million to victims of a fire disaster at the citys central market.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Tinubu said: For the fire disaster, I am personally most touched because I am a son of a market woman leader. My late mother was the president of the Nigerian Men and Women Market Association.

We, together with my mother, had been to Katsina several times for political rallies and Durbar. Coming to Katsina, it is not only to celebrate but to share the joy and sorrow, particularly in this period where Nigerians need each other both in pain and joy. We will continue to pray that Nigeria will be peaceful, the former governor said.

Arewa House Lecture

Speaking at the opening of the 2021 annual Arewa House Lectures, which he chaired in Kaduna on March 27 that year, Mr Tinubue called for massive investment in job creation to address the economic and security challenges of the region.

The theme of the lecture was Reduction of the Cost of Governance for Inclusive Growth and Youth Development in Northern Nigeria in a Post- COVID-19 Era.

He said the government must think outside of the box in finding solutions to the challenges posed by unemployment. According to him, frustration and despair among the youth were largely caused by chronic poverty and the breakdown of social institutions.

Building vital infrastructures such as irrigation and water catchment systems will help agriculture, arrest desertification, and provide jobs.

Another readily available area primed for investment is the agro-allied industry which, for the northern region, is particularly advantageous, he said.

On the herder/farmer dispute, he said the government must appreciate that martial security measures alone will not suffice.

We cannot resolve this problem by holding on to one-dimensional answers. We must all be dispassionate in our search for solutions. These challenges are multi-faceted and so the solutions must be.

The issue of insecurity, unemployment, and extremism has many things to do with governance, over time. We must tackle our deep and widespread poverty.

If we limit the governments role under the erroneous assumption that government spending is intrinsically unproductive, then we tether ourselves to failure.

The development of any populous nation has always been dependent on the ability of the government to allocate sufficient funds to projects and programs that create and encourage enduring growth and employment, Mr Tinubu said.

The 12th Colloquium in Kano.

Mr Tinubu held the 12th edition of his annual Colloquium in Kano in 2021 under the theme, Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth. The colloquium is a lecture series held on his birthdays since 2009, two years after he left government.

At the event, during which he inaugurated the headquarters of the states anti-graft agency, Mr Tinubu lauded Governor Abdullahi Ganduje for strengthening the anti-corruption institutions in his state.

He also preached peace, unity, and tolerance among Nigerians and then held a closed-door meeting with clerics and the five first-class emirs in the state at the Government House in Kano.

These engagements probably contributed to the support that the former Lagos governor received from northern state governors at the APC National Convention. But now that he is the partys presidential candidate, has he done enough to connect with the voters in the region?

Courtship

Habu Muhammad, a former head of Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Research and Training (Mambayya House), a research and training unit of the Bayero University, Kano, said Mr Tinubus visits to Northwest states were in promotion of his ambition to succeed President Buhari come 2023.

Tinubu is an astute politician who believes that with the support from Kano in particular and the northern states, he will actualise his ambition of becoming the next Nigerian president, Mr Muhammad, a professor of political science, told PREMIUM TIMES.

He said if Mr Tinubus tours of northern states were solely to preach unity, he should have gathered southern leaders to preach the same message to them too.

Since he started celebrating his birthday in 2009, I cant recall the celebration taking place in the north. Holding it in the north now is political. But there is nothing wrong with that because it is politics. In politics, someone must indicate interest and that person must lobby for support. Tinubu has political relevance, he has people and supporters across Nigeria. In the end, Nigerians will decide whether he is the right person or not, Mr Muhammad said.

However, Mr Muhammad warned that Mr Tinubu may encounter challenges in the north if leaders in his South-west region continue to be silent about the alleged persecution of Hausa/Fulani groups over the farmers/herders crisis.

He said Mr Tinubu himself had not spoken out against the attacks on northern businesses and Fulani communities in his home region.

But the candidate faces other challenges as well.

Kano: NNPPs challenge, Gandujes record

Kano is the most populous state in Northern Nigeria. The APC got its highest votes, about 1.9 million, in the state in 2015, a feat it also repeated in the 2019 presidential election.

However, Governor Ganduje appears to have mismanaged the party in Kano. Many of its important stakeholders have left the party in anger and frustration. This may affect the support that the APC presidential candidate may get in the state at the poll.

A former governor Ibrahim Shekarau, a former presidential aide, Kawu Sumaila; and a former federal lawmaker, Abdulmumini Jibrin; are among those who have defected to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) brought to the state by a former governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, who is also running for president.

Both Messrs Sumaila and Jibrin are formidable politicians in the Kano South Senatorial district, which has 15 local government areas (LGAs). Rano LGA, which had 71,641 in the last elections, will be one of the battlefields in the zone for the APC, NNPP and PDP.

Other council areas in Kano South like Kiru, Wudil, Gaya, Tudun Wada, and Doguwa will also see close contests. However, the Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, has vowed to deliver the Kano South Senatorial district to the APC as he did previously.

Luckily for the APC too, Barau Jibrin, the senator representing Kano North District, which has 14 LGAs, remains in the party. Mr Jibrin, who is the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman and is seeking re-election, and Abubakar Kabir, who is the member representing Bichi in the House of Representatives, are popular in the district. With the influence of the Emir of Bichi, Nasiru Ado-Bayero, who is an in-law to President Buhari, the APC may sweep the poll in this zone.

But the ruling party will face stiff opposition in Kano Central Senatorial District where Messrs Kwankwaso and Shekarau hail from. Mr Kwankwasos followers (members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement) are numerous in the city.

The unresolved APC crisis emanating from the primary election in some of the metropolitan council areas, like Fagge, is an added advantage to the opposition parties.

The member representing Fagge at the House of Representatives, Aminu Suleiman, won the APC primary election despite complaints of alleged poor representation made against him by some residents. Mr Suleiman, however, dismissed the allegation as politically motivated, saying he secured hundreds of jobs for his constituents.

In addition, many APC supporters are disenchanted over the poor performance of the APC-led federal government in the last seven years.

Overall, APC needs a lot of hard work to harvest the usual humongous votes it has been getting in Kano central. However, many residents commend the Ganduje administration for executing landmark projects in the Kano metropolis.

The NNPP is unlikely to win in Kano but may play the spoiler for Mr Tinubu and his opponent of the other major party, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP.

Keen contests

The contests in other Northwest states will be keen between the APC and PDP. The ruling party will likely maintain its grip on Kaduna and Katsina states. In the former, Governor Nasir El-Rufai is widely adjudged to have performed well but the animosity against him in the southern part of the state means the PDP also remains strong in the state.

In Katsina, the home state of President Buhari, despite the challenges of insecurity, Governor Masari has also executed many projects and addressed the security challenges in rural communities.

But Sokoto and Kebbi will be battlefields for the two parties.

The APC has bright chances in the North Central Niger State, as the structure of the PDP seems to have collapsed in the state over the years. A former governor, Babangida Aliyu, who ought to be the leader of the party in the state, has been silent, perhaps because he is battling corruption charges.

With the absence of the PDP structure, APC chieftains in banditry-prone Shiroro, Munya, Rafi, and other council areas are noticeably supporting the victims of attacks. Those politicians are more likely to influence the elections even in communities displaced by terrorists.

The APC states and APC ruling states

The APC controls 14 states in the North. Yobe, Borno, and Zamfara are traditional APC states  the PDP has not won a governorship election in the three states since the beginning of the Fourth Republic, and there is a high tendency that Mr Tinubu will win those states hands down.

But the APC presidential candidate will suffer from the perceived sins of some of the governors in states like Jigawa and Kebbi, who have either been accused of hijacking the party structures or abandoning governance for their personal businesses.

Abdullahi Tsoho, a labour union leader and governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Jigawa, said over 9,000 teachers retired from the state civil service in the last seven years, but the government has not recruited to fill the vacancies.

Instead, Mr Tsoho said the government has focused on building new classroom blocks without teachers to teach.

Even his party members had complained that Governor Badaru has never done empowerment programmes for residents in the last seven years, while farmers also complained that farming inputs, machines and agrochemicals he reportedly imported from China were never sold to them at subsidised rates. Some farmers lamented that farm inputs are cheaper in the open market than from the state-controlled Agricultural Supply Company (JASCO), managed by a confidant of the governor.

Also, farmers alleged that Mr Badarus role as head of the presidential task force on fertiliser did not benefit farmers in his state as the price and availability of fertilizer in Jigawa remain a concern.

However, unlike in Kebbi where aggrieved APC members defected to the opposition PDP, they have refused to leave in Jigawa. A party member said many of them are instead waiting for the elections to pay back for the alleged wrongdoings of the governor.

Meanwhile, a former lawmaker, Farouk Aliyu, is challenging the governor in court over the alleged imposition of candidates of the party.

Thus, the unresolved party crisis and perceived political sins of the Jigawa governor may affect the support for his partys presidential candidate in the state.

50/50 in the Northeast  Don

A professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Maiduguri, Umara Ibrahim, agreed that the APC presidential candidate may win three of the six states in the North East.

He told PREMIUM TIMES that it would be difficult for the PDP to win in Borno and Yobe states and that APC, being in government in Gombe, is also most likely to take the state. The PDP is in government in Adamawa, Taraba and Bauchi states.

The don said the APC may gain more influence in the zone if it picks its vice-presidential candidate from the zone.

Mr Ibrahim said Atiku has a large following in Bauchi State, which would make the state difficult to win for the presidential candidate of the APC. He added that though the governor, Bala Mohammed, lost in the PDP presidential primary, he will still support his party to win the state.

Muslim-Muslim

Mr Tinubu, a Southern Muslim, is under pressure from Nigerian Christian leaders to pick a Northern Christian as his running mate. But Saidu Dukawa, a professor of Political Science at Bayero University, Kano, said fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket will serve his electoral interest better in conservative Northern states.

Mr Dukawa believes that Mr Tinubus choice of a running mate will influence the support he gets from the average voters in Kano and other conservative Muslim states in the region.

If Tinubu picks a Muslim running mate from the North, the APC may win all the states it now controls, and even get additional states. But if they chose otherwise, the party may lose some of their states. There is no doubt about this because religion will definitely influence the voting pattern, Mr Dukawa said.

He said the predominantly Muslim population in the North is now interpreting the calls by religious groups on Mr Tinubu not to pick a Muslim running mate as a plot against their religion.

The simple arithmetic is that only three of the 19 Northern states are being governed by Christian governors. The Muslim population will want one of their own to represent them as the vice president, he added.

However, he said Mr Tinubu may also face a backlash from this arrangement with the majority of Christians not voting for him both in the North and in the South. The don said the aim of any political party is to win an election, and that politicians will always adopt the option they think will make them win.

The APC has named Kabir Masari, a Muslim from Katsina State, as his running mate but many believe he is not the final choice and would be substituted before July 15.

That notwithstanding, Mr Dukawa said voters should always consider competence over religion and vote for the candidate that will address the security and economic challenges, irrespective of their regions and religions.
The London Metropolitan Police have charged two Nigerians with conspiracy to traffic a child to the United Kingdom in order to harvest organs, the law enforcement said on Thursday.

The accused  a woman and a man  have the same names and ages as Nigerias former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and wife Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu.

The police said the charges followed an investigation by the Metropolitan Polices Specialist Crime team and gave some details of the accused as follows:

[A] Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55 (10.9.66) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.

[B] Ike Ekweremadu, 60 (12.05.62) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.

The investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022, the police said.

The pieces of biographical data provided match the publicly available personal data of Mr Ekweremadu, a serving senator and former Deputy Senate President, and his wife.

From the Pandora Papers investigation, PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Mr Ekweremadu is a UK resident.

Mr Ekweremadus spokesperson, Uche Anichukwu, has been contacted but has yet to respond to our questions as of the time of this report.

They have both been remanded in custody and will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates Court later today, Met said.

PREMIUM TIMES contacted London Met for more information.

As criminal proceedings are now underway we will not be providing further details, Met said.

While the police did not state the gender of the child, they said A child has been safeguarded and we are working closely with partners on continued support.

More to follow
The traditional ruler of Isuokoma autonomous community in Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Eze Ambrose Ogbu, has been abducted by gunmen.

The gunmen invaded the monarchs palace on Wednesday night and whisked him away to an unknown destination, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

His abductors have yet to contact his family members.

A community leader, who did not want his name mentioned in the report because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, confirmed the incident to our reporter in Abakaliki.

He was kidnapped last night at his palace, he said.

But the kidnappers have not made any contact with the family nor the community. We have been waiting but no contact yet.

The Commissioner of Police in Ebonyi state, Aliyu Garba, confirmed the incident

He said the police were doing everything possible to locate and rescue the monarch.

Worsening security situation

Abduction for ransom is now one of the dominant crimes across various Nigerian cities.

Politicians, entrepreneurs, and just anyone with good financial worth, including school children, are easy targets.

Suspected kidnappers abducted a photojournalist, Uchenna Nwube, who works in Ebonyi Government House, early this month on Okigwe-Aba-Enugu Expressway. He was later released, apparently after ransom payment.

In Anambra State, still within the South-east, the beheaded body of a former lawmaker was found on Tuesday after gunmen abducted him.

About a month ago, a serving lawmaker in Anambra was similarly beheaded after gunmen abducted him.

Besides abduction for ransom, states in the South-east have been grappling with deadly attacks by armed men.

The attacks, which the Nigerian government blamed on an outlawed group Indigenous People of Biafra, often target police and other security agencies.
The Uxbridge Magistrates Court in London has denied the former deputy president of the Nigerian Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife Beatrice Ekweremadu, bail after the London Metropolitan Police arraigned them for alleged child organ harvesting conspiracy.

PREMIUM TIMES had earlier reported that the police on Thursday arrested and charged the couple with conspiracy to harvest the organs of a child brought to London by them.

According to Arise TV, the prosecutors said the Ekweremadus were being charged for bringing a 15-year-old boy from Nigeria to the UK with the claim that he was to be given a better life in the UK but was actually to harvest his organ.

The prosecutors reportedly informed the court that Mr Ekweremadu procured a passport for the boy and claimed he was 21 years old but the prosecutors discovered that he was 15 years old.

According to the prosecutors, the duo have a daughter who has a kidney-related disease and has been on dialysis for quite some time. They added that they believe the plan was to use an organ from the boy on their daughter who appears to need a kidney transplant.

Arise News reported that Mr Ekweremadu and his wife had separate legal representations and prayed the court to release them on bail but their prayer was dismissed by the Magistrate.

The couple has surrendered their passports to the UK government.

PREMIUM TIMES has obtained a late 2021 letter from sources close to Mr Ekweremadu purporting that the lawmaker had written the British High Commission in Nigeria in support of a visa application of a male.

In the letter, Mr Ekweremadu disclosed that the applicant was travelling to the UK for medical examination to possibly donate a kidney to his daughter Sonia.

He said the examination would be carried out at the London Royal Free Hospital.

The letter did not disclose the age of the male but UK prosecutors alleged that the victim is a minor and that Mr Ekweremadu had falsified his age to 21.

The Magistrate ordered they be remanded in custody until July 7, 2022, for the next hearing on the case.
analysis

The key to achieving greater female political representation lies with those occupying most leadership positions worldwide: men.

Women form more than half of Africa's population, but you wouldn't know this from looking at African parliaments, governments, and boardrooms.

In sub-Saharan Africa, women remain significantly outnumbered in the upper echelons of public leadership. There are just five women serving as prime ministers and two as presidents, while just over one in four members of parliament is a woman.

African women continue to suffer from lack of opportunity and outright prejudice. So, it is no surprise, then, that they are disadvantaged in nearly every aspect of life including when it comes to leadership.

Of course, it is important that we recognise the progress that has been made in the past couple of decades. The percentage of women occupying parliamentary seats in sub-Saharan African countries has more than doubled since 2000, and we have no doubt this has contributed directly to Africa's continued growth and prosperity. In my own country, Namibia, we have one of the highest levels of women's representation in parliament on the continent. We have a woman Prime Minister, and our youngest Parliament and Cabinet members are women aged 22 and 21 respectively.

African women are also blazing trails, having been appointed to prominent international roles in institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. Yet these remain high-profile exceptions.

During my career in public life, I have seen how women's empowerment energises communities and sets countries on a path to more inclusive and sustainable development. The evidence of its benefits is plentiful.

As the 2030 goal to achieve gender parity in politics nears, we ask ourselves: how can we achieve victory? Where do we find the support we need? The answer lies with those occupying most leadership positions worldwide: men.

Men are women's primary allies in the fight for gender equality, and we need them to step up to the plate.

I know there are many men at every level of society in the world and particularly in Africa -including those in the most senior positions -who respect women's inherent right to full participation in society and use their platforms and influence to shape a more inclusive and equitable future. They believe in gender parity and know that it's not enough for them to be passive allies.

There are plenty of recent examples. President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi recently pledged to continue promoting gender equality, saying that his administration would take concrete steps to increase women's economic empowerment. Last month, President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon committed to continue to promote gender equality as part of the Gabonese Women's Decade, an initiative which he instituted in 2015. The country has already made great progress, with its standing in the World Bank's Women, Business and the Law 2022 report drastically improved. And President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, a country already known for having the highest percentage of women in parliament, also recently called for gender equality to remain at the center of Rwandan politics, stating "equality is a right not a favour".

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Other men who hold some of the highest leadership positions have shared similar pledges to take concrete action to further women's leadership in their spheres of influence as part of the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Centre for Women and Development's (EJS Centre) #HaveHerBack campaign.

I applaud their efforts and urge other African men from all walks of life to join them and consider how they, too, can challenge and break down the stereotypes and misconceptions that stand in the way of women's full and equal participation.

One bias that society tends to hold is the idea that men do not, or should not, have equal responsibility in the fight for gender equality. In reality, it is up to all of us - both men and women - to strive for women's advancement. We should therefore amplify the message that African men are willing to join the fight for gender equality.

Just as a bird can't fly with only one wing, we can't expect to see systemic change, with the efforts of only half of the population. If Africa is to thrive and prosper, we must all fight for parity, we must all stand together as Africans and say proudly to our daughters, sisters, and mothers: we have your back!

Monica Geingos is the First Lady of Namibia and Board Member of the EJS Centre.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the digitisation of the services of the National Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), to be known as e-NSITF.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, made this known when he briefed State House correspondents at the end of the councils meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting was presided by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber of the State House, Abuja.

Mr Ngige said the decision to digitise the NSITF was in line with the governments policy on ease of doing business.

He said: The ministry presented two memos to the council today. The first memo was presented on behalf of our parastatal, the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).

As youre aware, a lot has happened in the NSITF in terms of revenue losses and plunder of funds that have been given to that organisation.

The NSITF implements the Employee Compensation Act ECA 2010 and by that Act, employers in both public and private sectors are supposed to pay 1% of the emoluments of their staff into a social fund in NSITF.

And this one is to be used as a premium or insurance fund to cater for workers or staff members who have accidents, injuries, disabilities and even deaths that occur in the cause of their work.

The Pension Act makes reference to it that it must be done for workers in addition to group life.

So, the monies that have gone in there have not been properly utilised, the payments have not been tracked.

So, today we brought to council a memo for an e-NSITF by which their operations will now be digitalised.

So, in the comfort of your office, you can pay and register on that platform and that money is now tracked into a Central pool, from where claims are made and payments are also made for the insurance of those who are beneficiaries, you also track them.

He also said the new strategy will enhance the efficiency of NSITF as well as block leakages.

This is one of the things the government has done in the spirit of digitalisation of the economy and ease of doing business for everybody.

So, this will make for efficiency and help the organisation to grow in leaps and bounds.

Already, the organisation is revitalised, following the present restructuring agreement for them.

Today, NSITF can pay all their salaries, they can boast of even doing capital projects. And this digitisation of funds operation is part of the capital projects that they are doing and like I said earlier, the accountability that is there will make for non-leakages of funds.

We also know that previously, there have been complaints of claims not being paid but e-NSITF will track claims and allow people to know who and who benefits from those claims.

So, this is one of the memos presented today. A consultant is going to handle it and the council approved that the digitalisation should be completed in eight weeks, he added.

Also addressing the correspondents on the outcome of the meeting, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, disclosed that the council approved the enactment of the Federal Produce Inspection Service Bill 2022, for onward transmission to the National Assembly for passage.

According to the minister, the proposed law is to repeal the Produce Enforcement of Standards Act 2004, which is currently in place.

Mr Adebayo said when passed, the new law would enable the ministry to establish five laboratories across the geo-political zones of the country, for microbial analysis of agro-products for local consumption and export.

The justification for the memo is primarily of the need to have an all-encompassing produce inspection regime in Nigeria that is capable of ensuring best practices in the export of produce from Nigeria.

The proposed bill seeks to correct the shortcomings in the previous law. For instance, the organisational structure to which the law applies, which has increased to 72 from 16, the location covered by emergency orders for pest control use in the event of an outbreak.

The old law covered only Lagos but now the new bill will cover the whole country.

The new law also makes provision for establishment of laboratories in five geo-political zones in the country in addition to the one that presently exists in Lagos for microbial analysis of agro produce, for local consumption and for export, he said.

According to the minister, the whole essence of the new bill is to bring the practice of inspection of foodstuff to improve it to current global practices.

He further explained that the original law was enacted in 1950, but was renewed in 2004.

We believe that it is time for it to be brought up to date and that is what we have done and the council approved it.

The council directed that the Attorney General and Minister of Justice transmit it to the National Assembly, Mr Adebayo said.

(NAN)
Sadio Mane has sent out a heartfelt message to Liverpool fans following his sensational move to the Bundesliga to team up with Bayern Munich.

Mane, since moving to Liverpool six years ago from Southampton, has been an integral part of the successes achieved by the Reds; winning virtually everything that needed to be won including the Champions League.

However, having failed to get the improved contract he felt he deserved, Mane has opted for a new adventure in a different league with another team, and he chose record-Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich.

But while the Senegal star is happy with his new start elsewhere, he is equally grateful to the Liverpool fans for the love they showed him throughout his stay at the club.

In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Mane thanked the Liverpool fans who he said were with him in the good and bad times.

He wrote, Difficult to find the right words for this. I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, Im so pleased to be a very small part of this incredible success wed together during the last 6 years.

You were there in good and bad times. Ill never forget. #YNWA

Asked if he felt he had achieved all he could at Liverpool, Mane told his new clubs official website, that he won a lot to be proud about.

He said Yeah, sure. Like I said, from the first day I came to the club, I spoke to the boss when I was in Southampton and I think at that time we were not even in the Champions League.

He called me and I said, For sure. I just decided in my heart that I am coming to Liverpool because that is where I see myself and for me, it was the right time and the right club to achieve everything

So, I can say of course we won a lot and I spent a great, great time there. An unbelievable time at Liverpool, we won a lot. Like I always say, my life is always [about a] challenge and when it came I said to the club that I want to leave, I want to go somewhere else to see a new challenge.

It is not anything else, it is just a challenge because for me I want to always be challenging myself to get better and better.

Mane scored 120 goals for the Reds in all competitions and won six major trophies.
The First Lady, Aisha Buhari, on Wednesday in Abuja decorated her Aide-De-Camp (ADC), Usman Shugaba, with his new rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP).

Mrs Buhari, who was flanked by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali-Baba, while decorating the newly promoted officer, urged him to step up his job performance to justify his promotion.

The first lady described the newly promoted officer as a highly committed and dogged officer who performed his task with a high sense of honesty and humility.

Mrs Buhari congratulated Mr Shugaba on his elevation and urged him to take his promotion as a challenge to do more for the country.

I thank you for coming to support me to decorate one of my dogged staff, as an Assistant Commissioner of Police. Usman Shugaba is a highly committed Senior Officer in the Nigeria Police today.

I wish you all the best in your new positions, she said.

In his remark, the IGP said that promotion in the Nigeria Police Force was an achievement that came through hard work and dedication to service.

When I received the recommendation of the promotion from the First Lady that the ADC had been performing his duty diligently with honesty and dedication.

I had no option than to put my own recommendation to the Police Service Commission for his elevation. Shugaba has today joined the league of senior officers in the Nigeria Police, the IGP said.

Mr Alkali-Baba described the Nigerian police as a reputable institution, which guaranteed service to humanity, and the protection of lives and property of the citizenry.

He also charged the First Ladys ADC to remain resolute in his new rank, and to continue doing a good job.

By this promotion, you will be taken to the category of decision-making process and you are to command not less than 1000 officers and men at any point in time.

So, I want to congratulate Shugaba for reaching this far in his chosen career in the Nigeria Police Force, he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Shugaba was born in 1982 and joined the Nigeria Police Force in 2002.

He had served in various capacities within the force before his appointment as the First Ladys ADC.

Mr Shugaba had served in the Police Command in various states, including as ADC to former IGP Mohammed Abubakar and Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello, among others.

(NAN)
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has threatened to embark on a nationwide strike if the Kaduna State Government fails to reverse the decision to sack 2,357 teachers, including its national president, Audu Amba.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the union made its position known on Wednesday during its National Executive Council meeting which was held in Abuja, Nigerias federal capital territory (FCT).

The unions Deputy National President, Kelvin Nwankwo, said the sack followed refusal by the president and some teachers to write a competency test organised by the Kaduna State Government, among other reasons.

It is very sad and curious that the dismissal letter relative to the NUT President was in the Public domain via the social media even when it has not been served on him.

The intention clearly is to intimidate the NUT President and embarrass the teachers in Nigeria, Mr Nwankwo said.

The union reiterated its commitment to stand by the president and other sacked teachers in the state.

The NUT family reaffirms its commitment to stand with its revered president, Comrade Audu Titus Amba, and all the teachers in Kaduna State.

The union will continue to perform its historical role of defending the rights of teachers in Nigeria and no amount of anti labour policies of the Kaduna State Government and elsewhere can diminish this resolve, he added.

The union stated that rather than issue dismissal letters, the government ought to have explored the option of training and retraining to improve the competency of teachers.

We are teachers and best suited to know the concept of test administration which is a settled and accepted tool for the assessment of the performance of a learner in his or her educational career.

However, this lofty tool has been maliciously bastardised and abused in Kaduna State.

It has been deployed as an instrument of vendetta targeted at labour leaders, who dared to perform their statutory and historical role of advocating the advancement of the welfare of teachers.

The National Executive Council (NEC) of our great Union in good faith had in accordance with international best practices in the teaching profession advocated that the Kaduna State Government should rather embark on a continuous teacher training programme.

This is what obtains in other professions such as Nursing, Medicine and Law, the union further said.

Illegal action

NUT, which noted that about 21,780 teachers were dismissed or retired in 2018, said the recent sack was one too many.

It is pertinent to state that the Kaduna State Governments purported Competency Test was held during the pendency of Suit No NICN/54/2021 before the National Industrial Court, Kaduna Division.

Furthermore, the purported dismissal of 2,357 teachers was done during the pendency of another Motion on Notice, NUT said.

It said the motion sought for an order restraining the Kaduna State Government from dismissing any teacher in the public schools in Kaduna State for not writing and or passing its competency test.

Backstory

The Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (KADSUBEB), the government agency in charge of basic education funding and management in the state, had on Sunday announced the dismissal of 2,357 teachers.

It said the decision was taken over the failure of the teachers to take part in the recently conducted competency test organised by the government.

The government had introduced the competency test for teachers in the state some years ago. The development led to the dismissal of 21,780 teachers in 2018 reportedly for failure to pass the test.

The government, however, recruited 25,000 others to replace them.

Since 2018, the state government has continued to organise tests for the teachers to test their competency and professionalism.

But in 2021, the government said 27,662 teachers took part in the test but that a total of 165 of the figure performed woefully and were sacked.

The government agencys spokesperson, Hauwa Mohammed, in a statement announcing the dismissal, said 2,192 primary school teachers including Mr Amba, had been dismissed for refusing to sit for the competency test.
The outspoken Catholic priest, Ejike Mbaka, has warned members of his Adoration Ministry Enugu to stop castigating the Catholic Bishop of the Enugu Diocese, Callistus Onaga, over the ban on the ministry.

The priest gave the warning while addressing members of the Adoration Ministry who converged at the adoration ground on Wednesday in Enugu for prayers.

Mr Mbaka, who returned to the Adoration grounds since Bishop Onaga shut it down, urged them to keep away from the ground in obedience to the bishops order.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that despite the closure, hundreds of the Adoration faithful have continued to converge on the ground daily.

Addressing them, Mr Mbaka reminded them that closure of the Adoration was still in force as all activities remained suspended in obedience to the directive of the Catholic bishop.

Mr Mbaka said: Im a priest of the Catholic Church and the Bishop is my father. I swore an oath to obey him and his successors. I cannot do otherwise.

He appealed to them to henceforth, stop castigating the Bishop or Enugu Catholic Church but to pray and bless them.

The cleric also urged them to continue praying for Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, stressing that he was one of them, a brother and friend.

I have come to bless you and to dismiss you. I dont want you to go to the main road. I dont want you to be pugnacious or to be cantankerous.

I dont want the adorers to be violent. I dont want Adoration people to be classified as bandits, for we are not bandits. We are obedient children of God. We love the mother church and the mother church loves us so much, Mr Mbaka said.

(NAN)
The Brazilian Descendants Association in Lagos (BDA) in conjunction with the Federative Republic of Brazil have launched the Portuguese language class in the Lagos Island area of the state.

Taiwo Salvador, Education Research Director, BDA, in a statement on Thursday said the programme was to promote the Portuguese language and give the youth a world-class opportunity.

Mrs Salvador said the programme was to encourage the youth to establish the language in the Brazilian community in the state.

According to her, the Portuguese language is one of the core languages spoken in Brazilian communities.

She highlighted the benefits of the programme, adding that being bi-lingual was an added merit to exploring the world.

She urged the beneficiaries to take the programme seriously.

With a letter demonstrating this, the Brazilian government granted us the opportunity and permission to establish the language in the community.

Anywhere you go and you can speak an additional language, it is a plus for you and gives you the privilege to other opportunities.

So, the benefit of the language has two phases: establishing it in our community and the benefit of travelling to Brazil for four years to study any discipline tuition-free.

When you are reading your Bible, let it be the second thing you are doing and when you are doing your traditional worship, let it be the second thing you are doing because it will take you to places and change your lives, she said.

Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, the wife of the Lagos State Governor, who is also a Brazilian descendant from the Carrena family, represented by Olumide Ibitoye, described the programme as a landmark and historical event.

I am delighted to participate in this landmark and historical event marking the formal launch of the Brazilian Descendants Association of Lagos Portuguese language programme supported by the Brazilian Government to promote skill and knowledge in our dear state.

Without any iota of doubt, this programme, which is the first of its kind at the grassroots level by the Brazilian Government to promote the Portuguese language in the Brazilian quarters of Lagos Island, is laudable and remarkable.

It is a giant leap forward in advancing the rich cultural and historical ties between Lagos and Brazil.

It is a statement of fact that Lagos and Brazil have a lot in common historically, the Brazilians in Nigeria, who are referred to as Agudas, settled in Lagos and created the Brazilian quarters, she said.

Mrs Sanwo-Olu said the history of Lagos State could not be effectively told without copious reference to the role played by European traders and travellers who were some of the earlier settlers in the kingdom of Lagos.

She said history had it that, as a result of the geographic location of Lagos on the lagoon, Portuguese merchants gave the island its name, Lagos, while Lagos Island to the indigenous population is called Eko.

This clearly establishes the fact that we have a lot in common and there must be a concerted effort to rekindle and reinforce historical consciousness, particularly among the younger generation.

This is to appreciate where we have come from, where we are now, and where we must go in the future.

Therefore, on behalf of the good people of Lagos State, especially the Brazilian Descendants Association of Lagos, let me warmly appreciate the Brazilian Government, through the Brazilian Consulate in Lagos.

For the wholesome initiative designed to support and promote the teaching of the Portuguese language in our dear state.

It is particularly commendable that the Brazilian Consulate is working to promote appreciation of culture through the use of the Portuguese language among the interested family members of the Brazilian Descendants Association, she said.

Mrs Sanwo-Olu noted that this would go a long way in helping family members appreciate their rich cultural heritage and build on it for effective communication.

It is also instructive that the programme has been designed to give an opportunity to qualified members to further their education in Brazilian higher institutions.

For us in Lagos State, we are proud and happy to identify with the various strides of the Brazilian Descendants Association of Lagos in ensuring that the historical bond between Lagos and Brazil is not completely relegated, she said.

Also, Gaizamo Martins, President, BDA, gave the chronological background of the Brazilian Descendants and their unique education.

Mr Martins noted that most of them were predominantly Christians.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Folashade Adefisayo, represented by Hashrup Taiwo, Director, Multilingual International Resources Centre, said that the state placed a high value on the teaching and learning of all languages through the Centre.

Ms Adefisayo said the Centre was located in six educational centres.

She noted that Chinese, French, German, and Arabic, among others, were currently studied at the various designated centres.

She reiterated the governments readiness to partner with BDA to include the Portuguese language in Lagos schools.

(NAN)
The French government has awarded 30,000 research grants to five Nigerian universities to support innovative health research projects.

Hayward Mafuyaih, a lecturer and researcher at the University of Jos, said the grant would enable them get to more sentinel sites in Plateau State.

We will now be able to take statewide sentinel data that is more robust that will give us precise accuracy in terms of what we are measuring, said Mr Mafuyaih, a professor of public health, entomology, and parasitology at the university and one of the beneficiaries of the grant.

Mr Mafuyaih and his team worked on the project Web-based Malaria Information System (Web-MIS).

The other researchers, who also came up with various health-focused research, are from Obafemi Awolowo University; University of Lagos; University of Ibadan; and Bayero University Kano.

Omolola Irinoye, the community public health practitioner at the Obafemi Awolowo University, said the fund is a breakthrough for her group. She said it will help them approach their intervention holistically as against in bits as they had been doing.

Her project was titled E-health systems for strengthening health literacy, promotion, screening and health care access for population groups in Osun State.

For many of the diseases killing our people, if they have information, many things can be done to prevent, detect early and to manage effectively if they have access to people they can talk to very freely, she said.

Solidarity Fund

The universities received the awards under the Solidarity Fund for Innovative Projects, an initiative of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs which was launched in 2021, aimed at supporting the Research Capacity Building in Higher Education.

Every two years, the French government focuses on a theme and awards innovative projects.

In 2021, it chose a theme Research in Health, Innovation, Information and Artificial Intelligence which aims to apply digital innovations to todays challenges in the Nigerian healthcare system.

According to Emmanuelle Blatmann, the French Ambassador to Nigeria, the Solidarity Fund aims to help cooperation, and foster relationships, and partnerships with foreign universities.

She added that the primary goal for providing the funds is to help Nigerian universities upscale their programmes, knowing that funding is difficult even in France.

We consider it important that they get help from us, she said.

We also consider academic cooperation as crucial for the strengthening of the relationship between Nigeria and France.

Ms Blatmann added that it is also a great way to improve mutual knowledge between the two countries.

Because sometimes there are a lot of false images about Africa and this is also what we are looking into. However, the idea for health here is to help improve and consolidate health systems in Nigeria, she said.

Other recipients

The other recipients of the award include Patrick Okonji, the Principal Investigator for the UNILAG project, A Telemedicine Approach for Equitable Access to Quality Eye Care in Remote Rural Areas of Lagos, Nigeria.

Mr Okonji dedicated the award to the visually impaired whom his work looks to support.

READ ALSO: TETFund to establish 12 additional research centres in Nigerian universities

Oluyemisi Folasire, from the University of Ibadan, is another recipient of the award. Her groups project focused on Gestational Blood Sugar Tracker (GBST): An innovative method for the detection, prevention and treatment of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM).

Ms Folasire said the project aims to improve the lives of women and children by encouraging healthy food consumption and healthy weight loss, which reduces the chances of Gestational Diabetes.

Another recipient, Amir Bature, the Principal Investigator for the Bayero University Kano, where they worked on Detection of Malaria Parasite in Blood Smear Microscopy using Artificial Intelligence.

Sonny Echono, Executive Secretary, TETFUND, thanked the French embassy for a demonstration of very cordial bilateral relations between our countries and their interest in promoting research.

He noted that the awards from the French government compliments and also speak to the current focus of TETFUND to promote research and development in Nigeria.

Research in healthcare tends to have a direct impact on the livelihood, standard of living and health conditions of our people, he said.

And we hope the recipients of the award will use this opportunity not only to expand the frontiers of knowledge but come up with impactful findings that will revamp our healthcare delivery system, Mr Echono said.
A human rights lawyer, Malcom Omirhobo, on Thursday, attended proceedings at the Supreme Court dressed in a traditional worshippers attire.

Mr Omirhobo, who appeared in court with white chalk-drawn around his right eye, had feathers stuck to his wig and cowry bracelets around his wrists.

He wore his black gown over a white inner shirt with a gourd and cowries dangling on his chest.

He tied a red wrapper around his waist as a replacement for grey trousers lawyers usually wear as part of their uniform.

The barefooted lawyer also had two yellow bell bracelets around his two ankles.

Mr Omirhobo, who described himself as a traditionalist, said he was motivated to appear in court in the unusual attire by last weeks judgement of the Supreme Court affirming the rights of Muslim female pupils to attend school in hijab in Lagos schools.

I have been missing all along until the Supreme Court gave the judgment on Friday. I interpreted the judgement as a decision that guarantees our rights under Section 38 of the constitution, he said in an interview with Channels Television after Thursdays proceedings.

He said if the school pupils can wear hijab, the mode of their worship, to school, any attempts to stop him to appear in his faiths attire would amount to a violation of his fundamental right.

I felt confident to appear at the Supreme Court in my religious attire of worship and any attempt to stop me from dressing like this will be a violation of my right, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, he added.

Mr Omirhobo, whose pictures of him seated with his unusual attire in court circulated online on Thursday, said he attended court as an amicus curiaa friend of the court and to observe proceedings.

I had a nice time in court before my lords, the lawyer said, adding that the Justices of the Supreme Court were pleased with his dressing.

I went there and sat before my lords, and they were pleased with my appearance until they have to reconstitute, he said.

Mr Omirhobo said the attire would be his mode of dressing to court in all his future appearances and ensure his children also dress to court in the same way.

He expressed his gratitude to the Supreme Court and encouraged the police, those in the Army, the Navy, doctors and others to also dress in their mode of religion in their places of work.

Supreme Court judgement

The Supreme Court had in a judgement delivered on June 17, 2022, granted the use of hijab by female Muslim students in government-owned schools in Lagos.

The case involved the Lagos State Government as the appellant and Asiyat AbdulKareem (through her father), Moriam Oyeniyi, and the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria as the respondents.

Mr Omirhobo, who was barefooted with feathers attached to his wig stated that the decision of the Apex Court can be applied to every other religion.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has said contrary to insinuations that the federal government was not engaging with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), there have been a series of meetings between all parties with the next one coming up on Thursday.

Mr Ngige stated this while speaking with the State House correspondents after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday in Abuja.

ASUU has been on strike since February

Some of the lecturers demands include the revitalisation of public universities, earned allowance, improved funding of state universities, and promotion arrears.

Others are the replacement of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) with its own University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) in the payment of emoluments to its member.

The Minister dismissed the insinuation that the federal government was planning to introduce different salary payment platforms for the trade unions in tertiary institutions.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had insisted on the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) it created, claiming that the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) was shortchanging them.

The federal government had in March said UTAS failed three integrity tests.

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions (NASU) had also recommended the Universities Peculiar Personnel Payroll System (UPPPS) as their payment platform.

Mr Ngige, however, said: No employee or worker can dictate to his employer how he or she will be paid.

He assured that efforts were on towards resolving the ongoing face-off between the government and ASUU as well as other university-based unions over payment platforms.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Wednesday, commenced the screening of nominees for deputy governorship positions for the 2023 general elections.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the screening took place at the partys national headquarters in Abuja.

The Deputy Governorship Candidates Screening Committee chaired by a former National Chairman of the PDP, Okwesilieze Nwodo, also has Akilu Indabawa as secretary and Sunday Omobo as the administrative secretary.

A nominee for deputy governor for Akwa-Ibom-State, Akon Eyakenyi, speaking to journalists shortly after her interview, commended the state governor, his wife, party leaders and the people of the state for nominating her.

Ms Eyakenyi, the senator representing Akwa-Ibom South Senatorial District, who was cheered by women groups from the state, said that women of the state had every right to be excited over the slot of the deputy governor given to them for the first time.

I am going there as a mother for the 31 local governments of Akwa Ibom State covering women, men, youth and the elderly.

I am going there to serve, to set a standard and ensure that after me, another woman can pick up the position.

I will also ensure that women have their due and right at the executive, legislative and party levels.

I am also going to be a model and standard to every woman in Akwa-Ibom State, Ms Eyakenyi said.

The PDP Governorship Candidate for Lagos, Olajide Adediran, who was also at the PDP national secretariat, also spoke with journalists about his potential running mate.

Mr Adediran, who is popularly known as Jandor, said the nomination of five persons for his running mate shows that Lagos as a centre of excellence has many qualified persons for the position.

Every one of the five nominees is qualified to be my deputy governor, he said.

He gave assurance that his running mate would be as popular or more popular than him.

We represent a breath of fresh air in Lagos State. You have seen that in me and my running mate as well, he said.

(NAN)
analysis

Activists have convinced 20 big banks not to finance the controversial oil project leaving its fate in the balance.

This February, the heads of TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) held a long-awaited meeting in Kampala. Together with leaders from Uganda and Tanzania, the French and Chinese energy giants signed a momentous Final Investment Decision for the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). In doing so, what would be the world's longest heated pipeline - a $5 billion behemoth set to transport oil 1,443km from Uganda's Lake Albert to the port of Tanga in Tanzania - took another step towards its realisation.

As the decision to move ahead was inked, Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of TotalEnergies, which holds a 60% stake in EACOP, called it "a day of happiness". However, his merriment belied a much more complicated truth.

EACOP's backers, who intend to finance the pipeline with a partial loan of $2 billion, have yet to raise the money needed to construct it. Meanwhile, an international movement against the project is fast growing and specifically targeting banks and insurers to convince them not to fund it.

"Total is finding closed doors"

Environmental activists say that EACOP will displace thousands of people from their ancestral homes, tear through farmland, and destroy precious ecosystems. They say TotalEnergies' plan to drill a hundred wells in Murchison Falls National Park will pollute the air and soil, and that the pipeline poses significant risks to the water sources of the Lake Victoria Basin on which 40 million people rely. Moreover, scientists calculate that the burning of the oil extracted and transported will generate 34 million tonnes of carbon each year, increasing Uganda's annual emissions by a factor of seven.

"You cannot even imagine how big this project is," says Omar Elmawi, head of the Nairobi-based #StopEACOP campaign, which coordinates the efforts of 260 civil society organisations.

Fighting an operation of this magnitude is daunting, but some activists have broken it down by focusing on the pipeline's funding.

"The finance strategy of the campaign has been to look at the project and to identify what are crucial puzzle pieces that need to be in place for the project to move ahead - so things like the project loan or the insurance - and then to really focus on trying to block those pieces before they are in place," says Coleen Scott, who focuses on the #StopEACOP campaign at Inclusive Development International.

This strategy began in 2018 when the NGO BankTrack drew up a list of TotalEnergies' main financiers and began urging them not to bankroll EACOP. Of that group, which has since expanded to 35 potential funders, 20 - including, most recently, Deutsche Bank - have now ruled out funding the pipeline. Three - South Africa's Standard Bank, Japan's SMBC, and China's ICBC - have signed up as EACOP's financial advisors. And the dozen remaining have yet to declare their position.

"Total is finding closed doors wherever it looks," says Ryan Brightwell, who leads the campaign.

While campaigners have recorded some significant successes in persuading big banks to distance themselves from the EACOP project, however, their work is made more complex by the fact that many of the same institutions directly fund TotalEnergies itself.

Barclays, for instance, provided Total $2.85 billion in finance between 2016-2020. BNP Paribas provided the French oil major $5.05 billion in the same period. And days before Deutsche Bank announced that it would not fund EACOP, it joined an $8 billion revolving credit agency for TotalEnergies.

Also complicating matters for activists is that, while some banks remain hesitant, big insurers are now signing on to EACOP. In May, the US-based conglomerate Marsh McLennan was revealed as the insurance broker for the project, meaning it will now take on the task of going to other insurers and convincing them to back to the pipeline too. Campaigners plan to apply the same strategy to insurers as they have to banks.

"Our job is to make Marsh's job more difficult if not impossible," says Scott of Inclusive Development International. "That means that we will be pressuring Marsh, itself, to pull out of this toxic project, and to not offer brokerage services."

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"Profits for a few"

Despite the opacity of the financial world, many activists in the global #StopEACOP campaign remain optimistic that they can stop the mega project in its tracks. However, TotalEnergies appears equally confident and determined to ensure it extracts enormous profits from its huge African asset.

The stakes could scarcely be higher for both the planet and the people in the project's path.

"This pipeline is going to amplify the climate crisis and, by doing so, it is going to leave our people poorer and more vulnerable," says Baraka Lenga, an activist with Green Faith International in Tanzania.

"We should think about the lives of local people, the lives of indigenous communities, not putting profit in the hands of a few," adds Kayinga Muddu Yisito of the Community Transformation Foundation Network in Uganda. "These investments are for profits for a few, but not improving lives for citizens."

Sophie Neiman is a freelance journalist based in Uganda.
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adamu Abdullahi, has met with senators of the party over the recent wave of defections.

Mr Adamu, who arrived at the National Assembly some minutes before 2 p.m. on Wednesday, met with the senators behind closed doors.

After the meeting, the national chairman told journalists that the party was worried that the exit of some of its grieving lawmakers could affect the partys chances in the forthcoming elections.

While he noted that defections  which he described as unfortunate developments  are common during election periods, Mr Adamu disclosed that leaders of the party are seeking ways to stop it, hence the meeting with the APC senators.

He said although other parties are experiencing similar issues, the problems of the APC are being exaggerated before the public.

Although he expressed uncertainty about the persistence of these defections, Mr Adamu hoped that the meeting with lawmakers of the upper chamber would help resolve the issue.

There is no responsible leader that would not be worried when he loses one member not to talk of two. At the moment we are faced with the stark reality of our problems.

I have committed my colleagues at the National Assembly to face the problem squarely and see the problem as solvable. We are in politics, I dont know what will happen tomorrow, nobody does, he said.

Gale of defection

The meeting comes on the heels of defections rocking major political parties in recent times.

However, the APC seems to be the most hit by these defections.

Already, the number of APC senators has reduced to a little over 60.

Every legislative day, since its resumption last week, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, would read a letter of defection from at least one APC senator  some of which he described as heart-breaking.

One of such moments was when he announced the exit of the former Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi and Adamu Aliero, both from Kebbi State.

Mr Lawan would go ahead to announce the defections of Francis Alimekhena and Babba Kaita who joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Haliru Jika and Lawan Gumau who joined the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

While some senators gave no reason for their exit, others cited internal party crises at their state level and the interference of their state governors as reasons for leaving. Some of them left because they could not get tickets during the recent primaries to return to the Senate.

With the defections, the NNPP now has two senators while the Labour Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance and the Young Progressives Party, have one each.
While the Nigeria government on Wednesday hinted at a possible end to the prolonged strike by the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the non-academic counterparts of the lecturers union have extended their ongoing strike by an additional two months.

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and other Allied Institutions (NASU) said the extension of the industrial action would start from Friday, June 24.

This is contained in a statement jointly signed by the national president of SSANU, and NASU general secretary, Mohammed Ibrahim and Prince Peters Adeyemi respectively on Tuesday.

The union noted that the extension was precipitated by the governments exceedingly slow pace of negotiations.

While the union said it has recorded some success in its demands, it noted that more demands are still yet to be met by the government.

It also accused the government of a lack of political will to pay the arrears of earned allowances owed its members.

The statement reads in parts; We have also recorded success in the restoration of Responsibility Allowance to deserving members of NASU and SSANU, ditto, the correction of the payment of Hazard Allowance from N180,000 to N360,000 per annum to deserving members in the SSANU document.

However, there has been no commitment of Government to pay the arrears of Earned Allowances being owed our members.

In view of the fact that the Government is still a long way from effectively resolving the issues in contention, it is only expedient that we allow the process to be fully concluded before directing the end of the strike.

The unions said they, however, hoped that all outstanding issues would be resolved within the two months.

Consequently, you are hereby informed that the strike has been extended by two months, within which we are hoping that all the contentious issues would have been effectively laid to rest. The two months extension is effective from Friday, 24th June 2022, the statement added.

The unions had first extended the strike by one month on 23 May.

Negotiation progress so far

Parts of the success recorded, according to the statement, include the restoration of responsibility allowance to deserving members of NASU and SSANU, the correction of the payment of hazard allowance from N180,000 to N360,000 per annum to deserving members in the SSANU document.

It added that the testing of the University Peculiar Personnel and Payroll System (U3PS) software by NITDA by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is at an advanced stage.

We have continued to follow up on the resolution reached with the Government at the Tripartite Plus meeting held on Thursday, 12th May 2022 with respect to the testing of our University Peculiar Personnel and Payroll System (U3PS) software with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

It said the U3pS is designed to cover all salary tables and allowances operational in the University system.

The three payment solutions- U3PS, UTAS and IPPIS, are currently being subjected to daily tests which have spanned three weeks so far and are still ongoing.

While there has not been any final report, we are proud to inform you that our presentations have been very brilliant and impressive.

Qosim Suleiman 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.
Operatives of Amotekun Corps in Ondo State have arrested some suspects in connection with the June 5 massacre at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo.

The assailants left 40 persons dead and over 80 others injured in the attack.

We have recovered the last vehicle they used in the operation and we have made some arrests. We have recovered some vital things which we are working on.

We are not stopping until we get to the root of this and I assure that the perpetrators and their sponsors will be brought to book, state commander of Amotekun, Adetunji Adeleye, said.

He made the declaration while parading 71 suspected criminals before journalists in Akure on Thursday.

He said the 71 suspects were arrested within the month for cattle rustling, armed robbery, cultism, kidnapping, human trafficking, and theft of commercial motorcycles.

Mr Adeleye said the corps already recovered 31 stolen motorcycles.

(NAN)
After visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda on Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari made a passionate appeal to Nigerians to be tolerant of one another and embrace peace.

The president toured the permanent exhibitions at the Memorial and laid a wreath at the mass graves where more than 250,000 victims of the genocide were buried.

He also paid tribute to the memory of the victims and prayed for healing for the survivors.

After the historic visit, the president told journalists that the lessons from his visit were the need for Nigerians to continue to be tolerant of one another, and for the nation to also preserve its own historical antecedents from the Nigeria Civil War (1967-1970).

I went through all the experiences from 15 January 1966 to date. I was a Governor, Minister, and Head of State and went through detention. I returned to partisan politics and will finish my two terms as constitutionally allowed.

We fought a 30-month bitter civil war and we killed about a million of each other. Nigeria went through this kind of terrible development process, he said.

Before departing, the president also wrote in the visitors book:

Remembering the victims of this dark history of the Rwanda Genocide, we pray that humanity will never experience this kind of hatred, wickedness and violence to others because of their ethnic background, religion and beliefs.

Nigeria is strongly committed to the prevention of mass atrocity anywhere in the world and believes that perpetrators of such crimes; and their enablers, anywhere in the world must be held accountable.

President Buhari is in Kigali, Rwanda, to participate in the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

He will hold bilateral talks with the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson on Thursday and attend the official opening of CHOGM on Friday, followed by high-level meetings of Heads of State and Government.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), John Emeka, on Thursday, prayed a Federal High Court, Abuja, to declare Stella Oduah unqualified to contest in the Anambra North District election in 2023.

Mr Oduah, a serving senator, contested and won the partys May 27 primary election for the district.

Mr Emeka, in an originating summons, told Justice Inyang Ekwo that Ms Oduah made false claims on October 23, 2014, when she deposed to an affidavit that she lost the original copy of her National Youth Service Corps certificate.

The PDP chieftain said Ms Oduah incorporated the affidavit in her Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Form CF001 for the party primary.

Mr Emekas application was filed in court on June 8 by his lawyer, Mbanefo Ikwegbue.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Mr Emeka also named the PDP and INEC as defendants.

Ms Oduah represents Anambra North District.

Mr Emeka, who was also an aspirant in the primary election, prayed the court for an order, nullifying the lawmakers participation in the poll.

He also sought an order directing the INEC not to recognise the lawmaker as the partys candidate for the 2023 election.

He further prayed the court for an order, declaring him as the PDP candidate for the Anambra North District for the 2023 poll, having taken part in the May 27 election.

Mr Emeka, in the application, alleged that Ms Oduah lied on oath in both her expression of interest and nomination forms, including the INEC Form CFO01.

When the matter was called on Thursday, Mr Emekas counsel told Mr Ekwo that Ms Oduah allegedly refused to collect court documents when the bailiff attempted to serve her.

But the lawyer to Ms Oduah, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, disagreed with the lawyer, Mr Ikwegbue.

Mr Ikpeazu described the submission as a misconception.

Mr Ikpeazu was consequently served with the documents in the open court, following the judges directive.

I am putting this matter for hearing at the next adjourned date, Mr Ekwo said. There is sufficient time for all the parties to file their processes.

The judge, who adjourned the matter to September 26 for hearing, ordered that hearing notices be issued to parties in the suit.

(NAN)
The Court of Appeal in Lagos has affirmed the conviction of a former Managing Director of the defunct Bank PHB Plc, , for N25.7 billion fraud.

The court also affirmed the conviction of Mr Atuches accomplice and co-convict, Ugo Anyanwu, who was the banks former Chief Financial Officer.

It also affirmed the acquittal of Atuches wife, Elizabeth.

The three-man panel of the court comprising Justices Sadiq Umar, Adebukola Banjoko, and Kayode Bada Francis Atuche upheld in part, the June 16, 2021 judgment of Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja.

The high court had sentenced Messrs Atuche and Anyanwu to six years in prison. The convicts challenged their convictions and prayed to the appellate court to set aside the lower courts decision.

But in an abridged ruling read by Mr Umar, the three-man panel upheld the EFCCs arguments and unanimously dismissed the appeal.

They were arraigned in 2011 before Mrs Okunnu and they pleaded not guilty.

Reading her judgment that lasted over 10 hours, Mrs Okunnu upheld the arguments of Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), the EFCC prosecutor, that the N25.7 billion was stolen, not loaned, as argued by Mr Atuche.

She held that the money belonged to the bank and that it was capable of being stolen.

The 1st defendant confirmed the banks ownership of the money when he said the bank in lending money makes a profit.

I am persuaded by the statement of Pat Utomi that The bank still has control over the money thats left in its coffers, no matter who uses it.

Helen Eriyo, who is the account officer of Petosan, being unaware of the loans granted, lends credit to the testimony of Mr Ololo that he was not aware of the loan.

The alter egos and true directing minds of the companies knew nothing about the loans. The loans indeed were a hoax.

The judge also held that the first and third defendants did not debunk the evidence of the prosecution that the loans were used to purchase shares.

They rather contended that the monies granted as loan could be used for whatever purposes.
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Great Britain on the margins of the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda, during which he once again reiterated his resolve to respect the maximum term limit in the Nigerian Constitution.

The PM, obviously not quite familiar with the maximum two terms limit, had asked if President Buhari would run for office again. To which the latter responded:

Another term for me? No! The first person who tried it didnt end very well. (General laughter).

On the leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, not being allowed to see his lawyers privately, the President dispelled such insinuation, saying the detained separatist was being given every opportunity under the law to justify all the uncomplimentary things he had been saying against Nigeria in Britain.

Said President Buhari: He felt very safe in Britain, and said awful things against Nigeria. We eventually got him when he stepped out of the United Kingdom, and we sent him to court. Let him defend all that he has said there. His lawyers have access to him. Remember he jumped bail before, how are we sure he wont do it again, if hes admitted to bail?

On the keenness expressed by the PM to help Nigeria in the area of security, the President said helping to stabilize Libya could be an initial good step, as the fall of Muammar Gadaffi after 42 years in power unleashed his armed guards on countries in the Sahel, and they are causing havoc everywhere, as the only thing they know how to do is to shoot guns.

On Boko Haram insurgency, President Buhari said there was serious effort to educate the people on the fact that only an unserious person could kill innocent people, and say Allah Akbar (God is Great). God is justice. You cant take innocent souls, and ascribe it to God. And the education process is working, the people now understand Boko Haram as anti-God, and not about religion.

PM Johnson said he was delighted about the good news on trade between the two countries, adding that the UK was further reducing tariffs on some goods going to Nigeria.

He described the relationship between the countries as very strong attachment, adding: I just want to be sure that we are doing enough. Its a massive partnership for us, and we need to capitalize on it.

The Prime Minister offered condolences on some recent attacks in Nigeria, particularly on churches.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media and Publicity)

June 23, 2022
The House of Representatives has stepped down a motion seeking to address the deteriorating working conditions of judicial officers.

The motion, moved by the Chairman House Committee on Judiciary, Onofiok Luke (PDP, Akwa-Ibom), sought to increase the budget of the judiciary and to increase the remuneration of judicial officers.

Mr Onofioks prayers said the House should, urge the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to upwardly review the remuneration of judicial officers in line with present economic realities;

Also urge the federal government to increase the budgetary allocation of the Judiciary for the upcoming fiscal year and provide Special Intervention Funds for the development of the Judiciary.

The lawmaker informed his colleagues that the last time the RMAFC reviewed the wages of public officers, the official exchange rate was N117.74 to $1, whereas the naira has considerably depreciated.

However, the motion did not scale through, as some members argued for a holistic review of the wages of public officials.

The Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase, said the economic factors highlighted by the mover of the motion affect all public officers, adding that the review should not be done in isolation.

I think this particular element does not affect just judicial officers, maybe because they cried out now. I dont think it is right that we have to wait every time until when people write letter of complaint and there is protest before we begin to do the right thing.

Mr Wase moved an amendment for RMAFC to review the remuneration of all public officers.

My amendments will be that the RMAFC reviews and look into the entirety of those scheduled bodies under their supervision. They have the responsibility to review their salaries. That is my amendment, Mr Wase said.

The motion was seconded and carried when it was put to vote by the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila.

Following the amendment, some chairmen of committees wanted to be joined in the resolution.

Ifeanyi Momah (PDP, Anambra) moved an amendment to include the Committee on FCT Judiciary in the motion.

Before the ruling, the deputy speaker interjected that with his amendment, the matter is not just judiciary, hence, relevant committees are to handle the resolution.

The consequence of my amendment covers all parties including elected officers. I said all institutions under that scheduled body because the remuneration he (Mr Onofiok) was referring to, first, he was citing a factor (exchange rate) that was not just done to that agency (Supreme Court), but including other agencies and the khadis, the grand khadis, the ministers, governors and others. It covers all that, Mr Wase said.

Mr Onofiok, who appeared to be dissatisfied with the amendment, warned his colleagues that there is danger in holistic review renumeration.

The danger is that the regulation or legislation dealing with the remuneration of the judicial officers is tied with the remuneration of political office holders.

Any attempt of us now to begin to push an agenda for our own review would be seen as politicians wanting to increase their salaries, which would have covered what we are seeking to do, which is asking for the increase of salaries of judicial offices, he said.

He urged his colleagues to bury the idea of holistic review until the legislation governing the remuneration of public officials is unbundled.

Mr Onofiok told his colleagues that there is a proposed amendment to the Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowance) Act, which will address the problem.

Despite the explanation, the deputy speaker remained adamant.

He said the lawmakers should not use a symptomatic approach to address the matter.

In view of the debate, Mr Onofiok adhered to the suggestion of the Speaker that he should step down the motion, and do further consultation.

The motion was stepped down by Mr Onofiok

SOS cry by Supreme Court Justices

PREMIUM TIMES had reported that 14 justices of the Supreme Court wrote a protest letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad, lamenting the parlous state of affairs in the court.

The justices led by the second most senior judge of the Supreme Court, Olukayode Ariwoola, listed the issues to include  vehicles, electricity tariff, supply of diesel, Internet services to (Justices) residences and chambers, and epileptic electricity supply to the court.

The CJN had in a letter addressed some of the concerns raised by the judges. However, the Senate had resolved to intervene in the matter.
The police in Imo State have said a woman who was stabbed by a suspected prison escapee did not die, contrary to reports in the local media.

The suspect stabbed the woman, Sandra Onyema, on Sunday at Umuejechi village, Nekede, a community in Owerri West Local Government Area of the state.

The police spokesperson in the state, Michael Abattam, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

Reports in the local media said a suspect had stabbed a pregnant woman to death after she refused to give out money as demanded by him.

But the police spokesperson said the woman did not die and was not pregnant.

The woman whom the irate mob presumed dead is alive but unconscious, (and) receiving treatment in Holy Family Hospital Ikenegbu Owerri, Imo State, he said.

More so, she is not pregnant.

Mr Abattam said police operatives rescue the suspect, Ifeanyi Okoro, from being lynched by the mob.

He said Mr Okoro has been taken to a police hospital for treatment after being rejected by two other hospitals in the state.

The police statement did not, however, say if Mr Okoro was a suspected prison escapee.

READ ALSO: Woman allegedly stabs husband to death in Ogun

Unfortunately, before their (police) arrival, the irate mob who were in their numbers, have inflicted several machetes cuts of various degrees on the suspect, threatening to lynch him when they were stopped by the police operatives, after several persuasive pleas, the police spokesperson said.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mohammed Barde, commended the officers for the rescue of the suspect, Mr Abattam said.

Mr Barde condemned the action of the mob, describing it as barbaric and unacceptable in law.

He urged residents not to resort to self-help in criminal matters but to report cases to the relevant security agencies for action.
The House of Representatives has urged the federal government to commence the process of disarming all armed groups in the South-east region of the country before the 2023 general elections.

The lower chamber also asked the federal government to address some of the prominent underlying factors precipitating unrest and violence in the region.

Furthermore, the House asked the heads of security agencies to embrace early warning and early response mechanisms, and to collaborate with focal security agencies in the sharing of intelligence information.

Also, the federal government was urged to intervene in the rescue mission of Anambra State by extending financial support and other strategic logistics to enable them to adequately contain the wave of insecurity in the State.

These resolutions were the outcome of a motion of urgent public importance moved by Dozie Nwankwo (APGA, Anambra) on Thursday.

Moving the motion, Mr Nwankwo said the recent political activities in the region, particularly, in Anambra State, have led to an increment in criminality in the region.

He blamed the power-craving elites for the surge in criminality in the region, adding that commensurate measures are required to be put in place to keep the polity conducive enough for the citizens to actively participate in all these activities particularly in the zone without molestations or fears.

The lawmaker said between June 2020  April 2022, about 8,455 lives have been wasted in the zone.

Mr Nwankwo said the recently concluded party primaries further exposed the polity to the activities of the miscreants who terrorize the region, striking at will and retreating unchallenged.

With the elitist crave far political power, poor responses from the security agencies to emergencies become more manifest owing to their numerous challenges, he said.

He solicited support for the governor of Anambra State, Charles Soludo, in addressing insecurity in the state.

The lawmaker said the worsening integrity and inefficiency of the security agencies in the face of an increased spate of banditry, kidnapping, terrorism, cultism, ritual killing and worst of all, political killings has become worrisome.

When the motion, which was not subjected to debate, was put to question by the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, it was carried.

Worsening insecurity in South-east

In the past couple of years, the security situation in the South-east has deteriorated, as unknown gunmen allegedly linked to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its militant arm, the Eastern Security Network, have been conducting attacks in the region.

Several people have been killed under the pretence of enforcement of the illegal sit-at-home order every Monday.

In Anambra State, still within the South-east, the beheaded body of an ex-lawmaker was found on Tuesday after gunmen abducted him.

About a month ago, a serving lawmaker in Anambra was similarly beheaded after he was also abducted.

Aside from the kidnapping, targeted attacks against security personnel, security post and other government agencies have become rampant.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how gunmen abducted the traditional ruler of Isuokoma autonomous community in Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Eze Ambrose Ogbu.

However, the resolutions of the National Assembly have not been having much effect.

On Wednesday, the Deputy Speaker of the House, Idris Wase (APC, Plateau) described the resolutions of the House on insecurity as mere statements.
opinion

In Tanzania, Maasai people are being evicted from their ancestral lands in the name of conservation and economic need - something a new global nature accord cannot allow

U.N. climate and nature summits usually take place far from the conflicts that plague indigenous peoples - whether those who invade ancestral territories without permission are seeking to protect nature or to extract wealth from resources such communities consider priceless. But not this time.

Just 400 km (249 miles) from where officials representing about 195 countries are meeting this week in Nairobi, Kenya to negotiate the final draft of a global pact to conserve nature, thousands of Tanzania's Maasai are under siege.

Battling teargas and live ammunition launched against them by Tanzanian government forces, just over the Kenyan border, Maasai are being violently evicted from their ancestral lands in the name of conservation and economic necessity.

These actions violate a 2018 injunction issued by the East African Court of Justice. They also paint a vivid portrait of fortress conservation, a model for protecting nature that fuels conflict and endangers nature because it excludes the communities that often manage biodiversity best.

The scale of the evictions taking place in Tanzania is unusual, but the story is familiar to indigenous peoples on almost every continent.

The two of us - a Maasai activist from Kenya and an Igorot lawyer from the Philippines - are among dozens of indigenous leaders in Nairobi this week for the latest negotiations linked to the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Many of us have been attending such talks for decades.

We have made significant progress in influencing the outcomes of meetings linked to the CBD, and we expect to do the same here in Nairobi this week.

The co-chairs of the U.N.'s CBD working group that is tasked with coming up with a plan for nature said last year that, "(our) intent is to guarantee that the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities will be respected and safeguarded".

Yet good intentions are clearly not enough to prevent the humanitarian and ecological catastrophe the entire world is witnessing in Tanzania. Most of us understand that our governments cannot be trusted to successfully implement climate and biodiversity agreements.

Despite this, a growing body of evidence supports indigenous peoples' involvement, concluding that success can only be achieved if our rights are a priority and if indigenous groups are allowed to play a central role in designing measure for protecting biodiversity.

According to analysis released last year by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), environmental group WWF, the U.N. Environment Programme and other high-level expert institutions, the ambitious goals that CBD negotiators are debating in Nairobi cannot be achieved, "without the lands and territories recognised, sustained, protected and restored by indigenous peoples and local communities".

So, what is our message to the climate and biodiversity negotiators at the two major U.N. conferences convening this year - the first in Sharm-el-Sheik in November and the second now planned for Montreal in December? They must focus on strengthening indigenous rights, specifically, and human rights more generally.

'GUARDIANS OF OUR LAND'

Negotiators of the global biodiversity deal may take comfort in the current draft for implementation, which suggests that words will be enough to encourage our governments to defend our peoples. Indigenous peoples know, however, that is not sufficient.

But non-binding texts do not work in bringing about the transformational change the global community is looking for. A human rights approach to conservation - including the scaling up and enforcement of the land rights of indigenous peoples and local communities - must be made explicit.

Recognising our rights and obtaining our free, prior, and informed consent must be a starting point for any effort aimed at protecting nature and benefiting from our traditional knowledge.

With strong rights, we represent a strategy for mitigating climate risk and biodiversity loss, and for stopping climate solutions from harming biodiversity. Yet we cannot accomplish this alone.

"Analysis of potential future pressures ... shows that the continued conservation of (indigenous peoples') lands cannot be taken for granted", a group of top biodiversity scientists warned in a perspective piece last year.

Biodiversity experts meeting this week in Nairobi have come far in heeding our warnings. But failure to embed indigenous peoples' rights in the final draft plan for saving biodiversity will leave all of us at risk. Certainly, the global community should sanction the Tanzanian government for its illegal and unjust treatment of the Maasai.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Tanzania Environment Human Rights By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

More broadly, however, negotiators in Montreal and Sharm-el-Sheik must incorporate indigenous peoples' rights into binding treaties if the goal is to save the natural world. Failure to do so will turn the plight of the Maasai in Tanzania into a reality for hundreds of thousands of indigenous peoples worldwide.

Indigenous peoples will and should continue to fight to stay on our traditional lands, but we shouldn't have to do it alone.

The world should openly and concretely embrace indigenous peoples as the best guardians of our lands - not just for ourselves, but because we are critical for saving the entire planet.

Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Jennifer Corpuz, from the Kankana-ey Igorot People of Mountain Province in the Philippines, and a lawyer by profession, is global policy and advocacy lead for Nia Tero; Lucy Mulenkei is a Maasai from Kenya and co-chair of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB).
The total number of online voter registration in Lagos State as of 7.00 a.m., June 20, stood at 640,786.

Of the number, 338,955 had been duly completed.

Olusegun Agbaje, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, made the disclosure on Wednesday while playing host to executive members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lagos State Council, led by the Chairman, Adeleye Ajayi.

This was posted on the councils interactive platform on Thursday by its Secretary, Tunde Olalere.

According to the commissioner, it is not true that some INEC offices in Lagos State requested the LASRRA number as part of the requirements for registration.

I want to say that there is nothing of such, as the only requirement for anyone seeking to register is that he or she must have attained the age of 18, Mr Agbaje said.

He also said that Lagos State had the highest number of polling units across its 245 wards for the 2023 General Elections.

He also spoke on INECs plan for Persons Living with Disabilities (PWDs) during the elections.

He said that PWDs could partake in election monitoring but added that there were guidelines to be followed.

We will also make sure that we create a conducive and friendly working environment for PWDs in all our offices.

I want to categorically state that there will also be training for ad-hoc staff so that persons with disabilities will be able to vote easily, Mr Agbaje said.

The commissioner said an interactive session between the Nigeria Union of Journalists and INEC would be organised by the commission soon.

Earlier, Mr Ajayi urged INEC to work closely with the mass media toward achieving free and fair elections in 2023.

I am glad to inform you that Lagos has the highest number of journalists in Nigeria, he said.

The NUJ chairman also appealed to INEC to ensure security of voters as well as journalists during the general elections.

We shouldnt only concentrate on securing votes alone.

Lives of journalists must also be protected because journalists play very crucial roles during elections.

Accreditation of journalists is equally important, civil society organisations must not be left behind.

We assure INEC of wide publicity before, during and after the general elections in Lagos State,  Mr Ajayi said.

Adebowale Ademiluyi, Chairman of PWDs Committee of Lagos Council of NUJ, called for the training of INEC staff on how to guide PWDs during elections.

A lot of disabled people are not treated politely during elections.

A lot of them have been discouraged because of the stress they encountered during registrations and elections.

There is need to make the process easier in order to accommodate more people with disabilities, Mr Ademiluyi said.

NAN reports that INEC, in June 2021, announced the creation of additional 56,873 polling units across Nigeria, with Lagos and Kano States topping the distribution list with 4,861 and 3,148 centres, respectively.

The creation brought to 176,846, the number of polling units in Nigeria, with Lagos having a total of 13,325 polling units in 245 wards.

(NAN)
Against the backdrop of public outcry, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has agreed to extend the ongoing Continuous Voters' Registration (CVR) exercise by 60 days.

Earlier, the House of Representatives had last Wednesday urged INEC to extend the deadline for the continuous voter registration by an extra 60 days from June 30, 2022, to enable more Nigerians to register.

The Commission on Tuesday, assured Nigerians that the commission will comply with the court order to extend the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration to June 30.

The exercise, which was meant to end in June 2022 was greeted by calls to extend the CVR exercise.

Generally, there has been an increase in numbers of people flooding various voters' registration centers across the country.

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, had stopped the electoral body from ending the exercise until all eligible voters had been registered.

But, on Wednesday, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, Aishatu Jibril Dukku, while briefing lawmakers told members during a plenary session that the Commission had agreed to extend the CVR to 60 days.

"The Committee held a meeting with INEC yesterday (Tuesday) and they agreed to extend the CVR, all our resolutions were approved," she said.

The House of Representatives also called on the Commission to deploy additional staff and voter registration machines across the country to meet the objective.
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SAN FRANCISCO, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest study released on the Global Charcoal Market by Data Bridge Market Research evaluates market size, trend, and forecast to 2029. The Charcoal Market study covers significant research data and proofs to be a handy resource document for managers, analysts, industry experts and other key people to have ready-to-access and self-analyzed study to help understand market trends, growth drivers, opportunities and upcoming challenges and about the competitors. General market conditions and probable market for a new product to be launched are also analyzed in this market report. DBMR team has an excellent industry experience, talent solutions, industry insight and latest tools and technology which make Charcoal market report world-class.

Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the charcoal market is expected to reach the value of USD 6,946.21 million by 2029, at a CAGR of 2.7% during the forecast period. The charcoal market report also covers pricing analysis, patent analysis, and technological advancements in depth.

Download Sample PDF Report (Including Graphs, Charts & Figures) @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-charcoal-market

The report includes seven parts, dealing with:

Basic information The North American Charcoal Market The European Charcoal Market The Asia charcoal Market The MEA charcoal Market Market entry and investment feasibility The report conclusion

All the research report is made by using two techniques that are Primary and secondary research. There are various dynamic features of the business, like client need and feedback from the customers. Before (company name) curate any report, it has studied in-depth from all dynamic aspects such as industrial structure, application, classification, and definition

Read More about this report, Visit @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-charcoal-market

Key players in This Report include:

Plantar,

Rancher Charcoal,

E & C Charcoal,

Jumbo Charcoal (Pty) Ltd.,

Sagar Charcoal and Firewood Depot,

Subur Tiasa Holdings Berhad,

Etosha,

The Clorox Company,

Fire & Flavor,

Timber Charcoal Company,

FogoCharcoal.com,

NamCo Charcoal and Timber Products,

Namchar,

Mesjaya Sdn Bhd,

Cook In Wood,

maurobera.com,

Royal Oak Enterprises,

Duraflame And others

Recent Development

In March 2022, Kingsford Products Company, a subsidiary of The Clorox Company launched new product line of signature flavored charcoals and hardwood pellets. The main objective of this product launch is to improve the grilling experience with various flavor and aroma. This will improve the product portfolio of the company

Charcoal Market Dynamics

This section deals with understanding the market drivers, advantages, opportunities, restraints and challenges. All of this is discussed in detail as below:

Drivers

Increase in urbanization and rapid industrialization had created substantial demand for charcoal

The demand for charcoal is increasing mainly due to urban population in developing countries. More than half the global population now lives in cities, and urban-dwellers are restricted to charcoal use because of easiness of production, access, transport, and tradition. Urbanization have influenced the type of fuels used and also the total energy consumption for different functions which have further increased the demand for charcoal production across the region.

Rise in consumption of barbequed food

In much of the world, barbecuing is practically very common activity in many regions especially in summer time. And while some people grill with gas and electricity, many people also prefers grilling with charcoal gives their food with a particularly smoky flavour. Furthermore, charcoal is mostly used for recreational barbecuing in places like North America and Europe, but it's the primary cooking fuel in most African nations. In addition, it is reported that the market is majorly driven by the rising influence of grilled food worldwide and the growing adoption of grilled food among millennials. In addition, lockdown restrictions and the need to maintain social distancing due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in more number of people staying at home. Thereby, an increasing number of people have been engaged in-home cooking and organizing small social events at home. This situation has resulted in an increasing demand for home cooking equipment and materials.

Opportunity

Shift towards improved stove and higher efficiencies

Traditional stoves for heating and cooking at the household level are typically inefficient and generate considerable indoor air pollution, which can be deleterious to human health. Improved cook stoves have been deployed in many countries in attempts to improve cooking and heating efficiency and reduce indoor pollution in domestic households. Furthermore, charcoal can be burned cleanly and safely if prepared properly and used correctly in efficient appliances. Improved cook stoves are convex in shape and insulated on all sides. Because of their insulation, they require less charcoal to generate an equivalent amount of useful heat, and they retain heat for longer. Also, recently there is the introduction of improved cook stoves that can reduce GHG emissions by improving fuel efficiency and thereby reducing demand for charcoal for the same quantity of cooking energy.

Restraints/Challenges

Stringent government regulation for charcoal production

A number of policies and standards have been initiated for charcoal production to ensure the quality and safe handling of the product. For instance, Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (S.C. 2010, c. 21) addresses the prevention to human health or safety that are posed by consumer products in Canada, including those that circulate within Canada and those that are imported.

Inadequate baseline information for policy formulation related to charcoal

Population growth and the shift from fire-wood to charcoal were highlighted as the main driving factors for the growth of charcoal market. However, wood-fuel exploitation alone clearly does not provide a summary explanation for ongoing deforestation on a national scale. The problems related to wood fuel have increased due to unstructured baseline information related to various polices of charcoal production, which have further created demand and supply gap of charcoal across the region.

Therefore, precise data on the charcoal value chain needs to be provided for an excellent entry-point for shaping proper policy frameworks. This will also offer an opportunity to the various stakeholders to add knowledge, innovation capital and technology at each step or link in the value chain of charcoal production. Hence, the inadequate baseline information for policy formulation is creating a major challenge for the market to grow.

Complete Assessment of Charcoal Market Now @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/checkout/buy/enterprise/global-charcoal-market

The Charcoal Market segments and Market Data Break Down are illuminated below:

The charcoal market is segmented on the basis of product and application. The growth amongst these segments will help you analyze meager growth segments in the industries and provide the users with a valuable market overview and market insights to help them make strategic decisions for identifying core market applications.

Product

Lump Charcoal

Charcoal Briquettes

Japanese Charcoal

Sugar Charcoal

Others

Application

Outdoor Activities

Restaurant Business

Metallurgical Fuel

Industrial Fuel

Filtration

Others

Global Charcoal Market Report highlights information regarding the current and future industry trends, growth patterns, as well as it offers business strategies to help the stakeholders in making sound decisions that may help to ensure the profit trajectory over the forecast years.

Geographically, the detailed analysis of consumption, revenue, market share, and growth rate of the following regions:

The Middle East and Africa

South Africa



Saudi Arabia



UAE



Israel



Egypt

North America

United States



Mexico



Canada

South America

Brazil



Venezuela



Argentina



Ecuador



Peru



Colombia

Europe

Turkey



Spain



Turkey



Netherlands Denmark



Belgium



Switzerland



Germany



Russia UK



Italy



France

Asia-Pacific

Taiwan



Hong Kong



Singapore



Vietnam



China



Malaysia



Japan



Philippines



Korea



Thailand



India



Indonesia



Australia

Have a query? Market an enquiry before purchase @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/inquire-before-buying/?dbmr=global-charcoal-market

Browse Regional Reports:

About Data Bridge Market Research:

Data Bridge Market Research is a multinational management consulting firm with offices in India and Canada. As an innovative and neoteric market analysis and advisory company with unmatched durability levels and advanced approaches. We are committed to uncovering the best consumer prospects and fostering useful knowledge for your company to succeed in the market.

Data Bridge Market Research is a result of sheer wisdom and practice that was conceived and built-in Pune in the year 2015. The company came into existence from the healthcare department with far fewer employees intending to cover the whole market while providing the best class analysis. Later, the company widened its departments, as well as expanded its reach by opening a new office in the Gurugram location in the year 2018, where a team of highly qualified personnel joins hands for the growth of the company. "Even in the tough times of COVID-19 where the Virus slowed down everything around the world, the dedicated Team of Data Bridge Market Research worked round the clock to provide quality and support to our client base, which also tells about the excellence in our sleeve."

We provide a variety of services such as market verified industry reports, technology trend analysis, Formative market research, strategic consulting, vendor analysis, production and demand analysis, and consumer impact studies among many others.

Contact Us:

Data Bridge Market Research

US: +1 888 387 2818

UK: +44 208 089 1725

Hong Kong: +852 8192 7475

Email  corporatesales@databridgemarketresearch.com

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1011053/Data_Bridge_Market_Research_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Data Bridge Market Research
This first-ever service enables marketers, agencies and media owners to measure the effectiveness of outdoor advertising campaigns with granular data

LOS ANGELES, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AdQuick.com , the top out-of-home (OOH) advertising platform in the world, today announces its latest service, AdQuick Analytics Cloud , a first-ever "analytics as a service" for OOH marketers, agencies and media owners to measure the effectiveness of OOH advertising campaigns with near real-time data, no matter how or with whom the OOH media was booked.

"Given the current economic climate, marketers must be able to show the ROI of their media investments  but until AdQuick Analytics Cloud, the industry lacked high-quality measurement solutions," said Matthew O'Connor, chief executive officer of AdQuick. "AdQuick Analytics Cloud changes that by making granular, real-time measurementincluding quantification of desired outcomesavailable to marketers for the first time, regardless of where the media was booked."

In the past, many of the typical ways to measure OOH produced noisy and inconclusive results. AdQuick Analytics Cloud provides custom consulting from a team of experts to help advertisers, media owners and agencies measure campaign effectiveness. Advertisers can take advantage of the ability to measure effectiveness of their OOH advertising campaigns, beyond those booked through AdQuick. Media owners and agencies using AdQuick Analytics Cloud can save time and money by not having the hassle of building out an analytics capability all while delivering robust, accurate measurements to customers.

In the AdQuick Analytics Cloud, users can take advantage of a free, self-service tool that automatically recommends the best analytics approach based on a few inputs. Users can also receive attribution and other metrics in two easy formats: the first being a custom, user-friendly dashboard with actionable metrics visualizations. The second format is a custom file delivery for easy ingestion into customers' existing analytics business intelligence (BI) tools.

To learn more and get started using AdQuick Analytics Cloud, visit www.adquick.com/analytics .

About AdQuick, Inc.

Founded in Los Angeles in 2016, AdQuick.com is the leading out-of-home (OOH) advertising platform that makes it easy to plan, buy, and measure every kind of outdoor advertising. With over 1300 media partners spanning all types of OOH media, AdQuick connects advertisers and agencies to OOH media owners anywhere in the U.S. and abroad, including the UK, Canada, Germany, France, and 13 other countries.

AdQuick enables data-led OOH media planning powered by robust datasets and proprietary tools, facilitates fast and efficient campaign execution, and provides accurate measurement across every brand objective and campaign KPI. AdQuick was named in the top ten Best Places to Work in 2020 by Los Angeles Business Journal, recognized as the 74th fastest growing company in Inc. 5000 Regionals, and was honored as one of the Inc 5000 fastest growing companies in 2021. To learn more please visit www.adquick.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn .

Contact

Kristin Hege

[email protected]

480.540.6496

SOURCE AdQuick.com
ORLANDO, Fla., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alabama Power was announced as a recipient of two Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Emergency Response Awards. Presented to EEI member companies, the awards recognize recovery and assistance efforts following disruptions caused by extreme weather or other natural events. The winners were chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process. The awards were presented during EEI 2022, the organization's annual thought leadership forum.

"Over the past year, electric companies confronted severe storms and extreme weather events, including hurricanes, tornadoes and winter storms, that impacted customers and communities across the nation," said EEI President Tom Kuhn. "Despite challenging conditions, Alabama Power and its employees worked around the clock to restore power safely and as quickly as possible. I congratulate and applaud Alabama Power and their employees for their continued dedication to the customers and communities that they serve, and I am honored to present them with this well-deserved award."

Alabama Power responded to two severe weather events this year that caused major damage and service disruptions.

In early February, Winter Storm Landon brought heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain across a 2,000-mile stretch between Texas, the Midwest and the Northeast. Alabama Power sent 173 company lineworkers, 245 contractors and 178 trucks to Plano, Texas, providing Oncor Electric Delivery assistance with downed lines in freezing temperatures with heavily iced roads and bridges.

"Our employees demonstrate excellent commitment to our customers by utilizing their world-class training and skillset, demonstrating excellent customer service in all that they do, from recovery and restoration to providing assistance to our industry peers," said Scott Moore, Alabama Power senior vice president of Power Delivery.

Between March 30-31, a line of severe thunderstorms, strong winds of up to 80 mph and several tornadoes passed through Alabama Power's service territory. Prior to these storms and well after their passing, sustained rain and winds soaked the ground and toppled trees, causing extensive damage and more than 115,000 outages. Working more than 35,000 hours, Alabama Power crews and contractors helped replace 203 poles, 105 transformers and two transmission towers.

"It is an honor to be recognized by EEI for our restoration efforts following severe weather," said Alabama Power CEO Mark Crosswhite. "These awards reflect our team's preparation, hard work and dedication to customers."

Alabama Power has earned the Emergency Response Award 31 times since its inception in 1998.

EEI is the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Our members provide electricity for more than 235 million Americans, and operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. As a whole, the electric power industry supports more than 7 million jobs in communities across the United States. In addition to our U.S. members, EEI has more than 65 international electric companies, with operations in more than 90 countries, as International Members, and hundreds of industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate Members.

Alabama Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE:SO), provides reliable, affordable electricity to 1.5 million customers across the state. Learn more at www.alabamapower.com .

SOURCE Alabama Power
SB 930 Author Senator Wiener Continues to Push "Junk Science" Over Solid Peer-Reviewed Data to Support Alcohol Sales Between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcohol Justice and the California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA) condemned a one-person majority vote of the California State Assembly Governmental Organization Committee (GO) yesterday to allow SB 930 to proceed. The "gut & amend" bill is Senator Scott Wiener's 4th attempt to disrupt the protections of uniform 2 a.m. last call in California by launching a 7-city pilot program to generate nightlife alcohol sales profits at the expense of public health and safety. All of his previous attempts have failed.

"In the face of 40 years of unimpeachable, compelling evidence and passionate opposition by some committee members that increasing hours of alcohol sales would increase harms, a one-vote majority of this committee negligently sided with the author, turning a blind eye to the reality of more early-morning alcohol-related violence, ER visits, impaired driving, and traffic chaos," stated Cruz Avila, Executive Director / CEO of Alcohol Justice.

The bill's author stumbled again through a predictable weak defense of his gift to late night alcohol-related businesses citing meaningless, cherry-picked, disparate, numbers, and a faulty theory that people make bad decisions all day long, and not just after leaving a bar in the middle of the night possibly fatigued and inebriated.

In reality, SB 930 will spread alcohol overconsumption, loss of life, injury, and nuisance across the state. Last call timeswhat the scientific literature calls "trading hours"are a backbone of maintaining alcohol as a safe and legal product. The Community Guide, a CDC-led handbook of public health best practices compiled in part by experts at the University of California, Los Angeles, identifies maintaining existing last call times as one of the 10 key policies for reducing the harms from reckless drinking and from alcohol-related motor vehicle deaths.

According to the CDC, California currently suffers 11,000 alcohol-related deaths per year at a cost of $34 billion with direct government costs of $18 billion. The only benefit of selling alcohol between 2 and 4 a.m. will be greater profits to bar, restaurant, and club owners in the party zones the bill will create in 7 cities. While the public and all levels of government will be forced to continue to cover the costs of cleaning up the mess that follows.

In response to the author's continued mischaracterization of SB 930 as a 'local control' measure, there is consensus among opponents that there is no such thing as local control in alcohol policy and that the harm from one city's decision to change last-call times will "splash" over to every surrounding community.

How they voted:



Ayes

Noes Aguiar-Curry

Bigelow Berman

Lackey Bryan

Ramos Gipson

Smith Jones-Sawyer



Lee

NVR (not voting) Low

Cooper Mathis

Megan Dahle Robert Rivas

Daly Blanca Rubio

Davies Santiago, Wood

Eduardo Garcia



Quirk-Silva

The bill must now pass through the Assembly Appropriations Committee and then an Assembly floor vote, before it heads back to the California Senate for two committee hearings and a Senate floor vote. All of this must happen before the end of August. The legislature goes out for a summer break on July 1, returning August 1. Alcohol Justice and CAPA encourage the public to continue to oppose the bill.

TAKE ACTION to STOP SB 930: https://bit.ly/39xULWc or Text JUSTICE to 313131

READ MORE:

TAKE ACTION to STOP SB 930: https://bit.ly/39xULWc or Text JUSTICE to 313131

CONTACT:

Michael Scippa 415 548-0492

Mayra Jimenez 323 683-4687

SOURCE Alcohol Justice; California Alcohol Policy Alliance
LAVAL, QC, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE/TSX: BHC) ("Bausch Health" or the "Company") today announced the results of its 2022 annual meeting of shareholders and certain other updates with respect to the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board").

Annual Meeting Results

The 12 directors nominated at the Company's 2022 annual meeting of shareholders held on June 21, 2022 were elected by a vote of the shareholders. The detailed results of the vote for the election of directors are set out below:

Name For Withheld Broker Non-Votes Thomas J. Appio 208,484,011 4,473,053 70,926,205 Richard U. De Schutter 204,019,165 8,937,899 70,926,205 Brett Icahn 202,357,292 10,599,772 70,926,205 Dr. Argeris (Jerry) N. Karabelas 201,356,586 11,600,478 70,926,205 Sarah B. Kavanagh 204,141,525 8,815,539 70,926,205 Steven D. Miller 203,021,418 9,935,646 70,926,205 Dr. Richard C. Mulligan 195,477,842 17,479,222 70,926,205 Joseph C. Papa 176,759,880 36,197,184 70,926,205 Robert N. Power 153,014,215 59,942,849 70,926,205 Russel C. Robertson 199,201,436 13,755,628 70,926,205 Thomas W. Ross, Sr. 199,710,479 13,246,585 70,926,205 Amy B. Wechsler, M.D. 204,605,343 8,351,721 70,926,205

At the annual meeting of shareholders, shareholders also approved in a non-binding advisory vote the compensation of the Company's named executive officers, approved amendments to the Company's 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan and appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm until the close of the Company's 2023 annual meeting of shareholders.

The final vote tabulation on all matters voted on at the meeting will be reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on a current report on Form 8-K, and such report will be made available on the Company's SEDAR profile and on the Company's website at www.bauschhealth.com.

Updates to Board of Directors

The Company also announced today that Joseph C. Papa resigned from the Board, effective immediately. Mr. Papa's decision to resign from the Board was not due to any dispute or disagreement with the Company, its management or the Board on any matter relating to the Company's operations, policies or practices.

The Board appointed John A. Paulson to the Board to fill the resulting vacancy, effective upon Mr. Papa's resignation. Mr. Paulson will also serve as the Chairperson of the Board. The Board has not determined at this time the committees, if any, to which Mr. Paulson will be appointed. Pursuant to the Company's Corporate Governance Guidelines, because Mr. Paulson is an independent director, the Board will no longer have the position of Lead Independent Director. The current Lead Independent Director, Mr. Ross, will continue to serve on the Board.

Mr. Paulson currently serves as an independent director of Bausch + Lomb Corporation. He also previously served on the board of the Company from June 2017 to May 2022. Mr. Paulson is the President and Portfolio Manager of Paulson & Co. Inc., an investment management company, which he founded in 1994. Mr. Paulson has been a Chairman of the Board of BrightSphere Investment Group Inc., a publicly traded asset management holding company, since April 2020, and has been a director since 2018. He also currently serves as a member of the advisory board of Harvard Business School. Mr. Paulson previously served as a director of American International Group Inc., a multinational finance and insurance corporation, from May 2016 to June 2017.

"The Company and the Board of Directors would like to thank Mr. Papa for his leadership over the past six years. Joe oversaw significant change in the business during his tenure and we appreciate his role in Bausch Health's continued transformation," said CEO Thomas J. Appio.

"I am excited about the Company's future and its potential to create shareholder value," added John Paulson.

About Bausch Health

Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE/TSX: BHC) is a global diversified pharmaceutical company whose mission is to improve people's lives with our health care products. We develop, manufacture and market a range of products primarily in gastroenterology, hepatology, neurology, dermatology, international pharmaceuticals and eye health, through our approximately 90% ownership of Bausch + Lomb Corporation. With our leading durable brands, we are delivering on our commitments as we build an innovative company dedicated to advancing global health. For more information, visit www.bauschhealth.com and connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements about Bausch Health, which may generally be identified by the use of the words "anticipates," "hopes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "should," "could," "would," "may," "believes," "subject to" and variations or similar expressions. These statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of management and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. In addition, actual results are subject to other risks and uncertainties that relate more broadly to Bausch Health's overall business, including those more fully described in Bausch Health's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian Securities Administrators, which factors are incorporated herein by reference. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Bausch Health undertakes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release or to reflect actual outcomes, unless required by law.

SOURCE Bausch Health Companies Inc.
BEIJING, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 23, Berry Oncology, a global leading company specialized in genomic testing and early cancer screening, announced the launch of its innovative one-time precision product HIFI Pan-Cancer Screening, which is an early multi-cancer screening product developed based on the company's proprietary HIFI technology platform. With one single testing, the product can accurately detect 6 high-risk and high-incident cancers in China that include lung cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancer, with a global leading performance of 87.58% sensitivity, 99.09% specificity and 82% traceability accuracy.

Cancer has become a global public health challenge. According to the 2020 global cancer burden data released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), there were 19.29 million new cancer cases and 9.96 million cancer deaths worldwide in 2020, while the numbers in China were 4.57 million and 3 million respectively in the same year, ranking the first in the world which has imposed a heavy disease burden on individuals and society.

The Healthy China 2030 Plan, issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, clearly states that early diagnosis and treatment of major high-risk cancers is highly encouraged, opportunistic cancer screening should be promoted, and the 5-year overall cancer survival rate in China is expected to be increased by 15% by 2030. In the recently released 14th Five-Year Plan for Bioeconomic Development, it also stated that it is necessary to incorporate advanced technologies such as genetic testing into disease prevention, and to carry out early screening for major diseases such as cancers, so as to provide precision solutions and decision support for individualized treatment.

NGS-based liquid biopsy technology has greatly improved the possibility of early cancer screening. On top of significant improvement in the overall testing performance, innovative liquid biopsy products for early cancer screening, taking HIFI Pan-Cancer Screening as an example, have accessible benefits of minimal invasiveness and user friendliness, which help increase the compliance of high-risk groups and create bigger clinical intervention window for patients with early-stage cancer to improve their survival rate, compared with traditional cancer screening methods such as tumor markers and imaging.

HIFI Pan-Cancer Screening is the first early screening product for multiple cancer types using whole genome sequencing (WGS) of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) worldwide. Compared with other technologies, this technology can capture early cancer signals in a wider range and reduce missed detection caused by individual differences and differences in molecular biological characteristics across various tumor types.

In addition, HIFI Pan-Cancer Screening is developed based on Berry Oncology's proprietary HIFI technology platform. The self-iterative HIFI technology platform can reduce the costs of product development and testing services, and thus making early screening for multiple cancers more affordable.

Since its establishment, Berry Oncology has been committed to the development of innovative liquid biopsy products for cancer based on the NGS platform. Today, the company has carried out product development covering the full disease course, from early screening and early diagnosis, companion diagnosis, minimal residual disease, to recurrence monitoring.

Zhang Kai, deputy director of the National Cancer Center and the Cancer Prevention Department of the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said, "With the innovative liquid biopsy technology, we can detect a variety of cancers at one time, making early diagnosis and early treatment more possible for patients, while providing new solutions for China to achieve the goals of cancer prevention and control. However, in addition to technology, the general public still needs to improve their awareness in self screening so that this new technology can be more widely used to truly increase early diagnosis rate and reduce mortality rate."

Oscar Zhang, Principal of Qiming Venture Partners, said, "Qiming has been keeping close company to Berry Oncology since day 1, and has witnessed the upgrades of its HIFI technology platform and its determination in building the cancer prevention and treatment ecosystem. Early cancer screening is a high barrier industry, which examines both technical and execution capabilities of a team from the selection of technical route, the translation of theory to practice, the overall layout of the experiment and so on. The launch of the multi-cancer early screening product will further reinforce Berry Oncology's leadership in the early screening sector."

Zhou Jun, CEO of Berry Oncology, said, "Since its establishment, Berry Oncology has been dedicated to developing technologies and delivering products for early cancer screening based on the spectrum of malignant tumors, to help more high-risk people identify hidden risks and help more patients prolong survival time and improve quality of life. Moving forward, Berry Oncology will continue to optimize its technology system and iterate early screening products to deliver more advanced early cancer screening solutions in accordance with the actual market demand and environment. In the meanwhile, we will further our partnerships with industry players, universities and research organizations to co-build an ecosystem for cancer prevention and treatment that enables innovations more accessible."

SOURCE Berry Oncology
COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Brixey & Meyer , one of the region's top accounting and advisory firms, is pleased to welcome Matt Deptola to the team to help launch the firm's Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) service line offering. Matt will lead Brixey & Meyer's ESG services effective June 13, 2022.

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) provides a framework for thinking about risk and evaluating opportunities to improve efficiency and profitability. Matt and the business advisory services team will help companies assess these factors, provide actionable recommendations for how to improve and implement impactful solutions  all with the goal of bolstering the business' vitality in ways that also benefit the planet.

"We are excited to offer this service in the marketplace. ESG aligns with our firm's core values, and this is a growing focus for our clients and the community. Our team is thrilled to welcome Matt on board to lead this service offering for the firm. His knowledge and passion in this area is unmatched." - Doug Meyer | CEO, Brixey & Meyer

"By considering environmental, social, and governance factors, businesses can drive short and long-term value for their shareholders, employees, communities, and the environment. Brixey & Meyer's addition of ESG consulting to its impressive suite of tax, accounting, and business advisory services represents the firm's continued commitment to serving as a forward-thinking fiduciary of our clients."  Matt Deptola | Senior Manager, Brixey & Meyer

ESG provides a new, innovative lens for clients to consider in preparing for what the next 20-30 years could look like in their industry. Brixey & Meyer is proud to serve as a trusted advisor to its clients and the firm is dedicated to helping clients get started on their ESG journey.

About Brixey & Meyer

Brixey & Meyer is a CPA and consulting firm that continues to offer a strategic mix of value-added services. Each service line is focused on growing your business & moving it forward. To learn more about the services that Brixey & Meyer provides, please visit www.brixeyandmeyer.com .

SOURCE Brixey & Meyer
OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sara Lee Frozen Bakery announced their Chef Pierre pie brand will commemorate 100 years of quality pie baking at the 2022 National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Michigan. Celebrating nearly 60 years and over 6 billion pies baked at their Traverse City bakery, Chef Pierre's sponsorship at this year's National Cherry Festival will be a fitting tribute to the bakery's dedication to the Traverse City community.

Dubbed one of the Nation's most 'All American' festivals, the National Cherry Festival will feature colorful parades, free air shows, nightly music concerts and competitive events for all ages. This year, Chef Pierre will sponsor the Cherry Pie Eating Contests throughout the festival week  July 2  July 9 and will donate approximately 600 cherry pies  5,000 cherry pie slices. Every cherry pie consumed during this year's pie eating contests will be a Chef Pierre cherry pie.

"We are honored to celebrate this milestone, 100-year anniversary of baking our wide variety of specialty pies for the nation," said Craig Bahner, CEO of Sara Lee Frozen Bakery. "Chef Pierre pies have long been the center of family dinners, holiday traditions, and desserts in American homes and restaurants. Sara Lee Frozen Bakery and the Traverse City bakery have been committed to this community."

Located in Michigan's robust fruit belt and the Cherry Capital of the World, the Chef Pierre bakery was formerly the little Atlantic Pie Company, founded in 1922 by Greek immigrant, Chris Dendrinos. In 1988, Chef Pierre merged with Kitchens of Sara Lee and is now the #1 brand of Foodservice Pie. Sara Lee Frozen Bakery continues to bolster its time-honored, premier brands, like Chef Pierre, with a continued focus on growth, innovation, and dedication to creating more irresistible foods for customers for years to come.

About Sara Lee Frozen Bakery:

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery is an industry-leading maker of frozen bakery and desserts, committed to delivering quality and value for every foodservice, retail and in-store bakery need. The company's growing family of brands includes Sara Lee, Chef Pierre, Van's, Bistro Collection, Superior on Main and Cyrus O'Leary's. Sara Lee Frozen Bakery is headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Oakbrook Terrace with a state-of-the-art Research & Development facility and bakeries in Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, and Washington. Using carefully sourced ingredients and time-honored recipes, the company is committed to making life's moments a little sweeter, putting its customers first and discovering new ways to make everyone's favorite foods even better. To learn more, visit www.saraleefrozenbakery.com.

Media Contact:

Natalie Boscia, Natalie B Public Relations

[email protected] | 773.317.1088

SOURCE Sara Lee Frozen Bakery
Homeowners can ensure a healthy, breathing-friendly environment with Connecticut Mold's professional mold removal and remediation services.

STAMFORD, Conn., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Connecticut Mold has recently announced that it is expanding its service locations. It is now offering mold removal and remediation services in Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, and New Canaan. Connecticut Mold's goal is to provide the highest quality mold removal and remediation services possible to ensure the safety of its customers' homes and businesses.

Connecticut Mold Expands Its Comprehensive Mold Removal Service

Connecticut Mold is a certified mold removal and remediation company. It is accredited by the Better Business Bureau and is a member of the National Air Duct Cleaners Association. Connecticut Mold's professional technicians have combined decades of experience, and are well-qualified at handling all types of black mold  including dangerous variants such as black mold.

Professional, Friendly, and Local Mold Mitigation Services

Homeowners in these new service regions can connect with Connecticut Mold for mold removal, mold remediation, and mold testing services.

Mold Removal

Connecticut Mold offers a wide range of mold removal services, including surface cleaning, negative air pressure containment, and HEPA vacuuming. Once the mold has been removed, Connecticut Mold can help remediate the affected areas to prevent return.

Mold Remediation

Mold remediation is the process of cleaning and repairing surfaces that have been damaged by mold. Connecticut Mold's professional technicians are experienced in all facets of mold remediation and will work diligently to restore your home or business to its pre-mold condition.

Mold Testing

Homeowners can also connect with Connecticut Mold for mold testing services . Mold testing is an important part of the mold removal process, as it can help identify the type of mold present and the best course of action for removal.

Connect With Connecticut Mold Today

Connecticut Mold Remediation is looking forward to helping homeowners in its new service ranges maintain a healthy, mold-free environment. For more information about Connecticut Mold or to schedule a free mold inspection, please visit their website.

Contact:

Connecticut Mold

[email protected]

(203) 584-9453

SOURCE Connecticut Mold
Blog

The current epidemiology and spread of monkeypox

The spread of monkeypox to apparently non-endemic countries has highlighted again the inequity in the global response to the infectious disease outbreak. Monkeypox is considered "endemic" in a few countries in Central and West Africa, including Nigeria where the disease re-emerged in 2017 after about 39 years and has since been reported annually. However, cases have recently been reported in states that have previously not reported any cases, as well as in countries in West Africa that have previously not reported cases. The spread of cases to new countries in Africa, deserves as much attention as the spread of cases in "non-endemic" countries.

However, the recent spread of monkeypox to countries in Europe, America, Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Pacific Regions was described as "unexpected". Between 1 January and 15 June 2022, 2,103 laboratory confirmed cases, one probable case, and one death have been reported to WHO from 42 countries in five WHO Regions. The World Health Organization (WHO) is convening an emergency meeting on the 23rd of June, to assess whether this unusual spread constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.

In Nigeria, 141 suspected and 36 confirmed cases have been reported in 2022, with the majority in Rivers, Bayelsa, Lagos and Delta States. The testing capacity in Nigeria has remained limited, with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) National Reference Laboratory being the only facility in the country with the capacity to diagnose monkeypox cases. The logistics of getting samples from around the country to Abuja for testing, is incredibly challenging and it is likely that there are many more cases in Nigeria that are going undetected. The same may be the case in other African countries that have even less diagnostic capacity.

What many people may not know is that those that are old enough to have received a vaccine against smallpox, are also protected from monkeypox as these two viruses are very closely related to each other. As a child, I often wondered about the scar on my father's arm -- a mark of his vaccination against smallpox. With the eradication of smallpox in 1980, the need for smallpox vaccination became redundant and was stopped around the world. The eradication of smallpox is strongly attributed to an effective vaccine, a strong strategy and enabled by public health measures that included low-tech strategies.

Have vaccines for monkeypox always been in existence?

Like smallpox, monkeypox is caused by viruses that belong to the genus of Orthopoxvirus. Scientists have conducted research studies that found the vaccines licensed to prevent smallpox are about 85% effective in preventing monkeypox, when properly administered. Previous investment in research & development (R&D) against smallpox has meant that the world is better placed in having an available vaccine for monkeypox.

A newer vaccine called MVA-BN (Modified Vaccinia Ankara -- Bavarian Nordic) was approved by the WHO for the prevention of monkeypox in 2019. This is the only vaccine licensed by a stringent regulatory authority (SRA) for the prevention of monkeypox in adults.

The global inequity in access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics is being witnessed again with high-income countries stockpiling and administering vaccines against monkeypox within weeks of confirmation of the disease. WHO does not recommend mass vaccination against monkeypox, however the vaccine is recommended for contact of cases, health workers at risk, laboratory personnel performing diagnostic testing or research for monkeypox, and others who may be at risk as defined by individual countries. Therefore, as negotiations for vaccine supply begin, there must be accompanying efforts to raise demand among the target population most at risk.

The United States (US) has begun to offer the vaccines to contacts of cases. In the United Kingdom (UK), the vaccine is offered to contacts of cases and as a preventive measure to health care workers in high risk settings. France, Germany, and Denmark are examples of countries that have begun to place orders for monkeypox vaccines. No African country has to date begun any vaccination campaign against monkeypox.

Potential challenges with administering monkeypox vaccines in Nigeria

There are several lessons to be learned from Nigeria's most recent population-wide vaccination exercise. Despite efforts by the Nigerian government to ensure the availability and accessibility of COVID-19 vaccines, the coverage level in the country remains immensely low. As at 5 June 2022, only about 12% of the eligible population in Nigeria has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 7.5% have been fully vaccinated. In comparison, 18% and 20% of the eligible population are fully vaccinated in Ethiopia and Ghana respectively, and 73% in the UK.

While this low coverage might be attributed to the global inequity in vaccine supply, there has been non-acceptance of the vaccine across the country. Various studies have also found a high level of hesitancy among health care workers, however challenges in the vaccine supply chain have also confounded access to COVID-19 vaccines, especially in hard to reach areas. This could be a potential challenge if Nigeria begins to offer the monkeypox vaccine to health care workers as is recommended. However, the potential stigma and discrimination they may face, as the pustules resulting from a monkeypox infection often forms visible scabs that leaves scars, may be an added impetus encouraging vaccine uptake.

Vaccine administration in Nigeria is often constrained by a limited supply of medically trained personnel, consumables, such as syringes and needles to administer the vaccines, as well as a reliable cold-chain maintenance, especially in rural areas. Given the pressure on existing capacity in-country for COVID-19 vaccination and other routine immunisation exercises, logistics and human resource for health (HRH) challenges could be an issue for future monkeypox immunisation exercises and could lead to gaps in access for target populations.

Preparing for monkeypox vaccine use in Nigeria

While the Nigerian health authorities have not announced any decision to offer or use monkeypox vaccines as a preventive measure, it is important that the country is proactive in addressing the known risks and preparing for the life-saving vaccines. So how do we ensure there is an effective vaccine rollout?

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Firstly, there will be a need to ascertain the current interest and demand for monkeypox vaccines among potential target populations, as well as factors associated with acceptance or non-acceptance. This can be done by carrying out a research study among the target populations.

Secondly, it is important that measures are taken to protect the health of stigmatised and vulnerable populations, including people living with disabilities and other populations. Health care workers should be well-trained to provide a safe space for all people regardless of their sexuality or disability.

Thirdly, given previous misinformation about the monkeypox virus, and rumours that are being spread, it is important that the government prioritises proactive and reactive risk communications. The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), National Orientation Agency (NOA) and other government and non-governmental institutions should develop communication strategies that ensure a flow of information between the government and the people, and vice-versa.

Finally, there is no doubt that in the current context, access to vaccines that prevent monkeypox can protect our health care workers and an already stretched health system, prevent further spread of the disease and protect our health security. The time is now to start preparing the target population for access to vaccines, while negotiating for vaccine supplies.
SHERMAN OAKS, Calif., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Homium Inc., a digital asset platform that transforms residential home equity into an institutional digital asset class, today announced that Credit Suisse veteran Tommy Mercein will join https://homium.io/ as its new CEO, leading a company with a revolutionary technology platform that allows homeowners to access trapped home equity without adding to their debt burden or interest expense.

Credit Suisse Veteran Tommy Mercein Named Homium Inc. CEO

Mercein brings a wealth of experience to Homium, having spent 33 years at Credit Suisse, most recently as Vice Chairman of Investment Banking and Capital Markets and Chairman and CIO of the Pension Investment Committee. He also served as Global Head of Debt Capital Markets and held senior roles in fixed income and investment banking.

Mercein looks forward to the continued partnership with Credit Suisse as Homium begins its institutional outreach. Institutional investors receive home price appreciation (HPA) through ownership of digital tokens, representing shares of the pool of preferred home equity.

"I am excited to join Homium as we have the unique opportunity to bring together institutional investors via the capital markets to help homeowners unlock trapped home equity, in partnership with one another and with totally aligned interests to unlock billions in value benefitting homeowners and their communities and creating an entirely new asset class for investors," Mercein said.

Brett Markinson, the current CEO and Founder of Homium, will transition to Executive Chairman. Homium was incubated out of Markinson's family office and developed in partnership with Credit Suisse, Securitize and Fireblocks over the past two years.

For more information about Homium, visit https://homium.io/.

About Homium Inc.

Homium Inc. helps homeowners and investors achieve their goals by using patented blockchain technology and smart contracts to monetize, securitize and tokenize owner-occupied home equity at scale. Homium enables capital to flow from institutions to homeowners via an efficient, transparent and auditable process. Utilizing digital tokens, SEC registered securities and a real-time securitization engine, for the first time, investors can gain exposure to home price appreciation (HPA) at scale in a uniform and tradeable format. Homium plans an initial launch in California, servicing the largest addressable market in the U.S. at over nine trillion dollars. For more information about Homium, visit https://homium.io/.

Media Contact:

David Jette

[email protected]

(617) 953-8544

SOURCE Homium Inc.
YARDLEY, Pa., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) will release its earnings for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, July 20, 2022. The Company will hold a conference call to discuss these results at 9:00 a.m. (EDT) on Thursday, July 21, 2022.

The dial-in numbers for the conference call are (630) 395-0194 or toll-free (888) 324-8108 and the access password is "packaging". A replay of the conference call will be available for a one-week period ending at midnight on July 28, 2022. The telephone numbers for the replay are (203) 369-1213 or toll free (866) 452-2107. A live webcast of the call will be made available to the public on the internet at the Company's website, www.crowncork.com.

Crown Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a leading global supplier of rigid packaging products to consumer marketing companies, as well as transit and protective packaging products, equipment and services to a broad range of end markets. World headquarters are located in Yardley, Pennsylvania.

For more information, contact Corporate Communications at (215) 602-2653.

SOURCE Crown Holdings, Inc.
The ruling is vindication for Mr. Hutchinson, who was charged with an offense he did not commit. Mr. McCathern says the grand jury's decision proves Mr. Hutchinson's innocence.

"We would like to thank the Highland Park Police Department, the Dallas District Attorney's office, and the Grand Jury," Mr. McCathern says. "They took the allegations made against Mr. Hutchinson seriously, investigated them thoroughly, and, in the end, established what I have always known - Bill Hutchinson is innocent, and the accusations made against him are false.

We sincerely hope that the media will work to clear his name with the same ferocity with which they tainted it. Bill has been a pillar in the Dallas community for years and restoring him to that position benefits everyone who lives here."

SOURCE McCathern, PLLC
SAN FRANCISCO and MINNEAPOLIS, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Glider AI and Omni Inclusive launch a college scholarship fund titled: Glider AI-Omni Inclusive Allies of LGBTQ+ (GOAL+) Scholarship to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, etc. (LGBTQ+) students pursuing career opportunities in tech and non-tech roles.

Though general attitudes towards the LQBTQ+ community have improved, the Center for American Progress (CAP) found that 1 in 3 LGBTQ+ Americans still faced discrimination at work or in their personal lives. As a result, many LGBTQ+ Americans experience negative consequences in their financial, mental, and physical well-being. In fact, the Trevor Project found that 45% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered suicide in the past year.

Wen Stenger, CEO and Co-Founder of Omni Inclusive said, "As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, my goal is to leave this world better than I found it and to pave the way so our youth can thrive beyond the stigma my generation has experienced." They add, "LGBTQ+ youth are often met with financial challenges due to a lack of family support and go on to face employment discrimination. Higher education and employment with belonging should not be a barrier based on who you are or who you love."

The GOAL+ Scholarship provides financial assistance to LGBTQ+ students with demonstrable financial need and a GPA of at least 3.0 while in the second year of college study. The initial scholarship fund will total $12,000 US with support from EOR platform myBasePay and divided in four equal amounts of $3,000 per award. Students can apply for the scholarship by submitting applications on the Bold.org website, here .

"myBasePay is honored to have the opportunity positively impact the lives of hopeful LGBTQI+ Students by contributing to the GOAL+ Scholarship. Our company's mission is to create a workplace at myBasePay that is a safe space for all and that begins in recognizing that there is an inherent and unfortunate disadvantage for this community. myBasePay aims to improve LGBTQI+ individuals' lives through the culture we establish in our diverse and inclusive workforce"

As the program matures, the hope is to involve customers from both companies to offer support through internship programs, mentorship, job interviews, and additional financial assistance.

Satish Kumar, CEO and Co-Founder of Glider AI, shares, "This is in line with our mission of making hiring fair and opportunity accessible, regardless of their background." He adds, "Diversity is a cornerstone of Glider's company culture and product. I am humbled to partner with Wen and Angela in driving equality."

About Glider AI

Glider AI Talent Quality Platform , 2021 SIA winner for most innovative HR technology, provides hiring solutions including virtual assessments, coding/video interviews, screen bots and more to scale hiring quality talent for the Enterprise, Staffing Firms, and MSPs.

Global brands like Intuit, PwC, Amazon, Capital One, and FINRA trust Glider to validate candidate quality and fit across any role in any industry. On average, customers see a 3x placement rate, a 50% reduction in time-to-fill, and a 98% improvement in candidate satisfaction. For more information, visit Glider AI.

About Omni Inclusive

Omni Inclusive, LLC is a certified sustainable and inclusive staffing company. We offer world-class staffing solutions to enterprise organizations including contingent & direct hire staffing, direct sourcing, and diversity & inclusion consulting while continuing the work and education of allyship for workplace belonging in the USA, Canada, and India.

As the DEI arm of TechDigital Group, Omni Inclusive is LGBTBE, SDVOB, and Carbon Neutral certified. Industry honors include SIA's 2022 Diversity-Owned Staffing Firms, 2021 & 2022 DEI Influencers, and 2019 & 2020 Contingent Workforce Game Changers. For more information visit Omni Inclusive .

SOURCE Glider
June 27, 2022

Held at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel, the inaugural event will feature a full day of company presentations, networking opportunities and one-on-one investor meetings with a focus on neuropsychiatry, psychedelics and more. During this year's conference, Stang will deliver a presentation that highlights the company's strategic outlook for the remainder of the year and how the company is well-positioned to address the current mental health crisis. Stang will also discuss Ketamine Wellness Centers' long-term growth strategy as the nation's largest ketamine provider and the company's latest patient programs such as the first-of-its-kind Veterans Administration (VA) partnership with the KWC Arizona clinics and the addition of SPRAVATO and NAD+. His presentation will be available on June 27 starting at 7 a.m. ET. For more information regarding the first-ever H.C. Wainwright Mental Health Conference, please visit https://hcwevents.com/psychedelics/ .

About Delic Corp

Delic is a leader in new medicines and treatments for a modern world, improving access to health benefits across the country and reframing the conversation on psychedelics. The Company owns and operates an umbrella of related businesses, including the largest chain of psychedelic wellness clinics in the country, Ketamine Wellness Centers; the only licensed entity by Health Canada to exclusively focus on research and development of psilocybin vaporization technology, Delic Labs; the premier psychedelic wellness event, Meet Delic; and trusted media and e-commerce platforms Reality Sandwich and Delic Radio. Delic is backed by a team of industry and cannabis veterans and a diverse network, whose mission is to provide education, research, high-quality products, and effective treatment options to the masses.

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Delic's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein may include, but are not limited to: information regarding the timing or terms upon which the Transaction will be completed; potential benefits of the Transaction; anticipated continued growth in the health and wellness sector (and, in particular, related to psychedelics); the ability of Delic to successfully achieve business objectives, and expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors.

By identifying such information and statements in this manner, Delic is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Delic to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: risks and uncertainties relating to the Transaction not closing as planned or at all or on terms and conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement; incorrect assessment of the value and potential benefits of the Transaction; direct and indirect material adverse effects from the COVID-19 pandemic; inability to obtain future financing on suitable terms; failure to obtain required regulatory and other approvals; risks inherent in the psychedelic treatment sector; changes in applicable laws and regulations; and failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations.

In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, Delic has made certain assumptions. These assumptions include, but are not limited to: assumptions as to the time required to negotiate a definite agreement and complete matters related to the Transaction; the ability to consummate the Transaction; the ability of the parties to obtain, in a timely manner, the requisite regulatory, corporate and other third party approvals and the satisfaction of other conditions to the consummation of the Transaction on the proposed terms; the potential impact of the announcement or consummation of the Transaction on relationships, including with regulatory bodies, employees, suppliers, customers and competitors; changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; changes in applicable laws; compliance with extensive government regulation; and the diversion of management time on the Transaction.

Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.

Although Delic believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Delic does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to Delic or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.

SOURCE Delic Holdings Inc.
Lalo Marquez, creative arts director at the Boys & Girls Clubs of West San Gabriel Valley & Eastside in Monterey Park, Calif., was acknowledged by Dole Food Company as part of Dole Healthy Heroes, Assemble! , a nine-month empowered-living initiative that recruits and celebrates everyday heroes in four categories  mind, soul, heart and home  involved in the fight for a healthier, more selfless and extraordinary world.

Today's special proclamation was made during an art festival that Marquez organized to show original paintings and art created by more than 150 kids as part of the Club's Mobile Art & Design Studio. The Boys & Girls Clubs of West San Gabriel Valley & Eastside serve more than 6,000 youth ages 6 to 18 every year with after-school tutoring, art, music, nutrition education, cooking, sports, social and emotional learning and other programs.

"I was beyond honored to be proclaimed by Dole as a hero simply for doing what I love to do: encouraging kids to be their healthiest and most creative selves," said Marquez. "Since everyone at the Boys & Girls Clubs of West San Gabriel Valley & Eastside can be considered heroes, I share this award with all the staff, teachers, counselors and volunteers who remain committed to the kids every day."

"This distinction and support from Dole is even more crucial during this time of pandemic-era shutdowns, art-program closures and school budget cuts," he said.

To commemorate Marquez, Dole collaborated with the Club to inspire an art festival showing of student-created paintings of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as many of the Marvel Super Heroes that inspired the Dole empowered-living program. The produce leader interrupted the festival to present Marquez with a surprise Dole Healthy Heroes certificate and financial contribution after stocking the Club's refrigerators with fresh produce and packaged salads and salad kits.

Also featured during the festival were musical performances by Club students, a do-it-yourself healthier banana split bar featuring DOLE Bananas and DOLE Strawberries, nonfat yogurt and healthy toppings and a live visit by Dole's iconic mascot, Bobby Banana.

"Health and wellness is as much about feeding your soul as feeding your body. We salute heroes like Lalo that dedicate their lives to inspiring the next generation of artists, painters, poets, musicians and others with a passion for creativity," said William Goldfield, Dole Food Company's director of corporate communications. "It is this selflessness and commitment to others that defines what we at Dole call an everyday healthy hero."

The broader Dole Healthy Heroes, Assemble! initiative, running now through September, features original recipes, DOLE Banana stickers and DOLE Pineapple tags, digital downloads, web and social activations and other free deliverables inspired by the Super Heroes of the Marvel Universe. A new set of character-themed assets will be released at the start of each six-week mind, soul, heart and home hero recruitment campaign.

A highlight of the program to come are more original recipes, banana stickers and pineapple tags celebrating the theatrical releases of Marvel Studios' Thor: Love and Thunder on July 8.

Additional everyday heroes will be christened and announced by Dole throughout the year. Heroes 13 years or older (19 in Alabama and Nebraska and 21 in Mississippi) are encouraged to enter Dole's Celebrate Super Heroes Contest for an opportunity to win up to $3,000 cash prize. There is no cost to enter but some restrictions apply. For full contest rules, click here.

Details and all program elements of Dole Healthy Heroes, Assemble!, including the contest, character recipes, digital downloads, dedicated social media campaign and blogger partnerships, can be found at www.dole.com/Disney, which is being continually updated with fresh content.

For other original Dole recipes, nutritional insights, and other information, visit www.dole.com or follow Dole's Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest pages.

About Dole Food Company, Inc.

Dole Food Company, part of Dole plc, is one of the world's largest producers and marketers of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Dole is an industry leader in many of the products it sells, as well as in nutrition education. For more information, please visit www.dole.com.

Media Contacts :

Bob Ochsner or Gemma Stewart

Rocket Launch for Dole

(949) 233-0984

SOURCE Dole Food Company
The E-Commerce Logistics Sourcing and Procurement Market will grow at a CAGR of 6.94% by 2026. This report offers key advisory and intelligence to help buyers identify and shortlist the most suitable suppliers for their E-Commerce Logistics Sourcing and Procurement Report requirements.

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Major Price Models in the E-Commerce Logistics Sourcing and Procurement Market

The report discusses in detail each pricing model and the pros and cons attached to every pricing model prevalent in the market. Also, the report provides insights with respect to the category supply chain and the margins of various suppliers within the supply chain.

The most widely adopted pricing models in the E-Commerce Logistics Sourcing and Procurement Market

o Fixed fee pricing model

o Transactional pricing model

o Cost-plus pricing model

Learn about various other pricing models: Request for a sample report

Spend Growth and Demand by Region

The E-Commerce Logistics Sourcing and Procurement market will register an incremental spend of about USD 167.34 Billion during the forecast period. However, only a few regions will drive the majority of this growth. Moreover, on the supply side, North America, Europe, and APAC will have the maximum influence owing to the supplier base. The growth is expected to be primarily driven by increasing demand and adoption of the category across those few regions.

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Most Adopted Procurement Strategies by Buyers Across the E-Commerce Logistics Sourcing and Procurement Market

The report provides a detailed insight of the most adopted procurement strategies by buyers across industries and analysis of these strategies with respect to innovation, regulatory compliance, quality, supply, and cost. Adoption of these procurement strategies will enable the buyers to reduce category TCO and achieve cost savings, while sourcing for thermal equipment requirements.

To get the exact information on various procurement strategies:

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This E-Commerce Logistics Sourcing and Procurement Market report answers help buyers identify and shortlist the most suitable suppliers, for instance:

Am I engaging with the right suppliers?

Which KPIs should I use to evaluate my incumbent suppliers?

Which supplier selection criteria are relevant for?

What are the workplace computing devices category essentials in terms of SLAs and RFx?

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Contact

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Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge
Entrepreneurial engineering leader Manoj Rana joins company to fuel innovation and growth.

NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Echo360, the most comprehensive, global, SaaS-based video learning platform for creating, delivering, and measuring learning engagement outcomes in any learning environment, announced today that Manoj Rana has been named its Chief Technology Officer. Rana has a proven track record of engineering leadership across start-up and established business and educational markets, and brings expertise in building scalable, low latency platforms to Echo360 at a time of significant growth as schools and businesses around the world manage ongoing hybrid learning and working environments.

Manoj Rana, Chief Technology Officer at Echo360

Prior to joining Echo360, Rana was the Vice President of Engineering at EdCast and also co-founded Aquimo, a mobile games and brand engagement platform company. He has also held global leadership positions at Coventry Health Care, Ameritrade, and HCL Consulting, and has co-authored multiple patents on mobile device sensors. He holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and an MS (CS) from the National Institute of Technology

"I'm excited to be joining Echo360 at this time of accelerated growth and innovation," said Rana. "The company's impact on technology-enhanced learning and instruction around the world has been profound for over 20 years, and there's more innovation ahead as we develop and deliver an even greater level of customization and personalization at scale."

Rana joins Echo360 at a time of rapid innovation and increasing market impact. Echo360 has extended its reach into education, business, and government markets, and expanded its portfolio of inspired learning solutions to include video content management and engagement, polling, authoring, assessment, and content solutions including PointSolutions, Dojo360, ExamView, and Knowbly. The company has been engaging its broadened set of global customers, employees, and stakeholders, many of whom will be attending the company's first EchoExperience 2022 virtual community conference June 27  29 at https://echoexperience22.com.

"It's great to have Manoj in this critical role at Echo360," said Murad Velani, Echo360's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Manoj brings deep technology domain knowledge in the EdTech space, a strategic mindset, a proven track record of building world-class collaborative engineering teams, and joining us at a time where his expertise is perfectly matched with our company's rapid growth through organic and acquisition strategies. Under Manoj's leadership our global engineering teams will deliver even greater levels of transformational impact for the thousands of institutions and millions of learners we serve around the world."

About Echo360

Echo360 is the leading interactive video learning management, content, engagement, and assessment platform serving over 2 million learners and instructors at more than 1200 higher education institutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. Built for the cloud, instructors and learners around the world can use the platform from wherever they are, on any device, to create, record, and consume content, give and receive feedback, and gain real-time insights along their inspired learning journey.www.echo360.com

Contact Information:

Jeff Peterson

Chief Marketing & Experience Officer

Echo360

[email protected]

612.859.0488

SOURCE Echo360
New funding will advance ESG Book's next-generation technology, enabling clients to meet increasingly complex sustainability requirements.

Energy Impact Partners led the round alongside Meridiam and Allianz X, as ESG Book responds to growing demand for technology-enabled ESG data solutions.

The company's cloud-based platform makes ESG data accessible, consistent, and transparent, enabling financial markets to allocate capital towards more sustainable and higher impact assets.

Investment and global reach of strategic partners will enable ESG Book to expand services worldwide in $5 billion ESG data market.

LONDON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ESG Book, a global leader in sustainability data and technology, today announced it has closed $35 million in Series B funding. The new capital will be used to advance ESG Book's next-generation technology capabilities, enabling clients to meet increasingly complex sustainability requirements, and accelerate the company's expansion as it responds to growing demand for technology-enabled ESG data solutions. The round was led by Energy Impact Partners (EIP), a global investment firm leading the transition to a sustainable future, alongside global sustainability leader Meridiam and Allianz X, the digital investments arm of leading global insurer and asset manager Allianz.

With the ESG data and services market expected to grow to $5 billion globally by 20251, the Series B investment will be used to fuel adoption of ESG Book's industry-leading data platform, and further the company's continued expansion into new products areas.

The company's cloud-based platform makes ESG data accessible, consistent, and transparent, enabling financial markets to allocate capital towards more sustainable and higher impact assets. Covering over 25,000 companies globally, ESG Book enables companies to be custodians of their own data, provides framework-neutral sustainability information in real-time, and promotes transparency.

Dr Daniel Klier, CEO of ESG Book, said: "Investors, companies, and all market participants are today demanding better, technology-enabled solutions in order to direct capital towards more sustainable and higher impact assets. ESG Book is disrupting how sustainability is integrated and measured on a global scale by using next-generation technology that makes ESG data accessible, comparable and transparent. By partnering with three of the world's leading sustainability-conscious investors, EIP, Meridiam, and Allianz X, we are excited about the next chapter of our company's growth as we scale ESG Book's platform and services worldwide."

Nazo Moosa, Managing Partner, Europe, at Energy Impact Partners, said: "We are delighted to welcome ESG Book to our family of companies that empower the transition to net zero and support the principles of sustainability. ESG Book marks the tenth investment by Energy Impact Partners in Europe, and this partnership is driven by a shared vision for radical transparency in sustainability data. We look forward to supporting the tremendous momentum of the company as it builds the world's leading ESG data platform."

Thierry Deau, Founder and CEO of Meridiam, said: "ESG Book is a platform with the potential to transform the way ESG data is processed by the financial world. We believe it will substantially increase the quality and availability of ESG information to direct financing flows in accordance with sustainable development goals and the Paris Agreement. As impact investors since inception, Meridiam has been confronted with the lack of data transparency and has developed strong expertise in impact measurement. Through this investment by the Green Impact Growth Fund, we will further contribute to the field by helping ESG Book become the reference player in the sustainability data field."

Carsten Middendorf, Head of Platforms & Acquisitions at Allianz X, said: "As an investor, we know how important data is for making decisions. Sustainability isn't just a fad or a phase. It's our necessary present if we are to have a future. That's why it's so important to ensure transparency, quality, and comparability in ESG data. We at Allianz X invest in the future, which is why we're supporters of ESG Book."

About ESG Book

ESG Book is a global leader in sustainability data and technology. Incubated by Arabesque in 2018, ESG Book combines cutting-edge technology and proprietary research. ESG Book's wide range of cloud-based sustainability products and solutions are used by many of the world's leading financial organisations. The company has offices in London, Frankfurt, Boston, Singapore, Delhi and Tokyo and serves clients worldwide from offices in Asia, Europe and North America. www.esgbook.com

About Energy Impact Partners

Energy Impact Partners LP (EIP) is a global venture capital firm leading the transition to a sustainable future. EIP brings together entrepreneurs and the world's most forward-looking energy and industrial companies to advance innovation. With over $2.5 billion in assets under management, EIP invests globally across venture, growth, credit, and infrastructure  and has a team of nearly 70 professionals based in its offices in New York, San Francisco, Palm Beach, London, and Cologne. www.energyimpactpartners.com

About Meridiam

Meridiam was founded in 2005 by Thierry Deau, with the belief that the alignment of interests between the public and private sector can provide critical solutions to the collective needs of communities. Meridiam is an independent investment Benefit Corporation under French law and an asset manager. The firm specializes in the development, financing, and long-term management of sustainable public infrastructure in three core sectors: sustainable mobility, critical public services and innovative low carbon solutions. With offices in, Addis Ababa, Amman, Dakar, Istanbul, New York, Luxembourg, Paris, Toronto, Vienna, Libreville and Johannesburg, Meridiam currently manages US$18 billion and more than 100 projects to date. Meridiam is certified ISO 9001: 2015, Advanced Sustainability Rating by VigeoEiris (Moody's), ISO 37001 Anti-Corruption certification by AFNOR and applies a proprietary methodology in relation to ESG and impact based on United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). www.meridiam.com

For more information on Meridiam, please contact Eric Rey, Managing Director and Head of GIGF, Meridiam, at [email protected], or Xavier Ploquin, Senior Associate, Meridiam, at [email protected].

About Allianz X

Allianz X invests in digital frontrunners in ecosystems relevant to insurance and asset management. In just a few years, its portfolio has grown to more than 25 companies and AuM of over 2 billion euros. Allianz X has counted 10 unicorns among its portfolio so far. The heart and brains behind it all is a talented team of around 40 people. As one of the pillars of Allianz Group's digital transformation strategy, Allianz X provides an interface between Allianz Operating Entities and the broader digital ecosystem, enabling collaborative partnerships in insurtech, fintech, and beyond. As an Investor, Allianz X supports mature digital growth companies to take the next bold leap and reach their full potential. www.allianzx.com

References:

1). UBS -Future Reimagined: Will ESG Data and Services Demand Accelerate Post-COVID & Who Will Win? 2020

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1825453/ESG_Book_Logo.jpg

SOURCE ESG Book
DUBLIN, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Connected Care in Europe - 4th Edition" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The number of cellular connections in the connected care market in Europe is forecast to increase from 3.3 million in 2021 to more than 9.1 million in 2027. How should the mobile industry address the vast business opportunity in the connected care market? The repot covers how wireless technology can become seamlessly integrated with telehealth and telecare solutions.

8.6 million people in Europe were using connected care solutions at the end of 2021. The figure refers to users of traditional telecare, next-generation telecare and telehealth solutions in the EU27+3 countries. Until 2027, the analyst forecasts that the number of connected care users will grow at a CAGR of 12.1 percent to reach 17.1 million.

Traditional telecare is currently the largest and most mature of the three market segments, but the next-generation telecare and telehealth market segments are expected to have a higher growth rate in the next years. The analyst expects that next-generation telecare will overtake traditional telecare solutions and become the largest segment with a forecasted 7.7 million users in 2027. Traditional telecare will follow with 7.5 million users and the telehealth segment will have an estimated 5.7 million users at the end of the forecast period.



The European connected care industry is facing major changes that will reshape the competitive environment for solution vendors and service providers during the coming years. One of the main developments is the ongoing digitalisation of telephone networks around Europe. Large-scale replacements of telecare equipment will be needed as analogue devices do not function reliably on digitalised networks.

At the same time, the digitalisation enables new types of solutions that can advance the delivery of care to the next level. This includes next-generation telecare systems with new functions as well as integrated solutions that enable a combined delivery of telecare and telehealth services.

The report answers the following questions:

Which are the main verticals within connected care?

What are the main drivers on this market in Europe ?

? How many people are using telecare systems in each European country?

What are the general technology trends for connected care products?

Which are the leading telecare equipment providers in Europe ?

? How will the connected care market evolve in the next five years?

How will the markets for telehealth, telecare and smart home solutions converge?

What is the potential market size for cellular IoT connectivity?

This report will allow you to:

Profit from 30 executive interviews with market leading companies

Identify key players in the connected care ecosystem

Learn about the latest developments in connected care devices and services

Understand the dynamics of the European healthcare and social care systems

Evaluate how the adoption of next-generation solutions is proceeding

Benefit from expert market analysis including detailed market forecasts lasting until 2027

Key Topics Covered:



Executive summary

1 Healthcare and social care in Europe

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 The ageing population

1.1.2 Metabolic syndrome and lifestyle-related diseases

1.2 Chronic diseases

1.3 Neurological disorders, mental disorders and physical disabilities

1.4 Healthcare and social care systems

1.5 The regulatory environment



2 Traditional telecare solutions

2.1 Market overview

2.1.1 Form factors and use cases

2.1.2 Value chain

2.1.3 Competitive landscape

2.2 Solution providers

9Solutions

Althea

Azur Soft

Beghelli

Careium ( Doro Care )

) Chubb Community Care

Enovation (Verklizan)

Eurocross

Legrand Care

TeleAlarm Group

Tunstall Healthcare Group

Urmet ATE

Vitakt Hausnotruf

3 Next-generation telecare solutions

3.1 Market overview

3.1.1 Form factors and use cases

3.1.2 Value chain

3.1.3 Competitive landscape

3.2 Solution providers

AceAge

Appello

Buddi

Camanio

ContinYou

Essence Group

Everon

Evondos

GTX Corp

iZafe Group (MediRatt)

Just Checking

Libify

Limmex

Medimi

Merck Group

Navigil

Oysta Technology

Posifon

Sensio

Skyresponse

SmartLife Care

Smartwatcher

Telegrafik

Tellu

Vitalbase

Vitavanti Medical Solutions

VIVAI Software

Vivago

Yorbl

4 Telehealth solutions

4.1 Market overview

4.1.1 Form factors and use cases

4.1.2 Value chain

4.1.3 Competitive landscape

4.2 Solution providers

AB Medica

Alphabet

Apple

Bepatient

BT Group

Comarch

Dignio

eDevice

Hope Care

Huma

KPN

Luscii

Medixine

MedM

OpenTeleHealth

S3 Connected Health

SHL Telemedicine

Telefonica

Vitagroup

Voluntis

5 Market forecasts and conclusions

5.1 Market trends and analysis

5.1.1 PSTN switch off continues to drive the transition to IP-based telecare

5.1.2 Millions of new cellular connections will be needed for connected care

5.1.3 BYOD has become a common option for telehealth

5.1.4 Technological developments changes the competitive landscape

5.1.5 Integrated data systems are becoming increasingly important

5.1.6 The digital shift enables new services and use cases

5.1.7 Convergence between telecare and telehealth towards integrated care

5.1.8 From frequent readings to AI-driven patient engagement

5.1.9 The use of mobile telecare solutions grows

5.1.10 A slowly awakening consumer market for telecare in Europe

5.1.11 COVID-19 became a catalyst that took telehealth into the next growth phase

5.2 Market forecasts

5.3 Revenue forecasts

5.3.1 Traditional telecare

5.3.2 Next-generation telecare

5.3.3 Telehealth

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/4k4rtf

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

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Mr Buhari will return to Nigeria on Sunday.

President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja on Wednesday for Kigali, Rwanda, to attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), being held from June 20 to 26.

The theme for CHOGM 2022 is, "Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming."

The president's spokesman, Femi Adesina, confirmed this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to Mr Adesina, the president will join other leaders in discussions on the progress and prosperity of the more than two billion people living in the 54 independent countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific that make up the Commonwealth.

"The Heads of Government are expected to reaffirm their commitment to upholding the Commonwealth Charter, which focuses on democracy, human rights, the rule of law, as well as economic opportunities and sustainable development," he said.

The Nigerian leader, according to the media aide, will attend the official opening ceremony on June 24, followed by high-level meetings of Heads of State and Government on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 June.

He said: "The leaders are expected to consider a range of topical issues including post COVID-19 economic recovery, debt sustainability, climate change, poverty reduction, youth entrepreneurship and employment, trade and food security.

"Prior to this, the Nigerian delegation drawn from the public, private and youth organisations participated in four forums covering youth, women, business and civil society; and will engage in ministerial meetings and several side events.

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"On the margins of the meeting, the Nigerian leader is scheduled to deliver remarks at the High-Level Session of Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases Summit and participate in an Intergenerational Dialogue for Youth.

"President Buhari is also expected to hold bilateral talks with some leaders from the Commonwealth countries," he further stated.

The biennial meeting was due to take place in June 2020 but was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Buhari, in an article published in The Telegraph, London, stressed that the Commonwealth could become a real global power with improved collaborations on trade and security, lending weight to each other in international bodies.

The president will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire; the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi and the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.

Others in the president's entourage are the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, Director-General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufa'i and the Chairman/CEO Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NidCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

The president will return to the country on Sunday.
Investment Will Support Evention's Domestic and International Growth

CHICAGO, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Evention LLC ("Evention"), a leading provider of software to hotels, restaurants, and retailers, announced today that it has secured an investment from Equality Asset Management ("Equality"), a Boston-based growth equity firm. Evention will continue to be led by its founders and Co-Managing Partners, Mike Baldinger, Erik Nejman, and Brian Roth. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"Evention has been providing financial automation software that improves accuracy, reduces operating costs, and enables compliance for more than 15 years," said Mike Baldinger, Evention Co-Founder and Managing Partner. "We're experiencing rapid growth fueled by new products, market expansion, and the macro shift to improve and automate financial processes."

"This partnership allows Evention to continue its mission of empowering our customers with financial and back-office automation," added Erik Nejman, Co-Founder and Managing Partner. "Equality has tremendous experience supporting growth software companies like Evention and we're excited to welcome them as a partner to our company and to our amazing customers across the globe."

"Mike, Erik and I are thrilled about Evention's next chapter of growth and continuing to build upon our long track record of success," noted Brian Roth, Co-Founder and Managing Partner.

Evention was founded in 2004 to solve the data and payroll complexities associated with tips and gratuity calculations. Initial customers were single-location hotels, but management companies and global hospitality and retail brands followed. Today, the Company has thousands of customers across verticals utilizing its cloud-based automation solutions for accounting, payroll, and other financial transactions, reducing administrative time, and increasing profitability. Evention's growing product portfolio, as well as international presence, positions it as a trusted partner to some of the biggest names in hospitality, restaurants, and retail.

"Finance and accounting offices are undergoing a modernization that is driving demand for software products that provide clear ROI," said Oscar Loynaz, Principal at Equality. "Evention streamlines mid and back-office processes while improving transparency and employee engagement. We're excited to partner with Mike, Erik, Brian and the team at Evention to support their continued success and accelerating growth."

"Evention's focus on building highly valuable automation software that meets the needs of complex operating environments has enabled the Company to serve global brands with very high customer satisfaction" said Jeff Del Papa, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Equality. "With a broadening product portfolio, deep domain expertise, and global footprint, Evention is very well positioned to support customers as they seek the benefits of automation. "

McDonald Hopkins acted as legal advisor to Evention. Goodwin Procter LLP acted as legal advisor to Equality.

About Evention LLC

Based in Chicago, IL, Evention leverages automation to reinvent legacy accounting processes. Evention's Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions simplify back-office processes for various verticals - from retail to restaurant to grocery, hospitality, casino, and others. By streamlining the management of cash, credit card reconciliation, tips and gratuities, and group billing processes, Evention's automated solution suite decreases costs and increases efficiency. With robust controls and comprehensive reporting capabilities, Evention's solutions guarantee financial transparency and security. Evention serves thousands of customers across the globe.

About Equality Asset Management

Equality Asset Management is a growth-focused private equity firm. Equality provides equity capital and strategic and operating support to growth companies in the technology and tech-enabled services sectors. With decades of investment experience and operating experience, the firm has earned a reputation for value-creation, serving as steadfast partners to Founders and CEOs. Equality is based in Boston. For more information, please visit www.equalityassetmanagement.com.

Evention

Brian Gosizk ([email protected])  312.953.4600

Equality Asset Management

Andrew Chironna ([email protected])  646.818.9047

SOURCE Evention
NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FEND , an independent design team led by New York City bike commuters, announced today the launch of the new ultra-compact FEND SUPER. The innovative design offers the world's first ultra-compact bike helmet with ultra-bright lights designed to exceed US CPSC and European EN1078 safety standards for bicycles, scooters, skateboards, and e-bikes under 20 mph.

The company's first helmet, created by the founder in the wake of a serious bike accident in New York City, was honored by the Red Dot and Edison Design Awards. FEND SUPER offers safety and convenience for daily commuters and weekend riders, at an affordable price. The FEND SUPER, which includes new safety light features, was fully funded on Kickstarter in just 4 hours and has raised over three times the project goal. The helmet's sleek new design folds to 50% of its size, making it easy to store in a backpack or bag.

"The FEND SUPER is revolutionizing rider safety for micro-mobility users. We are reimagining what a helmet can be while helping riders get to where they are going safely," said Christian Von Heifner, FEND Co-Founder, and Design Engineer. "We are dedicated to helping improve the future of city mobility, with an ultra-portable, comfortable helmet that riders want to wear."

The FEND SUPER features a durable ABS shell and high-impact EPS core. Ultra-bright, rechargeable lights improve rider visibility up to 800 meters away. To improve comfort in all seasons, the helmet features 12 airflow vents, soft foam pads, and adjustable straps. FEND donates 1% of annual sales towards non-profit organizations supporting environmental solutions as a member of 1% for the Planet.

To learn more about the FEND SUPER and join the company's mission to make riding safer, click here.

About FEND

FEND has radically changed the helmet experience by creating an award-winning folding helmet that fits all lifestyles. Based in NYC, FEND focuses on innovation, safety, and design with the belief in the future of cities and conscious mobility. FEND aims to make it easier and safer to ride and to leave our environment better than when we found it. The FEND folding helmet will change the way you ride. The road awaits...

Contact: [email protected]

Media Kit

SOURCE FEND Corp
MIAMI, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida International University (FIU) and its Department of Journalism + Media announced today the establishment of the Gustavo Godoy Scholarship for Excellence in Journalism in honor of the award-winning and legendary newsman.

Gustavo Godoy, who passed away in 2021 after a long and storied career, was among the first high-profile Hispanics to work in U.S. news media. He is widely regarded as the pioneer of Spanish language television news and largely considered the architect of what today is Univision Network News and Telemundo Network News.

"We are honored to celebrate Gustavo Godoy's legacy by creating a scholarship that supports our talented students who are majoring in broadcast journalism," said Brian Schriner, dean of the College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts. "The scholarship established by Godoy's family, friends and colleagues will provide critical, much-needed support to future journalists and help us in our mission of ensuring the future talent pipeline in broadcast journalism."

Godoy was a mentor to many of today's high-profile Hispanic broadcast journalists.

"Gustavo Godoy is the founding father of Spanish language television news in the United States. He gave many of us the opportunity to have a career in television journalism based on a profound respect for our community and reverence to truth and impartiality," said Jose Diaz-Balart, anchor of MSNBC Reports, NBC Nightly News Saturday and Special Reports for Noticias Telemundo.

The continued increase of Hispanic Americans  who according to the 2019 U.S. census are the largest racial or ethnic minority group in the country - highlights the important of Spanish-language news that Godoy helped nurture.

"A pioneer and a visionary, Godoy started what many believed to be impossible: a Spanish-language newscast that would compete with the best in the country," said Jorge Ramos, senior news anchor of Univision Network News. "I'll always remember his energy, his commitment to real news and his belief that Latinos, always, had to be part of the national conversation."

Currently, there are 570 students enrolled in the FIU Department of Journalism + Media, of which 35 are graduate students, 271 are Pell Grant eligible and 396 identify as Hispanic.

"As we look forward, especially at this critical time in history when good journalists are needed most, we can't think of a better way to honor our father's vision for promoting solid journalism than by establishing this gift and deepening our relationship with FIU," said the Godoy family. "Continuing support from our community will make a difference in the lives of these young students pursuing this field with the same kind of passion and conviction that Godoy demonstrated throughout his career."

Media Contact:

Heather Radi-Bermudez

(305) 919-4050

[email protected]

news.fiu.edu

@FIUNews

SOURCE Florida International University
NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Insight Partners published latest research study on Flooring Market Forecast to 2028  COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis  by Product Type (Resilient Flooring, Non-Resilient Flooring, and Soft Cover and Others), Material [Carpets and Rugs, Wood, Laminates, Vinyl Sheets and Tiles (Homogeneous and Heterogeneous, LVT and VCT, and Others), Ceramic Tiles, and Stone and Others], Application (Residential and Non-Residential), and Geography. The projected market growth is attributed to an increase in consumer investments in renovation and refurbishing activities and high demand for the vinyl flooring.

There are different types of flooring available in the market, such as resilient flooring, seamless flooring, non-resilient flooring, and soft coverings. The growth in real estate, building, and construction sectors is increasing renovation and refurbishing activities in residential and non-residential segments. This is creating a huge demand for different flooring products.

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Flooring Market Strategic Insights:

Report Coverage Details Market Size Value in US$ 412.66 Billion in 2021 Market Size Value by US$ 619.83 Billion by 2028 Growth rate CAGR of 6.1% from 2022 to 2028 Forecast Period 2022-2028 Base Year 2021 No. of Pages 150 No. Tables 84 No. of Charts & Figures 81 Historical data available Yes Segments covered Product Type, Material, and Application Regional scope North America; Europe; Asia Pacific; Latin America; MEA Country scope US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Argentina Report coverage Revenue forecast, company ranking, competitive landscape, growth factors, and trends

Flooring Market: Competition Landscape

Mohawk Flooring; Shaw Industries Group, Inc.; Tarkett; Armstrong Flooring, Inc.; Forbo International SA; Gerflor; Interface, Inc.; Beaulieu International Group; Toli Corporation; and Milliken are among the major players operating in the global flooring market. Players operating in the global flooring market are constantly focusing on strategies such as investments in research and development activities and new product launches. These market players are highly focused on developing high-quality and innovative product offerings to fulfill the customers' requirements.

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In 2021, Asia Pacific held the largest share of the global flooring market. The growing construction industry in the region is contributing to the growth of the market. The growth in the construction industry is mainly attributed to increasing consumer spending on affordable housing, renovation, and development. Additionally, the increase in residential projects in emerging countries is positively influencing the flooring market growth in the region.

Increase in Demand for Vinyl Flooring Segment

There is an availability of advanced print and textural techniques, making it possible for vinyl flooring to imitate the look of various flooring options such as hardwood, marble, stone, and others. There are various benefits of vinyl flooring. It is cost-effective and exhibits numerous features such as durability, flexible handling, and easy design possibilities. This makes vinyl flooring a suitable option to be used in hospitals, schools, offices, and houses.

Flooring Market: Segmental Overview

Based on material, the market is segmented into carpets and rugs, wood, laminates, vinyl sheets and tiles, ceramic tiles, and stone and others. The ceramic tiles segment held the largest share in the global market in 2021. Ceramic tiles are easy to clean and maintain. These tiles finds application in offices, malls, bathrooms, houses, restaurants, and shops, and others. Ceramic tiles are commercially available in a wide range of colors, sizes, and textures. Hence, they are gaining consumer attraction for high-end flooring applications.

Connect with Our Research Analyst On: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/speak-to-analyst/TIPRE00008781/

Based on product type, the global market has been segmented into resilient flooring, non-resilient flooring, and soft cover and others. The non-resilient flooring segment held the largest share in the global market in 2021. The demand for non-resilient flooring is increasing gradually from residential homes, commercial buildings, and other segments. These non-resilient floorings are made up of inflexible, organic, and hard surface materials comprising ceramic tile, porcelain tile, and natural stone. This type of flooring needs less maintenance and is cost-effective in nature. It also comes in a variety of textures, colors, and patterns.

Based on application, the market is segmented into residential and non-residential. The residential segment held a larger share in the global market in 2021. An increase in reconstruction and renovation activities in the residential sector to enhance the appearance of the building is creating a demand for flooring products.

The global flooring market has been segmented based on material into carpets and rugs, wood, laminates, vinyl sheets and tiles, ceramic tiles, and stone and others. The ceramic tiles segment held the largest share in the global flooring market in 2021. Ceramic tiles are composed of various minerals and clays such as feldspar, zircon, bentonite, and kaolin. These ceramic tiles are primarily used in offices, malls, bathrooms, houses, restaurants, and shops, and others. These are durable, rigid, and environment-friendly materials that comply with green building standards, and thus are gaining traction in flooring and walling applications. These products are commercially available in a wide range of colors, sizes, and textures, thus gaining consumer attraction for high-end flooring applications. Therefore, demand for visual appeal in ceramic tiles is driving product innovations such as the development of natural and wooden finish designs that are expected to contribute to the overall expansion of the market.

Key Developments

In February 2019 , Tackett refreshed its solid color palette for resilient flooring

, Tackett refreshed its solid color palette for resilient flooring In May 2021 , Armstrong Flooring introduced Biome, Terra, and Coalesce luxury flooring. Biome was created to capture and translate an organic aesthetic and tactile warmth into the built environment, strengthening the human connection with nature.

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In 2021, Asia Pacific held the largest share of the global flooring market. The flooring market in Asia Pacific is mainly driven by an increase in residential projects in various countries such as India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

The non-resilient flooring segment held the largest share of the global flooring market in 2021. Non-resilient flooring is made up of inflexible, organic, and hard surface materials. This type of flooring requires less maintenance and is cost-effective in nature. The residential segment held a larger share of the global flooring market in 2021. Due to the rising population and increasing consumer disposable income, the demand from the residential segment is anticipated to increase.

Asia Pacific is estimated to register the fastest CAGR in the global flooring market over the forecast period. The flooring market in Asia Pacific is competitive and dynamic because of the significant presence of manufacturers and associated flooring and construction businesses in the region.

The global flooring market is primarily driven by increasing investments in renovation and refurbishing activities by consumers.

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Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Flooring Market

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant economic losses across the globe. The flooring market experienced the adverse effects of the pandemic in 2020. The pandemic led to temporary effects on the operational efficiencies of various industries. It negatively impacted the demand for flooring products. Difficulties faced by the manufacturers in procuring raw materials (bricks, cement, sand, tiles, and others) and the subsequent shutdown of manufacturing facilities hampered the market growth. The residential and commercial segments were negatively impacted due to the closure of construction activities.

However, various construction activities are recovering slowly, with many infrastructure projects in the pipeline. The demand for flooring products is witnessing significant growth due to a recovery in business activities. Accelerated vaccination programs and investments in the construction & building sector will help the flooring market recover.

Browse Latest and Related Reports:

Commercial Flooring Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Types (Resilient Flooring, Non- Resilient Flooring, Soft Coverings, Seamless Flooring, Wood and Laminate); Application (Commercial Buildings, Public Buildings, Education, Others) and Geography

Non Resilient Flooring Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Product Type (Stone Tiles Flooring, Laminate Tiles Flooring, Wood Tiles Flooring, Others); Distribution Channel (Specialty Stores, Home Centers, Others); End User (Residential Replacement, Commercial, Builder) and Geography

Resilient Flooring Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Type (Vinyl Flooring, Linoleum Flooring, Rubber Flooring, Others); Application (Residential, Commercial) and Geography

Carpets and Rugs Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Product Type (Woven, Tufted, Needle-punched, Knotted, Flat weave, Others); End Use (Residential, Commercial); Material (Nylon, Polyester, Polypropylene, Others) and Geography

Home Furnishing Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Product Type (Furniture Bathroom Linen, Bedding and Linen, Carpets and Rugs, Curtains and Accessories.); Distribution Channel (Supermarkets and Hypermarkets, Specialty Stores, Online Retail, Others) and Geography

Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT) Flooring Market to 2028 - Global Analysis and Forecasts by Product Type (Rigid, Flexible); End User (Residential, Non-Residential) and Geography

Indoor Flooring Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Type (Ceramic Tiles, Carpet, Vinyl Linoleum & Rubber, Wood & Laminate, and Others) and End user (Residential and Non-Residential)

Ceramic Ink Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis - by Type (Decorative and Functional); Technology (Digital and Analog); Application (Ceramic Tiles, Glass Printing, and Food Container Printing)

Ceramic Decal Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Product (Silkscreen, Digital, Others); Application Method (Water Based, Direct, Indirect); Application (Tableware, Sanitary Ware, Ceramic Tiles, Others) and Geography

Roofing Materials Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis - by Product (Asphalt Shingles, Concrete and Clay Tiles, Metal Roofs, Plastics, Others); Application (Residential, Non-residential) and Geography

Digital Inks Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis - by Formulation (Solvent-Based, Water-Based, UV-Cured, Others); Application (Advertising and Promotion, Ceramic Tiles Printing, Packaging, Clothing and Household Textiles, Glass Printing, Publication, Others); Substrate (Plastics, Ceramics and Glass, Textiles, Paper) and Geography

Ceramic and Natural Stone Tiles Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Type (Glazed ceramic tiles, Limestone, Travertine, Granite, Others); Application (Residential, Commercial) and Geography

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SOURCE The Insight Partners
"Equal opportunities are my priority; therefore, my goals are the same for each one of my clients, to offer the guidance and the support they need to make homeownership a reality." Washington Branch Manager Nadia Raknai stated. "This move to Geneva means we now have the resources and values needed to better serve our communities with the authentic, human touch Geneva is known for."

Based out of Seattle, WA, Raknai and her new branch proudly serve homebuyers throughout the state. The new branch will continue Geneva's exceptional service and extensive product offering through countless homebuyer and homeowner-focused products including Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, Refinance, Reverse, Jumbo Loans, Condo Financing, and so much more.

With more than 20 years of experience in the mortgage field alone, alongside her experience in banking and real estate, Raknai has helped hundreds of clients move into their dream homes. Additionally, being a mortgage professional fluent in both English and Thai, Raknai is confident in her and her team's ability to provide a customized experience for an even wider market in her community.

Geneva Financial Home Loans is currently expanding in all markets and seeking branch managers and loan originators across the United States looking to advance their mortgage careers. For information on opportunities, visit www.GenevaFi.com/opportunity

About Geneva Financial

Founded in 2007 by Aaron VanTrojen, Geneva Financial (NMLS 42056) is a direct mortgage lender headquartered in Chandler, Arizona with more than 130 branch locations in 46 states. Our mission at Geneva Financial is to approach every aspect of our business from the "inside-out". With a culture-forward mindset, we focus on our loan originators and support staff first to ensure an unbeatable experience for our customers.

Our Core Values were created as a daily reminder to operate with the inside-out approach in mind. Core Value #1 is the backbone of all our Core Values, our mission, and our brand vision: Home Loans Powered by Humans. Learn more about Geneva Financial Home Loans at www.GenevaFi.com

PRIMARY PRESS CONTACT

James Polinori

Chief Marketing Officer

Direct: 480-822-8121

[email protected]

SOURCE Geneva Financial
Finn AI's state-of-the-art Conversational AI solution and deep financial services expertise complement Glia's industry-leading DCS platform

NEW YORK and VANCOUVER, BC, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Glia, the leading provider of Digital Customer Service, has acquired Finn AI, the premier AI-powered chatbot platform for banks and credit unions. The deal aims to mainstream virtual assistants for financial services companies by making Finn AI's proven conversational AI solutions an integral part of Glia's industry-leading Digital Customer Service (DCS) platform.

This unified solution will enable financial institutions to provide customers with a seamless digital experience across both virtual and human assistants, boosting customer satisfaction while driving new operational efficiencies. The unparalleled expertise of Glia and Finn AI, combined with Glia's broad scale and industry reach, provide the foundation for delivering the financial industry's most effective chatbot solution at scale.

"This marks a new chapter for Virtual Assistants: Verticalization with Scale. Generic 'one-size-fits-all' bot providers have largely failed to meet the full potential of conversational AI, leading to the emergence of vendors focusing on specific industry verticals. Until now, none of the financial services bot vendors have been able to achieve widespread adoption on their own," said Dan Michaeli, co-founder and CEO of Glia.

"Glia's large and rapidly growing customer base, combined with solid financial backing to accelerate the pace of innovation, immediately brings that scale. Finn AI is a strong fit for Glia based on its technology, market approach and company culture. We are thrilled to welcome the Finn AI team to Glia," Michaeli continued.

It was apparent when Finn AI first launched its banking-focused virtual assistant for Glia's DCS platform in 2020 that the two companies shared a vision.

"Our vertical approach and tight integration with Glia helps financial institutions reduce the costs, extensive training and development time typically required for general AI platforms. Now as part of Glia, we will have the scale to deliver automation solutions to the market as part of a seamless Digital Customer Service platform that delivers the best of both self-service and human assistance when and where it is most convenient for customers. With our existing integration and satisfied joint customers, we will hit the ground running. This is an exciting next step in our journey and we couldn't be happier to be a part of Glia" said Jake Tyler, co-founder and CEO of Finn AI.

Glia will maintain and expand the presence in the Finn AI Canada office, establishing a "Conversational AI Center of Excellence." The strong presence in Canada aligns with Glia's global expansion strategy. The Finn AI leadership team will assume leadership positions within Glia to further develop AI automation and virtual assistant solutions for the Glia DCS platform.

About Finn AI

Founded in 2014, Finn AI is the leading AI-powered virtual assistant platform for banks and credit unions. Finn AI's turnkey virtual assistant makes banking easier and more convenient for customers while delivering the operational efficiencies and cost savings of conversational AI. Finn AI has partnered with major FIs including ATB Financial, BECU, United Federal Credit Union, EQ Bank, Civista Bank, Truist Momentum and more. For more information, visit http://www.finn.ai.

About Glia

Glia is reinventing how businesses support their customers in a digital world. Glia's Digital Customer Service (DCS) solution enriches web and mobile experiences with digital communication choices, on-screen collaboration, and AI-enabled assistance. Glia has partnered with over 300 banks, credit unions, insurance companies and other financial institutions worldwide to improve the customer experience and drive business results. Named both a Deloitte Technology Fast 500 company and a Great Place to Work (with a 97% employee satisfaction rating) for a second year in a row, Glia continues to achieve broad industry recognition and customer service thought leadership including publishing the definitive book on DCS with Wiley. The company has raised over $150 million and was recently valued at over $1B in by top tier investors. To learn more, visit glia.com.

Contact: Maggie Wise, [email protected]

SOURCE Glia
In a peer-nominated survey, Dr. Bob Basu was ranked in the top 7% of physicians nationwide.

HOUSTON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Houston Board Certified Plastic Surgeon Dr. Bob Basu has been recognized with Castle Connolly Top Doctor status for the tenth consecutive year. Castle Connolly has spent over 25 years researching, reviewing, and selecting Top Doctor candidates. To be considered, physicians are nominated by their peers; Castle Connolly additionally evaluates the nominees in all aspects of patient care. This process is so rigorous that the Journal of Medical Research found Castle Connolly's directory to be more trustworthy than other resources when searching for a quality provider. Dr. Basu recognizes the significance of this selection and is honored to have received this prestigious recognition for a full decade.

Houston plastic surgeon Dr. Bob Basu was named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor for the tenth consecutive year.

"Having my peers recognize my commitment to providing patients with quality care before, during, and after treatment is truly an honor," says Dr. Basu. "It is a privilege to serve the Cypress and Houston community as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor."

An established plastic surgeon serving the Houston community for over a decade, Dr. Basu has also been named one of the Top Docs in Plastic Surgery by HTexas Magazine and was a recipient of a Best of the Best 2021 award by the Houston Chronicle for "Best Mommy Makeover." He specializes in a full range of cosmetic procedures including breast surgery, tummy tucks, and body contouring after weight loss. In addition to plastic surgery, his practice also houses a full-time expert aesthetics team who provide a range of premium medical spa services to Houston and Cypress patients, including injectables and medical-grade facials. They also offer skin care services at their medpa in Houston .

"As a plastic surgeon, it is important that I provide the most safe, effective, and up-to-date treatment options for my patients," explains Dr. Basu. "My position in the medical community allows me to foster relationships with other physicians to create and uphold the highest standards of care."

Castle Connolly Top Doctors are considered to be choice physicians in their field and can be found across all 50 states. As new data emerges or as patient and provider needs change, Castle Connolly implements new criteria, ensuring consumers have access to the most relevant and trusted Top Doctor list. Professional qualifications, education, practice management, ethical standards, leadership abilities, and patient relationships are meticulously reviewed to determine eligibility. Top Doctor status is a clear sign that these elite physicians have been thoroughly and unbiasedly vetted and provide patients with the best care possible.

Patients can filter their search in the Castle Conolly Top Doctor directory to find a doctor based on location, specialty, insurance network, telemedicine options, or reason for their visit. The doctor profile provides each physician's credentials, expertise, hospital affiliations, and their contact information.

For more information about board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Bob Basu and available services, visit the practice's website or call Basu Aesthetics + Plastic Surgery at (713) 799-2278.

About Dr. Bob Basu: Dr. C. Bob Basu is a nationally-recognized board-certified plastic surgeon. His practice, Basu Aesthetics + Plastic Surgery, has offices in both Cypress and Houston, Texas. The Cypress office is located at 9899 Towne Lake Pkwy Suite 100, Cypress, TX 77433. The new Galleria / Uptown Houston location includes a Medspa and is located at 1700 Post Oak BLVD, Suite 1-280, Houston, Texas 77056 . The practice can be reached by phone at (713) 799-2278.

Media Contact: Dr. Bob Basu, www.basuplasticsurgery.com or (713) 799-2278.

SOURCE Dr. Bob Basu
DUBLIN, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Wireless Tank Level Monitoring Market - Forecasts from 2022 to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

A wireless tank level monitoring system is used to detect and send tank level information to an end device or user for relevant purposes. The system consists of sensors, transmitters, and an application on a device such as a smartphone or pc, which work over a range of cellular or satellite networks to monitor liquid levels of a tank.

As the processing industries like oil and gas, paper, chemicals, and so forth see a crucial need for proper monitoring and handling of the liquids in tanks to avoid wastage or theft, wireless tank level monitoring is the need of the hour.

Also, accidental spillage of hazardous liquid waste due to improper tank level monitoring into water bodies has a detrimental effect on the environment, which means there needs to be a better system for accurate monitoring and handling of liquid tanks across global industries.

Hence, the growing needs and demands from liquid industries for efficient managing of tanks are the key drivers for the market rise of wireless tank level monitoring systems in the forecast period and beyond. However, the data retrieved and transmitted is open to inaccuracy and error risks which can have serious consequences in the industry and can restrain the growth of the tank level monitoring segment.



The coronavirus pandemic has caused a global recession leading to a halt in the operations of oil and other liquid industries. As a result, the demand for wireless tank level monitoring systems has also reduced. In April 2020, post the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, the International Energy Agency (IEA) stated that the global oil demand has reduced by 30% compared to the last year, the level which was last witnessed in 1995. Events such as these have negatively impacted the global wireless tank level monitoring market.



Growing demand by processing industries for efficient and safe handling of liquid tanks

The oil and other processing industries observe the need for safe and reliable management of their liquid tanks to prevent losses or any other harm. Tanks are subjected to leaks during operations because of puncture or corrosion or even by manual overfilling. These reasons strongly signal an effective approach to ensure proper real-time monitoring of tank levels so that relevant steps can be taken to avoid potential mishaps.

According to the study released in April 2019 by the United States Environment Protection Agency (EPA), ten states out of 28 under review need proper leak detection and monitoring system. The number is certain to grow post evaluation of the remaining states.

Also, as per the journal released by Taylor & Francis in June 2021, the global monetary value of stolen oil and its products is approximately $133 billion per year. Such major losses and thefts in the industry require a highly needed solution to mitigate the potential threats and other risks which lead to severe situations to cope with.

As real-time tracking and monitoring of liquid and other fuel levels kept in industrial tanks are crucially needed, the market scope for the wireless tank level monitoring system is highly anticipated to grow substantially during the forecast period.



Data error and inaccuracy risks pose a potential threat

The wireless tank level monitoring system uses various sensors and transmitters for liquid level sensing and sending that level information in encoded form via an application installed on the reception device such as a smartphone or a tablet. This, however, can be exposed to chances of inaccurate data, which eventually can prove to have horrid outcomes for the industry.

Various detectors and transmitters available worldwide for the manufacturing of wireless tank level monitor systems may come off as faulty. They also may have low warranty periods, which can incur high costs for a replacement in case of degradation during the operational timeline.

According to the 2016 Tank Storage Magazine released by Emerson, an error of 1- or 2-millimeters could be as much as a thousand barrels. Such data discrepancies may lead to substantial inventory losses. Hence, these factors are anticipated to restrain the market share of the wireless tank level monitoring market in the forecast period.



Asia Pacific to see significant growth in the Wireless Tank Level Monitoring System

Asia Pacific region is expected to grab the highest market share in the wireless tank level monitoring system as the rapid increase in the oil and chemical industry is projected to take place mainly in China and India during the forecast period.

According to the article released by the Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) in February 2022, the chemical industry of India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.3%, increasing from USD 178 billion in 2018-19 to USD 304 billion by 2025. In another article by IBEF, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), in July 2021, announced its plan to establish an ethanol plant in Telangana with an investment amounting to approximately INR 1000 crore.

These future expansions in the oil and chemical industry are anticipated to propel the future growth of the wireless tank level monitor system market in the Asia Pacific.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Introduction



2. Research Methodology



3. Executive Summary

4. Market Dynamics

4.1. Market Drivers

4.2. Market Restraints

4.3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis

4.3.1. Bargaining Power of end-users

4.3.2. Bargaining Power of Buyers

4.3.3. Threat of New Entrants

4.3.4. Threat of Substitutes

4.3.5. Competitive Rivalry in the Industry

4.4. Industry value chain analysis



5. Wireless Tank Level Monitoring Market Analysis, by Technology

5.1. Introduction

5.2. Ultrasonic

5.3. Radar

5.4. Capacitive

5.5. Float and Tape Gauge

5.6. Hydrostatic



6. Wireless Tank Level Monitoring Market Analysis, by Industry

6.1. Introduction

6.2. Oil and Fuel

6.3. Chemical

6.4. Power Plant

6.5. Mining



7. Wireless Tank Level Monitoring Market Analysis, by Geography

7.1. Introduction

7.2. North America

7.2.1. US

7.2.2. Canada

7.2.3. Mexico

7.3. South America

7.3.1. Brazil

7.3.2. Argentina

7.3.3. Others

7.4. Europe

7.4.1. Germany

7.4.2. France

7.4.3. UK

7.4.4. Others

7.5. Middle East

7.5.1. Saudi Arabia

7.5.2. UAE

7.5.3. Others

7.6. Asia Pacific

7.6.1. China

7.6.2. India

7.6.3. Japan

7.6.4. South Korea

7.6.5. Taiwan

7.6.6. Thailand

7.6.7. Indonesia

7.6.8. Others



8. Competitive Environment and Analysis

8.1. Major Players and Strategy Analysis

8.2. Emerging Players and Market Lucrativeness

8.3. Mergers, Acquisitions, Agreements, and Collaborations

8.4. Vendor Competitiveness Matrix



9. Company Profiles

9.1. Schneider Electric

9.2. Emerson Electric Co

9.3. Tank Scan

9.4. Digi International

9.5. Gauging Systems

9.6. TE Connectivity

9.7. Oriel Systems

9.8. Siemens

9.9. Nanolike

9.10. OleumTech



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/i6wch0

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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SOURCE Research and Markets
Intertrust's CleanGrid toolkit plays an essential role in planning potential locations for Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations along Interstate 80

SAN FRANCISCO and COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Intertrust, a leading provider of trusted distributed computing technologies, and Clean Fuels Ohio, a Columbus-based 501(c)3 nonprofit and the designated Clean Cities Coalition for the state of Ohio, have entered into a partnership to use Intertrust's CleanGrid energy data toolkit to orchestrate the data needed to plan the development of EV charging infrastructure along Interstate 80 in Ohio. This work supports the State of Ohio in applying for the Federal Government EV charging infrastructure deployment funds through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program (NEVI) established by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, among other activities.

Optimally locating EV charging stations requires managing a number of critical factors such as accessibility for EV drivers, expected usage, and availability of the electrical infrastructure needed to support the proposed station. EVs can place an enormous load on electric grids that was not originally planned for. EV charger planning is a sophisticated data-driven process that requires accessing numerous datasets owned by different organizations including local and state authorities, utilities and charging station manufacturers. Intertrust CleanGrid allows clean energy organizations such as Clean Fuels Ohio to securely orchestrate, govern access to, and visualize multiple datasets originating from multiple parties including grid data. To support the State of Ohio planning requirements, Clean Fuels Ohio is working with a number of datasets including Transportation Burden per Household data from Argonne National Labs and Ohio vehicle registration data from the Ohio Department of Transportation.

"We have to compile data from a wide variety of sources from multiple stakeholders for planning EV charging station locations," said Jenna Ellingson, Grant and Program Manager, Clean Fuels Ohio. "With CleanGrid, not only does it simplify the aggregation of different datasets, its extensive data governance features provide our partners with the crucial trust that their data will be handled responsibly."

"We're honored to work with Clean Fuels Ohio and contribute to their work on creating a clean transportation system for Ohio," said Chris Kalima, Vice President, Product Management at Intertrust. "Our work together helps speed up the deployment of much-needed EV chargers in Ohio and is a model for others to follow."

Based on Intertrust Platform , CleanGrid harnesses wide-ranging data to develop energy related applications. Planning EV charging infrastructure and other distributed energy resources (DERs), renewable energy operations and management, retail energy marketplaces, are among many applications made possible by Intertrust Platform. These applications typically combine sensitive data under the control of multiple parties and the data governance and security features of Intertrust Platform are crucial to ensure that the data will be kept secure and any uses conform with applicable regulations.

About Intertrust

Intertrust provides trusted computing products and services to leading global corporationsfrom mobile, consumer electronics and IoT manufacturers, to service providers. These products include ExpressPlay, the world's leading provider of digital rights management (DRM) and anti-piracy services optimized for rights owners and distributors of broadcast, live and VOD content. Founded in 1990, Intertrust is headquartered in Silicon Valley with regional offices in London, Tokyo, Mumbai, Bangalore, Beijing, Seoul, and Tallinn. The company has a legacy of invention, and its fundamental contributions in the areas of computer security and digital trust are globally recognised. Intertrust holds hundreds of patents that are key to Internet security, trust, and privacy management components of operating systems, trusted mobile code and networked operating environments, web services, and cloud computing. Additional information is available at intertrust.com , Twitter or LinkedIn .

About Clean Fuels Ohio

Officially designated in 2002, Clean Fuels Ohio is the official Clean Cities Coalition for the entire state of Ohio and takes pride in serving 12 million Ohioans every day by providing a cleaner environment and more prosperous economy. Through its Consulting Services program, Policy and Government Affairs program, Drive Electric Ohio program, and federally funded projects, Clean Fuels Ohio has been the state's clean transportation advocate for the past 20 years. In the last decade, Clean Fuels Ohio has reduced just shy of one million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, cut the use of approximately 300 million gallons of gasoline, and certified 111 green fleets in the state. To learn more about the organization and its work, visit cleanfuelsohio.org.

Media Contacts

For Intertrust

Jordan Slade

MSR Communications

[email protected]

+1 757-876-5809

For Clean Fuels Ohio

Rachel Baker, Events & Communications Manager, Clean Fuels Ohio

[email protected]

+1 614-884-7336 [312]

SOURCE Intertrust
JACKSON, Mich., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A key regulatory decision today cleared the way for Consumers Energy to stop burning coal to generate electricity by 2025  15 years faster than previously planned  and provide reliable electricity for Michigan.

The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) approved Consumers Energy's agreement with a diverse group of stakeholders on updates to its Clean Energy Plan, a 20-year blueprint to meet Michigan's energy needs while protecting the environment for future generations.

A broad coalition of supporters for the plan includes customer groups, environmental organizations, MPSC staff, energy industry representatives and the Michigan Attorney General.

Consumers Energy is one of the first utilities in the nation to go coal-free.

"This is a historic moment in Michigan's clean energy transformation journey," said Garrick Rochow, President and CEO of Consumers Energy. "The Clean Energy Plan is a sea change that positions our company as a national leader and empowers us to deliver reliable energy while protecting the planet for decades to come."

The updates to Consumers Energy's Clean Energy Plan  first approved in 2019  include:

COAL PLANT RETIREMENTS BY 2025: closes all three units at the J.H. Campbell coal plant in West Olive in 2025 in addition to two units at the D.E. Karn coal plant in 2023 (as per the 2018 Clean Energy Plan) and will be among the first utilities in the nation to go coal-free by 2025.

closes all three units at the J.H. coal plant in in 2025 in addition to two units at the D.E. Karn coal plant in 2023 (as per the 2018 Clean Energy Plan) and will be among the first utilities in the nation to go coal-free by 2025. SYSTEM RELIABILITY: ensures supply reliability through the purchase of the Covert Generating Station in Van Buren County , a natural gas-fired power plant. Additionally, we plan to purchase 700 megawatts of electric capacity  roughly the equivalent of a power plant  from a variety of sources through a one-time request for proposal (RFP).

ensures supply reliability through the purchase of the Covert Generating Station in , a natural gas-fired power plant. Additionally, we plan to purchase 700 megawatts of electric capacity  roughly the equivalent of a power plant  from a variety of sources through a one-time request for proposal (RFP). RISE OF SOLAR: continues the rapid transition to clean, renewable sources by adding nearly 8,000 megawatts (MW) of solar power by 2040 ensuring 90 percent of our capacity comes from clean sources. Learn more at ConsumersEnergy.com/MiSolar

continues the rapid transition to clean, renewable sources by adding nearly 8,000 megawatts (MW) of solar power by 2040 ensuring 90 percent of our capacity comes from clean sources. Learn more at ConsumersEnergy.com/MiSolar BATTERY DEPLOYMENT : accelerates energy storage with a total of 75 MW of energy storage by 2027, achieving 550 MW by 2040.

: accelerates energy storage with a total of 75 MW of energy storage by 2027, achieving 550 MW by 2040. AFFORDABLE ENERGY: creates price stability and helps customers save an estimated $600 million dollars through 2040 compared to the current plan. Consumers Energy would also continue its successful energy waste reduction programs that have saved customers nearly $5 billion since 2009. In addition, the company has committed to continue to fund utility bill assistance programs for low-income customers.

"Together, we've created the best Clean Energy Plan for Michigan," Rochow said. "We're building a dramatically different energy landscape in which customers won't have to choose between protecting the planet and their pocketbooks. We will do both while making sure our state has the reliable power it needs."

Consumers Energy, Michigan's largest energy provider, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.8 million of the state's 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

For more information about Consumers Energy, go to www.ConsumersEnergy.com.

Check out Consumers Energy on Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/consumersenergymichigan

Twitter: https://twitter.com/consumersenergy

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/consumersenergy

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consumersenergy

SOURCE CMS Energy
Sokoto state Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has submitted names of Hon. Bashir Mohammed Lambara, Hon. Abubakar Dange and Hon. Abdullahi Yusuf Hausawa to the state House of Assembly (SOHA) for consideration to be appointed as members of the state executive council.

Governor also submitted to the Assembly names of six of his former Commissioners for reappointment as Commissioners.

The names of the new commissioners are, Hon. Aminu Bala Bodinga, Colonel Garba Moyi (rtd), Hon. Bashir Gidado, Hon. Salihu Maidaji, Hon. Abdullahi Maigwandu and Hon. Abubakar Maikudi Ahmad.

The Governor also reinstates his former Chief of Staff, Alhaji Mukhtar Magori who also voluntarily resigned to participate in party primaries.

All the seven former members of the state executive council voluntarily resigned from their positions in April to seek for elective political offices in line with the provisions of Section 84 (12) of the new Electoral Act which seek all political appointees seeking elective offices to resign before participating in any political party primaries they intend to participate.
Florida attorney's new effort to provide medical supplies to residents, growing refugee population

OCALA, Fla., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lawyer Bruce Kaster is creating a new non-profit to help raise funds for a charity organization in Odessa, Ukraine. Mr. Kaster recently witnessed first-hand the desperate situation for the people who live there, the rising numbers of refugees fleeing the fighting in other parts of the country, and an organization working tirelessly with limited resources to help them.

Mr. Kaster's family has close ties to the small German town of Kaster, which shares his family's last name. He travels there each year to help with projects to preserve the town's architecture and cultural heritage, and the idea for this new initiative came about through connections he has made in his visits.

"Many of us have wondered how we might do something worthwhile to help the suffering Ukrainian people under attack by Russia," Mr. Kaster said. "Recently my wife Sue and I raised this question with our good friends Stefan and Doris Gundlach who live in Kaster."

Stefan Gundlach had been preparing for a diplomatic assignment in the German embassy in Kiev, but the war temporarily shut down all foreign embassies in Ukraine, so he and his wife organized a private relief effort. Mr. Kaster decided that this was the perfect opportunity to help.

From Germany, he flew to Moldova, crossed the border and traveled to Odessa, which sits on the Black Sea in the southern part of Ukraine. A former Army paratrooper, Mr. Kaster was reminded of his experience in Vietnam, seeing people struggling to go about their daily lives while facing the imminent threat of war. Two Russian missiles struck the city during his visit.

While in Odessa, Mr. Kaster met the staff of "Your City," a Ukraine-based non-profit working tirelessly to dispense a wide range of medicines and other necessities to residents and to refugees  made up mostly of women and children. Many Ukrainian women must take daily medication to counteract radiation exposure from the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown that happened back in 1986. "Your City" provides that medication free of charge. Mr. Kaster established the non-profit Ukraine Relief Fund Inc. to raise money for the effort.

For more information and ways you can donate, contact Bruce Kaster or Jessica Ruiz at Kaster, Lynch, Farrar & Ball,352-622-1600 or by cell 352-895-8596.

Contact:

Robert Tharp

[email protected]

800-559-4534

SOURCE Kaster Lynch Farrar & Ball, LLP
Flexible peaking units join LS Power's fleet of assets that support the energy transition

NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LS Power today announced that it has reached an agreement with an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC to acquire the Rolling Hills natural gas-fired power plant in Wilkesville, Ohio.

The 835-megawatt facility consists of five simple cycle "peaking" units located in the PJM Interconnection. The transaction is expected to close in late Q3 2022.

"Rolling Hills will join LS Power's fleet of flexible gas-fired generation, a portfolio of assets with the dynamic ramping attributes critical to a successful clean energy transition," said Nathan Hanson, President of LS Power Generation.

"Our flexible generation assets perform a vital and complementary service in the energy transition; namely, keeping the lights on when renewable resources are unavailable due to weather conditions or when extreme weather events destabilize the grid," Hanson said.

LS Power owns a 13,000 megawatt gas generation fleet that complements its multiple energy transition platforms focused on wind and solar power, energy storage, demand response, microgrids, renewable fuels, electric transportation and transmission infrastructure.

"Decarbonizing the electric grid in a reliable, affordable and responsible manner will require efficient, flexible gas-fired generation," said Paul Segal, LS Power CEO. "Our fleet is well-positioned to help accelerate the clean energy transition by managing the intermittency of renewables."

"With the grid grappling with greater weather extremes and market volatility, a coherent path toward decarbonization embraces both rapid deployment of low-carbon energy resources and maintenance of sufficient fossil-fuel infrastructure to ensure continued energy security, affordability and reliability," Segal said. "This is LS Power's approach, as reflected in our portfolio and priorities."

Accelerating the Energy Transition

LS Power's gas generation fleet spans 10 states and consists primarily of peaking plants along with combined cycle facilities.

LS Power also manages a growing family of energy transition platforms, including:

About LS Power

LS Power is a development, investment and operating company focused on the North American power and energy infrastructure sector. Since its inception in 1990, in addition to its development of more than 660 miles of high voltage transmission, LS Power has developed, constructed, managed or acquired in total more than 45,000 MW of power generation, including utility-scale solar, wind, hydro, natural gas-fired and battery energy storage projects. LS Power actively invests in distributed energy resource platforms, such as CPower Energy Management, Endurant Energy and EVgo, as well as Waste-to-Renewable Generation and Fuel initiatives. Additionally, LS Power invests in renewables and energy storage through REV Renewables. Across its efforts, LS Power has raised in excess of $48 billion in debt and equity financing to support North American infrastructure. For more information, please visit www.LSPower.com.

SOURCE LS Power
Lucky Penny Candles Expands into Canada with New Line of Specialty Candles

VENICE, Fla., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The newest and fastest-growing personalized candle company in the US is proud to announce its upcoming brand expansion into the Canadian market. Over the next year, Lucky Penny Candles will bring its award-winning specialized candles to retailers across Canada.

Cathy Goncalves, a CPA at CCMG had some concerns that her accounting firm would struggle to attract attention at the ACCPE event. As it happened, the CCMG exhibit was the most visited during the event, thanks in large part to the presence of Lucky Penny Candles. "Accounting isn't always a head-turner, but we made a real impact thanks to Lucky Penny Candles." Cathy Goncalves, a CPA at CCMG in Quebec

Trade exhibitions and business events aren't complete without corporate gifts, and personalized candles are an ideal way to raise brand awareness long after the final kiosk has come down. Lucky Penny Candles has become a trusted partner of many US companies, and its reputation extends over the border. "A few months ago, we were thrilled to receive a call from Cathy Goncalves, a CPA at CCMG in Quebec," remembers Dom Leroux, founder of Lucky Penny Candles.

Goncalves had some concerns that her accounting firm would struggle to attract attention at the event. As it happened, the CCMG exhibit was the most visited during the event, thanks in large part to the presence of Lucky Penny Candles. "The beautiful fragrance of the candles drew everyone who was passing by to stop and smell them," she reflects. "That's all we neededonce we got peoples' attention, they were ready to listen to what we had to offer. Accounting isn't always a head-turner, but we made a real impact thanks to Lucky Penny Candles."

Corporate gift candles are in high demand because they allow recipients to enjoy their gifts for a long period after distribution, keeping customized messaging present in the lives of potential customers for as long as 30 hours' total burn time.

"We are looking to keep on helping Canadian corporations with promoting their brands at local exhibits," notes Leroux. Building on its success with CCMG, the company has launched a brand-expansion initiative into the Canadian market. Over the next year, Lucky Penny Candles will be bringing its award-winning specialized candles and introduce a new Canada-focused brand both online and in partnership with retailers across the Canadian market.

For more information on Lucky Penny Candles, its corporate personalized candles, and its expansion efforts, please visit LuckyPennyCandles.com and follow @LuckyPennyCandles on Instagram.

About Lucky Penny Candles:

Lucky Penny Candles crafts unique, personalized, eco-friendly candles for every occasion in the United States and distributes them through its online store.

Media Contact:

Dom Leroux

813-550-4288

[email protected]

SOURCE Lucky Penny Candles
-Post-hoc analyses showcase Mallinckrodt's commitment to patients with HRS involving rapid reduction in kidney function,1an acute and life-threatening condition2-

DUBLIN, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mallinckrodt plc (OTCMKTS: MNKPF), a global biopharmaceutical company, today announced two scientific posters to be presented on the disease progression and treatment paradigms for patients with hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) involving rapid reduction in kidney function1 at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) 2022 International Liver Congress, taking place June 22  26 in London, UK. The full list of Mallinckrodt's presentations is below. For more information, please visit the EASL website here.

Terlipressin is an investigational agent being evaluated for the treatment of HRS involving rapid reduction in kidney function1 in the U.S., and its safety and effectiveness have not yet been established by the FDA.

Khurram Jamil, Vice President, Hepatology, Clinical Development & Critical Care, said, "It is our hope that this research may help inform clinicians on the early identification and management of adult patients with HRS with rapid reduction in kidney function.1 We look forward to sharing new data from a retrospective analysis that uncovers the influence of baseline serum creatinine (SCr) levels on clinical outcomes for patients with HRS involving rapid reduction in kidney function,1 and resharing the findings of our subgroup analysis examining HRS gender differences and response to treatment  recently presented at the 2022 American Transplant Congress."

These studies are sponsored by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals and include:

Abstract 2952 Title: Early Treatment with Terlipressin in Patients with Hepatorenal Syndrome Yields Improved Clinical Outcomes in 3 Phase III North American Studies

Presenter: Michael Curry , MD

, MD Presentation Date: June 24, 2022 ; 9AM  6PM BST

;  Poster #: FRI537

Abstract 564 (Encore) Title: Gender Affects the Association Between Serum Creatinine Levels and Clinical Response to Terlipressin in Patients with Hepatorenal Syndrome Type of Acute Kidney Injury

Presenter: Khurram Jamil, MD

Khurram Jamil, MD Presentation Date: June 24, 2022 ; 9AM  6PM BST

;  Poster #: FRI490

Terlipressin is one of the most studied pharmacological agents in HRS with more than 70 published manuscripts and presented abstracts on clinical data to date.3 It has been approved outside the U.S. for more than 30 years and is available on five continents for its two indications in the countries where it is approved.4,5,6

ABOUT HEPATORENAL SYNDROME (HRS)

Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) involving rapid reduction in kidney function1 is an acute and life-threatening syndrome involving acute kidney failure in people with advanced liver disease.2 HRS is classified into two distinct types  a rapidly progressive type that leads to acute renal failure and a more chronic type that progresses over weeks to months.2 HRS is estimated to affect between 30,000 and 40,000 Americans annually.7,8 If left untreated, the rapid reduction in kidney function associated with HRS1 has a median survival time of approximately two weeks and greater than 80 percent mortality within three months.9

ABOUT MALLINCKRODT

Mallinckrodt is a global business consisting of multiple wholly owned subsidiaries that develop, manufacture, market and distribute specialty pharmaceutical products and therapies. The company's Specialty Brands reportable segment's areas of focus include autoimmune and rare diseases in specialty areas like neurology, rheumatology, nephrology, pulmonology, ophthalmology, and oncology; immunotherapy and neonatal respiratory critical care therapies; analgesics; cultured skin substitutes and gastrointestinal products. Its Specialty Generics reportable segment includes specialty generic drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients. To learn more about Mallinckrodt, visit www.mallinckrodt.com.

Mallinckrodt uses its website as a channel of distribution of important company information, such as press releases, investor presentations and other financial information. It also uses its website to expedite public access to time-critical information regarding the company in advance of or in lieu of distributing a press release or a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosing the same information. Therefore, investors should look to the Investor Relations page of the website for important and time-critical information. Visitors to the website can also register to receive automatic e-mail and other notifications alerting them when new information is made available on the Investor Relations page of the website.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS RELATED TO FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This release includes forward-looking statements with regard to terlipressin, including related to interactions with regulators, steps being taken related to its manufacturing, and its potential impact on patients. The statements are based on assumptions about many important factors, including the following, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements: satisfaction of regulatory and other requirements; actions of regulatory bodies and other governmental authorities; changes in laws and regulations; issues with product quality, manufacturing or supply, or patient safety issues; and other risks identified and described in more detail in the "Risk Factors" section of Mallinckrodt's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC, all of which are available on its website. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date hereof and Mallinckrodt does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events and developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

CONTACT

Media Inquiries

Heather Guzzi

Senior Vice President, Green Room Communications

973-524-4112

[email protected]

Investor Relations

Daniel J. Speciale

Global Corporate Controller & Chief Investor Relations Officer

314-654-3638

[email protected]

Derek Belz

Vice President, Investor Relations

314-654-3950

[email protected]

Mallinckrodt, the "M" brand mark and the Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals logo are trademarks of a Mallinckrodt company. Other brands are trademarks of a Mallinckrodt company or their respective owners.

 2022 Mallinckrodt. US-2200583 06/22

References

1 Data on File  Ref-05737. Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals.

2 National Organization for Rare Disorders. Hepatorenal Syndrome. Available at: https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/hepatorenal-syndrome/. Accessed June 16, 2022.

3 Data on File  Ref-05488. Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals.

4 Data on File  Ref-05482. Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals.

5 FDA Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee. Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals Terlipressin Advisory Committee Briefing Document NDA #022231. July 2020.

6 European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL). Clinical practice guidelines for the management of patients with decompensated cirrhosis. J Hepatol. 2018;69(2):406-460.

7 C Pant, B S Jani, M Desai, A Deshpande, Prashant Pandya, Ryan Taylor, R Gilroy, M Olyaee. Hepatorenal syndrome in hospitalized patients with chronic liver disease: results from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample 20022012. J of Investig Med. 2016; 64:3338.

8 United States Census Bureau: Quick Facts. Available at: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045218. Accessed June 16, 2022.

9 Flamm, S.L., Brown, K., Wadei, H.M., et al. The Current Management of Hepatorenal SyndromeAcute Kidney Injury in the United States and the Potential of Terlipressin. Liver Transpl, 2021; 27: 1191-1202. https://doi.org/10.1002/lt.26072.

SOURCE Mallinckrodt plc
SHENZHEN, China, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MGI, a company committed to being a world-leading life science innovator, has been awarded a Silver Globee in the 14th Annual 2022 Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Awards for its innovative COVID-19 pandemic control and response efforts worldwide.

Since the rise of COVID-19, MGI has taken an active part in the prevention and control of the pandemic in over 70 countries and regions worldwide, including South Africa, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, and Australia.

From facilitating large-scale nucleic acid testing for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus through providing MGI automation systems, to virus genome sequencing to inform the tracing and understanding of the epidemiology and virology of each variant, MGI's DNBSEQ sequencers*, automation systems, and proprietary ATOPlex technology have been continuously put to work to combat the virus and keep communities safe.

"MGI is honored to be recognized for our innovative technology* and inclusive approach towards tackling the pandemic by the Globee Awards," said Duncan Yu, President at MGI, "Through advanced genetic science and technology*, we are proud to support on the frontline of this important battle against COVID-19 and empower various countries and regions by supporting their genomic sequencing initiatives, enhancing their large-scale testing capability, and informing their pandemic response efforts."

The coveted annual Golden Bridge Awards are the world's premier business awards program honoring global achievements in every major industry, with over 100 experts from around the world participating in the judging process. Fellow winners include IBM, KPMG, and Honeywell who have also been acknowledged for their business excellence and cutting-edge innovation.

Amidst the ongoing fight against COVID-19, MGI is committed to playing a key role in the detection, monitoring, surveillance, and tracing of COVID-19 and its variants to safeguard communities across the globe. It will continue to work relentlessly towards improving the efficiency, flexibility, and mobility of its core tools and technology* to meet ever-growing testing demands and to reach more people in need.

About MGI

MGI Tech Co. Ltd. (MGI), headquartered in Shenzhen, is committed to building core tools and technology to lead life science through intelligent innovation. Based on its proprietary technology, MGI focuses on research & development, production and sales of sequencing instruments, reagents, and related products to support life science research, agriculture, precision medicine and healthcare. MGI is a leading producer of clinical high-throughput gene sequencers*, and its multi-omics platforms include genetic sequencing*, medical imaging, and laboratory automation. MGI's mission is to develop and promote advanced life science tools for future healthcare. For more information, please visit the MGI website or connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn or YouTube.

*Unless otherwise informed, StandardMPS and CoolMPS sequencing reagents, and sequencers for use with such reagents are not available in Germany, USA, Spain, UK, Hong Kong, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Finland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Portugal, Austria, and Romania.

SOURCE MGI Tech Co., Ltd.
The beer brand is pledging a donation up to $250,000 to the Pink Boots Society and committing to long-term development and increased representation of women in the beer industry

CHICAGO, June 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fourth of July is beer's biggest weekend. And for good reason: nothing feels more American than enjoying a cold beer on America's birthday. But this year Miller Lite is unveiling the truth: there's no beer without women. A group of women called "Ale Wives" were the unsung heroes who brought beer to America in the first place, yet according to a recent poll only three percent of Americans know that fact.

Miller Lite Limited-Edition Mary Lisle Can

So this Fourth of July, Miller Lite is reimagining its iconic design to celebrate the trailblazing impact women have made in beer with the limited-edition Mary Lisle can, inspired by the country's first recorded female brewer and her revolutionary contributions to the American brewing industry. In 1734, Mary successfully ran a Philadelphia brewery, becoming the first American woman to own and operate one. But through time, women were excluded from the industry as others saw an opportunity to cash in on the nation's love of beer, forcing most women out of the business altogether.

"When people think of beer, they think of men; there are very few people who realize that we actually have women to thank for beer in America," said Elizabeth Hitch, senior director of marketing for Miller Lite. "There's no better time to celebrate and put women back into the history books of beer than on the single largest beer selling weekend in America."

In honor of female brewers past, present and future, Miller Lite will also donate $5 from any case purchased online via Drizly or Instacart between June 27 and July 4 to the Pink Boots Society*, which inspires women in beer to advance their careers through brewing education. Additionally, Miller Lite is committing to long-term development and representation of women in the beer industry to support the next generation of female brewers.

"Women played a pivotal role in bringing beer to America as the first brewers here and are often underrepresented in the industry," said Erin Wallace, Pink Boot Society Board Member, "Which is why our mission at Pink Boots Society to assist, inspire and encourage women and non-binary individuals in the fermented beverage industry through education is so important and wouldn't be able to continue without generous donations from brands like Miller Lite and fundraising."

Drinkers can visit millerlite.com/marylisle for a chance to win a limited-edition Mary Lisle two pack** from June 22 to July 4. The can will also be released in Lisle's hometown of Philadelphia on June 30 and fans can visit here for details.

*Must be 21 years or older. From 6/27/22 to 7/4/22 or until donation maximum is reached, whichever occurs first. Molson Coors Beverage Company USA LLC will calculate the total sales from all Miller Lite pack sizes, and will donate $5 from the average case price ($18.99) of Miller Lite, purchased from participating online retailers in the 50 US/DC, to the Pink Boots Society, up to a max. total donation of $250,000. Min. donation of $50,000. A "case" is defined as a twenty-four (24) count 12oz Miller Lite pack with an average price of $18.99. The amount donated will be determined by calculating total dollar sales of Miller Lite from the participating online retailers to the equivalent of case volume and attributing $5 per case. For terms and conditions, visit www.promorules.com/PL017953 . Void outside of participating retailers and where prohibited. For more information about Pink Boots Society, visit https://www.pinkbootssociety.org. All donations will be made by Molson Coors Beverage Company USA LLC and not by participants.

**NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Sweepstakes begins at or about 12:00 PM CT on 6/22/22 and ends at 11:59:59 PM CT on 7/4/22. Open only to legal U.S. residents of Co, DC, FL, Id, LA, MS, MT, Ne, NV, NY, NC, SC, & SD, who are 21 years or older. Click Here for Official Rules, including how to enter, odds, prize details, and restrictions. Void where prohibited. Msg&data rates may apply.

About Miller Brewing Company

Miller Brewing Company was founded in 1855 by Frederick J. Miller when he purchased the Plank Road Brewery in Milwaukee, a city he chose as the best place for a brewery given its access to great water. Miller Lite, the original great-tasting light pilsner beer, (MillerLite.com, Facebook.com/MillerLite, @MillerLite on Twitter, YouTube.com/MillerLite) was introduced nationally in 1975 and is among the top-five selling beers in the United States. The brewery's oldest enduring beer is Miller High Life (MillerHighLife.com, Facebook.com/MillerHighLife, @MillerHighLife on Twitter). Known as the Champagne of Beers, it was introduced in 1903 and still is brewed with the same yeast strain that Miller carried in his pocket from Germany. Miller Genuine Draft (MGD.com, Facebook.com/MillerGenuineDraft, @Miller_Global on Twitter), introduced in 1986, is the original cold-filtered, packaged draft beer. Miller Brewing Company is part of the North America business unit of Molson Coors Beverage Company. Learn more at MolsonCoors.com, at Facebook.com/Molsoncoors or Instagram and Twitter with @MolsonCoors.

SOURCE Miller Lite
"There is an increasing demand for HPAPIs due to their effectiveness against cancer at lower doses and the trend towards more targeted therapeutics. Lower-doses of these therapies reduce the negative side effects for patients who are taking on this critical fight," said Dirk Lange, Head of Life Science Services, Life Science business sector of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. "Increasing capacity at our state-of-the-art facility in Verona, Wisconsin will allow us to meet the need for these key cancer treatment components."

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide1. HPAPIs are a critical element of targeted therapies due to their extremely effective cell-killing abilities at low doses, resulting in reduced side effects for patients. They are used in novel cancer therapies, including antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), which are changing the landscape of cancer treatments.

MilliporeSigma has been developing multi-step, complex, and highly potent compounds for more than 30 years and continues to be an industry leader in the development and custom manufacture of these components. HPAPIs require specialized handling and manufacturing facilities that protect the safety of employees and their environment. Many potential life-saving treatments never make it to market in part due to the specialized handling requirements. MilliporeSigma's Verona, Wisconsin site was the second facility in the world to be SafeBridge-certified and the company continues to meet these rigorous safety and containment requirements necessary to this day. In fact, this expansion positions MilliporeSigma as one of the largest single-digit nanogram occupational exposure limit (OEL) CDMO providers in the world. HPAPIs are measured with the most potent registering less than 10 nanograms per cubic meter. Single digit nanogram HPAPIs require highly specialized handling, which is reflected by the OEL designation.

In addition to HPAPI production, MilliporeSigma also has extensive experience developing and manufacturing ADCs. Being the first CDMO to manufacture commercially approved ADC drugs in North America, the company recently launched new technologies to advance ADC therapies. Its unique ChetoSensar technology gives new promise to ADCs by alleviating solubility challenges, and MilliporeSigma's new DOLCORE platform significantly reduces development and manufacturing time required, increasing speed-to-market by up to a year, ultimately getting needed therapies to patients quicker.

With more than 30 years of CDMO experience in the development and manufacturing of HPAPIs, linkers and mAbs, MilliporeSigma offers significant expertise in both clinical and commercial manufacturing. The company also has extensive CDMO experience in viral vector, lipids, LNP and mRNA manufacturing from pre-clinical to commercial  helping to streamline steps of drug development and production with a single, highly experienced partner. Additionally, BioReliance contract testing services are integrated into the overall Services offering to further streamline the development path.

Follow MilliporeSigma on Twitter @MilliporeSigma, on Facebook @MilliporeSigma and on LinkedIn.

All Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany news releases are distributed by email at the same time they become available on the EMD Group website. In case you are a resident of the U.S. or Canada please go to www.emdgroup.com/subscribe to register again for your online subscription of this service as our newly introduced geo-targeting requires new links in the email. You may later change your selection or discontinue this service.

About the Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

The Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, which operates as MilliporeSigma in the U.S. and Canada, has more than 26,000 employees and 55 manufacturing and testing sites worldwide, with a portfolio of more than 300,000 products focused on scientific discovery, biomanufacturing and testing services. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and electronics.

Around 60,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene-editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices  the company is everywhere. In 2021, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany generated sales of  19.7 billion in 66 countries.

The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark "Merck" internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Electronics. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company's technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. For more information about Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, visit www.emdgroup.com.

All Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany news releases are distributed by email at the same time they become available on the EMD Group website. In case you are a resident of the U.S. or Canada please go to www.emdgroup.com/subscribe to register again for your online subscription of this service as our newly introduced geo-targeting requires new links in the email. You may later change your selection or discontinue this service.

1 "Global Cancer Facts & Figures 4th Edition, https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/global-cancer-facts-and-figures/global-cancer-facts-and-figures-4th-edition.pdf

SOURCE MilliporeSigma
CALGARY, AB, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Nanalysis Scientific Corp. ("the Company", ("the Company", TSXV: NSCI, OTCQX: NSCIF, FRA: 1N1), a leader in portable NMR machines and MRI technology for healthcare and industrial applications, is pleased to report that all proposed resolutions were approved at the Company's Annual General and Special Meeting of shareholders held on June 22, 2022 (the "Meeting"). The number of directors was set at 7 and all director nominees, as listed in the Management Information Circular dated May 20, 2022 (the "Information Circular"), were elected as directors of the Company at the Meeting to serve for a one-year term and hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders. According to the proxy votes received from shareholders, the results were as follows:

Nominees:



% For



% Withheld











Sean Krakiwsky

96.566 %

3.434 % Martin Burian

95.592 %

4.408 % Werner Gartner

99.852 %

0.148 % Michal Okoniewski

99.852 %

0.148 % Guido Cloetens

95.628 %

4.372 % Rene Lenggenhager

99.852 %

0.148 % Kham Lin

99.609 %

0.391 %

Shareholders voted 99.85% in favor of setting the number of directors at seven, 99.6% in favor of appointing Ernst & Young LLP, as auditor of the Company for the ensuing year and to authorize the Directors of the Company to fix the auditor's remuneration and 98.1% in favor for the approval of an amended stock option plan of the Company.

Corporate Update

The Company is pleased to welcome Kham Lin to Nanalysis's Board of Directors with immediate effect following shareholder approval at the Meeting.

Mr. Lin is currently a Managing Director at Nanalysis and was formerly the President and Chief Executive Officer of KPrime Technologies before the Company's acquisition by Nanalysis. Over twenty plus years, Mr. Lin built KPrime, into a manufacturing representative business for global companies like Agilent Technologies, Metrohm USA, Sartorius LPS Division, and Leidos. KPrime has a portfolio of sales and services in scientific detection and measuring equipment, financing, and asset management for chemical and security industries. Mr. Lin resides and works in Calgary, Alberta, Canada but also splits time in Phoenix, Arizona at KPrime Headquarters.

Nanalysis trades on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) in Canada with ticker symbol 'NSCI', OTC and the Frankfurt exchange under the ticker symbol '1N1'. The company's business is what we term "MRI and NMR for industry". The company develops and manufactures portable Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometers or analyzers for laboratory and industrial markets. The NMReady-60 was the first full-feature portable NMR spectrometer in a single compact enclosure requiring no liquid helium or any other cryogens. The company has followed-up that initial offering with new products and continues to have a strong innovation pipeline. Nanalysis recently announced that it has begun selling a 100MHz device in 2020. The Company's new device will be the most powerful and most advanced compact NMR device ever brought to market.

Nanalysis devices are used in many industries (oil and gas, chemical, mining, pharma, biotech, flavor and fragrances, agrochemicals, law enforcement, and more) as well as numerous government and university research labs around the world. The Company continues to exploit new global market opportunities independently and with partners.

With the recent acquisition of K'Prime, the company maintains a North American sales and service company of over 40 individuals who cover scientific instrumentation for pharma, food, chemical and oil & gas customers, as well as imaging systems for security applications.

Additionally, the Company has a 43% ownership in Quad Systems AG ("Quad Systems"), with an option to purchase the remaining shares. Quad Systems is a Zurich-based Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) company focused on high-field NMR for pharmaceutical and other vertical markets.

Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements and Legal Disclaimer

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "anticipates", "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed", "positioned" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Nanalysis Scientific Corp.
Global competitiveness and key competitor percentage market shares

Market presence across multiple geographies - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial

Online interactive peer-to-peer collaborative bespoke updates

Access to our digital archives and MarketGlass Research Platform

Complimentary updates for one year

Edition: 9; Released: January 2022

Executive Pool: 1167

Companies: 22 - Players covered include Baker Hughes, a GE company; Calfrac Well Services, Ltd.; FTS International; Halliburton; Rpc, Inc.; Schlumberger Ltd.; Trican Well Services Ltd.; United Oilfield Services Sp. z o.o.; Weatherford International Ltd. and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: End-Use (Shale Gas, Tight Gas, Tight Oil, Other End-Uses); Segment (Plug & Perf, Sliding Sleeve)

Geographies: World; United States; Canada; Japan; China; Europe (France; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; Spain; Russia; and Rest of Europe); Asia-Pacific (Australia; India; South Korea; and Rest of Asia-Pacific); Latin America (Argentina; Brazil; Mexico; and Rest of Latin America); Middle East (Iran; Israel; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; and Rest of Middle East); and Africa.

Complimentary Project Preview - This is an ongoing global program. Preview our research program before you make a purchase decision. We are offering a complimentary access to qualified executives driving strategy, business development, sales & marketing, and product management roles at featured companies. Previews provide deep insider access to business trends; competitive brands; domain expert profiles; and market data templates and much more. You may also build your own bespoke report using our MarketGlass Platform which offers thousands of data bytes without an obligation to purchase our report. Preview Registry

ABSTRACT-

Global Hydraulic Fracturing Market to Reach $71.1 Billion by 2026

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Hydraulic Fracturing estimated at US$38.2 Billion, is projected to reach a revised size of US$71.1 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 10.6% over the analysis period. Plug & Perf, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to record a 10.7% CAGR and reach US$67.4 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Sliding Sleeve segment is readjusted to a revised 9.9% CAGR for the next 7-year period.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $11.5 Billion in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach $14.8 Billion by 2026

The Hydraulic Fracturing market in the U.S. is estimated at US$11.5 Billion in the year 2021. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$14.8 Billion by the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 14% over the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 7.3% and 9.2% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 8.3% CAGR. More

MarketGlass Platform

Our MarketGlass Platform is a free full-stack knowledge center that is custom configurable to today`s busy business executive`s intelligence needs! This influencer driven interactive research platform is at the core of our primary research engagements and draws from unique perspectives of participating executives worldwide. Features include - enterprise-wide peer-to-peer collaborations; research program previews relevant to your company; 3.4 million domain expert profiles; competitive company profiles; interactive research modules; bespoke report generation; monitor market trends; competitive brands; create & publish blogs & podcasts using our primary and secondary content; track domain events worldwide; and much more. Client companies will have complete insider access to the project data stacks. Currently in use by 67,000+ domain experts worldwide.

Our platform is free for qualified executives and is accessible from our website www.StrategyR.com or via our just released mobile application on iOS or Android

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyR

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years.

CONTACTS:

Zak Ali

Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

www.StrategyR.com

Email: [email protected]

LINKS

Join Our Expert Panel

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SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
"These moves enhance the leadership of our Law Division, strengthen our ability to deliver long-term shareholder value, and demonstrate our deep bench of executive talent," said President and CEO Alan Shaw.

Nabanita Nag joined Norfolk Southern in August 2020 as General Counsel Corporate. She was elevated to Senior Vice President & Chief Legal Officer in March 2022. In her new role, Nag will oversee Law, Government Relations, and Audit & Compliance, as well as the Corporate Secretary's office.

"Nabanita is a strategic thinker and collaborative leader who has made an immediate impact on our company," Shaw said. "By bringing our Law, Government Relations, and Audit & Compliance teams together under Nabanita's leadership, we strengthen alignment across these departments as we engage with stakeholders on issues of importance to our company and the nation's economy."

Prior to joining Norfolk Southern, Nag served as Vice President & Corporate Counsel in the Financial Management Law Group at Prudential Financial. Before that, she was Vice President & Associate General Counsel in the Finance & Corporate Legal Group at Goldman Sachs and associate attorney with Shearman & Sterling. She is a graduate of New York University School of Law and holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Government from Georgetown University.

Jason Morris joined Norfolk Southern's Law department in 2010, handling safety, labor, and employment issues. He later moved to the company's Safety & Environmental Department, serving as System Director Safety before being promoted to Assistant Vice President in 2018. In June 2021, he was named Vice President Labor Relations.

"Jason is a skilled lawyer and effective leader who returns to the Law department with strong institutional knowledge and a broad range of experiences at Norfolk Southern," Shaw said. "His experience in Labor Relations will be especially valuable in his new role."

Morris, a U.S. Air Force veteran, previously served as a legislative director in the U.S. House of Representatives and as a logistics readiness officer in the Virginia Air National Guard. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, the University of Virginia School of Law, and the Executive Development Program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Wai Wong, currently Assistant Vice President Human Resources, joined Norfolk Southern in 2015 as Assistant General Solicitor, where he handled labor and employment law. He then progressed through a series of roles including Counsel, Technology and Strategic Communications, and Director Employee Experience.

"Wai's legal background, coupled with his experience in Human Resources, position him well to lead our Labor Relations team," said Executive Vice President & Chief Transformation Officer Annie Adams. "During his time in HR, Wai has focused on enhancing the employee experience and driving engagement  including important efforts to support our Operations Division and craft railroaders."

Prior to joining Norfolk Southern, Wong was an associate attorney with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Princeton University.

All three of the appointments are effective July 1.

About Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) is one of the nation's premier transportation companies, moving the goods and materials that drive the U.S. economy. Norfolk Southern connects customers to markets and communities to economic opportunity, with safe, reliable, and sustainable shipping solutions. The company's service area includes 22 states and the District of Columbia, every major container port in the eastern United States, and a majority of the U.S. population and manufacturing base.

SOURCE Norfolk Southern Corporation
"Consequently, on the identification of disgruntled or unmotivated personnel Services are advised to take steps to compulsorily discharge or retire such personnel in line with extant laws."

The leadership of the Nigerian military has ordered the compulsory retirement of all 'disgruntled or unmotivated personnel' in the army, navy and air force.

This was disclosed in a memo by the Defence Headquarters, according to PRNigeria.

The memo was signed by MB Nagenu, a Rear Admiral, on behalf of the Chief of Defence Staff, Leo Irabor.

PRNigeria quotes the memo as stating that the disgruntled and unmotivated officers and soldiers no longer exhibit a high level of undivided loyalty, and the presence of mind required for military operations.

"In view of the above, deployments of such personnel do not benefit the Services and are in fact counter-productive.

"Consequently, on the identification of disgruntled or unmotivated personnel Services are advised to take steps to compulsorily discharge or retire such personnel in line with extant laws," the memo states.

Nigerian soldiers are fighting on many fronts and have been deployed to over 30 of Nigeria's 36 states, senior military officials had told PREMIUM TIMES.

Apart from fighting Boko Haram in the North-east, the military is also leading the battle against armed bandits in the North-west, separatists in the South-east and other armed groups in the North-central and South-south of the country.

There have been reports of low morale among some soldiers who have complained of inadequate equipment to fight against the armed groups.

More details later...
NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Northwell Health, joined by Johnson & Johnson's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and We are All Human Foundation's Hispanic star, will support 30 nursing Latino students currently enrolled at the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. The recipients will receive $7,500 each to continue their nursing studies. The scholarships are part of a national initiative by Hispanic Star to increase the number of Latino registered nurses and other highly skilled healthcare workers. It is an unprecedented effort that unites the private, public and non-profit sectors to help advance diversity and inclusion of Latinos in the healthcare sector.

HOLA, the Hispanic and Latino employee resource group of Johnson & Johnson, spearheaded this effort in alignment with the company signing Hispanic Star's Hispanic Promise , a pledge to recruit, support, retain and celebrate Latino employees. As HOLA seeks to empower Hispanic and Latino talent, this partnership will ensure students are equipped for success.

Jennifer Saleta, the Vice President at Northwell Health/Associate Dean at Hofstra University, added, "These 30 students are accomplished and dedicated to their studies in a program that is rigorous and demanding. It is with great pride that we are able to make their journey easier and have full confidence that they will be as committed and compassionate when they graduate their programs as they have demonstrated in their studies."

Claudia Romo Edelman, founder and CEO of We Are All Human said: "We started the We Are All Human Foundation in 2019 and launched Hispanic Star the next year. It was not long before the pandemic hit, and the looming nurse shortage became even more urgent. In this problem, we saw an opportunity to help build the next generation of healthcare professionals with immensely talented and motivated Latinos. It is a win for everyone, and with dedicated partners like HOLA and Northwell Health we are showing how we can all work together to drive change."

About We Are All Human

The We Are All Human Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit devoted to equity, diversity and inclusion. Made up of an experienced group of marketers and sustainability activists with backgrounds from the United Nations, global affairs, media, and the corporate world, our team is committed to making change through collective action.

The Hispanic Star is a platform of the We Are All Human Foundation that works to unify Hispanics around progress. Leading companies, Hispanic organizations and community leaders join together under the Hispanic Star banner to provide relief to people in need, remove barriers to growth, and create opportunities in education and career development for Hispanics.

Media Contact

Marisa Garcia de Celis

[email protected]

SOURCE We Are All Human
JERSEY CITY, N.J., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. announces the release of a market assessment report on "Global Novel T-Cell Immunotherapies Market Industry Trends, Clinical Trial/Pipeline Analysis, Funding Analysis, Industry Competition Analysis, and Revenue Forecast To 2030."

According to the latest research by InsightAce Analytic, the global novel T-cell immunotherapies market size is expected to record a promising CAGR of 47% during the period of 2022-2030.

Request for Sample Pages: https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/request-sample/1020

In T-cell immunotherapy, one's own immune cells are reprogrammed to be more effective against cancer. T-cell transfer therapy is an adoptive cell therapy known as adoptive immunotherapy and immune cell therapy. T-cells, activated T-cells, Tregs, virus-driven T-cells, and T-cell vaccines are examples of novel T-cell therapies. In clinical trials, gamma delta T cell therapies outperformed conventional cancer therapies in terms of efficacy and specificity toward cancer cells. The therapy requires a short treatment time with no aggressive chemotherapy. T-cell immunotherapy is a new area of oncology that is rapidly developing. Because of their high target specificity, customization potential, ability to generate immunological memory, and common side effects, T-cell therapies have emerged as a promising option among current targeted anti-cancer therapies.

The increasing incidences of chronic diseases will propel the development of the novel T-cell immunotherapies market over the forecast period. Additionally, various strategic agreements between relevant therapy developers and research institute to innovate therapies are expected to boost Novel T-Cell Immunotherapies Market growth. The upward demand for cell and gene therapies, as well as the high mortality rates and the swelling number of clinical trials, will provide opportunities in the coming years. Also, the government is spreading awareness about health consciousness in the growing geriatric population and cancer patients. However, the high investment needed for therapy development, the lack of standard therapy protocols, and the scarcity of skilled professionals limit the market growth.

In terms of region, the North American region is the primary revenue holder of this market due to rising awareness about cell therapies, increasing government investments in the research and development of cell therapies to treat various diseases and high demand for novel therapies. On the other hand, the Europe region is also expected to dominate this market due to the advancements in the biopharmaceutical field and the high prevalence of cancer. In addition, the Asia-Pacific market is expected to grow faster owing to the growing cell therapy manufacturing industries and the rising prevalence of chronic diseases.

Some of the key players in the novel T-cell immunotherapies market are Atara Biotherapeutics, AlloVir, Eureka Therapeutics, Eutilex, NexImmune, OSE Immunotherapeutics, Tevogen Bio, WindMIL Therapeutics, GammaDelta Therapeutics Limited, Acepodia, Adaptate Therapeutics, Adicet, Cytomed Therapeutics, Gadeta, IN8bio, Kiromic Biopharma, Lava Therapeutics, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, TC Biopharm, ImCheck Therapeutics, Expression Therapeutics LLC, Triumvira Immunologics, PureTech Health, PhosphoGam, Caladrius Biosciences, Eli Lilly and Company, Miltenyi Biotec, Sangamo Therapeutics (TxCell), Cellenkos Inc., Pfizer Inc., PolTREG S.A.., Parvus Therapeutics, ILTOO Pharma, Philogen S.p.A., TRACT Therapeutics, Inc., REGiMMUNE Co, Ltd., Roche, Celgene, AHEAD THERAPEUTICS S.L., and Other Prominent Players.

Innovative therapies, partnerships, collaborations, and agreements are a priority for leading manufacturers in this industry. Additionally, the increasing public awareness of cell treatments will help to drive market expansion.

Recent Key Developments:

In May 2022 , Harpoon Therapeutics announced a clinical supply agreement with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Roche) to supply atezolizumab (Tecentriq) for use in the clinical development program. Under this agreement, Harpoon is the sponsor of the anticipated clinical trials, and Roche will supply atezolizumab.

Harpoon Therapeutics announced a clinical supply agreement with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Roche) to supply atezolizumab (Tecentriq) for use in the clinical development program. Under this agreement, Harpoon is the sponsor of the anticipated clinical trials, and Roche will supply atezolizumab. In Oct 2021 , Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited announced the exercise to acquire GammaDelta Therapeutics Limited. Takeda will obtain GammaDelta's allogeneic variable delta 1 (V1) gamma-delta () T cell therapy platforms, including both blood-derived and tissue-derived platforms and early-stage cell therapy programmes, through the acquisition.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited announced the exercise to acquire GammaDelta Therapeutics Limited. Takeda will obtain GammaDelta's allogeneic variable delta 1 (V1) gamma-delta () T cell therapy platforms, including both blood-derived and tissue-derived platforms and early-stage cell therapy programmes, through the acquisition. In Aug 2021 , Trillium Therapeutics Inc. and Pfizer Inc. announced that the two companies have entered into a binding agreement under which Pfizer would acquire Trillium. With the inclusion of next-generation, experimental immuno-therapeutics for haematological malignancies, the proposed purchase improves Pfizer's position as the market leader in oncology.

Trillium Therapeutics Inc. and Pfizer Inc. announced that the two companies have entered into a binding agreement under which Pfizer would acquire Trillium. With the inclusion of next-generation, experimental immuno-therapeutics for haematological malignancies, the proposed purchase improves Pfizer's position as the market leader in oncology. In Mar 2020 , AlloVir, a clinical-stage T-cell immunotherapy company, collaborated with Baylor College of Medicine to develop allogeneic, virus-specific T-cell therapy to combat COVID-19. Also, in September 2020 , AlloVir Announced the FDA Clearance of Investigational New Drug Application (IND) for ALVR109 (an allogeneic, off-the-shelf virus-specific T cell therapy candidate designed to target SARS-CoV-2) for the Treatment of High-Risk COVID-19 Patients.

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Market Segments

Market Size (Value US$ Mn) & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2022 to 2030 based on Type of T-cell Therapy

Activated T-cells

Virus Driven T-cells

Tregs

 T-cells

T-cell vaccines

NK T-cells

Market Size (Value US$ Mn) & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2022 to 2030 based on Disease Indication

Lung cancer

Breast Cancer

Cytomegalovirus Infection

Glioblastoma

Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Ovarian Cancer

Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Sarcoma

HIV infections

Pancreatic Cancer

Others

Market Size (Value US$ Mn) & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2022 to 2030 based on region

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

North America novel T-cell immunotherapies market revenue (US$ Million) by Country, 2022 to 2030

U.S.

Canada

Europe novel T-cell immunotherapies market revenue (US$ Million) by Country, 2022 to 2030

Germany

France

Italy

Spain

Russia

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific novel T-cell immunotherapies market revenue (US$ Million) by Country, 2022 to 2030

India

China

Japan

South Korea

Australia & New Zealand

Latin America novel T-cell immunotherapies market revenue (US$ Million) by Country, 2022 to 2030

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa novel T-cell immunotherapies market revenue (US$ Million) by Country, 2022 to 2030

GCC Countries

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa

Why should buy this report:

To receive a comprehensive clinical trial/pipeline analysis of the prospects for global novel T-cell immunotherapies market

To receive industry overview and future trends of global novel T-cell immunotherapies market

To analyze the novel T-cell immunotherapies market drivers and challenges

To get information on the novel T-cell immunotherapies market size value (US$ Mn) forecast till 2030

Major Investments, Mergers & Acquisition in global novel T-cell immunotherapies market industry

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Other Related Reports Published by InsightAce Analytic:

Global CAR T-Cell Therapy For Multiple Myeloma Market

Global Regulatory T-Cell (Tregs) Therapies Market

Global Allogeneic Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market

Global Immuno-Oncology Cell Therapy Market

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SOURCE InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd.
RWD and machine learning methods employed to generate an Estimated EDSS (eEDSS) from OM1's PremiOM Multiple Sclerosis Dataset

BOSTON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- OM1 , a leading real-world data, outcomes and technology company with a focus on chronic diseases, today announced the publication of their validation of a machine learning approach to estimate expanded disability status scale scores for multiple sclerosis in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal by Sage Publications.

Scores can help determine the course of illness, need for different levels of care, and help guide treatment decisions. Tweet this Difficult diagnosis with no cure. Estimating Disease Activity

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an auto-immune, inflammatory disease that attacks the central nervous system (CNS) and causes a variety of neurological symptoms including muscle weakness, spasticity, fatigue, numbness, vision problems, dizziness, bowel and bladder dysfunction, depression and more. Nearly 1 million Americans suffer from MS. With no cure, delay in diagnosis and treatment can result in permanent disability. Existing medications aim to modify the disease course, treat relapses, and manage symptoms.

Once diagnosed, clinicians use the Expanded Disability Status Score (EDSS) to evaluate and measure disability levels in MS patients. Scores can help determine the course of illness, need for different levels of care, and help guide treatment decisions. The EDSS considers functional impairment in seven functional systems including pyramidal, cerebellar, brainstem, sensory, bladder and bowel, visual and cognitive. Although widely used in clinical trials, its use in routine clinical practice is limited due to the time required for clinicians to complete the scale and the complexity of scoring.

To address missing functional disability assessments, RWD and machine learning methods were used to generate estimated EDSS (eEDSS) scores. For this study, OM1 extrapolated data from the OM1 PremiOM MS Dataset to amplify and expand existing clinician rated EDSS scores. Nearly 14,000 MS patients with clinical notes were screened for a clinician EDSS score that was extracted from the notes using medical language processing (MLP) methods and a test set of 684 patients with 3,489 scores was further divided into a model training cohort (75%) and a model validation cohort (25%). The results showed an area under the curve of 0.91 with positive and negative predictive values of +/-0.85 (see the full study here ).

"It is exciting to see a machine learning model that performs at this level based on real-world data," said Dr. Carl Marci, Chief Psychiatrist and Managing Director of Mental Health & Neuroscience at OM1 and one of the authors on the paper. "Importantly, it can be easily applied to a neurologist's clinical note - saving time for clinicians and adding valuable tracking information for patients."

The PremiOM MS Dataset is a continually updating database of more than 19,400 MS patients prospectively followed with deep clinical, laboratory and other data, such as longitudinal outcomes, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores, relapses, subtypes, and treatment response. Additionally, researchers can tap into data from another 485,000 MS patients in the OM1 Real-World Data Cloud, which can be used for modeling, analytics, and other research purposes.

To learn more about the OM1 eEDSS model or the PremiOM MS Dataset, please email [email protected].

This article, "Validation of a machine learning approach to estimate expanded disability status scale scores for multiple sclerosis," by Pedro Alves, Eric Green, Michelle Leavy, Haley Friedler, Gary Curhan, Carl Marci, and Costas Boussios, and published in Multiple Sclerosis Journal by Sage Publications will be free to access for a limited time and can be read here.

Contact

Renee Hurley

VP, Marketing, OM1

617-620-9571

[email protected]

About OM1

With specialization in chronic conditions, OM1 is re-imagining real-world data and evidence by developing large electronically connected networks of clinicians and health data in rheumatology, dermatology, gastroenterology, cardiometabolic, respiratory, mental health, central nervous system, and other specialty areas. Leveraging its extensive clinical networks and artificial intelligence (AI) platform, OM1 offers industry leading enriched healthcare datasets, research analytics, data modeling, decision support, and retrospective and prospective clinical studies. With a focus on high-quality data and clinical outcomes, the offerings are used for accelerating research, demonstrating treatment effectiveness, supporting regulatory submissions, monitoring safety, and informing commercialization.

Learn more at www.om1.com .

SOURCE OM1
Orbital Sidekick to provide pipeline monitoring services for compliance and leak detection

SAN FRANCISCO, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Orbital Sidekick (OSK) announced today it has been selected by Dallas-based Energy Transfer to monitor its assets in the Permian Basin through satellite technology. Energy Transfer is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America with more than 120,000 miles of pipeline and related assets crossing 41 states. OSK is the first company to commercially deploy hyperspectral sensors in space.

Energy Transfer selected OSK to monitor its Permian Basin assets as part of its Partnership-wide pipeline integrity programs designed to ensure the continued safety of its pipelines. The use of OSK's satellite technology allows Energy Transfer to go above and beyond the minimum regulatory requirements in monitoring the integrity of its pipelines, something Energy Transfer has done for decades. OSK's satellite technology enables earlier detection and prevention of leaks along pipeline rights of way, using hyperspectral data analysis to drive broad improvements in community safety, environmental performance, and overall operating efficiency.

"Energy Transfer's selection of Orbital Sidekick is a testament to our asset monitoring solution addressing a real and emerging market need," Daniel Katz, CEO & Co-Founder of OSK, said. "Operators at Energy Transfer are able to assess the integrity of its pipelines daily, for a reasonable price point and in a more sustainable fashion." Further, Peter Weaver, OSK's Vice President of Business Development, said "Energy Transfer is an ideal partner to stretch our capabilities to meet the next level of industry demands."

Upon deployment of OSK's GHOSt constellation, beginning late 2022 / early 2023, OSK will offer frequent monitoring of pipeline assets to the global oil and gas industry through its SIGMA Platform. OSK's technology will help the industry meet its compliance & regulatory obligations as well as help transition towards more sustainable operations.

About Orbital Sidekick:

Orbital Sidekick's vision is to lead the Energy Transition by building the most robust remote sensing and analytics capability in existence. OSK's proprietary analytics platform and hyperspectral payload architecture provide persistent space-based monitoring solutions powered by Spectral IntelligenceTM. This unique radiometric speciation and change detection capability enables unparalleled target monitoring services for both commercial and defense users on a global scale. Orbital Sidekick is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information on Orbital Sidekick's global persistent monitoring services, please visit orbitalsidekick.com.

Press Contact:

Jack Buttacavoli

[email protected]

SOURCE Orbital Sidekick
Long Beach, Calif., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pools of Hope will relaunch its in-person Respiratory Health Improvement Program (RHIP) in North Long Beach on June 27th, from 11am to 1pm, Pacific Time (U.S. and Canada).

This free event will include asthma screenings, respiratory education, food, recreational swimming, and giveaways for children in the community. Made possible in part by the Port of Long Beach Community Grants Program, RHIP is an excellent opportunity for children in the local Long Beach community to receive vital respiratory assessments and care.

In 2019, the American Fitness Index ranked Long Beach with the worst air quality in the nation among the 100 largest cities. According to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the North Long Beach community surrounding Pools of Hope has the highest level of burden and vulnerability to multiple sources of pollution (above 90%), with rates of asthma measuring between 87-92% higher than the rest of the state's census tracts. The Pools of Hope RHIP proactively addresses the repercussions of poor air quality in the community while equipping parents and guardians with the tools they need to mediate long-term respiratory health implications.

"We are so excited to partner with the Port of Long Beach to provide our Respiratory Health Improvement Program for children," said Pools of Hope Executive Director Patricia Dixon. "By providing asthma screening and education, we will help to improve the lives of youth in our community for years to come."

The event is free to the public, who can RSVP for the event here .

About Pools of Hope:

Each year, Pools of Hope provides therapeutic aquatic and wellness programs to over 1500 children with developmental disabilities, veterans, seniors, and people with disabilities. Our warm-water pools are credited with helping people to improve their physical and mental well-being.

SOURCE Pools Of Hope
Marks key step in executing on the Company's capital plan

PHILADELPHIA, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PREIT (NYSE: PEI), today, announced that it has sold its 25% interest in the entity that owns Gloucester Premium Outlets.

The gross consideration to the Company from this transaction was $35.4 million, consisting of $14 million in cash plus $21.4 million of debt reduction, following assumption by the buyer. The cash portion of the proceeds were used to pay down the Company's senior credit facility. This transaction represents a portion of the asset sale pipeline referenced in conjunction with the Company's first quarter 2022 earnings release dated May 5, 2022 with $275 million of transactions in process.

"We continue to seek creative ways to harvest capital throughout our optimally-located platform," said Joseph F. Coradino, Chairman and CEO of PREIT. "We are intently focused on reducing debt, improving our balance sheet and executing on meaningful transactions in the near-term as we plan to exercise the one year extension of our credit facility."

About PREIT

PREIT (NYSE:PEI) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns and manages innovative properties developed to be thoughtful, community-centric hubs. PREIT's robust portfolio of carefully curated, ever-evolving properties generates success for its tenants and meaningful impact for the communities it serves. Located primarily in densely-populated regions, PREIT is a top operator of high quality, purposeful places that serve as one-stop destinations for customers to shop, dine, play and stay. Additional information is available at www.preit.com or on Twitter , Instagram or LinkedIn .

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "may" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans, strategies, anticipated events, trends and other matters that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future events and conditions and are based on currently available financial, economic and competitive data and our current business plans. Actual results could vary materially depending on risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that may affect our operations, markets, services, prices and other factors as discussed in the Risk Factors section of our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While we believe our assumptions are reasonable, we caution you against relying on any forward-looking statements as it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and it is impossible for us to anticipate all factors that could affect our actual results. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the effectiveness of strategies we may employ to address our liquidity and capital resources in the future, our ability to achieve our forecasted revenue and pro forma leverage ratio and generate free cash flow to further reduce our indebtedness; our ability to manage our business through the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, a weakening of global economic and financial conditions, changes in governmental regulations and related compliance and litigation costs and the other factors listed in our SEC filings. Additionally, our business might be materially and adversely affected by changes in the retail and real estate industries, including bankruptcies, consolidation and store closings, particularly among anchor tenants; current economic conditions, including consumer confidence and spending levels and supply chain challenges and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health and governmental response as well as the corresponding effects on tenant business performance, prospects, solvency and leasing decisions; our inability to collect rent due to the bankruptcy or insolvency of tenants or otherwise; our ability to maintain and increase property occupancy, sales and rental rates; increases in operating costs that cannot be passed on to tenants; the effects of online shopping and other uses of technology on our retail tenants; risks related to our development and redevelopment activities, including delays, cost overruns and our inability to reach projected occupancy or rental rates; social unrest and acts of vandalism and violence at malls, including our properties, or at other similar spaces, and the potential effect on traffic and sales; the frequency, severity and impact of extreme weather events at or near our properties; our ability to sell properties that we seek to dispose of or our ability to obtain prices we seek; our substantial debt and the liquidation preference of our preferred shares and our high leverage ratio and our ability to remain in compliance with our financial covenants under our debt facilities; our ability to refinance our existing indebtedness when it matures, on favorable terms or at all; our ability to raise capital, including through sales of properties or interests in properties and through the issuance of equity or equity-related securities if market conditions are favorable; and potential dilution from any capital raising transactions or other equity issuances.

Additional factors that might cause future events, achievements or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements include those discussed herein, and in the sections entitled "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. We do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact:

Heather Crowell

[email protected]

[email protected]

SOURCE PREIT
"Our community of customers and partners are a constant reminder of the inspiring digital transformation success that organisations are achieving," said Nintex Chief Executive Officer Eric Johnson. "We congratulate the 2022 Solution Innovation Award winners and applaud them for their success in transforming the way people work with the Nintex Process Platform."

Receiving top honours as the 2022 Nintex Champion, Quaker Houghton is a global leader in industrial process fluids and operates in more than 25 countries with 4,200 employees. Since their precise and sophisticated manufacturing processes leave no room for error, the organisation uses Nintex Forms and Nintex Workflow to automate the process of initiating lab requests and directing them appropriately.

To learn more about Quaker Houghton's Nintex success visit: https://www.nintex.com/case-study/quaker-houghton/

2022 Nintex Solution Innovation Awards winners by award category are available online at https://www.nintex.com/using-nintex/customer-and-partner-awards/2022-nintex-solution-innovation-awards/ and include:

2022 Nintex Champion

Quaker Houghton

Regional Transformation Leaders

Americas: GM Financial

Asia Pacific : Austral Construction

: Austral Construction Europe : Twinings

: Twinings Middle East & Africa : Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia

Game Changing Solution-Specific Deployments

Process Excellence with Nintex Promapp  : Thermo Fisher Scientific

: Thermo Fisher Scientific Operational Performance with Nintex DocGen  : Dubai South

: Dubai South Breakthrough Use Cases with Nintex RPA: BGL Group

Cloud-Based Success with Nintex Workflow Cloud: Newson Health

Industry Breakthroughs

Americas: Capital Farm Credit, Johnson & Johnson, and Draeger

Asia Pacific : IQumulate, Harrison Group and Yancoal Australia

: IQumulate, Harrison Group and Yancoal Australia Europe : Fidelity International and DuPont De Nemours

: Fidelity International and DuPont De Nemours Middle East & Africa : Wema Bank and Al Naboodah Group

Public Sector Excellence

Americas: Delaware Department of Transportation (Division of Motor Vehicles)

Asia Pacific : AgriFutures

: AgriFutures Middle East & Africa : Saudi Arabia Ministry of Communications and Information Technology

Education & Non-Profit Success

Education, Americas: Auburn University

Education, Asia Pacific : Busy Bees Asia

: Busy Bees Asia Education, EMEA: Khalifa University

Non-Profit: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

The Nintex Solution Innovation award winners were selected by a panel of judges based on nominations submitted directly by Nintex customers and partners.

To learn how more organisations are achieving digital transformation and improving the way people work with the Nintex Process Platform, visit https://www.nintex.com/why-nintex/case-studies/.

Media Contact

Laetitia Smith

Nintex

[email protected]

cell: +64 21 154 7114

About Nintex

Nintex is the global standard for process intelligence and automation. Today more than 10,000 public and private sector organisations across 90 countries turn to the Nintex Process Platform to accelerate progress on their digital transformation journeys by quickly and easily managing, automating and optimising business processes. Learn more by visiting www.nintex.com and experience how Nintex and its global partner network are shaping the future of Intelligent Process Automation (IPA).

Product or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Nintex
Evergreen Nephrology will join forces with a leader in comprehensive kidney care to change the lives of those living with kidney disease in the Dallas area

NASHVILLE, Tenn., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Evergreen Nephrology is announcing a joint venture with Dallas Nephrology Associates (DNA), one of the nation's largest teams of kidney specialists, and a leader and trusted source for kidney care in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for over 50 years. Evergreen Nephrology partners with nephrologists in local markets to transform kidney care, and Evergreen believes that nephrologists are best positioned to lead this charge.

"For over 50 years, DNA has cared for some of our most vulnerable patients who require a great amount of medical support. Our experience with value-based care during this time has enabled us to decrease healthcare costs by focusing on delivery of individualized care tailored to each of our patients. Although we already have a robust infrastructure in place to provide this type of care, I believe that our partnership with Evergreen Nephrology will allow us to provide even more comprehensive services to our patients. We are truly excited about our new venture as we embark together to keep our DFW community healthier," said Dr. Alexander Liang, President and CEO of DNA.

"We are proud of our partnership in with Dallas Nephrology Associates. We created Evergreen to with a vision to transform kidney care for patients with the best nephrology groups in the countrythis is why we are so honored to team with DNA," said Adam Boehler, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Evergreen Nephrology.

Since 2015 more than 12,000 people per year died waiting for a transplant or were removed from the waiting list after becoming 'too sick to transplant.' Additionally, minorities and people of color are adversely affected by kidney disease and yet are less likely to receive a kidney transplant. Evergreen Nephrology and its nephrologist partners believe that the status quo is unacceptable and are committed to providing best in class care for people suffering from kidney disease. This includes delaying disease progression, shifting kidney care to the home, and getting patients needed organ transplants.

The United States spends more than $130 billion dollars a year fighting kidney disease, often because nephrologists are not involved in patient care early enough. Evergreen partners with nephrologists to provide them resources to invest in an expanded care model, the financial backing needed to take total cost of care risk, and a technical platform built for a value-based environment. Evergreen will also partner with dialysis providers and hospitals to share risk and enable better outcomes for patients.

About Evergreen Nephrology

Evergreen Nephrology was built with the mission to transform kidney care by putting nephrologists in the driver's seat. By empowering nephrologists, providing financial backing, best-in-class clinical resources, and analytical insights and tools, Evergreen strives to slow disease progression, improve clinical outcomes, and increase quality of life for people living with CKD and ESRD. In addition to providing high quality healthcare and strategic partnerships, Evergreen intends to launch a Medicare Advantage Plan in 2023.

Evergreen Nephrology's Co-Founder and Executive Chairman Adam Boehler drove efforts at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center (CMMI) and the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to introduce the Kidney Care Choices (KCC) models that empower nephrologists as they care for their patients. In addition to transforming dialysis delivery, the HHS team set new standards for organ procurement to increase transplantation. Adam and fellow Co-Founder Abe Sutton were awarded the 2019 President's Medal from the American Society of Nephrology.

Learn more at www.evergreennephrology.com

About Dallas Nephrology Associates

Dallas Nephrology Associates (DNA) is a national leader in providing comprehensive care for patients with kidney disease, kidney transplant, and hypertension. DNA has been a trusted source of information and top-quality kidney care in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 1971. Our mission has always beenand today remainsto provide the most advanced, appropriate care for individuals and families facing kidney disease, help them do it with hope and dignity, and treat them with the respect and compassion they deserve.

With over 50 years of dedication and continuous advancement, their team of accomplished physicians includes board-certified and fellowship-trained doctors specializing in nephrology, internal medicine, interventional nephrology, interventional radiology, hypertension and transplant nephrology. Learn more about DNA at https://www.dneph.com/.

For more information on Evergreen and Dallas Nephrology Associates:

www.EvergreenNephrology.com

www.dneph.com/

SOURCE Evergreen Nephrology
As Vice President, Pletnewski led TV creative and media, market research, B2B marketing, corporate communications, internal creative and ancillary products and services. Under her leadership, Safelite experienced substantial growth in top-of-mind awareness, brand visibility and brand recognition.

Pletnewski expanded her role by building a new customer experience team in 2020, focusing on creating meaningful experiences for customers, clients and associates, resulting in additional business value and results.

Cacchillo added, "Christina is a seasoned marketer, and through her new role as CMO, she will continue to lead Safelite's marketing vision through new and innovative brand and customer experience strategies."

Before joining Safelite, Pletnewski held marketing leadership roles for leading companies, including Abbott, Nestle, SC Johnson and L Brands. She earned her bachelor's degree in business administration and MBA at The Ohio State University.

About Safelite

Safelite is a multi-faceted vehicle glass and claims management service organization based in Columbus, Ohio, and operating company-owned facilities in 50 states. The company, which has been in business since 1947, is comprised of two major business operations: Safelite AutoGlass, a vehicle glass repair, replacement and recalibration services provider and Safelite Solutions, which offers fleet and insurance claims management services for vehicle glass and other claims. The company employs nearly 16,000 people throughout the United States. Safelite is a subsidiary of Belron. Safelite AutoGlass is the largest vehicle glass repair, replacement and recalibration company under one brand in the world.

Media Contact: To connect with a Safelite spokesperson, email [email protected] .

SOURCE Safelite
SANTA CRUZ, Calif., June 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Santa Cruz County Bank (OTCQX:SCZC), with assets over $1.7 billion, is a top-rated community bank headquartered in Santa Cruz County. Today the bank announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share. The dividend is payable on July 11, 2022 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on July 7, 2022.

Chairman William J. Hansen stated, "The Board of Directors of Santa Cruz County Bank are pleased to announce an increase to the quarterly cash dividend paid to our shareholders. The new increased dividend will be $0.11 per share and will be payable on July 11, 2022. We are pleased to reward our investors with a 22% dividend increase."

For the quarter ended March 31, 2022, Santa Cruz County Bank reported $5.4 million in net income, a 15% increase over the prior quarter.

Return on tangible equity was 13.69% for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. The book value per share of Santa Cruz County Bank's common stock at March 31, 2022 was $21.42 an increase of $0.99 from the same period in 2021. Shareholders' equity grew to $182.9 million, a $9.4 million increase compared to the same period in 2021.

ABOUT SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BANK

Santa Cruz County Bank was founded in 2004. It is a top-rated, locally-owned and operated, full-service community bank headquartered in Santa Cruz, California. The bank has branches located in Aptos, Capitola, Cupertino, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley and Watsonville. Santa Cruz County Bank is distinguished from "big banks" by its relationship-based service, problem-solving focus and direct access to decision makers. The bank is a leading SBA lender in Santa Cruz County and Silicon Valley and a top USDA lender in the state of California. As a full-service bank, Santa Cruz County Bank offers competitive deposit and lending solutions for businesses and individuals; including business loans, lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction lending, asset-based lending, agricultural loans, SBA and USDA government guaranteed loans, credit cards, merchant services, remote deposit capture, mobile and online banking, bill payment and treasury management. True to its community roots, Santa Cruz County Bank has supported regional well-being by actively participating in and donating to local not-for-profit organizations. Santa Cruz County Bank stock is publicly traded on the OTCQX marketplace under the symbol SCZC. For more information about Santa Cruz County Bank, visit www.sccountybank.com.

This release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties may include but are not necessarily limited to fluctuations in interest rates, inflation, government regulations and general economic conditions, and competition within the business areas in which the Bank is conducting its operations, including the real estate market in California and other factors beyond the Bank's control. Such risks and uncertainties could cause results for subsequent interim periods or for the entire year to differ materially from those indicated. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which reflect management's view only as of the date hereof. The Bank undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

SOURCE Santa Cruz County Bank
Volumes of Judicial Commission of Inquiry report into allegations of state capture, corruption and fraud in the public sector, including organs of state.

South Africa's Chief Justice Raymond Zondo handed the final part of a report of an investigation into corruption during the presidency of Jacob Zuma to President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria on Wednesday.

Over nearly four years, the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, headed by Zondo, heard testimony from hundreds of witnesses and examined thousands of documents about graft during Zuma's two terms, between 2009 and 2019.

"State capture was an assault on our democracy and violated the rights of every man, woman and child in this country," Ramaphosa said.

The president said he would submit a detailed plan to parliament within in four months to outline what he plans to do with the commission's report.

"The report is far more than a record of widespread corruption, fraud and abuse; it is also an instrument through which the country can work to ensure that such events are never allowed to happen again," Ramaphosa said.

"I don't want to make anybody think that this report is all you need to rid South Africa of state capture or to make sure that state capture never happens again, but I do believe that it will, the recommendations that have been made, if they are implemented will make a significant contribution to that goal," Zondo said.

Ramaphosa's testimony also examined

The final part of the report is 1,824 pages long. It includes findings on South Africa's domestic intelligence agency known as the State Security Agency, which was allegedly used to go after Zuma's political foes during his tenure.

The final chapters also deals with evidence given by Ramaphosa during the commission's hearings. The president said he hadn't seen the conclusion the commission made about his testimony before accepting the report.

"He could have made a negative finding against me, which I will accept," Ramaphosa said.

His statement came after the commission missed a a deadline to wrap up its work.

Opposition parties questioned the delay and criticised communication between Zondo and Ramaphosa over delay.

"We've dealt with each other with a great deal with integrity; not for once ever wanting to discuss the substance of the work that the chief just was doing, not for once even to disucss the evidence that I present to the commission," Ramaphosa said.

Guptas to face corruption charges

Central to the Commission's work was the suggestion that Zuma's associates, the Gupta family, won control of much of the state and its finances.

Born in India, brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh Gupta moved to South Africa in the early 1990s.

Through their business ventures, they became close to the African National Congress, particularly with Zuma and his family.

The Commission found they had significant access to Zuma during his presidency.

They allegedly influenced his political decisions, including ministerial appointments, staffing at the various state-owned enterprises, and rearrangement of the revenue service to advance their financial interests.

They left South Africa for Dubai shortly after Zuma was forced to resign over corruption allegations against him and the Guptas.

Two of the brothers, Atul and Rajesh Gupta, were arrested in Dubai earlier this month.

They were taken into custody after an Interpol red notice was issued, and Dubai police was working with South African authorities on extradition.

The Gupta family has constantly denied any wrongdoing.

Jacob Zuma and the Commission

In an earlier report the Commission already recommeded that law enforcement agencies further investigate Zuma with a view to possible prosecution for corruption.

The former president dismissed the Commission he had set up.

At an initial appearance at the commission in 2019, he said: "I have been vilified and alleged to be the king of corruption."

He ignored numerous summonses to appear before the Commission again.

Last year the country's Constitutional Court found him guilty of contempt for his refusal to appear at the Commission again and sentenced him to 15-month in prison.

Zuma's jailing in July sparked a series of violent protests and looting in which more than 350 people died.

He was released on medical parole, but a court has since ordered him back to jail. An order his legal team was appealing.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines South Africa Governance Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

What is 'state capture' in South Africa?

State capture is a South-African term that refers to how private individuals and companies have illegally influenced state institutions to do their bidding.

The Commission also recommended that law-enforcement agencies investigate several former executives of state-owned companies, ex-ministers, and some current members of Ramaphosa's cabinet.

ANC chairperson and Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said he would be taking the state capture report on judicial review. The Commission found he had corrupt dealings with a services company, Bosasa, which paid for upgrades to his home when he was secretary-general of the ANC.

Judge Zondo said there would be "no scarcity" of people wanting to challenge the Commission's work.

He said that was one of the reasons the release of the final report was delayed.

He wanted to ensure the "proper completion of the conclusion of the report."

Reuters contributed to this report

Edited by: Rob Turner
The addition of Elite Fire Safety establishes a Sciens presence in the greater Detroit area, boosting its overall national footprint.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sciens Building Solutions ("Sciens") today announced it has welcomed Novi, Michigan-based Elite Fire Safety ("Elite") to its continuously growing portfolio of companies in the United States.

This latest acquisition by Sciens displays its commitment to becoming the largest independent fire-life safety and security integrator in the U.S. by adding the state of Michigan to its already broad U.S. presence. This partnership will provide Elite and its customers with even more comprehensive resources and expertise, as they tap into Sciens' knowledge and capabilities, while contributing significant expertise themselves.

"By joining the Sciens positive growth trajectory across the country, the Elite team will certainly benefit from the company's robust technical expertise and comprehensive building solutions, combined with our existing capabilities, empowering us to develop even broader offerings for the important Metropolitan Detroit Area market," said David Sizemore, president of Elite Fire Safety. "We are excited to grow together under the well-respected Sciens platform and contribute to an expanding footprint in Michigan and beyond."

Elite Fire Safety was established in 2007 in Lake Orion, MI, where it quickly became known as an expert company in the field of fire and life safety services and established a solid foundation in the Metropolitan Detroit Area that has grown to service clients throughout the State of Michigan and northern Ohio. Its team of nearly 80 professionals are the market leaders in providing fire and life safety services in the complex healthcare and high-rise/commercial market spaces.

"It's a very exciting time at Sciens and we are delighted to expand into a new state with a market-leading company such as Elite," said Terry Heath, Sciens' CEO. "Their team is full of industry experts, and we are looking forward to expanding our presence in this region, while welcoming other great companies to our fun Sciens journey."

About Sciens Building Solutions

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, and backed by The Carlyle Group, Sciens Building Solutions is a holding company focused on the fire detection and security services sector. This includes the design, installation, and provision of maintenance services for fire detection and clean agent fire suppression systems in a variety of commercial, institutional, and government facilities. For more information, please visit: www.sciensbuildingsolutions.com.

About Elite Fire Safety

Elite Fire Safety was founded in 2007 in Lake Orion, Michigan, where it has become one of the premier fire alarm and protection service companies in the greater Detroit area. They specialize in design, engineering, installation, testing & inspection, maintenance, and monitoring for fire detection, as well as fire protection inspections and fire extinguisher services. For more information, please visit: https://elitefire.com/.

Contact:

Jil Shingledecker

[email protected]

407-221-6785

SOURCE Sciens Building Solutions
DUBAI, UAE and PRAGUE, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Seed Group, a company of the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, has entered into a strategic partnership with Prague-based 2bminer.com , a crypto mining company that offers flexible plans to investors to buy, host, and sell mining equipment at world-class facilities and get the highest return on their investment.

As part of the agreement, Seed Group will help 2bminer.com expand its operations in the Emirates and the wider Middle East, reach the right audience, access top decision-makers in the government as well as private sectors, and market their crypto mining products and services effectively in the region. The fintech company, on the other hand, will focus on transforming the crypto mining market of the UAE by providing the best machines, technical support, and global hosting centres to make the minting of cryptocurrencies easier and more profitable.

According to a recent study conducted by Chainalysis, after Turkey and Lebanon, the UAE's crypto market is the third-largest in the Middle East with a transaction volume of about $26 billion. The data showed the market grew by an incredible 1,500% in 2020-21 over the previous financial year, attracting some of the world's biggest crypto companies to the UAE.

Hisham Al Gurg, CEO of Seed Group and the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, said: "As cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular, people are eager to invest in them and make profits. The UAE wants to establish a crypto mining ecosystem, offering a growth-oriented environment to fintech companies and world-class mining services to clients in the region itself. Companies offering mining equipment, hosting services, world-class facilities, and good returns to investors at globally competitive rates hold huge potential in the Emirates' digital economy."

Founded in 2021, 2bminer.com has its head offices in Prague and Los Angeles, and hosting centres around the globe. With mining facilities at hydro, wind, and solar power plants in New York, Nebraska, Texas, and the UAE, the company offers complete services to clientsfrom the purchase of mining machines to their hosting, management, administration, maintenance, and even sale.

Jakub Hlavenka, CEO, 2bminer.com, said: "We are pleased to enter into a mutually beneficial partnership with SEED Group. The collaboration will help propel our business interests and goals in the MENA region through the group's support and a strong base of regional connections. We are committed to providing the best platform for crypto mining in the region."

2bminer.com's partnership with SEED Group will give it access to one of the fastest-growing economies and further opportunities to reach out to prospective clients based in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia regions.

Seed Group is a notable force in the technology, healthcare, hospitality, and telecommunications landscapes in the Middle East. Over the past 16 years, it has formed successful strategic alliances with leading global companies representing diverse regions to accelerate sustainable market entry and presence within the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

About 2bminer

2bminer is a crypto mining company that uses hosting centres around the world to mine mainly at hydro, wind, and solar power plants in the USA and the UAE. With 2bminer's unique software, clients can see actual mining on their mobile phones, making it an easy way to mine without any special knowledge or time commitment. The company offers the sale of mining machines and client ownership, along with providing placement of such machines at various centres and across management. 2bminer handles mining, administration, hosting, service, legislation, and insurance for such cases. Clients or users can monitor the status of their investments and accounts in the web application. For more information, visit www.2bminer.com .

About Seed Group

Over the past 16 years, Seed Group has formed strategic alliances with leading global companies representing diverse regions and industries. These companies have propelled their business interests and goals in the Middle East and North Africa region through the support and strong base of regional connections of the Seed Group. The Group's goal is to create mutually beneficial partnerships with multinational organisations and to accelerate their sustainable market entry and presence within the MENA region. Seed Group has been a key point in the success of all its partners in the region, helping them reach their target customers and accelerate their businesses. The Private Office was established by Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum to directly invest in or assist potential business opportunities in the region, which meet The Private Office's criteria. For more information, visit www.seedgroup.com .

2bminer Media Contact

Jakub Hlavenka

+420 775 423 737

[email protected]

UAE Contact

Michal Bilek

+971 58 553 8448

[email protected]

Seed Group Media Contact

Nomarie Jean Lacsamana

+971 4 373 5068

[email protected]

SOURCE Seed Group; 2bminer.com
NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Purcell & Lefkowitz LLP, a class action law firm dedicated to representing shareholders nationwide, is investigating a potential breach of fiduciary duty claim involving the board of directors of Mastech Digital, Inc. (NYSE American: MHH).

If you are a shareholder of Mastech Digital, Inc. and are interested in obtaining additional information regarding this investigation, free of charge, please visit us at:

http://pjlfirm.com/mastech-digital-inc/

You may also contact Robert H. Lefkowitz, Esq. either via email at [email protected] or by telephone at 212-725-1000. One of our attorneys will personally speak with you about the case at no cost or obligation.

Purcell & Lefkowitz LLP is a law firm exclusively committed to representing shareholders nationwide who are victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty and other types of corporate misconduct. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://pjlfirm.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

SOURCE Purcell & Lefkowitz LLP
Jason Bottiglieri held senior leadership roles within the cardiovascular device market including Invatec (acquired by Medtronic), Spectranetics (acquired by Philips) and Cordis, a Johnson & Johnson company. He also served as President and CEO of Infraredx (acquired by Nipro Corporation) and InnovHeart Srl

TEL AVIV, Israel and ZURICH, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SHL Telemedicine Ltd. (SIX Swiss Exchange: SHLTN) ("SHL"), a leading provider and developer of advanced personal telemedicine solutions, announced that Mr. Jason Bottiglieri was nominated as General Manager of SHL Telemedicine USA, Inc., its wholly owned US subsidiary.

Jason Bottiglieri has over 25 years of commercial and executive-level management experience within the cardiovascular device field. He has extensive experience establishing and leading sales, marketing and operations teams, successfully commercializing innovative technologies in the global market. In his most recent position, Mr. Bottiglieri held the role of Chief Commercial Officer at Elucid Bioimaging, a developer of a non-invasive artificial intelligence medical software used for cardiovascular disease diagnosis. Prior to that he served as President and CEO of InnovHeart S.r.L., a developer of transcatheter mitral valve replacement systems, and as President and CEO of Infraredx, a developer of intravascular imaging systems, acquired in 2015 by Nipro Corporation of Japan.

Jason Bottiglieri commented, "I am honored to join SHL Telemedicine to lead the SHL US business unit during this exciting period of growth. The achievements and strategic collaborations that SHL has established in a very short time form a strong foundation for the significant potential of the SmartHeart technology. Together with the dedicated and talented SHL US team, we will continue the work to realize the potential for SHL and establish SmartHeart as a household name."

Erez Nachtomy, CEO of SHL Telemedicine added, We are pleased that Jason is joining the SHL leadership team. Jason brings with him impressive knowledge and experience in executive-level positions in the medical device field. SHL is accelerating its activity in the US and we are confident that under Jason's leadership we will significantly expand the use of our SmartHeart ECG technology in the US."

Further information

Fabienne Farner, IRF, Phone: +41 43 244 81 42 [email protected]

About SHL Telemedicine

SHL Telemedicine is engaged in developing and marketing personal telemedicine systems and the provision of medical call center services, with a focus on cardiovascular and related diseases, to end users and to the healthcare community. SHL Telemedicine offers its services and personal telemedicine devices to subscribers utilizing telephonic and Internet communication technology. SHL is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SHLTN, ISIN: IL0010855885, Security No.: 1128957). For more information, please visit our web site at www.shl-telemedicine.com.

Some of the information contained in this press release contains forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. SHL Telemedicine undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

SOURCE SHL Telemedicine Ltd.
Chief Customer Officer, Brockey, honored in the "Magnanimous Mentors" Category

FORT WORTH, Texas, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Simpli.fi, the Advertising Automation Platform for agencies, brands, and media companies, announced that Elizabeth Brockey, Chief Customer Officer, was honored as one of the Top Women in Media & AdTech by AdExchanger and AdMonsters.

Brockey was honored in the "Magnanimous Mentors" category, which highlights her extraordinary effort and impact on the careers of her team members and fellow colleagues. She understands the importance of fostering a culture of leadership across all levels of an organization as a key to creating satisfied employees and a productive work environment. As a true servant-leader who focused on the growth and well-being of her employees, she continues to build and lead Simpli.fi's Customer Success Department. This team has been instrumental in Simpli.fi's continued growth, both in Net Promoter Score and as the company pursues growth through acquisition efforts. Brockey uses her keen eye for detail to make sure her team members have all the resources and tools they need to be successful, all while ensuring they feel appreciated.

"Liz and the team that she leads are a huge part of our success at Simpli.fi," said Frost Prioleau, co-founder and CEO of Simpli.fi. "It is fantastic and very fitting to see Liz recognized as a 'Magnanimous Mentor,' as she has a gift for supporting her team members and helping them advance in their careers."

One of Brockey's most notable accomplishments over the last year was leading team integration efforts throughout multiple acquisitions. Brockey has succeeded in this endeavor by working to understand each group's operations, document processes, and procedures, all while noting and strategizing around the organization's operational challenges. Brockey's efforts through onboarding new teams and mentoring her current team continues through the rapid growth Simpli.fi is experiencing, and contributes to the overall success of the company.

To learn more about Simpli.fi, please visit simpli.fi/.

About Simpli.fi

Simpli.fi is the leading advertising automation platform that provides workflow software and programmatic advertising solutions to over 1,500 agencies, advertisers, and media buying organizations. Our solutions enable our customers to perform more effectively and efficiently, and maximize ROI on their advertising spend across CTV, mobile, display, and other media types. Our platform delivers performance on budgets of all sizes, executing over 120,000 campaigns for 30,000 advertisers in a typical month. Simpli.fi's investors include leading private equity firms Blackstone and GTCR.

Media Contact

Justin Finnegan

SHIFT Communications for Simpli.fi

[email protected]

SOURCE Simpli.fi
OSTERSUND, Sweden, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Skanska has signed a contract with an existing client to build out the interior of the H3 - a data center in Hillsboro, Oregon, USA. This contract, part of a multi-phase contract, is worth USD 80M, about SEK 760M, which will be included in the US order bookings for the second quarter of 2022.

Specifically, Skanska will build-out approximately 11,200 square-meter of the 18MW data center hall. Skanska completed the core and shell construction of the 35,900 square meter Tier III Data Center in 2021.

Work began in April 2022 and is scheduled for completion in March 2023.

CONTACT:

Daniela Arellano, Communications Director

Skanska USA

tel +1(213)317-4977

Andreas Joons

Press Officer

Skanska AB

tel +46(0)104490494

Direct line for media

tel +46(0)104488899

This and previous releases can also be found at www.skanska.com.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/skanska/r/skanska-builds-out-interior-of-new-data-center-in-oregon--usa--for-usd-80m--about-sek-760m,c3590447

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/95/3590447/1596358.pdf 20220623 US data center

SOURCE Skanska
NEW YORK, June 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) has approved a cash dividend on the Corporation's common stock for the third quarter of 2022. The dividend of $0.85 is payable on September 12, 2022, to shareholders of record on August 26, 2022. The annualized dividend rate is $3.32 per share.

The Company has paid a dividend each year since 1937 and is one of fewer than 25 companies in the S&P 500 that has increased its dividend annually for at least the last 49 years.

About S&P Global:

S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) provides essential intelligence. We enable governments, businesses and individuals with the right data, expertise and connected technology so that they can make decisions with conviction. From helping our customers assess new investments to guiding them through ESG and energy transition across supply chains, we unlock new opportunities, solve challenges and accelerate progress for the world.

We are widely sought after by many of the world's leading organizations to provide credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity and automotive markets. With every one of our offerings, we help the world's leading organizations plan for tomorrow, today.

Contacts:

Investor Relations:

Mark Grant

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations

Tel: + 1 347 640 1521

Media:

Christopher Krantz

Tel: +44 7976 632 638

[email protected]

SOURCE S&P Global
Supreme Court rules against states barring parents who select schools that provide religious instruction from participating in Student-Aid Program

WASHINGTON, June 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, in Carson v. Makin, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 6-3 that states cannot discriminate against parents who select schools that provide religious instruction from participating in student-aid programs. First Liberty Institute and Institute for Justice (IJ) argued the case at the Supreme Court in December.

In response to today's landmark ruling, Kelly Shackelford, President, CEO, and Chief Counsel for First Liberty Institute said, "We are thrilled that the Court affirmed once again that religious discrimination will not be tolerated in this country. Parents in Maine, and all over the country, can now choose the best education for their kids without fearing retribution from the government. This is a great day for religious liberty in America."

Today's opinion overturns a Maine law that banned families from an otherwise generally available student-aid program if they choose to send their children to schools that teach from a religious perspective. For school districts that do not maintain a high school, Maine pays students' tuition at the public or private school of the family's choice. Until today's ruling, families were prohibited from using the scholarship program to attend religious schools.

About First Liberty Institute

First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.

SOURCE First Liberty Institute
NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Grilling is heating up, and that means it's time to grab the butter, and don't cut costs by avoiding the good stuff. According to Data Bridge Market Research, grilling is currently growing due to the rise in the barbecuing on weekends and holidays, especially among young people. And there are no signs of slowing down! The report also predicts that the BBQ Grill Market will grow at a rate of 5.10% during the forecast period between 2021 and 2028.

European Butter Adds Flavor to Your Grilled Favorites

Meanwhile, according to Future Market Insights, the global butter market is estimated to reach a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 4.9% during the forecast period of 2022 to 2032 and the United States remains the EU's largest importer of butter.

So how does the growth of grilling and the consumption of European butter - and particularly French butter - go together? Americans are discovering the joys and benefits of grilling with European butter. In fact, many top chefs around the country notice the perks and flavor nuances of French butter.

For example, Chef Sheana Davis, butter monger for Bread & Butter Winery in Napa and author of the upcoming book Buttermongers, says that in addition to the classic addition of butter to grilled steak, there's no limit to what you can grill with French butter. From sauteed vegetables on the grill, to grilled cheese, and even scallops and shrimp, Davis enjoys utilizing the high-quality butter in all of her summer grilling. A longtime fan of compound butters, Davis recently even perfected a recipe for asparagus with a chive lemon butter, featuring none other than French butter.

Davis explains that appeal, "With the 82% butter fat and the cultured flavor of the butter, French butter can really add a new level to the dish." She adds, "When I was in Paris three years ago, I attended a butter tasting and they paired butters with wines from the same region. It was an eye-opener. The slight and yet pleasant sourness is what I really enjoy about the butters of Europe."

Another chef and grill master who religiously uses European butter is Paul Jimenez, a.k.a. @bigpaulonthegrill, and Founder of The PaulieStrong Foundation , which uses cooking to create awareness for Childhood Cancer Research. Jimenez says "it's all about flavor and French butter provides a unique nuttiness due to the quality of the cultured cream and what the cows consume. It gives it a nutty, mellow tang, and reacts differently when baked and grilled. French butter is extremely versatile in its uses. Spread it on toast and you will experience a subtle, yet delicious difference from traditional American butters, or poach raw lobster meat and prepare a game-changing lobster roll this summer." He adds, "I like to use French butter to top a seared or grilled steak, and to poach seafood such as lobster or crab legs." He adds that shrimp poached in French butter is "absolutely incredible."

Charles Duque, Managing Director of the Americas for the French Dairy Board, explains where the pleasant sour tang of French butters comes from. "Cultured butter is treated with cultures like yogurt and is then fermented and churned. This results in a fuller, deeper flavor and is much creamier. There's a slight tang from the cultures, just like with yogurt." To make sure your butter is truly the best, look for the AOP or AOC label. Adds Duque, "Butter with an AOP or AOC is a protected butter from a specific region. If a butter has this symbol, it means it is produced following certain guidelines and uses milk specifically from a certain region."

And it's not just the flavor that makes European butter the pick of American chefs. Adds Davis, "the texture is so elegant based on the cream content. French Butter spreads so well and adapts to many dishes." She shares her pro tips:

Purchase only what you need and keep it fresh

Store in an airtight container so that the butter does not absorb refrigerator flavors

Keep a portion on your counter in a butter dish so you have immediate access to spreadable butter (perfect with your afternoon baguette)

Jimenez also offers this top tip, this time for poaching with French butter on the grill. The key is to prevent the butter from boiling or it will separate. "Try to keep the butter between 160 and 175 degrees F. Use an instant read thermometer to keep it under 180 F," he notes.

If you want to elevate your cooking, visit the website https://tasteeurope.com/article/fire-up-the-grill-and-dont-forget-the-european-butter/ @TasteEuropeButterofFrance is where you'll find many recipes using European butter, along with a store locator, and more tips and techniques for adding more flavor to your favorite recipes.

Media contact:

Laura Baddish

917 601 0051

[email protected]

SOURCE Taste Europe
teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi is set to be an immersive, inspirational space where the intersection of art and technology will ignite curiosity, imagination and creativity in all who visit. Slated to be completed in 2024, it is the latest offering of the Saadiyat Cultural District. The 17,000sqm (GFA) teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi building has been conceived with unparalleled installations that will be unique to Abu Dhabi, created through an extensive experimentation process.

The Department of Culture and Tourism  Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has partnered with Miral, the emirate's leading creator of destinations and experiences, to develop the concept, architecture and facilities, alongside teamLab, the globally acclaimed, interdisciplinary Tokyo-based art collective, known for their unique artistic vision

Strengthening Abu Dhabi's position as a leading cultural centre, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi will sit alongside Louvre Abu Dhabi, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and other major landmarks comprising the Saadiyat Cultural District, adding to the area's creative offering by creating a bridge between history, culture and creativity and immersing visitors in an innovative art experience.

Visitors will be invited to open their minds and embark on a journey through teamLab's new concept of environmental phenomena, which offers a new perspective on the world around us. The featured artworks are created and shaped by the environment which produces the various phenomena. The adapted and unique architecture, conceptualised by teamLab and realised by Abu Dhabi-based MZ Architects, plays an important role in providing the artworks with an environment to evolve freely and organically, as if they were life-forms themselves. The experience will be unique to each visitor, changing with each visit, as they discover a place in which to endlessly explore and transcend the limits of their imagination.

Having created art that is part of the collection of global institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, amongst many others, teamLab's artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians and architects are creating an original concept and unique teamlab Phenomena Abu Dhabi experience for the UAE capital.

HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, said: "Curiosity and imagination are at the core of who we are as human beings, sparking all our discoveries, inventions and innovations through the millennia. Sitting at the intersection of art, technology, nature and high-tech fantasy, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi will offer a world of boundless wonder and creativity to all who visit, encouraging the new perspectives that are so essential to a thriving future. Adding yet another outstanding experience to our world-leading cultural destination, the teamLab Phenomena experience will be unique to Abu Dhabi, reinforcing the emirate's position as a destination of distinction. Providing a journey which will trigger the senses, nurture curiosity, spark imagination, and awaken a thirst for knowledge, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi fully supports our commitment to inspire a new generation of innovators and creators in the emirate and beyond."

Toshiyuki Inoko, Founder of teamLab, said: "It is a great honour for us to be able to open teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi in the Saadiyat Cultural District of Abu Dhabi, a world-leading, future-focussed city. At teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi, visitors will be immersed into a world that organically changes and evolves through the participation and actions of the people in it, and it is precisely this physical experience that can expand our senses of value. The future is built upon the grand sum of people's creations. Curiosity drives people towards a deeper understanding of the world and leads to creativity. We believe that imagination decides the direction of this creativity. Our hope is for teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi to create opportunities for curiosity and imagination to be born.

Commenting on the philosophy behind the project, Inoko continued: "teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi is based on teamLab's new concept in which the existence of the artworks are created by the phenomena produced by their environment. The artworks in teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi do not exist independently but are created by the environment which produces the various phenomena. Objects like stones and man-made creations maintain a stable structure on their own. Unlike these, the existence of the artworks in teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi are dependent on their environment. The environment produces phenomena and stabilises their structure - these stabilised phenomena are what create the existence of the artworks.

"Environmental phenomena are released from the material substances that have been responsible for maintaining structures of existence. Elements like air, water, and light that permeate our daily lives are transformed by their environment into unique phenomena that become works of art. The boundaries of their existence are ambiguous and continuous. Even if people destroy the work, the work will remain in existence as long as its environment is maintained. On the contrary, the work will disappear if the environment is not maintained. In time, people's consciousness will expand from existence itself to the environment. A stone can continue to exist in a closed box, sealed off from the outside world, but life cannot sustain its existence in such a box because it is created by its environment. Life is a miraculous phenomenon that emerges from a flow in a continuous world."

To celebrate the official launch of the project, DCT Abu Dhabi has also announced a preview activation for visitors to experience immersive artworks that embody the concept of 'infinite curiosity' ahead of the opening, taking them on a journey of wonder and sensory exploration. This event will take place at Mamsha Al Saadiyat from 24 June to 17 July.

The teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi launch reaffirms Abu Dhabi's vision to enrich the emirate's cultural landscape and foster its Culture and Creative Industries (CCI), positioning the UAE capital as a centre for creativity and innovation. With culture a major driver of social and economic development, the emirate is fast becoming a globally known centre of talent and a leading producer of creative content. Abu Dhabi seeks to broaden artistic and cultural expression by providing its community and visitors with a diverse cultural programme curated to inspire creativity and knowledge development, creating a culturally active and artistically conscious city with strong links to the wider region and the world.

The emirate continues its support and development of cultural institutions, including museums such as the upcoming Zayed National Museum, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi. The emirate's performing arts, media and gaming sectors will also see further investment in their diverse array of programmes and initiatives.

The Saadiyat Cultural District is an ambitious undertaking that, will be one of the world's pre-eminent cultural destinations. Through its museums, cultural centres, and educational institutions, the District will boast one of the highest concentrations of cultural experience in the world. The area is already home to Louvre Abu Dhabi, the globally celebrated universal museum, and Manarat Al Saadiyat, a cultural centre that contributes to the region's vibrant arts scene with internationally relevant exhibitions and events, workshops and creative programming.

The Saadiyat Cultural District will soon also include the Zayed National Museum, the national museum of the UAE; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, focusing on global Modern and Contemporary art; and the Abrahamic Family House, which will comprise three religious spaces in one complex  a mosque, a synagogue and a church  to inspire and nurture acceptance and peaceful coexistence among people of all faiths.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1846205/teamLab_Phenomena.jpg





SOURCE The Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi
Blog

As the United States celebrates Juneteenth, in its second year as an official federal holiday, policy makers should take the opportunity to embrace a new vision of US-Africa relations. The United States is not taking enough steps at home to foster the connection between the African diaspora and communities in Africa. It will need to act locally and globally (or "glocally") to grow these connections.

Good foreign policy is good domestic policy, and vice-versa. But the systemic flaws in US domestic policy when it comes to racial justice became even clearer after police officers killed George Floyd in 2020. Human-rights organizations across the world, but especially in Africa, demanded justice. African countries lobbied the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate systemic racism and police brutality in the United States and elsewhere. Two years later, we are in the same position, and more Africans and African descendants are dying.

Meanwhile, African diaspora communities in the United States and Caribbean are strengthening economic and cultural ties with African communities through business, sports, art, movies, politics, religion, philanthropy, and more. One of Africa's first tech unicorns, Flutterwave, became the highest-valued African startup at three billion dollars, and its backers include American companies. Pearlean Igbokwe, who is Nigerian, is chairman at American film producer Universal Studio Group. Virgil Abloh, the late artistic director of Louis Vuitton, came to the United States from Ghana.

The second annual AFRICON last month in Los Angeles saw prominent members of the Black diaspora gather to celebrate Africa. As Grammy-nominated recording artist Jidenna told BET: "I thought it was special that first-generation Africans here care so much about building the bridge between Black Americans, Caribbean Americans, and Africans."

That bridge is fortified through programs like the US Peace Corps, which trains and deploys volunteers around the world, and the Young African Leaders Initiative's Mandela Washington Fellowship, which hosts Africans to study at US universities and work with US employers.

Working as a US Peace Corps volunteer in rural Zambia, I experienced this ecosystem of collective impact firsthand while I helped create health programs and carried out sponsored projects in collaboration with African government officials and private-sector stakeholders. This opportunity for me and plenty of other African Americans to become more involved on the continent is a result of influential travelers to Africa and international-affairs professionals who paved the way.

Meanwhile, the number of Sub-Saharan African immigrants residing in the United States tripled from 2000 to 2019. This is a clear signal that diaspora communities want to become part of the solution for American and African innovation.

A slow start

There is strong public demand for continuing to improve ties between African diaspora and African communities--and there are several ways the United States can foster those ties.

The government has already made a few gains, as Congress passed the 400 Years of African-American History Commission Act establishing a group to educate the public about the contributions of African-Americans since 1619. Congress also passed the Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act requiring the US State Department to develop a plan to counter Russian influence in Africa. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden issued an executive order expanding initiatives supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and formed the President's Board of Advisors on HBCUs. Biden also is planning to host a US-Africa Leaders' Summit after an eight-year hiatus--earning unanimous praise from the Senate for doing so--and there's movement in the House to support the US African Development Foundation.

The United States has recently made gains in improving the representation of the African diaspora in public positions, most notably with the election of US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Senate's confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, and the appointment of White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Biden's cabinet includes seven Black leaders--including Lloyd Austin, the first Black secretary of defense--while the 117th Congress includes fifty-eight Black representatives, with Representative Gregory Meeks (D-NY-5) becoming the first Black lawmaker to chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee. And just weeks ago, Lisa Cook was sworn in as the first Black woman on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors.

Following these diversity and representation achievements, the United States is moving toward inclusion for Black communities everywhere, with the goal being what Nigerian curator Okwui Enwezor envisioned: "The formation of a diaspora could be articulated as the quintessential journey into becoming; a process marked by incessant regrouping, recreations, and reiteration. Together these stressed actions strive to open up new spaces of discursive and performative postcolonial consciousness."

And yet, according to the Atlantic Council's Freedom and Prosperity Indexes, the United States only ranks forty-first in minority rights among the 174 countries measured. There's plenty of work to be done, and it should include concrete action from the US government in the form of glocal policies that empower African diaspora communities and improve their access to cross-cultural collaboration and economic opportunity.

A new vision: Glocalization

In this new vision, the United States should implement policies at the local level that fold into an international agenda. The United Kingdom's 2015 Modern Slavery Act, for example, is a local policy that aims to end modern slavery in the United Kingdom--and ultimately seeks to remove the United Kingdom, an important economic player, from the centuries-long global system of oppression behind the transatlantic slave trade. Meanwhile, the United States has yet to amend the Thirteenth Amendment which, while abolishing slavery, allows criminally convicted people to be subjected to involuntary servitude.

Another example of glocalization is the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While states are taking up some measures to reach the SDGs, they're far off course for meeting them by 2030--and progress on a fifth of indicators in every state is moving backwards. That poor performance, according to the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, points to rising inequality in the United States and, especially, economic disparities by race and ethnicity. By working more meaningfully on the SDGs, states could not only reduce inequality and its consequences, improving livelihoods across the board, but also improve the United States' reputation as a leader in human rights and equality--leaving a different impression on its African partners.

However, some states are spearheading important glocal policies. One example is California, which established a Reparations Task Force, the first of its kind in the nation to study slavery and its harms. Its interim report included recommendations for supporting, compensating, and empowering local African Americans. But California can't transform the country's reputation alone.

In addition, the massacre in Buffalo, New York, that killed ten Black people has reignited fear of more racist attacks. This impedes the United States' ability to project values like equality, liberty, democracy, unity, and diversity. If these kinds of killings--and the climate of fear they create--are left unaddressed, tourism and immigration from Africa could decline, with devastating impacts on the African diaspora and the economy.

There are other creative glocal policies that the US government could deploy. For example, it can create soft landings for African or African-diaspora entrepreneurs and foster cross-cultural collaboration by issuing entrepreneur passports similar to the United Arab Emirates' Gold Visa. This would contribute to the ecosystem of collective impact that is central to the relationship between the African diaspora and African communities.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Africa U.S., Canada and Africa By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

My brother's keeper

There is a strong desire to connect Black Americans whose ancestors were uprooted from their homes back to their African brothers and sisters. As a young Black man, I am fully aware that we are one people. The African American and African communities are my home, and the world is my backyard. I am proud to be part of a diverse and global community that cares about and loves Africa, and I believe that everyone, not just every Black person, has a role to play in supporting African diaspora communities. I see many Africans and members of the African diaspora traveling across the Atlantic to form meaningful connections, often using these journeys to self-reflect and discover ancestral roots--aided by advances in DNA research allowing them to make specific connections.

Tremendous progress has been achieved, but global leaders must continue to push for glocal measures that empower the African diaspora and strengthen ties with African communities. It starts with educating American youth about African and Black history and culture--and the ties that bind our two continents. Glocal policies have the potential to boost development on the continent and within US Black communities. Western governments, financial institutions, and civil society leaders are mobilizing now to protect and ultimately realize their collective impact.

Tyrell Junius is the associate director of the Atlantic Council's Africa Center.
Leahy to lead ACFP in creating an engaged and inclusive community to celebrate performing arts.

ROCK HILL, S.C., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Arts Center at Fountain Park proudly announced today the appointment of Todd Leahy as the Executive Director, beginning August 1, 2022. Mr. Leahy's appointment marks the conclusion of a thoughtful search conducted by the ACFP Board of Directors. ACFP will be the home for performing arts across York, Lancaster, and Chester counties in South Carolina.

Todd Leahy, New ACFP Executive Director

Mr. Leahy brings more than 16 years of major fundraising experience to ACFP and a deep passion for arts and community building. "It was imperative for us to find someone who not only understood the job requirements but who also embodies the heart of our mission," says Matthew Dosch, Chairman of the ACFP Board. "Todd shares our vision to put The Arts Center truly at the center of the performing arts in our region both physically and metaphorically."

Most recently, Mr. Leahy was the Major Gifts Officer for United Way of Central Carolinas. There he raised more than $2M annually while managing a robust portfolio of donors at all levels. Since 2011 - and across multiple roles - Mr. Leahy not only raised record numbers but also forged lasting community relationships that continue forward.

"I see the opportunity for Fountain Park to become the anchor of community engagement, with ACFP at the center of it all," says Mr. Leahy. "And while we work toward that center being a physical space, we can be advocates, supporters, partners, and good neighbors to those already thriving here. I want performing arts to be accessible to the entire community for generations to come."

His passion for the performing arts was passed down to Mr. Leahy as a child, and it's something he's doing for his children today. "As a kid, I went to shows in Spartanburg, and just recently, we gave my daughter a season pass to Blumenthal - I'm passing it down. That's what I want to build within the region - a love of the arts that outlives us all."

Mr. Leahy is tasked with leading ACFP in its mission to connect, educate, and inspire through shared celebration of the arts. "We met with many candidates who could do the role's tasks, but it was Todd who truly grasped the need to connect an active, engaged, and inclusive community of performing artists and arts organizations, while touching the lives, passions, and imagination of those who share a love for the performing arts," says Melanie Jones, ACFP Board Secretary.

"I want every part of the community to feel like they can participate," says Mr. Leahy. "Whether taking a class, attending a concert, listening to the symphony, or going to a school play, art should be accessible and enjoyed widely. I am immensely grateful to the ACFP board, the search committee, and the community for giving me this opportunity."

For more information about The Arts Center at Fountain Park, and how you can become involved, visit www.theartscenterfp.org.

Media Contact:

Matthew Dosch

803-326-7287

[email protected]

SOURCE The Arts Center at Fountain Park
Conference call and webcast scheduled for 8:30 a.m. EDT

TORONTO, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Thomson Reuters (NYSE, TSX: TRI) announced today its second-quarter 2022 earnings will be issued via news release on Thursday, August 4, 2022.

Steve Hasker, president and chief executive officer, and Mike Eastwood, chief financial officer, will host a conference call and simultaneous webcast that morning at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Discussions may include forward-looking information.

You can access the webcast by visiting the "Investor Relations" section of the Thomson Reuters website. Registration for the webcast is now open. Additionally, an archive of the webcast will be available following the presentation.

Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is a leading provider of business information services. Our products include highly specialized information-enabled software and tools for legal, tax, accounting and compliance professionals combined with the world's most global news service  Reuters. For more information on Thomson Reuters, visit tr.com and for the latest world news, reuters.com.

CONTACTS MEDIA Andrew Green Senior Director, Corporate Affairs +1 332 219 1511 [email protected] INVESTORS Gary E. Bisbee, CFA Head of Investor Relations +1 646 540 3249 [email protected]

SOURCE Thomson Reuters
Vendor Landscape

The commercial wood-fired pizza ovens market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. The market is characterized by the presence of numerous large-, medium-, and small-sized manufacturers. Most of the large and established players have extensive sales and distribution networks globally, whereas most of the small players are concentrated in regional markets. Vendors are competing based on parameters such as price, quality, grade, brand identity, and distribution.

Technavio identifies Californo, EarthStone Wood-Fire Ovens, Fontana Forni USA, Forza Forni Inc., Gourmet Wood Fired Ovens Perth, Le Panyol, Marra Forni, Mugnaini Imports Inc., The Bushman - Wood Fired Ovens, and The Stone Bake Oven Co. as some of the major market participants. Although the increasing consumption of pizza as a meal in developing countries, rising popularity of fast-casual pizza restaurants, and increase in demand for rapid cooking ovens will offer immense growth opportunities, high initial and maintenance costs, easy availability of substitutes, and regulations pertaining to commercial wood-fired pizza ovens will challenge the growth of the market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Read Our Sample Report for more insights into the vendor landscape.

Commercial Wood-Fired Pizza Ovens Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Commercial Wood-Fired Pizza Ovens Market is segmented as below:

Product

Commercial Black Wood-fired Pizza Ovens



Commercial White Wood-fired Pizza Ovens

The commercial black wood-fired pizza ovens segment occupies the largest share of the market. Benefits such as faster cooking and retention of the nutritional content of pizza toppings are driving the demand for commercial black wood-fired pizza ovens.

Geography

Europe



North America



APAC



South America

About 31% of the market growth will originate from Europe during the forecast period. The high income of consumers living in the European Union is the key factor driving the growth of the commercial wood-fired pizza ovens market in Europe.

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our commercial wood-fired pizza ovens market report covers the following areas:

Commercial Wood-Fired Pizza Ovens Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the commercial wood-fired pizza ovens market, including some of the dominant vendors. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research report on the commercial wood-fired pizza ovens market is designed to provide entry support, customer profile, and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

Commercial Wood-Fired Pizza Ovens Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist commercial wood-fired pizza ovens market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the commercial wood-fired pizza ovens market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the commercial wood-fired pizza ovens market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of commercial wood-fired pizza ovens market vendors

Related Reports:

Commercial Wood-Fired Pizza Ovens Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2019 Forecast period 2020-2024 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.13% Market growth 2020-2024 USD 12.83 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 3.58 Regional analysis Europe, North America, APAC, and South America Performing market contribution Europe at 31% Key consumer countries US, China, Brazil, Russian Federation, Germany, and Australia Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Californo, EarthStone Wood-Fire Ovens, Fontana Forni USA, Forza Forni Inc., Gourmet Wood Fired Ovens Perth, Le Panyol, Marra Forni, Mugnaini Imports Inc., The Bushman - Wood Fired Ovens, and The Stone Bake Oven Co. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID 19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Table Of Contents :

1 Executive Summary

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 01: Parent market



Exhibit 02: Market characteristics

2.2 Value chain analysis

Exhibit 03: Value chain analysis: Industrial machinery

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 04: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 05: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2020

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2020 - 2025

Exhibit 06: Global - Market size and forecast 2020 - 2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 07: Global market: Year-over-year growth 2020 - 2025 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 08: Five forces analysis 2020 & 2025

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 09: Bargaining power of buyers

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 10: Bargaining power of suppliers

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 11: Threat of new entrants

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 12: Threat of substitutes

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 13: Threat of rivalry

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 14: Market condition - Five forces 2020

5 Market Segmentation by Product

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 15: Product - Market share 2020-2025 (%)

5.2 Comparison by Product

Exhibit 16: Comparison by Product

5.3 Commercial black wood-fired pizza ovens - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 17: Commercial black wood-fired pizza ovens - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 18: Commercial black wood-fired pizza ovens - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.4 Commercial white wood-fired pizza ovens - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 19: Commercial white wood-fired pizza ovens - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 20: Commercial white wood-fired pizza ovens - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.5 Market opportunity by Product

Exhibit 21: Market opportunity by Product

6 Customer landscape

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 23: Market share by geography 2020-2025 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 24: Geographic comparison

7.3 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 25: Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 26: Europe - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.4 North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 27: North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 28: North America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 29: APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 30: APAC - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 31: South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 32: South America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.7 MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 33: MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 34: MEA - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.8 Key leading countries

Exhibit 35: Key leading countries

7.9 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 36: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

Exhibit 37: Impact of drivers and challenges

8.3 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

Exhibit 38: Vendor landscape

9.2 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 39: Landscape disruption



Exhibit 40: Industry risks

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 41: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

10.3 Californo

Exhibit 43: Californo - Overview



Exhibit 44: Californo - Product and service



Exhibit 45: Californo - Key offerings

10.4 EarthStone Wood-Fire Ovens

Exhibit 46: EarthStone Wood-Fire Ovens - Overview



Exhibit 47: EarthStone Wood-Fire Ovens - Product and service



Exhibit 48: EarthStone Wood-Fire Ovens - Key offerings

10.5 Fontana Forni USA

Exhibit 49: Fontana Forni USA - Overview

- Overview

Exhibit 50: Fontana Forni USA - Product and service

- Product and service

Exhibit 51: Fontana Forni USA - Key offerings

10.6 Forza Forni Inc.

Exhibit 52: Forza Forni Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 53: Forza Forni Inc. - Product and service



Exhibit 54: Forza Forni Inc. - Key offerings

10.7 Le Panyol

Exhibit 55: Le Panyol - Overview



Exhibit 56: Le Panyol - Product and service



Exhibit 57: Le Panyol - Key offerings

10.8 Marra Forni

Exhibit 58: Marra Forni - Overview

- Overview

Exhibit 59: Marra Forni - Product and service

- Product and service

Exhibit 60: Marra Forni - Key offerings

10.9 Mediterranean Woodfired Ovens PL

Exhibit 61: Mediterranean Woodfired Ovens PL - Overview



Exhibit 62: Mediterranean Woodfired Ovens PL - Product and service



Exhibit 63: Mediterranean Woodfired Ovens PL - Key offerings

10.10 Mugnaini Imports Inc.

Exhibit 64: Mugnaini Imports Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 65: Mugnaini Imports Inc. - Product and service



Exhibit 66: Mugnaini Imports Inc. - Key offerings

10.11 The Bushman - Wood Fired Ovens

Exhibit 67: The Bushman - Wood Fired Ovens - Overview



Exhibit 68: The Bushman - Wood Fired Ovens - Product and service



Exhibit 69: The Bushman - Wood Fired Ovens - Key offerings

10.12 The Stone Bake Oven Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 70: The Stone Bake Oven Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 71: The Stone Bake Oven Co. Ltd. - Product and service



Exhibit 72: The Stone Bake Oven Co. Ltd. - Key offerings

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 73: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.3 Research methodology

Exhibit 74: Research Methodology



Exhibit 75: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 76: Information sources

11.4 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 77: 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
Global competitiveness and key competitor percentage market shares

Market presence across multiple geographies - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial

Online interactive peer-to-peer collaborative bespoke updates

Access to our digital archives and MarketGlass Research Platform

Complimentary updates for one year

Edition: 7; Released: January 2022

Executive Pool: 1119

Companies: 46 - Players covered include ABV International Pte. Ltd.; Alticast; ARRIS Group, Inc.; Austrian Broadcasting GmbH & Co KG; China Digital TV Holding Co., Ltd.; Cisco Systems, Inc.; Conax AS; CoreTrust, Inc.; CryptoGuard AB; Irdeto B.V.; Nagravision SA; Sumavision Technologies Co., Ltd.; Verimatrix, Inc.; Viaccess-Orca; Wellav Technologies Ltd. and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Application (Television Broadcasting Services, Internet Services, Digital Radio Broadcasting Services); Type (Smartcard-based CAS, Card-less CAS)

Geographies: World; United States; Canada; Japan; China; Europe (France; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; Spain; Russia; and Rest of Europe); Asia-Pacific (Australia; India; South Korea; and Rest of Asia-Pacific); Latin America (Argentina; Brazil; Mexico; and Rest of Latin America); Middle East (Iran; Israel; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; and Rest of Middle East); and Africa.

Complimentary Project Preview - This is an ongoing global program. Preview our research program before you make a purchase decision. We are offering a complimentary access to qualified executives driving strategy, business development, sales & marketing, and product management roles at featured companies. Previews provide deep insider access to business trends; competitive brands; domain expert profiles; and market data templates and much more. You may also build your own bespoke report using our MarketGlass Platform which offers thousands of data bytes without an obligation to purchase our report. Preview Registry

ABSTRACT-

Global Conditional Access System Market to Reach $4.7 Billion by 2026

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Conditional Access System estimated at US$3.3 Billion, is projected to reach a revised size of US$4.7 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 5.7% over the analysis period. Smartcard-based CAS, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to record a 5.4% CAGR and reach US$3.7 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Card-less CAS segment is readjusted to a revised 6.9% CAGR for the next 7-year period.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $960.1 Million in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach $958.7 Million by 2026

The Conditional Access System market in the U.S. is estimated at US$960.1 Million in the year 2021. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$958.7 Million by the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 8.7% over the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 3.1% and 5.1% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 3.6% CAGR. More

MarketGlass Platform

Our MarketGlass Platform is a free full-stack knowledge center that is custom configurable to today`s busy business executive`s intelligence needs! This influencer driven interactive research platform is at the core of our primary research engagements and draws from unique perspectives of participating executives worldwide. Features include - enterprise-wide peer-to-peer collaborations; research program previews relevant to your company; 3.4 million domain expert profiles; competitive company profiles; interactive research modules; bespoke report generation; monitor market trends; competitive brands; create & publish blogs & podcasts using our primary and secondary content; track domain events worldwide; and much more. Client companies will have complete insider access to the project data stacks. Currently in use by 67,000+ domain experts worldwide.

Our platform is free for qualified executives and is accessible from our website www.StrategyR.com or via our just released mobile application on iOS or Android

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyR

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years.

CONTACTS:

Zak Ali

Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

www.StrategyR.com

Email: [email protected]

LINKS

Join Our Expert Panel

https://www.strategyr.com/Panelist.asp

Connect With Us on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/global-industry-analysts-inc./

Follow Us on Twitter

https://twitter.com/marketbytes

Journalists & Media

[email protected]

SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
Edition: 7; Released: January 2022

Executive Pool: 1867

Companies: 47 - Players covered include APTIV PLC; Continental AG; Denso Corporation; HARMAN International; Magna International Inc.; NXP Semiconductors Netherlands B.V.; Robert Bosch GmbH; Sierra Wireless, Inc.; TomTom International BV; Trimble Inc.; Verizon Connect; ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Communication (Vehicle-To-Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-To-Infrastructure (V2I), Vehicle-To-Cloud (V2C)); Range (Dedicated Short Range, Long Range/Cellular Network); Vehicle (Light Commercial Vehicles, Heavy Commercial Vehicles)

Geographies: World; United States; Canada; Japan; China; Europe (France; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; and Rest of Europe); Asia-Pacific; Rest of World.

Complimentary Project Preview - This is an ongoing global program. Preview our research program before you make a purchase decision. We are offering a complimentary access to qualified executives driving strategy, business development, sales & marketing, and product management roles at featured companies. Previews provide deep insider access to business trends; competitive brands; domain expert profiles; and market data templates and much more. You may also build your own bespoke report using our MarketGlass Platform which offers thousands of data bytes without an obligation to purchase our report. Preview Registry

ABSTRACT-

Global Connected Trucks Market to Reach $55.1 Billion by 2026

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Connected Trucks estimated at US$24 Billion, is projected to reach a revised size of US$55.1 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 14.7% over the analysis period. Dedicated Short Range, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to record a 16.4% CAGR and reach US$49 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Long Range/Cellular Network segment is readjusted to a revised 10% CAGR for the next 7-year period.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $8.3 Billion in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach $9.6 Billion by 2026

The Connected Trucks market in the U.S. is estimated at US$8.3 Billion in the year 2021. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$9.6 Billion by the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 14.1% over the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 12.9% and 12.5% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 10.7% CAGR. More

MarketGlass Platform

Our MarketGlass Platform is a free full-stack knowledge center that is custom configurable to today`s busy business executive`s intelligence needs! This influencer driven interactive research platform is at the core of our primary research engagements and draws from unique perspectives of participating executives worldwide. Features include - enterprise-wide peer-to-peer collaborations; research program previews relevant to your company; 3.4 million domain expert profiles; competitive company profiles; interactive research modules; bespoke report generation; monitor market trends; competitive brands; create & publish blogs & podcasts using our primary and secondary content; track domain events worldwide; and much more. Client companies will have complete insider access to the project data stacks. Currently in use by 67,000+ domain experts worldwide.

Our platform is free for qualified executives and is accessible from our website www.StrategyR.com or via our just released mobile application on iOS or Android

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyR

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years.

CONTACTS:

Zak Ali

Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

www.StrategyR.com

Email: [email protected]

LINKS

Join Our Expert Panel

https://www.strategyr.com/Panelist.asp

Connect With Us on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/global-industry-analysts-inc./

Follow Us on Twitter

https://twitter.com/marketbytes

Journalists & Media

[email protected]

SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
Addition of Hawkins Wealth Management Raises Wealth Enhancement Group's Total Client Assets to More Than $55.5 Billion

MINNEAPOLIS, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wealth Enhancement Group ("WEG"), an independent wealth management firm today announced it plans to acquire Hawkins Wealth Management, an independent RIA with offices in North Liberty, Iowa, and Naples, Florida. Led by founder Tim Hawkins, CFP, Hawkins Wealth Management has $574 million assets under management. This latest partnership brings Wealth Enhancement Group's total client assets to more than $55.5 billion.

Jeff Dekko, Chief Executive Officer of Wealth Enhancement Group, said, "Tim and Managing Partner Aaron Robertson have built a well-respected firm supporting the financial planning, tax efficiency and retirement distribution planning needs of individuals during times of transitioning wealth. We are excited to have them, their more than 40 years of combined financial planning experience and Hawkins' dedicated team of advisors join Wealth Enhancement Group."

Mr. Hawkins founded Hawkins Wealth Management in 2012 after working for large insurance and investment companies. The firm embraces a comprehensive analytical approach to financial planning and a low client-to-advisor ratio to help clients nearing retirement, selling a business or navigating other life changes.

This acquisition will bring a team of six financial advisors and seven support staff to Wealth Enhancement Group and enhance the firm's robust Midwest presence. This will be Wealth Enhancement Group's sixth acquisition in 2022.

Mr. Hawkins said, "We are passionate about creating better outcomes by simplifying the complexities of wealth and family financial planning. Joining Wealth Enhancement Group allows us to drive growth by leveraging their support services and technology offerings."

Jim Cahn, Chief Investments and Business Development Officer of Wealth Enhancement Group said, "Hawkins Wealth Management has an exceptional history of providing tailored financial planning, investment management and retirement distribution planning services for its clients. We look forward to helping them grow their business."

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close June 30, 2022, after which the practice will do business as the Hawkins Team at Wealth Enhancement Group.

About Wealth Enhancement Group

Wealth Enhancement Group is a Greater Minneapolis-based independent wealth management firm offering comprehensive and customized financial planning and investment management services. Founded in 1997, Wealth Enhancement Group serves clients nationwide. Wealth Enhancement Group specializes in providing retail clients with the team-based knowledge and resources they need to simplify their financial life. For more information, please visit www.wealthenhancement.com .

Advisory services offered through Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, LLC (WEAS), a registered investment advisor. Certain, but not all, investment advisor representatives (IARs) of WEAS are also registered representatives of and offer securities through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Wealth Enhancement Group and Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services are separate entities from LPL Financial. Wealth Enhancement Group is a registered trademark of Wealth Enhancement Group, LLC.

Wealth Enhancement Group and its Registered Investment Advisor, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, had $55 billion in client brokerage and advisory assets as of 5/31/2022. Hawkins Wealth Management had nearly $574 million in client brokerage and advisory assets as of 3/31/2022. With the addition of previously announced acquisitions and the acquisition of Hawkins Wealth Management, Wealth Enhancement Group has over $55.5 billion in client brokerage, advisory and trust assets as of June 1, 2022.

Media contacts:

Maggie Habashy

[email protected]

952-457-4571

Prosek Partners, on behalf of Wealth Enhancement Group

[email protected]

SOURCE Wealth Enhancement Group
LuckyBot food extruder could be installed on most FDM printers on the market to enable 3D food printing, like Creality Ender 3/3 Pro/3 V2/3 Max, Ender 5/6/7 CR-10 Series, and Anycubic Mega Series, Voxelab Aquila 3D Printers. Upgrade the FDM 3D printer into a food printer easily and creatively brings 3DP technology to the kitchen.

LuckyBot replaces a 3D printer's standard hotend with one designed specifically for printing food material. It has a lightweight and compact body, which can utilize the printing size when adding 3D printers. Non-destructive disassembly makes switching between FDM 3D printers and food 3D printers easy.

Food-Grade Materials, Protective to Health

LuckyBot extruder comes with a food-grade ABS body, stainless steel nozzle, and food-grade PP tubes to enhance the importance of food safety. It has been certified by FDA, FCC, and CE. Enjoy 3D chocolate printing without worrying about food safety anymore.

The 0 - 50C temperature control range and automatic power-off function greatly increase the safety of the user. One of the most critical aspects impacting food printing is temperature. Thus LuckyBot manages the temperature control accuracy to within 0.5C using advanced temperature control algorithms. In addition, the motor control system of LuckyBot is instrumental in allowing food printing to achieve the same level of precision as filaments.

Quick to Assemble, Easy to Use

By removing the original hotend of the 3D printer and replacing it with the LuckyBot food extruder, users can easily control temperature and lead screw settings using just three buttons. Beginners and professionals alike can get started in a few minutes.

In terms of the software, LuckyBot can be operated using the same techniques as printing filament. Accessible for 3D printing food and having fun.

Various Printing Ingredients for Unlimited Creativity

LuckyBot supports the 3D printing of various ingredients like chocolate, peanut butter, cream, cheese, jam, mashed potatoes, salad dressing, and more, with no limitations on creativity. Chocolate excels when it comes to 3D food printing. The 3D chocolate printing procedure in LuckyBot is: the tempered chocolate is fed into the food-grade PP tube in LuckyBot and extruded as the nozzle is moved around to trace shapes and form 2D layers one at a time.

Applied to Many Scenarios

LuckyBot can satisfy users' demands for different dimensions in 2D or 3D chocolate/food designs that are eye-catching and creative, especially for dessert shops, coffee shops, the upcoming wedding, or just something to have a bit of fun with family or friends. It is also suitable for hotel, catering, and event gastronomy, ideal for chefs, bakers, culinary enthusiasts, and 3D lovers.

For more information, please visit LuckyBot's official website: http://www.wiibooxluckybot.com

Media contact: [email protected]

SOURCE LuckyBot
Acclaimed research solution recognized as Legal Information Solution winner

NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. today announced that its acclaimed research solution VitalLaw has earned a silver Globee Award in the 14th Annual 2022 Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Awards.

VitalLaw is a leading research platform that provides legal professionals with world-class analysis and comprehensive support throughout the legal process. It includes intuitive tools for editorial analysis and data visualization, and empowers customers to bring deep impact to their organizations and their clients. Last fall, Wolters Kluwer introduced VitalLaw as a new and expanded version of the award-winning platform formerly known as Cheetah.

"We developed VitalLaw to provide legal professionals with actionable insights, and I am proud that it has been recognized for a Globee," said Ken Crutchfield, Vice President & General Manager of Legal Markets at Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. "VitalLaw represents our continued investment in leading edge technology and deep domain expertise to provide our customers with a seamless workflow."

Crutchfield also earned a gold Globee in the Product Development Executive of the Year category. Having played a critical role in the development and launch of VitalLaw, Crutchfield was recognized for successfully guiding his team and expanding the platform's primary source content to deliver a more streamlined workflow and valuable insights.

The coveted annual Golden Bridge Awards program recognizes and honors the world's best in organizational performance, products and services, innovations, executives and management teams, women in business and the professions, case studies and successful deployments, public relations and marketing campaigns, product management, websites, blogs, white-papers, videos, advertisements, creativity, partner programs, and customer satisfaction programs from every major industry in the world.

More than 100 judges from around the world representing a wide spectrum of industry experts participated in the judging process. The Golden Bridge Awards are the world's premier business awards program honoring achievements in every industry around the world.

See the complete list of 2022 winners here: https://globeeawards.com/golden-bridge-awards/winners/

About Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.

Wolters Kluwer (WKL) is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the healthcare; tax and accounting; governance, risk, and compliance; and legal and regulatory sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2021 annual revenues of 4.8 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,800 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S. (WTKWY).

For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com , follow us on LinkedIn , Twitter , Facebook , and YouTube .

MEDIA CONTACT:

Linda Gharib

Director, Brand & Communications

Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.

Tel: +1 (646) 887-7962

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.
"This grant will allow us to empower a new generation of women leaders in cybersecurity to lead America's companies safely and smartly into the digital future." Tweet this

"We are honored to have our efforts recognized by the Gula Tech Foundation," said Edie Fraser, Chief Executive Officer of the WBC. "This grant will allow us to empower a new generation of women leaders in cybersecurity to lead America's companies safely and smartly into the digital future."

Established by Ron and Cyndi Gula, the Gula Tech Foundation amplifies the impact of cybersecurity nonprofit organizations through a $1 million competitive grant process. Winners are selected by the foundation's grant committee made up of more than 20 leading experts in the cybersecurity discipline.

The WBC also announced its partnership with Digital Directors Network (DDN), the world's leading executive network focused exclusively on improving digital and cyber risk oversight in the corporate boardroom. The WCGC will utilize DDN's Masterclass training series to prepare women cyber leaders for the boardroom while also educating women corporate directors on the leading issues in cybersecurity.

"Gender diversity in the boardroom has made significant strides over the last decade, but there's still a lot of work to do," said Bob Zukis, Founder and CEO of DDN. "We look forward to teaming with WBC to advance women cyber leaders in the boardroom. By doubling down on these two critically important corporate governance initiatives, WBC and DDN will take these issues to the next level."

Rollout of the WCGC and information on the application process for the training will be forthcoming in the second half of 2022.

About Women Business Collaborative (WBC)

The Women Business Collaborative (WBC) is an unprecedented alliance 70+ women's business organizations and hundreds of business leaders building a movement to achieve equal position, pay, and power for all women in business. Through collaboration, advocacy, action, and accountability, we mobilize thousands of diverse professional women and men, business organizations, public and private companies to accelerate change. (wbcollaborative.org)

SOURCE Women Business Collaborative
"We welcome Worldwide Express for their first entitlement partnership in NASCAR with the Worldwide Express 250 for Carrier Appreciation NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoff race at Richmond Raceway," said Lori Collier Waran, Richmond Raceway President. "As Worldwide Express continues to grow its presence in NASCAR as part of its 30 th anniversary, we look forward to introducing their brand as part of the iconic fan experience at America's Premier Short Track."

To download the Worldwide Express 250 for Carrier Appreciation logo, click here.

"As we deepen our relationship with NASCAR and work toward further involvement in the sport, we are excited to put our name on the race in Richmond," said Worldwide Express President Rob Rose. "Our CEO Tom Madine and I both have ties to Virginia and many of our carrier partners have their homebase in the region, so the entitlement just makes good sense for us. The logistics and supply chain world have been chaotic the past year and our business wouldn't be possible without those carriers, so this is a unique opportunity to say thank you to them leading up to and during the race."

Through its WWEX Racing program, Worldwide Express, along with its sister brands GlobalTranz and Unishippers, earlier this year announced a multi-year partnership with Trackhouse Racing as a primary sponsor on the No. 1 driven by Ross Chastain and No. 99 driven by Daniel Suarez. The brands also serve as the full-season, primary partner with Niece Motorsports on the No. 40 driven by Dean Thompson, the No. 41 driven by Ross Chastain for four Camping World Truck Series races and the No. 42 driven by Carson Hocevar in eight Camping World Truck Series races, which includes the Worldwide Express 250 for Carrier Appreciation at Richmond Raceway. For more information on WWEX Racing, visit www.wwexracing.com.

Founded in 1992, Worldwide Express began as a franchisor with the goal of providing unmatched shipping logistics services to the small and medium-sized business (SMB) community. In the three decades since, the Worldwide Express family of brands has become a top-ranked, full-service logistics provider and the second-largest privately held freight brokerage in North America, with customers spanning from SMBs to the Fortune 100.

Together, Worldwide Express, GlobalTranz and Unishippers offer market-leading solutions for parcel, less-than-truckload (LTL) and truckload shipping and managed transportation services delivered through proprietary technology. With the company's unique data assets and business intelligence capabilities, more than 115,000 shippers benefit from enhanced visibility and efficiency for their supply chains. The company will manage more than 35 million shipments in 2022 through its network of carrier partners, including over 65 leading LTL carriers and more than 85,000 truckload carriers. To learn more about Worldwide Express, visit wwex.com.

About Worldwide Express

Worldwide Express, LLC is a full-service, non-asset-based logistics provider offering more than 115,000 customers access to industry-leading small package, truckload and less-than-truckload shipping solutions. With an annual systemwide revenue approaching $5 billion through a network of company-owned, franchise and agent locations, Worldwide Express, combined with its sister brands GlobalTranz and Unishippers, is the second-largest privately held freight brokerage in the country. As the largest non-retail UPS Authorized Reseller in the US, the company is a local partner for the global supply chains for shippers of all sizes, from small- to medium-sized businesses to enterprise organizations. This, coupled with a selective portfolio of more than 65 LTL and tens of thousands of truckload carriers, provides clients with an unmatched range of options and flexibility to meet their shipping needs. To learn more, visit www.wwex.com.

SOURCE Worldwide Express
President Muhammadu Buhari will leave Abuja, on Wednesday, for Kigali, Rwanda, to attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

The President will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire; the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, and the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami.

Others in the President's entourage are the National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd) Director-General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufa'i Abubakar and the Chairman/CEO Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NidCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

A statement issued Wednesday by a presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, said at CHOGM 2022, the President will join other leaders to participate in discussions focused on the progress and prosperity of the more than two billion people living in the 54 independent countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific that make up the Commonwealth.

He said the Heads of Government are expected to reaffirm their commitment to upholding the Commonwealth Charter, which focuses on democracy, human rights, the rule of law, as well as economic opportunities and sustainable development at CHOGM 2022 with the theme "Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming."

Adesina said President Buhari will attend the official opening ceremony on June 24, followed by high-level meetings of Heads of State and Government on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 June.

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"The leaders are expected to consider a range of topical issues including post COVID-19 economic recovery, debt sustainability, climate change, poverty reduction, youth entrepreneurship and employment, trade and food security.

"Prior to this, the Nigerian delegation drawn from the public, private and youth organisations participated in four forums covering youth, women, business and civil society; and will engage in ministerial meetings and several side events.

"On the margins of the meeting, the Nigerian leader is scheduled to deliver remarks at the High-Level Session of Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases Summit and participate in an Intergenerational Dialogue for Youth.

"President Buhari is also expected to hold bilateral talks with some leaders from the Commonwealth countries.

"Ahead of the biennial meeting, which was due to take place in June 2020 but was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Buhari, in an article published in The Telegraph, London, stressed that the Commonwealth can become a real global power with improved collaborations on trade and security, lending weight to each other in international bodies," the statement added.

The President will return to the country on Sunday.
COLLEGE PARK, Md., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The longstanding 'safe and effective' regulatory approach to assure Americans their drug products meet a high standard of quality remains effective. However, the pharmaceutical industry needs an additional apparatus  a quality rating system  to address recent supply shortages that are attributable to deficiencies in manufacturing practices, says risk management expert Clifford Rossi, a professor of the practice and executive-in-residence at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.

"Think CMNS nursing home ratings and CARFAX car history reports," he adds.

The FDA has concurred and is developing a framework that assesses and rates the "quality management maturity" (QMM) of manufacturing facilities. It's designed to improve supply chain transparency, inform purchasing decisions, reduce drug shortages, and increase medicine availability. The agency further has funded Rossi to help assess such a rating system.

"Despite a market characterized by price inelasticity, a 'quality ratings' [system] should incent manufacturers to invest in quality processes with an aim toward reducing drug shortages," writes Rossi in "Economics and Risks Associated with FDA's QMM Rating Program"  his resulting white paper. He also presented the work as part of a recent FDA-hosted QMM workshop that drew more than 2,000 agency stakeholders as virtual attendees.

The pharma industry  as it is critical to the welfare and health of society  has been well-regulated by the FDA's Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) standards), Rossi says. But "the proliferation of drug products over the years, the globalization of the pharmaceutical market, increasing complexity of drug products, manufacturing processes, and supply chains have led to drug shortages in this country are startling and concerning both to policymakers and also consumers and patients dependent on uninterrupted access to high quality drug products."

Furthermore, the market is unable to differentiate drug products based on manufacturing quality, he adds, and costs imposed on pharmacies and healthcare providers during a drug shortage are not built into price negotiations directly.

"Differences among manufacturers exist in terms of their adoption of best practices in quality management," Rossi says. "This has significant implications for the likelihood of a drug shortage over time for companies unwilling or unable to go beyond CGMP standards."

A quality rating system can address this. Evidence, he adds, appears in another FDA initiative  the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, which "has experienced solid success and momentum in their implementation of voluntary assessments of medical manufacturers."

Elsewhere, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' nursing home rating system has "facilitated significant price differentials between high and low-rated nursing homes," he says. And "the introduction of car history reports by CARFAX has revolutionized the used car market by arming consumers with detailed information on potential damage and defects for a used auto."

Making QMM ratings mandatory for API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) and FDF (fixed dose formulation) manufacturers, Rossi says, "would certainly achieve full industry participation, comparable to what bank regulatory agencies require of depository institutions with regard to their CAMELS (Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity, and Sensitivity to market risk) ratings."

However, following this path has obvious tradeoffs for the FDA, industry and consumers, he says. "The costs to implement this would clearly need to be weighed against the benefits.

A more pragmatic solution is to continue to evolve current QMM voluntary pilot programs into a broader program of voluntary adoption, Rossi says. "There is evidence from other markets that with sufficient time and resources, what starts as a limited voluntary program can blossom into a widely adopted program."

Read "Economics and Risks Associated with FDA's QMM Rating Program," via UMD's Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (M-CERSI).

About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master's, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.

Contact: Greg Muraski at [email protected]

SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
According to McKinsey & Company, the majority of consumers will engage with multiple channels during the average customer journey. But many brands are constrained by a traditional, siloed channel approach that fails to deliver seamless experiences across a variety of channels and struggle to respond to fast-changing consumer behaviors. Acoustic's Multichannel Composer enables brands to engage with consumers at each stage of their journey  easily composing campaigns with relevant messages and branding across preferred channels  with connected experiences that drive acquisition, engagement, retention and ultimately, loyalty and customer lifetime value.

"Multichannel Composer has helped our team be more efficient and effective by giving us the ability to seamlessly manage campaign creation in-house, without relying on outside design or coding resources," said Mary Ruxton, Direct Marketing Manager of Lakeland, a UK-based leader in kitchenware and home goods. "With the drag-and-drop capability, we can quickly and easily create campaigns with our existing team."

With Multichannel Composer, marketers can quickly create personalized, multichannel campaigns at scale with the following benefits and capabilities:

Personalized content at scale: From simple, rules-based "if-then" scenarios to more complex data-driven content, Multichannel Composer supports the needs of all marketing teams to create hyper-personalized content  without involving technical or data teams.

From simple, rules-based "if-then" scenarios to more complex data-driven content, Multichannel Composer supports the needs of all marketing teams to create hyper-personalized content  without involving technical or data teams. Expanded multichannel engagement: Reach consumers across email, SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and through web forms with built-in, end-device previews. Android, iOS and smart watch previews are available for mobile messages specifically.

Reach consumers across email, SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and through web forms with built-in, end-device previews. Android, iOS and smart watch previews are available for mobile messages specifically. Zero-code composer: Intuitive interface with drag-and-drop capabilities to rapidly create high-quality, responsive messages across devices, without coding or developer support. Content can be seamlessly re-used across channels.

Intuitive interface with drag-and-drop capabilities to rapidly create high-quality, responsive messages across devices, without coding or developer support. Content can be seamlessly re-used across channels. Forms for privacy-first personalization: Capture zero-party data with web form composing capabilities, enabling marketers to create engaging campaigns based on consumer preferences.

Capture zero-party data with web form composing capabilities, enabling marketers to create engaging campaigns based on consumer preferences. Self-serve segmentation: Easily create granular segmentations from available data sources  such as customer relationship management (CRM), customer data platform (CDP) or data management platform (DMP) solutions  without support from outside teams.

Multichannel Composer is now available on the Acoustic Marketing Cloud. For more information and to schedule a demo, visit acoustic.com/products/multichannel-composer or contact your Acoustic sales executive.

About Acoustic Marketing Cloud

Acoustic Marketing Cloud offers a multichannel engagement platform that helps businesses connect with consumers through hyper-personalized journeys across a variety of channels including email, web, mobile push, SMS, MMS, social media, print and more. We provide an integrated suite of applications that includes campaign execution, content management, personalization and marketing analytics.

Acoustic Marketing Cloud delivers over 120 billion personalized messages each year to consumers worldwide. Our customers include top brands and Fortune 500 companies. For more information, visit acoustic.com/products.

About Acoustic, L.P.

Acoustic, L.P. helps businesses close the digital experience gap by giving them a holistic view into the customer experience and enabling them to deliver personalized experiences based on consumer needs and preferences. The Acoustic portfolio of companies helps businesses across industries to grow customer lifetime value with award-winning technology and unbeatable client success teams.

Acoustic Marketing Cloud offers a multichannel engagement platform that helps businesses connect with customers through hyper-personalized journeys in their channel of choice including email, web, mobile push, SMS, MMS, social media, print and more.

Tealeaf by Acoustic provides digital customer experience insights that enable teams to quickly identify, recreate, diagnose, prioritize and fix customer experience friction in real time.

DemandTec by Acoustic delivers an AI-powered lifecycle pricing, promotion and markdown platform that helps retailers and their suppliers to improve customer perception and profitability across all retail channels  in-store, online and offline.

Learn more about the Acoustic portfolio at www.acoustic.com.

SOURCE Acoustic, L.P.
Led by four family generations, Dallas Plumbing Company specializes in plumbing, air conditioning, and heating solutions. Under the new partnership, the company's high standards and dedication to customer service will continue in over 150 zip codes in the Dallas, Collin and Tarrant County regions with 100 trucks and employees.

"It is not a small achievement to last over 100 years in the industry. Dallas Plumbing Company has kept a strong, loyal fan base in the area because they have never compromised quality for their customers and we are thrilled to make them a partner," said Anthony Perera, Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Air Pros USA. "With our philosophy to always put customers first, Air Pros USA will continue to honor the legacy and commitment to customers that the Dallas Plumbing Company has created."

As an Air Pros USA Company, Dallas Plumbing Company will benefit from full operational and sales integration with the Air Pros USA platform to leverage expanded resources and continue building upon the company's 120 years of dedication to service excellence.

"Dallas Plumbing Company helped build Dallas up and never stopped growing together with the city," said John Downs, president of Dallas Plumbing Company. "Air Pros USA presents the next opportunity for our company to elevate its resources and remain the premier choice for home service needs in Texas."

This is Air Pros USA's second acquisition in Texas, previously acquiring Dallas-based Blue Star Heating and Air in 2019. Through the Dallas Plumbing Company acquisition, Air Pros USA expands its national growth with over 550 vehicles, 600 technicians and staff, and a customer base of over half a million. Air Pros USA operates in eight states and more than a dozen metro areas including Miami, Orlando, Dallas, Atlanta, Colorado Springs, Mobile and Spokane.

For more information, visit AirProsUSA.com and DallasPlumbing.com

About Air Pros USA :

Air Pros USA was founded in South Florida on the promise of integrity, reliability, and putting our customers first. The company has quickly expanded to many metro areas within Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Colorado, Georgia, Texas, and Washington, with more locations expected to be introduced soon. Air Pros USA currently employs more than 600 experienced professionals in more than a dozen metro Service locations including Miami, Orlando, Dallas, Atlanta, Colorado Springs, Mobile and Spokane. For more information visit www.airprosusa.com.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Joanne Sgro-Killworth

10 to 1 Public Relations

[email protected]

480.363.0403

SOURCE Air Pros USA
The "Future City" Explorer Global Innovation Competition began on May 27 and will last until late August.

Focusing on four themes of green and low-carbon development, cultural inclusivity, new consumption and smart tech, the event is designed to collect proposals for urban development, spur innovation in policy, technology and business models, and assist resource allocation and matching, said the BDIAEZ administrative committee, the competition's organizer.

The smart tech sector, for example, looks for cutting-edge technologies, models and proposals that improve the zone's management and services and help build a smart city.

Young scholars, students and research institutes as well as tech enterprises and startups from home and abroad are welcome to pitch their ideas and projects.

Centering around Beijing Daxing International Airport, the BDIAEZ in Beijing's Daxing district will serve as an experimental field and provide support for top contestants, advancing their projects' industrialization and launches, the organizer said.

In addition to prizes, they will be recommended to investors and receive guidance from industry leaders and renowned academics, the organizer added.

The competition is part of events held by the BDIAEZ recently as it is calling for plans and designs for the development of the International C&E and Consumption Hub. The project is aimed at promoting convention and exhibition businesses, as well as spurring consumption.

The BDIAEZ's core area covers about 150 square kilometers, comprising 50 sq km in Beijing and the rest in the city's neighboring Hebei province. The International C&E and Consumption Hub will be positioned at the eastern area of the Beijing section.

The State Council approved the establishment of the economic zone in 2016, with the strategic goals of developing it into a function-carrier area for international exchange, a leading area for national aviation technology, and a demonstration area for the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province, according to the administrative committee.

By taking advantage of the airport and preferential policies of functional zones, the BDIAEZ is building a center where global resources are gathered as well as a new driving force for regional economic growth.

The BDIAEZ's comprehensive industrial pattern has taken shape, with the life and health industry as the lead, high-end services and aviation security as the foundation, as well as new-generation information technologies and advanced equipment as the reserve.

Six major industrial parks have been launched, including an innovation service center of the free trade zone, a medical equipment intelligent manufacturing park, a biomedical incubator and an international business complex.

The BDIAEZ is the only area in Beijing that adopts favorable policies of the free trade zone and Zhongguancun Science Park, a high-tech demonstration zone in the capital, while following the city's strategies for opening up its services sector.

The BDIAEZ administrative committee now has 80 administrative rights, with 49 delegated from the Daxing district government and 31 from municipal authorities.

Marked progress has been made in creating a business-friendly environment with approval procedures streamlined and services optimized.

The BDIAEZ also provides one-on-one aid to enterprises with difficulties, while establishing an online service platform to enhance the efficiency of approvals.

The economic zone plans to sign 20 megaprojects and put six of them into production this year, according to the administrative committee.

It will continue to move forward with reforms, cultivate export-oriented industries and help ensure the airport's smooth operation.

By 2035, a modern, smart and eco-friendly economic zone will have been built. It will play a vital role in promoting regional high-quality development, according to the zone's development plan.

Beijing Daxing International Airport is expected to become an international aviation hub by that point, with an annual passenger throughput of up to 100 million.

The "Future City" Explorer Global Innovation Competition is now open for registration.

Please click on the following link to sign up: https://www.wenjuan.com/s/YRN32a8/

SOURCE chinadaily.com.cn
MORRISVILLE, N.C., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alliance One International, LLC ("AOI" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the phase two results of the partnership of its Brazilian subsidiary ("Alliance Once Brazil") with Bayer Crop Science, which was formed with the goal of providing quality maize seeds and agronomic support to smallholder tobacco farmers in Brazil. Following the completion of the 2021 growing season, participating farmers reported a 15% average increase in maize yield compared to the 2020 growing season.

"Due to strong farmer interest, we expanded the opportunity to participate in phase two of the program to 100 percent of our Brazilian grower base," said Helio Moura global agronomy director for AOI. "We distributed 5,700 bags of Bayer maize seed to our contracted farmers as well as provided fertilizer and additional agronomic guidance related to maize production. As a result, farmers reported that they experienced improved crop quality and yield, in turn, increasing the farmers' bottom lines."

Through the partnership, Alliance One Brazil's goal is to help its contracted farmers diversify their income by strengthening the quality and yield of a crop that is complementary to tobacco. Farmers that participated in phase two of the program earned an average of $270 more per hectare of maize when compared to the prior crop.

"Alliance One Brazil's contracted farmers produced an additional 5.150 metric tons of maize this past crop year, which is primarily sold for use in animal feed," said Moura. "Given the threat of a global food crisis, it is increasingly important to help our farmers scale production in order to help offset shortages and high costs."

In response to the positive results of the program's second phase, Alliance One Brazil is evaluating the inclusion of additional crops as part of the program and AOI is assessing the potential to expand the program to other countries within its footprint.

"We are very excited about the future of this program and its potential to improve farmer livelihoods not only in Brazil but around the globe," said Alex Strohschoen, president of AOI. "As we enter the 2022 growing season, we plan to introduce the program to our contracted farmers in Argentina, where a significant portion of our grower base could benefit from improving the quality and yield of their maize crops."

The improvement of farmer livelihoods is a key priority for AOI. It is committed to maximizing all farmers' income potential by 2030 through appropriate training in good agricultural practices and the opportunity for crop diversification.

About Alliance One International, LLC

Alliance One International, LLC is a leading independent leaf tobacco supplier. Working with tobacco farmers in 20 countries around the world, Alliance One International is recognized for producing sustainable and traceable leaf tobacco. For more information, visit www.aointl.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Readers are cautioned that the statements contained in this press release regarding the expectation of achieving the Company's goals or the anticipated impact on the Company from the implementation of its strategy to achieve these goals are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Presentation of the Company's goals should not be viewed as a guarantee that the Company will be able to achieve these goals within the time periods anticipated or at all, particularly if underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, or if known or unknown risks or uncertainties prevent the achievement of these goals. Many of these risks and uncertainties are beyond the Company's control, including without limitation, challenges relating to economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors affecting the Company's operations, markets and products. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that it may make from time to time.

SOURCE Alliance One International, LLC
MINNEAPOLIS, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ally Law, a global legal network with nearly 3,000 lawyers worldwide, is pleased to announce its newest member, Dundar Sir Law Firm, a full-service law firm based in Istanbul, Turkey.

Established in 2012 by two founding partners formerly with prestigious international law firms, Dundar Sir has grown to be nearly 40 professionals today, offering a full suite of legal services to clients in many industry sectors, from aviation to technology, leisure to infrastructure.

Said Paul Franke, president of Ally Law and a partner in Moye White (Denver), "We are delighted to welcome our new Turkish member. Dundar Sir upholds the highest standards in excellence and notably bolsters our presence in this jurisdiction, allowing us to better serve our clients."

Located in the heart of the business district of Istanbul, Dundar Sir has been part of significant M&A, IT and infrastructure projects, including Acquisition of Karsan assets by La Lorraine, Acquisition of CTech shares by TAI, SHA between UWA and Kaan Aviation, Turkcell 6A Satellite, Turkcell 5G Radiolink, Third Bosporus Bridge, Eurasia Tunnel, Yalkavak Marina Renovation. Chambers and Partners has honored and ranked the firm and founding partner Selim Dundar in the Projects & Energy category for three consecutive years.

Its dispute resolution team has a strong market reputation and represents State of Libya and State of Georgia Coca-Cola, La Lorraine and several Korean companies.

Dundar Sir founder Selim Dundar says, "We are honored to be joining such a prestigious worldwide network that serves clients at the highest levels. Dundar Sir is pleased to bring our cross-border experience to bear, having assisted overseas clients both locally and on a global scale, from the Republic of Korea to the United States and beyond."

About Ally Law

Ally Law, a Chambers and Partners Band 2 Leading Law Firm Network (Global Market Leaders), provides sophisticated legal services to major corporations, with a sharp focus on value and efficiency. Our nearly 75 firms include approximately 3,000 lawyers in 100 business centers worldwide. For more information, visit www.ally-law.com.

Press contact:

Wendy Horn, Executive Director, Ally Law

[email protected]

+1.612.770.6046

SOURCE Ally Law
WASHINGTON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) voiced its support for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (S. 2938), introduced in the Senate earlier this week. The legislation presents several actionable and common-sense measures for reducing death and disability caused by firearm violence, which is now a national public health crisis. ACS supports all provisions of the bill; the legislation will make firearm ownership safer in the U.S., thereby making our communities safer too.

S. 2938 is the first significant legislation in nearly 30 years to address firearm violence in America. This legislation is long overdue as firearm violence has dramatically increased and is now a major cause of death and serious injury in the U.S., particularly among children and adolescents ages 1 to 19, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, which show it as the leading cause of death for this age group.

Specifically, the bill calls for implementing state-level "red flag" laws by temporarily removing firearms from those who are deemed an immediate threat to harming themselves or others and it permits authorities to check the juvenile and mental health records of intended purchasers younger than 21 for up to 10 business days. S.2938 also provides stronger protection to domestic violence victims, calls for federally licensing more firearm sellers, and ends straw purchases to circumvent the transfer of firearms to those who cannot make legal purchases. The proposed legislation also provides for $15 billion in new federal funding to bolster mental health programs and school security upgrades, which will have an impact on preventing further tragedy.

"These are all actionable items that can be put into place quickly to help us address the public health crisis of firearms violence. Surgeons are on the front lines treating these seriously injured patients every single day and we see how this violence devastates families and communities. As a result, the surgical community remains unwilling to wait for another tragedy to befall another community when we know there's a way to save lives today," said ACS Executive Director Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS. "We applaud Senate leaders for setting forth this viable and reasonable plan. We fully support the bill as a good first step to address this public health crisis. We believe that more can be done to make our communities safer, and we will continue to advocate for bipartisan, common-sense solutions rooted in our recommendations."

The ACS Committee on Trauma (COT) has recommended implementation of several of the provisions found in S.2938 through its Firearm Strategy Team (FAST), which released 13 recommendations to address firearm violence in 2018. FAST used a consensus-based approach among trauma surgeons who treat patients with serious firearm injuries. Many of these trauma surgeons own firearms themselves, providing a unique perspective that helped inform the team's recommendations about making firearm ownership safer while still protecting one's right to own a firearm. (View FAST recommendations.)

In terms of S. 2938, FAST recommendations are aligned or partially aligned with these issues:

red flag laws (mandatory reporting and risk mitigation)

obtaining ownership (robust background checks for private sales and transfers of firearms)

firearm registration (updates the definition of who is considered a dealer of firearms to clarify the law and put high volume sellers on notice that they should obtain a federal license)

"While we think this legislation is a great start, there's more important work that needs to be done," said Eileen Bulger, MD, FACS, Medical Director of ACS Trauma Programs, and one of the FAST recommendations authors. "We encourage congressional leaders to consider the remaining FAST recommendations for future legislation. In addition, we want to be sure that as a nation, we empower the medical community across all health care settings to act in the best interests of their patients in a variety of palpable ways. These paths include counseling patients on safe firearm storage; screening patients at risk for firearm injury or death; and engaging the community in addressing the social determinants of violence through hospitals and healthcare systems."

"We also advocate for increased research funding, particularly at the federal level that will address, among many things, the root causes of violence and identify social determinants of violence for firearm injury victims. While firearm violence is often linked to mental health issues, it is but one issue that must be addressed. Many factors contribute to the firearms violence we see increasing in our communities every day," said Jeffrey Kerby, MD, FACS, Chair of the ACS Committee on Trauma. "Programs like the ACS ISAVE [Improving Social Determinants to Attenuate Violence] make concrete recommendations to address underlying factors that contribute to escalating community violence. We will continue to advocate for comprehensive solutions to stem the tide of violence and prevent further tragedies."

ABOUT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 84,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. "FACS" designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

SOURCE American College of Surgeons
MOONACHIE, N.J., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ampersand Capital Partners, a private equity firm specializing in growth equity investments in the life sciences and healthcare sectors, announced today an investment in Sterling Medical Devices, a leading provider of design, development and regulatory services to the medical device industry.

"My team and I are humbled to join the Ampersand family. The Ampersand team's extensive experience and network in the medical device industry positions Sterling to continue its strong growth trajectory and build on the world-class services we provide to our customers" said Dan Sterling, President and CEO of Sterling.

Trevor Wahlbrink, Partner at Ampersand commented, "We are thrilled to be partnering with Dan and the entire Sterling team. With over two decades of experience bringing the most complex medical devices to market, the Sterling team has built a strong, solutions-oriented reputation with the medical device industry's leading innovators. We look forward to building upon the Company's strong momentum by continuing to add capabilities to its already robust offering."

Having successfully completed over 1,500 projects for hundreds of unique customers, Sterling has extensive commercialization experience across the entire medical device development process. Capabilities include the development of entire systems, including the incorporation of software, electronics, and mechanical components. These services are provided by US-based personnel in an ISO-13485 environment, and all supported by the Company's Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance capabilities.

About Sterling Medical Devices

Located in Moonachie, New Jersey, Sterling Medical Devices is a provider of custom electromechanical and software solutions for the medical device industry. For more than 21 years, the Company's extensive and diverse experience in product development has helped healthcare companies bring their medical device software and hardware, electromechanical equipment, and mobile medical device apps to market. Sterling addresses the entire development process including systems, software, electronics, mechanical, quality, compliance, and regulatory affairs. For more information visit https://sterlingmedicaldevices.com/.

About Ampersand Capital Partners

Founded in 1988, Ampersand is a middle market private equity firm with more than $2 billion of assets under management dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston and Amsterdam, Ampersand leverages its unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive superior long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm's core healthcare sectors. Additional information about Ampersand is available at ampersandcapital.com.

SOURCE Ampersand Capital Partners
Leader of the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors receives 2022 award for her outstanding achievements and support in the burn community.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors  a leading resource for supporting the lifelong healing of burn survivors and their loved ones  today announced that CEO, Amy Acton, was named the 2022 recipient of the American Burn Association's Special Achievement Award. The American Burn Association's Special Achievement Award is awarded periodically to members of the burn community, acknowledging their stellar contribution to the field of thermal and non-thermal injuries.

Amy Acton, former burn nurse, activist, and a survivor herself, has dedicated her energy and talents to help provide resources, connections, and support for survivors nationally. Since assuming leadership of Phoenix Society over two decades ago, Amy has elevated the society's reach and successfully moved it into the digital realm  enabling remote survivors, who may lack the means to travel or attend local groups, to obtain support online.

"I am humbled and honored to have the opportunity to work with the team at the Phoenix Society, our board, and the countless volunteers and supporters that have helped advance our efforts to support those impacted by burn injuries." - Amy Acton, CEO, Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors

With Amy's support and leadership, Phoenix Society and the American Burn Association have combined to establish the Aftercare and Reintegration Committee and work as tireless advocates of burn prevention, ensuring the survivor's voice is present during vital decision-making processes. Currently, Amy is leading Phoenix Society in the Journey Forward Programan initiative to reach burn survivors and their loved ones at the critical early stages of a burn injury. Each year in the United States alone, more than 1 million burn injuries require medical attention.

"Awardee Amy Acton is a driven advocate who has dedicated her talents to providing a network of support for other survivors. Through her work with burn prevention, she has ensured survivors have a seat at the table when important decisions are being made. Amy is most deserving of this year's ABA Special Achievement Award." -Kimberly Hoarle, MBA, CAE, American Burn Association Executive Director

Learn more about the ABA Special Achievement Award here; read more about Phoenix Society's Journey Forward program here.

About Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors

In the U.S., 40,000 people are hospitalized with burn injuries each year. Burn survivors and their loved ones face a lifelong journey of physical, emotional, and social recovery. Connecting with others who have walked a similar path is essential to optimal recovery and social reintegration. Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors is the leading national non-profit dedicated to empowering burn survivors and their families at all points of recovery. Since 1977, Phoenix Society has worked with survivors, families, healthcare professionals, and first responders to support burn recovery, improve the quality of burn care, and prevent burn injuries. For more information, visit www.phoenix-society.org .

Media Contact:

Amber Wilcox

Marketing Lead

616.208.1146

[email protected]

SOURCE Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors
BERKELEY, Calif., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Arize AI , the leader in machine learning (ML) observability and model performance monitoring, today announced that its Bias Tracing tool has been named "MLOps Innovation of the Year" in the fifth annual AI Breakthrough Awards program conducted by AI Breakthrough , a market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global Artificial Intelligence (AI) market today.

The mission of the AI Breakthrough Awards is to honor excellence and recognize the innovation, hard work and success in a range of AI and machine learning related categories. This year's program attracted more than 2,950 nominations from over 18 different countries throughout the world.

"In today's world, it has become all too common to read about AI acting in discriminatory ways and existing solutions built to monitor fairness metrics for ML models lack actionability," said James Johnson, managing director, AI Breakthrough. "Arize Bias Tracing represents a breakthrough innovation in addressing these challenges, helping monitor and take action on model fairness metrics and helps enterprises quickly get to the bottom of where and why disparate impacts are happening. We extend our sincere congratulations to Arize AI for taking home a well-deserved 2022 AI Breakthrough Award."

About Arize AI

Arize AI is a machine learning observability platform that helps ML practitioners successfully take models from research to production with ease. Arize's automated model monitoring and analytics platform helps ML teams quickly detect issues when they emerge, troubleshoot why they happened, and improve overall model performance. By connecting offline training and validation datasets to online production data in a central inference store, ML teams can streamline model validation , drift detection , data quality checks , and model performance management . Arize AI acts as the guardrail on deployed AI, providing transparency and introspection into historically black box systems to ensure more effective and responsible AI . To learn more about Arize or machine learning observability and monitoring, visit our blog and resource hub .

About AI Breakthrough

Part of Tech Breakthrough , a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the AI Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in Artificial Intelligence technologies, services, companies and products. The AI Breakthrough Awards provide public recognition for the achievements of AI companies and products in categories including AI Platforms, Robotics, Business Intelligence, AI Hardware, NLP, Vision, Biometrics and more. For more information visit AIBreakthroughAwards.com .

Media Contact:

Krystal Kirkland

[email protected]

SOURCE Arize AI
Nairobi  Kenya is partnering with Japan to explore ways to implement the recently passed Sustainable Waste Management Bill 2021, to enhance the country's waste management systems.

On Tuesday, Japan and Kenya convened a Waste Management Symposium where experts laid out different strategies that would help Kenya transition from a nuclear economy to a secular economy.

The experts drawn from Kenya, Japan, and the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) among other agencies also discussed their experiences on waste management and its challenges and sought to understand possible solutions in each cycle of waste management in Kenya which continues to pose a major headache with increased urbanization and economic growth.

The panelists lauded a new waste management bill passed by the Senate saying it signals a new dawn as far as waste management in the country is concerned.

Ayub Macharia, Director of Environmental Education and Awareness at the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources said that the passing of the bill is a significant milestone for the country noting that it will help seal the loopholes that have made it difficult to manage waste.

Macharia said that the bill is timely pointing out that the linear waste management model that is currently being used has resulted in major challenges including uncontrolled dumping which is a threat to the environment.

He stated that the bill is timely, pointing out that the current linear waste management model has resulted in major challenges such as unregulated dumping, which is a threat to the environment.

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"The framework law gives us a base to do baselines, especially through disclosure by producers when we finally implemented the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law. The waste service providers are supposed to be happy now because the law says they need to be contracted, which is mandatory. They were not recognized before in law," he said.

Macharia appealed for technical support from different partners to help transition the bill from policy to the point of implementation.

Richard Kainika, Kenya Association of Waste Recyclers (KAWR) Secretary-General said that to maximize the value extraction from the waste, recyclers need to focus on how to get to the waste as early as possible.

He pointed out that the main area they need to prioritize is the original point where waste is generated.

"One of the main areas that I would say we need to focus on is the consumers, once they have done, they consumption they need to get educated on how to separate the waste. As recyclers we call for tool separations," Kainika said.

Kainika further decried what he termed unfair policy singling out licensing which he expressed confidence that the new bill will address.

The experts further called for increased education of citizens on waste management.

One of the provisions of the bill states that a person who does not manage waste in accordance with laid down protocols commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding Sh20,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both.
New leadership, and new products part of the expansion of the team

DUBLIN, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aryza announces significant changes to the management team and expansion into new markets to support insolvency and lending businesses.

A new CEO has been appointed to spearhead the new launch  Brent Reuter who has worked in the financial industry for more than 25 years is now leading the team. He led First Data in Canada growing their Merchant Processing business becoming one the of the largest processors in Canada, and then spent more than 10 years at the Royal Bank of Canada leading North American Sales of their Investor and Treasury Services business. He then moved to Hong Kong to oversee their Asian business and later establishing and building their US footprint building out their office in New York. After moving back to Canada, he has led sales teams in Institutional Investment Management for both CIBC and Onex.

Stephanie Harper will be stepping down as Chief Executive Officer of Aryza Canada on 30th June 2022 but will continue her involvement with Aryza as a non-executive Director and a strategic advisor to the Group.

Colin Brown, Global CEO of Aryza commented:

"I wish to express our gratitude to Stephanie for her commitment to our Canadian business and clients who Stephanie has supported so well over her tenure. We are delighted that Brent has decided to take up the challenge and I am looking forward to working with him to build on our presence in Canada, and to explore new products and markets."

The focus in Canada and North America will be to consolidate the position in the Insolvency sector while bringing select web based Aryza products across the credit lifecycle.

Brent Reuter, CEO commented:

"I am looking forward to working with the Aryza team in Canada and around the world to explore how technology can be applied to our existing business model and to see how group products can open new doors for our Canadian business for example looking at alternative lending solutions. The opportunities are endless, and I am pleased to be joining Aryza at such an exciting time for the group."

About Aryza

Aryza is a provider of end-to-end, mission-critical automation software to business customers in regulated industries, focused on the lending, credit, debt recovery and insolvency sectors. Aryza's solutions automate a wide range of back and middle office activities including customer data collection, administration, and payment processing, covering every stage of the debt cycle. Its scalable technology platform is capable of meeting high volume, high complexity needs and helps customers significantly increase efficiency while ensuring compliance with local legislation. Aryza's solutions are underpinned by unrivalled expertise and powerful data and are designed to have a positive impact on the financial health and wellbeing of our customer's customers around the world. Since its foundation in 2002, the business has grown rapidly. Today it has global operations across four continents.

For more information visit https://www.aryza.com/

SOURCE Aryza
At-Home Testing Has Become Popular, But May Not Be Completely Accurate; Travel, Work-Related Needs Drive Test Seekers To Get Professionally Administered Tests

SEATTLE , June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As COVID-19 positivity rates again increase across the U.S. and the State of Washington and the White House shifts at-home tests funding to instead support vaccines and treatments, national testing provider GS Labs continues to test hundreds of patients daily who are seeking out professionally administered COVID-19 tests. With at-home rapid tests widely available on store shelves or by mail, what's driving these patients to come to a private laboratory?

Four reasons, says Dr. Darin Jackson, GS Labs medical director: The peace of mind that comes from having a professional handle a medical test; to confirm a negative COVID-19 rapid test for patients who display symptoms of COVID-19; proof of positive COVID-19 status acceptable to employers; and proof of negative COVID-19 status required for travel to certain destinations.

"There's absolutely a sense of COVID-19 fatigue out there for a lot of people  but not for everyone," says Jackson. "People with high-risk family members or people who are at-risk themselves and show symptoms of COVID continue to come to us because they want the most accurate test results possible. There's a lot of research on at-home testing now, and while the tests are accurate, they don't quite measure up to professionally administered tests performed and analyzed by a laboratory. Additionally, results from at-home testing results are not being reported."

In accordance with CDC protocols, it is standard practice for symptomatic patients who received a negative rapid antigen test to next to be tested via a PCR test. This "confirmatory PCR" identifies individuals who received a negative rapid antigen test result but are in fact positive for COVID. Recent confirmatory PCR results show that 15% of symptomatic GS Labs patients who received a negative test result by the rapid antigen test are actually positive. Together, this highlights the personal and public health necessity for follow-up PCR testing when a rapid antigen is negative.

Workplace and travel needs are also driving private tests, says Jackson, who notes that in Washington, about 25 percent of the state over age 5 is not fully vaccinated against COVID.

"In Washington, there's still about 1.9 million residents over age 5 who haven't been fully vaccinated," says Jackson, noting that net number will grow given recent FDA approval for vaccines for ages 6 months and older. "We're giving tests to people whose employers require a professional positive test in order for PTO purposes or to reimburse the employees for various items. Also, it's important to note that many countries  including Canada  still require proof of full vaccination or a professionally administered negative COVID test from travelers seeking to enter the country."

The U.S. State Department website keeps a worldwide list of travel entrance requirements: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/COVID-19-Country-Specific-Information.html

In Washington, GS Labs' weekly patient positivity rate began climbing in mid-April, from just over 2% to a sustained rate of more than 18% during the prior five weeks. This mirrors results from GS Labs' nationwide lab network, where the most recent seven-day rolling positivity rate is 20%  approaching its highest-ever positivity rate of 23%, which was recorded during the Omicron peak.

"Fortunately, we continue to have ample tests and appointments for patients who need them," says Dr. Jackson. "Our commitment to convenient and accessible testing remains unchanged, as does our top priority: providing critical health information to individuals across Washington state and beyond."

Lab testing capacity and availability remains strong at GS Labs, which operates five Washington-state testing sites: Bellevue, Federal Way, Lynnwood, Seattle and Vancouver. GS Labs' state-of-the-art custom technology platform is built to serve as many as 1,000 patients per day at each location. GS Labs' digital platform allows patients to book within 15 minutes of their proposed appointment and to receive accurate rapid results in as little as 20 minutes after the completion of a rapid antigen test. Appointments for all tests must be made online prior to arrival at https://gslabstesting.com/ .

Two tests are fully covered by insurance in the event the patient is experiencing symptoms or has had a recent exposure: a rapid antigen test for $179  which typically returns results as quickly as 20 minutes  and a PCR test for $229 that returns results in 2 to 5 days. Both tests have no out-of-pocket cost with accepted insurance.

Additionally, GS Labs offers rapid PCR-NAAT and PCR-LAMP tests for $299 each, with results typically returned in about two hours. These tests, ideal for travel or screening testing, are available with cash payment only. Travel destinations may have different, specific testing requirements, so customers are urged to research which test is required before booking an appointment. A combination rapid antigen COVID and flu test is available for $199, also with cash payment only.

Since it began offering testing, GS Labs has tested more than 1.3 million patients across the country. To date, GS Labs has identified more than 230,000 patients positive for COVID-19. Headquartered in Omaha, GS Labs entered the COVID-19 testing space as the pandemic initially swept through Nebraska and the Midwest. At the time, loved ones and friends of the company's partners could not find COVID-19 tests anywhere after being exposed to the coronavirus. From that initial location, the company has expanded across the U.S.; its current footprint includes more than a dozen locations in eight states.

SOURCE GS Labs
CHICAGO, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the research report "Asia Pacific Electric 3-Wheeler Market by End-use (Passenger & Load), Range (Upto 50 Miles & Above 50 Miles), Battery type (Lead Acid & Lithium ion), Battery Capacity (Below 3kWh, 3-6kWh, Above 6kWh), Motor Power, Payload Capacity - Forecast to 2027", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Asia Pacific Electric 3-Wheeler Market is estimated to be 272.7 thousand units in 2022 and is projected to grow to 702.1 thousand units by 2027, at a CAGR of 20.8% during the forecast period. Increasing government initiatives to promote electric vehicles in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Japan, and the Philippines are anticipated to boost the Asia Pacific Electric 3-Wheeler Market. Government initiatives to drive the adoption of emission-free vehicles and associated infrastructure, the rising demand for electric vehicle fast-charging infrastructure, and the increasing deployment of electric vehicles by shared mobility operators are the key factors driving the growth of the Asia Pacific electric vehicle charging station market. The growing deployment of charging stations by retail MNCs provides significant growth opportunities for players operating in this market. Hence, the electric 3-wheeler market will also grow. Hangzhou Ao Neng Power Supply Equipment Co., Ltd., Wanbang Xingxing Charging Technology Co., Ltd., Magenta Power Private Limited, Delta Electronics, Inc., EV Motors India Pvt. Ltd., and Tata Power Company Limited are the top companies operating in the Asia Pacific electric vehicle charging station market

Browse in-depth TOC on "Asia Pacific Electric 3-Wheeler Market"

175  Tables

50  Figures

217  Pages

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id= 59408226

Passenger Carrier is estimated to hold the largest market share by end use during the forecast period

Passenger carriers are electric 3-wheelers primarily used to transport passengers and have up to 4-seating capacity, including the driver. Some of the passenger carrier models present in the market include Mahindra Treo, Atul Elite Cargo, Comfort Plus, Comfort Plus, and Standard Deluxe. Many OEMs have been developing electric 3-wheeler passenger carriers over the years and entering strategic partnerships to launch advanced models in the market. Electric 3-wheeler-based services are provided by Ola Auto, Uber Auto, DiDi Chuxing, and Jugnoo. In August 2021, Piaggio Group and Three Wheels United announced a partnership to accelerate the adoption of electric 3-wheelers in India. Under this partnership, Three Wheels United will immediately deploy 500 Piaggio Ape' E-City and Ape' E-Xtra vehicles across India. Currently, electric 3-wheelers have a very limited use case compared to traditional ICE 3-wheelers, but various initiatives taken by the mobility solution providers are driving the passenger carrier segment of the electric 3-wheeler market. Electric 3-wheeler passenger carrier sales are highest in countries where there is a high demand for low-emission and low-maintenance vehicles.

Up to 50 miles segment is estimated to be the largest segment by range from 2018 to 2027

Most electric 3-wheeler manufacturers provide electric 3-wheelers with a range of up to 50 miles. Electric 3-wheelers are considered an alternative to daily city commuting within the range of 1012 km. Hence, many electric 3-wheelers have a range of up to 50 miles, making them more popular in the market. Low-performance and affordable electric 3-wheelers usually have a range of up to 50 miles. Many OEMs are offering electric 3-wheelers with low-cost batteries with a restricted range. Mostly, electric 3-wheelers with lead-acid batteries lie in this range. Lower energy density, poor performance at low temperatures, and short lifecycle of the battery put these electric 3-wheelers in the lower performing range category. Elite+ Li-Ion Battery, Electric Tricycle (XD), and Erick are some of the models present in the market, which offer a range of up to 50 miles on a single full charge.

Request FREE Sample Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id= 59408226

India is estimated to show highest CAGR growth in Asia Pacific Electric 3-Wheeler Market

Government policies have encouraged private logistics companies to adopt electric 3-wheelers. The motivation for adoption is mostly to reduce carbon footprint. The shift to electric 3-wheelers is also in line with the government of India's commitment to reducing carbon footprint, which encourages fuel-based 3-wheelers to be replaced with electrically powered vehicles. In February 2022, electric vehicle manufacturer Omega Seiki announced a partnership with logistics provider Zyngo to offer electric cargo 3-wheelers Rage+ for the last mile delivery. According to industry experts, the addition of electric vehicles will help cut down last-mile delivery costs by up to 50% and carbon footprint by more than 40%. The drivers of growth for logistics, supply chain, and warehousing include the demand from third-party logistics operators and e-commerce companies. This is fueling the demand for electric 3-wheelers in intracity transportation. The government policies of India are striving to create an ecosystem to accelerate the uptake of electric mobility in the country. The government has realized the importance of working jointly to achieve the broader national agenda to reduce vehicular pollution and oil import bill. This will provide a boost to the demand for electric 3-wheelers.

Key Market Players:

The report analyzes all major players in the Asia Pacific Electric 3-Wheeler Market including Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (India), Atul Auto Ltd. (India), Piaggio Group (Italy), Lohia Auto Industries (India), and Kinetic Engineering Limited (India).

Browse Related Reports:

Electric Commercial Vehicle Market by Propulsion, Vehicle Type, Range, Battery Type, Length of Bus, Power Output, Battery Capacity, Component, Autonomous Vehicle, End User, Truck Payload Capacity and Region - Global Forecast 2030

Electric Scooter Market and Electric Motorcycle Market by Vehicle (E-Scooters/Mopeds & E-Motorcycles), Battery (Lead Acid & Li-Ion), Distance, Voltage (36V, 48V, 60V, 72V, Above 72V), Technology, Usage (Private, Commercial), Vehicle Class & Region - Global Forecast to 2027

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MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model  GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

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New Center is Home to ACDC's First Hosting Agreement with Galaxy Digital

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Aspen Creek Digital Corporation ("ACDC") announced that its first bitcoin mining center, a 6MW High Performance Computing Center ("HPCC") co-located behind-the-meter with a 10MW solar farm, commenced operations in west Colorado. The project is home to ACDC's self-mining operations. ACDC has also added Galaxy Digital's mining business ("Galaxy Digital") as a bitcoin mining hosting client. For ACDC, the launch of the Colorado facility marks a first step toward standing up 3+ GWs of wind, solar and battery generation by early 2025 across the U.S.

Launched in 2022, ACDC's mission is to catalyze the decarbonization of power generation by creating the world's leading fleet of renewably powered HPCCs. These HPCCs will initially focus on bitcoin mining. Eventually, ACDC will pursue offering sustainable massive computing as a service in the form of low-cost, long-term power purchase agreements with in-house renewable power development partners paired with an innovative business model for designing, co-locating and operating HPCCs "behind-the-meter."

ACDC operates the Colorado data center for self-mining with wholly owned S19 generation miners. Co-located with this project is a 75,000 square foot R&D and fulfillment facility which will serve as a centralized testing, maintenance, storage, and training hub for ACDC's future HPCC infrastructure.

In addition to the operational site, ACDC's current under development bitcoin mining sites are located across Texas. ACDC's second facility, which is on track to be operational this summer, is a 30MW data center capable of hosting 10,000 ASIC miners co-located behind-the-meter with an 87MW solar farm. ACDC's third project is a 150MW data center co-located behind-the-meter with a 200MW solar farm. These projects represent significant additional generation resources for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), as well as valuable controllable load resources that expand the reach of renewables by stabilizing the grid. ACDC has procured all the necessary long lead-time equipment, including transformers and switching equipment. Permitting and interconnections for both projects are on track for project launch.

"Recent market volatility has demonstrated the importance of our core strategy: controlling power as the principal input in bitcoin mining. ACDC was founded with a simple premise in mind, which is to create a sustainable source of renewable energy to power our operations and put renewables back on the grid. This design enables ACDC to withstand volatility in the bitcoin market and insulate our operations from power market fluctuations. The success of our first project is proof of our concept to substantially lower the cost of energy, the single largest input for bitcoin mining, and to do it sustainably," said Alexandra DaCosta, CEO of Aspen Creek Digital Corporation. "Our talented team and partners, who bring financial integrity and proven renewable energy expertise, will dramatically improve the sustainability of the industry while building strong partnerships with local communities, delivering carbon transparency, and enhancing grid resiliency."

Amanda Fabiano, Head of Mining at Galaxy Digital, adds "We are thrilled to utilize a portion of Aspen Creek Digital's sustainable facility to expand Galaxy's prop mining operation. We remain committed to working with ecosystem players that have a strong operational background to help us reach our mining goals."

About Aspen Creek Digital Corporation

Aspen Creek Digital Corporation is catalyzing the decarbonization of power generation by creating the world's leading renewable Bitcoin mining operator. The ACDC team pairs financial ingenuity with proven renewable energy expertise to deliver carbon transparency, lower power price volatility and bring new, additional renewable energy resources to the market. For more information visit: https://acdigitalcorp.com/ .

SOURCE Aspen Creek Digital Corporation
NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As per Zion Market Research study, The global barcode printers market was valued at USD 4.35 billion in 2021 and it is forecasted to grow with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 5.8 percent. The market revenue is projected to reach around USD 10.53 billion by 2028.

Key Industry Insights & Finding of the Barcode Printers Market Reports:

As per the analysis shared by our research analyst, the Barcode Printers Market is expected to grow annually at a CAGR of around 5.8 % (2022-2028).

(2022-2028). Through the primary research, it was established that the Barcode Printers Market was valued approximately USD 4.35 Billion in 2021 and is projected to reach to roughly USD 10.53 Billion by 2028.

Billion in 2021 and is projected to reach to roughly Billion by 2028. The most common uses of barcode printers in the region are retail, logistics, transportation, manufacturing, and healthcare & hospitality.

Many firms that sell barcode printers have a presence in North America , which significantly contributes to the region's barcode printer market's growth.

, which significantly contributes to the region's barcode printer market's growth. This is attributed to rapidly evolving retail and manufacturing sectors in emerging countries in the region such as China and India are largely supporting the market growth. Europe on the other side is anticipated to remain at the third position in the global market.

Zion Market Research published the latest report titled as "Barcode Printers Market By Printer Type (Desktop Barcode Printer, Industrial Barcode Printer), By Printing Technology (Thermal Transfer, Direct Thermal, Dot Matrix, Laser, Ink Jet), By Consumables (Ribbons, Wax Ribbons), By Distribution Channel (Direct-To-End User, Direct-To-OEM, Dealer/Distributor), And By Region  Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2022  2028." into their research database.

Barcode Printers Market : Overview

A barcode printer is computer equipment that prints barcode tags or labels on things that are affixed or printed on them. They're commonly utilized to print barcodes on things before they're sent or to tag retail items. In comparison to many other printers, barcode printers are speedier and have a longer service life. A barcode printer employs one of two technologies: thermal transfer or direct thermal printing. The heat from a direct thermal printer causes a chemical reaction in a specific design, turning the paper black. The heat from the thermal transfer printer melts a resin or waxy substance that flows over the material's tag.

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Industry Dynamics:

Barcode Printers Market : Growth Drivers

Increasing demand for wireless and mobile printers will boost the market growth.

Mobile printers range in size from cart-mounted printers to small handheld printers. Mobile format printers handle label formats, print jobs, variable data, and other information from host systems over a wireless network connection. Because of the high-quality print result, medium usage flexibility, minimal maintenance needs, and rugged nature of these printers, thermal printing technology are ideal for mobile printers. Because of its ease of use and simplicity for high-volume tag print, direct thermal technology is widely employed in mobile printing. Advanced mobile printers are lightweight, simple to use, and long-lasting, with the excellent print quality and the ability to print on a range of media. Mobile point-of-sale (POS) printers are widely used in healthcare, retail, hospitality, and other industries where flexibility, simplicity of use, and cost reductions are critical. These factors are fueling the demand for global barcode printers market.

Barcode Printers Market : Restraints

Stringent regulations for printing may hinder the market growth.

Printing rules guarantee that printing techniques are environmentally friendly. The European legal Environmental regulations, which controls the releases of volatile compounds through printing services, shows strict rules for printing sector in Europe. The regulations also guarantees that printing reagents are castoff correctly. In Europe, the printing sector is equally committed to lowering greenhouse gas emissions and, as a result, helping to reduce carbon footprints. Additionally, the European Timber Regulation assures that the material used in printing is not derived from illegitimate logging. Furthermore, the US Food and Drug Administration, via the Federal Food and Drug Cosmetics Act, assures that the ink in use for printing on food containers is safe to use and created using good manufacturing standards. Such regulation may slow down the market growth over the forecast period.

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Global Barcode Printers Market : Opportunities

Increasing demand for barcode printers in the supply chain sector will provide better growth opportunities.

The key to effective company management is the well-organized management of the deliverable products supply chain. Shipment prominence and traceability are improved by barcode technology. The rising number of thefts and frauds in consumer products and medicines is driving up demand for barcode printers. In logistics and supply chain management, the use of barcode labels helps enable efficient stock management, efficient cargo movement through logistic networks, and effective monitoring of manufacturing & assembly operations. Additionally, because they offer the option of employing barcode verifiers, barcode printers reduce the expenditures allied with improper printed labels. These verifiers guarantee the output's overall quality. Barcode printers offer quick payback periods. As a result, the supply chain industry's need for barcode printers is expected to rise, thereby driving the growth of the global barcode printers market throughout the projected period.

Global Barcode Printers Market : Challenges

Smudged bar lines due to the high heat setting in the barcode printers pose a major challenge to the manufacturers.

Barcode printers employ a printhead with several small heating elements that cause prints to turn black when heated. The ribbon of a printer is loaded with wax and/or resin, and the wax and/or resin is moved onto the tag via the transmission of heat from the printer to the ribbon. The ribbon does not heat and cools consistently this could result in the leading and trailing margins of the text, graphics, or lines on the label being unevenly printed. On a label, there should be enough contrast between black lines and light spaces for the scanner to detect it. The barcode appears smeared and labels emerge with broad bar lines if the temperature is set high. Such drawbacks can lead to low demand for barcode printers in the future.

Global Barcode Printers Market : Segmentation

The global barcode printers market is categorized into printer type, printing technology, consumables, distribution channel, and region.

Based on printer type, the market is categorized into industrial barcode printers and desktop barcode printers. The printing technology segment is bifurcated as direct thermal, thermal transfer, dot matrix, laser, and ink jet. Consumables are segregated as ribbons and wax ribbons. Distribution channels of the market are categorized as direct-to-OEM, direct-to-end user, and dealer/distributor.

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List of Key Players of Barcode Printers Market :

Zebra Technologies Corp.

SATO Holdings Corporation

Toshiba Tec Corporation

Honeywell International

Seiko Epson Corp.

AVERY DENNISON CORPORATION

BIXOLON

GoDEX International

Star Micronics

Postek Electronics

Printronix

Primera Technology

Brother International Corporation

Wasp Barcode Technologies.

Key questions answered in this report:

What are the growth rate forecast and market size for Barcode Printers Market ?

What are the key driving factors propelling the Barcode Printers Market forward?

What are the most important companies in the Barcode Printers Market Industry?

What segments does the Barcode Printers Market cover?

How can I receive a free copy of the Barcode Printers Market sample report and company profiles?

Report Scope:

Report Attribute Details Market size value in 2021 USD 4.35 Billion Revenue forecast in 2028 USD 10.53 Billion Growth Rate CAGR of almost 5.8 % 2022-2028 Base Year 2020 Historic Years 2016 - 2021 Forecast Years 2022 - 2028 Segments Covered By Product Type, By Application, and By End Use Forecast Units Value (USD Billion), and Volume (Units) Quantitative Units Revenue in USD million/billion and CAGR from 2022 to 2028 Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa, and Rest of World Countries Covered U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, GCC Countries, and South Africa, among others Companies Covered Zebra Technologies Corp., SATO Holdings Corporation, Toshiba Tec Corporation, Honeywell International, Seiko Epson Corp., AVERY DENNISON CORPORATION, BIXOLON, GoDEX International, Star Micronics, Postek Electronics, Printronix, Primera Technology, Brother International Corporation, and Wasp Barcode Technologies. Report Coverage Market growth drivers, restraints, opportunities, Porter's five forces analysis, PEST analysis, value chain analysis, regulatory landscape, market attractiveness analysis by segments and region, company market share analysis, and COVID-19 impact analysis. Customization Scope Avail customized purchase options to meet your exact research needs. https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/custom/3345

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Recent Developments

In March 2021 , Toshiba Tec Corp has teamed with Catalina, a company located in the United States , to broaden the range of its data-driven marketing services in Japan for various brands and merchants.

, Toshiba Tec Corp has teamed with Catalina, a company located in , to broaden the range of its data-driven marketing services in for various brands and merchants. In March 2021 , Brother International Corp has introduced an innovative industrial label printer for high-speed manufacturing, warehouse, and supply chain applications.

, Brother International Corp has introduced an innovative industrial label printer for high-speed manufacturing, warehouse, and supply chain applications. In March 2021 , BIXOLON introduced the XM7 series linerless and liner thermal printers for the European market.

Regional Dominance:

North America to dominate the global market during the forecast period.

North America held the highest share in the global barcode printers market in 2020, and this trend is expected to continue throughout the forecast period. The most common uses of barcode printers in the region are retail, logistics, transportation, manufacturing, and healthcare & hospitality. Additionally, many firms that sell barcode printers have a presence in North America, which significantly contributes to the region's barcode printer market's growth. Asia Pacific is projected to offer huge growth opportunities for the market. This is attributed to rapidly evolving retail and manufacturing sectors in emerging countries in the region such as China and India are largely supporting the market growth. Europe on the other side is anticipated to remain at the third position in the global market.

Global Barcode Printers Market is segmented as follows:

Barcode Printers Market : By Type Outlook (2022-2028)

Desktop Barcode Printer

Industrial Barcode Printer

Barcode Printers Market : By Printing Technology Outlook (2022-2028)

Thermal Transfer

Direct Thermal

Dot Matrix

Laser

Ink Jet

Barcode Printers Market : By Consumables Outlook (2022-2028)

Ribbons

Wax Ribbons

Barcode Printers Market : By Distribution Channels Outlook (2022-2028)

Direct-to-End User

Direct-to-OEM

Dealer/Distributor

Barcode Printers Market : By Region Outlook (2022-2028)

North America

The U.S.

Canada

Europe

France

The UK

Spain

Germany

Italy

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Southeast Asia

Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa

GCC

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa

Press Release For Barcode Printers Market : https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/news/global-barcode-printers-market

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The size of the global portable printer market was estimated to be approximately in 2021 which is expected to grow at the rate (CAGR) of 10.4% to attain a value of by end of 2028. Battery Operated Lights Market - Global Industry Analysis : The global battery operated lights market is estimated to grow with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 6.5 percent over the forecast period.

The global battery operated lights market is estimated to grow with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 6.5 percent over the forecast period. Forklift Battery Market - Global Industry Analysis: The global forklift battery market was valued at $5.2 billion in 2021 and is anticipated to surpass $8.1 by the end of 2028. The market is projected to grow with a considerable CAGR of 7.05 % during the forecast period.

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SOURCE Zion Market Research
Advances AZZ's Previously Announced Strategic Review of Assets; Establishes a 60%-40% Joint Venture to be Controlled by Fernweh Group LLC.; Approximate Proceeds of $228 Million; Furthers the Transformation of the Company into a Pure Play Metal Coatings Company

FORT WORTH, Texas, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AZZ Inc. ("AZZ" or the "Company") (NYSE: AZZ), and Fernweh Group LLC ("Fernweh"), jointly announced today they have entered into a definitive agreement whereby AZZ will contribute its AZZ Infrastructure Solutions Segment1 ("AIS") to AIS Investment Holdings LLC (the "AIS JV"), and sell a 60% interest in the AIS JV to Fernweh at an implied enterprise value of AIS of $300 million. The valuation represents approximately 8.1x AIS LTM 2/28/2022 adjusted EBITDA2 of roughly $37 million and is expected to result in cash proceeds to AZZ of approximately $228 million, subject to certain customary purchase price adjustments. Under the terms of the transaction, the AIS JV will be governed by a board with three representatives from Fernweh and two representatives from AZZ. Following the close of the transaction, Fernweh will own 60% of the AIS JV and AZZ will own 40%. The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2022, subject to obtaining the requisite governmental approvals and other customary closing conditions and approvals.

AIS is a leading provider of specialized products and solutions designed to support industrial and electrical applications. AIS's product offerings include custom switchgear, electrical enclosures, medium and high voltage bus ducts, and explosion proof and hazardous duty lighting. In addition, AIS focuses on extension of life cycle for the power generation, refining and industrial infrastructure markets, through automated weld overlay solutions for corrosion and erosion mitigation. The AIS business has approximately 1,323 employees and operates through a global network of 20 strategically located manufacturing facilities. For fiscal year 2022, ended February 28, 2022, AIS generated sales of approximately $375 million.

In conjunction with the divesture of a majority stake in AIS and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, the Company is required to measure AIS at the lower of its carrying amount or fair value less costs to sell. The Company will complete this assessment in the second quarter of fiscal year 2023. The result of this assessment will be recorded as part of discontinued operations in the Company's financial statements, and on a future basis, it is expected the continued investment in AIS will be deconsolidated from the Company's financial statements and accounted for under equity method of accounting.

Tom Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer of AZZ, commented, "The agreement to divest a controlling stake in AIS to Fernweh represents the continued transition of AZZ into a focused industry leading provider of metal coating and galvanizing solutions. While this transaction provides AZZ with near-term cash, most importantly it also provides us an opportunity to participate in AIS' value creation journey as it strengthens its position in an attractive marketplace for its specialized products and services. I am confident Fernweh's management capability, operational and strategic transformation support and capital provides the needed catalysts for continued growth and expansion of AIS after a strong year of bookings and backlog growth. I want to thank the dedicated management team and employees at AIS for their numerous years of contributions to AZZ and wish them continued success as we enter this joint venture arrangement together."

"We are excited by the opportunity to acquire a majority stake in AIS and look forward to working with management to continue to strengthen and grow the business. The company has a range of strategic growth opportunities in energy, infrastructure, data center, and other sectors, as well as unique capabilities to support marquee customers in these end markets. The acquisition is aligned with Fernweh's investment thesis in the industrials sector and will be a strategic platform on which to build a major electrical and industrial business. We look forward to welcoming the AIS colleagues to the Fernweh family and establishing a long and fruitful partnership with Tom, and the AZZ team," said Nick Santhanam, CEO of Fernweh Group.

About AZZ Inc.

AZZ Inc. is a global provider of galvanizing and a variety of metal coating solutions, coil coating solutions welding solutions, specialty electrical equipment and highly engineered services to a broad range of markets, including, but not limited to, the power generation, transmission, distribution, refining and industrial markets. AZZ's Metal Coatings segment is a leading provider of metal finishing solutions for corrosion protection, including hot-dip galvanizing, spin galvanizing, powder coating, anodizing and plating, to the North American steel fabrication industry. AZZ's Precoat Metals Segment is a leading provider of aesthetic and corrosion protective coatings to the North American steel and aluminum coil market. AZZ's Infrastructure Solutions segment (AIS) is dedicated to delivering safe and reliable transmission of power from generation sources to end customers, and automated weld overlay solutions for corrosion and erosion mitigation to critical infrastructure in the energy and waste management markets worldwide.

About Fernweh Group LLC

Fernweh is a principal investment firm launched by leaders from global institutions, who have extensive prior experience working with companies in the industrial and industrial technology sectors on strategy, M&A, and operational transformation. Fernweh believes that companies in the mid- and small-cap industrial and industrial technology sectors are the engine of the economy. By tailoring cutting-edge management capability, operational and strategic transformation support, and capital for each company's unique context, history, and needs, Fernweh aims to be a builder of businesses and create value for all stakeholders.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Some of the financial information and data contained in this press release, such as adjusted EBITDA, have not been prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States ("GAAP"). The Company's management believes that the presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures provides investors with a greater transparency comparison of operating results across a broad spectrum of companies, which provides a more complete understanding of the Company's financial performance, competitive position and prospects for the future. Management also believes that investors regularly rely on non-GAAP financial measures, such as adjusted EBITDA, to assess operating performance and that such measures may highlight trends in the Company's business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying on financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.

While the Company believes these non-GAAP measures are useful in evaluating the Company's performance, this information should be considered as supplemental in nature and not as a substitute for or superior to the related financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Additionally, these non-GAAP financial measures may differ from similar measures presented by other companies.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements herein about our expectations of future events or results constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," "continue," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and management's views and assumptions regarding future events. Such forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and investors must recognize that actual results may differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Certain factors could affect the outcome of the matters described herein. This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, changes in customer demand for our products and services, including demand by the power generation markets, electrical transmission and distribution markets, the industrial markets, and the metal coatings markets. In addition, within each of the markets we serve, our customers and our operations could potentially continue to be adversely impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including governmental issued mandates regarding the same. We could also experience additional increases in labor costs, components and raw materials, including zinc and natural gas, which are used in our hot dip galvanizing process; supply-chain vendor delays; customer requested delays of our products or services; delays in additional acquisition or disposition opportunities; currency exchange rates; availability of experienced management and employees to implement AZZ's growth strategy; a downturn in market conditions in any industry relating to the products we inventory or sell or the services that we provide; economic volatility or changes in the political stability in the United States and other foreign markets in which we operate; acts of war or terrorism inside the United States or abroad; and other changes in economic and financial conditions. AZZ has provided additional information regarding risks associated with the business in AZZ's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 28, 2022 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), available for viewing on AZZ's website at www.azz.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. You are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements herein and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. These statements are based on information as of the date hereof and AZZ assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

1 Excludes AZZ Crowley Tubing

2 See press release and earnings presentation dated April 22,2022 for a reconciliation of Non-GAAP Adjusted Earnings Measures for fiscal year 2022

SOURCE AZZ Inc.
VAUGHAN, ON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bausch + Lomb Corporation (NYSE/TSX: BLCO) ("Bausch + Lomb" or the "Company"), a leading global eye health company dedicated to helping people see better to live better, is pleased to announce that it has expanded its Board of Directors (the "Board") to add two designees to the Board from Carl C. Icahn and affiliated entities (the "Icahn Group"). Brett Icahn and Gary Hu have joined the Board effective immediately.

The Company has entered into an amended and restated Director Appointment and Nomination Agreement (as amended and restated, the "Icahn Agreement"), between the Company and the Icahn Group. As previously disclosed in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1, the Icahn Agreement had previously provided that the Company agreed to, among other things, appoint to the Board two individuals identified by the Icahn Group and reasonably acceptable to the Company as soon as practicable following the written election of the Icahn Group after the consummation of the previously announced distribution by Bausch Health Companies Inc. ("Bausch Health") of approximately 80% of the Company's common shares to existing Bausch Health shareholders. As amended and restated, the Icahn Agreement provides that the Icahn Group is permitted to have two individuals appointed to the Board immediately.

"We are pleased to welcome Messrs. B. Icahn and Hu to our Board of Directors," said Joseph C. Papa, chairman and CEO, Bausch + Lomb. "Messrs. B. Icahn and Hu will both serve Bausch + Lomb well as we and Bausch Health continue to work toward our previously announced spinoff, which we continue to believe will unlock value for shareholders and enable us to further focus on building out our fully integrated eye health company that serves patients and consumers through all phases of their lives to meet unmet needs in eye health."

About Brett Icahn

Mr. Icahn has been a portfolio manager for Icahn Capital LP since October 2020. Icahn Capital LP is a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises L.P., a diversified holding company engaged in a variety of businesses, including investment, automotive, energy, food packaging, metals, real estate and home fashion. Mr. Icahn has held a variety of investment advisory roles at Icahn Enterprises L.P. since 2002, including as an investment strategy consultant from 2017 to 2020, and as portfolio manager of the Sargon Portfolio from 2010 to 2017. He has served on the board of Bausch Health since 2021 (where he serves on the Finance and Transactions and Special Transactions Committees) and has also served on the board of Icahn Enterprises L.P., a private entity since 2020. He has also been a director of Newell Brands Inc., a publicly traded global marketer of consumer and commercial products, since 2018 and Dana Inc., a supplier of automotive products and services, since January 2022. Mr. Icahn was previously a director of Nuance Communications, Inc., a provider of voice and language solutions, from 2013 to 2016. He also previously served on the boards of American Railcar Industries, Inc., Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. and Voltari Corporation. Mr. Icahn received a B.A. from Princeton University.

About Gary Hu

Mr. Hu has been a portfolio manager for Icahn Capital LP since October 2020. Prior to joining Icahn Capital LP, Mr. Hu held a variety of investment management roles from 2012 to 2020 at Silver Point Capital LP, a credit-focused investment firm, and from 2010 to 2012 at Stockbridge Investors, the public securities affiliate of Berkshire Partners LLC. Mr. Hu has served on the board of Dana Incorporated since January 2022. He was previously on the boards of Occidental Petroleum Corporation from 2021 to March 2022 and Cloudera Inc. from January to October 2021. Mr. Hu graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. Econ in Finance and Accounting from The Wharton School and a B.A.S. in Computer Science from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

About Bausch + Lomb

Bausch + Lomb is dedicated to protecting and enhancing the gift of sight for millions of people around the world  from the moment of birth through every phase of life. Its comprehensive portfolio of more than 400 products includes contact lenses, lens care products, eye care products, ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter products and ophthalmic surgical devices and instruments. Founded in 1853, Bausch + Lomb has a significant global research and development, manufacturing and commercial footprint with more than 12,000 employees and a presence in nearly 100 countries. Bausch + Lomb is headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario with corporate offices in Bridgewater, New Jersey. For more information, visit www.bausch.com and connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements, which may generally be identified by the use of the words "anticipates," "hopes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "should," "could," "would," "may," "believes," "estimates," "potential," "target," or "continue" and variations or similar expressions. These statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of management and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed in Bausch + Lomb's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian Securities Administrators, which risk factors are incorporated herein by reference. They also include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties caused by or relating to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, and the fear of that pandemic and its potential effects, the severity, duration and future impact of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, and which may have a material adverse impact on Bausch + Lomb, including but not limited to its project development timelines, launches and costs (which may increase). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Bausch + Lomb undertakes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release or to reflect actual outcomes, unless required by law.

 2022 Bausch & Lomb Incorporated or its affiliates.

SOURCE Bausch + Lomb Corporation
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According to the recent market study by Technavio, the Big Data Services Market size is expected to increase by USD 99.39 billion at a CAGR of 34.52%. The report provides a detailed analysis of drivers & opportunities, top winning strategies, competitive scenarios, future market trends, market size & estimations, and major investment pockets.

North America will account for 34% of market growth. The main markets for big data services in North America are the US and Canada. This region's market will grow more quickly than other regions' markets. Over the projected period, the growing volume of data will support the expansion of the big data services market in North America.

Download Sample Report: for more additional information about the key countries in APAC

Vendor Insights-

The Big Data Services Market is fragmented, and the vendors are deploying growth strategies such as focusing on product delivery through multiple distribution channels to compete in the market.

Accenture Plc- The company offers big data services for different types of industries such as all communication and media, software and platform, banking, and others.

The company offers big data services for different types of industries such as all communication and media, software and platform, banking, and others. Atos SE- The company offers big data services for different types of data sources such as Hadoop, cloud DB, no SQL, and Others.

The company offers big data services for different types of data sources such as Hadoop, cloud DB, no SQL, and Others. Datameer Inc.- The company offers an analytics lifecycle platform that helps enterprises to access all their raw data.

The company offers an analytics lifecycle platform that helps enterprises to access all their raw data. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.- The company offers big data services for different types of industries such as financial market transactions, social network chats, radio-frequency ID tag signals, and others.

The company offers big data services for different types of industries such as financial market transactions, social network chats, radio-frequency ID tag signals, and others. HP Inc.- The company offers big data services for different types of industries such as all off-site remote, and on-site service assistance.

Find additional highlights on the vendors and their product offerings. Get Sample Report

Key Market Segmentation

The BFSI segment's market share rise in big data services would be strong. Big data services are chosen in the BFSI sector to create the appropriate trading, fund management, and risk management models. Big data analysis helps banks to produce valuable insights that improve performance as big data grows in volume, diversity, and complexity. The contribution of each category to the expansion of the big data services market size is accurately predicted in this analysis.

Get the latest sample report for more key highlights on the regional market share of most of the above-mentioned countries.

Latest Drivers & Trends Driving the Market-

One of the main factors fueling the expansion of the big data services market is the expanding volume of data. The expansion of the global big data services industry will be fueled by big data in blockchain technology. However, one of the biggest obstacles to the growth of the global big data services market is adhering to varied client needs.

Find additional information about various other market Drivers & Trends mentioned in our latest sample report .

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Big Data Services Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 34.52% Market growth 2021-2025 $99.39 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 26.24 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, MEA, North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution North America at 34% Key consumer countries US, China, Germany, Canada, and Japan Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled Accenture Plc, Atos SE, Datameer Inc., Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd., HP Inc., International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft Corp., PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, SAP SE, and Teradata Corp. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID 19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, Market condition analysis for 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

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 01: Parent market



Exhibit 02: Market characteristics

2.2 Value chain analysis

Exhibit 03: Value chain analysis: IT consulting and other services market

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 04: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 05: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2020

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2020 - 2025

Exhibit 06: Global - Market size and forecast 2020 - 2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 07: Global market: Year-over-year growth 2020 - 2025 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces analysis 2020 & 2025

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 08: Bargaining power of buyers

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 09: Bargaining power of suppliers

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 10: Threat of new entrants

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 11: Threat of substitutes

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 12: Threat of rivalry

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 13: Market condition - Five forces 2020

5 Market Segmentation by End-user

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 14: End-user - Market share 2020-2025 (%)

5.2 Comparison by End-user

Exhibit 15: Comparison by End-user

5.3 BFSI - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 16: BFSI - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 17: BFSI - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.4 Telecom - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 18: Telecom - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 19: Telecom - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.5 Retail - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 20: Retail - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)

5.6 Others - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 21: Others - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 22: Others - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.7 Market opportunity by End-user

Exhibit 23: Market opportunity by End-user

6 Customer landscape

6.1 Overview

Exhibit 24: Customer landscape

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 25: Market share by geography 2020-2025 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 26: Geographic comparison

7.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 27: North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)

Exhibit 28: North America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 29: Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)

Exhibit 30: Europe - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 31: APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 32: APAC - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 33: South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)

Exhibit 34: South America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.7 MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 35: MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 36: MEA - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.8 Key leading countries

Exhibit 37: Key leading countries

7.9 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 38: Market opportunity by geography ($ billion)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

Exhibit 40: Impact of drivers and challenges

8.3 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

Exhibit 41: Vendor landscape

9.2 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 42: Landscape disruption



Exhibit 43: Industry risks

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 44: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 45: Market positioning of vendors

10.3 Accenture Plc

Exhibit 46: Accenture Plc - Overview



Exhibit 47: Accenture Plc - Business segments



Exhibit 48: Accenture Plc - Key offerings



Exhibit 49: Accenture Plc - Segment focus

10.4 Atos SE

Exhibit 50: Atos SE - Overview



Exhibit 51: Atos SE - Business segments



Exhibit 52: Atos SE - Key news



Exhibit 53: Atos SE - Key offerings



Exhibit 54: Atos SE - Segment focus

10.5 Datameer Inc.

Exhibit 55: Datameer Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 56: Datameer Inc. - Product and service



Exhibit 57: Datameer Inc. - Key offerings

10.6 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.

Exhibit 58: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 59: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 60: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 61: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. - Segment focus

10.7 HP Inc.

Exhibit 62: HP Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 63: HP Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 64: HP Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 65: HP Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 66: HP Inc. - Segment focus

10.8 International Business Machines Corp.

Exhibit 67: International Business Machines Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 68: International Business Machines Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 69: International Business Machines Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 70: International Business Machines Corp. - Segment focus

10.9 Microsoft Corp.

Exhibit 71: Microsoft Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 72: Microsoft Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 73: Microsoft Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 74: Microsoft Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 75: Microsoft Corp. - Segment focus

10.10 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Exhibit 76: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP - Overview



Exhibit 77: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP - Business segments



Exhibit 78: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP - Key offerings



Exhibit 79: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP - Segment focus

10.11 SAP SE

Exhibit 80: SAP SE - Overview



Exhibit 81: SAP SE - Business segments



Exhibit 82: SAP SE - Key news



Exhibit 83: SAP SE - Key offerings



Exhibit 84: SAP SE - Segment focus

10.12 Teradata Corp.

Exhibit 85: Teradata Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 86: Teradata Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 87: Teradata Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 88: Teradata Corp. - Segment focus

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 89: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.3 Research methodology

Exhibit 90: Research Methodology



Exhibit 91: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 92: Information sources

11.4 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 93: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
BlockSpaces relationship with Cogent Bank allows their blockchain-backed company to bank with ease.

TAMPA, Fla., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BlockSpaces, a B2B integration platform that connects business applications to blockchain networks, today announce their banking relationship with Cogent Bank, a full-service commercial and retail bank. The announcement was made at the Florida Bankers Association (FBA), one of Florida's oldest trade associations since 1888, annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.

BlockSpaces' relationship stems from Cogent Bank's unique understanding of the blockchain industry, including a firm grasp of the risks, distributed ledger technology, virtual currency, decentralized finance, and the evolving regulatory landscape. As Cogent Bank focuses on providing flexible, innovative, and forward-thinking services, the relationship allows the company to utilize Cogent's real-time, tokenized payment platform, advanced treasury management tools, and API gateway for data integration.

"As the blockchain industry continues to rapidly develop, it's critical for emerging companies to leverage progressive banking institutions for business operations," said Rosa Shores, Co-Founder and CEO of BlockSpaces. "Very few providers are up to serving customers with these unique needs. We are thrilled to have found such an innovative partner in Cogent Bank that truly embraces the coming digital transformation."



"We couldn't be happier to build our business with such a forward-thinking banking partner. We're having exciting discussions on how to bring digital asset services to more businesses and organizations in the future," said Gabe Higgins, Co-Founder and Chief Blockchain Officer of BlockSpaces.

"We know clients like BlockSpaces are in need of instantaneous payments using blockchain technology in today's fast-paced, digital economy," says Chirag Bhavsar, president of Cogent Bank. "At Cogent Bank we are always looking towards the future of banking, creating innovative solutions to fit the unique needs of our customers."

As the traditional financial services industry undergoes an upheaval due to technological developments such as blockchain, Web 3.0, and decentralized finance (DeFi), BlockSpaces has solidified its relationship with Cogent Bank as they lead the way in allowing functionality to their clients through innovative services.

About BlockSpaces

BlockSpaces is a B2B integration platform that connects business applications to blockchain networks through managed Web3 infrastructure, no/low code workflows and robust performance analytics. In April, the company introduced Lightning Connect, a simplified, non-custodial solution designed for businesses to experience the benefits of Bitcoin with lightning-fast, low-fee, secure payment processing.

The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.

For more information, visit www.blockspaces.com.

About Cogent Bank

Cogent Bank is a state-chartered bank that has operated as a full-service business and personal bank since 2001. With over $1 billion in total assets Cogent offers multiple banking centers in North, Central and Southwest Florida. Cogent offers a broad range of lending, depository, treasury management and mobile banking services designed to meet the complex and diverse needs of its clients while staying focused on the local communities it serves. Cogent believes banking is personal and requires high-touch, innovative services designed to make managing financial transactions easier. Cogent pairs its financial expertise with a passion for learning more about its clients' goals and objectives.

To learn more, visit www.cogentbank.net.

Contacts

Media Contact for BlockSpaces:

Jamila Nicholson

[email protected]

Media Contact for Cogent Bank:

Shelby Eiger

[email protected]

SOURCE BlockSpaces
Multi-year arrangement helps BT Legal 'connect for good' with its global stakeholders, clients, and suppliers

NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Factor, the leader in solutions for complex legal work at scale, announced today it has renewed and expanded its long-term relationship with BT, the UK's leading telecommunications and network provider and a leading provider of global communications services and solutions.

The relationship, which commenced in 2013, was founded on what was, at the time, a forward-thinking LPO model, shifting some lower complexity contracting to a more process-driven, outsourced model. Since then, it has evolved into a deeply integrated partnership, with Factor lawyers averaging nearly 7 years' experience, and working directly with the BT in-house legal and business teams.

"Together, Factor and BT take the next step in defining the way complex legal work gets done for modern companies. Contracts serve as an essential part of organizations like BT in their relationships with global clients and suppliers. Our partnership with BT enables them to drive higher performance through speed and effectiveness in a way that delivers a better customer experience," said Varun Mehta, CEO, Factor.

With this renewal, Factor will expand upon its existing partnership with BT Legal, leading commercial contracting for procurement and sales across all four of BT's customer facing units: Consumer, Enterprise, Global, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Openreach. Supporting BT from two Factor centres of excellence in Belfast, Northern Ireland and Wroclaw, Poland, Factor's team handles a broad spectrum of commercial legal work including purchasing, licensing, sponsorship, and enterprise customer agreements. Also, Factor is now providing multi-lingual experienced lawyers, supporting BT negotiations in French, German, Spanish and Portuguese.

"We've been really impressed by the legal knowledge of the Factor team and their enthusiasm to move up the value chain and get involved in more complex matters. BT sees Factor as an extension of our team, having people who are integrated with a sense of ownership and accountability has made such a difference," says Leeanne Whaley, Legal Director, Digital and Procurement, BT. "When Factor is supporting a legal matter our stakeholders for all intents and purposes are dealing with BT Legal. Our standards are high, and Factor has demonstrated that it can meet those expectations."

The renewal signals a more deeply integrated, self-managed service, enabled by Factor Empowered Negotiators, who act as an extension of BT's in-house team without being limited to playbooked work. As a result, Factor leads on more complex work with fewer escalations, allowing BT Legal to dedicate more focus to strategic advisory work.

Factor is also responsible for continuously introducing further efficiencies for BT Legal, such as reducing the amount of contracting needed by facilitating self-service, standardizing, or improving processes and leveraging new technologies to accelerate time to market, enhance client experience, and reduce risk.

"We are always striving for both continuous improvement and innovation, and the partnership with Factor is an integral part of that agenda," said Sabine Chalmers, Group General Counsel, Company Secretary and Director of Regulatory Affairs, BT Global.

About BT

BT Group is the UK's leading telecommunications and network provider and a leading provider of global communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities in the UK include the provision of fixed voice, mobile, broadband and TV (including Sport) and a range of products and services over converged fixed and mobile networks to consumer, business and public sector customers. For its global customers, BT provides managed services, security and network and IT infrastructure services to support their operations all over the world. BT consists of four customer-facing units: Consumer, Enterprise, Global and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Openreach, which provides access network services to over 650 communications provider customers who sell phone, broadband and Ethernet services to homes and businesses across the UK.

British Telecommunications plc is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

For more information, visit www.bt.com/about.

About Factor

Factor is the leader in solutions for complex legal work at scale, ranging from deadline-driven regulatory projects to long-term managed services. Factor combines expert legal resourcing and market know-how of Traditional Law, with the process efficiency, smart legal technology, and data-driven project management of New Law to bridge a huge gap in the market. The company is comprised of more than 600 lawyers, legal specialists, technologists, and process consultants with offices in New York, Chicago, London, Belfast, and Poland. Factor is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. For more information, go to https://www.factor.law or LinkedIn .

Media Contacts

Jessi Adler (US)

Plat4orm

[email protected]

Nick Jones (UK)

Plat4orm

[email protected]

SOURCE Factor
Nairobi  The Wiper Party is mulling going to court to challenge the ruling by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) dispute resolution committee to revoke Mike Sonko candidature for the Machakos Governor's race.

Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has insisted that the move to reject Sonko's candidature was unlawful and amounted to double standards.

Musyoka questioned why the poll agency cleared Sonko to vie as Nairobi Governor and have now moved to bar his bid in Mombasa.

"We are going to court, and we want justice for Sonko. IEBC knows that Sonko has an active appeal in court and these other things they are talking about to do with his papers. They are forgetting they cleared him in 2017," Kalonzo said.

The Wiper Leader insisted they will not leave the issue lying down saying a battery of lawyers were preparing a solid case to challenge the IEBC verdict.

In a ruling delivered on Monday, the tribunal chaired by IEBC commissioner Justus Nyang'aya, upheld the decision of the Mombasa County Returning Officer who had rejected Sonko's clearance on account that he failed to submit his original University academic degree certificate which is in breach of the Constitution.

Nyang'aya said as provided for in Section 22 (1) (b) one must submit a degree certificate which is a requirement that bounds all aspirants, and the aspirant was under obligation to present it.

He noted that certification by an advocate is not allowed even though he used the same document for clearance in the 2017 poll.

Sonko, in his complaint, had argued that it was wrong for the returning officer to disqualify him despite a pending appeal before the Supreme Court on his impeachment.

The Wiper Party was given 72 hours to nominate another candidate for the Mombasa seat and present his papers before the county returning officer in compliance with election regulations by the Commission.
Civic Season runs between Juneteenth and Fourth of July and features more than 750 activities and events nationwide

WASHINGTON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This week, three hundred cultural and civic institutions across the country kicked off the second annual Civic Season , a new summer tradition for learning and action co-designed with Gen Z. Anchored by Juneteenth and Independence Day - two dates that highlight the gap between our nation's promises and practices - Civic Season is about welcoming the future inheritors of the United States to learn about our nation's history so they can use it to inform and inspire civic participation for generations to come.

"Civic Season is about young people engaging with our past so they can help write our future," said Caroline Klibanoff, managing director of Made By Us at the National Museum of American History. "With hundreds of events and activities nationwide, the Civic Season is a new kind of American tradition where we come together to build a democracy powered by all of us."

More than 750 activities and resources are available at TheCivicSeason.com including podcasts, walking tours, how-to guides, in-person programs, simulations and videos. The public can learn how to take action with quizzes, poster generators, a Storycorps collection, an online zine, and contributions from luminaries like Ken Burns, Jose Antonio Vargas, Tayari Jones, Lonnie G. Bunch III, and others.

About Made By Us

Civic Season has been developed by Made By Us, an unparalleled collaboration of more than 130 of the nation's history museums to better engage Millennials and Gen-Z with American history to inspire, inform and empower civic participation. Led collectively by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, the National Archives Foundation, the First Americans Museum, Atlanta History Center, HistoryMiami Museum, Senator John Heinz History Center, New-York Historical Society, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, and Missouri Historical Society, Made By Us creates programs and digital platforms to connect young people in every corner of the nation with our shared past, present and future. For more information, visit historymadebyus.com or follow @historymadebyus on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

SOURCE Civic Season
The logistics company's two-week endeavor has engaged audiences with a hidden message and will culminate in a fundraising campaign

CHICAGO, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Those following Chicago-based logistics broker Cargoos on social media lately may have noticed something a bit different about its posts. Each of the company's pictures on its social media channels has incorporated a series of orange and blue dots. When considered in their entirety, they spell out an important message via Morse Code: Stand With Ukraine.

#StandWithUkraine Tridha Choudhury

Throughout the campaign, Cargoos has featured images of various vehicles, sometimes asking fans to guess the model, while others feature inspiring quotations. Some images have also featured vehicles used by Ukrainians to defend their country against Russian aggressors. Each picture features a series of dots that translate to a letter in the company's Stand With Ukraine message.

Cargoos's campaign has been met with excitement from its followers. With its message of solidarity now fully articulated, the freight broker is now shifting from online support to real-world action by launching a fundraising campaign to benefit the besieged country. The campaign has already earned the support of Indian actor Tridha Choudhury (Instagram @tridhac) who is helping the fundraising efforts.

"Our brand loves engaging with our clients and fans in exciting and innovative ways," said Jaymie Freeman, Cargoos spokesperson. "Our latest social media campaign has allowed us to do this while sharing a critical message that we can all stand behind. We hope our followers will rally behind our cause to Stand With Ukraine and join us in raising funds to support those in the country impacted by war."

To learn more about how to donate to Cargoos's Ukraine fundraising campaign, visit the company's Instagram and Facebook page . Donors can also support the #StandWithUkraine campaign by visiting https://cargoos.com/ to connect with the team to learn more.

About Cargoos

Cargoos stands for safe, secure, and reliable transportation services delivered by a network of independent freight agents, leased owner-operators, and other third-party capacity providers. We empower these entrepreneurs to offer customized shipping solutions.

CONTACT: Jaymie Freeman

PHONE: (312) 772-4422

EMAIL: [email protected]

SOURCE Cargoos
DENVER, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - (TSX: CWEB) (OTCQX: CWBHF) Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc. ("Charlotte's Web" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results from its 2022 annual general meeting of shareholders held on June 22, 2022 via live audio webcast (the "Meeting"). Each of the matters voted upon at the Meeting is discussed in detail in the Company's Proxy Statement dated April 28, 2022, a copy of which is available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

The total number of votes cast at the Meeting was 47,203,015, representing 32.51% of the total number of votes attached to the outstanding voting shares of the Company. According to the proxies received, the results of the vote for the election of directors were as follows:

Nominee # Votes For % Votes For # Votes Withheld % Votes Withheld John Held 18,090,259 93.04 % 1,351,211 6.96 % Jacques Tortoroli 18,394,916 94.61 % 1,046,554 5.39 % Jean Birch 18,261,129 93.92 % 1,180,341 6.08 % Susan Vogt 18,145,747 93.33 % 1,295,723 6.67 % Tim Saunders 18,247,008 93.85 % 1,194,462 6.15 %

Detailed results of the matters considered at the Meeting are reported in the Report of Voting Results as filed on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

About Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc.

Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc., a Certified B Corporation headquartered in Denver, is the market leader in innovative hemp extract wellness products under a family of brands which includes Charlotte's Web, CBD Medic, CBD Clinic, and Harmony Hemp. Charlotte's Web branded premium quality products start with proprietary hemp genetics that are 100-percent American farm -grown using organic and regenerative cultivation practices. The Company's hemp extracts have naturally occurring botanical compounds including cannabidiol ("CBD"), CBC, CBG, terpenes, flavonoids, and other beneficial compounds. Charlotte's Web product categories include full-spectrum hemp CBD oil tinctures (liquid products), CBD gummies (sleep, stress, exercise recovery), CBD capsules, CBD topical creams and lotions, as well as CBD pet products for dogs. Through its vertically integrated business model, Charlotte's Web maintains stringent control over product quality and consistency with 20+ product lot testing for quality assurance. Charlotte's Web products are distributed to more than 15,000 retail, over 8,000 health care practitioners, and online through the Company's website at www.CharlottesWeb.com.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking information"). In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "targets", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "an opportunity exists", "is positioned", "estimates", "intends", "assumes", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. 

Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent management's current expectations, estimates and projections regarding the future of our business, future plans, strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of this news release, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking information include, among others, the factors discussed throughout the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's most recently filed annual information form available on www.SEDAR.com and in the Company's most recently filed Form 10, as amended, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission available on www.SEC.com. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking information, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc.

THE WORLD'S MOST TRUSTED HEMP EXTRACT

SOURCE Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc.
ZURICH, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Chubb Limited (NYSE: CB) will hold its second quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

The company expects to issue its second quarter earnings release and financial supplement after the market closes on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. These documents will be available on the company's investor website at investors.chubb.com.

The earnings conference call will be available via live webcast at investors.chubb.com or by dialing 800-458-4121 (within the United States) or 313-209-6672 (international), passcode 2366321. Please refer to the Chubb website under Events and Presentations for details. A replay will be available after the call at the same location. To listen to the replay, click here to register and receive dial-in numbers.

About Chubb

Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries and territories, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London, Paris and other locations, and employs approximately 31,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at: www.chubb.com.

SOURCE Chubb Limited
BRANCHBURG, N.J., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ClorDiSys is proud to have been a part of the 2022 Kilmer Conference held in Athens, Greece. The company was selected to conduct a poster presentation entitled "Gaseous Chlorine Dioxide Sterilization of Medical Devices." The presentation outlined the properties of chlorine dioxide gas as well as the available technology. Due to the growing environmental and health concerns surrounding ethylene oxide, it is becoming increasingly crucial for industry users to find alternative sterilization methods for their products. Chlorine dioxide gas is seen as the ideal alternative and offers significant advancements in many of occasions. ClorDiSys generates a pure form of chlorine dioxide gas which is a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered sterilant, is non-carcinogenic, and non-explosive. These qualities allow for a paradigm shift of being able to bring sterilization into a medical device manufacturing facility rather than outsourcing to a contract sterilization facility. The process also does not result in harmful residues which is a concern that is often experienced with ethylene oxide sterilization. A sterilization feature also highly of interest to industry members is that cycles do not require an increase in temperature as ethylene oxide requires. This allows temperature sensitive devices to be highly successful under chlorine dioxide sterilization. Chlorine dioxide cycle lengths range depending on each device's requirements, but typically last from two to eight hours, start to finish. This is a significant advancement in time saving as compared with ethylene oxide cycles.

The Kilmer Conference has been a vital institution to the healthcare community since the 1970's and ClorDiSys is honored to have had the opportunity to further educate industry professionals on chlorine dioxide gas' potential impact to the world.

Established in 2001, ClorDiSys Solutions, Inc is a New Jersey based business that manufactures sterilization equipment and is an FDA registered contract sterilization facility which utilizes chlorine dioxide gas. ClorDiSys developed its technology through Johnson and Johnson, and chlorine dioxide gas has been providing true sterilization of medical devices for over 25 years.

SOURCE ClorDiSys Solutions Inc
TORONTO, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Concerned shareholders of Akanda Corp. ("Akanda" or the "Corporation") have today replaced a majority of the board of directors of the Corporation, with highly-qualified and motivated directors. The concerned shareholders of the Corporation collectively own or control 16,556,779 common shares of the Corporation (representing approximately 54.1% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Akanda), and yesterday passed a written resolution of the shareholders of the Corporation pursuant to the provisions of the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) (the "Act") removing each of Louisa Mojela, Philip van den Berg, Charles Kie, Gila Jones, Gugu Dingaan and Bridget Baker as directors of the Corporation effective immediately, and electing each of Harvinder Singh, Mohsen Rahimi, Jatinder Dhaliwal and Kathryn Field to fill the vacancies created thereby, to serve the remaining terms of the outgoing directors, or until their successors are elected or appointed. Pursuant to the provisions of the Act, the removal and appointments of directors are effective immediately. Biographical information about the highly qualified and motivated individuals elected by the concerned shareholders are set forth further below.

The actions taken today follow an initial outreach to the former board of directors of Akanda by David Jenkins, a long-standing shareholder of the Corporation. Mr. Jenkins, through his wholly-owned holding company 1306077 B.C. Ltd., owns 2,100,000 common shares of the Corporation, representing approximately 6.8% of the issued and outstanding Akanda shares. Mr. Jenkins had previously communicated to the former Akanda board regarding his frustration over the apparent lack of oversight and strategic direction of the Corporation. The concerned shareholders believe that immediate change was necessary in order to prevent the potentially irreparable harm to the Corporation that may have been caused if the former directors attempted a strategy of entrenchment.

Mr. Jenkins commented: "As a long-term investor in Akanda, I wish to see Akanda managed prudently and professionally, with a view to the long-term best interests of the Corporation. I am grateful for the support of my fellow shareholders who shared my concerns, and I look forward to a brighter future for all Akanda shareholders."

It is expected that the new board of directors of Akanda will soon meet to pass necessary resolutions following the reconstitution of the board concerning certain governance matters, including with respect to the committees of the board and to attend to such other transitional matters as may be required, and that the foregoing will be announced by the Corporation in short order.

Harvinder Singh

Mr. Harvinder Singh studied at Birmingham City University where he received a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Product Design. Mr Singh's long career has spanned over 30 years where he has worked as a CEO, COO and as product director for companies such as Ergolab, Lighting Manufacturing, Transact Network, Heathrow Medical Services among many others. Mr. Singh is regarded highly as a branding expert with a focus on European and far-East markets and has shown numerous occasions the ability to increase the penetration of products into markets by honing and improving them for individual markets and users. Mr Singh has managed successful wholesale businesses and further applied these skills to create highly successful e-commerce and wholesale importer businesses working with oversea vendors to produce significant revenues in sales as well as transactions.

Mohsen Rahimi

Mr. Rahimi studied at the University of British Columbia in the department of Land and Food Systems. Mr. Rahim has management experience in a broad range of sectors, including commercial, retail and international import and export, having held senior positions at Kowsar Holdings and Tin95 Holdings, which are both private investment firms. Mr. Rahimi has accumulated vast retail experience, growing out existing health food chains with multiple locations and millions of dollars in annual gross revenue, while simultaneously operating an active online e-commerce business. In addition to now being a director of Akanda, Mr. Rahimi is a director of Modern Plant Based Foods Inc. and Peakbirch Commerce Inc., both Canadian Securities Exchange listed issuers, and Binovi Technologies Corp., a TSX Venture Exchange listed issuer.

Jatinder Dhaliwal

Mr. Jatinder Dhaliwal is a registered pharmacist, and has significant capital markets experience. Mr. Dhaliwal holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Victoria. He has served as CEO and director of multiple publicly traded cannabis companies. He has served as a director of a licensed producer and extractor. He has extensive knowledge in agricultural, medical and pharmaceutical operations. Mr. Dhaliwal is well versed in the cannabis market from seed to sale from cultivating, extracting, manufacturing, and distributing and quality control of cannabis flower, oils, and concentrates. Mr. Dhaliwal is a certified medical cannabis practitioner. He has overseen operations of numerous retail and commercial operations and implemented various health protocols and technology advances into health and wellness chains.Kathryn Field

Katharyn Field

Ms. Field is currently president of Halo Collective, Inc. (NEO: HALO) (OTCQX: HCANF) ("HALO"), a position she has held since February 2020. From April 2019 through February 2020, Ms. Field served as Chief Strategy Officer at HALO. Ms. Field's resume includes senior positions at notable companies and institutions such as The White House, The Brookings Institution, and Bain & Company. In 2014 she entered the cannabis industry and led the procurement, build out, and sale of one of five original vertically integrated companies with state licenses in Florida. Subsequently, Ms. Field operated a strategy consulting practice focused on cannabis and also worked at MariMed in 2018 as Executive Vice President of Corporate Development. Ms. FIeld holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA with honors from Stanford University. Halo, of which Ms. Field is the President, holds approximately 41% of the voting securities of Akanda.

Tej Virk, a director and the current Chief Executive Officer of Akanda will remain in his position with the Corporation.

SOURCE Akanda Corp.
Company to Provide Updates on Strategy, Innovation and Roadmap for Growth

INDIANAPOLIS, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) will host an Investor Day on September 13, 2022 at its Johnston, Iowa Business Center.

During this virtual event, Corteva management is expected to provide updates on the company's strategy, technology pipeline and financial framework.

Presentations will take place between 9 a.m. and Noon Eastern Time, and will include remarks from Corteva Chief Executive Officer Chuck Magro, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Dave Anderson, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology and Digital Officer Sam Eathington, Executive Vice President, Seed Business Unit Tim Glenn, Executive Vice President, Crop Protection Business Unit Robert King, and other members of the company's senior leadership team.

Presentations will be webcast. Registration is available on the Events and Presentations Page of the Corteva Investor Relations website. A replay will be available on the website following the webcast.

About Corteva

Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) is a publicly traded, global pure-play agriculture company that combines industry-leading innovation, high-touch customer engagement and operational execution to profitably deliver solutions for the world's most pressing agriculture challenges. Corteva generates advantaged market preference through its unique distribution strategy, together with its balanced and globally diverse mix of seed, crop protection, and digital products and services. With some of the most recognized brands in agriculture and a technology pipeline well positioned to drive growth, the Company is committed to maximizing productivity for farmers, while working with stakeholders throughout the food system as it fulfills its promise to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come. More information can be found at www.corteva.com.

Follow Corteva on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

  Trademarks of Corteva Agriscience and its affiliated companies.

SOURCE Corteva, Inc.
SAN JOSE, Calif., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CPC Scientific Inc., a leading global peptide CRDMO (Contract Research, Development, and Manufacturing Organization) has invested in a new peptide API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) manufacturing site, bringing many new jobs to Rocklin, California. The 41,000 sq ft facility located at 3880 Atherton Rd, Rocklin, CA 95765 will be utilized to manufacture clinical to commercial-grade peptide products for increased manufacturing capacity and will diversify CPC Scientific's supply chain.

"CPC Scientific is entering an exciting period of growth and innovation for peptide and oligonucleotide therapeutic development and manufacturing, and we will continue to provide therapeutic APIs to pharmaceutical and biotech companies around the world. We are very pleased to partner with the City of Rocklin, California to bring manufacturing and Life-Science jobs to local American workers," said Shawn Lee, Ph.D., CEO.

Expanding CPC Scientific's manufacturing footprint in North America enables them to continue to produce innovative peptide products while providing additional capacity to specialty peptide APIs more rapidly.

Peptide-based therapeutic candidates have been the fastest growing sector among all the chemical synthesized NCEs (New Chemical Entities) for new drug development in recent years. For over two decades, CPC Scientific has been a reliable partner for its clients all over the world including multinational pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies, and academic institutions by providing value-added one-stop-shop development and manufacturing services to support their clinical trials. CPC Scientific has been successfully supplying commercialized APIs to their clients in the U.S., Europe, Australia, Japan, and China for their peptide-based drugs and medical devices. By expanding their GMP manufacturing footprint, the CRDMO will enable their clients and partners to have multiple geographic options to ensure a secure API supply chain.

"We have helped many of our clients to bring an innovative drug into the market from a concept. With the new Rocklin site, we believe we will be able to contribute more especially to the Northern American market and we will continue making our efforts with our decades of peptide synthesis expertise to help our clients to save lives and improve human health worldwide," said Shawn Lee, Ph.D.

The new Rocklin CGMP facility is scheduled to be online and fully operational by 2023. With manufacturing operations in Hangzhou (CN) and Rocklin, CA (US), these facilities will enable CPC Scientific to help meet the growing worldwide demand for peptide-based therapeutics and diagnostics.

About CPC Scientific.

Founded in 2001, CPC Scientific is a globally recognized and leading CRDMO specializing in synthetic peptide production, which is also expanding its footprint in synthetic oligonucleotides. The company works directly with leaders in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries to help bring life-changing therapeutics and diagnostics to market. CPC Scientific has the capability of serving customers from early drug discovery stages through clinical trials to commercial manufacturing and is proudly supplying commercial APIs to our partners all over the world. Dozens of isolated process and purification suites for peptide manufacturing enable simultaneous multi-Kg batch size projects. With an emphasis on technology, innovation, and experience, we are proud to have facilities inspected by many government agencies including U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Contact:

Chris Gothard, Ph.D.

***@cpcscientific.com

408-734-3800

Photo(s):

https://www.prlog.org/12922301

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE CPC Scientific Inc.
With the overarching theme of "Shaping Thriving Workplaces," nine highly anticipated keynotes, two panel discussions, five rapid-fire sessions, and two peer-to-peer roundtables will focus on the four major trends identified in the firm's 2022 HR Trends Report . These include:

Recruitment & Retention



The New World of Work



DEI After the Tipping Point



Skills in the Age of Change

Aligning with these current trends in the HR industry, event organizers have announced a non-exhaustive list of impressive speakers for Signature 2022. Along with David Usher, founder of Reimagine AI and frontman of beloved Canadian rock band Moist, delivering his exclusive keynote Creative Thinking: The Power to Navigate Disruption, Signature attendees can look forward to the following top 10 talks and events from well-known industry experts:

Tchernavia Rocker , Chief People and Administrative Officer at Under Armour, will help kick off the event with her dynamic keynote Leading With Purpose Through Crisis, Geopolitics, Culture Wars, and the Unknown  Shaped by Fire, examining the critical efforts of HR leaders in a working world riddled with complex external challenges.



As employee burnout continues to plague industries far and wide, its resolution too often falls on the individual. Kelly Berte , Director, HR Research & Advisory Services at McLean & Company, will deliver the timely and relevant keynote Escape the Burnout Cycle: Thinking and Acting Differently as an Organization, inspired by the latest burnout research from McLean & Company.



On the notable topic of culture, Michele Campion , Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), ESAB, will explore best practices in creating an impactful and intentional culture in her keynote session, Shaping a Culture Through Purpose and Values.



The current era of work demands real commitment and care from HR professionals. Phil Dana , CHRO, AskBio, will investigate the gritty details of HR work with his talk "In the Trenches" With a Current CHRO  Phil Dana @ AskBio.



A strong, vibrant, and inclusive culture is more important now than ever before, which has sparked insights from Stephen Childs , CHRO for Panasonic Automotive, on culture creation and management from a leadership ownership perspective in the Cultivating a Culture of Belonging From the Top Down keynote.



Janet Clarey , Director, HR Research & Advisory Services at McLean & Company, will highlight how an internal talent marketplace has the potential to fundamentally change how an organization of any size grows and moves talent to simultaneously meet employee needs and strategic priorities in the must-hear keynote Creating Your Internal Talent Marketplace: It's Not Just a New Piece of HR Technology.



Katrona Tyrrell, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Orangetheory Fitness, will advocate for a strong organizational core in her keynote Orangetheory's Focus on Building Core Strength Through Job Architecture and Compensation Philosophy.



Attracting and retaining talent are top considerations for many HR professionals today. Gloria Pakravan , Senior Director, Talent Management at University Health Network, will talk talent acquisition and retention within budget constraints in Engaging & Retaining Talent When Financial Incentives Aren't an Option: The UHN Journey.



Hybrid work has become the new normal for many industries. While it brings opportunities for improved work-life balance, it also presents unique challenges for workplace culture. To address these challenges, LynnAnn Brewer , Director, HR Research & Advisory Services at McLean & Company, will lead the CHRO Panel Discussion: Managing Culture Proactively in Hybrid Environments with panelists Melkeya McDuffie, CHRO for Clean Harbors; Jenn Bouyoukos , Chief Talent & Culture Officer at Yorkville University Toronto Film School; and Kelly-Ann Cordner , CHRO for SMS Equipment Inc.



Allyship requires real action and intention and plays a crucial role in today's workplace. Cinnamon Clark, Practice Lead, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Services at McLean & Company, will guide panelists Heather Hardinger , System Director, DEI / Chief Diversity Officer at CoxHealth; Delphia Howze , Chief Inclusion Strategy Officer for the University of Tennessee System; and Patricia Lacey , Talent and Leadership Development Manager/ DEI Lead , Red Stripe, a Heineken company, through their insights on allyship in the CDO Panel Discussion: Allies  Where Are You?

Jennifer Rozon, Division President of McLean & Company, shares the following insight on the return of Signature:

"Our dynamic lineup of keynote speakers exemplifies the diversity of today's modern hybrid workplace and the crucial role HR plays across every organization. The no-sponsor policy of this year's event will provide a safe and authentic environment for HR leaders to connect, network, and gain insight from the practical tools and resources they need to excel in the rapidly changing world of work."

The in-person conference will take place from September 20th to 21st, 2022, at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. View the full conference agenda here.

Register for Signature 2022 here.

To learn more about McLean & Company or to download all the latest research, visit hr.mcleanco.com and connect via LinkedIn and Twitter.

About McLean & Company

Through data-driven insights and proven best-practice methodologies, McLean & Company offers comprehensive resources and full-service assessments, action plans, and training to position organizations to meet today's needs and prepare for the future.

McLean & Company is a division of Info-Tech Research Group.

Media professionals are encouraged to register for McLean & Company's Media Insiders program for more research and insights. This program provides unrestricted, on-demand access to HR, IT, and software industry content, as well as subject matter experts from a group of over 200 research analysts. To apply for access, contact [email protected].

SOURCE McLean & Company
Expansion follows European investor demand for differentiated private credit solutions

LONDON and NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Deerpath Capital Management, LP, the $4.5 billion private credit manager and one of the largest providers of customized, cash-flow based senior debt financing to lower-middle market companies across North America, today announced the launch of its newest international office in London, England.

The office, located in Berkeley Square, will serve as Deerpath's European headquarters, and is led by private markets specialist Tania Kutner, Head of European Investor Partnerships. Tania previously worked at Lloyds Investment and Commercial Banking in Leveraged Finance and subsequently at Aerius Associates, a London based placement agent.

"Deerpath has been active in the UK and mainland Europe for several years," said Antonella Napolitano, Global Head of Investor Relations and Capital Formation for Deerpath. "As institutional demand for differentiated private credit solutions accelerates, we felt the time was right to establish a local office that would formalize our presence in the region and allow us to better serve the nuanced requirements of its investors."

Deerpath is actively growing its London office and believes this on-the-ground presence is key to the firm's expansion within the European investor market. Deerpath has a variety of institutional investors across the UK and mainland Europe including pension funds, insurance companies, fund of funds, family offices and asset managers. Established in 2007, Deerpath has deployed more than $6.5 billion of capital across a broad range of investment products, transaction types, and industries. The firm typically targets U.S. companies with Enterprise Value between $50 million and $150 million, owned by private equity sponsors and with long operating histories and strong recurring revenue.

The news follows Deerpath's closing of Deerpath CLO 2022-1, a $375 million collateralized loan obligation (CLO) secured by a portfolio of senior secured loans to middle market, private equity-backed companies. It represents the fifth CLO issued by Deerpath since 2018 and brings the firm's total CLO assets under management to approximately $1.8 billion.

About Deerpath Capital Management, LP

Founded in 2007, Deerpath Capital Management, LP is one of the largest providers of customized, cash-flow based senior debt financing to lower-middle market companies across diverse industries. For more information, please visit www.deerpathcapital.com.

Media

Aidan O'Connor

Prosek Partners (On behalf of Deerpath Capital)

(646) 818-9283

[email protected]

SOURCE Deerpath Capital Management, LP
Kapenguria  The government through the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project (KCSAP) is distributing 1,000 dorper sheep and 20,000 two-months-old improved Kienyeji chicken to residents of West Pokot to boost the livestock sector and mitigate the impact of climate change in the region.

KCSAP project coordinator Philip Ting'aa while addressing the press said the government is committed to strengthening the resilience of livestock farmers in the face of climate shocks and increasingly unreliable weather patterns in the region.

"The government is committed to providing solutions to challenges facing agriculture in West Pokot and in Kenya at large, the government's commitment is consistent with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 2) which calls to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030," Ting'aa said.

He said the dorper sheep and improved Kienyeji chicken donations by the government forms one of the value chain programmes aimed at increasing productivity and profitability for farmers and pastoralists in the region.

Ting'aa said the breeds they have been donating are hardy and perform well in dry parts of the county.

He further said the dorper sheep, galla goat and improved Kienyeji chicken have become popular in the region since this breed has a bigger body size and grows faster than the commonly kept breeds, and they fetch more money when sold.

"The demand for the dorper sheep, galla goat and improved Kienyeji from the time we donated has been rising, that is why we are in the fourth phase now distributing to the farmers for breeding," he noted.

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He said they have distributed over 40,000 two-months-old improved kienyeji chicken to farmers for breeding but the demand is still high because of its dual-purpose for both meat and eggs.

"Demand for improved kienyeji chicken has been rising because the breed is good for meat and eggs production, and it can be free-range and with high resistance to diseases" Ting'aa explained.

Ting'aa said KCSAP programmes have been enhancing farmers' capacity to cope with climate change risks through animal breeds grants to groups in the Seeker, Lomut, Alale, Sook, Endugh and Siyoi ward within the region.

"We have been supporting interventions that promote up-take of agriculture technologies, innovations, and management practices by smallholder farming, agro pastoral communities in the region," he explained.

Ting'aa said KCSAP has been working to transform the community by rolling out projects aimed at improving agricultural productivity, building resilience to climate change risks and conserving the environment.

He warned the groups against selling and saying they are meant for breeding purposes only.

According to Ting'aa, agriculture is four times more effective in reducing poverty in the region, being the main activity of most residents in the region.

KCSAP has been promoting in the region the rearing of indigenous chicken, sheep, goats, dairy farming, sorghum and green grams production.

The county project coordinator noted that the prices of chicken, goats and sheep in the region have improved owing to the breed exchange programme. - Kna
Monarch leads long-term capital solution and provides operational support to strengthen existing business and drive future growth

SUGAR LAND, Texas, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dhanani Group Inc., the second largest quick-service restaurant franchisee group in the United States, with 849 restaurants across 23 states, announced the closing of new financing totaling $500 million. Monarch Alternative Capital LP, a leading private credit firm with approximately $9.5 billion of assets under management, and its partners led the five-year secured bank loan facility to provide Dhanani Group with long term capital to support the financial strength of the existing business and aid in the future growth of the company.

Since entering the restaurant franchise segment in 1994, Dhanani Group has built its company by focusing on underperforming and mismanaged franchises and working to improve the restaurant experience for its patrons. The emphasis on solid brands has enabled the company to deliver consistently strong product quality and financial growth.

"The Dhanani Group was founded on the basis of providing hands-on operating expertise to hundreds of restaurant franchises across the US to capitalize on the positive growth trends in the QSR space. Our ability to strengthen our capital structure in the current market through a new financing enables us to pursue our vision," said Shoukat Dhanani, co-CEO of Dhanani Group Inc.

"The Dhanani Group is an exceptionally well-run company with strong franchisor support that is positioned to thrive in various market environments," said Joshua Acheatel, Managing Principal at Monarch Alternative Capital. "We were drawn to Dhanani's demonstrated record of success investing in and growing multiple franchise concepts through the company's cohesive and long-standing management team. Monarch and our investors are pleased to partner with the Dhanani Group to provide both capital and operating expertise to help the company continue on its path of successfully improving and growing its asset base."

"Monarch provides us with a unique and differentiated value proposition through their prior experience in the restaurant industry and ability to provide a holistic capital solution in an expedited manner," said Amin Dhanani, co-CEO of Dhanani Group Inc. "The new capital led by Monarch comes at an important time in the firm's history, providing Dhanani with the resources to capitalize on our growth initiatives in the years ahead."

Dhanani Group was advised by Centerview Partners, FTI Consulting, and Vinson & Elkins LLP. Monarch was represented by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

About Monarch Alternative Capital LP

Monarch Alternative Capital LP is a global investment firm founded in 2002 with approximately $9.5 billion in assets under management. Monarch focuses primarily on opportunistic situations across corporate debt, real estate, capital solutions, and other market segments. Monarch draws on the skills and experience of its employees across its offices in New York and London. For more information, please visit www.monarchlp.com.

Media Contacts:

For Dhanani Group:

Shoukat Dhanani

[email protected]

https://dhananigroupinc.com/

For Monarch:

Jeremy Fielding / Emma Young

Kekst CNC

[email protected] / [email protected]

SOURCE Dhanani Group Inc.
Dodge is pouring on the horsepower as the brand charges forward on its new performance path, launching a multi-day Dodge Speed Week event, August 12-20, 2022, on famed Woodward Avenue that will pack enough news to fill an entire calendar year into one week and charting the future of the Dodge brand.

"There's no better place to unveil a new performance direction for the Dodge brand than right on Woodward Avenue in metro Detroit, with tens of thousands of our closest fans and friends," said Tim Kuniskis, Dodge brand Chief Executive Officer - Stellantis. "We introduced our two-year Never Lift road map last year at Roadkill Nights, and this year the event will serve as the prelude to going wide open throttle on Never Lift. All I can say is the future of our brand will be on display during Dodge Speed Week, and we're throwing open our garage doors so our fans can get a peek for themselves. It's going to be an electric summer for Dodge."

Dodge Speed Week will be highlighted by a three-peat of worldwide Dodge brand product unveils, scheduled to take place in front of media and invited guests on three separate nights, August 15-17, 2022. Dodge will also make its return to Dream Cruise weekend proper for the first time since 2019, staging a full brand display on Woodward Avenue.

The Dodge Speed Week schedule includes:

Day 1  August 12, 2022 : Press preview for MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge at M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Michigan

: Press preview for MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge at M1 Concourse in Day 2  August 13, 2022 : MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge returns with legal street drag racing on Woodward Avenue, Dodge fan activities at M1 Concourse

: MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge returns with legal street drag racing on Woodward Avenue, Dodge fan activities at M1 Concourse Day 3-5  August 15-17, 2022 : Three consecutive days of Dodge worldwide product reveals at M1 Concourse for media and invited guests:

: Three consecutive days of Dodge worldwide product reveals at M1 Concourse for media and invited guests: Monday, August 15  Current muscle announcements

 Current muscle announcements

Tuesday, August 16  Gateway muscle announcement

 Gateway muscle announcement

Wednesday, August 17  Future muscle announcement

 Future muscle announcement Day 6  August 20, 2022 : Dodge Dream Cruise public display

For more information on Dodge and to follow along on the brand's Never Lift plan, which provides a 24-month road map to Dodge's performance future, visit Dodge.com and DodgeGarage.com.

MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge Event Information

Information on MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge, including details on the event schedule, spectator tickets, car show registration, participant registration for drag racing and an extensive range of packages, will be available early this summer at hotrod.com/events/roadkillnights.

To stay up to date on Roadkill and Roadkill Nights news, follow facebook.com/roadkillshow and twitter.com/roadkillshow (fans can follow the action for Roadkill Nights with hashtags #RoadkillNights and #PoweredByDodge), and visit Dodge.com and DodgeGarage.com.

Street racing can have serious legal and safety risks. Both ROADKILL and Dodge want enthusiasts to enjoy performance driving in a safe, controlled environment, run by professionals with vehicle safety inspections, driver evaluations and track safety.

Dodge//SRT

For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge shifts into high gear with muscle cars and SUVs that deliver unrivaled performance in each of the segments where they compete.

Dodge drives forward as a pure performance brand, offering SRT versions of every model across the lineup. For the 2022 model year, Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating 807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock, the 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world, and the Dodge Durango SRT 392, America's fastest, most powerful and most capable three-row SUV. Combined, these three muscle cars make Dodge the industry's most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other American brand across its entire lineup.

In 2020, Dodge was named the "#1 Brand in Initial Quality," making it the first domestic brand ever to rank No. 1 in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). In 2021, the Dodge brand ranked No. 1 in the J.D. Power APEAL Study (mass market), making it the only domestic brand ever to do so two years in a row.

Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.

Follow Dodge and company news and video on:

Company blog: http://blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Media website: http://media.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Dodge brand: www.dodge.com

DodgeGarage: www.dodgegarage.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dodge

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dodgeofficial

Twitter: www.twitter.com/dodge and @StellantisNA

YouTube: www.youtube.com/dodge, https://www.youtube.com/StellantisNA

SOURCE Stellantis
Actions taken by public administration are necessary to create a supportive legal and tax environment, but it is the companies that constitute the most significant driving force when it comes to tackling social issues. Data collected among the citizens of Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, and Slovenia between March and April 2022 shows that CEE citizens appreciate socially engaged companies, but in return, they expect transparency, honesty and linking social activities with the company's business profile.

Not only the customers, also employees want to contribute to the growth of responsible companies. Social activity of potential employers is important to 36% of those searching for new jobs. Employee volunteering is becoming an important trend, but only 20% of CEE citizens state that their employers offer this opportunity to them. At the same time, nearly 40% of those who do not have this option claim to be interested in it.  explains Anna Korzeniewska from Social Impact Alliance for Central & Eastern Europe, an international think tank that conducted the study. A similar situation can be observed for pro bono activities. Only 14% of respondents state that their employers provide pro bono support as part of their business activity, while as many as 46% expect this to change.

When asked which UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should be addressed by particular industries, CEE citizens indicate that the financial sector should solve problems related to poverty, education, and economic growth. Food companies and retail chains are expected to put more emphasis on combating hunger and promoting responsible consumption. Technology and IT companies should support innovation and economic growth, while the energy and automotive industries should focus on climate-related issues.

Access to knowledge and education was indicated as one of the most important needs in the region. It turns out that only 11% of CEE citizens understand what ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) stands for. For most citizens, philanthropy is part of financial education and should be promoted by banks. According to the majority, social engagement should be taught from an early age.

2022 survey and an analogous one conducted in 2020 in Poland, Czech Rep., Slovakia, and Hungary clearly show that crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine are mobilizing Europeans to become socially involved. As many as 53% of CEE citizens have joined efforts to support Ukrainian refugees, primarily by providing financial support and donating goods. As the year 2021 has shown, the biggest challenge will be to maintain this engagement. It is worth noting that expectations towards more developed countries have increased. A higher commitment is expected particularly from the countries of Western Europe (Germany, Switzerland, UK) and North America (USA, Canada).

Currently, nearly half of CEE citizens (48%) make financial donations  regardless of age, gender, place of residence, or income. The total value of annual donations in the 7 surveyed countries amounts to nearly one billion euros, but their philanthropic potential is twice as high. - This scale of engagement is possible, but to strengthen the social impact ecosystem in the CEE countries, we need to raise awareness, initiate more cooperation, and identify and eliminate barriers, also tax and legal.  notes Anna Korzeniewska.

Development of sustainable philanthropy requires reliable data and knowledge sharing. Central and Eastern Europe, thanks to the growing potential of its society, has a real opportunity to continue building a culture of philanthropy and lasting social attitudes. This is why it is important to invest in research to engage all actors of society in a strategic and long-term manner.  says Liza Belozerova, Senior Manager at Google.org, Europe, Middle East & Africa.

Link to the full report, which can be downloaded, free of charge, in 8 languages: English, Bulgarian, Croatian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Romanian and Slovenian:

https://ceeimpact.org/our-initiatives/philanthropy-in-cee-2022/

Image - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1845641/CEE_1.jpg

SOURCE Social Impact Alliance for Central & Eastern Europe (CEE)
Rapid adoption by Fortune 500 customers as Evinced pioneers and extends its powerful, easy, and intelligent software suite for developing accessible websites and mobile apps

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Evinced , the leading software company powering accessible web and mobile development, today announced a $38 million Series B funding round. The round was led by global software investor Insight Partners with participation from existing investors M12 (Microsoft's venture fund), BGV, Capital One Ventures, and Engineering Capital, bringing the total raised to date to $57 million.

A software-first approach

Large companies know that it makes business sense to ensure the broadest possible access to their websites and mobile apps. Yet the traditional approach for companies has been to rely on expensive, infrequent manual audits and large, usually external, service consulting teams as a way of guiding their developers.

Evinced's software-first approach means accessibility is bolted into every line of code that developers commit into the software development cycle. This allows internal accessibility resources to build effective partnerships with internal engineering leadership, dramatically improving speed to market while minimizing business risk.

"What we're seeing is pent-up demand," said co-founder and CEO Navin Thadani. "Since we solved most of the technical problems that made large enterprises rely on a manual approach to digital accessibility in the first place, they're excited to see that finally they can truly "shift left," which makes everyone  customers, employees, and the world  a winner."

Rapid adoption

Since launch in 2021, Evinced's web and mobile accessibility solutions have been seamlessly integrated into the enterprise development process of a host of forward-thinking enterprises, including:

Four of the nation's 10 largest financial institutions

Two of the nation's three largest B2B SaaS companies

One of the nation's five largest healthcare companies

Evinced's technical advances enable automatic discovery, clustering, and tracking of accessibility issues that were only possible previously through difficult manual processes:

Evinced identifies problems in accessibility for screen reader and keyboard-reliant users, employing computer vision to understand the context of each element on a screen.

Evinced uses AI to recognize color contrast problems on complex backgrounds.

Evinced analyzes a site's accessibility issues according to the coding practices that are behind each of the problems. These "components" help customers know where they can get the most accessibility improvement with limited resources.

Evinced tracks accessibility issues over time and automatically knows which issues are new and which are pre-existing, and can even track resolution.

Growing market  and the need for mobile

At least 2.2 billion people depend on assistive technology in order to effectively interact with websites and mobile applications. Now, with stricter ADA compliance regulations and an increase in web accessibility lawsuits, the need for digital accessibility is higher than ever.

"As a former operator, thorough accessibility testing was something my teams knew mattered but we could never wrap our heads around," said Michael Yamnitsky, Managing Director at Insight Partners. "Evinced 'just works' and is gaining rapid adoption across today's leading brands. We're thrilled to partner with the team as they make accessibility testing a standard component of the development pipeline."

Another exciting aspect of Evinced's Series B funding will be the continued expansion of its mobile offerings. Last year, Evinced launched the industry's first complete portfolio of products to enable enterprise developers to weave accessibility into their iOS and Android mobile app development process. With over 70 percent of internet users predicted to only use their smartphones to get online by 2025, Evinced mobile accessibility solutions are built for scale and can be used by any enterprise developer looking to test a mobile app for critical accessibility issues.

About Evinced

Since launching in 2021, Evinced is the leading software for integrating accessibility into web and mobile development at the world's largest, most accessibility-committed companies. Evinced's powerful suite of tools enable developers and accessibility professionals to automatically find, cluster, and track accessibility issues, reduce reliance on manual processes, minimize risk, and speed up their time to market. Evinced is headquartered in California, with offices across the US, Europe, and Israel, and is backed by leading investors like Insight Partners, M12 (Microsoft's venture arm), BGV, Capital One Ventures, and others.

To learn more please visit: https://www.evinced.com/

About Insight Partners

Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of February 24, 2022, the closing of the firm's recent fundraise, Fund XII, brings Insight Partners' regulatory assets under management to over $90B. Insight Partners has invested in more than 600 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv, and Palo Alto. Insight's mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with practical, hands-on software expertise to foster long-term success. Insight Partners meets great software leaders where they are in their growth journey, from their first investment to IPO. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners.

SOURCE Evinced / BAM Communications
Cigna 360 Global Well-Being Survey of 11,922 people worldwide reveals expat stress has reached an all-time high, with almost all respondents feeling symptoms of burnout

Lifestyle is now more important than finances for those planning to move overseas, a quarter plan to move to access better healthcare

Top destination for existing expats to relocate to is Canada , with Australia and the U.S. tied second

HONG KONG, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The vast majority of expats are burned out, stressed and reevaluating life and work priorities for more flexibility or to be closer to family and friends, according to a report based on the eighth edition of the Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey.

The report released today, Burned Out Overseas  The State of Expat Life 2022, found 90% of expats are stressed and 98% have experienced symptoms of burnout - likely driven by feeling unable to switch off from work. Expats are experiencing an overwhelming sense of isolation, with 87% reporting feeling helpless, trapped or defeated and 86% feeling detached or alone. Meanwhile, more than a third (38%) are also concerned or uncertain about their financial situation. Contributing to these findings is a mix of lifestyle, opportunity and work culture factors. The study found 73% of current expats, and 75% of those who plan to move overseas in the next two years, have spent more time reevaluating their life priorities since the pandemic. Lifestyle now replaces finances as the top priority for those planning to move overseas.

Jason Sadler, President, Cigna International Markets, said employers face a real challenge in meeting this lifestyle shift and rethinking the expat value proposition. "Employers may face huge challenges in filling overseas assignments in the future. The exciting, rewarding, globally mobile lifestyle that used to sum-up the 'expat dream' has changed and more people are now prioritizing lifestyle, family and friends when planning moves."

Healthcare has become a priority for all groups, with 23% of existing expats considering moving to gain access to better healthcare. Work life balance is also critical, with more than a quarter of aspiring expats saying flexible hours are critical and 16% saying they want the ability to work from any location in the world.

"From now on, it's likely that organizations will need to reevaluate how they structure expat assignments. Personal and family needs are now at the forefront of decision-making, and this may impact the benefits expats prioritize when selecting roles," added Sadler.

The survey also found Canada is the top destination for existing expats to move to, with 11% wanting to relocate there. Australia and the U.S. tied in second place. The significant majority of those living in Europe and Australia are confident they will remain living overseas, but the same cannot be said for Asia, with only 5% of those in India and 16% of those in Mainland China confident they will stay.

Expat age profiles are also changing, with senior employees now more likely to want to return or remain in their home countries while younger staff seek out overseas moves. Only 13% of those over the age of 50 say they want to move overseas, compared to 37% of those aged 18 to 24, and 34% of those aged 25 to 34.

Looking ahead, Dr. Stella George, Chief Medical Officer, Cigna International Markets, said the expat age demographic is expected to change.

"The past couple of years during the pandemic have been especially challenging for existing and long-term expats," said Dr. George. "So, while many will be moving closer to home, many ambitious younger professionals will also start taking advantage of the opportunities that overseas postings offer, such as quick promotion, flexible working and other incentives. These benefits are especially attractive to people earlier in their careers."

About the Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey

The eight edition of the Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey was conducted by Cigna International Markets, in partnership with Kantar, a leading data, insights, and consulting company. More than 11,900 people from Australia, Belgium, Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, UAE, UK and USA were surveyed for the research in May this year. It examined five key components  family, financial, physical, social, and work  to uncover the latest trends and challenges for the health and well-being of expats.

Online sampling used respondents recruited from panels that undergo rigorous quality control and the panel composition is representative of the adult population in each of the surveyed markets.

About Cigna

Cigna Corporation (NYSE: CI) is a global health service company dedicated to improving the health, well-being and peace of mind of those we serve. Cigna delivers choice, predictability, affordability and access to quality care through integrated capabilities and connected, personalized solutions that advance whole person health. All products and services are provided exclusively by or through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation, Evernorth companies or their affiliates, and Express Scripts companies or their affiliates. Such products and services include an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, vision, supplemental benefits, and other related products. Cigna maintains sales capability in over 30 countries and jurisdictions and has more than 175 million customer relationships throughout the world. To learn more about Cigna, including links to follow us on Facebook or Twitter, visit www.cigna.com

SOURCE Cigna
In 1903, Anglo-German Brewery Co. Ltd. founded Germania-Brauerei in Qingdao, the predecessor of Tsingtao Brewery. With more than a century of history, Tsingtao Brewery has evolved into China's iconic beer brand, winning almost every gold medal in beer quality competitions held within the country since the establishment of People's Republic in 1949, as well as numerous gold medals in international competitions held all around the world. Today, Tsingtao Brewery produces 18 billion bottles of beer annually. On average, nearly 40,000 bottles of Tsingtao beer are consumed every 60 seconds.

In 2004, Tsingtao Brewery converted the original brewery site on Dengzhou Road into The World of Tsingtao as a showcase for the history of China's beer industry and the development of Tsingtao Brewery. The museum preserves the look of the original brewery's workshops and production processes, saccharification furnaces and generators, as well as the scene of workers turning over malt.

Tsingtao Brewery reported that its annual sales grew to 7.93 billion liters in 2021, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Revenue and net profit for the reporting year reached 30.17 billion yuan (approx. US$4.5 billion) and 3.16 billion yuan, up 8.7% and 43.3% year on year, respectively. As for technological innovation, Tsingtao Brewery established the State Key Laboratory of Biological Fermentation Engineering of Beer, China's only such lab specializing in the science of beer. Tsingtao Brewery has been the No.1 brand in China's beer industry for 18 consecutive years with a brand value estimated at 1,985.66 billion yuan.

China consumes more beer than any other country, accounting for 25% of the world's total beer consumption. Some 51.15 billion liters of beer are on target to be drunk in 2023, in a market valued at US$102.9 billion. New trends have been making themselves felt in the Chinese beer market, most notably, a proliferation of high-end brands, diversification in tastes, growing demand, expansion in the types and number of scenarios where beer consumption is becoming the norm, as well as high growth of the craft beer market.

Tsingtao Brewery, leveraging its over 100 years of heritage, is leading the new trends in beer consumption: the beer maker has transformed the beer brewing processes, engaged in product innovations and vastly expanded its beer marketing roadmap.

SOURCE Information Office of the People's Government of Shandong Province
Raffle open through July 1, 2022 and includes cruises, land packages and more

NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial hardships  whether they're caused by illness, a natural disaster or something else  can strike without warning. In these times of great need, the Family Bonds Foundation, a charitable initiative of Travel Leaders Group, is ready to step in, providing grants to those who work in the travel industry as well as the wider community.

The Foundation's fundraising drive includes a raffle that runs through July 1 at 11:59 p.m. ET. For every $10 donation, individuals will receive a raffle ticket to support the work of the Family Bonds Foundation and be entered to win a variety of land travel packages and cruise prizes (a $20 donation nets three tickets). In addition, anyone who donates $20 or more will receive a digital copy of the Family Bonds Foundation Cookbook, which includes recipes from preferred supplier chefs and staff, and authentic local recipes from destination partners.

To make a donation, visit www.familybondsfoundation.com/donate or text BONDS to 56512. The drawing will be held on July 6. A representative from the Family Bonds Foundation will notify winners to claim their prizes. Other terms and conditions apply.

"This vital charitable work is an extension of what we do as travel advisors  we bring people together," said Jackie Friedman, Family Bonds Foundation President. Friedman oversees the Foundation's Board of Directors and provides strategic direction. She is also President of Nexion Travel Group. "All of us deal with emergencies at some point in our lives and they can be devastating, impacting our livelihood at a time when we are least able to cope. When members of the travel advisor community need our support, we want to be ready to help."

The grants have helped recipients pay medical bills, made up for lost income when homes were threatened by wildfires and been used to start a nonprofit that combats teen suicide. The Foundation's reach extends to communities in need beyond the United States. In April, it raised $13,000 for the Global Empowerment Mission to support vital work getting aid into and refugees out of Ukraine.

Founded in 2015 by John Lovell, President of Travel Leaders Group, a division of Internova Travel Group, the Family Bonds Foundation supports families, their children and their communities who are experiencing hardships. More than 200 grants have been distributed over the past seven years to travel advisors, suppliers and others in need.

Anyone can nominate a person to receive a grant from Family Bonds. Grants are open to those in and out of the travel industry.

The Foundation Board, which reviews the nominations and awards grants, includes Scott Nisbet, Globus family of brands; Dondra Ritzenthaler, Celebrity Cruises; Mimi Comfort, Cruise Holidays of Kansas City; Alan Rosen, Sand and C Travel; Doug Carpenter, Wings Travel Group; Sandy Clark, Sandy Clark Travel; Stacey Gross, Favorite Place Travel; Christine Potthoff Travel beCAUSE; Nicole Galowin, Travel Leaders Network (Secretary); and Jackie Friedman, Nexion Travel Group (President).

If you know a person who is experiencing difficult times or financial hardship and would like to nominate him or her for a grant, please visit the Family Bonds website and click on "nominate." The deadline for nominations for the next round of grants is July 12.

To learn more, please visit www.familybondsfoundation.com.

About Family Bonds Foundation

Founded in 2015 by John Lovell, the Family Bonds Foundation serves the charitable needs of those who work within the travel industry as well as the broader community. Grants are awarded to support those needing assistance as a result of natural disasters, illness and a variety of other types of financial hardship. Each year, nominations for deserving candidates are taken from Travel Leaders Group membership and preferred partners. The Foundation Board, which includes Travel Leaders Group executives, travel advisors and preferred partners, review the nominations and award grants the following year. Travel Leaders Group is a division of Internova Travel Group.

About Internova Travel Group

Internova Travel Group is one of the largest travel services companies in the world with a collection of leading brands delivering high-touch, personal travel expertise to leisure and corporate clients. Internova manages leisure, business and franchise firms through a portfolio of distinctive divisions. Internova represents more than 70,000 travel advisors in over 6,000 company-owned and affiliated locations predominantly in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, with a presence in more than 80 countries.

CONTACT:

Berit Griffin

[email protected]

651-442-5173

SOURCE Travel Leaders Group
Statement by Robin Koval, CEO and President, Truth Initiative

WASHINGTON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today's announcement by the Food and Drug Administration to deny marketing authorizations for all JUUL e-cigarettes, thereby making them an illegally marketed product, is a huge public health victory that will save lives and protect millions of teens and young adults from the harms of nicotine use and risks of addiction. We applaud the Biden Administration and FDA for taking this urgently necessary and long-awaited action that clearly acknowledges the significant role JUUL played in igniting the ongoing youth e-cigarette epidemic, one that the U.S. Surgeon General says has had a negative impact on the physical and mental health of America's youth. By holding JUUL accountable and prioritizing public health over corporate profiteering, the FDA is making the right decision  one that we, with our public health partners, have been urgently calling for along with the removal of all flavored e-cigarettes, including menthol.

FDA noted in its denial of JUUL's application that there was insufficient toxicological evidence to determine that keeping them on the market would be "appropriate for the protection of public health"  the standard by which FDA must evaluate tobacco products. The history of JUUL makes it clear that these products  owned in part by Altria, the maker of Marlboro  have no place in our society. Congressional hearings in 2019 about JUUL's role in the youth e-cigarette crisis provided, with the company's own testimony and documents, startling evidence that since virtually day one of its existence, the company employed numerous strategies and tactics targeting young people, including the use of social media influencers, attempts to infiltrate school programs, and even funding summer camp programs for children as young as eight. The result, by 2018 JUUL had captured an astonishing 75% share of the e-cigarette market and even more shocking had been the driver behind a youth vaping rate that at its peak included 27.5% of high school students as regular e-cigarette users and was so ubiquitous in youth culture that school bathrooms were dubbed "JUUL rooms."

Now that the FDA has taken action on the brand that ignited the youth vaping epidemic, the agency must accelerate progress and act without further delay on the other e-cigarette products that are sustaining it by continuing to target youth. The agency must immediately prioritize completing its review of the top brands that make up the majority of the total e-cigarette market and are most popular among youth, including Vuse Alto, Logic, NJOY, Blu, and newcomer Elf Bar. The FDA must also use its authority to address synthetic nicotine as part of this process so that leading disposable brands like Puff Bar can no longer slip through this loophole. The only way to end the "whack-a-mole" approach to regulation and enforcement is for FDA to comprehensively remove all flavored tobacco products, including menthol, from the market. Furthermore, the FDA should immediately remove all unreviewed e-cigarettes, which should have been removed from the market on September 9th, 2021.

This decision comes at a critical time as new data shows that every day we await the FDA to complete its review, more young people are put at risk of a lifetime of nicotine addiction. New Truth Initiative research shows that nearly 1.5 million young people, including nearly 800,000 teens between 15-18 years old, vaped nicotine for the first time between July 2021 and June 2022, the months surrounding and following the FDA's missed September 2021 deadline to complete its review of e-cigarettes. This initiation of children to the risks of nicotine addiction and the unknown physical health risks of e-cigarettes is made even more troubling amidst the toll of today's mental health crisis on young people and the known connection between nicotine and mental health symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Just as young people deserve to live free of the harms of nicotine addiction, adult smokers deserve products that meet public health standards. A completed FDA review can help determine if any tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes can help support adult smokers to improve their health outcomes. Truth Initiative supports regulation that encourages the development of consistently less harmful nicotine delivery alternatives that allow smokers to quit altogether or switch completely to a much less harmful, well-regulated product. For the many young people who want to quit vaping nicotine, support exists through This is Quitting, a free and anonymous text message program from truth that has enrolled nearly 500,000 young people, providing them with tailored advice, cognitive and behavioral coping strategies, and social support to help them quit. Truth Initiative also offers free digital and community-based quit smoking programs for adults through BecomeAnEx.org and its enterprise EX Program for employers and health care providers.ad

Combined with the recent proposals to eliminate menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, reduce nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels and today's JUUL news, the Biden Administration is taking historic, refocused actions to end our nation's tobacco epidemic. The FDA must move swiftly to finalize, implement, and enforce its proposed actions to protect youth, help adult smokers, and advance public health equity by ending the leading cause of preventable death and creating a future free from tobacco and nicotine addiction.

About Truth Initiative

Truth Initiative is a national public health organization dedicated to achieving a culture where all young people reject smoking, vaping and nicotine and a future where tobacco and nicotine addiction are a thing of the past. In 2020, we celebrated 20 years of saving lives and preventing millions of youth from smoking. Our impact has helped drive the teen smoking rate down from 23% in 2000 to under 3% in 2021. The truth about tobacco and the tobacco industry are at the heart of our proven-effective and nationally recognized truth public education campaign. As youth e-cigarette use threatens to put a new generation at risk for nicotine addiction, we are leading the fight against tobacco and nicotine addiction in all forms. Our rigorous scientific research and policy studies, community and youth engagement programs supporting populations at high risk of using tobacco, and innovation in tobacco dependence treatment are also helping to end one of the most critical public health battles of our time. Based in Washington D.C., our organization, formerly known as the American Legacy Foundation, was established and funded through the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. To learn more, visit truthinitiative.org.

SOURCE Truth Initiative
The Business Research Company's Fire Safety Equipment research report expands on key drivers, trends, and growth opportunities in the market.

LONDON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The rapid growth of the construction industry is expected to propel the growth of the fire safety equipment market going forward. Construction is the process of building, altering, repairing, remodeling, improving, or demolishing any structures. Fire safety equipment is widely used at the construction site to protect the user from fire. For instance, according to Invest India, an India-based investment promotion and facilitation agency, the construction industry is expected to reach $1.4 trillion by 2025. Furthermore, by 2030, India's real estate business would be worth $1 trillion, contributing 13% of the country's GDP. Therefore, the rapid growth of the construction industry drives the growth of the fire safety equipment market.

The global fire safety equipment market size is expected to grow from $39.03 billion in 2021 to $43.55 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.6%. The global fire safety market size is expected to grow to $60.13 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 8.4%.

Request a free sample of the Fire Safety Equipment Market Report

Fire Safety Equipment Market Overview

The main types of products in fire safety equipment are extinguishers, fire hydrants, respirators, and other products. A fire extinguisher is a portable device used to put out a small fire by directing onto it a substance that cools the burning fire, deprives the flame of oxygen, or interferes with the chemical reactions occurring in the fire flame. The different solutions include fire detection, and fire suppression and involve various technologies such as active fire safety systems, and passive fire safety systems. These are used in commercial, industrial, and residential applications.

The fire safety equipment market consists of sales of fire safety equipment by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that are used to protect the user from fire during any firebreak. Firefighting equipment is a collection of tools and appliances used to extinguish fires. It can be utilized by professional firefighters and untrained users on the site of a fire, or it can be integrated into the infrastructure of a building (such as a sprinkler system).

Key Players And Their Strategies In The Fire Safety Equipment Industry

Strategic partnerships have emerged as a key trend gaining popularity in the fire safety equipment market. Major companies operating in the fire safety equipment sector are focused on new partnerships to strengthen their position. For instance, in July 2021, MSA Safety Incorporated, a US-based manufacturer of safety products partnered with Perspective Robotics AG, a Switzerland-based aerial robotics design and manufacturing firm. Through this partnership, the two companies will work together to increase fire scene situational awareness, both locally and remotely. Further in November 2020, the American University of Sharjah, a UAE-based institution partnered with Emirates Fire Fighting Equipment Factory LLC, a UAE-based firefighting equipment factory. Through this partnership, these two companies will work together in areas of research, student internships, fire protection engineering, and community awareness initiatives.

Major players in the fire safety equipment industry are Bosch Security System Inc., Hamla PLC, Hochiki Corporation, Honeywell International Inc., Johnson Controls International Plc, Napco Security Technologies Inc, Siemens Building Technologies pvt. Ltd, Gentex Corporation, Eaton Corporation Inc, Nittan Company Ltd., Space Age Electronics, Lowa Fire Equipment Company, Hiren Industrial Corporation, Larsen Manufacturing, and NAFFCO.

See more on the Fire Safety Equipment Market Report

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Nairobi  Jubilee Party Vice Chairperson David Murathe has thrown his support behind the Roots Party presidential candidate George Wajackoyah weed agenda arguing its medicinal use should not be overlooked.

Wajackoyah has hinged his bid on legalizing marijuana if elected in the August polls noting that the venture will have tremendous economic benefits.

It is on this basis that Murathe asserted that Wajackoyah's proposal is feasible.

"I like what he is saying about weed. I saw a documentary the other day about weed in South Africa but it is not your normal weed, this is medicinal," he said.

Murathe pointed out that "the numbers Wajackoyah is giving are making sense" and asked Kenyans not to ignore his plan.

"We are even asking our candidate to consider in the next dispensation for medicinal purposes because the numbers Wajackoyah is giving are making sense," he said.

The sell and use of marijuana in Kenya is illegal but Wajackoyah has promised to change things if elected in what has recently placed him on a collision path with a section of leaders and Catholic Bishops who are against his agenda.

The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) warned the electorate against voting for leaders who promote immoral and unethical practices.

The bishops raised issues with those seeking leadership posts on their stand on ethical issues such as immoral sexual behavior and drug use among the youth.

"We specifically caution you and ask you to stand up against those leaders who propose to destroy life at its initial stages in their mother's womb by proposing to support abortion as an agenda. Those who have an agenda of liberalization of sexual behaviour including pornography should also be rejected. You should also stand up against bad leaders who propose the destruction of our youth through the liberalization of drug use," KCCB chairman Anthony Muheria who doubles as Nyeri Archbishop stated.

Wajackoyah has since hit out at the Bishops and criticized them for being too irrational and challenged them to first read his manifesto before condemning his agenda.

"There are some Bishops who engage in bad behavior, and they will be the ones who will be the first to condemn. They have not even read our manifesto. We are not just focusing on the smoking part," he stated. "Tell them that Kenya does not belong to them. Some of us have even grown up in Christianity."

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The conversation centering on the legalization of weed has expanded the visibility of Wajackoyah and seen his popularity rise.

In a recent survey released by Trends for Insight Africa (TIFA) on Tuesday, the Roots presidential candidate approval rating among Kenyans stood at seven percent with all indications being that the figure is bound to rise 47 days to the General Election.

Weighing on his candidature, Murathe opined that his bid poses a serious threat especially to the Kenya Kwanza Alliance whom he said "should be very worried and concerned".

Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu and former Kiambu Governor and Tujibebe Party Leader William Kabogo have since alluded that Wajackoya's popularity is gaining on Deputy President William Ruto.

"Wajackoyah is now a third force," Kabogo said.
HOUSTON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Focal Point Energy announced the addition of two new members of its Advisory Board, former U.S. Senator and Ambassador Scott Brown and former senior U.S. law enforcement official Michael Clarke. As members of Focal Point Energy's Board of Advisors, Senator Brown and Mr. Clarke will bring their global expertise to Focal Point's projects under development in the Middle East, Balkans, and Latin America.

"We're excited to have Senator Brown and Mr. Clarke join the Focal Point Energy team," said Focal Point Energy's Director, Vince Trovato. "Their decades of service to the U.S. government, both at home and abroad, provides Focal Point with a wealth of expertise as we move forward with projects in the Middle East and Western Balkans, in addition to supporting our recently announced Joint Venture in Bulgaria.

"I look forward to working with Focal Point Energy's team to develop new opportunities for diversification of energy supplies away from Russian sources," said Senator Brown. "With Russia's actions over the past several years, and particularly their invasion of Ukraine, it has become evident that Europe, and the rest of the world, must wean themselves off Russian energy products that fund a regime not only opposed to U.S. Foreign Policy but the best interests of the Russian people." Senator Brown continued.

"Having opened the first Legal Attache office in the Balkans, I was excited to learn not only about Focal Point's efforts in the region but their focus on commercial success paired with good governance," said Michael Clarke. "By joining Focal Point's Board of Advisors, I am looking forward to offering my expertise as the company pursues commercial opportunities and participating in Focal Point's efforts to support good governance and sustainable development in all of its projects," Mr. Clarke continued.

In addition to serving on Focal Point Energy's Board of Advisors, Senator Brown and Mr. Clarke will serve as Focal Point's nominees to the Board of Directors of Insa Inc, the recently announced joint venture between Focal Point Energy and Insa Oil.

"Advisors like Senator Brown and Mr. Clarke are core to our mission of achieving commercial success developing energy projects while ensuring we maintain a strong focus on being a force for good in the communities where we operate," Mr. Trovato continued. "Senator Brown and Mr. Clarke are highly passionate about their fields of expertise and make invaluable additions to the Focal Point Energy team," said Mr. Trovato.

About Scott Brown

Former Senator and Ambassador Scott Brown represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate from 2010 to 2013 before serving as U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa from 2017 to 2020. Before serving in the Senate and as Ambassador, Brown was a member of the Massachusetts General Court, first in the State House of Representatives (19982004) and then in the State Senate (20042010). A retired colonel from the Army National Guard, Brown dedicated his life and time in office to defending the United States and the military personnel that support it. He also supported energy diversification and exploration as a means to reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil. Following his tenure as Senator, Brown was President and Dean of New England Law Boston until being confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. He earned his B.A. from Tufts University in 1981 and his J.D. from Boston College Law School.

About Michael Clarke

Prior to retiring in 2021, Mr. Clarke spent over 30 years as a Special Agent with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). During his career with the FBI, Mr. Clarke led several high-profile organized crime and counter-terrorism investigations, both at home and abroad. During his service abroad, Mr. Clarke served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Pakistan, Russia, Jordan, Bulgaria, and Libya. In 2005 Mr. Clarke opened and led the first Legal Attache office for the Balkan region in the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria. Upon returning to the U.S., Mr. Clarke served as Senior FBI Liaison Officer to the U.S. Department of Defense Southern Command, focusing on interagency operations in Latin America. In 2012 Mr. Clarke was selected as the lead FBI Case Agent investigating the terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. For over seven years, Mr. Clarke led a massive investigation resulting in the dismantlement of the Benghazi Attack Network and the successful capture and prosecution of subjects responsible for the attacks. Michael Clarke was awarded the 2018 Attorney General's Award and 2020 FBI Director's Award for his leadership in this investigation.

About Focal Point Energy

Focal Point Energy is a US-based, impact-driven investment and development company specializing in transaction advisory and project development in the energy and infrastructure sectors. The energy investment and consulting firm focuses on opportunities across the energy spectrum, from renewable energy to traditional energy investments in globally strategic areas. Focal Point Energy is led by Executive Director Vince Trovato, a former Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy and Director of the Office of Energy Innovation and Market Development. At the newly formed Office of Energy Innovation and Market Development, Mr. Trovato helped U.S. energy companies identify and develop strategic international opportunities and secure financing for those opportunities. For more information, visit https://focalpoint.energy .

Media Contact

Lauren Gilmore | [email protected]

SOURCE Focal Point Energy
SEATTLE, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Security Properties is pleased to announce the acquisition of Mt. Vernon Terrace Apartments on June 21, 2022.

Built in 1973, Mt. Vernon consists of 99 units, of which 74 benefit from a property-based housing assistance payment contract administered through the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Mt Vernon Terrace Apartments Spokane, WA Mt Vernon Terrace Apartments Spokane, WA

The Security Properties' Managing Director of Affordable Housing who led the acquisition, Bryon Gongaware, is also a former resident of this Spokane community and knows it well.

"Since childhood, it has been a personal goal of mine to own and preserve this property as affordable housing for the long-term." Mr. Gongaware, along with his mother, were residents at the property on two separate occasions nearly 40 years ago. "As a child, this property created lifelong memories and friendships, as well as a safety net for my family," states Mr. Gongaware, "and our expectation for the future is to enhance that opportunity for many more families in the Spokane community."

Over the next year, residents at the property will see substantial investment in improvements by Security Properties. These include new interior finishes, exterior upgrades, resolving deferred maintenance, and installing a new leasing office and community center for the benefit of the residents. Brandon Musser, Investment Manager for Security Properties, notes, "The ownership and capitalization structure is unique for affordable housing and will allow us to execute a substantial rehab of the property, while also extending the affordability for the long-term."

Construction will be completed by Walker Construction Inc, a Spokane-based general contractor. The property will be professionally managed by Security Properties Residential and marks its third affordable housing property in the Spokane area.

About Security Properties

Security Properties is a national real estate investment, development, and operating company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. For more than 50 years, Security Properties has provided quality housing to its residents as well as excellent financial performance for its investors. Since its founding, Security Properties has acquired or developed over 83,000 residential units at a cost of over $5.7 billion. Security Properties maintains a focused multi-family strategy supported by integrated teams of professional acquisition, development, construction, investment, and property management specialists. For more information, visit www.securityproperties.com

About Security Properties Residential

Security Properties Residential is the affiliated property management firm of Security Properties, created to increase the value of its real estate holdings by more closely managing its assets. Operating throughout the Western U.S., Security Properties Residential is committed to delivering exceptional service to its apartment communities and residents. Services include property, construction and compliance management services that create positive living environments for residents and build value for clients. For more information, visit www.securityproperties.com

Contact: Bryon Gongaware

206.628.8010

[email protected]

SOURCE Security Properties
Celebrating a Milestone 50th Anniversary, European-Born Brand Brings Glamour Back to Travel with Renovations Across its Global Portfolio

BETHESDA, Md., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Underscoring Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts ' momentous 50th anniversary this year, the distinctly European-born brand is celebrating its mid-century modern legacy as it puts a spotlight on renovations that accentuate and elevate this timeless style using design as a foundation to encourage guests to linger longer and savour the good life as travel returns. With this resurgence, Le Meridien unlocks destinations around the world and encourages guests to slow down and grab a rose during golden hour, enjoy a stroll with a gelato, reconnect in the hub or poolside, and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Part of Marriott Bonvoy's portfolio of 30 extraordinary hotel brands, Le Meridien boasts over 105 hotels and resorts in coveted destinations around the world, inviting creative-minded, culture seekers to explore the world in style.

Le Meridien Ile Maurice

"Le Meridien has stayed true to its roots and the rich legacy dating back to its origin in the 1960s. When we look at this revival, it's not simply about renovations. It's a nod to the past, but it's also about recognising how we've adapted and evolved to meet ever-changing needs of today's world traveller," said Jennifer Connell, Global Brand Leader, Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts and Vice President, Distinctive Premium Brands, Marriott International. "Travel is back and with that, we want our guests to experience locations with a pace befitting leisure and relaxation while enjoying life's simple pleasures in familiar, yet chic locales."

Today, the brand's quintessential design embodies a refined, yet playful aesthetic inspired by the French Riviera and the effortless and relaxed charm of the Mediterranean. Every detail is brimming with a contemporary, sophisticated and glamorous style. Always chic and with an eye to culture, each hotel and resort within the portfolio looks to share a little-known dimension of the destination.

"The essence of Le Meridien is grounded in thoughtful, nuanced design  one that offers an interpretation of a destination with curated details that reflect a locale's art, cuisine, and culture," said Aliya Khan, Vice President of Design, Lifestyle Brands, Marriott International. "When reflecting on the brand's distinct European spirit, we pay homage to design ideas that have the same impact they did fifty years ago to refresh our spaces. It is the relationship to these concepts and their evolution that allows the brand to morph and evolve its experiences."

Creative-minded travellers can jet set sans agenda to these reimagined properties:

Le Meridien Lav, Split : Located on the Dalmatian Coast, just a short drive from the centre of Split, the hotel offers spectacular views over the Adriatic coastline and nearby islands. Revealing an extensive renovation in April, the hotel's redesign creates a modern, airy feel, while paying homage to the hotel's heritage, featuring pops of blue, mixed with rattan textures and champagne tone metallic accents. Mid-century black and white photographs documenting everyday life in Split feature throughout the hotel, complementing the stylish ambiance.

: Located on the Dalmatian Coast, just a short drive from the centre of Split, the hotel offers spectacular views over the Adriatic coastline and nearby islands. Revealing an extensive renovation in April, the hotel's redesign creates a modern, airy feel, while paying homage to the hotel's heritage, featuring pops of blue, mixed with rattan textures and champagne tone metallic accents. Mid-century black and white photographs documenting everyday life in Split feature throughout the hotel, complementing the stylish ambiance. Le Meridien Cyberport, Hong Kon g : Expected to reopen in July, the chic, lifestyle hotel will be completely transformed with a mid-century modern aesthetic. Creating a distinct and uniquely transformative ambience, the hotel's design will have an emphasis on local natural materials contrasted by darker, tactile design features that are a nod to the local culture. Set against the backdrop of the picturesque Pok Fu Lam Reservoir and Victoria Peak , the hotel will relaunch as a seaside destination that invites locals and travellers to discover and savour life in style.

: Expected to reopen in July, the chic, lifestyle hotel will be completely transformed with a mid-century modern aesthetic. Creating a distinct and uniquely transformative ambience, the hotel's design will have an emphasis on local natural materials contrasted by darker, tactile design features that are a nod to the local culture. Set against the backdrop of the picturesque Pok Fu Lam Reservoir and , the hotel will relaunch as a seaside destination that invites locals and travellers to discover and savour life in style. Le Meridien Bangkok : Located in the Thai capital's Silom commercial district, the hotel is slated to complete its full renovation this month. The redesigned rooms are infused with the essence of Thai culture swathed around furniture and features tailored to the lifestyles of today's international travellers. Sheltered beneath chic cream canopies, the spacious rooms restore a sense of calm through muted tones, minimalist decoration and well-planned spaciousness. Additionally, the hotel's food and beverage experience will receive upgrades including a new outdoor area in its lobby lounge, Latitude 13; a new bar for social gatherings called Tempo Bar, which takes its design cues from the rhythm of the Bangkok skyline and the traditional golden curves of the city's grand temples; and a new restaurant specializing in Memphis barbeque.

: Located in the Thai capital's Silom commercial district, the hotel is slated to complete its full renovation this month. The redesigned rooms are infused with the essence of Thai culture swathed around furniture and features tailored to the lifestyles of today's international travellers. Sheltered beneath chic cream canopies, the spacious rooms restore a sense of calm through muted tones, minimalist decoration and well-planned spaciousness. Additionally, the hotel's food and beverage experience will receive upgrades including a new outdoor area in its lobby lounge, Latitude 13; a new bar for social gatherings called Tempo Bar, which takes its design cues from the rhythm of the skyline and the traditional golden curves of the city's grand temples; and a new restaurant specializing in barbeque. Le Meridien Ra Beach Hotel & Spa : Originally built in 1929 and located in Tarragona, the property completed a full renovation in 2018 and was restored into a hotel with one of the largest spas in Spain . A sanctuary for wellness, it was built by the golden beach of San Salvador to capture the benefits of the sunny climate and the healing properties of the nutrient-rich sea. The natural landscape that surrounds the area is honoured both by the hotel's luxurious outdoor spaces, but also unconventionally through a distinctive modern touch: IMMEXRa. A multi-sensory meeting room, this space revolutionizes the design of the traditional events to fuel the imagination. Creativity and innovation join together with a 360 projection and an adjustable aroma system to create immersive, tailor-made experiences that transform any event into a multi-sensory journey.

: Originally built in 1929 and located in Tarragona, the property completed a full renovation in 2018 and was restored into a hotel with one of the largest spas in . A sanctuary for wellness, it was built by the golden beach of to capture the benefits of the sunny climate and the healing properties of the nutrient-rich sea. The natural landscape that surrounds the area is honoured both by the hotel's luxurious outdoor spaces, but also unconventionally through a distinctive modern touch: IMMEXRa. A multi-sensory meeting room, this space revolutionizes the design of the traditional events to fuel the imagination. Creativity and innovation join together with a 360 projection and an adjustable aroma system to create immersive, tailor-made experiences that transform any event into a multi-sensory journey. Le Meridien Ile Maurice : Beautifully positioned alongside the sandy beach Pointe aux Piments on the Northwest Coast of Mauritius , the beachfront resort's new design, which was completed in April, is a nod to the island's rich heritage showcasing multicultural local artwork and sensory experiences, creating a stimulating environment and a hotspot for art lovers and travellers from all continents in search of tropical inspiration. The timeless chic design draws inspiration from the brand's roots in the glamorous halcyon days of travel and takes cues from the resorts surrounding tropical landscape. Modern and minimal guest rooms transition seamlessly from the outside in with touches of creams and blues complimenting locally themed fabrics and custom headboards reflective of the rustic materials sourced locally in Mauritius .

Looking ahead, the brand expects additional marque hotels such as Le Meridien New Orleans and Le Meridien Tampa, The Courthouse to complete renovations next year.

To uncover more about Le Meridien and reserve a stay, please visit www.lemeridien.com .

Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of United States federal securities laws, including statements related to expected hotel renovations and similar statements concerning anticipated future events and expectations that are not historical facts. We caution you that these statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to numerous evolving risks and uncertainties that we may not be able to accurately predict or assess, including the risk factors that we identify in our U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K or Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Any of these factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations we express or imply in this press release. We make these forward-looking statements as of the date of this press release and undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts

Born in 1960s Paris during an era of glamorous travel, Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts continues to celebrate cultures around the world through the distinctly European spirit of savouring the good life. With over 105 hotels and resorts in more than 30 countries and territories, spanning from Maldives to Monaco and from Santa Monica to Sichuan, Le Meridien's engaging mid-century designed spaces coupled with chic signature programmes put a playful twist on art , coffee , sparkling cocktails , summer , family , and inspire creative-minded travellers to explore the world in style. Stay connected to Le Meridien on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter . Le Meridien is proud to participate in Marriott Bonvoy, the global travel program from Marriott International. The program offers members an extraordinary portfolio of global brands, exclusive experiences on Marriott Bonvoy Moments and unparalleled benefits including free nights and Elite status recognition. To enroll for free or for more information about the program, visit marriottbonvoy.com .

About Marriott Bonvoy

Marriott Bonvoy's extraordinary portfolio offers renowned hospitality in the most memorable destinations in the world, with 30 brands that are tailored to every type of journey. Members can earn points for stays at hotels and resorts, including all-inclusive resorts and premium home rentals, and through everyday purchases with co-branded credit cards. Members can redeem their points for experiences including future stays, Marriott Bonvoy Moments, or through partners for luxurious products from Marriott Bonvoy Boutiques. To enroll for free or for more information about Marriott Bonvoy, visit marriottbonvoy.com .

SOURCE Marriott International, Inc.
New launch helps TV news capitalize on the podcasting boom with the Futuri team's decades of audio experience, plus increases content ROI by publishing blocks or full newscasts to on-demand platforms immediately.

CLEVELAND, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Futuri, the leading provider of AI-driven audience engagement and sales intelligence solutions for broadcasters, today announced the launch of a version of its groundbreaking POST podcasting system specifically designed for the needs of television broadcasters. The new version of POST, which has been relied on by the country's top radio broadcasters for years to grow their podcasting and on-demand audience and revenue, empowers television broadcasters with industry-specific tools to expand their newscasts' audio reach in a turnkey fashion.

"Today's audiences don't think of media brands only in terms of 'TV' or 'radio'. Quality content, be it video or audio, is what gets consumers engaged," said Futuri CEO Daniel Anstandig. "The way we've customized the POST podcasting systems for the unique needs of television broadcasters will help them quickly capture the audience and revenue growth opportunities that the explosive growth of audio has created." The new version of POST, which has been relied on by the country's top radio broadcasters for years to grow their podcasting and on-demand audience and revenue, empowers television broadcasters with industry-specific tools to expand their newscasts' audio reach in a turnkey fashion.

The POST for TV system enables broadcasters to create, publish, analyze, and monetize both broadcast on-demand and original podcast series from the same platform. The broadcast-specific features work like this:

AUDIO: POST ingests and automatically edits newscast audio for optimum fidelity.

POST ingests and automatically edits newscast audio for optimum fidelity. COMMERCIALS: Commercials are replaced with programmatic ad markers.

Commercials are replaced with programmatic ad markers. COMPELLING VISUALS: Pre-set brand images, titles, and descriptions are paired with individual episodes.

Pre-set brand images, titles, and descriptions are paired with individual episodes. AUTOMATIC PUBLISHING: POST then publishes blocks or full newscasts to audio platforms immediately, or at times pre-set by the user, to multiple on-demand platforms immediately.

Stations using POST also can opt-in to the Futuri Ad Network, which expands revenue opportunities by offering a variety of turnkey monetization options. POST's technology is patented; Futuri recently added POST patents in Australia and Spain to its extensive IP portfolio, including patents in the US, Canada, and other countries.

"Today's audiences don't think of media brands only in terms of 'TV' or 'radio.' Quality content, be it video or audio, is what gets consumers engaged," said Futuri CEO Daniel Anstandig. "The way we've customized the POST podcasting systems for the unique needs of television broadcasters will help them quickly capture the audience and revenue growth opportunities that the explosive growth of audio has created."

For more information on the new television version of POST, visit FuturiMedia.com/POSTforTV .

For more information:

Zena Burns

[email protected]

216.236.9020

About Futuri

Futuri is the leading provider of cloud-based audience engagement and sales intelligence software for broadcasters and digital publishers. Brands rely on Futuri solutions to make their content more relevant, accessible, engaging, and results-driven. Founded in 2009, Futuri holds 14 published or pending patents in 151 countries. Named to the Inc. 5000 List of America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies for eight consecutive years, Futuri is the only audience engagement platform with solutions for sales, marketing, and content teams. For more information, visit FuturiMedia.com.

SOURCE Futuri
G2 led Andler Packaging through an accelerated strategic process resulting in its acquisition by Berlin Packaging Tweet this

SITUATION

As a leading value-added provider of packaging solutions and a 4th generation family-owned business, Andler was approached regularly with strategic discussions regarding exit opportunities. After much consideration, the Company decided to engage an advisor to support the exploration of its options, including a possible sale process with a select list of strategic parties. "Supporting the Andler Family in evaluating and refining their family and personal goals was a highly collaborative process. Together we were able to identify the best path forward and deliver maximum value with an optimal long-term partner," said Pat Reinhardt, Managing Director at G2 Capital Advisors.

ENGAGEMENT

G2 Capital Advisors, LLC ("G2") served as the exclusive sell-side advisor to Andler Packaging Group in its sale to Berlin Packaging. Through a fast-paced and collaborative process, G2 focused on identifying the right partner and deal structure to ensure the family and employee legacy would be maintained and realize maximum value for the brand and enterprise.

"Working with G2 was a great experience for all our stakeholders. They were knowledgeable and responsive and helped us not just maximize value but find a partner we could feel truly good about taking on our family's business and legacy. We enjoyed working with G2 and are excited to watch this next chapter of our business unfold," the Andler family said of the process.

OUTCOME

G2 successfully led the Andler Packaging organization through an accelerated strategic process that achieved our clients' primary goals and ultimately led to its acquisition by Berlin Packaging, a leading global supplier of packaging services and solutions.

"It has been an honor to be part of preserving the generational legacy of Andler Packaging. G2's expertise in working with family-led businesses in the middle market, such as Andler Packaging, allowed for a great outcome across all family stakeholders by deploying our deep operational and transactional industry expertise. There were several elements of unique complexity based on the 130-year company history and complex, multi-generational, and multi-family ownership," said Victoria Arrigoni, MD, Head of Industrials & Manufacturing M&A at G2.

"We have a longstanding relationship with Berlin Packaging, not only as a competitor but also as a customer and supplier," said Sam Andler, Managing Director of Andler Packaging Group. "Berlin Packaging's values and dedication to customer thrill make this an excellent partnership. I look forward to continued growth for our Company and our employees."

G2 Capital Advisors provides M&A, capital markets, and restructuring advisory services to the middle market. G2 offers integrated, multi-product, and sector-focused services by pairing highly experienced C-level executives with specialist investment bankers. G2 aspires to be our clients' trusted advisor of choice, including corporations and institutional investors.

Click here to reach G2 directly.

Media Contact: Jennifer Johnson, VP of Marketing

T: 978.204.8050 E: [email protected]

SOURCE G2 Capital Advisors
Join Restylane, Dysport and Sculptra at PrideFest 2022

FORT WORTH, Texas, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Galderma announced today its upcoming participation in New York City's official LGBTQIA+ Pride (NYC Pride) event. The company's aesthetics portfolio, inclusive of the award-winning brands Restylane, Dysport (abobotulinumtoxinA) and Sculptra, is hosting in-person, interactive activations at PrideFest on Sunday, June 26th.

"We are honored to be a part of NYC Pride this year," said Carrie Caulkins, Vice President, U.S. Aesthetics Marketing at Galderma. "There is power in defining your appearance on your own terms. Consumers, including those in the LGBTQIA+ patient population, are turning to aesthetics now more than ever to honor their identity. The best part about the Galderma Aesthetics portfolio is that you can express yourself naturally  every smile, laugh, frown, and expression in between is authentically you."

This month marks the official launch of Restylane's "XpresYourself" communications campaign, which gives a nod to Restylane's XpresHAn Technology, a unique manufacturing process in four Restylane products* which allows them to maintain natural movement and expressions for natural-looking results.1-3 The campaign complements the NYC Pride 2022 theme, "Unapologetically Us," which celebrates the community's resilience and determination to live out their truth with no apologies.

Galderma will be onsite providing information about Restylane, Dysport and Sculptra with special live performances throughout the day, a chance to win prizes, personalized consultations with top NYC aesthetic injectors and the opportunity to receive up to $200 off Galderma Aesthetics treatments through a special Galderma ASPIRE Rewards offer. In addition to in-person activations, Galderma will also kick off its dedicated XpresYourself influencer program with ongoing talent collaborations through the end of the year.

"Each day we strive to advance dermatology for every skin story," Caulkins said. "Galderma is excited for the opportunity to express its ongoing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and looks forward to celebrating Pride this month and beyond."

For those unable to join Galderma at NYC PrideFest, check out RestylaneUSA, DysportUSA and SculptraUSA on Instagram to follow all of the onsite action.

To learn more about Galderma's portfolio, visit www.galderma.com/us.

*Products formulated with XpresHAn Technology include Restylane Contour, Restylane Kysse, Restylane Defyne and Restylane Refyne.

Indication: Dysport is a prescription injection for temporary improvement in the look of moderate to severe frown lines between the eyebrows (glabellar lines) in adults less than 65 years of age.

Please read full Important Safety Information, including Distant Spread of Toxin Effect Boxed Warning, at the bottom of the page.

About Galderma

Galderma is the world's largest independent dermatology company, present in approximately 100 countries. Since our inception in 1981, we have been driven by a complete dedication to dermatology. We deliver an innovative, science-based portfolio of sophisticated brands and services across Aesthetics, Consumer Care and Prescription Medicine. Focused on the needs of consumers and patients, we work in partnership with healthcare professionals to ensure superior outcomes. Because we understand that the skin we're in shapes our life stories, we are advancing dermatology for every skin story. For more information: www.galderma.com/us.

About Galderma's RESTYLANE Product Portfolio

With over 50 million treatments worldwide4 and counting, the Restylane family of HA dermal fillers is a diverse and broad portfolio of dermal fillers in the U.S. These products help smooth facial wrinkles and folds, such as smile lines (Restylane L, Restylane Refyne, Restylane Defyne and Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine), augment and correct mild to moderate chin retrusion (Restylane Defyne), create fuller and more accentuated lips (Restylane Silk, Restylane-L and Restylane Kysse), add lift and volume to the cheeks and back of the hands (Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine), and augment cheeks and correct midface contour deficiencies (Restylane Contour). To learn more about the Restylane family of HA dermal fillers, visit www.RestylaneUSA.com.

About Galderma's collaboration with Ipsen

Dysport (abobotulinumtoxinA) is a prescription injection for temporary improvement in the look of moderate to severe frown lines between the eyebrows (glabellar lines) in adults less than 65 years of age. Dysport is also marketed as AZZALURE in the EU for the treatment of glabellar lines with more than 40 million treatments in the EU and U.S. combined and with approvals in 74 countries. To learn more about Dysport products, visit www.DysportUSA.com.

Dysport is manufactured by Ipsen, a global specialty-driven pharmaceutical company. Since 2009, Galderma and Ipsen have had a strategic partnership under which Galderma has promoted and distributed Ipsen's botulinum toxin type A products in aesthetic indications. The Ipsen-Galderma strategic partnership now covers China, the United States, the European Union, Australia, South Korea, Canada, Brazil, Argentina and certain other countries. Ipsen continues to promote Dysport within certain therapeutic indications in countries around the world. For more information on Ipsen, visit www.ipsen.com.

About SCULPTRA

Sculptra works to help stimulate the skin's own collagen production and is indicated for use in people with healthy immune systems for the correction of shallow to deep nasolabial fold contour deficiencies and other facial wrinkles.5,6

Sculptra is an injectable biostimulator containing microparticles of poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA) which helps gradually revitalize the skin's structural foundation, providing natural-looking, long-term results for up to 2 years.5,7-8 Sculptra was first approved for aesthetic use in 2009 in the United States and is currently available in more than 40 countries globally. To learn more about Sculptra products, visit www.SculptraUSA.com

 Clinical study ended at 96 weeks (2 years)

To earn exclusive rewards, bonuses and discounts on Galderma's aesthetic treatments, join the ASPIRE Galderma Rewards program. To learn more, visit www.aspirerewards.com.

Investor and media relations

Christian Marcoux, M.Sc.

Chief Communications Officer

[email protected]

+41 21 642 71 99

Media

Shannon Iwaniuk

Director of Communications

[email protected]

DYSPORT IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

Dysport (abobotulinumtoxinA) is a prescription injection for temporary improvement in the look of moderate to severe frown lines between the eyebrows (glabellar lines) in adults less than 65 years of age.

Important Safety Information

What is the most important information you should know about Dysport? Spread of Toxin Effects: In some cases, the effects of Dysport and all botulinum toxin products may affect areas of the body away from the injection site. Symptoms can happen hours to weeks after injection and may include swallowing and breathing problems, loss of strength and muscle weakness all over the body, double vision, blurred vision and drooping eyelids, hoarseness or change or loss of voice, trouble saying words clearly, or loss of bladder control. Swallowing and breathing problems can be life threatening and there have been reports of death. You are at the highest risk if these problems are preexisting before injection.

These effects could make it unsafe for you to drive a car, operate machinery, or do other dangerous activities.

Do not have Dysport treatment if you: are allergic to Dysport or any of its ingredients (see the end of the Medication Guide for a list of ingredients), are allergic to cow's milk protein, had an allergic reaction to any other botulinum toxin product, such as Myobloc, Botox, or Xeomin, have a skin infection at the planned injection site, under 18 years of age, or are pregnant or breastfeeding.

The dose of Dysport is not the same as the dose of any other botulinum toxin product and cannot be compared to the dose of any other product you may have used.

Tell your doctor about any swallowing or breathing difficulties and all your muscle or nerve conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease], myasthenia gravis, or LambertEaton syndrome, which may increase the risk of serious side effects including difficulty swallowing and difficulty breathing. Serious allergic reactions have occurred with the use of Dysport. Dry eye has also been reported.

Tell your doctor about all of your medical conditions, including if you have surgical changes to your face, very weak muscles in the treatment area, any abnormal facial change, injection site inflammation, droopy eyelids or sagging eyelid folds, deep facial scars, thick oily skin, wrinkles that can't be smoothed by spreading them apart, or if you are pregnant or breastfeeding or planning to become pregnant or breastfeed.

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins and herbal and other natural products. Using Dysport with certain other medicines may cause serious side effects. Do not start any new medicines while taking Dysport without talking to your doctor first.

Especially tell your doctor if you: have received any other botulinum toxin product, such as Myobloc (rimabotulinumtoxinB), Botox (onabotulinumtoxinA), or Xeomin (incobotulinumtoxinA), in the last four months or any in the past (be sure your doctor knows exactly which product you received, have recently received an antibiotic by injection, take muscle relaxants, take an allergy or cold medicine, or take a sleep medicine.

Common Side Effects

The most common side effects are nose and throat irritation, headache, injection site pain, injection site skin reaction, upper respiratory tract infection, eyelid swelling, eyelid drooping, sinus inflammation, and nausea.

Ask your doctor if Dysport is right for you.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Please see Dysport Full Prescribing Information including Medication Guide at DysportUSA.com.

RESTYLANE IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

The Restylane family of products are indicated for patients over the age of 21, and includes Restylane, Restylane-L, Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine, Restylane Silk, Restylane Kysse, Restylane Refyne, Restylane Defyne, and Restylane Contour.

APPROVED USES

Restylane and Restylane-L are for mid-to-deep injection into the facial tissue for the correction of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds. Restylane and Restylane-L are also indicated for injection into the lips.

Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine is for deep implantation into the facial tissue for the correction of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds and for cheek augmentation and for the correction of age-related midface contour deficiencies. Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine is also indicated for injection into the dorsal hand to correct volume loss.

Restylane Silk is for lip augmentation and for correction of perioral wrinkles.

Restylane Kysse is for lip augmentation and for correction of upper perioral wrinkles.

Restylane Refyne is for mid-to-deep injection into the facial tissue for the correction of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds.

Restylane Defyne is for mid-to-deep injection into the facial tissue for the correction of moderate to severe deep facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds. Restylane Defyne is also indicated for injection into the mid-to deep dermis (subcutaneous and/or supraperiosteal) for augmentation of the chin region to improve the chin profile in patients with mild to moderate chin retrusion.

Restylane Contour is for cheek augmentation and for the correction of midface contour deficiencies.

Do not use if you have severe allergies with a history of severe reactions (anaphylaxis), are allergic to lidocaine or gram-positive bacterial proteins used to make hyaluronic acid, prone to bleeding, or have a bleeding disorder. The safety of use while pregnant or breastfeeding has not been studied. Tell your doctor if you have a history of scarring or pigmentation disorders as these side effects can occur with hyaluronic acid fillers. Tell your doctor if you are planning other cosmetic treatments (i.e., lasers and chemical peels) as there is a possible risk of inflammation at the injection site.

Tell your doctor if you're taking medications that lower your body's immune response or affect bleeding, such as aspirin or warfarin, as these medications may increase the risk of bruising or bleeding at the gel injection site. Using these products on gel injection sites with skin sores, pimples, rashes, hives, cysts, or infections should be postponed until healing is complete.

The most common side effects are swelling, redness, pain, bruising, headache, tenderness, lump formation, itching at the injection site, and impaired hand function. Serious but rare side effects include delayed onset infections, recurrence of herpetic eruptions, and superficial necrosis at the injection site. The risk of unintentional injection into a blood vessel is small but can occur and could result in serious complications, which may be permanent including, vision abnormalities, blindness, stroke, temporary scabs, or permanent scarring of the skin. As with all skin injection procedures, there is a risk of infection.

To report a side effect with any Restylane product, please call Galderma Laboratories, L.P. at 1-855-425-8722.

To learn more about serious but rare side effects and full Important Safety Information, visit www.RestylaneUSA.com.

SCULPTRA IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

Indication: Sculptra (injectable poly-L-lactic acid) is indicated for use in people with healthy immune systems for the correction of shallow to deep nasolabial fold contour deficiencies and other facial wrinkles.

Sculptra should not be used by people that are allergic to any ingredient of the product or have a history of keloid formation or hypertrophic scarring. Safety has not been established in patients who are pregnant, lactating, breastfeeding, or under 18 years of age.

Sculptra has unique injection requirements and should only be used by a trained healthcare practitioner. Contour deficiencies should not be overcorrected because they are expected to gradually improve after treatment.

Sculptra should not be injected into the blood vessels as it may cause vascular occlusion, infarction or embolic phenomena. Use at the site of skin sores, cysts, pimples, rashes, hives or infection should be postponed until healing is complete. Sculptra should not be injected into the red area (vermillion) of the lip or in the peri-orbital area.

The most common side effects after initial treatment include injection site swelling, tenderness, redness, pain, bruising, bleeding, itching and lumps. Other side effects may include small lumps under the skin that are sometimes noticeable when pressing on the treated area. Larger lumps, some with delayed onset with or without inflammation or skin discoloration, have also been reported.

Sculptra is available only through a licensed practitioner. Complete Instructions for Use are available at www.SculptraUSA.com/IFU.

References:

Philipp-Dormston WG, Schuster B, PoddaM. Perceived naturalness of facial expression after hyaluronic acid filler injection in nasolabial folds and lower face. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2020;19:1600-16064. Ohrlund A. Evaluation of rheometry amplitude sweep cross-over point as an index of flexibility for HA fillers. JCDSA.2018;8:47-54. Data on file. MA-34483 Study Report. Fort Worth, TX : Galderma Laboratories, L.P., 2021. Data on file. MA-39680. Fort Worth, TX : Galderma Laboratories, L.P., 2019. Sculptra. Instructions for Use. Galderma Laboratories, L.P., 2021. Goldberg D, Guana A, Volk A, Daro-Kaftan E. Single-arm study for the characterization of human tissue response to injectable poly-L-lactic acid. Dermatol Surg. 2013;39(6):915-922. Stein P, Vitavska O, Kind P, Hoppe W, Wieczorek H, Schurer NY. The biological basis for poly-L-lactic acid-induced augmentation. J Dermatol Sci. 2015;78:26-33. Data on file. 43USSA1705ext clinical study report. Fort Worth, TX : Galderma Laboratories, L.P. 2021.

SOURCE Galderma
ATLANTA, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wellspring Living is the second program in the nation to be awarded a Gold Certification from the national Safe House Certification Review Board, led by Safe House Project. Wellspring Living is a non-profit organization in Atlanta, Georgia that provides domestic sex trafficking victims and those at risk with specialized recovery services through residential and community-based programs.

Wellspring Living is the second residential program serving sex trafficking survivors to receive a gold level of Safe House Certification. This demonstrates commitment and execution of the highest level of care for resident survivors.

Through a six-stage certification process, Wellspring Living's residential and community programs were evaluated against established standards for management, governance, financials, and operations. Final certification was determined by a third-party review board comprised of industry experts.

According to Safe House Project, safe homes awarded a Gold certification have demonstrated their success in providing ethical, safe, therapeutic, well resourced, and sustainable residential programming to survivors while meeting best-practices in survivor care as established through empirical research and survivor input.

Sara Beth-Evans, a member of the site visit review team for Safe House Certification praised the program. "As a survivor of sex trafficking victimized both as a minor and as an adult, I have seen the impact that can have first-hand. Wellspring Living provides comprehensive, trauma and survivor-informed services to adult and minor survivors that plays a significant role in their healing and overcoming the trauma they have endured," said Evans. "Every staff member I met at Wellspring Living treats the residents with the utmost respect and care, making them feel safe and valued. Wellspring Living is making a real impact in the lives of trafficking survivors, offering the services they need and deserve."

Mary Frances Bowley, the Executive Director of Wellspring Living celebrated the certification. "Wellspring Living is thrilled to have received gold level certification through the Safe House Project. For over 21 years, we have continually strived to provide the very best for survivors in our care," said Bowley. "We wholeheartedly believe that this certification is essential in providing clarity on the standards and best practices needed to serve survivors in the most comprehensive, trauma-informed, and survivor-focused way possible. We are honored to be partnering with the Safe House Project on this initiative, which will benefit countless survivors."

About Safe House Project

Safe House Project (501c3) is a nonprofit combatting domestic sex trafficking by increasing victim identification of trafficked individuals through survivor-informed training, supporting victims in their escape, and increasing the number of restorative care opportunities for child trafficking victims. To learn more about Safe House Project visit www.safehouseproject.org .

About Wellspring Living

Founded in 2001, Wellspring Living is a non-profit organization in Atlanta, Georgia that provides domestic sex trafficking victims and those at risk with specialized recovery services through residential and community-based programs. The programs provide transformative care through therapeutic services, education, life skills, and personal and professional development. The focus for each participant is on developing their courage to move forward and their confidence to succeed. Through operating best practices and with highly qualified staff, Wellspring Living programs are statistically proven in providing restorative services that yield positive, life-changing results.

Media Contact:

Elizabeth Fields

270-970-7907

[email protected]

SOURCE Safe House Project
The bar as we know it today is an offspring of the Irish Pub and the American Saloon. Its inherent Irish American spirit carries the warmth and comfort of familiar faces and repeated stories, along with the unpredictability and energy that generate the wild moments we will never forget and keep us coming back. "We wanted to create a brand celebrating the four walls that have held our favorite memories in and kept our troubles out," states Glenn Howerton. "We were shooting Season 15 when bars were shutting down all across America. So we decided to source some really great whiskeys and create something as a tribute to the bar and kick it off by giving back," adds Rob McElhenney. "We learned just how rare and how collectible old Irish Whiskey is, and we couldn't believe we got our hands on some and wanted to release it and do something for the people and places that do so much for all of us - the bars and the bartenders," says Charlie Day.

Watch their announcement video here: https://youtu.be/SBY_zKwyyMk

The limited-edition Four Walls whiskey collection will include two products - a rare Irish Whiskey with premium commemorative packaging for serious whiskey collectors and a blended Irish and Straight Pennsylvania Rye offering crafted with bartenders in mind and made to celebrate with fans, both available for purchase starting today.

The commemorative bottle is a 15+-year-old, single-barrel, cask-strength Irish Whiskey made to celebrate the record-breaking 15th season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, all episodes currently streaming on Hulu/FXX, and the success of the It's Always Sunny podcast. With premium packaging that includes signatures by Glenn, Rob, and Charlie, and a mirrored, engraved box, this package will retail for $999 and is only being released in a run of 755 bottles.

The second release is a mix of hand-selected barrels of grain and malt Irish whiskeys blended with Pennsylvania Straight Rye Whiskey for a new Irish & American tradition. Blended with bartenders in mind, it is smooth enough to be served neat but also holds up in a cocktail. This 90-proof spirit comes in a collectible premium box and retails for $89. Only a few hundred cases will be released now, with opportunities for fans to taste the spirit at special events over the coming months including the just-announced The Always Sunny Podcast live events at Bourbon & Beyond festival and at The Met Philadelphia.

All proceeds from this collection will be donated to the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association's HARP (Hospitality Assistance Response of Pennsylvania).

The liquid in both bottles, in addition to having the blessing of Master Distillers at all partner distilleries and from the gang themselves, recently received high praise during a blind tasting by members of the Barleycorn Society with co-founder John McCarthy declaring the 15-year Four Walls, "a single malt rivaling any in the world" and the blended offering a "no-brainer for high-end cocktails as well as a perfect vehicle for neat sipping armchair contemplation."

Shop the Four Walls limited-edition collection and sign-up to join the Four Walls bar family to be the first to learn about future releases at www.FourWallsWhiskey.com

About Rob, Charlie & Glenn

Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, and Glenn Howerton have always had a knack for crafting fine things together. The trio is responsible for creating It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which has now become the longest-running live-action sitcom in television history. First barreled in 2005, Sunny stars McElhenney, Day, and Howerton -- along with Kaitlin Olson and Danny DeVito -- as the owners of one of South Philly's most notorious Irish pubs. The show, like a fine whiskey, has only gotten richer and intensified its distinct flavor through the years. It's since become a landmark for dark comedy and American satire, uniting the most devoted of fans from all over the country and abroad, and this monumental 15th season is truly one to crack open and celebrate. Continuing to deliver some of the hardest laughs on television while tackling society's most pressing issues, Sunny turns its fearless focus both outward and inward: to a national and international level but also to a deeply personal level. In addition to writing, producing, starring in, and occasionally directing the series, Rob, Charlie & Glenn now run a podcast devoted to deep-diving into the history and lore behind the show. "The Always Sunny Podcast" debuted in November 2021 and rocketed up to the #1 comedy podcast across all platforms.

SOURCE Four Walls Whiskey
Located at 4809 Beauregard Street in the Plaza at Landmark shopping center, the new Jollibee Alexandria restaurant will be open seven days a week, from 9:00AM  11:00PM daily. Customers can choose to dine at the restaurant or take their food to enjoy on-the-go. The restaurant offers convenient proximity to many surrounding Northern Virginia communities, with the fast-food brand ready to entice a new legion of fans  from D.C. commuters and suburban families to visiting tourists from around the U.S. and the world  who are hungry to try something deliciously new and different.

"We received an incredibly warm welcome last year when we first opened our doors in the DMV with our Wheaton, Maryland location," said Maribeth Dela Cruz, Business Group Head, Honeybee Foods Corporation dba Jollibee. "We knew immediately that we wanted to offer a convenient location on the southern side of D.C. so that those who live, work and play in Northern Virginia could enjoy their Jollibee favorites without having to travel far."

Jollibee's mission is to bring people together through the joy of eating by serving great-tasting food at a great value. Some customer favorites include:

Chickenjoy : Jollibee's flagship product, Chickenjoy, is delicately hand-breaded to be crispy on the outside, cooked with precision to be juicy on the inside, and marinated to the bone for next-level flavor.

Jollibee's flagship product, Chickenjoy, is delicately hand-breaded to be crispy on the outside, cooked with precision to be juicy on the inside, and marinated to the bone for next-level flavor. Spicy Chickenjoy : Another top seller is Spicy Chickenjoy, which is the fiery version of the classic Chickenjoy.

Another top seller is Spicy Chickenjoy, which is the fiery version of the classic Chickenjoy. Jollibee Chicken Sandwich : This sandwich features a crispy, juicy chicken breast fillet, spread with umami mayo, and served on a toasted brioche bun. Find out why this newly launched sandwich shot to the top of the menu charts.

This sandwich features a crispy, juicy chicken breast fillet, spread with umami mayo, and served on a toasted brioche bun. Find out why this newly launched sandwich shot to the top of the menu charts. Jollibee Spicy Chicken Sandwich : A spicy version of the original chicken sandwich features sriracha mayo and fresh jalapenos for added crunch and heat.

A spicy version of the original chicken sandwich features sriracha mayo and fresh jalapenos for added crunch and heat. Peach Mango Pie: Make sure to leave room for this mouth-watering dessert made with peaches and real Philippine mangoes enveloped in a light and crispy crust.

Jollibee store openings in the U.S. and around the world are known for drawing massive crowds, with longtime fans and curious newcomers alike lining up for hours  or even days  just to be among the first customers. At Jollibee's recent opening in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, the line began forming the night before, with several hardcore fans camping out overnight to secure their front-of-the-line spot. By lunchtime on opening day, the line wrapped around four blocks, as thousands of excited customers showed up to get their Jollibee fix.

Jollibee's new Alexandria store marks its 82nd restaurant in North America and joins its existing location in Virginia Beach (4541 South Plaza Trail Drive), which is where the global fast-food brand first opened its doors in Virginia back in 2013.

Stay updated on Jollibee's upcoming store openings by following @jollibeeus on Facebook and @jollibeeus on Instagram.

About Jollibee Group

Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC, also known as Jollibee Group) is one of the fastest-growing restaurant companies in the world. It operates in 34 countries, with over 6,200 stores globally with branches in the Philippines, United States, Canada, the People's Republic of China, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Panama, Malaysia, South Korea, India, and Australia.

Jollibee Group has eight wholly owned brands (Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan, Smashburger); six franchised brands (Burger King, Panda Express, PHO24, and Yoshinoya in the Philippines; Dunkin' and Tim Ho Wan in certain territories in China); 80% ownership of The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf; 60% ownership in the SuperFoods Group that owns Highlands Coffee and PHO24; and 51% ownership of Milksha, a popular Taiwanese bubble tea brand.

Jollibee Group, through its subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. (JWPL) owns 90% participating interest in Titan Dining LP, a private equity fund that ultimately owns the Tim Ho Wan brand. It also has a joint venture with the THW Group to open and operate THW restaurants in Mainland China. Jollibee Group also has a business venture with award-winning Chef Rick Bayless for Tortazo, a Mexican fast-casual restaurant business in the United States.

Jollibee Group was named the Philippines' most admired company by the Asian Wall Street Journal for ten years. It was also honored as one of Asia's Fab 50 Companies and among the World's Best Employers and World's Top Female-Friendly Companies by Forbes. In 2020, Gallup awarded the Jollibee Group with the Exceptional Workplace Award, making it the first Philippine-based company to receive the distinction.

Jollibee Group has grown brands that bring delightful dining experiences to its customers worldwide, thus spreading the joy of eating to everyone. To learn more about Jollibee Group, visit www.jollibeegroup.com.

SOURCE Jollibee
Nairobi  The Commission for University Education (CUE) has withdrawn its letter revoking the recognition of Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja's degree.

The Commission withdrew the revocation of Sakaja's degree recognition from Team University until further investigations are concluded.

"The respondent wishes to confirm to the court that the substrum of this suit being the 14 June 2022 from which review is sought is hereby withdrawn pending further investigations by the respondents -CUE which investigations are ongoing," read the court papers.

Sakaja is however not off the hook as CUE insists that they will undertake their mandate in investigating the foreign degree qualification following complains on several illegalities and irregularities which has raised serious integrity issues.

CUE is now calling on the High Court to strike out the case.

"THAT in the view of the totality of the foregoing, I invite this honorable court to strike out the application herein for lack of jurisdiction. Further and in any event the application has been overtaken by event, is meritless and improperly invites the court to usurp the statutory mandate of the respondents, "the court papers read.

The commission for University Education faulted his move to proceed to the High Court on the matter yet investigations are ongoing.

CUE argued that it's improper for Sakaja to call upon the High Court to handle the issues as the revocation letter had since been withdrawn.

"THAT further the applicant cannot seek to substitute the statutory power of the respondents (CUE) for that of the court and effectively have his supposed degree recognized through a court order instead of the laid down statutory process," the court papers read.
DUBLIN, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global MRD Testing Market: Focus on Technology, Application, End User, Region - Analysis and Forecast, 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The minimal residual disease (MRD) testing market is projected to reach $2,611.2 million by 2027 from $1,089.3 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 14.53%.

The market is driven by certain factors, such as the rising incidence of hematologic malignancies, increasing consumer awareness for tailored therapy, increasing research funding from the National Cancer Institute and increasing disposable income in emerging economies.

In 2021, North America accounted for a share of 42.92% of the global minimal residual disease testing market. The segment is expected to reach $1,016.8 million in 2027 from $467.5 million in 2021 at a CAGR of 12.68% during the forecast period 2022-2027.

Market Lifecycle Stage

The global MRD testing market is in the rapidly evolving and dynamic stage, which opens ample opportunities for diagnostic and life science companies.

Also, companies that are already in the development phase for MRD tests are trying to match themselves with modern technologies in the market to improve the overall system of MRD testing, from diagnostic assays and kits development to commercialization.

The companies operating in the global MRD testing market are now focusing more on disease-specific and personalized diagnostic kits to enhance testing and improve detection outcomes.

Also, major players such as ARUP Laboratories, Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Cergentis B.V, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, and Guardant Health are investing heavily in research and development for their respective testing products.

Impact

With an increased worldwide focus on treating hematological malignancies, the major market players are developing novel diagnostic tests, which are significantly impacting the growth of the MRD testing market. Diagnostic evolution in the form of companion diagnostics and liquid biopsy through molecular techniques such as PCR and NGS has enabled molecular diagnostic juggernauts to enter this market seamlessly.

Following FDA approvals of clonoSEQ and Signatera, major companies are now looking to invest in the field of MRD, focusing primarily on the foundation laid for hematological malignancies. The market witnessed approximately 35 significant synergistic developments during the time period between January 2018 and May 2022.

In addition to this, in November 2021, Palmetto GBA's Molecular Diagnostics Program (MolDX) has confirmed a local coverage determination that supported the Medicare coverage for Adaptive Biotechnologies clonoSEQ in patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), multiple myeloma (MM), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) for monitoring minimal residual disease. The above activities created a global impact and contributed to an increase in MRD testing market.

Recent Developments in the Global MRD Testing Market

In November 2021 , Palmetto GBA's Molecular Diagnostics Program (MolDX) confirmed a local coverage determination that supported the Medicare coverage for clonoSEQ in patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), multiple myeloma (MM), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) for monitoring minimal residual disease.

, Palmetto GBA's Molecular Diagnostics Program (MolDX) confirmed a local coverage determination that supported the Medicare coverage for clonoSEQ in patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), multiple myeloma (MM), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) for monitoring minimal residual disease. In February 2021 , Natera, Inc. and Personalis, Inc. partnered in the field of personalized oncology by combining Personalis' NeXT tumor profiling and diagnostic products with Natera's personalized ctDNA platform Signatera for treatment monitoring and molecular residual disease assessment.

, Natera, Inc. and Personalis, Inc. partnered in the field of personalized oncology by combining Personalis' NeXT tumor profiling and diagnostic products with Natera's personalized ctDNA platform Signatera for treatment monitoring and molecular residual disease assessment. In May 2021 , Invivoscribe, Inc. announced licensing of key software and two new MRD clinical services. The company's LymphoTrack Enterprise Software supported high volume customers to meet ever-increasing testing demands.

, Invivoscribe, Inc. announced licensing of key software and two new MRD clinical services. The company's LymphoTrack Enterprise Software supported high volume customers to meet ever-increasing testing demands. In October 2021 , Inivata Limited, a subsidiary of NeoGenomics, Inc. entered a clinical collaboration with the Princess Margaret Cancer Center in Toronto, Canada , for the use of Inivata's InVisionFirst-Lung and RaDaR liquid biopsy assays in two separate studies.

Key Market Players and Competition Synopsis

The companies that are profiled have been selected based on inputs gathered from primary experts and analyzing company coverage, product portfolio, and market penetration.

Total Number of Companies Profiled: 15 (11 public companies and 4 private companies)

Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation

Arup Laboratories

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.

Cergentis B.V.

F. Hoffmann- La Roche Ltd

Guardant Health

ICON plc

Invivoscribe, Inc.

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings

Mission Bio, Inc.

Natera, Inc.

NeoGenomics Laboratories, Inc.

Opko Health, Inc.

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated

Sysmex Corporation

Key Topics Covered:

1 Market

2 Research Methodology

3 Market Overview

3.1 MRD Testing: Introduction

3.2 MRD Testing: Solid Tumor vs. Hematological Malignancy

3.3 Market Footprint

3.4 Market Size and Future Growth Potential

4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Impact Analysis

4.2 Market Drivers

4.2.1 Rising Incidence of Hematological Malignancies

4.2.2 Increasing Consumer Awareness for Tailored Therapy

4.2.3 Increase in Research Funding from National Cancer Institute

4.2.4 Increasing Disposable Income in Emerging Economies

4.3 Market Restraints

4.3.1 False Negatives and Positives

4.3.2 Uncertain Reimbursement and Regulatory Policies

4.3.3 Lack of Trained Professionals

4.3.4 Lack of Established Treatment Protocols for High-Value Tests in Emerging Economies

4.4 Market Opportunities

4.4.1 Potential Long-Term Cost Savings

4.4.2 Increasing Market Access in Emerging Economies

4.4.3 Technological Evolution of Testing

4.4.3.1 10- and 12-Color Flow Cytometry

4.4.3.2 PCR for Gene Rearrangements

4.4.3.3 NGS and Multiplexing

5 Industry Insights

5.1 Approval Scenario

5.2 Financing Scenario

5.3 Regulatory Framework

5.4 Reimbursement Scenario

5.5 Supply Chain Analysis

5.6 Price Sensitivity Analysis (Elasticity)

6 Global Minimal Residual Disease Testing Market: Competitive Insights

6.1 Overview

6.2 Synergistic Activities

6.3 Product Approvals

6.4 Product Launches and Updates

6.5 Merger and Acquisition Activities

6.6 Business Expansion and Funding Activities

6.7 Other Developments

6.8 Market Share Analysis, 2020-2021

6.9 Growth-Share Analysis

7 Global Minimal Residual Disease Testing Market: Stakeholder Analysis (N=30-40)

7.1 Physicians' Perception

7.1.1 Stage of the Treatment Use for MRD

7.1.2 Frequency of Receiving MRD Testing

7.1.3 Average Treatment Duration for Patients Diagnosed with MRD

7.1.4 Adoption and Barriers to MRD Testing

7.2 Payors' Perception

7.2.1 Reimbursement vs. Patient Out-of-Pocket Expense

7.3 Investors' Perception

7.3.1 Price vs. Sensitivity vs. Turnaround time

8 Global Minimal Residual Testing Market (by Technology), 2021-2027

8.1 Overview

8.2 Flow Cytometry

8.3 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

8.4 Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS)

8.5 Other Technologies

9 Global Minimal Residual Testing Market (by Application), 2021-2027

9.1 Overview

9.2 Hematological Malignancy

9.2.1 Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL)

9.2.2 Multiple Myeloma (MM)

9.2.3 Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)

9.2.4 Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)

9.2.5 Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

9.2.6 Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML)

9.2.7 Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL)

9.2.8 Other Leukemia

10 Global Minimal Residual Disease Testing Market (by End User), 2021-2027

10.1 Overview

10.2 Hospitals and Specialty Clinics

10.3 Diagnostic Laboratories

10.4 Research Institutions

10.5 Other End Users

11 Global Minimal Residual Disease Testing Market (by Region), 2021-2027

12 Company Profiles

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/h9yd9n

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

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SOURCE Research and Markets
The software as a service (SaaS) market analysis includes deployment and geography segments. This study identifies the rising need for API connections as one of the prime reasons driving the software as a service (SaaS) market growth during the next few years.

This report presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters. Talk to an Analyst!

Software as a Service (SaaS) Market Segmentation

Deployment

Public Cloud



Private Cloud



Hybrid Cloud

Geography

North America



Europe



APAC



South America



MEA

By geography, North America will present significant growth opportunities for market players. The region currently holds 52% of the global market share. The availability of technologically advanced infrastructure and the presence of a large number of cloud service providers are driving the growth of the SaaS market in North America. The US is the key market for software as a service (SaaS) in North America. Market growth in this region will be slower than the growth of the market in the South American, MEA and APAC regions.

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. The software as a service (SaaS) market report covers the following areas:

Companies Mentioned

The report analyzes the market's competitive landscape and offers information on several market vendors, including:

Accenture Plc

Adobe Inc.

Alphabet Inc.

Amazon.com Inc.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP

International Business Machines Corp.

Microsoft Corp.

Oracle Corp.

Salesforce.com Inc.

SAP SE

Find additional highlights on the growth strategies adopted by vendors and their product

offerings, Read the latest Sample Report .

Parent Market Analysis

Technavio categorizes the global software as a service (SaaS) market as a part of the global application software market within the global information technology market.

The end-to-end understanding of the value chains is essential in profit margin optimization and evaluation of business strategies. The data available in our value chain analysis segment can help vendors drive costs and enhance customer services during the forecast period.

The value chain of the application software market includes the following core components:

Inputs

Software development process

Marketing and sales

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Software as a Service (SaaS) Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 11% Market growth 2021-2025 $ 99.99 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 11.71 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution North America at 52% Key consumer countries US, UK, Germany, Japan, China, and India Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled Accenture Plc, Adobe Inc., Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP, International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp., Salesforce.com Inc., and SAP SE 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

Executive Summary

Market Landscape

Market ecosystem

Value chain analysis

Market Sizing

Market definition

Market segment analysis

Market size 2020

Market outlook: Forecast for 2020 - 2025

Five Forces Analysis

Five Forces Summary

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

Market Segmentation by Deployment

Market segments

Comparison by Deployment

Public cloud - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Private cloud - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Hybrid cloud - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Market opportunity by Deployment

Customer landscape

Overview

Geographic Landscape

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Key leading countries

Market opportunity by geography

Market drivers

Market challenges

Market trends

Vendor Landscape

Vendor landscape

Landscape disruption

Vendor Analysis

Vendors covered

Market positioning of vendors

Accenture Plc

Adobe Inc.

Alphabet Inc.

Amazon.com Inc.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP

International Business Machines Corp.

Microsoft Corp.

Oracle Corp.

Salesforce.com Inc.

SAP SE

Appendix

Scope of the report

Currency conversion rates for US$

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
The assays presented herein are for the first step-out drill section located 100 metres along strike of previously identified porphyry-style mineralization at La Garrucha.

LME1107 207.95 m at 0.48 g/t Au and 0.10% Cu (0.62 g/t AuEq) from 261.60 m depth Including 57.17 m at 0.60 g/t Au and 0.13% Cu (0.79 g/t AuEq) from 282.75m depth And 70.89 m at 0.60 g/t Au and 0.10% Cu (0.74 g/t AuEq) from 387.21 m depth LME1108 345.54 m at 0.57 g/t Au and 0.12% Cu (0.74 g/t AuEq) from 254.95 m depth* Including 59.45 m at 0.76 g/t Au and 0.19% Cu (1.04 g/t AuEq) from 328.92 m depth And 61.8 m at 0.81 g/t Au and 0.11% Cu (0.97 g/t AuEq) from 538.69 m depth*

*LME1108 ended in mineralization

Alastair Still, CEO of GoldMining, commented, "This is a great start for our 2022 La Garrucha drilling program at the La Mina Project in Colombia and our broader strategy to unlock value from our portfolio of gold and gold-copper projects located throughout the Americas. This also builds upon the La Mina Preliminary Economic Assessment* announced earlier this year that focused on the La Cantera and Middle Zone deposits of the project which are located 1 kilometre to the west of La Garrucha. Our team believes that the La Garrucha target remains open for expansion and is shaping up as a third possible porphyry deposit which could contribute potential additional resources to lead the growth of the La Mina Project."

Tim Smith, VP Exploration of GoldMining, commented, "These results from the first two holes of our 3,600 metre drilling program (announced April 12, 2022) confirm that the La Garrucha porphyry mineralization extends to the southeast along strike as modelled from our geophysical dataset and interpreted by our technical team. Drilling is continuing on the next two drill fences located on 100 metre step outs southeast along strike. We expect that those assay results will be released in the coming months as they become available. With the association between bedrock magnetic highs and porphyry-style mineralization now confirmed, we are further encouraged by the presence of additional magnetic targets located within the broader La Mina property which will be systematically explored for additional Au-Cu porphyry mineralization."

*The Preliminary Economic Assessment referenced above, announced January 12, 2022, is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized.

Drill Program Details and Geological Description

The ongoing La Garrucha drilling program is targeting a large (1km x 1km) magnetic high associated with a granodiorite porphyry intrusive complex that hosts gold and copper mineralization at La Garrucha (see Figure 1). A smaller discrete magnetic high is also coincident with the nearby La Cantera Au-Cu porphyry deposit. Previous La Garrucha drilling completed in 2011 by Bellhaven Copper & Gold Inc. ('Bellhaven'; prior to acquisition by GoldMining) returned gold-copper porphyry intercepts of 216.80 metres at 1.31 g/t Au and 0.15% Cu from 143.0 to 359.80 metres depth in LME1100; 158.12 metres at 1.01 g/t Au and 0.17% Cu from 66.50 to 224.62 metres depth in LME1102; and 71.0 metres at 1.02 g/t Au and 0.14% Cu from 355.0 to 426.0 metres depth and 106.60 metres at 0.56 g/t Au and 0.11% Cu from 485.65 to 592.25 metres depth in LME1104.

Drill holes LME1107 & 1108 were drilled on a NE-SW oriented section located 100 metres southeast of the previous Bellhaven drilling at an azimuth of 220 and at hole inclination of -50 and -70 hole respectively (see Figure 2). Drilling has confirmed the continuation of porphyry mineralization southeast along strike. Gold and copper mineralization is coincident, and higher grades are associated with a core potassic alteration zone within the porphyry intrusive complex, quartz stockwork veining and both vein-hosted and disseminated sulphides including pyrite, chalcopyrite and lesser bornite. Detailed core logging is ongoing, including re-logging of the previous Bellhaven core, to place copper and gold mineralization in spatial and temporal context with the hosting porphyry intrusive complex. Geological 3D modelling and subsequent resource modelling will take place in the latter part of the year following conclusion of the drilling program.

The La Garrucha porphyry mineral system now extends over at least 300 metres strike, where it is open to the southeast, and over at least 200 metres width. Drilling has tested to a maximum vertical depth of 450 metres below surface where the porphyry mineral system remains open to depth.

Step-out drilling is currently ongoing on a second drill fence located 100 metres along strike to the southeast of LME1107 & 1108. A third fence is planned an additional 100 metres southeast along strike pending visual observations of the drill cores. In addition, the drill will return to the LME1107 & 1108 drill pad to re-enter and deepen LME 1108 given that core assays indicate that the hole ended in mineralization.

Additional information regarding the La Mina Project, including existing resource estimates and past work at the project, is set out in the technical report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment, La Mina Project, Antioquia, Republic of Colombia" with an effective date of January 12, 2022, which is available at the Company's website at www.goldmining.com.

Table 1  2022 La Garrucha gold assay results for the first two holes of the drilling program received as of 22nd June 2022.

Hole Number Interval From

(m) Interval To

(m) Core Length

(m) Gold Grade

(g/t) Copper Grade (%) Au Eq* (g/t) LME1107 186.05 236.85 50.80 0.32 0.10 0.46 And 261.60 473.45 207.95 0.48 0.10 0.62 Including 282.75 339.92 57.17 0.60 0.13 0.79 Including 387.21 458.10 70.89 0.60 0.10 0.74 LME1108 254.95 600.49 345.54 0.57 0.12 0.74 Including 328.92 388.37 59.45 0.76 0.19 1.04 Including 538.69 600.49 61.80 0.81 0.11 0.97



*Au Eq calculated using US$1600/oz gold and US$3.39/lb copper, as per the La Mina PEA (see January 12, 2022 press release and 'NI 43-101 Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment, La Mina Project, Antioquia, Republic of Colombia' with an effective date of January 12, 2022). Results are presented as core length and assays uncut as there are no high grade outliers in the sample population. Results to date are insufficient to determine true width.

Table 2  2022 La Garrucha drillhole collar location coordinates.

Hole Number Easting Northing Elevation Depth Azimuth Dip Status LME1107 420207.0 654691.0 1999.50 500.49 225 -50 All assays received LME1108 420207.0 654691.0 1999.50 600.49 225 -70 One assay batch pending LME1109 420356.0 654723.0 2088.00 818.12 221 -50 Drilling complete; assays pending LME1110 420356.0 654723.0 2088.00 620.0 221 -40 Drilling ongoing: target depth 620m

Qualified Person

Paulo Pereira, P. Geo., President of GoldMining, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. Mr. Pereira is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101.

Data Verification

For this program of drill core sampling, samples were taken from the NQ/HQ core by sawing the drill core in half, with one-half sent to ALS Colombia LTDA in Medellin for assaying and the other half retained for future reference. Sample lengths downhole range from a minimum of 0.50m to a maximum of 2.10m. ALS Colombia LTDA is a certified commercial laboratory located in Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia and is independent of GoldMining. GoldMining has implemented a stringent quality assurance and quality-control (QA/QC) program for the sampling and analysis of drill core which includes insertion of duplicates, mineralized standards and blank samples for each batch of 100 samples. The gold analyses were completed by ALS Au-AA23 method (fire-assay with an atomic absorption finish on 30 grams of material). Repeats were also carried out by fire-assay. Copper analyses were completed by ALS ME-ICP61 method (four acid digest with ICP analysis).

About GoldMining Inc.

GoldMining Inc. is a public mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of gold assets in the Americas. Through its disciplined acquisition strategy, GoldMining now controls a diversified portfolio of resource-stage gold and gold-copper projects in Canada, U.S.A., Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. The Company also owns more than 20 million shares of Gold Royalty Corp. (NYSE American: GROY).

Forward-looking Statements

This document contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations, including statements regarding the Company's expectation, future potential and future work programs at the Company's La Mina Project. Forward-looking statements are based on the then-current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about the business and the markets in which GoldMining operates. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including: delays to plans caused by restrictions and other future impacts of COVID-19 or any other inability of the Company to meet expected timelines for planned project activities; results of exploration programs may not confirm expectations; the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, fluctuating metal prices, unanticipated costs and expenses, risks related to government and environmental regulation, social, permitting and licensing matters, and uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future. These risks, as well as others, including those set forth in GoldMinings Annual Information Form for the year ended November 30, 2021, and other filings with Canadian securities regulators and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information, or the material factors or assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information, will prove to be accurate. The Company does not undertake any obligations to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law.

SOURCE GoldMining Inc.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Haig Partners LLC, served as the exclusive sell-side advisor to Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE: GP1) on the sale of its Sterling McCall Hyundai South Loop dealership located in Houston, TX to Steele Auto Group ("Steele").

Group 1 is a publicly traded auto retailer that ranks fourth on Automotive News Top 150 Dealership Groups. In 2021, it generated $13.5B in revenue and retailed 307,000 new and used vehicles.

Steele is Atlantic Canada's largest auto dealership group with 55 new auto dealerships, seven used auto dealerships, three powersports dealerships and eight collision centers. It expanded into the US recently. Sterling McCall Hyundai is its sixth dealership located in the US, all in Texas. The dealership will be rebranded Steele South Loop Hyundai.

Haig Partners is the leading buy-sell advisory firm to auto, truck and RV dealers in the U.S. The firm has represented 21 clients who qualify for Automotive News Top 150 Dealership Group, more than any other advisory firm. With the sale of Sterling McCall Hyundai South Loop, the team at Haig Partners has been involved in the purchase or sale of 79 dealerships in Texas, also more than any other advisory firm.

"It was an honor to represent Group 1 Automotive in the sale of Sterling McCall Hyundai South Loop in Houston. Sometimes the best buyer for a dealership is located right next door. But in this case, our process surfaced the best buyer in Canada, 2,500 miles away," said Alan Haig, President of Haig Partners. "This transaction is further proof that many buyers are interested in expanding into Texas. With high population growth, low taxes and a business-friendly climate, Texas, Florida, and other similar markets bring elevated dealership values. The transaction also demonstrates that demand for dealerships remains high even though the macroeconomic outlook is troubled at the moment. Dealerships are still producing record levels of profits, so buyers want more of them."

About Haig Partners

Haig Partners LLC helps dealers maximize the value of their businesses. The team at Haig Partners has unmatched experience with former executives from leading retail dealer groups and financial institutions. They have led the purchase or sale of more than 560 dealerships totaling $8.5 billion during their careers. Haig Partners leverages its expertise and relationships with selected dealership buyers to lead clients through a confidential and customizable sales process to generate the highest possible price. Haig Partners issues the Haig Report, the leading industry quarterly report that tracks trends in auto retail and their impact on dealership values, and are co-author of NADA's Guide, "Buying and Selling a Dealership." For more information, visit www.haigpartners.com.

Press Contact:

Aimee Allen

Director of Marketing and Business Development

Haig Partners

[email protected]

SOURCE Haig Partners
New service enhancement provides customers with the ability to choose captioning preferences on Hamilton CapTel phones and mobile apps.

AURORA, Neb., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hamilton CapTel, industry-leading captioned telephone service for people with hearing loss, introduces captioning preferences providing customers with the choice of Auto Captions or Assisted Captions for phone calls.

Hamilton CapTel announced the new offering today at the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) 2022 Convention in Tampa, Florida, a premier annual convention for consumers with hearing loss.

Similar to captions on television, Hamilton CapTel delivers captions for phone conversations so people with hearing loss can confidently use the phone again  available at no cost1. The new Auto Captions offering is based on advanced Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology, developed by CapTel, Inc. Hamilton CapTel customers can now choose between operator-generated Assisted Captions and the new computer-generated Auto Captions.

"We're delighted to provide our customers with this additional choice, giving them a major increase in the speed and accuracy of the phone captions our service provides," says Dixie Ziegler, vice president of Hamilton Relay, Hamilton CapTel's parent company. "With Auto Captions, there are no delays at the beginning of a call, and captions appear in real-time. Our commitment has always been to offer choice to our customers whether in equipment or now, in captioning methods. The ability to choose between Auto Captions and Assisted Captions is an incredible advancement and we're pleased to bring this benefit to our customers."

With Auto Captions:

Captions are entirely computer-generated

No operator is involved in the call

There are no delays at the beginning of a call

Captions are delivered in real-time

With Assisted Captions:

An operator (i.e., Captioning Assistant, or CA) assists with the call

The CA may include information that supports the call, such as adding corrections to the captions, indicating background sounds and music on hold, and identifying male and female voices

In situations with poor line quality (i.e., background noise or static on the line), switching to Assisted Captions may improve accuracy

In addition to this new innovative offering, Hamilton CapTel was recently rated the best captioning service in the industry for accuracy and speed by The National Test Lab, operated by MITRE Corporation.2 This test is the industry standard for rating captioned telephone providers.

About Hamilton CapTel

Hamilton CapTel is a service of Hamilton Relay, a division of Hamilton Telecommunications, a diversified communications and technology services provider based in Aurora, Neb. Founded in 1901, Hamilton Telecommunications has grown to encompass eight primary company divisions allowing Hamilton to operate on a local, regional and national basis. For more information, please visit HamiltonCapTel.com.

About CapTel

CapTel, Inc., is the inventor of Captioned Telephone technology, for both IP-based and traditional analog line telephone communications and provides a variety of CapTel telephone models.

About HLAA

Founded in 1979, the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) is the nation's leading organization representing consumers with hearing loss. The mission of HLAA is to open the world of communication to people with hearing loss by providing information, education, support and advocacy.

1Independent third-party professional certification required.

2The National Test Lab, operated by MITRE Corporation, FCC Telecommunications Relay Services Project: Captioning Quality Testing: Hamilton's ASR Scenario (dated Mar. 7, 2022)

FEDERAL LAW PROHIBITS ANYONE BUT REGISTERED USERS WITH HEARING LOSS FROM USING INTERNET PROTOCOL (IP) CAPTIONED TELEPHONES WITH THE CAPTIONS TURNED ON. IP Captioned Telephone Service may use a live operator. The operator generates captions of what the other party to the call says. These captions are then sent to your phone. There is a cost for each minute of captions generated, paid from a federally administered fund. To learn more, visit fcc.gov. Hamilton CapTel may be used to make 911 calls but may not function the same as traditional 911 services. For more information about the benefits and limitations of Hamilton CapTel and Emergency 911 calling, visit HamiltonCapTel.com/911. Voice and data plans may be required when using Hamilton CapTel on a smartphone or tablet. Third-party charges may apply: the Hamilton CapTel phone requires telephone service and high-speed Internet access. Wi-Fi capable. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. CapTel is a registered trademark of Ultratec, Inc. Copyright 2022 Hamilton Relay. Hamilton is a registered trademark of Nedelco, Inc., d/b/a/ Hamilton Telecommunications.

SOURCE Hamilton CapTel
WASHINGTON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- HCI Equity Partners ("HCI"), a leading lower middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce that Emma Pollock has joined the firm as a Portfolio Operations Analyst. Ms. Pollock will be part of HCI's Operations team and work across the portfolio to assist in executing HCI's value creation activities, with a primary focus on technology, artificial intelligence, data analytics and automation.

Previously, Ms. Pollock worked at IBM as a deputy lead within the Federal Automation Innovation Unit, bringing their intelligent automation and data platform to market and leading end-to-end automation strategy engagements. At IBM, she worked in a technical framework that allowed her to hone advisory and consultative skills through work with U.S. Federal Agencies in their adoption of AI and automation technologies. She earned a bachelor's degree in digital media studies, specializing in human computer interaction, and a minor in business from the University of Rochester.

HCI Operating Partner Bob Hund said, "Emma's experience in developing and automating data to effectively manage organizations and her strong technical and consulting skills will be a valuable resource for the HCI Operations team and our portfolio companies. We are thrilled to have her at the firm."

"We are excited to welcome a team member with such a robust technology background and have confidence that Emma's strengths will complement those of the existing operations team," said Doug McCormick, Managing Partner. "While we expand, we remain committed to adding diverse skill sets that bring value to our investments while upholding the cohesive and team-oriented culture that makes HCI a favored employer and trustworthy partner."

About HCI Equity Partners

HCI Equity Partners is a lower market private equity firm focused on partnering with family and founder-owned distribution, manufacturing and service companies. HCI is headquartered in Washington, DC. For more information, please visit www.hciequity.com.

Contacts:

Kelsey Clute, VP, Director of Communications, HCI

[email protected]

Lisa Baker, Lambert

[email protected]

SOURCE HCI Equity Partners
Ten undergraduate fraternity and sorority members receive inaugural scholarships

WAUKEE, Iowa, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Holmes Murphy Fraternal Practice is excited to announce it has distributed $1,000 scholarships to 10 undergraduate fraternity and sorority members as part of its commitment to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives within the organization and industry.

The 2022 scholarship recipients are:

Brianna Barnes , Alpha Delta Pi of Coastal Carolina University

, of Jordan Brown , Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. of Juan Diaz , Omega Delta Phi Fraternity, Inc. of University of Idaho

, Omega Delta Phi Fraternity, Inc. of Aaron Kermally , Delta Sigma Pi of Southern Methodist University

, Delta Sigma Pi of Theron Labrie , Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. of University of Colorado - Boulder

, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. of Kenan Moore , Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Zeta Delta of University of North Carolina Charlotte

, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Zeta Delta of Kendall Nether, Kappa Alpha Psi of Loyola Marymount University

William Ortiz , Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc. of University of Florida

, Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc. of Samuel Raheem , Kappa Alpha Psi of University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

, Kappa Alpha Psi of Ryan Taneja , Phi Gamma Delta of University of Central Arkansas

"We're proud to provide these scholarships to deserving students who are working to further their education for a greater purpose within the insurance industry," said Rich Jungman, VP, Fraternal Industry Leader. "Promoting diversity within the insurance industry provides benefits in more ways than one and helps bring people of all backgrounds together to support an inclusive work environment."

To be considered for the scholarship, students had to be a member of a Holmes Murphy Fraternal Practice client organization, a person of color, in good academic standing, and have a business-related major and/or be actively pursuing a career in the insurance industry post-graduation. Students submitted a resume, transcript, letter of recommendation, and answered essay questions as part of the application process.

"A career in the insurance industry would be rewarding in and of itself just based on the ideals and purposes that it supports. I hope to someday to be able to make a difference in this world, and that could very much start with insurance," said Samuel Raheem of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Kappa Alpha Psi. "Insurance can be the difference maker when getting an individual the help they need."

Holmes Murphy Fraternal Practice offers a dedicated team of insurance professionals with expertise in providing a full suite of risk management and insurance products to protect fraternal organizations as well as to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of their members.

About Holmes Murphy

"Caring for Your Unique Potential is Our Soul Purpose." That statement is the core of how we do business. We ask the tough questions, avoid the easy path, believe fully in caring for the unique challenges of our clients, impact the industry through innovation, and leverage our greatest assets  the hearts and minds of our people  to advocate on behalf of our clients. That's our approach to risk management and benefits consulting, and it's worked for us since our inception in 1932. As an independent brokerage, we serve clients in every industry and of almost every size, with the ultimate goal of providing exceptional service and caring for our clients' unique potential. We are also the co-founder and co-owner of BrokerTech Ventures, the industry's first broker-led convening platform and accelerator. For more information, visit www.holmesmurphy.com. You can also follow us on Twitter.com (@holmesmurphyins) or on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Contact: Jena Brown

(515) 346-8934

[email protected]

SOURCE Holmes Murphy
Founded by experienced entrepreneur, Ryan McGann, CubicAcres plans to initially use the IGS vertical farming technology to grow salad crops such as Romaine lettuce to sell into the thriving New York city food service and retail sectors. When fully operational, the eight-tower farm will be capable of producing up to 2.5 million heads of lettuce per year.

Scottish-headquartered IGS has been appointed to deploy eight of its 30-foot-high Growth Tower structures within a qualified opportunity zone on Long Island in New York. The farm will give CubicAcres a precision-controlled indoor ecosystem that is highly flexible, scalable and requires no arable land or soil while bringing investment and new jobs to the region.

Growing close to their end-users will allow CubicAcres to serve a large market which increasingly demands access to nutritious, high-quality produce year-round. Food miles are kept to a minimum and crops can be harvested daily before being delivered fresh without any pesticides or fungicides.

David Farquhar, CEO at IGS, said: "The team at CubicAcres combines a real knowledge and experience of growing in a controlled indoor environment with a passion for embracing the latest in technology to deliver real-world solutions. This project is the perfect example of how a business can pivot their existing approach to meet consumer demand for fresh produce while keeping sustainability, efficiency and flexibility at their heart. We are delighted that CubicAcres has selected IGS as their technology partner and look forward to working together to continue to innovate and deliver a competitive edge for the future."

Ryan McGann, Founder and CEO of CubicAcres, said: "From my first encounter with IGS, I was Impressed with the team's technological expertise and drive towards continuous innovation.

"New York is 2,800 miles from the primary source of its lettuce, Sonoma Valley, and close to its expiration date when it finally reaches its destination  resulting in a strong demand for local and fresh produce. With the IGS system, we are able to re-create the Sonoma Valley climate here in NY 365 days of the year, for large scale lettuce production in a hyper-local and sustainable manner."

Construction will begin on the Long Island site towards the end of 2022, and the farm will be fully operational by early 2023. The project is the first for the partnership, with CubicAcres and IGS set to expand their relationship to deliver highly efficient, customer-focused facilities across a number of sites across the US East Coast.







SOURCE Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS)
DUBLIN, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Italy Data Center Market - Investment Analysis & Growth Opportunities 2021-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Italy data center market to grow at a CAGR of 3.80% during the period 2021-2026.



Italy's data center market is currently witnessing investments in seven facilities expected to be operational in the next 2-4 years. Over USD 2.6 billion will be invested in the development of data centers across the country during 2021-2026. IoT and AI are also being implemented in smart cities being developed in the country. The Smart City Association Italy promotes sharing a smart community vision based on sustainability in the market.



The report considers the present scenario of the Italy data center market and its market dynamics for the forecast period 2021?2026. It covers a detailed overview of several growth enablers, restraints, and trends in the market. The study includes the demand and supply aspects of the market.



ITALY DATA CENTER MARKET INSIGHTS

The increase in the number of internet users will lead to more data generation, creating data traffic. Rapid development in connectivity and adoption of cloud and IoT is a strong enabler for the growth of the data center market in Italy .

. In 2020, the total investment in the Italian data center market was over USD 2 billion , with Milan being one of the most preferred locations for investments in the country.

, with being one of the most preferred locations for investments in the country. In terms of power capacity, data centers in the country added a power capacity of 46 MW in 2020.

The adoption of submarine cables will boost Italy data center market due to the growing demand for hyperscale capacity.

data center market due to the growing demand for hyperscale capacity. Colocation service providers witnessed a strong uptake for their data center spaces by existing customers owing to the growth of COVID-19-induced demand in the country.

The rise in digital transformation strategies and the adoption of cloud computing by enterprises are likely to increase cloud server adoption.

Most facilities in the country are equipped with N+1 redundancy of UPS systems which can increase to up to 2N redundancy as per client requirements.

Majority of the data centers in the country are adopting free cooling systems, using evaporative coolers, free cooling chillers, air/water side economizers, and adiabatic coolers, which will help the market growth for innovative duct systems.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE REPORT

Milan is one of the major data center markets in the country, led by a strong base of hyperscale operators and colocation service providers.

is one of the major data center markets in the country, led by a strong base of hyperscale operators and colocation service providers. In 2020, AWS signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) of around 66 MW with two Engie's solar PV farms in Southern Italy .

. Growing awareness of end-to-end power monitoring in facilities monitored /switched PDUs will experience strong adoption in the country.

Vendors such as Atos, Cisco, HPE, DELL, Nutanix, and NetApp have substantial market share.

Smart cities are being built in Tor Vergata and the Ostiense neighborhood in Rome , among other places in Italy .

and the Ostiense neighborhood in , among other places in . The deployment of 5G across major cities in Italy , such as Rome , Naples , Turin , and Bari, will increase the demand for data computation and data storage from connected devices across businesses and consumer segments.

, such as , , , and Bari, will increase the demand for data computation and data storage from connected devices across businesses and consumer segments. Italy has attracted investments from major cloud service providers as well. Currently, AWS has five edge facilities in Italy (three in Milan , one in Palermo, and one in Rome ). In 2020, AWS opened its AWS Europe ( Milan ) Region in Italy

has attracted investments from major cloud service providers as well. Currently, AWS has five edge facilities in (three in , one in Palermo, and one in ). In 2020, AWS opened its ( ) Region in The government has been taking various initiatives to create free trade zones and special economic zones across the country, which will benefit industries and enterprises in terms of tax reduction and reduction of admission and submission charges. SEZs have been established in Genoa , Sicily , Campania , Calabria , Puglia, and other such regions.

ITALY DATA CENTER MARKET VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Atos, Cisco Systems, Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Huawei Technologies, and IBM are some of the IT infrastructure providers in the Italy data center industry.

data center industry. Investments from hyperscale providers will become the primary driver for revenue generation for general contractors and sub-contractors in the market.

Intesa Sanpaolo has signed an MoU with Google, along with Telecom Italia to provide the bank with cloud services from two cloud regions to be built by Google in Turin , using Telecom Italia's data centers.

REPORT COVERAGE:

EXISTING VS. UPCOMING DATA CENTERS

Existing Facilities in the region (White Floor Area and Power Capacity)

Milan

Other Cities

List of Upcoming Facilities in the region (White Floor Area and Power Capacity

ITALY DATA CENTER INVESTMENT COVERAGE

Infrastructure Type

IT Infrastructure

Electrical Infrastructure

Mechanical Infrastructure

General Construction

IT Infrastructure

Server

Storage

Network Infrastructure

Electrical Infrastructure

UPS Systems

Generators

Transfer Switches and Switchgears

PDUs

Other Electrical Infrastructure

Mechanical Infrastructure

Cooling Systems

Rack Cabinets

Other Mechanical Infrastructure

Cooling Systems

CRAC & CRAH Units

Chillers

Cooling Towers, Condensers, and Dry Coolers

Economizers & Evaporative Coolers

Other Cooling Units

General Construction

Building Development

Installation & Commissioning Services

Building & Engineering Design

Physical Security

DCIM

Tier Segments

Tier I & Tier II

Tier III

Tier IV

Geography

Milan

Other Cities

WHY SHOULD YOU BUY THIS RESEARCH?

Market size available in the investment, area, power capacity, and colocation revenue.

An assessment of the Italy data center investment in the market by colocation, hyperscale, and enterprise operators

data center investment in the market by colocation, hyperscale, and enterprise operators Data center investments in terms of white floor area (square feet) and power capacity (MW) across cities in the country

A detailed study of the existing Italy data center market landscape, an in-depth industry analysis, and insightful predictions about the Italy data center market size during the forecast period

data center market landscape, an in-depth industry analysis, and insightful predictions about the data center market size during the forecast period Snapshot of existing and upcoming third-party facilities in Italy

Facilities Covered (Existing): 74

Facilities Identified (Upcoming): 4

Coverage: 28 Cities

Existing vs. Upcoming (Data Center Area)

Existing vs. Upcoming (IT Load Capacity)

Data center colocation market in Italy

Market Revenue & Forecast (2020-2026)

Retail Colocation Pricing

Wholesale Colocation Pricing

Classification of the Italy data center market investments into multiple segments and sub-segments (IT, power, cooling, and general construction services) with market sizing and forecast.

data center market investments into multiple segments and sub-segments (IT, power, cooling, and general construction services) with market sizing and forecast. A comprehensive analysis of the latest trends, growth rate, potential opportunities, and growth restraints, and prospects for the data center market

Business overview and product offerings of prominent IT infrastructure providers, construction contractors, support infrastructure providers, and investors operating in the market

A transparent research methodology and the analysis of the demand and supply aspect of the market

IT Infrastructure Providers

Atos

Cisco Systems

Dell Technologies

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

Huawei Technologies

IBM

Lenovo

NetApp

Nutanix

Oracle

Pure Storage

Construction Constructors & Sub-Contractors

AECOM

Ariatta

DBA PRO

Eiffage

EDITEL

Future-tech

ISG

In-Site

NORMA Engineering

Starching

Support Infrastructure Providers

ABB

Alfa Laval

Caterpillar

Climaveneta Climate Technologies

Cummins

Eaton

Emicon

HiRef

Honeywell International

Legrand

Munters

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Pramac

Rittal

Schneider Electric

Siemens

Socomec

STULZ

Trane Technologies

Vertiv

Investors

Amazon Web Service (AWS)

Aruba

Equinix

Microsoft

Telecom Italia

Vantage Data Centers

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/7s1ugk

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

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SOURCE Research and Markets
"40 Under 40" by Fortune China is one of the most authoritative awards for young leaders of the year, aiming to uncover those innovators, value creators, and game-changers. It is recognized as the "cradle of business superstars" and entrepreneurs such as Pony Ma, William Lei, and Xing Wang were listed before.

2022 is a challenging year. Fortune believes that the commercial environment is still complicated. The pandemic has not subsided, the order is being rebuilt, and the global economy urgently needs recovery. However, the desire for innovation of young Chinese business leaders, who are wise and bold to cope with the unprecedented changes in the era, isn't shaken by these factors. This year, the listed entrepreneurs by Fortune China's 40 under 40 are from various industries such as enterprise-level services, new consumer brands, artificial intelligence, intelligent driving, and more. These leaders commit to creating new value and changing the global commercial world. Among them, Jeff Li is the one and only nominee from the cross-border e-commerce SaaS industry. Founded by him, Shoplazza encourages and empowers brands to go global and achieve business success through technological innovation.

Fortune noted that:

"As a new way for cross-border e-commerce to go overseas, branded webstores have gained more and more attention from brands in recent years. Jeff Li, who once led the team to create a number of Baidu's international tens of millions of products, founded Shoplazza in 2017, which focuses on providing products and technical solutions for global B2C e-commerce. The core product is the global shopping cart SaaS. Currently, Shoplazza has served over 360,000 merchants worldwide, with consumers from 150+ countries and regions, helping dozens of brands achieve globalization. And it has become the leading SaaS platform for cross-border e-commerce and is still fast-growing.

"We will introduce more intelligent products to empower brands to achieve global business success through technological innovation," Jeff said, "thanking Fortune and its recognition, Shoplazza always stays open to more and makes online selling easier than ever." As Fortune mentioned, Shoplazza is amidst gathering the power to change the e-commerce world.

SOURCE Shoplazza
Turkana  The government has adopted comprehensive refugee response framework that will improve the coordination of refugees' issues and address needs of communities hosting refugees.

Interior and Coordination of National Government Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiangi said on Monday the new approach will culminate in multi sectoral self-reliance programme for refugees and the host community.

"The overall objective of the comprehensive refugee response framework is to provide a well-coordinated and predictable government led response to refugee issues as well as address the needs of the host community in refugee programmes," said Matiangi.

Matiangi made the remarks in a speech read on his behalf by the Ministry's Chief Administrative Secretary Winnie Guchu during the world refugee day ceremony commemorated in Kakuma with the theme of ensuring everyone has the right to seek safety whoever they are, wherever they come from and wherever they are forced to flee.

He said the government has reviewed the law related to refugees and a new Refugee Act 2021 has been enacted to provide more and better ways to support refugees in the country.

"The government has formulated the Kenya comprehensive refugee response framework with the aim to implement the New York convention of 2016 and the Global Compact of refugee of 2018," said the CS.

Kenya is offering refuge to 550, 817 refugees. A majority of the refugees are from the horn of Africa and the great lakes region who are hosted in camps and urban areas.

The Cabinet Secretary said the government is also committed to equip refugees with skills that will be useful to the rebuilding of their lives upon return to their countries once conditions in their countries of origin become better.

"As we mark this day and reflect on the perseverance of the refugees that we have given asylum, we shall not forget the host community who have warmly welcomed our fellow brothers and sisters and accommodated them to coexist peacefully," he said.

Matiangi urged the development partners and private sector to take advantage of available investment opportunities in the refugee host areas; this will in turn create opportunities for the refugees and host communities.

UNHCR Country Representative Caroline Van Buren said the day is meant to honour the courage and contribution of millions of people who around the world who have been forced to flee their homes due to violence, war or persecution.

Van Buren said the day helps to remember that with the help of hosts people can rebuild their lives and even thrive. It is also a day when we honour refugees who bring their cultures, their unique experiences and their hope.

She said the number of people forced to flee their homes due to conflict crossed the one million mark for the first time.

Van Buren at the same time underscored the need to protect the right to asylum, ensuring safe access, ensuring that no one is pushed back to their country where their lives and freedom will be threatened, non-discrimination and like all human beings ensure that people forced to flee are treated with dignity and respect.

Kenya has a long standing history spanning three decades of welcoming and offering protection of refugees.

She said people who had been forced to flee their homes need a chance to rebuild by going to schools, find work, access healthcare, seek mental health services and thrive.

She recognized Pur Biel, a South Sudanese refugee who was given an opportunity to practice running and competed in the first refugee team in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and was selected as team leader for the refugee Olympic team in Tokyo 2020.

Earlier this year, Biel was also elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee becoming the first refugee to join the organisation.

She hailed him for being a role model for the refugees and young people. "It is our responsibility to ensure that those who flee their homes rebuild their lives free from discrimination," she said.

"We must start to welcome them as equal partners in creating long term solutions and a chance to return home when it is safe to do so, to integrate locally or in the most urgent cases to resettle to a third country," she added.

The government of Kenya recently enacted the Refugee Act 2021 and has taken a progressive decision to shift from a policy of encampment to integrated settlement and ensure that both refugees and host communities mutually benefit.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Refugees By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

Turkana County Commissioner Muthama Wambua said the government has been giving security to the refugees and meeting their needs like ensuring they have access to mobile network connectivity.

He noted that although most of the refugees are law abiding there are few elements that violate the law by brewing illicit drinks.

"The youth especially form four leavers need to be empowered to prevent them from engaging in criminal activities. Boda boda owners should take advantage of the government initiative and register their boda bodas," he said.

Matiangi in the speech said the government will continue to offer and engage with governments in the region to address conflicts in the region which have led to the forced migration and incidents of refugees in the region and the world.

"As durable solutions are being sought the government will continue to undertake reception, registration, protection and facilitate the integration of voluntary repatriation of refugees to their countries of origin and settlement to their countries," he noted. - Kna
RADNOR, Pa., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lankenau Medical Center, Bryn Mawr Hospital and Paoli Hospital, part of Main Line Health, have been recognized by Healthgrades as among the nation's best for outstanding patient experience for the third straight year.

The award means the three hospitals are among the top 15% of hospitals in America for patient experience, representing 399 hospitals. Only 20 other Pennsylvania hospitals received the 2022 award.

Healthgrades measures commitment to quality from the patient perspective using data from an annual survey released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The awards are in addition to numerous Healthgrades honors already accrued by Main Line Health for 2022. Lankenau earlier was recognized with the Healthgrades 2022 America's 50 Best Hospitals Award, placing it among the top 1% of all centers across the country. It is one of four hospitals in Pennsylvania with the distinction.

Lankenau also was honored as among the 50 best hospitals for cardiac surgery and the 100 best hospitals for cardiac care, as well as for pulmonary care excellence.

"The patient experience award is truly meaningful," said Lankenau President Phillip Robinson. "I am proud of our distinction as among the top 50 hospitals in the country overall and of the recognition of our elite cardiac care. But being honored for outstanding patient experience is a distinction that belongs to everyone at Lankenau. It takes a group effort to ensure patients have a great experience, and the award is validation of our team's efforts."

For Bryn Mawr, the patient experience award comes in addition to earlier recognition for joint replacement, pulmonary and surgical care.

"At Bryn Mawr and throughout Main Line Health, we emphasize the importance of treating patients as we would want to be treated," said Bryn Mawr President John Schwarz. "We focus on this consistently and the results speak for themselves."

Paoli President Jim Paradis said the award for patient experience in stroke care is not a surprise.

"When patients come through our doors, we want them to know that they are not merely a number in the system," said Paoli President Jim Paradis, whose hospital has also been honored for excellence in stroke care. "I'm proud of our entire Paoli team."

SOURCE Main Line Health
"With more than twenty years of experience handling complex, international disputes through arbitration and litigation, John has earned a sterling reputation as a global thought leader in the field, and is widely recognized as a first-rate advocate, arbitrator and mentor," said Fernando Mantilla-Serrano, Global Co-Chair of the firm's International Arbitration Practice. "We are proud to have built a cohesive, global group of arbitration specialists with unmatched knowledge of international commercial and investor-state arbitration practice, and welcoming John further enhances Latham's standing as a destination firm for clients when they face their most challenging and complex disputes."

Marc Jaffe, Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins' New York office, added, "The continued development of our International Arbitration Practice is a strategic priority for the firm. As an important global hub for international arbitration, New York plays a critical role in Latham's near and long term vision. Teamed up with Santiago Bejarano, who joined us last year and is dual-qualified in New York and Colombia, John is ideally positioned to help strengthen our capabilities in high-value disputes in the United States and around the globe."

In his practice, Pierce represents a global client base from a wide range of industries and business sectors in high-stakes, complex international arbitration matters in venues around the world. With more than 20 years of experience representing clients in institutional and ad hoc arbitrations seated in both common and civil law jurisdictions, Pierce has extensive experience with international arbitral procedure and advocacy, and handles matters under a wide variety of procedural and substantive laws. He regularly guides clients through disputes involving joint venture and shareholder matters, post-M&A issues, IP, financial services, energy and chemical supply contracts, as well as commercial and corporate matters. He also advises clients on the protection of foreign investments and helps them navigate international civil litigation matters in US courts, including efforts to enforce, or resist enforcement of, international arbitral awards and judgments. Pierce also regularly sits as an arbitrator in international disputes.

"Many of us in the international arbitration community, including Fernando and myself, have known and respected John for decades," said Sophie Lamb QC, partner in the firm's International Arbitration Practice. "Internationally renowned as a creative, thoughtful, and strategic advisor capable of successfully resolving some of the world's thorniest international disputes, John also brings a team-focused perspective that complements our collegial and collaborative approach. We couldn't be more thrilled to have him aboard."

"I have long admired Latham for the strength of its international platform, its commitment to excellence, its entrepreneurial spirit and its collaborative approach to practice," said Pierce. "It is a privilege to join such a talented team of international arbitration practitioners, some of whom have been friends for decades and all of whom I hold in the highest regard. I look forward to working with the strong team around the globe to further grow and strengthen Latham's capabilities in this important strategic area for the firm."

Pierce received his JD, cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center; a B.S.F.S., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service; and a Certificat d'Etudes Politiques from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He was a Jean Monnet Fellow at the Ecole Polytechnique in Palaiseau, France. Pierce joins Latham from WilmerHale.

About Latham & Watkins ( lw.com )

Latham & Watkins delivers innovative solutions to complex legal and business challenges around the world. From a global platform, our lawyers advise clients on market-shaping transactions, high-stakes litigation and trials, and sophisticated regulatory matters. Latham is one of the world's largest providers of pro bono services, steadfastly supports initiatives designed to advance diversity within the firm and the legal profession, and is committed to exploring and promoting environmental sustainability.

Notes to Editors

Latham & Watkins operates worldwide as a limited liability partnership organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (USA ) with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the practice in France , Hong Kong , Italy , Singapore , and the United Kingdom and as an affiliated partnership conducting the practice in Japan . Latham & Watkins operates in Israel through a limited liability company. Latham & Watkins operates in South Korea as a Foreign Legal Consultant Office. Latham & Watkins works in cooperation with the Law Firm of Salman M. Al-Sudairi , a limited liability company, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia .

Contacts:

Fernando Mantilla-Serrano, International Arbitration Practice Global Co-Chair, +33.1.4062.2000

Marc Jaffe, New York Office Managing Partner, +1.212.906.1281

Sophie Lamb QC, Partner, +44.20.7710.3012

SOURCE Latham & Watkins
On behalf of the Yellowstone Bourbon brand, Limestone Branch Distillery also will match up to $50,000 in additional donations made during a June 28 fundraising event hosted by NPCA supporting two local relief funds

ST. LOUIS , June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the devastating floods impacting Yellowstone National Park and surrounding areas, Lebanon, Kentucky-based Limestone Branch Distillery  makers of Yellowstone Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey  has donated $25,000 each to the National Park Service (NPS) and to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) for long-term support of flood-relief efforts.

Additionally, Limestone Branch distillery has agreed to match up to $50,000 in donations made in conjunction with a fundraising event benefiting the Southwest Montana Flood Relief Fund  a joint effort between the Park County Community Foundation (PCCF) and Greater Gallatin United Way  and the Red Lodge Area Community Foundation. The event, hosted by National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), will be held June 28 at the Rialto in Bozeman, Montana.

"We were saddened to learn of the devastation caused by flooding at and around Yellowstone National Park. Our Yellowstone Bourbon brand shares a long, storied history with the park, and our master distiller Stephen Beam has been an avid supporter of  and visitor to  our country's national parks for many years," said Limestone Branch Distillery Brand Manager Caitlin Palmieri Jackson. "We are prepared to match up to $50,000 in donations to support the immediate recovery effort made at the fundraiser event hosted by NPCA in Bozeman, Montana, and we already have donated $25,000 each to the National Park Service and to NPCA in response to this tragedy."

Yellowstone Bourbon also has set up a website (www.limestonebranch.com/about/yellowstone-gives-back) to provide additional information about fundraising efforts as well as links to vetted support organizations, where consumers can learn more about donating and other ways to help.

The only independent, nonpartisan organization devoted exclusively to advocacy on behalf of the National Park System, NPCA is hosting a June 28 fundraising event in Bozeman, Montana, to rally the community around the immediate flood response and recovery efforts related to the flooding in and adjacent to Yellowstone National Park. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Southwest Montana Flood Relief Fund  a joint effort between the Park County Community Foundation (PCCF) and Greater Gallatin United Way  and the Red Lodge Area Community Foundation for immediate needs like emergency shelter, drinking water, food, clothing and will also help with clean-up and rebuilding efforts. For more information regarding the fundraiser in Bozeman, Montana, visit https://e.givesmart.com/events/rJK/.

In addition to helping ensure the communities and impacted areas of the region who need support the most receive it at this time  NPCA will advocate for the long-term recovery of the park. Assisted by the funds donated by Limestone Branch Distillery, NPCA will further its bipartisan efforts to help fund recovery efforts and advocate for federal funding for park repairs as the park assesses the full scope of the need on its road to recovery.

Limestone Brand Distillery Donates to Yellowstone National Park Flood Relief June 23, 2022  Page 2

As the federal agency responsible for managing U.S. national parks  including Yellowstone National Park, The National Park Service is currently engaging with more than 1,000 partners to assess damage from the flooding, briefing impacted communities and the public at large, assisting with reopening strategies and short- and long-term recovery planning. Funds donated to NPS will assist in these endeavors.

Limestone Branch Distillery's recent donations and fundraising efforts in response to the flooding at Yellowstone National Park are in addition to its support of the NPCA over the past several years. Earlier this year, the distillery donated $30,000 to NPCA through proceeds from sales of its Yellowstone Select whiskey.

About Limestone Branch Distillery

Stephen Beam and his brother Paul Beam opened Limestone Branch Distillery in 2011, with the goal of crafting the finest spirits in small batches. With a history of distilling on both sides of their family  Beam and Dant  the brothers are seventh-generation distillers. In 2015, they brought the Yellowstone brand back to the family. The distillery is now home to Yellowstone Select, Yellowstone Limited Edition, and Minor Case Rye Whiskey, as well as the newest addition, Bowling & Burch Gin. For more information on Limestone Branch Distillery and Yellowstone, please visit www.limestonebranch.com , www.yellowstonebourbon.com or www.facebook.com/limestone-branch-distillery.

CONTACT:

Patrick Barry, BYRNE PR

314-540-3865

[email protected]

SOURCE Limestone Branch Distillery
Renowned immunology expert honored for discovering link between lupus and endogenous retroviruses

SAN FRANCISCO, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) awarded its 2022 Lupus Insight Prize (LIP) to Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, for her discovery of the link between endogenous retroviruses and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The award was presented to Dr. Iwasaki at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS 2022) by Judith James, MD, PhD, LRA Scientific Advisory Board member and Lou Kerr Chair in Biomedical Research and Chair of the Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Program at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. The $100,000 award recognizes and honors an outstanding investigator who has, within the past five years, published a novel and important research insight into lupus that advances our understanding of this disease and could open new avenues for lupus diagnosis and treatment.

Dr. Iwasaki is the Sterling Professor of Immunobiology and Professor of Dermatology and of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases) at Yale School of Medicine, and an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Iwasaki was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2018, the National Academy of Medicine in 2019, the European Molecular Biology Organization in 2021, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.

"Dr. Iwasaki's research shows that endogenous retroviruses are not just silent inhabitants in the human genome but rather active players able to provoke immune cells to engage in the destruction of the body's own tissues and organs," commented Dr. James. "This finding is highly significant because endogenous retroviruses have been increasingly associated with several chronic diseases including cancer, neurodegenerative, and autoimmune rheumatic diseases, though their exact role in human diseases remains poorly understood."

"I am honored to receive this prestigious award, and I sincerely thank the Lupus Research Alliance for recognizing our research. I am eager to use this award to further understand the association between antibodies against the endogenous retroviruses and lupus-like disease in long COVID patients to ultimately improve their disease treatment outcomes," said Dr. Iwasaki.

Dr. Iwasaki's seminal discovery demonstrated that endogenous retroviruses, which are viruses that are a part of our genetic makeup or genome, make immune cells called B cells that produce autoantibodies, i.e., immune proteins that in people with SLE mistakenly target body's own tissues, causing organ damage. Dr. Iwasaki and her team also found that endogenous retroviruses force immune cells called neutrophils to release spiderweb-like structures known as NETs, which have been shown to promote inflammation in SLE. These findings further our understanding of what may cause lupus or worsen its symptoms and suggest that targeting ways that endogenous retroviruses use to fuel inflammation in SLE could provide new therapeutic options for patients with lupus.

About Human Endogenous Retroviruses and Lupus

Human endogenous retroviruses are genetic segments of retroviral origin that have become a part of the human genetic makeup which have persisted from generation to generation and today constitute approximately eight percent of the human genome. To study the role of endogenous retroviruses in human disease, Dr. Iwasaki and colleagues initially developed the human endogenous retrovirus map, called ERVMap, which included 3,220 pieces (or segments) of different endogenous retroviruses in the human genome to be able to determine which of these genes are expressed by human cells. Among these 3,220 endogenous retroviral segments, Dr. Iwasaki's group found that over 100 segments are strongly elevated in immune cells called peripheral blood mononuclear cells of lupus patients.

The researchers further found that these elevated levels of endogenous retroviral genes are associated with higher amounts of autoantibodies and increased type I interferon levels, which are considered a main driver of lupus. Her team also showed that the immune system of lupus patients produces autoantibodies that interact with a unique endogenous retroviral protein HERV-K102. The autoantibody HERV-K102 complexes stimulate neutrophils to release NETs, which worsens inflammation in SLE. This research was published last year in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Lupus is a chronic, complex autoimmune disease that affects millions of people worldwide. More than 90 percent of people with lupus are women; lupus is most often diagnosed during the childbearing years of 15-45. African Americans, Latinx, Asians and Native Americans are two to three times at greater risk than Caucasians. In lupus, the immune system, designed to protect against infection, creates antibodies that can attack any part of the body including the kidneys, brain, heart, lungs, blood, skin, and joints.

The Lupus Research Alliance, the largest nongovernmental, nonprofit research organization dedicated to lupus research worldwide, aims to transform treatment while advancing toward a cure by funding the most innovative lupus research in the world. The organization's stringent peer review grant process fosters diverse scientific talent who are driving discovery toward better diagnostics, improved treatments and ultimately a cure for lupus. Because the Lupus Research Alliance's Board of Directors funds all administrative and fundraising costs, 100 percent of all donations goes to support lupus research programs.

SOURCE Lupus Research Alliance
ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation announced it has awarded a record-breaking $10 million in scholarships to more than 2,600 children of Marines and Navy Corpsmen for the upcoming 2022-23 academic year. This year's announcement marks the largest scholarship award amount in the organization's 60-year history.

Founded in 1962, the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation is the nation's oldest and largest provider of need-based scholarships to military children, awarding over 50,000 scholarships valued at nearly $185 million. These scholarship awards provide much needed and deserved access to education for the children of Marines and Navy Corpsmen attending post-high school, undergraduate and career technical education programs in all 50 states.

"Our Nation's military families have made great sacrifices for our country, and if our country is to succeed and play a positive role in an international context, we must ensure access to postsecondary education for all our citizens. Therefore, it is our mission to honor those sacrifices by educating their children to be the next generation of America's leaders," said Lieutenant Colonel Ted Probert USMC (Ret.), the Foundation's President and CEO. "As we celebrate our 60th anniversary, we are incredibly proud to state we're providing more support to Marine families than ever before."

The 2022-23 class of scholarship recipients will be celebrated during the Washington D.C. Celebratory Gala on June 25, held each year to honor the service of Marines. The event, emceed by CBS's Margaret Brennan, brings together significant representation from senior leadership of the Marine Corps, Washington dignitaries, and scholarship recipients to recognize Marines and their families. In attendance this year will be scholarship recipients like Daniel Miranda, whose award allows him to study English at Howard Community College.

"My father's service in the Marine Corps has greatly influenced me and my career goals. I have learned about sacrifice, work ethic, and service." said Miranda. "I am incredibly thankful to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation for providing me with the support to earn my degree."

About the Scholarship Foundation: Established in 1962, the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation is the Nation's oldest and largest provider of need-based scholarships for military children. Since its inception, the Scholarship Foundation has provided over 50,000 scholarships valued at more than $185 million to the children of Marines and Navy Corpsmen. For more information on the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, please visit www.mcsf.org .

SOURCE Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation
BOSTON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- meQuilibrium, the leading digital workforce resilience solution, has announced that renowned experience design expert Dustin DiTommaso has joined the executive team as Chief Design Officer. Reporting directly to CEO Jan Bruce, Dustin will have lead responsibility for the look, feel, design and impact of the meQuilibrium platform, focusing on advancements in the member experience, behavior change and engagement.

Experience Design Expert Dustin DiTommaso has been appointed as Chief Design Officer at meQuilibrium

Dustin joins meQuilibrium from the strategic design agency, Mad*Pow, where he founded the behavior change design practice, served as SVP Behavior Change Design and worked to integrate behavioral and social science, design and technology to create products, services, and programs that change real-world behaviors and improve the human condition.

Dustin sits on the executive scientific committee of the Centre for Behaviour Change at University College London, which facilitates collaboration between academia and industry to further our understanding and develop practical methodologies for the design, implementation, and evaluation of effective behavioral interventions. He was previously an Adjunct Professor, Behavior Change Design at Rhode Island School of Design and has trained hundreds of practitioners around the world on how to apply behavioral science and human-centered design to address complex problems.

"We are thrilled to welcome Dustin to the meQ team," said Jan Bruce, CEO and co-founder, meQuilibrium. "His expertise in behavioral science and human-centered design and his previous work developing digital products and services that help people meaningfully improve their mental wellbeing and success at work will help us continue to provide an exceptional experience and enrich our platform to provide employees with the skills to build greater resilience during uncertain times."

Dustin has worked with organizations such as AARP, Kaiser Permanente, Cleveland Clinic, Humana, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in designing person-centered products, services, policies, and more. In addition, he enjoys volunteering his time to work on behavioral research and social impact projects focused on inequity and inclusion.

The recipient of a number of honors for his digital intervention work, Dustin has co-authored several academic and industry journal articles outlining methodologies for designing for behavior change. He earned a bachelor's degree in Music Business / Synthesis from Berklee College of Music and received his behavior change training at University College London, Centre for Behaviour Change.

About meQuilibrium

meQuilibrium is the #1 digital solution for building resilience at scale for Fortune 500 global enterprises, helping businesses innovate and navigate uncertain times. meQuilibrium harnesses the science of resilience, AI, predictive analytics and neuroscience to help businesses build workforce wellbeing and potential. Leading employers have recognized the power of resilience, and meQuilibrium's intelligent cloud-based resilience-building system, to mitigate the negative impacts of stress on an individual basis, at scale, and also build resilient and agile workforce populations capable of thriving in change.

meQuilibrium has been included in Financial Times' Fastest Growing Companies for 2022 and 2021, and the Inc. 5000 list two years in a row. The company has been honored with numerous other awards, including Deloitte's North America Technology Fast 500 Award three years in a row, Ragan's 2022 Workplace Wellness Hot List, Brandon Hall Group 2021 Excellence in Technology Award, 2021 Timmy Award, and a 2020 HR Tech Innovation Award. Learn more at https://www.meQuilibrium.com.

Media Contact:

Beth Brody

908-295-0600

[email protected]

SOURCE meQuilibrium
"We're elated for our students to showcase their hard work this year as we honor MIUAD's legacy through unique collections," says Oscar Lopez, Fashion Department Chair at Miami International University of Art & Design.

MIU's highly anticipated runway show will start by showcasing the work of 10 students, 10 recent graduates, and five featured alumni. In all, students will proudly show 46 different looks to Swim Week's discerning international audience.

Recent Graduates include:

Anastasio Giannoutsos (BFA Fashion Design 2018)

(BFA Fashion Design 2018) Pablo Palomeque  (AA Fashion Design 2018)

 (AA Fashion Design 2018) Vania Zelaya Altuna (BFA Fashion Design 2019)

(BFA Fashion Design 2019) Eduardo Blanco (BFA Fashion Design 2019)

(BFA Fashion Design 2019) Melanie Borjas Sanchez (BFA Fashion Design 2019)

(BFA Fashion Design 2019) Patricia Camacho Diaz (BFA Fashion Design 2020)

(BFA Fashion Design 2020) Chevia Roach-Segall (BFA Fashion Design 2020)

Andrea Nova (BFA Fashion Design 2020)

(BFA Fashion Design 2020) Dana El Ghoul Heredia (BFA Fashion Design 2021)

Natasha Tabunova (BFA Fashion Design 2021)

Featured Alumni include:

Maria Buccellati , Faith Connexion (AA in Fashion Design, Merchandising & Marketing, IFAC, 1984)

, Faith Connexion (AA in Fashion Design, Merchandising & Marketing, IFAC, 1984) Maria D'Ocon, Atelier D'Ocon (BFA in Fashion Design, 2017, MIU)

Gustavo Cadile , Gustavo Cadile (AA in Fashion Design, 1998, IFAC)

, (AA in Fashion Design, 1998, IFAC) Rene Ruiz , Rene by RR (BA in Fashion Design, 1990, IFAC)

, Rene by RR (BA in Fashion Design, 1990, IFAC) Julian Chang , Julian Chang (AA in Fashion Design, 1998, IFAC)

Miami International University of Art & Design's SWIM SHOW

Thursday, July 14th at 2PM

PARAISO Tent

2100 Collins Ave

Miami Beach, FL 33139

Instagram: @miamiintluniversity

Tickets:

To purchase tickets while still available, please visit the Eventbrite page here.

Students: $10

General Admission: $25

VIP: $50

From the website: "We continue amplifying resources within our fashion community to support student success. This year you will have an opportunity to contribute to our mission of providing our students with academic and practical skills and preparing them for positions in the industry. Your donation this year will support students' annual fashion activities, including Swim Fashion Show, Style Fashion Show, and NYFW Student Design Contest."

Find the full PARAISO Miami Beach schedule here , and for more information on Miami International University of Art & Design and its program offerings in Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising please visit: https://www.artinstitutes.edu/miami.

About Miami International University of Art & Design

Founded in 1965, Miami International University of Art & Design is located near the heart of the arts district offering degree programs in the areas of Fashion, Media Arts and Design. Miami International University of Art & Design is one of The Art Institutes, a system of private schools throughout the United States. Programs, credential levels, technology, and scheduling options vary by school and are subject to change. Not all programs are available to residents of all U.S. states. Miami International University of Art & Design, 1501 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 100, Miami, FL 33132-1418  2022. The Arts Institutes International LLC. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Miami International University of Art & Design
ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As the Tozzi Electronic Business and Financial Center approaches its 20th anniversary, namesake donor John R. Tozzi, MBA '67, has promised an additional $1.5 million to support the center and its growth for years to come.

Since its establishment in 2002, the Tozzi Center has offered valuable resources for students and faculty and houses one of the largest academic trading floors in the U.S. The center is equipped with the most advanced financial research tools, including Bloomberg and FactSet, which enables users to observe and analyze real-time financial market data, research companies, and track industry news.

The Tozzi Center is used as a classroom for courses covering topics such as financial analysis, valuation, and portfolio management, while also providing a platform for action-based learning at Michigan Ross. To augment their coursework, students can test trading strategies in mock cases with trading simulation software. In addition, the center hosts meetings and events for student investment clubs and the Maize and Blue Fund, an investment fund managed by BBA and MBA students.

"While our educational tools are essential for students pursuing a career in financial services, the Tozzi Center is also a community for those who want to learn about business beyond a textbook," said Kai Petainen, the center's manager, whom John Tozzi's most recent gift honors. "This is a gathering place where students and academics debate and discuss the latest developments related to markets, sectors, stocks, commodities, and the business world. Our technology is what drives this action-based learning environment."

A differentiator for Michigan Ross

Creating a state-of-the-art financial and educational hub was the motivation behind Tozzi's original donation to launch the center. At that time, in 2002, there were only a few other similar labs in the country, and the goal was for the center to be a differentiator for Michigan Ross against other top business schools.

"Now there are over 200 of these labs across the country, and the Tozzi Center has inspired a lot of them," said Petainen. "That really shows how John Tozzi's impact has gone way beyond our halls."

After initially supporting just one class and one $95,000 student-run fund, the center has notably grown in size and scope.

"From that one class and one fund, the Tozzi Center has grown to serve students from Michigan Ross and across the University of Michigan, with multiple classes and multiple clubs," explained Petainen. "Now, more than seven investment clubs regularly meet in the center, and the Maize and Blue Fund has grown to $600,000. And that's not to mention all the venture capital and real estate funds that come through the center, all of which really shows its value to students."

About John R. Tozzi

Most recently, Tozzi was the recipient of the David D. Alger Alumni Achievement Award , which recognizes an alumnus or alumna whose achievements in their professional field have brought distinction to themselves, credit to the school, and benefit to their fellow citizens, earlier this year. After receiving his MBA from Michigan Ross, Tozzi became a Rodney Fellow , and went on to chair the business school's finance and investment associations, and currently serves as a Ross School Advisory Board member.

Among Tozzi's most notable achievements are founding Cambridge Investments LLC, and founding and serving as president, CEO, and chief investment officer for Cambridge Investments Limited from 1982 to 2010. He also serves as the president of Pine Canyon Real Estate Development LLC, and is a senior board member at Snow King Mountain LLC. Most recently, he has been elected as a board member for both the American Hospital of Paris Foundation and Certis Oncology Solutions.

In addition to his professional achievements, Tozzi is a former economics and finance instructor at the New York Institute of Finance and a former pro-bono economics and finance instructor at the Branson School. Since founding Cambridge Investments LLC in 1981, Tozzi has also been a featured speaker at various investor conferences, and has been featured in many top media outlets such as CNBC, Forbes, Fortune, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal.

About Michigan Ross

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan is a diverse learning community grounded in the principle that business can be an extraordinary vehicle for positive change in today's dynamic global economy. The Ross School of Business mission is to build a better world through business. Through thought and action, members of the Ross community drive change and innovation that improves business and society.

Michigan Ross is consistently ranked among the world's leading business schools. Academic degree programs include the Bachelor of Business Administration, Full-Time MBA, Part-Time MBA (Online and Weekend formats), Executive MBA, Global MBA, Master of Accounting, Master of Business Analytics, Master of Management, Master of Supply Chain Management, and PhD. In addition, the school delivers open enrollment and custom executive education programs targeting general management, leadership development, and strategic human resource management. For more information, visit MichiganRoss.umich.edu.

SOURCE Stephen M. Ross School of Business
Timothy Reese Brings 30 Years of Management, Operations and Institutional Finance Experience and Expertise within Public and Private Finance

CHICAGO, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar Funds Trust Board of Trustees today announced the appointment of Timothy A. Reese as an Independent Trustee.

Tim is currently the CEO of the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System, which administers and manages investments for more than 1,100 pensions plans with a combined value over $3.5 billion for 17,000 of the state's current and retired municipal employees. Previously, Tim was the CEO of Forge Intellectual Capital, LLC, a firm he founded to provide strategy and advice to managers, asset gatherers, and CFOs in the private and public finance industry. Tim also served as Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (2015-17) where he was a fiduciary for more than $120 billion in state assets, oversaw the PA 529 college savings plan, and directed a $20 billion investment portfolio.

He serves as a chair of the advisory board for Innovate Capital, a newly modeled venture equity fund focused on minority- and women-led businesses. From 2005-12, he was a founding member of Minority Angel Investors Network (MAIN), a private investment club that provided seed capital to early-stage minority-, women-, and veteran-owned startups.

Independent Chair Theresa Hamacher commented on the election of Tim Reese: "We are delighted to welcome Tim to the Board of the Morningstar Funds Trust, and we look forward to working with him on behalf of the Funds and their shareholders."

The search was conducted by Wilbanks Partners.

About Morningstar Funds Trust

Morningstar Funds Trust is a Delaware statutory trust organized under the laws of the State of Delaware and is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an open-end management investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. The Morningstar Funds Trust consists of nine (9) segregated portfolios each having their own investment objectives (i.e., a series fund, each referred to hereafter as "Morningstar Fund," collectively as "Morningstar Funds"). Morningstar Funds Trust is structured as a multi-manager fund with Morningstar Investment Management LLC serving as the primary investment adviser with each Morningstar Fund having one or more subadvisors. Morningstar Funds Trust is available through investment programs provided by financial institutions including the Morningstar Managed Portfolios advisory service. Important information on Morningstar Funds including its prospectus can be found here.

Media Contact: James Doyle of JConnelly, [email protected] or 973-944-8105

SOURCE Morningstar Funds Trust
WASHINGTON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will air live launch coverage of the agency's Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE), the first spacecraft to fly a specific unique lunar orbit ahead of future missions with crew.

CAPSTONE is targeted to launch no earlier than Monday, June 27, aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from the company's Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The instantaneous launch opportunity is at 6 a.m. EDT (10:00 UTC). Live coverage will begin at 5 a.m. on NASA Television, the agency's website, and the NASA app.

The destination for this microwave oven-size CubeSat is a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO). That same orbit is planned for Gateway, a multipurpose outpost for long-term lunar missions as part of the agency's Artemis program.

Six days after launch, the Photon upper stage will release CAPSTONE into space for the first portion of the spacecraft's solo flight. After a four-month journey to the Moon, CAPSTONE will test the dynamics of the NRHO for at least six months, helping reduce risk for future spacecraft. CAPSTONE will also demonstrate innovative spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation technology and one-way ranging capabilities that could help future spacecraft fly near the Moon with reduced need for communication with Earth.

Join Virtual NASA Social

Members of the public are invited to join the virtual NASA Social to get a behind-the scenes look at CAPSTONE, learn what makes CAPSTONE unique among NASA's missions, meet the rocket launching CAPSTONE, and more.

Visualize CAPSTONE's Flight in Real Time

You can follow CAPSTONE's journey live using NASA's Eyes on the Solar System interactive real-time 3D data visualization. Starting about one week after launch, you can virtually ride along with the CubeSat with a simulated solar system view. NASA will post updates in the visualization on the agency's Ames Research Center home page as well as Twitter and Facebook.

CAPSTONE is commercially owned and operated by Advanced Space in Westminster, Colorado, on behalf of NASA. It represents an innovative collaboration between NASA and industry to provide rapid results and feedback to inform future exploration and science missions. Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, a Terran Orbital Corporation, of Irvine, California, built the spacecraft. The mission also includes contributions from Stellar Exploration Inc., Space Dynamics Lab, Tethers Unlimited Inc., and Orion Space Systems.

NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology program within the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) funds the demonstration mission. The program is based at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. The development of CAPSTONE's navigation technology is supported by NASA's Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program, also within STMD. The Artemis Campaign Development Division within NASA's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate funds the launch and supports mission operations. The Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida manages the launch service. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California supports the communication, tracking, and telemetry downlink via NASA's Deep Space Network, Iris radio design, and groundbreaking one-way navigation algorithms.

For more information about CAPSTONE, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/capstone

Stay connected with the mission on social media:

SOURCE NASA
Nairobi  Kenya Airways has entered into a deal that will see it buy 40 flying electric taxis technically known as the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft as it seeks to establish itself as a leader in urban air mobility.

Under its subsidiary, Fahari Innovation, the national carrier signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with two Brazilian firms, UAM, LLC, a subsidiary of Eve Holding, Inc. ("Eve") and a carve-out of Embraer S.A. ("Embraer") which are some of the prominent players in urban air mobility.

eVTOL aircraft uses a technology that enables it to hover, take off, and land vertically.

Under the agreement, the three will be involved in joint studies through a working group to develop and scale the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market and a business model for cargo drone operations in Kenya.

The project is expected to start deliveries in 2026.

Allan Kilavuka, Group Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Airways said the use of flying cars will place the airline as the regional leader of urban air mobility which is the future of transport.

"The journey to realise the dream of eVTOL vehicles in Kenya is on course and the partnership with EVE UAM, is a key achievement for us as part of the strategy to adopt new technologies as a growth strategy for the sustainable development of Africa." he said.

Andre Stein, co-CEO of Eve said the partnership will strengthen both companies' commitment to establishing the foundations that will sustainably support the ecosystem for urban air mobility in Kenya.

"This is a new chapter of the Eve and Fahari Aviation partnership to. Last year, we announced a collaboration to develop operational models for Fahari Aviation's key markets, and today's announcement confirms that it is evolving successfully," said
NASHVILLE, Tenn., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nashville Recording Artist Patrick Cole has released his first full-length country album titled 'Blame It On The Whiskey'. After winning numerous vocal competitions across the U.S., Cole has partnered with AOK Records in Nashville to produce 10 new songs, with his jawdropping Ronnie Dunn-style vocals in the forefront. Cole is already creating a buzz with industry insiders with the first single release, 'Freedom', an uplifting anthem of love for his country.

Patrick Cole - Blame It On The Whiskey

It's been a long road from small-town Mansfield Pennsylvania to Nashville for Patrick Cole. In fact, one could write a country song about it. By day, he's worked as a stone mason and, by night, he's been singing his songs wherever there's a stage that will let him. Laying bricks in the bitter cold and scorching sun gives a man a lot of time to think, or in Patrick's case, write songs, and after suffering a debilitating back injury in a construction accident, Cole decided to pursue his singing career with new vigor.

On the new album, Cole explores themes of love and loss with the uptempo 'My World', 'Baby Come On' and 'Uncharted Ground', with the sublime ballads 'Vegas Sky' and 'Give Me You', and with the mid-tempo 'Show Me The Way'. He shows his country rocker side on the blazing 'Blame It On The Whiskey', and shows his classic country side with 'Keepin On' and 'Wishbone'.

Listen to the new album at https://music.apple.com/ca/album/blame-it-on-the-whiskey/1624540313

Please direct all media inquiries and interview requests to Working Man Productions at [email protected] or 570-337-0991.

SOURCE Patrick Cole
Greater Omaha Packing employees embraced the logistical feat of delivering beef to a war-torn country. The first shipment of several arrived April 27, 2022, via air freight delivery, and the second arrived in Ukraine June 13, 2022. One additional shipment will occur in July, providing a total of 67,600 pounds of beef - enough beef to feed more than 270,000 people.

"At Greater Omaha Packing, we live in a country where freedom and opportunity enable us to produce the finest beef and for our employees to provide for their families," Davis said. "It is a natural extension of our company's mission to help Ukrainians fight for those same opportunities in their own country."

Greater Omaha Packing has engaged partners in each step of the supply chain, from ensuring the meat was marked as humanitarian aid to recommending preservation practices to keep beef safe amidst unreliable refrigeration. For many Ukrainians, this may be their first time eating meat in months.

"It was a privilege to put our familiarity with the supply chain to good use while delivering beef to Ukraine," said Mike Drury, Greater Omaha Packing president. "Greater Omaha Packing has customers in 70 countries around the world, and our employees mobilized those networks to accomplish this logistical feat."

Photos.

About Greater Omaha Packing Company

From pasture to plate, since 1920, Greater Omaha Packing Co. has been known for the finest quality beef products, service, and delivery. As a single-source supplier of the highest quality beef in the world, Greater Omaha Packing Co. processes 2,400 head of the nation's finest, high-quality cattle each day for customers in retail, foodservice, and manufacturing. With more than $1.8 billion in annual sales, nearly 1,450 employees, and beef shipments to more than 70 countries around the world, quality is an all-encompassing attitude at Greater Omaha Packing Co. To find out more, visit greateromaha.com.

SOURCE Greater Omaha Packing
Newly formed Scientific Advisory Board will support and advise the company towards submission of in IND and a First-in-Human Clinical Study of AGS-499 for ALS

BE'ER SHEVA, Israel, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Neuromagen Pharma Ltd., a company developing a new class of drugs for the treatment of degenerative and senescence-associated diseases, announced today the establishment of a Scientific Advisory Board and the appointment of Prof. Gal Ifergane, Head of the Neurology Department at Soroka Medical Center as its first member.

Gil Ben-Menachem, Neuromagen's CEO said: "Prof. Ifergane brings to Neuromagen extensive expertise within the neurology field. His research and clinical experience will be of outmost importance as we move forward towards the clinic. We are honored to have Prof. Ifergane on board, and are extremely happy to have a Be'er Sheva-based key opinion leader such as him joining our ranks."

"I am delighted to join Neuromagen's Scientific Advisory Board," stated Professor Ifergane. "Prof. Esther Priel's research on the telomerase activators is very promising and I look forward to be working with the company towards bringing its lead drug candidate AGS-499 to the clinic for the benefit of patients."

Prof. Gal Ifergane completed his education and training in Ben Gurion University and Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva, Israel. Since 2012 he has been serving as the Head of Soroka's Medical Center Neurology department. As a Deputy Director of the Medical Center, Prof. Ifergane created the vision for and led the development of the Brain Medicine Division, which he also currently chairs. His research activity is focused on clinical, epidemiological and basic neuroscience in the field of headache, stroke, PTSD and other aspects of clinical neurology. He initiated and participated in several innovation initiatives, focused on the deployment of various digital and biomed technologies in various settings. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic he extensively practiced, advocated and developed deployment programs for enhancing availability of medical care using modern digital channels.

About Neuromagen Pharma

Neuromagen Pharma is an early-stage pharmaceutical company developing a new class of innovative small molecules which activate telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT)  an enzyme which plays a major role in aging-related diseases and in cellular senescence. Neuromagen's pipeline includes drugs for neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and Alzheimer's, type 1 diabetes, fertility, and cardiovascular diseases.

For further Details please visit Neuromagen.com

Media Contact: [email protected]

Company Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Neuromagen Pharma Ltd.
VANCOUVER, BC, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Nevada Lithium Resources Inc. (CSE: NVLH) (OTCQB: NVLHF) (FSE: 87K) ("Nevada Lithium" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it will be participating in the Online PDAC 2022 event on Tuesday, June 28th and Wednesday, June 29th, 2022.

Nevada Lithium CEO, Stephen Rentschler, comments: "We are pleased to host an online booth at the PDAC 2022 event and hope you will be able to visit. Management will be available to answer questions and set up meetings throughout the day. Please find our booth in the Online Exhibit Hall and watch our Industry Showcase presentation scheduled for 12:30 ET on Tuesday, June 28th. We firmly believe that Bonnie Claire is one of the most attractive global lithium assets remaining in junior developers' hands."

Interested in attending the Online PDAC 2022 event?

Please go to https://www.pdac.ca/convention/registration

Subscribe to updates about Nevada Lithium Resources here: https://www.nvlithium.com/

About Nevada Lithium Resources Inc.

Nevada Lithium Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration and development company focused on shareholder value creation through its core asset, the Bonnie Claire Lithium Project, located in Nye County, Nevada, where it currently holds a 50% interest. A recently completed NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment returned attractive investment metrics and the Company is actively advancing the Project towards Pre-Feasibility. Learn more: https://www.nvlithium.com/

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Stephen Rentschler

CEO

Find Nevada Lithium on Social Media: on Instagram and Twitter

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively "forward-looking statements"). The use of any of the word "will" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the proposed exploration program, development of the Bonnie Claire Project, and advancement of the Bonnie Claire Project to pre-feasibility. Actual results achieved may vary from the information provided herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors. The Company believes the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. The Company does not undertake to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

SOURCE Nevada Lithium Resources Inc
Alongside the George Floyd Memorial Foundation, Cafe Maddy Cab and onePULSE, the Ad Council's Iconic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Campaign Shows the Impact Every Individual Can Have when Responding to Injustice

NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Premiering today at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the Ad Council and R/GA launched a series of powerful new films from the iconic Love Has No Labels campaign using real stories to showcase how acts of love can drive inclusion, equity and justice. Building on the campaign's longstanding effort to address bias, hate, and discrimination, the "Love Lives On" films show how individuals acted with love following instances of hate and injustice, including the murder of George Floyd, alarming rise in violence and harassment toward the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community and the deadly 2016 shooting at Orlando's Pulse Nightclub.

At a time when over half (55%) of adults say race relations in the US are bad1 and Americans are looking for ways to act in meaningful ways, the new campaign has an opportunity to further spur movements that help build a more inclusive society and support communities who experience discrimination. Paying tribute to these powerful true stories and the ongoing work toward equity, "Love Lives On" aims to inspire and empower the public to take meaningful action that creates a more accepting and inclusive society across race, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion and disability.

"In the face of hate and tragedy, it is love that leads to inspired actions that live on, driving the biggest changes in our society. As Bridgett, Maddy and Barbara show us in their stories, we all have the power to make a difference when we choose to act. We're so honored that that they trusted us to share their experiences  together, we will empower the public to take meaningful actions that create a more accepting and inclusive world," said Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of the Ad Council.

Created pro bono by R/GA, the four films were developed in close collaboration with the individuals who lived these stories. The films prove that love lives on when you respond to acts of hate, bias and discrimination with intentional acts of love that support communities and create a more inclusive, just, and equitable society. Including one short film directed by Andre Muir, three short-form PSAs directed by Justin Polk and photography from Myesha Evon Gardner, the "Love Lives On" collection features the stories of:

Bridgett Floyd : George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police made worldwide headlines, propelling the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight for racial justice. But the story of him as a family man, mentor and community member has not been widely told. In a heartfelt and deeply personal account, Bridgett Floyd shares the powerful bond between her and her brother. Bridgett celebrates the love, joy, and light that George Floyd brought to his family and the world  and how she has turned the pain of his death into purpose through the establishment of the George Floyd Memorial Foundation. Though his life was tragically cut short by an act of violence and injustice, his legacy and love can live on through each one of us when we continue to fight for racial justice. A short film, titled "Gentle Giant," telling their story will stream on Hulu. Watch the full-length short film here and a PSA here.

murder by police made worldwide headlines, propelling the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight for racial justice. But the story of him as a family man, mentor and community member has not been widely told. In a heartfelt and deeply personal account, shares the powerful bond between her and her brother. Bridgett celebrates the love, joy, and light that brought to his family and the world  and how she has turned the pain of his death into purpose through the establishment of the Memorial Foundation. Though his life was tragically cut short by an act of violence and injustice, his legacy and love can live on through each one of us when we continue to fight for racial justice. Maddy Park : As hate, harassment and violence toward Asian Americans drastically increased since the beginning of the pandemic, Maddy Park took action to support her community. In this video, Maddy reveals how she made one simple and intentional choice to act with love, crowdfunding from people of all races and ethnicities to create Cafe Maddy Cab and fund cab rides to get AAPI LGTQ+ people, women and elderly home safe. Watch the PSA here.

As hate, harassment and violence toward Asian Americans drastically increased since the beginning of the pandemic, took action to support her community. In this video, Maddy reveals how she made one simple and intentional choice to act with love, crowdfunding from people of all races and ethnicities to create Cafe Maddy Cab and fund cab rides to get AAPI LGTQ+ people, women and elderly home safe. Barbara Poma : In the wake of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, owner Barbara Poma shares how she turned tragedy into hope and love by creating the onePULSE Foundation, a nonprofit established to honor the 49 victims, survivors and all those impacted. onePULSE's mission is to create and support a memorial that opens hearts, educational programs that open eyes and legacy scholarships that opens doors. Through her tireless work, Poma is ensuring that people use their voice to stand together and educate, bridge gaps and act with love to strengthen our communities. Watch the PSA here.

"This new campaign is just part of a fantastic, long-standing creative partnership we've had with the Ad Council to continuously highlight and bring awareness to issues plaguing our society today. From George Floyd to the Pulse Nightclub shooting, we are proud to have developed four heart-wrenching films that not only highlight the history and impact of those events, but was also created by those that identify within the BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and AAPI communities to ensure that authenticity lies at the forefront throughout this campaign. After the last 8 successful years of Love Has No Labels, we're also incredibly honored to know that these new PSAs have been crafted out of our ever-evolving mission to address bias, hate, and discrimination. We're also so proud that Bridgett Floyd's story will launch on streaming platform Hulu, ensuring that all audiences, regardless of whether they identify with the affected communities or not, will be reached with our impactful message," said Shannon Washington, SVP Head of Creative, R/GA.

"My brother George's tragic and completely unnecessary death helped shine a worldwide spotlight on the need to address the root causes of racial inequity and end the systemic violence affecting Black Americans through education and the numerous changes needed in the way law enforcement interacts with our communities. Through the George Floyd Memorial Foundation, we will continue his mission to bring love to the world and ensure that we help those who need it most," said Bridgett Floyd, President and CEO of the George Floyd Memorial Foundation.

"Being the very target of the rising Asian hate crimes pushed me to take action for people like me. Every time I saw a headline about someone being attacked for being Asian, I felt a very visceral fear that it could've been me. Or my parents, or grandparents. Apart from providing physical safety for the vulnerable population, I hope this sends out a message of hope in humanity," said Maddy Park, Founder of Cafe Maddy Cab.

"My heart hurts over the senseless acts of hate and violence we continue to experience and endure, and for all those affected by these tragedies. It's important  now more than ever  to show strength and resilience, and to learn from what happened at Pulse to ensure a better future. These films highlight the resolve in the work we do for the Pulse community, the Orlando community, and for the LGBTQ+ community  and that love will always win over hate," said Barbara Poma, Founder of onePULSE Foundation.

In addition to the videos featuring Bridgett Floyd, Maddy Park and Barbara Poma, the "Love Lives On" suite of creative will include audio assets developed pro bono by iHeartMedia which will be made available for other audio companies to use across their platforms beginning today. The campaign will also include digital, print and out-of-home assets, all directing audiences to lovehasnolabels.com, where individuals are encouraged to learn about issues of bias and discrimination, understand what actions of allyship are meaningful to different communities, and support organizations that are looking to create a more equitable, inclusive and just world for communities who have been historically marginalized. This includes ways to get involved locally or nationally and to better understand the underpinnings of systemic racism and structural inequality that caused the tragedies behind the love stories featured in the "Love Lives On" PSAs.

Contributing to the new campaign, Twitter ArtHouse is tapping their community of artists and activists at the intersection of race and gender to develop and distribute custom creative based on the "Love Lives On" platform. Twitter and Love Has No Labels will also be hosting a Spaces event in July to further discuss the many ways people can act with love to support justice and equity within their communities.

Additionally, the integrated campaign will receive donated media, digital and social support from partners including Amazon Ads, Cox Communications, Google, Hulu, iHeartMedia, Lightbox, LinkedIn, Meta, Pinterest, Reddit, SXM Media, YouTube and others. Publicis Media worked pro bono to secure targeted donated media placements to extend the campaign's reach.

The Love Has No Labels campaign first launched nationally in 2015 with a video of skeletons dancing and embracing before coming out from behind an x-ray screen to reveal themselves as diverse couples, friends and families. The original "Love Has No Labels" video became the first PSA to win an Emmy for Outstanding Commercial and received more than 170 million views making it the second most viewed social activism video of all time. In 2016, it was followed by "We Are America" featuring WWE Superstar John Cena celebrating the diversity of America on Independence Day. In 2017, Love Has No Labels put a twist on the kiss cam by turning it into a symbol for unbiased love with "Fans of Love." The campaign launched its first short film in 2018 with "Rising," written by Lena Waithe (The Chi, Master of None) and directed by David Nutter (Game of Thrones), asking the question, "why does it take a disaster to bring us together?" In 2020, the campaign launched two efforts: "Fight For Freedom," which took a stance on racial injustice by looking at the stark contrast of privilege and simple freedoms many take for granted in the face of systemic racism, and "Fight the Virus. Fight the Bias." which worked to dispel the misconceptions, harassment and hate the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community has increasingly experienced since the onset of COVID-19. In total, the campaign's videos have exceeded 382 million online views.

Love Has No Labels' brand partners Bank of America, Prudential Financial and Walmart, in addition to funding the campaign, show their support during the year through online and offline activations including social messaging, custom content creation, employee engagement, events and more. Love Has No Labels' nonprofit partners include a cross-section of organizations actively involved in making the world a better and more equitable place for specific communities. These partners  AARP, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, ADL, American Immigration Council, Disability:IN, Human Rights Campaign, National Women's Law Center, Perception Institute, StoryCorps, The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) and UnidosUS  provide expertise and resources, powering the Love Has No Labels movement to promote diversity, equity and inclusion of all people across race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age and ability.

Since the campaign's initial video launched in March 2015 there have been over 12.9 million U.S. visits on lovehasnolabels.com. Since the launch of the campaign, significantly more adults agree that they can create a more accepting and inclusive environment (61% in March 2015 to 70% in May 2022), according to a survey commissioned by the Ad Council and conducted by Ipsos, Public Affairs. To date, the campaign has received more than $160 million in donated media.

To learn more, visit the Love Has No Labels website, view the PSAs on YouTube, join the campaign's social communities on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and visit the campaign shop.

The Ad Council

The Ad Council has a long history of creating life-saving public service communications in times of national crisis, starting in the organization's earliest days during World War II to September 11th and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy and, most recently, leading the industry's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its deep relationships with media outlets, the creative community, issue experts and government leaders make the organization uniquely poised to quickly distribute life-saving impactful information to millions of Americans.

The Ad Council is where creativity and causes converge. The non-profit organization brings together the most creative minds in advertising, media, technology and marketing to address many of the nation's most important causes. The Ad Council has created many of the most iconic campaigns in advertising history. Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk. Smokey Bear. Love Has No Labels.

The Ad Council's innovative social good campaigns raise awareness, inspire action and save lives. To learn more, visit AdCouncil.org, follow the Ad Council's communities on Facebook and Twitter, and view the creative on YouTube.

R/GA

R/GA is a Global Digital Product, Marketing & Brand Innovation Company, part of The Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG), with 15 offices across the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia-Pacific. We help brands and businesses define, connect with and create more human futures. We offer services across communications, brand design and consulting, experience design, technology strategy and engineering, media planning and buying, and relationship design. We also have specialized practices R/GA Health and R/GA Ventures. For more information about R/GA, please visit rga.com.

George Floyd Memorial Foundation

Based in Fayetteville, N.C., the George Floyd Memorial Foundation was established in August of 2020 and focuses on promoting the awareness of racial injustices, police brutality and ensuring the protection of civil rights is afforded to all people. The Foundation seeks to bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement, initiate sustainable police reform and reverse racism while fighting for justice. Additionally, the George Floyd Memorial Foundation follows in George Floyd's own footsteps by hosting community events and providing scholarships to high school students and law school students.

Cafe Maddy Cab

Cafe Maddy Cab is a crowdfunded, 100% volunteer-operated organization that provides cab rides for the AAPI women, LGBTQ, and elderly population in NYC. Our mission is to protect the vulnerable AAPI community in NYC and spread the message of hope and kindness. For more information or to request a ride, please see www.cafemaddycab.org or @cafemaddycab on IG. You can donate to our cause here: https://gofund.me/dfad9b0a.

onePulse

onePULSE Foundation is the official 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated to manage the design and construction of the permanent national memorial and museum dedicated to the PULSE tragedy.

onePULSE's mission is to create and support a memorial that opens hearts, a museum that opens minds, educational programs that open eyes and legacy scholarships that open doors. Its vision is to establish a sanctuary of healing and a beacon of hope by memorializing the lives taken, the lives saved, and all the lives affected by the Pulse nightclub tragedy of June 12, 2016  ensuring Pulse's legacy of love lives on forever. For more information, visit https://onePULSEfoundation.org/.

1 Ad Council Research Institute. Issue Pulse: Spring 2022. https://www.adcouncil.org/pulse

SOURCE The Ad Council
NAPA has earned this Top Place to Work distinction for five consecutive years.

MELVILLE, N.Y., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA) announced that Becker's Hospital Review has recognized the company among its "150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare" for the fifth consecutive year. NAPA is the only anesthesia and pain management organization in the country to earn a place on the annual list.

Becker's Hospital Review cited NAPA's vision to grow in a responsible, values-driven manner and serve as a catalyst for positive change, as well as its commitment to promoting work/life balance and diversity across the organization. In addition to competitive benefits, NAPA is known for its strong professional and leadership development programs, such as NAPA SELECTa proprietary program that prepares future leaders with the business and communication skills that clinicians typically do not learn in medical school. More than 70 percent of NAPA SELECT alumni represent diverse backgrounds, and many fill anesthesiologist and certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) leadership roles at NAPA's approximately 500 hospital and ASC partner sites in 20 states.

John F. Di Capua, MD, Chief Executive Officer of NAPA, said, "We are very pleased and proud to be named by Becker's as one of the top national employers in healthcare for the fifth time, and to be the only anesthesia organization to earn this recognition in 2022. This honor recognizes NAPA's sincere commitment to being a destination of choice for all. We strive to achieve this with inspired leadership, an inclusive culture, competitive benefits, innovative technologies, and workplace environments that support the health and well-being of our 6,000+ clinicians and 1,700+ corporate professionals. NAPA offers tremendous opportunities to help our talented employees pursue their professional interests and advance their careers within our organization. We work together as #OneNAPA to provide exceptional patient experiences and improve the quality of care, every day."

Kristine Meade, NAPA's Chief Human Resources Officer, added, "In an era of clinical staffing shortages, NAPA maintains one of the industry's lowest vacancy rates. This is a testament to how NAPA listens to, values, and invests in its people. We regularly conduct company-wide engagement surveys to learn about what matters to our employees and identify areas for improvement. This feedback has inspired several organizational initiatives, and led to the establishment of active NAPA resource groups for Women, Pride, Sustainability, and BIPOC. NAPA is also partnering with academic programs to create opportunities for more students from all backgrounds to enter healthcare and explore careers as anesthesia clinicians. We believe that a diverse workforce is critical to providing health equity in our patient care."

About North American Partners in Anesthesia

As a clinician-led organization, North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA) is redefining healthcare, delivering unsurpassed excellence to its partners and patients every day. NAPA has grown to become the nation's leading single-specialty anesthesia and pain management company. Our 6,000+ clinicians serve nearly 3 million patients annually at nearly 500 healthcare facilities in 20 states. For more information, please visit NAPAanesthesia.com.

SOURCE NAPA Management Services Corporation
"Whether you're traveling to Italy this summer or having a staycation while dreaming of the Amalfi Coast, our partnership with Ellis Brooklyn gives spritz season a unique twist, taking you on a idyllic Italian vacation wherever your summer plans may bring you," said Joy Ghosh, VP of Above Premium Beer & FMB at Molson Coors Beverage Company. "The spritz is a staple of Italy and the summer season, and we're proud to partner with a brand that has the same passion for "spritz" as we do to help bring it to life through scent and taste."

The Italian Spritz Collection comes in a Peroni-inspired dopp kit which includes the Italian brand's signature design elements, including the traditional blue and white stripe design on the travel bag, as well as nods to the iconic Peroni blue ribbon. Inside each kit, fans will find a special sensory guide, taking them on a journey through Italy with each of the six Ellis Brooklyn fragrances paired with a Peroni-inspired spritz cocktail and Italian locale.

"As we head into summer, we're excited to offer this kit to fans, encouraging them to live every moment with each "spritz", and allowing their senses to be the guide they need to experience Italy without ever having to hop on a plane," said Bee Shapiro, Founder of Ellis Brooklyn. "Each of our fragrances are meant to take you on a sensory journey, and when paired with the tasting notes of a Peroni or Peroni-infused spritz cocktail, the little moments are elevated."

For those 21+ and looking to purchase this one-of-a-kind collection, kits will be available on EllisBrooklyn.com beginning today, with a SRP of $140, and will be available in limited quantities. Peroni and its Brand Developers will also be bringing The Italian Spritz Collection to life in on-premise accounts and key cities across the country during the summer months.

About Peroni Nastro Azzurro

As Italy's premier beer, Peroni Nastro Azzurro is a timeless classic that embodies the best in Italian craftsmanship and sophistication. Born in 1963 during a trailblazing era that brought Italian style and creativity to the global stage, Peroni is a pale, golden lager with a crisp, refreshing taste, balanced aroma and notes of citrus and spice. Arriving in the United States in 2005, and enjoyed across six continents today, the iconic Italian beer has consistently won over tastemakers and trendsetters looking for a fresh, clean beer to complement their style. Follow along on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @PeroniUSA.

About Ellis Brooklyn

Ellis Brooklyn was created in 2015 by Bee Shapiro, a Williamsburg mom looking for clean and sophisticated fragrance options as well as a beauty columnist for The New York Times. The fragrance and body care line features sophisticated, multilayered scents crafted with care in small batches. The eau de parfums are phthalates-free, paraben-free, PETA certified vegan and cruelty-free, sustainably sourced, eco-friendly, and utterly luxurious. Today, Ellis Brooklyn is an award-winning leader in the high-growth clean prestige fragrance market.

SOURCE Peroni
New Campaign Highlights How Passion for Cars Is Shared by Enthusiasts from All Walks of Life

WOODBURY, N.Y., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Premier Financial Services (PFS)  the nation's leading finance company providing specialty leasing for new and previously owned Ferraris, Porsches, McLarens, Lamborghinis and other exotic, vintage and luxury automobiles  announced today the launch of its "Premier Profiles" campaign, to commemorate the company's 25th year of operation.

Andrew Dale, the founder and CEO of San Diego-based Unite Hair Care Professional Salon Systems, is featured in the "Premier Profiles" campaign. Alex Ross, the owner of Sharkwerks, a custom Porsche shop in California, is featured in the "Premier Profiles" campaign.

Modeled loosely after one of the most successful, longest-running promotional campaigns in advertising history, each "Premier Profile" features individual clients, and includes personal information regarding their careers, as well as personal opinions on topics related to their success and outlook on life.

"The purpose of our campaign," according to Doug Ewing, Vice President of Sales, "is to acknowledge the role that our clients have played in Premier's success over the past 25 years. Many of them are repeat clients, and some of them, in fact, have been with us since the company started in 1997."

Mr. Ewing also noted that Premier wanted to showcase the wide diversity of its clients' ages, backgrounds, locations, careers and viewpoints. He said, "Despite their many differences, they all share a passion for vintage, exotic and luxury cars; and Premier has been honored to provide them with financing that enables them to put those dream cars in their driveways."

A few of Premier's clients who are featured in the initial phase of the campaign  which has no specific end date  include:

- Alex Ross  Owner of Sharkwerks, a Custom Porsche Shop

- Chad Orso  Insurance and Financial Services Consultant

- Andrew Dale  Founder and CEO, Unite Hair Care Professional Salon Systems

- Brad Pearson  Regional Vice President, Coldwell Banker Realty

- Claudio Gambin  President and Financial Advisor, Gambin Financial Group

- Steve Serio  Owner, The Bond Group, Rare and Classic Car Consultants

The "Premier Profiles" campaign will run in several publications that cater to serious automotive enthusiasts, as well as social media platforms. None of the clients featured in the campaign receive any compensation or consideration from Premier in exchange for their participation.

About Premier Financial Service, LLC

Since 1997, Premier Financial Services has been a recognized leader in specialty leasing of new and previously owned exotic, vintage and luxury cars. Premier is dedicated exclusively to innovative, customized leasing arrangements for clients seeking the flexibility of financing, conservation of capital, and the tax advantages of leasing. The company is a subsidiary of 1st Financial Bank USA, Premier's success is based on delivering the industry's highest level of customer service. Visit www.premierfinancialservices.com .

About 1st Financial Bank USA

Established in 1910, 1st Financial Bank USA provides credit cards, construction finance, rental investment property loans, and SBA loans across the country, as well as a full range of banking services in its local communities. 1FBUSA's headquarters are located in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota. Learn more at www.1fbusa.com .

Media Contact:

Gordon G. Andrew Highlander Consulting Inc.

(609) 987-0200

[email protected]

SOURCE Premier Financial Services
This acquisition comes on the heels of the integration and merger of USATestprep, an online platform for grades 3-12 standards-aligned learning tools, and Education Galaxy, an online learning solutions provider for K-8 e-learning programs, to create Progress Learning, LLC. With the addition of Horizon Education, Progress Learning is further establishing itself as a premier standards-aligned content solution across every grade level, from kindergarten to elementary school, middle school, and high school.

The acquisition upgrades Progress Learning's high school experience. In more than 20 states across the country, the SAT and ACT are not just considered college entrance exams; they're also used as required summative assessments for high school graduation. Unlike other SAT/ACT preparation tools sold directly to consumers, Horizon Education partners directly with high schools to equip students with the resources they need to master these exams.

Horizon Education will become the fifth product in the Progress Learning suite of education tools, which now includes Progress Learning Elementary School, Liftoff for Adaptive Intervention, Progress Learning Middle School, Progress Learning High School, and Horizon Education.

"We're thrilled to bring Horizon Education on board our K-12 solution," said Will Clemens, Chief Executive Officer of Progress Learning. "In 2020, we identified the best elementary education solution in Education Galaxy, and now, we're adding the best college preparation solution, Horizon Education, to our leading middle and high school product. These integrations will allow Progress Learning to be a first-in-class solution for all students, no matter whether they're just entering kindergarten or thinking about life after high school."

The strategic partnership allows Progress Learning to continue offering the best products from experts in their respective fields. Founded in 2013, Dustin Bainbridge created Horizon Education after leveraging years of test preparation experience at the Princeton Review. Serving students through their high schools across 25 states, Horizon Education is committed to college readiness for all students, regardless of socioeconomic status. They provide equitable access and resources to students, families, and educators by partnering with districts and schools. Their powerful solutions and professional development tools help educators measure and analyze growth over time with diagnostic PSAT, SAT, PreACT, and ACT-aligned assessments, including detailed score reports and analysis.

"Our missions at Horizon Education and Progress Learning are perfectly aligned, which is why we couldn't be more pleased to join their family of products," said Dustin Bainbridge, CEO of Horizon Education. "We have always believed that education is a civil right and the cornerstone to our democracy, and as part of Progress Learning, we will continue to help students pave the way toward success on their postsecondary path."

Progress Learning

Progress Learning provides a comprehensive, standards-aligned instructional resource and content solution for grades K-12. Bringing over 30 years of combined education and classroom experience, Progress Learning has transformed the teaching and learning experience for thousands of school districts and millions of students by providing innovative, high-quality, tech-enabled education solutions, progress monitoring, and standards-aligned content created by veteran classroom teachers. Progress Learning has served more than 4 million students per year in 4,000 school districts nationwide across 50 states. More information can be found at progresslearning.com.

Progress Learning Locations:

Dallas Office

2201 N Central Expy #121

Richardson, TX 75080

Phone: 1-844-542-5299

Media Contacts:

Progress Learning

Name: Nancy Rothman

Title: VP, Marketing

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Progress Learning
Dutch bank selects Finastra to future-proof its payments with a modern and functionally rich solution

LONDON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Finastra today announced that Rabobank  a large international financial services group headquartered in the Netherlands  has selected the latest version of Fusion Global PAYplus for increased efficiency and innovation in payments. Finastra's payments hub will also help the bank migrate to the new ISO 20022 payments standard, due to go live in the eurozone for SWIFT messages in November 2022.

With support from Finastra, Rabobank was recently awarded for achieving a straight-through processing (STP) rate for SWIFT MT103 and MT202 payment messages of over 99 percent for the last five years, by one of its correspondent banking partners. Upgrading Finastra's solution will enable the bank to continue processing cross border (high value) payments effectively, while benefiting from higher quality data and reduced errors and delays.

"One of the most important requirements when selecting Fusion Global PAYplus as the solution for our cross border (high value) payment processing was to increase our STP rate," Patrick Kipping, Area Lead Transaction Processing at Rabobank said. "This award is a recognition that we have succeeded in this together with Finastra. We are convinced that in close cooperation with Finastra, we can increase our STP rate even further in the years to come with the migration to ISO 20022."

Fusion Global PAYplus provides an incremental approach towards ISO 20022 migration. The solution supports MT to MX processing, enabling conversion between SWIFT's MT messaging and XML-based message formats. The bank can therefore gradually switch to a fully ISO 20022 compliant model to minimize disruption.

"Our global payments hub has helped Rabobank process its cross-border transactions quickly and efficiently for many years," Tal Weiser, Managing Director Sales, Global Services Payments at Finastra said. "It is designed to support ongoing innovation and adaptation to new industry demands. Now that the ISO 20022 mandate is fast approaching, the upgrade will drive compliance and future-proof the bank's payments processing. We are pleased to extend our support to Rabobank as it continues on its transformation journey."

For further information please contact:

Sofia Romano

EMEA PR Manager

T +44 (0)7552 865009

E [email protected]

finastra.com

Caroline Duff

Global Head of PR

T +44 (0)7917 613586

E [email protected]

finastra.com

About Finastra

Finastra is a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, and launched the leading open platform for innovation, FusionFabric.cloud, in 2017. It serves institutions of all sizes, providing award-winning solutions and services across Lending, Payments, Treasury & Capital Markets and Retail & Digital Banking for banks to support direct banking relationships and grow through indirect channels, such as embedded finance and Banking as a Service. Its pioneering approach and commitment to open finance and collaboration is why it is trusted by ~8,600 institutions, including 90 of the world's top 100 banks. For more information, visit finastra.com.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/finastra

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinastraFS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXMHbdfIgA6bzw_fsPN39bg

Corporate headquarters

4 Kingdom Street

Paddington

London W2 6BD

United Kingdom

T: +44 20 3320 5000

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/967510/Finastra_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Finastra
Nairobi  The Infrastructure Ministry has commenced the re-erection of speed bumps the Kenya Highways Authority (KenHA) removed at Gachororo and Highpoint areas in Juja town following increased hit and run cases of pedestrians as they attempt crossing the highway.

The move follows the many peaceful demonstrations held in the area with residents protesting over several cases in which pedestrians have lost their lives after being hit by vehicles while crossing the highway.

KenHA removed bumps and sealed off the area with grills and barbed wire. Some of the residents have been reportedly jumping over the barriers to cross the road.

Addressing residents after commissioning the re-erection of the speed bumps, Infrastructure Secretary Francis Gitau said works to re-erect the bumps will commence immediately and will be completed by Friday.

He said though it would cause traffic on the highway, speed bumps would save lives. "Consultants felt speed bumps on a busy highway are unnecessary and would cause traffic, but the lives of the people matter," said Gitau.

He was accompanied by Kiambu Governor Dr. James Nyoro who said plans to erect a foot bridge on the area regarded as a black spot are at an advanced stage.

Nyoro said the speed bumps will be temporary as the government consolidates funds to erect the foot bridge. He said three people had lost their lives as they attempted to cross the highway in the past one week.

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During the removal of the speed bumps, KeNHA advised pedestrians to use the footbridge that is more than two kilometers away at Sewage stage. Residents felt the bridge was far and inconvenienced them, with some making their way through the grills and crossing the deadly road.

Recently, a secondary school student was knocked down and killed by a speeding car as she crossed the road, causing fury among locals. The protesters said the removal of the bumps led to the closure of small businesses in the area as many customers no longer pass there.

Young children have also been inconvenienced as they are forced to walk far to reach school.

"We have suffered huge losses as our customers don't come here anymore. We want local leaders including our Governor and aspirants to address our plight," said Veronica Wangui, who runs a food kiosk, during the protest.

Commuters lamented that they were badly inconvenienced and had to meet an extra cost by paying Boda Bodas to get to their destinations.

The area has a large population of students from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology who have to cross the highway to access their hostels. - Kna
Also known as Grateful Dead 1965-Forever, this historic, mural sized painting is meant to be enjoyed by all Deadheads. Whether they are seasoned veterans who knew what it was like to be at a show over the past six decades, or newcomers who have just recently gotten onto the proverbial 'bus,' their interpretation of this painting will be unique in scope, but similar in awe.

Listening to the Dead's vast catalog can trigger timeless memories, but when you pair their music with Cenedella's painting, you begin to relive the experience of all those unforgettable shows, and it leaves you wishing you were still there at that place and time as if the music had never stopped.

The beauty of So Many Roads is that Cenedella managed to concoct a Deadhead's utopia on canvas that leaves your eyes scrolling from one panel to the next, all while pondering about the deeper meaning behind all the imagery within the painting. Similarly, Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow effectuated the same sentiment through their lyrics. This painting, like their songs, tells a story that is open to interpretation and resonates with the individual however they deem fit.

Cenedella is proud of this historic tribute painting and his hope is that So Many Roads brings the beholder the same kind of adulation and enjoyment the Grateful Dead has passed along to all Deadheads over the last 57+ years and counting. This triptych masterpiece is dedicated to the Grateful Dead, their family and friends, and all who made everyone's long strange trip possible since 1965.

A portion of the proceeds of all Digital Archival Prints and Posters will benefit HeadCount, a non-partisan organization that uses the power of music to register voters and promote participation in democracy.

Learn more about So Many Roads at RobertCenedella.com

For PR inquiries, contact R. Couri Hay or Sarah Gartner at R. Couri Hay Creative PR

T: (212) 580-0835 E: [email protected] | [email protected]

ABOUT ROBERT CENEDELLA

Robert Cenedella was born in Milford, Massachusetts in 1940. He received his formal education from The High School of Music & Art in New York, and from The Art Students League of New York. From 1988-2020, he inherited the George Grosz Chair at The League where he was invited to teach his Life Drawing Class and a Painting Workshop. Following a definitive tradition in art, like Brueghel, Daumier, Hogarth, and Grosz before him, Cenedella has devoted his art to chronicling the changing rituals and myths of contemporary American society.

In the last 35 years, Cenedella has amassed considerable international praise as well as inclusion in numerous public and private collections. His commissions include works for the famed Bacardi International and Absolut VODKA, a theater piece for actor Tony Randall, two murals of historical significance for Le Cirque 2000 Restaurants in New York and Mexico City, and most recently a visual jam to commemorate the history of the Grateful Dead.

In September 1985, Cenedella exhibited at the Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, a show sponsored by Mr. Jacques Chirac, then mayor of Paris. In 1988, he held a one-man show at Saatchi & Saatchi's headquarters in New York, and in 1990, he was included in the prestigious Amnesty International Exhibition in SoHo, New York. In December 1994, he had a major retrospective at the Galerie Am Scheunenviertel in Berlin, Germany, which was a tribute to his former mentor and ran concurrently with the George Grosz Centennial Exhibition at the Berlin National Gallery. That same year, Cenedella's concept of selling shares of stock in his painting 2001 - A Stock Odyssey was disclosed in a New York Times feature article. The idea prompted Leo Castelli, the SoHo gallery owner, who once compared the art boom of the 1980s to the rise of junk bonds, to call the experiment "a conceptual work of art." Cenedella was also featured in Norbert Bunge's award-winning documentary film George Grosz in America: Life's Fine in the Labyrinth presented at the Berlin Film Festival in 1995.

From 1995 to 2000, Robert Cenedella exhibited and lectured around the United States. From March to May 2003, a full retrospective of the artist's political works was sponsored by The Nation Institute. This exhibit, The Nation Hangs Cenedella, was held at the New York executive offices of The Nation magazine and covered subjects ranging from the Selma riots to the preemptive war on Iraq. It was the first exhibition given to an American artist by The Nation. On March 11, 2004, Cenedella unveiled "The Easel Painting Revival" at Le Cirque 2000. In the spring of 2005, Robert Cenedella had a solo exhibition at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, and conducted a lecture entitled: "WHAT isn't ART."

Cenedella's art and life was the subject of a book, "The American Artist as Satirist," by M. Kay Flavell. Cenedella was also the protagonist in Art Bastard, a historical documentary film on his life and work, which was released in the spring of 2016 by Concannon Productions, Inc. to critical acclaim. It was written and directed by Victor Kanefsky, produced by Chris T. Concannon, and edited by Jim MacDonald.

Robert Cenedella maintained a studio for 60 years in Tribeca and Midtown Manhattan; In August 2020, Cenedella moved from New York City to Maine with his wife, Liz, where he paints full-time. During the summer, Cenedella spends his time on his private island in Maine in a rustic cabin he personally built many years ago. He uses this time for reflection and inspiration. He is currently working on a coffee table book that revolves around his art and life story, which is due to be released in 2023, titled Robert Cenedella | 60 Years of American Art.

For more information about Robert Cenedella, you can visit his website at RobertCenedella.com, or follow him through social media:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/RobertCenedellaArt

Instagram: @Robert_Cenedella

Twitter: @RobertCenedella

SOURCE Robert Cenedella
In Q1 2022 alone, an analysis of 3.6 billion websites found 1 in 5 credit union and regional bank brands targeted by an average of 5 brand impersonation attacks

BOSTON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allure Security  the fastest, most accurate online brand protection solution  today unveiled its "2022 Threat Brief: Credit Union and Regional Bank Brands Under Attack" revealing that scammers have put these institutions and their patrons in their crosshairs. Online brand impersonation attacks involve fraudsters publishing a website, social media account, or mobile app that imitates a brand's imagery and messaging to trick consumers into divulging banking credentials, payment details, and more.

"The world already knows that major financial institutions find themselves within cybercriminals' sights, but adversaries increasingly target regional banks and credit unions with online brand impersonation attacks as well," said Allure Security CEO Josh Shaul. "Fortunately, technology has advanced so these attacks can be stopped more quickly, effectively, and economically than old-fashioned or manual methods such as domain monitoring or iterating on permutations of a brand's domain name."

Allure Security's AI-powered detection engine evaluates more than 40 million websites daily for brand abuse. This report surfaces insights from that data, isolating regional bank and credit union brands, for the quarter ending March 31, 2022:

In just the first 90 days of 2022, 164 regional bank and credit union brands in the sample experienced 870 online brand impersonation attacks - The study provides a snapshot in time of a mere sample of the population of such attacks, suggesting a far more extensive problem.

- The study provides a snapshot in time of a mere sample of the population of such attacks, suggesting a far more extensive problem. Common domain monitoring methods FAILED to identify 69% of these attacks - Using the same data sample to pit domain monitoring against AI-powered online brand protection-as-a-service exposed domain monitoring as mostly ineffective.

Domain monitoring required evaluating more than 18 thousand websites and up to 302 person hours to find a single online brand impersonation  Not only is domain monitoring alone insufficient, it's also absurdly resource-intensive.

To download a complimentary copy of the full 2022 Threat Brief, visit: https://www.alluresecurity.com/credit-union-regional-bank-brands-under-attack-2022-threat-brief-allure-security/

About Allure Security

Allure Security protects brands by finding and stopping online brand impersonation attacks before customers fall victim. Our patented, artificial intelligence-powered engine finds more spoofed websites, social media accounts, and mobile apps more quickly and with greater accuracy than legacy approaches. Our unique, multi-pronged approach to response  blocklisting, decoy data, and takedown  significantly reduces the lifespan of a scam and the damage it can do.

Contact

Sam Bakken

312-206-3045

[email protected]

SOURCE Allure Security
New Direct Service for Phoenix to Chicago, Detroit to Dallas, Indianapolis to Atlanta,

St. Louis to Dallas, and Cincinnati to Atlanta

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Roadrunner, transportation's greatest comeback story, a service-first less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier specializing in long-haul nationwide metro-to-metro shipping, announces five additional direct lanes to its service network and improved transit times by at least one day in 66 of its major lanes. This follows other network improvements made earlier this year.

Roadrunner's continuous investments in technology, training and service center improvements are resulting in faster delivery times and more direct lanes for its customers. As the company reengineered its lanes, it increased its volume capacities, added more direct routing and all but eliminated rail usage. Among others, lanes heading Eastbound from Phoenix, Westbound from St. Louis and Detroit and Southbound from Cincinnati and Indianapolis are all seeing notable improvements in transit times.

"This improvement arrives just in time for summer to benefit our many customers," said Roadrunner President Frank Hurst. "We are proud to announce these changes. Service is our #1 priority. We've spent the last two years overhauling our network to make sure we only operate in lanes where we can provide service and quality. As a result, we've seen our on-time service percentage increase dramatically across the network. This is the second time this year we've sped up our network and reduced transit times, and we're not stopping here."

"Moving transit times up in these 66 lanes is just the beginning. Our analytics team proved that we run faster than our stated transit times in more than 650 lanes, almost 20% of our 3,700 lanes," said Philip Thalheim, Director of Linehaul Analytics at Roadrunner. "Following previous operational improvements, which included the installation of dimensionalizers in all our facilities, dock automation, network restructuring and static load plan implementation, our data confirmed that our freight delivers early in these lanes due to earlier pickups and improved daily capacity."

"The team at Roadrunner has improved its training, its people and its service," said Chris Jamroz, Roadrunner Executive Chairman of the Board. "We've made significant investments in our technology to provide 100% end-to-end network visibility, improve site-level performance and optimize data, allowing us to provide better service at a better value. In addition to returning to our roots as an LTL carrier and offering quality service at a competitive value, Roadrunner has created a driver-centric culture that focuses on the financial success and personal well-being of our drivers."

About Roadrunner

Emerging as a service-first less-than-truckload (LTL) provider, Roadrunner transformed its operations through new leadership, a new network, and new technologies to provide its customers with exceptional LTL service. Specializing in long-haul, metro-to-metro shipping, Roadrunner has more direct routes between its 32 service centers than its traditional hub and spoke peers, allowing for better service and great value. (PINK: RRTS)

Please visit the following sites to learn more about Roadrunner and how you can join the freight revolution.

To learn more about shipping with Roadrunner: roadrunnerLTL.com

Explore careers in sales, operations, and technology at Roadrunner: roadrunnerLTL.com/careers/work-with-us

To drive for Roadrunner as an Independent Contractor (IC) including Lease-Purchase opportunities: https://run4roadrunner.com/

SOURCE Roadrunner
NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of HUMBL, LLC (OTC: HMBL) and/or the Company's unregistered digital asset (sold as BLOCKS Exchange Traded Index ("ETXs") on various cryptocurrency exchanges) between November 1, 2020 and May 19, 2022, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period") of the important July 19, 2022 lead plaintiff deadline.

SO WHAT: If you purchased Humbl securities and/or the Company's ETXs during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Humbl class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=6398 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than July 19, 2022. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually handle securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, defendants violated provisions of the Exchange Act by making false and misleading statements concerning the Company's growth prospects, technological advancements, international partnerships, and financial benefits for Humbl common stock and digital asset investors, as well as using selectively timed announcements to keep Humbl stock price high so that Company insiders could sell off their holdings into artificially created volume. The complaint also alleges that defendants violated provisions of the Securities Act by selling its unregistered securities (BLOCK ETX digital assets) to investors.

To join the Humbl class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=6398 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Contact Information:

Laurence Rosen, Esq.

Phillip Kim, Esq.

The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor

New York, NY 10016

Tel: (212) 686-1060

Toll Free: (866) 767-3653

Fax: (212) 202-3827

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

www.rosenlegal.com

SOURCE Rosen Law Firm, P.A.
WASHINGTON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- America First Political Committee today reaffirmed today that Censured RINO Carlos Gimenez (FL-28 Congressional District) is the top RINO target for removal from Congress in the August 23, 2022 Florida primary election.

RINO Carlos Gimenez otherwise known as a Socialist Democrat, has a long record of supporting radical socialist policy, dating back to his time as Miami-Dade Mayor.

RINO CARLOS GIMENEZ VOTED FOR THE JANUARY 6 WITCH HUNT AGAINST AMERICANS RINO CARLOS GIMENEZ SUPPORTES THE OBAMA/CLINTON AGENDA

As Miami-Dade Mayor, RINO Gimenez locked down and destroyed small businesses during Covid. Gimenez was also tainted with corruption and ethics accusations including unauthorized business dealings with Communist China.

In Washington, D.C., RINO Gimenez has voted with Nancy Pelosi and the radical leftists. Gimenez defended disgraced Liz Cheney after she voted in favor of the 'Sham Impeachment' against Donald Trump. Gimenez doubled down in defending Cheney after the Republican Caucus censored and removed Liz Cheney from Republican Party Leadership.

RINO Gimenez has openly voted with Nancy Pelosi and the radical Democrats in Congress on critical 'Unconstitutional Issues' far too many times and continues to support a socialist agenda:

RINO Gimenez openly supported and Voted for Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Agenda in 2016;





and the Clinton Agenda in 2016; RINO Gimenez also voted fo r the ' January 6 ' Democrat 'Witch Hunt' against American Citizens and Republican voters;





'Witch Hunt' against American Citizens and Republican voters; RINO Gimenez voted with Nancy Pelosi on H.R. 550, to allow the federal government to create a database, track unvaccinated Americans, who could be targeted, segregated, discriminated against, and forced to comply with vaccination mandates;





on H.R. 550, to allow the federal government to create a database, track unvaccinated Americans, who could be targeted, segregated, discriminated against, and forced to comply with vaccination mandates; RINO Gimenez voted with Nancy Pelosi on Anti-Second Amendment legislation HR-8, making it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to purchase, own, carry, and use a firearm and





on Anti-Second Amendment legislation HR-8, making it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to purchase, own, carry, and use a firearm and RINO Gimenez voted with Nancy Pelosi on H.R. 6 for 'Open Borders and Amnesty' to over 20 million criminal illegal aliens, which would permanently avoid deportation, obtain a pathway to citizenship, and full voting rights;





on H.R. 6 for 'Open Borders and Amnesty' to over 20 million criminal illegal aliens, which would permanently avoid deportation, obtain a pathway to citizenship, and full voting rights; RINO Gimenez also voted with Nancy Pelosi and the radical Democrats to strip Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of all Congressional Committee positions.





to strip Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of all Congressional Committee positions. RINO Gimenez voted with Nancy Pelosi on the wasteful $1.5 Trillion wasteful socialist spending bill packed with billions in earmarks (Pork);

About America First Political Committee:

Our mission is to protect the integrity of the U.S. Constitution, promote conservative political candidates and policy that puts America First.

America First Contact:

Contact: J. Stephens

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.americafirstpc.org

Phone: 202-495-1505

SOURCE America First Political Committee
"Almost 7 billion people use smartphones around the world and more than 100 million people hold digital assets - and both of those numbers will continue to grow," said Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana, the world's most performant blockchain. "Saga sets a new standard for the web3 experience on mobile."

Saga was introduced at an event in New York today, which also included the introduction of the Solana Mobile Stack, a framework for Android allowing developers to create rich mobile experiences for wallets and apps on Solana and create a "Secure Element" for private key management (read more here ). The Solana Mobile Stack SDK is available to developers now and Saga is available for pre-orders starting today, with delivery in early 2023.

"We chose the Saga name because the story of crypto is still being written," said Raj Gokal, co-founder of Solana. "This is the next chapter of this narrative and we believe opening up crypto to mobile will lead to greater adoption, better understanding, and more opportunities."

Saga is designed and manufactured by OSOM, a leading Android development company whose team has extensive experience building computing hardware for Google, Apple, and Intel, among others.

"Saga starts from first principles to create a mobile experience for individuals, developers, and ecosystem participants that opens a new era of mobility," said Jason Keats, co-founder and CEO of OSOM. "The world needs novel hardware to embrace the future that is web3, and building out an ecosystem that looks to the future without being burdened by past legacy ecosystems is hugely exciting for us."

Saga includes a 6.67" OLED display, 12 GB RAM, 512 GB storage, and the latest flagship Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Mobile Platform, the security features of which will enable the Solana Mobile Stack's Seed Vault. With the addition of a Secure Element built into the device, the Seed Vault keeps private keys, seed phrases and secrets separated from the application layer yet still capable of interacting with apps running on the device or in a mobile browser.

Pre-orders for Saga require a $100 fully refundable deposit, which will be applied to the anticipated final cost of $1,000, and will be prioritized for developers in order to test the Solana Mobile Stack and Saga. Those who pre-order may be eligible to receive a Saga Pass, an NFT accompanying the first wave of Saga devices and the first ticket to influencing the direction of the SMS platform.

For more information:

About Solana Mobile

Solana Mobile is a mobile technology company developing the Solana Mobile Stack and Saga. It is a subsidiary of Solana Labs, a creator of open source software, and a contributor to Solana software and the Solana protocol. For more information, please visit https://solanamobile.com/ .

Snapdragon is a trademark or registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated.

Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

CONTACT: Austin Federa, [email protected]

SOURCE Solana Mobile
MUNICH, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Analysis from the Smart Payment Association (SPA) confirms that the global semiconductor (chip) shortage will continue throughout 2023, severely impacting the delivery of payment cards worldwide.

This ongoing supply challenge results from a range of factors including post-COVID recovery leading to a surge in demand of semiconductors.

Additionally, payment card deliveries are suffering from extended lead times for key raw material supplies such as plastic, metal and other components of a smart card. This is due to various factors including recent COVID-related factory shutdowns in China, and global supply chain disruptions created by materials shortages and freight capacities still not at the pre-COVID level.

While these factors continue to exert pressures, the payment card manufacturers in the SPA1 do their utmost, together with their respective customers, to design and implement card supply risk mitigation strategies. These include robust inventory management, optimizing utilization of all available products and stock levels, greater forecast accuracy, and ever-closer collaboration with respective suppliers to reduce impact.

As noted in the SPA communication of June 2021, the uninterrupted supply of payment cards is essential to the social and economic lives of billions of citizens around the globe. Most recent data2 from the SPA show that more than 2.63 billion smart payment cards and modules3 were shipped worldwide during 2021. The SPA believes the shipment volumes would have been even higher had it not been for the chip shortage affecting the industry. SPA members suffered from chip allocations preventing them from fully serving the demand of their customers.

Payment cards are essential for everyday life and business - for consumers and enterprises. 75% of the non-cash payment were made with cards, in 20204 (including online payments, directly or indirectly via digital wallets).

Payment cards are also critical for accessing cash.

SPA therefore highly supports recent legislation in the European Union (European Chips Act5) categorising the provision of semiconductors to the payment card industry as high priority. A similar initiative has been launched by the United States Government to strengthen the domestic semiconductor sector (Chips and Fabs Act 6).

SPA urges once again the semiconductor industry to recognize the essential character of payment cards, and to work with its members to ensure resilient supply of chips in the future.

About the Smart Payment Association (SPA)

The Smart Payment Association (SPA) is the trade body of the cards and mobile payments industry. SPA addresses the challenges of a fast-evolving payment ecosystem, promoting innovation, security, and interoperability of payment instruments. SPA works closely with regulators and standardization bodies, offering leadership and expert guidance to help its members and their customers adopt new payment technologies of today and tomorrow. For more information on the SPA, visit our website:

www.smartpaymentassociation.com.

Press contact: Stephanie de Labriolle

[email protected]

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1831578/SPA_Logo.jpg

1 The payment card manufacturers in the SPA are Austria Card, G+D, IDEMIA, Thales

2 The following companies participate in the SPA Market Monitoring process: CPI, G+D, IDEMIA, NXP, STMicroelectronics, Thales

3 Embedded in the payment card body during manufacturing, the module consists of the encapsulated smart card chip, attached and electrically bonded to the micro connector or contact plate.

4 https://www.capgemini.com/us-en/news/capgeminis-world-payments-report-2021/#

5 European Chips Act: Communication, Regulation, Joint Undertaking and Recommendation | Shaping Europe's digital future (europa.eu)

6 See for instance: CHIPS for America Act & FABS Act - Semiconductor Industry Association (semiconductors.org)

SOURCE Smart Payment Association
ST. LOUIS, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Spartech, a leading manufacturer of engineered thermoplastics and custom packaging solutions, is pleased to announce the addition of three new team members. They include: Jessica "Jess" Sekely as Director of Environmental Health & Safety; Mario Columbia as General Manager, Polycast Acrylic Sheet Division; and Larry Baer as Plant Manager.

"Jess, Mario, and Larry are all talented individuals who are valuable additions to the Spartech team," said Spartech CEO John Inks. "Their collective experience and leadership expertise will help us continue to serve as a reliable and responsive partner to our valued customers."

Sekely will be working remotely but traveling on a regular basis to all of the locations in the Spartech network. She will be instrumental in the development of Spartech's Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy and overall employee engagement. Prior to joining Spartech, Sekely held various Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) leadership roles with: Johnson Matthey in Smithfield, Pennsylvania; Anheuser-Busch, Columbus, Ohio brewery; and PPG Industries in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Columbia will direct the Goodyear, Arizona, Stamford, Connecticut, and Greenville, Ohio locations and has over 20 years of experience in manufacturing management. Prior to his new role with Spartech, he served as General Manager/CI for Kuehne & Nagel, Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona, and a Lean/Sustainability Consultant and Vice-President of Operations & Corporate Quality with Lodi in Phoenix, Arizona. Columbia is Six Sigma Certified.

Baer will lead the Paulding, Ohio location and has over 25 years of management experience in the composites industry. Most recently he was President of R3 Composites in Grabill, Indiana. Prior to this he was assigned as Chief Operating Officer for a joint venture between Continental Structural Plastics & Victall Railway Company in Tangshan, China for two years. He was also the Director of Operations for Continental Structural Plastics overseeing their Tijuana and Saltillo, Mexico locations.

About Spartech

Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri with a unique innovation center and 16 manufacturing facilities located throughout the United States, Spartech is a leading plastics manufacturer of engineered thermoplastic materials and specialty packaging products. Meeting exact standards for everything from food packaging to aerospace and automotive applications, Spartech continues to make a world of difference with sustainable, diverse, reliable, and innovative products including UltraTuf, Royalite, Korad, PreservaPak, and Polycast. https://spartech.com

Media Contact:

For Spartech

Sheldon Ripson

[email protected]

636-751-5733

SOURCE Spartech
Dealer Inspire is certified to provide Subaru retailers a connected digital website platform that includes turnkey opportunities for seamless digital advertising, SEO, messaging, digital retailing and vehicle acquisition technologies built-in

NAPERVILLE, Ill., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dealer Inspire (DI), a Cars.com Inc. (NYSE: CARS) company that provides advanced technology and digital advertising solutions to the automotive industry, announced today a new OEM partnership with Subaru of America. Dealer Inspire has been named a Certified Website Provider in the Subaru Certified Retailer Program, and will have the opportunity to partner with Subaru's more than 570 U.S.-based retailers to help them increase sales and efficiency through a connected website platform with industry-leading technology. The company currently partners with retailers within the Subaru Certified Chat Program and can leverage existing relationships to build website market share.

"There is no doubt about it  the best consumer experience wins. At Dealer Inspire, we are passionate about enabling our dealer partners with a digital storefront and connected suite of digital advertising solutions that meet shoppers where they are and deliver flawless execution on the shopping experience today's customers expect," said Darren Haygood, General Manager for Dealer Inspire. "Our award-winning website platform coupled with innovative digital retailing and vehicle acquisition solutions helps maximize dealer ROI and is a catalyst for selling more vehicles, more efficiently. We are incredibly proud to be Certified by Subaru, and we're excited about the opportunity to expand our relationship with local Subaru retailers across the country."

DI customers gain additional benefits as part of the Cars.com Inc. family of brands, which includes Cars.com, Dealer Inspire, DealerRater, FUEL, CreditIQ and Accu-Trade. The company leverages integrated technologies across its brands to drive Cars.com's 26 million monthly in-market car shoppers directly to dealers' digital and physical storefronts.

As part of the Certified Digital Program, Subaru retailers who partner with Dealer Inspire gain access to:

Advanced Website Platform : An eight-time AWA Pinnacle Platform Winner, DI's website platform is flexible, fast, and built to convert. It adapts to each individual shopper with personalization and geofencing technology, and features Lightning Inventory to instantly guide them to the right vehicle for their needs. Seamlessly integrated with the rest of DI's products, the website platform is the customizable core of any dealer's business.

An eight-time AWA Pinnacle Platform Winner, DI's website platform is flexible, fast, and built to convert. It adapts to each individual shopper with personalization and geofencing technology, and features Lightning Inventory to instantly guide them to the right vehicle for their needs. Seamlessly integrated with the rest of DI's products, the website platform is the customizable core of any dealer's business. Digital Advertising, SEO & Creative Services : DI also offers a full suite of connected digital marketing services to drive new customers to the platform, including Search Engine Marketing, SEO, Email Marketing, Social Advertising and Creative Services. By deploying the company's fully connected strategy, dealers can guide customers through each touchpoint in the car shopping journey. While Digital Advertising is not Certified it is available to Subaru retailers as a turnkey service.

DI also offers a full suite of connected digital marketing services to drive new customers to the platform, including Search Engine Marketing, SEO, Email Marketing, Social Advertising and Creative Services. By deploying the company's fully connected strategy, dealers can guide customers through each touchpoint in the car shopping journey. While Digital Advertising is not Certified it is available to Subaru retailers as a turnkey service. End-To-End Retailing : Online Shopper is the digital retailing solution that allows shoppers to customize and compare payments across multiple vehicles to make real buying decisions with dealers' inventory. From there, shoppers can complete the entire transaction online, from getting credit approved, to adding F&I products and aftermarket accessories, to scheduling pick-up or delivery and signing online.

Online Shopper is the digital retailing solution that allows shoppers to customize and compare payments across multiple vehicles to make real buying decisions with dealers' inventory. From there, shoppers can complete the entire transaction online, from getting credit approved, to adding F&I products and aftermarket accessories, to scheduling pick-up or delivery and signing online. 24/7 Customer Messaging : Conversations is the advanced messaging and "chat" solution built to connect today's car shoppers with stores  wherever, whenever, and however they want to shop. Featuring live video and SMS texting capabilities to keep shoppers connected offline, Conversations is deeply integrated with the retailer's website in unprecedented ways, replacing static lead forms by instantly answering questions and making connections.

Conversations is the advanced messaging and "chat" solution built to connect today's car shoppers with stores  wherever, whenever, and however they want to shop. Featuring live video and SMS texting capabilities to keep shoppers connected offline, Conversations is deeply integrated with the retailer's website in unprecedented ways, replacing static lead forms by instantly answering questions and making connections. Vehicle Acquisition Technology: With the recent addition of Accu-Trade and DI's Vehicle Builder tool dealers can adapt to today's market challenges with the solutions needed to acquire more vehicles through easy trade-in and cash offer technology and offer pre-ordering capabilities for shoppers looking for something specific.

With the recent addition of Accu-Trade and DI's Vehicle Builder tool dealers can adapt to today's market challenges with the solutions needed to acquire more vehicles through easy trade-in and cash offer technology and offer pre-ordering capabilities for shoppers looking for something specific. Proprietary Reporting Platform : Every DI website also comes with PRIZM, an advanced reporting platform at no additional cost, giving dealers ROI summaries, metric deep dives, group-level reporting, and proactive alerts for website analytics, marketing and product performance, and even open support requests  all from one beautiful dashboard.

Every DI website also comes with PRIZM, an advanced reporting platform at no additional cost, giving dealers ROI summaries, metric deep dives, group-level reporting, and proactive alerts for website analytics, marketing and product performance, and even open support requests  all from one beautiful dashboard. Superior Customer Support: Dealer Inspire supports a best-in-class dealer-to-employee ratio to ensure industry-leading service, achieving an average dealer satisfaction score of 9.5 out of 10. A dedicated team of performance managers partner with retailers to continually increase results through marketing strategy, execution, and transparent reporting.

For more information about DI's offerings for Subaru retailers, please visit dealerinspire.com/subaru

ABOUT DEALER INSPIRE

Dealer Inspire (DI), a Cars.com Inc. (NYSE: CARS) company, is an award-winning website, technology, and digital marketing provider for progressive dealer partners across the United States and Canada. Founded in 2011, Dealer Inspire is the innovative disruptor changing consumer behaviors and future-proofing dealerships with connected solutions that sell and service more vehicles, more efficiently. From search to signature, Dealer Inspire makes automotive retail faster, easier, and smarter for its more than 5,300 dealer partners and more than 40 global auto brand customers.

SOURCE Dealer Inspire
ORLANDO, Fla., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SunDance now offers clients virtually unlimited creativity and flexibility in designing pouch packaging for a wide variety of products. SunDance is a leading producer of printed packaging in the Southeastern U.S., and this newest capability positions the company solidly at the head of the growing shift to flexible packaginga versatile alternative to boxes, clamshells, and other rigid packaging.

SUP with clear front and metallic back SunDance Corporate Headquarters

The latest addition to the company's robust packaging plant, the Hudson Sharp Ares 400, is advanced pouch packaging equipment that accepts recycle-ready polyethylene, laminated films, bio-films, and paper-like films. The ability to choose from an array of packaging film types and thicknesses enables SunDance clients to design an unprecedented variety of pouches to meet virtually any product need.

Among the new pouches that can be created are pouches with a clear front and metallic back that displays pouch contents to excellent effect; a bottom-gusseted stand-up pouch with a clear front, clear bottom and white backing, for example; and a pouch with a backing that resembles Kraft paper for a retro or green look. Zippered pouches, resealable closers, inserted gusset, tamper-proof packaging, and food-grade pouches are also popular options.

In the competitive consumer package goods industry, having the flexibility to mix and match these features offers a wide array of options for creative brands. Crisp digital printing and vibrant colors enhance copy and imagery on the finished packaging. Digital printing also enables multiple SKUs and expiration dates, shorter production runs, and print customization on the fly.

SunDance professionals are happy to assist clients in optimizing the many new pouch packaging opportunities in order to present their products in exciting new ways.

The company's newest child-resistant packaging recently received a General Certificate of Conformity for compliance with federal Poison Prevention Packaging Act requirements. Learn more about flexible packaging options during a tour of the SunDance printing and packaging facility in Orlando.

About SunDance



Founded in 2007, SunDance is a multi-channel marketing solutions company offering creative design, printing, packaging, and other services. The company's innovative work has earned top industry accolades, including Florida's Golden Flamingo Award for Best Printer. SunDance is honored to have been certified as the first offset Sustainable Green Printer in Florida. Please visit SunDanceUSA.com for more information.

Contact: Kandi Johansmeyer, Senior VP Sales & Marketing | (407) 563-5004

SOURCE SunDance
Nairobi  The Registrar of the Supreme Court Letizia Wachira has confirmed the appeal challenging decisions by the High Court and Court of appeal to uphold Mike Sonko's impeachment as Nairobi Governor was filed within stipulated period.

She said contrary to the affidavit filed by the Nairobi County Governor Anne Kananu to the effect that the appeal was failed out of time, the matter was filed within statutory timeframes.

Wachira, in response to a bid by the County Assembly and Governor to challenge the appeal, affirmed that the ICT department confirmed the filing.

She averred that the contention by Kananu and County Assembly does not hold water.

The appeal was lodged on April 4, 2022.

Sonko, who is seeking the Mombasa gubernatorial seat on a Wiper ticket, has vowed to pursue the decision of IEBC Dispute Resolution committee dismissing his complaint against Mombasa Returning Officer who declined to receive his nomination documents on grounds that he was impeached as Nairobi County Governor.

Sonko noted his impeachment appeal was still active before the Supreme Court hence the decision to bar him on impeachment grounds was faulty.
Scalp Scrub, Shampoo and Conditioner are the first releases for the company since its launch

NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunday II Sunday, the athleisure hair care brand under parent company Infinite Looks, today announced the launch of a brand new collection, the Wash Day System. This new collection is designed to provide users with a full wash day reset and scalp care. Products within the line include Sunday II Sunday's new Shampoo and Conditioner, as well as their Signature Scalp Balancing Scrub. These products represent the brand's first release of new products since its initial launch. The Wash Day System will be available online at mysunday2sunday.com and will be coming soon to select partner retailers.

Designed to complement the Moisture Balance Kit, which cleanses and replenishes the hair in between wash days, The Wash Day System provides a deep cleansing and renewal for the hair and scalp at the end of the wash cycle. Each product included in the kit is formulated with Sunday II Sunday's proprietary Active Recovery Complex, which eliminates buildup, itch, and inflammation caused by sweat. Ingredients within the Active Recovery Complex include; papaya extract, to loosen buildup of dead skin for removal, probiotics, to reduce inflammation and support barrier formation, and Green Keratin, to improve hair strength and elasticity. Consistent use of the products is designed to restore scalp health, fight inflammation and reverse existing signs of damage.

"Ever since our initial launch with the Moisture Balance Kit we've had a vision of the Wash Day System as being the perfect complement to round out our customer's routine from weekly activity to rest and recovery day," said Keenan Beasley, CEO and Founder of Sunday II Sunday. "We were meticulous about the ingredients that went into these products to ensure that they would not only give the best possible results, but that they would improve the health of the scalp and hair over time as well. I'm incredibly proud of what we're bringing to the market with this launch."

Sunday II Sunday's Signature Scalp Balancing Sugar Scrub is the newest product to launch for the brand, following on the heels of the Signature Scalp Balancing Shampoo and Signature Replenishing Conditioner which launched originally with Ulta in Q2 of this year. The Scalp Balancing Sugar Scrub features papaya extract, natural sugar crystals, and peppermint oil to fight inflammation and provide moisture. Using the scrub prior to cleansing with the Scalp Balancing Shampoo increases its cleansing and barrier-calming benefits.

Consumers can find the Wash Day System available for purchase online at mysunday2sunday.com or with Sunday II Sunday's partner retailers including Ulta and Sephora. For additional information about the brand and its products, please visit mysunday2sunday.com

About Sunday II Sunday

SUNDAY II SUNDAY is the leading hair care brand developed by Infinite Looks and designed specifically for the active woman. Created to empower women and encourage them to look and feel their best without having to compromise their active lifestyle. Born out of the realization that the habits and practices of black consumers or those with more textured hair have been overlooked, SUNDAY II SUNDAY aims to fill that void in the haircare space. For additional information, visit www.mysunday2sunday.com .

SOURCE Sunday II Sunday
TORONTO, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Superior Gold Inc. ("Superior Gold" or the "Company") (TSXV: SGI) (OTCMKTS: SUPGF) announced today that all resolutions proposed to shareholders were duly passed at the Company's Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders ("Meeting") held on June 23, 2022, via live audio webcast. A total of 58,281,024 common shares were voted at the Meeting, representing 47% of the common shares outstanding. The detailed results of the matters voted upon are presented below.

Voting results for the election of directors:

Name Votes For % Votes For Votes Withheld % Votes Withheld Rene Marion 53,374,816 99.86 % 74,900 0.14 % Tamara Brown 53,374,816 99.86 % 74,900 0.14 % Damien Marantelli 53,214,816 99.56 % 234,900 0.44 % Chris Jordaan 53,434,916 99.97 % 14,800 0.03 % Michael Pesner 53,244,916 99.62 % 204,800 0.38 %



Voting results for the appointment of auditors:

Name Votes For % Votes For Votes Withheld % Votes Withheld KPMG LLP 58,266,224 99.98 % 14,800 0.03 %



Voting results for the stock option plan:

Name Votes For % Votes For Votes Withheld % Votes Withheld Stock Option Plan 53,104,647 99.35 % 345,069 0.65 %



Further details on the above matters are set forth in the Company's meeting materials, including the management information circular dated May 10, 2022, which can be found under the Company's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com

About Superior Gold

Superior Gold is a Canadian-based gold producer that owns 100% of the Plutonic Gold Operations located in Western Australia. The Plutonic Gold Operations include the Plutonic underground gold mine and central mill, numerous open-pit projects including the Plutonic Main Pit push-back project, the Hermes open pit projects, and an interest in the Bryah Basin joint venture. Superior Gold is focused on expanding production at the Plutonic Gold Operations and building an intermediate gold producer with superior returns for shareholders.

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Web: www.superior-gold.com | Twitter: @SuperiorGoldInc | Facebook: SuperiorGoldInc | Instagram: SuperiorGoldInc | LinkedIn: Superior Gold Inc. | YouTube: Superior Gold

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Superior Gold
The Industry-Leading Tax Professional Software Only Costs $15 Per Accepted Tax Return Without All the Extra Junk Fees

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- It is no secret that independent tax professionals have been placed at a disadvantage in an already saturated industry as both renewal licensing fees and transaction fees continue to be increased by most professional tax software companies every year. This makes it even more difficult for tax professionals to balance the cost of doing business and remaining profitable during these uncertain times. However, Community Income Tax (CIT), is on a mission to support small businesses and help ERO's lower their cost of doing business, one return at a time.

Community Income Tax (CIT) is an industry-leading tax software and bank product suite designed to help independent tax preparers not only survive in the current societal landscape but thrive. CIT is committed to remaining the industry's only free bank product (RT) provider in the industry, including all businesses and states at no additional cost, mobile application and remote signatures, and no cost licensing.

Unlike competitors who charge north of $75 per accepted return due to bank fees, software fees and transaction fees, CIT is committed to keeping its widely successful model the same and guarantees its low rate of only $15 per accepted return to effectively drive down the cost of doing business in the tax industry.

Hands down the lowest cost software in the industry, CIT is proven to help individual tax preparers save more per tax season than its counterparts. Due to this revolutionary business model, CIT helps ERO's earn more referrals from delighted customers, and an increase in repeat business.

"Absolutely the most effective way for a small tax prep entity to compete and survive against the big shops and software providers.. Their client support employees are the best and they deliver on the service when it is required."  Client Testimonial

Through proof of concept, dedication to innovation, and unwavering commitment to helping small businesses thrive, Community Income Tax's purpose-driven vision has come to fruition.

To learn more about Community Income Tax (CIT), please visit: https://www.joincit.com/

YouTube

About Community Income Tax (CIT)

Community Income Tax (CIT) is a national software company providing independent tax preparers with a superior pricing model to make a positive difference in the future of the tax industry. Founded in 2011 and based in Jacksonville, Florida, CIT seeks to bridge the gap between opportunity and affordability for tax professionals. CIT's business model provides independent preparers the resources and tools they need to lower their costs, empowering them to compete with larger organizations. While every other software is raising its prices and service bureaus are squeezing for every last penny, CIT has never raised its fees once and is committed to helping each and every client build their small business with ease.

Press Contact

Omar Kandah

904-900-3099

https://www.joincit.com/

SOURCE Community Income Tax (CIT)
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Syngenta today announced the appointment of Eric Boeck as Regional Director, North America Seeds, responsible for leading the field crops strategy for the region.

Boeck most recently served as the Head of Marketing for Syngenta Seeds in North America. Joining the company in 2018, he brought more than 20 years of agribusiness experience to Syngenta from past roles in sales, marketing and digital agriculture at DuPont Pioneer/Corteva Agriscience. Boeck has been a key part of the Syngenta Seeds business that has completed a significant turnaround and return to profitability. Seed advisors and agriculture retailers played a key supporting role in driving the turnaround in the U.S., and Boeck's team was instrumental in working closely with these groups over the past four years.

The move is part of a series of recently announced leadership transition plans, which include Jeff Rowe, President of Syngenta Seeds, assuming leadership of Syngenta Crop Protection, and Justin Wolfe, the current Regional Director for North America Seeds, becoming the global leader for the Seeds business. These transitions will be effective July 1, 2022.

"It's not possible to execute the type of turnaround we saw in our Seeds business without focused, committed leadership across the board, and the continuity shown by these leadership moves is further evidence of that," said Wolfe. "Eric has been an integral part of ensuring we bring a farmer-centric approach to everything we do, and I'm excited for his continued leadership in a market of critical importance."

In addition to decades of building high-performing teams with a singular focus on farmer success, Boeck has deep expertise in the agriculture opportunities and challenges throughout the U.S. Corn Belt, having held roles in Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois. He earned a bachelor's degree in animal science and dairy science from Iowa State University and is an executive leadership graduate of Drake University.

For more information on Syngenta's Seeds business, please visit https://www.syngenta.com/seeds.

About Syngenta

Syngenta Crop Protection and Syngenta Seeds are part of Syngenta Group, one of the world's leading agriculture companies. Our ambition is to help safely feed the world while taking care of the planet. We aim to improve the sustainability, quality and safety of agriculture with world class science and innovative crop solutions. Our technologies enable millions of farmers around the world to make better use of limited agricultural resources. To learn more, visit www.syngenta.com.

The content of this release is for information purposes only. This release is not, and should not be construed as, an offer to sell or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or other property interests.

Media Contacts:

Jason Sparks

+1 (224) 760 8403

[email protected]

Web Resources:

Syngenta Seeds

Syngenta Newsroom

Syngenta U.S.

Thrive

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as 'expect', 'would', 'will', 'potential', 'plans', 'prospects', 'estimated', 'aiming', 'on track' and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. For Syngenta, such risks and uncertainties include risks relating to legal proceedings, regulatory approvals, new product development, increasing competition, customer credit risk, general economic and market conditions, compliance and remediation, intellectual property rights, implementation of organizational changes, impairment of intangible assets, consumer perceptions of genetically modified crops and organisms or crop protection chemicals, climatic variations, fluctuations in exchange rates and/or commodity prices, single source supply arrangements, political uncertainty, natural disasters, and breaches of data security or other disruptions of information technology. Syngenta assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors.

2020 Syngenta. 2001 Butterfield Road, Suite 1600, Downers Grove, IL 60515. The Syngenta logo is a registered trademark of a Syngenta Group Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Syngenta
Report cites Talend's strong ability to execute its vision and outstanding client satisfaction

SAN MATEO, Calif., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Talend , a global leader in data integration and data management, announced today it was named a Leader among enterprise data fabric providers in the Forrester Wave: Enterprise Data Fabric, Q2 2022 . Talend and 14 other top vendors were evaluated across 26 criteria, spanning current offering, strategy, and market presence.

According to the report, "Talend combines a range of data integration and governance capabilities to deliver clean and uncompromised data to users across a hybrid cloud environment. Talend has demonstrated a strong ability to execute on its vision as well as a consistent track record of install base and outstanding client satisfaction." The report also notes: "Talend is a good fit for customers with large and complex data across hybrid and multi-clouds to support BI, customer intelligence, data science, data collaboration, data engineering, and predictive analytics use cases."

"We believe that being named a Leader in Forrester's evaluation of enterprise data fabric providers is a testament to the value we bring to companies relying on data to drive successful business outcomes," said Jason Penkethman, Chief Product Officer, Talend. "I'm extremely proud of the teams at Talend executing on our vision to ensure that we make data reliable, accessible, and available to everyone in an organization for decision making. This is especially critical during a market downturn. Having trustworthy data at all times provides valuable insights and helps businesses gain agility to accurately identify opportunities and minimize risks."

The report also states that "Talend's strengths are in data connectivity, data processing and persistence, and deployment options. One reference customer said, 'Overall, we are extremely satisfied with Talend and its value to our business.' Another mentioned, 'Talend data fabric enabled us to deliver various projects in a short time frame. Very strong in classical integration patterns combined with data quality aspects.'"

Talend Data Fabric helps businesses leverage healthy data in hybrid and multi-cloud environments to drive business outcomes. Businesses are using Talend to ensure their data is complete, clean, uncompromised, and readily available to everyone who needs it throughout an organization. In addition to a unique combination of data integration and governance capabilities, Talend offers the Talend Trust Score which can automatically crawl cloud data warehouse and data cloud environments, providing a health assessment of data by intelligently diagnosing and resolving data integrity issues.

To read more about Talend's perspective and industry momentum, please visit here .

About Talend

Talend, a global leader in data integration and data management, is taking the work out of working with data.

Talend offers the only end-to-end platform that combines enterprise-grade data integration, integrity, and governance capabilities to unify data across any cloud, hybrid, or multi-cloud environment. With Talend's no-code and low-code modules, data experts and business users actively collaborate to make data more discoverable, usable, and valuable organization-wide. Over 7,250 customers around the world rely on Talend for healthy data and a healthy business. Top analyst firms and industry media recognize Talend as a leader in data management software.

For more information, please visit www.talend.com and follow us on LinkedIn.com and Twitter @Talend.

SOURCE Talend Inc.
DUBLIN, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Physical Security Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis by Component (Systems (PACS, PSIM, PIAM, Video Surveillance, Fire and Life Safety) and Services), Organization Size (SMEs and Large Enterprises), Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global physical security market size is expected to grow from USD 102.7 billion in 2021 to USD 140.0 billion by 2026, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.4% from 2021 to 2026.

The major factors fueling the physical security market include Rising instances of terrorist activities and security breaches to physical systems, Increasing use of IP-based cameras for video surveillance, and Increasing cyber threats to physical security systems.

Services to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period

The physical security market is segmented based on types of services into managed services and professional services. Managed service providers help customers and keep their physical security systems, solutions, hardware, and software updated with the latest available enhancements. The in-house capabilities of customers are enhanced, as MSPs safeguard physical and IT system assets.

The professional services segment includes various services that are required to deploy, execute, and maintain physical security platforms in organizations. As the adoption of these platforms increases, the demand for these services is also expected to increase. The services in the physical security market are critical as they provide support for the proper functioning of the software and hardware-based solutions. physical security services comprise technical support services that require the effective integration of physical security solutions. Technical expertise is required to maintain and update physical security hardware and software.

In organization size segment, Large enterprises to have a higher market share during the forecast period

The large enterprises are highly dependent on physical security systems to protect their highly critical information. To protect their sensitive information from cyberattacks, data thefts, and unauthorized access, large corporations are quickly moving to physical security solutions.

The increasing complexity of threats and the growing sophisticated attacks are forcing large corporations and governments to regularly upgrade their security systems. Businesses that possess a large amount of sensitive and personal information run the highest risk of being targeted by cyber threats.

These threats could result in immense financial losses, information security incidents, and data breaches. Large enterprises have adopted physical security solutions as they largely use the cloud, BYOD devices, mobile devices, and IoT-based applications that are highly susceptible to cyberattacks. Amplifying internet penetration and increasing eCommerce activities are expected to increase the adoption of physical security technology across large firms.



Among, larger firms, critical infrastructure and critical information industries are the major adopters of physical security solutions and services. For example, Manitoba Hydro, the major energy utility company in the province of Manitoba, Canada, upgraded to Genetec Security Center for video surveillance, access control, and intrusion detection. physical security governance laws in the region also support a drive to boost the adoption rate of physical security solutions among large enterprises.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction

2 Research Methodology

3 Executive Summary

4 Premium Insights

4.1 Brief Overview of the Physical Security Market

4.2 Market, by System, 2021

4.3 Market, by Vertical, 2021

4.4 Market Investment Scenario

5 Market Overview and Industry Trends

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Market Dynamics

5.2.1 Drivers

5.2.1.1 Rising Instances of Terrorist Activities and Security Breaches to Physical Systems

5.2.1.2 Increasing Use of IP-Based Cameras for Video Surveillance

5.2.1.3 Increasing Adoption of 'As a Service' Model

5.2.1.4 Increasing Cyber Threats to Physical Security Systems

5.2.2 Restraints

5.2.2.1 Violation of Privacy

5.2.2.2 Considerable False Alarm Rates

5.2.2.3 Lack of Efficient Storage and Data Management Capacities

5.2.3 Opportunities

5.2.3.1 Digital Transformation Enabled by Video Security Systems

5.2.3.2 Integration of Technologies, Such as Ai, Ml, and Analytics, in Physical Security

5.2.3.3 Adoption of Iot-Based Security Systems with Cloud Computing Platforms

5.2.3.4 Convergence of Multiple Physical Security Systems

5.2.4 Challenges

5.2.4.1 Integration of Logical and Physical Components of Security Systems

5.2.4.2 High Installation and Maintenance Costs for Smes

5.3 COVID-19-Driven Market Dynamics

5.3.1 Cumulative Growth Analysis

5.3.2 COVID-19 Drivers and Opportunities Descriptive Information

5.3.3 COVID-19 Restraints and Challenges Descriptive Information

5.4 Ecosystem

5.5 Value Chain Analysis

5.6 Patent Analysis

5.7 Pricing Model Analysis

5.8 Technology Analysis

5.8.1 Physical Security and Ai/Ml

5.8.2 Physical Security and Cloud

5.8.3 Physical Security and Smart Devices

5.8.4 Physical Security and Wireless Security Systems

5.8.5 Physical Security and Contactless Biometrics

5.8.6 Physical Security and Drones

5.9 Use Cases

5.10 Trends and Disruptions Impacting Customers

5.11 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.12 Regulatory Implications

5.12.1 General Data Protection Regulation (Gdpr)

5.12.2 Sarbanes-Oxley (Sox) Act

5.12.3 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

5.12.4 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health

5.12.5 Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard

5.12.6 Federal Information Processing Standards

6 Physical Security Market, by Component

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Systems

6.2.1 Systems: Market Drivers

6.2.2 Systems: COVID-19 Impact

6.3 Services

6.3.1 Services: Market Drivers

6.3.2 Services: COVID-19 Impact

7 Physical Security Market, by System

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Physical Access Control System

7.2.1 Physical Access Control Systems: Market Drivers

7.2.2 Physical Access Control Systems: COVID-19 Impact Drivers

7.2.3 Locks

7.2.3.1 Mechanical Locks

7.2.3.2 Electronic Locks

7.2.4 Biometrics

7.2.4.1 Fingerprint Recognition

7.2.4.2 Facial Recognition

7.2.4.3 Other Biometrics

7.2.5 Smart Cards and Readers

7.2.6 Access Control Software

7.3 Video Surveillance Systems

7.3.1 Video Surveillance Systems: Physical Security Market Drivers

7.3.2 Video Surveillance Systems: COVID-19 Impact Drivers

7.3.3 Cameras

7.3.3.1 Analog Cameras

7.3.3.2 Ip Cameras

7.3.4 Recorders

7.3.4.1 Digital Video Recorders

7.3.4.2 Network Video Recorders

7.3.5 Video Analytics Software

7.3.5.1 Video Management Software

7.4 Perimeter Intrusion Detection and Prevention

7.4.1 Perimeter Intrusion Detection and Prevention: Physical Security Market Drivers

7.4.2 Perimeter Intrusion Detection and Prevention: COVID-19 Impact Drivers

7.5 Physical Security Information Management

7.5.1 Physical Security Information Management: Market Drivers

7.5.2 Physical Security Information Management: COVID-19 Impact Drivers

7.6 Physical Identity Access Management

7.6.1 Physical Identity Access Management: Physical Security Market Drivers

7.6.2 Physical Identity Access Management: COVID-19 Impact Drivers

7.7 Security Scanning, Imaging, and Metal Detection

7.7.1 Security Scanning, Imaging, and Metal Detection: Market Drivers

7.7.2 Security Scanning, Imaging, and Metal Detection: COVID-19 Impact Drivers

7.8 Fire and Life Safety

7.8.1 Fire and Life Safety: Market Drivers

7.8.2 Fire and Life Safety: COVID-19 Impact Drivers

8 Physical Security Market, by Service

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Managed Services

8.2.1 Managed Services: Market Drivers

8.2.2 Managed Services: COVID-19 Impact Drivers

8.3 Professional Services

8.3.1 Professional Services: Market Drivers

8.3.2 Professional Services: COVID-19 Impact

9 Physical Security Market, by Organization Size

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

9.2.1 Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Market Drivers

9.2.2 Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: COVID-19 Impact

9.3 Large Enterprises

9.3.1 Large Enterprises: Market Drivers

9.3.2 Large Enterprises: COVID-19 Impact

10 Physical Security Market, by Vertical

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance

10.2.1 Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance: Market Drivers

10.2.2 Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance: COVID-19 Impact

10.3 Government

10.3.1 Government: Physical Security Market Drivers

10.3.2 Government: COVID-19 Impact

10.4 Retail

10.4.1 Retail: Market Drivers

10.4.2 Retail: COVID-19 Impact

10.5 Transportation

10.5.1 Transportation: Market Drivers

10.5.2 Transportation: COVID-19 Impact

10.6 Residential

10.6.1 Residential: Physical Security Market Drivers

10.6.2 Residential: COVID-19 Impact

10.7 Telecom and It

10.7.1 Telecom and It: Market Drivers

10.7.2 Telecom and It: COVID-19 Impact

10.8 Other Verticals

11 Physical Security Market, by Region

12 Competitive Landscape

12.1 Overview

12.2 Historical Revenue Analysis

12.3 Market Share Analysis of Leading Players

12.4 Market Structure

12.5 Ranking of Key Players

12.6 Competitive Scenario

12.6.1 Recent Developments

12.7 Market Evaluation Framework

12.8 Company Evaluation Quadrant

12.8.1 Company Evaluation Quadrant Definitions and Methodology

12.9 Competitive Benchmarking

12.9.1 Company Footprint

12.10 Competitive Leadership Mapping

12.10.1 Stars

12.10.2 Emerging Leaders

12.10.3 Pervasive Players

12.10.4 Participants

12.11 Startup/SME Evaluation Quadrant

12.11.1 Progressive Companies

12.11.2 Responsive Companies

12.11.3 Dynamic Companies

12.11.4 Starting Blocks

13 Company Profiles

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Key Players

13.2.1 Adt

13.2.2 Cisco

13.2.3 Honeywell

13.2.4 Johnson Controls

13.2.5 Telus

13.2.6 Anixter (Wesco)

13.2.7 Genetec

13.2.8 Bosch Building Technologies

13.2.9 Hid Global

13.2.10 Pelco

13.2.11 Hikvision

13.3 Other Players

13.3.1 Gallagher

13.3.2 Secom

13.3.3 Allied Universal

13.3.4 Zhejiang Dahua Technology

13.3.5 Stanley Security

13.3.6 Axis Communications

13.3.7 Hanwha Techwin America

13.3.8 Teledyne Flir

13.3.9 Hexagon Ab

13.3.10 General Dynamics

13.3.11 Bae Systems

13.3.12 Huawei

13.3.13 Nec

13.4 Start-Ups

13.4.1 Qognify

13.4.2 Smartcone Technologies

13.4.3 Verkada

13.4.4 Iotas

13.4.5 Cloudastructure

14 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/9r6vos

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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OMAHA, Neb., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP) will release second quarter 2022 financial and operating results on Thursday, July 21, 2022, at 7:45 a.m. ET. The company's management team will host a conference call and live webcast at 8:45 a.m. ET.

Parties interested in participating via teleconference may dial 877-407-8293. International callers may dial 201-689-8349. A live webcast of the presentation and materials will be available in the investor relations section of Union Pacific's website at www.up.com/investor. A replay of the audio webcast will be available shortly thereafter.

ABOUT UNION PACIFIC

Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) delivers the goods families and businesses use every day with safe, reliable and efficient service. Operating in 23 western states, the company connects its customers and communities to the global economy. Trains are the most environmentally responsible way to move freight, helping Union Pacific protect future generations. More information about Union Pacific is available at www.up.com.

www.up.com

www.facebook.com/unionpacific

www.twitter.com/unionpacific

SOURCE Union Pacific Corporation
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Unum (NYSE: UNM) has a suite of tech-forward solutions in response to the growing needs of employees in a competitive talent market. According to recent Unum research, two of the top HR challenges in the workplace are support for employee's mental health and employee attraction and retention.1

Over half (56%) of U.S. workers said they felt mentally unwell according to Unum research. Polly Nicholas, SVP Unum Solutions said the company is at the center of helping employees when they need time away from work and employers save time when administering benefits.

"Unum has always been an organization that helps the working world thrive throughout life's moments. When you consider what the world has gone through in the last few years, now, more than ever, we are in a profound sort of touchstone for how we can show up for people," said Nicholas.

"Our internal data shows there was a 37% growth in Unum disability claims paid and 55% increase in leaves administered. When you couple that with the national conversation around leave, mental and financial wellness, our portfolio of solutions can provide meaningful support for America's workers and businesses," Nicholas added.

Unum's service and technology solutions complements businesses as they meet the needs of a changing workforce. The suite of digital solutions:

Support Time Away : Unum Total Leave and Unum Leave Logic provide easy to understand leave planning and management tools that deliver an elevated employee experience and accurate data for HR.

: Unum Total Leave and Unum Leave Logic provide easy to understand leave planning and management tools that deliver an elevated employee experience and accurate data for HR. Integrate with HR Systems : Unum HR Connect can be integrated with top HRIS providers to create seamless implementation, administration and access.

: Unum HR Connect can be integrated with top HRIS providers to create seamless implementation, administration and access. Improve Workforce Wellness: Unum Behavioral Health increases access to personalized experiences for employees and provides resources for employers to reduce mental health stigma.

Learn more about Unum's benefit solutions.

About Unum Group

Unum (NYSE: UNM), an international provider of workplace benefits and services, has been helping workers and their families for more than 170 years. Through its Unum and Colonial Life brands, the company offers disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental, vision and stop-loss insurance; leave and absence management support and behavioral health services. In 2021, Unum reported revenues of $12.0 billion and paid $8.2 billion in benefits. The Fortune 500 company is one of the 2022 World's Most Ethical Companies, recognized by the Ethisphere.

Visit the Unum newsroom for more information, and connect with us on LinkedIn , Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram.

1 March 2022 Unum Employer Insights Pulse Survey

SOURCE Unum Group
Symposium in partnership with the US Center for Chinese Medicine

SALT LAKE CITY, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientific research is vital to a health and wellness companyit spurs continued innovation and development of advanced products for customers. With that goal in mind, USANA recently held a joint research symposium on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in Maryland in partnership with the US Center for Chinese Medicine (USCCM). This investment in research highlights USANA's commitment to ongoing exploration of the efficacy of TCM and how it can be complementary to more prevalent wellness products and practices.

USANA's Dr. Rob Sinnott (center) and Dr. Jeremy Tian (center-left) at the US Center for Chinese Medicine in Maryland

To find out more about USANA and its innovative products, click here.

"Our purpose for this symposium was to explore new perspectives for integrating Chinese and Western medicine and evaluate the impact they have on society and the economy," says Dr. Rob Sinnott, USANA's chief scientific officer. "We shared specific research projects that will help develop novel wellness-promoting interventions. Along with myself and USANA's Director of New Product Research Dr. Jeremy Tian, several USCCM speakers attended the symposium who are some of the most knowledgeable doctors and TCM experts in the world. Our hope is to see the public's interest in TCM continue to grow."

USANA's investment in TCM research extends to its collaboration with the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (BUCM). The project goal is to bring together scientists and research around both modern nutritional science and TCM and further development of products and protocols that support global health and wellness.

USANA and BUCM are working together to evaluate the effectiveness of TCM to replenish Qi (an ancient Chinese healing art involving meditation), further research TCM ingredients, create new health TCM-inspired products, and develop targeted nutrition for different body types.

2022 is year two of five in the agreement between USANA and BUCM.

About USANA

USANA (NYSE: USNA) prides itself on providing consumers the highest quality nutritional products in the world. From its award-winning supplements to its innovative Celavive skincare and Active Nutrition lines, USANA has proven for nearly 30 years why it's a company you can trust. How about giving us a try? Shop at USANA.com or learn more at whatsupUSANA.com.

USANA

International Headquarters

http://www.USANA.com/

Media Contact: Amy Haran

Executive Vice President of Communications

(801) 954-7641

media(at)USANAinc(dot)com

SOURCE USANA
New solution enables health systems to intelligently manage payer-provider relations and crowdsource learnings with peers

SANTA ROSA, Calif., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- VisiQuate, Inc., the industry leading provider of advanced analytics, intelligent workflow, results-driven services and AI-powered automation offerings to America's most respected healthcare providers, today announced new availability to its Payer Action Center cohorts.

VisiQuate's Payer Action Center solution proactively identifies areas of payer misbehavior and provides a comprehensive command center for hospitals' and health systems' payer relationship management. Users are able to identify, track, and escalate claims that have been incorrectly  or never  adjudicated.

As a part of the expansion, VisiQuate customers will now be able to crowdsource learnings from one another, allowing for industry-first, real-time collaboration on healthcare revenue cycle problems. Several of the nation's leading healthcare organizations have already started participating in this groundbreaking platform's early Payer Action Center cohorts, enabling them to easily and effectively leverage each other's findings.

These initial, small cohorts realized millions of dollars in yield improvement within weeks of leveraging VisiQuate's new Payer Action Center, with one large Epic client in the Northeast finding nearly $3M in unpaid claims that had not been identified in their source system workqueues (a.k.a. "Black Hole Accounts"), in just the first week alone.

Brian Roberson, CEO, VisiQuate, said the company is proud to empower healthcare organizations to have better command of their payer relationships. "We believe that sharing revenue cycle insights among the community will drive strong yield for healthcare organizations."

VisiQuate's Payer Action Center uses intelligence from decades of healthcare revenue cycle experience and curated insights across VisiQuate's client base to provide users a pulse on real-time industry challenges, with the ability to immediately see how the organization is being impacted. With the new solution, discussions with payers are far more productive than before. Users have instant access to complete, comprehensive lists of incorrectly adjudicated accounts, which a hospital or health system can quickly use to identify and use to prove its case.

"We're thrilled that our clients are seeing immediate, tangible benefits," said Jacob Wilkinson, Director of Product, VisiQuate. "These early wins are just the tip of the iceberg. With the Payer Action Center available to more hospitals, we expect to see a positive ripple effect in our collaborative community."

If a provider is interested in joining its peers in a Payer Action Center cohort, and finally getting the reimbursement it's due, visit www.visiquate.com/pac-cohort for more information.

VisiQuate will be giving a sneak preview of the groundbreaking tool at VisiQuate's booth #615 at the HFMA Annual Conference in Denver next week.

About VisiQuate

VisiQuate empowers healthcare organizations to achieve peak business health, through expert service-enabled technologies that dramatically improve performance and reduce process waste. We deliver optimized enterprise outcomes through a unique combination of complex data curation, deep AI & ML, advanced analytics and intelligent process automation. VisiQuate's Velocity consulting team of revenue cycle leaders and operators use their collective experience to drive efficiencies into client organizations and back into our solutions. The company is headquartered in Santa Rosa, CA, with offices in Harrisburg, PA and Dallas, TX. For more information, visit www.visiquate.com or contact [email protected] .

SOURCE VisiQuate
Nairobi  Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha is now calling for the inspection of degree academic qualifications for all Kenyans following complaints of fake degree certificates.

Magoha who was speaking during a school inspection tour in Migori stated that should he be given the mandate, he would ensure that matter is looked into to avert shortcuts in gaining academic qualifications.

"What's is the problem, in fact I don't have powers but if I had the powers, I would say that because of all this noise everybody's degree should now be checked," he said.

"So that we check if there is a problem because it is becoming a big issue. You can't have a degree in six months or two years. The minimum is prescribed according to hours and units," Magoha said.

The Education Boss further pointed out that the verification of academic qualifications should not be politicised arguing that is not a matter to be decided by the courts.

Magoha asserted that the issue of academic credentials verification should be only done by the Commission for University Education (CUE).

"This noise you are hearing is political and not professional at all. It is important to allow CUE to do its work. Unfortunately, when it comes to IEBC and they say you can't go, then it becomes an issue. Remove politics from it "he said.

His statement comes in the midst of a tussle between United Democratic Alliance (UDA) gubernatorial candidate Johnson Sakaja and CUE over the authenticity of his academic qualifications.

Meanwhile, Magoha assured that the government is looking into the preparedness of private schools to roll out the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) education in junior secondary school.

He maintained that there is no crisis in terms of transition to junior secondary school due to lack of infrastructure.

"There is so much toxic opinion, we are serving our children without prejudice. We shall continue to look at private schools and encourage them," he said.
Finance veteran joins to help build the future of private travel

NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wheels Up Experience (NYSE: UP) today announced it has hired Todd Smith as its new Chief Financial Officer, effective June 30, 2022.

Smith joins from General Electric where he served in a number of senior, global Finance roles over his 25-year career  most recently as Global Head of Financial Planning and Analysis and CFO for GE Corporate. In a career covering four continents, he has served as Chief Financial Officer for several GE business units, including Gas Power Systems, Capital International, Healthcare Life Sciences, Capital Real Estate and Commercial Finance. He began his career with GE in 1997 as a member of the Financial Management Program and then spent over five and a half years on GE's Corporate Audit Staff.

"We are thrilled to welcome Todd to the Wheels Up Family. He has a deep background across a number of key financial disciplines, experience in the public markets and a global perspective that will be invaluable as we continue to create the future of private travel," said Wheels Up Chairman and CEO Kenny Dichter. "Equally important, Todd is a dynamic and experienced leader who has been successful leading both high-growth and mature businesses in a range of industries. He will be a great addition to our leadership team."

At GE Corporate, Smith played a key role, working directly with the CEO and members of the leadership team, to drive the financial analysis around the recently announced decision to split the 130-year-old multinational corporation into three separate public companies. Throughout his career at GE, he has demonstrated a track record of driving profitable growth, operating in highly complex and regulated environments, leading M&A activity and building high performing finance teams.

"Through its growing marketplace, strong brand and talented team, Wheels Up has an incredible opportunity to fundamentally change private travel, making it more rewarding and accessible for millions of consumers around the world," Smith said. "I am excited to join a committed and engaged group of senior leaders in their mission to deliver an exceptional experience  in the air and on the ground  to members and customers."

At Wheels Up, Smith will oversee all aspects of the company's global Finance organization, including Commercial Finance, Accounting, FP&A, Treasury, Tax and Investor Relations. He will also join the company's Executive Leadership Team.

Smith holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Florida's Warrington College of Business and resides in the Boston area with his family.

About Wheels Up

Wheels Up is the leading provider of "on demand" private aviation in the United States and one of the largest private aviation companies in the world. Powered by a growing marketplace of more than 1,500 safety-vetted and verified aircraft, Wheels Up is the only company in the industry to offer a total private aviation solution that includes a relentless focus on safety and service, with flexibility across all types of aircraft, membership programs, corporate solutions, aircraft management, whole aircraft sales and commercial travel benefits through a strategic partnership with Delta Air Lines.

The Wheels Up App enables members and customers to search, book and fly. Wheels Up Connect, Core and Business memberships provide enhancements such as flight sharing, empty-leg Hot Flights, Shuttle Flights, Shared Flights, signature Wheels Up Down events and exclusive member benefits from preeminent lifestyle brands. Wheels Up's ongoing Wheels Up Cares program aligns with philanthropic organizations and initiatives that affect and matter to the company and its customers, members, stakeholders, families and friends. The Wheels Up Cares fleet comprises five custom-painted Beechcraft King Air 350i aircraft, with each plane serving as a flying symbol for a specific social cause.

To learn more about Wheels Up, go to Wheelsup.com .

Media Contact

[email protected]

SOURCE Wheels Up
Global competitiveness and key competitor percentage market shares

Market presence across multiple geographies - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial

Online interactive peer-to-peer collaborative bespoke updates

Access to our digital archives and MarketGlass Research Platform

Complimentary updates for one year

Edition: 8; Released: January 2022

Executive Pool: 2278

Companies: 42 - Players covered include Advanced Composites, Inc.; Agy Holdings Corp.; Asahi Fiber Glass Co., Ltd.; BGF Industries, Inc.; Celanese Corporation; China Beihai Fiberglass Co. Ltd.; China National Building Materials Group Co., Ltd.; Chongqing Polycomp International Corporation; Jiangsu Jiuding New Materials Co., Ltd.; John Manville; Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd.; Nitto Boseki Co., Ltd.; Owens Corning; Pfg Fiberglass Corporation; PPG Industries, Inc.; Quantum Composites, Inc.; Reliance Industries Ltd.; SAERTEX GmbH & Co.KG; Saint-Gobain SA; Taishan Fiberglass, Inc. and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: End-Use Industry (Transportation, Electrical & Electronics, Wind Energy, Marine, Construction & Infrastructure, Aerospace & Defense, Other End-Use Industries); Resin (Epoxy Resins, Polyester, Vinyl Ester, Polyurethane, Thermoplastic, Other Resins)

Geographies: World; United States; Canada; Japan; China; Europe (France; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; Spain; Russia; and Rest of Europe); Asia-Pacific (Australia; India; South Korea; and Rest of Asia-Pacific); Latin America (Argentina; Brazil; Mexico; and Rest of Latin America); Middle East (Iran; Israel; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; and Rest of Middle East); and Africa.

Complimentary Project Preview - This is an ongoing global program. Preview our research program before you make a purchase decision. We are offering a complimentary access to qualified executives driving strategy, business development, sales & marketing, and product management roles at featured companies. Previews provide deep insider access to business trends; competitive brands; domain expert profiles; and market data templates and much more. You may also build your own bespoke report using our MarketGlass Platform which offers thousands of data bytes without an obligation to purchase our report. Preview Registry

ABSTRACT-

Global GFRP Composites Market to Reach $63.4 Billion by 2026

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for GFRP Composites estimated at US$46 Billion, is projected to reach a revised size of US$63.4 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 5.3% over the analysis period. Transportation, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to record a 6.2% CAGR and reach US$21.4 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Electrical & Electronics segment is readjusted to a revised 4.3% CAGR for the next 7-year period.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $13.2 Billion in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach $12.9 Billion by 2026

The GFRP Composites market in the U.S. is estimated at US$13.2 Billion in the year 2021. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$12.9 Billion by the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 8.2% over the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 2.8% and 4.8% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 3.3% CAGR.

Wind Energy Segment to Reach US$6.1 Billion by the year 2026

In the global Wind Energy segment, USA, Canada, Japan, China and Europe will drive the 4.3% CAGR estimated for this segment. These regional markets accounting for a combined market size of US$3.4 Billion will reach a projected size of US$4.6 Billion by the close of the analysis period. China will remain among the fastest growing in this cluster of regional markets. More

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Our MarketGlass Platform is a free full-stack knowledge center that is custom configurable to today`s busy business executive`s intelligence needs! This influencer driven interactive research platform is at the core of our primary research engagements and draws from unique perspectives of participating executives worldwide. Features include - enterprise-wide peer-to-peer collaborations; research program previews relevant to your company; 3.4 million domain expert profiles; competitive company profiles; interactive research modules; bespoke report generation; monitor market trends; competitive brands; create & publish blogs & podcasts using our primary and secondary content; track domain events worldwide; and much more. Client companies will have complete insider access to the project data stacks. Currently in use by 67,000+ domain experts worldwide.

Our platform is free for qualified executives and is accessible from our website www.StrategyR.com or via our just released mobile application on iOS or Android

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyR

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years.

CONTACTS:

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Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

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Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
FULTON, Md., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The CyberWire announced today the return of its annual Women In Cybersecurity Reception. Having paused the event during the pandemic, this popular event now returns, bringing together women from around the nation to celebrate their contributions and successes in the cybersecurity industry. The reception will be held Thursday, October 20, 2022 at the International Spy Museum in Washington DC, with stunning views of the nation's capital as the backdrop.

This annual networking event unites women from varying points of the career spectrum with leaders from the private sector, academia, and government. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with one another, strengthen relationships, and build new ones. The reception also provides a forum for women looking to grow in their cybersecurity careers by connecting them with the technical and business professionals who are shaping the future of the industry.

The CyberWire's Women in Cybersecurity Reception is held as an invitation-only event in order to ensure a mix of attendees with diverse backgrounds at different career levels. "We hope this year's reception provides a community for women to find inspiration and rediscover the excitement in the work we do in our careers," said Jennifer Eiben, the CyberWire's Senior Producer and an event founder. "We're excited to continue creating connections among women and help to increase diversity in our industry."

Following the tradition of past receptions, the CyberWire is pleased to be partnering with one of the region's leading arts organizations, Maryland Art Place (MAP), to commission a special work of art by a visual artist who identifies as a woman. Attendees will have an opportunity to meet this year's artist and hear their perspective on the commission and event's themeCreating Connections. Past artists have included those with not only backgrounds in the arts, but physics, mathematics, and engineering.

The annual Women in Cybersecurity Reception is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors. During the event, guests will have an opportunity to learn about perspectives on diversity in our industry from sponsors including this year's presenting sponsor MindPoint Group . "MindPoint Group is thrilled to be the Presenting Sponsor of this year's Women in Cybersecurity Reception," said Founder and President Patti Chanthaphone. "We're looking forward to connecting with women from all corners of the industry, as well as sharing our unique perspective as a woman-owned business in the field." MindPoint Group is a FedRAMP 3PAO cybersecurity consulting firm located in McLean, VA with over 13 years of experience serving the federal government and private sector.

Current 2022 Platinum sponsors include Cooley, Juniper, and Recorded Future. This year's Gold Sponsors include BlackCloak, FTI Consulting, and Resilience. This year's Women-Owned Spotlight Sponsor is Edwards Performance Solutions. There are more sponsorship opportunities available. Find out more about sponsorship opportunities in the brochure and on the 2022 Women in Cybersecurity Reception website .

Visit the event website to learn more and to request an invitation.

About the CyberWire

The CyberWire gets people up to speed on cyber quickly and keeps them a step ahead in a continually changing world. Situational awareness, continuing education, and professional development are the cornerstones of our programs. The CyberWire has long been trusted by many of the most influential leaders and professionals in the public and private sectors, around the world. We separate the signal from the noise. Learn more about our podcasts and newsletters at thecyberwire.com .

Media contact: Peter Kilpe, [email protected]

SOURCE The CyberWire
Gaming concession extended to December 31, 2022



MACAU, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wynn Resorts (Macau) S.A. (hereafter referred to as Wynn) is pleased to announce that it has entered into the Concession Extension Agreement with the Macau SAR Government, to extend the gaming concession of Wynn from June 26, 2022 to December 31, 2022.

Wynn would like to express its sincere gratitude to the Government for its guidance during the Concession Extension Agreement process. Wynn believes that this extension will enable it to make continued contributions to the future development of Macau and the local community. We look forward to the announcement of the requirements and details of the public tender process for the new gaming concessions and will liaise closely with the government to make thorough preparations for active participation in the bidding.

The approval of the Gaming Law Amendment Act has laid an essential long-term foundation to facilitate the orderly, healthy, and sustainable development of the industry. In addition to adhering to the relevant requirements of the Act, Wynn will continue to fulfil its social responsibilities and fully support the Government in promoting the moderate diversification of Macau's economic development, enhancing its competitiveness in integrated leisure and tourism, and further strengthening its profile among international tourists. Wynn will also actively cooperate with the Government to enrich the development of Macau as a world center of tourism and leisure.

In accordance with the terms of the Concession Extension Contract, Wynn has paid to the Macau SAR Government MOP47 million (equivalent to approximately HKD45.6 million) upon signing of the Concession Extension Agreement as contract premium for the extension. For further details of the extension, please see the announcement published on the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at www.hkex.com.hk.

SOURCE Wynn Resorts (Macau) S.A.
Ernst & Young's 13,000 partners are expected to pocket multimillion dollar payouts should a proposed break-up of the so-called "big 4' accounting giant go ahead.

Under a plan to split its audit and advisory operations, partners in the auditing business would receive a cash payout up to four times their annual pay - between US$1.7mln and US$3.6mln.

Meanwhile, consultancy firm partners would receive stock awards worth up to nine times annual pay, of US$5.95mln to US$8.1mln.

The average US or UK-based EY partner makes US$850,000 to US$900,000, the Wall Street Journal said.

EY, one of the big four accounting giants, said its consulting group will go public - via an initial public offering in late 2023 - but is subject to a partner vote.

EY aims to take its consulting business public, hiving it off from the group of accountants. The audit business would remain a network of partnerships after the break-up, while its advisory business would become a public company, the FT reported.

A split would liberate the advisory business, which offers services including consulting and deals advice, from the shackles of the audit division, the paper said.

EY audit clients such as Amazon and Google, currently off limits because of the risk of a conflict of interest, would be compelling targets for lucrative consulting work.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly investigating the big four firms over possible conflict of interest violations.
AQRU PLC (AQSE:AQRU) announced chief investment officer Phillip Kallerhoff will join the board as executive director.

Kallerhoff has a wealth of experience in the decentralised finance (DeFi) sector, having founded DeFi Yield Technologies Inc, which was acquired by AQRU in October.

Kallerhoff also has a successful track record in managing hedge funds across asset classes, including the management of the DeFi hedge fund, AQRU said.

Misha Sher and Timothy Le Druillenec, non-executives of the DeFi company, will step down from the board with immediate effect to spend more time on their other commitments.

Since 9 May, assets under management fell 75% to US$13mln, while platform signups rose around 5,000 to 25,000.
Osamede Okhomina, chief executive of ADM Energy joins Katie to talk about its full-year results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2021.

He hails the progress made, in the first full year since almost doubling its interest in the Aje Field.

Looking ahead, Okhomina believes 2022 is set to be an important year for the development of Aje with PetroNor expected to take a significant stake in the asset.
The worlds largest hedge fund has almost doubled the size of its short bet against European companies in the past week.

Bridgewater Associates, the US$150bn hedge fund colossus founded by Ray Dalio, now has at least US$10.5bn of short positions on a total of 28 companies, according to research from Bloomberg, up from US$5.7bn over 18 shares a week ago.

Its largest short-selling positions, of at least US$0.5bn, included Dutch semiconductor group ASML, French oil giant TotalEnergies, drugmaker Sanofi and German software group SAP.

Short-sellers seek to profit from falling share prices by borrowing stock in a company from another institutional investor for a fee and selling it.

The aim is to buy back the shares at a lower price and pocket the difference before returning them to the original owner.

Bridgewater co-chief investment officer Greg Jensen has recently said that the stock market sell-off in Europe and the US should have a long way to go, based on the huge gains in recent years.

A similar point was made by Bank of America recently, which predicted that the S&P 500 bear market should end in around four months - if history were an accurate guide to future performance.

The short positions from the Connecticut-based firm are not as big as those it made following the initial Covid outbreak and are still around half its massive bet against the market in 2018.

In that latter year, when two-thirds of hedge funds lost money, Bridgewater made a huge $2.2bn profit as its Pure Alpha Strategy posted a 14.6% gain.

The approach seems to be working again this year, with the firm up 26.2% so far in 2022, net of fees, as of the end of last month.

Also, please refrain from calling it Ray Dalio's Bridgewater (of course, it is fine to say founded by Ray Dalio) as that is inaccurate given the firm is much more than him these days. There is a broad and deep investment bench, an established investment committee that manages the portfolio now, not Ray, though he serves as a mentor to committee, and the firm has completed a successful management transition from Ray to the next generation.

On his approach, Dalio said in a blog post: If you are worried when the stock market goes down and happy when it goes up, it probably indicates that your portfolio is unbalanced. If your income is also tied to how the economy does, you are doubly at risk because your portfolio can go down when your income is worst which is scary.

To me, the key is to not have any systematic biases by structuring your portfolios and your incomes so that they hedge each other and are in balance. Achieving good balance is the most important thing.
A consortium of plane marker ATR, fuel maker Neste and airline Braathens said today they had made the first-ever flight with 100% sustainable fuel in both engines on a commercial aircraft.

The test flight took place in Sweden as part of the 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) certification process of ATR aircraft.

Flights had already taken place with one engine using sustainable fuel, but this was the first with both engines.

Chief ATR pilot Cyril Cizabuiroz, Jean-Pierre Marre, co-pilot, and Pascal Daussin, Flight Test Mechanic, flew the Braathens' aircraft from Malmo to Bromma near Stockholm, a journey that took around 1 hour and 20 minutes.

ATRs chief executive Stefano Bortoli, said: "Today is a historic day for aviation. After more than a century of commercial flights powered by kerosene, we are at the dawn of a new era.

The flight represents a true milestone for the entire aviation industry as it shows that this technology works and can be promptly adopted by many in our industry to speed up the transition to low emission aviation."

Aircraft lessor Avation also welcomed the announcement.

Jeff Chatfield, executive chairman, said: "Avation owns 28 purchase rights over new future delivery ATR72-600 aircraft.

Avation believes the sustainable aviation fuel is important because CO2 emissions are reduced by up to 80% compared to non-sustainable jet fuel.

Lessor Avation also announced it has appointed Michael Dela as its Head of Technical.
1. Strikes aplenty in the travel sector

More British Airways workers at Heathrow Airpor have voted to go on strike during the coming summer holidays as they are still waiting for 10% pay cuts implemented during the pandemic to be reversed.

Read more

2. Hedge fund colossus makes a giant bet against European companies

Shades of Soros as the worlds largest hedge fund almost doubles the size of its short bet against European companies in the past week.

Read more

3. Zephyr has the wind in its sails

Zephyr Energy shares enjoyed a good day on the back of well-received full-year results. The Rocky Mountain oil and gas company said preparations are well underway for the commencement of a high-impact three-well drilling programme to further delineate the scale of the Paradox project in Utah.

Read more

4. FTSE 100 lower after a welter of dismal UK economic data

At the close, the UK blue-chip index was 68.77 points, or 1.0% lower at 7,020.45, just above the session low of 7,014.19, and well below the morning peak of 7,115.80 as UK flash PMI data showed that business expectations slumped to the weakest level since May 2020

Read more

5. Worlds smallest violin at the ready as Amazon grumbles about taxes

Amazon has warned that a UK online sales tax would unfairly punish small businesses that use its platform.

Read more
Meru  The National Authority for the Campaign against Drug Abuse (NACADA) has cautioned against the legalisation of Marijuana for 'economic purpses' saying it could lead to tragic consequences especially for the country.

The Authority's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Victor Okioma cited countries like Peru, Mexico, and other South American countries that have legalised the drug and pointed out that they have suffered the consequences.

"I hope that the politics around its legalisation shall come out clearly and give us examples where this has happened. I can tell you they are very few if they are, and it is only the ones who have tightly controlled its production so that no diversion has taken place," said Okioma.

"I want to warn Kenyans that this is a game that can turn out to be very dangerous for our country. Let us know marijuana is harmful and should never be allowed for recreation," he said.

He also announced that the authority has rolled out measures to combat cross border drug trafficking in counties that border Ethiopia, the main source of marijuana consumed in the country.

Okioma said they were out to facilitate the forum to address the challenges of trafficking of Marijuana.

"We have the regional commissioners and their teams from Eastern and North-Eastern, as well as the Central region which is basically a consumer of the most trafficked Marijuana," Okioma said.

He explained that the forum was a follow-up of another meeting held in November last year in the county, where they identified some of the routes the traffickers are using.

"We agreed on actionable points during the previous meeting, where we left relevant county and sub-county security committees to implement," he said adding that they were coming together to review the progress made from the previous meeting and to track progress made in sealing up identified routes.

He said the authority's main responsibility was to enhance partnership in trying to counter the menace.

Apart from patroling the routes, Okioma said the fight against marijuana was getting tougher considering that the dealers were combining the substance with comodities like sweets, candies, and cookies among others in their latest innovations.

"We recently did a survey on emerging substances of abuse and the innovations around the products used, and we found out that the peddlers have invented ways of using marijuana in other substances that make it hard to identify," he said.

He however added that their main campaign to counter this is to mobilise the entire country to know the forms in which the drug is dispensed, so that citizens can support in countering the menace.

He said Marijuana is the most abused narcotic in the country and added the drug is responsible for a number of mental illnesses.

Central region's Esther Maina said they have put in place a multi-agency approach to apprehend the traffickers in their area, which acts as a transit route to Nairobi and the coastal region

"The issue of drug trafficking is a complex one and nobody has a monopoly of ideas on how to eradicate the menace," she said.

She added that some of the marijuana consumed in her region is cultivated internally and added these were some of the issues they were up to address as a region.

James Kianda from the North-Eastern region said they were working together with NACADA and other security agencies within the Ministry of Interior to manage the trafficking routes through arrests, interception, and arraignment.

"I can confirm that we have many stories to tell where we have been able to intercept marijuana and taken suspects to court," Kianda said.

He added that they have also discovered new trafficking routes both in North Eastern and Eastern regions and were working together to manage them through deployments, surveillance, and monitoring to ensure they curtail the process.

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His Eastern counterpart Evans Achoki said as a measure to curtail abuse of drugs in the region, they have forged a working relationship with other agencies and were looking at the problem through supply and demand lenses.

"On the issue of supply, we have realised that most of the bhang consumed by our youth comes from a place called Shashamane in Ethiopia," said Mr. Achoki.

Achoki said the administration has had a meeting with Ethiopian authorities to cut off the supply from the source.

He said they have also been conducting inland checks for incoming vehicles, and this has been stepped up by the introduction of sniffer dogs along the identified routes.

"We have also realised that the demand for these drugs is amongst our youth, and we have consequently stepped-up campaign against the use of these substances by working closely with our churches, learning institutions, and village elders to discourage them from the abuse," said Achoki. - Kna
Bango PLC (AIM:BGO, OTCQX:BGOPF) is believed to have signed with a leading multinational technology company is believed to be Apple, according to City analysts.

The company said will provide carrier billing and bundling services for its App store payments and subscriptions services globally for its unnamed partner.

House broker Berenberg said, considering the company currently partners with Google Play, Microsofts Windows Apps, Facebook App Center, Amazon Appstore and Samsung Galaxy Apps, we speculate that it has signed this agreement with Apple.

Berenberg said the agreement further reinforces our confidence in Bangos investment case and is evidence that the companys platform is indispensable to the worlds largest merchants.

With demand strong and the share price remaining suppressed, the broker reiterated its buy rating and 300p target price.

Fellow house broker Liberum agreed that the contract was likely to be with Apple.

This agreement is further evidence of the attractiveness of Bangos high quality technology solutions, Liberum said.

This agreement is not expected to impact FY22E forecasts. We leave our FY23E forecasts unchanged, and we expect management will provide further information on the impact to FY23E forecasts and beyond at a later date. We believe over the medium/long term we think the revenue opportunity from this agreement could be substantial.
Southern Energy said further drilling is expected to begin at its Gwinville site in 4Q, 2022

Southern Energy Corp (TSX-V:SOU, AIM:SOUC, OTC:MAXMD) has announced it is planning to raise approximately C$38.9 million (24.5 million) via a proposed prospectus offering and concurrent placing.

The company said the net proceeds from the offering would be used to extend and accelerate the planned drilling program at its Gwinville property, and for general working capital purposes, such as increasing financial flexibility for potential accretive acquisition opportunities.

The offering consists of an underwritten bought deal prospectus led by Eight Capital of 26.06 million shares at a price of C$0.87 (0.55) for aggregate proceeds of C$22.7 million (14.3 million).

It includes a concurrent placing by way of an accelerated bookbuild of approximately 18,692,661 million shares at C$0.87 (0.55) per placing share for aggregate gross proceeds of C$16.2 million (10.2 million).

Meanwhile, Southern has provided a drilling update on its Gwinville site where further drilling is expected to begin in 4Q, 2022.

The company said all three of the horizontal wells from the Gwinville 1903 padsite were flowing to sales at highly restricted rates, with the padsite currently producing approximately 15.3 million cubic feet per day, or 2,550 barrels of oil equivalent of natural gas per day.

Southern CEO Ian Atkinson said, with all three Gwinville wells now in production, the company had more than doubled its corporate production, illustrating the significant organic growth potential it could deliver to shareholders.

Following the encouraging test results of our ongoing operations at Gwinville, utilizing our improved Generation 3 completion design, we believe that this is an opportune moment to finance the business for further, operationally-driven growth through the offering, Atkinson said.

In tandem, we continue to see significant opportunities for accretive acquisitions in our area of expertise and believe that this financing will allow us to continue to act nimbly and opportunistically as we execute our growth strategy.

Deal terms

Under the terms of the prospectus offering, Eight Capital, as lead underwriter and sole bookrunner, together with a syndicate of underwriters will purchase 26.1 million prospectus shares on a bought deal basis. The underwriters will have an option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the prospectus shares issued under at the prospectus price for market stabilization purposes, or to cover over-allotments, exercisable in whole or in part at any time until 30 days after the closing of the offering.

Closing of the prospectus offering is expected to occur by July 7.

The placing, led by Canaccord Genuity Limited and H&P Advisory Limited, will only be made available to invited eligible institutional and professional investors in certain specified jurisdictions. The timing for the close of the bookbuild will be determined by the joint brokers and the company. A further announcement confirming the number of new placing shares to be issued pursuant to the placing and final details of the bookbuild is expected shortly, Southern Energy said.

The results of the Placing are expected to be announced on June 24, and the placing shares are expected to be admitted to trading on AIM on or around July 5.

Southern Energy said it intends for the placing to be conducted in conjunction with the prospectus offering, but is not inter-conditional with the prospectus offering.

Southern Energy is a natural gas exploration and production company focused on acquiring and developing conventional natural gas and light oil resources in the southeast Gulf States of Mississippi, Louisiana, and East Texas

Contact the author Emily Jarvie at emily.jarvie@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @emilyjjarvie
Miramar Resources Ltd (ASX:M2R) is expanding its land position at the Bangemall Project in Western Australia with the addition of tenement E08/3498, an adjacent application believed to be prospective for nickel-copper-platinum group element (PGE) mineralisation.

This new tenure, in combination with a recently acquired tenement, covers prospective dolerite sills and the contact between the Edmund and Collier basins, and is also host to northeast-trending dolerite dykes of the Mundine Well suite, observed nearby.

Miramar believes these northeast-trending dykes are related to the Money intrusion, host to nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation discovered within Dreadnought Resources Mangaroon Project.

Historical results reveal potential

Blue Bar has the most significant historical nickel and copper assay results of any of the targets we have identified at Bangemall to date, Miramar Resources executive chair Allan Kelly said.

The apparent spatial association of the results with the later Mundine Well dykes adds a further dimension to the prospectivity of our strategic Bangemall landholding and we look forward to getting on the ground and examining the opportunity further.

A rock chip sample from the northwestern corner of the tenure returned results up to 2,970 parts per million nickel and 1,230 parts per million copper, which Miramar has interpreted to originate from one of the northeast-trending Mundine Well dykes.

Other rock chip samples (up to 738 parts per million nickel and 218 parts per million copper) and anomalous soil samples also indicate the presence of mineralisation on the tenure, although historical sampling over the project has been sporadic over the 30-kilometre strike length.

Blue Bar target highlighting historic rock chip and stream sediment results.

Miramar intends to conduct an airborne electromagnetic (EM) survey over the project once the new tenement has been granted, to be followed-up with a surface geochemical sampling program.
Example of the Xcite system being flown (source: NRG).

Apollo Minerals Ltd (ASX:AON) will take a big step forward with regional exploration at the province-scale Kroussou Zinc-Lead Project in Gabon through an extensive airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey.

The survey, which is underway utilising the helicopter-borne Xcite AEM system, will cover the entire Kroussou prospective trend including all 18 target prospects along the 80-kilometre strike length.

It is the first time that modern airborne geophysics have been undertaken at Kroussou and has the potential to identify and refine shallow, embayment-style, high-grade mineralisation targets like those discovered at Dikaki (TP11) and Niamabimbou (TP6).

Major step forward

Apollo Minerals managing director Neil Inwood said: This AEM survey is a major step forward for our regional-scale exploration activities at Kroussou and has been in the planning since the start of the year.

"The results from the survey will enable us to test the entire 80-kilometre Kroussou trend, identify and refine exploration targets, and provide valuable structural targeting information.

The AEM survey will also extend into the western basin region, which is interpreted as being a potential source for the base metal mineralisation at Kroussou.

This region is also prospective for high-grade mineralisation and has not previously had systematic exploration undertaken.

Kroussou Project with AEM survey area.

Apollo Minerals is actively drilling at TP13 and TP11 targets and expects to have additional exploration drilling results available in the upcoming weeks.

Xcite AEM system

The AEM survey at Kroussou is being conducted by New Resolution Geophysics (NRG) utilising the helicopter-borne Xcite AEM system, which has been specially designed for surveys with a towed array suitable for low-level flying, offering the detection of early time (near-surface) potential conductors.

This allows near-surface anomalies to be detected using the fast-time response signal, which is important for Kroussou given the outcropping and near-surface sulphide mineralisation already defined at prospects, TP6 and TP11.

Deeper buried conductors may also be possible to be defined in the basin on the western margin using late time response signals.

The survey will also include magnetic information, which will provide valuable structural targeting data to progress the regional exploration and has the potential for further identification of shallow, high-grade mineralisation.

All equipment for the work is in Gabon and the AEM survey is planned to take around three weeks of data capture, with evaluation and review of results to be concurrent. Final processed results are expected in the September quarter.

About Kroussou

Kroussou consists of the Prospecting Licence G4-569 which covers 986.5 square kilometres in the Ngounie Province of Western Gabon, about 220 kilometres SSE of the capital Libreville.

Location of the Kroussou Project in Gabon with nearby transport infrastructure.

The project is easily accessible by the major sealed N1 road from Libreville, and well-maintained provincial roads to towns bordering the project. Well-established and wide forestry tracks are present within the project area to the camp and exploration sites.

Eighteen separate shallow channels (target prospects) with base metal occurrences have been identified along more than 80 kilometres of strike length of prospective geology in the project area.

Apollo Minerals completed a maiden drilling campaign in 2021, which returned significant wide zinc-lead mineralised intercepts from shallow depths at Dikaki and Niamabimbou, two of the 18 target prospects.

The results indicated a developing discovery at Dikaki and confirmed shallow mineralisation at Niamabimbou and validate the province-scale, base metal potential of Kroussou.

There are multiple opportunities for further discovery of zinc-lead mineralisation within the remaining untested channels.
St George Mining Ltd (ASX:SGQ)s John Prineas sits down with Proactives Andrew Scott to update the market on current activity at its regional-scale projects in Western Australia. The company has several programs on the go including a maiden diamond drilling program at the Paterson Copper-Gold Project, where it has so far completed two holes. The company believes it has a geological setting similar to Winu after hitting the same host rocks that host Winu, which Prineas says is a big tick. 18 holes are further planned with strong newsflow to come. St George has also finished a Seismic survey of 13-line kilometres at the Mt Alexander Nickel-Copper-PGE Project, where it has a JV with emerging battery minerals giant IGO.
Rumble Resources Ltd (ASX:RTR)'s joint venture partner AIC Mines Ltd has the drills spinning at Lamil Gold-Copper Project, 30 kilometres west of the Telfer gold-copper mine in the highly prospective Paterson Province of Western Australia.

RTR's partner has 3,000 metres of diamond drilling on the agenda, designed to test three high-priority targets  Lamil Dome, Goodenia and Firebush.

Project economics are boosted by West Australian Government Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) grants, which will co-fund exploration at the Goodenia and Firebush prospects.

Lamil Dome

Drilling at the Lamil Dome prospect will focus on the eastern flank of the dome, where copper sulphide mineralisation, associated with a 4-kilometre-long mafic intrusion, was intersected during the 2020 and 2021 campaigns.

Four diamond holes will be drilled at this prospect, at a spacing of roughly 1 kilometre, to a minimum vertical depth of approximately 400 metres.

Wide-spaced aircore drilling over the dome in 2020 and follow-up, wide-spaced reverse circulation (RC) drilling on the eastern flank in 2021 confirmed the presence of alteration.

That program returned a best result of 1-metre grading 2.26% copper and 51 parts per billion (ppb) gold from 90 metres, further confirming the prospectivity of this zone.

The planned drilling is aimed to test the mafic intrusive contact down dip of the shallower level intersections along its 4-kilometre strike. Drilling will be supplemented with down-hole electromagnetic surveys (DHEM) to detect any off-hole massive sulphide mineralisation.

Goodenia

A 750-metre deep drill hole will target a gravity anomaly beneath a halo of base metal anomalism at the Goodenia prospect.

Wide-spaced RC drilling in 2020 and 2021 intersected intervals of elevated zinc and lead in carbonaceous siltstones overlying a coincident gravity and magnetic anomaly.

Costs of up to $150,000, or half of the drilling costs, will be funded by a West Australian Government Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) grant.

Firebush

The company will also test the Firebush prospect, a coincident gravity and magnetic anomaly, for the first time. A single hole targeted at the centre of the gravity anomaly will test the anomaly and provide insights into the basement geology in this area.

Firebush is at the northern end of the project and is considered prospective for sediment-hosted zinc-lead deposits and Telfer gold-copper mineralisation in interpreted Isdell Formation sediments.

Drilling costs of up to $150,000, half the company's drilling costs, will be funded by the EIS grant.

About the Paterson Province

The Paterson Province is one of Australias most highly endowed yet under-explored mineral provinces.

It hosts the world-class Telfer gold-copper mine, the Nifty copper mine and the recent copper-gold discoveries at Winu by Rio Tinto and Havieron by the Greatland Gold-Newcrest joint venture.

The Lamil Project, which covers an area of 1,280 square kilometres, captures a covered belt of Yeneena Supergroup rocks, which host mineralisation at both the Telfer and Nifty mines.

The belt is bound by two deep penetrating, belt parallel, north-northwest trending structures.

JV terms

AIC can earn a 50% interest in the Lamil Project by spending $6 million over four years, under the terms of an earn-in and exploration joint venture agreement with Rumble Resources.

Thereafter, AIC can earn a further 15% by spending $4 million over one year if Rumble elects not to commence contributing.
Northern Minerals Ltd (ASX:NTU) has enhanced its rare earths and financing expertise with the appointment of Nicholas Curtis as executive chair and Bin Cai as executive director, effective immediately.

The company is positioning to become one of the few producers of heavy rare earth element dysprosium via the Browns Range Heavy Rare Earth Project in Western Australia.

Curtis was appointed non-executive director of NTU in November 2021, bringing an extensive mining and finance background to the team, developed over more than 30 years and with a particular knowledge of the rare earths industry.

Curtis will oversee the CEO and operations team as they advance the companys strategy to build a full-scale beneficiation (ore refinement) processing facility at Browns Range.

Expertise, experience and energy

"We are very fortunate to have Curtis and Cai join NTU in executive capacities, Northern Minerals director Adam Handley said.

Both bring significant expertise, experience and energy to NTU. The remaining directors of the board are appreciative of their willingness to do so, including during the next important stage of NTU's development.

Bin Cai has been involved with Northern Minerals for more than 10 years, having been appointed a non-executive director in July 2021 after acting as an alternate director since 2013.

Cai has been involved in the rare earth industry for more than 15 years and has assisted the company with critical financing and other activities over the years.

The appointments were effective from June 22, 2022, and have no fixed term.
Leo Lithium Ltds Simon Simon Hay talks with Proactives Andrew Scott about the companys ASX listing, its first day of trading and the hard work done to get on the boards. The listing has been a year in the making as the company demerged from Firefinch. Leos managing director speaks about the companys reason for demerging, plans to develop the Goulamina Lithium Project  the next lithium project of significant scale to enter production  and the important partnership the company has with JV partner Ganfeng Lithium Co, with which it has a substantial offtake agreement. Hay also highlights how the project sets Leo apart from its spodumene peers, the strong relationships it has with the Mali government and community as it brings industry to the region, the growing and experienced management team and the upcoming works program which includes drilling and the release of assays, which will be used to re-state the existing reserve, which is one of the worlds largest global hard rock lithium Mineral Resource at 108.5Mt at 1.45% Li2O and Ore Reserve of 52.0Mt at 1.51% Li2O (100% basis).
AuKing Mining Ltd (ASX:AKN) is continuing to advance its majority-owned (75%) Koongie Park Copper/Zinc Project in north-eastern Western Australia following a major resource upgrade in April.

Koongie Park is situated in the highly mineralised Halls Creek Mobile Belt which also hosts the Savannah (Sally Malay) and Copernicus nickel projects, the Argyle diamond mine and the Nicolsons gold mining operation of Pantoro Ltd (ASX:PNR).

AuKings tenure holding comprises an area of more than 500 square kilometres covering over 40 kilometres of the base metals prospective Koongie Park Formation.

Koongie Park has already been the subject of significant exploration drilling and analysis since the 1970s, often in line with movements in commodity prices.

Since its discovery, the Koongie Park project has been the subject of over 245 reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drill holes consisting of more than 50,000 metres of drilling in total.

The predominant focus of drilling has been at the Sandiego and Onedin deposits.

The companys exploration campaigns since June 2021 have led to a 30% upgrade of the previous 6.8 million tonnes resource estimate.

In April, AuKing bolstered the JORC-compliant resource at Koongie Park to 8.9 million tonnes at 1.01% copper, 3.67% zinc, 0.16 gold, 32 g/t silver and 0.77% lead.

Notably, almost the entire resource is now in the indicated category with the potential for further discovery of significant cobalt mineralisation.

AuKing has also identified the potential to establish an open-pit mine at Onedin Deposit and to extend resources at Sandiego Deposit.

Onedin mineral resource estimate & metal tonnes.

Sandiego mineral resource estimate & metal tonnes.

AuKing continues to progress its activities, including drilling, at the Koongie Park Project along with metallurgical test-work at Onedin deposit supported by the completion of its recent share placement.

Drilling at Koongie

AuKing started drilling at Koongie Park on May 24 and has so far completed 2,694 metres of reverse circulation (RC) drilling across 16 holes.

A total of 14 holes have been drilled at the Onedin South prospect and encouragingly for the company, preliminary visual observations and pXRF analysis have indicated the presence of mineralisation in these holes.

The company is waiting for assay results to gain a full picture of what Onedin may hold.

AuKing has now moved the drill rig to the Emull prospect to carry out a minimum of eight RC drill holes and 1,000 metres of drilling.

Onedin test-work

The company is continuing test-work on the Onedin oxide and transition ores, with two significant results achieved so far:

an ammonia leach in conjunction with certain reagents has shown that some copper (and, to a lesser extent zinc) is releasing from the iron oxide/hydroxide material that is prevalent in the upper sections of the Onedin oxide zone; and

there exists a supergene blanket beneath the oxide zone that contains high-grade copper oxide minerals (such as cuprite and native copper). Based on test-work utilising an ammonia leach solution combined with certain reagents, AuKing has established a likely commercial recovery for these copper minerals in the supergene blanket zone.

These results provide encouragement for AuKing as the test-work program advances over the coming weeks.

Share placement

AuKing recently placed shares at 14 cents per share (shares are currently trading at around 8 cents), with one free free-attaching option for every three new shares applied for.

A total of 5,946,428 shares have been placed at an issue price of 14 cents per share (total proceeds $832,500 received) together with the issue of 3,567,856 free attaching options.

The balance of the placement (1,053,572 shares/ $147,500 proceeds) is expected to be completed shortly.

AKNs board considers it a significant achievement to complete the placement and represents a strong show of support for AuKing and its project activities.
With the ASX gaining today, up 0.31% to 6,528.40 heres our look at some of the top small cap stories of the day including archTIS Ltds 70% (coming back down to around 50%) rise and how Future Metals NL (ASX:FME, AIM:FME)'s Panton Project became Australias second-largest PGM deposit.

Future Metals Panton becomes Australias second-largest PGM deposit

Future Metals NL (ASX:FME, AIM:FME)s Jardee Kininmonth and Proactives Andrew Scott discuss the exceptional resource upgrade that has made the Panton Project Australias second-largest PGM deposit.

Read more

archTIS surges on largest ever sale with $7 million defence contract

archTIS Ltd surged 70% on signing a A$7 million contract with the Australian Department of Defence.

Read more

AuKing Mining set for further upside at Koongie Park Copper/Zinc Project following resource upgrade

AuKIng Mining Ltds exploration campaigns since June 2021 have led to a 30% upgrade of the previous 6.8 million tonnes resource estimate.

Read more

Way2VAT receives ~$625,000 for R&D to commercialise Smart Spend Debit Mastercard

The funding grant from the Israeli Innovation Authority (IIA) will support research and development for the initial marketing and commercialisation of the Smart Spend Debit Mastercard.

Read more

Hartshead Resources lifts project value on upgrading Anning and Somerville gas fields to reserves

Hartshead Resources NL (ASX:HHR) has upgraded the gas resources of its Anning and Somerville fields to the reserve category following an independent technical and commercial audit conducted by ERC Equipoise (ERCE) on phase one development resources.

Read more

On your six  the bonus read

Crypto and tax have been in the news lately and while we have an explainer coming that will detail what you need to do at tax time with your crypto, heres some guidance on tax loss selling as June 30 quickly approaches.

What is tax loss selling?

If youve disposed of shares or any other form of investment and you know youve made a capital gain, it makes sense to take a look at your investment portfolio and consider disposing of any assets which you own which you know are sitting at a loss.

Read more

The one for good luck...

Alice Queen enters the Ring of Fire in Fiji with eyes on gold

Fiji has a long-standing history of supporting the mining industry with gold being its second-biggest export.

Read more
Mombasa  The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Twalib Mbarak has called for the establishment of a central repository to verify academic certificates to curb widespread cases of fake degrees.

In an interview, Mbarak stated that the country should swiftly provide permanent solutions to the upsurge in cases of academic fraud.

He proposed that universities and other higher learning institutions should consider the use of innovative technology that will enable them secure integrity of academic certificates through security Quick Response (QR) codes among others.

The QR code will be integrated to secure degree certificates and transcripts that can easily be verified with smart phones and other electronic gadgets.

Mbarak further proposed that the one- stop- shop qualifications verification system be configured to generate compliance certificates for job seekers to present to prospective employers or agencies as proof of the authenticity of their academic certificates.

He said such measures will end cases of fake, fraudulent and falsified acquisition of university degrees, secondary and primary school certificates.

"Proper automation of the system will provide a long-term solution to this scam whereby with the click of a button you will establish the veracity of academic papers," added Mbaraka.

Mbarak said his agency has taken three politicians to court over acquisition of fake academic certificates.

The EACC boss said the slow court process has delayed the conclusion of the cases.

He said the cases are also rife with recruitment by different agencies in public and private sectors citing a recent incident in which 10 police recruits were arrested at National Police College Kiganjo.

The suspects used forged certificates to be recruited only to be discovered after the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) verified the documents.

Mbarak said his agency and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Commission of University Education (CUE) have partnered to investigate fraudulent possession of degrees

"We have CUE which is responsible for authentication of papers, DCI investigate forged documents by private citizens and EACC investigates leaders with forged papers over violation of Integrity and leadership," added Mbaraka.

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The CEO defended the agencies for clearing leaders with integrity issues saying due laws have to be followed before any leader is barred from running for an elective position.

"There are many issues that have to be resolved including loopholes in the current laws and the unfortunate part if the same characters are elected, they will end up exploiting the same avenue," he observed.

He added that Kenyans "are the last line of defence" in the vetting process urging them to reject politicians involved in corruption and fraud activities.

According to the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) 10 to 15 per cent of all qualifications in Kenya are fake, fraudulent or falsified.

KNQA had proposed to develop the National Qualifications Information Management System (NAQMIS) to address the challenge worsened by lack of a proper automated system. - Kna
archTIS Ltd has surged 70% on signing a A$7 million contract with the Australian Department of Defence to expand and enhance the existing deployment on-premise of Kojensi, a highly secure, multi-level security platform for the secure sharing and collaboration of sensitive and classified files.

This is the largest sale in the companys history and will see AR9 receive A$3.44 million in recurring revenue over a two-year period and A$3.59 million for services, support and hardware.

Recognising the significance of the contract, investors responded positively, sending shares as much as 75% higher to A$0.175.

Highlights growth trend

As a global provider of innovative software solutions for the secure collaboration of sensitive information, this contract highlights AR9s strong growth trend particularly in the defence and national security market and follows the recent OneDefence win with KPMG to deliver the overall data security strategy for defence.

The contract is live until June 30, 2024, with an option for the Australian Department of Defence to extend for a further 12 months on the same terms.

AR9 global COO Kurt Mueffelmann, said: The recent sale to Australian Defence continues to drive our high-gross margin licensing strategy of more predictable, low-churn ARR. This sale alone will drive significant revenue into FY23 and beyond.

The new contract expands upon the existing deployment of Kojensi in the agency, as well as the agencys use of NC Protect in the Defence Information Environment (DIE). NC Protect secures documentation and file sharing across SharePoint for classified information or content in communities of interest on the DIE.

Continued expansion

With security in general becoming more and more important as more vulnerabilities raise up, AR9 is doing its best to ensure that companies and organisations are as best protected as they can be.

This latest contract with the Australian Department of Defence and the contract with OneDefence highlights the importance of platforms such as Kojensi in this environment.

archTIS managing director and CEO Daniel Lai said: We are pleased to close the largest sale in the companys history for $7.03 million.

"Over the past 18 months we have been actively targeting global defence agencies and the broader defence industry due to their compelling need to secure highly sensitive information."

"Filling a critical need"

Lai added: "This target market strongly aligns with the unique value proposition our products offer. Kojensi and NC Protect are filling a critical need for zero-trust information security in the well-funded, defence and intelligence market and the industries that support them.

archTIS participation in the KPMG Consortium announced in April this year, saw it awarded Tranche 1 of the OneDefence Data Program. archTIS will bring its expertise in Data Security Architecture. Terms of archTIS involvement in the consortium are still being finalised.

Further evidence AR9 successfully executing its strategy to be the premier Data Centric Security and Policy Enforcement company in Defence. Learn more: https://www.archtis.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/archTIS-CaseStudy_NCProtect-AUS-DoD-6-22.pdf.
The Vancouver-based company said it is currently exploring how the Corporate KAP service offering can be expanded throughout its 13 clinics across North America

Numinus Wellness Inc. (TSX:NUMI, OTC:LKYSF) announced that it has launched a pilot program in Utah that offers ketamine-assisted psychotherapy as a health benefit for eligible employees.

The companys clinics, which operate under the Cedar Psychiatry brand, have secured coverage from certain insurance companies for direct billing of ketamine for treatment-resistant depression, Numinus said in a statement. Still, access remains a challenge for many patients, the Canadian firm noted.

In order to bridge the gap, Cedar Psychiatry and HempLucid, a Utah-based provider of premium wellness products, have teamed up to ensure that employees with a mental health diagnosis can access care. HempLucid covers the cost of ketamine infusions while its existing healthcare plan covers the therapy component of ketamine-assisted therapy.

CEO of HempLucid, Chase Hudson, said the program has been revolutionary to how we operate as a business.

Offering ketamine treatments to employees has shown incredible benefits for healing, positivity, and productivity in the work environment, Hudson said in a statement.

We are in a new era. A new social contract is being formed between employees and employers, and businesses are being forced to take a look at the mental health of their employees. We're working hard to get out ahead of it and take care of our people in a proactive way."

Cedar Psychiatry clinics offer patients access to a range of mental health services, including ketamine therapy, transcranial-magnetic stimulation (TMS), Spravato, talk therapy and medication management.

Reid Robison, chief clinical officer at Numinus, told shareholders that the pilot expands access to ketamine-assisted psychotherapy to help individuals and families, but also a global workforce that continues to report increases in stress and burnout.

"It's more important than ever to take care of our individual and collective mental health It is truly inspiring to see a company like HempLucid take care of employees in this way, Robinson said.

Mental illness accounts for 70% of workplace disability costs, according to estimates. A Deloitte study found that the median yearly return-on-investment of C$1 spent on mental health programs was C$2.18 among companies that had mental health initiatives in place for three or more years, Numinus noted.

The Vancouver-based company said it is currently exploring how the Corporate KAP service offering can be expanded throughout its 13 clinics across North America.

Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas
ACME Lithium Inc. (CSE:ACME, OTCQB:ACLHF) president and CEO Steve Hanson joined Proactive's Stephen Gunnion to share news of the latest drilling update at the company's Clayton Valley lithium brine project in Nevada.

Hanson revealing that ACME has successfully completed Hole DH-1 at the Clayton Valley lithium brine project to a total depth of 1,400 feet below ground surface.

An exploration plan at the company's project in neighbouring Fish Lake Valley is also upcoming, with a major exploration program in southeastern Manitoba is expected to lead to a drill program in the fall.

"We've been very active on all our projects," Hanson added. "We believe that we've got a world-class portfolio here."
Kuwait City, June 23 : Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has dissolved the parliament of the country, calling for an early general election, according to the official Kuwait TV.

"We have decided, based on our constitutional right complying with the provision of Article 107, to dissolve the parliament and to call for general elections in the coming months, after preparing the necessary legal arrangements for that," he said on behalf of the Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah concerning the latest political developments in Kuwait.

An Amiri decree of the National Assembly dissolution is to be issued in the upcoming few months, he added.

The Kuwaiti constitution is untouchable and is the foundation of legitimacy in the pact between the leadership and the people to ensure Kuwait's security, stability and prosperity, he said, calling on the Kuwaiti people to elect a new house that could bear significant responsibility for maintaining state stability and accomplishing the citizens' hopes and aspirations, Xinhua news agency reported.

He also called on the upcoming National Assembly and the government to cooperate, coordinate and pay great efforts toward realising the aspirations of the people.
Aden : , June 23 (IANS) Militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch carried out an attack against a military checkpoint in Yemen's oil-rich province of Shabwa, leaving three soldiers killed, a government official told Xinhua news agency.

"Masked gunmen in two Hilux trucks launched a surprise attack against a military checkpoint manned by Shabwa Defense Forces near the eastern entrance of strategic province, where key oil fields are located," the local government source said on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

The source added that an armed fight ensued, leaving three soldiers killed and five others injured at the spot, Xinhua news agency reported.

He clarified that "a stiff resistance by other soldiers stationed in the area forced the al-Qaida gunmen to flee and abandon one of their trucks".

The attack comes several hours after five pro-government soldiers were killed as a result of an ambush set up by al-Qaida gunmen in the neighbouring southern province of Abyan.

A series of gunmen attacks happened in recent months in various parts of the Arab country, leading to the deaths of members of security forces.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) network has been responsible for many high-profile attacks against the security forces in the country's southern provinces.

The AQAP has exploited years of deadly conflict between the Yemeni government and Houthi militia to expand its presence in the war-ravaged country.
Rome, June 23 : President of Italy's main food and beverage industry group has warned that food supply issues stemming from the conflict in Ukraine risk causing major problems in Italy in the fall unless steps are taken now to avoid transportation problems.

Ivano Vacondio, President of Federalimentare, recently told local media that Italy was on the verge of a crisis regarding the supply of key grains and cereals, Xinhua news agency reported.

Vacondio's remarks were verified and contextualised on Wednesday by Federalimentare officials contacted by Xinhua news agency.

"It's a logistics issue, which is fundamental for a country like ours that already imports 4 million tons of wheat and 6 million tons of corn as well as large quantities of barley and soybeans," he said.

"The supply problem already exists, but we can make up for it now with our own domestic crops," the organisation's President added.

"But starting in September, when we will have to start importing grains and cereals from other parts of Europe and the rest of the world, we will need better logistics and that is a system that is experiencing a great deal of stress at the current time." Federalimentare is not the only national entity expecting hard times for Italy's food system. Multiple Italian agricultural and farmers' associations have predicted reductions as large as half of northern Italy's summer agricultural output due to unusually high temperatures and dry conditions. This comes amid higher fuel costs and other transportation issues related to the crisis in Ukraine.

In this context, the global Food Price Index, produced by the Rome-based United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, recorded its three highest readings ever over the last three months.
Jerusalem, June 23 : Israel has begun building a 9-metre-tall wall to replace the old fence barrier in the northern occupied West Bank, said Israeli Defense Ministry, citing security reasons.

The 45-kilometre-long wall will stretch from near the Palestinian village of Salem, east of Nablus city in the northern West Bank, to the north of Tulkarm city, the Ministry added on Wednesday in a statement.

"The security barrier will include a massive concrete wall, protection measures and other technological means," the Ministry said, The project was approved by Israeli government in April amid a wave of deadly Palestinian attacks in Israeli cities, and a total of 360 million shekels (about $104 million) were allocated for the construction, Xinhua news agency reported.

The controversial fence barrier built about 20 years ago has been a key symbol of Israel's control over the West Bank, with Israel arguing it is necessary to prevent Palestinian attacks and the Palestinians charging it as a feature of racial segregation and the Israeli apartheid regime.
Berlin, June 23 : Many European countries are considering turning back to coal to secure energy supplies as gas supplies from Russia slump amid EU sanctions in recent weeks.

Germany, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands and Greece are among the first European nations to reopen coal power plants or take measures to support coal power, underlining the importance of energy supply security in the upcoming winter, Xinhua news agency reported.

This represents a "U-turn" from Europe's efforts in recent years to foster new energy sources, restrict coal power generation in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the proportion of coal power in the energy mix.

UNEXPECTED SITUATION The European Commission noted on Monday that "some of the existing coal capacities might be used longer than initially expected" because of the new energy landscape in Europe.

"We know that the energy mix and the plans of member states will adjust slightly because we are in an unexpected situation," Commission spokesman Tim McPhie said at a press briefing.

Russia's energy firm Gazprom has significantly reduced the flow of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany recently.

Following the gas supply cut, the German government introduced on Sunday several energy-saving measures, which include reducing the use of gas for power generation and industrial activities, and filling up storage facilities.

"Gas consumption must continue to fall, and more gas must be put into storage, otherwise things will really get tight in winter," German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck said on Sunday.

Austrian energy company OMV said on Monday that the country was set to receive half the usual amount of natural gas from Russia for a second day. Austria gets about 80 per cent of its natural gas from Russia.

The energy crisis has also caught Greece in a difficult situation during its transition to green economy.

Coal production has been ramped up at Greece's largest coal mine near the northern city of Kozani.

While inaugurating a new solar facility in northern Greece in April, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a 50 per cent hike in lignite production through 2024 to build up reserves. Plans to retire more coal-fired power stations are halted.

"Certainly, for the next two years, it would make sense increasing coal-fired energy generation by ramping up its mining by 50 per cent so that we cut reliance from gas in the short-term," Mitsotakis said.

TEMPORARY MEASURES? The Russian-Ukrainian conflict forced many European nations to reconsider their energy supplies. They insisted that the "reverse" of the energy policy and measures are short-lived and will help avoid gas shortage in the upcoming winter.

The German government said that gas power plants were replaced with coal-fired power plants for electricity generation to reduce gas consumption, while insisting that the surprise U-turn on energy policy did not mean a withdrawal from the coal exit plan.

Before the conflict, the German government alliance had even decided to bring the coal phaseout forward, "ideally" from 2038 to 2030.

In the first quarter of the year, coal remained Germany's most important energy source, accounting for 31.5 per cent of total electricity production.

The Dutch government has also given the green light to coal-fired power stations, which are allowed to run at full power until 2024.

By increasing coal production, the Dutch government hopes to save 2.3 billion cubic metres of gas each year.

In another development, Austria announced on Sunday that it would reopen a mothballed coal power plant to cope with potential power shortages due to reduced natural gas supplies from Russia.

The Austrian government said it would work with electricity supplier Verbund Group to reactivate the plant in the southern city of Mellach.

In addition, Poland, one of the European Union's most coal-dependent country, has announced measures to subsidise coal for households and housing cooperatives amid coal shortages and soaring prices.

Around 70 per cent of Poland's electricity comes from coal, by far the highest proportion in the European Union. One-third of the Polish households use coal to heat their homes.

Under the Polish government's proposals, consumers will be able to buy up to three tons of coal at around 1000 zlotys ($227) per ton, while the market price can reach up to 3000 zlotys ($681) per ton, largely due to the country's ban on Russian coal imports in April. (1 zloty= $0.227)

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United Nations, June 23 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that he was saddened by the tragic loss of life in the earthquake that struck Afghanistan.

"Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed and injured, and this tragic toll might continue to rise," he added on Wednesday in a statement.

"My heart goes out to the people of Afghanistan who are already reeling from the impact of years of conflict, economic hardship and hunger. I convey my deep condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured," he said.

The United Nations in Afghanistan is fully mobilised, and UN teams are already on the ground assessing the needs and providing initial support, he added.

"We count on the international community to help support the hundreds of families hit by this latest disaster. Now is the time for solidarity," Guterres said.

Guterres' Deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said later on Wednesday that the World Health Organisation and several non-governmental organisations are deploying mobile health teams, medicines and medical equipment to Afghanistan's Paktika and Khost provinces and mobilising additional medical supplies, Xinhua news agency reported.

The UN Children's Fund has deployed at least 12 teams of health workers to the worst-hit Giyan district in Paktika, and several mobile health and nutrition teams to Barmal district of Paktika, and Spera district in Khost. The World Food Programme, along with its humanitarian partners, is conducting a vulnerability assessment mission in the remote areas hit by the earthquake.

UN humanitarians said the Taliban are responding, including with search-and-rescue efforts. But heavy rain and wind are hampering efforts with helicopters reportedly unable to land on Wednesday afternoon, according to Haq.

Those whose homes have been damaged or destroyed are seeking shelter with family and friends, with some reportedly living in the open. The Taliban have delivered food and emergency tents to some of these families. But more assistance is required, he said.

Given the unseasonable heavy rains and cold, emergency shelter is an immediate priority. Other immediate needs include emergency trauma care, non-food items, food assistance and water and sanitation hygiene support, Haq added.

An earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, and the death toll has surpassed 1,000, with more than 1,500 people injured, news reports said.
Tehran, June 23 : Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Tehran to discuss with the Iranian side bilateral cooperation and ways to solve the impasse on the Iran nuclear talks, state IRIB TV reported.

The Russian Foreign Minister arrived in Tehran on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The IRIB reported that Lavrov, who is on his two-day trip to Iran at the invitation of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, held a meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi shortly after his arrival.

Having not revealed any details of the meeting between Raisi and the Russian diplomat, the state-run television said the Russian Foreign Minister is expected to meet Iran's senior officials to discuss the negotiation that aims to restore a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

The two sides would also discuss situations in Ukraine, Syria, and Afghanistan, as well as ways to boost bilateral ties in trade and energy, it added.

Both Iran and Russia are subject to strict US sanctions, which have restricted their ability to transport their energy to international markets.

Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the world powers in July 2015 accepting to put some curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the removal of the sanctions on Tehran.

However, former President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed Washington's unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting Iran to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the agreement in retaliation.

Since April 2021, several rounds of talks have been held in the Austrian capital between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties to revive the deal.

Iran insists on obtaining guarantees that the succeeding US governments would not drop the deal again and calls for lifting the sanctions in a verifiable manner.

After witnessing good progress signaling that an agreement was only a few days away, the diplomatic process has, however, faced a pause since March, raising concerns over the fate of the negotiation.

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Nairobi  President Uhuru Kenyatta has warned men against spending money on secret lovers at the expense of their families.

During a title issuance event at Kenyatta International Convention Centre on Wednesday, the Head of State pointed out that some men are often excited when they receive title deeds as they use it as collateral to borrow money which they spend on secret lovers forgetting they have a family.

"The problem with title deed is one when a husband gets it he sees it as a personal property and forget he has a family," President Kenyatta indicated.

"When he receives money from the bank and walks in the streets, he meets another woman there. He then forgets the one he left home, spends all the money alone leaving the family and children in poverty," he said.

President Kenyatta urged men to change their ways and always put their family first for the sake of setting a secure foundation for the future generation.

"This title deed is for you and your family. You need to guard it so that your family can remember you in future. Let's treat this as a valuable document please," he said.

President Kenyatta kicked off the latest phase of the national title deeds issuance programme that will see the immediate issuance of one million title deeds to landowners across the country.

He directed the Cabinet Secretaries for Lands and Interior to come up with a programme that will involve other Cabinet Secretaries in the issuance of the balance of the ready title deeds to expeditiously execute the exercise.

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"Today, we are launching and flagging off the issuance of 1 million out of 6 million title deeds that are ready across the registries in the various counties.

"The programme should be executed expeditiously such that before sunset on the Eighth of July, 2022 the balance of the one million title deeds will have been conveyed to their holders," President Kenyatta directed.

At the same time, the President highlighted several achievements under the reforms in the land sector, noting that the National Titling program, which his administration introduced in 2013, has helped in processing and issuing title deeds to many citizens.

"As part of this programme, we established the National Titling Centre, the Rapid Titling Initiative, Land Clinics and formed links with both land buying companies and County Governments. These progressive measures were buttressed by enhanced recruitment of technical staff and the deployment of other critical resources including motor vehicles and survey equipment," he said.

The Head of State noted that the national title deeds issuance programme has made it possible for Kenyans living in the marginalized areas such as Samburu, Isiolo and Marsabit counties to legally own land thereby empowering them to develop economically.
New Delhi, June 23 : As a photographer and filmmaker, he constantly seeks out invisibility as a concept. Memory and abandonment happen to be some of the concerns that seldom leave him. For photographer and filmmaker Chandan Gomes, multiple themes collide to come at a single point of a needle.

"The emotion of invisibility and one-sided relationships... As a compulsive photographer, when I see a fascinating face and photograph it, but the person has no idea about my existence -- that is another thing -- a motive that shows in my work," he tells IANS.

His debut short film 'All That We Wish to Stay', will soon release on an OTT platform where he explores the consequences of mental illness, like in his work exhibited at the Kochi Biennale in 2018-19. It revolves around a woman who has been admitted for depression. And it is love that is responsible for her state.

However, her doctor, in the end, questions if a condition can be stamped a disorder just because it does not conform to the majority's norm? Recipient of the Oslo University scholarship, the Foto Visura Spotlight grant and the India Habitat Centre Fellowship for photography, Gomes, who started out as a photojournalist, then shifted to documentaries and later built an art-based practise says, "I eventually realised that there are so many stories out there that could not be told through photography. And I had always wanted to make films. Narrative-based work always interested me, thus the transition from documentary to fiction." For him, fiction assumes an important place in art forms. Believing that only those photographs that carry a story within manage to stand out, he adds, "Narratives are paramount, especially in this time and age considering the visual bombardment from all around. For photography to make sense it has to come from a narrative, a place." Currently working on his next short film, Gomes, who was a Philosophy student at St Stephen's College in the national capital, says that studying the subject has had a profound impact on his practice.

"I was good at it, but the real processing happened when the degree finished. That is when I started applying things. So it has been very important to my work in a practical way, evaluating those ideas into empirical experiences in life." The photographer, who co-founded the Open Library in New Delhi, which facilitates access to expensive photography books for youngsters who cannot afford to buy them, says, "Several senior photographers and people from the industry donated their books, and we also chipped in with our money. It was the first of its kind in India, and there have been many since then. It still survives at the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication, but we are moving it soon to a new area which will be more accessible." Preferring not to be defined by styles but by his gaze; in photography, he is looking forward to working on obituaries, lost letters and unpublished works. Some are extensions of work that he showed at Kochi.

"I am someone who photographs and documents a lot of ideas because then some of them become books, some take the form of projects while others come out as photo books." While he feels that things have improved over the years, Gomes, who did not undergo any formal training in the medium, says that there are still not enough photography grants and scholarships.

"There have to be more opportunities, and there are hardly any right now," he concludes.

(Sukant Deepak can be reached at sukant.d@ians.in)
Lucknow, June 23 : In a shocking incident, a woman has been booked allegedly for online harassment of his lawyer's sister in Lucknow, police said.

The lawyer is contesting the case of her husband for domestic violence.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Bazaarkhala, Anil Yadav, said that an FIR under charges of the IT Act and for threatening has been filed and an investigation is underway.

A local lawyer had filed a complaint with the police accusing his client's wife of harassing his sister online.

The lawyer in his complaint said, "I have known the man for a long time. I am giving him legal consultation. Since the beginning, his wife has been hostile to me and has been playing tricks and making attempts to stop me from providing legal assistance. She also used to pass rude comments at me whenever she saw me but I ignored it." Recently, he added that the woman somehow obtained his sister's photos which she morphed and posted them on social media.

"I was shocked to see obscene photos of my sister on social media on April 15. When I confronted the client's wife, she threatened me with dire consequences and asked me to stop giving consultation to her husband," he alleged.

The lawyer has lodged a case against the woman and has requested the police to get his sister's photos deleted from social media.
Kabul, June 23 : In the aftermath of the devastating 6.1-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan's Paktika province that killed at least 1,000 people, the country's Taliban-led government has appealed for international aid, the media reported on Thursday.

The earthquake on Wednesday, deemed to be the deadliest to strike the country in two decades, and subsequent landslides also injured 1,500 people in the two districts of Gayan and Barmal.

The epicentre was 44 km from Khost city and tremors were felt as far away as Pakistan and India.

In a statement, senior Taliban official Abdul Qahar Balkhi said the regime was "financially unable to assist the people to the extent that is needed" as Afghanistan is in the midst of an ongoing humanitarian and economic crisis, the BBC reported.

Despite help from "aid agencies, neighbouring countries and world powers", he said that "the assistance needs to be scaled up to a very large extent because this is a devastating earthquake which hasn't been experienced in decades".

Meanwhile, Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada claimed that hundreds of homes were destroyed and that the death toll was likely to increase as rescue teams and emergency workers are still looking for people buried in the debris, Khaama Press reported.

According to locals in the affected areas, the aftermath of the massive quake was poorly handled by the Taliban.

Five helicopters were sent to the location by the Taliban cabinet members approximately eight hours after the incident during an emergency meeting, to facilitate medical evacuation. Khaama Press quoted the locals as saying.

The Taliban's relief team is said to have reached the scene around 11 hours later to aid the victims.

The government has announced that it will pay 100,000 Afs for the families of victims and 50,000 to those injured.

Afghanistan is prone to quakes, as it is located in a tectonically active region, over a number of fault lines including the Chaman fault, the Hari Rud fault, the Central Badakhshan fault and the Darvaz fault.

Over the past decade more than 7,000 people have been killed in earthquakes in the country, according to the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports.

There are an average of 560 deaths a year from earthquakes.

Most recently, back-to-back earthquakes in the country's west in January killed more than 20 people and destroyed hundreds of houses.
Jammu, June 23 : After remaining suspended for two years due to the Covid pandemic, the historic Baba Chamliyal Mela is being celebrated on Thursday near the International Border in Jammu and Kashmi's Samba district.

According to Billu Choudhary, president of Mela committee, over two lakh devotees from different parts of J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana are likely to pay obeisance at the saint's shrine, which is located in the Ramgarh sector close to the International Border in Samba district.

According to oral history, The saint, Baba Dalip Singh Manhas lived in a village called Chamliyal. He used to give drinking water to thirsty travellers and also worked for the welfare of the needy and talked about universal brotherhood. It was because of his good deeds that he became very popular among people.

His popularity was not acceptable to a few people who hatched a conspiracy against the Baba and killed him at the Saidawali village, now situated in Pakistan. The head of Baba Dalip Singh fell far away from the place of his assassination, whereas the rest of his body remained at Saidawali.

The people decided to keep the philosophy and practices of the Baba alive by constructing his memorials on the border of India and Pakistan. After the death of the Baba, the people of the area constructed two shrines in his name. One shrine was made at the place where his head fell. Another shrine of the Baba was made at Saidawali in Pakistan where he was assassinated.

The shrine is also known as dargah in local parlance. The performance of rituals within the shrine is on the line of other dargahs, for instance, the offering of Chaddar.

Pakistani Rangers earlier visited the shrine to offer Chaddar and take Shakar and Sharbat from the shrine.

However, due to strained relations between India and Pakistan, the Pakistani Rangers are not visiting the shrine this year.
Houston, June 23 : A police chief accused of mismanaging the response to the May 24 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers, has been put on leave, according to the media.

In a statement on Wednesday, School district superintendent Hal Harrell said he had placed Pedro Arredondo, head of the school district police force, on administrative leave effective immediately, citing "the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown timing of when I will receive the results of the investigations", the BBC reported.

He said he had originally planned to "wait until the investigation was complete before making personnel decisions", but was "still without details" of what the inquiry has found.

Arredondo, head of the school district police force, has been blamed for law enforcement delays in confronting the 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos.

Just days after the shooting at the Robb Elementary School, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw had claimed that local police made the "wrong decision" by waiting nearly an hour to breach the school classroom where Ramos shot at children and teachers before he was neutralised by law enforcement.

Nearly 20 officers stood outside the classroom during the attack and the on-scene commander believed at the time that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the children were no longer at risk, according to McCraw.

At a state Senate hearing on Tuesday, McCraw said that Arredondo had "decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children" and labelled the response an "abject failure".

This was the third-deadliest school shooting in the US, after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, and the deadliest in Texas.

According to the latest data from Gun Violence Archive, the US has witnessed 267 mass shootings since the start of the year, with more than 20,000 lives lost to gun violence.
Kiev, June 23 : Ukrainian Armed Forces are now in control of nearly 45 per cent of the separatist Donetsk region where fierce battles continue to rage, a military official claimed.

Speaking to local media on Wednesday, Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration, said 55 per cent of the region under Russian control has been completely destroyed, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

While acknowledging that the situation is extremely complicated along the entire frontline of Donetsk, Kyrylenko said that Russian troops were "using all the weapons they have at their disposal".

"Civilians who remain say that either they have nowhere to go or they don't have enough money to go elsewhere," he added.

The official further said that the stranded civilians in Donetsk are mostly hiding in bomb shelters due to the relentless artillery attacks and airstrikes.

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Seoul, June 23 : South Korea's military on Thursday opened a new prison with an advanced monitoring solution, including the country's first suicide prevention sensors and other systems designed to improve the living conditions of inmates and help reduce the workload of guards.

The opening of the institution, located 80 km southeast of Seoul, came around two years after the Military Correctional Institution broke ground on a 17.7-billion-won ($13 million) project to replace the previous one established in a nearby area more than three decades ago, reports Yonhap News Agency.

"It is a product of longtime efforts to improve the working conditions of correctional personnel and promote healthy re-socialisation of inmates on the basis of a robust security system and comfortable environment," Lt. Col. Lee Yong-hun, who heads the institution in Icheon, said.

The new cells at the prison have sensors on their ceiling that can track inmates' breathing in real-time to help prevent suicides. They are programmed to turn on warning lights and send an alarm if inmates breathe abnormally or stop breathing for a certain period.

It is unprecedented for a correctional institution in South Korea, either civilian or military, to be equipped with such a state-of-the-art system.

The new prison also has barbed wire fences with artificial-intelligence-powered sensors to distinguish people's movements from other objects through their deep-learning algorithm.

In order to avoid blind spots, as in conventional prisons where cells are lined up in a corridor, the new facility has an open and spacious "dayroom", where guards can monitor all inmates at a glance.

The institution features individual shower booths and more single rooms to give more privacy to inmates.

It plans to offer various vocational training programs for prisoners, helping them obtain skills in 3D printing, heavy machinery and other fields.

There are around 80 inmates in the prison, including four sentenced to the death penalty.

South Korea last carried out an execution on December 30, 1997.
Islamabad, June 23 : Pakistan's military has assured the country's leadership that no extra-constitutional concessions would be given to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the ongoing dialogue between the two sides, adding that any deal made with the terror group would be subject to parliamentary approval.

The military gave the assurance during a meeting presided by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the latter's office here on Wednesday, Dawn news reported.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office after the meeting, said: "The decision will be made in the light of the Constitution of Pakistan with the approval of the parliament, the guidance provided for the future and the resulting consensus." This was the first meeting between the political leadership and military since latter began the dialogue with the TTP in Afghanistan with the help of the Taliban regime in the war-torn nation.

Negotiations with the TTP began in October 2021 on the demand of Afghan Taliban and initially a one-month ceasefire was agreed, but the process broke down in December after the terror group pulled out of the talks and refused to extend the truce on the pretext that the Pakistani authorities were not fulfilling their commitments, Dawn news reported.

The dialogue was secretly revived in April that led to the TTP announcing a ceasefire on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.

As matters progressed, the ceasefire kept being extended and currently a three-month cessation of hostilities is being observed.
New Delhi, June 23 : Re-commerce marketplace Casify on Thursday said it has secured $90 million in its Series E funding from NewQuest Capital Partners and Prosus.

The new funds will be utilised towards strengthening the team, building technology infrastructure and enhancing marketing efforts on branding, the company said in a statement.

Existing investors Bessemer, Blume Ventures and Olympus Capital invested in this round, with participation from new investor, Paramark Ventures.

"We look forward to stepping up our presence and offerings for our valued customers in India and fulfilling our broader goal of integrating the circular economy," said Mandeep Manocha, Founder and CEO of Cashify.

Apart from smartphone buyback, Cashify has become a smartphone-centric brand with comprehensive mobile care at users' doorsteps.

Cashify has more than 40 lakh customers and is a buyback partner for brands like Apple, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Vivo, Oppo, HP, Samsung and Dell in India.

"While there is a large opportunity set in the re-commerce space, Cashify has a clear edge as a category leader with its focus on customer experience and its data and tech-first approach," said Amit Gupta, Partner and Head of India and Southeast Asia, NewQuest.
New Delhi, June 23 : A major fire broke out at a plastic factory in Bawana area of Outer North Delhi on Wednesday morning.

According to the fire department, they received a call regarding the incident at around 5.35 a.m.

Six fire tenders were rushed to the site to douse the fire.

"Since plastic catches fire quickly, it is taking time to bring the fire under control," said a fire official.

The fire officials were being assisted by the police.

Further details are awaited.
analysis

Joint Ugandan-Congolese military exercises may have more to do with securing roads and oil than rooting out rebels.

On 16 November 2021, three suicide bombers denotated their vests in Kampala, two near parliament and one near police headquarters. At least four people were killed and 37 wounded in the blasts.

Soon after, the Ugandan government claimed the attackers were linked to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group that emerged in the 1990s in Uganda and has resided in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since 2000. The bombings were also claimed by so-called Islamic State (IS), to whom ADF pledged allegiance in 2019. In preceding weeks, IS had claimed responsibility for attacks against a pork restaurant and police station too.

In the wake of these events, President Yoweri Museveni declared that "the terrorists invited us and we are coming for them". On 30 November, the Ugandan and Congolese armies launched joint air and artillery strikes against ADF camps. This collaboration between the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) and Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) was later formalised in a defence and security agreement on 9 December. The joint military operation was named Operation Shujaa.

Since then, barely any information has emerged about the operation, with both armies remaining tight-lipped. The little that has transpired has been uncritical praise. In March 2022, for instance, President Museveni called Operation Shujaa a "total success" and said the UPDF had "demolished the terrorists". The next month, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, commander of the land forces and Museveni's son, tweeted that "the joint UPDF-FARDC forces of 'Operation Shujaa' have completely removed ADF from the bases they occupied for more than 22 years".

Does this triumphalism correspond with the reality? And is there more to the operation, and the motivations behind it, than meets the eye?

Has the ADF been defeated?

Despite Museveni and Muhoozi's claims, the ADF retains the ability to carry out major attacks. On 10 and 11 April, for instance, the rebels killed over 30 people in two villages in Ituri province, DRC. The group has conducted assaults nearby to FARDC and the UN mission MONUSCO's bases. Moreover, the ADF has returned to the border region in the Rwenzori mountains, which it used in the late-1990s and 2000s to launch attacks into Uganda. On the night of 3-4 April, the group killed at least 32 people in Rwenzori sector's Masambo village, one of the ADF's bases in the 1990s.

As a military analyst who asked to remain anonymous noted, "the irony is that the attacks have come closer to the Ugandan border than we've seen in the last decade. The ADF is moving back to positions where they launched attacks along the border. The operations might make Uganda less secure, although it remains to be seen whether these locations will be used to attack Uganda. For now, the attacks target Congolese civilians."

Detailed data from the Kivu Security Tracker echo this concerning trend. They recorded 119 ADF attacks in March 2022, compared to an average of 95 per month in the eight months preceding the start of Operation Shujaa in November 2021.

Given this trajectory, some Congolese politicians have raised concerns about the impact of the military exercise and the role of the Ugandan army. A recently released report by the Congo Research Group (CRG) on Operation Shujaa asks similar questions. It concludes that the UPDF not only lacks the capacity to structurally dismantle the ADF in such a vast territory - something the UPDF commander admitted as much in an interview - but also does not seem to have this ambition. What then is the goal of Operation Shujaa?

What is the real goal of Shujaa?

The CRG report show how road building is central to Uganda's military operations. Around the same time as its offensives began, road construction started as part of a project operated by the Ugandan company Dott Services and co-financed by the Ugandan and Congolese authorities (in which the company pays for 60%, and Uganda and DRC 20% each). Military operations are occurring in the same areas as the road works and fanning out from these construction axes.

The Ugandan authorities have themselves presented the military activities and infrastructure works as closely intertwined. The Congolese and Ugandan generals in charge of Operation Shujaa officially opened the road project. Additionally, a UPDF spokesperson has explained how the army's only intervention against M23, another armed group in the eastern DRC, occurred when the rebels wanted to attack the road infrastructure equipment. One diplomat who asked to remain anonymous summarised this situation as "the UPDF presence primarily having an infrastructural imperative".

Interestingly, a recently released UN Group of Expert report shows how Uganda and the DRC signed a military agreement to both defeat the ADF and secure road rehabilitation works as early as April 2021. The CRG report meanwhile explains how in October 2021, one month before the Kampala bombings, a similar Memorandum of Understanding was signed, allowing Ugandan troops into Congo.

What do we know about these projects?

The company carrying out the road works, Dott Services, is described by one analyst as "Uganda's Halliburton", i.e. as a primary manifestation of Uganda's military-industrial complex. A recent report describes the company as being close to Uganda's first family, while press articles have long documented the firm's contested past. In 2017, for instance, the Observer newspaper called for a parliamentary investigation into Dott Services as it "always wins road construction contracts despite evident flaws in their work methods" and asked "why no punitive action is taken when they fail to meet their end of the bargain on the projects that they commit to".

It is notable that Dott Services has recently signed a series of other contracts in eastern Congo. These include a deal for the exploitation of seven mines in Maniema province with the Congolese state mining company Sakima, and a project to rehabilitate a hydro-electric plant in Kisangani, both signed in 2020. It also emerged recently that Dott Services is trying to get an aviation license, most likely for flights to its activities in eastern Congo. All this reveals strong economic interests underpinning a military presence, without which the road infrastructure works would not be possible in the highly insecure region.

Roads are not the only economic incentive in the region. The CRG report points out how Uganda also has important oil deposits in its Western region, bordering the DRC. After years of protracted negotiations around these resources, an investment deal worth $10 billion was finally struck this February by President Museveni, Tanzania's President Samia Hassan, TotalEnergies, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation. Once extracted, the oil is set to be transported to the Tanzanian coast via the 1,443km-long East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), an ongoing construction project led by TotalEnergies.

Both Uganda's oil exploitation and EACOP are highly controversial due to their environmental and human rights impacts. However, TotalEnergies is unlikely to give them up, especially given dwindling reserves in its other African oil deposits such as in Gabon or Angola. Nor is the Ugandan government likely to waver; the promised oil revenue is crucial to the Museveni regime.

As with road construction, a key factor in the success of these projects is security. An attack on the oil installations would jeopardise the multi-billion investment, and both TotalEnergies and Uganda want to avoid a "Cabo Delgado scenario" in which an insurgency badly disrupted TotalEnergies' gas project in Mozambique.

In the case of Ugandan oil and EACOP, the biggest security threat comes from the eastern Congo; both the oil deposits and oil refinery are located close to the Congolese border, and Operation Shujaa can be understood as a means of securing the border. This reading makes sense of the fact that its primary goal does not seem to be the structural dismantling the ADF but, as the CRG report points out, the creation of a buffer zone against the rebels and other armed threats.

Who else stands to gain?

Another significant actor with a clear interest and role in these dynamics is France. Previous reports have shown close links between TotalEnergies and the French government in Uganda, where Paris is seen to operate primarily to protect the interests of the French oil major.

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Concretely, France has trained both Ugandan and Congolese troops who are now participating in Operation Shujaa. The UPDF soldiers in that force are mostly from the mountain brigade, which the French military has been training since 2016 and which has explicitly stated that the protection of oil is central to its existence. Several Congolese troops participating in the operation have also been trained by France in jungle combat, described by the French Ministry of Defence as "specifically aimed at targeting the ADF".

More generally, France is increasingly seen as an uncritical supporter of the Museveni regime, amid its major oil interests. A striking example is a letter written by President Emmanuel Macron to President Museveni after the 2021 elections. Those elections were considered widely fraudulent, with an election campaign characterised by killings of protestors and around 1,000 abductions of perceived opposition supporters. Yet - and much to the surprise of other European Union (EU) member-states - the letter was completely uncritical, instead emphasising the wish to "deepen the friendship between the two countries" and Macron's wish to "fast-track the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline".

Interviews in Kampala highlight how France is seen as giving explicit political support to Operation Shujaa. Interestingly, these conversations also suggest that France has approached several European countries to test the possibility of financing Uganda's presence in DRC through the EU's European Peace Facility. France also tried to facilitate such a deal for Rwanda after its troops intervened in Cabo Delgado and, in so doing, protected TotalEnergies' Mozambican operations. Diplomatic sources say the EU is currently considering this proposal - a "concept note" to support Rwanda with 20 million ($21 million) in non-lethal equipment - after France's lobbying.

Kristof Titeca is an associate professor at the Institute of Development Policy, University of Antwerp. He works on governance and conflict in Uganda and Congo. His latest book is Rebel Lives. Photographs from inside the Lord's Resistance Army.
Islamabad/Kabul, June 23 : Pakistan and Iran have sent aid supplies to Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 6.1-magnitude quake that killed at least 1,000 people in the war-torn nation's Paktika province.

The Prime Minister's Office in Islamabad said in a statement late Wednesday that the relief goods included blankets, tents and medicine, Xinhua news agency.

The aid came on the directions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who "showed support to the victims on behalf of the government and people of Pakistan", the Office added.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Embassy in Kabul said that Tehran has sent two cargo planes carrying first aid supplies to Afghanistan.

The Embassy added it has taken other necessary measures to provide assistance to the neighbouring country.

The earthquake on Wednesday, deemed to be the deadliest to strike the country in two decades, and subsequent landslides also injured 1,500 people in the two districts of Gayan and Barmal.

The epicentre was 44 km from Khost city and tremors were felt as far away as Pakistan and India.
Chennai, June 23 : A Division bench of Madras High court, in an extraordinary sitting in the early hours of Thursday, restrained the AIADMK general council from amending the party bylaws during its meeting scheduled for this morning.

Comprising Justices M. Duraiswamy and Sunder Mohan, the bench passed the interim order after hearing an appeal at the senior judge's residence between 2.40 a.m and 4.30 a.m.

The appeal was preferred against a single bench judge Justice Krishnan Ramaswamy refusing to pass restrain order in respect to the resolutions to be passed by the general council scheduled on Thursday.

It had passed the judgment at 8.40 p.m on Wednesday night and immediately general council member of AIADMK, M. Shanmugham filed an appeal and obtained permission for an urgent hearing.

Senior Counsel P.H. Arvind Pandian, represented the AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam. The advocate told the court that as the general council meeting was scheduled on Thursday morning, there was grave urgency in hearing the matter.

The court obliged and heard the plea and pronounced the judgment restraining the general council from amending any bylaw of the party. This has brought a huge relief to Panneerselvam and his camp as an amendment of bylaw would mean the party opting for a single leader and posting Edappadi K. Palaniswami as the Single general secretary.

Since the passing away of former Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa, the party has been having a dual leadership with Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami leading it as coordinator and joint coordinator respectively.
New Delhi/Mumbai, June 23 : After Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackarey vacated the official residence in Mumbai, Shiv Sena is now directly engaging with the rebel MLAs and talking to each of them through emissaries but with no hopes.

A senior functionary of the Sena said, "The magnitude of the rebellion is such that there are grim chances of survival, but we are engaging them and there are regular talks." The Sena leader said the only hope is that the party thinks that many MLAs don't want to go into election, so if they are disqualified for violating the party line they have to seek re-election. If half the MLAs return, then the government could survive.

The Sena rebels are swelling, as the leader pointed out, who also added that no one could anticipate Shinde to do this as he was a trusted man of the top leadership.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray late on Wednesday vacated his official residence 'Varsha' at Malabar Hill to return to his private home 'Matoshri' in Bandra along with his family.

The move came hours after his emotional appeal to the rebel group of Shiv Sena MLAs, led by Minister Eknath Shinde, that he (Thackeray) was ready to quit both as a CM and as party President, provided the rebels meet him.

Thackeray -- who tested Covid-19 positive the previous morning -- also said that he had kept his resignation letter ready and any of the rebels could go and hand it over to the Governor.

On his part, Shinde responded by saying that the steps would have to be taken for Hindutva and reiterated his demand to break off with the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress to form the government with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The crisis shows no sign of defusing despite efforts of the MVA allies, including the offer to quit by the Chief Minister or even his (Uddhav Thackrey) decision to vacate his official residence.
Chennai, June 23 : The long pending wage revision talks between the General Insurers' (Public Sector) Association of India (GIPSA) and the various employee unions have begun in a bad taste.

The talks were held on Wednesday.

The GIPSA, the lobby body for the four government owned multiline non-life insurers and the General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) made their offer that was expected to be rejected and the unions rejected the same.

The wage revision for the public sector general insurance employees was due from August 1, 2017.

"The GIPSA offered seven per cent hike on the wage bill (without any wage arrears from 2017) or five per cent wage hike with two per cent of arrears," Sanjay Jha, Secretary Standing committee (General Insurance, All India Insurance Employees Association-AIIEA), told IANS.

Jha said the AIIEA and other unions have rejected the 'disappointing' offer.

According to him, the Joint Forum of Trade Unions and Associations will hold demonstrations during the lunch recess demanding a respectable wage offer maintaining insurance sector parity.

"The financial position of the companies in 2017 was good. There is no reason for the management to make such an offer. Perhaps it is done to delay the wage revision further," said Vijay Sharma, President, National Confederation of General Insurance Officers Association (CONFED) and All India President of New India Assurance Officers Association.

Sharma said the employees expect at least a 15 per cent hike offer, similar to what was given to the employees of Life Insurance Corporation of India.
St Petersburg, June 23 : The severe sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine are causing dramatic changes in the global economy and the oil market.

Against all odds, Russia, one of the major energy-producing countries, continues to play a crucial role in the global energy market, while such unprecedented turbulence and disruption in the global economy can lead, among other things, to a shortage of energy.

The tectonic shifts in the hydrocarbon markets were addressed at the Energy panel session as part of the XXV St Petersburg International Economic Forum. This year's anniversary edition of the Forum was titled "New World - New Opportunities" and traditionally addressed economic, social and technological issues. The Energy panel session was attended by the CEO of Rosneft Oil Company, Igor Sechin, Managing Director and CEO of ONGC Videsh Alok Kumar Gupta, Chairman of CNPC Dai Houliang, CEO of OPHIR Pedro Aquino Jr. and former Executive Director of IEA Nobuo Tanaka.

The constant change of priorities of the US energy companies, national regulations and political targeting, with the advancement of the green agenda, the pandemic and energy shortages make shareholders distrustful of the changing agenda and reluctant to invest long term. As a result, short-term investments gain priority, and companies focus on increasing dividends while minimizing investments in development.

To address the oil shortage alone, by 2030, the world will need additional investments of $400 billion. This is both politically and financially impossible, noted Igor Sechin, head of Russian oil major Rosneft, while delivering his keynote speech at the SPIEF Energy panel session.

The anti-Russian sanctions have effectively ended the so-called 'green transition' which was seen as a way to manipulate the market. Western countries argue for accelerating the green transition and reducing carbon footprints but do the opposite in practice, increasing carbon footprints and eroding other countries' economies.

But economic policy goals cannot be confined to the economy alone. The restoration of essential production chains disrupted by sanctions sparked a move toward technological sovereignty. A revised configuration of the oil market is already taking shape in Russia, where two price contours have been formed: a fair market price for 'friendly countries' and an added premium, which will be added to the price for 'unfriendly countries' to compensate for the violation of rules and obligations by the former partners.

With its energy potential and portfolio of top-flight projects, Russia is well-positioned to meet long-term global energy needs with affordable energy resources.

Take Russia's Vostok Oil - the world's largest oil project and the only ongoing project of such a scale.

Vostok Oil's confirmed resource base amounts to 6.2 billion tons, and the oil from its fields has a sulphur content of 0.01 per cent to 0.1 per cent and a low density of approximately 40 API.

Clearly, Vostok Oil has one of the highest efficiency and stability levels in the industry, which will be highly beneficial to its shareholders. Now, the most important aspect of this project is that it can stabilize hydrocarbon markets during a hurricane.
June 23 : Diva Elnaaz Norouzi who is collaborating with Nawazuddin Siddiqui for the second time for a suspense thriller titled Sangeen, says it is a suspense thriller with an exciting story. Elnaaz Norouzi was interacting with NewsHelpline during a promotional interview in Mumbai. Helmed by Jaideep Chopra, the film Sangeen reunites Elnaaz and Nawauzddin after Sacred Games. The film is shot across London and Mumbai. Talking about the film, Elnaaz said, Id always wanted to be part of a thriller, and forthcoming Sangeen is a suspense thriller, it has an exciting story, and I am able to work with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, so it is incredible. I knew Nawazuddin from Scared Games, so working with him was very comfortable. We started shooting for Sangeen right in the middle of Corona, we went to London to shoot for the film.

Elnaaz recently made headlines with special with two massive songs, Kala Sha Kala from Om - The Battle Within, and Duppata from Jug Jugg Jeeyo. Talking about the song, Elnaaz added, Duppata song is a groovy number, I had fun shooting with Varun Dhawan, Anil Kapoor, and Maniesh Paul, but I am more excited about my cameo in the film. I have scenes with Anil Kapoor, so shooting with such a great thing for me Kala Sha Kala and Dupptta came out together, its not like I am moving towards item song space, I shot the song back in 2021, it so happens that the songs came out at the same time added Elnaaz. Sangeen is jointly produced by Gurjit Singh of Golden Era Films and Ankit Khanna of AK Projekts and is expected to release late in 2022.
Kochi, June 23 : The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted bail to Catholic priest Thomas M. Kottur and co-convict Sister Steffi in the sensational sister Abhaya murder case.

The two have been asked to deposit a sum of Rs 5 lakh each and refrained from leaving the state without the court's permission.

Incidentally, in December 2020, a CBI Special Court had sentenced Kottur to two life terms besides a fine of Rs 5 lakhs after conviction under Section 302 of the IPC.

Sister Steffi was also convicted and handed down life imprisonment under the same Section in addition to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for tampering with evidence under Section 201.

Sister Abhaya was found dead in a well on March 27, 1992 at the Pious Tenth Convent in Kottayam.

Joemon Puthanpurakal, Convener of Sister Abhaya Action Council, who was present at the court slammed the CBI for its "laxity".

"It's strange and unfortunate that the CBI doesn't have a standing counsel and the counsel who appeared in this case for the CBI is one who does not understand Malayalam and did nothing. What happened today was the accused have only got bail without the court going into the merit of the case," said Puthanpurakal.

"We will now write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and to the CBI director on how the CBI has been handling this case," said Puthanpurakal who has been following this case for the past three decades and has even written a book on this case.
Hyderabad, June 23 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday detained a Telangana High Court lawyer in Hyderabad in connection with the alleged kidnapping of a nursing student.

The NIA officials detained Shilpa after conducting searches at Chilukanagar in Uppal area.

She was shifted to NIA's regional office in Hyderabad, where the agency officials were questioning her.

A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Shilpa and others by the NIA recently on the basis of case registered earlier by Visakhapatnam police on a complaint by mother of nursing student Radha.

Radha went missing four years ago and her mother Pallepati Pochamma alleged that leaders of Chaitanya Mahila Sangham (CMS) kidnapped her and forcibly recruited her in Communist Party of India (Maoist).

Her mother alleged that CMS leaders Devendra, Swapna, Shilpa and others had come to their residence and taken Radha with them saying they need her services for treatment.

The complainant alleged that Radha did not return home and later she came to know her daughter had joined the Maoist party and was working with the top brass in the forest area of Peddabayalu in Visakhapatnam district.

The NIA also conducted searches at Chegunta in Medak district of Telangana on Thursday. The officials carried out searches at the house of a son of top Maoist leader Dubashi Shankar, who was arrested by Odisha police in September last year.

The NIA on June 3 registered a FIR on the basis of the case registered by Peddabayulu police. The case has been registered under kidnapping, wrongful confinement and criminal conspiracy.

Meanwhile, lawyer Shilpa's family condemned the NIA searches and her detention without notice. They said she had quit CMS long ago and alleged that the case was fake and part of a conspiracy to harass her.

They said since Shilpa had been fighting cases and raising voice on behalf of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and minorities, she was being targeted.

Shilpa's husband Bandi Kiran said she was implicated in similar false cases in the past and she had to spend seven months in jail.
New Delhi, June 23 : The Naga Civil Society under the aegis of much respected Nagaland Gaon Burrah Federation (NGBF) of village elders has now taken the much delayed peace talks process to the next level, and formed an Action Committee to materialise the solution at the earliest.

The consultative meeting on Naga Political issue in its June 21 meeting at Dimapur saw participation of civil society organisations, tribal bodies, public leaders and intellectuals.

The meeting was initiated and organised by NGBF.

The House resolved to constitute a high-powered panel under the nomenclature of Nagaland People's Action Committee (NPAC) to carry out the "voice of the people till we get the desired result".

It said the talks finalised as on October 31, 2019 should be implemented.

The house also resolved to ask the apex Tribal Hohos to officially delegate one representative each to be a member of the committee.

As of now, the Committee will have Convener Theja Therie, Co-Convener Shikuto Zalipu of the NGBF, among others.

Much importantly, the Action Committee and others will now also organise a public rally and other follow up actions to mount pressure on Naga underground bodies and the Government of India to ink the final peace pact at the earliest, a spokesman for NGBF said.

Meanwhile, in a statement, convener of the NNPG umbrella organisation of 7-underground militant bodies, has categorically urged "the political leadership of India" to take a decision.

N Kitovi Zhimomi, NNPG head, appealed to all sections of the Naga society and asserted that the "negotiations have officially concluded and therefore the political leadership of India must take the decision".

He further said that generalizing and alleging that the Naga political groups were deliberately delaying political solutions for personal reasons and ambition was "vague and unfounded".

His point has been that the NNPG, on the contrary, is always keen for a final peace pact especially after it had inked the Agreed Position with the Centre and then peace interlocutor R.N. Ravi in November 2017.

"The misty cloud over Nagaland and Naga homeland has evaporated and the sky is clear. The dust has settled and it is visible to the Naga people as to who are playing chameleon's role and delaying the Indo-Naga solution," Kitovi said, making a veiled but obvious reference to the NSCN-IM.

The Naga people, thus, must speak out boldly and call a spade a spade, he insisted.

On June 21, the NNPG charged NSCN-IM leader Thuingaleng Muivah (a Tangkhul Naga himself) with making attempts to push Nagaland towards an authoritarian rule.

Tangkhuls have an overwhelming presence in the neighbouring state of Manipur.

"If this is not a glimpse of a determined plan for a backdoor entry into Nagaland in the near future what else is", the NNPG working committee said in its statement in reference to NSCN-IM move on the Pan Naga Hoho.

For 25 years, Muivah and a few of his "trusted tribesmen" have been demanding from the Centre a "democratic nation, to allow them to begin an authoritarian regime in Nagaland", it added.

"Would any Naga worth his salt hide the post solution political or administrative blueprint from the Naga people for 25 years?" The reference is to prolonged talks that began in 1997 and is still not able to throw up a solution.

In fact, while the Centre and some other stakeholders. including the then Governor R.N. Ravi had made a statement on the floor of the assembly that talks were over in October 2019, the NSCN-IM surprisingly says negotiations were still on, and that the Pan Naga Hoho matters were still in 'incubation'.

All these complexities have now forced NNPG to issue a strong statement, stating: "It is clear that the Naga tribes from within the present state of Nagaland have been taken for a ride. The brazen justification of the Pan Naga Hoho admitting that it is at incubating stage and being concretized sounds most outrageous." This is not the first time the NNPG has issued a strong statement against the NSCN-IM.

Last month the NNPG had stated that "Nagaland today is a land where tenants, dream to be landlords through heckling, harassing and brutalising the owners with symbolic tools like integration, flag, constitution, Pan Naga Hoho etc".

A few days ago, the NSCN-IM in its statement had said: "The Pan Naga Hoho does not undermine any democratic political institution as perceived by others. Such a widely diffused view is unfounded".

The NNPG, however, says the NSCN-IM wants to paint the Naga future landscape with a "democratic brush but their dictatorial ambition is visible".

"Nagaland or for that matter Naga areas in other states have their very own indigenous Naga tribe inhabiting a particular area with full community ownership. No part of it can be ceded to another tribe or can be declared a common property of all Nagas now or in the future," it asserted.

The consultative meeting convened by the NGBF said that the Nagas of Nagaland shall stand as "one entity and we shall collectively react to any discriminating action meted out to any individual or community by any element".

(Nirendra Dev is a New Delhi-based journalist. He is also author of books, "The Talking Guns: North East India" and "Modi to Moditva: An Uncensored Truth". Views are personal)
United Nations, June 23 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres paid tributes to the 485 personnel of the world body who lost their lives in the line of duty last year.

"We have come together to honor the memory of UN personnel who lost their lives serving our organization over the course of last year... We are united in sorrow and solidarity," Guterres told an annual memorial service, which was held virtually this year.

"Throughout the past year, Covid-19 continued to cause immeasurable suffering and death. And as we did last year, we pay tribute today to our colleagues we lost because of malicious acts, natural disasters -- and illness. As a result, at this memorial service we mourn the highest number of colleagues, 485 UN personnel, lost in a single year," he said.

Of the 485 dead, 70 were military, one was police, and 414 were civilian personnel. They hailed from 104 nations.

"Often far from home, without fanfare, they devoted their careers to help others. Unbowed by cynicism, they worked to make a difference, no matter how high the obstacle; no matter how distant the reward; no matter, even, how difficult the challenge," said Guterres.

"They worked to secure peace in forgotten places. They fed the hungry and sheltered those driven from their homes. They helped protect our planet, delivered life-saving assistance, and fought to give children a better future. In short, they upheld the vision and values of the UN." The world is in turmoil, scarred by conflicts, threatened by crises and overwhelmed by emergencies. Humanity's only hope is to join forces and work together as one international community. The UN is both the instrument and the expression of that community, he said.

"Our colleagues lost their lives. But their spirit to help others lives on, today and every day. May their memory be a blessing and an inspiration to us all."
Attacks by gunmen, said to be jihadists, were ongoing on Monday in central Mali where at least 130 civilians were massacred on the weekend.

"Even this [Monday] morning, my village is under fire," a witness, who wished to remain anonymous because of security concerns, told DW in a phone interview.

"Our families are fleeing because they are afraid their village will be the next to be attacked by armed groups."

The fighting comes despite the area under attack being only 5 km (3 miles) from a military base in Bandiagara, in Mali's central Mopti region.

National mourning

Mali's interim government, led by Colonel Assimi Goita, on Monday declared three days of mourning for those killed in the massacre in three Malian villages in the Bankass area of the Mopti region over the weekend.

It also said that 132 civilians had been "coldly killed" in the Bankass area and blamed the massacre on fighters of the Macina Katiba of Amadou Kouffa, an organization affiliated to al-Qaeda.

Witnesses, however, told AFP news agency that they believed the death toll could be much higher.

The gunmen are said to have accused the victims of conspiring with mercenaries from the Russian Wagner group, which is supporting Mali's army in the fight against Islamic terrorists, according to AFP.

"They have also been burning huts, houses, and stealing cattle -- it's really a free-for-all," a local official told AFP, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) tweeted its condemnation of the attacks in central Mali, saying in a linked statement that it was concerned by "attacks against civilians in the Bandiagara region perpetrated by extremist groups. These attacks have reportedly caused casualties and displacement of populations."

In its statement, MINUSMA also offered help with care and evacuation of the injured, as well as help investigate the massacres.

A MINUSMA team based in Mopti visited the crime scenes with local authorities on Monday.

Widening insurgency

Jihadists frequently target civilians in reprisal attacks for collaborating with those who it sees as its enemy, namely Mali's government and its army.

Since 2012, Mali has been battling a jihadist insurgency with links to al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State.

The violence that started in the north of the Sahel country has since spread to central Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and most recently, Benin and Togo.

A large portion of Mali is beyond the control of the interim government, which took power in a coup in May 2021.

Self-defense militias and jihadist groups have filled this power vacuum.

Thousands displaced in Menaka

The violence is also ongoing in other regions of Mali.

In the northeastern region of Menaka, near the tri-border zone of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, more than 1,000 civilians have been killed and 90,000 displaced, according to Fahad Ag Al Mahmoud, spokesperson for the GATIA movement, a pro-government armed militia actively fighting the jihadists in central Mali.

"The situation is very critical because the herders can no longer stay in their homes," Al Mahmoud told DW.

"For those lucky enough to survive, they have been forced to go to the town of Menaka," he said, referring to the region's administrative capital.

He warned that all the inhabitants would end up in Menaka town in the coming days if nothing is done to stop the violence.

The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) recently claimed to have killed more than 145 fighters from the mostly Tuareg-led militias fighting the jihadists in Menaka.

Power vaccuum

Last week, the head of the UN mission to Mali, El-Ghassim Wane, warned that Menaka would be left vulnerable to attacks after French troops handed over a military outpost in the region on Monday 14 June.

France will soon entirely withdraw its forces from its last base in the neighboring Gao region and end its Barkhane mission, which began nine years ago.

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Just days after the French withdrawal, the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad, another militia fighting the Islamists, claimed that 22 people had been killed by "armed men" in the locality of Izingaz in the Menaka region. No other sources, however, have confirmed this information.

Violence spreading throughout Sahel

In the central Sahel region, the number of civilians killed in attacks blamed on extremist groups has nearly doubled since 2020, according to a report released by a coalition of West African NGOs.

In northern Burkina Faso, Islamist extremists killed at least 79 people in Seytenga in June.

The UN Security Council has expressed concern about the deteriorating security situation in Mali's north and central regions as well as along its borders to Burkina Faso and Niger.

This article is based on a French article written by DW journalist Bob Barry as well as other interviews conducted by him.

Edited by: Kate Hairsine
San Francisco, June 23 : A woman died in Southern California after being struck by lightning as a summer storm hit the area, local media reported.

The woman and her two dogs were killed while walking along a riverbed path on Wednesday in Pico Rivera, a city located in southeastern Los Angeles County, Xinhua news agency quoted the Los Angeles Times as saying ina report citing the police.

"There's a one-in-a-million chance of something like this happening and it happened," LA County Sheriff's Sgt. Patrick Morey was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Pico Rivera officials announced to cancel some outdoor activities, such as field trip and farmers market.

Officials in some Southern California areas urged local residents to stay indoors during the unstable weather.

Multiple beaches in Southern California were closed by local authorities due to dangerous weather conditions.
New Delhi: Former union minister Yashwant Sinha during a press conference, in New Delhi, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Sinha has been unanimously chosen as the joint opposition candidate for the upcoming Presidential election. (Photo: Qamar Sibtain/IANS Image Source: IANS News

Kolkata, June 23 : In wake of a flood of adverse comments from within the party over the decision to support Yashwant Sinha as the presidential candidate, the CPI(M) central committee has disabled the "comment option," in its official page.

The party has posted the official statement by Sinha as the unanimous opposition candidate for the Presidential poll on its official page. However, the comment option has been disabled there. Needless to say, the action has been prompted by an attempt to arrest the wave of internal discontent hitting the section at a time when the social media has already been swamped by comments from the party insiders criticising the high command for the latter's decision to support Sinha.

The maximum criticisms have come from the party members of West Bengal who are furious about the decision considering that Sinha, who was a former heavyweight Union minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee-led first NDA government and who later joined Trinamool Congress became the party national vice president.

Although strict instructions have come from CPI(M)'s national headquarters of A.K. Gopalan Bhawan in New Delhi to the party's Bengal brigade to refrain from fueling this internal discontent, the caution hardly had any impact. Even the party's Rajya Sabha member Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, CPI(M)'s sole parliamentary representative from West Bengal has described Sinha's candidature as "improper" and said that he will have to consume his high command's decision on this count as a "bitter gourd".

Understanding that the internal discontent from West Bengal is going out of proportion, the CPI(M)'s general secretary Sitaram Yechury has explained through the party's mouthpiece in Bengali under what circumstances the party was forced to support Sinha's candidature.

Candidly confessing that internal discontent is brewing over the decision to support Sinha's candidate, Yechury said that the Sinha was the only choice left for the opposition after Sharad Pawar, Farooq Abdulla and Gopal Krishna Gandhi refused to contest. However, Yechury said that it was CPI(M)'s moral victory that under its pressure Sinha had to resign as Trinamool Congress's national vice president before his name was announced as the opposition candidate.

Yechury was also candid in his confession that currently the Left Parties do not have that numerical strength to field its own candidate as they did in 2002 by fielding Captain Lakshmi Sehgal of INA- fame against the-then NDA candidate, APJ Abdul Kalam. "In 2002, the Left Parties were the third largest power in terms of numerical presence in the Parliament and hence we could manage around 1,00,000 votes in favour of her then. But the situation is different now. Had we fielded our own candidate this time, we would have got more isolated as people could say that we were jeopardising the opposition effort against communal forces," Yechury said.
Colombo, June 23 : A four-member Indian delegation led by Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra met Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday to assess the bilateral assistance provided by New Delhi in the wake of the island nation's ongoing economic crisis.

According to Sri Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kwatra is is accompanied by Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs Ajay Seth, Chief Economic Advisor Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran and Joint Secretary of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) Kartik Pande .

At the meeting, the Indian delegation examined the possibility of another tranche of financial package to be disbursed to Sri Lanka.

It is also scheduled to hold discussions with senior officials on the economic situation in the country and the short-term and long-term assistance requirements.

As a single country, India with over $3.5 billion since January has provided the biggest assistance to Sri Lanka specially for the import of essentials items like fuel, food and medicine.

On Wednesday, Wickremesinghe told Parliament about the the need to have a plan to revive the economy, adding that that India too would not be able to continue to assist Sri Lanka in the way she has been doing.

"We have taken loans amounting to $4 billion under the Indian credit line. We have requested more loan assistance from our Indian counterparts. But even India will not be able to continuously support us in this manner. Even their assistance has its limits.

"On the other hand, we too must have a plan to repay these loans. These are not charitable donations," he added Facing a severe food crisis, Sri Lanka is to import rice under an Indian credit line and issue stocks to the market in order to ensure price controls.

"This will provide some relief to the Sri Lankan consumers," the Prime Minister added.

Facing the worst ever economic crisis with dried up foreign reserves, Sri Lanka is expecting a financial bailout from the International Monetary Board (IMF) once its Executive Board visits for the final decision.

In line with talks with IMF, the island nation also to organise a credit aid conference with its main lending countries India, Japan and China.
Sofia, June 23 : Bulgaria's coalition government led by Kiril Petkov was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament here.

In the 240-seat legislature, 123 deputies from the center-right GERB-UDF coalition (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria and Union of Democratic Forces), the centrist Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), the ultranationalist Revival party and the populist There Is Such A People (ITN) party voted against Petkov's government, reports Xinhua news agency.

The motion required absolute majority support.

The no-confidence motion against the four-party coalition government was filed last on June 15 by GERB-UDF, the largest opposition force in Bulgaria's Parliament with 59 seats.

The move came just one week after the ITN leadership announced the party's exit from the ruling coalition.

Meanwhile, six of the 25 ITN lawmakers left the parliamentary group due to disagreement with this decision. They voted against the no-confidence motion.

Petkov's government was elected last December, backed by 134 MPs from Petkov's centrist We Continue the Change electoral alliance, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) for Bulgaria, the centre-right Democratic Bulgaria electoral alliance and ITN.

This was the first successful no-confidence motion against a government in Bulgaria since the adoption of the country's Constitution in 1991.

Under the Constitution, Petkov shall hand in his government's resignation.

However, the parliamentary group of Petkov's We Continue the Change, which has 67 seats in Parliament, will be given another chance to stay in power, because following consultations with the parliamentary groups, the country's president shall appoint the prime minister-designate nominated by the party holding the highest number of seats in the National Assembly to form a government.

Should no agreement on the formation of a government be reached, the President shall appoint a caretaker government, dissolve the National Assembly and schedule new elections.
Washington, June 23 : At age 91, Rupert Murdoch is heading for a divorce with Jerry Hall, the fourth for the American media mogul and the third for the model-actress, according to media reports.

Citing a report by The New York Times, the BBC said that representatives for Murdoch and the 65-year-old Hall, who got married at a mansion in central London in 2016, are yet to comment.

The report said the couple's split "comes as a surprise to those close to the family".

Murdoch was previously married to Australian flight attendant Patricia Booker, from 1956 to 1967; Scottish-born journalist Anna Mann, from 1967 to 1999; and Chinese-born entrepreneur Wendi Deng, from 1999 to 2014.

Hall was previously married to Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, with whom she had four children.

Across their marriages, Murdoch and Hall have 10 children, the BBC reported.

Murdoch's News Corporation empire controls major media outlets including Fox News and the Wall Street Journal in the US, and The Sun and The Times in the UK.
New Delhi, June 23: Spotlighting their shared vision of free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, India and Australia today added another dimension to their growing ties - joint production of weapons.

Discussing extensively the defence and security pillars of the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during their meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and visiting Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles focused on certain key areas.

Firstly, as India moves ahead strongly to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Make in India, Make for the World' or Atmanirbhar Bharat, both sides agreed to find means to grow connections and opportunities between Indian and Australian military industrial complex.

Singh and Marles decided to give fillip to the India-Australia Joint Working Group (JWG) on Defence Research and Materiel Cooperation, which will meet in Australia later this year. The JWG is a crucial mechanism for boosting ties between defence industries.

India's Defence Procurement Policy encourages joint development, design and production with foreign original equipment managers. The Modi government's 'Strategic Partnership' model also seeks to identify a few Indian private companies as strategic partners who would initially link with shortlisted foreign original equipment managers to manufacture major military platforms.

Marles, who visited Goa before arriving in the Indian capital on Tuesday, also toured INS Hansa and the Goa Shipyard Limited to witness first-hand the display of India's growing prowess in indigenous drone development and autonomous vehicle technology.

The two ministers also discussed further opportunities for industrial cooperation between India and Australia to increase the resilience of supply chains and deliver capabilities to their respective defence forces.

"There are also mutual economic opportunities, especially as we both look to diversify and build resilience in our supply chains, as seen with Prime Minister Modi's 'Make in India' indigenisation programme for the military. And the Australian Defence Export Office is eager to send representatives from Australia's defence industry to India's premier defence exhibition - DefExpo," Marles said later in the day during his address at the National Defence College.

As reported by IndiaNarrative.com earlier, India and Australia are already taking their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to a new level with extensive collaboration to identify opportunities for strategic investment in Australian critical minerals projects.

Secondly, with both India and Australia seeing the Pacific as a part of the world which is deeply critical for the peace and prosperity of the entire region, the two ministers reviewed strategic challenges and the regional security situation.

Just before arriving in India, the Australian Defence Minister had mentioned after talks with his Japanese counterpart Kishi Nobuo in Tokyo that China is seeking to "shape the world around it in a way that it has not done before".

Canberra and Tokyo have also been raising serious concerns about the Solomon Islands-China security agreement, the lack of transparency and its implications for continuing regional security and stability.

Similarly, India has batted for global rules-based order, asserting the importance of UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in areas like the South China Sea. India's approach to Indo-Pacific is pegged to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) doctrine.

Singh and Marles, on Wednesday, welcomed the growing diversity and frequency of defence exercises and exchanges between the two countries and undertook to build upon operational engagements through the India-Australia Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement.

According to the Indian Defence Ministry, the two ministers reviewed the existing defence cooperation activities which have been increasing despite challenges of Covid-19 pandemic and also looked forward to India's participation in Australia's Indo Pacific Endeavour exercise in October 2022.

Thirdly, both ministers disccused the commencement of the landmark General Rawat Young Officer Exchange Programme in the latter half of 2022, which was announced during the virtual summit meeting between the Prime Ministers of the two countries on March 21, earlier this year. The programme will greatly enhance professional military contacts between both sides and facilitate the exchange of ideas and operational experiences.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
San Francisco, June 23 : London-based consumer electronics company Nothing has reportedly confirmed that its debut smartphone -- Phone (1) -- will not be getting a wide release in the US or Canada.

According to PCMag, the company said that users can try to use Phone (1) in the US, but it may not work well. It will have "unpredictable" coverage on T-Mobile, have no voice-over-4G on AT&T and no service on Verizon at all.

"While we would love to bring Phone (1) to the entire community around the world, we are focusing on home markets, including the UK and Europe, where we have strong partnerships with leading local carriers," the company was quoted as saying in a statement.

"It takes a lot to launch a smartphone as you know, from ensuring the handset is supported by the country's cellular technologies to carrier partnerships and local regulation, and as we're still a young brand we need to be strategic about it," it added.

Recently, the company shared an image of the upcoming smartphone on social media platforms that appeared to be constructed from transparent material and includes glowing light strips at the back.

Nothing had also announced that the smartphone will be manufactured at a facility in Tamil Nadu.

The upcoming smartphone will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon mobile platform. It will come pre-installed with the Nothing OS. The device will be treated with three years of OS upgrades and four years of security updates.
New Delhi, June 23 : The Centre has filed an affidavit on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) moved in the Delhi High Court challenging the surveillance systems that share information and surveillance between law enforcement agencies.

In the PIL, the petitioner claimed that the citizens' right to privacy was endangered by surveillance systems such as the Centralised Monitoring System (CMS), Network Traffic Analysis (NETRA), and National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID).

However, in its affidavit, the central government on Wednesday stated that these systems do not give any blanket permission to the law enforcement agencies to conduct surveillance, interception, or decryption. It emphasised that permission is required in this regard from a competent authority.

It further said that the NATGRID project will not allow for real-time profiling of individuals, but would allow the agencies to get selective information about selective entities as a part of an anti-terror framework to facilitate access to information from various data sources.

The NGOs were seeking for the forming of an oversight mechanism over the upcoming surveillance systems on grounds that they could allow for extensive public surveillance and violation of privacy.
Colombo, June 23 : Australia's left-handed batter Travis Head has been ruled out of featuring for Australia in the fifth and final ODI against Sri Lanka at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Friday.

Head hurt his right hamstring while fielding during the fourth ODI in Colombo on Tuesday and with him added to Australia's long injury list, it keeps him under doubt for participation in the first Test starting in Galle from June 29.

"It's a bit more of a precaution, especially with where he fields. He fields in the outfield and the ground is quite heavy and he does a lot of K's (kilometres). I'm not sure what he'll be like for the Tests but he's definitely not available for tomorrow," said Australia white-ball skipper Aaron Finch.

If Head is forced to miss the first Test, then Australia can look towards their 'A' team squad, who are currently midway through a four-day match against Sri Lanka 'A' in Hambantota as the Test side hasn't got any extra specialist batter. The Australia 'A' squad have got a left-handed trio in Marcus Harris, Matthew Renshaw and Nic Maddinson.

Since landing in Sri Lanka, Australia have seen their casualty list becoming a long one during the white-ball leg of the trip. Sean Abbott was ruled out due to a broken finger before the matches began. He was followed by Mitchell Marsh, who has since recovered from a calf strain.

Pacer Kane Richardson had to fly back home after injuring his hamstring, Marcus Stoinis and Ashton Agar were down with side strain while Mitchell Starc suffered a finger injury and Steve Smith had a quad injury.

After Australia won the T20I series 2-1, Sri Lanka bounced back by clinching the ODI series with an unassailable 3-1 lead ahead of the final match of the series on Friday.
Los Angeles, June 23 : American rapper Lil TJay was one of two people shot in New Jersey early Wednesday morning, just weeks after declaring it was going to be "a good summer." According to mypost.com, the Bronx-born rapper was struck multiple times at The Promenade in Edgewater. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said cops responded to reports of shots fired at the location just after midnight.

When they arrived, they discovered 21-year-old Lil TJay, whose real name is Tione Marriot, with multiple gunshot wounds. Antoine Boyd, 22, was also found with a single gunshot wound, officials said.

Both were transported to an area hospital for treatment.

Officials did not release their conditions, however tmz.com reported that Lil TJay underwent emergency surgery.

Officials said the shooting happened after Mohamed Konate tried to rob Lil TJay, Boyd and a third person the rapper was with, 24-year-old Jeffrey Valdez.

Both Valdez and Boyd each had an unlawful weapon on them at the time.

Konate was arrested later on Wednesday by detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and the New York Police Department. His extradition to New Jersey is currently pending, officials said, reports nypost.com.

He's charged with three counts of attempted murder, three counts of armed robbery, two counts of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and fourth-degree aggravated assault.

Boyd and Valdez were both charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and were being held at the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack awaiting an initial hearing.

Lil Tjay is a Bronx-born rapper with over 7 million followers on Instagram. He rose to fame on Soundcloud and was signed by Columbia Records in 2018. His debut album, 'True 2 Myself' peaked at No. 5 on the US Billboard 200.

In an Instagram post just two weeks before he was shot, the rapper posted a video of himself dancing shirtless with a big chain with the caption "dis gon be a good summer." Fellow artistes and athletes offered their prayers for the wounded rapper.

"Pray for my lil bro lil Tjay," tweeted hip-hop star French Montana.
The lawmakers asked the security agencies to immediately do everything possible to ensure the safe release of a Plateau monarch and many others in kidnapper's captivity across the country, including victims of Abuja-Kaduna train attack.

The Deputy Speaker of theHouse of Representatives, Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), has described resolutions of the House on insecurity as "mere statements" that are not respected by concerned authorities.

Mr Idris stated this on Wednesday while contributing to a motion by Solomon Maren (PDP, Plateau) on the general insecurity in Plateau State.

Speaking on the motion, Mr Idris raised alarm on the general insecurity in Wase Federal Constituency, noting that abduction for ransom is a daily occurrence in the constituency.

He said kidnappers demand as much as N10 million from villagers who are struggling to survive.

"Despite the resolutions of the House urging the security agencies to put out formations in some of these areas, so that we will be able to stop these things, but till this moment, nothing has happened. It is like our resolutions are mere statements. If they are taking us seriously, I believe many of these things can be stopped.

"I lost about five persons--they will take the ransom and still kill the person. At times, these things take place in places where you have a security unit... shoot sporadically and abduct people," he said.

The motion

In his motion, Mr Maren raised alarm on the targeting of traditional rulers and district heads in Plateau State.

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He narrated how the district dead of Panyam in Plateau State was kidnapped by bandits who attacked his house.

Mr Maren revealed that the attacks have been "systematic, well-coordinated and targeted across the constituency, the state and indeed the country, which is alarming and of grave concern."

He warned that if something urgent is not done to "reduce, stop and or curtail these ugly occurrences which have become a recurrent decimal, our communities may soon be thrown into total terror, fear and or lawlessness."

Consequently, the House resolved to summon the Inspector General of Police, Usman Akali, and the Chief of Army Staff, Faruk Yahaya other relevant security agencies to appear before it.

It also asked the security agencies to immediately do everything possible to ensure the safe release of the monarch and others in kidnapper's captivity across the country, including victims of the Kaduna train attack.

Also, the House urged the federal government to increase the recruitment of more hands in the security agencies and ensure they are properly funded to march the challenges.

The state governments have also been urged to arm local vigilante groups in the fight against insecurity.

The motion was adopted after it was put to vote by Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Chennai, June 23 : Sensing a global opportunity in the electric vehicles (EV) segment, Indian automotive ancillaries are shifting gears in sync with the trend, said a top official of Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA).

He also said many of the players in the $46 billion (FY21) industry are also supplying to non-auto sectors like defence, railways and aerospace.

"About 60 per cent of our members are ready to supply components for EVs and the remaining 40 per cent will be ready next year. EV is an opportunity for Indian auto component makers. Electrification is happening by government regulation and consumer demand," Sunjay J Kapur, President, ACMA, told IANS.

He said the vehicle makers have an EV platform for most of the new models.

Given this, auto ancillaries are also investing towards future and EV technologies in the areas of telematics, display units and others.

Kapur said 75 companies have been approved under the Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

Each one of them has to invest about Rs 250 crore over a period of five years to benefit under the PLI scheme and the quantum of investment is a whopping Rs 18,750 crore.

According to Kapur, the majority of the new investments will be for catering to the emerging EV segment with future technologies.

"Electrification of the automobile industry will not wipe out the component sector that primarily catered to the internal combustion engine vehicle segment," Vinnie Mehta, Director General, ACMA told IANS.

Speaking about the market, Kapur said the domestic demand for vehicles is strong and would continue to be so as the macro economic factors are also strong.

The $10 billion replacement/retail market is also good for the component industry as many people postponed new vehicle purchases during the past two years owing to Covid pandemic, Kapur added.

"The chip shortage will grow the second hand car segment which in turn would increase the after market sales of auto components," Kapur said.

Like the common parts for various vehicle models, vehicle makers are also looking at commonality/standardisation of semiconductor chips that can be used for different applications.

According to Kapur, the nature of the after market will also undergo a change like the Original Equipment Manufacturing sector as the products will be more advanced.

Queried about the industry looking at diversifying its customer base by looking at sectors like aerospace, Kapur said: "We are looking at the industry as a mobility industry. It is a matter of understanding what it takes to supply the aerospace sector." "We source off-the-shelf products of auto component vendors. Electronic boards, parts, sensors and others that are used in automobiles can also be used in the rockets with tweaking," Srinath Ravichandran, Co-Founder, Agnikul Cosmos, a rocket maker, had told IANS.

Auto component makers used to look at other sectors like defence, railways for sales when the vehicle sales hit a downslide and revert back when automobile sales pick up.

Meanwhile Kapur and Mehta said the Indian auto ancillaries sector is expected to log 10 per cent growth in FY23, similar to what is expected for FY22.

The FY22 industry numbers are being collated, Mehta said.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in)
Manila, June 23 : The World Bank on Thursday approved a $178.1-million loan to support the Philippines' efforts in addressing malnutrition.

The Washington-based bank said it will support the delivery of nutrition and health care services at the primary care and community levels to help reduce stunting that is characterized by prolonged nutritional deficiency among infants and young children, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The persistence of high levels of childhood undernutrition in the Philippines, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, could lead to a significant increase in inequality of opportunities in the country," said Ndiame Diop, the World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand.

He said improving the nutritional status of children is key to the Southeast Asian country's goals of boosting human capital while strengthening the economic recovery and prospects for long-term growth.

Globally, food prices, already on the rise since the second half of 2020, have reached a record high this year, leading to food security problems worldwide.

Unless immediate action is taken, millions of children "will face the increased risk of undernutrition", the bank warned.

According to the Unicef, 95 children in the Philippines die from malnutrition on a daily basis.

Twenty-seven out of 1,000 Filipino children do not get past their fifth birthday, while a third are stunted, or short for their age.

Stunting after 2 years of age can be permanent, irreversible and even fatal.
New Delhi, June 23 : The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi Government (MVA), headed by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was thrown into political turmoil on Tuesday after the rebellion of senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde.

According to the media reports, 34 Shiv Sena MLAs wrote a letter on Wednesday to Maharashtra Governor announcing their support to Eknath Shinde. As the political crisis in Maharashtra intensified, Uddhav Thackeray broke his silence on Wednesday and in an emotional address to the state said that he was ready to step down from CM post if the rebel MLAs tell him that they don't want him to continue as head of the state government.

Thackeray in address appealed to Eknath Shinde and other rebel MLAs to come back and discuss the issue with him face to face. The Shiv Sena with 55 MLAs heads the MVA Government in the state, NCP with 53 legislators and the Congress party having 44 MLAs are the alliance partners in the state government. Maharashtra legislative Assembly has a strength of 288 members.

CVoter-IndiaTracker conducted a nationwide survey for IANS to know people's views about the political crisis in Maharashtra. According to the survey data, the majority of Indians believe that the ruling Shiv Sena will break into factions after the revolt of Eknath Shinde. As per the survey data, while 63 per cent of the respondents said that the party founded by firebrand Hinduva leader Balasaheb Thackeray will split because of rebellion by Eknath Shinde, 37 per cent respondents did not share the sentiment.

Interestingly, during the survey, while the majority of NDA supporters - 73 per cent asserted that Maharashtra's ruling party will be divided into factions, opinion of opposition voters was divided on the issue. Amongst the opposition voters, while 55 per cent respondents said that Shiv Sena would split, 45 per cent opined that the party will sail through the crisis situation.

The survey also revealed that the majority of both urban and rural voters believe that Shiv Sena will witness a division in the party because of the rebellion of party legislators. During the survey, 64 per cent of urban respondents and 62 per cent of rural respondents opined that there would be a split in Shiv Sena because of the rebellion.

Notably, respondents from different social groups shared different opinions on the issue. During the survey, while 70 per cent Upper Caste Hindus (UCH), 68 per cent Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 62 per cent Scheduled Tribe opined that Shiv Sena will break up because of rebellion by party MLAs, views of Muslims and Scheduled Caste (SC) respondents were divided on the issue. As per the survey data, while 58 per cent Muslims believe that Shiv Sena will get divided into factions, 42 per cent of the respondents from the community had opposite views on the issue. Similarly, while 48 per cent SC voters predicted division in Shiv Sena because of present political crisis in the party, 52 per cent of Dalit respondents didn't share the sentiment.

The survey also highlighted that majority of Indians want Shiv Sena to shake hands with the BJP. During the survey, while 60 per cent of respondents opined that Shiv Sena should form an alliance with BJP, 40 per cent of those who participated in the survey were opposed to the idea.

Interestingly, during the survey, while the majority of NDA supporters - 68 per cent favoured the idea of Shiv Sena going with BJP, opinion of opposition voters was divided on the issue. As per survey data, while 54 per cent of opposition voters spoke in favour of the two parties coming together, 46 per cent of them did not agree to the sentiment.

During the survey, the majority of respondents from different social groups, except Muslims, spoke in favour of Shiv Sena entering into an alliance with the BJP. According to the survey data, while 71 per cent UCH, 65 per cent OBC, 61 per cent ST and 60 per cent SC respondents opined that the two parties should stitch an alliance, majority of Muslim respondents - 66 per cent were opposed to the sentiment.
Hyderabad, June 23 : The Telangana High Court on Thursday issued notices to Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao and some top officials on a PIL challenging land allotment for TRS office in Hyderabad.

Retired employee Maheshwar Raj filed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), challenging allotment of 4,935 square yard land in upscale Banjara Hills for the ruling party's Hyderabad district unit office.

The petitioner alleged that the costly land was allotted to TRS for a mere Rs 100 per square yard.

The court took up the petition for hearing and issued notices to the Chief Minister and TRS president Chandrasekhar Rao, party general secretary Srinivas Reddy, chief secretary, chief commissioner of land administration, revenue secretary and Hyderabad district collector. They have been directed to file counters within four weeks.

The state government last month allotted the plot of a little more than an acre to TRS on Road No. 12 of Banjara Hills' NBT Nagar for construction of the party's Hyderabad office. This came under sharp criticism from the opposition parties which claim that the land could be valued at Rs 100 crore.

The Congress party had described the land allotment as robbery in broad daylight. Its leaders questioned the allotment when the TRS already has a big office in the same area.

They were referring to Telangana Bhavan, the state headquarters of TRS. Inaugurated in 2006, the swanky office is spread over 40,000 square feet.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesperson Dasoju Sravan termed the allotment a robbery of valuable public land with unholy support of official machinery.

The BJP also criticised the allotment of costly land at a paltry price. Its leaders alleged that the officers were hand-in-glove with the ruling party.
Chennai, June 23 : The Dalit political party of Tamil Nadu, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) wanted a Christian to be the next President of India. The VCK founder president and Member of Parliament, Thol Thiruvamavalavan in a statement said that while Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Dalits have become Presidents, the Christian community never got the opportunity.

He said that Christians are the third-largest religious community in the country and have never been given the opportunity to become President to India.

The firebrand VCK leader said that even though he and his party wanted a Christian to be the President of India, they were supporting the common opposition candidate for President, Yashwant Sinha.

VCK leader and Member of Parliament, D. Ravikumar said that a Christian would have been an apt candidate for the post of President and such a candidate would have highlighted the atrocities faced by the community across the country at the hands of Hindutva forces.

He said that just like the Muslim community facing difficulties at the hands of the Hindutva elements in the country, the Christians are also facing a similar situation but there is not much publicity of it.
New Delhi, June 23 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Sanjeev Jha has claimed that he is receiving death threats in the name of gangster Neeraj Bawana. Jha has said that Rs 10 lakh has been demanded from him.

According to the Delhi Police, based on the AAP MLA's complaint, an FIR under sections 387 of the Indian Penal Code and 66c of the IT act has been lodged. Seeing the gravity of the matter, the case was lodged with the Special Cell.

"On June 20, I got a call at about 11:49 p.m., the caller said that he is Vicky Cobra, brother of Bawana. I ignored him and disconnected the call. After this, he sent me voice recording in which he demanded Rs 10 lakh. The sender also threatened me that he would kill my family if his demands were not met," Jha said in his complaint.

The caller has sent 35 voice recording, 15 SMS and 15 calls to threaten him, the AAP MLA from Burari informed the police.

A special team is currently looking into the matter. The police said that the caller was identified and soon he would be nabbed.

Further investigation in the matter is on.
Hyderabad, June 23 : Telugu Film Industry Employees Federation on Thursday announced that the film workers have called off their indefinite strike and will be resuming work from Friday.

The Federation announced that a coordination committee headed by film producer Dil Raju will consider the demand of the workers for wage revision and make a decision.

The committee is expected to decide the quantum of hike on Friday.

The breakthrough came after the Federation and Film Producers' Council held talks at the advice of Telangana Cinematography Minister T. Srinivas Yadav.

For a second consecutive day on Thursday, thousands of film workers in Tollywood stayed away from work demanding better wages, bringing film production to a halt.

Shooting and other production related works of at least 25 films in Hyderabad was affected due to the strike by 20,000 workers.

Telugu Film Chamber was insisting that it will discuss wage issue with the workers if they return to work.

The issue reached Srinivas Yadav on Thursday. He advised both the sides to sort out the issue amicably through talks.

Representatives of Telugu Film Industry Employees Federation and Film Producers' Council called on the minister separately to brief him on their problems.

While the Federation leaders told the minister the workers' demand for 45 per cent hike in wage is justified, the producers conveyed to him that this would impose a burden on them at a time when they were yet to fully recover from the impact of Covid-19 pandemic.

The workers' unions, comprising 24 crafts of cinema, had called for indefinite strike to press for their demand.

The workers said they had long been demanding revision in wages in view of the increasing cost of fuel, all essential commodities and school fees. They said they extended all cooperation to the filmmakers by not pressing for their demand as the film producers were hit hard by Covid-19.

The union leaders said they were forced to launch the protest as no steps were taken to meet their demand though they had been discussing the issues with the Telugu Film Chamber for the last six months.

They said since the film industry has recovered from the impact of Covid and has produced some big hits including pan-India movies, the Film Chamber should take the initiative and address their long-pending demand.

The protest had affected production of films, including Chiranjeevi's 'Waltair Veerayya', 'Bholaa Shankar' and Prabhas' 'Salaar' and 'RC 15'.
Canberra, June 23 : Researchers from one of Australia's most prominent medical institutes on Thursday called on the government to re-adopt Covid-19 strategies as the spread of Omicron variant continues to cause major individual and systemic disruption.

As of Thursday, Australia's overall Covid-19 caseload and death toll stood at 7,919,777 and 9,558.

There were 32,982 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours, and 3,022 people are in hospital with 103 in intensive care, reports Xinhua news agency.

In an editorial published on Thursday, Director and CEO of the Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health (Burnet Institute) Brendan Crabb and epidemiologist Mike Toole argued for a return to stricter measures to reduce virus transmissions.

At the end of last year, the first cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant were detected in Australia, however policy makers, betting on the fact that the virus would be less severe and allow those infected to boost their immunity, went ahead with the nation's re-opening.

Since then, Covid-19 health measures have been progressively stripped away, and last week mask mandates in some Australian airports were scrapped.

Crabb and Toole said the return to normal life was sending the wrong message to the public given the reality of the current state of the pandemic in Australia.

Over 7 million Covid-19 cases have been registered in Australia this year, much higher than in the two previous years, they wrote.

"Tens of thousands have been sick enough to go to hospital and there have been 8,000 Covid deaths." On top of this the researchers said that due to the constant evolution of the virus, people's past immunity was not holding up, leading to repeat, no less mild, infections.

In addition to putting greater effort on vaccinations up to date, Crabb and Toole proposed reintroducing high-quality N95/P2 masks in high-risk indoor settings and investing in improving indoor air quality.

They added that greater awareness and access should be provided for viral treatments that have been approved in Australia, such as Paxlovid.

On Wednesday, Australia's federal health minister, Mark Butler, said too many older Australians were dying from Covid-19 and that only 50,000 of the government stockpile of 1.3 million Paxlovid treatments had been accessed.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Bahraich, June 23 : A 57-year-old farmer was killed by a tiger in a forest in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district, officials said on Thursday.

According to them, the incident took place on Wednesday evening near Bhartapur village in the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary.

The victim, Ghanshyam Rajbhar was cutting grass when the tiger attacked him.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Akashdeep Badhawan said that villagers working nearby raised an alarm after which the tiger vanished into the forest.

The victim was taken to the Community Health Centre where he succumbed to injuries.

The DFO said there is a provision of a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh in cases of death due to human-wildlife conflict.

However, cutting grass in the restricted core area of the forest is prima facie a cognisable offence, he added.

In this case, a decision on the compensation will be taken as per the rules of the forest department, he said.

Meanwhile, teams of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have been set up and two trained elephants are engaged in combing the area.
Thiruvananthapuram, June 23 : Three Congress workers who shouted slogans inside an IndiGo airlines flight against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan were granted bail by the Kerala High Court on Thursday.

The incident occurred last week when Vijayan was returning from Kannur and the flight had landed here.

Even though the Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener E.P. Jayarajan who was also onboard the flight, pushed down the two Congress workers who twice shouted slogans, had first said the sloganeering took place after Vijayan had alighted from the aircraft. He, however, later changed his stand, so did CPI-M state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who also said what Jayarajan had said and then retracted.

On that day, when one of the Congress workers managed to slip out of the aircraft and was in hiding, and filed an anticipatory bail plea, the two others who shouted slogans were remanded to judicial custody.

These two got bail from the court, while the anticipatory bail plea was also granted.

The three have been asked to surrender their passport and have to deposit Rs 50,000 each.

After being released from the jail, the two said the truth will come out soon on what exactly happened.

Incidentally, this incident took place when Vijayan was under attack from the Congress and the BJP who had launched a massive protest demanding his resignation in the wake of the revelations by Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case. Swapna had said that Vijayan, his wife and their daughter were all involved in smuggling of currency and gold.

The ruling CPI-M took up this issue in a big way and was stating that the Congress workers were aiming for the life of Vijayan and had it not been for the timely intervention of Jayarajan and Vijayan's security, his life would have been in danger. The police has also said the same.

But in the court, the two Congress workers said all what they did was shouted slogans twice and nothing else had happened.

Reacting to the bail, CPI-M Kannur secretary M.V. Jayarajan said that bail should not have been given as this was a well planned conspiracy against the Chief Minister and wish the government will take legal steps.

Meanwhile, the Congress has already dismissed the report saying that it was fudged and that it did not represent a true and fair view and approached the airlines' higher officials, who in turn have constituted a probe team under a retired judge.

One of the protesters, who is a school teacher at a government school in the home town of Jayarajan, has been suspended from service by the school management.
The remains of Patrice Lumumba in a coffin covered with the Congolese flag on the forecourt of the Edgemont Palace in Brussels, June 20, 2022.

The remains of the first post-independence Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba arrived Wednesday in the Democratic Republic Congo, more than six decades after his assassination. The remains will go on tour around the country, before being laid to rest in the capital, Kinshasa, next week.

A plane transporting a coffin containing the last remains - a gold-crowned tooth - landed in Kinshasa on Wednesday, in transit to the central province of Sankuru, where Lumumba was born, in the village of Onalua, in 1925

It is the start of a nine-day trip around the country, with stops in sites symbolically important to Lumumba's life. The remains will be laid to rest in a mausoleum in Kinshasa on 30 June, the country's independence day, following three days of national mourning.

Arrivee de la depouille de Patrice Emery Lumumba en RDC : mission accomplie avec succes par le Premier Ministre Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde 61 ans apres l'assassinat du Heros national - https://t.co/FW6jQdL7MM pic.twitter.com/8G1gBMEIHZ-- Primature de la Republique Democratique du Congo (@PrimatureRDC) June 22, 2022

The village of Onalua, which since 2013 has been part of a commune renamed Lumumbaville, in honour of the independence hero, prepared to welcome the remains, by clearing out the roads and laying down palm leaves, a symbol of mourning or celebration.

In the village square, where the coffin was expected to arrive, was set up a podium decorated yellow, blue and red, and banners printed with Lumumba's face.

His remains were officially returned on Monday at a ceremony in Brussels, where a box containing the tooth was placed in a coffin, which was handed over to Congolese authorities in the presence of Lumumba's family.

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Lumumba was assassinated in 1961, just six months after Congo declared independence from Belgium. He is remembered for a fiery speech against racism and colonialism, which he gave on 30 June 1960.

He was overthrown that September, and was executed by Belgian mercenaries and separatists from the southern region of Katanga, on 17 January 1961.

His body was dissolved in acid and never recovered, and decades passed before Belgium discovered the existence of the tooth, held by a Belgian police officer who took part in Lumumba's death, who boasted about his actions in the media.

Belgian authorities seized the tooth in 2016.

On Monday, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo apologised again for his country's "moral responsibility" in Lumumba's death.

Two weeks before, Belgium's King Philippe, on his first trip to the DRC reiterated his "deepest regrets for the wounds" of Belgian colonial rule.

(with AFP)
Mumbai, June 23 : Exactly a month ago (May 21), the Shiv Sena had expressed serious concerns over the badly 'leaking' Congress with so many leaders deserting the party, and how the youth of India would lose confidence in the grand old party.

A month later, the Sena has been knocked down and practically washed out, by an unexpected 'political cloudburst' that hit the saffron party last Monday (June 20-21) night, with a series of nightmarish developments in quick succession.

The Sena was rudely shaken, when it became clear by early Tuesday morning that a major storm in the form of a 'MLAs revolt' was raging and threatened to uproot the 30-month-old Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress.

Ironically, on May 21, the Sena was distressed over the desertion by leaders like Sunil Jakhar and Hardik Patel in quick succession, preceded by Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada.

"The Congress' condition is like a cloudburst. The problem is where to put the patch and seal it. The leaks started on the concluding day of the party's recent Chintan Shivir in Rajasthan," the sagely Sena had said.

Perhaps unknown to the Sena, it was around that time the group of rebels led by senior party leader and Minister Eknath Shinde were busy hatching their own little political deluge - with a flood of outgoing MLAs - that now threatens to sink the MVA.

Sena's anxiety for its ally came on a day when the Congress observed the death anniversary of the late ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (May 21), and ironically, the 'Hindutva' party's own countdown to a probable diminution started on the Summer Solstice Day (June 21).

There is seething rage and helplessness at various levels in the Sena, how it failed to catch the signals of a rebellion brewing up right under its noses, why it could not plug the 'leaks' in time after they were belatedly detected and finally culminated into a flash flood within barely 48 hours.

There are reports that the State Intelligence Department (SID) and other agencies had sounded out drab warnings around March-April on the developments, but the MVA failed to take them seriously or react.

Some Congress and NCP senior leaders were visibly irked over how such a large chunk of MLAs could "disappear" into the dark night of June 20-21 at a single shot, undetected and unsuspected, and by the time the grim reality dawned on them the next morning, it was already "too late".

A Congress leader pointed out that the most shocking aspect was the "Sena MLAs' quietly slipping off", taking advantage of the fracas witnessed during the MLCs polls results on Monday and the boisterous celebrations that followed.

One leader said that it has now surfaced how the MLAs sneaked out citing bland reasons like "going to the loo," "getting a headache", "not well", "upset tummy" etc, and vanished from the "party scene" altogether.

A Congress leader even questioned how the MLAs' police escorts got no whiff of the murky goings-on, why they did not alert the police control or other authorities especially while crossing the district or state borders, and perhaps helped nip the rebellion in the bud.

The current status is the Sena is left with around 18 MLAs, the rebel group is claiming the support of around 40-plus MLAs, enough for a vertical split and joining any potential new dispensation that may materialise.

Barely 48 hours after the shock revolt, the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray quietly vacated his official residence and shifted to his private home, amid speculation that he would rather quit - to save the party from a split and the government from a downfall.

Watching the party and government slipping out of the hands like sand, the Sena, along with NCP-Congress are making all-out efforts to salvage the situation or prepare to sit in the Opposition - a classic scenario of hoping for the best and preparing for the worst! (Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)
New Delhi, June 23 : Meta-owned Instagram on Thursday said it is testing new options for people to verify their age by uploading an ID like driver's license or ID card, along with other methods in a bid to provide age-appropriate experiences on the platform.

Starting with the US, if someone attempts to edit their date of birth on Instagram from under the age of 18 to 18 or over, Instagram will require them to verify their age.

They can verify their age by uploading their ID, record a video selfie or ask mutual friends to verify the age. The person vouching must be at least 18 years old and must not be vouching for anyone else at that time.

"We're testing this so we can make sure teens and adults are in the right experience for their age group. We are also partnering with Yoti, a company that specializes in online age verification, to help ensure people's privacy," the company said in a statement.

"Your ID will be stored securely on our servers and is deleted within 30 days," it added.

The users can choose to upload a video selfie to verify their age.

"After you take a video selfie, we share the image with Yoti, and nothing else. The technology cannot recognize your identity - just your age," informed the company.

In 2019, Instagram first began asking people to provide their age when signing up.

"We require people to be at least 13 years old to sign up for Instagram. In some countries, our minimum age is higher," said Instagram.

For teenagers (age 13-17), Instagram provides them with age-appropriate experiences like defaulting them into private accounts, preventing unwanted contact from adults they don't know and limiting the options advertisers have to reach them with ads.

"If you choose to upload a video selfie to verify your age, Meta and Yoti delete it once your age is confirmed. Your video is not used for anything else other than to verify your age. If you choose to upload an ID, after you send us a copy of your ID, it'll be encrypted and stored securely," said Instagram.
New Delhi, June 23 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday praised NDA's Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu for her "understanding of the problems on the ground" and dubbed her vision for India's development as "extraordinary".

The Prime Minister made the remarks after he met Murmu in New Delhi. After Prime Minister, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also met the NDA's Presidential candidate.

Murmu will also be meeting several Union ministers and veteran leaders before filing her nomination for the post of President on Friday.

Sharing pictures of his meeting with Murmu on Twitter, Prime Minister Modi wrote, "Met Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji. Her Presidential nomination has been appreciated across India by all sections of society. Her understanding of grassroots problems and vision for India's development is outstanding." Murmu, who reached the national capital on Thursday, was welcomed at the Delhi airport by Union Ministers Arjun Munda, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Virendra Kumar, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari and BJP's national media co-in-charge Sanjay Mayukh. Several other BJP leaders and workers were also present at the airport to welcome her.

Murmu on Friday will file her nomination for the Presidential election. Prime Minister Modi, BJP President J.P. Nadda, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, and Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states will also be present during her nomination.

To make the nomination filing a grand event, the BJP has invited its allies as well as Biju Janata Dal, which has announced its support to Murmu, to attend nomination filing.

The Opposition parties have declared Yashwant Sinha as their joint candidate. The election for the next President of the country will be held on July 18 while the result will be declared on July 21.
Vadodara, June 23 : A woman allegedly committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan after her boyfriend ditched her in Gujarat's Vadodara.

Before taking the extreme step, Nafisa Khokhar, who was in her early 20s, recorded a video revealing her distress at the Sabarmati river front in Ahmedabad.

Nafisa had taken the extreme step on June 20 at her residence, but her family members found the video recording on her phone on Thursday and lodged a complaint with J P Road police station against Shaikh Ramiz Ahmed, with video recording proof.

In the recording, she had said: "Ramiz, you have done injustice to me. You promised to marry me and build relations with me... I loved you more than my family members, and you dumped me, you betrayed me, you ditched me after everyone learned about our relationship... Since last four days, I am roaming in Ahmedabad, searching for you, even your family members claimed you have left home, I could not even inform police about you." After recording the video, Nafisa returned to her home in Vadodara, where she took the extreme step.

This is the second incident in which a woman revealed her distress in a video at the Sabarmati river front in Ahmedabad and ended her life.

In February 2021, Ayesha Khan committed suicide by jumping into Sabarmati river after revealing in a video recording how her husband and in-laws were harassing her for dowry.

In April 2022, Ahmedabad City Sessions Court convicted her husband Arif Khan and awarded him 10 years imprisonment.

The court had considered Ayesha's video recording as vital evidence in the case.
New Delhi, June 23 : The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that it could shift alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar and his wife from the Tihar Jail to Mandoli Jail in east Delhi.

Senior advocate R. Basant, representing Chandrashekhar, submitted before a vacation bench comprising Justices C.T. Ravikumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia that a majority of cases against his client were registered in Bengaluru. He urged the top court to transfer his client either to a jail in Bengaluru or outside Delhi.

The bench noted that during the last hearing, it had asked the Centre to come up with jails where Chandrashekhar could be transferred, however there was no response. "We had said that once that is furnished... we will not pass any order but will place it before the regular bench." Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju contended that Chandrashekhar could be transferred to Mandoli Jail in east Delhi, adding that the jail is guarded by special para military forces. He said paramilitary forces are deployed outside and inside, the Tamil Nadu Special Police Force could watch over him.

Basant, objecting to the transfer of his client to Mandoli jail, said the jail should be outside Delhi and he could be placed in Ghaziabad Jail, but not in any jail under Delhi administration.

At this, the bench remarked: "Someone who's in jail wants a choice of jail." The bench asked Basant to file a response objecting to his client's transfer to another jail in Delhi. "You haven't mentioned that you want to transfer to any other jail, which is not under the same authorities," it said.

As Raju said Chandrashekhar was involved in all illegal activities while in custody in Tihar jail, the bench asked him to bring it on record that they want to transfer the conman to Mandoli jail. "Let the bench consider it. Now you're saying Mandoli, put it in black and white," said the bench.

After hearing detailed arguments, the bench adjourned the matter to June 30 and allowed Chandrashekhar to file a response on the ED's submission. The bench noted that it had specifically observed that the matter could be taken only after names of appropriate jail are brought on record.

The ED had opposed to the shifting of Chandrashekhar from the Tihar jail and urged the top court to prosecute him under perjury for making false allegations of torture and assault on the jail premises.

Chandrashekhar and his wife Leena Paulose, are currently lodged in Tihar Jail in cases related to cheating and extortion. They moved the apex court seeking transfer to any other jail citing threat to their lives. The prison authorities have denied allegations that he was assaulted within the jail and that the medical examination did not report any external injuries on him.
New Delhi, June 23 : The Supreme Court on Thursday said that a plea, seeking direction to the governments of Maharashtra and Delhi for sacking of arrested ministers Nawab Malik and Satyendar Jain, would be listed for hearing after it is placed before Chief Justice N.V. Ramana.

As Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay mentioned the plea for urgent listing before a vacation bench of Justices C.T. Ravikumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia, the bench asked: "Did you make a mention (the plea) before the Registrar?..... Everyday we are saying 'please make a mention before the registrar and even then, if it is not posted, mention it before us'." Upadhyay submitted that there is "serious violation" of Article 14 (equality before law) of the Constitution, and added that the Maharashtra minister is in judicial custody for 4 months while the Delhi minister was also in judicial custody for nearly 30 days. "Unfortunately, these ministers are public servants. There's a serious violation of Article 14," said Upadhyay.

The bench told Upadhyay that he should mention the plea before the Registrar and most probably it will be posted next week. "Such matters will be posted before the Chief Justice first, then only it will be listed," it said.

The plea said: "Direct and declare that the Minister, who is not only a public servant under S. 21 of the IPC and S. 2(c) of the PCA (Prevention of Corruption Act) but also a lawmaker and takes constitutional oath under Schedule-3; shall be temporarily debarred from holding office, after 2 days in judicial custody (like IAS, Judges & other public servants are suspended from services)." The plea also sought a direction to the Law Commission to examine election laws of developed countries and prepare a comprehensive report to maintain nobility and dignity of ministers, legislators and public servants in spirit of Article 14. Upadhyay filed the petition through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey.

The petitioner sought a direction to Maharashtra government to sack Malik who was arrested in February 2022 and continues in judicial custody in connection with cases of black money, benami properties, money laundering and disproportionate assets, linked with Mafia don Dawood Ibrahim. "Petitioner also seeks direction to Delhi Government to sack Cabinet Minister Satyendra Jain, who was arrested on May 31, 2022 and continues in judicial custody in connection with cases of black money, benami properties, ghost companies, money laundering and disproportionate assets," added the plea.
Hyderabad, June 23 : A software engineer died under suspicious circumstances in Hyderabad on Thursday, an official said.

The incident occurred in Deepti Srinagar colony of Miyapur area under the limits of Cyberabad police commissionerate.

Sandeep (42) fell from fourth floor of a building and died on the spot. He fell down along with his laptop.

Police shifted the body to government-run Gandhi Hospital.

Police registered a case of death under suspicious circumstances and took up investigation.

A police officer said they were investigating if it was an accident or Sandeep committed suicide.
Kolkata, June 23 : In a setback for for the West Bengal government, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday refused to grant an interim stay on a single judge-bench's order for a CBI enquiry in the alleged primary teachers' recruitment scam.

On June 13, a single-judge bench of Justice Avijit Gangopadhyay ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the recruitment of primary teachers by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) in 2014 and also ordered immediate cancellation of the appointment of 269 candidates for the post.

On June 16, the WBPEE moved the division bench of Justice Subrata Talukdar and Justice Lapita Banerjee seeking an interim stay on the CBI probe in the matter.

The first hearing in the matter took place on Thursday. But the division bench refused to give an interim stay on the ongoing CBI enquiry in the matter.

The next hearing will be on June 30, when all the parties in the case will have to submit their arguments in the form of affidavits.

On Thursday, the division bench raised the same question as to why extra marks were credited only to select candidates whose appointments were cancelled earlier by the single-judge bench of Justice Gangopadhyay. It observed was that if there was any mistake in the question paper, then an additional mark would have been allotted without any bias to all the candidates appearing for the examination.

Justice Gangopadhyay hds ordered the removal of WBBPE President, Dr Manik Bhattacharya, also a Trinamool Congress MLA, and the WBBPE has challenged that order as well.
Mumbai, June 23 : Making another effort to defuse the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut made a conditional offer to the rebels about the party's readiness to "walk out" of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

"We are ready to walk out of the MVA, provided the rebels return to Mumbai within 24 hours and hold discussions with the Shiv Sena," Raut said, throwing yet another challenge to the group of revolters led by Minister Eknath Shinde.

He called upon the rebels' group to stop communicating on social media or phone messages or letters or statements sitting in Assam, and like "true Shiv Sainiks, show the guts to come to Mumbai".

"Come here within 24 hours. Sit before Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Saheb and present your viewpoint to him. We shall definitely consider them," Raut declared.

Nationalist Congress Party state President and Minister Jayant Patil said Raut must have made the statement after consulting the party leaders, but his colleague Chhagan Bhujbal said the Sena MP should have discussed it with MVA leaders before going public.

Congress President Nana Patole said the party is with the MVA and will support the CM till the very end in all his efforts to save the government.

"However, if a situation arises, we are prepared to sit in the Opposition benches, since we have got the mandate for the Opposition in the 2019 Assembly elections," he added.

Senior NCP leader Praful Patel and veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that the MVA government is "stable" and there's no threat to the alliance.

"The BJP is playing all these games, trying to break the MVA. It would not have been possible for so many (Sena) MLAs to vanish to Gujarat and then to Assam without the support of BJP," said Kharge.

Raut's open dare to the rebel group came a day after Thackeray announced that he was "ready to quit as CM and also as Sena President" if the mutineers came to Mumbai and told him to do so, and Shinde reacted by demanding that the Sena should "quit the MVA" immediately.

The rebels' group has claimed the support of "over 40" Sena MLAs, while the Sena is left with around 18 legislators, but has disputed the Shinde group's contentions, saying everything will be clear only when all the deserters come to Mumbai.

An independent legislator on Thursday claimed that once the rebels return to Mumbai, they will all go to 'Matoshri' (Thackeray residence) and fall at the feet of CM Uddhav Thackeray.
Bengaluru, June 23 : Adopting a defiant posture, the ruling BJP in Karnataka on Thursday hit back at the Congress saying the previous Congress governments changed the syllabus of the textbook to "please minorities".

Ever since opposition Congress and the JD(S) targeted the BJP over insulting Kuvempu, revered by Kannadigas especially by Vokkaliga community, in the revised syllabus, the ruling party tried to pay it back in their own coin.

Minister for Revenue, R. Ashok, a prominent Vokkaliga leader, slammed opposition parties over making hue and cry over the issue. Ashok said that Congress does not want Hindu gods, freedom fighters in syllabus and is unnecessarily creating issues.

Addressing a press conference, Ashok said, State Congress president D.K. Shivakumar tore the draft of the revised syllabus having a lesson on Nadaprabu Kempe Gowda, the architect of the Bengaluru city. He should have torn the draft of old syllabus processed during the Congress government which did not have that lesson, he said.

"The Congress inserted their agenda, communist philosophies during the revision of textbooks. The Congress wanted to take out the word 'Hindu' from textbooks. To take out names of Lord Shri Ram and Lord Shiva from the syllabus, the Congress had formed a Textbook Revision Committee under the chairmanship of Baraguru Ramachandrappa," Minister Ashok said.

"They got the textbook revised only to appease minorities. During the regime of the previous BJP government, there were 8 lessons of Rashtrakavi Kuvempu. The Congress had taken down 3," he stated.

"Siddaramaiah neglected the contributions of Mysuru Wadeyars and sensationalized Tipu Sultan in the textbooks. He clarified that lessons on the freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, social revolutionaries Narayan Guru and Periyar have not been dropped." Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda on Wednesday wrote to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai urging him to take back revised syllabus and continue with the old syllabus.
The UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide briefed the Security Council on Tuesday, reinforcing concerns already voiced by other senior UN officials in the chamber, over "the heightened risks" of sexual violence, and trafficking, which are "significantly impacting women and children", following the Russian invasion of 24 February.

Beginning her briefing with a wider perspective, Wairimu Nderitu said that hateful and contentious narratives that form in the wake of growing hostility, violence and discrimination, could have a "devastating impact" on societies at large.

"We saw it in the lead up to the Holocaust, in Rwanda in 1994" and also in the ethnically-charged Bosnia conflict between Muslims, Serbs and Croats in the mid-1990s, she said, reminding that "ending wars require sustained actions", including countering acrimonious rhetoric, hate speech online and offline, and rights violations that impact lives and livelihoods.

Countering hate

The senior UN official recounted that the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which in 1948, "emerged out of the shadows of the Holocaust," identifies as punishable offences, conspiracy to commit genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide and complicity in genocide.

"This is done in full respect to the essential right of freedom of expression as provided under international human rights law," she said.

Ukraine in focus

Turning specially to Ukraine, Ms. Nderitu highlighted the important role regional and international in addressing the ongoing humanitarian crisis and stressed the importance for all States to adhere to international human rights and international humanitarian law and principles.

The special Adviser recalled the Secretary-General's visit to the region, his call for a cessation of hostilities and her office's work in supporting inter-communal dialogue efforts with the UN Country Team there.

Meanwhile, "the continued deterioration of the situation," has prompted the Special Adviser to urge all in a position of influence to "redouble their efforts to contribute to the restoration of peace".

She called on religious leaders to use their influence to support efforts to solve the ongoing conflict, not to inflame it further and reminded that advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, is prohibited under international law.

Solution is possible with commitment on the part of everyone - UN Special Adviser

'We must work harder'

In terms of allegations that could constitute the possible commission of genocide and war crimes in Ukraine, she said that could only be decided "by a court of competent jurisdiction", adding that her office "does not carry out criminal investigations on specific incidents, present or past".

While the Special Adviser role is for prevention, not adjudication, she again called for "an end to this war, to ensure the protection of civilians and to accelerate diplomatic efforts to make both possible".

"Prevention focuses on the future, and on the past too, and the outpouring of hostility in response to this war means we must work harder to protect everyone," she said.

She urged the Council and concerned parties to "articulate an inclusive vision, propose a roadmap... that is not indifferent to injustice".

While a "solution is possible with commitment on the part of everyone," she reminded however, that with every continued delay "the escalation of human suffering continues".

Dehumanizing Ukrainians

Liubov Tsybulska, Head of the Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security, a Ukrainian Government-established think-tank, said that "thousands" of pieces of evidence were now pointing to Russian war crimes.

She also cited "genocidal rhetoric" gleaned from Russian media that refers to Ukraine as a "fake nation" that does not "deserve to exist".

Recalling Soviet-era tactics to starve the enemy, she accused Russia of "bringing famine", and said that some Russian troops were expressing "pride and approval" over abuses being committed.

Ms. Tsybulska highlighted what she said were efforts to destroy Ukrainian culture and wondered: "Why do the Russians hate us?".

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Cyber front

Jared Cohen, CEO of Jigsaw and Adjunct Senior Fellow at the US Council of Foreign Relations, spoke in depth about cyber warfare and how it has been waged during the Ukraine war.

"Like air, land and sea, the internet has become a critical domain to occupy during war," he said, describing what Ukraine has experienced thus far, as "a crystal ball of what is likely to come" in the future.

He zeroed in on "vectors of attack," including on critical infrastructure, via "traditional hacking"; distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, or malicious attempts to disrupt normal website traffic; and midsized and large attacks - or "microfloods" - that can significantly ramp-up the complexity of attacks.

Mr. Cohen pointed to the online effort to undermine Ukraine's Government and leadership.

As an example, "deep fakes of alleged cocaine addiction were used to cede and feed a harassment campaign against President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy" to undermine his credibility, in a bid to tip support toward Russia, he said.
Lucknow, June 23 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that his government will launch a special communicable disease control campaign across the state from July 1.

While addressing a high-level meeting on Thursday, the Chief Minister asked the officials to ensure regular sanitation and fogging drives to protect the state from vector-borne diseases such as dengue, malaria, chikungunya and others.

"The cooperation of organisations like WHO, UNICEF and PATH should be taken. We have two successful models of - Encephalitis control and Covid management in front of us, which will be useful for us in the communicable disease campaign," he said.

"There has been a significant reduction in the number of patients affected by encephalitis and deaths due to this disease since 2017. Not only has the prevalence of the disease been controlled, but the deaths due to this have also come down by more than 95 per cent," he added.

Under this special campaign, people are being made aware of the importance of cleanliness, sanitisation, and fogging.

The government has set up an Encephalitis Care Centre at block levels, equipped with PICU beds, and trained medical personnel. Trained doctors, paramedical staff, staff nurses and AES have also been appointed in the districts. The number of technicians in the laboratories are adequate and all are well trained.

The state government has also established an inter-departmental coordination to ensure all necessary arrangements with departments of medical and health, rural development, urban development, women and child development, agriculture and basic secondary education.

Ministers and nodal officers will be present in the districts during the campaign. They will also participate in various programmes and make people aware of the importance of cleanliness, sanitation, and the importance of nutritional food.

Officials have been asked to ensure supply of pure drinking water and distribute chlorine tablets. If required, a Chlorination demo should be given to the people.

Along with Anganwadi and ASHA workers, training should also be given to village heads to conduct door-to-door health surveys. They have been entrusted with the responsibility to apprise people about various water-borne and mosquito-borne diseases.

"Intensive vector surveillance is essential. Proper arrangements should be made for rapid screening and isolation of patients found with symptoms," Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath said.
New Delhi, June 23 : Enacting a social media video stunt proved costly to a ten-year-old boy who died of suffocation after his skipping rope got entangled around his neck in East Delhi's New Usmanpur.

A police source said that the other part of the rope got stuck into the peg of a standing cot.

"The boy was trying to enact a video which was uploaded on a social media site. He was performing the same stunt when the tragedy occurred on Wednesday," said the source.

His family rushed him to a nearby government hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. The hospital authority informed the police about the incident.

The police said that they have recorded the statements of the parents and body was sent to the mortuary for post-mortem.
Kolkata, June 23 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday launched scathing attack against the BJP over the Maharashtra political crisis and claimed that this is a deliberate ploy by the saffron camp to garner additional numbers in favour of its candidate for the forthcoming Presidential poll.

"The Presidential poll is round the corner. The BJP has approximately 1,00,00 less votes. So, they have chosen this time to topple the Maharashtra government in an unethical manner and using money power," the Chief Minister said.

Seeking justice for Uddhav Thackeray, Mamata Banerjee said that the BJP is bulldozing democracy and the federal structure in the country. "They are bulldozing the opposition everywhere especially when there are protests against their undemocratic gesture. In Tripura they are not allowing the people to vote freely. In West Bengal, they are hounding us by letting loose the central agencies, the CBI, the ED and National Human Rights Commission," the Chief Minister said.

She concluded with a latent caution to the BJP that some day the latter might be paid back in the same coin. "You will be out of power some day or the other. Then what will you do? So do not try to topple the government using money power. Someday you might also face the same situation," Mamata said.

Meanwhile, her nephew and the Trinamool Congress national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee mounted attack on Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and said that at a time when Assam was reeling under severe flood, the Chief Minister was busy hosting rebel MLAs from Maharashtra.

Incidentally, his comments came at a time when his wife was facing the questioning by the ED officials relating to the coal smuggling case in West Bengal.

"As ASSAM DROWNS,@BJP4AssamGovt is busy following orders from Delhi to play HOST to REBEL MLAs. I wish CM@himantabiswa cared more about the flood-affected victims and less about toppling the Maharashtra Govt. PRIORITIES are clear for a REMOTE CONTROLLED SUBSERVIENT Govt," Abhishek Banerjee said in a Twitter message on Friday.

Incidentally on Friday morning, Trinamool Congress workers in Assam also registered protest demonstrations in front of the hotel in Guwahati where the rebel Shiv Sena legislators from Maharashtra are putting up.
New Delhi, June 23 : After Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut hinted that his party may consider pulling out from Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA), a state-level political coalition, Congress said that it stands by the MVA.

Leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge said, "The Congress stands by the MVA as it is doing developmental work." The Congress has called a meeting of its MLAs in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) state President and Minister Jayant Patil ruled out the possibility of the CM demitting office and expressed optimism that the political crisis would soon be defused.

On Wednesday evening, Thackeray addressed the state via social media and expressed his readiness to step down from both crucial posts provided the rebels led by Minister Eknath Shinde come to meet him and say that they don't want him to continue.

However, Shinde promptly spurned the CM's offer, reiterating his pre-condition that Shiv Sena must first walk out of MVA alliance with NCP and Congress.
New Delhi, June 23: India's diplomatic outreach to Africa continues with the ongoing visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to Rwanda for the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

From supplying Made-in-India vaccines to several African countries during the peak of Covid-19 pandemic to supporting their fight against hunger and poverty and now assisting them in dealing with the implications of the situation in Ukraine, the Narendra Modi government has shown that it stands ready to support the countries affected in the continent.

En route to Kigali for the biennial event which runs from June 20 to 25, Jaishankar has already met Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde and country's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali in Addis Ababa, Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Raychelle Omamo besides Eamon Courtenay, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Central American country of Belize.

"So nice to meet my friend Raychelle Omamo of Kenya. Our discussions focused on the impact of the Ukraine conflict on food, fuel, and fertilizer security for the Global South. Reaffirmed our ongoing cooperation in the UNSC," Jaishankar tweeted after meeting his Kenyan counterpart on Wednesday.

New Delhi continues to highlight that PM Modi's top 10 'Broad Guiding Principles' have defined India's engagement with Africa for the 21st century partnership.

The intensified engagement between India and African countries in the last six years has witnessed 35 outgoing visits from India at level of President, Vice President and Prime Minister and more than 100 incoming visits from African Heads of State/Government and Ministerial level. India has also opened 18 new embassies since 2018, taking its total Missions and Posts in the continent to 49.

Adding momentum to India's engagement with Africa and emphasising India's commitment to the African continent, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu visited Gabon and Senegal a few weeks ago which was the first-ever high-level visit from India to these west African countries.

Jaishankar had stated recently that even though the Covid pandemic interrupted the natural progression of this momentum of cooperation, India has completed 189 projects in Africa, with 76 at the execution and 68 at the pre-execution stage. Financed by lines of credit with an outlay of over USD 12 billion, they extend to over 41 countries.

"Many of these projects were the first of their kind in Africa. Some of them are truly iconic in nature. And notable examples include the railway line and Presidential Palace in Ghana, National Assembly Building in Gambia, the Rivatex textile factory in Kenya, the Metro Express project in Mauritius and the Mahatma Gandhi Convention Centre in Niger," the External Affairs Minister had said last month.

India's growing partnership with Commonwealth members Representing PM Modi at the Commonwealth Summit on June 24-25, as well as attending the pre-CHOGM Foreign Ministers' Meeting today, Jaishankar is also expected to hold several bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Commonwealth member states and other visiting dignitaries.

With the theme of 26th CHOGM Summit being 'Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming', the leaders of the Commonwealth member states are scheduled to deliberate on issues of contemporary relevance. It includes global challenges like climate change, food security and health issues. They are likely to adopt four Outcome Documents: CHOGM Communique; Kigali Declaration on Child Care and Protection Reform; Declaration on Sustainable Urbanization and Commonwealth Living Lands Charter: A Commonwealth Call to Action on Living Lands (CALL).

A number of forums including the Commonwealth Youth Forum, Commonwealth Women Forum, Commonwealth Business Forum, Commonwealth People's Forum, and other side-events are also planned on the side-lines of CHOGM by Rwanda, the incoming Chair of the Commonwealth.

"The Commonwealth provides an important platform to deepen India's engagement with Commonwealth members, in particular the Small States (SS) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). India is also one of the largest contributors to the Commonwealth and has assisted the organisation with technical assistance and capacity building. In 2018, India announced the creation of a Commonwealth Window, dedicating US$50 million for development projects and assistance to developing countries of the Commonwealth," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement before Jaishankar's departure.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
Chennai, June 23 : Three people were charred to death and two grievously injured in a blast at a firecracker manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu's Cuddalore. The gruesome incident occurred on Thursday afternoon.

Police said that the firecracker manufacturing unit was functioning in a village near Capper Hills. Five people were involved in the making of firecrackers at a manufacturing unit which had a retail unit adjacent to it. An explosion occurred in the manufacturing unit destroying the godown and the retail unit.

Three people including two women were charred to death and the two seriously injured people are admitted to the hospital.

Police said that condition of one of the injured is critical. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin expressed deep condolences at the death of people in the blast.

The Chief Minister also directed the health care authorities to provide the best treatment to those injured.

Stalin announced a solatium of Rs 3 lakh each to the families of the deceased.
Ahmedabad, June 23 : The 145th Jagannath Yatra procession will cover 16 km in Ahmedabad and will pass through sensitive areas of the city on July 1. The government for a safe procession has decided to provide heavy security.

On Thursday afternoon, Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghvi chaired a meeting to review the security preparedness for the entire procession. Sanghvi assured the Jagannath temple trustees that enough police protection will be provided. "Yet, if you feel any need, you can call me any time," he said.

According to Police Commissioner Sanjay Srivastava, eight Inspector Generals, 30 Superintendent of Police and Assistant Commissioner of Police will be supervising and monitoring the procession. At least 69 companies of State Reserve Police Force and Central Reserve Police Force will also be deployed, he said.

Some 25,000 police, para military force jawans will be deployed along the route to prevent any untoward incident.

Police jawans will be embodied with body cameras, drones and face detection gadgets to be used to monitor people's movement and activities. Control room will get live feed to monitor yatra closely.

Along the route, police constables will be deployed on terraces of houses and commercial complexes equipped with binoculars.

On Wednesday night, Police conducted a mock drill of emergency situations and quick response to the situation.

To avoid any untoward incident, different Akharas are not allowed to pass through sensitive areas like Popatiyawad in Dariyapur and Rangila police chowki area in Shahpur since the last few years. On city police request, members of the minority community voluntarily observe Janata curfew on that day.
New Delhi, June 23 : A man was charred to death after a major fire broke out at a shop in Pooth Kalan area of Rohini on Thursday afternoon.

According to the fire department, they got a call regarding the incident at around 4.44 p.m. Initially, four fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Later six more were sent to the site.

The fire fighters which were pressed into service took an hour to bring the fire under control.

"We found a charred body. The fire was in the shop of the building which has two more floors. The cause of the fire is not yet known," said the fire official.

The body was sent to the nearby government hospital for the postmortem.

Local police were informed to initiate further investigation.
New Delhi, June 23 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs 257 crore based in Gurugram, Goa, Chennai and other places in connection with the money laundering case against Unitech Limited.

With this, the total value of various domestic and overseas assets attached in the case so far is Rs 1059.52 crore, which includes the assets of Carnostie Group, Shivalik Group, Trikar Group, CIG Realty Fund, Authentic Group, and the assets of shell and personal companies of Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra -- ex-promoters of the Unitech Group.

A senior ED official said that the attached properties include residential, commercial units, land parcels, demand drafts, equity shares and bank account balance.

The properties are owned by CIG (Chandra Investment Group) Realty Fund and Authentic Group.

"For purchasing these properties, homebuyer's funds of Rs 244 crore were illegally diverted by Chandras to CIG Realty Fund. The diverted funds were used to purchase land. Auram Asset Management Private Limited was one of the companies controlled by the Chandra family which was used to manage the affairs of CIG Realty Fund," said the official.

"This company was also used by Chandras' to siphon-off the investors fund from the accounts of CIG Realty Fund. The misappropriated funds were used to finance the illegal activities of Chandras such as bribing certain Tihar Jail officials and for other personal expenses of Ajay Chandra and Sanjay Chandra," he added.

The ED had registered a money laundering case against Unitech Group on June 6, 2018 following the Supreme Court order. The ED's case was based on Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing's FIR against Unitech Limited.

Total proceeds of crime as detected by the ED in the case is Rs 6,452 crore.

During the course of investigation, ED had arrested Sanjay Chandra, Ajay Chandra, Ramesh Chandra, Preeti Chandra and Rajesh Malik. All of them are currently lodged at Tihar Jail.

Further investigation in the matter is on.
Hyderabad, June 23 : Actor, choreographer, and filmmaker Raghava Lawrence is starring in Kathiresan's action thriller 'Rudhrudu'. The makers on Thursday took to social media to release the first-look poster.

The poster features Raghava Lawrence in a dramatic position and is titled 'Rudhrudu' which symbolises the ferocious side of Lord Shiva. The title of the film is appropriately justified as he appears in a violent avatar when he grabs hold of his opponents.

The film is marketed as an action thriller, and its tagline, "Evil is not born, it is created" implies that the protagonist's violent side shouldn't be let loose.

Priya Bhavani Shankar is the leading lady opposite Lawrence, and Sarath Kumar is playing a crucial role. Music is provided by GV Prakash Kumar.

'Rudhrudu' is in its final leg of filming, and is expected to be out around Christmas for the theatrical release.
The Secretary-General issued a statement on Wednesday expressing his shock and outrage over reports that well over a hundred civilians have been killed in the past week, during attacks by armed extremists in central Mali, and further north.

At the weekend, at least 100 civilians reportedly died when rebel militia attacked several villages in the Bandiagara region, close to Mopti.

According to a statement issued earlier in the week by the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, several homes and shops were burned, and the attacks "also led to the forced displacement of several hundred civilians."

Dozens more were killed in other attacks by extremists to the northeast, in the Gao region.

Many regions hit

UN chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement issued by his Spokesperson that he was "equally appalled" at the reported loss of life there, as well as by the "high loss of life and livelihoods in other regions of the country as well, including in Menaka where tens of thousands of people have been displaced in recent weeks."

The Secretary-General @antonioguterres condemns recent attacks in #Mali in the strongest terms and calls on the Malian authorities to swiftly investigate them and bring the perpetrators to justice. https://t.co/kwFyZ7JI6I-- UN Spokesperson (@UN_Spokesperson) June 22, 2022

Mali and the whole central Sahel region has faced an uptick in violence targeting civilians by armed extremists in recent months - an issue which has plagued the nation for years, stemming from 2012 when Islamist rebels took control of the north and centre, before Government forces backed by international support, put down the attempted coup.

The extremist violence has spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, destabilizing border regions, and according to news reports, in recent weeks, rebels have been blocking the road between the northern city of Gao, and Mopti, to the south.

Deep condolences

The Secretary-General expressed his deep condolences to the families of the victims of the recent massacres, as well as to the people of Mali.

"He condemns these attacks in the strongest terms and calls on the Malian authorities to swiftly investigate them and bring the perpetrators to justice", the statement said.

The Secretary-General called on Mali's military leadership "to redouble their efforts to restore peace and stability" across the country, and reiterates the readiness of the UN stabilization mission MINUSMA, to support their efforts.

In its statement on Tuesday, MINUSMA said it was joining the nation in mourning once again, but would waste no time in setting up a "preliminary mission" to aid regional authorities to deal with the aftermath of the violence, leg by an integrated team from the Mission, despatched from Mopti.

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MINUSMA pledges to respond

"Other concrete measures are envisaged in support of the Malian authorities' efforts to assist the population and strengthen their security", said MINUSMA.

"More broadly, the Mission will continue its efforts to help stabilize central Mali, which is one of its strategic priorities."

MINUSMA said that specific measures would be taken to address the resurgence of violence against civilians in the Gao region.

"These will be a continuation of the action" which began several weeks ago after extremist groups killed dozens in the Asongo district, in the Gao region, reportedly in retaliation for the arrest of some rebel leaders.

In accordance with its human rights mandate, MINUSMA said it would investigate the precise circumstances of the recent attacks. "This will support the relevant Malian authorities in their efforts to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of these heinous acts."
New Delhi, June 23 : Apple continued to lead the global premium market in Q1 2022, taking 62 per cent market share for the second consecutive quarter, a new report showed on Thursday.

This was driven by the iPhone 13 series that has been the best-selling model globally each month since October 2021.

This was also the highest first quarter share for Apple in the premium segment since Q1 2017, reports Counterpoint Research.

The global premium ($400 and above wholesale average selling price) smartphone market sales volume declined 8 per cent (on-year) during the quarter, but it still performed better than the overall smartphone market, which declined by 10 per cent, according to Counterpoint Research's Market Pulse Service.

This is the eighth consecutive quarter in which the premium market has outperformed overall smartphone market growth.

Samsung's share declined in the segment. This was mainly because of a delayed launch of the Galaxy S22 series as compared to the S21 series launch in 2021.

"However, the S22 series is performing well overall. The Galaxy S22 Ultra has been a hit combining the best of the S series and the Note series. It was the best-selling android smartphone in the premium segment in Q1 2022," said senior analyst Varun Mishra.

Xiaomi remained the third largest brand in the premium segment for the third consecutive quarter.

Xiaomi was followed by OPPO and Vivo. The sales contribution of the China market within the premium segment for Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo has reduced since 2021.

"Going forward, we will continue to see smartphone manufacturers trying to gain share in the premium segment," Mishra added.
Guwahati:Eknath Shinde meeting with MLAs at Hotel, in Guwahati, Thursday, June 23, 2022.(Photo:IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Guwahati, June 23 : The Trinamool Congress workers led by the party's Assam unit president Ripun Bora on Thursday staged a protest here outside the Radisson Blu hotel where dissident Shiv Sena legislators along with their leader Eknath Shinde are staying.

The Trinamool Congress workers were protesting against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for "concentrating on toppling the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra instead of focusing on the flood situation in the state".

The protesters raised slogans like "stop horse-trading" and alleged Sarma's involvement in "horse-trading".

"Many people are not getting food and drinking water in the Cachar region of Assam... over 50 lakh people of Assam are suffering due to flood but instead of providing them relief, the Chief Minister of Assam is busy toppling the Maharashtra government," Ripun Bora, a former Congress leader, said.

Police said the protests were held without prior permission. Later, the police detained the Trinamool Congress workers and leaders along with Bora.

Meanwhile, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) also reportedly held a protest outside the hotel.

Heavy security has been deployed outside the five-star hotel.

Earlier on Thursday, a minister of the Assam cabinet, Ashok Singhal had checked into the Radisson blu hotel.

Besides, Assam ADGP Hardip Singh had also arrived at the luxury hotel to assess the security measures.
Kolkata, June 23 : Another police station in Kolkata on Thursday issued notice to the suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma in connection with her controversial comments about Prophet Muhammad, which created nationwide protest and violence.

The fresh notice from Amherst Street police station, under Kolkata Police's north and north suburban division, asked Sharma to be present at the police station on June 25. The notice has been sent through email and speed post, Kolkata Police sources said.

Earlier Narkeldanga Police Station, under the eastern suburban division of Kolkata Police, had issued a similar summons to Sharma, asking her to be present for questioning at the said police station on June 20. However, at the last moment, Sharma had sent a communique to Narkeldanga Police Station seeking four weeks time to appear. In the letter, she had also expressed security threat apprehension if she comes to Kolkata.

Soon after Sharma's controversial comments went viral, there was severe tension in several minority-dominated pockets in West Bengal in certain districts like Kolkata and adjacent Howrah, Murshidabad, and Nadia.

Clashes erupted between the agitators and police in which Domjur police station in Howrah district was attacked, police vehicles were torched and several police personnel were injured. Internet services were suspended in several areas.

Following countrywide tension over the controversial comments, the BJP suspended her from the party. The BJP also took action against its Delhi leader Naveen Jindal who shared her comments on Twitter.
Kolkata, June 23 : A court here on Thursday sentenced a 42-year-old man to serve 20 years rigorous imprisonment for sexual abuse of his six-year-old daughter.

An FIR was lodged against the man, a resident of Canal East Road by his wife on August 11, 2021 at the Manicktala police station.

In her complaint, the woman claimed that her husband had sexually assaulted their daughter 5-6 days earlier when she was not at home.

The man was arrested on August 12, 2021 and charged under Section 376 (2)(f) of the IPC read with Section 6 of the Pocso Act, 2012.

According to the complainant, the matter first came to light on August 11, 2021, when she was leaving home for work.

She asked their daughter to stay with her father but the child refused to do so. On questioning, the girl told her mother how her father had sexually abused her a few days ago. The woman went to the police station immediately to lodge an FIR against her husband. The child was sent for medical examination and her statement was recorded before a magistrate.

During the course of the trial before Narendranath Dasgupta, Additional District Judge (also in charge of the Pocso Court), Sealdah, special public prosecutor Vivek Sharma highlighted how such an act destroys the faith that a child has on her/his parents who are actually supposed to provide protection against such crimes by others. By committing the crime, the man had snapped that unseen 'sacred thread' of trust that exists between a father and his daughter.

The court agreed that it was a heinous crime that goes against all social norms and observed that the accused has no place in society, at least till the time he is reformed.

Judge Dasgupta then sentenced the man to serve 20 years rigorous imprisonment and pay a fine of Rs 5,000. State authorities have also been directed to pay the child Rs 300,000 as compensation.
New Delhi, June 23 : A Delhi Court on Thursday sought a fresh medical report from the Jail Superintendent on the bail plea of the accused who was arrested in connection with the 2021 Rohini Court blast.

The accused Bharat Bhushan Kataria, who was charged under section 307 of the IPC (attempt to murder) and Section 3 of the Explosive Substance Act, was seeking interim bail for a period of 3 months on the medical ground.

During the course of the hearing, Additional Public Prosecutor Girish Kumar Manhas strongly argued that a previous application on the same ground was dismissed by the Additional Sessions Judge on May 28. It was also noted that the medical documents presently placed by the petitioner's counsel are dated May 25-26.

Accordingly, directing the Jail Superintendent to file the new detailed medical report by June 28, Vacation Judge Anu Aggarwal of Patiala House Court posted the next hearing for the same day.

On December 9 last year, a low-intensity blast ripped off inside courtroom number 102 of Rohini court complex at around 10.30 a.m. injuring one person present within the blast radius. According to police, accused Kataria, 48, planted the IED at a place where a lawyer was likely to sit inside the courtroom, as he was "highly frustrated due to the protracted legal battles which were causing problems in his career as well as prolonged mental harassment and monetary loss to him and his family".

During the investigation, after analysis of CCTV footage of more than 150 cameras, verification of more than 1000 vehicles that entered the court premises on the day of the incident, interrogation of hundreds of people including advocates, litigants, police personnel, persons with a past criminal history, the police team identified the culprit Bharat Bhushan Kataria behind the incident.

Eight days later on December 17, Kataria, a scientist at the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), was arrested from his residence in the said case. Investigation revealed that Kataria knowingly and deliberately placed and triggered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) using a remote trigger with the intention to kill his rival Amit Vashisht, as per the Delhi Police.
Kolkata, June 23 : They slip in through the porous Indo-Bangladesh border along West Bengal and then spread across the country, working as maids, rickshaw pullers, labourers, rag pickers and even bar dancers and sex workers. For many, luck runs out when they attempt to get back home with their earnings. Nasreen Khatoon (41) is one such Bangladeshi whose luck ran out after having spent 18 years in India.

Nasreen was apprehended on Wednesday by troops of the 68Bn Border Security Force (BSF) in the North 24-Parganas district of West Bengal. She was carrying 233.71 grams of gold ornaments and 191.94 grams of silver jewellery when nabbed. She is no smuggler.

This was her earnings over the last 18 years that she had converted to gold and silver ornaments, believing that they would be easier to carry across the International Boundary (IB) than hard cash. The BSF estimates that the value of the gold and silver is Rs 9.25 lakh.

"Nasreen hails from the Peroli village in Jessore, Bangladesh. She told interrogators that she entered India illegally 18 years ago and started working as a maid in Bhiwandi, Maharshtra. She converted whatever she earned over the last 18 years to gold and silver ornaments and now wanted to return home. We do not think that she is a smuggler. However, she doesn't have documents for the gold and silver and was trying to cross over illegally. We had to hand her over to the Bagdah police station," a senior BSF official said.

Though the Bangladesh government is in denial and maintains that no citizen of theirs sneak into India in search of a better livelihood, hundreds of such people are being apprehended by the BSF along the IB and handed back to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) as a goodwill gesture. Even on the intervening night of Tuesday/Wednesday, troops of the 68Bn nabbed 6 Bangladeshis attempting to leave India. Three of them were handed over to the BGB while the remaining have been sent to the Bagdah police station for further checks.

"When it comes to people attempting to enter India illegally, we hand them over to the BGB as a gesture of goodwill. However, we need to be careful about illegal immigrants attempting to leave the country for Bangladesh. Some of them could be involved in criminal activities. We take no risks. Only those whose backgrounds can be checked and are found to be clean are handed over to the BGB. The remaining are sent to the police station for further inquiry," the BSF official said.

According to Yogendra, CO, 68Bn BSF, all of those apprehended are criminals as they entered or attempted to enter India without valid documents. "However, it is on the basis of the seriousness of their offence that a decision is taken on whether to hand them over to the BGB or charge them under Indian laws," he said.
New Delhi, June 23 : IPS officer and former Punjab Police chief Dinkar Gupta has been appointed as the Director General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), an official statement said on Thursday.

A 1987 batch officer, Gupta succeeds Yogesh Chandra Modi and will head the premier security agency till March 31, 2024.

Gupta, who was Punjab Police for two years and seven months, was currently posted as Chairman of the Punjab Police Housing Corporation. He had been seeking a posting at the Centre.
Panaji, June 23 : Goa police on Thursday arrested one Tapan Sonowal, a resident of Assam, for allegedly stealing a puppy. The police are investigating whether his intention was to eat its meat as charged by a complainant.

A pet lover, who complained about the incident, has alleged that the accused person was taking the puppy for consumption as it was found in suffocated condition in a plastic bag.

"We have arrested him under section 41 of CRPC, after we received a complaint from a local person. We are investigating the case," a police officer told IANS.

The incident occurred in the jurisdiction of Verna police station of South Goa, was reported by a pet lover, a local person, who found that the accused person was taking this puppy in a plastic bag.

Sonowal, working as security guard in one residential complex had initially said that he was asked to bring this puppy by one of the family members staying in the complex. However, when the complainant along with police visited them (family), they rejected the claim of the accused person.

Verna police are investigating the case from an angle whether the accused person had stolen the puppy to eat its meat.
Ahmedabad, June 23 : The Adani family has announced its commitment to donate Rs 60,000 crore for a range of social works. This announcement has come to mark the centenary birth anniversary of Shantilal Adani, father of Gautam Adani and Gautam Adani's 60th birthday. The fund will be managed by the Adani foundation.

To utilize the potential of India's demographic advantage, there is an ever growing need to focus on the areas of healthcare, education, and skill development. The shortfalls in each of these areas are roadblocks for an 'Atmanirbhar Bharat.' Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group said, "In addition to being the 100th birth anniversary of my inspiring father, this year also happens to be the year of my 60th birthday and therefore the family decided to contribute Rs 60,000 crore towards charitable activities related to healthcare, education, and skill development, especially in the rural regions of our nation".

Over the years, the Adani Foundation has responded to society's changing needs in alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - be it sustainable livelihoods, health and nutrition, and education for all or addressing environmental concerns - with an enhanced focus on the empowerment of women, working with multiple stakeholders at the grassroots. Today, it covers 3.7 million people in 2,409 villages across 16 states in India.
London, June 23 : The rising cases of Covid, in the UK, the US and some European countries, as well as in India, majorly driven by BA.2, BA.4, and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron, suggest it may have evolved to target the lungs, according to a study.

Separately, two studies also showed their potential in escaping vaccine-induced immunity as well as that from previous infections.

The highly contagious Omicron variant of Covid was once known to affect the upper airways more than lungs, unlike Delta, causing common cold-like symptoms. This may explain why infections tend to be milder in most people.

But now, a preliminary study from the University of Tokyo showed that BA.4, BA.5, and BA.2.12.1 may have evolved to cause infection of lung cells. This may make the sub-variants more similar to earlier variants, such as Alpha or Delta, the Independent reported.

"Altogether, our investigations suggest that the risk of (these) Omicron variants, particularly BA.4 and BA.5, to global health is potentially greater than that of original BA.2," the varsity's Kei Sato was quoted as saying.

Sato's experiments indicate that BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 replicate more efficiently in human lung cells than BA.2, while further experiments in hamsters suggest that BA.4 and BA.5 may cause more severe disease, the report said.

"It looks as though these things are switching back to the more dangerous form of infection, so going lower down in the lung," Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds, was quoted as saying.

This may also be the case in India, where patients are presenting severe symptoms than during the earlier Omicron wave, Dr. Neha Gupta, Consultant, Infectious Disease, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, told IANS.

India on Thursday reported 13,313 new Covid-19 cases and 38 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry data.

"During this wave we have seen patients having moderate- severe Covid-19 which is a little more in severity as compared to the Omicron variant," Gupta said.

Further, a study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, of Harvard Medical School, showed that BA.4 and BA.5 appear to escape antibody responses among both people who had previous Covid-19 infection and those who have been fully vaccinated and boosted, CNN reported.

The research published in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed 3-fold reductions in the levels of neutralising antibodies that a previous infection or vaccinations elicit against the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants compared with the original coronavirus.

However, the team added that "vaccine immunity will still provide substantial protection against severe disease with BA4 and BA5".

A separate research by scientists at Columbia University showed that the BA.4 and BA.5 viruses were more likely to escape antibodies from the blood of fully vaccinated and boosted adults compared with other Omicron sub-variants, raising the risk of vaccine-breakthrough Covid-19 infections, the report said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
European Union (EU) Ambassador to Malawi, Rune Skinnebach, has said corruption is a very big obstacle for development in the country.

Ambassador Skinnebach was speaking at Sunbird Mzuzu Hotel on Tuesday night when he was meeting journalists belonging to Nyika Media Club (NMC).

He was speaking when President Lazarus Chakwera had just addressed the nation on the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) report resulting in among other things, firing the Inspector General of Police, suspending the State House Chief of Staff and withholding delegated powers for the Vice President.

"Let me say that the levels of corruption in this country are a big obstacle for development. I see how corruption is stealing means away from the health facilities that Malawians deserve. I see how corruption is stealing money from the education system that Malawians deserve and I see corruption stealing funds from public services in general, that Malawians need, including infrastructure.

"I think any steps forward in the fight against corruption are more valuable," remarked Ambassador Skinnebach.

Asked by Nyasa Times if he thought EU had done enough in helping to develop Malawi, Skinnebach said Malawians have a lot do before development partners can come in.

"We need to continuously improve our coordination, improve the capacities of government, and improve in rightful values namely transparency, democracy, accountability, human rights and rule of law. But the question should be: have Malawians done enough for their country?" he said.

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Chairperson for Nyika Media Club, Joseph Mwale, said journalists were vital in the fight against corruption.

"As media, we are said to be the fourth estate or the fourth arm of government. It was therefore important for the Ambassador to meet us. You are aware that EU has been a development partner for Malawi for so long and it was important to see how best we can work together in the fight against corruption," Mwale explained.

Nyika Media Club is a grouping of journalists from all media institutions from all the five districts in the northern region of Malawi.

The report says public officers from Malawi Defence Force (MDF), Malawi Police, Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA), Office of President and Cabinet, Office of the Vice President, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Judiciary, Ministry of Finance, Ministry Information, Ministry Tourism, Homeland Security, allegedly received bribes from Sattar between March 2021-October 2021.
Jaipur, June 23 : A local court here has sent a man called Waseem Khan to judicial custody for raping a woman while staying as her live-in partner for two years under a fake identity of Rahul Jain.

Rajasthan police arrested Waseem Khan two days ago and on Thursday he was sent to judicial custody by a local court here.

As per police, Waseem Khan and the 34-year-old victim met through Facebook. The woman was engaged in a clothing business and the accused promised her to help her business grow. Later, the accused came to know that the victim is a divorcee staying with her two kids.

Thereafter, they cohabited as live-in partners. The accused had introduced himself as Rahul Jain.

Sometime back, the accused took her to his house in Meerut where they stayed for two days. There, his brother also tried to rape her but when she shouted, he ran away.

Meanwhile, she came to know the real identity of her partner, Waseem Khan and his brother Naseem Khan.

Without delay, she fled to Jaipur and lodged a complaint at the Vaishali Nagar police station which arrested Waseem Khan on Tuesday.

SHO Hiralal Saini said, "A woman, resident of Khatipura Vaishali Nagar has lodged a report in which she mentioned that after divorce from her husband, she lived with her two children in Jaipur. In 2020, she befriended Rahul Jain through Facebook and both exchanged phone numbers. In May 2020, Rahul came to Jaipur to meet her and later raped her many times on the promise of marrying her." The victim said that the accused was putting pressure on her and her children to come back and was threatening to kill her. The police got the victim's medical examination done and further investigation is in progress.
Washington, June 23 : Indian American lawmaker Raja Krishnamoorthi on Wednesday said India and the US need to come together to do more for the people of war-torn Ukraine, overcoming current "complications", which, he did not specify, arise from a difference in the positions taken by the two countries.

The US has condemned the Russian invasion and sent billions of dollars of military equipment to Ukraine to help it defend itself. India has not condemned the invasion outright, but has called for the cessation of hostilities and upholding the UN charter that guarantees the sovereignty and integrity of all nations.

"I think it's so important for us to come together even tighter in support of the Ukrainian people," Krishnamoorthi said, adding: "I understand that there are complications, and I hope that we can work with the Indians and the government of India to resolve those complications over time." The three-term lawmaker from Chicago was addressing an event on the Capitol Hill called "Indian Americans against Genocide in Ukraine". The organisers had said they felt compelled to declare their outrage against the invasion because of India's refusal to condemn it. They wanted to, one, distance themselves from New Delhi and, two, shield themselves from backlash to it here and, finally, to demonstrate they were aligned with the rest of America on this issue.

Krishnamoorthi navigated that crinkle adroitly. He called for rallying to Ukraine's help without criticising India, something that his congressional colleagues have done, such as Ro Khanna, an Indian-American like Krishnamoorthi. He has been unrestrained in calling out India, and repeatedly.

The event was organised by a bipartisan group of Indian Americans - the Democratic-leaning US India Security Council Inc and conservative-leaning American Hindu Coalition.

Kumar Barve, a decade-long Democratic member of the Maryland state legislature, addressed that gap more bluntly. "I think it's also pretty clear that 100 per cent of us of Indian origin want the Indian government to stop supporting (Russian President) Vladimir Putin in this effort," he said.

Acknowledging that the Indian government will not be moved by what Indian Americans say or do, Barve added: "I think it's important for people to know where we as Americans of Indian origin stand. We don't stand with people who start wars. We certainly don't stand with people who use advanced weapons against civilian populations. We very much do stand with the elected leadership of Ukraine." Victoria Virasingh, an Indian American who is running for the Democratic nomination for the House of Representatives from Virginia, spoke about her own meetings with people of Ukrainian descent.

"I feel this deep responsibility to stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and to stand united with our allies, both in India and in the Western world, and to urge a collective action against what is happening. We must condemn what is happening. We must condemn it. We must remain outraged at the atrocity. It is only by acknowledging what is truly happening that we can fix it that we can find a way forward together."

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Guwahati, June 23 : The Radisson Blu luxury hotel, located on National Highway 37 on the outskirts of Assam's main city has become the centre of attention ever since rebel Siv Sena leader Eknath Shinde camped there along with 40-odd MLAs, posing an existential threat to the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.

The MLAs, led by Shinde, first put up at a hotel in Surat in BJP-ruled Gujarat late on Monday from where they flew to Guwahati, another BJP-ruled state, on Wednesday morning.

After landing at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport here, the rebel MLAs were taken to the Radisson Blu hotel in three Assam State Transport Corporation luxury buses, escorted by the police.

According to sources, a total of 70 rooms have been booked for Rs 56 lakh at the luxury hotel, which has extensive event space, an outdoor pool, a spa, and five restaurants. Adding to this is the daily estimated expense for food and other services at Rs 8 lakh (Rs 56 lakh for seven days), taking the total seven-day cost to Rs 1.12 crore, sources said.

In a show of strength, Shinde on Thursday posted pictures and videos with 41 MLAs from the hotel, spelling more trouble for Chief Minister and Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray.

The pictures show the MLAs gathered in a hall for a photo-shoot, raising slogans for Shiv Sena, Balasaheb Thackeray and Eknath Shinde, without mentioning Uddhav Thackeray.
Patna, June 23 : Janata Dal-United (JD-U) on Thursday lashed out at Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal for his remark on delay in academic sessions at state varsities.

Upendra Kushwaha, JD-U parliamentary board president, said that those who are raising questions on Bihar government over the delay in university examinations should know that the state has very limited role in running a university.

"Universities are run by Vice Chancellors (VCs) and they come under the Governor of Bihar. The leaders have to understand these things before pointing fingers on the state government," Kushwaha said.

Sanjay Jaiswal, while addressing a gathering in his hometown Bettiah to explain the benefits of the Agnipath scheme, targeted JD-U leaders for demanding from the Central government to rethink on the scheme.

"The education ministry is with JD-U... at present, students of 2019 batch of graduation courses have not appeared for the second year examination in Bihar due to late sessions. While the Centre has launched the Agnipath scheme to not only train youths but also give salaries. Their four years life will become disciplined," Jaiswal said.

The Centre also has provision to give 10 per cent reservation in the recruitment in paramilitary forces after their retirement from the Armed forces, he said, adding that the "youth of Bihar are very smart and knows the scheme very well." Earlier, Neeraj Kumar, MLC and chief spokesperson of JD-U said: "Those who are pointing fingers at Bihar government should take initiative to conduct regular meetings of VCs, university officials with the education minister to improve the timing of the session. VCs report to the Governor, not to the education minister." "It is laughable that a leader like him, who is a graduate, does not knows the procedures of university. He should learn about the universities of Bihar," Kumar added.
Mumbai, June 23 : As the Shiv Sena grappled with a potentially "life-threatening" rebellion in its ranks for the third day on Thursday, its Maha Vikas Aghadi allies - the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress - threw their full weight behind embattled Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Late on Wednesday, Thackeray offered to quit as CM and as Sena President, and on Thursday, party MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut even said the party is ready to "leave the MVA", with a rider that "all rebels must reach Mumbai in 24 hours and put their viewpoint before the leadership".

"We are ready to walk out of the MVA, provided the rebels return to Mumbai within 24 hours and hold discussions with the Shiv Sena," Raut said, throwing yet another challenge to the group of rebels led by Minister Eknath Shinde.

He called upon the rebels to stop communicating on social media or phone messages or letters or statements sitting in Assam, and like "true Shiv Sainiks" show the guts to come to Mumbai.

"Come here within 24 hours... Sit before Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Saheb and present your viewpoint to him. We shall definitely consider them," Raut declared.

Both the NCP and the Congress, while expressing confidence that the political fracas will die out soon, said they will remain with the MVA and Thackeray till the very end, and if the situation arose, would be prepared to sit in the opposition benches.

Intervening this evening, NCP President Sharad Pawar warned that the "rebels will have to pay the price for their revolt when they face the electorate".

"The MVA government has already proved its majority. Those who call the 3-party experiment a failure are ignorant. The government has performed well and taken many major decisions in the past two and half years," he asserted, dismissing the rebel MLAs allegations of not getting adequate funds for development works as "false".

He pointed out that the rebels "would have to come before the Governor or the legislature" to prove their strength, and after their return, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may not "guide" them.

Pawar also expressed confidence that the rebel Sena MLAs will return to the party fold and flayed the manner in which they were taken away as "improper".

On the side of the mutinous lawmakers camping in Guwahati, the torch-bearer, Shinde has been "elected" as the breakaway group's leader and authorised to take all decisions on their behalf.

According to a video that emerged late this evening, Shinde is heard praising the BJP, terming it as a "national force which taught a lesson to Pakistan" and would take care of the rebels.

The "Shinde Sena" has claimed the support of "over 40" Sena MLAs, while the Sena in Mumbai is left with around 18 legislators, but it has disputed the rebels' contentions, saying "everything will be clear only when all the deserters come to Mumbai".

Speculation is rife that the Shinde group is also making attempts to wrest control over the Shiv Sena with its claimed support of around 40-plus MLAs, but Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi dismissed it, saying there is a huge difference between making claims and actually doing it.

The sudden calamity that gripped it late on the night of June 20-21 has shaken the once aggressive Sena to the core amid gloomy prophecies that this could be "swan song" for the party plus the second and third generation Thackerays - CM Uddhav and his son Minister Aditya.

The party had earlier weathered similar disasters, though much less serious, with persons like Chhagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane, Sanjay Nirupam and even family member Raj Thackeray quitting at various points in the past 30 years.

However, the Sena not only weathered those departures which in retrospect proved to be mere dents, and the party marched ahead with confidence.

This time round, the Sena seems to have landed in a burning fire where its very existence - with the supreme control of the Thackeray family - appears to be at stake, not to mention the survival of its 3rd alliance government.

Spelling solace, NCP state President Jayant Patil and state Congress President Nana Patole, and other central party leaders pointed accusing fingers at the BJP for creating the political upheaval that threatens the continuation of the MVA.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in)
Panaji, June 23 : Amid political turmoil in Maharashtra, the Goa BJP unit has said that 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' was an adjustment to stop Devendra Fadnavis from becoming Chief Minister, which was not accepted by the people.

Goa BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade, speaking to reporters here, said that Shiv Sena workers were angry at the alliance with Congress and NCP. "Only to grab the chair (CM's post), they (Shiv Sena) had gone against the principles. I feel, now people will get a good government. We will be happy if Devendra Fadnavis becomes Chief Minister again," Tanavade said.

"In Maharashtra assembly election, BJP had got mandate, however those who got less seats are on CMs post," Tanavade said.

He said that people have seen the work of Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister and even in Goa as in-charge of assembly election.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that Party leaders will take the best decision in the interest of the people of Maharashtra. "BJP should come to power in all states. BJP workers will work to elect the Modi government," he said.
New York, June 23 : In a surprise twist, House (of Representatives) Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has pulled out all the Republicans sitting on the select committee probing the January 6 Capitol Hill hearings, protesting Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to unseat party members Jim Banks and Jim Jordano.

An angry ex-President Donald Trump, who has privately and publicly targeted the Californian lawmaker in recent times, let out his frustrations that his congressional allies are not able to defend him (Trump) during the televised hearings in the ongoing probe into the Capitol Hill riots that endangered the life of his VP Mike Pence.

Trump, in an apparent knee-jerk reaction, has made it clear that he has not yet endorsed McCarthy to be the next Speaker.

"I think in retrospect, (McCarthy should've put Republicans on) to just have a voice. The Republicans don't have a voice. They don't even have anything to say," Trump told Punchbowl News.

McCarthy, representing California, stood his ground to pull all of his selections for the January 6 select committee after Pelosi blocked Banks (Indiana) and Jim Jordan (Ohio) from sitting on the panel.

"I think it would've been far better to have Republicans (on the panel). (Banks and Jordan) were great," Trump said in reports streaming from Washington from various media sources. "They were great and would've been great to have them. But when Pelosi wrongfully didn't allow them, we should've picked other people. We have a lot of good people in the Republican Party," he was quoted as saying by Washington Examiner which is closely following the hearings probing the January 6 incident.

Justifying his stand for the pull out, McCarthy argued that finding replacements for Banks and Jordan, two of Trump's most vocal allies in the House, and allowing the three GOP (Republicans) members Pelosi greenlighted to serve on the panel wouldn't have had an impact on the messaging coming out of the committee.

"Why would you do it - Pelosi is going to pick and choose. So, the only Republicans that would be on it would be the ones that Pelosi would allow on - it would be no different outcome in this thing," McCarthy told reporters on Wednesday. "It's showing us it's a purely political process." Trump's working relationship with the minority leader is expected to play a role in the level of support McCarthy garners from Trump-allied lawmakers as he looks to secure backing to obtain the Speaker's gavel if Republicans take back the majority next fall, the Examiner said.

One GOP lawmaker close to the former President said Trump has "made known to his allies" that McCarthy "begged for" Trump to include language backing him for Speaker in his recent statement endorsing him in his re-election bid.

While Trump has never endorsed McCarthy for the position, he has praised the California Republican in the past. "Kevin and I work very well together," Trump told a group of reporters in January when asked if he planned to back McCarthy or would consider endorsing another member for the position.

Despite the recent turbulence between the leader and the former President, others have asserted that McCarthy remains the front-runner to become the next Speaker, should the republicans take back the house from the Democrats. "McCarthy is still the overwhelming favourite to be Speaker. With an overwhelming midterm landslide favouring Republicans, McCarthy gets Trump's endorsement and the gavel," one senior GOP operative said.
New Delhi, June 23 : A trade body on Thursday condemned the Delhi government's decision to restrict entry of diesel vehicles into the city from November 1 to February 28 next year.

"This decision of Delhi government will kill the city's trade at the time when festival and wedding season will be on high pace. The Delhi traders will strongly oppose this draconian and 'Tughlaqi Farman' of the Delhi government," Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said.

He alleged that the decision reflects the "anti-trader" attitude of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Noting that Delhi is the largest distribution centre of the country and the revenue of Delhi government is largely dependent upon trade activities, he said that if the order is implemented, there will be a major road block for the transportation of goods in Delhi from other states and from Delhi to other states.

"It will halt all kinds of business activities in Delhi resulting in major disruption of trade and huge loss of revenue to the Delhi government," Khandelwal said.

Seeking the Centre's intervention, he said that traders of Delhi will not accept this decision and will launch an agitation against the Delhi government.

CAIT said it will call a meet of Delhi traders next week to decide the further course of action.
Guwahati, June 23 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday visited Silchar to assess the flood situation in the area. The state's entire Barak Valley region, especially Silchar city, has been inundated since Monday.

Sarma conducted an aerial survey on a special aircraft to inspect the damages caused by the rising water levels of Barak river in and around the city. He was accompanied by Silchar MP Rajdeep Roy, Deputy Commissioner, and Superintendent of Police of Cachar.

The Chief Minister also chaired a meeting to review the situation in Cachar with the senior officials of various government departments of the district at the Deputy Commissioner's office.

He directed the district administration to take a stock of flood relief and prepare a specific ward-wise micro-level plan to carry out the rescue operations with the help of locals. He also met and interacted with the public representatives of Silchar.

Meanwhile, the district administration of Cachar carried out a trial round of air dropping across the areas of Silchar with the support of the Indian Air Force on Thursday morning.

Helicopters air-dropped relief materials with food, water bottles, and other necessities on flat rooftops across the city.

Taking to Twitter, Sarma said: "Packets containing food items, water bottles & essentials air-dropped today at flood-hit Silchar by helicopters. We plan to continue such air-droppings for our stranded people in the days ahead, apart from the regular relief. Our Govt is firmly with the people of Barak Valley."
New Delhi, June 23 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted search operations in Telangana's Ranga Reddy, Medak and Secunderabad which led to the arrest of three persons.

The arrested persons were identified as Dongari Devendra, Dubasi Swapna, and Chukka Shilpa. They were allegedly involved in motivating and recruiting youth for the proscribed organisation CPI (Maoist).

The case pertains to the conspiracy and recruitment of one college student into the fold of CPI (Maoist) by the members of Chaitanya Mahila Sangham (CMS) -- a frontal organisation of CPI(Maoist).

The case was initially registered on January 3, at Peddabayalu PS, Andhra Pradesh. Later on, the NIA re-registered the case on June 3, and took over the investigation.

"During the searches conducted on Thursday, incriminating materials including digital devices have been seized," said the NIA official.
Vice President Saulos Chilima is mum on the decision by President Dr Lazarus Maccathy Chakwera to withdraw delegated duties from him.

President Chakwera withdrew delegated duties from Chilima after an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) report said he was among over 80 public officers and private sector officials who allegedly received money and some gifts from businessman Zuneth Sattar.

But Chilima's spokesperson, Pilirani Phiri said the Vice President will speak at an appropriate time on the matter.

Some calls are suggesting that he resigns to pave way for independent investigations on the matter.

Chilima's party, UTM, says it is shocked and saddened by the turn of recent events where its leader has been implicated in the on-going mass corruption scandal that has forced President Chakwera to relieve him of all delegated duties.

A statement signed by the party's Publicity Secretary, Frank Mwenifumbo says the party is however, waiting for justice to prevail on the matter.

Mwenifumbo told a media outlet that it is sad that the President has based his decision on an issue that is just hearsay since, Dr Chilima has not been found guilty by any competent court of law.

He said as a party that believes in the rule of law, it is handling the issue without emotions considering that it is a legal matter and that justice will still prevail at the end.

On its relationship with the rest of the parties in the Tonse Alliance, Mwenifumbo said the party's National Executive Committee will meet soon to map the way forward.

Experts are sharing divided opinions on what Chilima should do with President Chakwera's decision to withhold delegating duties to him.

Legal expert, Professor Garton Kamchedzera said the best for Chilima would be resigning from his position in respect of Section 12 of the constitution for public trust while another renowned legal mind, Professor Edge Kanyongolo argues the president's decision has no legal significance to the office of the vice president.

But political analyst, Ernest Thindwa said it is a question of moral standing of the vice president as currently he will have no duties to discharge.
Gurugram, June 23 : An outsourced employee of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is facing corruption charges for committing fraud during the registry of MCG shops under the Haryana government's Mukhyamantree Shaharee Nikaay Svaamitv Yojana, also known as the Chief Minister's Urban Body Ownership Scheme.

Under the scheme, "any tenant, who has continuously rented or leased a shop from the MCG for a minimum period of 20 years, as on December 31, 2020, is eligible to purchase the building or shop space at a discounted collector rate".

It has been revealed that MCG employee Sunil Kumar has taken Rs 15 lakh on the registry per shop of the MCG.

The fraud came to light after a complaint was made by an employee working in Gurugram MCG to the Urban Local Bodies Department, Panchkula. The department has now directed the MCG Commissioner, Mukesh Kumar Ahuja to conduct an inquiry into the matter.

"We have received a letter from a higher authority related to the matter and investigation will be initiated into the matter... action will be taken against whoever is involved in the matter soon," Mukesh Kumar Ahuja, MCG Commissioner said, adding that If the involvement of higher officials is also found, then action will be taken against them too.

As many as 1,020 tenants are eligible to be beneficiaries in the MCG area under this scheme but till now only the owners of about 180 shops in the MCG have been given ownership rights.

An MCG official said the scheme was introduced so that the MCG can earn a high amount of revenue.
Bengaluru, June 23 : The alumni of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in an open letter slammed the institute for punishing two girl students who raised voice against sexual harassment. The alumni have appreciated the courage of the girls for choosing not to apologise and cough up the fine as directed by NLSIU in connection with the incident.

The alumni, about 179 of them, have expressed "deep disappointment" and also expressed their concern over handling of the issue.

According to sources, the accused is studying in fourth year. He was a CLAT topper.

"It has come to knowledge that NLSIU initiated disciplinary proceedings against two female student facilitators appointed under its Code to Combat Sexual Harassment, for narrating a particular survivor's experience of sexual harassment by a current student of NLSIU," the letter stated.

It further said, two facilitators narrated the incident over email and on a private Facebook group comprising students of the university.

They did that upon being requested to do so by the survivor who is not an NLSIU student.

"Notably the question of a confidentiality breach does not arise as there were no ongoing proceedings against under the code to combat sexual harassment." For their act of sharing details regarding an instance of sexual harassment, NLSIU found the student facilitators guilty of major misconduct and under its disciplinary rules. As a penalty it directed that they either issue a public apology or pay a significant monetary fine, the letter stated.

"As alumni of NLSIU, we commend the courageous and principled distance taken by the student facilitators. Further, we unequivocally condemn NLSIU finding that student facilitators are guilty of major misconduct," the alumni stated.

The proceedings against students are shrouded in secrecy and the principles of natural justice are not being followed which is deeply unfair.

NLSIU must not attempt to silence the voice of survivors of sexual harassment and those who stand in solidarity with them, the alumni stated.

The letter by alumni over the issue has stirred up a bog controversy and it is being discussed on social media.

Meanwhile, the victim has come forward to state that the development is shocking. She also maintained that this will bear negative consequence on other victims who want to come forward and speak up about sexual harassment.
New Delhi, June 24 : A YouTuber who purchased a country-made pistol to make reels has been arrested by the Dwarka district police along with his juvenile friend.

The main accused has been identified as Shivanand, a resident of Mahavir Enclave in Dwarka.

The DCP of Dwarka, M. Harsha Vardhan, said that on June 21, the police in Bindapur area spotted the two youth on a two-wheeler riding on the service lane without wearing helmet.

"The police signalled them to stop but they tried to escape from the spot. The cops then nabbed them after a chase," said Vardhan.

When the police frisked the duo, they found a big dagger and a country-made pistol along with two live cartridges.

"The accused purchased the weapons for making reels and vlogs. During interrogation, the supplier of the pistol was identified and efforts are on to nab him," Vardhan said.
Islamabad, June 24 : Amid falling remittances and depleting foreign exchange reserves, Pakistan has come on the brink. The policy makers in the country have indicated their intention to adopt unconventional measures.

Recently, Pakistan Federal Minister for planning Ahsan Iqbal urged the countrymen to cut down on the consumption of tea to help reduce the import bill. He said, "I appeal to cut down the consumption of tea by 1-2 cups because we import tea on loan." The Planning Minister also revealed that the traders' community has also been asked to close markets by 8.30 p.m. to conserve energy to cut down import bill of petrol products.

The Minister's appeal to cut down the consumption of tea did not go down well with people as revealed by the exchange of views on Twitter.

Import of tea constitutes an important component of Pakistan's total import bill which stood at $400 million in 2021-22 and $340 million in 2020-21.

Such appeals reflect desperation and helplessness of the Pakistani economy which has fast lost its resilience in last few years. It is reflected by its depleting foreign exchange, depreciating currency and ballooning debt service obligations. The situation of the Pakistani economy has also deteriorated due to loss of growth momentum post-Covid pandemic outbreak, higher level of double deficit and drying up of foreign investment etc.

The economic problems facing Islamabad would not be easy to solve by desperate unconventional measures. Pakistan needs structural changes as problems of the economy are deep rooted. Temporary solutions may give some respite and breathing space, but Islamabad doesn't afford to postpone its reforms any further.

China had agreed in principle in March 2022 for granting a fresh rollover of $2.5 billion in commercial loans to Pakistan for one year, out of approximately $21 billion outstanding official loan including commercial, bilateral and safe deposits.

This is over and above Beijing's earlier decision to roll over $2 billion, taking the total roll over amount to $4.5 billion.

Meanwhile, IMF has also agreed to extend the Extended Fund Facility to Pakistan with additional funds on compliance to its conditionality of doing away with subsidies and raising taxes and power tariffs.

The debt-ridden Pakistani economy is under compulsion now to fulfil the IMF conditionality requiring management of external financing requirement which, among others, also aimed at avoiding depletion of foreign exchange reserves.

Pakistan, according to official data, owed $16 billion of non-Paris Club countries on December 31, 2021 out of which China's bilateral debt stood at $14.81 billion.

China's SAFE deposits stood at $4 billion. Pakistan also owned commercial loans to China to the tune of $10.77 billion provided by different consortium of international and domestic banks in dollar. The Chinese commercial loans to Pakistan were to the tune of over $2.5 billion till December 2021.

The IMF had assessed that Pakistan's gross external financing sector requirements stood at over $30 billion in FY 2021-22 while current account deficit was projected at $12.9 billion on the completion of 6th review under $6 billion Extended Fund Facility Programme for Pakistan.

Nevertheless, by the end of June 22, the current account deficit is likely to end up at a much higher level, estimated to be in the range of $16-18 billion. The IMF assessed that the gross national financing requirements would be standing a $35 billion for the budget for FY 2022-23.

On June 10, Pakistan's newly elected government's Finance Minister, Miftah Ismail presented a $47 billion (PKR 9.52 trillion) budget aiming to achieve 5 per cent economic growth less than previous year's growth of 5.97 per cent.

Out of the total annual budget, around 40 per cent is reserved to make foreign and domestic debt payments, indicating that the debt servicing of the country might increase to $23 billion in budget 2022-23.

Pakistan's foreign exchange stood at $9.2 billion by end May, which is enough to cover only 45 days of Pakistan import bill. The import cost would further increase due to continued decline in the exchange rate of PKR against dollar which stood at PKR 205 against the USD for the first time in the history on June 7.

Pakistan's economic woes are not expected to ease in the coming weeks. The country's import bill continues to balloon due to oil imports and other expenditures, while exports have not risen enough to cover the current account deficit.

Lack of international support has further worsened the situation. Pakistan needs to take tough decisions and undertake economic reforms so as to stabilise and revitalise its economy.
Patna, June 24 : After the massive violence in Bettiah district of Bihar during the Agnipath protest, the police investigation reveals that the students of the district were provoked through a Whatsapp group originating from state capital Patna.

"The violence in Bettiah was well planned and the students were allegedly provoked through a Whatsapp group originating from Patna. There were some provocative messages that were uploaded on a Whatsapp group called "Future Fauji" on June 17," said a police officer of west Champaran district.

As per the content of the messages, the group members spent Rs 108 to buy petrol and set government properties and the properties of BJP leaders on fire.

The Whatsapp group members reportedly provoked BJP leaders who are playing with the future of the youth of the country.

"The agitation would get successful only when we set the properties of government and BJP leaders on fire," the content of the conversation said.

On June 17, a large scale of violence occurred in several districts of Bihar, including in Bettiah, where protesters have set the properties of state BJP President Sanjay Jaiswal, Deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi and Lauriya BJP MLA Vinay Bihari.

The protesters also set the properties of BJP MLAs, Aruna Devi in Nawada and C.N. Singh in Chapra.

The Agnipath protests lasted for five days from June 16 to 20 with massive violence in Bihar.

Several trains were set on fire in various districts, including Patna, Jehanabad, Bhojpur, west Champaran, Buxar, Rohtas, Kaimur, Nawada, Madhepura, Muzaffarpur, Supaul and other districts.

"The rumours were spread in Bihar through Whatsapp groups. The investigation is currently underway as several names have come up. We have arrested some accused and also identified many others who were involved in the arson. The raids are underway," said Upendra Nath Verma, Superintendent of Police, west Champaran.
Ankara, June 24 : Turkey and Britain are working to upgrade their free trade agreement as a means to boost bilateral economic ties, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The two countries are "working to expand the scope of the free trade agreement. We have started work on the issue," Cavusoglu told a joint press conference on Thursday with his British counterpart Liz Truss in the capital Ankara, referring to a free trade agreement signed in December 2020.

Britain was the third largest destination of Turkish exports in 2021, following Germany and the US, he added, calling Britain "a strategic partner".

For her part, the British Foreign Secretary said the two countries, both NATO members, should have better relations, hailing Turkey's efforts to open a maritime corridor to export grains from Ukraine.

Noting the urgency of the grain crisis, Truss added that the problem will have devastating consequences if not solved within the next month.

Britain recently lifted all restrictions on arms exports to Turkey as the two governments deepened dialogue after the Ukrainian crisis.

Britain previously suspended defence exports to Turkey after the Turkish army launched a military operation in northern Syria against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in 2019.

Turkey sees the YPG group as the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace also visited Turkey on Thursday to promote cooperation in the defence industry, according to the Turkish Foreign Minister.
Seoul, June 24 : South Korean residents and peace activists who had protested against the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) rallied near the presidential office in Yongsan district in central Seoul.

Around a hundred people for the anti-THAAD association told a press conference on Thursday that all the procedures of the US missile shield deployment have been abnormal and illegal, given the deployment decision without consent from residents and the parliament, the absence of environmental effect assessment, and the operation and the site construction under the name of "temporary deployment".

The government of President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office on May 10, decided to speed up the "normalisation" of the THAAD deployment site by transporting construction materials into the site and launching the environmental effect assessment in order to formally deploy the US missile defense system on the Korean Peninsula.

For the past year, police operations near the deployment site have been conducted two or three times per week to deliver construction materials. The number of operations was raised to five per week from June 7, Xinhua news agency reported.

The police operations to disperse anti-THAAD protesters, which entailed physical tussles and injuries, disrupted the daily life of residents at Soseong-ri village in Seongju county, North Gyeongsang province where the THAAD battery was deployed, and nearby villages, the residents and activists said near the presidential office.

Among about 100 residents living in the closest village to the THAAD X-band radar, nine developed cancers for the past two years. The residents repeatedly demanded devices from the government to measure the electromagnetic waves emitted by the radar, but it was dismissed.

The residents and activists added that the formal THAAD deployment under the name of normalisation would destroy the daily life of residents and peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

They noted that the THAAD installation could trigger confrontation and arms race in the region as the US aimed to strengthen its missile defense capability through the THAAD battery deployed in South Korea.

The protesters raised placards near the presidential office that say "Stop construction for formal THAAD deployment that aims to build a (military) alliance among (South) Korea, the US and Japan," and "pull out THAAD and plant peace".

"THAAD withdrawal is a way to preserve peace," said the protesters who stressed that the US missile interception system is incapable of defending South Korea from missile threats of North Korea.

The THAAD battery is composed of six launchers, 48 interceptors, the AN/TPY-2 radar and the fire and control unit.
United Nations, June 24 : India has warned of Afghanistan becoming a haven for terrorist organisations that threaten the region and called for unified action against the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba getting entrenched there.

India's Permanent Representative T.S. Tirumurti told the UN Security Council on Thursday, "We need to see concrete progress in ensuring that such proscribed terrorists, entities or their aliases do not get any support, tacit or direct, either from Afghan soil or from the terror sanctuaries based in the region." "The linkages between groups listed (as terrorist organisations) by the UNSC (Security Council) such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed, as well as provocative statements made by other terrorist groups operating out of Afghanistan pose a direct threat to the region," he said.

He noted that the Taliban, which now controls Afghanistan, "is yet to dissociate itself with other terrorist groups such as the Al-Qaeda which continue to remain active".

Therefore, he added, unified action was needed to "ensure that Afghanistan does not become a haven" for other terrorist organisations, including the local Islamic State affiliate known by the acronym ISIS-K, Al-Qaeda, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba".

Tirumurti heads the Council's panel overseeing the implementation of its sanctions relating to Afghanistan that is known as the 1988 Sanctions Committee after the resolution setting it up.

He said that the committee's report issued in May indicates "that the current authorities need to take much stronger action to fulfil their anti-terrorism commitments".

In particular, he added that "there is a significant increase in the presence of ISIL-K in the country and their capacity to carry out attacks. ISIL-K, with its base reportedly in Afghanistan, continues to issue threats of terrorist attacks on other countries".

ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the attack on gurdwara Karte Parwan in Kabul last week and has threatened to strike elsewhere.

Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths, who is the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator, described the "desperate situation" of starvation and drought in Afghanistan which has been compounded by the earthquake this week.

Asking for more aid to that country while pledging to ensure that they are administered properly, he said, "Without intervention, hunger and malnutrition will intensify with devastating consequences. Drought will persist, wreaking havoc on crop yields and availability of safe water." Tirumurti said that India has sent Afghanistan 30,000 tonne of wheat, 13 ton of medicines, 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines and winter clothing.

India has signed an agreement with the World Food Programme (WFP) for the distribution of 50,000 tonne of wheat in Afghanistan.

The wheat supply through the WFP was held up by Pakistan but has since been allowed and they are being sent to Afghanistan.

India has also sent 1 million doses of the Covaxin vaccine to Iran to innoculate Afghan refugees living there against Covid-19, Tirumurti added.

He said that an Indian team had gone to Afghanistan this month to meet representatives of the international organisations involved in distribution of the humanitarian assistance and to visit places where Indian programmes and projects are being implemented like Indira Gandhi Children Hospital, Habibia High School, Chimtala sub-power station and the WFP wheat distribution centre.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the team headed by Joint Secretary J.P. Singh was also to have met with representatives of the Taliban.

Trina Saha, the Acting US Mission's Minister Counselor for Political Affairs, said that if the Taliban wants to normalise relations with the international community, it should heed the Council's demand "to reverse the steps it's taken to exclude women from social, political and economic life -- immediately".

"This is a perilous moment for Afghanistan," she said, adding, "We have been alarmed by the resumption of fighting and reports of abuses against civilians in various parts of Afghanistan, including in Panjshir." (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)
Jakarta, June 24 : The Group of 20 (G20) expects to collect no less than $1.5 billion by the end of this year to build infrastructure to prevent and prepare for potential pandemics in the future, said Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Indonesian Health Minister and the current G20 host.

The commitment to establishing the fund, called the Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF), was agreed upon by the Health Ministers of G20 members, along with the World Bank and the World Health Organisation (WHO), at the first Health Ministerial Meeting (HWG) held on June 20-21 in Indonesia's Yogyakarta.

Sadikin told a press briefing on Thursday that as of now, several countries and a few charity foundations had pledged to donate a total of $1.1 billion, Xinhua news agency reported.

The fund will be housed by the World Bank, while the WHO will advise the implementation and allocation of the money.

The Indonesian Health Minister elaborated several allocation plans for the fund, including building and improving access to emergency medical countermeasures, establishing a global network of genomic surveillance labs, and building global research and manufacturing hubs.

Sadikin added that the money will be used to produce emergency tools needed for timely and equitable responses to future pandemics, including vaccines, therapeutics, medicines, personal protective equipment, and testing kits, that will be equally distributed to all countries once another pandemic strikes.

The Minister said the G20 members agreed that they needed some connected sequence laboratories to identify and share genome sequence data from pathogens that can cause outbreaks.

"By having such connected labs we can anticipate or overcome an outbreak better. We will be able to get information faster with stronger data sharing mechanisms, then diagnose faster, then we can produce vaccines faster." He added that the G20 forum agreed to build several additional global research and manufacturing hubs in Southern countries for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

Most of the countries in the Global South are underdeveloped and developing countries, which faced more difficulties in facing the pandemic and obtaining access to vaccines.

Sadikin said that the ideal countries to build the hubs were those with large population.

"So, the Global South countries can develop and supply vaccines to their population in a more timely and equitable way." Local media reported that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus directly attended the HWG, and he estimated that the financial need for strengthening global health security reached $31 billion per year.

"WHO and the World Bank have estimated that we need $31 billion every year to strengthen global health security. Two-thirds of that amount could come from existing resources, but that leaves a gap of $10 billion per year," he said.

Ghebreyesus suggested that the FIF be supervised by a Council and an Advisory panel that would be supported by the Joint Secretariat of the World Bank and WHO, which is based in Washington.
Ankara, June 24 : Turkey and Israel have started work to appoint ambassadors as part of efforts to normalise ties, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

"We have started work for upgrading the diplomatic representation to the level of ambassadors," Cavusoglu added on Thursday at a joint press conference with his visiting Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid in Turkey's capital Ankara.

Turkey and Israel confirmed their determination to advance the positive dialogue between the two countries by taking concrete steps, he said.

"We will continue mutual high-level visits in the short term. Bilateral political and regional consultations between our Foreign Ministries are important," he added.

Turkey and Israel are in cooperation on security issues, said the Turkish Minister.

"We were in close contact regarding the terrorist threat against Israeli citizens in our country. Intelligence and information sharing between our institutions was constantly carried out. Our security institutions continue to work in close cooperation," he added.

Cavusoglu stressed that Ankara would not allow such incidents to happen in Turkey, Xinhua news agency reported.

Last week, Lapid urged Israeli citizens in Turkey to leave "as soon as possible" because they faced "a real and immediate danger from Iranian agents".

The Turkish Minister also thanked the Israeli Foreign Minister for visiting Turkey despite a current domestic political crisis in Israel, saying the visit shows the importance the latter attaches to ties with Turkey.

For his part, Lapid thanked Turkey for the security cooperation, noting "Iran's conspiracy was prevented".

"Turkey is the most important and most preferred tourism route for Israelis. I hope Israelis will continue to come to Turkey for a safe holiday in the coming days," he said.

He added direct flights by the Israeli airlines will resume to Istanbul and Antalya.

The relations between the two countries were strained in 2010 when a Turkish-led flotilla attempting to break Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip clashed with Israeli forces, leaving 10 Turks on board killed.

In 2018, Turkey expelled the Israeli Ambassador after Israeli forces killed Palestinians during protests on the Gaza border against the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

Turkey and Israel have been working to mend their ties after years of enmity, including talks on exporting natural gas from Israel to Europe through Turkey.
Huambo  University students in the central Huambo province Tuesday stressed the achievements of the first president of Angola, Antonio Agostinho Neto.

According to the students, the humanist, cultural dimension and the political and social achievements were crucial for National Independence.

Speaking to ANGOP on the 100th anniversary of birth of the founding father of the Angolan Nation on 17th of September, the students considered Agostinho Neto a pedagogical and prophetic man, whose political, cultural and poetic dimensions continue to transcend borders.

Jalcira Guilherme, a law student at the Catholic higher Polytechnic Institute, who was speaking on behalf of the group, told Angop that the legacy of President Agostinho Neto crossed borders.

She urged everyone to participate in the activities related to his centenary.

"I think that the participation of everyone in the event is a source of pride and honour for all Angolans, in recognition of his commitment to the homeland and wellbeing of the Angolans", she stressed.
Dublin, June 24 : Ireland's population stood at slightly over 5.12 million as of April 2022, according to the preliminary results of the Census 2022 released by the country's Central Statistics Office (CSO).

This represented a 7.6-per cent increase in the country's population when compared with the last census conducted in April 2016, said the CSO on Thursday.

There were a total of 5,123,536 people living in Ireland on the census night of April 3, 2022, it said, adding that females accounted for 50.62 per cent of the total population with the remaining to be held by males, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the six years between 2016 and 2022, the growth rate of the female population was 7.7 per cent while that of males was 7.5 per cent, according to the CSO figures.
The landing page market has seen significant growth in the post-pandemic world, and it's projected to continue to do so for years to come.

In fact, landing pages are among the most valuable assets for any business. These pages deliver highly relevant and personalized offers that can be tailored to convert customers. But not all companies and freelancers have been able to unlock its full potential, until now.

ClickFunnels expert Nate Graham is now offering his consulting services through Upwork's Project Catalog, a marketplace of freelance services for businesses.

"I am proud to offer a new way of adding value to our clients with our new consultation service on Upwork," says Nate Graham, a Top Clickfunnels Designer, and Strategist. "I wanted to instill a quality-focused consulting service on the platform. It takes courage to confront conversion challenges head-on, but clients see the value in it, and the rewards are worth it."

Nate's services have been well received over the last 7 years on the Upwork platform. Here are just a few of the positive unsolicited reviews he has received from past clients:

"In the online marketing world, it's extremely rare to find consultants whose skills match their rhetoric. It's full of people who talk a big game but are either incompetent or unethical, or both. Nate is one of the rare people in this industry who really knows what he's talking about, who can deliver, and whom you can trust. He is a true professional. He sees the big picture and the tiny details equally well. He communicates clearly. He delivers measurable results. I'll be working with Nate for a long time to come."

"Nate has helped transform my digital marketing with his knowledgeable, intelligent and positive input. I can safely say he is the best freelancer I've ever worked with. If you want to improve your business' performance online then I couldn't recommend him more highly."

"Nate is the best freelancer that I've ever worked with. He has been instrumental in helping my business grow. The quality of his work is excellent and his communication is fantastic. I plan on working with him for the long term and recommend him to anyone looking for help with funnels or marketing."

Nate Graham has built his career creating memorable sales funnels using ClickFunnels as part of his powerful marketing tech stack. The Hawaii-based freelancer has built over 500+ sales funnels to date for fast-growing startups, F500, and other top entrepreneurs across the globe, and was even asked to contribute to internal projects by ClickFunnels. Nate is also in the Top 1% of sellers on Fiverr PRO, earning himself a prominent reputation within the ever-evolving freelance ecosystem.

To learn more about Nate's new funnel consulting offer, please visit https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/nategraham
Plazabridge Group DotCom Magazine today announced that Plazabridge Group has been selected to join its annual Impact Company of The Year List For 2022.

DotCom Magazine today announced that Plazabridge Group has been selected to join its annual Impact Company of The Year List For 2022. The DotCom Magazine Impact Company of The Year 2022 Award celebrates the most important segment of the economy  Americas privately owned companies whose Founders, CEOs and Amazing Team Members are making an important impact in the economy.

DotCom Magazine has honored Plazabridge Group as making a positive difference in an incredibly unique year. The DotCom Magazine 2022 Impact Company of The Year Awards celebrates shapeshifting entrepreneurs and their companies. When a company makes an impact, not only are they helping their clients, but they are also helping the world become a better place.

Andy Jacob, CEO of DotCom Magazine says, We appreciate the selfless commitment that leaders and entrepreneurs make to their brand. We are honored to award great companies our DotCom Magazine 2022 Impact Company of The Year Award. At DotCom Magazine, we believe entrepreneurs are the heartbeat of the world in so many ways. We believe it is a world where risktakers must be lauded, saluted, and respected. 2022 is an incredibly unique year in so many ways. Companies have so many ways to make an impact, and thats why each companys unique impact is so important than ever before. Our award winners have courage and an unyielding passion to grow and contribute in very unique ways.

Jacob continues, In 2022, everyone talks about uncertain times. In 2022, we believe it is the leaders of impactful companies that stick their head up above the crowd, and say we can do this, we will get it done, we will make this happen, we are willing to pay the price, and we will turn uncertainty into opportunity. Our award winners are selected for leadership. Their company leads and their business system leads, we consider our award winners lamplighters. We believe we need more courageous entrepreneurs bringing light into the world by building compelling companies that make a difference.

About Plazabridge Group: Since the dog days of 2008, Plazabridge Group has been helping companies bring innovation front and center to their companys success. Applying unique process improvements to all aspects of revenue growth, our experts deliver on the promises of organizational impact, market advantage and the potential of innovative product strategies. When your revenue is in focus, asking Plazabridge Group associates to work with your existing teams can be a formula for lowering risk and improving opportunities to expand markets, product lines and internal business development processes. Learn more at https://www.plazabridgegroup.com/.

About DotCom Magazine: DotCom Magazine is a leading news platform providing news and unique interviews with newsmakers, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs. At DotCom Magazine, we put people with entrepreneurial spirit at the heart of every story. We take an entrepreneur's first approach in everything we report and every interview we conduct. We cover real entrepreneur stories from visionaries that are making a difference. Regardless of who the entrepreneur is, where they live, or what they are doing, if it's interesting and newsworthy, DotCom Magazine covers it. The people at DotCom Magazine considers the newsworthiness of the story and what our readers want to learn about. If something is important to our readers, it's important to us. We report in a reliable and easy to understand voice. DotCom Magazine offers news with our locally staffed newsroom and is digitally read throughout the world. We are committed to listening to our readers to make sure we're as open and responsive as possible.

About the DotCom Magazine Impact Company of The Year Awards: DotCom Magazine celebrates the remarkable achievements of todays entrepreneurial superstars  the privately held small businesses that drive our economy. At DotCom Magazine, we believe that the entrepreneurs of the world are the real superstars. We celebrate the risk takers that are committed to building a great company. From startups to more mature companies, from companies juts putting income on the books to companies with revenues in the millions and tens of millions, if a company is making an impact, DotCom Magazine is going to report on it. The 2022 Impact Company Awards are open to all companies for consideration. For more information visit http://www.DotComMagazine.com

Media Contact:

Shawn Ramsey

The Art of Moxie

shawn@theartofmoxie.com

919-621-0737
Hakimo's Abhijeet Shenoi accepted into Forbes Technology Council

Abhijeet Shenoi, Founding Engineer and Head of Machine Learning of Hakimo, a prominent technology company developing artificial intelligence software for the physical security industry, has been accepted into Forbes Technology Council, an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs, and technology executives.

Abhijeet Shenoi was vetted and selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of his achievements. Criteria for acceptance include a track record of successfully impacting business growth metrics, as well as personal and professional achievements and honors.

We are honored to welcome Abhijeet Shenoi into the community, said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Technology Council. Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world.

As an accepted member of the Council, Shenoi has access to a variety of exclusive opportunities designed to allow him to continue to exert professional influence and advance the industry. He will connect and collaborate with other respected local leaders in a private forum. Shenoi will also be invited to work with a professional editorial team to share his expert insights in original business articles on Forbes.com, and to contribute to published Q&A panels alongside other experts.

Finally, Shenoi will benefit from exclusive access to vetted business service partners, membership-branded marketing collateral, and the high-touch support of the Forbes Councils member concierge team.

Im excited to join the Forbes Technology Council community, said Abhijeet Shenoi. With members and their organizations selected based on their deep knowledge and diverse experience in the industry, I look forward to sharing ideas and best practices. It is an honor to be a part of the council, alongside leaders such as Sagnik Nandy, CTO at Okta, Adrian McDermott, CTO at Zendesk, Hari Govind, SVP of Engineering at Target Corporation and many more.

ABOUT FORBES COUNCILS

Forbes Councils is a collective of invitation-only communities created in partnership with Forbes and the expert community builders who founded Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). In Forbes Councils, exceptional business owners and leaders come together with the people and resources that can help them thrive. For more information about Forbes Technology Council, visit https://forbestechcouncil.com/forbestechcouncil.com. To learn more about Forbes Councils, visit forbescouncils.com.

ABOUT HAKIMO

Hakimo is a technology company that builds a smart monitoring platform powered by artificial intelligence for enterprise physical security teams. Hakimo was founded by AI researchers from Stanford University and is funded by top Silicon Valley venture capital firms. For more information, visit hakimo.ai or follow Hakimo on LinkedIn and Twitter.
"A lot of work has gone into the DoD designing the Reference Architecture from the DoD CIO's office, and we leveraged AWS to commoditize the pricing of the Reference Architecture as an implementation."

Monkton, the market leader for secure, NIAP Compliant mobile apps, pleased to announce the deployment of a secure mobile app, Balanced, developed in conjunction with the United States Air Force Special Operations Command using Monkton's MATTER IDIQ to perform weight and balance calculations. This development effort leverages a first cloud native implementation of the Department of Defense DevSecOps Playbook Reference Architecture for mobility.

"This application build out and deployment effort continues to strengthen Monkton's expertise of creating mobile apps that adhere to NSA's NIAP criteria. We are very excited to use our work with Amazon's GitOps to implement the DevSecOps Playbook Reference Architecture for mobile, an industry first," remarked Harold Smith III, CEO and Co-founder of Monkton. Continuing, "A lot of work has gone into the DoD designing the Reference Architecture from the DoD CIO's office, and we leveraged AWS to commoditize the pricing of the Reference Architecture as an implementation."

The app, called "Balanced," enables load masters within the Department of Defense to calculate how to load aircraft payload leveraging the Apple iPad with a few quick taps on the screen.

The implementation of the Department of Defense DevSecOps Playbook Reference Architecture leverages Amazon's series of Platform as a Service "GitOps" that are fully managed DevSecOps services.

In the end, code is code and should be able to run through any pipeline, said Chris Hughes, co-founder of Aquia commenting on the Department of Defense DevSecOps Playbook Reference Architecture implementation. Continuing, "It is exciting to see the Reference Architecture be implemented in a cloud native fashion. The fact that Monkton won't have to manage infrastructure means they'll be focused on producing capability."

Balanced is available via the Apple App Store. In 2020, Monkton was awarded a $500m Phase 3 SBIR IDIQ to deliver secure edge solutions to the Department of Defense.
CCA For Social Good, an operating division of CCA Global Partners, and The Childrens Cabinet announce the launch of the virtual Nevada Strong Start Child Care Services Center (NevadaCCSC.org), an online platform focused on innovative solutions supporting early childhood educators. This investment will provide a wealth of solutions that will increase high-quality business practices, reduce costs to address financial challenges, and provide services to strengthen the recruitment and retention needs of the industry.

Sponsored by The Childrens Cabinet with funding from the Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services, the virtual CCSC is available to all Nevada child care providers. This online platform will provide access to over 2,600 innovative and practical tools, handbooks, policies, and guidance on essential topics such as financial management, human resource supports, emergency preparedness, marketing, nutrition, health and safety, and more. Users will also have access to post open positions for their businesses on a statewide job board and popular sites such as Indeed and Google Jobs.

Here at The Childrens Cabinet, we recognize the importance of the early childhood education field and how it impacts our communities, families, and economy statewide. Partnering with CCA for Social Good and providing child care programs throughout the state of Nevada, these unique and wonderful tools will prove to be worth the resources it took to get here, said Kim Young, Childrens Cabinet Chief Executive Officer. Were proud to have Nevadas child care network be a part of this mission to help improve the lives of not only the families they serve but themselves as educators and leaders.

Were thrilled to welcome Nevada to our growing network of 34 states sponsoring a customized shared resources knowledge hub. More importantly, we are honored to be part of Nevadas statewide strategy to strengthen the business of child care. As a result of our collaboration, the Nevada child care community has immediate access to an abundance of editable documents and resources to help with everyday administrative and operational needs related to operating a high quality child care business, said Denise Sayer, Vice President of CCA for Social Good. As we continue to work closely with The Childrens Cabinet, we understand the importance of a stable, strong child care community and its direct impact on economic stability within communities. That is why our priorities will continue to support operational practices that strengthen fiscal sustainability, staff recruitment, retention, and wellbeing and other administrative practices. I am excited about our work supporting The Childrens Cabinet and look forward to the success of NevadaCCSC.org in supporting child care directors, teaching staff, technical assistance specialists, and others working to stabilize the business of high quality child care.

The site can be accessed by visiting http://www.NevadaCCSC.org. Interested parties in Nevada can fill out a New Member Request form by clicking on Interested in Learning More? upon visiting the site. Eligibility will be determined by The Childrens Cabinet after completion of the pilot program.

For more information about CCA For Social Good and ECE Shared Resources, please contact Denise Sayer at 603-626-2121.

For more information about The Childrens Cabinet, please contact Mary Buchmann (775) 240-1484.

About CCA For Social Good

CCA For Social Good is an operating division of CCA Global Partners, a privately held cooperative that has supported small businesses for over 30 years. CCA For Social Good provides web-based platforms that help thousands of nonprofit organizations and early childhood education (ECE) centers manage the administrative aspect of their organizations. The platforms (integrated password-protected websites) deliver a set of powerful tools and shared resources resulting in more efficient and successful operations. CCA For Social Good puts time and money back in the hands of directors and managers of ECE programs, allowing them to focus where it matters most: on the children in their care. To view a sample platform, please visit http://www.ecesharedresources.com.

About The Childrens Cabinet

Established in Reno in 1985, The Children's Cabinet exists to keep children safe and families together by offering services and resources that address unmet needs. The organization represents a unique and effective collaboration between the private sector and public agencies in Nevada. The Childrens Cabinet helps more than 11,000 families annually with a wide range of services: basic needs, child care resources, education, and work experience programs, crisis intervention, and family counseling. As a non-profit agency, The Childrens Cabinet relies on community support to provide programs and services at no charge to children and their families.
Fulcrum Equity Partners, an Atlanta-based growth equity firm, has recently announced a follow-on investment for Nashville-based HomeFirst Home Healthcare with support from existing investors Harpeth Ventures. This follow-on round supported the recent acquisition of CV Home Health based in Centreville, Alabama, effective June 1, 2022. This investment comes closely after the initial $11 million investment in January 2022.

HomeFirst has seen consistent growth since its initial investment, with acquisitions in two new markets: North Carolina and Georgia. Building on its existing footprint in Tennessee by expanding where they currently serve, HomeFirst plans to acquire agencies in neighboring certificate-of-need (CON) states. They also plan to extend the spectrum of care and potentially add hospice and other ancillary services.

Although some home health providers favor Medicare or other commercial fee-for-service insurance payers, HomeFirst, in addition, plans to drive efficiency through proprietary software to work with the Medicare Advantage rates which operate on a per-visit payment basis.

According to CEO Jim Happ, Our software system drives organizational efficiency. This means we can work to reduce our operating costs to generate a profit margin on a per visit basis. This system allows us to adapt to the rates while also actively pursuing new acquisition opportunities to grow our home health business. We plan to continue our mission of becoming one of the Southeasts most trusted home healthcare providers.

Fulcrum Partner Tom Greer has seen the healthcare industry evolve at an accelerated pace and is excited about the growth of healthcare service businesses via acquisition. Fulcrums years of healthcare services investing experience enables us to partner well with companies like HomeFirst. We help them grow by increasing economies of scale and purchasing power and expanding into new or adjacent markets and new services lines while also improving outcomes, says Greer. We are excited to see HomeFirsts acceleration and looking forward to our continued partnership with their strong leadership team.

About HomeFirst Home Health

HomeFirst Home Healthcare is recognized as the most trusted healthcare provider in the industry. They have a strong foundation built on their dedication to operate with the utmost integrity and create trust by providing high-quality, patient-centered care. They continuously refine their proven methods of caring for the patient throughout their lifetime, transforming how care is delivered. The care HomeFirst provides makes them the leading healthcare provider in the markets they serve. Learn more at https://www.homefirsthomehealthcare.com/.

About Fulcrum Equity Partners

Fulcrum Equity Partners is an Atlanta-based growth equity firm that manages over $600 million and provides expansion capital to rapidly growing companies led by strong entrepreneurs and management teams. Fulcrum targets companies within healthcare services, healthcare IT, B2B software, and technology-enabled services. Fulcrums initial target investment is $5 million - $25 million to provide financing to meet a wide range of needs, including internal growth initiatives, acquisitions, divestitures, shareholder liquidity and recapitalizations. The partners have over 140 years of relevant experience in Fulcrums target markets, including significant operating experience in senior executive positions at companies that grew rapidly and enjoyed successful exits. Additionally, Fulcrums limited partners include over 100 current or former business owners/CEOs of leading companies in a wide variety of industries that provide a rich resource for the firm and portfolio companies. Learn more at http://www.fulcrumep.com.
Verztec Consulting, a leading provider of end-to-end Digital Learning solutions and Professional Language Translation announced today that it has partnered with Hoopis Performance Network (HPN) to offer Online Learning Content in Financial Services for Asia.

Our World is now in a new phase of global cooperation: Globalization 4.0, where technological advancements and scientific progress have made our environment more interconnected than ever. During the Pandemic period, we may have often come across the word VUCA - which are four distinct types of challenges referring to volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity that demand constructive types of responses from any organization.

These four challenges pose tremendous challenges for any organization in strategy making. In this unpredictable environment, organizations cannot just rely on the traditional way of strategic planning, forecasting and analysis. The change may be rapid and sudden. Organizations need to understand and pick up the right signals early to be well prepared. Everyone has a role to play.

One of the key focuses of the financial courses is to equip individuals with the financial know-how across different functions so that they could improve their processes over time in such a way that reduces costs and improves efficiency.

Financial training also helps individuals understand the overall health of their function and ultimately, their organization. More importantly, it explains how an individuals actions impact the organizations success, creates guidelines for future goals and initiatives, and sets meaningful metrics to determine performance across departments.

HPN is very excited to create a strategic partnership with Verztec to represent our digital learning solutions within the Asian financial services industry. Weve collaborated extensively with Verztec in the past as our translation partner for Asia. Weve been so impressed with the quality of their work and their people that it made sense to expand our relationship even further. says Harry Hoopis, CEO of Hoopis Performance Network (HPN).

Established in the Year 2000, Verztec has provided learning management platform solutions and produced over 5000 hours of Custom E-Learning and Training videos in the area of New Employee Orientation, Technical Training, Compliance, Soft Skills, and Sales for numerous global corporations. Working closely with a global network of 10,000 certified professional language partners, Verztec also offers Professional Localization and Translation of Online Courses, Training Videos and various Training Program Materials for clients into over 100 languages.

We are thankful and excited to partner with Hoopis Performance Network and to offer their wide range of financial training products in Asia. HPN has the largest digital content library in the insurance industry, ranging from financial basics to advanced programs in many languages, that covers the full life cycle of a financial professional and addresses the real needs and challenges of the global business environment today.

We believe that many companies, not only those in insurance or financial services, can benefit from this partnership. Verztec and HPN share very similar values and philosophies  we believe that every customers needs are unique and our goal is to help our customers succeed and strive in the marketplace. When our customers are successful, we see ourselves as successful too! says Nicholas Goh, Group CEO of Verztec Consulting.

About Verztec

Verztec is a leading ISO 9001:2015 Globalization Company trusted by hundreds of renowned global brands such as Google, FWD Insurance, Allianz, Singlife, Bank of Singapore, UOB, UBS, DBS, Bosch, FedEx, UPS, HP, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Siemens, Novartis, P&G, Sony, and Samsung.

Founded in the Year 2000, Verztec assists companies around the world to design, develop, localize and publish their global communication messages in over 100 languages across various channels. Verztecs core services  Professional Language Services, Digital Learning and Global Creative Design  help companies enter new markets faster and more effectively.

Over the years, Verztec has earned a reputation for providing strategic guidance for the digital publishing and content delivery of global training programs.

Today, Verztec supports one-third of the worlds Fortune 500 Corporations from sectors such as Banking and Finance, Insurance, Legal, Aerospace, Petrochemical, IT, Medical & Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals, Energy etc. Learn more at https://www.verztec.com.

About Hoopis Performance Network (HPN)

For more than a decade, Hoopis Performance Network has been providing virtual sales and leadership development learning solutions designed to increase productivity and retention. Clients in over thirty countries throughout the world leverage HPN to help them keep pace with the ever-evolving challenges of learning and development in the new normal we are all experiencing. Our digital resources are designed to be scalable and customizable depending on your organizations virtual learning and development needs.
ConnectMeVoice by Cloudli The ability to offer ConnectMeVoices hosted VoIP, UCaaS and CCaaS solutions within Cloudlis next-generation business communications portfolio will provide MSPs, resellers, and small businesses with greater choice and flexibility as they transform their businesses to the cloud.

Cloudli Communications, a Montreal-based leading provider of voice, data and messaging solutions, today announced that it has acquired ConnectMeVoice, a New Jersey-based provider of next-generation hosted voice over IP (VoIP), unified communications as a service (UCaaS) and contact center as a service (CCaaS). The acquisition strengthens Cloudlis position as a leader in the North American market while expanding its cloud business communications offering to partners and customers in the US.

As telecommunications consolidation trends prevail across the business communications ecosystem, ConnectMeVoice and Cloudli have joined forces to offer an even stronger alternative for service providers and small businesses (SMBs) looking for reliable, cost-effective and flexible business communications options that support their rapidly changing needs.

ConnectMeVoices robust product portfolio includes its new feature-rich Clarity platform, contact center, text and chat, SIP trunking, and more. Purpose-built on modern APIs, ConnectMeVoices services can be leveraged by channel partners and resellers, white labeled by managed solution partners, or integrated into third-party applications for maximum flexibility. These solutions, combined with an innovative call-path pricing model, level the telecommunications playing field for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and their clients, by offering them all the next-generation benefits of a cloud-based unified communications platform typically only available to larger organizations.

ConnectMeVoice solutions are delivered through its nationwide network of Managed Service Providers, resellers and partners. Trusted by thousands of businesses for their telecommunications needs, ConnectMeVoice processes over 12 million calls and messages each month. Together, Cloudli and ConnectMeVoice have over 1,000 channel partners and resellers, more than 8,000 customers across North America, and over 80 employees and contractors.

We are excited to announce the acquisition of ConnectMeVoice and welcome their talented team to Cloudli, said Gavin Macomber, President and CEO of Cloudli Communications. The ability to offer ConnectMeVoices hosted VoIP, UCaaS and CCaaS solutions within Cloudlis next-generation business communications portfolio will provide managed service providers, resellers, and small businesses with greater choice and flexibility as they transform their businesses to the cloud.

Throughout our history, ConnectMeVoice has been committed to offering high-quality service and flexible solutions, said Scott Seltzer, CEO of ConnectMeVoice. Becoming part of Cloudli allows us to further enhance our efforts to help our partners grow their businesses.

Cloudli will retain the existing ConnectMeVoice team to provide complete continuity for its partners and customers. Scott Seltzer will continue to manage day-to-day operations as General Manager for ConnectMeVoice. Chris Van Wagoner, ConnectMeVoices Chief Operating Officer, will assume the same role for the newly combined organization.

To learn more about Cloudli and its suite of offerings, visit http://www.cloudli.com. To learn more about ConnectMeVoice, visit http://www.connectmevoice.com.

About Cloudli

Cloudli Communications, Inc. delivers feature-rich communications solutions to businesses of all types and sizes, with a track record that spans decades. Today, our solutions include work-from-anywhere unified communications apps for SMBs, VoIP connectivity solutions optimized for businesses of any size and digital fax solutions that leverage new technologies without disrupting trusted and established workflows. Serving over 7,000 customers in the United States and Canada, Cloudli helps businesses across North America better communicate with their customers  how, where and when they want  without compromising security, reliability and efficiency. Find us on the web, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Cloudli Communications Corp. is owned by CPS Capital, a Toronto-based private equity firm.

About ConnectMeVoice

ConnectMeVoices mission is to level the telecommunications playing field for MSPs and their clients, by offering them all the next-generation benefits of a cloud-based unified communications platform typically only available to larger organizations. Our disruptive pricing model, paired with a next-generation UCaaS platform, enables MSPs and their end user customers to cut costs without cutting communications corners and reinvest the savings into their futures.
Im honored to join an esteemed multi-industry community of entrepreneurs who have driven their companies success, transformed their industries and made a positive impact on their employees and communities, said Barinskiy.

Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that CEO Lev Barinskiy of SmartFinancial was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 Pacific Southwest Award winner. Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive business awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies who think big to succeed. An independent panel of judges selected Lev Barinskiy based on his/her entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.

SmartFinancial is a leading insurance marketplace that has simplified the insurance-buying experience with a transparent insurance-technology platform that pairs people with the right insurance carrier at the right price. Im honored to join an esteemed multi-industry community of entrepreneurs who have driven their companies success, transformed their industries and made a positive impact on their employees and communities, said Barinskiy.

As a Pacific Southwest award winner, Lev Barinskiy will now be considered by the National independent panel of judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 National Awards. National finalists and winners, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in June 2023.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has honored the inspirational leadership of entrepreneurs such as:



Cherie Kloss of SnapNurse

Saeju Jeong of Noom

Joe DeSimone of Carbon, Inc.

Howard Schultz of Starbucks Coffee Company

Jodi Berg of Vitamix

Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn Corporation

Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani, Inc.

Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC

Andreas Bechtolsheim and Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks

James Park of Fitbit

Daymond John of FUBU

Sheila Mikhail of AskBio

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are presented by PNC Bank. In the Pacific Southwest Region, sponsors also include Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC (Premium Sponsor), Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, P.C. (Orange County Market Sponsor), Tangram LLC (Orange County Market Sponsor), Cooley LLP (San Diego Market Sponsor), Keyser LLC (Arizona Market Sponsor) and DLA Piper LLP (Arizona Supporting Sponsor).

About Entrepreneur Of The Year

Entrepreneur Of The Year is the worlds most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National overall winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year title. ey.com/us/eoy

About EY Private

As Advisors to the ambitious, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/us/private

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets. Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate. Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

Ernst & Young LLP is a client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited operating in the US.

About SmartFinancial

SmartFinancial uses proprietary customer acquisition technology to connect in-market insurance consumers with a vast network of insurance agents and carrier partners nationwide. SmartFinancial has simplified the insurance-buying experience with a transparent insurance-technology platform that pairs people with the right insurance carrier. Founded by a team of insurance and technology experts, SmartFinancial focuses on delivering measurable results and exceptional service. It is one of the fastest growing tech-enabled insurance distribution companies in the U.S.
The northern region is the stronghold of the ruling APC, as it governs 14 of its 19 states. But this is the first time the party is presenting a southerner as its presidential flag bearer.

What fate awaits the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, in the northern states in the 2023 election?

The question is of interest to political observers because the region is the stronghold of the ruling party, as it governs 14 of its 19 states, but this is the first time the party is presenting a southerner as its flag bearer.

Mr Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, polled 1,271 votes at the APC primary on June 8, defeating 13 aspirants after seven others stepped down for him at the convention ground.

He will slug it out with the candidates of 16 other parties in the February 25, 2023, general election, including Atiku Abubakar of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

Patient courtship

Before declaring his intention to run for president in January, Mr Tinubu had been the leader of the APC in the South-west zone, where he had been influential since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999. However, northern state governors provided the most critical support that helped him to win the party's nomination.

This did not come as a surprise to close observers because Mr Tinubu in recent years had taken deliberate steps to build alliances with political leaders in the region.

Initially, some northern APC governors did not support Mr Tinubu because of their own ambitions. But he eventually won them over, helped no doubt by the position of a majority of them that the South should produce the successor to President Muhammadu Buhari next year. But he had also deliberately courted many of them over the years.

One of the governors, Muhammad Badaru of Jigawa, who eventually stepped down for Mr Tinubu at the primary, narrated how the former Lagos governor helped him to win his election as governor.

Mr Tinubu announced his presidential bid in January, after numerous engagements with northern leaders. He was the Guest Speaker at the prestigious Arewa House lecture series in Kaduna last year, an event he preceded with visits to Kano and Katsina states within a week.

While in Katsina, last March 24, he donated N50 million to victims of a fire disaster at the city's central market.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Tinubu said: "For the fire disaster, I am personally most touched because I am a son of a market woman leader. My late mother was the president of the Nigerian Men and Women Market Association.

"We, together with my mother, had been to Katsina several times for political rallies and Durbar. Coming to Katsina, it is not only to celebrate but to share the joy and sorrow, particularly in this period where Nigerians need each other both in pain and joy. We will continue to pray that Nigeria will be peaceful," the former governor said.

Arewa House Lecture

Speaking at the opening of the 2021 annual Arewa House Lectures, which he chaired in Kaduna on March 27 that year, Mr Tinubue called for massive investment in job creation to address the economic and security challenges of the region.

The theme of the lecture was "Reduction of the Cost of Governance for Inclusive Growth and Youth Development in Northern Nigeria in a Post- COVID-19 Era".

He said the government must think outside of the box in finding solutions to the challenges posed by unemployment. According to him, frustration and despair among the youth were largely caused by chronic poverty and the breakdown of social institutions.

"Building vital infrastructures such as irrigation and water catchment systems will help agriculture, arrest desertification, and provide jobs.

"Another readily available area primed for investment is the agro-allied industry which, for the northern region, is particularly advantageous," he said.

On the herder/farmer dispute, he said the government "must appreciate that martial security measures alone will not suffice.

"We cannot resolve this problem by holding on to one-dimensional answers. We must all be dispassionate in our search for solutions. These challenges are multi-faceted and so the solutions must be.

"The issue of insecurity, unemployment, and extremism has many things to do with governance, over time. We must tackle our deep and widespread poverty.

"If we limit the government's role under the erroneous assumption that government spending is intrinsically unproductive, then we tether ourselves to failure.

"The development of any populous nation has always been dependent on the ability of the government to allocate sufficient funds to projects and programs that create and encourage enduring growth and employment," Mr Tinubu said.

The 12th Colloquium in Kano.

Mr Tinubu held the 12th edition of his annual Colloquium in Kano in 2021 under the theme, "Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth." The colloquium is a lecture series held on his birthdays since 2009, two years after he left government.

At the event, during which he inaugurated the headquarters of the state's anti-graft agency, Mr Tinubu lauded Governor Abdullahi Ganduje for strengthening the anti-corruption institutions in his state.

He also preached peace, unity, and tolerance among Nigerians and then held a closed-door meeting with clerics and the five first-class emirs in the state at the Government House in Kano.

These engagements probably contributed to the support that the former Lagos governor received from northern state governors at the APC National Convention. But now that he is the party's presidential candidate, has he done enough to connect with the voters in the region?

Courtship

Habu Muhammad, a former head of Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Research and Training (Mambayya House), a research and training unit of the Bayero University, Kano, said Mr Tinubu's visits to Northwest states were in promotion of his ambition to succeed President Buhari come 2023.

"Tinubu is an astute politician who believes that with the support from Kano in particular and the northern states, he will actualise his ambition of becoming the next Nigerian president," Mr Muhammad, a professor of political science, told PREMIUM TIMES.

He said if Mr Tinubu's tours of northern states were solely to preach unity, he should have gathered southern leaders to preach the same message to them too.

"Since he started celebrating his birthday in 2009, I can't recall the celebration taking place in the north. Holding it in the north now is political. But there is nothing wrong with that because it is politics. In politics, someone must indicate interest and that person must lobby for support. Tinubu has political relevance, he has people and supporters across Nigeria. In the end, Nigerians will decide whether he is the right person or not," Mr Muhammad said.

However, Mr Muhammad warned that Mr Tinubu may encounter challenges in the north if leaders in his South-west region continue to be silent about the alleged persecution of Hausa/Fulani groups over the farmers/herders crisis.

He said Mr Tinubu himself had not spoken out against the attacks on northern businesses and Fulani communities in his home region.

But the candidate faces other challenges as well.

Kano: NNPP's challenge, Ganduje's record

Kano is the most populous state in Northern Nigeria. The APC got its highest votes, about 1.9 million, in the state in 2015, a feat it also repeated in the 2019 presidential election.

However, Governor Ganduje appears to have mismanaged the party in Kano. Many of its important stakeholders have left the party in anger and frustration. This may affect the support that the APC presidential candidate may get in the state at the poll.

A former governor Ibrahim Shekarau, a former presidential aide, Kawu Sumaila; and a former federal lawmaker, Abdulmumini Jibrin; are among those who have defected to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) brought to the state by a former governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, who is also running for president.

Both Messrs Sumaila and Jibrin are formidable politicians in the Kano South Senatorial district, which has 15 local government areas (LGAs). Rano LGA, which had 71,641 in the last elections, will be one of the battlefields in the zone for the APC, NNPP and PDP.

Other council areas in Kano South like Kiru, Wudil, Gaya, Tudun Wada, and Doguwa will also see close contests. However, the Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, has vowed to deliver the Kano South Senatorial district to the APC as he did previously.

Luckily for the APC too, Barau Jibrin, the senator representing Kano North District, which has 14 LGAs, remains in the party. Mr Jibrin, who is the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman and is seeking re-election, and Abubakar Kabir, who is the member representing Bichi in the House of Representatives, are popular in the district. With the influence of the Emir of Bichi, Nasiru Ado-Bayero, who is an in-law to President Buhari, the APC may sweep the poll in this zone.

But the ruling party will face stiff opposition in Kano Central Senatorial District where Messrs Kwankwaso and Shekarau hail from. Mr Kwankwaso's followers (members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement) are numerous in the city.

The unresolved APC crisis emanating from the primary election in some of the metropolitan council areas, like Fagge, is an added advantage to the opposition parties.

The member representing Fagge at the House of Representatives, Aminu Suleiman, won the APC primary election despite complaints of alleged poor representation made against him by some residents. Mr Suleiman, however, dismissed the allegation as politically motivated, saying he secured hundreds of jobs for his constituents.

In addition, many APC supporters are disenchanted over the poor performance of the APC-led federal government in the last seven years.

Overall, APC needs a lot of hard work to harvest the usual humongous votes it has been getting in Kano central. However, many residents commend the Ganduje administration for executing landmark projects in the Kano metropolis.

The NNPP is unlikely to win in Kano but may play the spoiler for Mr Tinubu and his opponent of the other major party, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP.

Keen contests

The contests in other Northwest states will be keen between the APC and PDP. The ruling party will likely maintain its grip on Kaduna and Katsina states. In the former, Governor Nasir El-Rufa'i is widely adjudged to have performed well but the animosity against him in the southern part of the state means the PDP also remains strong in the state.

In Katsina, the home state of President Buhari, despite the challenges of insecurity, Governor Masari has also executed many projects and addressed the security challenges in rural communities.

But Sokoto and Kebbi will be battlefields for the two parties.

The APC has bright chances in the North Central Niger State, as the structure of the PDP seems to have collapsed in the state over the years. A former governor, Babangida Aliyu, who ought to be the leader of the party in the state, has been silent, perhaps because he is battling corruption charges.

With the absence of the PDP structure, APC chieftains in banditry-prone Shiroro, Munya, Rafi, and other council areas are noticeably supporting the victims of attacks. Those politicians are more likely to influence the elections even in communities displaced by terrorists.

The APC states and APC ruling states

The APC controls 14 states in the North. Yobe, Borno, and Zamfara are traditional APC states - the PDP has not won a governorship election in the three states since the beginning of the Fourth Republic, and there is a high tendency that Mr Tinubu will win those states hands down.

But the APC presidential candidate will suffer from the perceived sins of some of the governors in states like Jigawa and Kebbi, who have either been accused of hijacking the party structures or abandoning governance for their personal businesses.

Abdullahi Tsoho, a labour union leader and governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Jigawa, said over 9,000 teachers retired from the state civil service in the last seven years, but the government has not recruited to fill the vacancies.

Instead, Mr Tsoho said the government has focused on building new classroom blocks without teachers to teach.

Even his party members had complained that Governor Badaru has never done empowerment programmes for residents in the last seven years, while farmers also complained that farming inputs, machines and agrochemicals he reportedly imported from China were never sold to them at subsidised rates. Some farmers lamented that farm inputs are cheaper in the open market than from the state-controlled Agricultural Supply Company (JASCO), managed by a confidant of the governor.

Also, farmers alleged that Mr Badaru's role as head of the presidential task force on fertiliser did not benefit farmers in his state as the price and availability of fertilizer in Jigawa remain a concern.

However, unlike in Kebbi where aggrieved APC members defected to the opposition PDP, they have refused to leave in Jigawa. A party member said many of them are instead waiting for the elections to pay back for the alleged wrongdoings of the governor.

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Meanwhile, a former lawmaker, Farouk Aliyu, is challenging the governor in court over the alleged imposition of candidates of the party.

Thus, the unresolved party crisis and perceived political sins of the Jigawa governor may affect the support for his party's presidential candidate in the state.

50/50 in the Northeast - Don

A professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Maiduguri, Umara Ibrahim, agreed that the APC presidential candidate may win three of the six states in the North East.

He told PREMIUM TIMES that it would be difficult for the PDP to win in Borno and Yobe states and that APC, being in government in Gombe, is also most likely to take the state. The PDP is in government in Adamawa, Taraba and Bauchi states.

The don said the APC may gain more influence in the zone if it picks its vice-presidential candidate from the zone.

Mr Ibrahim said Atiku has a large following in Bauchi State, which would make the state difficult to win for the presidential candidate of the APC. He added that though the governor, Bala Mohammed, lost in the PDP presidential primary, he will still support his party to win the state.

Muslim-Muslim

Mr Tinubu, a Southern Muslim, is under pressure from Nigerian Christian leaders to pick a Northern Christian as his running mate. But Sa'idu Dukawa, a professor of Political Science at Bayero University, Kano, said fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket will serve his electoral interest better in conservative Northern states.

Mr Dukawa believes that Mr Tinubu's choice of a running mate will influence the support he gets from the average voters in Kano and other conservative Muslim states in the region.

"If Tinubu picks a Muslim running mate from the North, the APC may win all the states it now controls, and even get additional states. But if they chose otherwise, the party may lose some of their states. There is no doubt about this because religion will definitely influence the voting pattern," Mr Dukawa said.

He said the predominantly Muslim population in the North is now interpreting the calls by religious groups on Mr Tinubu not to pick a Muslim running mate as a plot against their religion.

"The simple arithmetic is that only three of the 19 Northern states are being governed by Christian governors. The Muslim population will want one of their own to represent them as the vice president," he added.

However, he said Mr Tinubu may also face a backlash from this arrangement with the majority of Christians not voting for him both in the North and in the South. The don said the aim of any political party is to win an election, and that politicians will always adopt the option they think will make them win.

The APC has named Kabir Masari, a Muslim from Katsina State, as his running mate but many believe he is not the final choice and would be substituted before July 15.

That notwithstanding, Mr Dukawa said voters should always consider competence over religion and vote for the candidate that will address the security and economic challenges, irrespective of their regions and religions.
Jordan Sampson Project Engineer at G Force Performance Products Here at G Force, we're performance car enthusiasts who understand what DIYers needespecially when it comes to easier installation. It's always our intention as we design and test new products, and it's why we take the time we need to get it right.

G Force Performance Products, a leading automotive performance parts supplier, expanded their engine adapter kits to include a full conversion kit designed to transform a Porsche 944 to an LS Engine. G Force engineered each part to eliminate the need for do-it-yourselfers to self-fabricate the trickiest components.

For performance enthusiasts, engine swaps have been popular for decades. In recent years, one of GMs best-selling engines, the LS, has overtaken the market to become the most swapped engine all over the world. Because of its proven reliability and performance characteristics, the LS engine has been used for engine conversions in almost every high-output GM vehicle. It invariably outperforms the competition when considering cost-to-horsepower.

Today the Porsche 944 LS swap is becoming increasingly popular. However, Lexus, BMW, Toyota, and Mazda have their place in the LS conversion arena. Each of these brands has inexpensive and reliable chassis which greatly benefit from the improved power from the upgrade to a GM V8 for performance uses like Autocross, Road Racing, Circle Track, and Drag. Nevertheless, the Porsche 944 has taken its place as a favorite LS swap.

The new Porsche 944 LS Swap Kit | GF-LS944-KIT from G Force includes



Bellhousing Adapter Plate and hardware

GM Throwout Bearing/Slave Cylinder

Remote Clutch Bleeder

Custom Oil Pan/Pickup (remote oil filter required, not included)

Correct Spline Clutch Disc

Motor Mounts and hardware

VSS Sensor Adapter

Front Crossmember/Subframe Spacers and bolts

944 Power Steering Pump Bracket to mount stock 944 PS Pump on the low passenger side of LS engine.

Tee fitting for 944 Oil Pressure Sensor

Custom engineered 321 Stainless Steel Long Tube 1-7/8" Headers and full stainless exhaust system with Magnaflow Muffler and Tips.

Jordan Sampson, G Force Project Engineer, noted, This kit also requires the use of a Corvette C5 Bellhousing and LS Style Flywheel and Pressure Plate. Our kit does not include these parts. However, an SFI Certified Flywheel (168110SSI-LS) is available from G Force.

Sampson continued, "G Force has been working on expanding our engine swap kits to include more of the parts critical to completing a swap project without the difficulty of individually fabricating parts for over a year. Here at G Force, we're performance car enthusiasts who understand what DIYers needespecially when it comes to easier installation. It's always our intention as we design and test new products, and it's why we take the time we need to get it right. We're extremely pleased with the Porsche 944 LS Swap Kit and happy to simplify the project for our customers."

G Force also introduced several new transmission adapter kits this quarter. These included the much anticipated Honda K20/K24 Engine to Z32 300zx 5 Speed Transmission Adapter Kit | GF-K20Z32-S, the first K-Series adapter developed at G Force. The K20 is popularly known as the "LS" of the 4-cylinder engine. The K20/K24 kit includes a custom steel flywheel, 3/8" steel powder coated adapter plate, custom pilot bushing, starter hole block-off, and hardware.

G Force already has a line of Nissan 300zx and 350Z adapter kits and components for the LS engine. Now, Z32 and Z33 adapter kits for the LT engine are available. The Z32 5-Speed Transmission Adapter w/Flywheel for Gen V LT Engines | GF-LTZ32-S is for mating the Nissan 300zx (Z32) 5-speed transmission to a Gen V GM LT V8 engine. The adapter kit fits any 2014-Present Gen V LT GM 5.3 or 6.2-liter engine.

While the Z33 6 Speed Transmission-CD009 LT Engine Adapter and Flywheel | GF-LTZ33-S allows the mating of a Nissan 350Z (Z33) 6-Speed transmission to a Gen V LT engine. The Kit includes a custom steel flywheel, 3/8" steel powder coated adapter plate, pilot bushing adapter, hi-torque starter adapter, and hardware.

Another recent addition to the G Force product lineup is the 2010-2015 TR6060 Retrofit Transmission Mount Adapter | GF-6060-FA for GM TR6060 transmissions from 2010-2015. This adapter allows the use of a standard two-bolt GM Transmission mount (GMTM, GMTM-S, or GMATM) on TR6060 transmission.

Plus, G Force recently launched the newest addition to their line of torque converters. The 4L80E Low Stall, Triple Clutch, Billet Torque Converter | GF-80B31200. This triple Clutch Torque Converter gains the performance desired from a High-Performance Cummins swap and the equally performance-built GM 4L80E transmission. Our low stall converter has lock-up and the strength to hold up to the performance a Cummins diesel engine dishes out.

The newest G Force parts are available online individually and as part of their New Product Collection.

G Force ProductsPerformance engineered from start to finish

Follow us on Facebook or Instagram @gforceperformanceproducts.
I commend Burgdorf for continuously... going above and beyond to deliver informed and accurate financial guidance to their clients in a time when its needed most. With this ongoing training, Burgdorf can offer the latest insight on any necessary updates one may need now and into the future.

Mark Burgdorf, President and Senior Wealth Advisor of Burgdorf Wealth Managers completed his semiannual training with Americas IRA Experts at Ed Slott and Company, LLC by participating in a workshop that took place May 12-14, 2022. The invite-only workshop was attended by members of Ed Slotts Master Elite IRA Advisor GroupSM; it provided in-depth technical training on advanced retirement account planning strategies, tax law changes, and estate planning techniques. The workshop also featured a detailed look at the regulations recently released by the IRS in 2022 that provide guidance on many parts of the SECURE Act, which was signed into law in December 2019.

Its been more than two years since the SECURE Act ushered in a new era of retirement planning laws, and we only just received clarity from the IRS to help answer our most pressing questions since the retirement planning landscape was turned on its head, said Ed Slott, CPA, founder of Ed Slott and Company, AARP columnist, Professor of Practice at The American College of Financial Servicesand nationally recognized IRA Expert who was named The Best Source for IRA Advice by The Wall Street Journal.

From surprising new details on the 10-year rule to clarity on which beneficiaries still qualify for a stretch IRA, this latest information from the IRS proves, yet again, just how important it is to be working with a financial professional who is up-to-speed on the latest retirement planning laws and strategies, he continued. I commend Burgdorf for continuously prioritizing his education throughout this ever-changing retirement planning landscape. He is going above and beyond to deliver informed and accurate financial guidance to their clients in a time when its needed most. With this ongoing training, Burgdorf can offer the latest insight on any necessary updates one may need now and into the future.

Training highlights from this event include:



A review of the SECURE Acts impact on both spouse and non-spouse beneficiaries and planning techniques for each

A look at 72(t) payments including planning options, rules and methods

A 2022 tax update overview including a look at the IRSs new tax tables and retirement plan contribution limits.

The workshop also included an in-depth look at the IRSs proposed SECURE Act regulations that provide guidance on many parts of the law, including eligible designated beneficiaries (EDBs) with explanations and examples, determining the eligibility of EDBs, successor beneficiaries with explanation and examples, the impact of SECURE Act regulations on trusts and examples, and more. Guest speaker Jeffrey Levine, CPA/PFS, CFPalso gave a special presentation on estate planning themes for 2022 and beyond, while guest speaker Shannon L. Evans, J.D., presented on strategies to avoid estate tax disasters and family feuds. Members of Ed Slotts Master Elite IRA Advisor GroupSM also reviewed relevant, advanced case studies and private letter rulings.

The training was provided by Ed Slott and Companys team of retirement experts, including Ed Slott, CPA; Sarah Brenner, JD; Andy Ives, CFP, AIF; Ian Berger, JD; and Shannon Evans, Esq. Ed Slott and Company and many of the advisors in Ed Slotts Master Elite IRA Advisor GroupSM are the go-to resources for attorneys, CPAs, and other financial advisors because of their intimate knowledge and advanced expertise in all areas of retirement accounts and distribution planning. This workshop also provided approved continuing education (CE) credits through The American College, CFP Board, IRS, and NASBA for retirement savings and income planning, federal tax law topics, general financial education, and accounting.

Members of Ed Slotts Master Elite IRA Advisor GroupSM have year-round access to Ed Slott and Companys team of retirement experts for consultation on a variety of advanced planning topics. The membership also includes workshops, webinars, tax-law updates, step-by-step processes, such as the Complete IRA Care Solution 30-module planning guide, and so much more. Members also have access to proprietary worksheets, pamphlets and presentations, including a 7-step checklist for IRA trust planning after the SECURE Act, gift planning presentation, and tips to disarm the new retirement savings time bomb as seen in Ed Slotts latest best-selling book and public television special that they can use when working with clients.

Retirement planning laws and regulations are ever-changing and now, with talks of the so-called SECURE Act 2.0 making its way through Congress, we can anticipate ever more changes in the near future, said Burgdorf. Through my membership with Ed Slott and Company, I am confident in my abilities to serve the best interests of my clients as news continues to break, always equipped with the latest retirement laws and strategies and back-office support team.

With ongoing changes to the laws, policies and regulations surrounding retirement planning its crucial for people to work with a financial professional who commits to ongoing education and maintaining the knowledge required to guide their clients through this new retirement planning era, said Slott. Advisors who fail to invest in their own education may make costly and irreversible mistakes on behalf of their clients. Our mission is to educate advisors so that they can help their clients make informed decisions about their financial futures.

Burgdorf can be contacted for more information on IRA and retirement-related questions. Please visit https://www.burgdorfwm.com/ or call (618) 624 - 5588

ABOUT ED SLOTT AND COMPANY, LLC: Ed Slott and Company, LLC is the nations leading provider of technical IRA education for financial advisors, CPAs and attorneys. Ed Slotts Elite IRA Advisor GroupSM is comprised of 500 of the nations top financial professionals who are dedicated to the mastery of advanced retirement account and tax planning laws and strategies. Slott is a nationally recognized IRA distribution expert, best-selling author and professional speaker. He has hosted several public television specials, including Ed Slott's Retirement Freedom! and released his latest book, The New Retirement Savings Time Bomb, in March 2021. Visit irahelp.com for more information.

ABOUT BURGDORF WEALTH MANAGERS: Securities are offered through First Allied Securities, Inc., a registered broker/dealer, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services are offered through First Allied Advisory Services. First Allied is under separate ownership from any other named entity.

Individuals affiliated with this broker/dealer are either Registered Representatives who offer brokerage services and receive transaction-based compensation (commissions). Investment Adviser Representatives who offer only investment advisory services and receive fees based on assets, or both Registered Representatives and Investment Adviser Representatives, who can offer both types of services.

*Ed Slott's Elite IRA Advisor GroupSM is a group of financial professionals who pay a fee to attend a seminar that explores regulations, tax updates, and other issues regarding individual retirement accounts. It does not qualify a financial professional to provide investment recommendations or advice.

CONTACT:
OutSolve, a leading affirmative action consulting firm dedicated to helping companies comply with Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs' (OFCCP) regulatory requirements announces the acquisition of Indianapolis-based Taapestry, the affirmative action division of DirectEmployers Association. Originally launched in 2019, Taapestry supplemented DirectEmployers already prestigious federal contractor job listing (FCJL) solution.

This transaction bolsters OutSolves focus on providing enterprise-level affirmative action solutions, and the growing trend of larger federal contractors seeking more all-encompassing compliance services. As a result of the sale, in addition to affirmative action, Taapestry customers will gain access to compensation, state pay reporting, EEO-1/VETS reporting, training, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and more recently, ESG services.

We share the same vision as OutSolveto offer companies more than just a check-the-box solution. The sale of Taapestry to OutSolve allows DirectEmployers to focus on its core mission, while ensuring our customers remain in good hands, says Candee Chambers, Executive Director at DirectEmployers. OutSolve has been in business for over 24 years, and has a solid history of performance. Taapestry customers will undoubtedly benefit from the talented team at OutSolve, and now gain the compliance expertise and guidance from two industry powerhouses.

Over the past few years, OutSolve has evolved to meet the demands of a shifting environment. We invested in developing a unique combination of compliance and non-compliance services to address the surge of new laws and new corporate expectations, commented Jeremy Mancheski, President of OutSolve. This purchase not only underscores our desire to grow, but to show up for contractors by developing real solutions to present day challenges. We look forward to working with Taapestry customers, and we believe they will benefit greatly from OutSolves ecosystem of support and services.

Headquartered in Louisiana, OutSolve has offices in California, Texas, Kentucky, Washington, DC, Alabama, and South Carolina. OutSolve has now acquired eight companies: The HR Consultant, Gaucher Associates, Workplace Dynamics, Pinnacle Affirmative Action, Van Zant Resource Group, Workforce Compliance Associates, HudsonMann, and Taapestry.

About OutSolve

OutSolve is a leading affirmative action consulting firm dedicated to helping companies comply with Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs' (OFCCP) regulatory requirements. We specialize in complete affirmative action plan preparation, OFCCP audit support, diversity, equity, and inclusion, pay equity analysis, and ESG. We understand that as the workplace evolves, compliance initiatives must change with it. From our online executive dashboards to e-learning solutions, our goal is to help you comply within the context of today's environment.

Since 1998 OutSolve has been a trusted resource to companies across all sizes and industries, and today we support more than 1,700 organizations and complete over 17,000 affirmative action plans annually. Our expert consultants have deep-rooted expertise in regulatory compliance, and our 98% retention rate is a shining testament of their commitment to stellar customer care.

About DirectEmployers

DirectEmployers is the forefront leader in OFCCP compliance, with roots extending far into online recruitment. Situated in Indianapolis, Indiana, since 2001, DirectEmployers has continued to grow and expand over the years and currently has over 900 employer Members from the Fortune 2000. Each of these global employers look to the Association for advice, guidance, and support for all things related to OFCCP compliance (U.S.-based employers), recruitment marketing, and most recently, custom application and software development.
Impact investing should not be reserved for only the privileged. In fact, for investments to be truly impactful, they need to be open to all. Our mission is to foster and build a community of like-minded investors and sustainable businesses that share in the ethos of doing well while doing good.

Creci's Impact Investing Platform enables impact-minded U.S. investors to support sustainable companies that strive to solve some of the world's most pressing challenges, and earn an attractive 5% fixed return on their investments, which can start with as little as $10.

The U.S.-based impact investing company launched its innovative impact investing platform in February, 2022, which offers accessible, convenient impact investing for individual US retail investors. Since then, investors have been simply and easily registering accounts at http://www.crecinotes.com/ and making investments within minutes - no fees, no lineups, no hefty minimums. With this new release, it is now also possible for institutional investors to build the future of finance today by investing to support companies that are making a social or environmental impact in the Americas.

Creci CEO Andres Idarraga and COO Pravin Rodrigues believe strongly in altering traditional capital flows to increase support for the small and medium enterprise sector, the backbone of the economy in the Americas, and a powerful source of innovation and change to spur the transition to a green economy. At the same time, Creci is fulfilling the desire of individual and institutional investors for access to alternatives that are not just the same old offerings repackaged as impact investments, or accessible only to some investors. Creci Notes can be purchased for social and environmental impact with as little as $10. Creci clients are tackling sustainability challenges from lack of access to clean water to decent jobs and economic growth in marginalized communities and electric mobility. Profiles of some of these clients can be found on the companys site under Impact Stories.

To learn more about impact investing for businesses and to invest on the Creci impact investing platform, please visit: https://www.crecinotes.com/.

About Creci

Creci, pronounced kress-see, is a social impact fintech for the Americas that brings together sustainability and finance to mobilize business to create social and environmental change. We believe that individual and institutional investors have a very important role to play in making lasting change within the existing economic system. We provide impact investment products to the public and credit products to companies that enable them to scale their businesses and expand their impact.

Disclosures

Creci securities consist of promissory notes (Creci Notes) that are offered to eligible investors pursuant to Regulation A+ under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Creci is not a bank, and investments in Creci Notes are not bank deposits. They are not insured by the FDIC or by any other governmental agency. Investing in Creci Notes involves risk of loss. You should always carefully consider investments in any security, and you should be comfortable with your understanding of the investment and its risks. Creci is not an investment adviser or a broker-dealer, and does not provide investment, legal, or tax advice. Information provided herein is for educational purposes only and is not tailored for any individual investor. For more information on risks related to investing in our Notes, please see our latest filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Creci currently cannot accept investments from residents of Florida or Washington. We are working to obtain the required approvals to do so. Until such time that the approvals are secured, no money or consideration is being solicited from those states, and if sent prior to such approval, will not be accepted.
Michael Hollis, Jr., Stellar Solutions VP, Civil Sector With 20 years of award-winning experience in the space industry, Michael Hollis' systems engineering expertise and business development acumen will support our growth and mission to solve customers critical needs. -- Janet Grondin, Stellar Solutions CEO

Stellar Solutions, Inc., the global aerospace engineering services leader, has named Michael Hollis, Jr. as Vice President, Civil Sector. He joins the senior executive team of the woman-owned and woman-led company that delivers high-impact engineering services to intelligence, defense, civil, commercial, and international customers.

In announcing his appointment, Stellar Solutions CEO Janet Grondin said, Stellar Solutions is proud to welcome Michael Hollis to our leadership constellation. With 20 years of award-winning experience in the space industry, his systems engineering expertise and business development acumen will support our growth and mission to solve customers critical needs.

Hollis joins the company with an extensive career in publicly-traded global engineering companies. Most recently he served as Program Director of Intelligence Community Systems Solutions at Jacobs (previously KEYW). Prior to 2020, he led a successful 16-plus year career at Northrop Grumman Corporation, where he was promoted several times, most recently to Business Development Manager. He also served as Program Manager for a substantial classified program, and as Systems Engineering and Integration Test Lead.

He was twice awarded Black Engineer of the Year awards at Northrop Grumman, both for Outstanding Young Alumni and as a Science Spectrum Trailblazer.

Inspiring a pipeline of young people is a passion for Hollis. Earlier in his career while at Aerospace Corporation, he was Chairman of the Robert Herndon Science Competition to encourage STEM interest among lower-income and minority middle and high school students. He also served as Aerospace Corporations Black Caucus Vice Chairman, and later in his career participated in the Jacobs Leadership Development Program. Through DiscoverE he has conducted engineering workshops in schools, and has supported educational programs for homeless youth.

Hollis has also supported the broader community through organizations including Habitat for Humanity and the Los Angeles Urban League Young Professionals.

He holds an MBA from University of Maryland, College Park, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Clemson University. He currently serves on the Clemson Universitys Honors College Advisory Board.

About Stellar Solutions

Stellar Solutions is a global aerospace and systems engineering services provider to commercial, defense, intelligence, civil and international sectors. Stellar Solutions provides systems engineering capabilities and strategic support for global communications, remote sensing, national defense, and space exploration. These solutions to customer critical needs connect technology and customers across multiple domains. With physical operations throughout the U.S. and the globe, Stellar Solutions is a recognized leader in delivering end-to-end critical expertise and problem-solving skills. stellarsolutions.com
Great Pines Resort at Twilight "Having the chance to breathe new life and vision into these older, often-storied hotels that hold decades of memories and legacy is such a privilege."

Weekender Hotels today marked the official launch of its brand with a celebration at its flagship property, Great Pines resort, on the shores of Fourth Lake in Old Forge, New York. The Weekender team has been hard at work for the last year growing the portfolio and laying the foundations of the Weekender experience.

Weekender Hotels founder, Keir Weimer said, I am thrilled to finally launch the Weekender brand. At the core of this is my love for the Great Outdoors, for lifelong adventure, for travel and for exploring the world and ourselves more deeply. It is my desire and goal to share this passion with as many people as possible. At Weekender we want to foster the sense of adventure we get when we head out on a new hike, ski down a new slope, or bike through a new forest. But we also want to provide the setting and that sense of place we feel by slowing down with a good book on the dock and watching the sunrise over the lake. I think people have opened their eyes to the excitement of getting outside in the last couple of years, and Weekender is here to help facilitate this longing.

While the hotel brand is in its infancy, the early roots of the company stem back to 2015, when Weimer acquired his first hospitality property, Great Pines. All hotels in the Weekender portfolio boast modern luxury amenities, including Kassatex linens, state of the art technology and fully smart hotel integrated experiences, luxury spa products such as Beekman 1802 toiletries, and proximity to endless outdoor activities and recreational opportunities. The feeling is modern, connected, rustic and chic all at once. More unique touches that blend the luxe comforts of a modern hotel stay with the experience of time spent surrounded by nature.

The Weekender Hotel brand portfolio currently includes Great Pines resort in Old Forge, New York, the original property acquired by Weimer in 2015; Placid Bay Hotel in Lake Placid, New York; Alpine Lodge in North Creek, New York; Jack Daniels Inn in Peterborough, New Hampshire; and a 500-acre land development project to really lean-in to the outdoor enthusiasts desires and yearnings. Weekender will continue its thoughtful expansion with three additional properties throughout New England and Upstate New York in the coming months.

Weimer added, Having the chance to breathe new life and vision into these older, often-storied hotels that hold decades of memories and legacy is such a privilege. With Weekender, we want these hotels to be a place for people to form new memories with loved ones for generations to come. Were excited by the opportunity to disrupt and help transform the next generation of travel, and to provide a setting, a community and a place for people to go on their own adventure of a lifetime.

To learn more about Weekender and its mission, visit http://www.weekenderhotels.com.

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About Weekender Hotels

Founded by Keir Weimer in the spring of 2021, Weekender Hotels endeavor to help bring the energy, the emotion, and the nostalgia of The Weekend back to the center of our guests lives with well-appointed hotels located in some of the most beautiful destinations around the Northeast, throughout rest of the country and eventually across the world.
In the face of labor shortages, burnout and in-person restrictions, frontline care workers have kept the senior living and care industries in motion, providing a stable foundation for recovery.

Aging Media Network (AMN) is proud to announce the Frontline Honors Class of 2022. With nominations in the categories of Home Health & Home Care, Hospice & Palliative Care, Senior Housing & Senior Living, Skilled Nursing (SNF), and Behavioral Health, the program showcases exemplary character and performance of frontline workers across the care continuum.

In the face of labor shortages, burnout and in-person restrictions, frontline care workers have kept the senior living and care industries in motion, providing a stable foundation for recovery. said George Yedinak, Executive Vice President of Aging Media Network. We are excited to announce the Frontline Honors Class of 2022, which showcases individuals who have put patients, residents, and their team members ahead of themselves to help their organizations thrive.

Nominations from national, regional and local companies make the Frontline Honors a key benchmark for care delivery standards as the industry evolves.

Introducing the Frontline Honors Class of 2022 in alphabetical order, sorted by industry:

Behavioral Health



John Lee - Medical Director, MIND 24-7

Home Health & Home Care



Keith Bailey - Field Provider Paramedic, MedArrive Inc.

Cathy Creevey - Home Health Aide, BAYADA Home Health Care

Lesia Donalson - Clinical Auditor/Educator, Adoration Home Health

Sidratu "Sidi" Kamara - Caregiver, Capital City Nurses

Ariel McClean - Caregiver, 24 Hour Home Care

Sally Okai-Koi - Caregiver, Alliance Homecare

Deloris Witcher - Caregiver (PCA), Care Advantage

Hospice & Palliative Care

Caitlin Berry - Registered Nurse, Hospice, Advocate Aurora Health

Renee Firestone - Palliative Clinical Coordinator, Intrepid USA Healthcare Services

Kasie Flatt, RN - Case Manager, Cherish - Hospice

Jamie Hanson - Regional Director of Clinical Operations, St. Croix Hospice

Richard Honzel - Hospice Admission Nurse, Angels Grace Hospice, LLC

Senior Housing & Senior Living

Jackie Banks - Executive Director, Pacifica Senior Living

Jamie Barcomb - Licensed Practical Nurse, Senior Lifestyle - The Sheridan at Cooper City

Michael Donnelly - Engage Life Program Instructor, Atria Senior Living

Deborah Grella - Receptionist, Atria Senior Living

Roxanne Hocog - Med Tech / Caregiver, Senior Lifestyle - Orchard Pointe

Octavia Holiday-Jones - Concierge, Priority Life Care, LLC

Tyler Iverson - Caregiver, The Springs Living

Essence Kinard - Memory Care Resident Care Aide, Senior Lifestyle - Sage Harbor at Baywinde

Tammy Logan - Lead Caregiver, Belmont Village Senior Living

Lena Robinson - Lead CNA/Medication Technician, Benchmark Senior Living

Skilled Nursing

Mary Baker, APRN - Nurse Practitioner, Advocate Aurora Health

Enian Biti - Physical Therapy Assistant, Concept Rehab

Wanda Easter - CNA Supervisor, Nature Trail Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center

Janean Fegler - Therapy Program Manager, Concept Rehab

Wendy McFarland - Housekeeping Supervisor, Pottsville Rehabilitation and Nursing Center

Stephanie Mullin, RN - Unit Manager, Pottsville Rehabilitation and Nursing Center

Tawnya Pionk - Director of Nursing, Senatobia Health and Rehabilitation

To view all of the Honorees, visit https://frontlinehonors.agingmedia.com/class-of-2022

Congratulations to the Class of 2022!

About Aging Media Network

Aging Media Network is an innovative publishing company based in Chicago, Illinois, and is the publisher of Senior Housing News, Home Health Care News, Skilled Nursing News, Hospice News, and Behavioral Health Business.
The 7th Gen Qualcomm AI Engine on Snapdragon 8 is enabling faster and smarter AI for mobile experiences, making breakthrough AI technology portable and accessible to the masses"

AI Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global Artificial Intelligence (AI) market, today announced that it has selected Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. as winner of the Best Overall AI Platform award in the fifth annual AI Breakthrough Awards program, recognizing the breakthrough innovation of the 7th Gen Qualcomm AI Engine on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Mobile Platform.

Powered by the 7th Gen Qualcomm AI Engine, Snapdragon 8 equips users to be professional-quality photographers, enhances productivity via smart assistants and unlocks life-like gaming experiences.

The Qualcomm AI Engine is equipped with the ultra-high performance and efficient Qualcomm Hexagon processor, featuring a 2x faster tensor accelerator and 2x larger shared memory than its predecessor. The Hexagon processor is the most essential element of the Qualcomm AI Engine and this year, the company doubled the computational performance for their tensor accelerator and doubled the size of their large-shared memory, because modern day AI models are getting deeper and larger.

Bringing together breakthroughs in AI, connectivity, camera, gaming, and more, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Mobile Platform is synonymous with the premium experiences for which Qualcomm Technologies is known, said Ziad Asghar, vice president of product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Snapdragon is advancing mobile AI to make its almost limitless capabilities standard across premium and high-tier Android devices. We are pushing the boundaries of what is possible while shaping the future of AI. Our mission remains to scale AI across various industries by utilizing our leadership in mobile AI to deliver breakthroughs in cloud, compute, automotive, IoT, and XR platforms.

The mission of the AI Breakthrough Awards is to honor excellence and recognize the innovation, hard work and success in a range of AI and machine learning related categories, including AI platforms, Deep Learning, Smart Robotics, Business Intelligence, Natural Language Processing, industry specific AI applications and many more. This years program attracted more than 2,950 nominations from over 18 different countries throughout the world.

Weve known for some time that AI is poised to revolutionize our world and transform every aspect of our daily lives  and AI powering our smartphones is the largest step towards this revolution yet - enhancing connectivity, photography, gaming, sound, security and more, said James Johnson, managing director, AI Breakthrough. The 7th Gen Qualcomm AI Engine on Snapdragon 8 is enabling faster and smarter AI for mobile experiences, making breakthrough AI technology portable and accessible to the masses. We extend our sincere congratulations to Qualcomm Technologies for taking home our 2022 AI Breakthrough Award for Best Overall AI Platform for the 7th Gen Qualcomm AI Engine on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Mobile Platform.

One example of the AI capabilities powered by Snapdragon 8, is the integrated AI-based natural language processing from Hugging Face that can intelligently serve as a personal assistant by prioritizing and analyzing notifications. Snapdragon 8 also brings Sonde Health on-device, allowing users to stay on top of their physical and mental health, such as detecting depression or Covid-19, by using their mobile device to analyze vocal patterns. The 3rd Gen Qualcomm Sensing Hub captures rigorous activities and tracks them automatically, while the new always-on ISP added to the always-on family, can unlock the device without the user even touching it - all with added security in mind.

Qualcomm, Snapdragon, and Hexagon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated.

Qualcomm AI Engine, Snapdragon, Qualcomm Hexagon, and Qualcomm Sensing Hub are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

####

About AI Breakthrough

Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the AI Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in Artificial Intelligence technologies, services, companies and products. The AI Breakthrough Awards provide public recognition for the achievements of AI companies and products in categories including AI Platforms, Robotics, Business Intelligence, AI Hardware, NLP, Vision, Biometrics and more. For more information visit AIBreakthroughAwards.com.
As localities welcome tourists and host public events this summer and plan for the start of a new school year, we saw this as the right time to launch a tool that will help slow speeding, manage traffic, and share alerts wherever needed.  Carrie Fedders, Vice President of Sales and Marketing

All Traffic Solutions (ATS), a leading provider of radar speed and variable message signs, is expanding its line of speed and message trailers with the launch of the ATS 3 trailer. This trailer delivers the same quality, durability, and ease of use as the existing ATS 5 trailer, but with a more compact design to better accommodate smaller signs such as the portable Shield radar speed display and the multipurpose SpeedAlert 18 radar sign with message capability.

The new ATS 3 trailer will allow law enforcement and other agencies to deploy a sign without the need for a permanent pole to mount it on, on and without the need to take the sign down to recharge batteries due to its integrated solar power. This allows for a fast response to neighborhood speeding complaints and more flexibility in terms of where the signs can be deployed. The pole attached to the portable trailer rotates 360 degrees so the attached sign can point in any direction.

In comparison to the ATS 5 trailer, the ATS 3s lower profile makes it an ideal solution for resolving neighborhood speeding complaints and increasing traffic safety in areas where the speed limit is 45 mph or lower.

As localities welcome tourists and host public events this summer and plan for the start of a new school year, we saw this as the right time to launch a tool that will help slow speeding, manage traffic, and share alerts wherever needed. said Carrie Fedders, All Traffic Solutions Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

To learn more about All Traffic Solutions speed and message trailers and the new addition of the ATS 3, visit the companys trailers webpage.

About All Traffic Solutions

All Traffic Solutions is a leading provider of portable variable message and radar speed signs that are made in the USA. Since the companys inception in 2000, ATS has helped over 6,000 government agencies, higher education institutions, and private sector organizations manage traffic, share information with the public, and improve overall safety. To learn more, visit http://www.alltrafficsolutions.com or follow All Traffic Solutions on Facebook or LinkedIn.
GridPoint, a leader in building energy management and optimization technology, and Hawaii Energy, the energy efficiency and conservation program for Hawaii, Honolulu and Maui counties, today celebrates the success of Aloha Petroleums participation in Hawaii Energys innovative Smart Device rebate offer. Leveraging GridPoints technology, Aloha Petroleum has achieved over 13% average reduction in energy use over the past twelve months, with one month reaching nearly 17% averaged savings across 30 locations throughout the state. By becoming more efficient, Aloha Petroleum makes the business more resilient to volatile energy costs, reduces operational costs, and supports Hawaiis sustainability goals of achieving 100% clean energy by 2045.

As energy costs in Hawaii are among the highest in the U.S., Hawaii Energy launched its Smart Device rebate offer in 2021 to help Hawaii businesses deploy smart building technology that displays their energy usage in real-time, allowing them to better manage their facilities and reduce utility bills. Hawaii Energy offers qualified businesses a 50% rebate, up to $5,000 per site, on the cost to purchase and install GridPoints smart building controls at their locations. 26 Aloha Petroleum locations received the full Smart Device rebate, reducing the monthly subscription cost for GridPoints platform in half. To further put the total ROI in perspective, for every $1 spent on GridPoints technology over these 12 months, Aloha Petroleum saved over $12.50. Hawaii Energys Smart Device rebate is specifically designed to support quick-service restaurants, convenience stores, grocery stores and other facilities with high rates of energy use driven by air conditioning and refrigeration.

Thanks to Hawaii Energys incentive, we were able to install GridPoints technology at all of our eligible locations throughout Hawaii, said Butch Galdeira, regional director of retail and restaurant Operations at Aloha Petroleum. Our initial savings were almost 13% and the reporting provided by GridPoints platform allows us to better understand how efficiently our HVAC units are operating and what we can do to continue to conserve energy and reduce costs without impacting the comfort of our customers and staff.

As we continue to support local businesses in their efforts to reduce energy costs in a challenging economy, providing them with access to real-time data is critical, said Caroline Carl, executive director of Hawaii Energy. Being able to lower usage by simply applying controls and awareness rather than requiring major equipment upgrades means that businesses can ultimately keep more of their revenue while still saving hundreds or even thousands annually.

GridPoints technology automates building efficiency, using advanced controls and patented algorithms to identify opportunities for operational cost savings, evaluate equipment performance and recognize the effects of building operations on energy costs. Once the platform was installed and commissioned, GridPoints HVAC Health tool identified 12 locations with pre-existing HVAC issues, categorizing the issues by severity. The Aloha Petroleum team was then able to use those insights to prioritize maintenance and ensure their equipment was operating safely and efficiently. The HVAC Health tool continues to be used by the team to periodically evaluate their systems enterprise-wide and proactively schedule maintenance to avoid costly issues resulting in downtime at a site.

GridPoints energy advisory support and training helped Aloha Petroleum not just conduct predictive maintenance of its facilities to avoid costly issues down the road but also proactively manage its carbon footprint, including the ability to analyze real-time data from all 30 locations at once, applying valuable data insights to its overall sustainability strategy that to accelerate decarbonization across their sites.

Commercial buildings, like those owned by Aloha Petroleum, provide a major opportunity to improve energy efficiency quickly resulting in benefits for both businesses and energy grids, said Mark Danzenbaker, CEO of GridPoint. Aloha Petroleums incredible return on investment demonstrates the high value of incentive programs, like what Hawaii Energy offers, to reduce the financial burden on businesses and accelerate participation in the clean energy transition.

To learn more about GridPoints custom solution for Aloha Petroleum, visit https://www.gridpoint.com/resources/case-studies/hawaii-energy/. To learn more about Hawaii Energys rebate for smart devices, visit https://bit.ly/3NWTXsQ.

About GridPoint

GridPoint is a leader in building energy management and optimization technology that decarbonizes commercial buildings and drives grid modernization. GridPoints data-driven platform connects energy grids with the built environment and behind-the-meter distributed energy resources, enabling the ability to optimize energy and sustainability goals for businesses and the grid at the same time. GridPoints technology platform is deployed in 15,000+ commercial buildings across multiple industries. Leveraging data analytics, intelligent automation and machine learning to deliver unprecedented visibility into complex building operations, GridPoint reduces energy costs, maximizes decarbonization, provides actionable facility insights and strengthens resiliency  building by building. Networked together, buildings with GridPoint IntelligenceTM aggregate the reliable, precise and instantaneous capacity that energy grids increasingly require. GridPoints intelligent energy network of buildings is driving grid modernization and accelerating the transition to a sustainable energy future. For more information, visit gridpoint.com.

ABOUT HAWAII ENERGY

Hawaii Energy helps island families and businesses make smart energy choices. We encourage and reward energy decisions that will allow our state to reach 100% clean energy faster and cheaper. To date, we have saved the people of Hawaii more than a billion dollars off their energy bills. Let Hawaii Energy be your trusted energy advisor to help save you money and protect what makes Hawaii so special. For more information, please visit hawaiienergy.com/about.
Government has released a bombshell on striking teachers, asking them to return to class or resign from their work.

Teachers under their umbrella, the Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU) earlier this month announced a sit down strike over what they described as discriminatory, the proposed salary enhancement for their science colleagues.

Efforts by government to woo the teachers back to class have proved futile.

However, in a letter to the UNATU General Secretary, the Ministry of Public Service Permanent Secretary, Catherine Birakwate has said that whereas government is committed to ensuring salary enhancement for all teachers, irrespective of the disciplines, this cant be met currently because of the scarce resources.

"The current enhancement for science teachers was informed by the available resources, the number of teachers involved and the impact that can be made by the scientists to the development of the country. We have no doubt that you agree that we need an educated workforce in all aspects of life but more in sciences. This in our view will attract and retain the crucial skill that is needed at this time,"Birakwate said.

She however insisted that government can at this time only meet the increased salary demands for only science teachers as their arts colleagues wait a little longer.

Strike

The Public Service Permanent Secretary said whereas it is within the rights of the teachers to strike, the current industrial action is not backed by any law.

"The current industrial action by UNATU members is illegal and in breach of the principles and spirit of the law and particularly sections 7(2) a, and b and 8(1) and (3) of the Public Service Negotiating , Consultative and Disputes Settlement Machinery Act 2008 and the recognition agreement signed under this act because UNATU has neither given a notice to strike nor had the dispute settlement machinery exhausted,"Birakwate noted.

The Permanent Secretary informed UNATU that there have been reports of schools closed by teachers as part of the ongoing strike, a situation she said cant be tolerated.

"We wish to advise you that no teacher whether on strike or not has the legal right or jurisdiction to close public school without the concurrence of the government of Uganda."

To this she said teachers are now directed to return to work by June,24, without fail or else they will face action.

"Any government employed teacher who doesn't comply to this call will be regarded as having abandoned duty and resigned from the Public Service in accordance with Section A -n(17)of the Public Service Standing Orders 2021. The teachers who are not willing to go back to work under the prevailing conditions are free to withdraw their labour as provided for under Section A-n (11) of the Public Service Standing Orders 2021."

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Museveni meeting

The directive comes a few hours after President Museveni reportedly met with the Ministers of Education, Finance, Public Service, Prime Minister and the Vice President over the matter.

It is said that in the meeting, the president directed that the teachers return to class as government works around getting money for their salary increment.

"The president said government cant deal with people who are not patriotic. Government will pay(salary increment) only when it is able," a source told this website.

Government earlier this year approved Shs735 billion plan to enhance salaries for scientists, including science teachers.

The enhancement will see science teachers who are diploma holders in government institutions of learning earn shs3 million from between shs700,000 and shs900,000.

On the other side, science teachers who are degree holders would earn shs4 million from between shs1 million and shs1.4 million they are currently earning.

This planned salary enhancement for only science teachers has seen the teachers' umbrella body protest the proposed salary discrepancies that they say are not fair to the arts teachers.
Nigel Edwards (right), Executive Director, Unit Trust Corporation shares an exchange with R. Don Wehby, Chief Executive Officer GraceKennedy Group. We are elated about this partnership and believe the timing is perfect. Even as uncertainty keeps sweeping global economies, financial markets and industries, we remain focused on delivering value.

As an indigenous investment management company celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) is proud to recently announce the signing of its Joint Venture Agreement with GK Capital Management Limited (GK Capital), a subsidiary of GraceKennedy (GK) Limited to offer additional investment options to Jamaican investors.

This new, innovative partnership is rooted in an alignment of UTC and GKs strong core values and leverages each entitys disparate but complementary strengths to create compelling and sustainable value for both individual and institutional investors.

The Jamaican market can be characterized by a vibrant money market, a dynamic stock exchange, and close affiliations with US financial markets via money transfers. Within this environment, UTC will leverage its expertise and replicate what was accomplished in Trinidad and Tobago to provide financial hope and create wealth, but now also for Jamaican investors.

UTC Executive Director, Nigel Edwards sees the UTC as staying true to its mission of creating and enhancing wealth for all by providing innovative investment solutions and worldclass customer service. He says, We are elated about this partnership and believe the timing is perfect. Even as uncertainty keeps sweeping global economies, financial markets and industries, we remain focused on delivering value. UTCs business trajectory is prudently mapped, and our investment management philosophy is borne out of a customercentric approach.

Edwards adds, This initiative is a significant milestone for the UTC and adds to our 40year legacy of trust and significant contribution to the success of the financial services sector.

GK is one of the Caribbeans largest conglomerates, involved mainly in food manufacturing and distribution and financial services. Founded in Jamaica in 1922, GK is now celebrating its centennial year of business, and is geographically diversified across the Caribbean, North and Central America and, the United Kingdom.

Don Wehby, Group Chief Executive Officer of GraceKennedy, explained, For over one hundred years, Jamaicans have remained confident in GraceKennedys ability to generate innovative solutions. These new investment options from GK Capital in partnership with UTC, will serve as another great example of our Companys commitment to delivering world class investment products to our customers.

Steven Whittingham, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the GraceKennedy Financial Group and the Head of GKs Investment and Insurance Divisions, acknowledged that The initial funds will diversify the sphere of investment opportunities for GK Capitals clients and expand our product reach. While we are entering a competitive Collective Investment Scheme market, the design of the funds and the planned novel approaches to distribution, will deliver a unique customer experience and drive client acquisition and the accumulation of assets under management.

The UTC is the largest mutual fund service provider in Trinidad and Tobago, with Assets Under Management as at, 31st December 2021, totaling TT$25.5 Billion (US$3.75 Billion).

Underpinned by a robust risk management framework, continued good investment portfolio performance and operational efficiency, UTC continues to honour its mission of generating wealth for all  not only for local communities but now, regionally.

About The Unit Trust Corporation

The Unit Trust Corporation is one of the largest financial solutions providers in the Caribbean, with over TT$25.5 Billion (US$3.75 Billion) in Funds Under Management. With nearly every household in Trinidad and Tobago invested with the Unit Trust Corporation, it is an indigenous institution with a strong foundation, standing side by side with over 617,000 strong Unitholders.

Through prudent advice and judicious fund management, they cater to the diverse needs of individuals, businesses and government institutions. They are focused on helping their investors to achieve their goals by offering investment education and financial advisory services. With sound portfolio management strategies, they are committed to bringing the best value to their investors. Through their shared value thrust, the UTC Foundation has been set up to strengthen their social investment and philanthropic arm, under the pillars of Entrepreneurship, Education, Financial Well-Being and Environmental Citizenship.

The Unit Trust Corporation is committed to having a meaningful impact and contributing to the development of its country and the region in extension.
People have a civil right to their medical records. Nursing home facilities have no legal basis to withhold them.

As a precursor to a potential wrongful death claim, The Law Firm of Brian P. Murphy, PC, has been retained to represent a family whose loved one was in a Bucks County nursing home, Briarleaf Nursing and Convalescent Center, now known as Liberty Pointe Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center.

To investigate the familys potential nursing home lawsuit with Briarfleaf, Mr. Murphys firm sought the decedents medical records.

Murphys law firm had already obtained hospital records indicating the decedent suffered severe hypernatremia (an indicator of dehydration) and sought medical records from Briarleaf Nursing and Convalescent Center; however, they were never received.

Due to nonreceipt of medical records from Briarleaf Nursing and Convalescent Center, The Law Firm of Brian P. Murphy, PC, recently filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights (OCR), (Complaint No. 27288239), alleging that the law firm, in pursuit of its wrongful death claim, requested their clients medical records from Briarleaf Nursing and Convalescent Center. The complaint alleges the firm demanded the records be provided to it in accordance with a thirty (30) day deadline set forth in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The complaint further alleges that no response or medical records were received by Mr. Murphy's firm and that a second, follow-up, letter was sent to Briarleaf again demanding the records but no response or medical records were received. According to Mr. Murphy, People have a civil right to their medical records. Nursing home facilities have no legal basis to withhold them.

If the allegations of the complaint are proven, the nursing home could be subject to substantial civil fines and even criminal penalty.

About The Law Firm of Brian P. Murphy

Licensed in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Attorney Brian P. Murphy has been at the forefront of legal efforts to hold New Jersey and Pennsylvania nursing homes accountable for negligent care since 2006. Singularly focused on cases involving nursing home abuse and neglect, Murphy has successfully represented hundreds of residents in Pennsylvania and New Jersey who have suffered injury or illness as a result of nursing home negligence. From bedsores, falls, and other injuries to malnutrition, dehydration, and wrongful death, Murphy has taken swift action against the long-term care and nursing facilities responsible and has earned significant compensation for his clients. Murphy has extensive experience identifying nursing home abuse and neglect as well as its causes such as short-staffing and other operational failures, and the efforts by some facilities to cover up wrongdoing through false charting. He has given multiple lectures and authored numerous law articles and legal guides on nursing home abuse and the effective litigation of neglect and abuse cases.

For more information, please contact Brian P. Murphy directly at (215) 579-8500, or visit http://www.thenursinghomeattorneys.com.

All personal injury cases are handled on a contingency fee basis.

___________________________________________

Press release writing by WebSiteText and Proofreading Services by The Proofreaders | Mr. Murphy recommends Ken Rosenfeld for California Mental Health Law Defense
These candidates best represent the views of REALTORS as they relate to the future of Carroll County.

The Carroll County REALTORS are pleased to announce their endorsements for local and state candidates in Marylands upcoming July 19th Primary Election. They are as follows:



The Carroll County REALTORS endorse Carroll County Commissioner Candidate Incumbent Ed Rothstein for District 5 and Carroll County Commissioner Candidate Tom Gordon for District 3.

The Carroll County REALTORS endorse Haven Shoemaker for Carroll County States Attorney.

The Carroll County REALTORS joins the Maryland REALTORS Political Action Committee (RPAC) Trustees in supporting the reelection of Senator Justin Ready and Delegate April Rose.

As part of the announcement, current Carroll County REALTORS President Jeanne Vargo stated, These candidates best represent the views of REALTORS as they relate to the future of Carroll County. They know, as we do, that to remain a vibrant community, we need to develop a wide variety of housing options to meet the needs of our residents.

REALTORS believe that the County should be a place which permits lifelong residents to age in place and that attracts younger residents with quality jobs and affordable housing options, allowing them to come back home and raise their families. By developing a diverse range of housing types at a variety of price points, we can also attract quality employers to diversify our tax base and provide tax relief to area residents, said Vargo. These candidates share our vision for a Carroll County which embraces progress while also retaining the character and sense of community which distinguishes us from surrounding jurisdictions.

The Carroll County REALTORS support of Senator Ready and Delegate Rose is made in conjunction with the Maryland REALTORS, which represents over 28,000 REALTORS statewide. The Maryland REALTORS Political Action Committee (RPAC) Trustees support for incumbents is based on their voting record on REALTORS legislative initiatives as well as their willingness to promote policies that strengthen private property rights, homeownership, and the commercial real estate market.

About the Carroll County REALTORS

The Carroll County REALTORS is a professional trade organization representing over 600 real estate professionals and affiliates who live and work in Carroll County, Maryland and its municipalities. They have been the voice for real estate in Carroll County since 1956. REALTOR is a federally registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.
Through these classes, were opening doors to new opportunities and creating the next wave of tech leaders in Iowa, said Aaron Horn, Executive Director at NewBoCo.

The New Bohemian Innovation Collaborative (NewBoCo), a nonprofit with the mission to accelerate world-changing ideas, is offering a summer computer science program through DeltaV Code School to local high school students from June 21July 22, 2022.

Created in 2017, DeltaV Code School is Iowas premier code, digital marketing, and IT school. While primarily aimed at adult career changers, the program expanded in 2021 to include a Summer Youth Internship program, opening classes up to high school students in the state thanks to a Future Ready Iowa grant. The program offers high school students interested in computer science a firsthand look at what a possible career in tech looks like while building connections with local businesses and leaders in the area.

Through these classes, were opening doors to new opportunities and creating the next wave of tech leaders in Iowa, said Aaron Horn, Executive Director at NewBoCo. Sixty-five percent of students attending DeltaV Code School receive tuition assistance generously provided by our sponsors and donors. This support enables us to connect historically underrepresented populations with high-demand IT careers.

DeltaV Code School is powered by Code Fellows curriculum, and the Summer Youth Internship was created in partnership with Kirkwood Community Colleges Workplace Learning Connection and Cedar Rapids Community School District. Diversity Tuition Awards are made available in part by grants from the Iowa Economic Development Authority, Future Ready Iowa, and donations from individuals as well as sponsors such as Transamerica.

Taking place over five weeks, the full-time intensive program helps students become proficient in both computer software and hardware, exploring how computer workstations function and basic computer technical operations within operating systems. Throughout the program, students learn how to work together as a team and develop skills vital for the modern work environment. In addition, instructors assist students with creating resumes.

Patrick Turu, a senior last year at Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School, took part in DeltaV Code School in 2021. A self-taught coder, Patrick says that his love for gaming and programming led him to discover how he could build his own PC which, in turn, sparked his interest in learning computer operations.

When youre by yourself, especially as a teenager, you dont really have a lot of people around you with a similar mindset who are older, Turu said. So being here has allowed me to meet a lot of students and adults who are similar that way. Id recommend this program to other students who have been curious about this field, because it gives you a good introduction to doing the same things that professionals would do. This program has made me more certain now that I have seen that theres a linear path to getting to where I want to go.

Patricks connection with the program has allowed him to continue beyond the classes he took with an internship at Involta in Cedar Rapids, letting him get hands on experience in the professional world.

To learn more about DeltaV Code School, apply for the program, or donate please visit deltavcodeschool.com.

About DeltaV Code School

DeltaV, Iowas premier adult code school, believes in life improvement through technical education and is addressing the lack of software developers in Iowa. At DeltaV Code School, adults take classes to become full-stack JavaScript developers in 20 weeks. Graduates average a new starting salary of $60,000 after successful completion of the program. DeltaV Code School is powered by NewBoCo and Code Fellows. Diversity Tuition Awards are made available in part by grants from the Iowa Economic Development Authority, Future Ready Iowa, and donations from individuals as well as sponsors such as Transamerica.

About NewBoCo

The New Bohemian Innovation Collaborative, Inc. (NewBoCo) is a 501(c)(3) organization located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. NewBoCos programming supports entrepreneurship, innovation, and tech education to help Iowans become more resilient and thrive in a changing economy.
As we scale to keep up with our growing business, were delighted to partner with Anchorage as we know their solution provides a best-in-class custody framework. We are also excited that Anchorage now offers CVC token support for any interested CVC institutional holders

Civic Technologies, a leading provider of digital identity management for Web3, today announced that its utility token, CVC, is now in custody with regulated platform, Anchorage Digital. As a leader in institutional custody, Anchorage is a full-service financial platform and infrastructure provider for the digital asset space with a federal bank charter from the OCC.

As we scale to keep up with our growing business, were delighted to partner with Anchorage as we know their solution provides a best-in-class custody framework. We are also excited that Anchorage now offers CVC token support for any interested CVC institutional holders, said Chris Hart, CEO of Civic.

Were proud to bring institutions a safe, regulated custody solution to hold CVC, as well as to be selected by the Civic protocol as its treasury custodian. We look forward to future partnership with Civic as it prepares to scale, said Diogo Monica, Co-Founder and President of Anchorage Digital.

Amid a volatile market cycle for crypto, Anchorages institutional infrastructure and strong security architecture has been steadfast. The companys stability as a federally regulated bank has further distinguished the advantages for clients, meeting the highest watermark for qualified custody. Anchorage client accounts are separated, keeping assets safe and helping protocols like Civic meet their fiduciary and transparency responsibilities to CVC holders. Institutions interested in holding CVC with Anchorage can get in touch at anchorage.com.

About Civic Technologies

Civic is a leading provider of identity management tools for web3, empowering people to easily and privately manage their identities across chains with an on-chain representation of their reusable identity. The companys flagship product, Civic Pass, is an integrated permissioning tool that helps business customers enable secure access to their on-chain assets. Users may also manage their Web3 identity, presence and reputation with a dashboard. Civic aims to be the most trusted on-chain Web3 identity tool in the world, used by billions every day. Civic was co-founded in 2015 by Vinny Lingham and Jonathan Smith.

About Anchorage Digital

Anchorage Digital is a regulated crypto platform that provides institutions with integrated financial services and infrastructure solutions. With the first federally chartered crypto bank in the US, Anchorage offers institutions an unparalleled combination of secure custody, regulatory compliance, product breadth, and client service. Founded in 2017, Anchorage is valued at over $3 billion and is backed by leading institutions including Andreessen Horowitz, GIC  Singapores sovereign wealth fund, Goldman Sachs, KKR, and Visa. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Anchorage is remote-friendly with offices in New York, New York; Porto, Portugal; Singapore; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Learn more at anchorage.com, on Twitter @Anchorage, and LinkedIn.

Media Contacts

Becca Youngs, Civic

press(at)civic(dot)com

Leslie Ankney, Anchorage Digital

press(at)anchorage(dot)com
It is truly an honor to be recognized as a 2022 Top Patient Rated Plastic Surgeon. The health, safety, and confidence of my patients are always most important, says Dr. Obaid Chaudhry.

Dr. Obaid Chaudhrys practice, Be That Beautiful, is conveniently located in Beverly Hills and offers a wide range of cutting-edge procedures to ensure patients look and feel their best. Dr. Obaid Chaudhry is known for his outstanding patient care and works to ensure each of his patients is involved in their aesthetic transformation. He wants them to feel safe and listened to as he achieves natural-looking results.

Dr. Obaid Chaudhry, or Dr. O.C., is recognized for his amazing body contouring procedures. He performs many body procedures including Brazilian Butt Lift and Breast Augmentation and Tummy Tuck procedures. Dr. Chaudhrys renowned distinction in body contouring has led him to help transform some of the most beautiful bodies in the Los Angeles area. He uses cutting-edge procedures he has developed himself. These procedures include SmoothSculpt Liposuction and SmoothSculpt Brazilian Butt Lift to help provide exceptional results. Be That Beautiful also offers facial plastic surgery for rhinoplasty or facial rejuvenation including full facelift procedures, as well as non-surgical procedures like Botox and filler injections.

Be That Beautiful works hard to make sure that each procedure completed is done with the patients safety in mind. The practice uses the highest medical standards to help each patient feel confident both during and after the procedure.

It is truly an honor to be recognized as a 2022 Top Patient Rated Plastic Surgeon. The health, safety, and confidence of my patients are always most important, says Dr. Obaid Chaudhry.

More About Dr. Obaid Chaudhry:

Dr. Chaudhry received his M.D. at the young age of 23 after being selected to join an expedited integrated medical school program straight out of school. During his time at The Royal College of Surgeons, he worked closely with several plastic surgeons at the University of Southern California. After graduating from medical school, he was the only applicant out of hundreds chosen to complete a very highly competitive plastic surgery program. He was also selected to complete an extra year of training through the Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Fellowship program with the Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat program. This fellowship is the most difficult to gain acceptance in the world, and Dr. Chaudhry has been able to train some of the most well-known plastic surgeons.
Establishing and expanding our footprint and brand within Dudley is an exciting opportunity for Greatest Hits as we debut our modern vision for the future of cannabis"

Greatest Hits Cannabis Company, a vertically integrated cannabis brand known for its music inspired themes, local community involvement, and live performances is celebrating the Grand Opening of its first retail location in Dudley, MA on June 25th, 2022.

Massachusetts and the greater New England area are invited to celebrate this 21+ Block Party event that will be held from 12 to 8 PM ET at the Dudley retail location. Featuring local musical performances by DJ Vinny Vibe, Rusty Spike, Ramble on Rose, and DJ Brecko; pop-ups from over 15 of Massachusetts premium Cannabis Brands; food and beverage provided by local food trucks- The Food Combi and Two Foxes Farm Pizza. Greatest Hits will also be working with local charity organization BridgeFridge, to provide community fridges to local areas including Dudley.

We are thrilled to open the doors of our new flagship dispensary in Dudley, MA. Co-founder Joe Villatico is staying true to his MA roots while providing a modern vision to cannabis retail as Dudleys first recreational Cannabis retail store. The grand opening marks the first of many exciting events we have planned with the local community, said Villatico.

Located at 35 Chase Ave, Dudley, MA 01571, customers will be welcomed with a one of a kind cannabis retail experience featuring music memorabilia, live DJs, musician appearances, and highly educated staff. Greatest Hits provides a perfectly curated mix of premium cannabis products from some of Massachusetts premier brands including Fernway, Bettys Eddies, 1906, Coast, Cann, Northeast Alternatives, Sira Naturals, Wana, and Kiva, among many others.

Establishing and expanding our footprint and brand within Dudley is an exciting opportunity for Greatest Hits as we debut our modern vision for the future of cannabis, said Rhett Jordan, Co-founder and COO. My co-founder Joe and I have a deep commitment and love for Dudley. I am grateful that the brand is demonstrating its commitment to this community and visitors from around the local community as well as those just passing through.

This grand opening event marks the beginning of Greatest Hits Cannabis Companys continued commitment to bringing the greater New England area premium cannabis, music experiences, and employment opportunities. With two additional retail locations in Taunton and Lynn in the works and plans for a 280,000-square-foot mill state-of-the-art cultivation and manufacturing facility in Dudley, Greatest Hits looks to create more than 300+ new jobs for these areas.

Co-Founders Jordan and Villatico are also actively working with local organizations, venues, and charities to host live events and partnerships such as concerts, comedy shows, local food drives, charity events, and more.

For more information on Greatest Hits Cannabis Company and updates on upcoming events, please visit greatesthitscc.com.

ABOUT GREATEST HITS CANNABIS COMPANY

Greatest Hits Cannabis Co. is a collection of experiential dispensaries stocked with premium strains never before seen in Massachusetts. The companys custom genetics library and curated cannabis rotation fuels the creative fire and makes the everyday brighter. Greatest Hits is music meets cannabis and is the brainchild of industry veteran Rhett Jordan, who created the Native Roots vertical integration model, and motocross racer Joe Villatico, who brings his experience in hemp and beverage home to his native Massachusetts. Together the duo is elevating New England cannabis to new heights with innovative strain breeding and advanced cultivation, using repurposed mills from a bygone era made state of the art. Find Greatest Hits in Dudley, with more locations in Lynn and Taunton coming soon.
By freeing up the multitasking time of call center agents, HGS Agent X accelerates every customer interaction, providing a thorough response while decreasing the amount of human effort required to address the volume and complexity of incoming customer queries

AI Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global Artificial Intelligence (AI) market, today announced that it has selected Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) (listed in BSE & NSE in India), a leading and innovative provider of solutions in consumer engagement, digital CX, and business process management (BPM), as the winner of Robotic Process Innovation Award in the fifth annual AI Breakthrough Awards program, recognizing the breakthrough innovation of HGS Agent X.

HGS Agent X uses Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to help call center agents more quickly enter data and serve the customer. Information can now easily be extracted as well as compiled in the background by this innovative process. The impact of RPA is intensive and can be felt by both the agent as well as the customer. Its effects are far-reaching across the contact center processs key performance indicators including: Average Handling Time (AHT), Turn-Around Time (TAT), Net Promoter Score (NPS), and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT.)

HGS Agent X significantly reduces the time required to identify the customer in the system and view all the necessary details associated with them in one screen. The solution seamlessly integrates into a brand's existing ecosystem, reducing agent training and onboarding time. It also works to improve agent productivity, ramp up response time while reducing multiple screens with one unified tool.

Additionally, the solution fosters collaboration and knowledge sharing among agents while providing customers with AI-driven value-add information that leverages deeper insights and seamlessly accesses full visibility of operational metrics and insights. This allows for understanding customer sentiment in real time.

By freeing up the multitasking time of call center agents, HGS Agent X accelerates every customer interaction, providing a thorough response while decreasing the amount of human effort required to address the volume and complexity of incoming customer queries, said Venkatesh Korla, President and CEO, HGS Digital. Seventy percent of customers say seamless CX interactions impact their product and service preferences. With HGS Agent X, we aim to ensure an augmented overall customer experience through the reduction in human error as well as an overall quicker and smoother experience.

The mission of the AI Breakthrough Awards is to honor excellence and recognize the innovation, hard work and success in a range of AI and machine learning related categories, including AI platforms, Deep Learning, Smart Robotics, Business Intelligence, Natural Language Processing, industry specific AI applications and many more. This years program attracted more than 2,950 nominations from over 18 different countries throughout the world.

Its an incredibly time-consuming process with agents having to enter information on multiple screens for each order, with over 40 percent of contact centers saying they are experiencing an increase in contact complexity, said James Johnson, managing director, AI Breakthrough. HGS Agent X delivers a breakthrough solution to address these complexities for the agent while the customer does not have to wait for the agent to load all the details  ultimately improving customer service while restricting the average call duration. Congratulations to the HGS team on being our choice for our 2022 Robotic Process Innovation Award.

HGS Agent X is a comprehensive, highly customizable, enterprise-grade solution enabling contact centers to ramp up ROI by increasing efficiencies by automating mundane agent tasks, reducing agent task and talk time. Lastly, the solution delivers seamless omnichannel support from a single Cloud-based platform and can be customized to meet any process requirements with a software-agnostic, Desktop as a Service solution.

About AI Breakthrough

Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the AI Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in Artificial Intelligence technologies, services, companies and products. The AI Breakthrough Awards provide public recognition for the achievements of AI companies and products in categories including AI Platforms, Robotics, Business Intelligence, AI Hardware, NLP, Vision, Biometrics and more. For more information visit AIBreakthroughAwards.com.

About Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS)

A global leader in optimizing the customer experience lifecycle, digital transformation, and business process management, HGS is helping its clients become more competitive every day. HGS combines automation, analytics, and artificial intelligence with deep domain expertise focusing on digital customer experiences, back-office processing, contact centers, and HRO solutions. Part of the multi-billion-dollar conglomerate Hinduja Group, HGS takes a globally local approach. HGS is present in seven countries, with over 21,600 employees across 38 delivery centers, making a difference to some of the worlds leading brands across verticals. For the year ended March 31, 2022, HGS had revenues of Rs. 32,636.9 million (US$ 439 million), excluding revenues of the recently divested healthcare business

Visit https://hgs.cx/ to learn how HGS transforms customer experiences and builds businesses for the future.
OceanTomo.com James E. Malackowski of Ocean Tomo, a Part of J.S. Held, recognized for significant contributions to IP as a business asset with induction into the IP Hall of Fame.

Ocean Tomo, LLC, a Part of J.S. Held, celebrates the recognition of James E. Malackowski for his work to establish intellectual property (IP) as one of the key business assets of the 21st Century. Along with Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Mr. Malackowski was chosen by the IP Hall of Fame Academy from a list of nominees put forward by the global IP community for induction into the IP Hall of Fame. The Academy further recognized Mr. Malackowski with the Q. Todd Dickinson Award, which honors industry leaders who have made significant contributions to IP as a business asset.

Mr. Malackowski joins a remarkable collection of luminaries who have been recognized by induction into the IP Hall of Fame, including:



Edward Coke, acclaimed as a key figure in the emergence of the modern free-market economy in England, author of the Statute of Monopolies of 1624, which provided the basis for the distinction between patents of invention and patents awarded by the sovereign

Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President, author of the first US patent law, and first head of the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO)

Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors and industrial leaders in history, holder of 1093 patents and credited with the first practical electrical lighting

Lulin Gao, considered by many as one of the principal architects of Chinas IP system, founding Commissioner of Chinas State IP Office

Birch Bayh, former US Senator; co-sponsor of the pivotal Bayh-Dole Act 1980 which allowed US universities and non-profit organizations to own and commercialize inventions that were created with federal funding

Randall R. Rader, Ocean Tomo Advisor and former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Mr. Malackowskis has contributed to the development of intellectual property as a business asset over the last three decades.

His work includes:



1987  organizing the first national practice to offer intellectual property valuations at a time when the Big-8 accountancies refused to address this growing asset class;

1993  creating the first intellectual property strategy consulting group offering Intellectual Property Quality Management services to large Fortune 500 clients;

1999 - founding the first private equity advisory partnership to originate large-scale investments based on underlying intellectual capital;

2002  establishing the first national investment banking practice, in partnership with a leading Wall Street firm, dedicated exclusively to patent-based structured finance;

2005  leading the creation of the Intangible Asset Market Value Study, reflecting the intangible asset components of S&P 500 market value;

2006 - establishing a Live Public Auction Marketplace for Intellectual Property rights which was recognized as a forum of commerce and became an industry-leading venue for patent transactions and price discovery;

2006 - creating the nations first index based on the value of Intellectual Property, the Ocean Tomo 300 Patent Index (NYSE: OTPAT), acknowledged by the American Stock Exchange as the first major, board-based market equity index to be launched in 35 years;

2006  in collaboration with the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and Royal Philips Electronics (Philips), creating the Chicago-based, Intellectual Property Exchange International (IPXI) as the worlds first financial exchange with an Intellectual Property focus;

2011  collaborating with Illinois Institute of Technology to create the Masters in IP Management & Markets degree program; and

2016 - creating Ocean Tomo Investment Group, an independent licensed broker-dealer under federal and state securities law.

Mr. Malackowski has substantial experience as a Board Director for leading technology corporations and research organizations as well as companies with critical brand management issues. He is Past President of The Licensing Executives Society International, Inc. More recently, Mr. Malackowski has focused his non-for-profit efforts with organizations leveraging science and innovation for the benefit of children and students, including those located in lesser developed countries. He has served since 2002 as a Trustee or Director of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Inc., an organization providing summer enrichment programs for more than 100,000 students annually. For more than ten years Mr. Malackowski served as a Director of Chicagos Stanley Manne Childrens Research Institute, advancing the organizations agenda to measure and report the impact of its pediatric research. Earlier this year he completed service as a Member of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering Council at the University of Chicago.

Mr. Malackowski is a frequent speaker on emerging technology markets and related financial measures. He has addressed mass media audiences including Bloomberg Morning Call, Bloomberg Evening Market Pulse, Bloomberg Final Word, CNBC Closing Bell, CNBC On the Money, CNBC Street Signs, CNBC World Wide Exchange, CBS News Radio, and Fox Business National Television as well as other recognized news-based internet video channels.

As an inventor, Mr. Malackowski has more than twenty issued U.S. patents. He is a frequent instructor for graduate studies on IP management and markets and a Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of Notre Dame majoring in accountancy and philosophy. Mr. Malackowski is Certified/Accredited in Financial Forensics, Business Valuation, and Blockchain Fundamentals. He is a Certified Licensing Professional and a Registered Certified Public Accountant in the State of Illinois. Mr. Malackowski has been certified to receive United States Sensitive Security Information (SSI) as governed by Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations.

About Ocean Tomo

Established in 2003, Ocean Tomo, LLC provides Financial Expert, Management Consulting, and Advisory services related to intellectual property (IP) and other intangible assets; corporate accounting investigations; regulatory and reporting obligations; solvency and restructuring; and contractual or competition disputes.

Practice offerings address economic damage calculations and testimony; accounting investigations and financial forensics; technology and intangible asset valuation; strategy and risk management consulting; mergers and acquisitions; debt and equity private placement; and IP brokerage.

Intangible assets comprise 90 percent of business value but are also subject to significant impairment due to enterprise and regulatory compliance risk. Ocean Tomo assists clients  corporations, law firms, governments, and institutional investors  in realizing Intellectual Capital Equity value broadly defined.

Ocean Tomo is a part of J.S. Held, a global consulting firm. With more than 100 offices globally, J.S. Held assists clients  corporations, insurers, law firms, governments, and institutional investors  on complex technical, scientific, and financial matters across all assets and value at risk.
Wynton Marsalis at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club "The dedicated team at Jimmy's is working hard to establish Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club as one of the best jazz clubs in the world. Wynton's willingness to take the stage at Jimmy's allows us to take one more step towards realizing our vision and goal."

Jazz Music Visionary Wynton Marsalis Visits Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club on Saturday July 9 at 7:00 & 9:30 P.M. Wynton Marsalis is an NEA Jazz Master, 9x-GRAMMY Award-Winner & 32x-GRAMMY Award Nominated Trumpeter, Composer & Bandleader. In 1983, Marsalis earned the distinction of being the only artist ever to win GRAMMY Awards for both jazz and classical records, an accomplishment he astonishingly repeated in 1984, and he is the only artist ever to have won GRAMMY Awards in 5 consecutive years (1983-1987).

Wynton Marsalis has been described as the most outstanding jazz musician and trumpeter of his generation; one of the worlds top classical trumpeters; and a brilliant composer and bandleader. His life is a portrait of discipline, dedication, sacrifice, and creative accomplishment and has won 9 coveted GRAMMY Awards. In 1987, Wynton Marsalis co-founded a jazz program at Lincoln Center and under his leadership the program has developed an international agenda with up to 400 events annually in 15 countries. Wynton has produced over 60 albums and has sold over 7 million albums worldwide - including 3 Gold Albums.

There is a substantial amount of recognition for Wynton Marsalis groundbreaking accomplishments in jazz across the world. From the United States House of Representatives, he has received a citation for his outstanding contributions to the Arts and was appointed as a UN Messenger of Peace. In November 2005, he was awarded The National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States Government. Honorary degrees have been conferred upon Wynton by twenty-nine of our nations leading academic institutions including Columbia, Brown, Princeton and Yale University. Marsalis has been inducted into the American Academy of Achievement and was dubbed an Honorary Dreamer by the I Have a Dream Foundation. Time magazine selected Wynton as one of Americas most promising leaders under age 40 in 1995, and in 1996 Time Magazine celebrated Marsalis as one of Americas 25 Most Influential People. Marsalis was awarded the Grand Prix Du Disque of France, the Louis Armstrong Memorial Medal, the Netherlands Edison Award and the Algur H. Meadows Award for Excellence in the Arts (1997). Marsalis has received countless plaques and was given the Key to over 50 cities.

According to Marsalis, what you hear in a great jazz band is the sound of democracy, the jazz band works best when participation is shaped by intelligent communication. This intelligent, hard swinging interplay has made Marsalis bands the favorite among jazz musicians and audiences worldwide. Wynton Marsalis is always received warmly and enthusiastically wherever he is in the world. The connection is the music, which mimics our valued way of life.

"We are honored to have the remarkable Visionary Trumpeter, Composer & Bandleader Wynton Marsalis grace the stage at Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club for an unforgettable night of jazz music," says Suzanne Bresette, Managing Director of Programming at Jimmy's Jazz and Blues Club. "The dedicated team at Jimmy's is working hard to establish Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club as one of the best jazz clubs in the world. Wynton's willingness to take the stage at Jimmy's allows us to take one more step towards realizing our vision and goal."

Tickets for NEA Jazz Master, 9x-GRAMMY Award-Winner & 32x-GRAMMY Nominated Trumpeter, Composer & Bandleader WYNTON MARSALIS on Saturday July 9 at 7:00 & 9:30 P.M. are available on the Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club Wynton Marsalis Event Page. The 7:00 P.M. Show is SOLD OUT.

Jimmys Jazz & Blues Clubs 2022 Schedule of Shows currently includes 8 NEA Jazz Masters, 37 GRAMMY Award-Winning Artists, 35 Blues Music Award-Winners, and a comprehensive list of talented musicians with 500+ GRAMMY Award Nominations amongst them. Visit Jimmy's Online Event Calendar for Jimmys Jazz & Blues Clubs 2022 Schedule of Shows. Subscribe to Jimmys Email Newsletter to stay informed on new jazz and blues artist announcements, tickets, special offers, Jimmys Sunday Jazz Brunch, and much more.

ABOUT JIMMYS JAZZ & BLUES CLUB

The mission of Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club is to provide guests a one-of-a-kind, world-class experience featuring serious jazz and blues music served with exceptional southern-inspired cuisine. Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club features a spectacular and visually breathtaking environment engineered to deliver the highest quality acoustics while utilizing state-of-the-art production, sound and lighting technologies. Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club is located within a beautifully restored 1905 building at 135 Congress Street in the heart of historic downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire. For more information visit http://www.jimmysoncongress.com or follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JimmysJazzBlues.

PRIVATE EVENTS AT JIMMY'S JAZZ & BLUES CLUB

An architecturally breathtaking center of arts and culture in the heart of historic Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club offers a rare and spectacular venue to host important corporate functions, weddings, intimate or large-scale social gatherings, private parties, and memorable celebrations. The team at Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club has put their heart and soul into creating a stunning full-service event space with new state-of-the-art production, sound & lighting technologies delivered with outstanding next-level culinary experiences. Our high-touch approach with professional and experienced event staff ensures that everything is tailored to exceed your expectations. To start a conversation about hosting your event at Jimmys Jazz and Blues Club, please call us at 888-603-5299, email us at events@jimmysoncongress.com, or fill out The Jimmy's Private Event Contact Form.
Police have said National Unity Platform, Lewis Rubongoya has been arrested over his actions in relation to threatening violence during the Omoro by-election.

Rubongoya was on Wednesday afternoon arrested together with his driver, Agaba Godwin Joseph and detained at Nateete Police Station .

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"We have arrested Lewis Rubongoya on allegations of threatening violence. It is alleged that on May, 26, 2022 may at around mid- day while in Omoro County Mr Rubongoya using motor vehicle reg. no.UAS 490Z Toyota land cruiser white in colour threatened Hon. Acheng Ruth vide Omoro SD reference 19/26/5/2022,"Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango said in a brief statement.

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He said the NUP Secretary General will soon be transferred to Omoro where the offence happened.

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If you would like to know more about the Donsuemor, Inc. lawsuit, please contact Attorney Jackland Hom today by calling (619) 255-9047.

The Northern California labor law attorneys at Zakay Law Group, APLC and JCL Law Firm, APC, filed a class action complaint against Donsuemor, Inc. (hereinafter, "Donsuemor"), for allegedly failing to provide meal and rest breaks. The class action lawsuit, Case No. 22CV011917, is currently pending in the Alameda County Superior Court of the State of California. A copy of the Complaint can be read here.

According to the lawsuit, Donsuemor allegedly violated California Labor Code Sections  201, 202, 203, 204, 246, 510, 512, 558, 1194, 1197, 1197.1, and 1198 by failing to: (1) pay minimum wages; (2) pay overtime wages; (3) provide required meal and rest periods; and (4) provide wages when due.

As a result of their rigorous work schedules, Donsuemor's employees were allegedly unable to take off duty meal breaks and were not fully relieved of duty for meal periods. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges employees were from time to time interrupted during their off-duty meal breaks to complete tasks for Donsuemor. Employees were allegedly required to perform work as ordered by Donsuemor for more than five (5) hours during a shift without receiving an off-duty meal break. Further, the lawsuit alleges Donsuemor failed to provide employees with a second off-duty meal period each workday in which these employees were required by Donsuemor to work ten (10) hours of work. Donsuemor's policy allegedly caused employees to remain on-call and on-duty during what was supposed to be their off-duty meal periods. Employees therefore allegedly forfeited meal breaks without additional compensation and in accordance with Donsuemor's strict corporate policy and practice.

If you would like to know more about the lawsuit, please contact Attorney Jackland Hom today by calling (619) 255-9047.

Zakay Law Group, APLC and JCL Law Firm, APC are labor and employment law firms with offices located in California that dedicate their practices to fighting for employees who have been wronged by their employers due to unfair employment practices. Contact one of their attorneys today if you need help with workplace issues regarding wage and hour, wrongful termination, retaliation, discrimination, and harassment.

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Recently, Microsoft announced several new Outlook features that will soon become available in Outlook for Windows. Explore these upcoming features and other exciting options you may have missed along the way.

Messaging Architects, an eMazzanti Technologies Company and Microsoft 365 expert, examines several new Outlook features in a new article. The informative article first cautions that available features differ among the various versions of Outlook.

The author then relates how users will be able to access Outlook functions like email, calendar, contacts, and tasks functions from a new, customizable vertical menu at the left of the folder pane. He then discusses inline translation for incoming email messages. He also reviews the Outlook RSVP feature for meeting invitations, attaching documents with @file mentions, and Loop Elements in Outlook. He concludes with a brief look at the Outlook Board View.

Recently, Microsoft announced several new Outlook features that will soon become available in Outlook for Windows, stated Greg Smith, Vice President of Services Delivery at Messaging Architects. Explore these upcoming features and other exciting options you may have missed along the way.

Below are a few excerpts from the article, Check Out These New Outlook Features and Some Exciting Options You Probably Missed.

Easier Access to Popular Functions and Apps

Microsoft now offers more efficient access to standard Outlook functions and Microsoft 365 apps. Desktop customers previously accessed Outlook functions like email, calendar, contacts, and tasks from the bottom of the folder pane. Now, they will be able to access these functions from a customizable vertical menu at the left of the folder pane.

Communicate Across Languages with Inline Translation

Language differences no longer present the same barrier to collaboration as before. Now users can read emails in their first language regardless of the language used by the sender. Simply select the message to translate and click Translate Message. The translated message appears in the Translator pane, and the user can select the desired language.

Outlook RSVP

Even as many businesses have returned to the office, hybrid work has become the norm. To improve the meeting experience, Microsoft has begun to roll out a new RSVP feature for Outlook. When responding to a meeting invitation, users can specify whether they will attend in person or virtually. Anyone on the meeting invite can then see how others plan to attend.

Manage Time and Tasks Efficiently with Board View

The Outlook Board View provides a customizable view that allows users to see calendars, tasks, sticky notes, reminders and more all at once. Users can create multiple boards, adding, resizing, or moving elements as desired. For instance, a board might include sticky notes, pending tasks, goals and upcoming events related to a specific project.

Microsoft 365 Experts

Microsoft 365 includes an ever-expanding list of features designed to improve collaboration and drive business communication. To learn how to take advantage of new Outlook features or to start your cloud migration project, contact the Microsoft experts at Messaging Architects.

Have you read?

Exchange Server vNext Means On-Premises Exchange Customers Not Forced to the Cloud

Tips for Migrating Records Management Systems to Microsoft 365

About Messaging Architects

Messaging Architects specializes in effectively managing and securing an organizations most precious asset, its information. With over 20 years of information management and technology consulting experience, the Messaging Architects team has provided corporations, educational intuitions, health care facilities and nonprofits with methodologies, procedures, and technology to keep their data organized, compliant and secure.

About eMazzanti Technologies

eMazzantis team of trained, certified IT experts rapidly deliver increased revenue growth, data security and productivity for clients ranging from law firms to high-end global retailers, expertly providing advanced retail and payment technology, digital marketing services, cloud and mobile solutions, multi-site implementations, 247 outsourced network management, remote monitoring, and support.

eMazzanti has made the Inc. 5000 list 9X, is a 4X Microsoft Partner of the Year, the #1 ranked NYC area MSP, NJ Business of the Year and 5X WatchGuard Partner of the Year! Contact: 1-866-362-9926, info@emazzanti.net or http://www.emazzanti.net Twitter: @emazzanti Facebook: Facebook.com/emazzantitechnologies.


We encourage everyone out on the water to stay safe by choosing to boat sober, wear a life jacket and use an engine cut-off switch.

Over the July 4th holiday weekend, law enforcement officers and agencies across the United States will be on the water educating boaters on safe boating practices as part of the annual Operation Dry Water weekend, July 2  4, 2022. Operation Dry Water (ODW) is a national awareness and enforcement campaign focused on reducing the number of alcohol- and drug- related incidents and fatalities on the water. Officers will also be on heightened alert looking for those in violation of boating under the influence laws. The month of July sees the highest total number of recreational boating incidents nationally.*

On Friday, July 1st, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), in partnership with the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA), U.S. Coast Guard, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), will be hosting the first-ever national Operation Dry Water kickoff event in Nashville, Tennessee. The press event will begin at 10:30 AM (CT) at J. Percy Priest Lake.

While many boaters are out enjoying the holiday responsibly, there are always some who choose to make the perilous decision to boat while impaired, says Lt. Kenton Turner, NASBLA Chair. NASBLA is looking forward to using this press event to help amplify the message that impaired and intoxicated boating is dangerous and deadly, for both operators and passengers. We encourage everyone out on the water to stay safe by choosing to boat sober, wear a life jacket and use an engine cut-off switch.

Alcohol use is the leading contributing factor in recreational boater fatalities, and a leading factor in recreational boating incidents.* Law enforcement agencies from all 56 U.S. states and territories are expected to participate in Operation Dry Water. These agencies will focus their efforts on detecting impaired boaters, removing them from our nations waterways and educating the public about the dangers of boating under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

Since the launch of the Operation Dry Water campaign in 2009, 5,320 impaired operators have been removed from our nations waterways, preventing dangerous and potentially tragic consequences. Officers have also made contact with over 2.2 million boaters during the annual three-day weekend as part of the outreach campaign. In 2021, 575 agencies from every state and territory participated in Operation Dry Water.

Alcohol consumption while boating is not only dangerous for the operator of the vessel, but also for passengers.** Impairment can lead to slips, falls overboard, injuries and deaths that could have been prevented had the individual not been impaired while boating.

###

Operation Dry Water (ODW) is produced under a grant from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, administered by the U.S. Coast Guard and is a product of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA).

*2021 U.S. Coast Guard Recreational Boating Statistics

**2019 NASBLA Boating Under the Influence (BUI) Research Report
Rentec Direct integrates with Rhino to provide tenants with replacement to traditional cash security deposits. In the midst of a nationwide housing affordability crisis, Rhino is changing the way the real estate industry does business and putting money back into renters pockets, said Nathan Miller, President of Rentec Direct.

Rentec Direct, the industry-leading property management software solution, has announced a new integration with Rhino, a smart replacement to traditional cash security deposits. Thanks to the new integration, Rentec Direct clients can now offer Rhino as an option to renters that will provide the same protection against damages and missed payments while increasing affordability and convenience.

In the midst of a nationwide housing affordability crisis, Rhino is changing the way the real estate industry does business and putting money back into renters pockets, said Nathan Miller, President of Rentec Direct. Not only does this new integration allow our clients to offer a safe and affordable security deposit replacement to their tenants, but it also offers the same high-level protection against damages and missed payments for landlords and property managers.

Rhino provides security deposit insurance that replaces the traditionally large, upfront cash payment. Renters can pay a small monthly fee or pay in full, and Rhino will insure each property for the owner in case of damages or lost rent. Rentec Direct clients can now offer this service to their tenants to satisfy the deposit requirement when they move in or renew their lease, while still protecting each property. Landlords will find benefits including:



Landlords can select their own coverage, so they can decrease bad debt without increasing upfront move-in costs for their renters.

Landlords will no longer have to manually collect or return cash deposits, saving valuable time and money by streamlining the leasing and move-out processes.

For more information, visit: https://www.rentecdirect.com/blog/new-feature-rhino-security-deposit-insurance-now-available-through-your-rentec-direct-account/.

About Rentec Direct

Rentec Direct offers industry-leading property management software and tenant screening solutions for real estate professionals. Features include online rent payments, tenant and owner portals, the industrys largest vacancy listing syndication network, full property, tenant, and owner accounting, 1099-MISC reporting and more. Rentec Direct was recognized as Real Estate Company of the Year in the 2021 American Business Awards, was named one of the Most Customer Friendly Companies of the Year in the 2021 Best in Biz Awards, has been named to the Inc. 5000 List of Fastest-Growing Private Companies for five years in a row (as of 2021), and was also included on the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Entrepreneur360 list for Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America. http://www.rentecdirect.com

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Spiraledge Sports We needed a strategic partner who understood our internet retail strategy and trusted our team to deliver on our growth expectations.

When a California-based internet retailer and software company sought to refinance its existing bank facility, it chose Republic Business Credit.

Spiraledge, a leading internet retailer and healthy living company headquartered in Campbell, Calif., with offices in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, sought a partner to leverage its internet retail and e-commerce strategy. Republic Business Credit provided a scalable, flexible, and growth-orientated facility to maximum availability on inventory, merchant accounts, and direct-to-consumer proceeds.

Spiraledge welcomed the opportunity to borrow on inventory without a sublimit or cap in relation to accounts receivable that a traditional asset-based loan might include.

We needed a strategic partner who understood our internet retail strategy and trusted our team to deliver on our growth expectations, said Avraham Benaroya, Spiraledge founder and CEO.

Spiraledge's businesses include SwimOutlet.com, the largest online swim retailer; EverydayYoga.com, the web's fastest-growing yoga retailer; Swim.com, a digital swim training and workout platform; and Tend.com, the first software platform of its kind with powerful tools for managing a diversified, sustainable farm.

The CFO of Spiraledge, John Gilchrist, said: Coming out of the pandemic and preparing for the Summer Olympic Games in Toyko, we sought a partner to support our seasonal inventory purchases. Republic understood our business and was committed to our vision of providing the perfect online shopping experience for our customers.

Spiraledge is a great addition to a growing portfolio of brands, and the company is a well-run, mission-orientated direct-to-consumer internet retailer that delivers for its customers, Republic COO Matthew Begley said.

Republic Business Credit provided an $8 million direct-to-consumer inventory loan facility that provides significant availability on Spiraledges inventory, accounts receivables, merchant accounts, and e-commerce related proceeds. Republics funding refinanced Spiraledges existing bank facility while providing significant additional liquidity for future growth.

The Spiraledge team believes the market will continue to expand as outdoor activities and customers continue to focus on living healthy. The company is excited about having a supportive partner to help buy inventory and deal with supply chain headaches ahead of seasonal swings.

We enjoy partnering with great founders and strong CFOs who see value in non-dilutive debt financing to support their growth, said Robert Meyers, President of Republic Business Credit. We have built our platform to help support companies that need a mix of scalable, growth-orientated solutions across our asset-based lending, direct-to-consumer and factoring products.

Republic partners with banks, accountants, sponsors, lawyers and investment banks to collaboratively support entrepreneurs across the United States, to create value, by enabling them to focus on growing successful businesses.

About Republic Business Credit. Republic is a national provider of working capital facilities to private equity and entrepreneurial-owned businesses. Republic provides asset-based lending, ledgered lines of credit, traditional factoring, direct-to-consumer loans, factoring and Fast AR Funding. Republic Business Credit partners with its clients to provide up to $12 million in senior credit facilities to rapidly growing businesses, start-ups and companies experiencing recoverable distress.

Nationally recognized as Winner of the 2015 Emerging Growth Company of the Year award from the Association of Corporate Growth, Republics expert and the knowledgeable team boasts four Top 40 Under 40 winners, two Top Women in Secured Finance and a Top Women in Asset Based Lending by the Secured Finance Network and ABF journals respectively. Republic is recognized by the Secured Finance Network as one of the largest independently owned finance companies in the United States of America. The company is proudly headquartered in New Orleans, La., with client service offices in Los Angeles, Houston, and Chicago.
The first Google result receives 31.7% of all clicks

According to Backlinko, 31.7% of all clicks go to the first search result on Google. It suggests that businesses should aim for high spots to drive more organic traffic. However, the search engine uses over 200 factors to rank websites  some are proven to work, while others are myths.

DesignRush, a B2B marketplace connecting businesses with agencies, leveraged its 13,000-agencies-strong network for quick insights  or QuickSights  on the biggest SEO myths businesses should leave behind this year.

1) TABBED CONTENT IMPACTS SEO NEGATIVELY

Azuro Digital Owner Daniel Houl suggests that although some SEOs believe tabbed content can have a negative effect on SEO, it actually contributes to a better user experience.

"Some SEOs believe that accordions or tabbed content can have a negative effect on SEO, said Houl. However, it doesnt, unless the content isnt displayed in the backend code of the page (and it usually is). The fact that tabbed content helps prevent pages from being too lengthy also breaks this myth, contributing to better user experience.

2) META DESCRIPTION IS A KEY RANKING FACTOR

In the opinion of Prashant Rajput, digital marketing manager at Touchstone Infotech, search engines do not consider the meta description as a key ranking factor anymore after website owners counted on keyword stuffing to increase their rankings.

One SEO myth to leave behind is metas are one of the essential factors to get the ranking, said Rajput. Google and Bing search engines do not elevate any website ranking based on keywords in the meta description. Because people abused keyword stuffing in metas, both search engines no longer use it as a ranking factor. Consequently, spending too much time on metas will not help.

3) WEBSITE BUILDERS HELP INCREASE SEARCH ENGINE RANKINGS

As stated by Joey DiGangi, COO of W.D. Strategies, businesses should not trust the misconception that website builders can impact rankings. Instead, they should focus on relevant strategies such as on-page SEO factors to achieve results.

"People have the misconception that you need to use WordPress or some other builder their colleague told them about if you want to rank well, said DiGangi. The truth  which came from the CEO of Google, himself  is that using WordPress or Wix or some other platform isn't going to necessarily impact ranking. The site's performance, on-page optimization, metadata and other factors drive your online visibility. We manage several high-ranking sites that are built using different platforms."

4) SEO IS DEAD

NHANCE Digital Director Nirali Pandya claims that SEO is not dead and, in fact, its new algorithm update offers even more powerful features, including the ability to distinguish images in more detail than before.

[The] idea that SEO is dead has been circulating, said Pandya. SEO is NOT dead but it is back in a new Avatar. The new SEO algorithm update will affect how products are reviewed & ranked. Googles Cloud Vision can distinguish images in more detail than it did earlier. It can find keywords relating to the pictures. When youre planning SEO, images will be a critical part of it.

5) BACKLINK QUANTITY IS OF KEY IMPORTANCE

Content Spotlight Founder Somnath Roy claims that businesses should focus on backlink quality over quantity to increase authority.

Backlinking should be considered a priority to improve website DA, DR and PA and achieve high search engine rankings, said Roy. However, instead of focusing on quantity and buying links from marketing and SEO agencies, businesses should rely on backlink quality to increase authority. They should rely on proper research and planning to get links from highly authoritative sites.

DesignRush ranked the best SEO companies that help businesses rank higher on search engines:

1. Epic - epicshops.com

Expertise: SEO, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media Marketing and more

2. The Tadpole Agency - thetadpoleagency.com

Expertise: Content Writing, SEO, Digital Advertising and more

3. Azuro Digital - azurodigital.com

Expertise: Keyword Research, Competitor Analysis, On-Page SEO and more

4. Crunchy Lemons - crunchylemons.com

Expertise: Web Development, SEO, Digital Marketing and more

5. LEO Digital Marketing - visitleo.com

Expertise: Web Design, SEO, Branding and more

6. Return On Now - returnonnow.com

Expertise: SEO, Search Engine Marketing, Content Marketing and more

7. Content Spotlight - contentspotlight.org

Expertise: SEO Audit & Analysis, Amazon & eCommerce SEO, Link Building and more

8. Highway-61 - highway-61.ch

Expertise: On-Site Content, SEO, Storytelling and more

9. Deyo Digital - deyodigital.com

Expertise: Website Audit, Keyword Research, Content Creation and more

10. Touchstone Infotech - touchstoneinfotech.com

Expertise: Web Design, Content Marketing, SEO and more

11. GhostWriting Venture - ghostwritingventure.com

Expertise: Technical SEO, Content SEO, Link Building and more

12. T3 Marketing - t3marketing.com

Expertise: SEO, Google Ads, Web Design and more

13. Internest - internest.agency

Expertise: Web Design, Local SEO, Technical SEO and more

14. RTS Consulting - rts-consulting.com

Expertise: Web Development, SEO, Content Marketing and more

15. Cubic Digital - cubicdigitalmarketing.com

Expertise: Web Design, Web Development, SEO and more

16. Spree Marketing - spree.marketing

Expertise: Local SEO, International SEO, Technical SEO and more

17. W.D. Strategies - wd-strategies.com

Expertise: Web Design, SEO, Marketing Consultation and more

18. WriterArmy - writerarmy.com

Expertise: Content Strategy, Content Writing, SEO and more

19. MjSeo - mjseo.agency

Expertise: Local SEO, National SEO, Link Building and more

20. Anri Studio - anristudio.com

Expertise: Keyword Research & Analysis, Competitive Analysis, SEO and more

21. Cyberlogical - cyberlogical.co.uk

Expertise: Digital Strategy, UX Design, Digital Marketing and more

22. Nhance Digital - nhancedigital.com

Expertise: Website Audit, Local SEO, SEO Consultancy Service and more

23. iDesignYours - idesignyours.com

Expertise: Web Design, SEO, Content Marketing and more

24. Bighorn Local SEO - bighornlocal.com

Expertise: Local SEO, Multi-Unit SEO, Website SEO and more

Brands can explore the top SEO companies by location, size, average hourly rate and portfolio on DesignRush.

About DesignRush:

DesignRush.com is a B2B marketplace connecting businesses with agencies through expert reviews and agency ranking lists, awards, knowledge resources and personalized agency recommendations for vetted projects.
Kimberly is a SkillsUSA champion with a true passion for helping students develop their talents and leadership

A Sauquoit, N.Y. career and technical teacher has been named the national SkillsUSA Advisor of the Year. She also received the SkillsUSA Hall of Champions award for dedicating her life to helping youth develop the career skills necessary to be successful in a changing world. The awards were presented to Kimberly Petronella, health careers instructor and coordinator of work-based learning at Oneida Herkimer Madison BOCES in New Hartford at the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference Recognition Session on June 22 in Atlanta. Her legacy in SkillsUSA will continue far beyond her career.

Petronella has been an award-winning SkillsUSA advisor for 20 years. Petronellas chapter earned the SkillsUSA Gold Level in the Chapter of Excellence program for four consecutive years and in 2021 her chapter was a national Model of Excellence. In 2021 she was the SkillsUSA New York advisor of the year and was honored with the SkillsUSA Outstanding Career and Technical educator Award. Petronella knows CTE is a gateway to a bright and prosperous career because she once attended the same school where she now teaches. My CTE experience provided me with the opportunity to explore and learn about my career of choice, and I am so proud that I have the ability to pay it forward to future generations of health care providers, Petronella says. Her high school experiences fostered a passion for learning, exploring and working outside the box to solve complex problems. Petronella has been a teacher of Health Occupations for 25 years. Prior to teaching, she worked as a nurse.

Petronella not only excels at her school, but she also serves the state as a SkillsUSA career cluster manager and contest chair for the annual regional and state conferences. At national conference, Petronella has assisted with training. Previously, she served on the SkillsUSA New York Board of Directors as both secretary and board chair. This year she took on the role of state officer team manager.

SkillsUSA created the Advisor of the Year award to recognize dedicated career and technical education instructors who serve as SkillsUSA advisors. Each state selects a winner, and then a regional winner is selected. Region 1 includes the states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland plus the district of Washington, D.C. The top five regional finalists competed for SkillsUSA Advisor of the Year on June 21.

Kimberly is a SkillsUSA champion with a true passion for helping students develop their talents and leadership, said Chelle Travis, executive director of SkillsUSA. She supports quality programming for students built around the SkillsUSA Framework, which prepares them for further education or joining our nations skilled workforce.

About SkillsUSA

Founded in 1965, SkillsUSA is a nonprofit partnership of students, teachers and industry that empowers its members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens. The SkillsUSA Framework of Personal, Workplace and Technical Skills Grounded in Academics inspires work and life success for students while helping industry close the skills gap currently leaving millions of skilled trade jobs unfilled. Through SkillsUSAs career competitions program and curricula, employers ensure schools are teaching relevant technical skills, and with SkillsUSAs credentialing process, they can assess the career-readiness of their future employees. SkillsUSAs membership of more than 330,000 students and instructors encompasses middle schools, high schools and college/postsecondary institutions in every state and three U.S. territories. SkillsUSA programming covers 130 trade, technical and skilled service occupations, and is recognized by the U.S. departments of Education and Labor as integral to career and technical education. For more information: http://www.skillsusa.org.
Genedata Profilers unique approach has the capacity to provide state of the art data integration and analytics. This partnership allows us to leverage Genedatas expertise to help us bring our drugs to the right patients. Nancy Simonian, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Syros

Genedata, the leading provider of enterprise software solutions for biopharmaceutical R&D, today announced that Syros Pharmaceuticals, a leader in the development of medicines that control the expression of genes, has chosen Genedata Profiler as its data integration and analytics platform to accelerate its translational research strategy.

While much of target discovery has focused on inhibiting or changing the function of abnormal genes and proteins, Syros unique ability to elucidate regulatory regions of the genome allows to home in on which genes to control, in which cells, and for which patients to best modulate their expression. Such an approach has a potential to maximize the efficacity of treatment and provide a profound benefit for previously unserved patients.

Under the terms of the agreement, Syros is licensing Genedata Profiler to speed up the development of such targeted medicines. As part of the deal, Genedata also is committing consulting resources to digitalize processes specific to Syros Pharmaceuticals.

To accelerate the development of medicines for genomically targeted patient populations, a computational platform is critical to support our translational and clinical research strategy, said Nancy Simonian, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Syros. Genedata Profilers unique approach has the capacity to provide state of the art data integration and analytics. This partnership allows us to leverage Genedatas expertise to help us bring our drugs to the right patients.

To support Syros in their translational research strategy and enhance generation of efficacious, targeted treatments, Genedata Profiler equips Syros with the following capabilities:



Scalable data integration to enable efficient analysis of widely dispersed data of various types

Configurable automated workflows to streamline processing, integration, and analysis of a large amount of high-dimensional data

Advanced data analytics to help derive novel scientific hypotheses and make highly reliable predictions

Efficient, yet secure data sharing tools with fine-grained data access control and role permissions to enable collaboration across and beyond organizational units.

Such integrated, data-driven approach facilitated by Genedata Profiler empowers scientists to decipher subtle trends associated with a specific disease within a cohort of patients, ultimately facilitating patient stratification and optimizing clinical trial design. It also strengthens the ability to unlock novel actionable insights and speed up R&D workflows.

Beyond software, Genedatas scientific domain expertise, and experience of over 25 years in the biopharma business ensures quick adoption of the platform in the companys infrastructure, accelerating digital transformation within the translational and clinical research programs.

We are excited to collaborate with Syros Pharmaceuticals, a leader in the development of small molecules medicines changing the expression of genes, to help bring targeted treatments faster to patients with cancer and monogenic diseases, said Othmar Pfannes, Ph.D., CEO of Genedata. Genedata Profiler is perfectly-suited to assist emerging biopharmaceutical companies in their scientific innovation and in their quest for sustainable growth.

About Genedata

Genedata transforms data into intelligence with innovative software solutions that incorporate extensive biopharma R&D domain knowledge. Multinational biopharmaceutical organizations and cutting-edge biotechs around the globe rely on Genedata to digitalize and automate data-rich and complex R&D processes. From early discovery all the way to the clinic, Genedata solutions help maximize the ROI in R&D expenditure. Founded in 1997, Genedata is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland with additional offices in Boston, London, Munich, San Francisco, Singapore, and Tokyo.

http://www.genedata.com

LinkedIn| Twitter| YouTube

About Syros Pharmaceuticals

Syros is redefining the power of small molecules to control the expression of genes. Based on its unique ability to elucidate regulatory regions of the genome, Syros aims to develop medicines that provide a profound benefit for patients with diseases that have eluded other genomics-based approaches. Syros is advancing a robust clinical-stage pipeline, including: tamibarotene, a first-in-class oral selective RAR agonist in RARA-positive patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia; SY-2101, a novel oral form of arsenic trioxide in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia; and SY-5609, a highly selective and potent oral CDK7 inhibitor in patients with select solid tumors. Syros also has multiple preclinical and discovery programs in oncology and monogenic diseases. For more information, visit http://www.syros.com and follow us on Twitter (@SyrosPharma) and LinkedIn.

________________________________________

Contact

Allison Kurz

Genedata

Public Relations

pr@genedata.com

Disclaimer

The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events, or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with uncertainties related to contract cancellations, developing risks, competitive factors, uncertainties pertaining to customer orders, demand for products and services, development of markets for the Company's products and services. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

All product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
Bendable helps library systems better serve their communities Our partnership with Bendable will bring valuable learning skills to the workforces that will not only strengthen the economy but give individuals a new sense of purpose.

The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University and Baker & Taylor announced today that they were partnering to bring Bendable, the Institutes lifelong learning platform, to public libraries across the United States.

A robust learning marketplace, Bendable allows residents of all ages and backgrounds to easily discover content that is just right for them and then acquire new knowledge and skills through online courses as well as local, in-person learning opportunities. It is an especially valuable tool for libraries as they are being increasingly called upon to play an important role in workforce development.

We couldnt be more thrilled to have Baker & Taylorthe largest supplier of library content, software and services to public and academic libraries in the U.S.as our sales partner, said Rick Wartzman, head of the Drucker Institutes KH Moon Center for a Functioning Society. But its not just Baker & Taylors reach that were excited about. As a mission-driven social enterprise, it was important for us to partner with a company that is truly interested in helping the communities in which it operates and sells products and services to thrive. Baker & Taylor, with its proven commitment to elevating literacy and learning alongside its library customers, is very much that company.

At Baker & Taylor, we know the critical role libraries play in our communities, where they no longer are looked to as just book providers, but epicenters that support the community, said Amandeep Kochar, Baker & Taylors president and CEO. Our partnership with Bendable will bring valuable learning skills to the workforces that will not only strengthen the economy but give individuals a new sense of purpose.

Bendable comes in three tiers: Bendable Basic, Bendable Full and Bendable Plus, with more features added as you move up to a new level.

The Drucker Institute-Baker & Taylor partnership will be highlighted at the American Library Associations annual conference and exhibition, which will be held in Washington, D.C., June 23-28. Libraries interested in Bendable can also learn more by visiting bendable.com/libraries.

ABOUT THE DRUCKER INSTITUTE

The Drucker Institute is a social enterprise based at Claremont Graduate University. Its mission is strengthening organizations to strengthen society. Its programs help corporate, nonprofit, government and community leaders manage with courage. For more, visit drucker.institute.

ABOUT CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1925, Claremont Graduate University is one of a select few American universities devoted solely to graduate-level education. The university is a founding member of The Claremont Colleges, which include Pomona College, Pitzer College, Claremont McKenna College, Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College and Keck Graduate Institute. CGU comprises seven schools offering 76 degree and certificate programs. The university's unique transdisciplinary perspective encourages students to explore complex issues across academic disciplines. CGU is home to the Peter F. Drucker & Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management and the annual Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards. Visit cgu.edu.

ABOUT BAKER & TAYLOR

Baker & Taylor has been in business for over 190 years, offering an extensive selection of products and services for academic and public libraries. It is the only partner that can truly offer a one-stop shopping experience for all formats, including print, movies and music, and digital downloadable ebooks and audio content. Visit Baker & Taylor's online selection and acquisitions website, Title Source 360.
The Grant Cardone Foundation is a national non-profit organization invested in helping youth in our communities reach their fullest potential.

The Grant Cardone Foundation (GCF) will be hosting an Economic Empowerment Workshop for at-risk youth in collaboration with The Circle Of Commerce on the morning of July 18, 2022.

This workshop will be GCFs second event with The Circle of Commerce, and a continuation of the success shared by the organizations in February of 2021.

The Circle of Commerce brings together multiple nonprofits from the South Florida community. Several of these nonprofit organizations are dedicated to ensuring that minority students graduate from high school, go to college, vocational school, or the military, and be positioned to become a contributing and self-sustaining member of society.

The Economic Empowerment Workshop will be led by the Cardone Training Technologies (CTTI) executive team, who will adapt the curriculum of the 10X Kids Program into their teachings. The CTTI team is looking forward to welcoming these students into the 10X Headquarters and helping them excel in professional topics such as goal setting, wealth creation, and resourcefulness.

Each student attending the workshop will receive a copy of the 10X Kids Book. The 10X Kids Book, written by the millionaire, best-selling author, and philanthropist Grant Cardone, is a financial literacy resource for adolescents to teach them about financial literacy and how to have a 10X mindset.

For more information or to donate to The Grant Cardone Foundation, please visit grantcardonefoundation.com.

About The Grant Cardone Foundation: The Grant Cardone Foundation is a national non-profit organization invested in helping youth in our communities reach their fullest potential. Entrepreneur and best-selling author, Grant Cardone, created the foundation as a result of experiencing the traumatic loss of his father when he was only ten years old. Growing up without a father figure in his life affected him emotionally, socially, and academically and so he has made it his mission to help young adults, who may need life and career guidance just as he once did. The foundation partners with community organizations, municipal agencies, corporations, and other non-profit entities to help deliver energy and educational resources to kids in need. Our mission is to provide mentoring and financial literacy education to adolescents in underserved and at-risk populations, especially those without a father figure.

About Grant Cardone: Grant Cardone is an American author, sales trainer, real estate investor, and motivational speaker. He wrote seven books: Sell To Survive, The Closers Survival Guide, If Youre Not First, Youre Last, The 10X Rule, Sell or Be Sold, The Millionaire Booklet, and Be Obsessed or Be Average. Grant showed off his sales and marketing process when he was featured in Discovery Channels Undercover Billionaire, Season 2.

About 5000 Role Model: Founded by then Miami-Dade County School Board Member Frederica S. Wilson, now a member of the United States Congress, the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project was initiated by the Miami-Dade County School Board in March 1993, due to the realization that there is an ongoing crisis in the lives of many young males. The projects mission is to intervene in the lives of at-risk boys, in order to provide them with alternatives that will lead them away from a life of crime and violence.

About Queen Up Movement & Leadership Academy: To empower young women to believe in themselves by providing guidance, training, and motivation to create future leaders. To create a positive mindset without limits. To develop an understanding that they determine the course of their lives and will reach their full potential by making good decisions that are conducive to success.

About The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade & Festivities Committee, Inc.: Committed to honoring and expanding the grand vision of freedom, justice, and equality for all people by annually commemorating Dr. Kings uplifting message of virtuous, non-violent change, and providing a dynamic, accessible forum for empowering education that inspires personal and societal transformation.

About The Circle of Brotherhood: The Circle of Brotherhood is an organization of primarily Black men from all walks of life dedicated to community service, economic development, crime prevention, conflict resolution and mediation, educational services, and youth mentorship. Members of the Circle have dedicated their lives to collectively solving the social ills of our community.
President Museveni has finally accepted to lift the suspension on the activities of Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) in Uganda lifted, the Nile Post has learnt.

President Museveni has finally accepted to lift the suspension on the activities of Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) in Uganda lifted, the Nile Post has learnt.

In January 2021, Museveni directed the suspension of the activities of DGF, the largest pool of donor funding to non-governmental organisations in Uganda which is financed by Denmark, Ireland, Austria, UK, Sweden, Norway, and the European Union to facilitate equitable growth, poverty eradication, rule of law and long-term stability in the country.

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However, following back and forth meetings between government and development partners, government accepted to have the suspension lifted.

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Sources within DGF confirmed the development to the Nile Post.

"We met with the president today, presented our case and he has directed for lifting of the suspension. It is a very good day for us and for DGF. We are back," the source told this website.

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Suspension

Government suspended the activities of DGF over what was termed as financing of subversive activities.

In a letter to the Finance Minister, Matia Kasaija, President Museveni asked him to explain how his ministry authorized a 100 million (shs500.8 billion) fund to operate illegally in the country without the involvement of cabinet.

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"It has come to my attention that the Ministry of Finance under the hand of the Permanent Secretary, irregularly and unilaterally authorized a 100 million fund, known as the Democratic Governance Facility, to be operated exclusively by a foreign mission in Uganda. Unlike prior grant arrangements like the Democratic Governance and accountability project in which there was transparency and representations the Government of Uganda has no say or oversight on how the Democratic Governance Facility is administered in Uganda," Museveni said in the January, 2, 2021 letter.

The visibly angry Museveni said in the letter that he had learnt that a big percentage of the shs500.8 billion went into financing activities and organizations meant to subvert government "in the name of the improving governance."

Some government officials accused DGF of being used by the West to fund activities of National Unity Platform president Robert Kyagulanyi ,ahead of the 2021 general election.

The suspension saw activities of over 100 Non-Governmental Organizations affected but also many of their projects came to a halt.

The news of the lifting of the suspension will be a great sigh of relief to the NGOs but also many people who were benefitting from projects funded by DGF.
Education for Loyalty Marketers by Loyalty Marketers The acceptance of this professional training program by marketers worldwide truly represents a global phenomena said Graeme Thomson. The participation by so many across diverse geographic markets indicates the CLMP courseware is established as the de-facto industry standard around the world.

The Loyalty Academy, the educational platform operated by Wise Marketer Group (WMG), has announced a new level of professional certification globally.

Marketing professionals having completed the Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional certification process now total more than 325 persons across 30 countries globally.

The acceptance of this professional training program by marketers worldwide truly represents a global phenomena, said Graeme Thomson, Chairman of the Loyalty Academys Board of Regents. The participation by so many across diverse geographic markets indicates the CLMP courseware is established as the de-facto industry standard around the world.

The individuals having earned the distinction of Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional as designated by the Board of Regents of The Loyalty Academy are experienced in all vertical markets in every region of the world and include many individuals with advanced/masters degrees in marketing and a few Ph.D.s. The aggregate profile of all CLMPs demonstrates the extensive loyalty knowledge and experience of the collective group. At this time, members of the group average 13.7 years of experience, involving work on an average of 42.7 different customer loyalty programs each.

The largest population of marketing executives having earned the CLMP designation is in the United States, Canada, and the Middle East North Africa regions. The diversity of the group continues to grow as the result of public workshops held by the Loyalty Academy around the world. Already this year, a workshop has occurred in Dubai and one in Mumbai next week, June 28  30, of which registration is still available! Additional events are scheduled in 2022 for Ireland, South Africa, and the United States.

Mike Capizzi, Dean of Education, Loyalty Academy commented, Loyalty academy growth is coming from many sources: individuals purchasing online certification packages, those who participate in public workshops, and many who complete the program as part of our corporate or team training products. Demand for professional education in loyalty marketing is strong on a global basis as the industry continues to gain increased importance in a digital first world.

This is a global industry, continued Thomson, worth more than US$60 billion and growing at a double-digit rate year over year. An industry of this magnitude demands an enterprise that represents its best interests on a global scale. That is the mission of the Wise Marketer Group and reaching this new threshold of CLMPs is evidence that our service to the industry is being recognized. There is certainly more to come.

After Mumbai on June 2830, the next public workshop where participants can earn their CLMP credentials will be held in Dublin, Ireland on September 20-21, 2022, in partnership with the Irish Loyalty Awards. Visit here for more details.

About The Loyalty Academy & Wise Marketer Group

The Loyalty Academy offers the worlds foremost professional development platform for the global loyalty marketing industry. The Loyalty Academy is owned and operated by Wise Marketer Group, the publisher of TheWiseMarketer.com, the most widely read news source for Customer and Loyalty marketing in the world. With a 20-year history serving the loyalty marketing industry, it is known as the Global Voice of Customer Loyalty. The Wise Marketer also publishes The Loyalty Guide and hosts the Women in Loyalty series.

For details, visit http://www.TheWiseMarketer.com and http://www.LoyaltyAcademy.org.
An important aspect for water storage applications like the Third High Reservoir is that all Penetron crystalline products are completely non-toxic and contain no VOCs. Our crystalline materials are nationally certified (NSF-61) and completely safe for use in potable water applications.

The February 2022 inspection of the repaired concrete structures of the Third High Reservoir in Washington, D.C. confirmed the success of the Penetron System to permanently waterproof the water reservoirs concrete floor and walls.

The Washington Aqueduct provides potable water to approximately one million people in the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia. As part of the water treatment and supply system, the Washington Aqueduct maintains and operates the Dalecarlia and McMillan water treatment plants. Potable water from these plants is pumped to the 20-million-gallon Third High Reservoir.

Also known as the Fort Reno Reservoir, the Third High Reservoir is adjacent to Fort Reno Park in northwest Washington, D.C. Constructed in the mid-1950s, the reservoir is a sub-surface concrete structure measuring approximately 380 feet x 300 feet and 26 feet deep.

Upgrading a Key Water Source for the Nations Capital

Due to the rapid aging and deterioration of the citys water supply infrastructure, a comprehensive repair project for the drinking water reservoirs was recently completed, explains Christopher Chen, Director of The Penetron Group. The upgrades and repairs to the Third High Reservoir will ensure improved water quality and more efficient operation within the Washington Aqueduct distribution system.

In addition to replacing outdated infrastructure in the water storage structure with new architectural, mechanical, and electrical improvements, a program of extensive concrete repairs was completed, including the sealing of joints and cracks in the concrete floor of the reservoir tank.

Do It Well, Do It Quickly

Because the reservoir is a critical component of the Washington Aqueduct distribution system, the time allotted for upgrades and repair work was restricted, adds Christopher Chen. The project engineers required an experienced contractor with the necessary resources and expertise to handle the repairs quickly and successfully.

After researching the challenges of concrete repair, the project engineers at Nova Consulting and Hazen & Sawyer asked SGS, the project contractor, to contact Penetron. The local Penetron specialist was dispatched to the site and a detailed repair plan was submitted.

In the initial step, PENEPLUG, a rapid-setting, crystalline compound, was applied to stop all active leaks in the floor of the reservoir tank. SGS then routed out all leaking construction joints, visible cracks and leaks, and cut back any exposed rebar stubs and damaged concrete. PENECRETE MORTAR, a crystalline repair grout, was applied to the prepared areas. In addition, to protect the reinforced concrete structures from further water penetration due to the reservoirs high hydrostatic pressure, PENETRON, a topical crystalline material, was applied as a slurry to permanently waterproof the concrete surfaces.

Streamlining the Repair Work

We were originally asked to provide a repair plan for just the active leaks in the concrete floor of the reservoir, notes Christopher Chen. But after evaluating the site we informed them we could also repair the leaks in the walls without the use of expensive injection systems, which made the job much quicker, more economical  and just as effective.

Once applied to a prepared concrete surface, the proprietary chemicals in Penetrons crystalline products react in a catalytic reaction with moisture to generate a non-soluble crystalline formation throughout the pores and capillary tracts of the concrete. The resulting formation seals pores and micro-cracks, and becomes an integral part of the matrix, making the concrete impermeable.

An important aspect for water storage applications like the Third High Reservoir is that all Penetron crystalline products are completely non-toxic and contain no VOCs," explains Christopher Chen. Our crystalline materials are nationally certified (NSF-61) and completely safe for use in potable water applications.

The Penetron Group is a leading manufacturer of specialty construction products for concrete waterproofing, concrete repairs and floor preparation systems. The Group operates through a global network, offering support to the design and construction community through its regional offices, representatives, and distribution channels.

For more information on Penetron waterproofing solutions, please visit penetron(dot)com or Facebook(dot)com/ThePenetronGroup, email CRDept(at)penetron(dot)com, or contact the Corporate Relations Department at 631-941-9700.
WCG MAGI Clinical Research Conference 2022 West

Sunday, October 16 to Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NV

https://wcg.swoogo.com/magi-west

Clinical research is changing and its changing fast. Now is the time for clinical trial practitioners to get up to date on the latest innovations and best practices. WCG MAGI conferences are the gold standard and best value in clinical research.

This collegial, ultra-friendly four-day event is led by the Conference Steering committee, a group of MAGI veterans who set the scope, focusing on everyone coming together to solve the industrys biggest issues.

With more than 80 sessions and 100 speakers who have diverse expertise and backgrounds attendees will get value at every step. They will have the opportunity to rub elbows with fellow clinical research professionals from sites, pharma, biotech, CROs, academia, government, regulators and vendors to discuss best practices for clinical operations, business and regulatory compliance.

Throughout, attendees will get actionable information based on real-life examples, with lots of interaction, plus:



Hot-Button Issues Addressed

Come away with practical solutions with sessions on employee retention and motivation, how research operations and compliance can work together and solving the challenges of decentralized clinical trials (DCTs), just to name a few.



Something for Every Professional

From the Pre-Conference workshops  designed for newcomers to the industry, or those looking to expand their current skill set  to the Senior Executive Session on Wednesday, every attendee  whether with a sponsor, research site or CRO  will take away timely, real-world solutions in this comprehensive program.



Practical Tips and Professional Connections That Pay for Themselves

Building on the success of WCG MAGIs East in May, where participants each brought home an average of 10 practical tips to implement in their own organizations, this conference is similarly designed to bring attendees effective best practices and helps them foster the relationships they can rely on thanks to exceptional networking opportunities.



Keynote by Mary Elizabeth Williams, On the Importance of Clinical Research: A Patients Perspective

This patient advocate, health and science journalist and stage IV melanoma survivor will touch on the Phase 1 immunotherapy clinical trial that saved her life and discuss her clinical trial and immunotherapy advocacy and her doctoral degree research into empathetic communication in medicine incorporating crisis negotiation tactics.

WCG MAGI is all about coming together to solve the industrys biggest problems. Come see how clinical trial professionals can fix theirs when connecting with fellow clinical research professionals at WCG MAGI Clinical Research Conference 2022 West.

Physical Workshop Details:

WCG MAGI Clinical Research Conference 2022 West

Sunday, October 16 to Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NV

https://wcg.swoogo.com/magi-west

Tuition:

Physical All-Access Pass:

Super Early Bird: Register by Aug. 5, 2022  $1,095

Early Bird: Register by Sept. 16, 2022  $1,295

After Sept. 16, 2022  $1,495

Full access to the event. Includes all workshops, panel discussions, sessions, meals, and exhibit hall access.

1 Preconference Workshop-AM or PM - $195.00

Includes access to Sunday morning or afternoon workshop only. Lunch is not included.

2 Preconference Workshops-AM & PM - $345.00

Includes access to both Sunday workshops only. Lunch is included.

Exhibit Hall Only - $125.00

Includes access to the exhibit hall only. Lunch is not included.

Easy Ways to Register:

Online: https://wcg.swoogo.com/magi-west

By phone: 888.838.5578 or 703.538.7600

About MAGI:

Model Agreements & Guidelines International (MAGI) is streamlining clinical research by standardizing best practices for clinical operations, business and regulatory compliance. "MAGI" is pronounced with "G" as in Georgia and "I" as in Ireland. The 10,000+ members represent most of the major players in the industry. Membership is free. Members obtain a free subscription to the Journal of Clinical Research Best Practices and free access to the MAGI CTA Template and over 150 other forms, checklists and other standards. Membership is individual, not organizational.
Melanie Crowder is the award-winning author of several young adult (Mazie, Audacity, and An Uninterrupted View of the Sky) and middle grade novels (Three Pennies, A Nearer Moon, and The Lighthouse Between the Worlds). Jumper is her first contemporary YA novel. It chronicles 19-year-old Blair Scotts fierce determination to become part of the elite smokejumper squadron with her best friend Jason. Blair is dedicated to proving herself as capable as the other (mostly male) candidates and begins to make risky choices to prove her worth. But when a fire spins out of control, her choices lead down a dangerous path. Crowder spoke with PW about incorporating her personal firefighting experiences in the book as well as choosing for Blair to struggle with type 1 diabetes.

After your second year in college, you worked for the U.S. Forest Service fisheries because you wanted to be a marine biologist. Did you end up becoming a marine biologist? If so, what led you to writing?

Growing up in Oregon, from age 11 until I was 20, I was certain thats what Id do. But this was the early 90s and women werent supported in the sciences. I transferred to a different college where I took art classes and earned a B.A. in fine arts. I even got to sing with the Vancouver Orchestra. My college classes were glorious, but I wasnt employable and I ended up with a lot of different jobs. One weekend when I was 28, I read a shelf of childrens books at the local libraryand I realized thats where my joy was. So why not try to write? I had just finished writing my second book, a derivative fantasy, when I realized I needed to learn more. I got my MFA in writing. Ive been on an amazing journey with twists and turns, learning how these enrich your experience so much. Im still mining the experiences from all the weird jobs I had.

While working for the Forest Service, you were also trained to fight fires. Did your experience learning to fight fires inspire you to write this book?

Im not the kind of person who sits down and makes a list of story ideas. I want them to come to me. We had just had a rough fire seasonand I thought what if, what if? I read an article about fire jumpers and how understaffing sometimes put people in positions they werent qualified for. I got goosebumps. It was like I was transported back in time to fire campfeeling the sweating, adrenaline pumping, fear and excitement. I wouldnt have felt comfortable writing this without a visceral understanding of being there, on the fireline. Im grateful for my wandering life, its excellent fodder for stories. But I never jumped out of a plane. I considered doing it for research, but Im a mother now. If not for my kids, I would have. Blair is 1000 times braver than I am.

How did you decide that your main character, the highly driven Blair, would struggle with type 1 diabetes? Why did you choose that particular hurdle for her?

I always knew that Blairs confidence is a fault. Shes a lone wolf. She believes that she can master any challenge put in her path. I had to throw something huge in her way. My first instinct was to give her a rib injury, but Blairs journey is recognizing her strengths and weaknesses and how they can get in her way. My editor challenged me to make it an internal challenge. With her being diabetic, Blair feels like her body is betraying herits a part of herself that she cant control. She gets to a point of acceptance and sees the world not as a lone wolf, learning to rely on other people.

You added brief sections about firefighting (tools, strategies, training protocols) as well as scenes where the fire seemed to have its own personality. Why was it important for you to include those?

When you listen to people who work with fire talk about it, it is a creature they come to know on an intimate basis. They come to love it, even as theyre battling it. Its important, tough work. Since I did fire camp, the view on fighting forest fires has changed. Firefighters have shifted toward working with the fire and sometimes a burn is the best thing for a forest. I wanted to deliver this information in a way that readers can access the story, to visualize those intense scenes. For instance, fire can make its own weather. But I didnt want to stop the flow. I want them to see a world where anyone is viewed as tough and able regardless of gender or identitythat they can set off on an adventure that is waiting for them.

Jumper by Melanie Crowder. Viking, $18.99 June ISBN 978-0-593-32696-1
After spending her entire career at Chronicle Books, childrens book editor Taylor Norman will depart the San Francisco-based publishing house and join Holiday House as executive editor of Neal Porter Books on July 18. The appointment marks the first editor other than Porter acquiring for the imprint, with Norman working remotely on the West Coast and Porter located in New York.

Having brought his imprint at Holiday House five years ago, Porter felt the time was right to expand his editorial team. Neal Porter Books has been very successful and when something is successful, you want it to grow and develop over time, he told PW. With Taylor, I could ensure that the imprint would continue to flourish and evolve for years.

Porter was confident that Norman would be the right person for the job after having frequent conversations with her over the last few months. Its an intuitive thing; you know when you click with someone, he explained about their immediate connection. As a picture book editor, I have always loved art and words. Taylor also gives equal emphasis to these things, he said. Porter was also intrigued by the fact that Norman can offer a younger point of view, helping to establish a more balanced editorial perspective.

A Shared Vision

For Norman, the opportunity to join Neal Porter Books is the fulfillment of her career thus far. I have been an admirer of Neals books for so long, she said. I have found myself wishing I could work on the books he has worked on. We share a lot of the same energy and taste in the types of books.

The self-proclaimed lifelong reader prides herself on keeping the end reader in mind when choosing new titles. The stories I select would have to be well-told and well-designed from a perspective we havent seen before, Norman said. To better inform her acquisitions, she has spent the last five years volunteering as a tutor for 826 National, which provides writing services for under-resourced communities. Her greatest takeaway from that experience has been understanding that kids represent a unique and variable perspective, one that she strives to keep in mind when considering new books. My goal is to publish stories that are welcoming and friendly to as many types of kids as possible, in hopes of making it easy for any child to consider herself a readerno matter how often, when or why she chooses to pick up a book, she said.

Normans work as both an editor and a tutor help to establish her as a viable partner for Neal Porter Books. I bring to the table two versions of myself, she explained. The bookish girl who loved nature, rocks and treesthat is the one most aligned with the type of books Neal handlesand a little brother version of myself: a seven-year-old boy who loves clever word play and funny books. As a child, she recalls Byrd Baylors Everybody Needs a Rock and A Tree Is Nice by Janice May Udry as two of her most favorite picture books. Norman relishes these titles for their ability to promote a sense of wonder and question why things happen the way they doa quality she is hoping to impart in the new works she brings to the imprint.

As Norman gears up for her first day on the job, she is excited by the prospect of learning from a seasoned editorial veteran. I look at Neal and see someone who needs no help, she said with a laugh. I plan to spend time together to figure out where he sees room for growth, where I can complement and where I can fill in. While the two will mostly be working remotely, Norman believes the last two years of Zooming have prepared her well for operating in a largely virtual publishing community. I cant say enough about how honored I am to be joining Neal, she said. Im ready for the challenge and feel really energized about whats next. Its just the beginning.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Ansley Mbah has been interested in technology since she got her first cell phone.

Now, on the verge of earning a Bachelor of Science degree in cybersecurity from Purdue University Global, Mbah is one of 21 Purdue University Global students to receive a Purdue Day of Giving Completion Scholarship.

The phone was so expensive, and it was fascinating, said Mbah, who lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after moving there from Atlanta four years ago. Growing up I wanted to be a doctor, but it didnt work out for me. I like the world of technology and want to protect and help others this way. Im planning to get certified in my field.

The scholarship will help Mbah finish her last two classes  ethics in cybersecurity and a capstone course. She plans on taking part in commencement ceremonies Oct. 22 in West Lafayette.

Mbah has worked while attending Purdue University Global and appreciates the support of her instructors.

Everyone has been so understanding, she said. That makes it so much easier. (Chris) Esquire (information technology faculty member) was so great and seemed to really care. My experience has been great. Maybe someday I will get a masters degree.

In the meantime, Mbah hopes to get a job at the Fort Wayne VA Medical Center, where she has interned and also where her mother is a doctor.

We are excited to have Ansley join the cyber community and share her expertise to make society safer and meet the increasing demand for cybersecurity professionals, said Tina Burton, associate dean for the Purdue University Global School of Business and Information Technology, who had the pleasure of informing Mbah that she was a scholarship recipient. She was definitely surprised about the scholarship and grateful.

MORE: Watch highlights from the Purdue University Global May 2022 commencement.

Each of the Purdue Day of Giving Completion Scholarship recipients boast a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.0 and are within 30 credits of graduating from one of Purdue University Globals eligible programs. The recipients are:

Verah Bart-Williams, B.S., Legal Support and Services  Paralegal; Murphy, Texas

Lashandra Bittle, B.S., Health Care Administration; Columbia, South Carolina

Mia Black, S., Nutrition; Amarillo, Texas

Lakendria Brown, B.S., Human Services in Youth/Family Services and Administration; Dallas

Erin Eitler, B.S., Health Care Administration; Elkhart, Indiana

Chelsea Fox, B.S., Nutrition, Butler, Pennsylvania

Allison Fowler, B.S., Legal Support and Services; Bethpage, New York

Brittany Gustafson, B.S., Psychology in Applied Behavior Analysis; Dover, New Hampshire

Madilyn Harms, B.S., Legal Support and Services  Paralegal; Sumner, Iowa

Tiffaney Houston, B.S., Health and Wellness; Lake Station, Indiana

Kemisha Isaac, B.S., Human Services in Youth/Family Services and Administration; Brooklyn, New York

Melissa Mastrup, B.S., Health Care Administration; New Orleans

Ansley Mbah, B.S., Cybersecurity; Fort Wayne, Indiana

Isaac Miller, B.S., Business Administration  Supply Chain Management and Logistics; Bowling Green, Ohio

Julia Phelps, B.S., Human Services in Youth/Family Services and Administration; Indianapolis, Indiana

Jenny Rodriguez, B.S., Nursing, Saranac Lake, New York

Natalie Rodriguez, B.S, Accounting  Public Accountancy; Miami

Insia Sami, B.S., Information Technology  Programming and Software Development; Villa Park, Illinois

Tricia Santos, B.S., Nutrition; Warsaw, Indiana

Emily Tarlip, B.S., Business Administration  Management; Fort Collins, Colorado

Amanda Young, B.S., Psychology in Applied Behavior Analysis; St. Louis

The most recent Purdue Day of Giving  the one-day, Purdue University systemwide fundraising effort  raised $63,341 from 1,904 gifts for Purdue University Global students on April 28.

About Purdue University Global

Purdue University Global delivers personalized online education tailored to the unique needs of adults who have work or life experience beyond the classroom, enabling them to develop essential academic and professional skills with the support and flexibility they need to achieve their career goals. It offers personalized paths for students to earn an associate, bachelors, masters or doctoral degree, based on their work experience, desired pace, military service, previous college credits and other considerations  no matter where they are in their life journey. Purdue University Global is a nonprofit, public university accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It is affiliated with Purdue Universitys flagship institution, a highly ranked public research university located in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue University also operates regional campuses in Fort Wayne and Northwest Indiana, as well as serving science, engineering and technology students at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus. For more information, visit purdueglobal.edu.

Writer/Media Contact: Tom Schott, tschott@purdue.edu

Sources: Frank Dooley

Amy Hawkinson

Ansley Mbah
Stanbic Bank and Prudential Uganda have launched a joint medical insurance dubbed "MediProtect" where Ugandans will be able to acquire annual medical insurance cover.

The MediProtect policy can be acquired for as low as shs 600,000 annually with up to Shs 20million in value.

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Ugandans can choose between three MediProtect packages based on affordability with the least priced policy being Silver--accessible at Shs 600,000 per annum, which allows policy holders to enjoy medical cover worth up to shs20m in annual value.

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The gold package whose premium costs shs 1,000, 000 offers up to Shs 70m in medical cover value for a year while Platinum category available at Shs 2million gives policy holders nearly Shs 120million in annual value and a long list of benefits.

MediProtect cover can be accessed by policy holders at over 380 medical outlets across the country, that are affiliated to Prudential Uganda.

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While unveiling the product, Sam Mwogeza, Stanbic Bank's executive head for consumer banking said MediProtect is a direct lesson from their experience as a country in the last two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We are offering a solution that enables every Stanbic Uganda customer to get medical insurance for themselves, relatives and loved ones and be assured of accessing professional medical care when they fall ill,"he said.

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Although medical insurance is fast growing in Uganda, 2018 research by Insurance Institute of Uganda found that only 5 per cent of Ugandans had health insurance,most of those are on corporate medical schemes sponsored by their employers.

Mwogeza told The Nile Post that at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the country lost many people who couldn't afford medical bills even those deemed to be relatively well off.

Tetteh Ayitevie, chief executive officer at Prudential Uganda said their purpose is to help people make the most out of life.

"We believe that MediProtect is a demonstration that we are dedicated to helping individuals and families in every step of their health, wealth, and wellness journey; by ensuring they can afford good medical care, which is core to good health,"he said.

According to Paul Nagemi, the chief health officer at Prudential Uganda, the product underscores the importance of having something set aside for a rainy day including both savings and health insurance.

"The beneficiaries can be their immediate, extended family or financial dependents. This product provides competitive outpatient (dentistry, optical antenatal and inpatient benefits in over 200 health facilities country wide," he said.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) risks destroying the economy by installing a falsehood as a principle driver of governance for American business.

By proposing that companies to take extraordinary measures to account for climate risks, the SEC embraces a false climate emergency based on a premise that emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from human activity threaten Earth with catastrophic warming. None of this is true. Yet, the SEC  mimicking a climate-industrial complex that demonizes carbon-emitting fossil fuels  presents an apocalyptic outlook with the certitude of pre-Reformation popes 500 years ago.

CO2 is, in fact, a beneficial gas absolutely necessary for life. More of it is good, as can be seen in an overall greening of Earth and record crop harvests that have paralleled modest warming and increasing CO2 levels in recent decades. Predictions of dangerous warming are based on flawed climate models and exaggerations of CO2s potency as a greenhouse gas. In agreement with this view are numerous scientists, researchers and others. This includes the more than 90 members of the CO2 Coalition based in Arlington, Virginia.

One of those is Dr. Patrick Moore, a former CO2 Coalition chairman and a co-founder of Greenpeace, who says that man-made CO2 emissions are life-saving. His 2016 paper, The Positive Impact of Human CO2 Emissions on the Survival of Life on Earth," states:

As recently as 18,000 years ago, at the height of the most recent major glaciation, CO2 dipped to its lowest level in recorded history at 180 ppm (parts per million), low enough to stunt plant growth. This is only 30 ppm above a level that would result in the death of plants due to CO2 starvation.

It is calculated that if the decline in CO2 levels were to continue at the same rate as it has over the past 140 million years, life on Earth would begin to die as soon as two million years from now and would slowly perish almost entirely as carbon continued to be lost to the deep ocean sediments.

The combustion of fossil fuels for energy to power human civilization has reversed the downward trend in CO2 and promises to bring it back to levels that are likely to foster a considerable increase in the growth rate and biomass of plants, including food crops and trees.

Human emissions of CO2 have restored a balance to the global carbon cycle, thereby ensuring the long-term continuation of life on Earth.

This extremely positive aspect of human CO2 emissions must be weighed against the unproven hypothesis that human CO2 emissions will cause a catastrophic warming of the climate in coming years.

The one-sided political treatment of CO2 as a pollutant that should be radically reduced must be corrected in light of the indisputable scientific evidence that it is essential to life on Earth.

According to this understanding of CO2s atmospheric cycle, it would be more appropriate to reward the burning of fossil fuels than to discourage it.

Instead, the SEC threatens to impose requirements that companies track their so-called carbon footprint and that of their business associates. The ultimate targets are producers of coal, oil and natural gas and those who burn the fuels.

Businesses would be evaluated on the basis of their adherence to climate orthodoxy. The SEC could discredit  even destroy  companies that arent on the climate-doomsday bandwagon. Financial institutions already discriminating against producers of hydrocarbons would receive the official backing of the U.S. government.

The outcome of all this can only be the crippling of Americas energy sector and increased reliance on expensive and unreliable sources such as wind and solar  and on Chinese sources of materials for those technologies.

Gregory Wrightstone is a geologist, executive director of the CO2 Coalition, Arlington, Va., and author of Inconvenient Facts: The science that Al Gore doesnt want you to know.
Big news from the United States Supreme Court this week.

No, not that news. Rather, the decision in Carson v. Makin that struck down Blaine Amendments and their progeny as violations of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Though the three leftist judges dissented, this decision, which will enhance school-choice opportunities, is great news for anyone who genuinely seeks increased workplace diversity by legal and nondiscriminatory means.

The Carson case came condignly out of Maine, whence too sprang James G. Blaine, author of the failed federal Blaine Amendment and the spiritual father of state constitutional amendments and legislation of the same ilk. Deprecating the flood of Catholics into the country  and especially the northeast  in the 19th century, Blaine introduced while Speaker of the U.S. House statutory language declaring that no money raised by taxation in any State for the support of public schools, or derived from any public fund therefor, nor any public lands devoted thereto, shall ever be under the control of any religious sect; nor shall any money so raised or lands so devoted be divided between religious sects or denominations.

The legislation passed in the House, but died in the Senate. Many states, though, including Maine, carried the idea forward, so that even until Tuesday Maine restricted any school-choice funding from being spent on schools sponsored by religious establishments.

The original purpose of these amendments was patently bigoted. Most Catholic immigrants were poor, and were taxed like the rest of the public for sectarian public schools. By denying any public funds to religiously guided schools, Blaine Amendments restricted parents ability to educate their children as they wished, instead pushing them into government-approved schools teaching government-approved curricula. Where Blaine Amendments passed, fired by antipapist prejudice, those approved curricula were hardly likely to show much respect for the parents preferences or for the families culture and traditions.

The retention of Blaine Amendments has not been motivated primarily by lingering anti-Catholic animus, except insofar as it is subsumed in a thoroughgoing bigotry against all traditional Western religions. (Those, after all, get in the way of full adherence to the modern religions of Gaia worship and the Church for the Suppression of the White Devil.) Primarily it has been the tool of left-wing politicians and the government teachers unions (but to a significant extent I repeat myself) to keep as much money as possible in the public schools and away from parents.

This is because in many, many smaller towns the only private alternative to public schooling has been religious schools  and in particular, in most parts of the country, the local Catholic school. And even in bigger cities the religious schools are often the most prevalent  and accessible  private-school alternative. Government-school officials and teachers know that if there were real competition in the K-12 education market, with education money following the child rather than flowing to monopoly schools, the government schools would shrink radically. (And then so would the government-teachers unions, and then so would the donations to lefty politicians.)

The reasons for this dynamic are clear. Government is virtually never an efficient supplier of anything. Layers of pointless and counterproductive bureaucracy cost a lot of money.

Government monopolies are particularly prone to inefficiency because competition drives down costs. And government education monopolies are perhaps more prone to inefficiency than anything in the modern era for two reasons.

First, teachers unions are immensely powerful, and in many states have in recent decades gained massive concessions in pay, pensions and other benefits from pliable governments whose campaigns they largely fund.

Second, those teachers unions are controlled by, and their ranks filled with, people who have gone through the process of left-wing indoctrination that is study for a B.A. in education, with the result that when they are teaching children live in the classroom (a rarity over the past few years that has caused untold damage to this generation of students), what theyre teaching them is not the three Rs, as the old saw went, or any sensible, neutral, success-oriented curriculum.

Rather, they are embedding equity into every lesson and every policy. Yes, that same racist-socialism equity that calls for illegal discrimination now to make up for other discrimination by other people against other people in the past, until race- and sex-based equality of outcome is achieved. This means turning every subject-matter lesson into an indoctrination session, thereby at very least diluting the core (subject-matter) learning objective. It means reducing learning opportunities such as honors programs for the highest-achieving students if those highest-achieving students arent the same colors, in the same proportions, as the student body. It means reducing rigor in evaluation if rigor results in inequitable race and sex outcomes.

It also means equality of outcome in discipline, so that if some surface-characteristic categories of students misbehave at a greater rate than other surface-characteristic groups, the misbehaving group member must be punished less than a member of some other group doing the same thing, which of course incentivizes further misbehavior in the already over-misbehaving group, while fostering ever-growing resentment at the race-based unequal treatment (the school-kid version of inequality before the law, which used to be bad) in the already better-behaved group.

This, obviously, is no way to run a schoolhouse, or educate the children of the country, and everyone is noticing. Anyone not fully indoctrinated in the new left-wing religions has no problem understanding why, as even the Washington Post has been forced to admit, homeschooling [has] exploded among Black, Asian and Latino students, [and] it wasnt just the pandemic. More recently it became clear that this trend holds even for the newest of immigrants.

Well of course they are noticing, and responding. Where government officials and teachers unions have combined to render in-school learning increasingly worthless, if not actively poisonous, and to forbid any other viable options, homeschooling has been the only way to provide children with rigorous educations not kneecapped by all of the pathologies of equity and woke.

This is why Tuesdays Supreme Court decision is such a big deal. It will give a significant number of parents a new, competitive, non-government option: religious, and particularly Catholic, schools. In states that offer any kind of school choice, those schools will now be an option, and in many cases a handy and convenient one.

Many Hispanic immigrants are Catholics who will face no difficulty at all in pulling their kids out of Church of Woke schools to ship them to Church of, you, know, the Church ones.

For many other parents of other creeds in smaller or less affluent communities the decision will be: rigorous education in core subjects in classes with proper discipline and healthy atmospheres, plus a little catechism in the morning; or race-hate, sexism and maybe a little core-subject education along the way. That wont be a difficult choice for many parents.

This is also why anyone who honestly seeks racial and ethnic diversity in business must not only cheer this decision but work tirelessly for complete money-follows-the-child school choice. As has been considered in these pages before, it is wildly illegal for companies to enforce any policies, especially employment policies, that discriminate on the basis of race, sex or orientation, whether that discrimination is wrapped up in the pablum of equity or not. Because workplace racism, sexism and orientation discrimination are illegal, large companies seeking to avoid discrimination lawsuits are left with hiring on merit (or by nepotism or secret handshake, of course, but merits the wise way to go).

If we want racially and ethnically diverse workplaces, we have to make sure that students of all races and ethnicities get all of the tools they need in school to compete at the highest levels. Public schools move constantly away from providing either high-level education or classrooms in which real learning of valid and relevant subjects is likely to thrive.

Parents already understand that, including parents of diverse students. What they need is a way to access proper, rigorous education for their children. That way is facilitated by an education system that gives parents money to spend on any schooling they wish, be it homeschooling or private schooling or  if they live in districts with unruined schools  government schooling.

Government schools are not designed to teach kids to succeed, not anymore. Getting children of all races, ethnicities, classes, backgrounds and talent levels out of those schools is the way for them  and for all of us  to succeed.
Police have arrested the Secretary General of the National Unity Platform (NUP), David Lewis Rubongoya.

Rubongoya was arrested on Wednesday alongside his personal driver Gordon Agaba.

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NUP said their lawyer is being detained at Nateete Police Station.

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The party has also confirmed on its social media platforms that their secretary general is currently being held at Nateete Police Station.

"Secretary General David Rubongoya and his driver Agaba Gordon have been arrested and detained at Nateete Police Station on allegations of threatening violence in the recently concluded Omoro by election," NUP said in a tweet.

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In his own words, Rubongoya, from a post he published on his social media platforms said that while driving earlier on Wednesday, a traffic officer stopped him and claimed that his car was wanted.

"Today morning while driving via wandegeya with my driver Agaba Gordon, a traffic officer stopped us and claimed that my car is wanted on allegations of having committed a crime during the recently concluded by-election in Omoro," Rubongoya said.

"We were briefly arrested at Wandegeya Police station and later I was released and proceeded to attend Hon Ssegirinya and Sewanyana's court. However Gordon was later driven to Nateete Police Station. After court I passed by Natete Police Station to follow up and I've also been re-arrested," he added.

Today morning while driving via wandegeya with my driver Agaba Gordon, a traffic officer stopped us and claimed that my car is wanted on allegations of having committed a crime during the recently concluded by-election in Omoro.

-- David Lewis Rubongoya (@DavidLRubongoya) June 22, 2022

NUP lawyer, Benjamin Katana confirmed the party Secretary General had been arrested over Omoro by-election violence.

At the time of this report, police was yet to pronounce itself on the matter.
Patrick Schwarzenegger says he's "honored" to star in The Boys spinoff series.

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The 28-year-old actor discussed the secrecy surrounding the new series, The Boys Presents: Varsity, during Wednesday's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The Boys Presents: Varsity is a spinoff of the Amazon series The Boys, which is based on the Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson comic book of the same name. The Boys follows the titular Boys, a group of vigilantes, as they attempt to take down a team of corrupt superheroes.

Varsity will center on a group of young people who attend a college for superheroes.

Schwarzenegger will appear alongside Lizze Broadway, Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo and Maddie Phillips in The Boys Presents: Varsity. The series is filming in Toronto.

On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Schwarzenegger said the cast is largely kept in the dark and receives secret scripts shortly before filming.

"Every episode, we get the script like they day we're about to film. I don't really know what's to come. They don't even show me -- it's that secret," the actor said.

"It's such an amazing franchise, it's great. I'm honored to be part of it," he added.

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Schwarzenegger, the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver , previously said in an interview with Variety's Just for Variety podcast that Varsity is "kind of like Euphoria meets superheroes."

Schwarzenegger also will star with his brother-in-law, Chris Pratt, who is married to Katherine Schwarzenegger, in the Amazon series The Terminal List. The show is based on the Jack Carr novel and follows a Navy SEAL who uncovers a conspiracy.

On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Schwarzenegger said training with real-life Navy SEALs was an "insane" experience.
After year of violence, US schools try to tame tensions

One of the most difficult academic years in the nation's history was also one of the most violent
The Electoral Commission (EC) has clarified that the National Unity Platform (NUP) is still under the stewardship of Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine.

This follows claims made this week by Moses Nkonge Kibalama who claimed that he had taken back the party leadership from the Kamwokya-based group led by Kyagulanyi.

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Among the reasons he gave for the decision included mismanagement and lack of transparency at Kamwokya. The Kibalama faction held a delegates conference and even acquired a building in Church Zone, Kabowa in Lubaga division, which it claimed would house the new offices of the party.

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However, the EC, in a letter dated June 22, addressed to Kibalama and Paul Ssimbwa both NUP members, its secretary Leonard Mulekwah, has maintained that Kyagulanyi is still the party president contrary to what Kibalama's faction says.

In the letter, Mulekwah reminded Kibalama that prior to his resignation in 2020, he chaired a meeting that concluded election of office bearers, to whom he handed over the party presidency to Kyagulanyi who was subsequently voted by NUP's National Executive Commission (NEC).

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Mulekwah adds that EC has not yet received any formal communication from the party executive committee confirming Kyagulanyi's resignation from his position or rescinding of other offices as claimed by Kibalama's group.

"No communication is on record in respect to resignation or rescinding of the offices by the said Executive Committee, who according to Article 6.2(c) (i) of the party constitution should hold office for five years," Mulekwah said.

"This is, therefore, to inform you that the convening of the delegates' conference and election of the National Executive Committee ought to comply with the National Unity Platform constitution."
Crews float a single-engine plane in the Connecticut River to the boat launch in Charlestown, N.H., on Thursday, June 23, 2022. The pilot reported having engine troubles before hitting the power lines that went over the river and then crashed into the water on Wednesday, June 22. They used a
Afghans bury dead, dig for survivors of quake; Southern Vermont refugees feel pain along with countrymen

Villagers rushed to bury the dead and dug by hand through the rubble of their homes in search of survivors of a powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan
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Has been working as a photojournalist since 2007, before moving into newspapers, he worked with an NGO called Project HOPE. He then went to work for the Press and Sun-Bulletin in New York, and then in New England working for the Brattleboro Reformer.
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The Rev. Dr. Lise Sparrow is Chair of Religious Affairs for the Windham County NAACP and a member of Vermont Interfaith Action. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of Vermont News & Media.
MTN Uganda has donated computers and a WiFi router and a multi-purpose printer to the Nakawa Market vendors Association as it concludes its staff volunteerism campaign dubbed 21 Days of Y'ello Care.

This follows a series of community outreach projects simultaneously executed in various parts of the country since last week. Today, also marked the MTN Y'ello Care Day across the MTN footprint.

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Similarly, the MTN staff team in Mbarara reached out to the Bunusya Abarema Twetungungure association in Mbarara with a donation of goats, fencing materials, and farm inputs as well as a digital training session to support the group of farmers on their path to recovery following the disruptive Covid-19 pandemic, as part of the MTN 21 Days of Y'ello Care campaign.

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The annual campaign that is always executed within the first 21 days of June, was this year held under the theme: "Empowering Communities to Drive Economic Recovery" with a keen focus on digital skills training and digital job creation to spur economic recovery among disadvantaged communities that were adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The digital up-skilling aspect of the campaign is hinged on MTN's strategic priority to build digital skills for digital jobs in alignment to the company's Ambition 2025 Strategy.

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Dorcas Batwala Muhwezi, the MTN Uganda General Manager, Customer experience reaffirmed that it was heart-warming for the staff of MTN Uganda to once again dedicate their time, financial resources, and skills, to the communities in a bid to uplift them socio-economically, following the drastic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Our decision of empowering communities to drive economic recovery after Covid-19 through digital training, upskilling, and knowledge sharing will indeed create lasting and sustainable change in our communities,"Muhwezi said.

Fred Kitoogo, the Principal of the Uganda Institute of Information Technology Communication lauded MTN for fostering digital inclusion among the grassroots communities.

"A lot of the economic transformation that we seek as a country can only be realized if we narrow the digital gap in our country. As such, I thank MTN for deliberately equipping the disadvantaged communities with digital skills that shall go a long way in supporting their economic endeavours," Kitoogo said.

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Under this year's 21 Days of Y'ello Care, MTN Uganda reached out to a total of 10 communities including the Tesobar Deaf Carpentry group in Lira, Tubalera VTC deaf carpentry group in Jinja, Tweyombeke disabled group in Fort portal, the Bunyusa group in Mbarara, the Kamwokya I women tailoring group in the Kampala central division, the glorious widows' group in Makindye, the Rays of Hope entrepreneurship group in Kawempe, missionaries of the poor orphanage in Mengo as well as the Nakawa Market Vendors' Association in Nakawa division.

All the groups underwent digital up-skilling training sessions delivered by MTN staff, to help them harness the power of digital usage to bolster their economic activities through various digital channels that resonate with the current digital era.

Launched in 2007, 21 Days of Y'ello care is a global award-winning staff initiative that has seen MTN staff step out of their offices every year, to make a difference in the lives of the communities within which they work.

MTN is committed to adding economic value by contributing to society through its programs focused on digital education, digital up-skilling, and digital skills training.
WEST HARTFORD  The state Office of the Child Advocate announced Wednesday the findings of a review that found seven arrests were made of students 12 and younger  among the most in the state for this age group  during the 2019-20 school year.

Sarah Eagan, a child advocate for the state who issued the report, said the six students who were arrested  one of them twice  were all girls, were Black, Hispanic or bi-racial and were all students at Sedgwick Middle School. Eagan said the majority of students of all ages arrested that year in West Hartford were Black or Hispanic children.

The findings, Eagan wrote, came after a review of data supplied by the Connecticut Judicial Branch Court Support Services Division.

The OCA is providing this letter ... to West Hartford Public Schools following OCAs subsequent review of the districts use of exclusionary discipline and school-based or school-related arrests of younger students, and the disproportionate impact of these practices on students of color and students with disabilities, Eagan wrote.

Eagan said one student under the age of 12 was arrested, while the others were all 12 years old.

In each of the seven arrests, school personnel requested West Hartford police to address the childrens behavior: Two theft complaints, one complaint of out of control behavior and four complaints of a school-based physical altercation with a peer, Eagan wrote.

In a statement released Wednesday, Assistant Superintendent for Administration Andrew Morrow said the district has already started to implement some of the states recommendations and has cooperated with the OCA throughout its review of our discipline practices in the spirit of seeking to improve our schools for all students.

Even before the OCAs inquiry and the report published today, the district identified these issues as areas for improvement. Over the last several years, we have worked diligently to address our discipline rates both at Sedgwick Middle School and district-wide, Morrow said in the statement.

The district is dedicated to ensuring the success of each and every member of our diverse student body, the statement continued. We have been at the forefront of and are deeply committed to our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. While we acknowledge that our discipline trend has not met our desired pace of change, we have taken accountability and, as a direct result, that trend has been steadily moving in a positive direction.

All of the arrests, according to Eagan, were for misdemeanor charges and all were ultimately discharged. At least three children were referred to a local juvenile review board. That referral, Eagan wrote, does not require an arrest.

[The Judicial Branch] emphasized to OCA that they strongly recommend that children of this age not be arrested whenever the underlying behavior can be addressed through school or community-based behavioral health and diversionary supports and intervention, as research overwhelmingly demonstrates the negative impact of arrest and court referral for younger and lower-risk children, as well as the persistent disproportionate arrest rate for students of color with disabilities, Eagan wrote.

In reviewing the the 2021-22 school year data, Eagan said she found that the West Hartford Police Department made no arrests of any students ages 12 and younger, calling it a a very positive trend.

The OCA also concluded that West Hartford Public Schools has put several positive initiatives into place to promote educational equity and cultural competency throughout its schools, Eagan wrote. The OCA appreciates the commitment and concern shown by the district toward diversity, equity and inclusion and its acknowledgment that student discipline needs to be monitored, assessed and reevaluated with a consistent framework.

According to the report, the West Hartford Police Department entered into a partnership with the Connecticut Institute for Youth and Police Relations and the Tow Youth Justice Institute, a program intended to improve interaction between police and youth. Eagan said the school district also said its school resource officers were receiving required training concerning students with mental health issues.

Eagan also reviewed suspension data from the 2018-19 school year, the last full in-person school year before the COVID-19 pandemic. In her review, Eagan said the district-wide rate of school suspension for white students was 2.4 percent. The district-wide suspension rate for Black students was 8.9 percent and 8.5 percent for Hispanic students.

At Sedgwick Middle School, the suspension rate for Black students was 35.4 percent and 23.8 percent for Hispanic students. The suspension rate for white students at the school was 9.4 percent. And the suspension rate for students at Sedgwick who were receiving special education services was 30.9 percent.

The district asserted to OCA that it was aware of the higher suspension rates for Black and Hispanic students throughout the district and that it was equally concerned, Eagan wrote. The district indicated it had increased its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts not only at Sedgwick, but district-wide while noting that it has an obligation to maintain the safety of its public schools for all students, which at times requires the imposition of discipline for students who violate school policy and/or the law.

The school district said its suspension rates are lower than the state average, which Eagan confirmed in her writing, though added her office is concerned about the higher suspension rates for middle school-age students of color in the district and the racially disproportionate impact of student discipline within the district itself, which OCA found ... is persistently high.

Eagan said West Hartford is among a handful of school districts that the state Department of Education classifies as a tier three district for five years in a row, meaning it has a consistently high disproportionality in student discipline.

Eagan recommended to the school district that it consider technical assistance, like a partnership with the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, to ensure that its efforts to reduce disproportionality in student discipline and student arrest are integrated into a data driven and publicly accountable multi-tiered system of support. Eagans office also recommends the district provide frequent updates regarding its progress as well as creating a system to document and review all 911 calls.

The OCA appreciates the districts cooperation in this review and your openness to the recommendations outlined herein, Eagan wrote. We look forward to additional conversations on this important topic.

In his email, Morrow said the district is continuing to implement recommendations that have been made.

WHPS is committed to a safe and inclusive learning environment at all of our schools, Morrow said. The new administrative team at Sedgwick Middle School is looking forward to the new school year and continuing the recommendations that have been made.
The company that operated a Kentucky candle factory leveled by a deadly winter tornado plans to ramp up production with a $33 million investment at a nearby plant, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday.

Mayfield Consumer Products LLC, a maker of candles and other home fragrance products, plans to employ more than 500 people full time in the next five years at its factory in Hickory as it builds back production. The company's plant in Mayfield took a direct hit from the tornado that devastated the town last December.

Several workers died at the factory  among the 81 people who died in Kentucky as the storms tore through parts of western Kentucky. Thousands left homeless found shelter with relatives and friends, or in emergency facilities, hotels and state parks.

.Beshear, a Democrat, touted the economic development news Thursday without mentioning workplace citations leveled against the company. The announcement comes just weeks after state officials issued citations against the company for alleged violations of Kentucky's occupational safety and health laws. The company faces $21,000 in potential fines for three alleged violations related to the tornado, according to state Labor Cabinet documents obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday through an open records request.

Asked later Thursday about the citations, the governor's office didn't immediately comment.

The company also is defending itself against a lawsuit claiming it showed flagrant indifference by refusing to allow employees to go home early as the storm approached. Company officials did not immediately return calls Thursday seeking comment about the citations.

Beshear said more job announcements will be forthcoming as the Mayfield region continues to dig out from massive tornado damage.

This expansion will re-establish the companys employment base in the region and adds to the overall rebuilding efforts, the governor said at his weekly news conference.

The governor has made repeated trips to western Kentucky in support of recovery efforts. He was on hand recently when three families were handed keys to new homes in Mayfield  the first houses to be fully constructed there since the tornado.

Mayfield Consumer Products had already started construction on one expansion at its location in the Hickory industrial park. It now plans another bigger expansion that will consolidate its operations following the destruction of its Mayfield plant. Hickory is about 6 miles (9.5 kilometers) from Mayfield. The total investment planned is $33.3 million, the governor's office said.

Company founder Mary Propes said the expansion shows the company's resolve to rebuild here and to play a central role in helping to restore the place we call home.

"This community has a bright future, and we are committed to being a big part of that progress, she said in a news release issued by the governor's office.

The company currently employs 160 people in western Kentucky.

Meanwhile, the state recently said the company committed three violations deemed serious in connection with the tornado, according to the Labor Cabinet documents.

The citations claim the company failed to keep an exit route hallway free and unobstructed, did not maintain an alarm system to warn employees of fire or other emergencies and failed to review an emergency action plan with each employee. Each alleged violation carries a proposed $7,000 fine.

The company had 15 days  excluding weekends  to contest the citations. A Labor Cabinet spokeswoman said she didn't immediately know if the company had appealed.

An attorney involved in the storm-related litigation blasted the company for the citations.

Those of us representing the displaced former employees in the tornado certainly hope that the new facilities comply with state safety laws, given that that company was slapped with serious violations," attorney Amos Jones said by phone Thursday.

The lawsuit was filed in state court days after the tornado but has since been moved to federal court, based on a motion filed by the defendants, Jones said. The plaintiffs are attempting to have the suit returned to state court, he said.

Either way, the defendants cant run from what they did, Jones said.,

The suit accuses Mayfield Consumer Products of violating Kentucky workplace standards by keeping its staff at work despite the danger of death and injury. The suit claims that workers were threatened with termination if they left in the hours before the tornado hit. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

A company spokesman said last December that employees were free to leave anytime, and he denied that they would have faced retribution if they did. A company executive said then that the company was retaining an independent expert team to review the actions of managers and employees leading up to when the tornado struck the factory. The executive said the company was confident that its team leaders acted entirely appropriately and were, in fact, heroic in their efforts to shelter our employees.
STAMFORD  Shipping-and-mailing firm Pitney Bowes announced this week that it would sell its BorderFree e-commerce services business for approximately $100 million to e-commerce services provider Global-e.

Stamford-headquartered Pitney Bowes agreement with Petah-Tikva, Israel-headquartered Global-e focuses on a business within Pitney Bowes global e-commerce division that helps retailers enter new markets by localizing their domestic websites in more than 200 countries and territories and also assists them in simplifying compliance and regulations processing.

This acquisition follows our strategy to support the global expansion of brands of all sizes in the most sophisticated way possible, Global-e co-founder and President Nir Debbi said in a statement. By partnering with Pitney Bowes and utilizing Borderfrees demand generation capabilities, Global-e will continue to enhance the value it brings to global brands looking to fully capitalize on their cross-border (direct-to-consumer) channel. In addition, the acquisition will further cement our leadership as the end-to-end solution of choice for any size of merchant, from small and emerging brands all the way to the worlds largest enterprise brands.

The sale is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022, subject to customary conditions.

In 2022, Borderfree is projected to generate more than $40 million in revenues. Including Borderfree, Pitney Bowes global e-commerce revenues totaled about $1.7 billion in 2021, up 5 percent from 2020.

Global e-commerce revenues were the largest source of Pitney Bowes 2021 revenues, which contributed to the company ranking No. 729 on the 2022 Fortune list of the largest U.S. corporations.

Borderfree employs about 85 people, including four based in Pitney Bowes offices in Shelton. The rest of them are based in other parts of the U.S., Israel, United Kingdom, Ireland and Poland. All of them are expected to transfer to Global-e when the deal is completed.

At the same time, Pitney Bowes and Global-e announced a strategic partnership and commercial relationship, in which Pitney Bowes would provide cross-border e-commerce logistics services to Global-e and its clients. In exchange, Pitney Bowes clients would gain access to cross-border solutions on the Global-e platform.

Pitney Bowes is excited to form a strategic partnership with Global-e to further extend our suite of Designed Cross-Border services as Pitney Bowes continues to grow and invest in our advanced suite of e-commerce logistics services for delivery and returns, Gregg Zegras, Pitney Bowes executive vice president and president of global e-commerce, said in a statement. Merchants will benefit from the combination of Global-es best-in-class cross-border localization technology and best-in-class e-commerce logistics capabilities from Pitney Bowes, a strength we will continue to build globally.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott
Residents of Guangdong's Yingde city have been taking refuge from widespread flooding on upper floors and roofs, amid an ongoing shortage of relief supplies after heavy rainstorms battered the region.



Photos posted to social media showed parts of Yingde under water up to the second floor of buildings, amid unconfirmed reports of deaths and building collapses.



Government departments in Yingde, Guangdong province, were ordered on to maintain high vigilance against geological and natural disasters after the flood crest of the Beijiang River passed the city.



"The flood crest of the Beijiang has passed the city, but it remains at a high level and the flow is still large, threatening the lives and property of local residents," the Yingde government said in a statement reported by the English-language China Daily newspaper.



Water in the Beijiang, a tributary of the Pearl River, began receding slowly after the flood crest passed at 2.00 p.m. local time on , it said.



The river, which runs through the city's downtown area, was measured at nearly 10 meters above the danger line at its peak, the statement said.



City authorities warned of possible landslides, mountain torrents, reservoir and river dike failures and building collapses as waters recede, the paper said.



The floods came as parts of southern China faced the heaviest rainfall in more than 60 years, with large swathes of flooded areas suffering power outages, contaminated water supplies and relief supplies, with some people posted pleas for help on social media.



Trapped by high water

A resident of Yingde's Xiniu township told RFA that they are currently trapped inside a two-story building with a roof dwelling alongside five other people.



"The floodwaters are retreating now, but very slowly," the person said. "Hopefully we'll be able to last out until now ... when the waters should have gone down."



A resident of Yingde's Wangbu township said she is currently trapped in a building with more than a dozen people, all elderly, women and children.



"It's been three or four days now, and nobody came ," the resident said. "They delivered a small piece of bread and bottle of water for residents this afternoon, and not until after 4.00 p.m."



"That was the only thing they delivered, so I didn't eat anything until then, and only one meal isn't enough," she said. "I don't know what will happen ."



While waters had begun to recede, she still couldn't get out as they remained high.



"I can't go out now; I've been flooded all the way up to the second floor," she said. "I can't talk any more because my phone is nearly out of battery."



Repeated calls to helplines and contact numbers provided by the Yingde authorities went unconnected on .



Fears for the elderly

Some people posted on social media saying that they had lost contact with elderly grandparents, while a 90-year-old man was stranded at home in need of oxygen.



The flooding of Yingde came after authorities in upstream Shaoguan opened local floodgates on , after days of heavy flooding there, inundated Yingde and other downstream areas.



Shaoguan, one of the worst-hit cities in the current round of flooding, has seen record rainfall since late May.



A video clip uploaded to social media showed a firetruck being washed away by a flash flood, although they were later rescued around one kilometer from where the video was shot.



China's ministry of water resources said that 99 rivers in the middle lower reaches of the Xi river in the Pearl river basin had water levels above the danger level between 12.00 noon on and noon on .



The Guangdong provincial flood control headquarters raised the emergency response level to the highest level on the evening of , while authorities have evacuated more than 227,000 people within the province, with floods affecting nearly half a million people and causing economic losses of around 1.7 billion yuan.



Flooding has also been reported in the southwestern region of Guangxi, Guizhou and other provinces, with five people killed and buildings destroyed by flash floods in Guangxi's Liuzhou city on .



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
One year after the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper was forced to close amid an investigation by national security police, its former journalists are struggling to come to terms with the loss of the paper, an often sensationalist, sometimes hard-hitting daily founded by jailed media mogul Jimmy Lai.



The paper's closure came after hundreds of national security police descended on the headquarters of Next Digital in Tseung Kwan O on , 2021, confiscating computers and journalistic materials police said were "evidence" of collusion with foreign forces under the national security law.



Five executives were arrested, and the paper's assets totaling around H.K.$18 million were frozen by the authorities.



Chief editor Ryan Law and Next Digital CEO Cheung Kim-hung have since been charged with "collusion with foreign powers," while three other executives have been released on bail without being charged.



A former journalist who gave only the surname Leung said she still remembers the crowd of well-wishers who gathered outside the paper's headquarters on the night that it closed, cheering and shouting encouragement.



"The editors in charge came out to boost morale, with a strong sense that they were going to be martyrs," Leung told RFA. "Everyone knew even then that the senior editors were in danger [of arrest and prosecution]."



"I was hoping, as their employee, that they would leave Hong Kong that same night and go to a safe place, we also knew they were mentally prepared [for arrest]," she said.



"As employees, we were sad that it had to end, but we felt it was an honorable defeat," Leung said.



Leung, a veteran newspaper reporter of 20 years' experience who had only worked at the paper for a year when it closed, said she suffered insomnia and suffered emotionally due to the arrests of her bosses, friends and colleagues.



"Some places contacted me with jobs after Apple Daily closed on , but I looked at the materials for a long time, and couldn't write a word," she said.



"My heart had died along with the Apple Daily."



Leung gave up on journalism after the paper's demise, and moved to the democratic island of Taiwan with her family, where she was able to disconnect and heal for a while, slowly recovering from the pain of the paper's demise.



But while she longs to write to her former colleagues and friends back in Hong Kong, she hasn't contacted them for fear that doing so would render them vulnerable to further charges from the authorities.



"I have always wanted to write to them, and I want to tell them that a lot of people are still flying the flag, and I would like to thank them for giving me the opportunity to work at Apple Daily," Leung said.



"But I fear that they could have fresh charges imposed on them like collusion, if they receive [letters] with Taiwan stamps on them," she said.



A draconian national security law imposed by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Hong Kong from , 2020 has sparked a crackdown on pro-democracy media organizations.



After Lai's Next Digital media empire was forced to close, the crackdown has also led to the closure of Stand News and Citizen News, as well as the "rectification" of iCable news and government broadcaster RTHK to bring them closer to Beijing's official line.



Hong Kong recently plummeted from 80th to 148th in the 2022 Reporters Without Border (RSF) press freedom index, with the closures of Apple Daily and Stand News cited as one of the main factors.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
MPs on the parliamentary committee on Trade, Tourism and Industry have praised Bukona Agro Processors Limited, a local investor in Nwoya district, for processing cassava into fuel.

MPs expressed their gratitude towards the company which is producing ethanol from cassava that will mainly be used in cooking, reducing the pressure on forests through charcoal burning and firewood collection.

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"I am very happy with this kind of investment as an environmentalist because the future they are saving is invaluable. You look at environmental degradation going on by use of charcoal and we now have an alternative energy; this is something we should support strongly," said Richard Gafabusa, MP Bwamba county.

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Legislators were also pleased to discover that the investor is making bio-stoves and pressure cookers that use ethanol cooking which they said complements government efforts on wealth creation.

The committee visited the company during its oversight visit to projects where the government has made investments under the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC).

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Government has invested Shs 11.9 billion in Bukona Agro Processors Company representing a 40.5% shareholding.

MPs were however, concerned that despite the demonstrable potential of the project, the factory runs on diesel when Nwoya district has a power substation with capacity to run such a factory.

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Nwoya East MP, Charles Okello, appealed to UDC to expeditiously push the government to extend electricity to the factory.

The committee was equally disturbed on learning that the factory contracted Nwoya farmers to plant cassava but did not buy it.

The farmers allegedly abandoned the factory which is currently buying cassava from Kitgum, kilometres away.

"The failure of the factory to buy cassava caused problems even with our local leaders; the next time Bukona will go back to ask the same people to supply them cassava, they will not trust them," said Okello.

The committee asked UDC to urgently approach the Operation Wealth Creation to motivate Nwoya farmers with seeds in order to resume large scale cassava farming and benefit from the factory.

UDC was also tasked to explain their basis for investing in a project that is a starter moreover without a steady source of raw materials amidst high costs of operations.

The Director Investment at UDC, Andrew Mugerwa reiterated the corporation's commitment to ensure the factory is connected to the national power grid.

"We were aware there was no electricity but we made a covenant to make a follow up on electricity and we shall report on this," said Mugerwa.

He said that UDC's basis to invest in Bukona Agro Processing Company was their business plan which he promised to provide to the committee.

The committee recommended a feasibility study on the project to save the government from investing in a venture whose financial viability is not assured.
The decision may indicate the government could soon declare victory over the pandemic.

A quarantine worker in a protective suit squeezes disinfectant on the hands of a resident in front of Pyongyang Station in North Korea.

North Korea has lifted COVID-19 travel restrictions nationwide, a sign the government may soon claim victory over the coronavirus pandemic, RFA has learned.

After two years of denying the virus had penetrated its closed borders, North Korea in May acknowledged COVID had begun to spread among participants of a large-scale military parade the previous month and declared a maximum emergency to fight the disease.

As part of its response, the government restricted movement between provinces and prohibited large gatherings. But now, after a partial lifting of the travel ban in late May, North Korea ended the limitations completely on June 12, a source from the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFAs Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Residents are able to travel to other provinces and even to the capital city, Pyongyang, the source said. The new order from the National Emergency Quarantine Command was given to residents of each neighborhood in Pohang district.

Each neighborhood watch unit held meetings to explain the policy change to residents, the source said.

They have been unable to travel outside the provincial borders with only the partial lifting of restrictions, so they welcome the news, he said. It is especially great news for merchants who rely on long-distance travel between provinces for their businesses.

But even if the restrictions are completely ended, there is still a separate procedure that requires travelers to carry a COVID-19 test certificate issued by the quarantine command. We can get a travel pass only if we have the test certificate, he said.

North Korea requires passes for travel between provinces even under normal circumstances.

Residents with mobile phones can access test certificates through a smartphone app, a resident of the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA. Others must travel to receive a paper copy.

In rural areas such as Pakchon county, you have to visit the town quarantine center, which is miles away, to get a COVID-19 test certificate, the second source said. If a resident who wants to get a test certificate does not have a mobile phone, it is inconvenient.

But she agreed that most residents are happy the restrictions are ending.

Now they hope that the residents will have their livelihoods restored as soon as possible, but also by lifting the blockade of the border with China, she said.

After briefly restarting rail freight shipments from China earlier this year, new outbreaks in China forced Beijing and Pyongyang to suspend trade again. Aside from the short respite, trade has been suspended since the beginning of the pandemic in January 2020, with disastrous effects on the North Korean economy.

The first source said that not all residents were overjoyed at the lifted restrictions, believing that the government had an underlying and unsaid motive.

There are speculations that restrictions were lifted in order to mobilize the residents, the first source said, referring to the government practice of forcing residents to provide free labor for construction, farming and other state projects.

The COVID-19 lockdown restricted mobilizations on national construction projects and on rice planting duties, he said.

Nevertheless, the government has been saying that it is the leadership of Kim Jong Un that has eradicated the coronavirus, the second source said.

Sources told RFA that North Korean traders and their Chinese counterparts are preparing to resume trade quickly once the Sino-Korean border reopens. They anticipate that cross-border trade will resume once coronavirus case numbers subside.

German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported Monday, citing North Korea experts and South Korean government sources, that North Korean authorities were preparing to declare victory over COVID-19 and give the credit to Kim Jong Un.

The North Korean government has only reported a handful of confirmed COVID-19 cases, but it has been tracking fever symptoms since the beginning of the maximum emergency. According to data published by the state-run Korea Central News Agency, more than 4.67 million people have come down with fever, at least 99.4 percent of whom have made full recoveries.

Translated by Claire Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
The AAPP figure compares to higher figures released by a think tank.

Soldiers stand guard along a sidewalk during Myanmar's New Year water festival in Yangon, April 16, 2022.

The toll of civilians who died at the hands of Myanmars military junta since it overthrew the countrys elected government 16 months ago reached 2,000 this week and is rising, according to a Thailand-based Burmese NGO that has closely tracked deaths

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said the milestone of 2,000 deaths since the Feb. 1, 2021 coup was reached June 20 and that recent deaths in anti-junta hotbeds Sagaing and Magway regions had pushed the figure to 2007.

This is the number verified by AAPP. The actual number of fatalities is likely much higher," the AAPP said in a statement.

The 2,000 deaths were memorialized by the U.S. and EU diplomatic missions in Yangon, with Brussels office posting a black cover on its social media page to express its condolences and Washington calling for accountability.

The inhumane atrocities committed by the military against the people of Burma across the country are a result of the lack of accountability among responsible persons on the part of the military. It highlights the urgent need for accountability, the U.S. Embassy said.

The AAPP report came five weeks after Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP Myanmar), a local think tank, said in a report that it had documented at least 5,646 civilian deaths between the Feb. 1, 2021, coup and May 10.

The ISP figure included people killed by security forces during anti-junta protests, in clashes between the military and pro-democracy paramilitaries or ethnic armies, while held in detention, and in revenge attacks, including against informers for the regime.

At least 1,831 civilians were killed in shooting deaths, the largest number of which occurred in war-torn Sagaing region, where junta troops have faced some of the toughest resistance to military rule in clashes with Peoples Defense Force (PDF) paramilitaries that have displaced tens of thousands of residents since the coup, the ISP report said.

Former political prisoner Tun Kyi said the AAPP's list does not capture the full death toll.

People are seen as criminals and arrested illegally. People are tortured and killed. Whole villages are set on fire, he told RFA Burmese.

The current AAPP list shows 2,000 deaths. In fact, there are more than that.

The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said the milestone of 2,000 deaths since the Feb. 1, 2021 coup was reached June 20. Arbitrary detentions and torture

The military has disputed or rejected the figures released by NGOS.

Junta-controlled newspapers said last month that 2,796 non-combatants had been killed between the coup and May 15.

The military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party said 3,107 people have been killed after being accused of being military informants, 690 people died in armed clashes and 18 were slain by the pro-junta militia Thway Thauk, or Blood Comrades.

Coup opponents in Yangon told RFA they were still committed to resisting the military regime.

The military made arbitrary arrests and detentions and tortured and killed peaceful protesters, said a member of a Yangon-based protest committee who used the name Jewel for security reasons.

As a result, this revolution has been going on for more than a year, with the conviction that the military dictatorship must be uprooted, she said.

No matter how much the people have lost, we see that this is the last game and I will continue to fight with this in mind, added Jewel.

Kyar Gyi, a spokesman for the Htee Chaing Township PDF, said the army would continue to arrest and kill anyone who opposed the junta.

"It is routine for them to arrest or kill anyone who opposes them. They are still doing it. Homes are being set on fire and people killed, he told RFA.

We will continue the fight as long as it takes for the military dictatorship to fall."

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written by Paul Eckert.
Myanmar junta soldiers killed two local militia members and torched over 20 villages near the Chinese-owned Letpadaung copper mine in northwestern Myanmars Sagaing region on Tuesday, forcing more than 10,000 civilians to flee, residents said.

About 100 soldiers guarding the Chinese company Wanbaos mining site fired heavy artillery shells and raided Moe Gyo Pyin village in Salingyi township and set ablaze between 300 and 400 houses, locals said.

Sagaing has seen some of the fiercest armed resistance to junta rule since the military seized power from the countrys elected government in a February 2021 coup. As fighting between the military and the PDFs has intensified there in recent months, junta forces have conducted an arson campaign targeting rural villages, killing civilians and burning hundreds of homes, leaving thousands displaced.

The junta stepped up raids of villages near the mine site after 16 local People Defense Force (PDF) militias opposed to the military regime issued a statement on April 21 calling for a halt to the controversial Letpadaung copper project, locals said.

A Moe Gyo Pyin resident who lost his home said he had watched from a distance as the soldiers set fire to the village.

I could see my village being burned from a distance, he said. We were all men, not cowards, but we couldnt do anything except just watch with clenched fists and grit our teeth, looking at each other with tears in our eyes. There was nothing we could do about it.

The exact number of houses that were burned down is unknown, but about two-thirds of the raided villages are gone, said another resident, adding that the troops left a monastery near the village untouched.

We heard theyd be coming yesterday morning and left two guys as sentries, said the resident who did not want to be named for security reasons. They shelled the village from afar before the raid. Some houses in the village were burned down in the morning and later, the whole village was set on fire in the afternoon. The two men we left behind as sentries were arrested and killed.

Soldiers cut off the arms of one of the guards  members of a local PDF  and stabbed the other in the abdomen, he said.

After the soldiers left Moe Gyo Pyin during the night, residents returned to the village and found the bodies of the two dead PDF members and cremated them on Wednesday, the villager said.

Another village raid

Military troops detained about 60 people inside the monastery the same day after they entered the old village of Se-de, about two miles from Moe Gyoe Pyin, a resident there said. Others in the village fled.

We ran from the village straightaway and did not even dare to look back, the resident said. Some people carried some of their belongings as much as they could, but others did not. We were so afraid of them. Those who could not run got arrested.

RFA could not reach junta spokesman, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, for comment. He said on May 29 that governments have a responsibility to protect foreign investments in Myanmar.

In retaliation for the militarys use of force against the villages, local PDFs said they fired 100 mortars at a power distribution site and the acid tanks inside the mine project site on Tuesday, though the extent of the damage is unknown.

Zwe Htet, a member of Salingyi Revolutionary Army, a local militia group, pledged to attack the Chinese copper mine project daily if the regimes forces continued burning down area villages.

Long-range shooting is our main strategy now, he said. We used 60 mm, 80 mm and 120 mm shells. The main attack was on the acid tank and the power plant. I saw some fires inside.

The main purpose of the revolution is to overthrow the military regime, he said. They are now setting fire to villages in Letpadaung. Soon, the military situation will be tense.

Those who lost homes are moving to places near the monastery and other nearby villages, though Letpadaung area residents said their phone lines and internet service were still down.

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane for RFA Burmese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
American companies could bifurcate supply chains or route goods though other nations, they say.

Activists set up a mock Uyghur forced labor camp and call on US tech giant Apple Inc. to stop using Uyghur forced labor to manufacture its products, outside the Apple flagship store in Washington, DC, March 4, 2022.

A U.S. law that bans the importation of products from Xinjiang in China in response to allegations that Uyghurs in the region are being used as forced labor took effect this week, but the tough new prohibitions could prove difficult to enforce, experts said Wednesday.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) created what is referred to as a rebuttable presumption that assumes goods made in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are produced with forced labor and thus banned under the U.S. 1930 Tariff Act.

The law requires U.S. companies that import goods from the region to prove that they have not been manufactured at any stage with Uyghur forced labor.

In previous U.S. investigations of imports from China, cotton used in major clothing brands, tomatoes and polysilicon for solar panels have been linked to forced labor in the XUAR.

The U.S. and several Western parliaments have said that Chinas action in Xinjiang constitute a genocide and crimes against humanity. China denies that it has persecuted Uyghurs or other ethnic minority groups in the region.

The new forced labor law passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress and was signed into law by President Biden on Dec. 23, 2021.

But Douglas Barry, vice president of communications and publications for the U.S.-China Business Council, said the law is unclear about how companies can definitively prove that no forced labor was involved in the goods they import from China.

Several Chinese companies are already on the U.S. governments Entity List, which forbids American firms from doing business with them unless they obtain special licenses, Barry said. Beyond that, the UFLPA places the onus on the U.S. firms to provide evidence that no forced labor was involved in the production of imported goods.

Thats a challenge because of the lack of independent third party auditors on the ground in China, he said.

At the end of the day our member companies are fanatical about working in their supply chains to make sure there is no forced labor involved, he said. We hope that when enforcement issues arise in the coming days, the government agencies will work with the business community to resolve the issue as quickly as possible adjusting enforcement of tactics as the facts on the ground require.

Challenging but doable

Jessica Rifkin, an attorney who leads the customs, trade and litigation team at Benjamin L. England & Associates, said that exporters could get around the law by shipping their products to another country before they arrive in the U.S.

[Y]ou have a good thats subject to certain legal requirements based on its manufacture in one country, but then is shipped to another country, and then shipped through there to the U.S. in order to potentially evade those requirements, she said.

These types of transactions could still happen under the new law, although Rifkin said that U.S. customs officials have ways to identify those goods.

U.S. companies could also divide their supply chains to get around the new requirement, presenting a major challenge to enforcement, said Peter Irwin, senior program officer for advocacy and communications at the Washington, D.C.-based Uyghur Human Rights Project.

You have one supply chain that is for the U.S. market to comply with the law, and then maybe theyll bifurcate their supply chain and have another supply chain that doesnt necessarily need to follow this law, he told RFA.

Since 2017, Chinese authorities have allegedly ramped up their repression of predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in the XUAR, detaining up to 1.8 million members of these groups in internment camps. The maltreatment also includes severe human rights abuses, torture and forced labor.

Sophie Richardson, China director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, said the laws implementation will be difficult but not impossible.

Some of the most complex challenges may be for companies that have, for example, taken a semi-finished product and sent it to the Uyghur region for finishing, and then sent it someplace else, and then sent it on into the United States, she said.

Tracking the actual trajectory of the full supply chain is going to be challenging, but it is doable, Richardson added. Over time, hopefully what will happen is that companies will be do a better job of keeping records and sharing information about how things were produced and how they reached the U.S.

Holding China to account

Rushan Abbas, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign for Uyghurs, said called U.S. Customs and Border Protection should release data about any violations to the new law it finds.

Data should be released on the Customs and Border Protections website on a regular basis about the goods it holds, re-exports, excludes, and seizes, including information on the company importing the banned goods, their nature, value, and why the action was taken, Abbas said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

At a regular news conference in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called the allegations of forced labor in the XUAR a huge lie made up by anti-China forces to denigrate China.

It is the complete opposite of the reality Xinjiang, where cotton and other industries rely on large-scale mechanized production and the rights of workers of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are duly protected, he said.

The U.S.s Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is built on a lie and designed to impose sanctions on relevant entities and individuals in Xinjiang, said Wang. This move is the furtherance of that lie and an escalation of U.S. suppression on China under the pretext of human rights. Moreover, the act is solid evidence of U.S.s arbitrariness in undermining international economic and trade rules and global industrial and supply chains.



The U.S. government has taken measures to promote accountability in the XUAR, including visa restrictions, financial sanctions, export controls and import restrictions, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Wednesday.

In July 2021, multiple U.S. agencies released an updated business advisory on Xinjiang warning of the legal risks associated with state-sponsored forced labor in supply chains connected to Xinjiang and providing guidance to help U.S. companies avoid trade that facilitates or benefits from human rights abuses.

We are rallying our allies and partners to make global supply chains free from the use of forced labor, to speak out against atrocities in Xinjiang, and to join us in calling on the government of the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] to immediately end atrocities and human rights abuses, including forced labor, Blinken said.

Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
The new religious freedom chair takes up lead role as immigrant and indirect victim of the Uyghur genocide.

USCIRF Vice Chairman Nury Turkel (Second from right) discussing China use of artificial intelligence and other high technology to commit abuses against Uyghurs at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, July 14, 2021.

Uyghur-American lawyer Nury Turkel was unanimously elected chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a bipartisan and independent federal government body. In a long career in advocacy, Turkel, who also serves as chairman of the board for the Uyghur Human Rights Project in Washington, he has played a major role in raising global awareness of the plight of the 12 million Uyghurs in the Chinese-controlled Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Chinas targeting of Uyghurs in XUAR in a crackdown on the minority group and its language, religion, and culture that intensified in 2017, has been declared a genocide by the United States and other western governments. The 50-year-old Turkel, who was born in Kashgar in a detention camp during Chinas Cultural Revolution and in 2020 became the first Uyghur-American appointed to the USCIRF, was welcomed as a tremendous asset to both USCIRF and the mission of protecting religious freedom, in a statement by Campaign for Uyghurs Executive Director Rushan Abbas. He spoke with RFA Uyghur Director Alim Seytoff about his goals as 2022-23 USCIRF chair.

RFA: As a Uyghur American whos elected as the USCIRF Chair, what does this position mean to you?

Turkel: Its simply humbling to be elected by my fellow commissioners to lead the US government agency. But, on the other hand, I feel incredibly proud and privileged to be a citizen of this wonderful country that has given me so much-- freedom and now a leadership role that is both substantive and symbolic. It is one of the great American stories for someone with my backgroundan immigrant and indirect victim of the Uyghur genocide.

RFA: What are USCIRF plans to address Chinas destruction of Uyghur Islam and genocide against Uyghurs?

Turkel: As part of our legislative mandate, we will continue to monitor Chinas atrocities against the Uyghurs and other vulnerable ethnic and religious groups, making sure that our government continues to call China out for the ongoing Uyghur genocide and advocate for a strong policy response to stop the atrocities committed against the Uyghurs and others in communist China.

RFA: Will the USCIRF work with its counterparts in other democracies to address the Uyghur Genocide?

Turkel: USCIRF has advocated for multilateral and bilateral responses to the Uyghur crisis in light of its complex and global nature. As a result, the U.S. has led the efforts to raise awareness and press China to end persecution, shut down the camps, and end the enslavement of the Uyghurs.

RFA: Will the USCIRF reach out to the Muslim countries and ask them to raise Chinas genocide against Uyghur Muslims?

Turkel: We have [worked with] our State Department counterparts to engage with Muslim majority countries to speak out against Chinas atrocities and join the US-led efforts to end the Uyghur genocide.
Le Chi Thanh is now serving two sentences, with a total term of five years.

Former Vietnamese policeman turned self-styled corruption buster Le Chi Thanh has been sentenced to three years in prison for defaming an unnamed deputy minister of public security.

This was the second sentence for the former captain, who was an officer at Ham Tan prison camp.

The Peoples Court of Ham Tan district in Binh Thuan province opened the trial on Wednesday, sentencing Thanh the same day.

The defendant was charged under the crime of "abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals," under Article 331 of the Criminal Code.

Thanh was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison.

According to lawyer Dang Dinh Manh, who defended Thanh, the prosecution relied on videos posted by the accused on Facebook as evidence against him:

The prosecution agency relied on clips allegedly made by Le Chi Thanh himself, and posted on the social network Facebook with content that was distorted and untrue infringing on state agencies such as courts, the police, a deputy minister of public security and an individual who is his former supervisor.

Mr. Thanh's former supervisor is Col. Le Ba Thuy, chief of Ham Tan prison, who was accused of corruption by Thanh.

According to the online news site VnExpress, Thanh claimed that Col. Thuy, the superintendent of Z30D Prison, had land and properties worth tens of billions of dong which he had received from an unknown source. Thanh reportedly asked the Central Party Committee of Public Security and Governments Inspectorate to investigate his claims of corruption and confiscate the assets.

The police said that Col. Thuy and his wife only had a house in Tan Duc commune, Ham Tan district and that his family bought property in An Phu ward, Thu Duc city in 2014 with money accumulated from wages, livestock farming, and grocery trading.

The trial panel also said that a video posted on Facebook by Thanh, in which he claimed a deputy minister of public security abused his power to discipline Thanh, was misleading and untrue.

Thanh was disciplined by the Prison Management Department (Ministry of Public Security) for the allegation and expelled from the police force in July 2020.

After being sacked Thanh became active on social media, making live broadcasts monitoring the activities of the traffic police.

On April 14, 2021, he was arrested under the charge of "resisting on-duty state officials" and later sentenced to two years in prison by the Thu Duc city court in January 2022.

With the new sentence, Le Chi Thanh will serve two sentences at the same time with a total of five years in prison.

Commenting on the outcome of the trial, lawyer Dang Dinh Manh said, although the sentence was lighter than could have been handed down under Article 331, his view was that using articles such as 331 or 117 in the Criminal Code was unjust: because I think it goes against the freedom of speech that Article 25 of the Constitution provides.

In the case of [the accused making] statements that unjustly affect the reputation, honor and dignity of agencies, organizations and individuals, they have the right to initiate civil lawsuits to request compensation for damage and that is enough. This is also consistent with the treatment given in many countries in the region and around the world, he said.

Thanhs mother, Le Thi Phu, said he would not file an appeal. Instead she plans to continue lobbying high-level officials in the police agency to reduce her sons prison term.
BRUSSELS -- The European Union has formally agreed to take the historic step of making Ukraine and Moldova candidates for EU membership in the midst of the war in Ukraine and Moscows bitter denunciations of the two countries intentions.

European Council President Charles Michel announced the decision on June 23 at a summit in Brussels, calling it a historic moment.



"Today marks a crucial step on your path towards the EU," Michel said. "Our future is together."

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians and refugees, and Western aid and reaction. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the decision one of the most important for Ukraine in its 30 years of independence.



"I believe that this decision is not only for Ukraine," Zelenskiy said in a video address to the Council. "This is the biggest step toward strengthening Europe that could be done right now in such difficult conditions, when the Russian war is testing our ability to preserve freedom and unity."



He said Ukraine is capable of becoming a full member of the European Union.



"I believe that the flag of the European Union will be in every Ukrainian city that we have yet to liberate from the occupation of the Russian Federation," he said. "The Ukrainian and European flags will be together even when we rebuild our state together after this war."



Pro-Western Moldovan President Maia Sandu said the country is "starting on the road to the EU, which will bring Moldovans more prosperity, more opportunities, and more order in their country.



She acknowledged that Moldova has a difficult road ahead," but said Moldovans are prepared to "walk, together, to ensure a better future for citizens."



Georgia, which also applied for EU membership earlier this year, was recognized as a "perspective" member, Michel said on Twitter. The EU is "ready to grant candidate status as soon as the set priorities are met," Michel said.



The step sets in motion the complex process of accession to EU membership, something that Ukraine has ardently sought since applying for it less than a week after Moscow invaded on February 24. The war added urgency to Ukraine's cause, prompting the unusually rapid decision to grant candidate status.

"There can be no better sign of hope for the citizens of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia in these troubled times," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters.



"I am deeply convinced that our decision that we have taken today strengthens us all. It strengthens Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia in the face of Russian aggression," she said, adding that it "shows once again to the world that the European Union is united and strong in the face of external threats."

EU candidacy for Ukraine and Moldova had been at the top of the agenda at the summit.



"The European Council recognizes the European perspective of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, and Georgia. The future of these countries and their citizens lies within the European Union," the latest draft of the final declaration of the summit, a copy of which RFE/RL has seen, says.



"The progress of each country towards the European Union will depend on its own merit in meeting the Copenhagen criteria, taking into consideration the EUs capacity to absorb new members," it adds.



The unprecedented move by the European body comes as Kyiv fights a devastating war against Russia, which launched an unprovoked invasion of its neighbor in February that has killed tens of thousands of people and caused huge material destruction.

Michel had urged the bloc's leaders to take the "historic" decision to grant candidate status to war-torn Ukraine and its neighbor Moldova.



"This is a decisive moment for the European Union, this is also a geopolitical choice that we will make today. And I'm confident that today, we will grant the candidate status to Ukraine and to Moldova," he told journalists in Brussels ahead of the summit.



EU leaders will also aim to maintain pressure on Russia at the summit by committing to further work on sanctions, including a possible move to make gold among the assets that may be targeted by any future measures.



The final draft also reiterates the bloc's call for investigations into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine and says the bloc remains "strongly committed" to providing further military support for Ukraine and to "swiftly work" on increasing such support.

"International humanitarian law, including on the treatment of prisoners of war, must be respected. Ukrainians, notably children, who have been forcibly removed to Russia must be immediately allowed to return safely," the document says.

"Russia, Belarus, and all those responsible for war crimes and the other most serious crimes will be held to account for their actions, in accordance with international law."



Before the main summit began on the afternoon on June 23, EU officials held a summit with leaders from the Western Balkans where they affirmed their commitment to admitting countries from the region, and called "for the acceleration of the accession process."



EU and NATO member Bulgaria has been opposing Albania and North Macedonia's accession to the bloc because of historical, language, and cultural differences.

On June 23, Albanias Prime Minister Edi Rama described the stalled accession process for Albania and North Macedonia as a "disgrace."



"It is a shame that a NATO country, Bulgaria, kidnaps two other NATO countries, Albania and North Macedonia, in the midst of a hot war in Europe's backyard with 26 other countries sitting still in a scary show of impotence," Rama said.



"It's a good thing to give [Ukraine] candidate status, but I hope the Ukrainian people will not make many illusions about it," Rama said.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa
In the late summer of 1998, Russian journalist Anatoly Levin-Utkin was returning to his St. Petersburg apartment after a long day at the startup newspaper he'd helped launch. He made it as far as the elevator before his attackers pounced.

The assailants smashed the journalist's skull with a metal bar and fled the scene with Levin-Utkin's documents, cash, and a briefcase carrying material for his newspaper's next issue.

Levin-Utkin was taken to the hospital after a neighbor found him unconscious next to the elevator. The doctors who tried to save him said his attackers "deliberately beat him to death with excessive brutality and cruelty," his colleagues would later write.

Levin-Utkin died four days later, on August 24, 1998. He had turned 41 a week earlier.

Publicly, police said the deadly attack appeared most likely to be a robbery. But Levin-Utkin's colleagues at Yuridichesky Peterburg segodnya (Legal Petersburg Today) linked it to his profession.

Anatoly Levin-Utkin in February 1998, six months before his death (Courtesy photo)

Levin-Utkin had worked closely with the reporters at the newspaper "and was one of the first to be aware of all the scandals," Editor in Chief Aleksei Domnin told a news conference after his deputy editor's death.

Just eight days before the attack, the newspaper had published its second issue, which included sensitive investigations into the regional customs directorate and Russia's cutthroat banking sector.

Levin-Utkin's colleagues say he was a phenomenal and dogged open-source researcher in an era before massive caches of public data and user-generated images were available to journalists online.

"Tolya had connections in [the National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg]," Domnin recalled, using a diminutive form of Levin-Utkin's first name. "He was a bibliophile who collected an enormous home library."

This report is the fifth and final installment of an investigative project examining the scandals and scams that swirled around Vladimir Putin and his associates during his tenure as a St. Petersburg city official in the 1990s.

According to Domnin, Levin-Utkin himself did not write the more explosive articles in the paper's final issues before his death, though he contributed critical research and reporting. After publication, the paper fielded angry calls from the customs service and "not very bright people" from bank security staff trying to figure out where the information for the investigations came from, Domnin said.

There was another article Levin-Utkin worked on, Domnin added, that was published in his final issue and that also drew outside attention: a dive into the past of the newly appointed head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), an ex-KGB-spy-turned-functionary named Vladimir Putin.

'As Befits A Spy'

On July 25, 1998, Russian President Boris Yeltsin named Putin as the new head of the FSB. For Putin, who had come to work in Yeltsin's administration in 1996 after a six-year tenure at St. Petersburg city hall, it was a homecoming of sorts.

"I started as a junior agent...in the St. Petersburg [KGB] directorate. That was 23 years ago or so. I repeat, these walls are home to me," Putin told a news conference following his appointment.

As the head of St. Petersburg's External Relations Committee under Mayor Anatoly Sobchak, Putin was an influential local official whose involvement in lucrative and murky deals drew scrutiny from local lawmakers, who at one point called for his ouster.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin (right) meets with Vladimir Putin, whom he appointed head of the FSB a month earlier. The meeting was held on August 24, 1998, the day journalist Anatoly Levin-Utkin died. (TASS)

But outside of Russia's tsarist-era capital, Putin was virtually unknown to the broader public. And his appointment to the country's most powerful security post left journalists scrambling to dig up information on a man whose professional life had for years largely been devoted to misdirection and subterfuge.

It was Levin-Utkin's newspaper, in Putin's hometown, that offered readers one of the first profiles in the Russian print media to draw on deep digging into little-known aspects of his time as a city official in St. Petersburg.

Under the headline "Lieutenant Colonel Putin Illegally Heads Up FSB," the article delves into Putin's personal and professional ties with regional and national political figures, including his mentor, Sobchak; Yeltsin's former chief of staff and first deputy prime minister, Anatoly Chubais; and former Prime Minister Viktor Cherdomyrdin, head of the Our Home Is Russia party, whose regional campaign in St. Petersburg was led by Putin in the 1995 parliamentary elections.

"Since his recent appointment, journalists have been trying to dig up more information about the past of the new Lubyanka [FSB headquarters] boss. It turned out that Putin has left neither good nor bad memories about himself: Very little is known about his career aside from the official information. As befits a spy, he doesnt have a single major scandal on his record. Still, a few facts about his work in St. Petersburg have managed to be 'declassified,'" the article states.

The article features no bombshell revelations about Putin. In fact, parts of it appear to have been plagiarized from a shorter piece published by the Moscow daily Kommersant two weeks earlier.

But the profile of Putin published in Levin-Utkin's paper does touch on areas and claims unaddressed in the Kommersant piece, including the inquiry by St. Petersburg lawmaker Marina Salye into Putin's suspicious barter deals as head of the External Relations Committee that led Salye to call for his firing.

The profile, published under the pseudonymous byline "A. Kirilenko," concluded with the questionable claim that Putin's appointment as FSB director violated the agency's internal staffing policy. It cited an alleged internal requirement that the position can only be filled by someone with the rank of general, while Putin had never risen higher than the rank of lieutenant colonel. (Russian law governing the FSB states that the director is appointed by the president and makes no mention of rank requirements.)

Domnin, the editor in chief of Yuridichesky Peterburg segodnya, told RFE/RL that Levin-Utkin did not write the profile but was among those who contributed research to it.

"I sent all of the newspaper's employees to the libraries" to search for information, Domnin recalled in a telephone interview.

He also claimed that, after it was published, an associate of Putin's approached him and inquired about how the paper was financing its operations.

Aleksei Domnin in 1995 (Courtesy photo)

Domnin gave the name of this alleged intermediary, a St. Petersburg political strategist who had worked with the St. Petersburg operations of Our Home Is Russia, whose regional campaign in 1995 had been spearheaded by Putin. He said the two men met at the McDonald's on St. Petersburgs central Sennaya Square.

"His first words were: 'Why did you publish such a bad photo of Putin? If you'd called me, I would have given you a good one,'" Domnin recalled about the alleged meeting.

Reached by RFE/RL, the political strategist denied knowing Domnin or being familiar with the profile of Putin that Levin-Utkin worked on.

RFE/RL is not identifying the man by name because it could not independently corroborate Domnin's account of the alleged meeting with the political strategist, who does not appear to have any current links to Putin or the Kremlin.

'Encyclopedic Knowledge'

Information about Levin-Utkin is virtually nonexistent online beyond a handful of contemporaneous articles about the attack that led to his death and brief snapshots in lists the media watchdogs maintain on the dozens of Russian journalists who have been killed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

But those who worked with him described Levin-Utkin as a bookish, kind, and cautious man and the archetype of a member of St. Petersburgs intelligentsia.

"He was always searching for a grain of rationality. He was a very soft-spoken and knowledgeable person. It often seemed to me that he had encyclopedic knowledge," Aleksei Lushnikov, who owned a St. Petersburg media holding where Levin-Utkin worked, told RFE/RL.

Before embarking on a career in journalism, Levin-Utkin had worked at a factory producing leather sofas, Lushnikov said.

"I still remember his tales about leather sofas: how they are made, what kinds of leather there are. Tolya knew almost everything about all of this. Tolya was always sitting in bookshops," Lushnikov said.

Domnin said Levin-Utkin began working in the media in 1993. "They killed a professional journalist," he told RFE/RL.

In an obituary published a month after Levin-Utkins death, his colleagues wrote that their fallen colleague "made no enemies in his 41 years of life."

"We are confident that he simply didn't have any," they wrote. "He managed to preserve his childlike spontaneity in his relationship to people and to life in general. We loved him, as one can only love very good, wonderful people."

The obituary of Anatoly Levin-Utkin published in Yuridichesky Peterburg segodnya a month after his death.

'Deliberately Killed'

Nearly a quarter of a century after Levin-Utkin was beaten to death, the crime remains unsolved, like numerous other fatal attacks on journalists in post-Soviet Russia.

"For me it was completely incomprehensible precisely because Tolya was a cautious person," Lushnikov, the media executive who employed Levin-Utkin, told RFE/RL. "How could he become a victim?"

In a newsletter shortly after Levin-Utkin's death, the Glasnost Defense Foundation, a Russian media watchdog, quoted a doctor who treated him following the attack as saying that "the nature of the injuries allow us to state that the journalist was deliberately killed."

The newsletter also quoted a St. Petersburg police precinct chief as saying that "as of now there is no confirmation that the attack on Anatoly Levin-Utkin was connected to his professional activities."

"Police are inclined to believe that this case involved a routine robbery," Sergei Kukshtel, chief of the 59th precinct, was quoted as saying in the newsletter.

Domnin, however, told RFE/RL that investigators appeared more interested in a different possible motive when he was questioned at a local police station.

"They were particularly interested in the professional motive," he said.

Domnin said he was questioned twice in connection with the crime -- once at the paper's office on the day after the attack, and once at a police precinct in St. Petersburgs Primorsky district, though the crime was committed in the city's Vyborgsky district. Domnin said the men who questioned him at the police station did not even keep a record of the interview, and that he believes they were likely FSB officers rather than police.

St. Petersburg police did not respond to an inquiry about the status of the investigation of Levin-Utkin's killing.

Yuridichesky Peterburg segodnya managed to put out four more issues after Levin-Utkin's killing -- six in total -- before it was shut down in the wake of the Russian government's default, which coincided with Levin-Utkin's 41st birthday on August 17, 1998, and came three days before his fatal attack.

Domnin left the media industry in 2007 and now works as a musician and DJ.

Levin-Utkin's editor, Aleksei Domnin, now works as a musician and DJ. (Courtesy photo)

Levin-Utkin was survived by his wife, who declined to speak with RFE/RL when reached by telephone. Despite the contemporaneous statements by police, media watchdogs, and Levin-Utkin's colleagues about his work for Yuridichesky Peterburg segodnya, his widow claimed that he never worked for the newspaper. Follow-up calls for clarification about this claim went unanswered.

Levin-Utkin's widow to this day lives in the same apartment where the couple resided 24 years ago, in the building where he was fatally beaten on his way home from work.

RFE/RL is publishing below an English translation of the profile of Vladimir Putin that Anatoly Levin-Utkin worked on shortly before his fatal beating. RFE/RL has added hyperlinks and images for background on the events and individuals cited in the text.

The profile looking at Vladimir Putin's past published by Yuridichesky Peterburg segodya published in August 1998.
The newest car model unveiled by Russia's biggest auto manufacturer earlier this month is generating buzz, but not necessarily for the right reasons.

The buzz about AvtoVAZ's Lada Granta Classic -- priced to sell at 678,300 rubles ($12,500) -- is about what it doesn't have: No airbags. No antilock brakes. No electronic stability system. No pretensioners to make the seat belts work properly. No GPS. An engine that complies with emissions standards from 26 years ago.

The reason for all this?

Isolation, including technological isolation, and attempting to do everything on your own is a road to nowhere."

Western sanctions, imposed to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, that have disrupted imports and roiled supply chains where crucial foreign parts and goods came from.

Not just the butt of Russian jokes, the new Lada is the latest in a growing number of examples showing the staggering transformation that Russia's economy is grappling with, on a scale not seen in at least a generation.

Smartphones aren't working properly. Food packaging has to be printed without labels. Clothing factories can't find buttons to sew on shirts.

The Kremlin is betting that fiscal and industrial policies will help the economy withstand the shocks and substitute missing imports with homegrown Russian versions.

President Vladimir Putin alluded to this wager last week during what used to be Russia's marquee annual investors' event, though he asserted that his government has already had considerable success in softening the blow.

"The economic blitzkrieg launched against Russia has failed," Putin told an audience at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that was substantially smaller than previous years.

Russian policy makers are hoping that appeals to nationalism have girded the populace for hardship and that consumers will be willing to tighten their belts without losing patience with the war, about to enter its fifth month following the February invasion.

But some pragmatic voices have spoken up publicly, warning that those who are hoping that Russia will replicate some of the success it had after a first set of Western sanctions was imposed as punishment for the 2014 seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula are unrealistic.

We're talking about a return to the Brezhnev era, where modernization stops and it's this stasis-type of situation with lifestyles [and] people have few choices."

"Replacing everything is senseless, economically impractical, and simply impossible," said Sergei Chemezov, a longtime confidant of Putin and now head of the state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec.

"Not a single developed country in the world does this. Isolation, including technological isolation, and attempting to do everything on your own is a road to nowhere," he wrote in a June 15 opinion column.

Chemezov also dinged Russian policy makers, saying that more should have been done to diversify and deepen the country's economy.

"Russia was expecting something like this and to a large extent had time to prepare," he wrote. "Of course, there can be no illusions here. We did not manage to do everything -- there was too little time, because the same path took decades for Western countries."

Longtime Russia analysts said the economy is not on the verge of outright collapse, like what happened after the 1991 Soviet breakup.

"But we're talking about a return to the Brezhnev era, where modernization stops and it's this stasis-type of situation with lifestyles [and] people have few choices," said Chris Weafer, founder of the consultancy group Macro-Advisory, referring to the period under Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in the 1970s when the Soviet economy stagnated.

"The economy's now going into a twilight zone," he said.

Guns And Butter

After Russia occupied Crimea in 2014, Western nations sought to punish Moscow by imposing a raft of sanctions, targeting key companies and also influential individuals in and close to the government.

In response, Putin imposed bans on Western foods like apples, dairy, and more, and the government sought to reengineer the economy wholesale, to make it less dependent on imports. He also continued backing fiscal policies that turned the country's sovereign wealth fund into one of the world's largest.

For things like some food items, it arguably worked. Artisanal cheese makers, for example, not only managed to replace imports of Italian Parmesan, but drew powerful praise from some food critics.

For things like military and defense technology, not much changed. Russia's military industrial complex, heir to Soviet-era planning, continued to produce planes and tanks, many of which are being deployed -- and destroyed -- in the Ukraine war. Russian defense plants lost access to some of Ukraine's military manufacturers, but it wasn't a sea-change loss.

For many other sectors of the economy, not much changed either: Imports continued as before, along with trade and integration with the global economy.

That included computer chips, for which Russia has no domestic manufacturing capacity. And it included the IT and high-tech sectors, which rely heavily on the coding, programmers, and software prowess of the West to stay current.

The Russian government ordered state agencies to stop using foreign software -- Microsoft Office, for example -- in 2015, the year after the seizure of Crimea. Four years later, 90 percent of the software use by state firms was still foreign-sourced.

"They can make basic food items, and they can send rockets to space, but they really haven't created the middle industries -- for making cars, for example. That middle bit of the economy is still missing," Weafer said.

Following the February 24 invasion, Western nations bludgeoned the Russian economy with a set of unprecedented sanctions.

The most extreme predictions for how much the Russian economy will contract this year are around 12-15 percent. More modest estimates say it will be between 7-9 percent. But still, even Russian economists say it will be severe.

"The current recession is of a transformational, structural nature and will be bigger in scale and length in all scenarios" than the last one, Russian central bank researchers said in a report released in April, referring to the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the aftermath, scores of Western companies either paused their operations in Russia or pulled out altogether.

That has exposed major holes in Russian domestic manufacturing capabilities and supply chain disruptions.

The paper industry, for example, was unable to meet demand for bleached paper supplies, and packaging manufacturers said they were unable to obtain inks used in printing packaging. The company that took over the McDonald's franchise in Russia reopened its flagship restaurant in Moscow, but hamburgers and french fry wrappers were blank.

"All of our wood is Russian, but bleaching chemicals were imported. Now, producers are switching to alternative suppliers, developing their own chemicals, but this also takes time. In the food industry, raw materials are domestic, and the usual foreign packaging urgently needs to be replaced," Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the central bank, told lawmakers on April 21.

"And all this takes time," she said.

Putin addressed the question of the domestic packaging industry during a panel discussion at the St. Petersburg forum, downplaying the issue when presented by the moderator with a juice box that was white because of a lack of ink.

"What's most important for us?" he asked. "To be independent, sovereign, and to ensure our future development now, for coming generations? Or to have packaging today?"

Buttons used in clothing were another example where foreign supply chains had been disrupted, Nabiullina pointed out.

Smartphones, too. Tech giant Apple has pulled out of Russia, meaning fans of the iPhone or similarly popular devices will be hard-pressed to download operating system updates or even buy apps through the Apple store.

Users of Samsung smartphones have also reported major problems, according to the newspaper Izvestia. You can't activate a new Samsung phone within Russia because you need a SIM card from a country for which the smartphone was released.

Import Substitution, Parallel Imports

Other industries facing major disruptions include car manufacturing, which employs around 600,000 people nationwide, and is one of the country's biggest private employers.

Avtovaz, which until recently was controlled by France's Renault Group, has instituted sporadic work stoppages and furloughs in some locations.

The stripped-down Lada Granta that was announced earlier this month wasn't a brand-new design: Such a model had been in limited production since 2011. But the removal of standard safety equipment like airbags, as a result of Western sanctions, surprised many observers, and drew mockery online.



"If sanctions remain what they are, the gap between Russia's economy and the rest of the world will only get wider and wider," Weafer said. "The Russian people in the future will be driving a Lada, while people in the West will be sitting in driverless cars."



Volkswagen Group announced in March that it was suspending production at two Russian assembly plants. This week, the company offered buyout packages to employees at a Nizhny Novgorod plant, in an effort to cut labor costs -- the first known effort by any automobile manufacturer within Russia as a result of Western sanctions.

'Besieged Fortress'

Even some defense facilities have stumbled in their production, exposing holes in where military manufacturers source some of their parts.

External conditions have changed for a long time indeed, if not forever. It's obvious to everyone that it won't be as it was before."

Two plants specializing in the manufacture and repair of tanks -- Uralvagonzavod and the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant -- were forced to suspend work due to the lack of foreign components.

Some economists share Putin's optimism that Russian ingenuity, and alternative markets like China and India, which have declined to sign on to Western sanctions, will allow the economy to withstand the body blow.

Lawmakers and policy makers, meanwhile, have scrambled to try to erect a parallel framework and rebuild supply chains before shortages become permanent, or lead to wider shutdowns.

Major online marketplaces -- Yandex, Wildberries, Ozon -- have moved to build new supply chains for so-called parallel imports, essentially replacing retailers and shippers that have opted, or been forced, to withdraw from Russia.

On June 22, Russia's upper house of parliament passed legislation that aims to protect parallel importers from legal liability for violations of copyright or trademark infringement.

Still, some top business leaders, like German Gref, the CEO of banking giant Sberbank, warned that without a fundamental overhaul, Russia's economy will require a decade to return to its 2021 levels.

Even if a cease-fire or truce is reached in Ukraine, Russia would still face a "besieged fortress" phenomenon, economist Yevgeny Gontmakher predicted.

"In this scenario, too, the economy would become more primitive and focus only on supporting military production," he said in a May 31 research note.

"External conditions have changed for a long time indeed, if not forever," Nabiullina said at the St. Petersburg forum, not long after Putin's speech. "It's obvious to everyone that it won't be as it was before."
Two of the recently kidnapped victims in Katsina, a husband and wife, have regained freedom after reportedly paying N11m ransom.

Recall that 10 days ago, bandits have attacked Shola community in Katsina Local Government Area of Katsina State, abducting six persons in the process.

One of the victims, Alhaji Tukur Turaki, said on the fateful night, his wife heard some people manhandling their son and thought they were soldiers, so she opened their apartment which gave the kidnappers access.

"When they came in, they asked my wife where I was and even before she pointed at my position, I responded. They asked for money and I gave them the N700,000 that was with me.

"After collecting the money, one of them said they were not there for my money but they were hired to kill me and I said he should tell me how I should position myself for him to kill me. When he heard that, he held my hand and said we would not kill you but we would go with you so that you can pay ransom to free yourself.

"When we went out, my wife followed us and they asked her to go back but she stood still and one of them said they she should come with us and that was how they abducted two of us," he recounted.

He said they trekked to a place close to Bugaje village in Jibia LGA where the bandits kept their motorcycles and took them to a forest.

"The following day, they asked me to pay N30m ransom and we negotiated down to N10m, but unfortunately it rained that day so my people could not deliver the money until the following day. By then our captors said we must add N1m for the additional one day and I called my people to mobilize the additional money and they delivered complete N11m," he said.

Turaki described the living condition of the place as terrible, saying one of the captives who was still there had a little baby girl for whom they used nylon bag as pampers, adding that the baby was not bathed throughout the days they spent there.

On her part, the wife, Hajiya Sa'adatu Turaki, said the bandits also abducted some persons including a nursing mother at Shola quarters.

"When I realised that that nursing mother was having difficulty in breathing, I collected her baby and backed her and we went to a place where they shared that N700,000 amongst them," she said.
Curtailing Russias energy revenue has been a tough nut to crack for Western governments so far.

After President Vladimir Putin launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Russian energy imports in an attempt to undermine the Kremlins ability to fund the war.

While the volume of Russian oil and gas output has declined on the back of those sanctions, that has been offset by surging energy prices -- driven higher in large part by fear of further supply disruptions from Russia in an already tight market.

Even with Russian oil selling at a steep $30 discount to global market prices of between $100 and $120 due to the sanctions, Putins government is still earning more per barrel today than in the months prior to the invasion.

Now, Western nations are working on a new strategy to target the price Russia receives for its oil to curtail revenue while at the same time hoping to avoid deepening the supply crunch, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on June 20.

The goal is to push down the price of Russian oil and depress Putin's revenues, while allowing more oil supply to reach the global market," she said.

Oil accounts for about one-third of Russias federal budget revenues and a sharp drop in its price -- by market forces or a price cap -- could seriously crimp the governments ability to finance its war in Ukraine.

U.S. President Joe Biden may discuss the issue with his counterparts at a summit of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations in Germany on June 26-28.

However, some analysts have thrown cold water on the prospects of imposing a price cap, saying it would be difficult to implement and monitor.

I think they are grasping at straws right now, said Ed Chow, an energy analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

It may sound good on paper, but in practice [it] won't work, Chow said.

Yellen seemed to suggest that one way the West could impose the cap is to ban insurance for ships delivering Russian oil above a certain price per barrel.

Europe And Asia

The European Union, the largest consumer of Russian energy, earlier this month formally approved a plan to phase out seaborne imports of Russian oil by December and Russian oil products by February 2023, a move that will force Moscow to look for other markets.

China and India have been snapping up most of the Russian oil that the EU has forgone.

The EU and Britain also agreed to bar their companies from insuring tankers carrying Russian oil, which could potentially limit the amount delivered to Asia, thus worsening the global oil supply crunch and driving prices even higher. The International Group of Protection & Indemnity Clubs in London insures about 95 percent of the global oil shipping fleet, according to Rystad Energy, an Oslo-based research firm.

The new policy under consideration by the G7 would apparently create a carve-out to allow those shipments of Russian oil to continue if below a certain price.

But a price cap on Russian oil might not mean a discount for its buyers. Why not? Because the West is looking for ways not just to deprive Moscow of money it can use to fund the war but to put that money to work for Ukraine.

Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser for global energy security at the U.S. State Department, told a Senate hearing earlier this month that the Biden administration and European allies are looking at a variety of options to rebuild Ukraine with Russian energy revenue.

He said the administration wants to make sure that nobodys profiteering from the Western sanctions imposed on Russian energy, a reference to the $30-a-barrel discount India and China are currently receiving.

However, China could help Russia get around the price cap, and presumably any revenue diversion, by accepting inferior Russian insurance, Rystad said in a June 23 note.

'No Return To Profit'

Craig Kennedy, a fellow at Harvard Universitys Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, earlier this year proposed an alternative policy to reduce the Kremlins energy revenue while setting aside money for Ukraines reconstruction.

Kennedy suggested that Western nations bar all Russian oil imports except those purchased through a specialized body, which would receive the market price from the buyer but pass on only the cost of production to the Russian company, or about $20-$25 a barrel, setting aside the remaining cash into a fund for rebuilding Ukraine.

Kennedy contends that the Kremlin is in a weak bargaining position vis-a-vis Brussels because Russia energy infrastructure -- including rails, pipelines, and ports -- is largely geared toward exporting oil to Europe.

Russia exported about 4.5 million barrels a day of oil and oil products -- or nearly half its production -- to Europe prior to the February invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin would be hard-pressed to sell much of that oil to China and India due to those nations commitment to energy diversification, Kennedy said.

Russia would account for more than 40 percent of oil imports to China and India in such a case, he said.

Thus, Russia would face a dilemma: sell to Europe under a price cap regime or cut production, hoping a price spike would break Brussels resolve.

However, cutting production for an extended period of time could cause irreparable damage to oil fields, Kennedy and Chow said.

Most Russian oil wells have meager flow rates and poor economics, Kennedy said. A prolonged, large-scale shut-in would mean laboriously closing tens of thousands of these marginal wells, many of which could never return to profit. It could also compromise complex pressure maintenance programs [that are] critical to field profitability.

However, Rystad said that Putin has already shown his willingness to withhold energy supplies by cutting natural gas exports to several European countries this year.

Would A Tariff Be Better?

Brian O'Toole, a former senior adviser at the U.S. Treasury Department, said that in general a price-cap policy without clear implementation and enforcement could throw markets a curve and lead to further price increases.

Interference in markets can gum things up in a way that people haven't anticipated and it's going to have negative collateral consequences as a result, said OToole, who is now an analyst at the Washington-based Atlantic Council.

Chow suggested that the West instead impose a tariff, with those proceeds set aside for rebuilding Ukraine, saying its an easier concept to implement

For instance, a $50 tariff on Russian oil imports could reduce the price the Kremlin receives to $50-$70 a barrel, compared with the current market price range of $100-$120.

We know how to impose and enforce tariffs because we do that with thousands of goods, he said.
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies called a Russian missile strike on a crowded shopping center in Ukraine on June 27 a war crime and vowed to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable.



The leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States, meeting on the second day of a summit in Germany, issued a statement after 15 people were reportedly killed and 50 wounded in the attack in the central city of Kremenchuk.

"Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime," the leaders said in the statement, adding that they "solemnly condemn the abominable attack" in Kremenchuk.

An earlier Russian missile strike in Lysychansk on June 27 killed eight and wounded 21 others, said Serhiy Hayday, the head of the military administration of Luhansk where Lysychansk is located. Lysychansk is the last big city still held by Ukraine in the eastern Luhansk region.



Ukraine immediately called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. A spokesman for the Albanian mission, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, said it would take place on June 28.



Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who earlier on June 27 addressed the G7 summit, said Russia should be legally recognized as the largest terrorist organization in the world.

"The Russian state has become the largest terrorist organization in the world. And this is a fact. And this must be a legal fact," Zelenskiy said in a video. "And everyone in the world should know that buying or transporting Russian oil, maintaining ties with Russian banks, paying taxes and duties to the Russian state is giving money to terrorists.

The G7 leaders said earlier they would keep sanctions on Russia for as long as necessary and intensify international economic and political pressure on Putin and his supporters in Belarus.



The earlier statement said the G7 countries were "committed to sustaining and intensifying" sanctions and would continue to use them as needed "acting in unison at every stage."



The statement adds that the G7 countries "will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military, and diplomatic support and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes."

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians and refugees, and Western aid and reaction. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the pledges were necessary to maintain pressure on Putin.

"Imagine if we allowed Putin to get away with the violent acquisition of huge chunks of another country, sovereign, independent territory," Johnson told the BBC. "The lessons for that would be absolutely chilling. The point I would make to people is I think that sometimes the price of freedom is worth paying."

The G7 leaders are committed to exploring new ways to isolate Russia from participating in the global market and to crack down on evasion of existing sanctions, the statement said.

The countries pledged to take steps to further reduce their dependency on Russian energy and to expand sanctions to further restrict Russia's access to services and technologies, particularly those supporting its armament industry, the statement said. They also pledged more sanctions on individuals responsible for war crimes.

The statement, issued by Germany, the current holder of the G7's rotating presidency, also said the group was ready to provide more funding to help shore up Ukrainian government finances. The budget support that has been pledged and provided thus far in 2022 amounts to $29.5 billion, the statement said.

The G7 leaders said they recognized the devastating level of destruction of infrastructure in Ukraine caused by the war and stood ready to support an international reconstruction plan.

Separately, the United States said it was finalizing a weapons package for Ukraine that would include long-range air-defense systems -- arms that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy specifically requested when he addressed the leaders by video link earlier in the day.

Zelenskiy urged G7 leaders to do everything in their power to end Russia's invasion of his country by the end of the year as Ukraine's military says it continues to fend off an attempted encirclement in the eastern city of Lysychansk.

Zelenskiy told the leaders that he wanted the war to end before the winter set in and battle conditions would make it tougher for his troops as they mount their fightback, several diplomats were quoted as saying by international media outlets after the speech.

Zelenskiy also asked for air-defense systems, more sanctions on Russia, and security guarantees as he addressed the summit at the Schloss Elmau in Bavaria, diplomats said, adding that the Ukrainian leader stressed the necessity to keep applying "heavy" punitive actions on Russia and "not lower the pressure" following multiple rounds of sanctions that Western allies have imposed on Moscow.

Zelenskiy also asked for help to export grain from Ukraine and for reconstruction aid, they said.

The Ukrainian military command said earlier that it had repelled Russian attacks west of Lysychansk and prevented an encirclement of the strategically important Donbas city.

"Near Verkhnyokamyanka, the defense forces inflicted significant losses on the enemy and forced them to retreat," the Ukrainian General Staff reported. Verkhnyokamyanka is located on an important supply road only a few kilometers west of Lysychansk.

Serhiy Hayday, the head of the military administration of Luhansk, where Lysychansk is located, urged inhabitants of the city to leave immediately as Russian forces level large swaths of the town, where about 100,000 people lived before the invasion.

"The disastrous 'Russian World' is trying to wipe from the world's map our history by destroying the cultural institutions and architectural monuments of the Luhansk region," Hayday wrote on the Telegram messaging app, accusing Russian forces of already destroying more than 60 such institutions and monuments in the city.

The military command separately said on June 27 that a missile strike had hit the Odesa region in southern Ukraine, a day after Russia launched strikes against the capital, Kyiv, and other Ukrainian cities.

The command said the missile, which was fired from a Russian-type Tu-22 strategic bomber, caused six casualties including a child. It was not clear whether the authorities were reporting injuries or deaths.

"The strike in a residential area of a civilian settlement destroyed several residential and farm buildings over around 500 square meters," the command said, adding that firefighters were still battling the flames.

Meanwhile, the United States plans to announce as soon as this week that it has purchased an advanced, medium- to long-range surface-to-air missile defense system for Ukraine, CNN and AP reported on June 27, citing sources familiar with the issue.

Ukrainian officials have asked for the missile defense system known as NASAMS that can hit targets more than 160 kilometers away, the sources said.

Washington last week announced an additional $450 million in military assistance for Ukraine, giving it four more multiple launch rocket systems and artillery ammunition for other systems.

Earlier this month, the Biden administration said it was providing an additional $1 billion military aid package to Ukraine that will include additional howitzers, ammunition, and coastal defense systems.

More and more analysts envision a protracted battle in the eastern part of Ukraine, with high human and equipment losses on both sides.

Britain's Ministry of Defense said in its daily intelligence bulletin on June 27 that, in the following weeks, Russia, which has reportedly suffered a high rate of casualties, is "highly likely" to rely increasingly on reservists.

However, British intelligence suggested that the Russian leadership "likely remains reluctant to order a general mobilization," despite a permanent shortfall in the number of reservists who can be deployed in Ukraine.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, dpa, TASS, and AFP
Seven people, including the wife of a military officer, have been kidnapped at Keke A and Keke B areas of New Millennium City, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The attack, according to residents of the area, started around 11pm on Tuesday and lasted for one hour.

A resident of Keke A, who pleaded anonymity, said at least three persons were kidnapped in the area.

The source said the bandits targeted a big house in the area.

"The bandits came around 11pm. I think their main target was a big house at Keke A. The house belongs to a military officer, but at the time of the attack, the officer was not at home, so the kidnappers broke into the house and picked his wife."

"They also kidnapped another man who is the immediate neighbour of the military officer, in fact, the neighbour was picked alongside his eight-year old daughter, but they dropped the daughter when her mother continued shouting on top of her voice.

"I think it was at the point they started shooting sporadically to scare away people who might think of coming to their aid and while all that was happening, another man who was just returning home in his car ran into the kidnappers. He was the third person that was taken away," the source said.

The source also said that many people who were still outside, including neighborhood shop operators, fled to avoid being kidnapped.

"As of this morning, we saw many shoes on the ground and we became scared that those must be the shoes of the people kidnapped. But, one of the people who escaped the attack told us the shoes belong to those who ran away," the source added.

However, a resident of Keke B confirmed to our correspondent that a man., his wife and two of their house maids were also kidnapped.

He said, "I was just returning home and I was taking a bath when I started hearing gunshots. I later learnt that a man, his wife and two of their house girls were kidnapped in Keke B.

"I was so terrified. I just got out of the bathroom abruptly and switched-off all the lights inside my house. The gunshots were so close; it was like the bandits were inside my compound."

When contacted, the Kaduna State Police Command's Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Muhammad Jalige, said he would get back to our correspondent but he had not done so at the time of filing this report.
The rising wave of unemployment in the country has caught the attention of the federal government as it has announced the opening of employment and job creation portals for unemployed Nigerians living in the country as well as in the Diaspora.

Labour and Employment Minister, Senator Chris Ngige, who made this known yesterday, while speaking with newsmen after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at Abuja, said Council approved a portal called Nigerian Labour Exchange (NILEX) that would be domiciled in his ministry for employment and job creation.

"The FEC approval has to do with employment and job creation. It is a portal called Nigerian Labour Exchange (NILEX), housed in my ministry," he explained.

He said the platform had not been developed over time and could not take stress of the number of people wanting to go into it, adding that the digital platform was supposed to be used by employers on one hand and job seekers on the other.

His words, "The employers will come in and load the vacancy they have, the type of skill they want, the qualifications of people that can fit in there.

"Then the job seekers those who are looking for job, graduates, non-graduates will register, put in the qualification, put in their skill and what you can do and then the two groups are matched. The employer can speak with a job seeker, via that platform.

"So over the years we have not been able to expand it. But on a bilateral, multilateral agreement now the funds are provided. So we are redesigning it, remodeling it, and then upgrading the infrastructure.

"Council approved that consultant also do that with a completion period of 12 weeks and with that we have passed the first stage of digitalising that particular platform.

"One of the good things about our platform now when it becomes operational, all those phones platforms that ask people to register for work, pay in N10,000 or N20,000, will become a thing of the past because this will be a government platform. And when you go there, you know is a genuine platform.

"Apart from that, people in diaspora can also upload their expertise and tell Nigerians, what they have that qualifies them for special jobs and if they are employers in Nigeria that need them, again there will be a handshake through that same portal."

Ngige further said another memo was presented before the Council for approval on behalf of one of the parastatals under the Labour Ministry, the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).

Ngige also stated that Council approved the digitisation of the operations of the NSITF which was estimated to cost N1.2 billion.

According to the minister: "As you're aware, a lot has happened in the NSITF in terms of revenue losses and pillage of funds that have been given to that organisation.

"The NSITF implements the Employee Compensation Act ECA 2010 and by that Act, Employers in both public and private sectors are supposed to pay one percent of the emoluments of their staff into a social fund in NSITF.

"And this one is to be used as a premium or insurance fund to cater for workers or staff members who have accidents, injuries, disabilities and even deaths that occur in the cause of their work. So it's like an accident or injury insurance.

"The Pension Act makes reference to it that it must be done for workers in addition to the group life. So, the monies that have gone in there have not been properly utilised, the payments have not been tracked.

"So today we brought to council a memo for an e-NSITF by which their operations will now be digitalized. Both the payments that are put in from any of their stations, they have 56 branches and 11 regional offices. So in the comfort of your office, you can pay and register in that platform and that money is now tracked into Central pool.

"For from the central pool if claims are made and payments are also made to the insurance on those who are beneficiaries, you also track them.

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"So this is one of the things the government has done in the spirit of digitalisation of the economy and ease of doing business for everybody.

"So this will make for efficiency and help the organisation to grow it leaps and bounds. already the organisation is revitalized following the present restructuring agreement for them.

"Today. NSITF can pay all their salaries, they can boast of even doing capital projects. And this digitisation of funds operation is part of the capital project that they are doing and like I said earlier, the accountability that is there will make for non-leakages of funds.

"We also know that previously, they have been complaints of claims not being paid but with e-NSITF will track claims and allow people to know who and who benefits from those claims. So this is one of the memos presented today.

"A consultant is going to handle it and council approved that the digitalisation should be completed in eight weeks."
President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, reacted to recent incidents of attacks on churches in Ondo and Kaduna States and vowed never to let anyone put the secular nation under unnecessary religious stress.

The president, who described as unacceptable, such moves by some disgruntled elements in the society, however, laid the blame on the doorsteps of evil doers, saying wicked people were behind the dastardly acts.

He, therefore, called on all Nigerians - Christian and Muslim - to unite in prayer against the coward perpetrators of the evil acts.

In a release issued by his spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, Buhari emphasised that from the tragedy in Owo two weeks ago that shook the nation to its core, to the killings and kidnappings, last weekend, in Kaduna State, it was clear that there was a design by wicked people to put the country under religious stress.

According to him, "Our religious freedom, our diversity, is what makes Nigeria great. It is this diversity that gives Nigeria its strength. That is why Nigeria's enemies seek to destroy it, by putting us against one another. We will not let them. The nation will not be distracted or divided by these obviously planned and politically motivated criminal outrages.

"The perpetrators are cowards; weak and wicked men with guns murdering, in cold blood, unarmed women and children at their places of worship."

Having noted the starkness of the contrast between the actions of those hateful cowards and those of true Nigerians in the aftermath of the Owo killing, the president observed that,"seeing the crowd of Nigerians voluntarily rushing to donate blood after the attack, thronging the local hospitals, even in the midst of mourning, I was proud of my country. I was filled with hope.

"As for the cowards, they will be punished for their crimes. We will bring them to justice. Rest assured that the full might of Nigeria's formidable security and intelligence forces are involved in that endeavour.

"For now, I urge all Nigerians to come together in prayer - whether Christian, Muslim or any of our great faiths - let us hold the victims and their families in our hearts and minds.

"Let us show the cowards, who seek to divide us along religious lines that we will not be divided. Let us show them that Nigerians will continue to cherish what we share while respecting each other's differences. Let us show them that Nigerians will never be bullied by cowards, extremists or terrorists," he concluded.
Funding for the first phase of a three-part, $15 million project to transform Grand Avenue in Escondidos historic downtown area into a more pedestrian friendly destination has been secured.

The first phase of The Grand Avenue Streetscape Improvement Project calls for the elimination of one lane of traffic along Grand in each direction between Juniper Street and Escondido Boulevard. Diagonal parking would then be added on one side of the street and possibly both sides between Broadway and Kalmia, creating roughly 100 more parking spaces than exist now.

Between Maple and Kalmia, the medians would be removed and the sidewalk widened on one side of the street between Maple and Broadway. Lighting enhancements and improved pedestrian crossing would also be added.

The first phase has a price tag of roughly $2.6 million, of which a bit more than half is being paid via a grant awarded to the city from the San Diego Association of Governments, the regions planning agency.

The remaining funds will be provided by the city using Transnet money that had been set aside in reserve last year to ensure adequate funding would be available for street maintenance should the gas tax have been repealed during last Novembers election. It was not, thereby freeing up the reserve funds for other uses.

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It is expected that it will take about a year to design the Phase 1 improvements with construction beginning thereafter, the Escondido City Council was told last week.

It was almost exactly one year ago that the council endorsed what is known as the Grand Avenue Vision Plan, which was developed following various community meetings involving downtown business owners, residents and others.

The initial concept for changing Grand Avenue originated roughly five years ago when the Escondido Downtown Business Association (DBA) got involved when the city was contemplating charging for parking in city lots in the area. That wasnt a popular idea, DBA President Alex MacLachlan said Thursday.

We then started looking for alternative responses to that proposal, he said. It grew very slowly from there.

MacLachlan said the DBA is very supportive of the vision plan and happy its got to this point. He added that additional parking along Grand is more important now than ever as the city is considering selling a large parking lot between Grand and W. Valley Parkway to make way for a condominium project.

The overall vision plan includes the eventual construction of three roundabouts along Grand, the largest at the intersection of Broadway and two smaller roundabouts at Kalmia and Maple.

The citys director of engineering services, Julie Procopio, told the council her department will continue to search for grants to fund the remaining phases.

There are other grants that this projects may be well-suited for, she said.

The project has in a sense already begun with the removal late last year of dozens of Eucalyptus trees from the medians along Grand.

I think everyone can see that with the removal of those problematic trees  you can see Grand Avenue again, said Councilman Mike Morasco. Its beautiful. Its going to be great and Im really excited about the evolution of our Grand Avenue project.

Councilwoman Olga Diaz also praised the way the removal of the trees has opened up the area and enabled people to see the surrounding mountains including Bottle Peak due east of Grand. Its gorgeous, she said.

Diaz also asked city staff to come to the council in the future with some ideas of how to fill vacancies that have existed, in some case for a couple decades, in a few large buildings along the street.

And while not officially part of the project, plans to erect a welcoming arch over Grand Avenue at Centre City Parkway were revealed earlier this year. The arch, which is being paid for with private funds, was gifted to the city with the Grand Avenue enhancement project in mind.

jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones
Lilac Hills Ranch, a proposed housing development in Valley Center that voters overwhelming rejected just 15 months ago, is back.

And a key element of the project remains unchanged: it still calls for 1,746 homes and condos on 608 acres of farmland.

The updated development plans are now being reviewed by county planners, who will be posting new environmental documents Thursday, beginning a 45-day public comment period.

Backers say even though the density remains the same, the plans have been revised and improved and will be presented to the countys Board of Supervisors for approval, possibly before the end of this year but more likely in early 2019, a county official said.

Lilac Hills is now under the control of a new development team, Ranch Capital LLC, and its subsidiary, Village Communities. Ranch Capital was a financial backer of the earlier version of the project headed by Randy Goodson of Accretive Investments. Goodson and Accretive are no longer involved.

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When Ranch decided to pick up this project, it was important for us to really dig into what the concerns the county and the public had, said Sam Hartman, Ranch Capitals vice president. Weve hit every one of those concerns head on.

Hartman said the size of the project remains the same because reducing the number of homes would do a disservice to the public at a time when the need for new housing in the county is at a critical point.

The posting of the updated environmental documents signals a restarting of the review process, which was put on hold in 2016 by the developer for various reasons.

The countys Planning Commission had already granted its approval of the project  with numerous conditions  but instead of proceeding with a decisive hearing before the supervisors, the developers instead gathered signatures to put Measure B on the November 2016 ballot.

It sought to bypass the supervisors (whose approval at the time was in doubt) and the normal planning process by directly asking for voter approval to build on semi-rural land just east of Interstate 15 and south of W. Lilac Road.

Measure B lost by a margin of 64 percent to 36 percent. But the application for the development was never withdrawn and now it will go back to the supervisors for approval.

The ballot initiative was defeated in part by a group of grassroots organizers who waged a very successful social media campaign.

One of the groups leaders, Mark Jackson, who lives near where Lilac Hills Ranch would be built, wasted few words Wednesday.

The developer has misrepresented facts regarding this project to the county and the public for nearly 10 years, Jackson said. I cant reach an opinion about the project without a thorough reading of what is currently proposed.

But he said the entire County of San Diego wants a couple questions answered:

Why the hell is this project even being considered by the Board of Supervisors after 735,000 voters rejected in it in November of 2016? he asked.  Why are zombie projects that benefit no one other than out-of-town speculators allowed to continue?

Jon Rilling, Ranch Capitals project manager for the development, said Lilac Hills Ranch will benefit thousands of people who want to live in the county but cant afford to buy homes here.

There are jobs here in San Diego, he said. Sixty thousand commuters come down Interstate 15 every day from Riverside County because they cant afford to find a house in San Diego County.

He said the project will include condominiums that will sell in the $300,000 range.

Opponents have said Lilac Hills is a prime example of sprawl development that ignores the goals of the countys recently updated General Plan  a blueprint for growth in the county  which encourages growth near urban areas where infrastructure already exists. They decry development in the backcountry, a term that infuriates many in the building industry who say the backcountry is already protected.

Lilac Hills, as well as Newland Sierra, a 2,200-unit housing project proposed for land just to the west of I-15 roughly five miles north of Escondido, are not in the backcountry but rather in the North County Interstate 15 growth corridor, they argue, where the General Plan allows for far denser development with the issuance of a General Plan amendment.

The new development team, directed by Larry Hershfield, CEO of Ranch Capital, Hartman and Rilling, have committed to making more than two dozen improvement to roads and intersections outside of the project, fixing existing safety hazards and blind curves in the area, Rilling said.

Every condition and recommendation made by the Planning Commission has been incorporated into the new project plans, Rilling said, as have all of the concerns expressed by the public.

The plans include 39 new features and call for the construction of a school and fire station. Solar panels will be put on every home and electric vehicle-charging stations will be in every garage, Rilling added.

jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones
The federal government, yesterday, disclosed that many states were in serious financial mess by the time President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office on May 29, 2015. It also said several states were now afloat because of the financial reliefs the Buhari administration had provided for them.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the assertions while addressing newsmen at the end of the weekly virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, chaired by Buhari at the State House, Abuja. Mohammed said although some states, especially those governed by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had in recent times claimed they were not gaining from the Buhari administration, most states were being sustained with bailouts and lifelines from the federal government.

Yesterday, also, the Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, revealed that 6,000 workers without employment letters were detected in the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment during the cleaning up of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

Yemi-Esan further disclosed, via a circular dated June 21, 2022, which was sighted by THISDAY last night, that the process of appointing a substantive Accountant General of the Federation had commenced. She said the president had ratified the process.

Mohammed stated that no fewer than 24 states, across party lines, had demanded and received refunds from the federal government for works done on federal roads and bridges, adding that records show that the refunds total about N477 billion.

He explained, "I think this is a good opportunity to also let you know exactly what the federal government has done between 2015 and today, to ensure that states stay afloat. Honestly, without the federal government bailout, most states would have gone under.

"Like I said, apart from these refunds that were made, I said earlier on that when we came in, 27 states could not pay salaries and the federal government had to bail those 27 states out. Not only did they give them money to pay salaries, they also gave them bailout to pay arrears."

The minister clarified that refunds were different, saying repayments are made for jobs done on behalf of the federal government.

He stressed, "I have here phase one of 24 states that were refunded for what they did on behalf of the federal government, even before we came in.

"These claims were not based on what they did on our behalf, but what they did in previous administrations. Number two, I have said that when we came in, 27 states could not pay salaries, so we bailed them out to be able to pay salaries and pay their arrears.

"Now, in addition, we found out also that the states were in difficulties and they could not start any work, in terms of infrastructure, and the federal government gave each of them N10 billion.

"When the price of oil, again, collapsed and states were in trouble, the federal government gave out a bailout of a billion naira per month to each state for eight months and N800 million per month, per state, for over eight months and the records are there."

Mohammed said when the states complained that they did not benefit from the Paris debt refund, the federal government gave the states their own share of Paris Fund.

"And I know that Jigawa State, in particular, received N40 billion of this Paris Club Refund," he stated.

The information minister added, "Next time I come, I'll give you what every state received in terms of Paris Club.

"Again, when states complained to the federal government for deducting what they owed the federal government, Mr. President also said they should be refunded because times were hard.

"I've said this to let you understand that in spite of things some states are saying about the federal government, many of them would have gone under without this government because there's no constitutional duty on the part of the federal government to do what we're doing.

"Only last week, Lagos State Government came to Federal Executive Council (FEC) with a memo asking for us to convert the Lagos State Lekki Concession Company loan to a sovereign guarantee and what that means, effectively, is that Lagos State Government could no longer bear the burden of paying for the loan they took to construct Lekki.

"So the federal government accepted. By doing so, now they're given a longer term to pay the loan and lower interest. These are some of the things that the federal government has been doing to ensure that there's stability and everybody is happy, irrespective of whether you are APC or PDP."

Elaborating on refunds to states for works done on federal roads and bridges, the minister stated, "I think it's important to say that, well it's true that we're just reporting this particular memo, which is the refund being sought by Yobe State Government; Yobe State Government is asking for the sum of N18, 663,843,109 as reimbursement for five federal roads, which they rehabilitated or constructed.

"A committee as was set up to inspect the claim, they were actually found to be true. They reviewed the N20 billion they asked for and certified N18 billion as refund due to Yobe State for undertaking the construction/rehabilitation of these federal roads on behalf of the federal government.

"But this is not the first time, we have, since 2015, made refunds to about 24 states, if my records are correct, and I want to put on record here that but for the benevolence of this administration, many states would have sunk under.

"You will remember that by the time we came in, about 27 states of the federation were unable to pay salaries, they owed salaries and could not pay, it took this federal government to really bail many of them out so they could pay not only salaries, but also they could pay the arrears.

"When the price of crude crashed, this same government gave each state what is called a bailout and some of the states today that complain that they've never benefited from the federal government, especially the PDP states, are the ones that have taken the lion's share of this reimbursement.

"The records I have here say that Akwa Ibom got to the tune of N61 billion from this federal government for works they did on behalf of the federal government and, especially, before we came in. Rivers had upwards of N100 billion. It does not matter whether you are PDP or APC or you're Labour or you're APGA, this administration looks at you as a Nigerian and when largesse are being distributed, it does not favour you just because you are from APC state or from a friendly state.

"The first tranche of these reimbursements, about N477 billion, was refunded to many states. Edo got N8 billion; Lagos got N106 billion; Niger, N333 million; Ogun, N37 billion; Delta 56 billion; Ebonyi, 10 billion; Enugu, N12 billion; Jigawa, N10 billion; Ekiti, 10 billion, and this was the first tranche.

"Second tranche and the last tranche, I think it's Yobe and two other states that are supposed to be the next batch.

"We have Yobe, which has gotten its N18 billion today for works that they undertook on behalf of the federal government."

FG Discovered 6,000 Fake Workers at Information, Labour Ministries

Head of Service of the Federation, Yemi-Esan, disclosed that 6,000 workers without employment letters were discovered in the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment during the cleaning up of the IPPIS. She made the revelation yesterday in Abuja, while briefing the media as part of the activities marking the 2022 Civil Service Week.

Yemi-Esan said 5,000 of the ghost workers were detected in one MDA at the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.

She also said the Director of Human Resources at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment was handed over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) after 1,000 fake workers were uncovered at the ministry.

According to the head of service, "In one MDA we got over 5,000 fake employment letters at the Ministry of Information alone and we had to suspend all of them. And when we got to Labour, we discovered over a 1,000. At that time, we said we would not just lay off, we let the ICPC hold the Director of Human Resources at that time as all the employments were fake.

"We are trying a lot, unfortunately, it is the people trying to beat the system that go out to bad mouth the Office of the Head of Service."

She stated that following sustained efforts to clean the system, the payroll had currently come down to 74,000 workers from the bloated over 100,000 workers that were earning salaries illegally.

Yemi-Esan said many of the fake workers were detected from the payroll through the human components of the IPPIS, which was started few years ago and designed to verify important credentials, including letters of appointment, academic certificates, the age declaration at entry, and birth certificates.

She added that the Civil Service Commission, which was still in the process of verifying letters of employment from 2010 to date, two months ago sent her 3,000 names of fake workers to suspend from the IPPIS for possessing fake employment letters.

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Her revelation was also corroborated by Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), Dr. Maurice Mbaeri. Mbaeri said five fake workers were laid off at the OSGF on Tuesday after a screening exercise discovered they were neither validly employed through the Civil Service Commission nor could their files be found at the commission after further investigation.

FG Commences Process of Appointment of Substantive Accountant General of the Federation

Yemi-Esan announced in a circular dated June 21, 2022 that the process of appointing a substantive Accountant General of the Federation had been ratified by President Muhammdu Buhari.

The former Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, was suspended following his arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N80 billion fraud.

According to the circular, referenced OHCSF/PS/CMO/193/03, addressed to the Chief of Staff to the President, all serving ministers, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Chairman EFCC, and National Security Adviser, among others, all accountants in the mainstream of the Federal Civil Service in the pool of the Accountant General of the Federation, who have attained the position of substantive Director on Salary Grade Level 17 on or before January 1, 2020 and not retiring from the service earlier than December 31, 2024 were eligible to participate in the exercise.

Yemi-Esan said officers undergoing disciplinary proceedings were precluded from the exercise.

She urged all permanent secretaries to forward the list of eligible directors on SGL 17, confidential and personal files of all eligible directors, five copies of curriculum vitae of each eligible director, and a brief on each eligible director in the attached format to be produced in Microsoft word in both hard and soft copies to facilitate the process.

She requested that all the documents must reach the office of the Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office (CMO), Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, on or before 4 p.m. on July 6, 2022.
Mary Dauda and Hauwa Joseph, the two rescued girls abducted from GGSS Chibok, Borno State, in 2014, have revealed that more than 20 missing others are still in Gazuwa camp in Sambisa forest, eight years after being kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents.

NAN reports that Gazuwa camp, acclaimed headquarters of the Jam'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihd, Boko Haram faction, formerly known as Gabchari, Mantari and Mallum Masari, is located about nine kilometres to Bama Local Government Area of Borno State.

They disclosed this while interacting with newsmen on Tuesday in Maiduguri, at a news conference at the Command and Control Centre Maimalari Cantonment.

Mary Dauda, who recounted her experience in the hands of the insurgents, said she could still vividly recall her compulsory marriage eight years ago after she was abducted at the age of 18 years.

Dauda said she walked through the deadly forest for many days before she found help.

Like the others conscripted by the militants, she had been told that she would be hunted down and killed if she deserted.

She said: "I took excuse from Malam Ahmed that I will be visiting my relative from Chibok in the town of Ngoshe and he gave me one week. That is when I began my journey for freedom.

"I left Sabil Huda, popularly known as the camp of Abubakar Shekau and proceeded towards Njimiya and Parisu, where I met some of the Mujahedeens. They asked where I was going to and I told them I was given permission to visit my sister in Ngoshe.

"I finally arrived Gava village in Gwoza, after walking for many hours through the deadly forest under harsh condition. I asked some people to direct me to the home of the daughter of Chibok.

"After meeting her, I told her of my plans to return home, she told me she had wanted to come with me but her husband has placed her on strict surveillance for attempting to run. I then left her and proceeded toward Ngoshe town.

"On my way, I met an old man who promised to help me to escape. But he told me that it won't be possible in the afternoon until the sun had set. At about 8 p.m., he took me to Ngoshe town and told me to pass the night in the outskirts of the town and proceed the next morning.

"When the day broke, I reported myself to some soldiers where I was rescued with my baby." she said.

I was forcefully married to Boko Haram Commander -- Hauwa

On her part, Hauwa Joseph said she was forcefully married to Amir Abbah, Commander of Boko Haram (Munzul), at Gazuwa camp who was later killed during an encounter with the troops of the Nigerian Army.

She said she voluntarily escaped from the camp of the terrorists during massive incursion of the troops of the Nigerian Army into their camp in Gazuwa on June 12.

Joseph said as people were running the same direction where the sect members are hiding women and children, she took a separate route to escape from the terrorists camp.

She said on her way, she met with some of the insurgents who asked her where she was going, but she tricked them and told them that she was following some women to hide in the nearby forest.

"I slept under the tree with my child, then proceeded the next day until I arrived the road where I approached a military check point. Initially, they thought I was a suicide bomber, but when I explained my self, they took me along with them."

She thanked the military for rescuing her, saying she hoped other girls still in the camps of the terrorists would be rescued.

Maj. Gen. Christopher Musa, The Theartre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai North East Joint Operation, said both girls were among the list of the missing Chibok girls.

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Musa saidthe girls were rescued due to a massive military operation in Sambisa Forest, Mandara Mountain, and the Lake Chad area.

"We are putting more efforts to ensure that the rest of the girls are rescued through the ongiong Operation Lake and Desert Sanity," he said.

Also, Major General Waidi Shuaibu, The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division of the Army, said the girls were rescued between June 12 and 14, around Bama and Gwoza general area.

Shuaibu said the girls had received necessary medical attention and would be handed over to the appropriate authorities shortly.

Boko Haram kidnapped 276 female students, aged between 16 and 18 from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State in April 2014.

Over 100 of the girls were still missing as at April 14, 2021, seven years after the initial kidnapping.

Vanguard News
opinion

The veteran political operator Francois Beya Kasonga had been one of the president's inner circle, until his sudden arrest.

Few people manage to navigate the notoriously competitive and complicated world of high-level politics in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) successfully. Even fewer manage to do so consistently for several decades, making themselves indispensable to multiple presidents amid changing political winds and shifting factional battles.

A rare exception to this has been Francois Beya Kasonga. Likened to a phantom by some, he has not just survived Congolese politics over several cycles but quietly risen through its ranks. Having first served under Mobutu Sese Seko, he has gradually expanded his network and influence, becoming a critical node in the power of current president, Felix Tshisekedi.

At least until recently. On 5 February 2022, Beya was arrested, sending shockwaves across the Congo, its regional neighbours, and beyond. He is now on trial in an opaque military court, raising serious concerns about the state of the DRC now and going forwards.

Who is Francois Beya Kasonga?

Beya is a veteran political figure who has served four successive leaders in the DRC, from Mobutu to Laurent Kabila, Joseph Kabila, and Tshisekedi. His career began at the National Documentation Centre, the predecessor of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR). His most recent post was presidential security advisor to Tshisekedi and chair of the national security council.

Through his career, Beya has developed good relations a wide network of influential organisations and individuals inside the DRC and abroad. He received intelligence training in Israel and reportedly has a close relationship with the US and French spy agencies. He has forged links with intelligence services in the Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Angola, and has met regularly with President Museveni of Uganda, President Kagame of Rwanda, and President Faustin-Archange Touadera of the Central African Republic (CAR).

Within the DRC, Beya counts several senior figures in government and business among his close associates as well as the likes of former president Joseph Kabila, and presidential aspirants Moise Katumbi and Jean-Pierre Bemba. He is said to have played a central part in the handover of power from Kabila to Tshisekedi in January 2019 following highly disputed elections.

Beya has several monikers. He is known to some as "Monsieur Security", Congo's "spymaster", or "fantomas" due to his apparently ability to pass unnoticed like a ghost despite his major responsibilities. In the early days Tshisekedi's presidency, the new leader reportedly referred to Beya as his "Special One".

According to security expert Jean-Jacques Wondo, "Francois Beya Kasonga was essential and omnipotent in Tshisekedi's political and security decision-making, in addition to being omnipresent in all public appearances of the President, inside and outside the country. Almost nothing could be done without going through him."

Why was Beya arrested?

Beya was arrested on 5 February 2022 and held in custody by the ANR. No reason was given publicly, but on 8 February, a presidential spokesperson said the security chief's investigators had "serious indications attesting to actions against national security", that "investigations are being carried out at different levels", and that it is "a matter of exclusive competence of the ANR". "It is not in the habits of this service to communicate about its activities," he added.

Since then, various analysts and reporters have speculated that the First Lady, Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi, was behind the move. At the time of his arrest, Beya was investigating the disputed sale of a mine that allegedly involved presidential advisor Fortunat Biselele and former head of the electoral commission Corneille Nangaa. Biselele is said to be close to the president's wife.

The Free Francois Beya Kasonga Collective similarly argues that Beya is paying the price for his investigation. Meanwhile, numerous African and Western diplomats in Kinshasa are reported to believe the charges against Beya have been fabricated for personal or political reasons.

The first notable Congolese public figure to defend Beya was Marie-Therese Nlandu, a former prisoner of conscience, who wrote two open letters to the president. Her public defence attracted international attention and prompted the UN Commission on Human Rights to call on the Congolese government to protect the rights of the detained. The only sitting Congolese parliamentarian to speak out so far has been Claudel Lubaya, who called the case against Beya "weak, evasive, disjointed and obscure".

What will happen now?

Beya's trial, at the High Military Court, began on 3 June. Despite widespread publicity around his case, only the military press has been authorised to cover the hearings. This is a complete contrast to Vital Kamerhe, Tshisekedi's former chief of staff, whose high-profile corruption trial in 2020 was televised.

The verdict on Beya will be announced on 24 June and could go one of several ways. The court could say it lacks the jurisdiction to try Beya because he is a civilian. It could find him innocent. It could deliver a life sentence. It could provisionally release him given his poor and deteriorating health.

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What does Beya's arrest mean for the DRC?

The significance of Beya's arrest is frightening and raises fears of the revival of a police state. Despite promising to usher in a new era in the DRC, President Tshisekedi has shown worrying signs in his first term.

Contrary to his promise that no journalist would be arrested under him, for instance, his presidency has seen an increased crackdown on the media. Journalist Yves Buya has been arrested. Pero Luwara was forced into exile after exposing corruption within the presidential family. And the Committee to Protect Journalists recently reported that death threats had been directed at reporters Stanis Bujakera, Steve Wembi, and John Lungila.

Under Tshisekedi, the justice system has also been weaponised by the president's decision to order military courts to prosecute civilian criminal cases, undermines the right to fair trial and violating international law.

With presidential elections 18 months away, the sudden and shocking detention of the influential and well-connected Beya is worrying, especially given his record for bringing opposing sides together.

Jean-Michel Nlandu is co-founder of The Collective Free Francois Beya Kasonga.
Luanda  Foreign Affairs minister, Tete Antonio, on Tuesday in Luanda called for a change in the narrative about the Great Lakes region, due to its human potential and wealth of natural resources.

The statements were made during the opening of the seminar on Higher Education and Human Security in the region, which is being held from 21 to 23 June in the country's capital, whose purpose is to develop a roadmap for higher education and human security by building an ecosystem of investment in human capital.

According to the Cabinet minister, for a lasting solution to conflicts it is essential to develop strategies capable of highlighting economic opportunities with the aim of reorienting higher education and knowledge training systems in the region.

He said that the Great Lakes region has less than seven million students enrolled in higher education in areas such as science and technology, engineering and mathematics, a figure considered to be less than 20 percent, stressing that these statistics need to be improved.

The government official considers the situation of girls and women in this field to be worse, with a high number of under-representations.

"We must act quickly and with quality at the level of the region to include and provide greater opportunities for women, especially scientists, and accelerate their enrolment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics," he mentioned.

In this regard, he said more needs to be done for youth at the region level as they will not be stable, secure and developed if they are left behind.

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"We need to create programmes aimed at promoting a culture of innovation, as well as patriotic values," he said.

The Executive Secretary of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), Joao Caholo, considered that higher education offers a strong potential for the security, stability and development of the region.

Joao Caholo said it was necessary to use the seminar to reflect on the challenges and impacts of higher education in society, from the economic, social, political and environmental aspects.

He also advocated the development of goals and objectives focused on the contribution and transformation of the region into a sphere of peace, security and development, in order to improve higher education and increase economic opportunities for youth and women.

The organisation groups Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic (CAR), Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.
Luanda  The National Police (PN) seized 25 boats, for violation of maritime regulations, as well as three boats, for transgression of fishing rules, as part of the "Operation Kianda", held from 5 to 19 June, along the seashore of Luanda.

According to the spokesman for the National Police, Mateus Rodrigues, the seizures of these boats were due to the sailors sailing without documentation and life jackets on board, as well as presenting an expired fishing licence, expired documents and the lack of a ship's name and registration number.

Making a pre-assessment of Operation Kianda, the spokesman said that in the same period the PN officers also seized 15 boat engines.

In the same way, 11 national citizens were arrested, with emphasis on three criminals who were caught in the act, whilst carrying out a robbery on a ship anchored in the Bay of Luanda.

With these arrests and seizures, the National Police ensures the reduction of the feeling of insecurity of citizens, especially sailors and fishermen.
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After nearly two years of intense and bitter debate, test scores and grades will once again determine which San Francisco students are admitted to Lowell High School after the citys school board decided to return to the merit-based admission system Wednesday.

In a 4-3 vote, the school board decided to restore the previous merit process after two years of using a lottery-based system. The vote will now apply to freshman entering in the fall of 2023 as well as future classes, unless the board takes further action in the future to change the admission process.

A decision, which will include an appointed task force, will address a long-term process in the coming months as the district looks at improving high schools while analyzing competitive admission at Lowell and other sites.

The board majority rejected Superintendent Vince Matthews recommendation to keep the lottery process in place for another year, even though he cited significant challenges to bringing back merit-based admission before the enrollment season starts in the fall.

Those supporting merit-based admission said they will strive to confront the real equity problems in the district while also supporting academic excellence.

Board member Lainie Motamedi said she didnt support another year extension of the lottery and that the district should be looking at meeting the needs of all children.

There are no these kids, those kids, these are all of our kids. There are no these schools, and those schools. They are all of our schools, she said. This should not be a zero-sum game where we pit one against the other.

Board President Jenny Lam, Ann Hsu and Lisa Weismann-Ward joined Motamedi in voting to restore merit-based admission. Hsu, Weismann-Ward and Motamedi were all appointed by Mayor London Breed following the recall of three board members earlier this year.

Board Vice President Kevine Boggess voted to extend the lottery, saying he wanted to depoliticize the issue, while the community had a conversation to address why the district has a school that is considered superior to others.

Board members Matt Sanchez and Matt Alexander also voted to extend the lottery.

The decision could prompt yet another lawsuit, with opponents citing a state law that prohibits academic criteria in admission to comprehensive high schools.

Hundreds of residents spoke out in recent weeks about the admission process at Lowell, anger and emotions often overflowing in rallies, petitions and during board meetings.

Opponents of the merit system cited a predominance of Asian Americans at the school as well as racism and harassment of Black and brown students at Lowell, noting that, under the lottery, the school has seen an increase in diversity.

The lottery system means Lowell is diverse, said Virginia Marshall, president of the San Francisco Alliance of Black Educators and a representative of the NAACP. It is not just for one ethnic group. Its for all students who choose to make Lowell their home.

Supporters of the merit system argued the citys students need options, including an academically rigorous environment that offers a private school education at a free public school, and that admission should be based on hard work and academic achievement.

The school board should focus on preparing all students from underrepresented communities for merit-based admission to Lowell, said Rex Ridgeway.

Lets fix the elementary and middle schools in the Bayview (neighborhood) so theyll be prepared, he said.

The boards decision was the latest inflection point in the nearly two-year saga featuring feuding public officials, a lawsuit and accusations of racism over which students are eligible to attend Lowell, long considered one of the highest-performing public high schools in the country.

The board first approved a switch to a lottery system in October 2020, citing a lack of academic data given the switch to distance learning earlier that year.

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 board majority then made that decision permanent four months later, citing a lack of diversity and racism at the elite academic schools. But the hurried vote sparked a lawsuit and then a judges ruling that the district violated laws related to the Brown Act, which regulate public meetings.

The board then had to backpedal, reversing the decision before extending the lottery process for another year.

Also Wednesday, the board nullified a previous decision to cover up a controversial mural at Washington High School, a decision that followed nearly three years of legal battles, debate and controversy.

In a 4-3 vote, the board followed a judges order to vacate its previous decision to cover the fresco, which features the life of George Washington and includes images of slavery and white settlers stepping over a dead Native American.

The board majority initially voted to paint over the mural in 2019 before reversing course and deciding to cover it up with curtains or panels. That decision was challenged in court and the district lost.

A judge determined the district violated laws requiring an environmental impact report prior to voting on a course of action, requiring the district to void the decisions.

Lam, Motamedi, Weissman-Ward and Hsu voted to undo the previous vote to cover the mural. Sanchez, Alexander and Boggess voted against the measure.

The controversy, which grabbed international headlines, pitted the issue of racial equity against artistic freedom and historic preservation at a time of reflection over race and reparations for historic atrocities and public displays associated with Americas ugly past.

The boards vote Wednesday complies with the judges orders as well as a settlement with the George Washington High School Alumni Association, which filed the mural lawsuit.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitters: @jilltucker
Stanford University, the intellectual core of Silicon Valley, is struggling with something basic: electricity.

On Tuesday afternoon, the power went off after a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. transmission line was damaged in connection with a fire roughly 10 miles north of campus. Stanford said Thursday night that it was cautiously optimistic that power could be restored over the weekend.

Why is it taking so long?

In normal times, Stanford powers its campus with 100% renewable energy  a milestone it achieved this year. Most of it is solar power.

But only a small portion of the solar  less than 10%, according to Stanford civil and environmental engineering Professor Mark Jacobson  is on campus, on building roofs. The rest comes from two massive solar plants in Kern and Kings counties.

Because the power is not produced right on campus, Stanford relies on the state power grid to transport the electricity. In other words, Jacobson said, there is no direct power from the solar plants to the campus.

So if there is a grid outage, the universitys going to be affected as well, he said.

Stanford has been able to turn on some power. Its using a few hundred diesel generators for key services, Jacobson said.

PG&E has also been able to send some power to campus, though not enough for the university to fully reopen. Two transmission lines feed the campus, and PG&E said it had de-energized one due to the fire.

Cal Fire is not currently permitting PG&E to access equipment near the fire where repairs are needed, the utility said on Thursday, but as soon as those restrictions are lifted workers will go in.

We understand how disruptive it is to be without power and are using every tool at our disposal to restore power as quickly as possible, PG&E said.

On Thursday night, Stanford said in its update that PG&E was working to repair damaged equipment.

Besides the Stanford campus, only a small number of homes or businesses remained without power as of 3 p.m. Thursday  nine in Woodside, three in Redwood City and one in Belmont.

Fixing a transmission line is delicate work, noted Michael Wara, an energy expert with Stanfords Woods Institute for the Environment. The standards are very precise for how things have to be done, so it takes time.

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Wara said he would have been even more concerned had damage to the PG&E substation on the edge of the fire occurred, since substation parts can be hard to replace.

In a filing to the California Public Utilities Commission, PG&E said that Cal Fire had collected equipment from one of its distribution circuits near the Edgewood Incident fire.

PG&Es most important responsibility is the safety of our customers and the hometowns we serve, the utility said in a statement, adding that it was grateful to first responders.

Wara said that the era of wildfires shows the importance of new thinking about the grid  especially how to get power to somewhere via multiple routes, and also self-sufficiency, though that can be expensive.

Jacobson said that the prolonged outage shows the need for more batteries to store power  and microgrids that can stay powered using the batteries when the main grid is not functioning. Some plans are in the works at Stanford, but he said he believes things should proceed more quickly.

The university should be a shining example of how to go to entirely clean, renewable energy, Jacobson said. We really need to do that today. These climate emergencies are happening faster and faster.

Kate Galbraith is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kgalbraith@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kategalbraith
With the Supreme Courts repeal Friday of the right to abortion it declared in 1973, California voters are likely to consider, and approve, a measure in November that would proclaim a right to abortion in the state Constitution. But some constitutional researchers at UC Berkeley say the proposal, as currently worded, may not protect abortion rights for long.

SCA10, introduced by Democratic leaders soon after the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overrule Roe v. Wade, breezed through the state Senate on a party-line 29-7 vote last Monday. It needs another two-thirds vote in the Democratic-controlled Assembly by Thursday to make the November ballot, with polls showing a strong majority of state voters supporting a right to abortion.

The measure declares that the state shall not deny or interfere with an individuals reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives. It adds that these rights enhance the right to privacy that California voters added to their Constitution in 1972.

It is a more clear-cut declaration of abortion rights than the privacy and contraception protections the U.S. Supreme Court relied on in Roe v. Wade, or the privacy and nondiscrimination guarantees cited by the California Supreme Court in a 1981 ruling that recognized a state constitutional right to abortion.

As Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, sponsor of SCA10, explained when the measure was introduced: We are specifying the right to abortion explicitly so that courts cannot read it out of the state Constitution.

But the California Constitution Center at UC Berkeley School of Law says SCA10 fails to spell out the rights it is protecting and could be interpreted narrowly by a future state court.

Unlike 2003 legislation that wrote protections for abortion into a California statute, the proposed constitutional amendment does not specify that a woman has the right to abortion up to the point of fetal viability, Constitution Center researcher Allison Macbeth and UC Hastings law student Elizabeth Bernal wrote in an online article published by the center.

Viability, or the point at which a fetus could probably survive outside the womb, at 23 or 24 weeks into pregnancy, is also the standard for abortion rights set by Roe v. Wade. By failing to use that standard or any other to define abortion rights, the authors said, SCA10 adds nothing new to California abortion rights, leaving them based on a courts definition of privacy. And since the Supreme Court has ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not protect the right to abortion, they wrote, a future state court could lockstep California constitutional privacy to federal constitutional privacy, which does not support abortion rights.

That may not happen any time soon in a state with a strong Democratic majority, acknowledged David Carrillo, a UC Berkeley law professor and executive director of the California Constitution Center.

But he noted that the state had a Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, as recently as 2011 and a Republican majority in the Assembly in the mid-1990s, and said public frustration with crime and homelessness could affect the states politics, and its courts.

If courts are interpreting away abortion rights at the federal level, there is the same risk a California court could interpret away California abortion rights, because SCA10 doesnt specify what they are, Carrillo said.

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That forecast was disputed by Katie Talbot, spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood (Los Angeles County), co-author of SCA10.

This isnt a bill to codify any existing laws, she said by email. Theres no need to reference existing federal law in the amendment language, because our Constitution is independent of it.

Atkins, likewise, said, We have thought about this, and engaged with numerous experts  we agree that SCA10 is clear in what does: explicitly enshrines into the text of our Constitution the rights that Californians have to reproductive freedom, including the rights to have an abortion and use contraception.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
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Americans have a constitutional right to carry concealed firearms in public, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The 6-3 decision struck down a New York law requiring individuals to show a special need for self-defense to carry guns outside the home, applies equally to a similar law in California, and will allow thousands of guns on city streets.

The constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense is not a second-class right, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the courts majority. To justify any restrictions on gun possession, he said, the government must show that it is consistent with this nations historical tradition of firearms regulation  and in this case, states and their colonial predecessors historically allowed their citizens to carry those weapons.

That rationale could be used to challenge other gun laws in California, such as age limits and a ban on semiautomatic firearms that the state defines as assault weapons.

The ruling comes after the latest round of mass shootings, including the killings of 10 people in Buffalo, N.Y., and 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, both by 18-year-olds using semiautomatic weapons they acquired legally.

Justice Stephen Breyer opened his dissenting opinion by noting that Americans possess more guns than any other nation and suffer more firearm deaths, with at least 277 mass shootings reported so far this year. In assessing restrictions, Breyer wrote, judges are entitled to consider the serious dangers and consequences of gun violence that lead states to regulate firearms.

Thomas rejected any such connection to the case, observing that the right to keep and bear arms ... is not the only constitutional right to have controversial public policy implications.

Justice Samuel Alito, in a concurring opinion, said the gun deaths were irrelevant to the legal issues and asserted that the real thrust of todays dissent is that guns are bad and that states and local jurisdictions should be free to restrict them essentially as they see fit. He noted that New Yorks law did not prevent the killings in Buffalo.

In another separate opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, said the ruling leaves states free to require applicants for concealed-carry licenses to undergo a check of their criminal and mental health records and take a firearms-training course. Gov. Gavin Newsom, while calling the courts ruling radical and dangerous, said he would work with legislators to write those safeguards into state law.

While most states allow residents who qualify for firearms licenses to carry their weapons in public by simply declaring a wish to protect themselves, California, a half-dozen other states and the District of Columbia require special concealed-carry licenses from local law enforcement agencies, with evidence of a special need for self-defense. In California, as in New York, those licenses are generally available in rural areas but are rarely granted in metropolitan areas  San Francisco police say they have currently issued only one such license to a private citizen.

This was the first case on guns the court had heard since 2008, when it ruled for the first time that the Second Amendment entitled Americans to possess handguns in the home for self-defense, and 2010, when it applied that ruling to the states.

Those rulings allowed states to ban guns in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, prohibitions the court again endorsed Thursday.

But the court denied review of challenges to other gun laws until President Donald Trumps appointment of three justices  Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett  all of whom joined Thomas opinion.

Thomas has regularly and indignantly dissented from the justices denials of review of lower-court rulings upholding gun restrictions. He said Thursday that federal judges, in deciding whether laws violate the Second Amendment, have wrongly considered such factors as how severely a law interferes with someones right to keep and bear arms. Instead, Thomas said, the only question is whether the government can prove a law is part of the historical tradition that set limits on those rights.

And while some states, and colonial rulers of England, have prohibited firearms possession outside the home, most have allowed it, Thomas said. Many Americans (face) greater danger outside the home than in it, he wrote.

But Breyer, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, said a majority of states restricted concealed carrying of firearms for most of the past century, and 16 states prohibited it altogether as recently as 1987.

States have tried to limit  who may purchase, carry, or use weapons of different kinds. The court today severely limits states efforts to do so, Breyer wrote. I believe the (Second) Amendment allows states to take account of the serious problems posed by gun violence.

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Legal analysts said defenders of limits on the age of gun buyers, or the kinds of weapons they may obtain, will now have to prove that such restrictions have been common in U.S. history.

Litigants and lower courts will need to scour the historical record to determine whether a regulation violates the Second Amendment, said Timothy Zick, a law professor at William & Mary College in Virginia.

But Stanford Law professor John Donohue said the ruling is a death sentence for most such laws.

As various gun safety measures fall in the wake of this profoundly unwise decision, crime will rise and Americans will clearly be less safe from firearm violence, Donohue said. Maybe if we lose 200 or 300 in the next mass shooting, the courts will pull back.

Gun advocates praised the decision.

The fundamental, natural-born right to defend yourself and your family against harm does not end outside your home, and the highest court in our nation has affirmed this, said Tim Schmidt, president of the U.S. Concealed Carry Association.

But John Feinblatt, president of the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety, said the ruling is out of step with the bipartisan majority in Congress that is on the verge of passing significant gun safety legislation, and out of touch with the overwhelming majority of Americans who support gun safety measures.

The case is New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, 20-843.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
By far the biggest California wildfire burning as of Thursday morning statewide was tearing through a swath of Kern County, Cal Fire said.

The blaze, dubbed the Thunder Fire, sparked on Wednesday morning and had burned a total of 2,300 acres as of Thursday morning, said Kern County Fire Captain Andrew Freeman.

According to Cal Fires incident archive this year, the Thunder Fire was the largest blaze currently burning as of Thursday morning. The second was the Hesperia Fire, which charred 95 acres in San Bernardino County and was 70% contained Thursday, Cal Fire said.

The vegetation fire was burning southeast of Interstate 5, just south of Bakersfield. As of Thursday morning, the blaze was 20% contained, authorities said. No injuries have been reported and there were no immediate threats to any homes or buildings on Thursday, Freeman said.

Were continuing to aggressively fight this fire, he said, adding that crews were working to make sure the fire doesnt grow further west toward I-5.

The blaze temporarily impacted traffic on a nearby road and visibility for drivers on the Grapevine, Freeman said.

There was a lot of smoke drifting over the roadway so at certain times the California Highway Patrol was escorting traffic to make sure everyone can go through there safety, he said.

A large thunderstorm moved through Kern County on Wednesday, bringing down power lines and causing smaller lightning-sparked fires in trees and rural areas in the county, Freeman said.

Monsoon thunderstorms pounded several parts of the state on Wednesday, bringing lightning, rain and hail to some areas, including the San Benito County area. Meteorologists had warned the monsoonal weather could trigger lightning-sparked wildfires.

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The Thunder Fire, Freeman said, was initially reported as two separate fires that were close in proximity. As firefighters worked to contain both fires Wednesday, Freeman said they grew into one as the winds became stronger and temperatures increased.

Its very, very likely that the Thunder Fire was caused by lightning, he said, adding that the cause was under investigation.

Jessica Flores (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.

flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores
A fast-moving brush fire near the tiny Contra Costa town of Port Costa had burned 140 acres by nightfall Thursday, sending thick plumes of smoke over Highway 4 as residents stood by for evacuation orders.

Its a very impressive column of smoke, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District spokesperson Steve Hill said, watching the cloud grow thicker and darker on the north side of the freeway as he drove to the scene.

Reported at 2:25 p.m., the Scenic Fire sparked at Eckley Pier near the Bull Valley staging area  a lot near trailheads for hikers and bikers. As it progressed along Carquinez Scenic Drive parallel to the Carquinez Strait, the fire seemed to be charring acreage between the waterfront and railroads.

It quickly escalated to a second alarm in the small unincorporated area by the strait, known for its scruffy Victorian hotel. Cal Fire deployed aircrafts and at least one strike team  a group of five engines and crews dispatched to protect structures, Hill said.

While the firefighters and aircrafts spewing flame retardant managed to slow the fire, teams were not able to initally able to confine it, Crockett Fire Department spokesperson Steve Trotter told the Chronicle. Heavy brush, scattered eucalyptus trees, and what Trotter described as erratic behavior of the fire caused concern as firefighters tried to beat back the flames, which were spread through hillsides about a mile away from homes.

Within an hour, the Fire Department told residents around Carquinez Scenic Drive and Port Costa Reservoir Street to prepare to evacuate, though no orders were issued. As of 9 p.m. firefighters managed to impede the fires movement, and had it 50% contained.

Gather any important items you could carry with you, including medications, baby supplies, money, important papers and photos, the Fire Department instructed in a bulletin. Locate any pets or animals and be prepared to cage or leash them.

At 4 p.m., Contra Costa County Public Works officials closed Carquinez Scenic Drive to traffic at Winslow Street and Canyon Lake Drive, asking motorists to use alternate routes.

The Scenic Fire, previously dubbed the Phoenix Fire, was among several that ignited in Northern California during the first week of summer, signifying an early start to what could be a vicious wildfire season. Another fire burned Thursday in Benicia, across the strait from Port Costa, also emitting heavy smoke over the roads and ridges. Trotter said it was not related to the Scenic Fire.

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Were finding in the Bay Area, and beyond in California, that anywhere is a place where wildfire can break out, Trotter told reporters gathered on Canyon Lake Drive. We just really want to be prepared at any time to evacuate.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
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Jose Nick Pina Cardenas died in a hospital on June 7, three weeks after Alameda County sheriffs deputies tackled and restrained him during intake procedures at notorious Santa Rita Jail, which has been plagued by at least 68 deaths from 2011 to 2020, largely suicides and overdoses.

At least seven people died there in 2021, according to the Davis Vanguard, a nonprofit news site.

Cardenas, 30, was reportedly in the midst of a mental health crisis when deputies say they tackled him to the ground after he tried to run from one of them. According to Sheriffs Office incident reports reviewed by The Chronicle, Cardenas was found hours later writhing and bleeding from the mouth and nose.

Its been really hard. Thats all, said Christina Pallas, Cardenas partner, during a Wednesday night vigil. She pulled their 14-month-old daughter, Isabella, as tight as she could into her chest and sobbed.

Pallas and Cardenas loved ones say they have tried in vain to obtain sufficient information about events leading to his injuries from the Sheriffs Office.

A deputy wrote that Cardenas, a father of five who worked in construction, had injured himself. Cardenas admitted to swallowing his wristband because he was depressed about his charges and wanted to commit suicide, Deputy Depray Celestine wrote.

Pallas disputed the notion. He was never suicidal, she told The Chronicle.

Cardenas died the same day voters ousted the longtime sheriff who has been criticized over conditions at the jail and four months after a federal judge approved a settlement to improve mental health services while increasing staffing at the jail. The U.S. Department of Justice has agreed to monitor compliance for six years.

But the Sheriffs Office isnt adding Cardenas death to the tally of people who have perished at Santa Rita Jail. The agency also isnt investigating his death, a spokesperson said, because Cardenas was not in custody at the time of his death.

Like an unknown number of formerly incarcerated individuals, Cardenas fell into a blind spot when it comes to Californias jails: Even though he suffered his injuries while incarcerated, he died outside of the jail, cleansing his death from the sheriffs books.

Aaron Fischer, a local civil rights attorney, said the practice of failing to investigate deaths like Cardenas is wrong.

If a person in our community dies and there is any indication that events at the jail caused or contributed to their death, we should all be committed to getting to the bottom of what happened  and that includes the Sheriffs Department, said Fischer, who represents incarcerated people seeking safe living conditions.

Courtesy Cardenas family

Parole violation

Cardenas was taken to the jail on a parole violation on May 17, though it wasnt immediately clear what the allegation was. (Pallas said she also wasnt sure.) Five days later, while he was in the hospital, the violation was dropped, Tya M. Modeste, a spokesperson in the Sheriffs Offices litigation and grievance department, said in an email.

Cardenas family said no one from the Sheriffs Office told them he was hospitalized  ever.

They only found out when a friend went to the jail to visit him, and staff told him Cardenas had been hospitalized nine days earlier.

The vigil, attended by a small but passionate crowd, was three weeks after Yesenia Sanchez, a division commander at the Sheriffs Office who oversees the jail, defeated longtime Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern to become both the first woman and first Latina in the office.

Sanchez has been in charge of operations of Santa Rita Jail since early 2020. Sanchez, who takes office Jan. 3, ran as a reformer with heavy support from progressive groups.

Fallout from Cardenas death comes at a critical time for Sanchez as she is preparing to take over and prove shes the reformer she says she is.

Sanchez has said shell improve Santa Rita Jail, which may be among her most daunting tasks.

I know that Santa Rita has had a lot of issues in recent years, and Im committed to reshaping how we provide services in our facility, she said in a debate before the election.

At the same debate, Ahern said his office conducts reviews of each and every one of those deaths that have occurred within our facility, and it has a great benefit to reducing the number.

Such a review is not happening in Cardenas case. The Sheriffs Office, which operates the Coroners Bureau, said thats because Cardenas had been released from its custody while in the hospital.

The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, an advocacy organization that is supporting the Cardenas family, said the Sheriffs Office declined its requests for the deputies body-worn camera footage. The nonprofit did receive  and provided to The Chronicle  two incident reports totaling 20 pages, with partially redacted written statements from deputies about events with Cardenas.

The reports say a deputy was escorting Cardenas to a holding cell when Cardenas, who had just been placed on a list for intensive observation due to mental health concerns, allegedly started to run away.

Deputy Celestine wrote that he saw Cardenas running in full sprint toward him and a behavioral health worker. Celestine said he feared for the workers safety and that Cardenas was trying to escape the other deputy.

I tackled Cardenas by lowering my body, placing my right shoulder into his lower abdomen area, Celestine wrote. I wrapped my left hand around Cardenas left knee and my right hand around his right knee.

The deputy described slamming Cardenas into a wall and forcing him to the floor.

After a prolonged struggle in which a deputy put him into a figure four leg lock, which involves taking control of a person by locking your legs with theirs, Cardenas was placed in a holding cell.

A nurse checked him over, a report said, and he had no visible injuries and refused medical treatment.

At 10:15 p.m., a deputy went to check on Cardenas and found him bleeding profusely, the reports said. He appeared to be breathing irregularly and kept trying to put his hand down his throat, as if trying to grab something, deputies wrote.

Deputies said Cardenas struggled with them as they prepared him to board an ambulance. In the ambulance, he coughed up a jail-issue wristband, which was 11 inches long by 1  inches wide, according to an incident report.

Pallas didnt dispute deputies assertion that he had a mental health episode.

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Hes struggled with that all his life, she said, though she said she wasnt sure what specific illness.

Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

Schism over jail settlement

The February Santa Rita settlement requires mental health screenings for all new prisoners and creates at least one housing unit meant for therapeutic purposes for the mentally ill.

In 2020, Alameda County supervisors approved spending $106 million each year for three years to hire 349 sheriffs deputies and 107 mental and behavioral health workers for Santa Rita.

A group of people incarcerated at Santa Rita disapproved of the settlement, saying it should have been struck with community groups that could have helped ensure a more favorable agreement. But U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins of San Jose said he approved the settlement because current conditions at the jail violated constitutional standards and necessitated change.

My son is yet another victim of Santa Rita Jail, Lydia Pina said in an emailed statement to The Chronicle. I want answers and full accountability. What happened? Where are the videos of the incident? How do people keep dying in that jail?

At the vigil, Jose Bernal, organizing director for the Ella Baker Center, tried to encourage Pina, who spoke briefly in Spanish and wailed in pain.

The people are here with you, Bernal said. And youre not in this alone.

Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

Bernal, who led the vigil, called for Alameda County to end the practice of combining the roles of sheriff and coroner, which critics say can give the sheriff undue influence over investigations into in-custody deaths and shootings by deputies.

He also called for Santa Rita Jail, which he described as an exceedingly dangerous place, particularly to people of color, to close.

The vigil was on the sidewalk in the shadow of the office tower next to Lake Merritt. Bernal looked up at the building and tried to get the message up there.

When I say, Santa Rita, he told the crowd, you say, Shut down.

Santa Rita, he shouted.

Shut down, they yelled.

Joshua Sharpe is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: joshua.sharpe@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joshuawsharpe
He added that Nigeria needs to invest heavily in human capital in order to experience economic growth. "It has been argued that population is not the problem but proper management."

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday called for effective and efficient management of Nigeria's booming population to avoid 'a ticking time bomb.'

Speaking at a high-level dialogue on Nigeria's new National Population Policy, Mr Osinbajo, who was represented by Maryam Uwais, special adviser to the president on social investment, said population growth without adequate management is "cancerous and a ticking time bomb."

He added that Nigeria needs to invest heavily in human capital in order to experience economic growth.

"It has been argued that population is not the problem but proper management," he said.

"It is time for us as a country to engage with sensitive matters because the very stability of our future depends on these conversations," Mr Osinbajo urged.

Outlining the advantages of a high population, he mentioned increased taxes, productivity, and a large workforce, among others. He however said when a high population is not properly managed, it leads to increased crime rates, unemployment, environmental pollution, and more.

It could also result in excessive pressure on natural resources, insufficient food, inadequate housing, traffic congestion, poor human capital indices in so many spheres, insecurity and instability, the law professor said.

He said all hands need to be on deck to support the fast-growing population to overcome the gaps that already exist, adding that there is an urgent need to build on the sub-national economies to support the rapidly-growing population.

Family Planning

Policymakers and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) at the event agreed that family planning is necessary for population management but also warned that a lack of funding would adversely affect ongoing family planning targets and services.

Speaking at the event, the coordinator of the Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI-PAS), Shina Ogunbiyi, said family planning has been identified as a major solution to Nigeria's growing population but inadequate funding is a barrier to its success.

Mr Ogunbiyi said the Nigerian government has repeatedly failed to prioritise family planning in its budget. He noted that the revised National Population Policy contains every detail needed to solve the country's population crisis but funding must be prioritised.

"It is ironic that the revised population policy was launched the same year there is no budget line for family planning," he said. "Our government needs to do more."

Mr Ogunbiyi also said the state government must contribute its quota to ensure family planning services get to the majority of households especially those in hard-to-reach areas.

He said only about 10 states and the FCT are making contributions to the basket fund for family planning.

"If these (other) states can make contributions to family planning basket funds, a lot can be achieved," he said.

The dialogue

The high-level dialogue was organised by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) with support from the development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), under the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health at Scale, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded project.

The dialogue was themed "Implementing the National Population Policy; the responsibility of the MDAs and private sector at national and sub-national levels."

The policy, which seeks to address the burgeoning population growth in Nigeria, was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in February 2022. It was based on the findings of the NIPSS Senior Executive Course (SEC) 42 2020.

Mr Buhari had recommended that the National Institute focuses on finding solutions to population growth and human capital development in Nigeria.

The policy has an overall goal of improving the life and standard of living for all Nigerians through population control. It also stresses the need for urgent measures to address Nigeria's high fertility rate, through expanding access to modern contraceptive methods across the country.

Founded in 1979, NIPSS is Nigeria's foremost policy formation centre for bureaucrats, private sector leaders, military and paramilitary officers and senior civil servants.

Averting Population Explosion

Nigeria is currently on the verge of having a population explosion as the United Nations predicts that the country will have one of the largest populations in the world by 2050.

Family planning has been identified as a way to slow down the burgeoning population and reduce the high maternal and child mortality rate.

The country is, however, struggling to make modern contraceptives readily available to its citizens. To worsen the situation, the Nigerian government failed to make provisions for family planning in the 2022 budget.

However, the new policy emphasises the urgency to address Nigeria's sustained high fertility rate, through expanding access to modern family planning, counselling and commodities as well as promoting birth spacing.

Speaking at the event, the Director-General of NIPSS, Ayo Omotayo, said there is a need to interrogate the tenuous causal relationship between population size, human capital development and the quest for sustainable livelihood in Nigeria.

According to him, "at a growth of 1.05 per cent, it is projected that the world population will reach 8.5 billion by 2030 and 9.7 billion by 2050."

Mr Omotayo, however, said population growth, the ability to effectively manage the population, as well as the capacity to cope with the consequences of a large population, vary significantly from one country to another.

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Nevertheless, the new policy on population is a clear demonstration of Nigeria's commitment to addressing population growth and human capital development, he said.

In his remarks, the chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Isa Kwarra, represented by Ismail Suleiman, the federal high commissioner in Kano, said the effective implementation of the new policy requires the involvement and support of everyone.

"I seize this opportunity to make a clarion call for both technical and financial support for the timely and efficient facilitation of the full implementation of the policy," he said.

Furthermore, Ejike Oji, chairman of the management committee of the Association for the Advancement of Family Planning, said Nigeria is in a demographic crisis. He decried the migration rate of medical practitioners out of Nigeria and also the security challenges all over the country.

He said the country needs to focus on fertility control and "ensure that one per cent of the national health budget goes to family planning."

Mr Oji admonished stakeholders to work together to achieve Nigeria's commitment to the FP2030 blueprint.

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.
The tracks carrying the East Bay BART train that derailed this week exceeded a temperature of 140 degrees, a spokesperson for the transit agency said Thursday.

Fifty passengers were evacuated from the train when two of the trains cars derailed between Concord and Pleasant Hill during rush hour on Tuesday evening.

One person was taken to the hospital after complaining of back pain, said Chris Filippi, spokesperson for the agency.

Filippi told the Chronicle Thursday that the rails temperature of 140 degrees far surpassed its ordinary operating temperature of 115 degrees.

A blast of hot weather pushed temperatures into the triple digits across several parts of the Bay Area Tuesday  the day the train derailed.

A train track can become misaligned anytime the rail temperature is 20 degrees or greater above its neutral temperature, he added.

Our initial assessment is that heat played the main role in the partial derailment by causing a curve in the rail, BART spokespersons wrote in a press release.

Derailments to BART trains are very rare, Filippi said  who added that though the agency couldnt conclusively say that the agency had never had a heat-related derailment, a search of their news archives back to 2005 did not find any past occurrences.

The agency has had at least three other derailments in the past, in 2017, 2011, and 2009, though none of the three appeared to be heat-related, Filippi said.

Staff with the California Public Utilities Commission and the National Transportation Safety Board were at the incident site on Tuesday night, Filippi added. Both agencies will likely issue reports on the incident.

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BART is still single-tracking in the area as the track is still being repaired, Filippi said, adding that there is not yet an estimate on when repairs will be complete or what the cost of the damages will be.

The train that derailed will be thoroughly inspected before a determination is made on whether it can be put back into service, said Filippi.

Annie Vainshtein (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avainshtein@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @annievain
As the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade continues to cause alarm across the country, religious minority groups are gearing up for a legal battle to protect their religious freedoms.

On June 10, a Florida synagogue filed a lawsuit challenging the states ban on abortions after 15 weeks saying it prevents Jews from having a procedure that, in some cases, Jewish law would require them to have. Theyre not alone.

For Muslims, the Florida ban, and the likely upending of Roe, is also an infringement on their religious freedom.

Since an initial draft was first leaked last month, many critics have taken to social media to condemn the draft opinion as Christian sharia. Using sharia as shorthand for religiously oppressive laws is not only Islamophobic, its flat-out wrong  including when it comes to abortion.

First of all, there is not just one sharia rule on abortion. There are many. As Islamic law expert Abed Awad and Imam Omar Suleiman have pointed out, different Islamic schools of thought have different rules on whether and when one can have an abortion. Among them are: Abortion is permissible through the first 120 days of pregnancy, abortion is permissible but discouraged up to 40 (some say 80) days after conception, and abortion is prohibited unless there is a compelling reason such as risk to the life or health of the mother (an exception that exists in every Islamic legal school, regardless of the timing). In fact, as Shaikh Hatem al-Haj notes, Muslim religious scholars of the past tended to be more lenient on abortion than they are today. For example, in the schools of thought that permit abortion in the first 120 days where birth would cause severe hardship to the child or parents, the classical scholars considered a broader range of situations to be hardship than most modern scholars do.

These different rules come from varying interpretations of Quranic verses describing the divine ensoulment of a fetus. This is not unusual. Varying opinions exist on nearly every Islamic legal rule and Muslims are accustomed to this diversity. Because there is no Islamic church or even formal clergy, Muslims simply select whichever sharia school of thought they want to follow. That means it is normal for some Muslims to oppose abortion while others insist on its legitimacy.

Muslim tolerance of diverse religious rules is what protected Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Jains and many others who lived under Muslim rule for centuries. At least until the modern period (when Muslim lands became European-style nation-states), followers of any faith living under Muslim rule could practice their own religious norms as long as those norms did not conflict with the general public good. Simply put, sharia has never insisted that the state force everyone to live by sharia.

Some Americans, however, want state law to force everyone to live by one interpretation of Christianity. By defining life as beginning at conception, as lawmakers across the nation are trying to do, the religious doctrine of one Christian community may soon be imposed on Americans across the nation. Many didnt believe this sort of religio-political movement could take hold in this country. Drafting the U.S. Constitution in the shadow of the Catholic-Protestant wars of Europe, the founders recognized the dangers of a state church. The First Amendments Establishment Clause keeps states from favoring one religion over another and the Free Exercise Clause protects individual religious practice. As a result, religious practice is refreshingly diverse in the U.S., with adherents of dozens of religions free to live and practice here.

Unfortunately, that may be about to change. As an interfaith coalition asserted in an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court, abortion bans stifle the diversity of views within and across religious traditions on the morality of terminating a pregnancy. Despite these warnings, a majority of justices appear to be unconcerned. The alignment of state law with particular Christian beliefs apparently does not offend the current courts understanding of the Constitution.

The Mississippi abortion law under review by the Supreme Court not only dilutes the First Amendment, but for Muslims, it runs counter to the Islamic principle of respecting diversity of religious practice. Muslims, like all Americans, hold a wide range of beliefs about abortion. Right now, the Constitution protects all of them. That will end if the leaked opinion becomes the law of the land.

The courts worrying shift toward a Christian nationalization of American law should concern all Americans, but it is especially dangerous to American minorities. The draft opinion limits constitutional rights to those deeply rooted in (our) history and tradition. This test invokes a time when essential rights were only held by rich, white, Christian men. If that is our standard for constitutional rights today, then American society could quickly backslide into an era many of us thought was behind us.

How far the court will go down this path remains a mystery. Some say contraception will no longer be protected. Maybe the right to marry or education about minority faiths will fall next.

Whatever the future holds, lets be clear: What the Supreme Court may be about to do is not Christian sharia. It is medieval state church thinking. And we need to stop it before it turns into a crusade.

Asifa Quraishi-Landes is an interim co-executive director of the civil rights organization Muslim Advocates. She is also a professor of U.S. constitutional law and modern Islamic constitutional theory at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
The San Francisco school board voted Wednesday to nullify a previous board decision to cover up a controversial mural at Washington High School. The move followed nearly three years of legal battles, debate and controversy.

In a 4-3 vote, the board followed a judges order to vacate their previous decision to cover the historic fresco, which features the life of George Washington and includes images of slavery and white settlers stepping over a dead Native American.

The original controversy over covering the mural, which grabbed international headlines, pitted the issue of racial equity against artistic freedom and historic preservation at a time of reflection over race and reparations for historic atrocities and public displays associated with Americas ugly past.

The board majority initially voted to paint over the mural in 2019 before reversing course and deciding to cover it up with curtains or panels. That decision was challenged in court and the district lost. The district then appealed, but later decided to settle the case and abide by the judges ruling.

A judge determined the district violated laws requiring an environmental impact report prior to voting on a course of action, requiring the district to void the decisions. The district planned to do an environmental review, but not until after the boards decision.

The judge went so far as to chide district officials, citing the amount of evidence showing they violated the law, including information in their own filings.

When considering the Board and SFUSDs meritless position, the Court wonders if they are looking at the record they filed in this proceeding, the judge wrote in her decision, adding the evidence overwhelmingly supports the George Washington High School Alumni Association, which had filed the suit.

The 1936 fresco, painted on wet plaster, is the work of Russian artist Victor Arnautoff, and part of the Works Progress Administration public art program under President Roosevelts New Deal employment projects. The 1,600-square-foot Life of Washington mural features multiple panels with scenes from the life of the first president.

Lam, Motamedi, Weissman-Ward and Hsu voted to undo the previous vote to cover the mural.

Sanchez, Alexander and Boggess voted against the measure.

Board members did not comment on their votes.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The decision means the mural must remain on view, although the board could decide in the future to conduct an environmental review and then decide on the fate of the artwork.

Mural opponents, including current and former Washington students, said they didnt want a daily, painful reminder of the enslavement and massacre of Black people and Native Americans.

The boards vote Wednesday complies with the judges orders as well as a settlement with the George Washington High School Alumni Association, which filed the mural lawsuit.

It was the second vote Wednesday in which four school board members allied with Mayor London Breed rescinded a controversial school board policy. Motamedi, Weissman-Ward and Hsu  who were appointed by Breed following the recall of three school board members  joined Lam, Breeds former education adviser, on both the mural vote and a bombshell decision to return Lowell High School to merit-based admissions.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
The San Francisco Medical Examiners Office on Thursday identified the man shot and killed a day earlier inside a Muni train.

Nesta Bowen, 27, was one of two people shot by a gunman Wednesday inside a train between the systems Forest Hill and Castro stations, according to the Medical Examiners Office and the San Francisco Police Department.

Police officers responded to a report of a shooting at the Muni Forest Hill Station just before 10 a.m. and discovered that the train was headed toward the Castro Station, according to police spokesperson Allison Maxie.

At the Castro station, officers found Bowen and a 70-year-old man, who was taken to San Francisco General Hospital for his non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Bowen died at the scene.

Reached by phone Thursday afternoon, Bowens father, George Bowen, seemed to choke back sobs as he recounted how his son was navigating a period of transition before his life was cut short.

Born in Oakland, Bowen grew up mostly in Stockton, where his family moved in 2008. He had a vibrant musical pedigree, with a mother who sang reggae while his father DJd in the local dancehall scene, performing sets at the Elbo Room and other nightclubs. Bowens middle name was Coltrane, in honor of the jazz titan.

He loved art and making music, George Bowen said, describing his son as a producer and rapper who was also taking community college classes in graphic arts. Bowen had worked for the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, but was in between jobs at the time he was shot dead.

Bowens mother had died of cancer four years earlier.

Im just trying to collect my thoughts, said George Bowen. Its heartbreaking.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The shooter fled the Castro Station and was still at large, according to police and District Seven Supervisor Myrna Melgar. No arrests were announced as of Thursday afternoon.

The Police Department released a still photo from surveillance video of an individual believed to be a person of interest and asked this person to come forward and speak with investigators.

Jessica Flores (she/her) and Rachel Swan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com, rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores, @rachelswan
FILE - An electronic cigarette from Juul Labs is seen on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, in Pembroke Pines, Fla. Federal health officials on Thursday, June 23, 2022 ordered Juul to pull its electronic cigarettes from the U.S. market, the latest blow to the embattled company widely blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping.
Although using the word "chief" may not be intended disrespectfully in most conversations, the San Francisco Unified School District is striking it from job titles out of sensitivity to the concerns of some Indegenous groups.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said his electric-car factories are "losing billions of dollars" as global supply-chain disruptions and challenges in battery manufacturing constrain the company's ability to scale up production.

New factories in Berlin and Austin - where Tesla moved its headquarters in December - "are gigantic money furnaces right now," Musk told members of a club of Silicon Valley Tesla owners in Austin on May 30, according to a video of the interview published Wednesday.

"There should be like a giant roaring sound, which is the sound of money on fire," he added.

Both factories opened earlier this year to much fanfare. At the launch of the Gigafactory in Austin in April - where Tesla produces its Model Y and plans to produce the Cybertruck, a futuristic electric pickup truck whose design Musk said had just been finalized - Musk heralded "a new phase of Tesla's future."

But those factories are producing a "puny" number of vehicles due to shortages of batteries and global supply-chain bottlenecks, with crucial parts stuck in ports in China, Musk said. "It has required all of our attention just to keep the factories going" in the face of "severe" disruptions, he told the Tesla fans in Austin.

"This factory is losing insane money right now," Musk said from Texas's capital, shaking his head as he looked through glass windows at the factory floor. "We should be outputting a lot more cars from this factory, versus a very puny amount of cars."

Musk cited several challenges. He said the tools required to manufacture cars using 2170 battery cells were "stuck in port in China, with no one to actually move it," while the Tesla factory in Shanghai was subject to periodic shutdowns due to local covid-19 restrictions. And he said Tesla was finding it challenging to produce more structural battery packs and associated 4680 batteries.

Musk said these issues would "get fixed real fast, but it requires a lot of attention." He said the Tesla factory in Berlin, which opened in March, faced similar obstacles but noted that it is "in a slightly better position" because it is focused on the 2170 battery cells.

Tesla was also affected by a global shortage of semiconductor chips last year and China's coronavirus-induced shutdown, Musk said. "I'm not sure everyone knows just how serious the covid shutdowns were in China - and it's not done yet," he said. He had previously said the soaring price of battery minerals was also an issue.

Musk told Tesla employees in June, after the interview was taped, that 10% of the company's salaried workforce would be laid off as he expressed concerns about a possible future recession in the United States. He said Tuesday at the Qatar Economic Forum that the company grew its salaried workforce "a little too fast," but that Tesla needed more hourly workers and probably would have more employees overall by next year.

Ex-Tesla employees sued the company over the layoffs, claiming it did not give them proper advance notice. Musk on Tuesday called it "a small lawsuit of minor consequence."
The screening took place at the PDP national headquarters in Abuja.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Wednesday, commenced the screening of nominees for deputy governorship positions for the 2023 general elections.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the screening took place at the party's national headquarters in Abuja.

The Deputy Governorship Candidates Screening Committee chaired by a former National Chairman of the PDP, Okwesilieze Nwodo, also has Akilu Indabawa as secretary and Sunday Omobo as the administrative secretary.

A nominee for deputy governor for Akwa-Ibom-State, Akon Eyakenyi, speaking to journalists shortly after her interview, commended the state governor, his wife, party leaders and the people of the state for nominating her.

Ms Eyakenyi, the senator representing Akwa-Ibom South Senatorial District, who was cheered by women groups from the state, said that women of the state had every right to be excited over the slot of the deputy governor given to them for the first time.

"I am going there as a mother for the 31 local governments of Akwa Ibom State covering women, men, youth and the elderly.

"I am going there to serve, to set a standard and ensure that after me, another woman can pick up the position.

"I will also ensure that women have their due and right at the executive, legislative and party levels.

"I am also going to be a model and standard to every woman in Akwa-Ibom State," Ms Eyakenyi said.

The PDP Governorship Candidate for Lagos, Olajide Adediran, who was also at the PDP national secretariat, also spoke with journalists about his potential running mate.

Mr Adediran, who is popularly known as Jandor, said the nomination of five persons for his running mate shows that Lagos as a centre of excellence has many qualified persons for the position.

"Every one of the five nominees is qualified to be my deputy governor," he said.

He gave assurance that his running mate would be as popular or more popular than him.

"We represent a breath of fresh air in Lagos State. You have seen that in me and my running mate as well," he said.

(NAN)
Big Sur is defined by some of the most recognizable and Insta-ready coastlines in the world. But behind the dramatic scope and volumes upon volumes of photographs and words about the region lies one of the riskiest zones in California.

Residents here regularly face the threat of disaster. The heightened effects of climate change-induced events at the edge of the continent have caused mudslides and infrastructure collapse and have threatened individual residences for decades  but there is no danger that looms larger, and now lingers year-round, than wildfires.

Big Sur residents this winter got a sneak preview of what may come with the Colorado Fire, which started Jan. 21. It burned 687 acres near Bixby Bridge, threatened 225 structures and destroyed one in the Palo Colorado neighborhood before being contained Feb. 5.

With climate change, were the canary in the coal mine, Butch Kronlund, executive director of the Community Association of Big Sur, told SFGATE. Our fire return interval is three or four times of what it used to be and now were somewhere in a three-year drought. We are conscious and concerned and ready ... for a wildland fire.

The response to the Colorado Fire, officials said, was swift, and the weather and winds worked in their favor when it came to containment. But lessons were learned that will carry over as woodland fire danger reaches its apex in the summer and early fall months.

MediaNews Group/The Mercury News/MediaNews Group via Getty Images

The first one is that Big Sur isnt quite like any other community, and that poses unique challenges.

First off, it is actually geographically big. The area is unofficially anchored by a village with a handful of businesses, including a post office, a general store and riverfront restaurant, but the entire unincorporated region stretches 71 miles on California's state Route 1, between Malpaso Creek in the north and San Carpoforo Creek Beach in the south.

Those tasked with protecting Big Surs 1,700 residents  sprinkled in the most densely forested, hard-to-get-to homes in the region  have multiple challenges.

Each of these little enclaves is unique, Matt Harris, fire chief of the all-volunteer Big Sur Fire, told SFGATE. We are aware of different hazard zones and the differences between people in their own right. We have people who have taken up residence in areas that are extremely hazardous. And we have our elderly residents who may require special services and care.

We say look out for each other and account for each other. We are aware of whos out there, of the challenges. Thats why it's about education and messaging  planning for the uncertain.

Fire preparedness in Big Sur, in other words, is a bespoke business.

While state fire officials say that Big Sur can use lessons learned from other recent blazes, like 2018s Camp Fire in Paradise or last summers Caldor Fire in Eldorado National Forest at the doorstep of the Tahoe Basin, they acknowledge Big Sur is its own thing.

The Mercury News via Getty Image/MediaNews Group via Getty Images

All communities are unique  but Big Sur presents many challenges, Cal Fire battalion chief of communications Isaac Sanchez said, just before making a wildfire presentation in Big Sur on May 4. Fortunately, the community is active and responsive and educated.

This sentiment was echoed by officials in Big Sur, as well as Cal Fire director Joe Tyler. More than 1,200 acres of vegetation were treated as part of the Palo Colorado community fuel break and Monterey County fire prevention and tree mortality project, Tyler said on May 4. Proactive efforts, such as this, are a significant benefit to the community in slowing the spread of wildfire. This success story is a result of the cooperation of communities working together with stakeholders to reduce fire danger in the area.

Even with constant fuel reduction efforts and a neighborhood-by-neighborhood plan in place, when the next big catastrophic fire event comes to Big Sur, officials acknowledge everything can get thrown out the window.

Most of the time, people will want to stay and defend their properties, said fire chief Harris. Some people arent going to leave, they're going to stay and fight during the initial attack. If we get in there and its just too dangerous and essentially ordering them out of there, egress does become an issue we have to gain control of a road immediately, we do try to gain control of them, because the worst thing is someone trying to evacuate and a fire engine trying to go down or up and the road becomes too narrow and a burnover happens.

According to the community associations Kronlund, people in crunch time tend to stray from the plan. That can spell disaster, which is why organizations like his continue to emphasize the basics, even recently securing funding for a full-time fire adaptive community coordinator who will focus on continuing year-round education and defensible space efforts.

In most of our enclaves, its one way in and one way out, and many areas have a box canyon effect, Kronlund said. Virtually every neighborhood has narrow access roads  one car going down and one going up. Somethings got to give.

Education Images/Universal Image/Universal Images Group via Getty

In the Colorado Fire, a seemingly small blaze quickly escalated due to the combination of hazardous conditions and a difficult-to-access neighborhood. Investigators determined the cause of the Colorado Fire in Palo Colorado Canyon to be hot embers from a pile burning operation. High winds blew the embers onto nearby vegetation, which ignited the fire, Cal Fire officials wrote in a Jan. 25 release.

Though investigators did not reveal the identity or address of the individual who decided to do a burn on the dry, windy winter day (offshore winds gusted at 50 miles per hour on Jan. 21), fire officials said the evacuation of Palo Colorado Road was the right idea and immediate action is something all Big Sur residents should become comfortable with.

We have to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, Sanchez said. Firefighters are on the ground and they are trained and aggressively attack and mitigate and that includes getting people in both urban and unincorporated areas to safety.

To help solve for the logistical task of letting every individual resident know the ins and outs of their twisty, windy streets, fire chief Harris says communication is key. Its why the fire department puts out a monthly newsletter that focuses on specific challenges by area, as well as reminding residents of general best practices for defensible space and fire preparedness.

Phil Klein/AP

The fire departments annual fundraiser, set for July 9, is also a community awareness event. Along with a barbecue and games at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, part of the day is spent looking at a map and talking to individuals about how to make a plan thats specific to them, Harris said.

If there's a fire at the front end of the canyon, its difficult for people to get out. Its incumbent on the residential community to work together, Kronlund concluded. Straight up: Weve had a lot of experience with fires, theres a heightened level of awareness. A lot of energy is being put into fire preparedness. In Big Sur, its not if, but when, and were taking this very seriously.
NEW YORK (AP)  James Burrows loves sitcoms, and he should. The 81-year-old has directed more than 1,000 episodes of TV sitcoms, including fan favorites such as Friends, Cheers, and Will & Grace." He's also directed the pilot episodes for Frasier, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and more, setting the tone for the series going forward.

Ask him why there are so few of his beloved sitcoms on the air these days and Burrows can't answer.

It's not a good time for the multi-camera sitcom right now. I dont know why. People ask me and I say, I dont know why. Theres only two or three on the air.

He does believe the next big sitcom will come, and that will make multi-cam sitcoms popular again, but adds he doesn't see that show on the horizon right now."

Burrows looks back on his famed career in a new book called Directed by James Burrows, detailing how he got started in showbiz and became Hollywood's go-to director for sitcom pilots, setting shows up for success to go forward.

He spoke with The Associated Press about the book, working on Friends and what entices him to work these days. Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.

___

AP: The business seems to prefer single camera comedies these days. Why do you prefer multi-cam?

BURROWS: What I do is not really television. Its really theater that I film for television, so the structure of the piece has to be the work done with the actors and the writers on stage, and then you cover it with a camera. But what makes it great is the interaction, not necessarily the camera work, its the characters and the situation.

AP: A touching point in the book is when you recall sitting down with the cast of Friends when you were leaving the show, and giving them a very fatherly talk about how to handle future situations, such as, listen and learn from new directors but if you disagree, say something. You reminded them that they knew their characters better than anyone and that David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston, in particular, should push for opportunities to do physical comedy, because it's where they shined.

BURROWS: They were all in their 20s and I just wanted to enable them to understand how gifted they all were and to be able to express what they thought about the piece with ensuing directors and the writers because they were all really creative. If an actor contributes, it only makes the show better and it only makes the actor happier to be part of the creative process. I tried to enable them to out there when I left the show and express themselves.

AP: You also say that one of the few regrets of your career is that you didn't stick with the show throughout its nine season run. Why do you think Friends is still so popular today?

BURROWS: There's always a new generation of demographic that watches the show. My kids were too young when I was doing it to watch it, but they watch it now and their kids are going to watch it and their kids are going to watch it. Theres something really special about that show.

AP: The actors who've worked with you always express such love for you. Why do you think that is?

BURROWS: It's comedy. That's what it should be and what rehearsals should be. I did invoke my fun clause once. I was working on a show and the actors were too difficult. So I said, Start my car. And I started my car and I was off. I cant work under those circumstances. There has to be this feeling on the set that I work, that were all in it to make a good show and not to either count lines or complain about the writing or other actors.

AP: In the book, you include examples of problem solving on the job and provide insight into certain situations that could be helpful for working directors or those who want to become directors. Was that intentional?

BURROWS: Its pretty specific to sitcoms but there are tips in there. The, major tip, which I always try to get out in the community of sitcom directors, is to die with your boots on. Its a writers-driven medium, the writer is also the executive producer and so they kind of control it. Theres a lot of sitcom directors who are just traffic cops, who just move people around an parrot exactly what the writers say. Im a big advocate of, once the read-through of the script is over, you go down to the stage and rehearse and try new things.

AP: These days how do you decide when you're going to take something on or say yes to directing a show?

BURROWS: Im very selective. I havent found a show yet that I would attach myself to, like I did with Will & Grace,' which really made me laugh and was like a fountain of youth for me. The last thing I did was I did a pilot with Valerie Bertinelli that didnt get picked up. And before that, I did Live in Front of a Studio Audience, with The Facts of Life" and Diffrent Strokes, where we had adults playing kids, Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg and Jen Aniston and Kathryn Hahn and Jason Bateman and Will Arnett. Those make me really happy because I love those people and I love the challenge of taking a show thats decades old and doing it again.
The Denver Post/Denver Post via Getty Images

On June 12, 1962, an Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary guard doing his usual rounds reached the cells of three career criminals, Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin. They appeared to still be asleep, so he gave the bed of one man a nudge. The man's "head" rolled off, revealing three carefully crafted dummies tucked into bed. Using a raft they made of stolen raincoats and a secret passageway dug from their cells into an unguarded utility corridor, the men had seemingly done the impossible.

The escape set off the largest, longest manhunt in the prison's history. Police and federal agents combed the San Francisco Bay and surrounding area but, save for a few scraps of evidence that could be linked to the men, found nothing. No bodies have ever surfaced.
Dazed, depressed and at the end of his rope, Samuel W. Jordan wandered the streets of New Orleans on June 22, 1841 looking for a place to die.

Like many volunteers who arrived too late to fight for Lone Star independence, Jordan found life in the peacetime military too tame for his tastes. Resigning his commission as a captain in the Texas Army, he took part in the Rio Grande campaign that gave birth to the short-lived republic of the same name.

Federalist leader Antonio Canales appealed to Texans in 1839 to join the struggle to liberate the northern provinces of Mexico from the dictatorial rule of the centralists, the same enemy they had defeated three years earlier at San Jacinto. To sweeten the deal, Canales offered the Anglo-Americans a fair share of the spoils, $25 a month and a half league of land.

A hundred and twenty-eight Texans under the command of Samuel Jordan and Reuben Ross answered the call. They crossed the border north of Reynosa, linked up with 400 federalists and on Oct. 3, 1839 routed the overconfident centralists at the Battle of Alcantro.

Eager to sever the compromising connection with his foreign friends, Canales furloughed the Texans, who went home in a huff. He created the Republic of the Rio Grande in January 1840 only to be driven into exile two months later by a centralist counterattack.

With the exception of Reuben Ross, who had died in a December duel, the Texas troops rallied around the charismatic Canales. Three hundred Mexicans, 80 Indians and 140 Anglos led by Jordan mustered at San Patricio in June. In a matter of weeks, the Republic force numbered nearly 1,900 men.

Mariano Arista, the centralist general that had crushed Canales in March, slipped across the Rio Grande in late August with 1,100 seasoned soldiers and four artillery pieces. However, worried about his unprotected rear, he quickly doubled back to Matamoros to await the federalist advance.

Meanwhile, Canales sent Jordan and 90 Texans on a risky reconnaissance behind enemy lines. Soon after entering Mexican territory, Jordan received revised orders directing him deep into the dangerous interior. The mysterious way Juan N. Molano materialized with the change of plans aroused the suspicion of the rank and file but not the trusting commander.

At Molanos urging and over the strong objections of his men, Jordan proceeded to Ciudad Victoria 200 miles south of Matamoros. Soon after reaching their destination came word that Gen. Arista was closing in for the kill. But before the deadly trap could be sprung, the Texans hurried to Saltillo 180 miles to the northwest.

During the long march, Molano clandestinely corresponded with their pursuer. The secret exchange ended with the snake in the grass accepting Aristas surrender terms, which included betrayal of the Texans.

Four miles from Saltillo, the federalists were met by a superior centralist contingent. The traitor Molano rode forward with a white flag supposedly for a truce talk and vanished from sight.

Moments later a federalist colonel switched sides shouting, Viva the supreme government! Death to the Texans! At that prearranged signal, the bulk of the Mexican troops abandoned their Anglo allies.

The Texans dismounted and took cover behind a stone wall. Repeated attempts to storm their defenses were repelled by small-arms and rifle fire. By dusk, however, they were running out of ammunition and precious time.

With a blood-curdling yell, the Texans charged the centralists on foot and broke through their lines. Before the frightened foes could regroup, they jumped on their waiting horses and galloped away.

The Texans fought their way to the border losing only four comrades on the remarkable cross-country escape. The Republic of the Rio Grande quickly collapsed, and Antonio Canales followed the example of his unscrupulous subordinates by making peace with the victorious central government.

Sam Jordan must have lost his mind in the aftermath of the misadventure. In a bizarre incident on Dec. 10, 1840, he took a swing at Sam Houston with an ax handle, but a bystander blocked the potentially lethal blow.

Jordan spent the next six months in New Orleans preparing for a private invasion of Yucatan. When the ship sailed without him in June 1841, he sank into a deep depression.

At a corner pharmacy, he bought a bottle of laudanum, a common but potent painkiller of the day that was 10 percent opium in an alcohol-water solution. Returning to his dingy rented room, he gulped down the deadly mixture, closed his eyes and drifted off into oblivion.

Read all about the early years of the oil frenzy in Texas Boomtowns: A History of Blood and Oil Order your copy for $24.00 by mailing a check to Bartee Haile, P.O. Box 130011, Spring, TX 77393.
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  A man wounded four people in a stabbing rampage stopped by bystanders who brought him to the ground in a New Zealand city neighborhood Thursday, police said.

Police District Commander Naila Hassan said the attack in Auckland was random and the suspect was in custody. She said there was no indication the attack was a hate crime, as the victims were of different genders, ethnicities and ages.

This was an extremely fast-moving incident, where our police staff responded quickly, apprehended the offender and prevented further harm to our communities, Hassan said.

She said the victims all suffered moderate injuries.

People in the neighborhood began following and surrounding the man after he began his attack and one brought him down using a walking crutch, Hassan said.

Members of the public acted with extreme bravery, she said.

She said the man had been carrying a large knife and suffered moderate injuries when he was apprehended, and had been hospitalized as a result.

She said the attack, which began in the suburb of Murrays Bay, lasted less than 10 minutes.

New Zealand was the site of two violent stabbing rampages at supermarkets last year. One was considered a terror attack while a judge found no motive for the other attack.

Last September, a Muslim extremist inspired by the Islamic State group stabbed five people in an Auckland supermarket before police shot and killed him. Three of those he stabbed were critically injured and two other people were also injured in the melee, but all survived.

And in May last year, shoppers and staff at a Dunedin supermarket managed to stop a frenzied man from hurting others after he stabbed four people in a random attack, severely wounding three of them.

The Dunedin attacker, 43-year-old Luke Lambert, was convicted on four counts of attempted murder and sentenced to 13 years in prison.
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  The first week of school was supposed to mark a triumphant return to classrooms at San Franciscos Everett Middle School after more than a year of distance learning.

But as computer science teacher Yesi Castro-Mitchell welcomed a class of sixth graders last fall, a student started punching her, again and again.

Castro-Mitchell wrapped her arms around her head and hoped for the blows to stop. She remembers the stunned silence in her classroom as other students witnessed the assault. The teacher suffered a concussion, a dislocated jaw, chipped teeth and hearing loss in her left ear that now requires a hearing aid.

Across America, one of the nations most difficult academic years was also one of the most violent. Experts who track school behavior nationwide said fights and other aggressive behavior, including shootings, appear to have increased. Now, with students heading out on summer break, schools are taking stock of what went wrong and how to fix it.

At Everett, many of this years problems were no different than before the pandemic, but they were absolutely greater in severity, intensity and frequency, said Cris Garza, a teacher at Everett for eight years and the teachers union representative.

In addition to the attack on the teacher, fights broke out almost daily among students, according to several teachers and parents. One brawl left a student hospitalized for at least two days. In other incidents, packs of students would barge into classrooms, disrupting lessons and sometimes destroying school property.

Educators and psychologists say the pandemic contributed to the volatility in schools by causing a surge in student mental health problems, trauma at home, a lack of socializing opportunities, and a shortage of teachers and counselors that reduced adult supervision and guidance.

There is no national data that tracks school fights and assaults, but education officials across the country say violence erupted more often and more fiercely.

Without doubt, we are hearing across the board that schools are experiencing significantly more crises related to school violence and emotional behavioral crises, said Sharon Hoover, co-director of the National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

The same issues are likely to resurface in the fall, she said, if struggling adolescents dont get the help and structure they need.

Students at Everett felt the pandemics effects acutely. About 70% of the schools 600 students are Latino, many are English learners and most are economically disadvantaged. Many lost parents or grandparents to COVID-19 or lost their homes because families couldnt pay rent, said school social worker Bridget Early.

Castro-Mitchell said nobody warned her that her attacker had a history of behavioral problems. After the assault, the teacher transferred to another school but left before the end of the year as she struggled with PTSD.

Several Everett staff members complained that a pandemic rule intended to improve air circulation had the unintended effect of inviting misbehavior. Teachers were not allowed to close and lock classroom doors, and groups of students who skipped class would roam the halls and burst into other classes in session.

Reports from members of the National Association of School Resource Officers suggest there were more weapons on school campuses, more assaults and more fist fights across the country, said Mo Canady, the groups executive director.

The Clark County School District in Las Vegas, one of the countrys largest, has said it will provide teachers with panic buttons after an increase in violence, including an April attack on a teacher that left her unconscious in her classroom. The districts police chief, Mike Blackeye, said the 2021-22 school year was the busiest in his departments 40-year history.

Hoover said when the pandemic hit, young people in particular lost what gave their lives structure: They were cut off from going to school and isolated from peers.

Many schools have tried to address the underlying causes.

When students returned to Savanna High School in Anaheim, California, it was fight after fight after fight, said Penny Hatzis, the schools lead counselor. The school hired a specialist in restorative justice, which emphasizes mediation over punishment, although they are looking for more balance with discipline next year. In October, they used grant money to open a relaxation room, where students could talk to a mental health counselor.

We got it open, and we saw a humongous decline in fights and discipline issues. It was night and day, Hatzis said. The school also held support groups for students who suffered loss, LGBTQ+ students and others  sometimes several in one day.

A freshman at Savanna, Clara Oliver, struggled with anxiety that intensified when she returned to in-person school and found it difficult to carry out face-to-face conversations with classmates. For her, the relaxation room became a refuge. Eventually talking to people became easier.

The room would give us a break from everything, she said. When we were stressed out about school, we would just go to that room. There was someone to talk to, there were snacks, there were fidget toys and card games. We could relax, then go back to class and continue our day.

At Everett, school officials attempted a January reset, with new strategies to bring students together, efforts to make lessons more fun and more social-emotional work with kids, Early said.

But they couldnt pull it off. As elsewhere, the omicron-led surge of the coronavirus sidelined educators, deepening a staffing crisis at the school where there was already a shortage of security guards and substitutes.

In a year where mental health was more important than ever, Early said, she spent most of her time putting out fires. She frequently served as a substitute.

Parents worried about their childrens safety and encouraged them to steer clear of danger zones.

My son did not usually use the bathrooms. He would wait until school was over, said Dheyanira Calahorrano, mother of a seventh grader who had no science teacher, no music teacher and no gym teacher for several months.

Principal Esther Fensel resigned at the end of the school year and did not respond to interview requests.

A spokesperson for the San Francisco Unified School District, Laura Dudnick, said Everett, like many other schools, struggled with the rise of student mental health challenges and staffing shortages.

During the year, she said the district hired an additional security guard, increased substitute coverage and required students to lock up cellphones during class.

Next year, Early said, the school will open a grant-funded wellness center with an on-site therapist and other staff to focus on students social and emotional needs.

What all kids need, especially kids who experience trauma, is consistency and stability," Early said. "We could not provide that for them the whole year.

___

The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
OZARK, Ala. (AP)  An Alabama police officer who was critically injured after being shot repeatedly while on duty in 2019 has been arrested on a domestic violence charge, news outlets reported Thursday.

Samuel Yoh, 45, of Ozark was arrested on Wednesday afternoon after Ozark police responded to a domestic disturbance. He was charged with third-degree domestic violence with harassment and held in the Dale County Jail.
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CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday he will meet President Emmanuel Macron in France next week to reset a bilateral relationship that was damaged when the previous Australian government canceled a submarine contract.

Albanese said Macron had invited him to visit France while he is in Europe to attend a NATO summit in Spain.

We do need to reset. Weve already had very constructive discussions. Weve brought to a close the arrangements that were in place over submarines, Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

France responded with fury when former Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced in September that Australia was canceling a 90 billion Australian dollar ($62 billion) contract for a French state-owned company to build a fleet of 12 conventional diesel-electric submarines.

Instead, Australia had struck a deal with the United States and Britain to provide submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology.

France temporarily withdrew its ambassadors from the U.S. and Australia. Macron accused Morrison of lying to him over the French contract that was awarded in 2016. Morrison denied the accusation.

U.S. President Joe Biden told Macron weeks later that the U.S. had been clumsy in its handling of the Australian submarine alliance. Biden said he thought Macron had been informed long before the deal was announced.

Albaneses Labor Party came to power in elections on May 21. His government announced two weeks ago that it had agreed to pay Frances Naval Group a 555-million-euro ($583 million) settlement for breaking the contract.

Lawmakers from the previous Australian administration said the new government had paid too much.

Albanese pointed to bureaucrats estimates before a Senate hearing in April that breaking the contract was expected to cost AU$5.5 billion ($3.8 billion).

He said his administration had brought that cost down to AU$3.4 billion ($2.3 billion) through the cooperation of Macron and the French government.

It is important that that reset occur. France, of course, is central to power in Europe. But its also a key power in the Pacific, in our own region as well, Albanese said.

Its just one of the reasons why this needs to be a relationship thats nurtured, not damaged. Were undertaking to do that. And next weeks visit is a very concrete sign of the repair thats been done already, Albanese added.
LEWISTON, Maine (AP)  The president of Bates College will step down next year after 11 years at the liberal arts institution.

Clayton Spencer made her announcement in a letter to the community on Wednesday. She will depart next June.
Amid slow progress, negotiations are taking place in Nairobi, aimed at sealing a new global deal to protect biodiversity, at the COP15 summit in December

Pandemic slowed progress, final summit set for Dec. in Canada

Global deal centres on goal to protect 30% of land, sea by 2030

Key issues at Nairobi talks include finance, indigenous rights

Across the endless savannah dotted with flat-topped acacia trees, Mara Siana Conservancy in western Kenya teems with elephants, giraffes, zebra and impala, alongside the Maasai people who inhabit the area with their vast herds of livestock.

But this wasn't always the case.

The 25,000-acre (100-sq km) landscape adjoining the famed Maasai Mara National Reserve had become devoid of wildlife until the Maasai got together in 2016 to create a community-run wildlife area to protect local biodiversity and generate tourism income.

"When the conservancy started, there was only one zebra and one topi (antelope) in this valley," said Evans Sitati, manager of the Mara Siana Conservancy, standing by his open-topped jeep as a herd of buffalo lazily munched on lush grassland nearby.

"The Maasai's livestock had taken over the land and there was over-grazing and ... no space for the wildlife. But within a month of creating the conservancy, the wildlife started coming back."

On Tuesday, crunch U.N. talks began a few hours' drive away from Mara Siana conservancy, in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, aimed at tackling this same problem: halting and reversing the devastating loss of biodiversity across the planet.

Improving conservation and management of natural areas, such as parks, oceans, forests and wetlands, is seen as vital to safeguarding the ecosystems and wildlife on which people depend and limiting global warming to internationally agreed goals.

But forests are still being cut down worldwide - often to produce commodities like palm oil, soybean and beef - destroying biodiversity and undermining climate action, as trees absorb about a third of planet-warming emissions produced worldwide.

To tackle such losses, about 195 countries are set to finalise an accord to stem human damage to plants, animals and ecosystems - similar to the Paris climate agreement - at a U.N. summit, known as COP15.

The U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity announced on Tuesday that the final part of the summit, led by host nation China, is now scheduled to take place in Canada from Dec. 5-17.

The talks have been postponed several times due to COVID-19, with China finally agreeing that the second part of the summit should be held in Montreal, as it grapples with the pandemic.

The first in-person negotiations in two years held in Geneva in March left many environmentalists frustrated by slow progress, with governments realising an extra session in Kenya was needed this week to land a deal by the end of the year.

"The science is very clear. Biodiversity is in crisis. One million species are at risk of extinction in the next few decades," said Guido Broekhoven, head of policy at WWF International, which is supporting the Mara Siana conservancy.

"But it's not just about the biodiversity. The aim is to find ways such as the conservancy project that combines conservation with development objectives to benefit both people and nature."

MORE MONEY NEEDED

Finance provided by rich countries to help developing nations do their part under the expected new nature deal is a thorny issue, observers said ahead of the Nairobi talks which run from June 21-26.

How to involve and protect the rights of indigenous groups and communities living in and around natural areas - who play a vital role in conservation - is also a live topic, they said.

"Finance remains the largest challenge in the negotiations," said Brian O'Donnell, director of the U.S.-based Campaign for Nature. "Without adequate finance, policies and programs aimed at conserving nature will not be successful."

Susan Lieberman, vice president of international policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said Nairobi could reach agreement on a widely supported pledge - seen as central to the new global deal - to protect at least 30% of the planet's land and oceans by 2030.

A coalition of more than 80 countries has already backed the 30x30 goal, which is part of the draft treaty, although many biodiversity-rich nations in Southeast Asia are yet to sign up.

"We are in the midst of a global conservation crisis, with increasing species extinctions and increasing risk of ecosystem collapse," said Lieberman.

"The adoption of a strong framework of government commitments on biodiversity is critical - it cannot wait."

PROTECTING INDIGENOUS RIGHTS

Rights groups say a global pact will only succeed on the ground if it brings onboard indigenous peoples like the Maasai.

They comprise less than 5% of the world's population but protect 80% of the Earth's biodiversity in forests, deserts, grasslands and marine environments, where they have lived for centuries, according to WWF.

Yet there is very little recognition of, or support for, their efforts in ensuring a resilient and healthy planet, especially in Africa.

Kenya's community-run protected wildlife areas, known as conservancies, have often been lauded as a gold standard in benefiting both people and nature.

Maasai landowners lease part of their land for safari camps and lodges, and as shareholders, local communities earn tourist dollars from camp stays, game drives, village tours and handicrafts.

The funds generated are also used to improve access to water, healthcare and education for communities, and to help them set up small businesses, while maintaining their traditional herding way of life.

There are 15 conservancies around the Mara, collectively benefiting more than 100,000 people through land lease payments and salaried jobs including rangers, tour guides, housekeepers and drivers.

But even this model faces challenges.

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Fidelis Mpoe, a Maasai ranger at Mara Siana Conservancy whose father is one of its 1,500 shareholders, said climate change was taking a toll, with increasing dry spells forcing locals to bring their cattle into the conservancy to graze.

"This leads to more human-animal conflict, especially with the elephants trampling over children who are herding. Then the community wants to take revenge on the animal and we have to try and make them understand," he added.

In neighbouring Tanzania, violence has erupted between Maasai pastoralists and security forces over government plans to cordon off their land for wildlife protection.

Earlier this month, one officer was killed and several protesters were injured during demonstrations by the Maasai, who accuse the authorities of trying to force them off their land to make way for safaris and hunting expeditions.

The government has rejected these accusations, saying it wants to protect the area from human activity.

"Fortress conservation efforts that result in the forcible dispossession of people are no solution to the biodiversity crisis," said Basma Eid, campaign coordinator at the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, an alliance of over 280 organisations representing indigenous groups.

"In Nairobi, states must commit to adopting a human rights approach overall, in cross-cutting ways across key targets," she said in a statement.
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP)  Brazilian prosecutors said Thursday that a raped 11-year-old girl had received a legal abortion after a judge blocked her for weeks from ending her pregnancy.

Federal prosecutors in the state of Santa Catarina said in a statement that Polydoro Ernani de Sao Thiago hospital had taken "measures to interrupt the minor's pregnancy after a formal request made on behalf of the girl's family.

The hospital said in a statement that it could not comment on the case because it is under the secrecy of Brazil's judiciary system.

Doctors had earlier refused to perform the procedure because the child was in her 22nd week of pregnancy.

Some anti-abortion activists argue Health Ministry recommendations urge a 20- to 22-week limit on the procedure. But Daniela Felix, a lawyer for the family of the child, and other legal experts said Brazilian law makes no mention of a limit in the case of rape victims or when a womans life is in danger.

The 11-year-old, who was 10 when she was raped, was in her 29th week when the abortion was finally carried Wednesday night, amid outrage against judge Joana Ribeiro Zimmer for her actions in the case.

Earlier this week, Brazils judicial watchdog agency said it would investigate Zimmer for asking the child at a filmed hearing May 9 whether she understood how pregnancies happen and suggesting the girl should hold on a little more to save the fetus.

The girl repeatedly said she did not want to give birth.

Brazilian law allows abortions in three instances: rape; risk to the mothers life; and cases of anencephaly, in which a fetus has no functioning brain.

The case has sparked a debate between supporters of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and those of leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro, who is in a bid for reelection against da Silva, tweeted after news of the girl's abortion emerged: A baby of a seven month pregnancy.

We don't discuss the way it was conceived, whether the law allows it or not. It is inadmissible taking the life of this defenseless being! he wrote.

Da Silva said in April that anyone should be allowed to have an abortion, but within days he pulled back, saying that he opposes abortions although he believes that women should be allowed the choice as a matter of public health.

The case, reported by the website The Intercept Brasil last week, prompted associations of magistrates and human rights groups to ask that Zimmer be removed from her post.

Zimmer said in a statement Wednesday that she will not speak about parts of the hearing, which were illegally leaked. She also said she will remain silent about the case to assure the due and full protection to the child.

The probe on Zimmers methods will be conducted by the same Santa Catarina court system in southern Brazil and its decision with be referred to her own court in the southern Brazil state, and then taken for the national watchdog to make its final decision. ___

Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.
WARSAW, Ind. (AP)  A burglar was fatally shot after breaking into a northern Indiana home, police said Wednesday.

Warsaw police said they were called around 9:40 p.m. Tuesday to a home on the city's east side on a report of an alleged breaking and entering by an adult male suspect who was shot inside that residence.

Officers arrived to find the man suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. Police and medics tried to save his life but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Three adults and a young child who were in the home at the time were taken for interviews, police said in a news release. They were cooperating with investigators, police said.

It wasn't clear who shot the burglar, who was not identified.
U.S. Coast Guard / Contributed

STRATFORD  The U.S. Coast Guard is hoping to track down the owner of an empty sailboat that washed ashore on Russian Beach.

The agencys Long Island Sound sector said on Facebook Thursday that the boat was found with no hull number, no registration, not sea worthy and water logged.
RICHLAND, Wash. (AP)  Crews were busy Wednesday with two separate swift-water river rescue operations.

Emergency crews pulled a man from the Yakima River after he fell from his raft near a diversion dam west of the Horn Rapids area in Richland, the Tri-City Herald reported.

Someone spotted the man around 4:30 p.m., according to initial dispatch reports. He fell into the river near Wanawish Dam near the intersection of Highway 240 and Highway 225 and the Hanford nuclear reservation, according to initial reports.

Rescuers pulled him from the water downstream near the Snively Road boat launch, according to reports. His condition was not immediately available.

The Vancouver Fire Departments Fireboat battled strong currents on the Columbian River to rescue a man who had jumped off the Interstate 5 Bridge, the Columbian reported.

The incident began at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday when callers reported that a man had leapt from the I-5 bridge and was holding on to pilings in swift water just downstream from the bridge.

Crews reached the man as he was weak and falling off the log, a fire department statement said.

The man, whose name was not released, was transported to a waiting AMR ambulance and taken to a hospital for his injuries, the statement said.
DOVER, Del. (AP)  The daughter of Delaware State Auditor Kathy McGuiness testified Wednesday at her mothers criminal corruption trial, saying she earned her pay after being hired for a part-time job in the auditors office but was treated poorly by other staffers.

Elizabeth McGuiness, 20, was called as a prosecution witness after reaching a limited immunity agreement with prosecutors shielding her from any repercussions regarding conflicting statements she had previously made to investigators, including denying she used her personal phone or personal email account for work.

Kathy McGuiness, a Democrat elected in 2018, is responsible as state auditor for rooting out government fraud, waste and abuse. She is being tried on felony counts of theft and witness intimidation, and misdemeanor charges of official misconduct, conflict of interest and noncompliance with procurement laws.

Prosecutors allege, among other things, that McGuiness hired her daughter and her best friend as temporary employees in 2020, even though other temporary employees had left because of the lack of available work amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Authorities allege that in hiring her daughter and exercising control over taxpayer money with which she was paid, McGuiness engaged in theft of state money and conflict of interest.

Elizabeth McGuiness, who has not been charged with any crime, testified under questioning by prosecutor Maria Knoll that she and her best friend applied for casual-seasonal jobs in her mothers office in February 2020 and began working there the following May.

McGuiness could not recall details of how she learned about the job or what she was asked when interviewed by her mothers chief of staff, but she acknowledged under cross-examination by her mothers defense attorney, Steve Wood, that she was pretty certain she would get the job.

McGuiness said her duties included a lot of editing of reports, presentations and newsletters, as well as graphic design and social media work. Prosecutors allege that she continued to be paid after leaving for college in the fall of 2020, but McGuiness said she continued work a few hours a week on projects while at school, and also got paid for hours she had banked after exceeding her weekly maximum of 29.5 hours while working long summer hours at the Delaware State Fair.

I was able to continue the data entry and more adds from the future social media, McGuiness told her mother in a September 2020 email from her personal email account. I wont be able to do more than 10 hours a week since I am in school and my excess hours end the week of the 20th.

Under cross-examination by Wood, McGuiness denied billing the state for hours she did not work and said she worked every hour for which she was paid. She also told Wood that she was treated poorly by other staffers in the auditors office, saying that they had gotten a distaste for her and her friend and co-worker, Virginia Bateman right off the bat.

In earlier testimony, the owner of a consulting firm hired by Kathy McGuiness in late 2019 under a no-bid contract said staffers in the auditor's office were incompetent and pushed back on reforms Kathy McGuiness wanted to make after her predecessors 30-year tenure.

It was a very toxic culture, said Christie Gross, adding that she never had any conflict with McGuiness herself.

Gross testified that she eventually stopped working for the auditor's office in 2021, after having successfully bid on a second contract. She said the final straw came after she spent several late-night hours correcting numbers in a budget request to be presented to state lawmakers, only to see the old numbers put back in. After complaining to McGuiness, Gross was assured by the auditors chief of staff that the right numbers would be restored, only to discover by accident that they were not.

When I saw it, I just decided it was too much for me to continue, said Gross, who described the auditors office as a disaster that lacked professionalism.

Prosecutors have alleged that McGuiness orchestrated a no-bid communications services contract for Gross consulting firm, My Campaign Group, which she had used as a campaign consultant when running for lieutenant governor in 2016. They also said she deliberately kept the contract payments under $5,000 each to avoid having to get them approved by the Division of Accounting.

Gross testified that McGuiness never told her to submit a bill for less than $5,000, and that she didnt even know about the $5,000 reporting threshold until after McGuiness had been indicted.

McGuiness also is charged with intimidating and retaliating against employees who reported her alleged wrongdoing or who she believed might be cooperating with investigators.

Prosecutors allege that the intimidation, which included monitoring employees emails, began as early as March 2019, even though McGuiness was not told until September 2021 that she was the subject of a criminal investigation.
BOSTON (AP)  State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz said Thursday that she is ending her campaign for governor of Massachusetts, leaving state Attorney General Maura Healey as the only viable Democrat still in the running.

Chang-Diaz, in her announcement that came one year to the day after she declared that she was entering the race, said she would instead turn her focus to making sure down-ballot candidates who share her values and approach to put courage over politics get elected.

I am going to be spending my time campaigning and marshaling my supporters and the movement weve built for these Courage Democrats down ballot, candidates who walk the walk when it comes to our values, she said in the statement. I have no doubt that they will fight to put courage over politics in our state, and I am going to be using my energy to help put them into office.

Chang-Diaz's name will remain on the Sept. 6 primary ballot.

Two Republicans are vying for their party's backing in the September primary: former state Rep. Geoff Diehl, who has the support of former President Donald Trump, and Wrentham business owner Chris Doughty, who has never before held public office. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker is not seeking a third term.

Healey said she hopes to continue working with Chang-Diaz.

Im deeply grateful to Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz for her many years of service to Massachusetts and her inspired leadership during this campaign, Healey said in written statement. The legacy of her campaign will live on through the young girls who finally saw themselves represented in a candidate for the highest office in the state.

The Republicans left in the race said the decision of Chang-Diaz will help sharpen the differences between their candidacies and Healeys.

Her departure from the race makes this now a clear contest between my vision to make Massachusetts a better place to live and work, and the policies of Maura Healey which would drive more families and businesses to leave our state in search of better opportunities elsewhere, Diehl said in a statement.

Doughty, who is challenging Diehl for the GOP nomination, said its clear Healey muscled Sonia out of the race so that Democrat voters dont have a choice.

We believe that voters should have choices in elections, not coronations, Doughty said in a statement. With (Chang-Diaz) out of the race, it becomes even more critical for Republicans to choose the candidate who has the best chance of defeating Maura Healey.

Chang-Diaz is the daughter of a social worker and the countrys first Latino astronaut, Franklin Chang-Diaz. She was elected as the states first Latina state senator in 2008. Had she been elected, she would have been the first Latina and first Asian American to hold the governor's office.

She would also have become the first woman elected governor in Massachusetts, a title that would now go to Healey, if she wins.

If elected, Healey would also be the first openly gay candidate to serve in the states top political office.

Healey has a strong fundraising edge, with more than $5.2 million in her campaign account as of the end of May, compared with about $15,000 for Diehl and $883,000 for Doughty, most of it coming out of his own pocket.

When she announced her run, Chang-Diaz said she supported the proposed so-called millionaire tax constitutional amendment and pledged to close the racial wealth gap in Massachusetts.

Healey won the partys endorsement with 71% of the delegate votes at the state party convention earlier this month, while Chang-Diaz won 29%.

Other Democrats who had announced runs but have since dropped out include Harvard University professor Danielle Allen and former state Sen. Ben Downing.

___

Associated Press writer Mark Pratt contributed to this report.
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  The founders and former chief financial officer of Epic Charter Schools were arrested Thursday and are facing felony criminal charges alleging they diverted millions of taxpayer dollars in a complicated scheme that involved excessive management fees, state investigators said.

Epic co-founders Ben Harris, 46, and David Chaney, 43, along with the school's former CFO Josh Brock, 40, were arrested Thursday and taken to the Oklahoma County Detention Center for booking, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a press release.

All three are facing charges of racketeering, embezzlement, obtaining money by false pretense, conspiracy to commit a felony, violation of the, Computer Crimes Act, submitting false documents to the state and unlawful proceeds, the OSBI said. Bond for three men was listed as $250,000.

Jail and court records don't indicate the name of an attorney who could speak on their behalf. Harris and Chaney have previously denied any wrongdoing.

The arrests follow a yearslong OSBI investigation that begin in 2013 at the request of then-Gov. Mary Fallin.

This has been a very complex and arduous investigation with many roadblocks causing delays in getting to the truth, OSBI Director Ricky Adams said in a statement. Harris, Chaney and Brock came up with a get rich quick scheme that lined their pockets with tax dollars that were to be spent for the benefit of Oklahoma students. The OSBI criminal investigation unraveled the intricate scheme layer by layer, in spite of a lack of cooperation, legal obstacles and delay tactics.

Both state and federal officials have been investigating the school for allegedly embezzling millions in state funds by illegally inflating student enrollment counts. Among the biggest concerns of state investigators and a grand jury is Epic Youth Services, a management company owned by Chaney and Harris, which has received a 10% management fee paid for by public funds.

Epic Charter schools severed ties with the Epic Youth Services, along with Chaney and Harris, last year.
LONDON (AP)  The European Medicines Agency said Thursday it is recommending the authorization of the coronavirus vaccine made by French pharmaceutical Valneva, making it the sixth shot given the green light in Europe.

The EU drug regulator said in a statement that it had cleared Valneva's two-dose vaccine for people aged 18 to 50. The main study used to assess Valneva's vaccine was research in about 3,000 people aged 30 and over; scientists compared it to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Those results showed Valneva's vaccine triggered the production of higher levels of antibodies than the AstraZeneca vaccine. The EMA said the (Valneva) vaccine is as effective at triggering the production of antibodies in people aged between 18 and 29 as it is in people aged 30 years and older.

Still, the EMA said there were limited data on how effective Valneva's vaccine might be against the virus' omicron variant and its subvariants, which are currently fueling surges of cases across Europe. The EMA said the side effects from Valneva's shot were mostly mild, including aches, nausea and tiredness.

Valneva's vaccine is made using the same technology used for flu and polio shots. It uses a killed version of the COVID-19 virus, which primes the body to make antibodies against it. The vaccine also contains adjuvants, or ingredients to boost the immune response.

Last year, the British government canceled an agreement to buy 100 million doses from Valneva partly because it was clear the companys COVID-19 shot wouldnt be approved by British regulators, according to the health secretary.

Britain was an early backer of the Valneva project, agreeing to invest millions of pounds in a production facility in Scotland as part of a deal announced last September. As part of the contract, the U.K. had agreed to buy 100 million doses of the vaccine, with options for another 90 million.

Despite the government's cancelation of the agreement, Britain's Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency authorized Valneva in April, becoming the first in the world to OK the vaccine.

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Follow APs coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
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MANZA, Albania (AP)  Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday denounced the Iranian regime for brutality and urged the Biden administration not to renew a nuclear deal with Tehran, saying it would embolden Iran's leadership.

Pence flew 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) from his home in Indiana to Albania to visit the Ashraf-3 camp that is home to some 3,000 Iranian dissidents from the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, best known as MEK.

Speaking at the camp near a small hill town 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of Albania's capital, Tirana, Pence harshly denounced Tehran for brutality, poverty and corruption.

Pence said the election of President Ebrahim Raisi, whom he called a brutal mass murderer responsible for the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, was intended to quash internal dissent and intimidate the people of Iran into remaining silent.

He also visited the camps museum on what it describes as the death or execution of up to 120,000 Iranians since the Islamist regime came to power in 1979.

The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq began as a Marxist group opposing the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It supported the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but soon had a falling out with Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and turned against his clerical government, carrying out a series of assassinations and bombings in the Islamic Republic.

The MEK later fled into Iraq and backed dictator Saddam Hussein during his bloody eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s, leading many people in Iran to oppose the group. Although now largely based in Albania, the group claims to operate a network inside Iran.

Pence hailed the time of his governing with former President Donald Trump when they canceled the Iran nuclear deal, mentioning the sanctions imposed on Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard and bringing Irans oil exports to near zero.

A renewed deal with Iran wont block Irans path to a nuclear bomb, Pence warned.

He said a deal would not benefit the people of Iran in any way but merely empower and enrich a corrupt regime that has tormented and tortured the Iranian people for generations.

Pence urged the Biden administration to immediately withdraw from all nuclear negotiations with Tehran, voice support for the organized opposition in Iran, and make it clear that America and our allies will never permit the regime in Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

-

Llazar Semini on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lsemini
President Cyril Ramaphosa formally received the fifth and final Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption, and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, during a handover ceremony held at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on June 22, 2022.The report was presented to the President by the Chief Justice and Commission Chairperson, Judge Raymond Zondo.

analysis

Now that Rajesh and Atul Gupta have been arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), there is a great deal of speculation as to when the brothers may ultimately set foot on South African soil to face charges of money laundering and other financial crimes.

The brothers are the alleged kingpins behind state capture in South Africa - the massive corruption and repurposing of state organs for private gain during the ruinous reign of their friend, former president Jacob Zuma. They fled South Africa for Dubai in April 2016.

The judicial commission into state capture and corruption - Zondo Commission - found that the Gupta family had considerable access to Zuma, influencing political decisions, such as ministerial appointments and staffing at the various state-owned enterprises, and rearrangement of the revenue service to advance their financial interests.

The evidence outlined in the Zondo Commission reports offers substantive, chronological and narrative detail. That'll assist prosecutors in building cases of fraud, money-laundering and a host of other financial crimes against named individuals, including Rajesh and Aptul Gupta.

This means that South Africans are now aware, having been provided with considerable information and in great detail, about the financial malfeasance that had been carried out for over a decade or more.

Despite this, there have only been a few arrests, and even a smaller number of prosecutions. Having the Guptas in court will send a strong signal that the days of impunity are over.

The likelihood of the brothers ultimately being forced to face their alleged crimes depends on how strong the case against them is, and how adroit the prosecutors are. So far, it's clear that there is a very strong case against the brothers. But the jury is still out on the ability of the country's prosecutors to do a good job.

Nevertheless, it's important to understand bringing the Guptas to account might take a while.

A drawn out process

Arresting a suspect in pursuance of an extradition order usually signals a preliminary legal victory for the requesting country. Once the fugitive is in police custody, formal proceedings may start to have the suspect brought to trial.

But the victory is usually short-lived. This is because the process of extradition is lengthy, often proceeding in fits and starts. It may in fact take years to bring the suspect to justice.

A recent international example is the case of Julian Assange's extradition from the United Kingdom to the United States to face espionage charges, which has been in the works for over a decade. Assange has used court challenges and extra-legal measures (refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London) to halt his extradition.

One closer to home is the case of Mozambique's former finance minister Manuel Chang, who is wanted in both Mozambique and the United States for corruption involving $2 billion. The High Court in Johannesburg has ruled that Chang, who has been in jail in South Africa since 2018, be extradited to the US for trial.

It is probable that the Guptas will use the court systems in both the UAE and South Africa to delay their day of legal reckoning. They are also likely to seek political or diplomatic alternatives to facing trial in South Africa.

These could include, for example, seeking intervention from the Indian or UAE governments to pursue a legal settlement that might involve returning their allegedly ill-gained revenue in exchange for withdrawing the charges.

Strong case

The first precondition for securing the brothers' presence in court would be a bulletproof case by South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority. This must withstand both South African and UAE judicial scrutiny. Such a case would have to be built on an incontrovertible body of evidence including sworn documents, financial records, witness testimony, and an irreproachable timeline of misdeeds.

Such a bulletproof case is mapped out in voluminous detail in the reports of the Zondo Commission. The reports outlined how Zuma's friends and associates diverted billions of rand from parastatals to offshore accounts, mostly at the behest of the Gupta family.

A searing example is the purchase by Transnet, the transport parastatal, of unsuitable locomotives, in violation of state procurement laws and policies, and with allegedly huge kickbacks to the Guptas. Another example is the slew of criminal activities at Eskom, the power utility, that were allegedly devised entirely to profit the Gupta family and their enablers in the governing party.

These financial crimes have had several deleterious effects on South Africa. They robbed South Africans of basic social and economic resources (electricity, transport) they need to live a decent life. Even with prosecutions, it may take years (if at all) to recoup the stolen money.

In short, the Gupta footprint is all over the thousands of pages of the Zondo Commission Report. The task is now up to the NPA to develop an unimpeachable case against Rajesh and Aptul Gupta.

Prosecutors

The second precondition to ensuring the Guptas return to South Africa to face charges is the adroit handling and ultimate success of the prosecutors in prevailing over the many legal challenges that are certain to be raised by the Gupta brothers.

It helps that the brothers have lost their enormous influence and access to South Africa's presidency, and other senior ANC politicians with the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as party leader in 2017, and national president in 2018.

The jury is still out as to whether the National Prosecuting Authority, which was hollowed out as part of the state capture project, has the capability to successfully prosecute those implicated in the Zondo Commission reports.

Despite the appointment of new leadership three years ago, and formal support from President Ramaphosa, the agency continues to be underfunded. The record so far does not inspire confidence.

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The prosecution of those named in the Zondo Commission reports remain lacklustre. This is so despite the public commitment made by the prosecutors in the wake of the Zondo Commission reports.

Yet the expectations of South Africans that the state will succeed in prosecuting those who have committed atrocious financial crimes remain high. Despite its disappointing record, the prosecuting authority has been giving a vital legal lifeline by the Zondo Commission reports, with their detailed listing and description of the crimes committed.

The prosecuting authority has also enlisted some of the country's leading legal minds from the private sector in efforts to extradite the Guptas, and to prosecute state capture cases. This bodes well for ensuring that the Gupta brothers will face charges in a South African court.

Conclusion

South Africa's prosecutors should seize the lifeline provided by the Zondo Commission, and the addition of capable legal talent, to reinvigorate a distressed institution.

Successful prosecution of the Guptas and others implicated in state capture will be good for the prosecutors' reputation. It'll also be good for the country - in economic and political terms. Their success will be appreciated not just locally, but could serve as a model for prosecuting corruption in Africa - and globally.

Penelope Andrews, Professor of Law, New York Law School
DAMACUS, Syria (AP)  The international airport in Syrias capital of Damascus resumed flights on Thursday after nearly two weeks following an Israeli airstrike that caused serious damage to the facility, a private company said.

Cham Wings Airlines said it had four flights that took off from the Damascus International Airport on Thursday for Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.

The June 10 Israeli airstrike caused significant damage to infrastructure and runways and rendered the main runway unusable.

Shortly after the strike, work began to repair the damage and flights have been mostly diverted to the international airport in the northern city of Aleppo, Syrias largest city.

Israels military has declined to comment on the airstrike. The facility is located just south of Damascus, where Syrian opposition activists say Iran-backed militiamen are active and have arms depots.

Israel has staged hundreds of strikes against targets in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations. The airport strike marked a major escalation in Israels campaign, further ratcheting up tensions between Israel on one side and Iran and its Lebanese ally, the militant Hezbollah group, on the other.

Israel says it targets bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Hezbollah, which has fighters deployed in Syria fighting on the side of President Bashar Assads government forces and ships arms believed to be bound for the militias.

On Tuesday, a Cham Wings Airlines flight from the United Arab Emirates landed at an airport used by Russias military in the coastal province of Latakia in western Syria. The flight was the first to land at the airbase since the strike at Damascus airport.

It was also the first Syrian international flight to land at the facility since Russia took it over after joining the war in Syria in September 2015, helping tip the balance of power in favor of Assads forces.
A federal grand jury has returned an indictment against Andrew Gillum, who narrowly lost the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Gillum, 42, was named along with Sharon Janet Lettman-Hicks, 53.

The indictment alleges that between 2016 and 2019, Gillum and Lettman-Hicks conspired to commit wire fraud by obtaining funds through false promises and the illusion that the money would be used for a legitimate purpose.

"The indictment further alleges the defendants used third parties to divert a portion of those funds to a company owned by Lettman-Hicks, who then fraudulently provided the funds, disguised as payroll payments, to Gillum for his personal use. Both defendants are charged with 19 counts of wire fraud. Gillum is also charged with making false statements to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," a release from the United States attorney for the Northern District of Florida stated.

The initial appearance is scheduled for June 22.

The maximum terms of imprisonment for the offenses are as follows:

 5 years: Making false statements

 20 years: Conspiracy to commit wire fraud

 20 years: Wire fraud

In a written statement, Gillum acknowledged the case but said it is politically motivated without offering specifics.

I have spent the last 20 years of my life in public service and continue to fight for the people, Gillum said. Every campaign Ive run has been done with integrity. Make no mistake that this case is not legal, it is political. Throughout my career I have always stood up for the people of Florida and have spoken truth to power. Theres been a target on my back ever since I was the mayor of Tallahassee. They found nothing then, and I have full confidence that my legal team will prove my innocence now.
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DETROIT (AP)  High gas prices have Wallace Reid looking for a new career.

Reid, who drives for Uber and Lyft in New York, fills up his Lexus at least three times a week. He pays around $95 each time, about double what he was paying last year. To make up for that, hes driving more often, but hes also applying for other jobs that wouldnt require his car.

Its more hours, more stress, he said. New York City is not an easy city to work and its affecting our lives.

Reid isnt alone. Millions of Americans who rely on their cars for work are changing their habits, signing up for carpools or even ditching their cars for bicycles as gas prices recently hit $5 per gallon for the first time ever. This week, it's averaging $4.95 per gallon nationwide, up from $3.06 per gallon a year ago, according to AAA.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden asked Congress to suspend federal gas taxes for three months, which would shave 18.4 cents per gallon off the price of gas. He also called on states to suspend their own gas taxes.

Bidens push faces uphill odds in Congress. In the meantime, gas is straining budgets.

Jace Shoemaker-Galloway agonized over whether to charge more for Paws and Whiskers Sitters, her pet-sitting business in Macomb, Illinois. She visits as many as 10 houses each day and fills up her 2018 Mazda CX-3 almost every week. One recent fill-up cost her nearly $50.

This month, she finally acted. She contacted her clients and told them she was removing the 10% discount she has always given to repeat customers.

Shoemaker-Galloway, who is also a childrens book author, said her customers were understanding. But she worries that gas prices will cut into her business in other ways.

The cost isnt just impacting my bottom line, she said. Because the price of everything is so expensive, people are cutting back on non-essentials, which means pet-sitting and book sales.

In a normal summer, Orvilia Nieto might do some traveling in the RV she lives in in Lytle, Texas. But that might not happen this year. She is struggling to fill the tank of her 2008 Ford Expedition SUV so she can get to her job at a T.J. Maxx distribution center in San Antonio, about 20 miles away.

Nieto and her co-workers trade tips on where gas is cheapest. She sometimes carpools or fills her tank only halfway, which still costs her more than $50. But she feels lucky. A handful of colleagues on her shift, which ends at 2:30 a.m., ride their bikes home in the dark.

Its been a rough road, she said. If we lived in the city it would be easier, could take the bus, but at the end of the shift at 2:30 in the morning, what bus line is available?

Jill Chapman, a senior performance consultant with Insperity, a Texas-based human resources and recruitment company, said gas prices and commute lengths are increasingly a sticking point with job candidates. Chapman said companies may want to consider temporary bonuses, incentives for public transit or gas cards to help their employees.

A business owner needs to acknowledge that there is stress associated with rising gas prices, Chapman said.

David Lewis, the CEO of Operations Inc., a Norwalk, Connecticut-based human resources consulting company, remembers handing out gas cards to his employees in 2009 when gas prices topped $4 per gallon. But this time he wont be doing that because employees have another option: working from home.

This is an unwelcome development for those companies that are trying to get people back to the office, Lewis said. It is one more reasonable reason why those employees are pushing back.

Lewis has around 100 employees in Norwalk. Before COVID, 85% of them were in the office at least two days a week. Now, maybe 25% of them are. Lewis  and many of his clients  would like to see employees in the office more but say gas prices are a huge barrier.

If you are the company that requires everyone to come in all the time, youre a pariah, he said.

Psychology professor Brian Cesario used to live within walking distance of the college where he teaches. But last year, he moved 55 miles away to Hopewell Junction, New York, so he could afford a larger home for his growing family.

Cesario taught remotely even before the pandemic and assumed he would continue doing so. But last fall, his college began requiring him to drive to campus twice a week, a commute that now costs him $240 in gas each month. Cesario said he doesnt make enough to compensate for that, so hes looking for a fully remote job outside of academia.

For those who must commute, there can be options. On Tuesday, Uber announced it was bringing back discounted shared rides in nine U.S. cities this summer, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Organizations that link carpoolers  like one run by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments in the Detroit area  say they are seeing significantly more participants.

Some are even finding solutions in their own garage. Pame Viens and her husband  both histotechnologists who prepare tissue at medical facilities  switched vehicles because his commute is longer. Now, hes driving her 2016 Volkswagen Passat and shes driving his 2022 Dodge Ram.

Im only 51." I hit my forehead on the side mirror, she said with a laugh. But Im getting used to it.

But others say they simply have to hustle harder. Brian Scheall, an Uber driver in Tampa, Florida, pays $75 every time he fills up his Volkswagen Atlas.

You can make money but you have to work, work, work, said Scheall. He recently took a side job driving some customers from Florida to Virginia for some extra cash.

Uber says it understands drivers are feeling the pinch from high gas prices, and it added a 45-cent to 55-cent surcharge on all trips in March to help soften the blow. But both Reid and Scheall say gig companies should be doing much more.

It makes no difference at all. Its like a grain of sand, Reid said of the surcharge.
BOISE, Idaho (AP)  Idahos 44 counties will receive a combined $35.8 million under a program intended to offset the loss of property taxes on federally managed land within the state, the Interior Department announced Thursday.

President Joe Biden in March signed an appropriations bill that included full funding of $549.4 million for Payments in Lieu of Taxes, or PILT, for 2022, with payments to states now finalized.

About 63% of Idaho is federally managed lands, and its PILT payment is the seventh-highest among states this year. California is receiving the most at about $59 million, followed by New Mexico and Utah at about $44 million each.

This year's Idaho PILT payment is an increase from the $34.5 million the state received last year.

This program is an important example of the federal governments commitment to continuing to be a good neighbor to the communities we serve," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. "The nearly $550 million being distributed will help local governments carry out vital services, such as firefighting and police protection, construction of public schools and roads, and search-and-rescue operations.

The PILT payments are made annually by the Interior Department and its agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management. The payments also cover federal lands administered by the Forest Service and other agencies.

In Idaho, Elmore County is receiving the most at $2.7 million, with Cassia and Blaine County at roughly $2.5 million. The payments are calculated based on the number of acres of federal land within each county or jurisdiction and the population of those areas.

U.S. lawmakers have at times criticized the PILT program and its payments as insufficient or undependable.

Idaho lawmakers on the Federalism Committee, which deals with state sovereignty issues, last month hired a Utah company for $250,000 to appraise federal land in three counties to determine how much tax revenue the land would generate if it were privately owned and subject to property taxes.

The contract with Utah-based Aeon AI covers federal land in three of Idahos 44 counties  Boundary County in northern Idaho, Canyon County in southwestern Idaho and Clearwater County in north-central Idaho.

Some Idaho lawmakers have said that the state should get more than it has historically received from the PILT program. The results from the Aeon AI appraisal could bolster that argument.

Under this year's PILT payment, Boundary County is receiving $886,000, Canyon County $56,000 and Clearwater County $896,000.

The Idaho House and Senate last year passed a concurrent resolution approving the $250,000 and tasking the Federalism Committee with finding out how much money the federal public land would generate in property taxes if privately owned. Concurrent resolutions dont need a signature from the governor. The resolution doesnt say what the committee should do with the information after it has it.
BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP)  Burlington, Iowa, has agreed to pay $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the mother of a man who was shot to death by police nearly five years ago, the two sides said Thursday.

The settlement comes nearly five years after Officer Chris Chiprez shot and killed 27-year-old Marquis Jones.

Police stopped Jones on Oct. 1, 2017, for allegedly playing music too loudly, and police say Jones ran away with a gun in his hand. Chiprez fired several shots at Jones, saying in reports that Jones had refused orders to drop the gun. Jones fled into a backyard, followed by Chiprez, who fired a final shot that struck and killed Jones.

Chiprez said in reports that he thought Jones was armed and was unaware that Jones had dropped the gun about 50 yards (45 meters) from where he was shot. But lawyers for Jones mother, Altovese Williams, said police body camera video and autopsy results showed that Jones was nearly prone on the ground when he was shot.

Im not aware of a settlement larger than this in the state of Iowa for a wrongful death, civil rights claim, Cedar Rapids attorney Dave OBrien, who represented Williams, said in a statement. We believe the citys agreement to settle for their policy limits shows that they understand that the shooting and killing unarmed people in Burlington needs to stop.

Police Chief Marc Denney declined to comment on the settlement, but he did confirm that Chiprez remains on the police force.

He's an officer in good standing who has been with the force for 20-plus years, Denney said.

In March, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Chiprez was not entitled to qualified immunity in the lawsuit, citing body-camera footage that appeared to show Chiprez looking directly at items  including the gun  dropped by Jones while running after him. The appeals court also noted that autopsy results did not support Chiprez's assertion that Jones was in an upright firing position when he shot him.

The Davenport law firm of Betty, Neuman & McMahon, which is representing Chiprez and the city, didn't immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment.

Burlington is a city of 24,000 people, located on the Mississippi River about 140 miles east of Des Moines.
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  A court in Iran on Thursday ordered the United States government to pay over $4 billion to the families of Iranian nuclear scientists who have been killed in targeted attacks in recent years, state-run media reported.

The largely symbolic ruling underscores the escalating tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, with negotiations to restore the tattered atomic accord at a standstill.

Although Tehran has blamed Israel in the past for slayings targeting Iranian nuclear scientists since a decade ago, Iran did not directly accuse its arch-foe Israel in its announcement. Iran has not recognized Israel since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the pro-West monarchy and brought Islamists to power.

The court mentioned Israel only in saying the U.S. supported the Zionist regime in its organized crime against the victims.

It's unclear how the court decision, like a raft of previous Iranian cases against the U.S. as the two sides have engaged in a spiraling escalation of threats, would gain traction; there are no American assets to confiscate in the Islamic Republic.

Still, the court branch, which is dedicated to the review of Iranian complaints against the U.S., summoned 37 former American officials, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, as well as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Iran envoy Brian Hook and former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed tough economic sanctions on Iran that severed most of its oil revenues and international financial transactions.

President Joe Biden wanted to return to the accord, but talks have stalled in recent weeks over Americas designation of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, Iran is enriching uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels under decreasing international oversight. Earlier this month, Iran removed 27 surveillance cameras of the U.N.s International Atomic Energy Agency in what its director warned could deal a fatal blow to the nuclear accord.

The families of three nuclear scientists who had been killed in targeted slayings, along with one nuclear scientist wounded in an attack, filed the lawsuit in Tehran, the country's state-run IRNA news agency reported, without identifying the plaintiffs. The court ordered that the U.S. pay $4.3 billion in total compensation, including fines.

Iran and Israel have been locked in a shadow war across the Middle East and its waters. That conflict has escalated with the recent suspected targeted killings of Iranian nuclear scientists and military officials. In late 2020, Iran blamed Israel for killing its top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, with a remote-controlled machine gun while he was traveling in a car outside Tehran.

Iran also has placed sanctions on prominent American political and military officials for alleged terrorism and human rights violations, in retaliation for the U.S. assassination of Irans top commander, Qassem Soleimani, two years ago.

Meanwhile Thursday, the Guard replaced the head of its intelligence arm. Cleric Hossein Taeb will be replaced by Gen. Mohammad Kazemi, the former head of the Guard's security department.

The move follows the deaths of several Guard officers in recent weeks. Taeb was known for his heavy-handed policies toward pro-reform figures since Iran's 2009 post-election turmoil.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP)  Israel on Thursday dispatched two water-dropping aircraft to help battle a large wildfire that has scorched at least 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares) of forest in the foothills of the Pentadaktylos mountain range in the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus.

The two Israeli aircraft joined another two planes and a helicopter that the Cyprus government sent to fight the blaze following a request from breakaway Turkish Cypriot authorities made through the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, or UNFICYP, on the island nation.
The House Jan. 6 committee used Thursday's hearing to show the pressure that Donald Trump put on the Justice Department to install a loyalist at the helm who would pursue the then-president's false claims of voter fraud and stop the certification of the 2020 election that Democrat Joe Biden won.

It's the latest account of how close the United States came to having a constitutional crisis if the department leaders had not threatened to resign and the defeated incumbent was able to orchestrate a plan for the government to overturn election results in several pivotal states.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., led the hearing, saying it would show how close we came to losing it all.



The committee also continued to make the case that Trump's efforts to reverse his loss resulted in the deadly siege after he sent supporters to the Capitol as Congress was certifying Biden's victory.

Here are some important takeaways from this months fifth hearing of the committee that is investigating the causes of the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump's Justice Department in turmoil

Day after day, Trump pressured the department leaders to dig into false claims of election fraud after the November 2020 election.

Former Attorney General William Barr had described the swirl of false voter fraud theories coming from Trump's orbit as wack-a-mole.

The department declined Trump's overtures because we did not think they were appropriate, testified Jeffrey Rosen, who became acting attorney general after Barr stepped down.

The officials told Trump that states conduct their own elections, free from federal interference. But Trump only pressed harder, despite being told repeatedly there was no fraud.

At one point in late December 2020, Trump asked Rosen what Rosen found to be a peculiar question: Do you know Jeff Clark?

Trump was eyeing Clark to take over at the department.

Who is Jeff Clark?



Clark led the civil division that handled environmental cases. He was introduced to Trump by a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, a leader of the House's conservative Freedom Caucus.

Clark had been circulating a proposal that would have the legislatures from battleground states not to certify their election results. By holding back their electors for Biden, the disputed states could submit alternate electors loyal to Trump.

Clark's ideas alarmed his colleagues, as did his sudden rise into Trump's orbit as a potential new acting attorney general.

"It may well had spiraled us into a constitutional crisis," testified Richard Donoghue, the former acting deputy attorney general.

At one heated meeting when Trump was floating Clark's rise with the others at the White House, Donoghue made the point that Jeff Clark wasn't even competent to serve as attorney general.

When Clark shot back that he had worked on complicated civil and environmental matters, Donoghue retorted: How about you go back to your office and we'll call you when there's an oil spill?



Subpoenas served on 'fake electors'



The hearing was gaveled in as the Department of Justice escalated its own investigation, searching Clarks Virginia home this week as federal agents also served subpoenas across the country related to the scheme by Trump allies to create sets of fake electors with the intention of invalidating Bidens win.

The purpose of the searches was not immediately clear, but they came as the House committee has pressured the department to step up its investigation.

Among those being investigated are Republican officials in key states, including those working on the fake electors in the run-up to Jan. 6, when Congress would be tallying the election results.

The chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, David Shafer, received a subpoena, and the Nevada GOP chair, Michael McDonald, turned over his phone to federal agents Wednesday when they approached him outside his car in Las Vegas and presented a warrant. That's according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss the developments publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)  A man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting a woman as she rode an all-terrain vehicle on a south Kansas City street two years ago.

Glenn Darren Rucker, 39, of Kansas City, was sentenced Tuesday after earlier being convicted of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the July 2020 death of 41-year-old Sharon Heifner-Douglas, the Kansas City Star reported.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP)  Gov. Andy Beshear took action Thursday to combat any signs of price gouging at the pump, touting it as a consumer protection measure amid sky-high gas prices straining Kentuckians' budgets.

The Democratic governor signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency in response to gas prices hovering close to $5 per gallon. His action activated Kentucky's price gouging laws.

With his action, Kentucky consumers can report suspected price gouging at the pump to state Attorney General Daniel Cameron's office.

Beshear said every little bit helps in trying to offer relief to consumers reeling from soaring fuel prices. He acknowledged a governor's options are limited in dealing with global economic unrest.

Cameron responded by urging Kentuckians to alert his office about any signs of price gouging.

But the hot-button issue reflected the political tension between the Democratic governor and the Republican attorney general who wants his job.

Beshear wrote to Cameron in early June asking if the topic of gas prices warranted investigation.

In a recent reply, Cameron blamed Democratic President Joe Biden's energy policies for the nation's rising fuel prices. Cameron accused Biden of pursing an extreme green agenda.

Cameron told Beshear that issuing a state of emergency would offer minimal  if any  additional relief to Kentuckians. But he pledged to fully enforce the price gouging laws.

Beshear offered a public reply at his weekly news conference Thursday.

I believe strongly that even minimal relief is better than no relief, the governor said.

Cameron's letter said his office had already been monitoring gas prices in Kentucky, and that 263 complaints had been logged with his office since the start of 2022.

Its the kind of give-and-take that Kentuckians can expect as the political banter heats up going into the 2023 statewide elections in the Bluegrass State. Cameron is among several candidates seeking the GOP nomination for governor next year, when Beshear will seek a second term.

The governor has taken other steps to try to offer relief to Kentuckians battered by rising prices.

Beshear recently took action to freeze Kentuckys gas tax, preventing a 2-cent-per-gallon increase that would have taken effect July 1. The action is expected to save Kentuckians an estimated $35.4 million. In February, the governor took executive action to grant relief to Kentucky taxpayers hit with pandemic-related increases in their vehicle property tax bills.

Beshear touts the states economic development gains during his term. He has landed the states two largest economic development projects ever  both battery plants.

The governor said Thursday that Kentucky's unemployment rate has fallen to historic lows in back-to-back months. And the state has the fewest number of residents drawing unemployment benefits since 2000, he said.

Republican House Speaker David Osborne later said that the jobless rates show that the pro-worker, pro-job policies enacted by the state's GOP-dominated legislature are working.

This announcement is not the result of press conference promises or ceremonial actions, but rather the hard work, difficult decision making, and forward-thinking leadership of legislators who know firsthand how heavy-handed government overreach harms the people of Kentucky, Osborne said.

State GOP spokesman Sean Southard, meanwhile, pointed to an aluminum producer's decision to temporarily idle its smelter in Hawesville, Kentucky, as a result of skyrocketing energy costs

Governor Beshear loves to say Kentuckys economy is on fire, and thanks to the Biden-Beshear agenda, nothing could be more true, Southard said in a statement.
analysis

The UK government's announcement of a new work visa option aimed at attracting top graduates has elicited some backlash because the list of eligible institutions features no universities from Africa, Latin America or South Asia. The Conversation Africa's Nontobeko Mtshali asked Orla Quinlan, Director of Internationalisation at Rhodes University in South Africa, to share her thoughts on the implications such visa programmes have for international integration and intercultural efforts in higher education.

What has the UK government announced?

The UK government recently introduced a new "High Potential Individual" short-term work visa. Home Secretary Priti Patel said the intention was put "ability and talent first" - not where people come from.

The conditions of the high potential individual visa allow a stay of two or three years in the UK for graduates holding a master's degree or a PhD, respectively. This visa can't be extended, but holders may apply for longer-term visas.

Applicants need to have financial resources to acquire the visa and to sustain themselves while searching for employment. The high potential individual visa doesn't pertain to international students who are already registered at universities in the UK.

But the visa is restricted to graduates from specific universities featuring in the top 50 places of two international university rankings.

Who is eligible?

The most recent list of eligible universities comprised more than two dozen US universities. Other institutions are in Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and Sweden.

Each of these universities appeared in at least two of the following ranking systems: the Times Higher Education world university rankings, the Academic Ranking of World Universities and the Quacquarelli Symonds world university rankings.

African universities don't appear in the top 50 of any of these ranking systems. The criteria they use consider aspects like the university's research output, high achieving academics and alumni, reputation among employers, and international student ratio.

The performance of individual students isn't a criterion in any of these rankings.

Ranking systems are commercial entities. While deeply flawed, they play an increasing role in shaping opinions about the quality of tertiary education institutions. But many universities that don't feature in rankings graduate students who excel in their individual performances. The ranking systems are already heavily contested. To only correlate high performing individuals with specific universities is unscientific. Rankings have little to do with individual performance.

If any ranking system has to be used, it's been suggested that the Impact Rankings produced by Times Higher Education might be more appropriate. This measures universities' impacts on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. At least, this ranking is more inclusive of global South universities.

What does this tell us about inequality in higher education?

Attending the highly ranked eligible institutions requires the means to pay for fees, accommodation and living costs. For example, almost all the US institutions on the list are private colleges that charge high fees. Many high-performing students from the global South can't afford to attend. Many brilliant students will, therefore, never be eligible to access the high potential individual visa.

Universities from Latin America, Africa and most of Asia aren't on the list of eligible universities. It's not even possible for many universities to meet the specific criteria chosen. This exclusion sends a negative message.

The high potential individual visa shows short-sightedness about the experience, insights and skills that graduates from the global South could bring to the UK. Many individuals demonstrate high achievement outcomes, in spite of operating in under-resourced universities. This is due to their resilience and grit - the strongest predictor of success, according to the studies of American scholar Angel Lee Duckworth.

Should something change?

Countries are entitled to make their own decisions. But some countries are making short-term populist decisions, rather than longer term strategic decisions for the benefit of their own citizens and the world.

The world needs to build relationships for future global collaboration. We need to create, share and disseminate knowledge - a key lesson of the COVID pandemic. Mobility of higher education students needs to continue. These mobile students need prospects in the countries where they study, as one option, to circulate the global pool of talent.

The claim from Priti Patel that this visa "puts ability and talent first - not where someone comes from" doesn't stand up to scrutiny. The UK is offering an elite visa for well-off graduates from elite institutions to come and stay temporarily in the UK for two to three years.

The call from Rishi Sunak, the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, for students to "take advantage of this incredible opportunity to forge their careers here" is hardly realistic. A visa of this duration is simply not long enough to genuinely forge a career beyond an initial experience.

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Any person who has just arrived in a new country still has to acclimatise to the culture, find a job and develop relationships before they can start to contribute.

What are the implications for higher education?

The high potential individual visa isn't particularly going to affect the mobility of students to, and from Africa's higher education sectors because it's a work - not a study - visa. But it's a troubling manifestation of a changing value system which is increasingly exclusionary, elitist and undermining of diversity.

Higher education in Africa is acutely aware of its local challenges. These include the impact of structural social and economic inequality, environmental degradation and climate change in African countries. We know that we cannot have global peace and security if we don't improve education and job opportunities for all. That is why African universities are concerned with higher education being relevant and solving real problems by connecting our research, teaching and learning and community engagement and sharing our knowledge with the world.

Orla Quinlan, Director Internationalisation., Rhodes University
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LOS ANGELES (AP)  Los Angeles County supervisors have revealed financial details of a plan to return ownership of prime beachfront property to descendants of a Black couple who built a resort for African Americans but were stripped of the land in the 1920s.

The details are contained in a motion before the board on Tuesday that would complete transfer of the site once known as Bruce's Beach in the city of Manhattan Beach where the county's lifeguard training headquarters is now located.

The deal includes an agreement for the property to be leased back to the county for 24 months, with an annual rent of $413,000 plus all operation and maintenance costs, and the county's right to purchase the land for up to $20 million.

The land was purchased in 1912 by Willa and Charles Bruce, who built the first West Coast resort for Black people at a time when many beaches were segregated.

They suffered racist harassment from white neighbors and in the 1920s the Manhattan Beach City Council took the land through eminent domain. The city did nothing with the property and it was transferred to the state of California in 1948.

In 1995, the state transferred it to the county, with restrictions on further transfers.

Supervisor Janice Hahn launched the complex process of returning the property to heirs of the Bruces in April 2021. A major hurdle was overcome when the state Legislature passed a bill removing the restriction on transfer of the property.

According to the motion, the county last month completed the process of confirming that Marcus and Derrick Bruce, the great-grandsons of Charles and Willa Bruce, are their legal heirs. They have formed a limited liability company to hold the property.

At long last, the descendants of Willa and Charles Bruce will be able to begin rebuilding the wealth that has been denied to generations of Bruces since their property was seized nearly a century ago," Hahn said in a statement. "We will never be able to rectify the injustice that was inflicted upon the Bruce family, but this is a start, and it is the right thing to do.

Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, the motion's co-author, said the land should never have been taken from the Bruces.

Now, we are on the precipice of redemption and justice that is long overdue, Mitchell said.
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP)  The family of an unarmed Arkansas teenager fatally shot by a sheriff's deputy during a traffic stop filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the deputy and a county sheriff over the teen's death.

The family of Hunter Brittain filed the lawsuit against Michael Davis, a former sergeant with the Lonoke County sheriffs office, and Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley on the one-year anniversary of the 17-year-old's killing. Davis was convicted in March of negligent homicide, a misdemeanor, and sentenced to a year in jail in Brittain's death. He has appealed that ruling.

The lawsuit accuses Davis and Staley of violating the teen's constitutional rights and seeks unspecified damages.

Robert Newcomb, an attorney for Davis, said he had not seen the lawsuit but did not believe there was a strong case that Brittains civil rights had been violated.

The sheriff's office did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Thursday.

Brittain was killed outside an auto repair shop near Cabot, a city of about 26,000 people roughly 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Little Rock.

Davis testified earlier this year that he fired at Brittain after the teen didnt comply with his commands to show his hands as he exited his truck and reached into the bed of the pickup. Brittain was holding a container  which his family members have said held antifreeze  and no evidence of firearms were found in or near the truck, investigators said.

A passenger who was with Brittain and another witness have testified they didnt hear any commands from the deputy before he shot the teen. Brittains family members have said he was grabbing the container to place behind the trucks wheel to stop it from rolling backward and hitting Davis' vehicle.

The failures of former deputy Davis and the Lonoke County Sheriff are extensive, disturbing, and directly caused the tragic and preventable death of Hunter Brittain," Ben Crump and Devon Jacob, attorneys for the family, said in a statement.

Davis was fired by Staley in July for not turning on his body camera until after the shooting. During his trial, Davis emotionally recounted the fatal shooting.

I didnt get into this job to kill people, he testified in March.

The fatal shooting of the white teenager had drawn the attention of civil rights activists nationally who said the killing highlighted the need for interracial support for police reforms. Davis is white. Brittain was eulogized last year by the Rev. Al Sharpton, as well as Crump and Jacob, who represented the family of George Floyd.

The plaintiffs in the case also include the father of the teenage passenger who was with Brittain the night of the shooting. The lawsuit accuses another deputy who responded of violating the teen's rights by holding him in custody in handcuffs for three hours.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Lisa Price, the wife of U.S. Rep. David Price and founder of an advocacy group that seeks to reduce gun violence, died Thursday. She was 82.

The North Carolina congressman said in a statement that his wife died in Chapel Hill after struggling with illness over the weeks." No cause of death was given though a spokeswoman for Price said his wife had been battling cancer.
MILWAUKIE, Ore. (AP)  An Oregon State Police trooper and Clackamas County sheriffs detective fatally shot Derrick Dewayne Clark, 24, after a traffic stop and pursuit early Saturday.

In an initial statement, the sheriffs office said the shooting happened after an attempted traffic stop and chase that ended in Milwaukie, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

The officers tried to stop Clark because they suspected he was driving under the influence, the Clackamas County District Attorneys Office said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

Clark drove his car into a ditch, police told Clark to show his hands and he got out of the car with a handgun. Police shot him twice, the statement said. The shooting is being investigated by the Oregon City and Lake Oswego police departments.

Oregon State Police trooper Zachary Cole and Clackamas County Sheriffs Department detective Dan Ferguson are both on leave pending the outcome of an investigation and grand jury decision on whether or not to indict them.

Under a new policy, Clackamas County deputies are only supposed to engage in pursuits when they believe a person has committed a felony crime.

Driving under the influence is a misdemeanor in Oregon unless a person has three prior convictions in the past 10 years.
MANISTEE COUNTY  Manistee County has recorded 20 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths since June 15, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

This is an increase of 324 new cases and eight new deaths reported since Feb. 28.

Manistee County has had a total of 3,033 cases of COVID-19 and 77 deaths.

The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions updated COVID-19 Community Level tool shows the risk for new cases in Benzie and Manistee counties is at a high level.

Other counties in the region are also at a high COVID-19 community level, including Leelanau, Grand Traverse and Antrim counties.

The CDC updates the community level maps once a week, with June 17 being the most recent.

On Nov. 28, 2020, the county recorded 17 new cases in a single day and the same number again on April 12, 2021. On Nov. 16, 2021, the county broke that record with 18 cases recorded, according to MDHHS information. On Jan. 11, 2022, Manistee County recorded 24 new cases in one day  the highest total yet.

As of June 21, MDHHS is providing COVID-19 updates weekly on Tuesdays.

Here are some quick facts from the most recent MDHHS report:

 There have been over 2.59 million probable and confirmed cases and 36,744 confirmed and probable deaths statewide during the pandemic. MDHHS has updated its COVID-19 reporting to include confirmed and probable cases and deaths, instead of only confirmed cases and deaths.

 This is an increase of 10,681 confirmed and probable cases and an increase of 69 confirmed and probable deaths. MDHHS noted its average number of new confirmed cases is at 1,780 cases per day for six days.

 Grand Traverse County reported 14,771 cases and 208 deaths. This is an increase of 56 new cases with one new death.

 Wexford County reported 5,635 cases and 97 deaths. This is an increase of 24 new cases with one new death.

 Benzie County has seen 2,616 cases and 60 deaths. This is an increase of 13 new cases with no new deaths.

 Lake County has seen 1,664 cases and 34 deaths. This is an increase of six new cases with no new deaths.

 Mason County has seen 6,515 cases and 92 deaths. This is an increase of 28 new cases with no new deaths.

Manistee County is considered part of Region 7 for tracking by the state. Region 7 includes Manistee and 17 other counties.

The region has 941 hospital beds with 595 occupants in hospital beds and 132 adult patients in the intensive care unit, as of Wednesday.

The region has 29 adults who have had suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the hospital, none on a ventilator and three adult intensive care unit patients who have been confirmed or suspected to have had COVID-19.

Munson Healthcare Manistee Hospital has no COVID-19 patients, according to the most recent data available from MDHHS.

Manistee County has 63.1% of its population completely vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the states data from June 18, the most recent available data. This is 14,824 out of 23,506 eligible residents, according to 2019 U.S. Census estimates for people 5 years old and older.

The county has 63.4 % of the population considered fully vaccinated with at least one booster shot for those who are eligible. This is 9,109 out of 14,408 eligible residents who are eligible for a booster shot.

So far, 368 residents in Manistee County aged 5-11 years old have initiated their COVID-19 vaccine, or 24.4%; this age group has a total population of 1,509. In the 12-15 group, 461 children have initiated the vaccine with 417 completed, or 43.2% who have had an initial dose and 39.1 % who have completed their vaccinations. There are 1,067 children in this age group.

In Benzie County, about 67.1% of the residents are fully vaccinated.

Parents and guardians can schedule an appointment to vaccinate their children age six months and over from COVID-19 through DHD#10 at dhd10.org/schedule. It should be noted that according to DHD#10, only the Pfizer vaccine is currently available at their clinics. The Moderna vaccine will be available at a later date.

DHD#10 is offering off-site vaccine clinics. Participants do not need an appointment. All clinics will have Pfizer for people 6 months and older and most will have Moderna and Johnson & Johnson for those 18 and older.

The health department is also scheduling third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for anyone age 12 or older; you can schedule an appointment at dhd10.org/schedule.

The U.S. has the highest counts globally. India has the second-highest number of cases and Brazil has the second-highest number of deaths.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been about 86.38 million cases in the United States and just over 1.09 million deaths.

The World Health Organization lists over 538.3 million confirmed cases and about 6.32 million deaths in the world. There have been about 11.9 billion vaccine doses administered worldwide.
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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)  Minnesota's population of gray wolves is resilient and robust, wildlife managers said Thursday as they released a draft updated plan to keep it that way.

The Department of Natural Resources laid out a blueprint for the next 10 years to both strengthen conservation and minimize conflicts between people and predators. It calls for maintaining a statewide population of between 2,200 and 3,000 wolves. Thats in line with recent annual estimates of about 2,700 and around where it's been since the late 1990s.
LUCEDALE, Miss. (AP)  A Mississippi county has agreed to a $2.75 million settlement in a federal lawsuit for the wrongful death of an insulin-dependent inmate held in the county jail.

William Joel Dixon, 28, died in his jail cell at the George County Regional Correctional Facility on Sept. 24, 2014, after seven days without insulin. The George County jails former nurse, Carmon Sue Brannan, 58, is serving a 15-year manslaughter sentence for Dixons death.

Simply put, this matter arose from a senseless and tragic combination of a lack of basic human compassion and policies which prevented those who wanted to help Joel from being able to help him," said Garner Wetzel, one of the attorneys who represented the inmates estate.

Dixon died despite the jail having insulin on hand to treat him. His mother delivered one batch of insulin to the jail, and a George County jailer fetched another batch from the glove compartment of Dixons car at the time of his Sept. 17, 2014, arrest. During the jail stay, Dixon repeatedly begged for help as his condition deteriorated; Brannan ignored those pleas, blaming his symptoms on methamphetamine withdrawal.

The wrongful death lawsuit was filed on behalf of Dixons estate; his mother, Donna Dixon; and his children against George County, Brannan and the city of Lucedale. A judge later dismissed Lucedale as a defendant.

The settlement represents more than half the countys general fund budget of $4.3 million, The Sun Herald reported. George County supervisors passed the resolution Monday agreeing to the settlement amount. The countys insurance carrier has paid more than $500,000 in attorneys fees and had agreed to pay $250,000 of the overall settlement amount.

U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden ordered the county to pay $1 million within 14 days of the May 31 judgment in federal court in Gulfport. The remaining $1.75 million is due within 90 days of the settlement date, Ozerden's order said.

The judgment also calls on George County officials to write a letter of apology to Dixons family.

The Dixon family endured eight heart-wrenching years of criminal and civil litigation and a groundless claim against Joels mother for defamation, Wetzel said. Throughout, the Dixon family conducted themselves with dignity despite their loss and rallied around Joels children.

Wetzel said the countys agreement closes a chapter in this sad ordeal.

The Dixon family expressed appreciation for the publics interest in the case but asked for privacy "so that Joels children be permitted to move forward with their lives just like any other young people.

The family also thanked their team of attorneys and former District Attorney Tony Lawrence and Assistant District Attorney Cherie Wade for their successful prosecution of the criminal case against Brannan.

Wetzel said the family hopes the judgment motivates officials nationwide to ensure that inmates receive proper medical care.

Their fervent hope is that the tragedy of Joels death leads to meaningful change to prevent these preventable and needless losses of life," he said.
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP)  Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Thursday described as responsible and targeted a bipartisan bill aimed at addressing gun violence.

The Republican said the measure represents compromise.

No, I dont think that you just say, Alright, we pass this and everything is solved,'" she said in a video conference with reporters. The bill represents what a group of lawmakers could come together with and say, This is a step in the right direction."

She said she believes more can be done to provide mental health services in this country.

The bill would toughen background checks for the youngest gun buyers and keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders. It would also fund local programs for school safety, mental health and violence prevention.

Murkowski called the measure a thoughtful and targeted approach to the specific problems that have led to several of these mass shootings and a reasoned and rational approach for how we address additional mental health and school safety resources.

Mike Reynard, a spokesperson Alaska's other U.S. senator, Republican Dan Sullivan, said Sullivan would vote no on the bill.

Sullivan in a statement said one of his priorities in office has been to work with colleagues on vitally needed solutions to address the mental health crisis, especially among young Americans, that is unfolding across our nation." He said this is where our focus should be, and this legislation represents a good start in that regard.

But he said he has serious concerns about elements of the bill, including provisions that he said were vaguely defined.
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BOSTON (AP)  NASA wants its moon dust and cockroaches back.

The space agency has asked Boston-based RR Auction to halt the sale of moon dust collected during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission that had subsequently been fed to cockroaches during an experiment to determine if the lunar rock contained any sort of pathogen that posed a threat to terrestrial life.

The material, a NASA lawyer said in a letter to the auctioneer, still belongs to the federal government.

The material from the experiment, including a vial with about 40 milligrams of moon dust and three cockroach carcasses, was expected to sell for at least $400,000, but has been pulled from the auction block, RR said Thursday.

All Apollo samples, as stipulated in this collection of items, belong to NASA and no person, university, or other entity has ever been given permission to keep them after analysis, destruction, or other use for any purpose, especially for sale or individual display, said NASA's letter dated June 15.

It went on: We are requesting that you no longer facilitate the sale of any and all items containing the Apollo 11 Lunar Soil Experiment (the cockroaches, slides, and post-destructive testing specimen) by immediately stopping the bidding process," NASA wrote.

In another letter dated June 22, NASA's lawyer asked RR Auction to work with the current owner of the material to return it to the federal government.

The Apollo 11 mission brought more than 47 pounds (21.3 kilograms) of lunar rock back to Earth. Some was fed to insects, fish and other small creatures to see if it would kill them.

The cockroaches that were fed moon dust were brought to the University of Minnesota where entomologist Marion Brooks dissected and studied them.

I found no evidence of infectious agents," Brooks, who died in 2007, told the Minneapolis Tribune for an October 1969 story. She found no evidence that the moon material was toxic or caused any other ill effects in the insects, according to the article.

But the moon rock and the cockroaches were never returned to NASA, instead displayed at Brooks' home. Her daughter sold them in 2010, and now they are up for sale again by a consignor who RR did not disclose.

It's not unusual for a third party to lay claim to something that is being auctioned, said Mark Zaid, an attorney for RR Auction.

NASA has a track record of pursuing items related to the early space programs," although they have been inconsistent in doing so, Zaid said. By its own admission, NASA acknowledged in one of its letters that it did not know about the previous auction of the cockroach experiment items.

We have worked with NASA before and have always cooperated with the U.S. government when they lay claims to items," Zaid said. At the end of the day, we want to act appropriately and lawfully."

RR Auction is holding on to the lot for now, but ultimately, it's up to the consignor to work something out with NASA, he said.
DENVER (AP)  Colorados secretary of state has appointed a supervisor to monitor Tuesday's primary elections in a third county after some residents received ballots with the wrong state House district and others received ballots that didn't include a county commissioner's race.

The state Republican Party had called for supervision of the Democratic clerk and recorder's office in Pueblo County after Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, appointed supervisors to oversee elections in two other counties where GOP clerks were accused of tampering with voting equipment.

Griswold said in a Wednesday statement she had appointed Drake Rambke, whom she described as a professional elections administrator, to supervise clerk Gilbert Ortiz's office after receiving formal complaints of various allegations of errors and mistakes committed by his office. Griswold said her office has launched an investigation.

Specifically, Griswold's office has determined that ballots with an incorrect state House race were sent to one precinct and that a substantial number of ballots mailed to Pueblo voters omitted a county commissioner's race.

After a print vendor mailed ballots to about 1,600 voters without the commissioner's race earlier this month, the Pueblo County Election Department arranged for the vendor to print and mail correct ballots to the county's 106,000 active voters, department spokeswoman Rebecca Packard said in a Thursday statement. The vendor again sent incorrect ballots to about 1,600 voters, the statement said  and the department reissued correct ballots to those voters. Anyone with a ballot without the race was encouraged to contact the department, Packard said.

Voters are also encouraged to check both sides of their ballot to ensure they have all races included, she said.

Earlier this month, Ortiz told KRDO-TV that about 20 voters received primary ballots listing the wrong state House district. Ortiz attributed the error to a flaw in the county's mapping system.

Kristi Burton Brown, chair of the state Republican Party, had called for Griswold to act to help correct what she called the "gross mismanagement and incompetence Pueblo County voters have had to endure the past few weeks. She also urged Ortiz's replacement before the November general election.

Voters have until 7 p.m. on Tuesday to cast ballots in the Democratic and Republican party primaries. With the primary near, officials have urged voters to drop off their ballots or vote in person rather than mail them.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has faulted reports in the media suggesting that payments of overseas tuition fees from Nigeria will cost more as from January 2023, due to the purported withdrawal of the "Form A" Discounted rate, with effect from December 31, 2022.

The bank's position followed reports in certain media, which quoted a tertiary institution in the United Kingdom claiming that Nigeria had withdrawn the Central Bank "Form A discounted rate" in order to encourage more funds to remain within the Nigerian economy.

The advisory from the school purportedly urged new and returning students from Nigeria "to take advantage of the CBN Form A discounted rate while this is still available."

Speaking with newsmen in Abuja yesterday, the Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, described the report as false, misleading and speculative.

Nwanisobi said the CBN had not issued such a policy, even as he cautioned concerned parents and students to disregard any advisory to pay up as much portion of their outstanding fees as possible, through Flywire, prior to December 31, 2022.

While also reminding all stakeholders that front-loading (for both visible goods and invisibles) was contrary to the provisions of extant regulations, the CBN spokesman assured that the bank would continue to meet all legitimate demands for foreign exchange.

Nwanisobi urged all authorised dealers to ensure that payments for tuition outside Nigeria were made not earlier than 30 days prior to due date, even as he charged them to put in place measures to forestall abuse.
WATERBURY  Police said a 2-year-old boy remained in stable condition Thursday after being shot at his home this week.

The child is recovering at Connecticut Childrens Medical Center in Hartford, according to Waterbury Police spokesperson Lt. Ryan Bessette.

Police on Wednesday identified the shooter as Waterbury resident Kharis Samuels, 20, who they said has been on the run since the Tuesday shooting.

Bristol police have been looking for Samuels since April 2021 to serve an arrest warrant on robbery and first-degree threatening charges in connection with an incident that occurred on Dec. 18, 2020, Bristol Lt. Geoffrey Lund said.

Samuels is accused of threatening an acquaintance with a gun over a debt he was owed, Lund said.

He stole the victims cell and fled the scene after displaying a gun, Lund said. Bristol police have been unable to find Samuels for over a year, Lund said.

Waterbury police said Samuels was visiting with the older adult sibling of the boy who was shot at the familys home on Pinecrest Drive. Samuels was showing off the gun when it went off, striking the child in the torso while in his walker, police said.

Police said three young children, including the boy who was shot, were inside the home when the gun went off. The family tended to the child and drove him to the hospital, rather than dialing 911, police said.

Samuels fled the scene and is being sought by police on charges that include first-degree assault, and three counts risk of injury to a child, and first-degree reckless endangerment. Police said he will also face weapons charges related to the shooting.

Police said Samuels has ties to New York and Florida. He is believed to be armed  the .380 caliber firearm in the shooting was not recovered  and police said the public should use caution around him.

The state Department of Children and Families is conducting a joint investigation into the shooting with Waterbury police, the agencys Deputy Commissioner Michael Williams said.

Due to the pending nature of these activities, Williams said he was unable to provide further comment on the investigation or if the family had previous contact with the agency.

Our thoughts are with this little boy as well as his family members and friends traumatized by the incident, Williams said. We are grateful for the first responders, medical personnel and law enforcement officers who have worked tirelessly to provide him expert care and hold those responsible for his injuries accountable.

This event involving a gun affects each one of us in the community and reinforces the need to protect those most vulnerable  young children, Williams added.

Family members, professionals and concerned citizens should call the police if they believe the safety of a child is in immediate jeopardy, Williams said. Allegations of child maltreatment can be made to the Child Abuse and Neglect Careline by calling 800-842-2288. Callers can remain anonymous.

Anyone with information about Samuels whereabouts can contact Waterbury detectives at 203-574-6941. Anonymous tips may also be left at 203-755-1234.
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP)  Police detectives have arrested a convicted sex offender in southern Oregon after a child was sexually touched at a YMCA swimming pool, police said.

The Grants Pass Police Department said in a statement Thursday that officers responded to a report of a sex offense on Monday involving a 6-year-old girl. Police said with help from YMCA staff, the person involved in the incident was identified as Rex McCurdy, a registered sex offender from California.
LISBON, Portugal (AP)  Police in Portugal said Thursday they found just over 8 metric tons (8.8 short tons) of cocaine concealed inside banana shipments from Colombia.

The cocaine was hidden in the hold of three cargo ships that docked in Setubal, a port about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the Portuguese capital Lisbon, police said.

The ships made regular Atlantic crossings, and the cocaine was destined for several European countries, according to police.

The seizure happened in recent weeks, police said, but a statement gave no specific date.

Though large cocaine seizures arent uncommon in Portugal, or the rest of Europe, police said it was one of the largest ever in the country. The drugs have an estimated local street value of more than 300 million euros ($315 million).

Europe is currently the biggest world market for cocaine, the statement said.

So far this year, police in Portugal have captured just over 12 metric tons of cocaine  an increase of almost 23% on the total for the whole of last year.

The European Union police agency Europol and other European police forces cooperated in the operation.

Meanwhile, police in northern Portugal said they worked with the Guardia Civil in neighboring Spain to break up an alleged criminal ring building powerful speedboats for Spanish gangs.

The boats are used to bring drugs, usually hashish, from Morocco into Spain and Portugal. Spain banned the boats four years ago in an effort to crack down on the smuggling.

Portuguese police seized 21 speedboats in different stages of construction, while Spanish police made 72 arrests in Spain, a statement said.

Also Thursday, police in southern Spain said they broke up a drug-smuggling ring and seized 1.2 metric tons (1.3 short tons) of hashish hidden in a factory warehouse.
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ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday thanked Turkish authorities for their cooperation in allegedly foiling attacks against Israeli citizens in Turkey, and warned Israel would not "sit idly by' in the face of threats to its citizens from Iran.

Lapid made the comments after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, as the two countries press ahead with efforts to repair ties that have been strained over Turkeys strong support for the Palestinians.

Earlier this month, Israel issued a warning for its citizens to avoid travel to Turkey and urging Israelis in Turkey to leave immediately. The warning said Israeli citizens could be targets of Iranian attacks.

Turkish media reports said authorities had detained five Iranians suspected of planning attacks on Israelis in Istanbul.

In recent weeks, the lives of Israeli citizens have been saved thanks to security and diplomatic cooperation between Israel and (Turkey), Lapid said. We are full of appreciation for the Turkish government for this professional and coordinated activity.

Lapid continued: For its part, Israel wont sit idly by when there are attempts to harm its citizens in Israel and around the world. Our immediate goal is to bring about calm that will enable us to change the travel warning to (Turkey).

The travel warning angered Turkey, whose economy depends on tourism to a large extent. Ankara responded by issuing a statement that said Turkey was a safe country.

Standing next to Lapid, Cavusoglu said Turkey cannot permit these kinds of incidents taking place in our country.

We have delivered the necessary messages, he said, without elaborating.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said that a joint operation with Turkey succeeded in thwarting several attacks and resulted in the arrest of several suspected operatives on Turkish soil in recent days.

Hurriyet newspaper reported on Thursday that Turkish authorities detained five Iranian nationals on Wednesday suspected of involvement in an alleged plot to assassinate Israeli citizens in Istanbul. Police seized two pistols and two silencers in searches conducted in houses and hotels where the suspects were staying, according to the report.

Lapids visit comes amid political turmoil in Israel, where Bennetts fragile, year-old government decided this week to dissolve parliament, triggering new elections which are set to take place in the fall. Under the agreement that forged Bennetts coalition government, Lapid is expected in the coming days to become caretaker prime minister until a new government is cobbled together after the elections.

The developments deepen a political crisis in Israel, which has held four elections since 2019, each largely a referendum over former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus rule. Netanyahu hopes to return to power in the upcoming vote, but polls show that as in previous rounds it will unlikely produce a clear winner.

Turkey, beset by economic troubles, has been trying to end its international isolation by normalizing ties with several countries in the Mideast, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Turkey and Israel were once close allies, but relations grew tense under Erdogan, who is a vocal critic of Israels policies toward the Palestinians. Turkeys embrace of the Islamic militant group Hamas, has angered Israel.

The countries withdrew their ambassadors in 2010 after Israeli forces stormed a humanitarian flotilla bound for Gaza, which has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power there in 2007.

Nine Turkish activists were killed. Israel apologized to Turkey for the deaths under a U.S.-brokered agreement, but reconciliation efforts stalled.

Turkey recalled its ambassador in 2018 after the United States recognized Jerusalem as Israels capital, prompting Israel to respond in kind. The two countries have not reappointed their ambassadors.

The two ministers said Thursday that they had agreed to hold discussions on re-appointing ambassadors.

The latest rapprochement has been led by Israels mostly ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, who has held several telephone calls with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and visited Turkey in March, becoming the first Israeli leader to do so in 14 years. Cavusoglu visited Israel last month. It was first official visit to Israel by a Turkish official in 15 years.

__

Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
NEW YORK (AP)  How does Rick Astley handle one of his songs being part of the biggest internet meme of all time? He rolls with it, obviously.

Listen, lets face it, Never Gonna Give You Up has sort of become something else," he says. "The video and the song have drifted off into the ether and become something else, and Im ever so grateful for it.

That song turns 35 this year and is still very much alive, buoyed by a second chapter as a gentle joke wherein someone baits you with an enticing online link, which points instead to the video for this 1987 dance-pop smash. It's called Rickrolling.

Thirty-five years later, Astley is singing it this summer on tour with New Kids on the Block, Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue for the 57-date The Mixtape Tour 2022. A remastered version of his 1987 debut album also has been released featuring, of course, Never Gonna Give You Up.

Im never going to have a song as big as that ever, and I kind of knew that while it was happening. I kind of thought, Were never going to beat this. But I also kind of thought, Well, how bad is that?

There has always been much more to Astley than just that song. After blowing up in the late 1980s, he left show business frustrated and has only recently reemerged with the strong albums 50 in 2016 and Beautiful Life in 2018.

Often the second act can be more enjoyable because youre more in control and you savor every minute, said Alistair Norbury, president of repertoire and marketing at BMG UK, which signed Astley.

The passage of time  and the fact that Astley is such a sweet guy  has softened any sharpness. He says he understands how the past can look different with rose-colored glasses. Rock stars have lately told him they love his voice.

And Im like, 'Really? I thought you would have strung me up in the village square, he says, laughing. They probably would have done at the time, but I think over time, I think it just changes your perspective.

Astley, 56, is the youngest of four who grew up near Manchester, England. His sister played a lot of progressive rock and adored David Bowie. A brother was a huge Queen fan, and he remembers Queen's Night at the Opera album played on a loop. Astley soaked it all in, from Stevie Wonder to The Smiths.

He was in a band in school  they once performed So Lonely by The Police with Astley on drums and singing  that wiped the floor with rivals at a battle of the bands. He would go to gigs and dream of being a music star.

He remembers being astounded one day when he spotted the bass player of The Smiths walking through town. This can happen? he recalls thinking. You can be from a town that I buy my records in but last week you were on Top of the Pops?

Astley was only in his early 20s while recording his debut album, Whenever You Need Somebody, with the songwriting and record production trio known as Stock Aitken Waterman, who had crafted songs for Bananarama and Dead or Alive.

I sold a lot of records. I was having a lot of hits, and then it was getting to a point where it's like touch and go  how is this going to go now because you have to make another record?

Burned out and frustrated, he walked away at 27. I think I just didnt have it in me. I just didnt. I didnt want to do it, he says.

He admires pop stars like Madonna or Kylie Minogue for their longevity. I actually dont know how theyve done it, he says.

Being a pop star messes with your head and Astley says that happened to him, too. I think my days were numbered anyway, but I think I just managed to get out before they threw me out, you know? He didn't perform for 15 years.

Unlike other pop stars, he hadn't invested his ego in his looks or others' perceptions. I was never cool. I wasnt cool when I had my hit records, he says. Astley has nothing but compassion for those chewed up by the fame monster. "It must be unbelievably painful.

Astley reemerged from self-exile in 2016 with 50, named, with a hat-tip to Adele, for his age at the time, a strong album that veers from gospel to electro-funky.

Norbury recalls hearing the first few demos on the album and being impressed. He asked Astley's manager who wrote them. The answer was Rick Astley. He asked who was the co-writer? The answer was, "Nobody." Who produced? Rick. Then who played all the instruments? He played all the instruments.

Norbury calls Astley probably one of the hardest working people in this business and always does it with good humor and with a spirit of collaboration and partnership.

Rickrolling started in 2007  at the infancy of YouTube  and it confused Astley at the beginning. His song and video for Never Gonna Give You Up were being used as part of an internet bait-and-switch, but what did it mean?

I was overthinking it and worrying about it and wondering what it was. And our daughter said to me  she was about 15 at the time  she just kind of said, You do realize its got nothing to do with you? She also predicted: Therell be something else next week or tomorrow.

She was slightly wrong because its still kind of kicking around here and there, says Astley. But the sentiment of what she was saying was, I think, really, really valuable. I embrace my past, but I dont have to embrace the Rickrolling thing in the same way because I accept the fact that it's got nothing to do with me to some degree.

The song has racked up 1.2 billion streams on YouTube and 559 million Spotify listens. Time Out magazine was always a little puzzled by Rickrolling, asking why anyone wouldnt want to hear the buoyant megajam, saying it is three and a half of the most effervescent minutes in the 80s canon.

Astley, of course, sees Never Gonna Give You Up differently than the people who use it to try to mess with friends. He acknowledges the video is unbelievably late-80s cheesy but its a good memory. Its like a fond memory.

For Astley, it is the song that led him to Copenhagen, where he met his wife, Lene Bausager. Without that song, he wouldn't have his daughter or have traveled the world. Ive been to some of the most amazing places in the world that most people have on a bucket list.

He thinks back to the days when he was a new artist looking up to established acts. Now he's a seasoned pro with an arsenal of songs, including an instant crowd-pleaser.

At the time, I was like green with envy and felt totally insecure and all the rest of it. Now, when I walk out on a stage and sing those songs, I just kind of think, Yeah, how lucky am I? Aint that great?

___

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  A sleek $156 million superyacht belonging to a sanctioned Russian oligarch and parliamentarian is now docked in Dubai, the latest reminder of how the skyscraper-studded sheikhdom has become a haven for Russian money amid Moscow's war on Ukraine.

The 98-meter (324-foot) Madame Gu, which has a helicopter pad, gym, beach club and elevator, remained moored off Dubai's Port Rashid on Thursday in what has become a test for the close partnership between the United States and United Arab Emirates.

The vessel, with an eye-catching blue hull and $1 million annual paint job price tag, is owned by Andrei Skoch, one of the wealthiest men in Russia's Duma. A steel magnate, Skoch's fortune is valued at about $6.6 billion, according to Forbes. Attempts to reach Skoch for comment were not successful.

Like sanctioned Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenkos Motor Yacht A docked in the northern emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, the appearance of the Madame Gu in Dubai shows how Russian oligarchs have parked their assets in the UAE even as Western governments increasingly enforce sanctions and American pressure mounts on its Gulf Arab ally to follow suit.

The U.S. Treasury first sanctioned Skoch in 2018 over his role in government and alleged longstanding ties to Russian organized criminal groups, including time spent leading one such enterprise. Earlier this month, the Treasury designated the Madame Gu, along with its helicopter, barring American entities from conducting business with the superyacht. Skoch is also sanctioned by the European Union.

The Madame Gu, registered in the Cayman Islands, flew an Emirati flag on Thursday when Associated Press journalists observed the ship  a show of wealth dramatic enough to rival the Dubais famed Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship-turned-hotel floating just beside it. It also was moored just next to the $200 million megayacht Dubai, owned by the city-state's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC show the Madame Gu at its berth at Port Rashid beginning from March 25.

The UAE, home to glitzy Dubai and oil-rich Abu Dhabi, has declined to take sides in Moscow's war and welcomed the influx of Russian money to its beach-front villas and luxury hotels. The UAE's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The invasion of Ukraine sent Russias richest businessmen and politicians scrambling to save their significant assets from what became a widening dragnet. Superyachts tied to Russian oligarchs have taken on outsized significance in the Western crackdown that aims to exert pressure on President Vladimir Putin to change course in Ukraine.

Authorities across Europe and elsewhere have seized yachts owned by sanctioned Russian billionaires on a U.S. sanctions list. Earlier this month for instance, the U.S. won a legal battle in Fiji to confiscate a $325 million Russian-owned superyacht.

Other U.S. allies, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, are involved in trying to collect and share information with Washington against Russians targeted for sanctions, the White House says.

One of a shrinking number of countries where Russians can still fly directly, the UAE has chosen not to impose sanctions on Moscow or freeze the assets of Russian billionaires relocating to the emirate.

An apparent influx of superyachts and private planes tied to Russian's wealthy so far have avoided scrutiny in a country that has long been a magnet for foreign money  legal and otherwise.

But their increasingly visible presence appears to be frustrating Washington.

This month, a U.S. court ordered the seizure of two aircraft worth over $400 million believed to be owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. The former Chelsea soccer club owners Boeing 787 Dreamliner is now in the UAE, the court filing said.

In a House hearing Wednesday, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf acknowledged the UAE had become a safe haven for Russian oligarchs linked to Putin.

Im not happy at all with the record at this point and I plan to make this a priority to drive to a better alignment, shall we say, of effort, said Leaf, who once served as an ambassador to the UAE.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, one of the main U.S. coordinators on the Russian sanctions strategy, visited Dubai and Abu Dhabi to meet with Emirati financial officials this week.

During a banking round table, he pleaded for increased vigilance.

Despite this commitment (to prevent money laundering), the UAE  and other global financial hubs  continue to face the threat of illicit financial flows," he said, according to readout from the Treasury Department.

Adeyemo warned of challenges that have emerged amid the war on Ukraine for both governments seeking to hold Russia accountable and for financial institutions like yours that are responsible for implementing the financial sanctions we impose.

___

Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  The San Francisco school board has voted to rescind a previous decision to cover up a George Washington campus mural from the 1930s that critics say is racist and degrading in its depiction of Black and Native American people.

The board's 4-3 vote Wednesday followed a court's ruling in a lawsuit that the school board's original decision violated state law, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Board members did not comment on their votes.

The mural was painted in 1936 at George Washington High School by Victor Arnautoff, one of the foremost muralists in the San Francisco area during the Depression.

In addition to depicting Washington as a soldier, surveyor and statesman, the 13-panel, 1,600-square-foot (149-square-meter) mural contains images of white pioneers standing over the body of a Native American and slaves working at Washingtons Mount Vernon estate in Virginia.

New Deal scholars have argued that Arnautoff, a Russian-born communist and social critic, critically depicts unsavory aspects of American history in his work. But some students have contended that the murals imagery is offensive and racist.

Supporters say it could play a role in educating people about Americas racist past and covering it up would be censoring art and history.

The school board voted in 2019 to paint over the mural, then decided to cover it up with curtains or panels. The George Washington High School Alumni Association filed a lawsuit, and a judge ruled last year that the board failed to conduct an environmental review and ordered the panel to set aside its decisions.

Wednesday's vote means the mural must remain on view, but the board could decide in the future to conduct an environmental review and then decide what to do with the artwork, the Chronicle said.

On another matter, the school board voted to return to a merit-based system using test scores and grades for admission to Lowell High School, which is considered one of the highest-performing public high schools in the country.

In October 2020, the board adopted a lottery system for admissions amid controversy including allegations of racism in admissions and lack of diversity. The restored merit system will apply to freshmen entering the school in the fall of 2023.
Less than two months after her husband was shot seven times in October 2020, Jennifer Faith went on television and said she hoped the killer would feel guilty and come forward.

"I'm not supposed to be widowed at 48, you know?" Faith told WFAA through tears.

In fact, it was Faith who orchestrated the murder, persuading her former high school boyfriend to ambush and shoot her husband, Jamie, outside of their home in Oak Cliff, Texas. After pleading guilty in February to the commission of murder-for-hire, Faith was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison. She was also ordered to pay a $250,000 fine and $6,500 in restitution to the family of her late husband, an IT director at American Airlines.

"Ms. Faith put on quite a performance in the wake of her husband's murder," U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham said in a statement Tuesday. " . . . But crocodile tears didn't stop the feds. We were committed to getting justice for Jamie, and with the Judge's imposition of a life sentence this afternoon, we're one step closer."

In March 2020, Faith reconnected with her former high school sweetheart, Darrin Ruben Lopez, who had told Faith that he was disabled from a traumatic brain injury after serving in Iraq, according to court documents. Over the next several months, prosecutors said she texted with Lopez and sent him effusive letters in which she called him her "soulmate" and "one and only love." In addition to carrying on what she characterized as a "full-blown emotional affair" with Lopez, Faith also told Lopez that her husband was physically and sexually abusing her - accusations Faith later admitted were lies, according to court documents.

But Lopez believed Faith, prosecutors say. In May, Faith created a fake email account under the name of one of her best friends, according to court documents. Faith allegedly used the fake identity to falsely claim that Jamie Faith was physically and sexually abusing his wife.

Lopez responded with sympathy.

"I know I won't feel better about her situation until she is out of the house away from him or she lets me put a bullet in Jamie's head," Lopez replied to one of the emails, according to court documents. "I keep offering and she keeps telling me no."

On Oct. 9, 2020, around 7:33 a.m., Faith and her husband stepped out of their house to walk their dog. About a minute later, Lopez came up behind Jamie and shot him seven times, killing him, prosecutors say. Lopez allegedly took off in a black Nissan Titan pickup truck with a "T" decal on the back window.

About a month after her husband's murder, Faith sought out $629,000 in a life insurance claim, according to court documents. Around that time, she set up a GoFundMe fundraiser called "Support for Jennifer Faith" and participated in television interviews in which she pleaded with viewers to help catch her husband's killer.

"Somebody has got to know whose truck this is," Faith told WFAA. "It's a black Nissan Titan extended cab. It had a Texas Rangers sticker in the back window. So it was very distinctive from that point."

But following the interviews, Faith told Lopez to remove the "T" from his truck, and Lopez eventually did, according to court documents. She also spoke to him about the progress of the life insurance claim, which she said had been complicated by the ongoing homicide investigation. Moreover, Faith used the GoFundMe proceeds to pay off credit cards Lopez was using and sent Lopez and his family money and gifts, court documents state.

Lopez was arrested on Jan. 11, 2021. He is awaiting trial on both state and federal charges in connection with the killing; he has pleaded not guilty in both cases, according to the Department of Justice. Faith was arrested the following month on an obstruction of justice charge; she was later charged with the commission of murder-for-hire.

Weeks before her arrest, Faith asked a personal associate to relay a message to Lopez that she "will always be with him, regardless of whatever has happened," according to court documents.

"I do know how you feel, together we can get through this I believe in my heart," Lopez said in response to Faith's message, according to court documents. "Please stay strong for US. Your Knight always.... As You Wish."
ALTON  Employees of Modjeski and Masters, a bridge engineering firm with regional offices in Edwardsville, examined and photographed the wrapped cables of the Clark Bridge on Thursday.

The firm is conducting a bridge inspection for the Illinois Department of Transportation. As part of their work, lane closures are planned in the northbound land 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, June 24.
This government has been running on a long precarious and displeasing list of mysteriously unresolved deaths and nothing much has been done to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The national investigating authority most often put the cart before the horse, thereby compromising the rule of law by stating far before the investigation is ever concluded; that there was no foul play.

Of late, angry callers on several radio phone-in-talk-shows, most of their voices choked with emotion and disdainfulness while responding to Liberia National Police (LNP) Spokesman H. Moses Carter in the mysterious death of Princess Cooper. The investigation is ongoing at its much early state, conceding that in that case (Princess Cooper's) there was no foul played while at the same time paradoxically informing the public that the Ministry of Justice has ordered two Liberian Pathologists to perform an autopsy on her body to find out the cause of death along with another body (Melvin Togba).

The many angry emotional callers regarding to what led to Princes Cooper's mysterious death, also sounded a warning to LNP's spokesman Carter to immediately desist from engaging in such pronouncement that uprightly compromises the prime objective of the serious happening before the result is ever established from the investigation which often results into a dead-end and then surrounded by reluctance.

They further cited numerous cases in which according to them, LNP's spokesman Carter allegedly pre-emptively concluded that there was no foul played; thereby results ended vaguely. They cited the case of the missing three boys at the St Moses Funeral Parlors, the death of Miss Odell Sherman and many others whose results were struck down due to the no foul played statement while the investigation was still ongoing.

The emotionally charged callers also questioned the wisdom and significance of an autopsy when LNP's spokesman Carter ruled out no foul played? They also questioned why the close circuit television camera was not taken into custody since it would play a pivotal role and is cardinal to the unfolding trend in the investigation of the mysterious death of Princess; they wondered suspiciously.

At the same time they (callers) pointed out that they're following Princess' case very keenly, despite LNP's spokesman's premature conclusion that there was no foul played; what the autopsy's result will say and that spokesman Carter must stop embarrassing alleged murder cases by being the last in such matter until it is concluded.

The callers angrily indicated that such premature half-baked statement of no foul play from the strike of any imagination is definitely a gross and toxic recipe completely imbued repressively with lethal elements that are inimical to the rule of law and the butcher of unhampered justice.

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Liberians are dying mysteriously and the results from investigations are most often questionable. This has created a grim controversy that at one time, the deaths of two auditors of the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) was rated boyfriend and girlfriend affairs, while Princess Cooper's mysterious death, before calling for an autopsy moreover reached a conclusion of an investigation by terming it as no foul play.

Monday, March 28, 2022 a group of angry Liberians (both men and women) launched a protest at the ELWA junction chanting "we want justice, let the killings stop", and branded the day Black Monday while another group was present at the Capitol to present a petition to the lawmakers relating to the mysterious deaths in the country with emphasis on Princess Cooper and Melvin Togba.

At this juncture, we join the many concerned Liberians to urge the government to move radically and be very robust in getting under the skin of the mysterious killings and bring the would-be perpetrators to book while ensuring security for all like in the day of the late Angel Togba, where the court was very busy, politicians on their toes, suspects arrested, prosecuted and sentenced and justice was given a bed of roses of fairness. How many more Liberians must die mysteriously before the government realizes the urgency of the pathetic menace?

We believe that all Liberians must be protected under the law. With such death taking place, it puts fear in the minds of everyone, especially foreigners. One foreigner may be moved to say: "if you can kill your own citizen, then how much about me? Enough is enough.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The State Department is preparing to compensate victims of mysterious brain injuries colloquially known as Havana Syndrome with six-figure payments, according to officials and a congressional aide.

Current and former State Department staff and their families who suffered from qualifying injuries since cases were first reported among U.S. embassy personnel in Cuba in 2016 will receive payments of between roughly $100,000 and $200,000 each, the officials and aide said.

Specific amounts will be determined to by the extent and severity of the victims' injuries, which have included brain damage not limited to vertigo, cognitive damage, eyesight and hearing problems, according to the officials and aides.

The payments will apply only to victims employed by the State Department and their dependents. Other victims will have any compensation handled by the federal agency that employed them. About 20% of the total number of victims are or were employed by the State Department. Almost all the others were employed by the CIA or the Department of Defense, which have their own medical policies.

The officials and aide spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the expected publication next week of the State Departments plan to compensate victims under the terms of the HAVANA Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law last year.

That draft rule is expected to be published early next week and will not become final until after a 30-day period in which public comment will be solicited. The State Department, along with the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management, will consider the comments before enacting a final rule.

The State Department declined Thursday to discuss the amounts of the proposed payments but noted that the HAVANA Act authorizes it to provide payments to personnel for certain qualifying injuries to the brain and requires it to publish its plans for implementing such relief, which it said would happen soon."

Despite nearly six years of investigation, scientists, physicians and government officials have been unable to determine the cause of the injuries, which some have speculated are the result of microwave or other types of attack from a foreign power. Russia is most often accused of being behind the alleged attacks, although there has been no evidence to back up such claims.

The mysterious injuries first began to be reported among U.S. embassy staff in Havana, Cuba, in late 2016 and have since spread to nearly 70 countries on all continents except Antarctica. The number of reports has tapered off dramatically since the beginning of this year.
TALLINN, Estonia (AP)  The West should not underestimate Russias military capabilities in Ukraine, Estonias leader told The Associated Press, saying that as the war enters its fifth month, Moscows forces are in it for the long haul.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said in an interview Wednesday that Europe should ensure that those committing war crimes and attempted genocide are prosecuted, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin escaped punishment for annexing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and supporting an insurgency in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region that killed over 14,000 people even before this year's war began.

Ive heard talks that, you know, there is no threat anymore because they have exhausted themselves. No, they havent, she said of the Russian military, which failed to take Kyiv in the early stages of the war and is now concentrating its firepower in the east.

They have plenty of troops still who can come (to fight)  They are not counting the lives that they are losing. They are not counting the artillery that they are losing there. So I dont think that we should underestimate them in the longer term to still keep this up, Kallas said, despite the low morale and corruption troubling Moscow's forces.

Kallas praised the unity that Europe has shown in punishing Russia for the invasion that began Feb. 24, even though she said it was clear from the beginning that it would be more and more difficult over time to hang together.

First, we did the sanctions that were relatively easy. Now we move to sanctions that are much more difficult. But so far, we have managed to get the unity, even if we have different opinions, she said in the interview in Stenbock House, a government building where she has her office and holds Cabinet meetings..

This is normal for democracy. We debate, we discuss, and then we get to the solution. So far, it has been a negative surprise to Putin that we are still united, Kallas said.

The unity was displayed again Thursday when the European Union granted Ukraine candidate status, binding it more to the West. It set in motion a membership process that could take years or even decades.

Estonia, which shares a 294-kilometer (about 180-mile) border with Russia, has taken a hard-line stance over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Kallas has criticized other European leaders for talking to Putin and has advocated for isolating Moscow completely, leaving the decision on how to end the war up to Ukraine.

As the war has dragged on, some in the West have suggested reaching a negotiated peace deal with Russia  even if it meant that Ukraine would give up territory. Kallas has warned against it.

In her comments to the AP, she pointed out that this is exactly what happened after Moscow annexed Crimea, backed the separatists in the industrial Donbas and seized territory in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

For us, it is important to not make that mistake again like we did in Crimea, Donbas, Georgia, she said. We have done the same mistake already three times saying that, you know, negotiations, negotiated peace is the goal. ... The only thing that Putin hears from this is that I can do this because no punishment will follow.

"And every time, every next time will be with more human suffering than the last one was, she added.

In Ukraine, those committing war crimes and conducting or trying to conduct genocide should be prosecuted.

Sanctions against Russia will take effect over time, she said, and one just needs to have strategic patience.

Kallas defended criticism that the sanctions appear to hurt ordinary Russians while failing to deter Putin so far.

And I still think that, you know, the effects should be felt by the Russian population as well, because if you look, the support for Putin is very high, she said.

Kallas added that Russian soldiers are bragging about war crimes they commit to their wives and to their mothers. And if the wives and mothers say that This is OK what you are doing there ... I mean, this is also the war that Russia and Russian people are holding up in Ukraine, she said.

On the domestic front, the 45-year-old Kallas is fighting for her political future as Estonias two-party government led by her center-right Reform Party fell apart early June as she kicked out junior partner Center Party following disputes over welfare and spending issues amid rampant inflation in the Baltic nation.

Kallas, who has led the Reform Party since 2018 and became Estonias first female prime minister in January 2021, started coalition talks this month with two other parties, and they are expected to reach a coalition deal by early July.

If not, Kallas will face the grim prospect of governing a weak one-party minority government until the next general election scheduled for March 2023.

___

Jari Tanner in Helsinki contributed.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Transgender people born in North Carolina may now correct the sex designation on their birth certificate without undergoing surgery after a consent judgment issued by a federal court, attorneys for the plaintiffs said Thursday.

This is a victory for all transgender people born in North Carolina that will help enable them to navigate life with safety and dignity," Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, counsel at Lambda Legal, said in a news release.

North Carolinas requirement that transgender people undergo sex reassignment surgery as part of establishing their identity was at the center of a lawsuit filed on behalf of an adult and two minors in U.S. Middle District Court in North Carolina last November.

Among the defendants named in the case was Kody Kinsley, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services. The department, which agreed to the consent judgment, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

A consent agreement is issued by a judge and is based on an agreement between the parties to a lawsuit to settle the issue. It's aimed at ending the litigation with an enforceable judgment. It is not construed as acknowledgment, admission or evidence of liability by the defendants, according to the document, and it cannot be used as evidence of liability in any current or future proceeding.

The lawsuit said adult plaintiff Lillith Campos is incorrectly identified on her birth certificate as male. It also said another plaintiff, a young man identified in the lawsuit as C.B., is incorrectly identified as female on his birth certificate while M.D., is a girl incorrectly identified on her birth certificate as male.

Im pleased to see this day happening, that the State of North Carolina now must recognize us for who we are," said Campos, a transgender woman born in North Carolina. It was outrageous and dehumanizing that I was denied a birth certificate just because I didnt have surgery.

C.B., a 17-year-old, applauded the judgment, as did the mother of plaintiff M.D., the news release said.

Im glad that my daughter will be able to correct and align all her documentation that will allow her to avoid discrimination or exclusion at school, college, sports, or government agencies," the mother said. "No child or family should have to go through this trauma just because the government doesnt want to recognize transgender people for who they are.

Under the consent judgment, the state Department of Health and Human Services and other state government officials must provide accurate birth certificates that reflect an applicants sex, consistent with their gender identity, without having to undergo surgery, a news release said.

Specifically, a transgender person born in North Carolina may correct the sex designation on their birth certificate by submitting a sworn statement, accompanied by a passport, a state-issued identification, or certification issued by a licensed health care professional, social worker or case manager that confirms the persons gender identity.

Information will be released later on when the new process takes effect, according to the news release.

Lambda Legal said it has successfully challenged restrictions on efforts by transgender people to obtain accurate birth certificates reflecting their identity in Idaho, Kansas, New York, Ohio and Puerto Rico. Challenges are pending Tennessee and Oklahoma, the legal group said.

Campos encountered employment discrimination, according to Gonzalez-Pagan. Her employer didn't provide coverage for gender-affirming care in the business health insurance plan, which prevented her from getting the surgery required by the state, he said.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Firefighting crews battled for a third day on Thursday a wind-driven wildfire that has blackened swaths of pine forest near a popular resort in southwestern Turkey and driven hundreds of people from their homes.

More than 2,500 firefighters, aided by water-dropping planes and helicopters, were deployed to fight the blaze that erupted on Tuesday in the Bordubet region, near Marmaris on the Aegean Sea coast. The blaze spread rapidly, fanned by winds.

Fires were raging in three locations around Bordubet, but had been brought under control at a fourth location, according to the office of the mayor for the Mugla region, which includes Marmaris.

Authorities have evacuated close to 275 people from the area as a precaution, the municipality said.

Vahit Kirisci, the forestry minister, said about 3,000 hectares (about 7,400 acres) of forest were affected.

In addition to thousands of personnel, 45 water-dropping helicopters and 12 planes were involved in the efforts to tame the blazes, he said. Qatar offered to send three helicopters while Azerbaijan said it would send an additional plane, he said.

Authorities meanwhile, detained one person who allegedly confessed to having deliberately started the fire, the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu as saying. Earlier, reports said prosecutors were investigating the possibility of arson.

Extended drought conditions in several Mediterranean countries, a heat wave last week that reached northern Germany and high fuel costs for aircraft needed to fight wildfires have heightened concerns across Europe this summer.

Last summer, blazes that were fed by strong winds and scorching temperatures tore through forests in Turkeys Mediterranean and Aegean regions, including Marmaris. The wildfires, which killed at least eight people and countless animals, were described as the worst in Turkeys history.

Villages and resorts had to be evacuated, with some people fleeing to beaches to be rescued by sea. The wildfires also threatened two coal-burning power plants.

Erdogans government came under criticism for its inadequate response and preparedness to fight large-scale wildfires, including a lack of modern firefighting planes.
JACKSON, Mich. (AP)  A Republican U.S. representative says he believes abortion rights activists may be behind vandalism at the building his campaign office shares with an anti-abortion group in southern Michigan.

Attackers smashed windows and a front door of the building in Jackson, Michigan, early Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Tim Walbergs campaign said. Jackson is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of Detroit.

A sign near the buildings entrance was spray-painted with pink paint and two windows were broken, Jackson Police and Fire Services Director Elmer Hitt told MLive.com.

There was no evidence that anyone entered the building and no suspects have been identified, Hitt added.

Walberg, of Tipton, said the spray-painted message appeared to indicate the vandalism was done by someone who supports abortion rights. Walberg said he opposes abortion.

Jackson Right to Life shares the building with his campaign office.

Other incidents of vandalism impacting abortion opponents have been reported in the U.S. following the leak of a draft opinion that suggests the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

Nearly a dozen windows and three glass doors were smashed early Monday at Lennon Pregnancy Center in Dearborn Heights. Someone spray-painted: If abortions arent safe, neither are you.

Its not an isolated incident. It's not random, Gary Hillebrand, board president of the center, told the Detroit Free Press.

The Associated Press left a message Thursday seeking comment from Dearborn Heights police.

Some abortion providers and law enforcement agencies have also been preparing for an increase in violence once the Supreme Court announces its official ruling, which is expected soon.
SEATTLE (AP)  President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months and urged states to do the same at the local level.

But both the Democratic governors of Washington and Oregon indicated they were unlikely to pursue a similar policy - even if the federal gas tax is eventually temporarily halted.
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DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP)  Water levels were slowly receding Thursday in major rivers in Bangladesh's flood-hit northeast, bringing hopes of relief to millions of Bangladeshis, but woes continued in Indias northeast, where 5.5 million people remained affected, officials said.

Up to 78 people have died in floods and 17 others in landslides in Indias Assam state, while at least 42 monsoon-related deaths have been recorded in Bangladesh since last month, when floods began ravaging parts of the two South Asian countries, forcing millions to take shelter away from their homes.

Bangladesh's Flood Forecasting and Warning Center said water in all major rivers in the countrys northeast was receding, but downstream water levels in central and eastern parts of the country could rise over the coming day.

Aid workers said the pace of decline in water levels in the northeast was very slow.

Yes, its going down, but the pace is insignificant, said Tanvir Rahman Dhaly, an official of non-profit aid agency BRAC.

Dhaly said only 15% to 20% of people in the worst-affected districts of Sunamganj and Sylhet bordering India have left shelters there.

Children and pregnant women are suffering a lot. They need food, they need care and medical attention, he said.

Sajedul Hasan, BRAC's director of disaster risk management, said many families had lost their cattle.

I just visited one family which had three cows before the flood hit. They left them behind and now when they returned home there is no trace of them, he said.

Other families still have their cattle, but are struggling to provide them with feed.

In Indias Assam state, there was little sign of hope.

I am touring the worst-hit southern Assam districts today. The army and air force continue to be engaged in relief and rescue operations, said the states top elected official, Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Authorities said more than 250,000 people have taken shelter in nearly 1,000 relief camps.

Hundreds of medical doctors and paramedics are deployed to take care of sick people and tackle any post-flood disease outbreaks, said Assam Health Minister Keshav Mahanta.

Scientists say climate change has made the monsoon season more variable, with much of the rain normally expected to fall over a year arriving in a space of weeks.

The northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya received nearly three times its average June rainfall in just the first three weeks of the month, and neighboring Assam received twice its monthly average in the same period. Several rivers, including one of Asias largest, flow downstream from the two states into the Bay of Bengal in low-lying Bangladesh, a densely populated delta nation.

Every year about 3.5 million Bangladeshis face flooding when rivers overflow their banks, according to a 2015 analysis by the World Bank Institute.

Bangladesh is considered one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, and the poor are disproportionately impacted. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Wednesday that Bangladesh will have to live with such disasters, so infrastructure should be built to better protect its people.

___

Hussain reported from Gauhati, India.
GODFREY  For as many meanings as doves symbolize, they also are inspirational for as many occasions.

White doves are used in many settings as symbols of peace, freedom, love, or as messengers. Doves appear in the symbolism of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and paganism, and of both military and pacifist groups. Williams Family White Dove Release does weddings, anniversaries, baptisms, birthdays, funerals, grand openings, military salutes and much more, including a recent Mother's Day event at Forest Park's Art Hill in St. Louis.

Williams Family White Dove Release, based in Godfrey, will be featured at the Godfrey Splash Pad ribbon cutting opening early next month at Glazebrook Park.

"We go anywhere and everywhere, wherever we are needed to be," said Roy Williams II, founder and owner, along with his wife, Amy Williams; Roy Williams also is one of the funeral directors at Cathy M. Williams & Sons Funeral Home in Alton, owned by his mother who's the funeral home's namesake, and he works with his brother Ryon Williams, also a funeral director.

The Williamses' idea to start their own business doing white dove releases all started at the funeral home over a year ago, when someone requested a release for a memorial service.

Williams Family White Dove Release does its releases for $150 for four doves, and can go up to a 50-dove release. Williams Family White Dove Release held its first official dove release Sept. 26, 2021.

"Amy did all the specs in early 2021, in September we were releasing," Williams said. "My wife and I decided it's more of a blessing with the cost. We love it. These doves teach me more about living than about death."

The species commonly known as white homing dove mate for life and divide parenting equally, with both the hen and the cock incubating their eggs and feeding their young.

"Any time I have a toss or training, it's exercise for my birds and makes them stronger," he said.

When he takes his doves out for exercise, he starts a newly young bird off with a toss about one mile from home. They come back. He gradually increases the exercise to two miles, three miles, four miles, and so on until he reaches the desired distance. His young birds are now up to 60 miles and come back home; his older birds can fly 100 miles back home.

Williams learned everything he knows as a fancier from his mentor, Greg Bruckerhoff, of Moscow Mills, Missouri, who he met before the pandemic. Bruckerhoff also taught Williams during the pandemic how to do a socially distanced release.

"COVID hit and everything stopped," said Williams, who got his breeding pair of white doves and at least a dozen squeakers, which are young doves; a squab is a baby typically younger than 4 weeks old. "I went to his house three years later with my birds and I was hooked, line and sinker. He's taught me everything, to this day."

Williams compassionately breeds, raises, cares for and trains the birds at his Godfrey home, which is home to about 50 white doves, and where they always return after a release. This is due in part to their hereditary navigational abilities, but also to Williams' dedication in training his doves.

"They need food, fresh water, fresh grit, shelter and a safe place to come back to," Williams explained. "The loft is their home. Just keep it dry and there's no heat needed."

A couple of the most famous of the species, "President Wilson" and "Cher Ami," were military carrier pigeons that delivered messages to U.S. commanders and troops on the front lines during World War I saving hundreds of U.S. soldiers.

"These birds have God's gift of memory," Williams said.

The Williamses' birds are part of the family, which includes daughters Amora, 8, and Mya, 6, who their dad refers to as "handlers in training."

To learn more and book a release, call Roy Williams at 618-593-6748 and/or visit Williams Family White Dove Release Facebook page.
opinion

The abrupt and overnight need to review all concession agreements throughout the country is a big cover-up and stems directly from the exposure of the controversial signature; although denied by Speaker Bhofal Chambers of not being his, which is attached to a cash receipt of US$500,000 provided by a subsidiary of a Guinean-based mining company contesting to use some of the facilities-rail track and port, currently being utilized by ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML); is an absolute charade and purposely intended to fan away the heat to give business as usual a breathing space.

The Liberian Government's desire to attract more foreign direct investment looks like is taking a different trend with the pronouncement by the Speaker that they will review all concession agreements entered into by both this government and previous governments.

His statement on state radio last week comes after a cash receipt of US$500,000(five hundred thousand the United States) he allegedly signed for from HPX, a mining company that wants to use Liberian ports and railroad for its ore shipment from Guinea where it has concession agreement.

But before that, the third amended Mineral Development Agreement (MDA) for Arcelor Mittal was rejected by the House of Representatives headed by Dr. Bohfal Chambers.

He said Mittal's MDA was not rejected but was asked to go and do some changes and bring it back to them for further discussions.

The Speaker denied ever receiving money from HPX. "The accusation is becoming lesser and lesser. Remember before I became a speaker, the former regime accused me of receiving US$3M from the Bong County Technical School Which I do not know. Once we try to do something, you will have a group of people who will want to undermine the growth and development of this country.

"It will not derail us. We will continue to remain on the track, the train must roll and we will do the right thing for our country and our country needs us. I do not know the people of Arcelor Mittal. The first time I got to meet them was on the first floor in the conference room. I have not met anybody with HPX, I have not met them; I have not met anybody from Ivanhole. I do not know them. So if somebody took my signature, it is part of the worse things."

He continued: "Evil people do these kinds of things. Perhaps it is misplaced of trust. Perhaps somebody trusted somebody and is not going the person's way. So they are doing these kinds of things."

But when he announced that they would review all contracts entered into, many people have different views about it.

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"I do not think is only Mittal (that was told to review the MDA), but we are going to look at other concessions. We intend to call, Mopp (Maryland Oil Palm Plantation.) We intend to call people from CRC-Cavalla Rubber Company), we intend to call people from GVL (Golden Veroleum Liberia), and we intend to call people from Golden SEFCA. We intend to call people from BeaMountani (MNG), we intend to call Firestone, he said.

Dr. Chambers: "so we will know what are Liberians just benefit in terms of this economic design. So it is our plan to know all these things when we look at them. We will not be deterred."

One business executive said, "We think this statement sends a bad signal to the international business community. How will you review all concession agreements that were entered into by previous governments? This is bad," one business executive told this paper on condition of anonymity.

A foreign diplomat said: "This is hard to be considered to be correct. Do you know what you are talking about? To call for the revision of all concession agreements? Well, for us, we will take a look and wait to see."

Similar statements were made by previous lawmakers and government officials, but they did not yield any result due to the negative effect that such could have.
Jinzo Matsumoto, a fictional Japanese American farmer, and his wife are taken from their land in Stockton and imprisoned in a detention camp in Arkansas at the height of World War II. How he brings himself back from the brink of despair, aided by the ghost of his wife and a personified Japanese daruma, is the subject of "Both Eyes Open," a digitally and electronically enhanced chamber opera by librettist Philip K. Gotanda and composer Max Giteck Duykers playing this weekend in San Francisco's Presidio Theatre performing arts center. A co-presentation of the Presidio Theatre, First Look Sonoma and Paul Dresher's New Performance Traditions, the opera will feature baritone Suchan Kim, soprano Kalean Ung and Sonoma first Look cofounder, tenor John Duykers, as well as a chamber ensemble of clarinet/bass clarinet, piano, violin and the Marimba Lumina, a MIDI controller built by percussionist Joel Davel. Duykers the elder, father of the composer, renowned for having played Mao Zedong in San Francisco Opera's production of John Adams' "Nixon in China," plays the role of the daruma, a one-eyed doll that symbolizes perseverance and stability in Japanese tradition. (Its motto being "Fall down seven times, stand up eight!") Performances are at 2 p.m. Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday in the newly renovated venue at 99 Moraga Ave., near the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. Find tickets, $20-$45, at https://www.presidiotheatre.org/.

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.
By J.L. Odom

Bay City News Foundation

Pride is well underway in the Bay Area, as June is a monthlong celebration of LGBTQIA+ culture and history. Local Pride events include park gatherings, film viewings, dance parties, Castro pub crawls and the San Francisco Pride Parade, slated for its in-person return to Market Street on Sunday. And, with anti-LGBTQ legislation recently brought forward in states such as Florida, Alabama and Kentucky, visibility of the queer community -- being out and proud -- is unquestionably important right now.

Visibility is a key component of the art gallery Liminal Space SF, which opened on April 29 in San Francisco's South of Market District. The gallery -- the first of its kind in the city -- puts transgender artists and their work front and center.

Liminal Space SF founder Sam Claude Carmel says, "I realized that there's really not any opportunities for trans artists in the Bay Area. People will come around during Pride Month and be like, 'Oh, we have these openings and these offerings we could do.'"

But, as Carmel assessed, that's not enough. Trans artists need their own stage, their own platform -- their own space -- to showcase their pieces.

As they explain, "I looked at who's represented in the major galleries in San Francisco and the amount of trans people -- I mean, you'd be shocked. There's maybe three or four people I know who get regularly shown, and even people who get regularly shown, it's like, who has a gallery behind them?"

As a trans person working in the arts, Carmel gave thought to how much they had been tokenized themselves when deciding to create a trans-focused gallery.

They comment, "A lot of institutions will use us for diversity points but are not really doing anything to promote our culture and our advancement in the arts. So I decided I wanted to take it upon myself to go and do what I could with the small space I had."

Carmel -- who is also a team member of Queerdome, a queer-centered, psychedelic harm-reduction space in Burning Man, and the co-founder of Transguard, a queer and trans community providing security and support service -- describes setting up the gallery as a construction project. Housed in a former fabric factory, the space was initially in a state of disrepair, requiring a considerable amount of work.

Says Carmel, "The space hadn't been tended to for many years, so I started this year-and-a-half-long renovation project where I fixed up the small studio I had and turned it into a white-wall gallery."

Situated in the middle of SoMa, and in proximity to San Francisco's Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District and Transgender District, Carmel notes that the gallery is in a prime location.

They share, "The door that opens up our studio complex faces out to Victoria Manalo Draves Park, which is the only park in SoMa. So it's really kind of this wonderful little hidden away space that is host to a really beautiful part of the neighborhood."

The complex also has a 35-seat theater that Carmel has access to and is actively using for Liminal Space SF's first show, "SENSOR," for video artist Texas Tomboy's work.

Says Carmel, "We don't market it necessarily as a 'theater theater.' It's more like a screening room."

Also featuring the artwork of Orlando, Edward Mordak and Jerome Caja, Carmel plans for "SENSOR" to continue for at least another month and a half, showcasing these standout trans artists' pieces, as well as others.

Shares Carmel, "I'm getting more and more different works that people are bringing to the door and being like, 'Hey, I have this piece.' And as I find stuff that actually is in conversation with the show, I'm adding it to it as well. Because I really don't believe in having a stringent 'This is who we are showing' [policy]. When I get work that enters the radar that actually is in conversation with the other pieces, I'm open to including it."

Carmel seeks for their trans-centering art gallery to exist as an alternative to San Francisco's queer nightlife scene. Alcohol isn't available for purchase in the space, as the focus is more on experiencing the art featured and having conversations about it.

Says Carmel, "If somebody wants to go get a drink, they can happily go down the street. I'm not stopping anybody if they're walking in with a can of beer. But at the end of the day, we're trying to create spaces that are safer and that aren't so focused on selling substances and that are open to anyone -- especially people who are younger."

While "SENSOR" has erotic content, Carmel doesn't want to put an age restriction on who can enter the gallery and see the art.

Trans March 2022

San Francisco's Trans Pride March returns in person this year on Friday, starting at Dolores Park at Dolores and 19th streets in San Francisco. The schedule of events is as follows:

- 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m.: Senora Felicia Flames Intergenerational Brunch, hosted by LYRIC Center for LGBTQQ+ Youth, San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Openhouse SF, in honor of late trans activist and AIDS survivor Felicia "Flames" Elizondo. No RSVP required.

- 3-6 p.m. Trans March Resource Fair and Community Stage

- 6-7 p.m. Trans March, from Dolores Park to Turk and Taylor streets

- 7-8:30 p.m. End of march rally at Turk and Taylor streets

- 6 p.m.-2 a.m. Annual "Bustin' Out!," the official 21+ Trans March afterparty, at El Rio, 3158 Mission St., San Francisco. For tickets, $25-$30, to benefit the Transgender Gender Variant and Intersex Justice Project, visit https://ticketstripe.com/BustinOut2022.

For more information, visit https://www.transmarch.org/.

They comment, "If somebody is coming in with parental permission, I don't mind. I had a friend of mine bring in his 16-year-old kid, and we just talked about it beforehand, like, 'What are your expectations about what you're going to see?' But I don't also think that we should bar youth from being able to access these really interesting and complicated art spaces."

They add, "In our future shows, I'm trying to make it accessible to all ages of our trans community, so that somebody who's 16 and wants to see what the arts are about can come in and not feel intimidated or feel overwhelmed. I felt like that was something that held me back from experiencing the arts in San Francisco and the East Bay when I was younger."

Going forward, Carmel plans to show more of Jerome Caja's work -- some previously unseen pieces -- in July. They also have two shows on the roster and are in the process of figuring out which one they want to do first.

Says Carmel of both shows, "They're going to be kind of incredible."

There's "Psychedelic Queens," with a focus on trans-specific and queer psychedelic art, ranging from the 1960s to contemporary work, made by folx in the Bay Area. The other show, "Key Party," considers the current club and nightlife scene as well as what a more inclusive and extensive space for trans people in the Bay Area, especially in San Francisco, might look like.

Liminal Space SF's representation and recognition of trans artists is significant in and of itself, as is having a designated space to view these artists' work.

As Carmel explains, "We're trying to get artists compensated, we're trying to sell work, but it's also about bringing the community in and providing a space for people to gather and to also just experience art."

Both during Pride Month and beyond, visibility matters, as does a space in which to be seen.

Liminal Space SF is open 1-7 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays at 16 Sherman St., San Francisco. To support Liminal Space SF, go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/liminal-space-sf-our-trans-centering-gallery.

"Texas Tomboy Deep Dive," a closer look into "SENSOR," will show new selected works from the Texas Tomboy collection from 7 p.m.-midnight Thursday at Liminal Space SF. Suggested donation is $5-$15, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. For details and more information, follow the gallery on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/liminalspacesf/.

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 13-year-old Texas boy is dead after police say a group of teens stole a car and livestreamed their joyride. According to an Abilene Police Department news release, the four teenagers stole an Audi and crashed it multiples times after they attempted to drive to Dallas.

The teenagers were not identified because they are minors, but police said the driver was 13-years-old, and the passengers were 13-year-old, 14-year-old, and 15-year-old boys. The 13-year-old and 15-year-old passengers were reported as runaways, police said.

Law enforcement was first notified the car was involved in an accident around 3:09 a.m. on Wednesday, June 22, by the vehicle's integrated security program, but when responding officers arrived at the site of the reported crash they were unable to locate the car, the release said. Police did not know the vehicle was stolen at the time of the crash report.

At around 3:40 a.m., parents of one of the teenagers called police and reported their son was livestreaming his ride to Dallas in the stolen vehicle on social media. About ten minutes later, the owner of the Audi reported the vehicle was stolen from his home.

Police said they believe the teens were also involved in a convenience store theft reported by the Callahan County Sheriff's Department around 3:57 a.m.

The stolen Audi and juvenile occupants were found by police around 4:07 a.m. at a hotel near Highway 351 and I-20 where it reportedly crashed into an unoccupied police vehicle. The 13-year-old driver fled on Highway 351 after police turned on their emergency lights.

The teenagers crashed around 4:09 a.m., and the 13-year-old passenger was ejected from the vehicle. He died after being transported to a local hospital.

The 13-year-old driver is facing multiple felony charges, but police did not specify what they were.

Police did not release the condition of the driver and other occupants, but a message posted to social media by Abilene ISD said the student who died in the accident was a student in the district. The post also said the three surviving teens were injured.

"Abilene ISD crisis response staff and guidance counselors will be available to provide support to those affected by this tragedy at two summer school campuses, Clack and Craig middle schools, until 3:00 p.m. today and tomorrow," Abilene ISD said in the message. "We also encourage our parents to take this opportunity to support and talk with your students about what happened and to listen to feelings they may have."

Anyone with information is asked to call Abilene police at 325-676-6610.
Supporters of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris say they're keeping a close eye on California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who appears to be positioning himself for a presidential run in the near future.

In a new article by Politico, surrogates and former staffers of the nation's top two officials say Newsom's thinly veiled attempt to position himself as a leader of the Democratic Party on the national stage has not gone unnoticed in the White House. In that article, Cedric Richmond, a former senior Biden administration official, blasted Newsom's recent moves as nothing more than the governor trying to stay "politically relevant."

"Everybody is trying to be relevant for the next race," he said. "He came through the recall election and hes doing a pretty good job as governor. However, I think ambition makes people do different things."

Back in California, Newsom is basically guaranteed to win re-election this year. This, supporters interviewed in the Politico article said, gives him time to focus on issues less specific to the Golden State.

Since being the top votegetter in the state's primary election earlier this month, Newsom has spent time trolling Republicans on the conservative social media app Truth Social and taking potshots at GOP officials on Twitter. He made national headlines last month for calling out the rest of the Democratic Party in a news conference after a leaked United States Supreme Court decision revealed the body plans to overturn Roe v. Wade, and Newsom staffers interviewed in the Politico piece said he's toyed with the notion of appearing on Fox News.

It's eye-catching moves such as these that have led to widespread speculation that Newsom a well-liked, well-funded governor in the nation's most populous state  plans to seek the presidency in one of the next two election cycles. The biggest question for Newsom is whether Biden decides to run for re-election in 2024, as he's repeatedly said he will do. If Biden does seek a second term, Newsom won't run. If he doesn't, the situation becomes less clear.

Conventional wisdom says Newsom won't run against Harris, a fellow California politician, if she makes a run for the presidency in 2024 or 2028. But others aren't so sure. In fact, Bakari Sellers, a Democrat close to Harris who served as a top surrogate for her in 2020, cautioned Newsom against doing so  evidence that a Newsom-Harris matchup in the future is inside the realm of possibility.

"[Newsom is] no threat to the VP for anything she decides or wants to do," Sellers said in the Politico article. "But you have to tread lightly because Joe Biden is still president of the United States and Joe Biden is running again in 2024."

He went on to compare Newsom to Icarus, a winged character in Greek mythology who burned to death while flying too close to the sun.

An older guy once told me you dont want to fly too close to the sun, Sellers added. I like what Newsom is doing, but I dont want him to be Icarus and sometimes he gets too close to the sun.

You can read the full article from Politico.
In its first significant Second Amendment case in over a decade, the United States Supreme Court struck down New York's rules for obtaining a permit to carry a firearm in public.

The ruling will have significant impacts in California beyond only concealed carry laws, UCLA law professor Adam Winkler told SFGATE.

"It's fair to say this ruling will have its biggest effects in states like California with more restrictive gun laws," said Winkler, who is the author of "Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America." "This is the beginning of a period where well see a wide variety of California gun laws called into question, if not struck down entirely."

Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas stated that New York's regulations on individuals seeking to publicly carry a firearm "prevents law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms." The court listed New York alongside five other states  California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey  and the District of Columbia as areas with restrictive "may issue" licensing schemes, "under which authorities have discretion to deny concealed-carry licenses even when the applicant satisfies" relevant criteria.

While the Thursday opinion does not directly wipe out concealed carry restrictions in California, challenges to such laws are now likely to succeed in court. In California, concealed carry permits are granted by local law enforcement agencies (some of which are quite restrictive), so expect a dramatic increase in permits granted in large cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles.

But what's more significant than the ruling on concealed carry laws, Winkler states, is the updated standard the court prescribed for deciding future gun control cases. Up until this point, lower courts have been using interest-balancing tests in which judges weigh the goals of gun control measure against the burdens they may create.

On Thursday, however, the court clarified that "to justify [a] regulation, the government may not simply posit that the regulation promotes an important interest. Rather, the government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nations historical tradition of firearm regulation."

This new "historical tradition" standard will jeopardize almost all of California's gun control laws, Winkler believes.

"California has red flag laws, but under the 'historical tradition' test, red flag laws should be unconstitutional," he said. "There's no history of taking away guns from people in crisis as red flags do. Bans on high capacity magazines and assault weapons are also likely to be struck down, and then there's Californias 10-day waiting period. There's no history of that. The court says only those regulations consistent with historical regulations are permissible. California has innovative laws that restrict guns in ways that are not historically common."

When asked which California gun control laws he believes may survive this new test for Second Amendment cases, Winkler said that background checks appear to be the least endangered (the predecessor to Thursday's opinion, District of Columbia v. Heller, notes a historical tradition of keeping firearms out of the hands of people who may be dangerous).

In May, the Ninth Circuit of Appeals struck down a California law banning individuals ages 18 to 20 from purchasing semiautomatic rifles, citing a lack of historical basis for such a restriction. That decision was reached even when the Ninth Circuit applied interest-balancing tests, which allowed the state to argue it was furthering an important interest. Now, any arguments about how a policy may curb gun violence are irrelevant.

"America would not exist without the heroism of the young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army," the opinion stated. "Today we reaffirm that our Constitution still protects the right that enabled their sacrifice: the right of young adults to keep and bear arms."

Winkler said he believes the respective fates of California's various gun laws could largely depend on the whims of whichever lower court judges hear the challenges.

"The court says they're looking to history and tradition, but New York presented plenty of history on restrictions on concealed carry that the court dismissed as outliers or not historically relevant," he said. "The court claimed it was using history but it looked like politics as usual to me."
California Rep. Eric Swalwell and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene got into a Twitter spat Wednesday that culminated in Swalwell sharing an audio recording of a threatening voicemail he says was received during the back-and-forth.

In that voicemail, the caller insults Swalwell and says he's "going to get" Swalwell and his "mutant" kids.

"We're coming to your house this weekend, [we're] going to get you and the little mutant fascists, the little mutant offspring of yours," the caller said. "We're going to get you."

The feud between the two federal lawmakers centered on Swalwell's professional relationship with a woman who is suspected of being a Chinese spy, and began after Swalwell tweeted about an interaction he says he had at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

"Today I gave a tour in the Capitol and was stopped by a father with his young boy. The father yelled at me 'Hey Swalwell' and then told his son, 'Thats Swalwell. Hes trouble. He doesnt back Trump,' Swalwell said. "I kept walking and felt sad for the boy. Hes being raised in a cult family."

Greene replied to that tweet with a jab about Swalwell's relationship with Christine Fang  also known as Fang Fang. U.S. intelligence officials believe she was working on orders to befriend up-and-coming politicians in an attempt to gain information and leverage.

"No way that happened," Greene said. "Because we all know good Trump supporting fathers would say, 'Thats the Democrat who had sex with a Chinese spy.'

Axios, who broke the story, said Fang had romantic relationships with at least two "Midwestern mayors," but said the the federal government did not suspect Swalwell of any wrongdoing. The Axios investigation found that Fang helped raise money for Swalwell's 2014 re-election campaign, helped hire an intern for Swalwell's office and interacted on with the congressman "at multiple events over the course of several years" before she unexpectedly left the country in 2015.

Replying to Greene's insult, Swalwell posted the audio recording of the voicemail, which he says was a result of Greene's tweet. In it, the caller asks Swalwell if he's still romantically involved (put lightly) with Fang. In the caption attached to the recording, Swalwell called Greene an "inciter of violence."

"Marjorie loves to play the victim. But shes an inciter of violence," he said. "Her constant attacks  even after the FBI said I was never suspected of wrongdoing  lead to threatening calls like this. This caller from today threatened to kill my three children."
Its no secret the Fourth of July is the busiest weekend of the year in Lake Tahoe. Its the pinnacle of tourism up here, a weekend when visitors flock to the cooler mountain air, hotels are booked, beaches are packed and come night, the booms of fireworks echo across the basin.

Yet, Tahoes Fourth of July has also become shorthand for everything thats gone wrong with overtourism. On the West Shore, driving 2 miles into Tahoe City can take an hour, sometimes longer. Second homes and vacation rentals host parties that rage into the night, transforming usually quiet neighborhoods into a scene more like fraternity row. And in the aftermath, volunteers comb Tahoes shoreline and the riverbed of the Truckee, picking up all the empty beer cans and plastic inner tubes left behind.

But this year, at least one thing will be different. Across the North Shore, from Incline Village to Tahoe City, drones are replacing fireworks. No more booms, ahhs and ohhs. Instead, hundreds of drones will take off for a choreographed patriotic celebration.

Kings Beachs annual celebration will host a drone light show on July 3, Tahoe City and Incline Village will do the same on July 4. South Lake Tahoe and Truckee are staying with the tradition of fireworks this year.

All of North Shore will be a drone show, said Andy Chapman, president and CEO of the Incline Village Crystal Bay Visitors Bureau. Its a new way to celebrate. We think its going to be just as dynamic, just as celebratory as a fireworks show.

Celebratory, yes. But Chapman said the decision to switch to drones aligns with larger shift underway in Lake Tahoe  a regionwide movement to rein in overtourism and set the Lake Tahoe Basin on track toward a more sustainable future.

Fourth of July is a busy time of year up here. People are flooding up here and we know that. We have been inundated these last two years with impacts that weve all felt up here, Chapman said. Thats part of whats driven this regionwide Stewardship Tahoe project that we are all embarking on.

Julie Brown / SFGATE

The pandemic canceled fireworks shows in North Lake Tahoe in 2020 and 2021. The pause gave tourism officials a window to re-evaluate how Tahoe should celebrate the Fourth of July in the future. And given the threat todays wildfires pose  the Caldor Fire is still fresh on peoples minds in Lake Tahoe  drones are an obvious decision for safety.

North Tahoes fireworks have always been ignited on barges in the middle of the lake, Chapman said, supervised by local fire departments. However, the permitting, labor and risk of fireworks are all great costs, outweighing the added expense of drones. Incline Villages budget for the drone show balances to about $130,000, a slight uptick compared with the $110,000 spent on fireworks in 2019.

Fireworks inherently come with safety issues, a spokesperson from the North Tahoe Fire Protection District said in a statement. Drones not only reduce fire risk, theyll also cut back on air pollution from the holiday.

The booming sounds of fireworks also spook pets, which go missing in Lake Tahoe more often than youd think. Each year between July 4 and 6, theres a 30% increase in lost pets across the U.S., according to the North Tahoe Fire Protection District. Drones will hopefully help keep pets a bit calmer.

Its really a community celebration. Its for the visitors who are already here. Its for our residents and second homeowners who are up here. Were not anticipating the big crowds along the beach. Its not even at the beach  its at the ball field, Chapman said. Thats a shift that we have made.

In Tahoe City, businesses are gearing up for a festive weekend, even without fireworks.

We know the history that fireworks share in many families hearts, and although the drone show is not going to replicate the history that fireworks have played in our community, we are excited to introduce this sustainable option to our region, said Katie Biggers, executive director of the Tahoe City Downtown Association, in an email. Similar to the fireworks display, this will be a lively, energy-driven event taking place directly over Tahoe City, brightening up the sky and delivering an awe-inspiring experience.

Not all of Lake Tahoe is on board with drones. Those who feel a nostalgic pull for the tradition of sparks shooting up in a dark sky in the middle of the mountains can head down to South Lake Tahoe, where the annual fireworks show is scheduled to continue unchanged.

Our community and businesses have missed the time-honored tradition of one of the nationally recognized displays over the water, said Carol Chaplin, president and CEO of Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, in an email. Of course, along with fireworks, there are some responsibilities including safety and we take those seriously. Having the Lights on the Lake Fireworks Show hopefully helps alleviate some illegal, non-permitted use of fireworks.

South Lake Tahoe did do some research on switching to drones, Chaplin said.

There are numerous challenges with them  such as launch area, flight patterns over roads and people, etc.  but we are continuing that discovery process for the future, she said.

Tom Hellauer/Special to SFGATE

Incline Village purchased 200 drones for the Fourth of July celebration. There will be two acts with an intermission between. Incline Village hired the same production company that flew drones for President Joe Bidens inauguration ceremony.

We obviously have people that are on both sides of this conversation in our communities, Chapman said. I encourage people to watch the show, see how this first year goes, help us learn from it, let us make it better in the future and lets hold our perceptions and our thoughts until after the show.
Shoshi Parks/SFGATE

It was hops, not grapes, that put Sonoma County on the map. A century ago, the leggy bines grew in the millions. Their cones were dried for worldwide sale in oast houses or hop kilns, distinctive peaked barns with castle-like turrets that hulked like mammoths across the Russian River Valley.



But by the end of World War II, the hops business had become a losing game. One by one, the countys hop kilns disappeared or fell into disrepair. Today, by my count, there are just three left in Sonoma County.



My journey to find them begins with one that was erected not to dry the conical pods but to honor their former glory. The sky is moody when I visit Russian River Vineyards in Forestville. Its two weathered wooden towers stand in stark relief against the gloom as if straight from the pages of a fairytale.



The hop kiln was built [between 1975 and 1976] to fit the aesthetics of what the Russian River Valley was, Gio Balistreri, co-owner and winemaker of Russian River Vineyards, explains to me at a picnic table in the wine garden. The first hops were planted in Sonoma County in 1858. By 1900, the San Francisco Chronicle estimated that there were at least 7,500 acres growing there and in neighboring counties, more than almost anywhere in the U.S.

Courtesy, the Sonoma County Library

But by the 1970s, when the replica oast house was built at Russian River Vineyards, the hop industry there was long gone. Three major factors led to its downfall: the invention of a mechanical hops harvester in 1940 (by Santa Rosa inventor Florian Dauenhauer), downy mildew disease among the plants and finally, the parasitic insect phylloxera. The only thing left of that agricultural chapter are the hop kilns, bones of a species now extinct.



To see a real, historic hop kiln, go to Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards, Balistreri tells me. Look northwest and youll see three towers in the distance. Ask at the tasting room if you can drive out to see it.



But as I drive into the estate, there are no towers in the distance. At the tasting room, they tell me Ive arrived just a few months too late. The dilapidated historic building was structurally unsound, and Sonoma-Cutrerhad no choice but to tear it down a few months ago.



The hop kilns raised in Sonoma between 1861 and the early 20th century were constructed in the British tradition from wood, brick or stone. Each had ovens or burners on the ground level and a hops drying floor above. Sacks of the freshly picked crop were poured onto the drying floor in a layer up to 36 inches thick. Over the following eight to 20 hours, they dried out in the rising heat.



The warmth escaped the top of the structure through towers capped with cowls. In Sonoma, they typically took a cabin-like shape, rectangular with sloped-roofs to keep out wet weather. Most hop kilns had two or three towers, but some were much larger. One at Wohler Ranch near Healdsburg had eight.
WFO MEDFORD Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, June 26, 2022

_____

HEAT ADVISORY

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Medford OR

1249 PM PDT Thu Jun 23 2022

...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM SATURDAY TO 11 PM PDT

SUNDAY...

* WHAT...Very hot temperatures are expected this weekend. High

temperatures Saturday are expected to be between 95 and 105, and

97 to 107 degrees fahrenheit.

* WHERE...In California, Western Siskiyou County and Central

Siskiyou County, including the cities of Yreka, Montague,

Grenada, Gazelle, Etna, Fort Jones, Happy Camp, Somes Bar and

Seiad Valley. In Oregon, Josephine County and Jackson County,

including the cities of Medford, White City, Gold Hill,

Jacksonville, Talent, Ashland, Grants Pass, Applegate, Selma,

Cave Junction, and Obrien.

* WHEN...From 11 AM Saturday to 11 PM PDT Sunday.

* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur,

especially for those working outdoors

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The high daytime temperatures combined with

warm overnight lows will result in heat risk and heat related

stress.

* View the hazard area in detail at

https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/map/?wfo=mfr

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out

of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young

children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles

under any circumstances.

Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When

possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or

evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat

stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when

possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational

Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent

rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone

overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location.

Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
In less than a year, ArcelorMittal Liberia has paid more than half a million United States Dollars in resettlement compensation to owners of farmlands close to its iron ore mines in Yekepa, Nimba County.

On Tuesday 8th June, the latest batch of 50 owners of farms within the 500-meter safety buffer zone around Mount Yuelliton was compensated by ArcelorMittal Liberia for their crops and farms within the area.

A press statement issued on Thursday said. A total of at least US$139,906.39 (one hundred and thirty-nine thousand nine hundred six United States Dollars and thirty-nine cents) was disbursed to the 50 farmers, some of whom received nearly USD $10,000 (Ten thousand United States Dollars).

This brings the amount paid by ArcelorMittal Liberia in compensation to farmers in less than a year to USD $566,118.83 (five hundred sixty-six thousand one hundred eighteen United States Dollars and eighty-three cents). Last July, ArcelorMittal Liberia paid USD $ 426,212.44 in compensation to 161 owners of 177 farms and 9 farm kitchens within the drill paths of Mount Yuelliton buffer.

ArcelorMittal Liberia began payment to the farmers on Tuesday, after working closely with the farmers, local leaders, and relevant government authorities to count the crops and properties in the affected location. The approved price list for the different categories of crops was provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, while verification was done by a specialized committee comprising the Farmers Union, Mine Resettlement Coordination Committee MRCC, local government, community representatives, and other stakeholders.

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The presentation of the resettlement benefits took place after consultations with the farmers and community leaders to ensure that they were aware of their rights and that a proper counting of their crops was done to be justly compensated.

This practice by ArcelorMittal Liberia is in line with national and international laws and standards, such as the Liberian Constitution, the Environmental Protection Agency Act (2003), the Environmental Protection Act and Associated Environmental Impact Assessment Procedural Guidelines (2006), and the Mineral and Mining Act (2000), which require the recognition and settlement of land and property rights based on fair compensation. The resettlements by ArcelorMittal Liberia are also consistent with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank standards.

ArcelorMittal Liberia's Community Relations Department in collaboration with local stakeholders worked long hours to meticulously count and verify all tree crops and other farm assets on the top of Mount Yuelliton and within the 500-meter buffer zone for compensation.

AML Resettlement Supervisor, Jerry Fumba said over 600 farms have been covered in the crop counting process, and that farmers are being paid in groups of 50 at a time. By the end of this month, another group of 50 farmers will receive resettlement compensations totaling US$138,188.37 from ArcelorMittal Liberia.

Communities surrounding Mount Yuelliton earlier presented a list of 1,173 farmers, with farmers possessing one or more farms. Considering the number of farmers to be compensated, Mr. Fumba said the company will be paying more than USD $1million to farmers.
WFO PHOENIX Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Wednesday, June 22, 2022

_____

AREAL FLOOD ADVISORY

Flood Advisory

National Weather Service Phoenix AZ

424 PM PDT Wed Jun 22 2022

...FLOOD ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 730 PM PDT THIS EVENING...

* WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is expected.

* WHERE...A portion of southern California, including the following

county, Riverside.

* WHEN...Until 730 PM PDT.

* IMPACTS...Minor flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas.

Water over roadways. Some low-water crossings may become

impassable.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...

- At 424 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated heavy rain due to

thunderstorms. Minor flooding is ongoing or expected to begin

shortly in the advisory area. Between 0.5 and 1 inch of rain

has fallen.

- Additional rainfall amounts of 0.5 to 1.5 inches are expected

over the area. This additional rain will result in minor

flooding.

- Some locations that will experience flooding include...

mainly rural areas of Riverside County

- http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

Be aware of your surroundings and do not drive on flooded roads.

Please report observed flooding to local emergency services or law

enforcement and request they pass this information to the National

Weather Service when you can do so safely.

The National Weather Service in San Diego has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Riverside County in southern California...

Northeastern San Diego County in southwestern California...

* Until 500 PM PDT.

* At 425 PM PDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Borrego Palm

Canyon, or 7 miles northwest of Borrego Springs, moving north at 25

mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage

to roofs, siding, and trees.

* Locations impacted include...

Southeastern Palm Springs, northern Borrego Springs, eastern Anza,

Borrego Palm Canyon, Hwy 74 Between Anza And Palm Desert, Hwy 74

Between Mountain Center And Anza, La Quinta, Santa Rosa Mountain

and Los Coyotes Indian Reservation.

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

Large hail and damaging winds and continuous cloud to ground

lightning is occurring with this storm. Move indoors immediately.

Lightning is one of nature's leading killers. Remember, if you can

hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning.

Torrential rainfall is occurring with this storm, and may lead to

flash flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways.

...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of central Kern County

through 515 PM PDT...

At 424 PM PDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near

Lamont, or 7 miles east of Bakersfield, moving northeast at 10 mph.

HAZARD...Winds in excess of 40 mph and pea size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around

unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is

possible.

Locations impacted include...

Bakersfield, Lamont and Edison.

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

LAT...LON 3524 11887 3529 11898 3548 11888 3540 11869

TIME...MOT...LOC 2324Z 211DEG 8KT 3532 11889

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN

MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO EL PASO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, June 23, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in El Paso Tx/Santa Teresa has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

Northeastern El Paso County in western Texas...

Northwestern Hudspeth County in western Texas...

* Until 715 PM MDT.

* At 411 PM MDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing

heavy rain across the warned area. Between 1 and 1.5 inches of

rain have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts of 0.5 to 1 inch are

possible in the warned area. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected

to begin shortly.

HAZARD...Flash flooding caused by thunderstorms.

SOURCE...Radar.

IMPACT...Flash flooding of small creeks and streams, urban

areas, highways, streets and underpasses as well as

other poor drainage and low-lying areas.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...

mainly rural areas of Northeastern El Paso and Northwestern

Hudspeth Counties

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

Excessive runoff from heavy rainfall will cause flooding of small

creeks and streams, country roads, farmland, and other low lying

spots.

Flooding is occurring or is imminent. It is important to know where

you are relative to streams, rivers, or creeks which can become

killers in heavy rains. Campers and hikers should avoid streams or

creeks.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather




Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Al Busaidi had talks on Wednesday.  VNA/VNS Photo Son praised the remarkable developments in cooperation between the two countries over the past three decades in politics, diplomacy, economy and trade, saying they have maintained delegation exchanges and mutual support at international forums, and in natural disaster response and the fight against Covid-19.

He views economic cooperation as a bright spot in the bilateral ties, with two-way trade hitting US$338.1 million last year, nearly doubling the figure in the previous year.

The Vietnam-Oman Investment (VOI) fund has operated effectively, with an array of projects rolled out in essential fields in Vietnam like water management, agriculture, health care and renewable energy, the minister continued.

For his part, the Omani minister lauded the achievements Vietnam has recorded in politics, external relations, economy and social affairs, and affirmed that Oman always attaches importance to promoting its multi-faceted cooperation with the Southeast Asian nation.

The two ministers shared the view that there is still ample room for bilateral cooperation, especially in economy, trade, investment, labour, agriculture, fishery and seaports.

Regarding measures to consolidate and improve the efficiency of cooperation, they said Vietnam and Oman should step up the exchange of delegations at all levels, particularly the high-level ones, continue their close coordination at international forums and organisations, and maintain the existing cooperation mechanisms such as the inter-governmental committee and political consultation between the two foreign ministries.

To create breakthroughs in economic collaboration, the ministers stressed that the two countries need to coordinate in trade and investment promotion, increase information exchange and business connectivity, and speed up negotiations of major cooperation agreements to consolidate the legal framework for bilateral cooperation.

Son used the occasion to invite the Omani minister to visit Vietnam, and the latter accepted the invitation with pleasure.

On the same day, Son hosted a reception for Abdulnasser Alshaali, Assistant Minister for Economic and Trade Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Hanoi.

The Vietnamese minister noted with pleasure the rapid and strong developments in the bilateral relations, especially in economy, trade and investment.

He said the importance Vietnam attaches to the friendship and multi-faceted cooperation with the UAE, one of its leading trade, investment and labour partners in the Middle East.

The minister urged the two sides to enhance all-level delegation exchanges and to soon organise the second political consultation between the two foreign ministries, while taking specific measures to foster collaboration, particularly in economy, trade and investment.

Son highlighted the initiative to establish a joint business council with the participation of state management agencies and enterprises on both sides.

Vietnam will create optimal conditions for UAE firms to seek and join business and investment projects in the Southeast Asian nation, he said, calling on them to increase investments in agriculture.

The minister suggested accelerating negotiations and signing of cooperation documents in finance and banking to create a legal corridor for bilateral collaboration.

Speaking highly of Vietnams achievements in national construction and development, Abdulnasser Al Shaali emphasised that the UAE attaches importance to the countrys role and influence in Asia-Pacific.

The UAE wishes to boost multi-faceted cooperation with Vietnam, particularly in the economy, push ahead with the establishment of the business council as well as the negotiations and signing of a bilateral free trade agreement, and utilise the UAEs existing preferential policies to bring Vietnamese goods to the Middle East and Africa, he said.

The UAE also wishes to forge cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), he added.

Earlier the same day, Abdulnasser Al Shaali held talks with Assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang, during which they agreed on orientations and measures to beef up the bilateral ties in the time ahead.

On this occasion, the two sides held a roundtable seminar that brought together many UAE businesses operating in the transport, finance, investment, education and energy.

Last year, despite difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, two-way trade reached $5.3 billion, up 21 percent year-on-year.

VNA
A 'Political chicken' coming back to roost has sent a damning, shocking, grave and disturbing message to the Alternative National Congress' (ANC) Political Leader Alexander B. Cummings, with a sign of greater things to come, and absolutely calculated to wreck his political population, shrink his party's numerical capacity and retire his gigantic ambition on an isolated political island.

Pundits noted that quite frankly, Senator Simeon Taylor's return to the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) upon utilizing the available resources apportioned by the ANC on the platform of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) was a massive blow to Cummings' political lens to see far beyond the horizon of 'dollarism' to stockpile his political bandwagon.

However, during a press conference held Monday, June 20, 2022 at his residence in Congo Town, Cummings said he is deeply disappointed over the action of Senator Taylor joining the CDC.

Cummings, who termed as completely disappointing, the return of Grand Cape Mount County Senator Simeon Taylor to the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change said that Taylor ran on the ticket of the once formidable opposition bloc CPP and won the senatorial seat in Grand Cape Mount County in 2020, was a member of Cummings' Alternative National Congress.

His campaign for the seat suffered violent attacks from his CDC rivals then, but he still won the seat with the backing of the opposition CPP which was made up of four political parties.

"My perspective on these things is that people will do what they think they need to do. Simon Taylor joining the CDC was disappointing but that is life," said Cummings.

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"Life in Liberia, politics and in the world, people will do what they think is in their interest and again, let me say we are disappointed," Cummings noted with dismay and a bitter pill to swallow in this creeping politically charged moment ahead.

According to the ANC political leader, there are more people joining his party than a single person who is leaving the ANC.

Cummings, who have more unexpected frustrating blows to be landed on his political ambition as long as he does not think deeply and observe carefully, also brags that stated that the ANC recently registered over five hundred individuals just from a visit to Bomi County; but pundits pointed out that he should be mindful that the harder they come, the sooner they'll quit.

He said that the focus of the ANC and the CPP is to continue to mobilize to get Liberians to understand their message of real change.

"We are expecting to lose more people between now to election. However, I promise you, we will gain significant move between now to election that will bring us victory," said Cummings, again, political observer indicated that to begin losing members in time these including high profile, is disastrous, a bad political omen that is well on course to nightmare.

"So my focus is not on who left the original bloc, but how we can work now to change the system in our country," he continued.

He argued that other countries near Liberia that are making [progress] are not better than Liberia. He said under a Cummings leadership, he will bring more investors and create job opportunities and better security protection, health and learning environment for the people, an overly worn-out political credo sounding in the wilderness.
India's integrated drone manufacture and drone-as-a-service (DAAS) provider Garuda Aerospace will set up a production facility in Malaysia at an outlay of Rs 115 crore, said a top company official.

"We have decided to set up a drone production facility in Malaysia with a production capacity of about 50 drones per day. We will be importing the components from India and other countries," Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder & CEO of Garuda Aerospace, told IANS.

The city-based company has tied up with with HiiLSE Global Sdn Bhd (HiiLSE Drones), a drone start-up in Malaysia.

"This partnership will define an ecosystem of drones with advanced artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning technologies," Jayaprakash said.

He clarified that the partnership is not a joint venture with two companies sharing the equity capital. The Malaysian company will enable Garuda Aerospace to set up the plant and other business prospects, he said.

HiiLSE Drones founder and CTO, Shanmugam S. Thanggavilo said that a drone plant in the region would create 3,000 new jobs centered around drone expertise.

Garuda Aerospace is in the process of raising USD 30 million and it will close this July, Jayaprakash said.
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The inaugural Frank Kalimuzo Memorial Lecture at Makerere University is slated for today. It will held in the Yusuf Lule Central Teaching Facility.

Kalimuzo was the first indigenous Vice Chancellor of Makerere University. He was killed by Idi Amin in 1972.

The lecture, to be held under the theme: "Remembering Frank Kalimuzo: Lessons for Universities in Cultivating a Culture of Service and Distinguished Leadership", is part of the university's activities to commemorate 100 years of service.

Prof Joy Kwesiga, the Vice Chancellor of Kabale University will deliver the keynote address which will be discussed by a panel that will include Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, the former prime minister of Uganda.

For its first journey of 60years, Makerere University was predominantly under the leadership and management of the Colonial masters.

Then Makerere University was under the East African University arrangement, with the University of Nairobi and the University of Dar-es-Salam as constituent colleges.

The white dominance soon started to give way in 1964, with the appointment of Prof. Yusuf Kironde Lule as the first black Principal of Makerere University College.

The appointment of Prof. Lule, paved the way for Ugandan academics like Kalimuzo in 1970 when he was appointed by the then president, Dr. Apollo Milton Obote to become the first Vice-Chancellor of the newly formed Makerere University away from the colonial and white man control.

In his brief tenure as the first Vice-Chancellor, courses like Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Forestry, Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Technology, were added to the university's curriculum.

In 1972, Kalimuzo was picked up by security personnel and was never seen alive again.

Esther Kalimuzo, the widow, will be the guest of honour.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The librarian often used to hear from readers that they wanted a book that didnt make them feel uncomfortable. What did that mean, she wondered. Didnt they want to read about confronting subjects? Yet the best stories often make readers uncomfortable. I see the role of fiction when its sometimes dark is to help readers understand or experience something through the safety of a book, she says. The librarian is award-winning author Sarah Schmidt, and hordes of her readers in Australia, Britain and the US share her view of dark fiction. See What I Have Done, her 2017 debut novel, was an international sensation. It reimagined the true story of Lizzie Borden, accused of murdering her parents with an axe. That story began with a dream in which Lizzie sat on the authors bed and began to tell her story. Sarah Schmidt at Ivanhoe Library, one of three she embraced when she moved to the suburbs. Credit:Simon Schluter Schmidts second novel, Blue Hour, also began with a dream. We talk about it over coffee in a Brunswick cafe near her home. She has relieved the Melbourne black uniform with a confident combination of rosy hair, red shoes and a bright blue coat. A long time ago, her book tells us, humans didnt have a word for the colour blue. In her dream, a sad and angry young woman was driving towards blue mountains. She kept looking in the rearview mirror, and Schmidt wondered what she was looking at, so she looked too, and discovered the womans baby daughter in the back seat. Then Schmidt woke, and discovered she was having a miscarriage. This was one of a series of miscarriages when Schmidt was trying to have a baby with her then partner. She was also wrestling with ambivalent feelings. Every time I had a miscarriage I just kept thinking, maybe motherhood is not for me. It started bringing up feelings about my own parents. Finally she went to an IVF clinic, where the doctor told her she had two really big eggs and that she should try again. She did, and gave birth to Alice, now 10.

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As it turned out, Alice is a happy and loved child. But Schmidt struggled with anxiety that she might repeat her own experience of being parented. She remembers taking baby Alice for a walk on a cold morning, when an older woman came up to her. She touched me on the shoulder and said I know what its like, I thought about killing my son as well. Schmidt had never had such a thought, but the womans words stuck with her. Birth is a wonderful thing, but it makes connections and raises memories you havent even thought of. A few years later, See What I Have Done came out: That was the best and worst time in my life. It was great to have this achievement. But in the meantime I was starting to have a breakdown for a whole raft of reasons. It all came to a head when she went on her own to the US for a book tour. I was remembering my own childhood and realising I couldnt be in the relationship I was in any more  we had grown apart. Almost every night, I wanted to die. Id had depression and anxiety before but Id never felt that way. She began to realise she needed to write about her feelings and memories. I wanted to be open about things, but how far could I go? Sarah Schmidts first novel followed a dream about Lizzie Borden. Credit:Simon Schluter The result is Blue Hour, at its heart a mother-daughter story about Eleanor, the young mother driving into the mountains in her dream, and her mother, Kitty, and their fraught relationship. Reading it is not so much uncomfortable as gut-wrenching, but in a good way. I want people to walk away from the book having a true feeling about something, Schmidt says. Its my complete and entire life. Its also nothing to do with my life. She set her story in the 1970s, with chapters from Kittys point of view going back to the 1940s, which gave her the illusion of distance from her own memories. Kitty was her favourite character: Shes awful; I dont like her. But I loved writing her. While Kitty is not her own mother, there are parallels. My mother was abused as a child by a family member, and I knew about it from a young age. There was no discussion, no therapy, no attempt to remove the sense of shame. As many children do, she felt responsible and tried to stop her mother from feeling sad. You can spend your entire life trying to make someone happy  you feel thats your job.

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Another thing that Schmidt knew from a young age was that her mother had tried to kill her. She told me many times, how she stopped it from happening. She had these overwhelming feelings and thoughts. She really struggled to talk about it. But at the same time, she told me everything. I love my mother. I have many happy memories of my childhood. I never felt unloved. But she was depressed. Her husband was often away in the navy, and she gave birth at just 19. I wish I could have hugged her and told her everything was okay, but thats a lot to process. She wanted to communicate something a lot of women dont ever talk about. Its just unfortunate that when I first heard it, I was too young. Loading In her book, Kitty is grieving for different reasons, and becomes bitter, even savage. Poor young Eleanor has an extra burden placed on her. I made a rule to myself that Kitty was never to tell Eleanor out loud that she loved her, Schmidt says. That helped to shape a different sense, a more complex trauma of someone feeling they are not loved. Schmidt is adamant that this is not an anti-mother book. It can be a very dark time in peoples lives ... I wanted to show that side of motherhood. If people read it and feel connected, I would be happy thats a shared feeling. I want people to feel theyre not alone. TAKE 7: AUTHOR SARAH SCHMIDT Worst habit? There are many but lets go with a tendency to overthink and over-analyse most things. Greatest fear? Reaching the end of my life and dying with regrets. The line that stayed with you? I know this should probably be something relating to literature but the first thing that popped into my head was something that was said to me in a traumatic situation a few years ago. But that needs to stay in the past. Instead, the best line from life that stays with me is when my daughter was very young learning sentences and told me, You make my heart. Biggest regret? Just one?! I think its probably not being as brave as I shouldve been at certain points of my life. Favourite room? Any room where Im alone, writing or thinking about writing, and an idea decides to visit and stay with me instead of someone else on its journey. The artwork/song you wish was yours? All Is Full of Love by Bjork. Everything about it is gold. If you could solve one thing? The crisis of capitalism! But also on my list: who killed the Bordens. I was hoping Id have more insight when I was with Lizzie all those years ago for See What I Have Done, but she gave me nothing. I just want to know. Through her time settings, Schmidt was also able to explore the damage done to men returning from war. George, Kittys husband, is horribly hurt inside and outside from his World War II days: he wears a facial prosthetic and has PTSD nightmares. Eleanors husband, Leon, already a violent man, returns from Vietnam even more fearsome.

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In writing Leon, Schmidt could draw on another dark experience: I was raped and strangled in my sleep. She had allowed a visitor from overseas to sleep on her couch. He acted like nothing had happened the next day and I thought, youve done this before. For a long time she could not bear to tell anyone about it, not even her therapist. But one day when she heard people at work talking about rape, she picked up a stapler and threw it across the room. Then she told her manager. That was the beginning of becoming more comfortable and telling people what had happened. I realised there was nothing wrong with me. Writing Leon felt necessary, but was awful. Every time I got into that headspace I was traumatised. She would start her writing day with the recall of a memory she was going to borrow from her own life and allow myself to sit in that feeling the more I let myself open up, the more I connected with my characters and what they needed. It was very liberating, very cathartic. But there was this huge downside because youre sitting with trauma all the time. Loading Her therapist asked her why she was doing this to herself. Because she had to, she said. It had never occurred to me that at the end of the day I could check in with myself and say, Im Sarah, Im this person, Im not that person. You have got to be kind to yourself. After four years of writing, she handed a huge manuscript to her publishers: It was 270,000 words, it was out of control. Paragraphs werent even finished. I didnt know what was wrong with me. Working first with Robert Watkins (who later left Hachette for Ultimo Press), and then with Vanessa Radnidge, she refined the sprawling text to focus on the mother-daughter story.

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When it was released last year, Halseys acclaimed album If I Cant Have Love, I Want Power, found the US singer shedding the polite sad-girl pop of her previous three albums to embrace her identity as a woman, a mother and a seductress, with the support and encouragement of Nine Inch Nails Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

The songs were lustrous with spectral piano, driving synths, and apocalyptic and biblical references. Halsey fans may have heard it all anew, but for those of us who dressed like Robert Smith or Siouxsie Sioux-meets-Beetlejuice in clubs like Melbournes Abyss, Subculture or Cabaret Nocturne or Sydneys Club 77 and Hellfire Club circa 1998 to 2010, it was thrillingly familiar.

Pop star Halsey, with Atticus Ross (left) and Trent Reznor (right), leaned into goth and industrial sounds on her last album.

In the same way that everything 90s is new again, so is gothcore (or undead, undead, undead in the timeless words of Bauhaus Peter Murphy). Sandwiched between the New Romantics and the synth-driven late-80s and the rave explosion of the 90s, the gothcore sound is all big metal guitar riffs, swirling panoramic synthesizers, a pounding dance-floor beat and thunderous, malevolent bass lines.

If theres any doubt about its resurgence, Nine Inch Nails headlining tours throughout Europe with Nitzer Ebb, Ministrys return to touring, UK post-punk pioneers Bauhaus reformation, and gloom icons The Sisters of Mercys upcoming Australian dates leave no doubt the synth-goth sound that blitzed through 90s clubs like Doc Martens and a whole lot of eyeliner is back in a big way.
Two families whose children survived the Tasmanian jumping castle tragedy which claimed six young lives have engaged a law firm to prepare a case for compensation for their injuries.

The children were attending end-of-school-year celebrations at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport in December when a gust of wind flung the jumping castle and some enclosed plastic zorb balls they were playing in 10 metres into the air.

Tributes left at Hillcrest Primary School following the death of five children in a jumping castle accident in December. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola

Six children died, and three others were injured, when they fell to the ground.

Tom Goudkamp, of Sydney law firm Stacks Goudkamp, is preparing a compensation case for two of the injured boys, with plans to launch proceedings after a coronial inquiry is complete.
The President of the Republic, H.E. Dr. George Manneh Weah, Tuesday, June 21, 2022 welcomed a United Arab Emirates (UAE) government delegation to Liberia and praised the people of that gulf state as being amongst Liberia's true development partners.

Meeting the two-man technical assessment team at the Executive Mansion, President Weah heaped praises on the people and government of UAE for always responding to Liberia's development needs quickly and substantively.

He extended his heartfelt thanks and appreciation to President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his able leadership and desire to see Liberia achieve its Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD).

The Team, comprising Abdula Ibraheem Mohamed Ahmed Alhamnadi and Mohamed Khalfan Ahmed Khalfan Al-Ali, thanked the Liberian Leader for the warm reception accorded them since their arrival into the country.

The delegation said they were sent to Liberia by their President in fulfillment of his promise to cooperate with President Weah through constructive partnership for the benefit of both country's development.

While in the country, the team will conduct an assessment for the possibilities of rice production and development/expansion of the Free Port and other ports in Liberia.

In May 2022, the Liberian Chief Executive and the President of the Gulf State met at the Qasr Al Shati Palace in Dubai where they pledged mutual commitments of hindered cooperation between the two countries.

Tuesday's meeting was also attended by the Minister State for Presidential Affairs, Nathaniel F. McGill; Minister of State Without Portfolio, Hon. Trokon Kpui, Minister of Agriculture, Jeanine Cooper, and National Port Authority Managing Director Dr. Bill Twehway.
Parents at St Catherines School are joining forces with families from other Anglican schools to fight a requirement for incoming principals to sign a statement that they believe marriage is between a man and a woman.

St Catherines principal leaves at the end of the year, and the relatively new rule for diocese-run schools will require her replacement  who is appointed by a council dominated by representatives of the conservative Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney, which rejects gay marriage  to sign the document.

The schools council is expected to make an announcement about a new principal soon.

The new principal of St Catherines will have to attest that they believe marriage is between a man and a woman. Credit:Dallas Kilponen

The issue prompted Equality Australia to call on the Albanese and Perrottet governments to reform the laws that allow religious schools to expel, fire or discriminate against students because of their sexual orientation.
Reporting of data on the number of Australian navy personnel who experienced a suicide-related event did not begin until 2017, despite the army keeping track as early as 2007.

In 2021, 100 air force personnel experienced a suicide-related event, the highest number across all three services since reporting began, according to data shown to Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide on Thursday.

Chief of Defence Force Angus Campbell speaking at the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide in Townsville.

The navy and air force did not begin recording suicide-related events until 2017 and 2015 respectively, despite increasing attention being paid to mental health issues during and after military life.

Australian Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell told the inquiry on Thursday that the delay of reporting showed the progressive development of [defences] awareness across the force and the development of recording and databases to be able to show that.
Imagine if we blamed doctors and nurses for the chaos in our hospitals. Instead, we understand the problems are systemic. The lack of staff is about poor workforce planning and untenable conditions and the system itself needs a massive injection of funds. We do not say the nurses are terrible, the doctors are worse and those who lead them have no idea what they are doing.

Teachers are leaving the sector because they dont feel supported. Credit:Quentin Jones

Yet as our school system crumbles under multiple pressures, and as our workforce abandons teaching in droves, there is absolutely no interrogation of the education system in this country. Nearly every single story is about teacher quality. Its never about system quality.

Has the NSW government addressed system quality in the latest budget? Whats missing is a serious investment in teachers, who are the cornerstone  the foundation  of our education system. The research is clear  the quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor impacting student outcomes.

In-school. Thats the key. New research from the University of Newcastles Teachers and Teaching Research Centre demonstrates the quality of teaching is, on average, the same in advantaged schools as it is in mid-range schools. In fact, the only significant difference in quality occurs in our lowest socioeconomic schools where inadequate resources, disadvantage and real student poverty play a significant role in students poorer educational outcomes.
Ukraine has found a true friend in Australia and counts on an enduring partnership.

In the four months since Russias brutal offensive began in late February, Ukraine has surprised, even shocked, the world by resisting and pushing back the worlds second-largest military force.

We are very grateful to the many countries who have helped us defend ourselves, including with strong sanctions imposed on Russia and humanitarian, material and military aid. This has bolstered the resilience of our armed forces and fortified the morale of our people, many of whom have lost family members, friends and homes or had to flee the war.

Many Ukrainians have lost loved ones and been forced to flee their homes as a result of the war with Russia. Credit:Getty

And just as Ukraine has surprised the world, there are countries that surprised Ukraine. Australia is one of them. A nation far away geographically that could abstain from action, but instead decided to act and stand by Ukraine resolutely. War leaves no grey zone, it paints everything black and white. War is the time to know who your real foes and friends are. We are happy to have found such a sincere friend half the world away. In fact, Australias support means that distance does not matter when we talk about universal values: human dignity, freedom, the right of nations to choose their path, the right of people to live a normal life.
Federal Labors national secretary, Paul Erickson, has met with Beijings ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian to discuss the trade sanctions on Australian exports and a recent incident involving a Chinese fighter jet and RAAF surveillance aircraft in a further sign the new government is intent on improving relations with China.

The meeting came at the embassys request and took place last Tuesday in Canberra, after the Labor Party official sought advice from the government to confirm the meeting was appropriate.

Chinas ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, and ALP national secretary Paul Erickson.

The embassy posted a picture of the pair on its website after the meeting and said the pair exchanged views on the relationship between the two parties, the two countries and issues of mutual concern.

In a statement in response to questions about the meeting Erickson said it was an opportunity to share the Labor Partys view that a constructive relationship between Australia and China is in both of our countries interests.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is being urged to visit Kyiv after he attends the NATO summit in Spain next week, to join world leaders who have stepped up their support for Ukraine in recent days with pledges of civil and military aid as well as visits to the capital.

Albanese is considering the invitation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky while government officials consider the security risks of the journey, as Russian forces bombard parts of eastern Ukraine with missiles and heavy artillery.

PM Anthony Albanese has been invited to visit Kyiv by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Credit:Bianca De Marchi/60 Minutes

Albanese said he expected to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in France next week but was taking advice on the invitation to Kyiv.

We dont want to cause a circumstance whereby theres risk to Australian personnel by undertaking such a visit, but well take that advice and well act accordingly, he said on ABCs 7.30 program on Thursday night.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet will come under more pressure over the controversial appointment of John Barilaro as US trade commissioner after he admitted two similar positions were mistakenly reviewed by cabinet.

In an admission that will further inflame the controversy over the former deputy premiers appointment, Perrottet conceded two senior trade postings incorrectly went to cabinet: the newly resurrected agent-general position in London and the Tokyo trade role.

Premier Dominic Perrottet has moved to distance himself from John Barilaros appointment. Credit:Brook Mitchell

Perrottet insists it happened in error and the mistake was not repeated when Barilaro was appointed to the plum $500,000-a-year trade role in New York, which the former deputy premier created when he was trade minister.

As the controversy overshadowed the governments efforts to sell its cash-splash budget, Perrottet earlier on Thursday announced he had directed the secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet Michael Coutts-Trotter to conduct a review into Barilaros appointment.
COVID restrictions in Shanghai, a city of 26 million people (equivalent to the entire population of Australia) have eased after two months of lockdown. However, the longer-term effects of this lockdown will affect the Peoples Republic of Chinas outlook for years to come.

Chinas zero COVID policy has exacerbated the disillusionment of the urban and educated youth. Consequently, young people are not responding well to the governments efforts to build up a skilled workforce or the incentives to have more children to slow the ageing population. This will undermine Chinas economic and social development.

A Shanghai couple line up for COVID testing as the lockdown eases in the Chinese city. Credit:AP

The Shanghai lockdown was incredibly disruptive. At the onset, the announcement left little time for residents to prepare. Initially, the lockdown was only supposed to be a week-long staggered affair. Accordingly, many were unable to prepare sufficient provisions. Unlike lockdowns in Australia, residents in Shanghai were not allowed to leave their homes even for groceries. In the end, most had to rely on government-provided food supplies, which were sporadic and varied in quantity and quality between neighbourhoods.

Lining up for mandatory PCR tests became a daily routine. Those who tested positive were taken to quarantine centres. Shocking stories emerged from these experiences, ranging from health workers killing pets, to the separation of children from parents, to the lack of toilet and shower facilities.
Kigali: The Jamaican woman vying to be the next boss of the Commonwealth says the island nations push to become a republic and its desire for slavery reparations are no obstacle to her tilt at the top job.

As a Jamaican, Kamina Johnson Smith would back herself to win the sprint, despite swinging in only two months ago to challenge to Baroness Patricia Scotland who is seeking to extend her term at this weeks Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda.

Johnson Smith has been Jamaicas foreign minister for the last six years. Her bid to become the next secretary-general of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the association of 54 Commonwealth countries now headed by Prince Charles, follows Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness renewed campaign to remove the Queen - or her heirs - as head of state.

Jamaicas Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda. Credit:Latika Bourke

In April, when Prince William and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, visited Jamaica as part of the Platinum Jubilee, Holness told the couple that his nation was moving on and we intend to attain in short order our development goals and fulfil our true ambitions as an independent, developed, prosperous country.
Monrovia  The President of the Republic, H.E. Dr. George Manneh Weah, Tuesday, June 21, 2022 met with a high-power delegation of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) at the Executive Mansion.

The delegation headed by the High Commissioner for Refugee, Filippo Grandi, said they had come to thank President Weah and the Liberian people for the exceptional solidarity demonstrated towards Ivorian Refugees during their country's darkest days.

On behalf of the team, Mr. Grandi said: "Mr. President, in a nutshell, I want to say thank you to you and the Liberian people for what you have done for Ivorian Refugees."

Mr. Grandi told President Weah they decided to come to Liberia from Ivory Coast where they had met with President Alhassan Qattara to celebrate what he termed 'success, not crisis,' in terms of the unconditional return of Ivorian Refugees back home.

Though there were few Ivorian refugees still in Liberia, the UNHCR boss indicated that a good number of them are back home in line with an agreement reached to end their refugee status.

He said Liberians did exceptionally well in hosting Ivorian Refugees in ways that the refugees felt at home and did not feel rejected.

According to Mr. Grandi, it was good he came to Liberia, a country that hosted the huge number of Ivorian Refugees in the West African sub-region, to appreciate the government and people.

Responding to Mr. Grandi, the President said the government and people of Liberia were grateful to have impacted the lives of Ivorian Refugees in appreciation of what Ivory Coast and other nations did when Liberians faced a similar nightmare of being in refugee camps.

He said: "We are grateful that we can reciprocate. During our war, everyone came to our aid. We were once refugees, and there is no Liberian who will deny the fact that they or their close relatives were not once refugees.

"If anyone will forget, I wouldn't forget because being a citizen of Liberia who was not in a refugee camp, I also felt the impact."

President Weah said he was glad that Ivorian refugees were given the leverage and support to determine, on their own, whether to become citizens of Liberia or return home.

During the meeting, the UNHCR boss was gowned by the Liberian Government through the Liberia Refugee Repatriation Resettlement Commission.
PHILIPSBURG:---In preparation for this years 159th Emancipation Day celebration on July 1st, the Department of Culture is inviting all interested citizens and persons residing in Sint Maarten to learn the Ponum Dance as part of the festivities that include the reenactment of the Diamond 26 Run For Freedom. The free Ponum Dance workshop will be held at the John Larmonie Center on Monday, June 27th, 2022 at 7:00 pm in which attendees will view the Ponum Dance documentary, learn its history and experience the historical importance of this cultural dance expression.

Emancipation Day is a day to celebrate and come together as a people to reflect on the voices of our ancestors and their experiences as we stand on their shoulders. Together the people of Sint Maarten must work collectively as one nation to retain its cultural and economic momentum, by redefining the strengths of our legacy in order to pay homage to the ancestors that fought for their human rights to be a free people.

Emancipation Day 2022 with the theme Ancestral Echos, will mark the 159th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Abolishment of Slavery on Sint Maarten. The Minister of Education Culture Youth & Sport, Honorable drs. Rodolphe Samuel will be hosting the celebration event, which will take place on Union Road Cole Bay, June 30th starting at 10:30 pm featuring the Diamond 26 Run For Freedom that goes right into July 1st with a cultural manifestation at the Belle Vue Saint-Jean Plantation.

Emancipation Day was the first public holiday established by the Parliament of Sint Maarten since becoming a Country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as such the Government of Sint Maarten would like the community to take a moment to reflect on our past triumphs and tribulations as a people. Many believed the road to our freedom on the Southern side of the island was easy and granted to us by the European powers. Contrary to popular belief, our ancestors fought for their freedom.

The strong and resilient Sint Maarteners of that era were a people that we're aware that the formerly enslaved persons on the Northern part of the island were freemen as of 1848 and many of them ran away from the deplorable conditions that they were forced into. These actions by the enslaved persons seeking their freedom culminated in the Proclamation of the Abolishment of Slavery as the European powers knew that the slave labor system could not continue as it did for so many years. Freedom for the enslaved ancestors was inevitable. There are many accounts of rebellion and resistance towards the oppressive slave system, such as the Diamond 26 Run for Freedom and the Ponum Dance and Song expressions.
Torq Announces Executive Title Changes

Torq Resources Inc.A (TSX-V: TORQ, OTCQX: TRBMF) (aTorqa or the aCompanya  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/torq-resources-inc/ ) is pleased to announce that two current directors are changing management positions in order to better reflect the expected executive involvement of each person going forward. Shawn Wallace the current Board Chair is being appointed to Chief Executive Officer while Michael Kosowan will assume the office of Vice President of Capital Markets. Mr. Wallace will continue to serve as Chair of the Board of Directors of Torq, and Mr. Kosowan will continue to serve as a director. The Board has created the office Lead Independent Director and has appointed Steve Cook in that office.

CEO Shawn Wallace commented aI look forward to greater involvement with the day-to-day management of Torq than before. We thank Michael for all his past contributions as CEO and look forward to his help in developing our capital markets.a

The Company also announces that it is granting Ms. Tracy George, Torqa?s Corporate Secretary, 25,000 options, which are exercisable for a period of five years from the date of grant.

About Torq Resources

Torq is a Vancouver-based copper and gold exploration company with a portfolio of premium holdings in Chile. The Company is establishing itself as a leader of new exploration in prominent mining belts, guided by responsible, respectful and sustainable practices. The Company was built by a management team with prior success in monetizing exploration assets and its specialized technical team is recognized for their extensive experience working with major mining companies, supported by robust safety standards and technical proficiency. The technical team includes Chile-based geologists with invaluable local expertise and a noteworthy track record for major discovery in the country. Torq is committed to operating at the highest standards of applicable environmental, social and governance practices in the pursuit of a landmark discovery. For more information, visit www.torqresources.com.

Forward Looking Information

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed aforward-looking statementsa. Forward-looking information is information that includes implied future performance and/or forecast information including information relating to, or associated with, exploration and or development of mineral properties. These statements or graphical information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different (either positively or negatively) from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. See Torqa?s public filings at ww.sedar.com for disclosure of the risks and uncertainties faced in this business.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Osisko Development Intersects 19.81 g/t Au over 9.80 meters at Cariboo Gold Project, Shaft Zone

Osisko Development Corp. (aOsisko Developmenta or the aCompanya  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/osisko-development-corp/ ) is pleased to announce the remaining and final drilling results from the 2021 exploration and category conversion drill campaign of its Cariboo Gold Project (aCaribooa) in central British Columbia.

Summary

Results released below are from holes IM-21-155 to IM-21-203. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate drillhole location maps.

A total of 60,272 meters were drilled in 163 holes at the Shaft Zone on Island Mountain in 2021. A total of 10,355 m were drilled in 40 holes at Mosquito Creek on Island Mountain. The final Mosquito Results were reported in a news release on December 7, 2021.

All holes reported were collared on Shaft Zone, and six holes intersected the Valley Zone deposit at depth, on the east side of the Jack of Clubs fault. See Figure 2 for deposit outlines and TableA 1 for detailed results.

Shaft Zone highlights include 81 g/t Au over 9.80 meters in hole IM-21-184 including a high grade sample of 193.00 g/t Au over 0.90 meter.

Drillhole IM-21-201, collared on Shaft Zone, but drilling through to Valley zone at a depth of 391A meters down hole (250 meters from surface) intersected a mineralized vein corridor at Valley that assayed 55 g/t Au over 9.65 meters including a high grade sample of 224.00 g/t Au over 0.55A meters.

Additional high grade samples include 00 g/t Au over 0.50 meter, 159.00 g/t Au over 0.55A meter, 105.00 g/t Au over 0.50 meter, 104.00 g/t Au over 0.50 meter, 130.00 g/t Au over 0.80A meter, 102.50 g/t Au over 0.55 meter and 187.00 g/t Au over 0.60 meter.

The drill results show continuity of vein corridors from Shaft Zone to Valley Zone along the south east of Shaft, at depth and down plunge into Valley Zone. The Shaft and Valley Zones are separated by the Jack of Clubs fault however mineralized vein corridors are continuous across the fault within the prospective sandstone unit.

Detailed drilling results and a drill hole location plan map are presented at the end of this release.

Assay Highlights

AA A A A A A A A 85.35 g/t Au over 1.00 meter in hole IM-21-155 including

AA A A A A A A A 101.00 g/t Au over 0.50 meter

AA A A A A A A A 18.80 g/t Au over 6.70 meters in hole IM-21-159 including

AA A A A A A A A 159.00 g/t Au over 0.55 meter

AA A A A A A A A 39.87 g/t Au over 1.65 meters in hole IM-21-159 including

AA A A A A A A A 53.50 g/t Au over 1.15 meters

AA A A A A A A A 33.44 g/t Au over 2.10 meters in hole IM-21-161 including

AA A A A A A A A 75.80 g/t Au over 0.90 meter

AA A A A A A A A 10.22 g/t Au over 7.90 meters in hole IM-21-165

AA A A A A A A A 12.35 g/t Au over 5.50 meters in hole IM-21-166 including

AA A A A A A A A 105.00 g/t Au over 0.50 meter

AA A A A A A A A 65.90 g/t Au over 0.90 meter in hole IM-21-166

AA A A A A A A A 21.14 g/t Au over 5.70 meters in hole IM-21-170 including

AA A A A A A A A 104.00 g/t Au over 0.50 meter

AA A A A A A A A 37.76 g/t Au over 2.00 meters in hole IM-21-171 including

AA A A A A A A A 91.20 g/t Au over 0.70 meter

AA A A A A A A A 10.09 g/t Au over 5.00 meters in hole IM-21-171

AA A A A A A A A 54.04 g/t Au over 1.25 meters in hole IM-21-174 including

AA A A A A A A A 85.50 g/t Au over 0.75 meter

AA A A A A A A A 12.93 g/t Au over 4.75 meters in hole IM-21-176

AA A A A A A A A 14.10 g/t Au over 7.80 meters in hole IM-21-176

AA A A A A A A A 23.61 g/t Au over 5.80 meters in hole IM-21-176 including

AA A A A A A A A 130.00 g/t Au over 0.80 meter

AA A A A A A A A 30.43 g/t Au over 2.05 meters in hole IM-21-178

AA A A A A A A A 16.14 g/t Au over 3.35 meters in hole IM-21-181

AA A A A A A A A 26.94 g/t Au over 2.40 meters in hole IM-21-182 including

AA A A A A A A A 102.50 g/t Au over 0.55 meter

AA A A A A A A A 19.81 g/t Au over 9.80 meters in hole IM-21-184 including

AA A A A A A A A 193.00 g/t Au over 0.90 meter

AA A A A A A A A 58.60 g/t Au over 1.00 meter in hole IM-21-185

AA A A A A A A A 20.04 g/t Au over 4.75 meters in hole IM-21-190

AA A A A A A A A 40.70 g/t Au over 1.50 meters in hole IM-21-191

AA A A A A A A A 71.85 g/t Au over 2.05 meters in hole IM-21-192 including

AA A A A A A A A 187.00 g/t Au over 0.60 meter

AA A A A A A A A 24.55 g/t Au over 9.65 meters in hole IM-21-201 including

AA A A A A A A A 224.00 g/t Au over 0.55 meter and

AA A A A A A A A 68.90 g/t Au over 1.15 meters

Maggie Layman, Vice President of Exploration of Osisko Development commented: aWe are pleased to report the remaining drill results from our 2021 exploration and category conversion drill campaign. The Shaft Zone and the Valley Zone are separated by the Jack of Clubs fault, a brittle fault structure striking north east and dipping approximately 50 degrees to the west. The 2021 drill campaign indicated vein corridors continuous on both sides of the fault and mineralized zones within the fault, indicating that the Shaft Zone vein corridors continue down plunge within the sandsone and are currently modelled to a depth of 560 meters from surface. The mineralized system remains open down plunge within the sandstone.a

Vein corridors are defined as high-density networks of mineralized quartz veins within the axis of the deposita?s last folding event. These mineralized structures are predominantly hosted within a brittle meta-sandstone or calcareous meta-sandstone. Vein corridors are modelled at a minimum thickness of 2.00A meters and average approximately 4.50 meters true width. Individual mineralized veins within these corridors have widths varying from centimeters to several meters and strike lengths from a few meters to over 50 meters. These corridors have been defined from surface to a vertical depth averaging 300 meters and remain open for expansion at depth and along strike. Gold grades are intimately associated with quartz vein-hosted pyrite as well as pyritic, intensely silicified wall rock vein selvages.

True widths are estimated to be 60% to 75 % of reported core length intervals. Intervals not recovered by drilling were assigned zero grade. Top cuts have not been applied to high grade assays. Complete assay highlights are presented in Table 1 and drill hole locations are listed in Table 2.

Qualified Persons

Per National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, Maggie Layman, P.Geo. Vice President Exploration of Osisko Development Corp., is a Qualified Person and has prepared, validated, and approved the technical and scientific content of this news release.

Quality Assurance a Quality Control

Once received from the drill and processed, all drill core samples are sawn in half, labelled and bagged.A The remaining drill core is subsequently stored on site at a secured facility in Wells, BC.A Numbered security tags are applied to lab shipments for chain of custody requirements.A Quality control (aQCa) samples are inserted at regular intervals in the sample stream, including blanks and reference materials with all sample shipments to monitor laboratory performance. The QAQC program was designed and approved by Lynda Bloom, P.Geo. of Analytical Solutions Ltd.

Drill core samples are submitted to ALS Geochemistrya?s analytical facility in North Vancouver, British Columbia for preparation and analysis. The ALS facility is accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard for gold assays and all analytical methods include quality control materials at set frequencies with established data acceptance criteria. The entire sample is crushed, and 250 grams is pulverized. Analysis for gold is by 50g fire assay fusion with atomic absorption (aAASa) finish with a lower limit of 0.01 ppm and upper limit of 100 ppm. Samples with gold assays greater than 100 ppm are re-analyzed using a 1,000g screen metallic fire assay. A selected number of samples are also analyzed using a 48 multi-elemental geochemical package by a 4-acid digestion, followed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (aICP-AESa) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (aICP-MSa).

About Osisko Development Corp.

Osisko Development Corp. is uniquely positioned as a premier gold development company in North America to advance the Cariboo Gold Project and other properties in the USA and Mexico, with the objective of becoming the next mid-tier gold producer. The Cariboo Gold Project, located in central British Columbia, Canada, is Osisko Development\-s flagship asset. The considerable exploration potential at depth and along strike distinguishes the Cariboo Gold Project relative to other development assets. Osisko Development\-s project pipeline is complemented by its interest in the San Antonio gold project, located in Sonora, Mexico and the Trixie gold test mine, located in Utah, U.S.A.

For further information about Osisko Development (ODV: TSX-V, NYSE), please visit www.osiskodev.com or contact Osisko Development Corp.:

Jean Francois Lemonde

VP Investor Relations

jflemonde@osiskodev.com

Tel: 514-299-4926

In Europe:

Swiss Resource Capital AG

Jochen Staiger

info@resource-capital.ch

www.resource-capital.ch

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release may be deemed \forward-looking statements\ within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and \forward-looking information\ within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. These forward?looking statements, by their nature, require Osisko Development to make certain assumptions and necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward?looking statements. Forward?looking statements are not guarantees of performance. Words such as \may\, \will\, \would\, \could\, \expect\, \believe\, \plan\, \anticipate\, \intend\, \estimate\, \continue\, or the negative or comparable terminology, as well as terms usually used in the future and the conditional, are intended to identify forward?looking statements. Information contained in forward?looking statements is based upon certain material assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including management\-s perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, results of further exploration work to define and expand mineral resources, and that the deposit remains open for expansion at depth and down plunge, as well as other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances, and any other information herein that is not a historical fact may be \forward looking information\. Material assumptions also include, management\-s perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, results of further exploration work to define or expand any mineral resources, as well as other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances. Osisko Development considers its assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available, but cautions the reader that their assumptions regarding future events, many of which are beyond the control of Osisko Development, may ultimately prove to be incorrect since they are subject to risks and uncertainties that affect Osisko Development and its business. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks relating to capital market conditions, the ability to continue current production, regulatory framework, the ability of exploration activities (including drill results) to accurately predict mineralization; errors in management\-s geological modelling; the ability of to complete further exploration activities, including drilling; property and stream interests in the Project; the ability of the Company to obtain required approvals; the results of exploration activities; risks relating to exploration, development and mining activities; the global economic climate; metal prices; dilution; environmental risks; and community and non-governmental actions and the responses of relevant governments to the COVID-19 outbreak and the effectiveness of such responses. Readers are urged to consult the disclosure provided under the heading \Risk Factors\ in the Company\-s annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2021, as amended, which has been filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under Osisko Development\-s issuer profile and on the SEC\-s EDGAR website (www.sec.gov), for further information regarding the risks and other factors applicable to the exploration results. Although the Company\-s believes the expectations conveyed by the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on information available at the date of preparation, no assurances can be given as to future results, levels of activity and achievements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that these forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.
Uranium Energy Corp Completes UEX Private Placement

Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE American: UEC, the aCompanya or aUECa  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/uranium-energy-corp/ ) is pleased to announce that, in furtherance of its recently announced (June 13) entry into of a definitive agreement with UEX Corporation (aUEXa) pursuant to which it is to acquire A all of the issued and outstanding common shares of UEX (the aUEX Common Sharesa) in an all-share transaction by way of statutory plan of arrangement, the Company has now completed its C$5 million private placement in UEX consisting of the acquisition by UEC of 11,627,907 UEX Common Shares at a price of C$0.43 per UEX Common Share.

UEC may acquire additional UEX common shares by making purchases through the facilities of the TSX subject to and in accordance with applicable laws.A UEC will provide periodic updates in respect of any UEX common share purchases made.

About Uranium Energy Corp

Uranium Energy Corp is Americaa?s leading, fastest growing, uranium mining company listed on the NYSE American. UEC is a pure play uranium company and is advancing the next generation of low-cost, environmentally friendly ISR mining uranium projects. The Company has two production ready ISR hub and spoke platforms in South Texas and Wyoming, anchored by fully licensed and operational processing capacity at the Hobson and Irigaray Processing Plants. UEC also has seven U.S. ISR uranium projects with all of their major permits in place.A Additionally, the Company has other diversified holdings of uranium assets, including: 1) one of the largest physical uranium portfolios of U.S. warehoused U3O8; 2) a major equity stake in the only royalty company in the sector, Uranium Royalty Corp; and 3) a pipeline of resource-stage uranium projects in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Paraguay.A The Companya?s operations are managed by professionals with a recognized profile for excellence in their industry, a profile based on many decades of hands-on experience in the key facets of uranium exploration, development and mining.

Safe Harbor Statement

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes aforward-looking statementsa as such term is used in applicableA United StatesA and Canadian laws.A These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any other statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as aexpectsa or adoes not expecta, ais expecteda, aanticipatesa or adoes not anticipatea, aplans, aestimatesa or aintendsa, or stating that certain actions, events or results amaya, acoulda, awoulda, amighta or awilla be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as aforward-looking statementsa. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, market and other conditions, the actual results of exploration activities, variations in the underlying assumptions associated with the estimation or realization of mineral resources, the availability of capital to fund programs and the resulting dilution caused by the raising of capital through the sale of shares, accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry including, without limitation, those associated with the environment, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this news release and in any document referred to in this news release. Certain matters discussed in this news release and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the Federal securities laws. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved.A Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Many of these factors are beyond the Company\-s ability to control or predict. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and that could impact the Company and the statements contained in this news release can be found in the Company\-s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ForA forward-lookingA statements in this news release, the Company claims the protection of the safe harborA for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.A The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.
Youths of the Osu Traditional Area has expressed concern about recent attempts by some unknown persons to launch a new royal seal for the area.

The seal, according to the statement, was illegal and unknown to the Kingmakers of Osu explaining that "our checks with the official Kingmakers of Osu and representatives of the Osu Stool indicate that this seal is unauthorised and is being promoted by people who have no authority or mandate whatsoever to act in such a manner."

A statement signed by Reginald LarteyOpintan said that complaints had been made to the Criminal Investigative Department of the Ghana Police Service surrounding the unauthorised actions by these unknown persons.

The statement also urged the Ghana Police Service to take interest in the recent development as it could bring about conflicts amongst the youth in the community.

"We wish to urge the Police to act in a manner thatwill avert any potential tension and confusion in Osu as these issues are very sensitive and can degenerate into potentially disruptive protests, confusion and social disharmony in Osu," it read.

Mr Opintan appealed to the Adabraka branch of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Ascension Presbyterian Church, to not host the launch of the alleged new seal as it was alien to the Osu Traditional Council.

"The launch is to beheld in Adabraka which is not Osu land and not under the jurisdiction of Osu. If this truly is a seal for the Osu Stool, why should they go to Adabraka to launch it," he queried.

The statement appealed to the youth of Osu to remain calm amidst all provocations, whilst the Kingmakers of the Osu Traditional Area resort to use all the appropriate channels available to address the issue.

"We, the youth of Osu, are resolute in commitment to preserve the sanctity and the respect of our chieftaincy institution, and will relentlessly work to halt any attempt to corrupt and belittle our chieftaincy institution," it added.

The statement also hinted that existing chieftaincy disputes within the area were before the Judicial Committee of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs.
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PARIS (AP)  France faced an ecstatic Marine Le Pen on Monday after her partys far-right candidates sent shockwaves through the political establishment and helped deny President Emmanuel Macrons centrist alliance a majority in parliament.

The surprising breakthrough for the far right  alongside a surge in support for hard-left candidates  undercuts Macrons leadership, threatens his plans to raise the country's retirement age and cut taxes, and reshapes France's political landscape.

Le Pens National Rally party didnt win the two-round parliamentary election that ended Sunday. But it secured more than 10 times the seats it won five years ago.

It's an outcome shes long dreamed of, the result of more than a decade of grassroots work to woo disillusioned working class voters and scrub her party of its racist, antisemitic image so that it's seen as a party like any other. One, she hopes, that could rule France one day.

It was only in April that Le Pen lost the presidential election to Macron. But now it was her turn to gloat, since she knows she can use the seats in the National Assembly to thwart Macron's domestic agenda and even trigger a no-confidence vote.

Beaming with pride, she called the outcome a historic victory and a seismic event in French politics. Antiracism groups quickly sounded the alarm over her anti-immigration, anti-Muslim agenda.

Le Pens National Rally got 89 seats in the 577-member parliament, up from a previous total of eight. On the other side of the political spectrum, the leftist Nupes coalition, led by hard-liner Jean-Luc Melenchon, won 131 seats to become the main opposition force.

Macrons alliance Together! won 245 seats  but fell 44 seats short of a majority in the National Assembly, Frances most powerful house of parliament.

The strong support for political extremes reflects a frustration with Macron's leadership that first erupted in 2018 with the yellow vest movement against perceived economic injustice, and has periodically resurfaced among those who see him as too pro-business, arrogant or tone-deaf to everyday concerns.

The strong performance of both Le Pens National Rally and Melenchons coalition  composed of his hard-left France Unbowed party as well as the Socialists, Greens and Communists  will make it harder for Macron to implement the agenda he was reelected on in May, including tax cuts and raising Frances retirement age from 62 to 65.

Macron is a minority president now, a beaming Le Pen declared Monday in Henin-Beaumont, her stronghold in northern France. "His retirement reform plan is buried.

She said the National Rally will seek to chair the parliaments powerful finance committee.

The National Rally, previously known as the National Front, has been a political force in France for decades. But the two-round voting system had until now prevented it from achieving big scores in parliamentary elections.

Political analyst Brice Teinturier, deputy director-general of Ipsos polling institute, said on France Inter radio that Sunday's result means that the National Rally is institutionalizing itself.

Le Pen lost to Macron in April with 41.5% of the votes against 58.5%  her highest-ever level of support in her three attempts to become Frances leader.

Since taking over the party in 2011, Le Pen has worked to remove the stigma attached to the National Front under the leadership of her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, convicted repeatedly of racism and antisemitism. By softening some of her views and rhetoric, she sought to make the party move from a protest movement to an opposition force perceived as being able to govern. She even changed the party's name, which critics call a ruse to gloss over its dark past.

Le Pen's National Rally now has a sufficient number of legislators to constitute a formal group at the National Assembly and request seats in parliamentary committees, including those focusing on defense and foreign policy.

In addition, the National Rally party now has enough seats  more than 58  to trigger a censure motion against the government that can lead to a no-confidence vote.

The new Assembly will start working next week.

Meanwhile, France is heading toward a government reshuffle. Three ministers  out of 15 who were running  have lost the election and will need to resign under rules set by Macron.

The president could also use the reshuffle to offer some jobs in the government to new potential allies.

Macron himself hasn't commented on the election results yet.

His government will still have the ability to rule, but only by bargaining with legislators. The centrists could try to negotiate on a case-by-case basis with lawmakers from the center-left and from the conservative party, with the goal of preventing opposition lawmakers from being numerous enough to reject the proposed measures.

The government could also occasionally use a special measure provided by the French Constitution to adopt a law without a vote.

Macrons diplomatic policies aren't expected to be affected in an immediate future, including Frances strong support for Ukraine. In line with the French Constitution, Macron keeps substantial powers over foreign policy, European affairs and defense no matter what difficulties his alliance may face in parliament.

Teinturier, the political analyst, said the new composition of the National Assembly echoes the desire of the French people to rebalance the results of the presidential election.

There was clearly the will to not give all the powers and a straight majority to Emmanuel Macron and to impose on him some constraints, some kind of placement under supervision, he said.

___

Surk reported from Nice. Alexander Turnbull and Catherine Gaschka in Paris contributed to this report.

___

Follow all AP stories on Frances 2022 presidential election at https://apnews.com/hub/france-election-2022
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DENVER (AP)  The mother of a man hailed as a hero for killing a gunman who ambushed and fatally shot a police officer only to be killed himself by another officer in suburban Denver filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging the officer who shot him should have realized he did not pose a threat.

The lawsuit comes a day after the first anniversary of shootings that happened in the middle of the day in the main square in Olde Town Arvada, a historic shopping and entertainment area about 7 miles (10 kilometers) northwest of downtown Denver. The shootings came three months after a gunman killed 10 people at a supermarket in nearby Boulder.

Johnny Hurley's mother, Kathleen Boleyn, said the 40-year-old chef with a passion for helping people ran toward danger, assessing the situation as he went.

Her lawsuit claims that Hurley was crouched down with a rifle pointing down and not in a threatening position when he was shot, adding that a witness said Hurley was taking the magazine out of a rifle he took away from the shooter.

Johnny did what the police were supposed to do. He should not have had to die for it, Boleyn said.

A district attorney investigation that cleared the officer who shot him, Kraig Brownlow, however found that it appeared to the officer like Hurley was reloading the rifle or trying to fix something on it. District Attorney Alexis King, who along with police has praised Hurleys actions, said that Brownlow thought Hurley was a second mass shooter and that he only had a moment to stop him from hurting others.

Arvada Police Chief Link Strate was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. In a statement in response to the lawsuit, the city of Arvada stressed that the district attorney found that Brownlows actions were justified and implied the lawsuit was misleading.

The events of June 21, 2021 were caused by Ronald Troyke, an individual that harbored an unfounded hatred toward police officers. When civil litigation is announced by a plaintiffs attorney in a manner that mischaracterizes and omits select information, it has the potential to compromise officer safety, it said.

Brownlow left the department in good standing after the district attorneys investigation and was someone the department would gladly have back, police spokesperson Detective David Snelling said.

Brownlow could not immediately be located to request comment on the lawsuit.

Investigators say that Troyke was intent on killing as many police officers as he could. He shot and killed officer Gordon Beesley before being shot and killed by Hurley, who heard the shots, rushed out of a nearby store and fired his handgun at Troyke.

Brownlow was one of three officers who had heard shots and spotted Troyke from inside a nearby police substation. None of the officers inside the substation knew that Beesley, a 19-year department veteran and beloved school resource officer, had been shot or that Hurley had intervened, according to the district attorneys investigation.

The lawsuit says that Brownlow and the other two officers cowered in the substation, choosing self-preservation over defense of the civilian population" before Brownlow saw Hurley with Troyke's gun, opened the building's door and shot Hurley from behind after deciding against giving a warning first.

He made this choice despite the fact that no reasonable officer could have perceived a threat from Mr. Hurleys actions," the lawsuit alleges. Mr. Hurleys death was not the result of a misfortunate split-second judgment call gone wrong, but the result of a deliberate and unlawful use of deadly force."

The lawsuit alleges that the Arvada Police Department trains its officer never to give warnings before shooting in active shooter situations, which it claims is unconstitutional.

Snelling countered that Arvada officers have discretion in whether to give warnings before shooting someone depending on whether giving one would give a suspect an advantage to shoot others or officers.
An attorney working as a senior investigator for the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection will leave the post amid calls urging him to run for a Missouri U.S. Senate seat as an independent.

John F. Wood's resignation is effective Friday. The resignation was confirmed Wednesday by Steve Crim, a political consultant working with the group formed to back Wood as a Senate candidate, johnwoodformo.org.

Crim said Wood has not declared a Senate run, but is exploring the possibility.

We are encouraged by Johns decision to leave the select committee on Friday as an important next step in providing Missourians a principled, common-sense choice this November, Crim said in a statement.

The committee launched a website on Monday urging Wood to run for retiring GOP Sen. Roy Blunt's seat. The website called Wood a principled leader who has put country over party when the stakes are highest, and is committed to serving the people of our state with integrity.

The launch came the same day a leading Republican candidate, former Gov. Eric Greitens, released a campaign video showing him brandishing a shotgun and declaring that hes hunting RINOs, which stands for Republicans in Name Only. The ad's violent imagery drew strong criticism, including from some conservatives, though Greitens contended it was meant to be humorous. Facebook took down the ad.

Former Republican U.S. Sen. John Danforth of suburban St. Louis also has urged Wood to run as a right-leaning independent. Wood once worked for Danforth's staff.

Wood, 52, served as U.S. attorney for Missouris Western District from 2007 to 2009 and prior to that held key roles in the George W. Bush administration. He was working as general counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce when he stepped down in September to become senior investigative counsel for the Jan. 6 committee.

Republicans are skeptical of a third-party bid in Missouri, but some acknowledged there is no backup plan if Greitens wins the primary.

Danforth plans to contribute $5 million from his political action committee to advertise in support of a campaign and is seeking to raise substantially more to build on that donation, a person familiar with Danforths decision told The Associated Press Wednesday. The person was not authorized to speak on behalf of Danforth and confirmed the amount on condition of anonymity.

To get on the November ballot as an independent, Wood would need to submit petitions signed by 10,000 registered voters by Aug. 1.

Twenty-one Republicans are competing in the August primary election. Greitens is considered a frontrunner despite resigning as governor in 2018 in the midst of an investigation into whether he used a compromising photo to blackmail a woman from speaking about their extramarital affair.

Many Republican leaders fear Greitens could win the nomination but lose to a Democrat in November, ceding what should be a safe Republican Senate seat in an election where control of the Senate is on the line.

Other GOP contenders include Attorney General Eric Schmitt, U.S. Reps. Vicky Hartzler and Billy Long, Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz and St. Louis attorney Mark McCloskey. Schatz is positioning himself as a Reagan Republican. The others are strong supporters of former President Donald Trump, who has not yet endorsed a candidate in the race.

Leading Democratic contenders include former Marine Lucas Kunce and Trudy Busch Valentine, who is part of the Busch brewery family.

___

AP journalists Lisa Mascaro in Washington, D.C. and Tom Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP)  A motocross instructor who visited states from New York to Georgia has been charged with producing child pornography, federal officials said Wednesday.

Ryan Meyung, 30, is accused of engaging six minors in sexually explicit conduct to produce sexual abuse images and with transporting and possessing images of child sexual abuse, the Justice Department said in a news release announcing his indictment.
Charlie Neibergall/AP

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  The Iowa attorney general's office said Wednesday that a state Supreme Court decision that requires a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion won't take effect until next month, but the organization that provides most abortion in the state says it will immediately implement the waiting period.

A spokesman for the Iowa attorney generals office said last week's ruling would not take effect until the case has been returned to the lower court judge for further action, likely around July 8. Typically, Supreme Court opinions go into effect 21 days after they are released.
Parliament is unhappy with the Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, for not honouring an invitation by the House to answer questions to be posed by his colleagues.

The House noted that the culture where ministers decide when to respond to questions would not be tolerated henceforth.

Mr Asiamah was scheduled to answer nine questions yesterday but was absent. A letter dated Tuesday, June 20, 2022, signed by the Chief Director of the Ministry and received moments before the commencement of sitting, said the minister "unavoidably" could not make himself available.

The letter subsequently asked the House to reschedule the question time for the Minister to tomorrow Thursday June 23, 2022.

Objecting to what he considered disregard for the House by ministers, Minority Chief Whip and National Democratic Congress (MP) Member for Asawase, Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, said ministers ought to take the House seriously.

"Mr Speaker, some ministers are turning this House into a joke and that is why they waited until the morning of the appointment and run here and say they cannot come because of one reason or the other," he stated.

According to the Asawase MP, the questions were transmitted to the ministries long before the Business Committee meets on Thursdays to programme the ministers for specific days in the week.

Though he admitted that the minister used to be regular in the House to answer questions, "Of late, I can recollect that this is about the third time I am raising concerns about his inability to appear in the House.

"Mr Speaker, you must help this House to hold these ministers accountable because this is one of the tools we can use to hold them accountable. So for the ministers to be choosing and picking when they want to come to this House is not proper.

"If we allow this to stand, this House will continue to be weak. Avoiding to come to respond to questions in this House is refusing to answer to the ordinary people of this country," Alhaji Muntaka said as he prayed the Speaker to compel the ministers to appear before the House "soonest".

Siding with the Minority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Nsawam Adoagyiri and Majority Chief Whip, said it was time to name and shame absentee ministers.

"Mr Speaker, some of the ministers work diligently and make it a point to respond to this House. I think we must name and shame ministers who take this House for granted.

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If for any reason a minister would not be able to attend upon the House, he or she should inform us ahead of time and not on the day of the questions. This certainly should be the last one," Mr Annoh-Dompreh said.

Giving his directive, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin said but for the intervention of the leaders, he would have referred the minister to the Privileges Committee of Parliament, because his failure to attend upon the House violates Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution and Parliament's Standing Order 28.

The Speaker, however, rejected the minister's request to respond to the questions tomorrow because "he can't pick and choose" and subsequently asked the Business Committee to re-programme the minister for a different day.
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The Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC) in charge of Operations, Dr Serebour Quarcoe, has urged the incoming leadership of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) to learn from this year's elections.

He said the myriad of challenges that have preceded Friday's elections, including months of litigations, should serve as a lesson so that they put measures in place to prevent recurrence in the future.

He said journalists were known to be a voice of the society and litigants, "so you have a lot of things to put in place going forward such that the next elections you will not have to go through what you are going through today."

Dr Quarcoe gave the advice on Monday at the Ghana International Press Centre in Accra when he supervised the balloting for positions on the ballot papers

for the GJA national executive elections.

According to Quarcoe, at some point in time, a litigation must come to an end, stressing that "if we want to solve every problem, then it will take the next 10 years before we will be able to hold the GJA elections.

"In any case, whatever have been the challenges, we are ready to hold the elections this Friday. So for those of you who thought the elections would not come off, please disabuse your minds because they will indeed come off as scheduled.

"It is against this backdrop that we are organising this balloting exercise," he added, Dr Quarcoe said.

A total of 11 people are contesting the GJA's Presidency, General Secretary, Organising Secretary and Public Affairs Officer positions.

The contestants has been crisscrossing the country to meet with members of the GJA to solicit their votes in the Friday's polls.

Speaking with the Ghanaian Times in an interview, Mr David Agbenu, a Presidential aspirant of the GJA, said he was hopeful that delegates would give him the nod on Friday to be able to give the GJA to the highest level of leadership for which all members would feel a sense of belonging.

He said the time had come for the GJA to move from a dependence syndrome to one of self-reliance and as such, "the safety and protection of all members will be a top priority".
The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Marcel Ciolacu, said on Thursday, following the meeting in Brussels with the chairwoman of the Euroepan Parliament, Roberta Metsola, that she is supporting Romania in its accession to the Schengen space, mentioning that our country "additionally" proved that it fulfills all conditions to be accepted "de facto".

"I thank the chairwoman of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, for the support granted to Romania for its accession to the Schengen space. The way in which the Romanian authorities have managed the situation on the Eastern border of the European Union, in the context of the current regional tensions, it additionally proves that Romania fulfills, de facto, all conditions for being accepted in the Schengen space," Ciolacu wrote on Facebook.He mentioned that Romania wishes a new resolution that will support this action at an European level and which will be voted throughout its next presidency of the EU Council."We are relying on the support of the chairwoman of the European Parliament for Romania's accession to the Schengen space," Ciolacu said on Twitter as well.The PSD leader also said that he proposed a new debate format for the presidents of national parliaments, including Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Ciolacu carried out a visit in Brussels on Thursday.On this occasion, he had meetings with the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies - the Federal Parliament of the Kingdom of Belgium, Eliane Tillieux, the deputy Prime Minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne, the Minister of Economy and Labor, as well as the commissioner for Labor and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit and the chairwoman of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.Marcel Ciolacu also had an intervention during the meeting with the PES leaders.AGERPRES
The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Marcel Ciolacu, said on Thursday that he supported the Republic of Moldova to be granted the status of candidate country to the European Union, during the PES session in Brussels in preparation of the European Council.

"Furthermore, I pleaded for Romania's project of becoming an active regional player, a hub for the region's stability and development, starting with Ukraine's reconstruction," Ciolacu wrote on Facebook.Ciolacu also said on Twitter that leaders support the European integration of the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia.The PSD chairman also had a meeting with the Commissioner for Labor and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit."I would like to thank the European Commissioner for Labor, Nicolas Schmit, for the willingness of identifying solutions together in order to optimize Romania's National Recovery and Resilience plan (PNRR) on the pension sector. I was delighted with his willingness regarding our financing request, for European money, of compensatory mechanisms for covering prices in energy, food and fuel for the most vulnerable categories," Ciolacu wrote on Facebook."A productive meeting with Nicolas Schmit. I appreciated the commissioner's willingness for an equitable plan of recovery for Romania on social issues and pensions. I congratulated the European Directive's approval regarding minimum wage and reminded of PSD's support for important issues that concern us," he also said on Twitter.AGERPRES
Supporting the Republic of Moldova in its aspiration to join the European Union is a historical and moral duty for the Crown of Romania, says Her Majesty Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania.

"King Ferdinand and Queen Maria, my great-grandparents, can be considered the 'parents' of the modern history of our sister country, and King Mihai, my father, is respected and admired by both the nation and the political authorities. The Crown of Romania is at the same time a support and a repository of European values. In the last two decades, the Royal Family has developed in the Republic of Moldova various projects in the fields of education, economy, military education, culture and civil society, and we know how vibrant the young generation, as well as the intellectual elite of this country are. As a matter of fact, a considerable part thereof are now working and living in the EU countries, where they have earned the respect and trust of their adoptive communities," said Princess Margareta, as cited in a release on Thursday.The Crown Custodian expressed "her deep confidence and conviction that now is the right time to make the Republic of Moldova a part of our European family of dignified and secure nations." AGERPRES
The Governing Board of the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre is organising its first physical meeting in Bucharest on Thursday, where the Centre is headquartered, informs a press release from the European Commission.

The Governing Board of the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre is composed of representatives of the Member States (27 members), the Commission (2 members) and the European Cybersecurity Agency - ENISA (1 permanent observer). Last February, the governing board elected Pascal Steichen, from Luxembourg, as president, and Katarzyna Prusak-Gorniak, from Poland, as vice-president. The European Commission manages the centre until it can function fully independently, with Miguel Gonzalez Sancho currently serving as acting Executive Director of the Centre.Previous board meetings were held online due to the pandemic.Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca welcomed the members of the governing board. As part of this two-day meeting, the Council will discuss issues related to the Centre's priorities and its practical establishment in Bucharest, on which the Romanian authorities and the European Commission have already been working closely for several months.The Competence Centre, together with the Network of National Coordination Centres, aims to strengthen European capacities in terms of cybersecurity, research excellence and industry competitiveness. To this end, the Centre will manage part of the funding dedicated to cyber security under the Digital Europe programme and the Horizon Europe programme, as well as funding from member states. A new call for proposals in the field of cybersecurity, worth over 140 million euros, will be launched on 29 September under the Digital Europe programme.More broadly, the Centre aims to support the community involved in cybersecurity in Europe. The European Commission has recently launched a 3 million euros bid procedure for this purpose.The centre is looking for an executive director, a position for which it has recently launched a call for applications. The Centre will also soon publish vacancies for other positions on its website.The European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC) aims to improve Europe's cybersecurity capabilities and competitiveness, in collaboration with a Network of National Coordination Centres (NCCs). Together, they aim to build a solid cybersecurity community. The Centre and the network will pool resources from the EU, its member states, as well as from industry, academia and other stakeholders to improve and strengthen technological and industrial cybersecurity capacities, strengthening the EU's open strategic autonomy.The Centre will manage EU funding for the period 2021-2027, the Digital Europe and Horizon Europe programmes, as well as member states' contributions. Between 2021 and 2022, the EU is investing more than 300 million euros in areas such as information on cyber threats, modernising cybersecurity in SMEs, cybersecurity in the health sector, cyber-secured hardware and operating systems, or training and competencies.AGERPRES
The Ministry of Health informs that a sixth case of monkeypox was diagnosed in Romania on Thursday.

According to the Ministry, it is about a 40-year-old male.He showed up in a clinic in Bucharest, and lab investigations confirmed on Thursday that the patient is infected with monkeypox, the quoted source specifies.The man is in the hospital and will remain in isolation.An epidemiological investigation was launched for establishing his direct contacts.AGERPRES
The European Council has approved the Commission's proposal for setting the European perspective for Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, president Klaus Iohannis announced in Brussels on Thursday.

He qualified this day as being a historic one."A historic day, in which the Council approved the proposal of placing the European perspective for Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, and for the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine approving the status of candidate in order to become members within the European Union. A big step was made today. (...) Through this step the EU's expansion paradigm has shifted, the expansion policy received a new impulse," Iohannis highlighted.President Klaus Iohannis is taking part in the meetings with leaders from the European Union and West Balkans, in the European Council and the Euro Summit, which are taking place in Brussels.AGERPRES
President Klaus Iohannis emphasized on Thursday the effort he and the government team put in to advance Romania's Schengen bid.

Asked in Brussels whether progress is being made on Romania's joining the Schengen Area, given that the Croatian Prime Minister addressed the European Parliament's plenary on the need to boost the accession process, President Iohannis said this is a procedural step the Romanian side has undertaken as early as in 2011."Even though it doesn't seem like much is being done, I can assure you that we got intensely engaged in this case. My team, the government team and I personally have had a whole series of discussions. The matter is complicated also by the fact that a long time has passed since the actual assessment and the Croatian Prime Minister's address to the European Parliament is a procedural step in obtaining the legislative body's opinion. We took this step in 2011, but there are more steps to be taken. Negotiations are underway, we are engaged in negotiations and we hope that in the end we will get a favorable solution on this case, which, to be honest, is a cause of frustration for us as well," the President said.President Klaus Iohannis is attending on Thursday and Friday in Brussels the meeting of EU and Western Balkans leaders, a European Council meeting and a Euro Summit in inclusive format. AGERPRES
Countries that wish to become part of the European Union must make reforms, must respect a series of principles, the rule of law, president Klaus Iohannis declared on Thursday, at the end of the first part of the European Union Summit taking place in Brussels.

Asked if the status of candidate country for the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine represents a guarantee that the two countries will immediately accede to the European Union or is this a first step towards a very long process, Klaus Iohannis said that it is a guarantee that the European integration will happen, but, he added, that state that wants to integrate needs to follow the recommended steps, to have its expected reforms, because the enlargement of the European Union is not just a purely territorial extension, it is a process based on values."If we look towards the West Balkans, for some this process began 20 years ago and is still not very advanced, for others the integration process occurred in three or four years and worked very well. So it depends on many factors, but I am certain that those who receive the status, and want to become members of the European family, they will become," the president explained.According to the head of state, not all media sources should be trusted, regarding certain countries, such as Albania or Serbia."We must see things with pragmatism and not to believe all media sources. We know well that many European media sources are basically under the influence of Russian propaganda, so some are alright, others, debatable. That is why we must always analyze the substance of the problem," Iohannis added.He said that through this "repositioning, revival" in the enlargement policy, referring to the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, the people in the West Balkans are given hope that they will also benefit from a positive treatment, with an acceleration of procedures."Regarding Serbia, the Serbian president was with us today, declared that he is pro-European, wants to go further on the European path and further on the path of integration," Klaus Iohannis added.Regarding the political community proposed by France, Klaus Iohannis specified that this is not a substitute for the European Union, but that "in essence, I do agree with this format, I am willing to be involved in talks in order to find the best formula, the most useful formula for this community".Klaus Iohannis also said that the type of voting within the European Council cannot be changed, because it would mean to modify treaties, and if these will come into discussion, other topics would surface as well "which would certainly need to be modified".In theory, it would be a good thing to have a more flexible, slimmer, more functional architecture, but on the other hand, when it comes to enforce it, when it comes to procedures, we see that the obstacles are significant," the president explained.President Klaus Iohannis is attending the reunions of EU and West Balkans leaders, the European Council and the Euro Summit, in extended format, all of which taking place in Brussels.AGERPRES
President Klaus Iohannis will attend European Union and Western Balkans leaders' meetings on Thursday and Friday, the European Council meeting and the extended Euro Summit in Brussels, the Presidential Administration announced.

According to the quoted source, the meeting of the leaders of the European Union and the Western Balkans will be an opportunity to reaffirm, in the current geopolitical context, the support of EU leaders for the European anchoring of the Western Balkans and for advancing and consolidating the enlargement process based on the established criteria. At the same time, the meeting will be dedicated to an exchange of views with partners in the region to identify concrete ways to stimulate reform processes and strengthen cooperation in key areas of common interest, in order to strengthen resilience.

The agenda of the European Council meeting, which will take place on Thursday and Friday, will include a strategic debate on defining the European Union's relations with its European partners, the situation in Ukraine, in terms of security developments and the European Union's support on multiple levels, the EU accession applications of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, in the context of the publication on June 17 of the Opinions of the European Commission, as well as the results of the Conference on the Future of Europe and the next steps.

The enlarged Euro Summit will address the economic situation in the Union and developments in the Banking Union and capital markets.

AGERPRES
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, has called for the adoption of Central Regional programmes towards the transformation of the region.

She indicated that the region should move beyond the current level of development at all levels.

"The narrative of Central Region being among the poorest in the country should change," she said.

Mrs Assan made the call at the launching of Central Region Expo 2022 being organised by the Central Regional Coordinating Council (RCC).

The programme which would be held from July 23 to 30, has the theme: "Promoting trade, tourism and investments in the Central Region-Challenges, prospects and solutions."

Over 500 exhibitors would be expected to participate in the one week fair, designed as part of the regional development strategy and transformational agenda.

The Central Expo coincides with the "Beyond the Return" beingorganisedby the Ghana Tourism Authority and Panafest and Emancipation celebrations by the Panafest Secretariat.

All the 23 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) would be expected to showcase their investment potentials at the programme.

MrsAssan further called on all to work together in positioning the region to the next level, saying; "We are determined to carry every one along."

"We want everybody to be part of the new regional development strategy," she said.

She said the commitment to change the narrative regarding the region's development was on course.

She indicated the commitment of the Regional Coordinating Council in supporting the promotion of effective business strategy to ensure the industrialisation of the region.

She gave assurance of the government's commitment towards improving the road network in the region.

The programme, she said, was a prelude to the annual emancipation day and explained that, it sought to create the platform to partner with Africans from the Diaspora to develop.

She stated that the organisers had invited 32 missions and embassies to the programme; and that "the fair will witness about 500 exhibitors."

MrsAssan commended the various assemblies for the support and urged them to also develop strategies to market their areas.

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She appealed to the media to support the agenda of the Regional Coordinating Council all in order to partner efforts towards the transformation of the region.

The Central Regional Police Commander, DCOP Amenyo, in his remarks stated that, about 1,000 police personnel would be deployed at every facility to ensure the success of the exhibition.

The President of the Central Regional House of Chiefs, OdeefoAmoakwaBuadu VIII, who was the chairman for the event, underscored the need for all to work towards the transformation of the region.

He commended the Regional Minister for her initiative towards the development of a new development strategy and transformation agenda for the region.

He also expressed concern about the deplorable road network in the Central Region and appealed to the government to rehabilitate all such roads.

OsaberimaKwesi Atta II, in his remarks, expressed appreciation to the Regional Minister for the foresight in reviving the fortunes of the region.

The remarks about the region had not been in favour of the region.

He urged all stakeholders to support the initiative to ensure the transformation of the region.

He called for a new mentality towards time consciousness.
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca sent a message on Thursday at the opening of the first meeting, in Bucharest, of the Governing Board of the European Centre of Competences in the field of industry, technology and research in the field of cyber security (ECCC), held at the Victoria Palace, the government said in a statement.

According to the source, the Prime Minister congratulated the presence of the Council members in the ECCC's host city, one year since it was established, highlighting the importance of joint European actions in ensuring security, especially in the context of increasing of the cyber attacks, based on the Russian military aggression in Ukraine."As a host member state, Romania is firmly committed in supporting and working with the ECCC, as well as with its Governing Board, in order to carry out the mission and mutually agreed objectives," the head of the Government said.The Prime Minister expressed his trust that the ECCC will be actively involved in cyber security efforts of partners such as Ukraine or the Republic of Moldova.The source highlights that Romania will remain an important contributor regarding cyber security and will continue its upward trajectory in the field of digital conversion.AGERPRES
Developing Belgian investments in Romania and the transfer of know-how for the Port of Constanta represented the topics of discussion during the meetings that the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Marcel Ciolacu, had in Brussels with his Belgian counterpart, Eliane Tillieux, as well as with the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Economy and Labor, Pierre-Yves Dermagne.

"Developing Belgian investments in Romania and the transfer of know-how for the Port of Constanta! These are a few of the important topics on the agenda that we had this morning, with the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies with the Federal Parliament of the Kingdom of Belgium, Eliane Tillieux, and the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Labor, Pierre-Yves Dermagne," Ciolacu wrote on Facebook.He also mentioned that the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister supported the proposal regarding the transfer of know-how between the Port of Antwerp and the Port of Constanta, with the purpose of facilitating cereal transport from Ukraine and to prevent a world food shortage."Moreover, I discussed with Belgian officials about the topic of increasing Belgian investments in Romania and the need to relaunch local cooperation between social-democratic authorities," Ciolacu also wrote."A productive exchange of opinions with chairwoman Eliane Tillieux regarding the role of members of Parliament in overcoming social and economic difficulties that Europe is currently facing in the current context. I thanked our social-democrat friends for the support granted to Romanians that are living in Belgium," Marcel Ciolacu also wrote on Twitter.Furthermore, Ciolacu sent a message on Twitter regarding the meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne."A good talk with Deputy Prime Minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne regarding the relaunch of cooperation between Romania and Belgium on economic and social issues. I highlighted the importance of local cooperation and friendship between our social-democratic parties," Ciolacu mentioned.The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, is carrying out a visit in Brussels on Thursday.Marcel Ciolacu has also meetings scheduled with the Commissioner for Labor and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, as well with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.Furthermore, he will have an intervention during the meeting with the PES leaders.AGERPRES
Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Ciolacu, the PSD (Social Democratic Party) leader, on Thursday stated that he will plead in Brussels for the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine to be granted the status of EU candidate, and that he will ask for support for Romania's accession to the Schengen area, while insisting, at the same time, on making the PNRR (National Recover and Resilience Plan) more flexible in terms of pensions, which is "absolutely necessary."

"Romania can become a hub of stability and development in the region! It is a project that I will strongly support today, in Brussels, in front of our European partners. I will plead, at the meeting of Social Democrat PMs and European Commissioners, and for the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine to be granted the status of EU candidate. Romania has the duty to support the Republic of Moldova at the level of all diplomatic levels!," Ciolacu wrote on Facebook.

He said that, in parallel, he will ask for the support of the President of the European Parliament for Romania's accession to the Schengen area and will insist on making the PNRR more flexible in terms of pension, which is "absolutely necessary."

"The talks with the President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Federal Parliament of the Kingdom of Belgium, Eliane Tillieux, and the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Labour, Pierre-Yves Dermagne, will focus on identifying the best common solutions to protect the purchase power and citizens's living standard, in the context of the increase in prices for energy and fuel. This is also one of the reasons why #PNRR's flexibility in the area of pensions is absolutely necessary for Romania. I will insist on this at the meeting I'll have with Nicolas Schmit, the European Commissioner for Labour," the PSD leader also said.

Marcel Ciolacu is currently paying visit to Brussels, the Kingdom of Belgium, where he will meet with the President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Federal Parliament of the Kingdom of Belgium, Eliane Tillieux, the Deputy Prime Minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne, the Minister of Economy and Labour, and the Commissioner for Labour and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, as well as the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. Ciolacu will also have an intervention during the meeting with the PES leaders.

AGERPRES
Saving a portion of your salary in a 401(k) is one of the best ways to set yourself up for a happy retirement. But 401(k)s aren't the only game in town when it comes to retirement planning. And one account in particular offers a whole host of advantages over a 401(k) for those eligible.

A health savings account (HSA) is designed to offer tax savings on medical expenses. But you can take advantage of all those tax savings and turn it into an incredible retirement account.

What's an HSA?

An HSA is a special account available to members of certain high-deductible health insurance plans. The idea is that since you have a high deductible, the government wants to make it easier for you to afford your medical care, thus providing tax advantages for eligible expenses. You can contribute funds to your HSA, and you won't have to pay any taxes on qualified medical expenses when they come up.

Unlike a flexible spending account, HSA funds never expire. Once they're in the account, they're yours to use whenever. Whether that's next month or next decade, it doesn't matter.

If you're offered an HSA through your employer, you can elect to make a salary deferral to the account, and your employer may also contribute to your HSA. These contributions are exempt from payroll taxes as well as income tax. You can also contribute directly to an HSA, but it'll be with funds you paid payroll taxes on.

Unlike a 401(k), you can access HSA funds immediately. If you use the funds for a qualified medical expense, you won't pay any taxes on the withdrawal. Otherwise, you'll pay income tax. If you're younger than age 65, you'll also owe a 20% penalty on a non-qualified withdrawal.

How to make the most of it

You can make the most of an HSA by using it as an investment account. Several providers allow you to invest in a wide variety of funds and other securities.

Unlike a 401(k), you're not limited to the provider supported by your employer. If your employer sets up an account with a more limited provider, you have the right to move your funds whenever and to wherever you'd like.

If you can afford to pay for your medical expenses with funds outside of your HSA, do so and hold on to the receipts. Archive them somewhere you'll be able to access many years from now. When you're ready to start withdrawing funds from your HSA to fund your retirement, you can submit your receipts and make a withdrawal.

Ultimately, this strategy provides superior tax advantages to a 401(k). First, contributions made through payroll deductions are exempt from payroll taxes. They're also exempt from income tax. The growth in your investments is also tax protected, so you won't pay any capital gains taxes. And if you only have qualified distributions (because you saved your receipts), you won't pay any income tax on the withdrawals either. A 401(k) can usually get you only two out of four of those tax advantages.

When you are past age 65, you can start taking distributions for non-qualified expenses and only pay income tax. In that case, the HSA effectively functions as a traditional IRA. That's not recommended, though, as you'll likely have plenty of medical expenses you can use your HSA for later in life. Tap your other retirement savings first before going down this path.

The downside of the HSA is the contribution limits are far lower than a 401(k). For 2022, the limits are $3,650 per year for an individual and $7,300 for a family. That includes any employer contribution. For comparison, employees can contribute up to $20,500 to a 401(k), and that's on top of employer contributions.

But if you're eligible for an HSA and in a strong financial situation, it likely makes sense for you to maximize your contribution, invest it, and use it as a retirement account.

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BEL-NOR  The pandemic muted all the milestones of Ashia Phillips last two years at Ritenour High School. So for prom, she went big and bright.

She bought a fuchsia gown with rhinestone straps and jeweled appliques. And she wanted her photo backdrop to be just as lavish and elegant.

So Ashias mother ordered balloons.

Once relegated to childrens birthday parties and Winnie the Pooh cartoons, balloons have gone high-end. The social media darlings create one-of-a-kind photo opportunities for school dances, baby showers and banquets. Customers spend hundreds  and sometimes thousands  of dollars for custom-made attractions.

St. Louis-area balloon artists have never been busier, designing bulbous walls and flowing garlands, 16-foot octopuses and turreted castles. On prom night in April, Ashia, 18, posed in front of a cascade of pink orbs, with strands of flowers and butterflies dangling around her.

She loved them, said her mom, Natasha Phillips. Everyone loved them.

Phillips ordered the arrangement from Joy Hill of north St. Louis County. The fifth grade teacher, inspired by a do-it-yourself balloon kit she purchased online, started Balloon Joi in August. Hill has picked up so much business, shes had to turn down potential clients.

Balloons are so fun, she said. I never thought Id be doing this as a side job.

Tony Volkman of Wentzville is also leaning on latex for extra income on top of his full-time position at an audiovisual company. A friend asked him to set up a background for a Zoom call last fall, and soon after, Balloony Toons was born.

Volkman collected a menagerie of air pumps and built a stockpile of fishing line, curtain rods, PVC pipes and disassembled floor lamps to support ethereal archways, frames and pillars for his customers.

The most magical part is when they come in the room and see their vision has come to life, Volkman said.

The least magical part? Cleaning up. Volkman puts in ear plugs and takes out his super sharp scissors.

I have to destroy what Ive created, he said. Popping balloons is a stab in the heart.

Inflated importance

Balloons havent had the best reputation among environmentalists. Theyre not really biodegradable. And when released, they can be mistaken by wildlife for food, a deadly error.

But the balloon industry has come out against balloon releases. Properly disposed of, the latex scraps are nothing more than a compact pile in the trash bin. In fact, the industry argues, they take up a lot less space in landfills than other party paraphernalia: Think plastic utensils, paper plates, cake tins and the like.

Regardless, the debate hasnt slowed down business here: Photos of over-the-top balloon builds now litter Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

Elise Rhoades of Hanley Hills has a portfolio of those herself: She has constructed pony-packed carousels and backyard-sized pirate ships. Last month, she used more than a thousand balloons to fashion a genie floating on a magic carpet for Hazelwood Centrals prom.

A college job at a balloon store outside Chicago introduced her to the trade more than a quarter century ago. Rhoades earned her certification as a balloon artist  which requires passing three written exams and a four-hour hands-on skills assessment  and became the head of the balloon department at American Carnival Mart in Creve Coeur, where she teaches a monthly balloon school.

At Carnival Mart, demand is through the roof, she said. We would sell more but we cant get the product. They cant make them fast enough.

Maryland Heights-based balloon manufacturer Betallic sold through its stock early in the pandemic and is finally getting caught up, said brand manager Julie Conner.

Its been difficult to provide all the colors and sizes when everyone needs them, she said.

Betallic sells latex sizes from 5-inch bantams to 3-foot-diameter behemoths. Foil shapes can stretch 5 feet high.

Balloons have become elevated from what they once were, said Conner. Their newest line comes in shades like champagne and truffle.

The Midwest is a step behind on the balloon mania, said Julia Perkovic, founder of Party Perks in south St. Louis County. She saw their promise at a face-painting convention six years ago.

The former globe-trotting magicians assistant  a Jane of all trades, she says  had already mastered juggling, stilt-walking and balloon-twisting, a skill distinct from balloon decor. But at the convention, she was tapped to construct an archway of dueling balloon dragons, with balloon fireballs billowing out of their balloon fangs.

When COVID hit, Perkovic narrowed her focus  and expanded her territory. She has been to 21 states in 18 months, hiring herself out as a balloon freelancer. She maintains a stash of 20,000 balloons, stacked floor-to-ceiling at her home office. Last year, Amazon commissioned her to make Game of Thrones-themed displays at a couple dozen of its warehouses, for $10,000 each.

Teaming up

Balloon artists often partner on jobs too unwieldy to tackle alone. In April, Perkovic and three others teamed up on a 150-foot garland for a shops grand opening in St. Charles. Two thousand tangerine, canary and cream-colored balloons bubbled around the two-story brick cafe.

Melissa Fox of Frontenac collaborated with Perkovic on the installation. Before the pandemic, Fox had never blown up a balloon. But in spring 2020, she needed something to make her daughters lockdown birthday special, so she turned to YouTube.

Fox spent the following year learning the math behind a rainbows bend and a columns taper. She trimmed her prep time down by three-fourths, inflating and knotting like shed been doing it all her life.

It took a lot of bloody cuticles to get there, she said.

Since Balloon Theory St. Louis opened last summer, Fox has added two part-time employees, including a calligrapher to paint names and well wishes on jumbo balloons that run about $100 apiece.

The hardest part, Fox said, is managing expectations of customers who ask for exact Pinterest replicas. Sometimes she makes house calls, fanning her balloons out like paint chips, so they can pick just the right hue.

Heather Baldanza of Town and Country tapped Fox to make twisting stands for a Super Bowl party: orange and black for the Bengals, blue and yellow for the Rams. She has become a regular customer, ordering centerpieces for her sons lacrosse banquet and a towering 16 for her daughters birthday.

I think theyre perfect for photos, said Baldanza. I had tried to do it myself but it never turned out as good.

The challenge of wrangling dozens of finicky pockets of air into cheerful spectacles is what keeps Fox going through hours of finger-cramping work.

Its so much fun to look at a giant job and think, I cant do this, she said. And then you do!

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The Presidential Candidate of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr. Dumebi Kachikwu, has dismissed allegations of tax evasion and fraud made against him as untrue, baseless and politically motivated.

Kachikwu's clarification followed an online report which alleged that a United States of America's court had ordered the confiscation of his property over tax evasion and that he had earlier been indicted for fraud in the past and therefore not a first time offender.

But Kachikwu on Wednesday blamed his political opponents for smear campaign against him being launched against him.

Kachukwu said: "Yesterday, I was inundated with calls and messages over a libellous and defamatory publication by an online blog known as Peoples Gazette.

"The publication not only accused me of tax evasion but also accused me of delivering cash bribes to former US Congressman. These are untrue. Here are the facts of the matter:

"A few days ago, my campaign team received information that one of the aspirants who lost out in the just concluded ADC presidential primaries was planning a series of smear campaigns against me.

"I was therefore not surprised when I saw this story yesterday. Contrary to the information being peddled, I was assessed an additional $9million several years ago by the US Inland Revenue Service (IRS).

"This amount was reduced to $2million and when the IRS sued to collect the amount, my lawyers didn't contest it and instead waited for a default judgement in order to go to the next stage which is making an offer in compromise to reduce the amount to be paid.

"This is a standard legal practice in tax matters. People's Gazette also claimed I was not a first-time offender having been previously indicted in a fraud case in 2009.

"He claimed I had delivered a $100,000 cash bribe to curry the favour of the former US congressman.

"This is another lie as multiple evidence abounds online clearly showing I was the victim who reported the US congressman to the EFCC and the FBI for defrauding my company.

"The publisher of this infamous blog intentionally stood truth on its head in order to achieve a predetermined objective.

"In a series of coordinated attacks they aggressively disseminated this story through various medium to damage and tarnish my image.

"I have now instructed my lawyers to sue all digital media organisations who participated in the dissemination of this falsehood.

"They will also petition the police to arrest and prosecute all those who have breached the Cybercrime Act by using twitter to defame, harass and threaten me. I will no longer tolerate this persistent attacks from sore losers."

On how he won as the presidential candidate of the ADC, Kachikwu denied inducing any of the delegates to vote for him, saying that he thought he had lost the election and had prepared his concession speech only to emerge as the winner.

He said, "I thought I was going to lose that election. I had other aspirants around me and I was typing my concession speech, promising my allegiance to my party. I thought I was going to lose the election because I was not prepared to pay any delegate. It was funny that the same people who paid delegates are same people denigrating the process that produced me."

Kachikwu expressed optimism that he would win the 2023 general election even though his party has not been very frequent in the news like other major parties.

According to him, "this is a long distance race. It is not a sprint. It is not about who is in the news about this time. Nigerians will have the opportunity to assess all the candidates in the next eight months.

"You will hear all the aspirants talk about issues but you never hear them talk about solutions to those problems. They will speak on how Nigeria has failed in education, health, security and others but you will never hear them tell you their solutions to those problems and how they will go about getting those solutions. Nigerians will hear all the candidates. Nobody will be hoodwinked this time.

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On this possibility of merging with other political parties, Kachikwu said it is too early to speak on that, pointing out that his party has a clear vision for Nigeria.

"We are willing to work with any and everyone who aligns with that vision. Politically, it is naive for anyone to talk about merger or alliance at this point. Down the line when people have assessed their strengths before the electorate, people will know what is good for them and then, people can start talking about merger and the rest. For now, it is too early."

On the problem of vote buying and how to manage that at the general election, he called for media advocacy to educate electorates. He urged electorate to vote their conscience even when attempt to bribe them.
ST. LOUIS  Davian Caldwell is having more fun now that he gets to get his hands dirty.

The 16-year-old is in his second year with Dream Builders 4 Equity, a nonprofit that enlists area youths to rebuild and sell homes in north St. Louis. He met his mentor through the group and now helps out at more jobs: painting, framing and his favorite task so far, demolition.

It really dont feel like work, Caldwell said. It feels like straight family, like at most Im doing chores.

On Wednesday, Caldwell and dozens of other youths gathered to watch as Midwest BankCentre donated its branch, located at North Broadway and Mallinckrodt Avenue east of Interstate 70, to the nonprofit, which will turn the building into its new headquarters and a community resource hub for the nearby Hyde Park neighborhood.

St. Louis County-based Midwest BankCentre acquired the bank building, at 3529 North Broadway, when it bought Bremen Bank in 2016. It operates another north St. Louis location out of Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church. The North Broadway donation to Dream Builders includes adjacent parking lots that total about 1.25 acres.

Dream Builders enrolls high school students, paying them up to $15 an hour, to help rehab north St. Louis homes alongside minority contractors, helping small businesses grow while teaching youths the trades. The homes are then sold back to neighborhood residents. The group also runs a summer academy that teaches financial literacy, urban planning and civic engagement. It has also branched out with its Black Squares chess program in recent years.

The nonprofit plans to repair 25 homes, helping those homeowners build equity, and renovate 25 homes to later sell. It has acquired 14 homes slated for renovation  one is completed while four others are under way  and has finished 12 home repairs. The Hyde Park Neighborhood Association donates some of the homes for renovation; Dream Builders buys others, usually for bottom-barrel prices, from the citys land bank.

The nonprofit employs 50 teens during the summer and has grown to have a waiting list of dozens more wanting to join, said Executive Director Michael Woods.

Theyre not only showing up, but theyre like excited, Woods said. They love it.

Woods co-founded Dream Builders more than five years ago with Neal Richardson, who now leads the citys economic development arm, the St. Louis Development Corp. The early years were tough, they said, and Woods and Richardson would often pick up kids to take to job sites.

It just goes to show when you start to make progress, that momentum continues to push forward, said Richardson, who stepped down from the nonprofit when he joined SLDC in 2021.

Gerald Burton, 19, joined the nonprofit three years ago with no real estate or construction experience. But he quickly bought into the Dream Builders mission, and has since worked on 20 to 30 homes, some under Dream Builders and some he found outside the group.

I love being able to restore something that was once beautiful and prominent and build it back up, Burton said. It means a lot to actually start that process at age 19 and have that type of impact on the city I love.

Reporter Jacob Barker contributed to this story.

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ST. LOUIS  Federal prosecutors here have charged more than a dozen people with lying to receive loans or grants since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. One bought a Maserati. Others jetted off on vacation. Another spent thousands at Neiman Marcus, Ulta Beauty and Victorias Secret.

And more are almost certainly coming: Prosecutors have dozens of open cases in the works.

Its a huge problem, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwen Carroll, whos in charge of white collar prosecution for the St. Louis office. Federal agents, she said, keep finding people trying to work the system.

Pandemic-related fraud came under the microscope this month when former St. Louis County jail official Tony Weaver was indicted over accusations he filed four grant applications on behalf of a local businessman in exchange for splitting the proceeds, according to court documents.

Federal officials said nearly 1,500 people have been charged nationwide with making fraudulent claims to receive pandemic aid. Last week, they estimated as much as 20%  tens of billions of dollars  may have been awarded to fraudsters through one Small Business Administration loan program alone.

The wave of fraud started in March 2020 when Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act as businesses across the country were forced to shut down to stop the virus spread.

Carroll, a longtime fraud prosecutor, recalled sitting in a conference room at the FBI with fellow investigators and reading the CARES Act distribution guidelines in May 2020. The loans were designed to be distributed quickly with few stopgaps  a recipe for abuse, she said.

Its almost like we were standing on the beach and seeing a tidal wave very far off in the distance, she said.

In the months to come, more than 142,000 borrowers in Missouri would receive $4.6 billion as part of the Paycheck Protection Program alone. Trillions of dollars would be distributed through the CARES Act and subsequent coronavirus relief packages.

As all the money flooded in, so did fraud accusations.

Among those charged was Susan Hampe  a woman in her 70s from St. Louis County who had been convicted twice of defrauding others, including her sister. Hampe pleaded guilty in April to filing for bolstered COVID-19 unemployment benefits in multiple states even though she wasnt eligible.

Then there was Robert Williams, 59, from St. Louis County, who had a series of previous stealing and fraud convictions and was sentenced in April to more than 10 years in prison for lying to receive $2.7 million in coronavirus aid. Prosecutors said he misrepresented information on 30 applications for his own business and helped others file an additional 23.

And on Friday, a St. Louis woman, Porshia L. Thomas, 31, pleaded guilty to lying on applications to receive $291,600 in payroll protection loans for her 15-person company, Couture Trading Inc., out of Beverly Hills, California, according to court records. She spent the money on living expenses, personal purchases and a 2018 Audi S5 Sportback Quattro.

The fraud was not limited to business aid.

Carroll said investigators have also opened inquiries in the region, Missouris eastern district, for people hoping to take advantage of housing assistance.

In one recent case, Semaj Portis, 43, of St. Louis County, admitted to pretending to be a landlord and using fraudulent leases when she applied for rental help 52 times in a 10-month period. She received $267,239 in aid, according to court documents.

The CARES Act and other pandemic aid programs created a lucrative opportunity for fraudsters, she said.

Still, she said, many businesses were saved because of the money.

The problem isnt the program, she said. Its that people take advantage of opportunities.

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KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  The Russian military extended its grip on territory in eastern Ukraine as it seeks to cut supply lines and encircle frontline Ukrainian forces, while the Ukrainian military announced Thursday the arrival of powerful U.S. multiple-launch rocket systems it hopes will offer a battlefield advantage.

Ukrainian forces withdrew from some areas near the city of Lysychansk to avoid being surrounded as Russians sent in reinforcements and concentrated their firepower in the area, Britains Defense Ministry said. The city is located in Luhansk province, a major battlefield in Russian President Vladimir Putins war against Ukraine.

Ukraine's General Staff said Russian forces took control of the villages of Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka, and were trying to capture Syrotyne, a settlement outside the province's administrative center, Sievierodonetsk. Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press that the Russians were burning everything out in their offensive to encircle Ukraine's fighters.

The Russians are advancing without trying to spare the ammunition or troops, and they arent running out of either, Haidai said. They have an edge in heavy artillery and the number of troops.

After repeated requests to its Western allies for heavier weaponry to counter Russia's edge in firepower, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said a response had arrived in the form of the medium-range American rocket launchers.

Summer will be hot for Russian occupiers. And the last one for some of them, Reznikov tweeted, thanking the U.S. for these powerful tools.

A U.S. defense official confirmed Wednesday that all four of the promised High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, were in the hands of Ukrainian forces but said it was not clear if they have been used yet.

The U.S. approved providing the precision-guided systems at the end of May, and once they were in the region, Ukraine's forces needed about three weeks of training to operate them. The rockets can travel about 45 miles (70 kilometers).

The U.S. will send an addition $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including four more of the medium-range rocket systems, ammunition and other supplies, U.S. officials announced Thursday.

Analysts said the advanced systems would give Ukrainian forces greater precision in hitting Russian targets. Mykola Sunhurovsky of the Razumkov Center, a Kyiv-based think tank, said the HIMARS have a longer range, more precision and higher rate of fire compared with similar Soviet-designed systems that Russia and Ukraine have used during the four-month war.

In the Luhansk region, Ukrainians remain in control of part of the territory, "defying the Russians and causing their fury and desire to burn it to the ground, Haidai said.

For weeks, Russian forces have pummeled Sievierodonetsk with artillery and air raids, and fought the Ukrainian army house-to-house. Ukrainian forces remain holed up with about 500 civilians at the Azot chemical plant, the only part of the city still under Ukrainian control.

Haidai said the Ukrainian soldiers warded off the city's seizure from the plant's sprawling underground structures, but he noted that the shelling has intensified, and even concrete shelters cant withstand the bombardment. The Russians were using their entire arsenal  heavy artillery, tanks and aircraft  he said.

Lysychansk, located on a steep river bank facing Sievierodonetsk, also is under a relentless Russian artillery barrage. At least one civilian died and three others were wounded in the past day as the Russians concentrated more than 100 multiple rocket launchers to pummel entire blocks, the governor said.

The British Defense Ministry said Russian forces had likely advanced more than 5 kilometers (3 miles) toward the southern approaches of Lysychansk since Sunday.

Some Ukrainian units have withdrawn, probably to avoid being encircled, the statement said. Russias improved performance in this sector is likely a result of recent unit reinforcement and heavy concentration of fire.

Ukraine's military said the Russians were also moving to overtake the hills overlooking a highway linking Lysychansk with Bakhmut, to the southwest, in an attempt to cut the supply lines of Ukrainian forces.

Haidai said the Bakhmut-Lysychansk highway wasnt used because of heavy Russian shelling. Ukrainian forces are receiving supplies via an alternative route.

Following a botched attempt to capture Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, in the early stage of the invasion on Feb. 24, Russian forces shifted focus to the Donbas region, where the Ukrainian forces have fought Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.

The Russian military controls about 95% of Luhansk province and about half of neighboring Donetsk province, the two areas that make up the Donbas.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

European Union leaders meeting in Brussels have made Ukraine a candidate for membership in the 27-nation bloc, along with Moldova, in a historic boost that binds them closer to the West than Russia.

The countries' admission to the EU will likely take years, though. In the case of Ukraine, that's both because of the war and the reforms the Ukrainian government must make to conform with European standards.

-

A Ukrainian politician and TV personality said an online fundraising pitch aimed at helping Ukraine buy three offensive drones has raised $10.4 million in 24 hours.

Serhiy Prytula credited amazing support among Ukrainians after his charitable foundation made the appeal for $15 million a day earlier for the purchase of the Bayraktar drones like those that Ukrainian forces have already used to defend against Russian invaders.

He tweeted: 4,6m $ to go. The Peoples Bayraktar project is already a nationwide crowdfunding. Lets turn it into international!

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Thursday that her country offered its expertise to help protect Ukraines ports and the safe passage of vessels for the export of Ukrainian grain.

Ukraine is one of the worlds largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil. Russias invasion and blockade of Ukraine's ports have halted much of that flow and left millions of tons of grain stuck in silos, endangering food supplies to many developing countries, especially in Africa.

Its urgent that action is taken within the next month ahead of the new harvest, and were determined to work with our allies to deliver this, Truss said at news conference with her Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, during a visit to Ankara to discuss ways to end the blockade.

Turkey wants to gather the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine to organize a U.N. plan that would allow the safe shipment of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports. Cavusoglu said a possible deal might set up a safe zone just outside of Ukraines territorial waters.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Russia has destroyed more than 2,000 schools and other educational institutions during the war.

In a video address to students and faculty at Jerusalems Hebrew University, Zelenskyy said that in areas where Russian troops have made quick advances, civilians are shot, refugees are killed right on the streets, people are tortured and raped, including minors  girls and boys.

Zelenskyy also voiced disappointment that Israel hadn't joined Western-led sanctions against Russia or provided Ukraine with military aid to give its forces a boost in the war.

Israel relies on good ties with Russia for security coordination in Syria, where Russia has troops and where Israel carries out frequent strikes against enemy targets. It has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Ukraine, Samuel Petrequin in Brussels, Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Lolita C. Baldor and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Last year, Hall of Fame ballplayer Ted Simmons and fine art printer Maryanne Ellison Simmons handed over a collection theyd spent decades building.

It was a partial gift, partial purchase by the couple to the St. Louis Art Museum, which paid just over $2.3 million, about half of the artworks worth.

At the time, Elizabeth Wyckoff, curator of prints, drawings and photographs, said the large acquisition of politically and socially conscious pieces was transformative for the museums post-World War II print collection.

It changes the whole character of the American art story that the museum can tell, she said. The Simmons collection includes 43 artists, 25 of whom were not represented at all at the museum.

Now, the museum is ready to show the rest of the city more than 200 of the 833 works it acquired. They are mostly contemporary prints but include drawings, collages, photographs and even woodblocks.

Alluding to Simmons position behind home plate as a Cardinal, the exhibition is called Catching the Moment. It runs June 26-Sept. 11.

But although 200-plus works are only about a fourth of the collection, thats still a lot to see. So curator Wyckoff and Sophie Barbisan, associate paper conservator, suggest 10 dont-miss pieces. Barbisan chose and describes the first two, with the rest from Wyckoff.

Enrique Chagoya, Illegal Aliens Guide to Somewhere Over the Rainbow, 2010  Chagoyas lithographs are a mixture of hand-drawn and photolithographic processes, developed in collaboration with master printer Bud Shark at his press, Sharks Ink. The artist often references Mesoamerican culture both with the imagery he chooses and the amate paper support, which was used for codices in ancient Mexico.

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Celebrate 40,000 Years of American Art, 1995  Jaune Quick-to-See Smiths print created in St. Louis at the Washington University School of Art Collaborative Print Workshop, now called Island Press, was designed as a succinct comment on colonial thinking. She reminds us that there were sophisticated civilizations here before Europeans arrived on this continent. The use of the collagraph technique enabled the artist to play with textures, as she worked on a PVC plate with a thick application of acrylic adhesive, dusted with the abrasive grit carborundum, along with collages of various papers and canvases.

Kiki Smith, Finger Bowl, 1995  Kiki Smiths Finger Bowl is the first work of art a visitor will encounter in the exhibition, and it turns out it was also the first acquisition Ted and Maryanne Ellison Simmons made when they decided to get serious about collecting contemporary art. The solid silver bowl is literally formed by the artists own fingers, which press into the bowls interior. Three fingers stand in as the feet.

Liliana Porter, To Fix It, 2018  There are three works by Liliana Porter in Catching the Moment, and one of her captivating videos can also be seen in Gallery 301. All of these works incorporate small figurines or toys that she has collected for many decades. In To Fix It, a tiny, kneeling worker labors in the delicate workings of a wall clock.

Bruce Conner, BOMBHEAD, 2003  Bruce Conners BOMBHEAD is a digital print that had its roots in a much smaller, handmade collage he created more than a decade earlier, in which he cut and pasted a newspaper clipping of an atomic mushroom cloud over the head of a uniformed figure. The work shows the notoriously shape-shifting artist adapting to the latest digital technology in 2003, even as he allowed a tiny dab of red paint to daub the tiepin.

H. C. Westermann, Dance of Death from The Connecticut Ballroom, 1976  H. C. Westermann was a master craftsman who was arguably best known for his expertly crafted wooden sculptures that manage to confound, delight and disturb viewers. The whimsically elegant couple in Dance of Death are stepping out among rats on an abandoned pier, with the hulking carcass of a listing battleship in the background  a reminder of the artists years as a marine aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise in the Pacific chapter of World War II.

Peter Hujar, Candy Darling on Her Deathbed, 1973  Warhol superstar and transgender icon Candy Darling posed elegantly and dramatically for Peter Hujar in 1973, before she died of lymphoma the following year at age 29. The scene was carefully choreographed by both actress and photographer. Hujar subtly modulated the black, gray, and white tones of the flower-filled hospital room with its fluorescent light.

Tom Huck, Snacktime Marcy woodblocks, 1999  The Simmonses didnt stop at collecting nearly every print Tom Huck ever made; they also sought out drawings and woodblocks, like these for his Snacktime Marcy triptych. Having the woodblocks in the collection allows visitors to learn about the printmaking process, but they also reveal Hucks incredible artistry involved in carving the image by hand into the birch plywood blocks.

Roger Shimomura, Yellow No Same, No. 1, 1992  Yellow No Same, No. 1 comes from a portfolio of 12 prints, each with the same oblong format incorporating two sets of figures starkly divided by barbed wire. Roger Shimomura is an American artist of Japanese descent who as a child was incarcerated along with his family in an internment camp, as ordered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942. These prints directly reference that experience, juxtaposing Japanese Americans in their 1940s dress behind the barbed wire with Kabuki actors on the outside.

Helen Frankenthaler, Savage Breeze, 1974  Helen Frankenthaler approached printmaking much like she did painting  with a seriously experimental attitude. Savage Breeze is distinctive for its impressive scale and the artists choice to emphasize the grain of the wood blocks in the prints texture. It was printed at Universal Limited Art Editions on Long Island (New York), in collaboration with the master printers there, but she almost gave up on it before deciding to add a layer of white ink underneath: At last, that gave it the glow she was looking for.

What Catching the Moment: Contemporary Art from the Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons Collection  When June 26-Sept. 11; hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday,  Where St. Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Drive, Forest Park  How much $12, $10 for seniors and students, $6 for ages 6-12, free for ages 5 and under; free for museum members and on Fridays  More info slam.org

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Baz Luhrmanns sprawling pop biopic Elvis, starring Austin Butler, hits theaters this weekend, and its likely that the wild portrait of Elvis Presley might spark a desire to revisit some of the King of Rock n Rolls best work. Theres of course his discography, but as the first televisual music superstar, theres also a wealth of TV and film content to explore, which offers a larger scope on his all-too-short life and career.

A logical first stop after Luhrmanns Elvis should be the two-part documentary series Elvis Presley: The Searcher, currently streaming on HBO Max. The 2018 documentary, directed by Thom Zimny, who has directed several rock docs, including about Bruce Springsteen, is a methodical exploration of Elvis through his music: his influences, his role in the formation of rock n roll, and his eventual return to his blues, gospel and country roots. With interviews from Priscilla Presley, many of his musical collaborators, ethnomusicologists, as well as Tom Petty and Springsteen, its an exhaustive and carefully researched look into the music that made Elvis and the music that Elvis made.

After his music success, Elvis headed out for Hollywood. His first film, Love Me Tender (1956), is available on Starz or for rent on all digital platforms. Jailhouse Rock (1957; available to rent on all platforms) might be his most well-known film, spawning the popular tune of the same name.

One of Elvis favorite film projects was King Creole (1958), directed by Michael Curtiz, and is available to rent on Amazon. While he hoped for a career as a dramatic actor, his films Wild in the Country (1961) and Flaming Star (1960) were not financially successful (rent them on digital platforms, or stream Flaming Star on Starz). He was pushed by his manager, Colonel Parker, to do more musicals with tie-in records, like Viva Las Vegas (1964), opposite the dynamic Ann-Margret (rent it on all digital platforms).

Elvis 1968 comeback TV special, Elvis, returned him to his musical roots. It also allowed him to present a different, more authentic image to America and make a powerful statement with the song If I Can Dream, inspired by the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Rent it for $2.99 on iTunes or Amazon.

In 1969, Elvis became the King of Las Vegas with his opulent stage show residency at the International Hotel. The 1970 documentary Elvis: Thats the Way It Is documents the rehearsal process with his incredible band. Rent it on iTunes.

Austin Butler transforms into Elvis and gives a star-making turn as the King, but hes not the first actor to take on the challenging role. Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers played Elvis in a 2005 two-part miniseries, Elvis, opposite Rose McGowan. Its available to stream for free with ads on the Roku Channel, Vudu, Tubi and Amazon Freevee. Michael Shannon also tackled the role in the 2016 film Elvis & Nixon, directed by Liza Johnson, which is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
DETROIT (AP)  High gas prices have Wallace Reid looking for a new career.

Reid, who drives for Uber and Lyft in New York, fills up his Lexus at least three times a week. He pays around $95 each time, about double what he was paying last year. To make up for that, hes driving more often, but hes also applying for other jobs that wouldnt require his car.

Its more hours, more stress, he said. New York City is not an easy city to work and its affecting our lives.

Reid isnt alone. Millions of Americans who rely on their cars for work are changing their habits, signing up for carpools or even ditching their cars for bicycles as gas prices recently hit $5 per gallon for the first time ever. This week, it's averaging $4.95 per gallon nationwide, up from $3.06 per gallon a year ago, according to AAA.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden asked Congress to suspend federal gas taxes for three months, which would shave 18.4 cents per gallon off the price of gas. He also called on states to suspend their own gas taxes.

Bidens push faces uphill odds in Congress. In the meantime, gas is straining budgets.

Jace Shoemaker-Galloway agonized over whether to charge more for Paws and Whiskers Sitters, her pet-sitting business in Macomb, Illinois. She visits as many as 10 houses each day and fills up her 2018 Mazda CX-3 almost every week. One recent fill-up cost her nearly $50.

This month, she finally acted. She contacted her clients and told them she was removing the 10% discount she has always given to repeat customers.

Shoemaker-Galloway, who is also a childrens book author, said her customers were understanding. But she worries that gas prices will cut into her business in other ways.

The cost isnt just impacting my bottom line, she said. Because the price of everything is so expensive, people are cutting back on non-essentials, which means pet-sitting and book sales.

In a normal summer, Orvilia Nieto might do some traveling in the RV she lives in in Lytle, Texas. But that might not happen this year. She is struggling to fill the tank of her 2008 Ford Expedition SUV so she can get to her job at a T.J. Maxx distribution center in San Antonio, about 20 miles away.

Nieto and her co-workers trade tips on where gas is cheapest. She sometimes carpools or fills her tank only halfway, which still costs her more than $50. But she feels lucky. A handful of colleagues on her shift, which ends at 2:30 a.m., ride their bikes home in the dark.

Its been a rough road, she said. If we lived in the city it would be easier, could take the bus, but at the end of the shift at 2:30 in the morning, what bus line is available?

Jill Chapman, a senior performance consultant with Insperity, a Texas-based human resources and recruitment company, said gas prices and commute lengths are increasingly a sticking point with job candidates. Chapman said companies may want to consider temporary bonuses, incentives for public transit or gas cards to help their employees.

A business owner needs to acknowledge that there is stress associated with rising gas prices, Chapman said.

David Lewis, the CEO of Operations Inc., a Norwalk, Connecticut-based human resources consulting company, remembers handing out gas cards to his employees in 2009 when gas prices topped $4 per gallon. But this time he wont be doing that because employees have another option: working from home.

This is an unwelcome development for those companies that are trying to get people back to the office, Lewis said. It is one more reasonable reason why those employees are pushing back.

Lewis has around 100 employees in Norwalk. Before COVID, 85% of them were in the office at least two days a week. Now, maybe 25% of them are. Lewis  and many of his clients  would like to see employees in the office more but say gas prices are a huge barrier.

If you are the company that requires everyone to come in all the time, youre a pariah, he said.

Psychology professor Brian Cesario used to live within walking distance of the college where he teaches. But last year, he moved 55 miles away to Hopewell Junction, New York, so he could afford a larger home for his growing family.

Cesario taught remotely even before the pandemic and assumed he would continue doing so. But last fall, his college began requiring him to drive to campus twice a week, a commute that now costs him $240 in gas each month. Cesario said he doesnt make enough to compensate for that, so hes looking for a fully remote job outside of academia.

For those who must commute, there can be options. On Tuesday, Uber announced it was bringing back discounted shared rides in nine U.S. cities this summer, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Organizations that link carpoolers  like one run by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments in the Detroit area  say they are seeing significantly more participants.

Some are even finding solutions in their own garage. Pame Viens and her husband  both histotechnologists who prepare tissue at medical facilities  switched vehicles because his commute is longer. Now, hes driving her 2016 Volkswagen Passat and shes driving his 2022 Dodge Ram.

Im only 51." I hit my forehead on the side mirror, she said with a laugh. But Im getting used to it.

But others say they simply have to hustle harder. Brian Scheall, an Uber driver in Tampa, Florida, pays $75 every time he fills up his Volkswagen Atlas.

You can make money but you have to work, work, work, said Scheall. He recently took a side job driving some customers from Florida to Virginia for some extra cash.

Uber says it understands drivers are feeling the pinch from high gas prices, and it added a 45-cent to 55-cent surcharge on all trips in March to help soften the blow. But both Reid and Scheall say gig companies should be doing much more.

It makes no difference at all. Its like a grain of sand, Reid said of the surcharge.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
THURSDAY, June 23, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- When breast cancer patients sleep, tumor cells may "awaken" and spread through the bloodstream, a surprising study out of Switzerland reveals.

Circulating cancer cells that later form new growths (metastases) do not arise continuously as previously assumed, according to researchers at ETH Zurich, the University Hospital Basel and the University of Basel.

"When the affected person is asleep, the tumor awakens," said study leader Nicola Aceto, a professor of molecular oncology at ETH Zurich.

Lead study author Zoi Diamantopoulou, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, added, "Our research shows that the escape of circulating cancer cells from the original tumor is controlled by hormones such as melatonin, which determine our rhythms of day and night."

About 2.3 million people worldwide develop breast cancer each year. When their cancers are detected early, patients usually respond well to treatment, the authors noted. But treatment is more difficult if a cancer spreads, which occurs when cells break away from the original tumor and travel through the blood vessels to other spots in the body.

The new study included 30 breast cancer patients and mouse models.

The researchers discovered that tumors generate more circulating cells when the host is asleep.

Cells that leave the tumor at night also divide more quickly and thus have a higher potential to form new tumors than circulating cells that leave the original tumor during the day.

As such, the time of day when tumor or blood samples are collected for diagnosis may also influence findings. This was discovered by accident when colleagues worked unusual hours, Aceto said in an ETH Zurich news release.

Another clue about the impact of sleep was the surprisingly high number of cancer cells found per unit of blood in mice compared to humans, the researchers noted. As nocturnal animals, mice sleep during the day, which is when scientists collect most of their samples.

"In our view, these findings may indicate the need for health care professionals to systematically record the time at which they perform biopsies," Aceto said. "It may help to make the data truly comparable."

The researchers next need to figure out how these findings can be used to get the most from existing cancer treatments.

Aceto also wants to investigate whether different cancers behave like breast cancer and whether existing therapies can be made more successful if patients are treated at different times.

The findings were published June 22 in Nature.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more on breast cancer.

SOURCE: ETH Zurich, news release, June 22, 2022

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
FRIDAY, May 6, 2022 (HealthDay News)  Health authorities in Britain, who routinely test sewage samples for the virus that causes polio, declared a "national incident" after evidence of local spread was found in London sewers.

No cases have been identified yet, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

There is little risk to the public, British health officials stressed, but those who are not fully vaccinated against poliovirus are urged to get their shots. This is especially important for young children.

Most of the U.K. population will be protected from vaccination in childhood, but in some communities with low vaccine coverage, individuals may remain at risk, Dr. Vanessa Saliba, a consultant epidemiologist for the U.K. Health Security Agency, said in an agency statement.

A genetic analysis of the samples point to a common origin. It is likely a person who traveled to the United Kingdom around the new year, Dr. Shahin Huseynov, technical officer for the World Health Organizations vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization program in Europe, told The New York Times.

The most recent four samples collected could have been in young children introduced to the virus by this person or one another.

It is also possible that all the samples are from a single immunocompromised person who has shed the virus for months, the agency added.

The big issue here is whether its been continuously circulating in the U.K. or whether its an immunodeficient person, Dr. Walter Orenstein, associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center and a former director of the United States Immunization Program, told the Times.

They need to find that immunodeficient person if thats the case, Orenstein added.

That may not be an easy job.

The wastewater treatment plant from which the samples were taken covers about 4 million people, the Times said. Sample collection continues to try to identify the source.

It is typical for the sewage surveillance to pick up one or two cases of polio each year. The last confirmed polio case in Britain was in 1984. The country was declared polio-free in 2003.

When someone is infected, the virus lives in the gut and emerges in feces. It is spread most often when an infected person touches food or water meant for someone else without washing their hands.

Poliovirus can infect the spine and cause paralysis, which happens in about 1% of patients.

Most of the disease is asymptomatic, it is only about one in 500 children who are actually paralyzed, Dr. David Heymann, an infectious disease expert at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the Times. He previously led the World Health Organizations polio eradication program.

Wild polio now only exists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but a live oral vaccine is used in some parts of the world and can briefly be shed in the feces of a person who is immunized.

Health officials think that's what happened here because the virus in the samples matched a type of oral polio vaccine used to contain outbreaks, Huseynov said. That vaccine was used in Afghanistan, Pakistan and some Middle Eastern and African countries in recent months.

Polio persists in some of the poorest parts o the world. Until it is eradicated worldwide, the risk of importation and spread in the U.K. and elsewhere will continue, Nicholas Grassly, a vaccine epidemiologist at Imperial College London, told the Times.

Britain uses an injected inactivated poliovirus for vaccination. It cant be shed through feces. London has about an 86.6% polio vaccination rate, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on polio.

SOURCE: The New York Times

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
THURSDAY, June 23, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Media reports about an outbreak of monkeypox may sound scary, but there's no need for most people to take special steps to avoid getting the viral illness, an infectious disease expert says.

Normal precautions recommended to prevent other diseases are sufficient, according to Dr. David Cennimo, an associate professor of medicine and pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

Those with greatest risk of getting monkeypox are folks engaging in intimate contact with multiple sex partners, especially new ones. However, Cennimo said, even among this group the risk is still low.

Practicing safe sex and avoiding intimacy if you or your partner feel ill -- even if monkeypox lesions have not yet appeared -- are key.

Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes and a rash that turns into pus-filled blisters, or lesions. But not everyone infected with the virus develops all of these symptoms.

Cennimo said it doesn't appear that monkeypox spreads from people who have no symptoms. But it seems to be more contagious once flu-like symptoms start and even more so once lesions appear several days later, he said.

"Previous research documents transmission via droplets exhaled past oral lesions onto someone else, but that's rare," Cennimo said in a Rutgers news release. "Widespread airborne transmission -- i.e., one sick person infecting an entire subway car -- seems extremely unlikely."

The virus variant that is circulating is from West Africa, and is milder than a Central African variant. Its infection fatality rate is estimated at 1% and even lower in the United States, where patients are more likely to have been healthy, young people.

As of June 21, the United States had 142 confirmed cases of monkeypox, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Though the smallpox vaccine can be protective, it provides only imperfect protection against monkeypox, Cennimo said. Only a severe outbreak of a deadlier variant of monkeypox or a reemergence of smallpox would justify its use, he said. As a live-virus vaccine, the smallpox shot causes a small percentage of recipients to contract smallpox and creates severe reactions in many others.

Meanwhile, health officials in the United Kingdom have decided to offer vaccines to some gay and bisexual men in an effort to curb spread of the virus.

More information

The World Health Organization has more on monkeypox.

SOURCE: Rutgers University-New Brunswick, news release, June 20, 2022

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
The PLJ Foundation for Development - The Gambia has appointed Mr. Bekir Sitki Batur as its Goodwill Ambassador to Turkey and rest of Europe.

PLJ Foundation for Development is a charitable organisation based in The Gambia with topmost aim of joining efforts in improving the living standard of Gambians and developing the country too.

His appointment according to the PLJ Foundation secretary, Sheriff Barry, is the result of trust and confidence members of the organisation have in him.

Also in the past, according to him, "he had rendered support to founders of the foundation and with this appointment, he would serve the foundation to best of his ability."

Mr. Barry explained that there are many communities in the country that still do not have access to good drinking water and other essential social amenities which has prompted founders to set up the foundation to contribute their quota to the development of the country and improve the living condition of residents of some of the communities.

A former National Assembly member, Honourable Pa Lamin Jatta, the president of the Foundation, dilated on some of the past activities of the foundation which included donation of domestic items such as food items, cooking pots, chairs, among other materials to some families in different communities.

He assured that the foundation would do more with the help of its partners and other supporters.

He congratulated the appointed PLJ Foundation for Development Goodwill Ambassador, while thanking him for the acceptance. "Mr Batur is having a large heart for not only the foundation but for the country as a whole, and within the shortest period of his appointment, he has put in place different plans for the foundation."

However, "our membership spans across the country. Firstly, it was a forum but the membership of the forum become overwhelmed which prompted us to establish PLJ Foundation for Development The Gambia," he disclosed.
THURSDAY, June 23, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Pets have helped people weather both the HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 pandemics, a survey of long-term HIV/AIDS survivors shows.

"The underlying question in our minds has always been: What role do pets play for people who are so isolated and suffering so much stigma?" said study leader Lynette Hart, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of California, Davis.

She and her colleagues surveyed close to 150 people across the United States who got the HIV/AIDS virus before 1996. Most were men.

Respondents said they felt far more grief, isolation and stigma during the AIDS pandemic than during the COVID pandemic.

And older men were able to cope better during COVID, especially if they had a dog, according to findings recently published in the journal Animals.

"I don't think dogs are magically making them better, but dogs are making a difference," Hart said in a university news release. "The older HIV/AIDS survivors may also have more coping strategies, and dogs are part of that. They take their dogs on walks and meet people in their neighborhood and remain more socially connected."

While dog owners said they felt less isolated during both pandemics, cat owners felt especially alone, isolated and unsupported even though all said their cat comforted them, the study found.

That suggests that supportive pet care service organizations that help keep people with special needs and their pets together might put a special focus on supporting cat owners, Hart said.

Study co-author Dr. Ken Gorczyca, founding veterinarian for Pets Are Wonderful Support (PAWS), said it's important to know that long-term survivors of AIDS are resilient.

"To get to that point, they had to be. A lot of them would say that animals were a big part of that," Gorczyca said in the release.

"Having an animal companion gave many a sense of purpose in life, to take care of them, especially at a time in the 1980s and '90s when AIDS was so bad and there was virtually no support from government or many times from your family," he noted.

Facing a second pandemic triggered post-traumatic stress in many long-term HIV/AIDS survivors, Gorczyca said, adding that the benefits of pets are well-documented, and many animal support agencies kept providing services during the COVID pandemic.

More information

There's more on the health benefits of pets at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

SOURCE: University of California, Davis, news release, June 15, 2022

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
THURSDAY, June 23, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- To ensure that all kinds of patients get drugs and devices that are safe and effective for them, they need to be represented in clinical trials, but a new study shows that representation of women in key disease areas continues to lag.

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) in Boston examined female participation in adult cardiovascular, psychiatric and cancer clinical trials, and found that the percentage of women enrolled did not reflect the proportion of women affected by the disease.

"Though there are overall improvements in the participation of women in clinical trials, they are still underrepresented in studies that they rightfully belong in," said study co-author Dr. Primavera Spagnolo, of the Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology and the department of psychiatry at BWH.

"To ensure that results of clinical research benefit all the individuals affected by a disease, clinical trial populations should align more closely with the demographics of the population affected by disease," Spagnolo said in a hospital news release.

For the study, the research team analyzed data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of both private and public clinical research, for the four years spanning 2016 to 2019. The investigators assessed the average number of women enrolled for the specified disease areas and per trial.

In 1,433 trials with over 302,000 participants, the researchers found that about 41% of participants were female.

Breaking that down further, the investigators found that while 49% of the cardiovascular disease patient population is female, just under 42% of trial participants were female. Similarly, while 51% of cancer patients are female, just 41% of clinical trial participants were female.

The gap was especially stark in psychiatry clinical trials, where about 42% of trial participants were female while 60% of psychiatry patients are female.

"When designing this study, we decided to assess cardiovascular disease, cancer and psychiatric illness because the first two are leading causes of mortality among women and the latter is globally the primary disability for women," said Spagnolo. "We were disturbed to find that women are still underrepresented in clinical trials, which represents an important barrier to uncovering differences between men and women in [the] safety and efficacy of drugs and devices."

The findings were published recently in a special issue of Contemporary Clinical Trials, which was dedicated to women's health.

"The rise of female participants in clinical trials is certainly promising, but our work is not complete. We simply cannot rest," Spagnolo said. "To ensure that our patients are properly cared for and drugs, as well as devices, are truly safe and effective, we need to continue monitoring women's representation in clinical trials by disease area and, importantly, we need to develop interventions and approaches ensuring the inclusion of a diverse group of women in clinical research."

More information

The Office on Women's Health has more information on health issues affecting women.

SOURCE: Brigham and Women's Hospital, news release, June 21, 2022

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
THURSDAY, June 23, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Hate crime laws that protect gay, lesbian and transgender people may have an unexpected benefit: fewer teen suicide attempts, among kids of all sexual orientations.

That's the conclusion of a new study that looked at what happened in U.S. states that enacted hate crime laws with protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning individuals. It found that teen suicide attempts dipped by an average 16%, compared to rates before the laws.

And the positive effect was seen among both LGBTQ and heterosexual teens.

Why? The study cannot answer that, said researcher Aaron Kivisto, an associate professor of clinical psychology at the University of Indianapolis.

But, he said, passage of a hate crime law and the public conversation around it may send broad messages that affect young people's mental well-being.

"It can convey a message of support," Kivisto said. "It can set a tone that affects whether people feel they belong in their community."

That point was echoed by Brian Mustanski, director of the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at Northwestern University in Chicago.

"If we think about why states pass hate crime laws, it's because these crimes have effects felt beyond the people directly involved," said Mustanski, who was not involved in the study. "They're an act of terrorism on a community."

So it makes sense, according to Mustanski, that hate crime legislation could have a broader positive impact, too.

"It's a statement that's felt by members of the community," he said.

The findings come at a time of rising concern about teen mental health.

In a recent survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of U.S. high school students said they'd suffered poor mental health during the COVID pandemic. Most worrisome, nearly 20% said they'd seriously considered suicide, and 9% had attempted it.

And LGBTQ students were at particular risk, reporting higher rates of poor mental health, emotional abuse from a parent, and attempted suicide than their peers.

That pattern is not new. It has long been recognized that sexual-minority kids have a higher risk of suicidal behavior than their heterosexual peers -- due to factors such as bullying, abuse and stigmatization.

That's not to say LGBTQ kids are destined for poor mental health, Mustanski stressed. Most do well, he said, especially when they have family, friends and, at older ages, romantic partners who support them.

But, Mustanski said, the added risk of suicide needs to be addressed.

There are some proven ways to help. According to Kivisto's team, studies show that students in school districts with strong anti-bullying policies are less likely to attempt suicide.

But whether government policies, like hate crime laws, have an impact has been less clear.

For their study, Kivisto's team looked at responses from more than 679,000 U.S. high school students who took part in a federal health survey between 1991 and 2018. Just under 9% said they'd attempted suicide in the past year, with rates among LGBTQ kids being three to four times higher than those of heterosexual teens.

The students were from 27 U.S. states. During the study period, 11 adopted a hate crime law with protections for LGBTQ individuals. Of the remaining 16 states, most passed general hate crime laws that did not name sexual minorities as a protected group, while three had no hate crime laws.

Overall, the study found, teen suicide attempts declined in states that passed laws with LGBTQ protections -- by an average of 16%. There were no changes in states with general hate crime laws.

But while LGBTQ protections mattered, the reduction in suicide attempts was not limited to those kids, the study found.

That's not surprising, both Kivisto and Mustanski said. The phenomenon of "social spillover" has been seen before -- where efforts aimed at a disadvantaged group have wider benefits, too.

"We know that when schools have strong anti-bullying policies, for example, all kids do better," Mustanski said.

No one is saying that hate crime laws are the single solution to teen suicide. "We need to do a whole lot of things," Kivisto pointed out.

Mustanski agreed, saying there is a "whole chain" that includes school-based programs, better access to mental health care, and family support.

"Parental support is one of the most protective factors," Mustanski said.

The findings were published June 23 in the journal Psychology, Public Policy, and Law.

More information

The American Federation for Suicide Prevention has more on LGBTQ mental health.

SOURCES: Aaron Kivisto, PhD, associate professor, clinical psychology, University of Indianapolis; Brian Mustanski, PhD, director, Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing, Northwestern University, Chicago; Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, June 23, 2022, online

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
ST. LOUIS  Robert Wilson paid cash for his ticket. He wore purple-tinted sunglasses and hefted a trombone case onto American Airlines Flight 119, headed for Tulsa, Okla.

Wilson slouched into a back row of the Boeing 727. Approaching Tulsa, he showed flight attendant Jane Furlong the submachine gun he smuggled aboard. Furlong told the pilots, "You're not going to believe this, but we're being hijacked."

The hijacking on June 23, 1972, was one of many four decades ago, before airlines and airports clamped down on security. That day, American still wasn't using metal detectors at St. Louis, although other airlines were. (American later snapped into line.)

What made Wilson's crime noteworthy was its bizarre unfolding.

Wilson demanded $502,500 and five parachutes as he ordered the jet back and forth between Oklahoma and St. Louis. He was the ninth copycat of the mysterious D.B. Cooper, who bailed out of a 727 somewhere south of Seattle in 1971, never to be seen again. The thieves liked the three-engine airliner because its rear staircase could be opened in flight for a bail-out.

Back in St. Louis, the jet attracted a crowd along the airport perimeter. Wilson dispatched a hostage to get his loot.

David J. Hanley of Florissant watched live TV in the Airport Marriott lounge and got angry. At 12:30 a.m., he crashed his 1971 Cadillac convertible through the airport fence and sped down the runway at Wilson's commandeered jet. He smashed into the wheel struts at 80 mph.

Inside the plane, a jumpy Wilson demanded a second 727 and hid behind his hostages from FBI sharpshooters as they walked to another jet. They took off, heading northeast. Wilson gave flight attendants generous tips and jumped at 2:50 a.m. over northern Indiana from an altitude of 8,000 feet.

Three days later, searchers found the full money sack and gun in fields near Peru, Ind. A fingerprint led to their man, a bruised but alive former Navy sailor named Martin J. McNally, 28, of suburban Detroit. "Wilson" had $13 in his pocket.

Hanley, 30, couldn't remember a thing about his deed. He announced his candidacy for president in 1976.

McNally drew two life sentences and was sent to the federal prison at Marion, Ill., where he met fellow air pirate Garrett B. Trapnell. On May 24, 1978, Trapnell's girlfriend, Barbara Oswald of Richmond Heights, commandeered a helicopter and ordered its pilot, Allen Barklage, to fly to Marion, where Trapnell, McNally and a third inmate were hiding in a yard.

Barklage grabbed Oswald's pistol and killed her in flight. The inmates were nabbed.

Trapnell died in prison in 1993. Barklage died in a helicopter crash in 1998. McNally was paroled from a California prison Jan. 27, 2010, at age 67.
He was a longtime member of the board of directors of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and The Muny, and also served stints as president of both groups. He also was on the boards of the Central Institute for the Deaf, St. Luke's Hospital, Siteman Cancer Center and the Starkloff Disability Institute. He also was a two-term member of the Ladue City Council.

Reagan got to know his "great friend" when Lemkemeier represented The Muny in contract talks with labor unions at the venue.

"The guy was the most trustworthy person in St. Louis; smart and unpretentious, a straight shooter with a heart of gold," Reagan said.

John Lemkemeier said his father was quiet and humble. "As a father, in terms of telling me what to do, he was not that type; he modeled everything," he said.

Other survivors include his wife, Sally; another son, David Lemkemeier; five grandchildren and a sister, Carol Goettman.

When it came to advice, David Lemkemeier said his father doled out one main piece of advice, befitting a man who spent his life in negotiations.

"Listen before you talk," the son quoted his father. "It's the only way to get people to common ground."
LINCOLN COUNTY  Police found a man and woman dead in a Moscow Mills home Tuesday, the victims of an apparent murder-suicide.

The Lincoln County sheriff's office found the couple dead in the home in the 300 block of Santa Cruz Drive, east of Highway 61.

Police haven't released the names of the man or woman, or said who fired the shots.

Police were first notified about 4:40 p.m. for a suicidal man inside the home. When police arrived, they heard no sounds of a disturbance, the sheriff's office said.

The Missouri Highway Patrol and St. Charles County tactical officers came to help. Police went into the home and found the bodies. Both had been shot, police said.

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UPDATED at 10:10 a.m. Thursday with comments from store owner

ST. LOUIS  A man armed with a gun and a knife attacked a grocery store manager at Fields Foods on Thursday morning.

St. Louis police ran after the man and arrested him shortly after the 7 a.m. attack.

The grocery is at 1500 Lafayette Avenue.

Chris Goodson, the owner of Fields Foods, said the suspect had been banned from the store recently for "acting irrationally." The man returned to the store when it opened at 7 a.m. Thursday and was asked to leave, Goodson said.

The man had a gun. A store manager tried to disarm the gunman, and the weapon discharged, police said. The employee suffered a laceration, police said.

The man then pulled a knife and swung it at the manager, who was cut trying to swipe the knife away, police said.

Goodson said his manager, in his late 40s, suffered cuts to his face and hand and was treated at St. Louis University Hospital. "He's OK," Goodson said.

Goodson said most of his employees are hired from the city, including from the nearby public housing project. "The employees take great pride and don't like these things happening," Goodson said.

The Lafayette location for Fields Foods is in the Peabody-Darst-Webbe neighborhood.

Goodson commended his employees and police. He said officers arrived quickly and chased the suspect down Soulard Street to capture him.

Goodson is a former president of the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners. He served on the board from 2004-2009. He owns the four Fields Foods stores in St. Louis. The one on Lafayette is the first of the four. "This is a mission to rebuild areas of the city," he added.

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LINCOLN COUNTY  A judge has found Lincoln Countys presiding judge in contempt for interfering with the duties of the countys elected court clerk in violation of an October court order.

Circuit Judge Patrick Flynn violated an Oct. 6 injunction by creating the impression without evidence that Circuit Clerk Karla Allsberry posed a physical threat when the judge in March declared her office a hostile work environment that may require additional building security, a Cole County judges order said Tuesday.

Flynn also interfered with Allsberrys duties by blocking her hires of three people approved by an employment committee that Flynn created, according to Judge Jon Beetems order filed in Lincoln County Circuit Court.

Flynn created and controlled the hiring committee but did not feel bound by its decisions, Beetems order said. Flynn also blamed Allsberry for a staff shortage in her office, fomenting dissent in the office which contributed to the subsequent departure of other staff, Beetem wrote. This willful conduct of Judge Flynn interfered with the duties of the circuit clerk to adequately staff the office, and violates the injunction.

Flynn could not be reached. His lawyer declined comment.

Beetems order says Flynn may purge the contempt order by rescinding courthouse security measures within 10 days. His failure to comply could result in a $100 per day fine.

Allsberry did not immediately have a comment on the ruling.

The contempt order is the latest development in a more than three-year power struggle between Flynn and Allsberry since he suspended her in 2019, nearly six months after she took office.

Allsberry won a judges ruling last year that said Flynn should not have suspended her and removed her from office. But the judge also said he did not have the power to restore her to her position.

She returned to work in September following a unanimous Missouri Supreme Court ruling that Flynn improperly removed her from office.

Allsberry is running a half-full office, according to court filings. She says Flynn is attempting to sabotage her office and remove her from power by blaming her for the staff shortage and destroying her relationships with lawyers in Lincoln County.

Flynn supported Allsberrys opponent in the 2018 election and had been defeated in a previous judicial election by Allsberrys husband. Flynn has denied any political motive. In a court filing last week, Flynn called Allsberrys contempt motions baseless, frivolous and an attempt to harass him.

In May, a Missouri appeals court reversed a lower courts ruling in a separate case claiming that Allsberry was improperly stripped of her powers.

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Investigators reported no arrests in last weekend's drive-by shooting that injured two children in East St. Louis.

A 3-year-old child suffered life-threatening injuries after being shot about 12:20 a.m. Sunday at North 15th Street and East Broadway in East St. Louis.

An 11-year-old child was shot but suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Someone in a passing vehicle was shooting, and they were hit, said Trooper Rodger Goines with the Illinois State Police.

Police haven't released the gender of either child or additional details of the shooting or any suspects.

The Illinois State Police Public Safety Enforcement Group is investigating, along with East St. Louis detectives.

Goines with the Illinois State Police said Thursday that he had no updates on the case, including the condition of the critically injured child. Goines said the investigation was "open and ongoing."

As of June 19, at least 55 children have been injured or killed by gunfire across the St. Louis metropolitan area in 2022. Police define a child as anyone 17 years old or younger. Eight of the 55 have died; 47 were injured.

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CLAYTON  A St. Louis County lawyer has resigned after a federal court judge accused the county counselors office of having stonewalled discovery in a 2015 jail inmate death case in an apparent attempt to avoid admitting that crucial documents were missing.

U.S. District Court Judge Ronnie White on Wednesday gave the county until June 27 to fully and completely respond to the records request or face default judgment.

County Counselor Beth Orwick, in a statement, said she immediately reassigned the case and that the attorney who had been leading the countys defense is no longer employed by St. Louis County.

The attorney, Daniel James, said he resigned Wednesday, but declined further comment.

Doug Moore, a spokesman for County Executive Sam Page, said, All I can say is his last day was yesterday.

The order and resignation were first reported by The Riverfront Times.

The events follow a Post-Dispatch report, published May 29, that said the county failed to produce key records on the death of Drexel Starks, who died Aug. 6, 2015, of complications from drug withdrawal two days after he was booked into the jail. His mother, Margaret Starks, alleged her son was denied infirmary care and neglected for at least 29 hours until he was found unresponsive.

Orwick told a reporter last month that the county had no Morbidity and Mortality Review (MMR) on Starks death, which the jail is required to produce each time an inmate dies, according to a policy established in 2000.

The county admitted it had no death report only after a federal judge on Dec. 7 ordered the county to respond to Starks attorney, Mark Pedroli, who five months earlier filed court motions for key records that would identify details about Starks stay in the jail and the names of guards and nurses in charge of his care.

White had granted the county three extensions before summoning attorneys to court Dec. 16 to answer for the delay. The county released some documents the next day, but they did not contain the MMR, any witness statements nor identify staff charged with Starks supervision. Pedroli argued in May that the county was still in violation of Whites Dec. 7 order.

On Wednesday, White said he would give the county one last chance to fully and completely respond to the interrogatories, warning he was a stroke of the pen away from granting default judgment.

And he ripped the countys lead attorney for being up to 45 minutes late to the Dec. 16 conference, failing to respond to court filings and attempting to argue the case should be dismissed using reasoning that bordered on frivolity.

The Countys conduct in this case has been at best lackadaisical and careless, and at worst unscrupulous and dishonest, White said.

The Countys counselor has failed to respond to motions; was extremely late to the Rule 16 conference with the Court; filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings that bordered on frivolity; and all the while, stonewalled the timely progression of discovery in an apparent attempt to avoid admitting that crucial documents were missing.

Orwick said in a statement that she was disappointed, and had immediately reassigned the case.

I am disappointed to say the least, she said. I immediately assigned a new attorney to this case upon reading the courts order and informed the court. This attorney is no longer employed by St. Louis County.

Obstruction and stonewalling isnt an individual employee problem in St. Louis County, its a systemic problem and part of the culture, Pedroli, Starks attorney, said in a statement.

James, a former municipal prosecutor in Jefferson County and former assistant in the Missouri Attorney Generals Office, was hired by the county on Sept. 13.

He was assigned to the Starks case on Nov. 1, replacing another attorney, according to court documents. James was replaced with a new lead attorney Wednesday.

Updated at 5:41 p.m. Thursday, June 23, with a comment by Starks attorney.

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Dedza, Malawi  DEDZA, Malawi--For the past three years, Lusita Maikolo has been in and out of school. Her parents could not always afford to pay her school fees, and this led to her being excluded for long periods. But the 17-year-old girl, whose sister married early after spending a year at home out of school, never gave up. Now, she is being supported to stay in school and avoid following in her sister's footsteps.

During the time she stayed at home, Lusita would help on the family farm. At the end of each harvest season, her family sold some of their surplus crops to pay the children's outstanding school fees. The teenager struggled to catch up on the lessons she had missed, despite her efforts.

"Staying at home for long periods made me fall behind in learning," says Lusita, who attends Katewe Community Day Secondary School. "However, I was determined to continue with the next class as I didn't want to lose out on education completely."

Poverty drives harmful practices

Lusita feared falling into the same trap as her sister. A year before completing her secondary education, her sister dropped out of school, after her parents were unable to pay her fees. After staying at home for an entire school year, she decided to get married.

"She always talked of being a professional, but now she is a mother of two, struggling to make ends meet, with an unemployed husband," Lusita says.

Lusita's determination was rewarded when she was selected as one of the beneficiaries of a bursary scheme supported by the UNFPA and Korea International Cooperation Agency, as part of a project to support adolescent girls and teenage mothers.

Education is a game changer

Her bursary covers her school fees, which are crucial to ensure Lusita can focus on her education. Additional support is also available for her school uniform, shoes, note books and pens.

She is one of 45 disadvantaged girls in Dedza and Mchinji districts to be selected as part of the scheme. Lusita beams: "My school performance has improved since I was selected, and now I have more time to concentrate on my studies."

So far, Katewe secondary school has three girls on the bursary scheme. Another beneficiary, Tapiwa Penuel, wishes the scheme had been available to her earlier.

"I lost a lot of time loafing at home because my parents couldn't afford to pay for my school fees," she says. "Although I tried to study on my own, I couldn't understand most of the material. I needed to be guided by the teachers."

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Tapiwa is now on course to finish her secondary school education and she has big dreams. "I want to be journalist," she says. "Ever since I was young, I have dreamed about this career. And now that I have a helping hand to finish my studies, I will work to make my dreams come true."

Macdonald Chinkombelo, who is the Deputy Headmaster at Katewe, believes the scheme is a game changer for these girls.

"It's worrying that some bright young girls see their dreams cut short because they come from a poor background. The bursary scheme helps them finish their secondary schooling and concentrate on education as a pathway, not marriage or having children."

Education is a crucial catalyst for change for girls. Girls and boys' access to primary level education has increased exponentially in Malawi since the introduction of compulsory primary education in 1994. Increased enrolment and a reduction in dropout rates are major markers of progress towards providing for an inclusive education system.

However, many challenges persist, including low enrolment rates at secondary level, large classrooms that average 60 students per teacher, and the low quality of teaching resources. Girls are also more likely than boys to drop out of school. Poverty, unpaid domestic work in the home and harmful practices, including child marriage and teenage pregnancy, are key drivers of adolescent girls leaving school before completing the primary certificate.
CHICAGO  Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, a force in Illinois politics, is moving his companys headquarters from Chicago to Miami.

In a note to employees Thursday, Griffin said his investment firm, Citadel, will relocate to new headquarters in Miamis financial district after more than 30 years in Chicago.

Citadel, which has about 1,000 employees in Chicago, will maintain an office in the city, but many are expected to shift with the corporate locus to the Sunshine State, where Griffin, a Florida native, recently moved with his family.

Chicago will continue to be important to the future of Citadel, as many of our colleagues have deep ties to Illinois, Griffin said in his note. Over the past year, however, many of our Chicago teams have asked to relocate to Miami, New York and our other offices around the world.

Ken Griffins announcement about Citadels move comes at a curious time politically for the billionaire.

The wealthiest man in Illinois, Griffin founded Citadel in 1990 and built it into one of the largest hedge funds in the world. Worth a reported $27 billion, he has long been a civic force in Chicago, donating more than $1 billion to organizations such as the Art Institute, the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Science and Industry, which announced it would be renamed in honor of Griffin in 2019.

But Griffin, 53, has also been a sharp critic of the city in recent years. In an appearance before the Economic Club of Chicago in October, Griffin cited increased crime and violence on the city streets as one of several reasons why Citadel, which has $51 billion in assets under management, was considering a move to greener corporate pastures.

The Citadel move is the latest corporate blow for the Chicago area, with aerospace giant Boeing announcing last month that it was moving its headquarters to Arlington, Virginia after more than 20 years in the West Loop. Earlier this month, Caterpillar announced it would relocate its headquarters from north suburban Deerfield to an existing office in Irving, Texas, outside Dallas.

The losses are offset somewhat by the announcement Tuesday that Battle Creek, Michigan-based Kellogg Company is splitting into three separate companies and locating its snacks headquarters in Chicago.

Citadel leadership has been signaling for some time an enhanced presence in Florida, and while this announcement is not surprising, it is still disappointing, a spokesperson for Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. We thank the Citadel team for their contributions to our city and their many philanthropic commitments, particularly around education, arts and culture and public safety.

In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for Gov. J.B. Pritzker touted recent corporate relocation wins in response to Citadels announced exit from Illinois.

Countless companies are choosing Illinois as their home, as we continue to lead the nation in corporate relocations and had a record number of business start-ups in the past year, said spokeswoman Emily Bittner. We will continue to welcome those businesses  including Kellogg, which just this week announced it is moving its largest headquarters to Illinois  and support emerging industries that are already creating good jobs and investing billions in Illinois, like data centers, electric vehicles and quantum computing.

Beyond the economic fallout, Griffins move to Miami could have significant implications for the political realm in Illinois.

A major contributor to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauners unsuccessful reelection bid in 2018 against Pritzker, the Democratic challenger, Griffin turned his attention  and his money  to defeating Pritzkers signature graduated income tax proposal.

Griffin donated $53.75 million to the Coalition to Stop the Proposed Tax Hike, which blitzed the airwaves with TV ads and helped sink the amendment, which was overwhelmingly rejected by voters in November 2020.

More recently, Griffin has contributed $50 million to back Aurora Mayor Richard Irvins campaign to win the nomination as the Republican gubernatorial candidate in next weeks Illinois primary.

Despite leaving the state, Griffin reiterated his commitment to Irvins candidacy Thursday.

Ken continues to believe Richard Irvin is the best candidate for governor of Illinois, said Zia Ahmed, a Citadel spokesman.

Born in Daytona Beach and raised in Florida, Griffin began trading convertible bonds out of his dorm room during his freshman year at Harvard. He founded Citadel soon after graduating, and built it from scratch into one of the largest hedge funds in the world.

Over the years, Griffin became inextricably tied with Chicago as one its most prominent business leaders, a major philanthropist and a formidable political force. More recently, he has become one its loudest critics, sounding the alarm on crime that he said directly impacted him and Citadel employees.

There is nowhere you can feel safe in Chicago, Griffin said at last years Economic Club of Chicago event, citing a carjacking attempt on the security detail that sits outside his house as evidence of how deep crime runs in the city.

As the wealthiest man in Illinois, Griffins personal life has drawn significant attention as well, such as the 2015 divorce settlement with his then-wife, Anne Dias Griffin. The contentious divorce case revolved around the validity of their prenuptial agreement, along with custody and child support issues. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Griffin has spent more than $800 million in recent years on residential real estate, including $58.75 million in 2017 for the top four floors at 9 W. Walton St.  a record price for a Chicago condominium. In 2019, he bought a four-story penthouse at 220 Central Park South in New York for $239.96 million, setting a U.S. record home price.

Griffin will be putting his Chicago residence up for sale, Ahmed said Thursday.

2022 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com.
JEFFERSON CITY  Civil rights activists sued Missouri on Wednesday over a decades-old law that prohibits volunteers from offering ballot-booth help to multiple voters who have physical disabilities or are unable to read or write.

The federal lawsuit contends Missouris limits on voter assistance violate federal voting law and should be struck down. Its the latest of dozens of voting-related lawsuits across the U.S., as election procedures have come under increased scrutiny both from those seeking to guarantee access and ensure integrity.

The federal Voting Rights Act allows people who have disabilities or are unable to read or write to choose someone to help them vote.

A 1977 Missouri law outlines a similar procedure but says no one can assist more than one voter per election unless they are an election judge or helping immediate family members. Violations of state election laws can result in up to a year imprisonment and up to a $2,500 fine.

This lawsuit seeks to prevent the state from punishing some of democracys do-gooders  those who take time to assist voters who are informed and eager to cast a ballot, said Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is the lead defendant in the lawsuit. A spokesman said Ashcroft will vigorously defend the right of Missourians to run elections in our state.

A similar lawsuit was filed in 2020 challenging an Arkansas law that prohibits people from helping more than six voters cast a ballot. That case is ongoing.

Posted at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 22.
JEFFERSON CITY  A decision could be coming within a week on whether a Missouri native will run for the states U.S. Senate seat as an independent.

John F. Wood, a senior attorney on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, is leaving the panel to explore a bid, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The report notes that he could make a decision in the coming days. If he jumps in, Wood must submit a candidate declaration form noting that he is a resident of the state.

The campaign must also collect 10,000 signatures from registered voters within the state by Aug. 1.

It is not clear if Wood has property in Missouri. Records show he owns a house in Virginia, where he has worked for years after serving as U.S. attorney for Missouris western district.

A campaign committee for Wood launched a website Monday.

The website features pictures of Wood, his wife, Julie, and their children. It urges voters to support Wood as an alternative, primarily, to former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens.

Our choices must be better than two politicians, one who resigned in disgrace from his last job after blackmailing his mistress  and who has since been credibly accused of abusing his wife and child. The other will be a rubber-stamp for Joe Biden and Chuck Schumers radical, progressive agenda that is out-of-touch with the values of Missourians, the website says.

Woods Missouri roots reach into the St. Louis area. According to the website, he graduated from St. Louis Country Day School before heading to the University of Virginia and then Harvard Law School.

Although former Missouri Republican U.S. Sen. Jack Danforth supports Wood as a candidate, he is not heading the committee that is attempting to get his name on the November ballot.

It was not coordinated with Danforth. It was all done independently, said Danforth spokesman Paul Wagman.

In February, Danforth predicted a center-right independent candidate would file to run for U.S. Senate in Missouri, based on the results of a poll suggesting an independent candidate  one who promotes a message of unity instead of division  would have a strong chance of winning the general election.

A sign of that divisiveness came Monday when Greitens released a video suggesting that people who arent sufficiently conservative should be hunted.

Greitens later said the video was meant to be humorous, but it caused outrage among both Republicans and Democrats.

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Wood worked on Danforths staff. He also clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for Judge J. Michael Luttig, who recently testified before the Jan. 6 commission.

Wood, 52, was brought on to the Jan. 6 panel by U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming. He served on a team that probed former President Donald Trumps involvement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol building.

Posted at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, June 22.

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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (AP)  Throngs of tourists gleefully watched the legendary Old Faithful geyser shoot towering bursts of steaming water while others got stuck in bison jams on picturesque valley roads as visitors returned Wednesday for the partial reopening of Yellowstone National Park after destructive floods.

Park managers raised the gates at three of Yellowstones five entrances for the first time since June 13, when 10,000 visitors were ordered out after rivers across northern Wyoming and southern Montana surged over their banks following a torrent of rainfall that accelerated the spring snowmelt. The cost and scope of the damage is still being assessed, Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said Wednesday.

Empty roads and parking lots quickly grew busier by mid-morning after an estimated 2,000-3,000 vehicles entered the park in the first few hours in long lines that stretched for several miles (kilometers) at one gate.

Paul Nithyanand of Chennai, India, gathered around Old Faithful along with 1,500 people in the afternoon to see it erupt. Nithyanand was touring the western U.S with his brother and had already seen the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, but said nothing on his trip compared with Old Faithful.

Its awesome, said Nithyanand, who was so impressed he waited around 80 minutes to it erupt again. Ive been seeing it in movies and on YouTube but seeing it live is amazing.

Lonnie and Graham Macmillan of Vancouver, Canada, were among those at a so-called bison jam where a group of the burly animals crossed the road. The bison sighting capped a successful morning in which theyd already seen two moose and numerous deer.

They showed up at the park last week, only to get turned away as it was under evacuation. They diverted to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota for a few days and then to Wyomings Big Horn mountains before returning to Yellowstone as soon as the chance arose.

The whole purpose of our trip was to come here, Lonnie Macmillan said. We werent going to go home until we got here.

The record floods reshaped the parks rivers and canyons, wiped out numerous roads and left some areas famous for their wildlife viewing inaccessible, possibly for months to come. It hit just as a summer tourist season that draws millions of visitors was ramping up as the park celebrated its 150th anniversary a year after it tallied a record 4.9 million visits.

Some of the premier attractions at Americas first national park were again viewable, including Old Faithful, which shoots bursts of steaming water almost like clockwork more than a dozen times a day.

But the bears, wolves and bison that roam the wild Lamar Valley and the thermal features around Mammoth Hot Springs will remain out of reach. The wildlife-rich northern half of the park will be shuttered until at least early July, and key routes into the park remain severed near the Montana tourist towns of Gardiner, Red Lodge and Cooke City.

Muris Demirovic, 43, of Miami and his 70-year-old mother arrived at the east entrance at about 5:30 a.m. and were second in a line of dozens of cars. He and his mother, who is from Bosnia, were on a cross country trip visiting national parks and Yellowstone was at the top of their list.

However, when they arrived, it was closed due to flooding. Demirovic and his mother toured Cody, Wyoming, went to a rodeo, walked some trails and visited a museum. They had planned to leave the Yellowstone area on Monday, but stayed when they learned the park would reopen.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip for me and my mom, so I had to make sure she sees this," he said.

To keep visitor numbers down while repairs continue, park managers are using a system that with few exceptions only allows cars with even-numbered last digits on their license plates to enter on even days, while vehicles with odd-numbered last numbers can come on odd days.

Park rangers had to turn away fewer than 1% of the people lined up due to license plate issues, and they were turning them away before they got in long lines to enter the park, Sholly said.

If traffic along the parks 400 miles (644 kilometers) of roads becomes unmanageable, Sholly said officials will impose a reservation system for entrance.

Along the road to Yellowstones south entrance in Wyoming, a long, slow-moving line of cars snaked along a road with a sign that for days had been flashing Yellowstone closed" but now alerted drivers that the park was open with restricted access.

Gracie Brennan of Kentucky and two of her friends were going to Yellowstone as part of a tour of national parks.

Old Faithful was the main thing I wanted to see, so if we can get there, which ever way we got to go, it doesnt really matter," Brennan said.

The reopening comes as officials in Yellowstone are still tallying the extent of the damage. Based on other national park disasters, it could take years and carry a steep price tag to rebuild. Its an environmentally sensitive landscape with a huge underground plumbing system that feeds into the parks geysers, hot springs and other thermal features. Construction season only runs from the spring thaw until the first snowfall, a narrow window that means some roads could receive only temporary fixes this year.

Thats turned some Montana communities into dead ends instead of being gateways to Yellowstone, a blow to their tourism-dependent economies. Theyre also still struggling to clean up damage to several hundred homes and businesses that were swamped by flooding.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, who received criticism last week for not disclosing he was out of the country until two days after the flooding, was not at the park for Wednesdays reopening. Spokesperson Brooke Stroyke said Gianforte was scheduled to meet with Cabinet members and be briefed on flood response and recovery.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon also wasn't in the park, said his spokesperson Michael Pearlman.

Tiffany Jahn from Kenosha, Wisconsin, who was with her husband and daughter in the line at the south entrance in Wyoming, said she was excited to see anything that was still open and especially hoping to glimpse the parks wildlife.

We were actually coming last week and we were getting messages ... saying Dont come, dont come, she said. But we were already out here so we kind of just altered our plans and made it work. 

Hanson reported from Helena, Montana. Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana at Yellowstone National Parks south entrance in Wyoming contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
BOSTON (AP)  Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and Democratic leaders in the Massachusetts House and Senate are at odds over temporarily suspending the states gas tax.

Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ronald Mariano issued a statement Wednesday in response to questions about the 24 cent-per-gallon gas tax.

We hear from our constituents loud and clear that their dollars arent going as far as they used to, and we believe the Legislature has a role to play in providing relief. But we fear that, as many economists have warned, a gas tax holiday would result in billions of dollars in profits for oil companiesand only pennies in the pockets of consumers, the two said.

This isnt fair, and we are not interested in benefiting multinational corporations while our residents continue to feel pain at the pump, they added.

Baker, however, said its time for lawmakers to deliver some relief.

He said he supports passing legislation to suspend the state gas tax, pointing to President Joe Biden, who on Wednesday called on Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months.

"Thanks to a balanced budget combined with surplus tax revenues, there is more than enough funding available to suspend the gas tax, pass our tax relief plan and invest in Massachusetts future, Baker said in a joint statement with Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  A court in Iran on Thursday ordered the United States government to pay over $4 billion to the families of Iranian nuclear scientists who have been killed in targeted attacks in recent years, state-run media reported.

The largely symbolic ruling underscores the escalating tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, with negotiations to restore the tattered atomic accord at a standstill.

Although Tehran has blamed Israel in the past for slayings targeting Iranian nuclear scientists since a decade ago, Iran did not directly accuse its arch-foe Israel in its announcement. Iran has not recognized Israel since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the pro-West monarchy and brought Islamists to power.

The court mentioned Israel only in saying the U.S. supported the Zionist regime in its organized crime against the victims.

It's unclear how the court decision, like a raft of previous Iranian cases against the U.S. as the two sides have engaged in a spiraling escalation of threats, would gain traction; there are no American assets to confiscate in the Islamic Republic.

Still, the court branch, which is dedicated to the review of Iranian complaints against the U.S., summoned 37 former American officials, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, as well as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Iran envoy Brian Hook and former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed tough economic sanctions on Iran that severed most of its oil revenues and international financial transactions.

President Joe Biden wanted to return to the accord, but talks have stalled in recent weeks over Americas designation of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, Iran is enriching uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels under decreasing international oversight. Earlier this month, Iran removed 27 surveillance cameras of the U.N.s International Atomic Energy Agency in what its director warned could deal a fatal blow to the nuclear accord.

The families of three nuclear scientists who had been killed in targeted slayings, along with one nuclear scientist wounded in an attack, filed the lawsuit in Tehran, the country's state-run IRNA news agency reported, without identifying the plaintiffs. The court ordered that the U.S. pay $4.3 billion in total compensation, including fines.

Iran and Israel have been locked in a shadow war across the Middle East and its waters. That conflict has escalated with the recent suspected targeted killings of Iranian nuclear scientists and military officials. In late 2020, Iran blamed Israel for killing its top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, with a remote-controlled machine gun while he was traveling in a car outside Tehran.

Iran also has placed sanctions on prominent American political and military officials for alleged terrorism and human rights violations, in retaliation for the U.S. assassination of Irans top commander, Qassem Soleimani, two years ago.

Meanwhile Thursday, the Guard replaced the head of its intelligence arm. Cleric Hossein Taeb will be replaced by Gen. Mohammad Kazemi, the former head of the Guard's security department.

The move follows the deaths of several Guard officers in recent weeks. Taeb was known for his heavy-handed policies toward pro-reform figures since Iran's 2009 post-election turmoil.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The country has long endured a numbing succession of mass shootings at schools, places of worship and public gathering places. None forced Congress to react with significant legislation  until now.

Last month, a white shooter was accused of racist motives in the killings of 10 Black people in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. Another gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

The slayings of shoppers and school children just 10 days apart  innocents engaged in every day activities  helped prompt a visceral public demand for Congress to do something, lawmakers of both parties say. Bargainers produced a bipartisan gun violence bill that the Senate is moving toward approving later this week, with House action expected sometime afterward.

Here's a look at the confluence of factors that helped to produce a compromise.

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MORE COVERAGE

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Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.
MIAMI (AP)  A judge gave final approval Thursday to a settlement topping $1 billion for victims of the collapse of a Florida beachfront condominium building that killed 98 people, one of the deadliest building failures in U.S. history.

The decision by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman came a day before the one-year anniversary of the Champlain Towers South disaster in the Miami suburb of Surfside. The judge praised the dozens of lawyers involved for averting what could have been years of litigation with no sure outcome for victims.

"It will never be enough to compensate them for the tragic loss they have suffered, the judge said. This settlement is the best we can do. Its a remarkable result. It is extraordinary.

The deal sets up a $1.02 billion fund for people who lost family members in the collapse of the 12-story building, as well as those who suffered physical or mental injuries. Attorneys said another $200 million is available from the Champlain Towers condo association itself, including insurance.

About $100 million is earmarked for legal fees  that number will be finalized in September  and $96 million set aside for owners who lost one of the 136 units in the building based on the assessed value of each one. They range from more expensive four-bedroom units with ocean views to those of lesser value with just one bedroom.

The process of determining the value of claims for the 98 deaths and any injuries will conclude by Aug. 26, Hanzman said. Each person who filed a claim by a July 18 deadline has a right to a private hearing before a judge, but that is not required.

The issue will be figuring out how much a life or injury is worth. Compensation claims for loss of life typically involve several factors and could include, for example, the lifetime earning potential of the deceased.

My goal is really to make it as painless as possible, Hanzman said.

No victims filed objections to the settlement or decided to opt out, said court-appointed receiver Michael Goldberg. Several people who lost family members or property said in court Thursday that they are grateful for such a swift conclusion to a horrific experience.

Raysa Rodriguez, who survived the collapse in a ninth-floor unit that was initially left intact, had nothing but praise for the outcome.

You have no idea what a relief this is to me personally, Rodriguez said. I am so exhausted. I just want this to be done. I want these souls to rest.

The ruling came during whats called a fairness hearing, in which anyone with objections to the deal could raise them as the judge determined whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate, according to court documents.

The money comes from 37 different sources, including insurance companies, engineering firms and a luxury condominium whose recent construction next door is suspected of contributing to structural damage of Champlain Towers South. None of the parties admit any wrongdoing.

A billionaire developer from Dubai is set to purchase the 1.8-acre (1-hectare) beachside site for $120 million, contributing to the settlement. That transaction is expected to close by the end of July.

People could begin receiving checks for their losses in September, the judge said.

Champlain Towers South had a long history of maintenance problems and questions have been raised about the quality of its original construction and inspections in the early 1980s. Other possible factors include sea level rise caused by climate change and damage caused by salt water intrusion.

A final conclusion on the cause is likely years away. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is leading the federal probe in to the collapse, recently said invasive testing will begin soon on samples of material from the collapse site.

The tests will help investigators find potential flaws in structural elements of the building by looking into things such as density of the materials, how porous they were and if there was corrosion, NIST said.

Florida will require statewide recertification of condominiums more than three stories tall under new legislation Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law last month in response to the disaster.

The death toll in the Champlain Towers collapse ranks among the highest in U.S. history among similar disasters. The 1981 Hyatt Regency walkway collapse killed 114 people and a Massachusetts mill disaster in 1860 killed between 88 and 145 workers.

Anderson contributed to this story from St. Petersburg, Fla.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
BERLIN (AP)  Josef Aschbacher recalls gazing at the night sky above his parents' Alpine farm when he was 7, trying to comprehend what he had just seen on the family's black-and-white TV set: the landing of NASA's Apollo 11 on the Moon.

More than half a century later, Aschbacher heads the European Space Agency, a formidable force when it comes to scientific exploration, telecoms and Earth observation. But so far, the agency is still unable to put its own astronauts into orbit, relying on Russia and the United States for crewed spaceflight and some other high-profile missions.

The 59-year-old aims to change that and hopes the recent turmoil caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine will jolt European leaders into action.

I think the war in Ukraine has made politicians realize that we are a bit vulnerable and we have to make sure that we have our own secured access to space and our space infrastructure, Aschbacher told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday at Berlin's ILA air show.

Within days of the Russian attack on Feb. 24, the European Space Agency abandoned long-standing plans for a joint mission with Russia to land a rover on Mars.

The ExoMars situation is a wake up call on how Europe needs to position itself," said Aschbacher. He recently held talks with NASA chief Bill Nelson to find a way of salvaging the mission without Russia, and is very hopeful the lander will make it to the red planet.

In the long term, however, Aschbacher said "it is clear that for critical components, for critical missions, we need to make sure that we can do it (ourselves). Earlier this year he hinted that this could include crewed launches.

He praised a recent speech by Emmanuel Macron  delivered days before Russia invaded Ukraine  in which the French president called for a bolder European space policy.

That was a bit of a Kennedy moment, but we need to hear this in other countries as well, Aschbacher said, referring to U.S. President John F. Kennedy's speech in 1962  at the height of the Cold War  detailing plans to land a man on the moon. I would hope that the same Kennedy moment would happen in Germany and Italy, in the UK and Belgium and so on.

Such ambition is also needed if Europe wants to capitalize on the growing space economy fueled by private ventures such as Elon Musk's SpaceX, he said.

European astronauts at the ILA show spoke of a change in tone when dealing with commercial companies that are focused more on the financial gains to be made in orbit than on the lofty ideals of international cooperation which underpinned collaboration between major space agencies.

There is a huge growth predicted for the next years in space," said Aschbacher. Thats why private companies are firing it up and investing in it. Europe has to be part of it.

If we don't increase our investment, we will be thrown out of this race, he said.

With European nations now pumping billions into defense in response to Russia's attack on Ukraine, governments should keep in mind other areas in which their countries are dependent on others and therefore vulnerable, Aschbacher added.

If theres a war happening in front of our door, we need to be sure that you can get your phone working and you can get your navigation system working, he said. This is part of security in a wider sense.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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This year's Africa Day on May 25 took place against a backdrop marked by post-COVID challenges and the consequences of the war in Ukraine. Amidst unprecedented changes to the global economy, international trade, energy, and food security, the African continent has found itself at the center of a new geopolitical order.

To commemorate Africa Day 2022, the Atlantic Council's Africa Center hosted a panel of experts including Mvemba Dizolele, Africa program director at the Center for Strategic International Studies; Ebenezer Obadare, Douglas Dillon senior fellow for Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations; Joseph Sany, vice president of the Africa Center at the US Institute of Peace; and Rama Yade, senior director of the Atlantic Council's Africa Center. In the conversation moderated by Julian Pecquet, Jeune Afrique's Washington and United Nations (UN) correspondent, these experts on African affairs from think tanks across Washington, DC, discussed Africa's burgeoning role in the international system.

Here are highlights from the event, covering everything from Africa's relationship with Western countries to the trajectory of democracy across the continent.

African agency and geopolitics

In the context of heightening great-power competition and Africa's mixed voting on the UN resolution to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sany noted that the entire geopolitical status of Africa cannot be reduced to a single UN voting session. He affirmed that Africanists are happy with the continent's growing agency in the world but stressed that this agency comes with the responsibility of upholding "core principles of the collective security."

Obadare highlighted the readiness of African leaders to cooperate with international actors to promote and defend shared principles. He recalled seeing young Nigerians in Abuja looking to enlist in order to "help Ukraine defend their sovereignty" because they believed there were "fundamental, universal issues at stake."

Dizolele recommended that the West "change its mindset" when approaching Africa and engage African states as sovereign countries. "The world is not unipolar; the world is multipolar and still reconfiguring itself," he said. "You go to Djibouti you find the Chinese, you find the Americans, you find the French, you find the Turks, and you find the Gulf Arab States. So Africans have choices and as they make decisions they take into consideration all those options in front of them."

From crisis to opportunity

Yade identified the various crises facing Africa and the global economy as a result of the war in Ukraine. She went on to explain how this unique moment in history presents an opportunity to reform international systems and institutions to more effectively address these pressing issues including climate change, development, energy, and security.

"We are facing a confluence of transnational crises, and therefore this is an opportunity to rethink our global responses," Sany added. "It is a time [during which] Africa needs more global economic engagement and [the United States] and the West [need] more partners. Considering that this is a moment of opportunity, it is also a moment to redesign our multilateral system."

The future of African leadership and governance

Several African governments have struggled to resolve crises due to ineffective leadership and insufficient structural capacities, said Dizolele. In responding to the current food crisis affecting the continent, he questioned why a Nigerian or Congolese citizen would be reliant on wheat when maize is a more locally abundant food source. "You have to have a ministry of agriculture and a presidency that is invested in this kind of thinking," Dizolele said, adding that he believes this structural leadership is missing.

There's a need to be creative in thinking about leadership when responding to crises in African states, Sany explained. "The consciousness that creates the problem is not the same consciousness that will resolve it," he said. He later added that it is difficult to point to a leader "because we keep looking at the government. We have not talked enough about the private sector... This is a moment of opportunity to bring in new stakeholders; the private sector, civil society, youth movements."

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Democracy in question

"This word democracy, as a concept and as practice, is in a deep crisis," said Yade. While there is a "strong willingness of African civil societies to promote democratic values," she explained, there is also a growing resistance to Western democracy among younger generations.

Obadare concluded his remarks by saying, "the answer to democratic erosion is democratic deepening. Liberal values are not Western values [and] they are not African values; they are grounded in who we are as human beings." He called on African intellectuals to take the lead as champions of these values.

Narayan Felix is a young global professional at the Atlantic Council's Africa Center.

Africa Politics & Diplomacy Ukraine
Greenwood Commonwealth. June 18, 2022.

Editorial: No Giving Up On The Delta

Delta Councils annual meeting doesnt draw the news media presence it once did. Fridays 87th gathering of the regional economic development gathering had no one there from the media outlets in Jackson or Memphis, or from most anywhere else other than Cleveland, Leland and Greenwood.

That absence, though, is more a reflection of the difficult times in the news industry than the difficult times in the Delta.

Sure, this region has many challenges  endemic poverty, high rates of single-parent households, low rates of academic achievement and multiple negative health indicators. One of its most troubling trends is the steady loss of population that has been going on for decades.

But it also has many assets. Abundant fertile land and plenty of rainfall. A music and food culture that are as delightful as anywhere. A low cost of living. Multiple opportunities for those who like to hunt, fish or otherwise enjoy the outdoors. A strong religious foundation and active church life. A uniqueness, a warmth and a sincerity in the people.

That last asset is always on display at every Delta Council annual meeting. People in the Delta are not just tied to the land. They are tied to each other. They have a genuine desire to work together to help this region tackle its challenges so that it can prosper. And they like to have some fun along the way.

Delta Council works hard to lobby for flood control and highways and bridges. It advocates in Washington and in Jackson for farmers and manufacturers. It works to diversify this economy by recruiting new industries. It supports education at all levels and greater access to health care. It gives the 19 counties it represents a unifying voice. It helps groom and elevate new generations of leaders, such as Wade Litton and Patrick Johnson.

Litton, 41, took over Friday as president of Delta Council from Johnson, who is also in his 40s.

Litton, the bright and engaging CEO of Wade Inc., continues a long line of Delta leadership. Both his father, Bill Litton, and his grandfather, George K. Wade, served as Delta Council presidents. The familys successful farm implement dealership is heavily invested in the Delta, with locations all over the region. The family is committed to helping not just Greenwood but all of the Delta thrive.

We congratulate Wade Litton on this honor. Even more so, we thank him for taking on this important responsibility.

As Johnson, a Tunica farmer, was making some of his last official remarks as Delta Council president, he said something that all of us who love the Delta should embrace. It is a response to those who have written off this region. It is a challenge to those of us who have not.

And to those that suggest the Deltas best times are behind us, we look forward to proving them wrong. The history of the Delta is a testament, as William Faulkner so eloquently put it, to a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.

With the leadership of Delta Council, with the help of chambers of commerce and other similar community organizations, and especially with the commitment of all of the people who are devoted to this region, there is no reason to doubt, as Johnson said, that our best days are in front of us.

END

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Biden administration this week launched a broadside against Big Tobacco in an effort to break its hold over millions of Americans. The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday announced it will seek a rule forcing dramatic reduction in the amount of nicotine in cigarettes, to render them less addictive and make it easier for smokers to quit. It wont be easy to implement  cigarette manufacturers will view it as an existential fight, and their political allies will join them. But with some 1,300 Americans a day dying from tobacco-related causes, its a fight worth having.

Close to a half-million Americans die annually from the effects of smoking (or second-hand smoke), making it the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. Virtually no smoker today is unaware of the health risks  theyve been widely known to the public for generations  but the addictive nature of cigarettes keeps them puffing. The addiction comes primarily from nicotine, a naturally occurring substance in tobacco that isnt dangerous in itself, but which creates a craving that keeps smokers hooked and vulnerable to the hundreds of known hazardous chemicals in each cigarette.

The FDA announcement is the beginning of what will almost certainly be a years-long effort to force the cigarette companies to reduce nicotine in cigarettes to minimally addictive or non-addictive levels, as the agency put it in a posted statement. The stated goal is to reduce the likelihood that future generations of young people become addicted to cigarettes and help more currently addicted smokers to quit.

Its long been clear that nicotine is no mere byproduct in cigarettes, but a potent tool the tobacco companies use to hook their customers young and keep them for life. Indeed, the industry has acknowledged in internal documents and various legal settlements over the years that it intentionally manipulated nicotine content to make quitting more difficult.

Nonetheless, the industry this week is already trying out its arguments against the FDAs nicotine-reduction proposal. Among those arguments, The New York Times reports, is that lower-nicotine cigarettes could actually prompt people to smoke more in order to get the same level of nicotine. But research has found that, in fact, dramatically cutting back nicotine levels in cigarettes has the opposite effect, ultimately blunting the craving and causing people to smoke less.

Others warn that black markets will arise for high-nicotine cigarettes. Thats unlikely, since there are legal, cheaper ways to get a nicotine fix, including gums, patches and vaping (which comes with its own potential health issues, but is certainly safer than smoking).

The ultimate argument in favor of the FDAs move is simple: Cigarettes are both addictive and deadly. If they cant be made less deadly  and decades of fruitless efforts by the industry itself indicate they cant  then they can be, and should be, made less addictive.
Ceremony attended by Chief Minister of Penang and senior LEM team

Production plant of 12,000 sqm to meet growing customer demand globally supplying automation, automotive and renewable energy businesses production and testing of integrated current sensors first products expected Q1 2024

Penang, Malaysia, strong base for semiconductor and electronics industries talent, infrastructure and export connections

LEM investment around CHF 15 million (MYR 70m) for plant construction and initial equipment

Plant employs 50 persons at start, expected to grow to around 500 in a few years

Potential for additional R&D capacity

Geneva, Switzerland, and Penang, Malaysia, 23 June 2022  LEM (SIX: LEHN), a leading global company in electrical measurement for renewable energy, automation, power network and e-mobility applications, announces that an inauguration ceremony is being held today in Penang, Malaysia for its new production plant. The ceremony is attended by the Chief Minister of Penang, the Chairman and CEO of LEM, together with invited guests including the Swiss Ambassador to Malaysia. The project was first announced in 2020, and today marks a major step in its construction with the first electric current sensor products expected to come on-line in Q1 2024.

Right Honorable Mr. Chow Kon Yeow, the Chief Minister of Penang, said: Supply chain resiliency and well-developed ecosystem are among the key differentiators that made Penang a sustainable location for the electrical and electronics (E&E) players. Being a leading company in electrical measurement that serves the emerging and high-growth industries, I am confident that LEM would be able to reap a myriad of benefits from its operation in Penang while complementing the States presence in the world map of technology.

The State, via InvestPenang and other relevant state agencies, is committed to work closely with LEM to ensure smooth project implementation on the ground, Chow added.

Andreas Hurlimann, Chairman of LEM, remarked: We are delighted to be welcomed today by the key persons in Malaysia who have made this investment process come to fruition so efficiently, despite the recent pandemic challenges. We selected Penang as a strategic location to improve our supply chains, increase our resilience and better meet the needs of our customers here in Asia, as well as Europe and the US. This plant will complement our existing facilities in China, Bulgaria and Switzerland as we invest in more capacity to achieve our ambitious but profitable growth objectives in the coming years.

Frank Rehfeld, Chief Executive Officer of LEM, commented: The talent and experience available here in Penang will be of significant benefit to LEM, particularly in the domain of semiconductors. This plant will be the main testing base for our integrated current sensor (ICS) products which are in great demand from customers in our automation, automotive and renewable energy businesses. As we develop our manufacturing operations here, we may also consider adding R&D investment and capabilities. We are grateful to everybody who has helped the project reach this important milestone today.



The Malaysian Investment Development Authority's (MIDA) CEO, Datuk Arham Abdul Rahman, commended LEM Malaysia on the company's significant milestone, saying, "We are excited to witness LEM joining and further developing Malaysia's vibrant E&E ecosystem. We are proud that Malaysia, guided by our National Investment Aspirations (NIA), continues to fit into the overall growth strategy of major foreign companies, solidifying our position as an integrated global manufacturing hub for the industry. We anticipate seeing exciting spillovers from this project, particularly in geneRating high-skill employment for local talent, contributing to the socioeconomic upliftment of the community and boosting commercial development in the region. We are deeply appreciative of LEMs resounding vote of confidence in Malaysia as a preferred investment destination. LEM can be assured that MIDA will render our full support in facilitating your business in this country.

Notes to editors:

LEM is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022, having been founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1972. The company recently announced record annual sales of CHF 373.4 million, further details of which can be found together with the latest Annual Review by accessing http://www.lem.com/en/investors

Images of todays event and LEM products can be accessed here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/b88amc1sp2gn7pa/AADrOYs_ST8l7IjJNQew73aga?dl=0

LEM  Life Energy Motion

A leading company in electrical measurement, LEM engineers the best solutions for energy and mobility, ensuring that our customers systems are optimized, reliable and safe.

Our 1,500 people in over 15 countries transform technology potential into powerful answers. We develop and recruit the best global talent, working at the forefront of mega trends such as renewable energy, mobility, automation and digitization.

With innovative electrical solutions, we are helping our customers and society accelerate the transition to a sustainable future.

Listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since 1986, the companys ticker symbol is LEHN.

www.lem.com

Contact: Investment community

Andrea Borla, Chief Financial Officer

Phone: +41 22 706 1250

Email: investor@lem.com

Contact: Swiss Media

Cabinet Prive de Conseils s.a. (CPC)

Nick Miles, miles@cpc-pr.com, direct +41 22 552 46 26, mobile +41 79 678 76 26

Michael Fuglister, fuglister@cpc-pr.com, direct +41 22 552 46 29, mobile +41 78 839 07 62

Contact: Malaysian Media

Dreamz Productions Events Management Sdn Bhd

Cheah WY, cheah@dreamz.com.my, mobile 019-478 8232

Contact: InvestPenang

Yeoh Bit Kun / Ooi Phei Wen

Communication and Business Intelligence Division

bitkun@investpenang.gov.my / pheiwen@investpenang.gov.my



About InvestPenang

InvestPenang is the Penang State Governments principal agency for promotion of investment. Its objectives are to develop and sustain Penangs economy by enhancing and continuously supporting business activities in the State through foreign and local investments, including spawning viable new growth centers. To realize its objectives, InvestPenang also runs initiatives like the SMART Penang Center (providing assistance to SMEs), Penang CAT Center (for talent attraction and retention) and i4.0 seed fund (a catalyst for the startup ecosystem). For more information, please visit https://investpenang.gov.my/ and follow InvestPenangs social media channels: Facebook ; LinkedIn.

About MIDA

MIDA is the governments principal investment promotion and development agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to oversee and drive investments into the manufacturing and services sectors in Malaysia. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur Sentral, MIDA has 12 regional and 20 overseas offices. MIDA continues to be the strategic partner to businesses in seizing the opportunities arising from the technology revolution of this era. For more information, please visit www.mida.gov.my and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube channel.
U.S. Air Force leadership are now accused of serious misbehavior (criminally deceiving Congress) by deliberately lying to Congress about their plans for the A-10 ground attack aircraft. The recent leaks include briefings describing how air force leaders planned to continue undermining the A-10 but deliberately sabotaging promised upgrades and sustainment (money for maintenance and operations of A-10s). The leaked documents included mention of the importance of keeping all of this from going public. Thats where the air force crossed the line into criminal conduct.

It is no secret that the air force has spent several decades trying to get rid of the A-10, its most popular, affordable, and effective combat aircraft. Since 2019, the air force appears to have decided to stop trying to get rid of its popular, at least with pilots and infantry, A-10 attack aircraft. Nicknamed "Warthog" or just "hog", the A-10 never got much respect from air force leaders. The A-10 did gain enough popular and political clout to keep this aircraft flying. The current (2020) plan reduces the A-10 force by 44 aircraft, to 237. These will equip seven squadrons. Three are active duty and four operated by part-time National Guard and reserve personnel. The reserve units would be available within 30 days for deployment to a combat zone. The reserve pilots are largely retired fighter pilots and tend to have more experience in the A-10 than the younger active-duty pilots. The reservists fly regularly and their aircraft are kept in shape for regular operations.

Retiring 44 of the older A-10s makes it easier for the air force to afford continuing upgrades for A-10s so they have the same new tech other warplanes use. This policy has seen the A-10s undergoing regular upgrades over the last two decades. These included new wings, a project that was finally completed in 2019. The air force now plans to keep the A-10s in service until 2040. One catch is that the air force will not allow A-10s to operate in airspace threatened by modern enemy air defense systems. Once these threats have been eliminated the A-10s can enter. Meanwhile the A-10s will get plenty of work dealing with Islamic terrorists and irregulars of all sorts.

This 2020 A-10 agreement came after six years of uncertainty and enormous pressure from the ground forces and Congress to keep the A-10 around for as long as possible. This effort was in response to a 2014 air force plan to retire all 340 remaining A-10s along with 70 elderly F-15Cs. The reasons were budget shortages and the enormous costs of developing and building the new F-35 stealth fighter. The air force planned to retire these 410 combat aircraft and about a hundred support planes by 2020, when over a hundred new F-35s would enter service leaving the air force with about 300 fewer combat aircraft. Since the United States then has about 2,700 combat aircraft in the air force and navy the loss of 410 aircraft would mean 11 percent fewer combat aircraft.

There was not much protest over retiring the elderly F-15Cs and support aircraft. The A-10 was a different matter. There was resistance and in 2016 the air force agreed the A-10 would not be retired and came up with another plan, which was announced in 2020. The new plans will also retire 29 older air refueling aircraft, 24 older C-130Hs, 24 Global Hawk UAVs and 17 B-1B bombers.

One thing that kept the A-10 in service was that close air support tech had rapidly evolved since the 1990s. Now A-10s use smart bombs or missiles most of the time. The upgrades included targeting pods that enable A-10 pilots to spot targets while at higher (over 3,000 meters) altitudes. That puts them out of range of small arms and many anti-aircraft weapons. Although the A-10 was built for ground support, armed with a 30mm rotary cannon for shooting up Russian tanks during a potential World War 3 in Europe, that never happened. The last A-10 left Europe in 2013. The threat of Russia invading Western Europe disappeared in 1991, along with the Soviet Union and 80 percent of Russian troops. At the same time the A-10 finally got work in the 1991 battle to drive Iraqi troops out of Kuwait. A decade later the A-10 was back in demand again. In Iraq and Afghanistan troops appreciated the ability to call in an A-10 for a strafing run. A few hundred 30mm rounds not only did a lot of damage but also tended to demoralize the enemy and make it easier to capture them alive or drive them away. Smart bombs and missiles tended to leave fewer prisoners and were not as scary as the roar and loud buzz of a low-flying A-10 using its 30mm autocannon.

The A-10 proved to be a formidable combat aircraft in post-Cold War conflicts, first in the 1991 liberation of Kuwait and later in Afghanistan and Iraq. These conflicts involved the elimination of the modern Russian fighter aircraft and ground-based air defense systems.

From 2004 to 2021 the most requested ground support aircraft in Afghanistan was the A-10. There was similar A-10 affection in Iraq. Troops from all nations quickly came to appreciate the unique abilities of this 1970s era aircraft that the U.S. Air Force wanted to eliminate. The air force sought to do this gradually, when there was less work for A-10s. In 2011 the air force announced that it was retiring 102 A-10s, leaving 243 in service. Opposition from the army and Congress halted that. That was not the first, nor the last retirement effort. Until 2020, the air force kept at it and it was feared that the air force would revive its efforts to eliminate the A-10. That did not appear to be the case and, until the March 2022 leaks, the threat from air force leadership seemed to have receded.

At the same time the air force tried to retire A-10s, it also accelerated the upgrading of the remaining A-10s to the A-10C standard. Also called the PE (for precision engagement) model, the refurbished A-10s were supposed to remain in service until 2028, meaning most A-10Cs would have served over 40 years and as many as 16,000 flight hours. The upgrade effort was underway soon after A-10s began seeing much heavier use after 2003. The upgrades included new electronics as well as engine refurbishment. The A-10C provides the pilot with the same targeting and fire control gadgets the latest fighters and bombers have. The new A-10C cockpit has all the spiffy color displays and easy to use controls. Because it is a single-seat aircraft that flies close to the ground, something that requires a lot more concentration, all the automation in the cockpit allows the pilot to do a lot more with less stress, exertion, and risk.

The basic A-10 is a 1960s design, so the new additions are quite spectacular in comparison. New communications gear has also been added, allowing A-10 pilots to share pictures and videos with troops on the ground. The A-10 pilot also has access to the Blue Force Tracker system, so that the nearest friendly ground forces show up on the HUD (Head-Up Display) when coming in low to use the 30mm cannon. The A-10C could now use smart bombs, making it a do-it-all aircraft for ground support.

A-10s were worked hard in Afghanistan. For example, an A-10 squadron has a dozen aircraft and 18 pilots. Pilots often average about a hundred hours a month in the air while in a combat zone. That's about twenty sorties, as each sortie averages about five hours, with the aircraft ranging all over southern Afghanistan waiting for troops below to call for some air support. The A-10 could always fly low and slow and were designed, and armored, to survive a lot of ground fire. The troops trust the A-10 more than the F-16 or any other aircraft used for ground support.

The A-10 is a 23-ton, twin-engine, single-seat aircraft whose primary weapon is a multi-barrel 30mm cannon originally designed to fire armor piercing shells at Russian tanks. These days the 1,174 30mm rounds are mostly high explosive versions. The 30mm cannon fires 363-gram (12.7 ounce) rounds at the rate of about 65 a second. The cannon usually fires in one or two-second bursts. In addition, the A-10 can carry seven tons of bombs and missiles. These days the A-10 goes out with smart bombs (GPS and laser-guided) and 306 kg (670 pound) Maverick missiles. It can also carry a targeting pod, enabling the pilot to use high magnification day/night cameras to scour the area for enemy activity. Cruising speed is 560 kilometers an hour and the A-10 can slow down to about 230 kilometers an hour. In Afghanistan two drop tanks were often carried to give the aircraft more fuel and maximize airtime over the battlefield.

If there is another major war in some place like Korea or with Iran, the A-10s would once more be one of the most popular warplanes with the ground troops, if they are still around. Otherwise, the troops on the ground will have to make do with smart bombs and a growing number of GPS guided mortar shells, artillery shells and rockets.

At one point the air force argued that the F-35 could replace the A-10 as a ground attack aircraft. One of the problems with using F-35s is that this aircraft costs more than twice as much an hour to operate. Moreover, only the A-10 can regularly go low and strafe enemy forces. F-16s and F-35s are too fast and unarmored to get away with that. The A-10 was designed to take a lot of hits and keep flying. A-10s have regularly demonstrated this durability and reliability. Finally, the air force admitted it would take fifteen years and a lot of money to develop an A-10 replacement. The current plan is to eventually turn that dangerous duty to a new generation of UAVs. This is something Predator and Reaper UAVs have already been handling, except for the low altitude strafing duty. This is often used to intimidate a stubborn foe and that still works. The A-10 makes a lot of noise when coming in low, with part of the racket coming from its 30mm autocannon. Again, this has been proven time and again. It is not a theoretical capability but very real and still in demand. No aircraft will ever duplicate that. If the A-10 manages to last until in 2040 it will have been in service 73 years, fifty of them after being declared obsolete at the end of the Cold War. Now that record endurance will include secret and illegal efforts by air force leaders to eliminate the A-10.
Rheinmetall, a major German defense manufacturer, recently revealed the working prototype of its Panther, a new tank designed to replace the 63-ton Leopard 2A7V. Rheinmetall developed the 63-ton Panther with its own funds and says it can begin mass production by the end of 2024 if there are any orders.

Panther is one of the two NextGen (next generation) tanks to actually be built. The other one is the 55-ton Russian T-14 Armata. A working prototype appeared in 2014 and several have taken part in every Moscow May 8th Victory Day Parade since 2015. T-14 was supposed to enter service in 2022 but was delayed by economic sanctions and a shortage of skilled workers. The T-14 uses a lot of high-tech components from Western firms. A test batch of 100 production model T-14s was ordered in 2016 and but the tank has suffered several design and production delays since then. In 2022 it appears that even 32 T-14s could not be completed. There have been several visible changes to the T-14 since 2015. Crew size has been increased from two to three. There appear to have been changes to external sensors as well as the engine. The biggest obstacle is cost. Even if planned production of over 2,000 T-14s were carried out, each one would still cost nearly $10 million. The Russian defense budget cannot afford the $2o billion cost of a NextGen tank. Based on Russias experience in Ukraine, the T-14 would not have performed as the Wonder Weapon it was supposed to be.

Rheinmetall followed the T-14s development, and the performance of the most advanced Russian tanks (the T-90M) in Syria, while developing Panther. Rheinmetall is the source of many key technologies in the Leopard, M1 and several other tanks and is recognized for the quality and effectiveness of its tech. The most effective is expensive and that means Panther will cost more than $10 million each even if built in large quantities. The British Challenger 2 tank costs over $12 million each mainly because so few have been built. Another problem is that some current Western third generation tanks are nearly as effective as NextGen designs, cost less and are already available in large numbers. China shows no interest in a NextGen tank design, mainly because it takes a more calculated attitude towards new weapons.

Currently the American M1A2SEP and the Leopard 2A7V are two most effective and numerous modern tanks. There is also the lighter 57-ton French LeClerc 2 and the 63-ton British Challenger 2. Both of these tanks were built in small numbers (about 400 each). Rheinmetall won the billion-dollar contract to produce the Challenger 3, which is a major upgrade of Challenger 2, including a new turret and much improved 120mm gun.

There was a lot of talk about the need for a NextGen tank in the 1980s, but that disappeared with the end of the Cold War and disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991. After that, NextGen tanks were not an issue but what to do with over 10,000 modern tanks, most of them American M1s and German Leopard 2s, was a problem. Most of these tanks were sold off, cheaply or went into storage. After a decade of that NATO nations realized there was still a need for modern tanks and so began two decades of upgrades, but no NextGen tank.

Meanwhile Russia, humiliated by the poor performance of its T-72 tanks in combat, created the T-90 (actually a much-improved T-72). India bought most of them and Russia sent some of their T-90s to Syria after 2015, but was disappointed by their performance. Some early model Turkish Leopard 2s also saw action in Syria, where they demonstrated they were not as invulnerable as the latest M1A1 tank. The M1 has the most extensive combat record and that provided practical advice on what upgrades were needed.

Another source of innovation was from Israel, a small country that can afford to build its own tanks. Nearly 2,000 Merkava tanks have been built since the first appeared in 1979. This was a year before the first M1 entered service. Both tanks began with 105mm guns before upgrading to 120mm. While the Merkava weight increased from 61 to 65 tons, the M1 grew from 54 to 66 tons and nearly 11,000 have been built so far with many later upgraded. Same with Merkava, which means about half of those built are still in service, most of them upgraded Merkava 3s in reserved brigades. The active-duty troops have the 380 Merkava 4s.

Israel and the U.S. have always cooperated in developing and sharing new tech for their tanks. A lot of the tech is familiar; fire control, day/night sensors, internal layout and new forms of protection. Some of these items are unexpected and quite useful. One example is a way to make maximum use of external cameras. In 2017, a ground vehicle VR (Virtual Reality) system called Iron Vision was introduced and Merkava 4 was the first tank to get it. Iron Vision meant a tank could largely dispense with the traditional dependence on the tank commander spending a lot of time with his head sticking out of the turret to get a better view of the situation. The VR helmet display worn by crew does not just show real-time video of what is outside but also an overlay of other information or even a map. Israel pioneered the development and use of these helmets for pilots and the F-35 stealth fighter was designed to use such a helmet. Most modern tanks are equipped with these small external digital vidcams but Iron Vision makes the external cameras much easier to use and a lot more effective.

While the Leopard 2 has maintained a similar level of tech with the M1 and Merkava and on paper was the best of the three tanks, in practice the M1 and Merkava have an edge. This was partially because both Israeli and American tanks and crews have more combat experience and have kept developing new tank tech. The M1 has the overall edge because more are in service and still succeeding in combat. Russia needed a T-14 more than the West needed a Panther NextGen tank. One reason for that is the West develops most of the new tank tech and has larger and more robust economies than Russia. The West sees NextGen tanks as something to counter the Russian threat. That is easier and cheaper than the Russian requirement to outperform the best Western tanks. China is uninterested in developing a NextGen tank because it would be too expensive and there are cheaper ways to deal with Western tank superiority.
Strengthening Early Mover Advantage in 4th Largest U.S. State

LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2022 / Australis Capital Inc. (CSE:AUSA) (OTCQB: AUSAF) ("AUSA", "AUDACIOUS", or the "Company"), today announced that the Company has entered into an agreement with Hempire Farms, LLC ("Hempire"), a New York based cannabis company licensed to cultivate, process and distribute cannabis products in the New York State recreational market. The agreement between Audacious and Hempire is contingent upon state approval.

New York Cannabis Market

With 20.2 million people, New York is the fourth largest U.S. state by population. Industry insiders project the state's adult use market to reach $4.2 billion by 2024. New York State has implemented the initial phase and is working towards implementing an adult use program, including finalizing regulations for the full program. The state has introduced rules that enable certain hemp license holders to obtain provisional cannabis licenses to serve the adult use market. AUDACIOUS' partner, Hempire, meets all requirements and was awarded an Adult-Use Conditional Cultivator License. The license also includes the ability to manufacture and distribute cannabis products - activities that the state has yet to fully define.

New York Operation

AUDACIOUS and Hempire intend to commence planting its first batch of adult use cannabis towards the end of June 2022, with first harvest anticipated some 8-10 weeks later. Under the regulations, the Company is allowed to have one acre of canopy, which equates to approximately 1.5 acres in total space. Based on its deep experience in cannabis cultivation, the Company anticipates this to yield approximately 2,100 lbs of dried flower and trim. The operations will be located in Broome County, New York.

As announced by the regulators, intent is for product to be sold through the first batch of adult use dispensaries, with approximately 150 retail licenses to be awarded to social equity applicants.

Expanded early mover advantage

With work commenced at the Company's project with its partner First Americans of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, this is AUDACIOUS' second early start project in New York State. (NYS) While adult use has been legalized, industry insiders anticipate that operators under the new licenses for hemp farmers provide an early mover advantage of at least one year. During this time, AUDACIOUS will be able to introduce its products to the New York market and build up market share and brand recognition.

Quick start cultivation operations have been designed in the past months by the Company's majority owned subsidiary ALPS, whose crop consultants have developed optimized operational protocols to ensure the Company will be able to serve the market with high quality product.

Management commentary

Terry Booth, AUDACIOUS CEO, commented, "This truly is a transformational deal for AUDACIOUS. We promised our investors we would focus on the east coast, and now our hard work has come to fruition. With both New York State and New Jersey State licenses in place, this deal makes AUDACIOUS one of, if not the best positioned MSO to capitalize on the massive opportunity presented by the East Coast cannabis market. Moreover, this NYS license, combined with the First Americans project, enables entry into this nascent market before adult use is opened up for general license application, giving us a substantial early mover advantage that we are well set up for to execute on. We have been preparing for this project for months now, and are ready to roll with planting, equipment, employees and operational SOPs. Our New York team, including ALPS and our advisors, have done an amazing job in securing this opportunity for us and we look forward to working with the Hempire founders, David and Jordan, to get started and serve the people of New York with our high-quality adult use cannabis products."

David Seamans, co-founder of Hempire, added, "The operational excellence at AUDACIOUS brings a broad range of experience, from financing, through to cultivation design, crop consulting, manufacturing, recognized brands and logistics. These were all crucial elements in us selecting AUDACIOUS as our partner in capitalizing on a huge opportunity for hemp farmers in New York. Their inclusive approach, as reflected by their partnership with First Americans of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, was another important factor that showed us that their partnership approach is genuine and not just lip service to look good in the media. AUDACIOUS, in our eyes, embodies how inclusion should be done, and we are very excited to be working with Terry, Duke, Leah, Thomas and the rest of the AUDACIOUS team towards executing on this incredible opportunity."

About AUDACIOUS

AUDACIOUS is a next-generation MSO growing the cannabis industry of tomorrow from the ground up, led by industry pioneer Terry Booth and an accomplished management team with proven industry track records. With operations that range from providing industry-leading sustainable cultivation design and optimization to retail storefronts, growing flower in-house, and manufacturing award-winning brands, AUDACIOUS has products and solutions for everyone. Quickly expanding through innovative partnerships and collaborations, AUDACIOUS is forging the inclusive cannabis community of tomorrow, today. Learn more about AUDACIOUS here.

AUDACIOUS common shares trade on the CSE under the symbol "AUSA" and on the OTCQB under the symbol "AUSAF."

Terry Booth, CEO

[email protected]

For further information, please contact:

For Investors:

Marc Lakmaaker

T: +1.647.289.6640

[email protected]

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding future estimates, plans, objectives, timing, assumptions or expectations of future performance, are forward-looking statements and contain forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". Forward-looking statements are based on certain material assumptions and analysis made by the Company and the opinions and estimates of management as of the date of this news release. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Australis Capital, Inc.

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TAMPA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / June 22, 2022 / The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) announced its May 2022 revenues and sales volumes by business unit.

Potash (1) May 2022 May 2021 Sales volumes in thousands of tonnes (2) 744 891 Revenues in millions $539 $246

Phosphates (1) May 2022 May 2021 Sales volumes in thousands of tonnes (2) 462 553 Revenues in millions $502 $327

Mosaic Fertilizantes (1) May 2022 2021 Sales volumes in thousands of tonnes (2) 782 790 Revenues in millions $786 $336

(1) The revenues and tonnes presented are sales as recognized in the period and do not reflect current market conditions due to the lag between pricing and revenue recognition.

(2) Tonnes = finished product tonnes

A compressed North American planting season and ongoing rail delays are impacting sales volumes. We now expect potash sales volumes of 2.3-2.5 million tonnes and phosphates sales volumes of 1.6-1.8 million tonnes in the second quarter. For pricing, we expect realized MOP prices on an FOB basis in the second quarter to be $100-$120 per tonne higher than prices realized in the first quarter. In Phosphates, we expect second quarter realized DAP prices on an FOB basis to be $130-$150 per tonne higher than prices realized in the first quarter.

About The Mosaic Company

The Mosaic Company is one of the world's leading producers and marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. Mosaic is a single source provider of phosphates and potash fertilizers and feed ingredients for the global agriculture industry. More information on the company is available at www.mosaicco.com.

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about proposed or pending future transactions or strategic plans and other statements about future financial and operating results. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of The Mosaic Company's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the economic impact and operating impacts of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, political and economic instability and changes in government policies in Brazil and other countries in which we have operations; the predictability and volatility of, and customer expectations about, agriculture, fertilizer, raw material, energy and transportation markets that are subject to competitive and other pressures and economic and credit market conditions; the level of inventories in the distribution channels for crop nutrients; the effect of future product innovations or development of new technologies on demand for our products; changes in foreign currency and exchange rates; international trade risks and other risks associated with Mosaic's international operations and those of joint ventures in which Mosaic participates, including the performance of the Wa'ad Al Shamal Phosphate Company (also known as MWSPC), the future success of current plans for MWSPC and any future changes in those plans; difficulties with realization of the benefits of our long term natural gas based pricing ammonia supply agreement with CF Industries, Inc., including the risk that the cost savings initially anticipated from the agreement may not be fully realized over its term or that the price of natural gas or ammonia during the term are at levels at which the pricing is disadvantageous to Mosaic; customer defaults; the effects of Mosaic's decisions to exit business operations or locations; changes in government policy; changes in environmental and other governmental regulation, including expansion of the types and extent of water resources regulated under federal law, carbon taxes or other greenhouse gas regulation, implementation of numeric water quality standards for the discharge of nutrients into Florida waterways or efforts to reduce the flow of excess nutrients into the Mississippi River basin, the Gulf of Mexico or elsewhere; further developments in judicial or administrative proceedings, or complaints that Mosaic's operations are adversely impacting nearby farms, business operations or properties; difficulties or delays in receiving, increased costs of or challenges to necessary governmental permits or approvals or increased financial assurance requirements; resolution of global tax audit activity; the effectiveness of Mosaic's processes for managing its strategic priorities; adverse weather conditions affecting operations in Central Florida, the Mississippi River basin, the Gulf Coast of the United States, Canada or Brazil, and including potential hurricanes, excess heat, cold, snow, rainfall or drought; actual costs of various items differing from management's current estimates, including, among others, asset retirement, environmental remediation, reclamation or other environmental regulation, Canadian resources taxes and royalties, or the costs of the MWSPC; reduction of Mosaic's available cash and liquidity, and increased leverage, due to its use of cash and/or available debt capacity to fund financial assurance requirements and strategic investments; brine inflows at Mosaic's potash mines; other accidents and disruptions involving Mosaic's operations, including potential mine fires, floods, explosions, seismic events, sinkholes or releases of hazardous or volatile chemicals; and risks associated with cyber security, including reputational loss; as well as other risks and uncertainties reported from time to time in The Mosaic Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

SOURCE: The Mosaic Company

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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 22, 2022 / Pelangio Exploration Inc. (TSXV:PX)(OTC PINK:PGXPF) ("Pelangio" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that all matters proposed by management were approved at Pelangio's annual meeting held Wednesday, June 22, 2022 (the "Meeting").

At the Meeting, shareholders of Pelangio re-elected Ingrid Hibbard, JC St. Amour, David Mosher, Kevin Thomson, and Al Gourley to the board of directors. The shareholders also approved the reappointment of its auditor and reapproved the Company's stock option plan. No additional business was brought before the Meeting.

Neither TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About Pelangio

Pelangio acquires and explores prospective land packages located in world-class gold belts in Ghana, West Africa and Canada. In Ghana, the Company is exploring its two 100% owned camp-sized properties: the 100 km 2 Manfo property, the site of eight near-surface gold discoveries, and the 284 km 2 Obuasi property, located 4 km on strike and adjacent to AngloGold Ashanti's prolific high-grade Obuasi Mine, as well its Dankran property located adjacent to its Obuasi property. In Canada, the Company is currently focused in Ontario at its Dome West property, situated some 800 meters from the Dome Mine in Timmins and its Gowan polymetallic project, located 16 km east of the Kidd Creek Mine. See www.pelangio.com for further detail on all Pelangio's properties.

For additional information, please visit our website at www.pelangio.com, or contact:

Ingrid Hibbard, President and CEO

T: 905-336-3828 / TF: 1-877-746-1632 / E: [email protected]

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements herein may contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements or information appear in a number of places and can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements and information include statements regarding the Company's exploration plans. With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, we have made numerous assumptions. Such forward-looking statements and information are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement or information. Such risks include the changes in equity markets, share price volatility, volatility of global and local economic climate, gold price volatility, political developments in Ghana, and Canada, increases in costs, exchange rate fluctuations, speculative nature of gold exploration, including the risk that favourable exploration results may not be obtained, delays due to COVID-19 safety protocols, and other risks involved in the gold exploration industry. See the Company's annual and quarterly financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to the forward-looking statement and information. There can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information referenced herein will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements or information. Also, many of the factors are beyond the control of the Company. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward- looking statements or information. We undertake no obligation to reissue or update any forward-looking statements or information except as required by law. All forward-looking statements and information herein are qualified by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE: Pelangio Exploration Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:
Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Lapides reiterated a Buy rating and $72.00 price target on CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS) on news ...

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ABOzymes Biomedical Inc., today announced it has completed a substantially upsized seed financing. The funds will be used to further develop its ground-breaking proprietary platform that enables a world where a patients blood type is no longer the first constraint when they need life-saving organ transplants or blood transfusions.

Built upon the discoveries of Dr. Peter Rahfeld, Professor Stephen G. Withers and Professor Jayachandran Kizzhakedathu of the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia (UBC), ABOzymes' platform converts blood group antigens to group O, the universal donor type, which will increase donor organ matching opportunities and the supply of universal donor blood. The companys first products will focus on kidney and lung transplants, and will expand to other solid organs and blood products.

This funding builds upon a pre-seed financing completed in February 2021 and non-dilutive funding from the Canadian Glycomics Network, Genome British Columbia, NRC-IRAP and MITACS. The company's research and development activities are also supported by $5M in grant funding from the US Air Force to its academic collaborators at UBC.

Every doctor has been taught that blood types are considered absolute  ABOzymes has challenged this fundamental dogma of medicine. Once proven, our technology will increase donor organ matching opportunities and the supply of universal donor blood, which will ultimately help save lives, said John Coleman, PhD, President and CEO of ABOzymes. This latest capital raise is an important milestone for ABOzymes, allowing us to expand the impact of our platform across a number of use cases, hire more technical staff, and continue to progress our preclinical program to achieve our mission to improve and save lives in ways previously deemed impossible. We appreciate the strong investor interest in this recent financing.

Nature, the highly respected scientific journal, has listed ABOzymes among its Ones to Watch list as part of its international Spinoff Prize competition. In February 2022, a proof-of-concept study was published in Science Translational Medicine outlining how ABOzymes platform can convert the blood type in whole human lungs intended for transplantation.

There are critical shortages of O-type universal donor blood that ABOzymes aims to address with its products. The companys products also aim to make organ transplants occur more safely, rapidly and equitably among patients with all blood types.

About ABOzymes

ABOzymes, a B.C.-based preclinical stage company, has developed an innovative platform that enables a world where a persons blood type is no longer the first constraint when they need life-saving organ transplants or blood transfusions. ABOzymes has identified enzymes that convert the cell surface antigen that determines blood group A to group O, universal donor type. ABOzymes platform will enable healthcare providers to better prioritize patients by medical urgency, to spend less on management and logistics, and to ultimately save more lives. For more information, please visit: www.abozymes.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005130/en/

Media:

Jason Kinnear

[email protected]

647-291-8026

Source: ABOzymes
analysis

How did the President of Angola's Court of Auditors manage to afford a home worth almost eight million US dollars? Allegedly by getting the State to pick up the bill.

Whistle-blowers say Exalgina Gamboa should have the decency to step down while the Office of the Attorney-General of the Republic conducts a criminal investigation. This latest scandal makes a mockery of the Angolan government's promise to fight corruption: it shows how the highest-ranking public officials - even those appointed to uphold the law - can abuse it with impunity by making use of their rank and privilege to divert state funds for private ends while still avoiding investigation and prosecution for corruption.For too many years Angola's predatory political class has operated on the assumption that prestige positions in public service grants them the right to live in unparalleled luxury with all expenses charged to the state.

The expectation of privileges and rewards far in excess of what may be merited was a hallmark of the profoundly corrupt Dos Santos Administration and continues to taint so many of those who in theory profess to believe in public service but in practice use their public role to enrich themselves.

Information has reached Maka Angola that the woman appointed as President of the Court of Auditors, Exalgina Gamboa (in the photo), is the latest public official to succumb to the temptations of the high life. The case has all the hallmarks of a classic example of misuse of public funds for unchallenged, exorbitant expenditure in perquisites and benefits for individual office holders - straight out of the playbook operated by the Dos Santos kleptocracy to buy the silence and loyalty of their accomplices at all levels of government.

The evidence that Exalgina Gamboa treated the Court's reserve fund as her private piggy bank is overwhelming. Judge Gamboa repeatedly authorized payments from the reserve to cover nearly four million US dollars[1] in redecoration and furnishing expenses for her residence alone. The records show that Judge Gamboa's residence, a detached property in the exclusive luxury Malunga Condominium development in Luanda's Talatona district, was purchased by the Angolan government in 2020 for 3.5 million US dollars. That immediately raises the question as to why government funds should be used at all to purchase private residences for public officials.

A typical floorplan for the 41 generously sized luxury homes constructed in the Malunga Condominium shows four bedrooms (all with ensuite bathrooms), two reception rooms and a fully equipped chef's kitchen, with integral laundry room and flex room totalling some 4800 square feet (450 sq mts). Also included on the lot were an in-ground swimming pool, an outdoor BBQ kitchen area, and parking for four vehicles.

Yet this 'perquisite of office' apparently was not good enough for Judge Gamboa. She determined that a luxury property of that size should be further enhanced by half-a-million US dollars' worth of upgrades and correspondingly upmarket decor and furnishings. Especially if she didn't have to pay for these enhancements herself.

Documentary evidence provided to Maka Angola shows that she dipped into the Audit Court's reserve coffers to cover the costs. Judge Gamboa repeatedly authorised payments from the Audit Court's private reserve accounts: a payment of 212,800,000 (half-a-million USD) to Sholin Construction[2] for "remodelling"; three payments to Annus Mirabilis Decoration[3] totalling 1,426,000,000 Kwanzas (3.3 million USD) and a further payment (for high-end furniture for personal use) to Joao Justino Antonio's JAV firm[4] for 199 million Kwanzas (461,000 US).

Annus Mirabilis online showroom

Thus a final audit of the amount spent on providing a luxury home for the President of the Court of Auditors ends up costing the Republic of Angola nearly eight million US dollars, more than double the original purchase price of the property.

Sources at the Court of Auditors have confirmed that since her appointment in 2018, Judge Gamboa has never authorized any institutional renovations other than for her own office.

What she did authorize (also from the Audit Court's private reserve funds) was the acquisition of a luxury home for her deputy in Dalm Condominium in the Talatona neighbourhood; a snip at 189 million Kwanzas (437,000 USD)[5]. To be fair Exalgina spent six times that amount just on furniture for her own place... and in an extraordinary coincidence, somehow furniture obtained from JAV for this "lesser" residence for her deputy cost almost as much as it did for Exalgina's place.

We spoke to Audit Court judges, including members who attended the plenary chaired by Judge Gamboa. Speaking off the record, or on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, they told Maka Angola that Exalgina Gamboa openly told the plenary that "the Court's reserve coffers" were hers to dispose of as she saw fit.

A government source told us the Finance Ministry had rejected a budgetary request from Judge Gamboa for 2,000,000,000 (two-thousand-million kwanzas (=USD) to furnish her 'official residence' before she turned to her "private piggy bank", i.e. the Audit Court's reserve funds.

It appears to be a prima facie case of corruption for investigation by the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, which should additionally demand an explanation for expenses incurred regarding a mysterious additional payment of 526 million kwanzas (1.217 million USD) authorized by Judge Gamboa from the Audit Court's reserves to a real estate company named Urbanizacao Nova Vida in February 2021. What did this buy and for whom?

A source told us: "The Court of Auditors acquired homes for the advisory judges in Boavida Condominium[6] and we have no records at all of any property acquired on behalf of the Court from Nova Vida." However, Urbanizacao Nova Vida is a real estate project owned by a company named Imogestin, and the President of the Board of Directors of Imogestin is a man named Rui Cruz, who just happens to be Exalgina Gamboa's ex-husband.

The Court of Auditors' mission is to "audit the legality of the financial and administrative actions of the State and all public or private institutions as determined by the Law, to ensure the appropriate application of public resources for the benefit of Angolan citizens".

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We contacted the Court of Auditors to ask for an explanation of Judge Gamboa's expenditure. The official response, signed by Goncalo Leitao, simply states that "Court expenditures are in accordance with the annual accounts drawn up and approved by the Court's Plenary Body" citing diverse laws[7] as though these were sufficient authorization for untrammelled spending by the highest Court official. On reading the official response, our legal adviser described it as "a joke".

How is it possible to reconcile the use of public funds for private ends by the Audit Court President as "the appropriate application of public resources"? And how can anyone have faith in the Audit Court's ability to supervise the legality of any financial administration by the state if its top official is not called to account for their abuse of public funds?

[1] (at the current Kwanza to USD exchange rate)

[2] 212.8 million KZ to Construcoes Sholin Lda on August 5, 2021.

[3] (in three tranches paid on March 26, July 30 and December 17, 2021)

[4] (payment on July 30,2021)

[5] Paid in two instalments to the entrepreneur Amil Ali Bachu on April 26 and June 7, 2021

[6] Raising again the question of why government is purchasing private homes for public officials

[7] Law 13/10, Law 19/19 and Law 7/94.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) plans to host a live audio webcast of its earnings conference call at 8:30 a.m. (ET) on Friday, July 22, 2022, to discuss second quarter 2022 financial results.

The webcast will be accessible to the general public through the American Express Investor Relations website at https://ir.americanexpress.com/. The financial results and presentation materials are scheduled to be released and posted on the website at approximately 7 a.m. (ET) prior to the conference call, and an audio replay will be available on the website following the call.

ABOUT AMERICAN EXPRESS

American Express is a globally integrated payments company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success. Learn more at americanexpress.com and connect with us on facebook.com/americanexpress, instagram.com/americanexpress, linkedin.com/company/american-express, twitter.com/americanexpress, and youtube.com/americanexpress.

Key links to products, services and corporate responsibility information: personal cards, business cards, travel services, gift cards, prepaid cards, merchant services, Accertify, Kabbage, Resy, corporate card, business travel, diversity and inclusion, corporate responsibility, and Environmental, Social, and Governance reports.

Source: American Express Company

Location: Global

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005878/en/

Media:

Leah M. Gerstner, [email protected], 212-640-3174

Andrew R. Johnson, [email protected], 212-640-8610



Investors/Analysts:

Kerri S. Bernstein, [email protected], 212-640-5574

Michelle A. Scianni, [email protected], 212-640-5574

Source: American Express Company
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AnalytixInsight Inc. (AnalytixInsight, or the Company) (TSX-V: ALY; OTCQB: ATIXF), a financial content and enterprise software solutions provider, announces changes to the board of directors of InvestoPro, a subsidiary of the Companys fintech affiliate, MarketWall. InvestoPro has developed and received regulatory approval for an advanced online digital trading platform that has been introduced by Intesa Sanpaolo, whose customers may activate their InvestoPro account using their Intesa Sanpaolo Mobile App login credentials.

The InvestoPro board of directors has been reconstituted with the following members who will guide the next phase of InvestoPros development:

Luca Facchini Provera (Chair): Senior Director, Head of Sales Support at Intesa Sanpaolos Banca dei Territori Division. He is responsible for commercial support of financial products to the retail network and is responsible for the Robo4Advisory & RoboAdvisory project, a wealth management initiative within Intesa Sanpaolos 2022  2025 business plan using Aladdin by BlackRock. He was recently appointed Chair of MarketWall and is a director of Prestitalia S.p.A. which was acquired by Intesa Sanpaolo in 2020;

Antonio Germoglie: Head of Planning, Control and Management of Intesa Sanpaolo's Banca dei Territori Division since 2014. He was previously Head of Budget and Management Control and Head of Distributed Coordination Structure of Intesa Sanpaolo's Banca dei Territori Division. He held several leadership roles at Sanpaolo IMI prior to the merger that formed Intesa Sanpaolo;

Marco Marzorati: Independent accountant and auditor, former General Manager of Merqurio, a pharmaceutical marketing company. He is experienced in the restructuring and reorganization of companies on behalf of private equity funds and is a tax consultant for asset management companies;

Marco Roscio Ricon: CEO of MarketWall; and

Prakash Hariharan: Chairman and CEO of AnalytixInsight, director of MarketWall.

Prakash Hariharan, Chairman and CEO of AnalytixInsight, commented: Now that the InvestoPro digital trading platform is fully prepared for deployment by Intesa Sanpaolo, we have reconstituted the InvestoPro board of directors to guide this next phase of execution and implementation. We are very excited about the potential for InvestoPro to become a leading digital trading platform in Europe.

ABOUT INVESTOPRO

InvestoPro has been introduced by Intesa Sanpaolo to its customers as the banks online advanced digital trading platform, offering financial analysis, news, research, educational formats, and other exclusive content aided by artificial intelligence attributes provided by AnalytixInsight. Under a previously approved strategic plan, certain stock trading accounts will be transitioned to InvestoPro, thanks to the support of Intesa Sanpaolo.

ABOUT ANALYTIXINSIGHT

AnalytixInsight is a data analytics and enterprise software solutions provider to world-leading institutions across various industries. AnalytixInsight develops and markets cloud-based platforms providing financial content, stock trading, and research solutions for banks, brokers and investors in the financial services industry. AnalytixInsight holds a 49% interest in MarketWall, a developer of FinTech solutions for financial institutions. Visit AnalytixInsight.com.

Regulatory Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements regarding the Companys business operations and objectives, particularly respecting its expectations of InvestoPro and of Intesa Sanpaolo to deploy InvestoPro and migrate certain of its stock trading accounts to the InvestoPro platform, and the Companys future performance. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of AnalytixInsight, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; the Companys technology and revenue generation; risks associated with operation in the technology sector; the Companys ability to successfully integrate new technologies and employees; foreign operations risks; and other risks inherent in the technology industry. Although AnalytixInsight has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. AnalytixInsight does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE

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Prakash Hariharan

Chairman and CEO

[email protected]

Source: AnalytixInsight Inc.
HIV and LGBTQ+-focused health care services organization adds former U.S. surgeon general and industry leader to gain public health expertise and insight.

PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Avita, the leading HIV-focused pharmacy services organization in the nation, today announced the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors, effective July 1:

Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, FASA, Presidential Fellow, Executive Director of Health Equity Initiatives, and Distinguished Professor of Practice in the departments of Pharmacy Practice and Public Health at Purdue University, and former U.S. Surgeon General from 2017 to 2021.

Presidential Fellow, Executive Director of Health Equity Initiatives, and Distinguished Professor of Practice in the departments of Pharmacy Practice and Public Health at Purdue University, and former U.S. Surgeon General from 2017 to 2021. Jerry Purcell, Avita founder and most recently Executive Vice President of Client Relations at Avita.

Were pleased to welcome Dr. Adams and Jerry to the Avita Board, said Michael Yount, chief executive officer of Avita. Each of them brings significant health care expertise aligned with Avitas commitment to providing compassionate health care to the vastly underserved HIV, PrEP, STI, and LGBTQ+ populations. Their industry, operational, and financial expertise will help Avita further our delivery of health care solutions to those communities disproportionately affected by complex health conditions, including HIV.

Dr. Jerome Adams is a licensed Anesthesiologist who served as a Vice Admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and as the 20th U.S. Surgeon General from 2017 to 2021. Previously, he was the State Health Commissioner for Indiana, where he convinced the Governor and State Legislature to legalize syringe service programs in the state to address an HIV outbreak. Dr. Adams is passionate about improving health equity and communications for underserved communities.

Jerry Purcell founded Avita in 2003 to provide the LGBTQ+ community access to HIV medication with care, respect, and dignity. His understanding of the needs of the communities disproportionately affected by complex health conditions and his expertise in the 340B program has helped Avita build relationships and demonstrate added value to covered entities and provider practices across the nation. In addition to founding Avita, Jerry co-founded VitaRx Specialty Pharmacy in 1997, which was sold to McKesson in 2002.

Avitas growth over the past few years, both as a leader in providing individually focused health care and a proven expert in 340B administration, has been nothing less than astounding, said Chris Michalik, Avita Board Chairman and Managing Director, Kinderhook. We are excited that these two industry leaders and public health experts not only add depth to the Board roster, but they are committed to providing compassionate health care and share in Avitas values.

Dr. Adams and Mr. Purcell will join current Board of Directors members: Chris Michalik, Board Chairman, and Managing Director, Kinderhook; Matt Bubis, Principal at Kinderhook; Sherri Turpin, Chief Executive Officer of ZVRS and Purple Communications; Peter Urbanowicz, Co-Head of Alvarez & Marshals Healthcare Industry Group and former Chief of Staff to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary; and Michael Yount, Chief Executive Officer of Avita.

For more information about the board members, visit https://www.avitapharmacy.com/leadership-team.

About Avita

Avita is a national pharmacy services organization that unlocks the full potential of health for covered entity partners and individuals with unique health needs. As a full-service pharmacy, Avita has proven experience in 340B program administration and onsite pharmacy management. The Avita team has deep expertise in understanding and addressing the needs of communities disproportionately affected by complex health conditions, as well as HIV, PrEP, STI, and LGBTQ+ care. Avita provides care for more than 185,000 patients through over 250 covered entity relationships at more than 60 pharmacies nationwide. Avita is the largest independent nationwide provider of pharmacy services and solutions for Ryan White/STD Grantees, AIDS Service Organizations, and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). For more information, visit avitapharmacy.com.

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Rachel Bowen

312-558-1770

[email protected]

Source: Avita
AUSTIN, Texas & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Babylon Holdings Limited (NYSE: BBLN) (Babylon or the Company) today announced the completion of its previously announced exchange offer (the Exchange Offer) and consent solicitation (the Consent Solicitation) relating to its outstanding (i) public warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares of the Company, par value $0.0000422573245084686 per share (the Class A ordinary shares), which warrants trade on the New York Stock Exchange (the NYSE) under the symbol BBLN.W (the public warrants) and (ii) related private placement warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares (the private placement warrants and, together with the public warrants, the warrants). The Company issued 3,949,471 Class A ordinary shares in exchange for the warrants tendered in the Exchange Offer.

The Company also entered into the related amendment to the warrant agreement governing the warrants (the Warrant Amendment) and announced that it will exercise its right, in accordance with the terms of the Warrant Amendment, to exchange all remaining untendered warrants at an exchange ratio of 0.2655 Class A ordinary shares for each warrant. The Company will fix the date for such exchange as July 8, 2022.

As a result of the completion of the Exchange Offer and the upcoming exchange for the remaining untendered warrants, no warrants will remain outstanding. Accordingly, the public warrants have been suspended from trading on the NYSE and will be delisted. The Class A ordinary shares will continue to be listed and trade on the NYSE under the symbol BBLN.

The Company engaged BofA Securities, Inc. as the Dealer Manager for the Offer and Consent Solicitation. D.F. King & Co., Inc. served as the Information Agent for the Offer and Consent Solicitation, and Computershare Trust Company, N.A. served as the Exchange Agent.

This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, the securities described herein, and is also not a solicitation of the related consents. The Exchange Offer and Consent Solicitation were made only pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Prospectus/Offer to Exchange and related letter of transmittal and consent.

About Babylon

Babylon is one of the worlds fastest growing digital healthcare companies whose mission is to make high-quality healthcare accessible and affordable for every person on Earth.

Babylon is re-engineering how people engage with their care at every step of the healthcare continuum. By flipping the model from reactive sick care to proactive healthcare through the devices people already own, it offers millions of people globally ongoing, always-on care. Babylon has already shown that in environments as diverse as the developed UK or developing Rwanda, urban New York or rural Missouri, for people of all ages, it is possible to achieve its mission by leveraging its highly scalable, digital-first platform combined with high quality, virtual clinical operations to provide integrated, personalized healthcare.

Founded in 2013, Babylons technology and clinical services is supporting a global patient network across 15 countries, and is capable of operating in 16 languages. And through a combination of its value-based care model, Babylon 360, and its work in primary care through NHS GP at Hand, Babylon managed over 440k lives globally from the start of 2022. In 2021 alone, Babylon helped a patient every 6 seconds, with approximately 5.2 million consultations and AI interactions. Importantly, this was achieved with a 93% user retention rate in our NHS GP at Hand service and 4 or 5 star ratings from more than 90% of our users across all of our geographies.

Babylon is also working with governments, health providers, employers and insurers across the globe in order to provide them with a new infrastructure that any partner can use to deliver high-quality healthcare with lower costs and better outcomes. For more information, please visit www.babylonhealth.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. When used in this press release, the words estimates, projected, expects, anticipates, forecasts, plans, intends, believes, seeks, may, will, should, future, propose and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, information concerning Babylons possible or assumed future results of operations, business strategies, debt levels, competitive position, industry environment and potential growth opportunities.

These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions, or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside of Babylons managements control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors include, but are not limited to our future financial and operating results and that we may require additional financing; uncertainties related to our ability to continue as a going concern; the growth of our business and organization; our failure to compete successfully; our ability to renew contracts with existing customers, and risks of contract renewals at lower fee levels, or significant reductions in members, pricing or premiums under our contracts due to factors outside our control; our dependence on our relationships with physician-owned entities; our ability to maintain and expand a network of qualified providers; our ability to increase engagement of individual members or realize the member healthcare cost savings that we expect; a significant portion of our revenue comes from a limited number of customers; the uncertainty and potential inadequacy of our claims liability estimates for medical costs and expenses; risks associated with estimating the amount and timing of revenue recognized under our licensing agreements and value-based care agreements with health plans; risks associated with our physician partners failure to accurately, timely and sufficiently document their services; risks associated with inaccurate or unsupportable information regarding risk adjustment scores of members in records and submissions to health plans; risks associated with reduction of reimbursement rates paid by third-party payers or federal or state healthcare programs; risks associated with regulatory proposals directed at containing or lowering the cost of healthcare, including the ACO REACH model; immaturity and volatility of the market for telemedicine and our unproven digital-first approach; our ability to develop and release new solutions and services; the impact of COVID-19 or any other pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of an infectious disease in the United States or worldwide on our business; and the other risks and uncertainties identified in Babylons Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 30, 2022, and in other documents filed or to be filed by Babylon with the SEC and available at the SECs website at www.sec.gov.

Babylon cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive and cautions you not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, Babylon does not undertake any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release.

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Media

Adam Davison

[email protected]

Investors

[email protected]

Source: Babylon Holdings Limited
Strengthens integration with DocuWorks, a document handling software with proven track record in Asia-Pacific markets

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Box, Inc. (NYSE: BOX), the leading Content Cloud, today announced a technology collaboration with FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corporation. The collaboration features an enhanced integration to Box's DocuWorks functionality, enabling DocuWorks documents (.xdw) to be previewed and searched on Box.

In recent years, many companies have embraced digital transformation, promoting various work styles and business efficiency, including remote work. In this environment, more than ever, business content must be easily viewed, searched, and securely shared anytime, anywhere, and from any device.

Owned by FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corporation, DocuWorks is a document handling software used by a cumulative total of 8 million licenses in Japan and Asia Pacific. Prior to this enhancement, DocuWorks documents had to be downloaded from Box to a DocuWorks-installed PC to view. In addition, because only file name search was available, it took added time to find desired content, sometimes hindering efficiency.

With the enhanced Box and DocuWorks integration, users will be able to store and save DocuWorks files in Box and preview them within Box, including via mobile devices. Paper-based documents are thereby digitized with DocuWorks, and the digital content is stored in Box. It can then be viewed, searched, and shared securely anytime, anywhere, and on any device, dramatically reducing the time and effort required for managing and accessing critical business content. Content silos can be eliminated, and efficiency can improve across an entire business. In addition, Box's full range of advanced security functionality can be used to satisfy both convenience, efficiency, and security, allowing users to concentrate on their work with peace of mind.

We have received an endorsement from Toru Fujita, General Manager, Solution Service Business, Enterprise Document Solutions Business Group, FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corporation for this announcement.

We sincerely welcome the expansion of Box's support for DocuWorks documents through this collaboration. Through DocuWorks, Fujifilm Business Innovation has been supporting the digitization of business operations based on the concept of an electronic desk that reproduces the ease of handling paper on a PC. Through this collaboration, the Box service will enable users to directly search and view necessary documents anywhere and support a variety of work styles that are not restricted by location, thereby contributing to the acceleration of customers' digital transformation (DX). We will continue to strengthen our partnership with Box and provide a variety of solutions to help our customers improve their productivity and efficiency.

Many users in Asian markets including Japan use the Box Content Cloud and DocuWorks together to help them conduct secure work from anywhere, said Diego Dugatkin, Chief Product Officer at Box. With this preview enhancement, the integration between Box and DocuWorks will be even more frictionless and secure. Users will be able to easily view DocuWorks files in Box in real time, from anywhere or any device, facilitating easier collaboration on content.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220622005964/en/

Nobumasa Takeuchi

[email protected]

Source: Box, Inc.
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Coeur Mining, Inc.s (Coeur or the Company) (NYSE: CDE) President and Chief Executive Officer, Mitchell J. Krebs, will present at the Virtual Non-Deal Roadshow Series hosted by Renmark Financial Communications Inc. (Renmark) on Monday, June 27, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. Central Time (10:00 a.m. Eastern Time).

Registration is available through the following link: https://www.renmarkfinancial.com/events/renmark-virtual-non-deal-roadshow-nyse-cde-2022-06-27-100000. Please note, registration for the live event may be limited but access to the replay will be made available on Renmarks website at https://www.renmarkfinancial.com/vndrs.

About Coeur

Coeur Mining, Inc. is a U.S.-based, well-diversified, growing precious metals producer with four wholly-owned operations: the Palmarejo gold-silver complex in Mexico, the Rochester silver-gold mine in Nevada, the Kensington gold mine in Alaska and the Wharf gold mine in South Dakota. In addition, the Company wholly-owns the Silvertip silver-zinc-lead development project in British Columbia and has interests in several precious metals exploration projects throughout North America.

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Jeff Wilhoit, Director, Investor Relations

Phone: (312) 489-5800

www.coeur.com

Source: Coeur Mining, Inc.
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) will host a conference call webcast on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time to discuss second-quarter 2022 financial and operating results. The companys financial and operating results will be released before the market opens on Aug. 4.

To access the webcast, visit ConocoPhillips Investor Relations site, www.conocophillips.com/investor, and click on the "Register" link in the Investor Presentations section. You should register at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the webcast. The event will be archived and available for replay later the same day, with a transcript available the following day.

--- # # # ---

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips is one of the worlds leading exploration and production companies based on both production and reserves, with a globally diversified asset portfolio. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ConocoPhillips had operations and activities in 13 countries, $93 billion of total assets and approximately 9,400 employees at March 31, 2022. Production averaged 1,747 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day for the three months ended March 31, 2022, and proved reserves were 6.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent as of Dec. 31, 2021. For more information, go to www.conocophillips.com.

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Dennis Nuss (media)

281-293-1149

[email protected]

Investor Relations

281-293-5000

[email protected]

Source: ConocoPhillips
DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Denver Health and Hospital Authority Board of Directors has announced that Donna Lynne, DrPH, will serve as the next chief executive officer (CEO) to lead Denver Health.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005996/en/

Donna Lynne, DrPH (Photo: Business Wire)

We are confident that Donnas extensive operational and leadership experience, her deep connections to our Colorado communities and her passion for our mission as a safety-net hospital make her the right person for this role, said Patricia Dean, Chair of the Denver Health and Hospital Authority Board of Directors. The Board is delighted that following our thorough national search, we have identified the right leader who shares our deep commitment to improving the health of our patients and communities and providing care for all, regardless of ability to pay.

Currently, Lynne serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where she leads administrative functions and strategic initiatives. She also directed the universitys COVID-19 response and policies.

Lynne brings decades of experience as a senior healthcare leader and public servant. She led healthcare policy reform and implementation as the Lieutenant Governor of Colorado from 2016-2019. Prior to that role, she served in executive leadership positions at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, including leading strategy and business plans as President of the Colorado Region from 2005-2016.

I am honored to have been selected as the next CEO for Denver Health, said Lynne. I look forward to returning to Colorado and continuing to build on Denver Healths deep legacy and safety-net mission in the community. Access to high-quality, local healthcare has never been more important, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to lead Denver Health forward during a pivotal time in healthcare.

Lynne has been listed among Modern Healthcares Top 25 Women in Healthcare and has been recognized with the Distinguished Coloradan Award from the University of Colorado Denver, the Health Care Hero award from Project CURE and more. She sits on the Board of the Colorado Healing Fund and History Colorado, and has previously served on the Boards of Building a Better Colorado, the Colorado Education Initiative, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and others.

Denver Healths current CEO Robin Wittenstein will retire from Denver Health at the end of August.

About Denver Health

Denver Health is a comprehensive health and hospital system that provides high-quality care for all people, regardless of their ability to pay. We deliver medical care to one-third of Denvers population, proudly serving as the citys safety-net hospital and providing preventative, primary and acute care services.

For more than 160 years, Denver Health has been deeply rooted in the health and well-being of the community, providing high-quality clinical care, top-notch education and training for healthcare workers, and furthering critical research to benefit our patients. We are guided by our mission to serve our community with excellence, compassion, and stewardship as we work to ensure all people have access to the care and programs they need to be happy, healthy and successful.

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Katie Kern

303-520-9591

[email protected]

Source: Denver Health
SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Commissioning and start-up activities have commenced at the worlds first industrial-scale FeedKind facility, to produce a new sustainable functional protein that does not use animal or plant ingredients in its production.

Calysseo, a joint venture between worldwide animal nutrition leader Adisseo and protein innovator Calysta, will produce 20,000 tonnes of FeedKind Aqua protein annually from the facility in Chongqing, China.

The microbial protein is produced via a natural fermentation that does not use arable land, animal or plant matter, and uses very little water in its production. Initially, production will be available for use in China, the worlds largest aquaculture market.

Whilst operating under COVID-19 restrictions, the Calysseo team maintained schedule of the landmark facility, meaning FeedKind should be delivered to the first customers this year.

Jean-Marc Dublanc, CEO of Adisseo, said: This is a significant milestone as we move towards more sustainable forms of making food. Calysseo and FeedKind offer a world first, a newly available sustainable, nutritious, non-GMO protein that offers significant health benefits over other feed ingredients, such as improved gut health and improved immune response.

We have a long-running commitment to improving the security and sustainability of the feed ingredient market and Calysseo fulfils a significant part of that pledge. We will provide Chinese customers with a reliable, domestically available supply of protein that meets their specific needs; produced in China for China.

We are looking forward to working with our customers as they begin to integrate this product into their supply chains.

FeedKind is part of a family of ingredients developed by Calysta, which harness the power of a naturally occurring microorganism that consumes low cost, land free carbon sources, converting it into a non-GMO, nutritionally rich protein, ideal for food and feed applications.

The global aquaculture market is experiencing strong growth and is expected to become the third largest animal protein source, accounting for more than 100 million tonnes of production.

Meanwhile, the human population is set to grow to 10 billion by 2050, meaning an increasing demand for proteins.

Alan Shaw Ph.D., the co-founder, CEO and President of Calysta, said: Cellular agriculture, where protein is grown in a controlled environment, is key to helping the world meet its future food needs. Today will go down in history as a hugely significant moment in the development and delivery of new, sustainable sources of protein to meet growing, global demand.

For Calysta, today is the result of years of work to develop a protein without limits  one that meets our growing demand for protein while protecting biodiversity. It also marks the beginning of a new phase in the Calysta story as we work on producing additional protein ingredients for food and feed applications.

We are proud to celebrate this milestone with our partner Adisseo and look forward to enjoying a successful relationship for many years to come.

The strategic partnership between Adisseo and Calysta will directly address one of the most important opportunities in aquaculture  to provide high quality seafood without adding extra pressure to the environment.

Pierre Casamatta, co-managing director of Calysseo, added: Commencing commissioning and start-up activities of our maiden facility on schedule is a moment Im incredibly proud of. Were doing something that has never been achieved before at scale  to reach this milestone in such a short time during the enormously challenging implications of COVID-19 is incredibly rewarding and testament to the skill and commitment of the Calysseo team, and that of our JV partners.

Were thoroughly looking forward to the first product coming off the line, and to bringing FeedKind to the Chinese aquaculture market.

FeedKind has been validated over several years after extensive trials across several popular aquaculture species, including seabass, bream, and salmon. Thailands Kasetsart University, Thailand, recently found distinct benefits for shrimp, saying FeedKind promotes strong, healthy growth, while also helping activate shrimps immune response to Vibrio, the causative agent of Early Mortality Syndrome.

Since it was discovered in 2009, EMS has wreaked havoc on the Asian aquaculture market, causing billions of dollars in losses.

Calystas protein platform is also approved for use in livestock feeds and pet food.

Allan LeBlanc, Calystas Head of Animal Feed, said: Reaching this milestone follows decades of work and Im proud and excited to finally introduce FeedKind to the worlds largest aquaculture market. Over the years we have proved that FeedKind is an extremely effective product and one that can help resolve several challenges for feed producers and farmers.

The JV partners are now focusing on bringing the next phase of the development forward, bringing output to 80,000 tonnes per year. First material from Calysseo is expected at the turn of the year.

FeedKind will help to reduce pressure on wild fisheries. If used instead of conventional sources of protein, 100,000 tonnes of FeedKind could mean that between approx. 420,000  450,000 tonnes of wild caught fish could be saved. Used instead of vegetable proteins, the same quantity of FeedKind could free up as much as 535 km2 of land and would save 9 billion litres of water.

For more information, visit feedkind.com.

About Calysta

Calysta, Inc., San Mateo, CA, is a biotechnology company working towards a future where the worlds growing population has guaranteed food security. Calystas aim is to make protein without limits by fermenting low cost, land free carbon sources, to create new feed and food products, creating sustainable, high value nutritional ingredients that dont interfere with the human food chain.

FeedKind, is made using very little water and no agricultural land by fermenting low cost, land free carbon sources, to create a safe, nutritious, traceable, and affordable protein. Produced via a natural fermentation, it is non-GMO, price competitive with existing sources of protein and produced to the highest quality standards. FeedKind has been commercially validated through extensive customer trials in aquaculture and agriculture.

About Adisseo

Adisseo is one of the worlds leading experts in feed additives. The group relies on its 8 research centres and its production sites based in Europe, USA, China, and Thailand to design, produce and market nutritional solutions for sustainable animal feed.

With more than 2,520 employees, it serves around 3,900 customers in over 110 different countries through its global distribution network.

In 2021, Adisseo achieved a turnover of 1.69 billion euros.

Adisseo is one of the main subsidiaries of China National BlueStar, leader in the Chinese chemical industry with nearly 19,920 employees and a turnover of 9.4 billion euros.

Adisseo is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Corporate website: www.adisseo.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005736/en/

Calysta

Sophie Newington, (+44) 203 353 8728

[email protected]

or

Calysta Media Information

[email protected]

Adisseo

Group Communication - Patrick Settelen

[email protected]

Source: Calysta, Inc.
RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, announces it advised Technical Safety Services (TSS), a portfolio company of The Edgewater Funds (Edgewater) and JZ Partners (JZ), on its sale to Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (LLCP). TSS is a leading provider of testing, inspection, certification, and calibration (TICC) services to customers in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, and other life sciences end markets. The transaction was led by Luke Semple, Brian Lucas, Paul Hepper, Taylor Morris, Sean Bielawski and Keith Zukowski of Harris Williams.

It has been a pleasure working with the TSS team on this transaction, said Luke Semple, a managing director in the Harris Williams Energy, Power & Infrastructure (EPI) Group. Their ability to deliver critical, highly technical services has enabled them to become a vital partner for customers operating essential life sciences and healthcare facilities, and it has positioned TSS as a premier platform in its industry.

We are seeing strong interest in premium companies like TSS that provide regulatory-driven TICC services, as investors continue to seek resilient businesses providing non-deferrable services, said Brian Lucas, a managing director in the Harris Williams Business Services Group. We look forward to following TSSs evolution as it executes on its many organic and inorganic growth initiatives with its new partner.

TSS represents another successful outcome for Harris Williams and exemplifies the firms ability to work seamlessly across industry groups, bringing together the necessary deal team knowledge and experience to drive a premium outcome, said Paul Hepper, a managing director in the Harris Williams Healthcare & Life Sciences (HCLS) Group.

Founded in 1970, TSS is a leading provider of TICC services to customers in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare and other life sciences end markets. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, TSS provides on-site technical services mandated to occur at regular intervals to ensure all clients remain in compliance with regulatory standards. TSSs services are performed across the lifecycle of a customer facility and ensure the compliant operation of controlled environments such as clean rooms, bio-safety cabinets, medical gas systems, high-purity water systems, laboratory equipment, and more.

Edgewater is a private equity firm with over $2.8 billion of capital commitments raised since 2001. Through Edgewater Growth Capital Partners, the firm partners with management to help accelerate growth in their businesses. Edgewater is headquartered in Chicago.

JZ has an established track record of investing alongside the owners and management teams of privately held businesses to build successful companies and create long-term value. The principals of JZ have made more than 300 investments, representing an aggregate of over $4 billion, since 1986. JZ is headquartered in Chicago and New York.

LLCP is a middle market private equity firm with a 39-year track record of investing across various targeted sectors, including franchising, business services, education, and engineered products. LLCP utilizes a differentiated Structured Private Equity investment strategy, combining debt and equity capital investments in portfolio companies. This unique structure provides a less dilutive solution for management teams and entrepreneurs, while delivering growth and income with a significantly lower risk profile.

LLCPs global team of dedicated investment professionals is led by nine partners who have worked at LLCP for an average of 19 years. Since inception, LLCP has managed approximately $12.9 billion of institutional capital across 15 investment funds and has invested in over 100 portfolio companies. LLCP currently manages $9.0 billion of assets and has offices in Los Angeles; New York; Chicago; Charlotte, North Carolina; Miami; London; Stockholm; The Hague; and Frankfurt, Germany.

Harris Williams, an investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, advocates for sellers and buyers of companies worldwide through critical milestones and provides thoughtful advice during the lives of their businesses. By collaborating as one firm across Industry Groups and geographies, the firm helps its clients achieve outcomes that support their objectives and strategically create value. Harris Williams is committed to execution excellence and to building enduring, valued relationships that are based on mutual trust. Harris Williams is a subsidiary of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC).

Harris Williams LLC is a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is a private limited company incorporated under English law with its registered office at 8th Floor, 20 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB, UK, registered with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales (registration number 07078852). Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH is registered in the commercial register of the local court of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, under HRB 107540. The registered address is Bockenheimer Landstrasse 33-35, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (email address: [email protected]). Geschaftsfuhrer/Directors: Jeffery H. Perkins, Paul Poggi. (VAT No. DE321666994). Harris Williams is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC, Harris Williams & Co. Ltd and Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH conduct business.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005985/en/

For media inquiries, please contact Julia Moore at [email protected].

Source: Harris Williams
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla arrived in Rwanda Tuesday evening ahead of the main sessions of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the capital Kigali.

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall landed at Kigali International Airport at around 8:45p.m.

Their royal highnesses' maiden trip to Rwanda had earlier Tuesday been confirmed by their office. "The Prince and The Duchess will arrive in Kigali today for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting," a brief statement posted on their official twitter handle @ClarenceHouse reads in part.

"CHOGM2022 convenes leaders from the 54 Commonwealth countries to reaffirm common values and agree on policies to improve the lives of its 2.5 billion citizens," it adds.

His Royal Highness Prince Charles was received by Johnson Busingye, the Ambassador of Rwanda in the UK at Kigali International Airport on Tuesday, June 21,2022. Photo by Olivier Mugwiza

According to the Political, Communications and Programmes Officer at the British High Commission in Kigali, Robert Kamuratsi, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will on Wednesday visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial. There, the will lay a wreath in honour of the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and sign the memorial gust book.

Prince Charles is also today expected to travel to Bugesera for several engagements, including visits to Ntarama Genocide Memorial, as well as a reconciliation village and an agricultural project, according to Kamuratsi.

"My wife and I much look forward to meeting Commonwealth leaders and, for the first time, being able to visit Rwanda," Prince Charles said in a statement earlier this month.

The Prince of Wales said that, "over the years, I have learned a great deal from the ideas, concerns and aspirations which people across the Commonwealth have so generously shared. I have been struck, time and again, by how many common threads there are between us."

He also outlined some of the most pressing global issues that need urgent attention, including climate change; supporting biodiversity and the regeneration of land; economic development; opportunities for the young; and gender equality.

"Too many members of the Commonwealth are amongst the world's most climate-vulnerable countries. As two out of three Commonwealth citizens are under the age of thirty there is a pressing need to find opportunities for our young people.

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"Taking shared responsibility to solve problems like these means the Commonwealth has the potential to make a profound difference in the lives of its citizens - and, in so doing, to be an unparalleled force for good in our world."

Prince Charles will use the opportunity to listen and continue to learn about some of the key issues that the countries of the Commonwealth face, according to the press release added.

Addressing the last CHOGM in London in 2018, The Queen, the Head of the Commonwealth, said, "We are one of the world's great convening powers: a global association of volunteers who believe in the tangible benefits that flow from exchanging ideas and experiences and respecting each other's point of view."

Commonwealth leaders meet for CHOGM every two years although this is the first time they're convening since 2018, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year's edition is running under the theme, 'Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming.'
CEO Evan Gappelberg and President Paul Duffy will be live at 1:00pm EST

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nextech AR Solutions Corp. (Nextech or the Company) (OTCQB: NEXCF) (CSE: NTAR) (FSE: N29), a Metaverse Company and leading provider of augmented reality (AR) experience technologies and services is pleased to announce that Nextech AR Solutions CEO Evan Gappelberg and President and Chairman of the Board Paul Duffy will join the NEXT SUPER STOCK Live! event hosted by the Wall Street Reporter.

They will discuss corporate updates, new contract growth, the spinout of augmented reality spatial mapping platform ARitize Maps and provide a Web 3.0 demo.

Livestream Details

Date: Thursday, June 23, 2022

Time: 1:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Attend here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50Ps0tMXez4

This event is a follow up to livestream events from the last several weeks:

June 16 - Nextech AR CEO Evan Gappelberg discusses the ARitize Maps spinout and answers questions from investors. Watch a replay of the event - click here

Nextech AR CEO Evan Gappelberg discusses the ARitize Maps spinout and answers questions from investors. Watch a replay of the event - click here June 8 - Nextech AR President, Paul Duffy provides a presentation of the ARitize Maps product. Watch the replay of the event - click here

Earlier this month, Nextech AR announced that they have entered into a binding letter agreement (the Agreement) which outlines the general terms and conditions of a proposed transaction pursuant to which PC 1, a capital pool company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (the TSXV), will enter into a business combination pursuant to which it shall acquire the assets of ARWAY (the Transaction). The principal asset of ARWAY is an application currently called ARitize Maps, a No-Code Web Based end to end Metaverse Creator Platform. The Agreement was negotiated at arms length and was effective as of June 1, 2022.

Nextech AR invites individual and institutional investors, as well as advisors and analysts to attend the livestream on Thursday June 23, 2022.

The livestream will also be archived and available for replay. NEXT SUPER STOCK Live! is Wall Street Reporters flagship investor conference series featuring presentations by a select group of companies which are at key inflection points, and at the threshold of explosive growth.

Latest News

About ARitize Maps

ARitize Maps is a mobile app, all-in-one no code real-world Metaverse creation tool, with self-generating augmented reality ("AR") mapping solutions for consumers and brands alike. The ARitize Maps offering will be paired with a no-code web based Creator Portal and SDK to form the Metaverse Experience Builder Platform (MEBP), launching to early adopters in July 2022. Creators can map, author and publish various Metaverse experiences ranging from wayfinding, to an array of AR experiences for exclusive branded activations. Learn more about ARitize Maps - click here

Watch the ARitize Maps tradeshow demo video - click here

With the ARitize Maps mobile app, anyone can spatially map their location within minutes, and populate it with interactive 3D content, augmented reality navigation, audio, text, images and more. Nextech provides a number of pre-loaded 3D objects, and creators can also upload their own OBJ/GLB files, and create their own 3D objects to populate their Metaverse. The platform has a Visual Position System (VPS) which Nextech refers to as Mapping and Localization where users can map and enable VPS in any area through the platform. Occlusion, Depth Sensing and segmentation are also available. Users can share their Metaverse with others, creating a new level of immersive interactivity for social, branding, advertising, gaming and more Metaverse experiences.

To learn more, please follow us on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, or visit our website: https://www.Nextechar.com.

About Nextech AR

Nextech AR Solutions is the engine accelerating the growth of the Metaverse. Using breakthrough AI, Nextech AR is able to quickly, easily and affordably ARitize (transform) vast quantities and varieties of existing assets at scale making products, people and places ready for interactive 3D use, giving creators at every level all the essential tools they need to build out their digital AR vision in the Metaverse. Our platform agnostic tools allow brands, educators, students, manufacturers, creators, and technologists to create immersive, interactive and the most photo-realistic 3D assets and digital environments, compose AR experiences, and publish them omnichannel. With a full suite of end-to-end AR solutions in 3D Commerce, Education, Events, and Industrial Manufacturing, Nextech AR is in a unique position to meet the needs of the worlds biggest brands and all Metaverse contributors.

Nextech funds the development of its AR and Metaverse growth initiatives through its e-Commerce platforms, which currently generate most of its revenue. Nextech's e-commerce platforms include: vacuumcleanermarket.com (VCM), infinitepetlife.com (IPL) and Trulyfesupplements.com (TruLyfe). VCM and product sales of residential vacuums, supplies and parts, and small home appliances sold on Amazon. These e-commerce platforms serve as an incubator for developing and testing Nextech's leading edge AR, AI and machine learning applications for powering next-generation e-commerce technology.

Forward-looking Statements

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain information contained herein may constitute forward-looking information under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, will be or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results will occur. Forward-looking statements regarding the completion of the transaction are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Nextech will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.

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Investor Relations

Lindsay Betts

[email protected]

866-ARITIZE (274-8493) Ext 7201

Source: Nextech AR Solutions Corp.
Launches a consultation on the potential reclassification of the MSCI Nigeria Indexes from Frontier to Standalone Markets status

Notes the evolution of clearing and settlement cycles across global markets

Continues to monitor the market accessibility of the Sri Lankan equity market

Reminds of the ongoing restrictions impacting the accessibility of the Russian equity market

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community, announced today the results of the MSCI 2022 Market Classification Review.

A significant portion of the deteriorations in market accessibility ratings during this years review were caused by the negative developments in Russia, which led to a complete inaccessibility of its equity market to international institutional investors. This resulted in the reclassification of the MSCI Russia Indexes from Emerging Markets to Standalone Market status in March 2022, said Dr. Dimitris Melas, Global Head of Index Research and Product Development and Chairman of the MSCI Index Policy Committee.

Consultation on Potential Reclassification of the MSCI Nigeria Indexes to Standalone Markets Status

MSCI announced today the launch of a consultation on a proposal for potential reclassification of the MSCI Nigeria Indexes from Frontier Markets to Standalone Markets status.

Since March 2020, accessibility issues have persisted in the Nigerian equity market. The repatriation of funds from investments in the market remains extremely difficult for foreign investors due to low liquidity in the Nigerian foreign exchange market. As a result, market participants have continuously expressed concerns related to the investability and replicability of the MSCI Nigeria Indexes.

There has been a continual and severe deterioration in the ability to repatriate funds from Nigeria. As a result, since May 2020, a special treatment has been in place to reduce the number of potential changes in the relevant MSCI Equity Indexes, said Mr. Craig Feldman, Global Head of Index Management Research and member of the MSCI Index Policy Committee. Given the prolonged nature of the issues affecting the markets accessibility, we have put forth the consultation to reclassify the MSCI Nigeria Indexes from Frontier Markets to Standalone Markets status.

MSCI welcomes feedback from market participants on this reclassification proposal until August 31, 2022.

Recent Developments in Securities Settlement Cycles

In 2022, India began transitioning its settlement cycle from T+2 to T+1. Additionally, both the US and Canada announced last year their proposals to migrate to a shorter settlement cycle, from T+2 to T+1.

Across selected equity markets, we have been observing that clearing and settlement mechanisms are transitioning towards shorter cycles, said Mr. Feldman. While in principle, investors may benefit from shorter settlement cycles, it is important to assess whether the ramifications of such changes introduce any obstacles such as pre-funding requirements or additional operational costs.

MSCI continues to closely monitor these developments and their potential impact and will release further communications as warranted.

Market Accessibility in Sri Lanka

Amidst the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka, and as a result of a lack of liquidity in the foreign exchange market, fund repatriation issues in the countrys equity market began to emerge this year. In response to these developments, in May 2022, MSCI introduced a special treatment to reduce the number of potential changes in the MSCI Sri Lanka Indexes.

MSCI continues to welcome feedback on the level of market accessibility of the Sri Lankan equity market and will consult with market participants to gather feedback if there are any further developments.

Deterioration in the Market Accessibility of the Russian Equity Market

A number of significant developments have led to a material deterioration in the accessibility of the Russian equity market. These included sanctions from several jurisdictions, restrictions on foreign investors ability to transact in securities on the Moscow Stock Exchange, and deterioration in the convertibility of the Russian Ruble into foreign currencies.

As a result, and following a consultation with the international investment community, MSCI reclassified the MSCI Russia Indexes from Emerging Markets to Standalone Markets status in March 2022.

MSCI will continue to monitor the developments in the Russian equity markets accessibility and will consult with market participants if there are any relevant changes in the markets conditions.

-Ends-

About MSCI

MSCI is a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community. With over 50 years of expertise in research, data, and technology, we power better investment decisions by enabling clients to understand and analyze key drivers of risk and return and confidently build more effective portfolios. We create industry-leading research-enhanced solutions that clients use to gain insight into and improve transparency across the investment process. To learn more, please visit www.msci.com.

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Media Inquiries

[email protected]

Sam Wang +1 212 804 5244

Melanie Blanco +1 212 981 1049

Laura Hudson +44 20 7336 9653



MSCI Global Client Service

EMEA Client Service + 44 20 7618.2222

Americas Client Service +1 888 588 4567 (toll free)

Asia Pacific Client Service + 852 2844 9333

Source: MSCI Inc.
BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

NOXXON Pharma N.V. (Euronext Growth Paris: ALNOX) (Paris: ALNOX), a biotechnology company focused on improving cancer treatments by targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME), announces the start of the parity period on June 27, 2022, following the approval of share consolidation at the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (EGM) on May 16, 2022.

Every 100 existing shares with a nominal value of 1 eurocent each will be consolidated and converted into 1 new share with a nominal value of 1 euro. Shareholding per shareholder will be rounded down to the nearest whole number of shares. During the parity period, a 30-day period starting on June 27, 2022, shareholders who do not hold a number of shares that is an exact multiple of 100 may deal with their fractional shares by purchasing or selling the existing shares with a par value of EUR 0.01. After this period, shareholders who have not obtained a number of shares that is an exact multiple of 100 will be compensated by their financial intermediary for their fractional entitlement. As required for the share consolidation settlement process, the exercise of options to acquire shares in the company (including financing instruments issued by the company that are convertible into shares) will be suspended from July 25 (noon) through July 29, 2022, and the company has informed the holders of such rights of the same. Shareholders will be able to trade their shares throughout the entire share consolidation process.

The existing shares with ISIN NL0012044762 will be admitted to trading on the Euronext Growth Paris market until July 27, 2022, the last day of trading of the existing shares. The shares resulting from the consolidation will be admitted to trading on the Euronext Growth Paris market as of July 28, 2022, the first day of trading of the new shares with ISIN NL0015000YE1.

The company has published on its website the FAQ and corporate action timetable to assist shareholders to make the appropriate decision.

About NOXXON

NOXXONs oncology-focused pipeline acts on the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the cancer immunity cycle by breaking the tumor protection barrier and blocking tumor repair. By neutralizing chemokines in the TME, NOXXONs approach works in combination with other forms of treatment to weaken tumor defenses against the immune system and enable greater therapeutic impact. NOXXONs lead program NOX-A12 has delivered final top-line data from a Keytruda combination trial in metastatic colorectal and pancreatic cancer patients published at the ESMO conference in September 2020 and in July 2021 the company announced its Phase 2 study, OPTIMUS, to further evaluate safety and efficacy of NOX-A12 in combination with Mercks Keytruda and two different chemotherapy regimens as second-line therapy in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. NOXXON is also studying NOX-A12 in brain cancer in combination with radiotherapy which has been granted orphan drug status in the US and EU for the treatment of certain brain cancers. GLORIA, a trial of NOX-A12 in combination with radiotherapy in newly diagnosed brain cancer patients who will not benefit clinically from standard chemotherapy has delivered top-line data from all three dose-escalation cohorts showing consistent tumor reductions and objective tumor responses. Additionally, GLORIA has been expanded to assess the benefit of NOX-A12 with other treatment combinations, radiotherapy + bevacizumab and radiotherapy + pembrolizumab. The companys second clinical-stage asset NOX-E36 is a Phase 2 TME asset targeting the innate immune system. NOXXON plans to test NOXE36 in patients with solid tumors. Further information can be found at: www.noxxon.com.

Keytruda is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.

Visit NOXXON on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About the GLORIA Study

GLORIA (NCT04121455) is NOXXONs dose-escalation, phase 1/2 study of NOX-A12 in combination with irradiation in first-line partially resected or unresected glioblastoma (brain cancer) patients with unmethylated MGMT promoter (resistant to standard chemotherapy). GLORIA further evaluates safety and efficacy of NOX-A12 three additional arms combining NOX-A12 with: A. radiotherapy in patients with complete tumor resection; B. radiotherapy and bevacizumab; and C. radiotherapy and pembrolizumab.

About the OPTIMUS Study

OPTIMUS (NCT04901741) is NOXXONs open-label two-arm phase 2 study of NOX-A12 combined with pembrolizumab and nanoliposomal irinotecan/5-FU/leucovorin or gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel in microsatellite-stable metastatic pancreatic cancer patients.

Disclaimer

Translations of any press release into languages other than English are intended solely as a convenience to the non-English-reading audience. The company has attempted to provide an accurate translation of the original text in English, but due to the nuances in translating into another language, slight differences may exist. Certain statements in this communication contain formulations or terms referring to the future or future developments, as well as negations of such formulations or terms, or similar terminology. These are described as forward-looking statements. In addition, all information in this communication regarding planned or future results of business segments, financial indicators, developments of the financial situation or other financial or statistical data contains such forward-looking statements. The company cautions prospective investors not to rely on such forward-looking statements as certain prognoses of actual future events and developments. The company is neither responsible nor liable for updating such information, which only represents the state of affairs on the day of publication.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220622005587/en/

For more information, please contact:

NOXXON Pharma N.V.

Aram Mangasarian, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer

Tel. +49 (0) 30 726247 0

[email protected]

Investor and Media Relations:

LifeSci Advisors

Guillaume van Renterghem

Tel. +41 (0) 76 735 01 31

[email protected]

NewCap

Arthur Rouille

Tel. +33 (0) 1 44 71 00 15

[email protected]

Source: NOXXON Pharma N.V
Initial data from GLORIA Phase 1/2 expansion arm of NOX-A12 in combination with radiotherapy and bevacizumab show reduced tumor size and radiographic partial response in 100% of patients

Strategic decision to concentrate current capabilities on advancing development of NOX-A12 in glioblastoma for fastest access to market and profitability

BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Regulatory News:

NOXXON Pharma N.V. (Euronext Growth Paris: ALNOX), a biotechnology company focused on improving cancer treatments by targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME), announced today an updated strategy to focus its capabilities on NOX-A12 in brain cancer (glioblastoma) and in particular on the triple combination of NOX-A12, radiotherapy and bevacizumab. This decision follows positive data generated in the GLORIA Phase 1/2 study, consisting of a dose-escalation part with NOX-A12 plus radiotherapy and a triple combination part with NOX-A12, radiotherapy and bevacizumab of which initial results are announced today.

The data from the GLORIA dose-escalation part of the trial (reported at ASCO 2022) showed that 90% of patients treated with NOX-A12 and radiotherapy achieved tumor size reductions; 40% of all were even reaching radiographic partial response (defined as 50% reduction in tumor size). The interim results from the triple combination part now further validate the safety and suggest even deeper and more sustained responses. All five patients that completed radiotherapy and are under NOX-A12/bevacizumab therapy achieved radiographic partial responses in the initial MRI scan. In two patients that have already been assessed at 4 and 6 months, respectively, these radiographic partial responses were maintained. Reductions in tumor size at latest time-points as assessed by an independent central reader range from -54.7% to -94.7%. NOXXON targets disclosure of detailed data, including longer follow-up at a scientific conference later this year.

With this strategy, NOXXON is aiming to maximize the opportunity to successfully develop NOX-A12 in glioblastoma, while also increasing potential returns to shareholders by considering fully self-financed clinical development, as well as global or partial geographic partnerships. Following this decision, all significant R&D activities on projects unrelated to glioblastoma will be placed on hold and alternative strategies will be defined over the coming months. Such alternatives include, without being limited to, Investigator Initiated Trials (IITs), local and global out-licensing, partnering for specific indications, and divestments. The planned Phase 2 OPTIMUS trial of NOX-A12 in pancreatic cancer has been fully approved in France and Spain and NOXXON aims to finalize discussions with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the design such that the trial could be initiated rapidly when appropriate financing is available.

"The impressive clinical data generated by our lead asset NOX-A12 in glioblastoma strongly suggest that this indication represents our fastest path to approval for NOX-A12. Additionally, preliminary data from tumor samples provided insight into the mechanism of action in patients and increased our confidence in the exceptional clinical potential of this compound. The data we are announcing today surpass our expectations as we observe not only 100% of patients with tumors shrinking, but also radiographic partial response in ALL currently evaluable glioblastoma patients, commented Aram Mangasarian, CEO of NOXXON. We will seek advice from regulators on the path to approval once the follow-up of these patients has matured further, likely in Q4 2022. We believe that these discussions will be crucial to determining the optimal regulatory path. NOXXON has consistently focused its operating efforts on research and development, increasing R&D's proportion of operating costs from 58% back in 2016 to 79% in 2021. We have now decided to focus our spending on NOX-A12 in glioblastoma in order to maximize the chances of reaching the market as soon as possible and helping patients and physicians fight this aggressive cancer, which has one of the most devastating prognoses. "

The GLORIA Phase 1/2 expansion arm in triple combination of NOX-A12, radiotherapy and bevacizumab in glioblastoma has completed recruitment of 6 patients and anticipates top line data on the six patients to be available in Q4 2022. The recruitment of patients into the arm with pembrolizumab is ongoing. Data from the dose escalation and expansion arms will form the basis for discussions with the FDA and European regulators to discuss pathways to marketing authorization.

"Since my arrival in November 2021, I have been continually impressed by the dedication of the NOXXON team and continue to be excited by the strength of the data NOX-A12 generates in very challenging-to-treat cancers such as glioblastoma. We have had very promising discussions with potential investors in Europe and the US while waiting for the data to confirm the robustness of NOXXONs therapeutic impact. I believe the data presented over the last few weeks speak for themselves," said Bryan Jennings, CFO of NOXXON. The strategic decision NOXXON has made to intensify and focus its efforts on our lead asset is the right decision for our company and our board at a time where funding for biotech has become very difficult. We look forward to reinitiating discussions with a broad range of investors and financially securing the anticipated clinical success of NOX-A12 in glioblastoma.

About NOXXON

NOXXONs oncology-focused pipeline acts on the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the cancer immunity cycle by breaking the tumor protection barrier and blocking tumor repair. By neutralizing chemokines in the TME, NOXXONs approach works in combination with other forms of treatment to weaken tumor defenses against the immune system and enable greater therapeutic impact. NOXXONs lead program NOX-A12 has delivered final top-line data from a Keytruda combination trial in metastatic colorectal and pancreatic cancer patients published at the ESMO conference in September 2020 and in July 2021 the company announced its Phase 2 study, OPTIMUS, to further evaluate safety and efficacy of NOX-A12 in combination with Mercks Keytruda and two different chemotherapy regimens as second-line therapy in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. NOXXON is also studying NOX-A12 in brain cancer in combination with radiotherapy which has been granted orphan drug status in the US and EU for the treatment of certain brain cancers. GLORIA, a trial of NOX-A12 in combination with radiotherapy in newly diagnosed brain cancer patients who will not benefit clinically from standard chemotherapy has delivered top-line data from all three dose-escalation cohorts showing consistent tumor reductions and objective tumor responses. Additionally, GLORIA has been expanded to assess the benefit of NOX-A12 with other treatment combinations, radiotherapy + bevacizumab and radiotherapy + pembrolizumab. The companys second clinical-stage asset NOX-E36 is a Phase 2 TME asset targeting the innate immune system. NOXXON plans to test NOXE36 in patients with solid tumors. Further information can be found at: www.noxxon.com.

Keytruda is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.

Visit NOXXON on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About the GLORIA Study

GLORIA (NCT04121455) is NOXXONs dose-escalation, phase 1/2 study of NOX-A12 in combination with irradiation in first-line partially resected or unresected glioblastoma (brain cancer) patients with unmethylated MGMT promoter (resistant to standard chemotherapy). GLORIA further evaluates safety and efficacy of NOX-A12 three additional arms combining NOX-A12 with: A. radiotherapy in patients with complete tumor resection; B. radiotherapy and bevacizumab; and C. radiotherapy and pembrolizumab.

About the OPTIMUS Study

OPTIMUS (NCT04901741) is NOXXONs open-label two-arm phase 2 study of NOX-A12 combined with pembrolizumab and nanoliposomal irinotecan/5-FU/leucovorin or gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel in microsatellite-stable metastatic pancreatic cancer patients.

Disclaimer

Translations of any press release into languages other than English are intended solely as a convenience to the non-English-reading audience. The company has attempted to provide an accurate translation of the original text in English, but due to the nuances in translating into another language, slight differences may exist. Certain statements in this communication contain formulations or terms referring to the future or future developments, as well as negations of such formulations or terms, or similar terminology. These are described as forward-looking statements. In addition, all information in this communication regarding planned or future results of business segments, financial indicators, developments of the financial situation or other financial or statistical data contains such forward-looking statements. The company cautions prospective investors not to rely on such forward-looking statements as certain prognoses of actual future events and developments. The company is neither responsible nor liable for updating such information, which only represents the state of affairs on the day of publication.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220622006008/en/

For more information:

NOXXON Pharma N.V.

Aram Mangasarian, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer

Tel. +49 (0) 30 726247 0

[email protected]

Investor and Media Relations:

LifeSci Advisors

Guillaume van Renterghem

Tel. +41 (0) 76 735 01 31

[email protected]

NewCap

Arthur Rouille

Tel. +33 (0) 1 44 71 00 15

[email protected]

Source: NOXXON Pharma N.V.
80% scope 1-2 emissions reduction by 2030, compared to 2020

100% renewable electricity by 2030

25% emissions reduction in value chain, upstream and downstream, compared to 2020

Aim for carbon-neutral operations by 2030, on top of SBTI-approved targets

AALST, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

Ontex [Euronext: Ontex], a leading provider of personal hygiene products and services in more than 110 countries, applauds that the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) has approved its climate action targets. SBTI confirms that the Ontex climate targets are consistent with the latest climate science needed to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement - limiting global warming to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels and continuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5C. SBTI is a collaboration between the United Nations Global Compact, the World Wide Fund for Nature, the World Resources Institute and the Carbon Disclosure Project.

Lowering greenhouse gas emissions across the value chain

Ontex will reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions (absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions*) by 80% by 2030 compared to a 2020 baseline. Ontex also commits to increase annual sourcing of renewable electricity from 75% in 2020 to 100% by 2030. In addition to the SBTI-approved target, Ontex aims to achieve zero emissions by 2030 by offsetting the remaining emissions from its operations.

Ontex also commits to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from purchased goods and services, upstream transportation and distribution, and disposal of used products by 25% from a 2020 baseline by 2030 (absolute Scope 3 emissions). Ontex aims to reduce carbon emissions in its supply chain by working with its suppliers and focusing on sustainable product design and more efficient transportation.

Essential to long-term business success

"By aiming for carbon neutral operations in 8 years, we want to contribute to keep global warming under control. Achieving our climate goals is essential to our long-term business success and aligns with our corporate purpose," said Esther Berrozpe, CEO of Ontex. "Ontex will have more opportunities to innovate and become more competitive in an economy that is moving ever faster to zero carbon, especially in our core markets," said Annick De Poorter, Executive Vice President Innovation and Sustainability at Ontex.

Early success towards 2030: 91% of the electricity used in Ontexs factories comes from renewable sources

Ontex is committed to keeping global warming below 1.5C through energy savings, on-site renewable energy generation, purchasing energy from renewable sources and offsetting carbon emissions through reforestation projects. Through energy savings and other measures, Ontex has already reduced its own carbon emissions (Scope 1-2 emissions) by 40% in 2021 compared to 2020. 91% of the electricity Ontex uses to power 18 factories on 5 continents comes from renewable sources. This includes in-house power generation with rooftop solar installations in Spain, Belgium and Mexico, as well as a new solar installation in Italy, the largest solar installation in the country for on-site power consumption. Ontex is also committed to reducing the impact of emissions caused by the incineration of used diapers and is implementing compostability projects for its diaper pads.

*The target includes biogenic emissions and removals from bioenergy feedstocks.

***

About Ontex

Ontex is a leading international provider of personal hygiene solutions, with expertise in baby care, feminine care and adult care. Ontexs innovative products are distributed in more than 110 countries through leading retailer brands, lifestyle brands and Ontex brands. Employing some 9,000 people all over the world, Ontex has a presence in 21 countries, with its headquarters in Aalst, Belgium. Ontex is listed on Euronext Brussels and is part of the Bel Mid. To keep up with the latest news, visit ontex.com or follow Ontex on LinkedIN, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

About the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTI)

The Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi) is a climate action partnership between Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Climate targets are considered science-based if they are in line with what the latest climate science deems necessary to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement  limiting global warming to well-below 2C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5C.

https://sciencebasedtargets.org/companies-taking-action

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220621005860/en/

Contact information

Media Maarten Verbanck +32 492 72 42 67

[email protected]

Investors Geoffroy Raskin +32 53 33 37 30

[email protected]

Source: Ontex
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- nVent Electric plc (NYSE: NVT) (nVent), a global leader in electrical connection and protection solutions, today announced that former nVent Director Ronald Merriman has been named to the 2022 National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Directorship 100. The Directorship 100 list recognizes directors who serve as role models in promoting exemplary board leadership, oversight and courage in the boardroom.

Ron served as a director of nVents board since the spin in May of 2018. He joined Pentairs Board of Directors in 2004 and has had a long history with the business. Ron was a key contributor to help nVent spin as an independent company, navigate through the challenges of the pandemic and provide valuable mentorship to the nVent management team. Ron  thank you for being a valued leader, partner and director. Congratulations on this prestigious recognition, said nVents Chief Executive Officer Beth Wozniak.

Ronald L. Merriman

Ronald L. Merriman served on nVents Board of Directors from the companys launch until May 2022 and is the former Chair of nVents Audit and Finance Committee. Mr. Merriman is a retired Vice Chairman and partner of KPMG LLP, a global accounting and consulting firm, where he held various leadership roles from 1967 to 1997. At KPMG LLP, Mr. Merriman served as a Vice Chairman of the Executive Management Committee. He also led KPMGs Global Transportation and Logistics Practice and its Global Healthcare Practice and served as its U.S. Liaison Partner for Asia. More recently, Mr. Merriman founded Merriman Partners, a management advisory firm, in 2003 and served as its managing partner from 2004 to 2011. Prior to that, he served as managing director of OMelveny and Meyers LLP, a global law firm, as Executive Vice President of Carlson Wagonlit Travel, and as President of Ambassador Performance Group, Inc. Mr. Merriman has served as a director of Realty Income Corporation since 2005.

NACD

NACD is a nonprofit membership organization for corporate directors that work together to serve as trusted catalysts of economic opportunity and positive change.

About nVent

nVent is a leading global provider of electrical connection and protection solutions. We believe our inventive electrical solutions enable safer systems and ensure a more secure world. We design, manufacture, market, install and service high performance products and solutions that connect and protect some of the world's most sensitive equipment, buildings and critical processes. We offer a comprehensive range of enclosures, electrical connections and fastening and thermal management solutions across industry-leading brands that are recognized globally for quality, reliability and innovation. Our principal office is in London and our management office in the United States is in Minneapolis. Our robust portfolio of leading electrical product brands dates back more than 100 years and includes nVent CADDY, ERICO, HOFFMAN, RAYCHEM, SCHROFF and TRACER. Learn more at www.nvent.com.

nVent, CADDY, ERICO, HOFFMAN, RAYCHEM, SCHROFF and TRACER are trademarks owned or licensed by nVent Services GmbH or its affiliates.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220622006018/en/

Stacey Wempen

Director, External Communications

nVent

763.204.7857

[email protected]

Source: nVent Electric plc
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Starlight Investments Capital LP (Starlight Capital) announced today that as of the date of this news release, Stone Investment Group Limited (Stone) cannot satisfy the closing condition to maintain a minimum of $630 million of assets under management (AUM Condition) as required pursuant to the arrangement agreement made as of April 7, 2022 between Starlight Capital, Stone, Stone-SIG Acquisition Limited, 13613429 Canada Inc., and 13909841 Canada Inc., as amended May 6, 2022 (the "Arrangement Agreement").

In the event that the AUM Condition is not satisfied prior to June 30, 2022, Starlight Capital does not currently intend to complete the transaction unless at least 10,500 of Stones outstanding 9.0% senior unsecured debentures (the Debentures) are irrevocably deposited by 5:00 pm on June 24, 2022 to the offer launched on November 29, 2021, as amended, by Stone-SIG Acquisition Limited for $800 per Debenture (as amended on December 15, 21, 22 and 27, 2021, and January 28, March 31 and May 19, 2022, the Stone Offer).

Richard Stone, the Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Stone, has executed and delivered a letter of transmittal to deposit under the Stone Offer all 728 Debentures that he beneficially owns, subject to acceptance in conjunction with the closing of the transactions pursuant to the Arrangement Agreement. As of the date of this news release, Starlight Capital has been advised by Stone-SIG Acquisition Limited that it now holds letters of transmittal in respect of 7,192 Debentures.

Forward-looking statements

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: the Debentures, the Stone Offer, whether further Debentures will be tendered to the Stone Offer, whether the AUM Condition will be satisfied under the Arrangement Agreement and whether Starlight Capital will complete the transactions contemplated under the Arrangement Agreement. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: the ability of the parties to the Arrangement Agreement to satisfy their closing conditions, general business, economic and social uncertainties; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments and other risks outside of Starlight Capitals control. Although Starlight Capital believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except as required by applicable laws, Starlight Capital disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

About Starlight Capital and Starlight Investments

Starlight Capital is an independent asset management firm offering mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, offering memorandum funds and structured products. Our goal is to deliver superior risk adjusted returns to investors through a disciplined investment approach, Focused Business Investing. Starlight Capital is a wholly owned subsidiary of Starlight Investments. Starlight Investments is a privately held, full service, multi-family and commercial real estate investment and asset management company. The firm manages over $25.0 billion of direct real estate as well as real estate investment securities on behalf of institutional joint ventures as well as publicly listed REITs, closed-end funds and investment funds, and is driven by an experienced team of over 360 professionals. Please visit us at www.starlightcapital.com and connect with us on LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220622006065/en/

Dennis Mitchell

Chief Executive Officer & Chief Investment Officer

416-855-2642

[email protected]

Graeme Llewellyn

Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer

1-416-855-2643

[email protected]

Source: Starlight Investments Capital LP
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- On June 15th, the Miami Dade Board and Code Administration Division sent an advisory to all building officials in Miami Dade County to not accept Brazilian plywood bearing the PS-1 stamp as a means of indicating code compliance. This is a result of a federal courts permanent injunction barring longtime Brazilian plywood certifier PFS-TECO from any further operations due to their certification of substandard plywood imported from Brazil.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005874/en/

The Advisory Memo speaks for itself:

A case between US Structural Plywood Integrity Coalition and PFS Corporation was recently adjudged. On May 23rd, 2022, the United States District Court Southern District of Florida ordered the New York based company doing business as PFS TECO barred from licensing any PS-1 grade stamps to Brazilian plywood manufactures permanently or until the injunction is lifted. Reference attached Case No 19-62225-CIV- ALTMAN.

The APA Product Advisory Group conducted a series of test on imported plywood products from Brazil bearing the PS-1 stamp and concluded the plywood did not comply with the standards for structural grade in the US. See attached APA Product Advisory.

Building officials and inspectors should be made aware of these inferior Brazilian Plywood products bearing the PS-1 stamps and not accept these stamps as a means of indicating code compliance.

A copy of the Advisory Memo is attached. A copy is also available on Miami-Dade Countys website.

Forestwood Industries has replaced PFS-TECO in an attempt to circumvent the permanent injunction and allow the importation and sale of substandard, unsafe plywood from Brazil. This week, the U.S. Structural Plywood Integrity Coalition filed a motion for preliminary injunction against Forestwood Industries to stop it from continuing PFS-TECOs illegal practices. For further information, contact either Mike Haglund of Haglund Kelley LLP at 503-358-1281 or Gray Skipper of Scotch Plywood Company, Inc. at 334-636-4424.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005874/en/

Haglund Kelley LLP

Mike Haglund, 503-358-1281

or

Scotch Plywood Company, Inc.

Gray Skipper, 334-636-4424

Source: Haglund Kelley LLP
BankFirst Capital Corporation (OTCQX: BFCC) ("BankFirst" or the "Company"), parent of BankFirst Financial Services (the "Bank"), today announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement with Tate Financial Corporation ("Tate"), the parent company of Sycamore Bank, Senatobia, Mississippi ("Sycamore Bank"), under which BankFirst will acquire Tate and Sycamore Bank. The transaction has been approved by the board of directors of each company, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022, and is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval from the shareholders of Tate and bank regulatory authorities.

In making the announcement, BankFirst's President and Chief Executive Officer, Moak Griffin, said, "The acquisition of Sycamore Bank will be another milestone in the implementation of our strategic plan to serve our customers and communities and increase shareholder value. In addition, we believe this merger furthers our vision of partnering with other community banks that have strong core deposit funding and a tradition of relationship banking, customer service and community involvement. Together, the combined company will have over 256 years of community banking experience in Mississippi. We expect this merger to enhance our ability to continue investing in our products and services, ensuring that we remain competitive on all fronts as the banking industry continues to change and evolve."

After the merger is completed, the Bank will have 41 locations serving Mississippi and Alabama, and have assets in excess of $2.5 billion.

M. J. "Jay" Tindall, Jr., Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Tate and Sycamore Bank, commented, "Tate Financial Corporation and Sycamore Bank are excited to be partnering with a relationship-focused financial institution that has a rich history of supporting its communities and which will provide all Sycamore Bank clients with the same friendly service they are accustomed to and a wider array of services, products and locations. This presents an opportunity for our customers to enjoy expanded locations and convenience with the same quality banking services that they have come to expect." Following the merger, Mr. Tindall will remain with the Bank, serving as the Bank's North Mississippi Regional Executive Officer.

BankFirst was advised by Olsen Palmer, LLC as financial advisor and Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is serving as its legal counsel. Tate was advised by Gerrish Smith Tuck, PC as financial advisor and legal counsel, and Southard Financial, LLC provided a fairness opinion to the Tate board of directors.
Cruise, an autonomous vehicle company backed by General Motors (NYSE: GM), has officially gone commercial this week as they began charging for rides in its self-driving taxis.

The company said that driverless rides are currently taking place with most riders in the Northwest section of San Francisco. The service is currently only available in San Francisco, but a spokesperson for the company said that Cruise will continue expanding our paid service in alignment with the smoothest customer experience possible.

The company announced on June 2nd that they received the first-ever Driverless Deployment Permit granted by the California Public Utilities Commission, making them the first and only company to operate a commercial, driverless ridehail service in a major U.S. city.

The cost for riding in one of Cruises driverless vehicles will vary depending on the length of the trip and the time of day. According to an example provided by the company, a customer taking a 1.3-mile trip would pay $0.90 per mile and $0.40 per minute, in addition to a $5 base fee and 1.5 percent city tax, for a total of $8.72.

The company is currently prohibited from offering rides in its driverless vehicles during daytime hours, requiring a safety drive to be behind the wheel. However, nighttime trips are allowed to be fully driverless.

Cruise is also now allowing riders to bring a guest on their trip (previously, rides were limited to just the account holder).

By Michael Elkins
Add Five Units to an Invest529 Account by June 30 and Get a Bonus Unit!

Richmond, Va., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Time is running out for Virginia families to purchase Tuition Track Portfolio Units at the 2021-22 pricing. June 30 is the last day to purchase Units before the price shifts.

The Tuition Track Portfolio is an exclusive Invest529 program option for Virginia residents designed to track the average tuition growth at Virginia Public 4-year Universities (Average Tuition) and protect families savings by avoiding market risk.

Choose how many Units (or fractions of Units) to purchase year-round, and the Units will have the same value no matter where a student goes to school, whether it is a 2-year or 4-year public, or private college or university, in-state or outside of Virginia. For every 100 Units purchased, families will receive the value equal to one year of Average Tuition when their student attends college.

To celebrate the summer break, and to reward families for saving for the future, Virginia529 has launched the Tuition Track High 5 Giveaway.

Add five Units to a new or existing Tuition Track Portfolio account (a roughly $700 contribution) by June 30, 2022, and families will get a BONUS Unit (a roughly $140 contribution). *

Officially launched in early 2021, the Tuition Track Portfolio has resonated with families looking for a flexible investment option that allows them to take the guesswork out of college savings.

Visit Virginia529.com for details and to read the terms and conditions for the Tuition Track High 5 Giveaway.

*Virginia529 will make a $140 contribution/1.01 Unit to qualifying Invest529 Tuition Track Portfolio accounts that have added five or more Units to a new or existing Invest529 Tuition Track Portfolio account, a value of $694.20 by June 30, 2022, and are in good standing on July 6, 2022.

**Virginia529 will contribute the Bonus Unit to qualifying Invest529 accounts on or about July 29, 2022.

About Virginia529 College Savings Plan:

Virginia529SM makes education more accessible and affordable for families and individuals. With more than $91 billion in assets under management and 3 million accounts as of May 31, 2022, Virginia529 is the largest 529 plan in the country. Two flexible, affordable, tax-advantaged programsInvest529SM and CollegeAmericaand early commitment scholarship program SOAR Virginia --assist students of any age in reaching their higher education goals. For more information on Virginia529s education savings options, visit Virginia529.com or call 1-888-567-0540 to obtain program materials. These include information on Virginia529 programs, investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information; read and consider them carefully before investing. All investments are subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest. Virginia529 encourages prospective participants to seek the advice of a professional concerning any financial, tax or legal implications related to opening an account. For residents of states other than Virginia: before investing, you should consider whether your or the beneficiarys home state offers any state tax or other state benefits such as financial aid, scholarship funds, and protections from creditors that are only available for investments in that states qualified tuition program. 2022 Virginia College Savings Plan. All Rights Reserved.

# # #
CHICAGO, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chief Learning Officer announced last night during its virtual gala the rankings of the 54 LearningElite winners for 2022. For 12 years, this award program has honored the best organizations in learning and development through rigorous peer-review and comprehensive data analysis.

All LearningElite organizations must score above the qualifying benchmark in five key performance areas that are core to learning and development: learning strategy, leadership commitment, learning execution, learning impact and business performance results.

Each organization is scored and ranked either a Gold, Silver or Bronze. Organizations that rank Bronze score above the benchmark in all five dimensions. Organizations are ranked Silver if they score above the benchmark in all dimensions and near the pinnacle in one or two dimensions. Gold organizations score above the benchmark in all of the dimensions and near the pinnacle in three or more dimensions.

Seven Editor's Choice awards are given out each year: one for each of the five LearningElite dimensions, one for Best Midsize Company and one for Best Small Company.

"It is with great honor that we recognize the organizations that are applying great dedication and creativity to the progression of learning and development amid such transformative times," said Ashley St. John, editor-in-chief and chief content officer for Chief Learning Officer. "Today's workplace is unique, and we appreciate how these organizations are able to strategically channel their passion for this work into true business results."

Gold

ADP, Inc.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina

Accenture Plc.

Choice Hotels International

Ecolab, Inc.

Silver

ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Sidley Austin LLP

SWBC

Allied Universal

Cleveland Clinic Health System

ManTech International Corporation

Health Plan Workforce Development, Kaiser Permanente

SAP

PPD Clinical Research Services

Sam's Club Field Learning at The Walmart Academy

Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores

BKD CPAs & Advisors

State Compensation Insurance Fund

Cardinal Health, Inc.

KPMG LLP

University Health

Rosendin Electric Inc.

Mount Sinai Health System

MTM Inc.

Infosys Limited

Siemens AG

IBM Center for Cloud Training

Bronze

New York Life

CNO Financial Group

Zions Bancorporation, N.A.

Tennessee Valley Authority

Davenport University

Suntory Holdings Limited

Greenberg Traurig LLP

Round Room, LLC

Oncology Nursing Society

Baker Hughes Co.

Collaborative Solutions, LLC

Center for Development of Security Excellence, Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, DOD

Department of Veterans Affairs Acquisition Academy

Sysco Corporation

Deutsche Post DHL Group (DP DHL)

Viettel Academy

Syneos Health

Pure Storage Inc.

Trianz Digital Consulting Inc.

Tokio Marine HCC

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Keeley Companies

Grubhub Inc.

Kimball Midwest

Bill.com

RELX Group PLC

The Estee Lauder Companies

Editor's Choice

Learning Strategy: Blue Cross Blue Shield

Leadership Commitment: EcoLab

Learning Execution: ADP

Learning Impact: ADP

Business Performance: Accenture

Best Small Company: Choice Hotels

Best Mid-Size Company: Blue Cross Blue Shield

ADP joins Verizon (No. 1 in 2021) and AT&T (No. 1 in 2020) in the LearningElite Winner's Circle, consisting of previous No. 1s. The Organization of the Year is a part of the Winner's Circle for three years. Leaving the Winner's Circle this year is Nationwide (2019). Winner's Circle organizations may participate in benchmarking but are not included in the ranking or banding. After three years, the organization may once again participate.

The LearningElite program was created with guidance from a group of senior-level learning leaders, practitioners and CLOs to be a comprehensive evaluation of organizational L&D.

###

About Chief Learning Officer

Chief Learning Officer is dedicated to serving as a platform and vehicle for C-suite and senior-level learning and development professionals to connect and advance in the profession and their personal careers. We are by CLOs, for CLOs.

Contact

Taylar Ramsey-Thompson

[email protected]

Related Images

Image 1: LearningElite 2022 LearningElite 2022

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

Attachment

LearningElite 2022 LearningElite 2022

Source: Chief Learning Officer
BOSTON, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Russian invasion of Ukraine has captured the attention of the US and its European allies. Based on expert observations HX Global has seen, some have warned that China might take the opportunity to make a similar move on Taiwan.

Relations between China and Taiwan have been on a deteriorating trend over the past few years. Since the split between Taiwan (Republic of China -ROC) and mainland China (Peoples Republic of China -PRC), Beijing has long viewed the island of Taiwan as a rightful part of its territory and has expressed plans to reunify Taiwan with the mainland eventually. Despite occasional flare-ups in diplomatic tensions over issues such as Taiwans potential independence, both sides have maintained cross-strait relations, mutually benefiting their economies, trade, and cultural sectors over the past decades.

However, Taiwanese officials have described current tensions between the two as the worst in 40 years. On April 12, Taiwans military reportedly issued a civil defense handbook aimed at educating the public on what to do in case of nationwide emergencies such as military conflict. Taiwanese policymakers have also accelerated discussion around reforming its reservist and conscription training to increase the overall readiness of its military.

The successful reclamation of Taiwan as its territory would allow the Chinese government to use Taiwan as a strategic buttress against the containment policy by the US and its military allies such as Japan and South Korea. Reclaiming Taiwan will also allow China to expand its maritime-territorial boundaries in the region and give it greater power projection in the South and East China Sea, as well as further into the western Pacific. US military officials are concerned that this would pose a threat to US military bases as far as Guam and Hawaii, as well as to US freedom of Navigation (FON) operations in the region.

US engagement with Taiwanese leaders has also hardened Chinas One-China Policy stance, provoking an increased frequency of Chinese naval drills in nearby waters as well as military flight incursions into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ). On June 21, twenty-nine Chinese aircraft, including six H-6 bombers and an electronic intelligence gathering plane, entered Taiwans southwestern ADIZ.

Should conditions deteriorate, businesses should:

Stay abreast of political developments and monitor reliable news or intelligence sources. Follow output from local media, embassy bulletins and establish a direct information network.

Ensure that detailed contingency options, business continuity, crisis management, and evacuation plans are in place.

Maintain an organizational public stance of neutrality to avoid unwanted attention where it does not compromise wider business initiatives.

Establish an internal communications plan. Consider setting up instant messaging groups where information can be quickly disseminated to employees in the event of a deterioration of the security environment.

Discuss and review Political Risk Insurance (PRI) coverage for policyholders in case of business losses in the event of a China-Taiwan conflict.

Download our comprehensive special advisory for more information. If you require assistance, please reach out directly to [email protected]. Our Global Security Operations Centre will be happy to help.

About HX GlobalHX Global, the U.S. division of Healix International, has been providing assistance and travel risk consultancy solutions to some of the worlds most well-known corporations, governments and NGOs for over two decades. HX Globals fully integrated team has the skill and experience to address the myriad risks facing todays travellers. Its combined medical, travel, and risk management expertise places HX Global in the unique position to deliver comprehensive, cost-effective solutions without compromising high-quality support for the end-user. To learn more, please visit https://hx-global.com.

Stephanie Hannon Vice President, Communications and Brand Strategy, Americas e: [email protected] t: +1 617 750 7907

Source: HX Global
TORONTO and GATINEAU, Quebec, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Converge Technology Solutions Corp. (Converge or the Company) (TSX: CTS) (FSE: 0ZB) (OTCQX: CTSDF) a software-enabled IT & Cloud Solutions provider, is pleased to announce the results of its annual general meeting of shareholders held on Thursday, June 23rd 2022 in accordance with the Toronto Stock Exchange Company Manual. The results of the vote at the Companys virtual annual meeting of shareholders held earlier today are set forth below.

i. Election of DirectorsBy resolution passed via ballot, the following 7 nominees were appointed as Directors of Converge to hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders of Converge , or until their successors are earlier elected or appointed. The results of the ballot were as follows:

Nominee # Votes For % Votes For # VotesWithheld % VotesWithheld Shaun Maine 105,994,803 99.74% 279,869 0.26% Thomas Volk 101,318,698 95.39% 4,893,474 4.61% Brian Phillips 82,480,345 77.61% 23,794,327 22.39% Nathan Chan 101,104,303 95.13% 5,170,369 4.87% Ralph Garcea 100,556,568 94.68% 5,655,604 5.32% Darlene Kelly 103,308,403 97.21% 2,966,268 2.79% Toni Rinow 88,212,884 83.00% 18,061,788 17.00%

ii. Appointment of AuditorsBy a resolution passed via ballot, Ernst & Young LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants, were appointed as auditors of Converge until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders of Converge . The results of the ballot were as follows:

# Votes For % Votes For # Votes Withheld % Votes Withheld 110,336,075 99.98% 19,646 0.02%

About Converge Converge Technology Solutions Corp. is a software-enabled IT & Cloud Solutions provider focused on delivering industry-leading solutions and services. Converges global solution approach delivers advanced analytics, application modernization, cloud, cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, and digital workplace offerings to clients across various industries. The Company supports these solutions with advisory, implementation, and managed services expertise across all major IT vendors in the marketplace. This multi-faceted approach enables Converge to address the unique business and technology requirements for all clients in the public and private sectors. For more information, visit convergetp.com.

For further information contact:Converge Technology Solutions Corp. Email: [email protected]Phone: 416-360-1495

Source: Converge Technology Solutions Corp.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cornish Metals Inc. (TSX-V/AIM: CUSN) (Cornish Metals or the Company), a mineral exploration and development company focused on its projects in Cornwall, United Kingdom, is pleased to announce that it has released its unaudited financial statements and management, discussion and analysis (MD&A) for the three months ended April 30, 2022. The reports are available under the Companys profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on the Companys website (www.cornishmetals.com).

Highlights for the three months ended April 30, 2022 and for the period ending June 22, 2022

(All figures expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated)

Completion of 10,159 meters of drilling within phased exploration program at the United Downs exploration project with results from first 3,927 meters of drilling reported to date, with further assay results to be reported when available;

Completion of financing for gross proceeds of 40.5 million ($64.8 million based on closest available exchange rate) (the Offering), including a strategic investment by Vision Blue Resources of 25.0 million ($40.0 million), to advance the South Crofty tin project (South Crofty) to a potential construction decision (news releases dated March 27, 2022 and May 23, 2022);

Issuance of second tranche of common shares pursuant to the restructuring of the deferred consideration relating to the acquisition of the South Crofty tin project and associated mineral rights (news release dated May 29, 2022); and

Mr. Tony Trahar nominated by Vision Blue Resources as its representative on the Board (news release dated June 5, 2022).

Richard Williams, CEO of Cornish Metals, stated, The completion of the 40m financing including a strategic investment by Vision Blue Resources last month opened a new chapter for the Company. As soon as the funds were received at the end of May, we wasted no time in starting to place orders for the new water treatment plant. The first recruits to our newly formed projects team will be joining us in the coming weeks and further appointments will be made to our mining and geological teams to enhance their capacities.

The next few months will be hard but rewarding work as we build the required framework for strong and capable project execution. I look forward to reporting on progress at South Crofty in due course.

In the meantime, the backdrop for tin pricing in the medium to long term remains favourable. Demand is expected to increase further as electrification gathers pace, with supply constraints showing no sign of abating.

Financial highlights for the three months ended April 30, 2022 and April 30, 2021

Three months ended (unaudited) April 30, 2022 April 30, 2021 (Expressed in Canadian dollars) Total operating expenses 627,115 894,549 Loss for the period 979,427 1,301,049 Net cash (used in) operating activities (625,384) (908,981) Net cash (used in) investing activities (1,184,673) (762,856) Net cash (used in) / provided by financing activities (555,449) 13,226,816 Cash at end of the period 4,286,535 11,511,900

Decrease in operating expenses impacted by $368,325 of costs relating to AIM listing incurred in comparative period which were not eligible for capitalization;

Higher operating expenses more generally relating to increased media/investor activities following last years AIM listing and preparatory work for the successful fundraise cornerstoned by Vision Blue Resources;

Costs of $576,786 and $230,723 capitalized in connection with the ongoing exploration program at United Downs and Carn Brea, respectively (excluding capitalized depreciation and other non-cash items);

Financing fees of $584,359 incurred by April 30, 2022 in connection with the fundraise which closed at the end of May 2022;

Gross proceeds raised from the Offering of 40.5 million ($64.8 million) received subsequent to the period end, following gross proceeds raised from the AIM listing in comparative period of 8.2 million ($14.4 million) (news release dated February 16, 2021); and

Recognition of foreign currency translation loss of $1,152,758 for those assets located in the UK when translated into Canadian dollars for presentational purposes.

Outlook

The proceeds raised from the Offering completed in May 2022 are being used to advance the South Crofty tin project to a potential construction decision within 30 months from closing of the Offering. The planned use of the proceeds from the Offering is to complete the dewatering program and Feasibility Study at South Crofty, evaluate downstream beneficiation opportunities and commence potential on-site early works in advance of a potential construction decision.

Within 30 months from the closing of the Offering, the Companys plans are as follows:

Construct the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in the first half of 2023 and thereafter complete the dewatering of the mine within 18 months;

Complete an underground drill program which is expected to commence in July 2022 in order to delineate a JORC compliant Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource and increase the Indicated and Inferred JORC Mineral Resource once access to the underground workings is obtained;

Complete a Feasibility Study using all reasonable commercial efforts on or before 31 December 2024;

Commence basic and detailed engineering studies, construction of the processing plant, refurbishment of underground facilities and other on-site early works; and

Evaluate downstream beneficiation opportunities in the UK and the rest of Europe.

Subject to the availability of financing, consideration will also be given to continuing with the Companys exploration program at United Downs and evaluating other near-surface, high potential, exploration targets within transport distance of the planned processing plant site at South Crofty.

ABOUT CORNISH METALS

Cornish Metals completed the acquisition of the South Crofty tin and United Downs copper / tin projects, plus additional mineral rights located in Cornwall, UK, in July 2016 (see Company news release dated July 12, 2016). The additional mineral rights cover an area of approximately 15,000 hectares and are distributed throughout Cornwall. Some of these mineral rights cover old mines that were historically worked for copper, tin, zinc, and tungsten.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

The technical information in this news release has been compiled by Mr. Owen Mihalop. Mr. Mihalop has reviewed and takes responsibility for the data and geological interpretation. Mr. Owen Mihalop (MCSM, BSc (Hons), MSc, FGS, MIMMM, CEng) is Chief Operating Officer for Cornish Metals Inc. and has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined under the JORC Code (2012) and as a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Mr. Mihalop consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

For additional information please contact:

In North America:

Irene Dorsman at (604) 200 6664 or by e-mail at [email protected]

In the UK: SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker) Tel: +44 203 470 0470 Richard Morrison Charlie Bouverat Grant Barker Hannam & Partners(Joint Broker) Tel: +44 207 907 8500 Matthew Hasson Andrew Chubb Ernest Bell BlytheRay (Financial PR/IR-London) Tel: +44 207 138 3204 Tim Blythe [email protected] Megan Ray [email protected]

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Richard D. WilliamsRichard D. Williams, P.Geo

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Caution regarding forward looking statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" including, but not limited to, statements in connection with the expected use of proceeds of the Offering, including in respect of certain work programs, expected construction, including in respect of the WTP, and the potential completion of a Feasibility Study on the South Crofty mine and the timing thereof, the exploration program at United Downs and other exploration opportunities surrounding the South Crofty tin project, expected recruitment of various personnel, and expectations respecting tin pricing and other economic factors. Forward-looking statements, while based on managements best estimates and assumptions at the time such statements are made, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to receipt of regulatory approvals, risks related to general economic and market conditions; risks related to the COVID-19 global pandemic and any variants of COVID-19 which may arise; risks related to the availability of financing when required and on terms acceptable to the Company and the potential consequences if the Company fails to obtain any such financing, such as a potential disruption of the Companys exploration program(s); the timing and content of upcoming work programs; actual results of proposed exploration activities; possible variations in Mineral Resources or grade; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes, title disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry; changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, tax rules and regulations.

Although Cornish Metals has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Cornish Metals undertakes no obligation or responsibility to update forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information pursuant to Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 as amended.

CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED INTERIM STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION

(Unaudited)(Expressed in Canadian dollars)

April 30, 2022 January 31, 2022 ASSETS Current Cash $ 4,286,535 $ 6,922,704 Marketable securities 1,574,506 1,574,506 Receivables 140,449 107,230 Deferred financing fees 672,778 - Prepaid expenses 353,680 231,933 7,027,948 8,836,373 Deposits 52,959 42,448 Property, plant and equipment 6,128,901 6,437,175 Exploration and evaluation assets 21,175,960 20,772,029 $ 34,385,768 $ 36,088,025 LIABILITIES Current Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 929,675 $ 613,178 Lease liability 3,594 4,204 Commitment to issue shares 6,076,200 6,041,525 7,009,469 6,658,907 Lease liability - 667 NSR liability 8,767,363 8,717,330 15,776,832 15,376,904 SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY Capital stock 56,846,350 56,846,350 Share subscriptions received in advance 30,000 - Capital contribution 2,007,665 2,007,665 Share-based payment reserve 630,265 630,265 Foreign currency translation reserve (1,326,881 ) (174,123 ) Deficit (39,578,463 ) (38,599,036 ) 18,608,936 20,711,121 $ 34,385,768 $ 36,088,025

CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED INTERIM STATEMENTS OF LOSS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS

(Unaudited) (Expressed in Canadian dollars)

Three months ended April 30, 2022 April 30, 2021 EXPENSES Accretion $ - $ 15,764 Advertising and promotion 110,878 52,925 Depreciation 443 22,109 Finance cost - 3,895 Insurance 33,509 21,784 Office, miscellaneous and rent 28,978 21,883 Professional fees 169,597 412,674 Generative exploration costs 333 - Regulatory and filing fees 21,244 68,883 Share-based compensation - 51,796 Salaries, directors fees and benefits 262,133 222,836 Total operating expenses (627,115 ) (894,549 ) Interest income 743 192 Foreign exchange loss (353,055 ) (406,692 ) Loss for the period (979,427 ) (1,301,049 ) Foreign currency translation (1,152,758 ) (210,502 ) Total comprehensive loss for the period $ (2,132,185 ) $ (1,511,551 ) Basic and diluted loss per share $ (0.01 ) $ (0.01 ) Weighted average number of common shares outstanding: 285,850,157 248,501,072

CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED INTERIM STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Unaudited) (Expressed in Canadian dollars)

For the three months ended April 30, 2022 April 30, 2021 CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES Loss for the period $ (979,427 ) $ (1,301,049 ) Items not involving cash: Accretion - 15,764 Depreciation 443 22,109 Share-based compensation - 51,796 Finance cost - 3,895 Foreign exchange loss 353,055 406,692 Changes in non-cash working capital items: Increase in receivables (33,218 ) (47,393 ) Increase in prepaid expenses (28,727 ) (54,245 ) Increase (decrease) in accounts payable and accrued liabilities 62,490 (6,550 ) Net cash used in operating activities (625,384 ) (908,981 ) CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES Acquisition of property, plant and equipment (2,661 ) (75,671 ) Acquisition of exploration and evaluation assets (1,171,500 ) (670,970 ) Increase in deposits (10,512 ) (16,215 ) Net cash used in investing activities (1,184,673 ) (762,856 ) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES Proceeds from AIM listing - 14,244,206 Proceeds from fundraising received in advance of share issue 30,000 - Proceeds from warrant exercises - 184,750 Share issue costs - (1,066,126 ) Increase in deferred financing fees (584,359 ) - Conversion of royalty option costs - (111,730 ) Lease payments (1,090 ) (24,284 ) Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (555,449 ) 13,226,816 Impact of foreign exchange on cash (270,663 ) (396,680 ) Change in cash during the period (2,636,169 ) 11,158,299 Cash, beginning of the period 6,922,704 353,601 Cash, end of the period $ 4,286,535 $ 11,511,900

CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED INTERIM STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY

(Unaudited) (Expressed in Canadian dollars)

Number of shares Amount Share subscriptions received in advance Capital contribution Share-based payment reserve Foreign currency translationreserve Deficit Total Balance at January 31, 2021 149,918,585 $ 40,737,065 $ 189,902 $ 2,007,665 $ 846,212 $ 239,028 $ (35,687,896 ) $ 8,331,976 Share issuance pursuant to AIM listing 117,226,572 14,434,108 (189,902 ) - - - - 14,244,206 Share issue costs - (1,506,824 ) - - - - - (1,506,824 ) Warrant exercises 2,275,000 184,750 - - - - - 184,750 Share-based compensation - - - - 51,796 - - 51,796 Foreign currency translation - - - - - (210,502 ) - (210,502 ) Loss for the period - - - - - - (1,301,049 ) (1,301,049 ) Balance at April 30, 2021 269,420,157 $ 53,849,099 $ - $ 2,007,665 $ 898,008 $ 28,526 $ (36,988,945 ) $ 19,794,353 Balance at January 31, 2022 285,850,157 $ 56,846,350 $ - $ 2,007,665 $ 630,265 $ (174,123 ) $ (38,599,036 ) $ 20,711,121 Commitment to issue shares pursuant to the Offering - - 30,000 - - - - 30,000 Foreign currency translation - - - - - (1,152,758 ) - (1,152,758 ) Loss for the period - - - - - - (979,427 ) (979,427 ) Balance at April 30, 2022 285,850,157 $ 56,846,350 $ 30,000 $ 2,007,665 $ 630,265 $ (1,326,881 ) $ (39,578,463 ) $ 18,608,936

Source: Cornish Metals Inc.
ROUYN-NORANDA, Quebec, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLOBEX MINING ENTERPRISES INC. (GMX  Toronto Stock Exchange, G1MN  Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Berlin, Munich, Tradegate, Lang & Schwarz, L&S Exchange, TTM Zone, Stock Exchanges and GLBXF  OTCQX International in the USA) is pleased to announce that all five nominees listed in its 2022 management information circular were re-elected as directors at Globexs annual and special meeting of shareholders held today in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec.

At the meeting, the following individuals were re-elected as directors of Globex on a vote by ballot, with the following results:

Nominee Votes For Votes Withheld Jack Stoch 17,372,089 25,918 Dianne Stoch 15,655,707 1,742,300 Ian Atkinson 12,827,007 4,571,000 Chris Bryan 15,622,007 1,776,000 Johannes H. C. van Hoof 17,383,707 14,300

Director biographies are available in the Management section of Globexs website at www.globexmining.com.

At the meeting, Globexs shareholders also appointed MNP LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants as Globexs auditor.

A resolution in the form annexed as Schedule B to the Corporations management information circular dated May 17, 2022 (the Circular), approving the 2022 Directors Deferred Share Unit Plan of the Corporation, was adopted on a vote by ballot as follows:

Votes For Votes Against Number % Number % 17,204,914 98.89 193,093 1.11

A resolution in the form annexed as Schedule C to the Circular, approving the 2022 Executive Deferred Share Unit Plan of the Corporation, was adopted on a vote by ballot as follows:

Votes For Votes Against Number % Number % 15,395,314 88.49 2,002,693 11.51

This press release was written by Jack Stoch, Geo., President and CEO of Globex.

We Seek Safe Harbour. Foreign Private Issuer 12g3  2(b) CUSIP Number 379900 50 9LEI 529900XYUKGG3LF9PY95 For further information, contact: Jack Stoch, P.Geo., Acc.Dir.President & CEOGlobex Mining Enterprises Inc.86, 14th StreetRouyn-Noranda, Quebec Canada J9X 2J1 Tel.: 819.797.5242Fax: 819.797.1470 [email protected] www.globexmining.com

55,467,917 shares issued and outstanding

Source: Globex Mining Enterprises Inc.
COLUMBUS, OH, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intellinetics, Inc. (OTCQB: INLX) (the Company) announced that the Companys 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders on June 22, 2022, at 10 a.m. was convened and adjourned, without any business being conducted, due to lack of the required quorum.

A quorum consists of a majority of the shares entitled to vote. There were fewer than a majority of shares entitled to vote present, either in person or by proxy at this meeting. The Annual Meeting therefore had no quorum and was adjourned to 3:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Tuesday, July 19, 2022 at the offices of the Company, 2190 Dividend Drive, Columbus, Ohio, 43228 to allow additional time for the Companys stockholders to vote on the proposals set forth in the Companys definitive proxy statement filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on May 2, 2022.

Only stockholders of record as of the record date, April 27, 2022, are entitled to and are being requested to vote. At the time the annual meeting was adjourned, proxies had been submitted by stockholders representing approximately 29% of the shares of the Companys common stock outstanding and entitled to vote at the annual meeting. Proxies previously submitted in respect of the annual meeting will be voted at the adjourned annual meeting unless properly revoked, and stockholders who have previously submitted a proxy or otherwise voted need not take any action.

The Company encourages all stockholders of record on April 27, 2022, whom have not yet voted, to do so by July 18, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time). Shareholders who have any questions or require any assistance with completing a proxy or voting instruction form or who do not have the required materials, may contact us at the phone number or email address below.

If the number of additional shares of common stock voted at the adjourned Annual Meeting is not sufficient to reach a quorum, the Company intends to adjourn the Annual Meeting again, which will require the Company to incur additional costs.

Important Information

This material may be deemed to be solicitation material in respect of the Annual Meeting to be reconvened and held on July 19, 2022. In connection with the Annual Meeting, the Company filed a definitive proxy statement with the SEC on May 2, 2022. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISIONS, SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE ANNUAL MEETING. The definitive proxy statement was mailed to shareholders who are entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting. No changes have been made in the proposals to be voted on by stockholders at the Annual Meeting. The Companys proxy statement and any other materials filed by the Company with the SEC can be obtained free of charge at the SEC's website at sec.gov or the Companys website intellinetics.com/2022-proxy-materials/.

About Intellinetics, Inc.Intellinetics, Inc., located in Columbus, Ohio, empowers organizations to manage, store and protect their important documents and data. The company offers its IntelliCloudTM content management platform, in addition to business process outsourcing (BPO), document and micrographics scanning services, and records storage. Intellinetics guides companies through the digital transformation process to reduce risk, strengthen compliance and enable anytime, anywhere access to mission critical forms and documents. From highly regulated industries like Healthcare/Human Service Providers, K-12, Public Safety, and State and Local Governments, to businesses looking to move away from paper-based processes, Intellinetics is the all-in-one, compliant, document management solution. For additional information, please visit www.intellinetics.com.

CONTACT:Joe Spain, CFOIntellinetics, Inc. 614.921.8170 [email protected]

Source: Intellinetics, Inc.
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Last Energy, which designs, manufactures and commercializes a new fully modular small nuclear reactor, and Enea Group, a leader in the Polish power industry, today signed an agreement to jointly pursue the development of Last Energys 20 MWe small modular reactors in Poland. The agreement aims to expand the countrys access to clean, affordable power. The letter was signed at a public ceremony at Congress 590 in Warsaw with Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin, who also serves as Minister of State Assets.

This is a historic moment. We show that in practice we are building Poland's long-term energy security, said Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin, Minister of State Assets. We want nuclear energy  the traditional, large and state-built energy, as well as the micro-dimension  to be our future. Congratulations to Enea on finding a good and reliable partner who will help and guide them. This is the time that will decide whether we will win this race and Poland will retain its energy security.

Enea, a majority state-owned company and one of the largest energy companies in Poland, supplies energy to over 2.7 million customers across the country. The company is focused on the nations energy security, which is a chief concern as the nation transitions away from coal-fired power and reduces its reliance on imported gas and coal. Eneas agreement with Last Energy is aligned with Eneas Development Strategy, which provides for the creation of new business lines and aims for carbon neutrality by 2050. To achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, experts say that Polands rate of decarbonization should advance by a factor of four over the next eight years. Last Energys small modular reactors promise zero-carbon power innovation, in addition to low-cost power for the long-term.

Last Energy provides the full cycle of nuclear project development for customers like Enea  including design, construction, financing, service and maintenance of installations, fuel supply and waste collection and decommissioning of the power plant at the end of its operation. The companys power plant leverages a proven pressurized water reactor and fully modular plant design, a unique approach that dramatically reduces the time and cost of building nuclear power plants while delivering clean baseload energy. Using industry-proven technology and best practices across industries, Last Energys development model aims to deliver a power plant within 24 months of signing.

An urgent investment in nuclear generation capacity will allow countries to quickly diversify their energy mix and solidify zero-carbon energy security for our future generations, said Bret Kugelmass, CEO, Last Energy. Its incredibly encouraging to see this type of leadership from an organization like Enea, who shares our vision for affordable, clean and efficient baseload power. Scaling small modular nuclear power isnt 10 years away. The technology is proven and ready, now. We are proud to bring our innovative delivery model together with Eneas deep utilities expertise to usher in a new era of energy independence for Poland.

Last Energy is also in talks with governments, regulators and commercial energy partners across Europe, Latin America and Asia. In March of this year, Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced his country's intention to work with Last Energy to develop its innovative small modular reactor at the Mioveni site in that country.

With Last Energy, we will gain access to modern, scalable and, most importantly, emission-free electricity generation technology, said Pawel Majewski, CEO, Enea. Enea Group will be able to use the small modular reactor technology to build its own production capacity, and also to offer solutions for the industry and for Poland. Commercialization of SMR solutions will have a positive impact on energy security, the environment, and the competitiveness of the Polish economy. Enea's entry into the market of small, modular nuclear reactors will allow for the development of new business lines in the future.

About Last Energy

Last Energy is creating a new system for the development and delivery of small modular nuclear power plants. Combining proven reactor technology with a first-of-its-kind delivery model and fully modular plant design, Last Energy aims to decarbonize energy production and increase access to clean, affordable power.

Media:[email protected]

Source: Last Energy
Special Meeting called to consider and vote on the Proposed JV Transaction with Nouveau Monde Graphite

Shareholders also to consider and vote on a proposed change of business of Mason Graphite from a Tier 2 mining issuer to a Tier 2 investment issuer

Board recommends that shareholders vote FOR the Proposed JV Transaction with Nouveau Monde Graphite and the Proposed Change of Business

MONTREAL, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mason Graphite Inc. (Mason Graphite or the Company) (TSX-V: LLG) (OTCQX: MGPHF) today announced that it has filed and is in the process of mailing the management information circular (the Circular) and related materials for the special meeting (the Special Meeting) of shareholders of Mason Graphite (Shareholders) called for the following purposes:

(i) to consider and, if deemed advisable, to pass an ordinary resolution (the JV Resolution) approving, among other things, the entering into of an option and joint venture agreement with Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (Nouveau Monde) (NYSE: NMG) (TSX-V: NOU), pursuant to which (A) Mason Graphite will grant to Nouveau Monde a sole, exclusive, irrevocable and non-assignable option to acquire a fifty-one percent (51%) undivided co-ownership interest in the Lac Gueret property owned by the Company (the Lac Gueret Property) and other related assets (the Option) and, (B) upon the exercise of such Option by Nouveau Monde, form of a joint venture with Nouveau Monde to undertake exploration, development and mining activities at the Lac Gueret Property (the Joint Venture) (the granting of the Option and the formation of the Joint Venture being hereinafter referred to as the Proposed JV Transaction) pursuant to Policy 5.3  Acquisitions and Dispositions of Non-Cash Assets of the TSX Venture Exchange (the TSX-V);

(ii) to consider and, if deemed advisable, to pass an ordinary resolution (the COB Resolution) approving the change of business of the Company from a Tier 2 mining issuer to a Tier 2 investment issuer (the Proposed COB), pursuant to Policy 5.2  Changes of Business and Reverse Takeovers of the TSX-V (TSX-V Policy 5.2); and

(iii) to transact such other business as may properly come before the Special Meeting or any postponement or adjournment thereof, all as more particularly described in the Circular.

Background to the Proposed JV Transaction

On May 15, 2022, the Company and Nouveau Monde entered into an investment agreement (the Investment Agreement), pursuant to which, subject to the conditions contained in the Investment Agreement, the Company and Nouveau Monde have agreed to enter into an option and joint venture agreement (the OJV Agreement), providing, inter alia, for the grant by the Company of the Option and, upon the exercise of such Option by Nouveau Monde, the formation of the Joint Venture. The form of OJV Agreement is attached to the Investment Agreement, is available under the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and is summarized in the Circular.

Background to the Proposed COB

On September 2, 2021, the Company announced the closing of the acquisition, through Black Swan Graphene Inc. (Black Swan Graphene), a subsidiary of the Company, of strategic assets related to a patented graphene processing technology from Thomas Swan & Co. Limited (Thomas Swan). In addition to the assets related to the graphene processing technology and associated know-how sold to Black Swan Graphene, Thomas Swan agreed to contribute its exclusive production and commercialization expertise while providing access to subject matter expertise, such as access to personnel and technical support, and deliverables from its operation in Northern England pursuant to a services agreement entered into between Black Swan Graphene and Thomas Swan. Black Swan Graphene aims to establish a large-scale commercial production facility in the Province of Quebec, in order to leverage the provinces competitive and green hydroelectricity. On November 8, 2021, Black Swan Graphene completed a private placement of common shares for gross proceeds of approximately $3.0 million, including approximately $300,000 with insiders of Mason Graphite and Black Swan Graphene. As of the date hereof, Mason Graphite holds 7,750,000 common shares of Black Swan Graphene, representing 56.03% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Black Swan Graphene. It is expected that assuming the completion of the share exchange transaction between Black Swan Graphene and Dragonfly Capital Corp. initially announced on December 16, 2021 (the Qualifying Transaction), Mason Graphite will hold 117,800,000 common shares of the issuer resulting from such transaction, which is expected to represent approximately 41.3% of such issuers issued and outstanding common shares.

While (i) the completion by the Company of the Proposed JV Transaction and the Qualifying Transaction will result in the Company moving into a business that represents a vertical and horizontal business integration, respectively, and (ii) the Company does not believe that the Proposed JV Transaction and the Qualifying Transaction constitute a change of business (as defined in TSX-V Policy 5.2), it was determined to effect the Proposed COB for the following reasons:

it will confirm a shift the Company has made in the last two years, moving from a junior mining company to a company focused on seeking investment opportunities, as evidenced by decision by management and the Board of Directors of the Company (the  Board of Directors ) to pursue the Proposed JV Transaction and the Qualifying Transaction;

) to pursue the Proposed JV Transaction and the Qualifying Transaction; it is in line with managements experience in the mining sector and its strategy of developing vertical and horizontal integration in the mining industry, with a special focus on industrial and specialty minerals, notably battery-related materials and their by-products;

it will provide more flexibility to Mason Graphite to deploy that strategy; and

it will provide more options to Mason Graphite to continue to create value for its Shareholders and fund any work program on the Lac Gueret Property.

New Mason Graphite Following the Proposed COB

Investment Objectives and Strategy

The business plan of Mason Graphite upon completion of the Proposed COB (New Mason Graphite) will consist of seeking investment opportunities to continue to create value for its Shareholders.

New Mason Graphites investment objectives will be:

to seek an above average return on investment to continue to create significant value for its Shareholders;

to use investment income to fund other investment opportunities with attractive risk-to-reward profile; and

to create synergies among its investments, including its management involvement into the management, business, operations and strategies of its investment portfolio.

Investment Policy

The Board of Directors has adopted an investment policy (the Investment Policy) to govern its investment activities. The Investment Policy sets out, among other things, the investment objectives and strategy based on certain fundamental principles.

New Mason Graphites strategy will be to develop vertical and horizontal integration in the mining industry, with a special focus on industrial and specialty minerals, notably battery-related materials and their by-products. This approach will be achieved by: (i) leveraging the skillset and expertise of the Board of Directors and management to review, diligence and de-risk investment opportunities, and (ii) adopting a flexible approach to its investments.

The nature and timing of investments will depend, in part, on the investment opportunities identified and available to the Company. The composition of the Companys investment portfolio will vary over time depending on its assessment of a number of factors, including the demand for battery-related materials and other industrial and strategic minerals, the performance of financial markets and credit risk.

Available Funds

As of May 31, 2022, Mason Graphites investments consisted of:

7,750,000 common shares of Black Swan Graphene; and

approximately $8,500,000 in cash or cash equivalents (excluding any cash or cash equivalents of Black Swan Graphene).

Assuming the completion of the Proposed JV Transaction and the exercise or deemed exercise by Nouveau Monde of the Option pursuant to the OJV Agreement, New Mason Graphites investments will also include interests in the Joint Venture of 49.0%.

Based on the working capital of Mason Graphite (on an unconsolidated basis) of approximately $8,500,000 as at May 31, 2022, following completion of the Proposed COB and assuming the completion of the subscription by Nouveau Monde of common shares of the Company for $2.5 million concurrently with the execution of the OJV Agreement, Mason Graphite will have approximately $11 million available to fund its operations.

Upon the formation of the Joint Venture, New Mason Graphite anticipates using some of the funds available upon completion of the Proposed COB to fund work programs on the Lac Gueret Property. New Mason Graphite has not currently identified any other probable investment other than the Joint Venture and Black Swan Graphene.

Directors, Officers and Promoters

The officers and directors of New Mason Graphite on completion of the Proposed COB will be the current officers and directors of the Company. The following table sets out the name, municipality of residence, current position with the Company, and the number and percentage of Shares beneficially owned or over which control or direction is exercised by each of the Companys directors and officers as of June 16, 2022.

Name, Residence, Age, Year First Became Director and Shareholding Biography Fahad Al Tamimi Riyad, Saudi ArabiaAge: 69Director since June 11, 2020Chairman of the Board since December 29, 2020Non-IndependentShares: 13,517,337 (9.92%)Stock Options: 1,600,000 Fahad Al Tamimi is a Saudi-based businessman with global investment activities. He is President and CEO of SaudConsult, an engineering firm in Saudi Arabia responsible for many large infrastructure and construction projects in the country. Previously, he was a 50% partner of Worley Parsons Arabia, which undertook major projects in the mining, oil & gas and energy sectors, in Saudi Arabia, in the U.A.E. and in Bahrain. Mr. Al Tamimi has a BSc in Chemical Engineering and Master of Science in Petroleum & Civil Engineering from University of Houston, Texas. Peter Damouni London, United KingdomAge: 44Director since February 24, 2020Executive Director since December 29, 2020Non-IndependentShares: NoneStock Options: 1,600,000 Peter Damouni is an entrepreneur and financier with over 18 years of experience in investment banking and capital markets, including more than ten years as a director or officer of a number of private and public companies listed on the TSX, the TSX-V and the London Stock Exchange. Throughout his career, Mr. Damouni has taken a lead role in equity and debt financings. His expertise in financing, restructuring, strategy development and execution, mergers & acquisitions have been instrumental in creating significant value for shareholders.Mr. Damouni is a graduate of McGill University. He is a Canadian and British citizen, residing in the United Kingdom. Tayfun EldemQuebec, CanadaAge: 56Director since December 29, 2020IndependentShares: 18,333 (0.01%)Stock Options: 400,000 Tayfun Eldem brings over 30 years of operations, business development and strategic leadership experience in the mining and minerals industry. Mr. Eldem is currently the Group Executive Vice President Operations & Growth of Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation. He was a director of the Company from November 2012 to February 2016, including as Chairman of the Board from February 2013 until his resignation from the board of directors in February 2016 to pursue other interests.Mr. Eldem was President and Chief Executive Officer of Alderon Iron Ore Corp. and Managing Director of Iron Ore & Coal for Hatch Ltd., where he was responsible for business development across five regions of the world.Mr. Eldem is a professional engineer and holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from Dalhousie University along with Operations Management and Strategic Leadership certificates from the Richard Ivey School of Business and the London Business School, respectively. Nav Dhaliwal British-Colombia, CanadaAge: 47Director since December 29, 2020IndependentShares: NoneStock Options: 400,000 Nav Dhaliwal is a highprofile mining executive and capital markets expert with a long-running track record of success. Mr. Dhaliwal was the founding Chief Executive Officer of Quebecbased Bonterra Resources Inc., which made the awardwinning Gladiator discovery in Quebec. Mr. Dhaliwal raised over $140 million for Bonterra and played a key role in the companys market capitalization growth from $10 million to over $150 million. Mr. Dhaliwal is also the founder of the highly successful RSD Capital Corp., which invests in, and provides management and technical expertise to, public and preIPO companies. Roy McDowallQuebec, CanadaAge: 59Director since December 29, 2020IndependentShares: NoneStock Options: 400,000 Roy McDowall is a capital markets professional with over 25 years of experience with Canadianbased boutique and bank owned investment firms, and most recently served as Managing Director, Head of Equity Sales for Macquarie.Mr. McDowall is currently a senior officer of Turquoise Hill Resources Inc., a Montrealbased mining company with a market capitalization of approximately $2 billion listed on both the TSX and the New York Stock Exchange.Mr. McDowall holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. Francois PerronToronto, CanadaAge: 58Director since July 26, 2021IndependentShares: NoneStock Options: 400,000 Francois Perron is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Lucky Minerals Inc., a company listed on the TSX-V, since 2020, as well as Chairman of Northern Superior Resources Inc. since 2016 and President & Director of Goldstar Minerals Inc. since 2016, and each of which is a TSX-V-listed company advancing assets in the Province of Quebec. Prior to his corporate involvement, Mr. Perron was managing resource-focused portfolios for National Bank Alternative Investments and various resource funds for the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec from 2001 to 2007. In 2006, he was recognized by Brendan Woods International as a Top Gun Asset Manager in Mining.Mr. Perron holds a Bachelor of Science, Computer Science, from McMaster University (1986) and an MBA from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales in Montreal (1992).

Board Recommendation

The Board of Directors, after receiving advice from its outside legal counsel and financial advisors, determined that the Proposed JV Transaction is in the best interests of the Company and fair, from a financial point of view, to the Company. The Board of Directors, after consideration of a number of factors, determined that the Proposed COB is in the best interests of the Company. Accordingly, the Board of Directors unanimously recommends that the Shareholders vote FOR the JV Resolution and the COB Resolution.

Special Meeting and Circular

The Special Meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. (Montreal time) on July 14, 2022, in a hybrid format, in person at Le Germain Hotel Montreal, Room Pavillon, 3rd Floor, 2050 Mansfield Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1Y9, and virtually by live audio webcast at https://virtual-meetings.tsxtrust.com/1383, the password being mason2022 (case sensitive). Physical access and online access to the Special Meeting will respectively begin at 9:30 a.m. (Montreal time) on July 14, 2022. The Company is providing the virtual format in order to provide Shareholders with an equal opportunity to attend and participate at the Special Meeting, regardless of their geographic location or the particular constraints, circumstances or risks that they may be facing as a result of COVID-19.

The Company is actively monitoring the public health and travel safety concerns relating to COVID-19 and the advisories or mandates that federal, provincial and local governments, and related agencies, may issue. ln the event that it is not possible or advisable to hold the Special Meeting in person as currently planned, the Company may be required to hold a virtual-only Meeting, in which case the Company will announce the decision to do so via a press release and by posting details on the Companys website that will also be filed on the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 13, 2022 are entitled to receive notice of, to participate in, and to vote at the Special Meeting. Shareholders are urged to vote well before the proxy deadline of 10:00 a.m. (Montreal time) on July 12, 2022.

The Circular provides important information on the Proposed JV Transaction, the Proposed COB and related matters, including the background thereof, the rationale for the recommendations made by the Board of Directors, voting procedures and how to attend the Special Meeting. Shareholders are urged to read the Circular and its appendices carefully and in their entirety. The Circular is being mailed to Shareholders in compliance with applicable Canadian securities laws. The Circular is available on Mason Graphites profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Shareholder Questions and Assistance

Shareholders of Mason Graphite who have questions or require assistance regarding the Special Meeting should contact Kingsdale Advisors, Mason Graphites strategic shareholder advisor and proxy solicitation agent, who can be reached by toll-free telephone in North America at 1-800-749-9052, by collect call outside North America at 416-867-2272, or by email at [email protected].

About Mason Graphite

Mason Graphite is a Canadian corporation focused on the production and transformation of natural graphite. Its strategy includes the development of value-added products, notably for green technologies like transport electrification. The Company also owns 100% of the rights to the Lac Gueret deposit, one of the richest graphite deposit in the world. The Company is also the largest shareholder of Black Swan Graphene, a Canadian private company focusing on the large-scale production and commercialization of patented high-performance and low-cost graphene products aimed at several industrial sectors, including concrete, polymers, Li-ion batteries and others. For more information: www.masongraphite.com.

About Nouveau Monde

Nouveau Monde is striving to become a key contributor to the sustainable energy revolution. The company is working toward developing a fully integrated source of carbon-neutral battery anode material in Quebec, Canada, for the growing lithium-ion and fuel cell markets. With low-cost operations and enviable environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, Nouveau Monde aspires to become a strategic supplier to the world's leading battery and automobile manufacturers, providing high-performing and reliable advanced materials while promoting sustainability and supply chain traceability. Nouveau Monde is listed on the NYSE under the symbol NMG and on the TSX-V under the symbol NOU.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements made in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, but not limited to, statements with respect to the timing of the Special Meeting, and other statements that are not material facts. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as may, will, expect, believe, estimate, plan, could, should, would, outlook, forecast, anticipate, foresee, continue or the negative of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology.

Although the Company believes that the forward-looking statements in this news release are based on information and assumptions that are current, reasonable and complete, these statements are by their nature subject to a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from managements expectations and plans as set forth in such forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the following factors, many of which are beyond the Companys control and the effects of which can be difficult to predict: (a) the possibility that the TSX-V may not approve the Proposed JV Transaction or the Proposed COB, or that the Proposed JV Transaction may not be completed on the terms and conditions, or on the timing, currently contemplated; (b) the anticipated results of the Proposed COB; (c) the influence and level of participation that the Company will exercise in the management and operations of the Joint Venture; (d) the estimates of reserves and mineralization at the Lac Gueret Property; (e) the estimates of production; (f) the future price of graphite and other battery-related materials; (g) the impact of limited operating history of the Company as an investment issuer; and (h) other risks inherent to the Companys business and/or factors beyond its control which could have a material adverse effect on the Company or its ability to complete the Proposed JV Transaction or the Proposed COB. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive and other factors could also adversely affect its results. For more information on the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause the Companys actual results to differ from current expectations, please refer to the matters discussed under the Risk Factors section of the Circular, the Risks and Uncertainties section of the Managements Discussion and Analysis for the year ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, as well as the Companys other public filings, available under the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Mason Graphite disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Additional Information

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Completion of each of the Proposed JV Transaction and the Proposed COB is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, the TSX-V acceptance and if applicable, disinterested shareholder approval. Where applicable, the transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Proposed JV Transaction and the Proposed COB will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the Circular, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Mason Graphite should be considered highly speculative. The TSX-V has in no way passed upon the merits of the Proposed JV Transaction or the Proposed COB and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

For further information

Mason Graphite Inc.Paul Hardy, VP Corporate Development1-416-844-7365 ext. 3030,[email protected]

Source: Mason Graphite
TORONTO, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mount Logan Capital Inc. (NEO: MLC) (Mount Logan, our, we, or the Company) announced that at the annual and special meeting of shareholders held on June 23, 2022 (the Meeting), each of the five nominees listed in the management information circular dated May 26, 2022 were elected as directors of the Company. A total of 13,968,463 common shares or 62.95% of Mount Logans issued and outstanding common shares were voted in connection with the Meeting. The detailed results of the vote for each of the five elected directors are set out below.

Nominee Votes For Percentage of Votes For Votes Withheld Percentage of Votes Withheld Edward Goldthorpe 13,797,419 99.80% 27,700 0.20% Perry Dellelce 13,797,419 99.80% 27,700 0.20% Sabrina Liak 13,797,418 99.80% 27,701 0.20% Stephen Usher 13,797,419 99.80% 27,700 0.20% Rudolph Reinfrank 13,797,419 99.80% 27,700 0.20%

Furthermore, shareholders approved all other resolutions put before the Meeting as described in the Circular, being: (i) the re-appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as auditor; (ii) re-approval of the existing stock option plan of the Company, including all unallocated options, rights and other entitlements thereunder; (iii) re-approval of the existing performance and restricted share unit plan of the Company, including all unallocated awards, rights and other entitlements thereunder; and (iv) approving, confirming and ratifying the amendments to By-law No. 1 of the Company to, among other things, remove the Canadian residency requirement of directors of the Company.

Ted Goldthorpe, CEO and Chairman of Mount Logan, noted, We are pleased with the active participation of our shareholders in supporting our board members and our broader business plan. We aim to ensure continued support through growing our dialogue with existing and prospective shareholders.

About Mount Logan Capital Inc.Mount Logan Capital Inc. is an alternative asset management and insurance solutions company that is focused on public and private debt securities in the North American market and the reinsurance of annuity products primarily through its wholly-owned subsidiaries Mount Logan Management LLC and Ability Insurance Company. The Company also actively sources, evaluates, underwrites, manages, monitors and primarily invests in loans, debt securities, and other credit-oriented instruments that present attractive risk-adjusted returns and present low risk of principal impairment through the credit cycle.

This press release is not, and should not be construed as, an offer to sell or acquire any securities in any jurisdiction.

For additional information, please contact:

Jason RoosChief Financial Officer[email protected]

Mount Logan Capital Inc. 365 Bay Street, Suite 800Toronto, ON M5H 2V1

Source: Mount Logan Capital Inc.
Barentu, 21 June 2022- Over 700 Government employees in Logo-Anseba sub-zone extended financial support to 215 families of martyrs in connection with Martyrs Day.

Indicating that 107 thousand Nakfa was disbursed to the disadvantaged families of martyrs selected by area administrators and village coordinators, Mr. Abraham Hagos, secretary of PFDJ in the sub-zone, called for strengthened contribution.

The beneficiary families on their part expressed appreciation for the support they were provided.

The residents of 13 administrative areas in Logo-Anseba sub-zone also conducted popular campaigns at the Martyrs Cemeteries in their areas.

In the same vein, residents of Liban administrative area contributed 15 thousand 500 Nakfa in support of 31 families of martyrs.
YERINGTON, Nev., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nevada Copper (TSX: NCU) (OTC: NEVDF) (FSE: ZYTA) (Nevada Copper or the Company) is pleased to announce the results from its 2022 Annual General Meeting of shareholders (the Meeting), held today in Toronto. Shareholders holding a total of 225,979,047 common shares of the Company (Common Shares) were represented by proxy at the Meeting, representing approximately 50.39% of the total 448,452,759 Common Shares outstanding as of the record date. Shareholders voted in favour of all items of business before the Meeting.

Voting DetailsThe following seven persons were elected as directors of the Company until the next annual shareholder meeting of the Company or until their successors are elected or appointed, with the voting results shown below:

Director Votes For % For Votes Withheld % Withheld Tom Albanese 210,572,760 99.47% 1,128,966 0.53% Michael Brown 210,505,815 99.44% 1,195,911 0.56% Raffaele (Lucio) Genovese 207,071,423 97.81% 4,630,303 2.19% Stephen Gill 210,424,535 99.40% 1,277,191 0.60% Evgenij Iorich 207,184,409 97.87% 4,517,317 2.13% G. Ernest (Ernie) Nutter 207,450,889 97.99% 4,250,837 2.01% Kate Southwell 210,269,394 99.32% 1,432,332 0.68%

At the Meeting, the shareholders of the Company also (i) fixed the number of directors at seven for the ensuing year, and (ii) voted to appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Companys auditor and authorized the directors to fix their remuneration.

About Nevada Copper

Nevada Copper (TSX: NCU) is a copper producer and owner of the Pumpkin Hollow copper project. Located in Nevada, USA, Pumpkin Hollow has substantial reserves and resources including copper, gold and silver. Its two fully permitted projects include the high-grade Underground Mine and processing facility, which is now in the production stage, and a large-scale open pit project, which is advancing towards feasibility status.

Randy BuffingtonPresident & CEO

For additional information, please see the Companys website at www.nevadacopper.com, or contact:

Tracey Thom | Vice President, IR and Community Relations[email protected]+1 775 391 9029

Source: Nevada Copper Corp.
STAMFORD, Conn., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Noteworthy AI announced today that it is one of seven startups selected to be a part of Cohort 10 of the Joules Accelerator program. This will be Noteworthy AI's second accelerator this year, coming just after its acceptance into Dominion Energy Innovation Center's ("DEIC") 2022 Accelerate cohort last month.

"As we transition to a decarbonized future, an increasing number of distributed energy resources will come online," said Christopher Ricciuti, founder and CEO of Noteworthy AI. "We're humbled by our acceptance into the Joules Accelerator, which enables us to pilot our technology alongside industry leaders to help ensure that the distribution grid is up to the task."

The Joules Accelerator works closely with early-stage energy tech startups to find revenue-generating pilots and other commercialization opportunities. Its network members include Duke Energy, Microsoft, S&C Electric, EY, UNCC, the City of Charlotte, and more.

"As more utilities and corporates begin to think about decarbonization through the lenses of innovation, early-stage startups, and piloting fresh technologies, we are excited to bring the seven startups of Cohort 10 to the table. Only about 30% of decarbonization needs are currently met. To close the gap of the last 70%, we will need to lean on the innovators of today to get there," said Ryan Rutledge, Business Development Director at the Joules Accelerator.

This year, the program will kick off at Electrification 2022, hosted by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Charlotte, North Carolina. During this event, startups will participate in pitch events, workshops, and conversations around advancing a clean energy future.

Anne Haas, Program Co-Lead at EPRI, said, "Meeting the needs of our global energy future is going to depend on the ability to decarbonize, electrify, diversify  inherent in all of this is innovation. Electrification 2022 is focused next on the future, on innovation, where we're headed, what technologies can get us there and what challenges lie ahead."

About Noteworthy AI

Noteworthy AI, a Techstars portfolio company, provides AI-powered asset inspection and inventory analysis solutions for energy distribution grid operators. The company's cloud-based software and computer vision solution, Inspector, reduces the need for dedicated distribution asset inspections and mitigates risk at-scale while reducing cost. The Inspector hardware sensors and AI edge processing arrays mount on existing fleet vehicles and automatically geolocate, inventory, and identify pole-top component defects while vehicles perform routine operations, reducing the need to mobilize dedicated inspection teams. Learn more about Noteworthy AI and its mission here.

About Joules Accelerator

Joules Accelerator enables the growth of high-potential clean energy startups by facilitating training, mentoring and access to utilities, customers and key industry players through the bi-annual Catalyst Program based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since its 2013 founding, Joules Accelerator has supported the creation of 90 jobs, $15 million in investment and seven pilot projects. Learn more about the program here.

Media ContactChristopher RicciutiEmail: [email protected]Phone: 203.902.5256Website: https://noteworthy.ai/

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Sydney, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Proactive, provider of real-time news and video interviews on growth companies listed in Australia, has covered the following companies:

AuKing Mining Ltd (ASX:AKN) is continuing to advance its majority-owned (75%) Koongie Park Copper/Zinc Project in north-eastern Western Australia following a major resource upgrade in April. Click here

Red 5 Ltd (ASX:RED) continues to ramp-up the capacity of the processing plant at its new 2.4 million-ounce King of the Hills (KOTH) Gold Project in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Click here

Northern Minerals Ltd (ASX:NTU) has enhanced its rare earths and financing expertise with the appointment of Nicholas Curtis as executive chair and Bin Cai as executive director, effective immediately. Click here

archTIS Ltd (ASX:AR9) has surged 70% on signing a A$7 million contract with the Australian Department of Defence to expand and enhance the existing deployment on-premise of Kojensi, a highly secure, multi-level security platform for the secure sharing and collaboration of sensitive and classified files. Click here

Legacy Minerals Ltd (ASX:LGM) has kicked off a large-scale soil sampling campaign across low-sulphidation targets at Bauloora epithermal project in the prolific Lachlan Fold Belt of New South Wales. Click here

Aldoro Resources Ltd (ASX:ARN) has intersected shallow zones of lithium mineralisation during its maiden drilling program at the flagship Wyemandoo Critical Metals Project in Western Australia. Click here

Rumble Resources Ltd (ASX:RTR)'s joint venture partner AIC Mines Ltd has the drills spinning at Lamil Gold-Copper Project, 30 kilometres west of the Telfer gold-copper mine in the highly prospective Paterson Province of Western Australia. Click here

Hartshead Resources NL (ASX:HHR) has upgraded the gas resources of its Anning and Somerville fields to the reserve category following an independent technical and commercial audit conducted by ERC Equipoise (ERCE) on phase one development resources. Click here

Cooper Metals Ltd (ASX:CPM) is trading higher on intersecting shallow copper mineralisation in its maiden reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at King Solomon 1 prospect within the Mt Isa East Copper-Gold Project in northwest Queensland. Click here

Resource Mining Corporation Ltd (ASX:RMI) is evaluating the exploration potential of three projects in Finland as part of due diligence for a proposed acquisition. Click here

St George Mining Ltd (ASX:SGQ) continues to build momentum with a suite of exploration programs across its Western Australian projects, including the Paterson Copper-Gold project, Mt Alexander Nickel-Copper-Platinum Group Element (PGE) Project and Ajana Nickel-Copper-PGE project. Click here

Way2VAT Ltd (ASX:W2V) has received a funding grant for NIS 1.5 million (approximately A$625,000) from the Israeli Innovation Authority (IIA) to support research and development for the initial marketing and commercialisation of the Smart Spend Debit Mastercard. Click here

Dart Mining NL (ASX:DTM) has found spodumene is the primary lithium mineral within the lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) dykes at the Dorchap Lithium Project in Victoria. Click here

Miramar Resources Ltd (ASX:M2R) is expanding its land position at the Bangemall Project in Western Australia with the addition of tenement E08/3498, an adjacent application believed to be prospective for nickel-copper-platinum group element (PGE) mineralisation. Click here

Apollo Minerals Ltd (ASX:AON) will take a big step forward with regional exploration at the province-scale Kroussou Zinc-Lead Project in Gabon through an extensive airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey. Click here

Brookside Energy Ltd (ASX:BRK) has closed the books on a multi-stage stimulation mission at its high-impact Flames 3-10-1S-3W WXH1 Well  the third development well in the SWISH Area of Interest (AOI) in Oklahomas Anadarko oil and gas basin. Click here

About Proactive

Proactive is a unique tech-enabled platform providing companies globally with a comprehensive investor engagement solution across their business lifecycle.

With six offices on three continents, Proactive works with innovative growth companies quoted on the worlds major stock exchanges, helping executives to engage intelligently with investors.

In 2020, Proactive featured in 809 million search results, our content was viewed over 165 million times and our readers spent over 10 million hours on our websites. Proactive has produced over 300,000 articles and 20,000 executive interviews since it was established in 2006.

For more information on how Proactive can help you make a difference, email us at [email protected]

Source: Proactive
PORTSMOUTH, N.H., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Service CU Impact Foundation, the nonprofit charity arm of Service Credit Union, has selected 15 students to receive scholarships toward higher education for the 2022-2023 school year. A total of $50,000 in scholarships was awarded to 15 students who demonstrated exceptional commitment to their communities and academics.

The scholarship program is open to high school seniors planning to attend, or students already attending a two or four year university accredited by the U.S. Department of Education, who are members or dependents of members of Service Credit Union. Over 200 applications were submitted this year, which is more than double the amount submitted in 2021.

Five students will each receive a $5,000 scholarship and 10 will each receive a $2,500 scholarship.

The $5,000 winners include:

Molly Reed - Berry College

Anna Fernandez - University of Maryland

Madeline Priestly - University of Vermont

Jada Prinopoulos-Taylor - Wheaton College

Rory Cronen-Townsend - Oberlin College of Arts and Sciences

The $2,500 winners include:

Madilyn Cilley - Muhlenberg College

Felicia Page - New England College of Optometry

Alida Bates - University of New Haven

Abbie Tawalujan - Keene State College

Andrew Wagner - University of Virginia

Madison Broughton - New York University

Kiley York - Undecided

Annika Geiben Lynn - Northeastern University

Shu-tong Murray  American University

Anna Murray  Marist College

The application required each student to provide a college acceptance letter, a high school transcript, details about their school and community involvement, and answer an essay question. Applicants had a choice of questions to answer for their essay, including the value found in credit union membership, what charity they would start today, and how they would change banking products and services if they were President/CEO of Service CU. For the first time, applicants could choose to submit a written or video essay. This portion prompted the students to think about the top issue facing their generation and what the credit union could do to help. Many of the top-scoring responses revolved around themes of food insecurity, homelessness, environmental issues, inclusion, and mental health resources in school.

The Service CU Impact Foundation is committed to assisting deserving students in pursuing higher education and preparing for an exciting future, said Sarah Kuhl, Foundation Specialist. Hearing from these students was so impactful and insightful, and we cant wait to see where their education takes them.

About Service CU Impact Foundation

The Service CU Impact Foundation promotes community development by funding initiatives that deliver solutions and solve problems facing our membership and communities in which we serve. The foundation funds initiatives beyond what Service Credit Union supports, broadening the community reach and having a larger impact. We conduct charitable activities and partner with service providers who align with our philanthropic areas of focus: education, human services, and emergency care for veterans and the military. To learn more about the Service Credit Union Impact Foundation, visit www.servicecuimpactfoundation.org.

Contact: Anna BaskinService Credit Union603-559-2921 or [email protected]

Source: Service Federal Credit Union
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWire -- Sustain Southern California (Sustain SoCal), today announces that it will host the 9th Annual Driving Mobility Symposium (Driving Mobility 9") on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. The event will be held in person at UCI Beall Applied Innovation, 5270 California Ave. Irvine, CA 92617.

Driving Mobility 9 is the premier event focusing on evolving trends in mobility and advanced transportation. The event will host state-wide and regional leaders to share insights various topics, including electrification, V2X, hydrogen/fuel cell, OEM and investor trends, connected vehicles, mobility as a service, incentives, policy and legislation, and sustainability.

Jennifer Gress, Chief, Sustainable Transportation and Communities Division, CARB, will deliver the keynote speech entitled, Key transportation ingredients for a sustainable community. Invited industry speakers will present their views on the latest opportunities and challenges in 10 to 30-minute presentations, such as Path to Zero-Emission Transit; Heavy Duty Electrification; Mobility as a Service: A Case Study; Sustainable Aviation, among others. Towards the end of the presentation sessions, the Innovators Showcase will provide attendees with a chance to explore cutting-edge technologies presented by C-suite executives.

The event shall culminate in a live EXPO and reception. Attendees will be able to engage directly with industry thought-leaders, share insights and best practices with the leadership of innovative companies, and network with fellow professionals from California and nationally.

Now in its 9th edition, the Driving Mobility conferences have continued to excel and offer an exciting platform for industry participants across a variety of sub-sectors, says Scott Kitcher, President and CEO of Sustain SoCal. At Sustain SoCal, we are pleased to have contributed to the sustainability and economic discourse in the Southern California region and beyond. By having the privilege of being based at UCI Beall Applied Innovation, we have been wonderfully positioned to enable collaboration between state-of-the-art university resources and sector participants for nearly a decade. Attendees will most certainly benefit from the depth of presentations and operational insights that speakers offer.

For more information and registration details, visit:https://sustainsocal.org/events/event/driving-mobility-9/

List of Participating Companies:

Organization Website URL Arcadis https://www.arcadis.com/ Black and Veatch http://www.bv.com/ California Air Resources Board https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/ ChargePoint https://www.chargepoint.com/ Clay Lacy Aviation https://www.claylacy.com/ Commute with Enterprise https://www.commutewithenterprise.com/ eCamion https://www.ecamion.com/ ElectricFish https://www.electricfish.co/ Elevation Ventures https://elevationvc.com/ ENGIE https://www.engie.com/en Evolectric https://evolectricnow.com/ IQHi https://iqhibattery.com/ KIGT https://www.kigtinc.com/ LACI https://laincubator.org/ Orange County Power Authority https://www.ocpower.org/ Orange County Transportation Authority https://www.octa.net/ Parthian Energy https://www.parthianenergy.com/ Rexel Energy Solutions https://www.rexelenergy.com/ Sensagrate http://www.sensagrate.com/ South Coast Air Quality Management District http://www.aqmd.gov/ UC Irvine https://uci.edu/ Veloce Energy https://www.veloceenergy.com/ Virgin Galactic https://www.virgingalactic.com/ Volvo Group N.A. https://www.volvogroup.com/en/

About Sustain SoCal:Sustain SoCal, a non-profit organization, accelerates sustainability and economic growth through innovation, collaboration and education in Southern California. The organization has a ten-year history in exploring and implementing pragmatic, real-world solutions to the challenges created by growth, change and inefficiency. It conducts conferences, workshops and networking events that lead to initiatives that positively impact our regions economic progress and sustainability. For more information, please visit www.sustainsocal.org.

Media Contact:IBN (InvestorBrandNetwork)Los Angeles, Californiawww.InvestorBrandNetwork.com 310.299.1717 Office[email protected]

Source: Sustain SoCal
HERNDON, Va., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Valiant Integrated Services, a leading government services provider empowering critical missions for the U.S. government and its international partners, announced today that it has been awarded a 10-year, $255 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract from the U.S. Air Force to provide F-16 international aircraft maintenance and pilot differences training to United States Partner Nation Air Forces (PNAF) around the world.

This contract, activated by the 338th Enterprise Sourcing Squadron, consists of 100 percent Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and enables Valiant to provide pilot differences and aircraft maintenance training to deliver an operational capability to PNAF at continental U.S. and international locations.

"It's an honor to be selected to support the U.S. Air Force through the delivery of diverse pilot training and aircraft maintenance services to partner countries who have never flown the F-16, new F-16 pilots, and countries purchasing new or upgraded aircraft," Ashlee Dominguez, Vice President, Advanced Training Solutions at Valiant, said. "Our position on this contract provides the Air Force full access to Valiant's innovative training and maintenance solutions, and we look forward to a long and productive partnership."

"Valiant is proud to support the U.S. Air Force by delivering critical training support solutions to U.S. partners and allies worldwide," Dan Corbett, Valiant's Chief Executive Officer, added. "This award aligns with our strategy to expand into new and adjacent markets with extensive industry expertise. The FMS market has tremendous opportunity for growth for Valiant, and this win allows us to do what we do bestdeliver advanced training and readiness solutions efficiently, effectively, and with excellence."

About ValiantValiant empowers the world's most critical missions by training, equipping, protecting, sustaining, and supporting those who serve. Valiant's 5,000 employees enable government departments and agencies, global peacekeepers, relief workers, and disaster response teams to complete their missions efficiently and effectively in some of the most complex environments worldwide. Valiant is based in Herndon, Va., and deploys expertise for customers in the areas of Training, Simulation, and Readiness; Engineering and Analysis; Logistics and Sustainment; Mission and Contingency Operations; and Operations, Maintenance, and Management. For more information, visit www.onevaliant.com, and follow Valiant on LinkedIn or Facebook.

For media inquiries:Justin GarrisonDirector of Marketing & CommunicationsM: +1 864 607 5943E: [email protected]

Source: Valiant Integrated Services
PowerTap (NEO: MOVE) (OTC: MOTNF) (FWB: 2K6) today announced that BioQuest Corp. (OTC: BQST) and Progressus Clean Technologies Inc. have executed a letter of intent (LOI) whereby BioQuest shall acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Progressus, a private company incorporated in Delaware. PowerTap is a 49% owner of Progressus, a venture stage green technology company focused on the development of novel hydrogen generation and separation technologies. The LOI sets forth certain understandings between BioQuest, a Nevada corporation, and Progressus, a Delaware corporation, with respect to a proposed acquisition transaction or other reorganization transaction between the parties. Presently, BioQuest and Progressus intend that, subject to the negotiation, execution and delivery of a definitive agreement, satisfactory in all respects to both parties, and to the approval of the transaction by all corporate actions required by the respective parties, BioQuest will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Progressus and, in exchange, the Progressus shareholders shall receive shares of BioQuest.

To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/x3lPV

About PowerTap Hydrogen Capital Corp.

PowerTap Hydrogen Capital, through its wholly owned subsidiary, PowerTap Hydrogen Fueling Corp. (PowerTap), is focused on installing hydrogen production and dispensing fueling infrastructure in the United States. PowerTaps patented solution has been developed over 20 years. PowerTap is now commercializing its third-generation blue hydrogen product that will focus on the refueling needs of the automotive and long-haul trucking markets that lack hydrogen fueling infrastructure. There are currently under 100 operational publicly available hydrogen stations in the United States with most of the existing stations purchasing hydrogen from industrial manufacturers and shipping it to individual stations via tanker trucks. PowerTap Hydrogen common shares are listed on the NEO Exchange. Please visit the companys profile on the NEO Exchange website at https://www.neo.inc/en/live/security-activity/MOVE#!/market-depth.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to MOTNF are available in the companys newsroom at https://ibn.fm/MOTNF

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Delic Holdings (CSE: DELC) (OTCQB: DELCF) (FRA: 6X0), a leader in new medicines and treatments for a modern world, today confirmed details regarding Delic Corp CEO Matt Stangs virtual attendance at the first annual H.C. Wainwright Mental Health Conference on June 27, 2022. The inaugural event will be held at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel and feature a full day of company presentations, networking opportunities and one-on-one investor meetings with a focus on neuropsychiatry, psychedelics and more. During this years conference, Stang will present the companys strategic outlook for the remainder of the year and how the company is well-positioned to address the current mental health crisis. Stang will also discuss Ketamine Wellness Centers long-term growth strategy as the nations largest ketamine provider, as well as the companys latest patient programs such as the first-of-its-kind Veterans Administration (VA) partnership with the KWC Arizona clinics and the addition of SPRAVATO(R) and NAD+.

To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/0WOXn

About Delic Holdings Corp.

Delic is a leader in new medicines and treatments for a modern world, improving access to health benefits across the country and reframing the conversation on psychedelics. The company owns and operates an umbrella of related businesses, including the largest chain of psychedelic wellness clinics in the country, Ketamine Wellness Centers; the only licensed entity by Health Canada to exclusively focus on research and development of psilocybin vaporization technology, Delic Labs; the premier psychedelic wellness event, Meet Delic; and trusted media and e-commerce platforms Reality Sandwich and Delic Radio. Delic is backed by a team of industry and cannabis veterans and a diverse network, whose mission is to provide education, research, high-quality products, and effective treatment options to the masses. For more information, visit www.DelicCorp.com.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to DELCF are available in the companys newsroom at https://ibn.fm/DELCF

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 23, 2022) - American Aires Inc. (CSE: WIFI) (OTCQB: AAIRF) (the "Company" or "Aires") announces that further to its press release of May 9, 2022, the Company continues to work diligently to complete the filing of its audited annual financial statements, management discussion and analysis and certificates of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (collectively, the "Annual Continuous Disclosure Documents") which were due to be filed on May 2, 2022, and the interim financial statements, management discussion and analysis and certificates of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer for the period ended March 31, 2022 (collectively, the "Interim Continuous Disclosure Documents" and together with the Annual Continuous Disclosure Docuements, the "Continuous Disclosure Documents"), which were due to be filed on May 30, 2022. The Company anticipates that the Annual Continuous Disclosure Documents will be filed on or prior to July 29, 2022 and the Interim Continuous Disclosure Documents will be filed shortly thereafter.

The Ontario Securities Commission (the "OSC") issued a failure to file cease trade order ("CTO") against the Company on May 6, 2022, which orders that general trading, whether direct or indirect, of the securities of the Company cease. A copy of the CTO has been posted to the OSC website. The Company has experienced delays associated with the completion of its annual audit due to difficulties in obtaining third party shipping data from some of the Company's fulfillment centres. The Company is working with its auditors and third-party fulfillment centres to conclude the process at the earliest possible time.

Following the filing of the Continuous Disclosure Documents, the Company will file a revocation application to revoke the CTO. The Company will provide further updates as they become available.

About American Aires Inc.

American Aires Inc. is Canadian-based nanotechnology company which has developed proprietary silicon-based microprocessors that reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR). The technology was developed by a team of highly accredited scientists and confirmed by independent third-party validation including peer reviewed studies and publications in scientific journals. Aires' Lifetune products specifically target EMR emitted by consumer electronic devices such as cellphones, computers, baby monitors, Wi-Fi radiation, including the rapidly expanding next-generation high-speed 5G networks. Aires is listed on the CSE under ticker 'WIFI' and on the OTCQB under the symbol 'AAIRF'. Learn more at www.airestech.com.

On behalf of the board of directors

Company Contact:

Dimitry Serov, CEO

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: (905) 482-4667

Website: www.airestech.com

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Shares have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, or to or for the account or benefit of any person in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any common shares in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. We seek safe harbour.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Not intended for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of United States Securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/128722
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 22, 2022) - PeakBirch Commerce Inc. (CSE: PKB) (FSE: KYH) (OTCQB: PKBFF) ("PeakBirch" or the "Company"), an e-commerce technology company focused on bridging the gap between traditional and e-commerce stores, today announced that Marc Mulvaney is resigning from his role as Chief Executive Officer ("CEO"), and will be replaced by experienced sales executive Mohsen Rahimi as Interim CEO, effective immediately.

Mohsen brings over 8 years of experience in the health and wellness space, product management, customer care, sales, and marketing disciplines at early-stage startup companies. Most recently, Mr. Rahimi served as Vice-President of Victoria's Health Inc., helping to generate significant growth and revenues.

"I am ecstatic to join PeakBirch during a pivotal time in its development and plan on accelerating the business's growth. PeakBirch's charter to enable individual small businesses to earn more money by leveraging data while offering services consumers want is game-changing in today's rapidly shifting retail landscape," said Mohsen Rahimi, Interim CEO of PeakBirch. "During COVID the world embraced eCommerce shops. But there has been parallel interest in supporting local businesses and preserving the integrity of their communities. As this consumer shift takes place, PeakBirch is perfectly positioned at the nexus of this evolution. I am looking forward to building out PeakBirch's products, businesses, sales momentum, and technology as we strive to make PKB a powerhouse in this emerging market. I would like to thank Marc for his work to date."

PeakBirch also announced that Marc Mulvaney, who served as the CEO and a director of PeakBirch since September 2019, has stepped down from his position and the board of directors for personal reasons.

Kiran Sidhu, a director of PeakBirch, said, "We are pleased to appoint Mr. Rahimi as Interim CEO at this important time. We are confident that he will provide valuable insights and contributions to the growth of the business and return value to shareholders."

About Peakbirch Commerce Inc.

PeakBirch is a data and sales-driven technology organization with the goal of constructing a global micro-warehousing network for small businesses. This will enable shop owners to provide same-day delivery services to their customers and manage a pool of inventory within PeakBirch's proprietary A.I. platform and stock registry. We believe in empowering small businesses and fostering a strong community of entrepreneurs to compete within a shifting marketplace. Our innovative technologies will facilitate competition and engage a customer base eager to pivot to American-made products and services.

For more information on Peakbirch, please visit: www.peakbirch.com

CONTACT



Mohsen Rahimi, Interim CEO

Phone: (725) 218-3097

Email: [email protected]

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information and Statements

This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward-looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the cost of goods to be sold under the Company's drop-shipping model, changes in government regulations or enforcement, the ability for the Company to expand its U.S. operations or expand to international markets, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws. This press release contains forward- looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained herein include statements with respect to Mr. Rahimi in his new role as Interim CEO for the Company and future success of the Company under his leadership, statements regarding the Company's future plans and strategic initiatives and expected benefits thereof, and opinions, beliefs and expectations regarding the Company's business strategy, development and opportunities. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks various risk factors discussed in the Company's listing statement under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/128669
Nairobi  The average price of tea sold at the Mombasa auction has dropped to a record low of USD2.16 (Sh254), its lowest since the start of the year, a price way below the minimum price of Sh280 set by the Government in 2021.

Tea prices have been on the decline in the past five weeks in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war which has hurt tea demand, Russian traders have remained quiet at the auction for several weeks.

Data from the East Africa Tea Trade Association shows that the prices dropped from USD2.23 during the previous sale with the total volume offered for sale also marginally reducing by 620,719 to 8,887,849.

During a similar period a year ago, the total volume sold was 10,341,937 signaling a depressed harvest by farmers hit by poor weather.

EATTA said that 13,246,614.00 kilos were available for sale but only 8,887,849 Kilos were sold leaving 34 percent of packages unsold.

"There was a fairly good demand with improvement in some markets but at irregular rates with Egyptian and Pakistan traders showing good interest," EATTA Managing Director Edward Mudibo said.

"Yemen, other Middle Eastern countries, Kazakhstan, other CIS states, and the UK lent more support. Sudan was active while Bazaar and Afghanistan showed reduced inquiry," he added.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 23, 2022) - Xtra-Gold Resources Corp.(TSX: XTG) (OTCQB: XTGRF)("Xtra-Gold" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce assay results for an additional 24 diamond core boreholes totalling 3,553 metres from its ongoing Zone 3 resource expansion drilling program on the Company's wholly-owned Kibi Gold Project, located in the Kibi - Winneba greenstone belt (the "Kibi Gold Belt"), in Ghana, West Africa. With the present drilling successfully confirming the down-plunge continuity and multi-shoot geometry of the recently identified Boomerang East gold zone (see the Company's news release of February 18, 2022). The current drilling forms part of an aggressive in-house drilling initiative focussing on multiple resource expansion targets along the southwest (Zone 3) segment of the over three-kilometre-long Zone 2 - Zone 3 anticlinal fold structure; stretching over one kilometre beyond the limits of the recently published updated Mineral Resource Estimate (the "2021 MRE", see the Company's news release of November 1, 2021).

Assay results reported are provided in Table 1 below and include the following highlights:

Boomerang East: Lower Shoot

- 77.0 metres ("m") at 1.59 grams per tonne gold ("g/t Au"), including 31.0 m at 3.23 g/t Au, from 122.0 m in hole #KBDD22481

- 46.0 m at 1.39 g/t Au, including 20.0 m at 2.01 g/t Au, from 127.0 m in #KBDD22475

- 43.0 m at 1.57 g/t Au, including 13.0 m at 3.21 g/t Au, from 52.0 m in #KBDD22480

Boomerang East: Upper Shoot (s)

- 13.5 m at 3.20 g/t Au from 37.0 m in hole #KBDD22478

- 11.3 m at 2.41 g/t Au, including 6.0 m at 3.40 g/t Au, from 11.0 m in #KBDD22464

- 9.1 m at 1.21 g/t Au from 93.9 m in #KBDD22469; followed by second interval of 16.3 m at 2.06 g/t Au from 141.7 m, including 5.7 m at 3.10 g/t Au

James Longshore, President and CEO remarked: "We are incredibly pleased with the success of our initial follow up drilling program at the recently identified Boomerang East gold zone. With just over 3,500 m of drilling we have advanced this target from a near surface prospect to a multi-shoot gold system extending to an almost 300 m down-plunge distance along the fold hinge of the Zone 2 - Zone 3 anticlinal fold structure. We look forward to the further resource growth potential from the ongoing expansion drilling targeting both the up-plunge and down-plunge extensions of the Boomerang East mineralization, as well as step-out drilling along the extension of the controlling anticlinal fold hinge structure."

Today's Kibi Gold Project drill results correspond to 24 follow up drill holes targeting the recently defined Boomerang East gold zone located along the southwestern (Zone 3) segment of the over three-kilometre-long Zone 2 - Zone 3 anticlinal fold structure. With the drilling, in addition to further delineating and expanding the auriferous zone, also designed to gain additional insight on the mineralization's litho-structural setting. The 24 diamond core boreholes totalling 3,553 m were completed by the Company's in-house drilling crews from early February to mid-May 2022 (#KBDD22459 - #KBDD2282). A total of 68 holes (9,451 m) have been completed since the initiation of the current drill program following the late July 2021 database close-out date for the recently published updated 2021 MRE. Exploration significant auriferous intercepts are presented in Table 1 below, with a drill plan (Figure 1) and collar details (Table 2), available at:

(Figure 1_Zone 2 - Zone 3 Drill Plan_Jun 23 2022)

(Table 2_Drill Collar Info_Jun 23 2022)

Table 1: Significant Drill Intercepts Boomerang East Resource Expansion Target (Zone 3 - Kibi Gold Project) DDH #KBDD22459 - #KBDD22482 / February - May 2022 Hole ID From (metres) To (metres) Core Length (metres) Gold Grams Per Tonne KBDD22459 77.0 86.3 9.3 0.80 including 83.2 86.3 3.1 1.24 and 179.0 186.3 7.3 0.76 including 184.0 186.3 2.3 2.06 KBDD22460 74.0 86.5 12.5 0.35 including 80.0 83.0 3.0 0.81 KBDD22461 92.0 92.6 0.6 19.98 and 103.0 103.6 0.6 4.64 KBDD22462 22.5 32.0 9.5 0.71 including 25.3 27.5 2.2 2.01 KBDD22463 44.8 57.6 12.8 0.68 including 47.0 52.0 5.0 1.32 and 98.0 114.6 16.6 0.52 including 109.4 111.3 1.9 1.41 and 120.4 136.05 15.65 0.28 KBDD22464 11.0 22.3 11.3 2.41 including 14.0 20.0 6.0 3.40 KBDD22466 28.9 37.0 8.1 0.88 including 35.4 37.0 1.6 2.62 KBDD22468 7.5 13.5 6.0 0.76 and 60.0 85.6 25.6 0.99 including 61.0 75.8 14.8 1.30 and 144.0 161.0 17.0 0.30 KBDD22469 93.9 103.0 9.1 1.21 including 100.0 102.0 2.0 2.67 and 141.7 158.0 16.3 2.06 including 152.3 158.0 5.7 3.10 KBDD22470 4.1 19.5 15.4 0.28 and 117.0 118.0 1.0 10.19 and 124.0 131.0 7.0 0.94 KBDD22471 115.3 123.3 8.0 0.87 including 118.4 120.4 2.0 1.78 and 171.0 178.9 7.9 0.43 KBDD22472 84.0 92.0 8.0 0.71 KBDD22474 95.2 98.8 3.6 4.89 and 147.0 161.0 14.0 0.90 including 147.0 149.0 2.0 2.56 KBDD22475 127.0 173.0 46.0 1.39 including 149.0 169.0 20.0 2.01 KBDD22476 90.0 96.0 6.0 1.58 including 94.0 95.0 1.0 4.04 and 149.0 151.0 2.0 2.70 KBDD22478 37.0 50.5 13.5 3.20 including 37.0 41.5 4.5 8.87 KBDD22479 34.0 43.0 9.0 0.28 KBDD22480 52.0 95.0 43.0 1.57 including 55.0 68.0 13.0 3.21 and incl. 82.0 82.5 0.5 15.97 KBDD22481 122.0 199.0 77.0 1.59 including 140.0 171.0 31.0 3.23 and incl. 155.0 164.0 9.0 6.38 and incl. 157.0 158.0 1.0 17.94 Notes: Reported intercepts are core-lengths; true width of mineralization is unknown at this time. "Significant" intercepts meet following criteria: minimum metal factor (grade x length) of 2.5; with minimum 0.25 g/t gold average grade over interval. Intercepts also constrained with a 0.25 g/t gold minimum cut-off grade at top and bottom of intercept, with no upper cut-off applied, and maximum of five (5) consecutive samples of internal dilution (





Gold mineralization along the Zone 2 - Zone 3 MRE trend is emplaced along the limbs and hinge of a 1st Order ("F2a"), tight to isoclinal, anticlinal fold structure, with mineralization zones further occupying 2nd Order ("F1") isoclinal fold hinges on a target scale. Mineralization consists predominantly of tensional arrays of auriferous quartz-carbonate veins hosted by folded diorite bodies with an interpreted Belt-type granitoid affinity. Over 20 significant gold occurrences hosted by Belt (Dixcove)- and Basin (Cape Coast)-type granitoids are known in Ghana, with a number constituting significant deposits. These deposits represent a relatively new style of gold mineralization for orogenic gold deposits within the West African Birimian terrain. Belt-type intrusion-hosted gold deposits include Newmont Mining's Subika deposit at their Ahafo mine and Kinross Mining's Chirano deposit within the Sefwi gold belt, as well as the former Golden Star Resources' Hwini-Butre deposit at the southern extremity of the Ashanti gold belt.

The present Boomerang East drilling (23 of 24 holes) focussed on confirming and expanding the gold mineralization recently intersected in a pair of drill-fan patterns testing an auriferous quartz vein exposure lying along the apparent fold hinge of the NE-trending, 1st Order, Zone 2 - Zone 3 anticlinal fold structure. With the northeastern most fan-pattern returning mineralized intercepts of 16.5 m grading 6.23 g/t Au, including 13.74 g/t Au over 6.5 m, from a down-hole depth of 1.5 m in hole #KBDD22455; and 13.5 m grading 1.64 g/t Au, including 3.35 g/t Au over 6.0 m and 21.0 m grading 1.46 g/t Au, including 2.49 g/t Au over 11.0 m, from down-hole depths of 0.0 m and 39.0 m respectively in #KBDD22458 (see the Company's news release of February 18, 2022).

The drilling was conducted along eight (8) NW-SE Sections at mostly 50 m, with locally 25 m, spacing covering an approximately 250 m trend-length of the NE-trending fold structure. With most of the holes consisting of NW-trending, moderately to steeply-inclined (-60o to -75o) boreholes.

Ongoing 3D litho-structural modelling indicates that the Boomerang East gold mineralization is emplaced within the inner arc of a tight, moderate NE-plunging, isoclinally folded diorite body. With the mineralization appearing to occur as a system of stacked, crescent-shaped, NE-plunging gold shoots traced to date over an approximately 295 m down-plunge distance along the fold hinge structure (i.e., approximately 160 m vertical depth from surface). Presently, two, more prominent mineralization shoots standout: an upper shoot (s) extending to surface which corresponds to the discovery quartz vein outcrop and the near surface aforementioned #KBDD22455 / #KBDD22458 auriferous drill intercepts; and a lower blind shoot with no present surface expression.

Mineralized intercept highlights from the lower shoot, corresponding to the two southwestern most 50 m spaced drill sections, include: 46.0 m grading 1.39 g/t Au, including 2.01 g/t Au over 20.0 m, from a down-hole depth of 127.0 m in hole #KBDD22475 and 77.0 m grading 1.59 g/t Au, including 3.23 g/t Au over 31.0 m, from a down-hole depth of 122 m in #KBDD22481 (40 m SE of #KBDD22475 intercept); and 25.6 m grading 0.99 g/t Au, including 1.30 g/t Au over 14.8 m, from a down-hole depth of 60.0 m in #KBDD22468 and 43.0 m grading 1.57 g/t Au, including 3.21 g/t Au over 13.0 m, from a down-hole of 52.0 m in #KBDD22480 (25 m NW of #KBDD22468 intercept).

Mineralized intercept highlights from the upper shoot (s), from near surface to down plunge, include: 11.3 m grading 2.41 g/t Au from a down-hole depth of 11.0 m in #KBDD22464 and 13.5 m grading 3.20 g/t Au from a down-hole depth of 37.0 m in #KBDD22478; and 9.1 m grading 1.21 g/t Au and 16.3 m grading 2.06 g/t Au, including 3.10 g/t Au over 5.7 m, from down-hole depths of 93.9 m and 141.7 m respectively in #KBDD22469, and 3.6 m grading 4.89 g/t Au and 14.0 m grading 0.90 g/t Au from down-hole depths of 95.2 m and 147.0 m respectively in #KBDD22474.

QA/QC

Yves P. Clement, P. Geo, Vice President, Exploration for Xtra-Gold is acting as the Qualified Person in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") with respect to this announcement. He has prepared and or supervised the preparation of the scientific or technical information in this announcement and confirms compliance with NI 43-101. All samples in this news release were analyzed by standard fire assay fusion with atomic absorption spectroscopy finish at the ISO 17025:2005 accredited Intertek Minerals Limited's laboratory in Tarkwa, Ghana. Xtra-Gold has implemented a rigorous quality assurance / quality control (QA/QC) program to ensure best practices in sampling and analysis of drill core, trench channel, and saw-cut channel samples, the details of which can be viewed on the Company's website at www.xtragold.com.

About Xtra-Gold Resources Corp.

Xtra-Gold is a gold exploration company with a substantial land position in the Kibi Gold Belt. The Kibi Gold Belt, which exhibits many similar geological features to Ghana's main gold belt, the Ashanti Belt, has been the subject of very limited modern exploration activity targeting lode gold deposits as virtually all past gold mining activity and exploration efforts focused on the extensive alluvial gold occurrences in many river valleys throughout the Kibi area.

Xtra-Gold holds 5 Mining Leases totaling approximately 226 sq km (22,600 ha) at the northern extremity of the Kibi Gold Belt. The Company's exploration efforts to date have focused on the Kibi Gold Project located on the Apapam Concession (33.65 sq km), along the eastern flank of the Kibi Gold Belt. The Kibi Gold Project (Zones 1-3) Mineral Resource Estimate, produced by Xtra-Gold on September 30, 2021, represents the only Mineral Resource ever generated on a lode gold project within the Kibi Gold Belt. The NI 43-101 Technical Report entitled "Xtra-Gold Resources Corporation Kibi Gold Project", jointly prepared by Pivot Mining Consultants (Pty) and Tect Geological Consulting, and dated November 16, 2021, is filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The TSX does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements". These statements are based on information currently available to the Company and the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward- looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results relating to, among other things, results of exploration, project development, reclamation and capital costs of the Company's mineral properties, and the Company's financial condition and prospects, could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: changes in general economic conditions and conditions in the financial markets; changes in demand and prices for minerals; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological and operational difficulties encountered in connection with the activities of the Company; and other matters discussed in this news release. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

This news release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Unless otherwise indicated, all resource and reserve estimates included in this news release have been prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum 2014 Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. Canadian standards, including NI 43-101, differ significantly from the requirements of the SEC, and mineral resource and reserve information contained herein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by U.S. companies. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the term "resource" does not equate to the term "reserves". Under U.S. standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. The SEC's disclosure standards normally do not permit the inclusion of information concerning "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" or "inferred mineral resources" or other descriptions of the amount of mineralization in mineral deposits that do not constitute "reserves" by U.S. standards in documents filed with the SEC. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. U.S. investors should also understand that "inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an "inferred mineral resource" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimated "inferred mineral resources" may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an "inferred mineral resource" exists or is economically or legally mineable. Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. The requirements of NI 43-101 for identification of "reserves" are also not the same as those of the SEC, and reserves reported by the Company in compliance with NI 43-101 may not qualify as "reserves" under SEC standards. Accordingly, information concerning mineral deposits set forth herein may not be comparable with information made public by companies that report in accordance with U.S. standards.

Contact Information

For further information please contact:

James Longshore

Chief Executive Officer

416-628-2881

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.xtragold.com

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OR THROUGH U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/128744
In light of very high demand by Israeli and foreign institutional investors, Leumi increased the capital raising from NIS 2 billion to NIS 2.75 billion

Leumi's stock price at the issuance was NIS 30.25 per share,

Leumi's President & CEO: "This is an expression of confidence in the Bank's strategy, resilience and its position as a market leader"

TEL AVIV, Israel, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) raised approximately NIS 2.75 billion as part of an issuance of shares to Israeli and foreign institutional investors. During the course of the issuance, the Bank recorded huge demand, more than twice of the actual capital raised. Leumi's stock price at the issuance was NIS 30.25 per share.

The issuance is intended to support Leumi's growth strategy and expand the Bank's credit portfolio, mainly in the fields of corporate and commercial credit and mortgages, while fulfilling its potential and capabilities. Furthermore, the issuance will allow the Bank to strengthen its capital base and therefore is expected to support the increase in return to shareholders.

Mr. Hanan Friedman, Leumi's President & CEO: "The excellent results of the issuance, as well as the huge demand by both Israeli and foreign investors, constitute an unequivocal expression of confidence in Leumi's strategy, resilience and its position as the leading financial institution in Israel. The capital raising will allow us to continue our consistent growth trend in the business lines in focus."

The issuance was led on Leumi's behalf by Head of the Finance Division, Mr. Omer Ziv.

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SOURCE Bank Leumi
VANCOUVER, BC, June 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO) (NYSE AMERICAN: BTG) (NSX: B2G) ("B2Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the voting results from its Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") held on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. A total of 812,572,340 common shares were voted at the Meeting, representing 76.59% of the votes attached to all outstanding common shares.

Shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of all items of business before the Meeting. The nine director nominees listed in B2Gold's Management Information Circular ("the "Circular") dated May 11, 2022, were elected as directors of B2Gold to hold office for the ensuing year or until their successors are elected or appointed. Detailed results of the vote for each director are set out below:

Name Total Votes in Favour Total Votes Withheld Outcome of Vote Clive Johnson 736,151,813 96.09 % 29,915,129 3.91 % Approved Robert Cross 709,667,695 92.64 % 56,399,248 7.36 % Approved Robert Gayton 700,910,563 91.49 % 65,156,380 8.51 % Approved Jerry Korpan 719,751,227 93.95 % 46,315,715 6.05 % Approved Bongani Mtshisi 762,480,309 99.53 % 3,586,634 0.47 % Approved Kevin Bullock 763,103,938 99.61 % 2,963,005 0.39 % Approved George Johnson 763,543,292 99.67 % 2,523,650 0.33 % Approved Robin Weisman 692,770,896 90.43 % 73,296,046 9.57 % Approved Liane Kelly 723,856,744 94.49 % 42,210,199 5.51 % Approved

The resolutions to set the number of directors of the Company at nine and to appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditor of the Company were approved with 99.65% and 99.47%, respectively, of votes cast in favour.

The resolution regarding the Advisory Vote on Company's approach to Executive Compensation was approved with 80.36% of votes cast in favour.

A report on all items of business voted on at the Meeting will be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Webcast/Dial-in Playback Details

A playback of the Meeting will be available until Wednesday, July 6, 2022, on B2Gold's events page or by dialing +1 416-764-8677 (local  Toronto) or +1 888-390-0541 (toll free  North America) (passcode 420261#).

About B2Gold Corp.

B2Gold is a low-cost international senior gold producer headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Founded in 2007, today, B2Gold has operating gold mines in Mali, Namibia and the Philippines and numerous exploration and development projects in various countries including Mali, Colombia, Finland and Uzbekistan.

On Behalf of B2GOLD CORP."Clive T. Johnson"President & Chief Executive Officer

For more information on B2Gold, please visit the Company's website at www.b2gold.com or contact:

The Toronto Stock Exchange and NYSE American LLC neither approve nor disapprove the information contained in this news release.

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SOURCE B2Gold Corp.
CLEARWATER, Fla., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The structural heart programs at BayCare's Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater and St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa recently received the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Transcatheter Valve Certification.

The certification recognizes each program's expertise and commitment to excellence in treating patients receiving transcatheter valve repair and replacement procedures.

"Our team at Morton Plant Hospital is proud to receive this prestigious certification from the ACC," said Joshua Rovin, MD, FACS, cardiovascular surgeon and medical director, for the Center for Advanced Valve and Structural Heart Care at Morton Plant Hospital. "It recognizes our commitment to continually improving our knowledge and skills to ensure each patient who comes to us with aortic stenosis has the best hope for a successful outcome."

Aortic stenosis is a disease that affects the aortic valve. In late stages of the disease, the valve does not open and close properly. This causes the heart to work harder to push blood through the calcified aortic valve. Eventually the heart's muscles weaken, increasing the patient's risk of heart failure.

Before Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), the primary solution for patients suffering from aortic stenosis was open heart surgery, which was not an option for many people. The introduction of TAVR, a minimally invasive alternative, has helped thousands of patients suffering from severe aortic stenosis regain the quality of life that once seemed impossible.

"Receiving the ACC's TAVR Certification is a testament to the highly skilled team at St. Joseph's Hospital's Structural Heart and Valve Program," said Phillips Harrington, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon, and director of the St. Joseph's Hospital Structural Heart program. "We continually pursue excellent outcomes, so we can provide the best possible care for each patient we treat."

In addition to the two hospitals, BayCare also began a structural heart program at the Bostick Heart Center at Winter Haven Hospital in 2020. The team approach employed and the collaboration between those teams make BayCare's structural heart programs stand out in the region. A cardiologist, a heart surgeon and one or two nurse practitioners work together to assess each patient. The surgeons and cardiologists then meet weekly to discuss each case and decide the best option for the patient. The medical professionals at all sites regularly collaborate to ensure patients throughout the region receive outstanding care closest to their home.

"As part of BayCare, we collaborated with doctors who had been doing TAVR procedures for many years at Morton Plant and St. Joseph's. They invested their time and energy in our program to ensure we met our health system's high standards," said David Dodd, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon and medical director of structural heart program at the Bostick Heart Center. "Our patients have benefitted from the evidence-based approaches employed by the BayCare structural heart teams."

The ACC's Transcatheter Valve Certification is an external review and certification process that pairs with established national clinical databases to monitor patient safety and real-world outcomes. Participation in established national clinical databases is required for hospitals interested in achieving Transcatheter Valve Certification.

The certification uses established national clinical measures to support clinical decisions and links process improvement to patient outcomes. Hospitals that achieve the certification learn best practices for implementing evidence-based medicine to support patient-centered decision-making and can track key performance metrics to better identify opportunities for improvement.

For more information on BayCare's TAVR services, visit our website.

About BayCare Health System

BayCare is a leading not-for-profit health care system that connects individuals and families to a wide range of services at 15 hospitals and hundreds of other convenient locations throughout the Tampa Bay and central Florida regions. The system is West Central Florida's largest provider of behavioral health and pediatric services and its provider group, BayCare Medical Group, is one of the largest in the region. BayCare's diverse network of ambulatory services includes laboratories, imaging, surgical centers, BayCare Urgent Care locations, wellness centers and one of Florida's largest home care agencies, BayCare HomeCare. It's Medicare Advantage insurance, BayCarePlus, is among the region's few 5-star-rated plans and the system is ranked in the top 20 percent by IBM Watson Health Top Health Systems. BayCare's mission is to improve the health of all it serves through community-owned, health care services that set the standard for high-quality, compassionate care.

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SOURCE BayCare Health System
VAUGHAN, ON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - CannTrust Holdings Inc. (the "Company" or "CannTrust") (unlisted), minority investor in Phoena Holdings Inc.("Phoena", formerly CannTrust Equity Inc.) today announced that it is seeking an order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (the "Court") extending the time for the Company to call the next annual meeting of its shareholders. The Company also provided an update concerning its board of directors' (the "Board") review of strategic alternatives.

The Court previously issued an order extending the time for the Company to call the next annual general meeting ("AGM") of its shareholders to a date no later than 120 days following the completion of the Company's proceedings under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA"). The Company emerged from its CCAA proceedings on March 15, 2022 and is currently required to call the next annual meeting of shareholders on or before July 13, 2022. The Company requires additional time to prepare certain audited financial statements and other information which are required to be presented to the shareholders at each annual meeting. It has been working with its auditors, MNP LLP, to complete these audited financial statements but will be unable to do so before July 13, 2022. It is therefore requesting an extension from the Court to a date no later than November 30, 2022.

The motion is scheduled to be heard by the Court on July 7, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. EST. In support of the motion, the Company will today file with the Court the following materials (collectively, the "Court Materials"): a Motion Record containing the Notice of Motion, affidavits from Greg Guyatt, David Blair and Dan Hogan and a draft Order. The Court Materials are available at https://ln5.sync.com/dl/3460270d0/8szhn4iv-8tiac58r-f6b2rwde-v2iwj2q6. The Company will post a Zoom link for the hearing at the same location once it is provided by the Court.

The Company previously announced that it intends to explore alternatives for either applying to the Ontario Securities Commission ("OSC") for an order revoking the OSC's "failure-to-file" Cease Trade Order dated April 13, 2020 ("CTO") and listing the Company's common shares on a Canadian stock exchange or for taking steps to exchange the Company's common shares for common shares of Phoena and obtaining a Canadian stock exchange listing for Phoena's common shares. The Company is working closely with its advisors to devise a corporate structure that will be aimed at delivering modest incremental value to its shareholders, but in a manner that appropriately balances the constraints imposed by its cash position, accounting requirements and applicable Canadian and United States securities and tax laws. The Board's deliberations are ongoing and progressing, but there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to execute successfully on either strategic alternative.

The Board anticipates being in a position to complete its review, obtain any requisite audited financial statements and disclose its findings, and any related recommendations for approval by the Company's shareholders, before the Company's next shareholders meeting to be held by November 30, 2022, subject to the Court providing the relief noted above.

About CannTrust

CannTrust is a holding company and its primary asset is comprised of an approximate 10% equity interest in Phoena. Although CannTrust is a reporting issuer under the laws of each of the Canadian provinces except for Quebec, it remains subject to the CTO and its common shares have been delisted by the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.

About Phoena

Phoena is an award-winning, federally regulated licensed cannabis producer, with locations in Vaughan and Fenwick, Ontario. Phoena operates a portfolio of well-known brands, including estora, Liiv, SYNR.G and Xscape.

Phoena is committed to providing exceptional consumer experience, quality products and consistency. Phoena's greenhouse produces Grade A cannabis flower, which is sold in a variety of dried flower and extract formats.

Phoena creates cannabis products that meet the diverse needs of patients and consumers, promoting positivity, supporting creativity, and inspiring confidence.

Phoena, empowering you every day.

Learn more at Phoena.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other applicable United States safe harbor laws, and such statements are based upon CannTrust's current internal expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and beliefs and views of future events.

Forward-looking information and forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes", "expect", "likely", "may", "will", "should", "intend", "anticipate", "potential", "proposed", "estimate" and other similar words, including negative and grammatical variations thereof, or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "would" or "will" happen, or by discussions of strategy.

The forward-looking information and statements in this news release include statements relating to the Company's efforts to resolve certain securities regulatory and stock exchange issues, some of which have not been finalized and remain subject to completing further analyses, obtaining shareholder and creditor approval and satisfying the requirements of securities regulators and a stock exchange. Forward-looking information and statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation: the risk that, if Phoena requires additional equity, the Company's investment in Phoena could be diluted further; the risk that Phoena or its affiliates could default under its credit facilities from Cortland Credit Lending Corporation or Marshall Fields International B.V., which are secured against substantially all of Phoena and the Company's assets; the risk that the Company will not be able to cure its disclosure defaults under securities laws and obtain an order from the OSC to revoke the CTO, on commercially reasonable terms, or at all; the impact of any regulatory and other investigations or proceedings; the risks associated with general economic conditions and/or adverse industry events; the risk of loss of markets; the risk of future legislative and regulatory developments in Canada, the United States and elsewhere; the state of the cannabis industry in Canada generally; the ability of the Company to attract and retain suitable directors, officers and employees; the risks that, even if the CTO can be revoked, the Company will be unable to obtain a stock exchange listing for the Company's common shares; the risk that neither the Company nor Phoena will be able to satisfy the requirements of such exchange; and the ability of Phoena to successfully implement its business strategies.

Any forward-looking information and statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and, except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all such factors. When considering these forward-looking information and statements, readers should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in the Company's Annual Information Form dated March 28, 2019 (the "AIF") and filed with the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and filed as an exhibit the Company's Form 40-F annual report under the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR at www.sec.gov (the "March 2019 Form 40-F"). The risk factors and other factors noted in the AIF could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in any forward-looking information or statements. Readers are also reminded that the Company remains in default of its periodic disclosure requirements under applicable securities laws and stock exchange requirements, that its most recent AIF, Form 40-F and other disclosures do not reflect all risk factors that currently face the Company, and that the Company has not completed or filed the restatements of the financial statements included in the AIF or the March 2019 Form 40-F or otherwise filed an amendment to such Form 40-F, and that the Company was permitted by the Initial Order of the Superior Court of Justice to not to correct its prior filings or make any further filings in respect of periodic disclosure requirements under applicable securities laws and stock exchange requirements. None of the Company's securities is listed for trading on any stock exchange in any jurisdiction and, in Canada, trading in the Company's securities is subject to a cease-trade order issued on April 13, 2020 by the Ontario Securities Commission for CannTrust's failure to comply with its disclosure obligations under applicable securities laws.

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SOURCE CannTrust Holdings Inc.
HARRISBURG, Pa., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Centric Bank, the wholly owned subsidiary of Centric Financial Corporation (OTC: CFCX), has been recognized as one of American Banker's Top 200 Community Banks in the U.S. for the fourth consecutive year.

"Centric Bank is honored to be recognized by American Banker once again on this list of outstanding community banks," says Patricia (Patti) A. Husic, President and CEO. "In 2021 we continued to be the financial lifeline for the small businesses in our communities, generating an additional $91 million in PPP loans to 1,100 small businesses. Our team was laser focused on executing our strategic plan and delivered on the loan, deposit, and profitability goals for 2021. I am so proud of our Centric team, the 142 Difference Makers in our organization who live our tagline of We Revolve Around You daily."

American Banker's annual ranking is a list of publicly traded banks and thrifts with less than $2 billion in assets. The rankings are based on Return on Average Equity (ROAE) over a three-year period. Centric Bank finished in the #147 position on this year's list.

ABOUT CENTRIC BANK

An American Banker 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018 Best Banks to Work For, four-time American Banker Most Powerful Women in Banking Top Team, three-time Best Places to Work, and Top 50 Fastest-Growing Companies for eight years, Centric Bank is headquartered in south central Pennsylvania with assets of $1.1 billion and remains a leader in organic loan growth. A locally owned, locally loaned community bank, Centric Bank provides highly competitive and pro-growth financial services to businesses, professionals, individuals, families, and to the health care and dental industries with the Doctor Centric Bank Division. Centric Bank was named one of the Top 200 Community Banks in the U.S. in 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019.

Founded in 2007, Pennsylvania-based Centric Bank has financial centers located in Harrisburg, Hershey, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Doylestown, Devon, and Lancaster, as well as commercial loan offices in Devon, Doylestown, Lancaster, and an Operations and Executive Office campus in Hampden Township, Cumberland County. To learn more about Centric Bank, call 717.657.7727 or visit CentricBank.com. Connect with them on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Centric Financial Corporation is traded over the counter (OTC-Pink) with the ticker symbol CFCX.

Contact: Patricia A. HusicPresident & CEO717.909.8309

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SOURCE Centric Financial Corporation
LA JOLLA, Calif., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A Christian employee has filed a lawsuit against The Scripps Research Institute for religious discrimination over the institute's Covid-19 vaccine mandate for employees. Events Manager Georgia Ringler alleges that Scripps Research refused to address her religious objections to the mandate and terminated her employment. According to Ms. Ringler, a devout Christian, she cannot take Covid-19 vaccines because they are produced or developed with aborted fetal cell lines. California law requires employers to explore any reasonable means of accommodating an employee's religious belief or observance. But according to Ms. Ringler, Scripps Research terminated her employment without any response to her religious objections: "Scripps Research had no concern for my faith or religious convictions. I believe that if I objected to this mandate coming from a different protected community, the Institute would have gone above and beyond to accommodate me." According to Ms. Ringler's attorney Arthur Kim: "Civil rights is about tolerance, about protecting unpopular minorities. Yesterday that was gay Americans. Today it is the unvaccinated Christian. We must not condemn those who are different to societal death. They deserve equal treatment. If the vaccinated are allowed to move freely and potentially spread Covid, then the Christian objector must be afforded the same treatment, especially if she is willing to protect the health of others through regular testing." Scripps Research is a medical research facility headquartered in San Diego, California. Ms. Ringler is represented by Arthur Kim of Arthur Kim Law Firm in Beverly Hills, California. The case is Georgia Ringler v. The Scripps Research Institute (San Diego Superior Court Case No. 37-2022-00024191-CU-WT-CTL).

Contact: Arthur Kim Tel. (866) 582-1057Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Arthur Kim Law Firm

Related Linkshttp://www.arthurkimlaw.com

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SOURCE Arthur Kim Law Firm
PARSIPPANY, N.J., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CherryRoad Technologies Inc., a leading integrator of enterprise software and digital technology solutions who is committed to building community engagement, has today announced, that the City of Los Angeles Harbor Department (Port of Los Angeles) has awarded the company a contract for IT Staffing Services for Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Implementation Project. Under the terms of the agreement, CherryRoad will assist with the migration of the Port of Los Angeles' existing, on-premises Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) applications to the Oracle Cloud ERP.

The Port of Los Angeles, who has a strong commitment to developing innovative strategic and sustainable operations that benefit the economy and the quality of life for the region and the nation it serves, expects to transform its overall business processes related to accounting and fiscal management.

Once complete, the implementation will empower the Port of Los Angeles to build, innovate, automate, adapt with a self-updating ERP platform that gains new features every 90 days.

"Our partnership with Port of Los Angeles first began in 2016 when the Port of Los Angeles first engaged CherryRoad for technical support migrating from legacy applications," stated Tom Heldt, Executive Vice President at CherryRoad. "We are excited to continue in partnering with them as they engage in this important cloud modernization initiative."

About CherryRoad Technologies

At CherryRoad, our clients entrust us with the success of their IT solutions, whether we are delivering managed services and support for on-premise ERP, cloud-based application migration management, business intelligence, process optimization, strategic staffing, or change management consulting. Throughout our 38-year history, we have successfully partnered with hundreds of public sector and commercial clients to bridge communities through technology. Headquartered in Parsippany, N.J. with offices across the U.S., we have earned a solid reputation for combining technology, organizational, functional, and vertical market expertise into practical solutions that deliver results  on time and budget. For more information, visit www.cherryroad.com.

About the Port of Los Angeles

The Port of Los Angeles, Southern California's gateway to international commerce, is located San Pedro Bay, 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. This thriving seaport not only sustains its competitive edge with record-setting cargo operations, but is also known for its groundbreaking environmental initiatives, progressive security measures and diverse recreational and educational facilities.

The Port of Los Angeles encompasses 7500 acres, covers 43 miles of waterfront and features 27 cargo terminals, including container, dry and liquid bulk, breakbulk, warehouse and automobile facilities. Combined, these terminals h handle approximately 176 million metric revenue tons of cargo annually. In 2020, the Port moved 9.2 million TEUs, the fourth busiest year on record despite being in the midst of a global pandemic.

The Port of Los Angeles has a strong commitment to developing innovative strategic and sustainable operations that benefit the economy and the quality of life for the region and the nation it serves. As the leading seaport in North America in terms of shipping container volume and cargo value, the Port generates 954,000 regional jobs and $35 billion in annual wages and tax revenues. A proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles, the Port is self-supporting and does not receive taxpayer dollars.

TrademarksOracle, Java and MySQL are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation.

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SOURCE CherryRoad Technologies Inc.
Advantek Well-Positioned to Capture Increasing Demand from Global Digitization and Component Miniaturization

NEW YORK and EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cornell Capital LLC ("Cornell Capital" or "Cornell"), a private equity firm based in New York and Hong Kong, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Advantek, LLC ("Advantek"), a leading provider of highly engineered carrier tape and associated protective packaging products, from Tinicum, L.P. and affiliated funds managed by Tinicum Incorporated ("Tinicum"), which will retain a minority stake. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, with global operations in Taipei (Taiwan), Manila (Philippines), Shanghai (China), Eau Claire (Wisconsin) and Laxa (Sweden), Advantek manufactures precision component packaging and delivery systems designed to transport and protect high-value semiconductor and electronic components during shipping and storage. Its solutions play an important role in the assembly process of such products as computers, mobile phones, LED lighting, medical components, smart appliances and automobiles. With manufacturing facilities across three continents and led by an experienced management team, Advantek is renowned for its advanced technical excellence, consistent product quality and high-quality service, which have enabled long-tenured relationships with a global, blue-chip customer base.

Advantek's global footprint and operations in Asia align strongly with Cornell Capital's deep expertise in Asia and history of driving both organic and inorganic growth to build companies into leading global platforms of choice. Cornell Capital will leverage its team's decades of global investment and significant on-the-ground operating experience to work closely with the Advantek management team, led by Chief Executive Officer and President Wim Goossens, to accelerate growth initiatives, including continued innovation, geographic and capacity expansion and M&A. Cornell's investment in Advantek is being led by Allen Chu, Partner and Head of Asia, in coordination with Stephen Trevor, Partner and Head of Business Services/Industrials, working seamlessly across the firm's global platform.

"As strong secular market trends in component miniaturization and electrification continue to drive increased high-precision carrier tape and component demand, Advantek is well-positioned to capitalize on attractive opportunities for continued growth globally," said Mr. Chu. "We look forward to leveraging our deep cross-border expertise to accelerate Advantek's growth in key international markets."

"With a market-leading product suite and reputation for world-class quality and customer service, Advantek is a leading provider of precision component delivery systems for semiconductor and electronic components," said Mr. Trevor. "We look forward to working with the Advantek team to support their growth initiatives and expand Advantek's market leadership."

"With our uniquely flexible global production model, we have grown Advantek to provide unparalleled products and service to our valued customers," said Mr. Goossens. "We appreciate the continued support of Tinicum and are thrilled to work with Cornell. With their unmatched global expertise, Cornell is the right partner as we look to enhance our value proposition to customers and execute our strategic growth plans."

"We are pleased to continue supporting Advantek in advancing its mission," said Michael Donner, Partner at Tinicum. "We are confident that Advantek will continue to excel under Cornell's ownership and management's leadership. We look forward to the company's continued success as it enters this next chapter."

About Advantek

Advantek is a leading provider of precision component delivery systems with facilities in North America, Asia and Europe. Advantek's solutions play an important role in the assembly process of products such as computers, mobile phones, LED lighting, medical components, smart appliances and automobiles. For more information, visit https://www.advantek.com.

About Cornell Capital

Cornell Capital LLC is a U.S.-based private investment firm with ~$6 billion of AUM and offices in New York and Hong Kong. Leveraging decades of global investment experience, the firm takes a disciplined approach to investing across the consumer, financial services, and industrials/business services sectors, often in companies that can benefit from the firm's Asia presence and cross-border expertise. Founded in 2013 by Senior Partner Henry Cornell, the former Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs' Merchant Banking Division, the firm is led by a highly seasoned team with significant shared investment experience. For more information, visit www.cornellcapllc.com.

About Tinicum

Tinicum, founded in 1974, is a private investment partnership with experience investing in private and public companies in industrial manufacturing, distribution, and technology. Tinicum invests in businesses for the long term and seeks to partner with owners, families, and managers who share a similar approach. For more information, visit www.tinicum.com.

For Media Inquiries:

Cornell CapitalJon Keehner / Kate Thompson / Woomi YunJoele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher212-355-4449

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SOURCE Cornell Capital LLC
Social Impact Alliance for Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) says, "It is no longer just about the image. Socially responsible companies derive real business benefits.

POZNAN, Poland, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The study "Philanthropy in Central & Eastern Europe 2022" shows that more than half (53%) of CEE citizens prefer to buy products and services from socially committed brands, with as many as 48% willing to pay a slightly higher price for them.

Actions taken by public administration are necessary to create a supportive legal and tax environment, but it is the companies that constitute the most significant driving force when it comes to tackling social issues. Data collected among the citizens of Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, and Slovenia between March and April 2022 shows that CEE citizens appreciate socially engaged companies, but in return, they expect transparency, honesty and linking social activities with the company's business profile.

Not only the customers, also employees want to contribute to the growth of responsible companies. Social activity of potential employers is important to 36% of those searching for new jobs. Employee volunteering is becoming an important trend, but only 20% of CEE citizens state that their employers offer this opportunity to them. At the same time, nearly 40% of those who do not have this option claim to be interested in it.  explains Anna Korzeniewska from Social Impact Alliance for Central & Eastern Europe, an international think tank that conducted the study. A similar situation can be observed for pro bono activities. Only 14% of respondents state that their employers provide pro bono support as part of their business activity, while as many as 46% expect this to change.

When asked which UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should be addressed by particular industries, CEE citizens indicate that the financial sector should solve problems related to poverty, education, and economic growth. Food companies and retail chains are expected to put more emphasis on combating hunger and promoting responsible consumption. Technology and IT companies should support innovation and economic growth, while the energy and automotive industries should focus on climate-related issues.

Access to knowledge and education was indicated as one of the most important needs in the region. It turns out that only 11% of CEE citizens understand what ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) stands for. For most citizens, philanthropy is part of financial education and should be promoted by banks. According to the majority, social engagement should be taught from an early age.

2022 survey and an analogous one conducted in 2020 in Poland, Czech Rep., Slovakia, and Hungary clearly show that crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine are mobilizing Europeans to become socially involved. As many as 53% of CEE citizens have joined efforts to support Ukrainian refugees, primarily by providing financial support and donating goods. As the year 2021 has shown, the biggest challenge will be to maintain this engagement. It is worth noting that expectations towards more developed countries have increased. A higher commitment is expected particularly from the countries of Western Europe (Germany, Switzerland, UK) and North America (USA, Canada).

Currently, nearly half of CEE citizens (48%) make financial donations  regardless of age, gender, place of residence, or income. The total value of annual donations in the 7 surveyed countries amounts to nearly one billion euros, but their philanthropic potential is twice as high. - This scale of engagement is possible, but to strengthen the social impact ecosystem in the CEE countries, we need to raise awareness, initiate more cooperation, and identify and eliminate barriers, also tax and legal.  notes Anna Korzeniewska.

Development of sustainable philanthropy requires reliable data and knowledge sharing. Central and Eastern Europe, thanks to the growing potential of its society, has a real opportunity to continue building a culture of philanthropy and lasting social attitudes. This is why it is important to invest in research to engage all actors of society in a strategic and long-term manner.  says Liza Belozerova, Senior Manager at Google.org, Europe, Middle East & Africa.

Link to the full report, which can be downloaded, free of charge, in 8 languages: English, Bulgarian, Croatian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Romanian and Slovenian:

https://ceeimpact.org/our-initiatives/philanthropy-in-cee-2022/

Image - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1845641/CEE_1.jpg

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SOURCE Social Impact Alliance for Central & Eastern Europe (CEE)
MIAMI, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida International University (FIU) and its Department of Journalism + Media announced today the establishment of the Gustavo Godoy Scholarship for Excellence in Journalism in honor of the award-winning and legendary newsman.

Gustavo Godoy, who passed away in 2021 after a long and storied career, was among the first high-profile Hispanics to work in U.S. news media. He is widely regarded as the pioneer of Spanish language television news and largely considered the architect of what today is Univision Network News and Telemundo Network News.

"We are honored to celebrate Gustavo Godoy's legacy by creating a scholarship that supports our talented students who are majoring in broadcast journalism," said Brian Schriner, dean of the College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts. "The scholarship established by Godoy's family, friends and colleagues will provide critical, much-needed support to future journalists and help us in our mission of ensuring the future talent pipeline in broadcast journalism."

Godoy was a mentor to many of today's high-profile Hispanic broadcast journalists.

"Gustavo Godoy is the founding father of Spanish language television news in the United States. He gave many of us the opportunity to have a career in television journalism based on a profound respect for our community and reverence to truth and impartiality," said Jose Diaz-Balart, anchor of MSNBC Reports, NBC Nightly News Saturday and Special Reports for Noticias Telemundo.

The continued increase of Hispanic Americans  who according to the 2019 U.S. census are the largest racial or ethnic minority group in the country - highlights the important of Spanish-language news that Godoy helped nurture.

"A pioneer and a visionary, Godoy started what many believed to be impossible: a Spanish-language newscast that would compete with the best in the country," said Jorge Ramos, senior news anchor of Univision Network News. "I'll always remember his energy, his commitment to real news and his belief that Latinos, always, had to be part of the national conversation."

Currently, there are 570 students enrolled in the FIU Department of Journalism + Media, of which 35 are graduate students, 271 are Pell Grant eligible and 396 identify as Hispanic.

"As we look forward, especially at this critical time in history when good journalists are needed most, we can't think of a better way to honor our father's vision for promoting solid journalism than by establishing this gift and deepening our relationship with FIU," said the Godoy family. "Continuing support from our community will make a difference in the lives of these young students pursuing this field with the same kind of passion and conviction that Godoy demonstrated throughout his career."

Media Contact:Heather Radi-Bermudez(305) 919-4050[email protected]news.fiu.edu@FIUNews

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SOURCE Florida International University
HOUSTON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Focal Point Energy announced the addition of two new members of its Advisory Board, former U.S. Senator and Ambassador Scott Brown and former senior U.S. law enforcement official Michael Clarke. As members of Focal Point Energy's Board of Advisors, Senator Brown and Mr. Clarke will bring their global expertise to Focal Point's projects under development in the Middle East, Balkans, and Latin America.

FPE adds new board members with global expertise for development projects in the Middle East, Balkans, and Latin America

"We're excited to have Senator Brown and Mr. Clarke join the Focal Point Energy team," said Focal Point Energy's Director, Vince Trovato. "Their decades of service to the U.S. government, both at home and abroad, provides Focal Point with a wealth of expertise as we move forward with projects in the Middle East and Western Balkans, in addition to supporting our recently announced Joint Venture in Bulgaria.

"I look forward to working with Focal Point Energy's team to develop new opportunities for diversification of energy supplies away from Russian sources," said Senator Brown. "With Russia's actions over the past several years, and particularly their invasion of Ukraine, it has become evident that Europe, and the rest of the world, must wean themselves off Russian energy products that fund a regime not only opposed to U.S. Foreign Policy but the best interests of the Russian people." Senator Brown continued.

"Having opened the first Legal Attache office in the Balkans, I was excited to learn not only about Focal Point's efforts in the region but their focus on commercial success paired with good governance," said Michael Clarke. "By joining Focal Point's Board of Advisors, I am looking forward to offering my expertise as the company pursues commercial opportunities and participating in Focal Point's efforts to support good governance and sustainable development in all of its projects," Mr. Clarke continued.

In addition to serving on Focal Point Energy's Board of Advisors, Senator Brown and Mr. Clarke will serve as Focal Point's nominees to the Board of Directors of Insa Inc, the recently announced joint venture between Focal Point Energy and Insa Oil.

"Advisors like Senator Brown and Mr. Clarke are core to our mission of achieving commercial success developing energy projects while ensuring we maintain a strong focus on being a force for good in the communities where we operate," Mr. Trovato continued. "Senator Brown and Mr. Clarke are highly passionate about their fields of expertise and make invaluable additions to the Focal Point Energy team," said Mr. Trovato.

About Scott Brown

Former Senator and Ambassador Scott Brown represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate from 2010 to 2013 before serving as U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa from 2017 to 2020. Before serving in the Senate and as Ambassador, Brown was a member of the Massachusetts General Court, first in the State House of Representatives (19982004) and then in the State Senate (20042010). A retired colonel from the Army National Guard, Brown dedicated his life and time in office to defending the United States and the military personnel that support it. He also supported energy diversification and exploration as a means to reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil. Following his tenure as Senator, Brown was President and Dean of New England Law Boston until being confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. He earned his B.A. from Tufts University in 1981 and his J.D. from Boston College Law School.

About Michael Clarke

Prior to retiring in 2021, Mr. Clarke spent over 30 years as a Special Agent with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). During his career with the FBI, Mr. Clarke led several high-profile organized crime and counter-terrorism investigations, both at home and abroad. During his service abroad, Mr. Clarke served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Pakistan, Russia, Jordan, Bulgaria, and Libya. In 2005 Mr. Clarke opened and led the first Legal Attache office for the Balkan region in the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria. Upon returning to the U.S., Mr. Clarke served as Senior FBI Liaison Officer to the U.S. Department of Defense Southern Command, focusing on interagency operations in Latin America. In 2012 Mr. Clarke was selected as the lead FBI Case Agent investigating the terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. For over seven years, Mr. Clarke led a massive investigation resulting in the dismantlement of the Benghazi Attack Network and the successful capture and prosecution of subjects responsible for the attacks. Michael Clarke was awarded the 2018 Attorney General's Award and 2020 FBI Director's Award for his leadership in this investigation.

About Focal Point Energy

Focal Point Energy is a US-based, impact-driven investment and development company specializing in transaction advisory and project development in the energy and infrastructure sectors. The energy investment and consulting firm focuses on opportunities across the energy spectrum, from renewable energy to traditional energy investments in globally strategic areas. Focal Point Energy is led by Executive Director Vince Trovato, a former Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy and Director of the Office of Energy Innovation and Market Development. At the newly formed Office of Energy Innovation and Market Development, Mr. Trovato helped U.S. energy companies identify and develop strategic international opportunities and secure financing for those opportunities. For more information, visit https://focalpoint.energy.

Media ContactLauren Gilmore | [email protected]

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SOURCE Focal Point Energy
TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC SEHK: 945

Fourteen John Hancock DC wholesalers named to NAPA's 2022 Top DC Wholesalers list - most of any firm

BOSTON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - John Hancock Retirement and John Hancock Investment Management, companies of Manulife Investment Management, today announced 14 defined contribution (DC) wholesalers, from the retirement and defined contribution investment only (DCIO) businesses, who were named National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) Advisor Allies this year. For the fourth consecutive year, collectively, more John Hancock Retirement and John Hancock Investment Management DC wholesalers were named to the Top 100 list than from any other firm by retirement plan advisors.

Finalists for this year's list of Top 100 DC Wholesalers were selected based on the votes cast by several thousand advisors from a list of more than 700 wholesalers nominated by NAPA Firm Partner recordkeepers and DCIOs.

"At John Hancock Retirement, we believe in the power of partnership," said Gary Tankersley, head of sales and distribution, John Hancock Retirement. "With advisors consistently voting so many of our wholesalers to this list, our commitment to this belief is exemplified. We are grateful for this recognition of our work and for the confidence advisors have in our ability to help build solutions for their clients."

"Congratulations to the John Hancock DCIO wholesalers who have been named NAPA Allies this year. The recognition is a true testament to your exceptional service to retirement advisors and their plan sponsors," added Todd Cassler, head of institutional distribution, U.S. and Europe, Manulife Investment Management. "Together we will continue to work to bring a wide range of investment strategies to address the challenges faced by today's retirement savers."

The John Hancock DC wholesalers named to NAPA's 2022 Advisor Allies list:

Bradford Boney, John Hancock Retirement

Angelo Cabral, John Hancock Retirement

Ryan Fay,* John Hancock Investment Management

Jerry Giovinazzo, John Hancock Retirement

Aylmer Magill, John Hancock Investment Management

Chris McDavid, John Hancock Retirement

Mark Needham, John Hancock Retirement

Steven Person,* John Hancock Retirement

Jonah Smith John Hancock Retirement

Bob Sternfeld, John Hancock Retirement

Scott Ward,* John Hancock Retirement

Lindsay Warrington, John Hancock Investment Management

Jason Yepko, John Hancock Retirement

Dan Zibaitis,* John Hancock Retirement

*Denotes wholesalers ranked in the top 10 in their respective categories

About John Hancock Retirement

John Hancock Retirement is the U.S. retirement business of Manulife Investment Management. For more than 50 years, we've helped people plan and invest for retirement; today, we're one of the largest full-service providers in the United States.i We take a hands-on consultative approach based on the idea that no two plans- and no two plan participants are exactly alike. We partner with plan sponsors, financial professionals, and third-party administrators to ensure that every plan is personal to the participant and delivers results.

As of March 31, 2022, John Hancock serviced over 54,000 retirement plans with over 3.1 million participants and over $215 billion in AUMA.ii

About John Hancock Investment Management

A company of Manulife Investment Management, we serve investors through a unique multimanager approach, complementing our extensive in-house capabilities with an unrivaled network of specialized asset managers, backed by some of the most rigorous investment oversight in the industry. The result is a diverse lineup of time-tested investments from a premier asset manager with a heritage of financial stewardship.

About Manulife Investment Management

Manulife Investment Management is the global brand for the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. We draw on more than a century of financial stewardship and the full resources of our parent company to serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide.

Headquartered in Toronto, our leading capabilities in public and private markets are strengthened by an investment footprint that spans 18 geographies. We complement these capabilities by providing access to a network of unaffiliated asset managers from around the world. We're committed to investing responsibly across our businesses. We develop innovative global frameworks for sustainable investing, collaboratively engage with companies in our securities portfolios, and maintain a high standard of stewardship where we own and operate assets, and we believe in supporting financial well-being through our workplace retirement plans. Today, plan sponsors around the world rely on our retirement plan administration and investment expertise to help their employees plan for, save for and live a better retirement. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulifeim.com.

Manulife, Manulife Investment Management, Stylized M Design, and Manulife Investment Management & Stylized M Design are trademarks of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company and are used by it, and by its affiliates under license.

John Hancock Investment Management Distributors LLC is the principal underwriter and wholesale distribution broker dealer for the John Hancock mutual funds. Member FINRA, SIPC.

John Hancock Retirement Plan Services LLC offers administrative or recordkeeping services to sponsors and administrators of retirement plans. John Hancock Trust Company LLC provides trust and custodial services to such plans. Group annuity contracts and recordkeeping agreements are issued by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.), Boston, MA (not licensed in New York) and John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York, Valhalla, New York. Product features and availability may differ by state. Securities offered through John Hancock Distributors LLC. Member FINRA, SIPC.

NOT FDIC INSURED. MAY LOSE VALUE. NOT BANK GUARANTEED.

 2022 John Hancock. All rights reserved.

i "2022 Defined Recordkeeper Survey," PLANSPONSOR, 2022. ii As of Mar 31, 2022, John Hancock Life Insurance Company (USA) supported 49,948 plans, 1,612,474 participants, and $ 103,486,356,639.34 in AUMA. John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York supported 2,616 plans, 77,356 participants, and $ 5,901,987,236.84 in AUMA. John Hancock Retirement Plan Services, LLC supported 1,710 plans, 1,420,555 participants, and $106,486,666,017.89 in AUMA. Participant Counts reflect all active participants with a balance. Approximate unaudited figures for John Hancock, provided on a U.S. statutory basis.

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SOURCE John Hancock
TORONTO, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Khiron Life Sciences Corp. ("Khiron" or the "Company") (TSXV: KHRN) (OTCQX: KHRNF) (Frankfurt: A2JMZC), a global leader in medical cannabis throughout Latin America and Europe, announces the results of its 2022 Annual General and Special Meeting of shareholders (the "Meeting") held on June 23, 2022.

Shareholders approved all of the resolutions detailed in the management information circular of the Company dated May 17, 2022, namely:

the re-appointment of BDO Canada LLP as auditors of the Company for the ensuing year and authorizing the directors to determine the remuneration for their services;

fixing the number of directors to be elected at the Meeting at six (6);

the election of all of the six (6) management nominees to the board of directors of the Company (the "Board of Directors"), including Juan Carlos Echeverry, Vicente Fox, Christopher Naprawa, Deborah Rosati, Alvaro Torres and Alvaro Yanez;

the ratification of the amended and restated stock option plan of the Company; and

the ratification of the amended and restated RSU plan of the Company.

The number of common shares of the Company ("Common Shares") represented at the Meeting was 44,108,709 or 23.751% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares as of the record date.

The Company further announces that, after the completion of the Meeting, Ms. Deborah Rosati resigned from the Board of Directors and her positions on all committees of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Mr. Naprawa, Chairman of the Company stated, "On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to sincerely and personally thank Deborah for her valuable contribution to our Company over the years and wish her all the best."

About Khiron Life Sciences Corp.

Khiron is a leading vertically integrated international medical cannabis corporation with core operations in Latin America and Europe. Leveraging medical health clinics and proprietary telemedicine platforms, Khiron combines a patient-oriented approach, physician education programs, scientific, product innovation, and cannabis operations expertise to drive prescriptions and brand loyalty with patients worldwide. The Company has a sales presence in Colombia, Peru, Germany, United Kingdom, and Brazil and is positioned to commence sales in Mexico. The Company is led by co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Alvaro Torres, together with an experienced and diverse executive team and Board of Directors.

Visit Khiron online at https://investors.khiron.ca.

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/company/khiron-life-sciences-corp/

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All information contained herein that is not historical in nature constitutes forward-looking information. Forward-looking information and statements contained herein reflect management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available and on assumptions that management believes to be reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, assumptions regarding the future regulatory developments and economic conditions, the Company's ability to continue its growth and reduce costs. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/khiron-announces-results-of-2022-annual-general-and-special-meeting-301574437.html

SOURCE Khiron Life Sciences Corp.
WASHINGTON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will air live launch coverage of the agency's Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE), the first spacecraft to fly a specific unique lunar orbit ahead of future missions with crew.

CAPSTONE is targeted to launch no earlier than Monday, June 27, aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from the company's Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The instantaneous launch opportunity is at 6 a.m. EDT (10:00 UTC). Live coverage will begin at 5 a.m. on NASA Television, the agency's website, and the NASA app.

The destination for this microwave oven-size CubeSat is a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO). That same orbit is planned for Gateway, a multipurpose outpost for long-term lunar missions as part of the agency's Artemis program.

Six days after launch, the Photon upper stage will release CAPSTONE into space for the first portion of the spacecraft's solo flight. After a four-month journey to the Moon, CAPSTONE will test the dynamics of the NRHO for at least six months, helping reduce risk for future spacecraft. CAPSTONE will also demonstrate innovative spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation technology and one-way ranging capabilities that could help future spacecraft fly near the Moon with reduced need for communication with Earth.

Join Virtual NASA Social

Members of the public are invited to join the virtual NASA Social to get a behind-the scenes look at CAPSTONE, learn what makes CAPSTONE unique among NASA's missions, meet the rocket launching CAPSTONE, and more.

Visualize CAPSTONE's Flight in Real Time

You can follow CAPSTONE's journey live using NASA's Eyes on the Solar System interactive real-time 3D data visualization. Starting about one week after launch, you can virtually ride along with the CubeSat with a simulated solar system view. NASA will post updates in the visualization on the agency's Ames Research Center home page as well as Twitter and Facebook.

CAPSTONE is commercially owned and operated by Advanced Space in Westminster, Colorado, on behalf of NASA. It represents an innovative collaboration between NASA and industry to provide rapid results and feedback to inform future exploration and science missions. Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, a Terran Orbital Corporation, of Irvine, California, built the spacecraft. The mission also includes contributions from Stellar Exploration Inc., Space Dynamics Lab, Tethers Unlimited Inc., and Orion Space Systems.

NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology program within the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) funds the demonstration mission. The program is based at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. The development of CAPSTONE's navigation technology is supported by NASA's Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program, also within STMD. The Artemis Campaign Development Division within NASA's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate funds the launch and supports mission operations. The Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida manages the launch service. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California supports the communication, tracking, and telemetry downlink via NASA's Deep Space Network, Iris radio design, and groundbreaking one-way navigation algorithms.

For more information about CAPSTONE, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/capstone

Stay connected with the mission on social media:

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-sets-live-launch-coverage-for-capstone-mission-to-moon-301574464.html

SOURCE NASA
DALLAS, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NexPoint Advisors, L.P., investment adviser to the NexPoint Diversified Real Estate Trust ("NXDT" and together with affiliated entities "NexPoint"), today announced the extension of the offering period for its previously announced offer to purchase Shares of Beneficial Interest (the "Shares") of United Development Funding IV ("UDFI" or the "Company") at a price of $1.10 per Share upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase and in the related Assignment Form for the offer (which together constitute the "Offer" and the "Tender Offer Documents"). The Offer is now scheduled to expire at 12:00 midnight, Eastern Time, at the end of the day on July 22, 2022, unless the Offer is extended or earlier terminated. The Tender Offer Documents are available at www.UDFITenderOffer.com, or from the information agent for the Offer, as discussed below.

As previously announced on December 14, 2020, the Offer is conditioned upon, among other things, the satisfaction or waiver of the following conditions: (i) there shall not have been threatened, instituted, or pending any action or proceeding before any court or any governmental or administrative agency (a) challenging the acquisition of shares pursuant to the Offer or otherwise relating in any manner to the Offer, or (b) in the sole judgment of NexPoint, otherwise materially adversely affecting the Company; (ii) NexPoint shall have received all required governmental approvals, if any, for the Offer; (iii) NexPoint shall have had the opportunity to conduct sufficient due diligence to determine whether the offered price per share is reasonable given the current financial condition and results of operations of UDFI; (iv) the Board of Trustees of UDFI shall have waived in writing the ownership limitations set forth in Article VII of the Declaration of Trust of UDFI as such limitations would otherwise apply to the Offer; and (v) NexPoint shall have received satisfactory evidence that UDFI has continued to qualify as a real estate investment trust ("REIT") under federal tax laws and thereby to avoid any entity-level federal income or excise tax.

NXDT is in the process of converting from an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 into a real estate investment trust ("REIT"). In connection with that conversion, NXDT dropped down certain of its investments to a single-member, wholly owned limited liability company subsidiary, NexPoint Real Estate Opportunities ("NREO"), which is reflected as a portfolio company of NXDT. NexPoint Advisors, L.P., external adviser to NXDT and NREO, continues to have investment and voting power over the UDF IV Common Shares. Accordingly, NexPoint continues to beneficially own the UDF IV Common Shares it had previously reported to the SEC on its last Schedule 13D.

On January 8, 2021, UDFI announced that it had reduced the percentage of outstanding Shares that a shareholder may own from 9.8% to 5.0%. The Company took such action in an effort to frustrate the Offer. It also announced it amended the Company's bylaws to require that certain legal actions could be brought on behalf of or against UDFI only in certain courts in Maryland. NexPoint is reviewing these actions and their legality under applicable law.

Shareholders should read the Offer to Purchase and the related materials carefully because they contain important information. Shareholders may obtain a free copy of the Offer to Purchase and the Assignment Form from D.F. King & Co., Inc., the information agent for the Offer (the "Information Agent"), by calling toll-free at (800) 331-7543. THE OFFER WILL EXPIRE AT 12:00 MIDNIGHT, EASTERN TIME, AT THE END OF THE DAY ON JULY 22, 2022, UNLESS THE OFFER IS EXTENDED OR EARLIER TERMINATED.

About the NexPoint Diversified Real Estate Trust (NXDT)

The NexPoint Diversified Real Estate Trust (NYSE: NXDT), formerly the NexPoint Strategic Opportunities Fund (NYSE: NHF), is a closed-end fund managed by NexPoint Advisors, L.P. that is in the process of converting to a diversified REIT. The name change became effective on November 8, 2021. On August 28, 2020, shareholders approved the conversion proposal and amended NXDT's fundamental investment policies and restrictions to permit NXDT to pursue its new business. NXDT has completed the repositioning of its investment portfolio sufficient to achieve REIT tax status and is operating during its 2021 taxable year so that it may qualify for taxation as a REIT.NXDT has also realigned its portfolio so that it is no longer an "investment company" under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the "1940 Act"). On March 31, 2021, NXDT filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") for an order under the 1940 Act declaring that NXDT no longer operates as an investment company (the "Deregistration Order"). During the SEC's review process, NXDT will continue to be structured as a closed-end investment fund.

For more information visit www.nexpoint.com/nexpoint-strategic-opportunities-fund

About NexPoint Advisors, L.P.

NexPoint Advisors, L.P. is an SEC-registered adviser on the NexPoint alternative investment platform. It serves as the adviser to a suite of funds and investment vehicles, including a closed-end fund, interval fund, business development company, and various real estate vehicles. For more information visit www.nexpoint.com

Risks and Disclosures

This document is for informational purposes only and is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell any common stock of UDFI or any other securities. The offer to purchase common stock of UDFI will only be made pursuant to the Offer to Purchase, the Assignment Form and related documents. THE TENDER OFFER MATERIALS (INCLUDING THE OFFER TO PURCHASE, THE ASSIGNMENT FORM AND CERTAIN OTHER TENDER OFFER DOCUMENTS) WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. STOCKHOLDERS OF UDFI ARE URGED TO READ THESE DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT SUCH STOCKHOLDERS SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE MAKING ANY DECISION REGARDING TENDERING THEIR SHARES. Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of these statements (when available) by directing such requests to the Information Agent, by calling toll-free at (800) 331-7543.

Media ContactLucy Bannon[email protected]

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nexpoint-extends-offer-to-purchase-up-to-all-shares-of-united-development-funding-iv-udfi-301574482.html

SOURCE NexPoint Advisors, L.P.
OSTERSUND, Sweden, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Skanska has signed a contract with an existing client to build out the interior of the H3 - a data center in Hillsboro, Oregon, USA. This contract, part of a multi-phase contract, is worth USD 80M, about SEK 760M, which will be included in the US order bookings for the second quarter of 2022.

Specifically, Skanska will build-out approximately 11,200 square-meter of the 18MW data center hall. Skanska completed the core and shell construction of the 35,900 square meter Tier III Data Center in 2021.

Work began in April 2022 and is scheduled for completion in March 2023.

CONTACT:

Daniela Arellano, Communications DirectorSkanska USAtel +1(213)317-4977

Andreas Joons Press Officer Skanska AB tel +46(0)104490494

Direct line for mediatel +46(0)104488899

This and previous releases can also be found at www.skanska.com.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/skanska/r/skanska-builds-out-interior-of-new-data-center-in-oregon--usa--for-usd-80m--about-sek-760m,c3590447

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/95/3590447/1596358.pdf 20220623 US data center

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/skanska-builds-out-interior-of-new-data-center-in-oregon-usa-for-usd-80m-about-sek-760m-301573753.html

SOURCE Skanska
Southern Gas Association awards company highest honor in Environmental, Social & Governance category

ATLANTA, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of its efforts to encourage the evolution within the natural gas industry toward a sustainable future, Southern Company Gas has been honored with the 2022 Southern Gas Association Environmental, Social & Governance Award.

Southern Company Gas' Next Generation Natural Gas Initiative leverages the company's leadership voice, collaborative spirit, and low-carbon ambitions to rally industry peers to work together to accelerate meaningful emissions reductions across the natural gas value chain. The company convened a collaborative of natural gas distribution companies working to grow and support the market for responsibly sourced, low emissions, differentiated natural gas products by identifying best practices and sharing knowledge and experiences.

"Differentiated natural gas is an opportunity within our industry to support emissions reductions across the natural gas value chain. By encouraging greater use of Next Generation Natural Gas, natural gas distribution companies like ours can support the reduction of the carbon intensity of the natural gas supply chain for the benefit of our customers," said Joanne Mello, vice president of corporate sustainability for Southern Company Gas. "We are proud to be honored by the SGA and to be among such esteemed companies that are doing important work in sustainability."

The SGA Awards recognize individuals and teams for their technical contributions, professional excellence, career achievement, service to colleagues, industry leadership and community service. In all, six member companies were selected for awards out of 68 submissions, with more than 2,000 votes cast from Southern Gas Association members. Since Southern Company Gas helped convene the Next Generation Natural Gas collaborative effort in 2021, the group has grown to 11 companies dedicated to advancing environmental transparency and sustainability in the natural gas industry. With a commitment to continuous improvement and market transparency, the group continues its groundbreaking work through collaboration and educational efforts.

Complete details on the award winners can be found here.

About Southern Company Gas

Southern Company Gas is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO), America's premier energy company. Southern Company Gas serves approximately 4.3 million natural gas utility customers through its regulated distribution companies in four states with approximately 600,000 retail customers through its companies that market natural gas. Other nonutility businesses include investments in interstate pipelines and ownership and operation of natural gas storage facilities. For more information, visit southerncompanygas.com.

About Southern Gas Association

Founded in 1908, the Southern Gas Association is the leader in natural gas training and professional development. SGA is a community of natural gas professionals across the U.S. and Canada. Representing the industry from drill bit to burner tip, SGA's membership comprises more than 200 operators across the distribution, transmission, and gas supply marketing sectors and more than 350 industry partners. Through digital and in-person engagement, SGA members share ideas, resources, and best practices to develop people, relationships, and solutions.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/southern-company-gas-earns-top-industry-recognition-for-efforts-to-promote-sustainability-301574433.html

SOURCE Southern Company
MUNICH, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Analysis from the Smart Payment Association (SPA) confirms that the global semiconductor (chip) shortage will continue throughout 2023, severely impacting the delivery of payment cards worldwide.

This ongoing supply challenge results from a range of factors including post-COVID recovery leading to a surge in demand of semiconductors.

Additionally, payment card deliveries are suffering from extended lead times for key raw material supplies such as plastic, metal and other components of a smart card. This is due to various factors including recent COVID-related factory shutdowns in China, and global supply chain disruptions created by materials shortages and freight capacities still not at the pre-COVID level.

While these factors continue to exert pressures, the payment card manufacturers in the SPA1 do their utmost, together with their respective customers, to design and implement card supply risk mitigation strategies. These include robust inventory management, optimizing utilization of all available products and stock levels, greater forecast accuracy, and ever-closer collaboration with respective suppliers to reduce impact.

As noted in the SPA communication of June 2021, the uninterrupted supply of payment cards is essential to the social and economic lives of billions of citizens around the globe. Most recent data2 from the SPA show that more than 2.63 billion smart payment cards and modules3 were shipped worldwide during 2021. The SPA believes the shipment volumes would have been even higher had it not been for the chip shortage affecting the industry. SPA members suffered from chip allocations preventing them from fully serving the demand of their customers.

Payment cards are essential for everyday life and business - for consumers and enterprises. 75% of the non-cash payment were made with cards, in 20204 (including online payments, directly or indirectly via digital wallets).

Payment cards are also critical for accessing cash.

SPA therefore highly supports recent legislation in the European Union (European Chips Act5) categorising the provision of semiconductors to the payment card industry as high priority. A similar initiative has been launched by the United States Government to strengthen the domestic semiconductor sector (Chips and Fabs Act 6).

SPA urges once again the semiconductor industry to recognize the essential character of payment cards, and to work with its members to ensure resilient supply of chips in the future.

About the Smart Payment Association (SPA)

The Smart Payment Association (SPA) is the trade body of the cards and mobile payments industry. SPA addresses the challenges of a fast-evolving payment ecosystem, promoting innovation, security, and interoperability of payment instruments. SPA works closely with regulators and standardization bodies, offering leadership and expert guidance to help its members and their customers adopt new payment technologies of today and tomorrow. For more information on the SPA, visit our website:

www.smartpaymentassociation.com.

Press contact: Stephanie de Labriolle

[email protected]

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1831578/SPA_Logo.jpg

1 The payment card manufacturers in the SPA are Austria Card, G+D, IDEMIA, Thales

2 The following companies participate in the SPA Market Monitoring process: CPI, G+D, IDEMIA, NXP, STMicroelectronics, Thales

3 Embedded in the payment card body during manufacturing, the module consists of the encapsulated smart card chip, attached and electrically bonded to the micro connector or contact plate.

4 https://www.capgemini.com/us-en/news/capgeminis-world-payments-report-2021/#

5 European Chips Act: Communication, Regulation, Joint Undertaking and Recommendation | Shaping Europe's digital future (europa.eu)

6 See for instance: CHIPS for America Act & FABS Act - Semiconductor Industry Association (semiconductors.org)

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/spa-warns-on-ongoing-chip-shortages-throughout-2023-301574284.html

SOURCE Smart Payment Association
coco_10q.htm

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

 QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended

Commission File Number 000-56002

KARBON-X CORP. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Nevada 82-2882342 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

312 Doherty Drive , Quesnel , British Columbia, Canada V2J 1B5

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

778 - 256-5730

(Registrants telephone number, including area code)

Cocoluv, Inc.

1390 Main Street, Suite 20, San Francisco, CA., 97204,

800-294-8513

(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act

Title of Each Class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each Exchange on which registered N/A N/A N/A

Indicate by check mark whether the issuer (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes  No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).  Yes  No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of large accelerated filer, accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, and emerging growth company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer  Accelerated filer  Non-accelerated Filer  Smaller reporting company  Emerging growth company 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).  Yes  No

As of February 28, 2022, there were 64,900,000 shares of common stock issued and outstanding.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2 Table of Contents

KARBON-X CORP.

(Formerly known as Cocoluv, Inc.)

Index to Consolidated Financial Statements

February 28, 2022

KARBON-X CORP.

(Formerly known as Cocoluv, Inc.)

Consolidated Balance Sheet

(Unaudited)

February 28, 2022 ASSETS Current assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 141 Sales tax receivable - Prepaid expenses and other current assets - Total current assets 141 Property and equipment - Due from Karbon-X - Capital Work in Progress - Total assets $ 141 LIABILITES AND SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY (DEFICIT) Current liabilities Accounts payable $ 266 Due to related party- note payable - Total liabilities 266 Shareholders equity (deficit) Common stock $ 0.001 par value, 200,000,000 shares authorized, 64,900,000 shares issued and outstanding as of February 28, 2022. 64,900 Additional Paid-in capital ( 64,758 ) Accumulated deficit ( 265 ) Accumulated other comprehensive gain (loss) ( 2 ) Total shareholders equity (deficit) ( 125 ) Total liabilities and shareholders equity (deficit) $ 141

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements

KARBON-X CORP.

(Formerly known as Cocoluv, Inc.)

Consolidated Statement of Operations

(Unaudited)

Nine Months Ended Three Months Ended February 28, 2022 February 28, 2022 Operations Total revenue - - Cost of revenue - - Gross profit - - Operating expenses 34,781 1,865 Loss from Operations ( 34,781 ) ( 1,865 ) Other income (expenses) - - Federal income tax expense - - Net loss ( 34,781 ) ( 1,865 ) Other comprehensive loss Foreign currency translation gain (loss) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Total comprehensive loss ( 34,783 ) ( 1,867 ) Earnings Per Share Weighted average shares outstanding 64,900,000 64,900,000 Basic and fully diluted loss per share $ ( 0.00 ) $ ( 0.00 )

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements

KARBON-X CORP.

(Formerly known as Cocoluv, Inc.)

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Shareholders Equity

For the Nine Months Ended February 28, 2022

(Unaudited)

Common Stock Additional Accumulated other Description Shares Amount Paid in Capital Accumulated Deficit Comprehensive gain (loss) Total Balance May 31, 2021 - $ - - - - - Recap of Cocoluv, Inc. 64,900,000 64,900 ( 64,758 ) 34,517 - 34,658 Translation gain (loss) - - - - ( 2 ) ( 2 .00 ) Net loss - - - ( 34,781 ) - ( 34,781 ) Balance February 28, 2022 64,900,000 64,900 ( 64,758 ) ( 265 ) ( 2 ) ( 125 )

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements

KARBON-X CORP.

(Formerly known as Cocoluv, Inc.)

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flow

(Unaudited)

February 28, 2022 Cash flows from operating activities Net (loss) income $ ( 34,781 ) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash: Recap of Cocoluv, Inc. 34,658 Paid in capital for extinguishment of debt - Issuance of common stock for consulting services - Repurchase of common stock - Depreciation expense - Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Sales tax receivable - Accounts payable 266 Prepaid expenses - Capital Work in Progress - Cash used in operating activities 143 Cash flows from investing activities Acquisition of property and equipment - Cash used in investing activities - Cash flows from financing activities Increase in loan payable to shareholders - Decrease in loan payable from debt relief - Capital contribution - Cash used in financing activities - Effect of translation changes on cash ( 2 ) Change in cash and cash equivalents 141 Cash, beginning of period - Cash, end of period $ 141 Supplemental disclosures Cash paid for interest $ - Cash paid for income taxes -

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements

KARBON-X CORP.

(Formerly known as Cocoluv, Inc.)

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

February 28, 2022

(Unaudited)

Note 1 - Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies CocoLuv Inc. was incorporated in the State of Nevada on September 13, 2017 and established a fiscal year end of May 31. On February 21, 2022, pursuant to the terms of a Share Exchange Agreement, the Company acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Karbon-X Project Inc. (Karbon-X), and Karbon-X became the wholly owned subsidiary of the Company in a reverse merger (the Reverse Acquisition). Pursuant to the Reverse Acquisition, all of the issued and outstanding shares of Karbon-X common stock were converted, at an exchange ratio of 20,000-for-1, into an aggregate of 20,000,000 shares of the Companys common stock, resulting in Karbon-X becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company and all debt owed to the related party of Cocoluv, Inc. was forgiven. The accompanying financial statements share information has been retroactively adjusted to reflect the exchange ratio in the Reverse Acquisition. Pursuant to the reverse acquisition, on March 21, 2022 the name of the Company was changed in the State of Nevada from Cocoluv, Inc. to Karbon-X Corp. Under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (US GAAP), because the combined entity will be dependent on Karbon-Xs senior management, the Reverse Acquisition was accounted for as a recapitalization effected by a share exchange, wherein Karbon-X is considered the acquirer for accounting and financial reporting purposes. On the date of the reorganization, the assets and liabilities of Karbon-X have been brought forward at their book value and consolidated with Cocoluv, Inc.s assets, which comprised of cash and cash equivalents of $ 134 and liabilities which comprises due to related party of $ 99,902 (see Note 1 Basis of Presentation below). No goodwill has been recognized. Accordingly, the assets and liabilities and the historical operations that are reflected in the consolidated financial statements are those of Karbon-X and are recorded at the historical cost basis of Karbon-X. Going concern To date the Company has generated no revenues from its business operations and has incurred operating losses since inception of $ 265 . As of February 28, 2022, the Company has a working capital deficit of $ 125 . The Company will require additional funding to meet its ongoing obligations and to fund anticipated operating losses. The ability of the Company to continue as a going concern is dependent on raising capital to fund its initial business plan and ultimately to attain profitable operations. Accordingly, these factors raise substantial doubt as to the Companys ability to continue as a going concern. The Company intends to continue to fund its business by way of private placements and advances from related parties as may be required. These financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts or amounts and classification of liabilities that might result from this uncertainty. Basis of Presentation The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiary. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The accompanying unaudited financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q. They do not include all information and footnotes required by United States generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. However, except as disclosed herein, there has been no material changes in the information disclosed in the notes to the financial statements for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2021, included in the Companys year-end financial statements on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The unaudited financial statements should be read in conjunction with those financial statements included in the Form 10-K. In the opinion of Management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation, consisting solely of normal recurring adjustments, have been made. Operating results for the nine-months ended February 28, 2022 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending May 31, 2022. Use of Estimates and Assumptions Preparation of the financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect certain reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the period. Accordingly, actual results could differ from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents For purposes of the statement of cash flows, the Company considers highly liquid financial instruments purchased with a maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Fair Value of Financial Instruments The carrying amount of the Companys financial assets and liabilities approximate their fair values due to their short-term maturities. Earnings per Common Share The basic loss per share is calculated by dividing the Companys net loss available to common shareholders by the weighted average number of common shares during the year. The diluted loss per share is calculated by dividing the Companys net loss available to common shareholders by the diluted weighted average number of shares outstanding during the year. The diluted weighted average number of shares outstanding is the basic weighted number of shares adjusted for any potentially dilutive debt or equity. Diluted loss per share is the same as basic loss per share due to the lack of dilutive items in the Company. As of February 28, 2022, there were no common stock equivalents outstanding.

Note 2  Subsequent Events Subsequent to March 31, 2022 and through June 1, 2022, Karbon-X Corp. completed a private placement pursuant to Rule 506(c) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In that private placement the company sold 3,820,000 units at $ 0.25 per unit for total gross proceeds of $ 955,000 . Each unit consisted of share of common stock and warrant to purchase a share of common stock for $ 0.75 per share for a period of two years. In connection with the private placement, the Company paid $ 10,000 as a finders fee. Subsequent to March 31, 2022 and through the date that these financial statements were available to be issued, the Company made two payments amounting to approximately $ 232,654 to a third-party app development company. On May 19, 2022, the company paid $ 70,000 to plant 20,000 trees in 2022. On May 6, 2022, the Company signed a lease agreement to rent office space for a one-year term beginning June 1, 2022 at a base rent of $ 1,627 .50 per month. Subsequent events have been evaluated through June 17, 2022, the date these financial statements were available to be released and noted no other events requiring disclosure. Effective June 1, 2022 the Company entered into a Carbon Credits Purchase Agreement with SCB Brokers, S.A. Pursuant to that agreement, the Company agreed to purchase 20,000 tCO2e Carbon Credits from SCB Brokers for $ 86,000 .

Item 2. Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

The following discussion relates to the historical operations and financial statements of Karbon-X Corp. for the three and nine months ended February 28, 2021 and 2022.

Forward-Looking Statements

The following Managements Discussion and Analysis should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report. The Managements Discussion and Analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements of our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. When used, the words believe, plan, intend, anticipate, target, estimate, expect, and the like, and/or future-tense or conditional constructions (will, may, could, should, etc.), or similar expressions, identify certain of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this Annual Report. Our actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences in results and outcomes include, without limitation, those specifically addressed under the heading Risks Factors in our various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this Annual Report.

The following discussion highlights the Companys results of operations and the principal factors that have affected its consolidated financial condition as well as its liquidity and capital resources for the periods described, and provides information that management believes is relevant for an assessment and understanding of the Companys consolidated financial condition and results of operations presented herein. The following discussion and analysis are based upon Karbon-X Corps unaudited financial statements contained in this Current Report on Form 10-Q, which have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. You should read the discussion and analysis together with such financial statements and the related notes thereto.

Overview

CocoLuv Inc. was incorporated in the State of Nevada on September 13, 2017 and established a fiscal year end of May 31.

On February 21, 2022, pursuant to the terms of a Share Exchange Agreement, the Company acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Karbon-X Project Inc. (Karbon-X), and Karbon-X became the wholly owned subsidiary of the Company in a reverse merger (the Reverse Acquisition). Pursuant to the Reverse Acquisition, all of the issued and outstanding shares of Karbon-X common stock were converted, at an exchange ratio of 20,000-for-1, into an aggregate of 20,000,000 shares of the Companys common stock, resulting in Karbon-X becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company and all debt owed to the related party of Cocoluv, Inc. was forgiven. The accompanying financial statements share information has been retroactively adjusted to reflect the exchange ratio in the Reverse Acquisition.

Karbon-X provides customized transactional options, tailored insights, and scalable access to the Verified Emissions Reduction markets.

Karbon-X changes the marketing framework of traditional carbon marketing by engaging the public vs industry with multiple forms of technology based greenhouse gas reduction builds. Karbon-X will allow the public to purchase carbon offsets from an APP that is subscription based, with multiple levels of investment for every budget. Each subscription will support clean energy projects such as solar or wind power, methane capture, or reforestation and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions with provable, verifiable carbon credits.

Karbon-X is in development of NFTs to digitize and allow for the trading of tokenized carbon credits in order to bring transparency and liquidity to the global carbon offset market. The aim of the decentralized platform is to enable offset trading on existing tokenized exchanges and their own exchange accepting of all forms of payment, crypto, fiat or card.

NFT minting platform for carbon credits truly allows carbon credit owners to mint their credits into NFTs for a secure and efficient method of trading in a market that appears set to grow rapidly in the coming years. A trading platform will allow the owners of the NFT to monitor their assets while tracking their value and trading history. This is done on the blockchain to mitigate many risks such as double trading and long term record keeping issues. By using a side chain of ethereum costs are kept to a minimum for users

References in this periodic report on Form 10-Q to Karbon-X or the Company may include references to the operations of our subsidiary Karbon-X Project. This entity is a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Karbon-X and consequentially reports quarterly financials up to a consolidated quarterly submission.

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Effects of COVID-19

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. This contagious disease outbreak and the related adverse public health developments have adversely affected workforces, economies, and financial markets globally, leading to an economic downturn. While COVID-19 delayed shipment of some of our products, management has determined that there has been no significant impact to the Companys operations, however management continues to monitor the situation.

Critical Accounting Policies

The unaudited consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiary. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The accompanying unaudited financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q. They do not include all information and footnotes required by United States generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. However, except as disclosed herein, there has been no material changes in the information disclosed in the notes to the financial statements for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2021, included in the Companys year-end financial statements on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The unaudited financial statements should be read in conjunction with those financial statements included in the Form 10-K. In the opinion of Management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation, consisting solely of normal recurring adjustments, have been made. Operating results for the nine-months ended February 28, 2022 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending May 31, 2022.

Use of Estimates and Assumptions

Preparation of the financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect certain reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the period. Accordingly, actual results could differ from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

For purposes of the statement of cash flows, the Company considers highly liquid financial instruments purchased with a maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The carrying amount of the Companys financial assets and liabilities approximates their fair values due to their short-term maturities.

Earnings per Common Share

The basic loss per share is calculated by dividing the Companys net loss available to common shareholders by the weighted average number of common shares during the year. The diluted loss per share is calculated by dividing the Companys net loss available to common shareholders by the diluted weighted average number of shares outstanding during the year. The diluted weighted average number of shares outstanding is the basic weighted number of shares adjusted for any potentially dilutive debt or equity. Diluted loss per share is the same as basic loss per share due to the lack of dilutive items in the Company. As of February 28, 2022, there were no common stock equivalents outstanding.

Reverse Acquisition

On February 21, 2022, pursuant to the terms of a Share Exchange Agreement, the Company acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Karbon-X Project Inc. (Karbon-X), and Karbon-X became the wholly owned subsidiary of the Company in a reverse merger (the Reverse Acquisition). Pursuant to the Reverse Acquisition, all of the issued and outstanding shares of Karbon-X common stock were converted, at an exchange ratio of 20,000-for-1, into an aggregate of 20,000,000 shares of the Companys common stock, resulting in Karbon-X becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company and all debt owed to the related party of Cocoluv, Inc. was forgiven. The accompanying financial statements share information has been retroactively adjusted to reflect the exchange ratio in the Reverse Acquisition.

Financial Condition and Results of Operations

To date the Company has generated no revenues from its business operations and has incurred operating losses since inception of $265. As of February 28, 2022, the Company has a working capital deficit of $125. The Company will require additional funding to meet its ongoing obligations and to fund anticipated operating losses. The ability of the Company to continue as a going concern is dependent on raising capital to fund its initial business plan and ultimately to attain profitable operations. Accordingly, these factors raise substantial doubt as to the Companys ability to continue as a going concern. The Company intends to continue to fund its business by way of private placements and advances from related parties as may be required. These financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts or amounts and classification of liabilities that might result from this uncertainty.

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Results of Operations

Comparison of Unaudited Results for the Three Months Ended February 28, 2022 compared to the Three Months Ended February 28, 2021

Sales and Revenue

For the three-month periods ended February 28, 2022 and February 28, 2021 we had no revenue. We are just at the beginning of our operations which we expect to improve during the current fiscal year.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses for the three-month period ended February 28, 2022 totaled $1,865 compared to $12,299 for the three month period ended February 28, 2021. Operating expenses for the three-month period ended February 28, 2022 were negligible. Operating expenses for the three-month period ended February 28, 2021 were office and general expenses.

Net Loss

Net loss from operations after income taxes was $1,865 during the three months ended February 28, 2022 compared to $12,299 during the three-month period ended February 28, 2021. Again this was as a result of office and general expenses in 2021.

Comparison of Unaudited Results for the Nine Months Ended February 28, 2022 compared to the Nine Months Ended February 28, 2021

Sales and Revenue

For the nine-month periods ended February 28, 2022 and February 28, 2021 we had no revenue. We are just at the beginning of our operations which we expect to improve during the current fiscal year.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses for the nine-month period ended February 28, 2022 totaled $34,871 compared to $28,062 for the nine month period ended February 28, 2021. Operating expenses for the nine-month period ended February 28, 2022 is a result of an adjustment to reconcile net loss to net cash. Operating expenses for the nine-month period ended February 28, 2021 was a result of office and general expenses primarily consisting of professional fees.

Net Loss

Net loss from operations after income taxes was $34,781 during the nine months ended February 28, 2022 compared to $28,062 during the three-month period ended February 28, 2021. The loss for 2022 was as a result of an accounting adjustment and the loss for 2021 was office and general expenses.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The following table sets forth the major components of our statements and consolidated statements of cash flows for the periods presented.

Three Months Ended February 28, 2022 Cash used in operating activities $ 143 Cash from financing activities $ 0 Cash from (used in) investing activities $ 0 Change in cash during the period $ 141 Effect of exchange rate change $ (2 ) Cash, beginning of period $ 0 Cash, end of period $ 141

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As of February 28, 2022, the Company had $141 in current assets.

To date, the Company has financed its operations through equity sales.

On March 7, 2022 the Company commenced a private placement pursuant to Rule 506(c) promulgated under Regulation D of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The private placement is ongoing. The private placement sought to raise $1,000,000 through the sale of Units at $0.25 per Unit, each consisting of one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase one share of common stock for two years at an exercise price of $0.50 per share. As of May 31, 2022 we have obtained $860,000 in gross proceeds from this offering.

Future Financing

In connection with its proposed business plan and currently ongoing and proposed acquisitions, in addition to the possible proceeds from this offering the Company will be required to complete substantial and significant additional capital formation. Such formation could be through additional equity offerings, debt, bank financings or a combination of any source of financing. There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in completion of such financings.

Plan of Operations

As noted above, the continuation of our current plan of operations requires us to raise significant additional capital. If we are successful in raising capital through the sale of convertible notes or common shares, we believe that we will have sufficient cash resources to fund our plan of operations through 2022. If we are unable to do so, we may have to curtail and possibly cease some operations. We intend to use the net proceeds from the offering for operations, regulatory compliance, intellectual property, working capital and general corporate purposes.

We continually evaluate our plan of operations to determine the manner in which we can most effectively utilize our limited cash resources. The timing of completion of any aspect of our plan of operations is highly dependent upon the availability of cash to implement that aspect of the plan and other factors beyond our control. There is no assurance that we will successfully obtain the required capital or revenues, or, if obtained, that the amounts will be sufficient to fund our ongoing operations.

Capital Expenditures

As of February 28, 2022 we had no capital expenditures.

Commitments and Contractual Obligations

As a smaller reporting company as defined by Item 10 of Regulation S-K, the Company is not required to provide this information.

Off-balance Sheet Arrangements

The Company has no off-balance sheet arrangements.

Going Concern

To date the Company has generated no revenues from its business operations and has incurred operating losses since inception of $265. As of February 28, 2022, the Company has a working capital deficit of $125. The Company will require additional funding to meet its ongoing obligations and to fund anticipated operating losses. The ability of the Company to continue as a going concern is dependent on raising capital to fund its initial business plan and ultimately to attain profitable operations. Accordingly, these factors raise substantial doubt as to the Companys ability to continue as a going concern. The Company intends to continue to fund its business by way of private placements and advances from related parties as may be required. These financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts or amounts and classification of liabilities that might result from this uncertainty.

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. These financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recovery of the recorded assets or the classification of the liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.

We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information required under this item.

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Item 4. Controls and Procedures.

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act). Our internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes of accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their control objectives.

Our management evaluated the effectiveness of the Companys internal control over financial reporting as of February 28, 2022. In making this assessment, our management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control  Integrated Framework. Based on this evaluation, our management concluded that, as of February 28, 2022, our internal control over financial reporting was not effective. Because of limitations in our financial operations we had limited resources. These adjustments indicate material weaknesses in certain cycles, including but not limited to inventory and costing, and financial reporting.

This quarterly report does not include an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Managements report was not subject to attestation by our registered public accounting firm pursuant to rules of the SEC that permits us to provide only managements report in this quarterly report.

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PART IIOTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings.

We are not aware of any legal proceedings contemplated by any governmental authority or any other party involving us or our properties other than the following:

As of the date of this report, no director, officer or affiliate is (i) a party adverse to us in any legal proceeding, or (ii) has an adverse interest to us in any legal proceedings. We are not aware of any other legal proceedings pending or that have been threatened against us or our properties.

From time to time the Company may be named in claims arising in the ordinary course of business. Currently, no legal proceedings or claims, other than those disclosed above, are pending against or involve the Company that, in the opinion of management, could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on its business and financial condition.

As of the date of this report, no director, officer or affiliate is (i) a party adverse to us in any legal proceeding, or (ii) has an adverse interest to us in any legal proceedings. We are not aware of any other legal proceedings pending or that have been threatened against us or our properties.

From time to time the Company may be named in claims arising in the ordinary course of business. Currently, no legal proceedings or claims, other than those disclosed above, are pending against or involve the Company that, in the opinion of management, could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on its business and financial condition.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information required under this item.

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds.

On March 7, 2022 the Company commenced a private placement pursuant to Rule 506(c) promulgated under Regulation D of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The private placement is ongoing. The private placement sought to raise $1,000,000 through the sale of Units at $0.25 per Unit, each consisting of one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase one share of common stock for two years at an exercise price of $0.50 per share. As of May 31, 2022 we have obtained $860,000 in gross proceeds from this offering.

Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities.

None

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

None

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Item 5. Other Information.

Not applicable

Item 6. Exhibits.

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SIGNATURES*

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

Karbon-X Corp. (Registrant) Date: May 31, 2022 By: /s/ Chad Clovis Chad Clovis Chief Executive Officer and Director {Principal and Executive Officer} Date: May 31, 2022 By: /s/ Chad Clovis Chad Clovis Acting Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer Principal Accounting Officer)
0000056873 false 0000056873 2022-06-23 2022-06-23 iso4217:USD xbrli:shares iso4217:USD xbrli:shares

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report:

(Date of earliest event reported)

The Kroger Co.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Ohio No. 1-303 31-0345740 (State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation) (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer

Identification No.)

1014 Vine Street

Cincinnati , OH 45202

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

Registrants telephone number, including area code: ( 513 ) 762-4000

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on

which registered Common Stock $1.00 par value per share KR New York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. 

Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.

On June 23, 2022, the Company held its 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the Annual Meeting). At the close of business on April 25, 2022, the record date for determination of shareholders entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting, there were 727,752,631 common shares of the Company issued and outstanding. At the Annual Meeting, the shareholders elected eleven directors to serve until the annual meeting in 2023, or until their successors have been elected and qualified; approved the Companys executive compensation on an advisory basis; ratified the selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Companys independent auditor for fiscal year 2022; approved additional shares under the 2019 Long-Term Incentive Plan; rejected a shareholder proposal regarding the recyclability of packaging, rejected a shareholder proposal regarding a report on the protection of farmworkers; rejected a shareholder proposal regarding a report on elimination of HFCs; and rejected a shareholder proposal regarding a report on workforce strategy.

The final results are as follows:

Director Election Proposal For Against Broker Non-Votes Nora A. Aufreiter 569,223,523 7,376,740 52,906,197 Kevin M. Brown 569,335,627 7,264,636 52,906,197 Elaine L. Chao 562,051,630 14,548,632 52,906,197 Anne Gates 562,264,002 14,336,261 52,906,197 Karen M. Hoguet 569,045,926 7,554,337 52,906,197 W. Rodney McMullen 522,330,430 54,269,833 52,906,197 Clyde R. Moore 539,094,936 37,505,327 52,906,197 Ronald L. Sargent 529,125,756 47,474,507 52,906,197 J. Amanda Sourry Knox 569,642,760 6,957,503 52,906,197 Mark S. Sutton 566,409,552 10,190,711 52,906,197 Ashok Vemuri 568,780,924 7,819,339 52,906,197

Other Proposals For Against Abstain Broker Non-Votes Advisory vote approving executive compensation 525,671,699 46,301,437 4,627,127 52,906,197 Ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as independent auditor for fiscal year 2022 583,340,468 43,869,428 2,296,564 0 Approval of additional shares under the 2019 Long-Term Incentive Plan 511,338,850 61,866,646 3,394,767 52,906,197 Shareholder proposal regarding the Recyclability of Packaging 219,182,583 352,044,944 5,372,736 52,906,197 Shareholder proposal regarding a Report on Protection of Farmworkers 118,787,507 450,864,337 6,948,419 52,906,197 Shareholder proposal regarding a Report on Elimination of HFCs 193,607,875 353,365,358 29,627,030 52,906,197 Shareholder proposal regarding a Report on Workforce Strategy 168,301,958 401,543,352 6,754,952 52,906,197

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany  Chief Master Sgt. Jeremiah Grisham walks through base housing every evening with his husband and his dog.

But 15 years ago, Grisham never imagined hed be where he is today: the top enlisted leader for the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing at Ramstein. As far as he knows, hes the only openly gay command chief in the Air Force.

Until 2011, when the repeal of the militarys dont ask, dont tell policy took effect, openly gay and lesbian people were barred from serving in the U.S. armed forces.

I didnt really have a plan to make chief, let alone command chief, Grisham told Stars and Stripes. He shared his story during Pride Month, which is observed in June.

Grisham, 42, came out to his military friends in explosive ordnance disposal and to his supervisors when he was a senior airman about 20 years ago.

His sexual orientation became a little bit of a joke among the rough-and-tumble EOD crowd, but nobody really cared, Grisham said. The tight-knit EOD community was willing to close ranks and protect, he added.

I never felt in danger of being outed to somebody who could impact my career, Grisham said.

Nor did being gay hinder his advancement opportunities in his 20-plus years in the Air Force. Gay and lesbian service members have largely found acceptance in the military, he said.

However, thats not the case for bisexual, transgender and queer armed forces personnel, Grisham said.

Theres still some fear of those communities because theres not a clear understanding of who they are, and so we dont appreciate fully what they can bring to the fight, he said.

Grisham offered a message of hope to those who still feel marginalized.

I have experienced change in my lifetime, he said. I have been in the Air Force from the time when it was impermissible to say who you are and love who you need to love in this life, and I have landed in a place in life where I can do all of those things.

But he acknowledges that theres work to be done, and he feels compelled to speak out to counter messages that he regards as hateful.

The rhetoric surrounding the cancellation of a drag queen story hour for children at the Ramstein library earlier this month is one such example for him.

After the planned event was chronicled by a right-wing news magazine based in Canada, base leaders hastily announced that it would not happen because organizers publicized it before official approval had been granted.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, sent a letter calling for an Air Force investigation and discipline for the event planners. His office issued a press release touting the cancellation following his demands.

Lt. Col. Will Powell, a spokesman for the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein, subsequently said the reason the base canceled the drag queen reading was that leaders wanted a Pride Month event that was more inclusive for LGBTQ personnel and families.

He added that the decision was not based on individuals speaking out against the event.

In Grishams opinion, though, the controversy did lead to something positive. He said a planning committee at Ramstein is developing a road map where we can continue to have (Pride) events, maybe partner with other special observance months throughout the year, with the goal to educate and celebrate.

Pride Month events still to come include the 86th Airlift Wing Dental Squadrons 5K color run Saturday on base and a Proud Voices question-and-answer panel put on by the KMC Pride Committee, a base official said. Details of the latter are still being worked out.

All of us have a responsibility to let an airman junior to us see themselves through us, Grisham said.

And he encouraged all airmen to embrace who they are.

For some people thats a taller mountain, he said. But dont shy away from it.
The Army is offering a $35,000 bonus to new recruits willing to sign a four-year contract and ship out to boot camp within 45 days as it struggles to quickly fill open training slots.

It is the first time that the service has offered an amount this large for a bonus to any career field, according to Army Recruiting Command.

Recruiting in the current environment is a challenge, and we have positions we need to fill right now, said Maj. Gen. Kevin Vereen, who leads the Recruiting Command. Our Army is counting on us to fill these training vacancies quickly, so we are able to offer incentives to gain interest in critical career fields.

As of June 14, all career fields had vacancies that qualified for the quick-ship bonus, the Army said. Recruits who joined under the delayed entry program, meaning theyve enlisted but have delayed their boot camp arrival to July, August or September can renegotiate their contract to receive the bonus and leave sooner.

The Navy and Air Force announced similar quick-ship bonuses in April, as all the services grapple with recruiting in the post coronavirus pandemic job market that has employers in stiff competition for workers.

The Army did not immediately respond to questions Wednesday about how many vacancies it has in basic training or the specific challenges in getting new recruits. However, military officials told Congress in April that the Army, in particular, was behind in recruiting goals, citing the pandemic and tight labor market.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told members of the House Armed Services Committee that recruiting has suffered due to the combination of unemployment below 4%, the decreased amount of people who meet the militarys standards and the difficulties that the pandemic has caused for in-person recruiting in high schools.

As we combine all of those things, there are headwinds, he said.

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also spoke at the House hearing and said all services except the Army would likely meet their recruiting goals this year.

The Armys new quick-ship bonus can be added to other bonuses that are career-field dependent, the service said. Financial incentives are capped at $50,000.
Soldiers can now sport ink on their hands, behind their ears and on the back of their necks, according to an updated Army tattoo policy published Thursday aimed largely at helping recruiters avoid the lengthy waiver process to bring recruits with body art into the service.

Army officials said the new policy would better align the service with social norms on tattoos and make the enlistment process simpler for recruits with tattoos in some areas of their bodies that were previously banned. The updated policy was issued this week by Army Secretary Christine Wormuth and went into immediate effect for soldiers and incoming recruits.

We always review policy to keep the Army as an open option to as many people as possible who want to serve, said Maj. Gen. Doug Stitt, the Armys director of military personnel management. This directive makes sense for currently serving soldiers and allows a greater number of talented individuals the opportunity to serve now.

Then new policy allows soldiers to have one tattoo on each hand up to one inch in length in every direction. Soldiers can now sport tattoos up to two-inches long on the back of their necks, and they can wear ink up to one-inch long behind each ear. The new policy allows soldiers to have an unlimited number of tattoos between their fingers as long as they are not visible when the fingers are closed.

The policy still bans tattoos from soldiers faces and the front of their necks, and it limits ring tattoos on fingers to one per hand.

The policy change comes as the Army  and the other military services  face one of the most difficult recruiting environments in years, Pentagon officials have said in recent months. Army Lt. Gen. Gary Brito, the services personnel chief, told House lawmakers last month that the service had only reached about 23% of is active-duty recruiting goal through the first five months of fiscal 2022. Nonetheless, Brito said he believed the service would make its recruiting goal.

As part of its efforts, the Army announced this month that it would provide $35,000 bonuses to new recruits willing to sign a four-year contract and ship out to boot camp within 45 days.

The Armys Recruiting Command and Training and Doctrine Command, which oversees new recruits, recommended the policy change as part of its efforts to send recruits more quickly to basic training. Army recruiters had filed some 650 tattoo regulation waivers between October and May, according to the service. Those waivers take at least two weeks to be approved.

Not only does that waiver process slow recruits from entering the service, but it could also drive them toward other services, such as the Navy and Marine Corps, that have less restrictive tattoo policies, said Army Sgt. Maj. Ashleigh Sykes, the services top enlisted leader for uniform policy.

Some may change their mind or go to a different service, she said. Or they just didn't want to wait anymore.

Soldiers with waivers for tattoos banned under the new policy will remain covered by their previous exemptions, according to the policy. Soldiers can apply for waivers for tattoos that violate the new policy, including facial tattoos, for religious purposes, according to the new directive.
Chinas newest aircraft carrier boasts some advanced technology and presents a growing challenge to the U.S. and its Indo-Pacific allies, but it falls short of matching U.S. carrier prowess, experts told Stars and Stripes.

The Fujian, a Type 003 carrier launched Friday in Shanghai, features a variety of improvements over Chinas first two carriers. Most significantly it features an electromagnetic catapult system for launching aircraft thats similar to one on the U.S. Navys newest carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford.

The transition from ski-jump launches off a deck ramp on the first Chinese carriers to an electromagnetic catapult represent a symbolic and technological leapfrog for Chinese naval forces, according to Brian Hart, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies China Power Project. He said the catapult allows Beijing to field heavier and larger fixed-wing aircraft.

The transition away from a ski-jump style system puts China in the elite group of countries fielding modern flat-top carriers. Adding to that, China skipped the traditional steam-powered catapult system and jumped straight to the more modern electromagnetic catapults, Hart told Stars and Stripes by email Thursday. Thats a major technological achievement -- assuming it works as intended.

Despite that, the Fujian relies on conventional power for propulsion rather than nuclear power, which severely limits its range. Conventional carriers burn fossil fuels like oil or gas for propulsion, according NavalPost.com.

In contrast, the U.S. Navys 11 aircraft carriers rely on nuclear reactors: 10 Nimitz-class carriers and the Gerald R. Ford, first of its class and commissioned in 2017.

In terms of size and propulsion, the Fujian is comparable to the U.S. Kitty Hawk class carriers that first when into service in the U.S. Navy in the early 1960s, Hart said. I expect China to continue growing its fleet of aircraft carriers, but the [Chinese navy] is decades away from matching the U.S. carrier fleet in number or sophistication.

China may not try to match the U.S. Navy carrier-for-carrier, according to Sam Roggeveen, director of the Australian think-tank Lowy Institutes International Security Program. He suggested that Beijing has longer-term plans.

I dont think the Chinese carrier project is about matching the U.S., Roggeveen told Stars and Stripes by email Thursday. It is more about building a post-American navy, a fleet that can be used for coercion or punishment against smaller states as U.S. influence in Asia diminishes.

China is aware that large, slow ships like aircraft carriers wouldnt likely survive in a prolonged war with a peer competitor, he said.

Since the end of the Cold War, carriers have proven useful to the US in conflicts against states with minimal maritime capacity  Iraq, Libya, Yugoslavia  and I suspect China sees them in a similar role, Roggeveen said.

Beijings investments in technology and naval expansion, despite yielding a capability short of U.S. carrier power, are having significant effects in the Indo-Pacific region, Roggeveen said.

U.S. commitments in the area are getting harder and harder to sustain, he said, and cited Taiwan as an example. The self-governing island is considered by China a breakaway province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force, if necessary. President Joe Biden in late May said the U.S. would help defend Taiwan militarily against attack from China.

Chinas military modernization has now reached the point where, even if the US could prevail in a conflict over Taiwan, the costs would be enormous, he said.

China has modernized and increased the size of its military forces, and last year its navy became the worlds largest. The Chinese navy has a battle force of 355 vessels, a number expected to reach 460 by 2030, according to a U.S. Department of Defense report in November.

In comparison, the U.S. Navy has a battle force of 298 ships, according to an April 20 report from the Congressional Research Service. Congress has yet to enact a concrete plan for a future U.S. fleet, but one option calls for 367 ships by 2052.

Chinas military buildup is dramatically shifting the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. In 2021, China spent more on its military than the next 13 Indo-Pacific countries combined, excluding the United States, Hart said. I dont think Washington has yet taken the necessary steps to adequately prepare itself or its allies and partners in the region to respond to Chinas growing military challenge.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas  The Space Forces 71 newest guardians marched in two flights across a heat-scorched parade field Thursday morning, bringing yet another first to the youngest branch of the military  the first boot camp graduates to train under a unique, Space Force-centric curriculum.

The guardians stood among more than 700 new airmen. While they all wore the same dress blue uniforms, the guardians were distinguished by the Space Force patches on their sleeves, and the new flags that designated their training flights.

After raising their right hands for oath of enlistment, the new guardians increased Space Forces total number of active-duty service members to 7,227, said Gen. John Raymond, chief of space operations. Space Force aims to have 8,400 guardians by the end of the year.

It's critical to the service that you build your own people, and you develop your force. Every domain is unique, whether it's the ground domain, air domain, sea domain or the space domain, Raymond said. Having an opportunity to grow these young guardians from day one with the core values and with the skill sets needed to be successful in this domain called space is really important to the service.

The first enlisted guardians began arriving at Lackland Air Force Base for basic training in October 2021, with seven graduating at the end of that year. Those early troops attended the same 7.5-week training as Air Force recruits.

Since then, about 800 guardians have entered Space Force through basic training, said Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force Roger Towberman, who attended Thursdays ceremony along with Raymond. Other troops came to the service by transitioning from other service branches.

Moving forward, Lackland will receive a new class of guardians every eight weeks, but Towberman said itll take about a year to determine whether roughly 70 students every rotation is the right amount for the service.

What we do at basic training impacts what happens in recruiting, and it impacts what happens in tech schools and it impacts what we call absorption rate into the operational force, he said. Weve been playing with different models, and well keep playing with different models.

Like the recruits to graduate Thursday, future Space Force trainees will live in a Space Force-only dorm and participate in about 35 hours of space-specific curriculum taught by guardians. For the rest of their training, they will merge with Air Force trainees.

The new curriculum is centered on the Space Forces four core values  commitment, courage, character and connection, said Col. Jeffrey Pixley, commander of the Air Forces 737th Training Group, which oversees basic training for the Air Force and Space Force.

The instructors leading the training are former airmen who switched to the Space Force, he said.

One day well have Space Force [military training instructors] who went through Space Force [basic military training], he said. What we're doing right now is purposely and unintentionally infusing the Air Force culture into the Space Force. Because as their parent service, they grew out from that connection. I think is important and it's always going to be there.

Master Sgt. Phillip Lowery, a former Air Force basic training instructor who moved to the Space Force, helped shape the curriculum now used for the services basic training. Once the working group identified what they saw as missing from the Air Force curriculum, they focused on how to get the information to guardians. That included a class on guardian values and an entry level class into space and cyber, both meant to help new troops once they get to their next phase of training.

If we can give them a different perspective on space operations, when they get to their technical training, maybe their learning curve is a little less, said Lowery, who now serves as the senior enlisted leader for the 1st Delta Operations Squadron at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.

Space Force has only five distinct career fields: operations, acquisition, engineering, intelligence and cyber. After graduation from basic, the 71 new guardians will move on to their technical training, which is focused on the career field they chose. Its taught at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., and Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, Raymond said.

While recruits coming in are excited for the mission  Space Force remains highly selective, with a board choosing who makes the cut  Raymond said the service is still challenged with helping the American people understand the Space Force mission.

It's really hard to have a connection with something that's orbiting overhead, he said.

However, space is responsible for making a smart phone operate, delivering weather reports, providing directions through GPS and allowing people to pay for gas at the pump instead of walking inside, Raymond said.

The way you understand space is if it ever went out and you lose those capabilities. Our goal is to make sure that that never happens, he said.

As the Space Force continues to hit new milestones in its path toward full operations, Towberman and Raymond said they are in no hurry to separate from the Air Force when it comes to basic training. Instead, they are focused on keeping the force small, agile and able to adapt to the rapidly changing technology related to space operations.

Were new and we can do things differently, Raymond said. We've purposely built ourselves to be small so we can be fast.
Frankfurt, Germany, 1959: Actor Jack Lemmon (top) and screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond walk up the steps to board the plane at Rhein-Main airport. They  together with director Billy Wilder  stopped over briefly at the Frankfurt airport en route from Berlin to Zurich, Switzerland, on a tour promoting their new movie Some Like It Hot, in which Lemmon co-stars with Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis. Lemmons next movie is titled The Wackiest Ship in the Army and will feature the 34-year-old actor  who was an ensign in the Navy  in the role of a lieutenant in command of a sailing ship on a secret wartime mission. This new film ... is based on an actual story, the actor told the assembled journalists on the tarmac. It seems the Army once did have two ships assigned to it, during World War II, and the picture is about one of them.
The temperatures are rising in the Tokyo area so if youre looking to escape, try cooling off at Nikko in the mountains north of the metropolis.

But get beyond the shrines and temples and enjoy the regions natural beauty along the relaxing Kuro River.

Im a glamper, not a camper, so I recommend the Earth Hostel, specifically the old railroad cars converted to cozy private rooms. Our group picked the hostel for a weekend celebration of a friends birthday. Reluctant at first to stay somewhere akin to roughing it, I was happy to find each railroad car is outfitted with the right plumbing to take the edge off the outdoors.

The railroad car rooms  there are two available  lack air conditioning but do have fans to circulate the cool evening air. I noticed each room was also equipped with heaters for use in spring or fall.

To get clean youll find two shower areas in the former onsen of the main guesthouse. Inside, theres a river view, and high ceilings with acoustics that are shower tune friendly.

Speaking of the main guesthouse, it has a spacious, upstairs lounge and three rooms that can accommodate up to four, six or eight guests.

The owner and groundskeeper, Scout, is very hospitable and speaks fluent English. He introduced us to some of the flora and fauna (such as a praying mantis that was creeping around) and knew the best nearby hiking trails. If you rather not hike the trails, bikes are available to rent for 500 yen, less than $4.

We had the whole place to ourselves, thanks to Japans pandemic ban on tourists. After spending most of the day lounging on floaties in the crystal-clear river, we took a break from our secluded surroundings to drive the 25 minutes for lunch near Nikko Station.

That said, my friends and I came to celebrate. The patio next to the guesthouse is outfitted with picnic tables, a dance floor, free WiFi and large Bluetooth speakers.

We fired up the provided barbecue grill, took turns playing DJ and danced the night away under a string of pretty patio lights and a disco ball. We brought our own charcoal, but the website says the hostel can provide you some for 1,000 yen, or $7.39, per 6.6-pound box.

Obviously, this place is great for groups, but it also works for couples and solo travelers. The hostel offers discounts for infants and children younger than 6, according to its website, but families with young children should proceed with caution.

There are a lot of steps to navigate to the river area and inside the guesthouse to showers, shared bedrooms and the lounge, not to mention the presence of a large body of rushing water just yards away.

Dogs are allowed if youre staying in a private railcar room but please call or text ahead to ask.

ON THE QT

Location: 2254-7 Minamiokorogawa, Nikko, Tochigi 321-1353

Directions: About two hours by car from Yokota Air Base, three to four hours by train. Shuttle available to pick you up from select train stations. Free parking on-site.

Cost: Private railroad car: 1 person: 9,000 yen ($66), 2 persons: 10,000 yen ($73), 3 persons: 10,500 yen ($77), 4 persons: 14,000 yen ($120); 3,500 yen ($26) for single bed in shared room; open mid-March to mid-November

Food: Breakfast, lunch and dinner can be served if you call ahead and are staying multiple nights. Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free meals available with advance notice. A limited menu can be found at https://earthcafe.jp/menu/

Information: Phone: 080-1215-4018; online: https://earthhostel.com
MIAMI  A prominent Mexican scientist who led a double life with two families on separate continents and was co-opted by Russian agents into surveilling a U.S. government informant residing in Miami has been sentenced to four years and one day in federal prison.

Hector Cabrera Fuentes, 36, was sentenced Tuesday in Miami federal court, according to court documents. He pleaded guilty in February to acting in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general.

Cabrera was arrested in 2020 at Miami International Airport as he and his Mexican wife -- the other is from Russia -- were looking to return to their home in Mexico City. A day earlier, Valentine's Day, the couple attracted the attention of a security guard as they were caught on surveillance tape tailgating another vehicle onto the premises of a Miami-area condominium and snapping a photo of the U.S. source's car and license plate  ignoring instructions not to take any pictures but just jot down the vehicle's location.

The bizarre tale of Cabrera's botched intelligence mission began in 2019 when his Russian wife and her two daughters traveled from Germany to Russia to take care of a bureaucratic matter. When the woman tried to return to Germany she was not allowed to depart, an FBI agent said in an affidavit accompanying the original indictment.

Cabrera then traveled to Russia to see his family and was allegedly contacted by a Russian official he had met years earlier in a professional capacity. The individual, who is not identified in court filings, advised Cabrera that his family shouldn't travel to Europe or seek a U.S. visa.

It was around this time that Cabrera began to believe the individual worked for Russia's FSB intelligence agency, according to the FBI.

Later, at a subsequent meeting in Moscow, the same official produced old emails from Cabrera's account in which the Mexican scientist appeared to be scouting for real estate in Miami.

The Russian official brought up Cabrera's family situation and told him, "We can help each other," according to the original indictment.

At the official's direction, Cabrera traveled to Miami and, using an associate's name, rented an apartment in the same complex where the U.S. government source was living.

It's not clear if the scientist knew why the Russians wanted him to rent the apartment, but frequently intelligence agents seek to insulate themselves by recruiting other people to carry out various tasks. Rarely does the recruit have full knowledge of the entire mission.

The individual Cabrera was trailing is not named in court papers and is described only as a U.S. government "confidential human source" who previously provided information regarding Russian intelligence activities affecting U.S. national security interests.

Prior to his arrest, Cabrera worked in Singapore as an associate professor at a medical school jointly run by Duke University and the National University of Singapore.

He also was appointed director in 2018 of the FEMSA Biotechnology Center at the Monterrey Institute of Technology in northern Mexico, which said he earned doctorates in molecular microbiology in Russia and molecular cardiology in Germany.

In his hometown of El Espinal, in the southern state of Oaxaca, Cabrera is something of a local hero, remembered for his work to promote scientific research, heal those suffering from diabetes and assist in the rebuilding of homes after devastating earthquakes.
The Army is seeking public comment on proposed sites for its new multidomain task forces  field artillery brigades with beefed-up capabilities for long-range fire and air-missile defense.

Public comment is open for the next month on an environmental assessment that found the units pose no significant impacts on the installations being considered, the service said in a news release Wednesday.

The Army is evaluating 13 sites at Fort Bliss or Fort Hood in Texas; Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Campbell or Fort Knox in Kentucky; Fort Carson, Colo.; Fort Drum, N.Y.; Fort Riley, Kan.; Fort Stewart, Ga.; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.; Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson or Fort Wainwright in Alaska; and U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii at Schofield Barracks and Helemano Military Reservation.

The Army plans to establish five Multi-Doman Task Force units, with two aligned to the Indo-Pacific, one in Europe, one in the Arctic and the fifth aligned for global response, according to a May 31 report by the Congressional Research Service.

Siting the units is key to the Armys modernization strategy announced in 2019, under which it intends to transform into a multidomain force by 2035.

The Army needs to transform from its current state into a multi-domain force that can project power across all domains of warfare (land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace) throughout the world, the environmental assessment states.

A multi-domain operations-capable force would allow the Army, as part of an integrated Joint Force, to expand the options available to the President and Secretary of Defense short of armed conflict, or to allow for timely response to any armed attacks against the Joint Force, the assessment states.

The Army plans to position the task forces at garrisons and joint bases from which they can quickly deploy to any theater where they are needed, according to the assessment.

The Army has experimented with the multi-domain task force concept in recent years in Hawaii; units were activated last year at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and in Germany.

The Multi-Domain Task Force unit is a reorganized field artillery brigade but with beefed-up capabilities for long-range weapons fire and air-missile defense, the assessment states.

It combines intelligence, information, cyber, electronic warfare and space capabilities into a single battalion, the assessment states.

The environmental assessment considers two alternate configurations for the Multi-Domain Task Force unit.

The full configuration would comprise about 3,000 soldiers and require roughly 93 acres of space.

The smaller base configuration would employ about 400 soldiers and use 18 acres.

Hawaii is being considered solely for the base configuration due to land restrictions, the assessment states.

Infrastructure for either option includes headquarters, maintenance facilities, cantonment and space suitable for a detachment devoted to intelligence, cyber, electronic warfare and space, the assessment states.

The full configuration includes an additional requirement for airspace, firing range and airfield.

The environmental assessment can be viewed at https://aec.army.mil/index.php?cID=352 , and input from the public is being solicited until July 22.

Written comments should be mailed to U.S. Army Environmental Command, ATTN: MDTF Public Comments, 2455 Reynolds Rd., Mail Stop 112, JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234-7588.
SEOUL, South Korea  North Korea discussed assigning additional duties to its frontline army units at a key military meeting, state media said Thursday, a suggestion the country may want to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons targeting South Korea along the rivals' tense border.

The discussion comes as South Korea officials said North Korea has finished preparation for its first nuclear test in five years as part of its possible efforts to build a warhead to be mounted on short-range weapons capable of hitting targets in South Korea.

During an ongoing meeting of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party on Wednesday, leader Kim Jong Un and other top military officers discussed "the work of additionally confirming the operation duties of the frontline units of the Korean People's Army and modifying the operation plans," according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Kim also ordered steps to be taken to "enhance the operational capabilities of the frontline units," KCNA said. A KCNA photo showed what appeared to be a big map of the Korean Peninsula's eastern coast including border sites standing near the conference table.

"I can assess the issue of forward-deploying tactical nuclear weapons were discussed at the meeting in an in-depth manner," said Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Korea's private Sejong Institute.

Kim Jun-rak, a spokesperson for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters later Thursday that it's closely monitoring related North Korean activities but didn't elaborate.

In April, when North Korea test-fired a new type of tactical guided weapon," it said the weapon has "great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the front-line long-range artillery units, enhancing the efficiency in the operation of (North Korea's) tactical nukes and diversification of their firepower missions."

Its use of the words "tactical nukes" suggested the weapon is likely a short-range weapons system armed with a nuclear warhead. Some experts said at the time that North Korea intended to deploy such weapons threatening key facilitates in South Korea, including U.S. military bases there.

Later in April, Kim said North Korea could preemptively use its nuclear weapons if threatened, saying his nukes would "never be confined to the single mission of war deterrent" in situations where the North faces external threats to its "fundamental interests." The possibility of North Korea having an escalatory nuclear doctrine could pose greater concern for South Korea, Japan and the United States.

Kim convened the Central Military Commission meeting earlier this week to confirm "crucial and urgent tasks" to expand military capabilities and implement key defense policies, state media said.

Cheong, the analyst, said North Korea is expected to preform its seventh nuclear test after the meeting, saying that its third nuclear test in 2013 also came days after another Central Military Commission meeting.

Before this week's meeting, Kim had convened a meeting of the Central Military Commission 16 times since he took power in late 2011 but this is the first lasting two days or longer, Cheong said.

Wednesday was the second-day session, and KCNA said discussions were continuing on the agenda, indicating the meeting would continue on Thursday.

Earlier this year, North Korea test-launched a spate of missiles with potential ranges placing both the U.S. mainland and its Asian allies like South Korea and Japan within striking distances. North Korea has intercontinental ballistic missiles potentially capable of reaching the United States, but experts say the country still needs to master reentry capability and other technologies to make them functioning weapons.

Some experts say the North's weapons launches were meant to modernize its weapons systems and boost its leverage in future negotiations with the United States to win sanctions relief and other concessions.

South Korean and U.S. officials have warned North Korea to face consequences if it goes ahead with a nuclear test. But the divisions between permanent members of the U.N. Security Council make the prospects for fresh punitive international sanctions on North Korea unclear. Russia and China this year vetoed U.S.-sponsored resolutions that would have increased sanctions, insisting Washington should focus on reviving dialogue.
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CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa  Members of the U.S. military population on Okinawa have slightly more than a month to squeeze in a government-funded morale flight to the U.S. mainland.

The Funded Environmental and Morale Leave program, or FEML, is set to expire Aug. 1, according to an announcement Tuesday by III Marine Expeditionary Force. Approved trips scheduled until July 31 are unaffected, including return travel after that date, according to the email from III MEF spokesman Capt. Gabriel Adibe.

He said eligible travelers may still apply for morale leave but individuals intending to use FEML should contact the officials approving their to make reservations and seek further guidance.

Japan ended its post-travel quarantine requirements for anyone under the status of forces agreement on June 1, according to Adibes email. That removed the reason FEML was approved in November. Travelers entering Japan must still pass a molecular test for COVID-19, usually a PCR test, 72 hours before starting their international travel, according to III MEF.

The Pentagon approved funded morale leave from Okinawa to alleviate the cost of quarantining in Tokyo during the COVID-19 pandemic. Foreign travelers, including SOFA members, had to enter the country through Tokyo and complete 10 days quarantine in the metro area before heading to their destinations. SOFA outlines the rights and responsibilities of the U.S. military population in Japan.

The costs for quarantine lodging and for the travel leg to Okinawa added up for military travelers already coping with nearly two years of pandemic life on the island prefecture.

FEML opened up the Patriot Express for service members, Defense Department civilians and their families with flights between Seattle and Kadena Air Base on Okinawa. The Patriot Express is a regularly scheduled, government contracted flight between the U.S. and overseas military bases. Returning travelers were able to quarantine at their homes on Okinawa.

Restrictions apply to the funded leave program. Eligible travelers may take one morale leave and must be on orders to Okinawa for at least two years, including back-to-back one-year assignments.

Morale leave falls under a provision in the Pentagons leave and liberty policy that permits government-funded travel from duty locations that are truly isolated, austere or unhealthful 

More than 6,000 service members and civilians used the program through May, according to Adibes email. The flights, which are listed online, were often fully booked.
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YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan  A C-130J Super Hercules pilot who led a tactical airlift squadron in Afghanistan is the new commander of the Air Forces home in western Tokyo.

Col. Andrew Roddan took command of the 374th Airlift Wing at Yokota from Col. Andrew Campbell during a ceremony presided over Thursday by U.S. Forces Japan and 5th Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Ricky Rupp.

A computer science graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Roddan has over 3,850 hours flying C-130E Hercules and C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, according to his official biography.

Im a proud member of the U.S. Air Force, raised in the C-130 raised in tactical airlift he told airmen, civilians, family members and Japanese guests gathered for the ceremony in a hangar near Yokotas runway.

The crowd saw Roddans name unveiled on the side of a Super Hercules parked in front of the hangar alongside a CV-22 Osprey aircraft, UH-1N Huey helicopter and C-12J Huron plane.

The father of two previously served at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and commanded the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, from January to May 2017, the biography states.

His last assignment was as commander of the 19th Operations Group at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. where he was responsible for four squadrons, including two airlift squadrons operating 29 C-130Js, the biography states.

Yokota, with a base population of 12,000, is the Air Forces primary airlift hub in the western Pacific. Its wing flies Hueys and Hurons along with its mainstay Super Hercules. The base is also home to five Ospreys assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Group.

During Campbells two-year tenure, Yokotas airlifters excelled amid the challenges of the pandemic and increased volatility in the region, Rupp told those gathered for the command change.

This ironclad (U.S.-Japan) alliance is critical to deterring China, Russia and North Korea, he said.

Campbell, along with other American base commanders in Japan, imposed restrictions on members of the military community to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Most of those curbs were lifted earlier this year as the pandemic receded in Japan.

Under Campbells watch the base reported a comparatively modest 1,000 cases of COVID-19, although it certainly experienced more than that. The U.S. military in Japan went through periods in which it did not publicly report all of its COVID-19 cases.

Yokota, at times, had the most lenient local travel policy of the U.S. military bases in Japan. Personnel and their families at Yokota were free at times to travel throughout Japan when other commanders restricted their personnel to the immediate areas. However, Campbell put nearby central Tokyo off-limits for months during pandemic surges.

Yokotas airlifters supported the biggest US-Japan airborne operation in history in March 2021 when hundreds of Japanese paratroopers jumped out of U.S. Air Force C-130Js near Mt. Fuji.

In May the base hosted its annual Friendship Festival, which had been on hiatus for two years due to the pandemic. Thousands of festivalgoers saw President Joe Biden touch down on Yokotas runway on his first visit to Japan since taking office.

Campbell is headed to Scott Air Force Base, Ill., to become Air Mobility Command deputy director of operations, Rupp said.
BRUSSELS  The European Union agreed Thursday to put Ukraine on a path toward EU membership, acting with uncharacteristic speed and unity to pull the embattled country further away from Russia's influence and bind it more closely to the West.

Meeting at a summit in Brussels, leaders of the EU's 27 nations mustered the required unanimous approval to grant Ukraine candidate status. That sets in motion a process that could take years or even decades.

The EU also granted candidate status to the tiny country of Moldova, another former Soviet state that borders Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pronounced it a "good day for Europe."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted his gratitude and declared: "Ukraine's future is within the EU."

Ukraine applied for membership less than a week after Moscow invaded on Feb. 24. Thursday's decision was unusually rapid for the EU. But the war and Ukraine's request for fast-track consideration lent urgency to its cause.

To gain EU membership, countries must meet a detailed host of economic and political conditions, including a commitment to the rule of law and other democratic principles. Ukraine, among other things, will also have to curb entrenched government corruption and adopt other reforms.

The European Parliament endorsed Ukraine's bid hours before the summit started, passing a resolution that called on EU governments to "move without delay" and "live up to their historical responsibility."

"It will strengthen Ukraine, it will strengthen Europe. It is a decision for freedom and democracy and puts us on the right side of history," European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said ahead of the final announcement.

The EU's nations have been united in backing Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion with money and weapons, adopting unprecedented economic sanctions against the Kremlin.

EU candidate status doesn't give an automatic right to join the bloc and doesn't provide any immediate security guarantees.

Once a country gains membership, however, it is covered under an EU treaty clause that says if a member falls victim to armed aggression, the other EU countries are obligated to assist it by all the means in their power.

The main benefits of EU membership, though, are economic, since it gives access to a market of 450 million consumers with free movement of labor, goods, services and capital.

Ukraine has long aspired to join NATO, too, but the military alliance is not about to offer an invitation, in part because of governmental corruption, shortcomings in the country's defense establishment, and its contested borders.

Before the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO, which he has condemned for its eastward spread toward Russia's flank. But earlier this month, he did not seem bothered by Ukraine's determination to get closer to the EU, saying it is not a military pact and thus "we have no objections."

The membership process can be long and tortuous.

Turkey, for example, applied for membership in 1987, received candidate status in 1999, and had to wait until 2005 to start talks for actual entry. Only one of more than 30 negotiating "chapters" has been completed in the years since, and the whole process is at a standstill as a result of various disputes between the EU and Turkey.

Similarly, several Balkan countries have been seeking without success for many years to join the EU.

European officials have said that Ukraine has already adopted about 70% of the EU rules and standards, but they also have pointed to corruption and the need for deep political and economic reforms in the country.

"Considerable efforts will be needed, especially in the fight against corruption and the establishment of an effective rule of law," Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said. "But I am convinced that it is precisely the (postwar) reconstruction of Ukraine that will provide opportunities to take important steps forward."
BERLIN  Germany activated the second phase of its three-stage emergency plan for natural gas supplies Thursday, warning that Europe's biggest economy faces a "crisis" and storage targets for the winter are at risk after Russia reduced energy deliveries to several countries.

The government said the decision follows cuts Russia made to natural gas flows starting last week and surging energy prices stoked by the war in Ukraine. Industrial customers are being asked to reduce the amount of natural gas they use, and Germany and other countries are turning back to coal as a replacement, threatening climate goals in Europe as energy tensions escalate between Russia and the West.

"Even if we can't feel it yet  we are in a gas crisis," Economy and Energy Minister Robert Habeck said.

Russia last week reduced natural gas to Germany, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia just as European Union countries are scrambling to refill storage of the fuel used to generate electricity, power industry and heat homes in the winter. Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom blamed a missing part sent to Canada for repairs as it cut flows by 60% through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline running under the Baltic Sea to Germany  Europe's major natural gas pipeline.

Other countries, including Austria and the Netherlands, also have launched first-stage warnings about supplies and urged people to conserve. Germany and Italy, two of Europe's biggest buyers of Russian gas, have called Russia's gas reductions politically motivated and warned they could further slow the economy.

"We are in an economic conflict with Russia," said Habeck, accusing Moscow of trying to destroy European unity and the solidarity it has shown with Ukraine.

The cutbacks come on top of gas shutoffs to Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France and the Netherlands in recent weeks.

Germany's government said current gas demands are being met and its storage facilities are filled to 58% capacity  higher than at this time last year. But the goal of reaching 90% by December won't be possible without further measures, it said.

Germany would not react by cutting off neighboring countries, Habeck said. Instead, it was urging industry and residents to reduce their consumption as much as possible.

"The prices are already high, and we need to be prepared for further increases," Habeck said, warning that "this will affect industrial production and become a big burden for many producers."

Despite that, Germany's energy industry lobbying group BDEW said it supported the government's decision. Calculations show that businesses have already reduced their demand by 8% in recent months. To encourage further savings, the government plans to hold auctions paying large industrial consumers to relinquish their contracts.

The measures being taken, including providing gas distributors and utility companies with large loans to cope with price surges, were necessary to prevent a collapse of energy markets, Habeck said.

Triggering the highest alert level could force Germany to ration gas for industrial customers to spare homes, schools and hospitals and would mean a severe hit to the economy.

Habeck said people could do their part by adjusting their home heating system now and saving up to 15% during the cold months.

"It sounds banal sometimes, but you have to multiply that banality by 41 million households," he said.

Since declaring the first phase of its emergency plan in March, Germany and other countries have been trying to get additional gas from neighbors such as the Netherlands and Norway as well as liquefied natural gas from producers outside Europe, including the United States, as the EU looks to reduce reliance on Russia by two-thirds by year's end.

To the horror of environmentalists, the German government announced Sunday that it would increase the burning of more polluting coal and reduce gas use for electricity production.

The available coal-generating capacity that could be brought back online could provide 9% of country's power needs and spare a quarter of the gas that industry is using, according to Carlos Torres Diaz, senior vice president at Rystad Energy.

The Netherlands also will allow coal-fired power stations to operate at full capacity again to conserve gas that would otherwise be burned for electricity.

Habeck placed part of the blame on political decisions by past German governments to rely on Russia for energy supplies and a failure to establish alternatives.

"How different things would be if we had really made massive progress in energy efficiency and the expansion of renewables over the last few years instead of simply remaining at a standstill," he said.

His ministry recently unveiled a package of measures to boost the roll-out of solar and wind power in Germany. The government has so far ruled out keeping its three remaining nuclear plants online beyond the end of this year, however.
KYIV, Ukraine  The Russian military extended its grip on territory in eastern Ukraine as it seeks to cut supply lines and encircle frontline Ukrainian forces, while the Ukrainian military announced Thursday the arrival of powerful U.S. multiple-launch rocket systems it hopes will offer a battlefield advantage.

Ukrainian forces withdrew from some areas near the city of Lysychansk to avoid being surrounded as Russians sent in reinforcements and concentrated their firepower in the area, Britain's Defense Ministry said. The city is located in Luhansk province, a major battlefield in Russian President Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine.

Ukraine's General Staff said Russian forces took control of the villages of Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka, and were trying to capture Syrotyne, a settlement outside the province's urban administrative center, Sievierodonetsk. Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press that the Russians were "burning everything out" in their offensive to encircle Ukraine's fighters.

"The Russians are advancing without trying to spare the ammunition or troops, and they aren't running out of either," Haidai said. "They have an edge in heavy artillery and the number of troops."

After repeated requests to its Western allies for heavier firepower to counter the Russian edge in its offensive, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said a response had arrived in the form of the medium-range American rocket launchers.

"Summer will be hot for Russian occupiers. And the last one for some of them," Reznikov tweeted, thanking the U.S. for "these powerful tools."

A U.S. defense official confirmed that all four of the promised High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) are now in the hands of Ukrainian forces but that it's not clear if they were used yet.

The U.S. approved providing the precision-guided systems at the end of May, and once they were in Ukraine, the country's forces need about three weeks of training to operate them. The rockets can travel about 45 miles (70 kilometers).

Officials said the advanced weaponry will give Ukrainian forces greater precision in hitting Russian targets. Mykola Sunhurovsky of the Razumkov Center, a Kyiv-based think tank, said the HIMARS have a longer range, more precision and higher rate of fire compared to similar Soviet-designed systems that Russia and Ukraine have used during the four-month war.

In the Luhansk region, Ukrainians remain in control of part of the territory, "defying the Russians and causing their fury and desire to burn it to the ground," Haidai said.

For weeks, Russian forces have pummeled Sievierodonetsk with artillery and air raids, and fought the Ukrainian army house-to-house. Ukrainian forces remain holed up with about 500 civilians at the Azot chemical plant, the only part of the city still under Ukrainian control.

Haidai said the Ukrainian soldiers warded off the city's seizure from the plant's sprawling underground structures, but he noted that "the shelling has intensified, and even concrete shelters can't withstand the bombardment." The Russians were using their entire arsenal  heavy artillery, tanks and aircraft  he said.

Lysychansk, located on a steep river bank facing Sievierodonetsk, also faces a relentless Russian artillery barrage. At least one civilian died and three others were wounded in 24 hours as the Russians concentrated more than 100 multiple rocket launchers to "pummel entire blocks," the governor said.

The British Defense Ministry said Russian forces had likely advanced more than 5 kilometers (3 miles) toward the southern approaches of Lysychansk since Sunday.

"Some Ukrainian units have withdrawn, probably to avoid being encircled," the statement said. "Russia's improved performance in this sector is likely a result of recent unit reinforcement and heavy concentration of fire."

Ukraine's military said the Russians were also moving to overtake the hills overlooking a highway linking Lysychansk with Bakhmut, to the southwest, in an attempt to cut the supply lines of Ukrainian forces.

Haidai said the Bakhmut-Lysychansk highway wasn't used because of heavy Russian shelling. Ukrainian forces are receiving supplies via an alternative route.

Following a botched attempt to capture Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, in the early stage of the invasion on Feb. 24, Russian forces shifted focus to the Donbas region, where the Ukrainian forces have fought Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.

The Russian military controls about 95% of Luhansk province and about half of neighboring Donetsk province, the two areas that make up the Donbas.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

A Ukrainian politician and TV personality says an online fundraising pitch aimed at helping Ukraine buy three offensive drones has raised $10.4 million in 24 hours.

Serhiy Prytula credited "amazing" support among Ukrainians after his charitable foundation launched the appeal for $15 million a day earlier for the purchase of the Bayraktar drones like those that Ukrainian forces have already used to defend against Russian invaders.

He tweeted: "4,6m $ to go. The People's Bayraktar project is already a nationwide crowdfunding. Let's turn it into international!"

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European Union leaders meeting in Brussels appeared on track to make Ukraine a candidate for membership in the 27-nation bloc. The country's actual admission to the EU will likely take years, though, both because of the war and the reforms the Ukrainian government is expected to make to conform with European standards.

It's unlikely that accession talks could start before next year, and joining the EU would not confer any security guarantees like membership in NATO would. Ukraine has also sought to join the Western military alliance, which Putin cited as a rationale for invading the neighboring country.

Several EU diplomats, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity before an EU leaders' summit starting Thursday, said Ukraine would receive the unanimous approval required to become a candidate and launch negotiations on future membership.

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British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Thursday that her country offered its expertise to help protect Ukraine's ports and the safe passage of vessels for the export of Ukrainian grain.

Ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil. Russia's invasion and blockade of Ukraine's ports have halted much of that flow and left millions of tons of grain stuck in silos, endangering food supplies to many developing countries, especially in Africa.

"It's urgent that action is taken within the next month ahead of the new harvest, and we're determined to work with our allies to deliver this," Truss said at news conference with her Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, during a visit to Ankara to discuss ways to end the blockade.

Turkey wants to gather the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine to organize a U.N. plan that would allow the safe shipment of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports. Cavusoglu said a possible deal might set up a "safe zone" just outside of Ukraine's territorial waters.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Russia has destroyed more than 2,000 schools and other educational institutions during the war.

In a video address to students and faculty at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, Zelenskyy said that in areas where Russian troops made quick advances, "forces were shooting people on the streets, they are torturing people, they are raping minors  boys and girls."

Zelenskyy also voiced disappointment that Israel hadn't joined Western-led sanctions against Russia or provided Ukraine with military aid to give its forces a boost in the war.

Israel relies on good ties with Russia for security coordination in Syria, where Russia has troops and where Israel carries out frequent strikes against enemy targets. It has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

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Yuras Karmanau contributed to this report from Lviv. Samuel Petrequin in Brussels, Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  The United States will send another $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including some additional medium-range rocket systems, to help push back Russian progress in the war, officials announced Thursday.

The latest package includes four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, which will double the number they have now. All four were prepositioned in Europe, and training on those systems has already begun with the Ukrainian troops who will use them, said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Anton Semelroth, a Pentagon spokesman. The first four HIMARS that the U.S. previously sent have already gone to the battlefield in Ukraine and are in the hands of troops there.

According to the Pentagon, the aid also includes 18 tactical vehicles that are used to tow howitzers, so the weapons can be moved around the battlefield, as well as 18 coastal and riverine patrol boats, thousands of machine guns, grenade launchers and rounds of ammunition, and some other equipment and spare parts.

The new aid comes just a week after the U.S. announced it was sending $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, and as the Russian military continues to slowly expand its control in the eastern Donbas region. Ukrainian leaders have persistently asked for the more advanced, precision rocket systems in order to better fight back against Russia.

The Russian military captured two villages in eastern Ukraine on Thursday and is fighting for control of a key highway in a campaign to cut supply lines and encircle frontline Ukrainian forces, according to British and Ukrainian military officials.

Russian forces have been bombarding the city of Sievierodonetsk for weeks with artillery and air raids, and fought the Ukrainian army house-to-house. The HIMARS gives Ukraine the ability to strike Russian forces and weapons from further away, making it less risky for Ukrainian troops. The systems are mounted on trucks, which carry a container with six precision-guided rockets that can travel about 45 miles.

It took about three weeks to train Ukrainian troops on the first four HIMARS, before the systems were moved to the fight.

The aid is part of the $40 billion in security and economic assistance passed last month by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. And it is the 13th package of military weapons and equipment committed to Ukraine since the war began.

Overall, since the war started in late February, the U.S. has committed about $6.1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including this latest package. The $450 million in equipment and weapons will be from drawdown authority, which means the Defense Department will take it all from its own stocks and ship it to Ukraine.
ANKARA, Turkey  Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday thanked Turkish authorities for their cooperation in allegedly foiling attacks against Israeli citizens in Turkey, and warned Israel would not "sit idly by' in the face of threats to its citizens from Iran.

Lapid made the comments after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, as the two countries press ahead with efforts to repair ties that have been strained over Turkey's strong support for the Palestinians.

Earlier this month, Israel issued a warning for its citizens to avoid travel to Turkey and urging Israelis in Turkey to leave immediately. The warning said Israeli citizens could be targets of Iranian attacks.

Turkish media reports said authorities had detained five Iranians suspected of planning attacks on Israelis in Istanbul.

"In recent weeks, the lives of Israeli citizens have been saved thanks to security and diplomatic cooperation between Israel and (Turkey)," Lapid said. "We are full of appreciation for the Turkish government for this professional and coordinated activity."

Lapid continued: "For its part, Israel won't sit idly by when there are attempts to harm its citizens in Israel and around the world. Our immediate goal is to bring about calm that will enable us to change the travel warning to (Turkey)."

The travel warning angered Turkey, whose economy depends on tourism to a large extent. Ankara responded by issuing a statement that said Turkey was a safe country.

Standing next to Lapid, Cavusoglu said Turkey "cannot permit these kinds of incidents taking place in our country."

"We have delivered the necessary messages," he said, without elaborating.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said that a joint operation with Turkey succeeded in thwarting several attacks and resulted in the arrest of several suspected operatives on Turkish soil in recent days.

Hurriyet newspaper reported on Thursday that Turkish authorities detained five Iranian nationals on Wednesday suspected of involvement in an alleged plot to assassinate Israeli citizens in Istanbul. Police seized two pistols and two silencers in searches conducted in houses and hotels where the suspects were staying, according to the report.

Lapid's visit comes amid political turmoil in Israel, where Bennett's fragile, year-old government decided this week to dissolve parliament, triggering new elections which are set to take place in the fall. Under the agreement that forged Bennett's coalition government, Lapid is expected in the coming days to become caretaker prime minister until a new government is cobbled together after the elections.

The developments deepen a political crisis in Israel, which has held four elections since 2019, each largely a referendum over former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rule. Netanyahu hopes to return to power in the upcoming vote, but polls show that as in previous rounds it will unlikely produce a clear winner.

Turkey, beset by economic troubles, has been trying to end its international isolation by normalizing ties with several countries in the Mideast, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Turkey and Israel were once close allies, but relations grew tense under Erdogan, who is a vocal critic of Israel's policies toward the Palestinians. Turkey's embrace of the Islamic militant group Hamas, has angered Israel.

The countries withdrew their ambassadors in 2010 after Israeli forces stormed a humanitarian flotilla bound for Gaza, which has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power there in 2007.

Nine Turkish activists were killed. Israel apologized to Turkey for the deaths under a U.S.-brokered agreement, but reconciliation efforts stalled.

Turkey recalled its ambassador in 2018 after the United States recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, prompting Israel to respond in kind. The two countries have not reappointed their ambassadors.

The two ministers said Thursday that they had agreed to hold discussions on re-appointing ambassadors.

The latest rapprochement has been led by Israel's mostly ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, who has held several telephone calls with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and visited Turkey in March, becoming the first Israeli leader to do so in 14 years. Cavusoglu visited Israel last month. It was first official visit to Israel by a Turkish official in 15 years.

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Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
Officials in Uvalde, Texas, are trying to secure federal funds to demolish the elementary school building where 19 children and two teachers were killed last month, a first step toward heeding a call from parents and other family members that began soon after the massacre.

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D, said in an interview Wednesday that the South Texas school district has been engaged in conversations about applying to a federal grant program called Project SERV, which stands for School Emergency Response to Violence, to raze Robb Elementary School.

Its unfortunate that were in this space that we have to have a whole federal grant around this, he said, but I havent seen one parent thats in favor of keeping it up.

The bungled police response to the May 24 shooting  the second-deadliest elementary school attack in U.S. history  has spurred widespread condemnation of law enforcement officials, who took 77 minutes to enter a classroom where children were trapped with an armed attacker spraying bullets.

But there has been little disagreement among local officials and victims families about what to do with the structure where the slaughter took place.

At a tense city council meeting Tuesday, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, R, again said the school building should to be torn down.

We can never ask a child to go back or teacher to go back into that school, ever, he said.

He added that the school will be demolished, citing his discussions with local superintendent Hal Harrell. A spokeswoman for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, which will decide the schools fate, did not respond to requests for comment.

Robb Elementary, in Uvaldes working-class southwest side, has served as a central community space for the Mexican American residents in this city of 15,000. Many of them attended Robb decades ago, when it was considered a Mexican school that segregated them from White residents on the east side of the city.

Uvalde school district officials have already indicated that no students would be attending Robb in the fall, though they have been quiet on plans for the actual building. The matter did not come up at a school board meeting Monday night.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona previously granted the Uvalde district $1.5 million in SERV funds, which are meant to restore a sense of safety and security to students and teachers affected by gun violence.

That commitment is specifically meant to fund mental health services and overtime pay for counselors, not construction or medical services, he said in a June 13 letter to Harrell.

Cardona traveled to Uvalde earlier this month to meet with Harrell and Robb Elementary Principal Mandy Gutierrez and attend the funeral for Irma Garcia, one of the two teachers who was killed in the shooting.

While in Uvalde, I saw the community come together in meaningful ways to support one another and all the families who lost loved ones, he wrote in the letter. As a nation, we must do everything we can to support the well-being of our children and educators.

Previous SERV grants have gone to the school districts overseeing Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and Santa Fe High School near Houston, all of which were the site of major school shootings in the past decade.

Gutierrez said that school districts can apply for up to $45 million from the grant program.

Sandy Hook Elementary school was demolished in 2013, a year after a shooting left 20 children and six adults dead. Students at Santa Fe returned to their school building less than two weeks after eight students and two teachers were killed inside it.

The head of the Texas Department of Public Safety on Tuesday criticized the police response to the massacre as an abject failure. Steven C. McCraw described in detail how officers quickly made it into the school, carrying shields and weapons, but left children trapped with an attacker as they waited for a key to an unlocked door.

During testimony before state lawmakers, McCraw painted a bleak timeline that outlined repeated police and school security lapses during the May 24 attack.

The officers had weapons; the children had none. The officers had body armor; the children had none. The officers had training; the subject had none, McCraw said in the session at the Capitol in Austin.

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Arelis R. Hernandez, Timothy Bella and Mark Berman contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  Federal agents searched a former top Justice Department official's home and seized records from key Republicans in at least five states linked to Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, in what were clear signs that authorities are ramping up their investigation of associates of the former president.

Authorities on Wednesday searched the Virginia home of Jeffrey Clark, who was known at the Justice Department to champion Trump's false claims of election fraud. Agents in recent days also served subpoenas on the Republican Party chairmen of Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, three states that went for President Joe Biden and where Trump allies created slates of "alternate electors" intended to subvert the vote. And Republicans in two other states  Michigan and Pennsylvania  disclosed they had been interviewed by the FBI.

The Justice Department appears to be escalating its probe of pro-Trump efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which culminated in the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. The disclosures of law enforcement activity came as the U.S. House committee investigating the riot said it had new evidence of Trump's efforts and his knowledge that he had no legal basis to try to overturn the election.

The committee's Thursday hearing focused on Trump's desire to install Clark atop the Justice Department in his administration's last days. The reason for the search of Clark's home was not immediately clear and it was not known what information agents were searching for. The person who confirmed the search was not authorized to discuss it by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Both the committee and federal authorities are probing the use of replacements for duly chosen electors in seven battleground states that voted for Biden. Trump and his allies furiously pressured authorities in those states to replace Biden's electors with ones for him on specious or nonexistent allegations that his victory was stolen.

The committee this week disclosed text messages that showed an aide to U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican and Trump ally, tried to hand-deliver fake elector certificates to an aide for former Vice President Mike Pence. The texts show Pence's aide refused to accept the votes.

Johnson told a Wisconsin conservative talk radio host on Thursday that the fake elector slates came from the office of Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania. A spokesman for Kelly responded that Johnson's claim was "patently false."

Said the spokesman, Matt Knoedler, "Mr. Kelly has not spoken to Sen. Johnson for the better part of a decade, and he has no knowledge of the claims Mr. Johnson is making related to the 2020 election."

Among those who have received subpoenas in recent days, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation, was Georgia Republican Party chairman David Shafer.

Nevada GOP Chair Michael McDonald turned over his phone to federal agents Wednesday when they approached him outside his car in Las Vegas and presented a warrant, according to another person familiar with the matter. McDonald in December 2020 stood outside Nevada's state capitol with other fake electors to swear a so-called "oath of office," flanked by men in camouflage with semi-automatic rifles.

Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward, her husband, Michael Ward, and two other alternate electors also received subpoenas, according to a third person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

In Pennsylvania, FBI agents interviewed the chairman of the Allegheny County Republican Party at his home Thursday and gave him a subpoena for communications between him, Trump electors in the state and members of Trump's campaign and legal team, the party official, Sam DeMarco, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

DeMarco said in a statement that his conduct as an elector was "open, above-board and predicated solely on protecting President Trump's legal rights should he prevail in court. That is why I agreed to serve as an elector solely in the event the president prevailed in his legal challenge to the Pennsylvania vote."

And in Michigan, Michele Lundgren told the Detroit News that someone from the FBI served her with a subpoena Thursday and that another Trump elector was served on Wednesday. Lundgren, 72, said her discussion with the agent was "long" and "pleasant" and that she let one of the agents go through her phone and computer.

"They kept asking me questions and asking me questions, and I kept telling them answers," she said.

Clark's home was searched by federal agents shortly before a committee hearing in which he was the focus. Three other former Justice Department officials testified about an extraordinary Jan. 3, 2021, Oval Office meeting at which Trump contemplated naming Clark  who led the department's civil division  as acting attorney general in place of Jeffrey Rosen, who resisted Trump's efforts to involve the agency.

Trump relented only when other senior Justice Department officials warned Trump that they would resign if he followed through with his plan to replace Rosen with Clark.

A lawyer for Clark did not return an email and phone message seeking comment.

Chairman Bennie Thompson said he read about the raid on Clark's home moments before the hearing started. "We're not privy to what the Department of Justice's reasoning is for doing it," he said. "As you know, we demonstrated that he was recommended to lead the Department of Justice and people felt that he was absolutely unqualified to do so."

Russ Vought, president of the Center for Renewing America, which Clark recently joined as a senior fellow, tweeted that federal officers forced Clark "into the streets" while he was wearing pajamas and "took his electronic devices."

"All because Jeff saw fit to investigate voter fraud," Vought continued. "This is not America, folks. The weaponization of govt must end. Let me be very clear. We stand by Jeff and so must all patriots in this country."

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Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, Sara Burnett in Chicago, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Sam Metz in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  A U.S. Naval reservist who was assigned to an agency that operates spy satellites told an undercover FBI agent that he stormed the U.S. Capitol with members of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group and has espoused anti-government and antisemitic ideologies, federal authorities said in court records unsealed on Thursday.

Hatchet Speed was arrested on Wednesday in McLean, Virginia, on misdemeanor charges stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, including disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, court records show.

The FBI says Speed, whose birth name was Daniel Abraham Speed, is a petty officer first class in the U.S. Naval Reserves and was assigned to the Naval Warfare Space Field Activity at the National Reconnaissance Office. Authorities believe Speed is currently unemployed, a prosecutor said in a court filing. Court records don't list a defense attorney for Speed, who is scheduled to make his initial court appearance in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

The National Reconnaissance Office operates U.S. spy satellites used by the Pentagon and intelligence agencies. The secretive agency has an important role in the U.S. intelligence community, which relies heavily on satellite imagery to monitor global hot spots like Russia's war in Ukraine.

The agency said Thursday that Speed's assignment at the NRO began three months ago and that he was not part of the reserve unit at the time of the riot.

"He has not had access to NRO facilities or systems at any point during his administrative assignment," the agency's statement said.

Speed recently worked in Vienna, Virginia, as a software developer for Novetta Solutions LLC, a defense contractor that conducts advanced analytics for the Defense Department and other federal agencies, the FBI said.

In March, Speed met with with an FBI undercover employee who "presented to Speed as a like-minded individual," an FBI agent said in a court filing. Speed told the undercover agent that going to the Capitol on Jan. 6 "was always the plan" and said he went there with friends who were Proud Boys members, the filing says.

"We would listen to Donald Trump then all of us would go to the Capitol. Now the reason we were going to the Capitol was to protest what was going on in the Capitol  what they were doing was counting the ballots," Speed said, according to the FBI.

Speed also said a larger crowd could have compelled House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to resign "out of fear for her life," an FBI agent wrote.

"He also observed that 'there are too many Americans that have this idea that we have to be peaceful at all costs,'" the agent added.

Video captured Speed entering the Capitol through the Senate Wing Doors and exiting the building through a window more than 40 minutes later, according to the FBI.

Prosecutors are seeking a court order requiring home detention with location monitoring for Speed after his release from custody. They say his statements and conduct show that he poses a threat of violence to the community.

After the Capitol riot, Speed bought at least 12 firearms over the span of a few months and spent more than $50,000 at firearm and firearm-part retailers, a prosecutor said in a court filing.

"This firearm-buying spree is alarming in light of statements that Speed has made in which he has espoused the use of violence to further his anti-government and anti-Semitic ideologies," Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexis Loeb wrote.

In April, Speed told an FBI undercover employee that he has contemplated using violence to further his antisemitic beliefs and discussed using violence against members of the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights organization.

"He said that the ADL promoted the recent anti-lynching bill and that the bill was being passed because 'they know things are ... going to get bad enough, that people like us are going to band together and straight up start lynching people,'" Loeb wrote.

Federal agents said they seized eight firearms and seven silencers when they searched Speed's home, vehicles and a storage unit. They also said they found approximately 25 other firearms belonging to Speed's housemates.

Approximately 40 Proud Boys leaders, members or associates have been charged in the deadly Jan. 6 siege. Former Proud Boys national chairman Henry "Enrique" Tarrio and four other men are charged with seditious conspiracy for what authorities say was a plot to forcibly oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power after Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

The charge against Speed comes months after an intelligence contractor alleged he was fired for reporting the circulation of racist and misogynistic comments on classified intelligence community chatrooms. The fired contractor, Dan Gilmore, wrote in a blog post that "many employees" across the community have posted that they believed the Jan. 6 attack was "justified."

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined last month to comment on Gilmore's allegations but said that people "who engage in inappropriate conduct are subject to a variety of accountability mechanisms, including disciplinary action."

The NRO and Novetta Solutions did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Speed's arrest.

___

Kunzelman reported from Silver Spring, Md.
MIAMI  The number of Cubans fleeing poverty and oppression on the island surpassed the Mariel exodus of 1980, as U.S. government data reveals that more than 140,000 Cubans have been detained at U.S. borders between October last year and May.

The staggering figure surpasses the 125,000 Cubans who departed from the Port of Mariel near Havana between April and October 1980, also fleeing the deteriorating economic conditions and the lack of freedoms after Fidel Castro came to power in 1959.

Just in the past two years, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and a severe economic crisis on the island, the number of Cubans who left the country has jumped from 14,015 in 2020 to 140,602 by May this year, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Most Cuban migrants arrive at the border with Mexico, though some also arrive by boat in South Florida. The U.S. Coast Guard sends back Cubans found at sea almost weekly. On Tuesday, the Coast Guard cutter Isaac Mayo repatriated 36 Cubans to the island who had almost made it to the Florida Keys. A total of 2,464 have been interdicted since October, the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday.

Cubans found at sea are usually sent back under a migration deal cut with the Cuban government after the 1994 Cuban raft exodus. But many Cubans who arrive by land have been allowed to stay and apply for asylum. Expulsions from the U.S. back to Mexico increased in May, under a deal with Mexican authorities to receive more Cubans, but the number, about 2,000, is still a small fraction of those who got in.

But there are some signs that migration from Cuba might be declining. In May, the number of Cubans detained at the borders nationwide decreased by almost 27%, from a peak of 35,080 in April to 25,691.

It is not clear why fewer Cubans arrived last month, and it is still too early to see if the trend will hold.

Several Latin American countries Cubans use as a route to the U.S. border have imposed new requirements on Cubans trying to obtain a visa, measures the Cuban government officials blamed on pressure from the United States.

Earlier this month, the Cuban government also ordered foreign embassies in Cuba to stop conducting transactions with Cubas virtual currency, resulting in many Latin American embassies suspending visa processing.

The exodus has already prompted changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba. After pausing a promised policy review due to the government crackdown following mass protests last July, representatives from the two governments met in Washington in April to discuss the migration crisis.

The Biden administration also resumed legal pathways for Cubans to migrate to the United States that were shut down by the previous administration, like the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program that the Department of Homeland Security said will restart this summer. Following announcements made by the White House last month, U.S. commercial flights to Cuban provinces resumed last week. Flights had been previously limited to Havana.

U.S. officials have said the administration is committed to issuing at least 20,000 immigration visas to Cubans yearly as part of the migration accords with Cuba. Still, the figure is lower than the average number of Cubans arriving monthly at the border with Mexico in the past three months.

The pressures to emigrate from Cuba continue, especially since shortages and blackouts have gotten worse this summer. Last week, Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel appeared on TV presenting slides with graphs and data to try to explain to the Cuban population why there were so many cuts in electrical service. Given the poor state of the islands electrical grid and the lack of regular maintenance, he did not promise an immediate solution. Ramiro Valdes, an old-guard comandante, asked Cubans to reduce their energy consumption.

The price of food is also soaring. A 20-pound pork shoulder costs 7,000 Cuban pesos, almost twice the median salary of 3,838 pesos. A pound of limes is 100, a pound of black beans 70.

Many families have been affected by the crackdown on those who joined the demonstrations last July.

Carlos Michelena Valdes, 33, was recently sentenced to 10 years just for filming a smaller protest on July 12 in the impoverished neighborhood of La Guinera in Havana. His mother, Ana Rosa Valdes, posted a Tik Tok video decrying a revolution she said she supported in the past.

I hate this revolution, a revolution I always believed in, she said. But I dont believe in it anymore because it is plagued with injustice.

Thank God my youngest child was able to leave the country this year to go to the evil country, as you call the United States, she said in reference to how Cuban propaganda portrays the U.S. Thanks to him, I can take some food to my son in prison.

2022 Miami Herald.

Visit miamiherald.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
WASHINGTON  A Department of Veterans Affairs employee who attacked a veteran at an outpatient clinic in Atlanta has been suspended, VA officials said Thursday.

Lawrence F. Gaillard Jr., who worked as a patient advocate at the Fort McPherson VA Clinic, has been indefinitely suspended without pay, according to Terrence Hayes, the VA press secretary.

The announcement follows a public apology Wednesday to the veteran, Phillip Webb, from Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough.

On behalf of VA, I apologize to that veteran and that veteran's family, McDonough said during the agencys monthly news conference.

The attack was caught on video and aired Monday by WSB-TV in Atlanta, which was first to report the incident that took place April 28.

I watched that video and it's heartbreaking, and it is so contrary to our values, McDonough said. But also, I take a little bit of umbrage adding that this is not reflective of VA employees across the country at all.

The video shows the altercation between the two men. After an exchange of words, both men raise their hands and the encounter turned physical with Gaillard pushing Webb against a wall, putting his hands around his neck, throwing him to the floor and kicking him in the head.

Webb said he had knocked on Gaillards office door at the clinic to schedule his hernia operation, according to the TV news report. The video shows Gaillard open the door and the exchange take place. The attack caused Webb to spend three days at Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center with a brain bleed.

He was Mike Tyson-ing me there, Webb said during the TV interview. Im just stunned. I dont know what to say.

Gaillard was arrested on a felony assault charge and taken to the Atlanta City Detention Center on April 28 by federal authorities. The case was later transferred to Fulton County authorities. Gaillard was released on $10,000 bond on April 29, according to a court document.

We are horrified at the video of a VA employee assaulting a veteran at the Atlanta VA Health Care System on April 28, Hayes wrote in an email. We take this matter seriously and will continue to cooperate fully with the Fulton County law enforcement investigation.
The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission has called for the Government to make mental health a high priority in the new health system.

The Commission says it welcomes the transformational approach of major health system reforms which on July 1 will replace 20 DHBs around the country with Health New Zealand and the Maori Health Authority.

But it wants a commitment from the Government to deliver a mental health and wellbeing strategy as a priority for the new health system.

Commission chair Hayden Wano says the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill, which passed its third reading two weeks ago, will provide the Government with the means to ensure better mental health and wellbeing outcomes for future generations.

He says the 2018 He Ara Oranga report of the Government inquiry into mental health and addiction calls for transformational change.

Many whanau and tangata whaiora were not getting a great experience within the system.

For that change to take place, to the level whanau want, will require sustained leadership over time  political leadership, the Minister of Health, the Ministry of Health, Health New Zealand and the Maori Health Authority, Te Mana Hauora Maori.

As a commission we would want to work closely with them to ensure theres a long-term view of what transformational change looks like, with some clear accountabilities and outcomes or results that demonstrate were making progress in the direction that whanau called for in He Ara Oranga.

In its submissions to the Pae Ora Select Committee, the Commission called unsuccessfully for the inclusion of a mental health and wellbeing strategy in the final Bill.

"Improving mental health and addiction outcomes will require long-term planning and delivery. Including a mental health and wellbeing strategy in the Bill would have made it a non-negotiable feature of the future health system in Aotearoa New Zealand, ensuring future governments continue the commitment of the He Ara Oranga inquiry and Kia Manawanui Aotearoa," says Wano.

"Irrespective of [that], we call on the Minister of Health and the Ministry of Health to make a commitment to delivering such a strategy as a priority in the planning of the transformed health system in Aotearoa.

We know how important mental health and wellbeing is to people and echo their calls for a continued focus on delivering tangible improvements."

Wano says the Commission is a strong advocate for community-based solutions.

He believes Iwi Maori Partnership Boards will play an important role in reaching the people that need mental health and addiction services.

The system can go so far but at the end of the day, community-organised arrangements go much further in terms of reaching the people that most need it.

We saw what was possible during Covid-19 when our communities and our Kaupapa Maori providers came together with iwi and worked closely with whanau that most needed those resources, and we would advocate for and promote a similar approach.

Iwi Maori Partnership Boards are going to be a critical part of the new system.

While Health New Zealand might be able to bring more consistency around access of services from a planned perspective, regionally organised services down to the Localities [services] are going to be absolutely critical.

It will be important to enable whanau and communities to become part of the process.

Its really important that whanau are able to engage in what the services they most need would look like, and how they would best be overseen or monitored locally. I think thats a role that Iwi Maori Partnership Boards could have.

If we dont get that part right, then were not going to achieve the results that we would look for. Its absolutely critical for Iwi Maori Partnership Boards to come together to provide oversight and leadership to ensure our whanau and communities are taken care of.

-Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Dining out could cost a few extra bucks as the cost of living and a dive in consumer confidence hits a sector on the rebound from a string of Covid-related lockdowns.

In a survey just out, restauratuers say they are worried customers struggling with the cost of living will stop dining out, yet many businesses need to increase menu prices to cover soaring food prices.

The Restaurant Association asked its members how food prices were affecting their business, with 80 percent saying they had adjusted their menu prices and half saying they were absorbing the costs.

Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois. Photo: Supplied

Chief executive Marisa Bidois says restaurant owners, already struggling after Covid-19 lockdowns, fear the cost of living will reduce customers' ability to dine out.

"There is some concern out there in the industry that people may pull back their spend in the dining space.

"We're really hopeful that that doesn't happen because these businesses are still recovering from the last two years of subdued trading.

'With the writing on the wall and the prediction that these increases will continue I do think it's safe to assume that we will see some increased pricing across the board in our sector."

Plates of seared eye fillet fly out the kitchen door at Tony's Restaurant in Henderson, Auckland.

Chef and owner Chris Sinclair orders about 70 kilograms of the steak each week but says the price is eye watering, jumping by half in a short time.

"We've just absorbed it because I'm acutely aware of what other places are charging and we would damage our trade if we increased over and above what our competitors are charging," he says.

"People are aware of the costs of things and there will be a number of people who think twice about going out as often."

Forget about crying over onions - chefs are tearing up over cooking oil which has doubled in price.

Sinclair says his two deep fryers took 30 litres of oil each, costing him $240 a week, but he is still loathed to increase menu prices.

"People will have to increase their prices, unfortunately that has the flow on affect of discouraging people from going out as often so it's a bit of a double edged sword."

He says bookings are still patchy but have picked up under the orange light Covid-19 setting.

Of the Restaurant Association members surveyed, 70 per cent say prices are going up across the board with dairy, dried goods and meat the main mentions.

Auckland restaurant Pici specialises in pasta, and uses 60kg of semolina a week - the price of which has doubled.

Chef and owner Jono Thevenard says its New Zealand grower of durum wheat is so far shielding the business from that particular cost increase.

"We put the prices up earlier this year and we're just watching our food costs at the moment and they have gone up a bit but we're just trying to also change our menu to keep it super seasonal and not get too outrageous and try and keep things really tight but it's looking like we'll have to put things up again this year."

Even so, he says general food price increases are unavoidable.

"I think there's a potential storm coming especially for more high end restaurants because people aren't going to be able to afford so much going out. Our lower price point potentially could be an advantage during this period."

-RNZ/Amy Williams.
The Government has undertaken preparatory work to combat new and more dangerous variants of Covid-19, says Covid-19 Response Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall on Wednesday.

This is about being ready to adapt our response, especially knowing that new variants will likely continue to appear."

The Minister says they have undertaken a piece of work to look at possible scenarios for the evolution of the pandemic.

"This is to ensure there is more certainty for New Zealanders for how we would respond to future variants," says Verrall.

I want to be clear - lockdowns and other strict measures will be a last resort. Our starting position will be more target measures aimed to protect the most vulnerable while also avoiding wider societal disruption.

We already have a much stronger base of protection measures in place such as access to vaccinations and anti-viral drugs, our PCR testing capacity, contact tracing system and an integrated surveillance system. These reduce our need to use more stringent measures."

Verrall says this is part of the 'All-of-Government' response to Covid-19, with agencies assessing their preparedness to deploy measures and undertake ongoing activity to ensure they can be activated rapidly in the future.

Preparedness planning doesnt commit us to following a set path should a different variant of Covid-19 emerge, it is about maintaining the capabilities to respond to a range of possible scenarios," says Verrall.

New Zealands response to the COVID-19 pandemic to date has been based on strong public health advice and characterised by a willingness to adapt and learn in response to the evolving nature of the virus.

"Our ongoing surveillance for new variants, especially at the border keep us in a good position to identify future variants," says Verrall.

Based on public health advice Ministers will continue to make decisions about how to respond in the event of new variants. This process is well established and has served our country well."

More information and the Ministry of Health variants of concern framework summary can be found here.
Bethlehem College is inviting people with hurts and concerns from their time at the school to get in touch with them directly.

Our heart and desire is to deal with complaints in an open and honest manner, exercising care to preserve relationships, grace, forgiveness and love, says Board of Trustees chair Paul Shakes in a statement released this week.

The college has come under fire recently following a protest against bullying on Friday, June 10.

A group of students at Bethlehem College were taking part in the International Day of Silence against bullying when they were allegedly targeted by a number of opposing students from the same college.

In response to the allegations, Bethlehem College board of trustees chair Paul Shakes says the school immediately began an in-depth investigation into the claims, and reviewed CCTV footage as well as interviewing students.

Some other students responding to the protest did not meet the standards of behaviour we require of our school community, says Shakes.

Specifically, two pieces of fruit were thrown - an apple, and a banana or part of a banana - which struck one of the protesters. We are also aware that some students made offensive comments, though we are still verifying exactly what was said.

We dont tolerate bullying and expect our students to act in good faith and to show civility and tolerance for differing views, and students who breached our standards will face disciplinary action.

Since then, past students have come forward about their time at the school.

The Ministry of Education is also looking at whether Bethlehem College has met their obligations to the government.

We were made aware that point 13 had been added as an additional statement when a complaint was made to the Minister, says Ministry of Education Te Tai Whenua (Central) Hautu (Leader) Jocelyn Mikaere.

This statement was not included in the Colleges Integration Agreement entered into with the Minister of Education in 1999.

The Christian Education Trust Statement of Belief that underpins the schools Special Character Point 13 reads; In the beginning God created male and female. Marriage is an institution created by God in which one man and one woman enter into an exclusive relationship intended for life, and that marriage is the only form of partnership approved by God for sexual relations.

Bethlehem College is a Christian-based composite school made up of students from Years 1 to 13, with predominantly Pakeha students but also Maori, Chinese, Indian, Asian and Pacific students.

The colleges strategic plan includes the objective: To grow in love of God; to love one another; to respect diversity; to show kindness; to collaborate; to contribute; to nurture good friendships.

The Bethlehem College Christian worldview is further set out in their Statement of Special Character .

The Ministry of Education says that any proposed changes or additions to the Integration Agreement need to be considered by the Ministers delegate.

In May, we verbally advised the Principal and Board of Trustees, along with the Deputy Chair of the Christian Education Trust that point 13 must be removed, says Mikaere.

We are expecting a response from the school following the Board of Trustees and the Christian Education Trust meeting this month.

We can consider possible interventions we have received their response.

We believe we are adhering to all relevant legislation, including the Human Rights Act and the Education and Training Act, and we are continuing to consult a range of resources, including material published by the Human Rights Commission, Bethlehem College Board of Trustees chair Paul Shakes says in a statement released on Tuesday.

As the Human Rights Commission notes, it is lawfuland in fact mandatoryfor religious state integrated schools, like Bethlehem College, to give preferential enrolment to students who have a connection to the religious special character beliefs of the school. Religious state integrated schools that have religious instruction as part of their special character also have a legal responsibility to ensure that religious instruction, in keeping with their special character, continues to form part of the school programme of education.

As part of implementing our schools Christian special character, we strive to provide a loving and caring environment for all students, and we take seriously our duty to provide every child entrusted to us with the greatest level of care and protection.

We think our Christian beliefs actually support and enhance the health and wellbeing of our students. As our most recent Education Review Office report notes, our special Christian character contributes to a strong sense of wellbeing and belonging for students.

We appreciate that, for some, Christian beliefs can feel personally hurtful. Our message to those people is that our intention is certainly not to be hurtful. We believe God loves them and desires only the absolute best for them. Our motivation for continuing to hold mainstream Christian beliefs is because we believe they lead to human wellbeing and flourishing.

If there are people with hurts or concerns from their time at Bethlehem College, our message is to please be in touch directly so we can address them with you.
At dawn today, a new Atea-a-Rangi  a ritual space  will be opened on the summit of Mauao, signifying the start of Matariki  and the first ever public holiday in Aotearoa to celebrate the Maori New Year.

As a special space to perform rituals, the Atea-a-Rangi will include a unique sculpture at its centre which will incorporate touch stones and a star compass, says master navigator Jack Thatcher.

The radiating rings of the star compass will indicate constellations, mountains and islands significant to Aotearoa.

People will be able to see on the star compass the special places that have some meaning to the indigenous peoples, but also to the stories that almost every indigenous race around the world has so that includes everyone, says Jack.

The highest touchstone of the sculpture will be a piece of pounamu, gifted by the Ngai Tahu iwi. People will touch the stone and add their life force into that, which also helps with enabling the people to feel a stronger affinity to the mountain itself, says Jack.

Back down at Mauaos base, a community day festival will be held at the Mauao Campground from 9am-3pm.

The event will be open to all to enjoy the festivities, from flying kites, a special screening of short film The Navigators and a scrumptious food market to fuel the fun.

Also  thanks to a one-off National Jazz Festival being hosted on Matariki weekend  Jazz at the Mount at Porotakataka Park, Mount Maunganuis urban space in the main shopping area, will allow people to soak up music from an outdoor stage of performances from 9.30am-5pm.

In Tauranga City, families can enjoy Tauranga Art Gallerys Matariki Star Hunt, open 10am-4pm daily to June 30.

The Memorial Park Railway is hosting its Matariki Night Run from 6pm-9pm on June 24, so children can ride trains under the stars.

The Historic Village is hosting a massive number of events centred around Matariki  including exhibitions by Tipene Fitzell, Meadow Maharey, the Manakitanga - Whakairo Exhibition, He Uku Maioro (clay) by Que Bidois, the Te Pou Arataki Exhibition by Tame Iti (Ngai Tuhoe) and Joanne Black (Ngati Kahungunu), E kore te patiki e hoki ki tona puehu by Justine Munn, and Nga Mata o Te Ariki Matariki exhibition with Hayley Smith.

We really wanted to pull out all the stops and showcase some of the amazing Maori artists that live and work in Tauranga Moana, says The Incubator director Simone Anderson. See more Matariki events at: https://www.theincubator.co.nz/matariki-2022

The Bay of Plenty Matariki Dish Challenge is on until July 17, with BOP eateries shining a light on local ingredients and Matariki as they vie to be named the champions.

In Te Puke, the community will devour live music, culture and kai at the Te Kete Matariki community day from 10am-4pm tomorrow at Jubilee Park. Community coordinator Kassie Ellis invites to everyone to join them. The festival is inclusive  everybodys welcome!

Theres also a three-day book sale in Te Puke in the name of charity  see page 10 of this newspaper. And a Sailathon fundraiser this Saturday, at The Strand, from 12 noon-3pm.

In Tauranga City, the two-day Downtown Carnival jazz party  this year inside in city bars and restaurants  is on June 25-26. Find out more at: https://jazz.org.nz

Find more Matariki events to celebrate the long weekend at: https://www.mytauranga.co.nz/
Four people have been arrested in a stolen vehicle following an aggravated robbery.

The incident occurred when an alleged offender was interrupted while interfering with a vehicle in a supermarket car park in Rototuna, Hamilton, about 4pm on Tuesday.

The alleged offender and victim got into a brief altercation, says a police spokesperson.

"A second offender then began assaulting the victim. A third offender then drove a vehicle toward a witness who attempted to intervene.

"The vehicle hit the witness, who suffered injuries to his leg. The first offender then began to assault the witness as he lay on the ground."

Police say the group of three offenders got into a car that had been stolen on the previous evening in Porirua, and left the scene.

Shortly before 2pm yesterday, police received information that the stolen vehicle had been seen in Glenfield, Auckland.

"Police located the vehicle, which headed south on the Northern motorway before being spiked by Police at Pukekohe.

"The four occupants of the vehicle fled on foot and were arrested."

A youth has been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Another youth and an 18-year-old female have been charged with aggravated robbery.

Police say all four people arrested were charged with unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle.

The group are due to appear in Hamilton Youth and District Courts today.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana is urging Central Government to prioritise co-investment in flood protection, warning that the time to act is now.

The call follows a recent report, which was tabled at a Council meeting today, stating that New Zealanders lives and livelihoods are in danger from increasingly severe and frequent flood risks if we dont adapt and investigate new ways of protecting our communities.

The report was commissioned by Te Uru Kahika, the collective of chief executives from regional and unitary councils, with the governing body endorsing the findings.

The organisation is advocating for Central Government to invest $1.5 billion of funding into flood protection schemes over the next 10 years, to ensure New Zealands flood infrastructure continues to protect our communities  now and in the future.

Flood protection is the first line of defence in heavy rain events and Toi Moana currently manages more than $420 million worth of flood protection assets, including nearly 400km of stopbanks.

Like other regional councils, Toi Moana continually invests in repairs, maintenance, and upgrades on our river schemes.

The challenge is that there needs to be a step-change in the performance of these schemes to keep up with the new environment that climate change presents.

This step-change means regional councils can no longer fund this through regional rates alone and must look to more sustainable solutions for flood protection.

Sitting behind these river schemes are quite comprehensive crown assets  such as roads, railways and telecommunications  but the structures and work that protect these assets from flooding is funded entirely by local ratepayers.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Chairman, Doug Leeder, supports the report and says the costs of protecting our communities is skyrocketing.

Climate change is going to increase the likelihood and frequency of heavy rain events. These changes are already putting our flood protection infrastructure under pressure, requiring greater investment in the repairs, maintenance and upgrades on our river schemes.

We cant rely on our local ratepayers to take the full burden of these increasing costs.

While weve welcomed the one-off funding from Central Governments Covid-19 recovery fund for five shovel ready projects around our rohe, these are reactive investments rather than longer term strategic co-investments.

The high costs of repairing damage to our regions river schemes after the 2004, 2010, 2011 and 2017 local floods shows that spending money on preventative measures is much more cost effective then spending money on the recovery and clean up.

Its clear that one-off and after the fact recovery funding from Central Government is not a sustainable and adequate solution.

We need Central Government to step up and commit to long-term co-investment, and this cannot be left any longer. We want to see dedicated long-term co-investment funding for flood protection in the 2023 Budget.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana background:

The Bay of Plenty is prone to flooding and one of the core roles at Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana is to help minimise the risk this poses to our people, property and livelihoods.

Toi Moana owns and maintains many flood projection assets throughout the Bay of Plenty with a value in excess of $420 million including:

Nearly 400km of stopbanks

Nearly 3km of concrete flood walls

140 flood gates

12 pump stations.

Currently in the Bay of Plenty we mitigate against flood damage and issues from land drainage through several systems or what we call River and Drainage Schemes.

The schemes are designated areas of land where we maintain and upgrade flood defences (including stopbanks, pumps, flood gates etc.), manage riverbank erosion risks and undertake drain maintenance.

Ratepayers across the region contribute to river and drain management. However, if you live within a scheme, you pay an additional targeted rate for the benefits you receive.

The only Central Government funding Bay of Plenty Regional Council currently receives for flood protection is:

 One-off funding through the Resilient River Communities Covid-19 recovery fund, including the following projects:

75% of the $10.9 million Stage 6 of the Rangitaiki Floodway and 75% of the $2.8 million Rangitaiki Spillway.

$2.25 million of the $5.0 million Rangitaiki floodwall replacement project.

75% of the $3.5 million for Ngongotaha Flood Mitigation.

75% of the $4.0 million of the first stage of Whakatane Futureproof

75% of the $2.5 million Kaituna Mole upgrade and surrounding amenity enhancements.

 In the event of a significant flood, Central Government will contribute 60% of the cost of repairing existing assets, provided it meets defined criteria.

Te Uru Kahika background: Te Uru Kahika - Regional and Unitary Councils Aotearoa | Ko Tatou LGNZ

Full report: Reports | Ko Tatou LGNZ
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But cases up throughout the New Mexico
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TL;DR: To mark its first anniversary, AMD has released FSR 2.0 to all developers wanting to use the company's image upscaling technology. This could greatly expand the number of games that support it, in contrast with Nvidia's relatively exclusive but more widespread supported competitor, DLSS.

AMD announced the open-source release of FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.0 this week. Developers can now download it from GPUOpen and start working to incorporate it into current and upcoming games. AMD also plans to release Unreal Engine 4 and 5 plug-ins for FSR soon to help the many developers using those engines. Additionally, Xbox developers have access to FSR 2.0 now, too.

Since its launch in March (FSR 1.0 was released last June), FSR 2.0 has used temporal upscaling to improve image quality while conserving horsepower, making costly features like ray tracing and 4K output resolution attainable for more graphics cards. Notable games currently supporting it include God of War, Deathloop, and Farming Simulator 22. Upcoming games like Forspoken and The Callisto Protocol will include FSR 2.0 at launch.

Tests show that Nvidia's machine learning-powered DLSS is somewhat more effective than FSR, especially at lower resolutions, but it's not open source and only supports the last couple of GeForce RTX generations. Meanwhile, FSR supports older Nvidia hardware in addition to AMD cards.

Even if DLSS requires Nvidia's proprietary tensor cores, some have begged (or even threatened) the company to make the solution open source. Hackers accessed some Nvidia sensitive data and leaked the DLSS source code last March.

Intel is also preparing to compete with AMD and Nvidia with its machine learning upscaler called XeSS. That should help image quality and performance in games like Death Stranding, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and Hitman III whenever Intel's Arc Alchemist graphics cards become widely available.
Why it matters: In the three years since Tesla electric vehicles started recording their surroundings while parked, they've proven an effective security measure and legal tool. However, they've also brought up surveillance concerns with some, including at least one major police department.

Tesla EVs have recorded 360-degree video of outside activity whenever they detect threats since the company introduced "sentry mode" in 2019. Since last fall, owners with a premium subscription can live stream from the cameras. Those cameras have reportedly caught people damaging the vehicles and one person who inexplicably unplugged someone's Tesla from a charging station.

Attorney Daniel Meier says that Tesla cameras are legally similar to doorbell cameras -- their recordings are admissible in court. They could also be just as controversial.

Doorbell cameras have been both useful and contentious. They've helped solve crimes, but some, including politicians, are concerned they may record too much private activity. Others are worried they may become a police surveillance tool. Tesla cameras could bring the same issues to every parking lot.

This is why the Berlin police are trying to regulate the presence of Teslas near police headquarters or other police property, where recording devices are already banned.

An internal police newsletter expressed fears that cameras on Teslas and other vehicles present a security risk, partially because video from Teslas in Europe goes to Dutch servers under Tesla's control. The police claim Tesla permanently stores and then processes surveillance video in the Netherlands, but the company has never confirmed this.
Xbox Cloud Gaming is now preparing new enhancements, such as the most-awaited keyboard and mouse support. As of writing, this gaming service of Microsoft still doesn't support keyboard and mouse controls.

(Photo : Photo credit should read INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images)

The logo "xCloud" is seen at the Microsoft Xbox Stand during the Video games trade fair Gamescom in Cologne, western Germany, on August 21, 2019. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP)

"Microsoft's cloud gaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming lets you play your favorite Xbox games in the cloud, but it runs on physical Xbox consoles (not PCs) behind the scenes and doesn't support keyboard and mouse controls," said Microsoft via its official website.

But, this scenario is expected to change once Microsoft's new enhancements for its xCloud system arrive.

Xbox Cloud Gaming Keyboard, Mouse Support

According to The Verge's latest report, Microsoft will soon launch keyboard and mouse support features. However, the exact release date is not yet confirmed.

(Photo : Photo credit should read INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images)

A cloud-based console is displayed at the Microsoft Xbox stand during the Video games trade fair Gamescom in Cologne, western Germany, on August 21, 2019. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP)

Also Read: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for 3 Months Now Only $1 AGAIN! Here's How to Get It

Morgan Brown, one of the software engineers on Microsoft's Xbox game streaming team, said they would soon add keyboard and mouse support to the popular Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming.

He added that while consumers wait, they can already add these features to their game. The integration of keyboard and mouse support is no longer new.

Jorg Neumann, one of the lead developers of Microsoft's "Flight Simulator," on Mar. 4. He claimed that these advanced xCloud enhancements would arrive around the summer of 2022.

As of writing, the titles expected to take advantage of the upcoming control features are "Minecraft," "Halo Infinite," "Sea of Thieves," as well as "Fortnite." But, experts stated that games would be joined by more titles as the Xbox Cloud Gaming library expand.

Other Xbox Cloud Gaming Enhancements

Aside from the new keyboard and mouse support, Microsoft also confirmed other xCloud enhancements that will further improve the streaming latency of their cloud-based titles.

These include the new Display Details API, a new function that can save up to 72ms of latency overall. Microsoft said that this is possible, thanks to its Direct Capture tech.

If you want to see more enhancements that Xbox Cloud Gaming will receive before 2022 ends, you can visit this link.

Recently, rumors claimed that a cheap Xbox streaming dongle would soon be launched by Microsoft.

On the other hand, the Xbox Game Pass is expected to add "Ravenlok" to its list of games.

For more news updates about Xbox Cloud Gaming and other gaming services of Microsoft, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Xbox Wireless Controllers Now in Shortage, Microsoft Confirms

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Militarized SpaceX Starships may really arrive based on leaked documents. But, the advanced reusable rockets will not be used by Pentagon or the U.S. military in a way that is harmful.

Instead of modifying them as dangerous war weapons, the leaked files of the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) revealed that Pentagon might utilize the giant Starship spacecraft to deliver essential military supplies.

"USTRANSCOM Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) 20-002 was established between the Command and Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)," stated in the USTRANSCOM document, which was first acquired by The Intercept.

Militarized SpaceX Starships To Be Used by U.S. Military?

According to Drive Tesla Canada, the USTRANSCOM documents revealed how Pentagon would implement a fleet of militarized SpaceX Starship rockets.

Also Read: This SpaceX Render of Starship Separating with Super Heavy Booster is 'Pretty Close' to the Actual Thing Says Elon Musk

One of these is using the giant spacecraft as an alternative logistics delivery in the Pacific. Experts stated that this plan Pentagon hints that there will be altercations with China.

The second one focuses on using SpaceX's reusable rockets to deliver Air Force deployable air base systems. This means that Starships will be used to lift off vehicles, construction equipment, etc.

The most intriguing one is using SpaceX's Starships as a "rapid theater direct delivery." Pentagon explained that it might use the giant spacecraft to deliver goods directly from the United States to a bare African base.

If you want to see further details about the possible plans for Pentagon with militarized SpaceX Starships, you can click this link.

Thousands of SpaceX Starships To Arrive

Recently, Tech Times reported that Elon Musk wants to build more than 1,000 SpaceX Starships. The billionaire explained that more of these reusable giant rockets could actually help bring humans to the Red Planet faster and more efficiently.

"Build 1000+ Starships to transport life to Mars. Basically, (very) modern Noah's Arks," said Musk via his official Twitter account.

Elon's viral tweet generated more than 10,000 likes and 800 retweets. In the comment section, one of his fans said that Starship is actually the modern version of Noah's Ark.

Previously, the SpaceX Falcon 9 trio launches concerned environmental experts.

On the other hand, the SpaceX Cargo Dragon delay was believed to be caused by a rare spacecraft leak.

For more news updates about SpaceX Starships and other advanced rockets, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: SpaceX: Falcon 9's Merlin vs. Starship's Raptor Engine-Elon Musk Says Which is Simpler

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images) HONG KONG, CHINA - FEBRUARY 15: Reflection of an advertisement displaying a Bitcoin cryptocurrency token is seen on February 15, 2022 in Hong Kong, China. Cryptocurrencies are gaining popularity worldwide as investors seek to diversify into the new asset class despite wild swings in the valuations of assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum in the first weeks of the year. Buying and selling crypto is becoming common in many places, like Hong Kong, where regulators have so far avoided using a heavy hand to manage crypto platforms.

Bitcoin (BTC) and the whole cryptocurrency market went through wild price fluctuations in the past few weeks. These movements brought more panic and uncertainty to the market, prompting new warnings from Economic Daily, a newspaper directly under the Chinese Communist Party.

Bitcoin is Nothing More Than a 'String of Digital Codes'

According to the newspaper, Bitcoin holds no intrinsic value apart from being a mere "string of digital codes" which only generate profit based on price movements. It also adds that in the years ahead, two scenarios are possible. Either investor confidence in Bitcoin collapses or sovereign countries declares it illegal. Both scenarios, however, will only drive Bitcoin to its "original value, which is utterly worthless."

The newspaper was also reported to have published content amplifying the crackdown of the Chinese government on cryptocurrencies. It used Luna and its terraUSD stablecoin to justify China's stance on crypto trading.

Anti-western statements also populated their publication. The newspaper said that the crypto market is over-leveraged due to the lack of regulation in Western countries. It is "full of manipulation and pseudo-technology concepts," according to their report. It is this market element that brings more uncertainty and greater volatility to BTC.

China's Colorful Past With Cryptocurrencies

Fairly recently, China took further steps in regulating cryptocurrencies and their trading. It also cracked down on mining, spreading more fear, uncertainty, and despair (FUD) in the global crypto market. Some members of the crypto community pointed to China lashing out at crypto as one of the reasons for the earlier market meltdowns.

BTC and other cryptocurrencies have recovered slightly from the market's deep plunge recently. While BTC has returned to the $ 20,000 level since dropping past $18,000 this week, China is not about to give the market a breather.

A government agency in China, the Financial Regulatory Bureau of Shenzhen, published a warning of similar nature recently. According to the bureau, crypto trading and its speculative nature significantly drive down the public's security for their property. They added as well that cryptocurrencies only breed criminal behavior while it disrupts the stability of the current financial order.

Beijing Government to Remain Tougher Against Crypto

To further justify the bureau's take on cryptocurrencies, they cited the Central Bank of China's notice, declaring cryptocurrency transactions illegal. They also echoed sentiments that offshore exchanges targeting mainland Chinese users will have to face legal consequences if found guilty.

Despite the unified crackdown on crypto, however, China's cryptocurrency believers are still finding ways to circumvent legal restrictions. This information brought stricter responses in Guangdong, prompting them to take stronger actions against decriminalizing cryptocurrency activities. Reports from OKX, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, say that despite government restriction, nine (9) percent of its web traffic on Wednesday were from users in China.

The crackdown on cryptocurrencies is nothing new, however. Investors and retail traders who have been in the market long enough find these are the birth pains any new financial innovation faces. This is especially true for technologies designed to disrupt the current centralized order of the traditional financial world.

Related Article: Bitcoin Advice From El Salvador President Bukele: 'Patience is the Key'

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
General Motors (GM) recently made an undisclosed strategic investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI). The UVEye is now being used by the automaker to support their vehicle inspection process.

(Photo : by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

LANSING, MI - JANUARY 25: General Motors CEO Mary Barra announces a $7 billion investment, the largest in the company's history, in electric vehicle and battery production in Michigan on January 25, 2022 in Lansing, Michigan.

The move was made by GM Ventures, the company's venture fund. GM Ventures also has other investments in various AI-themed startups. As part of this collaboration, GM will sell the UVEye technology to its dealer network to upgrade their vehicle inspection systems. However, it is now being used at a small number of GM dealerships in the US.

GM will also be working with UV Eye on several vehicle inspection technology projects.

Also Read: General Motors Teases Future Plans to Distribute Electric AWD Chevrolet Corvettes

The UVEye

So, what's the technology all about?

As per The Verge report, it looks like an airport body scanner, but for your vehicle. It works by driving the car through the scanner. The scanner has illuminated lights on the inside and within minutes, the service providers will be able to get a detailed report about the car.

Second, it uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, and high-definition cameras that enable the technology to accurately and quickly check the car's underbody, tired, and exterior. It can also detect safety-related issues.

The tech will be available to 4,000 dealerships across the country.

UVEye is gaining so much popularity in the car industry. Just last year, it closed $60 million in series C funding from a group of investors led by W.R. Berkley Corporation, CarMax, and F.I.T. Ventures.

Artificial Intelligence in the Car World

This is not the only ground-breaking technology in the car world, though. There is a lot of interest in the AI technology. Investing in AI technology is one of the most profitable strategies nowadays. It seems like all the big players in the car industry are also betting on this.

They are trying to leverage this technology to improve their vehicles' cognition. So, AI will help them to save money and reduce the cost of ownership. Some car manufacturers are making use of AI to reduce the need for human interaction. They are using it to improve the driving experience and keep their vehicles safe.

The UVEye is just a phenomenal technology. It has the ability to eliminate a lot of human error. It can also improve the accuracy of vehicle inspection process by over 90 percent. Furthermore, it will help the industry to save money. The UVEye can reduce the time it takes to complete a vehicle inspection.

In the coming months, they will reportedly be partnering with several new customers. We can expect their technology to appear in the rest of the world soon. This is definitely a technology that will disrupt the multi-billion dollar industry.

Related Article: GM Chevy Bolt Getting Cheaper? Here's Why General Motors Reduces EV Prices Despite Rising Demands

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Written by April Fowell

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Southwest Research Institute scientists are now looking into their discovery of Jupiter's Europa, the icy moon of the giant planet in the Solar System that showed signs of sulfur residue. The researchers are using the data gathered by the Hubble Space Telescope from NASA, which significantly brought these findings for the study's needs.

NASA's Hubble Provides Info on Jupiter's Europa with Sulfur Residue

(Photo : NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft is on track for mid 2020s launch. The mission, however, is not to find signs of alien life.

Phys.org reports that the NASA Hubble Space Telescope gave vital information to a study by researchers regarding a sulfur residue on the Europa, the famous icy moon of Jupiter. The researchers behind it used ultraviolet wavelengths to study the moon and focus on "filling the gaps" that would make them miss it if using standard surveying methods.

The near-global UV maps are now the primary source of its information, revealing the sulfur residue on the moon's trailing side. An upcoming mission from NASA, namely the Europa Clipper, that will launch in 2024, will help this study further, and it would look into the icy moon for what lies underneath.

Researchers believe that the Europa is a reasonably young surface, and it would provide much information on the moon that may have the capabilities as a source of life.

Read Also: NASA 's Juno Captures Astonishing Photo of Jupiter Moon's Shadow

SwRI Looks Into Sulfur Residue on Icy Moon; What's the Cause?

The SwRI team investigating this phenomenon published their research in The Planetary Science Journal, and it would soon go on a deep dive into the icy world of Europa. More information is coming to light as the researchers would use the Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph (Europa-UVS) to gather further intel regarding the sulfur dioxide found on the moon.

The researchers believe there is saltwater beneath its icy surface, which is twice the size of the Earth's.

Europa and the Study of Jupiter's Icy Moon

NASA has a dedicated study and spacecraft for Jupiter, and the Juno mission gave the world much information on the gas giant planet, along with its quest to identify its 79 moons on the planet. One of Juno's discoveries on its mission was the presence of water vapor on the icy moon, Europa, which led to an investigation to uncover what caused the phenomenon.

However, the Hubble Space Telescope also brings information on the other planets that surround our system, and it gets much information about them for further research and the public. The spacecraft and its instruments captured new images for the Solar System's updated planet photos for the public to see and marvel at for their needs.

NASA's data and other agencies and space companies are of massive help to researchers and astronomers that monitor and investigate different phenomena in space. That includes Jupiter's Europa moon, especially with changes that may have significant effects on its existence or progression, with the sulfur residue being an important cause.

Related Article: Jupiter Wields High Metal Contractions That Could Indicate Its Origins, Researchers Find

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Apple Watch has been known to save lives and in a more recent incident, a swimmer was trapped in cold river water but the watch called 911 to save her. The device saved a woman trapped in 56-degree water while her foot was caught in rocks by contacting first responders.

Apple Watch and Its Swimming Assistance Features

According to the story by 9to5Mac, the Apple Watch is known to have good swimming tracker features due to its strong water resistance. The Series 2, for example, has features that are designed to help people with aquatic workouts.

Ever since the Series 2, the Apple Watch has evolved in order to become a better swimming companion and act as a sort of lifeguard. In an incident in Oregon, first responders were able to save a woman after she was trapped underwater.

The Wearable Called 911 to Help the Woman in Need

The Apple Watch called 911 when it was able to contact rescuers in order to help the woman in need. The woman was trapped in the Columbia River with a temperature of 56 degrees while her foot was caught under rocks as per police reports.

The police noted that the woman was getting close to exhaustion and even showed certain signs of hypothermia when she was eventually rescued, as per Apple Insider. The report notes that the swimmer advised that she had been caught in the river for more than 30 minutes.

(Photo : Nadine Shaabana from Unsplash)

Apple Watch was Used to Make an Emergency Call

The report noted that an emergency call was made through the use of the Apple watch. The device reportedly includes an SOS feature that allowed users to make emergency calls simply by holding the side buttons for a couple of seconds.

In order for SOS and phone calls to be made, users will have to have the Apple Watch support cellular and be on an active plan. This would allow the device to work despite the user's iPhone not being nearby.

Read Also: Fitbit Charge 5 Activity Tracker Bug: Fix is Coming Soon-What to Expect

First Responders Arrived on the Scene with Officer Reams Rescuing the Woman

When the first responders first entered the scene, they decided to provide a ladder for the distressed swimmer while trying to pry apart the rocks where her foot was trapped. The rescue attempt, however, was unsuccessful.

After observing the scene, the rescuers realized that they needed a rescue swimmer to help save the woman in distress. The swimmer was needed due to the murky nature of the water which blocked any visuals from the rescuers.

The report noted that officer Reams decided to leave his ballistic vest and deputy belt on the shore in order to cautiously enter the water located downstream of the swimmer. The officer was able to reach under the water and was able to reach the swimmer's foot.

Related Article: Realme TechLife R100 Watch is Almost Here, Check Out its Features

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Chinese livestreamers posting medical and other professional content creators are now required to have certifications showing that they are well known when it comes to laws, finances, medicines, etc.

(Photo : Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

A man surfs the internet in Beijing on June 15, 2009. The designers of controversial Internet filtering software that China has ordered shipped with all new computers said they were trying to fix security glitches in the programme in the latest blow to the plan to include the filtering software with all PCs sold in China from July 1.

On the other hand, some speculations claim that the Chinese government will soon use health apps to crack down on dissent in the country.

Chinese Live Streamers Need Certification?

According to the South China Morning Post, online influencers need to have relevant qualifications before they can make content discussing laws, education, medicines, and other topics that are meant to be explained by professionals.

(Photo : Photo credit should read JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)

A member of the AlphaGo team watches an online live streaming of the Google DeepMind Challenge Match at a hotel in Seoul on March 9, 2016. A 3,000-year-old Chinese board game was the focus of a very 21st century showdown as South Korean Go grandmaster Lee Se-Dol kicked off his highly anticipated clash with the Google-developed supercomputer, AlphaGo.

Also Read: 'Metaverse Standards Forum': Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and MORE Join Together for Interoperability

This new requirement is included in the 18-point guideline published by the National Radio and Television Administration, as well as the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

"For live broadcast content that requires a high professional level, the anchor shall obtain the corresponding professional qualification and report the professional qualification to the live broadcast platform," explained in the new regulation.

However, China's new regulation for live streamers and other online influencers didn't specify if they must have college or master's degrees in certain fields before they can create professional content.

If you want to see more details about the new requirements of China for live streamers, you can visit this link.

Online Behaviors That Chinese Live Streamers Must Avoid

Aside from certifications, China's new regulation also stated some banned behaviors that live streamers must avoid. One of these is publishing content that can affect the image of the Chinese Communist Party.

On the other hand, creating videos featuring money, luxurious products, and extravagant lifestyle is also forbidden. These are just among the banned online content behaviors that social media influencers must avoid:

Spoofing, distorting, vilifying, desecrating, or negating the deeds and spirit of heroes, martyrs, and exemplary figures.

Violating national religious policies, carrying out religious activities in non-religious sites, promoting religious extremism, cults, and other such content.

Harming the public image of specific occupations and groups such as the people's army, police, and judges.

Health Apps To Prevent Dissent?

While authorities are trying to control online influencers in China, rumors claim that the Chinese government will soon use health apps to prevent dissent among the public.

Foreign Policy reported that this speculation is now concerning some individuals. Previously, some sources claimed that COVID-19 restrictions were actually used to prevent protests.

They also believe that the Chinese government will do the same with the health apps.

Previous Reports:

The EU's disinformation code has been enhanced.

Previously, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange might soon face a U.S. extradition.

For more news updates about the internet and other related topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Japan Increases Cyberbullying Fine To $2,200! But, Experts Say This Can Affect Free Speech

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Months after imposing a strict lockdown guideline in Beijing, China's COVID-19 cases continue to subside.

However, on June 18, Shenzhen officials detected a single local case that triggered mass testing and lockdowns in some parts of the city.

On June 19, two cases of COVID-19 were detected in the area.

Shenzhen's COVID-19 Cases

According to South China Morning Post, the COVID-19 outbreaks in Beijing and Mongolia have been brought under control since February, and there haven't been any widespread restrictions since then.

Despite the improvement, the local government does not want to take risks. In-person teaching at elementary schools in Shanghai and Beijing is still halted, and some areas in the cities are still under lockdown.

Mainland China has imposed border restrictions for the first time in eight months after a reported outbreak in Macau.

Also Read: China COVID-19 Vaccine May Not 'Last for 6 Months' | Health Experts Suggest People Get 3rd Dose

In Shanghai, residents are required to get tested every week. Several districts in Beijing and other cities in the country also require regular COVID-19 testing, especially for those working in high-risk industries, including retail employees, bus drivers, factory workers, and taxi drivers.

In Shenzhen, local authorities imposed home isolation orders on residential compounds in the Luohu and Futian districts after cases of asymptomatic infection were reported.

The Spread of the Omicron Variant

The omicron variant, which is known to be highly contagious, was detected in China between March and early June. This has forced authorities to impose extensive lockdowns that carried high costs for the economy.

China's deployment of restrictions shows that the country still pursues a zero-tolerance strategy that has left it isolated from the rest of the world. The restrictions were imposed with little to no warning, prompting protests from the residents.

Residents Get Back to Work

According to Bloomberg, 23 of China's 31 mainland provinces had no recorded COVID-19 cases in the past week. It is only Beijing that has more than 20 cases a day.

On June 19, China reported 24 new infections overall, with 13 recorded in Shanghai.

Since the number of cases has subsided, the residents of the infected cities are going out more. The number of subway trips increased to 9% last week.

From June 19 to June 22, an average of 47 million subway trips in the top 11 cities were recorded.

Shanghai's subway system is reportedly returning to normal, with people taking 6 million rides as of June 22. However, that is still less than the 9.8 million rides that were reported in 2021.

The Chinese government is still limiting inter-province travel. Some domestic travelers are forced to quarantine in hotels because of outbreaks in their cities or because they have come from medium or high-risk cities like Shanghai.

China is also building the infrastructure to make testing for the virus a routine in several cities. Thousands of testing booths are set up across the country's largest cities. Domestic travelers and residents can take a swab test in just 15 minutes.

According to Borneo Bulletin, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing residents are required to take a swab test every 48 hours, and they need to provide a negative result before they can get on the subway or enter an establishment.

Related Article:China's Silicon Valley in Lockdown But Won't Affect iPhone Production

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The alleged Tesla spying issue led to a massive road ban in China. Authorities announced this decision because the surveillance problem might affect their residents' privacy.

(Photo : Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)

A car drives past the new Tesla factory built in Shanghai on November 8, 2019. (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP)

As of writing, Tesla's popular electric vehicle units are restricted on some roads in the Asian country. Previously, Elon Musk had already asked China to trust their EVs, just like how they trust TikTok and other social media platforms.

"There's a very strong incentive for us to be very confidential with any information. If Tesla used cars to spy in China or anywhere, we will get shut down," said the billionaire during the recent China Development Forum.

Alleged Tesla Spying Issue Leads To Road Ban in China!

According to Electrek's report, China recently announced that Tesla vehicles are banned from entering Beidaihe, a Chinese resort town.

(Photo : Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

A Tesla electric-powered sedan stands at a Tesla charging staiton at a highway reststop along the A7 highway on June 11, 2015 near Rieden, Germany. Tesla has introduced a limited network of charging stations along the German highway grid in an effort to raise the viability for consumers to use the cars for longer journeys.

Also Read: Tesla Model Y, Model 3 Are the 'Most American-made' Cars, Elon Musk Says It is Unknown to Public

The automaker's zero-emission cars can't enter this area for two months because of the alleged spying issue. This restriction is expected to be implemented as early as July 1.

For those who are not familiar with Beidaihe, this beach resort near Beijing commonly hosts the annual summer gathering. Powerful individuals, including politicians, usually participate in this event.

Since this is the case, authorities want to ensure the privacy of these officials once they visit the Beidaihe resort. This is not the first time that China has banned Tesla vehicles from entering other places.

In 2021, the Chinese government also restricted the electric cars were banned from entering the Chinese military's complexes because of potentially sensitive information leaks.

Why This is a Big Issue for Tesla?

CNN Business reported that China is important for Tesla since it is one of its largest markets. Unlike other countries, the billionaire usually complements this Asian country.

Tu Le, a founder of Beijing-based consulting firm Sino Auto Insights, even said that if the spying issue originated in other markets of Tesla, Musk will not "throw a fit."

Since China is a big deal for Tesla, some experts believe that once Elon owns Twitter, he will try to tamp down the online criticism against China just to have a better image in the Asian country.

Meanwhile, the new Tesla Cybetruck prototype was spotted at a Megapack project event.

On the other hand, Tesla's self-driving feature is now being focused on the company's worth depends on it.

For more news updates about Tesla and other giant automakers, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Tesla Gigafactories: Elon Musk Says It's Losing Billions of Dollars on Berlin, Texas-Why?

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Bitcoin has been slowing down recently since many investors are holding to its current value. For Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, the world's largest cryptocurrency could sit below $69,000 in the next couple of years.

The CEO of the popular crypto exchange said that at one point, some BTC investors four years ago might have been "very happy" with the $20,000 trading value of this digital coin.

Bitcoin Drops Below $69,000

(Photo : Kanchanara from Unsplash)

Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance is certain that Bitcoin will stay below the $69k mark for the next two years.

In an interview with The Guardian on Thursday, June 23, Zhao said that it would take some time before Bitcoin recovers from the bearish trend.

After reaching $20,000 over the weekend, many long-term holders think it's time to focus on the other assets that will yield considerable gains.

The Binance founder said the BTC could even take months or years before returning to the $68,000 mark. Indeed, the fate of this crypto asset is uncertain since Zhao believes that "no one can predict the future" of Bitcoin.

"20k we think is very low today. But you know, in 2018, 2019, if you told people bitcoin will be 20k in 2022, they would be very happy. In 2018/19, bitcoin was $3,000, $6,000," Zhao continued.

Another all-time low value was recorded on Wednesday, June 22. At the time, Bitcoin was sitting at only $20,491 at its trading price. The last time that it reached this record was back in late 2020.

Although the cryptocurrency market is highly unstable, Zhao said that price fluctuations are just normal in the industry. On the brighter side, he said that there's a growth showing in the sector if people will just look at its current peak.

Speaking of Binance, the platform remains banned in the United Kingdom by the country's financial watchdog. According to the authorities, the crypto exchange was incapable of "being effectively supervised."

Declining Market Performance

Amid the left-and-right downfall of several crypto assets, many lending firms have been adjusting their operations like what Celsius Network did last week.

According to Tech Times, the crypto lending company had stopped all withdrawals and transfers because of the "extreme market conditions."

During that period, the platform's CEL met an untimely 60% drop because of the continuous market pressure. It even reached the point when it hit 19 cents.

Furthermore, the recent downward trend in the crypto market is associated with other elements. As such, the failure of the Terra stable coin has alarmed many investors who staked on this asset.

Many users stop investing for a while. Others withdraw their assets as a result.

Related Article: Bitcoin Plunge Triggers More FUD in China, Claims Crypto is 'Worthless'

What to Consider Before Purchasing a Cryptocurrency

For those people who are just getting started with crypto investments, be mindful that they are highly-volatile assets. You should consider a few things before buying them.

According to Coindesk, you first need to evaluate an asset by doing the following steps.

Look for the project's website if it's legit, updated, and informative. Read the crypto white paper. Look for the social media pages of the cryptos that you want to invest in. Research more about the team members behind the cryptocurrency and their partnerships. Check the asset's market metrics. Take note of the cryptocurrency's price history.

Read Also: Blockchains are Decentralized, but DARPA's Study Thinks it is Vulnerable to Centralization

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Written by Joseph Henry

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The P-12 Shuttle flying electric ferry, which is planned to go into production in 2023, is being unveiled for the first time by Swedish marine technology company Candela.

The hydrofoils that lift the flying electric boat out of the water also allow it to use a lot less energy than other types of boats. After successfully testing the company's current recreational vessels, the technology is now slated for use in commercial maritime.

Candela Releases Flying Electric Ferry

According to Candela, the boat can travel at speeds of up to 30 knots (34 mph or 55 km/h) thanks to the reduced drag of hydrofoils, making it the fastest electric ship in the world.

As per Erik Eklund, the Vice President of Commercial Vessels at Candela, "There's no other ship that has this kind of active electronic stabilization. Flying aboard the P-12 Shuttle in rough seas will feel more like being on a modern express train than on a boat: it's quiet, smooth, and stable."

When compared to contemporary commercial ferries, the energy-efficient electric watercraft uses 95 percent less energy for each passenger-kilometer. The vessel will offer a cleaner and more effective alternative to the diesel-based ferries that currently travel that route and offer shorter commuting times than the subway or autos it competes with.

Per passenger kilometer, the P-12 Shuttle consumes just 0.1 kWh of electricity. The ship's 180 kWh battery has a range of 50 nautical miles at service speed, and it uses DC fast charging to recharge its battery in less than an hour. The commuters will save over an hour every day using Candela's P-12 Shuttle instead of the current 55 minutes it takes to travel there by subway, bus, or diesel ferry (and the same amount of time traveling there by automobile during morning and evening rush hour).

Commuters Expected to Benefit From Candela's New Ferry

More benefits exist for commuters than merely shorter commute times. The P-12 Shuttle's flight is noticeably smoother than traditional ferries because of electronic stabilization. The hydrofoils on the boat are computer-controlled, adjusting 100 times per second to provide a smooth and stable flight path over the water, eliminating motion sickness for sensitive passengers.

Another key advantage cited for the P-12 Shuttle is its 30-passenger capacity. A 300-passenger ship typically carries roughly 50 commuters due to the average occupancy rate of Stockholm's existing ferries, which is around 17 percent.

Ships that are smaller and more maneuverable, like the P-12 Shuttle, can run more effectively, with fewer operational costs, and on tighter schedules. Cities with navigable waterways, like Stockholm, New York, and San Francisco, are good locations for these electric boats.

Later this year, in Candela's brand-new automated facility in Rotebro, outside of Stockholm, the carbon fiber keel for the first P-12 Shuttle will be laid in preparation for production. In order to eventually create hundreds of P-12 shuttles annually, the business will leverage production techniques refined during the designing and constructing of a variety of electric hydrofoil recreational boats.

Related Articles: Regent is Now Developing Flying Electric Ferry for 2025-'Sea Glider' Could Reach up to 180 Mph

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BP's Na Kika platform in the Gulf of Mexico, about 140 miles south of New Orleans. The Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association joined 26 other industry trade groups on Thursday in signing a letter that urges President Joe Biden to visit United States energy sites ahead of a planned trip to Saudi Arabia in July.
At the testimony table, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, left, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., testify in front of a packed house during an oversight hearing in the Health and Welfare Committee on Gov. John Bel EdwardsO plan to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the required immunization schedule for students at K-12 schools Monday Dec. 6, 2021, in Baton Rouge, La.
Hong Kong: Maryknoll school relic expo set

An exhibition featuring around 70 artefacts provided by the Maryknoll Convent School (MCS) Foundation will be held from tomorrow to September 14 at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre.

The Maryknoll Convent School (Primary Section), built in 1937 and declared a monument in 2008, consists of an educational block and a convent originally used as dormitory for the Maryknoll Sisters.

The convent was handed over to the MCS Foundation in 2019. A structural inspection uncovered in the hidden attic a range of valuable historical materials, revealing the unique history of the embroidery and sewing workshop set up by the Maryknoll Sisters in the convent.

The exhibition will provide visitors with an insight into the architectural style and heritage conservation of the school as well as the history of the Maryknoll Sisters.

Highlight exhibits include a bronze school bell used to remind students of the beginning of class, purchase orders, paper embroidery patterns and a vestment on loan from Mother House in Ossining of the US.

Call 2208 4488 for enquiries.

This story has been published on: 2022-06-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
8x8 Launches New Channel Program for Microsoft Gold Partners with Exclusive Purpose-built Edition for Organizations Adopting Microsoft Teams

8x8, Inc. (NYSE: EGHT), a leading integrated cloud communications platform, today announced the 8x8 Elevate Microsoft Partner (MP) Program together with the exclusive 8x8 XT edition that enables enterprises adopting Microsoft Teams to reduce communication costs and improve employee productivity with a highly resilient global telephony solution. Leveraging 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams, the new 8x8 XT edition combines 8x8's Direct Routing as a Service technology, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) connectivity, Azure-based managed SBC as a Service, domestic DIDs, nationwide calling, HD Audio, and Secure Voice all in a single package.

According to the Gartner report, Selecting the Best External Calling Option for Microsoft Teams1, "By 2024, 20% of total Microsoft Teams active users will adopt telephony services for external calling on Teams." Many of these enterprises are turning to trusted channel partners for guidance as they move to the cloud and drive digital transformation efforts to meet new work from anywhere requirements.

8x8 Elevate Microsoft Partner Program

The new 8x8 Elevate MP Program offers select Microsoft Gold Partners the opportunity to accelerate their cloud business and revenue growth by adding 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams to clients' Teams implementations to enhance global communications and customer engagement. Microsoft Gold Partners selected for the program benefit from:

Exclusive access to sell the new 8x8 XT edition.

Attractive volume-based incentives and rebates.

Executive forums to discuss 8x8 strategy and products.

Increased Microsoft partner profitability through incremental services.

"As a leading provider of digital workspace solutions and a Microsoft Gold Partner, our customers expect us to provide integrated solutions that not only meet their communication needs but also enhance both employee and customer experiences," said Brian Campbell, Director, Digital Experience - Collaboration and Workspace at CDW. "We are excited to be among the select partners for the exclusive 8x8 Elevate MP program. Offering 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams enables us to deliver even more value to our Teams customers, while the new partner program provides the resources and benefits to maximize revenue opportunities."

Companies invited to join the 8x8 Elevate MP Program will also receive the benefits available through the recently announced 8x8 Elevate Partner Program. The global channel program differentiates itself by offering multiple routes to market for partners, including both resale and agency, as well as offering 8x8 sales and technical certifications at no cost.

8x8 XT

8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams, and its continued innovation with the new 8x8 XT edition, is the industry's premier cloud-based Direct Routing as a Service option, providing organizations adopting Teams with reliable, integrated, global telephony and customer engagement capabilities, including value added services such as integrated business messaging, conversational AI, and advanced analytics. Features of the 8x8 XT include:

Complete interoperability with any other 8x8 X Seriespackage for seamless enterprise collaboration .

Optimized feature set ideal for Teams users with external telephony calling requirements including local DIDs and flexible calling plans.

Purpose-built for Microsoft Teams devices and apps.

Cloud-based, easy to set up and administer direct routing solution that offers intuitive, seamless deployment to minimize service disruptions.

Options for unlimited calling, metered calling and the option to add prepaid calling bundles.

Exclusively available for Microsoft Gold Partners in the 8x8 Elevate MP Program.





8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams allows Teams users to make and receive calls globally, using the familiar Teams interface. 8x8 continues to extend its global presence with 8x8 Global Reach through the addition of Indonesia, Israel, Slovenia, and Thailand, and now delivers full cloud PSTN support for multinational organizations with users in 52 countries and territories, representing approximately 89 percent of the world's GDP.

"With operations in the US, Mexico, Europe, and elsewhere, having a reliable global solution is vital for our business and allows our employees to consistently provide positive customer experiences," said Chris Geryol, IT Infrastructure and Operations Leader at nVent, a high-performance electrical company. "8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams is a cost-effective solution that has improved efficiency and productivity for our team, eliminating the need for multiple, disparate systems. All in all, we have had a very positive experience with the solution."

Supporting more than 200,000 Teams users worldwide, organizations who recently signed and deployed 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams include:

Radian provides industry-leading mortgage and real estate products and services. As part of their digital transformation initiative, they turned to 8x8 XCaaS and 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams to support over 1700 employees.

provides industry-leading mortgage and real estate products and services. As part of their digital transformation initiative, they turned to 8x8 XCaaS and 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams to support over 1700 employees. Think Research Corporation provides knowledge-based digital health software solutions to a clinical audience of more than 300,000 doctors, nurses, and pharmacists in over 13,000 healthcare facilities in five continents. By implementing the full power of 8x8 XCaaS with Voice for Microsoft Teams and CPaaS SMS API, Think Research will enhance the overall customer experience as they improve agent efficiency and productivity, using new channels to confirm appointments and recruit beta testers for drug trials and new therapies.

"Communication and collaboration is key to every organization, but every team does it differently which is why 8x8 offers highly resilient, Direct Routing as a Service technology to support every employee across the enterprise," said Hunter Middleton, Chief Product Officer at 8x8, Inc. "From the back-office staff to contact center agents, 8x8's highly-differentiated solutions for Microsoft Teams enable enterprises to engage with customers effortlessly while providing easy-to-use, sophisticated telephony and customer engagement capabilities globally."

8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams is a core component of 8x8 XCaaS (eXperience Communications as a Service), which includes fully integrated, cloud native contact center, voice, team chat, video meetings, and CPaaS embeddable APIs capabilities in a single-vendor solution. 8x8 XCaaS is built on the resilient, secure, and compliant 8x8 eXperience Communications Platform, which offers the highest levels of reliability and the industry's only financially backed, platform-wide 99.999 percent uptime SLA across an integrated cloud UCaaS and CCaaS solution.

The 8x8 XT edition is now generally available in the UK, and will be introduced in the US and Canada by late summer. For more information, visit 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams.

1Gartner, Selecting the Best External Calling Option for Microsoft Teams, Pankil Sheth, Rafael Benitez, Lisa Pierce, January 31, 2022

About 8x8 Inc.

8x8, Inc. (NYSE: EGHT) is transforming the future of business communications as a leading Software as a Service provider of 8x8 XCaaS (eXperience Communications as a Service), an integrated contact center, voice communications, video, chat, and API built on one global cloud communications platform. 8x8 uniquely eliminates the silos between Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) to power the communications requirements of all employees globally as they work together to deliver differentiated customer experiences. For additional information, visit www.8x8.com, or follow 8x8 on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

8x8, 8x8 XCaaS, eXperience Communications as a Service, eXperience Communications Platform are trademarks of 8x8, Inc.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005385/en/
The supplier of a rapid COVID-19 test sold in Woolworths and Coles has rejected allegations it did not provide data to support the performance of its tests and its poor customer service after the medicines regulator slapped it with a $106,560 fine.

Hough Pharma, which makes the tests supplied at major retailers, was given the infringement notices over allegations it did not provide evidence to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) when requested about the safety and performance of three rapid tests.

The regulator has warned rapid COVID-19 test kit suppliers to take their obligations on data and customer service seriously. Credit:iStock

The TGA also claims that despite being required to have telephone and online customer service operators available seven days per week between 9.00am and 7.00pm, the company was found to have a lack of customer support.

This compliance action serves as a reminder to companies to take their obligations seriously, the TGA said in a statement.
Bubs Australia is preparing to have a third and fourth US-issued plane to airlift 180,000 tins of its infant formula across the Pacific Ocean in coming weeks, while rival A2 Milk waits for its application to be approved by the US authorities.

The Biden administration, which has already airlifted two planes full of the goat milk formula, will issue another two to pick up a total of 180,465 tins of Bubs product in two batches. The first plane will touch down in Los Angeles on June 26 and the second plane will arrive at Philadelphia on July 5.

Bubs Australia founder and CEO Kristy Carr. Credit:James Brickwood

The 180,000 tins are part of the 1.25 million tins initially announced by Bubs late last month and form Americas ninth Operation Fly Formula mission as President Joe Biden strikes deals with several global manufacturers to patch its baby formula shortage.

Bubs Australia has already sent two planes of its goat milk-made baby formula to the US, which have been purchased and distributed by US retailers Walmart, Alberstons (Safeway), and Kroger Co.
Samsung has admitted to misleading consumers about the ability of Samsung Galaxy phones to withstand water, and has been ordered by the consumer watchdog to pay a $14 million penalty for doing so.

Between 2016 and 2018, Samsung went on a marketing blitz across its stores, website and social media with ads claiming that Galaxy phones could be submerged in pools and ocean water without damage.

Samsung has admitted to misleading consumers about Galaxy phones ability to withstand water. Credit:SeongJoon Cho

But Samsung Australia has admitted now it broke Australian Consumer Law, acknowledging that submerging the phone in water could in fact corrode the devices charging port and make it stop working if the phone was charged while still wet.

Samsungs claims of water resistance were a key selling point for the phones, said Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.
The steep fall As with many crypto companies in recent months, Celsiuss story is one of a climb from the ashes before a potentially sharp descent. As the crypto market was undergoing a depression in 2018 that saw the price of Bitcoin drop more than 400 per cent, Mashinsky travelled the globe to whip up interest in his new digital bank. At blockchain conferences and events in dozens of cities he pressed the flesh, meeting whales, cajoling influencers and generally creating a media storm  an old-fashioned marketing triumph in a newfangled digital world. Viral moments seemed to follow. Mashinsky became a crypto-community celebrity when a panel he took part in with the economist and crypto-sceptic Nouriel Roubini at the 2018 Milken Conference in Beverly Hills became a gloves-off verbal slugfest. Suddenly everyday people who had never heard of Celsius or thought about putting their money in a crypto bank were aware of this wry 50-something contrarian. He made the case to Wall Street that he could offer much higher yields without the bureaucratic costs and profit-taking of traditional banks and he also marketed those yields, which could reach between 20 per cent and 30 per cent, to depositors.

The pitch could often be ideological: A 2019 deck for investors argued that the decentralised digital economy needs next-generation financial tools and a system that will work for the benefit of the community, while his communications to customers stressed his disdain for conventional banks. He also cited his experience in other cutting-edge technologies, for instance, he was among the inventors of the tech that allows internet phone calls, though some critics have questioned the significance of his role. Still, business was slow. The companys own CEL token, launched in 2018 to help facilitate transactions, ended 2019 at just 14, only the slightest improvement from the 10 it was worth months earlier. The company struggled enough that at one point its offices were moved from Midtown Manhattan to Mashinskys home in the city. Then came the pandemic. Mashinsky and co-founder and chief technology officer Nuke Goldstein, an engineer prone to grand statements like we are disrupting giants, found a growing audience for their vision.

Loading The rise of The Machine Mashinsky held frequent Ask Mashinsky Anything online sessions, posted regularly on Twitter and released YouTube videos explaining how the company was able to generate such rich yields with little risk, building an intimate relationship with a broadening fan base in a world often driven by faceless computer code. In these videos he often came across as plain-spoken but forceful, arguing that viewers were falling into a traditionalist mind-set when questioning the companys model. Theres a lot of confusion about where yield comes from, Mashinsky, who came to be known to followers as The Machine, said in one. And we keep going back and comparing apples and oranges. His signature T-shirt read, Banks are not your friends and the populist message resonated. Depositor money began flowing in by the billions.

I quickly fell in love with the idea of never having to sell my Bitcoin, never having to worry about timing market tops and turning my familys Bitcoin into passive income, one Celsius depositor, who asked that only his first name, Joseph, be used to protect his identity online, said in an electronic message to The Post. Joseph, a father of two, said it was Mashinskys online question-and-answer sessions that helped persuade him to put the majority of his crypto holdings in Celsius. The CEL token, whose value was just 42 in August 2020, finished the year at more than $US5.50. It would go up a further $US2 by May 2021. The company hired hundreds of people and moved its headquarters to Hoboken, New Jersey, in addition to offices in Britain, Serbia and Israel. Crypto markets were rocked by the move by Celsius. Credit:Getty Last October, Celsius reached what seemed like a legitimising pinnacle  a $US400 million investment round led by the private-equity firm WestCap and the Canadian public-pension giant CDPQ.

Social media cheered the rise. A Celsius YouTube channel attracted 70,000 subscribers. Celsius has totally changed my life. From working welding on my knees in a shipyard to being free of work and thinking how I can help people, wrote a user named Chris Wood. Another, Ralph Galasso, enthused: Amazing quality ! best company in crypto !!!! Love Celsius! The company even began selling The Machine T-shirts. But problems were brewing. Losing faith

In September, regulators from Texas, New Jersey and Alabama initiated cease-and-desist proceedings, seeking to stop Celsius from accepting depositor accounts. New Jersey stopped deposits right away; Alabama and Texas gave the company a window before eventually blocking them. The regulators said the accounts were unregistered securities. Celsius denied the claim. Sceptics also raised questions about where Celsius was putting depositors money to produce such yields and whether it was embodying a crypto culture that promises wealth too shiny to resist but, in the end, also too good to be true. I think one of the biggest problems Celsius has always had is we dont really know where any of their positions are, said Cory Klippsten, a crypto-industry veteran who has been a longtime Celsius critic. I think one of the biggest problems Celsius has always had is we dont really know where any of their positions are. Cory Klippsten, a crypto-industry veteran who has been a longtime Celsius critic As a private unregulated company, Celsius does not come under any requirement for disclosure. Mashinsky has said the company is simply lending the crypto to investors willing to pay a premium for it. Critics including Klippsten say it has more likely been taking risky bets with that cash in a host of volatile coins and funds.

That can work, they say, when a bull market keeps the companys own returns high and depositors demand for cash low. But when the market crashes, as it has over the past month, the value of Celsiuss holdings plummet at the same time that a lot of people want their money out. They engaged in risky strategies for generating yield on their depositors funds  riskier than their competitors, Laura Shin, a crypto journalist and podcaster who wrote the book The Cryptopians, about the fields pioneers, said. This is one of the big reasons they likely could not meet redemptions. One problem she and others have pointed to is Celsius staking eth  in simple terms, putting digital money on the ethereum blockchain for a fixed time in return for a fee paid to the person who is lending their crypto. The problem is that the money can be untouchable for many months, which is not good when customers are demanding it. Loading Celsius also invested in a crypto platform called BadgerDao, which in December was revealed to have been hacked to the tune of $US120 million. A blockchain analysis by the site CryptoBriefing traced $US51 million of the missing money to an account that has been linked to other Celsius transactions, suggesting that the company took a major hit in the hack.

The identities of Celsiuss borrowers are also unknown, said Mike Burgersburg, the online alias of one of the leading critics and chroniclers of Celsius, who has been writing a series of investigative posts under the Substack name Dirty Bubble Media. Burgersburg has done extensive work trying to track down entities that have borrowed from Celsius, but he says he has found few that admit to doing so. That makes it unclear what their terms were and how easy it might be for Celsius to collect the debts in a liquidity crunch. The company has fallen in the eyes of a number of the faithful. After Mashinsky tweeted a stay-strong message last week (@CelsiusNetwork team is working nonstop. . . . To see you come together is a clear sign our community is the strongest in the world), one user replied angrily. Please allow us to withdraw OUR funds, wrote @TzannakosPat. People have their life savings on Celsius. The community is strong and together we should demand and [sic] formal investigation. You cant just take peoples money and coins. That frustration was felt by Alex, a Celsius customer in Maryland who asked not to be fully identified to protect himself online. He has about $US20,000 in his account now, he said, money he was counting on to help support his son. Im feeling pretty bad to be honest, he said. Bitboy Crypto, the pseudonym of a prominent crypto influencer named Ben Armstrong, who has nearly 900,000 followers on Twitter, had long advocated Celsius to his followers. But after the freeze, he changed his tune. We were lied to about the safety of our funds by Alex @Mashinsky, he tweeted Saturday as he offered suggestions for legal action, in turn prompting some to blame him for cheerleading for Celsius for so long.

Yet many of Mashinskys adherents have refused to give up. They see the freeze not as a sign of malfeasance, but as one more piece of evidence that traditional finance wants to destroy crypto and will stop at nothing to realise its aim. Everyone take a look. If this is true, its a co-ordinated attack to take Celsius out. My anger is not at Alex & Celsius but at the short sellers. Spread the word!!! said a user with the handle @evanrodts, referring to a theory that the company has been victimised by those betting on its failure. Loading I have all my savings in Celsius because I trust your company, noted the Celsius advocate @MichalMike18. Please pull through. Burgersburg said many of these messages werent just financial denialism, they were the sincere emotions of people who had come to believe deeply in Mashinsky.
Rarely is anyone seen looking at Gordons statue, or the saddle and wide hat tucked under his chair. Rarely is anyone seen stooping to read the verses carved on the stone base. One of the most famous of all Australians at the start of this century, Adam Lindsay Gordon has suffered a remarkable eclipse. It is doubtful that anybody else famous in the arts has so slumped in public favour.

ADAM Lindsay Gordon sits in Spring Street and from his chair looks across the road to the Windsor Hotel. His face is clean shaven and alert, his nostrils look as if he is sniffing his surroundings, and he uses his fingers as a bookmark in a small volume he carries. He wears corduroy trousers tucked into long wellington boots, and he almost sags in his chair, as if either his body is tired or his legs are too long.

Coming out in the gold rushes of the 1850s, Gordon served as a police trooper in South Australia, briefly sat in its Legislative Council where his few speeches were spiced with Latin, took sheep to the back of Bunbury in Western Australia, ran a livery stable at Ballarats flashest hotel, wrote three books of verse which few people bought in his lifetime, and then, in 1870, deliberately shot himself with his rifle in the seashore scrub at Brighton. He was 36.

He was a loner. His wife especially remembered his silences. An editor noted that Gordon was silent on one visit to his newspaper office but on another he would talk for an hour, generally when I was most busy. How the sculptor Paul Montford finally portrayed him in bronze in Spring Street, 60 years after Gordons suicide, aroused argument.

Sir Arthur Streeton, the painter, thought that the sculptured Gordon showed, for someone so athletic, a lack of robust strength and breathing space in the region of the chest.

An ultra-courageous horseman, Gordon had been a dashing steeplechase rider when that form of racing was in vogue, especially in Victoria.

He rode at Flemington with a strange riding action, perhaps a consequence of his lankiness. He was short-sighted and perhaps did not fully realise the risks he ran.
LGBTQI advocates fear the 2021 census results, which start to be unveiled next week, will dramatically underestimate gender diversity in Australia because of a poorly worded question asking whether people identify their sex as male, female or non-binary.

Some advocates believe the results will be so flawed the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) should not release the figures showing how many Australians chose the new non-binary option when asked to identify their sex.

LGBTQI advocate Teddy Cook is concerned about the accuracy of the latest census data. Credit:Rhett Wyman

Rodney Croome, a spokesman for the Just.Equal Australia lobby group, said the non-binary sex option was a useless hybrid that conflated people who are transgender and intersex as well as those who identify as gender non-binary.

Many transgender people would have ticked male or female, people with a non-binary gender identity would have wondered if non-binary sex applied to them and many intersex people would also have found it confusing, Croome said.
At that time in UNSW, as in other Australian universities, the education of architects was still largely focused on the teaching of design in the studio. For students the studio was like a second home, a site of wide-ranging conversation among themselves and with their assigned tutor. It was here that Proudfoot made his presence felt. His singular passion for the subject, influenced both by his fathers commercial art career and by his undergraduate tuition by Lloyd Rees and Roland Wakelin, saw architectural design akin to the making of art, a process of developing ideas as far as they would go. Proudfoot would urge his students to work with their own desires and tastes, and to make the most of these things  to think big  even when those ideas (precedents and models such as the work of Frank Lloyd Wright) were contrary to his own taste. A former student remembers that Proudfoot always encouraged his students to attack a design problem from first principles. Failure in this regard leads to an analogous but inferior result which does not allow for real creativity. Many of his students have proved successful within the architectural profession, predominantly as a result of being taught in this way. Proudfoot would often take up a pencil himself to show what he meant. In his work in the studio he never questioned his students good faith or their capabilities, but he insisted on their engaging in a frank dialogue. And he was always formally addressed as Dr Proudfoot, and addressed his students by surname only.

A sketch made by Proudfoot during his time in Rome. The studio experience with Proudfoot left a lasting impression: a rare encounter with a personality, flawed and eccentric, cutting and encouraging, sometimes comic, who took architecture seriously, and saw it as a calling in which they might excel  a fascinating, seemingly maverick figure. Once he brought a portfolio of his own work into the studio, including his 1965 Rome Prize scheme. Marked by sinuously curving ceilings and portentous towers, this work seemed to channel the spirit of the baroque, in sharp contrast to the abstemious modernism and earthbound localism prevalent at the time in Sydney. His design brilliance, by which he had won the Rome Prize in Architecture in 1965, did not reach its apogee in the built environment, but when given the opportunity to design a scheme  for the new Parliament House in Canberra  he was able to let fly to creativity, non-conventionality, and amazing structures. Proudfoot faced demons in the form of alcoholism. The years 1975 to 80 were a dark period for him as he lost almost everything that he valued. Through his desire to be reunited with his family and the help of a good doctor, he eventually shook that demon and never relapsed.

At least once in his days of behaving badly he was taken to the lock-up in a police station he designed himself. Whenever anyone mentioned Dads sporting ability, he would quip: I did my best times running from the police. Loading In retirement, Proudfoot often visited Gunnedah, the home of his wife Helens family property. His legacy lives on there, as well as the family home in Roseville, which he designed in 1984 in magnificent modernist fashion, and the buildings he designed for the government architects branch in the 1960s. However, his force of personality and architectural brilliance informed a generation of architecture students. Proudfoot was single-minded to succeed at his interests, but equally determined to avoid situations or circumstances not to his liking. He was never on the electoral roll or documented in the census. He was an anarchist at heart. He excelled at both sport and music. When young, he was a skilled cricketer as a leg spinner, on one occasion taking 10 wickets for 128 runs in a single innings. In his adult years, squash and golf sustained him. He was a student at the Conservatorium of Music and played the oboe in the Sydney Youth Orchestra. He seriously considered a career as a musician but chose architecture instead.

Proudfoots teaching at UNSW continued and he was awarded large Australian Research Council grants for multiple projects, including the Griffin Canberra design and architectural education in Australia. Loading Old age became fraught for Proudfoot as he did not take instruction on how to improve his health kindly, and grew frustrated with his failing body and mind. But this Keats phrase was one of his favourites, and he lived it to the end: I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of the hearts affections and the truth of the imagination. Proudfoot valued the tenets of classical culture  academic pursuit, physical activity, and beauty from art, architecture and music. He had few daily worries. He had enough money to do the things he wanted to do, and was really up with the gods on Mount Olympus rather than thinking about everyday life. These tenets informed his work as a teacher and where his strengths lay. Peter Proudfoot is survived by his daughters Ann and Emma, and grandchildren Matthew, Thomas, Claire and Leila. Helen died in 2011.
Queensland grandma assaulted, zip tied to furniture during 'distressing' break-in

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The Queensland government will push beyond other states to allow minimum conditions for parcel delivery drivers and collective bargaining against multinational tech giants like Amazon, under a sweeping proposed revamp of its industrial relations landscape.

Workers subjected to sexual, and sex or gender-based, harassment, would also be better protected under expanded powers for the states industrial umpire  which also set to be empowered to act on the emergence of so-called fake unions.

Amazon Flex drivers in NSW won a landmark decision on their rates of pay in February. Credit:Dreamstime/TNS

While the delivery contractor reforms will still require sign off by the new federal Labor government, state Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace introduced a bill to deal with the reforms, many recommendations of a recent five-yearly review of industrial laws, to parliament on Thursday.

The amendments in this bill will ensure the Industrial Relations Act 2016 responds to the changes of the last five years and remains responsive and nation leading, Grace said. The need for minimum standards in the transport industry has been made clear by the improvement in safety outcomes in states with such standards have been introduced.
In 1835, John Batman sailed from Tasmania to Port Phillip, where he famously declared, This will be the place for a village. In what became known as the Batman Treaty, he also persuaded a group of local Indigenous leaders to sell him 240,000 hectares of prime farming land in exchange for a smattering of goods that included blankets, tomahawks, scissors, handkerchiefs and flour.

The treaty was soon annulled by Governor Richard Bourke of NSW, who declared the British Crown  as sole owners of Australia  the only entity that could sell or distribute land. The treaty has also been widely discredited by historians, who rightly point out it is inconceivable that the Indigenous leaders Batman negotiated with would have fully understood the European idea of land ownership and legal contracts.

Co-chairs of the First Peoples Assembly Aunty Geraldine Atkinson and Marcus Stewart are introduced to parliament this week. Credit:Justin McManus

Almost 200 years later, while there have been many negotiations over the ownership of land since the Land Rights Act in 1976 and the High Courts Mabo decision, no formal treaty has ever been negotiated between a First Nations people and an Australian government at any level. We are the only nation in the Commonwealth to never broker such a deal.

That is why passage of a bill to establish a Treaty Authority by the Victorian parliaments lower house on Thursday was such a historic moment not just for the state, but for the nation. Under the bill, still to go to the upper house, the new authority, composed entirely of First Nations people, would be an independent body responsible for facilitating negotiations and resolving disputes between the government and First Nations people on a treaty.
Thousands of doses of expensive antiviral drugs could be wasted if more Australians do not become eligible to take the treatments that have been found to reduce the risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19.

Thats the view of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, along with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and some infectious disease experts, which is calling for more high-risk people to be able to take the oral antiviral drugs.

Jeanette and Graham McWilliam took antiviral medication Paxlovid after testing positive for COVID-19 in May.

The medications can prevent COVID-19 from developing into severe disease if taken within five days of symptoms starting.

Boxes of the pills are sitting unsold on many pharmacy shelves and could be thrown away when they expire early next year due to a lack of awareness about them and highly restrictive eligibility criteria, Pharmacy Guilds Victorian president, Anthony Tassone, said.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size It was meant to be the next big thing after Cross River Rail, but the planned east-west Brisbane Subway has been largely forgotten. Indeed, it barely entered the public consciousness when it was first mooted in a 2010 south-east Queensland public transport plan, as the more immediate Cross River Rail hogged the headlines. Now, with the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games on the horizon, there are calls for it to be placed back on the agenda. Tunnelling for the Cross River Rail. Credit:Toby Crockford The underground link running between Toowong, West End, the CBD and Bowen Hills/Newstead, with future extensions to Bulimba, Hamilton Northshore and the Brisbane Airport, would have been a true metro system, with automatic train services running every 90 seconds. It was uncosted, and no detailed planning was done. But it was a big feature of the Bligh governments 2010 Connecting SEQ 2031 document, which outlined a 20-year public transport plan for the region, the likes of which have not been seen since. The concept for a Brisbane Subway, according to Connecting SEQ 2031, was a new separate network, with separate operations to existing rail infrastructure which would be designed to support the expected growth and expansion of the inner city.

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The Brisbane subway will provide a high-capacity, high-frequency distributor system connecting central city destinations and linking passengers from the bus and rail networks to destinations not within a comfortable walk of existing stations, the document says. The priority corridor for delivery by 2031 will be from Toowong to West End to Bowen Hills/Newstead. This corridor will be under the CBD and intersect with existing rail and busway stations. Just this week, Brisbane dropped out of the Economist Intelligence Units list of the worlds top 10 most livable cities, due in large part to other cities COVID recovery. But EIU Global Livability Index head Upasana Dutt said part of that drop, from equal 10th to 27th, was also due to Brisbanes infrastructure score, which was relatively low compared to other Australian cities. This is due to the city scoring slightly lower in terms of quality of public transport and road network, she said. Planning for the Brisbane Subway was to start in 2015, but the election of the Newman government meant Connecting SEQ 2031 was left to gather dust.

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Now, some say it is time to wipe that dust off. The subway project was effectively the next big project post-Cross River Rail, said one former government official involved in the creation of Connecting SEQ 2031. It was very speculative and had not been fully resolved, but the underlying logic is strong. An underground is not a cheap solution, as we all know from Cross River Rail today, but it was really a response to the constraints everyone knows are there. There are only so many more surface transport options in a city like Brisbane. Paul Lucas, a former transport minister and Cross River Rail Delivery Authority chairman, was then-premier Anna Blighs deputy when Connecting SEQ 2031 was released.

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Lucas said the upcoming Olympic Games made the prospect of a Brisbane Subway, which he dubbed the Meanjin Line, more attractive to potential investors keen to participate in a public-private partnership (PPP) to deliver the project. Then-deputy premier Paul Lucas, pictured in 2009. Dedicated automated railway lines are much easier to do when theyre not integrated with the rest of the network, he said. Those sorts of things become very possible when you do actually have dedicated lines that are not that are not subject to the interaction with the main network. In most overseas countries, their stations have multiple lines, and people walk between them with escalators and things like that, rather than having them connected with each other. Connecting SEQ 2031 cites the London underground and New York subway as examples of this system. Lucas said tunnels overcame the disruption of surface lines, such as the need to resume properties, and made them an attractive investment opportunity for PPPs.

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I think that there will be a high, high degree of interest, particularly when theyre underground and youre not disturbing anyone on the surface, he said. Public transport advocate Robert Dow, from commuter lobby group Rail Back on Track, counted himself as a fan of the subway proposal. Dow said the upcoming 2032 Olympics, and a new prime minister with a history of backing public transport projects, meant it was time for the Queensland government to put the subway back on the agenda. Maybe with the change of [federal] government, they might have enough courage to resubmit the business case because if [the federal government] can pop up $2 billion, which is quite reasonable when you look at what the other states are getting, he said. Now, if they $2 billion, that would be very handy for removing some level crossings, upgrading the Sunshine Coast line and doing some preliminary work on a proper subway. Transport Minister Mark Bailey was not available for an interview, but said in a statement the Palaszczuk government had no plans to build the subway. Connecting SEQ 2031 is a perfect example of the visionary work of Labor state governments on public transport in south-east Queensland, he said.

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Two former managers at St Basils Homes for the Aged in Fawkner, where 50 residents died during a coronavirus outbreak, have begun their Supreme Court bid to avoid giving evidence to State Coroner John Cain because it may incriminate them in any future criminal prosecution.

Kon Kontis was the chairman at St Basils and Vicky Kos the director of nursing during the outbreak in 2020 at the aged care home, where 45 residents died with coronavirus and another five perished, likely from neglect.

Kon Kontis, the former chairman of St Basils. Credit:Jason South

On Thursday, the pair asked Supreme Court judge Stephen OMeara to stop Cain forcing them to give evidence at his inquest into the deaths.

Kontis and Kos have repeatedly refused to explain why so many died while they were running the home. On legal advice, I object to giving evidence on the ground that it may tend to incriminate me, Kontis told Cain during a five-week coronial inquest held in late 2021. Kos gave an identical response.
Kelly said the two plants as well as a third, to be built by 2030 in Alkimos, would be completely powered by renewable energy at the end of the decade by a 400-megawatt wind farm. The government is looking to harness the energy from a privately built wind farm proposals in regions like the South West or Wheatbelt. A mock-up of the new Alkimos Seawater Desalination Plant to be built in Perths north by 2030. Credit:Water Corporation The new desalination plant will add another 100 gigalitres of capacity to the existing 145 gigalitres and help take pressure off depleting groundwater resources like the Gnangara Mound if the population of Perth continues to grow. Water Corporation also intends to reach net-zero for its operations by 2035.

Eighty per cent reduction target to come from across all government departments All WA government agencies will need to reduce their emissions by 80 per cent from 2020 figures come 2030, but it is not clear whether there will be legislated targets. While other state governments have chosen 2005 as a base year, WA Environment Minister Reece Whitby says 2020 was a higher target to improve upon. Our emissions since 2005 have actually fallen ... unlike the states emissions generally, he said. Weve set a harder, higher hurdle for ourselves as a government.

A government announcement today of 80 per cent will be I think, surprising to some people. It will be welcomed by many and it will be a clear indication to the economy generally and all sectors that they can lift their ambitions as well. While the government contributes about 8 per cent of the states emissions, it is working with several sectors  including the resources and agricultural industries  to come up with ways of reducing their emissions with interim targets by 2030 and net-zero by 2050. The results of those conversations will be released in 2023. We have a process underway thats been going on for six months and has a way to go yet called the sectoral emissions reduction strategy, Whitby said.

We want to engage with the industry right across WA ... we want to know if there are hurdles in their way ... things that the government can make it easier for industry sectors to reduce their emissions. The states overall annual emissions reached a peak of 90.8 million tonnes in 2019, according to federal government data released this month, while a 9.1 million-tonne reduction was made from that year to 2020. About 2.7 million tonnes of this reduction came from Chevrons much maligned carbon injection project, when it was working. A lot of the rest was from land-use changes which are supposed to reduce carbon creation, such as the burning of savannah lands in northern parts of Australia to prevent instances of bigger burns that create more pollution. Five of the states biggest emitters  including gas giants like Woodside  are currently under review by the independent Environmental Protection Authority about what they can do to reduce emissions.

But new proposals including Woodsides Scarborough gas project off the Exmouth coast and Perdamans Urea Plant in the Pilbara would offset the governments own public emissions inroads by putting up a further 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the air. Loading McGowan said gas produced less emissions than coal and WA exporting the commodity meant other countries burned less coal. In net terms it actually means theres less emissions going into the atmosphere, but I understand the issue. It is complex, he said. And the unfortunate reality is, and if any of you been to Japan, Korea or China or India or any of these places, theyre going to burn something and so if we can get them on the pathway to lower emissions using gas were actually making an important contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

However, a CSIRO report commissioned but then buried by Woodside  only made publicly available this year after it was obtained by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald  undermined claims by the company that gas produced from Scarborough would reduce global emissions. It found increasing Australian gas supply could prolong coal, displace renewables and increase emissions in Asia if there was not a global carbon price  which there is not. McGowan said he had not read the report and brought up eastern states mining coal rather as something that should be scrutinised over WA gas. But some of WAs gas customers, like Japan, are making plans to halve its use of liquid natural gas in power generation by 2030, although other trading partners such as China and Korea are likely to see increased demand. Conservation Council of WA executive director Maggie Wood said the reduction target by the state government was a welcome development but carbon pollution needed to be put under control in WA to address an emissions crisis.

The science tells us that a rapid reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is urgently needed to keep climate impacts in check, she said. However, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has also said that there can be no new fossil fuel proposals or expansion, which does not sit well with the state governments support of new gas plants, including the highly controversial Woodside Scarborough development. Greens MP Brad Pettitt was dubious of the state governments target choice of 2020 instead of 2005 for its emissions target without seeing what the figures were for those years. It needs to be using 2005 levels like the Paris Agreement, IPCC, and the rest of the world uses. I have no doubt WA is using 2020 figures instead of 2005 because this will make us look more ambitious, he said. Pettitt said the WA governments emissions were small compared to big industries and whole of economy targets for 2030 were needed but lamented they would be some 18 months away.
Homes across a string of waterfront suburbs have been revealed as Sydneys most in-demand properties, with house hunters jumping on new listings in the desirable pockets.

Northwood and Kurraba Point on the lower north shore topped the list of most in-demand suburbs in Domains NSW Spotlight Report, with property listings there attracting more buyer interest on average than anywhere else in Greater Sydney.

Homes in Northwood had the highest average views per listing on Domain over the past three months.

Nearby Lavender Bay was also among the 10 suburbs with the highest average views per listing over the three months to May, as were Whale Beach and Clontarf on the northern beaches, Birchgrove and Canada Bay in the inner west and Patonga and Mooney Mooney Creek on the Central Coast.

Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell said the most in-demand suburbs were all in coastal pockets, bar one  the trendy inner-city suburb of Darlington, which rounded out the top 10.
It will strengthen Ukraine, it will strengthen Europe. It is a decision for freedom and democracy and puts us on the right side of history, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said ahead of the final announcement. The EUs nations have been united in backing Ukraine in its fight against Russias invasion with money and weapons, and adopting unprecedented economic sanctions against the Kremlin. EU candidate status doesnt give an automatic right to join the bloc and doesnt provide any immediate security guarantees. Once a country gains membership, however, it is covered under an EU treaty clause that says if a member falls victim to armed aggression, the other members are obligated to assist it by all the means in their power.

The main benefits of membership, though, are economic, since it gives access to a single market of 450 million consumers with free movement of labour, goods, services and capital. Ukraine has long aspired to join NATO, too, but the military alliance is not about to offer an invitation, in part because of governmental corruption, shortcomings in the countrys defence establishment, and its contested borders. A structure hit by a projectile in Druzhkivka, Ukraine. In recent weeks, Russia has concentrated its firepower on Ukraines Donbas region. Credit:Getty Before the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO, which he has condemned for its eastward spread towards Russias flank. But earlier this month, he did not seem bothered by Ukraines determination to get closer to the EU, saying it is not a military pact and thus we have no objections. The membership process can be long and tortuous.

Turkey, for example, applied for membership in 1987, received candidate status in 1999, and had to wait until 2005 to start talks for actual entry. Only one of more than 30 negotiating chapters has been completed in the years since, and the whole process is at a standstill as a result of various disputes between the EU and Turkey. Similarly, several Balkan countries have been seeking to join for many years unsuccessfully. European officials have said that Ukraine has already adopted about 70 per cent of the EU rules and standards, but they also have pointed to corruption and the need for deep political and economic reforms in the country. Considerable efforts will be needed, especially in the fight against corruption and the establishment of an effective rule of law, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said. But I am convinced that it is precisely the [post-war] reconstruction of Ukraine that will provide opportunities to take important steps forward. Von der leyen said she was convinced that Ukraine and Moldova would move as swiftly as possible to implement necessary reforms.

On Friday, Putins spokesman said Russia was ready to agree to a peace deal with Ukraine if it accepted all of Moscows demands. As far as the peace plan is concerned, its only possible after Ukraine fulfils all the conditions of the Russian side, Dmitry Peskov told reporters, Interfax reported. Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on a ceasefire and peace deal have been effectively frozen since April. In addition to demanding that Kyiv give up its ambitions to join NATO and declare its neutrality, Russia wants to keep territory it has captured. Loading Separately, the US said it would provide another $US450 million ($652 million) in advanced weaponry and aid to Ukraine, the latest tranche in what has become a multibillion-dollar effort to help push back Russias invasion. The new package includes patrol boats, cannon shells, rocket systems and additional ammunition to help Ukraine defend its democracy in the face of unprovoked Russian aggression, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. Kirby said US security assistance since the war began now totalled about $US6.1 billion.
Auckland: A man wounded four people in a stabbing rampage in Aucklands northern suburbs before he was stopped by bystanders who brought him to the ground, police said.

Police District Commander Naila Hassan said on Thursday that the attack was random, and the suspect was in custody. She said there was no indication the attack was a hate crime, as the victims were of different genders, ethnicities and ages.

Police cordon off the area after multiple people were reported stabbed in Auckland. Credit:Chris McKeen/Stuff

This was an extremely fast-moving incident, where our police staff responded quickly, apprehended the offender and prevented further harm to our communities, Hassan said.

She said the victims all suffered moderate injuries.
Ginny (Jamie Brewer) and Christopher (Will Dagger) are living together in Corsicana, Texas, in what used to be their mom's house. Mom is dead and Christopher is worried about the increasingly depressed Ginny, who has Down syndrome. Through a family friend named Justice (Deirdre O'Connell), he reaches out to Lot (Harold Surratt), a local sculptor and songwriter, to ask him to collaborate with Ginny on a song. That's the basic premise of Corsicana, Will Arbery's mysterious, meandering, and quietly subversive new play, now making its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons.

That plot description doesn't really do justice to a play that surprises at every turn. Just when you think you've figured out a heartwarming family drama about a brother and sister coming together following the death of a parent, Arbery hits you with a digression about the commodification of so-called outsider art, or a monologue about a suppressed memory recorded in a letter that might have been delivered by an angel, or a scene about rediscovering (against all reason) romantic love in one's 60s. Over the course of 2 hours and 30 minutes, Corsicana follows its own winding path, giving audiences the opportunity to look at the world from unexpected angles. This is surely the "weird art" about which O'Connell spoke in her Tony acceptance speech.

Harold Surratt plays Lot in Corsicana at Playwrights Horizons.

( Julieta Cervantes)

"Everything is about our needs," Lot commiserates with Ginny. "All our little needs. Our special needs. Everyone around us becoming burdened by our constant need. And if there's something that we want? Well, it's for them to decide if we really need it." Bravely, Corsicana is a play that acknowledges the agency and sexual desires of people that still exist in the popular imagination as helpless and sexless  accessories to one's altruism rather than complete and dynamic human beings.

With a performance that is layered and occasionally furtive, Brewer demolishes the notion that people with Down syndrome could be anything other than complex individuals with idiosyncratic wants, interests, and emotions. Surratt delivers a similarly riveting performance as the kind of person who is practically invisible in our culture: an artist who creates with no thought given to career trajectory. Dagger has developed a genuine-feeling sibling relationship with Brewer, and he commands the audience's attention with a beguiling second-act monologue. O'Connell proves why she won that Tony with a performance that injects warmth and vulnerability into every moment. A combination of honest writing and revelatory performances makes it feel like we are watching real people onstage.

Sam Gold's deliberately restrained direction also does that, eschewing superfluous stage business in favor of showing two characters, feet planted, having a conversation. Actors rarely leave the stage, watching scenes from the periphery of Laura Jellinek and Cate McCrea's rolling shed of a set. Sometimes the actors extend the roof of that set out over the audience, inviting us into their world. At one point, after a particularly uncomfortable interaction, Lot closes an egress by pulling forward the upstage wall, and we understand that a part of him that he was only hesitantly sharing with the world is now off-limits. It's pretty devastating, as far as set changes go.

Deirdre O'Connell and Harold Surratt appear in the world premiere of Will Arbery's Corsicana at Playwrights Horizons.

( Julieta Cervantes)

Well-selected casual costumes by Qween Jean and spare lighting by Isabella Byrd contribute to a production that forces us to pay attention to Arbery's characters and what they are trying to communicate to one another. The most expressive moments arrive in song (Arbery collaborated with composer Joanna Sternberg), and it is a delight to sit and listen to the characters sing their thoughts and feelings.

Corsicana is the third play I've seen by Arbery following the magical time-warp of Plano and Heroes of the Fourth Turning, which depicted young conservatives at the precipice of national crisis (and which also made its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons). These plays feel like the work of three different writers, which is a testament to Arbery's expansive imagination and his ability to inhabit the voices of others.

Theatergoers looking for a straightforward plot driven by a thesis will be disappointed by Corsicana, a play that brings you in but refuses to do all the work for you once you're there. It's possible to walk away from the theater having several conflicting thoughts, while still not fully knowing if these are the ideas Arbery and company intended to convey. But with its embrace of the wonderous and unknown, Corsicana makes one thing clear: It's OK to not have all the answers.
Cheyenne, WY (82001)

Today

Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. High 88F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies with a few passing clouds. Low 59F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Shopping center in Vasteras, Sweden, in June 2017. (Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

2 People Wounded in Attack in Sweden, 1 Arrested

COPENHAGENTwo people were wounded in an attack in the Swedish town of Vasteras on Tuesday, police said, adding that one person had been arrested.

Police in a statement said a sharp object had been used and that the attack had been classified as attempted murder.

Police said the attack took place in central Vasteras, about 90 km (56 miles) west of Stockholm.
A woman uses her computer key board to type while surfing the internet in North Vancovuer, B.C., on Wednesday, Dec., 19, 2012. (The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward)

83 Percent of Australian Brands Appear to Monitor Customers Online: Report

A recent privacy report has found that 83 percent of Australian brands appear to track their customers activity online, while 82 percent of consumers are uncomfortable with their location data being shared with other companies.

According to the 2022 edition of the Deloitte Australian Privacy Index, consumers are asking for transparency, assurance and control over the use of their data which is shared with the government and corporations.

Slightly over half of consumers are unhappy with their online activity being monitored, but 43 percent are willing to share their personal information when aware of how their data will be used. Meanwhile, only younger people (aged 18-34) see value in online personalisation.

Deloitte national privacy and data protection lead partner Daniella Kafouris said it is clear there is a disconnect between consumer expectations and the way brands gather and use personal data.

Kafouris noted that this disconnect is greater in the older age brackets where consumers consider personalised experiences as crossing a creepy line that hampers their experience and a brands credibility.

Many can see value in profiling and personalisation delivered by tracking and advertising technologies, but its also not for everyone, the data privacy attorney told NCA newswire.

As a result, there needs to be a better balance between consumers finding personalisation helpful and what could be considered over-reaching.

Facial Recognition Technology Great Concern for Society

The findings come after consumer group Choice last week revealed three major Australian retailers, Kmart, Bunnings, and The Good Guys have been using facial recognition technology on their customers.

Edward Santow, a professor at the University of Technology Sydney and a former human rights commissioner, said the widespread use of facial recognition technology was a great concern for society.

Even if that technology was perfectly accurateand its notbut even if it were, it also takes us into the realm of mass surveillance, he told Choice.

However, the CEO of Bunnings, Simon McDowell, argued that the measures were put in place to deal with theft and anti-social behaviour. He added that customers are aware of the use of CCTV and facial recognition technology through signage at Bunnings store entrances and in privacy policy on its website.

Data is The Most Valuable Resource

Dhakshayini Sooriyakumaran, Director of Tech Policy at Reset Australia, an independent think tank working to counter digital threats, said that data-driven decision-making is a kind of philosophy that institutions are adopting across all sectors and industries.

We are living in an economy where data is one of the most valuable resources any institutional entity can actually capture, she told The Epoch Times.

Government, like corporations, has been trying to fly under the radar and extract as much data as possible.

Sooriyakumaran also said that personal information can be bought and sold through contracts between government agencies and private providers, be shared through data sharing agreements, or sold to anyone by data brokers. She further warned that data owned by multinational companies can travel across borders.

Daniel Y. Teng contributed to this report.
She was the Jane Austen of the essay. That she is not so recognized is a greatand, one hopes, temporaryloss. So wrote John Lukacs, biographer and university professor, of Agnes Repplier more than 40 years ago when he compared the style and grace of Reppliers prose to that of Austen. Alas, that loss appears to be permanent. Who these days has heard of Agnes Repplier (pronounced Rep-LEER), much less read her work? Not I.

Though I had come across her name in some obscure books, I first met Miss Repplier just a few weeks ago in the library of Christendom College here in Front Royal, Virginia. Its summertime and, with the students having departed, the library is generally as quiet as a tomb.

From time to time, I go there to bask in the stillness and work on my laptop. On this particular occasion, I got up to stretch, wandered around the stacks a bit, and happened to see four volumes bearing the name Repplier. I pulled out Lukacss American Austen: The Forgotten Writings of Agnes Repplier, began reading his introduction, and was hooked.

Let me introduce you to this new acquaintance.

Her Early Life

Photograph of Agnes Repplier on March 15, 1910. Library of Congress. (Public Domain)

Agnes Repplier (18551950) was born in Philadelphia and made that city her home for the rest of her life. She was a strong-willed child, and that child lived on in the adult. She rebutted the attempts by her mother to teach her to read and acquired that skill by teaching herself at age 10.

She was dismissed from two schools for her rebellious behavior, in one case throwing a book on the floor at the feet of her teacher after declaring that it was stupid.

After leaving that second school, the West Penn Square Seminary for Young Ladies, Repplier entered the most difficult stage of her life. Though her relationship with her mother was often tempestuous, Mrs. Repplier recognized her daughters gift for words and put her to work writing stories to help the family through the hard times on which they had fallen.

Through her late teens and into her 20s, she managed to bring in small amounts of cash from these stories. After her mother died, she and her sister Mary, a teacher, found themselves caring for their sickly father and their brother, a partial paraplegic.

Of her early stories, Repplier wrote: They get themselves published somewhere, somehow, and bring in a little money. Otherwise they would have no excuse for being; a depressing circumstance of which I am well aware.

But all of that was about to change.

An Essayist Is Born

In July 1884, Repplier spoke with Father Isaac Hecker, the founder of the Paulist order and publisher of Catholic World magazine. Though he had accepted several of her stories, he found her fiction flat and without any real spark. I fancy that you know more about books than you do about life, he told her, that you are more a reader than an observer. He advised her to write an essay on John Ruskin, one of her favorite authors, and as Repplier later reported, That essay turned my feet into the path which I have trodden laboriously ever since.

For more than 60 years, Repplier entertained and enlightened readers with her essays, publishing more than 400 of them in magazines and newspapers, and collecting them in more than a score of books. Her writing appeared in prestigious publications like The Atlantic, and as Lukacs tells us, Every man and woman of letters in the English-speaking world learned her name.

Though she enjoyed the company of men, often corresponding with them or entertaining them in her home, Repplier never married. Despite her lectures and the great pleasure she took from conversation, she remained alone, writing essay after essay until extreme old age forced her to put down her pen.

Her Talents and Gifts

Illustrated plate of Agnes Repplier reading, in The Critic; an illustrated monthly review of literature, art, and life, 1904. (Public Domain)

As we become better acquainted with this remarkable writer, we see that Repplier brought together several ingredients that help explain her prowess as an essayist.

The lifelong joy she took from reading, particularly English and French writers, provided gold and silver for her writing. Again and again in her essays, even the nonliterary ones, Repplier brought into play authors and historical figures, some of whom are largely unknown to todays readers. In Town and Suburb, for instance, she presents us with Cobbett, Blake, Charles I, Dickens, Will Rogers, Walter Lippmann, Browning, and Dr. Johnson, among others.

Equally important was her craftsmanship, developed in part, no doubt, during those years spent in the literary wilderness composing stories. For every sentence that may be penned or spoken, she once wrote, the right words exist.

Here was a writer who wholeheartedly agreed with Mark Twains dictum: The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large mattertis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.

Add to these tools a subtle humor, wide-eyed honesty, and sophistication, and you have Agnes Repplier, essayist extraordinaire.

Woman Reading, a portrait of Sofia Kramskaya, after 1866, by Ivan Kramskoi. Oil on canvas. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. (Public Domain)

Wit, Sparkle, Pertinence, and Revelation

In a collection of her online quotations, we find such jewels as these: Conversation between Adam and Eve must have been difficult at times because they had nobody to talk about, It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere, and There are few nudities so objectionable as the naked truth.

Like her contemporary G.K. Chesterton, now read more for his novels than his essays, Repplier can startle readers by paradox or some barbed witticism.

In Ennui, for instance, she ends with a comment pertinent to today, one that will make some of us smile and nod in recognition: In it, she mentions  the sanguine socialist of today, who dreams of preparing for all of us a lifetime of unbroken ennui. In her collection Points of Friction, writing of the tyranny of a proletariat, she remarks, It is as revolting to be robbed by a reformer as by a trust.

In reading Repplier, who was a lifelong amateur historian, we also learn a great deal about the past. Though I have some acquaintance with European history, Scanderbeg was a name entirely unfamiliar to me. In Points of View, Repplier devotes an essay to this hero who was once a captive of the Turks, escaped, and for decades led the Albanian resistance to Turkish incursions.

Her account of this man and the wars, intrigues, and dangers he faced are enlivened by her narrative skills and vivid descriptions. She demonstrates a solid grasp of little-known history along with the ability to bring it to life on the page.

It shouldnt surprise us to find that Repplier is today a forgotten literary figure. In comparing her to many essayists today, readers would likely find her style a bit starchy and stiff. Some of her references to books and authors might be confusing as these writers are also not read today. And essays in general, including some of Reppliers, are often topical; they are focused on current events of little interest today to anyone other than historians.

Finally, the general sweep of time itself often washes away the culture of the past. Most Americans still recognize the names of literary celebrities like Ernest Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald, but far fewer remember bestselling authors like James Jones or Mary McCarthy, much less once well-known journalists and essayists whose words were generally writ on sand.

And yet  and yet .

I read plenty of essays these days. Its my favorite genre: some of them online, some in books, and a few of them make more than a cursory impression. From Montaigne, father of the modern essay and still in print today, to writers like Joseph Epstein and Alice Thomas Ellis, Ive taken valuable knowledge and guidance.

Bits and pieces of what theyve shared in print have stuck with me, causing me to return from time to time to refresh myself at their wellspring of words.

As for Agnes Repplier, I am pleased to have made her acquaintance. Her grace, style, and subjects take me away from the crudities that so often manifest themselves in our age. Reading her, I feel as if Im a kid again, listening to the stories and observations of an old maiden aunt. For a while, that gentle, wise, and humorous voice whisks me off to that most foreign place on earth: the past.

Once Repplier wrote,

If the unresponsive gods, so often invoked, so seldom complaisant, would grant me one sweet boon, I should ask of them that I might join that little band of authors, who, unknown to the wide careless world, remain from generation to generation the friends of a few fortunate readers.

As one of her friends (Im sure she has others), I believe her wish came true.

Unless otherwise noted, all the information in this essay about Agnes Reppliers life and writing came from John Lukacss American Austen: The Forgotten Writings of Agnes Repplier and from Agnes Reppliers Points of View.
Page one of the officially engrossed copy of the Constitution signed by delegates. A print run of 500 copies of the final version preceded this copy. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)

A Guide to Defending the Constitution

Commentary

Self-governing citizens in a free republic need to know the structure of their government and the content of its principal laws. For Americans, that requires a basic knowledge of the U.S. Constitution.

Ideally, we should acquire this information in school, so as adults we need only burnish it from time to time.

However, modern Americans seeking to learn about their Constitution face some obstacles. My Epoch Times columnsincluding this Defending the Constitution seriesare designed to help readers overcome them.

The obstacles to learning about the Constitution are four:

First: Many schools no longer teach the Constitution accurately. When one of my daughters was in public high school, I read the relatively short segment of her social studies text devoted to the document. I found that segment to be loaded with errors. When I composed a letter to her teacher reporting on the mistakes, it consumed several single-spaced pages merely to recite them.

Second: Although the Constitution is a brilliant document, it also is an old one. The Framers who wrote it and the Founders who promoted it were products of the classical and biblical educational canon and of the 18th-century Anglo-American legal system. Most schools have abandoned the classical and biblical educational canon, and even constitutional law professors are ignorant of the 18th-century legal system. Learning about the Constitution requires recapturing at least some of this background.

Third: Our public discourse has been poisoned by misinformation and disinformation about the Constitution. The misinformation is the product of ignorance. The disinformation is manufactured to demoralize us.

Fourth: Some well-meaning but utterly unqualified people have set themselves up as experts who pretend to teach the Constitution to others. They lure thousands of American patriots into attending classes and seminars that spread inaccuracies.

The Epoch Times Columns

My Epoch Times columns are designed to help Americans access truthful and useful information about the Constitution. Some columns discuss recent court decisions. For example, I recently examined the implications of the new and intriguing Supreme Court case of United States v. Vaello Madero. Others correct inaccurate and misleading characterizations, such as the mainstream media line that the Supreme Court now has a 6-3 conservative majority.

Columns in my Understanding the Constitution series focus on the documents nuts and bolts. The series on How the Supreme Court Re-Wrote the Constitution discusses the most important reason the Supreme Courts constitutional precedents vary significantly from the written text.

Finally, the Defending the Constitution essays reproduced here primarily correct common misconceptions about the document.

When I wrote the Defending the Constitution essays, I had no thought that they would be presented in a single publication. For this occasion, therefore, Ive edited and rearranged them so the subject matter flows more smoothly. Ive also made minor stylistic and updating changes.

How Defending the Constitution Is Organized

After this introduction, the Defending the Constitution series contains 10 essays. The first two provide groundwork. They explain that, while the Constitution is many things, its principally a document by which We the People granted enumerated (listed) powers to designated agents. As I point out, during the 18th century, documents transferring enumerated powers to agents were extremely commonas they still are today.

Key to understanding enumerated power documents is to know the both content of the authority granted and the limits on that authority.

The rest of the Defending the Constitution series corrects misconceptions about the instrument. The third essay addresses the belief, prevalent even among judges and scholars, that many of the documents words and phrases have no clear meaning. As this essay demonstrates, the charge of vagueness is mostly the product of ignorance.

The fourth essay responds to assertions that the Second Amendment, which protects the right to keep and bear arms, is outdated. It concludes that no relevant changes in American life render the Second Amendment outdated; on the contrary, several changes in American life suggest the amendment should be strengthened.

The next essay takes on the living Constitution theory. It points out that, as a practical matter, most advocates of this notion seek not a living document but a dead one. Or, more precisely, that they seek to revert to the British system, in which national politicians ultimately have power to do anything they choose.

The sixth essay corrects a very old slander against the Constitutions Framers: that the states gave them authority only to propose amendments to the Articles of Confederation, but they exceeded that authority by proposing a new basic law. This slander, which originated in attacks on the Constitution during the ratification debates of 1787-1790, has been discredited by modern scholarship.

The next column examines why the Constitution requires equality of state representation in the U.S. Senate. The rule that South Dakota must have the same number of senators as New York is the subject of frequent complaintalthough not, I admit, from South Dakota. As is true of critics of the Electoral College, critics of the Senates rule of state equality fail to grasp all the reasons behind the rule. Nor do they understand how historical practice has vindicated it.

The last three essays address the omnipresent charges that the Constitution is racist and sexist. These essays show that

the document was not designed to protect slavery,

the much-maligned Three-Fifths Compromise actually was a negative statement on slavery, and

the Framers of the document ensured it treated women the same way it treated men.

I hope you find the Defending the Constitution series both helpful and interesting.

Defending the Constitution

Understanding the Constitution

How the Supreme Court Re-Wrote the Constitution

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
With the Shanghai lockdown, Beijing has revealed to the Chinese and foreigners alike that property, security and even life are not safe under its rule. The photo shows people dressed in personal protective equipment could be seen everywhere in Shanghai during the lockdown. STR/AFP via Getty Images

Aftermaths of the Shanghai Lockdown Linger

Disheartened Chinese Ponder Emigration; Hong Kong Actress Flees Shanghai; Foreign Investments Are Leaving

On June 1, Shanghai lifted its two-month-long Covid lockdown, declaring that work and production would resume, except in the controlled areas where residents still undergo regular nucleic acid testing. As a result of Beijings zero-Covid policy, some commentators believe that residents and businesses alike have reflected on the impact of the communist authoritys extreme measures and are preparing for their next move; those foreign investors finding it too risky to operate in China are already seeking safe alternatives elsewhere.

Hong Kong Actress in Shanghai Returns Home

In March, Hong Kong actress Ada Choi Siu-fun () told a variety show that her family loved life in Shanghai. With the convenience of inexpensive online shopping and delivery, as well as online booking of car rides and bicycle sharing, she said that life in Shanghai could not be better. However, she had moved her family back to Hong Kong, and her Shanghai residence has been put up for rent since mid-June.

Local media outlet Hong Kong 01 speculated on June 17 that probably because of Shanghais recent lockdown, the shortage of food, soaring prices, and considering life in the future, that the family decided to return to Hong Kong.

The lockdown that started in March has left the mega city short of supplies. To save themselves, residents had to buy super expensive foods on the black market and/or barter, or grow their own. Zhang Jin posted a number of photos of Ada Choi on Chinese social media Weibo on April 21, with the caption: Shes started growing vegetables!

Local Chinese Are Talking About Run

The extreme measures to close down the city have led to a lot of suffering among Shanghai residents. Online video The Voice of April () has documented some of their anguish and complaints. There had been cases of residents being denied access to medical care, and even cases of otherwise avoidable deaths.

In the meantime, there has been an outbreak of online discussions about Run (), pronounced similarly to the English word run, a popular online term referring to emigration. A post on Chinas popular search engine Zhihu, What is Run has gained more than 9 million views since last October, and people are openly sharing emigration tips online.

A number of Shanghai residents interviewed by BBC Chinese in June said that the lockdown had made them and others around them want to run. Eileen, a Shanghai-based writer said she had to fight for her food and those who were sick were unable to see a doctor during the lockdown. She said she woke up after being locked up for more than three months; things like the jiankang ma (the health code system) and mandated nucleic acid tests every three days made her feel that people have all been living in deception in the past. Many of her friends are now talking about run.

A source in asset management revealed that even people who are not super rich are interested in run, as they feel the living environment is getting more and more oppressive.

Skyrocketing Online Inquiries on Emigration

According to a report by NTDTV, the number of internet users inquiring about emigration in China has increased significantly during the lockdown in Shanghai.

According to data from Baidu (a popular Chinese search engine), from March 28 to April 3, the number of searches related to emigration increased dozens of times, sometimes exceeding 100 fold.

On April 3, after Beijing announced its zero-Covid policy would not change, figures provided by WeChat showed that the overall index for searches related to emigration rose 440%, with number of searches in a single day reaching 50 million; and searches on video based emigration resources skyrocketed by 1,455%.

On Baidu, searches of requirements for moving to Canada surged to the first place with a 2846% increase, while searches of which country to go ranked second with a 2455% increase. However, right after these figures on emigration keyword-search was released, all major online platforms in China stopped providing data on this keyword or related search trends.

The New York Timess Chinese website reported a finance technology worker in Beijing said that he felt the whole country is heading towards extremes, not just how it handled the epidemic in Shanghai, but also the fact that the government had the absolute power to make decisions in other areas that were completely at odds with his own views, which is scary and makes me feel that there is no point in staying.

Still, Chung Kim-wah, former assistant professor of Applied Social Sciences at the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong, is of the view that the magnitude of emigration wave could not be assessed just yet.

In Shanghai and elsewhere, (the shutdown) had led to disruptions of economic activities, however it is difficult to say whether there will be an impact on peoples mentality, although from the situation in Shanghai, it was clear that some people had felt the impact of the authoritys stringent measures on their livelihoods.

Foreign Companies are Moving offshore

In addition, some foreign companies are reducing their investments in China and moving part of their operations offshore.

Apple, for example, is relocating some of its production capacity to Vietnam, as zero-Covid hit its manufacturing plants and supply chain during the lockdown.

According to Nikkei Chinese, more than 90% of Apples products are made in China, and one of Apples major manufacturing bases is in Shanghai.

Due to the emergency shutdown of certain plants in early April, deliveries of MacBook Pro to the U.S. and Japan would be delayed by two months till early July, and the company would expect to lose up to US$8 billion in revenue from April to June, as a result.

The Nikkei Chinese also reported earlier this month that Apples main assembly line for iPads is in China, and that some of this production capacity is being moved to Vietnam, for safety of its supply chain.

Zero-Covid is Major Deterrent to Business Confidence

Nicholas Burns, the U.S. envoy to Beijing, said at an online event hosted by the Brookings Institution on June 16, that there were 40,000 U.S. citizens living in the Shanghai area before the pandemic, but lots and lots of those people have gone home.

Signals from the Chinese government meant the strict zero-Covid policy, including travel restrictions and citywide lockdowns, is likely to continue into 2023, according to Burns, which would discourage further U.S. and European investments in China.

From the results that Ive read, and the conversations Ive had with lots of business leaders here, I think there is a hesitancy to invest in future obligations until they can see the end of this. Burns said.

According to a survey conducted this month by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, more than 90 percent of the 133 U.S. companies surveyed, including 64 in the consumer goods and services sector and 69 in the manufacturing sector, have lowered their revenue forecasts for this year, with a quarter of them forecasting a 20 percent reduction, some also said they have scaled back their investment plans following the Shanghai lockdown. Data also indicated that only 27% of the consumer goods and services companies surveyed have resumed full production, 26% of the respondents are accelerating the localization of their supply chains while shifting production of global products outside of China.

Doug Barry, vice president of the US-China Business Council, also told Voice of America earlier that Beijings zero-Covid policy is a major deterrent to business confidence.

Professor Chung Kim-wah: China Is Decoupling

Chung also believes city lockdowns would affect the confidence of international businesses. He also added that when stability cannot be maintained, the cost of investing in China would rise, and when risks are high, companies would naturally look for lower risk locations as substitutes.

According to Chungs analysis, the logistics of multinational corporations are calculated in terms of days, or even hours. Stringent zero-Covid measures have disrupted production processes, caused companies to lose a lot of money and stifled global production, so for them to relocate at least part of their capacity, its quite reasonable.

He added that the impact of lockdowns is not only felt by companies directly affected, but also trade, insurance, freight and other sectors. Their cargo ships, cargo planes and related processes are all accounted for to the fullest. Ad hoc closures under Chinas zero-Covid policy is like disrupting the normal operation of the world. We all pay the price when we have the problem together, but as the West gradually recovers, China would be left on its own. Other countries are not without alternatives.

Unified National Market to Scavenge Peoples Money

Following the shutdown of Shanghai, Beijing suddenly proposed to build a unified national market. Victor Ng Ming-tak (), veteran banker and former adjunct associate professor at HK Baptist University, commented that it was related to Chinas planned GDP growth target, Shanghai could no longer contribute the part the it is responsible for.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had estimated Chinas GDP will increase by 5.5% this year. But according to many economists, statisticians and analysts from different fields, said Professor Ng, Shanghai loses 10 billion RMB in one day, which is 300 billion in one month, because of the citys lockdown, which already accounts for 2.6% of Chinas GDP. To make up for this loss, Beijing wants a unified market, to centralize resources at the disposal of the communist Party, in line with its internal circulation idea. That is, give all the peoples money to me, and let me distribute it in a unified way.

Ng explained that in the past few years, the Party has been making money by manipulating stocks in various sectors such as technology, education, real estate etc, one by one. This is truly power capitalism, or state capitalism. In the end, it is Party capitalism, where the Party controls everything. He said.

The above-mentioned money is still not enough however, we (the authority) have to figure out what the private sector can do. The next level down, medium-sized enterprises, small enterprises, most are private companies, (lets) take their money.
Almost 90 Percent of Australians Dont Trust China: Report

Nearly 90 percent of Australians do not trust China, a leading Australian think tank expert revealed in a foreign policy speech.

Michael Fullilove AM, the executive director of the Lowy Institute, spoke at the National Press Club on June 22 about the foreign policy and security challenges facing Australias new government.

Fullilove shared in his speech the results of a 2022 poll to be released next week by the Institute, which found that only one in ten Australians trust China.

Only 12 percent of Australians trust China, which is dip of 40 points from four years ago when just over half of Australians, 52 percent, trusted China, he said.

While nine in 10 Australians believe our alliance with the United States is important to our security, only one in 10 Australians trust China.

Fullilove attributed Australians loss of trust in China to the communist countrys change, that the federal government is dealing with a different China.

Its foreign policies have hardened and its willingness to accept criticism has disappeared, he said.

Beijing Seeks to Expand Influence in the Pacific

Meanwhile, more Australians believe Beijing will pose a military threat to Australia.

Nearly half of Australians think its likely that China will be a military threat to Australia in the next 20 years, which is up seven points on last year, Fullilove said.

Chinese Fighter Jet Intercepted Australian Craft

The data revelations come after Australia has been on the receiving end of increasingly aggressive behaviour by China. On May 26, a Chinese military jet made a dangerous intercept of an Australian aircraft over international airspace. Australias prime minister Anthony Albanese denounced the incident as an act of aggression and a dangerous act.

At the same time, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi embarked on a 10-day visit to eight South Pacific island nations in an attempt to establish security agreements, over a month after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands.

Strengthening Australia-U.S. Alliance

In response to the CCPs recent actions in the Pacific, Fullilove said Australia needed to strengthen its alliance with the United States in the long term and take a firm stand against Beijing.

The United States is the worlds leading power, the only country capable of projecting military power anywhere on Earth. Our lines with Washington are overwhelmingly in our national interest, he said.

Any argument that we should downgrade the alliance in order to please China is wrongheaded.

On the other hand, Fullilove also argued for a stable and productive relationship with Beijing, saying that Australia should certainly be on speaking terms with China.

The Australian government should be firm, circumspect, and disciplined, he said.

We should cooperate with China when we can, disagree when we must, and always stand our ground.

An edited speech draft has been published on Lowy Institutes website.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (L) discusses the problem of human trafficking in Arizona at a press conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., on June 22. Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega (C) and Scottsdale Police Chief John Walther (R) spoke about the city's efforts to combat the problem through a partnership with the Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network and Homeland Security Investigations. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Arizona Taking Fight Against Human Trafficking to Next Level

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich hailed Scottsdale as the states first city to train a majority of its public employees to detect the warning signs of human trafficking.

Approximately 1,700 of the citys 2,000 public employees have received free training through the Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network (AATN) and its CEASE (Cities Engaged Against Sexual Exploitation) program.

Brnovich said Scottsdale is the first city in Arizona to be designated a CEASE-certified community in 2022.

Raising awareness is one of the best weapons in our fight against human trafficking, he said in a statement. Training employees to recognize and respond to the warning signs of this terrible crime can make a life-saving difference for victims in need.

Brnovich and city officials held a June 22 press conference at the Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, the first hotel in Arizona to receive AATN program certification in 2020.

About 220 hotel employees received training in the key physical and emotional indicators of human trafficking.

Second-Largest Criminal Enterprise

Human trafficking comes in the form of sex trafficking and labor trafficking and is currently the second-largest criminal enterprise in the world.

According to Brnovich, tourism is a big industry in Scottsdale, where high-profile events draw millions of people every yearand with them, human trafficking.

Were a hub for major eventsand with that comes the illegal sex trade, Scottsdale Police Chief Jeff Walther said.

Walther said the problem is one of supply and demand. Through the departments new Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit, Scottsdale law enforcement hope to make a considerable dent in the problem.

Since receiving the training, at least three city employees have identified signs of human trafficking and reported back to authorities, he said.

This is a problem. Its a significant problem. It ruins lives in the same manner that the fentanyl crisis ruins lives, Walther said. Its time the silent majority stand for the ones who cant stand for themselves.

The AATN works in partnership with the Arizona Attorney Generals Office and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to address the problem in Arizona.

AATN President and Board Chairman John Meza said his organization operates with five community impact programs that target human trafficking by teaching how to identify, report, and address it.

Successful Prosecutions

Brnovich said his office has successfully prosecuted 300 cases of human trafficking, while another 200 cases are pending.

We have an obligation to protect the most vulnerable, he said. This is something we cant do alone and that prosecutors and police officers cant do alone. It takes the entire community to combat this issue.

Working with AATN allows us to take the fight to the next level, according to Brnovich.

Meza said the organizations SAFE (Safeguarding All From Exploitation) program teaches people how to recognize and respond to the red flags of human trafficking. He said a community effort is crucial to solving the problem.

Together, we are more effective, he said.

During the press conference, Hotel Valley Ho General Manager Ronen Aviram took part in a plaque presentation honoring the hotels commitment to fighting human trafficking.
Assanges True Predicament Is Protecting Freedom of the Press

Commentary

On June 17, the United Kingdom Home Secretary Priti Patel confirmed that she had approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States. The extradition decision has unleashed demands by protestors that Assange be freed from Belmarsh prison, where he has been kept since April 2019.

The protestors maintain that Assange is a journalist and publisher and that, in publishing documents that reveal Americas unsavoury involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has disclosed instances of war crimes, corruption, and wrongdoings. For his supporters, his continued incarceration is a frontal attack on press freedom.

As expected, the fight to free Assange is led by his wife, Stella Moris (they were married while he was in prison) with whom he has two sons, his brother, Gabriel Shipton, and his father, Richard Assange.

Anthony Albanese, when he served as Australias opposition leader, signed a petition to free Assange. He is on the record as saying that this saga has gone on long enough and Assange should be allowed to return to Australia.

However, now that he is prime minister, his statements on this matter are more circumspect.

The government intends to continue making consular assistance available to Assange and promises to quietly make representations to the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States but will shy away from demanding the release of Assange.

Australian Government Divided on Assange

The prime minister said on June 20: There are some people who think that if you put things in capital letters on Twitter and put an exclamation mark, that somehow makes it more important. It doesnt.

Thus, there will be no megaphone negotiationsan attitude that has angered supporters of Assange because, for them, the time for quiet diplomacy has expired and, as the extradition is looming, immediate vociferous action is needed.

But, in a tell-tale sign that the Australian government is not united in its quest to free Assange, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, has softened the support Assange can expect to get from the Australian government. Specifically, he is of the view that Australia should not interfere in the legal processes of another country.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles (R) listens to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speak to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on May 23, 2022. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

However, Marless argument is disingenuous because there are recent instances of Australia intervening on behalf of incarcerated people. A notable example is the Howard governments intervention to return David Hicks, imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay on charges of being a supporter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, to Australia.

The treacherous trajectory of Assange is well-known. He is the co-founder of WikiLeaks and on Oct. 22, 2010, he released 391,832 documents incriminating Americas involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on the internet. This included abuses by American soldiers and a video of an American helicopter attack in Iraq on suspected militants, who were unarmed civilians and journalists.

The files were stolen by Chelsea Manning, an Army private, and handed over to WikiLeaks. Manning served seven years in jail but was amnestied by President Barack Obama in 2017. Yet WikiLeakss publisher, who himself did not appropriate these documents, is still languishing in jail.

Assanges Plight

Assange fled to the Ecuadorean Embassy in June 2012 to avoid capture and extradition to Sweden where he had been accused of sexual assaulta charge since dropped by the Swedish authorities. Assange was evicted from the embassy in April 2019, and he is now held in the UKs notorious Belmarsh prison, fighting extradition to the United States where he could spend up to 175 years in jail for computer hacking and espionage.

During the extradition hearings, representatives of the United States argued that the publication of the documents endangered the lives of people, especially those who collaborated with the American military.

Assanges case is testing the limits and scope of freedom of the press. An earlier event in American history may inform the debate about the alleged activities of Julian Assange: the Pentagon Papers controversy of the 1960s.

The Pentagon Papers, detailing the role of the United States in Indochina until May 1968, were leaked by Daniel Ellsberg to the New York Times which started to publish extracts. Following orders by lower courts to suspend publication of the papers, the American Supreme Court, in New York Times Co. v. United States, a 6-3 decision, allowed the resumption of the publication.

Associate Justice William Douglas characterised the leaked documents as all history, not future events, but nevertheless important to the Vietnam debates in Congress. He relevantly stated that: The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people.

1971: The cover of the paperback edition of The Pentagon Papers by Neil Sheehan, published in the New York Times, revealed government deceit over the conduct of the war in Vietnam. (MPI/Getty Images)

Only Promoting the Need for a Free Press

Assanges case, however, is not straightforward. The documents were obtained by hacking government computers and, subsequently, WikiLeaks published them. So, the debate is whether a publisher has a right to publish materials that have been illegally obtained by someone else.

Is Douglass expectation that people have a right to be informed reasonable in these circumstances?

Is there a higher principle, which allows, or even requires, the publication of documents, which evidence atrocities committed by American personnel in the Middle Eastern wars?

What, if any, are the legal rights of whistle-blowers and their publishers?

One thing is certain. Assanges continued incarceration does not serve its purpose anymore. This is because his predicament does no longer assist those who want to keep this information, published by WikiLeaks, out of the public forum.

Indeed, in keeping him in Belmarsh prison, Assanges quest to be released is constantly in the news, thereby reminding people of the importance of freedom of the press in the maintenance of a free, democratic society. In these circumstances, one wonders whether an early termination of the legal proceedings would have more effectively serve the public interest.

His continuing incarceration is doing more to promote a free press than any bill of rights can possibly achieve. The controversy about Assanges extradition to the United States is a constant reminder of the need to protect whistle-blowers, willing to disclose the corruption and dastardly dealings in society.

Hence, Douglass inspirational statement that the press should be protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people should guide politicians who may influence the outcome of this case.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the Jeffrey Epstein associate accused of sex trafficking, stands before U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan with her defense team of Bobbi Sternheim, Christian Everdell, Laura Menninger, Jeffrey Pagliuca during a pre-trial hearing ahead of jury selection, in a courtroom sketch in New York City, on Nov. 15, 2021. (Jane Rosenberg/Reuters)

Attorneys Spar in Court as Ghislaine Maxwell Sentencing Date Nears

Defense calls for leniency amid death threats, says she should not bear all the punishment for Epstein as well

NEW YORKFor the past week-and-a-half, attorneys for both sides in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial have been giving their final legal efforts via court documents, each hoping for a victory of sorts when shes sentenced on June 28.

Maxwell was found guilty of five of six counts of sex trafficking on Dec. 29, after a month-long trial in federal court in New York.

On June 15, the defense filed a 36-page memorandum that essentially asks Judge Alison Nathan to go easy on their client.

For much of the 36 pages, the defense puts the blame on the now-deceased Jeffery Epstein, who was Maxwells employer and romantic partner, referring to him as the central figure, mastermind, and principal abuser.

Sarah Ransome, a victim of Jeffery Epstein arrives for the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse in New York City on Nov. 29, 2021. (Ryan Smith/AFP)

The defense attorneys go on to say, But this Court cannot sentence Ms. Maxwell as if she were a proxy for Epstein simply because Epstein is no longer here. Ms. Maxwell cannot and should not bear all the punishment for which Epstein should have been held responsible.

They cite death threats against Maxwell, whos been incarcerated since July 2020.

Most recently, an inmate in Ms. Maxwells unit threatened to kill her, claiming that an additional 20 years incarceration would be worth the money shed receive for murdering Ms. Maxwell.

They also claim, one of the female inmates in Ms. Maxwells housing unit told at least three other inmates that she had been offered money to murder Ms. Maxwell and that she planned to strangle her in her sleep.

Maxwell had been in solitary confinement but was moved to the general population.

The defense also lays the blame on the media, claiming Maxwell was vilified in the press and the public domain.

The document covers Maxwells childhood, living with an abusive father.

The defense laid out several reasons for a short sentence, including, unusually harsh pre-sentence confinement warrants a downward variance, incarceration during the pandemic supports a well-recognized sentence reduction, and extraordinary conditions of solitary confinement justifies a hard-time credit.

In addition to the 36-page memo, there were over 30 pages of character references from Maxwells friends and family attached, each supporting the defenses argument.

Sentencing Guidelines

Also on June 15, the defense submitted a memo on sentencing guidelines. There are two sets of guidelines in play: one from 2003 and one from 2004.

The 2003 guidelines have a range of 168 to 210 months for Maxwells crimes, while the 2004 guidelines have a range of 292 to 365 months.

Maxwells lawyers state the earlier guidelines have a roughly 75 percent shorter sentence and that they apply in this case because the offenses shes been found guilty of did not occur past the Nov. 1, 2004, cut-off date.

They claim the poor memory of Carolyn, a witness for the prosecution, doesnt unequivocally place events after that date.

The defense makes a few other arguments regarding enhancements in the memo and concludes the correct sentencing range is 51-63 months under the 2003 guidelines.

On June 14, attorney Robert Lewis of Marsh Law Firm, sent a letter to Nathan requesting his clients, Sarah Ransome and Elizabeth Stein, who are alleged victims of Maxwell and Epstein, speak at the sentencing.

Prosecution Responds

The prosecution filed paperwork with the court stating it has notified six other alleged victims, all of whom testified at the trial, of their right to be heard at the sentencing.

On June 22, the prosecution responded to the defense memos with a 50-page one of its own, essentially stating why the 2004 guidelines should be implemented.

The prosecution claims that Carolyns testimony proves the conspiracy continued into 2005, past the Nov.1, 2004 deadline for the 2003 guidelines. To make this claim they cited her testimony as well as the date on her birth certificate and then deduced the 2005 date.

The memo ends with, Ghislaine Maxwell sexually exploited young girls for years. It is difficult to overstate the magnitude of her crimes and the harm she caused.

Her crimes demand justice. The government urges the court to impose a sentence within the applicable guidelines range of 360 to 660 months imprisonment.

Maxwells sentencing will be at 11 a.m. (EDT) on June 28, in the Thurgood Marshall Building at 50 Center Street in Manhattan.
Bank Runs Across China Trigger Complaints About Obtaining Cash

After nearly one million Chinese people were unable to access their bank deposits in central Chinas Henan province earlier this year, residents in east Chinas Shanghai, south Chinas Shenzhen, north Chinas Dandong, and central-east Chinas Jiujiang reported the difficulties they faced when trying to withdraw cash from their bank accounts.

Some banks will only serve a limited number of customers per day, some banks limit each clients withdrawal to no more than 1,000 yuan (about $149), and others closed their branches. Even the ATM machines are empty.

Bank runs have been happening in the worlds second-largest economy for over a week, which is unusual in China because most of the banks are state-run.

The reason why the bank run issue hasnt been solved is that Chinas economic system is in crisis and the Chinese regime doesnt have the ability to solve it, Wang He, U.S.-based China affairs commentator, told The Epoch Times on June 22.

Zheng Yongnian, one of the economic advisors to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, published an essay on June 1, in which he pointed out that Chinas economy is facing critical challenges, including over half of the foreign investments, have left China, and Chinas private businesses are struggling for survival due to a supply chain crisis and lack of cash.

Zhengs essay was removed from Chinas internet soon after it was published.

Outside a bank in the Jingan district of Shanghai, a worker talks to people who want to withdraw cash on June 1, 2022. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

Shenzhen Residents

I have an account with the Agricultural Bank of China. In recent two days, people lined up in front of the branch. This is the first time I have seen such a long queue, Chen, a resident in Shenzhen in south Chinas Guangdong Province, told NTD, The Epoch Times sister media, on June 21.

The Agricultural Bank of China is one of the four main state-run banks in China. The other three are Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, and China Construction Bank. Chen said that he was told the bank had mistakenly frozen customers accounts. To unfreeze an account, the bank asked its customers to submit their Shenzhen resident identity cards in person.

The resident identity card is a method the Chinese regime uses to control peoples moving from site to site. The person wont have basic resident rights if they dont have a local household registration card. If a person works for a big company in another city for six months, the employer can apply for a resident identity card for the employee.

Hao, a resident in Longgang district in Shenzhen, told The Epoch Times on June 22 that freezing accounts is a method banks use to stop people from withdrawing cash.

Its hard to find an ATM machine that has cash inside [in Shenzhen now]. Actually, since about two months ago, it has been difficult to withdraw cash. I have tried the Agricultural Bank of China and the China Construction Bank. Its not easy to withdraw cash, Hao said.

In a video that went viral on June 21, a man said that in a Shiyan neighborhood in Baoan district in Shenzhen, people lined up outside the Bank of China at 6:00 a.m., but were told that the bank had run out of money when it opened at 9:00 a.m.

The bank didnt explain why it had run out of cash.

Bank Runs in Other Cities

Dandong is a city neighboring North Korea across the Yalu River in northeastern Chinas Liaoning Province. In recent weeks, people in Dandong complained that they couldnt get cash from their bank accounts no matter how high their balances were.

It has been a week. Every morning, theres a long line [of people] waiting to withdraw cash. However, when its our turn in the afternoon, the bank has run dry, a Dandong resident said in a social media video on June 20.

The man who shot the video said that employers in Dandong deposit salaries into their employees bank accounts in the Dandong Bank. Employees, in turn, withdraw the cash for their daily living expenses. Being unable to access cash will make it difficult for them.

People lined up in front of a bank in Dandong, China, on June 20, 2022. (public domain)

Another Dandong resident complained in a video that he went to several banks but was unable to get any cash.

In Jiujiang city of Jiangxi Province, residents reported that Agricultural Bank of China branches only allow customers to withdraw 1,000 yuan (about $149) or less if they dont have a local household registration.

In eastern Chinas Shanghai, people are also waiting in line outside the banks.

Huang, a local resident, told NTD on June 21 that banks will only serve 300 customers a day and this started on June 1 when the city officially opened up after a COVID lockdown. People have to go to the bank early in the morning, otherwise, they wont even enter the bank.

I met a man in his 80s who began waiting in front of the bank between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. He was counted as the 107th client of the day when the bank opened at 9:00 a.m. He had to stay there for several more hours because the bank wouldnt allow him to enter if he missed his turn, Huang said.

Unlike the United States, a lot of Chinese residents pay their gas, electricity, and water bills at a bank, and most retired people rely on cash because they dont know how to make a payment using the internet or a smartphone, or how to pay for groceries using a bank card.

Gu Xiaohua contributed to this report.
An exhibit from the third floor of the Royal B.C. Museum is pictured in Victoria, Dec. 29, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward)

BC Premier Says He Made the Wrong Call, Stops $800-Million Museum Project

VICTORIAA plan to tear down and replace British Columbias provincial museum was put on hold indefinitely Wednesday by Premier John Horgan who admitted he miscalculated public support for the $789 million project.

Horgan, who has faced weeks of constant political criticism over what has been called his vanity legacy project, said he was mistaken to proceed with the museum replacement at this time and any failure should fall to me and me alone.

The premier stood alone in the press theatre to make the museum announcement, a sharp contrast to previous briefings about the project that were attended by government bureaucrats, museum officials and cabinet ministers.

Its my responsibility to say to you today that I made the wrong call, Horgan said. Ive heard the people of B.C. quite clearly that we were making the wrong decision at the wrong time. Today, Im announcing that were stopping the project and were going back to the drawing board.

He said the museum, slated to close for up to eight years in September, will now remain open and a public consultation process about its future will begin.

I stood at this very podium less than a week after the announcement and lamented that what I thought would be a positive announcement was greeted with a thud, and from that point on it became clear to me that we needed to pause this project, said Horgan.

B.C. residents making public comments and sending personal emails to his inbox expressed their disappointment at the timing of the project, he said, adding the government and museum officials will now undertake a process to ensure support for a new museum.

We made choices based on the best information at hand and we thought we had it right. Clearly, we did not, Horgan said.

The museum stores seven million exhibits, including the largest collection of works by artist Emily Carr, but is only able to display one per cent of its total collection at any time.

People in B.C. are talking about other concerns right now, like primary care for their families, education, cost of living and a range of other issues as the province emerges from a global pandemic, said Horgan.

The Opposition Liberals were critical of the replacement plan, saying the money was being spent while almost a million people in B.C. dont have a family doctor and many are struggling to pay their housing and fuel costs.

Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon, who last month demanded the government cancel the project, said he was pleased by the reversal on Wednesday, but warned the government could resurrect the same plan in the near future.

Im very concerned that this sounds a lot to me like lets kick this down the road until the temperature goes down and then we can proceed as we planned to do with building this billionplus dollar museum that nobody called for and nobody asked for, said Falcon at a news conference.

A satellite museum facility for research and storage in the neighbouring community of Colwood, announced two years ago and already under construction, has been budgeted at $224 million.

Green Leader Sonia Furstenau said the museum replacement project was an example of how out of touch the NDP government is with the people of the province.

Governments need to be able to acknowledge when theyve made a mistake, and I commend Premier Horgan for doing so, but it should not have taken weeks of massive public outcry and political calculations for them to realize that the public has other priorities, she said in a statement.

Just last month, the government released thousands of pages of documents supporting its decision to build a new museumafter it considered renovating and repairing the current building in Victoria at a cost of $300 million more than replacement.

Tourism Minister Melanie Mark said at a news conference last month the old building is not seismically sound and is at risk from floods, which could wipe out the record of B.C.s culture and history.

Horgan said his ministers have worked hard on the project and it wasnt a backoftheenvelope undertaking.

It was a fiveyear process involving countless engagements with people, but not sufficient to give the public a sense of why this was important.

Horgan said earlier the museum, next door to the legislature, needs to be brought into the 21st century, making it seismically safer, inclusive, accessible and modern.
The 'Splendid White' exhibition at the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection in Frankfurt, Germany

In 1962, successful German building contractor Reiner Winkler bought his first ivory artwork, a small 15th-century Gothic panel of the Nativity that was once part of a diptych. And he fell in love with the medium. From that small French piece, only a few inches tall, Winkler began what would become the worlds largest private collection of ivory sculptures.

He focused on collecting works from the golden age of ivory carving: the 17th and 18th centuries. Winkler kept his collection close to him, first displaying the works in a cabinet in his living room along with porcelain and wooden figurines. As his ivory collection grew, he spread the works throughout his home, eventually moving the majority of them to a specially designed room he called My cabinet of art and curiosities.

Chronos on the Globe, circa 1720, by Matthias Steinl. The work is believed to have been made in Vienna, Austria. The Reiner Winkler Ivory Collection, at the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection in Frankfurt, Germany. (Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection)

But Winkler never intended to keep the ivory works to himself; he frequently invited art experts to see and study the pieces. At the end of his life, he gifted a large part of his collection to the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection in Frankfurt, Germany, which has now acquired most of his collection.

More than 200 of Winklers Baroque and Rococo ivory sculptures are now on display in the Liebieghauss recently opened Splendid White exhibition. Winkler had kept 21 of the works in his private collection up until he died in 2020. These are on public display for the first time in the exhibition, which is curated by Maraike Buckling, the Liebieghauss head of the Renaissance to neoclassicism collection.

Ivory sculptures from The Reiner Winkler Ivory Collection on display in the exhibition Splendid White, at the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection in Frankfurt, Germany. (Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection)

English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Austrian, Dutch, and Flemish works, as well as two ivory pieces from India and China, are included in the show. The works range from sculptural reliefs, statuettes, groups of figures, and portrait medallions to tankards and ceremonial vessels.

Unbelievable Ivory Carving

A highlight of The Winkler Collection is Fury on a Charging Horse carved by an unknown artist known as the Master of the Furies. Winkler nearly missed out to a rival collector on buying the piece depicting a mythological Fury on horseback. In his memoirs he wrote: Fortunately, the sculpture in a primitive wooden crate was very dirty and covered with numerous residues of glue. Lord Thomsons representative  did not warm to it.  Suddenly I realized with shock that the piece was about to be knocked downthe hammer had already been raised. I drew attention to myself and got the sculpture.

The dynamic ivory sculpture Fury on a Charging Horse by the Master of the Furies is one of the highlights of the Splendid White exhibition at the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection in Frankfurt, Germany. The sculpture measures 16 1/8 inches by 18 1/2 inches by 10 1/4 inches and is believed to have been made in Salzburg, Austria. (Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection)

Theres a dynamism and emotional tension throughout the piece that makes viewing it both an uncomfortable and beautiful experience. The Master of the Furies expertly conveyed the screaming Furys limitless wrath, through its tense muscles and contorted facial features. The Furys anger almost throws it from the horse, which leaps so furiously over blades of grass or perhaps flames.

Throughout this sculpture, we can see why art collectors treasured ivory artworks like they would any rare, precious gems. Ivorys silky-smooth surface, warm bright hue, fine veining, and flawlessness mustve won their hearts.

Art collectors often kept ivory sculptures in curiosity cabinets, a tradition that developed in the 15th and 16th centuries, where learned men kept treasures that sparked conversation among their peers. Theyd keep exotic, intriguing, and sometimes obscure objects with an emphasis on the natural world, such as shells, coconuts, scientific instruments, and fine snuff boxes decorated with semiprecious stones, to name a few. Some pieces were souvenirs they brought back with them from their European Grand Tour. At court, the highest ranking artists made pieces for these cabinets and were called cabinet artists.

The Art of Ivory Carving

Since the Stone Age, artists have used ivory for art. Works in The Reiner Winkler Ivory Collection, made between the 16th and 18th centuries, did not contribute to endangering elephant populations.

A mature elephants tusk can be as long as 9 feet, 10 inches and weigh up to 154 pounds. The tusks structure, with its hollow root and hard tip, dictated the works that could be made. Carvers created their designs to fit the size and shape of a tusk, which took a lot of skill, or if their design didnt fit the size and shape of the tusk, carvers could add other pieces of ivory to the work to complete their sculpture.

According to The Metropolitan Museum of Art website, ivory carvers used the tip of the tusk to create sculptures in the round, and they sliced the hollow end part to make sculptural reliefs. Carvers also took advantage of the hollow root to make vessels, and they even used a lathe to create ivory objects much like woodturning.

Carvers enjoyed African ivorys hard yet elastic qualities (due to fine crosshatching at the molecular level), which meant that they could chisel out fine details without weakening or splintering their work. For instance, they could carve fine facial features such as wrinkles to make idealized portraits more believable.

Some Types of Ivory Art

Ivory carvers created designs that were inspired by other artworks, particularly paintings and small bronzes.

Baroque artists created idealized portraits depicting the character and social standing of their subjects. Writers and philosophers such as Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau wore unusual costumes in their portraits. Notable personalities were shown in profile as per the ancient tradition of displaying portraits on coins and medals.

Portrait of Pope Clement XI, Rome, circa 1710, by an unknown artist after a medal by Charles Claude Dubut. Ivory, wooden frame, gilded brass, softwood; 4 inches by 3 3/8 inches. The Reiner Winkler Ivory Collection, at the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection in Frankfurt, Germany. (Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection)

The Vatican often gave portraits of the pope as gifts to princes when they became Catholic. An ivory portrait of Pope Clement XI could be an example of such a gift, although that hasnt been confirmed. Around 1710, an unknown artist in Rome carved the piece with great skill, nearly filling the whole space, right up to the edge.

David Le Marchands early 18th-century portrait of Charles Marbury, a man we know little about, shows the same level of skill. He depicted Marbury as a fine gentleman wearing a cloak and a well-groomed wig with each curl tamed to perfection.

Portrait of Charles Marbury, between 1704 and 1720, by David Le Marchand. Ivory;

5 inches by 3 3/4 inches. Made in London. The Reiner Winkler Ivory Collection, at the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection in Frankfurt, Germany. (Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection)

Biblical subjects made to bring the viewer closer to God dominate Winklers collection. Some of those works show scenes from the Old Testament; others show the life of Christ, the saints and their martyrdom, or allegorical works showing the transience of life on earth.

The Deposition of Christ, second half of 17th century, artist unknown. Ivory; 21 1/4 inches by 11 3/4 inches. The sculptural relief is believed to have been made in southern Germany, possibly Augsburg. (Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection)

Baroque artists often depicted Maria Immaculata (Mary of the Immaculate Conception) atop a globe while crushing a serpent that represents evil and the original sin.

According to the exhibition catalog, the 17th-century ivory sculptural relief St. Mary Magdelene, Penitent echoes the composition of small private devotional works often carved in boxwood or pearwood. However, the ivory piece is unusual due to the unknown artists use of jewelry and colored paint, gold leaf, and metal powder to adorn and honor the divine work.

St. Mary Magdalene, Penitent, first half of 17th century, artist unknown. Ivory, partial polychrome: metal powder, gold leaf, various adhesives, and decorative appliques; 6 1/8 inches by around 4 1/8 inches by around 1 inch. The sculptural relief is believed to have been made in southern Germany or Austria. The Reiner Winkler Sculpture Collection, at the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection in Frankfurt, Germany. (Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection)

In the heavenly sculptural relief titled The Annunciation of Mary, by 18th-century French carver Jean-Antoine Belleteste, the ivory looks solid but as delicate as chalk. Belleteste must have caressed the ivorys surface with his chisel to make such a fine, transcendent work.

The Annunciation of Mary, circa 17701780, by Jean-Antoine Belleteste (Dieppe, France). Ivory, wood panel, wood frame, tortoiseshell, and black lacquer; 17 3/8 inches by 12 1/4 inches. The Reiner Winkler Ivory Collection, at the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection in Frankfurt, Germany. (Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection)

The Splendid White exhibition provides an outstanding overview of the beauty, virtuosity, and wide variety of Baroque and Rococo ivory art while also highlighting superb small sculptures in general.

Winkler carried on the Renaissance tradition of curiosity cabinets by collecting his own cabinet of art and curiosities. Now visitors to the the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection who see his collection can enjoy that tradition too.

The Splendid White exhibition at the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection in Frankfurt, Germany, runs until Jan. 8, 2023. To find out more, visit Liebieghaus.de
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shake hands before a group photo session at the Dialogue of Emerging Market and Developing Countries on the sidelines of the 2017 BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China, on Sept. 5, 2017. (Kenzaburo Fukuhara/AFP/Getty Images)

Beijing Further Expresses Support for Putin, Reiterates Sovereignty Over Taiwan Straits

Two days before Chinese leader Xi Jinpings birthday, he made two big moves. Analysts believe that these moves were also meant to increase his leverage as he seeks a third term at the upcoming 20th Party Congress.

In communist countries, top leaders birthdays are important dates for the entire nation. Xi was born on June 15, 1953.

On June 13, Xi reportedly signed an Outline for Chinese Armys Non-War Military Actions. On the same day, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs suddenly changed its rhetoric and publicly claimed sovereignty over the Taiwan Strait, triggering an immediate response from the White House, which accused the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of undermining the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.

The Outline, details of which are hidden from the public, was officially implemented on June 15, Xis birthday. Chinese state media claimed that it is aimed at safeguarding national sovereignty and security, and provides a legal basis for the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) to conduct non-war military operations.

Also on June 15, Xi had a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, reiterating that the two leaders would continue to deepen Sino-Russian relations and expressing mutual support for each others main agendas.

Two days ago, Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe publicly declared at the Asian Security Forum that the Chinese military would not hesitate to fight for the so-called unification of Taiwan.

Non-War or Other Than War Military Operations

Based on the wording of the Outline, analysts believe that the CCPs possible military action against Taiwan could be carried out in an other than war scenario.

Considering that Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine under the name of special military operation, Xi Jinping may attack Taiwan in the name of anti-terrorism and anti-crime, Yaita Akio, the director of Sankei Shimbuns Taipei branch, said in his Facebook post on June 14. If it is not an act of war, it can evade the relevant provisions of international law, and also may evade certain economic sanctions.

Li Yanming, a well-known current affairs commentator, told The Epoch Times that the CCPs recent series of actions show that China and Russia are joining forces with the common goal of changing the existing U.S.-led international order. Whether its Russias invasion of Ukraine or the CCPs continued military threats in the Taiwan Strait, East Asia, and the South China Sea, they all target the world order and the United States, as the United States plays the role of representing and maintaining international order. At the same time, Xi is trying to add leverage to his re-election at the 20th Party Congress.

China-Russia Summit Talks Pledge to Continue Mutual Support

Although China and Russia have made different remarks about the phone conversation between Xi and Putin, the two sides expressed support for each other in the Russia-Ukraine war and the CCPs strategy toward Taiwan.

China is willing to continue our mutual support with Russia on issues concerning core interests and major concerns such as sovereignty and security, Xi said during the call, according to a June 15 press release by the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The Russian side stated that Xi recognizes the legitimacy of Russias actions to safeguard the countrys fundamental interests in the face of security challenges created by external forces.

Xi said that China will make independent judgments on the Russia-Ukraine war based on a broad historical perspective and on whats right and whats wrong. Putin responded by saying that Russia supports the CCPs actions on issues in relation to Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and that Russia opposes foreign interference in Chinas internal affairs.

Heng He, a well-known current affairs commentator, believes that this phone conversation marks another landmark call after Xi and Putin talked on Feb. 25, the first day of the Russian invasion, and it has served the goal of further deepening the relationship between the two countries.

Shi Yinhong, a professor of International Relations at Chinas Renmin University, told Taiwans Central News Agency that China now feels more optimistic about the outcome of Russias war in eastern Ukraine, which made China even more pro-Russia and anti-America.

CCP Suddenly Claims Sovereignty Over the Taiwan Strait

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on June 13 that the waters of the Taiwan Strait are internal waters and that it is a false claim when certain countries refer to the Taiwan Strait as international waters,' the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared.

In response, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in an email to Reuters: The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway, meaning that the Taiwan Strait is an area where freedoms of the high seas, including freedoms of navigation and overflight, are guaranteed under international law. 

Price reiterated that the United States is deeply concerned about Chinas aggressive rhetoric and coercive activity regarding Taiwan, saying the United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law permits, including transit through the Taiwan Strait.

The world has an enduring interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and we view this as a centerpiece of security and prosperity for the wider Indo-Pacific region, Price added.

Taiwan has reacted strongly to the CCPs actions. Taiwans top agency for cross-strait relations, the Mainland Affairs Council, issued a statement on June 14, saying that Chinas remarks undermined the status quo across the Taiwan Straits and heightened regional tensions.

Taiwans Premier Su Tseng-chang said on June 14 that the Taiwan Strait is by no means Chinas inland sea, adding that China (the CCP) has never stopped or concealed its ambition to annex Taiwan.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also warned at the Shangri-La Dialogue held from June 10 to June 12, that todays Ukraine is tomorrows East Asia. He clearly pointed out that the CCPs continued military threats in the Taiwan Strait, like Russias military action against Ukraine, are aimed at shaking the foundation of the international order.

Akio Yaita said on his Facebook page that the CCPs claim of internal waters is a blatant challenge to the International Convention on the Law of the Sea and a forcible change of the existing rules of the international community.
Beyond Spin: Where Has Ethical Marketing Gone?

Commentary

Advertising, hyping, lobbying, direct mailing, corporate relating, media training, and issue managing are all the rage at Australian universities, and I am as guilty as anyone. Bless me, father, for I too have spinned.

I should have known better. You see, in another life, I fancied myself a budding investigative journalist. To the extent that I had any journalistic slant, I guess you could say I was the resident sceptic. I wrote about shonky contractors who never completed their work, quack doctors, and insurance companies who avoided paying claims.

I wrote about scam artists who prey on the elderly, and my favourite topic, unscrupulous real estate agents who made outrageous claims to sell timeshare properties.

On one public holiday, I rang every travellers cheque company in Sydney. (Remember travellers cheques?) I pretended to have lost my cheques and asked for an instant replacement.

Every travellers cheque provider advertised that they would promptly replace lost cheques. But, on that holiday, only one, American Express, lived up to its promise. One famous company did not bother to answer the telephone while another told me to call back the next day. With such a high level of customer service, it is not surprising that American Express dominated the travellers cheque business.

A naive observer might think that customer service should also determine the status of universities. Institutions that best meet students needs should prosper; others should wither away. Someday this will be true, but not yet.

Spin, Exaggeration, or Lies?

The student market for higher education remains relatively unsophisticated. Students choose universities because of perceived prestige, league table rankings, location, the opinions of friends, and the entreaties of spin: learn for life, a university for the real world, tomorrows leaders today.

What do these slogans mean? Not a thing. As Goethe says in Faust: When ideas fail, words come in very handy.

People walk past signage for Australian universities in Melbournes central business district in Melbourne, Australia, on June 10, 2020. (William West/AFP via Getty Images)

It is only a matter of time before crusading journalists begin looking closely at the spin and hype emanating from universities. They may be surprised by what they find.

I was in Singapore reading the local paper, The Straits Times. There, on page four were advertisements placed by three different Australian universities. Each claimed to possess, and I quote, Australias number one business school. I guess the editorial staff found it amusing to juxtapose these advertisements. Just another example of why we should never confuse Asian politeness with gullibility.

Claiming to be Number 1 is just puffery. But, some Australian university claims go beyond puffery and border on deception.

Universities with miserable employment records routinely market their courses as good preparation for a career. Third-world student accommodation is advertised as comfortable or if it is really awful, quaint. Courses in technical areas such as radio and television are often taught with outmoded equipment, but no one bothers to warn students.

Even league tables are manipulable. There are hundreds of potential performance indicators. Every university should be able to find a measure on which their institution shines (cleanest loos, best car-parking, use your imagination).

Many universities exaggerate their entry requirements to appear more selective than they actually are. In some courses, almost half of successful applicants fail to meet the advertised entry requirements.

What of the Students?

This is deeply unfair. Students with inside knowledge know they will be admitted despite not meeting the advertised standards. In contrast, students whose parents and school counsellors are unfamiliar with universities may be deterred from applying because they believe the published entry requirements rule them out.

Alas, the hour of accountability is nigh. Students, who were told their health course met professional registration requirements when it did not, sued their university for misrepresentation and won. This may be only the beginning of a trend toward greater accountability. As the night follows day, universities will be called upon to justify their claims.

Dont get me wrong; I am not against publicity or public relations. Marketing and advertising are important ways to educate the public. The more information available to them, the more sophisticated student consumers will become.

University guides and league tables, despite their many flaws and exaggerations, are ways of creating educated consumers who can make informed choices. It would be wrong to try to curb university publicity machines. What we should do is try to make them more honest.

It is worth thinking about a code of ethics for university publicity. The code need not be elaborate or deeply philosophical but should contain a commitment to deal fairly and honestly with the public. Universities should eschew misleading or exaggerated claims and they should take care not to injure the reputation of other institutions. Finally, university public relations should be sensitive to the needs and values of applicants from non-traditional backgrounds.

Students and their parents need fair, honest, and accurate information about universities. It is up to those who work in universities to ensure they get it.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The wreckage of burnt out car is pictured, allegedly destroyed by separatists fighter in a recent attack, as a Cameroonian soldier (L) patrols the edge of the abandoned market in the majority anglophone South West province in Buea, on October 3, 2018. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP) (Photo credit should read MARCO LONGARI/AFP via Getty Images)

Black Hole For Human Rights: Tit-for-tat Killings Increase in Cameroon

The protracted civil war between Cameroons army and Anglophone militants fighting for a breakaway state produced a new wave of violence in recent months.

Forty-nine patients narrowly escaped death on June 8 when unidentified gunmen attacked and burnt the Mamfe District Hospital in the crisis-hit Southwest Region that serves more than 85,000 people.

Both the Cameroon military and Anglophone separatist fighters accuse each other of the attack.

Rights groups, however, point accusing fingers at the rebels.

This attack was undoubtedly committed by a non-state armed group in the area, Billy Burton, co-director of Cameroon Anglophone Crisis Database of Atrocities told The Epoch Times in a text.

Burton said that in February, a non-state armed group also targeted Queen of the Rosary College in Okoyong, only a few miles from Mamfe.

Regrettably, the Mamfe area has therefore been the site of two of the most significant breaches of international law in the conflict in recent months.

Fundamentally, the attack shows that the civilian population85,000 of whom relied on that hospitalare not adequately protected by international humanitarian law in this conflict, and that certain armed actors will continue to target critical civilian infrastructure to achieve their political goals.

The end result, Burton said, A city without a hospital, a generation of children without a school.

He said such acts prove beyond reasonable doubt that the Anglophone crisis has created a near-total vacuum or black hole for human rights thereby worsening the suffering of civilians.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also blamed the Anglophone militants, stating the destruction of the hospital will deprive people of urgently needed care and further weaken the local health system.

The crisis in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon has seen a large number of attacks on healthcare, with health workers or patients threatened, abducted, injured, or killed, as well as medical infrastructures damaged or destroyed, it said in a June 10 statement.

The attack on the hospital came just a week after Cameroon government admitted its soldiers killed nine unarmed civiliansincluding a 12-month-old babyon a search mission for a missing comrade in the remote Missong area, another crisis-affected Anglophone region of the countrys Northwest.

In the middle of the night during the hunt, the [soldiers] ran into a group of  villagers, said Atongfack Guemo Cyrille Serge, the spokesman of the Cameroonian army in a June 7 press statement.

Fearing the worst for themselves and their missing comrade the soldiers, in a hasty reaction  and in defiance of the sacrosanct principle of precaution, used their weapons, Serge said.

He regretted it was an unfortunate incident, further reassuring that four soldiers involved in the shooting have been demobilized  and placed under house arrest.

A week after the killings, the Anglophone separatists launched a retaliatory attack on a military post in the neighbouring West Region outside the conflict zones, killing at least five soldiers.

Earlier, at least 20 civilians were killed in Southwest Region of the country during an attack believed to have been carried out by Anglophone separatists.

It is certainly a dark episode of the existing cycle of violence that drives this conflict, Burton said.

Violence in the conflict is often driven by a specific cycle of violence, where atrocities committed by the military trigger violence from separatists, or where atrocities committed by the separatists trigger violence from the military, he told The Epoch Times.

From Missong to Ngarbuh, Mautu to Muyuka, this retaliatory pattern is critical to understanding the crisis. Unfortunately, it is the civilian population that is caught in the middle, unable to escape a cycle of violence controlled by the men with guns.

In October 2016, Anglophone lawyer and teacher unions launched peaceful street demonstrations against the obligatory use of French in schools and courts in the countrys two English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions, which are home to about 5 million of Cameroons 27 million people.

Following the suppression of protests, the conflict degenerated into a secessionist armed struggle for the independence of a country called Ambazonia.

The crisis is rooted in Cameroons troubled colonial history.

Upon independence in 1960, the country inherited two distinct and uneasily coexisting traditions: one French-oriented and the other British-oriented, each with different systems of education, justice, and governance.

About 2.2 million people in the two English-speaking regions have been affected by the conflict, including some 6,000 people killed and 956,000 internally displaced.

Earlier this month, the Norwegian Refugee Council ranked Cameroon third in the worlds most neglected displacement crises, behind Burkina Faso and South Sudan.

Growing insecurity and abuses against civilians in the English-speaking regions forced people to flee in search of safety  attacks on teachers, schools, and health facilities continued leaving 700,000 children unable to go to school, the report stated.

Cameroon has been ranked in the top three on the list for the past four years due to what the humanitarian group terms a consistent lack of political engagement and international attention.

The deteriorating security situation in the two Anglophone regions forced the Department of Homeland Security to, on April 15, designate Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status, shielding the estimated 40,000 noncitizen Cameroonians living in the United States from possible deportation.

The U.S. State Departments 2021 country report for Cameroon painted a grim picture of rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings by security forces and armed Anglophone separatists; forced disappearances by security forces; serious acts of corruption; and unlawful recruitment or use of child soldiers.

U.S. administrations have kept the Cameroon crisis on a back burner, as they have other similar simmering conflicts, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs Tibor Nagy told The Epoch Times in an email.

It is one of the worlds most neglected conflicts. Not disinterest as much as other crises being deemed of greater urgency and seriousness, he said.

Burton explained the Cameroonian government is noted for insulating itself brilliantly from international criticism thereby shielding itself from international sanctions.

Yet, it is not insulating itself from violence and on its watch we have seen a political crisis become what is now a civil war. And the death toll rises every day, he told The Epoch Times.

Nagy likened the back and forth violence and retaliation over the past several weeks to Gandis wise saying: an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

If the separatists want the international community to take their cause seriously, they need to stop wanton violence, he said.

For the government, which has already lost credibility by their no-win policy, the best maxim is: when one is digging themselves into a hole, the best thing is to first stop digging.

Meanwhile its the innocent who suffer mostseriously, what gain is there in burning down a hospital? Those are [Vladimir] Putins tactics!
Researchers have noted that a link between the jabs and menstrual changes are plausible. Heres what the findings say.

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

Two U.S. researchers have more than 140,000 reports from people whove had changes in their period following COVID-19 injections

Another 30,000 reports of period changes following the jabs have been reported in the U.K.

In an editorial published in the BMJ, a lecturer in reproductive immunology stated that when it comes to menstrual changes after COVID-19 shots, a biological link is plausible and should be investigated

Pfizers biodistribution study, which was used to determine where the injected substances go in the body, showed the COVID-19 spike protein from the shots accumulated in quite high concentrations in the ovaries

A prominent toxicologist and molecular biologist is calling for all gene therapy vaccines to be halted immediately due to safety concerns, including the potential for impaired fertility

Women across the U.S. have reported changes in their menstrual cycles following COVID-19 shots. Changes include heavier, earlier and more painful periods,[1] as well as unexpected breakthrough bleeding or spotting among women on long-acting contraception or those who are postmenopausal and hadnt had a period in years or even decades.[2] Health officials have tried to brush off the reports, but theyve become too numerous to ignore.

Kate Clancy, a human reproductive ecologist and associate professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Katharine Lee, a biological anthropologist studying womens health at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, have more than 140,000 reports from those whove had changes in their period following COVID-19 injections, which theyre formally documenting in an open-ended study.[3]

Another 30,000 reports of period changes following the jabs have been reported to the U.K.s regulator.[4] The implication is that the shots could be having an effect on fertility, but in order to keep people lining up for shots, no questions asked, officials have been quick to deny such a link.

Link to Menstrual Changes and Jabs Biologically Plausible

The University of California, Davis, even went so far as to say that the tens of thousands of women who have reported menstrual changes following the injections are simply stressed out.

[A] womans ovulation and menstrual cycle can be affected by stress. Stress may be the reason for any effect on menstruation. We do not believe there is any physiologic reason why the vaccine itself would affect a womans menstrual cycle, wrote Clara Paik, clinic medical director of obstetrics and gynecology at UC David.[5]

Its as though weve been transported back to the 18th and 19th centuries, when women were commonly diagnosed with hysteria to explain away any symptoms that doctors didnt understand.[6] Fortunately, not everyone is OK with brushing off nearly 200,000 reports of shot-induced menstrual changes as stress.

In an editorial published in the BMJ, Victoria Male, a lecturer in reproductive immunology at Imperial College London, stated that when it comes to menstrual changes after COVID-19 shots, A link is plausible and should be investigated.[7] According to Male:[8]

Menstrual changes have been reported after both mRNA and adenovirus vectored covid-19 vaccines, suggesting that, if there is a connection, it is likely to be a result of the immune response to vaccination rather than a specific vaccine component. Vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) has also been associated with menstrual changes.  Biologically plausible mechanisms linking immune stimulation with menstrual changes include immunological influences on the hormones driving the menstrual cycle or effects mediated by immune cells in the lining of the uterus, which are involved in the cyclical build-up and breakdown of this tissue. Research exploring a possible association between covid-19 vaccines and menstrual changes may also help understand the mechanism.

As it stands, effects of medical interventions on menstruation are often an afterthought during clinical research. As Male noted, while clinical trials present an opportune time to monitor how medical interventions influence menstruation, women are unlikely to report changes to their periods unless theyre specifically asked to.

Information about menstrual cycles and other vaginal bleeding should be actively solicited in future clinical trials, including trials of covid-19 vaccines, she said.[9]

Why It Takes so Long to Recognize Side Effects

Clancy and Lee started their survey after personally experiencing abnormal menstruation following their COVID-19 shots. It wasnt until they posted their experiences online that hundreds of other women spoke up about their similar experiences.

One woman who experienced abnormal bleeding after not having a period for 1.5 years due to an IUD said, I didnt really think that it was anything until I saw that someone had said that, that it mightve been a symptom or a side effect of the vaccine. It was like, Oh, thats interesting.[10]

Meanwhile, many doctors are brushing off their patients concerns instead of listening to them. Contradicting Males BMJ editorial, Dr. Rakhi Shah, an OB-GYN at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital, told the Chicago Tribune:[11]

I think that theres really no biological mechanism that is plausible in terms of how that could be possible. I think that potentially people are having normal menstrual pain plus the aches and pains that are associated post-vaccine, and maybe combining all of that together and associating it.

Dr. Julie Levitt, an OB-GYN at Northwestern Medicine, had two patients who experienced menstruation changes after the shots, but also brushed it off, stating, Bleeding occurs for so many reasons that its really hard to isolate the two, and suggesting that women shouldnt worry about it and, If it does continue after a few weeks following the administration of the vaccine, it probably is something else.

Its premature to brush off womens reports, however, especially since long-term research on the shots effects on menstruation and fertility hasnt been conducted. In late August 2021, the U.S. National Institutes of Health awarded $1.67 million in grants to five institutions to study links between COVID-19 shots and menstrual changes.[12] According to the NIH:[13]

Researchers will assess the prevalence and severity of post-vaccination changes to menstrual characteristics including flow, cycle length, pain and other symptoms. These analyses will account for other factors that can affect menstruation  such as stress, medications and exercise  to determine whether the changes are attributable to vaccination. Several projects also seek to unravel the mechanisms underlying the potential effects of COVID-19 vaccines on the menstrual cycle by examining immune and hormonal characteristics in blood, tissue and saliva samples taken before and after COVID-19 vaccination.

Toxic Spike Protein Accumulates in the Ovaries

Your body recognizes the spike protein in COVID-19 jabs as foreign, so it begins to manufacture antibodies to protect you against COVID-19, or so the theory goes. But theres a problem. The spike protein itself is dangerous and known to circulate in your body at least for weeks and more likely months[14]  perhaps much longer  after the COVID jab.

In your cells, the spike protein damages blood vessels and can lead to the development of blood clots.[15] It can go into your brain, adrenal glands, ovaries, heart, skeletal muscles and nerves, causing inflammation, scarring and damage in organs over time.

In fact, Pfizers biodistribution study, which was used to determine where the injected substances go in the body, showed the COVID spike protein from the shots accumulated in quite high concentrations in the ovaries.[16]

Molecular Biologist Warns of Impaired Fertility

Janci Chunn Lindsay, Ph.D., a prominent toxicologist and molecular biologist who works with M.D. Anderson Cancer Center-Houston, spoke at the CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting held April 23, 2021.

The focus of the meeting was blood clotting disorders following COVID-19 shots, and Lindsay spoke during the public comment period, calling for all gene therapy vaccines to be halted immediately due to safety concerns on several fronts. Fertility concerns were among them. Lindsay stated:[17]

Covid vaccines could induce cross-reactive antibodies to syncytin, and impair fertility as well as pregnancy outcomes. First, there is a credible reason to believe that Covid vaccines will cross-react with the syncytin and reproductive proteins in sperm, ova, and placenta, leading to impaired fertility and impaired reproductive and gestational outcomes. Respected virologist Dr. Bill Gallaher, Ph.D., made excellent arguments as to why you would expect cross reaction. Due to beta sheet conformation similarities between spike proteins and syncytin-1 and syncytin-2. I have yet to see a single immunological study which disproves this. Despite the fact that it would literally take the manufacturers a single day to do these syncytin studies to ascertain this [once they had serum from vaccinated individuals]. Its been over a year since the assertions were first made that this [the body attacking its own syncytin proteins due to similarity in spike protein structure] could occur.

An Entire Generation Could Be Sterilized

Lindsay also noted that 100 pregnancy losses have been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) in the U.S. as of April 9, 2021, which also demands that COVID-19 shots be halted. Other concerning reports following COVID-19 injections include impaired spermatogenesis and placental findings, implicating a syncytin-mediated role.[18]

Lindsay warned that these red flags are severe enough that an entire generation could be a risk of sterilization if COVID-19 shots arent stopped until more research is conducted:[19]

We simply cannot put these [vaccines] in our children who are at .002% risk for Covid mortality, if infected, or any more of the child-bearing age population without thoroughly investigating this matter. [If we do], we could potentially sterilize an entire generation. Speculation that this will not occur and a few anecdotal reports of pregnancies within the trial are not sufficient proof that this is not impacting on a population-wide scale.

Investigative journalist Jennifer Margulis contacted Lindsay after the meeting to see what additional information she had that she was not allowed to present due to the three-minute time restriction. In a written response, Lindsay said:[20]

There is strong evidence for immune escape and that inoculation under pandemic pressure with these leaky vaccines is driving the creation of more lethal mutants that are both newly infecting a younger age demographic, and causing more COVID-related deaths across the population than would have occurred without intervention. That is, there is evidence that the vaccines are making the pandemic worse.

The menstrual changes being experienced by women following COVID-19 shots are highlighting another scientific gap, one that relates to womens health in general, which has not been a research priority for the last two decades, Dr. Sarah Gray, a general practitioner in Cornwall, England, said in a news release.[21]

The control of menstrual bleeding is complex with potential effects from the brain, ovaries, and uterus itself. It is plausible that the effects of either [SARS-CoV-2] infection or vaccination on the immune system could affect this control pathway, and any research would be greatly valued, she said.[22] Its also an urgent matter that must be investigated so people can make an informed decision before consenting to an injection that could have serious reproductive effects.

Originally published Oct 9, 2021 on Mercola.com

References

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is welcomed by Francis Gatare, Presidential Advisor, Economic Affairs upon arriving in Kigali to attend the Commonwealth Summit, on June 22, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson)

Canada Announces Embassy in Rwanda as Trudeau Arrives for 10-day Foreign Trip

Canada will open an embassy in Rwanda as part of efforts to combat the influence of Russia and China in Africa, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly announced on Wednesday shortly after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in the country to begin a 10-day overseas trip.

Yes, we know that Russia is present on the continent. Yes, we know that China is increasingly present also on the continent. We cant be naive, Joly told reporters in Kigali.

We need to make sure that we have the diplomats on the ground with eyes and ears listening to whats going on, to make sure that we can play a positive role with Rwanda and the entire region.

She said Canada is setting up a permanent embassy in Kigali, with an ambassador, and will also name a new ambassador to the African Union, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The prime ministers plane touched down at sunset on Wednesday in Kigali, where he will gather beginning Thursday with the heads of government from the other 53 countries in the Commonwealth for the first time since 2018.

The original meeting, planned for 2020, was, like so much else, put off by the COVID-19 pandemic that is still an important backdrop to the talks.

The consequences of Russias large-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, have been felt around the globeparticularly in some of the smaller nations whose leaders Trudeau will meet in Kigali.

The conflict sparked a massive refugee crisis. It also limited other countries access to wheat from Ukraine, often referred to as the breadbasket of Europe because of its significant food production.

African countries, 19 of which are Commonwealth members, have faced especially severe food insecurity as a result. The UN World Food Program has warned that millions of people in the developing world and conflict zones are in danger of starvation.

Before the war, Russia and Ukraine produced about 30 percent of the worlds exported grain. The closure of key ports in the Black Sea has made it difficult to ship those goods to the countries that need them.

We are ready to send ships to Romania, basically to get every single grain out of Ukraine. We need to free the wheat, Joly said.

Dealing with the emerging geopolitical consequences of the conflict in Ukraine is what Joly calls the third phase of Canadas response to the Russian invasion and said there will be further announcements on that front this week.

Trudeau spoke about potential measures during a phone call last week with Rwandas President Paul Kagame, who will be hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Canada will also be rallying support for Ukraine among Commonwealth members and attempt to win over any leaders who may be on the fence about condemning Russia.

When the United Nations voted to suspend Russia from the human rights council in April, 58 countries abstained from the vote. Of those, 29 were Commonwealth countries.

Macky Sall, the president of Senegal and chair of the African Union, blamed western sanctions on Russia for stopping the flow of grain. He made the remarks at a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.

Joly said it will be important to hear from members of the African Union and those who abstained from the UN vote to understand where theyre coming fromand how to change their minds.

That will be her goal on Thursday when she sits down with her counterpart from India, a country with long-standing diplomatic ties to Russia.

In Kigali, Trudeau will take part in meetings with Commonwealth leaders and roundtable discussions on the climate economy. Prince Charles and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are also both scheduled to attend the gathering. The Queen attended the 2018 Commonwealth summit, which took place at Buckingham Palace.

Trudeau is also expected to pay his respects at the Kigali Genocide Memorial on Thursday, in memory of the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi people.

He will depart for Schloss Elmau, a resort in the Bavarian Alps of Germany, for the G7 leaders summit on Saturday before heading to a NATO meeting in Madrid next week. He will also meet Pedro Sanchez, the prime minister of Spain.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress said it expects Trudeau to spur other leaders into action on Ukraine when he is in Germany and Spain.

Congress head Ihor Michalchyshyn said he spoke to Ukrainian defence officials in a recent trip to Kyiv, who highlighted the dire situation theyre facing with dwindling military equipment.

They dont have enough weapons. Theyve been actually saying that theyre going to run out of ammunition in coming weeks and months, Michalchyshyn said.

If theres nothing of substance announced and operationalized there, the rhetoric is empty.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to address the G7 and NATO summits, where the conversation will be largely focused on economic and military support for the embattled country.

Last week in Brussels, Defence Minister Anita Anand, who will join Trudeau at the NATO summit, announced Canada would deliver 10 replacement artillery barrels, worth $9 million, to support the M777 howitzer artillery guns already provided.

As of the end of January, 33,346 candidates for the Security Forces of Ukraine have participated in Canadas training program, called Operation Unifier, since September 2015.

Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins pressed Trudeau during his visit to Canada last month for a more permanent military presence in the Baltics to counter any Russian perceptions of NATO weakness in the area.

Canada currently has nearly 700 troops leading a NATO battlegroup in Latvia, one of several in the region. At a joint news conference with Karins in Ottawa, Trudeau announced one general and six staff officers from the Canadian Armed Forces would be deployed to a NATO headquarters in Adazi near the Latvian capital of Riga, but deferred any major decisions to the NATO talks.

The serious conflict between Ukraine and Russia has drawn more countries to the coming NATO meeting in Madrid, including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. He is he first Japanese leader to join a top meeting of the North Atlantic military alliance.

Sweden and Finland, which have applied to join NATO, are sending delegations. South Koreas new President Yoon Suk-yeol has also signalled his intention to attend.

Trudeau is expected to return to Ottawa on June 30, in time for Canada Day celebrations.

By Laura Osman
A police officer stands guard before the closing session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on March 10, 2022. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

CCP Bans Officials and Their Families From Business Activities

Chinas ruling communist party (CCP) has issued a new regulation in the name of anti-corruption banning high-ranking officials and their families from big business activities. Experts pointed out that its related to the CCPs factional infighting and economic problems.

According to the Chinese regimes official media Xinhua, on June 19, the Central Committee of the CCP issued a document imposing a ban on the family members of senior officials who are above the bureau level from business. Officials spouses, children, and their childrens spouses are affected.

The officials must also report the business activities of their families every year. If officials or family members decide not to withdraw from their business activities, the officials must step down from their positions. Those who fail to do so will be dealt with seriously in accordance with regulations and laws.

The business activities include investing in enterprises or private equity funds, holding senior positions in private or foreign companies, and engaging in paid advisory or legal services.

A woman is seen leaving JP Morgan Chase & Company headquarters in New York, on Aug. 14, 2013. JPMorgan is just one of the Wall Street banks which employs relatives of CCP officials to get business in China. (Emmanual Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)

Cementing Obedience and Funds

Experts believe there are various reasons behind the CCPs latest restrictions on the business activities of its officials.

Chen Weijian, editor-in-chief of political magazine Beijing Spring, told The Epoch Times on June 20 that Chinese leader Xi Jinpings zero-COVID policy has met with resistance among local officials for its continued implementation. Meanwhile, local governments are following Premier Li Keqiangs instructions to resume work and production to save Chinas economy, leaving Xi feeling that his authority is being challenged.

Especially when the CCPs 20th Party Congress is approaching, if he wants to be re-elected, he must deter those who oppose him. Now, senior officials and their families are required to report their property and business. This is indeed a very big blow to them. Its like that Xi Jinping controls them all. Anyone who is disobedient will be taken down by this anti-corruption regulation because now, which official and their relatives are not involved in corruption? he said.

Wu Zuolai, a U.S.-based China scholar agreed with Chens analysis. He told The Epoch Times on June 20 that the investigation into the business activities of high-ranking officials and their family members would continue until the CCPs 20th Party Congress, as a deterrent to Xis political opponents.

Wu said that another reason may also be that the CCPs central government is facing a huge shortage in funds, and the regulation will force the family members of high-level officials to provide money to the regime.

Because they did use their position and influence to amass huge wealth, especially in some sectors monopolized by the regime, Wu said. Its easy for them to make billions or tens of billions, and its known within the CCP. There are thousands of cadres above the provincial governor level, if each of them cough up 100 million yuan ($15 million), then the regime will get 50 billion yuan ($7.46 billion). So they may be internally raising funds this way.

Nin Haizhong and Luo Ya contributed to the report.
Jeffrey Sachs, the leader of the Lancet Commission on COVID-19, now admits that the COVID-19 pandemic started in a lab. Even more startlingly, he now also admits that the virus was made with U.S. biotechnology.

Sachs made his comments last week at a conference in Spain where he had been invited by former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero.

Sachss astonishing revelations were upstaged by World Health Organization Director Tedros Adanom Ghabrieysus when he reportedly confessed to a senior European politician that the virus most likely came out of a Wuhan lab.

The admissions from two of the most prominent COVID authorities in the world, who also happen to be establishment stalwarts with a record of appeasing the Chinese Communist Party, are a huge game-changer.

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Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) speaks to reporters ahead of a weekly Republican luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 22, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Cornyn Dismisses NRA Opposition to Senate Gun Control Bill

The top Republican negotiator for the Senates newly unveiled gun control bill signaled on June 22 that the National Rifle Associations (NRA) opposition to the bill did not matter.

We worked with the NRA to listen to their concerns. But in the end I think they have a membership and a business model that will not allow them to support any legislation, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington.

And so I understand where theyre coming from, but I think most people will not allow any outside group to veto good public policy, he added.

The 80-page legislative proposal, which drew initial support from 14 Republicans and all Democrats, would alter federal law on gun ownership for those convicted of domestic violence, add funding for so-called red flag laws, and intensify background checks for people under 21 trying to get a firearm.

The NRA said it would support legislation that improves school security, promotes mental health services, and helps reduce violent crime but that the group opposes the proposal because it falls short at every level. It does little to truly address violent crime while opening the door to unnecessary burdens on the exercise of Second Amendment freedom by law-abiding gun owners.

This legislation can be abused to restrict lawful gun purchases, infringe upon the rights of law-abiding Americans, and use federal dollars to fund gun control measures being adopted by state and local politicians. This bill leaves too much discretion in the hands of government officials and also contains undefined and overbroad provisionsinviting interference with our constitutional freedoms, the group added.

All Democrats and nominal independents are poised to support the bill when it is voted on this week, while Republicans are divided on the proposal.

Cornyn and other GOP members involved in the negotiations, including Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), and Mitt Romney (R-Utah), voted to advance the legislation to the final vote, and are expected to support the bill during the final vote.

Others are on the fence, including Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who voted no in the procedural vote.

We just got the text. I want to review it, I think details matter, Scott told reporters at a breakfast in Washington on Wednesday.

I am not interested in taking away somebodys Second Amendment rights. I do believe in states rights. I believe states ought to be where most things happen because up here, as you know, once something passes it is very difficult to change it. At the state level, its much easier to change things, and so I think we have to be very cautious about doing things nationally, Scott added. When he was governor of Florida Scott signed a gun control bill after the mass shooting in Parkland.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), another no vote, said on Twitter that the legislation ignores the national crime wave & chips away instead at the fundamental rights of law abiding citizens.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), though, joined Cornyn in defending the bill.

The bill will protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, he said on the Senate floor, while not touch[ing] the rights of the overwhelming majority of American gun owners who are law-abiding citizens of sound mind.
Coronavirus Causes Cognitive Impairment; Experts Found Meditation Might Be The Cure

After recovering from COVID-19, or coronavirus , or some may call it CCP Virus, many people have developed new COVID-like symptoms, which is named Coronavirus sequelae. Medical experts recommend an early diagnosis and treatment.

According to the clinical definitions of Worldwide Health Organization (WHO) in October 2021, Long-term COVID-19 symptoms usually appear on someone who has been diagnosed COVID-positive. This usually happens three months after the infection. The symptoms usually last at least two months and nothing else is available for the diagnostic interpretation.

Long-term COVID-19 symptoms may include extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain and tightened sensations, change of smell and taste, joint pain, brain fog which is the decline in memory and focus.

Wu Ching-yi, president of Taiwan Occupational Therapy Association pointed out that brain fog is a cognitive disorder. It mainly manifests in loss of memory and concentration. Patients often have difficulty concentrating, while their thinking process becomes slower, to the point where they cant even express what they want vocally.

A new study at St Vincents Hospital in Sydney, Australia, also discovered that Long Term COVID-19 can lead to brain fog and even memory loss in patients. The study followed 128 patients for 12 months; results show about 20 percent developed severe brain fog or amnesia over a period of up to one year.

Healthy Infinity Scheme, organized by Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service (LC-HKS) aims to promote primary health care. On June 16 2022, they hosted an event online, namely Seminar on Senior Care During the Pandemic, to discuss the relationships between cognitive impairment and COVID-19 sequelae.

Professor Benny Zee Chung-ying of the Department of Public Health at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, recently proposed that even after young people or adults with mild symptoms recover, the risks of developing cognitive impairment are greatly increased.

Professor Zee suggested that patients should order an Automatic Retinal Image Analysis (ARIA), to screen for the potential hidden danger of suffering from brain fog. He also encouraged family members and patients to exercise and strengthen cognitive skills by playing table games. This will greatly prevent and avoid conditions from deteriorating.

Other research also discovered that meditation helps repair brain cells damage.

A joint report written by Dr. George Slavich, a psychoneurologist and psychiatrist at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Dr. David Black, a preventive healthcare specialist at the University of Southern California, shows that people who meditate have longer telomeres than people who do not.

When cell telomeres shorten, the phenomenon indicates aging and apoptosis of the cells. The results, however, confirm that the speed of aging in the cells slows down through meditation.

Sara Lazar, a neuroscientist and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, also found in her study that people who regularly meditate to the age of 50 have as much frontal cortex (the gray matter of the frontal lobe) as the young people aged at 25.

The gray matter of the frontal lobe controls our intelligence and during the aging process, the gray matter volume will gradually decrease, resulting in cognitive decline and its function degeneration.
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Lisi Niesner/File Photo/Reuters)

Efforts to Ban the Lady of Heaven Film in UK Cinemas Has Roots in Iranian Regime: Report

A campaign against a movie that saw some members of the Muslim community protest cinemas across the UK, had its origins in Iran eighteen months ago, according to research from a conservative think tank.

A new research note by Dr. Paul Stott from the Security and Extremism Team at the think-tank Policy Exchange (pdf) wrote that it was Iran that initiated the campaign against Lady Of Heaven eighteen months ago, beginning with negative statements by top regime officials.

Furthermore, it found that another major government advisor on anti-extremism voiced support for the recent protests.

Muslim men have protested outside of cinemas in Bradford, Bolton, Birmingham, and Sheffield since June over the $15 million film that was written by the Muslim Sheikh Yasser al-Habib. The producer described the movie as a tale about the heart-wrenching journey of Lady Fatima, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad.

Iran: Condemn This Film

Stott wrote that Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, Irans secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, denounced The Lady of Heaven as a western plot to sow discord among the Muslim world and said the policies orchestrated by the West, Israel, and Arabic axis ranged from establishing ISIL and through making Lady of Heaven.

In February 2020, the Iranian ambassador to the UK, Hamid Baeidinejad posted on Twitter urging that the Muslim community must act in unity to condemn this film and resort to legal steps to ban this film in the UK.

Furthermore, Irans International Quran News Agency reported that the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) had urged Muslims to boycott The Lady of Heaven as it tried to sow discord among Muslims.

Al-Habib is a UK-based Shia cleric and the depiction of some of the characters has angered some Sunni Muslims. Sunnis make up the vast majority of Muslims worldwide.

The IHRC referred to Al-Habib as a well-known hatemonger, and condemned the motives of Cineworld Group.

Given the strength of feeling against it in Muslim communities, the criminal background of the writer, and the pernicious intent of the film, the company should never have agreed to screen it, it wrote.

One of the IHRCs four directors, Saied Reza Ameli, is the Tehran-based secretary of one of Irans leading policymaking bodies, the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, which has the goal of ensuring an all-out cultural assault of the enemies against Islamic values.

Anti-Extremism Imam: Blasphemy

Stott did not only mention Iranian influences in the research note. He also highlighted men paid to conduct anti-extremism work by the British government who celebrated the closure of film screenings by protestors standing outside cinemas.

In June, Senior Imam Qari Asim was fired by the government as an independent adviser to the British government on Islamophobia as he urged Muslims to protest the film accusing it of blasphemy.

He was told by frontbench MP Michael Gove that his actions were incompatible with the role of a government adviser on anti-Muslim hatred. This country is proud of its democratic values and freedoms, which include tolerance, freedom of expression, and community.

Policy Exchange noted that British Imam Irfan Chishti, a government-paid Islamic cleric that provides training on anti-extremism and racism through his company Me and You, posted the following comment about The Lady of Heaven on Imam Qari Asims Facebook post: A couple of areas Ive heard today have had it stopped. Blackburn and Sheffield. Alhamdulillah.

Last year, Home Secretary Priti Patel ordered an inquiry into Chishti after he made accusations against Israel to an angry crowd.

After the probe, Chishti was allowed to return to the governments counter-extremism programme.

Do We Advocate For Free Speech?

Catherine Perez-Shakdam, a journalist, political analyst, Islamic affairs expert, and research fellow with The Henry Jackson Society, had a front-row seat to the inner workings of the Islamic Republic when she interviewed the then-presidential candidate and hardline cleric Ibrahim Raisi in 2017.

She told The Epoch Times that The Islamic Republic has been very clever with a propaganda machine by setting up echo chambers.

They are doing it through the use of media and they have whole shadow lobby groups that operate in different areas such as academia, humanitarian, charities, aid or media to push certain agendas, she said.

But Perez-Shakdam said despite the protests, The Lady of Heaven is in fact religiously mapped out in Shia Twelver literature.

Actually the movie is quite literally a video version of what is being taught in the Hawzas [a seminary where Shia Muslim clerics are educated] across the Islamic Republic, so its rather interesting how suddenly Shia scholars and clerics have too, joined in to denounce it, said Perez-Shakdam.

She said that in her mind, it has more to do with politics in the religious world than anything else.

Iran would like the West to bow to sharia law, these are powers in essence that are anti-Western, anti-democratic, and colonialist by nature, she said.

Do we advocate for free speech as a principle as a cornerstone of our democracy or do we reign it in to accommodate others feelings? I dont think we should, free speech is a protection for all of us, and the second you start to make accommodations for people acting violently, thats not an argument, she added.

The Epoch Times contacted Imam Irfan Chishti for comment.
Pipes at the landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipeline in Lubmin, Germany, on March 8, 2022. (Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)

EU to Shift Back to Coal Amid Russia Gas Supply Cut: Official

BRUSSELS/OSLOThe European Union will temporarily shift back to coal to cope with dwindling Russian gas flows without derailing longer term climate goals, an EU official said on Wednesday as a tight gas market and soaring prices set off a race for alternative fuels.

European leaders have rounded on Russia as flows through its Nord Stream 1 pipeline were cut to 40 percent of capacity, deepening an energy standoff after the invasion of Ukraine prompted Europe to impose tough sanctions on Moscow.

As well as scouting for energy sources, governments have sought to cushion citizens from price rises, with Italy approving a $3.5 billion package to bring down energy bills for firms and struggling households.

To cope with gas shortfalls, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Europe must replace Russian energy supplies while boosting efficiency and renewables, including nuclear power.

In a statement to Reuters, IEA chief Fatih Birol said Russia might continue to find excuses to cut supplies or halt them altogether as winter approached. Russia has denied that its supply cuts are premeditated.

Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands have signaled that coal-fired power plants could plug supply gaps, even as Germany gears up to host a Group of Seven (G-7) summit having reaffirmed a commitment to ambitious climate change goals.

Europe will temporarily pursue fossil fuel alternatives to Russian gas in light of President Vladimir Putins actions, a senior European Commission official said.

The unlawful invasion by Russia of Ukraine has resulted in an emergency situation in the EU, Elina Bardram, acting director for International Affairs and Climate Finance at the European Commission, told the Africa Energy Forum in Brussels.

With the very rogue moves we are observing from the Putin administration in terms of Gazprom lowering the flow very suddenly, we are doing some very important measures, but all of those measures are temporary, she added.

The measures would be phased out as soon as possible as the EU is determined to stick to its climate goals, she said.

The EUs 2030 and 2050 targets remain fully intact  while we may temporarily increase our use of coal, the long term direction is clear, added Bardram, who headed the European Commissions delegation to the 2015 Paris Climate talks.

Exploring Alternatives

Countries have outlined a series of measures to withstand a supply crisis to tackle worries about winter energy shortages and an inflation spike that could test Europes resolve to maintain sanctions on Russia.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Tuesday said there was a danger of serious economic crisis and underlined the need for alternatives to overcome three or more years of energy scarcity.

A note by the Royal Bank of Canada expected the rate of filling up gas storage to slow and for governments to take action to ease demand.

Many countries appear to be re-thinking coal shutdowns, it said, adding we do not believe the situation can be rectified with supply-side measures only, and we do expect a significant demand side response.

Another flashpoint in the energy crisis could come in the Baltics. President Gitanas Nauseda said Lithuania was ready for Russia shutting it out of a common power grid in retaliation for blocking rail shipments of some Russian goods to Moscows Kaliningrad exclave.

Nearby Finland unveiled plans to build a hydrogen transmission network to shore up its energy security after deciding to stop buying Russian gas.

Flows of Russian gas to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and deliveries through Ukraine were steady on Wednesday, but remained significantly lower than last week. Gazprom said it was cutting flows via Nord Stream 1 last week, citing technical issues.

Europes benchmark gas price was trading at around 127 euros ($133) per megawatt hour (MWh), below this years peak of 335 euros but still up more than 300 percent on its level a year ago.

Europe is scrambling to fill winter gas storagenow at 55 percentas it fears further disruptions in supply from Russia, which has already cut off some customers.

Lindners warning came after Germanys BDI industry association said recession in Europes largest economy would be inevitable if Russia halts gas deliveries.

The EU and other developed economies have imposed sanctions on Russian oil and coal but held off banning gas imports.

Shoring up aging nuclear infrastructure might provide a respite to high power prices and tight supplies, the IEA said.

In light of renewed interest in nuclear powers role in clean energy transitions, the war has underscored the need to explore options for  investment in new facilities as well as the reopening of existing (uranium) conversion plants.

More broadly, the $2.4 trillion set to be invested in energy this year included record spending on renewables but fell short of plugging a supply gap and tackling climate change, the IEA said.

By Noah Browning and Nora Buli
Shenzhen TV: The BRICS Business Forum opened on June 22 and President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. Can you tell us more about it?



Wang Wenbin: The 2022 BRICS Business Forum was held in an online plus offline format in Beijing on June 22. President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum in virtual format and delivered a keynote speech. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended and addressed the opening ceremony. You may refer to the readout that we have released.

BRICS is an important platform for cooperation among emerging markets and developing countries, and BRICS countries have become engines driving world economic recovery and growth. This year is the BRICS China Year. Thanks to the active support of all sides, China, as the BRICS chair this year, has successfully held over 90 meetings and events at various levels so far this year, covering political, security, economic, trade, financial, people-to-people and cultural fields as well as sustainable development and public health. These activities have enabled important progress in BRICS cooperation in various sectors. This week is indeed the BRICS Week, with the hosting of a series of BRICS events including the BRICS Business Forum, the 14th BRICS Summit and the High-level Dialogue on Global Development. These three important events will pool wide consensus on BRICS cooperation and inject strong impetus into the recovery of world economy.

Right now, our world is facing drastic changes and a pandemic both unseen in a century. Various security challenges keep emerging. The world economy still faces strong headwinds on its path toward recovery, and global development has suffered major setbacks. The world is confronted with important choices between peace and war, progress and regression, openness and isolation, and cooperation and confrontation. President Xi noted in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum that we should embrace solidarity and coordination and jointly maintain world peace and stability; we should reach out to each other and jointly promote sustainable global development; we should tide over difficulties together and jointly pursue win-win cooperation; and we should be inclusive and jointly expand openness and integration. It is hoped that business leaders will continue to champion open, innovative and shared development so as to add new impetus to BRICS cooperation and see that more benefits of development will reach everyone in a more equitable way.

President Xis speech gave an insightful answer to where the world is headed -- an important question of our times. The speech aims to bring confidence and strength to a volatile and unstable world and is warmly received by participants. Participants said the speech is rich in content and inspiring. It charts the course for deepening practical BRICS cooperation, points the way forward for upholding world security and stability, and paints the blueprint for promoting global openness and development. The speech enhances parties confidence in Chinas economic prospect and sets the right direction for businesses to participate in and support BRICS cooperation.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked President Xi Jinping and the Chinese side for the extensive preparation for hosting this business forum. They said that with the world focusing on post-pandemic recovery, the role of BRICS countries is further elevated. Fostering high-quality BRICS partnership is particularly important for advancing global development in the new era. BRICS countries will continue to deepen cooperation in economic integration, do their utmost to reduce the impact of poverty and food and energy crisis on peoples livelihood, and promote sustainable and inclusive development.

During the Forum, participants had panel discussions on world economic recovery, green transformation, digital economy, health cooperation and resilience of industrial and supply chains. They also released the Beijing Initiative of BRICS Business Community.

Today, the 14th BRICS Summit will be held. We believe that with the concerted efforts of all parties, the Summit will be a full success. It will elevate BRICS cooperation to a higher level and make greater contribution to world peace and development.

Dragon TV: A recent poll in the US shows that 49% of respondents believe the US will cease to be a democracy in the future and half of the surveyed think the country has poor values, an all-time high in 20 years. What is your comment?

Wang Wenbin: I also noted the reports. The US-style democracy has not only been seriously questioned domestically, but also gained notoriety overseas. This is fundamentally because for the US politicians, democracy is their tool to seek personal and partisan gains at home, and a weapon to serve US hegemony abroad. Polls suggest that 65% of Americans say most candidates for office are motivated by personal interests, and 44% of people surveyed globally see the US as a threat to democracy.

Although the popularity of US-style democracy has reached record lows both domestically and internationally, US politicians remain fervid and even obsessed with exporting US democracy and values. The USs Summit for Democracy last year came to a hasty end, and yet it still plans to host another one in offline format this year. The US has put together values-based alliance groups such as AUKUS, QUAD, and the Five Eyes, and seeks to draw ideological lines and advocate Cold War mentality in economy, trade, science and technology and people-to-people exchange, which has disrupted normal international cooperation and established rules.

Those US politicians who seek personal gains and advance US hegemony in the name of democracy have betrayed the true spirit and values of democracy. They have thus made themselves the enemy of democracy, and will be opposed by the people in the US and the world.

Associated Press: The NATO military alliance plans to hold a summit from June 26 to 30. One question on their agenda is, what should the NATO alliance do to address challenges such as Chinas growing influence and assertiveness. May I ask what the Chinese governments reaction is to that? Also, leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand plan to attend this summit and will hold their own meeting. May I ask what the Chinese governments reaction is to that as well?

Wang Wenbin: NATO is a product of the Cold War and the worlds biggest military alliance dominated by the US. It is a tool for the US to maintain its hegemony and influence Europes security landscape. This is clearly against the trend of our times. NATO claims itself to be a defensive organization, but it has willfully waged wars against sovereign countries that left a large number of civilians dead and tens of millions displaced. NATO, by definition, is a military organization in the North Atlantic, yet in recent years some of its members have flexed their muscles in the Asia-Pacific and sought to replicate the kind of bloc confrontation seen in Europe here in the Asia-Pacific. This is highly dangerous. Countries in the Asia-Pacific and elsewhere will no doubt keep a watchful eye and go against it.

China is a force for world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order. We never waver in our commitment to peaceful development. We urge NATO to stop drawing ideological lines which may induce confrontation, stop spreading disinformation about China, and not to seek to start a new Cold War.

NATO has already disrupted stability in Europe. It should not try to do the same to the Asia-Pacific and the whole world.

On your second question, our consistent view is that the development of relations between countries should be conducive to world peace and stability and not target or damage the interests of any third party. The Asia-Pacific is beyond the geographical scope of the North Atlantic. Countries and people in the Asia-Pacific are strongly opposed to anything said or done to extend military bloc to this region or stir up division and confrontation.

PTI: What time is the BRICS summit to take place today?

Wang Wenbin: We will release relevant information on the 14th BRICS Summit when appropriate. Please stay tuned.

China Daily: A cabinet meeting in Nepal recently decided not to move ahead on the State Partnership Program (SPP) with the US. Some analysts said the SPP is in essence designed to create a military alliance that would undermine the current foreign policy and national interests of Nepal. Do you have any comment on that?

Wang Wenbin: Weve noticed the recent wide controversy over the State Partnership Program (SPP) in Nepal. Various political parties and factions, the government, the army and people across the Nepalese society see the SPP as a military and security initiative closely linked to the Indo-Pacific Strategy and they consider it against the national interests of Nepal and its long-held non-aligned, balanced foreign policy to be part of the SPP. Nepals Cabinet meeting has decided not to move ahead on the SPP.

As Nepals friendly and close neighbor and strategic cooperative partner, China commends the Nepali governments decision. China will continue to support Nepal in upholding its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and support Nepals commitment to its independent and non-aligned foreign policy. China stands ready to work with Nepal to jointly safeguard regional security, stability and shared prosperity.

CCTV: It is reported that the China-Horn of Africa Peace, Good Governance and Development Conference was held in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia on June 20 and 21. Chinas Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with representatives of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, etc. attended the conference. Ethiopias National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister said that solutions to the various regional crises should come from within and China was playing a supportive role. Do you have more on that?

Wang Wenbin: During his visit to Africa in January this year, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi put forward the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa, which resonated positively among African countries. The China-Horn of Africa Peace, Good Governance and Development Conference was recently held in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. The conference is an important joint step between China and Africa to advance the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa. Mr. Xue Bing, Chinas Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended the meeting upon invitation. Regional countries had an in-depth exchange of views on joint response to security, development and governance challenges and issued a joint statement, stressing the willingness to uphold the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security, and build a Horn of Africa where the guns are silenced for sustainable peace. The parties also undertook to adopt confidence building measures, manage differences and disputes between countries of the region, and pursue peaceful settlement through dialogue and negotiation in an effort to ease the security situation in the region.

As a good friend and good partner of countries in the region, China always supports regional countries in independently resolving regional issues and has actively contributed its wisdom and efforts to regional peace and development. We are genuinely happy that this meeting has been a success and produced important consensus. We will continue to support regional countries in seeking strength through solidarity and realizing lasting peace and stability as well as development and prosperity in the region.

Reuters: Does China plan on giving any specific aid to the Taliban or any other bodies in Afghanistan following the earthquake there?

Wang Wenbin: Yesterday, China expressed sympathies to the Afghan side both in Beijing and Kabul immediately after the earthquake and expressed readiness to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan in light of its needs. The Afghan side expressed appreciation to China. We will release information about the assistance to be provided when appropriate. Please stay tuned.
France's President Emmanuel Macron (R), Romanian President Klaus Iohannis (L), Prime Minister of Italy Mario Draghi (C), Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (2nd L) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 16, 2022. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)

European Union Formally Grants Candidate Status to Ukraine

European Union leaders agreed on June 23 to accept Ukraine as a candidate to join the European Union, although its not clear whether the eastern European country will become one.

Charles Michel, president of the European Council, confirmed that leaders had approved EU candidate status for not only Ukraine, but also its neighbor Moldova. The bloc hasnt welcomed any new nations since Croatia in 2013.

EU candidate status doesnt confer membership, which could be decades away, and it doesnt mean that Ukraine is trying to join NATOa separate, defense-oriented organization. However, Michel called the announcement a historic moment in light of the RussiaUkraine conflict, which has raged since Feb. 24.

Today marks a crucial step on your path towards the EU, he wrote in a Twitter post that referenced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The European Council has also decided to recognize the European perspective of Georgia and is ready to grant candidate status once the outstanding priorities are addressed, Michel continued on the social media site.

In response, Zelenskyy wrote that European Councils decision to grant his country candidate status is a unique and historical moment in relations between the European Union and Ukraine.

Today marks the beginning of a long journey that we will walk together, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote. The Ukrainian people belong to the European family. Ukraines future is with the EU. We stand together for peace.

Vsevolod Chentsov, the chief of Ukraines mission to the EU, said the announcement sends a message to the Kremlin amid the months-long conflict.

EU candidate status is a gesture of trust, Chentsov told The Washington Post earlier this week, adding that the EU believes Ukraine can do this.

But Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Costa told the Financial Times recently that the candidacy announcement creates false expectations for Ukraine, suggesting that joining the EU is a lengthy process. Ukraine would have to align its political and judicial systems with those of the bloc.

For example, Turkey, which applied to join the EU in 1987, hasnt been accepted. Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, and Bosnia have been in talks with the EU for years, or even decades.

Last week, the European Commission provided six steps that Ukraine must take before it can move forward and be even considered, including reducing the influence of oligarchs, creating new laws to ensure the selection of better judges, and enhancements on prosecuting corruption cases, according to the Post.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said this week that the EU must reform its internal procedures to prepare for the accession of new members, singling out the need for key issues to be agreed with a qualified majority rather than by unanimity.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator during the Trump administration, speaks to a congressional panel in Washington on June 23, 2022. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Evidence in Late 2020 Indicated Vaccinated Could Get COVID-19: Birx

There was evidence as early as the last month of 2020 that people who had received COVID-19 vaccines could still get COVID-19, Dr. Deborah Birx said on June 23.

We knew early on in January of 2021, in late December of 2020, that reinfection was occurring after natural infection, Birx, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator during the Trump administration, said before a congressional panel.

And because the vaccine was based on natural immunity, you cannot make the conclusion that the vaccine will do better than natural infection, she added later.

The two primary COVID-19 vaccines, produced by Pfizer and Moderna, are based on messenger RNA technology and are designed to trigger an immune response similar to the response that is triggered by an infection.

Top U.S. officials in December 2020 promoted the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, which were authorized that month, as being highly protective against infection. According to Food and Drug Administration officials, Pfizers vaccine was 95 percent effective against infection and Modernas was 94 percent effective.

Birx at the time called the vaccine critical while still urging people to avoid large gatherings and to always don masks when out in public, especially indoors.

But she did not share her concerns that natural immunity and vaccine protection werent holding up.

During Thursdays hearing, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) expressed concern about the government promotion of the vaccines as highly protective, noting that President Joe Biden said as late July 2021 that Youre not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations.

A short time later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study showing that a COVID-19 outbreak in Massachusetts resulted in more cases among vaccinated people than unvaccinated ones, and the agency urged vaccinated Americans to start wearing masks again as a result.

Why should Americans believe anything the government says about COVID? Jordan wondered. When the government told us, told the American people that people who had been vaccinated couldnt get it, were they guessing or were they lying?

I dont know, Birx said.

Birx, along with Dr. Anthony Fauci, helped convince then-President Donald Trump to implement ill-fated efforts such as 15 days to slow the spread, and Americans were encouraged to stay indoors and largely remain only among their families, with claims that would help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. She was also a vigorous advocate of mass testing and mask-wearing, despite division among experts on the strategies.

Birx was testifying to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, which is headed by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.).

President Donald Trump (L) listens to White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Scott Atlas speak during a press conference in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on Sept. 23, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Democrats on the panel asserted thatbased on interviews with Birx and others and documents including emailsa group inside the White House headed by Trump adviser Dr. Scott Atlas tried to get Trump to reject mainstream mitigation measures and downplay the severity of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19.

Atlas was a proponent of focusing protective measures on people at high risk from COVID-19, like the elderly, while letting people at little risk from the disease, such as children, largely live their lives without interference.

The strategy was put forth in a document called the Great Barrington Declaration, whose authors met with then-Health Secretary Alex Azar in the fall of 2020. Two of them also spoke with Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence.

Birx said the meetings and support for the strategy were dangerous because she felt it would impede the Trump administrations response to the pandemic. She also reiterated concerns that the administration was focused on the presidential election at the expense of the pandemic response.

Atlas told the panel in an interview that it was clear by March 2020 that the lockdown strategy, which included the closure of schools across the country, was both illogical and failing because people were dying, even the highest risk people. He recounted focusing on what would be a way to stop people from dying and simultaneously stop the enormous harms that were coming from these lockdown policies.

Clyburn said the actions by Atlas and others embraced a dangerous herd immunity via mass infection strategy.

Atlas told The Epoch Times in an email that the report the committee authored attempts to rewrite history and deflect blame for the failure of the Birx-Fauci lockdowns over two administrations which have resulted in over 1 million COVID deaths and destroyed tens of millions of families and children, adding that It is a lie to claim that a mass infection strategy was ever advised by me or embraced by anyone.

During his time as Trumps adviser, I advised a safer, targeted strategy of increased protection of the high-risk groups and stopping the enormous damage to our children, low-risk working class and the poor, Atlas said.

Recommendations from Atlas and others, including Great Barrington Declaration co-author Martin Kulldorff, were adopted by Florida, which quickly moved away from broad restrictions.

More than 2 years in; Floridas age adjusted Covid death rate is nearly the same as Californias, which proves that lockdowns and mandates do not save livesbut do have enormous social, economic, and yes, even public health costs, Christina Pushaw, press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, told The Epoch Times in an email.

We stand by the recommendations of Dr. Atlas, Dr. Kulldorff, and other medical professionals who consistently advocated for a strategy of focused protection and no lockdowns or mass quarantines of healthy people. Even if it was a good policy in terms of public health, which its not, it is a gross violation of civil liberties and the Constitution. American policymakers should not be taking cues from the Chinese Communist Party, she added.

Clyburn, meanwhile, didnt mention how herd immunity was also promoted by Fauci, the longtime head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, but via vaccination instead of infection.

If 75-or-more percent of the population decides they want to get vaccinated, I would hope, by the time we get to the end of the second quarter, into the summer that we will have enough people vaccinated that by the time we get to the fall in the third quarter of the year that we will have that veil of protective herd immunity, Fauci said on CNN in late 2020.

Studies have shown that infection confers greater protection than vaccination, but that the protection from both has been less strong against newer variants of the virus.

Vaccines, especially, have proven increasingly unable to protect against infection and do little against transmission, leading to a significant drop in talk about reaching herd immunity.

I think thats a pretty complicated question, given the presence of new variants, Dr. Ruth Link-Gelles, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official, said in a recent meeting. We know that protection from both prior infection and from vaccination is not 100 percent. And even children and adults with evidence of past infection and past vaccination can get reinfected. So I think at this point, its a little bit of a misnomer to talk about.
Undated photo of the bomb-blasted remains of the Mulberry Bush pub, at the foot of the Rotunda in Birmingham, United Kingdom. (PA Media)

Family of 1974 IRA Pub Attack in Birmingham to Sue Police and Alleged Bomber

The family of a woman who was killed in the bombing of a Birmingham pub by the Provisional IRA in 1974 has sued West Midlands Police and a man they claim was one of the bombers.

Margaret Smith, whose 18-year-old daughter Maxine Hambleton was killed in the Tavern in the Town pub on Nov. 21, 1974, has issued a civil writ against Michael Patrick Reilly and the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, Sir David Thompson.

Maxines sister, Julie Hambleton, said, This is the only step that is left for families like ours because successive British governments have refused to help aid families like ours in gaining justice any other way.

Reilly, who is in his 60s, was arrested in November 2020 under the Terrorism Act and questioned by police in connection with the bombing of the Tavern in the Town and the Mulberry Bush, which killed 21 people and injured 200. But he has always denied any involvement with the incident.

Reillys lawyer Padraig OMuirigh said: I can confirm that legal proceedings have been issued against our client. Our client repudiates the claims made by the plaintiff in their entirety and the legal proceedings issued will be strenuously defended. My client has never been convicted of any offence in relation to the 1974 pub bombings.

Smiths lawsuit claims West Midlands Polices original investigation, which caught the wrong people and allowed the real bombers to escape justice, was negligent and in breach of its statutory duty.

The attack on the pubs was part of the Provisional IRAs mainland bombing campaign, which targeted civilians in England in an attempt to force the British government to accept a united Ireland.

As well as the bombs in the two pubs, a third device failed to go off but West Midlands Police managed to lose it.

Paddy Hill, Hugh Callaghan, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power, and John Walkerbetter known as the Birmingham Sixwere arrested and convicted on the basis of circumstantial evidence in 1975.

Sixteen years later, following an investigation by journalist and later MP Chris Mullin, their convictions were quashed at the Court of Appeal.

The Hambleton family is applying for legal aid in Northern Ireland to help fund the action but say they will crowdfund the money if unsuccessful.

Under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, which was unveiled in the Queens Speech but has yet to become law, new civil lawsuits relating to The Troubles would be null and void.

A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said, We can confirm we have received a civil writ.

PA Media contributed to this report.
E-cigarettes devices are displayed in a local store in Jersey City, New Jersey, on Jan. 2, 2020. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

FDA Bans JUUL E-Cigarettes

The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) banned all of JUUL Labs Incs products on June 23 from the market, delivering a blow to the popular e-cigarette company.

Todays action is further progress on the FDAs commitment to ensuring that all e-cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system products currently being marketed to consumers meet our public health standards, said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf in a news release.

According to the FDA, they found that JUULs application submitted over two years ago lacked sufficient evidence regarding the toxicology levels of the products, in particular, some of the evidence was found to be insufficient and conflicting, including those regarding the genotoxicity and potentially harmful chemicals in the companys e-liquid pods.

The FDA said that they have dedicated significant resources, to review most of JUULs products on the American market, and believe that a significant proportion of the products have played a disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping.

The American e-cigarette company, JUUL told The Epoch Times that they respectfully disagree with the FDAs findings and decision.

According to the companys email statement, JUUL continues to believe that the company has provided sufficient information and data based on high-quality research to address all issues raised by the agency.

They believe their application submitted over two years ago, appropriately characterized the toxicological profile of JUUL products, including comparisons to combustible cigarettes and other vapor products, and believe this data, along with the totality of the evidence, meets the statutory standard of being appropriate for the protection of the public health.

JUUL on its website mostly markets itself as an alternative for tobacco smoking consumers aged 21 and older. Purchases from the website require detailed personal information to deter access of adolescents and also limits customers to two JUUL vaping devices and 15 packs per month. The website displays anecdotal testimonies of its users who have given up cigarette smoking since taking up the e-cigarette.

Plans to Appeal

The company is currently seeking alternatives to keep its products on the market, including appealing the decision against the FDA.

The American Lung Association applauded the FDAs order on Thursday as long overdue and most welcome, and commended the FDA for following the science and denying Juul the ability to sell its products.

The health association blamed JUUL for being largely responsible for the youth vaping epidemic, alleging that the company used the same tactics as major cigarette companies to prey on youth, such as using flavors and price discounts and youth-focused market campaigns.

However, there are also significant numbers of voices dissenting the order. Guy Bentley, the director of consumer freedom at the Reason Foundation, is one of the dissenting voices.

By banning the most effective and popular e-cig on the market, theres no doubt FDAs choice will force a portion of current Juul users to go back to smoking, and an unknown number of smokers to never make the healthier switch to vaping, he wrote in a retweet of an article announcing the decision.

The swift market takedown of JUUL comes two days after the Biden administrations proposal to remove nicotine in most cigarettes.

On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services published a brief, outlining plans to set a lower ceiling for nicotine levels in cigarettes and other similar products.

The proposal, outlined in a brief agenda by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), would establish a lower ceiling for nicotine levels in cigarettes and some similar products.

Because tobacco-related harms primarily result from addiction to products that repeatedly expose users to toxins, FDA would take this action to reduce addictiveness to certain tobacco products, thus giving addicted users a greater ability to quit. This product standard would also help to prevent experimenters (mainly youth) from initiating regular use, and, therefore, from becoming regular smokers, officials with the FDA, stated in the agenda.

On the same day, the American Heart Association released a study, calling for action on increased e-cigarette use among adolescents, outlining potential long-term impacts on lungs, cardiovascular system, and mental health.

Altria, a large cigarette maker, told media outlets that the FDAs announcement marks the start of a long-term process, which must be science-based and account for potentially serious unintended consequences.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during speaks during a press conference at the University of Miami Health System Don Soffer Clinical Research Center in Miami on May 17, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Fit to Fight Casey DeSantis Launches New Veterans Program

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.Floridas First Lady Casey DeSantis, declaring herself fit to fight, rolled out an initiative to encourage veterans and former law enforcement officers to sign up to work as child protective investigators.

Im feeling good, and Im here, she told the crowd at Eglin Air Force Base in Pensacola on June 22. Im fit to fight, and thats a lot due to your encouragement.

Her initiativeContinue the Missionis in line with the child mental health and resiliency issues that have been the focus of her duties as governors wife. It is a program where veterans, former law enforcement officers and military spouses are encouraged to train as Child Protective Investigators (CPI) under the Department of Children and Families.

The job, which requires investigating child abuse and neglect cases, is a high-stress, emotional job that sees a high turnover, she explained.

Also, in conversations with veterans across the state, the first lady said that some feel they have lost their purpose.

They have been spending their entire life  doing something greater than themselves, and then they come back and some of them feel they have lost their purpose in life.

Our veterans, military spouses and former law enforcement officers are a group of men and women who have dedicated their lives to serving our country and keeping our communities safe, Casey DeSantis said. I am excited there is a new pathway for these heroes to Continue the Mission through rewarding career and mentorship opportunities protecting Floridas children. We are not only helping children across the state but also helping veterans and retired law enforcement.

The new program is a collaborative effort between the DCF and Floridas Disabled Veterans Association as well as local veterans organizations and other community groups across the state. They will be charged with the task of actively recruiting veterans, military spouses, and former law enforcement officers to become CPIs. A mentoring program as well as case managers will be some of the other opportunities available.

The states first lady has increased her public appearances over the last five weeks after taking a break while undergoing chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer.

Gov. Ron DeSantis first announced publicly that his wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2021, and in March 2022 declared that she was cancer-free.

At the Pensacola event, the first lady thanked people who had written her letters of encouragement and prayed for her recovery.

I want you all to know that it didnt go unnoticed, she said.

Before becoming Floridas first lady, Casey DeSantis, 41, worked for two Jacksonville television stations and was a producer and on-air host for the PGA Tour.

Returning to the campaign trail last month, she took time to say a few words about the governor, who is actively campaigning to serve the state for four more years.

I kick a good guy out the door every day  I couldnt be more proud of everything he has done.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (left) and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) shake hands right after their signing at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, China, on April 23, 2018. (Kyodo News/ Madoka Ikegami, Pool)

Foreign Minister Conjures Spectre of Cold War: Russia Returning East

Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has invoked the spectre of the Cold War, branding Russia and Chinas relationship as the new East.

In a media interview, Lavrov said Russia was turning away from the West in response to sanctions from developed countries.

We are working with the East, Lavrov told Russias NTV in St. Petersburg. Like we used to in the past, we are expanding our contacts with it, as before. These contacts are expanding in absolute terms, and Europe is no longer our priority, in relative terms.

Since the beginning of the year Russia has worked to expand its economic ties with China. On June 20, Reuters reported that Russian crude oil exports to China skyrocketed 55 percent to nearly 8.42 million tonnes, a substantial increase on May 2021 levels, according to data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs.

As a result, Russia has now overtaken Saudi Arabia to become the worlds top crude oil supplier. Additionally, exports of Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) to China have increased 56 percentequal to 400,000 tonneswhen compared to May 2021 levels.

Petrol trucks are parked near oil tanks at Volodarskaya LPDS production facility owned by Transneft oil pipeline operator in the village of Konstantinovo in the Moscow region, Russia, on June 8, 2022. (Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Lavrov also claimed the West was pushing its own global agenda.

The West wants to perpetuate U.S. leadership not only in Europe but also in Asia-Pacific (where they are creating AUKUS and QUAD), contain China and isolate Russia. It is a global approach, Lavrov said.

Meanwhile, the Chinese regime has also talked up the bilateral relationship, with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on June 16 saying there had been momentum to deepen ties on issues concerning sovereignty and security.

The New Eastern Alliance

Lavrovs invocation of the spectre of the Cold War is not just semantics, argues Elliot Abrams from the Council on Foreign Relations, who in a March article, said the alliance could be used to compete with the United States and its allies.

Consider the PutinXi Jinping joint statement made on February 4: The new inter-State relations between Russia and China are superior to political and military alliances of the Cold War era. Friendship between the two states has no limits, there are no forbidden areas of cooperation ' he wrote.

This is a clear announcement of a new alliance meant to go beyond the Cold Warin part by creating a partnership that will lead to a very different outcome this time.

Further, both countries have committed to a new version of the Brezhnev Doctrine, which originally proclaimed that a threat to any country within the Soviet Bloc was a threat to all.

The new joint statement included a pledge from Russia and China to stand against attempts by external forces to undermine security and stability in their common adjacent regions, intend to counter interference by outside forces in the internal affairs of sovereign countries under any pretext.

Russian Aggression a Gamechanger

The deepening ties between the countries comes as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) moves to update its force position at the coming NATO summit in Madrid on June 29.

Jens Stoltenberg, general-secretary of NATO, said on June 21 that the organisation was dealing with its biggest threat in decades.

We must set out NATOs response for the longer term. At the summit, we will take decisions to make NATO even stronger and more agile, in a world that is more dangerous and more competitive, he told the defence minister of NATO nations.

Russias aggression is a game-changer, he added. So NATO must maintain credible deterrence and strong defence.

In an interview with Politico on June 22, Stoltenberg said the group would be adapting to the China threat as well.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gestures as he addresses media representatives at a press conference following a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on April 7, 2022. (Francois Walschaerts/AFP via Getty Images)

We will address China and the consequences for our security. I think to understand that for NATO this is a big step because, in the current Strategic Concept, Chinas not mentioned with a single word, he said. The Strategic Concept is a guiding document that outlines NATOs purpose and fundamental security tasks.

We dont regard China as an adversary, but we need to realise that the rise of China, the fact that theyre investing heavily in new modern military equipment, including scaling significantly their nuclear capabilities, investing in key technologies, and trying also to control critical infrastructure in Europe coming closer to us, makes it important for us also to address that.
A police officer stands guard before the closing session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on March 10, 2022. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Forget Hard Power and Soft Power, China Is Using a Different Type of Power

Commentary

Within the realm of geopolitics, the word power is synonymous with acts of aggression, including military might and harsh sanctions.

This is known as hard power. Its lesser discussed sibling, soft power, shies away from coercion and threats. Instead, proponents of the softer approach choose the carrot over the stick; they prefer to shape preferences through appeal and attraction.

In addition to the hard and soft variants, theres another type of power thats worth discussing. Its called sharp power, a type of influence that relies on manipulative tactics. Of course, one cannot discuss manipulation without discussing China, a country that excels at using sharp power.

Coined by a Spanish journalist named Juan Pablo Cardenal, sharp power involves the weaponization of information and Machiavellian-like games. According to the political scholar Jacques deLisle, authoritarian regimes employ sharp power to pierce and penetrate political, media, and social environments of targeted countries, to manipulate their politics and, at times, to erode their political institutions.

This is precisely what Chinamore specifically, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)excels at doing. If in doubt, let me point you in the direction of Hong Kong, where free speech no longer exists and puppet politicians reign supreme.

Interestingly, Cardenal, the father of sharp power, coined the term while residing in Hong Kong. Everyday experiences, as one author famously put it, fast become the doorway to new thoughts and inspirations. Cardenals worldview appears to have been profoundly shaped by his time in Hong Kong.

A sign is set up at a campaign location during primary elections in Hong Kong on July 12, 2020. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images)

According to Christopher Walker, a scholar well-versed in the intricacies of sharp power, authoritarian states like China and Russia now use sharp power to project their influence internationally, with the objectives of limiting free expression, spreading confusion, and distorting the political environment within democracies.

For both China and Russia, the use of sharp power, which involves a blending of hard power and soft power, has proven to be highly effectiveespecially in Africa, the fastest growing continent in the world.

Sharp power, as Walker noted, involves the use of manipulation to sap the integrity of independent institutions. By identifying and exploiting the asymmetry between free and unfree systems, sharp power, according to Walker, allows authoritarian regimes to limit free expression and to distort political environments in democracies.

For further comment on the matter, I reached out to the Geneva School of Diplomacys Preethi Amaresh, a researcher who has dedicated most of her professional life to studying sharp power.

She told me that China, being a non-democratic system, is aggressively using sharp power in Africa, Australia, Taiwan, the U.S., etc.

I asked her to outline some of the ways the CCP uses sharp power in these countries. China, she responded, is using sharp power by spooking democracies, by carrying out land grabs in several countries, including both the Arctic and Antarctic regions, through its Belt and Road initiative, as well as apps surveillance, by interfering in internal politics of other countries, and through Confucius institutes.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (3rd R) holding a meeting with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa (3rd L) after an agreements signing ceremony between the two countries in Apia, Samoa, on May 28, 2022. (Vaitogi Asuisui/Samoa Observer/AFP via Getty Images)

The scholar pointed me in the direction of an article she wrote back in 2020. In the piece, aptly titled The Art of War: Chinas Sharp Power Strategy, Amaresh warned readers that China is aggressively pushing global narratives defending its foreign policy objectives and policies at home, all in the hopes of advancing its communist agenda.

She also discussed the fact that Chinese state-linked partners had entered into a partnership with the Discovery Channel, an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Why? To collaborate on an international film co-production. Titled China: Time of Xi, the film had a massive reach of millions of viewers across 37 countries in Asia, she wrote.

As is clear to see, in its attempt to control the overarching narrative, the CCP is being helped by powerful entities in the West.

I asked Amaresh if she had witnessed an evolution in how the CCP uses sharp power. She told me that the CCP is constantly adding more strings to its rapidly expanding bowthink wolf warrior diplomacy, debt-trap diplomacy, mask diplomacy, and salami slicing.

The latter is a superefficient strategy that sees the CCP use minor provocations, none of which are significant enough to trigger an all-out war. When added up, however, they have a significant impact on the sovereignty of a rival nation, like a death by a thousand cuts.

Amaresh believes China wants to bring back its civilization and its rich, soft power to the forefront of the world through several initiatives such as the Silk Road, the leveraging of Mandarin Chinese, land grabs, etc.

China, she said, is now considered the new imperial dynasty, and Xi Jinping, the current emperor, is the countrys leader for life.

As China seeks to become the dominant superpower, expect sharp power to become an even more potent weapon.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The international adversaries the United States faces havent changed much since the Cold War. While the technology has evolved, the unconventional war tactics they use have remained largely the same. Now, as Russia threatens war beyond Ukraine, Iran and North Korea renew their threats; and as the Chinese regime threatens Taiwan, the United States is again faced with the possibility of war.

Yet, all of these nations have employed methods of war by other means. And the question remains of how the United States should respond. Special training programs in the U.S. military practice to face these types of threatsand among them is the Navys Fighter Weapons School, known as TOPGUN.

To learn more, we speak with James Robb, former TOPGUN commander, retired Navy admiral, and president of the National Training and Simulation Association.

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Police tape surrounds a scene associated with a suspicious death at another property on Farmer Crescent in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, on Sept. 21, 2012. (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

4 Injured in New Zealand Mass Stabbing Attack

A New Zealand man injured four people in a random fast-paced mass stabbing attack with a large kitchen knife on June 23 before police arrived and apprehended him.

The victims and the attacker, who also was wounded, suffered moderate injuries, police said.

The man began stabbing people in Murrays Bay, Auckland, at around 11 a.m. local time, then walked to Mairangi Bay, where members of the public helped stop the rampage, including an individual who reportedly used a crutch to trip the offender.

Waitemata Police District Commander Superintendent Naila Hassan told reporters that if the public hadnt intervened, the attack could have ended a lot worse.

A number of members of the public were following him, and eventually, one of them intervened, she said. It couldve been a lot worse, and thats why I really need to acknowledge the bravery of those members of the public that intervened to bring this to a conclusion.

Hassan acknowledged that the incident was extremely traumatic for the victims and sought to assure the public that it was an isolated incident. She also emphasised that the attack was random and not a hate crime.

The victims were of different gender, ethnicity, and age, Hassan said.

The alleged attacker is currently in custody under police guard at Auckland City Hospital and will be undergoing further assessments.

He Just Started Running at Me

A local woman told the New Zealand Herald that she had run away screaming for help after a man with a big knife chased her off Murrays Bay beach.

I was wearing headphones and went to take the headphones off to talk to him [when he approached], because thats what I thought he wanted, she said.

However, the womans gut instinct told her something was wrong, putting her on edge, then he just started running at me, she said.

The woman immediately called the police when she managed to shake the man off her tracks. The police arrived 10 minutes later, but she didnt witness the arrest.

Another witness said the man chased after a young girl, who screamed.

We thought she was being silly, she was shrieking, she told Stuff News. He stabbed two people, totally random.  It all happened very quickly.

He then tried to stab another teenage girl, but she got away.

Police will be increasing their local presence as a result of the incident.

The attack is the latest in a string of incidents in New Zealand, in what has been called a significant crime wave.
Gascon Blames Misinformation for Public Criticism of Policy Decisions

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon defended his policy decision late Wednesday night in the 2009 case of Victor Bibiano, a juvenile charged with a double murder, who was released from serving a life sentence and went on to commit another murder.

At the time, Gascon declined to move Bibianos case from being tried as a juvenile to an adult.

Since Proposition 57 was passed by voters six years ago, all minors convicted in an adult court would go through another hearing to determine if they should be tried again as an adult or moved to a juvenile court. Bibianos case was subsequently sent to a juvenile court.

In a webinar organized by the district attorneys office June 22, Gascon defended his progressive reform decisions, and said recent anecdotal reports cant be the basis for dismantling the work hes done. In 2020, he instituted a ban on convicting minors as adults if the crime was committed while they were younger than 18.

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon defends his progressive reform decisions in a webinar organized by the district attorneys office on June 22, 2022. (Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Bibiano was 17 when he committed the double murder alongside two other suspects. He served eight years of a life sentence before being released under Gascons directive in 2021.

During his time in prison, there were no serious violations, Gascon said. So, there was nothing about the history of this individual before he was convicted of a double murder, or since he was brought back to dealing with the restrictions under Prop. 57 for us to be able to show that he was not eligible for a criminal investigation back in 2009.

Bibiano was arrested in connection with the killing of Mario Rodriguez, 42, in April. Rodrigeuz was found shot in an encampment in Pacoima.

The Association of Deputy District Attorneys, a coalition representing more than 1,000 district attorneys in the county, quickly condemned Gascons remarks in a statement.

No exceptions or individual factors were considered, said Eric Siddall, vice president of the association. No matter how heinous the crime, no matter how irredeemable the criminal, no matter the consequences of the policy, that person would remain in juvenile court.

Gascon, elected in 2020 on a promise to reform the criminal justice system, has come under heavy criticism following the slaying of two El Monte police officers last week. The suspect in that case, Justin Flores, was also released per Gascons directives last year in a separate criminal case. Flores also had an extensive criminal history.

The El Monte City Council passed a unanimous vote of no confidence in Gascon on June 22 during a special meeting. El Monte joins more than 30 other cities who have voted the same.

Gascon today wants the public to believe that he did all this analysis. He wants the public to ignore his administrations history of bad decision-making. He wants the public to forget about all the other absurd results caused by his policies, Siddall said.

But Gascon blamed public perception on misinformation about such cases involving juveniles.

This is one of those cases, where misinformation is very prevalent, he said. And you have people that really are not familiar with a case making legal opinions. Frankly, people that do not understand the law, which I know it may sound to some of you over complicated, but there is a tremendous difference between juvenile law and adult law in this particular case, under the current law.

The recall effort to oust Gascon has surpassed the needed signatures ahead of the July 6 deadline, but they are currently adding more signatures to cushion any losses once signatures are thrown out during the verification process.
Jackson trucking company owner and lifelong 10th Congressional District resident Mike Collins talks to a TV reporter after his GOP runoff victory on June 21, 2022, in Jackson, Georgia. (Jeff Louderback/Epoch Times)

Georgias 4 Congressional Runoffs Produce Varied Results

Among the four Georgia congressional runoffs on June 21, two produced surprising results while two others saw candidates backed by former President Donald Trump lose.

Every race is crucial for both parties, as House Republicans are striving to net five seats in the 435-member chamber to regain the majority they lost in 2018.

In suburban Atlantas 7th Congressional District, Mark Gonsalves easily prevailed over Michael Corbin after finishing second to Corbin in the May 24 primary.

The 2nd District saw a similar finish in the runoff as Chris West topped Jeremy Hunt, after Hunt was the top vote-getter on May 24 and West placed second.

Trump-endorsed Jake Evans fell to Dr. Rich McCormick in the 6th District, which covers Atlantas northern suburbs.

(Left) Former president Donald Trump; (Right) Vernon Jones. (Courtesy of Georgia House of Representatives)

All those races were overshadowed by the 10th District, where trucking company owner Mike Collins, who is endorsed by Georgias Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, routed Trump-supported Vernon Jones, a former Democrat who calls himself the black Donald Trump.

At The Social Goat Tavern in the heart of historic downtown Covington, supporters of Jones gathered as results for the 10th Districts GOP runoff streamed in around 8 p.m.

The numbers werent favorable for the candidate, who gained national attention when, as a Democratic Georgia state representative, he publicly endorsed Trump in 2020.

Jones, who switched to the GOP in 2021, secured a stamp of approval from Trump in the race to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) when he decided to run against incumbent Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

Jones finished second to Collins in the May 24 primary, advancing to the June 21 runoff, but it was evident from the moment the initial results were posted that Joness bid to earn the Republican nomination in the heavily red district would fall short.

Cant Never Could

About 25 miles south, in Jackson, the mood at The Brickery was livelier.

Collins, who was born and raised in the Butts County seat, celebrated with friends, family members, and supporters, as a sprawling American flag that flew at his trucking company adorned one wall near a sign that featured his grandfathers motto, Cant never could.

Georgias 10th District is a conservative stronghold that includes 18 counties ranging from the outskirts of metropolitan Atlanta to the South Carolina line.

In the May 24 primary, Collins gained 25.6 percent of the vote while Jones finished second with 21.6 percent in a field of eight candidates. On June 21, Collins received 74.6 percent. He will face Tabitha Johnson-Green in the general election on Nov. 8. Green defeated Jessica Fore in the Democratic primary.

The origins of why the 10th District race became nationally prominent can be traced back to 2020, when Jones was a Georgia Democratic state representative who publicly endorsed Trump for reelection.

Mike Collins, endorsed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, defeated Donald Trump-backed Vernon Jones, in the 10th Congressional District runoff on June 21. (Courtesy of Collins for Congress).

Shunned by fellow Democrats, Jones switched to the GOP at an event in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, hours before the U.S. Capitol breach. He initially ran against Kemp in the GOP gubernatorial primary until he dropped out at Trumps urging so former Sen. David Perdue could have a clearer path to victory.

Perdue lost to Kemp by around 50 points in the May 24 primary, while Jones finished second to Collins in the 10th District primary, leading to a runoff, since Collins didnt surpass the required 50 percent of the vote.

On June 20, Trump released a recorded message to voters in the district saying that Jones has proven time and time again hes with the MAGA movement.

Collins received the backing of all six primary candidates who didnt advance to the runoff, along with Kemp. Hes the son of the late former Republican Congressman Mac Collins.

At multiple campaign stops, Collins called himself unapologetically pro-Trump, an America First agenda candidate, [and] conservative to the core.

At his watch party in Jackson, the town hes called home his entire life, Collins talked about his familys multigenerational roots in Butts County and the 10th District, and how his small-town roots and trucking industry background reflect the work ethic he will take to Washington if he wins in November.

Henry Collins, Mike Collinss grandfather, started a concrete pipe manufacturing company after World War II in the Jackson area, and his son Michael Mac Collins partnered with his father to start a business making precast concrete septic tanks in 1962.

That led to another business supplying concrete for construction, which included trucks delivering concrete and dump trucks hauling sand and gravel.

Strong and Not Afraid

Collins Trucking landed a contract with pulp and paper giant Georgia-Pacific to transport pine and hardwood logs to various mills in Georgia, which it still does today.

Mike Collins was raised in the family business and eventually created Collins Industries, which transports building products and now owns the group of companies.

Mac Collins was a Republican member of the U.S. House from 1993 to 2005. He died in 2018.

His daddy was a wonderful man, Jackson resident Willie Norsworthy said at The Brickery on June 21.

[Mike Collins] is a man we trust, and he is not afraid to stand up for American values. With what the left is doing to this country, we need someone who is strong and not afraid.

Collins barely lost to Hice in the 2014 GOP congressional primary. He eventually became chair of the Butts County Republican Party and helped other candidates to get elected.

When Hice announced he was running for secretary of state, Collins entered a crowded field.

I thought Jody would be in there until the cows came home, Collins told The Epoch Times at his watch party.

My dad told me it is important that people trust you and like you. This is not just a job for me. This is my home. These are good people, some Ive known all my life. We need representatives in Washington who are firm on protecting the America First platform and saving it from more damage from [President Joe] Biden.

Collins said that he walked six to seven miles a day knocking on doors in neighborhoods and towns across the district for several months.

I know this district. We deliver to all of the towns and have for years, Collins said. I know the people and they know me. I owe it to the people to take the time to listen to them.

Opposite Results

Two runoffs produced significantly different results from the May 24 GOP primary.

In the runoff election for the 2nd District, West, an attorney and Georgia Air National Guard officer, defeated Hunt, a heavily funded West Point graduate and former U.S. Army captain. West accumulated 51.3 percent of the vote, followed by Hunt at 48.7 percent.

In the May 24 Republican primary, Hunt tallied 37 percent of the ballots, with West in second place at 30 percent.

In the general election, West will oppose Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), who first took office in 1993. Bishop received 93 percent of the vote in the May 24 Democratic primary.

In another runoff on June 21, Gonsalves defeated Corbin in a landslide to secure the Republican nomination for the 7th District.

Gonsalves received 70 percent of the vote followed by Corbin at 30 percent. He will face Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) in the general election.

Corbin led a five-candidate field with 41.2 percent of the vote in the May 24 primary. Gonsalves finished second at 27.3 percent.

Carpetbaggers Lose

Two of the congressional runoffs featured races where candidates were accused of being carpetbaggers, which is historically a term used by Southerners to describe Northerners who moved to Southern states for their own political, financial, and/or social gain.

In the 2nd District race, West charged that Hunt was a carpetbagger hand-selected by outsiders to challenge Bishop, the entrenched Democratic incumbent.

The 28-year-old Hunt is a Fox News commentator who left Yale Law School and moved to Columbus, Georgia, to enter the race. Hunt registered to vote in Muscogee County in February, according to voting records from the Georgia secretary of states office.

Born and raised in south Georgia, the 38-year-old West earned a bachelors degree and masters degree at Valdosta State University in southern Georgia before completing his law degree.

In a statement after the May 24 primary, West said, We advanced to this runoff despite being outspent 111 by Jeremy Hunt and his Washington, D.C., lobbyists and special interest donors who flooded this district with their crony, carpetbagging money.

Voters of middle and southwest Georgia know a phony campaign when they see one, West added.

In the 10th District, Collins said in a February tweet about Jones: The voters of GA10 dont want a corrupt, carpetbagging, lifelong Democrat from DeKalb County. They want a pro-Trump, America First fighter whos lived, worked, and raised a family in the districtits why were going to win.

Jones was born in North Carolina, served as a Georgia state representative in the 71st District from 1993 to 2001 and in the 91st District from 2017 to 2021, and was CEO of DeKalb County. None of those areas are in the 10th District, Collins and his supporters pointed out.

In a June 20 tweet, Collins invited guests to attend his watch party in Jackson and added: Everyone welcome. Except Democrats. Democrats are meeting over at the other guys event, just outside the 10th District of course.

The other guys event referred to Joness watch party in Covington, which is part of Georgias 4th District.

Trump Loses, But Also Wins

Though Jones and Evans lost in landslides, Trump still prevailed as Collins and McCormick are staunch supporters of the former presidents America First platform.

Georgia has posed a problem for Trump, as five of six Republican primary candidates he has backed in the state have lost.

Overall, Trump is 12310 in endorsements in the 2022 Republican primaries, including 63 in governors races, 120 in U.S. Senate races, and 1026 in congressional district races.

Only Herschel Walker and state Sen. Burt Jones prevailed in races for the U.S. Senate and lieutenant governor, respectively.

Jones and Evans extensively promoted the Trump endorsement during their campaigns.

While Trump was outspoken in his support of Jones throughout the primary and leading up to the runoff, the former president was passively involved with his backing of Evans.

Trumps political action committee gave Evans around $10,000. Trump spoke at a tele-rally for Evans on June 20.

Collins, at his watch party on June 21, reinforced his commitment to a pro-Trump agenda..

Were going to fight for our constitutional rights, were going to go up, and were going to cut spending. Were securing our borders, Collins said.

Were going to fight for energy independence, and were going to get the federal government out of your way.

Leading up to the runoff, Collins told Henry County Republicans that they should vote for him if [theyre] looking for somebody that is truly, unapologetically pro-Trump, an America First agenda candidate, conservative to the core, [and] an outsider [whos] never been elected [to] anything in [his] life.

McCormick told a crowd in Cumming that he received a congratulatory call from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and said hes got a job to do as the nominee.

We want to make sure this nation turns out to be the same nation that gave [us] the amazing opportunities that weve had for centuries nowthat people continue to come here for those unique opportunities that only exist in America, McCormick said.

Thats what were fighting for.
Giant Sunspot Currently Facing Earth and Still Growing Capable of Emitting Powerful Solar Flares

A fast-growing giant sunspot that can emit solar flares has more than doubled in size in recent days and is currently facing Earth, according to experts.

Sunspots are dark areas of strong magnetic fields on the suns surface. They appear dark because they are much colder than other parts of the suns surface, having formed at areas where magnetic fields are particularly strong, according to NASA.

Because of the strong magnetic field, magnetic pressure increases while the surrounding atmospheric pressure decreases, resulting in the lower temperatures.

Sunspots are also associated with eruptive disturbances such as solar flares, which are fast moving eruptions of radiation, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which is when large masses of plasma and highly magnetized particles violently eject from the sun. Flares move at the speed of light and take about eight minutes to reach earth, while CMEs can take three to four days to reach earth.

The fast-growing sunspot noted by experts is known as AR3038.

Yesterday, sunspot AR3038 was big. Today, its enormous, Tony Phillips, the author of SpaceWeather.com wrote on Wednesday. The fast-growing sunspot has doubled in size in only 24 hours, Phillips added.

The expert noted that the magnetic field surrounding AR3038 could potentially blast M-class solar flares, or medium-sized flares, towards Earth.

Photos from NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory taken on June 22 show the sun with numerous sunspots, with AR3038 looking particularly big after evolving over the past few days.

The sunspot has doubled in size each day for the past three days and is roughly 2.5 times the size of Earth, C. Alex Young, associate director for science in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, said in an email to USA Today.

No Cause for Concern

However, Rob Steenburgh, the acting lead of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Space Weather Forecast Office has said there is no need to panic, noting that sunspots naturally grow in size.

This is what sunspots do, he told USA Today. Over time, generally, theyll grow. They go through stages, and then they decay.

Young also noted that while the sunspot is producing flares, it does not have the complexity for the largest flares and there is only a 30 percent chance that it will create medium-sized flares. The chances it will create large flares are even smaller at 10 percent, the expert said.

W. Dean Pesnell, the project scientist of the Solar Dynamics Observatory, also offered reassurance that there is no need for concern, telling the publication that AR3038 is a modest-sized active region that has not grown abnormally rapidly and is still somewhat small in area.

As of June 22, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), which monitors solar flares, has not issued any warnings for them.

However, if solar flares such as an X1-class solar flare are released from the sun, they can potentially create disruptions to communication satellites and long-distance cables here on earth, wreaking havoc with the worlds internet.

Another expert, Andres Munoz-Jaramillo, lead scientist at the SouthWest Research Institute in San Antonio, also stressed that there is no need for concern, explaining: I want to emphasize there is no need to panic, and that the sunspots happen all the time.

We are prepared and doing everything we can to predict and mitigate their effects. For the majority of us, we dont need to lose sleep over it, Munoz-Jaramillo said.
The panel 'Leaders for Europe's Digital Decade' at the 2022 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on May 25, 2022. The yearly meeting takes place from May 22 to 26 with heads of governments and economic leaders. (Eric Lalmand/Belga Mag/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Global Influence Shifting From the UN to the World Economic Forum

Influencers from all walks of life align with the powerful Davos-based institution

Commentary

Is the World Economic Forum replacing the United Nations as the worlds most influential institution?

When you compare the two in terms of power, influence, and location, it sure looks that way.

The Post-War Liberal Economic Order

Recall that the United States led the U.N. foundation in 1945 after World War II. The U.S. was followed by the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, China, and France.

Dominated by the United States, the U.N. quickly became the most powerful and influential institution in the world. It made perfect sense that it would be based in New York, the most important city of the most powerful and influential nation on Earth. Furthermore, by its very name, the U.N. is based on the recognition that the nation-state is the basis of international order.

That makes sense, doesnt it?

Nations have relations with other nations. The United States has been the leader of nations for most of the U.N.s years of existence, instituting the liberal economic order that led to the greatest expansion of wealth around the world in history.

There are, of course, U.N. organizations and non-government organizations (NGOs) that act for the U.N. in various capacities. But the key points are that as the global leader of nations, the world came to the United Statesto the U.N. building in New Yorkto solve problems and disputes between nations.

A person walks past flags outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City on May 20, 2021. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

But is the U.N. still so important?

Not so much.

World Moving Toward Digital Authoritarianism

In fact, its more accurate to say that the world is rapidly moving away from the U.N.and particularly U.S. leadershipbecause it has simply failed to live up to or even promote or defend the traditional values and ideals upon which it was founded. Those simple facts are clear and leave one to conclude that the United States is being marginalized as a global military, economic, technological, and cultural force.

Led by Klaus Schwab, the World Economic Forum (WEF), based in Davos, Switzerland, has stepped into the power and leadership vacuum left by Americas shrinking influence.

A new, digital authoritarian international order is emerging, with huge implications for the world and the United States.

First, its notable that the WEF is a European-based organization. This clearly represents a power shift to Europe and the European Union, the worlds largest economic bloc.

The WEF Steps Up and the World Follows

Whats more, the power, comprehensive reach, and prestige of the WEF are undeniable. The support of established technology leaders and emerging tech firms around the world bring an unrivaled source of technological power to Davos. The list of WEF corporate partners is all-encompassing.

The WEF also boasts a posse of Young Global Leaders alumni, which is a whos who of political leaders around the world and includes Emmanuel Macron of France, Justin Trudeau of Canada, and Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, to name a few.

Theological leaders such as Pastor Rick Warren, a plethora of cultural icons, and 100 of the top corporations worldwide are also on the WEF roster.

Sadly, they all seem to be on board with the WEF vision for a Great Reset.

The Great Rest Agenda

The agenda that Schwab and his WEF are pushing on the rest of the worldand they are pushing, by the wayis completely against every freedom, every right, and even every sense of nationhood that America stands for.

Thats a very bad idea. Its bad news for those who love freedom and self-determination.

World Economic Forum founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab speaks during a ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 20, 2020. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

The proposed new world order is based on top-down governance comprised of stakeholder capitalism, which is more of a fascist model, targeting outcomes dictated by governments rather than responsibilities to shareholders. The upshot is that it replaces our notion of capitalism in favor of leadership capitalism that leaves shareholders out, focusing near absolute power over businesses.

Compliance with new economic, political, medical, and speech lawsand the enforcement of themfigure prominently in the world view of those in the WEF. More to the point, the WEF has the backing and cooperation of the worlds more important companies, leaders, lawmakers, medical, business, and trade organizations.

A quick rundown of just a few of the ideas driving the WEF toward global dominance in its Great Reset paints a very dreary picture.

A Dystopian Vision on Its Way?

What would the WEFs vision of a global society look like?

For one, it would demand digital cooperation, which means meet(ing) the needs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution while seeking to advance global analysis, dialogue and standards for digital governance and digital inclusiveness. That quote is from Schwab, as are all the others to follow.

And digital governance? What might that be?

Apparently, it means governance by digital cooperation and is needed to meet the needs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

And what does the Fourth Industrial Revolution entail?

Among many other things, it could mandate that human beings be digitally tagged, tracked, monitored, and controlled by the elites, without any choice or control over your own body. Its the blending of the biological with the digital to create a hybrid human life form.

Talk about pursuing strange flesh.

Thats everybody, by the way, all of us in the world. It ties nicely with the WEFs agenda of public and private cooperation, involving top-down control over all businesses big and small.

In short, the WEFs imposition of technology, green energy, controlled media, and the stripping away of traditional cultural norms to build a global society of transhumanism, digitally-altered human beings, and rule by the elite is the goal.

Its all there in black and white. Thats what they want to do, and the United States has, apparently, no say in the matter.

Sounds like a complete and utter nightmare to me.

I dont know about you, but I feel better knowing that God is the One who is really in charge and not Klaus Schwab.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Warning signs for shark sightings remain in Long Beach, California, on May 16, 2017. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

Good Samaritans Help California Swimmer Attacked by Shark

A California man who was in the water at Lovers Point Beach in Pacific Grove was rescued by good Samaritans after he was attacked by a shark on Wednesday, police said.

The adult male swimmer sustained significant injuries from the shark bite and was transported to Natividad Hospital by [American Medical Rescue], said Pacific Grove Police Department Chief Cathy Madalone in a statement on Wednesday.

The beach will be closed until Saturday under State Parks protocol, police said.

Pacific Grove Police, the Monterey Fire Department, American Medical Response, and State Parks responded to the incident which occurred at around 10:35 a.m. on Wednesday.

A drone was launched to search for the shark out of an abundance of caution by the Monterey and Seaside fire departments, but Madalone said there were so far no additional sightings.

The police chief thanked the good Samaritans who took immediate action and personal risk to help the swimmer at Lovers Point Beach.

The department also thanked the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

We want to express our gratitude and appreciation to the good Samaritans that took immediate action and personal risk to assist the swimmer, Madalone said.

We send our prayers and thoughts to the swimmer and their family, she added.

Video Shows Rescue

Jill Hannley identified the swimmer as her friend, 60-year-old retired professor Stephen Bruemmer, in an interview with local Fox affiliate KION.

Hannley relayed information on Bruemmers condition, saying that he was lucky but was in for a long recovery.

The Epoch Times has not independently verified the identity of the swimmer.

It was a very large shark. Luckily none of his blood vessels were intruded upon but his femur was broke [sic] and they were able to fix it, she said, recalling the information she says she received in a text message.

Hes not going to lose any limbs. Hes going to survive. Its just going to be a long, long recovery.

KION published two short videos taken from a nearby beach house that appear to the show good Samaritans on paddle boards making their way to Bruemmers location in the water soon after the attack.

The second video shows an individual swimming atop a paddle board, while towing a second paddle board on which is another individual lying down. Behind the towed paddle board there appears to be a third individual kicking from the rear.

They swim to shore where three more individuals meet them and help bring Bruemmer ashore.
Pro-abortion protesters demonstrate in front of the Supreme Court building amid the ruling that could overturn Roe v. Wade and other court decisions in Washington on June 13, 2022. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

GOP Introduces Legislation to Criminalize Leaks of Confidential Information From SCOTUS

In light of a leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion that drew protesters to justices homes, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Thursday introduced a bill that would make it a crime to leak confidential information from the nations highest court.

The bill (pdf), titled Stop Supreme Court Leakers Act, aims to protect a range of information from leaks, including draft and final Supreme Court opinions yet to be released to the public, internal notes on cases heard by the court, communication among justices and their employees about pending cases, personal information of justices that is not otherwise legally available to the public, and any other information designated to be confidential by the Chief Justice.

Under the bill, any unauthorized disclosure of these information would be punishable by up to 10 years in jail, along with a $10,000 fine. The offender would also be stripped from profits derived from the leak, which could include book deals or TV contributor contracts.

The recent leak was an attempt to publicly intimidate justices and undermine the integrity of the Courtall while putting lives at risk, Cassidy said in a press release. My bill holds leakers accountable and takes away any hopes of profiting off their crimes.

Cassidy is joined by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) as cosponsors. They both agree that last months leak of the draft opinion on abortion access has harmed the Supreme Court as an institution.

The leak of a draft opinion of [Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health] not only undermined the integrity of our judicial system, but also continues to spur threats of violence against Supreme Court Justices and crisis pregnancy centers, Rubio said, referring to the alleged assassination attempt of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attacks on pregnancy resource centers across the country.

Nicholas John Roske, a 26-year-old California man, is facing a charge of attempted murder after his arrest near Kavanaughs Maryland home. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the man allegedly told police officers who detained him that he was there to kill a specific Supreme Court Justice. He was equipped with a pistol, a knife, pepper spray, zip ties, and other burglary tools.

Roske also allegedly told the police that he was upset about the leaked draft opinion, which shows that the Supreme Courts conservative majority is likely to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion on a national level.

Meanwhile, a growing number of pregnancy centers that offer maternal care and counseling services for expecting mothers have been vandalized, including one owned by pro-life organization CompassCare in a Buffalo, New York, suburb that suffered a firebomb attack. Arsonists of the Buffalo clinic left the message Jane Was Here, a reference to the pro-abortion group Janes Revenge, which ultimately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Jim Harden, the CEO of CompassCare, compares the violent attacks on pro-life service centers with the torching and smashing of Jewish-owned properties across Germany under the Nazi regime.

This is the pro-abortion Kristallnacht, Harden said in a statement after the Buffalo firebombing. Because of this act of violence, the needs of women facing unplanned pregnancy will go unmet and babies will die.
Less than three percent of Australians with mental health conditions living in residential aged care facilities access government-subsidised mental health services, an analysis by South Australian researchers has found.

The lead author of the study and psychology registrar and epidemiologist from Flinders University, Dr. Monica Cations, said aged care residents are four times more likely to suffer from depression and nine times more likely to have anxiety disorders than the general population of elderly Australians.

Despite this, less than three percent of residents with a mental health condition in our cohort accessed funding subsidies for mental health services provided by GPs, psychiatrists, or allied health professionals, in contrast to almost 10 percent of the general population, she said in a Flinders University release on Wednesday.

Analysing data from the Registry of Senior Australians on all non-indigenous people with mental health conditions living in almost three thousand aged care facilities between 2012 and 2017, the study found there were only minimal increases in access across different categories over the period, with only 2.4 percent accessing primary mental health care services in 2016-17 and just 2.3 percent accessing psychiatry services.

Cations said people who have dementia were less likely than those without the condition to access any of the services other than psychiatry ones.

The under-identification and lack of non-pharmacological treatment of mental illness among people with dementia is a long-documented problem, partly explained by a widespread misbelief that people with dementia cannot benefit from non-pharmacological therapies, she said.

The Need for Equitable Access to Mental Health Services

The studys authors acknowledge that residents at the aged care facilities may have received mental health care services not captured by the teams dataset but stress that those living in residential aged care should have equitable access to public services.

Mental health care is a pillar of the publicly-funded health care system in Australia, and the low use of publicly-funded services among those living in residential aged care is indicative of major barriers to service access and uptake, Cations said.

She went on to say that many of these barriers were raised in submissions to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety and include lack of expertise among the workforce, complex eligibility requirements, transport costs, and low priority given to cases in which care was not likely to be disrupted or that were not distressing for residents and staff.

Based on the recommendations of the Royal Commissions final report and considering how best to implement them, the authors of the study recommend permanently broadening eligibility criteria for Medicare access, upskilling existing staff, embedding mental health workers into aged care services, clearer referral pathways, and vigilant monitoring of programs to ensure quality and adequate investment.

Our study indicates a need for significant and sustained organisational, policy and funding changes to improve access to mental health care for aged care residents, Cations said.

Titled Government-subsidised mental health services are underused in Australian residential aged care facilities, the study has been accepted for publication in the journal Australian Health Review.
A paramedic holds a newborn boy at Mytilene port, on the northeastern Aegean Sea island of Lesbos, Greece, on June 22, 2022. (Panagiotis Balaskas/AP Photo)

Greece: Migrant Woman Gives Birth on Uninhabited Islet

LESBOS, GreeceAuthorities in Greece say a woman from Eritrea has given birth on an uninhabited rocky islet after traveling with other migrants from nearby Turkey.

A coast guard official said 29 Eritreans24 men and five womenwere spotted Wednesday during a patrol near the eastern Greek island of Lesbos. One of the women had just given birth.

They were also rescued and taken to Lesbos, with the mother and baby receiving hospital treatment.

They were spotted by a patrol and are all in good health, the coast guard official said on condition of anonymity because an official announcement hadnt yet been released.

The mother and the baby are also in good health, the official said.

A migrant woman carries a newborn boy at Mytilene port, on the northeastern Aegean Sea island of Lesbos, Greece, on June 22, 2022. (Panagiotis Balaskas/AP Photo)

The migrants were found on the islet of Barbalias, about three kilometers (two miles) east of Lesbos and around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Turkish coast. Local officials said the baby was a boy.

Over the weekend, the coast guard rescued 108 migrants from a leaking and rudderless sailboat near the holiday island of Mykonos.
Gun Rights Groups Respond to Supreme Courts Ruling on Concealed Carry

Following the Supreme Courts landmark ruling that struck down certain laws regarding whether Americans have the right to conceal-carry a firearm, gun rights groups celebrated.

In a 63 majority opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the court agrees that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individuals right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home. The case in question, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, can be considered the first major Second Amendment case to be heard by the Supreme Court in at least a decade. New Yorks law had required an individual to show they had proper cause to obtain a concealed carry license.

Gun Owners of America (GOA) hailed the decision, saying that New Yorks laws allowed government entities to review and routinely denyat their discretionapplicants who applied for a concealed carry permit.

Other than New York, several other states and Washington, D.C., had similar may issue laws, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

This is a tremendous victory for all American gun owners who cherish their God-given right to protect themselves and their families, said Erich Pratt, GOAs vice president, in a statement. At GOA, we proudly fight to overturn restrictive gun laws, and we are excited to see may-issue concealed carry laws permanently relegated to the history books. After all, allowing the government to decide which citizens are permitted to carry a firearm outside the home downgrades our God-given rights to mere privileges.

And the National Rifle Association (NRA) issued a similar declaration, noting the ruling Thursday means that the right to bear arms does not stop at a persons front door. The NRA and other gun rights groups have been attempting to dismantle may issue laws for decades.

This decision unequivocally validates the position of the NRA and should put lawmakers on notice: no law should be passed that impinges this individual freedom, NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre said. It also confronts a troubling problem with the Senate legislationunderscoring that these freedoms should not be left to unguided discretion of state and federal officials. Second Amendment freedoms belong to the people.

Meanwhile, Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh, in siding with the majority, wrote that Thursdays decision is limited, noting that the concealed carry law that the Supreme Court ruled on was separate from various laws requiring permits to own handguns. The SAFE Act, which was enacted into law in 2013, contains the pistol permit provision, whereas the concealed carry law is more than 100 years old and is separate from the SAFE Act.

Alito, in particular, wrote that the ruling decides nothing about who may lawfully possess a firearm or the requirements that must be met to buy a gun. And he added, Nor does it decide anything about the kind of weapons that people may possess.

After the courts decision, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, suggested that more gun control bills may be passed in response. On Thursday, she announced a special legislative session to pass more legislation.

This decision isnt just reckless. Its reprehensible. Its not what New Yorkers want, Hochul said in Manhattan. We do not need people entering our subways, our restaurants, our movie theaters with concealed weapons.
Hong Kong Fund Managers Lobby Group Urges City Government to Lift Quarantine Rules

Intends to restore the city as a financial hub

Hong Kongs continued adherence to Beijings strict COVID-19 containment policy has severely damaged the citys financial industry.

Last week, a lobby group for Hong Kongs fund managers called on the incoming Chief Executive John Lee to lift the entry quarantine rules for travelers and reopen Hong Kong to the rest of the world, restoring the citys status as an international financial center.

The longer we are stuck in this restrictive mode, the more we are reducing our relevance and competitiveness in the international arena, Sally Wong, the chief executive of the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association, said in an email to Bloomberg.

The Hong Kong Investment Funds Association (HKIFA) represents firms with over $52 trillion in assets management.

Countries around the world have removed COVID-19-related restrictions, including entry rules and mask or vaccine mandates. Yet, Hong Kong still clings to Beijings COVID-clearing strategy. Those arriving in Hong Kong are still required to quarantine at designated hotels for seven days.

In an interview with CNBC in early June, Hong Kongs outgoing Chief Executive Carrie Lam acknowledged that travel restrictions had weakened the citys status as a financial hub.

Plan to Restore The Financial Hub

In an attempt to restore the citys financial status, Hong Kongs monetary authority is inviting more than 100 of the worlds top bankers, fund managers, and financial executives to a two-day summit in early November, according to a South China Morning Post (SCMP) report.

The in-person summit organized by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the citys de facto central bank, would reportedly be the biggest gathering of financial executives in the city since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with the aim of reversing an exodus of financial talent from the city and reclaim its place in global finance.

HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citigroup, BlackRock, and JPMorgan Chase are among the invitees, the report said, citing sources.

HKIFA CEO Sally Wong told Bloomberg that the city must have some working assumptions given the planned summit and that officials should share plans as to how [and] when Hong Kong will open up to the rest of the world.

Wong told a local radio station on June 14 that she hoped the Hong Kong government would address the mass exodus of talent from the city. She said the stringent COVID-19 policy and quarantine rules brought massive inconvenience to the citys financial workers and their families, resulting in its skilled people leaving the city either temporarily or permanently.

Business People Inclined to Leave

The 2022 Business Sentiment Survey Report, (pdf) released on Jan. 19 by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, weighs in on an array of issues facing Hong Kong and addresses business sentiments from both a personal and a company perspective.

The report indicates that the citys top issues are the out-of-step travel measures compared with international practices, anxiety over U.S.-China relations, and the continuing challenges of the COVID pandemic.

When asked about the citys notorious travel restrictions, over 40 percent of respondents said they are inclined to leave the city from a personal perspective, and over 25 percent of companies surveyed said they are inclined to leave, with Singapore expected to be the primary destination.

Companies are delaying new investments and struggling to recruit executive talent to Hong Kong due to the hefty quarantine rules and travel restrictions, according to the report.

Additionally, foreign businesses said they felt less welcome in the city, and nearly 60 percent of respondents think the government is unconcerned about and dismissive of their concerns.

However, Lam has repeatedly said that the pandemic restrictions wont see much change in the remainder of her term.

During Lams last press conference on June 14, she said that changes to the current COVID-19 measures are up to the next government, referring to the incoming Chief Executive John Lee.

If I were, or we were, to relax the quarantine rules tomorrow, but then in two weeks time, the new government decided that perhaps this needed to be reverted to a more tightened control, that would create a lot of confusion and uncertainty for a lot of people, Lam said, according to the Hong Kong Free Press.

On the same day, the citys Secretary for Food and Health, Sophia Chen, announced that the current pandemic rules would remain in place until June 29, with further arrangements to be made by incoming leader John Lee, who will be sworn in on July 1.

Julia Ye contributed to this report.
Beijing announced the appointment of leading officials of the sixth-term Hong Kong Government on June 19, 2022. John Lee Ka-chiu, held a press conference in the afternoon of June 19, 2022. Left to right: Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok, Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-kee, sixth Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, and Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po. (Adrian Yu/The Epoch Times)

Hong Kong New Leader John Lees Cabinet Includes 4 Officials Under US Sanctions

On the morning of June 19, Beijing appointed 26 new principal officials to the Hong Kong government, the sixth government since the handover, to take up office from July 1.

On the same day Chief Executive (CE) elect John Lee Ka-chiu led his new troupe of officials to meet the press. Four of the principal officials are sanctioned by the U.S. government, including Lee himself. Public opinions indicate that people from the commercial sector are not too keen to join the new government, one of the reasons is because of the risk of being sanctioned by other countries.

The position of the right-hand man, Chief Secretary-designate for Administration, will be taken by Eric Chan Kwok-ki, which means the next government in Hong Kong will be led by two former disciplinary services officers.

Radio Free Press (RFI) quoted Ivan Choy Chi-keung, senior lecturer in the Department of Politics and Public Administration Policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and said More discipline forces have entered into office, while administrators are leaving. Somehow, this is Beijing compromising: by appointing a former Secretary of Immigration Eric Chan Kwok-kei to be the right-hand man, instead of the previously rumored choice, Chris Tang Ping-keung, the current Secretary of Security.

Adding former Commissioner of Correctional Services Woo Ying-ming, to the position of Secretary for Anti-corruption, a total of eight key principal officials are from disciplinary forces.

Choy also pointed out that in Beijings eyes, the chief secretary for administration is someone who has the opportunity to take over the position of the chief executive. So whoever it is must be loyal to Beijing. Having both Eric Chan and John Lee as the two top leaders of the city shows that although Lee emphasized the development of an inclusive government, the Hong Kong government will still play rough and tough against Hongkongers in the next five years.

Li Wei-ling, a commentator on current affairs, pointed out during her online program that the current Hong Kong government has replaced the previous strategies of Administrative Officers Governing Hong Kong, with Disciplinary Service Officers, Governing Hong Kong, and anyones career with a disciplinary force background seems to be more prosperous.

Li believes it is worth noting the appointment of former Commissioner of Correctional Services Woo Ying-ming, as there has never been a retired correctional services officer being posted as a principal officer in the government. Li describes that Woo is the first to break that pattern.

First Mandarin-speaking Official

Sun Dongcheng, an immigrant to Hong Kong, also known as a Hong Kong drifter, becomes the first Mandarin-speaking official in the Hong Kong government. Born and raised in China, this New Hongkonger, despite having been in Hong Kong for over 20 years, Mandarin remains his primary language.

Sun is the first Putonghua legislator and official in the history of Hong Kong governance, but maybe this is the trend for the future.

Li Wei-ling mentioned,  The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office issued a statement, describing John Lees office as an aggregation of people from all walks of life, with Old Hongkongers and New Hongkongers.

Li thought the emphasis on New Hongkongers suggests that we can expect more of them to join the Hong Kong government in the future.

Sun, having been in Hong Kong for almost two decades, can understand Cantonese, but practicing speaking it will be in his plan.

Commentator Li believed that compared to Sun insisting on speaking in Mandarin after being elected to the Legislative Council, Suns sentiment this time around seems to be his attempt to deliver a gentle message to Hongkongers as the new team settles in.

Officials Sanctioned by the US

Four members of the new government have been sanctioned by the United States. While many believe that the risks of being sanctioned are still quite high.

After the 2019 immense anti-extradition movement in Hong Kong, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) slammed The Hong Kong National Security Law onto Hong Kong to clamp its objections. The United States responded and released the first round of sanction lists in August 2020, including 11 Hong Kong and Beijing officials.

Seven of the 11 are members of the Hong Kong Government, four of whom will remain in the new Government, including John Lee himself, Chris Tang, Secretary for Security, Erick Tsang, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, and the current Chief Executive Officer, Eric Chan, who will serve as the new Chief Secretary for Administration from July 1, 2022.

Commentator Li said that the public view, especially within the business community, is not too keen on joining the new government team. It reflects the fear of the risks of sanctions, even though the current government might not be as hard to deal with. The main unspoken concerns of joining the new government are the risks of sanction as well as impacting their families.

When asked whether Lee was responsible for recruiting the members of his new team, or the CCP agencies in Hong Kong had given their opinions, John Lee Ka-chius response was, The officials I chose are the ones I have chosen. His questionable statement caused people to talk. Commentator of current affairs, Poon Cheuk-hung believes Lees statement could be about anything: that its unlikely Lee picked every important official on his own. Lee might have picked some of them, but perhaps not all.
With the Red Terror looming over Hong Kong and a precipitous plunge in press freedom ranking, no one is running for the next chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, and incumbent Chairman Ronson Chan Long-sing becomes the sole candidate. (Adrian Yu/Epoch Times)

Head of Hong Kong Journalist Group Says He Will Breathe the Same Air as Hongkongers as Citys Press Freedom Worsens

On June 25, 2022, Hong Kong Journalists Association will count the votes for the 2022-2023 executive committee election and the motion to amend the constitution.

Ronson Chan Long-sing, the associations chairman, had previously said he would not actively seek to be reelected. He on June 16 that being at HKJA is like riding the waves  on a lonely island.

Ronson Chan will run as the deputy assignment editor of online media Channel C.

In the past, Ronson Chan was greeted, with the expression, Brother Sing, Brother Stand News! by the public and his peers whenever he showed up to live stream on the front lines of the Hong Kong anti-extradition protests in 2019.

As the ranking of Hong Kongs press freedom index fell off the cliff, no one was nominated to be the next chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Associationexcept Chan.

Chans policy manifesto includes maintaining the dignified existence of HKJA, as well as protecting its members and staff. This is almost a mission impossible, for a media company that has been slashed and thrashed by the pro-government, state media agencies.

In Chans strategy, he presents a desire to consult with the authorities on vehicle registration, indictments, and business registration inquiries and to fulfill media workers daily needs. Chan also plans to provide more protection and training for independent reporters and citizen journalists.

Chan graduated with his Form 7 diploma from Kowloon Wah Yan College in 2000. Chan joined the media industry in 2003. He used to work for Wen Wei Po, Ming Pao, and Oriental Daily before moving to FactWire in 2016. One and a half years later, he switched to the now-dissolved news agency Stand News and became one of the most popular journalists in Hong Kong.

In his 17-year career as a journalist, Chan has covered many lead stories: South Korean Farmers Protests, Queens Pier Conservation Incident, Anti-Express Rail Link Movement and Occupy Central Movement. Since 2019, Chan has marched onto the front lines for Hong Kong, day in and day out, to report the truth.

At the time, Hong Kong civilians and protesters had become targets of police brutality. Reporters, photographers, and cameramen were also on the cusp of the conflict.

They went from behind the scene to the front of the line, witnessing and documenting the history, while also standing alongside Hongkongers who had been fighting for democracy, rule of law, and freedom.

Reporters were often met with police batons and their pushes, sometimes even served with tear gas bombs, when they tried to find a better filming angle.

In Dec. 2021, Hong Kong National Security Bureau arrested many upper management executives and shareholders of media companies, for conspiring to publish or reproduce seditious publications. Stand News was forced to cease operation.

After the closure, Chan joined online media Channel C in February, while he prepared for his six-month learning journey in the Scholar Program, organized by Reuters Research at Oxford University in the UK. He planned to return to Hong Kong for his journalistic work after the trip.

From the first day of working as a journalist, I have never chosen to emigrate or leave Hong Kong for a long time to further my study, Chan said in an interview with Radio Free Asia. Chan had already made a choice, I choose to stay in Hong Kong, to breathe the same air and share the same destiny with Hongkongers.

On June 9, 2022, Chan shared an article of his on Facebook, titled, The Past Beneath the Smoke.

Chan looked back on his front-line days in 2019, of three years ago. It was on the first day of the beginning of the anti-extradition movement. That night he stood outside the Legislative Council with his iPad, broadcasting live.

Hong Kong Police not only dispersed the crowd, but also the reporters on site.

The police eventually subdued all the civilians in the crowd by the old police station in Wan Chai.

I would have never thought that Hong Kong would become so different after the sunrise that day.

Since June 2021, Hong Kongs independent media outlets Apple Daily, Stand News, and Citizens News had been forced to shut down operations one after another. The authorities arrested lots of journalistic workers and media executives for violating the Hong Kong National Security Law. Most of them have been locked up in jail for over a year without having a single hearing or trial yet.

On May 3, 2022, Reporters sans frontieres (RSF), also known as reporters without borders, published the latest World Press Freedom Index. In the review, Hong Kongs previous ranking of.80, sank to 148, which makes it a record low for Hong Kong. The drop was far greater than in any other country or region. Hong Kongs current ranking is even lower than some third-world countries such as Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, and Libya.

Cedric Alviani, executive director of Reporters sans frontieres of the South East Asia Chapter, said the sharp deterioration in press freedom in Hong Kong was not surprising at all; it is a predictable misfortune. Alviani told Agence France-Presse (AFP), Over the past year, we have seen extremely heavy-handed, volatile actions against journalists in the city. The rule of law in Hong Kong is gradually vanishing.
U.S. House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), joined by House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), speaks at a press conference following a Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 8, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

House Republicans Voice Opposition to Senate Gun Control Legislation

House GOP leaders have announced that they will vote against the Senates gun control bill, with House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) saying he will whip voting against the measure.

Lauren Fine, Scalises spokesperson, told Fox News Digital on June 22 that the No. 2 House Republican will encourage his fellow Republicans to vote no.

In an effort to slowly chip away at law-abiding citizens 2nd Amendment rights, this legislation takes the wrong approach in attempting to curb violent crimes, Scalise wrote in a whip notice, according to the outlet.

On June 21, the Senate held a procedural vote to advance the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, with a vote count of 6434. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), and John Cornyn (R-Texas) were among 14 Republicans who voted for the legislation.

Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) did not cast a vote. However, Toomey issued a statement supporting the legislation.

The Senate is expected to vote on the legislation this week, before the senators depart for a two-week recess on June 27.

Read More 4 Key Proposals in Senates Gun Control Bill

House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has also voiced his opposition to the bill, according to The Federalist.

I will oppose the Senate bill because provisions in it would place additional unnecessary impediments and burdens on [a] law-abiding citizens right to own a firearm, McCarthy said.

House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) issued a statement saying she will not vote for the Senate bill either.

This bill contains unconstitutional gun control provisions and allows the implementation of red flag laws that take away due process rights, Stefanik wrote. It would restrict men and women who are able to serve in our military from purchasing a firearm and would strip the constitutional rights of gunowners by broadening the scope of punishment for even nonviolent misdemeanors.

As this blatant government overreach seeks to make gun owners second-class citizens, I will continue to stand up for the Constitution and push for solutions, including advocating for increased mental health resources across the country, she concluded.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) speaks to Epoch Times reporter Joshua Philipp at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 28, 2021. (Screenshot/The Epoch Times)

The House Freedom Caucus, chaired by Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), has also announced opposition to the bill.

Red flag laws permit the preemptive seizure of firearms from Americans without due process by allowing any person to report a gunowner to law enforcement and petition for the confiscation of that individuals firearms, even before the gunowner has an opportunity to defend themselves, the caucus said in a statement.

However, at least one House Republican has publicly declared his intention to support the Senate bill.

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who represents Uvalde, took to Twitter to explain why he is going to support the Senate legislation.

I am a survivor of domestic abuse, my stepfather would come home drunk & beat on me and my mother, Gonzales wrote. One night he decided that wasnt enough and shoved a shotgun in my mothers mouth. I was 5 at the time and not strong enough to fend off the wolves. School was my sanctuary from the chaos at home.

As a Congressman its my duty to pass laws that never infringe on the Constitution while protecting the lives of the innocent. In the coming days I look forward to voting YES on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Gonzales concluded.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks to reporters in Washington on June 9, 2022. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in a statement released on June 21, said she planned to swiftly bring the bill for a vote once it passes the Senate.

Communities across the country will benefit from House Democrats proposals included in this package, Pelosi stated.

Other House Republicans who have declared their opposition to the bill include Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Mary Miller (R-Ill.).

During a press conference on June 22, Boebert criticized the GOP senators who had voted in favor of the bill.

These red flag laws are unconstitutional and the provisions that would ensure our teachers are disarmed. Thats exactly the opposite of what we should be doing, Boebert said.

How sad is it that our Second Amendment is under siege by the very people who are elected, who are positioned to protect that right? Our Second Amendment was designed to keep us from tyranny, and these same people are the ones who are wanting to take that away, she added.
Huntington Beach City Council Takes Steps to Aid Mobile Homeowners

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.City Councilors June 21 voted 6 to 0 to look into expanding its current rental assistance program to include mobile homeowners.

Councilors Dan Kalmick and Natalie Moser proposed the change, with Moser calling it the next major issue we need to worry about.

According to city officials, the program would be federally funded and help residents who make less than $50,000 a year. It is estimated that 40 to 100 households could be helped within two years.

Even though mobile homeowners own their homesand pay mortgagesthey also pay rent for a plot of land at a mobile home park.

Many residents have said rent for these spaces across California has become increasingly unaffordable.

We are already seeing seniorswomen especially over 60having more of a homeless problem, said Mayor Barbara Delgleize at the meeting. We are one of the best cities for seniors to live in, and my fear is that that may not continue because of [rent increases].

Rent increases for a mobile home park can occur when there is a change of ownership, which triggers a property tax reassessment, usually raising taxes to match market value.

Mayor Pro Tem Mike Posey said another reason for the rent spikes is due to the rise in demand for mobile homes as the general housing market is tight.

The citys current Tenant Based Rental Assistance program provides up to two years of rental assistance for low-income residents facing homelessness or attempting to climb out of it.

The program is supported by the states Housing and Urban Development HOME program, which provides the city nearly $600,000 per year. That funding would be reallocated to include Huntington Beachs mobile homeowners.

I just want the community to know that weve been hearing everything, Councilwoman Kim Carr reassured residents they had been working on it since January. We have had discussions, and this is a really difficult situation.

Mobile homeowners have been asking the council to put limits on rent increases by sidestepping the citys ban on all forms of rent control to create a rent stabilization ordinance for mobile home onwers.

But Carr said that would be pretty darn hard to get approved considering renters in other housing types across the city are all facing similar issues with rent increases.

Public commenters at the meeting said they were grateful the council took some action.

Meanwhile, the city councilors said the assistance would be just a short-term solution to buy some time to come up with a more effective long-term assistance.
Huntington Beach City Council Votes for Measure to Bypass Elected Attorney

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.Voters will decide in November whether to give the city council authority to sidestep the elected city attorney by hiring outside legal counsel.

The city council voted for the ballot measure June 21, among a few others.

Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates told The Epoch Times this would give the city council unbridled authority over the citys legal business, which undermines the peoples choice in who the citys attorney really is.

The city charter and vote of the people designate me as the only legal, the exclusive, legal counsel for the city, no one else, Gates said.

Assemblywoman Janet Nguyen (R-Huntington Beach) commended Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates during a council meeting in Huntington Beach, Calif., on June 21, 2022. (Courtesy of the City of Huntington Beach)

This comes following weeks of disapproval from residents about the city councils interest in changing the elected city attorneys position to appointed, though the council ultimately decided against it.

Several residents in the public comment portion of the meeting claimed the council thought voters were not wise enough to elect the best officials.

But Councilman Dan Kalmick said, I think our residents are not stupid.

He said the city attorney as a department head should be appointed just as other roles are in the city, such as the Chief of Police.

The city attorney is not the independent watchdog of the city council because they cant act without following council rules, Kalmick said.

Councilwoman Kim Carr said the issues with elected positions were becoming politicized, and Councilwoman Natalie Moser agreed.

It is a technical position, Moser told the council, and we want to make sure we arent acting based on a couple people, but rather [choosing] from a pool of good candidates they consider are in the publics best interest.

In the end, the council compromised that they didnt care whether the city attorneys position was elected or appointed, just that the position was filled with the ideal professional individual. They also agreed term limits werent necessary.

Youre free to advise and were free to accept or reject your advice, Mayor Pro Tem Mike Posey said to City Attorney Gates at the meeting.

Several public commenters opposed the ballot measure, saying they didnt want the council to consult other attorneys that voters didnt elect.

In response, Mayor Barabara Delgleize said, At the end of the day  asking for a second opinion doesnt take  authority away from the city attorney. Delgleize referenced how normal client-attorney relationships allow clients the ability to consult a second attorney.

According to the council, because they already hire outside attorneys, this ballot wouldnt be much of a change, it would only clarify that the council is in control of all legal business in the city.

We hire outside legal all the time, Councilwoman Carr said, complimenting Gates for his service, but adding that it is impossible for the city to solve all legal issues in-house.

But Michael Gates said outside counsel is only hired minimally.

If I need a specialist, I hire sparingly on a consultation basis only, just a few hours at a time in order to spare taxpayer expense  Otherwise we do all legal work in-house, he said.

Signs show support for Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates in Huntington Beach, Calif., on June 7, 2022. (Julianne Foster/The Epoch Times)

Voters will also choose to either keep electing their city clerk and treasurer or if they should be appointed by their city councilors.

City councilors formed a special committee to revise the citys charter, which proposed 18 new amendments on June 7.

Two weeks later, the city council voted 6 to 0with Councilman Erik Peterson absentto create four ballot measures:

Focus on language and technical changes in the charter, including changing the term Mayor Pro Tempore to Vice Mayor, inserting gender-neutral terms, and making it easier for the council to cancel a scheduled meeting if necessary. Remove the requirement that city attorneys must attend an American Bar Association-accredited law school and require the city clerk and treasurer to meet the minimum qualifications at the time theyre filing for candidacy or appointment. Change the city clerk and treasurer from elected to appointed positions. Give the city council control over all litigation and legal business, who may consult with outside attorneys when there is a conflict of interest involving the elected city attorney.

The next steps are for city staff to prepare and return final written ballot measures for council consideration at the July 5 meeting.
Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 16, 2022. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Liberals Online Streaming Act Passes Third Reading in Parliament, Heads to Senate

Conservative MP says bill is 'deeply flawed' and forced through under an undemocratic process

The Liberal governments online streaming bill is heading to the Senate, after passing in the House amid a Conservative MPs allegations that it received insufficient debate.

Bill C-11 passed third reading in the House of Commons Tuesday with a vote of 208117, with the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc defeating the Conservatives and Green MP Mike Morrice who voted against it.

If the bill is passed in the Senate and receives royal assent, it will update the Broadcasting Act and bring streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon under the regulating powers of the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

It would also apply to platforms such as YouTube and Spotify in order to have them promote Canadian music artists by law.

Critics have said the current wording of the bill could also apply to amateur videos and user-generated content posted on YouTube, which raises concerns about the regulations involved and its implications for content creators.

Conservative heritage critic John Nater condemned the governments approach, saying the rushing of Bill C-11 through Parliament is not only heavy-handed but also irresponsible.

The Online Streaming Act is a deeply flawed bill that was forced through the House of Commons through an undemocratic process, Nater said in a statement Wednesday.

Conservatives were clear that the provisions that enable the inclusion of User Generated Content need to be removed from this bill. Unfortunately, at every attempt, the Liberals and their partners in the NDP rejected this common-sense amendment.

Conservative MP John Nater rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 11, 2022. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez differed. Testifying before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on June 6, Rodriguez insisted several times that Canadians who post content online should not be worried about falling under the purview of the CRTC.

Absolutely, it is not, Rodriguez answered when asked by Liberal MP Anthony Housefather if content is regulated by Section 4.2 of the bill.

Theres people that try to make others believe that the CRTC is there, and the government through the CRTC, that we want to know what people produce, and if the videos are fine or not, and if were not happy with it, were going to take it offline. No, no.

NDP MP Peter Julian, who sits on the Heritage Committee, said that the Conservatives have impeded, at every step the passage of the bill.

For weeks and weeks, the Conservatives filibustered the committee and blocked witnesses from appearing, he said in Parliament on June 17.

Even though all the other parties had submitted amendments, the Conservatives refused to move to have amendments discussed to improve the bill.

We had five weeks of witnesses, Julian added.

Debate Got Shut Down

Nater countered that argument in his statement, saying the Liberal government shut down debate at every step of the legislative process.

In order to pass this bill, they shut down debate in the House of Commons, ended witness testimony while dozens of voices were yet to be heard, and forced votes on over 100 amendments without any discussion or explanation, said Nater, who is also a member of the Heritage Committee.

On June 14, the Heritage Committee was forced to rush through over 150 amendments to Bill C-11 to meet a deadline set by the Trudeau government, prompting accusations of secrecy and legislative bungling.

MPs on the committee, who sat until midnight voting on amendments, say they were only made aware of the text of all of them that morning.

The deadline, which was 9 p.m. that night, imposed a restriction that prevented MPs in the committee from continuing to debate line by line changes to the bill, and proceeded to a vote.

The Liberal government managed to rush the bill through the committee that night, and also subjected the Senate committee on transport and communications to a pre-study of the bill.

But senators had signalled they would not be pressured to speed up consideration of the bill, claiming they had thwarted government ploys to push it through to the upper house.

The Trudeau govs attempts to circumvent the democratic process and ram through flawed censorship Bill #C11 with no discussion or debate should outrage every Canadian, said Sen. Leo Housakos in a tweet on June 16.

The Senate must and will conduct a full and transparent study of the bill.

Concerns Labelled as Misinformation

Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, echoed Housakoss sentiment.

The governments decision to ignore the overwhelming majority of testimony on the issue of regulating user content damages the credibility of the committee Bill C-11 review and makes the forthcoming Senate study on the bill even more essential, he wrote on his blog, published on June 18.

But the government went beyond just ignoring witness testimony yesterday in the House of Commons. It now claims those views constitute misinformation.

Geist was referring to Liberal MP Tim Louis, also a Heritage Committee member, who said in Parliament on June 17 that there has been a lot of misinformation about Bill C-11.

The bill explicitly excludes all user-generated content in social media platforms and streaming services, Louis said.

In plain language, that means that users, even digital-first creators with millions of subscribers, are not broadcasters and therefore they will not face any obligations under the act. Any suggestions otherwise are simply untrue.

On May 31, CRTC Chair Ian Scott testified before the Heritage Committee, echoing Rodriguezs and Louiss remarks that the CRTC is not interested in regulating user-generated content, but contradicted them on what powers the bill provides.

[Section] 4.2 allows the CRTC to prescribe by regulation user uploaded content subject to very explicit criteria. That is also in the Act, he said, with Louis present at the time.

Noe Chartier and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
This image provided by the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriffs Office shows Bob Glynn Dean Jr. The owner of seven Louisiana nursing homes whose residents suffered in squalid conditions after being evacuated to a warehouse for Hurricane Ida has been arrested. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry says 68-year-old Bob Glynn Dean Jr. faces multiple counts of cruelty to persons with infirmities, Medicaid fraud, and obstruction of justice. Dean's lawyer said Dean surrendered to authorities in Tangipahoa Parish on Wednesday, June 22, 2022 and was to be released on $350,000 bond. (Tangipahoa Parish Sheriffs Office via AP)

Louisiana Nursing Home Owner Arrested on Cruelty, Fraud, Felony Charges Following Resident Deaths

The owner of seven nursing homes in Louisiana has been arrested on state fraud and cruelty charges after evacuating over 800 elderly residents to a squalid warehouse prior to Hurricane Ida last year, where seven residents eventually died.

Bob Glynn Dean Jr., 68, of Thomaston, Georgia, has been charged in Louisianas Tangipahoa Parish with eight felony counts of Cruelty to Persons with Infirmities, five felony counts of Medicaid Fraud, and two felony counts of Obstruction of Justice, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Dean was out of state when he allegedly ordered employees to shift the residents in Baton Rouge to the warehouse located in Independence, roughly 70 miles northwest of New Orleans, on Aug. 26, 2021. The transfer was done in preparation for adverse weather conditions in the wake of Hurricane Ida.

However, investigators found the facility lacked proper restrooms with elderly residents overcrowded in the concrete-walled warehouse. The residents could not access necessary medicines and were not given adequate food while they slept on wet floors surrounded by filth with the smell of human excrement, they added. Five of the seven deaths were considered storm-related.

Deans Appeal

When authorities discovered the warehouse, they said they found the ill and elderly on dirty mattresses, crying for help amid their own waste. Civil suits filed against Dean claimed that the toilets overflowed, the ceiling leaked, and there was inadequate food and water.

We only had five deaths within the six days, and normally with 850 people, youll have a couple a day, Dean said in an interview with WAFB in Baton Rouge. So we did really good with taking care of people.

When made aware of the situation, the Louisiana Department of Health revoked Deans licenses to operate all seven of his nursing homes. In May, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it was banning Dean from receiving federal funding, including Medicare and Medicaid.

Dean had allegedly refused to cooperate and ordered employees to not cooperate with authorities, according to an arrest warrant.

According to Landrys office, Dean was arrested after the Attorney Generals Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) and the Louisiana Bureau of Investigations (LBI) reported he had failed to move his residents out of the warehouse when ordered, while billing Medicaid despite not providing proper care. The attorney general also said that Dean had engaged in conduct intended to intimidate or obstruct public health officials and law enforcement in investigating the deaths.

The investigation is still ongoing.

According to Deans attorney, John McClindon, Dean plans to plead not guilty to all charges, factoring in mental health.

I dont think its any secret that Bobs mental health is going to be an issue in this case, McClindon told CNN. Bob clearly has some cognitive impairments and did on the day of this incident.

Dean made a court appearance in Louisiana on Wednesday and has been released on a $350,000 bond. He is appealing his license revocations and wants to be reinstated for federal programs if his appeals are successful.

Deans nursing homes were South Lafourche Nursing and Rehab in Lafourche Parish; River Palms Nursing and Rehab, and Maison Orleans Healthcare Center in New Orleans; West Jefferson Health Care Center and Maison DeVille Nursing home of Harvey in Jefferson Parish; and Park Place Healthcare Nursing Home and Maison DeVille Nursing Home in Terrebonne Parish.
A Publix Food & Pharmacy store where COVID-19 vaccinations were being administered is seen in Delray Beach, Fla., on Jan. 29, 2021. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Major Supermarket Chain Wont Give COVID-19 Vaccines for Kids Under 5

Florida-based supermarket chain Publix said Tuesday that it will not provide COVID-19 vaccines for children under the age of 5 after authorizations were handed down by federal health agencies.

Spokesperson Hannah Herring told the Tampa Bay Times that the company will not be providing vaccines for kids aged 6 months to 4 years at this time. Herring said the company will not be providing an explanation for the decision.

The companys website says that it will provide COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 5 and older. Publixs pharmacies are still offering influenza vaccines and other, traditional vaccines for young children, according to its website.

The Epoch Times has contacted Publix, which has the majority of its stores in Florida, for comment.

A spokesperson for CVS told Fox News that the company will offer vaccines for children younger than 5, while Walgreens told Fox 13 in Tampa Bay that children ages 3 and older can receive the vaccine across the United States, including in Florida.

And a spokesperson for Walmart told the Tampa Bay Times that it will give vaccines to kids aged 4 and older.

While we expect the majority of these vaccines to be distributed to pediatric providers, we plan to administer authorized vaccines for ages 35 as supply as distribution allows, said Walmart spokesperson Tyler Thomason.

Last week, both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) handed down an emergency authorization to give Pfizers and Modernas mRNA vaccines to children aged 6 months and older. The agencies in October 2021 similarly approved an emergency use authorization for Pfizers vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years of age, although federal data suggests that only about 29 percent of children in that age group are fully vaccinated.

Florida Stands Firm

Publixs decision comes as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantiss administration said that health officials in Florida will not be ordering COVID-19 vaccines for small children after the emergency approvals were given.

Florida is not placing any orders of COVID shots for zero to 5-year-old babies and kids, DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw posted on Twitter. What they have couched as a reversal is actually the governors steadfast position that  Florida does not recommend, nor distribute, shots for babies. Health care providers that want the vaccines can obtain them and any parent who wants it for their child can get it.

And during an event several days later, DeSantis told a crowd on June 20 that his government doesnt recommend shots for small children.

We recommend against [vaccinating babies], the Republican governor told the crowd. We are not going to have any program where were trying to jab 6-month-old babies with mRNA. Thats just the reality.

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, meanwhile, echoed DeSantiss recommendation.

We recommended against COVID-19 vax for healthy children in March [because] there was no strong evidence of benefit. This remains the same for healthy kids [under] 5, he wrote on Twitter. Providers have always been able to order vaccines. This never changed.
Students throw their caps in the air during their graduation photograph at the University of Birmingham degree congregations in Birmingham, England, on July 14, 2009. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Majority of Students in British Universities Have Grown Much More Intolerant of Free Speech Since 2016: Report

The Higher Education Policy Institute has polled 1,000 full-time undergraduates on free speech issues, concluding that students are significantly less supportive of free expression than they were just a few years ago.

The new results show a solid increase from 2016 with things seemingly swinging too far in one direction, with students wanting greater restrictions to be imposed on things that have tended to be considered normal in the past.

Academic free speech defenders saw the news as more yet evidence that without intervention or cultural change, the shift to the centre-ground of public opinion will swing in the direction of an illiberal form of cultural socialism.

Restricting Freedom of Expression

The research was published by The Higher Education Policy Institute, an education policy think tank which was set up by a member of the centrist to centre-left political party the Liberal Democrats in 2002 to influence the higher education debate with evidence. Its current chairman is the Lib Dem politician David Laws.

Their questions posed to the students were identical to those posed through the same polling company in 2016 (with two additions), allowing them to make a comparison of how views have changed over the past six years.

The survey has come out at a time when the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Billlegislation that will safeguard free speech at university campusesis being discussed in Parliament.

This will require universities and colleges to defend free speech and help stamp out unlawful silencing and will give the higher education regulator the power to impose fines on institutions if they breach this condition.

Overall, the report found that the pattern is very clear as the changes that have occurred are overwhelmingly in one directiontowards more support for restricting freedom of expression on campus.

Some examples included that 79 percent of students believe students that feel threatened should always have their demands for safety respected (up from 68 percent in 2016) while 4 percent disagree, down from 10 percent in 2016).

Sixty-one percent of students said, when in doubt their own university should ensure all students are protected from discrimination rather than allow unlimited free speech, up from 37 percent in 2016.

And 77 percent of students believe there should be mandatory training for all university staff on understanding other cultures up from 55 percent in 2016.

Uncompromising Attitude

The uncompromising attitude of many students towards staff showed the proportion of students who think academics should be fired if they teach material that heavily offends some students is 36 percent over double the 15 percent in 2016.

Professor Eric Kaufmann is a professor of politics at Birkbeck College, University of London, and the author of Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration, and the Future of White Majorities. He has described the driving force behind cancel culture as left modernism, which he says is the contemporary hegemonic ideology in elite institutions.

The whole philosophy which I call cultural socialism, as a religious form of wokeness, is dominant amongst students and younger people as well, he said adding that amongst the young, this ideology has taken precedence over free speech, due process, equal treatment, and other Enlightenment values.

Eric Kaufmann, professor of politics at Birkbeck College, London. (Screenshot via NTD)

He said that if the subject of free speech was not addressed, then the centre-ground of public opinion will be shifted.

Those values which prioritise cultural socialism will simply permeate more deeply into our institutions, such as universities, private sector organisations, government agencies. It would just permeate more broadly and eventually shift the centre ground of public opinion, which is currently in favour of what I call cultural liberalism, which means free speech, due process, equal treatment. That is still the dominant view of society, he said.

But he added that cultural liberalism will no longer be dominant if nothing is done to change the direction of the culture.

The author of the report and Director of HEPI, Nick Hillman, said that six years ago, when he first polled students on freedom of expression, David Cameron was Prime Minister and the Brexit referendum was still around the corner.

We have discovered a very clear pattern. In 2016, we found considerable ambivalence and confusion about free speech issues. Now, it is clear most students want greater restrictions to be imposed than have tended to be normal in the past. This may be primarily for reasons of compassion, with the objective of protecting other students, but it could also reflect a lack of resilience among a cohort that has faced unprecedented challenges, he said.

Hillman said that a high proportion of todays students have a different conception of academic freedom and free speech norms than earlier generations and also from many policymakers, regulators, and commentators.

Things have seemingly swung too far in one direction, with relatively few students recognising the unavoidable trade-offs involved with ever greater restrictions on legal free speech, he added.

So we must ask if the best response is more top-down regulation, more robust institutional management or more light-touch interventions aimed at inculcating a diverse campus culture, or a combination of all three, said Hillman.

Refusing to Be Snowflakes

The HEPI results are not really surprising, said professor Dennis Hayes, president of Academics for Academics Freedom.

They are a consequence of what Kathryn Ecclestone [professor of Education at the University of Sheffield] and I called the continuing dangerous rise of therapeutic education. When the second edition of our book The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education came out in 2019, we noted that the pupils who had been through school, who were constantly told they must always be safe and never emotionally offended, were now entering university. They were labelled the snowflake generation,' he said.

Though he noted that there was hope as recently students have been rejecting their past and present infantilisation as always being seen as vulnerable.

They are setting up free speech societies. They are refusing to be snowflakes,' he said. Free speech is the only way that infantilising can be challenged. Some students know this. They need encouragement, he added.

Hayes said that the trouble with surveys is that they only reflect immediate feelings.

If students were engaged in debate about these issues, they may well come to have different views. Passive responses are not good enough. Its time to have a debate about free speech and why it is important to students, he said.

Although students formally support no platforming political groups they are now more likely to target individuals for a variety of reasons. This is a reflection of the collapse of politics. Many of the more extreme political groups mentioned by HEPI barely exist today, said Hayes.

Alexander Zhang and Simon Veazey contributed to this report.
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his confirmation hearing to serve as associate justice on the Supreme Court at the Capitol in Washington on Sept. 4, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Man Pleads Not Guilty to Trying to Kill Supreme Court Justice

A California man pleaded not guilty on June 22 to attempting to murder Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, appeared in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, near the home of Kavanaugh.

Roske bowed his head and clasped his hands around his neck as he answered U.S. Magistrate Judge Ajmel Quereshis questions.

Quereshi set a tentative trial date for Aug. 23.

During the arraignment, Roskes public defender, Andrew Szekely, told the judge that he was satisfied his client was getting the medical care and unspecified medication that he needs while in custody.

During Roskes first court appearance, he said he was on medication and that he wouldnt say that Im thinking clearly, although after conferring with Szekely, he said he was aware enough for the hearing to continue.

Roske faces life in prison for allegedly trying to assassinate a Supreme Court justice. He has remained locked up, and has not yet tried to secure pretrial release.

Roske was arrested early June 8 dropped off by a taxi outside Kavanaughs home in Chevy Chase, according to court documents.

Roske saw two deputy U.S. Marshals outside Kavanaughs homethe houses of all nine Supreme Court justices are being protected after the leak of a draft opinion spurred an increase in threats of violence and protestsand walked down the street. After texting with his sister, he called 911 on himself and was taken into custody by local police without incident.

Roske was found with a pistol, ammunition, a speed loader, a chest rig, a belly band holster, a black face mask, burglary tools, and other items.

Roske told authorities after he was arrested that he planned to break into Kavanaughs home and kill the justice before committing suicide.

Roske said he was driven by fears Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, would vote to strike down Roe v. Wade, as the leaked draft opinion indicated. The finalized opinion has not yet been released.

The nations top court does not say when it will release certain opinions, though it alerts the public that opinions will be released on certain days. The court is releasing opinions on Thursday and Friday.

Roske also said that he thought Kavanaugh would soon rule against a New York law that makes it difficult for people to get a permit to carry a gun outside the home. The law forces people to prove they have a need to carry the weapon, which attracted a challenge from the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association.

Roske said he found Kavanaughs address online.

If a justice dies or retires, President Joe Biden would choose a replacement. Bidens first pick, Ketanji Brown Jackson, chosen to succeed retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, was approved by the Senate in April.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Man Who Crashed Car Into Trump Store Had Pro-Antifa Band Tattoo

An anti-Trumper who allegedly crashed his car into a New England For Trump store over the weekend has the logo of the hard core Pro-Antifa band Ministry tattooed on his arm.

Sean Flaherty, a 46-year-old father from Raynham, Massachusetts, also has an anti-Trump bumper sticker on the 2015 Volkswagen Jetta that video shows he drove into the store in Easton in the southeast of the state.

Flaherty, who was charged with reckless operation of a motor vehicle and malicious destruction of property, could not be reached for comment by The Epoch Times. No date for a hearing has yet been set in the Taunton District Court.

A video of the crash shows Flaherty circling the store and then accelerating towards it, smashing his car through its front and narrowly missing an employeean American veteranbefore stopping just before the back wall.

What made matters worse for storeowner Keith Lambert, he said in an interview with The Epoch Times, was that he has received emails from supporters of Flaherty wishing for more violence against his store.

Youre a [expletive] cancer. All of you. The driver had a great idea, read one of the emails Lambert shared with The Epoch Times.

Another person posted on Facebook not all heroes wear capes, in referring to Flaherty.

In addition to the New England For Trump store, Lambert owns several Lets Go Brandon stores around New England, including three in Massachusetts, one in Rhode Island, and one in New Hampshire.

Merchandise sold by the store includes Trump Won T-shirts, mugs celebrating the Second Amendment, and a variety of bumper stickers.

Lambert, who has had signs broken and stolen and his store vandalized with graffiti, emphasized that he also received a groundswell of support, but was disgusted that anyone would celebrate such violence.

Theres just really some hateful, evil people in this world. Its scary, said Lambert, who estimates he suffered about $40,000 in damage from the crash.

Patty Locke, chairwoman of the Easton Republican Committee, told The Epoch Times that she sees the medias coverage of the incident as a primary example of the double standards it practices when it covers what it perceives as political violence.

Referring first to the recent tragic Uvalde shooting, Locke said the media was quick to use the incident as a means to promote gun control, even though it was clear that the shooter suffered from severe mental illness.

She also pointed to the contrasting coverage of the recent firebombings of pregnancy centers by pro-abortionists and the lack of outrage from the media over the killing of Ashli Babbitt, the Jan. 6 protester fatally shot by a Capitol police officer.

When it comes to conservatives, they will spin a story negative any way they can against them; they dont waste a second to blame it on Republicans and label them as bad people, said Locke.

Some media reported on Flahertys injuries following the crash and didnt initially use his name in any of its reports until Turtle Boy, a popular blogger among Massachusetts conservatives, called them out for withholding it.

According to Lambert his store clerk told him that Flaherty allegedly said he was undergoing shock treatment and that he heard voices in his head.

There were no initial reports of Flahertys anti-Trump bumper sticker, even though it is visible in the video.

The sticker depicts a picture of Trump made to look like Hitler with the slogan those that make us believe absurdities, make us commit atrocities.

Media also did not report on his ties to the metal rock band Ministry.

A Facebook picture of Flaherty shows him brandishing the same symbol pictured at the beginning of a music video of the bands song Antifa, a violent anti-Republican song with lyrics that include we are the Antifa, right wing is in freefall, they wont survive  Antifa is coming for you, and Ill back it up with my fist, sick and tired of dealing with [expletive], thats why I resist.

An introduction to the song refers to all people who voted Trump into office as Nazis.

Lambert, the son of a U.S. Navy veteran and grandson of an U.S. Army veteran, pointed out that the majority of his employees are former military service people.

The store clerk nearly run down by Flaherty is a U.S. Navy veteran who served in Vietnam.

The video of the crash shows that after the clerk consoled Flaherty and stayed with him waiting for an ambulance to come, he went outside and picked up a large American flag swept outside by the force of the crash.

Locke said the image brought tears to her eyes.

And yet they are calling this crazy person who could have killed someone, the hero, she said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 24, 2022. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

McConnell Says Gun Bill Will Protect Second Amendment Rights of Law-Abiding Citizens

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) defended the gun agreement worked out by a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers during a June 22 speech on the Senate floor.

McConnell said the bill would protect the rights of gun owners while also undercutting gun violence.

In the wake of a school shooting that left 19 children and two adults dead, members of both parties led by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) came together to work out a gun bill that could overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the Senate.

The bill, McConnell said, will protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.

The bipartisan group, led on the GOP side by Cornyn, has put together a package of common sense and popular solutions to make these horrific incidents less likely.

In addition, McConnell said, the bill does not so much as touch the rights of the overwhelming majority of American gun owners who are law-abiding citizens of sound mind.

Ive spent my career supporting, defending, and expanding law-abiding citizens Second Amendment rights, McConnell continued. The right to bear arms, the right to defend oneself and ones family, is a core civil liberty.

Breakdowns in Past Negotiations

Though Democrats have framed the agreement as a surrender on Republicans part, McConnell insisted that Democrats, not his party, were to blame for breakdowns in past negotiations.

There have been attempts at bipartisan talks after horrible incidences in the past, McConnell said. But they fell apart when Democrats would not sign onto anythinganythingthat did not roll back the Bill of Rights for law-abiding Americans.

Well, this time is different, he continued. This time the Democrats came our way and agreed to advance some common sense solutions without rolling back rights for law-abiding citizens.

The result is a product Im proud to support. It will send more direct funding to community behavioral health centers and for mental health and schools. It will send money, not just to states that decide to implement so-called red flag laws, but to every state, to fund crisis intervention programs of their own choosing.

In his speech, McConnell referenced several programs in the bill which have wide bipartisan support.

For example, the bill would grant $15 billion to programs to expand mental health access and to increase school safety, which many Republicans have said is more important than wide-reaching changes to gun law. To offset the $15 billion expenditure, the bill would delay the implementation of a Medicare drug rebate program, which proponents say will save the federal government $21 billion.

However, the bill also contains provisions that are far more controversial.

Most prominently, it would encourage and provide funding to states who adopt so-called red flag laws. These controversial laws allow the state to make the unilateral determination to take guns away from or prohibit people from purchasing guns upon receiving an anonymous tip that the person may be a danger to themselves or others.

Second Amendment Rights

Critics of the laws say that they abridge Second Amendment rights and deny due process to those targeted.

The bill would also place higher background check requirements on those under the age of 21, allowing the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to search previously-hidden juvenile criminal and mental health records. If the system comes back with any concerns, these buyers could face waiting periods between three and 10 days before they can complete their purchases.

An attendee holds a Glock Ges.m.b.H. pistol during the National Rifle Association (NRA) Annual Meeting at the George R. Brown Convention Center, in Houston, Texas, on May 28, 2022. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images)

It also closes the so-called boyfriend loophole.

A 1996 amendment to the Federal Gun Control Act barred people convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from buying or owning a gun.

Such a crime is defined as a misdemeanor under federal state, tribal, or local law and must have been committed by a current or former spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabiting with or has cohabited with the victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian, or by a person similarly situated to a spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim.

Critics have been trying to get lawmakers to broaden the law to apply to people who commit crimes against their boyfriend or girlfriend. Gun control groups refer to the issue as the boyfriend loophole.

The new bill would expand the 1996 amendment to apply equally to a non-married significant other.

The bill, despite these controversial components, seems set to leap over the 60-vote filibuster threshold.

During a procedural vote on June 21, all 50 Democrats were joined by 14 Republicans in advancing the bill, which had been released in its final version only an hour or so before. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) confirmed in a June 22 speech that it will come to the floor for a final vote by the end of the week.

In a June 21 tweet, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) blasted the haste to vote on the bill.

Here we are voting to move on a bill negotiated entirely behind closed doors, released only an hour ago, that no one has had time to fully read, that ignores the national crime wave & chips away instead at the fundamental rights of law abiding citizens. NO.
A general view underground of part of the Metro Tunnel metropolitan rail infrastructure project in Melbourne, Australia, on Nov. 6, 2020. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Melbournes Metro Tunnel Project Runs Out Of Contingency Funds

Victorian taxpayers may have to bear additional costs for Melbournes Metro Tunnel as the project has mostly used up its risk contingency funds.

A Victorian Auditor-Generals Office report stated that the project was expected to overspend on tunnels and stations by $364 million (US$252 million).

It also found that the Victorian government had tried to offset the overspends by descoping some project components and internally reallocating the funds.

The project is about three years away from its completion date of 2025, but Rail Projects Victoria (RPV)a government agency responsible for managing major rail projects in the statehas spent or allocated 98 percent of the tunnels $740 million risk contingency funds, citing a sequence of unplanned costs and unexpected risk events.

The audit noted that the lack of further contingency funds posed a considerable budget risk to the RPV, given the complex and risky works involved.

In addition, the audit said the RPV told the Victorian government in May that additional funding would be needed to deliver the full scope of the project and settle potential contingency costs in the two financial years after 2023. However, the agency had not requested the extra funds.

As cost overruns have emerged, the Victorian government has consented to a recommendation to review the projects budget and determine the additional funding it might require.

Projects Scoping Variations

A general view of the Metro Tunnel under construction in Melbourne, Australia, on June 28, 2021. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, the audit found that thirty-three scoping variations occurred during the Metro Tunnels main construction phase, which cost the state $55.83 million.

One of the changes involved the slash of 27 kilometres of a high-capacity signalling system, or one-third of the initial coverage, to reallocate $91 million to other areas.

In another instance, the Victorian government approved the descoping of several wider network enhancements to free up $236 million for various overspent areas.

The estimated cost of the tunnel amounts to $12.36 billion, but it does not include $182 million in extra operational expenditures and another $41 million in COVID-19 claims.

Victorian Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said the state was impacted by COVID-related workforce issues and supply chain disruptions.

This is a project that remains facing some challenges on cost, she said.

You cant just set aside COVID. This is something were faced with (and) New South Wales reported on these matters just yesterday.

Meanwhile, Opposition transport infrastructure spokesman Matt Bach allegedly said that the transport infrastructure minister deceived Victorian residents by shifting blame for the projects overspends.

Labor has shown time and time again that it cant manage major projects, and it is sending our state broke, he said.

Apart from financial issues, the audit said the tunnel project could cause damage to medical and scientific equipment near two of its stations due to electromagnetic interference caused by trains.

The Victorian Department of Transport and Rail Projects Victoria has agreed to carry out risk mitigation plans before train testing starts in June 2023.

The construction of the Metro Tunnel is expected to be finalised by 2025, one year earlier than scheduled.
Director of Denmark's National Board of Health Sren Brostrm addresses a press conference to explain why the AstraZeneca vaccine is stopped in Denmark, in Copenhagen, on April 14, 2021. (Philip Davali / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty Images)

Mistake to Recommend COVID-19 Vaccines for All Children: Top Danish Health Official

COVID-19 vaccines should not have been recommended for all children aged 5 and up, a top Danish health official has said.

Sren Brostrm, the director general of the Danish Health Authority, told TV 2 that it was a mistake to broadly vaccinate children based on the knowledge that has accumulated since late 2021.

Children aged 5 to 15 were advised to get a vaccine then, as the Omicron variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus became dominant around the world.

Also known as SARS-CoV-2, the virus causes COVID-19.

I want to look all parents of children who have vaccinated their child in the eye and say, You did the right thing and thank you for listening,' Brostrm said.

But at the same timeand this is the important thing to maintain confidenceI will admit and say that we have become wiser and we would not do the same today. And we will not do that in the future either, he added.

Studies on the effects of the vaccines have shown that they confer little protection against infection from the virus. Research has also increasingly indicated that the vaccines do not protect well against severe disease in children, who are largely at little risk from severe outcomes if they get the virus.

Denmarks new vaccine strategy recommends adults get vaccinated but specifies different advice for children.

Children and adolescents only very rarely have a serious course of COVID-19 with the Omicron variant, which is why the offer of primary vaccination for children between 5 and 17 years will not be a general offer, but can be given after specific medical assessment, authorities said on Wednesday.

At the same time, Brostrm encouraged adults to get vaccinated and, if they already have received a primary series, to get a booster, and if theyve already received a booster, to get a second booster due to waning protection against Omicron.

He said the country did well amid the pandemic in the winter of 2021 even though it removed restrictions due to vaccination. The strategy for the coming winter is also that the vaccines should get us through a new wave without restriction, he said in a statement.

Like many nations, Denmark offers Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. Both have two-dose primary series.

As of June 15, approximately 85 percent of Danes have received one vaccine dose, about 77 percent have received two or three doses, and about 66 percent have received four doses, according to the Danish Vaccination Register.

About 40 percent of children have been vaccinated.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is pictured as he attends the start of the production at Tesla's "Gigafactory" in Gruenheide, southeast of Berlin on March 22, 2022. (Patrick Pleul/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Musk Says His China Interests Wont Affect His Free Speech Stance on Twitter

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk on Tuesday said he has no problem balancing his planned acquisition of Twitter with his business dealings in China.

When attending the Qatar Economic Forum via video link, Musk was asked if he could balance his stance on free speech in the Twitter bid and his Teslas interests in China whose ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a record of censoring content deemed harmful to its image.

China does not attempt to interfere with the free speech of the press in the U.S., as far as Im aware, Musk said in an interview with Bloomberg at the forum. I dont think this is going to be an issue.

Questions about the Chinese regimes potential influence over Musk were raised shortly after he announced in April his offer to buy Twitter in a transaction worth around $44 billion.

Did the Chinese government just gain a bit of leverage over the town square? Amazon founder Jeff Bezos wrote on Twitter on April 26, hours after Musk announced the buyout.

Elon Musks Twitter profile on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken on April 28, 2022. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Twitter is blocked in China and is not accessible to most Chinese citizens, though the CCP has built a network of influencers, with the help of bots and spammers, to spread its propaganda to users overseas.

At the Doha conference, Musk said there remain several unresolved matters with his bid to buy Twitter, including the coming together of the debt part of the transaction, the outcome of a shareholder vote, and the number of spam users on the platform.

Fastest-Growing Market

Musk also praised the work of other Chinese carmakers. I am very impressed with the car companies in China, just in general companies in China. I think theyre extremely competitive, hard-working, and smart, he said.

China has already emerged as Teslas fastest-growing market and largest production site. The electric carmakers sales in China more than doubled in 2021, accounting for one-fifth of the total sales.

An aerial view of Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory in Shanghai on March 29, 2021. (Xiaolu Chu/Getty Images)

Musk said China would become Teslas largest market in the long term in a March interview with Chinas state television.

Meanwhile, nearly half of the companys global deliveries came from Shanghais production facility last year.

Telsas gigafactory has recently resumed production after being shut down for several weeks during the two-month COVID lockdown in Shanghai.

Tom Ozimek contributed to the report.
The stage of a Presidential debate at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 28, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

No More Reportorial BiasThe Epoch Times to Host New Kind of Political Debate

Commentary

Our country desperately needs a new kind of political debate. What we have now are exercises in (often extreme) reportorial bias that insult the intelligence of voters, while distorting and undermining the democratic process.

Who can forget the moment in the 2020 presidential debate when the supposedly even-handed moderatorChris Wallace, then of Fox Newsshut down discussion of the Hunter Biden laptop by Donald Trump?

Now that we know more of the contents of that laptopand Wallace is, not inconsequentially, no longer with Fox Newsits easy to see the disgraceful and onerous results of such real-time censorship on the life of our country today.

And that was far from the first instance. CNNs Candy Crowley similarly intervened in favor of Barack Obama over Mitt Romney on the Benghazi issue during the presidential debate of 2012. Later, Crowley admitted Romney was right in the main.

Those two examples favored Democrats over Republicans but, in the grand tradition of what goes around comes around, its highly likely that the roles will reverse at some point.

The group that was formed back in 1987the Commission on Presidential Debatesbipartisan (in a sense) though it may be, has been an obvious failure.

And not just presidential debates engender such problems. All levels do, high and low.

Not only that, debates within the parties themselves, primary debates, have been largely uninformative sideshows, also often dominated by reportorial bias.

So what to do?

The Epoch Times, in collaboration with the Nashville Republican Women and the Middle Tennessee Young Republicans, is trying an experiment, a beta test of a new approach to political debate, if you will.

We are hosting a Republican primary debate in the Tennessee 5th Congressional District without reporters.

Replacing the reporters will be domain (subject matter) experts in key areas of interest to votershealth, immigration, the economy, and so forth. These expertsnot journalistswill ask the questions of the candidates.

For example, as of now, Gordon Chang will ask questions regarding foreign policy and China and Hans van Spakovsky will ask questions regarding election integrity. (More of these expert questioners will be announced shortly.)

The experts will be encouraged to ask probing follow-up questions to the candidates responses in a way that reporters, without serious domain knowledge, could not.

We realize, of course, that experts are human and will have prejudices of their own, but we are hoping their allegiance to the truth of their subjects will prevail over bias.

Further, we arent encouraging gotcha questions. The object here is not to embarrass the candidates or catch them in a gaffe, but actually to clarify where they stand on the important issues of our time, to give a better idea of what they might do if they were to win the office.

This doesnt mean they cant disagree with each other. They can and should. But their disagreements should be based on the specific issue at hand and be substantive, not personal.

Participating in the event will be four or five of the leading candidates (to be announced) who are on the Republican primary ballot in the Tennessee 5th District race. Thats the southern portion of Davidson County (contiguous with Nashville), portions of Wilson and Williamson counties, and the entirety of Maury, Lewis, and Marshall counties.

Regrettably, we cant accommodate a greater number of candidates and still hope to achieve the kind of event we are attempting.

The debate will be held on July 12 at the magnificent Grand Lodge of Tennessee in downtown Nashville, with plenty of room for those who would like to attend in person. This is three days in advance of the beginning of early voting, with the primary itself on Aug. 4.

Tickets to the debate are now available at Eventbrite, ranging from free for general admission to $100 for VIP seats that include a post-debate reception, where you can meet the expert questioners and the candidates.

The event also will be streamed live by Epoch TV, starting at 6 p.m. local time. We encourage all to watcheven those far from Tennesseebecause this is intended to be the first pass at an early form of pilot for possible debates to come across the nation. The format and styleindeed, everything about itare open for discussion and suggestions, which are encouraged. We will be making plenty of mistakes. This is only the beginning, a first attempt, at a new approach.

But please, no adverse comments about the moderator. He will be yours truly and he promises to be the very soul of impartiality.
Staff member serves drinks during lunch trade at a bar in Moss Vale, Australia, on Oct. 30, 2021. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

One-third of Australian Businesses Struggle with Staff Recruitment

Nearly one in three Australian businesses is having trouble finding employees due to a low number of job applications and applicants lack of skills.

The Business Conditions and Sentiments report for June by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) found that businesses in the accommodation and food services sector were most affected by labour shortages as 51 percent reported difficulty finding qualified staff.

This was followed by education and training at 47 percent and administrative and support services at 43 percent.

Businesses cited insufficient job applications (79 percent) and applicants not having the necessary skills (59 percent) as the most common reasons for the lack of staff.

This corresponds with the strengthening jobs market and current low unemployment rate, ABS head of industry statistics Tom Joseph said.

It is noteworthy that small businesses were less likely to encounter difficulties finding staff than large and medium enterprises.

Meanwhile, a separate survey indicated that the lowest jobless rate in nearly 50 years helped Australian consumers deal with living cost pressures.

The National Australia Bank (NAB) consumer stress index increased to 56.4 points in the June quarter from 55.7 points in the three months to March. However, it was still lower than the 57.8 points recorded a year earlier and the survey average of 58.7 points.

Additionally, the study found that stress related to job security dropped to 41.4 points, hitting a four-year low.

However, stress caused by living costs soared to 67 points during the period, the highest level since 2018.

Job Security Eases Living Cost Pressures

A staff member packs oysters for a customer at the Sydney Fish Market in Sydney, Australia, on April 14, 2022. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

NABs personal banking group executive Rachel Slade said while some individuals might be under living cost pressures, many customers of the bank were in a good position.

In fact, 70 per cent are ahead on their mortgage payments, giving them financial flexibility, she said in comments obtained by AAP.

Furthermore, Slade noted that job security played a crucial role in reducing household stress, and the high employment rate helped calm people down.

We are seeing many customers make their own adjustments40 percent of Australians are now creating and following a budget, which is brilliant, she said.

Meanwhile, the ABS reported that Australian collective household wealth rose by 1.2 percent to a record $14.9 trillion (US$10.3 trillion) in the March quarter, with wealth per capita reaching a record high of $574,807. The jump in wealth was attributed to house price increases.

While the pace of property price growth started to moderate, with falls in Sydney and Melbourne this quarter, other capital cities and regional areas rose, resulting in an overall rise in house prices of 1.9 per cent nationally, ABS head of finance and wealth Katherine Keenan said.

Compared to the March quarter of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic first broke out, Australian household wealth surged by 35.3 percent.
In response to the attack in Tang Shan, China, Prof. Chung, former assistant professor at PolyU, said something similar happened in Hong Kong. This incident is incomparable to 721 Yuen Long and 831 Terror Attacks in Hong Kong. (Song Bilong/The Epoch Times)

Opinion: Terror Attacks on Hong Kongs Protest Movement More Horrific Than Tangshan Restaurant

News analysis

On June 10, 2022, a violent physical assault of four women took place in a restaurant in Tang Shan in Hubei Province, China. The four female victims are still fighting for their life. No one knows whether they are dead or alive.

Sources in China told reporters that the police were covering up for the perpetrators.

Professor Chung Kim-wah, former assistant professor of Social Applied Science at the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong (PolyU) commented, that the incident involved issues with vicious gangsters and police corruption and that similar events have indeed happened in Hong Kong in the past, referencing the 721 Yuen Long Attack and 831 Prince Edwards Terror Attack during the anti-extradition protests in 2019.



Chung said during an interview on June 14, 2022, with The Epoch Times, the leaked video is definitely unsettling. An incident with such vicious behavior towards others just reflects an existence of severe societal issues in China: You can hurt someone violently if you dont see eye to eye with them.

Mainland China cant develop proper, effective social standards, along with their economic development. This is evidence of China losing a model of society. When extremely vicious bullies who can do whatever they want and have no legal consequences, that is the proof of Chinese Communist Partys failing in governance, exclaimed Chung.

In the leaked video, captured inside a restaurant in Tang Shan, at 2.40 a.m. on June 10, 2022, a male called Chen Jizhi sexually harassed a group of females who were also dining in the said restaurant. Being rejected, Chen became embarrassed and angry, so he and his fellow male friends attacked the four females, beating them violently. The way they attacked the women was cruel and horrific: the females all ran out seeking help with blood all over their heads.

The video stirred public discussion and focused on the attack.

According to netizens. The local police had been working with the gangs in Tang Shan. The local police apparently intentionally covered up for the incident. If the leaked police patrol record was true, it proved that after the attack on the June 10, 2022, Tang Shan Police had only arrested one man in question, before releasing him later the same night.

Due to public speculation, the local police announced again on the June 12, that a total of nine suspects have been taken into custody. However, the identities of the four female victims have never been confirmed, and none of the family members of the victims have spoken out. So at the time of writing, the whereabouts of the four female victims remains a mystery.

Chung said, the people who were said to be in the attack were the owner of the restaurant and other public organization members. These people have social status and have close ties with triad groups. It is also possible that the government might be helping with the cover up.

Chung said similar incidents have also happened in Hong Kong. During the 2014 occupy movement, local triad members were seen beating up protesters in Mongkok. At the time, Hongkongers protesting against police brutality used slogans like, 721 you dont show, 831 you kill people, to highlight this situation.



He added: In 2019, Hong Kong experienced a shocking attack on live stream. That was the first time millions of Hongkongers had seen anything violent in real time on TV. In the 721 Yuen Long Terror Attack, Hong Kong Police also colluded with Yuen Long triads. Those village triads stormed inside Yuen Long Mass Transit Rail (MTR) Station and indiscriminately attacked everyone they saw.

Chung: HK Government Lax With the Arrests

On July 21, 2019, (721), Hongkongers held a large-scale rally and people were protesting in Yuen Long district. That night after the protest, local triad leaders and hundreds of men dressed in white (white-clad men) appeared. With red threads strung on their wrists, they swung their metal pipes and wooden sticks, and headed to the Yuen Long West MTR station and its surroundings, and attacked any pedestrians and passengers they saw, indiscriminately. At least 45 people were injured, including a journalist, a pregnant woman and former Legislative Council member Lam Cheuk-ting. One person was in critical conditions, while five of them were severely hurt.

During the attack, a large number of citizens called 999 for help. But the policemen were nowhere in sight. Later, a video circulated online of legislative council member Junius Ho Kwan-yiu shaking hands and praising the white-clad men who earlier had attacked citizens in the station. Ho is infamously known for his close relationship with the Hong Kong Liaison Office. Since then the 721 Yuen Long attack is publicly recognized as a classic case of collusion between Hong Kong police and local triads.

On August 31, 2019, clashes of police and citizens escalated after an anti-extradition protest. That evening, Hong Kong Police carried out a mass arrest. Inside Prince Edwards MTR Station, was a large group of Special Tactical Contingent (STC) police, also known as Raptors. They all charged onto the train platforms and into train compartments, attacking passengers indiscriminately. Witnesses recorded what happened inside the station. Citizens described the attack as scenes from Train to Busan. However, the Hong Kong police denied that they ever got inside the MTR Station or beat and attacked civilians. The police also claimed no one was injured and refused paramedics from The Fire Department from entering to attend to the wounded citizens.

The fact that the police changed the numbers of victims several times while the station was under lock-down for over 30 hours, caused a lot of speculation from the public that the police had beaten some of the passengers to death. Until now, no one knows exactly how many were injured or how many died that night. In the course of the following six months, crowds of Hongkongers would go to Prince Edward MTR station nightly to burn incense, pay their respects and place flowers outside. The 831 Terror Attack became the biggest heartbreak for Hongkongers in the history of the anti-extradition movement.

Former Vice Secretary of Hong Kong Federation of Students, Lester Shum O Fai, described the 831 Terror Attack as a national-level terrorist attack, which is a thousand times worse than 721 Terror Attack; those who participated in the terror attack was none other than Hong Kong Police.



Since August 31, the public has made the slogan, 721 you dont show. 831, you kill people the most well known of the anti-extradition movement. They were used while protesting their anger and disapproval towards police brutality.

Every incident shows there is no fairness, justice or objectivity in the governments handling; or worse, they might even be part of it. The most powerful people in the government are the ones to do bad things, said Chung.

He continued that Hong Kong Governmet is no longer monitored by the citizens. If the power is no longer balanced, it is clear that Hongkongers can do nothing about it. The government will definitely maximize things to their advantage.

Chung ended with a warning, We must conduct thorough investigations of these events. Otherwise things will only get worse.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Students Who Say They Were Harmed by Canadas COVID-19 Policies Testify at Independent Inquiry

TORONTOUniversity student Kayla Bishop was forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine to continue her studies but suffered from heart damage following the shot, she told a citizens-based public hearing that invites Canadians who were adversely affected by COVID-19 measures to tell their stories.

Bishop, a student at Toronto Metropolitan University, was one of four university students who testified on the first day of A Citizens Hearing, an independent inquiry into Canadas pandemic response hosted by the Canadian COVID Care Alliance from June 22 to June 24.

Bishop said she was hesitant about vaccines right off the bat when she saw how rushed the development of the COVID vaccines was.

I found a couple articles about how the spike protein separated from COVID was damaging. I knew that vaccines used spike proteins, so I was concerned about the safety of that, she said. I chose not to get vaccinated, also because Im young, Im healthy, I had no comorbidities, so my risk-benefit analysis [was that] it just didnt make sense to get vaccinated.

But after her school mandated vaccines, Bishop decided to get the shots for fear of increases to her student loans and delays to her career. However, after the second dose she had severe chest pain and was sent to the emergency room, she said. She was later diagnosed as heart damage, which she said still recurs from time to time.

When asked to comment on Bishops case, Toronto Metropolitan University told The Epoch Times in an email that it had to alter its activities and operations to protect individual and collective health, adding that it was legally required to comply with COVID-19 vaccination policies under the Reopening Ontario Act and to follow recommendations from public health officials.

A Question of Democracy

Bishop said her university didnt provide a risk-benefit analysis for the students when it pushed the vaccine policy, and that it would have encouraged a more open discourse on the issue if the students had been consulted.

The university just mandated [the vaccines]. I dont think there was any sort of back-and-forth between the university and students, she said. There was no dialogue between the universitys administration and the students as far as Im aware.

I dont feel like universities should be the ones telling people what to do about medical decisions.

Former Reform Party leader and MP Preston Manning, founder of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, said Bishops case leads to the larger question of Canadas democratic process when the authorities in academic, business, and other institutions imposed similar mandates without consulting the students or the employees.

The government gives a mandate and orders to these institutionsin this case a university, as it does companies and everybody elseand the fact that theres no dialogue  between that institution and the people that are involved in it as how to make this work, does this make sense? I think thats a very missing ingredient of how this whole thing was handled, said Manning, who served as a panelist at the June 22 event and spearheaded the independent inquiry.

Its got ramifications beyond just studentuniversity relations. Companies went ahead with mandates without discussions with their employees, other institutions did the same thing. Its an undemocratic way in one sense to process.

Russian Roulette

Henry Lu, a computer science student at the University of Toronto, said he was missing just one course before graduating when the school introduced the vaccine policy. A cancer survivor, he said was very protective of his medical privacy and didnt want to take the vaccine.

The university had some alternative options to accommodate people like him at the beginning, he said, but they were soon phased out, and to get an exemption in Ontario, people must receive the first dose and have reported adverse reactions.

So you have to have gotten myocarditis from taking the first shot first,  or you have to have some severe allergic reaction to taking the first shot. So theyre making people play Russian roulette with the first shot and, hey, if you survive, they will grant you an exemption. Thats not acceptable to me.

Lu was asked if Canadas COVID-19 response had shaken his belief in science.

It hasnt shaken my belief of science at all because the science that they tout is not science. I follow the real science, Lu told the panelists, saying many so-called scientists just repeat the governments claims that the COVID vaccines are safe and effective.

A doctor is supposed to be somebody who looks at each patient on an individual basis and comes up with a personalized solution to their problem. Everybody has different problems. Everybody has a different body, he said.

Impact on Family, Finances

Hayley Weinrauch, a single mother and a student in Saskatchewan, shared her story at the June 22 event about how vaccine mandates hurt her financial well-being and damaged her family relationships.

She said the mandate left her on unpaid leave from her job, and she was heartbroken when her university also required students to be vaccinated by December last year, or otherwise be forced to terminate their studies.

Weinrauch said she eventually got a religious exemption, but due to having to fight through a tedious process to get it, she has lost a lot of faith in our society.

Weinrauchs sister, Jaiden Weinrauch, played rugby for her university in Nova Scotia, but was prohibited from joining team practice and lost her scholarship due to the schools vaccine mandates. The travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic also kept her from going home for Christmas and for her grandfathers funeral.

It was definitely the hardest year of my life, she said. Socially, I felt very isolated and very cut-off from everybody else.
Part of LAX Temporarily Closed Due to Suspicious Vehicle

The Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) announced it was partially closed for over an hour on Wednesday after police were alerted to a suspicious vehicle.

Due to a suspicious vehicle, the upper/departures level of the airport is closed for the investigation. Traffic will be diverted to the lower/arrivals level. Please allow extra time to get to your terminal during this time, the airport announced on Twitter around 4:30 p.m. local time.

Passengers can continue to access the departures area in most locations, but vehicle traffic is being diverted around the police activity to the lower level only.

The airport announced at the time that, amid the police investigation, all vehicle traffic into the airport had been impacted, including Century and Sepulveda, and shuttles were not running including from economy parking.

Travelers were asked to allow for extra time to arrive at the airport.

Traffic was being diverted from the upper level to the lower, as well as away from the Tom Bradley International Terminal, LAX also noted at the time.

The suspicious vehicle appeared to be a U-Haul truck that was abandoned, according to KTVU.

By about 6:10 p.m. local time, the LAX officials announced that police have cleared the vehicle and were starting to allow guests back into the affected areas.

Traffic diversions will end shortly and vehicle traffic will resume on all levels and roads. We are sorry for the delays, and we thank our officers, they added.

The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement around 6:50 p.m. local time, Around 4:00 p.m. a vehicle was left unattended at LAX. LAPD Bomb Squad responded & has verified there is no public safety threat related to the vehicle. LAPD units will be clearing the location & the area will be reopened.
Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell sits as the guilty verdict in her sex abuse trial is read in a courtroom sketch in New York City on Dec. 29, 2021. (Jane Rosenberg/Reuters)

Prosecutors Say Ghislaine Maxwell Deserves 30 to 55 Year Sentence

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday said the court should consider a 30 to 55 year sentence for socialite Ghislaine Maxwell who was convicted of sex trafficking young girls to her long-time associate and one-time boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein.

Ghislaine Maxwell played an instrumental role in the horrific sexual abuse of multiple young teenage girls. As part of a disturbing agreement with Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell identified, groomed, and abused multiple victims, while she enjoyed a life of extraordinary luxury and privilege, prosecutors said in court documents filed on Wednesday.

Prosecutors said Maxwell deserved a 30 to 55 year sentence because of the many years she participated in Epsteins sexual abuse of minors, reflecting federal sentencing guidelines.

The court should also consider the harm to the victims and the British socialites history and characteristics, according to their filings.

In her wake, Maxwell left her victims permanently scarred with emotional and psychological injuries. That damage can never be undone, but it can be accounted for in crafting a just sentence for Maxwells crimes, prosecutors said.

Maxwell was convicted in December 2021 for sex trafficking minors to the late Epstein, a wealthy financier with ties to prominent business and political figures.

Ghislaine Maxwell, the Jeffrey Epstein associate accused of sex trafficking, attends her trial near an image of Epstein on a screen in a courtroom sketch in New York City, N.Y., on Dec. 2, 2021. (Jane Rosenberg/Reuters)

Maxwell Made Her Own Choices

Lawyers for Maxwell have asked for a sentence of no more than five years and three months in prison, arguing that she is being used as a scapegoat for Epstein, Fox News reported. Epstein was found to have killed himself while in jail in New York in 2019.

Prosecutors said Maxwell did not deserve leniency in sentencing over her complaints about prison conditions during her pre-trial detention.

The defendants claims are inaccurateand in fact, the defendant has enjoyed remarkable privileges as a high-profile inmate that vastly exceed the benefits accorded to the average inmate, prosecutors said.

It is unsurprising that a woman who had led a life of incredible luxury should complain about her life as a prisoner, but that fact does not come close to meriting leniency at sentencing, much less the extraordinary degree of leniency the defendant seeks.

They also said that in her sentencing submission, Maxwell had shown no remorse but instead sought to blame everyone but herself.

Maxwell was an adult who made her own choices. She made the choice to sexually exploit numerous underage girls, prosecutors said.

She made the choice to conspire with Epstein for years, working as partners in crime and causing devastating harm to vulnerable victims. She should be held accountable for her disturbing role in an extensive child exploitation scheme.

In court papers filed on June 15, attorneys for Maxwell claimed she deserved leniency because, while she facilitated Epsteins abuse, it was the late financier who was the mastermind and principle abuser.

Epstein avoided a significant sentence when he was first prosecuted in Florida for these offenses and then evaded any further punishment by dying a month after his arrest and detention in New York, Maxwells attorneys wrote.

But this Court cannot sentence Ms. Maxwell as if she were a proxy for Epstein simply because Epstein is no longer here. Ms. Maxwell cannot and should not bear all the punishment for which Epstein should have been held responsible.

Maxwell is scheduled to be sentenced on June 28 by U.S. Circuit Judge Alison Nathan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via video link in Moscow on June 22, 2022. (Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin via Reuters)

Putin Signs Decree on New Scheme to Service Eurobonds as Default Looms

LONDONPresident Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Wednesday to establish temporary procedures aimed at fulfilling Russias foreign debt obligations as the country teeters on the brink of default.

The Kremlin has repeatedly said there are no grounds for Russia to default on its debts. It says the government has the funds to pay but was unable to make interest payments to bondholders because of sanctions, accusing the West of trying to drive Russia into an artificial default.

Under the order, Putin has given the government 10 days to choose banks to handle payments on Eurobonds under a new scheme, suggesting that Russia will consider its debt obligations fulfilled when it pays bondholders in rubles.

The failure to service foreign debt due to Western sanctions for what Russia calls a special military operation in Ukraine is taking it closer to its biggest default on international bonds since the Bolshevik revolution more than a century ago.

Obligations on Eurobonds of the Russian Federation will be considered properly fulfilled if they are executed in rubles in the amount equivalent to the value of obligations in foreign currency, the decree stated.

The exchange rate will be based on the rate on the Russian internal currency market on the day of the payment, according to the decree.

Russias $40 billion of outstanding hard-currency bonds have become a flashpoint in the financial sanctions imposed by Western capital and counter-measures introduced by Moscow.

Despite the stringent curbs, Moscow so far had managed to avoid a default and make payments to international holders on seven different eurobonds since the start of the war by finding new ways of transferring money and coming up with workarounds.

Russia was due to make two interest payments of $71.25 million and 26.5 million euros ($27.98 million), on May 27. It has a 30-day grace period to make the payment.

Russia said it had transferred the cash to the National Settlement Depository, but sanctions likely prevented the funds from progressing further.

To avert default, funds broadly have to be paid in the correct currency into bondholders accounts within the prescribed timeframe.

The finance ministry said last week Russia will pay rubles on its Eurobonds that can be later converted into foreign currency.

($1 = 0.9470 euros)
Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss gives a joint press conference with Turkey's Foreign Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara on June 23, 2022. (Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images)

Putin Weaponising Hunger With Ukrainian Grain Blockade Says British Foreign Secretary

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has accused Russia of weaponising hunger and using food security as a callous tool of war with its blockade of Ukrainian grain.

Speaking at a press conference alongside Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara, Truss warned the crisis is urgent and must be solved in the next month to avoid devastating consequences.

Ukraine has been described as the bread basket of Europe and was one of the worlds largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil.

But the Russian invasion and Moscows mining of the access to the southern ports, including Odesa, has halted much of that flow and endangered world food supplies.

Truss said the UKs long-standing alliance with Turkey is more important than ever at a time when security, sovereignty and self-determination are under threat.

She said the countries are working closely together, in particular to get the grain out of Ukraine.

The Foreign Secretary accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of weaponising hunger with the blockade.

He is using food security as a callous tool of war. He has blocked Ukrainian ports, and is stopping 20 million tonnes of grain being exported across the globe, holding the world to ransom, she said.

Im here in Turkey to discuss the plan to get the grain out, supported by the United Nations.

Were clear that commercial vessels need to have safe passage to be able to leave Ukrainian ports, and that Ukrainian ports should be protected from Russian attacks.

We support the UN talks, but Russia cannot be allowed to delay and prevaricate. Its urgent that action is taken within the next month ahead of the new harvest. And were determined to work with our allies to deliver this.

She warned that the world could otherwise see devastating consequences.

She added that the UK is offering its own expertise on ways to bypass the Russian blockade.

It is going to require an international effort, she warned.

(PA Graphics)

Truss said it has been a priority for her to visit Turkey in her role as Foreign Secretary, as she hopes to deepen the relationship between the two countries.

She said the pair are going to start negotiating an upgraded trade deal that goes further in areas like services, but also in areas like agriculture, which are not part of the current arrangements.

We do need to increase our industrial capacity and that is an area were also focusing on, she said.
Rand Paul to Introduce Amendments to Senate Gun Bill

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) will put forward amendments to a Senate gun bill hammered out between Republicans and Democrats over weeks of closed-door negotiations.

The bill, coming in the wake of a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children and two adults dead, has received mixed reactions on Capitol Hill.

Some provisions have broad bipartisan support.

For example, the bill would allocate $15 billion to mental healthcare access and increasing school security, a measure that was particularly popular among Republicans. To offset these costs, the bill delays the implementation of a Medicare drug rebate program that proponents say will save the federal government $21 billion.

However, other measures, including measures to close the so-called boyfriend loophole, measures incentivizing states to adopt red-flag laws, and increasing background check requirements, have proven more controversial.

Concerned About Constitutional Deficiencies

Paul excoriated the bill and announced his intention to put forward amendments in a June 22 tweet thread.

No one wants to see guns in the hands of criminals, and no one wants to see tragedies like we saw recently in Texas, Paul wrote. Im both a law-abiding gun owner, and a parent, and I want our schools and kids safe.

While we have many laws in place to do that already, there should be things we can agree on as legislators to improve upon this. For example, I support legislation to include juvenile records of violent crimes to be included in background checks.

Looking at the recent criminal past of anyone is a good idea before assessing gun ownership. However, that idea was paired with many questionable or bad ones in this legislation.

I am concerned about constitutional deficiencies in many red flag laws, Paul wrote.

Red flag laws, laws that enable courts to strip people of their constitutional rights to own a gun, have been a rallying cry for Second Amendment advocates for some time. The controversial laws have resulted in thousands of Americans being ordered not to possess guns because of concerns about their mental health.

Often, the accused are not given notification of an accusation or any chance to defend themselves against the charges until after their weapons have been confiscated.

I cannot support any legislation that funds or encourages laws that allow ex parte gun confiscation without legal representation, or even sometimes without prior notification to the defendant of any accusation at all, Paul wrote.

He continued: I cannot support legislation that funds or encourages laws that allow gun confiscation with a standard lower than the constitutional criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. I cannot support legislation that funds or encourages gun confiscation predicated on anonymous accusations.

Paul also called on other lawmakers to strip a provision of the compromise bill that would bar the use of funds to train and equip school personnel with firearms.

I  think it unwise to prohibit the appropriated funds from being used for firearms or firearms training for any school personnel, Paul said. In fact, we should be doing the opposite, encouraging schools to train and arm proper personnel as desired and needed in their schools.

Unfortunately, this legislation was assembled as many arein secret, absent well placed leaks to journalists, Paul said, wrapping up the thread. There doesnt appear to be a willingness or time provided to read, understand, debate or amend this bill.

I will try anyway, Paul concluded. To this end, I will introduce amendments to correct the constitutional deficiencies of this bill and hope my colleagues and the Senate leadership will do the same.

50 Democrats, 14 Republicans

On June 21, all 50 Democrats in the upper chamber were joined by 14 Republicans in advancing the bill, setting it up for a final vote later this week. The vote came only an hour or so after the final text of the bill was made public and available to lawmakers.

Paul is not the only lawmaker to criticize the haste to push the bill forward.

In a June 21 tweet, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) also blasted the dizzying turnaround time between the release and advancement of the bill.

Here we are voting to move on a bill negotiated entirely behind closed doors, released only an hour ago, that no one has had time to fully read, that ignores the national crime wave & chips away instead at the fundamental rights of law abiding citizens. NO, Hawley wrote.

Still, the bill seems all but certain to pass and has at least the 10 Republicans needed to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold pledged to support the bill.

Paul, who has often broken with party leadership over civil liberties and constitutional rights issues, has in the past made similar efforts to slow or stall progress on bills that he considers unconstitutional or ill-advised.

However, many of these efforts have floundered in bipartisan votes rejecting Pauls amendments or proposals, as seems likely to happen with any amendment he offers to the gun bill.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
Protesters are seen at rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

EXCLUSIVE: Ray Epps Was Worried Fast-Moving January 6 Crowd Might Interfere With The Plan, Kentucky Man Claims

Man also says he witnessed Epps directing group that removed 2-by-4 lumber and a long cardboard tube from utility hatch at U.S. Capitol

Ray Epps, the former Arizona Oath Keepers leader who was famously captured on camera a day before the Jan. 6, 2021, protests urging protesters to go into the U.S. Capitol, allegedly directed a group of individuals who removed siege weapons including a long piece of 2-by-4 lumber, from a utility hatch on Capitol grounds after telling a witness they needed to slow down the crowd lest it [expletive] up the plan, a Kentucky man claims.

Eric Clark, 45, says he encountered Epps on the west side of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but did not realize who he was until seeing news reports about Epps earlier this year. Behavior and statements Clark said he witnessed took on new meaning after he read news reports about Eppss possible role as a provocateur at the Capitol.

I didnt know who Ray Epps was, Clark told The Epoch Times. I just knew a tall mountain of a man who said something to me, and I saw some things occur.

It was almost literally, probably right at a year later, when I saw a [news] post with Ray Epps in it, and I was able to put a name to a face, Clark said.

Through his attorney, Epps denied Clarks story.

Epps has long denied being an informant for the FBI or other law enforcement on Jan. 6. His photoassigned No. 16was initially placed on the FBIs January 6 most-wanted website, but later removed without explanation. Epps has not been arrested or charged with crimes for being at the Capitol.

Clark had been at the Ellipse to hear President Donald Trump speak earlier that day. Due to the massive crowds, Clark stood about 50 yards away and watched the speech on a jumbo video monitor. He left before the speech ended and walked to the Capitol.

Oorah! Drew Eppss Attention

By the time he arrived, the pathway from the Peace Fountain up to the west side of the Capitol had been breached and crowds were gathering on the west terrace, Clark said. When he arrived at the base of a scaffold tower set up for news media for the forthcoming inauguration, Clark let out a loud cry of Oorah!

Military-history buffs and fans of contemporary war movies will recognize Oorah! as a motivational cry that U.S. Marines shout to each other. Its a sign of brotherhood, and an indication the Marine might be about to do what Marines typically do: be the first to fight.

As soon as we arrived at the Peace Monument, what I see already is somethings wrong, Clark said. Somethings at least off-kilter. Somethings already gone on.

There were just people all the way up to the top of the Capitol steps and a thin line of Capitol guard people all the way up on that tower already, he said.

Clark said after he let out his cry of Oorah! Epps approached him.

He says, Semper Fidelis devil dog, we got to hold this crowd back a little longer, or theyre gonna [expletive] up the plan, Clark said. Okay, theres some kind of plan?

Clark said he was not fully sure what to make of Epps statement. So I start chanting, Back the blue, back the blue, and he sort of marches off to the right, down to the other end, he said.

Epps, Clark Seen on Video

While Epps denied saying the crowd would [expletive] up the plan, The Epoch Times located a video shot by Quincy Franklinknown online as the Black Conservative Preacherthat captured Clark and Epps standing next to each other off and on during a five-minute period that afternoon in the location Clark described. Clark was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask.

At the 2:31 mark on a video titled The Storm Arrived Part 3, a protester sprays a fire extinguisher into the air, prompting Epps to move away from the police line down the steps. Clark was right behind Epps, who moved to his right as Clark kept running straight down the steps. Clark ended up about 25 feet from Epps.

About two minutes later, both men were back up near the police line at the foot of the media tower, the video shows. For more than two minutes, they stood next to each other before again separating as they descended the stairs.

Clark said he watched Epps interact with various people in the growing crowd. Epps appeared to command great authority with protesters and police, he said.

When he came and said what he had to say to me, he had an obvious presence of authority amongst not just the protesters, but the Capitol guard as well, Clark said. Any time he would walk by, they would back off.

Clark said Epps then pulled a man from the crowd.

Mr. Epps had already come back down to our end, he grabbed a man in a black hoodie out of the crowd, Clark said. He said something to him and he marches off to the right, where all the Capitol guards were.

What happened next is still burned in Clarks memory.

Eric Clark says he witnessed a group of men pulling out a long piece of 2-by-4 lumber, a thick cardboard tubing, and a stepping stool, from a utility hatch at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Steve Baker/Graphic by The Epoch Times)

The other gentleman [Epps] pulled out in the black hoodie pulls two other people out of the crowd, and they make a beeline directly toward this structure, Clark said. Its like 4-foot-by-4-foot by-4-foot, and it has a hatch like a lid on top of it.

The men pulled the hatch and from inside this utility access retrieved a 12-foot-long 2-by-4, a piece of thick cardboard tubing about the same length, and a stepping stool approximately 3 feet tall, he said. The cardboard tube was about 6 inches in diameter.

Epps separated from the group after speaking to the first man and did not help the men remove the alleged siege tools, Clark said.

I looked down in it [the structure] and it appears to be like utility or wet-wall access, some type of drain clean-out or whatever, but its definitely some type of small tunnel area, he said, where theyre pulling all this stuff out of, he said.

Clark said one of the men wore a bright red or orange hat. One of the other men wore a tan Carhartt-style jacket.

Clark said he wanted no part of whatever the men were doing, so he headed up to the next level of the west terrace. After assisting a woman who had been doused with pepper spray, he followed a crowd and was pushed through an open doorway and ended up inside the Capitol, he said.

The Epoch Times independently observed a hatch located exactly at the location described by Clark.

Clark Charged

Clark was charged by federal prosecutors with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without legal authority, and violent or disorderly conduct in a Capitol building. He pleaded not guilty.

One of the items Clark said he witnessed being pulled from the utility hatch matches a video of an unidentified man vandalizing a window at the Capitol. Then man, known only by the hashtag #RedOnRedGlasses, has not been identified or charged, although the FBI lists him as No. 300 on its January 6 most-wanted page.

Eppss actions on the day first received widespread attention in June and December 2021, when the website Revolver.News published stories detailing Eppss alleged role as an unindicted actor.

John Blischak, Eppss Phoenix-based attorney, denied Clarks assertions.

I have read your comments and as Mr. Epps stated: It never happened,' Blischak told The Epoch Times in an email. I do not question his integrity whatsoever.

William Miller, spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Washington D.C., said: We are not commenting on Jan. 6 cases or the investigation beyond what is stated or filed with the Court.

Videos from the day show items similar to those described by Clark being passed around as weapons at the entrance to the Lower West Terrace tunnel. A short stepladder was also seen inside the tunnel entrance. It is not known from where those items came.

Multiple Suspicious Actions

The controversy surrounding Epps has not died down, despite attempts by the January 6 Select Committee to throw cold water on what is often derisively described as a right-wing conspiracy theory. Epps met with the committee, although no transcript of the testimony has been released. According to media reports, Epps told the FBI he did not encourage protester Ryan Samsel to push over the police barrier at the second breach point on Jan. 6.

Video shows Epps in several places on the Capitol grounds chiding protesters for violence and urging them to let police officers do their jobs without interference. One man seemed to be threatening the police line on the west side of the Capitol when Epps intervened. Id love to [expletive] get it on, the man said. I would have come locked and loaded if I knew this was happening.

Epps asked the man to move back away from police. Take a step back, he said on video broadcast by Just Another Channel. Were holding ground. Were not trying to get people hurt. They dont want to get hurt, you dont want to get hurt. Back off.

Epps was seen on other video footage appearing to assist the crowd as it passed a massive fabric Trump sign in a metal frame across the west terrace. A short time later, protesters tried to ram the sign into the police line. Some defendants have been charged with using the sign as a deadly weapon, according to federal charging documents.

Clarks Journey

Eric Clark (R) at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. (Photo courtesy of Eric Clark)

The journey to attending the Jan. 6 events was a rough one for Clark. He spent 25 years addicted to methamphetamine, an addiction that led to being discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps after two years. He said he has been sober for four and a half years after finding God, who led him out of the shackles of addiction.

He said God wanted him to go to Washington D.C. that day.

Im convinced of it. And I dont thinkIm convinced of it. I have been convinced of it since I got home on January 7. Nobody will hear what I have to say, Clark said. My public defender tells me Im lying when I tell him. The FBI acts like its no big deal.

In my heart, Clark said. I knew Gods hand was going to descend on D.C. that day, and he wanted me there and I started looking for Greyhound bus tickets and lucked into somebody who let me carpool with themI didnt luck into anything. There is no luck. God gave me somebody to carpool with. And a really nice room to stay in.

Clark said he is determined to take his Jan. 6 charges to trial, and if he loses, he will serve the time.

Ill sit in solitary confinement some yearaint nothing, he said. I deserve that for crimes that I committed as a heroin and meth addict that I got away with. Not sweating their three years.
Wildfire burns in Rocky Point of Monterey County, Calif., on the night of Jan. 21 or 22, 2022. (Debi Lorench/Handout via Reuters)

Red Tape Stokes Devastating Wildfires: Report

Litigation from self-described radical environmentalists among sources of delays

A new report vividly illustrates how bureaucracy and litigation slow down prescribed burns and mechanical treatments of wildfire-prone lands by the U.S. Forest Service, with one fire management category taking an average of more than seven years to actually start following project initiation.

Recent years have seen some of the biggest wildfires in the documented history of the western United States.

This is a problem that has been getting worse every decade for the past century, said Jonathan Wood, vice president of law and policy at the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), in a June 21 interview with The Epoch Times.

Despite the growing consequences and pretty much bipartisan support for solutions that everyone understands, [theyre] not happening at anything like the scale needed to address the problem.

The report comes half a year after the Biden administration pledged to treat 50 million additional acres of forest land over the next decade.

An analysis of Forest Service data by the Nature Conservancy concluded that the targeted treatment of 51 million high-risk acres across ten years would cost $5 to $6 billion.

The 50-million-acre target is particularly ambitious because the management of federal forests has not kept pace with those forests requirements.

As of 2018, 80 million acres of national forest land needed restoration to reduce susceptibility to wildfire, disease, and insects, according to Forest Service officials, yet the agency has treated just 2 million acres annually in recent decades, PERCs report notes.

At the center of the debate is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a law requiring federal agencies to evaluate the prospective environmental impact of their actions.

Projects that agencies expect to have no impact receive what is known as a categorical exclusion (CE) from formal environmental review. When potential impacts are unclear, projects undergo an environmental assessment (EA)and when impacts are expected to be significant, projects must be more rigorously evaluated through an environmental impact statement (EIS).

Analyzing a Forest Service NEPA decision database alongside another dataset, PERC discovered that mechanical treatments using machinery and controlled burns take years to get underway, even under the best of circumstances.

The fastest kind of wildfire fuel treatment, mechanical treatment under CE, started an average of 2.9 years after project initiation.

At the other end of the spectrum, a fire management by prescribed burn requiring an EIS only began after an average of 7.2 years.

These realities raise questions about how realistic the Biden administrations ten-year, 50-million-acre goal really is, at least without substantial NEPA reforms.

Even with adequate appropriations, changes in the process by which the Forest Service conducts environmental reviews and implements fuel treatments are likely needed, as a 10-year timetable is infeasible for EIS approvals under the current system, PERCs report states.

Wood told The Epoch Times he was surprised to learn that prescribed burns take longer than mechanical treatments, given that the latter is more controversial than the former among some environmentalists.

PERCs report also shows that litigation significantly delayed both mechanical and burn treatments, particularly in cases requiring an EIS. A total of 17.5 percent of EIS projects were litigated.

Between 2001 and 2008, the Forest Service was litigated more than any other federal agency under NEPA, the report notes.

Most of the litigation opposition is not from the mainstream environmental groups, Wood said.

He drew attention to the Cottonwood Environmental Law Group and its role in opposing wildfire treatment, often based on potential harms to endangered species.

Cottonwood won a crucial victory in a 2015 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision.

The court found the Forest Service must restart consultation on its management plans with the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) when FWS designates new critical habitat for species protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Cottonwoods webpage describes itself as a bunch of radical environmentalists.

A wildfire is going to do much more damage to habitat for these species than the management activities of the Forest Service, Wood said.

Malcolm North, a professor of forestry at the University of California, Davis, and a research ecologist with the Forest Service, told The Epoch Times he agrees with PERCs assessment.

Although some of the policy literature has suggested that NEPA is not a major hurdle to project implementation, thats not been my experience in twenty-plus years working with forest managers. The timelines they find as averages to get projects done are consistent with what Ive seen in California, he said in a June 21 email.

The fire and forest scientist community is pretty consistent that a major snafu is that NEPA is inverted. [Prescribed] burning and fuels reduction should be exempt, while fire suppression and failure to meet pace and scale should initiate a NEPA.

None of the agencies that are supposedly responsible for these kinds of burns and thinning are doing enough, said Cliff Mass, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington, in a June 22 interview with The Epoch Times.

As an example, he cited a report issued by the Forest Service on June 21. It asserted that the recent Hermits Peak Fire in New Mexico, which began with a controlled burn, was substantially complicated by climate change.

Fires are outpacing our models and, as the final report notes, we need to better understand how megadrought and climate change are affecting our actions on the ground. We must learn from this event and ensure our decision-making processes, tools, and procedures reflect these changed conditions, states Forest Service Chief Randy Moore in a foreword to that report.

Mass thinks this sort of explanation lets the Forest Service evade responsibility for its own mistakes.

They did the prescribed burn under very poor conditions and when the winds were too strong, and it got carried away from them, he said, adding that climate change is an extraordinarily minor driver of recent fires.

We have suppressed fires for a hundred years, and now, most of the West is full of these potentially catastrophic large fire areas. We need massive efforts immediately.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the National Association of State Foresters, Cottonwood Environmental Law Center, and the Forest Service for comment.
Rep. Liz Cheney Soliciting Votes From Democrats

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is starting to ask Democrats to switch parties and vote for her, as she faces a tough primary battle with a candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

Cheneys campaign website recently added a section that asks and answers questions about voting.

It notes that voters must be registered as a Republican to vote for Cheney in the Aug. 16 primary.

How do I change my party affiliation to register as a Republican so I can vote for Liz? the website states, before telling voters how to change their affiliation.

Under Wyoming law, voters can submit an application by mail to change their party up to 14 days before an election. They can also change their affiliation while at a polling place on the day of the primary election.

Cheneys campaign has also been mailing forms that outline how to change parties to Democrat voters, Joseph Barbuto, the chairman of the Wyoming Democratic Party, told The New York Times.

Barbuto himself got one in the mail.

I havent had any Republicans share online or tell me that they received it, Barbuto told the paper.

In February, Cheney said that she would not undertake such an effort.

That is not something that I have contemplated, that I have organized or that I will organize, she said at the time.

Liz Cheney told the New York Times that she wouldnt be encouraging Democrats to raid the Republican primary, but I guess the drive to hold onto power is just too strong for her to keep her word, Carly Miller, campaign manager for lawyer Harriet Hageman, who is challenging Cheney in the primary, told The Epoch Times in an email.

What Cheney doesnt understand is that Democrats will drop her like a bad habit after shes no longer useful to them on the January 6th Committee. Shes in No Mans LandDemocrats just see her as a temporary tool, while Republicans are fed up with her completely, Miller added.

Cheneys campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Harriet Hagemen during a rally in Casper, Wyo., on May 28, 2022. (Chet Strange/Getty Images)

Due to her vote to impeach Trump and other actions against the Republican, Cheney has faced blowback from the GOP. The Wyoming Republican Party first censured her, then voted to stop recognizing her as one of its members.

Cheney was also removed as the number three Republican in the House of Representatives.

Cheney often speaks negatively about Trump, including during hearings of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Cheney is serving on the panel at the behest of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Trump endorsed Hageman, and a number of Trump allies have worked to try to get the lawyer the Republican nomination for the House seat representing Wyoming.

Some Wyoming voters tried getting restrictions to changing affiliations on the ballot for the upcoming midterm elections, but failed to get enough signatures, according to Ballotpedia.

Observers decried Cheneys move.

While lecturing the nation about ethics, Liz Cheney is urging Democrats to vote for her in the Wyoming GOP primary, radio host Mark Levin said on social media.

Others, though, encouraged Democrats to support Cheney.

If I lived in Wyoming, I would consent to @RepLizCheney s request for these 2022 midterms & would also encourage other registered Dems in Wyoming to do the same, MSNBC analyst Fernand Amandi said. No Dem has a prayer to win this seat, so a vote for @Liz_Cheney is a vote for democracy.
Ken Griffin, Founder and CEO, Citadel, speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., on May 2, 2022. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Richest Man in Illinois Moves Business From Chicago to Miami Amid Crime Concerns

The richest person in Illinois announced Thursday hes moving his hedge fund firms headquarters from Chicago to Miami, Florida, coming as he said that crime in the Windy City is far too high.

Chicago will continue to be important to the future of Citadel, as many of our colleagues have deep ties to Illinois, billionaire Ken Griffin wrote in a note Thursday to Citadels employees. Over the past year, however, many of our Chicago teams have asked to relocate to Miami, New York, and our other offices around the world.

I am excited to share with you that Citadel is moving its global headquarters to Miami, the letter read, according to several media reports. Miami is a vibrant, growing metropolis that embodies the American Dream. I am excited to have recently moved to Miami with my family and look forward to rapidly expanding Citadel in a city so rich in diversity and abounding with energy.

Griffin has provided more than $600 million in gifts to educational, cultural, medical, and civic organizations in Chicago over the years, his spokesman, Zia Ahmed, told the Wall Street Journal.

In the letter, he did not make any critical comments about Chicagos or Illinoiss Democratic leaders, or the crime rate in the city.

Crime

But in a recent Wall Street Journal interview, Griffin said that the crime and homicide rate in Chicago is too high, making it difficult to attract employees.

If people arent safe here, theyre not going to live here, Griffin, who is estimated to be worth almost $29 billion, told the WSJ in April. Ive had multiple colleagues mugged at gunpoint. Ive had a colleague stabbed on the way to work. Countless issues of burglary. I mean, thats a really difficult backdrop with which to draw talent to your city from.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a Democrat, issued a response to Griffins decision.

Citadel leadership has been signaling for some time an enhanced presence in Florida, and while this announcement is not surprising, it is still disappointing, a spokesperson for the mayor said in a statement. We thank the Citadel team for their contributions to our city and their many philanthropic commitments, particularly around education, arts and culture and public safety.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks during a press conference at the Richardson Middle School in Chicago on June 14, 2021. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times)

Boeing, which moved to Chicago from Seattle more than 20 years ago, announced in May that it would move its headquarters from Chicago to Arlington, Virginia.

And Caterpillar, the construction firm, said it was moving out of the Chicago area to Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.

We believe its in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move, which supports Caterpillars strategy for profitable growth as we help our customers build a better, more sustainable world, Caterpillars CEO Jim Umpleby said in a statement in June.

In 2021, 797 people were murdered, which is 25 more than in 2020, according to data from the Chicago Tribune. The data show that 2021 was the worst year for homicides in Chicago in 25 years.

So far in 2022, 279 homicides have been recorded, the paper reported.
Rubio Urges Biden Administration Not to Overturn Restrictions on Chinese Military Investments

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has expressed concern regarding the Treasury Departments quiet updates to its sanctions related to the Chinese military.

Rubio referred to the updates, which were posted as Frequently Asked Questions notes, as unacceptable and running directly counter to U.S. national security priorities. He strongly urged the department to reverse its change in policy.

On June 21, Rubio wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen regarding the release of three FAQs on June 1 relating to the Trump-era Executive Order (E.O.) 13959, amended by Bidens Treasury and its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in E.O. 14032.

In a letter, he said that actions allowed by the new policy changes risk diminishing [the E.Os] effectiveness in curbing the influence and power of Chinese Military Industrial Complex Companies (CMIC), as well as undoing the intent of the original order as it was first enacted.

Rubio reminded the Treasury that Biden had previously declared that Trumps November 2020 E.O. 13959 was amended to prevent U.S. investment from supporting the Chinese defense sector, saying that his administration will not hesitate to prevent U.S. capital from flowing into the [Peoples Republic of Chinas] defense and related materiel sector.

With the introduction of two new FAQs on June 1, 2022, OFAC has now provided several substantive updates squarely in tension with such objectives, Rubio wrote.

According to the FAQ 1046, the 365-day divestment period mandated by the E.O. was optional. Rubio said that as there will be no penalties for failure to divest of targeted securities of CMIC entities, OFAC has minimized the essential importance of depriving Chinese military companies access to American capital.

Meanwhile, OFAC banned U.S. investors from closing positions after that 365-day divestment period, absent OFAC authorization. Rubio said that this risks playing into some investors hopes that Chinese firms listings are simply temporary or that the CMIC list itself will eventually be retired.

Rubio wrote that FAQ 1047 confirms that not only are there no consequences for refusing to divest, but also that U.S. persons may continue to profit off of their investments in Chinese military companies via passive benefits, such as cash dividends and stock splits.

Military vehicles carrying HHQ-9B surface-to-air missiles participate in a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Oct. 1, 2019. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)

He emphasized that OFAC has weakened a core tool at its disposal for confronting the critical threat posed to Americans by Chinese companies operating in the defense, aerospace, and surveillance sectors.

According to the sanction list, more than 40 Chinese companies in the aerospace, shipbuilding, construction, technology, and communications industries were identified as CCMCs.

Ting Chen contributed to this report.
Illegal immigrants who crossed the English Channel from France give V signs on UK Border Force boat Valiant as they arrive in the port of Dover, England, on June 14, 2022. (Chris Eades /Getty Images)

Rwanda Flights Policy Working but Could Change Trafficking Pattern: UK Official

The UK governments policy of sending some illegal immigrants to Rwanda appears to have begun to deter people from crossing the English Channel into the UK, but could encourage illegal immigrants to take more dangerous routes, the top civil servant in the Home Office has said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on April 14 that people who enter the UK illegally, including those who cross the English Channel in small boats, may end up being relocated to the African country of Rwanda. The UK government said the move is necessary to deter human smuggling.

Matthew Rycroft, the departments permanent secretary told MPs on June 22 that, since the policy was announced, the number of illegal Channel crossings have not been rising as much as the Home Offices projection for this year.

Appearing before the Home Affairs Committee in the House of Commons, Rycroft said: There is already possibly the beginnings of some deterrent effect visible.

Although the numbers are higher than last year, the proportion higher is already a bit smaller since the announcement than it was before the announcement, he said.

But he added: Its too early to say if that is because of the Rwanda policy or due to the weather.

More Dangerous Routes

The top civil servant acknowledged that policy could cause changes in the pattern of illegal immigration by encouraging people smugglers to try new routes into the UK that are even more dangerous than the current ones.

He said: I do agree we should be thinking about irregular migration in general and all of the different routes, and it would be a pyrrhic victory if this set of policies were successful in closing down the small boat route, but created something even more dangerous. That would not be a victory at all, so we need to make sure were thinking about this in the round.

Not a single illegal immigrant has been deported to Rwanda yet, as the first planned flight was grounded due to an intervention by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the ECHR intervention was disappointing and surprising but the government remains committed to this policy.

Commenting on reports of some Home Office staff refusing to implement the policy, Rycroft told MPs: It is irrelevant whatever any civil servant thinks about a policy, if the government of the day has determined that policy.

He said civil servants are here to serve the government of the day, that is duly elected.

PA Media contributed to this report.
The person of interest following a shooting on a Muni Metro train in San Francisco on June 22, 2022. (San Francisco Police Department via AP)

San Francisco Police Release Photo of Alleged Subway Shooter

SAN FRANCISCOPolice in San Francisco were searching Thursday for a man who shot and killed one person and wounded another inside a subway train and then fled when the train stopped in the Castro District.

San Francisco police late Wednesday released a still photo from surveillance video of a man they described as a person of interest and asked anyone with information to contact authorities.

The man, who hasnt been identified, is thought to be the person who shot a 27-year-old man to death and wounded a 70-year-old man as the train departed the Forest Hill station, police said.

The wounded person was a bystander who was taken to a hospital with an injured knee, said San Francisco Supervisor Myrna Melgar, whose district includes the Forest Hill neighborhood.

She said witnesses reported three or four shots and a heated verbal argument between the suspect and deceased victim. She said the suspect ran out with other passengers when the train stopped.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the Castro District, said the victim and suspect appeared to know each other.

Police personnel confer with San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman (L) outside the entrance to the Castro Muni Metro station following a shooting in San Francisco on June 22, 2022. (Janie Har/AP Photo)

Its cold comfort, but it does not appear that this was random, he said. It was not someone who, you know, got on the train and just started shooting, which would have been even more horrible. This was horrible enough.

There have been horrible incidents around the country and even in the Bay Area. So people are nervous, and Im sure this doesnt help. People should be alert, said Mandelman.

The shooting is believed to have been the first-ever on a train with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agencyalso known as Muni. The agency operates most public transit in the city, including trains, buses, streetcars, and San Franciscos iconic cable cars.

The incident that took place this morning is unnerving and yet another reason why we need to do more to prevent gun violence, Melgar said in a statement. There are too many guns out in our society, escalating a verbal argument into a senseless death of a young life.

Erica Kato, a spokesperson for the transit agency, said she did not know how many passengers were on board but noted that overall ridership is about half of what it was before the pandemic. She said ridership to San Franciscos downtown core is even less.

Never heard of anything like this over here, said Deeno Nasher, manager of the Castro Smoke House.

San Francisco police spokeswoman Officer Kathryn Winters said all Muni trains and subway stations have cameras, and police were reviewing the footage.
Pete Arredondo, chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (L), speaks at a press conference while Superintendent Hal Harrell looks on, following a mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

School Police Chief Who Oversaw Response to Uvalde Shooting Denied Leave as Councilman

UVALDE, TexasAfter listening to the pleas of parents and residents about the botched response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary, the Uvalde city council unanimously denied permission for their newest member, Pete Arredondo, to take an extended leave of absence from meetings.

Arredondo is also the police chief for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District and has been heavily criticized for his role in the response to the May 24 massacre.

Nineteen children and two teachers were killed when 18-year-old Salvador Ramos opened fire in Robb Elementary School. He wounded 17 other people in the prolonged attack.

The school board had opted to take no action against Arredondo until June 22 when the superintendent placed him on administrative leave.

Please, were beggingget this man out of our lives, Berlinda Arreola, grandmother of slain Amerie Jo Garza, implored the council members.

Arredondo, who wasnt present at the meeting, was elected just two weeks prior to the mass shooting. He was sworn into the position during a closed-door ceremony on May 31.

Jasmine Cazares, sister of murdered 9-year-old Jacklyn Cazares, said, If he truly wanted to be respectful, he would step down.

If a member misses three consecutive public meetings without a leave of absence, the city council has the option to declare the seat vacated and hold a special election to fill it.

Uvaldes Mayor Don McLaughlin confirmed that the June 21 meeting was the first one Arredondo has officially missed.

McLaughlin also indicated that he would support the removal of Arredondo if the latter misses the next two meetings.

Resident Kim Hammond said she and others in Arredondos district had already looked into submitting a recall petition.

We had so much enthusiasm in it right away, Hammond said.

But a recall petition can only be enacted once a member has been in office for eight months.

I implore you, do not give him that leave of absence, she said to the council.

After the mayor and four councillors voted unanimously to deny Arredondos request for leave, about 50 residents burst into applause.

The next city council meeting is scheduled for June 28.
SCOTUS: Failure to Read Miranda Rights Not Independent Ground to Sue Police

The 63 decision reverses a ruling by the controversial 9th Circuit

The Supreme Court ruled 63 on June 23 that police cant be sued for failing to read an accused person his Miranda rights before moving forward with questioning.

The courts landmark 1966 ruling in Miranda v. Arizona generally prevents criminal courts from accepting as evidence against a criminal defendant any self-incriminating statement made by that defendant while hes in custody unless he first receives certain warnings spelled out in the Miranda decision. Critics have long decried Miranda as a judicial invention outside the U.S. Constitution that allows criminals to escape justice.

The case goes back to 2014 when Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deputy Carlos Vega arrested Terence Tekoh on suspicion that he had sexually assaulted a patient at a Los Angeles medical facility where he worked. Tekoh provided a confession to police even though they had failed to provide a so-called Miranda warning to him before he offered the confession, which he later recanted. The warning begins, You have the right to remain silent  The confession was admitted into evidence at the criminal trial but the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

The Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, provides a damages remedy for deprivations of any right secured by the U.S. Constitution and the laws of the United States.

Despite being acquitted, Tekoh believed his rights had been violated and decided to sue the police.

In Tekohs civil rights suit filed under the law, the trial court held that Miranda-related violations werent sufficient to justify lawsuits against arresting officers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit overturned the trial court, and Vega filed an appeal with the Supreme Court.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the courts new opinion (pdf) in Vega v. Tekoh, court file 21-499. The other five conservative justices joined the opinion. Liberal Justice Elena Kagan wrote a dissenting opinion, which was joined by the other two liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor. Oral arguments took place on April 20.

Because a violation of Miranda is not itself a violation of the Fifth Amendment, and because we see no justification for expanding Miranda to confer a right to sue under [Section] 1983, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion, Alito wrote for the court.

The Miranda precedent rests on a pragmatic judgment about what is needed to stop the violation at trial of the Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination. Its prophylactic purpose is served by the suppression at trial of statements obtained in violation of Miranda and by the application of that decision in other recognized contexts.

Allowing a victim of a Miranda violation to sue a police officer for damages would have little additional deterrent value, and permitting such claims would cause many problems, Alito wrote.

Indeed, allowing a claim like Tekohs would disserve judicial economy, the justice wrote, citing Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore (1979). Re-adjudicating something already adjudicated would be wasteful and go against the judicial policy against creating two conflicting resolutions based on the same set of facts and create unneeded friction between courts, he added.

Allowing [Section] 1983 suits based on Miranda claims could also present many procedural issues, such as whether a federal court considering a [Section] 1983 claim would owe any deference to a trial courts factual findings; whether forfeiture and plain error rules carry over from the criminal trial; whether harmless-error rules apply; and whether civil damages are available in instances where the unwarned statement had no impact on the outcome of the criminal case.

We therefore refuse to extend Miranda in the way Tekoh requests, Alito wrote, adding that existing precedents already provide sufficient protection for the Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination.

In her dissenting opinion, Kagan accused the court majority of stripping individuals of the ability to seek a remedy for violations of the right recognized in Miranda.

As the majority acknowledges, defendants still may seek suppression at trial of statements obtained in violation of Mirandas procedures.

But sometimes, such a statement will not be suppressed, Kagan wrote. And sometimes, as a result, a defendant will be wrongly convicted and spend years in prison. He may succeed  in getting the conviction reversed. But then, what remedy does he have for all the harm he has suffered?

Lawyers for both sides shared their perspectives on the new ruling with The Epoch Times.

We welcome the Courts ruling, which confirms that Deputy Vega cannot be sued for his good-faith effort to investigate the alleged sexual assault of a defenseless hospital patient, Vegas attorney, Roman Martinez of Latham and Watkins LLP, wrote in an email.

As the Court explained, the landmark Miranda decision establishes an important prophylactic rule protecting the Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination. But the failure to give a Miranda warning does not automatically equate to a violation of the Fifth Amendment. Here, two state judges concluded that Deputy Vega did not violate Miranda, and two federal juries found that he did not violate the Constitution. The Justices rightly rejected liability in these circumstances.

Tekohs attorney, Paul L. Hoffman of Schonbrun Seplow Harris Hoffman and Zeldes LLP, was disappointed by the ruling.

Our view of the decision is much the same as Justice Kagans dissent. It is difficult to understand how the violation of a constitutional rule is not also the violation of a right secured by the Constitution for section 1983 purposes and the availability of a constitutional remedy, Hoffman wrote in an email.

Unfortunately, the decision will leave many people, including wrongfully convicted people, without any remedy.
Senators Unveil Bipartisan Bill to Lower Cost of Insulin

Schumer seeks to put bill to vote on Senate floor 'very soon'

Senators on Wednesday unveiled bipartisan legislation that would lower the costs of insulin amid skyrocketing prices for the diabetes medication.

Of the 37 million people in the United States who have diabetes, about 8.4 million use insulin, according to the American Diabetes Association. Medical costs in the United States for people with diabetes are more than double those incurred by people without diabetes, and about one out of every three Medicare dollars goes to treating people with diabetes.

Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who are co-chairs of the U.S. Senate Diabetes Caucus, said the bill would limit out-of-pocket costs for patients.

The measure ensures that commercial and Medicare insurance health plans must waive any deductible and limit cost-sharing to no more than $35 per month or 25 percent of list price, for at least one insulin of each type and dosage form, the pair announced in a release.

The senators said their legislation would also extend direly needed patient protections to Americans living with diabetes by encouraging manufacturers to reduce their list prices of insulin.

Provisions in the bill to encourage drug manufacturers to lower the overall price of insulin involve targeting rebates that the drug manufacturers pay to negotiators, known as pharmacy benefit managers, as well as to other middlemen.

Specifically, manufacturers do not have to pay any rebates to insurance plans and pharmacy benefit managers if they cap the overall price of insulin at the 2021 net prices for Medicate Part D or equivalent levels.

The insulin with capped prices would also be eligible for cost-sharing protections, including waivers of any applicable deductible and limiting copays or coinsurance to no more than $35 per month or 25 percent of the list price.

The bill would also support patient access to insulin by stipulating that a prescription drug plan (PDP) sponsor offering a prescription drug plan, or a Medicare Advantage organization offering an Medicare Advantage prescription drug (MAPD) plan, cannot impose prior authorization, step therapy, or other medical management requirements to limit beneficiary use. Such requirements would only be allowed when clinically justified for safety reasons.

The release from Collins and Shaheen featured statements in support of the bill from the American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Schumer Signals Support

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday that he intends to put the measure to a vote on the Senate floor very soon.

It ought to pass this chamber expeditiously, Schumer said.

At least 10 of the Senates 50 Republicans would have to join all 50 Democrats to support the bill for it to pass a filibuster. The bill, if passed, would take effect for those with coverage on Jan. 1, 2024.

About one in five insured Americans pay more than $35 per month for the treatment, while the rest pay about $23 per month, according to a 2021 report on drug prices by health information company IQVIA.

Three companiesSanofi SA, Eli Lilly and Co., and Novo Nordiskhave long dominated the U.S. insulin market. The trio own some 90 percent of the market for insulin, which was first isolated in the 1920s. The price of a product usually falls over time, but insulin continues to rise in cost to consumers.

The U.S. House of Representatives in March had passed a bill capping monthly out-of-pocket insulin costs for those with health insurance at $35. Unlike the Senate bill, the bill from the Democrat-majority House did not include provisions related to pharmacy benefit managers or other middlemen. It received just 12 Republican votes.

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spokesperson Brian Newell told Roll Call that Collins and Shaheens proposed legislation rightly recognizes the role of insurers and middlemen in determining what people pay at the pharmacy, but he added that more is needed to fix the broken system.

We believe that lawmakers should keep working on solutions to help all patients with policies like sharing rebates and discounts directly with patients, Newell told the outlet.

Reuters contributed to this report.
An electronic microscope image shows the monkeypox virus seen by a team from the Arbovirus Laboratory and the Genomics and Bioinformatics Units of the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) in Madrid, May 26, 2022. (The Canadian Press/AP/Unidad de Microscopia Electronica del ISCIII-via)

South Korea Confirms First Monkeypox Case, Infections Numbers From Around The World

South Korea has confirmed the first case of monkeypox infection in the country and has raised the nations alert level for the disease to caution, the second of its four alert levels.

A Korean national showed symptoms of monkeypox infection on Tuesday afternoon after entering the country following his visit to Germany. The individual suffered from headaches three days prior to his arrival. He has tested positive and is receiving treatment at the Incheon Medical Center, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). A second suspected case of infection, involving a foreign national, tested negative.

The KDCA has been pushing for utilizing secured (monkeypox) vaccines and treatments  and additional introduction of those, while the agency is continuously expanding its diagnostic testing capabilities, KDCA Commissioner Peck Kyong-ran said, according to Reuters.

Among those who have been exposed (to monkeypox virus) through physical contact with confirmed patients, those with medium or high risks will receive vaccination under their consent. KDCA did not provide further details of the infected individual.

Authorities are planning to import an antiviral drug called tecovirimat for 500 people in mid-July, according to Arirang.

President Yoon Suk-yeol has ordered for a quick introduction of third-generation antiviral drugs and vaccines for monkeypox. He also asked the health authority to step up quarantine management for foreign entrants at airports and to be ready to distribute vaccines and treatments to the medical field, according to Reuters.

South Korea is not currently reviewing implementing ring vaccination for dealing with monkeypox, Peck said. In the ring vaccination strategy, people who are close to an infected individual are vaccinated against that infection. The strategy is used to limit the spread of diseases that can be countered by vaccines.

Global Scenario

Multiple cases of monkeypox infections have popped up around the world in recent months. In the United States, 156 such cases have been identified as of June 22, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In Europe, Germany has reported the most number of infections at 521, followed by Spain with 520 cases, Portugal with 304 incidents, France with 277 cases, and the Netherlands with 167 infections. In other affected European countries, case numbers are below 100.

Outside of Europe and the United States, Canada has reported 210 infected individuals.

The United Kingdom has reported 793 confirmed cases, which includes 766 in England, 18 in Scotland, six in Wales, and three in Northern Ireland. The UK government issued guidance that makes gay men with multiple partners a top priority of the countrys monkeypox vaccination campaign.

There is ongoing transmission primarily in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM). Cases within the GBMSM population have largely been located in the London area, the June 21 guidance said before adding, Illness appears to be generally mild.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) has proposed that vaccination should be offered as soon as feasible to GBMSM at highest risk due to a large number of contacts.

Monkeypox has now been reported in over 40 nations worldwide where the infection is not endemic, with confirmed cases exceeding 3,000.
U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch waits in the U.S Capitol Rotunda on Dec. 03, 2018, in Washington, DC. (Jabin Botsford - Pool/Getty Images)

Supreme Court Allows GOP Legal Defense of North Carolinas Embattled Voter ID Law

The Supreme Court ruled 81 on June 23 that North Carolinas Republican-controlled Legislature must be allowed to step in to advocate for a heavily litigated voter ID law in court because Josh Stein, the states Democratic attorney general, allegedly isnt doing enough to defend the statute.

Republican lawmakers have long complained that Steins advocacy has been half-hearted and has focused on technical issues instead of countering the oft-repeated left-wing claim that voter ID laws are racially discriminatory. Republicans generally favor strengthening election integrity measures, such as requiring photo identification by voters. Democrats generally oppose photo IDs, saying that the requirement is burdensome and disenfranchises voters.

In 2018, North Carolina voters approved by 55.5 to 44.5 percent a state constitutional amendment requiring voters to present photo ID and directing the North Carolina General Assembly to develop legislation to enforce this requirement. The Legislature soon approved Senate Bill 824, which Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed. The Legislature overrode his veto.

Lower federal courts sided with Stein.

On June 7, 2021, a divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit rejected the request from the Legislature to take over the defense of the law from Stein. In dissent, Judge Harvie Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee, suggested that Stein may have a conflict of interest.

When a challenge is brought to an unpopular or controversial state law, an attorney generals defense of the law may be less than wholehearted, Wilkinson wrote. If the plaintiffs in the case are politically influential, the temptation to pull punches becomes even stronger. It casts no aspersions on anyone to note the obvious: North Carolinas voter photo ID law is a very controversial statute.

Separately, a divided state court in North Carolina struck down the law on Sept. 17, 2021, finding in Holmes v. Moore that it was motivated at least in part by an unconstitutional intent to target African American voters.

The case at hand is Berger v. North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, court file 21-248, an appeal from a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. The lead petitioner Phil Berger, a Republican, is president pro tempore of the North Carolina Senate. Tim Moore, also a Republican and speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, is also a petitioner. The lead respondent, the NAACP, is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The case has drawn comparisons to Cameron v. EMW Womens Surgical Center, in which the Supreme Court ruledalso by 81on March 3 that Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican, should be allowed to defend a state law restricting abortion after the states Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, refused to do so. The Epoch Times reported on the ruling at the time.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the courts opinion in the North Carolina case, which was joined by five conservative justices and two liberal justices. The sole dissenter was liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Setting aside the lower courts erroneous presumptions, the proper resolution of todays case flows quickly, Gorsuch wrote. Casting aspersions on no one, this litigation illustrates how divided state governments sometimes warrant participation by multiple state officials in federal court.

Within wide constitutional bounds, States are free to structure themselves as they wish. Often, they choose to conduct their affairs through a variety of branches, agencies, and elected and appointed officials. These constituent pieces sometimes work together to achieve shared goals; other times they reach very different judgments about important policy questions and act accordingly.

This diffusion of governmental powers within and across institutions may be an everyday feature of American life. But it can also pose its difficulties when a States laws or policies are challenged in federal court.

North Carolina has selected multiple officials to defend its interests in some cases, authorizing its attorney general, who is elected independently by state voters, to represent individual official defendants in federal litigation, Gorsuch wrote. At the same time, its General Assembly has also empowered the leaders of its two legislative chambers to participate in litigation on the states behalf under certain circumstances and with counsel of their own choosing, he added.

It seems North Carolina has some experience with just these sorts of issues. More than once a North Carolina attorney general has opposed laws enacted by the General Assembly and declied to defend them fully in federal litigation.

Because the people of North Carolina have authorized the leaders of their legislature to defend duly enacted state statutes against constitutional challenge, the states legislative leaders are entitled to intervene in this litigation, Gorsuch wrote, reversing the judgment of the 4th Circuit.

In her dissenting opinion, Sotomayor noted that under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure a federal court isnt authorized to grant a motion if an existing party to the case is adequately representing the movants interests.

Stein is already ably and fully representing the states interests, she wrote.

The court majoritys conclusions that state respondents inadequately represented petitioners interests is a fiction that the record does not support. In addition, the Courts armchair hypothesizing improperly displaces the District Courts firsthand experience in managing this litigation, Sotomayor added.

House Speaker Moore lauded the majority opinion on Twitter.

North Carolinians deserve nothing less than the strongest representation from those who would uphold the will of the voters and our Constitution, not a tepid defense by an attorney general who has a record of opposing voter ID.

Moore noted that when Stein was a state senator he voted against an earlier voter ID law and supported litigation against it.

The Supreme Court has rightfully agreed with us that, without the participation of the General Assembly in defending voter ID, important state interests would not be represented,' Moore said.

Steins press secretary, Nazneen Ahmed, commented on behalf of the attorney general.

Were still reviewing the courts decision, she said by email.

Our office has and will continue to vigorously defend state law, and did not oppose the legislators attempt to join in that defense.
Supreme Court Rules New Yorks Concealed Carry Gun Law Is Unconstitutional, Recognizes Right to Carry in Public

Justice Thomas: Law violates Constitution by preventing law-abiding citizens from defending themselves in public

The Supreme Court voted 63 on June 23 to strike down New York states draconian concealed carry gun permitting system on constitutional grounds, recognizing for the first time a constitutional right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.

The ruling is a sweeping victory for Second Amendment gun ownership rights and may help to undo restrictive gun control laws outside New York state, possibly including so-called red flag laws, which allow the confiscation of guns in certain circumstances with limited due process.

The Second Amendment states: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The Supreme Court has been strengthening Second Amendment protections in recent years, and observers have said that the courts six-member conservative supermajority could help expand gun ownership protections. In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment protects the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation, and in McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), it held that this right is fully applicable to the States.

The ruling comes amid rising crime rates, activist demands to defund police departments, and a Biden administration push to strengthen gun control policies. A legislative package, introduced in the wake of a series of high-profile mass shootings, is moving forward in Congress.

Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA) hailed the decision, calling it a watershed win for good men and women all across America and taking credit for the victory after a decades-long fight the NRA has led.

The right to self-defense and to defend your family and loved ones should not end at your home, LaPierre said.

President Joe Biden condemned the new ruling, which he said contradicts both common sense and the Constitution and should deeply trouble us all.

I call on Americans across the country to make their voices heard on gun safety. Lives are on the line, Biden said.

The Empire States gun permit law, as with laws in seven other states, generally requires an applicant to demonstrate proper cause in order to obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun in public.

New York makes it a crime to possess a firearm without a license, whether inside or outside the home. An individual who wants to carry a firearm outside his home may obtain an unrestricted license to have and carry a concealed pistol or revolver if he can prove that proper cause exists for doing so, according to state law. An applicant satisfies the proper cause requirement only if he can demonstrate a special need for self-protection distinguishable from that of the general community, according to a 1980 ruling by the Supreme Court of New York in Klenosky v. New York City Police Department.

The specific issue before the court was whether the states denial of the petitioning individuals applications for concealed carry licenses for self-defense violates the U.S. Constitution.

Oral arguments in the case, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, court file 20-843, an appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, were heard on Nov. 3.

Respondent Kevin Bruen heads the New York State Police. Founded in 1871, the lead petitioner, the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, describes itself as the states largest and nations oldest firearms advocacy organization, and as the official NRA-affiliated state association in New York.

The majority opinion (pdf) was written by Justice Clarence Thomas, who declared that New Yorks proper-cause requirement violates the 14th Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense.

Because the State of New York issues public-carry licenses only when an applicant demonstrates a special need for self-defense, we conclude that the States licensing regime violates the Constitution, Thomas wrote, before quoting Konigsberg v. State Bar of California (1961).

In keeping with Heller, we hold that when the Second Amendments plain text covers an individuals conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct. To justify its regulation, the government  must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nations historical tradition of firearm regulation. Only if a firearm regulation is consistent with this Nations historical tradition may a court conclude that the individuals conduct falls outside the Second Amendments unqualified command.

It makes no sense to deny Americans the ability to defend themselves outside their homes, he said.

To confine the right to bear arms to the home would nullify half of the Second Amendments operative protections. Moreover, confining the right to bear arms to the home would make little sense given that self-defense is the central component of the [Second Amendment] right itself, Thomas wrote, quoting the Heller opinion.

After all, the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation, and confrontation can surely take place outside the home.  Many Americans hazard greater danger outside the home than in it.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that in 1791 when the Second Amendment was adopted, there were no police departments, and many families lived alone on isolated farms or on the frontiers. If these people were attacked, they were on their own. It is hard to imagine the furor that would have erupted if the Federal Government and the States had tried to take away the guns that these people needed for protection. Today, unfortunately, many Americans have good reason to fear that they will be victimized if they are unable to protect themselves. And today, no less than in 1791, the Second Amendment guarantees their [rights].

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote a dissenting opinion, which Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined.

In 2020, 45,222 Americans were killed by firearms. Since the start of this year (2022), there have been 277 reported mass shootingsan average of more than one per day. Gun violence has now surpassed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death among children and adolescents. Many States have tried to address some of the dangers of gun violence just described by passing laws that limit, in various ways, who may purchase, carry, or use firearms of different kinds. The Court today severely burdens States efforts to do so.
A Tesla Model Y electric vehicle is displayed on a showroom floor at the Miami Design District in Miami on Oct. 21, 2021. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Tesla Tops the List of Most Made-in-America Cars: What You Need to Know

The annual cars.com American-Made Index, which lists the vehicles that are most made in the U.S., has been released and Tesla Inc. is dominating the chart.

While Teslas Model 3 lost the top spot it had in 2021, it was overtaken this year by the Tesla Model Y, sending the Model 3 to No. 2, which used to be held by the Ford Mustang.

Out of the top six most made-in-American vehicles, Tesla has four of those spots, representing all available cars offered by the Texas based automaker. The top six list can be seen below.

1. Tesla Model Y

2. Tesla Model 3

3. Lincoln Corsair

4. Honda Passport

5. Tesla Model X

6. Tesla Model S

Teslas Model S and X luxury vehicles round out the top six, although they did not place last year as they were in the midst of a refresh and scarcely available.

Despite this, earlier this year it was a running theme that U.S. President Joe Biden would not acknowledge Tesla when giving speeches talking about electric vehicles. That was put to an end in February when Biden finally mentioned Tesla by name.

By Benzinga EV Insights

 2022 The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
GRUENHEIDE, GERMANY - MARCH 22: A new Tesla car is seen during the official opening of the new Tesla electric car manufacturing plant on March 22, 2022 near Gruenheide, Germany. The new plant, officially called the Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg, is producing the Model Y as well as electric car batteries. (Photo by Christian Marquardt - Pool/Getty Images)

Teslas Austin and Berlin Plants Losing Billions Amid Supply Chain Issues: Musk

Elon Musk said on Wednesday that Teslas new plants in Texas and Berlin are losing billions of dollars due to battery shortages and supply chain disruptions prompted by government mandated COVID-19 lockdowns in China.

Tesla opened its Austin-based Gigafactory in April of this year, while its Berlin-Brandenburg plant officially opened in March.

Both Berlin and Austin factories are gigantic money furnaces right now. Okay? Its really like a giant roaring sound, which is the sound of money on fire, Musk said in an interview with Tesla Owners Silicon Valley, an official Tesla recognized club, in Austin, Texas, on May 31.

The last of the three-part interview was published on June 22.

Teslas Texas factory produces a puny number of cars because of challenges in increasing production of its new 4680 batteries and because the tools needed to make its conventional 2170 batteries are stuck at a port in China with no one to actually move it, he said.

Communist Party officials imposed stringent lockdowns on a number of Chinese cities earlier this year after COVID-19 infections began to surge again, leading to a persistent supply chain for a number of industries across the globe.

Going to Get Fixed

Despite the issues, Musk appeared to be optimistic about the current situation, explaining: this is all going to get fixed real fast but it requires a lot of attention and it will take more effort.

Teslas factory in Berlin is in a slightly better position because it started with using the traditional 2170 style batteries for cars built there, he said.

Musk added that both factories are losing billions of dollars right now because there is a tonne of expense and hardly any output.

So getting Berlin and Austin functional and getting Shanghai back in the saddle, fully, are overwhelmingly our concerns. Everything else is a very small thing, he said.

Another overwhelming concern, Musk said, is ensuring the factories keep operating and can pay people without Tesla going bankrupt.

The past two years have been an absolute nightmare of supply chain interruptions, one thing after another, and were not out of it yet, Musk said, referring to the COVID-19-related shutdowns in Shanghai, which affected vehicle production at both Teslas Shanghai factory and its California plant.

Business Challenges

Musks concerns over the factories in Texas and Berlin come after the businessman said he had fears regarding the U.S. economy, given its current volatility, and said Tesla would need to cut 10 percent of its salaried workforce after expanding rapidly.

The billionaire confirmed Tuesday that the electric vehicle makers cuts to salaried workers will amount to a roughly 3.5 percent reduction in total headcount at the company, although Musk said he expects the companys headcount to be higher in salaried and hourly workers a year from now.

We grew very fast on the salaried side, Musk said in an interview with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait at the Qatar Economic Forum.

Musk also said he believes a recession would likely happen in the United States in the near term.

It is not a certainty, but it appears more likely than not, he said.
Texas State Rep. Steve Toth (L) holds a news conference with teachers and parents in Houston, Texas, on June 17. 2022. He is sponsoring a bill that will allow officers to ticket students in schools. (Darlene Sanchez/The Epoch Times)

Texas Lawmaker Proposes End to Woke Restorative Justice in Schools

Uvalde school shooter was known for carrying severed cat heads to school

Conservative Texas parents and teachers are backing a proposed bill that will allow police to ticket violent or disruptive students in hopes of identifying troubled youth.

The proposed legislation comes just weeks after a teen killed 19 students and two teachers at a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Family members who lost a sibling place flowers outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 25, 2022. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via TNS)

Texas State Rep. Steve Toth (R-Woodlands) told The Epoch Times that the bill for the 2023 legislative session would help identify students who fly under the legal radar because of laws based on restorative justice. Restorative justice focuses on mediation and agreement rather than punishment.

School shooters often have a history of violent or threatening behavior that doesnt get reported to police, Toth said. The woke left doesnt want the police involved in school discipline, he said.

This kid in Uvalde is an example. While he was at school, he walked around with a ziplock bag with two cat heads in itif that doesnt make your skin crawl.

Toth said the gruesome act, which he verified with state law enforcement, would be felony animal abuse under Texas law. But authorities never knew about it because of Senate Bill 393, which was passed as part of the restorative justice movement.

Lawmakers passed the bill in 2013 to reduce police involvement, which critics said contributed to the school-to-prison pipeline. The law banned school police officers from issuing citations for misbehavior at school, excluding traffic violations.

Washington police officer Todd Foremana Washington High School Resource officerwalks the hallways at school at part of his duties in Washington, Pa. Foreman, a city patrolman and detective who started at the district in 2004, says that forging relationships with students helps avoid or de-escalate potential problems. (Jim McNutt/Observer-Reporter via AP)

Many applauded the bill because students who did not pay their fines could be arrested when they turned 17. The offenses could appear on their criminal records if they didnt pay their fines.

The idea had noble intentions, and 37 states embraced the idea, including Texas.

Changes Proposed

Toth hopes to repeal Senate Bill 393 and replace it with The Protect Teachers Secure Classrooms Act, which he will sponsor. His bill would allow a committee with a teacher, the district attorney, and local law enforcement to review student behavior. The group would decide if the student would receive a citation as a class C misdemeanor.

It would allow law enforcement to know who these people are, he said.

Several teachers and parents attending a press conference, held by Toth last week during the Texas GOP convention, spoke publicly about their experiences with violent or troubled students.

Morgan McComb, whose children attended a Denton County school north of Dallas, said she decided to pull her children out of school after a student made threats.

McComb said a would-be school shooter sent texts to 20 students warning them not to come to school the next day because he was going to do something really bad.

According to McComb, one of the students parents contacted the police, who went to his house to find a gun, backpack, and a list.

McComb said the foiled shooter incident happened in January, but the student was back in class by March. McComb described how her frightened teenage daughter was caught up in the nightmare because the student ended up sitting next to her in class.

McComb said that the student started texting her daughter, following her on social media, and even dropped a pin showing where she lived.

What Im telling you is there are school shooters sitting next to your kids, she said.

Melissa Martin, a board member of Innovative Teachers of Texasa non-union teachers organization, said shes been a teacher for 22 years and initially bought into the restorative justice movement because teachers naturally want students to stay in the classroom.

But the outcome hasnt been good for teachers or students.

Since then, I see this experiment has totally failed. Its failed our communities; its failed our schools, Martin said.
A farmer picks cotton in a field in Hami in China's northwestern Xinjiang region on Oct. 14, 2018. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

US Law on Forced Labor Could Change Chinas Cotton Industry

The U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) came into effect on June 21. This potentially far-reaching legislation prohibits imports that are made by forced labor in Xinjiang, China, which includes cotton products.

About 90 percent of Chinas cotton is produced in Xinjiang, and the region has almost no capacity to provide evidence that forced labor is not used. The situation may cause Chinas textile and garment factories to avoid using Xinjiang-produced raw materials if they want to export their products, unless the Chinese regime stops slavery in Xinjiang.

The European Union adopted a resolution on June 9, condemning the crimes against humanity toward Uyghurs and calling for a restriction on imports of products made via forced labor.

UFLPA

The State Department implemented the UFLPA on June 21.

The State Department is committed to continue combating forced labor in Xinjiang and strengthen international coordination against this egregious violation of human rights, read the State Department statement.

The Act was signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden on Dec. 23, 2021.

The State Department said in its 2021 report on international religious freedom, released on June 2, that the White House estimated that the Chinese regime has detained more than one million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Hui, and members of other Muslim groups, as well as some Christians, in specially built internment camps or converted detention facilities in the Xinjiang since April 2017.

Although Beijing denies any violation of human rights, the State Department stated on Tuesday: We are rallying our allies and partners to make global supply chains free from the use of forced labor, to speak out against atrocities in Xinjiang, and to join us in calling on the government of the PRC to immediately end atrocities and human rights abuses, including forced labor.

Farmers pick cotton in the fields during the harvest season in Hami, in northwest Chinas Xinjiang region on Sept. 20, 2015. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

The UFLPA impacts the production of Xinjiang cotton, which impacts Chinas textile businesses that use cotton as one of its raw materials. As the Chinese regime proudly claimed, China is the worlds largest textile exporter.

According to Statista, China exported textiles valued at $154 billion in 2020, accounting for 43.5 percent of the worlds textile export market.

Xinjiang is suited for growing cotton due to its vast lands and a desert climate. The Chinese National Statistics Bureau released on Dec. 14, 2021, said that Xinjiang produced 89.5 percent of Chinas cotton in the year using 82.8 percent of the countrys total cotton planting area.

In 2022, Xinjiangs cotton planting area used 86.4 percent of Chinas total cotton planting area, which means its output will share more than 90 percent of the countrys total production, China Cotton Association reported on May 25 after conducting a nationwide survey.

Xinjiang is divided into north and south by the Tianshan mountains. In northern Xinjiang, over half of the residents are of Han ethnicity. The farmers plant short staple cotton, which enables them to use machines to plant and harvest the crop.

In southern Xinjiang, the majority of people are Uyghurs. The cotton planted there is the long staple species, which is the best quality cotton in China. However, cotton harvesting relies on hand-picking.

Labor costs in Xinjiang are relatively low. The cotton is picked by hand in south Xinjiang and partially in north Xinjiang, which might involve the use of forced labor. In recent years, more and more cotton farmers in north Xinjiang started using machines to harvest the crop. According to the Chinese regime, 69.83 percent of cotton was picked by machines in 2020.

According to the UFLPA, the exporter, who wants to sell the textile or apparel products to the United States, must present conclusive evidence that no forced labor was involved in the products. Since most of the textile and apparel are made from cotton, the exporter needs such evidence if the cotton is from Xinjiang.

However, textile industry insiders said that theres no independent auditing service in Xinjiang, which means the exporters who use Xinjiang cotton cant verify that their products are free from the use of forced labor.

The law will essentially act as a trade embargo against goods with input from Xinjiang, Doug Barry, vice-president of communications and publications with the US-China Business Council, told South China Morning Post on June 20.

A Chinese farmer picking cotton in the fields during the harvest season in Hami, in northwest Chinas Xinjiang region on Sept. 20, 2015. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinas Cotton Industry

As the worlds largest textile manufacturer, consumer, and exporter, China produced 54.3 million metric tons of fiber in 2017, over 20 million tons of which were exported to other countries, the China Cotton Association (CCA) reported on Dec. 21, 2018.

Based on a CCA report, 36.8 percent of Chinas fibers are exported, and the United States is Chinas biggest importer.

At the same time, China imports cotton from the United States, Brazil, India, Australia, and other countries. According to China National Cotton Information Center, 25 percent of Chinas cotton used in 2021 was imported, and this percent will decrease to 24 percent in 2022 due to the high cotton price in the global market.

To meet the textile and apparel export volume, China needs to import more cotton because Xinjiang cotton isnt qualified to export to the United States.

UFLPA Impact

The UFLPA is great for Chinese people and the global supply chain, Wang He, U.S.-based China affairs commentator, told The Epoch Times on June 22.

Wang believes that not all Chinese textile companies could immediately purchase qualified cotton to produce the products for export, but have to catch up because more and more countries and regions will follow the United States and ban forced labor products.

I think that citizens of the EU would be shocked to know that a ban on products known to be made with forced labor does not already exist, Laura Murphy, a human rights professor at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK, told BBC on June 20. The EU also needs to be a leader in passing mandatory human rights due diligence. Both these tools are necessary to ensure that companies address the forced labor and other abuses in their supply chains.

The textile industry contributed 11.4 percent of Chinas exports in 2020, valued at $296 billion, according to Chinas Ministry of Commerce.

Being unable to use Xinjiang cotton for the textile and garment exporting industry is a disaster for the Beijing regime, Wang commented. The Chinese economy is damaged badly by the regimes COVID-19 zero tolerance policy because cities are locked down one after another and people arent allowed to work. The regime relies on the textile industry because Chinas textile and apparel exports earn almost $300 billion every year, and contribute over 50 percent of Chinas trade surplus.

Wang said the importers might face difficulties in finding alternatives to China-made textiles in the global market for a while. But in the long term, the world will enjoy the benefit.

In fact, the UFLPA forces the international brands, such as H&M and Nike, to search for their original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in other countries. This can diversify the global supply chain and prosper the economy of other developing countries.

Workers install solar panels at a photovoltaic power station in Hami in northwestern Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on Aug. 22, 2011. (Chinatopix via AP)

In addition to cotton, the polysilicon, a-silicon, and amorphous silicon, used in the solar energy industry will be impacted by UFLPA as well. According to China Photovoltaic Industry Association, China accounted for 97.3 percent of global silicon used for solar energy in 2021. State-run Xinjiang Daily reported on Feb. 28 that Xinjiang produced 58.9 percent of Chinas output.

The United States has banned the import of goods produced by forced labor since 1930, when section 307 of the Tariff Act went into effect. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on its website the entry into force of the UFLPA and released operational guidance for importers on June 13.
Opinion: Top CCP Economist Calls on China to Seize Taiwan Chipmaker TSMC

Belligerent Chinese rhetoric meets vital American interests

Commentary

Earlier this month, Chen Wenling, the chief economist of China Center for International Economic Exchange, a state-run Chinese think tank, proposed that China recover Taiwan and seize Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) if the United States and the West imposed sanctions on China akin to those that have been imposed on Russia.

TSMC is a contract manufacturer for other tech companies. It does not produce its own competing chips. But the chips it manufactures, for Intel and others, are among the worlds most advanced. It is strategically important to the U.S. and global economy and mission critical to Americas high-tech weapons arsenal.

Washington has moved to reshore chip manufacturing. In the 1980s and 90s, 40 percent of chips had been produced here. Today, 80 percent of chips are made in Asia; the United States produces just 12 percent.

They [TSMC] are speeding up the transfer to the U.S. to build six factories there, Chen said.

We must not let all the goals of the transfer be achieved, she added in what could only be interpreted as an additional threat.

Words Alluding to War?

Beijings rhetoric, while always couched in feigned peaceful tones, has become increasingly belligerent since the pandemic. But given the context of Chens threat, it is downright alarming.

Chinas defense chief, Wei Fenghe, told a conference of the International Institute for Security Studies (IISS) this month that If anyone dares to secede Taiwan from China, we will not hesitate to fight. We will fight at all costs. And we will fight to the very end. This is the only choice for China. (The complete address, as delivered, can be seen and read here.)

On US-China relations: If you want to talk, we should talk with mutual respect. If you want confrontation, we will fight to the very end | Wei Fenghe, China's Minister of National Defense #SLD22 https://t.co/Nbusw0PWxi pic.twitter.com/3OTcs5CsbZ  IISS News (@IISS_org) June 12, 2022

Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, stated at a press conference that the waters of the Taiwan Strait  are divided into several zones, including internal waters, territorial sea, contiguous zone, and the Exclusive Economic Zone. China has sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait. At the same time, it respects the lawful rights of other countries in relevant waters.

According to Wang, the Taiwan Strait is 70 nautical miles at its narrowest and 220 nautical miles at its widest.

He claimed that there is no legal basis of international waters in the international law of the sea. It is a false claim when certain countries call the Taiwan Strait international waters to find a pretext for manipulating issues related to Taiwan and threatening Chinas sovereignty and security. China is firmly against this.

International waters is a common law, or informal term, commonly accepted in commerce and navigation. It is more clearly defined with its other delimitations as illustrated in this chart from the U.S. State Department:





In U.S. parlance, international waters include contiguous zones, exclusive economic zones [EEZs], and the high seas. The contiguous zone extends beyond the 12 miles of a nations territorial waters seaward. Even if one were to accept Chinas specious claim to Taiwan, it would leave 46 miles of the Taiwan Strait between China and Taiwan free for navigation at its narrowest point (for example, 70 NM less the 12 NM of both Taiwan and China.)

But Wangs assertion that China has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait potentially limits freedom of navigation through the Taiwan Strait, particularly by foreign warships. His phrasing that China respects the lawful rights of other countries in relevant waters is nebulous at best.

What are lawful rights? What defines relevant waters?

By Chinas definition, the entire Taiwan Strait lies within Chinas EEZ.

The fear is that statements like Wangs and Chens could tumble out of control and lead to open hostilities.

The steps are clear, given Beijings increasing belligerence: First, Xi Jinping could use the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to impose a quarantine and prohibit foreign warships from traversing the Taiwan Strait. The United States would then almost assuredly impose sanctions against China for denying access to the strait. Then, China would move to seize control of TSMC, as Chen indicated, as a consequence of the sanctions.

Were Beijing to quarantine the Taiwan Strait, what follows is almost automatic. As Barbara Tuchman wrote, perhaps apocryphally, of the Schlieffen Plan in The Guns of August, once the mobilizations of the summer of 1914 commenced, events overwhelmed politics, and warfare became inevitable. That could happen in the Taiwan Strait.

To Walk Back War

TSMC is a vital American interest, as vital to American commerce and defense as the Panama Canal. It cannot be lost, and it will not be surrendered.

Taiwan has been effectively independent of China for nearly 75 years. Assertions that it is part of China are essentially unilateral dogma of the Chinese Communist Party. While the United States acquiesced to a one China policy over 40 years ago with the Taiwan Relations Act, we did so to avoid confrontation and maintain the status quo.

But now, Beijing is seeking to alter the status quo and creating tension with its rhetoric and threat to seize TSMC, an interest vital to the American economy and defense.

Ive written earlier to concur with foreign policy experts that the United States should abandon strategic ambiguity for strategic certainty; that is, we should affirm our intent to defend Taiwan from Chinese attack. Doing so would, essentially, bring matters to a head; to maintain the status quo if the CCP rescinds its rhetoric and threats or to set the stage for further confrontation.

It would be the CCPs choice.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
FW Pomeroy's statue of Justice stands atop the Central Criminal Court building, Old Bailey, London on Jan. 8, 2019. (PA Media)

Top Nigerian Senator Charged in UK Over Child Organ-Harvesting Plot

A top Nigerian senator and his wife have been charged in the UK over an alleged plot to bring a child into the country for organ-harvesting.

Londons Metropolitan police said that Ike Ekweremadu, 60, and his wife Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55 were charged on Thursday and are due to appear in court in Uxbridge Magistrates Court later the same day.

The police said that a childof unspecified agehas been taken into care.

The couple are both charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.

Ike Ekweremadu served three terms as deputy president of the Senate in Nigeria, from 2007 to 2019.

He has been a senator since 2003 and is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He was recently made a visiting professor at the University of Lincoln.

A spokesman for the university said: Visiting professors are often, as is in this case, non-resident at the university, unpaid and advisory.

We are deeply concerned about the nature of these allegations but as this is an active police investigation, we cannot comment further at this stage.

The police have said that they will not be providing any further details as criminal proceedings are now under way.

New Laws

The charges were made under the modern slavery legislationwhich was introduced only last month.

Lawmakers in the UK also recently passed legislation aimed at stopping British people from participatingas organ recipientsin forced organ harvesting.

The amendment to the UKs new Health and Care Bill will criminalise any UK resident who pays for the supply of an organ, seeks to find someone willing to supply an organ for payment, or initiates or negotiates any such commercial arrangement outside of the UK, according to Health Minister Edward Argar.

The amendment was pushed by backbenchers who made it clear that it was primarily aimed at organ harvesting under the communist regime in China.

On June 17, 2019, the China Tribunal, an independent peoples tribunal, unanimously concluded that prisoners of conscience have beenand continue to bekilled in China for their organs on a significant scale and that adherents of the spiritual practice Falun Gong have been one of the main sources of organ supply.

The tribunal published a 160-page report on March 1, 2020, reaffirming its previous conclusionexamining whether the practice had been stopped in China as the communist regime claimedstating that there was no evidence of the practice having been stopped and the Tribunal is satisfied that it is continuing.

PA Media and Lily Zhou contributed to this report
RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki appears at a House of Commons committee in Ottawa on May 7, 2018. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

Tories Call for Investigation Into Alleged Political Interference in Nova Scotia Mass Shooting Probe

The Conservative Party is calling for an investigation into allegations the Liberal government interfered with the probe into the mass shooting incident in Nova Scotia to further its gun control agenda.

Will the government commit today to a full, open, and transparent investigation to get to the bottom of this? asked interim party leader Candice Bergen during question period on June 22.

Bergen said her party believes RCMP Superintendent Darren Campbell, whose notes released this week said RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki had pressured him to reveal the types of firearms used in the shooting.

At the time, the Liberals were about to announce the banning of hundreds of types of firearms, which they refer to as assault-style weapons.

Bergen added her party also believes that it is possible the commissioner was pressured by the PMO [Prime Ministers Office] and the public safety ministers office. These Liberals have a pattern of interfering in investigations to advance their political agenda, just as we saw in SNC-Lavalin.

In response to Bergen, Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair, who was the minister of public safety at the time of the shooting, denied any interference at the governments behest.

The independence of law enforcement operations is a key principle of our democracy and it is one that our government deeply respects and one that I have always defended. At no point did our government pressure or interfere with the operational decisions of the RCMP, he said.

Blair pointed to Luckis statement on the allegations released on June 21, which he said was the truth.

I would never take actions or decisions that could jeopardize an investigation. I did not interfere in the ongoing investigations into the largest mass shooting in Canadian history, Lucki wrote.

The controversy started earlier this week when the Mass Casualty Commission, which is looking into the April 2020 shooting in Nova Scotia that took the life of 22 people, published the document Public Communications from the RCMP and Governments after the Mass Casualty.

It contains the notes of Supt. Campbell, which detailed his concerns that releasing information on the types of firearms used in the event could jeopardize the investigation being carried out by the RCMP and U.S. law enforcement.

Campbell wrote that Lucki had promised the minister of public safety and the PMO that the RCMP would release that information.

When Campbell sought to defend his decision not to release the information, Lucki allegedly said that Nova Scotia RCMP didnt understand, that this was tied to pending gun control legislation that would make officers and public safer by or through this legislation.

Conservatives requested an emergency meeting of the public safety committee today to address the issue, where committee members will debate who will be invited to testify.
Snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef along the Queensland coast in Australia. (Adobe Stock)

Tourist Tax Proposed for Queensland, Australia

Tourists to Queensland could be taxed to visit the states attractions under a bold plan to generate more revenue for the sector.

The Queensland Tourism Industry Reference Panel has just released a new Action Plan (pdf) aimed at reinvigorating the industry post-COVID and in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic Games.

Among the 75 recommendations, the Panel said local councils and tourism operators should be given the choice to apply a levy and not just rely on state government funding.

The idea of a visitor levy is not new. It has been modelled, canvassed and debated for the best part of a decade, the Action Plan said.

While we appreciate that views are polarised as to whether it is an appropriate way to raise funding, everyone we spoke with saw a greater need than ever for increased funding during the COVID19 recovery period.

The Panel agreed that such a move would need to be flexibly applied depending on the local attraction and its needs.

Queensland Already Coping With New Taxes

Graham Turner, head of Flight Centre, said the proposal was unlikely to gain traction.

It wont be very popular in Queensland generally, he told Sky News Australia on June 23. I think even calling it a tax wont be popular.

I dont think itll get up. I think theyll need to couch it in much better words  even the Queensland government, having just raised various taxes, I dont think they will want to be part of this. It just wont look good on them.

The Queensland Labor government has introduced or widened three taxes in its latest budget targeting the mining, business, and gaming sectors. This was despite pledging not to introduce new taxes during the 2020 state election campaign.

Meanwhile, the Panels report also called for increased activation in existing destinations and new tourism experiences in places like Fraser Island and around Brisbane.

Some recommendations include introducing tour boat experiences around Moreton Bay, setting up underwater art installations like the Museum of Underwater Art near Townsville, and exploring introducing more underwater hotels along the Great Barrier Reef.

The groups aim is to recover from the pandemic-induced lockdowns and to ramp up growth and visitor numbers.

If we can achieve a trajectory following the highgrowth scenario, overnight visitor expenditure from both domestic and international visitors will

generate an estimated $34 billion [US$23.4 billion] per annum by 2027 and $44 billion [US$30.3 billion] in overnight visitor expenditure per annum by 2032, the report stated.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responds to questions flanked by Minister for Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly during a news conference in Kigali, Rwanda, on June 23, 2022. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press)

Trudeau Says He Did Not Pressure RCMP to Release Information on Nova Scotia Shooting

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has denied pressuring RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki to release information on the mass shooting investigation in Nova Scotia to help advance his gun control agenda.

Absolutely not, he said, when asked by reporters about the issue while speaking to the press in Kigali, Rwanda, on June 23 during a 10-day trip overseas.

We did not put any undue influence or pressure. It is extremely important to highlight that it is only the RCMP, it is only police, that determine what and when to release information, Trudeau said.

The controversy emerged on June 21 when the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) released a document on the public communications of the RMCP and government officials after the mass shooting occurred in April 2020.

It contains notes from RCMP Superintendent Darren Campbell which say that RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki promised the public safety minister and the Prime Ministers Office she would release information on the firearms used in the crimes.

Campbell noted he thought this would jeopardize the investigation, while Lucki allegedly tied her request to pending gun control legislation that would make officers and public safer by or through this legislation.

Trudeau told reporters on June 23 that he still very much has confidence in Commissioner Lucki.

While saying he did not apply pressure, the prime minister noted his office was involved in the issue and received regular briefings at the time.

I will highlight, however, that when the worst mass shooting in Canadas history happened, we had a lot of questions. Canadians had a lot of questions. And I got regular briefings on what we knew, what we didnt know, he said after expressing support for Lucki.

When the tragedy in Nova Scotia happened, the Liberals were preparing to ban hundreds of firearms that they qualify as assault-style.

The gunman, who killed 22 people, used four illegal firearms, three of which had been smuggled from the United States.

Two of the model types used by the killer were outlawed in May 2020, such as the Colt carbine (M4) and the Ruger Mini-14. The other firearms were handguns.

Bill Blair, who currently holds the emergency preparedness portfolio, also had the public safety portfolio when the tragedy happened.

He told the House of Commons on June 23 that at no point did the government interfere in the investigation.

Lucki also said she had not interfered in a written statement on June 21.

She did acknowledge, however, not having handled the conversations with Nova Scotia RCMP professionally.

It was a tense discussion, and I regret the way I approached the meeting and the impact it had on those in attendance, she said.

My need for information should have been better weighed against the seriousness of the circumstances they were experiencing.

Supt. Campbells recollection of that conversation was captured in his notes, extracts of which were released by the Halifax Examiner.

The Commissioner was obviously upset. She did not raise her voice but her choice of words was indicative of her overall dissatisfaction with our work. The Commissioner accused us (me) of disrespecting her by not following her instructions. I was and remain confused over this, Campbell reportedly wrote.

The Commissioner said she told Comms to tell us at H Division to include specific info about the firearms used by [the killer].However I said we couldnt because to do so would jeopardize ongoing efforts to advance the U.S. side of the case as well as the Canadian components of the investigation. Those are facts and I stand by them.

Conservatives have called for an investigation into the issue. Their request for an emergency meeting of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety Thursday will lead to stakeholders testifying before the committee in the coming weeks.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the American Freedom Tour at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas, on May 14, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Trump Suggests Go to the Reporter to Find Roe v. Wade Leak Source

Former President Donald Trump said the Supreme Court should keep an eye on the reporter who unveiled the potential ruling that it would criminalize abortion in the United States.

A leak to the press in early May appeared to show the Supreme Courts draft majority opinion striking down Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision that made abortion a constitutional right nationwide in 1973.

Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the leak shortly after and directed the court marshal to investigate the rare breach.

The U.S. Supreme Court must find reveal and punish the leaker, Trump wrote in a June 22 post via his social media site Truth Social. Go to the reporter who received the leak, he said, calling it a tremendously serious matter that has never happened, to anywhere near this extent, before.

The former president appointed three conservative justices to the high court during his presidency.

Although a final opinion from the Supreme Court is expected soon, the scoop, co-written by Politico reporters Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward, set off a political earthquake across the nation.

Congressional Republicans have decried the unknown leaker and demanded that they are found and punished, while President Joe Biden and Democrat leaders blasted the attempt to overturn legal protections for abortion.

Pro-abortion activists have since rallied at the courts doorstep, Catholic churches, and judges home addresses. A recent report reveals more than 40 attacks against pro-life individuals and organizations have been recorded since the leak of the draft opinion.

Trump previously denied the revelation, which he said cheapens the court, will have a major impact on the 2022 midterm elections.

And despite his assertion that authorities should go to the reporter, disclosing the identity of a confidential source without his or her consent can subject a journalist to civil liability. Most states also have shield laws in place to protect journalists against the compelled disclosure of confidential information, including anonymous sources and unpublished notes.

The draft opinion almost runs to 100 pages, including 67-page opinion along with a 31-page appendix.
Twitter Suspends Doctor for Sharing Study That Shows Pfizer Vaccine Impacts Semen

Twitter has suspended a doctor for sharing the study that shows men who received Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine had lower levels of semen and a loss in motile sperm count.

Dr. Andrew Bostom, with the Brown University Center For Primary Care and Prevention, shared the peer-reviewed study on June 19.

Twitter informed Bostom that the missive violated its policy against spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19, according to a message reviewed by The Epoch Times. It suspended Bostoms account over the post.

It seems to fit into the whole pattern of silencing open discussion, Bostom told The Epoch Times.

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.

Bostoms post included a link to the Israeli study, which analyzed semen and sperm in men who received two doses, or a primary series, of Pfizers vaccine.

The study was published online ahead of publication in Andrology.

Researchers found that the men had lower levels of semen concentration and lower numbers of sperm after receiving a vaccine.

They alleged that the issues were resolved after 150 days, but figures from the paper actually suggested that was not the case. The authors wrote that the values did not reach statistical significance.

In his post, Bostom wrote that primary vaccination with Pfizers vaccine temporarily impairs semen concentration and total motile count among semen donors, with apparant rebound by ~5mos, but no data on boostering effect.

Does boostering yield another decline? he wondered.

I kind of understood what they really showed, which is that some of the metrics, whether it was the counts or the motility, were still depressed, Bostom told The Epoch Times. And I used their terminology  I didnt do anything to exaggerate their findings.

The authors said they excluded men with boosters.

I just pointed out that if this happens with the first series of vaccinations, maybe if they take these guys and have data on people that were semen donors and they had boosted them, when they followed them after the booster, youd see another round of depression, and maybe it would be depressedwho knowswould it be depressed more? Would it be depressed, less? Would the effect last longer? We just dont have any data on that, Bostom said. So that was the only other thing I put into my tweetthat we just dont know what the effect of boosters is going to be. I dont know why any of that was such a big deal.

At least one other prominent figure has shared the study and not been affected.

Dr. Peter McCullough, a cardiologist, shared on Twitter a screenshot of The Epoch Times article about the studys results along with an image from the study that highlighted how men still had lower semen concentration and sperm counts when measured 150 days or more after getting the vaccine.

Indiscriminate use instead of targeted, risk-stratified EUA rollout has led to a myriad of concerns. Never broadly apply a brand new experimental biologic agent on a large population without assessment of risk stratification, McCullough wrote. Over-used and now uninvited concerns in young men.
A sign marks a rendezvous location for Lyft and Uber users at San Diego State University in San Diego, Calif., on May 13, 2020. (Mike Blake/Reuters, File Photo)

Uber, Lyft Drivers Claim Price-Fixing in Lawsuit Against Companies

A group of drivers for Uber Technologies Inc and Lyft Inc on Tuesday accused the companies of unfairly controlling how much passengers are charged for rides in an antitrust lawsuit in California state court.

The lawsuit seeking class action status in San Francisco Superior Court alleged violations of California antitrust law, and state law prohibiting unfair business practices.

The drivers claimed that if they were able to offer lower prices to the consumers, it would provide drivers with the most competitive compensation.

By preventing drivers from doing so, Uber and Lyft harm competition in both the labor market as well as the consumer market, the complaint alleged. Customers pay more, and drivers earn less.

An Uber spokesperson said in a statement that the complaint misconstrues both the facts and the applicable law and we intend to defend ourselves accordingly.

A representative from Lyft did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Uber and Lyft label their drivers independent contractors and not employees, the centerpiece of many legal challenges in recent years in state and federal courts across the country.

The plaintiff drivers in the new lawsuit contend Uber and Lyft deprive those drivers of economic independence by fixing the prices that drivers must charge.

The drivers are represented by Denver-based Towards Justice and the Edelson plaintiffs firm.

For a decade, Uber and Lyft have been trying to have it both ways, Rachel Dempsey of Towards Justice told Reuters. Theyre trying to avoid the responsibilities of an employer, while also maintaining a level of control over the transaction that is inconsistent with the idea that these drivers are independent contractors.

The drivers named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit previously opted out of arbitration agreements with Uber and Lyft, allowing them to contest employment-related matters in court.

By Mike Scarcella
UK Train Strike Comes Amid Push for More Automated Workforce

Network Rail says trade union intransigence is blocking the modernisation of the railways and says the 1,850 job losses it is proposing could be managed through early retirements.

A three-day national train strike by the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) trade union is causing chaos for commuters, and much of the country has had no rail service at all, including most of Scotland and Wales and the whole of Cornwall and Dorset.

Although the strike is partly about paythe RMT has demanded a 7 percent pay rise to cope with the cost-of-living crisisit is also about job losses and is a big test for those who seek to introduce a more automated workforce in Britain, with The Times of London columnist Iain Martin referring to the RMT as dinosaurs.

The RMT, which called 40,000 members out on strike this week, said it was opposed to plans to cut thousands of jobs across the rail network while not giving a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, and cutting safety inspections on the infrastructure by 50 percent in order to facilitate mass redundancies.

The RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch on a picket line outside Euston station in London on June 21, 2022 (PA).

The RMTs General Secretary, Mick Lynch, said this week, We will continue with our industrial campaign until we get a negotiated settlement that delivers job security and a pay rise for our members that deals with the escalating cost of living crisis.

But Network Rails Head of Media, Kevin Groves, said it wanted to cut 1,850 jobs out of the maintenance departments 10,000-strong workforce. He added that there were 2,000 vacancies across the whole organisation, with the age profile of many maintenance workers being over the age of 50, and that the organisation believes there is a latent demand for early retirement.

Groves told The Epoch Times, We believe there will be a job within the company for everyone who wants one.

RMT Accused of Hype and Propaganda

He accused the RMT of using hype and propaganda.

But why does Network Raila public body with no shareholderswant to lay off 1,850 workers?

Groves said it wants to modernise railway maintenance by introducing new technology which is faster and more efficient.

He said there were three things Network Rail was keen to press ahead withinspections, track faulting drones, and remote condition monitoring (RCM)but an obstinate RMT was refusing to discuss them.

Groves said when it comes to inspections, currently a crew of men will go out and walk the line looking for cracks in rails, missing clips, or rotting sleepers.

When they are taking place we have to shut down the line. But the technology exists which could replace those visual inspections. Theres very high definition (VHD) cameras which use plain line track recognition AI software, he explained.

RMT union members stand on the picket line outside Glasgow Central Station, in Scotland, on June 21, 2022. (PA Media)

Groves said: Cameras are attached to trains which are in service and they are attached to computers, which recognise discrepancies in what it is seeing with what it should be seeing. It pings a marker and once the train terminates it downloads to the engineering system and they can be checked later.

With this system nobody is in danger trackside and its more accurate than the human eye and can be auto generated into the work programme, he added.

Smart Meters for Railway Points

Groves said RCM is a piece of kit which is attached to points and other lineside equipment and works in a similar way to a smart meter in the home.

It sends back readings so you can tell whether the points are in good condition. So you dont need to come out and send an inspection team, he explained.

But he said all of these require a formal consultation process and added, If the union wants to be obstinate they can indefinitely hold it up.

Groves pointed out that Network Rail recently introduced an internal app called Blink, which works in a similar way to WhatsApp for staff, but he said it took 12 months to bring it in because of the union.

The Epoch Times reached out to the RMT but they were unavailable for comment.

Shortsighted and Dangerous Cuts to Safety Processes

But Robert Maisey, a policy and campaigns officer with the Trade Union Congress (TUC), told LabourList last month: Cuts to Network Rails basic safety processes are shortsighted and dangerous. Network Rail took over from the private operator Railtrack after three major, fatal accidents resulted from its failures. And its current proposal would take us back to the same inadequate levels of maintenance with the loss of 627,000 hours of maintenance work a year.

While Network Rail has kept maintenance of the tracks in-house it outsources renewal of the tracks and jobs like ballast cleaning to contractors like Balfour Beatty. Network Rail has invested 300 million ($367 million) in its high output machine fleet in the last decade, making it the third biggest in the world.

Train passengers, during first day of RMT strike, at Londons Waterloo station on June 21, 2022. (Yui Mok/PA)

However, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced in May last year plans to replace Network Rail in 2023 with a new quango, Great British Railways, as part of a 30-year strategy.

Maisey wrote: Some elements of the new Shapps/Williams plan are welcomemeasures that increase overall public control, for example. But the proposals for Great British Rail will leave the actual day-to-day running of the railways in private hands. While the central problems of poor integration and private profiteering are acknowledged, they are fundamentally unresolved.
UK Unveils New Law to Ease Strike Disruptions as Rail Network Paralysed for 2nd Time in a Week

The UK government has announced new legislation to enable businesses to supply agency workers to plug staffing gaps during industrial action, as train services were disrupted again by the second nationwide strike of the week.

Following widespread travel chaos on Tuesday, some 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers union (RMT) walked out again on Thursday, and are expected to go on strike again on Saturday.

Union leaders launched what they touted as the biggest rail strike in modern history after rail operators refused to agree to the unions demands including a 7 percent pay rise.

On Thursday, the government announced new measures to help reduce disruption from strike action by removing the restrictions on businesses supplying temporary agency workers to cover striking staff.

Not Sustainable

The move would reverse a legal restriction introduced under former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair that prevents employers from hiring agency workers to cover for striking staff.

The government said the existing restriction can have a disproportionate impact, including on important public services, causing severe disruption to the UK economy and society.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: Once again trade unions are holding the country to ransom by grinding crucial public services and businesses to a halt. The situation we are in is not sustainable.

He said repealing the restrictions will give businesses freedom to access fully skilled staff at speed, all while allowing people to get on with their lives uninterrupted to help keep the economy ticking.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that far too many hard working families and businesses were unfairly affected by unions refusal to modernise and the new legislation will ensure any future strikes will cause even less disruption.

Network Rail, which manages Britains rail network, welcomed the new legislation but the opposition Labour Party and unions condemned it as a recipe for disaster.

Millions Working From Home

On Thursday, major railway stations were much quieter than normal as services were crippled by the strike. Just one in five trains are running, and they are mostly restricted to main lines, with around half of the network closed.

But Shapps said, Despite the best efforts of militant union leaders to bring our country to a standstill, its clear this weeks strikes did not have the desired impact due to more people being able to work from home.

Broadband provider Virgin Media O2 said it recorded an increase in usage of up to 10 percent on the first day of the strikes on Tuesday, indicating that millions more people are working from home this week.

National Highways senior network planner Frank Bird said traffic flows on motorways and major A roads on Thursday morning were remarkably good, despite earlier fears of a surge in traffic as train passengers switch to road transport during the rail strikes.

He said: Two years on [from the COVID-19 pandemic] weve learned to work in different ways, people are working from home, so its a very different picture. People are still able to carry on working even though the rail dispute is ongoing.

PA Media contributed to this report.
A Ukrainian service member with a dog observes in the industrial area of the city of Sievierodonetsk on June 20, 2022. (Oleksandr Ratushniak TPX Images of the Day/Reuters)

Ukraine Takes Tentative Step Towards EU Membership as Donbass Battles Reach Fearsome Climax

KYIVUkraine will be accepted as a candidate to join the European Union on Thursday, a move that will boost the countrys morale as the battle with Russian troops for two cities in the east reached what one official called a fierce climax.

Although the approval of the Kyiv governments application by EU leaders meeting in Brussels is just the start of what will be a years-long process, it signifies a huge geopolitical shift.

Friday will mark four months since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops across the border in what he calls a special military operation partly necessitated by Western encroachment into what Russia views as its sphere of influence.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged his countrys allies to speed up shipments of heavy weapons to match Russia on the battlefield.

We must free our land and achieve victory, but more quickly, a lot more quickly, Zelenskyy said in a video address on Thursday.

Moscows massive air and artillery attacks are aimed at destroying the entire Donbass region, he said.

The war of attrition in the DonbassUkraines industrial heartlandis most critical in the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, which straddle the Siverskyi Donets River in Luhansk province.

The battle there is entering a sort of fearsome climax, said Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Zelenskyy.

Ukrainian forces were defending Sievierodonetsk and the nearby settlements of Zolote and Vovchoyrovka, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Thursday, but Russian forces had captured Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka to the south.

Hundreds of civilians are said to be trapped in a chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk while Ukraine and Russia dispute who controls the bombed-out city.

Moscow says Ukrainian forces in the city are surrounded and trapped. But Gaidai told Ukrainian Television on Wednesday that Russian forces did not have full control of Sievierodonetsk.

Gaidai said all Lysychansk was within reach of Russian fire.

In order to avoid encirclement, our command could order that the troops retreat to new positions. There may be a regrouping after last night, he said.

Ukrainian service members patrol an area in the city of Sievierodonetsk, as Russias attack on Ukraine continues, Ukraine, on June 20, 2022. (Oleksandr Ratushniak/Reuters)

TASS news agency cited Russian-backed separatists saying Lysychansk was now surrounded and cut off from supplies after a road connecting the city to the town Sieviersk was taken.

Reuters was unable to immediately confirm the report.

Britains defense ministry said some Ukrainian units had withdrawn, probably to avoid being encircled.

Russian forces are putting the Lysychansk-Sievierodonetsk pocket under increasing pressure with this creeping advance  however, its efforts to achieve a deeper encirclement to take western Donetsk Oblast remain stalled, the ministry said on Twitter.

Zelenskyy said he had spoken to 11 EU leaders on Wednesday about Ukraines candidacy and will make more calls on Thursday.

European Union chief executive Ursula von der Leyen, speaking ahead of the two-day EU summit in Brussels, said: History is on the march.

She added: I am not just talking about Putins war of aggression. I am talking about the wind of change that once again blows across our continent.

As well as Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia are also seeking to join the EU in what would be its most ambitious expansion since welcoming Eastern European states after the Cold War.

Russia has long opposed closer links between Ukraine, a fellow former Soviet republic, and Western groupings like the European Union and the NATO military alliance.

Diplomats say it will take Ukraine a decade or more to meet the criteria for joining the EU.

By Pavel Polityuk and Vitalii Hnidyi
A sign for BlackRock Inc. hangs above the company's building in New York on July 16, 2018. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

Uncovering the White Houses Secret Meetings With BlackRock

Commentary

With more than $10 trillion in assets under management, BlackRock is the wealthiest and most powerful investment management firm on Wall Street. Yet newly discovered information reveals that BlackRocks influence may extend well beyond the financial sphere, all the way to the White House.

Our investigation into the relationship between BlackRock officials and the White House shows that during the Biden administrations turn at the tiller, BlackRock, which currently controls more assets than any other investment group in America, has enjoyed unprecedented access to key administration figures and advisers to the president. These relationships raise serious ethical concerns that cant be addressed without an in-depth investigation by the proper authorities.

Some of BlackRocks most powerful executives have conducted numerous in-person meetings with Biden administration officials, occurring on a near-monthly basis. The most frequent visiting executive has close personal relationships with several White House officials, and it appears as though he enjoys a concerning amount of access to delicate intelligence that could be used to shield BlackRock from investment risk.

White House visitor logs show Thomas E. Donilonchairman of the BlackRock Investment Institute (BII), BlackRocks personal think tank dedicated to assessing geopolitical investment riskconvened with Biden administration officials at least eight times from March 2021 to November 2021. Donilon has been a luminary in U.S. foreign policy for the entirety of his career, most recently serving as national security adviser to President Barack Obama and as foreign policy lead for the 2016 Clinton campaign. Hes a leading member of globally focused organizations such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the Aspen Strategy Group, and the Trilateral Commission.

Because visitor log information is typically only made available several months after meetings occur, its possible Donilon has had additional meetings at the White House that we dont yet know about. Yet using the information that has been made available to date, records indicate that Donilon has met multiple times with special assistants to the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs (pdf) Thomas Isen and Sanam Rastegar, and once with Sezaneh Seymour, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology at the National Security Council.

Perhaps most curiously, Donilon has had at least four one-on-one meetings with Kimberly Lang. Despite a detailed investigation into Langs role in the White House, weve yet to determine precisely which job responsibilities she fills.

Lang appears to be absent from the official Annual Report to Congress on White House Office Personnel (pdf) dated July 1, 2021, despite having held meetings as far back as Jan. 29, 2021, prior to the reports release. The only record of her existence that we could obtain comes from federal payroll records, which indicate that she worked with the National Security Council in 2016 in one of the highest-salaried government positions attainable (GS-13).

In her current unspecified role, the White House visitor logs clearly show that Lang regularly holds private meetings with top foreign policy and national security elites. Of the 308 meetings she has personally hosted as of February (the last publicly available tranche of meetings), some of her visitors included William Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency; Colin Kahl, U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy; and Philip Etienne, French ambassador to the United States.

Lang also met with numerous prominent political scientists and experts specializing in geopolitical risk, nuclear threats, terrorism, and economic sanctions.

Donilon and Lang have been in close contact since at least 2010, when Donilon was national security adviser to the Obama administration, during which he ran the National Security Council to which Lang has been linked. According to a variety of emails obtained from WikiLeaks, Lang was closely apprised of Donilons whereabouts, often directly communicating with him in addition to powerful government officials, such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and current national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

As for the recent White House meetings between Donilon and Lang, there are no publicly available records about their purpose, nor have there been public statements made by the Biden administration, BlackRock, or Donilon. Although weve requested further information from BlackRock and the White House, weve yet to receive a response from any of the relevant parties.

These meetings raise serious ethical concerns, especially in light of the stated mission of Donilons BlackRock Investment Institute. According to its website, BII leverages the firms expertise and generates proprietary research to provide insights on the global economy, markets, geopolitics and long-term asset allocationall to help our clients and portfolio managers navigate financial markets.

In other words, its Donilons fiduciary responsibility to read the geopolitical tea leaves in order to help BlackRock clients earn a better return on their investments. Such a job would be substantially easier if one had access to regular meetings with officials closely plugged into foreign policy and security decision-making, a benefit Donilon has clearly attained.

The fact that an important figure at BlackRock held numerous closed-door meetings at the White House throughout 2021 is disconcerting enough, but Donilons connections to the Biden administration run much deeper than monthly meetings with policymakers.

Not only did Donilon work alongside Biden in the Obama administration as national security adviser, but he was also reportedly on Bidens shortlist to become CIA director. His brother, Mike Donilon, is the senior adviser to the president and one of Bidens closest confidantes. Mike served as Bidens chief strategist throughout the 2020 presidential campaign.

Thomas Donilons wife, Cathy Russell, was the head of the powerful White House personnel office during Bidens first year in office, although she left the administration to become executive director of UNICEF on Feb. 1. As the director of the Presidential Personnel Office, Russell was vested with the important task of hiring and vetting administration employees.

Coincidentally, Thomas Donilons daughter, Sarah, also works in the Biden administration, as a staffer for the National Security Council.

BlackRocks connections with the Biden administration dont end with the Donilon family. Brian Deese, Bidens director of the National Economic Council, was formerly the global head of sustainable investing at BlackRock. Wally Adeyemo, deputy secretary of the Treasury Department, previously worked as a senior adviser at BlackRock and served as chief of staff to BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink.

Fink has also had at least one unpublicized meeting at the White House in the Biden era. On Feb. 8, just two weeks before Russias invasion of Ukraine, Fink met with Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president and a man dubbed Bidens sherpa by Politico. Again, there are no media reports or acknowledgment of this meeting occurring.

Why are members of the Biden administration meeting frequently with key figures at BlackRock? Have the close relationships between BlackRock executives and the White House impacted public policy? Has BlackRock profited financially from these important relationships? Has BlackRock worked with the White House to influence policy toward Russia or used information gleaned from White House sources to divest themselves from riskier holdings?

BlackRock is the worlds most powerful investment management firm, so its essential that these and many other important questions are answered. The American people deserve to know whether their government prioritizes their needs over those of gigantic Wall Street investment firms. But without a more far-reaching investigation by Congress, the answers we seek arent likely to fully come to the surface soon.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Justin Haskins Follow Justin Haskins (Jhaskins@heartland.org) is the editorial director and a research fellow at The Heartland Institute.
A customer shops for Roundup products at a store in San Rafael, Calif., on July, 9, 2018. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)

US Supreme Court Denies Bayer Appeal Over Roundup Weedkiller Lawsuit

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Bayer AGs appeal to review a million-dollar lawsuit filed by a Californian resident, suing the company for developing cancer from over 20 years of using Roundup weedkiller.

The rejection potentially opens the German company up to billions of dollars in losses from future lawsuits.

The justices maintained the lower court decision (pdf) to award $25 million to Edwin Hardeman from Windsor, California, a Roundup user who blamed his cancer on the pharmaceutical and chemical giants glyphosate-based weedkillers.

The Biden administration in May recommended the court not hear the Bayer appeal, reversing the governments position previously taken under former President Donald Trump.

This was met with criticisms by public officials, and agricultural organizations raising concerns that the decision departed from science-based regulation and was prepared without consultation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

This would be the third case Bayer has lost involving Roundup users, costing the company tens of millions of dollars, with all cases arguing that the products should have been labeled with cancer warnings.

Bayer Respectfully Disagrees

In a statement released on Tuesday, Bayer said it respectfully disagrees with the Supreme Courts decision to deny the appeal, arguing that the decision undermines the ability of companies to rely on official actions by government and expert agencies.

Bayer also expressed that they should not be penalized for following Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, which has found glyphosate-based herbicide to be non-carcinogenic.

Bayer asked the Supreme Court to review the verdict in Hardemans case on Dec. 13, 2021, which was upheld by the 9th Circuit in May 2021.

Hardeman sued Monsanto in 2016 and he won a jury verdict against Monsanto three years later.

Hardeman had regularly used Roundup for 26 years at his home in northern California before being diagnosed with a form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Edwin Hardeman (L) departs with his wife Mary Hardeman after winning his case against Monsanto in San Francisco, Calif., on March 27, 2019. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)

Lawsuits have pursued Bayer since the company acquired the Roundup brand as part of a $63 billion purchase from Monsanto in 2018.

Bayer said in its March annual report that it had resolved about 107,000 cases out of about 138,000 cases overall and in 2021 provisioned $6.5 billion for claims settlements as part of lawsuits.

The company announced it is transitioning its glyphosate-based products in the United States to new formulations with alternative active ingredients from 2023.

Bayer is currently still seeking a review of the lower courts decision to award a couple $87 million due to the jury ruling that the couples cancers were caused by Roundup.

The decision comes as the Supreme Court ordered the EPA (pdf) to examine whether Roundup weedkiller causes cancer on June 17.

Academic experts have previously warned of the potential harms of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup.

MIT senior researcher Stephanie Seneff and environmental consultant Anthony Samsel, previously warned that exposure to the chemical is linked to a broad array of conditions including autism, cancer, allergies, diabetes, birth defects, and neuropathies.

However, their findings have received pushback from the media and scientific communities.

Research papers funded by companies commercializing glyphosate-based herbicides have concluded that glyphosate presents no risks when below the concentration standard.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans since 2015.
Family members who lost a sibling place flowers outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 25, 2022. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via TNS)

Uvalde School Board Puts School Police Chief on Administrative Leave Amid Growing Criticism

Pete Arredondo, the embattled Uvalde school district police chief, has been placed on administrative leave as Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD) officials say they continue to await details of ongoing investigations into the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.

From the beginning of this horrible event, I shared that the district would wait until the investigation was complete before making personnel decisions, said UCISD Superintendent Hal Harrell in a statement obtained by The Epoch Times.

Today, I am still without details of the investigations being conducted by various agencies. Because of the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown timing of when I will receive the results of the investigations, I have made the decision to place Chief Arredondo on administrative leave effective on this date.

Around 120 Uvalde residents joined a school board meeting on June 20, calling for Arredondo to be sacked.

He faces mounting blowback from parents and officials for his decision as the on-scene commander not to immediately breach the classroom where gunman Salvador Ramos was fatally shooting students at the Texas school on May 24.

Harrells statement that local UCISD officials have not been updated by various agencies with details on the investigations comes almost 20 days after he told the crowd at a previous school district board of trustees meeting on June 3 that he had no answers to give them about the status of the investigations because theyve not given me answers.

At that same UCISD meeting in early June, no action was taken to suspend or fire Arredondo.

Now Harrell has announced that the school districts Lt. Mike Hernandez will replace Arredondo as the districts interim police chief.

We will continue to seek qualified candidates to join our police department as we prepare for the new school year, he added. There will be no further information released regarding this personnel matter.

A man holds a Fire Pete Arredondo sign at the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District meeting in Uvalde, Texas, on June 20, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Council Denies Leave From Meetings

Arredondo, who was elected to the Uvalde city council two weeks before the mass shooting, was on Tuesday unanimously denied permission to take an extended leave of absence from council meetings.

The decision was met with applause from around 50 residents. The city council can declare a members seat vacant and hold a special election if a member misses three consecutive public meetings without a leave of absence.

Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin confirmed that June 21 was Arredondos first missed meeting and indicated his support for removing Arredondo if he misses the next two.

At the meeting, parents expressed dismay that Arredondo remained on the council and as the school district police chief.

Please, were beggingget this man out of our lives, said Berlinda Arreola, grandmother of slain Amerie Jo Garza.

Using photos of doors from Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw testifies at a Texas Senate hearing at the state capitol in Austin, on June 21, 2022. (Eric Gay/AP Photo)

During Texas Senate hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said officers waited for 77 minutes before killing Ramos despite there being a sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armor to isolate, distract, and neutralize the subject.

McCraw also said the classroom door separating officers from Ramos couldnt have been locked from the inside.

The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering room 111 and 112 was the on-scene commander, who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children, he said.

Charlotte Cuthbertson contributed to this report.
People work on a site where archaeologists discovered a Roman temple in Zevenaar, central-east Netherlands, on April 29, 2022. (RAAP/Handout via Reuters)

Volunteer Archaeologists Discover Ancient Roman Temple in Netherlands

AMSTERDAMArchaeologists have discovered an ancient Roman sanctuary with a relatively intact Roman temple in the Dutch central-east Gelderland province, the countrys cultural heritage agency said, describing the find as exceptional.

Volunteers made the first discovery in 2021 in a city near UNESCO World Heritage Roman Limes which represents the border line of the Roman empire at its greatest extent in the 2nd century ADand alerted the agency.

People work on a site where archaeologists discovered a Roman temple in Zevenaar, central-east Netherlands, on March 21, 2022. (RAAP/Handout via Reuters)

There used to be several temples here. We have found remains of idols, reliefs and painted plaster, it said in a statement.

This is very exceptional (not only) for the Netherlands, but also internationally it said, adding that while several Roman sanctuaries were known in the Netherlands, this was the first such complete complex and temple found.

A finding is pictured at a site where archaeologists discovered a Roman temple in Zevenaar, central-east Netherlands, on March 21, 2022. (RAAP/Handout via Reuters)

Complete votive stones and altars dedicated to various gods and goddesses have been dug up on the site which the agency said was in use for centuries during the Roman Empire.

Various pieces from the site will be displayed at the Valkhof Museum in Nijmegen, the largest city in Gelderland.
A recent study from Israel presents evidence that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are negatively affecting mens fertility, at least temporarily.

The study, Covid-19 vaccination BNT162b2 temporarily impairs semen concentration and total motile count among semen donors, is so new that even though it has been accepted by the journal Andrology and peer-reviewed, it has not yet been typeset or proofread.

Researchers from three medical centers in and around Tel Aviv, Israel, studied the effects of two doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on 37 sperm donors.

A baseline was obtained by analyzing one or two samples donated by each subject prior to receiving the vaccine.

Then one to three subsequent donations were allocated to three different groups depending on how long after vaccination completion the donation was made. Vaccination completion, for the purpose of the study, was defined as seven days after the second dose of vaccine.

The time periods studied were 1545 days, 75120 days, and over 150 days after vaccination completion.

Reduction in Viable Sperm

The scientists analyzed a total of 220 samples. They found a statistically significant reduction in both sperm concentration and the total number of viable sperm in the period from 75 to 100 days after vaccination.

The donors sperm concentration was reduced by 15.1 percent, or a reduction of 12 million sperm per milliliter; and the total motile count was reduced by 22.1 percent, corresponding to an overall reduction of 31 million viable sperm.

These results appear to conflict with earlier studies that have indicated either no statistically significant effect on sperm parameters after vaccination or, as one study implausibly found, improved sperm quality.

These earlier studies, however, did not include medium- and longer-term analyses that were part of the new study.

Sperm Recovery? Maybe Not

The authors found that the samples taken after more than 150 days post-vaccination indicate that sperm recovery had occurred.

However, the third time they tested the sperm, they calculated comparable reductions in sperm concentration. But, according to the researchers, these reductions didnt reach statistical significance.

The authors did not discuss why these third tests were not statistically significant, which is one of the weaknesses of this study. One reason may have been that there were 29 sperm donors who provided samples in the second time period and only 21 in the third time period. Fewer samples mean greater uncertainty. Given the small number of donors involved in the study, it would also be helpful to know why eight of them dropped out.

At the same time, other scientists and medical doctors have been sounding the alarm that the COVID-19 vaccines may be affecting fertilityfor both men and womenfor over a year now.

On April 23, 2021, in a public comment to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, molecular biologist and toxicologist, Dr. Janci Chunn Lindsay, said that there is reason to believe that the COVID vaccines will cross-react with  reproductive proteins in sperm.

Five months later, in September of 2021, an editorial in the British Medical Journal showed that over 30,000 women in the United Kingdom had reported that the COVID-19 vaccines disrupted their menstrual cycles.

Its also worth noting that, as of June 10, 2022, 4,732 miscarriages have been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a post-market passive database that is known for underreporting poor outcomes.

The authors of this new study, however, imply that there is no reason to fear vaccination for fertility reasons.

But is that reassurance justified by the evidence?

It is well-known in the scientific community that the SARS-CoV-2 virus invades body cells by binding to receptors for angiotensin converting enzyme-2, otherwise known as ACE-2 receptors.

Since numerous testicular cells express ACE-2 (as do numerous female reproductive cells), its not surprising that fertility impairment has been associated with COVID-19 illness.

At the same time, the mRNA vaccines work by inducing the body to make the same spike proteins that bind to the ACE-2 receptors. So the concern that the vaccines themselves could potentially cause long-term fertility impairment as a result is scientifically justified.

The Israeli researchers, however, believe that the fertility impairment they observed was a reversible negative effect that lasts for one cycle of spermatogenesis, or 74 days, from fever.

Many people experience fever as a side effect of mRNA vaccination.

According to the CDCs COVID-19 Response Team, 29.5 percent of recipients reported having a fever following receipt of an mRNA vaccine.

Sperm Counts Started Falling Precipitously Pre-COVID

In 2017, The Economist reported that sperm counts were falling precipitously in Western countries, citing a meta-analysis of 185 different studies that found sperm counts in Western countries had dropped an alarming 52 percent between 1973 and 2011, from an average of 99 million per milliliter in 1973 to a low of 47 million in 2011.

The effect was approximately linear, corresponding to a loss of 1.38 million sperm per milliliter every year. That suggests that in the 11 years since 2011, it is likely that the average American man has lost another 15 million sperm per milliliter, bringing the total down to approximately 32 million.

As the Israeli scientists mentioned, one of the limitations of their study is the fact that they were studying the sperm of healthy sperm donors.

Sperm donors do not represent average fertility. Sperm banks screen donors and only take donations from men whose sperm qualify.

In fact, according to The Economist, a study in Boston found that only 44 percent of potential sperm donors were sufficiently fertile to qualify for donation by 2013, down from 69 percent a decade earlier.

There is a clinical name for low sperm count: oligozoospermia. Oligozoospermia is when a man has less than 15 million sperm per milliliter of semen. While some men suffering from oligozoospermia can conceive naturally, many find it harder to conceive without reproductive assistance and up to 70 percent are infertile.

Experts say that if young men who would someday like to be fathers are not worried about the quality and mobility of their sperm, they should be. Losing millions of sperm, even if the loss is only temporary, can quickly bring them down to having a low sperm count.

With the combined effects on sperm quality from COVID-19 infection itself and COVID-19 vaccination, we may see the birth rate in every country declining even more than the jaw-dropping global crash that has already been predicted.

Spike proteins from the vaccine go everywhereyour testes, your ovaries, your bone marrow, said Dr. Osvaldo Villarreal, M.D., a pediatrician based in San Antonio, Texas and the owner of Abrazos Optimum Health. The implications of this is huge. We should be very concerned, he said. We dont know how its going to affect us.

Everyone should be concerned, agreed Dr. Jane Orient, M.D., an internal medicine doctor with over 40 years of clinical experience and the executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

We dont have any long-term studies and we cant because the vaccines havent been around that long. But there have been signals coming from fertility clinicsthat they cant make viable fetuses and theyre also having trouble getting sperm to workthese are anecdotal reports. But certainly, this is of great concern. We cannot know the long-term effects on cancer, fertility, autoimmune issues, and birth defects. There just hasnt been enough time.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Zahawi Denounces Cultural Vandalism After Exam Board Replaces Poems by Larkin and Owen

British Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi on Thursday accused an exam board of cultural vandalism after it replaced works by poets including Philip Larkin and Wilfred Owen from its GCSE curriculum.

Zahawi said he will raise the issue with the exam board. Downing Street also said the education minister has the support of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The Oxford Cambridge and RSA (OCR) examinations, a leading UK exam board, announced on Wednesday that it had updated its GCSE English Literature poetry anthology to add diverse voices to poetry.

Poems from 15 poets are added to the anthology, 14 of whom are poets of colour, including six black women and one of South Asian heritage, the OCR boasted, adding, Our new poets also include disabled and LGBTQ+ voices.

The new selection of poets is also more contemporary, with a number of the living members in their 30s and one 28-year-old.

The board said the group ranges from living poets of British-Somali, British-Guyanese, and Ukrainian heritage, to one of the first Black women in 19th century America to publish a novel. It also pointed out that the Ukrainian-American poet, Ilya Kaminsky, is deaf. Jill Duffy, OCRs chief executive, said, This is an inspiring set of poems that demonstrates our ongoing commitment to greater diversity in the English literature that students engage with.

According to a more detailed blog published on the boards website on Tuesday, works by 14 British, Irish, and American poets were removed to make room, including A Poison Tree by Willam Blake, A Broken Appointment, and The Man He Killed by Thomas Hardy, An Arundel Tomb by Philip Larkin, When I have fears that I may cease to be by John Keats, and Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen.

Some poems by Blake, Hardy, and Keats remain along with works by Emily Bronte Sylvia Plath, Jackie Kay, and Carol Ann Duffy, but Larkin and Owen no longer feature in the anthology.

Removing Larkin and Owen Is Cultural Vandalism

Commenting on a report by The Times on the change, Zahawi called Larkin and Owen two of our finest poets.

Removing their work from the curriculum is cultural vandalism, the education secretary wrote on Twitter.

Their work must be passed on to future generationsas it was to me. I will be speaking to the exam board to make this clear, he said.

The Iraqi-born minister added that Larkins poems had taught him so much about his new home in his teenage years when he was improving [his] grasp of the English language.

We must not deny future students the chance to make a similarly powerful connection with a great British author, or miss out on the joy of knowing his work, he wrote.

Asked if the prime minister would support Zahawi on the issue, a spokesman for No 10 Downing Street replied, Yes  we want to see children continuing to receive a broad range of education in these areas.

The OCR said its revised anthology is expected to be taught in schools from September and be in exams in June 2024.

It also said it also plans to introduce more diverse texts to its A Level English Language and Literature and GCSE and A Level Media Studies in September 2023.
WASHINGTON (AP)  U.S. health regulators on Thursday ordered Juul to pull its electronic cigarettes from the market, the latest blow to the embattled company widely blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping.

The action is part of a sweeping effort by the Food and Drug Administration to bring scientific scrutiny to the multibillion-dollar vaping industry after years of regulatory delays.

The FDA said Juul must stop selling its vaping device and its tobacco and menthol flavored cartridges. Those already on the market must be removed. Consumers aren't restricted from having or using Juuls products, the agency said.

To stay on the market, companies must show that their e-cigarettes benefit public health. In practice, that means proving that adult smokers who use them are likely to quit or reduce their smoking, while teens are unlikely to get hooked on them.

The FDA noted that some of the biggest sellers like Juul may have played a disproportionate role in the rise in teen vaping. The agency said Thursday that Juul's application didnt have enough evidence to show that marketing its products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health.

Juul said it disagrees with the FDAs findings and will seek to put the ban on hold while the company considers its options, including a possible appeal and talking with regulators.

In a statement, the FDA said Juuls application left regulators with significant questions and didnt include enough information to evaluate any potential risks. The agency said the companys research included insufficient and conflicting data about things like potentially harmful chemicals leaching from Juuls cartridges.

Without the data needed to determine relevant health risks, the FDA is issuing these marketing denial orders. Michele Mital, acting director of the FDAs tobacco center, said in the statement.

Joe Murillo, Juul's chief regulatory officer, said in the companys statement that Juul submitted enough information and data to address all issues raised by regulators. He noted that the companys application, submitted more than two years ago, included comparisons to combustible cigarettes and other products.

He said it also included information on potential harmful effects of the companys products.

Since last fall, the FDA has given the OK to tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes from R.J. Reynolds, Logic and other companies. But industry players and anti-tobacco advocates have complained that those products account for just a tiny percent of the $6 billion vaping market in the U.S.

The agency said Thursday that people who use Juul products or smokers who want to move away from cigarettes and cigars could switch to the FDA-authorized e-cigarettes.

Regulators repeatedly delayed making decisions on devices from market leaders, including Juul, which remains the best-selling vaping brand although sales have dipped.

Last year, the agency rejected applications for more than a million other e-cigarettes and related products, mainly due to their potential appeal to underage teens.

Anti-tobacco groups applauded the FDA's move, with the American Lung Association calling it long overdue and most welcome. The American Vapor Manufacturers Association said it was a shameful decision.

E-cigarettes first appeared in the U.S. more than a decade ago with the promise of providing smokers a less harmful alternative. The devices heat a nicotine solution into a vapor thats inhaled, bypassing many of the toxic chemicals produced by burning tobacco.

But studies have reached conflicting results about whether they truly help smokers quit. And efforts by the FDA to rule on vaping products and their claims were repeatedly slowed by industry lobbying and competing political interests.

The vaping market grew to include hundreds of companies selling an array of devices and nicotine solutions in various flavors and strengths.

The vaping issue took on new urgency in 2018 when Juuls high-nicotine, fruity-flavored cartridges quickly became a nationwide craze among middle and high school students. The company faces a slew of federal and state investigations into its early marketing practices, which included distributing free Juul products at concerts and parties hosted by young influencers.

In 2019, the company was pressured into halting all advertising and eliminating its fruit and dessert flavors. The next year, the FDA limited flavors in small vaping devices to just tobacco and menthol. Separately, Congress raised the purchase age for all tobacco and vaping products to 21.

But the question of whether e-cigarettes should remain on the market at all remained.

The FDA has been working under a court order to render its decisions; anti-tobacco groups successfully sued the agency to speed up its review.

Kenneth Warner, a tobacco expert at the University of Michigans school of public health, suspects political pressure from those groups played a role in the FDAs decision.

I think they would have had a hard time coming to any other conclusion, said Warner, who had not seen Juul's application. He added that he does not take tobacco money.

In response, an FDA spokesman said the company didn't provide enough information for a full risk assessment of its products, and that alone would prevent the agency from finding in favor of Juul.

While Juul remains a top seller, a recent federal survey shows that teens have been shifting away from the company.

Overall, the survey showed a drop of nearly 40% in the teen vaping rate as many kids were forced to learn from home during the pandemic. Still, federal officials cautioned about interpreting the results given they were collected online for the first time, instead of in classrooms.

The brainchild of two Stanford University students, Juul launched in 2015 and within two years rocketed to the top of the vaping market. Juul still accounts for nearly 50% of the U.S. e-cigarette market. It once controlled more than 75%.

Tobacco giant Altria, which makes Marlboro cigarettes, paid nearly $13 billion for a 35% stake in Juul in 2018.

On Tuesday, the FDA also laid out plans to establish a maximum nicotine level for certain tobacco products to reduce their addictiveness. In that announcement, the agency also noted that it has invested in a multimedia public education campaign aimed at warning young people about the potential risks of e-cigarette use.

___

Murphy reported from Indianapolis.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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The Uvalde massacre began after the 18-year-old gunman entered the school through a door that could only be locked from the outside then got inside a classroom that had a busted lock, experts testified Tuesday.

Securing doors has long been a focus of school safety drills, and the inability to do so during the May 24 attack that left 19 children and two teachers dead is raising alarms among experts and politicians.

When doors are not secure, your first step, your first line of defense has now been eliminated," said Ken Trump, the president of the National School Safety and Security Services.

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt said unlockable doors make lockdowns and shooter training worthless, adding that there was zero obstacle to the shooter."

Questions about how the shooter entered Robb Elementary and what happened at multiple doors have been a big part of the changing information about the attack.

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE GUNMAN REACHED THE OUTSIDE DOOR?

State police initially said the gunman entered the school through an exterior door that had been propped open by a teacher.

Days later, state police retracted that statement to make it clear that the teacher closed the door. But somehow it didn't lock.

Nearly a month after the rampage, Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, further amended what his agency's investigation shows: The teacher did close the door, but unbeknownst to her, it could be locked only from the outside.

The gunman walked straight through, McCraw said Tuesday in blistering testimony at a state Senate hearing in Austin.

Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center, said he was astonished" that the exterior door could only be locked from the outside. He likened it to a house that could only be locked from the outside.

Shouldnt the security of the school be as safe as the security of your home?" he asked.

Experts did not explain during the hearing why the schools exterior door locked from outside. Robb Elementary is an older building, constructed in 1955.

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE GUNMAN REACHED THE CLASSROOM DOOR?

Once inside the school, the shooter then entered a classroom though a door that was designed to be locked from the outside, according to McCraw, who also said a teacher reported before the shooting that the lock was broken.

This is ridiculous and its inexcusable, McCraw said of the fact that the classroom door could not be locked from inside.

Stephens and Trump also raised alarms about the fact that the door was broken, describing it as a maintenance issue.

McCraw also disclosed Tuesday that despite the door being unlocked, there was no indication officers tried to open it during the standoff. He said police instead waited for more than an hour for a key.

To me," Stephens said, theres just a whole cascade of apparent failures that took place in this particular situation."

WHY DID THE DOORS LOCK FROM THE OUTSIDE?

Many schools designed in the 20th century featured classroom doors that locked from the outside, allowing the teacher or administrator to lock up as they left for the day, Todd Ferking explained in an email. Ferking is a design leader for DLR Group, an architecture firm that specializes in school design.

Locking from inside the classroom may not have been a popular option out of concern that students could lock the teacher out, he said.

The Columbine tragedy led to an evolution in school construction, he said, with most new classrooms designed to provide locking from inside via a key or thumb turn.

Today, it also is general practice that all exterior doors are locked during school hours, except during drop-off and pick-up, he said.

HAVE THERE BEEN PROBLEMS BEFORE?

At Sandy Hook Elementary School, the doors of the two classrooms where all 20 children were killed in the 2012 massacre, along with their teachers, could only be locked from the hallway with a key.

Some victims families have said lives could have been saved if teachers had been able to lock classroom doors from the inside, and they questioned whether two teachers who were killed in the shooting, Victoria Soto and Lauren Rousseau, even had access to keys.

Another teacher who could not get a classroom door locked told investigators that she looked into the hallway, saw a janitor who yelled at the gunman to leave and motioned to the janitor to lock her door.

Sandy Hook Elementary was built around the same time as Robb Elementary, in 1956.

Mo Canady, the executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers, spoke publicly about the importance of being able to secure doors after Sandy Hook. He lamented that it was still an issue a decade later.

That school," he said of Robb Elementary, I can promise you, is not the only one in this country that you cant lock the doors from the inside."

Such doors, he said, occasionally are spotted during assessments of buildings, particularly older ones. He described it as unacceptable" and urged schools to fix busted doors and retrofit doors that only lock from the outside while students are on summer break.

The basics are so important, and if your school district does not have doors that will allow the teachers to secure those in a lockdown, thats a priority," he said. Those things really can and do save lives."

WHAT STEPS ARE RECOMMENDED?

State and federal panels charged with reviewing individual mass shootings have repeatedly advised schools to limit access by locking exterior doors, as well as forcing visitors to enter through a secure door and requiring teachers to lock classrooms while classes are in session.

Teachers and students drill for how to respond.

Lock the door, turn off the light. Get the kids and staff into a hard corner, meaning not in the direct line of sight of the window where somebody can shoot through, and be quiet," Trump said.

He said those actions can absolutely" save lives.

Uvalde in March had retained PBK, a design, architecture, engineering and planning firm that focuses on schools, to conduct a review of its buildings as it considered a potential bond issue, said Ian Powell, who heads safety and security for the firm.

Powell said part of that review involved ensuring that the school's safety protocols met the standards of the Texas Education Agency. The review also included everything from evaluating cooling systems to windows.

He said more schools are opting for so-called door lock indicators, which make it easier for teachers to see whether their door is locked while inside their classrooms. Texas doesn't require such locks. Powell said he doesnt know any jurisdiction that does, although the firm recommends them.

But before that review got underway in earnest, the shooting happened. Since then, Powell said, the district has asked the firm to expand the scope of its security review. Other districts also have been calling seeking security reviews.

We would all have wished that something would have been implemented and would have had the time to be implemented before they had the exposure to this type of a situation, he said.

___

Find more AP coverage of the Uvalde school shooting: https://apnews.com/hub/uvalde-school-shooting
WFO BUFFALO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Wednesday, June 22, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Southwestern Wyoming County in western New York...

Northeastern Cattaraugus County in western New York...

Southeastern Erie County in western New York...

Northwestern Allegany County in western New York...

* Until 530 PM EDT.

* At 431 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Springville,

or 18 miles south of East Aurora, moving southeast at 30 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect damage to trees and power lines.

* Locations impacted include...

Springville, Ashford, Arcade, Franklinville, Rushford, East

Concord, Ashford Hollow, Chaffee, Houghton and Concord.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

Torrential rainfall is occurring with this storm, and may lead to

localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded

roadways.

...Strong thunderstorms will impact portions of southwestern Wayne,

northeastern Livingston, southern Monroe and northwestern Ontario

Counties through 515 PM EDT...

At 435 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along

a line extending from near Spencerport to near Henrietta to near

Honeoye. Movement was northeast at 10 mph.

HAZARD...Winds in excess of 40 mph and half inch hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around

unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is

possible.

Locations impacted include...

Rochester, Greece, Irondequoit, Chili, Canandaigua, Brockport, East

Rochester, Webster, Fairport, Brighton, Gates-North Gates, Henrietta,

Penfield, Spencerport, Victor, Honeoye Falls, Bristol, Lima,

Bloomfield and Farmington.

This includes the following highways...

Interstate 390 near exit 12.

Interstate 90 between exits 46 and 44.

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

Torrential rainfall is also occurring with these storms and may lead

to localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded

Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with these storms.

Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe

shelter inside a building or vehicle.

These storms may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio

stations and available television stations for additional information

and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.

LAT...LON 4326 7745 4310 7731 4286 7719 4283 7762

4301 7762 4323 7794

TIME...MOT...LOC 2035Z 243DEG 10KT 4321 7777 4304 7756 4275 7753

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.50 IN

MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
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WASHINGTON (AP)  The House's Jan. 6 committee plans to continue its public hearings into July as its investigation of the Capitol riot deepens.

The chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, told reporters Wednesday that the committee is receiving a lot of information  including new documentary film footage of Donald Trump's final months in office  as its yearlong inquiry intensifies with hearings into the attack on Jan. 6, 2021, and Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election that Democrat Joe Biden won.

The committee is also working on setting up an interview with Virginia Ginni" Thomas, the conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who has responded to the panel's request to appear, the chairman said. She was asked to speak to the committee after disclosures of her communications with Trump's team in the run-up and day of the insurrection at the Capitol.

Its our expectation that we will keep talking and trying to get her to come in, said Thompson, D-Miss.

Thomas has previously said she cant wait to clear up misconceptions, suggesting she would comply with the panels request to testify.

For the past year, the committee has been investigating the violence at the Capitol and its causes, and has interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses and produced some 140,000 documents. Nine people died in the attack and its aftermath.

The next hearing, set for Thursday, is expected to highlight former Justice Department officials testifying about Trump's proposals to reject the election results. It would wrap up this month's work. The committee would start up again in July, Thompson said.

The panel has issued a new subpoena for testimony to Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., who was among a group of five GOP lawmakers, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the committee wants to hear from about their interactions with Trump before or during the Capitol riot, the chairman said.

Brooks, who was defeated this week in Alabama's GOP primary for the U.S. Senate and had lost favor with Trump, initially indicated he may speak to the panel. But Thompson said the subpoena had expired, so a new one needed to be sent. McCarthy and the other Republican lawmakers are declining to appear.

Meanwhile, in a sign of a widening Justice Department investigation, federal law enforcement officials served a round of subpoenas Wednesday related to alternate  or fake  slates of electors who falsely sought to declare Trump the winner in their states in 2020.

The House committee has already been investigating the matter, but the new subpoenas underscore the Justice Departments interest in the same area. The recipients of the subpoenas included David Shafer, the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, according to a person familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The Washington Post was first to report on the subpoenas.

The committee had been scheduled to conclude this first round of public hearings in June. But additional information has come to the committee's attention, and Congress is set to recess for two weeks of remote and district work into the Fourth of July holiday.

We have a new documentary from a person that were talking to, and we got to look through all his information, Thompson said, referring to the British filmmaker whose never-before-seen interviews with the former president and his inner circle were turned over to the committee this week. The footage was taken both before and after the insurrection.

The revelation about the film came to light Tuesday when British filmmaker Alex Holder revealed he had complied with a congressional subpoena to turn over all of the footage he shot in the final weeks of Trumps 2020 reelection campaign.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., indicated Tuesday that the investigation's schedule may be changing.

I would just say the original hearings would have wrapped up in June, but we are picking up new evidence on a daily basis with enormous velocity, Raskin said. And so were constantly incorporating and including the new information thats coming out.

He added, But certainly the hearings will conclude before the end of the summer.

The televised hearings launched with a prime-time session this month.

___

AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro and writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

___

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is rebranding Asian carp  the invasive species that now make up an estimated 70% of fish in the Illinois River  in hopes of convincing Americans to help eat away at the fish's overpopulation problem.

Four species of Asian carp  bighead carp, silver carp, grass carp and black carp  now will be known as copi  a hopefully appetizing play on the word copious and a name chosen based on a $600,000 multi-year marketing study to assess Illinois residents thoughts on the fish.

Calling it a name-based perception issue for a fish widely eaten elsewhere in the world, Nick Adam of Span design studio in Chicago, who led the research, said surveys, interviews and focus groups with more than 350 Illinois residents showed that 85% of participants had heard of Asian carp but only 5% had eaten it.

Mark Humphrey/AP

We know that renaming works, Adam said, noting that orange roughy originally was known as slimehead, Chilean sea bass once was called Patagonian toothfish and even avocado and kiwi used to have far less popular monikers.

The United States is the only nation in the world where Asian carp is not commonly eaten, according to John Goss, former invasive carp adviser to the White House.

Theyre not in the Great Lakes and were doing everything we can to keep them out, Goss said.

That includes convincing Americans to make copi burgers, copi sliders and other copi-based dishes part of their regular menu.

In announcing the rebranding effort Wednesday during a Zoom call, natural resources officials got support from Chicago-based chef and Chopped champion Brian Jupiter of Frontier and Ina Mae Tavern and Dirk and Terry Fucik of Dirks Fish and Gourmet Shop in Chicago.

Its a great substitute for ground beef, Terry Fucik said, noting that among Dirks popular menu items are copi burgers, copi tacos and copi bolognese.

C.B. Schmelter/AP

Jim Garvey, a Southern Illinois University Carbondale fisheries expert and director of SIUs Center for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, has studied bighead carp for more than 20 years. He was not part of Wednesday's announcement but said eating away at the problem may be the easiest, cheapest and best solution, he said.

An electrical barrier on the Illinois River near Chicago appears to have succeeded so far in keeping the invasive species out of Lake Michigan and the rest of the Great Lakes, but those working to reduce or erase the problem dont want to rely solely on one solution, he said.

It seems simple, but it took a long time to determine that commercial harvest is probably the best way to keep them from becoming abundant below the barrier, Garvey said, noting that other ideas, such as poisoning the invasive fish, have proven ineffective or too costly.

Mark Humphrey/AP

Fishing for copi wont be regulated the way it is for native species, Garvey said.

We would love copi to become extinct in the United States, but  it just doesnt seem like these fish are going to be completely reduced, he said. But even if copi were to one day disappear, we are blessed with a variety of very good native fish on the Illinois, Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

Encouraging commercial fishing with a focus on Asian carp would not harm Illinois fishing industry, Garvey said.

If our commercial fishermen had to go back to fishing native fishes after eradicating copi, they could, he said. We should celebrate it, if it happens.

While the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has rolled out a plan to tout copi, its name change isnt yet official. The state expects to apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by year's end to formally change the name. In the meantime, grocery store packaging will describe the fish both as carp and copi.

Asian carp originally were imported from Southeast Asia to the U.S. to help clean fish farm retention ponds in the South. But flooding and accidental releases in the 1970s allowed them to migrate up the Mississippi River system. Local, state and federal agencies since have worked to keep the invasive species from Lake Michigan, where it would threaten a $7 billion-a-year commercial fishing industry and a $16 billion-a-year tourism industry in the Great Lakes region.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  Ohio State University has won its fight to trademark the word The.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office approved the universitys request Tuesday. The school says it allows Ohio State to control use of The on branded products associated with and sold through athletics and collegiate channels, such as T-shirts, baseball caps and hats.

THE has been a rallying cry in the Ohio State community for many years, and Buckeye fans who purchase official Ohio State gear support student scholarships, libraries and other university initiatives, said Ben Johnson, the university's senior director of media and public relations. He noted the universitys licensing and trademark program generates over $12.5 million a year in revenue, which helps fund student scholarships and university programs.

Ohio State started pursuing a trademark in August 2019 after fashion retailer Marc Jacobs had filed an application for the word a few months earlier. The company and the university reached a deal in August 2021 that allows both parties to use the branding.

The patent office rejected Ohio State's initial application, finding the trademark appeared to be used for merely decorative manner and as an ornamental feature that didn't appear to function as a trademark that would differentiate the items from others.
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From the Edwardsville Police Department Blotter for May:



On May 3, Rodney J. Akers of Hartford, was charged with unlawful use of a credit card. He was being held at the Madison County Jail on a $30,000 bond.



On May 3, Michael A. Johnson, 32, of Edwardsville, theft of a motor vehicle. He was arrested in the 900 block of St. Louis Street. He was charged with four disorderly conduct and one criminal trespass to property. He was released with a notice to appear in court.



On May 3, Sean E. Bowles, 27 of St. Louis, was charged with failure to appear on an in-state warrant. He was arrested in the 400 block of Randle Street.



On May 4, Morgan F. Stewart, 27, of Granite City, was charged with three active warrants for driving on a suspended license, one from Edwardsville, one from Granite City and one from Pontoon Beach. He was arrested on Route 157 at Rottingham Court.



On May 4, Katara N. Jobe, 40, of Edwardsville, was charged with resisting arrest to accompany a previous warrant for failure to appear on theft charges out of Alton. She was arrested in the 100 block of Third Avenue.



On May 5, Seeremati Mohammed, 62, of Glen Carbon, was charged with retail theft under $300 and he received a notice to appear in court.



On May 6, Andrew L. Garrett, 39, of Edwardsville, was charged with criminal trespass to state property, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. He was arrested in the 6100 block of Center Grove Road.



On May 8, Mart L. Covington, 34, of Edwardsville, was charged with disorderly conduct, obstruction, resisting arrest and aggravated assault. He was arrested at the AMC Theatre at 6633 Center Grove Road.



On May 12, Michael A. Johnson, 33, of Edwardsville, was charged with disorderly conduct and received a notice to appear in court.



On May 14, Alfonso L. West, 18, of Glen Carbon, was charged with misdemeanor retail theft from The Store, in the 700 block of Hillsboro Avenue. He was arrested and he had a felony hold for a previous conviction for theft out of Missouri.



On May 16, Dorian C. Andrews, 34 of East St. Louis, was charged with domestic battery, a Class 3 Felony. He was arrested at the Wood River Police Department and his bond was set at $50,000.



On May 18, DeAndre S. Pirtle, 18 of Edwardsville, was charged with theft under $300 and disorderly conduct. He was arrested in the 700 block of Hillsboro Avenue.



On May 20, Jaelyn S. Owens, 20, of Edwardsville, was charged with disorderly conduct, making a false police report and illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor in the 700 block of Puma Boulevard. He received a notice to appear in court.



On May 27, Mustafa M. Cam, 24, of Edwardsville, was charged with domestic battery and arrested in the 1000 block of Enclave Blvd.



On May 29, Paula M. Duane, 45, of Edwardsville, was charged with fleeting/attempting to elude police, resisting arrest and retail theft under $300 when she was arrested at North Main and East Union streets in Edwardsville.



On May 29, Kelsey M. Roof, 32, was charged with driving with a suspended license and on two warrants, one from Collinsville, the other in St. Clair County. She was arrested in at West Schwarz and West streets in Edwardsville. Bond was set at $3,000 for Collinsville and $5,000 for St. Clair County.



On May 30, Tyler S. Markulakis, a homeless man, 30, was charged with failure to register as a violent offender against youth. He was arrested in the 200 block of South East Street in Collinsville. Bond has been set at $20,000.

These subjects have only been charged and remain innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. All charges may not be reported.
The National Chairman of All Progressive Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu, has revealed that the party is unsettled by the gale of defection from his political party to other parties.

Senator Abdullahi Adamu revealed this after a closed door session with the APC Senators.

It was reported that Senators who have defected from the APC with official announcement on Tuesday and Wednesday are Ibrahim Shekarau (Kano), Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi) Adamu Aliero (Kebbi), Dauda Jika (Bauchi), Ahmad Babba Kaita (Katsina), Lawal Yahaya Gumau (Bauchi), and Francis Alimikhena (Edo).

The party national chairman said, The meeting with the senators was most fruitful. The issue of defection is an unfortunate development when it happens but this is a season where there are all sort of behaviours in the political space and ours is not an exception.

In every election year, this kind of thing gives cause for stakeholders to sneeze and Nigeria is not an exception so is the APC, not an exception. I dont care about what is happening in other parties, my focus is on the APC. But we all know that the occurrence is not only happening in the APC, its happening across other political parties too. And because we are the ruling party, our problems are exaggerated before the public.

Adamu said he is not certain whether the gale of defection would persist in the party but disclosed that having met with his colleagues at the National Assembly, he believes the issue is surmountable.

He added, There is no responsible leader that would not be worried when he loses one member not to talk of two. At the moment, we are faced with the stark reality of our problems. I have committed my colleagues at the National Assembly to face the problem squarely and see the problem as solvable.

We are in politics, I dont know what will happen tomorrow, and nobody does.
The Specialist Crime Team of the Metropolitan Police in London has arrested a former Senate Deputy President Dr. Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice over alleged conspiracy to harvest the organs of a child.

Sky News who reported the arrest noted that the child has been taken into protective custody.

The media organisation said: Two people have been charged with conspiring to bring a child to the UK in order to harvest organs, the Metropolitan Police said.

Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, and Ike Ekweremadu, 60, have been remanded in custody and will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates Court today.

Charges were brought against the pair, who are from Nigeria, following an investigation by the Metropolitan Polices Specialist Crime team.

A child has now been safeguarded.

The investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022, the force said.

The detention of the senator representing Enugu West and his wife has been confirmed by a top source in Nigeria.
Japanese sushi chain owner arrested for alleged fraud

BANGKOK: Police arrested the owner of the Daruma Sushi restaurant chain at Suvarnabhumi airport on Wednesday morning (June 22) for alleged public fraud in the closure of its outlets and sale of discount vouchers.

crimepolice

By Bangkok Post

Thursday 23 June 2022, 09:38AM

Police arrest Metha Chalingsuk, the 42-year-old owner of Daruma Sushi restaurant chain, at Suvarnabhumi airport on Wednesday morning after his arrival on a flight from Taiwan. He is accused of public fraud. Photo via Bangkok Post

Police said Metha Chalingsuk, 39, denied the charges and explained that his business had gone broke through lack of cashflow because of COVID-19, reports the Bangkok Post.

He was detained after arriving on a flight from Taiwan about 11am and taken to the Consumer Protection Police Division (CPPD). Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, Commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), was there to question the suspect.

CPPD commander Pol Maj Gen Anant Nanasombat said Mr Metha was charged with public fraud and computer crime.

Mr Metha left the country alone on a flight to Dubai on June 16. The following day all 27 branches of Daruma Sushi closed their doors, citing a need to improve the companys server.

Daruma Sushi had offered e-vouchers for a salmon buffet at a steeply discounted B199, from B499. Salmon lovers snapped up the offer, with some buying more than 2,000 e-vouchers and reselling them at a profit.

Police believe as many as 10,000 people were drawn into the alleged scam and that total damage could exceed B100 million.

The CIB chief later told reporters Mr Metha was arrested at Suvarnabhumi airport about 11am and had US$20,186 in cash with him, about B710,000.

Lt Gen Jirabhop said Mr Metha was the sole authorised director of Daruma Sushi Co which was registered as a restaurant operator on Jan 12, 2016. It had 27 outlets including franchisees in Greater Bangkok.

The company had announced on Facebook it was selling B199 vouchers for a Japanese buffet, and attracted a lot of buyers.

Lt Gen Jirabhop said Mr Metha denied all charges and said the company lacked liquidity because of COVID-19 and sold the B199 vouchers in a bid to maintain its cashflow. The company finally went broke and he faced tough pressure to repay its accumulated debt of more than B100mn.

He fled to the United States via Dubai on June 16. The pressure on him continued and he decided to return to Thailand via Taiwan.

Lt Gen Jirabhop said police were following money trails and there were thousands of victims in the case. Combined damage was more than B100mn.

A source said that Mr Methas restaurant business was loss-ridden and his default led vendors to stop supplying the chains restaurants.

The source also said that the account of Daruma Sushi showed transactions worth about B303.45mn. It sold 174,177 vouchers worth about B27.07mn via an app to 33,002 buyers. There was also damage put at B17.5mn on the franchisees of the chain.

Daruma Sushi employed about 400 Thais and migrant workers.
Kamala Police tracking down foreigners for having sex in front yard

PHUKET: Kamala Police have warned that having sex in open areas is illegal and people caught will be prosecuted. The warning comes after a foreign man and his female partner were caught on CCTV having sex in front of a house in the area.

sexcrimepolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Thursday 23 June 2022, 09:55AM

Waralak Fritze, 52, owner of the house Baan Bang Whan Rd in Moo 1, Kamala, discovered that a couple had relations in her front yard when she logged on to check her CCTV cameras from where she is now in Germany.

The CCTV cameras were installed after she had a dispute over a company installing a drinking water vending machine in her driveway last year.

The couple were recorded in the act at about 10:35pm on Tuesday night (June 21).

I never imagined that something like this would happen, Ms Waralak said.

Ms Waralak reported the incident to Kamala Police, who have confirmed they are investigating it.

An incident of this nature is considered an offence. Anyone who has evidence of the offence can report it to the investigating officer at Kamala Police Station so we can track down the offenders and prosecute them in accordance with law, one officer said.
A young protostar in L483 and its signature outflow peeks out through a shroud of dust in this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Stars are known to form from collapsing clumps of gas and dust, or envelopes, seen here around a forming star system as a dark blob, or shadow, against a dusty background. The greenish color shows jets coming away from the young star within. The envelope is roughly 100 times the size of our solar system. Astronomers believe that the irregular shape of the envelope might have triggered the formation of twin, or binary stars in this system. CREDIT NASA/JPL-Caltech/J.Tobin (University of Michigan)

From a zoomed out, distant view, star-forming cloud L483 appears normal.

But when a Northwestern University-led team of astrophysicists zoomed in closer and closer, things became weirder and weirder.

As the researchers peered closer into the cloud, they noticed that its magnetic field was curiously twisted. And then -- as they examined a newborn star within the cloud -- they spotted a hidden star, tucked behind it.

"It's the star's sibling, basically," said Northwestern's Erin Cox, who led the new study. "We think these stars formed far apart, and one moved closer to the other to form a binary. When the star traveled closer to its sibling, it shifted the dynamics of the cloud to twist its magnetic field."

The new findings provide insight into binary star formation and how magnetic fields influence the earliest stages of developing stars.

Cox will present this research at the 240th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Pasadena, California. "The Twisted Magnetic Field of L483" will take place on Tuesday, June 14, as a part of a session on "Magnetic Fields and Galaxies." The Astrophysical Journal also will publish the study next week.

Cox will be available to answer questions about the study during a press conference at AAS, which will be held both in-person and virtually at 2:15 p.m. PDT on Monday, June 13. Members of the press can register for the event here.

Cox is a postdoctoral associate at Northwestern's Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA).

Twisted mystery

Stellar nurseries are wild and wondrous places. As dense clouds of gas and dust collapse to form stars, they launch outflows of stellar material at hypersonic speeds. A magnetic field surrounding a star-forming cloud is typically parallel to these outflows. When Cox and her collaborators observed the large-scale L483 cloud, they discovered just that. The magnetic field matched this typical profile.

But then the astrophysicists decided to take a closer look with NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), and this is when things became strange. The magnetic field was not, in fact, parallel to the newborn stars' outflows. Instead, the field was twisted at a 45-degree angle, with respect to the outflows.

"At first, it matched what theory predicts," Cox said. "If you have a magnetized collapse, then the magnetic field is controlling how the star is forming. We expect to see this parallelism. But theory can say one thing, and observations can say another."

Unusual binary formation

Although more observations are needed, Cox believes a previously hidden sibling star may be responsible for the twisted field. Using SOFIA, the astrophysics team spotted one newborn star forming inside an envelope of material. But upon closer examination with radio telescopes at the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, the researchers spotted the second star, sharing the same stellar envelope.

"These stars are still young and still forming," Cox said. "The stellar envelope is what supplies the material to form the stars. It's similar to rolling a snowball in snow to make it bigger and bigger. The young stars are 'rolling' in material to build up mass."

About the same distance apart as our sun to Pluto, the two young stars form a binary system. Currently, astrophysicists agree that binaries can be formed when star-forming clouds are large enough to produce two stars or when the disc rotating around a young star partially collapses to make a second star.

But for the twin stars in L483, Cox suspects something unusual is at play.

"There is newer work that suggests it's possible to have two stars form faraway from each other, and then one star moves in closer to form a binary," Cox said. "We think that's what is happening here. We don't know why one star would move toward another one, but we think the moving star shifted the dynamics of the system to twist the magnetic field."

Cox believes this new work ultimately could provide new insights into how binary stars -- and the planets that orbit them -- form. Most people are familiar with the iconic scene from "Star Wars," in which Luke Skywalker wistfully gazes up at the binary stars that his home planet Tatooine orbits. Now, scientists know this scenario is not merely science fiction; planets orbiting binary stars potentially could be habitable worlds.

"Learning how binary stars form is exciting because planet and star formation take place at the same time, and binary stars dynamically interact with each other," Cox said. "In our census of exoplanets, we know planets exist around these double stars, but we don't know much about how these planets differ from the ones that live around isolated stars. With new instruments coming online to discover and probe new binary systems, we will be able to test these results with a statistical sample."

The study, "The twisted magnetic field of the protobinary L483," was supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation.

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
Key Ukrainian city under massive Russian bombardment

KYIV: Heavy Russian bombardment of Ukraines battleground eastern Lugansk region and key city Severodonetsk has been hell for soldiers there, Kyiv said yesterday (June 22), while insisting that defenders would hold on as long as necessary.

RussianUkraineviolencedeathmilitarymarinepolitics

By AFP

Thursday 23 June 2022, 09:57AM

Ukrainian servicemen mourn on the coffin of their comrade Oleh Kutsyn, commander of the Karpatska Sitch battalion killed during the war against Russia, during a funeral ceremony at Kyivs Maidan Independence Square yesterday (June 22). Photo: Sergei Supinsky / AFP

Moscows troops have been pummelling eastern Ukraine for weeks and are slowly advancing, despite fierce resistance from the outgunned Ukrainian military.

With President Vladimir Putins forces tightening their grip on the strategically important city of Severodonetsk in the Donbas, its twin city of Lysychansk is now coming under heavier bombardment.

The Russian army is... just destroying everything in Lysychansk, Sergiy Gaiday, governor of the Lugansk region, which includes both cities, wrote on Telegram.

Its just hell out there, after four months of shelling in Severodonetsk, across the Donets river, he wrote later.

Our boys are holding their positions and will continue to hold on as long as necessary, he added.

Pro-Russian separatists claimed they were close to surrounding both Lysychansk and Severodonetsk.

Over the past several days enormous work has been accomplished, Andrei Marochko, an officer in the separatist army of Lugansk, told Russian state television.

Only grannies left

Taking the two cities would give Moscow control of the whole of Lugansk, allowing Russia to press further into the Donbas.

After being pushed back from Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine following their February invasion, Moscow is seeking to seize a vast eastern swathe of the country.

But daily bombardment also continues in other parts of the country.

The northeastern city of Kharkiv near the Russian border was near empty yesterday, AFP reporters said, a day after Russian shelling killed five people there.

Leyla Shoydhry, a young woman in a park near the opera house, said the situation was very bad.

Last night the building next to mine collapsed from the bombardment while I was sleeping, she said.

Roman Pohuliay, a 19-year-old in a pink sweatshirt, said most residents had fled the city.

Only the grannies are left, he said.

In his daily address Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian army of brutal and cynical shelling in the eastern Kharkiv region, where the governor said 15 people had been killed over the course of the day.

In a briefing yesterday, the Russian defence ministry claimed responsibility for a missile strike it said killed a number of Ukrainian troops in the southern city of Mykolaiv.

Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych told Ukrainian television that the strike hit two firms and a school, sparking a blaze that authorities could not put out.

In the central city of Zaporizhzhia, women were training to use Kalashnikov assault rifles in urban combat as Russian forces edged nearer.

When you can do something, its not so scary to take a machine gun in your hands, said Ulyana Kiyashko, 29, after moving through an improvised combat zone in a basement.

Aid group Doctors Without Borders said it had gathered accounts of an outrageous lack of care to distinguish and protect civilians during the war in Ukraine.

Most patients it had evacuated by train blamed Russian or Russian-backed forces for a spectrum of gruesome injuries, it added.

In the southern city of Mykolaiv, two grain storage facilities were hit by Russian missile attacks, their operators Bunge and Viterra said.

Ship leaves Mariupol

On the Russian side, officials said yesterday two drones had hit an oil refinery in the Rostov region bordering Ukraine, causing an explosion and a fire but no casualties.

Away from the battlefield, a senior US official in Washington said President Joe Biden and other Group of Seven leaders holding a summit this weekend in Germany will announce new measures to punish Russia for the invasion.

Moscow summoned Brussels ambassador in a dispute with EU member Lithuania over the countrys restrictions on rail traffic to the Russian outpost of Kaliningrad.

The territory is around 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) from Moscow, bordering Lithuania and Poland.

By blocking goods arriving from Russia, Lithuania says it is simply adhering to European Union-wide sanctions on Moscow.

The United States made clear its commitment to Lithuania as an ally in NATO, which considers an attack against one member an attack on all.

And Germany urged Russia not to violate international law by retaliating against Lithuania.

Also yesterday, a Turkish cargo ship left the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol on Ukraines Sea of Azov coast.

Moscow and Ankara have negotiated for weeks towards getting millions of tonnes of desperately needed grain out of the war zone and on to Africa and the Middle East.

But it was not immediately clear whether the Azov Concord was carrying wheat.

Turkeys defence ministry said four-way talks would be held in the coming weeks between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations, with media reporting the meeting could happen next week.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in an investigation published yesterday that a Ukrainian photojournalist, Maks Levin, had been killed and possibly tortured by Russian troops after his capture on Mar 13.
Thai AirAsia X to refund bookings made during pandemic

BANGKOK: Thai AirAsia X has affirmed it will refund all paid bookings made in the previous two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite filing for bankruptcy.

transporttourismCoronavirusCOVID-19

By National News Bureau of Thailand

Thursday 23 June 2022, 02:11PM

Photo: NNT

Thai AirAsia X director Tassapon Bijleveld has affirmed that the 6,500 bookings made prior to the bankruptcy process, as well as new bookings made after May 17, will not be affected by court procedures. These bookings will be eligible for a cash or credit refund, reports state news agency NNT.

The airline carrier has accumulated around B25 billion in debt and has filed for bankruptcy, which was accepted on May 17. If the airlines creditors do not object to this petition, the carrier will proceed with its rehabilitation plan, which it hopes to finish by the third quarter of 2023.

During the bankruptcy process, the airline continues to cut operational costs such as by relocating its hub to Suvarnabhumi airport, which reduced space usage and cut costs by half. The airline previously operated 15 jets prior to the pandemic but reduced its fleet to five aircraft this year.

Tassapon confirmed that the airlines international flights will continue as usual. The airline intends to resume all South Korean and Japanese destinations, with the goal of serving 300,000 passengers in 2022. Flights to South Korea have restarted last month, while its route to Japan is scheduled to begin in July.
Thousands of GrabBike taxis to be ordered off the road

BANGKOK: Hundreds of thousands of regular passengers of GrabBike will be looking for alternative transport after the unregistered motorcycle taxis are removed from service in mid-July by order of the Department of Land Transport (DLT).

transport

By Bangkok Post

Thursday 23 June 2022, 10:36AM

Photo: Chaiyot Pupattanapong

And tens of thousands of Grab Bike drivers will be out of work.

Grab Thailand recently notified its driver partners that it is required to expel drivers who use motorcycles which are unregistered for public transport service within 30 days, which falls on July 15.

Worachat Luxkanalode, executive director at Grab Thailand, said this would affect tens of thousands of driver partners, who would lose their livelihood.

Grab was obliged to follow through on the DLT demand that GrabBike drivers must have have public transport driving licences and their motorcycles be registered for public transport service, he said.

The drivers are also required to provide service only in the area where they are registered with the DLT, with fares at the same rate as applied at motorcycle-taxi queues, according to the DLT stipulation.

Mr Worachat said if state agencies fail to provide assistance to tens of thousands of GrabBike drivers in Bangkok and surrounding provinces, these drivers would be left in the lurch with no incomes to feed their families.

This would affect hundreds of thousands of regular passengers, who would have a more limited choice of transport, he said.

Mr Worachat said Grab will again meet with the DLT this week and ask it to consider ways to alleviate the impact and the timeframe.

The company is ready to assist driver partners to the full, Mr Worachat said.

According to the Grab notification letter sent to drivers, the company has put every effort over the past several months into trying to solve the problem with the DLT and ease the impact on drivers and passengers, but there was still no clear solution from the DLT.

An online petition has been launched on change.org in opposition to the move.
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Ah, 'Straya.

An elderly Aussie bloke fought off a huge saltwater crocodile with nothing but a frying pan recently, and the epic moment was all captured on video.

The video, which is doing the rounds on the internet, shows the big croc chilling on the lawn of a lodge/ pub on the banks of the Adelaide river in Darwin.

Lodge owner Kai Hansen makes his way down the stairs holding a frying pan, and when he gets down on the lawn, the croc charges at him. Kai then gives the croc a couple of bangs to the nose and the croc scurries off.

Watch the moment below.
Celebrating 40 years as the world leader in comedy, Just For Laughs tracks an impressive record of launching comedys hottest names. Over the duration of the next four weeks, we will be pulling back the curtain and reminiscing on some of the top JFL moments from the last four decades.

1983-1993

From the festivals debut in 1983 until 1993, Just For Laughs made its mark as the most important festival in the industry, gaining a reputation for discovering future comedy superstars, including Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Dave Chappelle, and Chris Rock.

Since its conception, Just For Laughs has been synonymous with showcasing the industrys greatest. The first-ever JFL Gala was hosted by SCTVs Andrea Martin at the St. Denis Theatre, where audiences met the beloved Norm MacDonald for the first time, Jim Carrey made his comedy debut, and Tim Allen delivered a memorable breakout performance. JFL galas quickly became the most highly sought-after events in the industry, welcoming a plethora of celebrity hosts since, including Joan Rivers, John Cleese, Trevor Noah, Tina Fey, and Seth Rogen to name a few.

This reputation only grew stronger as the festival continued. At 19 years old, JFL handed the mic to Chris Rock, where three-months later he joined the cast of SNL. Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore star Adam Sandler, before his SNL run, also made a splash at the festival at age 25 with a performance of High School Janitor. Adding to the crew of young talent was 19-year-old Dave Chappelle, who has since appeared at the festival nearly every year over the last four decades.

Just For Laughs also served as a direct launching pad for artists to get noticed and sign deals. It was at the 1989 JFL festival where French audiences first met Rowan Atkinsons iconic Mr. Bean, whose riveting taped performance helped land him a future BBC deal. Joining in the festival launch-pad includes Andre Philippe Gagnon, whose rendition of We Are The World brought him international acclaim, landing him a spot on Johnny Carsons The Tonight Show. Lenny Clarkes performance as a Gala host garnered the festivals first TV deal, and two years later, Clarke landed his first sitcom, Lenny. Even further, the festival has hosted breakout sets from Jay Leno, Mike McDonald, Kevin Nealon, and Yakov Smirnoff. SCTVs John Candy hosted a live HBO show, and Jerry Seinfeld, Bobcat Goldthwait, Martin Mull, Richard Lewis, and Rick Ducommun joined forces for an exciting HBO Gala.

In just its first decade, Just For Laughs established itself as the leader of all things comedy, discovering the industrys greatest (Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle) and kickstarting their success. This esteemed reputation has only grown further, as the festival continues to discover the biggest names in comedy to this day.

Just For Laughs MONTREAL returns this year from July 13-31, 2022, in venues across the city. Tickets can be purchased at hahaha.com

 Just For Laughs

 AB
Villagers rushed to bury the dead and dug by hand through the rubble of homes in search of survivors after a devastating earthquake in eastern Afghanistan
The sister of a 9-year-old girl killed in the Uvalde school shooting rampage has tearfully pleaded with Texas lawmakers to pass tougher gun laws and questioned why so many security measures failed
Erwin Chemerinsky is dean of the University of California Berkeley School of Law and a contributing writer to Opinion. He is the author, most recently, of Presumed Guilty: How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil Rights. This essay first appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
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BRUSSELS (AP)  Leaders from the Western Balkans expressed frustration Thursday that they are still waiting in the European Unions wings even as candidacy bids by Ukraine and Moldova were swiftly embraced by EU leaders.

A Bulgarian government crisis tarnished a EU summit that was intended to bolster the EU membership hopes of Balkan countries and to show Western resolve in the face of Russias war in Ukraine, but instead ended in a frustration for the Balkans.

Bulgaria's parliament passed a no-confidence vote Wednesday in the coalition government of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, putting up a new obstacle to the long-delayed start of the EU's accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania.

All three countries belong to NATO, but Bulgaria has used its status as an EU member to block the other two from proceeding on the path to join the 27-nation European bloc. Bulgaria has a dispute with North Macedonia over ethnicity and language, and its stance has also stalled Albanias progress because the EU is treating the pair as a political package.

Petkov briefed leaders about the political situation in his country that is blocking discussions on a proposed compromise put forward by France, which hoped it could break the deadlock during the final days of its turn holding the EU Council's presidency.

I made it clear that this is a decision of the Bulgarian parliament, I alone and the government will not change the Bulgarian position, he said.

Petkov's words did little to appease Albania and North Macedonia.

This Bulgaria affair is a disgrace, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama complained. A NATO country kidnapping two other NATO countries while there is a war in Europes backyard.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said his main worry in the Western Balkans was Bulgarias blockage, which he said is creating a lot of irritation, which I understand. However, he said he thought there was a 50-60% chance of a breakthrough next week.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he believed an agreement was within reach.

Several leaders insisted during Thursday's meeting on the need for the EU to reform the lengthy enlargement process.

Josep Borrell, the bloc's top diplomat, said the rule requiring unanimous approval from current members is a big problem."

So, we have to think (about) how we take decisions in the European Union, because we cannot continue with a single country blocking for months and months," he said.

The EU, a political and economic club that boasts the worlds biggest single market, wants to reassure countries in the Balkans that have waited years for admission that the blocs doors remain open.

Russias war in Ukraine has added to the list of aspiring EU members. The governments of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia rushed in membership applications after Russia invaded its neighbor.

At their two-day summit that started Thursday, EU leaders made Ukraine and Moldova candidates for membership, the first step in the long accession process and offered Georgia what they called European perspective.

The leader of Bosnias rotating presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic, congratulated Ukraine and Moldova on their impending status as candidates, but lamented that the same can not yet be said for his own country, which went through a devastating war in the early 1990s.

It is disappointing for Bosnia that we are not in the same place, he said, through an interpreter. Because everything that is happening today in Ukraine is something that Bosnia has already lived through in the past.

The EU last admitted a new member - Croatia - in 2013. The enlargement process slowed as euroskeptic voices grew in member nations such as Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands  all founding members of the bloc in the 1950s.

The eurozone debt crisis 10 years ago, a 2015 migration wave into Europe and the U.K.'s 2016 referendum decision to pull out of the EU also contributed to political unease with the blocs further expansion.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, whose citizens do not enjoy visa-free travel in Europe, said peace and stability in Europe are inconceivable without integrating Western Balkan nations.

Kosovo people want more possibilities and progress. They want a no-visa regime to see, feel and live in Europe, she said, adding that Kosovo citizens remain isolated at the heart of the continent where they live.

European Council President Charles Michel, the EU summit chair, said the bloc is committed to rejuvenating the membership bids of Western Balkan countries.

Albanias Rama said his country's plight should serve as a warning to Ukrainians.

Its a good thing to give candidate status, but I hope the Ukrainian people will not make many illusions about it, Rama said.

___

Mike Corder and Samuel Petrequin in Brussels, Valentina Petrova in Sofia and Llazar Semini in Tirana contributed.

___

Follow AP's coverage of the Ukraine war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
GODFREY  Lewis and Clark Community College (LCCC) will welcome new and returning students to campus Thursday, July 14 for Summerfest, an express registration event designed to prepare students for the Fall 2022 semester.

The event will run from 3-6 p.m., in The Commons and Grove areas of the McPike Math and Science Complex on the Godfrey Campus.

Students can meet with program representatives and advisors, fill out financial aid forms, tour campus and complete the work necessary to start classes this fall.

According to LCCC Recruiter Amy Bowling, Summerfest is designed to streamline the enrollment process as much as possible.

Summerfest is a great opportunity for new students to come and get a feel for Lewis and Clarks campus, programs and community, she said. Anyone who has just graduated from high school or wants a career change will benefit from Summerfest and enjoy themselves.

Even students who have never attended LCCC before can enroll with just an ID and an unofficial copy of their high school transcript.

LCCC offers more than 40 career and transfer degree programs, which can be suited to students who are considering their next move after high school or working adults wanting to boost their careers.

Students working toward a bachelors degree can save an average of $19,370 by attending Lewis and Clark for two years before transferring to a four-year institution. Learn more at www.lc.edu/save.

Although reservations are not required, students are encouraged to register for the event at www.lc.edu/summerfest.
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COLLINSVILLE  A Collinsville Police car, stolen shortly after midnight Tuesday, has been recovered but the thief and a police shotgun are still at large.

An Illinois State Police broadcast indicated the police car was recovered in Spanish Lake, Missouri. A shotgun was missing from the car, and police indicated the suspect may be in need of medical intervention.
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Ford has revealed its latest in a line of bonkers Transits - an electric van that packs almost 2,000bhp.

It is called the Supervan and is the fourth iteration of Ford putting a massive powertrain into a commercial vehicle, having unveiled the first in 1971 by putting a GT40 V8 engine in a Mk1 Transit.

Ford quotes a maximum power output of 1,973bhp from the zero-emission, quad-motor powertrain, put into a souped-up e-Transit Custom.

It means Ford's Supervan can accelerate from a standstill to 62mph quicker than a 2.5million Bugatti Chiron.

White Supervan Man: This is Ford's idea of a Transit racing car. It's been created by the brand's 'Performance' division and packs more power and has a faster 0-62mph performance than a 1.5million Bugatti hypercar

The creation won't be used for ultra-fast deliveries. It is instead designed to showcase the available performance from an electric drivetrain, just as Ford is set to sell its first battery-powered van, the E-Transit Custom, in the UK.

But while the plug-in commercial vehicle you can buy from a Ford dealer produces 265bhp in its most powerful form, the Supervan has almost eight times as much grunt.

Ford says it will hit 62mph from a standing start in less than two seconds - that's around half a second quicker than Bugatti's hypercar. The 1,973bhp output is also 473bhp more than the Chiron.

It debuted today at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where it will be driven up the famous hill over the next four days by French racing driver Romain Dumas, who has set record times at the hillclimb, as well as around the Nurburgring and the US Pikes Peak course.

Ford UK said wet conditions at the event this morning meant its power needed to be dialled down from almost 2,000bhp to a still-frightening 1,600bhp.

Power is delivered from a 50kWh liquid cooled battery pack that can be charged in just 45 minutes using a standard fast charger.

Many of its mechanical components are taken from the E-Transit, though the chassis is unique and purpose-built for this one-off van on steroids.

Called the Supervan, it is the fourth iteration of Ford putting a bonkers powertrain into a commercial vehicle. This Supervan 4 is loosely based on the company's new E-Transit Custom

 Slide me  Left: The 40,000 Ford E-Transit Custom you can buy from a dealership. Right: The one-of-a-kind Supervan 4, which uses the same floorpan and some of the components from the E-Transit

The cabin is - as you might expect - sparse. It looks like a racing cockpit, equipped with a full roll cage and FIA-approved race seats

There are five varying driving modes, most of which sound pretty alarming. They are: Road; Track; Drag; Drift; and Rally. Each offers a different ferocity of power delivery bespoke to its intended use and the terrain it is being driven on.

However, when driven at low speeds it automatically selects an 'Eco' mode, which keeps the motors at optimal efficiency, turns the regenerative braking up to maximum and cuts drive to the rear axle.

When the driver wants to unleash the full 1,973 of galloping horses, they need to push an 'EBoost' button that temporarily winds the power up to eleven.

Ford says it has a maximum power output of almost 2,000bhp and can complete a 0-62mph sprint in less than 2 seconds

Ford says it is around half a second quicker to 62mph than Bugatti's Chiron (right). The 1,973bhp output is also 473bhp more than the French hypercar

The suspension, brakes and steering are all bespoke upgrades to ensure the souped-up commercial vehicle has all the provisions to accelerate, turn and stop safely

The svelte, lightweight bodywork has been wrapped over a steel spaceframe - yet it does use the standard E-Transit Custom's floorpan

Ford has also fitted it with an F1-style pit-lane speed limiter and a new feature called 'tyre cleaning mode'.

The latter locks one axle while spinning the other to 'help clean and warm the tyres before performance runs', as well as perform 'impressive burnouts' during displays.

It has been co-developed by the special Ford Performance division and Austrian EV rally specialists, Stard.

The svelte, lightweight bodywork has been wrapped over a steel spaceframe - yet it does use the standard E-Transit Custom's floorpan.

The suspension, brakes and steering are all bespoke upgrades to ensure the souped-up commercial vehicle has all the provisions to accelerate, turn and stop safely when there is so much power being sent to the four wheels.

It certainly looks the part, featuring huge wings and splitters and a racing-style rear diffuser to improve downforce.

However, it remains super practical, retaining its conventional rear load bay and the side sliding door for easy access to the back.

Ford has also fitted it with an F1-style pit-lane speed limiter. That's because the vehicle will mostly be used for on-track displays

It also has a new feature called 'Tyre cleaning mode', which locks one axle while spinning the other to 'help clean and warm the tyres before performance runs' as well as perform 'impressive burnouts' during displays

As well as a racing wheel, the interior gets the large touchscreen from the Ford Mustang Mach-E electric family SUV that you can buy in showrooms

The cabin is - as you might expect - sparse. It looks like a racing cockpit, equipped with a full roll cage and FIA-approved race seats.

It also has the large touchscreen from the Ford Mustang Mach-E electric family SUV that you can buy in showrooms.

Ford said: 'Beyond demonstrating Fords advanced electric vehicle and connectivity know-how, the electric Supervan is also a high-speed science experiment.

'Its demanding driving scenarios and unrestricted design concept allow Ford to push the boundaries of electric vehicle engineering and connectivity to improve its future race cars and road-going vehicles, software and services.'

Ford first introduced a Supervan in 1971 as a promotional exercise to boost sales of the Transit, which had been available for just over five years

For Supervan 1, Ford removed the conventional four-pot engine and replaced it with a mid-mounted 400bhp V8 from the GT40 supercar. It retained its pressed-steel Mark 1 Transit bodyshell and had a claimed top speed of around 150mph

Supervan 2 arrived in 1984 and was powered by a 3.9-litre V8 Cosworth engine from a Group C racing car

The previous Supervan emerged in 1994. Supervan 3 had a 3.8-litre powerplant, again developed by Cosworth that was being used at that time in Formula One cars.

Ford first created a Supervan back in 1971 as promotional vehicle for the original Transit, replacing the conventional four-pot engine and replaced it with a mid-mounted 400bhp V8 from the GT40 supercar.

It retained its pressed-steel Mark 1 Transit bodyshell and had a claimed top speed of around 150mph.

There have been modern versions since, with the Supervan 2 arriving in 1984 and powered by a 3.9-litre V8 Cosworth engine from a Group C racing car and Supervan 3 coming in 1994 3.8-litre powerplant, again developed by Cosworth that was being used at that time in Formula One cars.

'Were bringing Supervan into the 21st century with 2,000bhp of all-electric power for unmatched excitement and unmistakeable styling inspired by the new E-Transit Custom,' explains Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports.

'But performance isnt all about horsepower  the Electric Supervans processing power means engineers can use real-time vehicle data to optimise its performance, just like on a top-level racing car.'
London Heathrow has hiked its annual passenger forecast again as it continued to benefit from a resurgence in overseas travel.

Britain's largest airport now expects 54.4 million travellers to come through its premises this year, which would be around two-thirds of pre-pandemic levels.

At the height of the Omicron variant outbreak in December, it had predicted a total of 45 million people for 2022 before elevating that figure to 53 million last month following a significant surge in demand.

Upgraded outlook: London Heathrow now expects 54.4 million travellers to come through its premises this year, which would be around two-thirds of pre-pandemic levels

As a result, it anticipates revenues will more than double from the previous year to 2.59billion while adjusted underlying earnings are set to skyrocket by 257 per cent to 1.37billion.

Yet the airport cautioned that operating costs are forecast to climb by almost half due to investment measures and soaring energy prices increasing utility costs.

Heathrow flew 20.1 million passengers in the first five months of 2022, compared to just under 3 million during the equivalent time last year when rules regarding cross-border travel were highly prohibitive.

This sudden rebound in travellers has often left the airport struggling to cope as staff shortages have led to long check-in queues and flight cancellations.

Those problems are likely to continue over the summer as British Airways check-in and ground employees based at Heathrow voted by a wide margin today to go on strike over pay.

According to the Unite and GMB unions, the dispute centres on a 10 per cent pay cut imposed at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic not being reinstated and British Airways offering a 10 per cent one-off bonus payment.

Troubles: Some flights were axed at Heathrow this week after technical issues arose in its baggage reclaim areas, leading to trolleys of unattended luggage piling up outside the airport

An overwhelming majority of those balloted approved the planned walkout, whose dates have not been confirmed but are set to happen during the summer holidays in order to cause mass disruption.

BA said it was 'extremely disappointed' by the result, adding: 'Despite the extremely challenging environment and losses of more than 4billion, we made an offer of a 10 per cent payment which was accepted by the majority of other colleagues.'

The vote to strike comes two days ago after about 30 flights were axed at Heathrow because of technical problems in its baggage reclaim areas, leading to trolleys of unattended luggage piling up outside the airport.

Before then, staff shortages led to many holidaymakers looking to get away during the recent Platinum Jubilee half-term and Easter holidays being affected by heavy delays in getting through security or cancelled flights.

THIS IS MONEY PODCAST Is scrapping a mortgage stress test as rates rise a wise move?

Heathrow admitted in an investor report that 'resources remain tight' but said it was working with airlines, Border Force and ground handlers to minimise disruption ahead of the summer holidays.

In anticipation of the demand surge, it has reopened Terminal 4, hired more security officers, engineers and service workers, and enhanced its use of automation to try and lower wait times.

Heathrow chief executive John Holland Kaye apologised to passengers who have endured disruption on their journeys, saying: 'We have faced 40 years of growth in just four months, and that has put the entire aviation industry under pressure.

'We're working hard to ramp up our operations for the summer peak as quickly as we can with the same level of security officers this summer as in 2019, and we have reopened Terminal 4, which will be serving over 30 airlines by mid-July.

'Our operating plan is working, and the vast majority of passengers have had good, predictable journeys.'
FILE - A handgun from a collection of illegal guns is reviewed during a gun buyback event in Brooklyn, N.Y., May 22, 2021. The Supreme Court, Thursday, June 23, 2022, struck down a restrictive New York gun law in a major ruling for gun rights.
TWRA releases the identity on the man involved in Wednesday's fatal boating accident on the Holston River.
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David Kashdan, Ph.D., is retired director of Eastman Chemical Research Division and a senior consultant with RISE: Research Institutes of Sweden. Email him at davidkashdan@yahoo.com.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscows massive air and artillery attacks were aimed at destroying the entire Donbas region and urged Ukraines allies to accelerate the shipment of heavy weapons to match Russia on the battlefield.

The fight for the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk in Ukraines Luhansk region is entering a sort of fearsome climax, said Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to Zelenskiy. Russia is seeking to capture both Luhansk and Donetsk, which make up the Donbas region  the nations industrial heartland.

On the diplomatic front, European leaders on Thursday will formally set Ukraine on the long road to EU membership at a summit in Brussels. Though mainly symbolic, the move will help lift morale after four-months of bloody conflict that has killed thousands, displaced millions and destroyed cities.

We must free our land and achieve victory, but more quickly, a lot more quickly, Zelenskiy said in a video address released early Thursday, reiterating Ukrainian demands for larger and faster weapons.Advertisement  Scroll to continue

There were massive air and artillery strikes in Donbas. The occupiers goal here is unchanged, they want to destroy the entire Donbas step-by-step, he said.

This is why we again and again emphasize the acceleration of arm deliveries to Ukraine. What is quickly needed is parity on the battlefield in order to halt this diabolical armada and push it beyond Ukraines borders.

BATTLE FOR TWIN CITIES

The fierce war of attrition in the Donbas is at its most critical in Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.

Ukrainian forces were defending Sievierodonetsk and the nearby settlements of Zolote and Vovchoyrovka, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Thursday, but added Russia had captured Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka to the south.

Hundreds of civilians are trapped in a chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk, with Ukraine and Russia disputing who controls the bombed-out city.

Moscow says Ukrainian forces in the city are surrounded and trapped. But Gaidai told Ukrainian Television on Wednesday that Russian forces do not have full control.

On Lysychansk, Gaidai said it was very dangerous in the city as all of it was within reach of Russian fire.

In order to avoid encirclement, our command could order that the troops retreat to new positions. There may be a regrouping after last night, he added.

Tass news agency cited Russian-backed separatists saying Lysychansk was now surrounded and cut off from supplies after a road connecting the city to the town Sieviersk was taken.

Reuters was unable to immediately confirm the report.

According to Britains defence ministry, Russian forces have highly likely advanced more than 5 km (3.11 miles) towards the southern approaches of Lysychansk since June 19.

Some Ukrainian units have withdrawn, probably to avoid being encircled, it said on Twitter.

Russian forces are putting the Lysychansk-Sievierodonetsk pocket under increasing pressure with this creeping advance  however, its efforts to achieve a deeper encirclement to take western Donetsk Oblast remain stalled, the ministry added.

Arestovych said Russian forces in both cities were conscripts of varying levels of training after Ukraine inflicted heavy losses on Russian forces. Reuters could not verify his comments on Russian losses.

Its like two boxers grappling with each other in the 18th round of a bout and barely able to move things forward. This operation started on 14th April and has been going on for nearly 80 days, he said in an online video post.

EU MEMBERSHIP

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what the Kremlin calls a special operation to ensure Russian security and denazify Ukraine. Ukraine and the West call this a baseless pretext for a war of choice that has raised fears of wider conflict in Europe.

Russia has long opposed closer links between Ukraine, a former Soviet state, and Western clubs like the European Union (EU) and the NATO military alliance.

Zelenskiy said he had spoken to 11 EU leaders on Wednesday about Ukraines candidacy and will make more calls on Thursday.

Diplomats say it will take Ukraine a decade or more to meet the criteria for joining the EU. But EU leaders say the bloc must make a gesture that recognises Ukraines sacrifice.

The war in Ukraine has had a massive impact on the global economy and European security, driving up gas, oil and food prices, pushing the EU to reduce its heavy reliance on Russian energy and prompting Finland and Sweden to seek NATO membership.

The EU will temporarily shift back to coal to cope with dwindling Russian gas flows without derailing longer-term climate goals, an EU official said on Wednesday.

Leaders from the Group of Seven and NATO will seek to increase pressure on Russia at meetings next week, U.S. administration officials said.

SOURCE: REUTERS
A sudden shootout between factions in the Libyan capital this month provided a vivid demonstration of how a political stalemate could trigger fighting between rival groups and end two years of comparative peace.

Much of Libya has for years been dominated by armed forces that control territory and vie for position while formally acting as paid elements of state security, their presence strikingly apparent during a recent Reuters visit.

In Tripoli, tensions over the standoff between the unity government installed last year and a rival one endorsed by the eastern-based parliament have added to earlier friction in the capital over such groups relative standing.

Though all sides have publicly said they reject any return to major war and do not expect one, efforts to resolve the standoff have faltered and there are new signs of armed escalation.

Footage shared on social media this week showed a faction opposed to the government in Tripoli moving towards the city from its base in the mountain town of Zintan with a large convoy of military vehicles.

Any prolonged clashes among the different factions in Tripoli could spill over into a wider conflict drawing in forces from across Libya in a new phase of civil war that would hit civilians hardest.

When the shooting began this month at Souk al-Thulatha park near Tripolis historic centre, families were enjoying the cool sea breeze as a weekend night brought relief from a hot summer day.

Nawal Salem, 42, had gone there with her daughters because a power cut meant she could not run air conditioning at home. The girls played on their bikes and she was scrolling through her phone when she heard the shooting.

In the chaos, as she grabbed her children and ran for home, people were screaming and falling over and she saw lost children, separated from their parents.

All I remember is carrying my daughters in my arms all the time until we got to a relatives house and I was crying a lot and my daughters were very scared, she said.

STANDOFF

Four people were reported injured, but in a sign of how transitory  and even normal  such flashpoints have become for city residents, the park was busy again the following morning with families strolling and buying ice creams from a van.

However, there are growing signs that wider clashes could happen, putting the 2020 ceasefire between the main sides in the civil war at risk.

The ceasefire was accompanied by a political process that has mostly broken down. An interim unity government under Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah was supposed to hold elections in December but a dispute over the rules stopped the vote.

The parliament and eastern forces in the last war have instead appointed a new government under Fathi Bashagha, but Dbeibah has refused to step down and Bashagha cannot enter Tripoli.

Dbeibah still appears to have the support of most of the main armed forces in the capital, but some back Bashagha.

Because theres no political outlet for discussion and no political process, it makes clashes more likely, said Emadeddin Badi of the Atlantic Council.

The fact there are two governments is exacerbating these tensions.

Armed group leaders have been able to secure state salaries for their fighters and access to government contracts in return for allegiance to political figures over the past decade, a senior Libyan state official said.

When Bashagha tried to enter Tripoli last month, clashes broke out between rival groups, forcing him to quit the city.

Most of the major armed factions have long been integrated into state pay rolls with official roles under the interior or defence ministries, though they answer to their original leaders rather than to the government.

SHOOTING

In a uniform shop in central Tripoli, the walls are hung with an array of colours and camouflage patterns, tactical gear and a board displaying insignia for the numerous military or security forces, showing the big number of armed groups.

During a five-minute drive along a main Tripoli road from Souk al-Thulatha on the day before the shooting, Reuters counted more than 20 security vehicles with 11 different liveries, ostensibly showing them to be forms of police or army.

At night, city roundabouts are lit by the flashing blue and red lights on security vehicles, idling by the access roads while fighters in an array of uniforms and bearing assault rifles, sometimes with masks over their faces, question drivers.

Periodically, a force moves through the city in an armed convoy with tens of vehicles, the uniformed fighters standing in the back of pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns.

Waiting in the wings, eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, an ally of the parliament that appointed Bashagha, could take advantage of any conflict between the Tripoli armed groups.

Haftars supporters present him as an antidote to the chaos and lawlessness of rule by rival armed groups in western Libya.

However, his own Libyan National Army is also a coalition of different armed factions and a U.N. panel of experts on Libya has reported numerous abuses associated with it.

SOURCE: REUTERS
ALBANY  A telling moment arrived about an hour into Monday's Republican gubernatorial debate, when co-moderator Errol Louis asked the candidates if the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump.

If that seems like an easy question, well, it should have been. But you wouldn't know if from the stammering, windy prevarications that followed.

Lee Zeldin, the Long Island congressman and presumptive favorite heading into Tuesday's primary, went first with a monologue that took us on a long journey that swerved around the question at hand. So Louis asked again, causing Zeldin to spit out a tortured word salad that again stayed clear of an actual answer.

"Stacey Abrams still hasn't accepted her loss in Georgia," a filibustering Zeldin said, referring to the state's 2018 gubernatorial race. "There are still people upset with the Supreme Court decision in 2000."

Louis took Zeldin off the hook, tossed him back in the water and poised the question to Rob Astorino, the former Westchester County executive.

Once again, viewers of the Spectrum News debate were subjected to mumbo-jumbo that didn't include an answer.

"What was stolen from us is our belief in the election system right now," Astorino said, adding that some Democrats believe the 2016 election was stolen. "We've got to have integrity in our elections."

Louis again pressed, noting that recent hearings examining the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol have shown that Attorney General Bill Barr, Trump advisers and even some family members all told the former president that he had lost a fairly decided election.

And you, Mr. Astorino? He whirled and twirled, keeping an answer at bay.

You could almost sense viewers at home growing exasperated. Candidates who had delivered direct answers to questions about crime, the economy and more couldn't answer this one? Seriously?

It was important to notice what Astorino and Zeldin didn't say. They didn't say they believed in the vast, sinister conspiracy that would be required to steal an election. They didn't talk about Venezuelan voting machines or accuse fellow Republicans in, say, Georgia of being in on the fix. They just refused to give a direct answer.

Next up: Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

"I believe that President Trump was re-elected," he said, "and I think unfortunately we've seen one of the greatest crimes in American history committed against our country."

Well, OK. After the weasel cynicism sputtered by Zeldin and Astorino, it was tempting to give young Giuliani credit for being so blunt.

Of course, it would have made international headlines had he answered otherwise, given his father's prominence in spreading election falsehoods. We're also left to doubt the son's judgment, given that there is not, as Barr put it, "evidence of fraud that would have affected the outcome of the election."

"I saw absolutely zero basis for the allegations," said the former attorney general, a Trump appointee, during a recent congressional hearing, describing how he told his former boss that claims of systemic cheating were "complete nonsense" and "crazy stuff."

Trump, as we know, was undeterred. He still is.

But back to Monday night, when Louis brought his simple yet revealing question to the fourth candidate in the race: Harry Wilson, the businessman and corporate-turnaround specialist.

"Sadly, Joe Biden was the duly elected president of the United States," Wilson said. "I believe that we, Republicans, need to move on and address the problems that really hurt working families today."

Had we been watching a game show, bells would have sounded and confetti would have rained down. Here, at last, was a candidate giving an honest acknowledgment of reality that Zeldin and Astorino must know to be true but lack the courage to admit. Wilson wins!

Will his honesty hurt him with voters on Tuesday? It could, depressingly. When practiced politicians such as Zeldin and Astorino duck and dodge, they usually know what they're doing. In this time of tribal loyalty, they must fear the primary electorate  or the wrath of Trump himself.

But the problem for Republicans is obvious. Louis' question will be asked again in the months ahead, and the non-answers given by Zeldin and Astorino will be poisonous in a general election. New York, after all, is not Alabama. Trump is unpopular here and relatively few believe his election poppycock.

And so, a GOP gubernatorial nominee who refuses to acknowledge the truth about 2020 will be throwing away a winnable race against a vulnerable Kathy Hochul  another sacrifice for Trump's altar.

But this isn't just about the ramifications for the coming election. Candidates who know that claims about a malevolent conspiracy are false but refuse to say so are putting political ambition ahead of truth and country. They are deeply unpatriotic. They do not deserve our trust.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
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PARIS (AP)  He may have died last November, but Virgil Abloh lived on at Paris Fashion Week Thursday in a high-energy runway spectacular for Louis Vuitton menswear. A Black marching band gave a rousing performance on a surreal yellow brick road installation inside the Louvre, while rapper Kendrick Lamar performed a live ode to the American fashion star who was Vuittons menswear designer from 2018 until his death.

Here are some highlights of Thursdays spring-summer 2023 shows in Paris.

THE ABLOH MARCHING BAND

Long live Virgil ... How many miles away? went the live rap by Lamar at the stiflingly hot Vuitton show. The yellow road set that snaked around the Louvre's oldest courtyard recalled the spirit of the Wizard of Oz and the childhood obsessions common in Ablohs designs  as did a colorfully-dressed marching band and dancing troupe, including several Florida A&M University band members, that appeared noisily at the show's beginning and end.

This spring-summer show was the first presented since Ablohs death that he had not designed (a previous posthumous one was based on his own creations). On Thursday, it was instead a collection conceived entirely by the Vuitton studio in his spirit. This rare continuation at Vuitton of a former designer's aesthetic is a strong sign of the level of influence the man drew.

Stars such as Omar Sy, Jessica Biel, Justin Timberlake, Joel Edgerton and Naomi Campbell further attested to the pull of his legacy.

VUITTONS STUDIO SHOW

Its a remarkable feat for a studio to emulate a former designers styles  with originality.

This was the case at Thursdays display: From shirt hems quirkily cut in zigzag patterns, to 3-D paper plane appliques on suits and otherworldly, elongated silhouettes.

A finely tailored jacket with trompe loeil prints provided one of the many touches of old-school luxury. Such moments in this collection seemed even to surpass Ablohs own runway designs.

They toed a careful line between the playful styles associated with the house since 2018 and the fine luxury tailoring seen during the tenure of predecessor Kim Jones.

The display's strength was owed to its many feats of design. One case in point was the waist on a black double-breasted jacket that had been pulled in to resemble a V on its side. Its very silhouette evoked the house monogram.

Louis Vuitton's design studio just bucked the trend of too many cooks spoiling the broth.

DEATH-DEFYING FASHION AT HOMME PLISSE ISSEY MIYAKE

Blurring the line between fashion and performance, the Japanese house of Issey Miyake for Homme Plisse used a troupe of acrobats who contorted, danced and seemingly courted death for a spectacular Paris Fashion Week mens show.

In eye-popping hues inspired by flowers and vases, models mingled with performers inside the newly renovated La Poste du Louvre for this unusual and sensitive showcase of fashion designs through dance.

From a hidden ledge high above the courtyard runway, a dancing troupe suddenly stood up mid-show to gasps from the audience. In pastel colored, loosely-fitting pleated garments the performers then climbed down ladders, before performing death-defying leaps, falls and tumbles. Performers were tossed through the air like missiles, to be caught by dancers across the courtyard. There was no safety net above the hard stone floor.

The show was directed by Rachid Ouramdane of the Theatre National de Chaillot, featuring a collective of acrobats, Compagnie XY.

The fashion itself was soft in comparison. Gradual curves at the neck and midriff emulated the shapes of vases with a nice weight that produced a dynamic silhouette. A pleated tunic in pastel red was twinned with a short jacket, with breast panels that resembled an Asian warrior. Elsewhere, a waistcoat in vivid dandelion sported studded pockets that unfurled like an opening flower.

Color-blocking was also a strong theme -- with pastel purple contrasting with blush and raisin black on one look, and on another pastel yellow and midnight blue. It was a strong return to the runway for Homme Plisse at Issey Miyake.

RICK OWENS ANCIENT EGYPT

Best of the Capital Region 2022 Its the 25th anniversary of our Best of the Capital Region readers survey. Make sure your voice is heard by nominating your favorite people, places and businesses between Jan. 21 and Feb. 4.

American designer Rick Owens delved into the ancient world for inspiration, returning from a stay in Egypt and a visit to the Temple of Edfu on the Nile.

Often the philosopher, Owens said that his personal concerns ... felt petty in the face of that kind of timelessness. He has in recent seasons commented on the impact the pandemic has had on fashion and beyond  and embraced the lockdown as a time for introspection.

Owens has always had an aesthetic riffing on the garb of Ancient Egypt, with togas, drapes and high priestess styles gracing his runways. But on Thursday's show he turned up the dial for a very personal take on such silhouettes.

Lying down in the dirt with the Valley of Kings within view was a perspective I liked, he said.

Like the long stone carvings on the ancient temple, silhouettes were elongated by layering garments to drop the midriff low. Dark flared pants were so long the fabric grazed along the stone steps as the models walked down the Palais de Tokyo venue. It created a funky surreal effect.

Extreme shoulders  giant and rounded  created this Egyptian priest vibe, tailored by the American fashion master in silk chiffon, crisp cotton, and garish plaid.

AMI

French designer Alexandre Mattiussi continued his penchant for using A-list French actresses as model-muses in Thursday evening's co-ed show, which riffed on the '80s.

This spring season, the burst of celebrity pizazz came from Amelie and Da Vinci Code star Audrey Tautou, who opened proceedings in a fresh oversize ecru trench and hot cropped white jeans.

The rest of the show was defined by the usual AMI fare of saleable looks, like in oversize '80s suit jackets and knee high stripper boots.

Checks  argyle, gingham tartan styles  mixed with stripes  Breton, pin and sporty  to produce a mild twist on Mattiussis bread-and butter styles.

While, plus size models were a welcome addition on the Paris runway, and added a sense of inclusivity.
Most couples, when choosing a wedding venue, consider a courthouse, church or backyard. If youre in the Hudson Valley, you might get married on a local farm inside a beautiful barn.

But for Kere Paz and Mack Kuhr, who share a mutual love of the outdoors and of each other, none of that felt right. What they decided to do instead was a 3-mile hike to the top of Breakneck Ridge, where on June 21  the summer solstice and their three-year anniversary  they exchanged their vows 1,250 feet above sea level.

It came back to this is who we are, said Kuhr, who took a call from this reporter from Colorado, where the couple is honeymooning. We said we were going to make it happen. It turned out perfect.

Sarah McCay

To memorialize the occasion, not just any wedding photographer would do. Paz asked local photographer and avid outdoorswoman Sarah McCay if shed join them. McCay was all in. That meant the wedding was officially on.

Breakneck is Paz and Kuhrs favorite Hudson Valley hike. In fact, it was where Paz trained before she headed to Mount Kilimanjaro in 2019. Two to three times a week, shed make the trek up the mountain, wearing a weighted vest.

Im a rock climber too, so I love the rock scrambles, said Paz. I love having that connection where my hands are touching the rocks and Im hiking up and its hard and tough. Its so satisfying.

But hiking isnt how the pair met. It was on a different adventurous endeavor: a Spartan Race, an extreme endurance event where competitors complete long-distance obstacle courses.

Sarah McCay

Im someone who enjoys the pain of getting to the top of something, going after testing yourself and your body, said Kuhr, who is a professional stuntman. I gravitated towards her energy  her energy elevates me. I could go on and on, but the wedding embodied us.

Although the pair chose a non-traditional wedding venue, it didnt mean theyd ditch formal attire (with one exception: footwear.) I wanted to find something that I could lift up and wasnt too heavy, said Paz. I found the perfect dress, light and comfortable.

Her tailor couldnt wrap her head around hiking boots being paired with the white dress. But the couple was insistent on doing it their way. By the end of the hike, Pazs gleaming white dress train was covered in dirt, but thats just what she wanted.

The pair didnt make the trek alone. A group of about 15 loved ones joined them, some in classic wedding attire, and others in classic hiking attire. Some of the wedding party were beginner hikers who went to the top just for the newlyweds.

They said it was the most badass wedding theyve been to, said Kuhr. People really got a lot out of it. There were some tears, people really just enjoying the moment.

Sarah McCay

The weather on Tuesday was cloudy, but it only made the wedding that much more epic for the happy couple. It also meant that the summit was nearly empty and the wedding guests comfortable. Plus, the cloud cover made for great photos.

Love in these times may be hard, but Paz and Kuhr do have one suggestion: Plan a wedding for you and what will make you happy.

Our wedding embodied who we are and what we find joyful, said Paz.

Maybe we blazed some trails, maybe we broke some rules, added Kuhr. But you know what, it felt damn good to us.
DETROIT (AP)  A white Detroit-area man who said he feared for his life when he fatally shot a young Black woman on his porch in 2013 was given the same 17-year prison sentence Wednesday at a new hearing ordered by the Michigan Supreme Court.

Ted Wafer was convicted of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the death of Renisha McBride in Dearborn Heights.

But about halfway through Wafer's prison term, the Supreme Court in February unanimously threw out the manslaughter conviction, saying he couldn't be punished twice for the same homicide.

Wayne County Judge Dana Hathaway said the prison sentence won't change: 15 years for second-degree murder, plus two years for using a gun during a crime, which Wafer has already served. She noted that the murder sentence still was within the scoring guidelines.

Wafer, 63, gets credit for roughly eight years in custody, making him eligible for parole in 2031.

Wafer has been a model prisoner but the facts remain the same," the judge said.

You cannot murder someone for simply knocking on your door in the middle of the night. You had choices, Hathaway said.

Wafer opened his front door and shot McBride, 19, through a screen door before dawn. He said he was awakened by pounding and feared for his life, though he didnt call police first. A jury rejected his self-defense claim.

Prosecutors speculated that McBride, who was drunk and had crashed her car hours earlier, might have been confused when she arrived on Wafers porch.

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I remain terribly sorry," Wafer said Wednesday.

Some people wondered in the aftermath of the shooting whether race was a factor, likening it to the 2012 shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. But race was hardly mentioned during Wafer's trial in 2014, and the judge at that time said she didn't believe it played a role.

McBride's mother said her daughter is deeply missed.

Holidays are no longer holidays because we have no joy, Monica McBride said in court. Every day is a living nightmare that we cant and wont wake up from.

___

Follow Ed White at https://twitter.com/edwritez
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PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP)  The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for two people reported overdue after they decided to return to Virginia in their weather-damaged boat instead of continuing their sailing trip to Portugals Azores.

Coast Guard officials announced Tuesday that Virginia Beach natives Yanni Nikopoulos and Dale Jones, both 65, were missing.

Nikopoulos and Jones left Hampton, Virginia, on June 8 on the 36-foot (11-meter) sailboat Kyklades for the Azores Islands, a mid-Atlantic archipelago about 800 mi (1,290 kilometers) west of Portugal, the Coast Guard said. But five days later, the pair told Jones daughter that heavy weather damaged their vessel and they were returning to Hampton, the Coast Guard said.

The two were about 460 miles (740 kilometers) east of Virginia Beach at the time of the call, but no further communications were received, officials said.

On Friday, Jones daughter reported to the Coast Guard that she hadnt heard from them and was concerned for their well-being. No date was set for their return, but Jones daughter expected them to be back by Monday, the Coast Guard said.

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HC-130 Hercules crews have conducted two overflights of the approximate area of the missing boaters and the Coast Guard issued an urgent marine information broadcast to alert boaters in the area. The Coast Guard is working with authorities in the Azores, Bermuda and Canada trying to help locate the pair. Anyone with information about their whereabouts is encouraged to contact the Fifth Coast Guard District.

We have not received any signs of distress, however, we encourage the public to keep a sharp eye out for Yanni Nikopoulos and Dale Jones, said Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Pulliam, the search and rescue mission coordinator in the Fifth District Command Center.
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TROY On Sept. 13, 2020, 11-year-old Ayshawn Davis was standing in a crowd outside a building on Old Sixth Avenue when he was stuck and killed by gunfire from a passing car.

Within two weeks, investigators laid the blame for the childs death  which stunned a neighborhood already ravaged by gang violence  on Jahquay Brown, a Cohoes man who survived being grazed in the head by a bullet in Albany in 2019.

On Thursday, Brown, 22, sat in a first-floor Rensselaer County courtroom clad in a white dress shirt and khaki slacks as a prosecutor told jurors the defendant was the wheelman in the childs slaying  and that Browns own words to Troy police prove it.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Hauf said Browns interview with Troy police implicated himself as the driver of the blue Honda Accord used in the killing, which Hauf said Brown borrowed. And Hauf said the same .40 caliber gun used in the homicide was located in a book bag in Browns bedroom. He said bullet retrieved from the childs lethal wound matched projectiles test-fired from the gun in Browns home.

Hauf did not identify Brown as the shooter, but he noted Brown's DNA was found on the weapon.

Brown is charged with second-degree murder, which carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Brown is not accused of intentionally murdering the child; prosecutors allege he showed a depraved indifference to human in his actions. He told the jury that Ayshawn was standing at the corner when a blue Honda Accord carrying Brown and another man drove by about 11:40 p.m.

Little did he know that those would be his last moments in this world, Hauf told the jury. "Suddenly, the area was barraged with a flurry of bullets. Those bullets came from the car in which the defendant was in.

Hauf said a bullet struck the child in right side the head, piercing his skull.

That was Ayshawns last moment and that bullet struck and killed him, he said.

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Browns attorney, Robert Molloy, told jurors there was no evidence indicating his client was the shooter of the child. He told the panel the case is a real test for a juror and to keep their emotions in a place where they could view the case objectively.

Where is the proof that Jahquay Brown knew what the shooter intended to do? Where was the proof that Jahquay Brown was of one mind with the shooter? Molloy asked. That proof is missing and its not coming.

Police Officer Thomas Bass, an evidence technician, testified about bullet fragments at the scene.

The courtroom drew a crowd of observers that included the victims father and Tony Buchanan, the owner of Jimmys pizzeria at 475 Fifth Ave. in Lansingburgh where the boy worked and where Buchanan had signs hanging in the windows in memory of the boy.
TALLINN, Estonia (AP)  French armed forces conducted a surprise military exercise in Estonia, deploying more than 100 paratroopers in the Baltic country that neighbors Russia, the French defense ministry said Wednesday.

The airborne operation conducted on Tuesday night and dubbed Thunder Lynx enabled, at very short notice, the dropping of about 100 paratroopers from Frances 11th Airborne Brigade over an area secured by Estonian soldiers, the statement said.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection heard from election workers and state officials on Tuesday as they described President Donald Trumps pressure to overturn his 2020 election defeat. On Thursday, the nine-member panel will hear from former Justice Department officials who refused Trumps entreaties to declare the election corrupt.

The committees fourth and fifth hearings, held this week, are part of an effort to show how Trumps pressure eventually shifted to Congress, where his false declarations of widespread election fraud led directly to the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, when hundreds of his supporters violently breached the Capitol and interrupted the certification of President Joe Bidens election victory.

In July, the panel will hold at least two more hearings that are expected to focus on the far-right domestic extremists who attacked the Capitol and what Trump was doing inside the White House as the violence unfolded.

TRUMPS PRESSURE ON STATES

State officials testified at Tuesday's hearing about the extraordinary pressure they faced from Trump after the election to try and invalidate Bidens win.

Arizonas House speaker, Rusty Bowers, testified about phone calls from Trump and his allies asking him to decertify Arizonas legitimate electors and replace them. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told of the now-infamous phone call when Trump asked officials there to find 11,780 votes.

The officials did not give in.

You are asking me to do something against my oath, and I will not break my oath, Bowers said he told Trump and his allies. He recalled lawyer John Eastman, a chief architect of Trumps plan to create slates of fake electors, telling him to just do it and let the courts sort it out.

Bowers said he repeatedly asked Trumps team for evidence of the widespread fraud they were claiming, but they never provided it.

Raffensperger said his team investigated all of Trumps claims and went down down every rabbit hole, finding nothing. But Trump wouldnt accept it.

TRUMPS PRESSURE ON PENCE

The committees third hearing last week featured testimony from former aides to Vice President Mike Pence. The aides described the then-presidents efforts to persuade Pence to veer from his ceremonial role and object as Congress counted the electoral votes on Jan. 6.

Pence concluded from the start, his former counsel Greg Jacob told the committee, that there is no justifiable basis to conclude that the vice president has that kind of authority.

Trump did not let up, even after his supporters were breaking into the Capitol and Pence was hiding in an undisclosed location  at one point just 40 feet from the rioters, the committee said. Trump sent a tweet that afternoon saying that Pence did not have the courage to do what was necessary.

The committee played video of the rioters outside the Capitol calling for Pences death.

Donald Trump turned the mob on him, said Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the panel.

PUSHBACK FROM TRUMPS AIDES

The hearings have repeatedly showed how Trump moved forward with his baseless claims of fraud even as his top advisors told them they werent true.

The committee played video testimony from several aides who said they disagreed with the plan or tried to talk Trump out of it  even though few of them spoke out publicly at the time. Even his daughter, Ivanka Trump, said she accepted the conclusion of former Attorney General Bill Barr, who resigned after telling the president there was no evidence of widespread fraud.

The efforts to persuade Trump started on election night, when the race was still too close to call. Lawyer Rudy Giuliani told Trump to just go ahead and declare victory. Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said in one interview clip that he told Trump it was way too early for such a pronouncement. But Trump did it anyway.

Frankly, we did win this election, Trump said before the cameras.

The committee used video clips of testimony from Barr, who told Trump he had looked into the allegations and found no evidence that any of them were true. He said he tried convince Trump, but felt that the president was becoming detached from reality" and had no interest in what the actual facts were.

THE VIOLENCE, AND REAL LIVES UPENDED

The committee has also used the hearings to tell the stories of the people who have been hurt, either in the violence of Jan. 6 or through harassment from those who believe the election was stolen.

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Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards testified about the traumatic brain injury she suffered after being pushed to he concrete when the first rioters breached the makeshift barriers around the Capitol. She described a war scene out of the movies and hours of hand-to-hand combat.

They were throwing up  I saw friends with blood all over their faces, said Edwards, who still has not returned to the unit where she worked. It was carnage. It was chaos.

On Tuesday, two election workers from Georgia who became the center of false conspiracy theories tearfully testified about how it has upended their lives.

The Justice Department has debunked claims that Wandrea Shaye Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, introduced suitcases of illegal ballots and committed other acts of election fraud to try to alter the outcome  a conspiracy theory pushed by Giuliani and Trump. But Moss says she no longer leaves her house and it has affected her life in every way after receiving violent and racist threats from Trumps supporters.

In video testimony, Freeman said she no longer advertises her local business with her name on it: Lady Ruby.

Ive lost my name, and Ive lost my reputation. Ive lost my sense of security, Freeman said.

WHATS NEXT

On Thursday, the hearing will move to another pressure campaign  Trumps efforts to have Justice Department officials declare the election corrupt, and a scheme within the department to go after states to change the results. Former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who took over after Barr resigned, and his deputy, Richard Donoghue, will testify about how they successfully resisted that pressure.

The two hearings after that, expected to cover domestic extremism and Trumps actions inside the White House, will be held in July. And they may not be the last before the panel issues final reports later this year.

We are picking up new evidence on a daily basis with enormous velocity, said Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of the committee. And so were constantly incorporating and including the new information thats coming out.

Another panel member suggested they could still subpoena Pence  it's certainly a possibility, said California Rep. Adam Schiff.

We would still, I think, like to have several high-profile people come before our committee, Schiff said.

__

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Farnoush Amiri and Kevin Freking contributed.

___

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege
A federal judge agreed on Wednesday to postpone a trial for the former leader of the Proud Boys and other members of the extremist group charged with attacking the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory.

U..S. District Judge Timothy Kelly postponed the start of the trial from Aug. 8 to Dec. 12 after attorneys for several of the men argued that their clients couldn't get a fair trial by an impartial jury in the midst of televised hearings by the House committee investigating the Capitol attack. They're also waiting for the committee to share documents that could become trial evidence.

Former Proud Boys national chairman Henry Enrique Tarrio and four other men are charged with seditious conspiracy for what authorities say was a plot to forcibly oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power during the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

Tarrio, 38, of Miami, and his co-defendants  Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola  have been in federal custody for months.

Their trial is expected to last four to six weeks, stretching into next year.

Biggs, Pezzola and Rehl asked for the trial to be postponed. Biggs' lawyer, J. Daniel Hull, noted that the House committee isn't expected to release hundreds of deposition and interview transcripts until after an August trial would have started.

The transcripts are must-haves for trial preparation, Hull wrote.

Justice Department prosecutors consented to the delay. They said the House committee's failure to share the deposition and interview transcripts is also hampering their ability to investigate and prosecute Jan. 6 defendants.

Tarrio was opposed to delaying the trial.

Tarrio believes that an impartial jury will never be achieved in Washington, D.C., whether the trial is in August, December, or next year, his lawyers wrote.

Nordeans attorneys objected to postponing the trial for months while keeping Proud Boys leaders locked up in pretrial detention.

Police arrested Tarrio in Washington two days before the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and charged him with vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church during a protest in December 2020. Tarrio wasnt in Washington when the riot erupted, but authorities say he helped put into motion the violence that disrupted Congress from certifying Biden's victory over President Donald Trump.

The seditious conspiracy indictment alleges that the Proud Boys held meetings and communicated over encrypted messages to plan for the attack in the days leading up to Jan. 6. On the day of the riot, Proud Boys members carried out a coordinated plot to storm past police barricades and attack the building with a mob of Trump supporters, the indictment says.

Nordean, 31, of Auburn, Washington, was a Proud Boys chapter president. Biggs, 38, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer. Rehl, 36, was president of the Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia. Pezzola, 44, was a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York.

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Two other Proud Boys members  Matthew Greene, of Syracuse, New York, and Charles Donohoe, of Kernersville, North Carolina  have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department.

Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, who founded the Proud Boys in 2016, sued the Southern Poverty Law Center for labeling it a hate group. Proud Boys members call it a politically incorrect mens club for Western chauvinists. They have frequently brawled with antifascist activists at rallies and protests.

Approximately 40 Proud Boys leaders, members or associates have been charged in the Jan. 6 siege. More than 800 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot.

Also on Wednesday, prosecutors in the seditious conspiracy case against members of another extremist group  the Oath Keepers  asked the judge to look into whether the payment of at least some of the defense lawyers by an organization controlled by lawyer Sidney Powell runs afoul of court rules.

Prosecutors pointed to articles from Mother Jones and BuzzFeed that said Powells group, Defending the Republic, is paying some defense attorneys' fees. Powell was part of Trumps legal team that pushed unfounded conspiracy theories alleging voter fraud in an effort to keep the Republican president in office following the 2020 election.

Prosecutors say such an arrangement may violate a rule that says lawyers shouldnt accept money for representing a client from anyone other than the client unless three conditions are met, including that there is no interference with the lawyers independence of professional judgment or with the client-lawyer relationship.

____

Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report from Boston.
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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  Tanzania's Maasai people, resisting government pressure to leave their ancestral homes in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, have presented their demands for Indigenous land rights to negotiators in Nairobi finalizing the proposed U.N. global biodiversity framework.

The appeal by the Masaai community of Loliando on Thursday follows a violent confrontation with Tanzanian security forces two weeks ago which forced many of them to flee to neighboring Kenya.

A decision by the East African Court of Justice on the politically sensitive issue was expected this week but has been postponed until later this year due to unavoidable circumstances, according to a court notice.

We are being accused by our government as being destroyers of our environment and denied citizenship of Tanzania," said the Maasai in their letter to the U.N. biodiversity meeting. "This is the fourth forceful eviction from our land. And our leaders languish in detention in big numbers. 20 of them are being charged with murder. We cannot tell the world of the happenings because media is banned from covering our story.

Cases of abuse, torture and large-scale evictions continue to be reported among Indigenous communities as observed in Tanzania, where the Maasai community says it faces displacement to create a protected area for hunting.

The Maasai leaders were joined by civil society actors and other Indigenous community leaders in their calls for the inclusion and recognition of Indigenous land, territories and tenure rights in the framework, which is expected to be endorsed by world leaders when they meet in Montreal, Canada in December this year.

The only way this can be a strong instrument is by incorporating and ensuring a strong human rights element and respecting the role of Indigenous peoples and local communities, said Lucy Mulenkei, the co-chair of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity, at a press conference on the sidelines of the negotiations.

The Indigenous forum has also called for free prior and informed consent of land use as well as a sound financial mechanism for conservation.

If we dont have a framework to protect nature that truly recognizes and respects the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities, who are actually conserving biodiversity humanity is going to be in danger, said the Indigenous forums Ramiro Batzin.

The global biodiversity framework is set to replace the older Aichi Biodiversity Targets, that were agreed by the U.N. parties at a convention on biological diversity in 2010 in the Japanese prefecture of Aichi. None of the Aichi agreements' 20 targets were met by the time the 2020 deadline elapsed. The ongoing Nairobi negotiations are a carry-over of intensive negotiations after failure to secure consensus in Geneva in March this year.

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Key issues are still up for debate, with richer countries disagreeing with developing nations on several sticking points, such as benefit-sharing, removing incentives for harming nature, biotechnology and financing for developing countries to strengthen national aims and technology.

The proposed biodiversity framework is seeking to comprehensively tackle a number of global environmental concerns including pollution, climate change and other human-caused impacts on nature such as illegal wildlife trades, habitat loss and overconsumption.

The decline of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystems exacerbates climate change, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. It says the new framework must aim to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 and achieve recovery by 2050.

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
ALBANY - A Troy man convicted of lobbing a molotov cocktail at police officers, including some on horseback, during violent protests on South Pearl Street two years ago, was sentenced Thursday to 20 to 24 years in prison, prosecutors said.

In April, a jury found Dwight Parker, 40, guilty of one count each of attempted aggravated assault against a police officer as an act of terrorism, attempted aggravated assault against a police officer, attempted assault, arson, criminal mischief and rioting. The penalty also calls for Parker to remain under supervision for five years after he gets out of prison.

Police and prosecutors say that shortly before 9 p.m. on May 2020, Parker tossed the crude incendiary device toward on-duty police officers assembled in the area of 259 S. Pearl St., Albany, to keep protesters under control. The explosive ignited at the feet of the officers.

Following a day of peaceful protest in the wake of George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis, others took to Albany streets that night smashing windows and causing other mayhem. The defendant, authorities said, also damaged a tractor-trailer around South Pearl Street and Westerlo Street later that same night, by setting it a ablaze.

Albany Police Officer Adam Liebler in his victim impact statement in court Thursday told Parker that he was the victim of your own doing.

Albany County Judge Andra Ackerman told Parker that his criminal behavior was captured on cameras and that he could easily have killed or seriously injured police.

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And then you bragged on Facebook after that night about what you did, she added. You wanted to be that person front and center on violent acts toward the police.

She also noted that Parker fled before the verdict was read, which shows this court additional lack of remorse, and a lack of acceptance of responsibility.

After disappearing for four days during the trial, Parker turned himself in to authorities. He had been free on bond.

Assistant District Attorneys Joseph Brucato, Collin DArcy, and Marissa Olsen handled the case.
ALBANY  In a ruling that could greatly expand the number of Americans allowed to obtain a permit to carry a concealed handgun, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that New York's strict rules for granting concealed-carry permits to gun owners violates the 14th and Second Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

The 6-3 decision  the court's most significant gun rights decision in a decade  found in favor of two Rensselaer County residents, Robert Nash and Brandon Koch, who according to the majority were wrongfully denied permits to carry handguns outside their homes for personal protection.

Under New York's law, licensed gun owners are generally forbidden to carry their guns outside the home without a concealed-carry permit from a judge or law enforcement entity. To get those permits, owners have needed to prove they have "proper cause" to use the guns, such as to hunt, shoot at target ranges or  argued in this case  if they have a heightened risk that necessitates armed personal protection. New York is one of six states that asks those applying for concealed-carry permits to detail their reasons for seeking one.

According to the decision, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, licensed gun owners no longer need to prove that need to obtain concealed-carry permits.

"If somebody has a legal weapon that they are permitted to possess inside the home, apparently as a result of this decision they are going to be allowed to carry that weapon outside the home  unless New York state can show there is some reason to deny that particular person the firearm," Vincent Bonventre, a professor at Albany Law School, told the Times Union.

The majority's 63-page ruling said it had "little difficulty concluding ... that the plain text of the Second Amendment protects Kochs and Nashs proposed course of conduct  carrying handguns publicly for self-defense." The decision said the state law "violates the 14th Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense."

In a vote along the court's ideological lines, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett concurred with Thomas. Dissenting were Justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. The decision sent the matter back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan for "further proceedings consistent with this opinion."

Koch declined to discuss the ruling when reached by the Times Union on Thursday; Nash could not be reached for immediate comment. The men's legal effort was backed by the state Rifle & Pistol Association.

Under the majority view that bearing arms is a fundamental right, the decision removes the onus from the individually licensed gun owners to have to prove the proper cause requirement, Bonventre said. If one accepts the court's view, he said, it would follow that they would find New York's law putting the burden on individuals contrary to the treatment of fundamental rights under the constitution.

In 2008, the Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller loosened strict gun control laws in Washington, D.C., finding a constitutional right to own a gun at home for personal protection.

"I think this particular case was a pretty easy one  if you start as a given with (the premise that) the individual right to bear arms is a fundamental constitutional right," Bonventre said.

He said the impact of the decision will "almost certainly" be more people carrying concealed weapons.

New York State Bar Association President Sherry Levin Wallach told the Times Union she presumed many licensed gun owners who previously believed they did not meet the requirement for concealed-carry permits will, in light of the ruling, apply for and receive them.

"The concern is, yes, because people may be more likely to get a concealed-carry permit, there will be be more people in places like subways and movie theaters and supermarkets with concealed weapons," she said.

Until further restrictions are established under legislation, she said, licensed gun owners with concealed-carry permits can carry the weapons where they wish.

The decision comes in the wake of the May 14 massacre in a Buffalo supermarket that killed 10 people and resulted in a series of new state gun control measures. That massacre was referenced along with a long list of other mass shootings in the 52-page dissent authored by Breyer.

"There will likely be further efforts to limit the carrying of arms outside the home in 'sensitive places' by New York and other states," Paul DerOhannesian, an Albany defense attorney and former prosecutor, told the Times Union. "Given 40-plus states do not have New York's showing of special-need, one wonders if New York's experience will change. It will be an interesting before/after analysis.

DerOhannesian said the decision and the prior Heller ruling will continue to prompt multiple legal challenges to further establish the contours of what the Second Amendment allows outside the home. He said the ruling could help some defendants asserting self-defense claims to explain why they could reasonably and legally carry a gun that may have been used in the alleged crime.

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The decision said nothing in the Second Amendments text draws a distinction between the right to keep and bear arms in public as opposed to at home. The Constitution guarantees an individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation, and confrontation can surely take place outside the home."

Near its conclusion, the decision stated: "The constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense is not 'a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees.' We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need.

"That is not how the First Amendment works when it comes to unpopular speech or the free exercise of religion. It is not how the Sixth Amendment works when it comes to a defendants right to confront the witnesses against him. And it is not how the Second Amendment works when it comes to public carry for self-defense."

Read the full decision:

SCOTUS_Bruen by cseiler8597 on Scribd

Breyer's dissent warned of the dangers presented by the heavy presence of firearms in American life.

In 2016, Koch, Nash and the Rifle & Pistol Association sued state Supreme Court Justice Richard McNally, the county's licensing officer and a former Rensselaer County district attorney, and the State Police in U.S. District Court in Albany, alleging that their Second Amendment rights had been violated. In December 2018, U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes tossed the civil case. The plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan, which affirmed Sannes' decision.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard two hours of oral arguments in the case in November. Paul D. Clement, a onetime U.S. solicitor general representing the plaintiffs, told the justices his clients had their "fundamental constitutional right" removed when McNally denied their applications.

New York Solicitor General Barbara Underwood responded that dating to the 14th Century, English and then American law imposed limits on carrying guns in public in the interests of public safety. "New York's law fits well within that tradition of regulating public carry and makes a carry license available to any person, not disqualified, who has a nonspeculative reason to carry a handgun for self-defense," Underwood told the court.

"New York is not an outlier in the extent in which the state restricts the ability to carry firearms in public and it's not an outlier in asking a licensed applicant to show good cause for a carry license," she added. "Many ordinary people have received carry licenses in New York state."

But Clement said the framers of the Constitution left it to individual citizens to choose if they want to carry guns outside the home for self-defense.

When Breyer asked if a change in law could lead to citizens carrying guns on New York City subways, Clement fired back: "They're not in Manhattan  they're in Rensselaer County."
COLONIE  After losing a lawsuit filed by former "Baywatch" cast member Carmen Electra and two other actor-models for using their photos in advertising without permission or compensation, DiCarlo's Gentlemen's Club, one of the region's most venerable strip bars, will close temporarily after business on Saturday, according to a note posted Thursday on its Facebook page.

Losing the lawsuit, filed in January 2020 in U.S. District Court in Syracuse, prompted the bar's insurance carrier to decline to renew its coverage, and it has been unable to find a new provider, according to the note, which says, "for right now we can not operate as an uninsured entity."

DiCarlo's owner, Larry Davis, a local entrepreneur who has holdings in varied fields including hospitality and communications software, said Thursday that he is legally precluded from discussing the conclusion of the suit. The club's founder, Sal DiCarlo, who died in 2012, was a decades-long friend of Davis'. DiCarlo's estate sold him the club property, at 1165 Central Ave., and a building next door with ground-floor retail space and upstairs apartments.

Davis said he is willing to consider selling DiCarlo's.

When he took over, in 2014, the operators of DiCarlo's were announced as Tess Collins, whom Davis also backed in McGeary's Pub in downtown Albany, and Shahila Abbasi, then the head chef at McGeary's. Their involvement made DiCarlo's one of only a handful of strip clubs in the country owned and operated by women. Abbasi, who is no longer involved, has left McGeary's. Collins, initially named in the lawsuit, had its claims against her dismissed by a judge. She said Thursday she has ended her affiliation with DiCarlo's.

A potential reopening date for DiCarlo's was unclear. According to the Facebook note, "We will be working on the situation, and upgrading the club in the meantime." The note said the final three days of business for now are Thursday through Saturday this week. Still feeling the effects of the pandemic, DiCarlo's recent hours have been limited to 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday to Saturday.

The note seemed to acknowledge misappropriating the images of Electra and her co-plaintiffs, Lucy Pinder and Irina Voronina, for use in racy ads on social media.

"We made the mistake of using the likeness of a famous actress in one picture on our website," the note says, adding, "She and a group of lawyers sued us. We lost the lawsuit." It was not immediately clear if the suit was heard by a jury.

Electra has "never been hired to endorse DiCarlos, has received no remuneration for defendants unauthorized use of her Image, and has suffered, and will continue to suffer, damages as a result of same, the lawsuit said. It said the same for Pinder and Voronina.

The lawsuit alleged the club illegally used an image of Electra and altered it to make it appear she worked at DiCarlos by showing her posing on a stripper pole with the words: Dating a stripper is like eating a noisy pack of chips in church. Everybody looks down at you in disgust but deep down they want some too.

Pinder, 36, a British model and actor who competed on "Celebrity Big Brother" and once appeared in a movie called Strippers vs Werewolves, was depicted in multiple ads for DiCarlos. Voronina, who was Playboy magazines Miss January 2001 and was first St. Pauli Girl to ring the New York Stock Exchange closing bell for the beer company, has had roles in Reno 911!: The Movie, Balls of Fury, Piranha 3DD and Killing Hasselhoff. Images of both were used in DiCarlo's ads on social media without permission or compensation, according to the suit, and neither ever worked there or agreed to endorse it.
Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor has appeared in a Dublin court accused of six driving offences.

At Blanchardstown District Court on Thursday morning, McGregor made no indication of how he intends to plead to the charges.

The matter was remanded until Thursday September 8 at 10.30am while the Director of Public Prosecutions considers the case, and pending possible further charges, the court heard.

McGregor last appeared in court on April 7 over two counts of dangerous driving on March 22.

He was also charged with driving without insurance and a licence, and failing to produce a certificate of insurance or licence.

The UFC star had been travelling in his Bentley Continental GT on the N4 in west Dublin when he was stopped by gardai on March 22.

Wearing a three-piece dark navy suit, McGregor arrived at court on Thursday in a Rolls Royce with a 221-registration.

He made no comment to the media on his way in or out of the court building.
Whilst we don't have any love for last year's panty-raid insurrection . . . The current Beltway show-trial also FAILS to inspire much confidence in the future of American Democracy.



Sadly . . . Kansas City's newspaper is convinced that prime time grandstanding is protecting voters by way of snuff footage, crocodile tears and political preaching to the choir.

Here's part of their self-righteous screed on the topic . . .



In about six weeks, hundreds of thousands of Missourians and Kansans will go to the polls to make their choices known. Thats the real miracle of self-government, which survives despite an overwhelming assault by the former president and his fellow travelers.



The Jan. 6 hearings are a reminder of the threat that process faces, and democracy itself. Americans must face that threat, and reject it.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Jennifer Neville-Lake and her husband, Edward Lake, hold a photo of their three children, Harrison, Milly and Daniel who, along with their grandfather Gary Neville, were killed in a 2015 crash by drunk driver Marco Muzzo. The couple were on hand with MADD York Region in Richmond Hill on Wednesday to help kick off York Regional Police's festive RIDE campaign. Nov. 20, 2018 - Steve Somerville/Torstar
The city said in a news release Wednesday that it would be cancelling some swim lessons is a result of prioritizing staff to ensure public pools and beaches can open June 30 as planned. - Metroland file photo
A bank employee has been stabbed multiple times in Chinatown in an attempted bank robbery, Toronto police say.
Toronto Police's Marine Unit says it's important to look at the marine forecasts before heading out onto the water, especially on paddle-boards or kayaks. - Dan Pearce/Torstar
Etobicoke teen swim star Summer McIntosh became the first Canadian to win two gold medals at a world swimming championship with a victory in the 400-metre individual medley (IM) relay event in Hungary on Saturday.
Wildlife is free and naturally roaming in the world. However, the Top vacation ideas spot for wildlife experiences is Kenya. Visit Kenya brought to you by Cruzeiro Safaris



(TRAVPR.COM) KENYA - June 23rd, 2022 - Cruzeiro Safaris Kenya has brought you the following safaris to book through the year, featuring mid-budget and luxury accommodations only with flights or by off safaris. It also depends on how much time you have, what type of accommodation, how much budget one has, type of experience and many other factors. If a traveler wants to connect to Diani or Mombasa from Masai Mara we can assist those booking flights that take about 2 hours.

NB: Most accommodation places in Masai Mara are fully booked for the Peak Season (July  October). Mainly due to post-ponement during the COVID Crisis period. Kenya is also holding its general elections in August, 2022. So travelers may prefer to visit as from September, 2022.

Here are a few suggestions to help a guest on where to visit.

1. Serena Safari for 7 Days  For all travelers (solo, couple, family and groups)

https://www.cruzeiro-safaris.com/serenasafari

Visit Amboseli National Park and Masai Mara National Reserve. Travel from Nairobi is all by Flights.

2. Safari Ndovu for 6 days  (Suitable for couple, family and groups) - https://www.cruzeiro-safaris.com/safarindovu

This is an all road Safari by road to Amboseli, Nakuru and Masai Mara

3. Governors camps in Masai Mara (suitable for all travelers) - https://www.cruzeiro-safaris.com/governors-main-camp

Travel from Nairobi is all by road. |One may add the number of nights they would want and probably take a balloon flight as well.

4. Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp and Bateluer Luxury Camp. - https://www.cruzeiro-safaris.com/kichwa-tembo-camp

Travel from Nairobi is by flights and one can extend to the number of days they would like.

5. Mara Interpids Club - https://www.cruzeiro-safaris.com/mara-intrepids-club

Travel from Nairobi is by flights and one can extend to the number of nights they would like.

6. Base camp 3 days with balloon ride. - https://www.cruzeiro-safaris.com/africasafari

Travel is by flights and Balloon ride included, Suitable for solo travelers

7. Masai Mara 5 days experience the Masai Mara and Naibosho conservancy for 5 days - https://www.cruzeiro-safaris.com/africatour

Travel is also by air from Nairobi  book writers must travel places

8. Twiga Safari - 9 days - https://www.cruzeiro-safaris.com/safaritwiga

Travel is by road and by flights

9. Mount Kenya and Masai Mara Safari 9 days - https://www.cruzeiro-safaris.com/mountkenya-masaimara

10. Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara 4 days Safari  All travel is by road and suitable for all travelers - https://www.cruzeiro-safaris.com/4-days-lake-nakuru-maasai-mara

Cruzeiro Safaris Also Offers Instant Online Bookings for Half  day tours and full day tours in Nairobi.

Here is the link - https://cruzeiro-safaris.com/nairobi-tours/nairobi-tours/

Nairobi Day Tours, Nairobi National Park, Animal Orphanage, Giraffe Center, Karen Blixen, Safari Cat Show, Musuems, City Tours, Amboseli Day trip, Lake nakuru day Trip

Zanzibar Day Tours - https://cruzeiro-safaris.com/nairobi-tours/airport-transfers/

Nairobi Airport Transfers from Airport to Hotels - https://cruzeiro-safaris.com/nairobi-tours/airport-transfers/

Mombasa City Tours - https://cruzeiro-safaris.com/nairobi-tours/mombasa-tours/

Kenya Safari Packages by Road - https://cruzeiro-safaris.com/nairobi-tours/kenya-safari-packages-road/

About Cruzeiro Safaris Kenya

Cruzeiro-safaris.com is established in Kenya, incorporated in 2004. Its core business is safari packages and day tours complemented by air travel. It has a well-established wealth of experience in arranging memorable tours and safaris and has established a client base who provide with repeat business year after year. Join us on facebook, instagram, twitter and youtube. Safaris in Kenya may be tailored to the tourist taste and can extend to Tanzania and Uganda. Browse and read reviews on trip advisor page and one can also book from trip advisor link.. Cruzeiro Safaris  Day Tours  Nairobi  Reviews of Cruzeiro Safaris  Day Tours  TripAdvisor - Cruzeiro Safaris - Day Tours - Nairobi - Reviews of Cruzeiro Safaris - Day Tours - TripAdvisor

For further information and reservations, contact;

Claudia Kabui

Mobile : +254-(0) 722-370833 (Kenya)

Sales: + 254 (0) 710-729021 (Kenya)

Email: info@cruzeiro-safaris.com

Website: | https://www.cruzeiro-safaris.com and https://cruzeiro-safaris.com/nairobi-tours/

###
By Jeff Murphy, June 22, 2022

WARRENSBURG, MO  Before students graduate from the University of Central Missouri, one of the most cherished learning opportunities comes through internships that provide valuable hands-on experience and insight into their prospective careers. While these opportunities typically last one semester, Central Bank and the UCM Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies are taking this experience one step further through a new extended, paid internship that is two semesters long, and begins this fall. Students who aspire to be in management-related careers are encouraged to consider applying for this position.



Central Bank has posted on its website the opportunity for this part-time job as a Retail Banking Operations Intern. While this position is based out of the main bank facility in Warrensburg, the intern will float to any of four banking centers as needed to provide service to both internal and external customers. The position includes performing a variety of banking tasks such as handling deposits and withdrawals, payments, greeting customers, and maintaining accounts. During this 25-hours-per-week opportunity, the intern also will engage with customers by exploring their needs and offering helpful banking services and or products. They will engage in other business units as necessary by making appropriate referrals of traditional and non-traditional banking products and services.



I am grateful for the partnership with Central Bank that was made possible through the outreach of Marshall and Steve Abney. This is a unique opportunity for students from the Harmon College to well establish themselves for a potential career in the banking industry said Betsy Kreisel, Ph.D., interim dean of the Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies. The students have the opportunity to learn banking from the entry point and be groomed through an intentional two-semester apprenticeship-type program that will immerse them to a potential career in bank management.



Kreisel said this is a selective program. The student will need to apply and be recommended by both the Harmon College and Central Bank.



It is more important than ever for students to have a specific career goal in mind as they progress through their college courses, Kreisel added. This Central Bank career-boosting internship will give students the Harmon Edge on others because of the networking, training, mentorship, and professional development they will obtain through this program. This intensive internship is exactly the type of partnership Harmon encourages as it aligns with our commitment to providing engaging and applied educational opportunities.



Kreisel commended the efforts of Kyla Karleskint, human resources manager for Central Bank, and Derrick Gill, internship coordinator for the Harmon College, for coordinating all the details to make the internship come to fruition for university students. UCM is the only higher education institution to have this type of internship opportunity through Central Bank.



We are excited to expand our partnership with UCM. By assisting students with their professional goals and offering real world experience we hope to set their resumes apart, Karleskint said. With our strong roots and endless networking opportunities we hope to successfully create a mutually beneficial, career-focused relationship that will expand throughout the Central Bank footprint.



More information can be found on the Central Bank website. Click on the Find Your Future Career or Open Positions icons and search for Retail Banking Operations Intern among Central Bank jobs. Interested individuals also can contact Derrick Gill at 660-543-8432 or email dgill@ucmo.edu.
In the southern regions of Ukraine, the countrys defense forces have eliminated 20 Russian invaders, destroyed several units of military equipment, and two ammunition depots over the past day.

This was reported on Facebook by Operational Command South, according to Ukrinform.

The situation in an operational zone on the Mykolaiv-Kherson direction is difficult, but controlled. The enemy continues to employ counterbattery tactics on the lines of defense. The Ka52 helicopter struck our positions but quickly retreated under our heavy fire," the statement reads.

Throughout the day, the enemy carried out three missile strikes on Ukraines southern regions. Mykolaiv suffered a massive strike by seven Onyx missiles. Industrial and civilian infrastructure has been affected. Fires broke out in several districts as a result. According to updated data, a civilian was killed and two were injured by the strike.

Read also: German Bild journalists come under enemy fire near Lysychansk

In addition, Ukraines defense units have downed over the Black Sea area both enemy missiles launched at the Odesa region.

A military operation is underway to clear Snake Island of invasion forces. Another Pantsir-C1 SAM system was hit.

In total, Ukraines forces eliminated 20 Russian invaders and destroyed a Msta-S self-propelled howitzer, a 23 mm anti-aircraft gun, a tactical truck, four motor vehicles, and two ammunition depots in Kherson region.

The enemy's naval group currently consists of five missile carriers and three large landing ships. Amid stormy weather, the enemy grouping made certain castling, but this hasnt changed the essence of their task and the threat they pose. Sea mines are also more likely to drift toward the shore uncontrollably, the report concludes.

Photo from open sources
Ukraine's Armed Forces stopped an enemy assault on the southern outskirts of Lysychansk, inflicting losses on the enemy and forcing them to retreat.

According to Ukrinform, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said this in its latest update published on Facebook.

In the Sievierodonetsk direction, Russian troops used tanks, mortars, and artillery outside the settlements of Syrotyne, Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk, Voronove, and Myrna Dolyna. Units of the 2nd Army Corps, with the support of Russia's National Guard, are holding assault operations in order to establish full control over Sievierodonetsk. The fighting continues.

"Ukrainian troops stopped the offensive toward the southern outskirts of Lysychansk, inflicted losses on the enemy and forced them to retreat. Russian invaders are involving reserves to resume the offensive. The Ukrainian defenders also stopped the enemy's offensive near Borivske," the General Staff said.

According to the statement, the enemy conducted reconnaissance outside the settlement of Bila Hora. Enemy forces also continued the offensive near the settlement of Rai-Oleksandrivka.
Waging war against Ukraine, Russia uses obsolete munitions containing modern elements on which timers are set.

We have repeatedly said that the Russians have been using cluster munitions of Soviet times, but at the same time we see that these munitions have modern fins, they contain photocells and delay elements. There is a huge amount of shrapnel inside such munitions, there may be 400 and 500, First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Yevheniy Yenin said during the nationwide news telethon, the Ministry posted on Telegram.

According to him, shrapnel pierces even metal and concrete, let alone human bodies. There is almost no chance of survival within a radius of 50 meters.

"In Mykolayiv city, when our sapper began to deal with such munition, he was at a distance of 1-1.5 meters and not just one munition, but four of them detonated as the timer worked," Yenin added.

As reported, from the beginning of the full-scale war until June 21, the pyrotechnic units of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine inspected 61,000 hectares of territory, detected and neutralized almost 140,000 explosive devices, including 1,994 aerial bombs.

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The White House has announced an additional $450 million in security assistance to Ukraine to ensure the transfer of more weapons and equipment to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including HIMARS systems, ammunition, and other equipment.

"The United States announced additional $450 million worth of security assistance to Ukraine as part of our commitment to help Ukraine defend its democracy in the face of unprovoked Russian aggression," John Kirby, the US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, said during a briefing at the White House, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to Kirby, the new package contains "weapons and equipment, including new High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, tens of thousands of additional rounds of ammunition for the artillery systems that have already been provided, and patrol boats."

As noted, this is the 13th time that U.S. President Biden has authorized the presidential drawdown package during the war, bringing the total amount of US security assistance provided to Ukraine to $6.1 billion since February 24, 2022.

As reported, U.S. President Joe Biden assured President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky during a telephone conversation last week that the United States would continue to bolster Ukraine's defense capabilities.

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Turkey says Russia has provided documents claiming that the grain it is exporting has not been taken from Ukraine so it remains hard to determine its origin.

Thats according to Ismail Demir, chief of the Defense Industry Directorate, who spoke with The Wall Street Journal.

The official said Turkey is processing information Ukraine had provided about the allegedly stolen grain.

It is technically very difficult to determine the geographic origin of grain, the official said.

He added that Turkey stands by Ukraine in political, humanitarian and other fields, while remaining more cautious about arms supplies to Ukraine as it seeks to retain open communication channels with both sides  Ukraine and Russia. At the same time, Turkey has been supplying Ukraine with protective gear and other types of equipment.

Turkey is the only country I guess that can give a call to both parties and call them to the peace table. How can you do this if you send tens of thousands of weapons to one side? Demir said.

Asked if Turkey was continuing to supply weapons including TB-2 drones to Ukraine, Demir said: There are things going on, but Im not in a position to say, but we are much more careful.

We have to be able to talk to both sides, someone should be close enough to both parties, to build trust, said Ismail Demir

In recent weeks, Turkey has also sought to broker a deal that would help export grain and other vital food products from Ukraine. As much as 20 million metric tons of grain has been trapped in Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion, raising fears of a global food crisis. Turkey has also been active in trying to act as mediator in peace talks to end the war unleashed by Russia.
Turkeys Aknc UAV, created by Baykar Makina, and powered by a Ukrainian-made engine, has set a new altitude record.

Thats according to Baykar Makina Technical Director Selcuk Bayraktar, who broke the news on Twitter.

The new altitude national record has been set at 45,118 feet (13,752m - ed.)," the statement said.

Aknc set a previous record in April this year, flying at 35,000 feet (almost 10.7 km).

Read also: Bayraktar with Ukrainian engine presented in Turkey

As Baykar Makina CEO Halyuk Bayraktar said earlier in an interview with Ukrinform, various models of Akinci UAVs are powered by Ukrainian-made engines of various capacity. In particular, these are engines manufactured by Ivchenko-Progres and Motor Sich.

Photo: ArmyInform
Turkey supports the UN-proposed plan to export grain from Ukraine, which foresees the creation of a safety zone directly near Ukraine's territorial waters where the vessels going to the Ukrainian ports will undergo checks in order to prevent weapons transportation.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said this at a news conference with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in Ankara on Thursday, Ukrinform reports.

"There is a UN plan to export grain from Ukraine. We continue our efforts together with the UN. We are in contact with both Ukraine and Russia. We see this UN plan as realistic, so we strongly support it. We also consider this process important from the point of view of legitimacy," Cavusoglu said.

According to him, the plan foresees the creation of a safety zone for the movement and inspection of ships.

"A safety zone will be set up near the Ukrainian territorial waters, where ships bound for Ukrainian ports will also be inspected to make sure that weapons or something similar is not being transported," Cavusoglu said.

The minister said that a meeting on technical issues would be held in Istanbul, but its date was not yet known.

"We are very clear that this grain crisis is urgent, that it needs to be solved within the next month. [] The United Kingdom is offering our expertise on all of those fronts to make sure that we have measures in place so that grain can safely leave, but it is going to require an international effort," Truss said.

Cavusoglu also said that Turkey would not allow grain stolen from Ukraine to enter his country.

"We are against the illegal sale of Ukrainian grain to international markets by Russia or another country," he said.
The Republic of Cyprus is ready to support granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for accession to the EU.

During a phone conversation with President Nicos Anastasiades, expressed gratitude for the readiness of the Republic of Cyprus to support granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for accession to the EU. Discussed Cyprus participation in future reconstruction of Ukraine, Zelensky posted on Twitter following the phone call with the President of Cyprus.

On June 17, the European Commission recommended that the European Council should confirm Ukraine's prospect of becoming a member of the EU and grant it candidate status.

The European Council will hold a discussion on granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for membership in the European Union at a meeting on June 23-24.

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This image shows where the James Webb Space Telescope will observe the sky within the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, which consists of two fields. The Next Generation Deep Extragalactic Exploratory Public (NGDEEP) Survey, led by Steven L. Finkelstein, will point Webbs Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) on the primary Hubble Ultra Deep Field (shown in orange), and Webbs Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on the parallel field (shown in red). The program led by Michael Maseda will observe the primary field (shown in blue) using Webbs Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec). Credits: SCIENCE: NASA, ESA, Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI) ILLUSTRATION: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

For decades, telescopes have helped us capture light from galaxies that formed as far back as 400 million years after the big bang - incredibly early in the context of the universe's 13.8-billion-year history.

But what were galaxies like that existed even earlier, when the universe was semi-transparent at the beginning of a period known as the Era of Reionization? NASA's next flagship observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, is poised to add new riches to our wealth of knowledge not only by capturing images from galaxies that existed as early as the first few hundred million years after the big bang, but also by giving us detailed data known as spectra. With Webb's observations, researchers will be able to tell us about the makeup and composition of individual galaxies in the early universe for the first time.

The Next Generation Deep Extragalactic Exploratory Public (NGDEEP) Survey, co-led by Steven L. Finkelstein, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, will target the same two regions that make up the Hubble Ultra Deep Field - locations in the constellation Fornax where Hubble spent more than 11 days taking deep exposures. To produce its observations, the Hubble Space Telescope targeted nearby areas of the sky simultaneously with two instruments - slightly offset from one another - known as a primary and a parallel field. "We have the same advantage with Webb," Finkelstein explained. "We're using two science instruments at once, and they will observe continuously." They will point Webb's Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) on the primary Hubble Ultra Deep Field, and Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on the parallel field, getting twice the bang for their "buck" of telescope time.

For the imaging with NIRCam, they'll observe for over 125 hours. With each passing minute, they'll obtain more and more information from deeper and deeper in the universe. What do they seek? Some of the earliest galaxies that formed. "We have really good indications from Hubble that there are galaxies in place at a time 400 million years after the big bang," Finkelstein said. "The ones we see with Hubble are pretty big and very bright. It's highly likely there are smaller, fainter galaxies that formed even earlier that are waiting to be found."

This program will use only about one-third of the time Hubble has spent to date on similar investigations. Why? In part, this is because Webb's instruments were designed to capture infrared light. As light travels through space toward us, it stretches into longer, redder wavelengths due to the expansion of the universe. "Webb will help us push all the boundaries," said Jennifer Lotz, a coinvestigator on the proposal and director of the Gemini Observatory, part of the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab (National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory). "And we're going to release the data immediately to benefit all researchers."

These researchers will also focus on identifying the metal content in each galaxy, especially in smaller and dimmer galaxies that haven't yet been thoroughly examined - specifically with the spectra Webb's NIRISS instrument delivers. "One of the fundamental ways that we trace evolution across cosmic time is by the amount of metals that are in a galaxy," explained Danielle Berg, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin and a co-investigator on the proposal. When the universe began, there was only hydrogen and helium. New elements were formed by successive generations of stars. By cataloging the contents of each galaxy, the researchers will be able to plot out precisely when various elements existed and update models that project how galaxies evolved in the early universe.

Peeling Back New Layers

Another program, led by Michael Maseda, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will examine the primary Hubble Ultra Deep Field using the microshutter array within Webb's Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec). This instrument returns spectra for specific objects depending on which miniature shutters researchers open. "These galaxies existed during the first billion years in the history of the universe, which we have very little information about to date," Maseda explained. "Webb will provide the first large sample that will give us the chance to understand them in detail."

We know these galaxies exist because of extensive observations this team has made - along with an international research team - with the ground-based Very Large Telescope's Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument. Although MUSE is the "scout," identifying smaller, fainter galaxies in this deep field, Webb will be the first telescope to fully characterize their chemical compositions.

These extremely distant galaxies have important implications for our understanding of how galaxies formed in the early universe. "Webb will open a new space for discovery," explained Anna Feltre, a research fellow at the National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy and a co-investigator. "Its data will help us learn precisely what happens as a galaxy forms, including which metals they contain, how quickly they grow, and if they already have black holes."

This research will be conducted as part of Webb's General Observer (GO) programs, which are competitively selected using a dual-anonymous review, the same system that is used to allocate time on the Hubble Space Telescope.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world's premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
On Thursday, June 23, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on granting Ukraine and Moldova the status of a candidate for membership in the European Union without delay.

With 529 votes to 45 and 14 abstentions, Parliament adopted on Thursday a resolution calling on the Heads of State or Government  who hold their summit today and tomorrow  to grant EU candidate status to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova without delay, reads the press release of the European Parliament.

MEPs also call on EU leaders to grant Georgia the same status once its government has delivered on the priorities indicated by the European Commission.

Ukrainians, Moldovans and Georgians deserve to live in free, democratic and prosperous countries that are proud and committed members of the European family, MEPs state.

Read also: European Council president sure EU leaders will grant Ukraine candidate status

The European Parliament invites the authorities of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia to unambiguously demonstrate their political determination to implement the European ambitions of their people, accelerating reforms in order to effectively fulfil the criteria for EU membership as soon as possible.

Ukraines Verkhovna Rada Chair Ruslan Stefanchuk thanked the European Parliament for adopting a resolution on granting EU candidate status to Ukraine.

"Once again, European Parliament demonstrates its unwavering support for Ukraine's EU aspirations. Thank you, Roberta Metsola, for adopting the relevant symbolic resolution today. Ukraine is EU country. And we fight for this right not only on the battlefield but also in the legal sphere," Stefanchuk posted on Facebook.

As reported, on June 17, the European Commission published its opinion on Ukraine's, Moldova's, and Georgia's applications for EU membership. According to the document, which will be considered by the European Council at its meeting in Brussels on June 23-24, the European Commission recommended granting EU candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova with a list of tasks to be performed. At this stage, only a European perspective is recommended for Georgia, which in itself is a recognition of the country's clear path to European integration.

The European Council is to give its final approval of Ukraine's status.

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The European Parliament has been vigorously advocating the opening of a European perspective for Ukraine, so the decision to grant it EU candidate status will strengthen both Ukraine and the EU.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said this at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday following her participation in the meeting of EU heads of state and government, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We will not go back to the world before February 24. We will only go forward to Europe that values its geopolitical and security situation. If there ever was a time for more Europe, this is the moment. The decision to grant Ukraine candidate status is the right one. It will strengthen Ukraine and it will strengthen Europe. It is a decision for freedom and democracy, and it puts us on the right side of history," she said.

She noted that the decision to give a European perspective to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia is truly historic. The European Parliament was among the first to call for such a decision to be taken. A few hours ago, the European Parliament overwhelmingly voted for a resolution to open the EU's door to the three countries.

"We also talked [with EU leaders] about the speed with which the European Union has acted, about its unity and resolve in the past few months. That resolve needs to be kept up," Metsola said.

On June 17, the European Commission issued opinions on EU membership bids from Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. According to the opinions, Ukraine and Moldova have received a European perspective and a recommendation to obtain EU candidate status, with a list of steps to be taken. At this stage, Georgia has received only a European perspective, which is a recognition of the country's clear path to European integration.
The Heads of State and Government of the European Union adopted a decision to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership.

President of the European Council Charles Michel announced the decision on his Twitter page, Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Agreement. EUCO has just decided EU candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova. A historic moment. Today marks a crucial step on your path towards the EU, Michel wrote.

Agreement. #EUCO has just decided EU candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova.



A historic moment.



Today marks a crucial step on your path towards the EU.



Congratulations @ZelenskyyUa and @sandumaiamd and the people of Ukraine  and 



Our future is together.  Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) June 23, 2022

He congratulated President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu.

Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Matti Maasikas congratulated Ukraine on receiving the EU candidate status.

"I am tremendously happy about this. This is the acknowledgment that Ukraine belongs to the European family. This is the acknowledgment for all the sacrifices that the Ukrainians have been doing since Maidan and doing now, dying on the battlefields, resisting the unjustified and unprovoked aggression of the Russian Federation," he posted on Twitter.

"Now your European path is clear. Work will start tomorrow, with all EU reforms, but today we are celebrating. Glory to Ukraine!" Maasikas added.

As reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an application for Ukraine's membership in the European Union on February 28.

In early April, during a visit to Kyiv, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gave the Ukrainian side a questionnaire for obtaining EU candidate status.

Subsequently, the Ukrainian authorities completed and submitted both parts of the questionnaire to the EU.

On June 17, the European Commission published the conclusions on the applications for EU membership filed by Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia and recommended granting the candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova and the European perspective to Georgia.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky is convinced that granting Ukraine the EU candidate status is the biggest step towards strengthening Europe that could be taken in our difficult times.

The Head of State said this during a video address to the participants of the EU summit after Ukraine was granted the status of a candidate for membership.

Greetings to all our friends, all leaders-friends of Ukraine!

Greetings to all who support freedom!

That is how I began my address to the European Council on March 24, three months ago, when I urged you to support us.

And thats quite a path we have come in these three months! All of us together: Ukraine, your states and the European Union as a whole.

This path is not politics. I believe this is what will always be the starting point of Europe's new history. Europe without division. Europe without "gray" zones. Europe that is truly united and that knows how to defend itself, its values, its future.

Today you have adopted one of the most important decisions for Ukraine in all 30 years of independence of our state.

However, I believe this decision is not only for Ukraine. This is the biggest step towards strengthening Europe that could be taken right now, in our time and in such difficult conditions, when the Russian war is testing our ability to preserve freedom and unity.

On the fifth day of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, we applied to join the European Union. We provided extremely fast and high-quality answers to the questionnaire we received from the European Commission.

And here is the desired result today. Today, I would like to reaffirm that Ukraine is capable of becoming a full-fledged member of the European Union.

Then, three months ago, I addressed each country of the European Union and indicated at what stage we were, as I thought, in our relations. And today I would like to tell each and every one of you personally what our people feel, and in the same order as it was then.

Lithuania stands for us. Thank you, Mr. President! Gitanas, you know how grateful Ukraine is to your people and to you personally.

Latvia stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! I believe that together we will be able to strengthen the international legal order.

Estonia stands for us. Thank you, Mrs. Prime Minister Kallas! By helping one, we help everyone. Estonia has done a lot.

Poland stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! Your state, your people, your President - all of you on this path to Europe are truly brothers with us.

France stands for us. Thank you, Emmanuel! You can be sure that with Ukraine, Europe will really be able to be among the global leaders in the XXI century.

Slovenia stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! I am grateful for the unwavering protection of the common European cause.

Slovakia stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! We have to continue to protect each other, it makes us really strong.

The Czech Republic stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! I believe that we will also be together on the path to Ukraine's full membership in the EU.

Romania stands for us. Thank you, Mr. President! Klaus, our cooperation in the region and in European structures can indeed become one of the foundations of global stability.

Bulgaria stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! Thank you for choosing the side of good in the confrontation that began on February 24 without hesitation. We know it's not easy for you.

Greece stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! And Im personally thankful to the Greek people, your country, which I really love.

Germany stands for us. Thank you, Olaf! Thank you for your support at a crucial moment.

Portugal stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! Your country knows our people well. And I am sure that we will only increase positive ties between us.

Croatia stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! And thank you for the help with the experience we use to protect our freedom.

Sweden stands for us. Thank you, Mrs. Prime Minister! Blue and yellow truly always stand together!

Finland stands for us. Thank you, Mrs. Prime Minister! Your willingness to resist aggression is simply amazing!

The Netherlands stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! You can be sure that your choice of Ukraine will definitely strengthen our common European freedom, the rule of law and our unity in diversity.

Malta stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! The voice of your island makes the European community complete.

Denmark stands for us. Thank you, Mrs. Prime Minister! Be sure that the protection of European values will only increase with Ukraine.

Luxembourg stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! We truly understand each other, and your energy inspires us to future victories.

Cyprus stands for us. Thank you, Mr. President! Thank you for the choice in favor of our people and our values.

Italy stands for us. Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister! Thank you for your strength, for your perseverance. Thank you for proving that the principles of decent people are truly the foundation of Europe.

Spain stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! I believe that we can significantly strengthen our relations.

Belgium stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! We hope that after our victory we will be able to see each other often in Brussels on common European affairs.

Austria stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Chancellor! I am convinced that we will be able to make Europe even safer and historically the most stable.

Ireland stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister! This is a historic rapprochement of our nations. Your personal leadership is truly impressive.

Hungary stands for us. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, thank you, Viktor, together we are capable of much more than alone!

Mrs. President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola! We are grateful to you personally and grateful to the European Parliament! You were the first to support Ukraine's candidate status the day after our application.

Mr. President of the European Council, dear Charles, Mrs. President of the European Commission, dear Ursula, I am grateful to you both for the leadership that has led us all to this day. I am grateful for the sincere help, for the faith in Ukraine, in Ukrainians, in all of us.

I have always said that we, Ukrainians, believe in the European Union. Although we remained formally outside the European Union, our country probably had the largest number of flags of a united Europe.

They were in the hands of our people during the revolutions. They have been in the hands of our people in the trenches since 2014. I believe that the flag of the European Union will be in every Ukrainian city that we have yet to liberate from the occupation of the Russian Federation.

Ukrainian and European flags will also be together when we will be rebuilding our state after this war together.

And today in the framework of our joint meeting  the summit of all European leaders, I would like to express special gratitude to our heroes - each and everyone who defends the independence of Ukraine with weapons in their hands, defends the freedom of Europe.

Thank you! Thank you for making possible a new history of Ukraine, a new history of Europe - even stronger, even freer.

Thank you all so much!

Glory to Ukraine!
| By Jena Frick

On June 16, the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) joined friends and neighbors in West Baltimore to celebrate freedom with the UMB Community Engagement Centers (CEC) second annual Juneteenth Jubilee.

We wanted to continue to celebrate Black culture with a free community event that people can come out to and have a great time, said Danielle Harris, LCSW-C, associate director of the CEC. Every year this event gets bigger and bigger, and were so happy to be bringing the community together while also celebrating this important holiday.

Juneteenth commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Also known as Freedom Day or Black Independence Day, Juneteenth marks the official end of slavery in the United States and was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021. Its observance is a reminder of the importance of the ongoing struggles toward a truly free and democratic society and the urgency of promoting and protecting human rights and justice.

Neighbors who attended the Juneteenth Jubilee recieved a Juneteenth childrens book that explains the meaning and significance of the holiday.

Today is all about freedom, said Rosalyn Tripp, a community member who attended the Jubilee. I had celebrated Juneteenth for a long time with my family and now everybody is celebrating, which is a great thing.

As part of the Juneteenth Jubilee, all participants were given a tote bag with free event-related gifts including a Juneteenth childrens book that explains the meaning and significance of the holiday. Tripp was thrilled to give the book to her nephew. She explained that she had noticed that many young people did not know about the importance of Juneteenth before it became a national holiday last year.

We have to celebrate, but we also need to break it down and tell him about this day and why were here together, she said. If we explain this and we show them why we celebrate, then maybe they will take that as inspiration to help the community. If we just keep talking and sharing like this, the world will be a better place.

The Jubilee was a fun event for all that highlighted several Black-owned local businesses and vendors including the Baltimore Beat, Healing Youth Alliance, Black Yield Institute, and food from Sobeachy Haitian Cuisine, Cajou Creamery, and Jerk at Nite. There also were also pony rides from City Ranch and a dance performance by Moving History.

Even Baltimore City Councilman John T. Bullock, PhD, who represents the 9th District, came to join the neighbors to celebrate.

Now that Juneteenth has become a more recognized holiday, it has the power to really connect people, and thats what its all about, said Bullock, who also picked up a couple of Juneteenth picture books for his children. Yes, theres a history in terms of freedom, but think about freedom. We exercise our freedom in how we celebrate with our communities, with our partners, and with our neighbors. I had to come out here and support that and be a part of it all today.

The neighborhood event was just one of several Juneteenth events hosted by UMB throughout the week. The University of Maryland School of Social Work also held two virtual events, one with a panel discussing the importance of rest on Juneteenth and another with a panel discussing equality for Black Americans in the 21st century. The University of Maryland School of Nursing, meanwhile, held an in-person event featuring storyteller and Baltimore native Renee Emanuel.

After a successful second annual Juneteenth celebration, organizers at UMB are looking forward to putting on an even bigger celebration next year.
June 23 2022

Highland Council has awarded planning and listed building consent to refurbish a 200-year-old B-listed mill in Caithness into a visitor centre and distillery for Dunnet Bay Distillers.

The 4m restoration and fit-out of Castletown Mill is being overseen by Organic Architects who will deliver contemporary additions while retaining the historic fabric.

Currently on the Buildings at Risk Register, the mill was acquired by Dunnet Bay Distillers last year to facilitate the expansion of its neighbouring HQ.

Organic Architects director Andrea Wise said: This is a rare opportunity for a thriving local business to regenerate this landmark building which has been unable to find a user for decades. The distillery will be powered by green electricity, making it one of the most sustainable distilleries in the UK industry.

Work will commence in spring 2023 following delivery of a temporary cafe and visitor centre, subject to separate planning consent.
June 23 2022

A new hotel and master plan has been prepared for Edinburgh's Cameron Toll shopping centre by 3DReid on behalf of Lady Road Investment SARL.

The diversification strategy calls for the creation of a cinema, hotel and homes to augment the current retail offer, forming a local neighbourhood centre in the process.

The hotel draws inspiration from the Victorian terraces of the neighbouring Craigmillar Park conservation area, with facades of red and buff brick separated by dark grey metal cladding to provide depth and relief to the masonry. Alternating mansards and pitched roofs add to skyline interest with a public realm strategy led by HarrisonStevens enhancing connectivity with Inch Park.

Outlining their approach to the hotel element the architects wrote: "The proposed hotel is located on the edge of the site, and will provide active frontage to Liberton Road, improving public realm at the busy road junction, whilst also providing an east-west connection into the neighbourhood centre. The design takes inspiration from the surrounding context, breaking the facade vertically into five bays of tenemental proportions, with varied roofscape of pitched roofs and dormers, and the masonry tones of the local red and blonde sandstone."

Subject to a successful application work could progress on-site early next year for completion by the end of 2024.
BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jun, 2022 ) :Pakistan Ambassador Moin ul Haque met with Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) at the embassy.

Dr. Zhou briefed the Ambassador on the functioning of CBCGDF and invited him to visit the sites of various projects undertaken by the organization.

Acknowledging Pakistan's strong credentials in agriculture and the need for climate action, he listed areas of potential collaboration particularly in the fields of de-desertification, biodiversity conservation and pest control.

The Ambassador underlined the increasing importance attached by the government of Pakistan to environmental protection and combatting climate change, highlighting various initiatives taken by Pakistan in these areas.

Noting the growing cooperation between China and Pakistan in agriculture sector, he sought CBCGDF's support and solicited concrete project proposals.

CBCGDF is a leading environmental NGO of China having around 30 years of experience in biodiversity conservation and institutional linkages within China and with various multilateral organizations.
Johannesburg, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jun, 2022 ) :The last damning findings of a four-year probe into state corruption in South Africa under ex-leader Jacob Zuma, published Wednesday, suggested that President Ramaphosa could have acted against some of the allegations against his predecessor.

Receiving the report Ramaphosa, who was then deputy to Zuma, described the graft as an "assault on our democracy".

The report was handed to Ramaphosa at his Pretoria offices by the head of the investigating panel and chief justice, Raymond Zondo.

The pillaging and mismanagement of South Africa's state-owned enterprises during Zuma's nine years in office, when Ramaphosa was his deputy, has been dubbed "state capture".

In all, it took more than 400 days for an investigating panel to collect testimonies from around 300 witnesses, including Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa's answers to some questions about what he knew of the corrupt activities were "opaque" and "unfortunately leave some important gaps", the report said.

And whether he could have acted to curb the graft, "the wealth of evidence before this commission suggests that the answer is yes", it said.

"There was surely enough credible information in the public domain... to at least prompt him to inquire and perhaps act on a number of serious allegations.

"As the Deputy President, he surely had the responsibility to do so."Ramaphosa did not immediately respond to the contents of the report, but said it "provides us with an opportunity to make a decisive break with the era of state capture".
Kigali, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jun, 2022 ) :British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his controversial migrant deal with Rwanda on a visit to the country Thursday, telling critics to "keep an open mind".

On the first day of a trip to Kigali -- which is hosting a Commonwealth summit this week -- he also heaped praise on Rwandan President Paul Kagame and the achievements of the east African country, despite widespread concerns about its human rights record.

The UK-Rwanda scheme, which involves Britain deporting asylum seekers to the east African country located thousands of miles away, has provoked a storm of outrage.

But Johnson told reporters: "The critics need to keep an open mind about the policy." "What the critics of the policy need to understand, and I have seen loads and loads of criticism, is that Rwanda has undergone an absolute transformation in the last couple of decades," said the British leader.

He held talks with Kagame about the deal and other issues, including the war in Ukraine, his office said.

Rights groups, church leaders and the United Nations have denounced the migrant arrangement, which has threatened to overshadow this week's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

One of the harshest opponents is reportedly the British heir to the throne Prince Charles, who has been quoted by the British media as saying it was "appalling".

Johnson said he would speak about the merits of the deal when he meets Charles, who is also in Rwanda as Queen Elizabeth II's representative at the Commonwealth summit, on Friday.

- 'Outdated stereotype' - The British leader said it was vital to resolve the problem of "illegal cross-Channel trafficking of people whose lives are being put at risk by the gangs".

A first flight of a small group of asylum seekers had been due to take off from the UK last week but it was halted following a last-minute injunction by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Johnson accused critics of the policy of basing their concerns on "a perception, perhaps a stereotype, of Rwanda that is now outdated".

The country of almost 13 million people has been indelibly marked by the 1994 genocide but now lays claim to being one of the most politically stable and economically developed countries in the region.

But in an open letter to Commonwealth leaders ahead of the summit, 23 rights groups and civil society organisations said there was a "climate of fear" in Rwanda.

"Commentators, journalists, opposition activists, and others speaking out on current affairs and criticising public policies continue to face abusive prosecutions, enforced disappearances or have at times died under suspicious circumstances," the letter said.

It accused the 54-nation Commonwealth of mainly former British colonies of turning a blind eye to Rwanda's rights record, saying it risked its credibility and integrity by holding the summit in Kigali.

The Commonwealth summit is expected to see a tussle for the leadership of the body, which represents some 2.5 billion people or a quarter of humanity, and renewed talk about its future role and relevance.

Meanwhile, Johnson welcomed Rwanda's "moral stance" on the war in Ukraine, his Downing Street office said in a statement after his meeting with Kagame.

It said the two men discussed ways to address the fallout from Russia's invasion, including the sharp rise in food prices which has hit African countries hard.
Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jun, 2022 ) :The wall separating church and state is one of the foundational principles of the United States.

Sonia Sotomayor, one of three liberal justices on the Supreme Court, is accusing her conservative majority colleagues of tearing it down.

Sotomayor did not mince words in a dissent to a ruling by the nine-member court this week that the state of Maine cannot deny public funds to religious schools.

"There is nothing neutral about Maine's program," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in an opinion joined by the other five conservative justices.

"The State pays tuition for certain students at private schools -- so long as the schools are not religious," Roberts said. "That is discrimination against religion." In a blistering dissent, Sotomayor, who was named to the court by Democratic president Barack Obama, wrote, "what a difference five years makes." "In 2017, I feared that the Court was 'leading us ... to a place where separation of church and state is a constitutional slogan, not a constitutional commitment,'" she said.

"Today, the Court leads us to a place where separation of church and state becomes a constitutional violation." Sotomayor ended her contribution with a pointed signoff.

"With growing concern for where this Court will lead us next, I respectfully dissent," she said.

Zachary Heiden, chief counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, said the court's ruling, which comes just days before a highly anticipated abortion rights decision, upended two decades of jurisprudence.

"For over 20 years, every court that has heard a challenge to Maine's law that prohibits public funding of religious education has upheld its constitutionality," Heiden said.

"But this Supreme Court has rendered a decision completely contrary to the founding principle of separation of church and state." Lia Epperson, a law professor at American University who joined an amicus brief in the case in support of Maine, said the ruling was significant.

"This is the first time the court has explicitly required taxpayers to support something that is a specific religious activity -- that is religious instruction," Epperson said.

Steven Schwinn, a law professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, said the decision was the latest by the Roberts court "on a long trajectory of expanding the roles of religion in public life.

" "The court has not changed the underlying law," Schwinn said. "It hasn't gone so far as to overrule prior cases.

"And yet it nevertheless has moved inexorably in the direction of not only inviting religion more into public life but really mandating religion more into public life." "It's done that incrementally," he added. "You can agree or disagree with the direction the court is taking, it seems to me, but that the court is taking a direction is undeniable." During his four years in the White House, president Donald Trump nominated three conservative justices, cementing a 6-3 right-wing majority on the nation's highest court.

"If there was any question before there's quite clearly a majority in favor of religion now," Schwinn said.

Epperson agreed.

"We do have an increasingly religious and conservative court," she said. "You will see that reflected in the decisions.

"This is the most Catholic the Supreme Court has ever been in its history in terms of the justices," she noted.

Six of the nine justices are Catholic -- Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

Justices Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer are Jewish while Justice Neil Gorsuch is Episcopalian.

Ketanji Brown Jackson, who will be replacing the retiring Breyer next term, is Protestant.

According to a Gallup survey, 22 percent of the American adult population identifies as Catholic and 45 percent as non-Catholic Christians.

Two percent identify as Jewish and 21 percent say they have no formal religious identity.

Kevin Welner, a professor specializing in educational policy and law at the University of Colorado Boulder, said the Maine ruling could have some potential pitfalls.

"The example here is 'Do we really want our government deciding which asserted religious beliefs are geniune?'" he said.

"'This is a legitimate church. This is an illegitimate church.'""You could end up with a situation where eventually the state is going to have to come in and say 'That's a religious belief that we're going to honor and that's not.'"
At least 13 civilians, including four children, were killed in fresh clashes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo this week, the UN said, amid increased fighting between the army and rebels

Goma, DR Congo, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jun, 2022 ) :At least 13 civilians, including four children, were killed in fresh clashes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo this week, the UN said, amid increased fighting between the army and rebels.

Clashes have intensified in recent months after M23 rebels accused the government of failing to honour a 2009 agreement under which the army was to incorporate its fighters.

The renewed violence has already forced thousands to flee their homes in eastern DRC, and is putting pressure on humanitarian agencies in the region.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Wednesday that 13 civilians died in fighting between June 19 and June 21 in Rutshuru territory in North Kivu.

Tens of thousands have been forced to flee.

"Several villages in Rutshuru territory have been practically emptied of their inhabitants, some of whom have fled to Uganda," OCHA said.

People are also leaving for safer zones in eastern DR Congo where "they are currently housed in schools, stadiums and other collective spaces", it added.

At least 158,000 people have been forced from their homes since March in Rutshuru and Nyiragongo as a result of clashes between the Congolese army and the M23, the UN said.

OCHA said the mounting need for humanitarian assistance was being "hampered by continuing violence".

A primarily Congolese Tutsi militia that is one of scores of armed groups in eastern DRC, the M23 leapt to global prominence in 2012 when it captured North Kivu's capital Goma.

It was forced out shortly afterwards in a joint offensive by UN troops and the Congolese army.

But the militia has made a comeback since November last year, clashing frequently with Congolese troops in violence that has inflamed tensions in Central Africa.

The flare-up has revived decades-old animosities between Kinshasa and Kigali, with the DRC blaming neighbouring Rwanda for the militia's resurgence.

Rwanda has repeatedly denied backing the rebels, while both countries have accused each other of carrying out cross-border shelling.

Congolese police said Thursday they had detained youths "carrying machetes" who wanted to attack Rwandans or Congolese of Rwandan ancestry in the capital Kinshasa over Rwanda's alleged backing of the rebels.

A video shared on social media on Saturday had sparked concern. Police spokesman Alpha Landu said it showed young men carrying out vehicle checks with the aim of harming those they deemed to have ties with Rwanda.

The youths, "without title or function, carried machetes and wore outfits similar to those of the armed forces of the DRC," he said.

The Congolese authorities have pledged to combat stigmatisation and "manhunts" of Rwandan nationals, or speakers of the country's national language Kinyarwanda.
CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd June, 2022) Moldova's wheat harvest is set to fall by 30% in 2022 due to drought with just enough left to cover the needs of the country's population, Agriculture and food Industry Minister Viorel Gherciu said on Friday.

Earlier in June, farmers from different parts of the country urged the Moldovan authorities to assist with drought management.

"Despite the fact that the agricultural sector is directly dependent on climatic conditions, this year's forecast is that our wheat harvest will be 30% less than last year. However, this quantity will fully satisfy domestic consumption. Another 200,000-300,000 tonnes will be available for export," Gherciu told Jurnal tv.

The minister added that the Moldovan authorities intend to support farmers and give subsidies to agricultural producers with up to 400 hectares of land.

"The government covers part of investment costs of agricultural producers. Some measures have already been taken, I mean the increase in the grant facility, reparation of 30% of the excise duty on diesel fuel. We have already discussed with the government the issue of fully refunding excise taxes on diesel fuel for small and medium-sized agricultural producers," Gherciu said.

On May 31, the Moldovan State Hydrometeorological Service declared a yellow hazard code due to the lack of rainfall and the high risk of cropland fires. The lack of precipitation across the country will contribute to a soil moisture loss and, thus, lead to crop's condition deterioration, according to the meteorological service.
The UN rights chief called Thursday for the Ethiopian authorities to conduct "prompt, impartial and thorough" investigations into weekend attacks in the west of the country that have killed hundreds of people

Geneva, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jun, 2022 ) :The UN rights chief called Thursday for the Ethiopian authorities to conduct "prompt, impartial and thorough" investigations into weekend attacks in the west of the country that have killed hundreds of people.

"I am horrified by the senseless killing as well as the forced displacement of the local population in the attack on Tole village," Michelle Bachelet said in a statement.

She said her staff had spoken with witnesses to the June 18 attack in the Oromia region who said armed individuals descended on Tole and began shooting randomly, leaving hundreds dead.

Most of the victims were women and children, the statement said, adding that at least 2,000 other people had been forced to flee their homes.

"The armed individuals also reportedly burned down several houses during the four-hour assault," it said.

Ethiopia's parliament also instructed Thursday the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, a state-affiliated independent body, to investigate the killings which it said were carried out by the Oromo Liberation Army.

"A terrible and inhumane atrocity has been committed by the (OLA) on innocent citizens" in parts of Oromia and the neighbouring Gambella region, it said.

Survivors of the Tole attack told AFP that hundreds of people belonging to the Amhara ethnic group were killed by rebels, with bodies still lying on the streets after hours of violence.

The Oromia regional authorities have also blamed the attack on the OLA, which is branded a terrorist organisation by the Ethiopian government.

But a spokesman for the rebel group blamed the region's own pro-government militia for the killings and called for an independent investigation.

"I call on the Ethiopian authorities to ensure that investigations are promptly launched into the attack and to ensure that victims and their families have a right to truth, justice and reparations, including by holding those responsible to account," Bachelet said.

She also said an unspecified number of people were reported to have been abducted during the attack and that their whereabouts remained unknown.

"I call on the authorities to take all necessary and lawful measures to ensure those abducted regain their freedom," Bachelet said.

Abune Mathias, the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, also voiced his sorrow at the "terrible murders" in a statement on Thursday.

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Pope Francis addresses representatives of ROACO, a church organization providing aid and assistance to Christians across the Middle East, and invites them to not stop praying, fasting, helping, and working so that the paths of peace may find space in the jungle of conflicts.

By Linda Bordoni

Pope Francis did not neglect to issue yet another appeal for war-stricken Ukraine on Thursday, calling for prayers, fasting, and work so that the paths of peace may find space in the jungle of conflicts.

He was addressing ROACO members who are gathered for their plenary assembly in the Vatican.

ROACO stands for Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches and it unites funding agencies from countries worldwide in order to provide services such as houses of worship and study, scholarships, and social and health care facilities to struggling areas in the Middle East.

May weapons give way to negotiations

The Pope acknowledged the attention and care ROACO members have shown to those suffering the conflict that from Tigray has again wounded Ethiopia and partly neighboring Eritrea, and he thanked those countries who have received refugees from the beloved and tormented Ukraine.

There we have returned to the drama of Cain and Abel.

In Ukraine, he said, a life-destroying violence has been unleashed, a luciferous, diabolical violence, to which we believers are called to react with the power of prayer, with the concrete help of charity, with every Christian means so that weapons give way to negotiations.

The Pope expressed his faith in the fact that the heights of human pride and idolatry will be lowered, and the valleys of desolation and tears filled; but, he said, we would also like to see Isaiah's prophecy of peace fulfilled soon:

That one nation shall not raise the sword against another, that swords will become plowshares and spears will become pruning hooks.

Instead, Pope Francis lamented, everything seems to be going in the opposite direction: Food diminishes and the clang of weapons increases."

Pope Francis addresses participants in ROACO's Plenary Assembly

ROACO's synodal style

In his speech to those present, the Pope upheld the synodal character of ROACO, in which each actor (persons, professionals, bishops, Pontifical representations, the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, and the many agencies involved), has a role and is called to dialogue with the others by consulting, studying, asking for and offering suggestions and explanations, walking together.

He invited each entity to always be tuned to the others so that the symphony of charity may perform in the best way.

He invited those present to flee all temptations of isolation and closure in oneself and in one's own groups, in order to remain open to welcome towards all brothers and sisters who serve the Eastern Catholic Churches, in their motherlands as well as in the territories of the so-called diaspora.

Syria, Iraq, Lebanon

The Pope upheld the work of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Syria at a Conference in Damascus in March in which so many young people were actively involved.

In the desert of poverty and discouragement caused by the twelve years of war that prostrated the beloved and martyred Syria, he said, ROACO was there to listen to others in order to identify the true priorities.

He said that same synodal style also animated the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, and noted that the tenth anniversary of the Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia Medio Oriente, promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Lebanon, will be marked in September.

In ten years many things have happened: think of the sad events involving Iraq and Syria, the upheavals in the Land of the Cedars itself, he said, noting, however, that there have also been some lights of hope, such as the signing in Abu Dhabi of the Document on Human Fraternity.

Now he said, it is necessary to find updated tools and suitable ways to express closeness to the Churches in the region and resume the work of coordination on Syria and Iraq, including Lebanon in the common reflection.
Archive photo of Archbishop Gallagher during his visit to Ukraine at the Memory Wall of fallen Ukrainian defenders in Kyiv (ANSA)

The Vatican Secretary for Relations with States reiterates Pope Francis pressing call not to forget the suffering of the people in war-stricken Ukraine and of his repeated appeals to international leaders to find a negotiated solution to the crisis.

By Linda Bordoni

According to Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the war in Ukraine is a great wake-up-call to humanity and a pressing invitation to put the world on a constructive path that will help avoid other conflicts.

The Vatican Secretary for Relations with States words came on the sidelines of a meeting in which he participated in North Macedonia.

The Prespa Forum Dialogue 2022, in the city of Ohrid from 16 to 19 June, was held to discuss the future of the Western Balkans ahead of a high-level EU meeting in Brussels on the same subject on 23 June.

Speaking during an interview, the Archbishop answered questions about visit that, he said, also gave him the welcome opportunity to meet with the small but vibrant Catholic Community in North Macedonia, to better understand its challenges, and to affirm the good the diplomatic relations which exist between the Holy See and North Macedonia.

Listen to Archbishop Gallagher

In particular, the Vatican diplomat reflected on the ongoing war in Ukraine, which he personally witnessed during a visit to the invaded nation a few weeks ago.

Describing the conflict as a great wake-up call to humanity, because, he said, it took so many of us by surprise.

Archbishop Gallagher said many European citizens thought that no war could ever take place on the old continent again after the Second World War with all the terrible losses and damage that that conflict brought about.

But it has happened again and therefore it is a cry to the rest of the world.

If we want to avoid war, we must consolidate peace

First of all, he said, we have to pray and hope this terrible conflict will quickly come to an end, and that it may help us to avoid other conflicts.

It's true, he added, that in the old world, in the ancient Roman world, they said if you want to keep peace you prepare for war. I think if we want to avoid war, we have to consolidate peace.

We have to listen to, and address the issues of injustice, of inequality and listen to the voices of the voiceless and what their problems are if we're going to avoid the expansion of this war, which is a terrible prospect.

Currently, Archbishop Gallagher explained, what most of the international community is working for, is to assist Ukraine in its efforts to defend its territory, and resolve this terrible aggression to which it has been subject.

But, he said, the international community is also committed to avoid in the expansion of the war, which would be terrible with all sorts of terrible prospects. So we have to try and work on that.

Pope Francis vision

The Archbishop recalled how Pope Francis has very clearly given a series of indications in the effort to avoid conflict and conserve peace.

The Pope has pointed out three things that he believes are necessary, perhaps in almost any society, if we are to avoid conflict, he said, bearing in mind that fighting inevitably leads to greater expansion of conflict, hatred and potentially into conflict and war.

First of all, Gallagher noted, the Pope says we should encourage dialogue between the generations.

Secondly, he talks about education as a key factor, and then of the need to work for freedom, responsibility and development.

If we work on these fronts, we will be going a long way to avoiding situations which can lead to war. The other side of the coin being that it will also consolidate and guarantee peace, he said.

The final thing that Pope Francis suggests is the respect for human dignity. This, the Archbishop said, is at the very basis of Catholic teaching about relations, about how countries relate to each, how societies work together and how we achieve justice among people: human dignity.
Southeast Asia's regional bloc must increase pressure on Myanmar's junta or there will be more death and suffering, a UN expert warned Thursday, after a long period of stalled diplomacy.

Myanmar has been in turmoil and its economy paralysed since the February 2021 coup that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was transferred from house arrest to solitary confinement in prison this week.

Efforts by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to bring peace to the country -- which is a member of the bloc -- have stalled as fighting continues to rage.

Last year, they agreed on the so-called "five-point consensus", which calls for a cessation of violence and constructive dialogue, but the junta has ignored it.

Divisions in ASEAN, long criticised as a toothless talking shop, have also complicated attempts to resolve the crisis.

Asked about the bloc's efforts, Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said that "clearly, more needs to be done".

"The longer we wait, the more inaction that there is, the more people are going to die, the more people are going to suffer," he said.

"The people of Myanmar just can't take another year of inaction," added Andrews, speaking at the end of a visit to ASEAN member Malaysia, which has strongly criticised the coup.

He said the five-point consensus, hammered out at a meeting in Jakarta in April 2021, is "meaningless if it sits on a piece of paper".

"It's only chance of making a difference is if it's put into meaningful action."

He said Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah had suggested "practical, pragmatic steps forward" and urged regional leaders to heed his recommendations.

Some ASEAN states have spoken out against the military takeover, but others have appeared reluctant to take a strong stand.

In January, Hun Sen, Cambodia's authoritarian ruler of more than three decades, made the first trip by a foreign leader to Myanmar since the coup, which critics said risked undermining efforts to isolate the generals.

Cambodia currently holds ASEAN's rotating chairmanship, and the junta's defence minister attended a meeting of the bloc's defence chiefs in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

Andrews also said it was "preposterous" to suggest that elections planned by the junta for next year could be free and fair.

"You can't have a free and fair election if you have locked up your opponents," he said.

Suu Kyi has been convicted of a raft of charges and sentenced to 11 years in jail so far.
From multinational makers of clothing to consumer electronics, companies are reassessing their sources of raw materials, parts and factory assembly because of the pandemic, experts say.



That means countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America are becoming key go-to places in the global supply chain as businesses shift away from China post-pandemic.



China had attracted foreign-invested factories since the 1980s for cheap labor and high productivity. But since the pandemic, Chinas traditional role as the worlds factory will be reduced, as American and European multinationals look for parts, labor and assembly at home for higher-end goods  nearby or wherever subsidies are available  according to Jayant Menon, a visiting senior fellow with the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institutes Regional Economic Studies Program in Singapore.



Countries like China that mismanage COVID will suffer greatly, Menon told VOA via WhatsApp. Thats because their zero COVID approach has been very disruptive to supply chains.



While Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia have been lifting pandemic restrictions this year, China reinstated lockdowns in two major cities. The lockdowns upset factory orders  and raised consumer prices  because of shipping slowdowns and worker shortages.



Seeking alternatives to China



In addition to pandemic-related disruptions in China, delays caused by worker shortages at major global ports and airports, including South Korea and the United States, have stifled the flow of consumer goods into Europe, North America and parts of Asia.



Taiwan-based PC developer Acer, for example, is addressing lockdown-driven supply chain problems by qualifying second sources for materials where needed, a spokesperson told VOA. The worlds No. 5 PC vendor by market share manufactures largely in China. The second sources will come from various countries, the spokesperson said without giving details.



American firms intend to stay in China overall but diversify, said Douglas Barry, communications vice president with the U.S.-China Business Council advocacy group in Washington. We hear over and over that its a mistake to put all your eggs in one basket, Barry said. Chinas response to COVID and growing geopolitical tensions are reminders of this truism.



Southeast Asia



Nations such as Vietnam and Thailand were taking business from China before 2020, as investors faced rising Chinese labor costs and higher tariffs thanks to the Sino-U.S. trade dispute that began in 2018.



I think Southeast Asia will clearly be a beneficiary of all this reconfiguration taking place. Countries like Vietnam, and to a lesser extent Thailand and Malaysia, have already seen gains from restructuring of supply chains, Menon said.



Vietnam, he said, has a lead because of its workforce talent, pro-business reforms and network of free trade agreements. Electronics giant Samsung and American chip developer Intel both operate in Vietnam, as do foreign-invested car factories.



Malaysia is trying to capture more multinational tech, he noted. Last month, a subsidiary of giant Taiwanese electronics assembler Foxconn Technology signed an agreement with its Malaysian partner Dagang NeXchange to set up a factory, possibly for electric vehicles.



Malaysia, along with Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, offer moderate wages compared to China, said Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist with S&P Global Market Intelligence in Singapore.



Multinationals, he said, are likely to expand industrial capacity in multiple places but stay in China for its market of a billion-plus people.



They will still continue producing in China, but they will create additional production capacity in other hubs, and because of what weve seen during the pandemic when you can see disruptions in multiple locations, the resilience in the supply chain comes from having multiple production facilities, which also, I think, includes producing outside of Asia, Biswas said.



Latin America



In Latin America, especially its industrial hub Mexico, products have been selling to the all-important U.S. market as a border nation. Mexico stands to benefit more from a trend known as near-shoring, analysts say.



A shared border, common time zones and linguistic similarities bring Mexico especially close to the United States, said Evan Ellis, a research professor of Latin American studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute. The workforce is relatively educated, too, he said.



Mexico is generally more accessible to many businesses in the United States in terms of the language and the culture and things than, for example, setting up shop in some cases in an Asian country or some other country thats out of the hemisphere, Ellis said.



Mexico has attracted American firms since the 1990s and retains strong advantages, Ellis said, but drug crimes and electricity costs loom as drawbacks.



Mexico is enticing some investors because its goods can enter the United States duty free under trade agreement rules, communications executive Barry said.



Brazil makes sense for companies that need its natural resources, such as ore or petroleum  or that sell cars for example  to its market of 212 million people, many in middle class cities, Ellis said. He noted that costs and regulations, however, challenge investors in Brazil.



Manufactures are competing for limited supply of key commodities and logistical capacity, leading to consumers experiencing empty shelves and long purchase lead times, stated professional services firm KPMG on its website. Now, it adds, industry is evaluating and investing in their long-term supply chain strategies, paving the way for a new post pandemic normal, which includes finding alternative customers, markets and suppliers to avoid overdependence on just one.
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China and India compete for influence in economically battered Sri Lanka.

Hello and welcome to VOA Asia Weekly. I'm Chris Casquejo in Washington. That story coming up.

But first, making headlines.

A U.S law went into effect that blocks imports from China's Xinjiang region unless businesses can prove the items were made without forced labor.

South Korea launched its first domestically built space rocket carrying what officials call a functioning "performance verification" satellite.

Bangladeshs Prime Minister joined an aerial survey of floods that have killed dozens of people and displaced hundreds of thousands there and in neighboring India.

Major flooding has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in southern China.

A hotel and casino resort in the world's biggest gambling hub of Macau was locked down by authorities with 700 people inside as the population took part in mass COVID testing.

Hong Kongs iconic Jumbo Floating Restaurant capsized in the South China Sea less than a week after it was towed away from the city.

For a decade and a half, Chinas clout in Sri Lanka grew as it built a series of infrastructure projects as part of its Belt and Road initiative. But now an economic crisis grips Sri Lanka. And India is trying to regain the influence it lost from the country that lies on its southern tip. Anjana Pasricha reports for VOA from New Delhi.

This sprawling port city set up on land reclaimed from the sea in Colombo is meant to compete with Dubai as a business hub. It is the latest of huge the Chinese-funded infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka that include a port and an airport in Hambantota.

But as an unprecedented economic crisis leaves Sri Lanka with virtually no foreign exchange reserves to buy fuel and food, or repay foreign loans, these projects are under scrutiny. Billed as economic game changers, analysts say they have yielded few returns.

For example, the airport in Hambantota is called the emptiest airport in the world because it really is not attracting the business it should be attracting.

Chinese loans make up about 10% of Sri Lankas $51 billion foreign debt. The Chinese-built infrastructure had showcased Beijings growing clout in the strategic country in the Indian Ocean. However, now a massive public backlash against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, who sanctioned many of these projects, will influence future policies.

The Rajapaksas are seen as very much tilting towards China. So, I think there is going to be a more balanced foreign policy and trying to get assistance from different and diverse actors.

That is good news for India, for which the Chinese presence close to its southern shores had become a strategic headache.

New Delhi has committed to provide $3 billion to Colombo in loans, credit lines and credit swaps since the crisis spiraled. It has also shipped food, fuel and medical supplies to ease hardships caused by the massive shortages of essential commodities.

The fact that India has come through in terms of addressing urgent needs, urgent humanitarian needs is very welcome by many Sri Lankans, and I speak to across the board. Many are realizing that India is a true friend.

For New Delhi, recovering ground lost to China is a boost as it tries to counter Beijings growing clout in South Asia.

Anjana Pasricha for VOA News, New Delhi.

Visit our website voanews.com for the most up-to-date stories. This is VOA Asia Weekly.

Researchers say the recent discovery of a giant stingray in northern Cambodia marked the recording of the world's "biggest freshwater fish".

A team of international researchers and fishermen caught, recorded and released the stingray in the Mekong river in Cambodia on June 14. It measures 300 kilograms and 3.9 meters.

The female fish was named "Boramy" or full moon in the Khmer language because of its round shape.

It was fitted with an acoustic device that will enable biologists to monitor its behavior and track its locations.

Thanks for watching VOA Asia Weekly. Im Chris Casquejo. See you next week.
A day before a meeting of European Union leaders, where a vote is likely on Ukraines candidacy to the union, Russian forces pounded Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, and the eastern Donbas region.

The EU leaders two-day summit begins Thursday in Brussels. Olha Stefanishyna, deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, told The Associated Press the vote could come as soon as Thursday.

Last week, the European Commission formally recommended EU-candidate status for Ukraine and its smaller neighbor, Moldova. On Wednesday, Stefanishyna said she was 100% confident that Ukraine would be accepted as an EU candidate.

The candidacy status is just the first step toward joining the 27-member group. Ukraine will need to meet political and economic conditions, such as standards on democratic principles.

Stefanishyna told AP she thought Ukraine could be an EU member within years. Some European officials have suggested it could take decades.

Were already very much integrated in the European Union, she told AP. We want to be a strong and competitive member state, so it may take from two to 10 years.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation that he had spoken to 11 European Union leaders on Wednesday about Ukraine's candidacy and would make more calls on Thursday. Earlier, he voiced his optimism at joining the EU, saying he believed all 27 EU countries would support Ukraine's candidate status.

Meanwhile, Kharkiv region Governor Oleh Synehubov said shelling of the residential districts of Kharkiv and other towns in the region had continued unabated.

"There is no letup in the shelling of civilians by the Russian occupiers," he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "This is evidence that we cannot expect the same scenario as in Chernihiv or Kyiv, with Russian forces withdrawing under pressure."

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in a video address that Russian forces were hitting Kharkiv "with the aim of terrorizing the population" and forcing Ukraine to divert troops, Reuters reported.

On Sunday, Zelenskyy had warned that Russia was likely to intensify its attacks this week, ahead of the EU action.

"Obviously, we expect Russia to intensify hostile activity this week.  We are preparing. We are ready, he said.

Zelenskyy said Wednesday of Russias heavy air and artillery strikes in the eastern Donbas: Step by step they want to destroy all of the Donbas. All of it."

Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzianyk told AP that in some battles, for every artillery shell that Ukrainian forces fire, the Russian army fires at least six.

Also, Microsoft reported Wednesday, Russian intelligence agencies have conducted multiple efforts to hack the computer networks of Ukraines allies.

"The cyber aspects of the current war extend far beyond Ukraine and reflect the unique nature of cyberspace," Microsoft President Brad Smith said in the report.

The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported. In the past, Moscow has denied conducting foreign cyber espionage missions, saying it "contradicts the principles of Russian foreign policy."

Since the conflict began four months ago, Ukrainian entities have been attacked by Russian state-backed hacking groups, Microsoft reported. Researchers found 128 organizations in 42 countries outside Ukraine had been targeted by the same groups in espionage-focused hacks, the report found.

Nearly two-thirds of the cyberespionage targets involved NATO members, researchers found.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
The U.N. Security Council expressed sympathy for the Afghan people on Thursday in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake, while it continued to press the Taliban authorities to reverse restrictions on women and to stabilize the country.



We urge the Taliban to immediately reverse the policies and practices which are currently restricting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Afghan women and girls, and which continue to aggravate the humanitarian, economic, human rights and social crisis, and undermine the goal of sustainable peace and stability in Afghanistan, Albanias ambassador, Ferit Hoxha, told reporters on behalf of nine of the councils 15 members.



On March 23, the Taliban authorities announced the continued closure of secondary schools for girls. The U.N. says 1.1 million girls have been affected.



In no other country in the world is a government banning girls from secondary school, U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths emphasized to council members.

Restrictions on movement, work



Decrees also have restricted the movement of women without a male relative and sought to dictate in which professions they may work. On May 7, the Taliban ordered all women to cover their heads and faces in public and urged them to stay home.



If the Taliban wants to normalize its relations with the international community, it needs to reverse the steps its taken to exclude women from social, political and economic life  immediately, said U.S. Acting Political Counselor Trina Saha.



No country has recognized the Taliban authorities, who seized power in August as the United States and NATO troops withdrew from the country.

While the human rights situation has deteriorated, the security situation is becoming more unpredictable. Initially, the end of conflict after the Taliban takeover led to a decrease in civilian casualties, but violence is again on the rise.

We are seeing clashes between forces of the de facto authorities and the armed political opposition, especially in Panjshir and Baghlan provinces, as well as IED [improvised explosive device] attacks and targeted assassinations against de facto authority targets, both by armed political opposition and ISIL-KP [Islamic State-Khorasan], U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan Ramiz Alakbarov told council members by video from Kabul.

On Monday, the Security Council sanctions committee that deals with the Taliban extended travel ban exemptions on 13 of the groups officials, making it possible for them to travel abroad for potential peace talks.



Activist Yalda Royan told council members they should end such exemptions for Taliban leaders if there is no progress on womens rights in the next 60 days.



If Afghan women cannot move freely, why should the Taliban? she asked.

Troubles mount



Wednesdays deadly earthquake was yet one more blow for the Afghan people. Years of conflict, recurring drought and a severe economic crisis have left more than 24 million Afghans in need of humanitarian assistance, an increase of 6 million people since the start of 2021.



Nearly half of the population  about 19 million people  are food insecure, including 6.6 million at emergency levels. As the U.N. looks to scale up assistance, it faces a dramatic shortage in funding. It has received only one-third of the $4.4 billion it needs this year for Afghanistan, despite donor promises of more cash.



Now is not the time for hesitancy, U.N. aid chief Griffiths said. Without intervention, funding, humanitarian assistance, basic services, we will have another winter of discontent and a winter of trouble and a winter of pain for the people of Afghanistan.
Investigators and researchers of war crimes committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war say their experience holds valuable lessons for those seeking justice for atrocities committed by Russian forces during the invasion of Ukraine.

And while the first Ukrainian verdicts have already been rendered barely four months into that war, the experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina warn that the Ukrainians still face an arduous job that will take years.

People VOA interviewed said that in the case of Ukraine, investigators have one significant advantage over their Bosnian counterparts in that evidence of war crimes and mass graves is much harder to hide today. The main reason is the availability of modern technologies, from smartphones to satellite images.

"I think that in a coordinated action of different authorities  from Ukrainian prosecutors to the International Criminal Court, to various other sources that can help to get this evidence  there is already enough evidence to draw a very clear line between crimes, victims, perpetrators and principals," said Refik Hodzic, a consultant of the European Institute for Peace who lives in Prijedor, Bosnia, and The Hague, Netherlands.

Prijedor is one of the cities that suffered the most during the Bosnian war. After the Bosnian Serbs took power in late April 1992, non-Serbs were ordered to mark their homes and wear white ribbons around their arms if they moved around the city. Residents were arrested, tortured and imprisoned in camps; more than 3,000 civilians were killed or are still missing, including 102 children.

"Such a small town cannot recover from such crimes," said Hodzic, who has been working for more than 25 years in the field of transitional justice, which deals with the legacy of human rights abuses. He added that the events in Ukraine remind him of the wars in the former Yugoslavia and Syria.

He said the similarities include "preparation dominated by dehumanization of target groups in order to decrease as much as possible any empathy among those who are in some way involved in committing crimes, as well as with the public, which might be able to react and, so to speak, call to political responsibility those who order these crimes.

What seems obvious must be proven in court

According to the United Nations, more than 4,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, but it is feared that the number is much higher because the scale of crimes and the number of victims from places like Mariupol are not yet known. More than 6 million people have fled the country, while more than 8 million people have been displaced internally.

In less than four years of war in Bosnia, which ended with the Dayton Peace Accords in December 1995, more than 100,000 people were killed. Hundreds of thousands were permanently displaced, within the country and abroad. Bosnia today is divided into two entities  the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Croats and Bosniaks are in the majority.

Amor Masovic is a Bosnian legislator who for years headed the Bosnian Institute for Missing Persons. He said that more than 25,000 missing persons were found, identified and buried in Bosnia after the war. Twenty-six years later, he said, more than 7,000 persons are still listed as missing.

"It is very important to establish as soon as possible whether people are alive or not, whether they are in captivity, whether they were killed and buried, individually or in mass graves. It is important to collect and systemize this information, to create a database that will enable an accelerated search for the missing in the post-war period, as well as locating mass gravesites and exhuming victims," Masovic advises Ukrainians.

Ukrainian investigators confirmed to VOA in recent interviews that the knowledge gained from previous wars, including in Bosnia, helps them in their work.

In July 1995, Emir Suljagic worked as a translator for U.N. forces in the Srebrenica area, which saved him from the fate of many of his fellow citizens. Although Srebrenica had the status of a U.N. safe zone, the Republika Srpska Army captured it on July 11. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague (ICTY) described the crimes committed by Serb forces in Srebrenica as a genocide in which more than 8,000 men were killed.

Suljagic is now director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, an institution whose mission is remembrance for the victims of the genocide. He told VOA that the passage of time is one of the key factors influencing the collection of evidence about war crimes, especially if locations are not immediately available.

"Another obstacle may be the probably planned and deliberate steps the Russians are taking to cover up the crimes they have committed. Another one  witnesses. We don't know if there are any witnesses. Testimonies become more and more unreliable over time; it's easier to dissuade or to discredit people," said Suljagic.

"What seems obvious to all of us must be proven in court," added Suljagic. "Everything else comes later  memorialization, remembrance, culture of remembrance.

Bosnian victims do not feel justice is satisfied

After the withdrawal of Russian troops from the vicinity of Kyiv, mass graves were discovered, people were found dead on the streets, some with their hands tied, some with traces of torture. Ukrainian authorities said they have found more than 400 bodies in Bucha alone.

Since the invasion began on February 24, 2022, Russia has denied targeting civilians. The Associated Press quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying that scenes from the Kyiv area were "stage-managed anti-Russian provocation."

Masovic said such rhetoric sounds familiar: "In the end, there will be  and we are already witnessing that  the denial of any crimes. In Bosnia, the individuals who support war criminals have gone a step further, and that probably awaits Ukraine, that at some point Russia will even glorify its criminals and the crimes it has committed."

The ICTY indicted a total of 161 people during its 1993-2017 mandate for genocide, crimes against humanity, violations of the laws and customs of war, and violations of the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of civilians and prisoners of war. A total of 93 people were convicted, among them Radovan Karadzic, the former president of Republika Srpska, and Ratko Mladic, the former commander of the Republika Srpska Army, including for crimes in Srebrenica and Prijedor. Both were sentenced to life in prison.

Hodzic, who has spent part of his career working at the ICTY, said a great opportunity was missed by Bosnia to use this institution, whose work was not even blocked by Russia, to make impunity for crimes impossible and to accept the truth about what happened. As problems, he cites the denial of crimes and hatred spread by politicians, including in Prijedor, where authorities recently banned a memory walk for the victims, but also the fact that in neighboring Serbia, war crimes convicts receive decorations and appear as TV analysts.

If you live in a society that admits a crime has been committed against you, respects what you have gone through and bows its head before your suffering, then punishment for perpetrators makes sense, then you as a member of that society can feel that justice is in some way achievable during your lifetime," said Hodzic.

"In societies where this is not the case, such as our society, or in situations where perpetrators openly deny or celebrate crimes, as it is now the case with Russia in Ukraine, it is difficult to expect victims to feel that justice has been satisfied, regardless of court cases."

Suljagic said Ukraine should not rely too much on international justice. Instead, it should file charges and prosecute the perpetrators itself.

"I am quite convinced that people will be held accountable because they were captured, arrested or indicted by Ukrainians."

Ukraines top prosecutor, Iryna Venediktova, said recently that Ukraine has identified more than 600 Russians suspected of war crimes, while criminal prosecutions have already started for 80 of the suspects.

Veronica Balderas Iglesias and the Friends of Srebrenica group contributed to this report.
Conservationists are launching a federal court challenge against a major gas project off Western Australias coast. Campaigners insist the plan would be, in their words, a really, really big carbon bomb, although the company involved says it has passed rigorous environmental scrutiny.



The Scarborough gas field is a natural gas field located in the Indian Ocean, hundreds of kilometers off Australias west coast.



Woodside Energy, an Australian company, wants to set up drilling platforms in the ocean to extract the natural gas from the untapped gas fields and send it by pipeline to a liquefied natural gas processing plant near the city of Karratha, in Western Australia.



Most of the liquified natural gas would be exported to Asia.



Woodside Energy says the project has been the subject of rigorous environmental assessments by a range of regulators. In a statement, the companys chief executive, Meg ONeill, said the plan would boost jobs, tax revenues and ensure gas supplies reliability.



ONeill said the company would vigorously defend its position in legal proceedings in Australias federal court.



The case has been brought by the Australian Conservation Foundation. It is an unusual legal challenge because campaigners have argued that the Western Australia gas project would damage the Great Barrier Reef, 3,000 kilometers away, on the other side of the country.



According to court documents, estimated emissions from the project would cause global temperatures to increase by almost 0.0004 degrees Celsius. Conservationists believe this would result in the deaths of millions of corals due to warmer ocean temperatures.

The ACF has applied for an injunction against Woodside Energy's Scarborough gas project. It wants it to stop until the new federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, can assess whether it would harm the Great Barrier Reef by exacerbating climate change.



ACF Chief Executive Kelly OShanassy wants the government to reconsider the plans approval process.



It, sort of, went through a bit of a loophole in national environmental law and what we want the courts to do is to pull that project back and say, no, it needs to be assessed for its climate impacts on the Great Barrier Reef. That is the heart of the legal case, said OShanassy.



Although committed to renewable energy, the recently elected center-left government in Canberra has said it would support fossil fuel projects that stack up environmentally and then commercially.



Australians have been warned of winter blackouts as an electricity shortage hits the heavily populated east coast. Various factors have caused the energy crisis, including unprecedented wet weather and a recent cold snap in eastern Australia. Russias invasion of Ukraine in February has prompted a surge in global demand for fossil fuels. There have also been outages at Australias aging local coal-burning power stations.



The United Nations is assessing the impact of global warming on the Great Barrier Reef, as well as localized threats, including pollution and over-fishing.



Arguably Australias greatest natural treasure, the reef runs 2,300 kilometers down its northeastern coast and spans an area about the size of Japan.
Internally displaced persons in northern Ethiopia's Afar region have been leaving some camps due to lack of food and shelter. The U.N., warning that returning home may not prove any better, is calling for more international support.

Many people were forced to flee their homes because of fighting between Tigray regional forces and federal troops and their allies. Others fled record drought that has decimated livestock herds and left millions of Ethiopians hungry.

Myra Muhammed, a mother of three, walked 400 kilometers in January to reach a camp in Dubti, northern Ethiopia, only to find it overcrowded with 30,000 IDPs. The camp doesn't have enough food or shelter, leaving Muhammed debating whether to return home, though she and her family lack support there, too.

Muhammed is not alone.

Afar disaster officials say at least 8,000 internally displaced persons returned home in June because of shortages and the closure of one camp.

The U.N.'s refugee agency says since March, 12,000 IDPs in the region have returned home.

Idris Muhammad Abdullah, a local IDP leader at the Dubti site, said resources are scarce and show up in bits. There are times when aid is available to 400 or 500 households, he said, and other times to none, which creates conflicts.

Russia's war on Ukraine has taken global attention away from Ethiopia and driven up the cost of food aid.

The U.N.'s humanitarian affairs office in Ethiopia says it needs $3 billion to meet IDP needs, and those who return home may be worse off.

Michel Saad, head of the U.N. Office For the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Ethiopia, explained: "(I)f they return somewhere where there's no health center, there are no schools, no access to water, water is not running. No electricity, no banking system, no telecommunication. I mean, obviously the situation is remaining very difficult."

Meanwhile, IDPs in the camps wait in the scorching heat for help  rationed first to the most vulnerable.

Asia Hussein, a displaced mother of six, received food, but not enough. "But what shall we do?" she asked.

At the moment, Ethiopians displaced by war and drought have no good options.
The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly Thursday to grant European Union candidate status to embattled Ukraine, pushing it one step closer to Western allies who have been supplying it with massive amounts of armaments to help it fight off Russias four-month-old invasion.

The vote was 529-45, with 14 abstentions. The European Parliament also approved EU candidacy for Georgia and Moldova.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Twitter that this was a "historic moment in Ukraine-EU relations.  Ukraines future is within the EU.

And on Instagram, he said, "We have just received the candidacy. This is our victory.

The vote came as the U.S. said it was sending $450 million more in military aid to Ukraine, including some additional medium-range rocket systems, on top of the $1 billion in assistance it announced a week ago.

Ukrainian Parliament chair Ruslan Stefanchuk thanked the European lawmakers for their support in a Facebook message, saying, Ukraine is EU country. And we fight for this right not only on the battlefield but also in the legal sphere.

Reforms necessary

In order for the three countries to join the 27-member EU bloc, they will be required to carry out a series of political and economic reforms.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine has already implemented roughly 70% of EU rules, norms and standards. She said, however, that much needed to be done in the areas of the rule of law, oligarchs, anticorruption and fundamental rights."

The European Council, which comprises the heads of all 27 EU governments, would have the final vote on Ukraines membership. The vote must be unanimous. Diplomats say the process could take a decade to complete.

"The Ukrainian people belong to the European family. Ukraine's future is with the EU," the bloc's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said. "Today marks the beginning of a long journey that we will walk together."

The EU leaders gathered in Brussels discussed the impact of Russias war in Ukraine on global food security, as well as additional EU economic, military and humanitarian support for Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said Russia was continuing to launch massive air and artillery strikes in eastern Ukraines Donbas region, adding that Russias goal was to destroy the entire Donbas step by step.

The Ukrainian leader called for faster arms deliveries to help his forces match up against those from Russia.

Russian assault

In fighting, Russia continued its assault in eastern Ukraine, further encroaching on the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. If Russia is successful, it will give them control of Luhansk, one of two regions in the Donbas, Ukraines industrial heartland.

Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press that Russian forces were burning everything out in an attempt to encircle Ukrainian forces.

"The Russians are advancing without trying to spare the ammunition or troops, and they arent running out of either, Haidai said. They have an edge in heavy artillery and the number of troops.

In the neighboring region, Donetsk, regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Reuters there was no town safe for residents amid increased fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Also Thursday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain was willing to help Kyiv in demining off Ukraine's southern coast and providing insurance to ships to help transfer some of the more than 20 million tons of grain stored in the country, Reuters reported.

Ukraine, one of the worlds top food producers, has been unable to export grain since Russia invaded on February 24. The result is a growing global food crisis. Food prices are at record highs as food shortages have left tens of millions of people struggling to eat.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
Iran has dismissed the powerful chief of the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence unit, Hossein Taeb, Iranian state TV reported on Thursday, days after Israeli media accused him of being behind an alleged Iranian plot to kill or abduct Israeli tourists in Turkey.



The station gave no reason for the change, but said Taeb had been appointed as an advisor to the Guards' Commander-in-Chief Hossein Salami.



He will be replaced by Mohammad Kazemi, previously head of the Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Protection unit.



Israel raised its Istanbul travel advisory to the highest alert level on June 13 because of what it said was a threat of Iranian attempts to kill or abduct Israelis vacationing in Turkey.



Before becoming the Guards Intelligence Chief in 2009, Taeb worked at the office of Iran's top authority Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The Islamic State group has killed nine pro-regime fighters in one day in eastern Syria, a war monitor said Thursday, the latest in a spate of attacks in the area.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitoring organization with a wide network of sources on the ground, the nine were among 30 Syrian soldiers and allied fighters killed in IS attacks this week alone.

The "fierce clashes" since Wednesday between regime forces and IS in a remote area of Raqqa province, in the country's east, also killed seven jihadi fighters, the observatory said.

The fighting followed an ambush, claimed by IS, against a bus carrying fighters from the regular army and allied militia on the desert road linking the cities of Raqqa and Homs.

An attack on Monday, one of the deadliest of its kind this year, left at least 15 dead according to the observatory.

The monitor also said that on Wednesday, another four soldiers were killed in an IS ambush near Dumayr military airport, east of Damascus, and that two more were killed earlier this week in the Raqqa region.

IS's once sprawling self-proclaimed caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria was defeated in March 2019 by U.S.-backed local forces. It has not held fixed positions since then.

But it has continued to carry out guerrilla-style attacks against regime and Kurdish-led forces in eastern Syria, as well as against government and allied troops in Iraq.
For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT:

9:15 p.m.: Britain is willing to assist with demining operations off Ukraine's southern coast, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday, and he is considering offering insurance to ships to move millions of tons of grain stuck in the country, Reuters reported.

Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine and blockade of its Black Sea ports has prevented the country, traditionally one of the world's top food producers, from exporting much of the more than 20 million tons of grain stored in its silos.

Turkey is trying to broker talks between the United Nations, Ukraine and Russia to create a possible safe sea corridor in the Black Sea, but Moscow wants some Western sanctions lifted first to facilitate its grain and fertilizer exports.

"There is a job of work to be done. We are working with the Turks and other European friends and allies to see what we can do," Johnson told Reuters in an interview during a visit to Rwanda for a Commonwealth summit.

8:22 p.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the European Unions decision to make Ukraine a candidate for membership.

Today, you have adopted one of the most important decisions for Ukraine in all 30 years of independence of our state, he said. However, I believe this decision is not only for Ukraine. This is the biggest step towards strengthening Europe that could be taken right now, in our time and in such difficult conditions, when the Russian war is testing our ability to preserve freedom and unity.

Today, I would like to reaffirm that Ukraine is capable of becoming a full-fledged member of the European Union, Zelenskyy said.

7:40 p.m.:

7 p.m.: U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders will announce new punitive measures against Russia at a G-7 summit starting Sunday in Germany, Agence France-Presse reported, according to a senior U.S. official said.

Biden will meet with the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan at the summit in Bavaria before traveling to Madrid for a NATO summit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address both summits by video link.

6:15 p.m.: Several European Union members have had their Russian gas supplies cut off for refusing to pay in rubles.

The French government aims to have its natural gas storage reserves at full capacity by autumn, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said, Agence France-Presse reported, adding France will also build a new floating methane terminal to receive more energy supplies by ship.

5:22 p.m.: Russia is closing in on the strategically important cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk in Ukraine's embattled eastern Donbas region, Agence France-Presse reported.

Taking the two cities would give Moscow control of the whole of Lugansk, one of two regions with neighboring Donetsk that make up Ukraine's industrial heartland of Donbas.

Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Lugansk region, says Ukrainian troops have lost control over two settlements southeast of Lysychansk, Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka.

The regional governor of Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko, says no town there is safe for residents as fighting intensifies between Ukrainian and Russian troops.

4:33 p.m.: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that Ankara was investigating claims that Ukrainian grain has been stolen by Russia and shipped to countries including Turkey, Reuters reported.

Kyiv's ambassador to Ankara said in early June that Turkish buyers were among those receiving grain that Russia had stolen from Ukraine, and he sought Turkey's help to identify and capture those responsible.

Russia has previously denied allegations that it has stolen Ukrainian grain. The Kremlin reiterated on Thursday that it had not stolen any grain.

3:55 p.m.: Ukraine, in a symbolic move, on Thursday said it had formally filed a case against Russia at the European Court of Human Rights to end "the mass and gross human rights violations" by Moscow's forces during the war in Ukraine.

The bid has no chance of substantive success, given that on June 7 the Russian parliament approved two bills ending the court's jurisdiction in Russia, Reuters reported.

A Ukrainian justice ministry statement said Russia's invasion of Ukraine was illegal under the European Convention on Human Rights.

3:14 p.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the European Union's move to accept his nation as a candidate for membership, calling it "a unique and historic moment" in relations with the 27-nation bloc.

"Ukraine's future is in the EU," he tweeted.

2:24 p.m.: Ukraine is officially a European Union candidate.

1 p.m.: The United States will send another $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, U.S. officials told the Associated Press and Reuters on Thursday. The officials say the package includes some additional medium-range rocket systems. The news comes a week after the U.S. announced an additional $1 billion in military assistance to Ukraine.

12:10 p.m.: The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that Russia could cut gas supplies to Europe entirely in order to boost its leverage against the West following Moscows invasion of Ukraine. Russia has severely restricted gas flows to Europe in recent days. The Kremlin blames a delay in servicing equipment caused by European Union sanctions, while Europe accuses the Kremlin of playing geopolitics. VOAs Henry Ridgwell has more on the story.

10:42 a.m.: Germany has triggered the second stage of its three-part emergency gas plan in response to Russia's reducing supplies and accused Moscow of an "economic attack." RFE/RL says the June 23 move, made under a plan meant to be activated when there is disruption or very high demand for gas, brought Europe's largest economy a step closer to rationing gas but stopped short of allowing utilities to pass rising energy prices to customers.

9:20 a.m.: U.S. sports apparel giant Nike says it is fully quitting the Russian market, three months after suspending its operations in the country, RFE/RL reported.

Nike said on Thursday that it was joining other major Western brands in leaving the Russian market over Moscow's ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

"Nike Inc. made a decision to leave the Russian market...The Nike stores were temporarily closed recently and will not reopen," the company said in a statement, adding that its Russian website and app will also be shut down.



Last month, Nike said it would not extend its franchise agreement with Russia's Inventive Retail Group (IRG), the largest retailer of Nike products in the country.

8:41 a.m.: Ukraines defense minister says the country has received U.S. supplies of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). The truck-mounted system can carry six rockets with a range of about 70 kilometers. Earlier this month, The United States announced it is sending $1 billion more in military aid to Ukraine, Washingtons 12th and biggest tranche yet of weaponry and equipment intended to confront Russias slow but relentless advance on Ukraines eastern Donbas region.

7:55 a.m.: Russian forces captured two settlements south of the key city of Lysychansk in the Donbas as they pressed ahead with an offensive meant to completely cut off the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the Luhansk region, a regional official said on Thursday, RFE/RL reported.

Russia's improved military performance in the area of Lysychansk and its twin city of Syevyerodonetsk was likely the result of recent troop reinforcement and heavy use of artillery fire, Britain's Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin.

Luhansk military governor Serhiy Hayday said on Thursday that the villages of Loskutyvka and Rai-Oleksandryvka south of Lysychansk and Syevyerodonetsk fell to the Russians, but he added that Ukrainian forces continue to resist in Syevyerodonetsk and the nearby settlements of Zolote and Vovchoyrovka.

5:55 a.m.: Ukraine is expected on Thursday to hold a preliminary hearing in the trial of a Russian soldier charged with raping a Ukrainian woman during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to Reuters.

The suspect, 32-year-old Mikhail Romanov, is accused of murdering a civilian in the Kyiv area and then repeatedly raping the man's wife. He is not in Ukrainian custody and will be tried in absentia.

Moscow has denied allegations of war crimes; Reuters was unable to reach the soldier.

4:55 a.m.: More than 152 cultural and historic sites have been damaged or destroyed since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February, according to a report in Agence France-Presse.

The damaged or destroyed structures include museums, monuments, churches, and libraries.

"These repeated attacks on Ukrainian cultural sites must stop," UNESCO'S director general Audrey Azoulay said in a statement. "Cultural heritage, in all its forms, should not be targeted under any circumstances."

3:50 a.m.: The Associated Press notes that three summits over the next week will test the West's resolve to support Ukraine:

European Union leaders will meet in Brussels to consider making Ukraine a candidate for membership.

The Group of Seven leading economic powers will hold their annual summit in Germany.

After that, NATO leaders will gather in Madrid.

2:17 a.m.: The New York Times reports that both Ukrainian and Russian forces are growing weary as they battle for the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.

There is evidence that both sides, due to high numbers of casualties and ammunition expenditure, are nearing exhaustion, Mick Ryan, a retired Australian general and commander of the Australian Defence College, wrote in a recent analysis. An operational pause in the next month or two is highly possible.

1:30 a.m.: In its June 23 intelligence update, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence discuss fighting in the Lysychansk-Sieverodonetsk area.

12:01 a.m.: European Union leaders are holding a summit Thursday and Friday, with a top item on their agenda  okaying Ukraines bid to be a candidate for the bloc  appearing to be on track.

Kyiv has pushed hard to join the 27-member bloc. Some EU countries such as Portugal and Denmark earlier expressed reservations. But last week, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen expressed support for Ukraine.

Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective," said der Leyen. "We want them to live with us the European dream.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
Quito is a city beleaguered  its shops shuttered and streets empty of all but thousands of Indigenous protesters clamoring for a better life, and the police and soldiers keeping them in check.



Some 10,000 demonstrators have gathered in the Ecuadoran capital from all over the country to protest high fuel prices and rising living costs.



And they have vowed to stay until the government meets their demands, or falls.



"It could be a month, it could be two. ... The war will come but here we will fight," said Maria Vega, 47, who ekes out a living doing odd jobs  one of about a third of Ecuadorans living in poverty.



Nearly a third do not have full-time work.



Demanding jobs, fuel price cuts, better health care and education, they arrived in Quito on foot or on the backs of trucks, many from hundreds of kilometers away.



At night, after long hours on the streets, they recharge, housed austerely at two university campuses and relying in large part on food handouts from church and other groups.



Shields, sticks and flags



In the mornings, they set out in groups bearing sticks, makeshift shields fashioned from traffic signs or rubbish bins and the wiphala  the multicolored flag of the native peoples of the Andes.

Traditional red ponchos stand out among the aggrieved crowds, who set up road barricades with burning tires and tree branches, building bonfires in broad daylight.



Access to the presidency is blocked by metal fences, razor wire and lines of stern security personnel.



"They have weapons. How can one compare a weapon to a stick or a stone? We are not on an equal footing," protester Luzmila Zamora, 51, complained of the show of force.

President Guillermo Lasso, a former banker who took office a year ago, sees in the revolt an attempt to overthrow him.



Ecuador has a reputation for ungovernability following the departure of three presidents between 1997 and 2005 under pressure from Indigenous people  who make up more than a million of Ecuador's 17.7 million people.



In 2019, protests led by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie)  which also called the latest demonstrations  forced the government to abandon plans to eliminate fuel subsidies.



They seem as determined this time around: standing firm in spite of a state of emergency in six of Ecuador's 24 states, a night-time curfew in Quito, a massive military deployment and insults hurled at them from residents whose lives and livelihoods have been thrown into turmoil.



"We want a government that works for the people, for all of Ecuador, not only for the upper class," insisted protester Zamora.



Another, 40-year-old pastor Marco Vinicio Morales, said he could not understand how in a country with vast oil, gold and silver resources, people were falling ever further behind.



"If there is no answer [to the protesters' demands], Lasso will have dug his own grave," he said.

Diners flee teargas



Business owners, shopkeepers and workers in the capital, just starting to recover from closures due to the coronavirus pandemic, are not pleased.

Efren Carrion, a 42-year-old chef, said his restaurant normally sells about 120 meals on a weekday. "These days, it has been 10 or 25 maximum," he said.



And due to the ubiquitous teargas in the air, "clients often leave running, without paying."



For Carrion, workers like him should not have to pay the price for the protest.



"The best revolution is to work and reach an agreement, to negotiate," he said.



So far, no talks have been scheduled as both sides dig in their heels.
Malawi's government and conservationists have announced plans to move 250 elephants from a park in the country's south to a central one that has lost nearly all its population to poaching. But communities living near the park fear the new arrivals could lead to greater human-wildlife conflict.

The month-long exercise starts Monday, when the animals will be transported approximately 350 kilometers by road from Liwonde National Park in southern Malawi to Kasungu National Park in central Malawi.

Brighton Kumchedwa, Malawis Director of National Parks and Wildlife, said that in addition to boosting Kasungus elephant population, the relocation will minimize human-wildlife conflict in the communities surrounding Liwonde.

He said there are currently about 600 elephants in Liwonde, twice as many as the park was intended to hold.

The elephants in Liwonde have exceeded the carrying capacity of the park, he said. Now what is happening is the destruction of the habitats, as they go about looking for food and water. And also, at the same time human-elephant conflict whereby people have been killed, their property damaged. So, now one way of minimizing that problem is to have these animals relocated.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) supports the transfer of the elephants. It says Kasungu National Park was home to about 1,200 elephants in the 1970s.

The population drastically declined because of poaching, with only 50 elephants left by 2015. Since then, anti-poaching efforts have helped boost the population back to 120.

Patricio Ndadzela, a top IFAW official. said the new elephants will help Kasungu attract more tourists, and that more animals may follow.

Looking at Kasungu to be the center of tourism attraction to the country, we thought that by bringing more animals in the park, including elephants, and in the future, we are thinking of bringing the big five; there are already leopards there, he said. So, we are talking about lions and other species associated with that.

But communities living near Kasungu fear the new elephants, which will triple the parks elephant population, may lead to more human-wildlife conflict. Rosemary Banda, a small-scale farmer at Linyangwa village in the Kasungu district, is among wary local residents.

Our worry is that the presence of many elephants here would contribute to food shortages because elephants have in the past been destroying our crops, she said. There was a time when elephants destroyed my crops and left me without enough food as a person who relies on farm produce for survival.

Allaying local fears, Kumchedwa said the government has constructed a 40-kilometer-long fence in Kasungu to prevent the elephants from entering villages.

If well maintained, it's an effective barrier, he said. You dont get elephants frequently going into the community. But also, to support that when these animals get dropped into Kasungu, some of them will be collared for easy monitoring. But also, we have teams for both on ground and aerial support so that we give real time protection to the communities should these elephants be breaking off.

Malawi undertook one of the largest elephant relocations in history in 2016 when 520 elephants were moved to repopulate the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve.

At the time of its last survey in 2015, Malawi had about 2,000 elephants in all, a drop of 50% since the 1980s.
The bodies of two Jesuit priests and a tour guide shot dead this week in a gang-ravaged area of northern Mexico have been found after a major search, authorities said Wednesday.

The three were killed Monday after a suspected run-in with a wanted drug trafficker in the border state of Chihuahua. The crime drew swift condemnation from Pope Francis.

"We've found and recovered  the bodies of the Jesuit priests Javier Campos, Joaquin Mora and the tour guide Pedro Palma," Chihuahua Governor Maria Eugenia Campos said in a video posted to social media.

Francis said he was shocked by the killings as authorities hunted for the suspect.

"So many killings in Mexico," Francis said at the end of his general audience for thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.

The state prosecutor's office in Chihuahua said the three were killed after Palma took refuge in a church in the town of Cerocahui to protect himself from an attack.

The office named Jose Noriel Portillo Gil as a suspect in the killings and offered a reward of nearly $250,000 for information relating to his whereabouts.

The state said in 2018 that Portillo, who is also the prime suspect in the killing of American teacher Patrick Braxton-Andrews, was involved in the drug trade.

The three bodies were taken from the church by a group of men in the back of a pickup, Luis Gerardo Moro, head of the religious order in Mexico, said in a radio interview.

The killings followed the kidnapping of four tourists at a nearby hotel, authorities told Reuters.

Among the missing is the wife of one of the murder victims, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said, presumably referring to Palma.
The congressional panel investigating the causes of last years Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol is hearing testimony Thursday about how former President Donald Trump pushed Justice Department officials to investigate allegations of fraud in the 2020 election that he hoped would upend his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

House Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said the panel would examine Trumps "attempt to corrupt the country's top law enforcement body, much as state officials in Arizona and Georgia testified Tuesday that Trump unsuccessfully sought to get them to appoint bogus electors to help him stay in office for another four years or overturn votes showing Biden had defeated him.

In part, the Thursday hearing is expected to focus on the alleged efforts of Jeffrey Clark, a former assistant attorney general, to repeatedly push Justice Department officials to investigate election fraud claims and to force some states to decertify their election results showing Biden had won.

Watch Thursday's hearing live:

Associates say Trump considered naming Clark attorney general over acting attorney general Jeff Rosen, who, like his predecessor, former attorney general William Barr, said there was no evidence of fraud substantial enough to overturn Bidens victory.

In a short video clip shown at the end of Tuesdays hearing, Richard Donoghue, who served as acting U.S. deputy attorney general from December 2020 to January 2021, said he would have immediately quit if Trump had named Clark attorney general in the waning weeks of his administration.

Thursdays hearing is the fifth this month as the investigative panel explores Trumps role in fomenting the attack on the Capitol as lawmakers gathered to certify Bidens presidential victory in the Electoral College.

About 2,000 Trump supporters, urged by Trump at a rally shortly beforehand to fight like hell, stormed into the Capitol past law enforcement officials, scuffling with police, vandalizing the building and ransacking congressional offices.

More than 800 of the protesters have been charged with an array of offenses, with 300 of them already pleading guilty or convicted at trials and imprisoned for terms ranging from a few weeks to more than four years.

Trump has derided the investigative panel, comprised of seven Democrats and two anti-Trump Republicans, saying its presentation is biased against him. To this day, he has claimed erroneously that he was cheated out of another term in the White House.

The investigative panels hearings were set to end with Thursdays session. The committee is set to release its findings in late summer.

But Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin, a committee member, told reporters, We are picking up new evidence on a daily basis with enormous velocity, and so we're constantly incorporating and including the new information that's coming out.

There is evidence coming in from diverse sources now," he said, "and I think that people have seen that we're running a serious investigation that is bipartisan in nature, that is focused just on getting the facts of what happened, and a lot of people are coming forward now with information.

Some key officials in the Trump administration have cooperated with the committees investigation. But others have balked, repeatedly invoking their constitutional right against self-incrimination and refusing to answer questions about Trumps actions and their own in the post-election period and on Jan. 6. Two former Trump advisers, Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, refused to cooperate and were indicted on contempt of Congress charges.

Republican Representative Liz Cheney, the panels vice chair, called on Pat Cipollone, Trumps former White House counsel, to answer more questions than he already has.

At the center of Trumps post-election efforts was an audacious scheme to overturn the vote counts in states where Trump lost or to have fake electors supporting Trump named in states where Biden narrowly defeated him.

In the United States, presidents are effectively chosen in separate elections in each of the 50 states, not through the national popular vote. Each states number of electoral votes is dependent on its population, with the biggest states holding the most sway. The rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 tried to keep lawmakers from certifying Bidens eventual 306-232 victory in the Electoral College.

While the House committee cannot bring criminal charges, the Department of Justice is closely monitoring the hearings to determine whether anyone, Trump included, should be charged with illegally trying to reverse the election outcome.

A prosecutor in Atlanta, the capital of Georgia, has convened a grand jury investigation to probe Trumps actions to overturn the vote in that state. Trump asked the states top election official, Brad Raffensperger, to find him 11,780 votes  one more than Biden defeated him by  out of 5 million ballots.

The investigative panel has already heard testimony that key Trump aides told him he had lost the election and that there were a minimal number of voting irregularities, not enough to overturn Bidens Electoral College victory.

In addition, Trump was told it would be illegal for then-Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally block Bidens victory as he presided over the congressional Electoral College vote count, as Trump privately and publicly implored Pence to do.
Poles have generously welcomed refugees from the war in neighboring Ukraine in the past few months. But absorbing more than 3 million refugees is a big challenge for Poland, which has a population of about 38 million. As Greg Flakus reports from Warsaw, other European nations are providing help, but the burden could become untenable for Poles if the war continues much longer.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that Russia could cut gas supplies to Europe entirely in order to boost its leverage against the West following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has severely restricted gas flows to Europe in recent days. The Kremlin blames a delay in servicing equipment caused by European Union sanctions, while Europe accuses the Kremlin of playing geopolitics.

"Considering this recent behavior, I wouldn't rule out Russia continuing to find different issues here and there and continuing to find excuses to further reduce gas deliveries to Europe and maybe even cut it off completely," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement to the Reuters news agency. "This is the reason Europe needs contingency plans."

Energy crisis

A full cutoff of Russian gas would plunge Europe into an energy crisis, said Tom Marzec-Manser, head of gas analytics at Independent Commodity Intelligence Services.

"Gas supplies from Russia at the moment  pipeline supplies, that is  are literally a quarter of what they were a year ago. So, the volumes are very, very low, and clearly that's causing concerns. It means rebuilding storages, storage stocks, ahead of the upcoming winter is that much more difficult," he told VOA.

Storage

Currently, Europe's gas storage facilities are 55% of capacity. The EU announced last month that it aims to reach 80% of capacity by November.

"All the LNG [liquefied natural gas] from America, in particular, has come to Europe, and it's helped rebuild storages at a faster rate than usual," Marzec-Manser said.

The declining pipeline flows from Russia have raised doubts over whether the EU storage target can be achieved. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline that carries gas from Russia to Germany is due to close for maintenance next month.

The soaring gas prices since the invasion of Ukraine has benefited Russian state-owned Gazprom, Marzec-Manser added, referring to the Russian gas company.

"A huge amount of money has been made in a short period of time, which is probably going to carry Gazprom through for the next few years at least, in terms of being able to really restrict flows but still have money in the bank," he said.

German emergency

Germany gets around one-third of its gas from Russia. The government declared Thursday it had entered the "alarm stage" of its emergency gas plan, calling on Germans to reduce consumption.

"We have a disruption of the gas supply in Germany, that is the definition, which is why it's necessary to declare this emergency gas plan," Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck told reporters Thursday. "Gas is from now on in short supply in Germany."

European consumers must play their part to avert an energy crisis, German economic analyst Claudia Kemfert said.

"It was expected that this situation would come sooner or later. But what is important now is that we do everything we can to save gas," she told Reuters.

Analysts say the industrial and power sectors will also be asked to reduce consumption, raising fears that an energy crunch could plunge Europe into a recession.

"The industrial demand sector, the power sector, is really going to have to play a key role in conserving gas. We've seen proposals from many governments around Europe to permit continued use of coal," Marzec-Manser told VOA.

Continued coal use would reverse Europe's pledge to phase out coal and other fossil fuels. Calls are growing for the faster development and rollout of renewable energies.

"That means more space for wind energy. That means a faster program of solar energy on as many roofs as possible  that's not going fast enough. I would like to see a booster program for renewable energies, which is appropriate to the situation because we are in a crisis and emergency situation," Kemfert said.

European leaders have been scrambling to find alternatives to Russian gas. U.S. LNG imports have risen sharply, while the EU this month signed a deal to boost LNG supplies from Israel and Egypt.

Analysts, however, say Europe will struggle to replace Russian gas within the next few months and warn that a cold winter would exacerbate the crisis.
When Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova stormed a live TV broadcast to denounce the war in Ukraine, she expected a backlash from Russia  but not so much from the rest of the world.

Three months later, now living in exile, Ovsyannikova, 43, is afraid to return to Russia and her two children, 11 and 17, for fear of being thrown straight in jail.

But she is also facing an increasingly hostile response from Ukraine and the West, with critics accusing her of being a spy still embedded in the Russian propaganda machine.

"I'm in the middle of this information war," Ovsyannikova told AFP in Berlin, where she is giving a speech for the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society network.

"It's a really very hard situation for me. I had never expected such things after my protest."

Ovsyannikova, who was born to a Russian mother and a Ukrainian father in Odesa, was until March working as an editor at Russia's Channel One television.

Then, in a stunt that made headlines around the world, she barged onto the set of its flagship Vremya (Time) evening news holding a hand-made poster reading "No War" in English.

It was a highly unusual event in Russia where state media is strictly controlled.

German job

She was detained and questioned for 14 hours before being released and ordered to pay a fine of $280.

But under draconian new laws she could face further prosecution, risking years in prison.

The case drew international attention and raised alarm over press freedom in Russia in the wake of President Vladimir Putin's decision to send troops into Ukraine.

In the immediate aftermath of her protest, Ovsyannikova was hailed as a hero by the West and even landed herself a new job as a freelance correspondent for Germany's Die Welt newspaper.

But a spokeswoman for Die Welt told AFP that Ovsyannikova is no longer working for the newspaper.

The arrangement "simply did not fit in terms of concrete collaboration and daily work processes, which were also new for both sides", according to editorial sources.

In early June, Ovsyannikova traveled to Ukraine with the intention of reporting on the war for Russian media.

"I wanted to show Russian people what's really happening in Bucha ... to explain to Russian people what's really happening in Ukraine, maybe record an interview with [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy," she said.

'Absolute vacuum'

"Russians are living now in an absolute vacuum. They don't have true information because every independent media in Russia is blocked now, [there is] only information from Kremlin side."

But she was met with a wave of hostility from critics who suspect her of still secretly working for Russia.

"Ukrainians do not trust in her sudden change of heart," Ukrainian journalist Olga Tokariuk, a non-resident fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, wrote on Twitter.

She dismissed Ovsyannikova's social media posts from the front line as "manipulative, incorrect and patronizing."

Ovsyannikova spent a large part of her childhood in Grozny, the capital of the breakaway province of Chechnya.

"When I was a child, my house was destroyed in Grozny. So, I feel I understand what Ukrainian women and children are feeling now," she says.

"Maybe it will take a few months for people from Ukraine to start to understand [that there are also] good Russian people who protest against the war."

As for her own future, she is looking for a new job  but for now, going back to Russia is out of the question.

"My friends say to me, would you prefer poison, a car crash?" she jokes  and then, noticing the shocked faces around the room: "Without humor in my situation I think it's impossible to live."
Rwanda is preparing to welcome leaders of 54 nations for a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Friday in the capital, Kigali.



The Commonwealth was formed in 1931 as the British Empire began to break up and nations claimed their independence. Its stated aim is working toward shared goals of prosperity, democracy and peace. Rwanda and four other countries are not former British colonies.



This weeks summit, which has been postponed twice since 2020 owing to the coronavirus pandemic, is being overshadowed by concerns over human rights abuses in Rwanda and Britains plans to send asylum seekers to the African state for processing there.



The Rwandan government has been very keen to have (the meeting) in person so it can showcase the country and showcase the capital, says Professor Philip Murphy, the director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London.



Rwanda President Paul Kagame wants the kind of kudos of being attached to an organization that claims that its values-based, it claims that it supports human rights, democracy and the rule of law... And clearly hes a very controversial figure. Rwandas human rights record is questionable and controversial.



Rwanda denies the government commits human rights abuses. Supporters of Kagame say hosting the Commonwealth meeting is another milestone in the countrys rapid development since the 1994 genocide, in which around 800,000 people were killed.



Human rights



Civil society groups in Rwanda complain of a lack of media and political freedom.

Rwandan journalist Eleneus Akanga fled the country in 2007 after the government closed his newspaper. My crime was reporting the truth. I had written a story, or I sought to write a story about journalists that were being beaten by unknown people. And it turned out that these journalists thought that the government was beating them up using state agents. I found out later that they were going to charge me with espionage.



Akanga then fled to Britain and was granted political asylum in 2007.



Asylum deal



Earlier this year, Britain signed a deal with the Rwandan government to send back asylum seekers arriving on its shores for processing in Rwanda. The first flight was due to depart last week but was blocked minutes before take-off by the European Court of Human Rights.



Critics say the policy breaches refugee law. The British government says the policy is legal and will deter migrants.



When people come here illegally, when they break the law, it is important that we make that distinction. That is what we are doing with our Rwanda policy, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters June 18.



British ties



Britain has forged close ties with Rwanda since the latter joined the Commonwealth in 2009, says Murphy.



Kagame has got strong links with the British Conservative party. Hes got a lot of supporters there. So I think that this asylum deal probably developed on the back of that special Commonwealth relationship, Murphy said.



Exiled journalist Eleneus Akanga says the policy is contradictory.



It is astonishing when you see the British government, which has given people like myself asylum, now being the same government that is out there telling us that somehow, Rwanda has transformed so much so that it is a country they are willing to send the most vulnerable asylum seekers that there could be to, because they believe the situation has changed. And we know it hasnt, Akanga told VOA.



Overshadowed

The Commonwealth meeting will be overshadowed by the dispute over Britains asylum policy, says Commonwealth analyst Murphy.



In a way its focused international attention on Rwandas human rights record, he told VOA. Since the 1990s the Commonwealth has tried to reinvent itself as an organization thats united more by common values than by common history. The problem is it hasnt been very good at policing those values.
China ramped up crude oil imports from Russia in May, customs data showed Monday, helping to offset losses from Western nations scaling back Russian energy purchases over the invasion of Ukraine.

The spike means Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become China's top oil provider as the West sanctions Moscow's energy exports.

The world's second-biggest economy imported about 8.42 million tons of oil from Russia last month, a 55% rise from a year ago.

Beijing has refused to publicly condemn Moscow's war and has instead exacted economic gains from its isolated neighbor.

It imported 7.82 million tons of oil from Saudi Arabia in May.

China bought $7.47 billion worth of Russian energy products last month, about $1 billion more than in April, according to Bloomberg News.

The new customs data came four months into the war in Ukraine, with buyers from the United States and Europe shunning Russian energy imports or pledging to slash them over the coming months.

Asian demand is helping to stanch some of those losses for Russia, especially buyers from China and India.

India bought six times more Russian oil from March to May compared with the same period last year, while imports by China during that period tripled, data from research firm Rystad Energy show.

"For now, it is just pure economics that Indian and Chinese refiners are importing more Russian-origin crude oil ... as such oil is cheap," said analyst Wei Cheong Ho.

According to the International Energy Agency's latest global oil report, India has overtaken Germany in the past two months as the second-largest importer of Russian crude.

China has been Russia's biggest market for crude oil since 2016.

'No limits'

Days before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Chinese President Xi Jinping greeted his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Beijing where the two countries declared a bilateral relationship of "no limits."

Although demand in China remains muted because of COVID restrictions, there has been some improvement in the past month as cities loosen controls after the country's worst outbreak since the early days of the pandemic.

This has allowed supply chain problems to ease and industrial production to pick up, official data show.

China's overall imports from Russia spiked 80% in May compared with a year ago, to $10.3 billion, according to customs data.

Beijing's purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas surged 54% from a year ago to 397,000 tons, even as overall imports of the fuel fell.

China has been accused of providing a diplomatic shield for Russia by criticizing Western sanctions on Moscow and arms sales to Kyiv.

Joint goals

Once bitter Cold War rivals, Beijing and Moscow have stepped up cooperation in recent years as a counterbalance to what they see as U.S. global dominance.

This month they unveiled the first road bridge linking the countries, connecting the far eastern Russian city of Blagoveshchensk with the northern Chinese city of Heihe.

Last week Xi assured Putin of China's support for Russian "sovereignty and security" in a call between the two leaders.

The Kremlin said the pair had agreed to ramp up economic cooperation in the face of "unlawful" Western sanctions.

The West has implemented unprecedented sanctions on Russia in retaliation for its war in Ukraine, forcing Moscow to find new markets and suppliers to replace foreign firms that have left Russia following the invasion.

The 27-nation European Union agreed in late May to a package of sanctions that would halt the majority of Russian oil imports.

The United States has already banned all Russian oil, but European nations are much more dependent on these imports.

Energy is a major source of income for Putin's government, and Western nations are trying to isolate Moscow and impede its ability to continue the war.
Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, met officially with leaders in Egypt, Jordan and Turkey this week. His goal, say analysts, is to unify their positions on security issues, such as mounting concerns over Iran.

Enhancing economic cooperation and strengthening bilateral relations with oil-producing Saudi Arabia also were part of the visits, analysts say, as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine continue to take a heavy toll.

Bin Salmans visits this week in the region, analysts say, signal his desire for recognition on the global stage and an end to years of international isolation following the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, of which the prince has denied personal involvement. U.S. President Joe Biden had labeled Saudi Arabia a pariah when he campaigned, but the two countries are historic allies.

Jordanian analyst Amer al-Sabaileh told VOA that Russias war in Ukraine, while driving up oil prices and causing food shortages around the world, has opened for Saudi Arabia changes in the rules of engagement with the American administration. Saudi Arabia is the worlds largest oil exporter and the Middle Easts strategic political kingpin.

A non-resident fellow at the Washington-based Stimson Center, al- Sabaileh said that Bidens participation in a July 16 summit in Jeddah, bringing together the leaders of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries along with those from Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, gives MBS, as Bin Salman is known, a kind of credit and an ability to help set the regional agenda, particularly on Iran and Israel. Saudi Arabia is one of the GCC members.

Its obvious that he wants to pave the way for his regional presence and re-bring this old issue of the Sunni [axis] in facing Iran, the danger of Iran, al-Sabaileh said. Then he has another important card he wants to play politicallythe relation with Israel. If you have the Emiratis and Bahrainis in the Abraham Accords and you dont have Saudi Arabia, it has nothing. Without Saudi Arabia as the representative of the Sunni world, it doesnt function.

The United States brokered the Abraham Accords in 2020, normalizing diplomatic and economic relations between Israel and the Gulf states of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Neither country had ever been at war with Israel, unlike Egypt and Jordan, which signed peace treaties with the Jewish state in 1979 and 1994 respectively.

Jordanian political commentator Osama al-Sharif told VOA that Jordan is a bit anxious about the agenda of the summit if it means preparing an anti-Iranian alliance of Sunni Muslim states as that could undermine the countrys moderate stance. Jordan, a key U.S. ally, is also a longtime champion of the two-state solution for ending the festering Israel-Palestinian conflict.

In a joint statement Wednesday after Bin Salmans visit with Jordans King Abdullah, both leaders underscored their support for international efforts to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons as well as curbing Irans destabilizing activities in Arab nations, such as Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.

As an oil swing producer with money to invest, Al Sharif says Bin Salman is plying Saudi funds to finance projects in Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, which are all suffering from severe economic downturns due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Economically, Saudi Arabia is a very important supporter of Jordan, the biggest investor with about between $10- to $13 billion of investments in the country, al-Sharif said. A $3 billion fund has been very active, signing MOUs [memoranda of understanding] with regard to investing in Jordans railway system, in start-ups, in new ventures. In Cairo, they signed deals [worth] $7.7 billion.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey are signing agreements on energy, security and economy, including a plan for Saudi funds to enter capital markets in Turkey, according to Reuters. Turkey is experiencing its worst economic crisis in two decades.

Some analysts believe that Washington may encourage Arab states to take on a greater role to defend themselves and work in coordination with Israel to combat ongoing threats posed by Iran. But Khaled Shneikat, the head of the Jordanian Political Science Society, told the online Middle East Eye publication it is likely that "regional countries are going to request a bigger security role for the U.S. at the summit.
South Africas Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has released a final and damning report after a long-running inquiry into influence-peddling and corruption during former President Jacob Zumas nine years in office. It recommends several high-ranking officials face investigation and prosecution.

Acting Chief Justice Zondo late Wednesday gave the final report on the plunder of state resources under Zuma to his former deputy and successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The latest installment of the five-part report focused on alleged wrongdoing by the state security agency and at the public broadcaster and other state-owned enterprises.

It said Zumas former spy chief should be prosecuted for graft and targeting the presidents foes.

It also found that Zumas son, Duduzane, acted as a conduit between the wealthy Gupta family  business friends of Zumas whose influence over the president was said to amount to state capture.

The report said Duduzane should also be investigated.

Ramaphosa said the inquiry had presented evidence of abuse of power and praised the whistleblowers and journalists who helped uncover it.

State capture was an assault on our democracy and violated the rights of every man, woman and child in this country," he said.

Previous parts of the report recommended Zuma be further investigated with a view towards prosecution and that the Guptas and several ministers face prosecution.

Two of the Gupta brothers were arrested in Dubai this month and are facing extradition to South Africa.

The inquiry ran for almost four years, with South Africans watching the daily televised hearings shocked by repeated witness testimony on corruption at the highest levels of government.

Zondo spoke of some of the challenges the commission had faced while probing the graft.

A few members of the legal team that I know went through situations when their security needed to be beefed up because of the work that they do, that they did, in the commission, he said.

Ramaphosa said the inquiry was vital to ensuring the survival of South Africas democracy.

The report is far more than a record of widespread corruption, fraud and abuse; it is also an instrument through which the country can work to ensure that such events are never allowed to happen again, he said.

But the report was also critical of Ramaphosa as Zumas deputy for failing to do more against state capture.

It was also highly critical of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party.

Independent political analyst Ralph Mathekga praised the inquiry for surviving political attempts to interfere with the process.

The major finding actually here is that the ANC dropped the ball, the ANC-led government, the state capture inquiry speaks about major lapses in governance, he said. President Jacob Zuma comes out as the chief suspect.

Zuma, who was forced to step down in 2018, is already facing trial on multiple counts of corruption in a separate case. Hes denied all wrongdoing.

Spokesman for the Jacob Zuma Foundation Mzwanele Jimmy Manyi told VOA the report was a lot of hogwash.

Ramaphosa has four months to make his recommendations to parliament on what action must be taken. South Africans will be waiting to see what arrests and prosecutions might follow.
South Africa has repealed COVID-19 rules that made masks mandatory in indoor public spaces, limited the size of gatherings and imposed entry requirements at its borders, the health minister said on Thursday.

South Africa has recorded the most coronavirus cases and deaths on the African continent, with over 3.9 million confirmed infections and more than 101,000 deaths.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla said authorities had noted a decline in cases, hospitalizations and reported deaths and concluded that a limited fifth wave was dissipating.

"The COVID-19 virus is not yet gone, ... we are just stronger than before especially with vaccination," he told a news conference, urging those eligible for boosters and not yet vaccinated to come forward.

South Africa's vaccination campaign initially struggled because of limited supplies and protracted negotiations with manufacturers but more recently it has been dogged by hesitancy.

Around half of the country's 40 million adults have received at least one vaccine dose, with 46% fully vaccinated.

Phaahla said managers of places, such as restaurants, hotels and schools could still require masks on their premises but it was no longer government policy.

If vaccine uptake did not increase significantly by November, up to 8 million doses of Pfizer's PFE.N COVID vaccine could be wasted, he said, adding the government was negotiating with Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N to try to waive future vaccine deliveries.

Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said scrapping the requirement for travelers to show a vaccination certificate or negative COVID test would help make South Africa more accessible and help the hospitality industry.

Asked about the country's latest steps, Africa's top public health agency said countries were at different stages of coping with COVID-19 and advised the use of data-driven strategies.

"We also expect that the protocols will not all be the same during this stage of the pandemic," the acting director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Ahmed Ogwell Ouma told a briefing.

"We have encouraged them [countries] to use their own data, the evolving situation on the ground and their capacity for surveillance ... to provide any adjustments."
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a New York State law restricting the ability of individuals to carry concealed firearms outside of their homes is unconstitutional, an opinion that will trigger the overthrow of several similar state laws and which also plants the seeds for challenges to an array of other laws regulating firearms across the country.



In its ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the court held that New York's requirement that an applicant for a permit to carry a handgun in public show "proper cause" violates individuals' right to bear arms under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The court found that by imposing a subjective test that a law-abiding citizen must pass in order to exercise the right to bear arms, New York also violated the 14th Amendment, which prevents states from passing laws restricting Americans' ability to exercise their constitutional rights.



"We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need," wrote Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, in an opinion joined by the five other conservative justices on the court.

The court's three liberal justices all dissented, with Associate Justice Stephen Breyer arguing the majority had ignored New York's "compelling interest in preventing gun violence."



The ruling, a major victory for gun rights organizations, comes less than a month after two highly publicized mass shootings  in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas  galvanized congressional support for a new law aimed at reducing gun violence. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, expected to pass the Senate this week, would make a number of changes to current law, including expanding background checks for gun buyers under 21 years of age.



The killers in Buffalo and Uvalde were both 18 years old and had purchased their weapons legally.



On Thursday, just hours after the Supreme Court ruled on the New York case, 15 Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in the Senate to overcome a filibuster of the bill, setting it up for a final vote.



Advocacy groups react

Gun rights organizations cheered the Supreme Court ruling on Thursday, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), whose Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said in a statement, "This decision unequivocally validates the position of the NRA and should put lawmakers on notice: no law should be passed that impinges this individual freedom."



The reaction from gun control advocates was angry.



"Today's ruling is out of step with the bipartisan majority in Congress that is on the verge of passing significant gun safety legislation, and out of touch with the overwhelming majority of Americans who support gun safety measures," John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement. "Let's be clear: the Supreme Court got this decision wrong, choosing to put our communities in even greater danger with gun violence on the rise across the country."



Response in Washington

The reaction to the court's ruling broke down largely along partisan lines in Washington, with Democrats decrying the court's stance and Republicans supporting it.



In a statement issued by the White House, President Biden said, "This ruling contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all. In the wake of the horrific attacks in Buffalo and Uvalde, as well as the daily acts of gun violence that do not make national headlines, we must do more as a society  not less  to protect our fellow Americans."



Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said, "It is unfathomable that, while families in Uvalde, Buffalo and countless other communities mourn their loved ones stolen by gun violence, a supermajority of the Supreme Court has chosen to endanger more American lives. Today's decision by a radical, Republican-controlled Court extends what was intended to be a limited right to self-defense at home to a new right to bring guns into our public spaces."



House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy issued a statement in support of the ruling, saying, "The Constitution protects the right of law-abiding Americans to own a firearm for self-defense through the Second Amendment. While states like New York have tried to restrict that right through burdensome laws and regulations, the Supreme Court has, on multiple occasions, recognized it, and today strengthened it."



Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee, a staunch gun rights advocate, tweeted, "The Second Amendment is not a second-class constitutional right. I applaud the Supreme Court for standing with the Constitution and individual liberty in reaffirming the right of Americans to protect themselves and their families."



Licensing laws limited

The primary holding of the court's opinion is that states may not pass laws that create a system of "discretionary" permitting for concealed firearms, such as New York's, which demands applicants show evidence of a "special need" to carry a weapon and leaves it to government officials to assess the validity of that claim.



Going forward, the only constitutional gun licensing laws will be so-called "shall issue" regimes, under which a person who objectively complies with a set of requirements  including things like a criminal background check, firearms training, and a mental health evaluation  is guaranteed to receive a license.



However, gun rights activists were quick to point out that the decision is written in a way that opens the door to legal challenges to laws that extend well beyond those governing concealed carry permits.



History as guide

In the opinion, Thomas ruled that the way many courts analyze the constitutionality of gun laws, by applying a two-step process that considers both the history of the Second Amendment and the government's interests in enforcing the law, is mistaken.



"Despite the popularity of this two-step approach, it is one step too many," he wrote.



In ruling on Second Amendment cases, he wrote, courts should not weigh the government's interest in promoting public health or other aims against restrictions on gun rights.



In such cases, Thomas wrote, the courts have only one consideration: "the government must affirmatively prove that its firearms regulation is part of the historical tradition that delimits the outer bounds of the right to keep and bear arms."



In his dissent, Breyer provided lengthy descriptions of the gun violence problem in the U.S. and said that the majority was wrong to limit the government's ability to consider its interests in public safety when assessing the constitutionality of gun laws.



"Courts must be permitted to consider the State's interest in preventing gun violence, the effectiveness of the contested law in achieving that interest, the degree to which the law burdens the Second Amendment right, and, if appropriate, any less restrictive alternatives," Breyer wrote.



'You name it'

Gun rights groups see the abolishment of the "two-part test" as an opportunity to try to overturn numerous other gun restrictions.



In an interview with VOA, Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California and a member of the board of directors of Gun Owners of America, said that the ruling opens the door to challenges to assault weapons bans, high-capacity magazine bans, gun-purchase waiting periods, and more.



"You name it, it's across the board," Paredes said. "Virtually any gun control law that affects the individual rights of law-abiding citizens to acquire, use, store, possess, travel with and dispose of firearms will now be placed in jeopardy, because of the ruling from the Supreme Court. We will have the opportunity to restore the Second Amendment to its original intent."



'More firearm-related deaths'

Tim Carey, a law and policy adviser at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Gun Violence Solutions, told VOA that he agrees that the ruling makes further challenges to existing gun laws very likely.



"There's going to be a tidal wave of incoming litigation of what have previously been long-standing and generally accepted firearms regulations," he said.



Asked what that means for the country, Carey answered on behalf of the Center for Gun Violence Solutions.



"As a public health organization, we expect, as a result of this ruling for there to be  more firearms in public and thus, more firearm-related deaths and injuries in public."
Afghanistans Taliban appealed for international aid Thursday as the war-ravaged country struggles to deal with the aftermath of a powerful earthquake that killed at least 1,000 people, injured many more and destroyed nearly 2,000 households.

The 6.1 magnitude quake struck eastern and southeastern Afghan provinces, bordering Pakistan, during the early hours of Wednesday. Officials said the calamity had buried entire families, including women and children, under the rubble across districts in the worst-hit provinces, Paktika and Khost.

On Thursday, authorities and aid workers struggled to reach the disaster zone, citing lack of communications and proper road networks in some of the poorest and most remote areas in Afghanistan. The most affected areas lack infrastructure to withstand calamities like this weeks earthquake, the worst in two decades.

Heavy rains and mudslides also hampered rescue efforts, forcing displaced families to spend the night without any shelter. Provincial health director Hematullah Esmat told local media that at least 3,000 families needed urgent humanitarian aid in Paktika alone.

Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a Taliban foreign ministry spokesman in Kabul, said that victims were urgently in need food, drinking water, medicine, mobile medical teams, warm clothing and shelter.

But even more crucial for [the] U.S. to end callous attitude towards lives of Afghans by lifting sanctions and unfreezing Afghan assets so people can rebuild their lives destroyed by two-decade occupation and this latest natural disaster, Balkhi told VOA.

People and relief agencies that want to help rebuild lives of families - majority of whom have lost [their] sole breadwinners in earthquake - are unable to send much needed money. This depraved cruelty needs to end urgently, Balkhi argued.

He said the government quickly deployed a few helicopters to help in rescue efforts, but they needed more of them because emergency rescue teams and relief aid have to be delivered by air.

Balkhi reiterated the majority of Afghan aircraft were damaged beyond repair or taken to third countries by the United States before the Taliban seized power last August.

The United Nations World Food Program said Thursday that post-disaster assessments were still ongoing but it had rapidly deployed food and logistics equipment to provide emergency relief to an initial 3,000 households in the earthquake-affected areas.

"The Afghan people are already facing an unprecedented crisis following decades of conflict, severe drought and an economic downturn, said Gordon Craig, the WFP deputy country director.

The earthquake will only add to the already massive humanitarian needs they endure daily, including for the nearly 19 million people across the country who face acute hunger and require assistance, Craig added.

Taliban officials said trucks and aircraft carrying humanitarian aid, including, food, medicine, shelter, and other necessities arrived from Pakistan, Iran and Qatar on Thursday. The relief was being transported onward to the calamity-hit areas, they said.

The Islamist group took over Afghanistan days after U.S. and NATO partners withdrew their final troops on August 30, ending almost two decades of foreign military intervention in the South Asian nation.

Washington and other Western countries swiftly halted financial assistance to largely aid-dependent Afghanistan, seized its foreign assets worth more than $9 billion, mostly held by the U.S, and isolated the Afghan banking system.

The actions and long-running terrorism-related sanctions on senior Taliban leaders pushed the war-hit Afghan economy to the brink of collapse, deteriorating an already bad Afghan humanitarian crisis blamed on years of war and persistent drought.

The international community has not yet recognized the Islamist Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, citing concerns over terrorism and human rights.

The U.S. government Wednesday expressed deep sorrow for the Afghan quake victims.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement that President Joe Biden was monitoring developments and has directed USAID and other federal government partners to assess U.S. response options to help those most affected.

Sullivan underscored that the U.S. was the single largest donor of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and its humanitarian partners were already delivering medical care as well as shelter puppies on the ground.

We are committed to continuing our support for the needs of the Afghan people as we stand with them during and in the aftermath of this terrible tragedy.

The U.S. Geological Survey said Wednesday the earthquake struck about 44km from the southeastern Afghan city, Khost, at a depth of 51km.

Tremors were felt across more than 500km of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Center.
Ukraine: It was a word barely mentioned but often alluded to as the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa  collectively known as BRICS  gave their opening remarks at a virtual summit Thursday hosted by Beijing.



In his address, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the groups purpose was to make the world a more stable place and speak out for equity and justice. He then appeared to take aim at the West, though the U.S. was never referred to by name.



We must abandon cold war mentality and bloc confrontation and oppose unilateral sanctions and the abuse of sanctions, the president of the worlds second-largest economy said in apparent reference to U.S. and European Union sanctions against Moscow.



Of the BRICS member states  emerging economies that position themselves as an alternative to the U.S.-led liberal world order  only Brazil voted against Russias invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations earlier this year. China, India and South Africa all abstained from condemning the invasion.



Xis remarks Wednesday at the BRICS business forum ahead of the main summit were even less equivocal.

We in the international community should reject zero-sum games and jointly oppose hegemony and power politics, he said.

Avoid 'spillovers'



Major developed countries should adopt responsible economic policies and avoid negative policy spillovers that may take a heavy toll on developing countries. It has been proved time and again that sanctions are a boomerang and a double-edged sword, he added.



Unlike the others, Xi did refer directly to Ukraine, saying: The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis has resulted in disruptions to global industrial and supply chains  and emerging markets and developing countries bear the brunt.



For his part, Russia leader Vladimir Putin on Thursday thanked Xi and all our Chinese friends and took aim at the selfish actions of certain states that he said had thrown the global economy into a crisis, referring to sanctions against his government.



Countries in the global South have been hard hit by food insecurity and rising oil prices caused by the Ukraine crisis, and Putin noted that Russia could count on the support of many Asian, African and Latin American states striving to pursue an independent policy.



On Wednesday at the business forum, Putin said Russia was actively redirecting its trade flows and increasing oil deliveries to India and China. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that instead of closing itself off in the face of disrupted supply chains, Brazil would be seeking to deepen our economic integration.



South Africa, one of the democracies in BRICS, has been widely criticized for taking a neutral stance on the Ukraine conflict. At the Thursday summit, President Cyril Ramaphosa was less strident than other leaders.



In line with our foreign policy principles, South Africa continues to call for dialogue and negotiation toward a peaceful resolution of conflicts around the world, he said.

Different views



Later, a joint declaration by the group was vague, underscoring the different countries' divergent views on the matter.

"We have discussed the situation in Ukraine and recall our national positions as expressed at the appropriate fora, namely the UNSC [U.N. Security Council] and UNGA [U.N. General Assembly]. We support talks between Russia and Ukraine" the statement said, adding that BRICS supported U.N. humanitarian assistance to the region.



Not all the talks focused on the Ukraine crisis, however, with leaders, including Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also stressing the need to enhance international cooperation in the fight against COVID-19.



On this matter, Ramaphosa took aim at the West for not adhering to the principles of solidarity and cooperation when it comes to equitable access to vaccines.



We call on developed economies, international agencies and philanthropists that procure vaccines to purchase from manufacturers in developing economies, including in Africa, he said.



Despite aiming to present a united front against the U.S. and its allies, BRICS member states also have disagreements among themselves, though those do not necessarily stop their cooperation. Bolsonaro has previously made anti-China statements, while India has challenged Beijing on its disputed Ladakh border.



On Wednesday, ahead of the BRICS summit, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Indias ambassador to China, Pradeep Kumar Rawat. In the ministrys summary of the meeting, Beijing stated the two countries should continue to look for solutions through dialogue and consultation on the boundary issue and that common interests between China and India far outweigh the differences.

BRICS expansion



Additionally, China has supported the expansion of BRICS to include other countries. Bringing in fresh blood will inject new vitality into BRICS cooperation and increase the representativeness and influence of BRICS, said Xi in his remarks at the summit.



Chinas Wang said that to strengthen the solidarity and cooperation between emerging markets and developing countries, for the first time, officials and foreign ministers of Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, and Thailand, described as BRICS Plus countries, were invited to a May virtual meeting of BRICS foreign ministers.



The BRICS joint statement declared the countries were in favor of further discussions about expanding bloc membership but stressed the need to clarify the details of the process.
Military-ruled Myanmar's promise of free and fair elections next year is "preposterous,'' a U.N. expert said Thursday as he warned the international community not to fall for the army regime's propaganda to legitimize its rule.

Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said the military has been working hard to "create an impression of legitimacy" after ousting the government of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a February 2021 takeover.

"Any suggestion that there could be any possibility of a free and fair election in Myanmar in 2023 is frankly preposterous. You can't have a free and fair election if you locked up your opponents. You can't have a free and fair election if you put your opponents on death row. This is outrage,'' he told a news conference during a visit to Malaysia.

"Their propaganda machine works around the clock and they'll take any shred of evidence that they could find to make it appear as if the international community recognizes them as legitimate. That is something that we are very cautious about and very careful not (to) fall into that propaganda trap," Andrews added.

The army seized power citing widespread fraud in the 2020 general election. It appointed new members to the election commission, which said that new multiparty polls next year would be free and fair.

Andrews said ASEAN must ratchet up pressure on the Myanmar army to halt its violence and release all political prisoners. He said ASEAN's five-point consensus plan should be stepped up to include clear actions and time frames.

"The five-point consensus is meaningless if it is just sitting on a piece of paper,'' he said. "Its only chance of making a difference is to put it into meaningful action with a strategy, with an action plan, with a time frame."

Andrews praised Malaysia for engaging Myanmar's opposition National Unity Government, which was set up by elected lawmakers who were denied their seats in Parliament by the army coup. He urged other countries to do the same, calling the NUG a "legitimate entity" fighting a brutal military.

He said the NUG could also offer resources in delivering humanitarian aid to Myanmar so the junta can't use the aid as a "weapon of war."

The military has faced widespread opposition to its rule. After soldiers and police used deadly force to crush peaceful demonstrations, a low-level armed insurrection has emerged in both the cities and countryside.

According to Myanmar's Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 2,007 protesters and bystanders have been killed in the junta's crackdown, though the government puts the death toll at about a third of that.

Rohingya, but voiced concern over their treatment in the country. He said refugees he spoke to in Malaysia cited fears of being sent to migration detention, insufficient education opportunities for children and instances of extortion by police.

Andrews said he was deeply worried about reports that hundreds of children, including victims of trafficking, may be held in detention facilities. The UN refugee agency has been denied access to these facilities since 2019.

On Malaysia's plan to issue its own refugee card, Andrews said the process should be transparent. Andrews said government officials should be willing to engage in discussions and partner with the U.N. refugee agency to map out clear and consistent policies.

Malaysia's Home Ministry said in April it should determine who can stay in the country by issuing its own cards to refugees.

Although it doesn't grant refugee status, Malaysia houses about 180,000 refugees and asylum seekers accredited with the U.N. refugee agency, including more than 100,000 Rohingya and other Myanmar ethnic groups. Thousands more remain undocumented after arriving in the country illegally by sea.
The United Nations said Thursday it will broker new talks between rival institutions from war-torn Libya next week to try to break a deadlock on the rules for long-awaited elections.

"[Parliament speaker] Aguila Saleh and President of the High Council of State Khaled Al-Mishri have accepted my invitation to meet at the U.N. Office at Geneva 28-29 June to discuss the draft constitutional framework for elections," the U.N.'s top Libya official Stephanie Williams tweeted.

"I commend the heads of the two chambers for committing to seek consensus on the remaining issues after last week's Joint Committee meeting in Cairo."

Presidential and parliamentary elections, originally set for December last year, were meant to cap a U.N.-led peace process following the end of the last major round of violence in 2020.

But the vote never took place due to several contentious candidacies and deep disagreements over the polls' legal basis between rival power centers in the east and west of the country.

A week of talks between the Tripoli-based council and Saleh's eastern-based House of Representatives (HoR), aimed at agreeing on a constitutional basis for a vote, ended on Monday without a deal.

The prospect of elections appears as distant as ever since the HoR, elected in 2014, appointed a rival government to replace that of interim prime minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, arguing that his mandate has expired.

After failing to enter Tripoli in an armed standoff in May, the rival administration has taken up office further east in Sirte -- hometown of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, whose overthrow in a NATO-backed revolt in 2011 plunged the country into years of often violent chaos.

HoR-backed premier Fathi Bashagha said Wednesday in a letter to UN chief Antonio Guterres that he would "now be leading all efforts to bring elections to Libya at the earliest possible opportunity."

Recent weeks have seen repeated skirmishes between armed groups in Tripoli, prompting fears of a return to full-scale conflict.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday shielded police from the risk of paying money damages for failing to advise criminal suspects of their rights before obtaining statements later used against them in court, siding with a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff.

The justices ruled 6-3 in favor of deputy sheriff Carlos Vega, who had appealed a lower court decision reviving a lawsuit by a hospital employee named Terence Tekoh who accused the officer of violating his rights under the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.

Tekoh was charged with sexually assaulting a hospital patient after Vega obtained a written confession from him without first informing the suspect of his rights through so-called Miranda warnings. Tekoh was acquitted at trial.

The court's six conservatives were in the majority in the ruling written by Justice Samuel Alito, with its three liberal members dissenting.

The rights at issue were delineated in the Supreme Court's landmark 1966 Miranda v. Arizona ruling that, under the Fifth Amendment, police among other things must tell criminal suspects of their right to remain silent and have a lawyer present during interrogations before any statements they make may be used in a criminal trial.

Vega was backed by President Joe Biden's administration in the appeal.

At issue was whether the use in court of statements collected from suspects who have not been given a Miranda warning may give rise to a civil lawsuit against the investigating officer under a federal law that lets people sue government officials for violating their constitutional rights.

Vega in 2014 investigated a claim by a Los Angeles hospital patient that Tekoh, who worked as an attendant at the facility, had touched her inappropriately while she was incapacitated on a hospital bed. Vega said Tekoh voluntarily offered a written confession even though he was not under arrest or in custody.

Tekoh disputes Vega's version of events and contends that he was interrogated by Vega, who coerced a false confession.

Tekoh was arrested and charged in state court with sexual assault. His incriminating statement was admitted as evidence during the trial, but a jury acquitted him. Tekoh then sued Vega in federal court, accusing the officer of violating his Fifth Amendment rights by extracting an incriminating statement without Miranda warnings, leading it to be used against him in a criminal prosecution.

The jury reached a verdict in favor of Vega, but the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2021 ordered a new trial on the officer's liability.

The 9th Circuit found that using a statement taken without a Miranda warning against a defendant in a criminal trial violates the Fifth Amendment, giving rise to a claim for monetary damages against the officer who obtains the statement.

Appealing to the Supreme Court, Vega's attorneys said in a legal filing that the 9th Circuit's decision threatened to "saddle police departments nationwide with extraordinary burdens in connection with lawful and appropriate investigative work." Vega's lawyers added that "virtually any police interaction with a criminal suspect" might lead to liability for officers.


The United States will cancel $6 billion in student loans for 200,000 borrowers who claimed they were defrauded by their colleges, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden said.

A settlement agreement between the borrowers and the U.S. Department of Education was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Wednesday and must be approved by a federal judge.

Student debt cancellation has become a priority for many liberals and one that could shore up popularity with younger and more highly educated voters, who lean Democratic, before November's midterm congressional elections.

About 43 million Americans have federal student loan debt, according to educationdata.org.

The loans of those borrowers will be fully eliminated, and any payments they made will be refunded, according to the court filing of the settlement deal.

The lawsuit from borrowers had accused the administrations of Biden and former President Donald Trump of illegally delaying for years any action on the applications that borrowers had filed with the Education Department seeking debt relief.

In a statement on Thursday, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona described the settlement as "fair and equitable for all parties" and said it will deliver "billions of dollars of automatic relief" to the 200,000 borrowers.

The Project on Predatory Student Lending, which represents students across the U.S. in fighting against student debt, described the settlement as "momentous."

The Biden administration had previously approved $25 billion in student debt forgiveness for about 1.3 million borrowers.

The administration had been reluctant to unilaterally make an unprecedented cancellation of college debt owned by the U.S. government. The president had instead earlier asked Congress to pass a bill forgiving debt that he could sign.
The U.S. mission to the United Nations said Wednesday that Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield tested positive for COVID-19.

Spokesperson Melissa Quartell said in a statement that Thomas-Greenfield is fully vaccinated and received a booster vaccination, and that she was experiencing mild symptoms.

Quartell said the ambassador would be working from home in accordance with guidance from health officials.

The statement also said Thomas-Greenfield encouraged all those eligible to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The congressional panel investigating the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol heard testimony Thursday that former President Donald Trump pushed Justice Department officials to investigate voter fraud allegations even though he had been assured there were no widespread irregularities that would upend his reelection defeat.

The panel focused its questions on the efforts of Jeffrey Clark, a former assistant attorney general specializing in environmental law, to be named attorney general in the last month of Trumps presidency so he could pursue claims that Trump had been cheated out of a second four-year term. Such claims have been found to have no merit; state and federal judges have dismissed more than 60 lawsuits presented by Trump and his allies challenging election results.

Clark repeatedly pushed other Justice Department officials to investigate election fraud claims and to press some states to decertify their election results showing Democrat Joe Biden had defeated Trump.

But as Clark lobbied Trump to be named to head the Justice Department, other top agency officials told Trump that Clark was unqualified to lead the department, according to Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republican members of Congress on the investigative committee.

Ultimately, after other Justice Department officials threatened to resign immediately if Trump named Clark as their boss, Trump dropped the plan to promote Clark.

Clark's home searched

Early Wednesday, FBI agents conducted a predawn search at Clarks house in suburban Virginia outside Washington. Russ Vought, president of the Center for Renewing America, where Clark now works, said in a statement that the searchers forced Clark to stand outside "in the streets in his pajamas, and took his electronic devices." Unnamed sources told The New York Times that the search was linked to the Justice Department's investigation of efforts to reverse Trump's 2020 election loss.

As the hearing started, House Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said Trumps efforts to pressure the Justice Department were a brazen attempt to help legitimize his lies that he had been cheated out of winning in November 2020.

Among those appearing before the committee were three Trump-era Justice Department officials who recounted persistent badgering from the president. He presented the department with an arsenal of allegations, none of them true, said Richard Donoghue, then acting deputy attorney general.

Donoghue also testified that Trump told Justice Department officials: "What I'm just asking you to do is say it was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen."

Included in the hearing was video testimony from some Trump White House aides. That video testimony showed that at least five Republican representatives  Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert and Scott Perry  sought pardons from Trump for their involvement in the effort to overturn the election.

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, gave video testimony to the January 6 committee. She said Republican Representative Jim Jordan, an outspoken defender of Trump, asked about pardons but never asked for one for himself.

In a statement, Perry denied he had ever sought a pardon. Brooks acknowledged he had sought a pardon, saying he was concerned Democrats would "abuse the judicial system by prosecuting and jailing Republicans, AP reported. The committee also shared parts of an email it said was sent by Brooks to the White House, seeking pardons for every congressman and senator who voted to reject the Electoral College vote submissions of Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Representatives for the other three did not immediately respond to requests by AP for comment.

Trump never acted upon those pardon requests.

Thursdays hearing was the fifth this month as the investigative panel explores Trumps role in fomenting the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, where lawmakers had gathered to certify Bidens presidential victory in the Electoral College.

About 2,000 Trump supporters, urged by Trump at a rally shortly beforehand to fight like hell, stormed into the Capitol past law enforcement officials, scuffling with police, vandalizing the building and ransacking congressional offices.

More than 800 of the protesters have been charged with an array of offenses, with 300 of them pleading guilty or being convicted at trials and imprisoned for terms ranging from a few weeks to more than four years.

Trump has derided the investigative panel, comprising seven Democrats and two anti-Trump Republicans, saying its presentation is biased against him. He continues to contend that he was cheated out of another term in the White House.

More evidence, more hearings

The investigative panels hearings were originally set to end with Thursdays session, but with the panel collecting more and more evidence, it is now planning at least two more public hearings in July before releasing its findings in late summer.

One of the July hearings is expected to explore how right-wing groups adopted Trumps erroneous election fraud claims to help plan the rampage at the Capitol, while the other hearing will touch on what Trump was doing at the White House for more than three hours while the rioters took over much of the Capitol.

Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin, a committee member, told reporters earlier this week, We are picking up new evidence on a daily basis with enormous velocity, and so we're constantly incorporating and including the new information that's coming out.

There is evidence coming in from diverse sources now," he said, "and I think that people have seen that we're running a serious investigation that is bipartisan in nature, that is focused just on getting the facts of what happened, and a lot of people are coming forward now with information.

Some key officials in the Trump administration have cooperated with the committees investigation. But others have balked, repeatedly invoking their constitutional right against self-incrimination and refusing to answer questions about Trumps actions and their own in the post-election period and on January 6.

For example, committee member Kinzinger said Clark, the former assistant attorney general, invoked the Fifth Amendment 125 times when he spoke to the January 6 committee.

Two former Trump advisers, Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, refused to cooperate and were indicted on contempt-of-Congress charges.

Electoral College count

At the center of Trumps post-election efforts was a campaign to overturn the vote counts in states where he lost or to have fake electors supporting Trump named in states where Biden narrowly won.

In the United States, presidents are effectively chosen in separate elections in each of the 50 states, not through the national popular vote. Each states number of electoral votes depends upon its population, with the biggest states holding the most sway. The rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6 tried to keep lawmakers from certifying Bidens eventual 306-232 victory in the Electoral College.

While the House committee cannot bring criminal charges, the Justice Department is closely monitoring the hearings to determine whether anyone, Trump included, should be charged with illegally trying to reverse the election outcome.

A prosecutor in Atlanta, the capital of the state of Georgia, has convened a grand jury investigation of Trumps actions to overturn the vote in that state. Trump asked the states top election official, Brad Raffensperger, to find him 11,780 votes  one more than Biden defeated him by  out of 5 million ballots.

The investigative panel has heard testimony that key Trump aides told him he had lost the election and that there were a minimal number of voting irregularities, not enough to overturn Bidens Electoral College victory.

In addition, Trump was told it would be illegal for then-Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally block Bidens victory as he presided over the congressional Electoral College vote count, as Trump privately and publicly implored Pence to do.

This article includes information from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
BLANTYRE, MALAWI  Authorities in Zambia said they have arrested a Chinese citizen accused of selling exploitative videos of Malawian children. Malawian authorities say they are working to have the man, Lu Ke, returned to Malawi, where rights campaigners say he should face justice.

Immigration officials in Malawi told VOA their counterparts in Zambia arrested Lu Ke on Monday in the eastern Chipata district.

We got a report from our colleagues that he was found in a lodge in Chipata when he wanted to make some immigration formalities so that so he should be in line with Zambian laws, said Pasqually Zulu, spokesperson for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services in central Malawi.

Last week, Lu Ke fled Malawi, where police were searching for him after a BBC investigation found he was recording young villagers in central Malawi and making them say racist things about themselves in the Chinese language, Mandarin.

In one video children, some as young as 9 years old, are heard saying in Mandarin that they are a black monster and have a low IQ.

The BBC reported he was selling the videos at up to $70 apiece to a Chinese website. The kids performing in the videos were paid about a half dollar each.

The news sparked outrage in Malawi. On Tuesday, various rights organizations held street protests and presented a petition to the Chinese Embassy in the capital of Lilongwe.

In the petition, protesters asked the Chinese to compensate the children in the videos for being fooled to say words in a foreign language they could not understand.

Comfort Mankhwazi, president of the University of Malawi Child Rights Legal Clinic that led the protests, said she welcomes the arrest.

This is one of the things we were hoping would happen, Mankhwazi said. And we are hoping that his arrest will lead to his prosecution in Malawian courts in which he will be tried for his action against our children, and indeed lead to him having to pay compensation.

Zulu said the Malawi government is working with Zambian authorities to bring the suspect back to Malawi for criminal proceedings.

Cooperation is so good with our colleagues in Zambia and our effort this time around is to get hold of him so that he should come to Malawi to answer charges against him, Zulu said. So we we are very, very hopeful the steps that we have taken so far will bear fruit.

There were no official comments from Chinese authorities on the arrest of Lu Ke as of Tuesday. However, Chinese diplomat Wu Peng, who visited Malawi after the incident, said on Twitter last week that China does not tolerate racism.

Peng said China has been cracking down on unlawful online acts in recent years and that it will continue to crack down on such racial discrimination videos.
The U.N. refugee agency projects more than 2 million refugees will need to be resettled in third countries of asylum in 2023, a 36% increase over this years 1.47 million.



All of the more than 27 million refugees in the world have fled war, violence, conflict, or persecution and need international protection. But some refugees are particularly vulnerable. They include people who cannot return to their home countries, live safely in neighboring countries, or have special needs and disabilities.



U.N. refugee spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo says resettlement is a lifesaving tool to protect some refugees, who are most at risk or have special needs that cannot be met in their countries of asylum.



Of all refugees submitted by UNHCR for resettlement last year, 37% were for those with legal and physical protection needs, 32% were for survivors of violence and/or torture and 17% were for women, adolescents and children at risk, she said.



The UNHCR reports the most needs in 2023 will be from countries of asylum across the African continent, closely followed by the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.



Mantoo says Syria, with nearly 778,000 refugees, represents the population with highest global resettlement needs, followed by refugees from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Myanmar, which has more than 114,000 largely stateless Rohingya.



She says the substantial jump in the number of refugees needing resettlement next year is based on several factors.



The humanitarian impact, the protection impacts of the pandemic, which have exacerbated vulnerability. The protracted nature of a number of these refugee situations in which more people are displaced or they are spending longer times in displacement, and also the emergence of new humanitarian crises and displacement situations, she said.



Mantoo warns resettlement needs will continue to grow in the absence of peace and prospects for the voluntary return of refugees.



The UNHCR is appealing for predictable, multi-year resettlement commitments from states. It also is calling on states to speed up resettlement processing and departure arrangements, so refugees do not have to continue languishing in countries of asylum with no end in sight to their ordeal.
NGAM, CAMEROON  Cameroon hosts about 460,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, most of them women and children who escaped violence in the Central African Republic and Nigeria. But while they have found safety in Cameroon, women refugees are not always welcomed by locals, and struggle to survive.

Thirty-five-year-old Mairama Abba cleans her goat house at the Ngam refugee settlement on Cameroon's eastern border with the Central African Republic, CAR.

Abba said she fled armed conflicts in the CAR in March 2015, after her husband and two children were killed in a crossfire between rebels and government troops.

Abba said she and her remaining two children live peacefully at the Ngam refugee settlement in northern Cameroon and are not considering going back to their war- ravaged village called Nyem in the north of the CAR. Abba said money she raises from the sale of chicken and sheep enables her to feed her children and to take care of the children's health needs.

Abba said her first two years in Cameroon were among the most difficult in her life, as she and her children would go without food and water for days. She said the U.N. Children's Fund in 2016 saved her children from dying of malnutrition.

The U.N. and humanitarian agencies say Abba is one of at least 350 women and girls in the Ngam refugee settlement who have since been trained to be self-reliant.

Ohandja Claire Lydie is an official of a charity, the International Medical Corps. She said besides healthcare services, her organization provides training that help refugee women and girls to become less dependent on aid.

She said several hundred refugee women and girls now know embroidery, how to make soap, sew dresses and raise animals at home. She said before training, the women are educated on self-reliance and psychologically prepared to save incomes that will enable the women to improve their living conditions and take good care of their families when they start working.

The World Bank and the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, have been providing what they call targeted support for refugees in the form of cash, under a program called social safety nets.

Amma Koutok said she was given $70 from the safety nets scheme in 2018. She said she invested the money in selling palm oil and salt to refugees and Ngam villagers.

Koutok said she saved $300 in three years and bought a maize and rice flour grinding machine. She said their camps women association, assisted by the World Bank and UNICEF has been instrumental in improving the living conditions of refugee women especially widows and women who do not know if their husbands are dead or alive.

Host communities complain that refugees steal food and cattle, provoke conflicts over water resources, lodging and farmlands and cut down trees for firewood.

Helen Ngoh is communication associate of UNHCR Cameroon. She said on this year's World Refugee Day, UNHCR attempted to persuade host communities to sympathize with the refugees.

"Greater majority of Central African Refugees, about 330,000 Central African refugees are still here and they have safety here in Cameroon. If you are forced to flee your home, you should be able to find safety, so this year's theme (of World Refugee Day) is drawing attention to the importance of people who are forced to flee their homes to be able to have safety," said Ngoh.

Speaking on Cameroon state broadcaster CRTV, Ngoh refugees from both the CAR and Nigeria are scared to return home because of violence in their native countries.

Meanwhile, UNHCR says less than 15%of the $154 million needed this year to help displaced Nigerians and Central Africans has been raised.
MARADI REGION, NIGER  The west African country of Niger hosts more than 303,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, most fleeing violence from neighboring Nigeria.

In the southern Maradi region, the U.N.s refugee agency (UNHCR) and aid group Save the Children have set up camps to help refugees stay safe from the border while also easing the burden on their host community.

At a dusty playground at Garin Kaka refugee camp in southern Niger, young children spin on a merry-go-round and clamber on a metal climbing frame.

The camp, in a patch of scrubland in southern Niger, is home to around 4,000 refugees who have fled violence from Islamist militants and bandits in neighboring Nigeria.

Its one of three camps the U.N.s refugee agency set up in Nigers Maradi region since 2019 as what it calls an opportunity village.

Refugees at these camps, the first of their kind in Niger, have been moved further from the border, for their safety, and both the refugees and the local population receive aid.

The idea of giving aid to locals is to reduce their burden from the refugee population and ease any tensions that might otherwise arise from competing for resources.

Refugee women are also given small grants to set up shops so they can take care of their families.

Forty-two-year-old Nigerian Hanetou Ali fled her village three years ago on foot with her 11 children after Islamist militants attacked and began killing her neighbors.

She said when militants chased them, she and her family ran. But militants caught a man and his wife, Ali said, and cut him to pieces. You could see the blood streaming, she said, and people had to collect the pieces to bury him.

Safe in the camp since 2019, Ali used a grant to set up shop selling vegetables, salt, and cooking oil.

Aid group Save the Children runs services in the camp.

The groups Ilaria Manunza said its just as important to support refugees as it is the locals, who are under increasing pressure from climate change.

"We also believe the host population still needs and requires some support, so we cannot forget about the host population, the fact they were hugely welcoming and supportive of the refugees," Manunza said. "Therefore, all our interventions should always target both the population of refugees and the host populations."

Aid groups hope refugees in the so-called Opportunity Villages will eventually become self-sufficient.

But some of the refugee women say they are unable to grow their business because there is not enough demand for their services in the camp.

Forty-year-old Nigerian mother of six Jameela Salifou also arrived in Garin Kaka camp three years ago after armed men attacked her village.

She makes a living mending clothes with a sewing machine.

Salifou said sometimes they make enough money to buy cassava flour, but it is not every day that they have business. She said this is how they survive; with the small amount (of money) they get, they manage because they are proud of their business. Salifou said if she earns something, she can use it to not only buy food but also to protect the dignity of her family.

The U.N.s refugee agency (UNHCR) said conflict in northwestern Nigeria has forced more than 80,000 Nigerians to flee to Nigers Maradi region. Nearly 18,000 refugees have been moved into the three camps with the Opportunity Village model.

Aid groups said if the model is successful in helping the refugees to integrate and start news lives, they could soon be set up in other countries in the region.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told an inquiry into corruption under his predecessor Jacob Zuma that he had no first-hand knowledge of any wrongdoing, only media reports, the final part of the inquiry published on Wednesday showed.

But the report also said that, as deputy president at the time, he should have done more towards making his own inquiries, given the responsibilities of his position.

The final installment of the inquiry chaired by senior judge Raymond Zondo, which examined claims of corruption and fraud under Zuma, is a product of three years of hearings involving some 300 witnesses, including Ramaphosa himself.

The inquiry was formed in 2018 to examine allegations of high-level graft during Zuma's nine-year tenure from 2009, in which he is suspected of colluding with businessmen close to him - brothers Atul, Ajay and Rajesh Gupta - to plunder state resources.

"Ought he to have known?," the report asked of Ramaphosa, who was deputy president under Zuma between 2014 and 2018, when he ousted Zuma over the allegations.

"The wealth of evidence before this commission suggests the answer is yes. There was surely enough credible information in the public domain to at least prompt him to inquire and perhaps act on a number of serious allegations."

Ramaphosa's office was not immediately available for comment.

On receiving the report, Ramaphosa said; "The report is far more than a record of widespread corruption, fraud and abuse. It is also an instrument through which the country can ... ensure that such events are never allowed to happen again."

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya and Tim Cocks, editing by Ed Osmond)
Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) says the southern African nation may hold bloody council, parliamentary and presidential elections next year.

In its 2021 State of Peace Report launched in Bulawayo on Wednesday, ZimRights said there are current indicators that Zimbabwe may be plunged into a political crisis next year.

ZimRights recently conducted a research on peace in several communities in Zimbabwe.

ZimRights director, Dzikamai Bere, is quoted in the report as saying, Zimbabwe is on the brink of what is likely to be a bloody 2023 election. All signals point to that tragic reality. It is therefore important that we take time to reflect on what we all can do to build and preserve peace in such a volatile environment.

In this report, ZimRights said, Over 50% of the community activists acknowledged that they were living in a state of fragile peace which we call negative peace. They are uncertain of what the future holds. There are no peace fundamentals in the communities to sustain the silence they are currently experiencing.

There was consensus across all the communities that participated in the report that elections presented a nightmare rather than an opportunity. Many community members are expecting bloodshed ahead of the 2023 election. They attribute the violence to violent nature of the ruling party. In addition to the violence, communities have no confidence in electoral systems capacity to deliver democracy. Many are convinced that the election outcome is predetermined because the institutions are captured.

ZimRights said, the communities highlighted that they live in communities that are highly polarized along political lines. This is cutting across all sectors of society. Political alliances determine access to resources and the enjoyment of basic rights. Access to food aid is dependent on political allegiance.

In terms of traditional leaders and peace, ZimRights said communities observed that traditional leaders are many times forced to join politics on the side of the ruling party.

As a result, they end up being conflicted and participating in manipulation of food aid and electoral processes. This is undermining confidence in the institution of traditional leadership which is supposed to be the sacred custodian of values and culture.

Many participants noted that civil society organizations are doing a lot in supporting peacebuilding interventions and participants noted that several peacebuilding workshops and development programmes are currently being run by non-governmental organizations.

According to the ZimRights report, communities are not seeing independent commissions being actively engaged in conflicts.

They do not engage with reports of violence nor with the victims. They say the NPRC is not playing the role that it is commissioned to play. Many communities that are torn by violence and conflict wish they could get help from the NPRC.

ZimRights recommended that there should be some local programmes to bridge polarization, equipping activists for peace monitoring, engaging businesses and other actors to take more interest in supporting local initiatives and strengthening the role of national human rights institutions.

The State of Peace Report is an appendage of ZimRights Right to Peace Campaign. The report captures key peace concerns and issues in the communities where the campaign is being implemented. The campaign is being implemented in Masvingo, Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South Provinces.

About three opposition Citizens Coalition for Change activists  Moreblessing Ali, Langelihle Zonda Dube and Edson Chinembiri  have already been allegedly killed by suspected Zanu PF members. Two CCC lawmakers  Job Sikhala and Godfrey Sithole  are in remand prison facing charges of inciting violence.
Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin'ono urges all Zimbabwean councils to reject US$485,000 fire tenders sourced by Local Government from Belarus. He says the fire tenders have been overpriced by the government and therefore citizens should also intervene to stop "looting" of local resources.
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Livetalk, Womens Forum: On the Womens Forum, tonight we are talking about an ongoing strike by health professionals demanding salary payment in United States dollars and other things. Guests: Tatenda Madziro (Women's Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence), Chenai Mutambasere (Independent Economic and Political Commentator), Tafadzwa Matinenga (Political Activist) and Barbara Gwangwara (Veteran Trade Unionist): Hosts: Gibbs Dube and Jonga Kandemiiri.
THURSDAY, June 23, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday ordered Juul Lab's to pull its e-cigarettes off the American market.

Todays action is further progress on the FDAs commitment to ensuring that all e-cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system products currently being marketed to consumers meet our public health standards, said FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf. The agency has dedicated significant resources to review products from the companies that account for most of the U.S. market. We recognize these make up a significant part of the available products and many have played a disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping.

The products include the Juul vaping device and four types of Juul pods: Virginia tobacco-flavored pods at nicotine concentrations of 5.0% and 3.0%, and menthol-flavored pods at nicotine concentrations of 5.0% and 3.0%, the FDA said.

At one time, Juul controlled 75% of the e-cigarette market, The New York Times reported. Juul is expected to appeal the decision.

The American Vapor Manufacturing Association (AVMA), an industry trade group, hinted at the legal battle to come.

Measured in lives lost and potential destroyed, F.D.A.s staggering indifference to ordinary Americans and their right to switch to the vastly safer alternative of vaping will surely rank as one of the greatest episodes of regulatory malpractice in American history, AVMA President Amanda Wheeler said in a statement.

The FDA has already banned the sale of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes after critics claimed the products targeted teens. Regulators have since been reviewing thousands of applications for vaping products after tightening their oversight of the electronic cigarette market.

Juul can challenge the expected ruling one of three ways: appeal the decision through the FDA; file a challenge in court, or file a revised application for its products.

Several years ago, Juul's fruity flavors and "hip marketing" were blamed for jumps in underage vaping. Among the criticisms were that Juul used young adult models, celebrities and social media influencers in its marketing campaigns. In response, the company stopped using models, suspended all advertising in the United States and shut down its Facebook and Instagram accounts.

The company stopped selling its fruity and sweet flavors in 2019. In 2020, all manufacturers were required to submit their products to the FDA for review to stay on the market. They are considered a potentially less harmful alternative for adult smokers, but remain a concerning gateway to smoking for young people.

Juul's submission to the FDA included only its menthol and Virginia Tobacco flavors in nicotine strengths of 3% and 5%. The company also pitched a new device that would only unlock for users who were 21 or older.

Juul's popularity among young people is lower than it was in the past: It is now considered the No. 4 brand among high schoolers, according to a federal study released last September, WSJ reported.

Underage vaping in general has dropped since federal restrictions raised the age to buy any tobacco products to 21, the newspaper added.

The FDA also plans to mandate the elimination of nearly all nicotine in cigarettes, saying it would upend the $95 billion U.S. cigarette industry. Tobacco companies could sue to fight it the ruling if it happens, the newspaper reported.

More information

Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on the dangers of vaping among teens.

SOURCE: The New York Times; Wall Street Journal
THURSDAY, June 23, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Even babies aren't immune from the effects of long COVID, Danish researchers report.

Their study found that about one in three kids aged 14 and younger who tested positive for the virus were suffering from mood swings, trouble remembering or concentrating, and rashes as much as two months later.

"Prolonged symptoms in children must be taken seriously, regardless of whether the parents turn to their own general practitioner or another health service," said lead author Selina Kikkenborg Berg, a clinical professor at Copenhagen University Hospital.

"Among children of all ages, long-term symptoms are more often seen in those who have had COVID than in those who have not," she said.

Other studies have also investigated long COVID, but researchers said this was the largest to study the illness in children to date.

While the causes of long COVID aren't clear, Kikkenborg Berg offered several possibilities.

"Micro-blood clots after virus can settle in the brain and cause fatigue and difficulty concentrating," she said. "Also, the virus stays longer in parts of the body and can affect nerves and tissues, or an overreaction occurs in the immune system, which causes some of the symptoms."

She noted that some kids who don't get COVID-19 may suffer from some of the same symptoms reported in patients with long COVID. This might result from other infections or even from social pressure, Kikkenborg Berg said. But the number of kids with persistent symptoms was significantly higher among those with confirmed COVID-19 infections.

The study included just over 44,000 children in Denmark aged 14 and younger, including nearly 11,000 who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

Based on parent surveys, 40% of children aged 3 and younger with COVID-19 had symptoms for more than two months, compared with 27% of other kids.

Among 4- to 11-year-olds, 38% of those with positive tests had persistent symptoms, compared with 34% of others. Among 12- to 14-year-olds, 46% of those with confirmed cases had long COVID symptoms, compared with 41% of those who hadn't been sick.

"Some of the children in the control group may have had COVID without knowing it because they had not tested positive," Kikkenborg Berg said.

She noted that some children also may have been affected by shutdowns of schools, leisure activities and other things. Such closings make social interactions difficult and can lead to poor well-being, which can trigger physical symptoms, Kikkenborg Berg added.

"Also, children can get long-term symptoms because they have been affected by ordinary childhood diseases or other infections, which children get from time to time," she said.

The full effect of long COVID isn't known, and more research is needed to fully understand what causes it and how to treat it.

"There is still a lot we do not know about COVID, and one should not rush to recover from an infectious disease," Kikkenborg Berg said. "If you suffer from fatigue, shortness of breath, fever and other symptoms, take it a little calmly and do not stress the body. Sometimes a viral disease takes longer to recover from."

Infectious diseases expert Dr. Marc Siegel, a clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, noted that a real definition of long COVID is still up in the air.

"We're in the process of learning what long COVID is so we can better define how many people have it, but for sure kids are not immune to it," Siegel said.

Siegel is especially concerned about fatigue, trouble concentrating, mood swings and difficulty with breathing, which he sees as hallmarks of long COVID.

Talk with your pediatrician if your child has any of these symptoms after having COVID-19, he suggested.

Siegel emphasized that kids should be vaccinated to reduce their risk for severe illness and long COVID.

"There's actually no treatment right now, but I would make sure you're fully vaccinated, even if you had COVID, because that gives you some immunity, which is even greater protection against a reinfection," he said.

The findings were published online June 22 in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about kids and COVID.

SOURCES: Selina Kikkenborg Berg, PhD, clinical professor, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark; Marc Siegel, MD, clinical professor, medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City; The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, June 22, 2022, online
(The Center Square)  Tourists who visited the countrys national parks spent significantly more money last year compared to 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down travel, according to federal data released on Thursday.

Visitation to federal lands managed by the National Park Service (NPS) increased by 25% in 2021, while trip-related visitor spending was up 41% from the year prior, an annual report from the federal agency said.

The NPS said it had 297 million total recreational visits last year to its 423 areas, up from 237 million visits the year prior. Some parks, such as Rocky Mountain National Park, were forced to temporarily close in 2020 during the height of the pandemic.

The report, which was conducted by NPS and U.S. Geological Survey economists and peer reviewed, also claims trip-related spending to park gateway communities  which the agency defines as communities within 60 miles of a national park  was an estimated $20.5 billion.

There were over 237 million visits with $14.5 million in visitor spending in 2020, down from 327.5 million visits and $21 billion spent in 2019, according to NPS data.

Nature is essential to the health, well-being and prosperity of every family and community in America, as well as to the local economies of gateway communities that support our national parks, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.

The most-visited national parks last year were Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee (14.16 million visits), Zion National Park in Utah (5 million), Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho (4.86 million), Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona (4.5 million), and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado (4.4 million).

Yellowstone National Park was closed last week following historic flooding. The parks southern loop was reopened on Wednesday, while the northern loop remains closed due to infrastructure damage from the flooding.

The Biden administration last week approved a disaster declaration to provide federal aid for emergency work and repairs.
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale

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Pokhara / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / rattling, vibrating / 15-20 s : It woke me up and I am still shaking as everything was shaking in the bedroom and I could hear rumbling | One user found this interesting.

POKHARA (23 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) : Like my heart is stop | One user found this interesting.

Pokhara (28.7 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 1-2 s : Feeling danger | One user found this interesting.

Pokhara lakeside (22.2 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : I was just sleeping and felt like some vidrating that my partner also felt same | One user found this interesting.

Pokhara (23.6 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s : My bed shook while I was asleep | One user found this interesting.

Tarapani, Annapurna region (36.4 km NNE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s : Big sound like thundercombined with short but very noticable shock | One user found this interesting.

Nepal (25.2 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Slight shake with window rattle on higher floors | One user found this interesting.

pokhara (22 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) : Was awaken by the quake | One user found this interesting.

Pokhara (24.7 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : I was trying to sleep and my roof shook | One user found this interesting.

Pokhara (20.4 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) : Hotel room n glass were shaking | One user found this interesting.

Dhital / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / 5-10 s : I was half awake so duration and intensity might be wrong... | One user found this interesting.

Pokhara / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 1-2 s : I was sleeping and woke up on hearing something fall from the store room. | One user found this interesting.

pokhara, nepal / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : I could feel the table tremble near me was very scary???? | One user found this interesting.

Pokhara / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 5-10 s I was sleeping when the quake alarm was on.. | One user found this interesting. (reported through (reported through our app / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 5-10 s

Pokhara / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : Felt the earthquake shakes | One user found this interesting.

near Pokhara, Kaski, Gandaki Pradesh (26.4 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / very short

Astam (10.8 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s

Pokhara (18.8 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s

Pokhara (22.8 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) : It shakes for about 5 sec

Sarangkot, Toripani (16.6 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / single vertical bump / 2-5 s

Pokhara, Kaski, Gandaki Pradesh (24.5 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / complex motion difficult to describe / 2-5 s

Pokhara (21.1 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 2-5 s

Bhurjubg khola pokhara (14.1 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III)

near Pokhara, Kaski, Gandaki Pradesh (28.6 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Chitwan (97.5 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single lateral shake / 1-2 s

Pokhara (23.4 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II)

Beni,myagdi,nepal (26.2 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 1-2 s

Pokhara, Nepal (25.1 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / very short

Pokhara Nepal (23.3 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV)

Phulbari / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Ghandruk / Light shaking (MMI IV) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s
European Union demanded of Poland and Lithuania to ban the transit of goods from mainland Russia to the Russian region of Kaliningrad (formerly Koningsberg).

When Lithuania joined the European Union, it was stipulated that this Baltic state should guarantee transit to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Currently the Polish Suwalki Corridor is no longer serviceable. Therefore, Kaliningrad can currently only be accessed via the Baltic Sea.

In 1945, Koningsberg was attached to the USSR as compensation for war damages. This Prussian region now constitutes the Kaliningrad Oblast.
On 23 June 2022, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu invited his Belarusian counterpart, Viktor Khrenin, to join forces with a view to ensuring their mutual defense. He specified that it was urgent especially in terms of an anti-aircraft defense.
An image of the 22nd orbit of the Juno spacecraft around Jupiter shows the region close to the north pole of the planet. There is a huge diversity in the colors and shapes of these vortices (hurricane-like storms). Scientists need to create a catalog of these storms in order to understand how they form CREDIT NASA/JPL Caltech/MSSS/SwRI/Ramanakumar Sankar

A new citizen science project, led by researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with support from NASA, allows volunteers to play an important role in helping scientists learn more about the atmosphere on Jupiter.

Citizen scientists can help astrophysicists categorize tens of thousands of stunning images taken from the Juno spacecraft with just a web browser.

The planet Jupiter is located more than 467 million miles from Earth and has a starkly different atmosphere made of hydrogen and helium. Even so, Jupiter's atmosphere contains a wide diversity of clouds of different shapes and sizes, much like our own planet. Learning more about Jupiter's atmosphere can give us new insight into weather patterns on our own planet and help us discover more about the early beginnings of our solar system.

The project, called Jovian Vortex Hunter, is the newest University of Minnesota citizen science effort within the Zooniverse platform. Zooniverse, co-founded by the Adler Planetarium and Oxford, is the world's largest and most popular people-powered online research platform with more than two million volunteers from around the world. These volunteers act as armchair scientists and archivists helping academic research teams with their projects from the comfort of their own homes.

Images for this project are from the JunoCam camera on board NASA's Juno spacecraft. Juno was launched in 2011, and reached Jupiter in 2016, and has been collecting data ever since. Juno is in a highly elliptical orbit around Jupiter, coming as close as a few thousand kilometers above the cloud tops during its closest approach. Juno has completed more than 40 orbits around Jupiter collecting gigabytes of imagery from JunoCam. The Jovian Vortex Hunter project has more than 60,000 images from this data set.

In this project, citizen scientists are asked to identify atmospheric vortices, which are clouds that have a round or elliptical shape like hurricanes. Scientists are particularly interested in the physics behind why these atmospheric features come in different shapes and sizes.

"There are so many images, that it would take several years for our small team to examine all of them," said University of Minnesota School of Physics and Astronomy postdoctoral researcher Ramanakumar Sankar who is leading the project. "We need help from the public to identify which images have vortices, where they are, and how they appear. With the catalog of features (particularly vortices) in place, we can study the physics behind how these features form, and how they are related to the structure of the atmosphere, particularly below the clouds, where we cannot directly observe them."

For those who think they don't have the expertise or skill to examine spacecraft images of Jupiter, don't worry. The Jovian Vortex Hunter project has several helpful guides and tutorials on the different types of features in these images and tips on identifying vortices. Sankar said that every image is examined by at least 16 people.

"If one person is having trouble categorizing an image, maybe others will, too," Sankar said. "That might indicate that we have found something new or unique that we more closely examine."

Sankar said the information they get from the citizen scientists will not only be used to study Jupiter but will also help to write a computer algorithm that could speed future identification of Jupiter's atmospheric features by combining computer help with human expertise.

The Jovian Vortex Hunter citizen science project is funded at the University of Minnesota by a NASA grant in partnership with the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, IL.

In addition to Sankar, the Jovian Vortex Hunter research team includes Lucy Fortson, a University of Minnesota physics and astronomy professor and co-founder of the Zooniverse platform; Shawn Brueshaber, a postdoctoral researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) run by CalTech; Candice Hansen-Koharcheck, a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute and the PI of the JunoCam instrument; Glenn Orton, the supervisor for JPL's Planetary and Exoplanetary Atmospheres Group; Chris Lintott, an astronomy professor at Oxford University and co-founder of Zooniverse; and Kameswara Mantha, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with the Zooniverse team.

To join the project as a citizen scientist, go to the Jovian Vortex Hunter website.

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
Ezra Miller. Photo: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Ezra Millers quirky 96-acre Vermont hideaway appears less idyllic by the hour. On Thursday, a Rolling Stone investigation revealed that a 25-year-old woman and her three children  age 1 to 5  have been living at The Flash actors Vermont farm in a roommate situation that worries the childrens father, as well as two sources close to the situation. The two sources say theyre concerned with the living arrangements because Millers home has unattended guns strewn across the living room, while there are mature marijuana plants growing on the property. According to one of the sources, the 1-year-old child allegedly played with a loose bullet and placed it in her mouth.

Local sources tell Rolling Stone that the mother and children have been reportedly living at the Stamford, Vermont, property since mid-April. The mother allegedly met Miller during one of their eventful trips to Hilo, Hawaii, in March. The childrens father alleges that Miller flew the mother and children out to Vermont without his knowledge. The father was not able to speak or see his children before their departure, he claims. He says that hes been trying to pick up his children since April, and he learned about the unsafe conditions in mid-May. When the father called Vermonts Department of Children and Families for a wellness check, the organization said nothing was wrong, according to text messages reviewed by the site.

According to Instagram posts reviewed by the site, the mother and children  who remain anonymous  appear to still be living at the Vermont farm. Sources claim that there are as many as eight assault weapons, rifles, and handguns strewn about the home. They also allege that there has been homegrown-marijuana use around the children that hasnt been properly ventilated. The marijuana allegedly grown on the property exceeds the limit for unlicensed cultivation, Rolling Stone confirmed with Vermonts Cannabis Control Board. Millers friend Whitney Suters has claimed that he and Miller run a weed company together  Rebel Alliance Cannabis. Rolling Stone asked why the father has not confronted Miller or gone to the police. I dont want [the children] to see anything like that. I just want them to see that, Hey [Dad] showed up, lets get in the car and go. Its been traumatic enough, he says. Vulture has reached out to Miller for comment but did not hear back by time of publishing.
This story first ran in Buffering, Vultures newsletter about the streaming industry. Head to vulture.com/buffering and subscribe today! Dont worry, there will still be dragons. Photo-Illustration: Vulture. Photo: HBO Max

As much as this has been the year from hell for Netflix, 2022 up until now has been nothing short of heavenly for rival HBO Max. Subscriber numbers are way up, its content is connecting with audiences (and awards voters), and even its initially buggy user interface has been vastly improved. But while success usually brings stability in business, the second half of the year will likely be anything but stable for HBO Max. With new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav already moving fast to put his stamp on his newly supersized company, industry insiders are buzzing about big changes being contemplated at the streamer, ranging from the elimination of entire program departments to even ditching the HBO Max branding altogether.

If youve been paying even a little bit of attention the last few months to the reporting surrounding the Zaslav-led Discovery takeover of the former WarnerMedia, nothing about the notion of significant disruption at any division within the company will come as a surprise. Lots of very talented execs have already been pushed out the door, ambitious film and TV projects have been scrapped, and an entire streaming platform (RIP, CNN+) was shut down days into existence. The 11 months it took for federal regulators to approve the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery gave Zaslav and top lieutenant JB Perrette (now head of global streaming at the company) nearly a year to contemplate how they wanted to do things. The fact that things are (mostly) going swimmingly at HBO Max isnt going to stop them from executing his vision for how to build on whatever success the streamer has had to date, as well as fix any mistakes he thinks were made by former owners AT&T.

David Zaslav. Photo: Taylor Hill/WireImage

So far, Zaslav and his team have made only one definitive pronouncement about the future of the service: HBO Max and Discovery+ will be folded into a single unified app at some point (relatively) soon, once the not-inconsiderable technical challenges can be figured out (theres a lot of content on Discovery) and the company decides how much more, if anything, to charge for the supersized service. Beyond that, everything else is speculation  though as usual in Hollywood, thats not keeping folks from chattering about what may be in store on several fronts:

 Will Warner Bros. keep making movies just for Max? Last year, former WarnerMedia boss Jason Kilar announced an ambitious plan to have Warner Bros. Pictures produce at least ten big feature films directly for Max. One of them  a remake of Father of the Bride  debuted last week. But Ive talked to industry insiders who say its now an open question whether Zaslav wants to keep soaking millions into expensive movies that never see the inside of a cinema. We got the first hint of this philosophy last month when news broke that the exec had decided to scrap an already-announced Max feature film based on DCs Wonder Twins characters. THR reported the move was made because Zaslav doesnt want any DC films to debut without making a stop in theaters, and that the other movies on the Made for Max slate should now come in with a budget under $35 million.

Industry insiders say its an open question whether Zaslav wants to keep soaking millions into expensive movies that never see the inside of a cinema.

Still, one industry insider tells me theres a broader debate going on inside the company about whether even lower-budget films like Father of the Bride might benefit from having a brief theatrical run, particularly since all Warner movies now come to Max roughly 45 days after opening in moviehouses. That would effectively end the idea of Warner Bros. Pictures making movies directly for Max, though its possible the studio could still make the same number of films in total: Theyd just play in theaters before jumping to streaming. While this would fly against current conventional wisdom in the film business that theres no longer room for smaller films in cinemas, Zaslav is very much a believer in theatrical windows, one industry source told me. A rep for the studio declined comment.

 Does Discovery take over HBO Maxs unscripted unit? Discoverys programming expertise is unscripted television, and with so many Discovery-branded reality shows headed to Max as part of the plan to unite the apps, there has been talk about big cuts to Maxs unscripted team for months. Insiders Elaine Low last month reported on industry speculation that top unscripted execs on the Warners side could be headed for the exits soon, while last week Puck News noted that Max unscripted staffers  the folks behind titles such as Legendary and FBoy Island  were convinced layoffs were going to be announced last Friday even though there were no such announcements planned. But as Puck also noted, those staffers are likely right to be worried. Given Discoverys expertise on the unscripted front, industry insiders I spoke with this week tell me its possible Team Zaslav might decide to just eliminate the HBO Max reality-show division altogether, while continuing to fund the separate (and highly decorated) documentaries unit. An HBO Max spokeswoman declined comment.

 A name change? While this is probably lower down on the priority list for Warner Bros. Discovery execs, theres once again talk that the HBO Max name may not be long for this world. Speculation about a name change has been going on almost from the minute Max was announced. Many folks inside the pre-merger company worried not only about diluting the HBO brand but more importantly were concerned that HBO had very little resonance for audiences outside of the U.S. (In much of Europe, for instance, HBO programs have long aired under the Sky TV banner.) CNBCs Alex Sherman has been all over this internal debate, documenting dissatisfaction with the branding back in December 2020 and then again last October, when he reported that those same anti-Max dissidents were getting ready to lobby Zaslav to ditch the name for something else once he took over.

One non-Warner Bros. Discovery producer (and former exec) I spoke with thinks a rebranding would let Zaslav fix a big AT&T mistake.

This time, as Sherman noted, the justification for a switcheroo is that with all the new Discovery content coming to the platform, HBO Max doesnt offer the best description of what the service offered consumers. A new ID would thus provide an opening to reach the millions of consumers (both in the U.S. and elsewhere) for whom 90 Day Fiance is a bigger draw than Succession. HBO-produced shows would still be branded as such on the app, of course, but the marketing for the platform would then treat HBO shows as simply one planet in a bigger content universe. One non-Warner Bros. Discovery producer (and former exec) I spoke with thinks a rebranding would let Zaslav fix a big AT&T mistake, though he actually argues for a slightly less dramatic change to the name. It should always have been HBO+, he said, predicting the current Max moniker will not last.

As interesting as the pro-name change argument may be, Zaslav may ultimately decide its not worth the investment in time and resources to make what is at the core a cosmetic change. And as for the other possible changes at Max discussed in this weeks newsletter, it is worth repeating: This is speculation. According to multiple sources familiar with the thinking of Warner Bros. Discover execs, very little final has been decided beyond combining HBO Max and Discovery+. So while there are strong hints that some layoffs are all but certain to hit Maxs reality-TV team, they could end up being less dramatic than what some in the reality-TV community fear.

Likewise, in terms of Max original movies, THRs reporting indicates those titles with lower budgets and already in the pipeline will probably be fine. Zaslav may decide to keep having his movie studio produce a slate of cost-conscious films exclusive to Max. Or he could simply decide that, moving forward, those same titles now deemed Max Originals will get at least some form of theatrical release, even if box-office expectations are modest. If so, that would be win-win for the film studio (its still making movies) and the streaming side (theyre still getting movies which will be brand new to the vast majority of subscribers).

What also seems unlikely to change much is the HBO Max content team run by network vet Casey Bloys, which as noted earlier has been on fire of late. Headed into next months Emmy nominations, the combo of HBO and HBO Max is the favorite to score the most number of noms, having just cleaned up in the just-announced TCA Awards nominations. This year has also seen the launch of several hits, including Winning Time, The Gilded Age, Julia, Our Flag Means Death, and Peacekeeper. And while its too soon to say how critics and audiences will react, the August arrival of House of the Dragon promises to revive at least a little bit of that Game of Thrones magic.

Even before the streaming era, HBO has gone through periods where things have seemed a bit bumpy and observers have questioned its future (remember all those stories declaring the network toast after The Sopranos and Sex and the City signed off?) It is possible that after a year of non-stop momentum, HBO Max could be in for a little bit of turbulence as new owners step into the cockpit and adjust the services flight plan. But as long as the streamers core content pipeline remains strong, and subscriber growth stays steady, it seems likely all the changes (and rumors about changes) swirling around HBO Max will end up being remembered as little more than background noise.
Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival

Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall are reportedly divorcing, after six years of marriage. The model and self-described billionaire tyrant wed in March 2016, when he was 85 and Hall was 59. It was what the Washington Post called Murdochs fourth, and shortest, marriage. It was Halls first, although she did have a long-term partnership and several children with Mick Jagger. While together, the pair even had a couple name: RupHall.

It was Murdochs third marriage to Wendi Deng that appears to have inspired everyones favorite comedy(?), Succession. While married to Deng, a former News Corp employee, Murdoch broke the trust controlling his media empire to include his two daughters from his third marriage. Heir apparent Lachlan Murdoch (say this in a Logan Roy voice in your head) fucked off to Australia. Then big chunks of Murdochs empire went to Disney, he married Hall, and Lachlan returned to the News Corp fold. According to the Washington Post, the split from Hall is unlikely to affect the trust, but that he may be more inclined to take more interest in the goings-on of the two companies his family controls.
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In a disturbing sign of just how much the White House has lost its way, President Joe Biden is asking both Congress and state governments to agree to a three-month suspension of the gasoline tax. Gas tax holidays are generally a poor tool for combating rising prices, but they would be especially damaging right now.

When the government passes a tax cut, it cant control directly who benefits. The so-called incidence of the tax cut is determined by the forces of supply and demand. If demand is relatively fixed, then the tax will tend to benefit buyers. If supply is more inelastic, then more of the benefits will go toward sellers. The best the government can do is observe how the incidence of taxation lands in practice, then adjust policy accordingly.

Consider the case of Maryland, which suspended its gas tax for a month last spring. Analysis suggests that consumers may have saved up to 26 cents per gallon  with another 10 cents captured by sellers. That extra 10 cents per gallon profit encouraged gasoline refiners to push more supply into Maryland instead of other states.

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It was that extra supply, not the tax suspension, that lowered costs to Maryland residents. After the tax holiday ended, gas prices were higher in Maryland than in neighboring states.

If all 50 states and the federal government enacted a gas tax holiday, refiners would not be able to simply adjust supply from one state to another; they would just have to produce more gasoline. Yet a lack of refining capacity is precisely why US gasoline prices are so high to begin with.

Biden seemed to recognize this fact in a letter he sent to refiners last week urging them to increase their production. To do that, they would need to invest both time and money. A three-month tax holiday would increase demand now, encouraging consumers to do more vacation driving  before capacity can be increased  and then would push demand down later in the year, after capacity investments have been completed. Instead of saving consumers money, a nationwide gas tax holiday is likely to lead to even higher profits for refiners in the short term while reducing their incentive to invest for the long term.

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Meanwhile, its clear that the administration would like to reduce demand for oil and gas over the next decade, potentially stranding any new investments that the industry makes. Its precisely this mismatch between the White Houses short-term demands and its long-term policy that has made the entire oil and gas industry hesitant to expand.

If the White House were serious about addressing the issue of gasoline shortages, there are steps it could take  but it needs to be more creative.

One such idea comes from Employ America, a left-of-center think tank that takes the market seriously: The Department of Energy could work with the Federal Reserve to sell insurance to oil producers against falling prices. If demand for oil stays high, or if geopolitics takes more supply off the market, then the insurance will expire unused. If the demand for oil drops, the Department of Energy can take advantage of the lower prices to both refill and expand the USs strategic petroleum reserve, thus blunting the price shock.

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Instead, the administration is threatening refiners with antitrust actions, while congressional Democrats are mulling a windfall profits tax. A gas tax holiday  and the increase in windfall profits  would put Congress and industry on a collision course.

If the Biden administration wants the oil and gas industry to produce more gasoline to bring down prices, then it will have to do something it seems loath to do: work with industry to put it in a more dominant position globally. That way, even as demand from the US falls, the industry can increase its exports. A three-month gas tax holiday would be the worst of both worlds  encouraging more domestic consumption precisely when production is at capacity, while doing nothing to help industry expand internationally.

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 Sorry, But for You, Oil Trades at $250 a Barrel: Javier Blas

 In US-Saudi Reset, the Kingdom Holds All the Cards: Bobby Ghosh

 Big Oils Windfall Creates a Quandary for the Industry: Liam Denning

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Karl W. Smith is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. Previously, he was vice president for federal policy at the Tax Foundation and assistant professor of economics at the University of North Carolina.

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When President Joe Biden visits Saudi Arabia next month, hell be moving past the antipathy he expressed during the presidential campaign toward the Saudi government and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Hes right when he says that whatever his personal feelings about the Saudis human-rights record, the US partnership with Riyadh is indispensable, for reasons ranging from oil prices to the containment of Iran to great-power competition with China.

But Biden shouldnt avoid raising human rights with King Salman and the crown prince, known as MBS. A serious conversation about ongoing abuses should be a win-win for the US and the Saudis.

During a campaign debate, Biden spoke for the anger of many Democrats, and even some Republicans in Congress, when he vowed to make Saudi Arabia a pariah state. Democrats were enraged by the Saudi governments excessive enthusiasm for then President Donald Trump. That was compounded by concerns over the civilian deaths and devastation of the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

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Antagonism coalesced over the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. The killing was heinous, and Khashoggi had a lot of outraged friends in Washington (including myself).

The grim fact, though, is that justice for the dead is almost never possible, and certainly not for Khashoggi. Even Turkey has given up on the issue and transferred the trial of the accused parties over to Saudi Arabia. Europe has long moved on. Washington, alone, had been struggling to turn the page. Biden recognizes now is the time.

But human rights remain a significant issue, and Biden can raise them in a forward-looking manner that can produce results, rather than a quixotic, backward-looking request for unavailable justice.

Biden ought to bring up specific current cases with MBS and the king when they meet on July 15. He ought to start with asking for the release of the jailed adult children and son-in-law of former top Saudi intelligence official Saad Aljabri, who is in exile.

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They are imprisoned on money-laundering and conspiracy charges that seem obviously trumped up, and are in effect being held hostage because their father was an associate of MBSs most potent rival in the Saudi royal family, former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef. Nayef and Aljabri were key figures in cooperating with Washington on counterterrorism at the height of the al-Qaeda threat.

Biden should also appeal on behalf of the group of recently freed womens-rights advocates, including restoring the right to travel of Loujain Alhathloul, a key campaigner for womens right to drive. He should push for allowing the recently released blogger Raif Badawi to use social media as well as travel. And he should press for the release of jailed government critics including the aid worker Abdulrahman al-Sadhan and activist Mohammed al-Rabiah.

Biden is right that statecraft involves unpalatable choices. Hes not the first president to have campaigned on a human-rights platform only to meet the realities of the Middle East. So did Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

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Saudi Arabia isnt the only country on the itinerary that recently saw the death of a prominent journalist critic. His first stop, on July 13, will be in Jerusalem. Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank have been strongly implicated in what looks like a deliberate killing this May of the Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Biden should raise that issue and see what he can do about curtailing other Israeli abuses in the Palestinian territories.

But the more politically sensitive journey is to Saudi Arabia. If Biden can come away with some progress on outstanding human-rights cases, it will help justify his decision to go forward with the relationship. And MBS and company will gain a more sympathetic hearing for not only their strategic partnership with Washington but also the social and cultural liberalization underway in the country, which has been overshadowed by the Khashoggi murder.

There will still be critics on the left and right who want to terminate the US-Saudi partnership. But theyre basically neo-isolationists opposed to US global leadership. Washington and Riyadh have been partners for decades because they share a common interest in maintaining the global and regional status quo. That hasnt changed. By pressing on human rights, Biden can make the partnership stronger.

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More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:



Bidens Risky Trip to the Mideast Is Also Pointless: Zev Chafets



Middle East Is Frenemy Territory for U.S. and Russia: Hussein Ibish

 Saudi Megaproject Is Big on Hubris and Low on Practicality: Bobby Ghosh

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Hussein Ibish is a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

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The biggest story in US politics right now continues to be the state of the Republican Party, and the bottom line is: Its complicated. So its a good time to take a quick tour of developments within the party.Item: A poll in New Hampshire has former President Donald Trump losing narrowly to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a 2024 primary. There are two ways of looking at this poll. One is that it adds to the evidence, contrary to some speculation, that Trump is hardly a sure thing to win the nomination next time. The other? Its one poll, in one state, more than 18 months before anyone votes. It tells us very, very, little. Oh sure, it lets us know that DeSantis has decent name recognition already. But remember: By the time voters turn out, every significant candidate will be well known. Bottom line: Be wary of anyone who tells you at this point that any candidate is a sure thing to win or to be an also-ran. (And yes, Ive learned the second part the hard way.)Item: Trump is taking credit for endorsing the winner in the Alabama Senate primary run-off. This is actually more about reporters than it is about the Republican Party. Trump had originally endorsed one candidate, then pulled his support and switched to the polling leader. He did a similar thing in the Pennsylvania governors primary, with a very late endorsement to a big polling leader. Hey, theres nothing wrong with endorsing sure winners. Its part of politics. But any pundit or journalist who buys the idea that the subsequent results say anything at all about Trumps strength within the party or among Republican voters is failing a very easy test. The truth is that Trumps endorsements havent been very effective in moving voters during this election cycle (or, for that matter, previous ones). That doesnt mean Republican voters dont like him. They do. But voters usually like all of their partys politicians.Item: That Alabama nominee (and almost certainly the states future senator), Katie Britt, is 40 years old. Good job, Republicans! Last year it appeared that theyd be replacing retiring (and elderly) Senator Richard Shelby with someone over 60. All things equal, thats generally a bad idea. The key to having a wide range of ages in Congress is to nominate plenty of young candidates, especially  as is the case here  for open, safe seats. I just wish Vermont Democrats had the same commitment to choosing someone who can grow into the job.Item: Senate Republicans continue to be more open to compromise and, basically, acting like normal politicians during this Congress than many people expected. Theyve reached a deal on gun safety. Theres a bipartisan bill rolling out on insulin pricing. And there are small things, too. HuffPosts Jennifer Bendery reports that Montana Senator Steve Daines heaped praises on Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and her team for their response to flooding at Yellowstone National Park. Its good to see a Republican senator acknowledge such help, because it indicates that the positive, healthy incentives built into the system are working. Too often, Republicans have acted as if any cooperation with Democratic administrations was a mistake because it would tend to make the president more popular and, therefore, cost Republicans in the next election. Such effects in truth are pretty marginal. But its good for their constituents if Democratic administrations have incentives to govern well even in states they wont carry in the next election.Item: Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who testified about his commitment to the rule of law and the Constitution before the Jan. 6 committee on Tuesday, turned around and said that, if the choice for president in 2024 came down to Trump and President Joe Biden, hed vote for Trump, much to the (understandable) consternation of many Trump opponents. A few things about this. First is that Democrats should recognize that Trump creates almost impossible dilemmas for Republicans. Second, many Republicans have yet to find any way out of that dilemma. Third is that all of this was entirely predictable (and predicted) back in 2015 and 2016, and Republicans should have realized it and dealt with it back then. And fourth is that US democracy needs all the support it can get. Pro-democracy forces should therefore take whatever allies they can find, for as far as those allies are willing to go.Would it be ideal if folks such as Bowers were prepared to take a strong anti-Trump position, and were willing to completely purge any trace of anti-democratic feeling from the party? Of course. But real-world politics isnt about ideals. What Bowers did when it mattered counts, and how he spoke up about it counts. Whether hes able to be as strong an ally as one might wish or not.
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DAMACUS, Syria  The international airport in Syrias capital of Damascus resumed flights on Thursday after nearly two weeks following an Israeli airstrike that caused serious damage to the facility, a private company said. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Cham Wings Airlines said it had four flights that took off from the Damascus International Airport on Thursday for Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.

The June 10 Israeli airstrike caused significant damage to infrastructure and runways and rendered the main runway unusable.

Shortly after the strike, work began to repair the damage and flights have been mostly diverted to the international airport in the northern city of Aleppo, Syrias largest city.

Israels military has declined to comment on the airstrike. The facility is located just south of Damascus, where Syrian opposition activists say Iran-backed militiamen are active and have arms depots.

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Israel has staged hundreds of strikes against targets in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations. The airport strike marked a major escalation in Israels campaign, further ratcheting up tensions between Israel on one side and Iran and its Lebanese ally, the militant Hezbollah group, on the other.

Israel says it targets bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Hezbollah, which has fighters deployed in Syria fighting on the side of President Bashar Assads government forces and ships arms believed to be bound for the militias.

On Tuesday, a Cham Wings Airlines flight from the United Arab Emirates landed at an airport used by Russias military in the coastal province of Latakia in western Syria. The flight was the first to land at the airbase since the strike at Damascus airport.

It was also the first Syrian international flight to land at the facility since Russia took it over after joining the war in Syria in September 2015, helping tip the balance of power in favor of Assads forces.

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The full or partial curtailing of more than 1,000 foreign companies operations in Russia since Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 22 has provided perhaps the most spectacular evidence of the damage the imperialist adventure has inflicted on Russia. There is, however, another side to it: Its a potential bonanza for Russians willing to take over the assets orphaned by the Western stampede for the exits.Potential is the key word here.

At the start of this year, Russia had $521 billion of accumulated direct foreign investment, according to the Russian Central Bank. Much of it was into import-supporting networks such as store chains selling foreign brands, but a lot of the money also had gone into industrial and agricultural assets that are less dependent on branding. Once Putin attacked, however, many foreign companies dumped their Russian operations because retaining them could have resulted in heavier penalties from financial markets. Last month, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of the Yale School of Management and his colleagues published a paper showing that stock market returns in late February through mid-April were, on average, positive for firms that left Russia or scaled back their presence there and negative for those that dug in or even tried to buy time.To give an example of the trade-off involved, McDonalds Corp. had 847 restaurants in Russia at the start of the year, out of 10,785 in operated markets  that is, those where the corporation has a presence  outside the US. Assuming their average sales were comparable with other restaurants in these markets, their loss would mean a revenue hit of about $950 million a year, based on 2021 data. But that would be just 4% of adjusted sales; based on Sonnenfelds calculations, staying in Russia would have meant an average 6.8% hit to a companys market capitalization from Feb. 23 through April 19  in McDonalds case, an $11.8 billion shareholder value loss based on its Feb. 23 market cap.

The stock market is fickle, of course, but if you can count on one thing in the current crisis, its a constant stream of negative news involving Russia. To the Russian government, the foreign firms departures are a major headache, not because Russians would shed many tears for the brands but primarily because some of the companies were big employers. According to data from the companies themselves, McDonalds had 62,000 workers, IKEA AV 12,400, and the French automaker Renault SA employed 4,400 people in its fully-owned Moscow factory alone, not counting the 32,500 people working at Russians biggest carmaker, AvtoVAZ, that was until recently majority-owned by Renault.

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Initially, the nationalization of all the orphaned assets was a subject of serious discussion, with state propagandists like RT channel head Margarita Simonyan pushing it as a solution. Theres already a high-profile example: The Moscow city government took over the Renault Moscow factory, promptly restoring to it its Soviet-era brand, Moskvich. But this is not the Kremlins favorite option.

Neither the technocratic team in the government nor even Putin himself want to burn bridges with the Western majors quitting the market: Theyre hoping for an eventual resumption of business as usual, both for economic reasons and to score propaganda points. Putin likes to mask a forced turn toward autarky with talk of international openness and entrepreneurial freedoms, as his speech to the St. Petersburg Economic Forum last week showed. As he exhorts Russian businesspeople not to fall into the old trap of investing in the West in search of better property protections, he wants to be able to blame Western governments for the foreign companies exodus  to say it was they, not he, who caused the loss of business and, potentially, Russian jobs. Its important for him not to be seen as a confiscator as Western nations freeze oligarchs assets and Russian Central Bank reserves.

The Russian parliament has given its preliminary approval to a bill that would allow the authorities to put the Russian assets of foreign companies under government-appointed external management and eventually to sell the business if the owner shuts it down or lays off large numbers of staff. This law, however, is unlikely to be used much except as a threat. Instead, the three scenarios that have emerged since the Ukraine invasion began will be applied to an increasing number of Western firms Russian subsidiaries.

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The first scenario  likely to be applied in exceptional cases only  involves soft nationalization. When the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade took over Renaults 68% stake in AvtoVAZ last month, the ministry granted Renault an option to buy it back within six years. This deal wasnt exactly made in heaven, since Renault took a serious revenue hit: Even with the effect of the Ukraine war, Russia provided 894 million euros in sales in the first quarter of this year, and in 2021, it accounted for 10% of total sales. But at least the French automaker was consulted  chief financial officer Thierry Pieton mentioned the negotiations with the Russian government on the companys latest earnings call in April  and it has not publicly rejected the option.

The second scenario involves the handover of a foreign companys Russian business to its local management or partners. The Finnish packaging manufacturer Stora Enso Oyj, for example, has sold its business to management, giving up 3% of its sales but taking care of 1,100 Russian workers. Even though Stora Enso chief executive officer Annica Bresky stated bluntly on the companys latest warnings call that we do not see Russia as a business partner for the future, such arrangements are by their nature relatively open to reversal, given that the parties worked together quite smoothly before Putin attacked Ukraine.

McDonaldss decision to sell its restaurants to Alexander Govor, whose company ran 25 of the establishments in Siberia, fits the same pattern despite the rather unfortunate rebranding as Tasty. Period that the chain has received under the new owner. (Simonyan, for one, hated the new name, sarcastically suggesting It Runs, So What the Hell as an alternative name for the former Renault operation.) If McDonalds ever comes back, itll be as easy for Govor to plaster its logo all over the restaurants as it was to scrape it off: At any rate, the US company has left all the equipment behind, and the staff using it are largely the same.

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Like Govor, the Russian firms that have acquired, or are bidding for, the assets of big retail companies such as IKEA or OBI Group Holding SE are about to try running brand-dependent businesses without their household-name brands. Any losses they incur, however, may well be recouped if the infrastructure can be sold back to the companies that built it, preferably sometime soon.In such deals, the sale price likely is low enough to write off the assets entire value, or most of it. Thats what it takes to keep the door open for a return to the Russian market either when Russia is a normal country again in some benign version of a post-Putin future  or, as the case may be, once the world is less shocked by Russian atrocities.

The third scenario is the sale to a Russian business that wont be likely to sell it back at any point in the future. This is what Canadian-based gold mining company Kinross Gold Corporation has done with its Russian operation, divesting it to the Russian firm Highland Gold Mining Ltd. The companies initially agreed that Highland would buy the gold mines for a deferred payment of $680 million, $670 million of which Kinross promptly announced it was writing off, given the uncertainties the Russian economy faces. But the Russian government commission on foreign investment only agreed to the deal if the price was no higher than $340 million. There was some upside to this for Kinross: The cash payment was no longer deferred.

In an interview with the daily Izvestia, Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Evtyukhov explained the ministrys policy regarding such deals. If a foreign seller wants anything approaching the full market price for its assets, the seller should get it in rubles and do whatever it wants with it in Russia. But if it agrees to a 50%-60% discount, the payment can be made offshore, in other currencies.

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Only in this last scenario does the Russian buyer immediately harvest some value  in the form of the discount on what the tangible assets, such as gold mines, were worth before the Ukraine invasion. Other kinds of deals are essentially caretaker arrangements that represent, for both sides, bets on normalization  and the Russian buyers hold the riskier end of these bets. While the seller can just take an impairment, and shareholders will not ask too many questions about it, given the reason for the divestment, the buyers agree, implicitly or explicitly, to maintain jobs without the marketing clout and the global supply chains that the Western brands had brought to the businesses.

The billion-dollar question for them is whether Russia will ever be normal again.

More from Bloomberg Opinion:

 The Weakness of Putins Economic Show of Force: Clara Ferreira Marques

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 China and Russia Are Now More Inseparable Than Ever: Minxin Pei

 Putin Prepares to Declare Himself a Conqueror: Leonid Bershidsky

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Leonid Bershidsky, formerly Bloomberg Opinions Europe columnist, is a member of the Bloomberg News Automation Team. He recently published Russian translations of George Orwells 1984 and Franz Kafkas The Trial.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

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In a stunningly broad and transformative decision, the Supreme Court has struck down the New York law that says you can only carry a concealed handgun outside your home if you can show you have proper cause to do so. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight For New Yorkers and residents of six other states including California and Massachusetts, this means concealed carry is now basically an automatic right. Anyone you meet on the street or in the car ahead of you may be lawfully packing.

For gun rights more generally, the opinion is perhaps even more consequential. Decided 6-3 along pure ideological lines, the opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas astonishingly makes Second Amendment rights even more protected than all the other fundamental rights in the constitutional pantheon. It also applies historical analysis so narrowly and bizarrely that it calls into question the very practice.

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In a separate concurrence joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Brett Kavanaugh insisted that some gun regulations might still be constitutional, including bans on gun possession by the mentally ill. Perhaps he was alluding to the bill currently in the Senate; perhaps not. In any case, Kavanaughs insistence that some gun regulation remains permissible tells you a lot about how far Thomass opinion went.

In all other cases, the court first asks if the right exists, then asks if there is an appropriate reason to abrogate the right based on a compelling or important government need. In gun cases, Thomas wrote, the only inquiry is whether there is a historical analogy to the current regulation deriving from the moments the Second Amendment was passed or the 14th amendment made applicable to the states.

The case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, is one for the history books. Historians are going to be trying to figure out how, at precisely the moment when the United States is facing an epidemic of mass shootings, the Supreme Court could be expanding citizens right to guns  and elevating its protection above that of other basic rights.

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When juxtaposed with the courts expected abortion decision, the Bruen case reveals a court that is contracting womens right to control their bodies and choose not to bear children even as it expands the right to bear arms. Increasingly, this court appears to be the Thomas court, with the most conservative justice convincing the other conservatives to follow his lifelong practice of ignoring precedent and rejecting the idea that the real-world consequences of judicial decisions should matter to the courts.

To understand whats so shocking about the broader implications of Bruen, you must first understand that, when courts decide the First Amendment or Fourteenth Amendment or other constitutional claim, they dont just ask if a law or other state action violates the Constitution. Thats the first question, to be sure. But after asking that, the court always goes on to ask whether the government had a good enough reason to limit the right in this situation.

For the most highly protected rights, the court asks if the government has a compelling interest and has narrowly tailored its action to serving that interest. That is, the court asks if the ends of the governments action are compelling and the means chosen are narrowly tailored to the ends. When it come to less protected rights, the government gets it easier: The court asks if the governments interest is important and if the means are substantially related to the ends.

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The most astonishing part of Thomass legal reasoning in the Bruen case is the assertion that, when it comes to the Second Amendment, there is no need to ask how important the right is; how compelling or important the governments interest is; or how well the governments means fit the end. Rather, the only question for the courts is whether a given gun regulation is consistent with the nations historical tradition of gun regulation.

This elevation of gun rights ahead of all other rights would be outrageous enough on its own. But the court then went on to apply its own historical test with a degree of outcome orientation I have rarely seen in any Supreme Court opinion.

In the past, the court had said that the right to bear arms was one inherited from our English ancestors. English legal tradition restricted the carrying of firearms in multiple ways. But Thomas said that English practice was in fact not relevant to assessing the New York law because he saw little reason to think the Framers would have thought it applicable to the New World. Such reasoning blatantly contradicts the whole idea that the right to bear arms was derived from English practice.

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Three colonies (out of 13, so almost a quarter) restricted public carrying of firearms, indicating the framers themselves would have accepted some restrictions. Thomas rejected that historical evidence, too, saying that today, unlike in the 18th century, handguns are the quintessential self-defense weapon.

After the Constitution was ratified, many states either treated carrying weapons as a criminal offense or passed laws against the concealed carry of small weapons or required people to post a bond before carrying a gun in public. Thomas rejected all this evidence as irrelevant, too.

Finally, in the latter part of the 19th century, with westward expansion, still more localities banned public carry. Thomas said that the evidence of these localized restrictions could not overcome an otherwise enduring American tradition permitting public carry.

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The upshot is that, having said that history is the only test of gun rights regulation, Thomas then systematically reread the historical record to render a long tradition of regulation legally irrelevant. Its hard to read the opinion and take seriously the idea that history is really a guide at all for the six conservative justices.

Justice Stephen Breyer, joined by the courts other two liberals, dissented. With his characteristic pragmatism, he pointed out rising gun violence and mass shooting. Breyer has spent his entire judicial career  and his career as a lawyer and professor before that  trying to make government and the law actually work to protect and promote the needs of the public. Seen from that lifelong perspective, the Bruen decision looks like a kind of madness.

Twisting the knife, Thomas actually challenged Breyers very reference to the real-world reality of gun violence. The anti-pragmatism of the conservative justices could hardly be more overt. If consequences dont matter, there is no reason to ask about the governments interest in protecting public safety.

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As he nears retirement in the coming week or so, Breyer must be agonized by the rise of a court that considers putting its head in the sand to be good constitutional judgment.

More From Noah Feldman on the Supreme Court in Bloomberg Opinion:

 Supreme Court Makes Immigration Lockup Harder to Escape: Noah Feldman

 Supreme Court Has a Nasty Surprise in Store for Business: Noah Feldman

 Threat to Kavanaugh Will Irrevocably Change Justices Lives: Noah Feldman

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of The Broken Constitution: Lincoln, Slavery and the Refounding of America.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

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Over the past few years, the world has experienced an escalating series of trade disruptions -- the US-China trade war, the Covid-19 pandemic and the supply-chain disruptions it caused, Russias invasion of Ukraine and the dueling sanctions and export controls that followed. Their cumulative impact has called into question the vision of a globalized economy. In response, some US officials are pushing friend-shoring -- a happy-sounding label for a world divided between free-market democracies and countries that align with the authoritarian regimes of China or Russia. Its a world in which supply chains could be more robust and less subject to economic blackmail. Its also likely a world thats poorer and less productive.

1. What is friend-shoring?

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has proposed friend-shoring as a means to insulate global supply chains from external disruption or economic coercion. The idea is for a group of countries with shared values to deploy policies encouraging companies to spread manufacturing within that group. The goal is to prevent less-like-minded nations from unfairly leveraging their market position in key raw materials, technologies or products to disrupt the US economy or those of its allies. Its one of several twists of the term off-shoring -- the large-scale push by companies earlier in the century to move what operations they could to places where it was cheaper to operate. Another iteration is re-shoring.

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2. Whats an example of something to friend-shore?

The US aims to reduce dependence on authoritarian regimes for key products like rare earths, magnets and other items that can be adapted for military purposes. The push will also seek to diversify away from Russian suppliers of critical commodities, particularly energy, food, and fertilizer. In some areas, such as semiconductors, the idea is to diversify sources among friendly nations. The US is heavily reliant on Taiwan, which faces security pressures from mainland China; the US has recently stepped up engagement on chips with South Korea.

3. Who would be the winners in friend-shoring?

Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and other Indo-Pacific countries would likely benefit as production plants, jobs and investments move toward nations deemed to be trustworthy by the US and its allies. Diversifying the geographic concentration of global supply chains will also help businesses become more resilient to external shocks like wars, famine, political changes or the next pandemic.

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4. Who would lose out?

The US-led effort is mainly targeted at non-market economy regimes like China that the US sees as unfairly supporting their domestic industries and at nations that violate international norms, like Russia. Such countries would see an economic hit as investments and jobs shift toward other regional trade partners. And, of course, there would be repercussions for the countries within a friend-shoring alliance.

5. What would the impact be?

A process that some are calling de-globalization and that others have called decoupling would likely lead to short-term supply shocks and higher prices -- developments not unlike those produced by the turmoil of recent years. In the long run, the outcome is likely to be lower economic growth due to lost efficiencies, higher costs and supply bottlenecks. Thats why Yellen expressed the hope that China would take Western human rights and national security concerns seriously, to preserve the benefits of deep economic integration with China -- not going to a bipolar world.

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 A 2020 Newsweek column credited a USAID official with coining the term allied-shoring.

 Yellens speech in which she described friend-shoring.

 An article and set of charts by Bloomberg Economics laying out the prospects and costs of de-globalization.

 An article looking at what the World Trade Organization thinks Russias invasion of Ukraine will do to global trade.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

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WASHINGTON  Federal agents searched a former top Justice Department officials home and seized records from key Republicans in at least five states linked to Donald Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 election, in what were clear signs that authorities are ramping up their investigation of associates of the former president.

Authorities on Wednesday searched the Virginia home of Jeffrey Clark, who was known at the Justice Department to champion Trumps false claims of election fraud. Agents in recent days also served subpoenas on the Republican Party chairmen of Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, three states that went for President Joe Biden and where Trump allies created slates of alternate electors intended to subvert the vote. And Republicans in two other states  Michigan and Pennsylvania  disclosed they had been interviewed by the FBI.

The Justice Department appears to be escalating its probe of pro-Trump efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which culminated in the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. The disclosures of law enforcement activity came as the U.S. House committee investigating the riot said it had new evidence of Trumps efforts and his knowledge that he had no legal basis to try to overturn the election.

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The committees Thursday hearing focused on Trumps desire to install Clark atop the Justice Department in his administrations last days. The reason for the search of Clarks home was not immediately clear and it was not known what information agents were searching for. The person who confirmed the search was not authorized to discuss it by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

In an interview Thursday night on Fox News Channel, Clark alleged the timing of the search warrant was highly politicized and questioned why his home was searched one day before the congressional hearing.

It looks highly coincidental and ... I just dont believe in coincidences, he said.

Both the committee and federal authorities are probing the use of replacements for duly chosen electors in seven battleground states that voted for Biden. Trump and his allies furiously pressured authorities in those states to replace Bidens electors with ones for him on specious or nonexistent allegations that his victory was stolen.

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The committee this week disclosed text messages that showed an aide to U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican and Trump ally, tried to hand-deliver fake elector certificates to an aide for former Vice President Mike Pence. The texts show Pences aide refused to accept the votes.

Johnson told a Wisconsin conservative talk radio host on Thursday that the fake elector slates came from the office of Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania. A spokesman for Kelly responded that Johnsons claim was patently false.

Said the spokesman, Matt Knoedler, Mr. Kelly has not spoken to Sen. Johnson for the better part of a decade, and he has no knowledge of the claims Mr. Johnson is making related to the 2020 election.

Among those who have received subpoenas in recent days, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation, was Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer.

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Nevada GOP Chair Michael McDonald turned over his phone to federal agents Wednesday when they approached him outside his car in Las Vegas and presented a warrant, according to another person familiar with the matter. McDonald in December 2020 stood outside Nevadas state capitol with other fake electors to swear a so-called oath of office, flanked by men in camouflage with semi-automatic rifles.

Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward, her husband, Michael Ward, and two other alternate electors also received subpoenas, according to a third person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

In Pennsylvania, FBI agents interviewed the chairman of the Allegheny County Republican Party at his home Thursday and gave him a subpoena for communications between him, Trump electors in the state and members of Trumps campaign and legal team, the party official, Sam DeMarco, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

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DeMarco said in a statement that his conduct as an elector was open, above-board and predicated solely on protecting President Trumps legal rights should he prevail in court. That is why I agreed to serve as an elector solely in the event the president prevailed in his legal challenge to the Pennsylvania vote.

And in Michigan, Michele Lundgren told the Detroit News that someone from the FBI served her with a subpoena Thursday and that another Trump elector was served on Wednesday. Lundgren, 72, said her discussion with the agent was long and pleasant and that she let one of the agents go through her phone and computer.

They kept asking me questions and asking me questions, and I kept telling them answers, she said.

Clarks home was searched by federal agents shortly before a committee hearing in which he was the focus. Three other former Justice Department officials testified about an extraordinary Jan. 3, 2021, Oval Office meeting at which Trump contemplated naming Clark  who led the departments civil division  as acting attorney general in place of Jeffrey Rosen, who resisted Trumps efforts to involve the agency.

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Trump relented only when other senior Justice Department officials warned Trump that they would resign if he followed through with his plan to replace Rosen with Clark.

A lawyer for Clark did not return an email and phone message seeking comment.

Chairman Bennie Thompson said he read about the raid on Clarks home moments before the hearing started. Were not privy to what the Department of Justices reasoning is for doing it, he said. As you know, we demonstrated that he was recommended to lead the Department of Justice and people felt that he was absolutely unqualified to do so.

Russ Vought, president of the Center for Renewing America, which Clark recently joined as a senior fellow, tweeted that federal officers forced Clark into the streets while he was wearing pajamas and took his electronic devices.

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All because Jeff saw fit to investigate voter fraud, Vought continued. This is not America, folks. The weaponization of govt must end. Let me be very clear. We stand by Jeff and so must all patriots in this country.

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Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, Sara Burnett in Chicago, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Sam Metz in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.

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For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.

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PERRYVILLE, Ark.  A man being booked into a central Arkansas jail on drug charges pulled out a gun and fatally shot a guard before someone disarmed him, authorities said Thursday. Jeremiah Story, a 21-year-old detention officer at the Perry County jail in Perryville, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, died at a hospital early Thursday, the State Police said in a news release.

Roderick Lewis, 37, shot Story in a bathroom late Wednesday night while Lewis was changing out of civilian clothes and into jail issued attire, said the State Police, which was asked to investigate by the county sheriffs office. A State Police spokesman said Lewis used a gun he had with him when he entered the jail. Lewis was charged with capital murder Thursday afternoon in Storys death.

It was not clear Thursday afternoon if Lewis has an attorney representing him.

Lewis, of North Little Rock, was arrested earlier Wednesday evening and was being detained on drug and drug paraphernalia charges.

A witness to the shooting was able to disarm Lewis, who was later transferred to the Faulkner County Detention Center in Conway, police said.

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CANBERRA, Australia  Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday he will meet President Emmanuel Macron in France next week to reset a bilateral relationship that was damaged when the previous Australian government canceled a submarine contract. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Albanese said Macron had invited him to visit France while he is in Europe to attend a NATO summit in Spain.

We do need to reset. Weve already had very constructive discussions. Weve brought to a close the arrangements that were in place over submarines, Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

France responded with fury when former Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced in September that Australia was canceling a 90 billion Australian dollar ($62 billion) contract for a French state-owned company to build a fleet of 12 conventional diesel-electric submarines.

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Instead, Australia had struck a deal with the United States and Britain to provide submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology.

France temporarily withdrew its ambassadors from the U.S. and Australia. Macron accused Morrison of lying to him over the French contract that was awarded in 2016. Morrison denied the accusation.

U.S. President Joe Biden told Macron weeks later that the U.S. had been clumsy in its handling of the Australian submarine alliance. Biden said he thought Macron had been informed long before the deal was announced.

Albaneses Labor Party came to power in elections on May 21. His government announced two weeks ago that it had agreed to pay Frances Naval Group a 555-million-euro ($583 million) settlement for breaking the contract.

Lawmakers from the previous Australian administration said the new government had paid too much.

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Albanese pointed to bureaucrats estimates before a Senate hearing in April that breaking the contract was expected to cost AU$5.5 billion ($3.8 billion).

He said his administration had brought that cost down to AU$3.4 billion ($2.3 billion) through the cooperation of Macron and the French government.

It is important that that reset occur. France, of course, is central to power in Europe. But its also a key power in the Pacific, in our own region as well, Albanese said.

Its just one of the reasons why this needs to be a relationship thats nurtured, not damaged. Were undertaking to do that. And next weeks visit is a very concrete sign of the repair thats been done already, Albanese added.

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NAIROBI, Kenya  East Africas leaders have responded to the threat of war between Rwanda and Congo by instructing a new regional force to deploy in eastern Congo and ordering an immediate cease-fire. A statement after the leaders meeting in Kenyas capital, Nairobi, didnt give details on the date of the forces deployment or its composition. Congos presidency later tweeted that the force should be operational in the coming weeks but shouldnt include Rwandan troops. The presidents of both countries attended Monday.

The regional heads of state adopted for immediate implementation the status of forces agreement, concept of operations and rules of engagement, the statement said. The heads of state told the force to cooperate with Congolese forces to stabilize the region.

There was no direct mention of Rwanda, which Congo has accused of supporting the M23 rebel group that has carried out renewed attacks in recent months. The statement noted the presence of foreign negative elements as a critical issue. Rwanda has long denied supporting the M23 rebels, who captured a key town in eastern Congo last week.

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Asked after Mondays meeting whether Rwanda would contribute troops to the regional force in eastern Congo, deputy government spokesman Alain Mukurarinda said he needed to check with the presidents office. Congo is not the one who chooses who should deploy or not, he added.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi on Friday accused Rwanda of trying to occupy his countrys land for its vast mineral wealth, hours after Rwanda said a Congolese soldier had crossed the border and begun shooting at Rwandan security forces and civilians before being shot dead.

Congos president has also called on international leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, to step up the pressure on Rwanda when it hosts the Commonwealth summit this week.

Each side has accused the other of incursions. Congo now seeks to suspend all agreements with Rwanda. Rwandas state minister for foreign affairs in charge of East African matters, Manasseh Nshuti, has said dialogue is the solution to the issues.

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Dynamics in eastern Congo were already strained by Congo and neighboring Uganda carrying out a joint operation there against another rebel group, the Allied Democratic Forces, according to a new report by the U.N. panel of experts on Congo. Both Uganda and Rwanda have long been accused of backing rebels and pursuing some of the regions rich mineral wealth, including gold.

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Associated Press writer Ignatius Ssuuna in Kigali, Rwanda, contributed.

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand  A man wounded four people in a stabbing rampage stopped by bystanders who brought him to the ground in a New Zealand city neighborhood Thursday, police said. Police District Commander Naila Hassan said the attack in Auckland was random and the suspect was in custody. She said there was no indication the attack was a hate crime, as the victims were of different genders, ethnicities and ages.

This was an extremely fast-moving incident, where our police staff responded quickly, apprehended the offender and prevented further harm to our communities, Hassan said.

She said the victims all suffered moderate injuries.

People in the neighborhood began following and surrounding the man after he began his attack and one brought him down using a walking crutch, Hassan said.

Members of the public acted with extreme bravery, she said.

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She said the man had been carrying a large knife and suffered moderate injuries when he was apprehended, and had been hospitalized as a result.

She said the attack, which began in the suburb of Murrays Bay, lasted less than 10 minutes.

New Zealand was the site of two violent stabbing rampages at supermarkets last year. One was considered a terror attack while a judge found no motive for the other attack.

Last September, a Muslim extremist inspired by the Islamic State group stabbed five people in an Auckland supermarket before police shot and killed him. Three of those he stabbed were critically injured and two other people were also injured in the melee, but all survived.

And in May last year, shoppers and staff at a Dunedin supermarket managed to stop a frenzied man from hurting others after he stabbed four people in a random attack, severely wounding three of them.

The Dunedin attacker, 43-year-old Luke Lambert, was convicted on four counts of attempted murder and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

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BANGKOK  Myanmars military government on Thursday confirmed that ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved to a prison compound in quarters separate from other detainees. Suu Kyi was arrested on Feb. 1, 2021, when the army seized power from her elected government. She was initially held at her residence in Naypyitaw, the capital, but was later moved to at least one other location. For most of the past year, she has been held at an undisclosed location in Naypyitaw, generally believed to be on a military base.

Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson for the ruling military council, confirmed in a text message to journalists that Suu Kyi was moved on Wednesday to the main prison in Naypyitaw, where she is being held separately in well-kept circumstances. News of her transfer had been reported Wednesday but not officially confirmed.

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He said Suu Kyi, having already been convicted in several cases, was transferred to the prison in accordance with the law.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is very concerned about the latest developments isolating Suu Kyi, which go against U.N. calls for her release and the release of all other political prisoners, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, adding we are concerned for her state.

A legal official familiar with Suu Kyis court proceedings said she is being held in a newly constructed building with three policewomen, whose duty is to assist her. Her ongoing trials will also be held at the prison, in another newly constructed facility. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release any information about her cases.

Suu Kyi, who turned 77 on Sunday, spent about 15 years in detention under a previous military government, but virtually all of it was under house arrest at her family home in Yangon, the countrys biggest city.

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The secret location where she had been held for most of the past year was a residence. She had nine people to help her there, and was allowed to keep a dog that was a gift arranged by one of her sons, said another legal official, who also asked not to be named for fear or repercussions from the government.

The official said neither her assistants nor the dog accompanied Suu Kyi to her new prison quarters.

Suu Kyi is being tried on multiple charges, including corruption. Her supporters say the charges are politically motivated to discredit her and legitimize the militarys seizure of power.

She has already been sentenced to 11 years imprisonment on charges of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, sedition and an initial count of corruption.

The prison where Suu Kyi is being held is slightly west of Naypyitaw. It was constructed in 2014 to temporarily hold detainees awaiting trial.

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One of the legal officials said Suu Kyis first hearing in the new prison courtroom was held Thursday in the case of violating the Official Secrets Act.

Defense lawyers cross examined three prosecution witnesses but details of their testimony was not available. All of Suu Kyis cases have been held in closed hearings. Her lawyers are prohibited from discussing the proceedings.

Suu Kyis co-defendants in the case are Australian economist Sean Turnell, who had been her advisor, and three former Cabinet members.

Turnell is also being held at the same prison with Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi is also being tried on 11 counts of corruption, each of which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years, and an election fraud charge, which carries a maximum sentence of three years.

The militarys takeover last year triggered peaceful nationwide protests that security forces quashed with lethal force, triggering armed resistance that some U.N. experts now characterize as civil war.

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The ruling military council has said it plans to hold new elections around the middle of next year if circumstances permit. However, critics caution such polls are unlikely to be free and fair.

Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said Thursday that the military has been working hard to create an impression of legitimacy after ousting Suu Kyis government.

Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory in a November 2020 general election. The army claimed it seized power because the polls were marred by widespread fraud  an allegation was not corroborated by independent election observers.

Any suggestion that there could be any possibility of a free and fair election in Myanmar in 2023 is frankly preposterous, Andrews said at a news conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. You cant have a free and fair election if you locked up your opponents.

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Juan Manuel Pino said that so far this year, 46,415 migrants have been registered, compared to 26,216 detected in the same period of 2021.

Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia's war in Ukraine.

Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia's war in Ukraine.

That year, a total of 133,000 migrants passed through Panama, suggesting that this years total will be even higher. The majority of the migrants in 2021 were from Haiti, while authorities estimate the largest group this year are Venezuelans.
Businesses are increasingly struggling to find and retain workers who can afford to live within an acceptable commuting range, with a major new study warning a chronic lack of affordable housing is set to cost taxpayers $25 billion a year if nothing is done.

Some businesses have even taken matters into their own hands, offering the option of low-cost accommodation to lure workers unwilling to brave the long daily commute.

Housing affordability is a major challenge for buyers and renters. Credit:Jason South

The study, by public policy consultants SGS Economics and Planning, found decades of under-investment had triggered a collapse in the proportion of the housing stock regarded as affordable.

Social housing  a catch-all phrase covering public housing and other forms of subsidised or lower-cost housing  now makes up just 4 per cent of national housing stock, a record low, and down from 6 per cent in 1996.
West Australian Planning Minister Rita Saffioti could soon overturn a decision by the City of Perth council to block the relocation of a community centre providing support services to homeless people about 200 metres around the block from its current location in Northbridge.

Ruah Community Services has provided drug and alcohol, legal, health and mental health services to about 120 people every day from the Shenton Street centre since 1959 but plans to replace it with a new seven-storey facility for women and children fleeing family violence next to the police station.

WA Planning Minister Rita Saffioti is calling in the standoff between the City of Perth and homelessness services provider over the relocation of its services in Northbridge. Credit:Peter de Kruijff

Construction on the new building was due to start in the next two months and the not-for-profit had thought it could move the drop-in centre around the corner but has faced community opposition from residents, landlords and businesses.

Local government officers believed the new location for the drop-in centre, which is one of two such facilities in the Perth CBD alongside Uniting WAs operation in East Perth, fit with its planning scheme but three councillors at the City of Perth escalated its approval to a council meeting where it was unanimously rejected.
Their efforts to undermine Americas democratic fabric, going on gradually for decades, now suddenly threatens to fundamentally compromise US democracy itself. The January 6 Attack committees vice-chair, Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, electrified the hearings and wrote herself into the history books by standing out against the toxic indifference to integrity on her own side of politics. Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney criticised members of her own party for failing to condemn the January 6 attack. Credit:AP I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible, Cheney said. There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonour will remain. Her courage in the breach begs the question, who is the Liberals potential Liz Cheney, capable of stimulating ethical reflection here?

Its not the new Liberal leader Peter Dutton. Loading Duttons post-election attempt to dress as lamb does not extend much beyond photo shoots with his family members. He is considering support for some kind of federal integrity commission but unapologetic about the Morrison governments record in office. After their election, Dutton and new Liberal deputy-leader Sussan Ley promised to listen to voters. Theyre deaf if they missed the integrity message that not only helped Labor win office but helped community independents take a swag of Liberal heartland seats off them too. If deaf, Dutton and Ley might not be blind to the fact that if the Andrews government is re-elected this year and the Perrottet government falls early next year, mainland Australia will have Labor governments at both federal and state levels for only the second time in history. (It happened only once before, briefly under the Hawke government.) Youve got to be determinedly myopic not to see that coming.

However, there is a grand experiment in Liberal renewal running right now from which the federal arm of the party might learn. Its the Perrottet government in NSW. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet. Credit:Rhett Wyman Former prime minister Scott Morrison derided the NSW ICAC as a kangaroo court. Premier Dominic Perrottet, in contrast, defended ICAC and increased its budget. Further, Perrottet is visibly trying to drag the government towards the political centre. This weeks NSW budget includes some material examples, most prominently relating to women. Perrottet knows hell lose office if the gender split evident at the federal election happens to them at the state election next March.

Perrottet, a hard right-winger, is on the right track, with his recent performance featuring repeated centrist declarations. Loading The invisible hand of Labor giant Paul Keating is part of the reason. Victorian Premier Dan Andrews disclosure that Keating had suggested he and Perrottet get together over shared policy interests is the tip of the iceberg. Keating was consulted by the NSW government in recent years about the Macquarie Street arts precinct as well as ideas for an Indigenous arts centre. He came into contact with the then treasurer Perrottet along the way and stayed in touch with him as premier. For Perrottet its a bromance according to one Liberal. Theyre very close, another confirms.

Perrottet is picking up a lot from Paul about how to do things, a Liberal who has observed them directly says. From Perrottets side, hes long admired Keating. Dom in private cant stand all these f-----s who pussy-foot around. Hes very derogatory about people who dont have any vision. He was very derogatory of Gladys because she was a plodder. Loading Yet just as things were going so well, Perrottet allowed the tendrils of the ethically compromised former Berejiklian government to entwine him with the appointment of former deputy-premier John Barilaro to a lucrative government job overseas. Perrottet has said the public service made the appointment and that he had no role in it. Hanging in the air is the fate of NSW Liberal premiers Nick Greiner, Barry OFarrell and Gladys Berejiklian, who left their jobs in controversial circumstances. The state ballot in March will be the test of NSW voters support for his policies and their faith in his words.
Renting out spare rooms should be incentivised for empty nesters as a way to help ease Perths rental crisis, a property expert says.

Australia has 13 million spare bedrooms, according to new Australian Bureau of Statistics data, and that number is set to grow thanks to an ageing population holding on to empty nests with little incentive to downsize.

The number of spare bedrooms is on the rise, given little incentive to downsize. Credit:iStock

Two-thirds of those surveyed were in households with a couple only, or a single person, and most owned their own homes.

Property investment expert Garth Davis said the state government could follow the lead of NSW which has proposed giving home buyers the choice to either pay stamp duty up front or pay a smaller annual property tax.
Washington: In a major expansion of gun rights, the US Supreme Court said Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defence, a ruling likely to lead to more people legally armed in cities and beyond.

The ruling on Thursday (US time) came with recent mass shootings fresh in the nations mind and gun control being debated in Congress and states.

About a quarter of the US population lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling, which struck down a New York gun law. The high courts first major gun decision in more than a decade came on a 6-3 split with the courts conservatives in the majority and liberals in dissent.

Protesters march down Jefferson Avenue past the site of the Tops massacre during a March for Our Lives rally in support of gun control in Buffalo. Credit:AP

Meanwhile, across the street at the US Capitol, Congress sped towards passage of its own gun legislation following the recent mass shootings in Texas, New York and California. Senators cleared the way for its measure, modest in scope but still the most far-reaching in decades.
Washington: NASAs former most senior female executive has accused the space agency of having a male-dominated culture, claiming she was subjected to physical threats, and called an ugly whore and a motherf------ b---- .

In a memoir published on Tuesday, Lori Garver, NASAs deputy administrator from 2009 to 2013, also lambasted the agency for being initially reluctant to involve private firms such as SpaceX.

The former No. 2 at NASA criticised the cost of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which the agency is developing to go back to the moon, and called its pledge to send a woman to the lunar surface a marketing gimmick.

Speaking out: NASA veteran Lori Garver rose to be deputy administrator - the agencys number 2. Credit:NASA/Bill Ingalls/CC

In Escaping Gravity: My Quest to Transform NASA and Launch a New Space Age, Garver, 61, wrote: Many who disagreed with my views attacked me with vulgar, gendered language, depredation, and physical threats.
"You can really do a deep dive in the arts, and if you're an art lover of any kind, it's a phenomenal experience."
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Curiosity's View of Sulfate-Bearing Region and Streambed Rocks: NASAs Curiosity Mars rover captured this view of a sulfate-bearing region using its Mastcam on May 2, 2022, the 3,462nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Dark boulders seen near the center are thought to have formed from sand deposited in ancient streams or ponds. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

For the past year, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has been traveling through a transition zone from a clay-rich region to one filled with a salty mineral called sulfate.

While the science team targeted the clay-rich region and the sulfate-laden one for evidence each can offer about Mars' watery past, the transition zone is proving to be scientifically fascinating as well. In fact, this transition may provide the record of a major shift in Mars' climate billions of years ago that scientists are just beginning to understand.

The clay minerals formed when lakes and streams once rippled across Gale Crater, depositing sediment at what is now the base of Mount Sharp, the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain whose foothills Curiosity has been ascending since 2014. Higher on the mountain in the transition zone, Curiosity's observations show that the streams dried into trickles and sand dunes formed above the lake sediments.

"We no longer see the lake deposits that we saw for years lower on Mount Sharp," said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "Instead, we see lots of evidence of drier climates, like dry dunes that occasionally had streams running around them. That's a big change from the lakes that persisted for perhaps millions of years before."

As the rover climbs higher through the transition zone, it is detecting less clay and more sulfate. Curiosity will soon drill the last rock sample it will take in this zone, providing a more detailed glimpse into the changing mineral composition of these rocks.

Unique geologic features also stand out in this zone. The hills in the area likely began in a dry environment of large, wind-swept sand dunes, hardening into rock over time. Interspersed in the remains of these dunes are other sediments carried by water, perhaps deposited in ponds or small streams that once wove among the dunes. These sediments now appear as erosion-resistant stacks of flaky layers, like one nicknamed "The Prow."

Making the story richer yet more complicated is the knowledge that there were multiple periods in which groundwater ebbed and flowed over time, leaving a jumble of puzzle pieces for Curiosity's scientists to assemble into an accurate timeline.

Ten Years On, Going Strong

Curiosity will celebrate its 10th year on Mars Aug. 5. While the rover is showing its age after a full decade of exploring, nothing has prevented it from continuing its ascent.

On June 7, Curiosity went into safe mode after detecting a temperature reading on an instrument control box within the body of the rover that was warmer than expected. Safe mode occurs when a spacecraft senses an issue and automatically shuts down all but its most essential functions so that engineers can assess the situation.

Although Curiosity exited safe mode and returned to normal operations two days later, JPL's engineers are still analyzing the exact cause of the issue. They suspect safe mode was triggered after a temperature sensor provided an inaccurate measurement, and there's no sign it will significantly affect rover operations since backup temperature sensors can ensure the electronics within the rover body aren't getting too hot.

The rover's aluminum wheels are also showing signs of wear. On June 4, the engineering team commanded Curiosity to take new pictures of its wheels - something it had been doing every 3,281 feet (1,000 meters) to check their overall health.

The team discovered that the left middle wheel had damaged one of its grousers, the zig-zagging treads along Curiosity's wheels. This particular wheel already had four broken grousers, so now five of its 19 grousers are broken.

The previously damaged grousers attracted attention online recently because some of the metal "skin" between them appears to have fallen out of the wheel in the past few months, leaving a gap.

The team has decided to increase its wheel imaging to every 1,640 feet (500 meters) - a return to the original cadence. A traction control algorithm had slowed wheel wear enough to justify increasing the distance between imaging.

"We have proven through ground testing that we can safely drive on the wheel rims if necessary," said Megan Lin, Curiosity's project manager at JPL. "If we ever reached the point that a single wheel had broken a majority of its grousers, we could do a controlled break to shed the pieces that are left. Due to recent trends, it seems unlikely that we would need to take such action. The wheels are holding up well, providing the traction we need to continue our climb."

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Does justice have a price tag?

Can you put a fee on trauma?

Can money erase memories of a harrowing experience?

Thorny questions no doubt but ones that playwrights Darrell Racine and Dale Lakevold dont shy away from.

The Brandon University professors have won a national award for their play IAP, which tells the story of two Winnipeg men who go through the governments Independent Assessment Process for former residential school students.

The play received the Best Full-Length Play award in the Theatre BC Canadian National Playwriting Competition 2021.

Racine, an assistant professor of Native Studies, and Lakevold, an associate professor in English, Drama and Creative Writing, say Indigenous culture and reconciliation are recurring themes in their work.

TIM SMITH / THE BRANDON SUN Brandon University professors Dale Lakevold and Darrell Racine have won a prestigious award for their play IAP.

"We are really focused on this idea of reconciliation. Our plays are about reconciliation at different levels. IAP is about contemporary reconciliation; the residential school experience is still something that is very much in the forefront of Indigenous and non-Indigenous minds," Racine says.

"The story involves two men who go through the process," Lakevold says. "Even though the subject matter is heavy, and the process is quite disturbing, we try to show how affirming their experience is, how they are supported by their family, by their culture."

Around 38,000 people re-lived their traumatic experience for the IAP, culminating in the largest class-action settlement suit in Canadian history. While it is now complete, with 100 per cent of the claims received being resolved, the method of assessing the claims is being called into question.

"We have an obligation to show the Canadian public about how First Nations people are being compensated for what they have been through," Racine explains.

"It could have been done in a more sensitive manner. Insert a lot more compassion to that process, provide a lot more care afterwards; there was some but not enough. Often people are retraumatized because they are having to go through this and tell their story in order to be compensated."

"We have an obligation to show the Canadian public about how First Nations people are being compensated for what they have been through."  Darrell Racine

The process was based on a medical model, Racine elaborates. There was thought in Indigenous communities that it was going to be healing. It turned out to be otherwise, with aspects of it remaining colonial.

"They have that ring of colonial process to them. Its not healing; its financial compensation. If you broke your finger at your residential school, then you get this amount of money. If it involved sexual abuse, then how grave was the sexual abuse and then we will settle a particular amount of money for that," he explains.

The duo has been friends and collaborators for 25 years and plans to write more plays which explore the history of Indigenous culture in Canada. IAP is their fourth play and the second to have won this award.

The other, Stretching Hide, won in 2005 and was produced by Theatre Projects Manitoba in Winnipeg and published by Scirocco Drama in 2007.

"We hope that our series of plays will help non-Indigenous Canadians to better understand Canadas history of colonialism and more recent historical events that have affected Indigenous people adversely," Lakevold says.

Our plan is to write a total of seven plays that explore Indigenous culture and history in Canada, although there are many more that could possibly be written. Were on our fifth play  Sixties Scoop  right now.  Dale Lakevold

"Our plan is to write a total of seven plays that explore Indigenous culture and history in Canada, although there are many more that could possibly be written. Were on our fifth play  Sixties Scoop  right now."

The pair have honed their writing process; they talk about certain themes over the course of a year and decide together which ideas need to be put on stage.

Once thats been decided writing starts daily from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m at Racines home in Brandon. They work on it line by line, Lakevold handwriting everything down before going home to type it up. The following day they read and adjust the script.

"Darrell can be a little impatient with me because I am more of a detailed person as far as the writing goes," Lakevold says. "He really likes to tell stories; he comes from the Metis community where oral culture is integral. Its a fantastic experience working with him."

According to Racine, Lakevold is the more technical writer

"Dale guides the structure, and the mechanics of getting it correct," Racine says. "He is technically sound in regards to creative writing and play writing."

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The play tells the story of two Winnipeg men who go through the governments Independent Assessment Process for former residential school students.

Researching and developing IAP was done meticulously and carefully. The pair wanted to make sure they got things right as they developed and wrote the script, consulting with a lawyer who had represented more than 2,000 former residential school students in the IAP process.

The play has not yet been produced but a script reading directed by Tracey Nepinak had excellent response from the invited audience of former residential school survivors, mental health workers, elders, and IAP adjudicators and researchers.

"We had to know that we got it correct. It is a very sensitive issue and we had to make sure it was done properly," Racine says. "And the response from the survivors was beyond anything we could have hoped for. Overall, it was a very positive experience for everyone."

The pair has been trying to interest production companies and theatres to put on the play and they say winning the prize will give them a leg up.

"We were very gratified to receive the award, mainly because we hope that it might draw more attention to Indigenous peoples struggle to obtain justice," Lakevold says.

The play will also contribute to important research. IAP is part of a research study entitled Reconciling Perspectives and Building Public Memory: Learning from the Independent Assessment Process, which is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC) and led by Dr. Cindy Hanson of the University of Regina.

av.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
The itinerary for next months papal visit has been announced by the Vatican  and it will begin in Western Canada.

ANDREW MEDICHINI / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Pope Francis will be in Alberta on July 24 to July 26, Quebec on July 27 to July 28, and Iqaluit on July 29.

The itinerary for next months papal visit has been announced by the Vatican  and it will begin in Western Canada.

Pope Francis will be in Alberta on July 24 to July 26, Quebec on July 27 to July 28, and Iqaluit on July 29.

The theme of the weeklong visit is "walking together." It will include a combination of public and private events, with an emphasis on Indigenous participation.

The 85-year-old pontiff will start his visit in Edmonton with a brief airport ceremony on July 24.

He will visit the site of the former Ermineskin Residential School in Maskwacis, Alta., and meet with members of First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities on July 25.

That afternoon, Pope Francis will visit Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples, a National Indigenous Roman Catholic church in downtown Edmonton, where he will give an address.

The Pope will celebrate an open-air mass at the 65,000-seat Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton on the morning of July 26  the feast day of St. Anne, the grandmother of Jesus. The event will incorporate Indigenous traditions.

That evening, the Pope will visit Lac Ste. Anne, 95 km northwest of Edmonton. It is the site of an annual pilgrimage that welcomes tens of thousands of Indigenous participants from across Canada and the U.S. He will give a homily there.

Pope Francis will meet the governor general, prime minister and Indigenous people in a series of meetings in Quebec City on July 27.

The Pope will visit Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, northeast of Quebec City, on July 28, where he will celebrate mass at one of the oldest and most popular pilgrimage sites in North America. Later that day, he will participate in vespers with bishops, priests, seminarians and other church officials at the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

Pope Francis will meet with a delegation of Indigenous people from Quebec on the morning of July 29 before departing for Iqaluit. There, he will meet with residential school survivors, young people and elders before leaving for Rome.

"This announcement is a confirmation that the Holy Father is coming to Canada," Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, who is the general co-ordinator of the papal visit, said.

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"Its deeper than that, though. It shows the depth of the popes determination to come here to meet Indigenous people. It is clearly a priority for him."

The visit will not only be beneficial for Roman Catholics, Smith said, "but for the whole country. It can help us all as we work towards reconciliation. If we get this question right, it can have repercussions (that show) all Canadians that reconciliation is possible."

Smith said the Popes health is a concern, so his appearances will be limited to about an hour, with plenty of time for rest, he said.

"We want to make sure he isnt over-taxed on this trip," he said.

More information about the visit can be found at www.papalvisit.ca.

faith@freepress.mb.ca
As energy prices soar and consumers look for ways to save on their utility bills, experts say Canadians should consider whether installing a heat pump could be part of the solution.

As energy prices soar and consumers look for ways to save on their utility bills, experts say Canadians should consider whether installing a heat pump could be part of the solution.

A heat pump is an electrically driven device that looks a bit like an air conditioner and can be used for both heating and cooling.

Susie Rieder, a spokeswoman for BC Hydro, who uses a heat pump to heat and cool her Burnaby, B.C. home, is shown in a handout photo.THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Susie Rieder **MANDATORY CREDIT**

In the winter, an air-source heat pump extracts heat from the outside (there is always some heat in the air, even on a cold day) and "pumps" it inside. In summer, the cycle is reversed and the heat pump takes heat out of the indoor air and moves it outside.

The technology, which has been around for a long time, can make for an energy-efficient alternative to other types of home heating systems, such as a natural gas furnace or electric baseboards.

It can also eliminate the need for a conventional air conditioner and reduce your household's environmental footprint if you're replacing a heating unit that uses natural gas, propane or furnace oil.

"Heat pumps are great because they provide that year-round, efficient cooling in the summer and heating in the winter," said Susie Rieder, a spokeswoman for BC Hydro who uses a heat pump at her own Burnaby, B.C. townhouse.

Rieder, who relied on electric baseboards before getting a heat pump, says her heating bills have declined about 40 per cent since making the switch. In addition, her heat pump negates the need for a separate air conditioning system.

"The summers are getting hotter," Rieder said. Especially in places like the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, you see a lot of people using those portable air conditioners  which can be pretty inefficient and costly. So getting a heat pump installed can really be helpful there as well."

Many public utilities, such as BC Hydro, are encouraging heat pump adoption as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and many homeowners who have made the switch say they'll never go back.

But in general, Canadian adoption has been slow. According to Natural Resources Canada, there are only about 700,000 installed air-source heat pumps in this country. By contrast, 35 per cent of Canadian households, or 5.1 million homes, are currently heated with natural gas furnaces.

A recent survey by BC Hydro found a general lack of knowledge among homeowners about heat pumps, with almost a quarter of British Columbians saying they are unlikely to consider installing a heat pump and 30 per cent of those respondents saying the reason is because they do not know enough about the devices.

Part of the problem is that earlier iterations of heat pumps weren't necessarily compatible with the Canadian climate. Because the ability of a heat pump to extract heat from the air declines as the temperature falls, having a backup heat source for harsh winters was often a necessity.

However, that's changed in recent years as heat pump technology has advanced. Geoff Sharman, residential product manager, HVAC, for Mitsubishi Electric Canada, said certain types of heat pumps can now work in temperatures as low as -30 C. (Consumers can also choose ground-source heat pumps, which are more efficient in Canada because they take advantage of warmer and more stable ground temperatures, Natural Resources Canada says.)

"The heat pump market is growing," Sharman said. "Really, (heat pumps) can provide heating for almost any-sized structure in Canada now. And as natural gas prices may rise in the future ... a heat pump can be a good way to go.

The upfront cost of a heat pump can be intimidating, with the average cost to buy and install a system being about $7,000 for small homes and about $16,000 for larger homes, according to BC Hydro. Experts say the exact type and size of heat pump you'll need will depend on the size of your home, the climate where you live, how well your home is insulated and other factors.

In the same way, how much you might expect to save on your energy bills also varies depending on your local climate, what type of heating/cooling system you currently use, and what size and type of heat pump you buy. There are many online calculators, including one on the Natural Resources Canada website, that can help you estimate your potential cost savings.

Homeowners who make the switch to an electric heat pump from fossil fuel heating (natural gas, propane or oil) can also be eligible for rebates from the federal government, their local utility or province, or their municipality.

BC Hydro, for example, offers up to $3,000 in rebates for switching from a fossil fuel-based system, which can be combined with provincial and federal rebates for a total savings of up to $11,000 on heat pump cost and installation.

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"You do need to get a professional involved," Sharman said. With all the rebates, you may end up paying only 15 to 20 per cent of what your system is worth. Who knows? But you do need that professional to go in there, size it all up, and tell you what programs are applicable to the product you're looking at."

Edmonton homeowner Shelly Robichaud, who replaced her gas furnace with an electric heat pump a couple of years ago, made the decision largely out of a desire to get her house off of natural gas.

She and her husband also have solar panels on their roof and produce their own electricity, with the result being that they're marginally "net positive" on their yearly heating and electricity bills. (Last year, they actually made a $300 profit by selling the excess electricity they generate back onto the grid).

I have been an environmentalist for as long as I can remember, so honestly that was the major factor in doing this," Robichaud said. "You can come out ahead (financially), though."

I think with heat pumps, like everything else, people are afraid of new technology," Robichaud added. "It takes the early adopters to go ahead with it first, and then others follow.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2022.
DoorDash will soon deliver Loblaw groceries to Winnipeggers homes within 30 minutes.

DoorDash will soon deliver Loblaw groceries to Winnipeggers homes within 30 minutes.

The tech company announced its collaboration with Loblaws, which encompasses retailers such as Real Canadian Superstore and Shoppers Drug Mart, on Wednesday.

Beginning in August, customers can expect deliveries in roughly 30 minutes or less by ordering through PC Express Rapid Delivery.

Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto and Kitchener are among the areas to first launch the initiative, according to a Loblaw spokesperson.

"Winnipeg is a net new market for rapid delivery," the spokesperson wrote in an email. "In addition to wanting to offer customers in Winnipeg more options, its a good place for us to learn more about customer needs."

The company plans to expand to other cities over time.

"Through this collaboration with Loblaw, we are addressing consumers need to get it now," Shilpa Arora, DoorDash Canadas general manager, said in a news release.

The pandemic impacted how Canadians shop for groceries, a Loblaw spokesperson wrote. The retailer experienced many customers ordering pick-up and home delivery through PC Express.

"I think, essentially, Loblaw needed to do something," said Sylvain Charlebois, a food distribution and policy professor at Dalhousie University. "Expectations are changing quite rapidly."

The pandemic accelerated usage of grocery delivery services, he said.

Charlebois noted the collaboration is "moving the benchmark" by offering deliveries within 30 minutes.

This is likely the future of grocery shopping, he said. He estimates 10 per cent of all food retail business will be virtual by 2025.

Loblaws partnership with DoorDash is not a significant investment in the delivery space, the professor said.

"Theyre basically dealing with a third party  a well-established one that has been able to execute on a variety of fronts," Charlebois said.

Loblaw may end the deal with DoorDash and build their own infrastructure if their grocery delivery really takes off, Charlebois said.

Most of Canadas major retailers have e-commerce options. Walmart is among those to offer online orders for store pick-up and home delivery.

Delivery apps known for providing restaurant meals have been expanding into the grocery market. For example, Winnipeggers can grab milk and bread through Uber Eats.

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Both DoorDash and SkipTheDishes deliver groceries via their own stockrooms. In December, DoorDash announced it was bringing DashMart to Winnipeg. More than 2,000 items, including household goods, would be available after the rollout.

Meanwhile, SkipTheDishess Express Lane has been in Winnipeg for nearly a year. It boasts roughly 1,500 offerings and deliveries within 25 minutes of orders being placed.

Skip reported a 900 per cent increase in year over year demand over the course of the pandemic after it started partnering with local retailers to get products to doors.

Beginning in July, Loblaw customers will be able to order Loblaw products on the DoorDash Marketplace app. The tech company will also offer same-day delivery for Loblaw grocery and convenience items through PCExpress.ca.

Loblaw is Canadas largest retailer. It owns more than 1,050 grocery stores.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com
BRUSSELS (AP)  The European Union agreed Thursday to put Ukraine on a path toward EU membership, acting with uncharacteristic speed and unity to pull the embattled country further away from Russias influence and bind it more closely to the West.

Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo arrives for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 23, 2022. European Union leaders are expected to approve Thursday a proposal to grant Ukraine a EU candidate status, a first step on the long toward membership. The stalled enlargement process to include Western Balkans countries in the bloc is also on their agenda at the summit in Brussels. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)

BRUSSELS (AP)  The European Union agreed Thursday to put Ukraine on a path toward EU membership, acting with uncharacteristic speed and unity to pull the embattled country further away from Russias influence and bind it more closely to the West.

Meeting at a summit in Brussels, leaders of the EUs 27 nations mustered the required unanimous approval to grant Ukraine candidate status. That sets in motion a membership process that could take years or even decades.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted his gratitude and declared: Ukraines future is within the EU.

Its a victory. We have been waiting for 120 days and 30 years, he said on Instagram, referring to the duration of the war and the decades since Ukraine became independent upon the breakup of the Soviet Union. And now we will defeat the enemy.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pronounced it a good day for Europe.

There was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin.

The EU also gave candidate status to the tiny country of Moldova, another former Soviet republic that borders Ukraine.

Ukraine applied for membership less than a week after Moscow invaded on Feb. 24. Thursdays decision was unusually rapid for the EU and its go-slow approach to expansion. But the war and Ukraines request for fast-track consideration lent urgency to the cause.

A protestor holds a yellow flower in front of an EU flag during a demonstration in support of Ukraine outside of an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 23, 2022. European Union leaders are expected to approve Thursday a proposal to grant Ukraine a EU candidate status, a first step on the long toward membership. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)

To gain EU membership, countries must meet a detailed host of economic and political conditions, including a commitment to the rule of law and other democratic principles. Ukraine will have to curb entrenched government corruption and adopt other reforms.

The European Parliament endorsed Ukraine's bid hours before the summit started, passing a resolution that called on EU governments to move without delay."

It will strengthen Ukraine, it will strengthen Europe. It is a decision for freedom and democracy and puts us on the right side of history, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said ahead of the final decision.

The EU nations have been united in backing Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion with money and weapons, adopting unprecedented economic sanctions against the Kremlin.

EU candidate status doesn't provide any immediate security guarantees. Once a country gains membership, however, it is covered under an EU treaty clause that says if a member falls victim to armed aggression, the other EU countries are obligated to assist it by all means in their power.

The main benefits of EU membership, though, are economic, since it gives access to a market of 450 million consumers with free movement of labor, goods, services and capital.

Ukraine has long aspired to join NATO, too, but the military alliance is not about to offer an invitation, in part because of the country's corruption, shortcomings in its defense establishment, and its contested borders.

Before the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO, which he has condemned for its eastward spread toward Russia's flank. But earlier this month, he did not seem bothered by Ukraine's determination to get closer to the EU, saying it is not a military pact and thus we have no objections.

In 2013, however, Putin objected to Ukraines plans to sign an association agreement with the EU and pressured the Ukrainian president at the time to pull out at the last minute. This backfired by setting off mass protests that eventually ousted the president and ushered in leaders more eager than ever to bring Ukraine into the Western fold.

In the years that followed, Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine and fomented a separatist uprising in the country's Donbas region in the east.

The EU's leaders also agreed Thursday to recognize a European perspective for yet another former Soviet republic, Georgia. European Council President Charles Michel said the EU will be ready to approve its candidate status once outstanding priorities are addressed.

Polands Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, whose country has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine's European aspirations for years, said on Twitter: "This is a great moment for Europes unity and for the defense of its basic values. The struggle for freedom goes on.

The membership process can be long and tortuous.

Turkey applied for membership in 1987, received candidate status in 1999, and had to wait until 2005 to start talks for actual entry. The whole process is at a standstill because of various disputes between the EU and Turkey.

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Similarly, several Balkan countries have been seeking for many years to join the EU.

European officials have said that Ukraine has already adopted about 70% of the EU rules and standards, but they also have pointed to the need for other far-reaching measures.

Leaders also discussed immediate support to Ukraine, with the European Commission set to soon bring forward a proposal to grant new financial aid of up to 9 billion euros.

Food security was also on the table as they agreed to continue working on solutions to help Ukraine export grain and other goods via  solidarity lanes to get around a Russian blockade of Black Sea ports.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
OTTAWA - Canadian manufacturers are calling on Ottawa to provide greater support in the form of investments and partnerships to help businesses of all sizes in the transition to net-zero.

An autoworker stands on the production line for the Honda CRV, at a Honda plant in Alliston, Ont., on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

OTTAWA - Canadian manufacturers are calling on Ottawa to provide greater support in the form of investments and partnerships to help businesses of all sizes in the transition to net-zero.

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A new survey from Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) reveals that most manufacturers don't think the federal government is doing enough to help the industry transition to net-zero and remain competitive.

The survey also finds that only one quarter of manufacturers have set a goal to be carbon neutral by 2050, and that small- to medium-sized businesses are much less likely to have targets in place compared with bigger companies.

Additionally, 40 per cent of survey respondents feel their company is unprepared when it comes to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

A lack of resources is the most pressing challenge, with 44 per cent of respondents saying so, the study finds.

A successful net-zero strategy, according to the CME, involves supporting emission-reduction investments and the commercialization and production of clean technologies, as well as focusing on the smaller businesses that lack resources and expertise to move toward decarbonization.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2022.
DETROIT (AP)  The state of Michigan has agreed to destroy more than 3 million dried blood spots taken from babies and kept in storage, a partial settlement in an ongoing lawsuit over consent and privacy in the digital age.

This July 2022 photo shows a lab in Lansing, Mich., where the state health department tests blood from newborns for more than 50 rare diseases. The state has agreed to destroy more than 3 million dried blood spots that are in storage. It's a partial settlement in an ongoing lawsuit over privacy, consent and the use of blood spots for research. The agreement doesn't cover millions more spots that are stored in Detroit.(Joey Cappelletti/Report for America via AP)

DETROIT (AP)  The state of Michigan has agreed to destroy more than 3 million dried blood spots taken from babies and kept in storage, a partial settlement in an ongoing lawsuit over consent and privacy in the digital age.

At the state's direction, hospitals have routinely pricked the heels of newborns to draw blood to check for more than 50 rare diseases. That practice, which is widespread across the U.S., isn't being challenged. Rather, the dispute is over leftover samples.

A blood spot from each child is stored in Lansing while five more are sent to the Michigan Neonatal Biobank in Detroit for safekeeping under climate-controlled conditions.

Scientists can pay a fee to use the Detroit-stored samples for various research projects. Research with newborn blood spots occurs in other states, too, especially California, New York and Minnesota where they can be kept for decades.

Texas in 2009 agreed to destroy millions of spots to settle a lawsuit over privacy.

Since 2010, Michigan must have permission from parents to use spots for research. But attorney Philip Ellison argues that the program still violates constitutional protections against searches and seizures and might not be fully understood by parents who are presented with forms amid the fog of childbirth.

Ellison claims the consent form and a related brochure are vague, making no reference, for example, to the state collecting fees for blood spots used by scientists.

If moms and dads say, Use them. I dont care'  that's their business, he told The Associated Press. But the state is not giving them enough information to make an informed decision. ... Most people have no recollection of signing anything. My wife had a C-section. She was still groggy 12 hours later from all the drugs pumped into her from giving birth."

Ashley Kanuszewski acknowledged that she signed forms allowing blood spots from two babies to be added to the research bank but doesn't recall receiving an informational brochure at the hospital.

I don't like not knowing where or what they're using it for, said Kanuszewski, one of four parents who sued in 2018.

In May, after four years of litigation, the health department said it would destroy certain blood spots stored in Lansing over the next 18 months and stop adding to that inventory, according to an agreement filed in federal court in Bay City.

Those spots number 3.4 million, spokeswoman Lynn Sutfin said.

Sutfin declined to explain why the state agreed to get rid of them, citing the ongoing litigation. But in 2021, U.S. District Judge Thomas Ludington said the state had no specific permission from parents to keep a single leftover blood spot in Lansing.

The state has described them as spots that could be used by parents in case future health questions arise.

The agreement to destroy those spots doesn't end the case. Still in play: Millions that are under the state's control at Wayne State University in Detroit and available for research, including many that precede May 2010 when the health department began asking for parental consent.

In the months ahead, Ludington will hold a trial to try to determine how many blood spots really are needed for newborn disease screening, including to calibrate critical testing equipment, among other issues.

The health department is defending how it runs the program. It emphasizes that no spots are stored for research unless parents or guardians give permission. Spots also can be destroyed upon request, though the number of people who take that step each year is very small.

A code  not someone's name  is attached to blood spots that are stored in Detroit, making privacy risk during research very low, the state said.

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We only allow activities which pertain to public health for benefit of all, for public good, for getting better testing in the future, for discovering more and so on, Sandip Shah, director of the state's public health laboratory, said in an interview with lawyers.

The department publishes a list of approved research. The state last year, for example, signed off on scientists using 3,600 newborn blood spots to determine exposure to so-called forever chemicals known as PFAS in western Michigan. Other projects have involved for-profit companies.

How this court resolves the issues presented by plaintiffs could dramatically impact the biomedical research environment, potentially chilling scientific progress critical to protecting public health, the Association of Public Health Laboratories said in a court filing.

In 2009, Texas agreed to destroy millions of newborn blood spots that were kept without consent. Spots obtained since 2012 now are destroyed after two years unless Texas parents agree to have them stored longer for research.

___

Follow Ed White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/edwritez
LISBON, Portugal (AP)  Police in Portugal said Thursday they found just over 8 metric tons (8.8 short tons) of cocaine concealed inside banana shipments from Colombia.

LISBON, Portugal (AP)  Police in Portugal said Thursday they found just over 8 metric tons (8.8 short tons) of cocaine concealed inside banana shipments from Colombia.

The cocaine was hidden in the hold of three cargo ships that docked in Setubal, a port about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the Portuguese capital Lisbon, police said.

The ships made regular Atlantic crossings, and the cocaine was destined for several European countries, according to police.

The seizure happened in recent weeks, police said, but a statement gave no specific date.

Though large cocaine seizures arent uncommon in Portugal, or the rest of Europe, police said it was one of the largest ever in the country. The drugs have an estimated local street value of more than 300 million euros ($315 million).

Europe is currently the biggest world market for cocaine, the statement said.

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So far this year, police in Portugal have captured just over 12 metric tons of cocaine  an increase of almost 23% on the total for the whole of last year.

The European Union police agency Europol and other European police forces cooperated in the operation.

Meanwhile, police in northern Portugal said they worked with the Guardia Civil in neighboring Spain to break up an alleged criminal ring building powerful speedboats for Spanish gangs.

The boats are used to bring drugs, usually hashish, from Morocco into Spain and Portugal. Spain banned the boats four years ago in an effort to crack down on the smuggling.

Portuguese police seized 21 speedboats in different stages of construction, while Spanish police made 72 arrests in Spain, a statement said.

Also Thursday, police in southern Spain said they broke up a drug-smuggling ring and seized 1.2 metric tons (1.3 short tons) of hashish hidden in a factory warehouse.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Firefighting crews battled for a third day on Thursday a wind-driven wildfire that has blackened swaths of pine forest near a popular resort in southwestern Turkey and driven hundreds of people from their homes.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Firefighting crews battled for a third day on Thursday a wind-driven wildfire that has blackened swaths of pine forest near a popular resort in southwestern Turkey and driven hundreds of people from their homes.

More than 2,500 firefighters, aided by water-dropping planes and helicopters, were deployed to fight the blaze that erupted on Tuesday in the Bordubet region, near Marmaris on the Aegean Sea coast. The blaze spread rapidly, fanned by winds.

Fires were raging in three locations around Bordubet, but had been brought under control at a fourth location, according to the office of the mayor for the Mugla region, which includes Marmaris.

Authorities have evacuated close to 275 people from the area as a precaution, the municipality said.

Vahit Kirisci, the forestry minister, said about 3,000 hectares (about 7,400 acres) of forest were affected.

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In addition to thousands of personnel, 45 water-dropping helicopters and 12 planes were involved in the efforts to tame the blazes, he said. Qatar offered to send three helicopters while Azerbaijan said it would send an additional plane, he said.

Authorities meanwhile, detained one person who allegedly confessed to having deliberately started the fire, the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu as saying. Earlier, reports said prosecutors were investigating the possibility of arson.

Extended drought conditions in several Mediterranean countries, a heat wave last week that reached northern Germany and high fuel costs for aircraft needed to fight wildfires have heightened concerns across Europe this summer.

Last summer, blazes that were fed by strong winds and scorching temperatures tore through forests in Turkeys Mediterranean and Aegean regions, including Marmaris. The wildfires, which killed at least eight people and countless animals, were described as the worst in Turkeys history.

Villages and resorts had to be evacuated, with some people fleeing to beaches to be rescued by sea. The wildfires also threatened two coal-burning power plants.

Erdogans government came under criticism for its inadequate response and preparedness to fight large-scale wildfires, including a lack of modern firefighting planes.
LONDON (AP)  The World Health Organization convenes its emergency committee Thursday to consider if the spiraling outbreak of monkeypox warrants being declared a global emergency. But some experts say the WHOs decision to act only after the disease spilled into the West could entrench the grotesque inequities that arose between rich and poor countries during the coronavirus pandemic.

FILE - This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions, left, and spherical immature virions, right, obtained from a sample of human skin associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. British health officials said Monday, June 13, 2022 they have detected another 104 cases of monkeypox in England, in what has become the biggest outbreak beyond Africa of the normally rare disease. (Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner/CDC via AP, file)

LONDON (AP)  The World Health Organization convenes its emergency committee Thursday to consider if the spiraling outbreak of monkeypox warrants being declared a global emergency. But some experts say the WHOs decision to act only after the disease spilled into the West could entrench the grotesque inequities that arose between rich and poor countries during the coronavirus pandemic.

Declaring monkeypox to be a global emergency would mean the U.N. health agency considers the outbreak to be an extraordinary event and that the disease is at risk of spreading across even more borders, possibly requiring a global response. It would also give monkeypox the same distinction as the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio.

The WHO said it did not expect to announce any decisions made by its emergency committee before Friday.

Many scientists doubt any such declaration would help to curb the epidemic, since the developed countries recording the most recent cases are already moving quickly to shut it down.

Last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the recent monkeypox epidemic identified in more than 40 countries, mostly in Europe, as unusual and concerning. Monkeypox has sickened people for decades in central and west Africa, where one version of the disease kills up to 10% of people infected. The version of the disease seen in Europe and elsewhere usually has a fatality rate of less than 1% and no deaths beyond Africa have so far been reported.

FILE - This 1997 image provided by the CDC during an investigation into an outbreak of monkeypox, which took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire, and depicts the dorsal surfaces of the hands of a monkeypox case patient, who was displaying the appearance of the characteristic rash during its recuperative stage. The World Health Organization is creating a new vaccine-sharing mechanism to stop the spiraling outbreak of monkeypox in more than 30 countries beyond Africa. (CDC via AP, File)

If WHO was really worried about monkeypox spread, they could have convened their emergency committee years ago when it reemerged in Nigeria in 2017 and no one knew why we suddenly had hundreds of cases, said Oyewale Tomori, a Nigerian virologist who sits on several WHO advisory groups. It is a bit curious that WHO only called their experts when the disease showed up in white countries, he said.

Until last month, monkeypox had not caused sizeable outbreaks beyond Africa. Scientists havent found any mutations in the virus that suggest its more transmissible, and a leading adviser to the WHO said last month the surge of cases in Europe was likely tied to sexual activity among gay and bisexual men at two raves in Spain and Belgium.

To date, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed more than 3,300 cases of monkeypox in 42 countries where the virus hasn't been typically seen. More than 80% of cases are in Europe. Meanwhile, Africa has already seen more than 1,400 cases this year, including 62 deaths.

David Fidler, a senior fellow in global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the WHOs newfound attention to monkeypox amid its spread beyond Africa could inadvertently worsen the divide between rich and poor countries seen during COVID-19.

There may be legitimate reasons why WHO only raised the alarm when monkeypox spread to rich countries, but to poor countries, that looks like a double standard, Fidler said. He said the global community was still struggling to ensure the worlds poor were vaccinated against the coronavirus and that it was unclear if Africans even wanted monkeypox vaccines, given competing priorities like malaria and HIV.

Unless African governments specifically ask for vaccines, it might be a bit patronizing to send them because its in the Wests interest to stop monkeypox from being exported, Fidler said.

The WHO has also proposed creating a vaccine-sharing mechanism to help affected countries, which could see doses go to rich countries like Britain, which has the biggest monkeypox outbreak beyond Africa  and recently widened its use of vaccines.

To date, the vast majority of cases in Europe have been in men who are gay or bisexual, or other men who have sex with men, but scientists warn anyone in close contact with an infected person or their clothing or bedsheets is at risk of infection, regardless of their sexual orientation. People with monkeypox often experience symptoms like fever, body aches and a rash; most recover within weeks without medical care.

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Even if the WHO announces monkeypox is a global emergency, its unclear what impact that might have.

In January 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 an international emergency. But few countries took notice until March, when the organization described it as a pandemic, weeks after many other authorities did so. The WHO was later slammed for its multiple missteps throughout the pandemic, which some experts said might be prompting a quicker monkeypox response.

After COVID, WHO does not want to be the last to declare monkeypox an emergency, said Amanda Glassman, executive vice president at the Center for Global Development. This may not rise to the level of a COVID-like emergency, but it is still a public health emergency that needs to be addressed.

Salim Abdool Karim, an epidemiologist and vice chancellor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, said the WHO and others should be doing more to stop monkeypox in Africa and elsewhere, but wasnt convinced that a global emergency declaration would help.

There is this misplaced idea that Africa is this poor, helpless continent, when in fact, we do know how to deal with epidemics, said Abdool Karim. He said that stopping the outbreak ultimately depends on things like surveillance, isolating patients and public education.

Maybe they need vaccines in Europe to stop monkeypox, but here, we have been able to control it with very simple measures, he said.
VANCOUVER - The discovery of a woodpecker's nest has halted construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline along a 400-metre stretch near Chilliwack, B.C.

The discovery of a woodpecker's nest, as shown in this handout image provided by the Community Nest Finding Network, has halted construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline along a 400-metre stretch near Chilliwack, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Community Nest Finding Network**MANDATORY CREDIT**

VANCOUVER - The discovery of a woodpecker's nest has halted construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline along a 400-metre stretch near Chilliwack, B.C.

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A statement from Trans Mountain Corp. says buffer zones around trees and vegetation have been marked with rope signs and flagging tape near Bridal Falls where the red-breasted sapsucker has been seen nesting.

The Crown corporation says the area will not be cleared until there's confirmation from a wildlife resource specialist that no nests are active, which would be the end of nesting season.

Sarah Ross of the Community Nest Finding Network says the group first noticed bird nests in tree cavities in early June and alerted local authorities.

She says while the red-breasted sapsucker nest is easily visible from the ground, the area also has other birds that build homes in trees during this time, with the nesting season lasting until about the end of August.

The pipeline expansion was expected to be completed this year, but that date has now been moved up to the third quarter of 2023 after the pandemic and November's floods in B.C. forced the delays.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2022.
KIGALI, RWANDA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $250 million in new food aid on Thursday and blamed the growing threat of starvation squarely on Russia as he prepared to meet with leaders whose nations are feeling the pangs of famine.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly responds to questions next to Ralph Goodale, High Commissioner for Canada in Great Britain, during a news conference in Kigali, Rwanda on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

KIGALI, RWANDA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $250 million in new food aid on Thursday and blamed the growing threat of starvation squarely on Russia as he prepared to meet with leaders whose nations are feeling the pangs of famine.

The prime minister is in Kigali, Rwanda, for a meeting of Commonwealth heads of government, where he hopes to rally support for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion and provide assistance to combat the geopolitical fallout of the conflict.

Trudeau made a point of blaming Russia for the skyrocketing energy and food prices that have left millions of people in Africa and other parts of the world struggling to feed themselves.

The Commonwealth is made up of 54 independent countries with historic ties to the British Crown, which together represent about 2.5 billion people. They range from some of the richest economies in the world to some of the poorest.

Yet 10 of those countries abstained from a UN vote in March condemning Russias attack, and Trudeau sought to leverage the difficulty they are now facing in feeding their populations to boost international opposition to Moscow.

"Russia is responsible for the global food crisis we're facing right now," he said during a news conference on Thursday.

"The illegal invasion of Ukraine, the choice to bomb grain silos in Ukraine over the past couple of days, the continued blockade of the port of Odesa by Russian ships to prevent grain from getting out  to the Middle East, to Africa, to elsewhere around the world  are real preoccupations for all of us here."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pauses after laying a wreath at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Kigali, Rwanda on Thursday, June 23, 2022. More than 250,000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi have been buried in a mass grave at the memorial. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

The new funding to address the food crisis, which Trudeau said would include money for the UN World Food Program, is in addition to roughly $500 million that Canada has donated since January to help address food insecurity in the developing world.

As Trudeau seeks more allies to oppose Russias invasion, he also faces questions about his plans for raising concerns about the actions of some Commonwealth members  starting with the host country, Rwanda.

On Thursday, Trudeau became the first Canadian prime minister to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which is the final resting place of more than 250,000 of the more than 800,000 Rwandans, including Tutsis, moderate Hutus and others, over 100 days.

The prime minister laid a wreath at one of the tombs and crossed himself as members of the Rwandan military stood guard and played a sombre melody on the bugle horn.

Contemporary concerns about human rights violations in Rwanda under President Paul Kagame have been raised for years. That has included the arrest and prosecution of opposition figures and dissenting bloggers and commentators.

Trudeau and Kagame, whose country abstained from the UN vote on Russia, attended a roundtable discussion on Thursday to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on businesses and plans to reinvigorate the global economy.

But a scheduled one-on-one meeting on Thursday was delayed.

Asked what he plans to say about Rwandas human rights record when he meets with Kagame, who has been in power since 2000, Trudeau suggested his focus would be on looking for ways in which Canada can help the country.

We're there to support each other and there to move the bar forward on human rights, he said. We will, of course, take careful looks in every conversation at the challenges facing various countries and look for ways that Canada can help.

This is the first time Commonwealth heads of government have met in person since 2018. The 2020 summit, like most events, was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trudeau arrived in Kigali on Wednesday but the official welcome ceremony begins Friday. Leaders are expected to sit down for a series of closed-door meetings Friday and Saturday.

Many world leaders, including Trudeau and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, attended a black-tie welcome reception and state dinner at the Kigali Convention Centre on Thursday evening, but others have opted to stay home.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa,New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are among the absentees.

Instead of the Commonwealth summit, Modi and Ramaphosa met with Russia, China and Brazil virtually to solidify ties between their nations as part of the BRICS summit hosted by Beijing on Thursday, which is named for the countries involved.

Though most leaders arrived without one, Trudeau wore a mask as he walked through the corridor of the convention centre toward the reception. He tested positive for COVID-19 nearly two weeks ago.

Rwanda is the first stop in a three-country tour for Trudeau that will also include attending the G7 in Germany and a NATO summit in Spain, both of which will involve a heavy focus on Russia and Ukraine.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2022.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Thursday that Canada is contributing an additional $250 million to the UN World Food Program. In fact, Trudeau's office said not all the new funding has been allocated yet.
OTTAWA - Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller has tabled a bill that would create a national council for reconciliation  a recommendation the Truth and Reconciliation Commission made in 2015 and the Liberal government included in the 2019 budget.

Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller speaks during an announcement that Kimberly Murray will be the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools, at a news conference in Ottawa, on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA - Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller has tabled a bill that would create a national council for reconciliation  a recommendation the Truth and Reconciliation Commission made in 2015 and the Liberal government included in the 2019 budget.

The TRC, which investigated the history and legacy of residential schools, called for an independent, Indigenous-led council to monitor the progress of reconciliation in Canada over the long term and evaluate and report on the implementation of its 94 calls to action.

An interim board that was appointed in 2018 to advise the government on creating the council released a final report that same year, calling for the creation of a transitional committee, which was appointed in 2021.

Bill C-29 says there will be between nine and 13 directors on the council's board, including a nominee each from the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Metis National Council.

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The other directors would be elected from a list of applicants and at least two-thirds must be Indigenous.

The council would be set up as a not-for-profit, and it would be required to report yearly on the progress being made toward reconciliation, including recommendations.

The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, which represents primarily non-status Indigenous and Metis people living off-reserve, says in a statement that it is "deeply disturbed" by the structure proposed in the bill.

The group says it's been excluded from the list of national Indigenous organizations for whom a seat on the board is guaranteed, and calls that discrimination against hundreds of thousands of Indigenous Peoples living in urban areas.

The bill was tabled in the House of Commons Wednesday, but the House is expected to rise Thursday for the summer break. MPs will not be back in their seats to debate legislation until September.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2022.
Amid an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of abuse at a Winnipeg long-term care home, the NDP is calling on the province to immediately review the facilitys operation licence.

Amid an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of abuse at a Winnipeg long-term care home, the NDP is calling on the province to immediately review the facilitys operation licence.

On Wednesday, Wab Kinew, leader of the Opposition, and NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara wrote to Manitoba Health and Seniors Care Minister Audrey Gordon.

"A review should examine the failure of processes that took place here and provide assurance that all residents and their families can expect proper and dignified care at this facility," they wrote of the reported issues at Extendicares Oakview Place.

The NDP request comes a day after allegations of mistreatment were made public.

On Tuesday, representatives from Extendicare and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority held a virtual news conference to announce two health-care aides at Oakview Place are accused of mistreating 15 residents of the home.

Extendicare, the Ontario-based corporation that owns the 245-bed home, knew about the abuse allegations since February, but did not immediately report them to authorities and only notified one of the 15 families affected.

Other staff at the facility had to come forward as whistleblowers and notified the WRHA before the incidents were reported to police.

The two employees were placed on paid leave pending the results of the investigations. No details about the type or circumstances of the alleged abuse have been announced.

Kinew described the allegations and the delayed way they came to light as a "betrayal of trust."

The NDP leader said he was surprised the provincial government hasnt yet announced a review of the St. James personal care home operations.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES NDP Leader Wab Kinew described the allegations and the delayed way they came to light as a betrayal of trust.

"I understand that the government might not want to immediately pass judgment, but at the very least, they should be launching a review because there are certainly red flags with this company in other jurisdictions and whats being alleged here is very, very troubling," Kinew said Wednesday.

He alluded to a provincial takeover of all Extendicare facilities in Saskatchewan prompted by an ombudsmans report that found Extendicare wasnt prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic and didnt follow infection-control and critical-incident requirements leading up to a deadly outbreak.

In fall 2020, 39 residents of the Regina Parkside home died.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority declined to comment Wednesday, instead pointing to news releases about its announcements last fall that made clear it is taking control of Extendicare operations. A similar move isnt being considered with the WRHA, an Extendicare spokeswoman stated Wednesday.

Extendicare and WRHA both said, barring any privacy concerns, they will share the results of the ongoing investigations. One is being conducted by the Winnipeg Police Service, and one by Manitobas protection for persons in care office.

At Oakview Place, resident Agnes Heinrichs was out for a walk Wednesday with her twin sister Helena Klassen. The 78-year-old said she has lived at Oakview for several years and has been well taken care of by staff (two of whom came outside when they saw her being interviewed and told her she didnt have to answer any questions).

"Ive been here a long time and I love it here. Ive never been hurt by anybody," she said, adding she wasnt previously aware of the allegations.

Her sister was concerned after hearing that the allegations were not reported to the WRHA for four months. The delay might have caused more residents to be abused in the meantime, Klassen said.

Extendicare owns or manages seven personal care homes in Manitoba, including one in Selkirk and one in Brandon.

Eileen Sim, 78, said her husband has been living at Extendicares Tuxedo Village since April 1. He was forced to leave the couples Winnipeg home after injuries in a fall.

Sim said she was unhappy about the level of care her husband receives, particularly because his stay at the facility costs $90.50 each day.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The administrator of Oakview Place resigned and a new director of regional operations for Manitoba was appointed on Monday.

"If you needed to stay, if your parents got sick, could you afford to spend $36,000 a year to have them stay here?" she said.

Despite her concerns, Sim said she believes the quality of care at the facility is still better than others in the city, and most issues at Tuxedo Village are a result of being understaffed.

Sim said she wasnt surprised when she heard the news about Oakview.

"Ive never heard good things about Oakview. So that was one, when it was suggested he might go there, I said no," she said.

The incident was clearly poorly handled, especially considering the two health-care aides were allowed to continue working for four months until the allegations were reported to the WRHA, said Canadian long-term care expert Dr. Samir Sinha, a Winnipeg-raised director of geriatrics at Sinai Health and the University Health Network in Toronto.

The whistleblowers did the right thing, but "it seems there was a failure of leadership to deal with this properly," Sinha said.

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The administrator of Oakview Place resigned and a new director of regional operations for Manitoba was appointed Monday.

Sinha said he hopes this case doesnt simply result in more regulations for care homes. A deeper look is required at the root causes of abuse and neglect, he said.

"Unfortunately, sometimes we have good policy but bad practice, and I think this is a classic textbook example where nobody is justifying what actually happened or trying to defend the actions that occurred," he said.

"We know that a lot of abuse and neglect that occurs in these settings often stems from the fact that workers are not well-supported. Theres often significant issues with staffing in these homes that really create a huge burden for the front-line workers, and these residents are particularly vulnerable so its a perfect storm for things like this to happen."

 with files from Tyler Searle

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca
The woman remembers thinking the sign in her family doctors exam room was strange.

The woman remembers thinking the sign in her family doctors exam room was strange.

The single piece of paper, attached to a calendar pinned to the wall, stated: "Dr. Bissonnette requires a chaperone to be present at all times when he conducts any breast or pelvic examination of a female patient."

Although she wondered if she should be concerned, she told herself he wouldnt be allowed to treat patients if something serious had come to light. So she continued seeing him as she had been since childhood.

Nearly two years after noticing the sign at the Ste. Anne medical centre, her doctor, Arcel Bissonnette, was charged with six counts of sexual assault involving patients. That number grew to 22 counts as she and more women came forward.

A Free Press investigation into the secret handling of physician misconduct by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba (CPSM) is revealing regulatory policies that prioritize physicians right to privacy over patients safety, leaving patients vulnerable to a range of mistreatment, including criminal offences.

The colleges specific failures, critics say, include: not telling patients about serious accusations against their physicians; holding investigations behind closed doors; posting vague signage about required chaperones in doctors offices; having limited rules governing chaperoning; and placing controversial gender-based conditions on physician licences. The CPSM refuses to inform patients of any allegations against physicians or ongoing investigations, citing privacy restrictions under the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA).

The college can impose interim measures intended to protect the public and ensure "procedural fairness to the investigated member." Interim measures can include conditions requiring physicians to have a chaperone present when conducting sensitive exams on patients of a certain gender, which also require corresponding signage to be posted.

The college says Bissonnette agreed in January 2019 to have a condition on his licence stating that he only perform breast or pelvic exams of female patients with a chaperone present. The condition was put into effect after someone raised "concerns" with the college. It had been in place for 22 months before he was arrested in November 2020.

The college wont say when it received the original complaint. A Free Press review of court documents show three women allege they were sexually assaulted after the condition was put in place.

The college says it was not aware he breached any conditions, nor has it "received allegations of misconduct occurring" while the restriction was in effect. It wont say more about Bissonnette.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A victim said the situation involving chaperones is maddening because it suggests staff at the medical clinic were more aware of the concerns raised with the college than patients.

The victim who spoke with the Free Press said chaperones  one of two front desk employees  were present during her exams, however she alleges her doctor also groped her when she was there for non-exam appointments.

She said the situation involving chaperones is "maddening" because it suggests staff at the medical clinic were more aware of the concerns raised with the college than patients.

"The staff arent the ones in the relationship with the doctor, its the patients," said the victim, who cant be named due to a publication ban. "It just feels really deceptive in terms of also trusting the clinic."

Bissonnettes case is before the courts and he is presumed innocent. His lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.

Dr. Anna Ziomek, the CPSM registrar, declined to be interviewed for this series. In a statement, she said the college strives to be transparent but must work within the limitations of the RHPA, Manitobas legislation governing regulated health professions.

The staff arent the ones in the relationship with the doctor, its the patients. It just feels really deceptive in terms of also trusting the clinic.  Victim

"We recognize some improvements can be made, but overhauling the RHPA extends beyond CPSMs medical regulatory authority and can only be amended by the Legislative Assembly," she said.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon declined interview requests.

CPSM college spokesperson Wendy Elias-Gagnon said in an email that chaperones are told what to focus on during exams and that the medical director of the physicians clinic is also made aware of the concerns. The chaperone is also required to report "any deviation from the required conditions or any concerning behaviour directly to CPSM or through the medical director of the clinic in which they work," Elias-Gagnon said.

However, there is no formal training for chaperones in Manitoba; training happens on case-by-case basis, she said. If the complaint is about how particular examinations are performed, training would address that; if the complaint is about communication, training would focus on that, Elias-Gagnon said.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES There are additional concerns surrounding CPSMs practice of asking staff to oversee someone who employs them or is in a position of authority, which can create a real or perceived conflict of interest, Arthur Schafer said.

Arthur Schafer, founding director of the University of Manitobas Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics, questions whether the CPSMs training is sufficient  especially if a chaperone doesnt have formal medical training.

"How do they know whether the doctor, when taking your blood pressure, needs to touch your breast?" Schafer asked. "Doctors (can) persuade patients that what theyre doing is legitimate when its abusive."

There are additional concerns surrounding CPSMs practice of asking staff to oversee someone who employs them or is in a position of authority, which can create a real or perceived conflict of interest, Schafer said.

Elias-Gagnon said the CPSM "recognizes the potential for concerns about some clinic staff being utilized as chaperones" but reiterated the clinics medical director would also be aware of the situation.

The college confirmed "approximately" four other physicians in the province have active gender-based conditions on their licences. The college wouldnt identify the four.

Alberta-based patient care expert Lorian Hardcastle questioned whether a doctor with such a restriction should be allowed to continue practising.

"If someone has shown themself to be such a concern in terms of posing such a threat to public safety and has displayed such poor judgment, should we trust them with any patient?" she asked.

If someone has shown themself to be such a concern in terms of posing such a threat to public safety and has displayed such poor judgment, should we trust them with any patient?  Patient care expert Lorian Hardcastle

Hardcastle said Manitobas policies not only fail to protect patients but are also promoting outdated concepts of gender and sexuality.

"With societal attitudes toward gender changing, and a great recognition of people who may be non-binary, drawing sharp distinctions between male and female patients is problematic," said Hardcastle, an associate professor with the University of Calgarys faculty of law who studies health-care regulatory systems.

In Ontario, the province eliminated gender-based restrictions on physicians licences in 2016 following a Sexual Abuse Task Force examining existing health-care regulations.

Meanwhile, the woman who spoke to the Free Press said she now realizes the signage alerting patients that a chaperone is required to be present was a red flag.

But she said the way it was presented raises many questions: Is it meant to alert patients to be on guard? Is it to make patients the watchdog and ensure the chaperone really is present? What answers do patients get if they ask why the condition is in place?

Be more forthcoming about it. Not just a sheet of fg paper just attached to a calendar.  Victim

At the time, she still thought what had happened at her doctors appointments was normal.

"Hes the doctor," she said. "I trusted him."

The college says physicians are required to post the signage in a "prominent location" in each examination room and at the reception desk and that the college must see and approve the signs, including their size and location.

The college says it is bound by the RHPA to not share details of investigations with patients. It would only post reasons for imposing a condition if it was the result of a formal disciplinary decision. It says some physicians not under investigation choose to have chaperones present voluntarily.

Schafer said whether intended or not, such signs could subtly alert patients to a physicians alleged misconduct without revealing details before the college has properly assessed the claim.

"People will infer from the sign  that theres been an allegation of misconduct," he said. "They can opt out of seeing this particular doctor."

The CPSMs policies make clear the college is juggling competing demands when applying such restrictions.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The college says physicians are required to post the signage in a prominent location in each examination room and at the reception desk and that the college must see and approve the signs, including their size and location.

The colleges investigation policy states it should consult with legal counsel when considering interim conditions and assess: "a. the seriousness of the conduct giving rise to the risk; b. the reliability of the evidence underlying the conduct and/or allegations; c. the probability of harm if no action is taken; and d. the availability of less restrictive measures to protect the public."

"Paramount" is concern for "protection of the public and procedural fairness to the investigated member."

The woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Bissonnette for nearly 15 years  including while the condition was in place  said the college should have prioritized patient safety over his right to "procedural fairness."

At the very least, accompanying the chaperone signage should have been resources about where to go for help.

"Be more forthcoming about it," she said. "Not just a sheet of f-----g paper just attached to a calendar."

katrina.clarke@freepress.mb.ca
A hotly debated push to remove key elements from two Winnipeg bus shelters to prevent homeless Winnipeggers from hanging out in them was shelved by city council Thursday after its key supporter changed his mind.

A hotly debated push to remove key elements from two Winnipeg bus shelters to prevent homeless Winnipeggers from hanging out in them was shelved by city council Thursday after its key supporter changed his mind.

On June 9, a majority of the public works committee supported Coun. Shawn Nasons motion to remove the glass walls, doors, seats and electrical units from the shelters in front of Kildonan Place on Regent Avenue. Nason initially argued the change is needed to address drug use, garbage and other safety risks at the bus shacks.

However, dozens of individuals and organizations that help homeless Winnipeggers lashed out at the move as merely displacing the citys most vulnerable residents.

On Thursday morning, Nason announced he would support taking no action on his original motion and leave the shelters intact, which council approved a few hours later.

"I was misinformed and Im sorry for the harms that Ive caused. Thats why Im working collaboratively with (Coun. Sherri Rollins) to try to move forward to find answers, to find solutions. We cant leave these individuals that are in these situations to languish for more and more time," Nason told a few dozen people who rallied against the motion outside city hall.

His voice at times cracking with emotion, the councillor told protestors waving signs with the messages "bus shelters save lives" and "unsheltered relatives deserve dignity" that the public backlash against dismantling bus shelters convinced him it was wrong.

One participant in the demonstration said the motion sparked great concern among many Indigenous organizations, since they represent Winnipeggers who are overrepresented in the homeless population.

"Were in the middle of Treaty 1 territory and our people have no belonging here  They dont even have belonging in bus shacks," said Cora Morgan, a family advocate for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

She urged the city to focus on supplying more affordable housing and partner with senior governments if it cant afford to address the issue alone.

"The issues are on the streets of Winnipeg, our city council have an obligation to address it. If they dont have the resources to do it and they believe that its a provincial or federal responsibility, then they should be bringing the three governments together to get the investment and implement the actions," said Morgan.

Nason said his motion was inspired after three people died at the site of the shelters over the past two years, including one killed by a drug overdose, one who suffered a fatal fall and another involved in a car accident. St. Boniface Street Links originally supported Nasons motion over the safety concerns before also publicly reversing its position.

Rollins and Nason raised a new motion Thursday, which instead asks the citys public service to develop options to: create at least 150 low-barrier housing units specifically aimed at provide housing for those "sleeping rough" or staying at encampments and/or bus shelters; establish safe drug consumption sites and mobile housing/addictions supports; extend grants for outreach groups that serve the homeless; and fund other anti-poverty initiatives.

Council will debate that proposal in July and could seek funding through the 2023 budget process to support it. The motion also calls to engage the provincial government on the work.

Nason said work is needed to address safety concerns at the bus shacks for people who ride the bus or go to the shopping centre.

Rollins credited those who strongly opposed the motion with triggering the changes.

"Were a stronger council when you come forward and help us," she told participants at the morning rally.

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Mayor Brian Bowman said he was glad to see Nason back away from the bus shelter motion.

"Its the right thing to do. Weve heard loud and clear from the community that removing transit shelters as a means to combat homelessness is really wrong on so many levels," said Bowman.

Late Thursday afternoon, council cast a near unanimous vote to take no action on the shelter dismantling proposal, with only Coun. Jeff Browaty opposed.

"Winnipeggers deserve to be safe in their communities and in their neighbourhoods. The trip to the mall shouldnt be fraught with people fighting at a bus stop  theyre not well, I understand that, they need supports. But they cant be at the bus stop," said Browaty, during Thursdays council meeting.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga
A transgender teens first job after high school has become the learning experience they didnt want, after they were the target of slurs from co-workers and the employer did nothing about it.

A transgender teens first job after high school has become the learning experience they didnt want, after they were the target of slurs from co-workers and the employer did nothing about it.

Trinity Wolf, 19, was pumping fuel at a local Co-op service station bar, taking a year off to raise money for post-secondary education, when two co-workers began hurling the slurs at the teen last month, culminating with: "All trans people should be burned alive."

"I wasnt scared  I was more just in shock," Trinity (who uses they/them pronouns) said in an interview. "You hear stories a lot about this and in movies, but you never think it would happen to me personally."

After talking to their parents, Trinity went back to the co-workers to tell them how they felt. The meeting didnt go well. "They just brushed it off," Trinity said. "They didnt care at all. I was hoping for a little bit of something, like an apology of some kind."

Trinity said it didnt go any better when they talked to the manager of the service station. Not only was no action taken against the co-workers, Trinity had their hours cut from 28 hours a week to 10 after saying they didnt want to work shifts with the pair.

Trinitys mother, Michelle, decided to call Red River Co-ops head office herself to complain.

"People at work dont have to like you, but you cant be spouting off with these things," she told the Free Press.

"My husband and I had been trying to help Trinity deal with this in an adult way as a learning experience. When I got hold of someone at the head office, it went nowhere. I had hoped the manager would say this is unacceptable. The head office said (the manager) was very apologetic, but Trinity heard nothing," she said.

"At the end of it, I support Trinity. I said, you just have to leave the job because weve exhausted all of the adult (avenues)."

Kelly Romas, director of marketing for Red River Cooperative Ltd., said in a statement: "We are reviewing this incident with our lease operator. We strive to be an inclusive employer and do not condone discrimination or harassment at Red River Co-op corporate and agency operated locations."

Romas said out of Red River Co-ops 35 gas bars, only six are owned by the corporation with the rest leased to operators.

Bryce Byron, Rainbow Resource Centre information and intake co-ordinator, has sympathy for Trinity but is not surprised.

"This sort of harassment happens in workplaces and society, despite the fact it is blatantly illegal and violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms," Byron said.

"It is usually hit and miss in employment but, unfortunately, there is a lot of employment situations that go unreported. We have pretty words in the charter and it is discrimination, but that doesnt reflect what happens on the ground," Byron said.

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"It really makes the problem of homophobia and harassment in the workplace so hard to touch Its a really unfortunate situation, because you see employers working to change the culture, but there are plenty that dont," Byron said.

"I encourage anyone facing discrimination at work to reach out to us And talk to your MLAs and MPs. They need to know."

As for Trinity, they decided to quit and has a new job as a dishwasher in a pizza restaurant.

"They just dont think they made a mistake," Trinity said. "They just think this is a load off of their shoulders.

"No one else should have this happen to them."

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
A report says the Chinese Communist Party might have tried to discourage Canadians of Chinese heritage from voting for the Conservatives in Septembers federal election.

The Colorado Avalanche are one win away from hoisting the Stanley Cup after beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in overtime to take a 3-1 series lead.
TO state the obvious, in Canada the government does not directly bill patients for treatment they receive from physicians and hospitals. While this approach distinguishes us from our southern neighbour, it also contrasts with policies employed by some of the top-performing universal health-care countries in the world, including Australia, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland, where patients directly share the cost of treatmentand for good reason.

Opinion

TO state the obvious, in Canada the government does not directly bill patients for treatment they receive from physicians and hospitals. While this approach distinguishes us from our southern neighbour, it also contrasts with policies employed by some of the top-performing universal health-care countries in the world, including Australia, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland, where patients directly share the cost of treatmentand for good reason.

To better understand why, its important to first realize Canada is not unique in its pursuit of universal health care  at least 28 other countries offer universal coverage. However, they all have widely varying attitudes and policy approaches toward the private sector, profit motives, hospital and physician payment mechanisms, and whether or not patients should directly share the cost of care.

In fact, the vast majority of universal health-care systems worldwide employ some form of cost-sharing, including deductibles (an amount individuals must pay before insurance coverage kicks in), co-insurance payments (the patient pays a certain percentage of treatment cost) and co-payments (the patient pays a fixed amount per treatment).

For example, in the Netherlands, adults are generally required to pay a deductible (in Canadian dollars, roughly equal to the first $517) before insurance kicks in. In Sweden, flat co-payments are the norm, with patients usually paying between roughly $12 and $38 for family doctor appointments.

Switzerland follows a blended approach in which patients are subject to a deductible (roughly between $380 and $3,200) and 10 per cent of the cost, with insurance covering the rest.

Canada, on the other hand, remains part of a small minority of six universal health-care countries (again, of 28) that either entirely eschew cost-sharing by patients or do not generally expect patients to share the cost of treatment for core medical services. The other countries are Denmark, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain and the United Kingdom  none of which are exactly paragons of good performance on the health-care front.

To understand why most universal health-care systems employ cost-sharing arrangements, we must return to our economic textbooks and the work of Nobel Prize winner Kenneth Arrow, who made a convincing case for expanded medical insurance coverage from both an individual and societal perspective while also expressing concern about what happens when widespread medical insurance increases the demand for medical care.

Our understanding of these consequences was developed further by economist Mark Pauly, who demonstrated that the distorting effects of this type of first-dollar insurance coverage (i.e. with no cost-sharing) can lead to excess demand for medical care and loss of social welfare. In Canada, our long wait times are one significant byproduct of excess demand.

Fortunately, Pauly also outlined a set of economic tools  including cost-sharing  to help mitigate these consequences. In subsequent years, a wealth of empirical studies confirmed cost-sharing mechanisms can reduce the use of ambulatory (i.e. outpatient) care without necessarily resulting in adverse consequences for the population.

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The only problem? The tempering effect of cost-sharing extends to both essential and non-essential care, and the impact of such payments can disproportionately impact vulnerable groups. Its therefore imperative to complement cost-sharing policies with generous protections for lower-income and/or at-risk groups.

While some the worlds top-performing universal health-care systems, including Australia, Sweden and Switzerland, all expect patients to share the cost of care, they also employ generous safety nets, setting annual caps on out-of-pocket spending and ensuring exemptions for at-risk populations.

Just about every country that outperforms Canada on key indicators of wait times also employs some form of cost-sharing.

Unfortunately, the Canada Health Act explicitly prohibits cost-sharing for medically necessary care. As a result, provinces cant even experiment with these tools to see if they help produce better outcomes. If any province tries to employ some form of cost-sharing, it will incur financial penalties imposed by Ottawa.

Clearly, Canadas health-care system is in need of reform. Cost-sharing is potentially one piece of the puzzle that could lead to more appropriate use of our scarce health-care resources and a better health-care system for all Canadians.

Bacchus Barua and Mackenzie Moir are analysts with the Fraser Institute.
WASHINGTON (AP)  In a major expansion of gun rights, the Supreme Court said Thursday that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, a ruling likely to lead to more people legally armed in cities and elsewhere, The ruling came with recent mass shootings fresh in the nations mind and gun-control legislation being debated in Congress and beyond.

An abortion-rights activist stands outside the U.S. Supreme Court, Thursday, June 23, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

WASHINGTON (AP)  In a major expansion of gun rights, the Supreme Court said Thursday that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, a ruling likely to lead to more people legally armed in cities and elsewhere, The ruling came with recent mass shootings fresh in the nations mind and gun-control legislation being debated in Congress and beyond.

About a quarter of the U.S. population lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling, which struck down a New York gun law. The high court's first major gun decision in more than a decade came on a 6-3 split with the court's conservatives in the majority and liberals in dissent.

Meanwhile, across the street at the Capitol, Congress sped toward passage of its own gun legislation following the mass shootings in Texas,New York and California. Senators cleared the way for its measure, modest in scope but still the most far-reaching in decades.

Also Thursday, underscoring the nation's deep divisions over the issue, the sister of a 9-year-old girl killed in the Uvalde, Texas, school shootings, pleaded with state lawmakers in Austin to pass gun legislation, which would go against the Republican-controlled body's easing of restrictions in recent years.

President Joe Biden said in a statement he was "deeply disappointed" by the Supreme Court ruling, which he said "contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all."

A police officer leads a K-9 in the street outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Thursday, June 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

He urged states to pass new laws and said, "I call on Americans across the country to make their voices heard on gun safety. Lives are on the line."

The court's decision struck down a New York law requiring people to demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun in order to get a license to carry one in public. The justices said that requirement violates the Second Amendment right to "keep and bear arms."

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority that the Constitution protects "an individuals right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home." That right is not a "second-class right," Thomas wrote. "We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need."

California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island all have laws similar to New York's.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the ruling comes at a particularly painful time, when New York is still mourning the deaths of 10 people in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo. "This decision isnt just reckless. Its reprehensible. Its not what New Yorkers want," she said.

But Tom King, president of the plaintiff New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, said he was relieved.

FILE  A police officer guards the main entrance to the Supreme Court in Washington, Oct. 9, 2018. The Supreme Court, Thursday, June 23, 2022, struck down a restrictive New York gun law in a major ruling for gun rights. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

"The lawful and legal gun owner of New York State is no longer going to be persecuted by laws that have nothing to do with the safety of the people and will do nothing to make the people safer," he said. "And maybe now well start going after criminals and perpetrators of these heinous acts."

The courts decision is somewhat out of step with public opinion. About half of voters in the 2020 presidential election said gun laws in the U.S. should be made more strict, according to AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of the electorate. An additional third said laws should be kept as they are, while only about 1 in 10 said gun laws should be less strict.

About 8 in 10 Democratic voters said gun laws should be made more strict, VoteCast showed. Among Republican voters, roughly half said laws should be kept as they are, while the remaining half closely divided between more and less strict.

In a court dissent joined by his liberal colleagues Thursday, Justice Stephen Breyer focused on the toll taken by gun violence. "Since the start of this year alone (2022), there have already been 277 reported mass shootingsan average of more than one per day," Breyer wrote.

Backers of New Yorks law had argued that striking it down would lead to more guns on the streets and higher rates of violent crime. Gun violence, which was already on the rise during the coronavirus pandemic, has spiked anew.

In most of the country gun owners have little difficulty legally carrying their weapons in public. But that had been harder to do in New York and the handful of states with similar laws. New Yorks law, which has been in place since 1913, says that to carry a concealed handgun in public, a person applying for a license has to show "proper cause," a specific need to carry the weapon.

The state issues unrestricted licenses where a person can carry their gun anywhere and restricted licenses that allow a person to carry the weapon but just for specific purposes such as hunting and target shooting or to and from their place of business.

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The challenge to the New York law was brought by the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, which describes itself as the nations oldest firearms advocacy organization, and two men seeking an unrestricted ability to carry guns outside their homes.

The Supreme Court last issued a major gun decision in 2010. In that decision and a ruling from 2008 the justices established a nationwide right to keep a gun at home for self-defense. The question for the court this time was about carrying one outside the home. Thomas wrote in his opinion that: "Nothing in the Second Amendments text draws a home/public distinction with respect to the right to keep and bear arms."

The courts decision is somewhat out of step with public opinion. About half of voters in the 2020 presidential election said gun laws in the U.S. should be made more strict, according to AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of the electorate. An additional third said laws should be kept as they are, while only about 1 in 10 said gun laws should be less strict.

About 8 in 10 Democratic voters said gun laws should be made more strict, VoteCast showed. Among Republican voters, roughly half said laws should be kept as they are, while the remaining half closely divided between more and less strict.

___

Associated Press reporters Mark Sherman, Hannah Fingerhut and Zeke Miller in Washington and Michael King in East Greenbush, New York, contributed to this report.
GAYAN, Afghanistan (AP)  Villagers rushed to bury the dead Thursday and dug by hand through the rubble of their homes in search of survivors of a powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan that state media reported killed 1,000 people. Residents appeared to be largely on their own to deal with the aftermath as their new Taliban-led government and the international aid community struggled to bring in help.

In this photo released by Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority, a convoy of trucks carrying relief good including tents, blankets and emergency medicines for Afghanistan's earthquake hit areas, prepare to leave for Afghanistan at a warehouse in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, June 23, 2022. (National Disaster Management Authority via AP)

GAYAN, Afghanistan (AP)  Villagers rushed to bury the dead Thursday and dug by hand through the rubble of their homes in search of survivors of a powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan that state media reported killed 1,000 people. Residents appeared to be largely on their own to deal with the aftermath as their new Taliban-led government and the international aid community struggled to bring in help.

Under a leaden sky in Paktika province, the epicenter of Wednesdays earthquake where hundreds of homes have been destroyed, men dug several long trenches on a mountainside overlooking their village. They prayed over around 100 bodies wrapped in blankets and then buried them.

In villages across Gayan district, toured by Associated Press journalists for hours Thursday, families who had spent the previous rainy night out in the open lifted pieces of timber of collapsed roofs and pulled away stones by hand, looking for missing loved ones. Taliban fighters circulated in vehicles in the area, but only a few were seen helping dig through rubble.

There was little sign of heavy equipment  only one bulldozer was spotted being transported. Ambulances circulated, but little other help to the living was evident.

Many international aid agencies withdrew from Afghanistan when the Taliban seized power nearly 10 months ago. Those that remain are scrambling to get medical supplies, food and tents to the remote quake-struck area, using shoddy mountain roads made worse by damage and rains.

In this photo released by a set-run news agency Bakhtar, Afghans evacuate wounded in an earthquake in the province of Paktika, eastern Afghanistan, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. (Bakhtar News Agency via AP)

We ask from the Islamic Emirate and the whole country to come forward and help us, said a survivor who gave his name as Hakimullah. We are with nothing and have nothing, not even a tent to live in.

The scenes underscored how the magnitude 6 quake has struck a country that was already nearly on its knees from multiple humanitarian crises.

The quake took the lives of 1,000 people, according to the state-run Bakhtar News Agency, which also reported an estimated 1,500 more were injured. In the first independent count, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said around 770 people had been killed in Paktika and neighboring Khost province.

Afghans look for survivors in the village of Gyan, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. A powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, flattening stone and mud-brick homes in the country's deadliest quake in two decades, the state-run news agency reported. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Nooroozi)

Its not clear how the totals were arrived at, given the difficulties of accessing and communicating with the affected villages. Either grim toll would make the quake Afghanistans deadliest in two decades, and officials continued to warn the number could still rise.

Since the Taliban took over in August amid the U.S and NATO withdrawal, the world pulled back financing and development aid that had been keeping the country afloat. The economy collapsed, leaving millions unable to afford food; many medical facilities shut down, making treatment harder to find. Nearly half the population of 38 million faces crisis levels of food insecurity.

Many aid and development agencies also left after the Taliban seizure of power. The U.N. and remaining agencies said they were moving blankets, food, tents, and medical teams to the area.

Men stand around the bodies of people killed in an earthquake in Gayan village, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. A powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, flattening stone and mud-brick homes in the country's deadliest quake in two decades, the state-run news agency reported. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Nooroozi)

But they are over-stretched, and U.N. agencies are facing a $3 billion funding shortfall for Afghanistan this year. That means there will be difficult decisions about who gets aid, said Peter Kessler, a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency.

Local medical centers, already struggling to deal with malnutrition cases, were now overwhelmed with people injured by the quake, said Adnan Junaid, the International Rescue Committee vice president for Asia.

The toll this disaster will have on the local communities ... is catastrophic, and the impact the earthquake will have on the already stretched humanitarian response in Afghanistan is a grave cause for concern, Junaid said.

Men stand around the bodies of people killed in an earthquake in Gayan village, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Thursday, June 23, 2022. A powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, flattening stone and mud-brick homes in the country's deadliest quake in two decades, the state-run news agency reported. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Nooroozi)

The Defense Ministry, which leads the Taliban emergency effort, said it sent 22 helicopter flights on Wednesday transporting wounded and taking supplies, along with several more Thursday.

Still, the Talibans resources have been gutted by the economic crisis. Made up of insurgents who fought for 20 years against the U.S. and NATO, the Taliban have also struggled to make the transition to governing.

On Wednesday, a U.N. official said the government had not requested that the world body mobilize international search-and-rescue teams or obtain equipment from neighboring countries, despite a rare plea from the Talibans supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzadah, for help from the world.

Afghans stand among destruction after an earthquake in Gayan village, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Thursday, June 23, 2022. A powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, flattening stone and mud-brick homes in the country's deadliest quake in two decades, the state-run news agency reported. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Nooroozi)

Trucks of food and other necessities arrived from Pakistan, and planes full of humanitarian aid landed from Iran and Qatar, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on Twitter. India said it sent a technical team to its embassy in Kabul to coordinate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, but it didn't give details on the team or the relief material being sent.

Pakistan also opened several nearby border crossings to allow those affected by the disaster to cross, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sherif said in a call with the Taliban Prime Minister Mullah Hasan Akhund.

Obtaining more direct international help may be more difficult: Many countries, including the U.S., funnel humanitarian aid to Afghanistan through the U.N. and other organizations to avoid putting money in the Talibans hands, wary of dealing with the group, which has issued a flurry of repressive edicts curtailing the rights of women and girls and the press.

Afghans stand among destruction after an earthquake in Gayan village, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Thursday, June 23, 2022. A powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, flattening stone and mud-brick homes in the country's deadliest quake in two decades, the state-run news agency reported. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Nooroozi)

Germany, Norway and several other countries announced they were sending aid for the quake, but underscored that they would work only through U.N. agencies, not with the Taliban.

In a news bulletin Thursday, Afghanistan state television made a point to acknowledge that President Joe Biden of the United States  their one-time enemy  offered condolences over the earthquake and had promised aid. Biden on Wednesday ordered the U.S. international aid agency and its partners to assess options for helping the victims, a White House statement said.

U.N. deputy special representative for Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, told the U.N. Security Council in a video briefing he intends to visit quake-hit areas on Friday and to meet with affected families, first-hand responders, including womens civil society groups who are working to ensure that assistance reaches women and girls, and to support overall relief efforts.

A man stands among destruction after an earthquake in Gayan village, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Thursday, June 23, 2022. A powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, flattening stone and mud-brick homes in the country's deadliest quake in two decades, the state-run news agency reported. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Nooroozi)

In Paktika province, the quake shook a region of deep poverty, where residents scrape out in a living in the few fertile areas among the rough mountains. Roads are so difficult that some villages in Gayan District took a full day to reach from Kabul, though it is only 175 kilometers (110 miles away.)

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One 6-year-old boy in Gayan wept as he said his parents, two sisters and a brother were all dead. He had fled the ruins of his own home and took refuge with the neighbors.

While modern buildings withstand magnitude 6 earthquakes elsewhere, Afghanistans mud-brick homes and landslide-prone mountains make such quakes more dangerous.

One man, Rahim Jan, stood inside the few standing mud-brick walls of his home with the toppled roof timbers all around him.

It is destroyed completely, all my belongings are gone, he said. I have lost 12 members of my family in this house.

___

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Lee Keath in Cairo, and Rahim Faiez and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.
Due to a decrease in demand and an increase in availability of at-home COVID-19 tests, the Minnesota Department of Health is closing its COVID-19 community testing site at the Winona Mall. The last day of testing will be June 29.

Testing is still available throughout Winona County at the following locations:

Winona Health: Urgent Care in the main clinic on a walk-in basis with same day results; Hours: Monday through Friday7:00 am to 8:00 pm, Saturday and Sunday7:00 am to 5:00 pm

Gundersen Health Systems in Winona: Call the Gundersen COVID Nurse Line at (608) 775-4465 before you come in to schedule a test.

Olmsted Medical Center: Patients can schedule an appointment for a COVID-19 test through the OMC MyChart Symptom Checker. After you sign into your OMC MyChart account, select Symptom Checker from the Menu.

-Winona County Public Health at the Parkview Office Building: At-home tests are available between 8:00 am and 4:30 pm Monday through Friday.

-Many local pharmacies are offering testing. Visit their websites to make an appointment.

-Free at-home test kits may be ordered from:

State of Minnesota- https://mn.gov/covid19/get-tested/at-home/index.jsp

Federal Government- https://www.covid.gov/tests

Additionally, the federal government is providing several testing resources:

Under the Biden Administrations test-to-treat program, 61 Minnesota pharmacies and community clinics are conducting on-site rapid testing and prescribing anti-viral medicine for atrisk individuals who test positive. Find a list of participating providers at the federal governments Test to Treat locator.

Under a Biden Administration order, insurers are required to cover the cost of up to eight at-home COVID-19 test kits per month for enrollees. Check with your insurance company about ways to get free rapid testing from pharmacies.

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Miller Ingenuity celebrated its 75th anniversary Thursday with a family and community gathering at its home in Winona.

Tours were offered to community members at the companys Winona facility, after visitors viewed a video of community leaders congratulating the company on its major anniversary.

Employees, who had a break from work, were able to bring their families to the facility to celebrate the historic anniversary.

The fun didnt just stop at learning about the company and its products  like ZoneGuard, which helps notify railroad workers of oncoming trains  during a walk through of the facility, though.

A proclamation from the city of Winona was presented to Miller Ingenuity president and CEO Steven Blue, along with a certificate from Gov. Tim Walz, in honor of the special occasion.

Blue shared to visitors during the event that many companies do not last as long as Miller Ingenuity. He said that the employees, among other factors, are to thank for the accomplishment of reaching 75 years.

The most important thing that I take comfort in is knowing that I have the greatest team of people on the planet behind me, Blue said as he reflected on the future of the company and all of the hardships that the company and the world as a whole has faced in recent years.

He also said that he often thinks about when the company was created and the hardships the founder  Rudy Miller  faced at that time 75 years ago.

Blue knows that if Rudy was able to get through those hardships, like recovering from the challenges of World War II just two years before, Miller Ingenuity can get through the hardships faced today.

The event was well attended, with special visitors such as State Rep. Gene Pelowski, State Sen. Jeremy Miller, Winona city council members and more in attendance.

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According to the Minnesota State Patrol, a Chrysler 200 operated by Sandra Kay Kieselhorst, 70, Minnesota City, was eastbound on Hwy. 14 in Warren Township, when it collided with a Toyota Tundra operated by Drew Allen Krings, 35, Winona. Krings was also eastbound and was attempting to make a turn.
The Sauk County Board took its first step toward reopening a county park campground Tuesday.

Members unanimously passed a resolution to fund reconstruction of White Mound County Park, which had been a designated horse campground until 2021, when an inspection found it did not meet campground code requirements. The county Land Resources and Environment Department closed it until the land was brought into compliance.

Because public sentiment during development of the park master plan found support for upgrading and reopening the campground in rural Hill Point, $125,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funding was designated for improvements.

County officials requested bids for design and engineering services in April and received two proposals which fit the request.

Supervisors approved a contract to Parkitecture + Planning LLC, of Madison, for $16,610 to design the updated campground.

The proposal from Parkitecture + Planning includes schematic design, construction documents, final plans for construction companies, quality control and a projected schedule.

Part of their work to prepare for construction includes plans that show demolition and erosion control, the site layout, grading, electrical and stormwater management. Documents will also focus on landscape and restoration as well as typical construction details and plans for vault toilets.

The firm recently completed a project for Governor Dodge State Park. In a letter, president of the park friends group, Jean Warrior, recommended the planners from Parkitecture + Planning as priceless project partners.

The timeframe calls for a kickoff meeting this month, including a site review and drafted conceptual design, then construction documents completed in July and final plans presented in August. It could take up to four months, planners proposed.

Planners said the county could seek bids in the fall of 2023 and construction to begin either in late 2023 or early 2024. They will facilitate the bidding process.

Follow Bridget on Twitter @cookebridget or contact her at 608-745-3513.

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Authorities have arrested a suspect in the hit-and-run crash Monday which ended with a bicyclist dying in a ditch in the town of Troy as emergency responders arrived.

According to information released by the Sauk County Sheriffs Office, around 2 p.m. Wednesday an attorney called to report their client had been driving a white van along County Highway B east of Cassel Road around the estimated time of the collision. The client thought he hit a deer, the attorney said.

The lawyer did not provide details of the crash. The attorney gave authorities the name of Patrick J. Nachreiner, 62, of Plain, and his location. Detectives were granted a search warrant for the address and found the van, which had damage consistent with striking a person/bicycle rather than a deer, said Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister.

The full-size van bearing the words Carrier and Nachreiner Plumbing and Heating on both sides and the back was taken into custody for more investigation. Nachreiner was arrested and is being held at Sauk County Jail. He had not yet been charged by court closure Thursday in Sauk County Circuit Court.

According to online court records, Nachreiner has not been convicted of any crimes in Wisconsin. He is listed as the owner of Nachreiner Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc., of Plain, which was founded in 1997.

Authorities are still looking to gain more information about the crash, specifically from those who may have seen Nachreiner or the van Monday before the crash at roughly 8:30 p.m. Anyone with information can call Sauk County Crime Stoppers at 1-888-TIP-SAUK to report any sightings anonymously.

Follow Bridget on Twitter @cookebridget or contact her at 608-745-3513.

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Beaver Dams Downtown Facade Improvement Fund will be replenished to the tune of $350,000 with American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Two weeks after the City Council dismissed a plan to use $400,000 of its $1.7 million in ARPA funds for downtown revitalization, a measure to give a slightly smaller dollar amount passed after much discussion on a 10-3 vote, with one abstention.

Alds. Ken Anderson, Mick Fisher and Jack Yuds maintained their no votes from the previous meeting. Alds. Jaclyn Shelton, Cris Olson, Joe Bonnett and Andrew Perkins switched their votes to yes.

Anderson said he cant believe were even considering this, and noted the city has needs, such as a new fire truck.

Prior to the vote Monday, Mayor Becky Glewen said there are four individuals with downtown projects currently lined up, which would total about $200,000 in committed funds. She asked for an additional $150,000 for projects that people might be considering.

The Downtown Redevelopment Committee is responsible for doling out matching Building Improvement Grants that are legally limited to the downtown area.

Each project elevates the other, and elevates the whole area and helps each business continue to grow, she said.

One of those projects was discussed earlier in the meeting as the City Council learned of the possible donation of a property at 225 Front St. to the city from Wells Fargo, which shares a wall with Chili Johns.

Glewen said the propertys owner died and the property was turned over to the bank in foreclosure. It didnt sell at two sheriffs sales and the bank approached the city about possibly donating it. The property is in significant disrepair. There has been interest from more than one party in rehabbing the building with the help of a downtown grant.

Follow Kelly Simon on Twitter @KSchmidSimon or contact her at 920-356-6757.

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JUNEAU  The Dodge County Board approved another round of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding Tuesday evening to help fund childcare programs and highway repair projects.

The board previously approved the use of $3.65 million in federal funds for six projects, representing about one-fifth of the $17.6 million allocated to Dodge County from the American Rescue Plan Act.

On Tuesday, $914,000 was approved for several projects. Among one of those approved is the Highway S project at a cost of $490,000. The 1.4-mile stretch of roadway is between Highway A and Highway 26.

Highway projects have been identified as a priority use for ARPA funds, given a degrading county roadway system and challenges to find funding to keep pace with delayed projects. The project was approved unanimously and will be completed this year.

Also approved was a $200,000 allocation to the Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation for its Childcare Works Project. The ARPA request is to assist in the project which will add at least 150 new childcare slots and in concept build the capacity of childcare providers across the county.

Dodge and Jefferson counties will each contribute $200,000 (one-fourth each) and the City of Watertown will contribute $400,000 (one-half).

Its seed money to build out for childcare in a facility that theyre in the process of purchasing, said County Board Chairman Dave Frohling. Theyre about to make an announcement about the plan. Theyre going to be remodeling a nice new building and theyre going to put daycare in there, along with a bunch of other community health opportunities.

ARPA committee chair Andrew Johnson explained how the project ranked.

The overall scoring on this project was 75%, which was very high, he said. This was the fourth highest-ranked project among the 76 requests we received. It deals with COVID and the countys plans to address childcare worker shortages and helping those who want to work but cant due to the lack of child care options.

According to a project summary, the proposal serves the public purpose of enhancing the delivery of human services within Dodge County and promotes economic development by potentially increasing workforce participation in an era in which employees are experiencing workforce and labor shortages.

Supervisor Jeff Breselow criticized a disproportionate benefit to Jefferson County, where the building is located.

Why are we funding this? he asked. The majority of the school districts that benefit from this are not in Dodge County.

I have the same problem as Mr. Breselow in that it benefits Jefferson County more than us, said Supervisor Cathy Houchin. It was the same when we hired THRIVE Economic Development and Jefferson County benefitted far more than we did.

Were talking all the time about improving the quality of life in Dodge County, said Supervisor Ben Priesgen. If were not willing to help children, what are we willing to do? Ill be voting to support this and any initiative to help children. Supporting child care helps the workforce at the same time.

Watertown, incidentally, straddles the southern county line, as Waupun does in the north. The appropriation was approved 26-5.

Also approved was $70,000 for designing and engineering Phase III of the Gold Star Memorial Trail between Horicon and Beaver Dam. The walking and biking path is already established from Mayville through Horicon. The third phase would follow the railway corridor to Beaver Dam, with possible later expansion to Waupun.

Completing the design and engineering will make the trail eligible for grant funds from a number of sources. The plan has support from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Dodge County and other entities both public and private. The proposal was approved 22-9.

A total of $150,000 was approved for a cyber alarm service for Dodge Countys information technology infrastructure and systems. IT Director Justin Reynolds indicated that while the countys systems are safe, they are still subject to hacking and other threats. A total of $150,000 will come from ARPA funds, with the expense to be included in the budget for coming years. The move was approved with a 25-6 vote.

Further funds were approved for the purchase of absentee ballot envelopes ($4,000) to encourage voting in upcoming elections. Although Breselow urged people to vote in person, the move was approved 26-5.

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JUNEAU  It was a long meeting Tuesday night as Dodge County Board members were schooled about their roles and responsibilities and another round of American Rescue Plan Act fund allocations was considered.

An ARPA funds proposal that was denied is intended for completion of design and engineering for countywide Middle Mile Fiber Network  a step in establishing greater broadband access in the county.

That access is defined as the physical fiber optic infrastructure needed to enable Internet connectivity. It is made up of high-capacity fiber lines that carry large amounts of data at high speeds over long distances.

While it would have been a step forward, some county board members argued that it will do nothing substantive in expanding access, and is merely a step in a process which might better be completed by Internet providers themselves. Millions of dollars in government funds have been reportedly awarded to providers for that purpose.

The county itself paid for a conceptual study, including access maps from Design 9 Consultants. The purpose was to show where access is weak, and to focus on infrastructure to potentially meet at least some of those needs.

We approved a study to discover what is actually needed to increase broadband access in the county and four months after we were supposed to receive it we still have nothing, said supervisor Dave Guckenberger. Now were taking $400,000 and were going to invest that to do some engineering for a project thats clearly never going to address broadband needs for the bulk of the county. That bothers me.

He advised waiting for study results to determine where the money will be best spent.

This isnt going to provide one connection, said Supervisor Dan Siegmann. We just love spending money on plans.

ARPA Committee Chair Andrew Johnson replied that universal access will be a multi-million dollar task. Approving the engineering is an urgent step forward, with shovel-ready projects more likely to get approval for funding to be awarded in coming years.

The committee members all want to do something to move things forward, and this will help us to apply for the $4 million in grants that is coming available, said Johnson. We dont want to be in the Internet business, but we do want to have a plan and help to coordinate that. According to our recent survey, people in the county are very interested in better and faster service and they believe that the county should facilitate that. I believe this gets us going in the right direction. For us to do nothing, I think, is irresponsible.

Youre in a better position to receive grants if you have projects specd out for construction so you can compare construction plans like-for-like, said Information Technology Director Justin Reynolds.

He added that the Design 9 broadband access study is complete and is available on the Dodge County website.

Many of us believe we need countywide Emergency Medical Service, and in order to connect the four county shops as an anchor for that service were going to need to do this, said Supervisor Nancy Kavazanjian.

The move was defeated 20-10 with an abstention by supervisor Rob Boelk, two votes shy of the majority needed to spend unbudgeted funds.

In other action, Cameron Clapper of Whitewater was approved the next county administrator with a 28-3 vote. His salary, with a negotiated 10 years of previous experience, is set at step 1 of labor grade AA of the county wage schedule at a beginning annual salary equivalent to $67.88 per hour. He will receive the same fringe benefits that are provided to department heads of the county, including a beginning paid time-off accrual rate of .103 per hour.

He will start with three weeks of vacation as negotiated as part of his salary and benefits. Reimbursement includes $5,000 in moving expenses, or the actual expense of the move. While the move cannot be required, it is hoped he will relocate from Whitewater after a child graduates from high school next fall. Clapper succeeds Jim Mielke who retired on June 1. Clapper will begin work in Dodge County on Aug. 21.

The Dodge County Executive Committee selected Clapper from a field of 17 applicants for the position. He was unable to attend Tuesdays meeting.

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JUNEAU  A 52-year-old Fort Atkinson woman was found guilty on Monday for a charge related to stabbing a man who came to her then-home in Theresa for dinner in 2020.

Michele Schacht entered a no contest plea to a felony count of first-degree reckless endangerment. Additional counts were dismissed but read into the record. Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Kristine Snow withheld sentencing and placed Schacht on probation for five years.

As conditions of her probation, Schacht must: serve six months in jail; maintain absolute sobriety; may not have violent contact with anyone; and not contact the victim. She must undergo an AODA assessment and undergo any therapy deemed necessary.

According to the criminal complaint, a man came to Marshfield Medical Center in Beaver Dam Dec. 9, 2020, with multiple stab wounds. Dodge County Sheriffs deputies learned the man was being transported to UW Hospital in Madison soon and that he had been stabbed at a residence in Theresa.

At that time, Schacht had lived in Theresa, and the man was at her home for dinner. The man said Schacht had become upset about him being there and started punching him in the face before grabbing a large kitchen knife and stabbing him in the back of the neck, left thigh and stomach area. The neck and stomach wounds were not very deep but he was worried about the thigh area so he came to the hospital. He said he did nothing to confront her and did not know why she stabbed him.

The man was spoken to a few days later and said he had been staying with Schacht temporarily over a couple of months. They had been drinking and Schacht had been drinking hard seltzers. He said she did try to stop his bleeding after stabbing him.

According to the criminal complaint, the man said Schachts friend had given him a ride to the hospital. He got five stitches in his side, two in his neck and did not know how many in his leg. He said the wound in his leg came near his femoral artery. He said he believed she would have kept stabbing him if he had not grabbed the knife away from her.

Deputies went to Schachts apartment the night that the man was stabbed, but she did not originally answer the door. The deputies could see bloody rags or paper towel on the floor and were eventually able to get Schacht to answer the door. Schacht had blood on her clothing and was taken into custody.

Follow Terri Pederson on Twitter @tlp53916 or contact her at 920-356-6760.

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JUNEAU  A 32-year-old Mayville man made his initial appearance on charges of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl multiple times at his home following a surgery the girl had.

Nicholas Selerski is charged with repeated sexual assault of the same child. He could face up to 40 years of initial confinement and 20 years of extended supervision if convicted of the offense.

Selerski appeared before Dodge County Court Commissioner Steven Seim. Selerski was placed on a $5,000 cash bond with condition that he not leave the state while the case was pending.

According to the criminal complaint, a mother contacted Mayville police on Monday after her daughter had become upset at the idea of visiting Selerskis home and explained to her mother that he had touched her at night. The girl said it had happened after she stayed home alone with Selerski following a surgery. He had her watch a pornographic videos and would cover cameras he had in his home with blankets or towels during the assaults.

The girl talked with a detective at the Dodge County Sheriffs Office the same day about the abuse and told of a black Samsung cellular phone that Selerski showed her with inappropriate videos. The girl said that the assaults occurred multiple times. She said he allowed her to play games on his phone following being assaulted and that he told her no one could know.

A search warrant was granted for Selerskis home Monday night. They seized a black Samsung cell phone, a DVR storage media for the security system and an AT&T router/modem that was attached to the DVR.

According to the complaint, Selerski said he would rub the girls back, and eventually admitted she could have accidently touched him through his pajama pants one night. He eventually admitted that it had occurred more than once, and that he had inappropriately touched the girl as well.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled on June 30.

Follow Terri Pederson on Twitter @tlp53916 or contact her at 920-356-6760.

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JUNEAU  A 61-year-old Slinger man was found guilty on Tuesday of delivering phones into the Dodge County Jail for an inmate who said he had needed the phone to contact his attorney.

David Schmidt entered a no contest plea to one count of delivering illegal articles to an inmate. Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Brian Pfitzinger withheld sentencing and placed Schmidt on probation for 24 months. As conditions of probation, Schmidt may serve a year in jail.

He will appear in court in December for the next two years for the court to review Schmidts community service and consider jail commitment. He must perform 200 hours of community service. He may not have contact with jails or correctional facilities. He must complete an assessment and treatment as deemed necessary.

According to the criminal complaint, investigators were looking into a phone that was found in one of the pods in the jail on July 27 when they were alerted that a second phone had been discovered in a medical area about a week earlier. Due to finding the two phones, the jail was locked down and searched and another phone was found hidden in Ramen noodles. Charging cables, a portable charger and a lighter also were found in the noodles. Pieces of a phone were found in a toilet and a vent.

Correctional officers were able to locate cell phone items that were in the cells of two inmates which led them to Schmidt. According to the criminal complaint, Schmidt admitted to bringing a cheap cell phone for one of the inmates. Schmidt said the inmate said other inmates had phones, and it would be easier for him to contact his attorney with it. Schmidt said he brought a second phone in after the inmate told him that the original phone had been destroyed.

According to the complaint, Schmidt said he would slide the phone through a window slot while visiting the inmate.

Follow Terri Pederson on Twitter @tlp53916 or contact her at 920-356-6760.

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The Republican-controlled Legislature on Wednesday rejected Democratic Gov. Tony Evers call to repeal the states anti-abortion law, which allows abortions only to save a mothers life  a determination doctors say could be risky to make.

If doctors break the law, which could go into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, they risk a felony conviction punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

This law was not written by physicians, and the language is incredibly vague and lacking medical specificity, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin spokesperson Lisa Boyce said, adding that the law was written before our modern medical understanding and technology.

Therefore, we are forced to try to interpret the law through both a medical lens and a modern lens, and those interpretations can vary depending on who you are talking to  one of the many reasons this ban is so concerning for both providers and patients, Boyce continued.

Anticipating a Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin isnt scheduling abortions after Saturday.

Wisconsins law, first passed in 1849, states abortions are only permissible when its necessary, or is advised by 2 other physicians as necessary, to save the mothers life. The abortion must also be performed by a physician and take place in a licensed maternity hospital unless an emergency makes that an impossibility.

Wisconsin's near-complete abortion ban (1) Any person, other than the mother, who intentionally destroys the life of an unborn child is guilty of a Class H felony. (2) Any person, other than the mother, who does either of the following is guilty of a Class E felony: (a) Intentionally destroys the life of an unborn quick child; or (b) Causes the death of the mother by an act done with intent to destroy the life of an unborn child. It is unnecessary to prove that the fetus was alive when the act so causing the mother's death was committed. (5) This section does not apply to a therapeutic abortion which: (a) Is performed by a physician; and (b) Is necessary, or is advised by 2 other physicians as necessary, to save the life of the mother; and (c) Unless an emergency prevents, is performed in a licensed maternity hospital. (6) In this section unborn child" means a human being from the time of conception until it is born alive.

Some instances in which a woman could require an abortion to save her life include ectopic pregnancies, preterm premature rupture of membranes and preeclampsia, said Dr. Kristin Lyerly, a Green Bay general obstetrics and gynecology doctor who serves as District 6 legislative chair for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Lyerly, an abortion care provider who previously ran for the Assembly as a Democrat, said she sometimes deals with high-risk pregnancies.

The preterm premature rupture of membranes is when a womans water breaks early in the pregnancy, which could cause a severe and potentially fatal infection. With preeclampsia, women can develop high blood pressure and organ damage, also potentially leading to death. Likewise, ectopic pregnancies  when a fertilized egg grows outside the main cavity of the uterus  can be fatal.

Im really worried about it, Lyerly said about the risk behind making the determination that an abortion is necessary to save a womans life. And so are all of my colleagues who talk about it.

Gray issue

Part of the concern is that decisions typically made by the patient and her doctor would now be scrutinized by people in the legal realm without medical training, Lyerly said.

The political and social world like to see this as a black-and-white issue, but  it is an entirely patient-focused gray issue that can really only be well managed when there are no politicians in the exam room, and the conversation is all about what is the best thing for my patients, Lyerly said.

Gracie Skogman, legislative director at the anti-abortion group Wisconsin Right to Life, said under the states law pregnant women facing life-threatening conditions will be able to receive the medical care they need.

A lifesaving medical procedure or treatment for the mother, that may indirectly result in the loss of life for the preborn child, is not considered an abortion and is not classified as such under the law, Skogman said.

Skogman clarified she was not referring to abortion as a lifesaving procedure. Her intent, she said, was to draw a distinction between medical procedures to save the mother that may inadvertently result in the loss of life for the child and an elective abortion.

But abortions are sometimes the only procedure that can save a patients life, according to a 2019 joint statement by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Physicians for Reproductive Health.

Pro-Life Wisconsin legislative director Matt Sande said he dislikes the provision allowing exceptions for when a womans life is in danger because we want to remove the broad and undefined life-of-the-mother exception and replace it with language requiring equal care for mother and child and granting the physician immunity if he or she follows the requirement.

Dan Lennington, deputy counsel at the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, said traditional legal defenses such as the defense of others or necessity may, in some circumstances, justify a medical procedure that results in fetal demise. Lennington said that would still be true even if Wisconsin didnt have an exception for the mothers life.

While a legal case against an abortion provider could involve difficult questions at the margins, Lennington said, thats not unique to abortion. The law of homicide can also present hard questions, but they do not render us incapable of having a law of homicide. So it is with abortion.

The law is not clear, said Dr. Douglas Laube, who does abortions at Planned Parenthood in Madison and is the former chair of obstetrics and gynecology at UW-Madison. I believe that a well-stated, evidence-based reason for pregnancy termination would still prevail, and minimize, if not eliminate risk of criminal prosecution.

A Legislative Reference Bureau attorney who declined to be identified by name said abortion and necessary to save the life of the mother are undefined under the criminal abortion statute.

The decision of whether an abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother falls within the professional discretion of the physician, limited only by the physicians scope of practice and the standard of care applicable to their medical practice, the attorney said. The physicians decision must be reasonable considering the circumstances, but it is otherwise not limited by law.

Special session

On Wednesday, the Legislature rejected an effort Evers made, as the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe, to repeal Wisconsins criminal abortion ban passed in 1849.

The Senate session lasted less than 30 seconds before Senate President Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, gaveled out of it.

Referring to the imminent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Evers said, Republicans balked, leaving women and families across the state behind and providing no certainty or security for accessing the reproductive healthcare every person deserves.

Republicans slammed Evers call to convene them in a special session when the governor announced it June 8, calling it a blatant political move. While Evers required lawmakers to gavel into the session, he could not require them to hold debate or advance the measures.

I agree with the will of the majority of Wisconsinites that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley, D-Mason, said in a news conference Wednesday morning.

Statewide Marquette Law School polls conducted between September 2012 and last October found that, on average, 25% of respondents said abortion should be legal in all cases and almost 35% said it should be legal in most cases, while 23% said it should be illegal in most cases and 12% said it should be illegal in all cases. An average of 4% of respondents over the 11 polls said they did not know enough to have an opinion.

In Wednesdays Marquette Law School Poll, 27% of respondents said abortion should be legal in all cases, 31% said it should be legal in most cases, 24% said it should be illegal in most cases and 11% said it should be illegal in all cases.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, supports rape and incest exceptions, which dont currently exist in the abortion ban, spokesperson Angela Joyce said in a statement. Joyce did not respond to a question asking if Vos would try to add exceptions for rape and incest into Wisconsins abortion ban if Roe is overturned.

If the legislature fails to act today, access to safe and legal abortion in Wisconsin will very likely be lost  at least temporarily, and possibly for much longer, Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a statement.
Madison officials want to save businesses money on energy costs while reducing one of the largest and most difficult sources of greenhouse gases.

City leaders said last week they are developing an ordinance requiring energy measurement and reduction measures for commercial buildings, which account for about a third of community-wide carbon emissions.

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the city must do its part to help cut global greenhouse gas emissions in half in the next seven years, which scientists have warned is necessary to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to our stability, our economy and to our health, Rhodes-Conway said.

Rhodes-Conway and City Council leaders said the plan, developed over the past year through ongoing talks with building owners and other stakeholders, is a key piece of the citys goal to eliminate community-wide carbon emissions by 2050.

We cannot achieve 2050 targets if we dont take action, said Ald. Syed Abbas, 12th District.

The city has not calculated the potential greenhouse gas reductions, but Abigail Corso, a building energy consultant who worked with the city, said those practices can reduce energy use by up to 16%.

While no ordinance has been introduced, Rhodes-Conway said the building energy savings program will require benchmarking  a way to measure and track energy use within a building  and regular tune-ups to energy systems.

Abbas said simple, low-cost measures such as occupancy sensors or even software updates on building controls could yield significant savings while also improving air quality and reducing planet-warming gases.

Ald. Tag Evers, 13th District, said the ordinance will be crafted to focus on the roughly 300 largest buildings that account for the bulk of commercial sector energy consumption.

Abbas said he hopes to introduce an ordinance by the end of the year with additional input from building owners and managers, as well as the public. The city will hold an online informational meeting on July 13, followed by a series of workshops later this summer.

The city has been benchmarking energy use in its own buildings since 2015 and posts its energy use on a public dashboard.

Some pushback

The City Council considered a benchmarking ordinance in 2013, but the proposal was shelved after the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce and other business groups opposed it. The council voted down a proposal to establish a voluntary benchmarking program in 2016.

Chamber president Zach Brandon said the latest proposal is the same mandatory approach that failed in the past and faulted the city for not first pursuing a voluntary approach.

Energy efficiency and use should not be a place of disagreement, Brandon said. We look forward to a process that makes that a reality.

Bill Connors, executive director of Smart Growth Madison, said members of the developers group have been involved in discussions.

We have a great many questions and concerns that still need to be sorted out, Connors said. We want it to be something that actually adds value. They want it to be something that actually adds value. Theres hope we can get on the same page.

Previous steps

Madison adopted a sustainability plan in 2011 calling for an 80% community-wide reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, a target that has since been upped to 100%. In 2019, the council approved a $95 million plan to make local government operations carbon neutral by 2030.

The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy said last year that Madison is not yet on track to meet that goal.

But the city was the most improved in the groups annual scorecard, rising to 39th among the nations 100 largest cities, thanks to investments in clean energy and green infrastructure, as well as an ordinance requiring new commercial buildings be wired for electric vehicle chargers.
Civil society heads to court over unfair SRD grant regulations

CALS represents the Black Sash Trust in a review of new regulations governing the social relief of distress grants which we argue are unconstitutional

Civil society is launching litigation against the government over the unfair regulations that govern the social relief of distress (SRD) grant. We are challenging the arbitrary means test of R350, which deprives millions of people in need of government assistance and regresses developments of the right to social assistance for hundreds of thousands who qualified for this assistance previously.

Despite promises to do so, the government is failing to engage with civil society to develop pathways for the introduction of a permanent universal basic income grant (UBIG) from March 2023, a vital policy which would benefit the economy and lift millions out of abject poverty. This strategy needs to be combined with, and will help reinforce, a plan for job creation.

The Black Sash Trust, represented by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), has approached the High Court in Pretoria, challenging unconstitutional elements of the regulations, which place an unfair burden on the millions of people who are still feeling the social and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic most acutely.

Read our founding affidavit in the matter here and find the annexures here.

The South African Constitution guarantees the right to social assistance for those unable to support themselves and their dependents. Millions of people in South Africa are in this position through no fault of their own but because of an unequal and exclusionary economy. We believe this constitutional right will prevail, and the courts will uphold it.

We have attempted to engage with the government on the SRD grant crisis and pathways to address the issue over some months, including submitting detailed responses to the draft legislative framework for the SRD grant. The government ignored this feedback, and the final regulations introduced even more punitive restrictions on social assistance. There was no consultation with Civil Society on the retrogressive elements of these regulations.

If the government doesn't listen to our people, we hope they listen to the courts. On the medium-term pathways to Basic Income, government has reneged on commitments to engage, and failed to take forward agreements to schedule a follow-up meeting with the President by the end of June this year (following the constructive engagement we had with him in January).

Following the crisis with non-payment of the SRD grant, we wrote to the President on 10 June requesting an urgent meeting to resolve this; as well as to take forward our discussions on pathways to a Basic Income. We have not yet received a positive response to this request, and remain committed to taking forward this engagement.

On the immediate crisis with non-payment of the SRD grant: Not a single beneficiary has received the April and May payments for this grant cycle in mid-June as promised. But instead, only back-payments from August to November 2021 have been made due to successful appeals.

Last week we were disappointed to learn that those who have been waiting for SRD grant payments since April will wait months for the meagre amounts due to them.

Although the government has now begun paying SRD grants which were outstanding appeals from August to November 2021, they have not met the clear commitments made by both the President and Minister Zulu to pay the April and May SRD grants in mid-June. On 13 May, Minister Zulu told parliament, "I assure all qualifying applicants they will receive their payments for this iteration of the grant by June."

We have learned that SASSA intends to pay the April grants in July, and the May grants in August, although given the track record of repeated delays, there is no guarantee. The government has reneged on commitments resulting in another devastating blow to approximately 11 million people who rely on this grant to buy the most basic of necessities to assist with their survival.

The Department of Social Development (DSD) expects people to wait months to receive grants. Hunger does not wait, and the need to keep warm does not wait. The government must not ignore the poor.

This delay has caused widespread suffering and hunger. It is at its root the result of the decision by the government to cap the budget allocation for the SRD grant to only provide for 10.5 million beneficiaries. The result limits the availability of social assistance to fewer beneficiaries than the government's numbers show require social assistance. This decision is rooted in the strategy of austerity and choking social spending imposed on the country when we desperately need investment in our people to build a more sustainable, inclusive economy.

That pronouncement, in turn, required invasive and punitive systems to be put in place to police grant applicants' eligibility. To stick within its inadequate budget allocation, the government has decided that people can only receive the SRD grant if their income is below R350 per month. To put that in perspective, the food poverty line in South Africa is R624 per monththat's how much money is needed per person per month to stop you from starving. According to the government, 18.3 million people live below this line. There can be no justification for only 10.5 million people receiving the SRD grant.

Despite imposing this unfair system, the government did not adequately prepare for its implementation. DSD and SASSA planned to verify all applicants' eligibility by checking their bank accounts to ensure they did not have more than R350 income in the month. This system required the facilitation of the banks. Yet, concurrence from the Minister of Finance to facilitate this was only received on April 30th, and as at mid-June, agreement had not been obtained from all the banks. This failure on the part of the government to institute its means-testing system has resulted in the egregious non-payment of April and May grants. The systems designed to shut people out of government assistance if their income is above R350, have in fact served to simply shut everybody out of government assistance. This is a grave indictment on the logic of means testing, and a clear argument for universal social assistance.

While we know that R350 a month is inadequate to survive given the rising cost of living, beneficiaries of this grant have used it to pool resources to stop people from dying of hunger. The government's failure to pay the grants has taken away a means of getting food on the table for the poorest of the poor.

In our court action, we are also challenging other aspects of the regulations which serve to exclude people. This includes the fact that applications can only be made through an online system. We are also challenging the fact that the regulations privilege bank verification information above other information from applicants verifying their eligibility. Finally, we are challenging the fact that the regulations prohibit any new information and evidence being provided when people appeal rejections for SRD grants.

The impact of this is that whereas previously (up to March 2022), an estimated 15.5 million people were applying monthly for grants, fewer than 10 million people made applications for social assistance in April.

Systemic hurdles have led to around 16 million fewer applications over three months which is devastating.

The Constitution also holds the government accountable for progressively realising the right to social assistance. That means that the government must gradually take steps to meet people's needs over time. We hold that there is one evidence-based and effective way to do this: a basic income guarantee for all in South Africa aged between 18-59.

The introduction of the basic income grant should be immediately following the expiry of the SRD grant in March 2023. It must be at a minimum, at the level of the food poverty line, rising over time to reach at least the upper-bound poverty line and effectively eliminate poverty in South Africa.

Extensive international evidence shows that investment in social protection has enormous potential to stimulate our economy and contribute to inclusive growth while upholding the dignity of our people.

There is robust evidence for the effectiveness of this policy, and modelling from respected economists in South Africa shows that it is feasible and achievable. As such, it is a fundamental obligation of the government. We will continue to mobilise allied stakeholders nationwide to realise this milestone for human development in South Africa.

BENEFICIARY / APPLICANT TESTIMONIES

People are struggling, and now on top of putting food on the table, getting the R350 grant has become more challenging. Beneficiaries have shared with us their experiences of trying to get the R350 grant, and here's is one example of how people are 'not poor enough to qualify for the R350. Yolanda said she started receiving child maintenance money three months ago, above the threshold of R350 per month. She is worried that she will not be able to qualify for the grant considering her eligibility will be determined using her bank account. Should she continue receiving money for maintenance for her child through her bank account, she will never qualify for the grant, although she needs it as an unemployed caregiver.

While Yolanda is not considered poor enough' under the new SRD regulations, Cecilia, an applicant from Soweto, has been facing problems with the verification system. She recently changed her surname after getting married, and she could not get verified on the SASSA system. Cecilia did not have enough money to try claim her R350; on top of that, SASSA wanted her to travel from Soweto to a SASSA office in the Free State where she is originally from to get her surname verified. That would cost her more than R350 in one return trip!

It is not just Cecilia who has to find money to apply for the R350. Maposhadi tried applying for the grant, but her status always returned as incorrect. She is incorrectly listed as receiving benefits under the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), which disqualifies her from receiving the grant. She has tried numerous times to reapply/re-appeal her status. When she tried again in April, she couldn't access the website, and she has not managed to reapply since then. The SASSA website has been a challenge for her. DSD and SASSA have now made the application process online-only. Unless you have a device that can access the internet, you can't apply.

The new R350 grant regulations not only exclude many people but have caused distress and confusion for many. One applicant stated: "I receive +-R390 monthly from a brother to pay my funeral policy, and I have R60. Now should I ask my brother to stop sending me each month for a funeral policy premium and pay it himself while he is doing me a huge favour? Has SASSA forgotten that monies coming into our accounts must cover those important things?"

The Treasury's underfunding of the R350 grant has contributed to these regulations, designed to make life even harder for those struggling to put food on the table. The launch of litigation is our last resort to continue holding SASSA, DSD and the Presidency accountable for failing to implement a R350 grant system that can be accessed quickly and timeously by all those in need.

Issued by:

Black Sash

Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS)

Amandla.mobi

#PayTheGrants

Social Policy Initiative (SPI)

South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU)

For media inquiries, please contact:
As digital culture continuously gains momentum, various cultural activities and new consumption scenarios empowered by digital technologies are enriching the cultural experiences of Chinese people.

Actors of Bang Opera, a type of traditional Chinese opera, make videos of classic local opera pieces at Huaxilou scenic area in Bozhou City, east China's Anhui Province, April 27, 2022. [People's Daily Online/Zhang Yanlin]

Activities such as watching performances and concerts online, visiting virtual exhibitions, and enjoying traditional Chinese opera performances through smartphone apps, are springing up with the rapid development of digital culture.

China's National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing rolls out online performances every Saturday evening, with the shows including Peking Opera work "Suo Lin Nang" (The Jewelry Purse), masterpiece of modern drama "A Doll's House", and well-known opera "The Marriage of Figaro".

Since the NCPA launched the first online performance on April 11, 2020, it has staged more than 120 online shows covering various types of performing arts, such as concert, opera, dance, modern drama, and traditional Chinese opera. These online shows have been viewed more than 3.4 billion times in total.

On August 8, 2020, the NCPA livestreamed world's first online concert with 8K resolution and 5G network-related technologies for global audiences. The audience could even see clearly the strands of hair and drops of sweat on the faces of performers during the livestreaming concert presented at 8K ultra-high-definition (UHD) resolution.

The classical music channel of the NCPA has continuously upgraded its audio and visual technologies and added the options of "immersive headset" and "immersive sound box" to create virtual panoramic sound effects of fantastic audio and visual experience for the audience.

Yangzhou China Grand Canal Museum, located in the city of east China's Jiangsu Province, has been posting videos on its account on WeChat Channels, WeChat's video sharing portal, to show netizens its collections and exhibitions. Thanks to these short videos, museum enthusiasts can "visit" the museum whenever and wherever they want through their mobile phones.

A curator displays via livestreaming works of art exhibited at the Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art in Zhejiang Art Museum in Hangzhou City, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, March 14, 2020. [People's Daily Online/Long Wei]

Zhou Fang, a citizen who works in Jiangsu's Nanjing, the city next to Yangzhou, is one of the followers of the account. She has been watching short videos of a special exhibition featuring the ancient capital of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) Luoyang City, now in central China's Henan Province, held by the museum.

"Each episode of this short video series is only several minutes long. Focusing on the theme, they tell stories about cultural relics in Luoyang, and show viewers how they were unearthed, transported to Yangzhou, packaged and arranged for exhibition. There are also vlogs about offline tours of the exhibition," said Zhou.

Statistics showed that the museum has posted nearly 20 episodes of the exhibition on platforms including WeChat Channels, Chinese social media platform Weibo, and the country's popular short-video sharing platform Douyin since March. More than eight million people have "visited" the exhibition via these videos.

Online exhibitions are supplements and re-creations of the offline visit, said Zheng Jing, curator of the museum.

In order to launch good online exhibitions, the museum needs to carefully design online tour routes and provide knowledge about culture and history, according to Zheng, who added that the museum also adopts digital means to tell stories about cultural relics vividly and deepen the interactions between people and exhibits.

The emergence of more and more innovative forms of cultural consumption, which is no longer confined to offline scenes, has enabled people to shake off the limitations of time, space and cost in enjoying culture.

A mobile app launched by a Zhejiang-based culture company has brought traditional Chinese operas closer to Internet users. The app signed contracts with traditional Chinese opera troupes to make their representative performances available online.

A staff member who runs the account of the museum of Feidong County, Hefei City, east China's Anhui Province, on Chinese short video sharing platform Douyin, together with a docent, shows the cultural relics housed in the museum via livestreaming, Feb. 16, 2021. [People's Daily Online/Ruan Xuefeng]

The works posted online include "The Legend of the White Snake" performed by Wu Opera masters who have won the Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award, the highest theatrical award in the country, "Three Drops of Blood", a well-known Qin Opera work that has a history of more than 100 years, and "Oedipus", a Pu Opera art adapted from classical ancient Greek tragedy "Oedipus Rex".

Without leaving their homes, users of the app can watch a video recording of an opera performance with 6.6 yuan (about $0.99), or enjoy a livestreaming show of traditional Chinese operas with 9.9 yuan (about $1.48). Some operas well-received online are also staged offline.

As digital infrastructure increasingly improves, the booming digital culture will facilitate the inheritance and promotion of excellent traditional Chinese culture, according to Wei Pengju, head of the cultural economics research institute of Central University of Finance and Economics.

(Source: People's Daily Online)
Photo taken on May 25, 2022 shows children from the Little Stream Choir performing for the elderly in Dongcun Township, Fenyi County, east China's Jiangxi Province. [Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi]

NANCHANG, June 20 (Xinhua)  "Under the moonlight, in silence, I started to miss you, mom." A soft, crystal-clear choir singing wafts by the breeze in the lush mountains of east China's Jiangxi Province, narrating the deep thoughts of the young minds.

The Little Stream Choir was established at a primary school in the remote Dongcun Township, with the nearest county seat about 30 km away. Of the school's 282 students, 215 are left-behind children whose parents work hundreds of miles away in the coastal regions and can only come back once or twice a year.

Dongcun, meaning "cave village," is surrounded by green hills and natural caves, with clear streams flowing out of the caves to nourish the paddy fields. That is also how the choir got its name.

"We hope that the children, like a rushing stream, will flow along the mountains in their hometown to the big rivers and seas outside," said Zhong Linshan, head of the chorus team.

A Hard-Won Try

"Mom, when will you come back?" In the dormitory, sixth-grader Yan Jiaxin is on a video call with her mother. Having joined the choir in the second grade, the once shy child has grown into a confident, sunny girl, just like her choristers.

But the road to starting the choir was not even.

Until 2017, there were no full-time music and art teachers in the school. The piano provided by the local education department was put in the corner, lying idle.

In May 2017, a pair-up project was inked between the school and the art school of Xinyu University, with the latter sending student volunteers twice a week to give music, fine art, and handiwork lessons.

But that endeavor was not quite accepted among parents, who blamed the after-class courses for taking time away from homework and academic classes. But Huang Hongbo, the school's principal, insisted on opening the courses.

"Entering college or getting a job is just one aspect of life. Yet the pursuit of beauty and yearning for happiness are lifelong," said Huang, who had to commute twice a week between the school and the city center to shuttle the volunteers.

Four months later, the children welcomed Zhong, their first full-time music teacher.

Photo taken on May 25, 2022 shows children from the Little Stream Choir playing with their teacher Zhong Linshan (5th R) in Dongcun Township, Fenyi County, east China's Jiangxi Province. [Xinhua/Wan Xiang]

Change, Hope, and Future

"Desolate," was Zhong's first impression of the school.

"I specially bought a car to commute, but it was like there was no end to the muddy road," Zhong, then 25, recalled. After graduating from the music school of Guangxi Minzu University, the young woman had a lot more to tackle.

For example, children in the rural school had little knowledge about music, and she had to teach them from the very beginning, "Do-Re-Mi." The tedious, monotonous voice training also drove many kids away.

"I was quite persistent and passionate when I came here and all I wanted was to make them stay," recalled Zhong.

The new teacher figured out several tricks to keep the children. "I tried hard to make the training fun, drafted a seemingly formal contract with each student, and also prepared some gifts to reward their hard work," she said.

Huang, on the other hand, persuaded the parents into accepting the choir.

Their combined efforts bore fruit. The choir is getting more professional and even performed at the New Year music gala of Xinyu City in 2018.

The children, too, have donned a new look. "They are more confident, brave and have made new friends. And by performing at bigger stages, they've broadened their horizons and are envisioning a beautiful future for life," said Huang. "Moreover, they've become more independent and cooperative."

"Music consoles their hearts and helps them express their deep emotions," Zhong said, "I myself also harvested love from them and the chorus class is the moment I'm most looking forward to every day."

(Source: Xinhua)
Situated within Graham County in the US state of North Carolina, Lake Santeetlah is a small town known for its natural beauty. The town is located on a peninsula within the picturesque Lake Santeetlah and the Nantahala National Forest, placing it in a peaceful environment away from fast-paced city life. That being said, while it may be calm, there are still many fun things to do, ranging from fishing to kayaking and more. So, with its 50 or so permanent residents, this town is picturesque, relaxed, and a great place to enjoy natures beauty.

Geography And Climate Of Lake Santeetlah

Autumn Landscape reflections on Lake Santeetlah, North Carolina.

The Town of Lake Santeetlah is quite small as compared to surrounding areas, with a total area of just 0.50 sq. km. This entire area is occupied by land, but while there may not be any water within the town boundaries, it is surrounded on all sides except the northeast by the expansive Lake Santeetlah. Apart from that, this area is further situated within the Nantahala National Forest, due to which the town is primarily filled with lush greenery and abundant coastal space. Surprisingly, Lake Santeetlah has an elevation of 2,000 feet which is much higher than the state average of approximately 700 feet.

Lake Santeetlah has a humid subtropical climate but is surrounded by various oceanic climate zones according to the Koppen Climate Classification. Due to this, the town has mild winters with low-end temperatures reaching -4 C and warm summers that can see highs of up to 28.9 C. This allows the lake to remain pleasant year-round with only a few months of extreme temperatures on both ends of the spectrum. When it comes to precipitation, the town gets an average of 61 inches of rain per year. Although, due to the minimal sub-zero temperatures, the town only gets approximately 5 inches of snow per year which is much less than other areas in the United States.

Brief History Of Lake Santeetlah

The town of Lake Santeetlah came to be quite recently due to the entire Graham County being quite mountainous in its terrain, which deterred European settlers from moving into the area. In the late 1800s, people began to move into the nearby areas until finally, the nearby town of Robbinsville was incorporated in 1893. Throughout this time, the area around Lake Santeetlah was sparsely populated, with the only prominent developments being the construction of the Santeetlah Dam in 1928. That being said, development of the area sped up in 1939 when the land was purchased by the US Forest Service and subsequently passed on to Kenneth S. Keyes Sr. in 1947. Keyes was a prominent real estate dealer in Miami, and he created comprehensive plans to develop a hotel complex in the area known as Thunderbird Estates. Sadly, the plans never came to fruition, and Keyes ended up selling the land to a Florida land developer in 1958. This was followed by further sales, during which time an owning corporation known as Smoky Mountain Resorts developed various lodges and cabins in the area, which brought in various homeowners to the Lake Santeetlah area. While the land was beginning to look more like a town, problems were prominent throughout the next 20 years with further ownership sales, water problems, and even a lawsuit between the owning corporation and many of the local residents. Thankfully, by 1989, various factors such as the dismissal of the lawsuit prompted the decision to incorporate the Town of Santeetlah.

The Population And Economy Of Lake Santeetlah

The town of Lake Santeetlah has a population of 38 individuals as per the latest US Census. With the total area being only 0.50 sq. km., this brings the towns population density to approximately 76 individuals per sq. km. When it comes to the race and ethnicity of the population, 100% of the population consists of white individuals. An interesting fact about Lake Santeetlahs population is that the median age is relatively high at 70.3 years old, which is almost double the state average. The median household income of Lake Santeetlah is $66,500, with an employment rate of 12.5%. Apart from this, the average value of a housing unit in the town is $483,3000, which is significantly higher than the value in both Graham County and North Carolina.

Attractions In Lake Santeetlah

Santeetlah Marina

On a sunny summer day, a woman kayaks on Lake Santeetlah, North Carolina. Editorial credit: Francisco Blanco / Shutterstock.com

A beautiful marina built near the edge of Lake Santeetlah, the Santeetlah Marina is one of the most well-known spots in the town. It is home to various fun activities such as fishing, boat rides, and more that attract both locals and tourists during the spring and summer months. Most people come here with their own boats or buy rentals to take a leisurely ride and enjoy the beautiful scenery from Lake Santeetlah.

Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest

Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is located near Lake Santeetlah town and is home to some of America's most impressive and ancient trees. With some being more than 400 years old and taller than 100 feet in height, it is truly a place that puts into perspective the natural connection the entire area has. Apart from this, there are also various amenities such as washrooms and picnic tables so you can enjoy a day out here without any worries.

Cheoah Point Recreation Area

For those who love spending their time outdoors, the Cheoah Point Recreation Area is one of Lake Santeetlahs best attractions. The area has loads of things to do, ranging from camping and fishing all the way to boating and picnicking. There are also various RV sites, cabins, and an accessible ranger station to enjoy the beautiful greenery and water with complete safety and security.
The city of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, has agreed to pay $3.25 million to the family of Daunte Wright, a Black man who was killed by police during a traffic stop last year, attorneys for his family said.
March for Independence set for July 2nd in Wrexham town centre

With less than two weeks to go, AUOBCymru has released more information regarding the March for Independence in Wrexham on 2 July.

The march will be part of a full weekend of activities organised in partnership between AUOBCymru, Indy Fest Wrexham and YesCymru.

AUOBCymru described themselves as a voluntary grassroots movement which organises marches calling for independence for Wales, noting they are not affiliated with any other group or political party, but work closely with groups and individuals who share its core beliefs and goals.

The March for independence will take place in the town centre, and will start promptly at 12pm on 2 July at Llwyn Isaf with organisers saying Those attending have been encouraged to meet from 10.30am and to bring flags, banners, drums and instruments.

They added, Following the march there will be a rally with speakers and music, youll be able to see everything happening on the stage on the big screens. Already confirmed is Welsh legend Dafydd Iwan, Pol Wong from IndyFest Wrexham, poet and activist Evrah Rose, comedian and broadcaster Tudur Owen, Wrexham County Councillor Carrie Harper and Archdruid Myrddin ap Dafydd. More names will be released in the run up to the day.

Queens Square will host an Indy Market with over 20 stalls offering local food, drink and produce, and including Indy Wales merchandise, and will be open 9:30am to 4pm.

Organisers said, In addition to the march, rally and market, Wrexham will also be hosting some indy gigs at Saith Seren on both Friday and Saturday nights, with Bryn Fon headlining on the eve of the march.

A spokesperson on behalf of AUOBCymru added: The AUOBCymru marches for independence in 2019 were a huge success with thousands attending in Cardiff, Caernarfon and Merthyr. There is something special about coming together to march and people are desperate for the chance to come together once again.

The group of volunteers at Indy Fest Wrecsam, whove organised a whole weekend packed with events, have done an amazing job in difficult circumstances due to the pandemic with an Indy Market and the gigs organised to coincide with the march and rally. We are also grateful for the financial support offered by YesCymru, as well as to everyone who has donated to our fundraiser. We hope that people from every part of Wales will head to Wrexham on 2 July and that the March for Independence in Wrexham will be the best yet!

Top pic: AUOBCymru march in 2019.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan's Cabinet of Ministers has approved the action plan for the creation of a green energy zone in the country's liberated territories, Azernews reports.

The decree was adopted on the basis of the Azerbaijani President's decree dated May 3, 2021 "On measures in connection with the creation of a green energy zone in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan for 2022-2026".

Wind power plants in Lachin, Kalbajar

Wind power plants will be built in Azerbaijan's Lachin and Kalbajar regions as envisaged by the action plan.

According to the action plan, the Energy Ministry along with Azerenergy OJSC should ensure the construction of wind power plants in these territories.

The ministry is supposed to ensure the preparatory work for the project, the signing of contracts, and the construction of the plants of 400 MW capacity in 2022-2026.

Energy corridor

Moreover, according to the action plan, an energy corridor Azerbaijan-Turkey-Europe will be created, which will be named the Jabrayil energy hub project.

Azerenergy OJSC together with Energy and Economy Ministries should ensure the creation of the Jabrayil energy hub project over the period from 2022 through 2026.

Solar power plant in Jabrayil

Azerbaijan will construct a solar power plant in the liberated Jabrayil region, as reflected in the action plan for the creation of a green energy zone in the country's liberated territories.

Energy Ministry and Azerenergy OJSC should ensure the project preparations, signing of contracts, and construction of stations with a capacity of 240 MW over the period from 2022 through 2026.

Energy-efficient green lighting technologies

Likewise, innovations in the lighting of roads and streets will be applied in the liberated territories.

According to the plan, the State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture, Energy and Economy Ministries, the State Agency of Azerbaijan Automobile Roads, Azerishig OJSC, and local executive authorities should ensure the analysis, definition, harmonization, and approval of requirements for the use of energy-efficient green technologies in the lighting of streets and roads in the specified territories over the period from 2022 through 2023.

Electric vehicle charging stations

According to an action plan, electric vehicle charging stations will be installed in the country's liberated territories.

Economy, Energy, Digital Development, and Transport Ministries, together with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), Azerenerji OJSC, and Azerishig OJSC, should ensure the installation of electric vehicle charging stations in the liberated territories during the specified period.
To the Presidium of Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin and the acting President of Humboldt University, Dr. Peter Frensch

Dear Dr. Frensch,

As a member of the student parliament (StuPa) and on behalf of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) faction, I call upon you to finally end your support of the radical right-wing and criminal professor Jorg Baberowski and to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him. His assault on me, for which the district court has already ordered him to pay 4,000 euros, is completely unacceptable. If critical students must expect violence from professors during elections to the StuPa, there can be no question of a free election.

Right-wing extremist Professor Baberowski tearing down IYSSE posters at Humboldt University. (WSWS Media)

On the occasion of the presentation of a brochure about the role of Humboldt University in the preparation of [Hitlers] General Plan East and the implementation of the Nazi war of extermination, you rightly emphasized last week the responsibility of academics and the university to position themselves credibly against anti-Semitism, against racism. In this context, you appealed to ethical-moral standards to ensure that research for criminal purposes no longer happens.

But the behaviour of the Humboldt University (HU) presidium, of which you are acting head, has been directly opposed to these goals for years. It is responsible for a climate of violence and intimidation against students who oppose the return of militarism and right-wing extremism.

As early as February 5, 2020, I informed the HU presidium that right-wing extremist Professor Jorg Baberowski had physically assaulted and vulgarly threatened me on campus. When I caught him removing and destroying legitimately displayed IYSSE election posters for the StuPa elections from a bulletin board, he knocked the phone out of my hand and threatened, Do you want me to punch you in the face? All of this is documented in a video that I provided to you.

The disciplinary complaint that I filed the same day has still not been resolved by you to date, although you are legally obligated to do so. Instead, your predecessor Sabine Kunst had even backed Baberowski at a meeting of the Academic Senate on February 11, 2020, defending his act of violence as humanly understandable.

In the meantime, the public prosecutors office had initiated criminal proceedings against Baberowski for bodily injury and damage to property, which were only discontinued by the court following payment of 4,000 euros. The fact that Baberowski paid this sum in order to avoid the oral proceedings must be seen as a clear admission of guilt.

But even this unambiguous outcome of the legal proceedings did not move the presidium to distance itself from its support for the right-wing radical professor. To this day, the HU presidium is covering up for a professor who had to pay 4,000 euros for physically assaulting a student in order to prevent him from exercising his democratic rights within the student representation!

Right-wing extremist professor Jorg Baberowski assaults left-wing student at Humboldt University

The university administration is thus going against the declared will of the vast majority of students. A resolution passed by the student parliament in June 2020 condemned the serious and violent interference in this years elections and called on the HU presidium to end its support for the far-right professor and hold Baberowski accountable.

Baberowski is the best-known academic on the far right. In 2015, he founded the Salon Baberowski (Die Zeit), where everything of note in the new-right scene is discussed at least every six months. He himself regularly agitates against refugees, beats the drum for brutal wars and, above all, trivializes the crimes of the Nazis.

In January 2020, Baberowski repeated to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung the central lie of many Holocaust deniers, that Hitler wanted to know nothing about Auschwitz. In doing so, Baberowski attempted to justify his earlier statement that Hitler had not been cruel. The trivialization of Nazi crimes runs like a thread through his academic work.

The fact that this right-wing extremist ideologue has now taken to roaming the campus himself as a far-right activist, destroying student election advertisements and physically attacking students, is also the responsibility of the HU presidium. For years, it has supported and defended the radical right-wing structures that have developed under Baberowskis Chair of Eastern European History.

Even when I informed the presidium on February 12, 2017, that Mr. Baberowski had vulgarly insulted me in an official lecture and called on students to disrupt IYSSE events, it defended the radical right-wing professor and called media attacks on him unacceptable. Even when Baberowski moved to insult and threaten other Humboldt University professors for criticizing a right-wing petition, then-President Kunst backed him.

Then, in December 2018, about two dozen right-wing extremists responded to a call by Baberowski to disrupt an IYSSE event at Humboldt University. The [far-right] Alternative for Germany (AfD) officials present interrupted the speakers, threatened attendees, and attempted to sing the Deutschlandlied (national anthem). While the student parliament unanimously condemned this right-wing extremist attack on a student event at HU, Kunst again refused to take a stand against these machinations.

When Baberowski insulted two student representatives to the university senate, Bafta Sarbo and Juliane Ziegler, on his Facebook page as inconceivably stupid and as left-wing extremist fanatics because they had criticized a centre for dictatorship studies planned by him, Ms. Kunst unlawfully refused to decide upon a disciplinary complaint by the two students, let alone to take action against the abusive professor.

At the end of 2020, I informed the presidium that a close colleague of Baberowskis had been a known neo-Nazi in Hanover in his youth, who, among other things, had taken part in a demonstration against the Wehrmacht exhibition [exposing the crimes of Hitlers army] together with right-wing terrorists. The universitys press office answered me monosyllabically that it could not comment publicly on personnel matters. The presidium did not do the slightest thing to protect us students from such teachers.

There is no innocent explanation for this clear chronology. The presidium has systematically covered up Baberowskis repeated verbal and physical violence against students and suppressed necessary criticism of the radical right-wing professor. It is thus responsible for a climate of intimidation in which students are prevented from criticizing the right-wing views of professors. This is not compatible with a democratic university.

The next elections for the student parliament will take place on July 12. Students must be guaranteed the right to campaign for their lists of candidates and put forward their positions without intimidation and threats. I therefore call on you to finally initiate disciplinary proceedings against Baberowski and to ensure that the elections proceed without disruption.

Yours sincerely,

Sven Wurm
On Tuesday, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin accused Texas authorities of withholding information about last months mass shooting at Robb Elementary. McLaughlin accused Governor Greg Abbotts Department of Public Safety (DPS) of selectively leaking information in an effort to scapegoat local police and cover up the role of state police in standing by for more than an hour while an 18-year-old gunman murdered 19 children and two teachers on May 24.

At a City Council meeting, McLaughlin, like Abbott a Republican, accused the director of DPS, Col. Steven McCraw, of deliberately releasing certain information and withholding other facts so as to whitewash his agencys response to the massacre.

McLaughlin made his angry accusation the same day that the Republican-controlled state Senate, meeting in the state capital of Austin, began a several day public hearing on the horrific assault.

McCraw, who is heading up the official investigation, told the Senate panel that the police response to the Uvalde attack was an abject failure. He said the police could have stopped the shooting within minutes if Uvalde School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo had acted more decisively.

Three minutes after the subject entered the West building, there was a sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armor to isolate, distract and neutralize the subject. The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering Room 111 and 112 was the on-scene commander, who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children, McCraw said.

At the Uvalde City Council meeting, meanwhile, McLaughlin said McCraws selective leaking of information continues to create chaos in our community and keeps the whole truth from coming out.

The mayor said he requested body camera video from all agencies that responded to the shooting and has not received any.

McCraw has continued to whether you want to call it lie, leak, mislead or misstate information in order to distance his own troopers and Rangers from the response, McLaughlin said. Every briefing he leaves out the number of his own officers and Rangers that were on-scene that day.

Col. McCraw has an agenda, and it is not to present a full report on what happened and give factual answers on what happened to this community, he added.

According to McLaughlin, none of the state or federal entities with information about the investigationthe DPS, the Texas legislature, the Uvalde County District Attorneys office, the FBIhave briefed Uvalde city officials about their findings.

McLaughlin noted that officers from at least eight law enforcement agencies were on the scene in the hallway outside of the classrooms where the shooting took place. He said he was supposed to receive a daily briefing from authorities since the tragedy first occurred but has heard nothing. He denounced as false the states claims that local police have refused to cooperate with the investigation.

State Senator Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat representing Uvalde County, filed a lawsuit against the DPS on Wednesday, arguing that the agency violated the Texas Public Information Act by ignoring his request for information on the shooting.

In the wake of the senseless tragedy, the people of Uvalde and Texas have demanded answers from their government. To date, they have been met with lies, misstatements, and shifts of blame, the lawsuit states.

The finger-pointing between various authorities comes as further details about the police response underscore the true horror of what occurred on May 24. In the weeks since the shooting, the victims families and others in the community have demanded transparency and accountability from officials. Different authorities have shared conflicting information about who was in change and offered a litany of excuses as to why officers did not intervene sooner.

Here are some key points from what has thus far been released to the public:

Multiple officers from the DPSup to eight, at one pointwere inside the school at various times while the shooter was barricaded in the two classrooms. Many left the scene to perform other duties, such as evacuating children, after seeing the number of officers already inside. At one point, a DPS special agent said officers needed to go in if kids were still inside. Another officer responded that whoever is in charge would determine when officers intervened.

Some officers on the scene seemed to believe that Arredondo, who at times issued orders directing officers to evacuate students from other classrooms, was the on-site commander of the police response. However, Arredondo, who heads only the local school police, said he did not believe he was in charge of the overall response of the various law enforcement agencies.

No security footage from inside the school showed police officers attempting to open the doors to Classrooms 111 and 112, which were connected by an adjoining door. Arredondo previously claimed he tried to open one door, and another group of officers tried to open another but that the doors were reinforced and impenetrable. The Texas Tribune reported that no attempt to open either of the doors was caught in the security footage it reviewed.

Within the first minutes of the law enforcement response, an officer said the halligan, a firefighting breaching tool, was on site, it but was not brought into the school until an hour after the first officers entered the building. For unknown reasons, police did not use it and instead waited for master keys to unlock the doors.

According to a law enforcement transcript, police had access to four ballistic shields inside the school during the standoff with the shooter. The first shield arrived nearly an hour before officers stormed the classrooms.

School district police Officer Ruben Ruizwhose wife, teacher Eva Mireles, was killed in the attackarrived on the scene telling other officers, she says she is shot. When Ruiz protested the inactivity of others on the scene and attempted to enter the room himself, he was detained, and his firearm taken from him.

At Tuesdays state Senate hearing, many senators questioned why officers from the DPS, a much larger organization who were on the scene did not take control. McCraws only response was to declare that the local school police chief was in charge, and police protocol prevented any challenge to his authority.
A Ukrainian court has officially banned the activities of the countrys largest opposition party, the Opposition PlatformFor Life party.

The decision was handed down by the Administrative Court of Appeals No. 8 on June 20 in Lviv and effectively upheld President Volodymyr Zelenskys banning of 11 political parties that Kiev regarded as anti-Ukrainian and collaborationists earlier in March. The measure was then approved by the Ukrainian parliament in May.

Ten other pro-Russian and left-wing parties were included in Zelenskys ban, among them the Socialist Party of Ukraine and the Party of Shariy led by the popular Youtube blogger Anatoly Shariy.

In addition to legally banning the partys activities, the court also stated that the partys property and assets will be confiscated by the State Treasury.

The banning of the countrys largest opposition party marks the temporary culmination of an undemocratic campaign initiated by the Zelensky government against parties and individuals who could potentially undermine the war that Kiev is waging against Russia on behalf of the imperialist powers.

Led by oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, the party controlled 44 out of 450 seats in Ukraines parliament, surpassed only by the ruling Servant of the People party of President Volodymyr Zelensky. Prior to Russias invasion in February, several opinion polls showed the Russia-aligned party leading hypothetical parliamentary elections or finishing second.

In eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, OppositionFor Life functioned as the dominant political party at both national and local levels. It was the effective successor to the Party of Regions of former President Viktor Yanukovych. In contrast to his opponents in the oligarchy that, with the heavy backing from US and German imperialism, toppled him in 2014 in a coup, Yanukovich spoke for a faction of the Ukrainian oligarchy that has been seeking to balance between Western imperialism and the Kremlin, and opposed a direct alliance of Ukraine with NATO.

Prior to 2014, the Party of Regions was the countrys largest political party but it disintegrated after the coup as its members fled the country or joined Opposition Bloc, the pro-Moscow predecessor of the OppositionFor Life party.

Medvedchuk, the co-founder and head of the OppositionFor Life party, is a billionaire who has long maintained very close ties to the Russian oligarchy and, in particular, the Putin regime.

However, Medvedechuks OppositionFor Life party publicly denounced Russias invasion of the country and called for negotiations to quickly end the war. Twenty-three of its national parliament members voluntarily left the party and formed the Platform for Life and Peace party which has pledged to protect Russian-minority rights within Ukraine but distanced itself even further from Medvedchuk and Moscow.

Throughout its existence, the party supported the implementation of the Minsk agreements, which were intended to end the war in the eastern Donbass region between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian government through a settlement negotiated with French and German imperialism. Despite coming to power in 2019 on vague promises to secure peace, prior to the invasion Zelensky and his staff were openly hostile to the agreements implementation, which called for a federated status in the separatist-controlled regions and local elections.

For over a year prior to the current war, the Zelensky government, at the behest of US imperialism, worked systematically to stamp out the partys influence, and in February of 2021 undemocratically banned three popular television stations associated with Medvedchuk. At the time, the move was praised by the US Embassy as part of Kievs efforts to counter Russias malign influence, in line with Ukrainian law, in defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Later in May 2021 Medvedchuk was arrested and charged with embezzlement as well as high treason for subversive activities against Ukraine. A Ukrainian court placed him under house arrest, where he would remain until the outbreak of full-scale war in February of this year, when he fled.

On April 12, Medvedchuk was apprehended by Ukraines Security Service (SBU) while apparently disguised as a Ukrainian soldier and again charged him with treason for supposedly providing Russia with military assistance.

No evidence has been published indicating how exactly Medvedchuk supposedly collaborated with the Russians. Nor has it been explained why he remained in Kiev days after the attack, putting his life in certain danger, if he really did know of the impending invasion beforehand.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has publicly offered Moscow to exchange Medvedchuk for captured Ukrainian soldiers. Moscow has so far publicly refused to discuss the exchange of its supposed stalwart collaborator, but recent reports suggest he could be swapped for British nationals recently captured by separatist forces.

While under arrest, Medvedchuk has become entangled in the ongoing prosecution of former President Petro Poroshenko, another Zelensky political rival. In May, the SBU released a video in which Medvedchuk accused Poroshenko of enlisting his assistance to illegally purchase a Russian oil pipeline.

Due to his immense wealth and political influence, Medvedchuk undoubtedly knows much about where the bodies are buriedboth figuratively and literally in the case of bourgeois Ukrainian politicsand it is likely the Zelensky government will now exploit him to continue its persecution of political enemies.

Whatever the ultimate fate of Medvedchuk and the remnants of his political party, the banning and state liquidation of oppositional parties exposes the lie that Ukraine is a bulwark of democracy that needs to be defended in a just war against totalitarian Russia.

In reality, Ukraine is controlled by a section of the reactionary ultra-wealthy oligarchy that has emerged out of the Stalinist destruction of the Soviet Union and which has chosen an open alliance with NATO against Russia. It is now demonstrating with the war that it is willing and able to kill hundreds of thousands of its own citizens to maintain its rule and pro-NATO orientation. According to officials of the ruling party, between 200 and 500 members of the Ukrainian armed forces are dying every single day in the war in east Ukraine. There are also growing reports of desertions on both sides of the conflict.

The banning of the OppositionFor Life party and other oppositional parties makes clear that the imperialist-backed Zelensky government will stop at nothing to crush opposition to its warabove all when it emerges within the working class.
Rail workers across Canada are closely following the strike by 50,000 rail workers in Britain, which is developing into an open political confrontation with the Conservative government and the entire ruling elite. The strikers, who walked off the job for a day Tuesday and will do so again June 23, are being demonized by the Tory government and Labour Party opposition for demanding a living wage and decent working conditions.

A Canadian Pacific Railway locomotive in Calgary, Alberta. [Photo by Jason Corbett) / CC BY 4.0

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has led the way among the European powers in funnelling vast amounts of weaponry to Ukraine to fuel the US-NATO war with Russia, has made clear his governments determination to slash thousands of jobs, gut terms and conditions, and cut wages. Working people increasingly recognize that the ruling elites onslaught on rail workers is merely the beginning of a planned assault on the wages and conditions of all workers to foot the bill for war abroad and the enrichment of the financial oligarchy at home. As one striking British rail worker told the World Socialist Web Site, The government want to walk all over everybody. I think it needs a general strike. Its been so obvious for a while now because its an attack on the working class. The rich are getting richer and there has never been so many millionaires and billionaires. Its scandalous.

Canadian rail workers know from first-hand experience the desperate conditions facing their British colleagues. Around 750 signals and communications workers at CN Rail have been on strike since Saturday to demand pay increases and improvements to work schedules. They are fighting a scheduling regime that sees them sent for weeks at a time to different regions away from their families.

A series of determined strikes in Canada for improved working conditions, an end to brutal scheduling regimes, and wage increases have been sold out over recent years through the combined efforts of the trade unions and threats of government intervention to criminalize job action.

In 2019, the Teamsters sabotaged a strike at CN Rail by bullying workers into accepting a concessions-filled contract whose terms they only learned weeks after returning to work. Earlier this year, the Teamsters ignored an overwhelming strike vote at CP Rail, allowing the company to lock out 3,000 conductors and engineers. The Teamsters then accepted binding arbitration to settle the dispute, an anti-democratic process that involves a government-appointed official imposing employment terms on the workers, who have no right to vote on or take collective action against them.

The repeated betrayals of rail workers struggles by the unions and the refusal of successive federal governments to regulate the highly profitable rail corporations have contributed to dangerous conditions on the railways. On Monday, a CN Rail train carrying potash derailed near Thunder Bay, Ontario. Derailmentssome of them deadlyhave become a routine event across Canadas rail network. In February 2019, three rail workers lost their lives when a train derailed on a notoriously dangerous stretch of track near Field, British Columbia, in bitterly cold temperatures.

In response to the Teamsters latest betrayal, CP Rail workers set up the CP Workers Rank-and-file Committee independently of the trade unions to unify rail workers struggles across Canada and North America for improved terms and conditions. As the Committees founding statement declared, The struggle at CP Rail is a key battleground for workers across Canada, the United States and internationally. As the ruling elites prepare to plunge the world into a catastrophic war potentially fought with nuclear weapons, they cannot tolerate any dissent by workers at home. The arbitration deal that CP, the Teamsters and Trudeau government are trying to impose on us will rob us of any right to strike, perform work-to-rule or bargain for improvements for years to come. If they succeed, similar draconian methods will be employed against working people everywhere.

The WSWS has received statements of solidarity for the British rail strike from members of the CP Workers Rank-and-File Committee.

Paul, an engineer and former union rep, recalled how rail workers were placated, referenced as champions, heroes and the like during the pandemic. This struggle, our struggle is continuous and obvious to anyone who cares to look, he continued. Moreover, the place to look from is the kitchen tables of working people. To sit anywhere else is to not even be able to see the problems in their full breadth. This vantage point, this position, the lives of most of us lead are opaque to those in positions of power that set our tables. What is worse, they do not even want to sit with usand some think there is not a class struggle.

As a Union representative in Canada, it soon became obvious that my main function was to remind management that my members were actual people, not a commodity, a number, not a verb but a noun.

Paul referred to a remark by the great American socialist Eugene Debs as summing up what the British rail strike is about: I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.

Paul concluded his message by saying, From my home to theirs, I stand with the working people in Britain and with the Railway Workers specifically at this time in solidarity.

Mark, an engineer from Alberta, sent the following statement in support of the strike:

I was born in Britain in the mid 1960s, a working class scion of miners, nurses, and railwaymenin other words, at Ground Zero of the labour struggle that would continue through my lifetime and, no doubt, beyond. My father, grandfather, and great grandfathers drove trains through war and peace, dug coal, and died young. Our women, for generations, healed the sick. Hailed as heroes when expedient, slated as villains when all sought fair recompense and appreciation for their labours, my family bore the brunt of a unilateral war of attrition against the most necessary sectors of industrial labour. I left Britain thirty years ago for Canada and, ironically enough, became a railwayman.

Even in this vast land of wealth and privilege, the labour struggles continue unabated. We Canadian railroaders suffer the same ignominy as our brothers and sisters across the world foisted on us by the reptilian mind of capitalism, its arch protagonists another species of human from us to all intents and purposes. We tarry in an environment where profits and executive remuneration spiral out of control and where labour standards and safety descend equally as quickly.

We Canadian railroaders stand with our brethren in Britain and beyond, aggrieved by the craven excesses of our employers, yet buoyed by our solidarity. Your struggle in Britain is identical to ours in Canada, both products of a common source of imperialist thinking, wealth, and class disparity. As a result, we must stand together, not out of unseemly avarice, but out of dignity and pride. Few share our dedication; fewer enjoy the pride we eke from the grave responsibilities we shoulder with ease and grace. We ask for nothing more than fairness and equanimity; instead, we receive vile contempt.

Strike because that is your last option in a situation without many. Carry the day, be resilient, be respectful, show them the professionalism we are known for. Win for you, win for us, be an example to workers everywhere. Show how we deserve a life of labour reciprocated by respecting the sanctity of our existences and role in society. We are worth more; we demand nothing less.
In response to rising social anger over mass shootings at schools, grocery stores, churches, malls, sporting events and virtually every other public space in the United States, in a procedural vote on Tuesday, the Senate advanced the 80-page Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.



Leading senators have indicated that they expect the bill to clear the Senate this week, perhaps as early as Thursday, at which point it will be sent back to the House of Representatives for a vote. On Wednesday, Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told reporters she expected that the House would pass the bill before the weekend and the two-week Fourth of July recess for Congress.



According to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), so far this year, 20,753 people in the US have died after being shot by a firearm. Of these, nearly half, 11,418 people, used a gun to commit suicide.



There have been more mass shootings in the US this year than days on the calendar. The GVA, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people, not including the shooter, are injured or killed, has documented 278 incidences this year. The gruesome total is nine more mass shootings than the GVA recorded in all of 2014.



In a routine report over the weekend, ABC News documented nine such incidences across the US. Shootings took place in Maryland, South Carolina, New York, Washington D.C., Florida and Texas, leaving six people dead and 42 injured.



While the bill advanced by the Senate Tuesday night is ostensibly aimed at reducing such gun-related killings, it will have little or no impact on the epidemic of mass shootings. This bill includes none of the limited proposals advanced by President Joe Biden in a speech earlier this month, such as a ban on high-capacity magazines, a reinstatement of the 1994 assault weapons ban, or a rise in the legal age to purchase a gun.



The bill provides meager social and health care spending, such as increased tele-health and grants for Child Health Insurance Programs (CHIPS), but the gun control provisions are toothless.



The Safer Communities Act, unlike the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, does not restrict the sale of semi-automatic rifles, such as those used in the recent Buffalo and Uvalde massacres, or raise the age limit to purchase the high-powered weaponry.



In fact, the gun bill, does not include the words gun, magazine, rifle, AR-15, M-16, semi-automatic, pistol, automatic, revolver or shotgun anywhere in the text.



However, the legislation does provide hundreds of millions in additional funding to local, state and federal police, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

This, no doubt, explains the bipartisan support for the bill and the effusive praise it has received in the capitalist press, which has presented the bill as the most consequential reform on firearms in decades.



The toothless character of the legislation is evident from the support it received from a section of Republicans. Despite opposition from the powerful National Rifle Association gun lobby, the bill advanced Tuesday night by a 64-34 margin, with 14 Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, joining all 50 Democratic senators in overcoming the filibuster hurdle and bringing it up for a floor vote.



On Tuesday, McConnell called the bill a commonsense package of policies that will help make these horrifying incidents less likely, while fully upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.



Emphasizing the dearth of any gun control measure in the bill, McConnell added, For years, the far left falsely claimed that Congress could only address the terrible issue of mass murders by trampling on law-abiding Americans constitutional rights. This bill proves that false.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who has led the Democrats in bipartisan Senate talks to rein in gun violence, talks with reporters, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. [AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite]

Lead Democratic Senate negotiator Chris Murphy (Connecticut), revealing the political purpose behind the measure, said it was a breakthrough, but more importantly, its a bipartisan breakthrough.



Murphy and the Democrats bipartisan breakthrough includes $100,000,000 to the FBI for salaries and expense to meet additional resources needs of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.



The system, commonly referred to as NICS, is used to screen potential buyers for previous crimes that would prevent them from owning a weapon. The bill includes for the first time a search feature that would allow NICS to have access to juvenile justice and mental health records.



It also appropriates $1.4 billion for state and local law enforcement assistance, which is to remain available until expended, for grants to be administered by the Office of Justice Programs. The bill calls for $280,000,000 to be spent each year on such programs.



Additionally, the bill appropriates another $100,000,000 for Community Oriented Policing Services, otherwise known as the COPS program, which is also overseen by the Department of Justice. In a White House statement released this past March, Biden boasted that his budget had already more than doubled money for the COPS hiring program.



As for funds that are in the bill but are not directly given to the police, the measure calls for $750 million in funding for states to implement and/or bolster red-flag laws or extreme protection orders. These laws allow a judge to order someone to relinquish his firearm if the person is deemed a threat to himself or others. While 19 states and the District of Columbia have red-flag laws, 30 states do not.



The robust funding for police in the bipartisan bill testifies to the fact that the US government and its capitalist ruling class have no solution to the epidemic of gun violence outside of more police repression.
Gustavo Petro, candidate of the pseudo-left coalition Pacto Historico (Historic Pact), was elected president of Colombia last Sunday. With 50.44 percent of the vote, he defeated the fascistic candidate Rodolfo Hernandez, nicknamed the Colombian Trump, who received 47.04 percent. The result was heralded as the first victory of a left-wing government in Colombias history.

Gustavo Petro, presidential candidate with the Historical Pact coalition, waves upon his arrival to vote in the presidential runoff in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, June 19, 2022. [AP Photo/Fernando Vergara]

Petros and his vice president Francia Marquez election has been heralded as the newest achievement of a new wave of the so-called Pink Tide in Latin America. All of those identified with this tendency celebrated the event, among them Mexicos Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Argentinas Alberto Fernandez, Bolivias Luis Arce, Perus Pedro Castillo and Chiles Gabriel Boric. Former Brazilian President Lula da Silva, who intends to retake the presidency in Brazils October elections, declared that [Petros] victory strengthens democracy and progressive forces in Latin America.

Petro will take over a country going through the deepest economic, social and political crisis. The current far-right president, Ivan Duque, leaves his seat as one of the most hated leaders in Colombian history, with a disapproval rate that exceeded 70 percent. His government was marked by successive national strikes and massive demonstrations that challenged the terrible levels of social inequality and the murderous violence of the Colombian state.

The COVID-19 pandemic represented a drastic worsening of social conditions in Colombia. The country had one of the highest COVID mortality rates in the region, with 140,000 deaths, according to official data. In the same period, 3.6 million Colombians were thrown into poverty, with unemployment reaching an all-time high in 2021.

The social opposition in the streets, driven by these conditions, was brutally repressed by the Duque government. More than 80 people were murdered during the Paro Nacional [protests]of 2021, according to a survey by the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ). The deaths were directly perpetrated by police and military officers, who also collaborated with and assisted civilian elements in committing murders and other acts of violence against demonstrators.

The Colombian state apparatus of violence, funded by US imperialism under the guise of the war on drugs, was exposed before the eyes of millions as a class war machine directed against the struggling youth and working class.

Petros election is a distorted reflection of this mass experience and rejection of the Colombian bourgeois regime. The national strikes were diverted by the National Committee at its leadership from a direct clash with the Duque government and the capitalist system. Instead, the union federations, student and farmers organizations at the head of the Committee promised an electoral solution through the candidacy of the Historic Pact.

At the same time that the campaign of Petro, an ex-member of the 1980s M-19 guerrilla group, sought to channel the sentiments of the masses behind abstract slogans like defense of life and politics of love, it moved ever further to the right in search of a national agreement to save Colombias crisis-ridden capitalist system.

In his last week of campaigning, Petro published an open letter to the soldiers and police of Colombia. He proclaimed that one of the central points of his government program is the strengthening of the public force and the welfare of its members ... to achieve total peace in the national territory.

This nod to the repressive forces was interpreted in the media as a response to opposition and public attacks by military personnel against Petro, which were never challenged by the candidate. The most notable of these came from the Armys command, Eduardo Zapateiro, who tweeted threats and accused Petro of being corrupt, and demanding his respect for the military.

The president-elects speech at the Movistar Arena in Bogota, only confirmed that Colombias first left-wing government will actually have quite a right-wing character. At the climax of his speech, Petro answered the campaign of lies that claimed his government would destroy private property, by announcing: We are going to develop capitalism in Colombia. Not because we love it, but because we first have to overcome pre-modernity in Colombia.

Petros reactionary speech reinforces what had already been demonstrated by his peers in the region, from Fernandez in Argentina to the newly elected Boric in Chile. in a period of crisis for Latin Americas commodity-based economies, their new leftist leaders openly assume the task of deepening capitalist adjustment policies and escalating repression against an increasingly explosive social opposition.

In his assurances to preserve private property and stay within the framework of capitalism, Petro is openly seeking to dissociate himself from figures as Hugo Chavez, who haunted him throughout the campaign. The late Venezuelan president, the most emblematic leader of the original Latin American Pink Tide, sought to cover up the bourgeois nationalist character of his government with limited policies of expropriation and the promise of 21st century socialism.

At the same time, in his claim that Colombia needs to overcome pre-modern, feudal, and slave-owning remnants, Petro seeks to revive the bankrupt justifications used by Stalinism for its support for bourgeois regimes in Latin America and other economically backward countries. The Stalinist two-stage theory of revolution (preaching that a bourgeois-capitalist stage should precede socialist revolution in backward countries) served to disarm the Latin American proletariat in successive pre-revolutionary situations throughout the 20th century, paving the way to bloody military dictatorships.

This argument by Petro is a nefarious attempt to disorient the Colombian working class and youth. The social inequality, bloody state repression, homicidal herd-immunity policy in response to the pandemic, and the environmental crisis confronting the Colombian masses are not expressions of pre-capitalist remnants. Rather, they are the direct products of the domination of society by the capitalist profit system, which proves that it urgently needs to be abolished.

It is still unclear how the new Colombian government will develop its relations with the United States, which has in Colombia its main strategic base in Latin America. Shortly after his victory speech, Petro spoke on the phone with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken later tweeted, We discussed the longstanding U.S.-Colombia partnership and how we can work together to enhance inclusive economic prosperity, combat climate change & further deepen our relationship.

Harassed by the explosive crisis of world capitalism, the constant threat of intervention by US imperialism, and in its quest to maintain a grand agreement with the national bourgeoisie, the Petro government is on a collision course with the Colombian working masses. Not only will he and his Historic Pact be rapidly exposed, but also the corporatist trade unions and pseudo-left middle-class organizations that promoted them.

Among the latter are the Colombian Morenoites of the Socialist Workers Party (PST), a member of IWL-FI. Hypocritically declaring that its vote for Petro was critical, the PST has for years fostered illusions in the progressive character of a Historic Pact government. This time, they have fervently promoted Francia Marquez since she ran in the Pacts primaries. Based on the fact that she is a black woman and social activist, the PST declared, We recognize in Francia the personification of the need for change felt by millions of Colombians who have protested against the Duque government and Uribism since November 2019.

This opinion about Marquez is shared by broad sections of the Latin American and world pseudo-left. An article published in the Latin American edition of Jacobin claimed that Marquez, besides embodying the qualities of the women of the Colombian people, as well as the resistance to the different racist, classist and misogynist oppressions suffered by the vast majority, has managed to articulate an emancipating discourse that embraces all the popular struggles, all the excluded and oppressed people of our people, achieving that, in her face, we can see ourselves reflected, the nobodies.

Despite the pseudo-radical slogans against structural racism and machismo, the vice presidents emancipating discourse does not propose any confrontation with capitalism and imperialism. On the contrary, as she claims on her website, Marquez has worked since 2020 to implement programs in Colombia funded by the USAID, a CIA-linked agency of the US government.

The development of genuinely socialist politics in Colombia and throughout Latin America requires the construction of a revolutionary leadership that fights for the political independence of the working class, and its unification across borders under the program of international socialist revolution. This means building a Colombian section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (CIQI).
Using blatantly unconstitutional and outright thuggish methods akin to those the Israeli Zionist regime routinely employs against Palestinians, BJP-ruled states and municipalities across India are illegally bulldozing the homes and shops of Muslims they have targeted for retribution.

This campaign of state lawlessness and terror is being spearheaded by the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh (UP), Indias most populous state, and its chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Adityanathwho was under criminal indictment for inciting violent attacks on Muslims when Indias prime minister and BJP supremo, Narenda Modi, made him UP chief ministerrevels in his new nickname of Bulldozer Baba.

The ruins of the bulldozed home of Mohammad Javed and Parveen Fatima and their family. (Twitter)

On the orders of BJP led-governments, homes and shops owned by Muslims are being demolished without due process, and invariably with little to no warning. The authorities suddenly paste a notice that this or that portion of a building was constructed illegally and will be demolished forthwith, despite it being in existence for decades. Then a day later, bulldozers, accompanied by a huge contingent of police, arrive and in a few hours there is only a pile of rubble.

The homes and shops of prominent Muslims who have spoken out against the Modi government and the BJPs continual anti-Muslim incitement and provocations are being targeted. So too are those of Muslim protesters, frequently under the pretext that they threw stones at police. The BJP-led North Delhi Municipal Corporation mounted a so-called anti-encroachment drive in April, supposedly targeting illegally built houses and shopsall Muslim-ownedjust days after a communal clash during a religious procession provoked by Hindu far-right activists.

In a recent and especially egregious case of state terrorism, municipal authorities in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad), acting under the direction of UP Chief Minister Adityanath, demolished the home of Mohammad Javed, a leading figure in the Muslim-led Welfare Party of India.

The notice to demolish the home was served to Javed despite the fact that it was owned by his wife, Parveen Fatima. She had inherited it from her father more than two decades ago. Subsequently, the house was expanded and two more floors were added. The notice declared that some parts of the expansion were illegal, despite the fact that the authorities had never previously complained about it. The notice announcing the house would be demolished the next day was pasted on the wall of the house only around 10 p.m. on Saturday, June 11. The following day, a bulldozer and a phalanx of police wearing riot gear descended upon the house, and within a few hours, reduced it and all of its contents to rubble. The municipal authorities did not even give the family time to collect the most minimal belongings, such as photos, let alone furniture, utensils and appliances.

The UP authorities have accused Javed of being the mastermind of protests that erupted in Prayagraj and numerous other towns across north India on Friday, June 10. The protests were in opposition to the insulting remarks made against Islam by senior BJP officials in late May in what was a transparent case of communal incitement. The remarks sparked an international outcry from some 20 countries, many of which summoned Indian diplomatic representatives to hand them strong protest notes.

Javed appears to have been singled out because his daughter, Afreen Fatima, is a prominent anti-government activist who organized mass protests in December 2019 and the first months of 2020 against the Modi governments anti-Muslim Citizenship Amendment Act. At the time, Afreen was a prominent student leader at the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) where she was pursuing graduate studies. Along with others at JNU, Afreen organized demonstrations that helped spark an India-wide movement that saw millions across India take to the streets to protest against the CAA, pushing the BJP government for a time onto the backfoot.

The UP police responded to the June 10 protests with state violence, beating protesters and arresting hundreds. The BJP-led authorities also demolished the homes of two protesters whom they accused of throwing stones at the rampaging UP police.

Adityanaths media adviser tweeted a photo of a bulldozer on Saturday, the day after the protests, brazenly adding: Unruly elements remember, every Friday is followed by a Saturday.

Such brutish invective constantly pours from the mouths of top BJP officials. In kicking off the campaign for Indias 2019 general election, Amit Shah, the home minster and Modis chief henchman, made bloodthirsty comments referring to desperate refugees from Bangladesh and Myanmar (Burma) as termites. Infiltrators are like termites in the soil of Bengal,  he thundered. A Bharatiya Janata Party government will pick up infiltrators one by one and throw them into the Bay of Bengal.

Communalist incitement and provocations by BJP politicians and their Hindu far-right allies have been systematically facilitated by the Indian state. The police are notorious for turning a blind eye to communalist attacks on Muslims, and often participate in them. The courtsincluding Indias Supreme Court, which never tires of posing as a solemn defender of citizens constitutional rightshave time and again failed to convict those guilty of fomenting communalist atrocities and sanctioned, through acts of omission and commission, one communalist outrage after another.

The current wave of demolitions are in defiance of notices the Supreme Court issued on April 21, after a spate of bulldozer demolitions in the preceding months in UP, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, and Delhi. But Indias highest court has taken no action to enforce its own orders. The Supreme Court stood by when municipal authorities in the Delhi neighborhood of Shaheen Bagh, the center of the anti-CAA protests, bulldozed numerous shops and homes in early May in what was a transparent and patently illegal act of revenge.

Most notoriously, in a judgment issued November 9, 2019, the Indian Supreme Court legitimized the Dec. 6, 1992 razing of the 16th century Babri Masjid (mosque) by the BJP and its allied Hindu communal organizationsan action carried out in direct violation of the orders of Indias highest court and that precipitated the worst communal violence across India since the 1947 communal partition that divided the subcontinent into an expressly Muslim Pakistan and a predominantly Hindu India.

In its 2019 judgment, the Supreme Court ordered the Modi-led government to carry out one of its longstanding ambitions and oversee the building of a temple to the mythical Hindu god Lord Ram on the site of the razed Babri Masjid. In so doing, it effectively endorsed the absurd, Hindu-extremist obscurantist argument that the grounds upon which the Babri Masjid had stood was Lord Rams birthplace.

In UP and Madhya Pradesh (MP), the BJP chief ministers have unleashed bulldozer terror against what they called love Jihad, that is a reference to inter-faith relationships between Hindus and Muslims. In MP, in late April, after a Muslim boy and a local Hindu girl eloped, MP authorities razed the home of the boys father and three of his shops.

This gangster-style political rule is being overseen by Modi and his thuggish second-in-command Amit Shah. Several BJP leaders have commented to the press that muscular politics is being actively promoted by Modi, Shah and the Hindu-fascist RSS, the BJPs parent organization. There is now reportedly an immense competition for BJP Chief Ministers (CM) to join the muscular CM club, so as to get on the good side of Modi and Shah.

The lawless actions of Modi, his BJP and the Hindu supremacist right as a whole are the malignant expressions of a crisis-ridden, diseased social order. They are relentlessly whipping up communal strife in an attempt to divert mounting mass social anger, frustration and anxiety along reactionary channels, embolden their far-right followers, and divide the working class.

Over the past two years there has been a mounting wave of strikes and protests involving workers from all parts of India and cutting across all communal and caste divides. Tens of millions have taken to the streets to oppose precarious contract labour jobs, privatization, dilapidated public services and the ruling class ruinous profits-before-lives response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The BJPs communal incitement and lawlessness has caused some elements in the ruling elite to wring their hands and voice fears that the Modi government could reap a whirlwind by further communalizing and discrediting all the institutions of the state. Recently more than a dozen retired senior judges, including three former Supreme Court justices, accused Adityanaths government of making a mockery of the Constitution. In a letter to the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, they urged the court to intervene against violence and repression by state authorities against Muslim citizens. They further noted that Such a brutal clampdown is an unacceptable subversion of the rule of law and a violation of the rights of citizens.

But the dominant factions of the ruling class, which over the past decade have embraced the BJP and made it their principal political instrument, consigning the Congress Party to life-support, continue to back the Modi government. Terrified of an eruption of the working class, they cling to the would-be Hindu strongman Modi and his toxic communalist BJP, calculating that it is their best means to intensify worker exploitation and aggressively assert their predatory interests on the world stage.

On Thursday, June 16, the Supreme Court, in response to a plea filed by the Jamiat-Ulama-I-Hind organization, asked the UP government to file an affidavit in three days about the recent bulldozer demolitions. Instead of condemning this whole practice of bulldozer-razing homes and shops, Indias highest court sheepishly asked the UP government to ensure that no further demolitions of properties are carried out in the state without following due process.
American Eagle and Aerie will open two separate storefronts at Midtown Village next month in Tuscaloosa.

American Eagle and Aerie will open in two separate storefronts in Tuscaloosa at Midtown Village next month.

Last year, American Eagle announced in a social media post that the store would be leaving its longtime home in University Mall and relocating to Midtown Village, 1800 McFarland Blvd. E.

The jeans and apparel brand will now join its sister brand, Aerie, at Midtown Village. The two storefronts will be adjacent to Francesca's and Southern Roots Salon.

SHOP AROUND: Tuscaloosa community explores West Alabama businesses at Celebrate Local event

This will be the second Aerie location in Alabama.

Both brands, owned by American Eagle Outfitters, are set to open in Midtown Village at 9 a.m. July 14.

A grand opening ceremony will also be held that day from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. The ceremony will include giveaways, a live DJ, Bloom Flower Truck and more.

Midtown Village is at 1800 McFarland Blvd. E in Tuscaloosa. The shopping center opened in 2007. [Submitted photo]

We are thrilled to add two more retailers that cater to the college-age demographic in Tuscaloosa. These brands will deliver on-trend essentials we know our shoppers will enjoy, said Mary Beyer Lell, head of leasing for Crawford Square Real Estate Advisors, a Birmingham-based full-leasing management company, in a press release.

In addition to Midtown Village, the company manages and leases 32 retail and mixed-use venues in six states.

Midtown Village opened in 2007.

American Eagle focuses on clothing and accessories, while Aerie provides intimates, apparel, activewear and swimwear.

Reach Jasmine Hollie at JHollie@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: American Eagle, Aerie to open at Midtown Village in July
The Jewish Discovery Center will have a soft opening on June 23, 2022 with hours on Thursday, Friday and Sunday from 11a.m. to 5p.m. They will be closed on Saturdays in honor of the Sabbath.

Since moving to Mequon more than three years ago, Rabbi Moshe Luchins and his wife Sheina have made it their mission to involve and educate the Mequon-area community about Jewish values.

First, they started the Jewish Food Festival in the Milwaukee area in 2019, and then later opened up a kosher deli in Mequon.

They aren't stopping there. They're now planning to open The Jewish Discovery Center in Cedarburg at the end of the month, with support from the Peltz Center for Jewish Life.

"We were just thinking about a different way of reaching out to the community to teach and share the Jewish values that we have with others," said Luchins.

The center is just off of Washington Avenue in downtown Cedarburg at N58 W6208 Columbia Road and is in the space formerly occupied by The Briar Patch. The center is open for tourists and locals of all religious backgrounds to come and learn more about the Jewish religion.

"Everything came together. It's hard to find a space on that main street. It's such an awesome location," Luchins said. "We keep pushing to do more."

"It's a beautiful location and wonderful people. We want to get rid of the stigma of anti-Semitism. I think the best way to combat that is teaching," he said. "The way of getting rid of darkness is bringing more light."

Rabbi Moshe Luchins and his wife Sheina have made it their mission to involve and educate the Milwaukee-area community about Jewish values. They will open the Jewish Discovery Center June 23, 2022 and have a grand opening later in August.

At the center, visitors will be able to look at Jewish artifact exhibits, historical Jewish displays and the center will also offer crafts for children and classes for adults. They will also be able to purchase Judaica-themed art and holiday needs like menorahs and seder plates. The center will also offer kosher snacks and pastries to purchase. Admission is free.

The Jewish Discovery Center will have a soft opening on June 23 and will open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Sunday. The center will be closed on Saturday in honor of the Sabbath. The Luchins are planning a grand opening for August.

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The Peltz Center for Jewish Life supports the center and plans to work with local businesses and Cedarburg's tourism council to promote the new center. The Peltz Center for Jewish Life is a division of Lubavitch of Wisconsin.

For more information, please visit www.jewishcedarburg.org.

Contact Alex Groth at agroth@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @grothalexandria.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New Jewish Discovery Center opening soon in downtown Cedarburg
Florida Gov Ron DeSantis at a rally for Donald Trump in 2020 (Getty Images)

Donald Trump is clearly feeling the heat from swirling speculation in the media and GOP circles around the idea that he could face a credible 2024 primary rivalry in the form of Ron DeSantis, Floridas Republican governor.

The GOP ex-president on Wednesday posted results from the right-leaning pollster Zogby indicating that he was the clear favourite for winning the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, 42 points ahead of Mr DeSantis in a survey of GOP voters nationally.

The timing of the post, made on Mr Trumps new Truth Social platform, is significant given the release of a survey from the University of New Hampshire that same day which indicated a shocking change of fortune for the former president who now trails the Florida governor among likely primary voters in the state.

Those New Hampshire results represented a strong surge in support for Mr DeSantis, who trailed the ex-president in a previous survey published by the university in October.

Mr DeSantis trailed Mr Trump by a substantial margin last year, 18 per cent to the ex-presidents 43 per cent. Much of Mr DeSantiss new support appears to have come from Mr Trumps own supporters as well as from undecided voters.

The New Hampshire poll also drew a reaction from MSNBCs Morning Joe, whose hosts mocked Mr Trump and took it as a sign of his lessening grip on the party.

Well, I mean, you look, at you look at his speeches, even the one this past week, they are all backward-looking and theyre all the greatest hits from 2016, and not performed well, said host Joe Scarborough of Mr Trumps recent appearances. With all due respect to the king of rock and roll, this is fat Elvis in 77, huffing and puffing and sweating and bloated and, like, barely being able to get this, you know, the scarves out from around his neck.

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He added: I just dont think Republicans want this.

Neither Mr Trump nor Mr DeSantis has stated that they are definitely running in 2024, and Mr DeSantis has made statements indicating otherwise. Last year the Florida governor claimed that speculation about his plans to run in 2024 was purely manufactured and denied that he was focused on anything besides running his state.

"All the speculation about me is purely manufactured," he said in September of that year. "I just do my job. We work hard ... that's what it's really all about, just helping folks here."

"I hear all this stuff and honestly it's nonsense, he added. So I don't really know what to say to rumours.

Still, he remains the only GOP primary candidate in most polling to even have a credible mathematical chance, at least right now, of challenging the former president for the nomination. In just about every survey Mr Trumps other potential rivals, including ex-vice president Mike Pence, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, fail to crack double-digit levels of support.

Mr Trump, in contrast, has publicly hinted about seeking the White House again since nearly the day he left office. He has continued to hold campaign-style rallies around the country where he spreads his debunked lies about the 2020 election.
Capt. John R. (Jack) Capra, interim general counsel at the Department of Elder Affairs and a former Vero Beach City Council member, died suddenly in Tallahassee June 15. He was 56.

Jack Capra

As one of the youngest members of the Vero Beach City Council, Capra was elected at age 35 and served from 2000-2002. He was re-elected to a second term, but never served. He was called back to active duty in the U.S. Navy Reserve after the Sept. 11, 2002 terrorist attacks, where he served alongside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Guantanamo during the war on terror.

Capra, a retired officer for the Judge Advocate General, also served nine months in Iraq, where he earned a Purple Heart. The recognition came as a result of injuries sustained when a remote-control bomb was detonated as Capra's vehicle passed by.

In a statement, DeSantis said: The first lady and I are deeply saddened to hear about the sudden passing of Jack Capra, who has served the State of Florida for many years. We send our deepest condolences to his loving wife Sandi and his entire family.

While serving on the Vero Beach City Council, Capra donated his salary each year to a scholarship he established at Indian River Community (now State) College in honor of his grandfather, the late film director Frank Capra. The elder Capra directed such movies as "It Happened One Night," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Meet John Doe" and the annual Christmas favorite, "It's a Wonderful Life."

Vero Beach City Clerk Tammy Bursick remembered Jack Capra as a great guy who loved his community.

He began work in 1998 at age 33 as one of two assistant city attorneys

I had spoken to him about five years ago when he was in town and called me to say hello, said Bursick. Jack was just a nice, nice guy.

In 2000, Capra was a member of the City Council that endorsed a $19 million plan for Indian River County to buy Dodgertown to keep the team training in Vero Beach.

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After returning from active duty, Capra moved to Tallahassee to work for the state of Florida, most recently in the Department of Elder Affairs. In 2015, he ran unsuccessfully in a Special Election for House District 17, losing in the Republican Primary to Rep. Cyndi Stevenson.

Purple Heart recipient, Jack Capra with his service dog, 7-year-old Labradoodle Rocco and Purple Heart recipient Erick Torres.

State Sen. Debbie Mayfield posted her condolences to the Capra family on Twitter.

Jacks uplifting personality and humble spirit will always be remembered, wrote Mayfield. My condolences go out to the family and love ones of Jack Capra.

Capra is survived by his wife Sandi, his daughter Rebecca Capra of Jacksonville, his son Ryan Capra of Jacksonville, and his stepdaughters Taylor Carpenter and Lexi Svall Nordgren (Jesper) of Miami, and his father-in-law Graham Blomquist, Jr., his sisters Maria Capra (Scott), Claire Capra Sleep (Mike), Theresa Capra-Roberts (Tom), Jennifer Capra Smith (David) and many nieces and nephews.

Capra was an advocate for service members and their service dogs including his beloved Labradoodle Rocco.

A funeral Mass will take place Saturday, June 25 at 11 a.m. at the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More, 900 W. Tennessee St., in Tallahassee. Burial will follow at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery.

In Memory

The family has requested donations be made in Capras honor to TCC Foundation Scholarships, 444 Appleyard Drive Tallahassee, Florida 32304.

Janet Begley is a local freelance writer for TCPalm.com. If you like articles like this and other TCPalm coverage of Treasure Coast news, please support our journalism and subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Jack Capra, former Vero Beach councilman dies in Tallahassee at age 56
Asthmatic woman using inhaler - Daily life of asthmatic person during coronavirus

Health care concept. Woman using asthma inhale at home during lockdown. Coronavirus. Beautiful woman is living with chronical illness everyday and challenges with it. Credit - Branimir NedeljkovicGetty Images

Graphs and charts dont always tell the whole story. Numbers can be deceiving. But anyone who looks at U.S. trends in asthma mortality can see, without squinting, that things are moving in the right direction.

A 2019 analysis in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine found that from 1999 to 2015, asthma mortality fell by 43%. The decrease in asthma-related mortality was consistent in both sexes and in all race groups, with the largest decrease in patients older than 65 years, the authors concluded. Figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that these positive trends have continued through 2019, and data coming from the U.K. and Europe tell a similarly happy tale.

What I see in the clinic today is completely different than it was 10 years ago, says Dr. Christopher Brightling, a clinical professor in respiratory medicine at the University of Leicester and a senior investigator at the National Institute for Health and Care Research in the U.K. The treatment space is looking really positive, and with the newest drugs I would anticipate responses to be even better.

Biologics, he and others say, are leading the way in the fight against severe asthma. These drugs work by manipulating the activity of genes or cells, and they have been life-changing for many patients. New advancements in inhaler-based medicines and connected technologies are other bright spots, and some health systems are moving their care teams out of the clinic and into community settings in an effort to reach underserved populations.

Together, these and other new advancements are producing real and measurable improvements in patient access and outcomes. It is really a very exciting time in asthma research right now, says Dr. Derek Chu, an assistant professor of medicine and a researcher in allergy and clinical immunology at McMaster University in Canada. Theres a lot in development for both mild and moderate-severe asthma.

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Here, Chu and other experts detail the latest on these groundbreaking treatments and strategies.

Read More: How Alternative Medicine Can Help People With Asthma

Whats new in biologics?

In 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first biologic for the treatment of severe asthma. That drug, omalizumab, is a monoclonal antibody therapy that works primarily by reducing blood levels of IgE, an immune system antibody that contributes to airway inflammation among people with severe asthma.

Although omalizumab was revolutionary, experts say the past few years have witnessed the arrival of newer and better biologics that have all but eradicated the burden of severe asthma for most patients. These have been totally transformational, says David Jackson, a respiratory medicine specialist at Kings College London. Since 2017, a new biologic has been added to our armory on almost an annual basis, and the number of patients with uncontrolled asthma has gotten smaller and smaller.

Whereas the first biologics blocked IgE, the latest drugs in this category targetwith greater and greater precisionthe specific immune pathways and cells that drive asthma-related inflammation and symptoms. Cells called eosinophils are a hallmark of severe asthma, and these newer biologic therapies can dampen down their production and related pathways in a much more targeted way, Jackson says. He uses a military analogy to highlight the effectiveness of the newest biologics. These are like precision-guided laser bombs, as opposed to the old B52s dropping bombs from 50,000 ft. and just hoping for best.

Some of the newest biologics take aim at two specific immune system proteins: thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) and interleukin 33. These two activate cells in the airways, which leads to a release of all these [inflammation] players, Brightling explains. Because these two are farther upstream than some of the pathways targeted by older biologics, mellowing their activity may produce broader benefits, he says.

Biologics do come with downsides. For one thing, theyre expensive. They often cost around $30,000 a year in the U.S., Jackson says. They are not always covered by insurance. Also, in the past their administration required regular office or clinic visits. Biologics are traditionally delivered via injection anywhere from once every two months to once every two weeks. However, the coronavirus pandemic has helped shift the use of these drugs away from the clinic and into the home. Theres been a big push to self-administration, Jackson says. What we normally do now is to start in the clinicso give the first one to three administrations herethen go to home administration when its clear the patient is doing well.

Despite any lingering financial and logistical hurdles, the benefits provided by biologics are often profound. The latest and greatest biologics work so well that many patients are effectively relieved of the burden of severe asthma attacks or symptomssomething that would have seemed unbelievable just a decade ago.

Unfortunately, not everyone who would benefit from these drugs is getting them. Awareness of this medicine is not what it should be, Jackson says. A lot of patients continue to have asthma attacks and their doctor hasnt picked up on the fact that there are newer therapies. If every clinician who treats severe asthma was up to speed on these drugsand if everyone who truly needs them had access to these medicinesits possible that virtually every person with severe asthma could avoid the worst symptoms, he says.

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Advancements in phenotyping

Asthma used to be thought of as a single disease that could range from mild to severe. But thats changed. The model of asthma as a single entity is now obsolete due to an increased understanding of its underlying heterogeneity, wrote the authors of a 2019 study in Clinical Reviews in Allergy & Immunology.

At this point, asthma is an umbrella term for a number of related but distinct diseases that are differentiated in part by the activation of various immune pathways. Those pathways are now better mapped than ever before. By identifying the ones driving pathology in an individual patienta process often called phenotypingclinicians can better predict how that person will fare on a drug. The phenotyping piece has been one of the big shifts, Brightling says. It can help us understand which patients will respond best to a treatment.

Phenotyping often starts with an assessment of a patients demographic or symptom characteristics. Is the person old or young? Do they have early-onset or late-onset asthma? Are they obese? Do they have atopic involvement? In the near futureand this is where some of the latest advancements have occurredphenotyping may involve blood and breath tests. Brightling says blood tests can provide helpful information on eosinophils and other immune system players that give rise to a persons asthma symptoms. Breath tests of exhaled nitric oxide can reveal the involvement of specific immune system proteins, as well as the presence of airway hyperactivity, he adds.

To be effective, the newest treatments have to find their way to the patients who will benefit from them most. Phenotyping plays a crucial matchmaking role.

Smart inhalers are getting smarter

Every asthma specialist knows that getting patients to reliably take their medicine can be a struggle. Particularly among young people with severe asthma, adherence is often poor. A 2018 study in the European Respiratory Journal found that even after special educational courses in inhaler use and disease management, only 63% of people with severe asthma adhered to their treatment plan.

I think one of the biggest challenges, especially with severe asthma, is that patients feel fine a lot of the time, and its difficult to remember to take a medication every single day if youre feeling good, says Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a professor of pediatrics, preventive medicine, and medicine (allergy and immunology) at Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine and Lurie Childrens Hospital. Other experts say that pricey biologics might be needed far less if more patients with severe asthma reliably took their inhaled corticosteroids.

Theres a new solution to this problem: smart inhalers that can notify patients or their care team when doses are missed. For a 2021 study in Pediatrics, Gupta and her colleagues examined the usefulness of inhalers equipped with Bluetooth connected technologies among children with asthma. The inhalers notified a childs care team if they missed their daily doses several days in a row, or if they took too many rescue doses in a single day. After 12 months of follow-up, treatment adherence had increased by 17% and measures of asthma-symptom burden had likewise improved, the study found. Patients felt like someone was looking out for them and taking care of them, Gupta says.

Some of these smart-inhaler technologies are already available (though usually not covered by insurance). For example, patients can buy inhaler sensors that will remind them when to take their meds. Some health care systems have also set up office notifications similar to the type Gupta and her team studied. But for the most part, these new technologies are not widely deployed. My dream is that every time a patient uses their inhaler, this information would go straight into their electronic medical chart, she says. I know some groups are working on that.

Innovations that improve access

One of the persistent challenges of modern medicine is ensuring the equitable distribution of quality care. Gupta mentions drug costs, Medicare and Medicaid coverage, and access to asthma specialists as some of the barriers between patients and the treatment they need.

In an effort to provide quality care to underserved groups, some asthma specialists are leaving the clinic and meeting patients where they live and work. Doctors here in Chicago are going out into the community and setting up tents where people know theyll be, or going to schools and giving checkups in parking lots, Gupta says.

She also mentions the asthma vans that are now operating in Chicago. These clinics on wheels, staffed by allergy specialists, drive to underserved communities and offer on-site treatment. These have been very effective resources, she says. More solutions like this are needed to improve access to appropriate asthma care.

Read More: How Climate Change and Air Pollution Affect Kids Health

The road ahead

Theres a lot more going on in the field of severe asthma care. For a 2021 study in JAMA, Chu found that triple-drug therapyadding a third medication to the common two-drug combination of corticosteroids and bronchodilatorsled to a lower incidence of severe attacks among patients who use inhalers.

Although the future looks bright, he says that more work lies ahead. The main issues are the critical need for head-to-head studies of active drugs or management approaches, rather than purely placebo-controlled studies, he says. This work could further clarify best treatment approaches.

However, life for many people with severe asthma has never been better. Many patients almost feel like they dont have the disease anymore, says Jackson. They stop having attacks, stop showing up in hospitals, and can function without asthma interfering in their life. Thats worth celebrating.
The war rages on. But President Joe Bidens mission is now very different.

When Biden was last in Europe, just weeks after Russias invasion of Ukraine, his task was to pull together an uncertain alliance stunned by Vladimir Putins onslaught and heartened by Kyivs unexpected success in resisting it.

But now Biden heads back across the Atlantic for a pair of summits with a new assignment: to keep the continent committed to the cause as the invasion settles into a grueling, bloody battle of attrition that could last for many more months and cause continued global economic strain.

In many ways, Bidens job next week is more difficult.

The war has begun to slip from international headlines. The president must convince other leaders, their economies battered by surging inflation, to keep funneling money and weapons to Ukraine instead of keeping them at home.

Some of his peers have been pummeled by scandal and defeat, their political standing weakened. And Biden himself has watched his poll numbers plummet as costs rise and a nation nervously awaits a Supreme Court decision that could roll back abortion rights and reshape the domestic landscape while he is overseas.

He has a harder job now because of all the economic issues on the table but the support is still there, said William Taylor, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. For now, Europeans are gritting their teeth and staying the course even though they have bigger problems with oil and natural gas than we do.

But the way to keep the alliance together is to lay out a way forward, a way toward success, said Taylor. Thats what the president needs to do.

Biden will have two stops in Europe after Air Force One lifts off from Joint Base Andrews on Saturday: first, Germany for the G-7 summit and then a NATO gathering in Spain.



Biden has received high marks  even from some Republicans  on his management of the war but White House aides have resigned themselves to the reality that it likely will not change a single vote this fall, as the election seems certain to be dominated by inflation and other issues. Instead, theyre moving to prevent domestic public opinion from souring on the war and hampering Bidens ability to execute his preferred approach to it.

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For this trip, advisers say he will use the trip to push the allies to stay the course, declaring that Ukraine must be defended not just to deter future Russian violence but to send a message around the globe  namely to China  that united democracies will not allow autocratic aggression.

The agenda, according to the White House, is geared toward displaying support for Ukraine while trying to manage the disruptions the war has caused to the global economy, namely in energy and food prices. The president plans to once again support Finland and Swedens bids for NATO membership while working to assuage Turkeys objections. The White House suggested that Biden would also champion a global infrastructure initiative and hinted that more sanctions on Russia may be unveiled.

He came into office with the express purpose of revitalizing and reinforcing our allies and partnerships around the world and thats what he has done, said John Kirby of the White Houses National Security Council. He has elevated these partnerships to meet the central challenges of our time.

A year ago, Biden met with the G-7, a group of the worlds wealthiest democracies, on the English coast and was hailed for ushering in a return to normalcy after Donald Trumps tumultuous term. At the time, Putin  whom Biden would meet in Geneva later that trip  was seen largely as a nuisance, a threat that paled in comparison to the challenges posed by China and the struggle to vaccinate the world against Covid-19.

That has changed.



Putins invasion of Ukraine in February upended the world order, sparking the largest conflict in Europe since World War II. But it also pushed the globes democracies to stand up against Moscow.

When Biden visited Brussels and Poland in March, he pushed Europe to balance the moral and geopolitical imperative to act on behalf of Ukraine along with the fears of further escalating the conflict and the economic costs of implementing an aggressive sanctions regime against Russia.

The West unleashed a punishing array of sanctions against Russia and rendered Putin a pariah on the world stage. Moscows hopes for a lightning decapitation of Kyiv failed, and the bonds between the Western nations tightened. Much to Moscows fury, a debate over expanding NATO to include Sweden and Finland is poised to dominate the alliances summit in Madrid.

But Putin didnt abandon his war. Though the Russian military suffered immense casualties, Moscow redirected its efforts on Ukraines eastern Donbas region, where its supply lines are shorter and the Red Army could better exploit its overwhelming numbers. With brutal violence, Russia has made slow but undeniable progress, prompting Kyiv to urgently call for more weapons as its losses mount.

But as the war grows deadlier, strains have been begun to show among the allies.

Though Washington has authorized tens of billions of dollars in funding for Ukraine, there have been questions about whether some countries, namely Germany, have contributed their fair share to Kyiv. Russias blockage of Ukraines ports has contributed to soaring food prices now exacerbating the pandemic-fueled inflation gripping much of the world. And the sanctions against Russia, as well as bans on part of its energy sector, have led to surging gas prices.

Theres growing sentiment that the sanctions arent actually hurting Putins ability to carry out the war but are having amplifying effects on energy prices and general inflation, said Alina Polyakova, president of the Center for European Policy Analysis.

Some in Europe have tried to nudge Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the negotiating table, believing that a brokered resolution could spare lives and stabilize economies. But Zelenskyy has refused to cede any territory to Putin, particularly after evidence of Russian war atrocities, creating a sense that the conflict in the east could last months if not years.



Biden himself will arrive in Europe weaker politically than during his last trip in March, his approval rating torpedoed by inflation as Democrats fear a wipeout in Novembers midterms. Some of Bidens closest allies have suffered recent political setbacks  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson barely survived a vote of no confidence while French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron suffered a stunning parliamentary defeat  which could complicate their resolve.

Even though the French president enjoys considerable sway over matters of foreign policy, his weakened position will likely produce a more cautious stance, said Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and professor at Georgetown University. Thats not good news for the United States when Washington has been looking to Europe to shoulder more geopolitical responsibility.

Many Western leaders have made surprise visits to Ukraine in recent weeks and there was rampant speculation in Washington that Biden would do the same while in Europe. But the White House downplayed the possibility this week, noting the incredible security effort needed for a president to safely visit a war zone and the likelihood that Russia would be on high alert for a possible trip while Biden was already in Europe. Far more likely, aides have speculated, would be a covert visit at a later date.

And Biden will still be hearing from Zelenskyy, who is expected to virtually address both summits and deliver urgent pleas for the allies to continue to send weapons and money to his besieged nation.

The United States needs to send a unified message of developed democracies support for Ukraine. Zelenskyys participation in the Summit should underscore that point, said Jeff Rathke, president of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University, especially if the US and its Allies can show progress through new material commitments or measures to impose new consequences on Russia.

Additional reporting by Nahal Toosi
GOP lawmakers in the House are tearing apart a Senate gun control package crafted by a bipartisan group of senators, lashing out at fellow Republicans who support the legislation in the process.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), co-chair of the Second Amendment Caucus, called the 14 Senate Republicans who voted to advance the legislation on Tuesday RINOs  Republicans in name only.

We all know that Bernie Sanders is going to vote to take away your guns. He ran on that platform. But I do think that its surprising some of the other 14 Senators who ran on preserving Second Amendment rights, have decided to turn their back on their commitment, Boebert said in a press conference Wednesday.

Im sure well even see some in the House, unfortunately, who have touted their support of the Second Amendment and Americans to have the right to keep and bear arms and they will fold, Boebert said.

We did not anticipate that we will be playing defense against the Republican senators on preserving the Second Amendment, said Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), the other co-chair of the Second Amendment Caucus.

Former President Trump also weighed in, calling Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the lead Republican negotiator, a RINO. Trump also criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is backing the measure.

The bill was crafted in the wake of a pair of mass shootings that shook the nation.

Days after a racist shooting at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket left 10 people dead, a shooter in Uvalde, Texas, killed 19 elementary schools and two educators.

The shocking crimes led to the Senate deal and has Congress on the verge of passing the first major congressional action on gun control legislation in decades.

Dubbed the Safer Communities Act, the bill includes enhanced background checks on juvenile records for those between the ages of 18 and 21; provides grants for state-level red flag laws; closes the boyfriend loophole to those convicted of a domestic violence offense from buying guns; new penalties for straw purchasing of firearms and illegal firearm trafficking; and expands funding for community mental health services.

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To those calling for Congress to take action amid a plague of mass shootings, the bill doesnt go far enough.

But it drew opposition from the top two House GOP leaders on Wednesday and is likely to be opposed by the vast majority of the conference.

The red flag funding provision is evoking the most pushback from gun rights advocates.

Red flag laws permit the preemptive seizure of firearms from Americans without due process by allowing any person to report a gunowner to law enforcement and petition for the confiscation of that individuals firearms, even before the gunowner has an opportunity to defend themselves, the House Freedom Caucus said while announcing its formal opposition to the bill on Tuesday.

McConnell, one of the 14 Republican senators who backed the legislation, defended the measure, calling it a commonsense package of popular steps that will help make these horrifying incidents less likely while fully upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.

Massie, who represents a district in McConnells home state, said the Senate GOP leader was acting in his capacity as minority leader rather than as a senator representing the conservative state of Kentucky.

Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) said that McConnell is playing to the ideological middle in order to build a slim majority.

I personally dont think thats what America wants or needs. I think America is looking for people who will come out and explain to the people, remind them what the foundation of the Second Amendment is, why it exists, why were free substantially because of it, Bishop said. I believe that produces victories in the election far more than chasing the last vote.

House GOP leaders will formally whip members to vote against the bill.

A House GOP whip check notice calls the legislation part of an effort to slowly chip away at law-abiding citizens 2nd Amendment rights.

The bill transforms law-abiding citizens under the age of 21 into second class citizens by creating a de facto waiting period of up to ten business days for legal, law-abiding firearm purchases, the whip check notice said.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) told their members in a House Republican Conference meeting on Wednesday that they would vote against the legislation, positions that won praise from House conservatives in the Second Amendment Caucus.

Some Republicans are expected to vote for the Senate bill when it comes to the House.

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), whose district includes Uvalde, said Wednesday that he supports the Senate gun legislation.

New York GOP Reps. John Katko and Chris Jacobs, neither of whom are running for reelection, announced support for the bill on Tuesday. Jacobs, who district includes the Buffalo suburbs, abandoned his reelection campaign after he received heavy backlash from other Republicans when he came out in support of an assault weapons ban following the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings.

Several other House Republicans could also vote for the bill. In a series of votes on a more stringent gun bill passed by the House earlier this month, 10 House Republicans voted in favor of raising the age to buy assault-style rifles from 18 to 21.

The vocal critics in the Second Amendment Caucus did not go so far as to say that they would campaign against those who voted for the legislation. But several gun rights groups have declared the bill a key vote  the sort of vote interest groups use to rate lawmakers  and have aggressively campaigned against Republicans who did not vote their way in the past.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Stone Foltz's parents have filed a lawsuit against Bowling Green State University, claiming the university is responsible for their son's hazing death.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday morning in the Ohio Court of Claims, alleges that BGSU was aware of  and ignored  hazing activities taking place at its Greek organizations, including at Pi Kappa Alpha, the fraternity better known as PIKE, where Stone was rushing before he died.

"BGSU is responsible for Stone Foltzs death," the lawsuit reads. "For years, BGSU turned a blind eye to hazing within the Greek organizations on its campus while encouraging students like Stone to join its fraternities and sororities. For years, BGSU knew about PIKEs troubled history of hazing, both locally and nationally but did nothing about it."

Stone Foltzs family continue fight against hazing one year after BGSU fraternity death

Stone Foltz: BGSU student died after fraternity initiation event

Foltz, a 20-year-old sophomore from Delaware, was rushing PIKE in early 2021. As part of the pledging process, Foltz attended an off-cam "Big Little Night" initiation event on March 4, 2021, during which he drank a liter of Evan Williams Bourbon.

Foltz's girlfriend, Maddy Borja, called 911 for help from his apartment at 11:21 p.m. that night.

He died of alcohol intoxication three days later after giving the gift of life to others through organ and tissue donations.

Stone Foltz: Five former Bowling Green State University fraternity brothers sentenced

BGSU hazing death: Stone Foltzs family continue fight against hazing one year after BGSU fraternity death

Broken Pledge: A podcast series about fraternity hazing and the life and death of Collin Wiant

The lawsuit claims that Stone died as a result of "BGSUs gross recklessness, lax policies, lax enforcement of those policies, promotion of PIKEs Delta Beta Chapter, perfunctory 'investigations,' and willful inaction in the face of repeated warnings."

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Cory and Shari Foltz, the parents of Stone Foltz

In a statement, Alex Solis, deputy chief of staff and BGSU spokesman, said Foltz's death was a tragedy and what his family "has endured is unimaginable."

"However, this lawsuit is meritless and undermines our continued efforts to eradicate hazing," he said. "We are resolved in our legal position, and as a state-supported university, we will defend our community vigorously against this action. This will not deter our goal to continue to foster a community of care that serves our students and their families.

Bowling Green State University permanently bans PIKE fraternity after death of Stone Foltz

Shari and Cory Foltz said they filed the lawsuit to hold colleges and universities accountable when they allow hazing to take place on their campuses.

Stone Foltz

"Despite being completely aware of the hazing activities that have taken place at Bowling Green for decades, the university enthusiastically endorses Greek life to parents and students." the Foltzes said in a statement. "To be clear, any perceived benefit students get from joining a Greek organization is completely and totally outweighed by the risk of injury or death by antiquated and deadly hazing rituals."

The lawsuit details a number of hazing incidents at BGSU fraternities dating back to 2000, and PIKE's history of hazing incidents and deaths nationally beginning in 1965.

It also describes "a long history of hazing" at PIKE's Delta Beta chapter on Bowling Green's campus. The lawsuit claims that the university was aware of the Big Little Night event as of November 2019, when a student made an anonymous complaint to the university.

"I have witnessed firsthand the aftermath of one of the pledges after a party called 'big little party' where the new pledge vomited violently in his dorm room in Centennial hall, on the first floor in 2018," the complaint read.

The complainant told BGSU that Big Little Night had "been taking place for years," long before 2018, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims that BGSU's response to this complaint "was wholly inadequate and did not constitute active enforcement of a policy against hazing."

The university interviewed two new members and the chapter's president, but ultimately decided that there was not enough information to move forward with sanctions, the lawsuit said. BGSU alerted PIKE's national organization, which in turn placed the chapter on probation from Dec. 9, 2019, to May 8, 2020.

"The probation was futile because the chapter simply picked up where they left off once the probationary period ended," the lawsuit reads. "Indeed, in February 2021, when a student complained to the Dean of Students about BGSU fraternity hazing culture, he specifically noted that he had reported concerns about PIKEs hazing in the past and 'nothing seemed to be done.'"

BGSU is set to host the first-ever Ohio Anti-Hazing Summit on its campus in August.

The Foltz family is seeking an unspecified amount of money, but they are seeking at least $25,000 for each of the two claims listed, according to the lawsuit.

Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter at the Columbus Dispatch. You can reach her at shendrix@dispatch.com. You can follow her on Twitter at @sheridan120. Sign up for her Mobile Newsroom newsletter here and her education newsletter here.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Stone Foltz death: Parents sue BGSU, say school ignored hazing
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JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP via Getty

Zoo Atlanta will temporarily close early due to extreme heat indexes.

The zoo announced Tuesday on Twitter that it would close its gates to visitors earlier than usual on Wednesday and Thursday. The zoo cited the early closures due to "extremely high heat indexes predicted by the National Weather Service," according to a press release on the zoo's website. Entry gates closed at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, and the zoo's grounds closed completely at 2:30 p.m.  a temporary schedule expected to continue on Thursday, according to the release.

On Thursday, The National Weather Service (NWS) listed parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia under heat advisories. Additionally, portions of central Georgia were under excessive heat warnings; the NWS recorded heat indexes in Atlanta at 99 degrees Fahrenheit.

We expect to return to normal operating hours on Friday, June 24. The first installment of our all-new summer craft cocktail series, Savanna Nights, will take place as planned  hope to see you there!  ZooATL (@ZooATL) June 21, 2022

"Temperature-wise, sizzling heat will be a mainstay along the Gulf Coast where daytime highs make a run at the century mark, and heat indices will top out around 110 degrees in spots," the NWS wrote on its weather prediction center website. "Some daily records, both high minimums, and maximums, are likely to be broken. To account for these brutally hot conditions, Heat Advisories have been issued from eastern Texas to the Southeast coast."

RELATED: Heat Wave Kills at Least 2,000 Cattle in Kansas, Officials Say

Zoo Atlanta is generally open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during weekdays, with final entries for visitors at 3:30 p.m. each day, according to the zoo's website. The zoo urged in its release that guests planning to visit on Wednesday or Thursday arrive during the morning hours. The zoo expects to resume its usual operating schedule on Friday.

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Zoo Atlanta director of communications Rachel Davis told PEOPLE in a statement that the zoo has "steps in place to ensure animal well-being in extreme temperatures, both during heat like we're having now or in winter in cold temperatures. This has always been the case and is in place regardless of whether or not the Zoo is open or closed, and is in place year-round. Animal care and well-being are a daily number one priority regardless of the presence of visitors or of the Zoo's hours of operation."

"All of the animals here at the zoo have their own temperature guidelines based on their species and region of origin. In terms of hot weather, it's dependent on the species  some animals may come indoors earlier in the day than they usually would, or will have access to climate-controlled indoor areas," she continued, adding that Zoo Atlanta animals also have access to shade, water features, mister fans, and ice treats during hot weather.

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.

Zoo Atlanta hosts more than 1,000 animals from over 200 species worldwide, including the only giant panda twins in the United States, according to its website.

Significant parts of the country have experienced heat waves lately, even though summer 2022 only officially started on Tuesday. On June 16, two deaths in Wisconsin were investigated as heat-related, and a spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment told PEOPLE that at least 2,000 cattle died due to intense heat and humidity.

Last Wednesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that May of 2022 was the ninth-warmest May over the previous 143 years, though it said the month was the coolest May since 2013. So far, 2022 ranks the sixth warmest year ever, according to the NOAA.
WASHINGTON  Skyrocketing gas prices. Surging food costs. Markets in freefall.

The international financial crisis will be front and center as President Joe Biden meets with leaders of some of the worlds most advanced economies this weekend in the Bavarian Alps.

Rich nations that make up the Group of Seven, or G-7, will band together in an attempt to stabilize the global economy while maintaining and potentially increasing punitive actions on Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Clean energy initiatives that Biden and other world leaders had hoped would be the focus of the summit will take a back seat to discussions about support for Ukraine, fears of a global recession and ways countries can work together to fight inflation.

"There are no quick solutions to these challenges, said Miriam Sapiro, who was acting U.S. trade representative under President Barack Obama. Working on the right plan and getting it implemented  whether we're talking about energy security, food security, reconstruction needs, financing for those needs and potentially reparations  theres planning that needs to take place now in a cohesive, expedited way."

World leaders are grappling with expansive challenges, many stemming from the coronavirus pandemic and Russias assault on Ukraine. Leaders committed to discussing those issues along with infrastructure development, democratic resilience and climate security during their talks in Europe.

Soaring inflation a theme for leaders

Inflation has soared since countries that make up the G-7  the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan  imposed stiff economic sanctions on Russia, which was once a part of the cohort.

Food, housing and gasoline costs rose in the USA in May, and year-over-year inflation increased 8.6% in the latest consumer price report. The spike in costs was a 40-year high.

Costs are also higher in other G-7 nations. For instance, In the U.K., inflation was 9.1% higher in May than a year prior. France saw a 5.8% year-over-year increase in inflation.

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President Joe Biden calls on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax in the South Court Auditorium at the White House.

Next year, the USA could enter a recession, prominent economists warn. Organizations such as the International Monetary Fund predict slowdowns in economic growth and revised down their global growth forecasts.

Everybody is lowering their projections for what the world economy is going to do, said Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. And there are going to be recessions.

Central banks around the world responded to heightened inflation by raising interest rates. The Federal Reserve announced last week a three-quarters of a point increase in short-term interest rates, the biggest since 1994.

Policy experts said there is little else G-7 leaders can do to bring down costs in the near term. Not even a reversal of punishing actions on Russia would immediately ease price pressures, they said.

The dirty secret is, political leaders can't usually do a whole lot to change immediate economic trajectories, because they are so bound up in a global cycle of supply and demand, said Christopher Smart, a former Obama White House economic adviser.

As wealthy nations emerge from the pandemic, demand for oil has outstripped supply, leading to higher fuel costs and grocery bills.

Some of it is Russia, but some of it is just the recovery from the pandemic and a tight oil supply, even before the Russian invasion, Smart said. So I'm not sure changing our view on Ukraine, changing our policy on Russian sanctions, is going to do much at the gas pump.

Biden asked oil companies last week to offer ideas for how to increase output and lower costs for consumers. Wednesday, he called on Congress to approve a 90-day suspension of the federal gas tax and urged states to pause their fuel taxes.

More: Biden proposes three-month holiday for federal gas tax, but Congress is skeptical

The attempt to make summer travel cheaper for Americans cuts against Biden's broader effort, and the efforts of G-7 nations, to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

"All of these G-7 countries are in the same boat," said Maurice Obstfeld, a former economic adviser to Obama and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "The consumers are facing higher energy prices, which are feeding inflation, and they're all trying to take measures to soften that blow to their economies."

The United States could try to further target inflation by dropping restrictions on the amount of steel and aluminum that can be imported from Europe duty-free, accelerating planned investments in renewable energy and buying more oil from nations such as Saudi Arabia, experts said.

Eliminating tariffs on European metals would not significantly reduce inflation, but it could help Biden build cooperation with U.S. allies and show he is fighting high prices with every tool at his disposal, said Desmond Lachman, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former IMF official.

He's got an election coming up in November, and inflation is the No. 1 problem. So he needs to be seen to be doing something to try to get control on the inflation side, Lachman said. Whether he can get anything meaningful that is going to make much of a difference, I am pretty doubtful on, but he needs to be seen to be doing something.

At a virtual forum of major economies last Friday, Biden emphasized that nations are working together to stabilize global energy markets by investing in green energy initiatives.

Biden set a goal of 2030 for half of Americas cars to be zero-emission. He has urged major economies at the forum to make similar pledges.

Policy experts said Biden is right to invest in renewable energy, but that is a long-term solution when the United States faces urgent economic and security problems.

Pressures at home for Biden

His approval rating stuck at 39% in the latest USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll, Biden insisted last week that a U.S. recession is not inevitable and urged midterm voters to have confidence in the economy.

Bidens political and economic woes at home are set against the backdrop of Russias unrelenting assault on Ukraine, which tops the agenda for the global economic summit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to address leaders virtually at the gathering at a luxury hotel and spa in the German Alps.

Zelenskyy will also speak to the NATO summit in Madrid, which Biden will attend after the G-7 gathering.

NATO nations will seek to show solidarity on their response to Russia's war and dispel any public notion of disagreement among members about the war.

"There's a general theme that emerging economies are less on board with sanctions and trying to chart a middle course," Obstfeld said.

More: Biden approval rating at 39% amid economic fears; 47% 'strongly disapprove': USA TODAY/Suffolk poll

Allied nations will consider new ways to squeeze Russia and tap into oligarchs' wealth at the back-to back conferences. They are likely to discuss ways to fund Ukraines reconstruction.

Billions of dollars of infrastructure have been destroyed already. Roads, bridges, ports, whole towns, Sapiro, the former acting U.S. trade representative, said. There should be an examination by the G-7 leaders as to whether seized or frozen Russian assets could be used for reparations and reconstruction. That would be an important signal to send."

Legal scholars in the USA are divided on whether the country can liquidate and redirect frozen or seized assets.

Josh Lipsky, a former IMF adviser who is the director of the Atlantic Councils GeoEconomics Center, said G-7 leaders are unlikely to take a joint, public stance.

The actual legal hurdles and then the economic hurdles of taking frozen assets and converting them into money that is then seized is an enormous step that I don't think the Europeans or the Americans are willing or want to take right now, Lipsky said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden meeting with G-7 nations on economic crisis, conflict with Russia
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has endorsed Brevard County School Board candidate Megan Wright along with nine other candidates around the state on Monday, making good on his promise to get involved in local school board elections.

The governor also launched a DeSantis Education Agenda website and survey last week aimed at school board candidate  another sign that state-level politicians are taking a keen interest in those local races this year.

DeSantis endorsed Wright and the other candidates in a tweet and a Facebook post.

We need strong local school board members who are committed to advancing our agenda to put students first and protect parents rights, he wrote.

Wright is running for District 1 of the School Board against current School Board Chair Misty Belford. Wright, a mother and a founder of a real estate company, told FLORIDA TODAY that shes running because she believes the current School Board has lost the faith of parents and the community.

If things were going well with BPS, I would not be running, Wright said in an email. My sole desire is to contribute to rebuilding trust and improving our district.  The current board has allowed policies that endanger teachers and students alike.

More: Brevard Public Schools' budget rosier next year; salaries remain a challenge

More: Brevard election stage set: stiff competition in D2, D4 and School Board 2022 races

Belford declined to comment on the endorsement.

Wright wrote in a Monday Facebook post that it was a privilege and an honor to have the endorsement of DeSantis, who she called the best governor in our great country.

Last week DeSantis launched a DeSantis Education Agenda Survey quizzing school board candidates on how closely they align with the governors views. The survey asks candidates about topics such as trade education, parental rights, school curriculums, and whether the candidates support DeSantis efforts to arm school personnel, require teachings about the harms of communism, increase teacher minimum pay and more.

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Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed for new, "Stop Woke" restrictions on how race is discussed in schools, universities and workplaces.

Does CRT belong in K-12 public education classrooms in Florida? one question asks. Another asks if students should be forced to wear masks.

DeSantis education agenda website lists ten goals:

Keep Schools Open and Reject Lockdowns Educate, Dont Indoctrinate Ensure Parental Rights in Education and Keep Woke Gender Ideology Out of Schools Support Robust Civics Education Expand Workforce Development and Technical Education Reject the use of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the Curriculum Increase Teacher Pay Continue Support for School Security and Mental Health Initiatives Protect the Right of Parents to Petition School Boards and Districts for Redress of Grievances Guarantee the Right of Parents to Curriculum Transparency

Wright shares many of DeSantis education focuses, listing critical race theory, trade education in schools, teacher pay and transparency as key issues on her website.

Belford, who is not affiliated with a political party, has not focused on issues such as parental rights and critical race theory during her campaign. Belford has also clashed with the state as one of three Brevard School Board members to vote to institute a mask mandate without a parental opt out in fall 2021, a move DeSantis, the Florida Board of Education and the Florida Department of Health deemed unlawful under the Parents Bill of Rights.

Belford said shes focused on school safety, career and technical education and other issues than divisive topics such as critical race theory, and that her experience makes her a better candidate for School Board. Belford is the longest-serving member of the board, having represented district 1 since 2014.

Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida, said DeSantis' involvement in local school board races is new for Florida politics.

"That's not to say a Governor here or there has not endorsed an individual school board member," Jewett said. "Maybe there was a friend. This goes beyond that. This is an organized effort to endorse school board members who agree with the DeSantis agenda."

Jewett said an endorsement from a high-ranking Republican such as DeSantis is likely to sway school board races, though in some counties with more Democrats an endorsement may actually make a candidate less popular.

"Certainly for people who are DeSantis fans and who think of themselves as loyal Republicans, I think this will raise the profile of those candidates and potentially attract more voters," Jewett said. "In Brevard, it's more likely to have the effect that he wants."

DeSantis also endorsed Mildred Russell of Alachua County, April Carney and Charlotte Joyse of Duval, Aly Legge of Hillsborough, Roberto Alonso and Minica Colucci of Miami-Dade, Bridget Ziegler and Timothy Enos of Sarasota and Fred Lowry of Volusia.

Russell was appointed by DeSantis to the Alachua County School Board in Aug. 2021 after the removal of Diyonne McGraw, who was found not to live in her district.

Ziegler is one of the founding members and a former director of Moms for Liberty, a conservative parent organization founded in Florida that has since spread across the country. Her husband is Christian Ziegler, a Sarasota County Commissioner and vice chair or the Republican Party of Florida.

Bailey Gallion is the education reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallion at 321-242-3786 or bgallion@floridatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Gov. Ron DeSantis endorses Brevard School Board candidate Megan Wright
First Official Joint Portrait of Prince William and Kate Middleton Goes on Display in Cambridge



"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below."

They are perhaps the most photographed couple in the world, with their image reproduced millions of times over since they married more than a decade ago. However, it is only now that the first official joint portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has been created, immortalizing them in an artwork that aims to show both their regal and informal sides.

The artwork has been painted by award-winning British portrait artist Jamie Coreth and was commissioned in 2021 by the Cambridgeshire Royal Portrait Fund as a gift to Cambridgeshire. Prince William and Kate Middleton viewed it today at the University of Cambridge's Fitzwilliams Museum, where they also due met with Coreth to discuss his work.

Photo credit: WPA Pool - Getty Images

The portrait shows the couple standing close to one another dressed in evening wear and looking into the distance. They appear to be watching something, and the Duke in particular has a slightly amused look on his face.

Kate appears to be wearing the emerald green dress by label The Vampire's Wife that she wore on an official visit to Ireland in 2020.

Photo credit: Samir Hussein - Getty Images

"I wanted to show Their Royal Highnesses in a manner where they appeared both relaxed and approachable, as well as elegant and dignified," Jamie Coreth said in a statement. "As it is the first portrait to depict them together, and specifically during their time as The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, I wanted the image to evoke a feeling of balance between their public and private lives."

Coreth described the commission as "the most extraordinary privilege of my life."

Photo credit: WPA Pool - Getty Images

While this is the couple's first official joint portrait, they have previously been featured in separate artwork. The first official portrait of Kate was in 2012, painted by artist Paul Emsley for the National Portrait Gallery. William has previously been depicted alongside his brother Harry in a 2009 painting by artist Nicky Phillips.



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This new work will be on display at the Fitzwilliams Museum for three years, and also loaned to the National Portrait Gallery in 2023 to mark its reopening.

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PANAMA CITY BEACH  A neighborhood that experienced the worst flooding during October's heavy rainfall is starting to see a solution to its problems.

County officials started demolishing six houses along Pompano Avenue and Riviera Drive on Wednesday, aiming to replace the homes with retention ponds.

Work began Wednesday on the demolition of six homes along Pompano Avenue and Riviera Drive in Panama City Beach. Retention ponds will replace the homes to help with flooding issues in the area.

Bay County commissioners earlier this year approved purchasing the homes for about $1.37 million using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Residents done with flooding: Panama City Beach residents rail against county for perceived inaction

County buys homes for retention pond: Homes will be demolished as part of Panama City Beach flooding fix

A group of about 30 residents from the Riviera Beach community spoke out during a Nov. 19, 2021, commission meeting about the frequent flooding of their homes, saying they saw up to two feet of water in their houses throughout October.

Work began Wednesday on the demolition of six homes along Pompano Avenue and Riviera Drive in Panama City Beach. Retention ponds will replace the homes to help with flooding issues in the area.

County officials and residents have since worked together to come up with a solution, sending specialists to do soil tests and holding weekly meetings on their next steps.

According to county officials, the retention ponds still must be designed and permitted, which will be done by county engineers and should take about six months.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: PCB's Riviera Beach flooding fix starts with demolition of 6 houses
Kate Middleton just re-wore one of her favourite dresses  shop the look for less (Photos via Getty)

Yahoo Lifestyle Canada is committed to finding you the best products at the best prices. We may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change.

Kate Middleton's ladylike style will live on forever, thanks to a new official portrait.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were on hand to unveil their first official joint portrait on Thursday at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England.

In the painting, Kate, 40, is gazing into the distance whilst donning her now-iconic glittering green The Vampire's Wife dress (shop here) that she previously wore on a trip to Dublin, Ireland, in March 2020.

Prince William and Kate Middleton look at a portrait of themselves painted by artist Jamie Coreth at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge on June 23, 2022. (Photo by Paul Edwards/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

The portrait was painted by award-winning British portrait artist Jamie Coreth and commissioned by the Cambridgeshire Royal Portrait Fund.

To mark the occasion, the couple, who celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary earlier this year, came dressed to impress.

Prince William wore a navy blue suit to their namesake region of Cambridgeshire and Kate Middleton chose a familiar favourite from L.K.Bennett.

Kate Middleton and Prince William departing the Fitzwilliam Museum during an official visit to Cambridgeshire on June 23, 2022 in Cambridge, England. (Photo via Getty)

The Duchess wore an ankle-grazing lilac coat, a pair of riviera-blue pumps from Emmy London, and the British luxury brand's purple "Madison" dress.

While the style's pretty lilac print is unique to the occasion, Kate was seen donning a near-identical $540 USD (approx. $703 CAD) L.K.Bennett dress to a charity polo match in 2019.

The earlier version of the dress is crafted from a silky fabric and features a soft pink animal print  and surprisingly, it's still in stock.

Kate Middleton and Prince Louis attend the King Power Royal Charity Polo Match in July 2019 (Photos via Getty & L.K.Bennett)

$540 USD (Approx. $703 CAD) at L.K.Bennett

While both versions of the dress would be welcome additions to any summer wardrobe, at roughly $703 CAD, they certainly don't come cheap.

Therefore, to get your Kate Middleton style fix for less, we rounded up 12 dresses to mirror her look. Starting from just $60, scroll below to shop our top picks from Nordstrom, Lulus, Saks Off Fifth, and more.

Lulus Express Yourself Blush Pink Floral Print Satin Babydoll Dress (Photo via Lulus)

$64 at Lulus

Remain Birger Christensen Marika Cap Sleeve Organic Cotton Midi Dress (Photo via Nordstrom)

$280 at Nordstrom Canada

$280 at Nordstrom U.S.

The Somerset Maxi Dress: Linen Edition (Photo via Anthropologie)

$170 at Anthropologie

Ecru Larson Floral Ruffle Tiered Dress (Photo via Saks Off Fifth)

$122 $370 at Saks Off Fifth

Robin Tiered Mini Dress (Photo via Anthropologie)

$138 at Anthropologie

Floret Studios Floral Print One-Shoulder A-Line Dress (Photo via Nordstrom)

$123 at Nordstrom Canada

$98 at Nordstrom U.S.

Tie Belt Dress (Photo via H&M)

$60 at H&M

Red Floral Carmen Midi Dress (Photo via Never Fully Dressed)

$180 at Never Fully Dressed

Rotate Sierina Puff Sleeve Midi Dress (Photo via Nordstrom)

$340 at Nordstrom Canada

$340 at Nordstrom U.S.

Karl Lagerfeld Paris Floral Ruffle Midi Dress (Photo via Saks Off Fifth)

$136 $217 at Saks Off Fifth

Dynamite Front Cut-Out Midi Dress (Photo via Dynamite)

$70 at Dynamite

Miss Selfridge Satin Twist Front Midi Dress (Photo via ASOS)

$60 $75 at ASOS

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When Alex* was a child, they watched as their older sibling was forced into conversion therapy. After having come out as non-binary, their parents subjected them to so-called healing from a church figure who was friends with the family. Otherwise known as conversion therapy, Alexs sibling was forced to change their sexuality and gender identity by the church figure. When they came out of the experience, Alex explained that their sibling had shut down.

They didnt talk, didnt eat. Didnt look at anyone or communicate. My parents said that meant it was working, Alex told The Independent.

Alex, a 17-year-old student, uses they/them pronouns, and said that despite keeping their identity secret, they worry about the idea of going through conversion therapy just as their sibling did. They explained that their extremely religious and conservative parents have threatened them with gay camps when they see them as not conforming enough to their gender assigned at birth.

While this story sounds like a cruel relic of the past, what Alex and their sibling went through still goes on to this day, perfectly legally.

In the four years since former prime minister Theresa May pledged to outlaw LGBT+ conversion therapy in the UK, Germany, Chile, Canada, New Zealand and France have all pushed through legislation to make the harmful practice illegal. Meanwhile, the UK has delayed meaningful discussion on a ban, and in April, Boris Johnson decided to push trans people out of this potential legislation completely.

Despite keeping their identity secret, Alex worries about going through conversion therapy just as their sibling did

With trans and non-binary people excluded from these proposals, and one of the governments previous conversion therapy layouts maintaining an exception for religious therapy  despite it being the most common form of conversion therapy in the UK  even if the ban goes through imminently, Alex and their sibling may still be unprotected by this countrys laws.

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On Monday 13 June, Parliament debated trans peoples inclusion in a ban on conversion therapy after a petition gained over 145,000 signatures. While the majority of MPs supported the protection of trans people, no official decision on trans inclusion has been made, and equalities minister Mike Freer has said a bill is now likely to be put forward in October.

Labour MP Nadia Whittome told the floor last Monday: I believe that just as society looks back at that time [the 1980s] with disgust at how gay people were treated in decades gone by, we will also hang our heads in shame at trans peoples treatment in decades to come.

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

But despite progress, experts state that every day without a ban is allowing further harm. With the UK still delaying the decision months after its consultation deadline of February, queer people are demanding a definite answer.

Alice**, a 29-year-old trans woman from London, has long been campaigning for an end to conversion therapy, taking to the streets in April to protest against Johnsons decision to bar transgender people from being included in a potential ban on conversion therapy.

I feel that this government is playing around with LGBT+ peoples lives for political gain, she said. I went to the conversion therapy protest outside Downing Street and heard from people who still hear the words of adults telling them that, because they are transgender, no one will ever love them.

Without a ban on conversion therapy, the LGBT+ community cannot trust that the government will protect their interests

Alice explained that the conversion therapy debate reminded her of the former Section 28 law, brought in by Margaret Thatcher and abolished in 2003, which banned the promotion of homosexuality, especially in schools. Without a ban on conversion therapy, she explained, the LGBT+ community cannot trust that the government will protect their interests. I have zero confidence in them [the government], and it just reminds me of how the LGBT+ community had zero confidence in them after Section 28, Alice added.

While the NHS and several accredited counselling and therapy groups have already publicly condemned conversion therapy, a blanket ban on the practice through the government would prevent vulnerable LGBT+ people falling through the cracks, being forced into conversion by uncredited therapists or in religious settings.

Mental health nurse Bee** from Staffordshire said that, in their eyes, the fact that the government has not yet cracked down on this back-alley conversion therapy is offensive. Really, when were talking about these things, were talking about unaccredited therapists and some religious groups, which makes it more insulting that a full conversion therapy ban hasnt been enacted, they said.

The delays have been absolutely ridiculous, I do get that the trans conversion therapy ban is superficially more complex, but there was no reason for the government to spend four years faffing on the gay conversion therapy ban. Its 2022, praying the gay away should just not be a thing.

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Bee added that, in their opinion, the debate has been framed as if activists want it to be made impossible for psychologists to speak to trans people, particularly to trans kids  but this is not the case. We just want explicit efforts to convert us by therapists and religious groups to be stopped, they explained. Trans people would be overjoyed if [Johnsons decision to exclude trans people] does get amended, but would it repair any of the damage? No.

Leni Morris, CEO of LGBT+ anti-abuse charity Galop, said: We work with victims and survivors of so-called conversion therapy through our helpline and advocacy services, so we see first-hand the devastating, often lifelong, effects this type of abuse has on people. Every day that goes by without a ban leaves more LGBT+ people at risk.

There is no ban for our community that does not include our trans and non-binary siblings. The research that exists on conversion therapy in the UK clearly shows that our trans and non-binary siblings are being put through these practices, often at higher rates than their LGB+ peers, and they deserve protection.

While many people in the UK are under the impression that conversion therapy is a thing of the past, stories like Alexs proves that the need for a comprehensive ban on the practice is still desperately required, and that the government cannot fly the rainbow flag during Pride month without protecting the communitys most vulnerable.

I feel betrayed and ignored by my own government, who are supposed to protect me with laws and legislations, Alex added. [A ban on conversion therapy] would mean that I would have freedom to be myself, living and breathing as an LGBT+ youth without fear of abuse and trauma.

*Name has been changed.

**Surname has been omitted at the request of the interviewee.
FILE PHOTO: An employee is seen at an oil platform operated by Lukoil company at the Kravtsovskoye oilfield in the Baltic Sea

By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A dozen European Union countries have now been affected by cuts to gas supply from Russia, EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said on Thursday, as the bloc faces a deepening energy standoff with Moscow.

Russia slashed flows through its Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 40% of capacity last week citing problems with equipment, having already cut gas to Poland, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland over their refusal to comply with a new payment scheme.

Timmermans said 10 of the EU's 27 member countries have issued an "early warning" on gas supply - the first and least severe of three crisis levels identified in EU energy security regulations.

"The risk of full gas disruption is now more real than ever before," he said.

He repeated Brussels' assertion that Russia has weaponised energy supplies. Russia has denied the cuts are premeditated.

The EU relied on Russia for 40% of its gas before Moscow invaded Ukraine. With Russian supply dwindling and gas prices soaring, some countries have increased use of coal power plants, while insisting this is temporary and will not thwart climate change targets.

Germany will enter the second emergency gas alert on Thursday, sources told Reuters. Europe's top economy activated the first stage of its emergency plan in March.

EU countries must have plans in place to manage three levels of gas supply crisis - an early warning, an alert, and an emergency.

The "early warning" stage focuses on monitoring supplies, while an "alarm" theoretically enables utilities to pass on high prices to consumers and help lower demand. The "emergency" level allows governments to force industry to curtail activity to save gas.

Russia's cuts have raised concerns that Europe will struggle to fill gas storage - now at 55% - enough to cope with any further supply shocks during the peak winter heating season. The EU last month agreed an emergency law requiring countries to fill gas storage 80% by Nov. 1 this year.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, left, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, June 11, 2022. AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File

The European Union accepted Ukraine on Thursday as a candidate to join the 27-nation bloc.

European Council President Charles Michel called the decision "a historic moment."

Ukraine filed its application just days after Russia invaded in late-February.

The European Union on Thursday officially accepted Ukraine as a candidate country to join the 27-nation bloc, a historic move sparked by Russia's ongoing war.

Charles Michel, president of the European Council, announced the decision on Twitter, calling it "a crucial step" for Ukraine's path to EU membership.

"Sincerely commend EU leaders' decision at #EUCO to grant [Ukraine] a candidate status," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter. "Ukraine's future is within the EU."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a tweet said the decision "strengthens us all."

"It strengthens Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, in the face of Russian imperialism. And it strengthens the EU. Because it shows once again to the world that we are united and strong in the face of external threats," she said.

Earlier on Thursday, the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution calling on member states to grant Ukraine its candidate status "without delay."

Despite the announcement and the sense of urgency induced by Russia's military offensive, Ukraine faces a long road ahead before it actually becomes an EU member state. It can take years for countries to complete the process and become full members. For example, Croatia  the most recent addition to the 27-country bloc  applied to join the EU in 2003 but was not a member country until 2013. A number of countries have also been candidates for years  Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey.

In a statement, the European Parliament said "there is no 'fast-track' for EU membership and that accession remains a merit-based and structured process, which requires EU membership criteria to be fulfilled and is dependent on the effective implementation of reforms."

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Von der Leyen previously said Ukraine "has already implemented roughly 70% of [EU] rules, norms and standards," but added that "important work remains to be done, on the rule of law, oligarchs, anti-corruption and fundamental rights. The process is merits-based. So progress depends entirely on Ukraine."

Last week, the European Commission  the bloc's executive branch  recommended that member states vote in favor of Ukraine becoming a candidate country.

"We recommend to give Ukraine the candidate status, on the understanding that the country will carry out a number of important reforms," von der Leyen said at the time. "Ukraine has clearly shown commitment to live up to European values and standards."

Zelenskyy applied for his country to join the EU in late February, just days after Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion.

Meanwhile, fighting in eastern Ukraine has become a slow-moving and bloody campaign, filled with shifting frontlines, counterattacks, and artillery exchanges. NATO's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier this month that the war could drag on for years.

Granting Ukraine EU candidate country status provides a morale boost to Kyiv after months of brutal warfare that's devastated Ukrainian cities and led millions to flee the country. Though Moscow has sought to control Ukrainian politics for years, Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent days downplayed the prospect of Ukraine joining the bloc. "It's their sovereign decision to join economic unions or not," Putin said in St. Petersburg last week, per BBC News.

Moldova, another former Soviet republic, was also granted EU candidate status on Thursday. After Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, there were concerns that Putin could expand the war into Moldova. Roughly 1,500 Russian troops are stationed in Transnistria, a Moscow-backed separatist territory that's considered to be part of Moldova by the international community. Transnistria and Ukraine share a 250-mile border.

Celebrating the EU's decision, Moldovan President Maia Sandu on Thursday tweeted, "Historic day for #Moldova! EU Member States have granted us the #EU candidate status. An unequivocal & strong signal of support for our citizens and #Moldova's European future. We are grateful & committed to advancing on the path of reforms."

Read the original article on Business Insider
A California sheriff said new DNA technology may help solve the 1994 murder of a 14-year-old Castro Valley teen.

Investigators used new DNA technology to reexamine evidence in the 1994 unsolved murder of Jennifer Jenny Lin, according to Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern.

Authorities previously spoke about the new technology in 2020 and suggested that the killer had left behind traces of previously undetected DNA.

The technology allowed investigators to extract new cells and discover new leads that may lead to a breakthrough, the sheriff added.

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Lin, who was then 14 years old, was brutally stabbed to death in her home after returning from school on May 27, 1994. Her clothes were taken off, and her body was discovered by her father in their homes bathroom. Authorities believe the killer had intended to sexually assault Lin but was scared off.

Authorities and Lins family continue their search for the killer to this day.

We have a couple of possibilities that we are holding close to our vest, Sheriff Ahern told ABC 7 News. We want to make sure we dont disclose too much to a potential suspect.

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Authorities have ruled out Sebastian Shaw, a convicted murderer who was once considered the prime suspect in the case. Shaw died in an Oregon prison last year while serving three life sentences for murder.

We are still pretty frustrated that after all these years, the case is still not solved. However, we are encouraged, Lins father John said.

We think about her and we ask ourselves, Is this what Jenny would want us to do? And that's what keeps us going, Lins mother Mei-Lian said. It is very hard, but we have learned how to manage it. We know its sad. But we also know that we need to find justice for Jenny.

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Anyone with information regarding the case is urged to contact the Alameda County Sheriffs Office at (510) 667-3622, or the FBI San Francisco Division at (415) 553-7400 or visit http://tips.fbi.gov.

Featured Image via ABC 7 News
Aug. 20, 2011: Damien Echols waves to a few onlookers and members of the media as he and his wife, Lorri Davis, leave the Madison Hotel a day after the release of the West Memphis Three. Echols and Jason Baldwin departed the hotel about noon with supporters including Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder.

A Crittenden County judge denied an argument from one of the West Memphis Three to retest his DNA with modern testing technology.

Damien Echols, who appeared Thursday before Judge Tonya M. Alexander in the Crittenden County District Court, believed modern DNA testing evidence would exonerate him and the other teens.

The petition came earlier in 2022 to use M-Vac method for testing, which releases and captures cells through wet vacuum principles  meaning it loosens DNA that might not have been valid for a test before.

Echols was convicted of capital murder by a Jonesboro jury, along with Jason Baldwin, for the brutal 1993 murders of three boys in West Memphis. Victims Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore had been stripped naked, hog-tied, severely beaten, and left to die in a creek that led to a drainage ditch, according to Commercial Appeal archives.

The case caught the public's attention as details became available. At the same time, pressure was mounting for West Memphis, Arkansas, police to solve the case  and they pointed to Echols, Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley as primary suspects. All three were teenagers at the time.

Misskelley was tried in a separate court, in Clay County, where a jury found him guilty as well.

In years since the trials, evidence viewed as flimsy has come under scrutiny by celebrities, legal experts, and media  spawning a slew of documentaries and novelizations of the case.

In 2011, the three were released after entering an Alford plea  which allows defendants acknowledge that there is enough evidence to convict them, but not admit guilt.

Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Request for further DNA testing in West Memphis Three case denied
Roger Weaver Freed, the 34-year-old principal of Williamsport Area High School, has been accused of having a sexual relationship with a student (Screengrab/WNEP-TV)

A Pennsylvania high school principal was arrested and charged with 30 counts of sexual relationship and contact with a student in an alleged sexual relationship that went on for years.

Roger Weaver Freed, the 34-year-old principal of Williamsport Area High School, has been accused of having the relationship from 2015 that went on till the student graduated high school and was attending college.

According to officials, the student approached Mr Freed around 2015 after noticing he was popular with students who confided in him at the middle school service centre.

After the death of a family member, the student believed he could lean on the principal for emotional support, court documents said.

The student told investigators he trusted Mr Freed like an older brother.

The in-school conversations turned into after-school interactions where Mr Freed volunteered to drive the student to several locations in his car for one-on-one conversations, claiming they were bros, the affidavit states.

The two allegedly became close and their meetings became sexual in nature in 2017 when they discussed advancing their relationship while driving around Williamsport.

The principal allegedly warned the student that he could lose my job over this and asked him to promise not to tell anybody, according to the affidavit.

The student claimed that, following their first sexual encounter, Mr Freed stressed the importance of not telling a soul about their relationship and said it was OK for bros to please each other.

The student added that he felt overwhelming guilt but continued their sexual encounters four to five times a week, always at night, the court document said.

The student graduated high school in 2018 and their sexual relationship continued till April 2022, the document said.

Mr Freed is charged with 30 counts of third-degree felony school intercourse with a student along with other charges such as third-degree felony corruption of minors and second-degree felony sexual assault.

He was released on a $175,000 bail and has been prohibited from contacting the student or having any unsupervised contact with minors.

He will be required to wear an ankle monitor at all times.
Tokyo  Japan's notable coronavirus pandemic resilience has generated scores of possible explanations, from the country's preference for going shoeless indoors, to the purportedly low-aerosol-generating nature of Japan's quiet conversation, to its citizens' beneficial gut bacteria. Even irreligiousness  said to have spared the Japanese from exposure to crowded houses of worship  has been touted as a virtue in the age of COVID-19. Despite having the world's oldest population, with almost one in three residents 65 or older, Japan has had fewer COVID fatalities per capita than almost any other developed nation. As of Thursday, Japan had registered only 246 COVID-19 deaths per million people, surpassing even New Zealand (263) which initially adopted a zero-COVID, maximum-suppression strategy. By comparison, the U.S. has a cumulative toll of 3,045 deaths per million people. But COVID mortality statistics alone, often based on inconsistent and/or incomplete records, don't tell the whole story. Researchers estimate that Japan has had 111,000 "excess deaths," more than five times the number of reported COVID fatalities, when mortality from disrupted medical care and social dislocation are factored in.

Japan's excess mortality rate, at 44 per 100,000, far exceeds that of South Korea (4), Singapore (-15), Australia (-37), New Zealand (-9); China (0.6) and Taiwan (-5). Even less-wealthy Vietnam and Thailand fared better. But compared to the U.S. (179) and Europe (140), Japan still comes out ahead. Some experts believe the kudos for that relative success belong first of all to the Japanese citizens, for their willingness to cooperate with antiviral measures. "Japan's approach to COVID response has been primarily relying on people's effort," not on imposing mandates, Kenji Shibuya, research director of the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, told CBS News. "These kinds of voluntary efforts, rather than top-down, draconian measures, did work." Peer pressure to wear face masks remains such a powerful force in Japan  even as heatstroke season looms  that the national Health Ministry has been compelled to issue a brochure urging people not to wear masks when they're out walking their dogs, riding bikes, jogging or just walking to work.

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An image from an online brochure issued by Japan's national Health Ministry in June 2022, urging people not to wear masks when they're out walking their dogs, riding bikes, jogging or just walking to work as summer temperatures rise. / Credit: Japanese Ministry of Health

In addition to nearly ubiquitous mask use, Japan's vaccination program, which was initially delayed but then quickly implemented, is credited with saving lives. Despite initial fears about vaccine hesitancy, two-thirds of all citizens and about 90% of seniors have now received booster shots. Japan's generally healthy population also helped it withstand the pandemic. Lifespans have continued to expand for four decades, giving Japanese the highest average longevity on earth at 87 years for women, 81 for men. While the U.S. obesity rate ballooned to almost 42% in 2020, Japan enjoys one of the lowest obesity rates in the world, at about 4%.

Thanks in part to its universal health insurance scheme, cancer and heart disease rates are also low. Like obesity, these diseases are major underlying risk factors for complications with a coronavirus infection.

Scientists have been probing a theory, meanwhile, that Japanese people may have an inherent advantage at the cellular level when it comes to fighting off COVID.

People gather at Rinko Park during the Yokohama port festival, which was held for the first time in three years with no restrictions on the number of attendees and less-strict COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, in Yokohama, Japan, June 2, 2022. / Credit: PHILIP FONG/AFP/Getty

Researchers at the state-funded RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences have honed in on human leukocyte antigens (HLA), proteins found on most cells in all of our bodies, as a potential antiviral defense. HLA markers are well-known in the field of organ transplantation, where matching HLA types, not just blood types, is crucial to reducing the chance of organ rejection.

Riken's study found that Japanese subjects with the HLA type A24, common here and in some other parts of Asia, develop "cross-reactive" T cells in response to seasonal coronaviruses, or common colds, which can redeploy to kill off COVID-19 infections far more quickly and effectively than in those who lack that specific marker. Shin-ichiro Fujii, who is leading the study, told CBS News that he's applied to run clinical trials on a vaccine aimed at immunocompromised cancer patients that would simulate the benefit of having the A24 type HLA proteins in people who are unable to develop neutralizing antibodies from the existing vaccines. "The real hope," he said in a statement, "is that we will be able to develop vaccines that can stimulate a strongly targeted reaction by T cells against the infection. We have demonstrated that this could be possible in this particular HLA group, but now need to look at other types."

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A screenshot of a video posted on Twitter by the Arizona Republican Party shows a man (standing) wearing a Trump jacket with the name Lane on it at the December 2020 meeting where Republicans falsely declared themselves the state's presidential electors.

Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article misspelled Loraine Pellegrino's last name.

A campaign official for President Donald Trump, who appears to be at the meeting where 11 Arizona Republicans falsely declared themselves the states presidential electors, was subpoenaed Wednesday by the Department of Justice, the Washington Post reported.

A man who appears to be Thomas Lane was seen in a video posted by the Arizona Republican Party in December 2020, passing out pieces of paper during the meeting where the Republicans signed documents certifying themselves Arizonas duly elected and qualified electors.

In the video, the man is seen wearing a zippered jacket with Trumps campaign logo on the right sleeve. The jacket, as seen on the video, had Lanes last name on it.

Lanes apparent presence in the video was first reported Wednesday by the Post.

Federal agents subpoenaed Lane and three other Republicans associated with a scheme to create alternate sets of Republican electors and send those documents to Congress, the Post reported. The FBI investigations were part of the agencys look into the causes of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Lane, according to his LinkedIn page, graduated from the Sandra Day O'Connor School of Law at Arizona State University in 2020. After working for the Trump campaign, he took a job as the director of election integrity for the Republican Party in Virginia, according to his LinkedIn page.

Fake electors were designed to sow confusion, memo says

The electors were part of a multifaceted and complex scheme to upend the 2020 presidential election. The fake set of electors had no legal weight, as they were not certified by any state official.

But the intent, as outlined in a memo written by Trump attorney John Eastman, was to sow confusion. Seven states, including Arizona, sent similarly worded paperwork to the National Archives and to the U.S. Senate.

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A screenshot of a video posted on Twitter by the Arizona Republican Party shows a man (standing) wearing a dark Trump jacket with the name Lane on it at the December 2020 meeting where Republicans falsely declared themselves the state's presidential electors.

The existence of the alternate slates would allow Vice President Mike Pence, according to the memo, to state he was unable to determine which slate was the official one. He could then set aside the official votes and declare Trump the winner based on the votes he could count.

Alternatively, the memo said, the matter would be thrown to the U.S. House where, under a provision also outlined in the 12th Amendment, each state would receive one vote for president. A majority of the states at the time had Republican-majority contingents, the memo said, giving another path to a Trump victory.

The campaign to effectuate this scheme, in Arizona and other states, has been the subject of the nationally televised hearings of the House Select Committee that is investigating the riot at the Capitol.

In testimony before the committee Tuesday, Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers described receiving phone calls from Trump and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor. The men asked him to decertify the election and have the state legislature install the Trump electors.

Bowers refused to go along.

So, a second tactic was employed in Arizona and six other states.

The Signing. pic.twitter.com/6gPsfqrk7T  Republican Party of Arizona (@AZGOP) December 14, 2020

What happened in the video?

On Dec. 14, 2020, 11 Arizona Republicans met at party headquarters in Phoenix. The 11 would have been Arizonas official electors had Trump won the state; their names were listed as electors in small type near Trumps name on the 2020 general election ballot.

After a prayer, the 11 signed documents that falsely stated they were the duly elected and qualified electors from Arizona.

In the video, Lane, who according to his LinkedIn page was director of election-day operations for the Trump campaign, can be seen handing out a piece of paper to eight of the 11 electors before disappearing off screen.

It is not clear from the video what the document was. The document sent to the National Archives, which that agency posted on its website, shows all 11 Republicans signed a single sheet declaring themselves the duly elected and qualified presidential electors.

For subscribers: Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers applauded on plane after testimony

Others subpoenaed for involvement

Besides Lane, the FBI issued a subpoena to three other people, according to the New York Times.

Two, David Shafer and Brad Carver, signed on as fake Trump electors from Georgia. Another, Sean Flynn, was a campaign aide in Michigan, the Times reported.

Lane did not sign on as a fake elector. His role in the scheme was not clear.

None of the 11 fake Arizona electors has detailed how they learned where to be on the day of the signing, nor explained how the documents they signed were created.

Kelli Ward, the head of the Arizona Republican Party, said in a video posted the next day that she and others who signed the document felt they represented the true electors from Arizona.

We believe that we are the electors for the legally cast votes here in Arizona," she said

The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot has subpoenaed Ward, as well as phone records belonging to her and her husband, Michael, another fake elector.

The Wards filed a lawsuit against the committee in federal court in Phoenix fighting the disclosure of their records.

The committee has also subpoenaed Nancy Cottle and Loraine Pellegrino, who signed the documents as chair and secretary. Pellegrino, in a brief phone call with The Republic in May, said that absolutely nothing has come from the subpoena.

Other Arizona Republicans who falsely asserted themselves as electors include Rep. Jake Hoffman of Queen Creek; former Rep. Anthony Kern, who is making a 2022 bid to return to office; Jim Lamon, a U.S. Senate candidate; and Tyler Bowyer, the executive at Turning Point Action, the political arm of the nonprofit advocacy group aimed at engaging young Republicans started by Charlie Kirk.

What fake electors hoped would happen

The documents used by Arizonas fake electors were near-duplicates of the documents used in the six other states, including font and wording. Republicans in two states, New Mexico and Pennsylvania, inserted phrases saying that they would only be electors under certain conditions. Arizonas contained no such ambiguous language.

Four days later, a complaint filed with the U.S. Supreme Court asked the justices to step in and resolve the disputes over the electors.

In those court documents, the meeting of the phony Arizona Republican electors would be erroneously described as taking place at the state Capitol, conferring a sheen of official legislative blessing. Electors in Georgia and Wisconsin did meet at their states capitol. Republican electors in Michigan tried to enter the Capitol in Lansing but were denied entry by security.

Arizonas slate of electors later filed suit against Pence  a friendly gesture as described by Ward in a video  in order to ask the courts to specify that he had the power to decide which slate of electors to take.

The notion that Pence had such authority was pushed by Eastman, the Trump attorney, according to previous committee testimony.

Eastman found ambiguity in the procedure for counting the Electoral College votes outlined in the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, Eastman pointed to the phrase:  and the votes shall then be counted.

He saw the fact that phrase was written in the passive voice as meaning that the vice president would have sole authority on which votes to count.

Congress, in 1877, had passed a more specific law dictating how Electoral College votes would be counted, specifically how to settle disputes. But Eastman was among a set of scholars who saw that law as being unconstitutional.

Trump claims he wanted legislatures to look at fraud

Eastmans reasoning apparently made sense to Trump.

In a speech in Nashville on June 16, Trump said that he was astounded when other advisers told him that Pence had no authority to toss out states votes, even if he thought there was fraud. Trump said it didnt make sense to him that Pence would have no choice but to be a human conveyor belt.

Trump, in that speech, said he didnt expect Pence to unilaterally decide the election, or throw the question to Congress. Instead, he said he thought Pence should have sent the certifications back to the state legislatures.

I wanted him to send it up to the legislatures, Trump said, if they see the same kind of fraud, and if they see the same kind of irregularities that I saw.

Eastman, according to testimony last week, told members of Pences legal team that he knew his scheme wouldnt pass legal muster, admitting he would lose at the U.S. Supreme Court by a 7-2 vote at best.

After the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and in the waning days of Trumps presidency, according to the committee, Eastman asked for a preemptive pardon.

I've decided I should be on the pardon list, Eastman wrote in a text message to Giuliani, if that is still in the works.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: FBI subpoenas Thomas Lane, who directed Trump campaign in Arizona
Getty

A Seattle couple was on their "babymoon" in Malta when the woman began miscarrying.

The fetus has a "zero percent" chance of survival, but doctors won't terminate the pregnancy due to the country's strict abortion ban.

The woman is facing life-threatening complications while waiting to be transferred to the UK.

Seattle couple Andrea Prudente and Jay Weeldreyer were celebrating the upcoming birth of their first child in the Mediterranean when Prudente began bleeding heavily. She was 16 weeks pregnant.

Doctors on the island of Gozo, near Malta, gave her medication to help prevent a miscarriage. But on June 12, a few days later in Malta, the couple's main destination, Prudente's water broke. At the hospital, she learned her placenta had become partially detached and, two days later, that she'd lost all amniotic fluid, the Guardian reported.

Doctors told her the pregnancy had "zero chance" of survival  but that they coudn't remove it due to Malta's strict ban on abortion.

Meanwhile, Prudente was diagnosed with a ruptured membrane and a protruding umbilical cord, greatly raising her risk of severe bleeding and infection. She also tested positive for COVID-19.

She and Weeldreyer are trying to get an immediate medical evacuation to the UK, where they believe a termination could save her life. But they've already been waiting nearly a week to get the appropriate paperwork to their insurance company, according to VICE World News.

Until they can travel, Prudente must continue to wait for the fetus's heart to stop beating or develop an infection so severe her life is in immediate danger. Only then, will Maltese clinicians intervene, reports, including from the BBC, say.

"I just want to get out of here alive," Prudente told the Guardian. "I couldn't in my wildest dreams have thought up a nightmare like this."

"It's an inconceivable form of emotional and psychological torture," Weeldreyer added. "Part of me still celebrates hearing the heartbeat  and at the same time, I don't want that heartbeat there because this is just leading to more suffering for this woman that I love."

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Malta has a total ban on abortion, but some groups say there are exceptions

Malta, a chain of islands in the Mediterranean, is the only country in the EU with a total ban on abortion. Anti-abortion organizations in Malta say, however, that there are exceptions to the ban when the mother's life is at risk.

"Maltese law and medical precedent are absolutely clear: if a woman's life is at risk from her pregnancy, then it is absolutely legal for her pregnancy to be ended by delivering the child, even if that child has a heartbeat, and even if the child will sadly pass away. This would not be considered in Maltese law or medicine as an abortion," OB-GYN Dr. George Gregory Buttigieg said in a statement sent to Insider.

"As a Professor of Obstetrics, I have delivered babies prematurely in life threatening situations and have never been worried about legal repercussions." He and others, including representatives of Life Network Malta, and Doctors for Life point to the country's low maternal mortality rate as proof their model works.

Still, hundreds of women travel abroad each year to obtain an abortion, and increasingly others have been illegally accessing the abortion pill, the BBC has reported.

Doctors for Choice Malta has publicized Prudente's story, per her request, "in the hope of avoiding a tragedy" like Savita Halappanavar. The former dentist living in Ireland was 17 weeks pregnant when she began miscarrying in 2012. After being denied a termination due to the country's abortion ban at the time, she died of sepsis.

"We hope common sense prevails and this woman is allowed to have a termination before it is too late," Doctors for Choice wrote on social media, referring to Prudente. "We have also heard from Maltese women who were in similar situations but were scared to speak out. This is not right. Women have beating hearts too!

American OB-GYNs have speculated about similar situations occuring in the US if Roe v Wade is overturned. Making abortion only legal when the mother's life is at risk puts doctors in an "untenable position," Shaina Goodman, director for reproductive health and rights at the National Partnership for Women and Families, told Stateline. "At what point is the life of the mother at risk, when she's coding on the table?"

Read the original article on Insider
Stefan Weichert

POLTAVA, UkraineIt was a one-in-a-million hit, said 23-year-old Skyler James Gregg from his hospital bed in Poltava, eastern Ukraine. He remembers how everything suddenly turned black when a Russian drone dropped an explosive at his post in the Kharkiv region on June 1. One French volunteer soldier died immediately in the blast, and flying shrapnel injured another foreign fighter.

Skyler was sent to the ground as fragments penetrated his body. One hit his right arm, tearing off a chunk of it. It was all as black and white suddenly. It ran through my head that I might die. For some reason, it felt peaceful, Skyler told The Daily Beast from his hospital bed.

I felt heat in my arm. Dogs around were just screaming. It rang in my ears, and I ran to an outdoor bathroom and shut the door. I was trying to hold my arm together.

After taking the hit, Skyler trudged outside with his shirt tied around his lower arm to hold it in place. He then locked eyes with one of his friends who had fallen down a set of stairs and was in a panic.

He was losing a lot of blood. I took off his shirt to put pressure on his wounds. He was bleeding in so many places. I did not know what to do, said Skyler. I was about to faint myself. I took a plastic bag and put it on his bleeding chest. He had trouble breathing.

After using a radio to call for help, Skyler and several other soldiers were taken to a field hospital. Skylers friend survived.

Skyler James Gregg at training camp before going to the Kharkiv region. Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Courtesy Skyler James Gregg

Poltava is a city in eastern Ukraine, about 200 kilometers from the frontline. Skyler sustained several injuries and still requires treatment at the hospital. Besides his right hand, about 14 fragments punctured other parts of his body, including his right foot and shoulder.

Originally from Orcas Island in Washington state, Skyler lived with his father before traveling to Ukraine. Hes one of dozens of American volunteers fighting in the Ukrainian armys International Legion. Its unclear exactly how many Americans have left to fight in Ukraine, and though the Biden administration has discouraged Americans from volunteering independently, it isnt against the law to do so.

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Recently, two American volunteer fighters from Alabama, 39-year-old Alexander John-Robert Drueke and 27-year-old Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, went missing near the frontline in Kharkiv. They are feared to have been captured by Russia, where some argue they could face the death penalty.

Execution-Happy Russia Snatches American Fighters in Ukraine

But that doesnt seem to phase Skyler, who told The Daily Beast he intends to go back to fight as soon as he is recovered. The job isnt finished, he said. I have not finished what I came to do.

Skyler had an ordinary upbringing. He has family members who have served in wars and said that he felt a call to fight in Ukraine when he saw a video of a Russian tank driving over a civilian car. The brutality struck him, he said, and he couldnt just sit by.

In April, he packed his bags and snuck out of his fathers house early one morning, then took a bus to meet his mother, who drove him to the airport. His father had been against him leaving, arguing that he should find other ways to help. His mother, however, supported her son's decision to support the Ukrainian fight for independence, Skyler said.

Skyler poses near the frontline in Kharkiv. With night vision he was able to see Russian forces positioned across the river. Courtesy Skyler James Gregg

He must have sneaked out when I was not around, Skylers father Steve told The Daily Beast. I didnt want him to go without any military experience, without a support system and even without knowing the language. I did not want to encourage him.

When he found out that Skyler had made it to Ukraine, Steve posted the words of Colonel Ludlow from the World War I movie Legends of the Fall on his Facebook in April. My dear lsabel, today our sons are leaving home to defend an England they have never seen. I am unable to stop them. l have tried to shelter our sons from all the madness. And now they go to seek it, the quote read.

Skyler told me that he wanted to be a medic, to help people, said Steve. That he wanted to be something between Desmond Doss in the movie Hacksaw Ridge and the soldiers in Saving Private Ryan. I can admire that but I still didnt want him to go.

Skyler had previously studied in Poland and has friends in Ukraine. He told The Daily Beast that he has experience handling weapons but doesnt have any military experience, which is a requirement for joining the International Legion in Ukraine. But nobody checked his experience level at the time, he said, and he found himself in a training camp in Ukraine in April. He attributes the ease to which he was able to volunteer to the fact that he joined in the early days of the war, when everything was new and chaotic.

I didnt want to seem more experienced than I really was, so I just told them that I had the bare minimum experience, Skyler said.

Ukraines International Legion did not respond to requests for comment from The Daily Beast about Skylers situation by the given deadline.

At the training camp, Skyler said he was told he would spend the first day at the firing range, the second learning tactics, and the third with helicopter training, all of which would be taught by former American special forces.

But according to Skyler, it didnt happen exactly like that. He said he was assigned to the position of machine gunner, equipped with an LMG machine gun. He left training two weeks later without ever having fired a shot at training, he told The Daily Beast.

It was quite disorganized, but that was how it was back then. Nobody knew how the war would unfold, and there was a need for volunteers, he said.

Skyler was sent to Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine in mid-April. The city was experiencing heavy fighting around its outskirts and the Russians pushed to take control. Skyler and the others spent two weeks at a base, practicing how to storm houses in captured villages where Russian soldiers might be.

There was a lot of dust in the building. It made me very sick. My lungs were kind of not really working properly, and I was very dehydrated as we lacked supplies, said Skyler, who said he saw several of his colleagues leave the battalion at that point.

I think that some people just had different expectations of this war, said Skyler. But he decided to stay.

Let me tell you, [Skyler] was one of the guys who stayed with us no matter what. He was fulfilling his duties and never made problems. When some left, he stayed and did his job, German Barin, Skylers former Platoon Commander at the International Legion, told The Daily Beast.

After his time at the base in Kharkiv, he was moved to forward positions at the frontline, with the job of ensuring that the Russian army wouldnt cross a river. He spent days looking at the Russian positions through night vision and monoculars. The Russians never came, and Skyler spent most of the time waiting.

The Russians were shelling the area the day before Skyler was wounded. That day, he took a video with the sound close in which he can be heard saying Russians cant aim. The very next day, they did.

To be honest, we were too relaxed, said Skyler, who admitted he had become too confident that the Russians would never hit their positions. So, we were like they cant hit us. But that all changed the next day.

Skyler is currently recovering at a hospital in Poltava in eastern Ukraine. Stefan Weichert

Skyler understands that some people might hear his story and think it was a stupid decision to go in the first place, and that he should have tried to help in other ways. His father argued the same before he left, but Skyler still feels he made the right decision. I was just so angry I wanted to stop what was happening, not just make what is happening less miserable, he said.

Across the Atlantic, Steve still feels that it wasnt the right decision for his son to go to Ukraine. He said that he knows that young boys do stupid things to gain the approval of their fathers and he just hope that Skyler isnt in Ukraine to prove anything to him.

For me, nothing has changed. I still love Skyler as much as ever, but he has gone to a place where I cant help him and it is difficult, said Steve. I sometimes feel like I should buy a plane ticket and go there to help him but I know that isnt a good idea. It is hard.

While he might not approve of Skylers decision, Steve will still welcome him with open arms. I am very proud of my son, he said. Even though he is going about things a little differently than I expected.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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A convention goer passes the NRA desk at the 2015 NRA Annual Convention. KAREN BLEIER/AFP via Getty Images

House Republican leaders are urging a vote against the Senate gun reform compromise.

In a message to lawmakers, Rep. Steve Scalise cites opposition from the NRA.

The Senate bill would restrict gun sales to domestic abusers and increase mental health funding.

House Republican leadership is urging GOP lawmakers to vote against a bipartisan Senate gun reform bill, citing opposition from the NRA.

"Leadership recommends a NO vote," states a message from Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana that was sent to lawmakers Wednesday evening. The message claims the Senate bill, which passed Tuesday with the support of 14 Republicans, is part of an effort to "slowly chip away at law-abiding citizens' 2nd Amendment rights."

The Senate bill  supported by Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky  includes increased funding for mental health services and the state-level enforcement of "red flag" laws that allow police to temporarily remove firearms from someone believed to present an imminent threat. The measure would also close the so-called "boyfriend loophole," prohibiting convicted domestic abusers from obtaining guns.

"Our colleagues have put together a commonsense package of popular steps that will help make these horrifying incidents less likely while fully upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens," said McConnell in a statement on Tuesday.

But in their message of opposition, House Republican leaders claimed the bill "fails to provide explicit due process requirements" for red-flag gun seizures and includes unnecessary funding. In addition to gun manufacturers, House Republicans cite opposition from conservative groups such as Gun Owners of America and Heritage Action for America.

Despite the Republican stance, the bill is expected to pass the Democratic-controlled House and be signed into law by President Joe Biden.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Photo credit: Greg Doherty - Getty Images

When it comes to his involvement in a new venture to promote critical neonatal care, NTT IndyCar Series driver Devlin DeFrancesco walks the walk and talks the talk from experience.

The Canadian driver and his family have formed an initiative called Racing for the Tiniest Babies that pledges to match all eligible donations up to $250,000 for Canadas Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centres DAN Women and Babies program, which supports thousands of families and premature babies across the Canadian province of Ontario each year.

Photo credit: Sunnybrook

The 22-year-old DeFrancesco, who is in his rookie IndyCar season for Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport, was born 15 weeks premature and weighed approximately two pounds at birth. His prognosis at birth was grim, a media release said.

Sunnybrook is located in Toronto and cared for DeFrancesco, who spent the first four months of his life in an incubator and overcame several health complications.

If I wasnt at Sunnybrook, I probably wouldnt have survived, DeFrancesco said in a media release. My family and I will be eternally grateful for Sunnybrooks care because nothing that followed would have been possible without them.

DeFrancesco will serve as a spokesman for Sunnybrooks DAN Women & Babies Program and its neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The program and NICU care for more than 4,000 babies across Ontario each year, including many high-risk pregnancies, deliveries, premature and sick babies, as well as micro-preemies, babies that have significantly low birth weight under three pounds and with high risks of complications.

Devlin is just one of the thousands of examples of program graduates going on to big things, and we couldnt be more proud, Dr. Eugene Ng, chief of the Newborn and Development Pediatrics at the DAN Women & Babies Program.

DeFrancesco will compete in the upcoming July 15-17 Toronto Grand Prix in a car that will carry a special Sunnybrook design specifically for the race.

Follow Autoweek contributor Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski
Eleven restaurants in Dubai are having a pretty good week: Theyve been honored with coveted Michelin stars, in the citys inaugural Michelin Guide.

On Tuesday, the first ever stars were announced for the United Arab Emirates locale. Nine restaurants received one Michelin star, while twoIl Ristorante Niko Romito and Stay by Yannick Allenoreceived two stars.

More from Robb Report

What makes Dubais culinary landscape so distinctive is its reflection of the more than 200 nationalities that call the city home, delivering an epicurean kaleidoscope, Gwendal Poullennec, the international director of the Michelin Guide, said in a statement. One thing all the restaurants in this fast paced dynamic and elegant city have in common is they are brimming with passion and enthusiasm. Today, Dubai is settled as an inspiring gastronomic destination and we have no doubts that gourmets from all over the world will be seduced by its very unique energy.

A lychee lobster dish from Hakkasan - Credit: Michelin

Michelin

Though Michelins methods are opaque, the organization says it grades each spot on the quality of the ingredients, the mastery of cooking, the harmony of flavors, how the chefs personality comes across in the dishes and the consistency across the menu and over time. Along with the two two-star restaurants, the guide honored these nine restaurants with one star: 11 Woodfire, Al Muntaha, Armani Ristorante, Hakkasan, Hoseki, Ossiano, Tasca by Jose Avillez, Torno Subito and Tresind Studio.

In addition to the starred restaurants, the Michelin Guide also recognized 14 Bib Gourmand restaurants and 44 Michelin-selected restaurants. The Bib Gourmands are typically lower-priced spots that provide great food at a similarly great value, while the selected restaurants have met certain criteria but not enough to be awarded a star or a Bib Gourmand.

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With the ambition to become the most visited city in the world, the launch of Michelin Guide Dubai will transform the destination and will put Dubai on the map for foodies and gastronomy connoisseurs around the globe, Issam Kazim, the CEO of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said in a statement. I would like to congratulate the Chefs who embody the local culinary scene and its diversity and who choose Dubai to set-up home-grown concepts that are unique to the destination.

Dubai is just the latest destination to enter the ranks of the Michelin Guides. Earlier this month, the first Michelin stars in Florida were also announced. And later this year Toronto will get its inaugural guide. So gastronomes and travelers alike have quite a few new spots to add to their lists of must-visit restaurants around the globe.

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A handful of House Republican lawmakers want to create lengthy new prison sentences for Michigan abortion providers and those creating or distributing abortion-inducing medication, filing legislation Wednesday in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court erasing federal abortion rights as soon as this week.

The measure, led by state Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, clarifies the person seeking the abortion could not be prosecuted and specifically indicates contraceptives like Plan B would be allowed.

But it creates a 10-year prison sentence for doctors performing any abortion deemed illegal, and a 20-year sentence for anyone manufacturing, selling or distributing medications intended to induce abortions.

More: GOP Legislature seeks to intervene in Planned Parenthood suit over 1931 abortion law

More: Michigan court ruling not the final say on abortion constitutionality in state

Michigan Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, and several other House Republican legislators want to create a new law establishing new criminal punishments for almost any abortion.

It also says a pregnant person could have an abortion in the event of a life-threatening condition  but expressly indicates the pregnant person promising to kill themselves if forced to give birth would not count as a qualifying medical emergency.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer would assuredly veto the bill if it ever emerged from the Legislature. Yet it's the latest salvo in state-level abortion battles erupting across the country as sentiment spreads that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon overturn the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade.

Abortion remains legal in every state, despite Michigan and many others having dormant state laws that criminalize all abortions except those performed to protect the life of the pregnant person. If the high court overrules Roe  a decision expected as soon as Thursday and some time before the end of June  prosecutors could immediately start using those laws again to charge doctors and others connected to abortions.

In May, Michigan Court of Claims Judge Elizabeth Gleicher issued a temporary injunction that seeks to block enforcement of the state's abortion ban if Roe is overturned. In a statement, Carra said that ruling prompts the need for new legislative action.

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"Although the Legislature is doing its best to defend (the existing abortion ban), it will most likely result in a defeat for the pro-life movement, and it is time to begin exploring other avenues to protect the sanctity of human life," Carra said.

The injunction was issued in response to a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood of Michigan, in which the advocacy organization argues the state's existing abortion ban is unconstitutional and the state constitution guarantees the right to an abortion.

More: Whitmer to Michigan Supreme Court: 'Time is of the essence' on abortion lawsuit

More: Michigan conservative activists want Court of Appeals to overturn abortion law injunction

Conservative attorneys representing local prosecutors in the case say Gleicher's injunction was inappropriate and want the Court of Appeals to throw it out. But Carra's new measure could render the ruling irrelevant, by establishing an entirely new law criminalizing abortion.

The measure mirrors the existing ban, but clarifies several issues raised by abortion rights advocates:

It specifically says the woman seeking the abortion cannot be prosecuted;

It clarifies contraceptives taken "before the time when a pregnancy could be determined through conventional medical testing" are allowed. That likely means Plan B and other medication typically referred to as morning-after pills would not be criminalized by this bill;

The medication misoprostol expressly used for the "treatment of a miscarriage" is allowable under the bill.

The bill also adds some clarity to what would constitute a situation where an abortion could legally be performed. It defines a medical emergency that would necessitate an abortion as "imminent harm arising from the pregnancy by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself."

It expressly indicates a "mental condition" does not constitute a medical emergency that would warrant an abortion allowable under the proposed law.

"Medical treatment may not form the basis for an exception to prosecution under this section if it is based on a claim or diagnosis that the pregnant woman will engage in conduct intended to result in her own death or some other form of self-harm," the bill states.

Other bill sponsors include state Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford; state Rep. Gary Eisen, R-St. Clair Township; state Rep. Bob Bezotte, R-Marian Township; state Rep. Daire Rendon, R-Lake City, and state Rep. TC Clements, R-Temperance.

The bill is now before the House Judiciary Committee, but it's unclear whether House Republican leadership will push for action. A spokesman for House Speaker Jason Wentworth, R-Farwell, said the leader had yet to review the bill. Judiciary Committee Chairman Graham Filler, R-St. Johns, did not immediately return a voicemail seeking comment.

Contact Dave Boucher: dboucher@freepress.com or 313-938-4591. Follow him on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan GOP lawmakers urge 10 years in prison for abortion providers
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, smiles during a press conference on the pending lawsuit against the Scottsdale Unified School District announced outside the Arizona Superior Court building in Phoenix on May 5, 2022.

Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA: The World Economic Forum has its own police force.

PolitiFact's ruling: False

Here's why: Social media users shared photos of a badge worn by police at the World Economic Forums annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, to make unfounded claims about the organization.

One example is a May 23 tweet by Charlie Kirk suggesting the World Economic Forum has its own police force. Kirk, founder and president of conservative group Turning Point USA, tweeted a photo of a badge with the words "World Economic Forum police" on it.

"Why does the World Economic Forum have their own police force?" Kirk asked in his tweet.

That premise is wrong.

"The WEF organization does not have a police force," said Roman Ruegg, a spokesperson for police from the Grisons canton, or district, where the World Economic Forums annual gathering is held.

Police in the district are identified by official uniforms, ID cards and police patches, Ruegg said. The badge pictured in the tweet was created by emergency services personnel as a way of expressing "team spirit," Ruegg said. It debuted in 2006 and is redesigned every year.

We reached out to Kirk for comment but did not receive a reply.

Similar claims were tweeted by others, including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

The World Economic Forum is a common target of conspiracy theorists. One of its previous summit themes, called "The Great Reset," in recent years prompted hundreds of thousands of posts on social media claiming that "the global elite were planning to use the coronavirus to bring about total economic collapse," CNBC reported.

The World Economic Forum does not have its own police force, and we rate those claims False.

Our Sources

CNBC, "How Davos became a target for conspiracy theorists and anarchists," May 23, 2022

Email interview, Roman Ruegg, spokesperson, cantonal police of Grisons, June 2, 2022

PolitiFact, "Charlie Kirk," accessed June 2, 2022

Twitter post, May 23, 2022

Twitter post, May 23, 2022

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Fact-check: Does the World Economic Forum have its own police force?
South Side man sentenced to nearly 3 years in prison for torching Chicago police vehicle while wearing clown mask during 2020 unrest

A South Side man was sentenced Wednesday to 34 months in federal prison for setting fire to a Chicago police SUV in the Loop while wearing a Joker clown mask during the chaos and looting that struck the city in 2020.

Timothy ODonnell, 33, pleaded guilty in February to one count of interfering with law enforcement during the commission of civil disorder.

In handing down the sentence, U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood said, His actions undermined the peaceful protesters and led to a lot of confusion  about what is a legitimate protest, what is an illegitimate protest, put in danger the lives of legitimate protesters and put in danger the lives of law enforcement officers.

During the sentencing, ODonnell read with a shaky voice a prepared statement apologizing to the organizers of the peaceful protests, the residents of Chicago, his father and his mother, who he said is retiring early from Illinois State Police forensics because of his actions impact on her reputation.

In a lengthy letter to the court ahead of sentencing, ODonnell took responsibility for his actions and described himself as a very passive (aggressive) person.

It was the most outlandish display of angst that I may have been harboring from various personal accounts of mental and physical abuse by law enforcement when I was either (traveling) or homeless, the letter states.

The images of ODonnell in the Joker mask with flames erupting behind him made him one of the highest-profile defendants in the federal cases to stem from the chaos and looting that struck the city after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Prosecutors said that a downtown protest had grown violent on the afternoon of May 30, 2020, when ODonnell was seen on video taken by a bystander approaching the police vehicle parked in the 200 block of North State Street, placing a cloth inside the gas tank and lighting it with a lighter.

Other individuals then exacerbated the fire by pouring accelerants on it, according to prosecutors. The vehicle was destroyed.

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After the squad car burst into flames, ODonnell was captured in a photograph provided by a different witness posing in front of the blaze, according to a criminal complaint filed at the time of ODonnells arrest. Though his face was obscured by the grinning mask, ODonnells distinctive neck tattoo reading PRETTY could clearly be seen in the photo, according to the complaint.

That image  as well as several others  were included in the charging document. Police found the mask in ODonnells bedroom when they searched his apartment in the 700 block of West 19th Street, according to the complaint.

ODonnell later admitted in an interview with law enforcement that he was the one seen in the mask igniting the blaze, the charges alleged.
A civil trial in the wrongful death lawsuit filed against Suge Knight stemming from a 2015 incident ended in a mistrial on Wednesday (June 22).

The jurors were deadlocked seven to five in favor of the plaintiffs, the Los Angeles Times reports. Their inability to come to a conclusion led to the mistrial decision.

More from Billboard

The case stems from an incident on the set of the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton involving Knight and two men, Terry Carter and Cle Bone Sloan. The men reportedly got into a dispute, which resulted in Knight striking the two men with his truck and killing Carter.

Carters widow, Lillian Carter, and his two daughters, Crystal and Nekaya, attended each day of the trial and told Rolling Stone that they plan to bring the case again. Its unfortunate, but the jury worked very hard. It feels good to know we were the majority, Crystal said. We look forward to trying the case again to get victory for my dad. To get justice.

Knights lawyer, David Kenner, also told Rolling Stone that his client, who is serving 28 years behind bars after pleading no contest to the voluntary manslaughter of Carter, was relieved. Knight was originally charged with murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run after fleeing the scene.

The plea deal calls for Knight to serve 22 years in prison on the voluntary manslaughter count and another six years because it is a third-strike violation.

He finally got to tell his side of the story, Kenner told Rolling Stone. He had a viable defense. This case had two sides to it. Of all the history of Suge Knight and Death Row, this was not the case that should have been utilized to shut him down.

Click here to read the full article.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan and Denmark have discussed the opportunities for cooperation in organizing the production of wind turbine components, Azernews reports, citing the Economy Ministry.

The discussion took place during a meeting between Azerbaijans First Deputy Economy Minister Elnur Aliyev with Danish global wind turbine manufacturer, Vestas company, Sales Director for Eastern Europe and the CIS Igor Nus.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the favorable business environment in the country, the economic potential of the liberated territories, opportunities for further expansion of partnership in the management sphere, and the efficient use of natural resources, alternative and renewable energy.

The parties also exchanged views on the effective use of Azerbaijans potential in the sphere of wind energy and investment opportunities.

It should be noted that the Danish Vestas company has implemented projects in 85 countries in the field of wind energy, alternative and renewable energy, development, and implementation of sustainable energy solutions.

The diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Denmark were established on April 2, 1992. The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $24 million in 2021.
UK LGBTQ+-focused distributor Peccadillo Pictures has claimed that Amazon Prime Video UK is refusing to make Canadian artist and filmmaker Bruce LaBruces provocative dark comedy Saint-Narcisse available on its online store.

Company MD Tom Abell said its request to list the title on Amazons UK online offering had been turned down without explanation.

More from Deadline

The comic, psycho-sexual thriller  which was the closing film of Venice parallel section Giornate degli Autori (Venice Days) in 2020  revolves around a narcissistic young man who discovers he has an identical twin. This unknown brother has been raised in captivity by a wicked priest. When destiny brings the pair together they embark on an incestuous web of revenge and redemption.

Abell said: We are totally mystified as to why Amazon Prime Video is refusing to make the critically acclaimed Saint-Narcisse available to its customers, both here in the UK and internationally.

When their system originally refused to take the film we pointed out that it was available on Amazon in the U.S. and France and then it was removed from those platforms as well, despite being on them for over six months. The DVD continues to be sold by Amazon but they wont stream it, he continued.

The film, which is classified as an 18 without cuts by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), had previously been available on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. and France but was removed in May.

A source close to the matter at Amazon said a decision on whether the film would be made available on the UK platform was still under review, but Abell stands by his version of events, stating that the title was declined. Weve reached out to the streamer for further clarity.

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Abell said: Whilst this hugely entertaining film is full of the outrageousness and provocations that are Bruce LaBruces hallmarks, we have no idea if Amazons objections relate to the films themes, or to particular sequences, or a combination.

He continued: Im genuinely puzzled because there are numerous other films available on Amazon Prime Video which explore similar themes, and several which are far more sexually explicit. It is somewhat alarming to note the companys increasing tendency to refuse certain queer films access to their platform.

Another source close to the title confirmed that Sainte-Narcisse had been quietly dropped from Amazon in the U.S. and France without explanation.

Responding to the alleged ban, cult director LaBruce said: Its almost reassuring to know that I can still be banned or censored in this day and age. Whats interesting to me is that its not the sexual explicitness of Saint-Narcisse that is preventing it from being streamed on Amazon Prime  there is none  but the subversive and challenging sexual themes and implications of the film.

For smaller independent films and distributors, decisions like this really do make it even more difficult than it already is to produce and promote work autonomously. Im curious to know precisely what has got the platform into such high dudgeon.

Abell noted that the company had a similar experience with Chilean prison drama and Venice Queer Lion winner The Prince in 2020. In that instance, Peccadillo was informed the movie contained offensive content that clashed with the streamers guidelines.

Initially that film was banned by Amazon from streaming in the U.S. and that ban was carried on over here when we came to release it although they did continue to sell the film on DVD, he said.

He claimed that other LGBTQ+ titles excluded from Amazons online platform in recent years have included the re-release of John Cameron Mitchells Shortbus and the short film compilation The Male Gaze: Nocturnal Instincts.

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Weather Alert

...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM PDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...High temperatures of 99 to 106 expected. * WHERE...In Washington, Lower Columbia Basin of Washington, Foothills of the Blue Mountains of Washington and Yakima Valley. In Oregon, Lower Columbia Basin of Oregon. * WHEN...Until 11 PM PDT this evening. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Widespread afternoon high temperatures between 99 and 106 degrees are expected, with the highest temperatures in the Lower Columbia Basin of Washington. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. &&
Weather Alert

...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...High temperatures of 98 to 106 expected. * WHERE...In Washington, Lower Columbia Basin of Washington, Foothills of the Blue Mountains of Washington and Yakima Valley. In Oregon, Lower Columbia Basin of Oregon. * WHEN...From 11 AM this morning to 11 PM PDT this evening. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Widespread afternoon high temperatures between 98 and 106 degrees are forecast with the highest temperatures expected in the Lower Columbia Basin of Washington. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. &&
A Republican candidate in the race for the 4th Congressional district is asking for a no contact order against a Republican opponents campaign manager.
In a powerful warning last Thursday, the patron saint of the conservative legal movement, former federal appellate Judge J. Michael Luttig, testified before the Jan. 6 Committee and pronounced former President Donald Trump and his allies a clear and present danger to American constitutional democracy. As Luttig knows better than most, this historic phrase generates an extraordinary constitutional power of government to act  and a duty to do so.

Luttigs verdict should be understood as a plea for Attorney General Merrick Garland to proceed toward charging Trump with federal crimes that the public record now amply establishes. Only then will this nation be able to move forward from the ongoing insurrection.

Beyond the avalanche of documents and testimony pointing to Trumps guilt and the principle that no one is above the law, there is an additional reason to indict Trump for his multi-faceted conspiracy in 2020 to override the vote. Upon a conviction for inciting insurrection, or being an accessory to insurrection, Trump would be subject to disqualification from acquiring federal office.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment directs: No person shall ... hold any office ... under the United States ... who, having previously taken an oath ... as an officer of the United States ... to support the Constitution shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same.

There is ample evidence that Trumps objective was the insurrections success. Among that evidence was his three-hour delay in calling on the attackers to go home and his vengeful tweet demeaning Vice President Mike Pence after Trump knew that the savage invasion of the U.S. Capitol had begun. That was pouring gasoline on the fire, testified former deputy White House press secretary Sarah Matthews.

Even without a direct charge of insurrection, allegations of such insurrectionist activities in an indictment for conspiring to defraud the United States or to obstruct an official proceeding or for seditious conspiracy might suffice for 14th Amendment disqualification if Trump were convicted.

Holding Trump accountable  and disqualifying him from future office  would not be a partisan act, but one needed to preserve the republic.

Without a prosecution of Trump, here are three things that seem sure to happen if he were allowed to run again and either be lawfully elected or succeed in installing himself in office despite defeat in the electoral college, as he attempted to do in 2020:

The end of elections in which a majority of voters choose their leaders

As Judge Luttig put it at Thursdays hearing: The clear and present danger now is because to this very day the former president and his allies and supporters pledge that in the presidential election of 2024, if the former president or his anointed successor as the Republican Party presidential candidate were to lose that election, they would attempt to overturn that 2024 election in the same way that they attempted to overturn the 2020 election.

Republican-controlled Legislatures are already institutionalizing election sabotage  with GOP election officials determining election results no matter the vote winner. More than a dozen election deniers like Jim Marchant, who just won the Republican primary for secretary of state in Nevada, are GOP nominees for secretary of state and other election-controlling positions.

So even though Trump wont hold the levers of presidential power in 2024 the way he did in 2020, he wont need to: His allies and his disinformation are putting officials in place around the country who will certify his win whatever the vote.

The use of the military for domestic control

Trumps administration deployed military helicopters in an unprecedented show of military force over peaceful demonstrators whom police attacked in Washingtons Lafayette Park in July 2020. Retired military leaders excoriated the abuse.

In early December 2020, Trumps close ally, his former national security adviser and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, reportedly urged Trump to declare martial law.

On Nov. 9, 2020, Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper and installed a more compliant Christopher Miller. On Jan. 4, 2021, Miller issued a memo requiring his approval to deploy the National Guard in Washington, D.C. On Jan. 6, Defense Department leadership delayed the National Guards response to the Capitol siege by three hours.

You dont have to be a clairvoyant to imagine how military force against political foes  and restraint of force to protect violent supporters  will be used if Trump regains office.

The end of accountability

On June 17, in Nashville, Trump said that if reelected, he would consider very, very seriously pardoning all the participants in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

That could clear more than 310 insurrectionists who have pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial. Deterrence of future violence depends on judicially imposed sanctions. Trump would remove them, signaling that violent extremism in defense of Trump is no vice.

If he returns to the White House, he will install his people in the Justice Department and turn the machinery of prosecution against his enemies and toward protecting his friends and his schemes.

And should Trump get an encore, look to pre-World War II Germany for a mirror. A failed coup in 1923 taught Hitler a better route to dictatorship nine years later.

Those who repeat history are doomed to learn it. The hard way.
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There are two good reasons for accepting Ukraine as a candidate for membership of the EU

First of all, Ukraine has earned it. Second, it is in the long-term strategic interest of all Europeans. The second reason is even more important than the first.

Ukraines aspiration to join the EU did not start yesterday. I will never forget standing on a freezing Maidan in Kyiv during the Orange Revolution in 2004, amid a sea of European flags such as I have never seen in any EU capital. Ten years later, the 2014 protests in Kyiv were sparked by President Viktor Yanukovychs rejection of an association agreement with the EU  and those demonstrations were christened the Euromaidan.

The war has confirmed this settled will of the Ukrainian nation. From the outset, Zelenskiy made candidacy for EU membership one of his three main asks to the west, alongside his urgent request for more weapons and sanctions. A recent opinion poll conducted in Ukraines western and central regions  polling was impossible in the east because of the war  found 89% support for EU membership.

Who can doubt that Ukrainians have been fighting and dying for Europe? Explaining the commissions positive recommendation, a senior Brussels official said: "The commission does not forget that Ukraine is the only country in Europe where people died, where people were shot at because they were on the streets carrying EU flags. Now we cannot tell them, Sorry, guys, you were waving the wrong flags."

REKLAMA

But this is also a strategic choice for Europe as a whole. At issue is not just Europes second-largest country. Besides recommending that Ukraine should be given candidate status, "on the understanding that" certain specific steps will be taken, the commission proposes the same status for Moldova, which is sandwiched between Ukraine and EU member Romania, "on the understanding that" somewhat broader changes are made. It has also recommended opening accession negotiations for Albania and North Macedonia. Beyond that, there will be the rest of the western Balkans, Georgia and potentially, one day, a democratic Belarus.

Handled right, this second great eastern enlargement would make the European Union not just bigger but also more self-sufficient in food, stronger militarily and with more potential for economic growth. We Europeans would end up better able to defend our interests and values as we sit precariously between a revanchist Russia, a rising China and a declining United States. This widening of the EU would also require further deepening, since otherwise a community of 35 member states would be dysfunctional. In the long run, the inclusion of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia would mean that Russia would finally have to reconcile itself to having lost an empire  and start seeking a role as a modern nation state. (Britain shows how long that process can take.) So, this second wave of eastern enlargement would be another big step towards a Europe whole and free.

Popular support for another eastern enlargement will only decline

Yet there are many ifs and buts along the way. Countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal are still trying to complicate, if not block, this very first step. Even if, as seems likely, the "big three" of the EU  with Mario Draghis Italy taking the place vacated by Britain  prevail at next weeks EU summit, will there be the political will to sustain a long-term strategy for enlargement? The costs of reconstruction in Ukraine will be huge. War damage is already estimated at $150bn (122bn). Ukraine has a chance to build back better, but only if substantial European funds for reconstruction are effectively linked to major reforms, including the battle against corruption.

REKLAMA

Currently there is popular support for this step inside the EU: 66% of European citizens approved of opening the door to Ukraine in a Eurobarometer survey in April. An average of 57% of respondents in 10 selected European countries did so in a recent European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) poll. But the ECFR figures for France, Germany and Italy were just under 50%. As the wave of wartime sympathy with Ukraine subsides, and all of Europe is hit by the economic consequences of both the Covid pandemic and Vladimir Putins war, that support may erode. Mediterranean countries say, "You keep talking about the east, but what about the south?" Dire conditions in the Middle East and Africa, exacerbated by soaring food prices because of missing Ukrainian and Russian grain exports, may result in new crises there.

Another danger is that widening could go ahead without the necessary deepening. That was the big flaw of the first eastern enlargement. The result: Viktor Orban has demolished democracy in Hungary with the help of billions of euros in EU funds and, thanks to the requirements for unanimity on such questions, recently held the rest of the EU to ransom over a new round of sanctions on Russia.

More likely, the momentum of enlargement would stall. Ukraine and Moldova might find themselves in the limbo that much of the western Balkans has endured for nearly two decades. North Macedonia has waited 17 years, since 2005, to proceed from candidate status to actual negotiations, thanks to blocking first by Greece and then by Bulgaria. Macedonians have kept the faith, but in Serbia support for EU membership has declined from 70% to 37%. Local elites elsewhere might conclude that their best bet is to play Europe, China and Russia off against each other, as the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, does. The EUs eastern and south-eastern perimeter would then be an unstable mush, inviting penetration by China, Russia and other hostile powers.

REKLAMA

So the path ahead is strewn with obstacles and possible wrong turnings. Still, as the Chinese proverb has it, a journey of 10,000 miles begins with a single step. At least this first step is in the right direction.

Timothy Garton Ash is Professor of European Studies at Oxford University and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is a historian, political writer and Guardian columnist.

***

Every day, 400 journalists at Gazeta Wyborcza write verified, fact-checked stories about Polish politics and society, keeping a critical eye on the ruling camps persistent assault on democratic values and the rule of law; the growing cultural tension between religious fundamentalism and human rights; and the ongoing Russian invasion in Ukraine. Our journalists are on the front lines in 32 Polish cities, reporting from the streets, hospitals, and courtrooms about issues that move public opinion.

We decided to make our service available to everyone free of charge in order to provide access to high quality journalism for expats and English speakers interested in Polish affairs.

The access to information should be equal for all.
The government released cabinet ministers income tax returns for 2021 late Tuesday night, showing how much income they received, how much the ministers paid in taxes and how many tax breaks they took advantage of.

As before, Cabinet Office chief Antal Rogans income was the highest, mainly due to a lucrative patent that he owns.



His tax base was Ft 446 million last year, of which Ft 408 million was due to his patent. Of this, Ft 66.9 million was taxed and did not benefit from the rebate.



After Rogan, the income of a new member of the government, Minister of Culture and Innovation Janos Csak, was the highest last year, before he joined the government. Last year alone, on a tax base of Ft 72 million, he paid Ft 10.8 million in taxes.



The third most wealthy minister is also a newcomer, Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky, who sold fighter jets to the army shortly before his appointment as defence minister. He paid Ft 11.7 million in taxes on total income of Ft 68 million.



Viktor Orban was paid Ft 31 million last year, less than most of his ministers, and then paid Ft 4.7 million in taxes.



Parliament recently approved a substantial salary increase for the prime minister, who will then receive Ft 3.5 million a month instead of the present Ft 1.5 million.





MTI / PM's Press Office Photo: Zoltan Fischer
Ever since the Large Hadron Collider proved the existence of the Higgs Bosonalso known as the God Particlein 2012, some say we slipped into an absurd, parallel universe.

The first wave of Surrealism was born out of a world that spun out of control, responding to the tragedy of the First World War, the power of the atom, and the uncharted territory of the unconscious mind as postulated by Sigmund Freud.



Almost 100 years later, there is a call to the surreal once more as a mechanism to handle a reality where fake news runs rampant and we learn to navigate a post-Covid world with the possibility of yet another world war creeping quite literally towards our doorsteps.



Surrealism offers us a chance not only to escape, but to process emotions we have no expression for. We want to find a space where we can explore the labyrinths of our minds, untangle the chaos of the past few years and explore that unconscious part of ourselves with a like-minded community, while having the fun we are all starved for after waves of lockdowns.



Here in Budapest, Hungary, the heart of Central Europe only hours away from the birthplace of Sigmund Freuds Interpretation of Dreams, were bringing surrealism and the world of dreams and the unconscious to life with our collaboration with the contemporary surrealist group in the Middle East, Sulfur Maison Andre Breton, Ladul, and La Belle Inutile Editions, whose parallel Echoes of Contemporary Surrealism Alexandria is the mothership for a global wave of events in Surrealism taking place on the 26 June 2022.



Program



15:30 Welcome by Budapest Surrealist Society

16:00 -18:00: Freudian Slip Surrealist Workshops

Behind the Blindfold: In-Lab Surrealist Art Workshop



Room A

Double Labyrinth of the Mind: An Immersive Surrealist Writing Workshop



Room B

Dream Theater: A Genuine Surreal Experience



Room C

16:00  18:00: Screenings of Selected Short Surrealist Films from Egypt



Room A

18:30-19:00 PandaParade: A surrealist gorilla fashion show



Date and time:

26 June 2022, 3 +- 7 pm



Venue:

Szimpla Kert

Budapest, Kazinczy u. 14, 1075



Further info from Esther Holbrook
Hungarian-Greek cooperation will have an important part to play in managing the global crises stemming from the war in Ukraine, and Greece has a key role in diversifying Hungarys natural gas supply, Peter Szijjarto, Hungarys minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in Athens on Wednesday.

The armed conflict may trigger global crises in food and energy supply, and Greece is playing an important role in handling both shortages, Szijjarto told a press conference he held with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias.



The Hungarian government considers energy supply a matter of reason, physics and mathematics rather than an ideological or philosophical issue, he said.



For this reason, it does not support any proposal that would jeopardise Hungarys energy supply, Szijjarto said.



We have insisted on the right to purchase oil from Russia and rule out the chance of being not allowed to buy Russian natural gas. Simultaneously, it is in our interest to have access to gas from several sources and on several routes, which, of course, requires investment, as well as plenty of money and time, he said.



Hungary has two viable scenarios for diversification; it may purchase gas from Azerbaijan and the eastern Mediterranean via an exclusive route through Greece, which would involve major investment in infrastructure, he said.



Szijjarto welcomed the expansion of the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector but added that this was still not sufficient. To establish a direct gas supply link between Hungary and Greece, other countries should also do their homework, he said.



As long as there is no such link, there will be no alternative for Hungary purchasing Russian gas through pipelines, he said.



Szijjarto said the failure of efforts to increase Russian and Ukrainian grain exports would trigger disastrous famine in several unstable regions of the world, which are already major sources of migration.





As the number of immigrants keeps growing on the western Balkan route, both Hungary and Greece have to make great efforts to defend the European Unions external borders, the minister said.





Szijjarto praised bilateral relations as excellent, and announced that the Hungarian government supported Greeces quest to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
YORK COUNTY  In mid-May, troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol found 222 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop on Interstate 80 near Waco.

This week, the man they say was responsible for the large load was to be arraigned in York County District Court. The arraignment, however, was postponed.

According to Cody Thomas, public relations director for the NSP, a trooper was on regular patrol when he saw a Nissan Quest speeding on Interstate 80 at mile marker 360. A traffic stop was initiated.

A probable cause search revealed the 222 pounds of marijuana in duffel bags in the cargo area of the van.

Thomas said Rigoberto Prado Barajas, 23, of Patterson, California, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver, possession of more than a pound of marijuana and having no drug tax stamp.

He was taken to the York County Jail and formal charges were filed.

He is facing the possible charges: possession of a controlled substance, Class 1, 2 or 3 schedules, a Class 2A felony; possession of more than a pound of marijuana, a Class 4 felony; and having no drug tax stamp, a Class 4 felony.
The following questions were asked recently on the Wonderline:

Q: Why do we rarely see photos published, in the News-Times of the police and sheriff personnel? Group pictures of those brave individuals would be super.

A: Each October, we have special pages honoring our local law enforcement and on those pages, we publish all their photos.

As far as regularly seeing our officers in the newspaper  that was once a common practice. But two years ago, the YNT stopped per the request of the agencies, because of threats against officers and the dangers of their identities being known in certain circumstances.

Q: This hail damage sure didnt help some of the properties in York that were already run down and really more than an eye sore already. There are some properties that desperately need to be cleaned up but nothing ever happens. Is there anything the city can do?

A: This very topic was discussed this past week before the York City Council.

Yorks asset manager, Dan Aude, said his office has contacted the owners of 15 properties with issues and weve had a pretty good response. We gave them timeframes to address the problems. There are still some we havent been able to contact. We also talked with one who cannot do the repairs  we will give them some time and then the city will do the demo.

He said the city continues to follow the steps of protocol when it comes to properties with these types of issues.

But he also noted that regarding one of the problem houses that was turned in last year  that house is now gone, the lot has been cleaned up and a new house is now in its place. So thats good news.

Q: Is it true that the city work crews were out all night last Tuesday night/Wednesday morning (last week) cleaning up from the major hail storm? If so, we should all give them a big thank you.

A: That is true.

Mayor Barry Redfern said he wanted to say a public thank you to the city workers for all they did. They were out there all night. Kudos to them for their hard work. We all really, really appreciate it.

Q: How many calls go into the local emergency communications center in a month?

A: Lela Luft, director of the emergency communications center, said they receive about 450 911 emergency calls a month, as well as 3,500 non-emergent calls in that same timeframe.

Q: With the terrible school shooting in Texas, I was wondering if the sheriffs department will be doing some added training for our school personnel in this area and if the staff at the York County Sheriffs Department has done any special training of its own to prepare for such a tragic event.

A: York County Sheriff Paul Vrbka said, The sheriffs department has provided active shooter training (for staff and school personnel) in all the schools in the county and will continue to provide that training. We have also been working with several local businesses addressing active shooters in the workplace.

The sheriffs department is also planning a future program to include training for fire departments on proper active shooter response procedures.

Q: When was the worst hail storm in Nebraska history?

A: Many sources say it was in Aurora and Hamilton County on June 22, 2003. Many homes, buildings and crops were ruined across Hamilton County. Craters up to 14 inches in diameter were found in the ground in some places, sites say. The value of the damage was said to be the highest from a single hail storm in the states history.

Q: Is it possible for my tomato plants and other plants in my yard to bounce back after being hailed out? They looked completely dead last week but some of it almost seems to have little sprigs of green coming out of it.

A: Jenny Rees, UNL Extension educator, addressed damage to yards in a recent column, following the rounds of hail received in this area in recent weeks.

She said: The biggest thing to remember for trees, lawns, plants in general is to not apply fertilizer or any products to stressed plants. Plants will shoot new growth as long as the growing point wasnt injured. Damaged vegetation will turn brown and eventually slough off. If you do choose to cut away dead growth, it may be wise to dip your scissors/pruning shears in a 10% bleach solution (one part bleach to nine parts water) after each cut to reduce the opportunity for bacterial transmission. For those with rhubarb that was ready to be harvested, you can still cut and use stems that arent mushy from rotting at this point (can cut out the most damaged areas of stems with stone damage).
YORK  Michael Fortner, 46, of York, whose original address was Yucaipa, Calif., has pleaded not guilty to delivery of an exceptionally hazardous drug, a Class 2 felony, and possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony.

His arraignment was held this past week in York County District Court.

Fortner was arrested when an officer with the York Police Department received information that Fortner, along with his companion Irene Lira, (both of whom had active warrants in York County) were in a vehicle in the area of Nobes Road and Lincoln Avenue.

The officer found the vehicle in a parking lot and the driver identified himself as Fortner. During a search of his person, the officer fond an ounce of marijuana and a baggie with methamphetamine in it.

According to court documents, Lira was in the back seat and she presented an identification card bearing a different name. However, the officer was familiar with her and knew the other name was a lie. It is also alleged the officer caught her trying to hide drugs on her person.

They were arrested.

During a search of the vehicle, officers allegedly found 10 cell phones, a methamphetamine bong made out of a childs juice cup, multiple torches, two vape pens, a meth pipe, a bottle with Cyclobenzaprine hydrochloride, a digital scale, four grams of methamphetamine, two ounces of marijuana, two loaded syringes, party bucket with miscellaneous drugs and paraphernalia, a marijuana pipe, a large quantity of sale baggies identical to one that held four grams of methamphetamine, a plastic tube with white powder that field-tested positive for methamphetamine and a black bag containing a meth kit.

It was also noted that Fortners warrant had been active for nine months and he has a history of fleeing charges and returning to California.

Now that Fortner has pleaded not guilty, a jury trial has been set for Oct. 25.
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has made an emotional appeal to his party workers to help in the ongoing rescue and rehabilitation operations in floods-hit Assam. "My thoughts are with our brothers and sisters in Assam facing unprecedented floods. Heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families," Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter.

"I urge Congress workers and leaders to continue extending assistance to rescue & rehabilitation operations," the former Congress chief said.

My thoughts are with our brothers and sisters in Assam facing unprecedented floods.



Heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. I urge Congress workers and leaders to continue extending assistance to rescue & rehabilitation operations.  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 23, 2022

The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Wednesday as 12 more people were killed and 55 lakh people affected across 32 districts with the rising Brahmaputra and Barak rivers inundating new areas.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also expressed concern over floods affecting the lives of lakhs of people in Assam and prayed for the safety of the people there.

"There is an appeal to all the workers of the Indian National Congress to stand with the sisters and brothers of Assam in this difficult time and provide all possible help in the relief work," she said in a tweet in Hindi.
Kickstarted in 2013, the sub-4m compact SUV space has now inflated itself to become the largest-one in the Indian market. The countrys second-largest carmaker - Hyundai, made a successful attempt to dive into this sales-friendly ocean with the Venue in 2019. The compact SUV made headlines as the first connected SUV of the country. It even held the best-seller spot for a long duration. Now in 2022, the Venue was due for a makeover in order to look fresh all over again. Hyundai addressed the need, launched the Venue facelift in our market, and made us spend some time with it. All of it to tell you folks if the 2022 Hyundai Venue facelift is worth buying or not. So, read on to find the answer.

2022 Hyundai Venue Facelift Review: New clothes!

Design is subjective, they say. Therefore, it is tough to please a large target audience with a cars looks. However, we feel that Hyundai has got a lot of things right for the Venue this time. The new radiator grille is humongous. It is wider than ever and is finished in dark chrome theme. Interestingly, it merges into the upper portion of vertically-split headlamps, which is revised as well.

Look around the chin, and you'll see that the bumper is a new unit. Also, the wider lower air dam helps in cutting the visual bulk. Sadly, the only change on the side profile is the new design for the 16-inch alloy wheels. They look nice but will be hard to clean and maintain. In fact, they feature a diamond-cut finish for added bling.

Step towards the rear end, and it surprisingly is beautiful. Gone are the old squarish tail lamps, and come in new sharp-looking units. Neatly infused with piano-black elements, the tail lamps are connected via a light bar. Together, these three individual elements form the letter H. The bumper follows a similar theme as the front one to kill the visual bulk. Collectively, all the visual changes on the Venue facelift add some fresh air to the compact SUVs exterior.

2022 Hyundai Venue Facelift Review: Revamped cabin!

Step inside the cabin and the Hyundai Venue facelift greets you with more colours this time. Of course, the feature list is longer too. Starting off with the cosmetic updates first, the interior is now finished in a two-tone theme. The lower half of the dashboard uses a lighter shade, which is also visible on the upholstery. It ostensibly makes the cabin feel airy. A sense of more space is also apparent.

The front seats are scooped-out to carve out more legroom and knee room for the rear seat occupants. We believe the change will be welcomed by taller occupants when they decide to get chauffeured. Also, the rear benchs seat back now brings a two-step recline function, making long hauls a tad bit more comfortable.

Coming to the feature list, add-ons include a new all-digital instrument cluster, which is legible in all sorts of lighting conditions. And as you switch driving modes, the interface shows up with different themes as well. Other additions to the feature list include an increased number of connected car features, Alexa and Google's voice assistant, ambient lighting, 4-way powered driver seat, and fast-charging Type-C ports.

Hyundai has also added 6 new Sounds of Nature ambient music to the updated Venue. Moreover, Hyundais keen eye for safety helps the compact SUV get a host of safety features as standard across all variants except the entry-spec E trim. The list includes - dual-front airbags, tyre pressure monitoring system, ABS with EBD, vehicle stability control, brake assist system, hill start assist, automatic headlamps and more.

The addition of ventilated front seats, although, wouldve been great as well. In summation, these changes do make the Venue facelift offer a posher in-cabin experience. The feature-loaded cabin tries to score high on safety, tech, and aesthetics in the new avatar of the Venue.

2022 Hyundai Venue Facelift Review: Improved performance?

In this regard, Hyundai hasnt changed much on the facelifted Venue, except for two major updates. Firstly, the Venue now gets driving modes. A total of three in fact, namely Eco, Sport, and Normal. Secondly, a new-gen DCT is what the Venue facelift gets with the 1.0L turbo-petrol motor.

The overall experience of the driving modes remains uncluttered. The Eco is best suited for urban runabouts to save fuel with a mileage-friendly gear shift pattern, as shifts happen early in the rev range. Move to Normal, and the Venue starts behaving rather progressively. In this mode, it is apt at making progress and delivering a decent fuel economy.

The Sport mode is only about extracting the most out of the turbo-petrol motor. Tuning is on the crispier side, and picking up pace and making quick overtake manoeuvres in this mode is an easy job. Also, Hyundai has managed to offer enough distinction between the three modes.

Talking of the new-gen DCT, it is relatively smoother than the outgoing unit. Shifts also feel quicker on the new transmission. However, only those with a keen eye will be able to take note of the distinction. Engine options and gearbox choices remain unchanged on the 2022 Hyundai Venue facelift, and this also makes us say that Hyundai couldve utilised this opportunity to offer the option of an automatic gearbox with the capable 1.5L oil burner.

2022 Hyundai Venue Facelift Review: Buyable in 2022?

The 2022 Hyundai Venue facelift doesnt look boring, and it is indeed a feature-packed car now. There are enough upgrades to help it stay fresh for the next couple of years. Since it always had a predictable handling and comfortable ride, it manages to tick another box on an Indian compact SUV buyers list. With prices starting from Rs 7.53 lakh (ex-showroom), the Venue facelift doesnt disappoint as being a value-for-money offering either. The entry point to the turbo-petrol and diesel trims is kept at roughly Rs 10 lakh, ex-showroom. With all of this, it feels right to say that the 2022 Hyundai Venue facelift is worth considering in the updated avatar. However, if you need a diesel-automatic compact SUV, look elsewhere.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Delhi High Court to replace the call sign VT, which is written on Indian aircraft and is said to stand for "Victorian Territory and Viceroy Territory," a relic of the British Raj. Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, a BJP leader and attorney who filed the PIL, claimed that because India is a "Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic," the Call Sign "VT" is in violation of the Rule of Law, the Right to Freedom, and the Right to Dignity of Persons guaranteed by Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.

The prefix `VT` stands for `Victorian Territory and Viceroy Territory,` which is the nationality code that each aircraft registered in India is required to carry. The Code is generally seen just before the rear exit door and above the windows. All the domestic airlines have the prefix, which is followed by unique alphabets that define the aircraft and who it belongs to. For example, on Indigo flights, the registration VT is followed by IDV, i.e., VT-IDV, for Jet, it is VT-JMV, the plea stated.

It further said the prefix marks that the aircraft had been registered in the country, and it is mandatory in all countries. The registration of the aircraft is required to appear in its Certificate of Registration, and an aircraft can only have one registration in one jurisdiction.

Also read: Pakistan International Airlines' Toronto-bound plane barred from Russian airspace over unpaid dues

The PIL contended that Britain set the prefix `VT` for India before the partition in 1929. The British set the code for all the colonies starting with V. However, countries like China, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka changed their codes later. While in India, the prefix has remained on the aircraft even after 93 years, which offends the right to dignity of citizens.

The registration is as per international laws, and every aircraft must specify which country and airline it belongs to, using a unique alpha-numeric code, which is of five characters, that is in IndiGo`s case VT-IDV, and for Jet, it is VT-JMV. In simple words, the call sign or the registration code is for the identification of the aircraft, it said.

The petitioner submitted that the registration number of Indian aircraft marks the legacy of `The British Raj`. `VT` code is a reflection of colonial rule. India is a sovereign country, hence cannot be a territory of the Viceroy. Why is India continuing with the VT code? The efforts of the government to change the registration code have been fruitless.

In 2004, the aviation ministry approached the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to change the code, but no decision has been taken so far. It is a code given to us in 1929 by British rulers, denoting us as British territory. India, even after 75 years of Independence, retains the symbol of slavery `VT`.

The use of the VT symbol denotes us still being Victorian Territory and Viceroy Territory, which is true. Still, the government refuses to get it changed or even make an effort even after 75 years of Independence. The petitioner submitted that most of the countries which went through colonial servitude have gotten rid of their colonial signs and launched nationalist codes.

The petitioner submitted that the call sign `VT` was assigned to India during the International Radiotelegraph Convention of Washington, signed at Washington on November 27, 1927. Like India, every country has a one-or-two-character alphanumeric code for the identity of aircraft. Like the US has `N`, the UK has `G`, UAE has `A6`, Singapore has `9V`, and so on. According to the World Factbook placed on the website of cia.gov, these codes indicate the nationality of civilian aircraft.

With inputs from IANS
Four additional Vietjet flights, including routes between Mumbai and Ho Chi Minh City/Hanoi and New Delhi/Mumbai and Phu Quoc, have been formally launched. As India and Vietnam celebrated their 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, the new lines' opening ceremony was staged in Mumbai while leaders from Ho Chi Minh City were in town. Phan Thi Thang, vice chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, as well as members from the Vietnamese consulate general in Mumbai, attended the occasion.



The Mumbai - Phu Quoc route will operate four weekly flights every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, starting September 9, 2022. The services between New Delhi and Phu Quoc will also commence on September 9, 2022, with three weekly flights on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. The Ho Chi Minh City/Hanoi  Mumbai routes started operation in early June 2022.

The two countries two first direct services connecting New Delhi with Ho Chi Minh City/Hanoi resumed operation earlier this year in April with the frequency of three to four flights per week for each route. Passengers can book these routes air tickets now, with fares starting as low as US$18 for one way.

Also read - Woman hops over passengers to get to her window seat on plane: Watch video

Nguyen Thanh Son, Vietjets Vice President, said: Vietjets Vietnam-India flight network expansion will boost and strengthen travel connectivity and trade ties between the two countries. We have been the first carrier operating direct services between Vietnams capital city Hanoi and its largest city of Ho Chi Minh with Indias capital city New Delhi.



Vietjets flight network covering up to six direct routes between Vietnam and India also marks a milestone in the two countries 50 years of diplomatic relations, since 1972. We will progressively expand the flight connection between the two countries in the coming time while constantly enhancing service quality and technology adoption to bring our passengers the best flying experience, Mr. Son added.
New Delhi: R S Sodhi, the managing director of India's largest dairy cooperative GCMMF, which sells its goods under the Amul name, was hospitalised on Wednesday night after suffering minor injuries in a car accident close to the Gujarati town of Anand, according to the police. Around nine o'clock in the evening, the car he was riding in hit a divider on the Anand-Bakrol road, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police B D Jadeja.

"Due to some unknown reasons, the car driver lost control over the vehicle, which led to the accident. The driver as well as Sodhi were immediately taken to a nearby hospital by the locals. Both are out of danger as they sustained minor injuries," he said. (ALSO READ: Markets bounce back in opening session after sharp fall in previous trade)

The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) is headquartered in Anand town. The company sells its products under the brand name Amul. Sodhi has been serving as the MD of the company since 2010. (ALSO READ: Google News re-opens in Spain after eight-year shutdown)

Meanwhile, Amul recently urged the Indian government to delay its planned ban on tiny plastic straws. According to the company, the move will have a "negative impact" on farmers and milk consumption in the world`s biggest producer of the commodity.

The firm made its appeal in a letter dated May 28. The letter was sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modis office ahead of a July 1 ban on straws packaged with small packs of juices and dairy products.

According to estimates, the market for small packs of juices and dairy products is pegged to be worth around $790 million. The Gujarat-based company sells billions of small dairy cartons with plastic straws attached every year.
New Delhi: Plastindia Foundation on Wednesday (June 22) announced that the plastic industry can accommodate one lakh 'Agniveers' once they complete their four years term with the Indian army under the newly introduced scheme. The apex body of all plastics associations in India representing the industry said in a statement that the industry wholeheartedly supports the Government of India's Agnipath scheme.

Jigish Doshi, President, Plastindia Foundation, said, "The industry today comprises more than 50,000 processing units. The Indian plastics industry is growing at a rapid pace with production and consumption increasing manyfold in the last three decades. The vibrant industry needs a young and dynamic workforce to drive growth. We are delighted to announce that we can induct at least 1 lakh Agniveers in the industry." (ALSO READ: Amul MD R S Sodhi hospitalised after road accident in Gujarat, sustains minor injuries)

Currently, the plastic industry employs more than 4 million people directly. Also, about 40 million people indirectly across the country. (ALSO READ: Samsung Australia fined $9.7 million over false water-resistance claims)

"However, the demand for manpower is increasing in this high-growth industry. We are confident that Agniveers will help take the industry to greater heights," he added.

The Agnipath project, pegged as a revolutionary government initiative to modernise the nation's armed forces and give young people the opportunity to serve their country, has been recently introduced by the Central government.

However, irked with the terms of the scheme, several parts of the country witnessed protests after its announcement. The scheme seeks to recruit youths between the age bracket of 17-and-a-half years to 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years. For 2022, the upper age limit has been extended to 23 years.

-- With PTI inputs.
New Delhi: Actor Rashmika Mandanna has invested in Plum, the vegan beauty and personal care brand announced on Thursday (June 23). The Pushpa: The Rise movie actor has also come on board as the brand ambassador of the Thane-based company. However, the details of the investment such as the invested amount and equity issued to the celebrity. According to the company, the partnership with Mandanna will help create new pathways for customer acquisitions. The brand will reportedly aim to improve its presence among the Gen Z and millennial audiences.

Plum had raised funds for the first time in 2018. However, so far, the company has moped up more than $50 million from various institutional investors. It recently raised $35 million in a funding round led by A91 Partners in March 2022. (ALSO READ: Samsung Australia fined $9.7 million over false water-resistance claims)

CEO and Founder of Plum Shankar Prasad said that since the first funding round, the brand has grown nearly 15x. He noted that the brand is delighted to have Rashmika on board as the company looks forward to reinforcing its brand connect with consumers. She is a popular youth icon and fits very well with the brand ethos of Plum, with her real, approachable persona, he was quoted as saying in a report by BusinessLine. (ALSO READ: Plastic industry can accommodate 1 lakh Agniveers: Plastindia Foundation)

Plum is currently aiming to double its annual recurring revenue (ARR) over the next 12 months. The brand must be hoping that the new deal with the popular actor will help it increase its revenues.

At a current ARR of about 300 crores on a net revenue basis, Plums goal is to double that number over the next 12 months. We plan to expand our online presence and offline footprint across India and further scale up production, launch innovative new products and employ great talent, he was quoted as saying.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk often likes to pull the legs of various brands people and hence is subjected to similar kinds of comments from others. Recently, French carmaker Citron took a jibe at Elon Musk after recording a quick sale on its limited-edition Ami buggy electric car. It is to be noted that the French automaker sold all the 50 units of the electric car in less than 18 minutes using its digital platform. Taking a dig at Tesla and Elon Musk, Citroen put up banners of the Ami buggy with a message saying, "Sorry Elon, the only way to get one is to buy us."

Citroen's message for Elon Musk was displayed on a billboard in French at Paris' Gare de L'Est train station. The French automaker interprets the remark as a jab at the Tesla CEO, presumably alluding to his desire to acquire other businesses. In a recent unanimous vote, the board of the social media site approved Musk's $44 billion takeover offer for Twitter.

It is essential to mention that the Citroen Ami electric car was launched back in April 2020. The electric car has created a space for itself in the market, with more than 22,000 units of the Ami on road. The electric vehicle has its major hold in the markets of Europe, Turkey, and Morocco.

Also read: Tata Nexon EV catches fire in Mumbai, heres what the company has to say

Starting at 9,790 euros, the carmaker's limited edition My Ami Buggy is available for purchase (roughly converted to around 8.09 lakh). The small electric vehicle lacks a typical roof. Citroen instead offers a canvas roof that can be rolled back as needed. Metal tube gates are also present.

Talking about the Ami, it is a small-sized mini-electric car, it has a length of 2.41 meters, a width of 1.390 meters, and a height of 1.52 meters. Moreover, the car touches the ground with 14-inch wheels. The EV draws its power from a 6-kilowatt electric motor and a 5.5 kWh battery pack.
Amidst a series of electric scooter fire incidents, a new incident of an electric car catching fire has come to light. In the new incident, a Tata Nexon EV caught fire in the Vasai West near Panchvati hotel in a Mumbai Suburb area of Maharashtra. The video of the electric compact SUV is doing rounds on the internet, receiving mixed reactions from the netizens. Based on the video, the fire was controlled on time, and no one was injured in the incident. However, the reason for the fire in the SUV is not known yet.

Tata Motors has clarified its stance on the incident and has said that the company will investigate the incident. In their words, " A detailed investigation is currently being conducted to ascertain the facts of the recent isolated thermal incident that is doing the rounds on social media. We will share a detailed response after our complete investigation. We remain committed to the safety of our vehicles and their users. This is the first incident after more than 30,000 EVs have cumulatively covered over 1 million km across the country in nearly 4 years. "

In case you missed it @hormazdsorabjee



EV fires will happen. Happens in all global products too. EV fires are much less frequent than ICE fires. https://t.co/gGowsWTKZV  Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) June 23, 2022

Retweeting the video of the burning Tata Nexon EV, Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola Electric CEO said, "In case you missed it, @hormazdsorabjee EV fires will happen. Happens in all global products too. EV fires are much less frequent than ICE fires."

Also read: Electric vehicle sales likely to grow by 33 per cent by 2028  Report

It is to be noted that the series of arguments on the EV fire incidents started with the Ola Electric scooter catching fire in the heat of Pune. Following that, there have been numerous fire incidents involving multiple brands like Pure EV, Okinawa Autotech, Jitendra EV, and some others.

Earlier, the Government ordered an investigation into these fire incidents and found that the EV makers were at fault. Meanwhile, some of the EV makers also recalled their models involved in the fire incident.
New Delhi: One of the most talked-about Tamil web series 'Suzhal - The Vortex' is making waves on OTT. Several celebrities across industries including Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Vidya Balan, Bhumi Pednekar, Vikrant Massey, Hansal Mehta, and Anurag Kashyap to name a few. The series is on fans' binge-list since it premiered on June 17, 2022, on Amazon Prime Video. The show stars Kathir, Aishwarya Rajesh, Sriya Reddy and Radhakrishnan Parthiban in primary roles. Suzhal makers Pushkar and Gayatri in an interview with Zee News Digital open up on the success of season 1 and much more:

Q. Did you anticipate this kind of response from celebs across industries?

A. Pushkar - Truthfully no, not at all. At least not this quickly. I knew our extended group of friends would eventually watch it over the first week or by the second weekend and would get back to us with their comments and all that. But we really didn't think that people from the industry would watch it so quickly. And so magnanimously respond to it.

Gayatri - Yeah, I mean, that's been only and mainly made us really happy.

Q. What led to the creation of Suzhal?

A. Pushkar - I think what we were looking at doing something which was long-form because we've been watching shows from all across the world and there's always that need that we should have an Indian show which is like this. So I guess that was one driving cause. So there was a script which was the setting around and which couldn't fit into a feature film and then there was this need and we are watching a show from Korea we are watching a show from South America. Where is that Indian show, which we want to watch? And I guess that's what led to this.

Q. Are you planning a season 2?

A. Gayatri - Yeah, we are actually, the research work is going on and kind of started writing and actually right now we are looking at all the feedback and then a couple of questions over thinking.

Pushkar - So yeah, I mean, the idea is very strongly planted. Now it is about putting pen to paper.

Q. With regional cinema ruling the roost, do you think it will taste the same success on OTT?

A. Pushkar - We hope it travels across languages and across the country to other territories across the world. Do we know if it will happen? Only time will tell? But we are hoping it does please.

Q. Which actors do you look forward to working with next?

A. Pushkar - Whoever is right for a particular character which we write, I think that is the starting point you would still go with. This is the story this is the character and now who's the right person to play it. So that would be the process rather than starting from, hey, I want to work with this actor. Now. Can I create a story for this person?

Q. Let us about your future projects

A. Pushkar - Right now, Vikram Vedha post-production is going on, which will be released by the end of September, September 30 is the release date. What's coming after that? Right now, We don't have a clue. We have two scripts, which are in pretty advanced stages. So we would look at writing them out, and then see how it all falls into place.
Agnipath: On June 14, PM Narendra-Modi-led NDA government approved the Agnipath scheme, a new recruitment policy to induct the youth into the defence forces. The scheme, which was hailed as a long-pending reform in the armed forces hiring process, didnt go down well with a section of people that took to the streets to register their dissatisfaction against the new scheme. The so-called protest turned into an aggressive and violent outrage across the nation resulting in the burning down of trains, and buses, vandalism of public property worth lakhs and the death of an agitator in Telanganas Securandabad.

The Centre and armed forces that were actively involved in the brainstorming and framing of the scheme had time and again reiterated that such an intemperate response was never anticipated. On the ground, many defence aspirants, especially the ones not involved in the outrage and willing to enrol themselves under the Agnipath scheme accept that they still have no clarity on the nitty-gritty related to the scheme.

However, the degree and extent of the violent outrage are reminiscent of the recently concluded farm laws protests that went on for more than a year on various borders of Delhi. Whats common in both the Farm laws agitation and the Agneepath outrage? The answer is Ineffective communication of the policy by the Indian government to the stakeholders of the Agnipath scheme.

Information was released in bits and pieces

We were susceptible to the scheme at first when it was announced and wanted to know more, however, the full information addressing the concerns of the aspirants was hardly available. This honestly added to the anger and frustration, said one Defence aspirant on the condition of anonymity.

Even if the documents were there, those were not accessible. In short, we didnt have the answers to our concerns when we needed them. For days, we were confused if Agneepath will be the only recruitment process or will there be other ways. The govt also gave no clarity on whether the candidates who had cleared the physical examination as per the previous policy will be considered or what will happen to them, he added.

For the first two days, I wasnt clear if the Agnipath recruitment will be for non-commissioned ranks or the officers will also be hired through it. The age-limit factor was also one confusion, for a long time we didnt know if it was 21 or 23 years, said Sneham Mukherjee, student and defence aspirant.

Former Army Chief General VP Malik agrees that the government failed to communicate its message to the stakeholders of the Agneepath scheme properly and adequately, which in turn added fuel to the fire.

I think we could have avoided this level of outrage if there was comprehensive communication on the governments part. Some facts of the scheme could have been conveyed in a better manner rather than being released in stages. However, the government outreach alone wasnt responsible for this mayhem, added Gen Malik.

Language of the Agnipath documents

Geostrategic & Military Analyst and Army Veteran Colonel Rohit Dev, who has been actively following the developments around Agnipath, believes that there has been no lack of information on the newly launched scheme but the availability and accessibility of these documents are a concern.

I do agree that communication could have been more robust, however, we must understand with military announcements, a certain level of secrecy has to be maintained, as an untimely leak of information might lead to premature litigation, said Col Dev

Talking about the language of Agneepath documents, Col Dev said Theres more than enough literature on the scheme at present, so apparently theres no shortage of information on this. However, one factor is that most people dont read such bulky text and one is limited by the content in the media and that causes more anxiety.

During a conversation with Zee Media, Col Dev highlighted a pertinent point about the language of the documents.

I have been raising it for a long time now, that unless we have a multilingual dissemination of information, such miscommunications will keep happening and one has observed it to be to our peril and at cost of tarnishing of our global image by inimical, said Col Dev.

The best thing that could have done was that all the information should have been kept prepared in English, Hindi and other vernacular languages; ready to be released soon after the Scheme was announced added Col Dev.

Relaxations and quotas are not a reaction to the protests

Col Dev, while talking to Zee Media said that the quotas and relaxations being announced for the Agniveers are no amendments as such in reaction to the widespread protests but were a part of the Agneepath Scheme from the very beginning.

These announcements shouldnt be called amendments. These are Follow-Up Actions that were formulated in collaboration with various public sector entities and Ministries at the time of policy making. This in no way is in reaction to the protests and the arson said Col Dev

These announcements will keep coming in as policy refinements happen with concerned departments and we must not term their amendments, as they are more of Work In Progress matters, as planned he added while beseeching the Youth not to get waylaid and not to resort to arson etc as it not only leads to the destruction of property and assets but also tarnishes the global image and branding of our Nation
New Delhi: AIIMS Delhi Director Dr Randeep Guleria is likely to get an extension by three months, sources said. According to the sources, the top decision-making authorities have agreed regarding the extension of Dr Guleria as AIIMS Director. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), which is headed by the Prime Minister, has asked Union Health Ministry for more names for consideration for the post of director of the AIIMS.

Sources said it doesn`t mean the names which were given earlier after being shortlisted by search-cum-selection committee will not be considered.

The search-cum-selection committee earlier shortlisted three names of doctors who were approved by the institute`s body and these were sent to the ACC for approval.

ALSO READ | Lancet study finds symptoms of long-covid in 46% children post infection, details here

The names of doctors recommended earlier are Dr Nikhil Tandon, Head of the Department of Endocrinology, Dr Rajesh Malhotra, Chief of AIIMS Trauma Centre, and Dr Pramod Garg, Professor in the Department of Gastroenterology at AIIMS, Delhi.
Was there no news to the intelligence about the divisions created within Shiv Sena? Ncp Chief Sharad Pawar questioned why the State's Home Department and intelligence Department did not get any information even though a group of MLAs left Maharashtra and went to Gujarat. Pawar has slammed the State's Home Minister and his own party leader Dilip Walse Patil in this regard. He also posed the same question to his party's State President Jayant Patil.

Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil belonged to the NCP. Minister of State for Home Shambhuraj Desai was from Shiv Sena. He is also one of the rebel Minister MLA. So what kept Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray completely in the dark about the situation in the state. And what was the State's Home Minister doing at the time. Sharad Pawar asks, did the CMO not have any information about the fact that a top Shiv Sena leader (Eknath Shinde), along with three ministers, left Mumbai with more than two dozen MLAs and went to Surat on Monday?

Also Read: Maharashtra Crisis: Support of 49 MLAs with Eknath Shinde! Uddhav Thackeray holds a meeting with 13 ONLY

According to sources, Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil and State Party President Jayant Patil met Pawar at his residence in Mumbai on Wednesday to resolve the political crisis in Maharashtra. In a meeting with the party leader and the Ministers, Pawar reportedly expressed his displeasure over the intelligence failure. An NCP source said Pawar was very upset. He expressed his anger to the party leaders and ministers. He also wondered why the state's intelligence department could not warn the government about the rebellion.

According to sources, Sharad Pawar blamed the entire Maha Vikas Aghadhi leadership for not knowing about the Shiv Sena's rebellion. Whether the leaders were sleeping or panicked, he asked.
Guwahati: The eastern state of Assam is reeling under a devastating flood with 54.50 lakh people being affected and over 100 people losing their lives so far this year. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, seven people lost their lives in the last 24 hours (Thursday, June 23). Till now, 107 people have lost their lives (90 in floods and 17 in landslides).

The flooding has led to extensive loss of life and property and displacement of millions of people over the last week. Addressing the situation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the central government is closely monitoring the situation. "Over the last few days, parts of Assam have witnessed flooding due to heavy rainfall. The Central government is continuously monitoring the situation in Assam and is working closely with the state government to provide all possible assistance to overcome this challenge."

Modi further said, "The Army and NDRF teams are present in the flood-affected areas. They are conducting evacuation operations and assisting those who are affected. The Air Force has conducted over 250 sorties as a part of the evacuation process."

Over the last few days, parts of Assam have witnessed flooding due to heavy rainfall. Central Govt is continuously monitoring the situation in Assam and is working closely with the State Government to provide all possible assistance to overcome this challenge: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/orRodZk4l5  ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2022

Meanwhile, Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama has donated Rs 10 lakh to support flood relief work in Assam and expressed grief over the hardship caused to people due to the calamity. In a letter to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, he said he appreciates that the agencies concerned are doing everything to rescue those affected and provide them with relief. "As a mark of my solidarity with the people of Assam, I am donating Rs 10,00,000 from the Gaden Phodrang Trust of the Dalai Lama to support these agencies," the letter read.

About 17,500 people have been rescued till so far from the flood-affected areas of Assam, the NDRF said on Thursday. Of these, 900 were rescued on Thursday, a spokesperson of the National Disaster Response Force stated in an update issued at 5 pm. The official said a total of 26 NDRF teams are operating in 14 flood-affected districts of the state and they are working in coordination with state authorities.
Guwahati: The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Thursday with over 54.5 lakh people still affected and 12 fresh deaths reported, officials said. The toll due to the flood since mid-May is now 101, they said. Brahmaputra and Barak rivers along with its tributaries are in spate in most of the affected districts and vast tracts of land remained inundated in 32 of the total 36 districts in the state. The flood waters, however, receded in a few places. Altogether 3658 persons were evacuated with the help of 276 boats across the state by NDRF, SDRF and other agencies during the day, according to the bulletin.

Over 14,500 marooned people have been rescued by the NDRF in 12 flood-affected districts of Assam, an official said.

ALSO READ: PM Modi should visit flood-hit Assam instead of toppling Maharashtra govt: Congress MP's sharp attack

The 1st Battalion Disaster Response Force of NDRF swung into rescue operations in the affected districts and deployed more than 70 boats and 400 men in the heavily flooded districts, its assistant commandant Santosh Kumar Singh told PTI.

Assam | Rescue team wades through water on boats amid flooded lanes of Silchar town, Cachar district which continues to be submerged pic.twitter.com/BqEUEhiQzK  ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2022

An additional eight teams from other battalions with 207 personnel were airlifted to Silchar since Tuesday, he said.

The rescue operations are being conducted by NDRF in Kamrup, Kamrup Rural, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Bajali, Hojai, Nalbari, Darang, Tamulpur, Nagaon, Udalguri, and Cachar, Singh said.

The force is also engaged in assisting the district administrations in distributing relief materials to the affected people, he said.

According to the Central Water Commission (CWC) bulletin Kopili river is flowing above the danger level at Kampur in Nagaon district, Disang river in Sivasagar, Brahmaputra at Nimatighat, Tezpur, Goalpara and Dhubri, Barak river at Karimganj, Cachar and Hailakandi district and Kushiara at Karimganj.

The Barak Valley districts - Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj were severely hit by the rising water of Barak and Kushiara rivers. Silchar town is submerged for the last four days due to a breach in an embankment.

A total 2,32,002 people have been affected by the flood in 565 villages in Cachar district, 2,81,271 in 469 villages of Karimganj and over 51,000 in 98 villages in Hailakandi.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is scheduled to visit Silchar on Thursday to review the flood situation in the Valley. A total population 54,57,601 were affected in 32 districts of the state.

The worst affected districts are Barpeta where 11,29,390 are affected, followed by Kamrup with 7,89,496, Dhubri with 5,97,153 and Nagaon with 5,03,450 people in the flood, according to a bulletin of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on Thursday.

Urban flooding was reported from Cachar, Darrang, Goalpara, Karimganj and Morigaon.

The devastating floods caused by incessant rainfall has affected 112 revenue circles and 4941 villages forcing 2,71,125 people to take shelter in 845 relief camps, it said.

Relief materials were distributed from 1026 delivery points among the flood hit who have not taken shelter in the relief camps.

Landslides were reported from Bethany village in Dima Hasao district and 19 houses were damaged at various locations at Barthal in Karimganj, according to the ASDMA bulletin. The flood has damaged 218 roads and 20 bridges, besides breaching two embankments in Kamrup district. A crop area of 99,026 hectares and 33,17,086 animals have been affected. Large scale erosion was also reported from Baksa, Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nalbari and Udalguri, the ASDMA said.
Assam HS Result 2022: Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) is likely to announce the Class 12 results on 30 June. According to media reports AHSEC Controller Of Exam Pankaj Borthakur said "The HS, 12th result 2022 will be announced by June 30, not this week."Over 2 lakh students are waiting for their AHSEC Class 12th Result 2022 to be declared. All students are advised to keep a close eye on more updates and information related to Assam HSC Class 12 results 2022. Once the results will be declared, candidates can check and download Assam their marksheets on the official website, ahsec.assam.gov.in and resultsassam.nic.in.

The HS exams were held from 15th March 2022 and ended on 12th April 2022 and around 2.5 lakh students appeared for the exam. Assam HS Result 2022 is expected to be released by state Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma.

Assam HS Result 2022: Heres how you can check Assam class 12 results

- Go to the official website of the Assam Board  resultsassam.nic.in

- On the homepage, click on Assam Class 12th results 2022

- Enter your roll number and other details

- Your screen will reveal the Assam High School Result 2022

- Download and take a print of your result for future reference

Earlier, Assam board declared class 10th result where A total of 405582 candidates appeared for HSLC exam in Assam, of whom 229131 or 56.49% have passed.
Assam Summer Vacation: Amid the devastating flood scenario in Assam. The Assam Government decided to prepone the summer vacation for schools. State Education Minister Ranoj Pegu stated that government schools will remain closed from June 25 to July 25. Minister Pegu made the announcement in Janata Bhawan, Guwahati. The education minister said that the summer vacation has been preponed by a few days amid the worsening flood situation in the state. He added that usually summer vacations start from July 1st week but they have decided to prepone this time as most of the schools remain closed in several districts due to flood.

The education minister further said that the ongoing examinations will end by June 25 after which the schools will remain closed for summer vacation.

The minister also urged the private educational institutions to follow the same order for the convenience of the students as well as for the teachers.

Earlier, the Gauhati University (GU) has decided to postpone the Post Graduate examination under Gauhati University and its affiliated colleges.

Assam has been massively hit by flood waters and almost all the districts have been affected. Till now, around 50 lakh people have been affected by floods in Assam and around 100 people have lost their lives so far. A total of 845 relief camps and 1025 relief distribution centres have been set up by the district administrations in the affected districts where over 2.71 lakh people are taking shelters.
The possibility of a turnaround in Maharashtra is getting stronger. It's like a kind of crisis. It was in this context that this time, Eknath Shinde gave condition to Uddhav Thackeray. He said, "There is no trust in Uddhav's words, resign first. Uddhav Thackeray must quit as chief minister before leaving the alliance." Uddhav Thackeray left the chief minister's residence Varsha on Wednesday night and returned back to his home, Matoshree. The items were first taken out of the Chief Minister's residence in large bags on Wednesday night. Uddhav Thackeray then left the Chief Minister's residence in a car. Uddhav Thackeray's wife and two sons got out in another car. He then reached his ancestral residence Matoshree.

In the meantime, the rebel MLAs are currently staying at a hotel in Guwahati. According to sources, 17 Shiv Sena MPs are in touch with rebel leader Eknath Shinde. The Eknath Shinde camp claims to have 49 MLAs with them. Among them, 7 are independent MLAs. The Shinde camp claims that the number of rebel MLAs will increase further. According to sources, the BJP may form a cabinet with Shinde as the deputy Chief Minister. According to sources, Shinde may form a new team. It needs the support of 37 MLAs. With this support, the anti-defection law cannot be implemented against those MLAs. According to sources, Shinde is likely to write to the Governor after a meeting with the rebel MLAs today. According to the MLA's statistics, if this situation is true, then the Uddhav-government is on the verge of collapse.

On the other hand, 13 Shiv Sena MLAs, including Aaditya Thackeray, held a meeting at Matoshree today. However, Uddhav Thackeray cancelled the meeting with the administrative secretaries today, raising speculation of his resignation. NCP Chief Sharad Pawar also held a meeting with party MLAs at his residence in Mumbai today. On the crisis in the Uddhav government, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut claimed that the party is still strong. It will not be broken as a few MLAs have left.
Abhishek's wife Rujira Banerjee responds to the summons of the ED (Enforcement Directorate). With her son in her arms, Rujira Banerjee appeared at the CGO complex in Kolkata. She entered the ED office around 11am on Thursday. She has been summoned for questioning in the coal smuggling case. The Supreme Court had ordered that Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife should be interrogated in Kolkata and not in Delhi. Following the order, the ED had sent the letter on Wednesday itself. ED had also sent a letter to the Kolkata Police regarding security. Therefore, security was tight at the CGO complex premises since this morning. No central government employee was allowed to enter other offices in the CGO complex without identity cards. According to sources, special investigation officers from Delhi arrived in Kolkata this morning to interrogate Rujira.

Abhishek's wife reached the CGO complex in her car around 11.08 pm. She had her son Ayansh in her arms. It is to be noted that Rujira appeared at the ED office for the first time in the coal smuggling case. She had been summoned to Delhi several times before. At that time, the Banerjee couple had said that their two children were small. It is not possible for Rujira to attend Delhi by keeping them alone at home. So the Supreme Court had ordered that Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife should be interrogated in Kolkata and not in Delhi.

Abhishek and Rujira's plea were initially not recognised by the ED. Their plea has also been dismissed by the Delhi High Court. In the end, they were granted relief in the Supreme Court. The apex court directed that ED officials can come to Kolkata and question Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira Banerjee in connection with the coal smuggling case and not in Delhi. However, kolkata police will have to see to it that no unwanted incident takes place during the interrogation. ED have to inform about the interrogation with a letter in advance.

It is to be noted that several CBI raids have been conducted at Abhishek-Rujira's house in the past. Rujira's relatives and friends have also been questioned by the investigating agency.
New Delhi: India logged 13,313 new Covid-19 infections and 38 fatalities in the last 24 hours amid scare of a fourth coronavirus wave. As per the official data, the total coronavirus caseload has mounted to 4,33,44,958 while the death toll stands at 5,24,941. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.03% and the weekly positivity rate at 2.81 per cent, as per the Union Health Ministry on Thursday (June 23). The total active cases have increased to 83,990 from 81,687, they comprise 0.19 per cent of the total infections. The ministry said the national coronavirus recovery rate was at 98.60 per cent.

Earlier on Wednesday, India reported 12,249 fresh cases and 13 deaths.

India's total coronavirus tally had breached the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, while on January 25, 2022, the caseload surpassed four crore mark.

Delhi on Wednesday saw a dip in the new Covid-19 cases with 928 fresh infections in the last 24 hours, the bulletin by Delhi government said. Mumbai too saw a drop in daily coronavirus cases, with 1,648 new infections down from 1,781 a day earlier. Two deaths were reported in the Maharashtra capital, as per official data on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the spike in Covid-19 cases across the country, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will chair a review meeting with the core team of experts today, ANI reported. Mandaviya had earlier chaired a meeting via video conferencing on June 13 with Health Ministers and senior officials of States and Union Territories (UTs), wherein he assessed the progress of the vaccination exercise HarGharDastak 2.0 campaign. "COVID is not over yet. There are reports of rising cases of COVID in some states. It is important at this time to be alert and not forget COVID Appropriate behaviour (CAB) such as wearing masks and maintaining physical distance to prevent the spread of the infection," the Union Health Minister had stressed.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya is scheduled to chair a review meeting with the core team of experts on Thursday (June 23, 2022) amid rising COVID-19 cases in the country. According to a report in news agency ANI, Mandaviya will review the Covid situation with the core team of experts at the meeting and discuss the spike in the number of Covid cases in the country. Sources have also confirmed that the meeting will be held in physical format today afternoon.

India has been witnessing a spike in daily Covid cases for the past few days. After a decline on Tuesday, India again reported a rise on Wednesday with 12,249 fresh Covid infections.

Earlier, on June 13, Mandaviya chaired a meeting through video conferencing with Health Ministers and senior officials of States and Union Territories (UTs) to review the progress of the vaccination exercise HarGharDastak 2.0 campaign.

ALSO READ | Lancet study finds symptoms of long-covid in 46% children post infection, details here

"COVID is not over yet. There are reports of rising cases of COVID in some states. It is important at this time to be alert and not forget COVID Appropriate behaviour (CAB) such as wearing masks and maintaining physical distance to prevent spread of the infection", he had stressed.

In the meeting, the Union Health Minister had also highlighting increased case positivity in some districts and States and reduced COVID-19 testing. He had stressed that timely testing will enable early identification of COVID cases and help to curb spread of the infection among the community.

Additionally, Mandaviya had urged States/UTs to continue and strengthen the surveillance and focus on genome sequencing for identifying new mutants/variants in the country. He stated that the five-fold strategy of Test, Track, Treat, Vaccination and Adherence to Covid Appropriate Behavior (CAB) needs to be continued and monitored by States/UTs.

Stressing on the importance of COVID vaccination among the vulnerable age groups, he urged the State Health Ministers to personally review the status and progress of the special month-long drive Har Ghar Dastak 2.0 campaign which has started on June 1.

Mandaviya had said, "Let us accelerate our efforts to identify all beneficiaries in the 12-17 age group for the first and second doses, so they can attend schools with the protection of the vaccine".

"Our healthcare workers are going door-to-door to ensure that the vulnerable population is administered the precaution dose", he said.

(With agency inputs)
Mumbai: As the political crisis in Maharashtra deepens, beleaguered chief minister Uddhav Thackeray found support from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition. NCP chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai announced that the MVA will support the CM. "The MVA has decided to back CM Uddhav Thackeray. I believe once the (Shiv Sena) MLAs return to Mumbai, the situation will change," Pawar said.

While he didn't directly name the BJP, but Pawar hinted that the party was behind the current crisis in the state. "Everyone knows how the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs were taken to Gujarat and then Assam. We don't have to take the names of all those assisting them... Assam Government is helping them. I don't need to take any names further," the NCP chief. Himanata Biswa Sarma led-BJP is at the helm in Assam.

Sharad Pawar added that whether the Maharashtra government is in minority or not has to be established in Vidhan Sabha. "When procedures are followed, it will be proved that this government is in majority," he said. The veteran leader said that this situation isn't new for the state. "We have seen such situations in Maharashtra several times. With my experience, I can say that we will defeat this crisis, and the government under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray will run smoothly," he added.

Earlier, NCP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had also expressed his solidarity. "We will stand will Uddhav Thackeray ji till the end. We are keeping an eye on the current political situation," Ajit Pawar said. "We will do all we can to save the alliance government," said Ajit Pawar, a senior leader of the NCP. "I spoke to Uddhav Thackeray over the phone (about the political crisis)," he said.

The MVA has been pushed to the brink after a section of Shiv Sena MLAs, led by Cabinet minister Eknath Shinde, raised a banner of revolt against the party leadership. Ajit Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio, rejected criticism that he has denied development funds to MVA allies Congress and the Shiv Sena. "I have never discriminated against anyone. There was never any cut on budgetary funds," he said.

Also read: 'Send rebel MLAs to Bengal, I will...': Don't MISS Mamata Banerjee's EPIC suggestion for Shiv Sena

To a question on Sena MP Sanjay Raut's comments that his party was open to considering quitting the ruling bloc if dissident MLAs return to Mumbai and hold talks with the CM, Ajit Pawar said, "It is his prerogative. We will ask Uddhav Thackeray about it. Maybe this was spoken to bring the rebels back to the party fold." Asked if the opposition BJP had a role to play in the ongoing political crisis, Ajit Pawar said, "So far, no top BJP leader has been seen in the forefront."

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: India on Thursday (June 23, 2022) resumed its diplomatic presence in Kabul as it deployed a team in its embassy in the Afghan capital, over 10 months after it pulled out its officials from the mission following the Taliban's capture of power. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement, said an Indian technical team has reached Kabul on Thursday and has been deployed in the embassy there.

The reopening of the embassy came three weeks after an Indian team led by JP Singh, MEA's point person for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, visited Kabul and met acting Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi and some other members of the Taliban dispensation.

"In order to closely monitor and coordinate the efforts of various stakeholders for the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance and in continuation of our engagement with the Afghan people, an Indian technical team has reached Kabul today and has been deployed in our embassy there," the Ministry of External Affairs said. "Recently, another Indian team visited Kabul to oversee the delivery operations of our humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and met with senior members of the Taliban," it said, referring to the visit to Kabul by the Singh-led team.

Also read: Afghanistan earthquake: 'India ready to provide disaster relief material', says PM Modi

The MEA said an assessment of the security situation was also carried out during the visit of that team. "Our longstanding links with Afghan society and our development partnership including humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan, will continue to guide our approach going forward," the MEA said. It said India has a historical and civilisational relationship with the people of Afghanistan. The MEA has been maintaining that the embassy was not shut as the local staff continued to function at the mission.
New Delhi: Taking a jibe at his political opponent Kamal Nath who has been appointed as All India Congress Committee (AICC) observer as a political crisis unfolds in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday (June 22) asked how will he save the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government when he could not save his own in MP. Claiming Congress is counting its last moments, Chouhan said, Kamal Nath (MP Congress chief and former MP CM) has gone to Maharashtra... how will someone who couldn`t save his own govt in Madhya Pradesh, save the Maharashtra government?... Congress is counting its last moments. The MP CM made the remarks while addressing a public rally in Ujjain.

The Congress on Tuesday had appointed senior leader and former MP CM Kamal Nath as an AICC observer in Maharashtra in the wake of the ongoing political turmoil. On Wednesday, Kamal Nath met NCP president Sharad Pawar in Mumbai and held a phone call with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. After meeting Nath at Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, Pawar tweeted they talked about the "forthcoming Presidential elections and various other issues".

#WATCH | ...Kamal Nath (MP Congress chief & former MP CM) has gone to Maharashtra... how will someone who couldn't save his own govt in Madhya Pradesh, save the Maharashtra govt?... Congress is counting its last moments: Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in Ujjain (22.06) pic.twitter.com/7Aw86xAd32  ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) June 22, 2022

The Congress, with 44 MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly, is in power along with Shiv Sena and NCP in the state.

Maharashtra political crisis

Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde went incommunicado on Tuesday morning, following a suspected cross-voting in Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) polls a day earlier. He was found camping at a hotel on Dumas road along with over 30 rebel MLAs in Surat city after their arrival on Monday night. Shinde flew to Guwahati in Assam from Surat early Wednesday morning along with the other rebel MLAs. The four-time MLA has demanded Shiv Sena tie-up with former ally BJP.

Uddhav Thackeray vacates CM house

As the threat to his government increased, Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday night vacated the official CM residence. The move came after he reached out to Shiv Sena dissidents and offered to quit. However, rebel leader and state cabinet minister Eknath Shinde stayed firm on his demand that Shiv Sena should walk out of "unnatural" ruling alliance MVA and claimed support of "enough number" of MLAs. The CM moved out of 'Varsha', his official residence in south Mumbai, and shifted to Matoshri, the private bungalow of the Thackeray family in suburban Bandra. Notably, Shiv Sena has maintained that Uddhav Thackeray will not resign in the wake of the political crisis.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: Union Minister Raosaheb Patil Danve on Wednesday (June 22) denied that BJP will stake a claim to form the government in Maharashtra amid the ongoing political turmoil in the state. Terming the political crisis in Maharashtra as Uddhav Thackeray-led partys internal matter, Danve claimed that no Shiv Sena MLA is in touch with the BJP. We haven`t spoken to Eknath Shinde. This is Shiv Sena`s internal matter. BJP has nothing to do with this. We`re not staking claim to form the government," he was quoted as saying by ANI. Danve, who is Minister of State for Railways, made the statement after his meeting with BJP leader and former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis.

However, as per sources, Fadnavis is likely to meet Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari today and submit a list of party MLAs and also inform him about the support from the independent and non-BJP MLAs.

ALSO READ: 'Aur ab Maharashtra nikal gaye Kamal Nath': MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan mocks Congress- Watch

Meanwhile, as the threat to his government increased, Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday night vacated the official CM residence. The move came after he reached out to Shiv Sena dissidents and offered to quit. However, rebel leader and state cabinet minister Eknath Shinde stayed firm on his demand that Shiv Sena should walk out of "unnatural" ruling alliance MVA and claimed support of "enough number" of MLAs. The CM moved out of 'Varsha', his official residence and shifted to his private residence Matoshri.

Earlier addressing Shiv Sainiks and rebel party MLAs, the Maharashtra CM said, "Why make statements from Surat (where rebels headed first on Monday night) and other places. Come and tell me on my face that I am incompetent to handle the post of Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president. I will resign immediately. I will keep my resignation letter ready and you can come and take it to the Raj Bhavan." Eknath Shinde has claimed the support of over 40 MLAs, which has threatened the future of the Shiv Sena-led MVA government.

(With agency inputs)
Guwahati: Assam Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should visit flood-hit Assam instead of toppling the Maharashtra government. "If there`s a crisis, it`s that of floods. BJP has gone blind for power. There`re floods in Assam, PM should visit the state, announce special package but he`s busy toppling Maharashtra govt, or in Gujarat elections...Only power is everything for BJP," said Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi. Over 41 lakh people in 34 districts of Assam continue to reel under the impact of ongoing flood and landslide situations.

Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal, on Wednesday, visited the relief camp set up at Phulaguri Higher Secondary School in Nagaon district of Assam to meet flood-affected people of the region. The flood situation in Assam`s Karimganj district has deteriorated after the flood waters of the Kushiyara, Longai, and Singla rivers inundated more areas of the district affecting more than 1.34 lakh people of the district. The flood waters have submerged several main roads of the district. 82 people have died in floods and landslides in the state this year so far in Assam. More than 12.30 lakh people have been affected alone in lower Assam`s Barpeta district followed by 4.69 lakh in Darrang, 4.40 lakh in Nagaon, 3.38 lakh in Bajali, 2.91 lakh in Dhubri, 2.82 lakh in Kamrup, 2.80 lakh in Goalpara, 2.07 lakh in Cachar, 1.84 lakh in Nalbari, 1.51 lakh in South Salmara, 1.46 lakh in Bongaigaon, 1.34 lakh in Karimganj district.

The ASDMA also reported that seven people have gone missing amidst the natural calamity whereas 2,31,819 people took shelter in the 810 relief camps in the state. A total of 1,13,485.37 hectares of land have been affected because of the calamity, whereas the ASDMA in its report further stated that at least 11,292 people have been evacuated from the affected areas. Nearly 2.32 lakh people are currently lodged in relief camps.

Meanwhile, there is a political crisis in Maharashtra. Three more Shiv Sena MLAs have joined the rebel group of MLAs led by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde in Guwahati on Thursday morning further deepening the political instability in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra. They reached the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati, where other MLAs are campaigning. Last night, four more MLAs joined Shinde in Guwahati. With this, the number of MLAs joining the rebel group goes to seven in the last 24 hours.

ALSO READ: Maharashtra political crisis: Delhi BJP leader files complaint against Uddhav Thackeray, details here
Mumbai (Maharashtra): Battling the political crisis faced by the party-led MVA government in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has filed a petition before the Deputy Speaker of the state assembly seeking the cancellation of membership of 12 rebel MLAs including Eknath Shinde for "not attending" legislative party meeting held on Wednesday. Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant told ANI that a notice had been issued before the meeting which said that if an MLA does not attend the meeting, legal action will be taken.

"We've filed a petition before the Deputy Speaker (of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly) and demanded that the membership of 12 (MLAs) should be cancelled as they didn`t attend yesterday's meeting," Sawant said."Before the meeting notice was issued in which it was said that if you didn't attend the meeting then legal action will be taken as per the constitution. Some didn't come and some gave unnecessary reasons," he added.

Apart from Shinde, Shiv Sena has sought disqualification of Prakash Surve, Tanaji Sawant, Mahesh Shinde, Abdul Sattar, Sandeep Bhumare, Bharat Gogawale, Sanjay Shirsat, Yamini Yadhav, Anil Babar, Balaji Devdas and Lata Chaudhari. The petition has been filed by Ajay Choudhari, who was appointed "legislative party leader" after Shinde was "removed" from the post by the Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena's Chief Whip, Sunil Prabhu had issued a letter to party MLAs, asking them to be present in the meeting. The letter stated that if someone remains absent, it will be considered that the said MLA has decided to quit the party voluntarily. The letter also warned that if any MLA remains absent from the meeting without proper reason and prior information, they should keep in mind that action will be initiated to cancel their membership as per constitutional provisions.

Also read: 'Send rebel MLAs to Bengal, I will...': Don't MISS Mamata Banerjee's EPIC suggestion for Shiv Sena

However, the Shinde camp has written to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari stating that Shinde continues to be the legislative party leader. Shinde camp has claimed the support of 46 MLAs, which includes 37 Shiv Sena MLAs and nine independents. The rebel MLAs are at a hotel in Guwahati and held a meeting on Thursday authorising Shinde to decide on a further course of action. The resolution, adopted on Tuesday by rebel MLAs, said that Shinde was unanimously elected as leader of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party in 2019 and continues to be the leader of the legislative party. Amid the continuing turf war within Shiv Sena, the Shinde faction also said that Bharat Gogawale has been appointed as Chief Whip of the party. The three legislators who arrived in Guwahati on Thursday include Agriculture Minister Dada Bhuse, MLA Sanjay Rathore and MLC Ravindra Phatak. Phatak is believed to be a close associate of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who had sent him as an emissary to Surat where the rebel MLAs were lodged.
New Delhi: A Delhi BJP leader on Wednesday (June 22) filed a complaint against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for allegedly flouting Covid-19 norms by meeting his supporters on the way to his personal residence from his official house in Mumbai. Senior Congress leader Kamat Nath had said earlier in the day that the Maharashtra CM has tested positive for Covid-19. However, hours later, Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole informed that the Shiv Sena chief is Covid-19 negative, IANS reported. "Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga submitted an online complaint against Thackeray to Malabar Hill police," an official was cited by PTI.

Uddhav Thackeray was greeted by several supporters on Wednesday night as he vacated the official CM residence 'Varsha'. Shiv Sena workers raised slogans and showered petals on the CM as he left his official house along with his family members - wife Rashmi Thackeray, sons Aaditya and Tejas Thackeray at around 9.50 pm. He reached outside 'Matoshree', his private residence, around 10.30 pm. In the pictures, CM Uddhav Thackeray could be seen wearing masks and greeting the party supporters.

ALSO READ: Maharashtra crisis: On BJP 'staking claim' to form next govt in state, Union minister says THIS

The Maharashtra CM vacated the official residence after he reached out to Shiv Sena dissidents and offered to quit. However, rebel leader and state cabinet minister Eknath Shinde stayed firm on his demand that Shiv Sena should walk out of the "unnatural" ruling alliance MVA-- consisting of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP-- and claimed support of "enough number" of MLAs. Earlier addressing the rebel MLAs, the Maharashtra CM said, "Why make statements from Surat (where rebels headed first on Monday night) and other places. Come and tell me on my face that I am incompetent to handle the post of Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president. I will resign immediately. I will keep my resignation letter ready and you can come and take it to the Raj Bhavan."

Eknath Shinde has claimed the support of 46 MLAs, which has threatened the future of the Shiv Sena-led MVA government.

(With agency inputs)
Eknath Shinde, a Minister in the Uddhav Thackeray government, is sitting in Assam rebelling against the party. He claims to have 46 MLAs in his hands. As a result, the fate of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is now hanging. In such a situation, Uddhav Thackeray said in a Facebook Live that he is ready to resign. He also claimed that at least one MLA comes out and says, 'I don't like you.' After the Chief Minister's statement, Eknath Shinde made it clear that Uddhav will have to come out of the evil alliance. But the question arises as to why a four-time MLA like Eknath Shinde became such an anti-Uddhav? 5 reasons behind Eknath Shinde's Anti-Uddhav move are:

Getting alone

After Bal Thackeray's death, many of the old leaders of the party became a bit isolated. Eknath was also falling in that group. He was chairman of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. Uddhav's son Aaditya Thackeray was interfering in his work. He was angry about it.

Security System

Shinde also had some grudges about the security arrangements. Eknath used to get Z category security. But he wanted Z-plus security like Uddhav Thackeray or Sharad Pawar. He also appealed to it. But it wasn't approved.

Alliance with NCP

On Wednesday too, Eknath from Assam said he was not joining the BJP. But Uddhav will have to come out of that evil alliance. According to political circles in Maharashtra, Shinde was not at all happy with the alliance with the NCP. This is because Shinde's statement was that the alliance with the NCP has damaged the future of the Shiv Sena.

'No Entry' to Matoshree

For the last two years, there has been some restriction on Eknath's entry to Uddhav Thackeray's residence Matoshree. As a result, a few days ago, it was understood that the distance between Uddhav-Eknath was increasing.

Battle for Hindutva

Eknath had recently come out against the party over the hindutva policy. In a tweet, he wrote that he wants to stick to Bal Thackeray's principles. He will not deviate from that goal for any political gain. Uddhav is withdrawing from Hindutva politics, Shinde alleged. To refute this allegation, Uddhav was forced to say in his speech today that the Shiv Sena is not moving away from the hindutva policy.
Rebel Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde is under the ED's scanner! Balasaheb Thackeray's party spokesperson Sanjay Raut made such a sensational claim in the wake of crisis in Maharashtra. He also claimed that at least 17-20 rebel MLAs are under the scanner of the central investigating agency. The remaining 10-15 MLAs are apprehensive of the ED notice. Raut said, "I have information that most of the rebel MLAs have received ED notices. The BJP is putting pressure on them through the ED. The remaining MLAs are also under the scanner of the investigating agency." Is Eknath Shinde, like the rebel MLAs, under the ED's scanner? Raut replied, "Yes, I have the same news."

Also Read: 'Are you sleeping! Why there...', Sharad Pawar slams THIS minister over Maharashtra political crisis

Another senior Shiv Sena leader said, "Many of the rebel leaders have travelled to the ED office. After that, they are meeting Eknath Shinde and BJP leaders. It is clear that they are joining hands with the BJP to survive."

Also Read: Maharashtra Crisis: Support of 49 MLAs with Eknath Shinde! Uddhav Thackeray holds a meeting with 13 ONLY

Will Shinde hold a meeting with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in the current situation in Maharashtra? Raut said, "We have invited him to come to Mumbai and hold a meeting. It was also said on the phone. The chief minister also said on Facebook Live. But Shinde and MLAs are yet to come to Mumbai. Didn't say anything."

Shinde on Wednesday claimed to have the support of 46 MLAs with him. This number will increase further. Chief minister Uddhav left the Chief Minister's residence on Wednesday night and returned to his home. He also said he was ready to resign as Chief Minister.
New Delhi: Despite being a party of committed cadres with unflinching loyalty to the leadership of the day, the Shiv Sena has been vulnerable to rebellions in its ranks and it has seen revolts by prominent figures on four occasions, three of them under the watch of its charismatic founder Bal Thackeray, with Eknath Shinde becoming the latest leader to join the list. The rebellion by Shinde, a Cabinet minister who has walked away with a bunch of Shiv Sena MLAs, is most significant in the outfit's 56-year-old history as it threatens to bring down the party-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, while the other revolts took place when it was not in power in the state.

The present revolt, which started taking shape post-Monday midnight after Legislative Council poll results, throws a big challenge before Maharashtra Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray as the three previous revolts took place when his father Bal Thackeray was still around.

Maharashtra political crisis: Shiv Sena saw first major jolt in 1991

The Shiv Sena witnessed the first major jolt in 1991 when Chhagan Bhujbal, the OBC face of the party who was also credited with expanding the organization's base in rural parts of Maharashtra, decided to leave the party.

Bhujbal had cited "non-appreciation" from the party leadership as the reason for leaving the party. Despite Bhujbal having helped the Sena to win a sizeable number of seats in parts of Maharashtra, Bal Thackeray had appointed Manohar Joshi as Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.

In the subsequent winter session in Nagpur, Bhujbal along with 18 Sena MLAs left the party and announced their support to the Congress which was then ruling the state. But, 12 rebel MLAs returned to the Sena fold the same day. Bhujbal and other rebel MLAs were recognized by the then-Assembly speaker as a separate group and they did not face any action.

Bhujbal, however, lost the 1995 Assembly election from Mumbai to the then-Shiv Sena leader Bala Nandgaonkar, and later shifted base to Nashik district. The veteran politician joined the NCP when Sharad Pawar formed the party after leaving the Congress in 1999. Bhujbal (74) is currently a minister and cabinet colleague of Shinde in the Shiv Sena-led MVA government.

Shiv Sena faced another challenge when Narayan Rane changed parties

In 2005, the Shiv Sena faced another challenge when former chief minister Narayan Rane left the party and joined the Congress. Rane, who subsequently left the Congress, is currently a BJP Rajya Sabha member and also a Union minister.

Next shock to Shiv Sena came when Raj Thackeray left party

The next shock to the Sena came in 2006 when Uddhav Thackeray's cousin Raj Thackeray decided to leave the party and form his own political outfit - the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Raj Thackeray had then said his fight was not with the Sena leadership, but with others surrounding the party leadership and not letting others in. In the 2009 election to the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, the MNS won 13 seats. Its tally in Mumbai was one more than the Shiv Sena.

Current Maharashtra political crisis triggered by Eknath Shinde

The Shiv Sena is currently facing another rebellion by a section of its MLAs led by senior state minister Eknath Shinde, a four-time MLA from Thane district and a popular figure in the organization. The Shiv Sena currently has 55 MLAs, the NCP 53 and the Congress 44 MLAs. All three constitute the MVA. The opposition BJP has 106 seats in the Assembly. To escape disqualification under the anti-defection law, Shinde needs the support of 37 MLAs. The rebel leader has claimed 46 Sena MLAs are with him.
New Delhi: Droupadi Murmu has travelled a long way to reach where she is today. The BJP-led NDA's presidential candidate, Murmu, who could well be the next occupant of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, has overcome several personal tragedies in her life. In just six years between 2009-2015, Murmu lost her husband, two sons, mother and brother. According to reports, it was then the tribal leader became a keen practitioner of the meditation techniques of the Brahma Kumaris, a movement she embraced after her personal losses.

Personal tragedies Murmu had to face

Murmu had three children - two sons and a daughter - with her husband Shyam Charan Murmu. According to news reports, one of her sons died under mysterious circumstances in 2009 while her second son passed away in a road accident three years later. She had lost her husband earlier because of cardiac arrest. Murmu's daughter Itishree works in a bank in Odisha.

Humble beginnings and diverse experience

Born on June 20, 1958, Murmu was the first woman governor of the state. If elected - with the numbers stacked in favour of the BJP-led NDA combine she is likely to score a win over the Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha - Murmu will also be the first president to be born after Independence. "She has been through a lot of pain and struggle, but doesn't get rattled by adversity," former Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal said.

Born into a Santhal family, she is an excellent orator in Santhali and Odia languages, Samal said. He added that she had worked extensively to improve infrastructure such as roads and ports in the region.

The tribal-dominated Mayurbhanj has been the focus of the BJP, which is eyeing a strong foothold in the state. The BJD snapped ties with the BJP in 2009 and has consolidated its hold over Odisha since then.

It is from Rairangpur that she took her first step up the BJP ladder. She was a councillor in the Rairangpur Notified Area Council in 1997 and rose to being a minister in Odisha's BJD-BJP coalition government from 2000 to 2004. In 2015, she was appointed governor of Jharkhand and stayed in the post till 2021.

Murmu had contested the 2014 assembly election from Rairangpur, but lost to the BJD candidate. After completing her tenure as Jharkhand governor, Murmu devoted her time to meditation and social work in Rairangpur. "I am surprised as well as delighted. As a tribal woman from remote Mayurbhanj district, I had not thought about becoming the candidate for the top post," Murmu told reporters at her Rairangpur residence on Tuesday night. "I was not expecting this opportunity. I have not been attending any political programmes for more than six years after becoming the governor of neighbouring Jharkhand. I hope all will support me," she said.

Belonging to Mayurbhanj, one of the most remote and underdeveloped districts of the country, Murmu earned her Bachelor's degree in Arts from Bhubaneswar's Ramadevi Women's College in Bhubaneswar and served as a junior assistant in the irrigation and power department in the Odisha government. She also served as an honorary assistant teacher in the Shri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre in Rairangpur. Murmu was awarded the Nilkanth Award for the Best MLA of the year in 2007 by the Odisha Legislative assembly.

She has diverse administrative experience having handled ministries such as transport, commerce, fisheries and animal husbandry in the Odisha government. In the BJP, Murmu was vice president and later president of the Scheduled Tribe Morcha in Odisha. She was elected the district president of Mayurbhanj (West) unit of the BJP in 2010 and re-elected in 2013. She was also named a member of the BJP National Executive (ST Morcha) the same year. She held the post of district president till April 2015 when she was appointed as the Governor of Jharkhand.

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday (June 22, 2022) carried out searches at seven locations in Punjab in the Improvised Explosive Device seizure case at Batrara toll plaza in Haryana`s Karnal in May this year. The searches were conducted in Ludhiana, Ferozpur and Gurdaspur of Punjab.

The anti-terror agency claimed to have seized digital devices, details of financial transactions and property and other incriminating materials during the searches.

The case relates to the seizure of IEDs and arms and ammunition from Batrara toll plaza in the Madhuban area in Karnal in which three IEDs, one pistol, two magazines, 31 live rounds, six mobiles and 1.30 lakh cash were recovered and four persons were apprehended from a white Innova.

The case was initially registered on May 5 at Madhuban police station in Karnal district and re-registered by the NIA on the same day.

During the investigation, it was revealed that Pakistan-based operative of BKI (Babar Khalsa International) Harvinder Singh alias Rinda had coordinated the delivery of explosives, arms and ammunition at the behest of Pakistan`s intelligence agency for carrying out terrorist attacks in different parts of India in connivance with arrested accused persons, the NIA said. Further investigations are underway.
New Delhi: With the BJD backing NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, the vote share of the ruling dispensation has now crossed 50 percent, virtually, paving the way for her election as the first tribal president and the youngest too. After the support of Naveen Patnaik's party, the NDA nominee has around 52 percent votes (around 5,67,000 votes) out of a total of 10,86,431 votes of all electors. This includes 3,08,000 votes of MPs of the BJP and its allies. The BJD has around 32,000 votes in the electorate which is around 2.9 percent of the total.

The ruling party in Odisha has 114 MLAs in the House of 147 members in the Assembly while the BJP has 22 lawmakers. It has 12 MPs each in the Lok Sabha and nine in the Rajya Sabha. The Droupadi Murmu is likely to get the support of some regional parties including the AIADMK, and the YSRCP for its candidate in the presidential poll.

BJP's strength in Rajya Sabha is 92, has 301 MPs in Lok Sabha

The ruling BJP's strength in the crucial upper house of Parliament is 92 after the results of the just-concluded Rajya Sabha elections. It has a total of 301 MPs of its own in the Lok Sabha.

The BJP's empathic win in four assembly polls, including in all-important Uttar Pradesh, where the value of the vote of each MLA is more than any other state, has only added to its overall advantage.

Though the BJP and its allies in the NDA have fewer MLAs than they had during the 2017 presidential polls, their numbers of MPs have gone up since.



ALSO READ | Droupadi Murmu's first reaction after being named as NDA's Presidential candidate: 'Modi govt has now proven...'



The BJP had sprung a surprise by picking former Jharkhand Governor and tribal leader Droupadi Murmu to succeed Ram Nath Kovind, a leader from the Dalit community, for the top constitutional post in the country.

Presidential polls 2022: Droupadi Murmu vs Yashwant Sinha, who stands where in race to Raisina?

According to the latest official figures, the BJP on its own has 393 MPs, excluding four nominated Rajya Sabha members who cannot vote, out of the current strength of 776 members from both Houses, giving it a clear majority.

The BJP's numerical advantage in Parliament, which has almost half of the votes in the electoral college which also comprises all elected MLA, is further enhanced when the strength of its allies like Janata Dal (United), which has 21 MPs in total, Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, Apna Dal and several from the Northeastern states are added.

While there are 776 MPs of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, each having 700 votes, there are as many as 4,033 legislators in states with different votes who will also elect Ram Nath Kovind's successor.

Though the final list of electors will be notified after the by-elections to three Lok Sabha seats and Rajya Sabha polls to 16 seats, the NDA has 440 MPs in its favour while the opposition UPA has around 180 MPs, besides 36 MPs of Trinamool Congress who normally support the opposition candidate.

Among the states, the BJP has a maximum of 56,784 votes from Uttar Pradesh where it has 273 MLAs. Each MLA in Uttar Pradesh has a maximum vote of 208. The NDA will get its second-highest votes among states from Bihar where with 127 MLAs, it will get 21,971 votes as each legislator has 173 votes, followed by 18,375 votes from Maharashtra where it has 105 MLAs and each has 175 votes.

With 131 MLAs, the NDA will get 17,161 votes from Madhya Pradesh, 16,464 votes of 112 MLAs from Gujarat and 15,982 votes of its 122 MLAs in Karnataka.

The UPA, on the other hand, has a little over 1,50,000 votes of its MPs and will get around the same number of votes from its legislators in states.

Opposition candidates in the past too have been getting a little more than three lakh votes in the previous elections for the highest post in the country.

The value of the vote of a Member of Parliament has gone down to 700 from 708 in the presidential polls this time due to the absence of a legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir.

The value of the vote of an MP in a presidential election is based on the number of elected members in legislative assemblies of states and union territories, including Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir.

The election will be held on July 18 to elect incumbent Kovind's successor, the Election Commission announced on Thursday.

The nominations can be filed till June 29 and the result of the election will be out on July 21.

When elected, Murmu, a former governor of Jharkhand, will be the first president who was born post-independence.

The candidature of the 64-year-old tribal leader from Odisha was announced by BJP chief JP Nadda on Tuesday night, hours after former Union minister Yashwant Sinha was declared the joint candidate by many opposition parties, including the Congress, the TMC and the NCP.
Bhubaneswar: NDA's presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu on Thursday left the MCL Guest House in Bhubaneswar for Delhi where she is likely to file her nomination papers on Friday for the upcoming presidential polls 2022. According to ANI, Murmu left for the airport this morning for Delhi where she will be filing her nomination for the Presidential election scheduled to be held on July 18.

#WATCH | Odisha: NDA's Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu leaves from MCL Guest House in Bhubaneswar, for the airport.



She is leaving for Delhi and will file her nomination for the Presidential election tomorrow, June 24th. pic.twitter.com/UHccEBlTaK  ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2022

In a boost to her candidature, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday appealed to all MLAs in the state to support Draupadi Murmu, who has been named as the NDA candidate in the presidential election.

Patnaik, who is in Rome now, made this appeal on Twitter. "Appeal all the members of Odisha Legislative Assembly, cutting across party lines, to extend unanimous support to elect the daughter of #Odisha - Smt #DraupadiMurmu to the country`s highest office," he tweeted, clearly indicating that his party will support the NDA candidate in the race for Raisina Hill.

On Tuesday, Patnaik had revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier discussed Murmu`s candidature with him. The CM also said he is sure that Murmu will set a shining example for women's empowerment in the country.

In the 147-seat Odisha Assembly, the BJD has 114 members (including one expelled member), BJP 22, Congress nine, CPI-M one and there is one Independent too. Patnaik`s BJP had supported NDA candidates in the previous two presidential elections (2012, 2017) also.

In 2017, Patnaik had supported NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind after receiving a call from the Prime Minister. At that time, he had stated that the office of the President is above political consideration and the BJD wanted to keep it above politics.

Similarly, Patnaik was the first to propose the name of former Lok Sabha Speaker P.A. Sangma for the presidential election held in 2012 against UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee.

After Jitan Ram Manjhi`s HAM and Chirag Paswan`s LJP-Ram Vilas, Bihar`s ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) on Wednesday announced support to NDA presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu.
22nd June 2022, Coimbatore: In a roaring welcome from thousands at the iconic Adiyogi in Isha Yoga Center, Sadhguru, Founder-Isha Foundation, culminated his 100-day solo bike journey spanning 27 nations and 11 Indian states, yesterday. Accorded a traditional Indian welcome, including the customary Aarti, cultural performances and fire torches which lit the night sky, Sadhguru returned from his 30,000 km bike journey as part of the Save Soil Movement, which saw 3.2 billion people speak up for soil in the last 3 months.

Speaking about the future of the movement, Sadhguru explained that The dangerous journey is over but the real hard work begins from now, referring to the life-risking journey he undertook, while also attending over 600 Save Soil events in the past 100 days. Over the next few months, Sadhguru will be travelling to over twenty nations including the United Kingdom, USA as well as South American and Caribbean nations to concretize policy action for preserving and regenerating soil. Somewhere between 12-18 months most nations, we can push them towards making some kind of soil re-generation policy said Sadhguru, expressing his confidence in positive and imminent action towards saving soil.

The movement aims to drive national policy changes in regenerating soil, to mandate a minimum of 3-6% organic content in agricultural soils. With peoples voices being the most crucial aspect in actioning such reforms, Sadhguru urged people to continue speaking about soil for the next one year, to the world, to somebody new, every day for 10 minutes at least, and not stop with the journey.

Congratulating the volunteers of Isha, Sadhguru tweeted, Congratulations & immense Gratitude to Team Isha worldwide who came together with incredible dedication & purpose to pull off the Movement of our times- #SaveSoil. I beseech all concerned to keep the throttle up till soil regeneration policies are done in your regions. -Sg

Addressed the Save Soil' programme organised by @ishafoundation in Sulur.

The #SaveSoil campaign has created an awareness among the people on issues pertaining to soil and exhorted them to contribute in maintaining the health of the soil in the times to come. pic.twitter.com/ew5i7mjQwO  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) June 21, 2022

Congratulations & immense Gratitude to Team Isha worldwide who came together with incredible dedication & purpose to pull off the Movement of our times- #SaveSoil. I beseech all concerned to keep the throttle up till soil regeneration policies are done in your regions. -Sg pic.twitter.com/T8TCyjvO92  Sadhguru (@SadhguruJV) June 22, 2022

Sadhguru entered Tamil Nadu yesterday, where he also attended a Save Soil event along with Union Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh at Sulur Air Force Station, Coimbatore.

Virtually addressing an audience consisting of Air Force personnel, the defence minister Shri Rajnath Singh credited Sadhguru for bringing the spirit of Vasudev Kutumbakam (the world is one family) alive by connecting a large number of people from all over the world into one fold, creating a new environmental movement. Expressing concern over fertile top soil lasting only 60 more years, the defence minister praised the movement, saying that The Save Soil campaign brings in a ray of hope, and instils a belief that the millions who have supported the cause will contribute towards maintaining our soil.

Taking to Twitter, the defence minister said, Addressed the Save Soil' programme organised by @ishafoundation in Sulur. The #SaveSoil campaign has created an awareness among the people on issues pertaining to soil and exhorted them to contribute in maintaining the health of the soil in the times to come.

In March, Sadhguru embarked on a lone motorcycle journey as part of the Movement to Save Soil from extinction globally. The Movement is urging nations across the world to urgently legislate to save the planets agricultural soils, 50% of which are already said to be degraded and incapable of yield. The objective of the Movement is to urge nations to mandate 3-6% organic content in agricultural soils around the world. This is the minimum organic content required to keep soil fertile and capable of yield and prevent it from turning into sand.

Sadhgurus Journey for Soil began on 21st March in London and has passed through 27 nations in Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. Sadhguru also addressed the 15th session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP15) in Ivory Coast in May. Representatives of 197 nations were in attendance. In the same month, Sadhguru also spoke at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. At both events, Sadhguru urged political, business and cultural leaders to facilitate urgent and decisive policy-driven steps to halt rapid desertification of the earth. UNCCD predicts that at the current rates of soil degradation, 90% of the earth could turn into desert by 2050  less than three decades from now.

Till date, 74 countries have pledged to Save Soil from extinction, and 8 Indian states have signed MoUs with Isha Outreach to save soil in their states, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. In Delhi, Sadhguru met with Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi on World Environment Day - 5th June  seeking the central governments support for the Movement. The Prime Minister lauded the Save Soil effort and assured the governments wholehearted support for the Movement.

To watch Sadhguru culminate his journey for Soil, click here.

To view event pictures, click here.

If you would like to know more about this, please call +91 94874 75346 or write to: mediarelations@ishafoundation.org

Conscious Planet: Save Soil, is a global movement to inspire a conscious approach to saving our soil and planet. This is, first and foremost, a peoples movement. The aim is to demonstrate the support of over 3.5 billion people (more than 60% of the worlds voting population) around the world and empower governments to initiate policy-driven action to revitalize soil and halt further degradation. World leaders, influencers, artists, experts, farmers, spiritual leaders, NGOs and citizens are vocally supporting the movement to re-establish Humanitys relationship with Soil.

For Pictures, Videos and Soil Facts please visit the Soil Dossier.

Website: savesoil.org
Kolkata: As the political drama in Maharashtra shows no sign of ebbing, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is once again at loggerheads with BJP. The CM accused the BJP of trying to topple the Maharashtra government in an unethical manner. "BJP is trying to topple the government in Maharashtra in an unethical manner," the Bengal CM said.

Mamata accused BJP of using muscle power and trying to devalue democracy. "The government of Maharashtra should get justice," Mamata said. She added, "We want justice for Uddhav Thackeray and all. Today (BJP) you're in power and using money, muscle, mafia power. But one day you have to go. Someone can break your party too. This is wrong and I dont support it."

The Bengal CM also slammed the rebel MLAs who have moved themselves to a hotel in Guwahati. "Amid floods in Assam, why are Maharashtra MLAs being sent to that state to disturb affected people?" Mamata Banerjee asked. She added, "Send Maharashtra MLAs to Bengal, we will extend good hospitality to them." Mamata also warned that after Maharashtra, "they (BJP) will (try to) topple other governments also. We want justice for people, constitution."

Also read: Willing to resign from Chief Minister's post: Uddhav Thackeray amid revolt in Shiv Sena - key points

Earlier, rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde tweeted a letter addressed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and captioned it "This is the sentiment of MLAs".Shinde shared a letter written by Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat from the Aurangabad (West) Assembly seat and dated June 22 in which he claimed that the Shiv Sena MLAs did not have access to the chief minister`s residence."CM never used to be in the Secretariat, instead, he used to be in Matoshree (Thackeray residence). We used to call people around the CM but they never used to attend our calls. We were fed up with all these things and persuaded Eknath Shinde to take this step," the MLA wrote in the letter."
Traders Union is an independent organization, offering its members a number of benefits. The most important benefit is an opportunity to save on trading fees thanks to the cashback program.

While traders registered in the Union can reduce their spread costs, they also have access to quality analysis and infographics, professional legal and technical support.

Traders Union is the largest service for traders in 2022

Traders Union was established in 2010. The TUs management established partnerships with brokerage companies that were prepared to pay the cashback. New names were regularly added to the list of brokers, and by 2022 the list features over 200 known companies.

Today, Traders Union works not only with Forex brokers, but also with stock and binary brokers, and cryptocurrency exchanges. All partner companies pay a part of trading fees their clients are charged with to Traders Union. In turn, Traders Union repays up to 100% of these funds to the members of the association.

A cashback is the simplest way to receive compensation for the brokers trading fee. The number of traders interested in receiving compensation for the spread is growing continuously. The demand causes the supply to grow and therefore cashback services are gaining even more popularity. Traders Union is currently considered the largest one of them. The following facts serve as a proof of that:

Number of registered users  more than 300,000 traders.

Cashback payouts  over USD 10 million.

Traders Union has received over 10 awards by different publications that are considered financial market experts. The Instagram community is nearly 100,000 followers.

Pros of working with Traders Union

Cashback is the key benefit for the traders registered on the Traders Union. However, the members of the association have access to several other benefits:

Regularly updated broker and cryptocurrency exchange ratings.

Latest market analysis.

Multi-level referral program.

Free legal advice.

Professional online support.

Traders Union also regularly holds monthly contests on demo accounts for registered traders. The Top 10 winners are awarded real money that they can withdraw or use to trade.

Distinguishing features of cashback from Traders Union

A cashback is a compensation of a part of funds paid to the broker as a trading fee. It allows traders to save up to 90% on the spread.

Benefits of the TUs cashback program:

unlimited validity period  the payouts are accrued throughout the entire time of trading activity (both active and passive);

regular accruals  every day or every month depending on the conditions of the offer;

daily withdrawals  requests for withdrawals are processed every business day, within 24 hours;

wide selection of payment methods  withdrawal is available to electronic wallets of popular payment systems or a trading account.

A trader can work not only with one, but with several brokers that are partners of Traders Union. Payments are available to new and existing clients of brokerage companies.

Traders Union website features a very user-friendly Profit Calculator. You can use it to calculate the approximate surcharges that are available during trading with a specific broker through TU.

Mechanism of working with a broker through Traders Union

The mechanism of actions for receiving a payments:

Registration on the TU website using your email. Authorization through username, email, Facebook, or Google accounts. Selection of a reliable intermediary from among the partners of the association. Accessing the website of the chosen company from the Traders Union website. Opening a real brokerage account. Specifying the number of the created account in the user profile on Traders Union website.

After an employee of customer support of the association confirms that your account has been linked to Traders Union, you need to fund your account and start trading. Cashback will be accrued for all trades that you close.

How to choose a reliable broker with Traders Union

Traders Union website features the entire set of instruments for choosing a reliable broker. A trader can use:

Latest ratings. The analysts of the Union regularly monitor the conditions of the brokers and update the lists of recommended companies based on the obtained information.

Comparative tables. A user selects several brokers and the system compares them based on the set criteria. At that, various criteria are taken into account  minimum deposit, spread and leverage, number of available trading platforms, etc.

There is also a special test consisting of 7 questions on the Traders Union website. Upon analyzing the responses, the system recommends brokers that are most suitable for the user.

Traders Union is currently the largest association of traders that trade in various financial markets. This independent organization with years of experience not only provides powerful informational and legal support, but also allows its members to save on brokerage fees.

(Above mentioned article is Brand Desk Content, This article is a sponsored publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of IDPL)




At only 18 years old, the young student participated representing the President of the Republic of Guatemala in the Committee on the Esquipulas Accords of 1987 , a debate that is modeled after the plenary sessions of the United Nations and which took place between June 1 and 5.





"It was a very competitive and top-tier conference. Issues of disarmament and international security in the face of the armed conflicts that were taking place in Central America at that time were discussed in the Committee where I was," the young student said, quite satisfied with her participation at HNMUN-LA held in Panama City.





Organized by Harvard University, the conference brought together outstanding students from various Latin American universities.





After her successful participation in the competition, Luna invited San Marcos University students to be part of Peruvian Universities, a debate team that she is part of and which enabled her to have this enriching personal and academic experience.





About Peruvian Universities (PU)





Peruvian Universities is an inter-university debate team that participates at Model United Nations (MUN) conferences on the national and international stage, including annual conferences organized by Harvard University.





Those conferences include Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN) in Boston (U.S.), HNMUN Latin America (which took place in Panama this year), and the WorldMUN conference to be held in Tokyo, Japan, in 2023.





PU is currently regarded as the best MUN team in Latin America, as it has won the Best Large Delegation Award at Harvard National Model United Nations Latin America in 2021 and 2022.





Moreover, it attained the Best Small Delegation Award at the Harvard World Model United Nations 2022.





(END) NDP/LIQ/RMB/MVB

Sofia Luna, an anthropology student at Lima-based San Marcos University (UNMSM), has won the Best Delegate Award for her outstanding participation at Harvard National Model United Nations Latin America (HNMUN-LA) 2022 , a conference organized by Harvard University Publicado: 23/6/2022
Maryland (US): In a shocking development that came to light earlier this week, a 25-year-old Indian national was shot dead in Maryland in the US. The deceased, Sai Charan Nakka, a native of Telangana, graduated from the University of Cincinnati in January of 2022. After he was shot, Sai Charan Nakka was taken to the University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center where he was pronounced dead after a while.

Sai Charan was found injured with an apparent gunshot wound inside a silver Hyundai Tucson SUV in Baltimore, Maryland. He was immediately rushed to a trauma centre, where he was pronounced dead, local media reported on Monday (June 20). "We have learnt about the unfortunate death of Nakka Sai Charan in the early morning of Sunday, June 19, 2022, in Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore police have not yet revealed more details on circumstances of death, as an investigation is in progress," the Embassy of India at Maryland said in a brief statement.

Obviously, the death of his young son left Sai's father Nakka Narsimha, a retired headmaster in Telangana's Nalgonda, devastated. The heartbroken father said, "We did not want to send our son to the US. We wanted him to be here. I had no interest in sending him there and told him not to go." N Narasimha said his son flew to the US in August 2020. After completing his MS course, he was working in Maryland for the past six months. Narasimha had spoken to his son on Friday, two days before he was shot dead.

According to Baltimore police, the case is being treated as a homicide investigation and investigating personnel are seeking information from anyone who might have seen suspicious activity. The embassy is in close touch with Sai Charan's family and diaspora members to facilitate early repatriation of mortal remains of Sai Charan," it further added.

Due to the ascent in racially-motivated hate crimes in the United States, the North American association of India Students (NAAIS) raised concerns about the rising cases of violence against Indian-origin students and young professionals. "We implore officials - locally and nationally- to look into certain policies to ensure the safety of all students and young professionals who arrive in the United States. We're reaching out to Sai Charan's classmates from the University of Cincinnati, and we plan to hold a vigil as well," NAAIS said.

Also read: Texas school shooting: A look at some of the deadliest shootings in US history

The US has been witnessing back-to-back acts of gun violence in the country with at least 246 fatal shootings till June this year. The US is promoted to be the premier destination for higher education for Indians, but in rising instances, senseless gun violence is causing anxiety to people.

The May 24 massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers, was the bloodiest mass shooting in the United States this year, which occurred only 10 days after another shooting that killed 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo.

(With Agency inputs)
The company's IPO is coming on 29th June 2022. The company is going to get listed on BSE SME Platform. Veerkrupa jewellers ltd IPO Price is 27 and its Issue Size is 8.10 Crores.

India's gem and jewellery export industry is one of the largest in the world, contributing 27% to the world's jewellery consumption in 2019. Between 2019 and 2023, the global gems and jewellery market is expected to grow to a value of US$103.06 billion. By 2025, it is anticipated that India's exports of gems and jewellery will be a total of $100 billion. So jewellery is the sector you must invest in and this is the only reason you must invest in Veerkrupa Jewellers Ltd.

Here we list out Important Veerkrupa Jewellers IPO details:

The Grey Market Premium (GMP): The GMP for Veerkrupa Jewellers Ltd Initial Public Offering (IPO) is now available. According to market observers. Its GMP 7 (Subject to market conditions & demand).

IPO Date: IPO will open for subscription on 29th June, 2022 and will remain open for bidding until 4th July, 2022.

India has 10 special economic zones SEZs specifically designated for gems and jewellery. More than 500 manufacturing facilities can be found in these zones, which produce 30% of all exports from the nation.

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Veerkrupa Jewellers profile includes designer, traditional, modern, and combined designs of jewellery such as earrings, chains, bracelets, gold/silver bars, bands, mangalsutra, pendant sets and chains, anklets, waist belts, and necklaces. Besides this, they also sell hand tools, pooja items, and decorative items in silver. Their wide range of product offerings caters to diverse customer segments, from the high-end to mid-market and value market segments.

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As per Union Budget 2021, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has proposed a reduction in import duty on cut and polished diamonds to 2.5%, from the existing 7.5%, in order to double exports of gems & jewellery. Companies like Veerkrupa Jewellers can easily survive and gain double profit from such schemes proposed by the Government of India.

(Above mentioned article is consumer connect initiative. This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of IDPL, and IDPL claims no responsibility whatsoever.)
MUMBAI: The BJP seems to be exploring the possibility of government formation in Maharashtra amid a crisis in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi ruling coalition due to the rebellion by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde. According to reports, led by former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP may stake claim to form a government in the state today, said sources. If sources are to be believed, Fadnavis is likely to meet the states governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari on Thursday and hand him over the list of party MLAs and also apprise the latter of the possible assurance of support the party has received from the independent and non-BJP MLAs.

However, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Minister Raosaheb Patil Danve had on Wednesday said that the political crisis in Maharashtra was Shiv Sena`s internal matter and the BJP is not staking claim to form a government in the state. Danve, who met party leader Devendra Fadnavis, told the media that no Shiv Sena MLA is in touch with the party

The BJP is also expected to hold a meeting of all its MLAs to decide on the next course of action amid the current political crisis in the state. To prevent horse-trading and poaching, the saffron party is also keen to keep its flock of 106 MLAs and other non-BJP legislators together at a safe location.

Amid all this, states Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray vacated his official residence in south Mumbai and moved to the family home in suburban Bandra on Wednesday night, hours after offering to quit the top post amid a rebellion by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde.

The CM moved out of 'Varsha', his official residence, for Matoshri, the private bungalow of the Thackeray family, amid high drama as the political crisis that has rocked his government after Shinde's revolt two days ago, showed no signs of ebbing.

Neelam Gorhe and Chandrakant Khaire were among party leaders present at 'Varsha' when Thackeray, who has tested positive for COVID-19, was leaving the official residence. Party workers raised slogans and showered petals on the CM as he left his official house along with his family members -- wife Rashmi Thackeray, sons Aaditya, who is a Cabinet minister, and Tejas Thackeray at around 9.50 pm.

He reached outside Matoshri at around 10.30 pm. However, it took another 40 minutes for the CM to cover a short distance from outside Matoshri to his residence as party workers had crowded the road. Hundreds of Shiv Sainiks stationed themselves from Malabar Hill, where Varsha is located, to Matoshri in Bandra. Carrying placards and party flags, workers raised the slogan of 'Uddhav Thackeray Zindabad' as some of them fought back tears.

The Sena president stepped out of his car at Worli, the Assembly constituency of his son and Tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray, and again near Matoshri and waived at party workers. Thackeray tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, an official from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said. The 61-year-old CM attended the weekly cabinet meeting virtually.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga filed a complaint against Thackeray for allegedly violating COVID-19-related protocols by meeting his supporters while heading to his personal residence from his official house, police said.

Prior to leaving Varsha, Thackeray also met MLAs and MPs. Earlier, bags containing his personal belongings were seen being loaded in cars. During a 'Facebook Live' session in the evening, Thackeray had said he will be leaving 'Varsha' and residing at 'Matoshri'. Thackeray, who also heads the Shiv Sena, had moved to 'Varsha' after becoming the chief minister in November 2019.

However, Shiv Sena's chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut asserted Thackeray will not resign following the rebellion by a section of party MLAs, and maintained the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will prove its majority in the Assembly if required.

The NCP and the Congress are also part of the MVA.
MUMBAI: Amid the current political turmoil in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday said that his party MLAs stand firmly united behind their leader and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and are ready for the floor test in the assembly. He who leaves the party under ED pressure is not a true Balasaheb Bhakt. We're true Balasaheb Bhakts...even we've ED pressure but will continue to stand with Uddhav Thackeray...When floor test happens everyone will see who's positive and who is negative... Sanjay Raut said.

He who leaves the party under ED pressure is not a true Balasaheb Bhakt. We're true Balasaheb Bhakts...even we've ED pressure but will continue to stand with Uddhav Thackeray...When floor test happens everyone will see who's positive and who is negative...: Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena pic.twitter.com/Wa2WqbZI1g  ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2022

Refusing to talk about the Eknath Shinde camp, the Shiv Sena MP said, I won't talk about any camp, I will talk about my party. Our party is strong even to this day...About 20 MLAs are in touch with us...when they come to Mumbai, you will get to know...will soon be revealed, in what circumstances, pressure these MLAs left us.

I won't talk about any camp, I will talk about my party. Our party is strong even to this day...About 20 MLAs are in touch with us...when they come to Mumbai, you will get to know...will soon be revealed, in what circumstances, pressure these MLAs left us: Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena pic.twitter.com/UBH9jH4qKs  ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2022

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MP Krupal Tumane on Thursday denied reports of joining the rebel faction led by Eknath Shinde, and asserted that he was with the Sena. Tumane, the Lok Sabha member from Ramtek in Nagpur, said "patience is the need of the hour".

Amid all this, Maharashtra cabinet minister Eknath Shinde, who is camping in Assam's Guwahati city with rebel Sena MLAs, on Wednesday claimed the support of 46 legislators, including some Independents.

On Thursday morning, three more Shiv Sena MLAs left for Guwahati from Mumbai, according to an associate of Shinde. The Shiv Sena currently has 55 MLAs in the Assembly.

On Wednesday, Eknath Shinde gave a letter to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly's deputy speaker, signed by 35 Sena MLAs, replacing Sunil Prabhu with Bharat Gogavale as the chief whip of the Shiv Sena legislature party.

He has maintained that while the NCP and the Congress were growing stronger in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, the Shiv Sena, which heads the governing bloc, and its workers were getting systematically weakened.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday night vacated his official residence, hours after reaching out to Shiv Sena dissidents with an emotional appeal and offering to quit, even as rebel leader Shinde remained defiant and insisted the party should walk out of the "unnatural" ruling alliance MVA, and claimed the support of "enough number" of MLAs.

The CM had moved out of 'Varsha', his official residence in south Mumbai, and shifted to Matoshree, the Thackeray family's private bungalow in suburban Bandra, amid high drama as the Shiv Sena asserted he will not resign in the wake of rebellion by Shinde, who is camping with rebel MLAs in Guwahati.
NEW DELHI: Gleycy Correia, the 2018 Miss United Continents has passed away at the age of 27 following surgery complications.

According to Fox News, the beauty pageant queen died at a private clinic on Monday after being in a coma for the past two months.

Correia had undergone surgery to remove her tonsils and days later suffered heavy bleeding and had a heart attack on April 4.

The news of her death was confirmed by her family priest Lidiane Alves Oliviera on Instagram. "Gleycy underwent surgery to remove her tonsils and was soon released by the doctor," she wrote.

Oliviera added, "5 days after the procedure, Gleycy had a haemorrhage and had to return to Unimed Costa do Sol hospital. Due to a haemorrhage, she had a cardio respiratory arrest, doctors were able to perform the resuscitation procedure, however, the exams showed neurological damage and she remained in a coma for 75 days. In the last 3 days of life, Gleycy had a kidney failure and died the last Monday."

She also shared a statement regarding Correria's loss. "We are deeply saddened by this loss. She was an amazing woman and much loved by everyone," she told Fox News.

"Gleycy actively participated in social projects in our local church, especially when were social projects for children. In addition, she had her own social project to reconstruct the areolas of the breasts of women affected by cancer. It won't be easy to live without her smile and shine. We're still getting used to the idea of not having her around," continued Oliviera.

As per the outlet, the beauty pageant star worked professionally as a beautician. She worked with permanent makeup and shared her work often via social media. Since April 4, her family had taken over Correia's Instagram page and had shared videos of prayer circles held for Correia.
New Delhi: Actor John Abraham has quite clearly asserted that he is a 'big screen hero' and that's where he would like films to release. In an interview with Times of India, John opened up on being comfortable with the OTT medium but only as a producer.

Talking about films releasing on OTT platforms instead of the cinema halls owing to the covid-19 pandemic, John Abraham said, "As a producer, I love the OTT space. I would love to make films for the medium and cater to that audience. But as an actor, I am very clear that I want to be on the big screen. I am a big-screen hero and that is where I want to be seen. At this point, I will do films that cater to the big screen. I would find it offensive if someone shut off my film midway on a tablet because they needed to rush to the washroom. Also, I would not like to be available for Rs 299 or 499. I have a problem with it."

John was last seen in Attack: Part 1 where he played the character of Arjun Shergill. It was directed by Lakshya Raj Anand, who co-wrote the film with Sumit Batheja and Vishal Kapoor, based on a story by John Abraham. The film also featured Jacqueline Fernandez and Rakul Preet Singh, with Prakash Raj and Ratna Pathak Shah in supporting roles.

He will next be seen in Ek Villain Returns and Pathaan. He is also quite gung-ho about doing Force 3.
MUMBAI: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Wednesday (June 23) filed draft charges against actor Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik and others before a special court in connection with a drugs case linked to Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput's death. Special public prosecutor Atul Sarpande said the prosecution maintained charges against all the accused as mentioned in the charge-sheet filed before the court. The prosecution has proposed the court to charge Rhea and Showik for consumption of narcotic substances and also for procuring and paying for such substances for deceased actor Rajput.

Sarpande said the court was scheduled to frame charges against all the accused. However, it couldn't be done as a few of the accused moved discharge applications. The court has said that the charges would be framed only after the discharge pleas are decided, he said. All the accused, including Rhea and Showing, were present before the court on Wednesday.



Special judge V G Raghuwanshi, hearing cases pertaining to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, posted the matter for hearing on July 12.







Rhea Chakrborty, brother Showik are currently out on bail in drugs case





Rhea Chakraborty was arrested in the case in September 2020. She was granted bail by the Bombay High Court almost a month after her arrest. Besides Rhea, her brother Showik Chakraborty and several others are also arraigned as accused in the case for alleged consumption, possession and financing of drugs. Most of them are out on bail.

The central agency has been probing the alleged drug use in Bollywood and television industry following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, who was found hanging in his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14, 2020. The CBI is probing the case pertaining to his death.

Live TV
Mumbai: Sushmita Sen is soaking up the Maldivian sun with daughters Renee and Alisah. The `Arya` actor, who is currently on a vacation in the Maldives, has shared some pictures that have set the internet on fire! Sushmita shared a string of pictures on Instagram and it looks like she is having the time of her life. In the first post, Sushmita shared a video where she can be seen taking a dive into the pool. She wrote, "I want YOU to know...you`re the love of my life. I love you guys!! #duggadugga".



In the next photo, she is seen chilling by the pool in a black monokini. She captioned the image writing "#bliss (red heart emoji) #yourstruly #maldives #eaglesview I love you guys!!! #duggadugga".



Sushmita also mesmerised her fans with a selfie wearing a beach hat and oversized rose-tinted sunnies.



Sushmita's daughter Renee Sen has also been active on Instagram and has been posting pictures from their vacation. In a mirror selfie posted by Renee, she could also be seen donning a black monokini.



A few days ago Renee also posted a video where she could be heard singing the famous `Jab Saiyaan` song from `Gangubai Kathiawadi`, amidst the blue waters of the ocean.



Sushmita left for the Maldives on Sunday as she celebrated Father`s Day with her dad on the flight.



On the work front, Sushmita will next be seen in the third season of the Ram Madhvani series `Aarya` on Disney+ Hotstar. Sushmita returned to the screen after a long hiatus for `Aarya` as the protagonist. The web series that broke records has had two successful seasons so far and has been renewed for the next one. Her daughter Renee also recently made her debut in the short film `Suttabaazi`.
New Delhi: Actor Vijay Varma has finished shooting for his upcoming crime-thriller Netflix film Devotion of Suspect X that also features actress Kareena Kapoor Khan. The actor took to his Instagram to share goofy behind the scene photos from the set of the film. The crime-thriller marks Kareenas OTT debut and is her maiden production as well.



Taking to his social media, Vijay Varma marked the shoot wrap with fun and goofy photos from the sets with Kareena Kapoor Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat and the director, Sujoy Ghosh.



He captioned his post, Shoot wrap! This has gotta be the most fun n frolic Ive had on a movie set and yet did some serious work Thanks for the memories, team #DevotionOfSuspectX!"

Vijay Varma has made vanity vans his second home as he has been hopping from one set to another for his multiple projects. He had recently wrapped 'Darlings' shoot with Alia Bhatt after which he has now wrapped 'Devotion of Suspect X'. He is all set to start shooting for Mirzapur season 3 now. Besides these, he also has 'Dahaad' with Sonakshi Sinha and Sumit Saxena's untitled next project in his kitty.
New Delhi: The Patna High Court, on Tuesday (June 21), issued a tender to procure iPhone 13 Pro for all judges. The court is inviting interested suppliers or authorised dealers to submit a price, inclusive of Goods and Service Tax and service charges, for the 256GB variant of the iPhone 13 Pro smartphone. The firms submitting their quotations are asked to submit their GST number, PAN, AADHAR, email and a registered mobile number while submitting the quotations.

Sealed quotations are invited from the reputed firms/ authorised dealers / suppliers / service providers for supply of Apple iPhone 13 Pro (256 GB) for the Honble Judges of this Court, the tender notice read. (ALSO READ: Amul MD hospitalised after road accident in Gujarat, sustains minor injuries)

Headquarters/ office of the firm/ shop must be located in Patna, the tender notice pointed out. (ALSO READ: Samsung Australia fined $9.7 million over false water-resistance claims)

The officer-on-special-duty released the notice on behalf of the Patna High Court for the purchase of the iPhone 13 Pro smartphones. According to the notice, the final decision to accept or reject any or all quotations will be taken by the court.

Courts will make no payment in advance. Also, the bids will have to be submitted within a week. Additionally, after submitting a duplicate bill, funds will be transferred via bank (CFMS method), according to the letter.

Currently, Patna High Court has a sanctioned strength of 53 judges. However, as of June 1, 2022, the total number of working judges stand at 27. The strength is all set to increase to 36 with the Central government recently notifying the appointments of nine more judges to the bench.

The court has also noted that the supplier will also have to remain available for maintenance of the smartphones as and when required. It also pointed out in the notice that the firms or suppliers will have to replace the defective materials immediately within the warranty period, free of cost.
17:58 | Chiclayo (Lambayeque region), Jun. 23.





The Head of State affirmed that the Executive Branch has submitted more than 33 bills to Parliament, including one aimed at securing separation of powers and governance in Peru.





He emphasized that said bill sought to clarify issues around the presidential impeachment, confidence motion, and censure. However, the constitutional reform proposal was shelved.





Moreover, Mr. Castillo mentioned the bill addressing the massive use of natural gas, whose inclusion on the legislative agenda remains a pending issue.





Likewise, he referred to the proposal to hold a referendum in order to convene a Constituent Assembly, which was also shelved





The top dignitary remarked that the accusations against him, which are spread by the press, have not been proven during these 11 months in office.





He also noted that a small group of legislators refuses to recognize his election triumph, unlike Colombia, where Rodolfo Hernandez recognized the victory of Gustavo Petro in a runoff election





"However, almost one year has passed (since taking office), and they (said small group of legislators) keep talking about the same, instead of putting urgent issues affecting the country on the agenda," the President pointed out.





His remarks were delivered during a visit to Chiclayo, where he held a meeting with grassroots organizations.





(END) RMCH/JCR/RMB/MVB

The President of the Republic Pedro Castillo on Thursday said that Congress should put urgent issues affecting the country on its agenda.Publicado: 23/6/2022
New Delhi: A new Amazon Alexa function will enable the virtual assistant to imitate the voice of a member of your family. Alexa will be read or speak your preferred bedtime stories using the new feature currently being worked upon by Amazon. According to Amazons Senior Vice President and Head Scientist for Alexa, Rohit Prasad, we are unquestionably living in the golden era of AI, where our dreams and science fiction are becoming a reality. Prasad said that the Alexa team only needed one minute of speech to accomplish this achievement during the company's annual 're:Mars' conference on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

"This required inventions where we had to learn to produce a high-quality voice with less than a minute of the recording versus hours of recording in the studio," Pradas told the audience. (ALSO READ:

"The way we made it happen is by framing the problem as a voice conversion task and not a speech generation path," he added. (ALSO READ: Couples opting for surrogacy to buy 3-yr health insurance for surrogates: Govt)

During a presentation, a child asked, "Alexa, can grandma finish reading me the Wizard of Oz?" (ALSO READ: Sensex, Nifty rebound nearly 1% on gains in auto, IT stocks)

Alexa replied yes and then immediately changed her voice, sounding like the kids grandmother in real life. The upcoming feature is currently in the works.

Amazon has announced to host its annual Alexa Live developers event on July 20. The company is expected to provide more updates about the event at the developers event next month.

Attendees of Alexa Live 2022 will get a comprehensive look at the science underlying the next "ambient intelligence" technology.

"Our vision for ambient computing can only be realized by extensive collaboration between teams at Alexa and all of our partners," said Kelly Wenzel, Director of Business to Business and Developer Marketing at Alexa.

"Alexa Live 2022 is our opportunity to showcase the many products, programs, and services we`ve designed specifically to help brands and builders leverage Alexa`s growing footprint to innovate on behalf of customers," Wenzel added.

Customers throughout the world are already using hundreds of millions of Alexa devices. People use Alexa for a variety of things, including playing their favourite music, reading the news, dimming the lights in their living rooms, and much more.

 With IANS inputs.
New Delhi: Garena Free Fire releases redeem codes on everyday basis. The 12-digit redeem code consists of alphabets and numbers. Players can get rewards such as skins for in-game weapons and characters to improve their gaming experience.

Garena Free fire is banned in India. However, if you are located outside India, you can access the reward codes and redeem them. For that you will be required to visit official Garena Free Fire reward site and log in to your Facebook, Google, Twitter IDs to access the Free Fire redemption page. (Also read: Google Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro features listed on ecommerce website: Details here)

Check out the Garena Free Fire Redeem Codes for June 23, 2022

FV5SGW7T5TR4

FV9BF8HJV9UI

87YDG2TEB4RJ

5TYO1H9JI8NU

F3U4756TGB8C

NE4I5I6TKH7M

B7LVO6DSI876

HTJGIHB87V6C

X5SA4QER2D3F

4VRB5TJKGY6H

OB987FD6E5TR

G5V6NY3MKU8H

JON98B7VFY6D

ET5WG345T6YH

JHGRKIU7HG45

(Also read: Shocking! Ex-Amazon Web Services engineer hacked data of 10 crore customers)

How to Redeem Garena Free Fire codes for today, 23 June 2022

Step 1: Go to the official Garena Free Fire redemption portal



Step 2: Log in on the portal with either your Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Google, VK, or Huawei ID.



Step 3: Enter a redeem code in the designated text box.



Step 4: Click on the Ok button to get free rewards in your game account.

(Disclaimer: Garena Free fire is banned in India. Hence we advise people to adhere to government rules)
Dehradun: In a big move against corruption, the Uttarakhand government has suspended an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Ram Vilas Yadav with immediate effect for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The decision to suspend the IAS officer was taken after Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami instructed the officers to take strict action against him on Wednesday.

#UPDATE: After Uttarakhand CM PS Dhami's instructions to take strict action against corruption,IAS Ram Vilas Yadav arrested late last night after a day-long interrogation,in connection with amassing assets disproportionate to his income: State Vigilance Director Amit Sinha to ANI  ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) June 23, 2022

He was arrested last night after a day-long investigation. "After Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami`s instructions to take strict action against corruption, IAS Ram Vilas Yadav was arrested late last night after a day-long interrogation, in connection with amassing assets disproportionate to his income," said State Vigilance Director Amit Sinha.

In June, Uttarakhand Vigilance Department raided four locations associated with IAS officer Ram Vilas Yadav including his premises in Lucknow and Dehradun in a disproportionate assets case.

A case was registered against him on April 19. The Vigilance Department had reportedly summoned Yadav for questioning but he skipped it. He was earlier secretary of the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA). Presently, the IAS officer is the Additional Secretary in the Rural Department in Uttarakhand.

In a similar case, the Enforcement Directorate on May 11 had arrested IAS officer Pooja Singhal, who served as Jharkhand Mining Secretary in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds.
Eid al-Adha is one of the recognized Islamic festivals. Extended family members are usually visited and greeted, and sweets and presents are usually offered. Big Eid, or the Greater Eid, is another name for the day.

With the Eid holiday around the corner, it's time to start thinking about your Eid Al-Adha trip. It is the right time to complete your flight bookings and plan your itineraries for the trip Arafat Day, which is anticipated to occur on Friday, July 8, will kick off the festivities. Eid Al-Adha is expected to begin on Saturday, July 9, giving us July 8 to 11 off, however, those dates, like certain other UAE public holidays in 2022, are subject to final government approval.

Whether you're traveling alone, with the family, or with a group of friends, check this list of the top Eid Al-Adha vacation spots, then start planning your own journey. To make travel as simple as possible, we've chosen destinations that are just a short flight away and have minimal COVID-19 travel limitations.

1. Cyprus

Cyprus is an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea that lies under Turkey. Despite its geographical location in Asia, it is a member of the European Union. The island has considerable Greek influences, although there are also Turkish influences to be seen. It has a somewhat larger area than Crete. It's a perfect island to mix a beach vacation with culture, thanks to its rich history and stunning beaches. So, who's up for a trip to Cyprus?

Cyprus is split into two halves. The Republic of Cyprus governs the southern half of the island. The Turkish Republic of North Cyprus governs the northern half, which is exclusively recognised by Turkey. Traveling between the two is usually simple, but there are certain regulations to follow.

Despite its small size, the Republic of Cyprus boasts a diverse population of cultures and nationalities as a result of migration from surrounding nations since the 19th century. As a consequence, Cyprus has a very distinct and diverse culture. This nation not only has beautiful natural landscapes and rich culture, but it is also the home of Aphrodite. With 2.4 million tourists each year, Cyprus is one of the most popular tourist destinations. With 53 azure clear beaches spanning the island nation's coastline, Cyprus has been regarded as the country with the cleanest sea water in Europe for the previous ten years.

2. Greece

Greece is a beautiful, enchanting, and calming destination. Greece is full of surprises. Greece is a perfect place unlike any other for exploration & relaxation, with delicious meals, fantastic restaurants, white sand beaches, blue Mediterranean seas, and jaw-dropping sunsets. Greece is not only beautiful and charming, but it is also quite economical. It is possible to travel all year, and although the winter months are chilly, they do not have as much rain.

Greece has approximately 6,000 islands, islets, and atolls, 227 of which are colonized, but the country offers more than simply island life. The mainland is nearly as appealing as its neighbors, with its ancient and busy city of Athens and the towering cliffs and monasteries of Meteora. When you combine some of Europe's nicest people, greatest cuisine, richest history, and most spectacular scenery, you get a remarkably intriguing location.

3. Maldives

The Maldives is an enjoyable nation to visit, especially because it has only been accessible for the last decade. Lodgings are already cropping up on a weekly basis on nearby islands, providing travelers with an economical option to see the nation.

It is a paradise for newlyweds, sea lovers, and divers, and is considered one of the world's greatest beaches, located only beyond the Indian border. This year-round location has one of the world's best diving and snorkeling experiences, thanks to its cluster of over 1,000 islands strategically placed in the Indian Ocean. And that's not all; this lovely island also boasts an underwater hotel to its name. Guests may spend a night in this one-of-a-kind all-glass chamber 16 feet under the sea's surface, surrounded by tropical fish and coral reef.

4. Seychelles

Seychelles is a fantastic holiday location with plenty of sunlight and a beautiful ocean all year, so the ideal time to go depends on your preferences. Seychelles is a 115-island cluster in the Indian Ocean. Many of Seychelles' islands are uninhabited, so most visitors stick to the three main islands: Mahe, Praslin, and La Digue.

The easiest to reach is Mahe, which is home to Victoria, Seychelles' capital. This is the biggest and most important island in Seychelles, having an international airport. It's simple to explore and go island hopping in the Seychelles archipelago from here. You may hike through Mahe island's rich, hilly interior, dive with deep-sea animals at Shark Bank, or hop your way around the islands, finding forest paths, blue lagoons, and lonely coves. The renowned Vallee de Mai on Praslin island and the jaw-dropping coral reef of Aldabra are both UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the islands.

5. Turkey

Traveling to Turkey is one of the simplest and most exciting ways to learn about Islamic culture since it sits on the border between the Islamic world and the European Union. It's no surprise that Turkey is the world's sixth most visited country, thanks to its excellent cuisine, rich history in Istanbul, hot air balloon flights over Cappadocia, and magnificent mosques.

It is the home to the Byzantine monuments of Istanbul, such as Ayasofya, the Ottoman mosques and palaces, Greek and Roman cities still standing in Western Turkey, and Cappadocia, which has beautiful limestone formations and some really awe-inspiring cave towns and castles right out of the Flintstones. As you go east, you'll pass through evocative ancient Islamic villages and cities, as well as some prehistoric sites. What about the scenery? Huge pastures, snowy peaks, meadows...and the food? It's always fantastic. Even my tastes, which are accustomed to hot and hefty foods, thought it was fantastic. And I haven't even mentioned Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Turkey has had 13 civilizations, all of which have had a substantial effect on its culture.

(Above mentioned article is Brand Desk Content, This article is a sponsored publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of IDPL)
New Delhi: As the number of monkeypox cases increases in several countries, World Health Organization (WHO) experts will meet on Thursday (June 23, 2022) to evaluate whether the recent outbreak constitutes an international emergency, its highest form of an alert. The case count from the current monkeypox outbreak outside of Africa has topped 3,000 in more than 40 countries, as per a Reuters tally - largely among men who have sex with men - since it was first reported in May. There, however, have been no reports of deaths.

The viral disease, that causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions, is endemic in parts of Africa and the continent has registered just over 1,500 suspected cases since the start of 2022, of which 66 have been fatal.



With a sudden and unusual event spreading internationally, most health experts agree monkeypox technically meets the criteria for the WHO definition of an emergency.

It is notable that only six such emergencies have previously been declared - Covid-19 (2020), the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (2019), Zika virus (2016), polio (2014), West Africa`s Ebola outbreak (2014), and the H1 virus that caused an influenza pandemic (2009).

Other outbreaks, such as yellow fever in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2016, were assessed by the WHO`s committee but ultimately did not meet the criteria: an unusual event spreading internationally which needs cross-country co-operation.

The declaration largely serves to draw attention and does not officially unlock funding or new measures, although it can lend more weight to WHO`s advice and the actions taken by countries.

An expert committee makes the recommendation, but the ultimate decision lies with the WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Here are details of WHO's Health emergencies, its highest form of alert

COVID-19

Recent estimates from WHO suggest that around 15 million people may have died as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was declared an emergency by the UN body in January 2020, about a month after the first reports of a novel coronavirus from Wuhan, China.

EBOLA IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

The WHO`s emergency committee on Ebola declared the outbreak an international emergency in July 2019, after authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo had already spent a year fighting the disease in an active conflict zone. There were said to be 3,481 cases and 2,229 deaths.

ZIKA VIRUS

In 2016, the global health body declared Zika a public health emergency of international concern. The virus had reportedly spread to more than 60 countries and territories since the outbreak was identified in Brazil in 2015. Subsequently, by November 2016, when the WHO declared an end to the emergency, there had been some 2,300 confirmed cases worldwide of babies born with microcephaly, most in Brazil. Microcephaly is a condition caused by the virus and marked by abnormally small heads that can lead to developmental problems.

POLIO

The WHO declared the resurgence of polio to be a public health emergency of international concern in 2014, and the label still applies to the disease that can paralyse and kill children.

EBOLA IN WEST AFRICA

An Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia between 2013 and 2016 killed at least 11,300 people, more than all other known Ebola outbreaks combined. The spread of the haemorrhagic fever also reportedly cost the economies of those three countries an estimated $53 billion.

SWINE FLU

The swine flu pandemic of 2009 killed an estimated 2,84,500 people, about 15 times the number confirmed by laboratory tests at the time. A 2012 study in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal said the toll might have been as high as 5,79,000 people. The original count, compiled by the WHO, put the number at 18,500.

What is monkeypox virus?

Monkeypox is a rare viral infection similar to human smallpox. It was first discovered in 1958 in monkeys kept for research and the first human case of monkeypox was reported in 1970. The disease occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of Central and West Africa.

The virus belongs to the family Poxviridae, which also includes the viruses causing smallpox and cowpox disease.

What are symptoms of monkeypox disease?

Monkeypox typically presents itself with fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications. The disease is usually self-limiting with the symptoms lasting from two to four weeks. Severe cases can also occur. In recent times, the case fatality ratio has reportedly been around 3-6 per cent but can be up to 10 per cent. There are no reported deaths in this current spread.

How does monkeypox virus spread?

Monkeypox is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus. It reportedly is spread by rodents such as rats, mice, and squirrels.

The monkeypox disease is transmitted through lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets, and contaminated materials such as bedding.

The virus, however, is said to be less contagious than smallpox and causes less severe illness.

How are monkeypox cases treated?

Vaccines used during the smallpox eradication program also provided protection against monkeypox. Newer vaccines have been developed of which one has been approved for the prevention of the disease. An antiviral agent developed for the treatment of smallpox has also been licensed for the treatment of monkeypox, according to WHO.

(With agency inputs)
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow`s massive air and artillery attacks were aimed at destroying the entire Donbas region and urged Ukraine`s allies to accelerate the shipment of heavy weapons to match Russia on the battlefield. On the diplomatic front, European leaders on Thursday will formally set Ukraine on the long road to EU membership at a summit in Brussels. Though mainly symbolic, the move will help lift national morale after four-months of bloody conflict that has killed thousands, displaced millions and destroyed cities.

"We must free our land and achieve victory, but more quickly, a lot more quickly," Zelenskiy said in a video address released early Thursday, reiterating Ukrainian demands for larger and faster weapons.

"There were massive air and artillery strikes in Donbas. The occupier`s goal here is unchanged, they want to destroy the entire Donbas step-by-step," he said.

"This is why we again and again emphasize the acceleration of arm deliveries to Ukraine. What is quickly needed is parity on the battlefield in order to halt this diabolical armada and push it beyond Ukraine`s borders."

Also Read: Vladimir Putin to mark World War II anniversary as Russia pounds eastern Ukraine

In an indication that the battle for the Donbas was becoming more difficult, Tass news agency cited pro-Moscow separatists as saying they had captured most of Vovchoyarivka, a village some 12 km (7.46 miles) south west of the city of Lysychansk. If true, Lysychansk would be at greater risk of being cut off.

The fierce war of attrition grinds on in the Donbas, Russian forces resumed pounding Ukraine`s second-biggest city Kharkiv near the Russian border.

The Russian strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday on Kharkiv were the worst for weeks in an area where normal life had been returning since Ukraine pushed Moscow`s forces back last month. Kyiv characterised the strikes, which reportedly killed at least 20 people, as a bid to force Ukraine to pull resources from the main battlefields in the Donbas to protect civilians.

"There is no letup in the shelling of civilians by the Russian occupiers," Oleh Synehubov, governor of Kharkiv region, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "This is evidence that we cannot expect the same scenario as in Chernihiv or Kyiv, with Russian forces withdrawing under pressure."

Also Read: NATO warns of long Ukraine war as Russian assaults follow EU boost for Kyiv

EU MEMBERSHIP

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what the Kremlin calls a "special operation" to ensure Russian security and denazify Ukraine. Ukraine and the West call this a baseless pretext for a war of choice that has raised fears of wider conflict in Europe.

Russia has long opposed closer links between Ukraine, a former Soviet state, and Western clubs like the European Union (EU) and the NATO military alliance.

Zelenskiy said he had spoken to 11 EU leaders on Wednesday about Ukraine`s candidacy and will make more calls on Thursday. He said earlier he believed all 27 EU countries would support Ukraine`s candidate status. "We deserve it," Zelenskiy told crowds in Amsterdam via video link.

Diplomats say it will take Ukraine a decade or more to meet the criteria for joining the EU. But EU leaders say the bloc must make a gesture that recognises Ukraine`s sacrifice. The war in Ukraine has had a massive impact on the global economy and European security, driving up gas, oil and food prices, pushing the EU to reduce its heavy reliance on Russian energy and prompting Finland and Sweden to seek NATO membership.

The EU will temporarily shift back to coal to cope with dwindling Russian gas flows without derailing longer-term climate goals, an EU official said on Wednesday, as a tight gas market and soaring prices set off a race for alternative fuels.

Also Read: Russia-Ukraine war: 'More weapons we get, faster Ukraine can free its land', says Zelenskiy

BATTLE FOR SIEVIERODONETSK

The battle for the frontline eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, where hundreds of civilians are trapped in a chemical plant, seesawed with Ukraine and Russia disputing who controlled the city. Luhansk`s regional governor, Serhiy Gaidai, said in an online post on Wednesday evening that Russian forces continue to build up reserves in Sievierodonetsk in an attempt to encircle Ukrainian troops.

He rejected Russian claims that its military already controls the city. "Battles are continuing," he told Ukrainian Television. "Russian forces do not have full control." Moscow says Ukrainian forces in Sievierodonetsk, scene of the heaviest recent fighting, are trapped.

It ordered them last week to surrender or die after the last bridge over the Siverskyi Donets river was destroyed. Inside Russia, a fire tore through an oil refinery just 8 km (5 miles) from the frontier with Donbas territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists, after what the refinery described as a cross-border attack on Wednesday by two drones.

There was no immediate Ukrainian comment on the strike, which suspended production at the Novoshakhtinsk refinery. Ukraine generally does not comment on reports of attacks on Russian infrastructure near the border, which it has called "karma" for Russian attacks on Ukraine.
Similarly, the Head of State called on lawmakers of Puno region and High-Andean areas to join this initiative.

Likewise, the top official expressed his commitment to allocate a budget for the public works required by Puno on issues such as drinking water, sanitation, sewerage, and storm drainage.

Mr. Castillo stressed that it is necessary to promote agriculture and the distribution of products grown in Puno.

He also said that immediate actions were taken in the face of the fertilizer shortage, such as the distribution of guano from the island until the recently-purchased fertilizers arrive in Peru.

From Puno he detailed 300 tons will arrive for areas such as Sandia, Macusani, Azangaro, Ayaviri, and Juli.

Faced with the immediate need for the Juliaca-Puno Highway, the President said this project cannot remain postponed.

The Head of State also ratified the Government's willingness for the electrification of Azangaro and implementation of the primary care level in Puno provinces.

Moreover, the top official mentioned that a contract has been signed to resume the preparation of the technical file for storm drainage in Juliaca.

Regarding the decontamination of Lake Titicaca, he reported on expansion works for wastewater treatment entailing an investment of S/1.186 billion (about US$319 million) through public-private partnerships.

More than 1,000 residents, leaders of social organizations, regional authorities, mayors and legislators representing this region attended the first meeting for the development of Puno.

Durante su encuentro con la poblacion y autoridades de la region Puno, desde Juliaca, el presidente @PedroCastilloTe anuncio que convocara a un Consejo de Ministros extraordinario para reforzar la atencion de la poblacion, agricultura y ganaderia frente a las heladas y el friaje. pic.twitter.com/CGKZP9vDUO
" " Dr. Ann Schneider holds up the half-pint of blood that black Lab Jackson just donated at the Eastern Veterinary Blood Bank in Severna Park, Maryland. PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

A few years ago, Bethany Schultz's dog, Chopper, was diagnosed with immune-mediated hemolytic anemia, a condition where the dog's immune system destroys its own red blood cells. Although Chopper's bone marrow was producing an adequate number of red cells, once they were released into the blood stream, the dog's immune system attacked and killed them as if they were an infection or virus.

Not sure what to do, Schultz walked into IndyVet in Indianapolis, where doctors there gave Chopper four blood transfusions. The transfusions helped. Schultz was so happy that she decided that her other dog, Zaha, should become a blood donor. Schultz told her story to the local Indianapolis ABC affiliate, boasting that Zaha was her superhero. The dog, it turns out, is a universal donor and now gives blood monthly.

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Zaha is indeed a superhero because right now the nation is in the middle of a canine blood shortage. The situation is so bleak that veterinarians are putting out the call that more dog blood is needed. The shortage has even reached into Canada. "Our donor pool depleted quite dramatically," Beth Knight, laboratory director at the Canadian Animal Blood Bank in Winnipeg told a Canadian TV station. "It's one of those challenges."

Yes, just like humans, dogs  as well as cats  can donate blood. Although there is no centralized blood bank for either species, there are many animal blood banks around North America. In fact, dogs routinely go to the Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center near Buffalo, New York to donate. The animals have to be between 1 and 6 years old and weigh 50 pounds (22 kilograms) or more. They must also be current on their vaccinations and free of any long-term medical conditions. The process generally takes about 45 minutes, and there are rarely any side effects.

In return, the dogs get free annual medical checkups, complete with bloodwork and screening for various infectious diseases. If the donor dogs later need blood themselves, they get one free unit for each time they have donated.

In many respects, a canine blood bank works the same as a blood bank for humans. Donor dogs have to be screened for blood-borne diseases. Their blood also has to be typed; dogs have more than eight different antigens compared to human's three, A, B and O. And like human blood, there always seems to be a shortage of supply for our furry friends. Part of the reason is because canine blood has a short shelf-life  just about 30 days  so the stock has to constantly be replenished.

But this current dearth has also been fueled by the warm weather, which increases the risk for infectious diseases and traumas, such as being hit by a car. Plus, according to Dr. Kelly Robertson, directory of Emergency Services & Blood Donation Center at IndyVet, a number of regular donor dogs are "retiring."

It doesn't matter what breed your dog is, every make and model can donate. The blood of a Great Dane, for example, can be transfused into a chihuahua and vice versa. Of course, being a good natured donor dog helps, too.

Now That's Smart If you want your dog, or cat for that matter, to be a blood donor, check out this list compiled by petplace.com to find an animal blood bank near you.
By Trend

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) plans to launch new projects and services in Azerbaijan, BSTDB President Dmitry Pankin said answering the question from Trend's correspondent.

"After 'Role of BSTDB in supporting diversified and innovative economy of Azerbaijan in changing world' business forum which is to be held tomorrow we expect the launch of new projects, ideas and services which can provided by the bank to the private sector of Azerbaijan," Pankin said.

He noted that the bank is considering new potential areas and opportunities for cooperation with Azerbaijan.

"We are very proud of our cooperation within the financial sector of Azerbaijan, and issuing our financial instruments in manat. We are also extremely interested in developing renewable energy projects," added the banks head.
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan sent a congratulatory message to the Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel on the occasion of National Day, the Armenian PMs Office said.

The message reads as follows,

Your Excellency, dear Xavier,

I heartily congratulate you on the occasion of the National Day of Luxembourg. The Armenian Government and the Armenian people have a special attitude towards your wonderful country and its friendly people.

In the jubilee year of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, we can happily state that the bilateral political relations between our two countries, based on trust, mutual respect and practical interests, are at a high level today. I am full of hope that as a result of joint work we will be able to give a new impetus also to the development of bilateral trade and economic relations.

In Armenia, we remember with gratitude the firm and clear position and exceptional solidarity of Your Government and the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg during the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan against the civilian population of Artsakh, and the subsequent period. We highly appreciate the active participation of the Government of Luxembourg in the humanitarian programs of international organizations aimed at addressing the social needs of the displaced population of Artsakh, as well as in the international efforts to repatriate the Armenian prisoners of war illegally kept in Azerbaijan, and condemn and stop Azerbaijans policy of destruction of Armenian cultural heritage.

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I once again warmly congratulate you on this important day, wishing you good health and new success, and peace and prosperity to the friendly people of Luxembourg.
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. Prosecutor General of Armenia Artur Davtyan departed for Belarus on a working visit to attend the 32nd session of the Coordination Council of Prosecutors General of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Minsk, his Office said in a statement.

The statement adds that the session participants will discuss legalization and return of criminally acquired assets, protection of business rights within criminal procedures, fight against extremism, terrorism and illegal migration, experience of CIS states in other areas and functions of prosecutions.

The Prosecutor General of Armenia will also have meetings with his counterparts on the sidelines of the session.
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. Yerevan hosted on June 22 the Orion Summit 2022 that gathered leading companies from Armenia, the United States, Philippines and Lithuania.

Famous foreign founders, investors and consultants in technology, finance, business, culture and other sectors participated in 5 panel discussions.

Mark Chenian, the member of the Board of Directors of the Armenian Society of Fellows was the keynote speaker of the Summit.

It is necessary always to move forward, not being limited only with talks about creating good conditions for startups and IT industry. The mission of this Summit is to develop Armenia, reach an accelerated growth because the participants of this event also form the ecosystem, Founder and CEO of Orion World Innovations Emma Arakelyan said.

Orion Summit will have a continuation. The Summit is turning into a platform of signing deals. We aim at creating much more opportunities for Armenian startups to meet and cooperate with global companies. We started from Yerevan, next year we will meet in New York, and then in Frankfurt, Co-founder of Orion Worldwide Innovations Armenia Diana Arzumanyan said.

Armenias Ministry of High Technological Industry and Central Bank also had a great investment in the high-level discussions at the Summit. The event was also attended by representatives of Ameriabank, Adobe, Grant Thornton, SADA, EY, etc.

Digital Julfa Network, an initiative uniting the pan-Armenian intellectual, technological, commercial and cultural force, officially launched during the Summit.

The Summit ended with a reception during which pianist and jazz composer Joel A. Martin performed the works of Komitas accompanied with jazz.

An exhibition of works of modern art also took place on the sidelines of the Summit.

About Orion

Orion Worldwide Innovations (Orion), is a startup growth and ecosystem acceleration hub and offers a full-service package to make companies investable to enter the US market, enhance their customer acquisition strategies, stay competitive and protect their innovation. Orion is a U.S.-based company formed in 2017, with offices in New York City, U.S., and Yerevan, Armenia, though Orion partners with companies and investor networks worldwide.
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to Armenia Victor Richter, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister stressed the importance of relations with Germany, which is Armenia's largest trade and economic partner among the EU countries, and expressed confidence that the high level political dialogue will further promote mutually beneficial cooperation.

Ambassador Richter noted that Germany is interested in developing cooperation with Armenia and reaffirms its support for Armenia's democratic reforms.

The interlocutors discussed the prospects for deepening Armenian-German ties. Expressing satisfaction with the programs implemented within the framework of the bilateral agenda, Nikol Pashinyan considered intensive agriculture a promising direction. The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany welcomed the Prime Minister's proposal and mentioned also the joint programs in the fields of SME, energy, water management, e-governance, finance and other spheres. The sides attaches importance to the activities of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Reconstruction Credit Institute (KfW) in Armenia.

During the meeting the sides also touched upon regional developments and work on unblocking the communication routes. PM Pashinyan and Ambassador Richter exchanged views on the situation in Nagorno Karabakh.

The Prime Minister presented Armenia's positions on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the peace agenda announced by the Armenian Government. Nikol Pashinyan stressed that the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh's status remains unresolved, it should be settled within the framework of the internationally recognized format, under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. The Prime Minister touched upon the issues of the return of Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees still being held in Azerbaijan, the protection and preservation of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh.
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. Fly Arna, Armenias national airline and a joint venture company between the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) and Air Arabia Group, celebrated the inaugural of its main office located on the Ground floor, Old VIP building at Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan, ARMENPRESS was informed from Fly Arna.

This new office features an open environment, with employee lounges and break rooms as well as multiple meeting and conference rooms. This step follows the receival of Fly Arnas first aircraft as well as the launch of the commercial schedule starting July 3rd, 2022.

Fly Arnas flights are now open for sale and customers can book their flights by visiting Fly Arnas website (www.flyarna.com), calling the call center (+374 41 38 00 83) or through travel agencies.

Inaugural flights will take off from Zvartnots International Airport to Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt starting from July 3, 2022. Fly Arna team is continuously working on expanding its network and will soon announce the new destinations the airline will operate to.

Fly Arna is Armenias national airline and a joint venture company between the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) and Air Arabia Group. Based in Zvartnots International Airport (EVN) in Yerevan, Fly Arna follows the successful low-cost business model operated by Air Arabia that focuses on offering comfort, reliability, and value-for-money air travel.
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. Sona Ghazaryan, a member of the "Civil Contract" faction of the National Assembly of Armenia, stated at the PACE plenary session that more than 91,000 people, 88% of whom are women and children, were deported to Armenia as a result of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan in 2020.

ARMENPRESS reports, the National Assembly published the text of the MPs speech, which runs as follows,

At the beginning of the 20th century, the movement for womens right to vote was spreading worldwide, and I am very proud to say that Armenia already was having success. In 1919 the first direct parliamentary elections were held under universal suffrage - every person over the age of 20 had the right to vote regardless of gender, ethnicity or religious beliefs. Three women deputies: Katarine Zalyan-Manukyan, Perchuhi Partizpanyan- Barseghyan and Varvara Sahakyan were in the Parliament and maybe you recognize the grandchild of Perchuhi Barseghyan, Jeanne Barseghyan, who is currently the Mayor of Strasbourg.

Diana Abgar, another Armenian strong woman took a different path to public life. On July 2, 1920, she was appointed Armenias envoy to Japan. Serving until 1921, she ranked as one of the worlds first female ambassadors.

Nowadays at the current Parliament women representation is higher than ever but still not enough, 35%. Highly appreciating the role of women in the civil society organizations, we are actively engaged with them in the law-making process that will lead to even more female participation in the legislative bodies.

Having peace as one of the main agendas for the ruling party, I can assure that female MPs are also engaged in the decision-making processes.

The Republic of Armenia has also developed the Second National Action Plan on the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, reaffirming its readiness to continue its work on women, peace and security.

The program addresses the issues and challenges faced by the women displaced from Nagorno Karabakh as a result of the aggressive war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh in the fall of 2020.

As a result of the aggressive war, more than 91.000 people were forcibly displaced and received asylum in Armenia, 88% of whom were women and children.

The aggressive war started during the COVID-19 epidemic, thus complicating the difficult situation for women and girls. Thus, the program presents the problems of women and girls in crisis, addressing their security component. The program addresses the issues of forcibly displaced women, the security challenges posed by the new border situation, and their impact on women and girls.

Having thus said, I need to be sincere that I am really surprised to hear how our female colleagues here at the PACE and other high level female officials in the neighboring countries can speak in support of war and violence, finding justifications.
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. The delegation led by the President of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan, who is in Austria on an official visit, was received by the President of the Federal Council of the Republic of Austria Christine Schwarz-Fuchs.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the National Assembly of Armenia, in a conversation with his colleague, the President of the National Assembly of Armenia noted that in recent years a positive dynamic of the development of bilateral relations has been observed in the political platform between Armenia and Austria: active reciprocal visits, meetings at the level of presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers have taken place.

He added that it is necessary to establish cooperation between the Armenian parliament and the upper house of the Austrian parliament, as parliamentary diplomacy plays a significant role in the Armenian-Austrian bilateral agenda at both the federal and decentralized levels.

Alen Simonyan reaffirmed Armenia's commitment, together with its European partners, to expand and deepen the process of institutional reform aimed at further strengthening democracy, human rights and the rule of law. In this sense, according to Alen Simonyan, the entry into force of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement is a turning point, which will open new perspectives for the deepening of Armenia-EU cooperation.

Issues related to Armenia-EU visa liberalization, opening of the Austrian Embassy in Armenia, opening of Austrian visa services in Yerevan were discussed during the conversation.

Touching upon the 44-day war and the numerous problems that arose as a result, Alen Simonyan once again welcomed Austria's efforts aimed at strengthening peace and stability in the region, creating an atmosphere of mutual trust, and developing regional cooperation.

The parties also touched upon the importance of the centuries-old Armenian community in Austria, which is a reliable bridge between the two countries. Christine Schwarz-Fuchs proudly emphasized Armenians' great contribution to their country's cultural, economic and political life.

At the end of the meeting the President of the Federal Council of Austria highlighted the visit of the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, noting that it will provide new opportunities for the expansion of inter-parliamentary cooperation between Armenia and Austria. "We are interested that people of Nagorno Karabakh live in favorable conditions. In this sense, you can consider Austria as a reliable partner, President of the Federal Council of the Republic of Austria Christine Schwarz-Fuchs said.
Washington has not granted permission for a special flight of Russias state aircraft to the United States, which was supposed to take home employees of Russian diplomatic missions, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Wednesday, Tass informs.

June 23, 2022, 11:34 US denies permission for special flight to carry Russian diplomats home  MFA

STEPANAKERT, JUNE 23, ARTSAKHPRESS: "The US is continuing to systematically damage bilateral relations, which are already at their lowest ebb. Washington has distinguished itself in taking yet another hostile move against our country, by not granting permission for a special flight of Russian state aircraft to the United States, which was supposed to carry home employees of Russian foreign institutions and their families," the statement says.

"The Joe Biden administration has preferred to totally ignore the fact that it is actually a humanitarian action as our plane was supposed to fly in to take those of our colleagues whom the Department of State had earlier issued an ultimatum, ordering them to leave the United States by the end of this month," Zakharova added.

The Russian Foreign Ministrys spokeswoman pointed out that such defiant behavior of the US authorities would not "go unanswered."

"As we have warned before, once a Russian special flight is denied entry, countermeasures, including asymmetrical ones, will inevitably follow, of which we will notify through diplomatic channels in accordance with the established procedure," the statement says.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg ''aims'' to get Finland and Sweden into the military alliance ''soon'' despite Turkeys objections, but cautioned that he ''cannot guarantee'' the swift timeline, Politico reports.

June 23, 2022, 16:09 NATO chief wants Sweden, Finland in alliance soon, but cant guarantee it

STEPANAKERT, JUNE 23, ARTSAKHPRESS: Speaking at a POLITICO event on Wednesday, the NATO chief indicated that while negotiations between the three countries are still underway, no solution had been found yet, less than a week before a highly anticipated summit kicks off in Madrid.

''My aim is still to make sure that they [Sweden and Finland] can join soon,'' Stoltenberg said. ''I cannot guarantee, but Im saying thats still my aim.''

NATO leaders are set to sign off on key decisions next week, including a bolstered eastern flank presence and an updated long-term strategy document. But with just a few days left before the summit, Finlands and Swedens bids to join to the alliance are still not settled.

While there is broad support for the countries membership, the decision to add a new NATO member requires approval from all 30 allies. And Turkey has raised objections to Sweden and Finlands bids, accusing both countries of supporting Kurdish groups it deems terrorists.

''This is not the first time we see one or just a few allies is not agreeing with the rest,'' Stoltenberg said, expressing optimism that Ankaras opposition will not prevent Helsinki and Stockholm from eventually joining.

The former Norwegian prime minister also insisted that NATO allies have the ability to continue providing Ukraine with weapons ''as long as it takes,'' a statement that comes amid Ukrainian warnings that it is running low on ammunition and becoming increasingly reliant on shipments of weapons from Western allies.

NATO allies, Stoltenberg said, have a ''political and moral obligation'' to not let up on weapons shipments.

''We should maintain support deliverables of modern weapons, heavy weapons, as NATO allies have now done for a long time, and also that NATO has a role to play in providing support,'' Stoltenberg stressed. He underlined that the war in Ukraine actually started back in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and backed fighters in eastern Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine will be a ''long-haul'' effort, Stoltenberg stressed.
Nato troops at the Canadian-led NATO enhanced Forward Presence battlegroup in Adazi, Latvia (REUTERS)

Nato is set to agree to the largest overhaul of its defences since the Cold War at a summit in Madrid next week, according to reports.

The military alliance is said to be planning to expand its 40,000-strong response force following Russias invasion of Ukraine as part of a radical change in posture.

Vladimir Putin has baselessly claimed that the expansion of Nato represents an existential threat to Russia, though his invasion of Ukraine has emboldened the military alliance and prompted Finland and Sweden to apply for membership.

As world leaders prepared to meet in Madrid for a major Nato summit on June 28, an official in the military alliance told Sky News that the mentality had changed overnight following Russias aggression towards Ukraine.

Nato now feels like it is electrified. You can feel the energy surging through the system, they said.

Sources told the broadcaster that the Nato-response force could be expanded by as much as six-fold, bringing the total number of soldiers on high alert to 240,000. However, they stressed the final amount is likely to be lower.

Under the new framework, the name of the force is also expected to change to the Allied Reaction Force (ARF).

The military alliance is also posed to designate Russia as the most significant and direct threat to western security.

A comprehensive assistance package for Ukraine will also be provided to give the country extra equipment to counter Russian drones and provide secure communication, according to Sky News.

In a speech previewing next weeks summit, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said allies would recommit to a pledge made in 2014 to spend at least 2 per cent of GDP on defence.

Moscow provoked outrage on Monday after warning Nato member Lithuania that it would take action against the country unless the transit of goods to its Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea was swiftly restored.

The situation is more than serious," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. This decision is really unprecedented. Its a violation of everything.

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Lithuania said it was merely implementing EU sanctions, which cover the transit of Russian goods including steel and iron.

Finland and Sweden, which were previously committed to neutrality, both submitted bids to join the alliance earlier this year to shore up their security.

But their accession hit a stumbling block in May after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan opposed the move, claiming the countries had supported Kurdish militants and arms embargoes on Ankara.

Any Nato membership requires approval of all 30 members of the alliance. Turkey has been a Nato ally for more than 70 years and has the alliances second-largest army.
By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan and Romania enjoy strong and long-standing diplomatic relations for almost 30 years.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992, the two countries share mutual interests in multiple areas, in particular, trade and energy.

A spectacular gala concert was held at the Philharmonic Hall to celebrate the thirty years of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Romania, Azernews reports citing Azertac.

Speaking before the concert, Romanian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vasile Soare praised the level of development achieved between the two countries. Consistent steps are being taken to further develop relations.

Azerbaijani Minister of Labor and Social Protection Sahil Babayev spoke about the existing relations between the two countries. He said that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Romania. Sahil Babayev added that increasing trade turnover and further developing economic ties between the two countries are among the key priorities.

"Azerbaijan and Romania have signed two documents on strategic partnership. Our countries successfully cooperate and support each other within international organizations. There are fourteen Romanian companies operating in Azerbaijan in the fields of construction, trade, services, communications, transport, and others," said Sahil Babayev.

"Many Azerbaijanis study and work in Romania, thus creating a living bridge between our countries. I believe that in the coming years we will talk about wider relations. We will do our best to raise our relations to the level of a strategic alliance," he said.

Next, the event was followed by wonderful musical performances.
World View continues its commitment to Earth advocacy pledging support to Rainforest Partnerships forest conservation efforts in Peru and Ecuador

TUCSON, Ariz., June 22, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In support of World Rainforest Day, June 22, World View, the industry leading stratospheric ballooning and space tourism company, announces a new alliance with Rainforest Partnership, an impact-driven international nonprofit that uses the power of community-centered collaboration to protect rainforestscrucial components in the global climate crisisin some of the most critical places on Earth for biodiversity and climate.

World Views space tourism flight from Spaceport Amazonia, one of its Seven Wonders of the World Stratospheric Edition TM, will provide explorers with a deeper appreciation for tropical rainforests and distinctive learning opportunities about the integral role they play in regulating Earths climate. Through this partnership, World View will donate five percent of all sales from World Views forthcoming Amazonia merchandise line to Rainforest Partnership in support of indigenous and local-led forest conservation projects in Peru and Ecuador. The two organizations will continue to collaborate to identify opportunities for World View to work alongside and support local communities.

"Through both our space tourism and remote sensing divisions, we are committed to identifying ways to share new perspectives that encourage the preservation of our planet," says World View CEO Ryan Hartman. "Were excited to share the immense beauty of the tropical rainforest from the edge of space to help more people understand its wonder and fragility from a new vantage point while inspiring them to take action to protect this critical resource."

As part of the 2022 World Rainforest Day Global Summit on June 22, Hartman will host a virtual fireside chat with environmentalist, actor, UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador, Adrian Grenier to discuss how mission-first companies focused on corporate social responsibility can drive revenue while also supporting awareness about Earths resources, like rainforests, and contribute to a healing planet. Grenier also serves as World View's Chief Earth Advocate, where he supports the organization's mission to inspire earth activism.

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The theme for the virtual SummitThe Time is Nowemphasizes the immediate need for action and impact to achieve net zero deforestation by 2030. Summit events include panel discussions, workshops, and film screenings focused on conservation, community engagement, innovative technology, finance, youth climate action, storytelling, sustainable business/corporate social responsibility, ecotourism, ecology, and more. All events are free and open to the public; registration is available at https://www.worldrainforestday.org

"World View shares our vision for protecting precious natural resources like tropical rainforests," says Rainforest Partnership CEO Niyanta Spelman. "We are grateful for support that helps us create long-term, sustainable rainforest protection and restoration as part of our direct work with Amazonian indigenous and local communities. Partnerships with purpose-driven organizations such as World View will accelerate the scale of impact for tropical rainforests and the entire planet."

ABOUT WORLD VIEW

World View is the leading stratospheric exploration company on a mission to inspire the global community to rediscover Earth. Through both its legacy Stratollite imaging and newly launched space tourism and exploration businesses, World View is working to ensure its ultimate objective: honor the planet so that future generations will feel blessed to call it home. For more information, visit worldview.space.

ABOUT WORLD RAINFOREST DAY

World Rainforest Day highlights rainforests and their critical role in stabilizing our climate, inspires individual and collective actions around the world, and showcases innovative ideas. Created by the nonprofit Rainforest Partnership in 2017, World Rainforest Day spreads awareness about the importance of rainforests, encourages global action to protect these critical ecosystems, and creates a pathway for collaboration. Visit http://WorldRainforestDay.org to learn more and amplify with #WorldRainforestDay.

ABOUT RAINFOREST PARTNERSHIP

Rainforest Partnership is an impact-driven international nonprofit, founded in 2007 in Austin, Texas, that uses the power of community-centered collaboration to protect rainforestscritical components in the global climate crisisin some of the most critical places on Earth for biodiversity and climate. Visit http://rainforestpartnership.org to learn more.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220622005338/en/

Contacts

Jordan Rogers

Jack Taylor PR

913-206-9571

worldview@jacktaylorpr.com
TOKYO (AP)  A Japanese man accused of defrauding the government of 1 billion yen ($7.3 million) intended for small Japanese businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic was arrested on board a flight Wednesday after being deported from Indonesia, where he fled 1 1/2 years ago.

Mitsuhiro Taniguchi, 47, was arrested by Japanese police who accompanied him from Indonesia. He was taken to a police station after landing at Tokyo's Narita airport, Japanese media reported. Police confirmed his arrest.

Indonesian immigration official Douglas Simamora said earlier Wednesday that Taniguchi was deported after his passport was revoked by the Japanese government and because he had no Indonesian residence permit.

Indonesian authorities arrested Taniguchi on June 4 at a house owned by a fish trader in Lampung province. During his stay there, he described himself as an investor interested in fisheries. Indonesian authorities are investigating whether other people in that country were involved in the fraud scheme linked to Taniguchi.

In one case, Taniguchi and his accomplice Koichiro Ota, 34, who was separately arrested Wednesday, allegedly defrauded the government of 2 million yen ($14,700) by submitting a false application behalf of someone lacking eligibility for a subsidy, the Tokyo police said.

Taniguchi and a group of acquaintances allegedly submitted about 1,700 false applications for COVID-19 relief funds to the Japanese government and illegally received subsidies on more than 960 of those applications, taking with them about 1 billion yen ($7.3 million), reports say.

Police arrested Taniguchis ex-wife and their two sons  believed to be part of a larger group  in May on fraud allegations and were preparing to place Taniguchi on an international wanted list. The three suspects allegedly defrauded the government of 3 million yen ($22,500) in COVID-19 subsidies from June to August 2020.

The case surfaced in August 2020 when the office offering the subsidies consulted with Tokyo police. Taniguchi entered Indonesia two months later on an investor visa.

Jatmiko and Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
AUBURN  Following several mass shooting nationwide, including one which killed an Auburn resident in Buffalo last month, the Auburn City Council has urged United States Congress to support "commonsense" gun legislation.

At a meeting June 16, the council unanimously passed a resolution requesting that Congress support meaningful gun legislation.

The resolution said June 3-5 "marked the deadliest weekend of 2022, to date, in the United States caused by mass shootings, with (a) total of 17 fatalities." The resolution also referenced the May 14 shooting committed by an 18-year-old gunman at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo. Among the 10 people killed was Auburn resident Andre Mackniel. Every victim in the killings was Black, and authorities said the murders are being investigated as a racist hate crime.

Also mentioned in the resolution was the shooting on May 24 in Uvalde, Texas, where an 18-year-old murdered 19 children and two adults with a legally purchased assault rifle.

"The frequency of mass shootings and the magnitude of casualties of said shootings demand common sense gun laws that will limit the access to military-style rifles and guns with high capacity magazines," the resolution said.

The resolution asked that U.S. Congressman John Katko and U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand "exert their fullest effort to 1. Establish a nation-wide age restriction of 21 years of age for the purchase of all firearms, and, 2. Establish a national system of expanded background checks with a 14 day waiting period in all firearm sales to be administered at the State-level."

"As many of us know, this has been something that has plagued our society for decades, and what we're asking for is our federal representatives to move forward with meaningful legislation," Councilor Terry Cuddy said.

Councilor Jimmy Giannettino also expressed support for the resolution.

"I don't want any mistake to be made: We're asking for commonsense gun legislation, gun control, not to take away weapons away from people, but common sense methods before somebody can possess those (weapons,)" he said.

Giannettino also mentioned that he had been in the U.S. Air Force and Mayor Mike Quill had served in the U.S. Marines, and said they "went through extensive background checks, psychiatric evaluations and six-to-twelve weeks of training before we could handle a semi-automatic, automatic weapon.

"So there's precedent for that in this country," Giannettino continued. "Our own armed services have to have more training, so I don't think what we're asking our Congress to do is anything extraordinary. It's what needs to be done."

The council's resolution also noted that on June 2, President Joe Biden "called on the United States Congress to ban assault weapons or to raise the age to be able to buy one from 18 to 21 and other measures to curb gun violence in the United States."

"On June 6, 2022, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul signed a ten-bill package into New Your State Law that raises the age from 18-21 to buy semi-automatic weapons, and strengthen red flag laws," the resolution added.

Various attempts to pass common sense gun laws in the U.S. have been made over the years, the resolution continued, including the Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act, which set up a process for licensing and registering firearms. The act has not been brought to a vote by Congress yet.

Staff writer Kelly Rocheleau can be reached at (315) 282-2243 or kelly.rocheleau@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @KellyRocheleau.

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Sixteen nonprofit organizations are receiving a combined $84,520 in grants in the latest round of funding announced by the Cayuga Community Fund.

The fund, a Cayuga County-focused affiliate of the Central New York Community Foundation, announced its newest grant awardees on Thursday.

The foundation announced the following grants:

Auburn Public Theater: $5,000 to hire instructors for its summer camps that provide youth with opportunities to study music, musical theater, DJing and film.

Auburn YMCA-WEIU: $2,500 to support its Youth & Teen Nights, which offer local youth a safe space to have fun on Friday nights.

Calvary Food Pantry: $7,845 to purchase a freezer and refrigeration equipment that store perishable foods that are distributed to local families.

Catalyst Cayuga: $2,500 to support its Emerging Leader Program, which is designed for nonprofit early-career professionals and management candidates in Cayuga County.

Cayuga Community Health Network: $4,500 to create a peer program that helps promote the agencys health programs.

Cayuga Museum of History and Art: $10,000 to complete the design of its West End Arts Campus.

Frontenac Historical Society and Museum: $1,300 to purchase archival boxes and a display case for newly acquired material.

Harriet Tubman Boosters: $8,475 to install a mural honoring Harriet Tubman in Auburn.

Healing HArts Equestrian Center: $3,000 to provide electricity to horse sheds for volunteer safety and purchase heated water buckets.

Howland Stone Store Museum: $5,000 to install a sidewalk to its handicap-accessible ramp.

Matthew House Inc.: $7,755 to renovate its west wing to create a handicap-accessible resident suite.

Perform for Purpose: $8,375 to partner with Camp Casper Gregory to enroll first-time campers in an arts-based summer camp and provide all campers with an introduction to music as part of their experience.

Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center: $10,000 toward the construction of the Schweinfurth portion of Cayuga Museums West End Arts Campus renovation.

Seymour Public Library District: $3,500 to diversify its collection through an audit, county-wide workshop and purchase of new diverse titles.

The KEYS Program: $2,500 to provide 50 free music therapy sessions to pediatric cancer patients and children in Cayuga County.

Wells College: $2,270 to fund scholarships for Cayuga County high school students to attend a pre-vet and animal science immersion program.

For more information about the Cayuga Community Fund, including how to make a contribution, visit cnycf.org/cayuga.

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When the House of Representatives votes on the bipartisan gun safety bill, it will have at least one Republican vote.

U.S. Rep. John Katko said Wednesday that he will vote for the legislation, the product of negotiations between a group of Democratic and Republican senators. The Senate is advancing the bill. Once it passes, it will be sent to the House for consideration.

"Following the recent tragedies in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde Texas, I said that Congress must develop a thoughtful and substantive response," Katko, R-Camillus, said. "It is my strong belief that this legislation represents a consensus approach to addressing the senseless and depraved acts of violence, and I fully intend to support this measure when it comes to the House floor."

The gun safety legislation includes $750 million for states to implement "red flag" laws  Katko authored a bill that would encourage states to adopt extreme risk protection orders to remove guns from individuals who are deemed to be a risk to themselves or others. The measure would also strengthen background checks for people ages 18-21 who are attempting to buy a gun, crack down on gun trafficking and close the "boyfriend loophole" to prohibit individuals from having guns when they are convicted of a domestic violence crime against their partner.

There is also more money for mental health programs and school safety, and those who earn income from selling guns must register as federally licensed firearm dealers.

Senate Democrats and Republicans, with the support of leadership in both parties, began negotiations shortly after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and the racist attack on a grocery store in Buffalo. There was an agreement reached on a framework last week, but both sides had to finalize the legislation.

Katko, who opposed the House Democrats' gun safety bill earlier this month, said at the time he was "heartened" by the efforts of the senators who were working on a bipartisan package.

"As co-chair of the bipartisan House Mental Health Caucus, I am pleased that this legislation makes substantive investments in our nation's mental health system, including policies I have long advocated for to bolster the availability of services in our schools," he said. "Additionally, as a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, I believe that this legislation takes important steps to promote public safety, while also safeguarding the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans."

In his statement, Katko singled out the red flag provision in the bill. He opposed the House Democrats' red flag proposal because he felt it didn't do enough to preserve due process rights. The bipartisan agreement "takes necessary steps to ensure such safeguards are in place," he said.

By pledging to support the agreement, Katko is breaking with his party's leadership. House Republican leaders, including U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, oppose the bill. Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, blasted the bipartisan measure as "blatant government overreach" that "seeks to make gun owners second-class citizens."

But Katko believes that Congress needed to act in the aftermath of the mass shootings. He revealed that he had discussions with Democratic and Republican senators working on the gun safety legislation and lauded them for drafting "sensible and bipartisan legislation that will make a real difference in protecting communities in central New York and across the country."

"The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act sends a clear message that Congress can work together to keep Americans safe, and I look forward to doing my part to help send it to the president's desk," he added.

The Senate is expected to pass the bill this week. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has signaled that the House will vote on it once it clears the Senate. President Joe Biden has said he will sign it when it reaches his desk.

Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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U.S. Rep. John Katko is not a fan of President Joe Biden's proposal to give motorists a temporary federal gas tax break.

Biden said Wednesday that he wants Congress to suspend the 18-cent-per-gallon federal gas tax, and the 24-cent-per-gallon tax on diesel, for 90 days. His goal is to provide relief for consumers paying record-high prices at the pump.

But the proposal was quickly met with bipartisan opposition in Congress. U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, a Buffalo Democrat, said he is "not confident that a federal gas tax holiday is the best way to deliver tangible relief to the American people."

Katko, R-Camillus, aligned with the critics of Biden's plan. He thinks a better approach would be to take action to increase domestic energy production.

"I have consistently heard from central New York families and businesses who are feeling pain at the pump because of rising gas prices," Katko said. "Unfortunately, President Biden's proposal tries to provide negligible, short-term relief at the expense of funding from the recent bipartisan physical infrastructure bill that is intended to fill potholes, fix bridges, and improve our roadways."

He added, "Americans should not have to choose between spending their life savings at the gas station or spending hundreds of dollars every year to fix the family car."

One concern about a federal gas tax holiday is that it would steer funding away from the Highway Trust Fund, the main source of financing for infrastructure projects. The federal gas tax revenue supports the Highway Trust Fund.

Biden told reporters that his proposal to suspend the federal gas tax would not affect the Highway Trust Fund.

"With the tax revenues up this year and our deficit down over $1.6 trillion this year alone, we'll still be able to fix our highways and bring down prices of gas," he said. "We can do both at the same time."

But lawmakers also question whether the savings would be passed along to consumers. Higgins pointed to New York's state gas tax holiday, which took effect on June 1. The state suspended its 16-cent-per-gallon tax through the end of the year. Some local governments have capped the sales taxes on gasoline.

However, those actions have done little to lower gas prices. According to AAA, the average gas price in New York was $4.93 per gallon one month ago. As of Thursday, it's $4.98 per gallon.

"Big oil companies are constraining the supply and stealing the savings associated with state and local tax breaks that should be passed down to consumers," Higgins said. "There is no promise that this wouldn't continue with a federal gas tax holiday."

While Katko and other Republicans believe Biden should increase domestic production, Higgins offered other proposals. One short-term idea is a refundable tax credit to provide relief. He also believes the United States should decrease its reliance on foreign oil by increasing the availability of electric vehicles.

One thing both parties can agree on is that something must be done about skyrocketing gas prices. The national average, according to AAA, is $4.94 per gallon, which is down from $5 per gallon one week ago but up from $4.59 per gallon last month.

At this time last year, the average price was $3.07 per gallon.

Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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Two people were taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, one with burns to the face, after a home went up in flames Wednesday afternoon in the Town of Victory.

The call for a fully involved fire at a home trailer at 12956 Timerson Road came in at 4:38 p.m., Cayuga County 911 dispatchers said.

The home, between Route 104 to the north and Maroney Road on the south, is in the Red Creek Fire District. Emergency responders were notified that two explosions had been heard in the fire, and that those were likely from oxygen tanks.

Dispatchers said two people were brought to the upstate facility in Syracuse. A male was reported to have suffered burns to his face, but all of the occupants made it outside.

An additional ambulance was later called to the scene from Fair Haven to stand by at the scene and to have someone evaluated for possible heat exhaustion.

Fire departments from Victory, Fair Haven, Conquest and others were dispatched to assist with the firefighting effort and eventual overhaul of the scene.

Most of the blaze was extinguished by 5:04 p.m., dispatchers said, and firefighters remained on the scene checking for hot spots.

Fire departments with Victory, Oswego and Hannibal were at the scene, in addition to CIMVAC Ambulance and Lakeshore Volunteer Ambulance.

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A Tata Nexon EV was seen engulfed in flame in the Vasai area in Mumbai on Tuesday. A video of the incident has gone viral across social media.

A Tata Nexon EV caught fire in Mumbai on Tuesday, triggering fresh round of debate over safety of electric vehicles sold in India. A video of the incident, which was shared across social media platforms on Tuesday, has gone viral. Tata Nexon EV, the best-selling electric vehicle in the country currently, was damaged in the fire incident. The carmaker later came out with a statement regarding the incident and its plan of action.

The video shows a white Tata Nexon EV engulfed in flame outside a restaurant in West Vasai area of Mumbai. Police and firefighters are also seen trying to put out the fire and regulate traffic in the area. According to reports, the fire was later put out. There has been no report of any injuries in the incident so far. The cause of the fire is also unknown.

Tata Motors issued a statement on Wednesday assuring an investigation into what led to the Nexon EV catching fire. The carmaker said, A detailed investigation is currently being conducted to ascertain the facts of the recent isolated thermal incident that is doing the rounds on social media. We will share a detailed response after our complete investigation. We remain committed to the safety of our vehicles and their users. This is a first incident after more than 30,000 EVs have cumulatively covered over 100 million km across the country in nearly 4 years."

Already under pressure after fire-related incident in EVs, Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal also shared the video on his social media platform. He also wrote a message that EV fire incidents are not uncommon and have been reported globally as well. However, he maintains that EVs are safer than ICE vehicles in terms of such incidents.

The debate over EV safety issues started with a video of an Ola Electric S1 Pro scooter catching fire in Pune. Later, there have been multiple EV fire incidents which involved top electric two-wheeler manufacturers like Okinawa Autotech, Pure EV among others. At least six people have been killed in such incidents. Several EV makers were forced to recall their products amid criticism over safety issues. A panel of experts was set up by the Centre in March to investigate reasons behind electric two-wheeler fire incidents. The panel will also suggest measures to minimise such fire incidents along with its report.

Tata Nexon EV, which recently received a more powerful version in Nexon EV Max, leads India's electric vehicle race. Equipped with a 30.2 kW lithium-ion battery pack, the Nexon EV offers a range of 312 kms on a single charge. It offers peak output of 129 hp and torque of 245 Nm. The price of Tata Nexon EV starts at 14.79 lakh. The top-spec Nexon EV costs 17.40 lakh (ex-showroom).

First Published Date:
Beijing (Gasgoo)- In the fifth month of 2022, the capital of China, Beijing, saw an overall downturn in its monthly passenger vehicle registrations compared to the previous month, according to data compiled by Gasgoo Auto Research Institute (GARI).

In May, there were a total of 21,095 passenger vehicles registered in the capital, representing a 34.43% drop from the earlier month. In the first five months of this year, the cumulative registration volume of Beijing summed up to 163,720 vehicles.

Among the top ten most registered brands in Beijing in the month were two Chinese brands, BYD and SINOGOLD. Aside from the usual, BYD, who registered 2,523 vehicles in May, ranked second with a 24-unit difference to the winner, Volkswagen. SINOGOLD, an unfamiliar Chinese brand surprisingly made the cut at the third place with 2,454 registrations.

SINOGOLD is a new energy vehicle maker based in Shandong Province while the 2,454 registered vehicles were all fleet-use sedans, the Junxing.

Model-wise, the BYDs Yuan PLUS registered 1,025 vehicles in May, ranking second among all passenger vehicle models in China. Besides the Yuan PLUS and the Junxing, none of the top ten most registered models saw a volume greater than 500 units. Teslas Model Y, the often-favorable model in Beijing, won third place in May, with 473 registrations. Notably, Toyotas MPV model, the Sienna HEV, also made the top ten list with 301 registrations.

In the fifth month of this year, there were 8,427 new energy vehicles (NEVs) registered in the capital, of which battery-electric vehicles were still the most popular among all power options.

In May, half of the top ten most registered NEV models in Beijing were from BYD. Moreover, only the Model Y and the VW ID.4 CROZZ were not from indigenous China brands.

In May, NIO registered most vehicles in Beijing among the top five NEV startups in China. Meanwhile, Li Auto registered 299 units of the Li ONE in the month, becoming the most registered startup NEV model in Beijing in May.
I shall go on some last wilderness trip to a place I have known and loved. I shall not return.  Everett Ruess

In a brief span of three years in the early 1930s, Everett Ruess created an archetype that endures to this day: the figure of the young artistic-but-doomed vagabond who pursues natural beauty and life experiences, in Everett's case, through wandering the rugged quarters of the desert Southwest.

Everett began his extended ramblings in California's High Sierras in 1930, and he would roam the Sierras again, but he became best known for tramping all around Arizona and southern Utah.

One month after graduating from Hollywood High in January 1931, Everett thumbed rides along Route 66 to Flagstaff ("I slept on pine needles in the Coconino Forest that night"), hitched another ride with a Dine mailcarrier to Kayenta, where he acquired a burro for $6 and a small dog for free. Having named the burro 'Pegasus' and the dog 'Curly', Everett completed his beeline to Monument Valley, a locale whose beauty had been recommended to him, though the Valley was not yet famous as a Western movie backdrop. The trio explored Monument Valley for several days, though the nights were still quite cold.

Back in Kayenta, Everett consulted with trading post owner and self-taught archeologist John Wetherill. Encouraged, he built a small hogan to serve as a Kayenta base between his visits to Hisatsinom sites (Canyon de Chelly, Keet Seel, Betatakin, and others), the Hopi Mesas, Chinle, and other locales. Everett enjoyed spending weeks at a time among the Dine and Hopi.

In early June, Everett, Pegasus, and Curly set out to visit the Grand Canyon. But the days had become hot now, and by the time the threesome approached the Little Colorado River by Cameron, Everett was visibly exhausted.

Two youngsters in a pickup truck stopped to offer him water, and soon proposed to drive Everett and his menagerie to their "ranch" on the forested western slope of San Francisco Mountain. The youngsters were Pat Jenks and Tad Nichols, high schoolers at the Mesa Ranch School's Flagstaff campus. And their "ranch" was Jenks' Deerwater/Veit Springs property on the original Snowbowl Road. Everett accepted the offer.

The following day Everett recounted the story in a letter to his family:

June 8

This letter is being sent from the vicinity of Flagstaff...Yesterday noon I was at the Little Colorado River, about to turn westward, when along came two boys in a small Ford truck who were much interested in what I was doing...One of them suddenly decided to take me and the burro and Curly to a ranch of his in the Coconino Forest, among the San Francisco peaks. I was much surprised, and did not consider the project feasible, but he was confident that it could be done.

The three of us finally shunted the donkey on, after much maneuvering. The rest of the pack was lashed on the roof. Pegasus stumbled and lurched from side to side, but maintained his equilibrium...At dusk we reached their school, which has five teachers and five pupils. This afternoon I'll go to the ranch, and stay in the vicinity for a week or more.

Everett stayed eight days at Deerwater and gifted Pat Jenks with two of his block prints before heading for the Grand Canyon. "I stopped for six days at a sheep camp, where I chopped a truckload of wood, and assisted in marking lambs...." With the money earned, Everett purchased fresh supplies, then traded his shotgun for Pericles, a new burro. They arrived at the South Rim on June 30th, and spent "...two weeks there, two weeks in the Canyon, and...a week on the North Rim."

After tramping over to Zion National Park, Everett's little caravan rim-to-rimmed their way back south once more. From the South Rim, Everett and Curly hitched a ride to central Arizona and its warmer climes for the winter. Like Pegasus before him, Pericles was set free.

A Tonto Basin tour completed Everett's 1931 visit to Arizona. But Everett would return to Arizona, and Flagstaff, again.

To be continued next week...

Bill Wade, a 14-year veteran as one of Flagstaff's NPS/USFS Roving Rangers, is yet another Flagstaff geologist. The NPS/USFS Roving Rangers volunteer through a unique agreement between the Flagstaff Area National Monuments and the Coconino National Forest to provide Interpretive Ranger walks and talks in the Flagstaff area each summer. Submit questions for the Ask a Ranger weekly column to askaranger@gmail.com

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South Africa: BRICS valuable platform to tackle global challenges: President Ramaphosa

The BRICS response to the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated what can be achieved when nations work together in the spirit of friendship, solidarity and responsibility, says President Cyril Ramaphosa.

President Ramaphosa said the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on human life, livelihoods, economies and communities around the world.

He was delivering his opening remarks during the virtual 14th BRICS Heads of State Summit on Thursday.

We are here as members of BRICS to affirm our shared desire for a world in which all people have a meaningful stake, in which all have equal opportunity, and from which all can benefit, the President said.

He said that the launch of the BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] Vaccine Research and Development Centre, in March this year, will strengthen international health and science cooperation to prepare for future crises.

The President said it is cause for great concern that the rest of the global community has not sustained the principles of solidarity and cooperation when it comes to equitable access to vaccines.

We call on developed economies, international agencies and philanthropists that procure vaccines to purchase from manufacturers in developing economies, including in Africa.

We need to realise the great potential of our economic partnership to strengthen intra-BRICS trade, investment and tourism. Our combined economic strength should be a catalyst for sustainable global economic recovery, he said.

In line with its foreign policy principles, the President said South Africa continues to call for dialogue and negotiation towards a peaceful resolution of conflicts around the world.

We are concerned that the focus and resources of the international community have been diverted from other concerning conflicts and humanitarian crises, President Ramaphosa said.

He noted that urgent global issues like climate change and sustainable development are not being effectively attended to.

President Ramaphosa emphasised that decision-making across the entire United Nations system needs to be democratised so that multilateral institutions can effectively address global challenges.

He said he was looking forward to the High-level Dialogue on Global Development on Friday.

BRICS provides a valuable platform to address the key challenges of the global South, in partnership with like-minded emerging markets.

This High-level Dialogue is an important opportunity to form a common vision of a more inclusive, just and stable international order. BRICS must play its important role in giving leadership to the world, he said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-06-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

French Ambassador Zacharie Gross hailed the feedback from Azerbaijani participants during the follow-up meetings between Azerbaijani and Armenian youth representatives in Strasbourg, Azernews reports.

The meeting was organized with the support of the Franco-German Youth Office (FGYO), as well as the German and French embassies in Baku.

Interesting feedback from Azerbaijani participants in the recent meeting organized by FGYO in Strasburg with Armenia, France, and Germany. Great to see young people committed to reconciliation. Dialogue is essential, the ambassador wrote on his Twitter page.

Additionally, the meeting was attended by Deputy Head of the German Embassy Mission in Baku Heiko Schwarz and young Azerbaijanis.

According to the information, one of the participants underscored the productivity of the meetings and the usefulness of the French and German experiences in establishing lasting peace.

The French ambassador noted the significance of such meetings between young people of the two countries.

"Even though peace building is a very long and complex process, such kind of meetings between the Azerbaijani and Armenian youth should be held on a regular basis," Gross said.

Further, Gross also emphasized the need to involve other countries and representatives of the world's think tanks in accelerating the reconciliation process.

In turn, the German official expressed hope for the future organization of such meetings, which will promote further development of Azerbaijan-Armenia relations.

Meetings of Azerbaijani and Armenian young people were held on June 6-10 in France within the framework of the "New areas of cooperation within the EU's Eastern Partnership" program.




An initiative started by nurses at Flagstaff Medical Center (FMC) is keeping surgical wrap from the hospital out of the landfill and finding new uses for it across Arizona. Known as the Blue Wrap Project, the effort has been able to repurpose about 60,000 pounds of this material so far.

The Blue Wrap Project started in August of 2019, when some nurses noticed the amount of waste created by surgical wrap. The hospital had run out of the plastic bags given to patients for their belongings and they were discussing alternatives.

An OR [operating room] tech had come out and he was like, like this? said PACU RN Kylie Link, one of the nurses behind the project. We were just shockedI said, how much of it do you have? and hes like, 'oh my gosh, bags and bags every day.'

The material was blue surgical wrap -- a plastic material (most similar to the reusable bags sold in stores, Link said) that is used to keep surgical instruments sterile. Wrap-covered trays are taken into the OR before the patient and the cloth -- still clean -- is removed and disposed of. Usually, that means it's thrown away.

"They can be fairly huge trays, [with] a couple yards of material wrapping these trays, Link said. They take them off and in the past, they were just taking the sterile, clean material and throwing it in the trash.

After the idea was cleared by Infection Control, they began sewing bags as a trial to present to FMC as part of a mini grant application. This was toward the end of 2019, so the pandemic meant some changes to the plan.

We were making some progress, and then COVID hit and we ended up with just tons of material during COVID, said another project leader, PACU RN Sylvia Goldberg.

The wrap was still being collected -- a total of around a ton (2,000 pounds) each month -- so they began to think of other ways to use it. This included volunteers sewing the bags and, later, donations to places like animal shelters, schools and the Ballet Folklorico de Colores.

Through these effort, the material has been used to make items ranging from garment bags to dog beds to personal protective equipment. Goldberg said she even used some to make sandbags last year when her home began flooding and she didnt have time to pick them up elsewhere.

Around this time, local nonprofit Threaded Togethers volunteers started making masks with the surgical wrap and two truckloads of extra material were sent south to be used in a tech school, hospital and refugee camp.

One of the biggest things this project has done, Link said, is raise awareness: I dont think anybody had a clue [how much was being used] until we started gathering this material, she said.

The hospital has recently replaced some of its surgical trays with reusable ones, halving the amount of blue wrap it uses. The mini grant for the project is being used to collect data on how much blue wrap FMC uses and helps pay three sewists to make the patient belongings bags (65 a week), still aided by about 10 volunteers and the OR techs involved in gathering the material.

The project has also helped replace the single-use plastic bags previously used for patient belongings, and the money saved from medical disposal fees (over $17,000 so far) combined with the low-cost bag design (about $1 per bag) means it's cost-neutral for the hospital and is even saving it some money.

I think it opens the door for not only FMC, but many hospitals," Goldberg said. "Its not just our hospital, its a national problem...Im hoping FMC will become a leader going forward with sustainability projects and issues.

This is especially important, the nurses said, as climate change continues.

Our natural resources really arent going to last forever unless we start changing some of our ways -- as a society, as corporations, as everything, Goldberg said. Its all over, you can see whats happening to our forests. ...If we dont have a healthy environment to live in, from our groundwater to our food quality, to everything, we're not ultimately going to be healthy as people."

Their hope for the program is that it will continue to grow and become just a normal thing, with Link specifically noting the importance of new ideas.

Im sure there are organizations out there that can make a huge difference if their employees are recognizing where these things can happen. It really just takes a creative mind to upcycle, Link said.

I really think we need to teach the next generation [that] everythings not disposable, lets make some changes, because theyre the ones that have to live in this world even longer than us and I want it to be a good world, Goldberg added.

Organizations can request up to two 40-pound bags of blue wrap for reuse through the Blue Wrap Project. More about the project, including a request form, can be found by searching Blue Wrap Project at nahealth.com or by emailing bluewrapproject@nahealth.com.

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The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona held its third hearing Tuesday for Matthew Riser, the man charged with allegedly lighting a fire on the Coconino National Forest last weekend near where the Pipeline Fire started.

The United States dismissed the charges against Riser for possessing marijuana, without prejudice, which means they still have the potential to be refiled at some point.

This leaves Riser with two charges: lighting a fire during restrictions and residing on the national forest, both Class B misdemeanors. The possession charge had been a Class A misdemeanor.

Riser has also been released with conditions as a result of this hearing, pending acceptance to a working alternative program for housing. This would be similar to a home detention. Conditions include electronic monitoring, a ban from the national forests (including the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests) and a requirement to stay within Flagstaff city limits.

These conditions, judge Camille Bibles said, help address earlier concerns of flight risk and Risers lack of a stable residence that had kept him in detention following his last hearing.

Sentences resulting from a failure to appear or crimes committed during release would run after any sentences for the original charges. Violating the conditions or being discharged from the working alternative would also mean a return to custody.

Your honor, Ive never been put in a box like that in my life, Riser said, referring to detention, when asked if he was able to meet the conditions. I dont want to be put in a box. ...Ive lived free in the woods of Alaska, [Arizona] and Louisiana. Its the worst experience of my life -- I will do anything to make sure it never happens again.

Risers next status hearing will take place Wednesday, July 6.

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Americas curriculum wars seem to be at their peak, with deep disagreement about how our countrys children ought to be educated. But the most bitter and consequential schooling wars in our nations history actually occurred in the last half of the 19th century between the white Protestant majority and the mostly Catholic minorities who had landed recently on these shores. The result of this conflict is the U.S. educational system that we know today.

Public schooling wasnt always like this. American education up until then had been pluralistic. Counties and towns levied taxes for very different types of schools, from Lutheran and Congregationalist to Catholic, Jewish and nonsectarian. At the same time, these schools delivered a remarkably consistent body of academic knowledge from school to school.

By the early 20th century, however, our country had undone this model of educational pluralism, and with it the diverse structure and the common content that had worked for so long. This change has proved to be significant and long-lasting.

The Protestant majority rejected pluralism. They simply did not believe that Catholic immigrants could become democratic citizens. This 19th century nativism inspired political platforms and grassroots zealotry that included demonstrations, the firebombing of Catholic neighborhoods, and anti-immigrant laws. For Protestant elites, nativist politicians and hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, Catholic schools posed an existential threat. By the early 20th century, state legislatures had narrowed public education from a plural to a uniform model: the district school we know today.

Thus, the American system entered the 20th century with a binary view of education  public versus private  and an increasingly localized view of the academic content. A rigid district structure and curricula that vary from state to state, city to city, district to district, and even classroom to classroom became the norm. It works well for many families in our country.

At the same time, the uniform structure prevents many parents, particularly low-income ones, from finding schools that may be tuition-free  through education tax credit programs or, in some states, vouchers  that reflect their beliefs and their childrens needs. And academic content that differs substantially by school system, and even by classroom, inhibits common reference points drawn from history, geography, literature and so on, that can support democratic deliberation.

But what if we flipped the American model to one of more diverse school structures and more common content at the state level? This model of educational pluralism was enjoyed by our country at an earlier time. It is also still the norm in democratic societies worldwide today.

Educational pluralism allows for a nimble structure that can avoid constant conflict, because it honors diverse values by design. Supporting and assessing common curricular frameworks across all school systems in a state (or between states, voluntarily) can help enhance social cohesion.

Educational pluralism means that countries as different as Belgium, Indonesia, Israel, France, Sweden, Australia and most provinces of Canada fund and regulate a huge variety of school types. These systems separate the ethos of the schools  whether Montessori, Islamic, Protestant or secular  from the academic content of the school, which must reflect, at least in part, similar academic content and assessments.

With the most diverse school system in the world, the Netherlands epitomizes educational pluralism. The Netherlands funds 36 different kinds of schools equally and evaluates all of them through the same rigorous site visits, curricula and assessments. The system includes tax-funded creationist schools  a policy that would light most Americans hair on fire.

However, the Netherlands Ministry of Education requires all students to demonstrate mastery of evolutionary theory, which means that even kids in creationist schools need to understand evolution enough to pass hefty exams. The Ministry of Education also requires all funded schools to teach comparative religion and ethics. The one-third of the Netherlands students who attend district schools must, therefore, join their peers in Jewish and Montessori schools, for instance, in learning what Hindus and Muslims believe.

In fact, most industrialized countries require wide lenses on the world, even as they fund schools with distinctive worldviews  thus providing the opportunity to encounter new ideas.

Such policies cut against the grain of what U.S. public education has meant for a hundred years. Educational pluralism is opposed by those who support uniform educational delivery and libertarians who reject government accountability alike. Educational pluralism is not perfect. It must be carefully designed to ensure equal access to excellence and to meet constitutional guidelines established by the Supreme Court. But it does suggest a democratic path with the potential to lead the American educational system into a more generous space.

Ashley Berner is an associate professor and director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy.

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On these days, the Ngo Dong River and a festival flag bearing the words "The golden color of Tam Coc" ("Sac vang Tam Coc"), which has an area of more than 10,000 square meters and is created from rice in a (rice) field, is as beautiful as a picturesque along the Ngo Dong River (Hoa Lu district, Ninh Binh province). They are attracting a large number of visitors to admire.

The festival flag is a masterpiece of the nature as seen from above. It becomes even more prominent as lying along the Ngo Dong River. The unique creation in the Tam Coc rice field adds unique beauty, and a difference to the most beautiful ripe golden rice field in Vietnam.

Hue News would like to introduce to you a photo reportage on the unique festival flag and the beauty of the Ngo Dong River by Le Thanh Sinh, a photographer.

The festival flag bearing the words The golden color of Tam Coc", with an area of more than 10,000 square meters, lies prominently along the Ngo Dong River

The festival flag golden color of Tam Coc welcomes visitors to the Ngo Dong River

Visitors can have a chance to see the ripe golden rice fields along the river when going to Tam Coc - Bich Dong, Hoa Lu District, Ninh Binh Province at this time

The rice fields stretch out as a silk sheet winding under beautiful majestic mountains

Beautiful golden rice fields in Tam Coc captivate visitors

The Ngo Dong River is as beautiful as a watercolor painting as seen from above

By Hue News
A Velva woman has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for making and distributing child pornography, and the Minot man for whom she produced the material has been sentenced to 45 years in prison.

Katie Heidinger, 33, and Derrick Walker, 46, must also spend the rest of their lives after their prison time on supervised release, according to U.S. Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl.

Heidinger in June 2020 pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. A jury in January 2022 found Walker guilty of the same charges and an additional count of receipt of images depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor.

Heidinger during Walkers trial testified that while she was having an affair with Walker he told her he was sexually interested in young boys, Klemetsrud Puhl said. Heidinger produced sexually explicit images and videos involving boys ages 1, 2, and 5, which she sent to Walker. She also created, at Walkers request, images and videos of her sexually abusing the boys. He further requested that Heidinger engage in similar conduct with three other children, Klemetsrud Puhl said.

Indictments against the two were filed in early 2020. Heidingers then-husband found images and videos on her phone and reported it to the McHenry County Sheriffs Department.

Reach Travis Svihovec at 701-250-8260 or Travis.Svihovec@bismarcktribune.com

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A Bismarck man jailed and awaiting trial for allegedly assaulting a law officer is accused of hiding a razor blade inside a deck of cards in his cell during a previous stint behind bars.

Jason Antelope, 38, could be sent to prison for 10 years if convicted on the felony charge of being an inmate in possession of a weapon. Hell enter a plea on July 25 and is scheduled for an Oct. 13 trial, court documents show. An attorney isnt listed for him.

Jail officials in an affidavit say they found a piece of a razor blade in Antelopes Burleigh Morton Detention Center cell in January. Antelope allegedly admitted to removing the blade from a protective casing, breaking it and hiding it so he could use it to alter his clothing. Authorities found an intact razor blade in a deck of cards during a search of Antelopes cell and property, according to the affidavit. Formal charges were filed this week.

Detention center officials issue inmates disposable-type razors under a check-in and check-out system, according to Maj. Jim Hulm of the Burleigh County Sheriff's Department. Officers inspect the razors when they're collected and then discard them.

"If they're not paying super-close attention to it, they could miss it," Hulm said.

Antelope is back in jail, scheduled for trial on Oct. 6 on felony charges of simple assault on a police officer and fleeing police stemming from a June 9 incident in Bismarck, court records show. He allegedly drove away from a traffic stop and then scuffled with a police officer who found him in a convenience store parking lot.

Antelope in an April 2017 incident on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation allegedly struck a woman with a one-liter glass vodka bottle until it completely shattered, according to an affidavit. She suffered a broken nose, arm and hand, and possibly a traumatic brain injury, the document states. Antelope pleaded guilty in federal court and in March 2018 was sentenced to three years in prison and three years on supervised release.

Federal authorities in January filed a report that Antelope violated the conditions of supervised release. He was sentenced to two months in prison and two years on supervised release.

Reach Travis Svihovec at 701-250-8260 or Travis.Svihovec@bismarcktribune.com

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People who were injured and the families of people who died when a Standing Rock Reservation road washed away are appealing a federal judges dismissal of their wrongful death lawsuit against tribal and federal officials.

The plaintiffs maintain the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs knew about the poor condition of the culvert under the road and had a duty to warn travelers of the danger. Attorney Tim Purdon argues further in a brief to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that two cases cited by the judge who dismissed the lawsuit are different from the case at hand and should not be extended beyond their own facts.

Trudy Peterson, 60, and Jim VanderWal, 65, both of Mobridge, South Dakota, died when their vehicles drove into the chasm on BIA Road 3 -- known locally as the Kenel Road -- in the dark, early morning hours of July 9, 2019. Their families and two other men who were injured in the washout filed a lawsuit for wrongful death, personal injury and personal damage. The suit made 11 claims and sought $10 million in damages.

Overnight rains of 7 inches scoured away at the culvert, which had been designated for replacement several years before the washout. It was bowing but not considered dangerous, a tribal official said at the time.

Purdon said in the suit that the BIA had adopted road maintenance standards from the transportation departments of North Dakota and South Dakota, which he said included inspection, maintenance and signage requirements. He argued that the washout could have been avoided if the BIA had adhered to those standards.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland in March dismissed the suit, saying the BIA and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe had the discretion to determine when, where and how to perform road maintenance, and as such were shielded from liability. Hovland in dismissing the suit also said the rule exempting the bureau from liability was extremely unfair, and "is in dire need of correction.

Purdon in a brief filed Thursday asks the 8th Circuit to reverse Hovlands order. The issue, he says, is whether the BIAs failure to provide warning was an exercise of judgment or choice based on considerations of public policy sufficient to establish immunity."

Purdon disagreed with Hovlands use of precedent set by two cases in which the bureau did not place warning signs but was cleared of liability -- one pertaining to a fatal crash on a washboard road maintained by the BIA, the other to a drowning on a lake the BIA was aerating to prevent it from freezing.

The failing culvert on the Kenel Road was different because the BIA had known since 2014 that it was failing and posed a grave hidden hazard to travelers, according to Purdon.

Yet (the BIA) failed to warn of this lurking danger, even as it worsened over a period of five years, he said.

BIA attorneys have 30 days to respond to the appeal. Purdon can then reply to the response. He said he expects oral arguments to take place sometime in the fall.

Joshua Dos Santos, listed in court documents as the attorney representing the U.S. Justice Department, did not immediately respond to a Tribune request for comment.

Reach Travis Svihovec at 701-250-8260 or Travis.Svihovec@bismarcktribune.com

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A fundraising campaign to help North Dakotas sole abortion clinic move a few miles away to Minnesota has raised more than half a million dollars in less than three days. The Red River Womens Clinic in Fargo will have to shut down in 30 days as part of the states trigger law. The law went into effect Friday when the U.S. Supreme Court removed the constitutional right to abortion. Tammi Kromenaker, owner and operator of the independent clinic, says she has secured a location in neighboring Moorhead but stated earlier that she didnt know how she would fund the move. A GoFundMe page set up Thursday to benefit the transition had raised more than $515,000 from more than 6,000 donors as of late Saturday afternoon.
Historic spring snowstorms in western North Dakota and extensive flooding in the east caused more than $57 million in damage to public infrastructure across the state, according to an estimate released by Gov. Doug Burgum on Thursday.

The figure is sure to rise as more damage is tallied. And it does not include damage to private infrastructure and property, according to Burgum's spokesman Mike Nowatzki.

Burgum has requested a presidential major disaster declaration that would open the door to federal aid to help fund repairs to public infrastructure including roads, bridges and railways. The request is for 40 of the 53 counties; Burleigh and Morton are not among them.

"I have determined severe winter storm conditions and subsequent flooding were of such severity and magnitude that effective response and recovery are beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments," Burgum said in his letter to President Joe Biden.

A three-day blizzard in mid-April dropped 2-3 feet of snow over a wide area, and an Easter Sunday storm that followed added several inches more, along with heavy rain in many other areas. A late-month blizzard dumped another 1 to 1  feet of snow in the west and also brought freezing rain and strong winds to the region, toppling 7,000 power poles and damaging at least 550 miles of electrical lines and other infrastructure, according to the state. More than 10,000 people lost power, some of them for weeks.

The snowy and cold weather in April set more than two dozen records in the state, including nearly 10 in Bismarck, which experienced its snowiest April (21.9 inches) in recorded history. Some communities experienced precipitation from April 22-24 that was 25 times higher than normal, according to State Climatologist Adnan Akyuz.

The National Weather Service deemed the bad weather "historic." Burgum in late April declared a statewide emergency and a statewide disaster -- a necessary step to seeking a presidential declaration.

The storms hit in the middle of spring calving season. The counties of Ward, Mountrail, Golden Valley, Billings and Stark had estimated losses of more than 10% of their 2021 cattle inventory. Most other western counties had estimated losses of up to 5% of their cattle inventory, according to a North Dakota State University study.

"As the snow was flying over the west, water was rising in the east," Burgum wrote in his letter to Biden.

Serious flooding was widespread for a month, swamping fields, closing roads and dampening basements. The rising Pembina River made the small town of Neche in northeastern North Dakota into an island. Some residents in nearby Cavalier were asked to evacuate.

The National Guard was called upon to help stabilize the 65-year-old Bourbanis Dam upstream of Cavalier. Guard Black Hawk helicopters out of Bismarck dropped more than 200 1-ton sandbags on the Tongue River dam, and Minnesota Guard soldiers brought in 5-ton pumps capable of moving 4,000 gallons a minute.

Flooding also became a concern in the Devils Lake region, with flows into the lake potentially setting a record this year. The lake has risen 3  feet, swallowing more than 38,000 additional acres of land. The state has ramped up floodwater outlet pumps to ease the pressure.

The overly wet spring also hampered farmers trying to get into the fields to seed their crops. The amount of prevented-planting acres this year will be near record levels, according to North Dakota State University Crop Economist and Marketing Specialist Frayne Olson.

Burgum wrote that Communities and households throughout the eastern portion of the state worked to protect their homes and personal safety from floodwaters while the western portion fought ice and extensive power outages. We appreciate the administration considering our request for assistance to help communities recover from these spring storms and build resiliency against future severe weather events.

Counties included in the disaster request are Adams, Barnes, Billings, Bottineau, Burke, Cavalier, Dickey, Divide, Dunn, Foster, Golden Valley, Grand Forks, Grant, Griggs, Hettinger, Kidder, LaMoure, Logan, McHenry, McIntosh, McKenzie, McLean, Mountrail, Nelson, Oliver, Pembina, Ramsey, Ransom, Renville, Richland, Rolette, Sargent, Steele, Stutsman, Towner, Traill, Walsh, Ward, Wells and Williams.

North Dakota has been approved for five federal disasters since 2020, according to Burgum: one for the coronavirus pandemic, two for flooding disasters and two for severe summer storms.

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More than 5,500 deer gun hunting licenses remain after North Dakota's license lottery.

Individual results can be found at the state Game and Fish Department website, at gf.nd.gov.

Game and Fish made 64,200 licenses available this year, down 11% from last year due in large part to an outbreak of disease in western North Dakota deer last year. More than 71,000 people applied for a gun license, in addition to more than 13,600 gratis applicants.

Only resident applicants who were unsuccessful in the lottery can apply for remaining licenses. The online application period begins Wednesday. The deadline is July 13.

North Dakotas 2022 deer gun season opens Nov. 4 at noon and continues through Nov. 20.

Hunter success during the 2021 season was 57%, down sharply from 68% in 2020, again due largely to epizootic hemorrhagic disease. Game and Fish generally considers 70% to be a successful season, though the threshold is not an absolute.

Last year, about 10% of eligible North Dakota deer hunters requested a refund of their license due to the surge of EHD beginning in late August that killed more than 1,200 deer.

Deer hunting is big business in North Dakota and important to the state's economy. Deer hunters on average are in the field for about five days, spending hundreds of dollars daily, according to Game and Fish and state Tourism Division data.

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By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The Baku Congress Center has hosted Azerbaijan Design Award 2022, Azernews reports citing Trend Life.

Since 2018, the project competition brings together the country's best designers in order to develop the design industry in Azerbaijan.

The project competition is co-organized by the Culture Ministry and Azerbaijan Designers Association.

The design projects submitted by local and foreign designers on various topics within the competition were evaluated by an international jury, including experts from Azerbaijan, Turkiye, the USA, Italy, China, etc.

Before the event, the guests got acquainted with the projects that made it to the final of the competition.

In his speech at the ceremony, Ramin Nasirov spoke about the idea of ??the Azerbaijan Design Award project and the development of the design industry in the country.

First Deputy Culture Minister Elnur Aliyev, co-founder of the Azerbaijan Design Award Ramin Nasirov, chairman of the Azerbaijan Federation of Creative Industries Vasif Eyvazzade, contemporary artist Faig Ahmad and many others attended the awarding ceremony.

In his speech, Elnur Aliyev noted that the Culture Ministry pays great attention to the creative industries, including design.

The Deputy Culture Minister said that the competition was held in ten nominations. At the same time, the Culture Ministry proposed to add a nomination on the theme dedicated to the Year of Shusha in Azerbaijan.

Chairman of the Azerbaijan Federation of Creative Industries Vasif Eyvazzade highlighted the activities of the federation, established in 2021, also recalling that in 2019 the city of Baku was included in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the Design category.

Vasif Eyvazzade also spoke about the influence of designers on the country's economy.

During the event, a video was shown, which included shots reflecting the beauty of the unique nature, history and culture of the city of Shusha.

The guests of the evening watched a video that showcased the projects of all the finalists.

At the end of the evening, the winners were determined in the following categories - advertising design, branding, packaging design, illustration, web design, interior design, exterior design, print design, etc.
Watch as fishermen and scientists from the USAID-supported research project Wonders of the Mekong capture and measure (and then release) the world's largest freshwater fish. The giant stingray was captured and released in northern Cambodia on June 13, 2022. The record-breaking fish weighed in at 661 pounds.

An article in Field and Stream describes the record-breaking event:
Juul, the branded vaping experience that rapidly became a favorite of underage Americans has been banned from marketing in the United States of America. The Food and Drug Administration says Juul can no longer market or sell their stuff here, but you can still use it if you have it.

FDA.gov:

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued marketing denial orders (MDOs) to JUUL Labs Inc. for all of their products currently marketed in the United States. As a result, the company must stop selling and distributing these products. In addition, those currently on the U.S. market must be removed, or risk enforcement action. The products include the JUUL device and four types of JUULpods: Virginia tobacco flavored pods at nicotine concentrations of 5.0% and 3.0% and menthol flavored pods at nicotine concentrations of 5.0% and 3.0%. Retailers should contact JUUL with any questions about products in their inventory.

"Today's action is further progress on the FDA's commitment to ensuring that all e-cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system products currently being marketed to consumers meet our public health standards," said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. "The agency has dedicated significant resources to review products from the companies that account for most of the U.S. market. We recognize these make up a significant part of the available products and many have played a disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping."

These MDOs only pertain to the commercial distribution, importation and retail sales of these products, and do not restrict individual consumer possession or usethe FDA cannot and will not enforce against individual consumer possession or use of JUUL products or any other tobacco products.
Demonstrating a unique way to recognize Pride Month, a Long Island NY library board is banning books and pride displays from the children's sections of four libraries. Everyone not one of the 4 board members who voted for this seems outraged.

NBC New York:

The library's board of trustees voted 4-2 to remove all LGBTQ+ Pride displays from their four libraries.

But it doesn't end there, as any LGBTQ+ book is now banned from the children's rooms and must be placed elsewhere.

"Our LGBTQ youth are under attack," said Dr. David Kilmnick, the president and CEO of the New York LGBTQ Network. "This isn't Alabama or Florida or the bible belt  this is Long Island!"

Brianna Baker-Stines, the president of the library board, was similarly shocked and disappointed by the actions taken. She told NBC New York, "I was horrified by the display of ignorance at last night's Board meeting. As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I recognize the importance of access to diverse materials."

Nassau County Legislator Arnold Drucker said "I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone."
Sony won't stop releasing or greenlighting spinoffs related to Spider-Man in a desperate bid to destroy everything marketable about webhead. Earlier this month, Sony took notice of Morbius' popularity in memes and attempted to re-release the film- only for it to flop again. Prior to that, Sony announced that Latin rap sensation Bad Bunny would be anchoring yet another unwanted Spider-Man spinoff about an insanely minor character in Spidey's rogue's gallery. However, that's far from the last Spider-Man spinoff that Sony has planned. Heaven help us all; Sony is about to release a Kraven movie.

Kick-Ass' Aaron Taylor Johnson is set to star as Spider-Man's former villain Kraven the Hunter in an ill-advised extension of Sony's licsecne on Spider-Man. Recent news has revealed that not only is the film wrapped up in its production, but Kraven will be a friend to animals as opposed to the hunter implied in his namesake.
On June 11, 1962, Alcatraz inmates Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin propped up fake heads in their beds, crawled through holes they dug in their cells' concrete walls, and floated off the island prison on a raft made from raincoats. They were never caught. Maybe they drowned, but maybe not. If they're still alive, they'd be in their 90s. Still on the hunt for them, the US Marshals Service released the images above this week depicting how the men might look today.

Seen 'em?

From ABC7News:

The FBI and U.S. Marshals Service investigated many tips over the years, including the discovery of a raft and paddle possible recovered from Angel Island, a car stolen by three men in Marin County the night of the escape, and a photo taken of the Anglin brothers in 1975 by a childhood friend who claimed the brothers were alive and last seen at a bar in Brazil. An analyst hired by the Anglin family confirmed the photograph's legitimacy, but the FBI did not[]

The message the federal agency has given to the press so far [about the new images] has served as a "warning to fugitives" that despite the amount of time passed, this search won't stop. Even if these fugitives are in their 90s.
Body camera footage released Thursday by Buffalo police, although jerky and hard to see at times, shows a tense police call in which two police officers could be heard yelling commands as they ran through open lots Friday and eventually shot a man suspected of fatally shooting someone just minutes earlier.

"Put the gun down!" they yell repeatedly in the video. "You're going to get shot!"

Both of the officers' videos show them with their guns drawn and then appear to show them firing repeatedly as a suspect tumbles to the ground.

Video shows the officers running to Nakeem Haynes, 27, of Buffalo, and the video then stops to show a Glock on the ground. The video picked up the sound of one of the officers kicking the gun away from Haynes' reach.

Police officials identified the officers as Jake Michienzi and Hao Tran  and both had happened upon an earlier shooting in progress at 1057 Broadway.

With their suspect wounded, Tran yelled for a first aid kit and ran to two police cars that pulled up.

A voice on the video can be heard saying: "He shot at us. He also shot someone at Domino's."

Tran can be seen opening a medical kit.

Haynes rolls over on his own at one point. He is visibly wounded, with what appears to be blood on his chest.

"Where are you hit dude?" one of the officers asks.

"Get that gun," somebody yells about the Glock.

Michienzi then zips open Haynes' jacket, but his injuries are blurred in the video.

Police officials said today that the two officers fired 21 shots at Haynes from the time Haynes reportedly fired at close range into the windshield of their patrol car to the end of the foot chase.

Haynes, who remains at Erie County Medical Center, has been charged with first-degree attempted murder.

Tran and Michienzi were both placed on administrative leave, which is department policy for officers involved in shootings.

Haynes is suspected of having fatally shot another man, identified as Atlas Johnson, 63, on Broadway in front of a laundromat minutes before, then shooting at Tran and Michienzi through the windshield of their patrol car. There was no video of the officers being shot at.

There was roughly one minute from the time Johnson was killed to where police shot Haynes, police spokesman Michael DeGeorge said.

The video released Thursday runs 12 minutes and 37 seconds, and it includes footage from four police officers who were involved, including the two officers who fired their weapons, as well as maps and descriptions of the events that took place.

It also includes photos of the bullet hole in the middle of the police car windshield, an apparent bullet hole in one of the officer's holsters and the Glock handgun that police said Haynes was carrying.

The series of events began at about 7:15 p.m. when two patrol officers, identified as Stephen Clapp and Joshua Aponte, were responding to an unrelated situation at the Aldi at 998 Broadway. The video explained that at the same time, two other officers  Michienzi and Tran  "happened upon a shooting in progress at 1057 Broadway."

The footage from Clapp's and Aponte's body cameras shows the officers in the parking lot when the sound of five gunshots can be heard.

The officers immediately get into their patrol car and head east on Broadway, with Aponte driving.

Clapp's body camera video picks up audio from the radio calls.

"Shots fired! He shot at me!" a voice can be heard screaming over the radio.

In the video, Aponte and Clapp turn right onto Sears Street and stop the car in the middle of the street.

"Where the (expletive) are they?" one of the officers can be heard saying.

Then, more gun shots are heard.

Clapp runs toward the entrance of a laundromat toward someone. The image of the person is blurred. He calls for an ambulance: "Get ADI rolling here. We got one down here."

Aponte's body cam shows that while Clapp attends to the injured man, he runs down Sears as the gun shots continue.

"Get in the house," he can be heard yelling to someone as he runs down the street. "Get in the house," he says to another person.

Video shows Aponte running through a parking lot, which, according to the map on the video, is located between Sears and Playter streets.

"Yo! Slow down," he yells to a car as he approaches Michienzi and Tran, who are standing next to the Haynes, who is lying face down on the ground.

"He's shot," an officer is heard saying.

"You're shot?" another officer asks.

"No, he's shot," someone clarifies.

Aponte yells to a bystander: "Somebody grab water. Grab water and a towel!"

A woman yells to someone else: "Get water and a towel."

Michienzi can be seen in the video claiming Haynes shot at him and Tran.

"He (expletive) shot at us," he says, and feels around his chest. "I don't know if he hit me."

There was some confusion about the location of the incident. At first, the officers said they were on Kent Street, but it turned out they were on Playter.

The footage from Tran and Michienzi began just after they were shot at and had exited their vehicle.

"I believe that the actions that the officers took were within the confines of the law and within the confines of department policy," in terms of the use of deadly physical force, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said at a news conference Thursday.

Part of the laws surrounding the use of deadly physical force involve a subject's "danger to the public," and there were a lot of people on the streets during the incident, he said.

There is no body-cam footage of the portion when the suspect reportedly fired at police because the officers did not have their cameras activated at that time, Gramaglia said.

The officers were on patrol and not on an active call when they came across the initial shooting in front of the laundromat. Officers activate their cameras only when on a call, the commissioner said.

They activated their cameras during the pursuit. They are required to turn them on as soon as it is "safe to do so," Gramaglia said.

The body cameras are not designed to be recording throughout an entire 10-hour shift, he added. The batteries wouldn't last the whole shift, he said.

Gramaglia said Johnson, the man killed in front of the laundromat, was killed "in cold blood," and called him "an innocent man."

There were five rounds fired, reportedly by Haynes, during the homicide. Haynes is accused of firing once into the police car after jumping up on the vehicle's hood, Gramaglia said. Haynes' gun, a .45-caliber Glock 30, could carry 10 rounds, Gramaglia said.

Michienzi fired shots at Haynes when he fired into the police vehicle, the commissioner said. Tran fired five shots and Michienzi fired eight shots at the scene where the chase ended, he said.

Haynes was arrested by Buffalo police in November 2014 on a gun charge, Gramaglia said. He was convicted, served a prison sentence and was then paroled.

A few years ago, during a check by parole officers, Haynes was found in possession of another handgun, he said. Because that firearm was determined to be inoperable, he was not prosecuted as he was the first time, but it was considered a parole violation, the commissioner said.

Haynes was released on parole in October, according to state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

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Maki Becker Chief of the Breaking News/Criminal Justice Desk I've worked at The Buffalo News since 2005. I previously worked as a reporter at the New York Daily News and the Charlotte Observer and was a special correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. Follow Maki Becker 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
An overnight shooting in Lackawanna left a man wounded amid a hail of gunfire, Lackawanna Police Capt. Joseph Leo said Thursday.

Shortly after midnight Thursday, the victim, Rajohn Golden, 31, of Lackawanna, was sitting in a Jeep parked on Holland Avenue when someone opened fire from another vehicle, Leo said.

"They shot the Jeep 20 times," Leo said.

Investigators say they believe two handguns were used in the incident.

Golden was taken to Erie County Medical Center, where he was being treated for gunshot wounds.

Lackawanna police said they are looking for an older model red or burgundy Chevy Tahoe in connection with the shooting.

Police asked anyone with information about the shooting to call Leo at 716-827-6410 or Capt. Aaron Brennan at 716-827-6666.

The Holland Avenue incident followed another shooting early Monday morning on Olcott Street that left a Lackawanna man dead.

In that incident, Andre E. Jones, 34, was sitting in a parked pickup with Kentucky plates on Olcott, near Wilmuth Avenue, when gunmen approached a side window and opened fire multiple times.

Police said Jones was shot "10 to 15 times" in that incident.

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The Buffalo Diocese said Thursday it has posthumously exonerated the Rev. Robert G. Beiter, who spent the last nine months of his life under a cloud of suspicion due to a sexual abuse allegation.

Beiter was suspended from priestly ministry in 2021 after a claim against him surfaced in confidential documents filed in the dioceses federal bankruptcy case.

Beiter, a former pastor of St. Patrick Church in Brocton, died June 13 at the age of 83. The diocese said in a prepared statement that a review board determined the accusation was unsubstantiated, and Beiter was posthumously reinstated.

The review board also found a claim by the same individual against the Rev. Thomas Wopperer, 84, was not substantiated. The individual declined to cooperate with the review boards investigation of the claims, according to the diocese statement.

The truth won out, Wopperer said in a phone interview with The News.

Wopperer said he was happy and relieved to be cleared and resume his priestly work. He celebrated a public Mass last weekend for the first time since being put on leave along with Beiter last September.

I wish Father Bob had not passed away and he would have been able to feel the same feelings I have at this point, said Wopperer.

The past nine months, he added, were very difficult.

You go through depression. You go through a lot of questioning. Im just happy I can put this behind me and live a normal life again, he said.

Sister Michele Beiter, a Catholic nun and Beiters sister, said her brother was deeply hurt by the allegation.

He agonized over that. It was awful. Our whole family did, she said. He was a very caring, loving man and very faithful to his priesthood.

She said Beiter and Wopperer were considered guilty until proven innocent and were victims of a grave injustice.

The diocese at Beiters funeral on Saturday in Lancaster issued decrees signed by Bishop Michael W. Fisher indicating that Beiter and Wopperer had been cleared to return to full priestly ministry.

Sister Michele Beiter said her brother was made aware he was being cleared by the diocese.

It was just announced publicly, but I had known before my brother died, and I told him right away, she said. He was so relieved because he knew he didnt do anything wrong.

Ordained in 1964, Beiter served in a variety of parishes and for nine years taught religious studies at Catholic high schools. In 1986, he was named pastor of St. Patrick in Brocton, a post he held until his retirement in 2008.

Wopperer was pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church from 1988 until his retirement in 2008 and was occasionally assisting in several parishes.

He said he is not guilty of the crimes alleged and doesnt know who made the claims.

It seems like anybody can make an accusation and that causes grave consequences to the person who is accused. Its not right, he said.

Child Victims Act lawsuits filed in state courts have accused 230 priests who served in the Buffalo Diocese of molesting children, with most of the abuses alleged in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

The crush of lawsuits prompted the diocese to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2020.

More than 900 child sex abuse claims were filed in bankruptcy court.

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The Erie County Legislature voted 8-3 to approve SUNY Erie Community Colleges proposed $98.6 million 2022-23 budget Thursday. But even legislators who voted for it pledged to play a watchdog role in how ECC spends the money and implements cost-cutting measures, including potential layoffs, to stave off a $9 million deficit.

Legislator John Gilmour, D-Hamburg, chair of the Community Engagement Committee that oversees the budget, said its review revealed that ECCs new president and the unions representing its faculty and administrators are not on the same page  and he wants to change that.

County legislators question new ECC president on budget and beyond SUNY Erie Community College is poised to cut staff by more than 150 people in the next month  and thats just the beginning of the restructuring needed to keep the college alive, ECC President David Balkin told county legislators Thursday.

ECC President David Balkin took over the financially strapped community college in February and is seeking to right-size staffing to reflect a nearly 50% decline in student enrollment in the past decade. He also plans to follow a consultants recommendation to eliminate duplicate jobs and services across ECCs three campuses and reduce the footprint of its South Campus, among other measures.

In April, the county offered a $2.5 million retirement incentive to senior faculty and administrators in hopes enough would opt in to prevent more widespread layoffs. The new budget assumes 60 faculty and administrators will take the incentive by the July 15 deadline, but so far only 38 have signed up.

Balkin said Thursday that the two county labor unions who have members working at ECC asked that unclaimed incentive funds be offered to their members  so as many as 10 non-faculty workers may also retire. But if more higher-level employees dont follow suit, ECC may have to lay off as many as 150 people.

Gilmour said Balkin has had some hiccups with ECCs unions that have not helped win their collaboration. Balkin came to ECC fresh from saving a similarly troubled community college in Indiana in part by cutting staff who, unlike at ECC, were not represented by labor unions.

ECC retirement incentive aims to cut faculty, administration 'redundancy' ECC President David Balkin said a preliminary review by an education consulting group describes the college as suffering from years of overspending on redundant administrations and faculty across its three campuses and calls for staff cuts to reflect student enrollment that dropped by nearly half in the last decade.

Balkin has met resistance from ECCs faculty and administrators unions  the Faculty Federation of ECC and the Administrators Association of ECC  whose collective bargaining agreements protect their most senior members from being cut first.

Gilmour voted in favor of the new budget, but said he intends to bring ECCs administration and unions together to work on getting people retired and formulating a restructuring plan for the college.

We will be following up to make sure that tough decisions are being made on both sides, Gilmour said. We want to be a mediator to hold the conversations that need to happen to get the administration, trustees and unions working together.

The three legislators who voted against the budget were Minority Leader Joe Lorigo, C-West Seneca, John Mills, R-Orchard Park and Frank J. Todaro, R-Lancaster. They said they had two main problems with it: A tuition hike and a very expensive fix for an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system ECC bought into in 2017 that never worked.

The 3% tuition hike amounts to about $75 per semester, but Lorigo, Mills and Todaro said any increase is uncalled for.

You are asking students to pay more money because the previous ECC administration and trustees were lax in their management, Lorigo said. Thats not fair.

The three nay-voters also opposed spending $9 million to replace the failed ERP system, WorkDay, with the Banner system shared by 40-plus other SUNY schools.

Balkin said WorkDay has cost $16 million since 2017 and still doesnt work. He wants to replace it with Banner at a cost of $18 million over the next three years and is hoping for $9 million in state matching grants to meet the countys contribution.

Lets look at reimagining and restructuring management positions within the college first, Mills said. Replacing WorkDay may be necessary, but thats not whats bleeding right now.

Todaro said he would like to see ECC invite other requests for proposals to fix the ERP problem before implementing Banner.

Ive heard of other local schools doing software upgrades and changeovers for a quarter of that cost, he said.

Balkin said he would welcome Gilmours assistance in working with the FFECC and AAECC, and that Legislature Chair April Baskin and county Comptroller Kevin Hardwick have also offered to assist.

Western New York has excellent leadership who understand that ECCs success is critical to the future economic success of our region, he said.

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When the Pioneer High School Class of 2022 graduates Saturday, at least one absence is expected: School Superintendent Ben Halsey.

Three weeks after he was placed on administrative leave by Pioneer's Board of Education, the district still has released no additional information on his status.

Acting Superintendent Nicholas Silvaroli on Wednesday again cited Halsey's absence  and the reasons for it  as a "confidential matter."

"I know that people are curious and interested, but I can't comment," Silvaroli said. "We will comment as appropriate." Silvaroli, who served as assistant superintendent prior to the board's action, could not provide a timeline for when a decision on Halsey's future would be determined.

Melissa Nocera-Collins, president of the Pioneer Board of Education since 2015, did not respond to requests for comment by phone or email.

The Arcade Herald's report on the June 7 board meeting noted that Pioneer's school board "voted unanimously to continue Superintendent Ben Halseys placement on paid administrative leave." SeeThroughNY.net, a website dedicated to transparency for state taxpayers, lists Halsey's 2020 salary as $171,755.

Pioneer saw its state aid threatened last year over the school's handling of state Covid-19 regulations. On June 7, Halsey's post on the school website said mask-wearing for students, staff and faculty on-campus was optional, citing actions by New York's Department of Health.

Two weeks later, when the district was threatened with fines, loss of state aid and possible closure, Halsey reinstated mandatory mask wearing for the district for the final week of school. Halsey said he initially abided by a letter sent in early June from state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that indicated New York would drop its mask mandate for schools June 7, but that rule was never implemented.

The uncertainty surrounding Halsey's future mirrors that of Pioneer High School principal Mark Schultz, who was placed on administrative leave the Herald reported in April. According to school board meeting minutes for March 15, the board passed a motion by Halsey's recommendation to "continue the administrative leave of a particular person."

In the board meeting April 5, Katelyn Welker, previously the high school assistant principal, was named acting high school principal, retroactive to March 8.

Schultz has spent the last 15 years as high school principal, according to his LinkedIn profile. The Herald, in its report April 15, could not determine whether the leave was for disciplinary reasons. There is no confirmed association between the administrative leaves of Halsey and Schultz.

The Pioneer Central School District serves students in three counties  Erie, Cattaraugus and Wyoming  and enrolled 2,307 students in kindergarten through 12th grade in the 2021-22 school year, according to state data.

Ben Tsujimoto can be reached at btsujimoto@buffnews.com, at (716) 849-6927 or on Twitter at @Tsuj10.

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President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a Decree awarding a group of civil servants, Azernews reports citing Azertac.

According to the decree, they have been granted for their fruitful activity in the civil service of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
WASHINGTON  Upending a New York State law that had stood for a century, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday endorsed a major expansion of gun rights  prompting Gov. Kathy Hochul to say the state will fight back with new gun control measures.

But the Supreme Court ruling gives the state little guidance about how far it can go to limit the right that the high court said the Second Amendment guarantees: that Americans are free to carry guns in public for self-protection.

Reactions are mixed to the Supreme Court's decision on guns See what local and national political figures are saying about the high court ruling that overturns NY gun law.

New York law had required that people show "proper cause" to get a permit to carry a gun outside the home, and five other states  California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey  have similar laws. But in a 6-3 ruling with the court's conservatives in the majority and its liberals in the minority, the Supreme Court said that law is a clear violation to the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms.

We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in his opinion in the case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. That is not how the First Amendment works when it comes to unpopular speech or the free exercise of religion. It is not how the Sixth Amendment works when it comes to a defendants right to confront the witnesses against him. And it is not how the Second Amendment works when it comes to public carry for self-defense.

Hochul deemed the Supreme Court decision "shocking, absolutely shocking," adding: "This decision isn't just reckless. It's reprehensible."

Complete coverage: 10 killed, 3 wounded in mass shooting at Buffalo supermarket Ten people were gunned down at a Buffalo supermarket May 14 in a horrifying mass shooting that officials were quick to label as "pure evil" an

The governor said she's prepared to call the State Legislature into session to try to bolster the state's gun laws yet again, only weeks after approving earlier legislation in response to the May 14 mass shooting at at Tops market in Buffalo.

"We've been in contact with the leadership" regarding the special session, she said. "We are just looking at dates. Everyone wants a little bit of time to digest this, but I will say we are not powerless in this situation. We're not going to cede our rights that easily despite the best efforts of the politicized Supreme Court of the United States of America."

Hochul said the state has "the power of the pen" to impose new gun controls in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling. She said her legal team is looking to draft legislation that restricts the right to carry weapons in sensitive locations, changes the permitting process and bolsters training requirements for those carrying guns in public. The state is also considering ways in which businesses and private property owners could "protect themselves" in a new era when people can routinely carry guns in public.

"So stay tuned," Hochul said. "We're just getting started."

But while overturning the New York law, the Supreme Court did not specify exactly how far states could go in trying to regulate guns.

Instead, Thomas simply said: The government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this nations historical tradition of firearm regulation."

Using that standard as a guide, Thomas said states could ban guns from schools, state houses and other government buildings, courthouses and polling places. He also said guns can't be banned from entire communities.

Expanding the category of sensitive places simply to all places of public congregation that are not isolated from law enforcement defines the category of sensitive places far too broadly, Thomas wrote. Put simply, there is no historical basis for New York to effectively declare the island of Manhattan a sensitive place simply because it is crowded and protected generally by the New York City Police Department.

Excessive wait times or fees for gun permits would also be problematic, Thomas said.

Still, the court's ruling left Justice Stephen G. Breyer wondering exactly what kind of gun regulations states could impose that would pass constitutional muster.

While Thomas' opinion mentioned some places where guns can be banned, Breyer, in a dissent, asked: "What about subways, nightclubs, movie theaters and sports stadiums? The court does not say."

By saying history must be the guide to where guns can and cannot be banned, "the court today severely burdens states efforts to do so," Breyer added.

Meanwhile, in an opinion concurring with that of Thomas, Justice Brett Kavanaugh tried to fill in some of the gaps in Thomas' majority opinion. Just as before, states "may require a license applicant to undergo fingerprinting, a background check, a mental health records check, and training in firearms handling and in laws regarding the use of force, among other possible requirements, Kavanaugh wrote.

The Supreme Court decision comes in the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas, that galvanized senators from both parties to agree on the first major gun safety legislation in three decades. That bill, which is pending congressional approval, would bolster background checks for gun purchasers aged 18 to 21, encourage states to enact red flag laws and close the so-called "boyfriend loophole" that allows people who abused their partners to have guns if they are not married.

And those recent shootings were clearly on President Biden's mind. In a statement, he said he was "deeply disappointed" by the Supreme Court ruling.

"In the wake of the horrific attacks in Buffalo and Uvalde, as well as the daily acts of gun violence that do not make national headlines, we must do more as a society  not less  to protect our fellow Americans," Biden said.

Breyer also mentioned the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings in his dissent, which opened with a grim recounting of gun violence in America.

In 2020, 45,222 Americans were killed by firearms," Breyer wrote. "Since the start of this year, there have been 277 reported mass shootings  an average of more than one per day. Gun violence has now surpassed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death among children and adolescents.

None of this impressed Justice Samuel A. Alito, who, in an opinion concurring with that of Thomas, wrote: It is hard to see what legitimate purpose can possibly be served by most of the dissents lengthy introductory section. Why, for example, does the dissent think it is relevant to recount the mass shootings that have occurred in recent years? Does the dissent think that laws like New Yorks prevent or deter such atrocities?

And how does the dissent account for the fact that one of the mass shootings near the top of its list took place in Buffalo?" Alito added. "The New York law at issue in this case obviously did not stop that perpetrator.

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The voters of Williamsville demonstrated their wisdom and common sense this week when they showed one Village Board trustee the door and elected two new board members whose priorities are where they should be: grounded in the Village of Williamsville.

Though it may seem obvious that a village board would focus its attention on the needs of its community, that hasnt always been the case with this one. Led by the mayor, Deb Rogers, and two trustees  Deputy Mayor David Sherman and Trustee Matt Carson  the board has spent too much of its time arguing about state-controlled Covid restrictions and making ill-advised forays into a history they clearly dont understand.

During a May 10 meeting, Sherman notoriously read from The Diary of a Young Girl" - Anne Frank's book - in his attempts to compare health regulations to Nazi oppression. In another ludicrous and insulting comparison, Carson chose to cite World War II Japanese internment camps.

Carson decided not to run in the June 21 special election, but Sherman was on the ballot, along with like-minded newcomer John Ariola. Had both been elected, they and Mayor Rogers would have likely continued to make state regulations  which are utterly outside their jurisdiction  the subjects of their futile rants.

Thankfully, Sherman was not reelected and Ariola was not elected. Instead, two former village mayors, Dan DeLano and Mary Lowther, rode landslides to victory. The new trustees have stated they ran to refocus the board on issues that matter more to village residents. Both have the experience necessary to address those issues; Lowther served as mayor from 2005 to 2011 and DeLano filled the office in 2018-19, as well as trustee and deputy mayor before that.

This is a welcome change for the people of Williamsville and anyone else who has become tired of witnessing the embarrassing antics of Rogers et al. The voices of reason are now in the majority.

Important concerns await the new board, including what to do about the Ellicott Creek dam, which needs major repairs before it can operate. With its gates  for now  permanently lifted, businesses along the western channel of the creek, including restaurants with outdoor seating, could be looking at a dry creekbed instead of a sparkling stream.

Though small, Williamsville is one of Western New Yorks most desirable residential communities, with amenities that attract visitors from all over the region.

Were glad its getting the governance it needs and hope this trend continues in future elections.

  

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.
GUESTS: Siobhan Farr, Digital Nomads Beyond 50

Northampton, MA --News Direct-- T-Mobile

Our joyful protagonist, Siobhan Farr, yearned for an exciting life of travel. But, like so many of us, tied down by the realities of everyday work and life, that desire was mostly teased through an annual scheduled vacation and the occasional business trip. But then a light bulb went off for this intrepid traveller: As someone who worked for a company that was based on a digital platform, she already had everything she needed to work remotely from somewhere other than her living room: a phone, a laptop and 5G network and international data plan to boot. And then off Siobhan went too, leaving everything else behind. As a working woman over 55, Siobhan was determined to show the world that digital nomading wasnt just a young persons game.

In this episode, Shawna and Jason observe the growing parade of mobile-minded travel enthusiasts who are embracing todays work-from-anywhere ethos. Along the way, they reveal how wireless technology is making working from sun-soaked beaches and mountain peaks more attainable than ever for your average nine-to-fiver.

Mobile Diaries is brought to you by T-Mobile Stories.

GUEST BIO SIOBHAN (shah-VAWN) FARRProfessional Bio | Digital Nomads Beyond 50

2019 I started selling off 30 years of my Dallas, Texas life to begin my nomad years on 4 March 2020. I was looking forward to adding new countries to the 34 I had already visited. However, the pandemic locked me in the first destination of my 6 Countries x 6 Months 2020 itinerary. My initial three weeks in Ecuador stretched to 13 months!

As a result, I pivoted my plans to market and manage my business full-time remote; I became an Unintentional Digital Nomad. In search of others who are older Location Independents, my personal experience growing a meet-up to 1300 members led me to become the Spark Originator of Digital Nomads Beyond 50.

DNB50 is an online community for people in their late 40s+ who currently travel/work, plan to, or are just curious about this life. I turned to my previous profession in corporate Learning & Development to organize the DNB50 Virtual Summit June 2021, 30+ topics presented by 28 experts. This June in Medellin, Colombia well host the first Digital Nomad CoLiveWork specifically designed for older nomads!

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I am truly a home-free Digital Nomad. I have no permanent base; my home is wherever I lay my head on the pillow that night, haha! September - December Im back in Dallas to work in-person Medicare and ObamaCare Annual Enrollment. The other eight months of the year, from various global locations, I serve my clients via internet.

As a multi-income steam entrepreneur, I publish the travel blog Bronze Abroad Nomad and, via Amazon, The Ultimate Digital Nomad Travel Planner + Journal series. As a solo Digital Nomad in my 60s, and a woman of color, I want to inspire others to banish the belief that it's too late to reinvent themselves. Flip the page, the future is still unwritten!

Digital Nomads Beyond 50 Networkhttps://bit.ly/DNB50-Network

Digital Nomads Beyond 50https://DigitalNomadsBeyond50.com

The Ultimate Digital Nomad Travel Planner + Journalhttps://bit.ly/DNPJ-CA-1

Bronze Abroad Nomadhttps://bronzeabroad.com/

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from T-Mobile on 3blmedia.com

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/55-digital-nomads-learning-new-tricks-829063977
Revolutionary Online Marketplace Introduces Hundreds of Conscientiously Sourced Products, Setting a New Standard for Pet Offerings in Delivery

OAKLAND, Calif., June 23, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today Good Eggs introduced a groundbreaking, curated selection of pet food, treats and supplements to its award-winning online marketplace, setting the standard for the highest quality, peak-integrity goods for cats and dogs in the industry, delivered same-day. Marking its evolution as a full solution for the mindful household, customers across California can conveniently shop premium organic groceries, exceptional produce, seasonal selections of easy meal kits and ready-to-eat entrees  and now pet necessities  without having to compromise their values or settle for anything less than great tasting, humanely, ethically and sustainably-sourced items.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005354/en/

Good Eggs Introduces Hundreds of Conscientiously Sourced Products, Setting New Standard for Pet Offerings (Photo: Business Wire)

"We consider our pets to be part of our families and believe the food they eat has a direct impact on their health and happiness, so adding the category was a natural next step for us," said Good Eggs Chief Executive Officer Bentley Hall. "As we began the process of building the collection, we uncovered indifferent animal welfare standards and a lack of ingredient transparency in the industry. This discovery compelled us to start fresh and set a new, higher quality sourcing standard that reflects our values."

As part of the brands commitment to its producers, people and the planet, the pet assortment has been painstakingly assessed based on a rigorous checklist of ethical and humane practices. Led by the same stringent, 100-point vetting process that defines Good Eggs, the brands foragers and experts have ensured only certified Global Animal Partnership (GAP)  creator of the most comprehensive farm animal welfare standards in North America  animal proteins, and organic, non-GMO produce make it onto the site. The result is a unique and unparalleled collection of goods from top producers across the West, most of which have only previously been available through boutique distributors and shops.

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Available on the Good Eggs website and through the app, customers can now browse hundreds of carefully curated items for pets. From dry, wet and raw foods to gently-cooked, fresh and dehydrated goods, assortment highlights include the only truly wild USDA-certified venison treats and antler chews in the country from Maui Nui Venison (Maui, Hawaii), human-grade pure pork dog treats from storied salumeria Olympia Provisions (Portland, Oregon), grass-fed and humane-certified raw pet food from Cream Co. Meats (Oakland, California), sustainably-sourced wood fiber cat litter from Okocat (Ferndale, Washington), and ethically sourced supplements from Open Farm (Toronto, Canada), with meal kits for dogs and cats from Good Eggs Kitchen on the horizon.

Good Eggs delivery areas include Californias Bay Area, Napa Valley, Los Angeles, and Orange County. For more information, visit GoodEggs.com or download the iOS app.

ABOUT GOOD EGGS

Good Eggs is a revolutionary online marketplace that offers mindful customers a new food experience through the brands deep commitment to its producers, people and the planet  the result is an award-winning locally-sourced food assortment, unparalleled customer service, and the highest sourcing standards in the industry with unrivaled sustainability practices. Driven by a steadfast belief that good food is the most powerful force for change, the brand is leading a movement to build a better, more resilient, human-centered food system for the 21st century  with 100% transparency. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the company directly supports Californias best organic farmers, makers and producers and delivers throughout the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Orange County and Napa Valley with sights set on the larger West Coast and beyond in the near future. Good Eggs is privately owned. Investors include Benchmark, S2G Ventures, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Index Ventures, Obvious Ventures, GV and others.

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DAIRA DE BECHAR, Algeria  Senior Indian officials began talks Thursday with Sri Lankan leaders on economic assistance, a day after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced the countrys economy had collapsed.

Sri Lankans have endured months of shortages of food, fuel and other necessities due to the countrys dwindling foreign exchange reserves and mounting debt, worsened by the pandemic and other longer term troubles.

Indias foreign secretary and the chief government economic adviser met with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe and were later scheduled to meet other top officials.

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the delegation said India was ready to help Sri Lanka achieve a quick economic recovery through promoting investments, connectivity and strengthening economic linkages. There was no immediate comment from the Sri Lankan side.

Wickremesinghe's gloomy comments to Parliament on Wednesday appeared aimed at fending off criticism over a deteriorating situation long in the making. Economists and other Sri Lankans said they were hoping the government would find ways to revive the economy.

What the prime minister should do is not to make announcements. He has to come up with a plan to reactivate the system, said W.A Wijewardena, an economist and former deputy governor of Sri Lankas Central Bank.

Ordinary Sri Lankans have grown disillusioned as they skimp on meals and go without other necessities, seeing their quality of life crumble due to forces beyond their control.

At midnight Wednesday, retired government employee Dharmasena Perera leaned on his motorbike at a fuel station on the outskirts of the capital Colombo, trying to catch some sleep after spending nearly 15 hours waiting in line to buy fuel. He said he joined the line at 6 in the morning and went without lunch and dinner. At midnight, he was still waiting for his turn.

He (the PM) always says things are getting bad and difficult. It seems he also does not have solutions, Perera said.

Story continues

At another fuel station in Gampaha, a town about 30 kilometers (18 miles) northeast of Colombo, salesman Nuwan Pradeep likewise said people were well enough aware of the crisis, but the government appeared to have no solutions.

There is no point in just explaining the same problem to us all the time, said Pradeep.

India has supported Sri Lanka with a $4 billion credit line to help it buy fuel and other essentials.

Sri Lanka also is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund on a bailout after it stopped payments on its debts.

___

Associated Press writer Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi, India contributed to this report.

Krishan Francis And Bharatha Mallawarachi, The Associated Press
US Attorney General Merrick Garland visited Ukraine on Tuesday where he will discuss efforts to identify, arrest and prosecute those involved in war crimes and other atrocities committed during Russias invasion, a Justice Department official said.

Garland is slated to meet with Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, the department official told reporters.

Speaking to reporters in Ukraine as he entered the meeting, Garland said: Im here to express the unwavering support of the United States for the people of Ukraine in the midst of the unprovoked and unjust Russian invasion.

The United States is sending an unmistakable message. There is no place to hide. We will, we and our partners will pursue every avenue available to make sure that those who are responsible for these atrocities are held accountable, he added.

Garlands pledge to help assist Ukraine in pursuing war criminals is just one of several steps the Justice Department has taken this year in response to Russias attack against Ukraine.

The department also launched a task force known as KleptoCapture which is focused on seizing yachts and other luxury assets of Russian oligarchs in a bid to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Last week, the U.S. took possession of a superyacht seized in Fiji a month earlier that is believed to be owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.
Indigenous people in Brazil call for justice after the deaths of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira (AP)

The death of British journalist Dom Phillips was collateral damage in a drunken ambush of Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, Brazils vice-president has claimed.

The bodies of Phillips and Pereira were discovered last week in a remote area of the Amazon, ending a 10-day search for the two men, who had last been seen in the Javari Valley close to the border with Colombia and Peru.

The pair are thought to have been killed by men who were engaged in illegal fishing. Three people have so far been arrested in relation to their deaths. One of them, Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, was recently taken by police to the scene of the crime.

During a reconstruction of the murder, the suspect, whose brother has also been detained, claimed that another fisherman, Jeferson da Silva Lima, had got involved in a row with Phillips and Pereira about illegal fishing, and then shot them.

Another five people are suspected of helping the men to hide the bodies.

Veteran foreign correspondent Dom Phillips (AFP via Getty)

Speaking about the deaths, Hamilton Mourao, Brazils vice-president, said Pereira had been the main target of the attack. It remains unclear whether his comments were based on the murder inquiry being conducted by the police.

If someone ordered the crime, its a business person in the region who was feeling aggrieved, mainly by Brunos actions, Mr Mourao said earlier this week. Not Doms. Dom got caught up in this story. He was collateral damage.

The vice-president added that every weekend people are struck and killed by knives, by gunshots, in the most cowardly of manners. And normally this is a result of what? Alcohol. So thats what must have happened there.

His claims come after the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, said Phillips and Pereira had been on an adventure that wasnt to be recommended. They were in fact on a research trip for a book Phillips was writing.

The brutal murders shocked the world and led to an outpouring of support for the two mens friends and family.

Pat Venditti, the executive director of Greenpeace UK, was among those who paid their respects to the victims. He described them as brave, passionate and determined men, who were engaged in the vital work of shining a light on the threats faced by indigenous peoples.
Gate 2023 Exams: Key tip to aid you score better in General Aptitude and Engg Maths

New Delhi | Published : June 21, 2022 (Oswaal Books)



Most of the students have the belief that aptitude is nothing more than a test that we passed in earlier classes like ratios or proportions. Most of the students say that they should not worry regarding the aptitude test but this statement is absolutely wrong. Actually, students should worry upon this notion. The aptitude test consists of 15 marks. Engg. Maths Gate 2023 is one of the most difficult tests. In every Gate question, you are allotted 2.5 minutes. There are many confusing and tricky questions in Engg. Maths Gate 2023 exam.The Aptitude test is of 15 marks and it is fixed. Aptitude helps you in your interview clearing and most of the other course exams even include aptitude tests. There are about 5 questions of 1 mark each and 5 questions of 2marks each, overall, 15 marks. Now the question arises is there any negative marking in it? Yes, there is negative marking in this that is Negative marking is 1/3 . The other problem that students face is which book to be referred to? You can look for various top authors reviewed books. They will help you in providing structured notes of Engg. Maths gate 2023.The GATE Exam Syllabus is provided on the official GATE website; if you grasp the Syllabus, the exam will be a breeze for you. Determine which questions in the exam are worth two points and which are worth one point. You have 180 minutes to answer 65 questions, so start with the ones that are worth the most points. By repeated practice and determination you can crack the exam. You should know how to divide your time to spend on every question.Because there is negative marking in the Engg. Maths GATE 2023 exam, try to answer as many questions as feasible. However, keep in mind that you should attempt to answer with confidence in the smallest amount of time. Giving more time to any one question can disrupt the exam's rhythm of answering questions. Try to focus on that one question which you are confident of scoring good marks. Do not be nervous while attempting the question. Try to solve every question in the allotted time so that in the end you have time to check your answers.If you want to get a good rank in Engg. Maths GATE2023 then you should start preparing for it. Make a plan according to your syllabus before starting the preparation. This will help you identify the number of chapters that need to be covered. Divide your syllabus into difficult and easy subjects. Take sufficient breaks while studying in order to relax your mind. Set goals on a daily weekly and monthly basis. Motivate yourself and challenge yourself. Divide the subject or chapter according to the days left for the exam. Thoroughly revise everything.OswaalGATE 13 Years Solved Question Papers with Exam-Ready Cognitive Tools such as Mind maps, Mnemonics, On Tips Notes for Quick Revision, Tips& Tricks to crack the exam in one go.Oswaal books has been awarded with "Product Of The Year 2022", As Per The Neilson Nation-wise Survey. One of the most prominent consumer-voted awards for innovation in products, the "Product of the Year," has announced Oswaal Books as its winners for the year 2022.Here is the recommended link for GATE Exams Books | 13 Years Solved Question Papers for 2022 Exams: https://bit.ly/3OxjsAHFor preparation, it is critical to seek the advice of a professional. Experts can help you with alternate concepts or better explanations for each area, as well as strategic grading. They will help you in solving tricky questions in exams, moreover, make you know how to divide the time accurately so that you can solve every question. You can find experts of gate exam preparation from various resources.- As much as possible, answer conceptual questions. This will improve your ability to use concepts in queries.- Only about 15-20 questions out of 65 are difficult, and the rest are not too difficult.- Make a list of formulas and concepts in brief form. It will assist you in completing your revision quickly.- Mathematics and aptitude are high-scoring subjects, thus you should try as many questions as possible from these disciplines.- Revise the subjects during the test series, and then move on to full-length tests after the subject test. This will help you stay on track with your preparation, as full-length tests teach you how to manage your time.

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CHIPPEWA FALLS  To honor farmers and observe June Dairy Month, the Chippewa Falls Area Chamber of Commerce hosted its 52nd Farmer Appreciation Dinner at the Northern Wisconsin State Fairgrounds on Wednesday.

The Chippewa Falls business community uses the event to thank farmers, past and present, for their hard work and dedication when getting food to our tables, as well as for their contribution to the local economy.

The dinner committee organized the chicken dinner. Farm families received their tickets to the dinner for free at the Chippewa Chamber Office. Businesses and individuals purchased tickets at the Chamber Office for $7 a piece.

We have about 700 business members, and 50 of those stepped up and sponsored tickets for farmers in our community, said Michelle Farrow, Workforce Development Coordinator for the Chippewa Falls Area Chamber. We have over 50 volunteers making sure this event happens and theyre really amazing.

Farrow said sponsors donate the meals  the bread, cheese, much of the the butter, apples, custard and more. The meal consists of beans, bread, cheese, milk, chicken, apples, custard, bread and butter.

We recognize how important and essential farmers are to our community and the economy so this is our way of saying a big thank you for their dedication and efforts, Farrow said.

Mike Jordan, president of the Chippewa Chamber. said the event recognizes our local agricultural community.

Each year it is the Chambers goal to have farmers and the business community sit down together for a meal, he said.

The last couple of years the event was a drive thru due to COVID-19.

Its nice to have it back to a sit down event, back to normal, said Melissa Durkee, a volunteer from Blains Farm and Fleet in Chippewa Falls. Im here to see all the people and talk to them. Thats what I enjoy.

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  It's only been a month since North Korea acknowledged having a COVID-19 outbreak, after steadfastly denying any cases for more than two years. But already it may be preparing to declare victory.

According to state media, North Korea has avoided the mass deaths many expected in a nation with one of the world's worst health care systems, little or no access to vaccines, and what outsiders see as a long record of ignoring the suffering of its people.

North Korea's official virus numbers, experts believe, have as much to do with propaganda to boost leader Kim Jong Un as with a true picture of what's happening in the country, and there's widespread doubt about their accuracy.

What's clear, though, is that the daily updates from state media make it appear inevitable that the nation will completely defeat a virus that has killed more than 6 million people around the world. According to the official tally, cases are plummeting, and, while 18% of the nation of 26 million people reportedly have had symptoms that outsiders strongly suspect were from COVID-19, less than 100 have died.

The South Korean government as well as some experts believe that North Korea may soon declare that it has beaten the virus. This will be linked, of course, to Kim's strong and clever guidance.

A victory lap, however, isnt a foregone conclusion. Doing so, according to some experts, would deprive Kim of a useful tool to control the public and could open the government up to humiliation if cases continue.

There are two sides to such a declaration, said Moon Seong Mook, an analyst with the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. If North Korea says that COVID-19 has gone, it can emphasize that Kim Jong Un is a great leader who has overcome the pandemic. But in doing so, it cant maintain the powerful restrictions that it uses to control its people in the name of containing COVID-19.

Outsiders suspect that Kim is using the outbreak to boost internal unity at a time when many of his people are tired of 2  years of draconian curbs that have hurt their livelihoods.

However North Korea deals with its description of the pandemic, many signs, at least in public statements, point to a declaration of success in dealing with a virus that has confounded the richest countries in the world.

In the initial stage of the outbreak, Kim described a great upheaval as daily fever cases  North Korea rarely calls them COVID-19, presumably because it lacks test kits  reached about 400,000. Now, however, the leader is suggesting that the outbreak has peaked, with his health officials maintaining a widely disputed fatality rate of 0.002%, the lowest in the world.

The question many outside experts are wrestling with is: What is the true state of misery in North Korea, which has banned nearly all outside journalists, aid workers and diplomats since early 2020?

North Korea is widely believed to be manipulating its true death toll to prevent any harm to Kim. It might also have exaggerated the number of earlier fever cases to boost vigilance against the virus and draw stronger public support for authorities' anti-virus controls. North Korea has recently reported about 17,000 to 30,000 new fever cases each day, for a total of 4.7 million. It says  to widespread outside disbelief  that only 73 have died.

Whatever the real situation is, outside monitoring groups say they havent detected signs of anything catastrophic in North Korea.

If a large number of people had died, there would have been some pieces of evidence, but there hasn't been any, said Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea. During a huge famine in the 1990s, for instance, rumors of widespread death and of people abandoning bodies spread outside of the country, into China and South Korea.

Kang Mi-jin, a North Korean defector in Seoul who runs a company analyzing the Norths economy, said three of her contacts in the northern North Korean city of Hyesan told her during phone calls that most of their family members have suffered suspected COVID-19 symptoms. But she said they told her that none of their relatives, neighbors and acquaintances have died of COVID-19, though theyve heard rumors of such deaths in other towns.

During an earlier phone conversation, one of my sources cried a little bit when she said she was worried that some bad things could happen in her family (because of COVID-19). But now she and others have become stable and sometimes laugh when we talk on the phone, Kang said.

During a recent ruling party meeting, Kim said the country's pandemic fight has passed the stage of unexpected serious crisis. State media have urged the public to rally behind Kim in a firmer way to overcome the pandemic completely.

Cho Joonghoon, a spokesperson for South Koreas Unification Ministry, which oversees relations with North Korea, told reporters last week that the North may announce its COVID-19 crisis has been resolved this month.

Nam, the South Korean professor, said the outbreak appears to have eased in Pyongyang, North Koreas capital, but will likely continue in rural areas, where some people with symptoms are venturing out of doors because they rely on market activities for a living and have no access to public rations.

I think North Korea will declare a victory over the pandemic a bit later. It would lose face if it proclaimed victory too soon and new patients cropped up afterwards, Nam said.

Kang, the defector, said that North Korean residents in Hyesan abide by the government's anti-pandemic orders and that few fever patients go outside during quarantine periods.

Because North Korea believes that the pandemic, U.N. sanctions and other economic difficulties will continue, there's little chance it will lift major restrictions soon, said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam Universitys Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.

The United States and other countries with advanced health care and medical systems havent declared an end to COVID-19. So North Korea will also find it much more difficult to do so, Lim said.

The global vaccine alliance GAVI said earlier this month that it understands that North Korea has accepted an offer of vaccines from China. But North Korea has ignored South Korean and U.S. offers of medical support.

Despite its COVID-19 outbreak, North Korea has continued test-firing missiles this year. But it hasn't yet carried out a widely expected nuclear test, possibly because of worries about a potential backlash from people still struggling with the virus.

North Korea may officially declare victory over the virus when its daily fever cases and the pandemic situation in neighboring China ease significantly, said Ahn Kyung-su, head of DPRKHEALTH.ORG, a website focusing on health issues in North Korea.

But he said such a declaration doesnt mean much because North Korea likely only acknowledged the outbreak last month because it had determined that it was manageable.

According to North Korea, it defeats everything. It doesnt acknowledge things that it cant overcome. It always wins absolutely, no matter whether it faces military, economic or pandemic difficulties, Ahn said.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Russia is more interested than anyone else in normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said during her traditional weekly briefing on June 22, Azernews reports.

She stressed that Moscow cannot allow politicized steps by some external players to undermine the already difficult efforts to restore peace and stability in the South Caucasus region.

"We will continue to do our best to unconditionally fulfill the obligations and tasks that were fixed in the statements of the leaders of the three countries," she added.

Russia welcomes the activation of the trilateral working group co-chaired by the deputy prime ministers of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Armenia to unblock economic and transport ties in the South Caucasus, Zakharova said.

She recalled that the tenth meeting of the group was held on June 3.

"The parties brought their positions closer on a number of issues. Discussions continued on June 16-17 on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. The Russian side will continue to provide close assistance to this process," the spokesperson said.

Moscow is ready to host the second session of the commission on the delimitation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border in the nearest future, Zakharova stressed.

She added that incidents and problems that periodically arise in some border regions of Azerbaijan and Armenia prove the urgency and the need for full and regular work of the commission on the delimitation of the two countries.

"We are ready to host its second meeting in Moscow in the very near future. This was agreed upon by the parties on May 24 this year. Of course, it is important to take steps to improve stability and security on the border as recorded in the leaders' statement of November 26, 2021, which was made in Sochi," she said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be on a working visit to Azerbaijan on June 23-24, Zakharova recalled. He will hold talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.

As Zakharova noted, special attention at the meetings in Baku will be paid to the implementation of trilateral agreements of November 10, 2020, January 11, and November 26, 2021.

"The whole range of issues of further development of Russian-Azerbaijani relations will be considered," she added.
As a Sentinel reader, you know as well as I do that Carlisle is a town where everyone is connected. Your sons high school history teacher is also your next-door neighbor, and your husbands cousin was your childhood best friend. The grocery store is always full of familiar faces. I have no doubt that if you live in the borough, you know who I am.

I have lived in Carlisle for over 25 years. I am a homeowner, I send my children to Carlisle Area School District, and I have worked at businesses in town. At one point, I even co-owned a local restaurant, Taxi Cafe, in the late 2000s. I am sure you have seen or heard the hijab-wearing American woman while you were out shopping or having a meal at a local restaurant. I am your friendly neighborhood Muslim.

Now, I am not claiming to be the only Muslim in Carlisle. According to the most recent census, Muslims are a growing population in this town and in all of Central Pennsylvania. In fact, in the last few years, I have loved meeting other Muslim women when I walk around town. So, as I have mentioned before, we are all connected, and I would like to introduce you to your Muslim neighbors if you have not interacted with us before.

As Muslims, we have great respect for our neighbors, and we believe that our neighbors have rights over us. According to our religion, we are required to be excellent neighbors. We cannot harass you or let our property interfere with yours. We are required to greet you pleasantly and share what we have with you. On holidays, we should come to you with gifts and be the first at your doorstep with a meal when you suffer a loss.

Most importantly, if you need help in any way, we are required to give you that help. It can be something as small as a cup of sugar to as big as helping you load up the truck for a move. So if you have a Muslim neighbor and you need something, do not hesitate to ask. We consider it an honor to be your neighbor, and in Islam, everyone in our town is our neighbor.

So, you may be asking yourself why the Muslims you see on your block are not that generous. Why do you not even know the Muslim woman who lives next doors name? The first reason may be a language barrier, as most Muslims living in the United States are immigrants. Still, the second reason is probably more likely. We are scared. Like woodland creatures, we are often more terrified of you than you are of us, and vice versa.

I am sure you are reading this article online. The Pew Research Center found that more than four out of five people use the internet for news and information about the world around us. The Pew Research Center also found articles written about Islam and Muslims are negative 80% of the time. We get a lot of bad press, and we see the posted comments attached. So while we leave our homes to work, shop and play, many of us are fearful of introducing ourselves to new people because we do not know if you will see us as your neighbor or as a threat.

Especially when I see the flags that are now hanging around town. After 2001, it made sense to see the Stars and Stripes and yellow ribbons on Carlisles homes. Even my family tied one for my brother. But now, when I drive down the streets of Carlisle, I see flags with ugly language that would have had my mouth washed out with soap.

Not only that, according to the FBI, crimes against Muslims and other religious minorities have increased 145% in the last three years. As your neighbor, this concerns me. I recently bought a new home and would love to knock on my neighbors doors, but I am legitimately afraid of what I will find on the other side. This breaks my heart because I really do want to be a good Muslim and a good neighbor.

We need to find a way to stop being afraid of one another.

So next time you are out and about, and you see any Muslim, feel free to come up and say hello. Ask us any questions you have about Islam; we love to answer them. We can talk about our faith all day long. If you see me, chances are I will be with a family member you probably already know.

After all, this is where we call home. You are my neighbor after all, you have rights upon me, and I cannot wait to fulfill them.

Kadijah Kastriba is a wife and mother who is an economics major at Penn State and who is active in the Carlisle community.

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The Big Spring School Board approved a final budget with a 2.5% real estate tax increase with a 6-2 vote Monday evening.

Board members John Wardle, Todd Deihl, William Swanson, Donna Webster, Frank Myers and William Piper voted in favor of the proposed budget. Sharpe Over and Kenneth Fisher were opposed and Richard Roush was absent.

Michael Statler, the districts business manager, listed a general increase in costs as well as charter school tuition among other reasons for the tax increase while formally presenting the proposed budget to the board.

The increase will raise the millage rate from 15.5002 to 15.8877, a difference of 0.3875 mills. Therefore, the owner of property valued at $100,000 would pay $1,588.77. This would be a $38.75 increase from last year.

The board also approved the Homestead/Farmstead Resolution for the 2022-23 fiscal year during its meeting Monday night.

Since 2006, Pennsylvania gambling revenue has been used to give Big Spring residents who own property in the district a credit of about $133 off their real estate tax bills. However, due to the state receiving higher revenue than usual, Statler said that instead of funding 80% of this allocation, the state will fund its entirety for the first time. With the boards approval, qualifying residents will receive a credit closer to $170 this year, about a $35 increase from years past.

Calculating the increased real estate tax payment with the higher homestead/farmstead credit, Statler said residents will see a total tax increase of $2.38 from last year to this year.

According to the districts Budget Book which is available online, the new budgets revenues total $59,368,370 and expenses total $59,551,070, both of which increased following Statlers previous budget presentation. With expenses totaling more than its revenues, Statler said the remaining $182,700 will be pulled from the districts unassigned fund balance.

This board member thanks each and every tax payer of this school district for every penny provided to support everything that happens in this school district, Piper, who also serves as the boards secretary, said during the meeting.

The budget will go into effect July 1 and end on June 30, 2023.

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

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In her first week on the job at a Philadelphia abortion clinic, Amanda Kifferly was taught how to search for bombs. About a year later, protesters blocked the entrances and exits of the Womens Centers, at one point pulling Kifferly into something resembling a mosh pit, where they surrounded her and shoved her around.

And on the night of last winters arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that could end the nationwide right to abortion, people gathered outside a clinic in New Jersey with lawn chairs, a cooler and a flaming torch  a sight that brought to mind lynchings and other horrors of the countrys racist past, says Kifferly, who now serves as vice president for abortion access. Such scenes have become familiar for providers and patients across the country over the decades since the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion. At times the violence has been far more severe, including bombings, arson and murders  from the 1993 killing of Dr. David Gunn outside a Florida abortion clinic to the 2015 fatal shooting of three people inside a Colorado Planned Parenthood.

Now providers and some in law enforcement worry what will come next. Theyre preparing for an increase in violence once the Supreme Court rules, saying there has historically been a spike when the issue of abortion gets widespread public attention, such as after a state approves new restrictions. If the decision ends Roe v. Wade  as a leaked draft opinion indicates may happen  they also anticipate protests, harassment and other violence to be more concentrated and intensify in states where abortion remains legal.

We know from experience, its not like the people protesting clinics in banned states just pack up and go home, said Melissa Fowler, chief program officer for the National Abortion Federation.

The group and the hundreds of abortion clinics it represents have been on heightened alert since the opinion leaked, Fowler said. The organization has staff who specialize in security on call around the clock. They go out to clinics to do drills with employees and volunteers on scenarios such as bomb threats or active shooters and advise them on things like where to position security cameras. They also conduct safety assessments at the homes of physicians, monitor online threats and consult with local law enforcement.

In some places, local police are working with clinics to try to tamp down the potential for violence. In Jacksonville, Florida, the sheriffs office said last month they would station an officer outside the clinic, and police in Little Rock, Arkansas, installed a camera atop a crane near an abortion clinic that has been the site of protests, hoping to deter bad actors.

Immediately following the leak and for days afterward, police in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, initiated extra patrols around the Womens Center location, Kifferly said.

But the relationship between clinics and local police isnt always a positive one, and clinics must weigh whether having a heavy police presence will frighten patients, Fowler said. In Kifferlys experience, how well clinics and police departments work together varies by city and state. She recalled asking an officer for help as she was assaulted outside the Philadelphia clinic, and the officer responding that she should call 911.

NAF, which collects monthly data from its over 500 members on harassment and violence, reported a spike in incidents in 2020, the most recent year for which the group has published data. The number of death threats or threats of harm and of assault and battery both increased by more than double, and providers reported more than 24,000 incidents of hate email or internet harassment.

Abortion providers reported an uptick after Donald Trump became president, and extremists felt like it was OK for them not to be in the shadows, Fowler said. The coronavirus pandemic seemed to exacerbate things, Kifferly said, and in all four states where the Womens Centers operates  New Jersey, Connecticut, Georgia and Pennsylvania  we were besieged by protesters angry that abortion clinics were open while their churches or businesses were closed.

Abortion opponents also have been targets of violence, and say theyve also seen an increase in incidents since the draft opinion leaked, though the FBI in a 2020 memo described the incidents as historically rare.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said those were among more than 40 incidents of violence, intimidation and vandalism at pregnancy centers and churches in recent weeks.

As for what might occur next for abortion providers, much focus has been on how to provide care to people seeking it, should abortion be banned in more states. But Fowler said another concern is also front of mind: We also need to focus on safety.

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The inaugural year of the INCubatoredu business curriculum taught at Farmington High School was deemed a big success.

Christy Pierce, business instructor at the high school, guided four student teams through the year as they set up actual, real-world businesses with the guidance and advice of Farmington business leaders. Farmington is the first school district in Missouri to teach INCubatoredu, an advanced business course normally used in much larger school districts.

INCubatoredus first year could not have gone any better, she said. To say that I am proud of this first class in the state of Missouri does not do them enough justice. They stayed motivated and committed all year long to get to the final pitch. Anybody that witnessed the final pitch would have to have seen the work and effort they put into the businesses.

The curriculum is at such a high level that it is a dual-credit class. Several times throughout the year, I have told the students that, what you are learning right now, I didnt learn at masters level. These are life lessons you might not even get at higher level education. The lessons take them beyond their years of 17 to 18 years old.

This is not your usual business course.

To build three startup businesses in nine months outside of FHS, in my opinion, would be unheard of, Pierce said. They did it, these 12 students. They made three legitimate, running businesses.

Building the teams

Each business is developed by a team of four students and Pierce is well-aware that working in teams can be very difficult.

Its very hard to navigate sometimes when you have people with different ideas, but all three teams did so with such grace and dignity when they might not have agreed with what one of their team members said, she said. That was OK, they listened to it and respected their opinion and came to a consensus and moved on, which is a big scope of that team-building process. Thats one of those real-life skills when youre in the workforce. Youre going to have to deal with other people.

In the beginning, INCubatoredu starts with me stepping back and giving them activities to do and a lot of evaluation to figure out personalities. Who is the strong speaker? Who is the strong leader. Who is behind-the-scenes more to the financial side? There were all these different aspects that I kept notes on as I was coming up with the teams. They didnt choose the teams. I chose them based on all these different personality traits and what they liked and disliked and how they interacted with each other.

"Them not having a choice and me putting them into teams makes it even more special as they didnt try to formulate the best team they thought. It goes back to that real life experience, you cant pick every colleague you work with. Somehow you have to learn how to navigate and work with this person and respect them even if you dont agree with them and move on.

Diverging from the curriculum

Pierce said she altered the advanced curriculum somewhat.

I think that in the beginning, taking more time than what was put into the curriculum to study their personalities instead of having them formed the first week, she said. That wasnt enough time for me to study them. I added more activities along the way to see their characteristics. They needed a sounding board.

"We did peer evaluations which was a very formal document, but it was a very open-door policy where we started with journals where they could just write where they are at. How are they feeling? Are there any problems going on? From these discussions, whether it be in a journal or email or one-on-one, we worked through those. I dont know if that is so much a part of the curriculum, but it needed to be. We needed one-on-one discussions, not just consistent team discussions.

I kept a very rigid agenda of what needed to be accomplished, especially in the final days before the pitch. We put dates on what needed to be accomplished and who is doing it. Sometimes one person relies on another one and we didnt need to do that in those final days. We needed to know who was doing what and when. I think that helped, it made it easy to check off that list. On Fridays, we would send a list to the mentors.

"This is what we accomplished this week, this is what we want to accomplish next week. That gave them accountability, the following week we could look back and say, Did you accomplish what you told them you were going to do? We also made an agenda to make sure we utilized the time the mentors were here. That was emailed to them prior so they knew what we wanted to discuss and we werent wasting any time.

The finalists

The winner of the $2,000 grand prize was HonorRollEDU, a tutoring company specifically designed for rural areas. Pierce noted the team of four young women worked together perfectly as a team from the beginning.

They made a fully-functioning website where you could go and book your tutoring sessions, she said. They hired their own tutors beyond themselves, and they are one of the first INCubatoredu businesses that ever made an actual profit before making it to the final pitch.

The other two businesses are PartyNow!, a one-stop party supplier which had already supplied several events, and Taffeine, a naturally caffeinated taffy, which had pre-orders for their product before the final pitch.

According to Pierce, the $2,000 grand prize was donated by board members and community members. The grand prize was awarded by the board of directors at the final pitch, however, there was a last-minute change to the final results.

When the board went back to deliberate, they asked me to come back after a certain time and said they were having a hard time not deeming some type of prize to all the businesses because it was so noticeable how much work had been put in to it, she said. The board wanted to give the other two teams $500.

Mentor reaction

At the end of the October mentor match meeting, Pierce attested that there wasn't one community member in attendance who wasn't willing to help.

They were so impressed where they were from just August to October, she said. All five mentors were very surprised at the level these students were thinking. They were so impressed that they could absorb this type of knowledge and turn it into an actual business at ages 17 and 18 and to run with it.

When I would walk the mentors out, the reaction was the same. They had the wow factor. They couldnt believe that they had sat there with these students, they were using this terminology, this knowledge; the curriculum was high level thinking. It wasnt just memorizing what was in a textbook, it was applying them in a real-life setting.

Looking ahead

What will Pierce NOT do next year?

"I dont know, everything went so well," she said. "I think the timing of the pitches, we may have the first one before Christmas break and the last one before the seniors have to leave early so we have some time to back over some things and finalize. I was very nervous going into the program, not knowing how the teams would operate. They surpassed any expectations that I had. I only hope that the 12 next year are playing on the same field as what these did.

Pierce addressed how to deal with future business plans that are similar to the ones received in previous years.

I have thought that through, she said. At first, I will show them the existing business and what made them a unique value of each one of these companies. They would have to prove to me how they differentiate in such a big way to do that.

"They would almost be putting themselves at a disadvantage if they are pitching a similar idea to a board that the community has heard of before. They might be in the same field  competition is a good thing  but they would have to show me what makes them so unique above a previous business.

Nice surprises

I knew going into it that Farmington is a very supportive community of new businesses, Pierce said. I knew a strong community existed, but how were they going to perceive this program? Was I going to get that community support I needed? Was I going to be able to call an attorney and ask them to pro bono come in and teach and then set and give actual consultations to three businesses when they could be at their offices? I never got a 'no.'

"When we went into the financial section, it was a very difficult section. A gentleman took all their financial spreadsheets  right in the middle of tax season  took the time, went through and made all of these comments and suggestions. That was such a resource for these students. Farmington surpassed any need of reaching out further than the local community for help.

Pierce reflected on how this year's program went as a first run for her, the district and the community.

This has been a challenging year, launching the program in general, but the community support I have had was above anything I could have imagined, she said. We had our mentors, attorneys, CPAs, small business owners, software developers come in and give their advice and expertise in their field, which is priceless.

"It was nice to see all the community members come together at the final pitch, especially our board members who made this program a reality. Its bittersweet to see our first class of incubators move on, but Im very excited to see what the next group of amazing entrepreneurs come up with next year. You can view the entire pitch on BKTVs YouTube site. I definitely encourage anyone to do that. People will definitely not be disappointed, but amazed at what the students accomplished in a nine short months.

To view the final pitch on YouTube, go to https://youtu.be/CBPOVYpU0Eg

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

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By Ike Parrish

Reporter

Town residents, family and friends gathered at the corner of Church and Chapman streets in downtown Orange Sunday to celebrate Juneteenth with a ribbon cutting denoting the inception of a new commemorative park. The park honors the towns historic Black commercial district and residential areas on Church, Chapman and Mill streets and Railroad Avenue.

The once-thriving district served as a hub for the Black community of Orange County throughout times of segregation leading up to the 1970s. The area was home to a variety of Black-owned businesses including restaurants, a beauty salon, a barber shop, a taxi service, a variety store and more.

The new park, to memorialize the district and its influence and contribution to Orange County, was brought to the town through the efforts of the Orange County African American Historical Society (OCAAHS) in partnership with LOVEOrangeVirginia and the Town of Orange.

Today, as we celebrate Juneteenth, we illuminate and reflect on the Town of Oranges African American business and residential district, said OCAAHS President Bruce Monroe. For more than 100 years, this was a segregated neighborhood of Black homes, businesses and Black families; two historic Black churches and schools. The Black family, the Black church and education were central elements of post-emancipation African American life.

In his opening statement, Monroe thanked the sponsors, donors and organizations who helped the park come to fruition and touched on the history of the neighborhood. He explained that the district was a gathering area and commercial center for more than 20 post-emancipation Black settlements within the county.

The dedication of this park today honors the contributions and sacrifices of these families and their contributions to the growth of the Town of Orange, the county and our nation, said Monroe.

The park design, headed by OCAAHS Vice President and park project manager Zann Nelson, features landscaping and a walkway lined with three interpretive panels exhibiting historic photos and recounting some of the history of the district. Each panel highlights separate areas of the historic district and is equipped with a QR code that will link visitors to an informative video on the OCAAHS website, www.ocaahs.org. Nelson said seating areas will be added in the near future.

The plot of land where the park sits was leased to the OCAAHS by the Town of Orange.

Not too long ago, this small parcel of land were standing on today was an empty gravel square sitting on the edge of the railroad track, said Orange Mayor Martha Roby. But today, through a true community effort, it has evolved into a beautiful mini-park that brightens this corner of our town and provides a place for reflection of the African American history in the Town of Orange.

Funding for the park was raised through grants acquired by LOVEOrangeVirginia. A $25,000 downtown investment grant was awarded through the Department of Housing and Community Development through the Virginia Main Street Program. Another grant just shy of $5,000 was awarded by the Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors.

Today, we dedicate this revered space that commemorates the contributions of African American citizens past, present and future who have made, are making and will make to the town and to the county, said LOVEOrangeVirginia Executive Director Charlotte Cole.

Seventh Congressional District Rep. Abigail Spanberger highlighted the importance of Juneteenth and celebrating African American heritage in the community.

I am honored to be here today to help share in this moment and make sure the past is not just remembered but kept alive as part of this amazing community story, she said. Thank you to the Orange County African American Historical Society for the invitation to help dedicate this park and celebrate the heritage and contributions of Oranges African American community.

Last year, I was proud to vote for a bill in Congress that officially made Juneteenth a federal holiday, she continued. It is exciting to know that Juneteenth is now observed across America from Orange County, Virginia to Orange County, California. And Its exciting that as part of that we are making sure that Americans across the country remember this important moment in our nations history and this holiday is about both remembering and looking forward.
The Supreme Court issued its biggest gun rights ruling in more than a decade. Here's a Q&A about what the decision does and does not do.
University of Virginia immunologist and COVID-19 researcher Dr. William Petri continues to answer reader questions about COVID-19. Send your questions to Lynne Anderson at vanderson@dailyprogress.com, and she will forward them to Dr. Petri.

1. Kids younger than five can finally get a vaccine. What downsides are there to vaccination?

The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were approved by the CDC last Friday, and as of today there are 10 million doses distributed for free across the US for children 6 months of age and up who can start being vaccinated immediately. My two granddaughters will start their vaccinations this week. In testing of thousands of children, the vaccines have proven safe, with the side effects mostly irritability and crying, sleepiness, and loss of appetite on the day of vaccination. Infants and children vaccinated have not had the rare but self-limited side effect of inflammation of the heart called myocarditis. The vaccines are effective, generating higher anti-spike antibody levels than those seen in young adults. Finally, it is important to be vaccinated, as the omicron wave of the pandemic has been particularly hard on infants and children, with COVID-19 now the 5th leading cause of death in children.

2. My antigen test is still positive on day 11 of infection. Do I need to continue to isolate?

The official CDC recommendation is if you are continuing to improve and do not have a fever, you need isolate at home for only five days and can go out into the community wearing a tight-fitting mask to complete a total of 10 days of isolation. Exceptions to the 10-day rule have been immunocompromised people who might not clear the infection by day 10, and those who are staying ill, or who have the so-called Paxlovid rebound with a return in symptoms after completing the five-day course of this anti-viral. In all these exceptions, isolation should continue for another 5 days, or more. If you are still antigen positive on day 10, then you are likely still infectious and it makes sense to stay at home or to wear a tight-fitting mask until the test turns negative.

3. I hear that COVID-19 is going to be recirculating this summer because of two new omicron sub-variants, B4 and B5. These evade the vaccines and previous infections, from what I understand. With the number of these infections rising weekly, how do we stay safe?

The best way to stay safe is by getting the vaccine and its boosters even if you have had COVID-19 in the past. Wearing a mask in public indoor spaces as much as you can, and isolating yourself if sick until you know you do not have COVID-19 are also important. If you get COVID-19 despite these precautions, and there is no shame in that as I too have gotten omicron, then there are the anti-viral pills Paxlovid and Molnupiravir to take to help cure you.

And you are correct that the current BA2 variant of omicron is rapidly being outpaced by the BA4 and BA5 variants. BA4 and BA5 were first detected in South Africa in the New Year and likely arose from prolonged infection in individual immunocompromised persons, which allowed the omicron variant BA2 to mutate to BA4 and BA5. Today BA4 and BA5 are one third of all COVID-19 cases in the US and by the end of June will be the majority. So yes, one can expect that transmission will increase this summer from the already medium levels we are experiencing today in Charlottesville-Albemarle.

We talk about BA4 and BA5 together, as their Spike glycoprotein is the same, containing new mutations in the receptor binding domain that improve transmission and additional mutations that allow it to infect those who had immunity from the original omicron infection. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines provide better immunity to BA4 and BA5 than does a prior omicron infection. The good news is that 83% of all Americans aged 5 and older have had at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. Also, good news is that the variants seem to have a harder time evading cell mediated immunity. That comes from being vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19), as it uses T cells and not antibodies to clear the infection. So, we should not see much of an increase in hospitalizations. Currently there are about 20 patients with COVID-19 at UVA Hospital, compared to over a hundred during the delta wave of the pandemic.

4. People with long COVID-19 face a range of symptoms; is reduced lung capacity one of them? Also, how long do these symptoms last?

Yes, reduced lung capacity can be part of the long COVID-19 syndrome, with shortness of breath upon exertion and diminished exercise capacity symptoms. This can occur anywhere from four weeks to a year from the initial COVID-19 infection and it is not known the extent to which these symptoms improve over time. The best explanation for long haul COVID-19 in my opinion is that the abnormal and damaging immune response seen with the initial infection persists in people with long haul. If this proves to be the case, it could usher in a new era of immunotherapy aimed at limiting inflammatory damage.

5. I know so many people who are getting COVID-19, but their symptoms are mild, much more so than the original cases in which thousands had to be intubated. Is COVID-19 still as serious an illness as it was when it first appeared?

COVID-19 infections are without a doubt less severe today than a year ago, and this is most likely not due to a less deadly virus variant, but because most of us are partially immune, either from being vaccinated or by having a prior COVID-19 infection. The cloud on the horizon is that immunity to coronaviruses tends not to be long-lived, for reasons we dont understand. Maintaining our current high level of immunity through vaccination will go a long way towards limiting future deaths, which now number more than a million in the US. But until vaccines can be designed that last longer, this likely means all of us getting annual booster shots.

6. And are people who are not vaccinated getting more serious cases of COVID-19 than those who are?

Yes, the most recent data has shown that vaccination reduces the risk for hospitalization or death by at least 10-fold.
Old Ivy Road development dangerous

Old Ivy Road is about to crumble under helter-skelter growth with the construction of 525 rental homes by Greystar, a large development and management company from South Carolina. Old Ivy is an eclectic mix of residences  from the senior community at University Village and university student apartments to a diverse mix of homeowners and graduate students and their families in Huntington Village. But its also home to three established University of Virginia academic centers  the Miller Center, the Center for Politics, and the Cooper Center for Public Service  providing a link to the academic life of the university.

Residents and staff members use multiple means of transportation: cars, bikes  even strollers  and many walk along what has become a treacherous path under a railroad bridge to the university. Drivers have developed a special etiquette for allowing cars to pass under the bridge, waving each other through one at a time. When it rains, the dip beneath the bridge fills up like a goldfish bowl, preventing traffic from either entering or exiting the area. Or leaves cars floundering in the middle.

In the nine years I have lived in Huntington Village, I have seen the welcomed addition of more young families and graduate students, but what I have not seen are comprehensive traffic studies, traffic mitigation measures, or respect for our environment. It appears that those planning to build along Old Ivy might be able to leapfrog over doing whats right for our community. While those of us who live here feel helpless against the resources of these outside developers.

Old Ivy is already struggling amid recent growth. A decision to add more is simply unconscionable  and dangerous. It now appears that Old Ivy Road is crumbling under the weight of ambition.

Carol Wood

Charlottesville
Bill and Yolanda Carson were headed into Kerrville on Saturday afternoon to run some errands, but they will never forget what they saw as they
By Trend

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev arrived on a state visit to Uzbekistan on June 21, Trend reports.

During the visit, bilateral meetings were held, and a number of important documents determining the further development of relations between the two countries were signed.

Head of the International Relations Department at the Uzbek University of World Economy and Diplomacy Ulugbek Khasanov commenting on the visit said that rather complex and extremely turbulent modern international relations set the issues of creating sustainable and resistant models of national economies as vital ones, which was confirmed by the current Azerbaijani-Uzbek summit in Tashkent city.

"The meeting of the presidents of two countries has shown a high level of integration of regional economies in the South Caucasus, where Azerbaijan plays the key role, and in Central Asia with a similar position of Uzbekistan in the world economy, which also confirms their strategic involvement in global logistics, and this, of course, has become one of the central themes of the bilateral dialogue," Khasanov noted.

Besides, the expert said that, this geo-economic advantage of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan determines alternative possibilities for maintaining the stable regional and global supply chains.

Khasanov noted that the logistics potential of the two countries in the South Caucasus and Central and South Asia allows connecting the North-South and East-West corridors with European countries.

The above potential also enables to connect the north-west of Russia through the ports of Astrakhan and Olya with the ports of Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, and transiting goods from the Pacific ports of China to Europe, the states of the Persian Gulf, as well as Pakistan and India.

"In the current difficult international political conditions, the routes of mainland international transport flows provide direct communication between Northern, Western, Central and Southern Europe and the countries of the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, the Black Sea and Caspian regions, the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of the Asia-Pacific region, including the Northeast Asia region, Khasanov noted.

Both Europe and China are strategically interested in the participation of the countries of the South Caucasus and Central Asia in development of the pan-Eurasian transport network in general and in the program for the revival of the Great Silk Road, especially due to the connection of the latter with the factors of trade and energy supply, he noted.

He also said that many Turkish companies, being extremely interested in joining the Eurasian transport cargo flows, carried out reconstruction of the 44-kilometer section of Azerbaijans Alat-Gazimammad highway (80 kilometers south of Baku), as well as several sections of the Azerbaijani railways being part of the Europe-Caucasus-Asia transport corridor.

"Azerbaijan took real steps back in the 1990s to implement a transport project together with Georgia and Turkiye to create the shortest railway route on the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku line. In the new conditions, Azerbaijan is working out a transport corridor which will link the Lesser Caucasus in the northeast with the Anatolian Highlands in the southwest," Khasanov said.

"This is about the Zangazur corridor which will connect Azerbaijan with Turkiye through Armenia. The workout of the corridor testifies to the business potential of similar projects offered by Azerbaijani diplomats," the expert explained.

He said Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China are actively working on the implementation of a joint project to build a road connecting the Ferghana Valley with the western provinces of China.

The above transport route, passing through the cities of Tashkent-Andijan-Osh-Irkeshtam-Kashgar along four alternative branches, will not only connect the transport railway routes of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China, but will also become the main segment of the Great Silk Road project.

"This railway route is the shortest route from China to Europe and the Middle East. With the commissioning of this railway, the distance will be reduced by 900 kilometers compared to existing routes, and the delivery time of goods will be reduced by seven to eight days, he said.

China is actively involved in implementation of this project, which launched a Xi'an-Bishkek direct freight rail route on July 17, 2019. The opening of regional hubs in Uzbekistan has already made serious changes in the development of new models of international transportation, where the Trans-Afghan corridor is of great importance."

Summing up, Khasanov noted that namely the above priorities of the regional and global agenda will prevail in the bilateral relations between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan for long years.

In turn, director of the Uzbek Development Strategy Center Eldor Tulyakov noted that bilateral and multilateral cooperation between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan has been developing dynamically for more than 30 years.

"A high strategic level of cooperation has been achieved thanks to close dialogue and mutual understanding between the presidents of the two countries. Over the past five years, trade between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan has grown almost by seven times: from $17.1 million in 2016 to $118.9 million in 2021, Tulyakov said.

According to the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan, in 2021, the volume of bilateral trade with Azerbaijan amounted to $118.9 million, an increase of 42 percent compared to 2020," he noted. "At the same time, from January through May 2022, the volume of trade between the countries amounted to $66.4 million and increased by 49.1 percent compared to the same period in 2021.

Azerbaijan is one of the few countries with which Uzbekistan has a positive trade balance. In 2021, this figure amounted to $33 million," Tulyakov emphasized.

Moreover, according to him, Azerbaijan is an important country through which the main transport routes to Turkiye and other European countries (railway and road) pass, which should be further expanded.

"For example, already a railway corridor has been launched - the foreign trade route of Uzbekistan in the western direction, which connects its Tashkent and Kungrad cities with Beyneu and Aktau (Kazakhstan), Azerbaijan's Baku, Georgian Tbilisi and Poti, and European countries," Tulyakov said. "Besides, there's the AH5 (International Asian Network) road corridor connecting China with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkiye-Bulgaria."

He also spoke about the launch of E60 (European direction) road corridor connecting France with Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Georgia-Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and China.

At the same time, Uzbekistan and its western partners - Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Georgia and others are interested in promoting the multimodal transport corridor of Asia-Pacific region-China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkiye-Europe, passing through the territory of China, the countries of Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus, Turkiye and the countries of Europe," he said.

Tulyakov pointed out that implementation of the multimodal transport corridor will reduce the time of movement of goods from the Central Asian countries by three times.

"Moreover, the implementation of this multimodal transport corridor through Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan will allow our countries significantly increase their foreign trade turnover, and can also significantly increase the volume of transit cargo through their territory. In Uzbekistan, the volume of transit cargo transportation can increase from the current nearly 10 million tons to 23 million tons in 2030," the expert said.

According to him, in the current crisis conditions and against the backdrop of challenges in the field of food security, it becomes necessary to diversify transport routes connecting Central Asia with the East and West through the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus and further - to Europe.

"In this regard, both railway and road transport corridors, the development of transport infrastructure, implementation of common transport projects are becoming important areas of cooperation for many countries, including Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan," Tulyakov said.

According to the expert, the current visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Uzbekistan will give a new impetus to the development of bilateral and multilateral relations between the two countries, and expand opportunities for promoting close dialogue.

At the same time, he said that further deepening of trade and economic cooperation, the development of transport and communication links and infrastructure, as well as the expansion of industrial and transit cooperation, become the most relevant issues.
Lebanons would-be candidates for November races can file for the positions of mayor and city councilor in early July.

Candidates can begin filing Monday, July 11 and have until 5 p.m. Aug. 1 to submit their paperwork.

The seats of city councilors Wayne Rieskamp, Gamael Nassar and Michelle Steinhebel expire on the last day of the year, Dec. 31, 2022. Their representation of wards 1, 2 and 3, respectively, will go before voters in the fall.

Those who petition to run for office must live in Lebanon for at least six continuous months before filing, cant be immediately related to a city employee or official, and must be registered voters, according to a June 22 news release.

Council candidates must live in the precinct theyre filing to run for.

Voters first elected Rieskamp to the council in 2011. The council appointed Nassar in March 2021 to fill the remainder of Karin Stauders term, vacated when she moved to Central Oregon.

Half the citys six-member council is appointed.

Steinhebel serves as council president and won a three-way race for her Ward 3 seat in 2018.

Paul Aziz has held the citys highest office since 2012 when he defeated the incumbent Ken Toombs, who was unseated after five two-year terms.

Aziz took more than 60% of the vote in 2016 and 2018 to keep hold of Lebanons helm. He ran unopposed in 2014 and 2020.

Candidates should call the city recorder's office at 541-258-4905 or or email cityrecorder@ci.lebanon.or to schedule a walkthrough of the filing paperwork.

Alex Powers (he/him) covers business, environment and healthcare for Mid-Valley Media. Call 541-812-6116 or email Alex.Powers@lee.net.

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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on approval of Agreement on cooperation in the field of agriculture between the Ministry of Agriculture of the Azerbaijan Republic and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic, Azernews reports, citing Azertac.

According to the decree, the above agreement signed on April 20, 2022, in Baku, was approved.

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Agriculture was instructed to ensure the implementation of the provisions of the agreement, specified in part 1 of this decree, after its entry into force.

The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan will notify the government of Kyrgyzstan about the implementation of domestic procedures necessary for the agreements entry into force.
Louisville-based Sierra Space might soon be landing its winged spacecraft at New Mexicos Spaceport America, according to a news release.

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding outlining their mutual pursuit to increase Spaceport Americas capabilities and demand for Dream Chaser reentry at the spaceport.

The next step would be to pursue a Part 433 reentry site operators license from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Dream Chaser is scheduled to execute cargo supply and return missions for NASA starting next year. It could deliver up to 12,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station per trip.

Sierra Space is building the future of space  from transportation, to commercial space destinations and all of the emerging applications  to develop a vibrant, growing and accessible commercial space economy, CEO Tom Vice said in the release. With that vision in mind, we are creating space-tech hubs within the commercial space ecosystem and adding Spaceport America as a prospective landing site for Dream Chaser to continue to open up affordable access to space for all.

The momentum continues for Sierra Space, which broke off from Sierra Nevada Corp. to become its own entity last year. Earlier this year, it announced plans to double its workforce, especially in Colorado, by adding 1,000 jobs in 2022. It has about 700 workers in the state.

In the last 11 months, it has picked up more aerospace contracts and signed partnerships for large-scale space projects in coming years, including with NASA and Blue Origin. It was awarded a $130 million contract to design, build and operate Orbital Reef, which is described as a business park in space.

Spaceport America, at 18,000 acres, is in southwest New Mexico. It claims to be the first purpose-built commercial spaceport in the world. Its already licensed by the FAA for rocket launches and is next to the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range.

Other areas the Dream Chaser can land include the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center; airports and landing sites in Huntsville, Alabama; Oita Airport, Japan; and Spaceport Cornwall in the United Kingdom.

Spaceport America is enormously proud to combine efforts with Sierra Space, Scott McLaughlin, executive director of Spaceport America, said in the release. As a potential landing site for the Dream Chaser spaceplane, we will continue to open affordable access to space for all in the United States and the world.  This MOU also helps highlight the vision for Spaceport America and to help connect other users of both the spaceport and the Dream Chaser to New Mexico.

Sierra Space officials haven't had any formal discussions with the Colorado Air and Space Port in Adams County, formerly called the Front Range Airport.

We talked at Space Symposium real informally, but nothing beyond that, said Jeff Kloska, director of the Colorado Air and Space Port. Were not sure what kind of requirements their vehicle needs by way of runway length  but wed love to work with them and see something happen some time. If they require something of us, wed look towards and consider making those improvements.
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Is Kenya aiming to encourage an end to roaming charges in Africa? If reports from the local press are true, the countrys ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru may be hoping to pursue this course.

As Kenyas Business Daily points out, most Kenyans, like most Africans, prefer buying a local prepaid SIM card to stay connected when travelling abroad because it is much cheaper than opting for international roaming charges.

It quoted Mr Mucheru as saying: We want a situation where data charges are the same through [an] Africa continental free trade area creating a market of 1.4 billion people to compete globally.

There is of course already an African Union-backed initiative to remove international roaming rates in voice and data communications via Smart Africa. Smart Africa is an alliance of over 37 heads of state and government. Its aims include affordable access to broadband and using ICT in Africa to establish a knowledge economy.

The goal of the alliance is also to develop a digital single market on the African continent by 2030. It is seeking to abolish mobile roaming charges across the continent within eight years and to require operators to treat all internet traffic equally.

Theres no doubt that consumers and businesses like the idea of cheap roaming, especially at a time when the costs of calls to a number of African countries are going up, as are the costs of basic commodities like food, electricity and fuel.

So far, however, Mr Mucheru has not provide details of any concrete moves towards pan-African scrapping of roaming charges.
Montgomery On Wednesday, June 22, 2022, Willie Frank Harvis, a 62-year-old from Enterprise, Alabama, was sentenced to 74 months in prison for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and being a felon in possession of multiple firearms, announced United States Attorney Sandra J. Stewart. Following his prison sentence, Harvis will be on supervised release for three years. There is no parole in the federal system.

According to his plea agreement and other court documents, in late January 2019, the Coffee County Sheriffs Office began to suspect that Harvis was selling drugs from his Enterprise home. After obtaining a search warrant, on February 1, 2019, law enforcement searched Harviss residence and found crack cocaine along with eleven firearms. Harvis has multiple felony convictions and is prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm.

This case was investigated by ATF, the Coffee County Sheriffs Office, and the Enterprise Police Department, with assistance from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and DEA. Assistant United States Attorney Russell T. Duraski prosecuted the case.
Note: This is a message from rising Eufaula High School senior, Sam Miller, who attended Boys State and is the newly elected state FFA vice president. Sams parents are Joel and Dee Miller.

It was an honor to be selected to go to Boys State. Before it started, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, but it turned out to be a valuable and impactful experience. I was able to make so many friends and campaign for Lt. Governor, and while I didnt make it, just the running for office taught me a lot of valuable experiences.

The first half of Boys State was the hardest. It was a lot of campaigning for office, and we got to learn all about the campaign process. The second half of the week was a lot of writing and passing bills since I was on the state senate. And throughout the entire week, we had many guest speakers, ranging from congressmen to mayors to even a candidate for U.S Senate. And while the political part of the camp was fun and interesting, it was the friends and connections I made along the way that are the most meaningful to me. Id just like to thank my teachers for nominating me to be a part of that amazing experience.

In running for state FFA office, I had to go through a two-day process of interviews with a committee of judges, at a state convention for FFA. It was a really special convention, since it was the first in-person Alabama FFA state convention since before the pandemic, and it was my first ever state convention. The entire experience was extremely valuable in letting me experience all of these general sessions, and going through a tough but life-changing interview process. Looking back on my convention experience, finally being able to attend a state convention in person has grown my skills as a leader and as a member of the FFA organization.
A Dothan man is sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a child pornography charges.

Kevin Wayne Willett, 31, pleaded guilty in March to federal charges involving an attempt to transfer obscene material to a minor and attempted distribution of child pornography to a minor.

According to Willetts plea agreement and other court documents in the 2018 case, Willett was using an online dating site to communicate with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.

However, Willett was actually communicating with an undercover FBI agent posing as a minor. Willett sent the undercover agent obscene pictures, including images containing child pornography.

Upon completion of a 17.5-year sentence, Willett will be on supervised release for five years and will be required to register as a sex offender. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has approved the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between the Ministry of Finance of the Azerbaijan Republic and the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic, Azernews reports citing Azertac.

Under the decree, the above memorandum signed on April 20, 2022, in Baku was approved.

The Ministry of Finance of Azerbaijan was instructed to ensure the implementation of provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding specified in part 1 of this decree after its entry into force.

The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan has been instructed to notify the government of Kyrgyzstan about the implementation of domestic procedures necessary for the entry into force of the memorandum.
Editors note: The following is a news release from the Houston County Emergency Management Director Chris Judah, addressing what residents need to be aware of as the summer continues and the Atlantic hurricane season moves forward.

Summer is here and we have started hurricane season. In addition, we are experiencing above-average temperatures. Our goal is to ensure people become aware and informed of weather conditions and how to prepare and plan for what might develop. Heat factors can affect individuals quickly. We encourage everyone to download the Dothan-Houston County EMA app. It contains various information and is integrated to send alerts as they happen to include those from the National Weather Service.

With extreme temperatures, people should realize heat related conditions can develop quickly. When feeling tired, thirsty or skin begins to turn red, action should be taken. These situations should not make someone shy from seeking medical attention. Hydration and staying cool is crucial. Knowing the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke should be taken seriously.

HEAT EXHAUSTION: Faint or Dizzy

Excessive Sweating

Cool, Pale, Clammy Skin

Nausea or Vomiting

Rapid, Weak Pulse

Muscle Cramps

HEAT STROKE: Throbbing Headache

No Sweating

Body Temp above 103 Skin Turns Red

Nausea or Vomiting

Rapid, Strong Pulse

May Lose Consciousness

In addition to heat related environments, Southeast Alabama will bring afternoon thunderstorms. These storms can bring heavy rains, contain strong wind gusts and numerous lightning strikes. Hurricane season is upon the region and as the summer progresses, the chances of disturbances in the Gulf will continue to increase. Now is the time to plan for all these different environmental condition changes. Know what to do in severe weather no matter in the middle of the afternoon or the middle of the night. For all conditions, check on neighbors, elderly, and pets. Do not leave children or pets in a vehicle, not even for a few minutes unattended. The heat in a vehicle will escalate rapidly.

The best course of action for any condition is planning and the preparation for the activities of the day. Assist in conserving energy usage during peak hours. It may not be necessarily how much power you use, yet what times of the day you consume it as to assist with decreasing the strain on utility companies.
A repaving project in Brundidge is among 10 Alabama initiatives to be funded by more than $2 million in state grants through the 2019 Rebuild Alabama Act.

The Rebuild Alabama Act, overwhelmingly passed by the Legislature and signed into law in 2019, requires ALDOT to establish an annual program setting aside $10 million off the top of the states share of new gas tax revenue for local projects.

In Brundidge, the project involves resurfacing almost a mile of Veterans Boulevard from US 231 to North Main Street. Rebuild Alabama funds will cover $250,000 of the $667,292 cost of the project.

Other projects receiving Rebuild Alabama funds are taking place in Chilton, Dallas, Dekalb, Jackson, Marengo, Randolph, Talladega, Tuscaloosa, and Wilcox counties. Of those awarded projects, cities and counties also contributed a total of over $2 million in local matching funds. Matching funds are not required to be eligible.

An additional round of local projects is expected later this year. It is anticipated that a number of projects will be under contract by the end of this year. All projects are required to move forward within one year of the awarding of funds.

This is the third year of the Annual Grant Program, with more than $27 million in funding for local projects across the state awarded since 2020.

For more information about the Annual Grant Program, visit the programs dedicated webpage at https://www.dot.state.al.us/programs/RAAGrantProgram.html.

ALDOTs mission is to provide a safe, efficient, environmentally sound transportation network across Alabama. For additional information, visit www.dot.state.al.us
The Da Nang City police have arrested a man running shell companies to allegedly smuggle wild animal parts from Africa to Vietnam.

Nguyen Duc Tai, 33, is under investigation for "violating regulations on management and protection of endangered, precious and rare animals."

The Police Division for Corruption, Smuggling and Economics Crimes made the arrest on Wednesday after monitoring his activities for over a year.

Nguyen Duc Tai, a native in central Vietnam, is under arrest for allegedly running a wildlife trafficking ring, June 2022. Photo by police

Early last year they had placed several suspects under surveillance after discovering they had used fake ID cards to set up companies.

The companies are all registered to import and export goods but the police could not identify their headquarters or see them undertake any other activity except importing goods from Africa.

In July last year the economic police division checked a consignment declared as containing wooden floors imported from South Africa by one of the companies set up by the group, and found inside 52 rhino horns weighing more than 138 kilograms and lion bones weighing 3.1 tons.

In January authorities inspected a container imported from Nigeria purportedly with cashew nuts and found 456 kg of ivory and 6.23 tons of pangolin scales.

An investigation into the companies by the police identified Tai as the leader of the ring.

A search of his residence turned up a bag of pangolin scales he had kept as a sample to show buyers.

The rhino horns seized by the police at Tien Sa Port in Da Nang City from a wildlife trafficking ring allegedly run by Nguyen Duc Tai in July 2021. Photo by police

The police said it was one of the biggest transnational wildlife trafficking cases ever busted.

Vietnam is a major hub for the illegal trade of wildlife and animal parts.

In many cases, after being imported into Vietnam, the goods are sold to China, Laos and Cambodia at prices of around $100,000 for a kilogram of rhino horns, $3,000 for ivory and $300 for pangolin scales.
Tran Ngoc Chung (R) is questioned by a police officer in Thanh Hoa. Photo by VnExpress/Lam Son

A teenager in central Vietnam's Thanh Hoa Province was arrested for organizing and brokering illegal emigration, local police said Thursday.

In March, former casino employee Tran Ngoc Chung, 19, brought four people from his hometown across the border to Cambodia, selling them to casino owners for $650 per head. He had promised to find them "good jobs" in Cambodia.

All four were later abused and forced to do illegal work such as committing online fraud, according to Thanh Hoa police.

Since April, Thanh Hoa authorities discovered 27 locals had been tricked to work at casinos outside Vietnam, mostly in Cambodia. Nineteen were rescued, four returned home after their families paid the casinos, while four others remain in Cambodia.

To date, local police have placed eight suspects under investigation for trafficking people to Cambodia.
Nguyen Dao Ngoc Van, manager of an illegal wildlife trade prevention program for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said at a conference Wednesday that Vietnam has become a "global hotspot" for ivory and rhino horn trade.

The fact that foreign tourists come to Vietnam looking for ivory and rhino horn products have encouraged the hunting, collection, transportation and distribution of these products, a Voice of Vietnam report cited Van as saying.

A survey of nearly 600 Chinese tourists who visited Vietnam before the pandemic crisis showed that 17 percent visited shops selling ivory products during their visit, with about 2 percent paying an average of VND12 million ($516.15) on such products.

As many as 59 percent of the survey respondents said they were recommended the places to shop for the items by local tour guides, Van said.

According to the WWF, many famous tourist destinations in Vietnam have been selling wildlife products like ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales.

In 2017, TRAFFIC, a global non-governmental organization working on the trade in wild animals and plants, surveyed 13 popular ivory markets in Vietnam. Most of these were in Chinese-favored tourist attractions like Ha Long, Mong Cai, and Nha Trang.

"The wildlife trade affects the beautiful and peaceful image of Vietnam and lowers its attractiveness for foreign tourists who care about environmental issues," Van said.

She hoped tour guides and travel operators will extend their commitment to protecting elephants and other wildlife to communicating it to international tourists and helping them become aware of the need to preserve endangered species.

Trinh Thi My Nghe, vice chairwoman of Hanois Tourism Association, told the Vietnam News Agency that she supported WWF's initiatives to hold workshops for raising awareness on wildlife protection among tour guides and tourism operators.

Vietnam has banned trade in rhino horns, elephant ivory and pangolin products, but weak law enforcement has allowed a black market to flourish, supplying a global multi-billion-dollar industry with animal parts and exotic pets, earlier reports have pointed out.
Korean Air's passenger planes are parked on the tarmac at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, March 24, 2020. Photoo by Reuters/Heo Ran

South Korea's biggest carrier Korean Air Wednesday restarted its Incheon - Da Nang City service after over two years of suspension due to Covid-19.

On Wednesday night a flight carrying 200 tourists landed at Da Nang International Airport in central Vietnam.

There will be two weekly flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays until July 27 when the carrier plans to make it a daily service.

"South Korea is one of the largest tourism markets for Da Nang and the resumption of the Incheon-Da Nang service is a positive sign for tourism recovery," Nguyen Xuan Binh, deputy head of the city's tourism department said.

In 2019, the year before the onset of the pandemic, Da Nang received 1.7 million tourists from South Korea.

Vietnam has allowed free-quarantine entry for all foreign arrivals since March 15 and resumed the visa exemption for South Koreans.

It has also removed Covid testing requirements.
ELKO  A Utah man died in a crash on U.S. Highway 93A south of West Wendover.

Nevada State Police reported Thursday that the crash occurred at about 4:30 a.m. June 14 approximately seven miles south of Wendover.

Gennady Sarkisov, 45, of Sandy was driving a Suzuki Grand Vitara utility vehicle north when the vehicle crossed over the center line into the southbound travel lane and drove off the roadway to the left. The driver overcorrected, causing the vehicle to rotate. The vehicle struck a paddle marker, continued back across the roadway, and came to rest on its side on the right side of the roadway.

Sarkisov was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced deceased on the scene. An adult passenger was transported for medical treatment with suspected serious injuries.

Both occupants of the vehicle were unrestrained, and impairment is suspected to be a contributing factor in the crash.

The crash is being investigated by the Nevada Highway Patrol Northern Command East Multi-Disciplinary Investigation and Reconstruction Team. If you were a witness to this incident, or have any information regarding the crash, please contact Sgt. Mitchell Payne of the NHP Elko Office at 775-753-1111.

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Cruise over to Wendover for a tour of Historic Wendover Airfield on Saturday, June 25. The guided tour begins at 10 a.m. MDT at the Wendover Airport. Tickets are $45 per person. Explore the atomic bomb loading pit, bomb storage bunkers, mess hall, fire station, barracks, Norden Bombsight Building, officers mess hall, B-29 Enola Gay hangar and the hospital facilities. Lunch will be provided midway through the tour. Meet at the Brinkman Club/Museum just north of the control tower at 9:45 a.m. The tour will last approximately 4 1/2 to 5 hours.

The Elko County Library will start their summer reading program from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 25. Enjoy games, crafts and a sweet treat. Everyone is invited to the party.

Join Southern Nevada Conservancy Visitor Guide Dr. Steven Owens in a presentation at the California Trail Center about western forts and outposts from the time of the trail. The talk will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 25. Learn about the history of forts and especially Fort Halleck. Fort Halleck operated near the northwestern base of the Ruby Mountains during the closing days of the California Trail. The event is free, but the Trail Center asks participants to pre-register online. Also enjoy a nature walk at the center with Glenn Reynolds beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 26.

The Punch Bowl in Elko presents Highway to Hilarity at 7 p.m. June 25 at 449 Railroad St. Buc Seng is the host and comedians Wes Alexander, Eric Swalm, Stormy Hallahan, Jared Scott, Kayla Stone and Cheyenne Jackson will entertain the crowd. Doors open at 6 p.m.

The always popular Lamoille Country Fair will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 26 in Lamoille Grove. This is the 47th annual event and is sure to please everyone who attends. We will have 127 food and vendor booths, said Lamoille Womens Club member Susan Goddard. Those with a sweet tooth can enjoy old-fashioned, homemade ice cream and waffles, snow cones, dole whip and funnel cakes. For the more savory options, check out the Indian tacos, pupusas, gorditas, homemade tamales, hot dogs, and much more. The Elko County Sheriffs Office will have its mounted patrol at the fair. Come out to see them and their well-trained horses. We expect 10,000 people, Goddard said. There is plenty of parking and a shuttle service.

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Republican gubernatorial candidate Joey Gilbert, who trailed front-runner Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo in the primary by nearly 26,000 votes or 11 percentage points, announced plans to contest the election and reiterated that he will not concede the race.

Gilbert, a Reno attorney, laid out a list of nine grievances in a press release on Thursday, alleging that signature verification did not take place in some cases, officials violated rules regarding election observers, and nonpartisan voters were disenfranchised by technical issues at the DMV that defaulted them to nonpartisan status if they did not proactively specify another party. He also said that more than a dozen candidates plan to contest the primaries, although he did not name them.

You cant run on a platform of integrity and fighting against corruption, and turn your back on this election and pretend no disingenuous activity occurred that absolutely affected this election, he said in the statement.

In a follow-up email, campaign spokesman Paul White said that Gilbert 100% believes he received the most votes and is working through all possible legal channels with the goal of overturning the results.

The Nevada Republican Party congratulated Lombardo for winning the gubernatorial primary in a tweet on Thursday morning, and NV GOP Chair Michael McDonald told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last week that theres no indication of fraud in the states 2022 primary election.

Representatives for Lombardo, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and had a wide lead in fundraising and polling ahead of his victory, said the results were clear.

Every legitimate news outlet has called this race for Sheriff Joe Lombardo, and its clear that the people of Nevada have spoken, said Lombardo spokeswoman Elizabeth Ray. No matter who you voted for last week, hes ready to listen to you, work for you, and fight for you as your Republican nominee.

Officials with the secretary of states office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Gilberts allegations.

Candidates have until June 28 to file an election contest petition with a district court if they are not requesting a recount. They must request any recount by June 29, and then have until five days after the recount to file a petition contesting those results.

While several candidates used the election contest option to challenge the outcomes of the 2020 general election in Nevada, none of the efforts succeeded.

Gilbert, who has called voting machines unreliable and attended the Stop the Steal rally in Washington, D.C., last January that is at the center of an ongoing congressional inquiry, asserted in his press release that he had the most grassroots and statewide support of any candidate in the gubernatorial race.

He cited his victories in straw polls conducted among small groups of party activists and win of a state party endorsement.

Gilbert has also touted that he is the winner of most of Nevadas 17 counties, although the 13 he won are smaller rural counties and he lost in the two urban counties where nearly 90 percent of the states population lives.

Gilbert also alleged that at least 44,000 nonpartisan voters were disenfranchised and unable to vote in the election. Thats likely a reference to an issue with the states automatic voter registration system from 2021, where voters who did not select a political party when completing an online DMV transaction had their party affiliation switched to nonpartisan  an issue that affected around 44,000 voters until the system was changed in October 2021.

However, Nevadas same-day voter registration system would have allowed voters inadvertently registered as nonpartisan to change their registration at any point on Election Day, and voters can also update their registration information, including party information, online and through other means before the election.

Many of the allegations laid out by Gilbert follow statements made by right-wing activist and cryptocurrency millionaire Robert Beadles, who said in a blog post on Thursday that there is NO WAY to legally certify the 2022 primary election in Washoe and Clark County. County commissions are required to canvass, or formalize, the results of the primary election and transmit them to the secretary of state by Friday.

The blog post included letters sent to state, Clark County and Washoe County officials demanding that the 2022 primary not be certified, citing many of the allegations also highlighted by Gilbert: issues with observation, signature verification, and nonpartisan voters disenfranchised via technical issues at the DMV.

The attorney who drafted both letters, Adam Fulton, previously represented Beadles in a pre-primary election lawsuit seeking meaningful voter observation in Washoe County. Fulton and Gilbert also represented an 18-year old UNR student who sued the university and higher education system over a COVID vaccine mandate for students last year.

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The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) and Binh Duong province jointly hosted the 2022 Top 7 Intelligent Communities Conference & Announcement: After the Pandemic: How Digital Innovation Drives Growth in Our Communities. (Photo: VNA)

The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) and Binh Duong province jointly hosted the 2022 Top 7 Intelligent Communities Conference & Announcement: After the Pandemic: How Digital Innovation Drives Growth in Our Communities.

The Top7 Communities are chosen from among the Smart21 Communities of 2022 to be finalists in the yearly Intelligent Community Awards. In October 2022, one of these seven communities will be named the Intelligent Community of the Year at ICFs Global Summit. The city of Binh Duong was one of the Top7 Communities of 2021 and is a Smart21 Community again this year.

ICF gathers nearly 200 prosperous smart cities in the world. ICF studies and promotes the best practices of the world's Intelligent Communities as they adapt to the new demands and seize the opportunities presented by broadband and digital technology.

It conducted research and evaluated hundreds of cities around the world to select the Top 21 (Smart 21) of 2022 with a smart city development strategy based on six factors of ICF including: broadband connectivity, knowledge workforce, innovation, digital equality, sustainability and advocacy.

Binh Duong has implemented its Smart City project since 2016 and has always adhered to the concept of economic transformation towards innovation and digitalisation.

A digital and innovation ecosystem is being strongly developed in Binh Duong, such as a smart operation centre, EIU Campus with Becamex Business Incubator, Fablab, advanced manufacturing hub, and World Trade Centre, contributing to bringing a better life to the local community.

With its right strategies and steady development steps, Binh Duong has been named in Smart 21 (Smart 21) for four times in a row, and among the Top 7 for the first time in 2021 along with cities of Canada, Brazil, Australia.

A corner of Binh Duong (Photo: baobinhduong.vn)

The Top7 Communities Announcement Event offers a chance for organisations, businesses, institutes and education establishments in Binh Duong to access new knowledge and visions, learn from experience in smart city development from other communities across the world, and connect and set up partnership in trade and investment.

The event is expected to contribute to Binh Duongs socio-economic breakthrough programme.

Louis Zacharilla, Co-Founder of ICF, said that this event is an opportunity for communities around the world to build a smart community and a better life.

Binh Duong always learns and finds development directions in order to create progress for the community, he added./.

HCM City posts economic growth of 3.82 percent in H1

Ho Chi Minh City recorded growth of 3.82 percent in gross regional domestic product (GRDP) in the first half of 2022, reported Vietnam News Agency according to its Statistics Office.

The economy of HCM City has expanded by 3.82 percent in the first half of 2022. (Photo: VNA)

Product tax collection increased 2.03 percent, trade and services 4.83 percent, agriculture - forestry - fisheries 1.77 percent, and industry - construction 2.23 percent.

Notably, trade and services generated nearly 99.66 trillion VND (4.3 billion USD) in revenue in June and almost 556.49 trillion VND in the first six months, respectively rising 41.1 percent and 6.2 percent from a year earlier.

Such positive growth indicated that sectors are recovering well, especially trade and services, the Statistics Office said.

Meanwhile, the southern economic hub has welcomed nearly 216,000 international arrivals since the beginning of June, doubling the figure in the same period last year. The six-month number also surged 100 percent year on year to approximate 478,000, equivalent to 13.7 percent of this years target, the municipal Tourism Department reported.

More than 2 million domestic tourists have also come to HCM City this month, raising the H1 figure to over 11 million, up 43.1 percent year on year and equivalent to 61.6 percent of the target for 2022.

HCM City earned 49.68 trillion VND in tourism revenue in H1, rising 29.9 percent and equivalent to 73.5 percent of the target.

Shrimp exports surge during five-month period

Vietnam raked in USD1.9 billion from shrimp exports during the opening five months of the year, representing an annual rise of 41%, reported the Voice of Vietnam based on the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Illustrative photo

After witnessing a growth rate ranging between 25% and 61% from January to April, 2022 the countrys shrimp exports to the United States in May fell by only 2.8% compared to the same period from last year.

Overall, the initial five months of the year saw Vietnam fetch USD390 million from shrimp exports to the US, up 21% year on year.

According to industry experts, se shrimp exports are anticipated to bounce back this September as demand for shrimp in the US recovers strongly ahead of national holidays such as Thanksgiving and the festive season at the end of the year.

With regard to the Chinese market, Vietnamese shrimp exports have since March recorded three-digit growth, with exports in May alone skyrocketing by 126% to reach USD88 million, bringing five-month exports to the market to USD275 million, a year-on-year rise of 101%.

Recent times have seen China's COVID-19 pandemic prevention measures ease, a factor which is anticipated to fuel its import demand for shrimp in the future.

With shipments from Ecuador and India, the two largest shrimp suppliers to China being returned due to the detection of traces of the SAR-CoV-2 virus on product packaging, shrimp imports from these markets decreased by 28% and 30%, respectively.

This move is therefore likely to accelerate Chinas import demand for shrimp from other sources, including those from Vietnam.

At present, the Chinese Government is planning to launch stimulus packages aimed at encouraging greater consumer spending, an effort which is projected to accelerate Vietnamese shrimp exports to the northern neighbour over the coming months, according to insiders.

Vietnam tightens health quarantine against emerging diseases at borders

The Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health has requested cities and provinces tighten health quarantine at borders amidst the complicated developments of dangerous and emerging diseases overseas, reported the Voice of Vietnam.

Monkeypox cases have been recorded in more than 42 countries and territories worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation.

In a dispatch to border localities, the Department of Preventive Medicine noted the COVID-19 pandemic has been on a downward trajectory in the world, but numbers of infections and deaths are still increasing in some regions.

In addition, other dangerous and emerging diseases such as polio, avian influenza and acute hepatitis of unknown etiology in children have been recorded in many countries worldwide.

The World Health Organisations has also confirmed more than 2,100 monkeypox cases recorded in 42 countries globally.

Notably, Singapore, an island state in Southeast Asia, recently confirmed a British flight attendant has contracted monkeypox  the first case in the state.

To proactively detect and prevent suspected cases of infectious diseases spreading across borders, the Department of Preventive Medicine suggested that the International Health Quarantine Centres of provinces and cities strictly and fully implement health quarantine activities for people, vehicles and goods.

The centres were required to closely coordinate with the National Institutes of Hygiene and Epidemiology and regional Pasteur Institutes to organize in-depth technical training for staff, and regularly update information on infectious diseases which are at risk of entering Vietnam in order to proactively deploy surveillance and control measures at border gates./.
By Azernews

By Fuad Muxtar-Aqbabali

In his first post-pandemic truly historic official visit to Uzbekistan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was given the red-carpet treatment, coupled with the unique hospitality of the host nation and the beaming president.

The visit changed our impression of Uzbekistan, the Uzbek people, and its energetic leader, driven by the determination to reform his nation by opening new windows on the West and the Turkic world in a completely new manner by augmenting and bolstering ties.

The development of relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan is one of the main priorities of the two nations foreign policy priorities. Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan consider each other as important strategic partners, who passed the test of time with flying colors.

Baku and Tashkent set to bolster comprehensive ties and the importance of cementing close cooperation in political, trade, economic, cultural, humanitarian, and other spheres were repeatedly accentuated during the two-day visit rich in content, and honest in relations.

The two leaders, who vowed to keep the progress of the signed deals under control, reiterated that the Uzbek-Azerbaijani relations are of two partners and friends. In this context, during the state visit, the landmark event was the signing of a declaration designed to deepen and cement the strategic partnership and build up comprehensive cooperation. The adopted document is comprehensive and covers about 40 areas of interaction between the two states. Joint efforts will be focused on expanding interstate trade and economic cooperation, industrial cooperation, and efficient use of transport and transit potential.

Simultaneously, the provisions of the declaration show that the development of cultural and humanitarian ties is also of no small importance for the two nations sharing a common history.

The program of cooperation in the tourism sector and agreements in the field of scientific cooperation between the Academies of Sciences of the two countries, signed during the visit, have identified the further consistent expansion of cultural and humanitarian ties as the main priority for the two states.

The level of modern relations between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan has been achieved largely due to the establishment of a close and trusting dialogue between the two presidents. The ceremony of inaugurating a street named after Azerbaijans national leader Heydar Aliyev and a memorial bas-relief is a confirmation of the growing Uzbek-Azerbaijani ties, friendship, and cooperation based on a common history and proximity of cultures.

Ilham Aliyevs visit to Khiva, the cultural capital of the Turkic world, and doing sightseeing through old and historical monuments further cements the centuries-old ties between the two nations and urges them to cherish and enrich the future gains on the basis of what the two nations have already succeeded in.

The Uzbek and Azerbaijani peoples are united by a common cultural and historical past, the creations and heritage of which have deservedly entered into the treasury of world civilization.

Developing and strengthening interethnic ties, the Heydar Aliyev Center in Tashkent contributes to the process of mutual enrichment and mutual influence of cultures, strengthening the friendship between the two peoples.

In this context, the program of cooperation in the field of tourism adopted during the visit is of great importance. Thanks to it, the opportunities for citizens of the two states to get acquainted with the traditions, rich original culture, magnificent sights: objects of history, architecture, and unique natural monuments of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan will significantly expand. History proves that cultural achievements spread through contact between peoples, and in this regard, tourism is the best way of cultural communication.

Summing up, the overall confidence is that the visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has become an important milestone in the development of Uzbek-Azerbaijani relations.
Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Partys Committee Nguyen Van Nen meets with Indian Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on June 20. (Photo: SGGP)

So said Nguyen Van Nen, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee during his meeting with Indian Vice President and Chairman of the Council of States of India Venkaiah Naidu on June 20 as part of his visit to India.

Ho Chi Minh Citys leader also said he hoped to promote the potential of tourism cooperation when the two countries open direct flights.

During the reception, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu recalled his deep impression of the country, people and culture, noted the many similarities between Vietnam and India, and thanked the Government and people of Vietnam for their timely support during the most difficult time in India in the prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also highly appreciated the increasing role and position of Vietnam in the region and the world, including its achievements of socio-economic development and efforts to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the economic recovery and growth.

Expressing interest in the agricultural sector, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu commented, Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular have strengths in the field. Therefore, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu hoped that the two sides would continue to support and share to jointly develop this field and ensure food security in the coming time.

For his part, Mr. Nen emphasized India's important role and contributions in the region and the world along with sharing its vision and strategic interests, expressed his deep gratitude to the Indian Government and people for promptly supporting Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular in the recent COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control.

Venkaiah Naidu, Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, said that the city has controlled the epidemic and is recovering, developing strongly socio-economically, maintaining its role as the economic locomotive of the whole country. In particular, the Indian community living in Ho Chi Minh City is the largest in the country, contributing to promoting culture and tightening the good relationship between the two sides.

According to Mr. Nen, Ho Chi Minh City has controlled the pandemic and is recovering, developing strongly socio-economically, maintaining its role as the economic locomotive of the whole country. In particular, the Indian community living in Ho Chi Minh City is the largest in the country, contributing to promoting culture and tightening the good relationship between the two sides.

He later paid a courtesy call to President of the Indian Peoples Party Prakash Nadda during which they spent much of their time discussing Party building; met with Indian Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar and paid a courtesy visit to Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)./.
Secretary Nen talks with the Vietnamese Embassy staff in India. (Photo: SGGP)

The visit aims to pave the way and create a framework to further promote cooperation activities between Ho Chi Minh City and India, thereby contributing to strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and India, identifying cooperation potential, and updating India's policies in relation to Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular.

The year 2022 is an important year in the relationship between Vietnam and India when the two countries celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations (1972 - 2022).

It is expected that during this visit, the delegation from Ho Chi Minh City will greet the senior leaders of India; attend the inauguration ceremony of Uncle Ho statue in New Delhi; and sign an agreement to establish friendly and cooperative relations between Ho Chi Minh City and Mumbai in order to create a cooperation mechanism in areas of mutual interest.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City, India has been one of the three comprehensive strategic partners of Vietnam since 2016. Over the past 50 years, Vietnam-India relations have continued to be consolidated, strengthened, and increased. Despite being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, in the past two years, the two countries have tried to carry out many online talks, high-level phone calls and bilateral cooperation mechanisms.

In terms of economic aspect, India is currently one of the 10 largest trading partners of Vietnam. In 2021, trade turnover will reach more than USD13.21 billion, an increase of more than 36.6% compared to 2020. By the end of the year, in 2021, India's total registered investment capital ranks 25th out of 140 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 313 projects and over USD910.4 million in investment capital./.
Ambassador Dang Minh Khoi has a working session with representatives of Saint Petersburg city

(Photo: nhandan.vn)

During a meeting with representatives of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Legislative Council of Saint Petersburg, as well as leaders of the city's districts and the Uncle Ho statue casting company on June 15, Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi emphasized that 2023 is an important year in the relationship between Vietnam and Russia, especially for the city of Saint Petersburg. The two countries will jointly celebrate the 100th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's first visit to Petrograd, now named Saint Petersburg.

The Ambassador said that President Ho Chi Minh was the one who laid the foundation and worked hard to cultivate the friendship between Vietnam and the Soviet Union in the past, and Vietnam and Russia today. The Ambassador highly appreciated the efforts of Saint Petersburg city government to create favorable conditions for the project of erecting a statue of Uncle Ho in the "Northern capital" of Russia.

According to Mr. Khoi, in October 2020, Vietnam and Russia solemnly held a ceremony to lay the stone at the place where the statue is expected to be erected. The statue of Uncle Ho, scheduled to be inaugurated at the intersection between Enlightenment Avenue and Ho Chi Minh Street in Vyborg District in Saint Petersburg, will be a beautiful symbol between Vietnam and Russia.

Regarding the preparation for the erection of Uncle Ho's statue, the Ambassador stated that the Vietnamese side thanks the Saint Petersburg government for facilitating the consideration and approval of the statue design. This is a complex process that requires the involvement of many agencies. Currently, the two sides continue to work closely to be able to inaugurate the statue of Uncle Ho in 2023 as expected, on the great occasion of the 100th anniversary of Uncle Ho's arrival in Russia on his trip to find a way to save the country.

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Saint Petersburg Evgeny Grigoriev and Vice Chairman of the Legislative Council of Saint Petersburg Nikolai Bondarenko expressed their pleasure that the Russia-Vietnam relations in particular, and the relations between Saint Petersburg and Vietnamese localities in general, continue to develop, reaping many achievements in the past time. This is the result of efforts from both sides, when both the leaders of Vietnam and Russia repeatedly emphasized the importance of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Mr. Nikolai Bondarenko stated clearly the desire of the leaders of the Saint Petersburg government to soon successfully erect the statue of President Ho Chi Minh in the "Northern capital" of Russia, at the same time affirming actively supporting and promoting to complete the project.

Also at the meeting, Mr. Viktor Polunin, the leader of Vyborg district, said that the district is considering a proposal to open the Ho Chi Minh museum, or a corner on Vietnam at a school opposite where the statue is expected to be erected.

Mr. Polunin hoped that the students at the school would contribute to preserving the landscape around the statue of Uncle Ho, thereby continuing to help spread the love of President Ho Chi Minh in Russia./.
Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan meets teachers of Vietnamese language class in Udon Thani (Photo: VNA)

At the meeting, the Vice President highly appreciated the solidarity and mutual support of the overseas Vietnamese, their attachment to the homeland and their valuable support to the homeland during the resistance war for national independence, as well as for the countrys building and developing cause.

In addition, the overseas Vietnamese community has also made many contributions to their second homeland, Thailand, and most recently to the COVID-19 pandemic prevention and other charitable activities, she added.

The Vice President expressed her hope that Overseas Vietnamese Associations across Thailand will better meet the needs of the people in solidarity and get-together activities, teach and learn Vietnamese, contributing to strengthening the friendship between the states and people of the two countries.

Ms. Vo Thi Anh Xuan also wished that there will be more events connecting overseas Vietnamese businessmen and enterprises with those from the homeland to promote investment and trade as well as create more cooperation opportunities between domestic and Thai businesses.

On the same day, she visited Khanh An School, a Vietnamese language school in the locality. She presented Vietnamese historical textbooks to support the teaching and learning of the Vietnamese language in the school./.
At the working session (Photo: baoquocte.vn)

At the meeting, the Ukrainian side thanked Vietnam for its humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and highly appreciated Vietnams active and well-organized evacuation of Vietnamese people from the war-torn country. They suggested the two sides maintain close and effective cooperation in citizen protection; and, if possible, revise and amend cooperation documents to make them relevant to the new reality.

For his part, Ambassador Nguyen Hong Thach briefed the status of Vietnamese people living in Ukraine in the past and at present.

The Vietnamese diplomat also provided updates on problems facing Vietnamese fleeing Ukraine who now wish to return, urging competent Ukrainian authorities to work with Vietnamese Embassy to come up with flexible and timely measures to support them, particularly those who had lost permanent residence papers or are having papers pending.

Both sides agreed to soon provide instructions for Vietnamese people and to meet in-person for better collaboration if necessary./.
At the working session (Photo: baoquocte.vn)

Vietnamese Ambassador to Turkey Do Son Hai recently had a meeting with Mr. Nail Olpak, Chairman of the Turkish External Economic Council (DEIK) at DEIK headquarters in Istanbul.

The two sides exchanged major orientations on cooperation and trade and investment promotion in the coming time.

Congratulating Ambassador Do Son Hai on his assignment in Turkey, DEIK President Nail Olpak expressed his honor to welcome the Ambassador on his first business trip to Istanbul.

Mr. Olpak affirmed that Vietnam is one of Turkey's potential partners; the two sides have a lot of room to continue promoting economic and trade development.

On the occasion of the two countries moving towards the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic relations (1978-2023), the DEIK President wished to make strong steps in bilateral relations, such as the official visit between senior leaders of the two countries, signing a free trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and Turkey, or activities connecting the business communities of the two countries.

Ambassador Do Son Hai acknowledged and highly appreciated DEIK's role and cooperation in promoting bilateral economic and trade over the past time.

He said that Vietnam and Turkey need to quickly implement measures to promote cooperation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic being basically under control. The Ambassador emphasized that one of the contents that need to be soon promoted is to enhance mutual understanding between the people, localities and business communities of the two countries.

With that desire, the Vietnamese Ambassador hoped that the two sides will promote information about the country, people, business investment environment and featured products on each other's media, creating channels for fast information, meeting the needs of learning and cooperation of the two sides.

Committed to strengthening connections between localities and business communities of the two countries in the coming time, the Ambassador hopes to receive close cooperation from DEIK and Chairman Nail Olpak.

Also on this occasion, Mr. Hai had a working session with the leaders of the Turkey-Vietnam Business Council.

The Council is an organization of Turkish groups and businesses that have invested or are looking for investment opportunities in Vietnam.

At the meeting, Mr. Murat Atik from Sun Group, President of the Council, said that the Turkish business community wishes to connect and conduct activities to find investment opportunities in Vietnam after a 2-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July 2022, the Council will organize a business delegation to Vietnam to learn about the business environment and meet potential partners, Mr. Murat wants the Ambassador to connect businesses of the two countries, especially in some potential areas such as infrastructure, construction materials, agriculture, forestry and fishery.

The Vietnamese diplomat welcomed the Council's visit to Vietnam, and emphasized that the Council's investment experience in Vietnam is very important to the Turkish business community.

The Ambassador affirmed that he will always accompany the business communities of the two countries and be ready to listen to ideas of cooperation, remove obstacles, towards the goal of promoting bilateral economic-trade relations.

On the occasion of the business trip, Ambassador Do Son Hai and the representative of the Vietnam Trade Office in Istanbul had meetings with a number of businesses that have been and are looking to invest in the Vietnamese market./.
Flight KE9463 with over 200 passengers on board from Incheon International Airport lands at Da Nang International Airport on the same day (Photo: VNA)

Flight KE9463 of the carrier with over 200 passengers on board from Incheon International Airport landed at Da Nang International Airport on the same day.

After travel restrictions between Vietnam and the RoK were lifted, Korean Air began operating charter flights with a frequency of two flights per week to Da Nang on Wednesdays and Saturdays to meet the increasing needs of tourists.

The firm plans to operate one regular flight per day from July 27, 2022.

Direct working sessions between Da Nangs leaders and representatives of major international airlines within the framework of the Asia Routes Development Forum 2022 have a positive impact on the resumption of flights to the central city, said Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Nguyen Xuan Binh.

Korean Air was one of the first two Korean airlines to come to Da Nang, creating a breakthrough for the market, Binh said, expressing his belief that the return of the Korean Air will have a positive impact on the recovery of the leading tourist market of Da Nang.

Chung Eui-seock - Chief Representative of Korean Air in Da Nang - said after restarting charter flights, Korean Air plans to fly daily to Da Nang from July 27, 2022.

Da Nang is an attractive destination for Korean tourists, so the firm expects flights to be at maximum capacity, he said, adding that Korean Air, with 5-star flights, will offer interesting and memorable journeys to Da Nang.

The number of foreign visitors to Da Nang has shown signs of strong growth after the success of the Asia Routes Development Forum 2022 with the opening of flight routes by foreign airlines to the city such as Malaysia Airlines, Air Seoul, and Bangkok Airways.

Since March 2022, as many as 35,000 foreign passengers have arrived in Da Nang on 286 flights, including 71 flights from the RoK./.
At the meeting (Photo: mattran.org.vn)

He made the statement on May 30 while presiding over a get-together with overseas Vietnamese from 17 countries around the world, who paid a visit to Truong Sa archipelago from May 17-25.

The recent Truong Sa trip for overseas Vietnamese was the first one after a two-year suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic and 2022 also marks the 10th year of the program.

At the meeting, Mr. Phung Khanh Tai highly appreciated efforts of the State Commission for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs and the Vietnam Peoples Navy High Command in organizing the annual program, which contributes to affirming Vietnams sovereignty over Truong Sa islands and southern continental shelf.

He emphasized that overseas Vietnamese are an inseparable part of the country and pledged that the VFF Central Committee will spare no efforts to consolidate the national solidarity, calling on the overseas Vietnamese to continue to support the country./.
By Trend

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will continue to support Uzbekistan on its way to a low-carbon economy, Director of Energy and Natural Resources for Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia at the EBRD Aida Sitdikova said at the Energy Forum in Uzbekistans Tashkent, Trend's journalist reported from the forum.

"We will continue to support Uzbekistan on the way to a low-carbon economy in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050," Sitdikova said.

This way sets the framework that the Uzbek government uses to decarbonize energy sector and development of renewable energy sources (RES).
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian people are an example for him.

"Our people. And there are a lot of them. These are our people. This is an ordinary Ukrainian farmer who could block the road to Russian tanks on a tractor at the time of the invasion. An ordinary woman in our village who stopped the APCs, IFVs with bare hands. Our beautiful ordinary children who were in the apartments when the enemy missile hit them. And they remained in our history and in our memory," Zelensky told, answering the question of a Canadian student: who is his idol and an example for him personally.

The Head of State called the people who "stayed in Ukraine and who did not give up their freedom" heroes.

"The main value is our people. This is our treasure. And this is my idol," the President stressed.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia's war against Ukraine should end with a fair tribunal.

"I am grateful to the United States for its assistance in investigating war crimes in Ukraine, " he said in his traditional video message on Wednesday night.

"I am grateful to Mr. Eli Rosenbaum for his willingness to join in the establishment of justice - he is one of those American investigators who managed to expose many Nazis. Our joint investigation team must be as strong as possible so that none of the Russian criminals avoid punishment, " Zelensky noted.

According to him, "this will be one of the largest contributions to the protection of international law and order of our time. Just as September 1, 1939 and June 22, 1941 ended in Nuremberg trials, February 24, 2022 must end in a fair tribunal. "

"Russia must be held accountable for all the evil it has brought to Ukraine, " the president stressed.
Ukrainian refugees will be able to get a job in Israel from July 1

About 13,000 Ukrainian citizens staying legally in Israel will be able to find employment from July 1. Haaretz reports about the relevant decision of the authorities.

Israel announced that beginning July 1, Ukrainians who arrived before the outbreak of the Russia war will be able to work in Israel. This decision is expected to affect some 13,000 Ukrainians currently in Israel whose tourist visas have expired. In addition, for Ukrainian citizens who arrived after the Russian invasion began, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked has extended resident permits until the end of July, - the statement reads.

The publication also notes that this decision follows several cases in which Tel Aviv District Court Judge Michal Agmon-Gonen ruled that the Population and Immigration Authority must grant Ukrainian citizens temporary work permits.

As reported, in April, as a result of a meeting between Ambassador Yevgeny Korniychuk and Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, the Israeli side agreed to provide a work permit for Ukrainians who arrived in Israel on the eve of a full-scale Russian invasion and were forced to stay, as well as those, who entered Israel after February 23. In addition, these categories of citizens will be able to receive basic social insurance.
Enemy trying to capture high ground near Berestove to take control over Bakhmut-Lysychansk highway  AFU General Staff

The Russian occupation forces are displacing their reserve forces in Bakhmut and Izium directions, trying to capture high ground in order to take control over the Bakhmut-Lysychansk highway and block the Ukrainian forces in the Lysychansk-Severodonetsk sector, and preparing for crossing the Siversky Donets River, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) has reported.

In Volyn and Polissia directions, near the state border of Ukraine, in Gomel region, the Armed Forces of Belarus will be conducting mobilization exercises from June 22 until July 1, 2022. During the exercises, it is planned to train reservists liable for military service, as well as the units of special operation forces with the participation of Russian military instructors.

In Siversky direction, the enemy forces continue to stay in the borderline districts in Bryansk and Kursk regions. The enemy maintains three enemy battalion tactical groups from the First Tank Army of the Western Military District and airborne units there. The defense positions of the enemy near Tiotkino, Kursk region, are being improved. The aggressor continues to mount attacks on the Ukrainian defense positions in the borderline districts in Sumy region.

In Kharkiv direction, the enemy focused its efforts on preventing the defense forces from entering the rear of the occupation forces group in Slovyansk direction. The enemy carried out aerial reconnaissance operations near Bairak and Rubizhne.

In Slovyansk direction, the aggressor's forces focused their efforts on the improvement of their tactical positions and detecting weaknesses in the defense. The enemy is trying to create conditions for resuming offensive attacks in Izium-Barvinkove and Izium-Slovyansk directions. The invader moved two tanks units in order to strengthen its grouping near Izium. The occupiers are planning to use heavy flamethrower systems in Slovyansk direction.

In Donetsk direction, the enemy focused its main efforts on taking full control over Severodonetsk, offensive operations aimed at surrounding the Ukrainian forces near Lysychansk, and blocking the main logistic routes.

In Severodonetsk direction, the enemy occupied Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka and mounts assault attacks in order to occupy Syrotyne. The Russian troops are also preparing to cross the Siversky Donets River.

In Bakhmut direction, the enemy carries out offensive operations towards Zolote and Vovchoyarivka, tries to capture high ground near Berestove in order to take control over the Bakhmut-Lysychansk highway. With the aim of strengthening its group in this direction, the enemy moved up to one battalion tactical group from the Central Military District to the area near Novotoshkivka.

In Kramatorsk, Avdiyivka, Kurakhove, Novopavlivka, and Zaporizhia directions, the enemy did not carry out active operations. However, it mounted shelling attacks in order to block activities of the defense forces and prevent them from moving to other directions.

In Pivdenny Buh direction, the enemy focused on preventing the Ukrainian army from counterattack in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, as well as equipping their positions.

In Mykolaiv direction, the enemy deployed artillery units in specific districts. In the future, the enemy might make attempts to conduct offensive operations towards Kyselivka  Posad-Pokrovske and Oleksandrivka  Lupareve with the aim of reaching the administrative borders of Kherson region.

In Kryvyi Rih direction, the aggressor is equipping its positions.

The Black Sea Navy ships in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov continue to isolate the military operations area and carry out reconnaissance tasks. The aggressor still blocks civilian maritime shipping in the North-Western part of the Black Sea.

Five launchers of Kalibr cruise missiles are prepared for attacks in the Black Sea.
The European Parliament has called on the leaders of the European Union, who will gather in Brussels on Thursday for a meeting of the European Council, to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate for membership of the European Union.

The relevant resolution was voted in Brussels on Thursday during the plenary session of the European Parliament. There were 529 affirmative votes, and 45 MEPs were against with 14 abstentions.
The five-star Hilton Kyiv hotel will reopen on July 1, 2022, the company's press service reported on Facebook on Thursday.

At the same time, the company said that the safety of guests and team members remains a key priority in difficult times. In particular, to ensure it in accordance with the recommendations of government agencies, the company added a number of security measures; an underground parking of the building is provided for a temporary shelter.

Hilton is one of the world's leading hotel companies with 18 brands and more than 1 million rooms in 122 countries. In Ukraine, the first hotel of the Hilton Hotels & Resorts chain opened on March 26, 2014 in Kyiv  the five-star Hilton Kyiv. At the end of 2021, it was reported that the Hilton hotel company entered into a franchise agreement with the developer Gefest Group (Odesa) to implement a hotel project in Odesa, which is scheduled to open in the spring of 2025.
By Trend

Tajikistan is planning to increase exports of green electricity to Central Asian region, Minister of Energy of Tajikistan Daler Juma said at the Energy Forum [held in Uzbekistan's Tashkent on June 23-24], Trend's journalist reported from the forum.

According to minister, several projects for the construction of new hydropower plants are being implemented.

Two hydroelectric power plants will be built on the river Zeravshan, together with Uzbekistan, he said.

"These projects will help increase the export of green electricity in the region. Currently, we're exporting electricity to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan," he said.

Usmonov further said that Tajikistan intends to expand and increase its 'green energy' exports.




The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine has recorded about 230 attacks by Russia on Chernihiv and Sumy regions since the beginning of June, said spokesperson of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Andriy Demchenko.

"The enemy opens fire daily with artillery, mortars, small arms, and the dropping of explosive objects from drones is also recorded. Since the beginning of the month, we have recorded about 230 attacks on these territories, almost 200 of them from artillery, the rest from aviation and small arms," Demchenko said at a briefing at the Ukraine Media Center in Kyiv on Thursday.

He noted that Russia continues to hold separate units of the armed forces in the border areas of Bryansk and Kursk regions to demonstrate the presence and constrain the actions of units of the Ukrainian defense forces.

"There is no formation of a strike grouping by the enemy to resume the offensive at the moment," the spokesperson informed.
There is no need to evacuate the population from Kharkiv today, Head of the Regional Military Administration Oleh Synehubov has said.

"As for the evacuation, we do not have such a need now and there are no prerequisites for this. The military situation is difficult, but absolutely controllable," Synehubov said on the air of the national telethon.

He assured that the Armed Forces of Ukraine hold positions in the north and northeast directions, as well as in the Izium direction.

At the same time, Synehubov noted that it was unsafe to be on the streets of the regional center  in recent days, the intensity of enemy shelling has increased. Therefore, the Head of the Regional Military Administration urged Kharkiv residents not to ignore air raid signals and, if possible, stay in shelters.
Zelensky would like to see support of not only Israeli people, but also of its authorities  speech to Israeli students

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said he would like to see support not only from the Israeli people, but also from the Israeli authorities.

"I am grateful to the people of Israel, I am grateful to you for the sincere, emotional support of the Ukrainians. For the Ukrainian flags that appeared on your streets. We all see and appreciate this," he said on Thursday, addressing Israeli students via video link.

"But we would like to see the support from your government. I rarely communicate with journalists from Israel. It's difficult for me. I don't know what to answer these respected people. I don't know how to answer the question, how did Israel help?" Zelensky said.

"We understand that it's not easy for you," he said. "But we would like to write something in the help table column." Zelensky cited the examples of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Denmark, Ireland and other countries that accepted Ukrainian refugees. "The Israeli authorities have suspended the visa-free regime. Right now. I do not want to assess this. I want you to think about it yourself," the president said.

"Sanctions. It's not about money, it's not about business, it's about values and general security. Japan supported them, so did Australia, the United States, and European countries. Unfortunately, we did not see Israel join the sanctions regime," Zelensky said.

"Why we have a misunderstanding with some representatives of the authorities  I don't know," he said.

Answering a question about the reaction to the shelling of Jewish shrines in Ukraine, Zelensky noted that "there are many Jewish communities and unions that dealt with this issue. We received support from the Jewish Congress, from the United States. I really wanted more support from the government of Israel."
The Russian Federation is deploying points for issuing Russian passports in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and putting pressure on Ukrainians to obtain them, Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Maliar has said.

"In an attempt to integrate the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine into the Russian space, Russia is deploying points for issuing Russian passports, because it plans to increase the number of Russian citizens, it puts pressure on people who were forced to find themselves in the temporarily occupied territories in order for them to start receiving these passports. The people who work at the seized enterprises are subjected to the greatest pressure," Maliar said at a briefing at the Ukraine Media Center in Kyiv on Thursday.

She added that Russia is forcing Ukrainians who were forced to stay in the temporarily occupied territories to cooperate with it, in particular, this applies to educational workers.

"As of today, most of our people are resisting, but Russia is suppressing the active protests of our people in the temporarily occupied territories. Russia is trying to organize passenger transportation to the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea from the occupied territories of Kherson region. Russia continues to illegally export Ukrainian cultural values, and the export of products from seized enterprises and grain also continues," Maliar informed.
Meeting of European Council starts in Brussels, at which Ukraine expected to receive EU candidate status

A meeting of the European Council has begun in Brussels, at which, as expected, Ukraine will be granted the status of a candidate member of the European Union.

The meeting is attended by the heads of state and government of the EU member states and the leadership of European institutions  presidents of the European Council Charles Michel and the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

The European Council began work with an hour delay due to the fact that the morning meeting with the leaders of the Western Balkans lasted two hours longer than planned.

The meeting began with an exchange of views with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. On the eve of this meeting, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in which it called on EU leaders to immediately grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova.

After that, EU leaders will begin considering applications from Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia for EU membership.
The State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine and the Polish Geological Institute - National Research Institute signed a memorandum of understanding in the sector of geology and mineral resources in Warsaw, Roman Opimakh, the head of the state geological service, said on Facebook.

"Priority in cooperation will be given to the digitalization of secondary geological information and the establishment of management of primary geoinformation according to EU standards, regulation of activities with geothermal energy sources," Opimakh said.

In turn, as the Embassy of Ukraine in Poland reported on Facebook, the signed memorandum will contribute to the development of cooperation in the exploration work of both countries and will accelerate the attraction of Polish investments in the field of mining on the territory of Ukraine, which will be important in the restoration of Ukraine as a whole.

Opimakh informed the format of cooperation between the parties provides for research and work on the geological study of the subsoil, the exchange of experience on the unification of legislation in the mining sector, as well as the study of the conditions for waste disposal and storage of useful substances in geological structures.

In addition, a joint analysis of the best practices for the collection, storage and open access to geological data and the involvement of experts to conduct a feasibility study regarding the prospects for the development of Ukrainian deposits of critical raw materials in preparation for the green transition are envisaged.

"The document was adopted for a period of five years. The signing took place in the presence of the Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Climate and Environment of the Republic of Poland, chief geologist of the country Piotr Dziadzio," Opimakh said.

As part of his working visit to Warsaw, the head of the Ukrainian agency also visited the Polish Geological Institute - National Research Institute, where he presented current investment proposals in the field of subsoil use in Ukraine (auction proposals).
The Ministry of Justice has filed a new lawsuit against Russia with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), in the lawsuit Ukraine accuses the Russian authorities of violating the European Convention on Human Rights in connection with the illegal intrusion into the sovereign territory of Ukraine, Minister of Justice of Ukraine Denys Maliuska has said.

"Continuing the aggression that began in 2014 in the south and east of Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation carried out a full-scale invasion of Ukraine with the sole purpose of overthrowing the democratically elected government of Ukraine and the subsequent destruction of Ukraine's sovereignty. Ukraine's statement is aimed at the speedy cessation of the horrendous and massive violations of human rights that Russia is committing, and is filed in the interests of both individuals and legal entities affected by the aggressive actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine," the press service of the Ministry of Justice quotes the words of Maliuska.

The minister stressed that every day throughout Ukraine, the aggressor country conducts indiscriminate and disproportionate use of military forces and means against the civilian population and property of citizens, violating all relevant norms of international law.

The document filed by Ukraine today deals with Russia's "flashy" violations of human rights at the initial stage of the war and describes the events from the beginning of the Russian invasion on the morning of February 24, 2022, to the actual withdrawal of its ground forces from the vicinity of Kyiv and other cities in the north on April 7, 2022.

"Complaints about violations by the Russian Federation during the next period will be sent to the ECHR in subsequent additions to the application," the Ministry of Justice added.

As part of this lawsuit, Ukraine demands, in addition to the complete withdrawal of Russian troops, monetary compensation to the injured parties. At the first stage of the Russian military invasion, the damage amounted to at least $80 billion.

The Russian Federation has committed many grave violations of the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular the violation of the right to life (Article 2), the prohibition of torture (Article 3), the right to liberty and security (Article 5), the rights to respect for private and family life (Article 8), the rights to freedom of opinion and expression (Articles 9 and 10), freedom of assembly and association (Article 11) and the right to the protection of property (Article 1 of Protocol 1).
On Monday, June 27, at 12.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a discussion entitled "Speculative political capital. Features of formation during the war." The destruction map is a digital tool that allows you to record the consequences of the Russian attack on Ukraine. Participants include Director of the Institute of Global Strategies Vadym Karasev; political expert Kostiantyn Matvienko; political expert Oleksandr Kochetkov (8/5a Reitarska Street). The broadcast of the press conference will be available on the Youtube channel of the Interfax-Ukraine agency. Admission of journalists requires registration on the spot.
On Wednesday, June 29, at 12.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled "Is there a job for refugees returning home?" Participants include Executive Director of the NGO Anti-Corruption Headquarters, head of the project Assistance to Ukrainian refugees with employment Yulia Hrechko; Chief Editor of Weekdays robota.ua Yulia Dalibuk; economist, financial analyst Oleksiy Kusch; Deputy Director of the Department of Employment Policy Implementation, Head of the Department of the State Employment Center Olena Melnyk; moderator Anastasia Korota. The press conference will be attended by a male migrant who left temporarily occupied Kherson, after which, thanks to the project and a team of volunteers, he was able to find a job (8/5a Reitarska Street). The broadcast of the press conference will be available on the Youtube channel of the Interfax-Ukraine agency. Admission of journalists requires registration on the spot. Details by phone: (068) 743 3092 (Anastasia, NGO Anti-Corruption Headquarters).
Directions and ways to optimize Ukrainian-Israeli cooperation in the context of responding to challenges and threats were the subject of a roundtable discussion held by the Israeli Institute of Regional Foreign Policy. The Embassy of Ukraine reported this at Facebook.

An online round table on political and security relations between Ukraine and Israel was held, which was attended by leading Ukrainian and Israeli experts, political scientists, diplomats, and public figures. The purpose of the event is to exchange views on the impact of the war in Ukraine on bilateral relations and the regional situation and to identify areas and ways to optimize Ukrainian-Israeli cooperation in the context of responding to today's challenges and threats, - the statement said.

The Embassy notes that during the event, Ambassador of Ukraine to Israel Yevhen Korniychuk spoke: He informed the participants about the state, prospects and issues of Israeli-Ukrainian cooperation.

Following the round table, it was agreed to continue the relevant expert discussions in various formats.

The event was co-organized by the non-governmental organization Israeli Friends of Ukraine (Israel), the Center for Middle East Studies, Ukrainian Prism (Ukraine) with the assistance of the Embassy of Ukraine to the State of Israel.
South Africa: Thank you for your cooperation during pandemic

Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, has thanked South Africans on behalf of government, for their support and cooperation over the last two years and three months of dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic.

Addressing a media briefing on Thursday, Phaahla said that while there was a lot of common ground and agreement even across political lives early in the pandemic, the longer it took, the more fatigue and disagreements on strategy started to surface.

Phaahla appreciated the fact that notwithstanding the disagreements even leading to threats or even actual court actions, the mainframe of the collective action remained until today.

We thank South Africans for resilience in internalizing various measures of prevention and mitigation against the virus; some of which will help us in dealing with some older respiratory diseases such as influenza and TB but also future respiratory epidemics, he said.

The Minister also thanked the collective leadership of the country across all sectors such as faith- based, civil society, traditional, business, academia, youth, women, among others, for rising to the occasion.

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President Cyril Ramaphosa constituted the National Coronvirus Command Council and following its meeting, he announced on 16 March 2020, that a Nationwide lockdown would start on midnight of 19 March 2020.

The lockdown came with a strict stay at home unless you had permission to undertake essential services.

Since then four full waves of the pandemic have ensued with the first three waves causing devastation with loss of lives across all sectors of society, including health workers.

Disruptions of social and economic life have been huge; most painful being families unable to visit loved ones who were seriously ill in hospital and for those who passed away, being buried under strict conditions.

On the economic side, major losses of jobs and closure of several businesses, especially SMMES but even big hotels, airlines etc, the Minister said.

Vaccination programme

In February 2021, government started vaccination under the Sisonke program, led by the MRC, starting with health workers and following with Education.

In May 2021, government started with the high risk age group of 60+ and progressively rolled out vaccination until it could open for 12-17 years old in November 2021.

Even though we did not realise our goal of vaccinating at least 70% of the adult population, we take solace in that as on 22 June, 36.700 million vaccine doses have been administered to 20.09 million adults and 1.9 children of 12-17-year-old, giving a total average of 50.48% with at least one dose, Phaahla said.

The Minister applauded the big turnout of the 60+ age group who are at risk with a 70.5% turnout and the next high risk of 50-59 years with a 66.17% turnout.

We believe that the big turnout of the 50+ age group contributed hugely to the reduced severity hospitalization and mortality witnessed in the fourth wave and persistent up to today, he said.

Minister Phaahla also recognized the best performing province in the vaccination program - the Free State - for being the only province which has reached 60% of coverage of their adult population at 60.15%.

He said that the province started slow but soon picked up pace towards the end of 2021 and never looked back.

Just behind them in the mid-band are Western Cape at 57.37%, Limpopo 57%, Eastern Cape 54.53% and Northern Cape at 51.45%. Gauteng has the highest in absolute numbers at 5.4 million individuals vaccinated but low in percentage at 47.8% due to a huge population size, together with KZN, North West and Mpumalanga have reached a coverage of below 50%, he said.

Journey throughout the waves

Dr Phaahla said that the Omicron variant driving the forth wave with its rapid spread affecting the highest number of people at a very short time led to increased natural immunity.

In March this year, when the impact of the fourth wave started waning, government took the decision to exit the Disaster Management Act as an instrument to limit the impact of COVID-19.

At the same time the Department of Health published Amendments to the 2017 Health Regulations on the Surveillance and Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions.

On the 5th of May, we published a limited set of Regulations to provide a framework for mitigating against a spike in COVID-19 infections driven by subvariant B.4 and B.5 of the Omicron variant, he said.

During late April and most of May, the Minister said that there was a significant peak in daily infections across the country starting to drive increased admissions to hospitals and daily deaths reported.

Daily infections rose from as low as 250 cases per day in early April to just under 8000 on 15 May 2022 with positivity rate reaching 22% on 1st May and 20% on 15 May.

By mid-June the situation had taken to a very positive direction with decline in daily cases, decline in hospitalization, decline in positivity rate and decline in reproductive number and decline in reported deaths, the Minister said.

Phaahla said that having monitored the positive direction for more than three weeks, government came to the conclusion that the peak infection which they concluded was a limited 5th wave driven by subvariants and not a new variant of concern was dissipating and that there was no more any eminent risk.

It is on this basis that we approached the NCCC and the National Health Council which is made up of all Health MECs with a proposal that the limited regulations which dealt with wearing of masks indoors, limitations of gatherings, vaccination proof or PCR negative tests at Ports of Entry, should all be lifted.

We are pleased that our proposal received full support, including by the Presidential Coordinating Council and Cabinet yesterday, the Minister said.

Minister Phaahla thanked the leadership and guidance of President Ramaphosa, the National Cabinet, Premiers, and MECs, Mayors and Councillors and the officials across all of government.

He also thanked all Ministerial Advisory Committees for their selfless guidance without any claim of reward.

We just need to end with caution that the COVID-19 virus is not yet gone; it is still in our midst; we are just stronger than before, especially with vaccination, and we urge those not yet vaccinated to come forward and those due for boosters to also come forward, he said.

The Minister added that the vaccination program will remain and is now being integrated into normal health services.

We urge all leaders of society and organizers of events to work with our health workers to promote healthy lifestyle and know your status, which is - Blood Pressure, Blood sugar, Cancer, HIV, COVID, etc.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-06-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By Trend

A friendly meeting between the press secretary of the President of Azerbaijan Azer Gasimov and his former army colleague Ulugbek Matniyazov took place in the Uzbek city of Khorezm, Trend reports.

The meeting took place 38 years later, during a recent visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Uzbekistan.

Azer Gasimov and Ulugbek Matniyazov served together in the Kalinin region of the RSFSR (now the Tver region of the Russian Federation) from 1985 to 1987.




Donate for 500 tourniquets addressed to Armed Forces of Ukraine: Canada's volunteer initiatives continue to grow

Activists from Edmonton, Canada, where one in ten residents have DNA ink to Ukraine, send aid weekly, working directly with Ukrainian Armed Forces on procurement.

The amount of private initiative for medical assistance is not comparable to lend-lease, but such a critical thing as Combat Application Tourniquet C-A-T Generation 7 black is urgently needed and it comes regularly.

In August, 500 turnstiles will be delivered to the defenders of 5 different units, now volunteers need help in collecting 16,000 cad, which is carried out by Svetlana Koshkareva, she has been living in Canada since 2013.

Her grandmother Nadiia Mikolovna Semenyuk was born in Ukraine (Smila) and was exiled with her family to Siberia (Tobolsk) in the 1930s, her relatives were shot.

Svetlana was born in Omsk, worked as a news host until 2001, and is now an employee of Statistics Canada. Fluent in French, English, Ukrainian.

How to help:

Mastercad 5191230214232788

E-transfer koshkareva73@gmail.com

PayPal Alexander.koshkarev@gmail.com

Contact:

@LanaCanada Telegram

+15879216650 WhatsApp

A cost and delivery report will be provided to each donor upon request. Donor names are not published without their consent.
Senior officials from Egypt, Israel, Bahrain, the UAE, Morocco, and the US held the inaugural meeting of the Negev Forums Steering Committee on Monday in Bahrain to outline a framework document for the forum, setting out its objectives and structure  a joint statement of the forums six countries said.
Sudan has accused the Ethiopian army of executing seven soldiers and a civilians who it says were captive and vowed to take action.
Egypt issued the State Ownership Policy Document earlier this month to chart the map of future partnership between the public and private sectors, laying the groundwork for the latters greater participation in Egypts economic activities.
``The effort must be immediate, collective and massive,'' the leaders of the three companies, TotalEnergies, ...
The European Union on Tuesday pledged an additional 600 million euros to help vulnerable nations weather a food security crisis worsened by Russia's war on Ukraine.

The funds include 150 million euros ($158 million) in humanitarian assistance for African, Caribbean and Pacific nations and 350 million euros to boost sustainable food production in the longer term.

"Russia's war of aggression is taking a heavy and senseless toll, not only on the Ukrainian population but also those most vulnerable around the world," European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said.

"Russia is still blocking millions of tonnes of desperately needed grain. To help our partners we will mobilise an additional 600 million euros to avoid a food crisis and an economic shock."

The West and Ukraine accuse Moscow of trying to pressure them into concessions by blockading vital grain exports via the Black Sea to ratchet up fears of global famine.

But the EU has struggled to counter the Kremlin's claims, which attribute rising prices and shortfalls in the Middle East and Africa to the bloc's sanctions imposed on Russia.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday called Russia's blockade "a real war crime" and warned that Moscow would be held responsible if it keeps on stopping exports.

The EU backs United Nations efforts to mediate a deal between Ukraine, Russia and Turkey to get the grain out, but this has failed to make headway so far.

Brussels is trying to increase exports from Ukraine using railway routes, but there is not enough capacity to take out more than a fraction of the stranded stocks.

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Egypt has expressed its keenness on sharing its development experience with Cote dIvoire as part of the Egyptian commitment to African progress, especially given Egypt's achievements in the last eight years in construction and infrastructure.

Based on the principle that Egypt will continue to endeavour side by side with African countries to achieve sustainable development, as President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi affirmed in May, and that it is ready to offer its expertise to any African state, as recently stated by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Cote d'Ivoire is the new landing place to implement such Egyptian pledge.

Three Egyptian delegations that aim to explore investment opportunities in construction, infrastructure and food security are working in Cote D'Ivoire, according to Toure Gaoussou, the Cote dIvoires Minister Governor of Denguele District, and Hassan Abdel-Aziz, and the Chairman of the African Federation for Construction Contractors Association (AFCCA).

A delegation includes representatives from Egypts most renowned construction companies is scheduled to head to the Ivoirian capital of Abidjan this week to discuss plans of building 20,000 middle and low-income housing units to tackle deficit problem in the capital, Abdel-Aziz told Ahram Online on Monday on the sidelines of 7th edition of Builders of Egypt Forum in Cairo.

Abdel-Aziz said the delegation, whose visit is in coordination between the Egyptian embassy in Cote d'Ivoire and the AFCCA, will also discuss a plan to construct 15 towers.

For his part, Gaoussou expressed to Ahram Online his admiration of the mega housing projects in Egypt, adding that his country is in desperate need of building 500,000 housing units annually to absorb population growth.

Abdel-Aziz noted that Hassan Allam Holding and Al-Ahly Sabour for Real Estate Development are the most nominated companies to take over the housing project.

Another AFCCA delegation will head next week to Cote dIvoire to discuss building an 86-kilometer road in the northwestern district of Denguele, according to Gaousou, who attended the forum.

According to the World Bank Economic Outlook in 2019, the northern and northwestern regions of Cote dIvoire have higher poverty rates (over 60 percent) than coastal areas and the southwestern region (under 40 percent).

Gaoussou said that next weeks delegation would be the third Egyptian delegation, as an Egyptian agriculture-focused delegation has already been to Cote dIvoire to transfer Egypts experience in modern agriculture and the implantation of rice.

Such cooperation will save a fortune for the country, which imports rice for 800 million CFA franc ($1.2 million) annually, the minister noted.

During the opening of the Builders of Egypt Forum on Monday, Madbouly said that all Egyptian construction companies and engineering consultancy offices are ready to carry out any project in Arab and African countries with high international standards and within scheduled times.

The annual Builders of Egypt Forum is the countrys largest of its kind in the construction sector, bringing together Egyptian, Arab, and African ministers in the sectors of housing, investment, and services. A number of foreign ambassadors and heads of relevant federations and business organisations were also among the attendees.

The 2022 edition of the forum was organised by the Egyptian Excellent Communications company, a subsidiary of United Media Services, and the Egyptian African Arab Co. for Development (EGAAD) in cooperation with the AFCCA.

Elsewhere in Africa

Egypt has been expanding its presence in Africa by carrying out mega projects that meet African peoples needs.

In January, President El-Sisi said that Egypt is ready to transfer its expertise to African countries to help them and encourage others to support them. It is our duty towards them, and this is considered a human right, the president said.

In late-May, speaking on the occasion of Africa Day 2022, El-Sisi described the occasion as a great historical moment that established a new era in strengthening unity and cooperation between the countries of our continent.

Among the African countries where Egypt has been working to implement industrial and development projects goals is Tanzania.

The Egyptian Elsewedy Electric has been building the Egyptian Industrial City (EIC) in Tanzania at a cost of nearly $400 million, a complex that was awarded the best project in Africa, according to the head of research at the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Frederick Seidu on Monday.

The EIC is the first fully integrated industrial city in Tanzania intended to become a centre for economic growth in Africa, according to Elsewedy, who inaugurated the first phase of the industrial complex in December in the presence of Tanzanian President Samia Hassan.

Built on 2.2 million square meters, the industrial park will accommodate labour-intensive industries from pharmaceuticals, automotives, to textiles and agro-industries with the aim of attracting over $400 million worth of investments from 4,100 investors across the region, which would create more than 25,000 jobs, according to Elsewedys website.

The industrial city is strategically located with access and proximity to the commercial capital Dar Es Salam, Julius Nyerere International Airport, Kamata Train Station, and Tanzania International Container Terminal as well as Elsewedy manufacturing plants.

The complex will also produce the solutions and equipment necessary for the 2025 Industrialisation Strategy of Tanzania and will create more than 500 jobs for talented youths and technical engineers in the first phase alone.

Elsewhere in Tanzania, Elsewedy Electric and the Arab Contractors Company has been constructing the countrys Julius Nyerere Hydroelectric Power Project (JNHPP) since 2019.

Last week, Egypts Minister of Housing Assem El-Gazzar had an inspection tour of the 2,115 MW hydropower project constructed on the Rufiji River, where she said the project has reached advanced levels.

Work on the $2.9 billion JNHPP has been ongoing since 2019 and is expected to be completed by the end of this year, when it will provide clean power for more than 60 million Tanzanians as well as control water flow during flooding.

The JNHPP is 1,025 metres long at the summit and 131 metres high with a storage capacity of about 34 billion cubic metres of water.

The JNHPP is expected to produce 5,920 GWh of power annually.

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In its final day, experts and officials of the two-day Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development asserted the importance of international financial institutions (IFI) multilateral finances and the private sector in mobilising finances for climate action across Africa.

They also urged the international community to fulfil its commitment to provide developing countries with $100 billion in finances per year to adapt and deal with the climate crisis.

The third edition of the forum was held under the theme Africa in an Era of Cascading Risks and Climate Vulnerability: Pathways for a Peaceful, Resilient, and Sustainable Continent and organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cairo International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding in partnership with the Swedish government and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

In a recorded message, Mahmoud Mohi El-Din  Egypts climate champion, special envoy on financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)  said that there is no room to talk about global political cooperation while there are regions suffering from food crises, climate change vulnerability, and conflicts like the ones in Africa.

He also noted that the war in Ukraine, along with the COVID-19 pandemic, have deepened the troubles the continent is beset by, especially that its countries need to spend around 35 percent of their GDP to invest in water, food, and infrastructure amid the ongoing challenges.

Africas financing needs in this regard edged up from $2.2 trillion to $2.4 trillion amid the ongoing challenging time, he said.

The COP27 is a platform through which Egypt will adopt a local and regional approach for the development of the continent, he said, calling for availing the room for the private sector and multilateral finances provided by IFIs to mobilise finances in this respect.

Mohi El-Din also touched upon the sustainable debt issue in the continent, which is aggregated by the impacts of both the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.

If creditors cannot introduce a solution to deal with this issue, all efforts of investing in the continents water, energy, and food security will be at risk. We have to work on channelling the required finances for the continents development from the private sector as well as IFIs to achieve Africas SDG Agenda and the 2063 Africa We Want Agenda, Mohi El-Din explained.

Kevin Urama, acting chief economist and vice president for economic governance and knowledge management at the AfDB, noted that financial commitments for climate action need to transform from pledges and promises to implementation on the ground to avoid the severe impacts of climate change on Africa, which is responsible for only 3% of global carbon emissions.

He stressed that the global climate action inflow structure shows that the most vulnerable countries to climate change in Africa do not receive any of these inflows, while inflows to other countries on the continent leave much to be desired.

In this respect, Urama pointed out the role the African Development Fund plays in mobilising concessional finances for Africa to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis.

He also asserted the need to scale up the funds finances, adding that it managed to allocate 45 billion in finances to support the continent just in time for its 50th anniversary.

For her part, Elizabeth Spehar, assistant secretary-general for peace building support at the UN, said that $50-70 billion are allocated annually in peace building finances.

She affirmed that innovative solutions are crucial to address the peace and security challenges on the continent by working under public-private-partnerships (PPPs) and with the private sector to avail extra finances to address such an issue.

She added that there is also a need to resort to non-traditional donors in this regard as well as mobilising local finances.

Over the past two days, the Aswan Forum discussed the avenues the continent can approach to achieve its sustainable development and have access to the required finances amid the ongoing multifaceted crisis that also affects its peace and security.

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The general committee of the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD) elected on Wednesday Egyptian Minister of Agriculture El-Sayed El-Quseir to be the head of the committee in its 36th session for a two-year term.

In a statement to ACSADs ministers of agriculture, who were attending the session that was hosted by Egypt via video conference call, El-Quseir stressed that the coronavirus pandemic has made integration and cooperation between nations the only way to face hard challenges.

He said that our fast paced changing world has made it imperative that the whole world  and Arab countries in particular  deal with developmental, technological and environmental challenges, especially water and food security.

El-Quseir also stressed that these challenges are directly connected to Arab national security, cautioning of the increased danger of desertification and its negative effect on food security that have been compounded by the effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

He urged the committee to continue their efforts to enhance Arab cooperation in facing these challenges by using natural, economic and other resources in order to integrate Arab economies to deal with the new global situation.

El-Quseir emphasised that Egypt is looking forward to build up on what has been agreed upon in COP26 in Glasgow last year when it hosts the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) this year under the auspices of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, in order to turn pledges into tangible acts.

He said that "we are keen to activate the Middle East Green initiative," which was launched by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to enhance green spaces that reduce carbon emissions, temperature and climate change impacts.

At the end, El-Quseir asserted the necessity of integration and cooperation to overcome challenges for a better future for Arab nations and their people.

ACSAD was established in 1968 under the Framework of the Arab League in order to unify national efforts for developing scientific research in agriculture in dry lands and semi dry lands, exchange information and expertise that could benefit increasing agricultural production in these locations.

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Natural gas has emerged as a weapon of war between Russia and Europe since Moscow's February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Here is how the standoff developed:

Nord Stream 2 halted

On February 22, 2022, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he is suspending the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project with Russia in response to Moscow's recognition of two breakaway regions in Ukraine.

The project has long been a source of tension with Berlin's allies in the United States and Europe, who worry it would increase Germany's energy dependence on Russia.

Ukraine also fears it will lose revenues from gas transit if Nord Stream 2, which would deliver Russian gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, goes ahead.

Gas prices soar

On February 24, Russia invades Ukraine. Gas and oil prices soar on fears of possible cuts in supplies.

On March 2, the European Union cuts seven Russian banks off from the SWIFT banking transfer system.

But it spares two major lenders with strong ties to the energy sector, reflecting the dependence of several EU states on Russian gas, notably Germany, Italy, Austria and Hungary.

In 2021, Moscow provided nearly 40 percent of the EU's gas needs.

US embargo

On March 8, President Joe Biden bans US imports of Russian gas and oil. The EU says it will cut its imports of Russian gas by two-thirds this year and Britain says it will phase out its Russian energy imports by the end of 2022.

Russia's riposte

On March 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin bans European gas customers from paying their bills in dollars and euros, in response to the freezing of some $300 billion in currency reserves held by Russia overseas.

He announces that Moscow will now only accept payment in rubles from "unfriendly" countries, including EU nations.

The European Commission warns EU members that by paying in rubles they would be violating international sanctions against Moscow.

The United States and the EU discuss alternative sources. Washington agrees to provide Europe with an extra 15 billion cubic metres of liquified natural gas this year.

Taps turned off

On April 27, Russian giant Gazprom cuts off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland, in a move European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen describes as "blackmail".

She says the two EU and NATO members are now receiving gas from their EU neighbours.

On May 21, Russia cuts gas to neighbouring Finland, which has refused to pay in rubles and angered Moscow by asking to join NATO.

The Netherlands and Denmark are also cut off after refusing to pay in rubles.

No embargo

On May 30, EU leaders agree to stop most Russian oil imports by the end of the year, but put off a ban on Russian gas.

Pressure on Europe

In mid-June, Gazprom drastically cuts daily gas supplies to Germany via the Nord Stream pipeline, causing prices to soar.

Citing a technical problem, Gazprom reduces deliveries by 40 percent, then another 33 percent, in the run-up to a June 23-24 EU summit which is expected to grant Ukraine membership candidate status.

On June 23, Germany moves closer to rationing gas, raising its supplies alert level to the second of three stages.

Other EU members also look for ways to offset their dwindling gas supplies, either by finding new suppliers or switching to alternative energy sources.

Austria announces plans to reopen a coal-fired power station while France and Italy take stakes in a giant Qatari gas field.

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The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) has been honoured with the Best Retail Bank Award at the Mena Banking Excellence Awards 2022 instituted by MEED (Middle East Economic Digest). The accolade recognises NBBs commitment to providing best-in-class products and services to its customers in line with its brand promise of being Closer to You.

With its history and leading position in the banking sector, NBB received this prestigious award in recognition of its achievements in the Retail Banking sector. The bank was acknowledged for its continuous efforts in providing tailored products and services to meet the needs of its customers as part of a diverse line-up of digital banking services.

NBB honours its commitment toward integrating ESG initiatives through its offerings. The bank continues to offer eco-friendly and sustainable financing plans by partnering with a range of organisations in the kingdom. Over the course of the year, the bank has provided its customers with special rates when purchasing hybrid/electric cars as well as the installation of solar energy panels.

Retail banking NBBs pillar

Commenting on the award, Jean-Christophe Durand, CEO of NBB, said: Retail Banking is a pillar of NBBs activities and this award underscores our efforts and dedication towards our customers and community as we continue to offer products and services that aim to enrich our customers lives and facilitate their banking transactions.

NBB strives to work towards positioning itself as the Bank of Choice in this rapidly changing industry. We look forward to embedding a culture of social responsibility and strong governance both within and outside of the organisation.

Subah Abdullatif Al Zayani, Chief Executive  Retail Banking at NBB, stated: Winning the Mena Banking Excellence Awards 2022 fortifies our leading position in the retail banking segment. We have taken great strides over the past few years and significantly improved our products and services by listening to our customers needs and prioritising their requirements, placing them at the centre of our operations. We endeavour to position the bank as a market leader through its various initiatives and digital innovations.

Standard for digital transformation

Commenting on NBBs achievements, MEED Mena Banking Excellence Awards Judging Panel said: The National Bank of Bahrain has set the standard for digital transformation and led the kingdoms digital revolution achieving stellar year-on-year results across key business metrics. Clear leadership complements sound strategy which is fully responsive to changing customer demands. Leveraging technology expertly, the bank looks set for ongoing success."

NBB has been resilient in its growth journey, taking the lead as the preferred bank of choice, both locally and regionally. NBB aims to further develop its business practices and continues to honour its promise of being Closer to You'.-- TradeArabia News Service
'Despite the continents enormous renewable energy potential, just two percent of renewable energy investments have gone to Africa over the last decade," UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres underlined in his speech at the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development, adding that Countries must arrive in Egypt for COP27 determined with clear plans to close this financing gap.

Despite the continents enormous renewable energy potential, just two percent of renewable energy investments have gone to Africa over the last decade, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres stated on Tuesday.

The Secretary Generals remarks came in his speech at the forum's opening session the two-day Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development that kicked off in Cairo on Tuesday, adding that Countries must arrive in Egypt for COP27 determined with clear plans to close this financing gap.

"We need to end the COVID-19 pandemic, with governments, global and regional organizations, and pharmaceutical companies working better together to deliver and locally produce tests, vaccines, and treatments," Guterres said.



We must expand African countries access to financing and debt relief, so they can invest in job creation, poverty reduction, expanded social protection, food security and green growth, he said.



"We need to silence the guns across Africa, and address conflicts many roots  by tackling inequalities and discrimination, and strengthening governance, institutions, public services and justice systems," he added.



And we need bold climate action, Guterres said. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has identified Africa as a global hotspot for the climate crisis. Breaching the Paris Agreements 1.5 degree goal would be disastrous.



He went on to say "Many AU member states have come forward with ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions, clearly identified adaptation needs and adopted the African Union Green Stimulus Program."



The world must match Africas ambitions with resources, financing and technologies to accelerate the transition from coal and other fossil fuels to renewables," he said. I am calling for a five-point proposal to achieve a renewable energy revolution, making renewable technology freely available as a global public good, he noted.



Countries should support the work of the World Meteorological Organization to ensure that every person in the world has access to early warning systems for disasters over the next five years, he added.



He concluded by saying "Across all these areas, the United Nations stands with Africa as we shape a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable future for all Africans."

Mobilizing efforts to confront climate change



Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat thanked Egypt for organizing the Aswan Peace Forum, hoping that the forum's results will contribute to efforts to shore up stability and peace in the African continent.



He also stressed the importance of mobilizing efforts to confront climate change and provide comprehensive solutions to the enormous challenges facing Africa.



In this regard, he underlined the importance of investing in the climate field, saying there should be new energy applications to back efforts exerted by developing countries on this score.



He also hoped that the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 27) to the UNFCCC, set for Sharm El Sheikh in November will end in success.

The third edition of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development was held in 21-22 June in a hybrid format with a focus on climate and security issues in Africa.

The event, held under the auspices of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to host 900 representatives from 50 countries, including foreign ministers of the continent, senior officials, think tanks, the private sector, and NGOs.

In a recorded video message aired during the opening session, Sisi stated that Egypt seeks to crystallise a joint African vision that accelerates the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda and climate action, as well as boosting the African intra-cooperation in partnership with the global and regional partners.

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Egypts Administrative Control Authority (ACA) has been elected to preside over the Africa Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (AAACA) from 2022-2025, the ACA said in a statement on Wednesday.

The ACA, Egypts highest anti-graft authority, has attended the fifth annual general meeting of the Africa Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (AAACA) taking place from 20-23 June in Burundi.

The meetings theme is centred around Protecting African heritage: Fighting corruption and illicit financial flows.

The meeting reviewed the strategic plan of the AAACA until 2026 and the role of African anti-corruption agencies in combating illicit financial flows, the statement said.

Mali and Cameroon won the first and second deputy head of the association seats respectively, the statement said.

The fifth general meeting of the AAACA agreed to hold the coming meeting next year in South Africa as per the countrys request.

The AAACA is an independent international organisation bringing together anti-corruption authorities from around 40 member states to enhance cooperation on fighting corruption within the framework of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption.

During the meeting, the ACA representative highlighted Egypts most successful practices in the anti-corruption field as well as the challenges facing the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy in Egypt 2019-2022.

The ACA is responsible for enforcing laws and regulations within state bodies and has been waging a national campaign on corruption in recent years.

Egypt has reiterated the need for African countries to intensify efforts to fight corruption and hosted African Anti-Corruption Forum (AACF) in 2019 as the continents first anti-corruption forum with the participation of 51 African countries.

Egypt also hosted the ninth session of the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP) to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in December under the presidency of the the ACA chairman Hassan Abdel-Shafi.

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Qatars Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is set to visit Cairo on Friday, his first visit to the country in years, where he will meet with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

The emirs visit to Egypt is the first since Cairo and Doha agreed in January 2021 to resume diplomatic relations as part of the Al-Ula Declaration, which was made after an over three-year-long diplomatic rift.

The Qatari emirs visit to Cairo aims to ensure full normalisation of relations between the two countries and will see the signing of a number of economic agreements, a diplomatic source revealed.

Bin Hamads visit will also seek to ensure pumping Qatari investments in Egypt, especially in the energy field, the source said.

An Egyptian-Qatari business council will be launched in light of the emirs visit, the source said, noting that businessmen at the council will work to enhance trade, investment, and economic relations between the two countries.

Bin Hamad will arrive in Egypt on Friday from Rwanda and will hold a summit with El-Sisi on the following day, according to the source.

Cementing Egyptian-Qatari relations

Earlier this week, Egypt and Qatar signed an MoU on financial policy coordination in Doha between their finance ministries on the sidelines of the Qatar Economic Forum.

The MoU is the latest episode of cooperation between Egypt and Qatar following the restoration of diplomatic, economic, and travel ties.

Egypt and Qatar have worked on strengthening their newly-restored relations and reaching common ground on regional issues since Egypt and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) signed the Al-Ula Declaration with Qatar.

In the wake of the agreement, Egypt and Qatar held rounds of talks to develop relations, eventually forming the Egyptian-Qatari Joint Committee in March to foster and strengthen these ties.

The Qatari emirs visit comes a few months after Qatar's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani made a brief visit to Cairo in March, during which he met with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

During their meeting, El-Sisi said the tangible progress in Egyptian-Qatari relations should serve the interests of the two countries and enhance the efforts to bolster the security and stability of the Arab region.

In the meeting, the Qatari FM affirmed to El-Sisi Doha's keenness to cement ties with Cairo.

Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Bin Abdulrahman held an extended meeting on a Qatari package of $5 billion in investments and partnerships in Egypt within "the framework of boosting economic cooperation."

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Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine El-Qabbaj convened on Thursday with 22 nominated civil society organisations to discuss partnership on the implementation of the national program to protect homeless children and the elderly.





The meeting discussed having these organisations manage mobile units allocated for the Children and Elderly Without Shelter program, the ministry said in a statement.

The mobile units provide street children with places to rest, food and games as well as medical, social and psychological support.

In recent years, the ministry has deployed a number of mobile units throughout the country under the national program to protect homeless children, which was launched in 2016.

During the meeting, El-Qabbaj denied recent rumours that the program would be shut down, saying that it is an integral part of the ministrys social support program.

Instead, the program's experimental period, which was set to last for three to four years, will end. The program will then be transferred to the ministrys social defence administration, El-Qabbaj said, noting that ministry staff will still be responsible for implementing the programs activities.

El-Qabbaj launched a campaign to support homeless people nationwide in 2020. At the time, the ministry said in a statement that it is seeking to rescue the largest number of homeless children and adults and convince them to move to care homes.

The ministry announced in 2019 that there are 12 million homeless people in Egypt, including 3 million children.

The ministry has allocated the hotline 16439 to help homeless people nationwide, as well as the government complaints hotline 16528 and the ministry's official pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

In 2016, Egypt launched the national Children Without a Shelter program with the aim of helping street children.

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The UN rights chief said Thursday she was "horrified" at accounts of attacks in western Ethiopia that left hundreds dead at the weekend, urging authorities to hold "prompt, impartial and thorough investigations".

"I am horrified by the senseless killing as well as the forced displacement of the local population in the attack on Tole village," Michelle Bachelet said in a statement.

She said her staff had spoken with witnesses to the June 18 attack in the western Oromia region of Ethiopia, who said armed individuals descended on Tole and began shooting randomly, leaving hundreds dead.

Most of the dead were women and children, the statement said, adding that at least 2,000 other people had been forced to flee their homes.

"The armed individuals also reportedly burned down several houses during the four-hour assault," said the statement.

Survivors of the attack told AFP that hundreds of people belonging to the Amhara ethnic group were killed by rebels, with bodies still lying on the streets after hours of violence.

The Oromia regional authorities said the attack was carried out by the Oromo Liberation Army, which is branded as a terrorist organisation by the Ethiopian government.

But a spokesman for the rebel group blamed the region's own pro-government militia for the killings and called for an independent investigation.

"I call on the Ethiopian authorities to ensure that investigations are promptly launched into the attack and to ensure that victims and their families have a right to truth, justice and reparations, including by holding those responsible to account," Bachelet said.

She also highlighted that an unspecified number of people were reported to have been abducted during the attack and their whereabouts remained unknown.

"I call on the authorities to take all necessary and lawful measures to ensure those abducted regain their freedom," Bachelet said.

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With a high rate of failure across subjects the Ministry of Education has decided to remark grade 10 and 11 exams.

With the end of June in sight many schools have yet to release final exam results for grade 10 and 11 pupils which were due at the beginning of the month. And the results that have been released till now show students scoring unprecedented low marks or failing, leading to the Ministry of Education announcing on Monday that it is considering partially re-marking some exams.

The reasons behind the low scores are multiple, say ministry officials, parents and teachers, and run the gamut from students being ill-prepared for the new exams to technical problems in the electronic exam system that resulted in some students who sat the exams being registered as absent.

The decision to re-mark, says deputy to the minister of education Reda Hegazi, will apply solely to paper-based exams which make up 30 per cent of the final results, and not to the tablet-based section of the examinations which accounts for 70 per cent of the final mark. The latter, he said, are electronically graded and there is no chance for mistakes.

Hegazi said students who faced technical problems while sitting their e-exams but could not report the problem via the e-application and accordingly failed will now pass. Students who did not attend the exams and whose schools confirmed their absence for one or more subjects though the absence was not recorded on the e-application will be considered absent and can re-sit exams in August. Students mistakenly reported absent in one or more subjects through the e-application should officially report the incident to the ministrys General Department of Information Systems so their grades can be amended.

The number of students affected is around 20 per cent of the 1.4 million sitting their finals in grades 10 and 11, said Hegazi.

Mostly it is the students fault they did not pass the exams. They did not study properly. Students have spent almost three years at home due to Covid-19. They have become lazy and unused to studying, says Ibrahim Al-Zaim, a teacher who works at a private school and at the Madrasetna educational satellite channel affiliated to the Ministry of Education.

This years questions for both grades were tailored to the average student, were direct and did not depart from the curriculum.

Al-Zaim said he was having a hard time convincing his own son, a grade 11 student, to regularly attend school.

Heidi Mustafa, a grade 11 student, told Al-Ahram Weekly that her parents had refused to send her to school for fear she might contract Covid-19 and as a consequence she was dependent on private lessons, while grade 10 student Ahmed Moharram said that on many school days, especially during the first term when the coronavirus infections were at a peak, most classrooms were empty of students.

Many tutors who teach students privately, either at home or in centres, lack the necessary , according to Al-Zaim, while teachers in schools often lack training in the techniques being used in the new education system which depends on comprehension rather than rote memory. It is a verdict with which Ibrahim Ahmed, headmaster of Al-Haram Secondary School for Boys, concurs.

Secondary school teacher Mohamed Ibrahim complains that while the Ministry of Educations guidance booklet for teachers in the old system is no longer valid, it has not been replaced by a new guide that applies to the new system. The ministry must provide us with an outline of the method and form of exams with examples, he said.

Students who failed in one or more subjects will be allowed to re-sit exams in August, says Hegazi. While in the past only students who failed a maximum of two subjects were allowed to re-sit exams in summer this year students who failed any number of subjects will be allowed to retake them. There is no need for parents or students to worry since they will have a second chance to pass.

Students require a minimum of 50 per cent to move up a year.

We never heard of problems facing students of grade 10 or 11 before. All the fuss used to centre on grade 12  Thanawiya Amma. Is this the result of the education reform they are always talking about, asks Hend Mokhtar, mother of a grade 11 student.

Every year the ministry vows to revamp the educational system and what happens is that we move from bad to worse.

A version of this article appears in print in the 23 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Will the latest reconciliation agreement in Darfur put an end to bloodshed or is it just another photo-op?

The Rezeigat and Misseriya tribes signed a reconciliation agreement on Saturday following clashes that led to the death of hundreds, injury of thousands, and displacement of tens of thousands of Sudanese.

Present at the signing, which took place in a festive atmosphere in Al-Geneina, west Darfur, were  among other, high-level Sudanese officials  Vice President of the Sovereignty Council and Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, aka Hemeti.

The signatories and attendees expressed their hope that the agreement would end war and destruction in Darfur, which has endured heavy fighting since 2003. According to UN estimates, some 300,000 Sudanese died and three million people were displaced in clashes during the reign of toppled president Omar Al-Bashir. However, the Sudanese government put the death toll at 10,000.

The war in Darfur led the UN Security Council to charge Al-Bashir and a number of his aides at the International Criminal Court with genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

During his speech at the signing ceremony, Hemeti said the Sudanese government will not allow chaos, the lack of security, and crimes to persist. He added that the regular forces will stop attempts to sabotage the state, pledging to put in place tight security plans. Peace should be ensured through deterrence and the extension of respect for the state and rule of law, Hemeti stated.

He also expressed the hope that the reconciliation agreement will end clashes between the Rezeigat and Misseriya tribes once and for all.

Masar Abdelrahman Aseel, one of Rezeigats tribal leaders, said the clan will work on closing all the loopholes in the reconciliation, making it a model to emulate, and calling for a permanent, comprehensive solution.

Despite the ray of hope the agreement gave to stop bloodshed and find Darfurs lost peace, many observers from Darfur and other parts of Sudan opined that bloodshed and destruction in the region will only stop through real, tangible measures on the ground.

Amir Hafez Al-Sheikh, one of the leaders of the Misseriya tribe, said the war that erupted between the two tribes led to killing, displacement and burning of villages, stressing the need to impose the respect for the state by increasing security vehicles to deter outlaws. He noted that there are reasons that fuel conflicts between tribes, such as the emergence of tribal fanaticism, partisan and regional polarisation on social media, as well as extremist ideologies.

Sudanese author and political analyst Fayez Al-Salik told Al-Ahram Weekly controlling the situation in Darfur is extremely complicated amid the lack of security. Stability in Darfur is not granted, even after the reconciliation agreement, due to the spread of weapons among Arab and non-Arab tribes, and the common notion that every group has to protect itself and earn its rights by the power of arms, he added. Al-Salik pointed out that all the parties want to control Darfurs resources, especially gold.

Failure to address the roots of the problem indicates that conflicts may erupt at any time, and without seizing weapons, achieving development, enforcing stability and the presence of forces that can impose respect for the state, conflicts will not stop nor will peace prevail in Darfur, he noted.

Sudanese author and political analyst Abdul-Azim Shawki told the Weekly that the governments plan is based on the heavy deployment of security forces to enforce the law, chasing down criminals and punishing them. He believes that the state is accused in some cases of being a partner in those crimes, or turning a blind eye to some crimes, often failing to catch the culprits, possibly lacking the necessary capabilities.

Shawki said that tribal interests sometimes outweigh the higher interests of Sudan, with some tribal members enrolled in the RSF or the army turning a blind eye to conflicts in their tribes to tip the scale in their tribes favour.

Al-Bashirs regime used to orchestrate battles and arm tribes, Shawki added, pointing out that the recent events in Darfur are the outcome of the practices of Al-Bashir, whose forces launched attacks on some areas with Antonov planes.

For the state to enforce respect, Shawki stated, resources for development are needed. Respect cannot be imposed by force of arms because the borders are expansive. He explained that the withdrawal of UNAMID in 2020 had a negative impact on Sudans security, stressing that despite criticisms directed at UNAMID and attempts to weaken it by the previous regime, it was still recording violations.

Making matters worse is the plummeting economic conditions in Sudan and tribal aspirations to control other tribes. Gold mining and the rise of the price of land is another reason why peace is difficult to attain, Shawki said.

Partial and security solutions and empty promises are not enough to solve the problem in Darfur, he noted, stressing that development, the permanent presence of security forces, improving living conditions, and disarming people and tribes are the means for peace to prevail.

Adam Rigal, the spokesman of the General Coordination of Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur, concurred, saying that the present calm in Darfur is not indication enough of security as long as the real causes of the conflict are still present. All the committees concerned with investigating the massacres and violent incidents that took place in Darfur since the fall of the previous regime have not revealed their results, he added.

Sudanese journalist Al-Sir Al-Sayed believes that the crisis in Sudan needs to be resolved at a grassroots level to avoid tribal strife, racism and hate speech, stressing the importance of the strict application of the law.

The problem, however, is that tribal strife is rearing its ugly head extensively over all of Sudan once more. Many Sudanese observers and politicians believe that before solving tribal problems the crises of the centre of Sudan should be addressed first.

At present, Sudan is suffering from political tensions, security fragility, economic and social deterioration, which exacerbates the crises in the far stretches of the country, threatened with more flare-ups and armed confrontations if the political conflicts in Khartoum are not resolved.

The UN warned that 40 per cent of the Sudanese population is threatened with starvation. Moreover, regional and international conditions are casting heavy shadows over Sudan, making matters worse on all fronts.

A version of this article appears in print in the 23 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Deputy Secretary-General of Tunisian labour union the UGTT Samir Echafi explains what comes next after last weeks strike in an interview with Amira Howeidy.

The one-million-strong Tunisian General Labour Union known by its French acronym the UGTT brought the country to a standstill for one day last week in a strike intended to protest against government policies.

On 16 June, Tunisias public sector observed a massive nation-wide strike that meant that flights were cancelled, Tunisias Carthage International Airport standing empty aside from a few helpless passengers, public transport was unavailable, and government offices were closed.

According to UGTT Secretary-General Noureddine Taboubi, the strike enjoyed a 97 per cent success rate, as 159 state enterprises and three million public-sector workers stopped working on that day.

The strike was declared after the government of Tunisian Prime Minister Najla Bouden announced significant salary cuts in response to the countrys economic crisis, escalating since 2019 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and Russias war on Ukraine and paving the way for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The UGTT is demanding negotiations to defend the social and economic rights of workers.

In a telephone interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, UGTT Deputy Secretary-General Samir Echafi said the strike was a reminder of the unions strength but was also a last resort driven by its responsibility to protect workers rights.

It was followed by protests organised by a coalition of political parties including the moderate Islamist Ennahda Party on 18 June against Tunisian President Kaies Saieds plans for a new constitution that is expected to be put to a referendum on 25 July.

Meanwhile, Tunisias judges extended their national strike for a third week after Saied sacked 57 judges earlier this month accusing them of corruption.

Saied froze the countrys parliament on 25 July 2021 and proceeded to suspend the 2014 Constitution before announcing a roadmap for a new republic some months later.

A committee formed by the presidency then drafted a new constitution, which was presented to Saied on Monday. The UGTT rejected an invitation by the presidency for a national dialogue last month that excluded opposition groups.

What follows are edited extracts from the Weekly interview with Samir Echafi.

Has the government responded directly or indirectly to the UGTT strike or communicated with its leaders since 16 June?

No, nothing so far. This is something we have against the Bouden government, which is now commonly described as the mute government. Even when Najla Bouden became prime minister, she did not address the Tunisian people to introduce herself, her vision, or her platform.

The UGTT has never sought a confrontation with the government. On the contrary, we have tried repeatedly to push for a dialogue and for solutions that would be satisfactory for both sides. But while we pursued these efforts, we were surprised to receive the governments so-called Circular No. 20 of December 2021 that violates all the local and international agreements that guarantee the freedom of union work and simply reflects the limitations of this government that cannot conduct a social dialogue.

How will the UGTT move on?

The UGTT has its democratic institutions and an executive bureau that will meet in the next few days to assess the 16 June national strike and evaluate next steps. These will be largely determined by the government and whether it will indeed engage with our legitimate demands that protect workers and should avert social tensions.

The timing of the strike comes at a time of political turmoil in Tunisia and an escalation of dissent against president Kaies Saieds policies since his 25 July 2021 action. Critics say your union has only opted for a vague position on this.

Our position was very clear before and after 25 July. We were the first to support [Saieds] intervention and announced this in a statement at the time. But our support was conditional. The UGTT wanted a time frame for these exceptional measures realised as part of the [presidents] roadmap and wanted to see the protection and respecting of general, individual, and social freedoms during the transitional period.

Most importantly, we wanted to see this involving all the parties that believe in reform and a democratic, independent, and civil state to craft the contours of the coming period.

The UGTT never ceased to protect these freedoms even during dark times. The union organised two national strikes in 2013 following the assassination of two opposition figures. Then we called for the public-sector strikes in 2018 and 2019. The union has therefore stood up steadfastly during the past decade of failure, corruption, violence, and terrorism.

Critics accuse the UGTT of missing opportunities, either by rejecting the national dialogue or refraining from any action to halt the constitutional amendments that will be put to a referendum next month.

This is an unfair assessment. The UGTT has never abandoned its national or political roles in preserving Tunisias [revolutionary] gains. I cited our conditional support for the 25 July action by the president that placed us on the path of reform. But the main point of contention between the UGTT and the presidency is focused on the unilateral nature of the latters management of the current situation and its rewriting of the features of the coming stage. This is why the union adopted the clear position of refusing to partake in the dialogue and the drafting of a new constitution.

The UGTT aspires to a comprehensive dialogue and the inclusion of all peaceful civil-society organisations, those whose hands are not smeared with corruption or blood. But the dialogue as offered was merely a consultative process, and it was at this point that the UGTT decided to separate the social and political aspects. There are social demands related to the purchasing power of workers. It is important to emphasise that the UGTT wants to distance itself from the machinations of the political parties.

Some tendencies in Tunisia today want a return to the pre-25 July order, including the ruling elites of the Ennahda and Karama parties. Others want to see an inclusive democracy not associated with the ruling elites of the past decade.

Does the UGTT fear seeing a situation it cannot influence when the draft constitution is put to a referendum?

We believe that there is no turning back the gains of the revolution, among them freedom of expression, freedom of the press, economic rights, and workers rights that no one in Tunisia or outside it can influence or compromise. We hope that the draft constitution  which we have taken no part in  is an advanced one that will respond to these aspirations. However, since we have not read it yet, we cannot judge its intentions.

Needless to say, we consider any document that compromises any of the civil, economic, or social gains of the [2014 Constitution] or Tunisias Arab, Islamic, and African identity to be unacceptable. The UGTT will adopt whatever it finds appropriate once the draft constitution is made public on 30 June. If it is acceptable, we will call for a yes vote. But if it is not, we may call for a no vote or possibly a boycott. It would be premature to discuss our options at this point.

A version of this article appears in print in the 23 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Wednesday, 22 June, marked the end of the transitional period according to the roadmap adopted by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) in November 2020. This is the fifth interim phase since the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime in 2011. It ended two days after the conclusion of the third round of negotiations on the Libyan constitutional track hosted by Cairo. After more than a week of talks, the Joint Committee of delegations from the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR) and the Tripoli-based High Council of State (HCS) were unable to reach an agreement on the constitutional framework for holding elections. The way forward now is unclear, but it is certain to be more complicated than before.

In the statement she released on Monday morning following the close of the third and final round of consultations of the UN-Facilitated HoR/HCS Joint Committee to Determine the Libyan Constitutional Framework for Elections, UN Special Adviser on Libya Stephanie Williams stressed that the committee had achieved a great deal of consensus on the contentious articles in the Libyan Draft Constitution. However, she added, differences persist on the measures governing the transitional period leading to elections. Otherwise put, the impasse persists in the process that has to be completed in order to crown the roadmap with general elections.

On behalf of the UN, Williams expressed her gratitude to the Egyptian government and people for their kind hospitality during the three rounds of talks here in Cairo. She also reaffirmed the UNs continued commitment to supporting all Libyan efforts to end the countrys long period of transition and instability through inclusive and transparent national elections at the earliest possible date, and to meet the aspirations of the nearly three million who have registered to vote.

In her statement the UN advisor called on the speakers of the HoR and HCS to meet within ten days at an agreed on location to bridge outstanding issues. She had previously invited HoR Speaker Aguila Saleh and HCS head Khaled Al-Mishri to meet and discuss their differences last week, but the two leaders could not even agree on the agenda for the meeting, according to Libyan sources.

HCS member Abdel-Qader Howeili disagreed that the last round in Cairo had failed. In remarks to Libyan news outlets, he said the Joint Committee members had agreed on the constitutional provisions for presidential elections. A crucial requirement, given the experience that was to culminate in elections in December, is that presidential nominees must resign completely from any civil or military positions they hold. They may return to these positions if the elected president agrees to reappoint them. Howeili adds that the only remaining bone of contention concerns the form of the interim phase leading up to elections. This question will be discussed by HoR and HCS leaders in their forthcoming meeting.

Nevertheless, with the official end of the roadmap without the required constitutional basis for elections and receding prospects for holding elections as soon as Western forces that backed the UN-sponsored process had planned, Libya may be poised for an alternative process. This is all the more true in the light of added complexities resulting from reverting to the institutional bifurcation that had existed before this last interim phase. Tensions in Libya have mounted since February when the HoR withdrew its confidence from the Government of National Unity (GNU) headed by Abdulhamid Dbeibah and formed a new government headed by Fathi Bashagha. Dbeibah refused to resign and hand over power to Bashagha. The UN and Western powers continued to support his government and refused to recognise the legitimacy of the Bashagha government. To further complicate matters, new patterns of regional and international alliances have arisen, in part because the adversaries - Bashagha and Dbeibah - are both from western Libya where they have significant power bases.

The reason why the UN and Western backers may support a new process is because they have proved unable to implement the articles of the previous one which was initially framed by the Libyan Political Agreement signed in Skhirat, Morocco, in December 2015. They therefore had to try to work with a flawed and inconsistent process which inherently impeded progress. At the same time, regional and international stakeholders were often at odds over the process, generally because of their biases towards or against the various Libyan parties involved. This often fed the intransigent tendencies among local players. As a result the UN-led process was characterised by a constant tug-of-war between factors conducive to instability or stability and to progress or deadlock.

In addition, even though Libya has reverted to parallel governments less than a year after government was unified, the Libyan players on both the eastern and western fronts agree that the recently formed Bashagha government and the Executive Authority elected by the LPDF in its meetings in Geneva in January and February 2021 are both ill equipped to manage the transitional period. This shared feeling was clearly reflected in their declared willingness to reengage in talks over electing a new executive authority. Ultimately, however, such consensus may merely end up reproducing the cycle of interim phases that the country has been unable to escape since 2014 because, at every major impasse, the Libyans and the international community have always rushed to form new governments as a way to resolve the crisis rather than addressing the root problems that hampered the governments work and the political process.

It remains to be seen whether Western and regional powers will sustain pressure on Libyans to see the current process through to the desired elections or, instead, will opt to support an alternative process. If the latter, which seemed of interest to some foreign diplomats speaking from Tripoli this week, the UN will need to restructure its Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and appoint a new head. This may well be accomplished soon. According to the Italian news agency Nova, Williams will be leaving her post, which she held since December 2021, at the end of June.

In the meantime, delays in addressing the political impasse, not just over government but also over management of the economy and oil, risk aggravating tensions that have risen against the backdrop of the resurgent polarisation. Tripoli and its environs have recently experienced several skirmishes between rival militias backing either Bashagha or Dbeibah. There are frequent news reports of the militia groups troop and armoured vehicle movements in and around the capital.

A version of this article appears in print in the 23 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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The Russian military expanded its grab of territory in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, capturing two villages and vying for control of a key highway in an offensive that could cut supply lines and encircle some frontline Ukrainian forces, British and Ukrainian military officials said.

Britain's defence ministry said that Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from some areas near the city of Lysychansk, the latest major battlefield in Russian President Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine, to avoid the possibility of being encircled as Russians sent in reinforcements and concentrated their firepower in the area.

Ukraine's General Staff said Russian forces took control of the villages of Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka and were trying to capture Syrotyne outside Sievierodonetsk, the administrative centre of the Luhansk region.

``The enemy is burning everything out in a bid to encircle the Ukrainian group of forces,'' Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press.

``The Russians are advancing without trying to spare the ammunition or troops, and they aren't running out of either,'' Haidai said. ``They have an edge in heavy artillery and the number of troops.''

``Part of the Luhansk region still remains under Ukrainian control, defying the Russians and causing their fury and desire to burn it to the ground,'' he added

For weeks, Russian forces have pummeled Sievierodonetsk with artillery and air raids and fought the Ukrainian army house-to-house. Ukrainian forces remain holed up at the Azot chemical plant on the city's edge, where about 500 civilians were also sheltering.

Haidai said the Ukrainian soldiers were using the plant's sprawling underground structures, but noted that ``the shelling has intensified and even concrete shelters can't withstand the bombardment.'' The Russians are using their entire arsenal, heavy artillery, tanks, aircraft,'' he added.

The Russians were also pressing their offensive on Lysychansk, which is located on a steep river bank facing Sievierodonetsk.

Haidai said that Lysychansk was also facing a relentless Russian artillery barrage, which killed at least one civilian and wounded three others in the last 24 hours. The governor noted that the Russians concentrated over 100 multiple rocket launchers to ``pummel entire blocks.''

``The Russian army is `liberating' Sievierodonetsk from life and workplaces,'' he said in a sarcastic reference to Russia's stated goal of the ``liberation'' of Donbas.

The U.K. Ministry of Defense noted in its intelligence assessment Thursday that Russian forces have likely advanced more than five kilometres (three miles) towards the southern approaches of Lysychansk since Sunday.

``Some Ukrainian units have withdrawn, probably to avoid being encircled,'' the statement said. ``Russia's improved performance in this sector is likely a result of recent unit reinforcement and heavy concentration of fire.''

Ukraine's military said the Russians were also moving to overtake the hills overlooking a highway linking Lysychansk with Bakhmut, to the southwest, in an attempt to cut the supply lines of Ukrainian forces.

Haidai said the Bakhmut-Lysychansk highway wasn't being used because of heavy Russian shelling and the Ukrainian forces are getting supplies via an alternative route.

Following a botched attempt to capture the Ukrainian capital in the early stage of the invasion on Feb. 24, Russian forces have shifted focus to Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland of Donbas, where the Ukrainian forces have fought Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.

The Russian military currently controls about 95% of the Luhansk region and about half of the neighbouring Donetsk region of Donbas.

Asked about prospects for a political settlement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday that ``it's possible after Ukraine meets all the Russian demands,'' adding that ``Ukraine knows perfectly well what they are.''

The Kremlin has previously demanded that Ukraine accept Russia's sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014, and acknowledge the independence of the separatist regions in the east. Moscow also has noted that Ukraine should recognize the situation on the ground, an apparent reference to other land gains that Russia has made in Ukraine's south where it captured the Kherson region and part of the Zaporizhzhia region.

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Nexter, the leading French land defence company, has signed an agreement with Tawazun Economic Council to construct a world-class centre for the testing and qualification of munitions, weapons systems and vehicles at Tawazun Industrial Park in Abu Dhabi.

Through this collaborative endeavour, Nexter said it hopes to fulfil a Tawazun Economic Programme obligation while enhancing national capabilities.

The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the two-day "Make it in the Emirates" Forum, organised in Abu Dhabi by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT).

The project will help the UAE become a hub for advanced and highly qualified defence and security businesses, as well as build a strong presence in global markets, said Dominique Morisset, Nexters Regional Director in Abu Dhabi, after signing the MoU with Faiz Saleh Al Nahdi, Managing Director and CEO of Tawazun Industrial Park in the presence of Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology; Tareq Abdulraheem Al Hosani, the CEO of Tawazun and a number of senior officials.

Morisset said the project was part of the company's commitments due to its participation in the Tawazun Economic Programme.

It reflects the depth of Tawazun and Nexters strong partnership, as well as the company's desire to continue supporting the defence and security sectors, he added.

Al Nahdi said the MoU comes as part of Tawazun Industrial Parks commitment to enabling the UAE's defence and security industry and is in keeping with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology's "Operation 300bn" strategy.

The industrial park is an important resource for the defence and security industries, to create the Testing and Qualification facility in Abu Dhabi, he stated.

"TIP Testing and Qualification Centre, in collaboration with Nexter as its technical partner, will give the country a sovereign capability that is unique in the region, offering complete certifications in accordance with a variety of international standards," he added.

Al Nahdi said the centre will equip the UAE with the ability to conduct Service Life Surveillance on a local level, overcoming any logistical hurdles, increasing exports and promoting the country as a centre of excellence in both R&D and manufacturing in the defence and security industries.

It would initially serve TIP's strategic partners, including the Ministry of Defence, the UAE Armed Forces, the Tawazun Acquisition Management Unit, and other industrial companies, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
The U.S. will send another $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including some additional medium-range rocket systems, U.S. officials said Thursday.

The latest package will include a number of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. The initial four that the U.S. sent have already gone into Ukraine and are in the hand of troops there. The package will also include ammunition and other supplies.

The new aid comes just a week after the U.S. announced it will send an additional $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, as America and its allies send Ukraine the longer-range systems that they believe will allow forces to better fight back against Russia. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details ahead of an announcement.

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European Union leaders on Thursday agreed to grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, in a show of support in the face of Russia's war.

"A historic moment. Today marks a crucial step on your path towards the EU," Michel wrote on Twitter during a summit in Brussels.

"Our future is together."

Ukraine applied to become an EU candidate in a bid to cement its place in Europe just days after Moscow launched its devastating invasion.

France's President Emmanuel Macron said the move sent a "very strong signal" to the Kremlin that the EU backs the pro-Western aspirations of Ukraine.

"We owe it to the Ukrainian people who are fighting to defend our values, their sovereignty, their territorial integrity," he said.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Twitter hailed the EU's decision "a unique and historic moment in Ukraine-EU relations", adding that "Ukraine's future is within the EU".

The decision sets the two ex-Soviet nations at the start of a years-long path towards joining the bloc requiring major reforms and protracted negotiations.

The EU has laid out a series of steps for Kyiv to take, including on bolstering the rule-of-law and fighting corruption, before it can progress to the next stage entailing accession talks.

Moldova and Georgia, two countries that also have part of their territory occupied by the Kremlin's forces, handed in applications in Ukraine's slipstream.

EU leaders agreed to offer Georgia a "European perspective" but said it must carry out a raft of steps before it can become a candidate.

Georgia reacted by saying it was determined to take steps required to qualify.

"We are ready to work with determination over the next months to reach the candidate status," President Salome Zurabishvili said on Twitter.

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The EU's police agency Europol said Thursday it had identified nine suspected human traffickers targeting Ukrainian refugees online, as fears mount that vulnerable people fleeing the war-torn country could be preyed upon.

More than 90 investigators from 14 EU countries joined forces in a "day of action" led by the Netherlands on May 23.

They found nine potential victims and nearly 42 suspicious online platforms.

The investigators looked into posts offering refugees help with transport, accommodation and jobs -- some described as "photo shoots".

They monitored dating and recruitment sites, as well as platforms offering sexual services.

Posts specifically targeted Ukrainian refugees. Europol said they were being lured in with "offers of a 'bright future' which tricked them into sexual exploitation".

In March, the police agency warned Ukrainian refugees were at risk of falling into human trafficking networks when they arrived in the EU and urged host countries to be vigilant.

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Russia has made two interest payments on dollar-denominated debt in rubles, the country's finance ministry said Thursday, as Moscow faces the risk of an external debt default.

"Funds for the payment of coupons on external bonds of the Russian Federation maturing in 2027 and 2047 in the total amount of 12.51 billion rubles (the equivalent of 234.85 million) have been received by the National Settlement Depository (NSD) Eurobond payment agency," the ministry said in a statement.

"Thus, the obligations... of the Russian Federation are fulfilled in full by Russia's finance ministry," it added.

In the statement, the ministry said that it is using a new temporary payment system which came into force on June 22, after sanctions imposed on Ukraine made it difficult for Moscow to service its foreign debt.

Under the new system, the ministry transfers the ruble equivalent of the coupon's value to the Moscow-based National Settlement Depository that reimburses creditors in rubles at the rate of the Central Bank "to ensure the maximum equivalence of payments".

If the creditors are Russia-based, the funds are transferred "bypassing foreign intermediaries" but if the assets are held abroad, the funds will be transferred to special ruble accounts, a mechanism similar to that used for gas payments.

In late May, Russia said it would start paying its foreign debt in rubles after Washington ended an exemption allowing Moscow to make the payments in dollars held in Russia.

In early June, for the first time, a panel of investors said that Russia failed to pay $1.9 million of accrued interest on a sovereign bond due on April 4.

The country last defaulted on its foreign currency debt in 1918, when Bolshevik revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin refused to recognise the obligations of the deposed tsar's regime.

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Monkeypox may soon have a new name after scientists called for a change to dispel stereotypes of Africa being seen as a crucible of disease.

The World Health Organization announced last week that it is "working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox virus, its clades and the disease it causes."

Monkeypox's clades, which are different branches of the virus' family tree, have been particularly controversial because they are named after African regions.

Last year the WHO officially named Covid-19 variants after Greek letters to avoid stigmatising the places where they were first detected.

Just days before the WHO announced it would change monkeypox's name, a group of 29 scientists wrote a letter saying there is an "urgent need for a non-discriminatory and non-stigmatising nomenclature" for the virus.

The letter, signed by several prominent African scientists, called for the names of the "West African" and the "Central African" or "Congo Basin" monkeypox clades to be changed.

Until a few months ago, monkeypox had largely been confined to West and Central Africa.

But since May, a new version has spread across much of the world. The letter's signatories suggested naming this version as a new clade, giving it "the placeholder label hMPXV" -- for human monkeypox virus.

Out of the more than 2,100 monkeypox cases recorded globally this year, 84 percent were in Europe, 12 percent in the Americas and just three percent in Africa, according to the WHO's latest update last week.

'Not a monkey disease'

Oyewale Tomori, a virologist at Redeemer's University in Nigeria, said he supported changing the name of monkeypox's clades.

"But even the name monkeypox is aberrant. It is not the right name," he told AFP.

"If I were a monkey, I would protest because it's not really a monkey disease."

The virus was named after it was first discovered among monkeys in a Danish lab in 1958, but humans have mostly contracted the virus from rodents.

The letter pointed out that "nearly all" outbreaks in Africa were sparked by people catching the virus from animals -- not from other people.

But the current outbreak "is unusual in that it is purely spreading through human to human transmission," said Olivier Restif, an epidemiologist at the University of Cambridge.

"So, it is fair to say that the current outbreak has very little to do with Africa, in the same way that the Covid-19 waves and variants we're still being battered by have little to do with the Asian bats from which the virus originally came a few years ago."

'Stigmatisation of Africa'

Moses John Bockarie of Sierra Leone's Njala University said he agreed with the call to change monkeypox's name.

"Monkeys are usually associated with the global south, especially Africa," he wrote in The Conversation.

"In addition, there is a long dark history of black people being compared to monkeys. No disease nomenclature should provide a trigger for this."

Restif said it was "important to highlight that this debate is part of a larger issue with stigmatisation of Africa as a source of disease."

"We've seen it most strikingly with HIV in the 1980s, with Ebola during the 2013 outbreak and again with Covid-19 and the reactions to the so-called 'South African variants'," he told AFP.

An African press group has also expressed "its displeasure against media outlets using images of black people alongside stories of the monkeypox outbreak in North America and the United Kingdom.

"We condemn the perpetuation of this negative stereotype that assigns calamity to the African race and privilege or immunity to other races," The Foreign Press Association, Africa tweeted last month.

Restif pointed out that the "old stock photographs of African patients" used by Western media usually depict severe symptoms.

But the monkeypox spreading around the world "is much milder, which partly explains how easily it gets transmitted," he said.

The WHO will announce the new monkeypox names "as soon as possible", its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

The UN agency is also holding an emergency committee meeting on Thursday to assess whether the outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern -- the highest alarm it can sound.

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A powerful earthquake in Afghanistan's southeast has killed more than 1,000 people and injured hundreds of others, Taliban authorities said. Rescue workers said the casualties from the quake, which struck during the early hours of Wednesday, were likely to increase further.

Deputy Taliban Minister for Disaster Management Mawlawi Sharafuddin Muslim told a news conference in the capital, Kabul that most of the devastation occurred in southeastern Paktika and Khost provinces, which border Pakistan.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the magnitude 6.1 quake struck about 44 km from the provincial capital of Khost. Local journalists and witnesses reported the death toll could be as high as 2,500. Provincial chief Mohammad Amin told VOA that at least 1,000 people were killed, and 1,500 others injured in two districts of Paktika alone.

 Rescue Efforts

Videos shared on social media showed flattened homes and rubble. The earthquake also rattled Kabul. Aziz Aziz, a local resident of Paktika province, told VOA Pashto service, "People are still working to rescue people trapped under rubble." He added that local communities and Taliban authorities were in the areas affected by the earthquake to assist locals "with whatever they have."

"Local people in a large number have gone to the affected areas. They are moving the wounded and killed. Local people are helping the affected people and providing them with medicine, food and shelter," added Aziz. "But that is not enough," said Aziz, calling on the international community to help the local affected communities.

Zaman Nazari, a local journalist in southeastern Afghanistan's Khost province, told VOA's Dari Service that "local people want the aid agencies and international community to urgently help the poor families who are affected by the earthquake."

Taliban authorities said people were still under the rubble and rescue efforts, backed by helicopters, were underway. They also urged all aid organizations working in Afghanistan to help in the rescue operations.
Russian forces control about 95 percent of the Luhansk region, AP reported, with Ukraine forces holding just the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk. Haidai also said Russian forces had brought "catastrophic destruction" to Lysychansk, an industrial city just across a river from Sievierodonetsk. Zelenskyy acknowledged difficulties trying to defend the country's eastern region but said Russian forces would continue to be met with Ukrainian resistance.

"Today, everything that can burn is on fire," Haidai said. He reported heavy fighting at the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk, where Ukrainian fighters and about 500 civilians are taking shelter.

Serhiy Haidai, governor of Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region, told The Associated Press in written comments, "It's just hell there. Everything is engulfed in fire. The shelling doesn't stop even for an hour."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that the military situation in the eastern region of Luhansk "is really the toughest area right now. The occupiers are also putting serious pressure on the Donetsk direction." He said Russia has stepped up efforts to evict Ukrainian troops from key areas.

Britain's Defense Ministry said Wednesday that Russia is continuing its heavy shelling as it tries to envelop the Sievierodonetsk area. A ministry statement also said Russia is "highly likely preparing to attempt to deploy a large number of reserve units to the Donbas."

In Lviv, Ukraine, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland met Tuesday with Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova to announce the creation of a team focused on war crimes accountability, the Justice Department said. "The United States is sending an unmistakable message. There is no place to hide. We will, we and our partners, will pursue every avenue available to make sure that those who are responsible for these atrocities are held accountable," Garland told reporters.

The War Crimes Accountability Team will assist Ukraine with criminal prosecution, evidence collection and forensics of human rights abuse, war crimes and other atrocities, the department said, adding that the team's lead counselor is Eli Rosenbaum, a Justice Department official who once led the effort to track down Nazi war criminals.

"America -- and the world -- has seen the many horrific images and read the heart-wrenching accounts of brutality and death that have resulted from Russia's unjust invasion of Ukraine," Garland said in a statement.

The team will also focus on potential war crimes over which the United States has jurisdiction, including killing and wounding U.S. journalists, the department said. "In addition, the Justice Department will provide additional personnel to expand its work with Ukraine and other partners to counter Russian illicit finance and sanctions evasion. Among other things, the Department will provide Ukraine an expert Justice Department prosecutor to advise on fighting kleptocracy, corruption, and money laundering," the DOJ statement said.

Also, Ukraine is set to become an official candidate for European Union membership on Thursday, ministers and diplomats said on Tuesday.

Last week, the European Commission recommended the action. After several days of internal EU discussion, none of the 27 member states have voiced opposition to the plan, three diplomats told Reuters. "We are working towards the point where we tell [Russian President Vladimir] Putin that Ukraine belongs to Europe, that we will also defend the values that Ukraine defends," Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg's foreign affairs minister, said, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday that the United Nations and its humanitarian partners delivered on Monday "12 trucks of critical supplies to help nearly 64,000 people in the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk." He said the cities are close to the front lines of the government-controlled Donetska Oblast.

The humanitarian convoy that reached the two cities carried hygiene supplies, water purification tablets and food assistance, he said. "This humanitarian convoy was possible thanks to the support of several U.N. agencies, as well as nongovernmental organizations," Dujarric said. "The international community has now stepped up and generously provided nearly 70 percent funding to our humanitarian appeal for Ukraine, which stands at $2.25 billion."
Korea has experienced a natural decline in its population for 30 straight months since November 2019.

Statistics Korea said on Wednesday that the country recorded 21,124 births and 36,697 deaths in April, meaning its population decreased by 15,573. This is the biggest natural decline for the month of April on record.

The number of births dropped by 7 percent while deaths soared by a whopping 46.3 percent on-year.

Meanwhile, the number of marriages edged down 0.4 percent in April, continuing an unbroken decline that began in 2012.
Korea reported its first case of monkeypox on Wednesday as the virus spreads around the world.

The patient had a headache a day before arriving in Korea, felt tired and displayed skin lesions. He voluntarily reported to health authorities at Incheon International Airport and was taken to hospital.

Health officials classified eight out of 49 people who were aboard the same plane as mid-level risks and 41 as low-level risks.

Another suspected case earlier this week was found to be chicken pox.

Experts say the chances of monkeypox developing into a pandemic are low since it is only transmitted by very close contact such as sex but stressed the need for vigilance. The confirmed infection, the first case in East Asia, has nonetheless increased jitters in Korea.

The only way of detecting the virus is when patients report themselves, and it is difficult to screen people arriving from abroad.

The first infection outside the endemic countries in Central and West Africa was a Briton who traveled to Nigeria in May, and the virus had been spreading primarily in Europe. But as of Tuesday it had infected more than 3,000 people in 41 countries.


Flights between the smaller Seoul and Tokyo airports of Gimpo and Haneda will resume after two years and three months' suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The airports are closer to the respective city centers than Incheon and Narita international airports.

Seoul and Tokyo have agreed to resume eight flights per week between the two airports from June 29, the government here said Wednesday.


Amazon today announced the opening of its largest delivery station in Abu Dhabi in time for the upcoming Prime Day event (Amazon's biggest sale of the year) this July.

The 4,700-sq-m state-of-the-art delivery station is the second largest in the country and provides same-day and one-day deliveries to customers across the city, including those located in outer areas, such as Al Samha, Al Shawamekh, Yas and Saadiyat Islands, Bani Yas, and Al Wathba.

The new delivery station creates opportunities for hundreds of full and part-time employees in a range of jobs with all kinds of experience, education, background, and skills. From delivery station associates to positions in operations, health and safety, supply chain technology, and analytics, all employees are eligible for training programs that will upskill UAE talent in the future-facing ecommerce sector. The station will also create new opportunities for Delivery Service Partners in the country, said the company.

The launch of the new facility follows Amazons announcement with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) in November last year, detailing the opening of its most technologically advanced Fulfillment Centre in the region that will be opening its doors in the capital in 2023. Both the new Fulfillment Centre and delivery station bolster Amazons commitment to advance innovation and technology in the Emirate, in line with Abu Dhabis innovation agenda, it said.

Ronaldo Mouchawar, Vice President of Amazon Middle East and North Africa (MENA), said: Amazon remains steadfast in its commitment to innovating on behalf of our customers. We pride ourselves on working alongside partners such as the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, who share our focus on innovation and providing the right resources and logistics to enable businesses and talent in Abu Dhabi to excel in the digital economy. By empowering the wider ecommerce ecosystem to get products to customers faster and more conveniently, we are ultimately improving the shopping experience for all customers.

Eng Abdulla Abdul Aziz AlShamsi, Acting Director General of ADIO, said: The partnership between Amazon and ADIO reflects the ease of doing business in Abu Dhabi and the long-term growth opportunities available in the emirate. Amazon supports our vision for sustained investment in innovation and is bringing the latest logistics technologies to the region. The opening of Amazons new delivery station and planned Fulfillment Centre in 2023 will establish Abu Dhabi as a major global hub for ecommerce and logistics.

Supporting Abu Dhabis efforts to encourage innovation, the delivery station operates using Amazons global logistics technologies that are built on the companys 20+ years of operational expertise. Amazons new delivery station will support the company in providing a reliable and convenient delivery experience for its customers through same-day and one-day delivery options.

Prashant Saran, Director of Operations for Amazon MENA, said: Built within Abu Dhabis ecosystem of innovation, our new delivery station brings world-class last-mile technology to the logistics and supply chain sector in the capital. The range of jobs at this facility will help to nurture the citys talent pool and prepare them for the digital future that Abu Dhabi is striding towards. Opening ahead of the upcoming Prime Day event taking place this July on Amazon.ae, the facility and its technology enable us to continue to provide a seamless delivery experience for Prime members across the country.

As part of Amazons commitment to be net-zero carbon across its business by 2040, the building is designed with energy efficiency as a top priority. Heating, ventilation and air conditioning is controlled by a digital building management system that ensures a comfortable working environment at the same time as reducing unnecessary energy consumption. Today, the Amazon network across the UAE comprises of two Fulfillment Centres, three sort centres, eight delivery stations and a network of Delivery Service Partners.  TradeArabia News Service
President Yoon Suk-yeol will hold a trilateral summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid next week.

A presidential official on Wednesday told reporters that "the possibility is open" for a trilateral summit. Another official said, "The leaders will talk about trilateral security cooperation" focusing on North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

Yoon and Kishida will be thrown together at least twice already during the NATO summit -- in a full session of the leaders from 30 NATO members and invited leaders from non-NATO countries, and during a summit of four Asia-Pacific countries (Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand). A "pull-aside" head-to-head between the leaders of the fractious neighbors is also on the cards.

Yoon will sit down with about 10 leaders during the NATO summit to discuss exports of nuclear reactors and defense goods, win support for Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo, and gain cooperation in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, according to the presidential office.

The government plans to establish a permanent mission to NATO in Brussels.


Articol sustinut de ING Bank ING Bank si Fundatia Conservation Carpathia ii incurajeaza pe romani sa faca parte din povestea reconstructiei ecologice din zona Muntilor Fagaras. Afla cum te poti implica si tu
KYODO NEWS - Jun 24, 2022 - 00:04 | All, Japan

Space technology and surveillance could be the next step toward air defense cooperation between Japan and the Philippines in response to China's increasing military activities in the Indo-Pacific, a senior Japan Self-Defense Forces officer said Thursday.

"Unfortunately, seas and skies are no longer a safe place," Shunji Izutsu, chief of staff of the Air Self-Defense Force, said, speaking in English, during a visit to the Philippines as the two countries advance defense cooperation in the face of Beijing's militarization of disputed outposts in the South China Sea.

"Both nations, the Philippines and Japan, are engaging in increasing surveillance capability (and have) interest in engaging in the space situation awareness," Izutsu said in a joint news conference with Connor Anthony Canlas, chief of the Philippine Air Force, at the Clark Air Base in the country's north.

"Surveillance and awareness are very important for securing our national security," Izutsu said.

Canlas said Tokyo-Manila relations are "getting stronger" as they expand from what was a purely economic partnership before to "military and defense."

Both officials also agreed technology sharing could include software use for operating air defense radars and information gathered through satellites.

The Philippines expects the delivery of the four air defense radars to begin this year, as part of the Philippine government's contract with Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corp. to modernize the Philippine air defense system, according to Canlas.

The radars could help detect and mitigate the effect of a natural calamity or an attack, he said.

The ASDF and the PAF held a joint conference Thursday at the base as part of a three-day training exercise on rescue and disaster response through Friday.

It was the second iteration of the bilateral exercise since the two countries signed an agreement in 2019 on deepening defense cooperation.

In 2016, Japan also agreed to transfer defense equipment and technology to the Philippines, a deal seen to accelerate following the inaugural two-plus-two meeting involving the two countries' defense and foreign ministers this April in Tokyo.

China and the Philippines are embroiled in a territorial dispute over the South China Sea, an area believed to be rich in minerals, gas and oil deposits, and other marine resources.

Beijing, however, continues to ignore a 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague that invalidated its sweeping claims over most of the sea.
By Christine T. Tjandraningsih, KYODO NEWS - Jun 23, 2022 - 12:02 | World, Feature, All

After crossing a wide, brown river with thick virgin mangroves on its banks, a motorboat arrives at its destination -- an isolated region that brings on an otherworldly feeling of distance.

The boat could barely carry five people on its short, rocking journey through Indonesia's Asmat Regency in the easternmost province of Papua, an area that occupies most of the western half of New Guinea, the second largest island in the world, and is considered to be the country's least developed region.

But within Asmat exists an even more remote area called Agats, which can only be accessed by boat. Coming ashore there, the narrow roads in this settlement, that sits elevated on poles above marshlands, buzz with electric motorbikes.

The buildings, houses and roads in Agats, the administrative seat of Asmat Regency, were built 1.5 meters above the wetlands with roads 4 meters wide.

Most of the town's roads were once made of wood, with some remaining so, earning Agats the name of "the town of a thousand boards." Before the arrival of the electric motorbikes, most simply walked or used bicycles.

"When I was a district chief, I walked from home to office and back every day," Asmat Regent Elisa Kambu recalled of his first years of assignment living in the regency.

The battery-powered "whine" of the motorbikes is distinctive but not intrusive, even as they approach.

On Agats, the use of gasoline-powered vehicles is limited to the military, police vehicles, and ambulances because of the risk of accidents, and electric motorbikes have become the means of transportation for many. In 2009, a bylaw was issued, banning the import of fuel-powered motorcycles.

Ambo Asse Manili, head of the Asmat Transport Agency, says although electric motorbikes began arriving in the town in 2006, they became much more prevalent from around 2010.

"From around (2010) Agats saw more development of concrete roads that were wider," Manili, 53, said in his single-story wooden office.

According to Manili, by the end of 2020, 5,050 electric motorbikes were registered in the regency with 80 percent of them in Agats, which has a population of 24,000. Some households own two or three motorbikes, and there is a 30 to 40 percent increase in the number of the vehicles each year.

"This is the only regency capital in Indonesia where electric motorbikes have gained such popularity," Manili said.

The distances in Agats are short. From one end to the other is only about 5 kilometers. Unlike fuel-powered motorbikes, the battery-powered versions only reach maximum speeds of about 20 to 30 kilometers per hour and are much less prone to accidents -- a big reason why the government has pushed for their use.

When Indonesian President Joko Widodo came to Agats on an inspection tour following a measles outbreak and malnutrition crisis in 2018, he rode one of the electric motorbikes himself.

Most of the motorbikes used in Agats are made in China, shipped by boat from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city in eastern Java.

Each motorbike costs between 12 million ($814) and 14 million rupiah, not cheap for residents whose monthly minimum wage is around 3.5 million rupiah. However, they are so popular now that some sellers have backorders.

Two- and three-passenger electric motorbikes come and go on daily errands in front of roadside vegetable stands, vital for the functioning of local life.

Riding around from morning till late at night, motorbike taxi driver Felix Ndiken has seized upon the job opportunity the vehicles have brought to the town as the only means of public transportation.

Ndiken, 56, heads out at 6:30 a.m. with his 12-year-old daughter Patrisia on his motorbike to take her to school. After dropping her off, the father of nine starts his busy day -- bringing students to schools, housewives to markets and office workers to their workplaces. He has made the electric motorbike his "tool of trade" for the past six years.

Nearly 20 years ago, Ndiken moved to the regency from his hometown Merauke, a town on the southern tip of Papua, to join his wife, who is a civil servant stationed in Agats. He had been working in construction, but he decided to try his luck in the motorbike taxi business on his employer's recommendation.

Concerned about the future of locals in Agats, in September 2019 Ndiken established the "Papua Asmat Bike Taxi Association," gathering together about 50 people, mostly uneducated and unemployed young Asmats in their 20s and 30s.

He wants them to become less dependent on government assistance the regency receives as one of the least developed in Indonesia.

The government has been building houses for them, providing free electricity, etc. They also receive cash every month, either from the government or U.S. giant copper mining company Freeport, but Ndiken believes this can adversely affect peoples' desire to work and their independence.

Ndiken can earn some 400,000 rupiah a day, but his income was cut in half due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although he owns his electric motorbike, many members have to pay 50,000 to 100,000 rupiah a day to rent one for work, and the drop in income has been more serious for them.

"Job opportunities for the locals keep declining -- snatched up by migrants," Ndiken said.

His goal is for the association to own more electric motorbikes and rent them to members for a small fee. But he cautions the youth who he views as apathetic to "be players, not just spectators."

By all accounts, the development of this region of Indonesia, the largest island nation in the world, has been neglected. It was only around the end of 2015 that electricity became available 24 hours a day in the main areas of Agats.

From some perspectives, Agats is still considered a "frontier." Economically, there are structural advantages for migrants from Java and Sulawesi that are unavailable to Papuans, with the locals often looked down upon by other Indonesians.

Ndiken considers electric bikes to be a pathway to prosperity, with some association members, like a 32-year-old man Ndiken introduces who recently passed the civil service exam while working as a motorbike taxi driver and studying at university, a perfect example.

Another of his members is a woman who combines her role as a mother with her work on the motorbike. Whoever it is, Ndiken speaks passionately about them all.

"This is for the independence of Papuan people," he said.
KYODO NEWS - Jun 23, 2022 - 16:32 | All, Japan

Okinawa on Thursday marked the 77th anniversary of the end of a major World War II ground battle between Japanese and U.S. troops, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida the first Japanese leader in three years to attend the memorial service due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki in a "peace declaration" said Russia's invasion of Ukraine evoked memories of the conflict in the southern island prefecture while pledging to "continue efforts to abolish nuclear weapons and renounce war, so that Okinawa will never become a battlefield again."

The 1945 battle, during the final phase of World War II, claimed the lives of over 200,000 civilians and soldiers from the Japanese and American militaries. Fighting took place from March through June of that year.

Tamaki in his speech stressed the burden Okinawa continues to bear from hosting the bulk of U.S. military facilities in the country, a role that continues even though on May 15 the island marked 50 years since its reversion from U.S. rule.

Tamaki also called for the central government to abandon the controversial ongoing project to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan to another location in Okinawa.

Kishida in a speech said that "little by little, we will gather visible evidence of reducing the burden of the bases."

The prefecture constitutes around 0.6 percent of Japan's total land area but hosts 70.3 percent of U.S. military installations in the country by acreage.

The event held at the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, the site of the final stage of the battle, was downscaled for the third consecutive year due to the pandemic and was attended by 327 people including guests and organizers.

"Thinking of that time brings tears to my eyes," said Seiko Akamine, an 83-year-old resident of the prefectural capital Naha, who said his father was killed in action during the battle and his sister was killed in front of him when she was hit by a shell.

The Battle of Okinawa was a fierce ground war that took a heavy toll on the local civilian population, with one in four of the prefecture's residents dying.

The names of 55 people were added to the list of the war dead inscribed on the Cornerstone of Peace in the Itoman park this year, bringing the total to 241,686. The list covers all the war dead, irrespective of nationality or their civilian or military status.
KYODO NEWS - Jun 23, 2022 - 10:06 | All, World

The Group of Seven industrialized nations are expected to step up efforts to address China's "coercive economic practices" when their leaders meet in Germany later in June, while increasing pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Challenges posed by China will also be addressed in a long-term strategy that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plans to adopt at its summit scheduled in Spain after the G-7 gathering. NATO leaders will be joined in their meeting by four Asia-Pacific partners -- Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand -- for the first time.

"This is a good example of how Russia's war against Ukraine has galvanized our partnerships around the world," said one of the two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"It's also showing how Ukraine is not causing us to take our eye off the ball on China," the official added. "In fact, I think quite the opposite. It's firmed up the democratic world on both Russia and China."

The G-7 summit, involving the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan plus the European Union, is set to take place for three days from Sunday in Schloss Elmau, Germany. The NATO summit will be held in Madrid on June 29 and 30.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to attend both events to underline that unilateral changes to the status quo by force should not be tolerated anywhere in the world, amid concern over China's assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.

The other U.S. official said China's "unfair" and "coercive" economic practices are expected to be "a bigger topic of conversation" than last year's G-7 summit hosted by Britain, given "the extent to which those practices have become even more aggressive and more prominent in terms of the world economy."

Concerns remain over China's extensive use of industrial subsidies, intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers. Beijing has also been seen using its economic leverage to pressure other countries into concessions.

To advance a common vision of the world grounded in "freedom and openness," the United States is expecting the formal launch of a "global infrastructure partnership" at the G-7 summit that will support low- and middle-income countries, the official said.

A key highlight of the NATO summit, meanwhile, will be the endorsement of its new Strategic Concept, a document that will guide the 30-member trans-Atlantic alliance over the next decade.

The first U.S. official said Russia, which has invaded Ukraine, "continues to be the most serious and immediate threat to the alliance." But the Strategic Concept is also expected to address for the first time "the challenges that we are seeing coming from China."

The previous concept, drawn up in 2010, made no mention of China, while saying NATO would seek a "strategic partnership" with Russia.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with U.S. media on Wednesday that the alliance does not view Beijing as an "adversary," but there is a need to recognize the "rise of China," citing its nuclear buildup, heavy investment in key technologies and attempts to control critical infrastructure in Europe.
KYODO NEWS - Jun 23, 2022 - 21:31 | All, Japan

Japan conveyed "strong concern" to China on Thursday over its suspected gas field explorations in a contested area of the East China Sea as their senior diplomats held a teleconference, the Japanese government said.

But they also agreed to keep communicating toward the implementation of the 2008 bilateral agreement on joint gas development in the area, the Foreign Ministry said, although the negotiations have been stalled for more than a decade.

Takehiro Funakoshi, director general of the ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, complained to Hong Liang, head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, about China's "unilateral resource development" in the sea, according to the Japanese ministry.

The first director general-level talks since last November were held after Japan said Monday it had confirmed that China set up a new drilling facility for gas fields on the west side of a Tokyo-proposed median line separating the two nations' exclusive economic zones in the sea.

Related coverage:

China urges Japan not to meddle in gas development in E. China Sea

Japan, China diplomats to hold talks on suspected gas developments

Last week, Japan also confirmed new construction work by China that is suspected to be for gas exploration at another spot on the Chinese side of the proposed median line. Japan has been aware of 18 such Chinese structures in the area including those under construction, the ministry said.

Talks to implement the 2008 agreement have been suspended since 2010 when tensions increased following a Chinese trawler's collision with a Japan Coast Guard vessel.

Japan regards the median line as the demarcation line between the two neighbors under domestic law, while Beijing says its EEZ extends much further.

Japan fears China's unilateral development in the area may lead to the siphoning off of resources from beneath the Japanese side of the line.

During the virtual meeting, Funakoshi also raised the issue of repeated intrusions by Chinese ships into Japanese waters around the Senkaku Islands in the sea, the ministry said. China claims the Japan-controlled, uninhabited islands.

Funakoshi "strongly demanded" that China deal with bilateral issues, also including its "intensifying military activities" such as a joint overflight by Chinese and Russian strategic bombers in May over the Sea of Japan, as well as a maritime survey conducted by a Chinese research vessel in Japan's EEZ early this month, the ministry said.

On the plan of establishing an emergency hotline between Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the Chinese People's Liberation Army to avoid unintentional contingencies, the two officials agreed to aim for its early creation.
KYODO NEWS - Jun 23, 2022 - 22:03 | All, Japan

A Japanese court ordered the state on Thursday to pay a Brazilian man 100,000 yen ($734) in damages over injuries he sustained after he was forcibly restrained at an immigration facility in Tokyo in 2018.

The Tokyo District Court ruled that the physical restraint used by immigration officials on the detainee was unlawful. Andre Kussunoki, who was hurt while he was resisting his transfer to a different immigration facility, had sued the Japanese government, saying such action was unnecessary.

In handing down the ruling, Presiding Judge Ryota Shimozawa deemed the damages as "appropriate" given the dangers that such restraint can bring, the fear felt by the plaintiff and "humiliation he felt at not being respected as a human being."

Kussunoki, 35, filed the lawsuit in 2019, seeking 5 million yen in compensation. He claimed that the restraint used by the officials at what is now the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau amounted to assault.

Related coverage:

Family of dead Sri Lankan detainee demands apology from Japan gov't

Japan gov't to fight damages suit filed by kin of dead Sri Lankan

The incident occurred when the officials tried to transfer Kussunoki from Tokyo to an immigration center in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of the capital, in October 2018, according to the ruling.

He refused the transfer order and locked himself in a toilet at the Tokyo facility. The officials then had to forcibly remove him from the toilet and pushed Kussunoki's head to the ground for about eight minutes.

Kussunoki claims he sustained injuries to his left shoulder, but the court said it cannot determine if such injuries were caused by the officials during the incident.

The Immigration Services Agency of Japan said it will take "appropriate measures" after thoroughly examining the ruling.

Foreigners who have received deportation orders are detained at the bureau. In recent years, there have been cases of detainees sustaining injuries while being restrained at immigration facilities in Japan.

Treatment of detainees has garnered significant attention especially after the death of Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali, a Sri Lankan woman, while in detention at an immigration center in central Japan.

Last week, prosecutors dropped charges against 13 then senior officials of the center, saying they could not say that the officials failed to provide her with appropriate medical care, following a month of medical complaints before she died.
A worker carries out disinfection work in Istanbul, Turkey, June 16, 2022. (Xinhua/Shadati)

by Zeynep Cermen

ISTANBUL, June 22 (Xinhua) -- A plastic bottle filled with half water left under a certain temperature for six to seven days is enough to create a convenient environment for the reproduction of millions of "aggressive mosquitoes," warned a local health official in Turkey's largest city Istanbul.

Onder Yuksel Eryigit, head of the Istanbul municipality health department, told Xinhua that "this mosquito species (Aedes albopictus) is seen in all the districts of Istanbul... They are very aggressive, and when sucking blood, they stick their heads under people's skin and cause extreme skin lesions and diseases."

Such mosquitoes enter the country through transportation, mostly with freighters, and spread in big numbers under favorable breeding conditions, said Eryigit, noting that Turkey's Marmara, Aegean, and Black Sea regions are significantly infested.

To better cope with the growing problem, the Istanbul municipality has recently established a scientific council, consisting of doctors and academics from veterinary faculties, to draw a road map and make the necessary warnings to citizens.

About 200 traps have been installed in Istanbul to do species detection and population analysis, some 180 teams have been chasing round the clock the larvae of these mosquitoes, which pose a significant threat to human health, while they have so far detected nearly 200,000 breeding sources across Istanbul, according to Eryigit.

The authorities are asking the public to refrain from actions that cause mosquitoes to reproduce and be in close contact with the control teams, immediately submitting their disinfection requests.

"If the drinking water left for stray animals is not changed at certain intervals, it becomes a source. Second-hand tires, in which rainwater accumulates, also become a suitable breeding ground," Eryigit pointed out.

He also warned that if water containers under flower pots and water in decorative ponds are not changed periodically, they can become a convenient breeding ground for mosquitoes.

The local authorities have carried out disinfection works with well-equipped vehicles and spraying machines in reeds, lakes, streams, and ponds against mosquitoes and other pests, such as houseflies, ticks, fleas, mice, and cockroaches, said Enes Turan, a crew chief.

"The aim is not to remove them from the natural cycle, not to destroy the biological chain, but allow them to remain in nature at a certain intensity in a way that does not create the potential for disease transmission," Eryigit noted. 

A worker carries out disinfection work in Istanbul, Turkey, June 16, 2022. (Xinhua/Shadati)

A worker carries out disinfection work in Istanbul, Turkey, June 16, 2022. (Xinhua/Shadati)

Onder Yuksel Eryigit, head of the Istanbul municipality health department, speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Istanbul, Turkey, June 16, 2022. (Xinhua/Shadati)

Enes Turan, a crew chief, speaks during an interview with Xinhua at a reed field in Istanbul, Turkey, June 16, 2022. (Xinhua/Shadati)

A worker carries out disinfection work in Istanbul, Turkey, June 16, 2022. (Xinhua/Shadati)
BOGOTA, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Colombian President-elect Gustavo Petro announced Wednesday that he has contacted the Venezuelan government to open the border between the neighboring countries.

"I have communicated with the Venezuelan government to open the border and restore the full exercise of human rights on the border," Petro wrote on his Twitter account.

The Venezuelan government partially closed the border with Colombia in 2015, in order to curb insecurity from the neighboring country.

In 2019, diplomatic relations between the two countries were broken due to political differences during the administration of Colombian President Ivan Duque.

During his presidential campaign, Petro promised that if elected, he would open the entire border with Venezuela.

Petro won Sunday's runoff election and will assume the presidency on Aug. 7. 
CRTKL, a global cultural agency specialising in architecture, planning and design, has released an industry-leading annual sustainability report pledging that all projects will answer the universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.

The top architecture firm has outlined its commitments to developing projects that are planet-positive, and promoting the 17 integrated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), key drivers of sustainability in the region and adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015.

This commitment to the SDGs recognises that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Preeti Mogali, Associate at CRTKL, said: "We are pleased to see the progress of the SDGs in the region and we are committed to driving reliable and sustainable solutions to the biggest issues of both today and the future. Countries in the Middle East have pledged to leave no-one behind and the built environment will be significant in solving complex challenges as buildings are currently responsible for 40% of greenhouse gas emissions."

"We have been carbon neutral since 2020, leading a planet-positive design revolution. At CRTKL, we adopt a human-centric approach to sustainable development and are at the forefront with our significant strides recognised through the AIA 2030 challenge, an actionable climate strategy that provides a set of standards and goals for reaching net zero emissions in the built environment," stated Mogali.

"We are proud to be forward-thinking and are using advanced digital design to empower people to live full, healthy lives and shape a better, more sustainable world," she added.

Sustainability mind-set

CRTKL pointed out that it embeds a sustainability mind-set into everything it does, influencing consumers to be more planet-positive.

Resources in projects are used efficiently, providing for both immediate needs as well as long-term benefits to support all life on this planet and contribute to safe and affordable access to varied human needs in the community.

CRTKL has implemented climate neutral operations since 2020, building on successes each year, and has pledged that all projects will be climate positive for operation by 2030 and extending to climate positive materials by 2040.

These ambitious goals take into consideration both operational and embodied carbon. Where operational carbon refers to the total carbon produced from all energy sources used to keep our buildings warm, cool, ventilated, lighted and powered; embodied carbon refers to the greenhouse gas emissions arising from the mining, logging, harvesting, extracting, processing, manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of all the materials that go into a building.

SDGs in the Middle East

The upcoming major UN-led environmental events in the Arab World, COP 27 in Egypt and COP 28 in UAE, will showcase the importance of SDGs for public and private stakeholders to build a healthy and prosperous future for the region. As momentum builds to build back better and support long-term growth, CRTKL is embedding sustainability in projects to protect the planet, improve health and increase resilience.

The annual sustainability report outlines the seven SDGs most applicable to CRTKL operations and the positive action taken in advance of the landmark UN events.

These include good health and wellbeing, quality education, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, reduced inequalities and a commitment to working in partnership for the goals.

Reduced Carbon Footprint

CRTKL is mitigating the environmental impact of design projects as buildings are estimated to consume 50% of global materials and contribute to approximately half of global solid waste. CRTKL will continue to take climate action, support the development of sustainable cities and responsible consumption.

The company is transparently tracking carbon calculations using the GHG Protocol, developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and is the worlds most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standard.

Successes in 2021 for CRTKL includes a reduction of electricity footprint by more than 30%, largely based on right-sizing selected office spaces based on hybrid work models and a paper carbon footprint reduction by over 60% based on reduced paper usage as digital communication became fully embedded.-TradeArabia News Service
Guests visit the Hong Kong Palace Museum in south China's Hong Kong, June 22, 2022. The Hong Kong Palace Museum, located in the West Kowloon Cultural District of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), held its opening ceremony on Wednesday. (Xinhua)

HONG KONG, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM), located in the West Kowloon Cultural District of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), held its opening ceremony on Wednesday.

The ceremony was co-organized by the HKSAR government and the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Carrie Lam, chief executive of the HKSAR, said the establishment of the HKPM is intertwined with the unique advantages of Hong Kong under "one country, two systems."

The HKPM is also intertwined with the full support rendered by the central government for Hong Kong and its affection for the people of Hong Kong, as well as with the trust that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Cultural Heritage Administration and the Palace Museum have in Hong Kong, Lam told the opening ceremony.

Lam believes that the HKPM will certainly become a must-visit destination for overseas travelers in the future, showing the world the long-standing and enduring spirit of the Chinese people and promoting the image of an inclusive, open, credible and respectable China.

Li Qun, vice minister of culture and tourism and head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, said the establishment of the HKPM is an innovative blend of rich traditional Chinese culture, embodied by the Palace Museum, and the spirit of Hong Kong as a modern international city.

The museum's establishment is also a major milestone signifying the collaboration between mainland and Hong Kong, and an innovative development that enables the sharing and inheritance of our splendid traditional Chinese culture, he said.

The completion of the HKPM allows Hong Kong citizens to appreciate up-close these beautiful and precious treasures, experience the profoundness of traditional Chinese culture, feel the heartbeat of the development of contemporary China, and enhance the cultural confidence of Hong Kong as a thriving city, he said.

Wang Xudong, director of the Palace Museum, said that the Palace Museum has taken on the important mission of inheriting, protecting and promoting the distinguished traditions of Chinese culture.

"We seek the generous support of all sectors in Hong Kong to help us promote the museum as a center for mankind's cultural heritage," Wang said.

The HKPM will open to the public on July 2. Opening exhibitions are jointly curated by the HKPM and the Palace Museum in Beijing. Seven galleries will host exhibitions introducing the fascinating history and culture of the Palace Museum through unique artifacts from its collection.

To celebrate its opening, the HKPM will run a series of special activities, including a series of talks and music, dance and drama performances, as well as regular film screenings.

Chinese calligraphy and painting masterclasses, imperial ceramics workshops for children and adults, ink-rubbing workshops, and conservation and preservation workshops will be held on weekends to engage the public. 

Guests attend the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Palace Museum in south China's Hong Kong, June 22, 2022. The Hong Kong Palace Museum, located in the West Kowloon Cultural District of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), held its opening ceremony on Wednesday.(Xinhua)

Guests visit the Hong Kong Palace Museum in south China's Hong Kong, June 22, 2022. The Hong Kong Palace Museum, located in the West Kowloon Cultural District of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), held its opening ceremony on Wednesday. (Xinhua)
SANTIAGO, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Chile's government on Wednesday announced the decision to reinvest 30 percent of the profits generated by the state-owned copper corporation Codelco between 2021 and 2024 back into the company's projects.

President of Codelco's Board of Directors Maximo Pacheco hailed the government's move as a "historic" moment for the company. Until now, Codelco has for decades turned over 100 percent of its profits to the government coffers.

According to Chilean Finance Minister Mario Marcel, the reinvestment "would make it possible to control the level of indebtedness and reduce the company's financing costs and, to the extent that Codelco invests in good projects, it will also be a source of future profitability for the state."

As the world's leading copper producer, Codelco said that it aims to build structural projects that will ensure copper production of around 1.7 million tons per year for another 50 years.

With the newly announced reinvestment plan, which is expected to strengthen the company's financial balance, Codelco predicted that by 2030, new projects will account for 75 percent of its production. 
UNITED NATIONS, June 22 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Wednesday called on the Security Council to lift the arms embargo on the Central African Republic (CAR) as soon as possible.

The CAR foreign minister wrote to the president of the Security Council on June 8, pointing out that the arms embargo has a significant impact on the maintenance of national security of the CAR, and emphasizing the CAR government's great efforts in implementing Security Council resolutions and facilitating the lifting of the arms embargo.

China hopes that the council listens to the appeal of the CAR and lifts the embargo at an early date, so as to provide support to the CAR in addressing security challenges and maintaining national stability, said Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

He called for international support to boost the CAR's economy and mitigate the humanitarian situation.

The economy and livelihoods are major factors for the peace and stability of the country. Recently, the CAR is faced with more serious financial difficulties. There is a shortage of crude oil and water and electricity supply. The prices of imported goods are high. And there is a serious problem of food security, he told the Security Council.

"Some countries and international organizations should resume financial aid to the CAR as soon as possible and ensure adequate humanitarian funding to ease the humanitarian situation in the country," he said. "There is a need to invest more in food security, infrastructure, education, health, vocational training, and other areas to help the CAR eradicate poverty, improve livelihoods, and turn their energy potential advantages into development advantages so as to eliminate the root causes of conflicts." 
BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday urged efforts to accelerate the construction of basic systems for data and improve work on administrative divisions.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while chairing the 26th meeting of the central commission for deepening overall reform.

The meeting reviewed and adopted guidelines on the above-mentioned issues, as well as work plans to conduct pilot reforms of scientific and technological personnel evaluation and strengthen supervision over major payment platform enterprises.

Xi, who heads the commission, stressed the significance of basic systems for data in national development and security, urging efforts to safeguard national data security, protect personal information and commercial secrets, and empower the real economy with more efficient data circulation and use.

The country will enhance the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee on work regarding administrative divisions, ensure solid overall planning and avert unregulated and disorderly acts, Xi said.

He also highlighted the importance of building an evaluation system for scientific and technological personnel that is oriented toward innovation, capability and contribution.

Regarding large payment and fintech platform enterprises, Xi called for efforts to improve regulations, strengthen institutional weak links, ensure the security of payment and financial infrastructure, and guard against and defuse potential systemic financial risks. He also called for these enterprises to be supported in better serving the real economy and smoothing the "dual circulation" of domestic and international markets.

Li Keqiang, Wang Huning and Han Zheng, who are members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy heads of the central commission for deepening overall reform, also attended the meeting.

China has made solid progress in the promulgation of data-related laws, the marketization of data factors, and the building of a digital economy, the meeting noted.

It called for establishing a data property right system, as well as mechanisms concerning the circulation, transaction and revenue distribution of data factors.

Security should be emphasized throughout the whole process of data governance, it stressed, saying that the country will build a multi-party data governance pattern involving government, enterprises and society, and tighten industry-specific and cross-industrial regulations.

The meeting also underlined efforts to bring payment and other financial activities of platform enterprises under regulation based on laws and rules.

China will tighten oversight of financial holding companies, financial institutions that platform enterprises have stakes in, and internet financial services including deposits, loans and insurance, said the meeting. 
BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- China commends the Nepali government's decision not to move ahead on the State Partnership Program (SPP) with the United States, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily news briefing when asked to comment on the issue.

Wang said that the program had been widely controversial in Nepal, as various political parties and factions, the government, the army and people across the Nepalese society see the SPP as a military and security initiative closely linked to the Indo-Pacific Strategy. They consider it against the national interests of Nepal and its long-held non-aligned, balanced foreign policy to be part of the SPP.

"As Nepal's friendly and close neighbor and strategic cooperative partner, China commends the Nepali government's decision," Wang said, adding that China will continue to support Nepal in upholding its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and support Nepal's commitment to its independent and non-aligned foreign policy.

"China stands ready to work with Nepal to jointly safeguard regional security, stability and shared prosperity," said the spokesperson. 
BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The Beijing Initiative of BRICS Business Community was released during the BRICS Business Forum to strengthen cooperation and promote the recovery of the global economy.

Faced with unprecedented shock and hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a changing international landscape and governance, and uncertainties in economic recovery, the international community looks to BRICS to fight the pandemic, promote economic recovery, and maintain peace and stability, the initiative said.

"We support a comprehensive, close, practical, and inclusive cooperation and are ready to actively contribute the strengths of the business community to this end," said the initiative, deeming emerging economies and developing countries "important forces in driving global economic recovery."

On health cooperation, the initiative called for solidarity to meet the challenges brought by COVID-19 through measures including strengthening vaccine research and promoting knowledge-sharing on traditional medicine.

The initiative expressed support for an open, transparent, fair, inclusive, non-discriminatory, and rules-based multilateral trading system.

It called on BRICS countries to increase cooperation in trade and investment facilitation, enhance business environment transparency, and deepen exchanges in e-commerce, intellectual property rights, trade in services, micro, small and medium-sized firms, and economic and technical cooperation.

It also urged promoting global sustainable development and accelerating the green transition, embracing the digital economy, and enhancing the resilience of the industrial and supply chains.

The BRICS Business Forum 2022 took place in Beijing on Wednesday in an online and on-site format.

Representatives of the business communities of BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa -- had extensive and in-depth exchanges on promoting BRICS cooperation under the theme of "Deepening BRICS Business Partnership for a Better Future for Global Development." 
Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over the 119th meeting of the Council of Chairpersons of the 13th NPC Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, June 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The Council of Chairpersons of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee held a meeting on Thursday in Beijing.

The meeting, presided over by Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, heard reports on proposed changes to a draft revision to the Law on Physical Culture and Sports, a draft black soil conservation law, a draft amendment to the Anti-monopoly Law, and a draft amendment to the procedural rules of the NPC Standing Committee.

Participants of the meeting also deliberated on the relevant drafts.

The meeting decided to submit the draft documents to the ongoing session of the NPC Standing Committee for review. 
A child helps his family harvest sorghum in the Midi district of Hajjah province, northern Yemen on June 19, 2022. (Photo by Mohammed Al-Wafi/Xinhua)



"Despite working for long hours every day under the torching sun, at the harvest we earn nothing," a local farmer complained as his harvested sorghum cannot reach the buyers because of the siege imposed by the Houthis.

HAJJAH, Yemen, June 22 (Xinhua) -- When the sorghum in their fields is finally ripe, farmers in Yemen's northwestern province of Hajjah feel no joy or excitement, only worries and anxieties.

"Most of the crops will end up rotten," Issa Jalhouf, a farmer in Hajjah, said before his sorghum field in the Midi district of Hajjah.

Jalhouf explained that although sorghum is not a traditional food for local villagers, he chose to grow it because it is relatively easy to cultivate and he had plans for selling it to other cities, even abroad. But his plans didn't work amid the tight siege by the Houthi group.

"The siege prevents us from reaching other cities to sell the crop," the Yemeni man complained, adding that his harvest also faced the threats of birds, insects, and eventually time.

Jalhouf and his family had been toiling in the field to harvest the sorghum and carefully preserved the sorghum seeds under straws in the hope that they can find buyers before the crops perish.

A Yemeni man holds a bundle of sorghum in the Midi district of Hajjah province, northern Yemen on June 19, 2022. (Photo by Mohammed Al-Wafi/Xinhua)



"Despite working for long hours every day under the torching sun, at the harvest we earn nothing," he lamented, adding that many of the farmers in the village had abandoned their fields because farming brings not profits but loss for them.

While cultivating sorghum seems a bad business decision for Jalhouf, the farmer explained that he had little option.

"The siege is tightened around us from every direction and cuts off all roads leading to other regions. We cannot buy fertilizers, pesticides, or spare parts for agricultural equipment," said Jalhouf, a father of five, adding sorghum, known for its low maintenance, was his only choice.

Children help their family harvest sorghum in the Midi district of Hajjah province, northern Yemen on June 19, 2022. (Photo by Mohammed Al-Wafi/Xinhua)



Local officials told Xinhua that despite a national truce, the Houthi group, which controls a large part of the northern Hajjah province, has tightened the siege on Midi, causing great damage to the region's agriculture sector.

According to the local authorities' estimate, only 26.7 percent of the district's arable lands are being cultivated while thousands of the residents in the district are facing a severe food shortage.

Just a couple of miles from Jalhouf's sorghum field, Yousif Fayed and his family, who are busy harvesting their sorghum, shared Jalhouf's woes.

A Yemeni man uses a traditional agricultural tool to extract the kernels of sorghum in the Midi district of Hajjah province, northern Yemen on June 19, 2022. (Photo by Mohammed Al-Wafi/Xinhua)



"I didn't expect that a day would come when I wouldn't be able to sell some of my crops for one meal. There are no markets here, no buyers, and we can't travel to other cities," Fayed said, adding that many farmlands and roads were buried with landmines, which makes farming a hazardous vocation in the district.

"This year I cultivate two different crops, sorghum, and tomatoes. But either of them can bring me enough profits," he grumbled while cutting off the sorghum ears with a sickle.

Hajjah used to be an intense front of armed conflicts between the Yemeni government and the Houthi militia. While the governmental forces recaptured most of the province in 2018, the Houthis have been imposing a strict siege on part of the strategic province. 
TIANJIN, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Commercial compressors filed out from an automated production line, with a few workers operating the intelligent system and checking the quality at the Danfoss smart manufacturing factory in north China's Tianjin Municipality.

Danfoss, a leading Danish heating technology company, made its first investment in China in 1996 by establishing the Danfoss (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. After over two decades, the subsidiary has developed into a modern factory integrating research and development (R&D), new product testing and intelligent manufacturing.

Dai Jian, head of Danfoss Global Services, China, and general manager of Danfoss (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., said that with more than 10 production sites across the country, Danfoss always regards China as its "second home market." China has now become its second-biggest regional market and the largest purchase market.

"We transferred a compressor production line from the United States to Tianjin last year. This year, eight to 10 production lines from Europe are expected to be transferred to Tianjin, and the preparation work has already started," Dai said. All the new production lines will bring 800 million yuan (about 119.3 million U.S. dollars) of output value annually to Danfoss Tianjin in the future, Dai said.

Driven by China's goals of peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, Danfoss has made energy conservation and emission reduction a key development area in China and continued to increase investment.

In 2021, Danfoss announced it would invest 140 million yuan to build a global refrigeration R&D and testing center in Tianjin. "It is our largest R&D center currently, and we expect to put it into use by the end of this year to put the newly-developed products on the market," Dai said.

In line with China's development goals, enjoying multiple favorable policies and a promising business environment, Dai said these are the main reasons for the company to take root, develop and continue to increase investment in China.

In addition to Danfoss, many foreign enterprises have also set their sights on China's future development and expanded their businesses in the country.

Foreign giants like Fast Retailing, Siemens Healthineers, and L'Oreal have been opening new stores, increasing investment, and launching new projects, demonstrating their confidence in China, as well as the determination to expand their presence.

In the eastern city of Suzhou, Mando from the Republic of Korea plans to invest over one billion yuan in new projects in 2022. In Zhejiang Province, Nidec Elesys (Zhejiang) plans to further invest 150 million yuan this year to expand the production capacity of inverters for new energy vehicles.

According to the 2022 China Business Climate Survey Report released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China), two-thirds of the surveyed companies plan to increase their investment in China this year.

With consumption upgrading accelerating in recent years, the vast market of China, with over 400 million middle-incomers, is attractive enough for global investment, said Cong Yi, a professor at Tianjin University of Finance and Economics.

In recent years, China has continued shortening the negative list for foreign investment and put into force laws and regulations including the Foreign Investment Law to protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors.

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, China has made great efforts to stabilize the industrial and supply chains and ensure the steady progress of major projects, which further bolstered foreign companies' investment confidence in China.

According to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 17.3 percent year on year to 564.2 billion yuan in the first five months of the year. In U.S. dollar terms, the inflow went up 22.6 percent year on year to 87.77 billion U.S. dollars.

During the period, investment from the Republic of Korea, the United States, and Germany climbed by 52.8 percent, 27.1 percent, and 21.4 percent, respectively.

Shu Jueting, a MOC spokesperson, said in May that multinational companies have actively expanded investment in China, which shows foreign investors' confidence in the prospects of the Chinese economy and reflects the attraction of China's huge market, complete industrial system and infrastructure, as well as abundant human resources.

Shu also noted that China will continue to deepen its opening-up and optimize services for foreign investors to create more opportunities for foreign-funded enterprises. 
LANZHOU, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Fuxi, the legendary ancestor of the Chinese nation, was on Wednesday commemorated by people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

At 9:50 a.m. Beijing Time, the ritual kicked off with drum beats at the Fuxi Temple in Tianshui, northwest China's Gansu Province, which is considered to be the ancestor's birthplace. Fuxi is believed to be the inventor of writing, fishing and hunting.

With over 300 worshippers, Fuxi's feats were honored with a dance at the end of the ceremony, after which they left floral tributes at his statue.

At the same time, a similar annual event was held in New Taipei City, marking the ninth year that the legendary figure has been simultaneously commemorated across the Taiwan Strait.

Chien Chien-hua, who came from Taipei to Tianshui to attend the ceremony, said, "The commemoration of Fuxi strengthens the cultural identity of the Chinese nation, and helps more young people learn about the profound Chinese culture."

According to historical records, the commemoration of Fuxi has a history of more than 2,000 years in the Weihe River basin. In 2006, the ceremony was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage by the State Council.

During the memorial ceremony in New Taipei City, Chiang Chi-chen, former chairperson of the Chinese Kuomintang party, said that the commemoration of Fuxi brings more profound cultural communication to people across the Strait.

In view of the impact of COVID-19, livestreaming events and online commemoration platforms were organized to enhance cross-Strait exchanges. 
The Bahrain Institute of Pearls and Gemstones (Danat) plans to promote collaboration with Bahrain Polytechnic to qualify more national cadres in the domains of pearl extraction, examination and trade.

For this Noora Jamsheer, Danats CEO, discussed with the CEO of Bahrain Polytechnic, Professor Ciaran Cathain, the provision of training and career prospects for college students and graduates at Danat.

At the meeting a common working ground was identified for introducing students of the Polytechnic to Danats diverse activities and present before them the rewarding employment opportunities in the pearl and gemstone industry. The topics discussed include jointly preparing and publishing studies and research conducted by Danat and utilising the college's research and scientific capabilities in this field.

Investing in national talent

During the meeting, Jamsheer emphasised Danats readiness to cooperate with the Polytechnic and pointed out that investing in Bahrain's national talents is an essential element of the country's plans to rejuvenate the pearl sector and boost the nation's position as a world leader in its field.

Cathain expressed his admiration for Danat, especially its efforts to enhance Bahrain's reputation regionally and globally in the pearl industry.

Meanwhile, Danat participated in the Annual Career Fair organised by Polytechnic as part of the institute's keenness to familiarise national cadres with pearling.

Jamsheer said the exhibition allows students to learn about labour market requirements and stated Danats eagerness to continue participating in this exhibition alongside many other national institutions.

-- TradeArabia News Service
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Pradeep Kumar Rawat, India's new ambassador to China in Beijing, capital of China, June 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Pradeep Kumar Rawat, India's new ambassador to China in Beijing Wednesday.

Wang said that China and India's common interests far outweigh their differences, adding that the two sides should support rather than undermine each other, strengthen cooperation rather than guard against each other, and enhance mutual trust rather than be suspicious of each other.

The Chinese foreign minister said the two sides should meet each other halfway to push bilateral relations back onto the track of stable and healthy development at an early date, jointly address various global challenges, and safeguard the common interests of China and India as well as the vast number of developing countries.

He called on both sides to adhere to the important strategic consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, insist on placing the border issue in a proper position within bilateral ties, and seek solutions through dialogue and consultation.

China and India should also give full play to their traditional advantages in people-to-people and cultural exchanges, continuously expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and work together to create a better future for mankind, he added.

Noting the fruitful history of exchanges between India and China, Rawat said that India will firmly pursue an independent foreign policy, and is willing to work with China to adhere to the strategic consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strengthen communication, properly handle differences, enhance mutual trust, and keep advancing bilateral cooperation. 
Afghanistan was hit by the deadliest earthquake in 20 years Wednesday.

According to local authorities, casualties may further rise as the quake has destroyed scores of houses in the region. Xinhua reporter is on the spot of Paktika province, one of the worst-hit areas.



Produced by Xinhua Global Service 
A visitor tries products from Iran during the 18th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 12, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)

China highly values its relations with Iran and stands ready to work with the Iranian side to continue to firmly support each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns in the spirit of the comprehensive strategic partnership, Wang said.

BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday held a phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian at the latter's request.

Amir Abdollahian wished a complete success for the 14th BRICS Summit as well as the High-level Dialogue on Global Development and expressed the belief that China as the rotating chair will create new opportunities for multilateral cooperation within the framework of the BRICS.

He reiterated Iran's support for the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative proposed by China.

Wang said the BRICS Summit and the High-level Dialogue on Global Development to be hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping holds great significance for strengthening the construction of the BRICS mechanism, enhancing the unity and cooperation between emerging markets and developing countries, as well as facilitating global efforts in dealing with common challenges to development.

Staff of Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education arrange boxes of donated masks by China in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 25, 2020. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)

China highly values its relations with Iran and stands ready to work with the Iranian side to continue to firmly support each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns in the spirit of the comprehensive strategic partnership, he said.

Amir Abdollahian briefed Wang on latest progress in the negotiations on resuming the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying that the bullying actions of the United States is the major obstacle to current negotiations.

He added that the Iranian side will unswervingly safeguard its national interests, and is firmly committed to resolving differences through negotiations, so as to achieve an agreement at an early date.

Amir Abdollahian also expressed gratitude to China for its constructive role on the Iranian nuclear issue.

Wang said that China disapproves of any non-constructive measures that lead to the continuous escalation of the situation, and that all parties should continue to uphold the correct logic of right and wrong and work tirelessly to reach an agreement through diplomatic efforts.

Wang said China opposes the politicization of affairs of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and supports the IAEA and Iran to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue and cooperation.

He said the U.S. side should earnestly realize its own responsibility and actively respond to Iran's reasonable demands, adding that the Chinese side will continue to uphold justice, support the negotiation process, and is willing to maintain close communication with the Iranian side. 
TOKYO, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa on Thursday repeated its call on the Japanese government to scrap plans to relocate a U.S. military base within the prefecture.

Governor Denny Tamaki made the remarks in a "peace declaration" at a ceremony observing the 77th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa, a bloody World War II ground battle that saw more than 200,000 lives lost on the island.

At the ceremony held in Peace Memorial Park in Okinawa's Itoman, Tamaki pledged to "continue efforts to abolish nuclear weapons and renounce war, so that Okinawa will never become a battlefield again."

Tamaki also highlighted the fact that Okinawa is still shouldering the host of U.S. military bases in Japan and called for plans to relocate a U.S. Marine Corps base within the prefecture to be scrapped.

Despite continued staunch opposition from the Okinawa prefectural government and local citizens, Japan's central government has maintained its push forward with the contentious relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan.

Okinawa hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, yet the tiny sub-tropical island accounts for just a small fraction of Japan's total landmass.

Local residents in Okinawa have for decades been forced to shoulder the burden of hosting the majority of U.S. bases in the entire country and have often been the victims of the criminal activities by U.S. military and related personnel, including cases of rape and murder.

They have also had to endure a steady flow of accidents and mishaps involving U.S. military aircraft and live fire drills among others.

In addition, the new location for the U.S. base has an extremely delicate ecosystem unique to Okinawa that the locals desperately want to protect.

The overall plans for the new base involve at least 157 hectares of land being reclaimed from pristine waters off the Henoko area and the building of a V-shaped runway.

The plans stem from a pact made between the United States and Japan in 1996, with the coastal region of Henoko being selected as the replacement site for the Futenma base in 1999.

The local and central governments have long been at odds over the relocation of the base, with Okinawans calling for the new base to be relocated outside of their prefecture or Japan altogether.

On Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attended the annual commemoration ceremony in Okinawa.

According to Okinawa's prefectural government, 94,000 civilians, the equivalent of 25 percent of Okinawa's population in 1945, a similar number of Japanese soldiers, and more than 12,000 U.S. troops were killed during the savage four-month battle on the island which raged from March 1945. 
BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- China's National Meteorological Center Thursday renewed a blue alert for rainstorms in various parts of the country.

From 8 a.m. Thursday to 8 a.m. Friday, heavy downpours are expected to lash parts of Henan, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning. Some areas may experience up to 130 millimeters of rainfall.

Some of these regions are also likely to encounter over 60 millimeters of hourly precipitation, accompanied by thunderstorms and gales.

The meteorological center has advised local governments to make appropriate preparations and check the drainage systems in cities, farmland, and fishponds.

Schools and kindergartens have been asked to take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of children, while drivers have been alerted to watch out for flooding and traffic jams.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow, and blue. 
TIANJIN, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Seven people with minor injuries have been discharged from hospital following a gas explosion in China's Tianjin Municipality, according to the investigation team on Wednesday.

Three individuals who sustained severe burns are in stable condition and another six with minor injuries will be discharged from hospital soon, the team said.

As of 8:10 a.m. on Wednesday, the gas supply in the affected area has returned to normal. At noon, the power supply returned to all surrounding shops, with the exception of shops at the explosion site. Traffic returned to normal at 12:30 p.m.

The explosion occurred at 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday near an intersection in Baodi District, injuring 23 people, including the three who sustained severe burns.

An initial investigation has shown that the accident was caused by a gas leak due to faulty operation by workers. Nine individuals responsible for the explosion are in police custody. 
Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, attends a symposium of NPC deputies in Beijing, capital of China, June 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Li Zhanshu Wednesday urged lawmakers to faithfully represent the will and interests of the people, and serve as the bridge that links the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the country with the people.

Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, made the call while attending a symposium of NPC deputies.

Li heard their comments and suggestions on studying and implementing the spirit of a central conference on work related to people's congresses and on giving full play to the role of deputies.

He called on lawmakers to maintain unity with the CPC Central Committee, and perform their duties bearing in mind the big picture of the Party and the country, as well as the people's fundamental interests.

Lawmakers should take the lead in implementing the CPC Central Committee's decisions and plans while explaining and publicizing to the people the CPC Central Committee's major policies, the Constitution and laws, Li said. 
China has been a change-maker in many fields including poverty alleviation and combating climate change, Mohammed Saqib, secretary-general of India China Economic and Cultural Council (ICEC), has said in a recent interview with Xinhua.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- On the evening of June 23, Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted the 14th BRICS Summit in Beijing via video link.

Following is the full text of the remarks by President Xi at the Summit:

Fostering High-quality Partnership and Embarking on a New Journey of BRICS Cooperation

Remarks by H.E. Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

At the 14th BRICS Summit

23 June 2022

Dear Colleagues,

Our world today is living through accelerating changes unseen in a century and continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. They confront humanity with unprecedented challenges and usher in a new phase of instability and transformation for global development.

The Chinese people often say, "True gold can stand the test of fire." Over the past 16 years, the giant ship of BRICS has sailed forward tenaciously against raging torrents and storms. Riding the wind and cleaving the waves, it has embarked on a righteous course of mutual support and win-win cooperation. Standing at the crossroads of history, we should both look back at the journey we have traveled and keep in mind why we established BRICS in the first place, and look forward to a shared future of a more comprehensive, close, practical and inclusive high-quality partnership so as to jointly embark on a new journey of BRICS cooperation.

First, we need to uphold solidarity and safeguard world peace and tranquility. Our world today is overshadowed by the dark clouds of Cold War mentality and power politics, and beset by constantly emerging traditional and non-traditional security threats. Some countries attempt to expand military alliances to seek absolute security, stoke bloc-based confrontation by coercing other countries into picking sides, and pursue unilateral dominance at the expense of others' rights and interests. If such dangerous trends are allowed to continue, the world will witness even more turbulence and insecurity.

It is important that BRICS countries support each other on issues concerning core interests, practice true multilateralism, safeguard justice, fairness and solidarity and reject hegemony, bullying and division. This year, we have held the Foreign Ministers' Meeting and the Meeting of High Representatives on National Security, deepened cooperation on counter-terrorism, cybersecurity and other issues, enhanced coordination at the United Nations and other multilateral institutions, and spoke out for justice on the international stage.

Not long ago, I put forward the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which advocates a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, follows the philosophy that humanity is an indivisible security community, and aims to create a new path to security that features dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance and win-win over zero-sum. China would like to work with BRICS partners to operationalize the GSI and bring more stability and positive energy to the world.

Second, we need to uphold cooperation to boost development and jointly tackle risks and challenges. The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis has resulted in disruptions to global industrial and supply chains, sustained hikes of commodity prices, and weaker international monetary and financial systems. All these have cast shadows over development worldwide, and emerging markets and developing countries bear the brunt. But just as a crisis may bring chaos, it can also spur change. A lot will ride on how we handle the crisis.

This year, we launched the BRICS Initiative on Enhancing Cooperation on Supply Chains and the Initiative on Trade and Investment for Sustainable Development, adopted the Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters and the Strategy on Food Security Cooperation, and held a High-level Meeting on Climate Change for the first time. We should make good use of these new platforms to boost connectivity of industrial and supply chains and jointly meet challenges in poverty reduction, agriculture, energy, logistics and other fields. We should support greater development of the New Development Bank and a steady process to admit new members, and improve the Contingent Reserve Arrangement to cement the BRICS financial safety net and firewall. We should also expand BRICS cooperation on cross-border payment and credit rating to facilitate trade, investment and financing among our countries.

Last year, I put forward the Global Development Initiative (GDI), which aims to re-energize the implementation of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and build a global community of development. China stands ready to work with BRICS partners to add more substance to the GDI and contribute to stronger, greener and healthier global development.

Third, we need to uphold the pioneering spirit and innovation and unleash the potential and vitality of cooperation. Those who seize the opportunities of the new economy, such as big data and artificial intelligence, are in sync with the pulse of the times. Those who seek to create monopoly, blockade and barriers in science and technology in order to disrupt other countries' innovation and development and hold on to their dominant position are doomed to fail.

We need to improve global science and technology governance and allow more people to access and benefit from the fruits of scientific and technological advances. This year, we have accelerated the building of the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution Innovation Center in Xiamen, hosted the Forum on the Development of Industrial Internet and Digital Manufacturing and the Forum on Big Data for Sustainable Development, reached the Digital Economy Partnership Framework, issued the Initiative for Cooperation on Digitalization of Manufacturing, and established a network of technology transfer centers and an aerospace cooperation mechanism. All these have opened new channels for closer industrial policy coordination between BRICS countries. Recognizing the importance of talents in the digital age, we have set up the Alliance for Vocational Education, and organized the Skills Competition and the Women Innovation Contest to build a talent pool for stronger BRICS cooperation on innovation and entrepreneurship.

Fourth, we need to uphold openness and inclusiveness and pool collective wisdom and strength. BRICS countries gather not in a closed club or an exclusive circle, but a big family of mutual support and a partnership for win-win cooperation. At the Xiamen Summit in 2017, I proposed the "BRICS Plus" cooperation approach. Over the past five years, "BRICS Plus" cooperation has deepened and expanded, setting a prime example of South-South cooperation and seeking strength through unity among emerging markets and developing countries.

Under the new circumstances, it is all the more important for BRICS countries to pursue development with open doors and boost cooperation with open arms. This year we, for the first time, invited guest countries to attend the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The newly established BRICS Vaccine R&D Center has an unequivocal commitment to openness. Step by step, we have organized a variety of "BRICS Plus" events in such areas as scientific and technological innovation, people-to-people exchanges and sustainable development. All these provide new platforms for cooperation among emerging markets and developing countries.

In recent years, many countries have asked to join the BRICS cooperation mechanism. Bringing in fresh blood will inject new vitality into BRICS cooperation and increase the representativeness and influence of BRICS. This year we have, on separate occasions, had in-depth discussions on the question of membership expansion. It is important to advance this process to allow like-minded partners to become part of the BRICS family at an early date.

Colleagues,

As representatives of emerging markets and developing countries, we must make the right decision and take responsible actions at this critical juncture of history. What we do will have a significant impact on the world. Let us stay united, pool strength and forge ahead to build a community with a shared future for mankind and jointly create a bright future for humanity.

Thank you. 
The 16th edition of Najah Fair, a leading higher education event, is set to take place in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai, addressing the needs of high school and postgraduate students from across the UAE.



The first round of the fair is to be held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec) from October 16 to 18, followed by the second round at Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC) from October 23 to 25.



Launched 15 years ago, Najah attracts the participation of over 150 universities from 20 countries every year and welcomes more than 16,000 students and parents. Powered and supported by the Ministry of Education, the fair is a leading platform for student recruitment in the UAE, with its data affirming that 96% of exhibitors are keen on actively participating in its events, while 85% consider the fair an integral part of their marketing strategy.



Several renowned universities have already confirmed their participation in Najah 2022, including United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), Khalifa University, Zayed University, Al Ain University, New York University Abu Dhabi, and Canadian University Dubai, along with various international universities from the United States, Canada, Australia, UK, Japan, Malaysia, and Europe.



All stages of education receive considerable attention, and most prominently higher education, due to its major contribution in preparing the next generation of leaders, in line with the UAEs national agenda. Aiming to promote the last 50-year journey of leadership and achievements, these educational efforts also strive to enhance leadership, excellence, and innovation for the next 50 years, along with improving the education ecosystems as per the highest standards worldwide, said Dr Mohammad Ibrahim Al-Mualla, the Undersecretary of Academic Affairs for Higher Education at the Ministry of Education.



Since its inception, Najah has provided unique learning opportunities as well as served as a leading knowledge platform. Additionally, it aligns students needs for understanding options for scholarship programs, future jobs, and university features by showcasing the offerings of both local and international academic institutions. We will continue to support the fair, as a key contributor in realising our vision and ambitions of providing graduates with the necessary tools to help them make informed decisions, leading to a thriving future, he added.



Al-Mualla highlighted that the Ministry of Education contributes to the continuous momentum of Najah as a key event in line with the wise leaderships vision to achieve the goals and requirements of sustainable development. The Ministrys support also serves its aims of upskilling Emirati students, improving their scientific and professional competencies, and building a future-ready generation for a knowledge-based economy.  TradeArabia News Service
BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Public Security has urged police nationwide to strike hard on crimes involving the illegal occupation of farmland and the production and sale of fake or substandard agricultural materials amid efforts to safeguard national food security.

Harsh penalties should be given in accordance with the law to suspects who engage in illegally using farmland for non-agricultural purposes, such as soil collection, stacking solid waste, or non-agricultural construction, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The ministry also asked police to show no leniency in cases involving gang-related crimes, and thoroughly investigate and fast-track cases involving the production and selling of fake seeds, fertilizers, or other agricultural materials. 
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Jang Ha-sung, ambassador of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to China, who will soon leave his post and return to the ROK, on June 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday met with Jang Ha-sung, ambassador of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to China, who will soon leave his post and return to the ROK.

Wang thanked Jang Ha-sung for dedicating a lot of effort and making important contributions to deepening China-ROK relations during his tenure in office.

Wang said China's friendly policy toward the ROK has not changed, and China will continue to place the ROK in an important position in its neighborhood diplomacy. He said China hopes the new ROK government will also continue to adhere to its friendly policy toward China.

The two sides should take the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to push the China-ROK strategic cooperative partnership to a new level, Wang said, adding both sides should strengthen communication and coordination, jointly maintain regional peace and stability, and work together for global development and prosperity in the face of challenges.

Jang Ha-sung said he has witnessed the rapid development of China as well as the major achievements of ROK-China relations during his three-year term.

He said he believes that China will maintain the strong momentum of development, and that the friendship and pragmatic cooperation between the ROK and China will be further advanced. 
TEHRAN, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Thursday expressed hope for the nuclear talks in Vienna to resume "in the near future," state TV reported.

"I hope the talks will resume in the near future" to rescue the Iranian nuclear pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Amir-Abdollahian told a televised joint press conference with his visiting Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

"We continue on the path of diplomacy, which is the right path, and once again we invite America to reality," he said.

The Iranian top diplomat also expressed his gratitude to Russia for its opposition to an anti-Iran resolution proposed by the United States and its European allies in a recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting.

Meanwhile, Lavrov said the goal is to "correct the mistake the United States made over the JCPOA."

"When the United States withdrew from the JCPOA, it once again violated international law. We must work to revive the JCPOA in its original form in the 2015 deal without any additions," he noted.

Iran signed the nuclear deal with the world powers in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for the removal of the U.S.-led sanctions. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran.

Since April 2021, eight rounds of talks have been held in the Austrian capital between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties to revive the deal.

However, the talks have been suspended since March when it was believed to be only a step away from a final agreement, raising deep concerns about their prospect.

In early June, the IAEA's Board of Governors adopted an anti-Iran resolution proposed by the United States, Britain, France and Germany, accusing Iran of noncooperation.

In reaction to the resolution, Iran has shut off a number of the IAEA's surveillance cameras at its nuclear sites. 
BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- To expedite the progress of green upgrading in industrial production, Chinese authorities have introduced a raft of measures to boost energy conservation and reduce carbon emissions, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

China aims to cut water use per 10,000 yuan (1,491 U.S. dollars) of industrial added value by 16 percent by 2025 from the 2020 level, according to a recently released action plan on improving industrial water use efficiency, the next priority in energy conservation.

The action plan specified six detailed tasks, including speeding up the promotion of water conservation technologies, boosting water efficiency in key industries, and improving the structure of industrial water consumption, according to an official with the ministry.

The ministry will also encourage and guide enterprises to improve the quality of electricity and transform energy consumption patterns.

"We will help establish a number of green factories, green industrial parks and green supply chain management firms, and support industrial firms with their green upgrading," said the MIIT official.

Xin Guobin, vice minister of industry and information technology, said the ministry will work to promote green manufacturing and encourage green consumption.

For instance, the research, development and promotion of energy-saving industrial equipment, as well as the consumption of new energy vehicles, photovoltaic and solar-thermal products, and green construction materials, will be encouraged.

China has promoted over 20,000 green products and 4,000 types of equipment for energy and water conservation and comprehensive resource utilization since 2011. Currently, there are more than 1,300 green and environment protection equipment enterprises, according to the corporate information provider Tianyancha.

Last year, the energy consumption per unit of added value of the country's large industrial enterprises with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan dropped 5.6 percent from the previous year, after logging a 16-percent decline in the 2016-2020 period. 
JAKARTA, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The Group of 20 (G20) expects to collect no less than 1.5 billion U.S. dollars by the end of this year to build infrastructures to prevent and prepare for potential pandemics in the future, said Budi Gunadi Sadikin, health minister of Indonesia and the current G20 host, on Thursday.

The commitment to establishing the fund, called the Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF), was agreed upon by the health ministers of G20 members, along with the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), at the first Health Ministerial Meeting (HWG) held on June 20 to 21 in Indonesia's Yogyakarta.

Sadikin told a Thursday press briefing that as of now, several countries and a few charity foundations had pledged to donate a total of 1.1 billion dollars.

The fund will be housed by the World Bank, while the WHO will advise the implementation and allocation of the money.

Sadikin elaborated several allocation plans for the fund, including building and improving access to emergency medical countermeasures, establishing a global network of genomic surveillance labs, and building global research and manufacturing hubs.

Sadikin said the money will be used to produce emergency tools needed for timely and equitable responses to future pandemics, including vaccines, therapeutics, medicines, personal protective equipment (PPE), and testing kits, that will be equally distributed to all countries once another pandemic strikes.

The minister said the G20 members agreed that they needed some connected sequence laboratories to identify and share genome sequence data from pathogens that can cause outbreaks.

"By having such connected labs we can anticipate or overcome an outbreak better. We will be able to get information faster with stronger data sharing mechanisms, then diagnose faster, then we can produce vaccines faster."

The minister said the G20 forum agreed to build several additional global research and manufacturing hubs in Southern countries for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

Most of the countries in the Global South are underdeveloped and developing countries, which faced more difficulties in facing the pandemic and obtaining access to vaccines.

Sadikin said that the ideal countries to build the hubs were those with large populations.

"So, the Global South countries can develop and supply vaccines to their populations in a more timely and equitable way."

Local media reported that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus directly attended the HWG, and he estimated that the financial need for strengthening global health security reached 31 billion dollars per year.

"WHO and the World Bank have estimated that we need 31 billion dollars every year to strengthen global health security. Two-thirds of that amount could come from existing resources, but that leaves a gap of 10 billion per year," he said.

Ghebreyesus suggested that the FIF be supervised by a council and an advisory panel that would be supported by the joint Secretariat of the World Bank and WHO, which is based in Washington. 
Representatives attend the European Union summit in Brussels, Belgium, June 23, 2022. European Union (EU) leaders have accepted Ukraine and Moldova as candidates for membership of the bloc, European Council President Charles Michel said on Thursday. (European Union/Handout via Xinhua)

BRUSSELS, June 23 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) leaders have accepted Ukraine and Moldova as candidates for membership of the bloc, European Council President Charles Michel said on Thursday.

"Agreement. #EUCO has just decided EU candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova. A historic moment," Michel announced on Twitter. EUCO is short for the European Council, which is currently being attended by EU leaders in Brussels.

The heads of state and government of the EU member states approved the European Commission's recommendation at the start of their two-day summit in Brussels from Thursday to Friday.

Ukraine applied for EU membership shortly after the conflict with Russia began in the end of February.

The country handed its application on Feb. 28. Moldova applied for EU membership on March 3.

Georgia applied for the EU membership on the same day with Moldova, but the European Commission said earlier last week that Georgia's application would be re-examined at a later stage when further reforms will have been made.

The EU candidate countries would need to meet accession conditions to be able to join the bloc, including on issues relating to justice, anti-corruption mechanisms and rule of law, among others, according to EU's criteria.

Michel also said that the EU leaders had also "decided to recognize the European perspective of Georgia," adding that the council was "ready to grant candidate status once the outstanding priorities are addressed."

"A historic moment in EU-Georgia relations: Georgia's future lies within the EU," he wrote.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the decision as "a unique and historical moment in Ukraine-EU," as he thanked EU leaders for their support. 
RAMALLAH, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Palestine on Thursday warned against the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, saying it would undermine the prospects for a two-state solution and the chances of making peace.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that expanding Israeli settlement in the Palestinian territories "would have a catastrophic influence on implementing the principle of the two-state solution and achieving just and comprehensive peace."

The warning came after Israeli settlement organizations announced on Tuesday that they were planning to build 10 new settlement outposts in the West Bank ahead of the visit of U.S. President Joe Biden to Israel in July.

"These organizations, which receive official support from the Israeli government, have transformed from being individual to a broad group that has its own structures and sources of funding," the statement said.

It held the Israeli government "fully and directly responsible for the illegal settlement and its destructive results on the political solutions of the conflict and for threatening to blow up violence in the entire region."

More than 600,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where Israel's settlement activities are considered as violation of the international law.

On Thursday, two Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers, who arrested nine Palestinians in the West Bank, including a senior leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement that two young men were injured, including one in serious condition, in the Dheisheh refugee camp near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. 
Photo taken on Feb. 25, 2022 shows the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

New York Governor Kathy Hochul accused the Supreme Court of recklessness in striking down the state law "at a moment of national reckoning on gun violence."

WASHINGTON, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a New York state law on Thursday that limits gun-carrying in public.

The 6-3 ruling, which divided the court along the usual ideological lines, came as the United States is still reeling from a spate of mass shootings over the past few weeks, including one in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children and two teachers dead a month ago.

The State of New York makes it a crime to possess a firearm without a license, whether inside or outside the home.

An individual who wants to carry a firearm outside his home may obtain an unrestricted license to "have and carry" a concealed "pistol or revolver" if he can prove that "proper cause exists" for doing so, according to the law.

"Because the State of New York issues public-carry licenses only when an applicant demonstrates a special need for self-defense, we conclude that the state's licensing regime violates the Constitution," conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the ruling.

In a dissent, liberal Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that the court's ruling "severely burdens states' efforts" to curb gun violence.

"The primary difference between the court's view and mine is that I believe the Amendment allows states to take account of the serious problems posed by gun violence," Breyer argued. "I fear that the court's interpretation ignores these significant dangers and leaves states without the ability to address them."

New York Governor Kathy Hochul (C) holds a press briefing on a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York State, the United States, May 14, 2022. (Darren McGee/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul/Handout via Xinhua)

New York Governor Kathy Hochul accused the Supreme Court of recklessness in striking down the state law "at a moment of national reckoning on gun violence."

"In response to this ruling, we are closely reviewing our options - including calling a special session of the legislature," Hochul added.

The ruling could affect the ability of state and local governments to impose a wide variety of firearms regulations, legal analysts said. All states allow carrying concealed guns in public, although many require state-issued permits.

CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said he believes the decision from the Supreme Court "expands the Second Amendment right" in the United States.

"What the conservatives on the Supreme Court are saying is, 'we want the Second Amendment to be a first-class right like the First Amendment. And we want to be able to carry guns anywhere anytime without any sort of regulation by the government - without background checks, without restrictions on where you can take a weapon, without restrictions on how you can carry a weapon.' Now, they haven't gone that far yet. But they are clearly moving in that direction," Toobin said.

The U.S. Supreme Court released three other opinions on Thursday but again prolonged the wait for a ruling on abortion rights.

People gather during a rally decrying rising gun violence while urging politicians to take action in Washington, D.C., the United States, June 11, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

A draft majority opinion was leaked from the court last month, which indicates that it is leaning toward overturning Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion in the United States, made by the U.S. high court in 1973.

"Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the draft majority opinion, a copy of which was obtained and published by POLITICO.

"We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled," the conservative argued. "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives."

Casey refers to a 1992 Supreme Court decision - Planned Parenthood v. Casey - which largely upheld the women's abortion rights guaranteed under Roe v. Wade.

Protesters on both sides of the abortion rights debate gathered outside the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill on Thursday with police presence. 
Screengrab of official footage shows that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during an online press conference on June 6, 2022.

Lavrov expressed Moscow's commitment to providing assistance with the negotiations on the signing of a peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan.



BAKU, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday expressed Moscow's official readiness to consult Azerbaijan and Armenia on delimitation and demarcation of borders.

At a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, Lavrov said Russia is ready to consult on the work of the Azerbaijani and Armenian commissions that were set up for delimitation and demarcation of borders, according to a report from the local state-run AZERTAC.

"We have concrete proposals in this regard. I will be glad to discuss them with you," Lavrov told Aliyev.

Lavrov pointed out "certain progress" in the work of the trilateral working group between Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia on the opening of communications.

"We stand ready to do everything possible to assist in the implementation of the three documents signed by the leaders of the three countries in November of 2020, in January and November of 2021," he said.

The Russian foreign minister also expressed Moscow's commitment to providing assistance with the negotiations on the signing of a peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan.

"We heard that the Armenian side, Prime Minister Pashinyan is ready to hold negotiations on this issue. We are ready to help with Azerbaijan's and Armenia's consent," Lavrov added. 
WASHINGTON, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a New York state law on Thursday that limits gun-carrying in public.

The 6-3 ruling, which divided the court along the usual ideological lines, came as the United States is still reeling from a spate of mass shootings over the past few weeks, including one in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children and two teachers dead a month ago.

The State of New York makes it a crime to possess a firearm without a license, whether inside or outside the home.

An individual who wants to carry a firearm outside his home may obtain an unrestricted license to "have and carry" a concealed "pistol or revolver" if he can prove that "proper cause exists" for doing so, according to the law.

"Because the State of New York issues public-carry licenses only when an applicant demonstrates a special need for self-defense, we conclude that the state's licensing regime violates the Constitution," conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the ruling.

In a dissent, liberal Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that the court's ruling "severely burdens states' efforts" to curb gun violence.

"The primary difference between the court's view and mine is that I believe the Amendment allows states to take account of the serious problems posed by gun violence," Breyer argued. "I fear that the court's interpretation ignores these significant dangers and leaves states without the ability to address them."

New York Governor Kathy Hochul accused the Supreme Court of recklessness in striking down the state law "at a moment of national reckoning on gun violence."

"In response to this ruling, we are closely reviewing our options - including calling a special session of the legislature," Hochul added.

The ruling could affect the ability of state and local governments to impose a wide variety of firearms regulations, legal analysts said. All states allow carrying concealed guns in public, although many require state-issued permits.

CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said he believes the decision from the Supreme Court "expands the Second Amendment right" in the United States.

"What the conservatives on the Supreme Court are saying is, 'we want the Second Amendment to be a first-class right like the First Amendment. And we want to be able to carry guns anywhere anytime without any sort of regulation by the government - without background checks, without restrictions on where you can take a weapon, without restrictions on how you can carry a weapon.' Now, they haven't gone that far yet. But they are clearly moving in that direction," Toobin said.

The U.S. Supreme Court released three other opinions on Thursday but again prolonged the wait for a ruling on abortion rights.

A draft majority opinion was leaked from the court last month, which indicates that it is leaning toward overturning Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion in the United States, made by the U.S. high court in 1973.

"Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the draft majority opinion, a copy of which was obtained and published by POLITICO.

"We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled," the conservative argued. "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives."

Casey refers to a 1992 Supreme Court decision - Planned Parenthood v. Casey - which largely upheld the women's abortion rights guaranteed under Roe v. Wade.

Protesters on both sides of the abortion rights debate gathered outside the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill on Thursday with police presence. 
American School of Bahrain (ASB) hosted the private schools' annual meeting at its campus in Riffa, Bahrain on June 23.

The meeting was attended by the leaders of different private schools, along with the Ministry of Education (MOE) representatives.

The aim of the meeting was to discuss the future plans and concerns of private schools and work hand in hand with MOE in order to better serve tomorrows leaders, the students, said a statement. - TradeArabia News Service
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attends a press conference in Brussels, Belgium, June 17, 2022. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

The EU candidate countries would need to meet accession conditions to be able to join the bloc, including on issues relating to justice, anti-corruption mechanisms and rule of law, among others, according to EU's criteria.

BRUSSELS, June 23 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) leaders have accepted Ukraine and Moldova as candidates for membership of the bloc, European Council President Charles Michel said on Thursday.

"Agreement. #EUCO has just decided EU candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova. A historic moment," Michel announced on Twitter. EUCO is short for the European Council, which is currently being attended by EU leaders in Brussels.

The heads of state and government of the EU member states approved the European Commission's recommendation at the start of their two-day summit in Brussels from Thursday to Friday.

Ukraine applied for EU membership shortly after the conflict with Russia began in the end of February.

The country handed its application on Feb. 28. Moldova applied for EU membership on March 3.

European Council President Charles Michel (2nd L) meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (3rd R) in Kiev, Ukraine, April 20, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Office/Handout via Xinhua)

Georgia applied for the EU membership on the same day with Moldova, but the European Commission said earlier last week that Georgia's application would be re-examined at a later stage when further reforms will have been made.

The EU candidate countries would need to meet accession conditions to be able to join the bloc, including on issues relating to justice, anti-corruption mechanisms and rule of law, among others, according to EU's criteria.

Michel also said that the EU leaders had also "decided to recognize the European perspective of Georgia," adding that the council was "ready to grant candidate status once the outstanding priorities are addressed."

"A historic moment in EU-Georgia relations: Georgia's future lies within the EU," he wrote.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the decision as "a unique and historical moment in Ukraine-EU," as he thanked EU leaders for their support.

European Council President Charles Michel (R) receives visiting Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 18, 2021. (European Union/Handout via Xinhua)
Taliban members inspect the site of a roadside bomb blast in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Jan. 16, 2022. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

"We firmly continue to believe that a strategy of continued engagement and dialogue remains to be the only way forward for the sake of the Afghan people, as well as for regional and international security," said a UN envoy.

UNITED NATIONS, June 23 (Xinhua) -- A UN envoy on Thursday stressed the need to engage the Taliban, the de facto authorities in Afghanistan, despite difficulties.

"We firmly continue to believe that a strategy of continued engagement and dialogue remains to be the only way forward for the sake of the Afghan people, as well as for regional and international security," said Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN secretary-general's deputy special representative and officer-in-charge of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

"Even as the international community and the Taliban remain far apart on the question of human, woman's, and political rights, there are some areas where we can do better to improve the lives of Afghans as well as advance on issues of common concern such as counter-narcotics and mine action. Establishing an agenda of common interests will help build confidence and reduce misunderstandings," he told the Security Council.

This includes types of assistance that directly support basic human needs, while moving, where possible, beyond pure humanitarian delivery into sustaining livelihoods for ordinary Afghans, he said.

The Taliban continue to hold power almost exclusively. The emergence and persistence of an armed opposition is in large part due to political exclusion, said Alakbarov.

The overall security environment is becoming increasingly unpredictable. There are clashes between forces of the Taliban and the armed political opposition, especially in Panjshir and Baghlan provinces, as well as improvised explosive device attacks and targeted assassinations against the de facto authority figures by both armed political opposition and the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), an Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State terrorist group, he said.

Armed opposition attacks against the Taliban doubled in May compared to April. The number of ISKP attacks has generally decreased compared with the same period last year. But their geographic scope has widened to 11 provinces compared to six previously, he said.

"We cannot exclude the possibility of increased instability if peoples' rights are denied and if they don't see themselves in their government. Our strategy in the month ahead seeks to promote political consultation and inclusion in the long term. In the meantime, we are engaging with the de facto authorities to increase predictability in our relationship," said Alakbarov, who is also the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan.

Afghan dealers wait for customers at a money exchange market in Kabul, Afghanistan, on June 19, 2022. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

The ongoing economic crisis is perhaps the single most important issue in Afghanistan, as a potential driver of conflict and a driver of misery, he said.

The Afghan economy has contracted an estimated 30 percent to 40 percent since the Taliban takeover in August 2021. Output and incomes have reduced by 20 percent to 30 percent, while there has been a 50 percent decline in the number of households receiving remittances, he said.

Unemployment could reach 40 percent this year, up from 13 percent in 2021, and some projections indicate that poverty rates may climb as high as 97 percent by the end of 2022. Even more alarming, 82 percent of households are now in debt while the deteriorating economy offers few chances of hope. Coping resources that helped many families get through last winter's humanitarian emergency are now being depleted, he said.

"If the economy is not able to recover and grow meaningfully and sustainably, then the Afghan people will face repeated humanitarian crises, potentially spurring mass migration and making conditions ripe for radicalization and renewed armed conflict," warned Alakbarov.

At the same time, Afghanistan remains highly vulnerable to future climate change and geopolitical shocks. This comes on top of the extreme poverty and backwardness of its rural areas, where productivity is low and education and health services are often non-existent, he added.

An Afghan shopkeeper waits for customers in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Feb. 12, 2022. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

Afghan rural areas must be given priority attention with the focus on agricultural-food systems to prevent cycles of hunger. There is a need to help drive a grassroots economic recovery anchored in the creation of value chains and developing linkages between farmers and food producers and local markets. This will help reduce child labor, improve health outcomes, and create an enabling environment for social development and change. It also will pave the way for substitution agriculture to replace poppy cultivation, he said.

The human rights situation in Afghanistan remains precarious. Despite the adoption of a general amnesty and repeated assurances by the Taliban, UNAMA continues to receive credible allegations of killings, ill-treatment and other violations targeting individuals associated with the former government of Afghanistan. UNAMA also continues to receive credible allegations of violations committed by the Taliban against individuals accused of affiliation with the National Resistance Front and ISKP, said Alakbarov.

The Taliban have increasingly restricted the exercise of basic human rights, such as freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of opinion and expression, quelling dissent and restricting civic space in the country. These restrictions continue to be aimed particularly at the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls, limiting their involvement in social, political and economic life.

"The cost to the economy of these policies is immense. The psychosocial costs of being denied education, for example, are incalculable. Women are collectively being written out of society in a way that is unique in the world," he said. 
TRIPOLI, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The head of Libya's Tripoli-based High Council of State and the speaker of the House of Representatives have agreed to meet in Geneva next Tuesday to discuss a constitutional framework toward elections, Stephanie Williams, UN secretary-general's special adviser on Libya, said Thursday.

At her invitation, Khaled al-Meshri and Aguila Saleh agreed to meet on June 28-29 at the UN Office in Geneva to "seek consensus on the remaining issue" of a draft constitution, she tweeted.

The overtures of the rivaling chambers came after their last round of constitutional negotiations in Cairo concluded without a breakthrough.

Williams said Monday after the talks that there remain differences "on the measures governing the transitional period leading to elections," urging the two leaders to meet within a limited time to bridge outstanding issues.

Libya failed to hold general elections in December 2021 due to disagreements on the election laws among the Libyan parties.

The North African country has been suffering political instability and chaos ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. 
KABUL, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Snowfall and freezing weather have claimed the lives of 12 children in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province, the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported Thursday.

The natural disaster took place in Yugal area of Chawkay district, the news agency reported without providing more details.

Villagers on condition of anonymity said the calamity took place a couple of days ago when the families of nomads were taking their animals to the mountains for grazing. All victims belonged to the nomad families.

Parts of the war-torn Afghanistan have recently been the scene of heavy rain and flooding as dozens of people, according to officials, have lost their lives in flash floods across the country.

In addition to downpour and flooding, more than 1,000 people have been confirmed dead in an earthquake that jolted eastern Paktika and Khost provinces early on Wednesday. 
MANILA, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank approved a 178.1-million-U.S. dollar loan on Thursday to support the Philippines' efforts in addressing malnutrition.

The Washington-based bank said it will support the delivery of nutrition and health care services at the primary care and community levels to help reduce stunting that is characterized by prolonged nutritional deficiency among infants and young children.

"The persistence of high levels of childhood undernutrition in the Philippines, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, could lead to a significant increase in inequality of opportunities in the country," said Ndiame Diop, the World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand.

He said improving the nutritional status of children is key to the Southeast Asian country's goals of boosting human capital while strengthening the economic recovery and prospects for long-term growth.

Globally, food prices, already on the rise since the second half of 2020, have reached a record high this year, leading to food security problems worldwide.

Unless immediate action is taken, millions of children "will face the increased risk of undernutrition," the bank warned. 
LONDON, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Confusing the well-known domestic Bactrian camel with its wild and rare counterpart can have a detrimental effect on the wild camel's chances of survival, said a new study released Wednesday, the World Camel Day.

Differentiating wild camels from their domestic sister species is a key step in helping protect the critically endangered camel species from extinction, said the study led by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the Wild Camel Protection Foundation, the University of Kent and the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna.

"With less than 950 known to exist in the wild, the wild camel (Camelus ferus) survives only in Mongolia and China," the ZSL said on its website, introducing the new study.

"By diminishing public perception of the extinction risks wild camels face, they don't receive the conservation attention they need," said the ZSL.

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to the wild camel, said Anna Jemmett, a researcher at the ZSL's Institute of Zoology and the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent and the Wild Camel Protection Foundation.

"The wild camel only survives in Mongolia and China, it is critically endangered with less than 1000 left," Jemmett, lead author of the study, told Xinhua.

Most people "don't know this amazingly well adapted creature survives in one of the harshest habitats in the world. They also don't know that it is genetically distinct and a separate species to the domestic Bactrian camel. Therefore, they don't know it is threatened with extinction," said Jemmett.

"The more people who know about the wild camel, the more there are to appreciate it. If we care about it then we can save it," she added. 
PARIS, June 22 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday night he could not ignore the deep political divisions in the country as shown by the results of the legislative elections.

In a televised speech, Macron said that he had discussed with the leaders of the opposition political parties sitting in the National Assembly and there is no common answer on a national union.

He said it would be necessary to build compromises with the other political parties sitting in the National Assembly in order to "serve the general interest" of the country.

For the French President, the political groups will need to say in total transparency where they are able to go in terms of voting laws and other decisions.

"No political forces can today make the laws alone," he said, adding: "We must learn to govern and legislate differently."

"Together we will find the path of collective success," Macron said, while emphasizing urgent matters, such as purchasing power, labor, the environment, energy crisis and health.

"As soon as I return from Brussels, we will continue to build this new method," said the president.

The French legislative elections were held on June 12 and 19. Macron's alliance Ensemble won only 245 seats, falling short of 289 seats needed to secure an absolute majority in the National Assembly. 
WASHINGTON, June 23 (Xinhua) -- A top Texas official said Tuesday that law enforcement's response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, was an "abject failure," NBC News has reported.

In his comments before a state Senate committee hearing in Austin, Steve McCraw, the director of the Department of Public Safety, said the lives of police officers were valued more than those of children as gunfire tore through that south Texas campus on May 24, according to the report.

"One hour, 14 minutes and 8 seconds. That's how long the children waited and the teachers waited in rooms 111 (and 112) to be rescued," McCraw was quoted as saying.

"We do know this, there's compelling evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at Robb Elementary was an abject failure and antithetical to everything we've learned over the last two decades since the Columbine massacre," he said.

At least 19 children and two adults were killed in a shooting at Robb Elementary School in the town of Uvalde, Texas, on May 24.

The suspect, identified as 18-year-old Uvalde High School student Salvador Rolando Ramos, was killed by responding officers. 
NEW YORK, June 23 (Xinhua) -- A bipartisan panel of health experts has planned to call for an overhaul of the American public health system that would greatly expand the role of the federal government, giving Washington the authority to set minimum health standards and coordinate a patchwork of nearly 3,000 state, local and tribal agencies, reported The New York Times (NYT) on Tuesday.

The recommendations flow from what the panel, the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a National Public Health System, described as the inadequacies and inequities of the United States' response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 1 million Americans, according to the report.

In its report, the panel cited "archaic approaches to aggregating data" as one reason so many Americans have died. It called on Congress to give the Department of Health and Human Services authority to establish and enforce standards for data collection.

The panel also wanted to address the failures of the nation's public health agencies to protect Americans from other health risks, including drug overdoses, diabetes and maternal mortality.

"While other countries have centralized public health authorities, public health in the United States is largely managed at the state and local level. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the federal public health agency, does not have the authority to compel states to act - it cannot, for example, investigate outbreaks of infectious disease in a particular state unless it has an invitation from state officials to do so," said the report.

State health agencies and the CDC have a long history of working collaboratively, but throughout the pandemic, elected state officials, particularly those in red states, have been reluctant to cede control. When the CDC asked states to sign agreements to share vaccination data with the federal government, for example, a number of states balked, it added. 
MEXICO CITY, June 23 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 people were killed in a confrontation between police and armed civilians in the town of El Salto, in west Mexico's Jalisco state, state governor Enrique Alfaro confirmed Thursday.

Four police officers were among the fatal victims, Alfaro said via Twitter.

"El Salto police and state police shot down eight criminals yesterday and left three seriously injured, after responding to a report of a safe house where there were hidden weapons," Alfaro said.

"Unfortunately, 4 police officers from the town of El Salto were killed in the line of duty," the governor added.

In March, the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena) deployed a group of soldiers to violence-ridden Jalisco as part of the Mexico Joint Task Force program to strengthen surveillance of criminal activity in the state in the wake of a wave of killings.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel emerged in 2010 as a cell of the Sinaloa Cartel and now has a presence in at least seven Mexican states, as well as Mexico City. 
Ifza Dubai, an international free zone in the UAE, has announced the launch of its Grow Initiative, a pledge to plant more than 10,000 mangrove trees by November 2022 in the Ifza Mangrove Forest at Jubail Mangrove Park.



The initiative celebrates the growing number of Ifzas new business licenses and is developed under the Free Zones CSR arm, Ifza Cares, in partnership with The Storey Group (TSG) and Jubail Island. Through the Grow Initiative, every Ifza Employee has already received one sapling to launch the Ifza Forest.



The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed during a ceremony held at Jubail Islands Mangrove Park in Abu Dhabi, with the participation of Martin G Pedersen, Chairman of Ifza, alongside Abdullah Saeed Al Shamsi, Corporate Director of Jubail Island Investment Company.



Commenting on the announcement, Pedersen said: In line with the UAEs 2030 vision of achieving sustainable development, the Grow Initiative aims to encourage the Ifza Community to set up businesses the greener way and to be more conscious of their carbon impact on the planet. With Grow, our business community has the opportunity to create a lasting impact to combat climate change. At Ifza, we are committed to supporting the nations goals and we hope this initiative will further embed a sustainable mindset for our Partners, Licensees and Employees.



The owner of each mangrove tree will be able to locate and track their tree growth conveniently through a digital blockchain-based platform. Users can virtually visit their trees through satellite imagery and learn more about every tree planted, including a unique picture of the tree, date of planting, geolocation, species, CO2 sequestration, real-life pictures, and the farmer caring for the tree.



TSG launched the ambitious One Billion Trees Initiative (OBTI) to encourage UAE residents and corporates to come together and support the global mission of planting one billion trees by 2026, in a transformational project designed to help offset the countrys carbon emissions.



Located in the Jubail Mangrove Park, Abu Dhabi, the Ifza Forest will contribute to the development and growth of the diverse ecosystem and collectively capture more than 3,000 tons of CO2 throughout its lifetime. Furthermore, mangroves have a great impact on preserving biodiversity by supporting a large variety of wildlife and providing shelter to terrestrial and marine animals.



Abdulla Saeed Al Shamsi said: We are delighted to be working with Ifza Dubai to raise further awareness on the importance of Abu Dhabis mangroves. Through the partnership, we hope to inspire the wider community to continue to help protect the natural environment and preserve the flora and wildlife that inhabits the island and look forward to working closely with Ifza to plant more than 10,000 new mangrove trees here at Jubail Mangrove Park.  TradeArabia News Service
WASHINGTON, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Senate advanced a compromised gun bill in a 65-34 vote on Thursday.

A final vote is expected later in the day or on Friday.

The bill would enhance background checks for gun purchasers younger than 21, provide money to administer "red-flag" laws, and crack down on straw buyers, among other things.

It came on the heels of a spate of mass shootings across the United States.

A month ago, a gunman attacked an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers. 
Olympic Day is a great festival of sport, health and solidarity. It is celebrated every year on 23rd June. At the same time everyone is invited to make the whole world functional and move forward with a purpose. All participants from all over the world remember this day, the day the International Olympic Committee was established at the Sorbonne in Paris. On 23 June 1894, a rally was organized by Pierre de Coubertin to revive the ancient Olympic Games.

The Olympics represent making the world a better place through sport. Even before the year 1947, the celebration of Olympic Day was celebrated. Czech IOC member Dr. Gras presented the idea of celebrating World Olympic Day at the 41st session of the International Olympic Committee in Stockholm, Sweden, inviting a day to celebrate everything related to the Olympic campaign. was given. A few months later, in January 1948, at the 42nd IOC session in St. Moritz, Switzerland, the project was approved. The National Olympic Committees were put in charge of the event. At the same time, this date has become a memorable moment in the history of the Olympic campaign.

When was the first Olympic Day celebrated?: The first Olympic Day was celebrated on 23 June 1948. Portugal, Greece, Austria, Canada, Switzerland, Great Britain, Uruguay, Venezuela and Belgium held Olympic Day in their respective countries. Meanwhile, IOC President Siegfried Edstrom sent a message to the youth. Explain that in the 1978 edition of the Olympic Charter, the IOC recommended for the first time that all NOCs should organize an Olympic Day to promote the Olympic campaign. Currently the Olympic Charter states that "it is recommended that NOCs organize this regularly to organize an Olympic Day or Week each year for the purpose of promoting the Olympic campaign.

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Dinesh Sigdel, a resident of the Ilam district in eastern Nepal, married Anita KC as his second wife despite his familys objection. The family did not accept the marriage, forcing the newlyweds to stay in Biratnagar, the capital of Province 1.

After a few years of the wedding, Sigdel first went to Malaysia and then to Bahrain for foreign employment. Toiling hard, he would send as much money as possible to his wife and daughter.

Since January 2021, Sigdels communications with the wife started to get less frequent. Sigdel found the wife less interested in talking with him as he was busy with his job.

In his desperate effort to reconcile with his wife, Sigdel came back home in January 2022. He was planning to go back soon as he had borrowed Rs 60,000 from a colleague for his home visit, meaning he did not have the luxury to stay long here. But, before that, his chopped body parts were found in different bags nearby the Dharan-Bhedetar road in the neighbouring Sunsari district on February 17, 2022.

Police investigations revealed his wife Anita KC and her extramarital partner Saroj Bhandari murdered Dinesh Sigdel, informs the then Sunsari District Police Office chief Sanjaya Singh Thapa.

This is not a solitary case. Police and local judicial officials say foreign employment is linked to the majority of the disputes and crimes that occur in the houses in Nepali society these days.

From fraud to murder

File: Foreign employment workers leaving Nepal

Many criminal complaints are now heard at the local level in Nepal thanks to the constitutions provision for the formation of judicial committees led by deputy chiefs of the local governments.

According to Bam Bahadur Bhattarai, former deputy mayor of Taplejungs Phungling municipality, The majority of complaints filed with the local level judicial committee concern foreign employment. This has become a significant challenge for society.

According to Central Police Spokesperson Bishnu Kumar KC, most of the recent crimes have some connection with foreign employment. Foreign employment is causing family strifes, which in turn increases the crime rate within the family, he says.

He adds that foreign employment is not only linked to social crimes such as fraud and domestic violence but is also causing heinous crimes like murder. The incident in Dharan is the latest example of that.

According to Province 1 Police Office in Biratnagar, in the fiscal year 2020/21 alone, 36 husbands who killed their wives and two wives who killed their husbands have been arrested. Many of these incidents are also linked to foreign employment.

According to retired DIG Hemanta Malla Thakuri, most of those who have gone abroad have problems at home. Some are suppressing it for social reasons, while few have made it public, he says. Solutions for some of their troubles have even turned into criminal acts.

Todays young generation does not want to live in Nepal. They are always looking for opportunities to go abroad, says Malla. He says, A large number of Nepali youth have migrated to the Gulf countries. Those who go for foreign employment immediately after marriage are facing family problems.

High divorce rates, higher disruptions

File image

According to advocate Tika Prasad Kandel, foreign employment has increased the incidence of divorce too. There is a tendency for men to come back to get married and to go abroad in a few days after getting married, he says.

According to him, if the husband and wife do not stay together for a certain period after the wedding, this eventually increases social problems. My personal opinion is that after marriage, the husband and wife should make it a rule to stay together for at least six months, says Kandel.

Foreign employment has not only brought family strifes, but it is also having a negative impact on children. Rajesh Sharma, the chairman of the Children as the Zones of Peace National Campaign (CZOP), says, It is the right of children to grow up with their families, to receive love and affection. But, at an early age, children are being deprived of guardianship. As soon as one of the parents goes abroad, the child is kept in the hostel, which is also affecting their mental health.

According to Sanjeep Neupane, a child rights activist, when a couple get divorced due to the situation created by foreign employment, the child is also used as a means of financial bargaining. Those who have a child are more likely to take over the property in order to raise them, Neupane says. Children are exposed to violence; there are chances they will fall into bad company because they dont get adequate care, he says. Such children are also at risk.

Foreign employment and gender

Migrant workers stand in a line to acquire labour permits, in Kathmandu, in July 2020.

Recently, the number of women going for foreign employment is also increasing. According to the former deputy mayor of Dharan sub-metropolitan city, Manju Bhandari, even the women who go for foreign employment have complained that their men have affairs with other women. Bhandari understands that when a husband and wife get married and go for foreign employment without understanding each other well, problems arise.

Manju Prasai, a former deputy mayor of Kankai municipality in Jhapa, has a similar experience. My experience as the coordinator of the judicial committee shows that the main problem of the society now is foreign employment, says Prasai.

Moreover, Til Bikram Kandangwa, a professor of sociology at the Kankai Multiple Campus in Jhapa, says the practice of independence is increasing in society. Earlier, there was a joint family; there was care and support. Along with that, family members monitored each others behaviour, he says.

However, according to Kandangwa, people are now forgetting social values and the incidence of extramarital affairs is increasing due to the highest exercise of freedom. That is bringing disunity in the family. Even if a man earns money by going abroad, there are instances where he does not have a wife when he comes to Nepal. There are also cases where a man breaks up with his wife when his wife is abroad, says Kandangwa. The solution to this social problem is to create employment opportunities at home.

No young people have gone abroad as they please. They are forced to leave their homeland due to a lack of employment opportunities, says Kandangwa. If the federal or local governments can provide them with employment in Nepal, there will be no such problem.



This story was translated from the original Nepali version and edited for clarity and length.
France 24

Tras anos de labores, la Comision de la Verdad, una institucion encargada del esclarecimiento del conflicto armado colombiano, entrega su Informe Final. Este martes se desarrollara lo que se ha conocido como el Acontecimiento, donde la entidad dara a conocer por primera vez los resultados de sus labores. Segun los expertos, se trata de un paso clave hacia la construccion de paz, pero que tendra retos importantes para en perpetuarse en el tiempo y contribuir a no repeticion.
Description

Join us for our Adult Summer Reading Kickoff, and meet New York Times best-selling author Jennifer Ryan, live from her home in California. We will hold our first raffle, and bring your favorite desert to share. Adults (18 and older) are invited to read books in any format and to fill out a review form that cn be picked up at the ASK Desk.
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For a generation, the poetry of Irena Klepfisz has staked new ground in understanding and catalyzing Jewish and gender identity. As we mark Pride Month in 2022 and face a global rise in fascism and hatred, Irenas poetry continues to be a wellspring for resistance, imagination, and justice.

Join the Workers Circle in a conversation with Irena Klepfisz, feminist, lesbian, socialist, Yiddishist, poet, professor, and activist about her journey and the shifts in gender and Jewish identity over the last half-century. Irena will read selected poems from her corpus including classics like Bashert as well as new poems from her upcoming collection, Her Birth and Later Years: New and Collected Poems, 1971-2021, forthcoming from Wesleyan Press later this year. At the end of the program, Irena will take questions from the audience.
Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R) refuted former President Trumps description of a phone call between the two men after the 2020 presidential election, telling the members of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that he never told Trump the election was rigged.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the Jan. 6 panel who took a leading role in Tuesdays hearing, began Bowerss in-person testimony by asking the Arizona official about a phone call that took place between Bowers and Trump after the 2020 presidential election.

Trump, in a statement Tuesday morning, said that Bowers told me that the election was rigged and that I won Arizona.

Bowers, however, denied that description under oath later Tuesday.

I did have a conversation with the president. That certainly isnt it, but there were parts of it that are true, but there are parts that are not, Bowers told Schiff when asked if he had such a conversation with Trump.

Pressed on if he told Trump that the election was rigged and that the former president actually won the race, Bowers testified that has never made such a statement.

Anywhere, anyone, anytime has said that I said that the election was rigged, that would not be true, Bowers said.

And when the former president in his statement today claimed that you told him that he won Arizona, is that also false? Schiff asked.

That is also false, Bowers responded.

The exchange came at the start of Bowerss testimony before the panel. Tuesdays public hearing, which is the fourth so far this month, is focused on Trumps role in pressuring state officials to reverse the results of the 2020 election to keep himself in power.

Bowers received a call from Trump and attorney Rudy Giuliani amid the pressure campaign to overturn the results of the election.

Bowers is testifying alongside Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his deputy, Gabriel Sterling. Former Georgia election worker Wandrea Shaye Moss, will testify later Tuesday afternoon.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Fortune Business Insights

Companies Covered in Small Satellite Market are Sierra Nevada Corporation (U.S.), ST Engineering (Singapore), Airbus S.A.S (Netherlands), Northrop Grumman Corporation (U.S.), Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) (U.S.), The Boeing Company (U.S.), Thales Group (France), Lockheed Martin Corporation (U.S.), L3Harris Technologies Inc. (U.S.) and Other key players

Pune, India, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global small satellite market size was valued at $4.08 billion in 2020. The market size in 2021 stood at $4.70 billion and is expected to touch $10.75 billion in 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 12.55% during the forecast period. Rising space exploration projects and the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics technologies are expected to boost the market growth. Fortune Business Insights provides this information in its report titled Small Satellite Market, 2021-2028.

COVID-19 Impact:

Satellite Launch Program Delays to Impede Market Growth

This market is expected to be negatively affected during the pandemic due to satellite launch program delays. Furthermore, rapidly spreading COVID infections and unprecedented challenges faced by several industries negatively affected the satellites production. Moreover, the delays in satellite launch projects negatively affected the industrys growth. However, the adoption of reduced capacities, part-time shifts, and automated production techniques may elevate the industrys progress. These factors may facilitate industry growth.

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List of Key Players Profiled in the Report

Sierra Nevada Corporation (U.S.)

ST Engineering (Singapore)

Airbus S.A.S (Netherlands)

Northrop Grumman Corporation (U.S.)

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) (U.S.)

The Boeing Company (U.S.)

Thales Group (France)

Lockheed Martin Corporation (U.S.)

L3Harris Technologies Inc. (U.S.)

Story continues

Report Scope & Segmentation:

Report Attribute Details Market size value in 2020 USD 4.08 Billion Revenue forecast in 2028 USD 10.75 Billion Growth Rate CAGR of almost 12.55% during 2021-2028 Base Year 2020 Historic Years 2017-2020 Forecast Years 2021- 2028 Segments Covered By Source, By Type, By Distribution Channel and By Geography Forecast Units Value (USD Million), and Volume (Units) Quantitative Units Revenue in USD million/billion and CAGR from 2021 to 2028 Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and Middle East & Africa, and Rest of World Countries Covered Unites States, Canada, Mexico, Unites Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, GCC Countries, and South Africa, among others Number of Companies Covered Companies Covered in Small Satellite Market are Sierra Nevada Corporation (U.S.), ST Engineering (Singapore), Airbus S.A.S (Netherlands), Northrop Grumman Corporation (U.S.), Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) (U.S.), The Boeing Company (U.S.), Thales Group (France), Lockheed Martin Corporation (U.S.), L3Harris Technologies Inc. (U.S.) and Other key players Report Coverage Market growth drivers, restraints, opportunities, Porter's five forces analysis, PEST analysis, value chain analysis, regulatory landscape, market attractiveness analysis by segments and region, company market share analysis, and COVID-19 impact analysis. Customization Scope Avail customized purchase options to meet your exact research needs.

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Segmentation

Nanosatellite Segment to Dominate Attributable to Growing R&D Activities

By type, the market is segmented into nanosatellite, microsatellite, and mini-satellite

The nanosatellite segment is expected to dominate the market share because of growing R&D activities. Furthermore, the rising number of space laboratories for upcoming space missions on Mars and the moon is expected to elevate industry progress.

Structure Segment to Grow Rapidly Attributable to Increasing Number of Satellites

Based on components, the market is segmented into structures, payload, electric power systems, solar panel and antenna systems, propulsion systems, and others.

The structure segment is expected to dominate owing to the rising number of satellites in commercial and government sectors. Furthermore, the rising demand for networks for civil missions, satellite services, and military missions is expected to propel market progress.

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Detailed Table of Content:

Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities

Key Insights Key Industry Developments  Key Contracts & Agreements, Mergers, Acquisitions and Partnerships Latest technological Advancements Porter Five Forces Analysis Supply Chain Analysis

Quantitative Insights-Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Small Satellite Market Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Small Satellite Market Steps Taken by Industry/Companies/Government to Overcome the Impact Key Development in the industry in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic Potential opportunities due to COVID-19 Pandemic



TOC Continued!

Navigation Segment to Hold Major Market Share Attributable to Rising Adoption of Satellite for Communication

Based on application, the market is segmented into navigation, communication, technology development, earth observation, and others.

The navigation segment is expected to dominate the market share because of the rising adoption of satellites for communication. Also, several communication services such as broadcasting, telecommunication, and communication are liekly to enhance market progress.

Commercial and Military Segments to Dominate Owing to Strong Implementation of Satellites

By end-user, the market is classified into government, military, commercial, and civil.

The commercial and military segment may dominate due to the rising implementation of satellites. Furthermore, increasing mobile phone users and internet services is likely to foster satellite adoption.

Geographically, the market is clubbed into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World.

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Driving Factors

Rapid Adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) in Manufacturing Sector to Propel Market Progress

Small satellite is developed and designed for specific applications such as earth observation, communication, navigation, and others. An increasing number of satellite launches is expected to enhance industry growth. Furthermore, the rising adoption of IoT for data transmission may elevate small satellite demand. Moreover, the rising demand for high-speed internet and 5G connectivity is expected to bolster the adoption of small satellites. Also, small satellites rising applications in healthcare, smart grids, power, energy, and others are expected to boost sales. These factors may drive the small satellite market growth.

However, strict government norms may restrict the markets progress.

Regional Insights

Rising Research and Development Activities by NASA to Propel Market Growth in North America

North America is expected to dominate the small satellite market share because of the rising focus on research and development activities by NASA. The market in North America stood at USD 2.11 billion in 2020 and is anticipated to grow positively during the upcoming years. Furthermore, robust investments in surveillance missions are expected to propel the products adoption. These factors may propel industry growth.

In Europe, the adoption of IoT services for several applications is expected to enhance small satellite adoption. Furthermore, the rising dependence upon 5G services is expected to enhance market progress.

In Asia Pacific, the strong demand for small satellites from India, Japan, and China is expected to fuel industry growth. Moreover, the rising dependence upon IoT services may foster market progress.

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Competitive Landscape

Major Players Focus on Novel Product Launches to Expand Brand Positioning

The prominent companies operating in the market focus on expansions to enhance their brand presence. For example, Airbus S.A.S launched a novel earth observation satellite product range comprising S250 radar and S250 optical satellites in February 2020. Furthermore, companies invest heavily in research and development activities to enhance their product offerings, save costs, and enhance profit. In addition, manufacturers undertake partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions to bolster their market position.

Industry Development

July 2021: ISRO announced a Geo imaging satellite designed for earth observation purposes named EOS03 in 2021s quarter.

Read Related Insights:

Small Arms Market Size, Share, Growth | Global Trends, [2020-2027]

Small Caliber Ammunition Market Size, Share | Report, 2027

Small Drone Market Size, Share, Trends | Industry Report, 2028

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Edge, one of the worlds leading advanced technology groups for defence and beyond, has signed a MoU with Abu Dhabi-based Troossmil Trading to forge long-term collaboration for the supply of coating materials for munitions, as well as other locally manufactured specialty products.

Designed to pursue prospective avenues of collaboration between Edge and Troossmil, the strategic deal aligns seamlessly with the UAEs industrialisation plans to foster a valuable business environment for local and international investors and build the reputation of local products through the promotion of exports to global markets.

The agreement was signed by Ahmed Al Khoori, Senior Vice President of Strategy & Excellence at Edge, and Ali Al Katheeri, Partner at Troossmil, at the first Make it in the Emirates (MiitE) Forum being held in Abu Dhabi.

Inaugurated by Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister for Industry and Advanced Technology, and Managing Director & Group CEO of Adnoc, the MiitE Forum aims to highlight the UAEs attractive investment environment and showcase opportunities to help boost the UAEs manufacturing sectors contribution to GDP from AED133 billion to AED300 billion.

Edge Group President (Missiles & Weapons) Hamad Al Marar said: "This is an important deal for us that acknowledges our steadfast commitment to supporting local businesses, start-ups, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)."

Edge is an advanced technology company for defence and beyond that ranks among the top 25 military suppliers in the world.

"Establishing robust strategic partnerships in the industrial sector not only forms the cornerstone of Edges long-term strategy, but ensures the sustainable development of the UAE. We are very pleased to be working with Troossmil and we look forward to pursuing opportunities together that will help to achieve our respective business and national objectives," stated Al Hamar.

Al Katheeri said: "Troossmil is honoured to sign the MoU with Edge as it serves as a catalyst for a long-term partnership involving the supply of our coating materials. The UAEs commitment to developing the industrial sector is commendable, and it ensures the sustainability of local businesses such as ours."

"We truly look forward to our ongoing collaboration," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
* Billionaire Mikati named PM for fourth time

* Urges factions to set aside differences, act to secure IMF deal

* Path seen complicated by presidential election later this year (Recasts with Mikati comments)

By Timour Azhari and Laila Bassam

BEIRUT, June 23 (Reuters) - Lebanon's Najib Mikati was named prime minister on Thursday, urging fractious politicians to set aside differences to secure an IMF deal which he said was the only chance to save the country from financial collapse.

Facing a politically difficult path to agreeing on a new cabinet, the billionaire tycoon who led three previous governments said Lebanon did not have time for "drowning in conditions and demands" of rival groups over ministerial posts.

"We are facing the challenge of either complete collapse or gradual salvation," said Mikati, referring to the IMF deal that promises $3 billion of support, contingent on reforms that have long been put off by Lebanon's political elite.

Now in its third year, the financial meltdown has sunk the currency by more than 90%, spread poverty, paralysed the financial system and frozen depositors out of their savings, in Lebanon's most destabilising crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.

Donor states want Lebanon to enact reforms to address root causes of the crisis, including decades of state waste and corruption, before aid is released.

"We have wasted enough time and lost many chances of support from brotherly and friendly countries whose stance has always been clear: 'help yourselves so we can help you'," said Mikati, a Sunni Muslim as required by Lebanon's sectarian system.

Mikati, who hails from the northern city of Tripoli, remains in charge of a caretaker cabinet until a new government is formed.

He urged parliament to approve laws referred to it by the previous government that would pave the way to a final agreement with the IMF, including amendments to banking secrecy rules and capital controls.

Story continues

He was nominated by 54 of parliament's 128 lawmakers, including the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim party Hezbollah, in consultations convened by President Michel Aoun, the Maronite Christian head of state.

But with splits running deep among Lebanon's ruling elite, it is widely believed Mikati will struggle to form a government, a process that can drag on for months as factions tussle over posts in cabinet and beyond.

Analysts and politicians expect the cabinet formation process to be further complicated by a looming struggle over who will replace Aoun, the Hezbollah-aligned head of state, when his term ends on Oct. 31.

FRACTURED PARLIAMENT

Parliament - which elects the new president - emerged highly fractured from a general election last month. The heavily armed Hezbollah and its allies lost their majority, reform-minded newcomers made a strong showing and the Saudi-aligned Christian Lebanese Forces party gained seats.

Many lawmakers, including Hezbollah's, called for cabinet to be formed quickly.

"We hope we do not fall into the logic that says there will be no government before a president," Sami Gemayel, head of the Christian Kataeb party, said. "No one can hold out four months more given the situation we are in."

Reflecting the new landscape, Mikati secured around 20 fewer votes than when he was last designated prime minister in September.

Forty-six lawmakers named no one for the post, while 25 voted for Nawaf Salam, a former Lebanese ambassador to the United Nations and now a judge at the International Court of Justice.

An IMF deal is widely seen as the gateway to easing the financial crisis, but the political and financial elite remain divided on the details, including how to share out an estimated $70 billion in losses in the financial system.

(Reporting by Timour Azhari and Laila Bassam; Writing by Tom Perry and Timour Azhari; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Nick Macfie)
HONG KONG, June 23, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B++ ( Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of "bbb+" (Good) of Zhongyuan Agricultural Insurance Co., Ltd. (ZYIC) (China). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings reflect ZYICs balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

The companys risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Bests Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), remained at the strongest level as of year-end 2021. AM Best expects the company to benefit from capital support from its shareholders to support its business expansion over the short to intermediate term. The companys fixed income-oriented investment portfolio with strong liquidity and debt-free balance sheet are other supportive factors of its overall balance sheet strength. Given its strategic focus on agricultural insurance, the companys significant catastrophe risk exposure relative to its capital size continues to be the key offsetting factor, despite being partially mitigated by product and geographical diversification.

Robust growth rates in key products including crop and livestock contributed to the expansion in ZYICs premium income in 2021. While the company reported better-than-average claims experience from the heavy rain that hit the Henan province in July 2021, the increase in its overall loss ratio more than offset the improvement in the expense ratio. Following the impairment losses related to premium receivables in 2019 and 2020, the company took remediation efforts and reported a favourable reversal of a bad debt provision in 2021. ZYICs net investment yield has gradually improved over the past few years due to higher income and capital gains. Going forward, AM Best expects the companys investment return to be the major driver of its overall earnings while the underwriting margin remains stable yet thin.

The company has been the leading professional agricultural insurer in Henan for six consecutive years. ZYIC also continues to strengthen its business presence within Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang, supported by favourable tender results of policy-oriented programs to secure its business during 2022 to 2024. Crop and livestock insurance accounted for about 70% of ZYICs gross written premiums in 2021 while it also aims to expand offerings of motor, accident and health, and property products that support the agricultural industry.

Positive rating actions may arise if ZYICs balance sheet strength improves significantly and sustainably, and demonstrates stronger resilience against the catastrophe exposure. Negative rating actions may arise if there is significant adverse deviation from the companys business plan, including a shortfall in the capital injection plan that renders the balance sheet strength unsupportive of the business growth. Negative rating actions could also occur if the companys operating performance experiences a deteriorating trend.

Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Bests website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Bests Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Bests Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Bests Credit Ratings, Bests Performance Assessments, Bests Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Bests Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright  2022 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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James Chan

Associate Director

+852 2827 3418

james.chan@ambest.com

Christopher Sharkey

Manager, Public Relations

+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159

christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Christie Lee

Senior Director, Analytics

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Strategy & Communications

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Program kicks off with company's Canada Refugee Career Day on June 23, 2022

TORONTO, June 23, 2022 /CNW/ - Today, Amazon Canada announced the launch of the Amazon Canada Refugee Support Program. Developed in collaboration with key immigration stakeholders across the country, including officials with Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the program was created by Amazon employees and is uniquely designed to meet the four critical needs of refugees resettling in Canada: job search support, financial support, access to affordable housing, and a sense of community.

Amazon employees celebrate opening of new facility in Bolton, Ontario (CNW Group/Amazon Canada)

"We offer a variety of diverse jobs that welcome people with all kinds of backgrounds, including those with technical and software skills that are fundamental to the functioning and success of Amazon in Canada," says Jesse Dougherty, VP, Amazon. "We're very proud of our commitment to supporting refugees in Canada and hope to offer refugees an opportunity to apply their skills and talent in a role at Amazon."

Job Search Support: Amazon Canada Refugee Career Day

On June 23, 2022, Amazon will host a virtual Canada Refugee Career Day for refugees looking to find employment in the country. The day will see nearly 50 current Amazon employees from career placement and subject matter expert roles across the company's corporate, technology and operations businesses lines host a variety of workshops and information sessions focused on job opportunities at Amazon, application and interviewing tips, resume writing, and more. Those interested in participating are invited to visit amzn.to/refugee to register.

"At Amazon, we believe the strength of our workforce is deeply rooted in the diverse perspectives of our team," says Sumegha Kumar, Director of Customer Fulfilment Operations, Amazon Canada. "We actively recruit people from diverse backgrounds to build a supportive and inclusive workplace and take steps to ensure employees have a sense of belonging, value, and opportunity. Today, we're excited to extend this commitment to refugees in our local communities through the launch of the Amazon Canada Refugee Support Program."

Story continues

"When I first came to Canada there were not a lot of available programs to assist refugees and displaced skilled migrants," says Bellal Faroqi, Strategy Specialist, Immigration Support, Amazon Canada. "This initiative creates pathways for success by providing the necessary tools and resources to help close the gaps and barriers that refugees face when resettling in Canada. I feel very proud to call myself an Amazonian."

Financial Support: $250,000 Donation to Settlement Organizations

To meet the second critical need of refugees settling in Canada, financial support, Amazon is distributing $250,000 in Amazon gift cards to clients of five settlement organizations across Canada. These gift cards can be used for any items, including essential goods, household products, clothing, and more.

"Canada has a long-standing and proud tradition of welcoming the world's most vulnerable, and we know that newcomers resettling to Canada have critical needs upon their arrival, including finding a job. Amazon and its Canada Refugee Support Program offer crucial resources to them so they can continue to enrich our communities and help grow our economy. I'm thrilled that businesses like Amazon are stepping up to support the resettlement of vulnerable individuals, and I encourage other businesses to take action and commit to helping newcomers to Canada in any way they can," says The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

Access to Affordable Housing: Habitat for Humanity Canada Partnership

While the price of housing has started to decline across the country, it remains out of reach for many, especially refugees. Habitat for Humanity Canada provides affordable homeownership opportunities to all Canadians who meet the eligibility criteria, including those who may have come to Canada as a refugee. To help build equity through affordable housing, Amazon has partnered with Habitat for Humanity to sponsor 10 builds across the country. Amazon Habitat Build Days have taken place in Ottawa and Vancouver, with more planned for Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal throughout the year. Each build will include Amazon employees, partners, customers, and local officials to help build decent and affordable homes, from single-family houses to multi-unit developments.

"Thanks to the support of Amazon, we can provide even more families in Canada with an opportunity to build strength, stability, and independence through affordable homeownership," says Julia Deans, President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Canada. "We are energized by their excitement to give back and appreciate their commitment to creating a long-lasting impact in the local communities where they live and work."

Sense of Community: Affinity Group dedicated to newcomers and refugees

To further enable Amazon employees to support settlement efforts in their local communities, Amazon Canada is launching a new affinity group focused on newcomers and refugees. The group will meet regularly to identify ways to support these communities, while also planning educational events for employees. This group joins 14 other affinity groups, including Glamazon, Asians at Amazon, Amazon Black Employee Network, Families at Amazon, and more.

"Amazon is more than just a job; it's a family of like-minded people working together to create a strong community that matters. Affinity groups are a big part of that," says Amanda Dirk, Senior Operations Manager and Leader of the Engage Pillar of Amazon's Operations Affinity Group Network. "We are thrilled to add Newcomers at Amazon to this important network of employees and further support the settlement of refugees and new Canadians in our communities and our workforce."

Amazon will continue to look for opportunities to support newcomers and refugees throughout the remainder of 2022 and beyond.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

Amazon employees celebrate inclusive culture and opening of new facility in Langley, British Columbia (CNW Group/Amazon Canada)

Amazon's Ottawa-based team participates in Habitat for Humanity Build Day (CNW Group/Amazon Canada)

Amazon employees in Vancouver participate in Habitat for Humanity Build Day (CNW Group/Amazon Canada)

SOURCE Amazon Canada

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2022/23/c3102.html
BERWYN, Pa., June 23, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amring Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Amring), a niche generic and brand pharmaceutical company, announced today that it has received FDA approval for generic Timolol Maleate Ophthalmic Solution, USP 0.5%, 60 pack of 0.3mL unit dose vials (AT3 rated generic equivalent of Timoptic in Ocudose) and has begun commercialization activities.

Preservative-free Timolol Maleate Ophthalmic Solution, USP is supplied in single-dose vials, as a sterile, isotonic, buffered, aqueous solution of timolol maleate and is indicated for the treatment of elevated intraocular pressure in patients with ocular hypertension or open-angle glaucoma.

Preservative-free Timolol Maleate Ophthalmic Solution, USP in the unit dose vial may be used when a patient is sensitive to:

the preservative in Timolol Maleate Ophthalmic Solution, USP,

benzalkonium chloride, or

when the use of a preservative-free topical medication is advisable.

"We are pleased to have added Timolol Maleate Ophthalmic Solution, USP to our generics portfolio," stated Daniel Carbery, President and CEO of Amring. "We are continuing to realize the benefits of this portfolio addition and to serving our patients and customers with high quality and affordable medicines."

About Amring Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Amring Pharmaceuticals is a privately held pharmaceutical company that provides niche generics and value-driven brands to the market. The company is a subsidiary of a privately held global specialty pharmaceutical company based in the Netherlands. Amring is partnered with well-established global biopharmaceutical companies and is uniquely positioned to leverage its expertise in bringing biotechnology derived medicines, sterile manufacturing and other state-of-the-art technologies to the marketplace.

Safe Harbor

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements related to Amrings business developments and the implementation of Amrings strategic initiatives. Because these statements reflect Amrings current views, expectations and beliefs concerning future events, these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual developments and results to differ materially from Amrings expectations. These factors include, but are not limited to, general market conditions, regulatory trends, changes in the financial conditions of third parties dealing with Amring, and other factors that could affect Amrings business and financial performance. Amring does not assume any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Story continues

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Contacts

Amring Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Marina Volin, Esq.

VP, General Counsel

610-285-7137

Marina.volin@amringpharma.com
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during the forecast period. The growth of this market is primarily driven by factors such as the need to control drug discovery & development costs and reduce the overall time taken in this process, the rising adoption of cloud-based applications and services.

New York, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Artificial Intelligence in Drug Discovery Market by Offering, Technology, Application, End User - Global Forecasts" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05828730/?utm_source=GNW

On the other hand, the inadequate availability of skilled labor is key factor restraining the market growt at certain extent over the forecast period. .



Services segment is estimated to hold the major share in 2022 and also expected to grow at the highest over the forecast period

On the basis of offering, the AI in drug discovery market is bifurcated into software and services. the services segment expected to account for the largest market share of the global AI in drug discovery services market in 2022, and expected to grow fastest CAGR during the forecast period. The advantages and benefits associated with these services and the strong demand for AI services among end users are the key factors for thegrowth of this segment.



Machine learning technology segment accounted for the largest share of the global AI in drug discovery market

On the basis of technology, the AI in drug discovery market is segmented into machine learning and other technologies.The machine learning segment accounted for the largest share of the global market in 2021 and expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.



High adoption of machine learning technology among CRO, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and capability of these technologies to extract insights from data sets, which helps accelerate the drug discovery process are some of the factors supporting the market growth of this segment.



Pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies segment expectd to hold the largest share of the market in 2022

On the basis of end user, the AI in drug discovery market is divided into pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, CROs, and research centers and academic & government institutes.In 2021, the pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies segment accounted for the largest share of the AI in drug discovery market.



On the other hand, research centers and academic & government institutes are expected to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The strong demand for AI-based tools in making the entire drug discovery process more time and cost-efficient is the key growth factor of pharmaceutical and biotechnology end-user segment.



North America to dominate the AI in drug discovery market in 2021

The global AI in the drug discovery market is segmented into four major regions, namely, North America, Europe, APAC, and the Rest of the World.In 2021, North America accounted for the largest and the fastest-growing regional market for AI in drug discovery.



North America, which comprises the US, Canada, and Mexico, forms the largest market for AI in drug discovery.These countries have been early adopters of AI technology in drug discovery and development.



Presence of key established players, well-established pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, and high focus on R&D & substantial investment are some of the major factors responsible for the large share and high growth rate of this market.



Breakdown of supply-side primary interviews, by company type, designation, and region:

 By Company Type: Tier 1 (31%), Tier 2 (28%), and Tier 3 (41%)

 By Designation: C-level (31%), Director-level (25%), and Others (44%)

 By Region: North America (45%), Europe (20%), Asia Pacific (28%), and RoW (7%)



Prominent players in this market are NVIDIA Corporation (US), Microsoft Corporation (US), Google (US), Exscientia (UK), Schrodinger (US), Atomwise, Inc. (US), BenevolentAI (UK), NuMedii (US), BERG LLC (US), Cloud Pharmaceuticals (US), Insilico Medicine (US), Cyclica (Canada), Deep Genomics (Canada), IBM (US), BIOAGE (US), Valo Health (US), Envisagenics (US), twoXAR (US), Owkin, Inc. (US), XtalPi (US), Verge Genomics (US), Biovista (US), Evaxion Biotech (Denmark), Iktos (France), Standigm (South Korea), and BenchSci (Canada). Players adopted organic as well as inorganic growth strategies such as product upgrades, collaborations, agreements, partnerships, and acquisitions to increase their offerings, cater to the unmet needs of customers, increase their profitability, and expand their presence in the global market.



Research Coverage

 The report studies the AI in drug discovery market based on offering, technology, application, end user, and region

 The report analyzes factors (such as drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges) affecting the market growth

 The report evaluates the opportunities and challenges in the market for stakeholders and provides details of the competitive landscape for market leaders

 The report studies micro-markets with respect to their growth trends, prospects, and contributions to the total AI in drug discovery market

 The report forecasts the revenue of market segments with respect to five major regions





Key Benefits of Buying the Report:

The report will help the leaders/new entrants in this market with information on the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall market and the sub-segments.This report will help stakeholders understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights to better position their businesses and plan suitable go-to-market strategies.



The report also helps stakeholders understand the pulse of the AI in drug discovery market and provides them information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05828730/?utm_source=GNW



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ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




(Bloomberg) -- Iraq may end up as one of the biggest losers from cheap Russian barrels flowing to Asia with lukewarm demand for its key grades.

Most Read from Bloomberg

There have been no spot purchases of Iraqs Basrah Medium or Basrah Heavy crude so far in the current Asia trading cycle, while a tender to sell Heavy oil didnt get awarded, said traders who buy and sell the grades. Typically, India and China are major buyers of these varieties, although theyve boosted purchases of discounted Russian crude after the invasion of Ukraine.

Basrah Medium and Heavy crude are the two main grades exported by Iraq to international markets, so any cut to volumes or prices would be a blow to OPECs second-biggest producer. Sellers of Heavy oil discussed providing cargoes at a discount to official selling prices to entice buyers, traders said.

Another aspect dulling the appeal of the Iraqi grades is the type of fuels that can be produced. Basrah Medium and Heavy tend to yield more, less profitable fuel oil, which is used in power stations and shipping. Refiners are seeking -- and are willing to pay higher premiums -- for oil that yields more products such as diesel and gasoline, which are in high demand.

The Iraqi grades are an outlier in Asia, where robust demand led to an earlier-than-usual start of the trading cycle for physical crude buying. By comparison, cargoes of Abu Dhabis Murban oil -- which yields more diesel -- traded at a premium of $10 to $11 a barrel to the Dubai benchmark this month.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2022 Bloomberg L.P.
Special Needs Assistance Program Provided $7K for New Roof

JACKSON, Miss., June 23, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mary Holmes, a retired resident of Jackson, Mississippi, is living comfortably in her home again after receiving funding from the Special Needs Assistance Program (SNAP) to replace her roof. After years of uncertainty about how she could afford to replace her aging roof, Ms. Holmes received a $7,000 SNAP subsidy from BankPlus and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas).

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005958/en/

A Jackson, Mississippi, woman has lived in her home for 42 years and is thrilled with her new roof thanks to a $7K SNAP subsidy awarded to her from BankPlus and FHLB Dallas. (Photo: Business Wire)

The roof was leaking and in desperate need of replacement.

"Ive lived in this home for 42 years. It was brand new when I moved in, but as time has gone on, repairs have been needed and it is hard to do that while living on a fixed income," Ms. Holmes said.

Mark Ouellette, first vice president at BankPlus, said keeping residents comfortable and safe within their homes is a priority for the bank.

"Many of our customers have owned their homes for decades and, as repairs come up, we are honored to be able to help secure funding for them through SNAP and are grateful for our partnership with FHLB Dallas to make that happen," he said.

Through member institutions, SNAP provides subsidies for the repair and rehabilitation of owner-occupied housing of eligible, special-needs individuals. FHLB Dallas set aside $1.5 million of its 2022 Affordable Housing Program funds for SNAP subsidies.

"Weve been working with BankPlus to distribute SNAP funding to Mississippi families for many years," said Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas. "They understand the impact this program has toward enabling residents live independently and safely within their homes."

Story continues

For more information about the SNAP, visit fhlb.com/snap.

About BankPlus

Founded in 1909, BankPlus is one of the Southeast's premier regional banks serving consumers and businesses with the latest technology through a full suite of financial services, including retail banking, commercial banking, mortgage lending and wealth management. With over $6.5 billion in total assets, BankPlus operates more than 90 financial centers throughout Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. For more information about BankPlus, visit bankplus.net.

About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $62.6 billion as of March 31, 2022, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to approximately 800 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. For more information, visit our website at fhlb.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005958/en/

Contacts

Corporate Communications

Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas

fhlb.com

(214) 441-8445
SAO PAULO, June 23 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday that the BRICS group of emerging economies must join efforts towards reforming the United Nations' system.

Bolsonaro's remarks came during a virtual summit with the leaders of Russia, India, China and South Africa, which comprise the BRICS group alongside Brazil. (Reporting by Eduardo Simoes; Writing by Gabriel Araujo Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
OTTAWA, ON, June 23, 2022 /CNW/ - Strong partnerships between customs organizations and businesses enhance the security and integrity of our global supply chain.

Canada Border Services Agency signs Mutual Recognition Arrangement with Peru (CNW Group/Canada Border Services Agency)

Today, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced the signing of a Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) with the National Superintendency of Customs and Tax Administration of the Republic of Peru (SUNAT) to honour each other's Trusted Trader programs. The signing took place on the margins of the World Customs Organization Council Sessions in Brussels, Belgium.

This MRA will contribute to increased security of the international supply chain, facilitate trade at the border, and strengthen the economic competitiveness of Canadians doing business with Peru.

Members of Canada's Trusted Trader program, Partners in Protection (PIP), can save time and money at the border because their imported goods are treated as low security risks. This ultimately means a faster and more predictable customs clearance, and contributes to the protection of Canadians by helping prevent contraband from entering the country. This MRA signifies that Peru will recognize Canada's PIP program and will facilitate customs clearance for PIP members. In turn, the CBSA will provide reciprocal benefits to members of Peru's Trusted Trader program, which is referred to as their Authorized Economic Operator program.

The CBSA signs MRAs with customs organizations around the world so that countries can recognize each others' members and choose to honour similar benefits and security standards. This also means that countries will apply similar approval processes for program applicants. The overall goal of an MRA is to strengthen trust and security in the supply chain as a method of preventing nefarious activity, such as cargo theft and pilferage.

Border management is a shared international responsibility. Threats and opportunities arising from global migration and trade are dealt with most effectively by working together. Expanding the international network of accredited low-risk companies allows customs administrations to focus on targeting shipments of higher or unknown risk.

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Quote

"The CBSA is a fully engaged and active member of the World Customs Organization, regularly cooperating with its global partners to strengthen trust and security in the supply chain. This Mutual Recognition Arrangement will contribute to increased security of the international supply chain, facilitate trade at the border, and strengthen the economic competitiveness of Canadians doing business with Peru."

Ted Gallivan

Executive Vice-President, Canada Border Services Agency

Quick Facts

Trusted Trader programs facilitate legitimate trade by providing streamlined border processes to pre-approved, low-risk trusted traders.

The security and integrity of the supply chain is enhanced through customs-to-business partnerships.

Trusted Trader programs also help the CBSA to keep Canadians safe by allowing the agency to focus resources on areas of higher and unknown risk.

Peru is Canada's second-largest bilateral trading partner in South and Central America, and the second-largest destination for Canadian direct investment in the region.

The 2009 Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement is the cornerstone of our bilateral trade relationship. Canadian merchandise exports to Peru reached nearly $1.1 billion in 2021, while Canadian merchandise imports from Peru were close to $4 billion.

In addition to this MRA with Peru, the CBSA has signed MRAs with the Customs Administrations of Australia, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United States.

Associated Links

Partners in Protection: Mutual recognition

World Customs Organization

Follow us on Twitter ( @CanBorder ), join us on Facebook or visit our YouTube channel .

Canada Border Services Agency signs Mutual Recognition Arrangement with Peru (CNW Group/Canada Border Services Agency)

SOURCE Canada Border Services Agency

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2022/23/c1716.html
RTHK: EU names Ukraine, Moldova as membership candidates

European Union leaders formally accepted Ukraine as a candidate to join the 27-nation bloc on Thursday, a bold geopolitical move hailed by Ukraine and the EU itself as a "historic moment".

Although it could take Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova more than a decade to qualify for membership, the decision at a two-day EU summit is a symbolic step that signals the bloc's intention to reach deep into the former Soviet Union.

"Ukraine will prevail. Europe will prevail. Today marks the beginning of a long journey that we will walk together," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

The EU leaders' unusually quick decision to give Ukraine candidate status was triggered by Russia's incursion. EU leaders stressed, however, that the bloc will need a major overhaul of its decision-making process before it can enlarge again  and Ukraine and Moldova will have much "homework" to do.

"I am convinced that they will move as swiftly as possible and work as hard as possible to implement the necessary reforms, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the EU's decision as "a unique and historic moment", tweeting "Ukraine's future is in the EU."

The move, which also sees Moldova being granted candidate status, kick-starts the EU's most ambitious expansion since it welcomed Eastern European states after the Cold War.

Behind the triumphant rhetoric, however, there is concern within the EU about how the bloc can remain coherent as it continues to enlarge.

After starting in 1951 as an organisation of six countries to regulate industrial production, the EU now has 27 members that face complex challenges from climate change and the rise of China to a war on their own doorstep.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his "special military operation" launched in Ukraine in late February was partly necessitated by Western encroachment into what Russia characterises as its rightful geographical sphere of influence.

The EU's green light "is a signal to Moscow that Ukraine, and also other countries from the former Soviet Union, cannot belong to the Russian spheres of influence," Ukraine's EU ambassador, Chentsov Vsevolod, told Reuters earlier on Thursday. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2022-06-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The global powder coatings market is estimated to gain sizable growth prospects in the upcoming years owing to rise in the product demand from the automotive industry, notes an assessment by Transparency Market Research (TMR).

The market is estimated to expand at CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period 2022-2031 and gain a valuation $21 billion by 2031, the TMR report predicts.

Powder coatings find application in metal furniture, general metals, automotive, appliances, architecture, and agriculture, construction, and earthmoving equipment (ACE). The demand for powder coatings is increasing owing to its application in a wide range of end-use industries instead of varied other alternatives owing to their properties such as durable and environmental-friendly in nature in comparison to different traditional liquid coatings.

Hence, rise in the product adoption globally is leading to profitable prospects in the global powder coatings market. Thermoset and thermoplastics are two types of products available in the global powder coatings market.

In the automotive industry, powder coatings are increasingly utilized owing to their ability to offer high-performance and esthetic features. These products are being utilized in the automotive applications owing to their corrosion and abrasion resistance, notes the TMR study. Powder coatings show resistance to ultraviolet rays of the sun, acid rain, and weather and road damage. These products are also used for bumpers, wheels, roof racks, exterior and interior trims, and door handles of vehicles.

Primer powder coatings are now being utilized in different luxury cars in order to resist corrosion and promote adhesion. This aside, they are also utilized on the leading edge of rocker panels and sheet metals in order to protect against chipping. Owing to these advantages, the global powder coatings market is projected to gain sizable demand opportunities from the automotive industry in the forthcoming years.

Focus on R&D

Some of the key vendors in the powder coatings market include Axalta Coating Systems, Akzo Nobel, PPG Industries, The Sherwin-Williams Company, Kansai Paint Co, KAPCI Coatings, The Valspar Corporation, Nippon Paint Holdings, Asian Paints Limited, Berger Paints India Limited, Somar and Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited.

The presence of many players makes the competition landscape of the global powder coatings market highly intense. Hence, companies are using different strategies such as mergers and acquisitions in order to maintain their leading position in the market.

Players operating in the powder coatings market are investing heavily in research and development (R&D) in order to incorporate several properties in their products such as high crosslink density, corrosion resistance and edge coverage, lesser traces of any residual solvents, and low moisture and oxygen transmission rates. Such efforts are estimated to result into rise in the market demand for powder coatings.

Profitable Prospects

Europe, North America, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, and Asia Pacific are some of the key regions of the global powder coatings market. Among all, Asia Pacific is the dominating region. Players are estimated to gain sizable business opportunities in the Asia Pacific region due to many factors including improving spending power of regional consumers, stable economy of many regional nations, and improvement in the standard of living of people from regional nations such as Japan, China, Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia.--TradeArabia News Service
The Ohio-based property and casualty carrier expanded its paid time off policies to align with the company's relationship focus

Featured Image for Central Insurance

Featured Image for Central Insurance

VAN WERT, Ohio, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Central Insurance, a leading property and casualty carrier, last week announced a new company-wide benefits package aimed at creating an unparalleled employee experience that reflects the company's commitment to relationships. Leveraging benchmarking data from the technology industry which is known for pioneering forward-thinking flexible time-off policies, the competitive package is designed to maximize flexibility, better support its over 700 employees and their families and foster a culture that prioritizes the care of its people. The expanded policy went into effect on June 13, 2022.

"At Central Insurance, we invest in our people and treat each of our employees as owners. When we heard from our team that paid leave was an area for improvement, we acted," said Evan Purmort, CEO & president. "The insurance industry is rapidly evolving, and our benefits package needed to reflect a workplace built for the future. That's why we developed our policy to be better than 75% of what top technology companies currently offer. This announcement marks a crucial step forward for not only our company, but the industry as a whole."

The revamped benefits package includes the following:

Additional paid time off : Every new hire will receive 20 days of vacation time at the start of their hire date. Additionally, employees with 10-24 years of service will receive 25 days and those with 25+ years of service will receive 30 days.

Expanded paid parental leave : To fully support growing families, Central Insurance is significantly adding to its parental leave policy. Both parents will receive 100% paid leave for births, adoptions and placement of a child in foster care for 12 weeks.

Increased bereavement leave : In unfortunate circumstances such as death, Central Insurance wants to be a true companion and make sure employees take care of themselves by taking the time needed to grieve. Employees will now receive eight weeks of 100% paid leave for the death of a spouse or child.

Added paid caregiver leave : To further support employees and their families, Central Insurance is increasing caregiver leave from zero to eight weeks with 100% pay to care for a family member with a serious health condition.

Paid sick days: Since minor illnesses for employees and their children are unpredictable, Central Insurance employees will receive 10 new sick days a year.

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The 146-year-old organization recently appointed Jena Wierwille as the vice president of human resources, with a goal to execute the organization's revitalized vision for a modern and scalable HR structure.

"The ability to offer forward-thinking, cutting-edge employee benefits in our industry is a top priority. Our employees should never have to choose between their work and taking care of themselves and their families," said Wierwille. "We believe this is the right move for Central Insurance and its people, and directly aligns with our vision for the future of the organization."

In addition to the newly added paid leave, the company continues to provide a competitive, comprehensive benefits package designed to meet evolving needs and assist in building financial security for the future.

To learn more, visit www.central-insurance.com.

About Central Insurance

The Central Mutual Insurance Company was founded in Van Wert, Ohio, in 1876, and has since evolved into Central Insurance, a property and casualty insurance carrier providing premium coverage for hundreds of thousands of individuals and businesses across the country. Central remains based in Van Wert and operates regional offices in Boston, Atlanta, and Dallas, with satellite offices in Columbus, and Salt Lake City. Central Insurance has combined assets of more than $2 billion. Central's A.M. Best rating is A (Excellent). For more information, please visit central-insurance.com.



MEDIA CONTACT

Cassie Ferguson

cassie@gebencommunication.com

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Was Con Construction worker Isaac Diesselhorst uses his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face while working on a sidewalk ramp at the corner of 14th and Mason streets on Wednesday.

City Water, Light and Power officials said there is a continued risk of rolling blackouts in Springfield, with July posing the highest risk because of extreme temperatures and usage.

Utility users could be informed of the rolling blackouts, or "protected power outages," on the day of the event, and officials continued to insist the outages would last in the 15-minute range.

Against the backdrop of the area's consecutive 90 degree temperature days and increased energy usage, CWLP revealed on social media new graphics detailing a range of blackout warnings for consumers. There's also a webpage dedicated to the situation.

The information was detailed by Amber Sabin, a spokeswoman for CWLP, in a presentation to the Springfield City Council Tuesday.

Blackouts: Are rolling electrical blackouts a possibility here this summer? It's complicated

The decisions about rolling blackouts aren't made by CWLP, Sabin added, but rather by a member-based organization of grid operators on a regional basis.

City Water, Light and Power will implement a system of color-coded blackout warnings to businesses and customers.

CWLP belongs to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, which is comprised of 15 states stretching from Louisiana into Manitoba, Canada, and is further broken down into regions. Illinois, minus Chicago and some northern counties, is part of the North Central region.

CWLP can't disconnect from the grid to escape the possible rolling blackouts.

Sabin said weather, electricity usage, transmission constraints and power plants going offline could all ultimately contribute the possibility of rolling blackouts.

"It's something we really can't predict," Sabin said. "All that we know is MISO said there's some risk (about the possibility). July has the highest risk and it's going to increase with more plant retirements next year."

CWLP chief utility engineer Doug Brown, left

The Climate Prediction Center is calling for "slightly above normal (high) temperatures" for July, said Nicole Batzek, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln. The Climate Prediction Center is a partner with the NWS.

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The normal high temperature for Springfield for July 1 is 87 degrees while the normal high for July 31 is 86 degrees, said Batzek.

Sabin said CWLP will use four different color-coded levels of warning for utility users.

A green level means no emergency has been implemented requiring conservation, Sabin said. Yellow level is "like a watch," with CWLP customers on alert to be ready to conserve.

An orange level warning advises customers to conserve energy, like turning up thermostats, postponing major appliance use and unplugging electronic devices.

A red level warning, Sabin said, would signal rolling blackouts in 15-minute increments.

Doug Brown, the chief utility engineer at CWLP, said he wouldn't anticipate businesses or residences getting hit with a rolling blackout the same day.

"It also depends on the quantity, the amount of load that has to be dropped from MISO, that will dictate what grouping they can do for circuits and how frequently they have to cycle through," Brown said. "The plan in general, what we expect, is that we'll have quite a while before we'd have to repeat that."

If, for instance, a rolling blackout gets through 20 of its 100 circuits on the grid, CWLP would pick up with the next set of circuits the next time rolling blackouts are mandated.

"We're trying to minimize the impact to everyone," Brown said.

Asked about how much advanced warning consumers might get, Sabin said "a lot of times it's going to be same day. As much warning as we will get, we will try to turn it around to the public. Internally, we're going to be already doing steps to prepare for conservation."

If they do come, the rolling blackouts would be during peak usage, between 3 and 8 p.m. during the weekdays, Brown said.

HSHS St. John's and Springfield Clinic have their own circuits and are pretty much out of rolling blackouts, Brown said. CWLP will be talking to officials at Springfield Memorial Hospital soon, he added.

There's a separate substation that serves a majority of the State Capitol Complex.

"They're not a part of that blackout," Brown said.

More: Mayor Langfelder wants to appoint Summer Griffith as director of Lincoln Library

Sabin said CWLP will post any warnings and updates on Facebook and Twitter in addition to its webpage.

Customers are urged to update their contact information, including email address and phone numbers, she said. Those sync with CWLP's outage management system and it can use those in future text alerts and communications.

Online account management can be set up at myCWLP. For city text alerts and neighborhood news, sign up at www.springfield.il.us. For further assistance, you can email at PublicInformation@cwlp.com.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Rolling blackout power outages could still happen for Springfield IL
A group of seven Democratic and Democratic-caucusing senators sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Kahn on Wednesday calling on the agency to use every tool at its disposal to protect marginalized groups from discrimination in the marketplace.

The letter, sent by Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), largely focuses on the impact of technologies such as facial recognition and location data collection on minorities.

We write to urge the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to use the full scope of its authority to protect members of Black communities, other communities of color and immigrant communities in the United States, the senators wrote. Individuals in these communities are uniquely vulnerable to threats from discriminatory online practices, biometric surveillance, consumer predation and anti-competitive behavior.

The letter was first reported by Politico.

The senators pointed to a wide range of research showing that apparently neutral data collection practices and algorithmic technologies can have discriminatory effects.

They referenced reports indicating biases in housing advertisement delivery and reported U.S. government purchases of location data from a popular Muslim prayer and Quran app.

As commercial and social activity continues to move online, these discriminatory and harmful data practices have realworld, lasting impacts, the senators wrote.

The Hill has reached out to the FTC for comment.

The senators also argued that the FTC should make racial justice a core principle when it considers antitrust decisions, citing research that shows market consolidation has contributed to a decline in minority-owned businesses.

We agree that the FTC should move away from its traditional value-neutral antitrust evaluation and instead move towards an approach that advances racial justice, they wrote.

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The group particularly took aim at facial recognition software, which they argued is capable of fundamentally threatening peoples expectation that they can appear in public without being identified.

The senators pointed to a 2019 National Institute of Standards and Technology study that showed facial recognition algorithms were up to 100 times more likely to misidentify Asian and African American faces compared to Caucasians.

Communities of color are already systematically subjected to over-surveillance, and research shows that private businesses have disproportionately deployed facial recognition technology in non-white neighborhoods, the senators wrote.

Facial recognition software and other emerging technologies have been an increasing focus of civil rights groups.

The American Civil Liberties Union last year demanded that Amazon stop selling its facial recognition technology to the government after it obtained records showing the products marketing to law enforcement.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in September called for a moratorium on artificial intelligence systems that pose a risk to human rights.

Some lawmakers have looked to rein in companies data collection practices, with key members drafting competing data privacy bills.

A bipartisan proposal by Reps. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), who lead the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the Senate Commerce Committees ranking member, faces an uphill battle amid opposition from privacy hawks and business groups.

Meanwhile, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the chairwoman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has circulated her own privacy proposal.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
EnviroGold Global Limited

TORONTO, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EnviroGold Global Limited (CSE: NVRO | OTCQB: ESGLF | FSE: YGK) (EnviroGold Global or the Company), a Clean Technology Company accelerating the worlds transition to a circular-resource economy through the production of Metals Without Mining, announces that it has granted, effective after market close on June 22, 2022, an aggregate of 3,528,150 stock options (each, an Option) to directors, officers and employees of the Company in accordance with the Company's stock option plan.



Each Option is exercisable for a period of five (5) years to acquire one common share in the capital of the Company (each a "Share") at a price of $0.265 per Share, being the closing price of the Shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange on June 22, 2022. All Options vested on issuance. This is a normal-course grant that comprises part of the long-term compensation and retention incentives program provided by the Company.

The Company is pleased to have retained a worldclass board of directors and executive leadership team (link), thus securing the governance and strategic leadership necessary that will remain vital as the Company continues to execute its plan to produce Metals Without Mining, commencing with the Companys Australian Tailings Project (link).

About EnviroGold Global

EnviroGold Global (CSE: NVRO) (OTCQB: ESGLF) (FSE: YGK), is a CleanTech company dedicated to creating shareholder value while establishing ESG & circular economy leadership by profitably reprocessing & remediating mine waste (tailings) to recover precious, critical & strategic metals  including gold, silver, copper & nickel. Led by CEO Dr. Mark Thorpe, the Company is strategically positioned to earn and maintain social license while capitalizing the estimated US$ 3.4 trillion of in situ metal value in global tailings. Dr. Thorpe is also the Chairman of the Canadian Mining Innovation Council.

The Companys commercial strategy involves identifying, qualifying and developing tailings reprocessing opportunities, generally targeting tailings sites with at least 6M metric tonnes of tailings and gross recoverable metal value of $124/tonne of tailings. The Companys identified potential tailings targets exceed US$10 billion in gross recoverable metal value.

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EnviroGold Global acquires the metal recovery rights to tailings sites by leveraging a profit share business model to create an attractive value proposition for site owners. The Companys business model is designed to generate high free-cash flow & high target IRR while eliminating the risks of traditional exploration and extraction. The Company expects to produce metals with a carbon footprint up to 96% lower than conventional metal producers while reducing the environmental footprint of legacy mining.

As of January 2022, the Company has eight major projects in its global project pipeline including two major projects under definitive contracts and six additional major projects at various stages of commercial negotiation and detailed technical/economic review.

The Company expects to commence production of precious metals (gold and silver), clean energy metals and battery metals (copper, lead, zinc) at its Australia project and is targeting seven major projects in commercial production by 2025.

Additional information can be found on the Companys website (link) and publicly available corporate presentation (link)

Further Information

Dr. Mark B. Thorpe

Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: +1 416 777 6720

Email: mark.thorpe@envirogoldglobal.com

Juan Carlos Giron Jr.

Sr. Vice President

Telephone: +1 416 777 6720

Email: juan.giron@envirogoldglobal.com

Website: www.EnviroGoldGlobal.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. There is no relationship between the Company and the World Resources Institute or the Greenhouse Gas Portal and nothing in this news release should be interpreted as suggesting an endorsement by the World Resources Institute or the Greenhouse Gas Portal.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, earnings guidance, economic guidance, operational guidance and future capital spending amounts. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking statements.

Graphical representations included in this news release are approximate representations which may vary from defined regulatory boundaries.

Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, will continue, will occur or will be achieved. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected terms of the Hellyer Tailings Reprocessing Project and its completion, the Companys working relationship with the owner(s) of the Hellyer Tailings, the economic viability of the Hellyer Tailings Reprocessing Project and statements regarding any residual precious metals as a by-product of the remediation, the Companys expansion of its reprocessing pipeline, and the Companys ability to accelerate the worlds transition to a circular resource economy. Forward-looking information in this news release are based on certain assumptions and expected future events, namely: the Companys ability to continue as a going concern; the continued commercial viability and growth in the clean technology and mining waste reprocessing industry; continued approval of the Companys activities by the relevant governmental and/or regulatory authorities; the continued development of clean technology and mining waste reprocessing technology; and the continued growth of the Company. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to: the potential inability of the Company to continue as a going concern; the Companys inability to accelerate the worlds transition to a circular resource economy, the risks associated with assessing metallurgical recovery rates from mine tailings and waste and related volumetric assessments, the risks associated with the mining and mining waste recycling industry in general; increased competition in the clean technology and waste reprocessing market; the potential unviability of the clean technology and mining waste reprocessing market; incorrect assessment of the value and potential benefits of various transactions; risks associated with potential governmental and/or regulatory action with respect to clean technology and mining waste reprocessing; risks associated with a potential collapse in the value of clean technology and waste reprocessing; and risks relating to the Companys potential inability to expand its reprocessing pipeline.

Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. 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 and reflect the Companys expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change thereafter. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.




Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 23, 2022) - Gelum Resources Ltd. (CSE: GMR) (the "Company" or "Gelum) Vancouver, B.C. reports that management and directors are extremely pleased to welcome Mr. Ken Shannon to the Company's Advisory Board. Director Hendrik van Alphen is particularly pleased having successfully worked with Ken on Corriente Resources Inc., a copper project in Ecuador which was successfully sold in 2010 to CRCC-Tongguan Investments (Canada) Co. Ltd., a Chinese partnership, for $680,000,000.

Mr. Shannon has worked for over 20 years in the role of CEO, raising over $200 million of venture capital for mineral exploration projects. His accomplishments include the discovery or confirmation of the Taca-Taca deposit in Argentina, and the Mirador, Mirador Norte, Panantza and San Carlos deposits of the Corriente Copper Belt in Ecuador (>30 Billion pounds of contained copper in total).

In addition to Mr. Shannon's experience and knowledge relating to corporate management, the Board welcomes his recognition and experience in building a trusting and prosperous relationship with Indigenous Peoples, a focus of the existing management.

Corporate Review

1) Completion of a surface exploration work program (December 2021)

Geochemical sampling program indicates a significant expansion of the historical gold anomalies generated by previous work on the property.

Establishment of precise drill targets. Drilling to commence this summer in cooperation with the Bridge River Indian Band.

2) Announce the addition of Kelly Earle to Advisory Board (December 2021)

Ms. Earle has 15 years of experience in the mining industry and is currently Vice President, Communications with Skeena Resources Limited, where she oversees all corporate development and investor relations activities. Ms. Earle spent several years in the field as a geologist prior to making the transition into the corporate side of the industry. She is a founding member of the British Columbia Regional Mining Alliance (BCRMA), a regional partnership between Aboriginal groups, industry and provincial government representatives to promote mining investment in the Golden Triangle of northwest BC. Ms. Earle brings significant relevant experience to the Company's advisory board.

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3) Completion of $937,500 Financing (January 2022)

The Company closed $520,000 Flow-Through funds and $417,500 Non-Flow-Through funds.

4) Acquired the ML copper-gold claims in central B.C. (March 2022)

The acquisition of the ML claims allows Gelum to earn a 100% interest in the 8,736 Ha ML land position 6 kilometres from the Mt. Polley porphyry Cu-Au past-producing mine (care and maintenance; Imperial Metals Corp.), 6 kilometres from Osisko's QR Deposit (past-producer) and 28 kilometres from the active Gibraltar porphyry Cu-Mo active mine (Taseko - 75%, Cariboo Copper Corp. - 25%), located in south-central British Columbia, Cariboo Mining District.

5) Acquired the Robson mineral claims in central B.C. (March 2022)

The acquisition of the Robson claims consolidated the existing Bralorne/Bridge River Eldorado claims with the addition of 305 hectares that lie within the Eldorado claims. The Robson claims have historical workings that when coupled with drilling by Gold Field's in 2011 indicate some broad intervals of anomalous, significant gold values within carbonate-sericite altered granodiorite of the Eldorado Pluton.

ML land position 6 kilometres from the Mt. Polley porphyry Cu-Au past-producing mine (care and maintenance; Imperial Metals Corp.), 6 kilometres from Osisko's QR Deposit (past-producer) and 28 kilometres from the active Gibraltar porphyry Cu-Mo active mine (Taseko - 75%, Cariboo Copper Corp. - 25%), located in south-central British Columbia, Cariboo Mining District.

6) Completion of VTEM geophysical survey covering 4000 Ha (April 2022)

VTEM airborne geophysics comprising 889 line-kilometres, covering 4000Ha, of the western third of the claim block was completed by Geotech Ltd., in April 2022. Final data and maps are being compiled and will be interpreted promptly.

7) An Exploration Agreement with the Bridge River Indian Band (May 2022)

The agreement was concluded and signed on May 9, 2022. The agreement covers the exploration of the Company's Eldorado project which is on territory within the St'at'imc territory ("Traditional Territory"), in which Xwisten and its members assert, hold and exercise constitutionally protected Aboriginal Title and Rights ("Indigenous Title and Rights." The agreement covers the relationship between Xwisten and the Company in governing the principles of good faith, mutual respect, transparency, and accountability in all dealings between Xwisten and the Company which will be the cornerstones of the agreement and relationship.

Management of Gelum have built a strong foundation for growth and look forward to commencing a drilling campaign this summer. In addition, the Company reports that it has developed a very positive working relationship with the Bridge River Indian Band. Clearly a win-win for all concerned.

Qualified Person

John Drobe, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, has reviewed the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Drobe is not independent of the Company as he is a consultant of the Company.

About Gelum Resources Ltd.

Gelum Resources is a Company led by seasoned management and advisors in the mining and financial sectors. The Company currently has two objectives under management. The first is to define a multi-million oz. economic gold deposit in the Bralorne-Bridge River gold district located some 190 kilometres north of Vancouver and 74 km northwest of the town of Lillooet, B.C. This objective is made possible through the Company's acquisition of 26 mineral claims with a total area of 9028 hectares located in the Bralorne-Bridge River Gold District, which was host to one of the highest-grade, longest-producing mines in British Columbia. Management is proud to have developed an excellent working relationship with the Bridge River Indian Band (Xwisten) the project is within the traditional territory within the St'at'imc territory (Traditional Territory) in which Xwisten and its members assert, hold and exercise constitutionally protected Aboriginal Title and Rights ("Indigenous Title and Rights").

The second objective is to discover an alkalic porphyry and related skarn deposit within a prolific B.C. porphyry belt in the Interior Plateau region. The recently acquired ML property is accessible by 90% paved roads via Williams Lake, and the remainder by all-season dirt roads and secondary logging roads. The low to moderate relief allows year-round access and work. Airborne geophysics comprising magnetics and radiometrics was completed in early spring of 2022.

For further information about the Company and its exploration portfolio, please refer to Gelum Resources Corporate Presentation:

https://gelumresources.com/site/assets/files/5717/gelum_resources_deck_-_winter2022-03.pdf.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

David Smith, President

For further information about Gelum, please contact:

David Smith, President

Email: dsmith@gelumresources.com

Phone: 604 484-1228

Cell: 778-834-1141

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE- Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This presentation contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding any potential increase in shareholder value through the acquisition of undervalued precious metal deposits for development, joint venture or later disposition, the potential to partner with mine developers to achieve production at any of the Company's properties (existing or future); the potential for the capital costs associated with any of the Company's existing or future properties to be low; the potential for the Company to outline resources at any of its existing or future properties, or to be able to increase any such resources in the future; concerning the economic outlook for the mining industry and the Company's expectations regarding metal prices and production and the appropriate time to acquire precious metal projects, the liquidity and capital resources and planned expenditures by the Company, the anticipated content, commencement, timing and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions which may prove incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions about the level and volatility of the price of gold; the timing of the receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals; permits and authorizations necessary to implement and carry on the Company's planned exploration programs at its properties; future economic and market conditions; the Company's ability to attract and retain key staff; and the ongoing relations of the Company with its underlying lessors, local communities and applicable regulatory agencies.

Accordingly, the Company cautions that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ, and such differences may be material, from those set out in the forward-looking statements as a result of, among other factors, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, material adverse changes in economic and market conditions, changes in the regulatory environment and other government actions, fluctuations in commodity prices and exchange rates, the inability of the Company to raise the necessary capital for its ongoing operations, and business and operational risks normal in the mineral exploration, development and mining industries, as well as the risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's most recent management discussion and analysis filed with various provincial securities commissions in Canada, available at www.sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this presentation or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events except as required by law. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or any person acting on its behalf are qualified by the cautionary statements herein.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/128760
This years grads earned more than $10M in Scholarships and Awards

ASHBURN, Va., June 23, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--George Washington University Online High School (GWUOHS) will celebrate this years graduating class with a virtual commencement ceremony on Saturday, June 25 at 1:00 PM (EST).

GWUOHS is graduating 114 students this year, and the Class of 2022 collectively reports having been offered more than $10 million in scholarships and awards from several higher education institutions and organizations.

GWUOHS students, families, and staff will come together online for this weeks graduation, just as they have for their courses and extracurricular activities throughout the year. A full-time online private college preparatory academy for students in grades 8-12, students enroll from across the U.S. and around the world, receiving a rigorous, personalized education.

"As the Class of 2022 prepares to take charge of the next chapter in their lives, we know their time at GWUOHS has set them up for success," said Alison Mistretta, GWUOHS Head of School. "We are so proud of all they have achieved, and to have been their partner on their academic and personal journeys thus far."

Members of the graduating class report having been accepted to colleges and universities across the country and around the world, including George Washington University, New York University, University of California-Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania, Rice University, and Tulane University.

Saturdays virtual ceremony will be a celebration of student achievement, with student speakers, announcements of school and Capstone awards, recognition of Class of 2022 National Honors Society members, and sharing of students postsecondary plans for the entire GWUOHS community.

GWUOHS is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools. The schools robust core curriculum, provided by Stride, Inc., is complemented by a unique Journeys Symposium, which promotes self-awareness, leadership, service and personal success. Combining award-winning curriculum with small class sizes and intensive college counseling, students receive a flexible, individualized education attuned to their own needs and goals.

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About the George Washington University Online High School

The George Washington University Online High School (GWUOHS) is a full-time online private school accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools. GWUOHS gives parents and students in grades 8-12 the choice to access the curriculum provided by Stride, Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nations leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about GWUOHS, visit www.gwuohs.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005024/en/

Contacts

Media

Emily Riordan

Director, Corporate Communications

Stride, Inc.

eriordan@k12.com
(Bloomberg) -- Germany warned that Russias moves to slash Europes natural gas supplies risked sparking a collapse in energy markets, drawing a parallel to the role of Lehman Brothers in triggering the financial crisis.

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With energy suppliers piling up losses by being forced to cover volumes at high prices, theres a danger of a spillover effect for local utilities and their customers, including consumers and businesses, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Thursday after raising the countrys gas risk level to the second-highest alarm phase.

If this minus gets so big that they cant carry it anymore, the whole market is in danger of collapsing at some point, Habeck said at a news conference in Berlin, so a Lehman effect in the energy system.

Europes largest economy faces the unprecedented prospect of businesses and consumers running out of power. For months, Russian President Vladimir Putin has gradually reduced supplies in apparent retaliation over sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine. The standoff escalated last week after steep cuts to the main gas link to Germany, putting reserves for the winter at risk.

The heightened alert tightens monitoring of the market, and some coal-fired power plants will be reactivated. At the current rate of gas inflows, Germany would need 116 days to reach its target to fill 90% of storage capacity, which would mean it would take until mid-October to do so -- a time of year that households would usually start consuming more gas for heating.

The alert stage also gives the government an option of enacting legislation to allow energy companies to pass on cost increases to homes and businesses. Habeck said he was holding off on price adjustments for now to see how the market reacts.

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It will be a rocky road that we have to travel as a country, he said. Even if we dont feel it yet, we are in a gas crisis.

German companies were quick to respond. Chemical giant BASF SE announced it may cut production as gas prices surge. BMW AG may buy electricity from third parties instead of running its own gas-powered co-generation plants.

Germanys gas reckoning stems from decades of deliberately expanding its reliance on Russian energy, despite warnings from the US and other allies over security risks. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel had even promoted a second direct gas link with Russia, which was close to opening before Putin invaded Ukraine.

Germany, which still relies on Russia for more than a third of its gas supplies, enacted the initial early warning phase at the end of March, when the Kremlins demands for payment in rubles prompted Germany to brace for a potential cutoff in supply. The third and highest emergency level would involve state control over distribution.

The crisis has spilled far beyond Germany, with 12 European Union member states affected and 10 issuing an early warning under gas security regulation, Frans Timmermans, the European Unions climate chief, said in a speech to the European Parliament.

The risk of a full gas disruption is now more real than ever before, he said. All this is part of Russias strategy to undermine our unity.

Habeck, who is also vice chancellor, said Russias move to cut gas deliveries through the Nord Stream pipeline makes it all but impossible to secure sufficient gas reserves for the winter without additional measures. He indicated hes concerned that the Nord Stream link may not return to normal capacity after a 10-day maintenance period starts on July 11.

Germany has been rushing to fill up gas-storage facilities, but has made only modest headway. Reserves are currently around 58% full.

Although the supply of gas is still secured in the short term, companies across all sectors are extremely concerned, Peter Adrian, the president of the DIHK industry lobby, said in an emailed statement.

Given these dark clouds that are gathering, we must now make a joint effort to do everything to save gas for the winter, he added.

Germanys network regulator, known as BNetzA, would implement rationing if the government triggers the emergency level. The Bonn-based agency has said leisure venues would likely see supply cuts, while consumers and critical public services such as hospitals would be protected.

Gas is a crucial part of Germanys energy mix and more difficult to replace than Russian coal and oil, which are being phased out by the end of the year. The fuel is critical for heating homes and for industrial processes in the chemicals, pharmaceuticals and metals sectors.

Germany has taken steps to secure supplies, including taking control of a local Gazprom subsidiary, which was renamed Securing Energy for Europe GmbH. The country is also building infrastructure to import liquefied natural gas from the US and other suppliers, but those wont be ready until later this year.

To shore up the market in the near term, the government is making available additional credit lines by state-owned lender KfW to guarantee gas injections at storage sites.

An auction model will begin this summer to encourage industrial gas consumers to save fuel, which can then be put into storage. The plan envisages major gas suppliers or industrial users posting offers with Trading Hub Europe, according to a BnetzA document seen by Bloomberg. In the event of bottlenecks, Trading Hub Europe will take up the cheapest offer.

The curbing of gas supplies is an economic attack on us by Putin, said Habeck. It is obviously Putins strategy to try to fuel insecurity, drive up prices and divide us as a society. We will fight back against this.

(Updates with historical details in eighth paragraph)

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2022 Bloomberg L.P.
Winning as a Republican in New England is not easy, but New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu came to Connecticut to raise spirits and money Wednesday for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski.

Sununu stopped in Waterbury, a critical city for Stefanowski in his quest to defeat incumbent Democrat Ned Lamont in a rematch of their 2018 contest.

But before he arrived in the Brass City, Sununu said, he learned that Connecticuts diesel tax will be increasing by 9 cents per gallon, to 49 cents, on July 1. Sununu said that stunned him because he lives in a state of 1.4 million residents with an annual budget of $6.5 billion that requires no sales tax and no state income tax.

I literally thought my staff was joking because Ive never heard of anything like that Sununu told reporters at a family-run chocolate factory in Waterbury.

That would be the dumbest thing anyone could do, Sununu said. But when I got down here, I realized it was the actual truth. Wow. The economy runs on diesel. To get product from point A to point B in trucks. To bring the product into here.'

Sununu added, Our national economy runs on diesel. Its the last thing you should be taxing. ... [Lamont] has the power to stand up and say, OK. Were pulling back on that one, but hes not.

In the hours before Sununu arrived, he was attacked in emailed statements by the Lamont campaign, the Connecticut Democratic Party, and the national Democratic Governors Association.

They focused partially on a bill signed into law last month by Sununu that was described by the DGA as an extreme abortion ban' and criticized sharply by Planned Parenthood.

Anti-choice extremists are piling onto Bob Stefanowskis campaign because they know hes on their side, said Sam Newton, a spokesman for the national governors group. Stefanowski cant run from their records of banning abortion or hide his own out-of-touch views that make him too radical for Connecticut.

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Lamonts campaign spokesman, Jake Lewis, said, While Bob tries to paint himself as a moderate, his decision to align himself with anti-abortion extremists like Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts and pretend moderates like Governor Sununu, reveal that he is too extreme for Connecticut. ... Like Governor Sununu, Bob claims to be pro-choice, but his actions tell a different story.'

When told that the Democratic governors group described the ban as extreme, Sununu burst out laughing. The abortion laws in Connecticut and New Hampshire, he said, are similar.

Theyre virtually the same. Its 24 weeks,' Sununu said. I think 44 other states have some type of late-term ban. But I think ours, even in terms of weeks, is the same. So Democrats can complain about it, considering theyre in power here. Its hypocrisy. Theyll do anything to distract from the real issues.'

Sununu added, Im an extremist? Well, thats good. What extreme am I? Am I extreme right or extreme left? I dont know. They both yell at me.'

The Republicans gathered in Waterbury, where Stefanowski lost to Lamont by about 3,800 votes in 2018 and has pledged to fare better this time.

During the past three election cycles, Republicans have performed well in the suburbs every four years. But Democrat Dannel P. Malloy in 2010 and 2014 and Lamont in 2018 scored huge victories in the cities  providing enough votes to win the entire state.

After Waterbury, the two Republicans headed south for a fundraiser at the Branford Yacht Club in the upscale shoreline town with a maximum ticket price of $3,500 per person and a minimum of $300.

The appearance with Sununu marked a sharp contrast from Stefanowskis last fundraiser in which the high-profile guest of honor, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, did not appear due to what the campaign called a scheduling conflict. But that did not stop a clash between Republicans and Democrats over guns and abortion.

The fundraiser had caused controversy among Democrats because Ricketts favors banning abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, if the landmark Roe v. Wade decision were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming weeks.

Stefanowski is locked in a high-stakes, big-money battle against Lamont, a fellow millionaire former business executive. Lamont has already spent more than $40 million of his own money in three statewide races in 2006, 2010, and 2018. He is expected to spend millions more this year to keep his current position.

For more than a decade, Republicans have had trouble winning in New England.

Stefanowski is trying to break a 15-year losing streak by Republicans in major races in Connecticut. In 2006, then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell and then-U.S. Rep. Chris Shays of Bridgeport both won reelection. But Shays lost in the Democratic wave that swept in Barack Obama as president in 2008, and no Connecticut Republican has won a seat for Congress, governor or other statewide office since then.

Shays was the last Republican member of the House from New England, a sharp turnaround from nine Republicans when he first went to Congress after an upset victory in 1987.

Today, the governors of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont are all Republicans, but the partys representation among 33 seats from New England in Washington has been relatively rare in recent years with the high-profile exception of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

While Democrats disagree, Stefanowski says this year will be different.

We came close to winning Waterbury last time. Were going to win it this time,' Stefanowski said, when asked by the Courant. I won the 5th District last time. ... Weve made a ton of terrific friends here.'

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com
RICHMOND, Va., June 23, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, announces it advised Technical Safety Services (TSS), a portfolio company of The Edgewater Funds (Edgewater) and JZ Partners (JZ), on its sale to Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (LLCP). TSS is a leading provider of testing, inspection, certification, and calibration (TICC) services to customers in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, and other life sciences end markets. The transaction was led by Luke Semple, Brian Lucas, Paul Hepper, Taylor Morris, Sean Bielawski and Keith Zukowski of Harris Williams.

"It has been a pleasure working with the TSS team on this transaction," said Luke Semple, a managing director in the Harris Williams Energy, Power & Infrastructure (EPI) Group. "Their ability to deliver critical, highly technical services has enabled them to become a vital partner for customers operating essential life sciences and healthcare facilities, and it has positioned TSS as a premier platform in its industry."

"We are seeing strong interest in premium companies like TSS that provide regulatory-driven TICC services, as investors continue to seek resilient businesses providing non-deferrable services," said Brian Lucas, a managing director in the Harris Williams Business Services Group. "We look forward to following TSSs evolution as it executes on its many organic and inorganic growth initiatives with its new partner."

"TSS represents another successful outcome for Harris Williams and exemplifies the firms ability to work seamlessly across industry groups, bringing together the necessary deal team knowledge and experience to drive a premium outcome," said Paul Hepper, a managing director in the Harris Williams Healthcare & Life Sciences (HCLS) Group.

Founded in 1970, TSS is a leading provider of TICC services to customers in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare and other life sciences end markets. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, TSS provides on-site technical services mandated to occur at regular intervals to ensure all clients remain in compliance with regulatory standards. TSSs services are performed across the lifecycle of a customer facility and ensure the compliant operation of controlled environments such as clean rooms, bio-safety cabinets, medical gas systems, high-purity water systems, laboratory equipment, and more.

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Edgewater is a private equity firm with over $2.8 billion of capital commitments raised since 2001. Through Edgewater Growth Capital Partners, the firm partners with management to help accelerate growth in their businesses. Edgewater is headquartered in Chicago.

JZ has an established track record of investing alongside the owners and management teams of privately held businesses to build successful companies and create long-term value. The principals of JZ have made more than 300 investments, representing an aggregate of over $4 billion, since 1986. JZ is headquartered in Chicago and New York.

LLCP is a middle market private equity firm with a 39-year track record of investing across various targeted sectors, including franchising, business services, education, and engineered products. LLCP utilizes a differentiated Structured Private Equity investment strategy, combining debt and equity capital investments in portfolio companies. This unique structure provides a less dilutive solution for management teams and entrepreneurs, while delivering growth and income with a significantly lower risk profile.

LLCPs global team of dedicated investment professionals is led by nine partners who have worked at LLCP for an average of 19 years. Since inception, LLCP has managed approximately $12.9 billion of institutional capital across 15 investment funds and has invested in over 100 portfolio companies. LLCP currently manages $9.0 billion of assets and has offices in Los Angeles; New York; Chicago; Charlotte, North Carolina; Miami; London; Stockholm; The Hague; and Frankfurt, Germany.

Harris Williams, an investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, advocates for sellers and buyers of companies worldwide through critical milestones and provides thoughtful advice during the lives of their businesses. By collaborating as one firm across Industry Groups and geographies, the firm helps its clients achieve outcomes that support their objectives and strategically create value. Harris Williams is committed to execution excellence and to building enduring, valued relationships that are based on mutual trust. Harris Williams is a subsidiary of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC).

Harris Williams LLC is a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is a private limited company incorporated under English law with its registered office at 8th Floor, 20 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB, UK, registered with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales (registration number 07078852). Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH is registered in the commercial register of the local court of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, under HRB 107540. The registered address is Bockenheimer Landstrasse 33-35, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (email address: hwgermany@harriswilliams.com). Geschaftsfuhrer/Directors: Jeffery H. Perkins, Paul Poggi. (VAT No. DE321666994). Harris Williams is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC, Harris Williams & Co. Ltd and Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH conduct business.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005985/en/

Contacts

For media inquiries, please contact Julia Moore at media@harriswilliams.com.
Michelle Nicholson studies a rendering for planned changes for the Hoover District in North Canton during a tour on Wednesday. State officials visited the site after announcing a $5 million Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit for the project.

NORTH CANTON  Historic preservation tax credits will revive efforts to develop residential and commercial operations in the Hoover District and help revitalize one of Canton's downtown bank buildings.

The two Stark County projects are among 38 statewide to receive Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit assistance. The program awards tax credits to developers rehabilitating historic buildings.

More: 'There just aren't enough stomachs.' Acme leaders push back on N. Canton Meijer project

More: New ATM line now shipping from Diebold Nixdorf factory in Hoover District

Lydia Mihalik, Ohio Department of Development director, stopped at the Hoover District last week during a daylong visit to some of the project sites.

"Ohio is flourishing in historic rehabilitation projects," Mihalik told local officials and developers. "We're happy to play a small part in this project."

This area between former Hoover Co. factories will be a courtyard separating apartment buildings in North Canton's Hoover District. The project got a boost Wednesday when it received Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits.

Who do tax credits help?

The Hoover District project received a $5 million tax credit to help develop 226 apartments, along with commercial space in the oldest portion of the factory complex at the corner of East Maple Street and North Main Street.

Industrial Commercial Properties, based in Solon, and California-based Industrial Realty Group have been redeveloping the former Hoover Co. factory and offices since 2008. The companies received a $5 million tax credit in 2013 but had it rescinded in 2019 because the project stalled.

After years of delays, plans are once again shaping up for commercial and residential development at the Hoover District complex in North Canton.

Meanwhile, Mills Historic Tower on the southwest corner of Tuscarawas Street W and Market Avenue S in Canton, received a $1.12 million tax credit. Built in 1924 as home for the First National Bank, the building was last used by Chase as a bank office in 2018.

Canton lawyer Laura Mills, who has offices in the building, bought it last year.

Tax credits will help with a $5.71 million renovation of select interior spaces, including the historic banking hall. Plans are to have upper floors leased to new tenants, while the ground floor will be offered for a restaurant.

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Stuart Lichter, president and founder of Industrial Realty Group, speaks with Lydia L. Mihalik, center, director of the Ohio Department of Development, and Rep. Thomas West, D-Canton, after a tour of the Hoover District in North Canton.

'Already a success.'

Since acquiring the Hoover office and factory complex, ICP and IRG have leased to multiple tenants. Different companies now have nearly 1,000 people working in the Hoover District.

"This is already a very successful project," said Stuart Lichter, IRG's president and founder.

But while much of the building is leased, the portion fronting Main Street has remained vacant. Plans always have called for construction of apartments and retail or office space. The plan discussed on Wednesday isn't much different from earlier proposals.

The 226 apartments will be one, two or three bedrooms on the upper floors. Earlier plans called for 150 apartments.

The main floor will be designed for commercial use, with about 50,000 square feet available. The developers still hope to attract a brewery for the power house building that anchors the towering Hoover smokestack.

The project carries an $89.2 million price tag, according to state officials.

Jeff Martin, senior vice president for development at ICP, said the company already has invested a lot of money preparing the site. Work already done includes interior demolition and infrastructure, as well as new windows and other changes.

Christopher Semarjian, owner of Industrial Commercial Properties, discusses plans for the Hoover District in North Canton.

Why the delays?

ICP owner Chris Semarjian cited a variety of financing issues as factors in the project's delay.

While costs for the project were high, rental values were low, he said. Rental values have increased, helping to balance the costs.

Also helping the residential and commercial project is construction of a 178,000-square-foot addition to a building already leased by Diebold Nixdorf. The addition will increase Diebold Nixdorf's production and add space for research and other business activities.

Semarjian said the developers learned from developing the East End project at the former Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. headquarters in Akron that when paired, commercial and residential projects help each other and thrive.

Semarjian and Martin said the state tax credits are helping developers cross the finish line as they secure financing for the project.

"It also allows us to kickstart the commercial leasing," Martin said.

Jeff Martin, right, senior vice president of development at Industrial Commercial Properties, leads a tour of the Hoover District in North Canton.

North Canton officials, naturally, are happy to see the state tax credits help the project.

Mayor Stephan Wilder said the community has been waiting patiently for the redevelopment and is encouraged by tax credit announcement.

Wilder cited the city's 2022 master plan, which identifies the importance of the Hoover District redevelopment, adding that the project "helps to build a vibrant downtown core with a vision for Main Street as a destination."

Jeff Martin, second from right, senior vice president of development at Industrial Commercial Properties, leads a tour of the Hoover District in North Canton.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Ohio historic tax credits aid Hoover District, Canton office building
Sabic, a global leader in the chemical industry, has introduced a new resin, well suited for insulation film used in electric vehicle (EV) battery modules to help improve protection against short circuits and fire propagation.



This high-performance, polyphenylene ether (PPO)-based Noryl NHP8000VT3 resin is engineered with patented technologies to help meet the stringent demands of higher-voltage batteries (600-800 volts). It achieves the highest comparative tracking index performance level category (CTI PLC0), provides ultra-thin-wall extrusion and thermoforming capability, and meets the UL94 V0 standard at 0.25 mm with non-brominated, non-chlorinated flame retardance.



Noryl NHP8000VT3 resin provides a novel solution to the drawbacks of incumbent insulation films made with polycarbonate (PC) and polypropylene (PP) by delivering stronger CTI performance and thinner-wall FR capability. This exceptional material can help advance EV battery technology by contributing to occupant safety, weight reduction and higher efficiency for extended range.



Sabic will be featuring its new Noryl NHP8000VT3 resin at The Battery Show Europe 2022 in Stuttgart, Germany, June 28-30 (Hall 8, Booth F10), and will be showcasing an array of insulation film and thermoformed parts.



Transitioning from standard, 400-volt EV batteries to higher voltages offers the potential to shorten charging times, extend range and improve energy management within the vehicle, said Joshua Chiaw, director, Business Management, LNP & Noryl, Specialties, Sabic.



However, designing higher-voltage batteries requires the invention of breakthrough materials, such as our new Noryl resin for insulation films. This new solution is the industrys first thermoformable material to achieve the highest CTI performance level as well as meeting stringent flame retardancy standards. Sabic continues to focus intensively on developing innovative material solutions that can propel e-mobility adoption by addressing safety, performance and range anxiety challenges.



Highest CTI performance level category for higher-voltage batteries



The CTI PLC, which indicates the maximum voltage a material can withstand without developing tracking, is used to evaluate electrical insulators under exposure to conditions of stress, humidity and contamination. Noryl NHP8000VT3 resin achieved the highest CTI performance level category of 0 in testing by an independent laboratory, indicating it can withstand 600 volts and greater.



While some PP grades can also achieve CTI PLC0, these materials are more difficult to thermoform, often requiring the application of secondary processes to achieve complex shapes. Furthermore, Noryl NHP8000VT3 resin delivers better mechanical strength than PP at 0.25mm thickness. Polycarbonate, the other incumbent battery insulation material, typically cannot achieve CTI PLC0.



Ultra-thin-wall flame retardance for space savings



Noryl NHP8000VT3 resins ability to meet the UL94 V0 standard at 0.25 mm means it can provide a high level of flame retardance at a thinner film gauge than PC or PP, potentially freeing up valuable space in the battery pack. Compared to PC, Noryl NHP8000VT3 resin features up to 40 percent weight reduction due to its lower specific gravity and thinner-wall FR capability. This capability can also potentially benefit other EV applications. For example, the new Noryl resin may be a candidate for the insulation of metal EV busbars, using overmolding or insert molding processes.



The Noryl NHP family is our next-generation PPO portfolio with enhanced FR performance, said Jenny Wang, director, Formulation and Application, APAC, Specialties, Sabic.



It includes Noryl NHP6011 and NHP6012 resins for battery modules and housings. Our new Noryl NHP8000VT3 resin further diversifies the series with more-robust CTI performance. To help support the acceleration of future electric vehicle battery designs, we have raised the bar in CTI PLC values and thin-wall flame retardant performance suitable for insulation materials. This achievement attests to our broad and deep technical knowledge and resources, and strong commitment to continuous innovation.



Sabics Noryl NHP8000VT3 resin is globally available.  TradeArabia News Service
DALLAS, June 23, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap (NYSE:MMI), announced the sale of 1,437-unit, five-property Royalton Portfolio. Four properties are in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area and one is in suburban Austin.

"All five properties are newly constructed assets in high-growth, suburban locations," said Drew Kile, IPA senior managing director. "They are all market-leading assets within their submarkets and all experienced exceptional leasing velocity." Kile and IPAs Joey Tumminello, Will Balthrope, Jordan Featherston, Michael Ware, Taylor Hill, Kent Myers, Asher Hall, Grant Raymond, and Jeffrey Kindorf represented the seller, SWBC Real Estate. The team also procured the buyers, Lightbulb Capital Group, the family office of Jay Schuminsky, purchaser of the Metroplex assets and Brixton Capital, which acquired the Austin-area property. "Class A asset sales like these drove the highest transaction velocity since 2018 in the Metroplex last year, and more market-leading apartments traded hands in 2021 than in the past 20 years," added Tumminello.

The Royalton Portfolio properties are:

The Royalton at Grand Prairie, 300 units built in 2021, Grand Prairie

The Royalton at Craig Ranch, 271 units built in 2021, McKinney

Central Park at Craig Ranch, 271 units built in 2019, McKinney

The Royalton at Rockwall Downes, 295 units built in 2021, Rockwall

The Royalton at Sunfield, 300 units built in 2021, Buda

"Austins multifamily marketplace continues to be a strong draw for multifamily investors, and with over 60,000 new residents projected to move to the city by the end of the year, prospects for continued growth are excellent," said Balthrope. "IPA in Texas provides investors with a large inventory of high-quality multifamily investment opportunities in every market, offering local market research and sales expertise in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio."

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About Institutional Property Advisors (IPA)

Institutional Property Advisors (IPA) is a division of Marcus & Millichap (NYSE: MMI), a leading commercial real estate services firm in North America. IPAs combination of real estate investment and capital markets expertise, industry-leading technology, and acclaimed research offer customized solutions for the acquisition, disposition and financing of institutional properties and portfolios. For more information, please visit www.institutionalpropertyadvisors.com

About Marcus & Millichap, Inc. (NYSE: MMI)

Marcus & Millichap, Inc. is a leading brokerage firm specializing in commercial real estate investment sales, financing, research and advisory services with offices throughout the United States and Canada. As of December 31, 2021, the company had 1,994 investment sales and financing professionals in 82 offices who provide investment brokerage and financing services to sellers and buyers of commercial real estate. The company also offers market research, consulting and advisory services to clients. Marcus & Millichap closed 13,255 transactions in 2021, with a sales volume of approximately $84.4 billion. For additional information, please visit www.MarcusMillichap.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005396/en/

Contacts

Gina Relva, VP of Public Relations

Gina.Relva@marcusmillichap.com
Ketel One introduces new campaign, Doing Good Tastes Marvellous, to fight against food insecurity in support of Food Banks Canada

TORONTO , June 23, 2022 /CNW/ - This year, Ketel One Vodka is making a positive change in communities across Canada by partnering with Food Banks Canada in the fight against food insecurity. The partnership aims to raise awareness around the issue of food insecurity across the country and educate Canadians that their support is not only necessary during peak holiday seasons, but at every point of the year, as the demand for food across Canada is growing.

Ketel One Vodka Canada (CNW Group/Ketel One Vodka Canada)

Between the months of April to June and October to December 2022, Ketel One will donate the equivalent of one meal to Food Banks Canada for every Ketel One bottle (barring 375ml) purchased in participating retail outlets in the provinces of Ontario, B.C., Quebec and Manitoba. Ketel One will also donate the equivalent of one meal for every Ketel One cocktail sold at participating Kelsey's Original Roadhouse locations between April 2022 and March 2023. Through both of these initiatives, Ketel One is committed to donating, at minimum, the equivalent of 300,000 meals to Food Banks Canada.

"Food insecurity is at an all-time high in Canada," said Claudia Galella, Director, Corporate Partnerships and Development at Food Banks Canada. "The need for food bank donations is often overlooked outside of the holiday seasons, making Ketel One's Spring and Fall initiatives that much more important and appreciated."

Not only is Ketel One committed to supporting Food Banks Canada's vision of a Canada where no one goes hungry, Ketel One also strongly believes in the importance of reducing food waste and educating Canadians on the simple ways they can play a role in this. This year, Ketel One is partnering with Carleigh Bodrug who is a New York Times best-selling cookbook author and creator of the popular plant-based and low-waste recipe Instagram channel PlantYou , to help educate Canadians on creative ways to make their cocktails and food recipes more sustainable while reducing food waste.

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"I'm honoured to be working with Ketel One on such an impactful initiative. Since starting PlantYou, it's been so important to me to show people how to make better use of their ingredients to raise awareness about food waste and help to cut back on it," said Bodrug. "I'm excited to lend my platform to drive more awareness around the sustainable yet delicious ways you can do more good every day using food scraps."

Bodrug and Ketel One will work together to create simple low-waste recipes that show her followers how to extend the life of their food scraps while making delicious plant-based meals and cocktails using food scraps and Ketel One vodka. In addition, the Ketel One will also donate the equivalent of one meal (up to 10,000 meals) to Food Banks Canada for every re-share of Bodrug's Ketel One recipe on Instagram in the hopes of raising more awareness amongst Canadians on the issue of food waste, and teaching them simple ways to be more mindful in the kitchen.

"Ketel One is family made by people who believe deeply in making things better and leaving the world a better place, and we hope our efforts will leave a positive impact on our communities," said Mark Phillips, Director of Marketing, Diageo Canada. "By working with Food Banks Canada and Carleigh Bodrug, we hope to inspire meaningful conversations to help raise awareness about food insecurity and food waste."

Ketel One is at the forefront of Diageo's 10-year action plan, Society 2030: Spirit of Progress , to create a more inclusive and sustainable world. The Doing Good Tastes Marvellous campaign combines its various community-based projects, such as its Hive Collective program and its partnership with Food Banks Canada, into one broader initiative to create greater impact.

When experimenting with your own mixology skills, Ketel One Vodka reminds you to drink responsibly. For more information on Ketel One and the Doing Good Tastes Marvellous campaign, visit www.ketelone.com/en-ca/ or follow @KetelOne on Twitter and Instagram .

About Ketel One Vodka

Ketel One Family-Made Vodka is a vodka rooted in authenticity, crafted honoring tradition and sophisticated in taste. Ketel One Vodka is produced in Schiedam, Holland by the Nolet Family, who has been distilling fine spirits for 329 years. Ketel One is crafted using the highest quality ingredients such as 100% non-GMO grain. The super-premium vodka is crafted from small batches using traditional copper pot stills, including the original copper Pot Still #1 after which Ketel One is named, together with modern distillation techniques.

In 2008, the Nolet Group and Diageo announced that they had completed a transaction to form a new 50/50 company called Ketel One Worldwide B.V. to own the perpetual exclusive global rights to sell, market and distribute Ketel One Vodka, Ketel One Citroen flavored vodka and Ketel One Oranje flavored vodka. The Ketel One brand is owned by Double Eagle Brands B.V.

About Diageo

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness. Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at www.diageo.com .

Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com , for information, initiatives and ways to share best practice.

Follow us on Twitter for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA .

About Food Banks Canada

Food Banks Canada provides national leadership to relieve hunger today and prevent hunger tomorrow in collaboration with the food bank network from coast-to-coast-to-coast. For 40 years, food banks have been dedicated to helping Canadians living with food insecurity. Over 3,000 food banks and community agencies come together to serve our most vulnerable neighbours who  last year  made 1.3 million visits to these organizations in one month alone, according to our 2021 HungerCount report. Over the past 10 years, as a system we've sourced and shared over 1.4 billion pounds of food and Food Banks Canada shared nearly $70 million in funding to help maximize collective impact and strengthen local capacity  while advocating for reducing the need for food banks. Our vision is clear: create a Canada where no one goes hungry. Visit http://www.foodbankscanada.ca/ to learn more.

SOURCE Ketel One Vodka Canada

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) ties up with scoutAsia to ensure that businesses are equipped with deeper regional insights. The past two years has seen a massive shift in the way businesses are conducted with digitisation, digitalisation and automation continuously being adopted to improve productivity and efficiency. In this paradigm shift where data is king, business intelligence (BI) and business analytics are essential for data-driven decision-making.

Business intelligence or the lack of business intelligence has been identified as a key threat to sustainable recovery in both the small- and medium-enterprise (SME) sector and for multinational organisations operating in Asia. An area that has seen a considerable uptrend in this space is regulatory compliance around sanctions and shifts in trade arrangements based on free trade agreements (FTAs) like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

According to scoutAsia, over the first two weeks of June, an analysis of media attention in South East Asia to the issue of food supply, particularly the supply of chicken, revealed that Malaysia and Singapore were ranked first and second respectively, with Indonesia coming in third. On this issue, Malaysia and Singapore represented more than 50 per cent of all media attention across the region. This is a prime example of what can be achieved with media intelligence.

"The Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) creates a multiplier effect in terms of engagement within the business community in Malaysia. It is our intention to ensure that members and strategic partners of MGBF are armed with the right tools to make informed decisions," said Sachvinder Singh, Director of scoutAsia and Handshakes.

"The ultimate goal of this relationship is to ensure that corporations operating in Malaysia are armed with critical business intelligence. At the same time, scoutAsia allows those companies with an ASEAN or Asian footprint a cost-effective way to learn more about broader markets," concluded Sachvinder Singh, who is also a Director of Handshakes a component of the scoutAsia suite of technology offerings.

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Nordin Abdullah, Founding Chairman of the Malaysia Global Business Forum, said, "scoutAsia enables businesses to uncover innovations within different sectors and understand the performance of their competitors while finding more probable partnerships. In terms of information and knowledge gaps, scoutAsia can play a role in keeping leaders ahead of the curve especially as we look at impacts of sanctions and regulatory changes on multiple supply chains."

"This tie-up with scoutAsia allows us to continue down the path of a data-driven platform at the intersection between the corporate sector, the governments, and the media. This convergence has never been so critical to businesses operating in multiple jurisdictions. Those companies that can manage change at the strategic level will be well positioned to remain resilient moving forward," continued Nordin, an Australian businessman who has over 30 years of business experience in Asia.

The Malaysia Global Business Forum will be hosting a roundtable on "Charting the Future of Data Resilience" on 5 July 2022 in Kuala Lumpur. For more information, visit www.malaysiaglobalbusinessforum.com.

ABOUT SCOUTASIA

scoutAsia is an Asia-focused news and company data platform, jointly developed by Nikkei & the Financial Times in 2018 with the ultimate aim of enabling customers towards better and more informed decisions. Combining quality content and technologies, scoutAsia provides AI-driven insights on what is changing in Asian business today. Singapore-based Handshakes by DC Frontiers came on board in 2019 to power the platform with its award-winning AI technologies. For more information about scoutAsia, visit https://www.scout.asia/.

ABOUT MALAYSIA GLOBAL BUSINESS FORUM

The Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) was established more than 10 years ago to empower stakeholders at the intersection of international and Malaysian business. Through government relations, business intelligence, advocacy, media engagement, market research, networking, advisory and business matching, MGBF delivers results for individuals, corporations, trade and business associations, as well as national and state governments. The overall objective of the MGBF is to empower business for people, planet and profit consistent with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through inward, outward and intra-Malaysia business activities in line with the Malaysian government's core strategic objectives for development.

SOURCE Malaysia Global Business Forum
MEXICO CITY, June 22 (Reuters) - Mexico's troubled payroll lender Credito Real said in filing to the Mexican stock exchange late Wednesday that it was aware of claims of a filing of an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition, which it would fight once the petition was served.

"The Company believes the Involuntary Petition is improper and was filed as a litigation tactic in the U.S. by certain alleged minority creditors to gain leverage in negotiations with the Company," Credito Real said. (Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
Expansion doubles production of the most highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPIs)

MilliporeSigma now one of industry's largest manufacturers of these components globally

Builds on company's 30 years' CDMO experience with multi-step, complex, and highly potent compounds

BURLINGTON, Mass., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MilliporeSigma, the U.S. and Canada Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, has doubled its high-potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPI) production capacity with the expansion of its facility in Verona, near Madison, Wisconsin, USA. This new US$65 million, 70,000 square foot facility, officially opened today, brings 50 new jobs to the area.

MilliporeSigma has doubled its high-potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPI) production capacity with the expansion of its facility in Verona, near Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

"There is an increasing demand for HPAPIs due to their effectiveness against cancer at lower doses and the trend towards more targeted therapeutics. Lower-doses of these therapies reduce the negative side effects for patients who are taking on this critical fight," said Dirk Lange, Head of Life Science Services, Life Science business sector of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. "Increasing capacity at our state-of-the-art facility in Verona, Wisconsin will allow us to meet the need for these key cancer treatment components."

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide1. HPAPIs are a critical element of targeted therapies due to their extremely effective cell-killing abilities at low doses, resulting in reduced side effects for patients. They are used in novel cancer therapies, including antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), which are changing the landscape of cancer treatments.

MilliporeSigma has been developing multi-step, complex, and highly potent compounds for more than 30 years and continues to be an industry leader in the development and custom manufacture of these components. HPAPIs require specialized handling and manufacturing facilities that protect the safety of employees and their environment. Many potential life-saving treatments never make it to market in part due to the specialized handling requirements. MilliporeSigma's Verona, Wisconsin site was the second facility in the world to be SafeBridge-certified and the company continues to meet these rigorous safety and containment requirements necessary to this day. In fact, this expansion positions MilliporeSigma as one of the largest single-digit nanogram occupational exposure limit (OEL) CDMO providers in the world. HPAPIs are measured with the most potent registering less than 10 nanograms per cubic meter. Single digit nanogram HPAPIs require highly specialized handling, which is reflected by the OEL designation.

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In addition to HPAPI production, MilliporeSigma also has extensive experience developing and manufacturing ADCs. Being the first CDMO to manufacture commercially approved ADC drugs in North America, the company recently launched new technologies to advance ADC therapies. Its unique ChetoSensar technology gives new promise to ADCs by alleviating solubility challenges, and MilliporeSigma's new DOLCORE platform significantly reduces development and manufacturing time required, increasing speed-to-market by up to a year, ultimately getting needed therapies to patients quicker.

With more than 30 years of CDMO experience in the development and manufacturing of HPAPIs, linkers and mAbs, MilliporeSigma offers significant expertise in both clinical and commercial manufacturing. The company also has extensive CDMO experience in viral vector, lipids, LNP and mRNA manufacturing from pre-clinical to commercial  helping to streamline steps of drug development and production with a single, highly experienced partner. Additionally, BioReliance contract testing services are integrated into the overall Services offering to further streamline the development path.

Follow MilliporeSigma on Twitter @MilliporeSigma, on Facebook @MilliporeSigma and on LinkedIn.

All Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany news releases are distributed by email at the same time they become available on the EMD Group website. In case you are a resident of the U.S. or Canada please go to www.emdgroup.com/subscribe to register again for your online subscription of this service as our newly introduced geo-targeting requires new links in the email. You may later change your selection or discontinue this service.

About the Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

The Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, which operates as MilliporeSigma in the U.S. and Canada, has more than 26,000 employees and 55 manufacturing and testing sites worldwide, with a portfolio of more than 300,000 products focused on scientific discovery, biomanufacturing and testing services. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and electronics.

Around 60,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene-editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices  the company is everywhere. In 2021, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany generated sales of  19.7 billion in 66 countries.

The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark "Merck" internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Electronics. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company's technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. For more information about Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, visit www.emdgroup.com.

All Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany news releases are distributed by email at the same time they become available on the EMD Group website. In case you are a resident of the U.S. or Canada please go to www.emdgroup.com/subscribe to register again for your online subscription of this service as our newly introduced geo-targeting requires new links in the email. You may later change your selection or discontinue this service.

1 "Global Cancer Facts & Figures 4th Edition, https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/global-cancer-facts-and-figures/global-cancer-facts-and-figures-4th-edition.pdf

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SOURCE MilliporeSigma
MrBeast's hometown mayor says he has monthly calls with the YouTuber and loves his economic impact on the city

Roy Rochlin

MrBeast has forged alliances with influential figures in Greenville, NC, where his business is based.

Mayor PJ Connelly and MrBeast have monthly calls on projects that involve city resources.

"Those dollars that he's paying out in wages stay in our community," Connelly said.

In Greenville, North Carolina, Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson has capitalized on a home court advantage by running his multimillion-dollar operations out of the mid-sized city where he came of age.

In addition to being less expensive than Los Angeles, Donaldson has emerged as a kind of local hero, forging alliances with business owners, East Carolina University (Greenville is a college town through and through), and even the mayor.

PJ Connelly, Greenville's mayor, is 38 years old and a former pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels. He has been in office since 2017.

He and Donaldson hold monthly calls about local shoots or any other projects that may involve city resources, he told Insider. This includes a massive turkey drive at the local fairgrounds last Thanksgiving, which was staffed by the Greenville Police Department and the Pitt County Sheriff's Department to ensure safety and minimize traffic disruption.

Connelly told Insider that team Beast is currently looking to buy up more real estate around town for office and studio space, which would mark a continued boon for Greenville.

"He brings people here, he shoots videos here, he employs people here, and those dollars that he's paying out in wages stay in our community," Connelly said. "They're being spent in our local restaurants, our local retail locations, they're buying houses, or they're renting in our community."

And Connelly isn't the only politician to extol Donaldson's virtues on social media.

Donaldson's local congressman, Rep. Greg Murphy, has never met the YouTuber, but has touted his charity work on Twitter.

Murphy told Insider he's proud of the "homegrown son"  with some slight caveats.

"As long as he stays within the law and he does stunts that are safe and provides charity work, we're all behind him and his business model and wish him the best success in the world," Murphy said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Paris-originated VC Breega wasnt enormously well known in the VC world (it only closed its first fund in 2015) until, perhaps, it started attracting attention with its second 110 million seed fund, just under a year go. Its portfolio now includes a number of scaleups including Moneybox, Cuvva, Coverflex and Libeo. Perhaps part of its "secret sauce" is how it has managed to put together an in house-team of experts in growth, talent and comms, of which more later.

Suffice it to say, Breega seems to be punching all the right numbers. Its now closed a 250 million venture fund, enabling it to move from funding seed-stage European companies to now being able to go for Series A stage and beyond. Its also now opened a Barcelona office (alongside London and Paris) headed up by partner and recently nominated head of European Venture, Isabelle Gallo. Breegas aim is to finance at least 20 companies in total with the new fund. To date, Breega has backed 70 promising portfolio companies across seven countries.

Breegas investors include institutional players EIF (European Investment Fund) Bpifrance, Group Credit Agricole, Amundi, LCL, Isomer Capital and a number of European entrepreneurs, which Breega hasnt named specifically.

The new fund doubles its assets under management to half a billion euros. This is Breegas fourth fundraise in seven years.

The new fund will have a strong focus on (although not limited to) fintech and insurtech companies.

Breegas new fund has also now backed Keebo (fintech), UKIO (proptech) and Mila (insurtech).

Ben Marrel, co-founder and CEO at Breega said in a statement:

Our fourth and largest fund to date will allow us to finance later stage companies at Series A stage and above and to continue to support our existing portfolio startups as they grow. This new money will also allow us to expand further into the increasingly dynamic Iberian tech ecosystem, one of the most dynamic in Europe.

Current investments in the Iberian market include property tech Ukio, insurtech and employee benefits platform, Coverflex, and the fintech investment platform, Ninety-Nine.

Breegas in-house, free-of-charge "Scaling Squad" consists of a team of experts in growth and pairing, talent, marketing and communication. Ben Stanway, founder and co-CEO of Moneybox says this acted like an extension of our own team.

Replying to me over email, Marrel added: Were also very interested in seeing how advances in blockchain technology and quantum computing will impact innovation  Breega is an early investor in Alice & Bob and were very excited to be accompanying them in the race to creating the worlds first fault-free quantum computer.
PHI Group, Inc.

PHI Group, Inc.

Danang Rubber JSC and Tin Thanh Group

New York, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PHI Group, Inc. (www.phiglobal.com, PHIL), a diversified holding company currently sponsoring PHILUX Global Funds (a group of Luxembourg bank funds), developing the Asia Diamond Exchange project (ADE) in Vietnam, engaging in mergers and acquisitions and investing in special situations (www.co2-1-0.io), is pleased to announce that the Company has jointly inked an agreement with Danang Rubber Joint Stock Company (DRC) (https://drctire.com/) and Tin Thanh Group (TTG) (https://tinthanhgroup.vn/en/) to cooperate in increasing DRCs tire production and executing an innovative sales and marketing program targeting annual revenues of 5.5 billion dollars by 2025.

The DRC-TTG truck tire leasing service program with complete multi-function and insurance package will provide the following distinctive benefits to the consumers:

Smart tires with mounted chips to track and manage journey. Saving of 10-20% compared to buying tires. No cost to change tires. No environmental fees when replacing old tires. No need to pay for periodic tire maintenance checks. No need to pay for buying tires when changing new tires. No need to pay for tire insurance. No increase in fuel or lubricant consumption compared to before using this service. Tires use clean and renewable energy thus also benefiting the environment.



Tin Thanh Group is a pioneer conglomerate with decades of experience in providing renewable energy and reducing global emissions covering the following fields: Environment, Energy, and Closed Circular Agro-Industrial Energy. It is supplying energy from renewable fuels to more than 40 industrial plants in Vietnam and around the world. The company specializes in sustainable development of closed circular agro-industrial energy by growing sorghum crops in order to create a clean energy source and reduce global emissions. It also transforms old waste dumps into new environmentally friendly urban residential areas. Tin Thanh Group currently holds 10 patents and 10 new valuable industrial solutions yet to be registered for patents. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ipLNCaKkqxxK3m5xhUEjKI2iBpA6nC4o/view

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DRC (https://drctire.com/) is the leading manufacturer of truck and passenger car tires in Vietnam and super heavy duty OTR tires in Southeast Asia. It is the most famous and prestigious brand in Vietnam which always grasps the development trend in the world and aspires to promote the export of tire product lines to potential international markets, strongly expanding and developing traditional tire products to serve the diverse needs of customers. The company continues to apply new advanced technology of the world to produce high-quality products at competitive prices to provide practical benefits to customers and make positive contributions to the economic development of Vietnam.

Mr. Tran Dinh Quyen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tin Thanh Group, stated: We believe the cooperation among DRC, PHI Group and Tin Thanh Group is a predestined rendezvous at the right time to accelerate the fulfillment of a very innovative, well-planned program that will surely benefit a myriad of consumers and create tremendous value for all three companies and our shareholders. We are confident that by 2025 we can generate USD 5.5 billion in revenues from this program.

Mr. Le Hoang Khanh Nhut, General Director of DRC, confirmed: As we capitalize on the strengths of each and all parties, the expertise and experience in advanced manufacturing of DRC, the innovation of sales, marketing, product positioning and operation of TTG, and PHIs international network of capital access, we are confident that we can provide high quality products at competitive prices to deliver meaningful benefits for consumers and make positive contributions to economic development for our respective countries.

Mr. Henry Fahman, Chairman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PHI Group, Inc., concurred: We are delighted to partner with Danang Rubber Company and Tin Thanh Group to accelerate the execution of this exciting program and look forward to creating very significant value for all three companies, our shareholders and the global community.

About Tin Thanh Group

Tin Thanh Group is a Vietnamese joint stock company conglomerate with a vision to become a sustainable development corporation in the field of high-tech industry and agriculture in order to reduce global emissions and replace fossil fuels with renewable fuels. The Company supplies energy from renewable fuels to more than 40 industrial plants in Vietnam and around the world. It specializes in sustainable development of closed circular agro-industrial energy by growing sorghum crops in order to create a clean energy source and reduce global emissions and also transforms old waste dumps into new environmentally friendly urban residential areas. https://tinthanhgroup.vn/en/

About Danang Rubber Company

Starting in 1945 DRC (https://drctire.com/) tire brand has grown to be a major tire manufacturer in Asia and biggest brand tire in Vietnam for manufacturing all kind of tires for bicycles, motorcycles, bus, trucks, ATVs, off the road and agricultural tires. Vietnam DRC tire business has seen exponential growth since its beginning. For more than 45 years of development, DRC has established a strong worldwide distribution network with over 80 countries and global sales of over $500 million.

About PHI Group

PHI Group (www.phiglobal.com, PHIL) primarily focuses on PHILUX Global Funds, a group of Luxembourg bank funds organized as Reserved Alternative Investment Fund (RAIF) (www.philux.eu), and building the Asia Diamond Exchange (ADE) in Vietnam. The Company also engages in mergers and acquisitions and invests in select industries and special situations that may substantially enhance shareholder value.

Safe Harbor Act and Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as may, future, plan or planned, will or should, expected, anticipates, draft, eventually or projected, which are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors.

Contact:

PHI Group, Inc.

Email: info@phiglobal.com

Phone: +1-714-793-2977





Attachment




Pipestone Energy Corp.

CALGARY, Alberta, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (PIPE  TSX) Pipestone Energy Corp. (Pipestone Energy or the Company) is pleased to report the results of its annual shareholder meeting.

The Company held its 2022 annual meeting (the Meeting) of the shareholders of Pipestone Energy (the Shareholders) today at 10:00 a.m. (Calgary time) virtually. A total of 185,460,783 votes were cast, representing 65.75% of the total 282,091,000 eligible votes, which includes the Companys issued and outstanding common and preferred share voting rights as of the May 9, 2022 record date for the Meeting.

All of the nominees proposed as directors were elected with a majority of votes cast by the Shareholders attending the Meeting or by proxy as follows:

Director Votes For (Percentage) Gordon Ritchie 173,784,107 (99.46%) Garth Braun 169,487,502 (97.00%) William Lancaster 166,419,014 (95.25%) John Rossall 173,800,757 (99.47%) Robert Tichio 168,344,421 (96.35%) Jesal Shah 171,580,179 (98.20%) Kimberly Anderson 174,698,572 (99.98%) Paul Wanklyn 174,549,086 (99.90%)

Ernst & Young LLP was appointed as auditors of Pipestone Energy to hold office until the next annual meeting, and the directors were authorized to fix their remuneration. The results of the ballot were as follows:

Votes For (Percentage) 183,215,313 (98.79%)

Pipestone Energy Corp.

Pipestone is an oil and gas exploration and production company focused on developing its large contiguous and condensate rich Montney asset base in the Pipestone area near Grande Prairie. Pipestone expects to grow its production to 32 Mboe/d (midpoint) in 2022 and to approximately 55 Mboe/d by exit 2025, while generating significant free cash flow and de-leveraging the business. Pipestone is committed to building long term value for our shareholders while maintaining the highest possible environmental and operating standards, as well as being an active and contributing member to the communities in which it operates. Pipestone has achieved certification of all its production from its Montney asset under the Equitable Origin EO100TM Standard for Responsible Energy Development. Pipestone shares trade under the symbol PIPE on the TSX. For more information, visit www.pipestonecorp.com .

Pipestone Energy Contacts:

Paul Wanklyn

President and Chief Executive Officer

(587) 392-8407

paul.wanklyn@pipestonecorp.com Craig Nieboer

Chief Financial Officer

(587) 392-8408

craig.nieboer@pipestonecorp.com



Dan van Kessel

VP Corporate Development

(587) 392-8414

dan.vankessel@pipestonecorp.com




Scorpio Tankers Inc.

MONACO, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) (Scorpio Tankers, or the Company) announces that the President of the Company, Robert Bugbee, has purchased 50,000 common shares of the Company in the open market at an average price of $33.89 per share.



About Scorpio Tankers Inc.

Scorpio Tankers Inc. is a provider of marine transportation of petroleum products worldwide. Scorpio Tankers Inc. currently owns, finance leases or bareboat charters-in 116 product tankers (41 LR2 tankers, 61 MR tankers and 14 Handymax tankers) with an average age of 6.5 years. The Company has agreed to sell two LR2 tankers and one MR tanker. Additional information about the Company is available at the Company's website www.scorpiotankers.com, which is not a part of this press release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forwardlooking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forwardlooking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forwardlooking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words believe, expect, anticipate, estimate, intend, plan, target, project, likely, may, will, would, could and similar expressions identify forwardlooking statements.

The forwardlooking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, managements examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the Companys records and other data available from third parties. Although management believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond the Companys control, there can be no assurance that the Company will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. The Company undertakes no obligation, and specifically declines any obligation, except as required by law, to publicly update or revise any forwardlooking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in the Companys view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forwardlooking statements include unforeseen liabilities, future capital expenditures, revenues, expenses, earnings, synergies, economic performance, indebtedness, financial condition, losses, future prospects, business and management strategies for the management, the length and severity of the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, including its effect on demand for petroleum products and the transportation thereof, expansion and growth of the Companys operations, risks relating to the integration of assets or operations of entities that it has or may in the future acquire and the possibility that the anticipated synergies and other benefits of such acquisitions may not be realized within expected timeframes or at all, the failure of counterparties to fully perform their contracts with the Company, the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for tanker vessel capacity, changes in the Companys operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for the Companys vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, charter counterparty performance, ability to obtain financing and comply with covenants in such financing arrangements, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessels breakdowns and instances of offhires, and other factors. Please see the Companys filings with the SEC for a more complete discussion of certain of these and other risks and uncertainties.

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Contact Information

Scorpio Tankers Inc.

James Doyle  Head of Corporate Development & Investor Relations

Tel: +1 646-432-1678

Email: investor.relations@scorpiotankers.com




BRITISHVOLT, one of the fastest growing battery technology companies globally, is on the frontier of next-generation innovation, technology, and R&D.

It is dedicated to accelerating the future of low carbon electrified transportation, producing best-in-class battery solutions, and aims to help the UK transition from fossil fuels to a low carbon, battery-based electric future.

The cornerstone of that roadmap is its gigaplant in Northumberland, the UKs first large, full-cycle gigaplant that will have a total capacity of over 38 gigawatt hours (GWh) by the end of the decade and will produce cells far in excess of 300,000 electric vehicle battery packs per year, intended primarily for use in the automotive industry.

Phase 1 of the facility is expected to go into operation by 2023 with full capacity by 2028.

The scheduled release of an official A-sample battery cell to customers in 2022 will help to further accelerate commitments.

The UK government early this year announced to provide financial support to the plant as part of its 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution and its recent Transport Decarbonisation Plan.

The Northumberland Gigaplant is a major boost for the UK as it will deliver around 3,000 direct skilled jobs and another 5,000-plus in the associated supply chains.

Britishvolt has signed collaborations with academia, industry and private enterprises to support the development of Gigaplant.

It entered a strategic partnership with Sunbelt Rentals to work closely to support the development of heavy plant and equipment battery solutions to help de-carbonise the construction and equipment rental sectors.

Additionally, the company has already confirmed MoUs with Lotus Cars and Aston Martin Lagonda, which have cumulative demand in excess of 7GWh in 2024 and 2025.

To support the energy transition, many new skills are required and Britishvolt has agreed to work with Northumberland College and the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre, to nurture the graduates throughout their core apprenticeship training, and to develop homegrown intellectual property,

Both Northumberland College and the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre will link to the Britishvolt FutureGen Foundation, connecting into hard-to-reach communities and driving up the aspirations and skills of the many.

The Foundation was created by Britishvolt to help build a better future for local communities through providing entry level, gateway qualifications into STEM and renewables employment, as well as inspiring our next generation of scientists, engineers and climate advocates.

According to Katie Sloggett, Britishvolt Head of Learning and Development: This is a fantastic opportunity to work within our local communities and help generate the skills required for Britain to play its part in the next industrial revolution. These partnerships will initially create opportunities for apprentices at levels 2-4, in time forming part of a wider electrification skills pathway towards higher-skills, up to and including level 8 (PhD).

The arrival of Britishvolt in south east Northumberland is going to have a massive positive impact on the local area and its economy and were delighted to be partnering with Britishvolt to help recruit new talent and develop their workforce through apprenticeships, said Iain Nixon, Vice Principal Partnerships and Commercial, for Education Partnership North East, which incorporates Northumberland College, Sunderland College and Hartlepool Sixth Form

The college will initially provide training for entry-level apprentices at Britishvolt  operators on the production line and engineering technicians.

Ahead of the Gigaplant starting up production, a pilot engineering technician apprenticeship programme will start this September.

Meanwhile David Grailey, Managing Director of MTC Training, said: MTC Trainings apprentices are exactly what industry needs to fill the high-tech jobs of the future as industry moves toward a net-zero environment. Our apprenticeship shape our learners to be fully-rounded apprentices capable of filling the most demanding of positions.

And Alex Burghart, UK Government Minister for Skills, commented: The UK is leading the way in supporting cutting edge green industries and it is brilliant to see apprentices take their rightful place at the forefront of our green skills revolution.

This deal proves what is possible when colleges and companies work together to meet the needs of learners, local communities and the economy, and I would encourage all colleges to follow Northumberlands example.

TOP AWARD

Early this year, Britishvolt topped the list of 14 best-funded greentech startups in the UK. It has already raised 1.78 billion ($2.18 billion) in equity investment since launching in 2019, according to Beauhurst data.

The vast majority of Britishvolts funding was secured in a single deal in January 2022. The 1.7-billion fundraising included a sales and leaseback arrangement, provided by Tritax and abrdn, and will fund the construction of Britishvolts battery plant in the North East. It was also the biggest UK equity deal of Q1 2022.

The companys other investors include Glencore, Carbon Transition, NG Bailey and Cathexis Venture II. It has also received a 100 million innovation grant from the UK Government-backed Automotive Transformation Fund. --OGN
Company Logo

Dublin, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "The IT Industry in South Africa 2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



This report focuses on the IT industry, including hardware manufacturing, assembly, and supply; software development and supply; and retail sales of hardware and software.

It includes information on the size of the sector, rankings, spending forecasts and estimates, notable players and their performance, corporate actions, regulation, influencing factors and trends.

There are profiles of 105 companies, including major software and hardware companies such as AdaptIT, Business Connexion, Dell and IBM, ecommerce companies such as Africa Online and Takealot, transaction technology companies such as Mastercard and MediKredit and companies that have come under scrutiny such as Ayo and EOH.

The pandemic has given an enormous boost to digital transformation, and the IT industry. Supply chain issues, chip shortages, an upsurge in cybercrime, and the July riots all had a major impact on South African companies and the way they work. The IT sector is expecting the increasing access to broadband and fibre and the release of spectrum to drive digital transformation in the country.

Ratings of South Africa's IT industry compared to top global performers on network readiness to optimise the use of ICTs, the relationship between ICT infrastructure investment and economic growth and digital competitiveness show that South Africa's rankings are low compared to global economies and the highest on the African continent.

Trends

The adoption of hybrid work models and most leaders of large companies in South Africa expect to adopt a more hybrid way of working permanently.

The pandemic created greater impetus for digitalisation uptake, which allows companies to use their data more effectively to gain better insight and thus become more competitive. Key drivers in the sector include artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data analytics, 5G and the internet of things.

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Cybersecurity and Crime

The move to remote work has exposed many security risks, and it is estimated that the global average cost of a data breach increased by 10% year-on-year in 2021.

In South Africa there have been a number of attacks such as on Transnet Port Terminals, which brought ports and railways to a standstill. Ransomware attacks are the top cyberthreat for the year ahead, followed by business interruptions.

Key Topics Covered:



1. INTRODUCTION



2. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY

2.1. Industry Value Chain

2.2. Geographic Position

2.3. Size of the Industry

2.4. Key Success Factors and Pain Points



3. LOCAL

3.1. Key Trends

3.2. Notable Players

3.3. Trade

3.4. Corporate Actions

3.5. Regulations

3.6. Enterprise Development and Social Economic Development



4. AFRICA



5. INTERNATIONAL



6. INFLUENCING FACTORS

6.1. COVID-19

6.2. Economic Environment

6.3. Labour

6.4. IT-Related Government Initiatives

6.5. Governance and Procurement Issues

6.6. Technology, Research and Development (R&D) and Innovation

6.7. Cybersecurity and Crime

6.8. Environmental Issues

6.9. Electricity Supply Constraints

6.10. Cyclicality



7. COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT

7.1. Competition

7.2. Ownership Structure of the Industry

7.3. Barriers to Entry



8. SWOT ANALYSIS



9. OUTLOOK



10. INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS



11. REFERENCES

11.1. Publications

11.2. Websites



APPENDICES

Appendix 1 -Summary of Notable Players

Computer and Related Activities

Wholesale and Retail of Laptops, Desktops and Peripherals

Appendix 2 - SME Hardware Manufacturers, Hardware Suppliers, and e-Waste Refurbishers

Appendix 3 - IT-related Projects and Initiatives on the African Continent

Appendix 4 - 20 Highest Paid Positions at South Africa's Multinational IT Companies and equivalent salaries at small to medium local enterprises

COMPANY PROFILES

COMPUTER AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

4Sight Holdings Ltd

Accenture (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd

Accsys (Pty) Ltd

ACI Global Ltd

Active Track (Pty) Ltd

AdaptIT Holdings Ltd

Adcorp Workforce Solutions (Pty) Ltd

Africa Online Retail (Pty) Ltd

Afrihost SP (Pty) Ltd

Altron Ltd

Alviva Holdings Ltd

AOLC (Pty) Ltd

AYO Technology Solutions Ltd

B D Silks CC

Barone Budge and Dominick (Pty) Ltd

Bidvest Office (Pty) Ltd

Blue Label Telecoms Ltd

Business Connexion (Pty) Ltd

Cash Connect Management Solutions (Pty) Ltd

CCI Technology Solutions (Pty) Ltd

CHM Vuwani Computer Solutions (Pty) Ltd

Cisco Systems (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd

Cocre8 IT Services (Pty) Ltd

ContinuitySA (Pty) Ltd

Daddy's Deals (Pty) Ltd

Datacentrix (Pty) Ltd

Datatec Ltd

Dimension Data (Pty) Ltd

Direct Transact (Pty) Ltd

Document Warehouse (Pty) Ltd (The)

EasyPay (Pty) Ltd

Ecentric Payment Systems (Pty) Ltd

EOH Holdings Ltd

ERS Biometrics (Pty) Ltd

Faranani IT Services (Pty) Ltd

Flash Mobile Vending (Pty) Ltd

Gijima Group Ltd

Hewlett-Packard South Africa (Pty) Ltd

IBM South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Intel South Africa Corporation

International Time and Access Technologies CC

Iron Mountain South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Iron Mountain South Africa Information Management (Pty) Ltd

Iron Mountain South Africa Records Management (Pty) Ltd

IT-Dynamics (Pty) Ltd

ITEC SA (Pty) Ltd

Lightstone Consumer (Pty) Ltd

Mastercard Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd

MediKredit Integrated Healthcare Solutions (Pty) Ltd

Metrofile Holdings Ltd

Micro Focus Software South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Microsoft (S A) (Pty) Ltd

Morvest Group (Pty) Ltd

Mustek Ltd

Naspers Ltd

Net1 Applied Technologies South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Nomad Information Systems (Pty) Ltd

Onedayonly Offers (Pty) Ltd

Oracle Corporation (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd

Pay-Day Software Systems (Pty) Ltd

Paycorp Group (Pty) Ltd

PBT Group Ltd

Prism Payment Technologies (Pty) Ltd

QCK Lezmin 4648 CC

Ricoh South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Sage South Africa (Pty) Ltd

SAS Institute (Pty) Ltd

SBE International SA (Pty) Ltd

Setcom (Pty) Ltd

Siemens (Pty) Ltd

Silkwood Trading 18 (Pty) Ltd

Sirius Sales (Pty) Ltd

South African Bankers Services Company (Pty) Ltd

Spark ATM Systems (Pty) Ltd

State Information Technology Agency SOC Ltd

Stellar Capital Partners (Pty) Ltd

Systems Africa CC

Systems Applications Products (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd

T-Systems South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Takealot Online (RF) (Pty) Ltd

Teraco Data Environments (Pty) Ltd

Time and Attendance Solutions (Pty) Ltd

Time Attendance and Access Control CC

Toppan FaceTech (Pty) Ltd

Trac Tech (Pty) Ltd

Transaction Control Technologies (SA) (Pty) Ltd

Trillobate Marketing (Pty) Ltd

Trustlink (Pty) Ltd

Verifone Africa (Pty) Ltd

Virdi Distribution SA (Pty) Ltd

Visio Pix (Pty) Ltd

Wizzit Payments (Pty) Ltd

Xneelo (Pty) Ltd

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL OF LAPTOPS, DESKTOPS AND PERIPHERALS

Acer Africa (Pty) Ltd

Alviva Holdings Ltd

AOLC (Pty) Ltd

ASUSTek Computer Inc

Bidvest Office (Pty) Ltd

CHM Vuwani Computer Solutions (Pty) Ltd

CoCre8 Technology Solutions (Pty) Ltd

Dell Computer (Pty) Ltd

Esquire System Technology (Pty) Ltd

Hisense SA Sales Holdings (Pty) Ltd

Huawei Technologies Africa (Pty) Ltd

Intel South Africa Corporation

ITEC SA (Pty) Ltd

JD Consumer Electronics and Appliances (Pty) Ltd

Lenovo (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd

LG Electronics S A (Pty) Ltd

Microsoft (S A) (Pty) Ltd

Mustek Ltd

Oracle Corporation (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd

Ricoh South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Samsung Electronics South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Tarsus Distribution (Pty) Ltd

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/r2k95c

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




Dealer Inspire is certified to provide Subaru retailers a connected digital website platform that includes turnkey opportunities for seamless digital advertising, SEO, messaging, digital retailing and vehicle acquisition technologies built-in

NAPERVILLE, Ill., June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dealer Inspire (DI), a Cars.com Inc. (NYSE: CARS) company that provides advanced technology and digital advertising solutions to the automotive industry, announced today a new OEM partnership with Subaru of America. Dealer Inspire has been named a Certified Website Provider in the Subaru Certified Retailer Program, and will have the opportunity to partner with Subaru's more than 570 U.S.-based retailers to help them increase sales and efficiency through a connected website platform with industry-leading technology. The company currently partners with retailers within the Subaru Certified Chat Program and can leverage existing relationships to build website market share.

Dealer Inspire Logo (PRNewsfoto/Dealer Inspire)

"There is no doubt about it  the best consumer experience wins. At Dealer Inspire, we are passionate about enabling our dealer partners with a digital storefront and connected suite of digital advertising solutions that meet shoppers where they are and deliver flawless execution on the shopping experience today's customers expect," said Darren Haygood, General Manager for Dealer Inspire. "Our award-winning website platform coupled with innovative digital retailing and vehicle acquisition solutions helps maximize dealer ROI and is a catalyst for selling more vehicles, more efficiently. We are incredibly proud to be Certified by Subaru, and we're excited about the opportunity to expand our relationship with local Subaru retailers across the country."

DI customers gain additional benefits as part of the Cars.com Inc. family of brands, which includes Cars.com, Dealer Inspire, DealerRater, FUEL, CreditIQ and Accu-Trade. The company leverages integrated technologies across its brands to drive Cars.com's 26 million monthly in-market car shoppers directly to dealers' digital and physical storefronts.

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As part of the Certified Digital Program, Subaru retailers who partner with Dealer Inspire gain access to:

Advanced Website Platform : An eight-time AWA Pinnacle Platform Winner, DI's website platform is flexible, fast, and built to convert. It adapts to each individual shopper with personalization and geofencing technology, and features Lightning Inventory to instantly guide them to the right vehicle for their needs. Seamlessly integrated with the rest of DI's products, the website platform is the customizable core of any dealer's business.

Digital Advertising, SEO & Creative Services : DI also offers a full suite of connected digital marketing services to drive new customers to the platform, including Search Engine Marketing, SEO, Email Marketing, Social Advertising and Creative Services. By deploying the company's fully connected strategy, dealers can guide customers through each touchpoint in the car shopping journey. While Digital Advertising is not Certified it is available to Subaru retailers as a turnkey service.

End-To-End Retailing : Online Shopper is the digital retailing solution that allows shoppers to customize and compare payments across multiple vehicles to make real buying decisions with dealers' inventory. From there, shoppers can complete the entire transaction online, from getting credit approved, to adding F&I products and aftermarket accessories, to scheduling pick-up or delivery and signing online.

24/7 Customer Messaging : Conversations is the advanced messaging and "chat" solution built to connect today's car shoppers with stores  wherever, whenever, and however they want to shop. Featuring live video and SMS texting capabilities to keep shoppers connected offline, Conversations is deeply integrated with the retailer's website in unprecedented ways, replacing static lead forms by instantly answering questions and making connections.

Vehicle Acquisition Technology: With the recent addition of Accu-Trade and DI's Vehicle Builder tool dealers can adapt to today's market challenges with the solutions needed to acquire more vehicles through easy trade-in and cash offer technology and offer pre-ordering capabilities for shoppers looking for something specific.

Proprietary Reporting Platform : Every DI website also comes with PRIZM, an advanced reporting platform at no additional cost, giving dealers ROI summaries, metric deep dives, group-level reporting, and proactive alerts for website analytics, marketing and product performance, and even open support requests  all from one beautiful dashboard.

Superior Customer Support: Dealer Inspire supports a best-in-class dealer-to-employee ratio to ensure industry-leading service, achieving an average dealer satisfaction score of 9.5 out of 10. A dedicated team of performance managers partner with retailers to continually increase results through marketing strategy, execution, and transparent reporting.

For more information about DI's offerings for Subaru retailers, please visit dealerinspire.com/subaru

ABOUT DEALER INSPIRE

Dealer Inspire (DI), a Cars.com Inc. (NYSE: CARS) company, is an award-winning website, technology, and digital marketing provider for progressive dealer partners across the United States and Canada. Founded in 2011, Dealer Inspire is the innovative disruptor changing consumer behaviors and future-proofing dealerships with connected solutions that sell and service more vehicles, more efficiently. From search to signature, Dealer Inspire makes automotive retail faster, easier, and smarter for its more than 5,300 dealer partners and more than 40 global auto brand customers.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/subaru-taps-carscoms-dealer-inspire-as-a-certified-website-and-technology-platform-provider-for-its-570-us-retailers-301574010.html

SOURCE Dealer Inspire
(Adds Vladimir Vize) June 23 (Reuters) - The following liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers are expected to arrive in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands in the coming weeks. Estimated arrival dates, often revised by port authorities and AIS Live ship-tracking data on Refinitiv Eikon, are updated below. Some tankers heading for Belgium and Britain may be loading at the terminal. Those expected to load are indicated with an (L). Those likely to perform ship-to-ship transfers are indicated with (STS). Tankers that have docked are indicated with (A). For the Reuters LNG guide, click here: LNG TANKER CAPACITY in EXPECTED ARRIVAL FROM PORT cubic metres BRITAIN Aamira 261,000 June 23 Qatar South Hook Maran Gas Posidonia 159,000 June 25 United States South Hook Valencia Knutsen 170,000 June 30 Peru Dragon Al Dafna 262,000 July 2 Qatar South Hook Al Mafyar 261,000 July 5 Qatar South Hook Methane Becki Anne 170,000 July 11 Peru Milford Haven BELGIUM Bu Samra 261,000 June 23^ (A) Qatar Zeebrugge Yakov Gakkel 172,000 June 24 Russia Zeebrugge Al Jassasiya 144,000 June 25 Qatar Zeebrugge Clean Ocean 159,000 June 25 (L) Egypt Zeebrugge Corcovado Lng 158,000 June 25 United States Zeebrugge Eduard Toll 172,000 June 26 Russia Zeebrugge Mu Lan 178,000 June 27 (L) N/A Zeebrugge Vladimir Vize 172,000 July 3 Russia Zeebrugge Golar Crystal 160,000 July 9 (L) France Zeebrugge NETHERLANDS Lngc Golar Celsius 160,000 June 23 United States Gate British Listener 174,000 June 23 United States Gate Maran Gas Alexandria 164,000 June 23 (A) Trinidad & Tobago Gate Lng Rosenrot 177,000 July 2 United States Gate Sources: Ports, AIS Live ship tracking, Refinitiv Eikon data. (^) Partial unload (*) Arrival date calculated using www.searates.com at an average speed of 13.5 knots (Reporting by Marwa Rashad)
Conference call and webcast scheduled for 8:30 a.m. EDT

TORONTO, June 23, 2022 /CNW/ -- Thomson Reuters (NYSE, TSX: TRI) announced today its second-quarter 2022 earnings will be issued via news release on Thursday, August 4, 2022.

Thomson Reuters logo. (PRNewsFoto/Thomson Reuters)

Steve Hasker, president and chief executive officer, and Mike Eastwood, chief financial officer, will host a conference call and simultaneous webcast that morning at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Discussions may include forward-looking information.

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British authorities say they have rescued a child who was targeted in a disturbing international organ-harvesting plot.

A top Nigerian senator and his wife have been charged with conspiracy over a plan to bring the child to the U.K. in order to harvest their organs, Londons Metropolitan Police announced Thursday. No details were immediately available on the age and gender of the child.

People's Democratic Party politician Ike Ekweremadu, 60, and wife Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, will stand trial for conspiracy to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting, police said in a statement. Both defendants are set to appear in court in west London on Thursday.

Ekweremaduwho has been a senator since 2003 and served three terms as Nigeria's deputy speaker of the senate from 2007 to 2019was a lawyer before entering politics. Both he and his wife are high-profile figures in their African homeland.

A spokesperson for Ekweremadu confirmed his arrest to the BBC.

The horrific allegations come after an investigation by the Specialist Crime team at Scotland Yard, which deals with serious offenses in the English capital. Cops launched their inquiry last month, leading to the duos arrest after police were alerted to possible crimes being committed under modern slavery legislation.

The child, who has not been identified, has been safeguarded, the Met said, adding that the force was working closely with partners on continued support. British court rules mean the police are unable to divulge any further details while criminal proceedings are underway.

Forced organ harvestingin which organs are surgically removed from a victim against their willhas been addressed by recent legislation in the U.K. A law passed in April partly aims to disrupt the black market organ trade by making it illegal for Brits to travel overseas to purchase an organ, a practice known as organ tourism. Although the sale and trafficking of organs in the U.K. was already outlawed, the new rules came amid worrying reports of a booming organ trade around the world in recent years.

Story continues

In Londons Chinatown, a years-long protest has been staged against alleged forced organ harvesting from political prisoners in China. The practice of harvesting organs from executed prisoners is legal in China, but an article published in the American Journal of Transplantation in April claimed to have found 71 cases in which prisoners were operated on while they were still alive.

And sadly, because human organs are a valuable commodity, some people even consider voluntarily selling their own organs when conditions are desperate enough. Just this week, a hospital in Kenya had to issue a public declaration telling people to stop asking staff how much they could get for their kidneys. And in Afghanistanwhere a devastating combination of widespread famine and international sanctions have pushed millions of people to the edge of starvationdreadful reports emerged in early 2022 that people were selling kidneys for as little as $1,500 to feed their families.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Ce jeudi 23 juin 2022, Mediapart a publie une enquete tres importante dans laquelle 8 femmes - mais egalement des temoins, livrent des recits glacants au sujet du YouTubeur Leo Grasset (DirtyBiology), accuse de viol par l'une d'entre elles et de violences psychologiques, sexuelles et de comportement juge problematique par les autres. Des accusations auxquelles le videaste n'a pas encore souhaite reagir. Attention, certains propos peuvent heurter la sensibilite.

C'est un veritable seisme qui vient de secouer le monde de YouTube ce jeudi 23 juin 2022. C'est en effet a cette date que Mediapart a publie une enquete extremement importante dans laquelle le videaste Leo Grasset - plus connu sous le pseudonyme DirtyBiology sur la plateforme de videos, est mis en cause par 8 femmes differentes pour viol, violences psychologiques, sexuelles et comportement juge problematique.

Leo Grasset accuse de viol

Aupres des journalistes du media, Lisa* - une videaste d'une vingtaine d'annees qui prefere rester anonyme, revele avoir subi des violences sexuelles de la part du YouTubeur de 32 ans, veritable star dans l'univers de la vulgarisation scientifique grace a sa chaine lancee en 2014 (plus de 1,3 million d'abonnes), mais egalement grace a la publication de ses differents ouvrages (une BD chez Delcourt intitulee La grande aventure du sexe, un livre publie chez Flammarion intitule Le grand bordel de l'evolution).

Une prise de parole difficile pour celle qui affirme avoir vecu "un enfer mental" ces dernieres annees, mais necessaire. Durant son temoignage, Lisa revele qu'elle et Leo Grasset auraient partage une relation "chaotique" des 2015. Evoquant une "emprise" de sa part sur elle, la videaste explique que tous les deux couchaient regulierement ensemble a l'epoque, mais que la ou elle semblait se projeter avec lui, le...

Lire la suite

VIDEO - Affaire Jacquie et Michel - Liza Del Sierra : "Ca suffit de se cacher sous lamateurisme pour faire nimporte quoi"

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A groundbreaking female artist in bluegrass music recently moved to Somerset in Orange County. When Valerie Smith started her career 25 years ago, bluegrass was a very narrow genre based on a tradition started by Bill Monroe in the 1940s. Many fans didnt appreciate musicians who tried to take the music in new directions, including women band leaders (as all the first-generation artists were men).

When I got into bluegrass at that time, it made people very angry because they didnt think I sounded bluegrass, said Smith. The purists were very upset with me at the first IBMA [International Bluegrass Music Association]. That was when they were in Owensboro, Kentucky, so it was quite a while ago. I would do some shows and people would get really mad at me and slam down their chairs in front of me and walk off. I will never forget those really tough years of rejection and anger from the bluegrass audience. I wasnt trying to make them angryI was just doing what I do.

Overcoming obstacles was nothing new for Smith. Growing up in a small Missouri town, she fought to succeed in school as a person with dyslexia. Music provided an escape from that frustration.

I never say that I decided to pursue music, music chose me.  It was hard for me to understand the world around me backward. Music was a language I was able to wrap my mind around and communicate with and it was something that I was good at. When you were dyslexic at the time I was born, there wasnt a lot of help. They just didnt understand it at all.

With great effort and persistence, Smith was able to score high enough on her SAT to get into The University of MissouriKansas City, where she majored in music. She moved back to her hometown and started a career as a music teacher. She also got married, which resulted in a fortuitous move to Nashville when her then-husband got a job there as an engineer. This rekindled Smiths desire to become a songwriter and performer.

I was overwhelmed by the whole Nashville scene, said Smith. I still wanted to be a performer, but I didnt know how to do it. Its a whole social system in Nashville. Everybody knows everybody. I just started jumping into writers nights at these different bars, signing up on a sheet, and getting up and presenting my music. Thats how I got to know people in Nashville. They started calling me to do writers shows. They started calling me to do collaborations in writing. I did demo work for people. All of that was so much fun. I met a lot of great legends from the Opry being around town. I got to know Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Tom T. Hall and Garth Brooks. I started being able to work at some of their writing publishing houses.

Although Nashville is primarily known for country music, Smith was drawn to more acoustic-based sounds, which suited her direct emotional songs. This was before Americana was a genre so the closest form that matched her style was bluegrass. Smith formed her own bandValerie Smith and Liberty Pike and recorded her first album, which was produced by Alan OBryant from The Nashville Bluegrass Band. OBryant had a lot of experience in bluegrass and gave Smith some good advice on following her own path.

I appreciate Alan OBryant for sticking to his guns and saying, This is a good sound; this is your sound. We shouldnt change who we are just because others think we should. Theres a difference between learning and getting better at your craft, and changing your craft to fit another persons narrative of what they think you should be,  said Smith. He said nothing great was ever created that way.

Smith kept on performing and releasing music in her own style and building her audience. In 2000, she signed a deal with Rebel Records, which helped increase her distribution and broaden her following. Her band has undergone many personnel changes over the years with some notable alumni who later became well known in bluegrass circles.

Ive had some wonderful folksChad Graves, Matt Leadbetter, Becky Buller and just a lot more, said Smith. A lot of them last about five years. But my current band has lasted nine yearsTom Gray, Lisa Kay Howard Hughes, Wally Hughes, Joe Zauner and myself. They are very nice people, very professional and talented and fun.

Smith now runs her own label, Bell Buckle Records, which releases music by Smith and other artists. She was nominated for a Grammy for her duet with Ralph Stanley in 2001 on his album Clinch Mountain Sweethearts. The music industry has caught up with her style and her most recent album Renaissance made it to the top 50 on the folk, bluegrass, roots and Americana country charts.

Her recent move to Somerset was prompted by a desire to live in a beautiful rural area and reconnect with people outside of Nashville.

I needed peace and quiet, said Smith. I needed to get away from the drive of business. I wanted to come to a place of peace where I can write, have friends, still work on my music and release albums. Technology allowed me to go anywhere I wanted to go and still have a business. So I still have Bell Buckle Records. I have over 13 artists on my roster. They are all doing well. I still have my career. I still record, but I can slow down a little bit and smell the roses and play for fun.
Police say a Manassas man was arrested after he struck a Stafford deputys cruiser while fleeing from another law enforcement officer Sunday evening.

A Virginia State Police trooper stopped a Nissan driver at 7:05 p.m. on Truslow Road near U.S. 1 in Stafford for a traffic offense, Sheriffs Maj. Shawn Kimmitz said. The driver took off from the stop and headed north on Route 1, according to police.

The driver eluded the trooper, but another trooper spotted the vehicle near Route 1 and Garrisonville Road and turned on his emergency lights. The suspect fled again and crossed the center double yellow line into a southbound cruiser driven by Stafford deputy S. Waheed. Police said the driver struck several other cars before Waheed and a trooper took the driver into custody. The crashes resulted in several minor injuries, police said.

Kimmitz said the driver, 21-year-old Dominic Pineda of Manassas, tried to flee after being handcuffed but was unsuccessful. He was charged with eluding, DUI, obstruction and driving revoked. He was placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail.

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The Spotsylvania County School Board appointed a new acting superintendent Tuesday night. That decision, however, played second fiddle to contentious arguments regarding the proposed condemnation of a social media post by board member Nicole Cole.

The board voted 41, with one abstention, to approve Spotsylvania High School Principal Kelly Guempel to replace current Acting Superintendent Carol Flenard, who leaves July 1. Flenard replaced former Superintendent Scott Baker, who was fired by the board in January.

The vote for Guempel came after the board spent close to two hours, in open session, addressing the May 25 social media post.

The board traded barbs about other members comments and actions before finally entering closed session to discuss Coles social media post.

When members emerged from the closed session, Cole did not return, leaving the remaining six members to discuss and vote on the motion to condemn the Facebook post.

The board voted to condemn Coles post, 41, with Dawn Shelley dissenting and Lorita Daniels abstaining. Board Chairman Kirk Twigg, Rabih Abuismail, Lisa Phelps and April Gillespie voted in favor of the condemnation.

On June 13, the board approved a motion by Abuismail to schedule the special meeting to discuss the social media post made by Cole shortly after the deadly mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

The statement, which Cole posted to her personal Facebook page and has since deleted, attributed the shooting to white nationalist sentiments. During public comments at that meeting, numerous speakers read the post aloud, decried it as racist and offensive and called for Cole to be censured.

At Tuesday nights meeting, Cole and Shelley challenged the closed session on several fronts. Cole said there needed to be a specific reason so the public could understand why the board was going into closed session.

Cole and Shelley asked several times for School Board attorney Brad King to address questions they had, but he was not in the meeting room.

Twigg spoke on the phone with the attorney during the meeting, to Shelleys objections, and said King would talk with the board during closed session.

The public has a right to know the reason for the closed session, Cole said before addressing Twigg directly.

Youre violating my rights, and I can sue you, she said.

Following the closed session, Shelley referenced Coles social media post and asked if any of the board members condone white nationalism. None responded immediately, but Abuismail later pointed out that he emigrated from Lebanon to the U.S. to enjoy the countrys freedoms.

Its funny and super ironic that you ask us as board members if we support white nationalism, when youre asking an immigrant this question, not a white nationalist, he said.

Abuismail also said he would rather discuss issues like Coles post between members in closed session rather than standing outside giving speeches in front of recall Twigg and recall Rabih signs.

Daniels said Cole used her First Amendment right to make the comment, even if it was political.

She also lamented the state of the school board.

Were dealing with politics, she said.

Daniels said other members have made suspect comments, and those have been handled differently. She added that the board had a chance to handle Coles post in closed session without public discussion.

Were continually creating divisiveness on this school board, Daniels continued. We as a board, we need to continue to work together as a cohesive body. And I have no idea how were going to do that, because we continue to create issues, political issues, political dissension. Whatever you want to call it, we keep doing it over and over on the dais. Its inappropriate. Its not fair to our students, its not fair to the teachers, it is not fair to the administrators.

Daniels said the public needs to call out the board when it doesnt do the right thing.

Im gonna keep trying to pull this board together, she said.

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ON TUESDAY, the Supreme Court took another step toward obliterating the wall separating church and state by holding that the state of Maine is constitutionally required to subsidize religious education when it pays for private secular education. The implications of this decision in mandating government financial support for religion are enormous.

The First Amendment says that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. In 1947, the Supreme Court ruled that the prohibition against the establishment of religion applied to the actions of state and local governments. All nine justices in that case agreed that this provision is best understood through the words of Thomas Jefferson, that there should be a wall separating church and state.

For decades, the court applied this principle in limiting the ability of the government to provide financial support for religious activities, including for religious schools. This followed James Madisons view that it was abhorrent to tax people to support the religions of others. The central idea is that the government and its use of funds should be secular.

But now the law has shifted dramatically, and not only is the Supreme Court allowing aid to religious schools, it is saying that it is constitutionally required.

The case decided on Tuesday, Carson v. Makin, involved a Maine law that applies in areas that are too rural to support public school systems. In those areas, school administrative units provide funds for parents to send their children to private schools. Maine requires that the money be used in secular, not sectarian schools.

Two families who wanted to send their children to religious schools challenged the Maine law, arguing that not subsidizing religious education violated their free exercise of religion. The courts 63 decision, split on ideological lines, ruled in favor of the challengers, holding that not having the public pay for religious education when it pays for nonreligious education violates the Constitution.

This majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, completely ignores the First Amendments prohibition on the establishment of religion. As Justice Stephen Breyer pointed out in his dissent, the Establishment Clause forbids a State from paying for the practice of religion itself. And state neutrality in respect to the teaching of the practice of religion lies at the heart of this Clause.

Until five years ago, the court never in American history, had held that the free exercise of religion required the government to subsidize religion. But in the 2017 case Trinity Lutheran v. Comer, the court held that Missouri violated free exercise of religion when it subsidized the resurfacing of playgrounds in public schools and secular private schools but not religious schools. Roberts, who also wrote that opinion, included a footnote stressing that the case addressed only the issue of granting money for playground resurfacing, not other religious uses of funding.

The court now blows apart the wall of separation by declaring that any time the government subsidizes private education it is constitutionally required to pay for religious education. This also means that if Maine does not want to financially support religious education, it must deny funds for secular private education as well.

The decision has huge implications for many spheres of public policy. Throughout the country, public school systems pay for charter schools. The law has always maintained that publicly financed charter schools must be secular. But now there is a strong argument that the refusal to pay for religious charter schools violates free exercise of religion.

There is no stopping point and no reason this approach would be limited to the school context. If the government provides funds for historic preservation of buildings, it will be required to subsidize maintaining churches, synagogues and mosques.

There has long been a debate over whether the government could even provide such assistance to a religious group or whether its choice to do so would be an impermissible establishment of religion. Now, though, the courts conservative majority is saying that a subsidy for religion is constitutionally mandated.

Soon before leaving the Supreme Court, former Justice Sandra Day OConnor observed: Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: Why would we trade a system that has served us so well for one that has served others so poorly?

Unfortunately, Roberts and the conservatives offer no answer to this question.

Erwin Chemerinsky is dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law and a contributing writer to the Los Angeles Times.
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), increasingly vulnerable to cyber-attacks, should consider engaging an experienced Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP). The MSSP will have the skilled resources, updated security software and experienced expertise to monitor for and analyse threats on behalf of the SMB player.

This is especially useful for SMBs who have neither the time nor resources to adequately enforce threat detection and response, writes Ram Narayanan, Country Manager at Check Point Software Technologies, Middle East.

Partnering with a cybersecurity expert equipped with best-in-class security and scalable solution such as Check Point Software can put SMBs in good stead to protect against the most sophisticated attacks and generate trust among larger potential players.

Supply chain attacks

Supply chain attacks arent new. If the past couple of years have taught businesses anything, its that the impact of supply chain cyber-attacks is now, universal, from the fallout of the SolarWinds software breach, to the exposed Apache Log4j vulnerability and Kaseya last year.

Unfortunately when such supply chain attacks hit smaller businesses who are usually the suppliers to larger enterprises, their impact is especially prohibitive.

For SMBs already feeling the prolonged impact of the pandemic, the added pressure of dealing with sophisticated and frequent cyber-attacks in real time, are a heavy burden, as they try to protect their business against financial, legal and reputational damage, as well as their own suppliers and larger clients security. It is now more important than ever for SMBs to implement strict security hygiene and effective cybersecurity processes to ensure their business is prepared for the event of cyber-attacks happening.

SMBs as an indirect avenue

The new normal opened the door to several new vulnerabilities; cyber-attacks globally increased by 50% on average in 2021, compared to 2020. Our Check Point Threat Intelligence report revealed that an organisation in United Arab Emirates is being attacked on average 906 times per week in the last six months.

While security breaches are on the rise, the top threats impacting SMBs have remained the same. In Check Points Small and Medium Business Security Report from 2020/2021, we revealed phishing, malware, credential theft and ransomware to be the top four threats impacting these businesses. So, what does this mean for them?

The reality is threat actors have taken advantage not only of the now-entrenched remote working model to target organisations, but also the usual limits preventing SMBs from bulking up on their cyber security defences, mainly lack of budget and expertise. SMBs often do not have a dedicated IT or security department, meaning with no in-house security expertise and reduced focus on security patching, these companies are easier to socially engineer and infiltrate. Adding to this, SMBs usually have employees doing multiple roles, and thus a wider access to valuable areas of the business and information is given to them, and so if breached, they pose a threat to multiple areas within the business. In addition, the business IT infrastructure is often shared for personal use communication as well eg. social media, personal emails allowing easier access to hackers, as the data is often not secured.

Threat actors

Threat actors often target SMBs as low hanging fruit for their vital role in supply chains. This is especially so as such attacks wreak havoc on not only one organisation but entire businesses within the supply networks. By leveraging tactics such as phishing, cybercriminals gain access to an organisation to launch a malware attack, steal data and credentials or instigate a ransomware.

Take for example, the attack against Target USA where hackers used stolen credentials from an SMB vendor that serviced the HVAC systems in Target stores, to gain access to the retailers network and then laterally move to the systems that kept customer payment information. As a result, the global retailer was breached and 40 million credit and debit cards details stolen.

The key factor to preventing cyberattacks is threat prevention. With minimal time and lack of cyber expertise or manpower, SMBs must adopt a prevention mindset to minimise potential cyber-attacks and threats.

Why cybersecurity readiness is paramount

Beyond the immediate financial impact and reputational blow as a trustworthy, reliable partner, SMBs can also face legal or regulatory repercussions, operational disruption, flow-on costs for system remediation and cyberattack response, customer churn, and the loss of competitive advantage that can make or break a smaller business. In fact, a tarnished reputation as an avenue of attack can be even more detrimental to an SMB organisation, as the loss of trust with a larger organisation could mean a loss of potential business and revenue down the line with them or other new, potential customers.

With this in mind, budgetary constraints to keep computers and corporate networks protected should never be an excuse, as keeping sensitive data and information protected will bring many advantages and benefits to companies. This can range from overall cost savings, compliance with data protection laws, gaining the trust of customers and suppliers, to protecting your documents and information to the maximum by preventing any type of data breach.

How SMBs can prevent supply chain attacks

By applying stronger cyber defences, SMBs are in a position to provide larger organisations with assurance that larger companies they supply to will not be compromised via the SMB partner or third-party vendor.

Whilst there are multiple means to prevent such supply chain attacks, the first step is to have good software capable of covering the entire company, protecting the company's endpoints and devices, supported by regular backups so that, in the event of a cyberattack, they have the possibility of restoring all the data.

Any device that connects to the network can become a security breach, so it is important to secure all endpoints. It is especially critical for remote or hybrid workforces to avoid security breaches and data compromise. Also, all employees should be trained in cybersecurity so that they themselves become the first barrier to any attempted attack, such as phishing via email or SMS. Keep in mind that prevention is one of the best protection measures available.

Ultimately, SMBs seek a simple plug-and-play solution with best-in-class threat protection, given their lack of financial funding and skills. With an effective cybersecurity strategy, SMBs are better placed to demonstrate their credibility as secure partners to larger organisations, opening up more business opportunities.-- TradeArabia News Service
EX-LAWMAKER GETS 3 MONThS for JAN. 6 RIOT

A former West Virginia lawmaker who livestreamed himself on Facebook storming the U.S. Capitol and cheering on what he described as a revolution was sentenced Wednesday to three months in prison.

Derrick Evans, 37, who pleaded guilty to a felony civil disorder charge, told the judge that he regrets his actions every day and is a good person who unfortunately was caught up in a moment.

I will forever bear the reminder that I made a crucial mistake. Ive let down myself, Ive let down my community and most importantly Ive let down my family, Evans told the judge.

The Republican from Prichard, West Virginia, was sworn in as a member of the states House of Delegates just weeks before the Jan. 6, 2021, riot that halted the certification of President Joe Bidens victory and left more than 100 police officers injured. Evans was arrested two days after the riot and promptly resigned a month before the start of the legislative session, so he never served a day in the legislature.

Prosecutors had sought the three months behind bars, describing Evans as a leader in the riot who escalated the chaos at the Capitol by enthusiastically egging on the rioters around him.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth told Evans said time behind bars was necessary to reflect the seriousness of Evans actions and help prevent something like the riot from ever happening again.

I cant just give you probation in a case like this. It doesnt reflect the feelings of the community. It doesnt reflect the feelings of the country about what happened that day, Lamberth said.

SCOTT TAKES ISSUE WITH TEXAS GOPs new PLATFORM

WASHINGTONFlorida Sen. Rick Scott, chair of the GOPs Senate elections committee, on Wednesday criticized the Texas Republican Partys new platform for not being inclusive when it described homosexuality as an abnormal lifestyle choice.

Scott spoke to reporters at a breakfast just days after GOP delegates in the countrys largest red state approved the new platform, which also falsely labels President Joe Biden an acting commander-in-chief and says that Texas retains the right to secede from the United States.

My experience is, you know, the Republican Party is inclusive. And so I dontI wouldnt have supported that, what they did, Scott said when pressed on the homophobic language, which he said was not inclusive. He also reiterated that he accepts Bidens election.

The platform, which falsely claims that Biden was not legitimately elected, underscores how far Texas Republicans have moved to the right and how deeply former President Donald Trumps lies about the 2020 election have become ingrained in the party.

The Associated Press
PLATTSMOUTH  A rural Plattsmouth man died in a two-vehicle head-on collision on Bay Road on Wednesday evening.

The victim was identified as 61-year-old Robert W. Benoit, Jr., the Cass County Sheriffs Department said.

He was the driver of one of the vehicles, a 1998 Chevrolet pickup, while Miles V. Poppleton, 15, of rural Plattsmouth, was the other driver in a 2011 Jeep Wrangler.

According to Sheriff William Brueggemann, deputies from his department, along with Plattsmouth fire/rescue personnel, were dispatched shortly before 10:45 p.m. to the accident on Bay Road between Sixth Street and Linder Lakes.

Brueggemann said that Benoit, Jr., crossed the center line while he was traveling east on Bay Road. Poppleton attempted to take evasive action, but the two vehicles still struck head-on. Benoit was pronounced dead at the scene, while Poppleton was transported by the Plattsmouth rescue crew to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for evaluation, Brueggemann said.

Seatbelts were in use and the accident is still under investigation, he said.

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When you go to Fremonts library, staff can help you find a website or a computer program, but they cant type your personal information into anything for you.

Thats part of a new policy intended to protect patron privacy and help the library avoid possible liability.

Members of the Keene Memorial Librarys advisory committee talked about this and another policy regarding public wireless internet usage during their recent meeting. Other libraries have these types of policies and committee members approved both of them.

Laura England-Biggs, library director, told board members that some patrons have wanted staff to fill out forms for them.

Board member Ryan Fiala asked if this was an unusual circumstance. England-Biggs said this happens about 20% of the time.

Now, the Staff Support to Patrons Policy outlines how far an employee can go when helping a patron with information or research.

They should not be entering peoples personally identifiable information into job applications, credit card applications, etcetera, to limit the liability for the library and to protect the patrons privacy, England Biggs said.

Library staff can help patrons find data and use technology, but library users must type in their own information.

That way, for example, patrons cant say didnt get a job, because a library staffer incorrectly entered their data.

Library staff cant type documents or format items such as flyers, invitations or business material either.

The policy states that library staff cant offer advice about medical, legal, tax or other professional services. They may only help patrons find information about these services and cant recommend a specific service provider.

Patrons shouldnt share personal, private or financial information with staffers, other than to pay fees owed to the library.

Library staff cant physically handle a patrons personal technology device, such as a cell phone. That way, for example, a patron cant say a staffer broke their phone. Staffers can tell patrons how to find an app on a phone, but the device owners must physically do the task themselves.

Board chairman Linda McClain asked about people with disabilities.

England-Biggs said if individuals have a disability, they can bring someone with them to perform the task.

Members also talked about the librarys wireless internet (WiFi) networks.

The library staffs WiFi is on one network, which is secure. Patrons information on the library network is secure.

Yet like other businesses, the library also offers free public WiFi.

This WiFi is filtered to comply with the Childrens Internet Protection Act.

But it is not a secured WiFi and, therefore, you should not do a lot of personal finance using the WiFi, England-Biggs said.

Thats because, in theory, someone with certain software could hack a patrons device and obtain their data.

We need to make folks aware of the fact that there are limits to what our security can and cannot do, England-Biggs said.

McClain compared the librarys public WiFi to that found in a coffee shop. People shouldnt be checking their investment accounts at the shop, because someone could be tapping into it.

England-Biggs said the policy basically tells patrons to use the public WiFi at their own risk and to be careful.

All wireless access users also are responsible for their own virus protection on their devices.

The policy also provides examples of acceptable and unacceptable uses of the librarys public WiFi. For instance, library patrons are not to use it for gambling or pornographic purposes.

In other business, England-Biggs said Tracy Parr, senior office associate, and she secured three locations for storage for materials in anticipation of the librarys temporary move into Fremont City Auditorium.

England-Biggs expressed gratitude to the Fremont Parks and Recreation Department, which is letting the library use a house and garage next to the auditorium for storage, along with an area behind the stage inside the auditorium.

She said parks department personnel are rearranging their storage in the stage area and also cleaning out the house and garage, which she said is a big help.

They are being such great partners, England-Biggs said. I cant say enough.

England-Biggs said Parr was able to secure a third location in a storage unit for a reasonable price.

The library, which will undergo remodeling and expansion, will relocate to the auditorium this summer.

Friends of Keene Memorial Library, a nonprofit group, has been raising funds for the $9.4 million expansion and remodeling project.

England-Biggs also said Daves Drive-In Liquor, which sells books to raise funds for Friends group, raised more than $800 this month. These funds are used for programs and services at the library.

The library director also provided board members with a rough draft of the Community Needs Response Plan.

McLain asked board members to look at the draft and provide any thoughts to England-Biggs.

England-Biggs plans to submit a completed plan to the Nebraska Library Commission in September, because its due Oct. 1. The states library commission requires accredited libraries to have a current plan to stay accredited and receive state aid.

The next library board meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. July 18 in the city council chambers in the Fremont City Municipal Building, 400 E. Military Ave. Meetings are open to the public.

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Adil Khan and his family were sleeping in their mud-brick house when a magnitude-6.1 earthquake ripped through their remote village in Afghanistans southeastern province of Paktika.

By the time Khan crawled out of the destroyed house, many members of his extended family were buried under the rubble. Twenty-seven of them, including his wife and children, were dead.

They were among the over 1,000 people killed in a devastating earthquake that struck the region in the early hours of June 22. More than 1,500 people were also injured in the deadliest earthquake in Afghanistan in two decades. Officials have warned that the death toll could still rise.

"Entire families were wiped out, Khan told RFE/RLs Radio Azadi by phone. All the survivors are busy burying their dead.

Khan said he and other survivors in his village of Ochki, a settlement in the impoverished mountainous areas of Paktikas Gayan district, were digging by hand through the rubble of their ruined homes in search of survivors.

WATCH: Efforts to reach communities in Afghanistan affected by the June 22 earthquake are being hampered by bad roads and heavy rain. The magnitude-6.1 quake is known to have killed at least 1,000 people and injured 1,500. The epicenter was 160 kilometers southeast of Kabul near the Pakistani border.

Heavy rains and mudslides have hindered rescue efforts, forcing survivors to spend the night without shelter.

"Even our tools were buried in the rubble," said Khan, a university student, adding that the men in the village dug a line of graves to lay the dead to rest. "We had to hold mass burials."

Khan is not alone. The tremor destroyed over 3,000 houses and flattened entire villages in Paktika and the neighboring provinces of Khost and Nangarhar.

The areas affected by the earthquake are among the poorest and most remote in Afghanistan. Many live in poorly built mud-brick houses that cannot withstand natural disasters.

The earthquake has heaped more misery on a country where millions of people are already facing hunger and poverty following the Taliban's seizure of power in August 2021.

The disaster is a major test for the hard-line Taliban-led government. Many Western donors have sanctioned the militants and stopped assistance to the country. The sudden halt in foreign aid and financing has fueled an economic meltdown and worsened the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn nation of around 38 million people.

The few foreign organizations still operating in Afghanistan, including the UN agencies, said they have sent supplies to the region, including medical kits and tents. But locals said that is unlikely to be enough given the scale of the destruction.

'We Lost Everything'

Esmatullah, another resident of Paktikas Gayan district, near the epicenter of the earthquake, lost three brothers, sisters-in-law, and four nephews in the tragedy.

"We lost everything," he told Radio Azadi, adding that he was desperately searching for missing family members.



"The house where my brothers lived was wiped out," he said, adding that surviving family members had moved in with him. The average family in the region often has up to 20 members.

Survivors unable to bury their dead with their hands or shovels have laid them out in front of their houses and in their courtyards.

The Taliban said on June 23 that around 1,000 people had been rescued from the affected areas, which have been teeming with Taliban soldiers and ambulances as helicopters bring in relief supplies.



Kausar Uddin, another resident of Gayan, lost his father in the earthquake. He said the human toll on his family and community was staggering.



"In total, 26 of my relatives and neighbors were killed in our village," he told Radio Azadi. "Every village in our district has 25 or more dead.

Written by Abubakar Siddique, based on reporting by RFE/RLs Radio Azadi.
It's too late for voters to send their primary election ballot by mail, Colorado's top election official cautioned Wednesday.

Instead, voters should return their ballot by going to a drop box or voting center, according to Secretary of State Jena Griswold.

Griswold's office also noted that all drop boxes and early, in-person voting centers are now open.

Clerks must receive ballots by 7 p.m. on June 28.

Voters have the option to return their ballot to more than 400 drop boxes and 130 Voter Service and Polling Centers, her office said.

Slightly more than 12% of the states 3.7 million active, registered voters have returned their ballots as of 11:30 p.m. June 21, election officials said Wednesday.

County clerks had received 468,567 ballots, according to figures released by the Secretary of States Office.

In El Paso County, 27,569 ballots were cast by Democrats and 30,093 were cast by Republicans, according to the data. This includes ballots cast by registered Democrats and Republicans, as well as unaffiliated voters participating in both primaries. Another 5,387 ballots had been received in both primaries but were waiting to be processed Wednesday.

In Teller County, Democrats had cast 582 ballots and Republicans had cast 1,233. Another 790 were waiting to be processed.

Statewide, Democrats are so far returning their ballots faster than Republicans, who are also slightly lagging participation by unaffiliated voters. That's despite voters in the GOP primary facing more contested races, including statewide primaries for U.S. senator, governor and secretary of state. Of the ballots received through 11:30 p.m. on Monday, 137,028 were cast by Democrats, 128,898 were cast by Republicans, and 133,484 by unaffiliated voters, most of whom received both major parties primary ballots in the mail, but can only fill out and return one of them.

In total, voters have cast 202,307 ballots in the Democratic primary and 202,715 in the Republican primary  including ballots cast by registered Democrats and Republicans, respectively, and unaffiliated voters participating in the two parties primaries.

Unaffiliated voters have so far opted to vote more Republican ballots than Democratic ones, though, with 50,441 filling out the GOP ballots and 42,006 voting in the Democratic primary, according to the preliminary report. Another 63,479 ballots have been received from unaffiliated votes but havent yet been processed and sorted.
Colorado officials have not detected any community transmission among the handful of monkeypox cases identified here thus far, and the bulk of people exposed to the virus have been health care providers who've treated infected patients.

Five monkeypox cases have been identified in the state  three definite and two awaiting federal confirmation.

All of those cases have been among international travelers and men who identify as having sex with other men, state epidemiologist Rachel Herlihy told reporters Wednesday, and as such, the virus does not pose the same threat as that presented by COVID-19.

Scott Bookman, the state's COVID-19 incident commander, said monkeypox was a "very different situation" than COVID. None of Colorado's cases has required hospitalization. Cases that required hospital stays elsewhere were primarily for pain management, Herlihy told the state's board of health last week.

"This virus is not nearly as transmissible (as the virus that causes COVID-19)," Bookman said. "We are not seeing widespread transmission at this point."

Herlihy told the state's health board that monkeypox is caused by the same family of viruses that causes smallpox. She said monkeypox is the "most significant" of that viral family "since the eradication of smallpox"; it's typically isolated to African nations where animals act as reservoirs. The smallpox vaccine, she continued, provides protection against monkeypox, and waning immunity from that inoculation may be a factor in what's driving the international spike in monkeypox cases.

As of June 15, when Herlihy spoke with the health board, 35 Coloradans were being monitored for symptoms after exposure to an infected person; twenty-six of those people are health care workers.

Typically, the condition improves without treatment. But the state has also received a small amount of vaccine that can be used on people who were exposed to the virus, to lessen their chances of contracting it, or have been infected with it, to improve their outcome. Twenty-four Coloradans have received the vaccine after being exposed; at least 13 of those are health care workers.

Herlihy told the health board that the exposure risk to health care workers is related to the use of protective gear. She said the state was working to improve awareness, via webinars and health alerts, to ensure providers are wearing appropriate gear when treating potential monkeypox cases.

But the challenge, she continued, is that early symptoms of the disease are non-specific; even the rash that accompanies it can be confused with other common ailments. Some people infected in this latest global spike have shown no onset of fever or other symptoms before the rash appears.

At Wednesday's news conference, Herlihy told reporters that close contacts for monkeypox are different from COVID-19, where relatively brief interactions can still lead to transmission. She said skin-on-skin contact qualifies, as does prolonged interactions, such as among people who share a household. Infected linens can also cause monkeypox to spread, though she said that's "less common." She told the health board that passing exposures in places like grocery stores aren't very likely to spread the disease.

The state lab is processing a handful of monkeypox tests each week, Herlihy said, and it has supplies to last several weeks at the current testing rate. Should that not be sufficient, she said, the state will go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to get more.

Herlihy said health officials across the country and globe are trying to determine if the virus has the ability to become endemic, or if its transmission can be sufficiently suppressed to prevent it from regularly spreading from person to person. There are also conversations occurring about the future role of vaccines: because supply is limited, it's only being used on people who were exposed to the disease. But, she said, "there might be a shift" toward more preventive inoculation in the future.

She urged people to answer the phone when public health investigators call or to return their calls if they're missed. All information is kept confidential, and those interviews are key to helping the state control spread. Anyone exposed to the virus should seek testing, she said.
Royal Jordanian (RJ) was bestowed the Airline Market Leader Award at the 48th annual ATW Airline Industry Achievement Awards held in Doha, Qatar, at the closing of the 78th IATA AGM and World Air Transport Summit.



Aviation Week Networks Air Transport World (ATW) is the leading media brand serving the information needs of the global airline and commercial air transport communities.



Royal Jordanians Vice Chairman/CEO Samer Majali received the award in Doha at a gala dinner held to announce the Airline Industry Achievement Awards Winners.



Majali said: We are thrilled to be recognized on a global scale by ATW as the Airline Market Leader, given that ATW awards are among the most coveted in the air transport industry, recognizing excellence in airline operations.



RJ was honoured this award for its strong performance and for transforming into reality its vision to be the airline of choice connecting Jordan and the Levant with the world. The airline runs an operating plan that supports this vision and aims to increase its market share in the region, by offering its customers in the Levant a varied route network with enhanced connectivity.



The airline leverages Jordans location to attract travellers seeking a rich tourism experience, whether religious, eco & adventure, wellness or history & culture.  TradeArabia News Service
A transgender woman has filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court of Colorado against the El Paso County Sheriff's Office for being subjected to a "humiliating" cross-gender body-cavity search.

According to the lawsuit acquired by The Gazette, Juniper McGinn alleged that on June 2, 2020, she was arrested and placed in El Paso County jail for her participation in a Black Lives Matter protest following the death of George Floyd.

After being arrested, McGinn asked deputies for a woman to perform her visual body-cavity search, but was told by deputies that jail policy only allows for a woman to conduct a search of the top half of her body, and a male would be responsible for the rest of the procedure.

The lawsuit alleges that five deputies in total watched McGinn shower and watched her visual body-cavity search, and that four of the deputies laughed at McGinn throughout the process.

"There was no basis to have five deputies watching Ms. McGinn as she showered and was subjected to a visual body-cavity search. And there was certainly no penological purpose for any of the actions taken by Defendant John Does 2-4," McGinn's attorneys wrote in the lawsuit. "El Paso County officials derogatory visual body-cavity search of Ms. McGinn led her to suffer significant emotional distress."

The lawsuit alleges that El Paso County jail's procedure on searching transgender individuals is "humiliating," "discriminatory" and "unconstitutional."

The attorneys representing McGinn also spoke of a second incident at the jail involving a transgender woman, Darlene Griffith, who was allegedly sexually harassed by a deputy following an arrest in 2020.

The lawsuit claims that Griffith was subjected to a male conducting her visual body-cavity search  just like McGinn  but that the deputy during the search made derogatory and harassing comments.

"The male deputy then told Ms. Griffith to step back, bend over, and 'spread [her] sexy cheeks.' Ms. Griffith protested the male deputys use of this derogatory language, but complied with his directive," the lawsuit states. "The male deputy then told Ms. Griffith that he was 'going to go balls deep in that a--' while grabbing his own penis in view of Ms. Griffith."

The lawsuit claims that the El Paso County jail never imposed any discipline on the deputies involved in the search of Griffith.

"What happened to Ms. Griffith is another example of the derogatory actions that are customarily inflicted on transgender women at the El Paso County jail," McGinn's attorneys wrote.

McGinn is seeking a jury trial on all issues that are triable, and she is also seeking compensatory and punitive damages, according to the lawsuit.

The El Paso County Sherriff's Office did not respond to a request for comment from The Gazette.
The suspect in a shooting and near-hostage situation Wednesday night has been arrested, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department.

At 9:18 p.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting at the 600 block of Prairie Star Circle, where they made contact with an adult male with gunshot wounds. The victim was treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

The suspect, identified by police as David Ladeira, had returned to his own residence, police say, where he was barricaded inside with another occupant and refused to come out. The Colorado Springs Police Tactical Enforcement Unit also responded to the scene due to the possible hostage situation.

A shelter-in-place order was put into place around 9:30 p.m. and was lifted around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, according to KKTV.

The other occupant was able to exit the residence, leaving Ladeira inside. Police obtained a search warrant but Ladeira came out of the residence and was taken into custody, police said.
On Wednesday, the Colorado Springs Police Department announced via a news release that it had served several search warrants into a "multimillion dollar criminal organization."

The CSPD worked in conjunction with the FBI, Pueblo Police Department and United States Marshals Service to conduct the search warrants against Top Dollar Pawn, which has locations in Colorado Springs and Pueblo.

According to an affidavit acquired by The Gazette filed June 15 in El Paso County, four individuals associated with Top Dollar Pawn are accused of 29 charges, including pattern of racketeering and 27 separate charges of money laundering.

All 29 charges are federal offenses.

The affidavit claims that four individuals associated with Top Dollar Pawn - Daria Mauro, Walt Mauro, Mischa Jargowsky and Jack Jargowsky - knowingly bought and sold products from boosters that had been stolen from various retail stores.

A booster is a person who steals merchandise, usually from retail outlets. They often work in concert with others as part of a "booster crew."

The owners of Top Dollar Pawn are listed as Walt Mauro and Jack Jargowsky, according to online records. A Jack and Mischa Jargowsky are listed as inmates in Pueblo County Jail.

The defendants would buy these stolen items from boosters and then sell them either at their stores or online on Ebay, according to the affidavit.

"Interviews with boosters and former employees detail that the defendants knew that the items they were buying were stolen," the affidavit states. "They used the laundered funds to continue to operate their business, buying more stolen property."

The affidavit states that the defendants had been partaking in the money laundering scheme as far back as January 2018.

Items bought and sold as part of the scheme included chainsaws, tools, several Google Nest Home products among 27 total items listed in the affidavit.

All four defendants have a $50,000 bond set for their release, according to court records.

Top Dollar Pawn has four locations in Colorado, two in Pueblo and two in Colorado Springs. All four locations are closed according to the CSPD.

The CSPD had planned to host a joint news conference with the other organizations involved on Wednesday afternoon in regards to Top Dollar Pawn, but the news conference was canceled, according to a post on Twitter.
Monday, November 5, 2001-photo by Jerilee Bennett-Located in the basement of another structure, the Fountain Branch Library have very overcrowded conditions. In the children's area of the library, (left to right) Lauren Knight, 8 months (baby on table), Karry Knight, 4, Monique Wilbur, 11, Deanna Knight, 9, and Kaitlyn Knight, 6, read and play under tight space restrictions. The library is a branch of the Pikes Peak Library District. In a recent study of the Pikes Peak Library District, renovations and new libraries were recommended to keep up with the fast growth in population of the area.
DENVER  Mayor Michael Hancock fired off a terse message to a Douglas County commissioner who had threatened to seize one of the city's most beloved mountain parks: Hands off.

"Daniels Park is a treasured piece of Denvers Mountain Parks system," Hancock wrote in an email to Douglas County Commissioner George Teal. "It would be a disservice to the communities we represent to create the false impression that the status of Daniels Park is a matter up for discussion. It is not."

Teal has been assessing whether it is possible to seize Daniels Park, which is located in Castle Pines in Douglas County but owned by the city of Denver. On a Facebook post, Teal suggested that he wanted to take the park in retaliation for Denver's recent gun laws.

In May, Denver passed a law forbidding concealed weapons in its facilities and parks. But a road that runs through Daniels Park belongs to Douglas County, which could mean that a person carrying a concealed weapon would be legal in one place and breaking the law in another.

During a council study session on Tuesday, Teal told the group he was making progress on the idea of procuring Daniels Park from Denver, and, in fact, had plans to meet with Hancock. In the email, Hancock said he heard about Teal's plans from media reports, and not from the commissioner himself.

The Denver Gazette learned that Teal had spoken with at least one Denver City Council member last week regarding the possible takeover. Candi CdeBaca opposed Denver's concealed-carry ordinance when it comes to its parks.

A little over a week ago, Douglas County commissioners went into an executive session during a midday meeting for the first time to discuss the issue and then voted, 2-1, to consider what it would take to use eminent domain to seize the land. The lone dissenter, Lora Thomas, asked her colleagues to pick up the phone instead and have a conversation with Denver.

But the subject may be moot. Lawyers for both sides have been looking into whether Douglas County has the right to seize the property of another entity when that property is already in public use.

Holland and Hart real estate attorney Tim Gordon said hes never seen eminent domain used this way before.

This is a strange one. Douglas County can take property for uses of creating a park, but its already a park, said Gordon, who added that this sounds like a political move. There might be puffing out of chests, but even if Douglas County can do this, theyd have to pay for it.

Scott Gilmour, deputy director of Denver Parks and Recreation, guessed that the 1,000-acre park is worth $500 million to $800 million.

Teal could not be immediately reached for comment. Fellow Commissioner Lora Thomas responded: "While I never have  and never will  support laws that prohibit individuals from being able to protect/defend themselves, this proposal regarding Daniels Park is the wrong idea, presented in the wrong manner at the wrong time."
Kenny Hodges is poised to become El Paso County's next county attorney.

The Board of County Commissioners will consider Hodges' appointment at its upcoming regular meeting June 28, officials said Wednesday. If confirmed, he will officially take the role of county attorney on Aug. 1, assuming the responsibilities of Steve Klaffky, who began serving as interim county attorney on April 17.

Hodges currently serves as El Paso County's assistant county administrator.

On Aug. 1, Klaffky will return to his role as chief deputy county attorney for the civil division, county spokesman Vernon Stewart said.

Hodges' proposed salary is $215,000 annually, Stewart said. The county attorney is one of two positions commissioners appoint directly.

"I have had the honor of working for El Paso County for a little under a decade, and I cannot verbally express how thankful I am for all the opportunities I have been afforded," Hodges said in a news release. "To identify any position I have held with the county as a 'dream job' would be an understatement, as our work here directly impacts our residents' quality of life. I look forward to returning to the County Attorney's Office and leading our fantastic team into our organization's promising future."

As county attorney, Hodges will serve as El Paso County's chief legal officer and will provide legal advice and support to county commissioners; non-board elected officials; the county administrator; administrative departments; and appointed advisory boards, committees and commissions on civil matters and human services, the release said.

El Paso County Commission Chairman Stan VanderWerf said Hodges "will do a fabulous job" leading the County Attorney's Office.

"His reputation and passion for serving are commendable. He has served our organization in multiple roles for the last several years, and we are excited to not only be getting an experienced lawyer but also a good person," VanderWerf said.

Hodges has served as assistant county administrator since June 2019, where he filled a "crucial role" when County Administrator Bret Waters stepped into that position last July to succeed Amy Folsom, officials said.

As assistant county administrator, Hodges oversees the Pikes Peak Workforce Center; the Office of Emergency Management; and the community service, facilities, justice services and economic development departments.

Hodges also previously worked in the County Attorney's Office from 2012 to 2019, where he led several land-use matters, state and federal litigation and other transactions. Additionally, he led the Pikes Peak Workforce Center's reorganization, and worked as a lead litigator and as the sheriff's legal advisor.

Before his roles in El Paso County, Hodges worked for four years in the Colorado Springs City Attorney's Office, worked as a deputy district attorney, and owned a law firm.

Hodges grew up in Colorado Springs and earned a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Northern Colorado. He has a juris doctorate from the University of Wyoming Law School and began his career in the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office.
The family of Johnny Hurley, the good Samaritan who was mistakenly shot by an Arvada police officer last summer, has filed a lawsuit accusing the officer and the Arvada police chief of violating Hurley's constitutional rights.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law the first major federal gun reform in three decades, days after a decision he condemned by the Supreme Court expanding firearm owners' rights.


Even after rendering their services for more than 25 years now, these contractual workers feel exploited and left out.

Sanjana Chawla | TwoCircles.net

Support TwoCircles



NEW DELHI  Thousands of Dengue Breeding Checkers or DBCs work on the streets of the national capital New Delhi to limit the caseload of Dengue, a mosquito-borne viral disease occurring in tropical and subtropical areas. Hired on a contractual basis, these DBCs work hard to keep check the spread of dengue and malaria. They are responsible for visiting the houses in the national capital to check for breeding of mosquitoes in stagnant water, coolers, abandoned pots or any vacant spot, and they also spray anti-larva and fog to prevent the outbreak of mosquito-borne diseases.

There are over 3500 DBCs working in New Delhi and they were inducted within the municipality after the 1996 outbreak of dengue in the city which cost 410 lives. Ever since the workers have been working without fail but scores of them complain that the government hasnt done much for them.

Speaking on the problems faced by the workers, a dengue breeding checker Devanand Sharma, President of the Anti Malaria Ekta Karamchari Union (AMEKU), told TwoCircles.net that despite being skilled and educated, they have no permanent posts in the department. Our jobs are not stable or fixed as we are contractual workers. Unlike any government employee, we get no official holidays, health benefits, or pensions, etc, he said.

These workers were recently given the designation of MTS or Multi-Task Staff workers but that too is fraught with problems of overworking and uncertain work.

The workers have been raising their demands for a permanent post in front of the Municipal Commissioner for the last six years but all in vain.

Speaking on the matter, the Municipal Health Officer of East Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Somnath Shekhar, told TwoCircles.net that the proposals regarding the regularization of the workers posts have been sent to the government and the process would take its time. The workers, however, arent convinced.

In addition to the lack of clarity on their designation and salaries, DBCs also face the brunt of the governments apathy and Centre-State power relations.

Madan Pal, General Secretary of the AMEKU, talked about how the government and those in authority make their problems and demand a part of their election manifesto to gain votes. The MCD elections are said to happen soon. The contesting parties are luring us to vote for them on the pretext that if they win, they will fulfil our demand. All of them are making false promises of doing this and doing that if they win. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been heading the municipality for 15 years but they havent done anything so far. If any party can fulfil our demands and do something for us after they win, they can also do it right now, he said.

These workers were on duty during the peak of Covid-19 and many of them ended up getting exposed to the virus and dying. However, as per them the government didnt facilitate their treatment and gave no monetary relief or support to the family of the deceased.

There are no medical or health provisions for the DBCs and we get help if we fall sick or break our hands or legs while working, said Madhubala, a Dengue Breeding Checker. She said that instead of supporting the workers, the authorities deduct their salaries if they take leave and also give threats of terminating their jobs if they go on strikes.

With a salary of merely 15000 per month, the workers feel exploited as they work as Dengue Breeding Checkers as well as across other departments too without an increment or bonus. We dont just maintain the check of dengue but also go and work wherever we are asked to. We also collect house taxes, assist the cleanliness drives, look after the election-related work and also contribute to the housing department, said Madhubala.

The workers raised concerns regarding the delay in the disbursement of their salaries and said that they havent received their dues in the last five months.

I feel helpless as I am not able to feed my family, Domestic Breeding Checker Indraj Kaushik told TwoCircles.net.

Our salaries were increased just a year ago but we dont receive our dues on time. The government takes 5-6 months to credit our salaries and the delay disrupts our living. No shopkeepers or any person can understand our plight or help us and they often question our work and duty because we never have enough money in our pockets, Kaushik said.

Madan Pal said that due to the unavailability of money, his sons school teacher and principal have refused to give him the admit card for his upcoming class 10th boards. My sons teachers taunt him just because I am not able to pay his school and exam fees. They say derogatory things and often question my work. Its not like I am not working, I am. But its the delay in our salaries thats becoming a menace, he said.

The workers have two main demands, which are timely credit of their salaries and a permanent job designation or post.

At least now after 26 long years, the government should understand our situation and do something for us. We are not asking for an increment in our salaries or anything else but just a stable, permanent designation. We deserve some recognition and all we want is an identity, a name of our own, Madhubala added.

Sanjana Chawla is a journalism student at AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi and a freelance writer. She covers stories on women, society, culture, lifestyle, and entertainment.
People move a boat in a flooded area during a widespread flood in the northeastern part of the country, in Sylhet, Bangladesh, June 19, 2022. REUTERS/Stringer
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What happens to legally pawned items at Top Dollar Pawn, the shop with multiple locations in Colorado Springs and Pueblo that was served several search warrants by local and federal law enforcement Wednesday?

The 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office attempted to answer that question when it released a statement for people concerned about items they had pawned legally at the four local Top Dollar Pawn stores.

"The Colorado Springs Police Department has received numerous calls from individuals who have pawned property at Top Dollar Pawn locations," the news release read. "Law Enforcement are not seizing lawfully pawned personal items. Individuals should contact Top Dollar Pawn in the future regarding their contracts if they have questions."

On Wednesday, Colorado Springs police announced via a news release that it had served several search warrants to Top Dollar Pawn in conjunction with the FBI, Pueblo Police Department and U.S. Marshals Service.

As a result of the search warrants, two Top Dollar Pawn locations in Colorado Springs and two shops in Pueblo are closed and being investigated by police.

In its news release Wednesday morning, Colorado Springs police described the Top Dollar Pawn scheme as a "multimillion-dollar criminal organization."

According to an affidavit acquired by The Gazette, four individuals associated with Top Dollar Pawn are accused of 29 charges, including a pattern of racketeering and 27 separate charges of money laundering.

The affidavit claims that four individuals associated with Top Dollar Pawn  Daria Mauro, Walt Mauro, Mischa Jargowsky and Jack Jargowsky  knowingly bought and sold products from boosters that had been stolen from various retail stores.

A booster is a person who steals merchandise, usually from retail outlets. They often work in concert with others as part of a "booster crew."

The owners of Top Dollar Pawn are listed as Walt Mauro and Jack Jargowsky, according to online records. A Jack and Mischa Jargowsky are listed as inmates in Pueblo County Jail.

The defendants would buy these stolen items from boosters and then sell them either at their stores or online on Ebay, according to the affidavit.

"Interviews with boosters and former employees detail that the defendants knew that the items they were buying were stolen," the affidavit states. "They used the laundered funds to continue to operate their business, buying more stolen property."

The affidavit states that the defendants had been partaking in the money laundering scheme as far back as January 2018.

Items bought and sold as part of the scheme included chainsaws, tools, several Google Nest Home products among 27 total items listed in the affidavit.

All four defendants have a $50,000 bond set for their release, according to court records.

Top Dollar Pawn has four locations in Colorado, two in Pueblo and two in Colorado Springs. All four locations are closed, according to the CSPD.
The Crawford House at 415 S. Weber St., a transitional housing center for homeless veterans and veterans overcoming substance abuse, has closed.
Although the Colorado Supreme Court has established that prosecutors cannot imply criminal defendants are guilty for exercising their Fifth Amendment right to silence or their Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial, the justices on Tuesday decided an Adams County prosecutor's comments to a jury did not cross that threshold.
A potential extension of Constitution Avenue to Interstate 25 has residents gearing up for a fight, even though city of Colorado Springs officials say they don't have enough details to even start holding public meetings on the project.

An extension of Constitution Avenue from where it dead-ends near Paseo Road to the Fontanero/Interstate 25 interchange could help ease the congestion on other east-west corridors, such as Fillmore Street, and has long been a possibility, City Engineer Gayle Sturdivant said.

"The Citys east-west transportation routes are under stress, and if we were to expand streets in other areas, this would require additional right of way and require impacts to existing homes and businesses," she said.

However, for some residents, the fight over a Constitution extension is far from new. A similar proposal was floated in the early 2000s, and arguments against the noise, traffic and pollution it could bring to historic neighborhoods are the same.

"We are impacting neighborhoods that have been established in some areas for over 100 years. I do not think that is acceptable," said Jan Doran, who fought against the extension about 15 years ago.

The details of the extension, including how many lanes the road could have, still need to be explored through a feasibility study that could be funded through an extension of a portion of the Pikes Peak Regional Transportation Authority tax.

Residents are expected to vote on an extension of a portion of the 1-cent tax and all the projects the tax could fund in November.

If the city wants to pursue a project to study the extension of Constitution through a tax, officials should have met with residents ahead of time, said Dutch Schulz, president of the Old North End Neighbors association.

"There hasnt been one public meeting on Constitution. Why not?" he said.

Sturdivant said the public process on Constitution could start after the feasibility study is completed. One of the main questions the study needs to explore is available city-owned space for a road. The new connection could at maximum width be four lanes based on a city ordinance, but it's unknown if they would fit, she said. It is not envisioned as a freeway-style street, she said.

The potential extension could run through the Colorado Springs Fontanero Service Center and along city-owned right of way that runs parallel to the Rock Island Trail. It would not run through Monument Valley Park or the Rock Island Trail. It would not connect to Cascade Avenue, Nevada Avenue or Weber Street, and it would not require any homes to be removed, Sturdivant said.

The city did consider asking voters to improve Fillmore Street as part of the extension of the Transportation Authority tax to ease east-west congestion, but found that an expansion would cut into businesses east of Cascade Avenue, she said.

If an extension of Constitution is possible, Sturdivant said, the city would be willing to work with the neighborhood on concerns such as noise and traffic.

Schulz argued discussions about Constitution should have been part of the global traffic plan for the city, known as Connect COS, with dedicated meetings such as those held for changes for Platte Avenue.

"They werent forthright with us early on," he said.

The Old North End is in "total opposition" to a road that could function like Platte Avenue or Fillmore Street, he said. Such a road could function as a dividing line for residents.

"We keep cutting up the city, and its like the old neighborhoods are beginning to be throwaway neighborhoods," Doran said.

The Old North End put out a call to residents to show up to the June 28 City Council meeting to speak against the project.

The city has already taken other highly controversial projects off the tax-extension list in anticipation of the vote. For example, the city expects to study making portions of Platte Avenue and Boulder Street one-way separate from the tax extension.
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of 'Shareholder supremacy' in which numbers come before people, unfortunately. I loved this argument since it is so practical in real worldHow many times we have seen a MNC firing off bottom non-performersin pyramid without understanding the reason for their act. A typical caseof 'Shareholder supremacy' in which numbers come before people, unfortunately.

Quote:

Economist: Every business strives to increase its productivity, for this increases profits for the owners and the likelihood that the business will survive. But not all efforts to increase productivity are beneficial to the business as a whole. Often, attempts to increase productivity decrease the number of employees, which clearly harms the dismissed employees as well as the sense of security of the retained employees.

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Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of the economists argument?

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Often, attempts to increase productivity decrease the number of employees, which clearly harms the dismissed employees as well as the sense of security of the retained employees.

Quote:

(E) Decreasing the number of employees in a business undermines the sense of security of retained employees.

I have a strong affinity towards (E)E: Every business want to be more profitable(y) So that business can earn maximum value for their owners and this is how a business survives in long run.The key word BUT next presents a contrast : not all efforts taken by company managementare beneficial to business holistically.He further explains this by chain of events:attempts to increase productivity -> decrease the number of employees -> harms (a) the dismissed employees and (b)sense of security of the retained employeesSo in an attempt to boost productivity, some people are laid off and those who are retained are fearing what will happen to themLet me rephrase this as:The author of the passage would most likely agree with:Let me bring relevant part of the passage and (E) side by side:(E) is simply paraphrasing the last sentence of passage. I can't understand why this can not be the main point of author.On a detailed introspection, can I say (E) is incorrect since as per passage attempts to increase the productivity damages sense of security in retained employeesand as per (E) mass layoffs damage sense of security in retained employees? Is my PoE convincing enough?_________________
The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation recently announced that Averett Universitys department of education is one of 35 providers from 22 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico from its spring review to receive accreditation for its educator preparation programs.

These 35 additions bring the total to 471 providers approved under the council.

The accreditation standards were recently updated with changes reflecting commitment to equity and diversity and an emphasis on the importance of technology in preparing future educators. To earn accreditation, Averetts programs had to demonstrate solid evidence that graduates are competent and caring educators, and that its faculty have the capacity to create a culture of evidence and use it to maintain and enhance the quality of the professional programs offered. Averett exceled in every standard with no areas for improvement noted in the report.

The education department is ecstatic to have received accreditation from CAEP through the spring of 2029. As we continue to train the next generation of educators for preschool up through twelfth grade, this accreditation ensures our graduates that they have a solid backing for their degrees, said Nancy Riddell, chair and professor of Averetts education department.

Averetts education department offers a traditional baccalaureate education program with preparation for initial licensure in nine areas. In addition, 13 graduate-level masters and endorsement programs are offered through Averett Online. Averetts teacher education program consistently places 100% of its graduates in teaching positions.

This seal of approval from CAEP is a testament to the quality training and real-life workplace experiences Averetts education students get through our variety of teacher preparation programs, said Averett President Tiffany M. Franks.

Prior to the accreditation, Averetts education programs were accredited by the Virginia Department of Education. That department continues to approve licensure and endorsement programs across the commonwealth. However, the stage group has deferred the accreditation responsibilities, and, based on Virginias 2016 signed partnership agreement, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation is now the unified national accrediting organization for educator preparation.
An event by the Melungeon Heritage Association this week will feature an author signing event on Friday at 2 p.m. at the Parish House as well as a series of lectures that will be held on Saturday, starting at 10 a.m., at the Virginia Museum of Natural History.

The beginnings of the Melungeon people, and other mixed ancestries people, is in the 1600s, 1700s with those early intersections between Europeans, Africans and Native Americans, Melungeon Heritage Association President Heather Andolina said. It is certainly a lesser known history in America, and I think some of it is because they were non-white people.

The Melungeon people originated through the very beginnings of colonization in America, writer Darlene Nixon said. The mixture of European, African and indigenous people began to face discrimination and self-isolated to shield themselves from threats.

Many of these communities were located in very isolated places, for example, Appalachian mountains, Andolina added. I think thats also why theyre not as well known, because these communities really kept to themselves.

Andolina said that one of the ways to know whether someone is of Melungeon ancestry is by surnames. You can see where these groups of peoples, through their surnames, migrated and they kept migrating through Virginia, North Carolina, even from South Carolina eventually into the Appalachia region, she added.

Melungeon peoples characteristics varied because of their mixed descent, Nixon said, ranging from dark to blonde hair, lighter to darker skin and a wide variety of eye colors. Many people dont find out that they have Melungeon ancestry until adulthood, she said.

The term Melungeon is said to come from the French word for mixed, which is melange. The term is loosely associated with Appalachia, Andolina, Southeastern Kentucky, northeastern Tennessee, parts of North Carolina and of course parts of western Virginia, she said.

The Melungeon Heritage Association is a non-profit organization that documents and preserves the history and cultural legacy of mixed ancestry peoples of the southern and eastern United States, Andolina said. Our organization does mostly focus on the Melungeon people, but we do expand out to other peoples of mixed ancestries in the southeast because the Melungeon people are tied  to other mixed ancestries like the Lumbees, the Red Bones and the Brass Ankles.

The main goal of the event in Martinsville is to bring people together who have this unique ancestry, whether it is Melungeon or just mixed ancestry in general  We bring in authors, historians, researchers, people who  make it educational, Andolina said.

Nixon is one of the authors who will be at the author event at the Parish House on Friday. Her book is called Our Side of the Mountain: A Pocahontas to Melungeon Revolution and it tells the story of what her mother remembers about growing up Melungeon.

Writing has always been her passion, Nixon said, and through conversation with her mother and grandmother she was able to put together a fascinating story recounting their stories following day-to-day life as her mother remembers it.

Some of the cultural distinction of Melungeons are living off of the land, being superstitious, not bathing every day but washing their feet every night and the way and reasons that they kept animals, she said.

Nixon added that the cultural habits that she listed will vary depending on who is asked, probably having similarities but differences deepening on the region they are discussing.

The idea is to tell a little bit of a story about these people that are coming to Martinsville and why you might want to go and learn a little bit more about it, Nixon said. We want to benefit our authors and shine a light on the Melungeon heritage  That we exist and that we are proud people of our culture and heritage.

Monique Holland is a reporter for the Martinsville Bulletin. She can be reached at monique.holland@martinsvillebulletin.com or at 276-734-9603.
GREENSBORO  A chance to check out new body scanners at Smith High School on Wednesday drew a slew of school principals and assistant principals from across the county, as well as some community members, first responders and parents.

The scanners are designed to detect and deter concealed guns from being brought into the buildings. A second community meeting is planned for Thursday at High Point Central High School from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Really we want the community to come out and tell us what they think, tell us how they feel about it and a lot of our opinion will be based on that, said Mike Richey, the districts executive director of emergency management. If the community is supportive of it, then we will probably go forward. If we do go forward, we would love to go forward fairly quickly, for the simple reason that any change goes much more smoothly when we put it in place before the school year comes.

Guilford County Schools is borrowing the Evolv Express touchless body scanners before deciding whether to lease them for its traditional high schools across the district. Leaders expect that could cost between $750,000 and $1 million per year, with the money to come from the districts federal COVID-19 relief dollars.

The number of scanners needed per school would depend on the configuration of the school. Richey said that Smith will eventually need two scanners, for two different entrances, and High Point Central may require three. For now, only one scanner is in place at each school.

Prince Canty, an assistant principal at Eastern High School, said he thinks the new scanners would add a layer of protection and security at his school. He visited Smith to learn more about them and give some thought to how scanners might be implemented at Eastern, including how to assign roles among staff and administrators.

Chanetta Arnold, a staff member at Greensboros SCALE school who also has a child at Smith, said she feels it would be safer for her child to have the device in place.

Smith alumnus Kim Stroud and her mother, Gail Stroud, were two community members who came out to see the scanners. They had a variety of questions for the countys director of emergency management, Mike Richey, including how the district picked where the scanners would be.

Richey said Smith and High Point Central are hosting students from multiple schools for summer school, so they have a good number of students in the buildings and they are centrally located in Greensboro and High Point for the community meetings.

If district officials like how the scanners work in the high schools, he said, they may consider adding them in middle schools as well.

Both Kim and Gail Stroud said they thought it made sense to have the scanners in schools, due to school shootings across the country in recent years. But they expressed horror and frustration that they should ever be needed.

District leaders already were looking at getting the scanners prior to the recent shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Richey said the scanners are unlikely to prevent that sort of shooting, during which an adult gunman came in a back door bent on mass murder.

Most school shootings, however, dont fit that profile.

At the most recent school board meeting, Richey shared an analysis by the Center for Homeland Defense and Security of data on school shootings from 1970 through the present. That data found that the most common reason for a school shooting was the escalation of a dispute, followed by accidental shootings and suicide attempts. Students were the most common assailants.

Under the districts plans, students would walk through a scanner upon entering the school building. As they go through, a staff member would watch and listen at a nearby screen. If the scanner detects items that resemble a gun or disassembled parts of a gun, it beeps and brings up an image on the screen. That image includes a brief video clip of the person walking through, with an orange box showing where the scanner detects a possible gun or gun parts.

According to the Washington Post, the Evolv scanners create images using a light-emission technique known as active sensing and then use artificial intelligence to analyze the images.

Richey said the scanners do not display or record any images that would show a persons body under their clothes.

He expects the scanners could flag items for about one out of every ten people, with the extreme majority of those harmless. Some laptops will set it off, he said, as well as umbrellas, camera equipment, or even a stack of three-ring binders.

Ana Perez, an assistant principal at Smith, said Tuesday that the school had just under 300 students and other people go through the scanner, with about 18 flagged, all of them for routine items like laptops and binders.

One of the things we are going to tell them is that instead of carrying their laptops in their book bags, to come with them in their hands, Perez said. I imagine that, as we go, they will learn what to do and what not to do, so it is going to get better.

Richey said if the scanner flags a person during morning arrival for a concealed item, the person at the screen will let the student know to walk over to a nearby table, where a second staff member will check their bag, or hip, or whatever area was flagged.

Later in the day, he said, the scanners will be monitored from within the school office by the staff typically in charge of letting people into the building with the door intercom system. Those staff members can ask the person to come to the office, or call for assistance, if a suspicious item is detected.

Akeyvion Millner, a rising junior, said he was surprised to discover the scanner when he came to school on Tuesday, but is happy the district is trying it.

Its about time they put scanners in, he said Tuesday, referencing stories hes seen on the national news about students who committed shootings with guns they brought to school. Millner said the scanner didnt appear to be delaying students, beyond the wait they already have to scan their student IDs when they come into the building.

Contact Jessie Pounds at 336-373-7002 and follow @JessiePounds on Twitter.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  In a major expansion of gun rights, the Supreme Court said Thursday that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public.

The justices' 6-3 decision follows a series of recent mass shootings and is expected to ultimately allow more people to legally carry guns on the streets of the nation's largest cities  including New York, Los Angeles and Boston  and elsewhere. About a quarter of the U.S. population live in states expected to be affected by the ruling, the high court's first major gun decision in more than a decade.

The ruling comes as Congress is working toward passage of gun legislation following mass shootings in Texas,New York and California.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority that the Constitution protects "an individual's right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home."

In their decision, the justices struck down a New York law requiring people to demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun in order to get a license to carry one in public. The justices said that requirement violates the Second Amendment right to "keep and bear arms."

California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island all have similar laws. The Biden administration had urged the justices to uphold New York's law.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the decision comes at a particularly painful time, when New York is still mourning the deaths of 10 people in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo. "This decision isn't just reckless. It's reprehensible. It's not what New Yorkers want," she said.

In a dissent joined by his liberal colleagues, Justice Stephen Breyer focused on the toll taken by gun violence. "Since the start of this year alone (2022), there have already been 277 reported mass shootingsan average of more than one per day," Breyer wrote.

Backers of New York's law had argued that striking it down would lead to more guns on the streets and higher rates of violent crime. Gun violence, which was already on the rise during the coronavirus pandemic has spiked anew.

In most of the country gun owners have little difficulty legally carrying their weapons in public. But that had been harder to do in New York and the handful of states with similar laws. New York's law, which has been in place since 1913, says that to carry a concealed handgun in public, a person applying for a license has to show "proper cause," a specific need to carry the weapon.

The state issues unrestricted licenses where a person can carry their gun anywhere and restricted licenses that allow a person to carry the weapon but just for specific purposes such as hunting and target shooting or to and from their place of business.

The Supreme Court last issued a major gun decision in 2010. In that decision and a ruling from 2008 the justices established a nationwide right to keep a gun at home for self-defense. The question for the court this time was about carrying one outside the home.

The challenge to the New York law was brought by the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, which describes itself as the nation's oldest firearms advocacy organization, and two men seeking an unrestricted ability to carry guns outside their homes.

The court's decision is somewhat out of step with public opinion. About half of voters in the 2020 presidential election said gun laws in the U.S. should be made more strict, according to AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of the electorate. An additional third said laws should be kept as they are, while only about 1 in 10 said gun laws should be less strict.

About 8 in 10 Democratic voters said gun laws should be made more strict, VoteCast showed. Among Republican voters, roughly half said laws should be kept as they are, while the remaining half closely divided between more and less strict.

Associated Press reporter Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report.
DURHAM  Dr. Henry Rice said he is tired of taking bullets out of the citys children.

I dont want to do it anymore, he told the Durham City Council this month.

In December, six young people were shot on a cold, Monday morning. Rice, a pediatric surgeon at Duke University Hospital, cared for the four who survived.

I was almost struck about how routine these events had become in our community and around the country and around the world, he said. We simply dont do enough.

At the June 9 council meeting, Rice and the co-chairs of Durhams Community Safety and Wellness Task Force, asked city leaders to commit just over $100,000 to an initiative that would interview survivors of gun violence. The study could lead to the creation of a local office to serve survivors of violent crime.

Council members liked the idea, but several had concerns, chiefly about how much work the study could create for the citys new Community Safety Department. The department is already launching multiple pilot programs related to responding to 911 calls.

Some council members also want to see Duke and Durham County contribute more to the project.

All the partners that have a pocket book need to put some money in it, and not just the city, Mayor Elaine ONeal said.

The co-chairs asked the council for roughly $112,000 to fund a public-private partnership that would also include $35,000 from Duke Universitys Institute for Health Innovations.

The Prescriptions for Repair study would be administered by the Community Safety Department, and an advisory circle of volunteers that includes the director of the Duke Hospital Violence Intervention Program, Rice, and others.

Listening to survivors stories would reframe the communitys response to gun violence to center the experience and needs of those harmed, according to the proposal.

We do a good job at Duke Hospital in stopping bleeding and sewing holes and getting people out of the hospital, Rice said. We dont do a very good job of tending to their needs during their recovery time.

What officials learn could shape a Durham Office of Survivor Care, which is expected to be part of the task forces full recommendations next year.

Xavier Cason and Marcia Owen co-chair the task force. Owen was executive director of the Religious Coalition for a Non-Violent Durham for years and helped found Restorative Justice Durham, where she remains in a volunteer leadership role.

Cason, the Durham Public Schools Foundations director of community schools and school partnerships, is a former Durham school board member and teacher.

When the task force was created, then-Mayor Steve Schewel told it to bring forward pressing needs, Cason said.

Owen said the study would help fill a gap shes been concerned about for years. Some local programs directly deal with harm caused by gun violence, but no programs listen to what survivors identify are the needs that violence creates, according to a report on the proposal.

The program would connect 40 gun violence survivors with 20 facilitators in structured confidential listening sessions. Participants would be paid $25 an hour.

Each participant would be offered at least eight hours in listening sessions, during which they would discuss what happened and what needs to be done to make things as right as possible, according to the proposal.

Participants names would not appear in the report that would follow.

Over the past two years, the Duke emergency room has seen a 53% increase in gunshot victims, according to the proposal.

Fiscal year 2021 brought 393 gunshot victims to the hospital compared to 280 in 2020 and 215 the year before. Most were Black men between 16 and 29 years old.

The request for city funds comes halfway through the Community Safety and Wellness Task Forces two-year mission to recommend public-safety alternatives.

Durham Beyond Policing, a community coalition, lobbied for the task force instead of hiring more police officers in 2019.

In 2020, the City Council earmarked $1 million for it, with Schewel calling the unprecedented funding of a task force in the city a down payment.

The City Council would still need to approve any spending over $50,000.

So far the task force has spent just $23,000, for translation and other needs, Owen said.

The 15-member task force launched in 2021.

Council members Mark-Anthony Middleton and DeDreana Freeman opposed the task force funding in a then-familiar 4-2 council split.

Middleton and Freeman supported policing alternatives. But they also backed a 2019 request from the police chief for 18 more officers that the council majority  including Jillian Johnson, Javiera Caballero, and Charlie Reece  rejected.

That dynamic shifted, however, after the November election.

Voters elected ONeal and now-City Councilman Leonardo Williams. Schewel didnt seek reelection.

After the new council took office in December, Johnsons mayor pro tem status was transferred to Middleton.

In addition, Reece resigned from the council in March, and Monique Holsey-Hyman was appointed.

At the councils June 9 meeting, Johnson and Caballero supported the study and urged it be reviewed and moved forward.

I think this is an incredible project. I think this is exactly why we set money aside for this task force, Caballero said.

The study is an important piece in the safety and wellness puzzle, Johnson said.

Holsey-Hyman cautioned about raising the expectations of the studys participants.

They want solutions, she said. They just dont want it to be (another study) in somebodys library.

Middleton expressed concern about the new department taking on more responsibilities right now.

Its a bandwidth issue, he said, explaining he doesnt want the task force creating programs that exhaust its budget or add work to other departments.

My thinking was that million (dollars) would serve the work of the task force, not change the organizational chart or structure of the city, he said.
Eric Feaver, longtime state employee union leader, current Helena city commissioner and a driving force behind state politics, has died, it was announced Thursday.

Feaver, a Democrat who was not afraid to ruffle feathers, could often be seen at the state Capitol during legislative sessions, lobbying and testifying on issues that impacted state employees.

He died Wednesday, officials said. He was 77.

Feavers death was announced at Thursdays Hometown Helena meeting, a grassroots group event which Feaver would attend.

Former Helena Mayor Jim Smith, who emcees the meeting, was saddened by the news, saying he had just attended a ribbon cutting with Feaver.

Eric was a legend at the Capitol and not just in his own mind, he said, sparking some laughter from the audience. He was a giant of the lobby and made a difference here in Montana.

Feaver was elected city commissioner in November and was the top vote getter in a race for two open seats. He pushed the issues of housing, parks and recreation, and local authority during campaigns. He said Helena had been his home for nearly 50 years.

Mayor Wilmot Collins said the city commission was devastated by the news.

"With his short time on the commission, he was a valuable asset ..." he said. "Eric was a seasoned public servant whose only interest was the public."

Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte commented on Feaver's death.

Eric Feaver was a committed public servant and veteran, who served as a city commissioner in Helena, an educator, and a strong advocate for state employees for decades. The state and city of Helena will miss his unmistakable voice, he said in an email. Susan and I are praying for his wife Ellen, his family, and his friends and colleagues.

Democratic Sen. Jon Tester called Feaver "a giant in Montana."

"No matter his role  service member, teacher, labor leader, or city official  Eric relentlessly served his fellow Montanans," he said in an email. "Sharla and I are heartbroken by his passing, but his legacy will live on in the Last Best Place for generations."

From 1984-2020, Feaver was president of the MEA, MEA-MFT and finally the Montana Federation of Public Employees (MFPE), which represents 23,000 professional and classified employees working in public schools, the university system, Head Start, local and state governments, and private health care across Montana. His 36 years in leadership made him one of the longest serving elected union officials in America.

One of the best things about my job is that there is always a reason to come to work, he said in a 2020 interview with the Great Falls Tribune. It keeps the adrenaline pumping. Every now and then, when we lose, it makes us all the more anxious to win the next time.

John Cech, president of Carroll College, said he has known and worked with Feaver since 2002, when Cech became the dean of the MSU Billings College of Technology. Cech worked with the MEA-MFT on statewide labor negotiations.

Eric was a giant in this state in every way, Cech said in an email.  He loved everything about Montana, from its beauty, schools, civic government, and of course, politics. He will be sorely missed but fondly remembered.

Amanda Curtis, president of MFPE, said she will always remember how hard Feaver worked and how he had a clear distinction between right and wrong.

He never spent time ringing his hands, she said. He went out and did good for people.

She called his death unexpected and said Feaver was absolutely at the top of his game.

His plans were to go backpacking Thursday in preparation for a backpacking trip he was going to take with one of his daughters.

He leaves a huge void, Curtis, who succeeded Feaver as MFPE president, said. He leaves an absolute vacuum that (is) up to all of us to fill. The only thing we can do now is now is to step in and be a drop in the ocean to fill that void.

In 2021, the MFPE created the Eric Feaver Distinguished Leadership Award, to honor a union member who has advanced workers rights. And this year he was inducted into the union's Hall of Fame. Curtis described the event as a toast and a roast, adding it was good that Feaver was able to hear the comments made about him that night.

Feaver had spent some time in the classroom as a teacher and taught English and social studies in the Helena Public Schools from 1974-1984.

Feaver earned a bachelor's degree in government, history and economics from the University of Oklahoma in 1967, a master's degree in American history from the University of Maryland in 1972, and an honorary doctorate of education from Montana State University in 1999.

He was born in 1945 and graduated from Norman High, Norman, Oklahoma, in 1963.

Although he was a conscientious objector, Feaver served his country, as a combat medic with the Army's 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, during the Vietnam War from 1969-1970.

"Any questions about his dedication to service and conviction of his beliefs was set aside at an early age when as a conscientious objector he chose to serve in combat as a medic without carrying a gun. He lived a life like that, always in the service of others," former Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who considered Feaver a friend, said.

He said Feaver was a man who respected another man and you will never find a stronger advocate for the people he believes in.

"From time to time we didnt exactly agree on a strategy, but I never questioned his motives," Schweitzer said. "His motive was to serve others."

According to Helena city charter, the commission will appoint someone to fill the seat until the next regular city election.

As you may imagine, given the sudden passing of Commissioner Feaver, the Commission has not had any discussion or put forth any formal nominations for the vacant seat," Special Projects Coordinator for the City Manager's Officer Amanda Opitz said in an email Thursday.

Feaver was an avid hiker, often posting on Facebook about his most recent walk.

"I took a short, easy hike to once again check out the flowers along Dog Creek," he wrote June 19. "Beautiful sunny, a tich too warm, no wind day. Camas ruled. Multiple shades of green. And remnants of former residents who moved on elsewhere many years ago."

He and wife, Ellen, over the years donated two lots to the city of Helena to be included in Mount Helena City Park.

Other than Ellen, he leaves daughters, Amity and Ashley; sons-in-law, Rich and TJ; and several grandsons.

Feaver was weighing in on politics just hours before his death.

Jacob Torgerson announced on Twitter he had just been elected chair of the Lewis and Clark County Democrats. He is 20.

Welcome to leadership, Jacob, Feaver replied.

Staff Writer Nolan Lister contributed to this story.

Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021.

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A father and son who operated a Helena Valley Quarter Horse breeding operation were sentenced Wednesday for felony aggravated animal cruelty and ordered to pay the county $323,292.36 in restitution for caring for the 58 horses taken from their property more than a year ago.

The three-hour sentencing hearing for Robert and Alan Erickson, which sometimes turned caustic, was before Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Kathy Seeley, who dismissed the prosecutions request to sentence the men to 180 days in jail. There will be no early discharge from supervision.

However, they received a six-year deferred sentence in which the Ericksons could not own or care for horses. The horses removed from their property will not be returned and will be given new homes. And there would not be any early release from the six-year deferred sentence.

This was not a livelihood, this is some sort of odd hobby these fellows had, Seeley said.

Lewis and Clark Deputy County Attorney Fallon Stanton was pleased with the judges decision.

I am glad we finally have them moving on to a better place, she said of the horses.

Robert Ericksons attorney, Carl Jensen, said his client plans to appeal.

During the sentencing it was revealed the Ericksons now had a goat on their property, prompting the judge to say during sentencing, Im not going to deal with the goat, Im sorry.

The Ericksons ran a quarter-horse breeding operation that was raided by the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office on June 1, 2021. Nearly 60 horses were seized by sheriff's deputies, a U.S. Forest Service ranger and a Department of Livestock employee and relocated to the Lewis and Clark County Fairground.

Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton said earlier the horses are now at various locations.

County-contracted veterinarians determined many of the horses exhibited signs of neglect. One of the horses had to be euthanized while in Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office custody as a result of the neglect.

Equine veterinarian Jamie Clark, who had cared for the horses on behalf of the county, testified Wednesday that her practice discounted the bill 25% for its services. She said $6000 in vaccines and $2000 in supplements were donated by companies to help the horses. Clark also said volunteers donated thousands of dollars worth of their time. She did not think some of the horses would be of high value if sold.

She described some as being "geriatric, unlikely to be useful in any capacity besides a pasture ornament that can be petted and loved." Clark said many of the horses would likely be sold for about $1,000.

Alan Erickson previously took a deal in exchange for his guilty plea and a jury found Robert Erickson guilty in April.

Robert Erickson, who said his trial "was a whole bunch of lies," told officials he had substantial assets, but would not disclose a total.

But on Wednesday he estimated the value of the horses taken from his property by the county to be $3 million, noting one of the horses was a prized stud.

Attorney Ellie Boldman, who represented Alan Erickson, said the horses should have remained on the property with the Ericksons and had supervised care. Boldman, a Democratic state representative, said as Montana changes, it is losing its common sense.

"The government did not have the right to do what it did in this case," she said, adding her client was a man who loves horses.

Another of Robert Ericksons sons, Clayton, was arrested outside the county courthouse in April on a warrant for a previous DUI. He entered into a deferred prosecution agreement filed April 8. As long as he does not violate the terms of the agreement, the animal cruelty charge will be dismissed in five years.

In 2018, an animal control officer responded to a call about an injured horse caught in barbed wire at an address on Fantasy Road, from which the Ericksons were later evicted, officials said.

The officer reported observing pasture areas that "were poorly maintained with sections of wire and a vast amount of debris strewn on the ground. The pasture was nothing but rock, dirt, and debris with no vegetation anywhere," the affidavit states.

The court documents go on to detail the ongoing monitoring of the operation by the animal control officer. Horses were found with lacerations, hernias, lower back injuries, cracked hooves and extensive matting.

Seeley said the evidence was presented at the trial and the jury reached its decision. She said she has not heard from one veterinarian supporting the self-serving statements of the defendants.

Seeley said she did not think the Ericksons were bad people at their core, but they were not equipped to care for horses.

Dutton said Wednesday he was happy about the judge's decision.

"We are pleased this is over," he said, adding the sheriff's department had submitted a plan for her consideration.

He also thanked all the people who have helped take care of the horses.

"I'm thankful for the support of volunteers and citizens of this county," Dutton said.

Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021.

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Montana attracts hunters from all over the world that apply for licenses to hunt deer and elk. Like many states, Montana limits nonresident opportunities via a lottery system, with 17,000 deer-elk combination licenses and 4,600 deer licenses. Now there are more nonresident hunters applying for tags than there are licenses available.

When it comes to which state produces the most nonresident hunters, none come close to the state of Washington.

The Evergreen State accounts for about 17% of all nonresident hunters awarded Montana deer and elk hunting licenses over the last four years, according to data provided by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks through a public information request. That equates to nearly 17,000 of the more than 101,000 licenses distributed from 2019-2022.

The Montana State News Bureau requested zip codes for all nonresidents who received deer-elk combination, elk-combination and deer-combination licenses awarded through the annual lottery.

On this week's episode, Tom Kuglin of the Montana State News Bureau, discusses what he found from looking into Montana's nonresident hunting data.

This podcast is created in partnership across five newsrooms  the Billings Gazette, the Helena Independent Record, the Missoulian, the Montana Standard and the Ravalli-Republic. You can support this podcast and our efforts by subscribing. Visit any of these newspapers websites, and click on the Become a Member button at the top of the home page. We appreciate your support of local journalism.

Thom Bridge can be reached at thom.bridge@helenair.com

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Weeks of rain and snow in northwest Montana have kept the region's rivers and streams in flood stage, but experts say the worst has passed as more seasonal, sunny weather enters the radar.

Both the Flathead and Swan rivers were in minor flood stage midday Wednesday, with several nearby creeks and tributaries spilling out of their banks.

The Flathead River, which has been in minor flood stage for 10 days, triggered several pre-evacuation notices earlier this week. The 700 block of Wagner Lane near Kalispell, South River Road and the Evergreen area remain on notice of potential low-lying flooding.

We are pretty much waiting in the status quo, said Flathead County Undersheriff Wayne Dubois. Were hoping it should peak today or tomorrow and drop from there.

Provisional data at the river gauge near Columbia Falls detected the Flathead rising to about 14.5 feet Wednesday. Minor flood stage is 13 feet. The river peaked just under 15 feet on June 16, and has hovered in the 14-foot range since.

One man died on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River Tuesday after the raft he and two others were riding on flipped. The Sheriffs office said despite warm weather, rivers are unsafe and could change. The office encouraged all people to stay out of the river for now.

State agencies also warned on Wednesday that there are hazards and debris in rivers following flooding events and advised recreators to avoid affected rivers and follow fishing site closures.

Its likely more floating and boating hazards will emerge as waters recede, said Hope Stockwell, Parks and Outdoor Recreation Division administrator, in a press release. Were opening sites as quickly as possible, but boaters and other recreators should still use an abundance of caution when on the water.

Rivers may also contain chemicals and bacteria from damaged or overwhelmed wastewater treatment facilities and flooded homes, businesses and agricultural fields, the release said.

Even during moderate rain events, its common to find high levels of E. coli bacteria in rivers and creeks, said Darrin Kron, DEQ Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Section supervisor. With historic rain and flood events occurring in parts of Montana, people should take extra precautions and avoid drinking, fishing and swimming in rivers after flooding.

Ray Nickless, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service, said the rivers will be running fast as the last high-elevation rain and snow washes through the Flathead Valley, but said many places of concern will start improving soon.

The good news is we are seeing that the Middle Fork of the Flathead crested on Tuesday, and is now dropping, Nickless said, adding that discharge levels of the North Fork of the Flathead have been declining for a few days.

There is a flood advisory for the Swan River from Condon to Flathead Lake after hotter weather began melting above-average snow pack. The Swan passed a minor flood stage at 6.5 feet near Bigfork Wednesday morning.

Nickless explained that the slow-moving nature of the Swan River, which meanders the valley floors, has delayed discharging some rainfall as fast as other places. The National Weather Service warned that docks could be temporarily flooded near Bigfork Bay, and urged caution when near the riverbanks.

Much of the flooding came from warm and wet Pacific storms that drenched Montana in June. One sensor above the Hungry Horse Dam estimated there has been 10 inches of precipitation for the month of June, which is much higher than average.

Nickless said to be cautious around the rivers right now, as they are running fast and cold enough to cause hypothermia. The rivers will likely run above average for the next few weeks, partially fueled by high-elevation snow.

We have certainly moved out of any drought here, Nickless said.

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Touting his administrations response to the destructive floodwaters that raged through southern Montana last week, Gov. Greg Gianforte on Thursday also declined to elaborate on the reasons for not providing his whereabouts for several days that he remained overseas.

We have good folks and state employees that kicked into gear and from my perspective, the most important thing was for me to connect with those local leaders and to hear from them directly about what resources they need, Gianforte said in a phone interview with the Montana State News Bureau. And thats where I put my priority, knowing the lieutenant governor had things in her capable hands.

Prior to his return, the Republican governor delegated his authority to Lt. Gov. Kristin Juras to respond to the flooding. Juras declared a state of disaster, and asked President Joe Biden to also issue a disaster declaration. The Biden administrations subsequent declaration freed up money from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) to begin flowing into the state.

Gianforte returned early from a vacation in Italy last Friday, arriving back in a state where hundreds of residents had been displaced by floodwaters that in some places swept away houses, roads and bridges. In towns like Gardiner and Cooke City, businesses are staring down an uncertain tourism season with nearby entrances to Yellowstone National Park closed indefinitely due to washed-out roads.

I was out of the country, but not disengaged, Gianforte said. I was in regular contact with my staff, with agency heads  I think I spoke with about over 30 local county commissioners, sheriffs, legislators, business owners on Tuesday and Wednesday (June 14 and 15) and we really first off prioritized making sure communities were getting the assistance they needed.

Gianfortes office previously said he left the county for a long-planned trip on June 10. Record rains that started late that week continued through the weekend, combining with above-normal mountain snowpack to fuel widespread flooding beginning June 13.

He and First Lady Susan Gianforte were originally scheduled to remain overseas through the week and planned to return June 19, he said. The tipping point for his decision to cut the trip short was Juras report back to him on the extent of damage in Red Lodge, he said.

Gianforte said that day he began getting briefings from his team about the situation.

He also said in the interview he had not received any information regarding potential flooding before he departed. The Montana State News Bureau has requested copies of materials provided to the governor in the days before and after the flooding began.

Amid ongoing conversations with local and state officials, he said, he directed Juras to issue a state of emergency the following day. After reporters asked why a copy of the declaration bore Juras signature, his office later that day acknowledged his absence from the state, but refused to disclose his location until he returned three days later.

I didnt disclose where I was because I was on a personal, private trip, Gianforte said Thursday. It would have violated the safety protocol and thus potentially opened us up to security concerns.

He declined repeatedly to elaborate on that security protocol or explain what type of risks he could have created by revealing which country he was in. He referred follow-up questions to the Montana Highway Patrol. Neither MHP or the Department of Justice immediately responded to requests for information on Thursday.

The governor said he has been the subject of threats that were deemed credible by law enforcement in the past, but declined to elaborate on them or say whether they informed his policy of not disclosing his location. He also wouldnt say whether the policy was in place prior to his trip or whether his office had any discretion in crafting it, also referring those questions to MHP.

The secrecy surrounding his whereabouts as a natural disaster unfolded in parts of Montana prompted criticism from Democrats and others. But Gianforte said during that time he remained in communication with local officials in affected areas.

I was at my duty post, I just happened to not be in Montana, Gianforte said. And the team concluded that I should return at the earliest possible convenience on Tuesday, and we began making arrangements.

Since his return, the governor has been meeting with officials and residents in flood-ravaged parts of the state, including Red Lodge, Fromberg and Gardiner. On Thursday he was scheduled to attend the reopening of a bridge damaged by the raging Yellowstone River north of Gardiner, and signed a request asking FEMA to unlock additional funds for individuals facing major losses from the flooding.

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Thirty-seven landowners will be awarded 47 free elk hunting tags only good on their property during this falls hunting season under a newly devised process, the Fish and Wildlife Commission agreed at its Wednesday meeting.

In return, the landowners can pick one person to hunt while the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks will pick two others for a total of 141 public hunters.

Created in 2001 and known as 454 agreements, after the bill number creating the legislation, the Elk Hunting Access Agreements were altered by the last Legislature, increasing landowner interest. In the past, landowners had to allow four hunters for every free tag they received. The Legislature dropped that to three with the landowner allowed to pick one. The landowner tags are also transferable to family or full-time employees.

Landowners can provide additional hunters access to their land, and some have, but are required by statute to at least meet the minimum requirements.

Jason Kool, landowner-sportsman coordinator for FWP, said so far about 27 of the landowners have indicated they will provide access beyond just three hunters. It was also noted that some landowners will provide public access through the Block Management Program, a separate FWP access program that pays landowners to provide public access to their private land. Nothing prohibits a landowner from participating in both, and no landowner had yet shifted to the 454 program and dropped their Block Management enrollment, Kool added.

I see this as showing the awesome potential of what happens when you incentivize landowners instead of trying to intimidate them, said Commissioner Brian Cebull of Billings. I think its a great success.

He went on to encourage the department to monitor the program to ensure landowners are participating in good spirit by reaching out to public hunters and allowing them adequate time to hunt. He said he would also like to see some standards for landowners, including allowing a public bull elk hunter for every free bull elk tag awarded by FWP.

The Private Land/Public Wildlife Council is looking at such changes, which will have to be made legislatively, FWP Director Hank Worsech noted.

This is going to be impactful for access in the future, Cebull added.

Conservation group representatives, who had decried the haphazard process used last year to award 28 landowners tags  some after the hunting season had already started  joined in praise for the new process with a few reservations.

This was kind of a little bit of a mess when this program first came to you, and youve done a really great job in getting it punched up and in a working fashion, said Marcus Strange, of the Montana Wildlife Federation.

However, he said his group is concerned that this is moving away from a wildlife management tool, and one example of that is if you look at where its at on the agenda, its in the parks and recreation. This is not a parks and recreation program. This is a management tool to help local biologists address overpopulation of elk specifically on these properties.

He added there are other programs meant to build relationships with landowners.

Thomas Baumeister, volunteer vice-chair of the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, praised the department for listening and reconfiguring the program with an application deadline, a way to manage demand, as well as accountability, transparency, communication and public involvement.

The director deserves much credit for championing this process, Baumeister said.

Next year the application deadline will be moved even earlier in an attempt to align with hunting license drawings.

Last season, the 454 agreements provided 28 free tags to 13 landowners and free public access to a minimum of 84 public elk hunters on nearly 400,000 private land acres, FWP reported in an analysis. Ten landowners offered additional free public elk hunting access, with FWP calculating that more than 660 additional public hunters gained access.

Most landowners and hunters who participated praised the program, although some glitches were noted like landowners not answering calls or hunters not responding to landowners.

Out of the 96 hunters surveyed by FWP, 48 shot elk, including 16 bulls. Some hunters reported shooting a second elk through the program. Twenty-two of the 28 landowner tags were filled, with 20 bulls shot.

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State Sen. Jason Ellsworths op-ed (June 21), Addressing states economic challenges and opportunities, is fluffy rather than sharp.

Both the costs were going to reduce and the freedom we celebrate go undefined. Since Ellsworth is a Republican, we have to assume the costs are meant costs to the business. When paired with freedom, this means the costs of adhering to regulations meant to protect the consumer and the environment. Removing such regulations in order to attract business is a losing proposition in the long run.

Moreover, in a rather lengthy piece on economic development, the senator fails to mention the two things on which Montana is most dependent: the federal government and our two superb research universities. Lets call these two omissions the 19th-century Republican approach to economic development.

Since the days of land grants through the Eisenhower interstate highway system, states like Montana have always depended on the federal government for their development.

The situation now is no different: Most of our next economic development will depend on the Biden infrastructure bill that passed Congress with some  but not much - Republican support. (Be certain, though, that those Republican politicians who opposed the bill will show up for the ribbon-cuttings).

Moreover, Montana will continue to be one of those states that receive more back from the feds than we contribute in taxes.

In spite of meager (when compared with other states) state support, both UM and MSU have moved into the highest category  R1- of research universities.

Theyve done this by attracting talented faculty who compete successfully for federal and other research grants. With an impressively high volume of both research grants and private philanthropic support, both have become excellent universities that are infinitely better than what Montana pays for.

And in this century state economic development will depend on the fruits of university research more than any other factor.

That a state senator could submit an essay on Montana economic development without mention of our universities is confounding at best.

Lawrence K. Pettit,

Helena

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DECATUR  Troy D. Slaw pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges he stabbed a Decatur woman to death and cut up her body to dispose of it.

The plea came at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing in Macon County Circuit Court where Slaw faces three alternate counts of murder and charges of dismembering a human body and concealment of the homicidal death of 41-year-old Norma J. Crutchfield.

The charges stem from the November 2020 disappearance of Crutchfield. Her body has not been found and prosecutors allege that Slaw disposed of her remains in a series of garbage bags after stabbing her to death.

Much of the prosecution case rests on the testimony of an alleged accomplice, Chase N. Freeman, 23. He is quoted in Decatur police affidavits as being asked by Slaw to help him dispose of the dismembered body.

Decatur police Detective James Knierim testified Wednesday that police collected DNA evidence consistent with that of Crutchfield in the home Freeman said he saw Crutchfield's body in a closet. It was noted that the DNA confirmation was obtained using blood from Crutchfield's family members.

Slaw remains held in the Macon County Jail with bail set at $5.1 million. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Aug. 11. Freeman has pleaded not guilty to charges he helped dismember the body and concealing the death. He remains jailed with bail set at $1 million.

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Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is moving his companys headquarters from Chicago to Miami.

In a note to employees Thursday, Griffin said his investment firm, Citadel, will relocate to new headquarters in Miamis financial district after more than 30 years in Chicago. Citadel, which has about 1,000 employees in Chicago, will maintain an office in the city, but many are expected to shift with the corporate locus to the Sunshine State, where Griffin, a Florida native, recently moved with his family.

Chicago will continue to be important to the future of Citadel, as many of our colleagues have deep ties to Illinois, Griffin said in his note. Over the past year, however, many of our Chicago teams have asked to relocate to Miami, New York and our other offices around the world.

Citadel Securities, a co-owned trading firm, will also be making the move to Miami. Citadel has more than 4,000 employees in 17 offices worldwide.

The wealthiest man in Illinois, Griffin founded Citadel in 1990 and built it into one of the largest hedge funds in the world. Worth a reported $27 billion, he has long been a civic force in Chicago, donating more than $1 billion to organizations such as the Art Institute, the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Science and Industry, which announced it would be renamed in honor of Griffin in 2019.

But Griffin, 53, has also been a sharp critic of the city in recent years. In an appearance before the Economic Club of Chicago in October, Griffin cited increased crime and violence on the city streets as one of several reasons why Citadel, which has $51 billion in assets under management, was considering a move to greener corporate pastures.

The Citadel move is the latest corporate blow for the Chicago area, with aerospace giant Boeing announcing last month that it was moving its headquarters to Arlington, Virginia after more than 20 years in the West Loop. Earlier this month, Caterpillar announced it would relocate its headquarters from north suburban Deerfield to an existing office in Irving, Texas, outside Dallas.

The losses are offset somewhat by the announcement Tuesday that Battle Creek, Michigan-based Kellogg Company is splitting into three separate companies and locating its snacks headquarters in Chicago.

The loss of Citadel could be costly, however, with the wealthy hedge fund principals and employees generating billions of dollars in tax revenue for the city and state over the past decade, according to Zia Ahmed, a Citadel spokesman.

Citadel is leasing temporary space and working with Chicago-based Sterling Bay to develop its new corporate headquarters in Miami.

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SPRINGFIELD  Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show, is the latest celebrity announced to appear at this years Illinois State Fair. Hell perform a stand-up comedy routine on the Grandstand stage on Aug. 19.

To be able to secure a big name in comedy to round out our 2022 grandstand lineup is something we are really excited about, said Illinois State Fair manager Rebecca Clark. This is one of our most diverse lineups in years.

Other big names slated to appear at the state fair include Demi Lovato on Aug. 13, Brooks & Dunn on Aug. 14, Willie Nelson & Family on Aug. 16, and Shaggy & TLC on Aug. 17. This years theme for the Illinois State Fair, which runs Aug. 11-21 in Springfield, is Grow with Us and aims to celebrate the state fairs traditions while also embracing growth.

IF YOU GO: 8 p.m. Aug. 19 at the Illinois State Fair, 801 E. Sangamon Ave., Springfield; tickets range from $43-$110 and went on sale Thursday at ticketmaster.com

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THUMBS UP! To making it formal. Decatur's NAACP Branch has regularly praised the Decatur police efforts toward building relations. Police Chief Shane Brandel has signed the Ten Shared Principles agreement adopted by the Illinois NAACP State Conference and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police. The principles cover everything from basic human rights to covering areas like building mutual trust, operating with transparency and developing strong relationships between cops and communities of color. Even though the principles were already being practiced, Brandel's signature carries significant heft.

THUMBS DOWN! To airlines across the United States. In a series of events any downtrodden air traveler can relate to, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg found his flight canceled. He had to drive from Washington, D.C., to New York. He'd just finished meeting with airline leaders about widespread flight disruptions. The government decided the airline industry was too important to collapse as a result of COVID-19, so billions of taxpayer dollars were thrown at the problem. Many businesses are suffering from a shortage of experts, like pilots. But the measures the airline industry had taken over the last 24 months have been irritating at least and infuriating at most.

THUMBS DOWN! To high fuel prices. Obviously, no one's going to come out in support of high gas prices. But the current pain from the pump is sharper than ever. Think about how much the economy slows down because everything -- transportation, delivery, leisure -- is tied to our gas-guzzling machines. The cost doesn't just go up at the pump -- it goes up everywhere.

THUMBS DOWN! To Eric Greitens. The Missouri U.S. Senate candidate released a disgusting video where he was holding a shotgun and explained he was hunting RINOs (Republicans in Name Only). Naturally, Greitens won't recognize that his attitude is causing a divide, and he will continue to blame everyone who disagrees with him.

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ABINGDON, Va.  The latest William King Museum exhibit, The Open Road: The Art of the Motorcycle, looks to provide the feeling of hitting the open road, riding across the American landscape on a classic motorcycle while exploring the evolution of bike design and biker subcultures, as well as the history of motorcycles in Southwest Virginia and beyond.

"The main idea behind this exhibition is the synthesis of art and machine," Liam Besnaette-Cullinane, the preparator and installations manager for the William King Museum, explained. "It's a little unconventional for what we usually do, you know, where we're an institute of education, fine art, and local crafts. This doesn't really fit into one of those, entirely."

In addition to the Open Road exhibit that is open to the public until September 18, the museum is hosting Bikefest, a week-long series of events to bring the SWVA motorcycle community, as well as bike enthusiasts from across the country to Abingdon, Virginia for a communal celebration.

The first event, Bike Night, took place Wednesday at the Texas Roadhouse in Bristol, Virginia.

The Tumbling Creek Cidery Company, Wolf Hills Coffee, and Appalachian Teas and Botanicals will be hosting the Spring House Street Party Friday.

Justin Kelly Dick, a co-owner and the Cidermaker for Tumbling Creek Cidery Company, is looking forward to the event and is glad to continue collaborating on events with the William King Museum and other local businesses in Abingdon.

"We've done a few events with the William King Museum," Dick said. "It's always better to blend events, you know. There's no sense in having five events and everybody competing."

He explained they have hosted a Street Party at the Spring House in the past and they hope to create the same family-friendly feel to the event Friday.

Local band and crowd favorites Annabelle's Curse, who have only recently returned to the stage, will be performing at the Spring House Street Party. They will share the stage with fellow up-and-coming musicians Florencia and The Feeling.

Two food trucks, The Pakalachian and A Taste of SAfrica, will be serving their unique cuisines to attendees at the Spring House Street Party.

The Tumbling Creek Cider Company will be serving non-alcoholic root beer at the Street Party for the first time.

The William King Museums Bikefest will end with a bike ride from Black Wolf Harley-Davidson in Bristol, Virginia, Saturday at 9 a.m., which will end at Latture Field in Abingdon where there will be more music and food for all who attend.

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ABINGDON, Va.  After completing 1,035 miles of the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maryland and raising $3,357 for Shriners Hospitals for Children, Brian "Fes" Stanley has made the difficult decision to end his journey due to an injury to his right ankle.

"It was a really hard decision because you've just walked over 1,000 miles, and it was tough, but you know, there comes a point where you have to listen to your body," Stanley said. "I had to look at it realistically that, you know, I had walked over 1,000 miles. I had raised over $3,300 for Shriners Hospitals for Children, and I had to take some time off to really get this healed."

Now back home in Damascus, Stanley is readjusting to life off the trail. He misses the comradery of the AT.

"It's been weird, Stanley said. When you spend four months living out of your backpack and traveling 13 to 20 miles a day and coming back, and everything you want is at your fingertips, it's weird. I'll be honest. It's sad at times because when you're out there, you're completely free."

Despite the mixed emotions of having to cut his time on the AT short, Stanley is glad to be back with his family and being able to spend Father's Day with his dad. He recounted his youngest daughter, Lyric's excitement when he arrived back home.

"My daughter Lyric, she's 9 years old, and she was really excited to see me when I came home, and one of the first things she said was, 'Daddy, you don't have to do any more of the Appalachian Trail,' I laughed, and I said, 'I know baby.'"

Stanley knows that every hiker on the AT is out there seeking to discover something about themselves and that, in his case, aside from successfully raising $3,357 for Shriners Hospitals for Children, he was able to find what he was looking for.

"I went out there looking for confidence with myself, for restored confidence. I went out there to find confidence in other people," Stanley said. "I went out there looking for love, and I don't mean that in the boyfriend, girlfriend intimate way. I mean in the love of nature, love of people."

Reflecting on his time on the trail, Stanley said hikers might set out with one goal in mind and come out of it having accomplished so much more.

"You may set out looking or trying to accomplish one thing, but by the end of your journey, your 1,000 miles or 2,000 miles, you will have discovered so much more than what you did when we first set out on day one," Stanley said. "The trail will open your heart and your mind in ways that you never imagined."

For now, Stanley is recuperating from his injury, spending time with his family, and debating whether or not to rejoin his trail family on the AT in a supporting role.

Stanley will be taking part in the Lebanon, Virginia Fourth of July parade alongside his fellow Shriners and hikers. He will be handing out flyers and giving out treats to raise more money for the Shriners Hospital for Children.

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Solar power is coming to homes in Wise County, Virginia through a special new program.

The Virginia Department of Energy (Virginia Energy) announced Wednesday it is seeking proposals from companies willing to finance and install solar at low- to moderate-income homes in Wise County.

According to a Virginia Energy press release, the Request for Proposal (RFP) includes $460,000 in federal funds from the department for residential solar installations at single family, owner-occupied homes.

This opportunity will help lower energy bills for residents, Virginia Energy Director John Warren said in the release. Solar is an important piece in Virginia Energys economic development efforts in Southwest Virginia, and we hope to see new companies and new jobs as a result.

This is a first of its kind for Virginia, Tarah Kesterson, public relations manager for Virginia Energy, said. We are putting solar on homes  that hasnt been done by a government agency in Virginia.

According to Kesterson, the information gathered from Virginia Energys RFP will be used to create a study on low- to middle-income financing for residential solar. Currently, there is not yet a solar financing program in Virginia for that population, Kesterson said.

Virginia Energy says it is going to utilize results from the execution of the RFP to plan for a Low to Moderate Income Solar Loan and Rebate fund, which has not yet been created, but would be a way for eligible households to receive financing for solar installs through grants or loans, Kesterson said.

Although the project is in its infancy, Kesterson said the goal is to give residents opportunities to have financing available for solar installations while also creating economic development opportunities for the area.

Wise County was selected for the project partially because of its gold designation from SolSmart, Virginia Energy said.

That's basically a way to signify to the solar industry that the county is ready for solar, Kesterson said. Its not something they are figuring out as they go along. They are prepared to do business with solar companies.

Kesterson said hopefully by the fall eligible homeowners in Wise County will be able to apply for solar installations. More than 3,000 Wise County homes could be eligible for the program.

More information on how to apply will be released after the contract is awarded. Proposals are being accepted through Aug. 2.

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Sydney-based company Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC) has successfully manufactured the first integrated silicon quantum computer chip, cementing Australias reputation as a leader in quantum computing expertise and engineering.

SQC founder and renowned quantum physicist Professor Michelle Simmons said her company had made a major breakthrough in the race for quantum supremacy.

Todays classical computers struggle to simulate even relatively small molecules due to the large number of possible interactions between atoms, she said in a statement.

Development of SQCs atomic-scale circuit technology will allow the company and its customers to construct quantum models for a range of new materials, whether they be pharmaceuticals, materials for batteries, or catalysts.

It wont be long before we can start to realise new materials that have never existed before.

The announcement is the culmination of over 20 years of research from Professor Simmons who was a founder of the Australian Research Councils Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computer Technology at the turn of the millennium.

In 2017, she founded SQC with $83 million in seed funding from the University of NSW, Telstra, Commonwealth Bank, and the NSW and federal governments.

Quantum computing is a complex and emerging field that incorporates the cutting edge of physics, engineering, and computer science.

Companies big and small are racing to develop technology that can closely mimic the inherently probabilistic quantum world and have taken different approaches  such as the use of nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond  to hold and manipulate quantum bits (qubits).

Professor Simmons and SQCs efforts have been directed at building a quantum chip using a material central to the computers we use every day: silicon.

In an interview with Information Age earlier this year, Professor Simmons said silicon was the obvious choice for quantum computing in part because of the ease with which you can keep a qubit controlled in a silicon chip.

If you look at the actual material properties, silicon has a long coherence time and you can manufacture it right down to the atomic level, she said.

Then you can create a kind of hardware platform in a material that you can actually manufacture.

Now it has been able to fully build a quantum integrated circuit in silicon and achieve its design and engineering objectives, SQC is looking to scale up and produce the kind of hardware needed to outperform classical computers on certain tasks.

Last week, SQC launched a $130 million capital raise that will provide funding for the next five years  a crucial time for the company as it heads toward commercialisation.

Professor Simmons told ABC News Breakfast on Thursday morning that her companys development aligns nicely with the timing of classical computing.

We had the first transistor in 1947, the first integrated circuit in 1958  that was 11 years later, and then it was about 5 years before they got commercial products for a classical computer, she said.

Now we had our first atomic scale transistor in 2012, and we were gunning for the integrated circuit by the end of 2023, but we got it by the end of 2021, so two years ahead of schedule.

That allows us to know weve got about five years before well start to see commercial products.
Festive treats and plenty of fun are in the forecast at Cheesecakes by Alex this upcoming Fourth of July. Greensboros go-to dessert destination is gearing up for its own star-spangled celebration with the return of outdoor dining and a few all-American sweet treats.

Strawberries on top of a New York Cheesecake in the summertime  its the gold standard, says Cheesecakes by Alex owner Alex Amoroso. That or a Key Lime Cheesecake are the most popular flavors this time of year. Theyre just refreshing.

Amoroso describes the New York Cheesecake as a smooth and creamy classic with a hint of lemon. The Key Lime Cheesecake offers a tangy tartness provided by the real Key Limes shipped from Florida.

But if youre wanting something a bit more patriotic in appearance, its the limited edition Red, White and Blue Layer Cake youre looking for. This decadent dessert is made from three tasty layers: blueberry velvet, a vanilla-flavored cream cheese icing and strawberry red velvet  the shops most popular cake flavor.

The specialty cake is only available the week of July Fourth.

Combining the flavors is a lot of fun, and it has a great, festive look, says Amoroso. And who doesnt like strawberries and blueberries?

Whats better? Ingredients for both fruity layers are sourced locally. The blueberries are even grown on Amorosos own 47-acre family farm in Liberty, North Carolina.

The Red, White and Blue Layer Cake is available in whole (with pre-order) or half cakes, or you can stop by the shop for a slice and grab a seat outside during Greensboros downtown celebration.

Both Cheesecakes by Alex locations will remain open with regular hours on the Fourth of July.

Locals know Cheesecakes by Alex in Greensboro has always offered outside seating, but the former open-air space was seated on top of a soon-to-be-demolished parking deck. Now, two former parking spaces in front of the store will become a permanent seating area as part of a larger patio project spearheaded by Downtown Greensboro Incorporated in conjunction with the city of Greensboro.

Weve been working with DGI and Greensboro to come up with a design that could be used in front of many businesses downtown, says Amoroso. The hope is that many of the local businesses adopt the patio project so that they all have the same kind of vibe and add a cohesive look to the city.

Businesses would then be able to customize their patios with branded umbrellas, laser etching, seating arrangements and more. All patios would be ADA compliant and meet city codes.

Cheesecakes by Alexs patio is expected to hold up to 40 people with various types of seating for a mixed-use environment, says Amoroso.

Weve gotten away from just hanging out, says Amoroso. Were just such an on-the-go group these days. Its nice to have somewhere to go where you can just relax and chat with friends and maybe listen to music.

Amoroso looks forward to bringing back acoustic music, jazz and more.

It gives you somewhere more pleasant while you sit and enjoy dessert and people watch downtown, says Amoroso. It will be nice to get back to that and have somewhere to sit outside and just enjoy time.

To place a Red, White and Blue Layer Cake order, call ahead: Greensboro (336.273.0970) or Winston-Salem (336.893.8118).

This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com.
North Carolina will receive $42,830 from a $1.25 million multistate settlement with Florida-based Carnival Cruise Line stemming from a 2019 data breach that involved the personal information of approximately 180,000 Carnival employees and customers, including 3,139 North Carolinians.

In March 2020, Carnival publicly reported a data breach in which an unauthorized actor gained access to certain Carnival employee e-mail accounts.

The breach included names, addresses, passport numbers, drivers license numbers, payment-card information, health information, and a relatively small number of Social Security numbers.

In its breach notification, Carnival stated that it first became aware of suspicious email activity in late May 2019, approximately 10 months before it reported the breach. In their investigation, the attorneys general focused on Carnivals email security practices and compliance with state breach notification statutes.

Carnival has agreed to strengthen its email security and breach response practices going forward, including by implementing and maintaining a breach response and notification plan, monitoring potential security events, putting in place employee email security training, multi-factor authentication for remote email access, and stronger password policies, and undergoing an independent information security assessment.

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The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that Juul Labs Inc. is required to remove all electronic cigarette products from U.S. shelves.

The agency rejected Juuls pre-market tobacco product applications, saying they lacked sufficient evidence regarding the toxicological profile of the products to demonstrate that marketing of the products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health.

As a result, Juul must stop selling and distributing these products. In addition, those currently on the U.S. market must be removed, or risk enforcement action.

The decision to remove the No. 2-selling electronic cigarette in the country will likely to lead to a dominant market share for R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co.s Vuse products.

Vuse held 35.1% of the market share, compared with Juul at 33.1%, according to the latest Nielsen analysis of convenience store data that covers the four-week period ending May 21. A distant No. 3 is NJoy at 3%, while No.4 is Fontem Ventures blu eCigs, at 1.9%.

In the pre-market application process, the FDA considers products risks and benefits to the population as a whole, including users and non-users. An FDA authorization is required for products to be legally marketed in the U.S.

Todays action is further progress on the FDAs commitment to ensuring that all e-cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system products currently being marketed to consumers meet our public health standards, FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said in a statement.

The banned products include the Juul device and four types of Juulpods: Virginia tobacco-flavored pods at nicotine concentrations of 5% and 3%, and menthol-flavored pods at nicotine concentrations of 5% and 3%.

Juul has been attempting to reset the FDAs view of its products and its reputation over the past year.

As part of that process, the company reduced its product portfolio, halted television, print and digital product advertising, built up its science and evidence-based capabilities, and supported the Trump administrations final flavor policy for ENDS products, while taking a methodical approach to its global presence, the company said.

Joe Murillo, Juuls chief regulatory officer, said in a statement Thursday that we respectfully disagree with the FDAs findings and decision and continue to believe we have provided sufficient information and data based on high-quality research to address all issues raised by the agency,

We intend to seek a stay and are exploring all of our options under the FDAs regulations and the law, including appealing the decision and engaging with our regulator.

We remain committed to doing all in our power to continue serving the millions of American adult smokers who have successfully used our products to transition away from combustible cigarettes, which remain available on market shelves nationwide.

On May 12, the FDA authorized six Vuse products with 1.5% and 3% nicotine levels. It also issued marketing denials for multiple other Vuse Vibe and Vuse Ciro e-cigarette products.

Those approvals are for two Vuse Vibe power units and its tank original tobacco flavored 3.0% style, along with two Vuse Ciro power units and its cartridge original tobacco flavored 1.5% style.

British American Tobacco Plc, parent company of Reynolds, said in a May 12 statement these authorizations represent the broadest portfolio of market authorizations provided to any company in the U.S.

The FDA said it has not received clinical information to suggest an immediate hazard associated with the use of the Juul device or Juulpods. 

However, the marketing denial orders issued today reflect FDAs determination that there is insufficient evidence to assess the potential toxicological risks of using the Juul products. There is also no way to know the potential harms from using other authorized or unauthorized third-party e-liquid pods with the JUUL device or using Juulpods with a non-Juul device.

Cowen & Co. analyst Vivian Azer wrote in an investors note that the focus from the agency was on toxicology, which varies from the marketing denial orders that Imperial Brands received on myblu.

While Imperial has opted to stay on the market through the appeal process, Juul may have a harder time pursuing that route, given the potential liability. Theres a greater probability that Juul will have to remove its products from the market, and still appeal the decision.

Background

Anti-tobacco advocates and the FDA have accused Juul Labs of marketing their products to underage consumers.

Juul entered the mainstream retail marketplace in 2015. It has shown that a startup manufacturer can compete with the Big Three manufacturers: Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and ITG Brands LLC.

The Juul e-cigarette is sold in the form of a pen or a USB flash drive thats easy to use  and hide  because the vapor typically does not have a smell and quickly dissipates.

Juul held a 74.6% U.S. e-cigarette market share as recently as May 2019.

However, e-cigarette sales overall have slumped since the FDA implemented its latest round of heightened regulations on the products in February 2020.

Those restrictions required manufacturers of cartridge-based e-cigarettes, such as Juul, Reynolds Vapor, NJoy and Fontem Ventures, to stop making, distributing and selling unauthorized flavorings.

The agency has dedicated significant resources to review products from the companies that account for most of the U.S. market, the FDA said Thursday.

We recognize these make up a significant part of the available products and many have played a disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping.

The FDA said part of its decision was based on insufficient and conflicting data from Juul that have not been adequately addressed and precluded the FDA from completing a full toxicological risk assessment of the products named in the companys applications.

The FDA said its order only pertains to the commercial distribution, importation and retail sales of these products and does not restrict individual consumer possession or use.

The FDA cannot and will not enforce against individual consumer possession or use of Juul products or any other tobacco products, the agency said.

NCs Juul action

In June 2021, Juul agreed to pay $40 million over six years to settle a legal complaint by N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein.

Stein announced a consent order that would require Juul to make drastic changes to the way it conducts business.

Stein said at that time North Carolina is the first state to successfully hold Juul accountable for its role in spiking teen use and dependence on e-cigarettes.

Steins lawsuit targeted Juuls business and marketing practices, most notably accusing Juul of violating the states Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

A Durham County Superior Court judge ruled Juul had violated court orders by destroying documents and deleting social media posts.

For years, Juul targeted young people, including teens, with its highly addictive e-cigarette, Stein said.

It lit the spark and fanned the flames of a vaping epidemic among our children  one that you can see in any high school in North Carolina 

On Thursday, Stein praised the FDAs decision, but added that Juul is just one participant in the industry, and I urge the FDA to come up with clear rules to limit flavors that attract teen use, marketing strategies directed toward young people, and nicotine content that accelerates addiction.

That way, we can ensure that other companies, like Puff Bar, dont simply fill the vacuum created by the FDAs action on Juul.

Other FDA actions

The FDA said Thursday that it has authorized 23 electronic nicotine delivery system products.

In October, the FDA issued a landmark ruling in approving Reynolds Vapors tobacco flavor of the Vuse Solo closed electronic nicotine delivery system, its power unit and two replacement cartridges.

However, the FDA rejected submissions for 10 flavored Vuse Solo products. It said at that time it is still evaluating the companys application for menthol-flavored products for Vuse Solo.

The latest FDA authorizations came June 13 involving a limited number of electronic cigarettes products of NJoy LLC, while denying the vast majority of submissions.

The FDA authorized two new NJoy tobacco products through the premarket tobacco-product application pathway. They are its tobacco-flavored disposable e-cigarettes in Daily rich 4.5% and Daily extra rich 6%  the percentages are for nicotine content.

Applications for two other menthol-flavored Daily products remain under FDA review.

On April 27, the FDA authorized NJoy Ace styles: its closed e-cigarette device and three accompanying tobacco-flavored e-liquid pods Classic Tobacco 2.4%, Classic Tobacco 5% and Rich Tobacco 5%.

BAT added the Vuse Alto styles remain under review and will continue to be available for adult nicotine consumers. The Vuse Alto PMTA was submitted nearly a year after Vuse Solo, and five months after Vuse Vibe and Ciro,

Those applications share foundational science, BAT said.

The FDA cautioned again that with previous authorizations of other manufacturers e-cigarettes, while this action permits these specific products to be sold in the U.S., it does not mean these products are safe nor are they FDA approved.

All tobacco products are harmful and potentially addictive. Those who do not use tobacco products shouldnt start.

Altria impact

Altria Group Inc. said Thursday that we are disappointed with (the FDA) decision and continue to believe that e-vapor can play an important role in harm reduction for adult smokers.

In December 2018, Altria paid $12.8 billion for a 35% stake in Juul Labs.

As part of the Juul investment, Altria discontinued production of its electronic cigarette NuMark, which had struggled to gain traction among vapers.

It agreed to not develop and market its own e-cigs products for up to six years as long as Altria is providing services to Juul Labs.

However, by January 2020, Altria had written down for a second time the value of the investment to $4.2 billion as of Dec. 31, 2019.

By October 2020, the investment was written down again by $2.6 million to make the stake worth just $1.6 million, or just 12.5% of the initial value.

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Marianne DiNapoli-Mylet is known for her murals in and around the Winston-Salem area.

She was about 13 when she painted her first large-scale mural  a giant foot that covered the entire ceiling of her bedroom at her home in Westmont, N.J.

My parents had five kids, and we didnt have a lot of money, so they didnt have a lot of money to fix up my room, and they let me paint on the walls and the ceiling, DiNapoli-Mylet said.

Now, she has turned her attention to large sculptural feminine forms called Sojourn STICKITs.

MuralsArt was always a part of DiNapoli-Mylets life.

I painted and drew, she said.

After marrying Tom Mylet in 1975, she and her husband moved from Westmont to the mountains of Virginia a year later.

I started painting the musicians there and getting involved in the music, DiNapoli-Mylet said. Thats the first places I did my first mural that wasnt in my bedroom. I did a mural in the library there in Grayson County, Va.

Five years later, the couple moved to Camden, N.J., where DiNapoli-Mylet was in an art show, then was invited to join an anti-graffiti mural group.

We worked with graffiti artists, and I taught them traditional painting techniques, she said. But I also learned a lot from them about different nozzles and different spray paint techniques. It was a mutual agreement between the artists.

Her big, outdoor murals in Camden included a RCA mural and a breakdance mural that attracted the attention of neighborhood children.

They were so excited that they came out one day with their boombox and their cardboard and they danced for us while we painted the mural, she said. It was like a real event. I felt like, I want to do this forever. I really got bit at that point, I think, by the murals.

By 1989, the couple had a daughter and moved to Winston-Salem.

DiNapoli-Mylet did her first mural in the city in the early 1990s at the preschool of St. Pauls Episcopal Church as a memorial to a child in her daughters class who was killed in an accident. Her first mural downtown was The Tobacco Market on the former Mother and Daughter building at the corner of Fourth and Trade streets.

At last count, I had done about 40 murals, she said of her lifetime work as a muralist.

Three of her murals are still available for viewing in downtown Winston-Salem. They are on The Chronicle building on Fifth Street, her former studio building in the 600 block of Trade Street near Sweet Potatoes and the CVS building on Fourth Street.

STICKITsWhen the pandemic hit, DiNapoli-Mylet started making little stick sculptures called STICKITs in March 2020.

They were about 21 inches tall, she said. I was really just trying to keep myself occupied.

She found inspiration in the growing pile of sticks that had fallen from trees over her backyard studio porch.

I started picking up these sticks, and I said, This looks like a leg, and this looks like an arm, so they turned into these STICKITs, DiNapoli-Mylet said. And I felt like, at the time, with the pandemic and the everything going on politically, theres a lot to stick it to.

After posting them on Facebook, people started asking if they could buy them. To date, she has sold more than 30.

People also started telling her that she needed to make them bigger, so, eventually, she did go bigger with her creations.

In March 2021, DiNapoli-Mylet began working at Mixxer Makerspace in Winston-Salem to learn to weld the armatures for her nearly 7-foot Sojourn STICKITs that were exhibited on the grounds of Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem in October 2021.

Lots of people came and took pictures with them, like dancing with them, she said.

DiNapoli-Mylet uses the word Sojourn because they travel.

The second iteration of her Sojourn STICKITs is on exhibit through Nov. 12 at Minglewood Farm and Nature Preserve, a nonprofit focused on teaching sustainable food production and environmental stewardship to people of all ages in Westfield. These pieces are crafted from sticks, dress pattern paper and lace, which DiNapoli-Mylet says is the work of women and nature, on a welded metal armature.

Looking like magical feminine beings, three Sojourn STICKITS  Aziza, Ceyla and Brielle  stand at the entrance to one of several trails at Minglewood.

The fact that there are three of them has symbolic meaning.

Im one of three sisters, DiNapoli-Mylet said. Im one of three women in my nuclear family. I have two daughters and myself and my husband.

And the three most important women in my life that really influenced me were my mother, my grandmother and my aunt, she added.

Margie Imus said she and her husband, Bill Imus, co-owners and co-founders of Minglewood, are excited to have DiNapoli-Mylets STICKIT figures on the farm.

I, in my previous life was an artist, so I greatly appreciate these STICKITs, Imus said. Marianne has done a fabulous job of creating their motion and creating their dance here on the edge of the forest at Minglewood.

They look super nice in the morning to wake up to, and we had kids here just yesterday dancing around them. They just couldnt believe that these figures were made out of sticks.

And they have such great movement. Like the wind is pushing their skirts, and the wind is pushing their hair. I love bringing art out of nature, so its wonderful to have these life-size sculptures made by Marianne here at the farm.

DiNapoli-Mylet describes a STICKIT as a sculptural form in static motion.

She said the sticks that are woven, entwined and adhered to a welded metal armature become languid, living archetypes, celebrating powerful feminine expression.

She added that her STICKITs honor the magic of nature, trees and the matriarchal, immigrant influence of her youth.

These women taking a stand highlights the power of womens movement, she said.

She also called the Sojourn STICKITs a forest of STICKITs that celebrates the importance of womens relationships and demonstrates formidable rhythm, strong feminine heritage, and the cathartic healing vitality of lyrical movement.

336-727-7366 @fdanielWSJ

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Q: According to the N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles website, when renewing a drivers license, we will be required to take a road sign and vision test. However, when I went to DMV to pick up a copy of the road signs to study prior to renewing, I was advised that only a vision test would be required. What tests are required to renew a drivers license in North Carolina?

C.C.

Answer: If they choose to schedule an appointment to visit a driver license office, the examiner may require the person to complete a vision test. It will be at the discretion of the examiner. Same for the knowledge test if there are issues on the persons driving record, said John Brockwell, a spokesman for NCDMV.

You may not have to go to the DMV office to renew your license at all, though.

You may be able to renew it online.

If any of the following apply to you, you cannot renew online and must go to an DMV office, according to the NCDMV website:

Have a suspended license or outstanding debt with NCDMV

Have a restriction other than Corrective Lenses on their driver license and/or 24 on their full provisional license

Need to renew a commercial driver licenses, regular Class A or B driver license, limited provisional license, limited learner permit or learner permit

Have a U.S. government document indicating legal presence

Have used the online system for the previous renewal. Individuals can only use the online system every other license renewal.

There is a $3 fee that goes to PayIt, the online service provider in addition to the license fee.

In addition to renewing your driver license, when you set up a myNCDMV account, you can also get:

Driver license duplicates/replacements

Registration renewals

Property tax payments on limited registration license plates

Duplicate registration card requests

Personalized and specialty license plate orders

To start online license renewal, go to www.ncdot.gov/dmv and click on Renew License or ID.

When the new page pops up, click on Get Started and the system will walk you through the process.

Shredding eventsHopewell Moravian Church will have a shredding event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Griffith Volunteer Fire Department, 5190 Peters Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem. A $5 per bag or box donation is suggested.

If your group is planning a shredding event and you want to be included on the list, email the information to asksam@wsjournal.com or mail it to Ask SAM, 418 N. Marshall St., #100, Winston-Salem, NC 27101.

Forsyth radio club to hold emergency-response drillThe Forsyth Amateur Radio Club will hold its annual Field Day Saturday and Sunday at Hobby Park, 2301 W. Clemmonsville Road. The drill will held from 2 p.m. Saturday to 2 p.m. Sunday. The event is free.

Club members will be operating radios on various frequencies and will answer questions about amateur or ham radio. Visitors will be able to use the radios under the supervision of a club member.

For more information, go to www.w4nc.com.

Email: AskSAM@wsjournal.com Write: Ask SAM, 418 N. Marshall St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101

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Q: When are parking meters enforced in Winston-Salem? Are they enforced on Saturday and Sunday? What are the hours on weekdays? When are loading zones enforced?

A.R.

Answer: Parking meters and timed zones are enforced Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, said Rodd Ring, the operations manager for the City of Winston-Salem Department of Transportation.

There is no enforcement on nights, weekends and holidays, though loading zones can be enforced outside of these times, he said.

Overstaying your time in a space will cost you $15.

There are about 800 parking spaces with meters in the city. The meters take only quarters.

There are also street spaces without meters and loading zones, mostly in the downtown area.

The length of time you can legally park in an on-street space range from 30 minutes to 10 hours.

There are also pay stations, where you can use coins, dollar bills, or credit/debit cards. The machine will give you a receipt that you place on your dash board. The length of time ranges from less than an hour for a quarter to more than six hours for $10. The station doesnt give change or refunds.

If you have three or more parking tickets that are 90 days or older and you are parked illegally, you can have a wheel lock placed on your vehicle. It will be removed when you have paid all the fines.

If you park in a fire lane, handicapped space without a permit, are double parked or commit other violations, the fines range from $15 to $250.

If you get a parking ticket, you can pay it online at cityofws.org.

Q: I wanted to try a new downtown eatery. I went to Cibo on Trade Street around 5 p.m. June 14. There were several metered parking spaces in front of the restaurant, but when trying to use one, I was approached by a restaurant employee, who told me there was a $5 valet parking fee for these spaces. I decided to go elsewhere to dine. Is this legitimate?

E.M.

Answer: Yes, it is legitimate.

Ring said that this is an approved valet parking zone from 5 to 11 p.m. Sunday through Saturday.

There are signs in the area indicating the valet parking zone.

Q: Why did the Winston-Salem Fire Department not have any representation in the recent Pride Parade/street festival? In the past, they have had at least one fire truck in the parade. They didnt have an information/recruiting booth either. The police department did and appeared to attract a lot of interest.

G.F.

Answer: We traditionally receive a request from Pride coordinators to participate. We did not receive a request to participate in the Pride parade this year, said Tabetha Childress, the community relations specialist for the Winston-Salem Fire Department.

Thank youThere are still kind and thoughtful people around in our lives. I was eating dinner on June 11 at the Cracker Barrel in Clemmons. When I asked my waiter, who was so nice, to give me my bill, he told me that a person or persons had paid for my dinner.

You really made my day and thank you so very much. I will pay it forward. J.M.

Email: AskSAM@wsjournal.com Write: Ask SAM, 418 N. Marshall St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101

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The 4th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals has denied an appeal of its decision to dismiss a wrongful-death lawsuit against Wake Forest University. The suit was in response to the fatal shooting of Najee Ali Baker, a 21-year-old Winston-Salem State University student, on the schools campus in 2018.

Baker was shot to death after a party at what was then known as The Barn on Wake Forests campus. The Barn has since been renamed the University Activity Center.

Last month, a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a federal judges decision to dismiss the lawsuit. In 2021, U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles granted a motion for summary judgment, meaning that Eagles ruled in the universitys favor without the need to go to trial. Bakers mother, Jemel Ali Dixon, filed the wrongful-death lawsuit in U.S. District Court on May 7, 2019, against Wake Forest University and several other defendants, including the universitys chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.

Claims against the other defendants were either dismissed or settled, leaving Wake Forest University as the only remaining defendant before Eagles decision.

Dixons attorneys filed a petition asking for a rehearing in front of all 17 judges with the Fourth Circuit. That request was denied on Tuesday. Dixon did not have an immediate comment when reached Wednesday, and Jonathon Fazzola, one of her attorneys, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

The only remaining avenue for appeal in federal court would be to petition for a review from the U.S. Supreme Court.

The lawsuit alleged that university officials and other defendants had lax security at the party at The Barn. It specifically accused Wake Forest officials of reducing the police presence at large campus events. Before 2014, the university had a combined force of nine university and Winston-Salem police officers who monitored events at The Barn, which is located near Piccolo and Palmer residence halls. But Black and other minority students complained that university police were racist in how they handled events hosted by minority students. A study into the matter made a number of recommendations.

The lawsuit said the the university ignored the study and not only reduced the police presence at large events but also turned over the planning of such events to students. Dixons attorneys have argued that based on past violent events at The Barn, university officials should have done more to prevent Bakers fatal shooting.

But in its May 23 opinion, the Fourth Circuit said there was no way for school officials to have foreseen that someone would be shot to death, given the schools history.

(Wake Forests) campus is easily accessible to the general public, and thousands of people, including students, staff, and visitors, are on the campus every day, the court said. Despite the large amount of traffic the campus receives on a daily basis, from the time of the founding of the Winston-Salem campus in 1956 until January 20, 2018, when Baker was shot, there had never been a shooting on campus.

The Barn opened in 2011, and the event center has been the site of several incidents involving fights, the courts ruling said. Between 2011 and 2018, two incidents required medical attention. One happened in 2012, when someone at a Barn party was beaten unconscious just outside the entrance. A second incident happened in 2013, when a woman was trampled by a crowd of people running away from a fight after a Barn party, the ruling said. A Wake Forest University police officer interviewed the woman, who said a man had a gash in his head and that there was a gun pulled on him at the party.

The Fourth Circuit courts decision said there were five violent incidents at The Barn before the new security plan, known as the Dean of Students plan, was put in place and reduced the police presence. After that, there were three violent incidents before Baker was shot to death in 2018.

Two people were convicted in connection with Bakers death. Jakier Shanique Austin pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and is serving up to seven years and five months in prison. Malik Patience Smith, who was 16 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to charges that he pointed a gun at a man who was with Baker. He was sentenced to a minimum of about two years but was released after about five months because he had already served some of the time while awaiting trial.

He has since been charged with possession of a firearm by a felon in an unrelated case.

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WINSTON-SALEM  Police are investigating the death of an 81-year-old woman whose body was found inside a home after a fire Wednesday night.

Firefighters responded just before 7:30 p.m. to a fire in the 4500 block of Renigar Street and found the body of Barbara Tilley Harmon after the fire was extinguished, Winston-Salem Police said in a news release.

"Due to circumstances surrounding this event, the Winston-Salem Police Departments Criminal Investigations Division personnel responded and assumed investigative responsibilities," police said in the release.

The news release did not say if investigators have determined the cause of the fire. Officials also did not provide further details about the circumstances prompting a criminal investigation.

Authorities ask anyone with any information to call the Winston-Salem Police Department at 336-773-7700, Crime Stoppers at 336-727-2800, or En Espanol 336-728-3904.
Serious diversity

Prior to the event held at Bookmarks on June 18, you quoted a Facebook posting of the Forsyth County Mens Club that said the Conservative Women of Forsyth County were expected to attend the planned protest (Groups to protest bookstores drag queen story hour, June 16). As cofounder and co-president I kept waiting for a call, text or email seeking confirmation. Never came. Why? Do you only want to publish one side of the story?

We did not attend the protest. Our organization isnt homophobic, transphobic or any other phobic you can suggest; however, we are against using tax dollars as provided by the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County in support of Bookmarks scheduling an event utilizing a classification of individuals who entertain adults in adult clubs. Our organization does not want our tax dollars funding any adult entertainer (drag queen, strippers, prostitutes, etc.) to read to children.

If Bookmarks and the Arts Council are serious about diversity, we look forward to the funding of an event that we can help organize. Perhaps a reading of stories to children: XX = girls and XY = Boys. My phone is on 

Myra Bumgardner

Co-founder and co-president

Conservative Women of

ForsythCounty

Winston-Salem

No funds from the Arts Council went directly to Bookmarks for this event.

 the editor

Taking a biblical stand

As a liberal Christian minister and student of the Bible, I often am appalled at the way some conservatives use the Bible to defend inexcusable acts, including the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. So, listening to the Jan. 6 committee hearings on June 16, it was refreshing to hear Greg Jacob, a conservative lawyer and chief counsel to former Vice President Mike Pence, answer the question of how his faith supported him at that time.

My faith really sustained me through it, he said.

Taken down to a secure area in the basement, he pulled out his Bible and turned to Daniel 6 (its the lions den story). Normally, he says, Daniel completely, faithfully serves the pagan King of Babylon, until the king issues a decree that goes against Daniels faith. So, he refuses an order from the king that he cannot follow, and he does his duty consistent with his oath to God, and I felt that thats what had played out that day.

Sometimes, allegiance to God must relativize, demote and even subvert allegiance to other loyalties, including political parties and politicians. Thank you, Jacob, for reminding us of what lies at the heart of biblical values.

Thomas W. Mann

Winston-Salem

Building the future

Kudos for the June 16 article Fuel bill aims at making a point highlighting the importance of climate policies and illustrating the absurd lengths to which some legislators will go to stand in the way of the clean energy transition. With great professionalism, reporter John Deem airs Rep. Mark Brodys unfounded complaint that drivers of electric vehicles avoid gas taxes that fund road maintenance, but succinctly points out that EVs are subject to higher registration fees that more than offset the loss of gas tax revenue.

The larger point is that many objections to the clean energy transition are really distractions meant to support a harmful status quo. The sponsors of the bill Deem writes about say its unfair to offer free EV charging but not free gasoline at the same locations. Have they forgotten the massive subsidies that fossil fuel companies have received over the decades? These legislators even say that free EV charging is just a giveaway to people who can already afford electric cars, but dont recognize that making charging cheap and convenient helps chip away at the affordability question.

Lets end the posturing. What we need is comprehensive, fact-based policy to incentivize a reduction in carbon emissions throughout the economy. One of the most elegant ways to achieve that would be through a carbon fee/rebate structure. But along the way, it is certainly helpful to have complementary policies like convenient and free charging stations. We need to start building the future today.

Matthew Mayers

Winston-Salem

Moments

Ive had many conversations with family members about when they learned of events such as the moon landing, President Kennedys assassination or the attacks on Sept. 11. Many of my what were you doing when ... moments are related to mass gun violence.

I was:

a sophomore at West Forsyth when two armed boys killed their classmates and teachers at Columbine.

a new teacher, heading home for the afternoon, when I heard about a shooting at Virginia Tech.

pregnant with my first child, restless and resting my hand on my belly to feel his kicks, when I learned of a shooting at a movie theater in Aurora.

walking with my first child, finally asleep on my chest for a nap at six weeks old when a sobbing neighbor told me about what had happened at Sandy Hook Elementary.

And so on. Most recently, I was watching my three children hang up their backpacks when I heard about the tragedy in Uvalde. Will I continue to remember my lifes milestones alongside reports of mass gun violence? Will my children and their children?

I am encouraged that Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis have expressed support for a framework for gun legislation. I know that it is possible to protect the Second Amendment while implementing laws to protect public safety. Senators, please move beyond framework to concrete action in favor of public safety and against gun extremism. Please take action to keep my children, and all our nations children, safe from gun violence.

Jessica McCrory

Winston-Salem

Better message

The turnout of Forsyth County Republican Mens Club participants at the Pride celebration was surely disappointing to those who hoped for a better showing than five grown men who were afraid to share their real names (Hundreds gather downtown for Pride Parade, June 19). One of them finally mustered up the courage to declare Bookmarks Drag Queen Story Hour child abuse.

Inside the bookstore, drag queen Anna Yacht was busy laughing with a bunch of parents who were showing their children that they shouldnt be afraid of people who are different.

I think thats the better message.

I dont want my children to be afraid of the world. It would not serve them well.

Mack Ferguson

Winston-Salem

Fathers

What gives? No mention of Fathers Day in the weekend or Monday editions of the Winston-Salem Journal (other than from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy)?

Leslie DeBroder

Pfafftown

A thought

Just a thought: Maybe former President Trump is the RINO.

Matthew Bennett

Winston-Salem
In a win for the prosecution, a district court judge says a former Lincoln police officer's report can be used against him at his upcoming assault trial.

The Lancaster County Attorney's Office had sought review of a county court judge's decision to suppress the document in Benjamin Rieker's case, a rarely seen move.

Rieker, 34, is accused of assaulting a 51-year-old man while working off-duty Oct. 31, 2020, at a Lincoln hospital and giving false information to an investigator looking into the allegation.

Both are misdemeanors.

Rieker, who resigned while under investigation, has pleaded not guilty.

In September, his attorney, Carlos Monzon, filed a motion asking the judge to suppress two statements Rieker made in the investigation: an additional case investigation report he wrote about the incident, and an hourlong interview he had with an investigator with the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office.

At issue was whether the so-called Garrity standard applied, referring to a 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision in a New Jersey case involving an investigation into officers allegedly fixing traffic tickets.

The officers were told they could refuse to answer but would be subject to removal from office if they did. Then, the statements were used against them at trial.

The Supreme Court ultimately found their statements, therefore, hadn't been made voluntarily.

In Rieker's case in late January, Lancaster County Court Judge Matt Acton ruled that the interview could be used against Rieker, but the additional case investigation report couldn't because he was required to complete it as part of an excessive-force investigation by internal affairs under threat of losing his job.

In a ruling this week, District Court Judge Kevin McManaman reversed the ruling, saying the report could go before the jury because Rieker had "neither a subjective nor an objectively reasonable belief that he would be fired if he declined to write the ACI report," the test required under Nebraska case law.

Rieker had testified that he believed he would be disciplined and could be terminated if he didn't. Even if he subjectively believed he would be fired for not writing the report, that wasn't reasonable, the judge said. And therefore not enough to satisfy the test.

Also, when Rieker wrote the report, an excessive-force complaint hadn't yet been made, an important distinction, McManaman said.

On Oct. 31, 2020, while working off-duty as a police officer at Bryan West Campus, Rieker allegedly pushed the Lincoln man who allegedly made a threat while walking out of the ER. The man lost his balance, fell and hit his head.

Rieker was put on a 30-day leave of absence as a result of an excessive-force complaint and later resigned. He had been an officer for about a year and a half.

The man he is accused of assaulting, Jan Noch, later was charged and convicted of attempted second-degree assault and terroristic threats for stabbing his neighbor Nov. 26, 2021, then running to get him help. He pleaded guilty and is set for sentencing next week.

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

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Lincoln City Councilwoman Tammy Ward was hospitalized with "suspected serious injuries" and later ticketed for DUI and negligent driving after she crashed her car into a parked vehicle Tuesday night in west Lincoln, according to the police department.

The crash happened less than a block from Ward's home around 9:40 p.m. Tuesday, when Lincoln Police responded to the 2000 block of Surfside Drive, near Capitol Beach. They found Ward's 2009 Toyota Corolla had crashed into a tree, the department said.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue crews took Ward to a local hospital for lower-leg injuries sustained in the crash, which investigators suspected to be serious, according to the crash report.

It's unclear if Ward is still hospitalized.

Ward, 63, had been eastbound on Surfside Drive when she struck a parked vehicle and continued further down the street, police said.

Nearly a block after making contact with the parked car, Ward's Toyota left the roadway, striking a mailbox and continuing east before colliding with the tree, according to crash report.

Officers "discovered evidence" of alcohol use and conducted a blood draw, the results of which are pending, the police department said Tuesday morning in a news release.

Ward's heavily damaged Toyota was towed from the scene.

An area resident told investigators a camera on his house showed Ward's vehicle traveling at "well above" the posted speed limit of 25 mph when she lost control of the Toyota and wrecked, according to the crash report.

Ward told investigators she had two glasses of wine at dinner Tuesday night and said she is prone to seizures, according to the report. Investigators noted Ward was under the influence and "ill" when she crashed.

She said she did not remember anything about the crash, investigators noted.

Ward, the council's chairperson, did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

Tom Beckius, the vice chair, issued a statement on behalf of the other council members.

"The Lincoln City Council is aware of Councilwoman Wards accident on Tuesday night," Beckius said. "Our primary concern at this time is her health and well-being. We wish our colleague and friend well as she recovers.

First elected to the council in 2019, Ward represents District 4, which includes northwest Lincoln. The seat is up for re-election next year.

Ward, a Democrat, is a consultant with her own business, offering services in the areas of advocacy, governmental affairs and community outreach to a variety of clients representing seniors and veterans.

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

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A 37-year-old Lincoln man surrendered peacefully on Wednesday after the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office deployed its Tactical Response Unit while serving an arrest warrant in northwest Lincoln, according to authorities.

Andrew Burnham had been wanted for a handful of felony gun and drug charges after a search warrant served on his hotel room earlier this month turned up 14.2 grams of meth, $3,740 in cash and an AR-style rifle that was reported stolen in North Carolina in 2010, Lincoln Police Capt. Todd Kocian said.

Burnham wasn't at the Magnusson Hotel, 3400 NW 12th St., when narcotics investigators served the search warrant there June 17, Kocian said. He had been at large since.

The police department, sheriff's office and U.S. Marshals Service took Burnham into custody Wednesday afternoon at a mobile home park near First Street and Cornhusker Highway, Sheriff Terry Wagner said.

Wagner said the Metro Fugitive Task Force was deployed as a precautionary measure due to Burnham's previous firearms offenses.

The 37-year-old was lodged at the Lancaster County jail on suspicion of possession of meth with intent to deliver, possession of a short rifle, possession of a gun while violating a drug law and two additional felony drug charges.

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

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A Lincoln man who sold drugs that led to half a dozen overdoses in August has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for it.

The charges don't involve overdose deaths but easily could have, U.S. District Judge John Gerrard pointed out at Brandon Davis' sentencing Thursday.

"Fentanyl is literally poison when it's not administered appropriately. We're just all fortunate in this courtroom that this is the charge and it wasn't something else," he said. "The facts are what they are. This is dangerous stuff."

Davis, 39, previously pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing a mixture of cocaine and fentanyl causing serious bodily injury.

His attorney, Korey Reiman, asked the judge to sentence him to 25 years, the bottom end of the range agreed to by prosecutors, calling it a very unfortunate incident. Davis feels bad about it, he said.

"There certainly, I understand, is a risk when you engage in this type of behavior, that people will become ill," he said. "He certainly didn't have any intent to harm these people in any way."

At the plea hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Fullerton said Lincoln Police were called to a bar near 14th Street and Cornhusker Highway on Aug. 13 after two men were found unconscious in the parking lot.

Police did CPR until Lincoln Fire and Rescue crews arrived.

One of the men was revived with the overdose-reversing drug Narcan and told police they had shared cocaine in the other man's truck. The other man was taken to a hospital, where he was put on a breathing tube and placed on a heart and lung machine.

When his condition improved, he told police he bought what he thought was 1 gram of cocaine from Davis for $100.

Lab results on the powdery substance in his truck came back positive for cocaine and fentanyl.

Additional information Those struggling with addiction can call the Lincoln Drug Crisis Hotline at 402-475-5683, CenterPointe at 402-475-6695 or the National Opioid Hotline at 800-662-4357.

Three days later, police were called to a Lincoln home near First and Adams streets on overdoses involving four people.

Two women weren't breathing. The person who called 911 showed signs of overdose, too.

Fullerton said police also found a man, who had been at the house before officers got there, passed out and not breathing on a nearby park bench.

All four survived with the help of CPR and Narcan.

Fullerton said a search of the house turned up a plate with cocaine and fentanyl residue, and a cut straw and a plastic bag with residue.

The two women said they had gotten what they thought was a gram of cocaine from Davis.

That night police got a warrant to search Davis' home about a mile east of there, near Knox and Portia streets, and found Davis in the basement, along with 14.5 grams of suspected cocaine, a digital scale with residue, prescription pills and more than $6,000 in cash.

At a news conference that month, Lincoln police warned there had been six overdose deaths in August, and at least 26 of the 50 overdoses tracked in Lincoln over the previous month had been tied to cocaine laced with fentanyl.

Fentanyl is a powerful opioid that, when mixed with illegal drugs, can cause an overdose even through amounts as small as a grain of sand.

Narcan, an emergency drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, is available for free at the Hy-Vee at 5010 O St., Kohlls Pharmacy at 27th and Vine streets, Genoa Healthcare at 2301 O St. and the U-Save Pharmacy in Waverly.

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

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Nebraska is set to get $10,923 of a $1.25 million multistate settlement with Florida-based Carnival Cruise Line stemming from a 2019 data breach involving the personal information of about 180,000 Carnival employees and customers nationwide.

Among them were 507 Nebraskans, according to Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson.

In a news release, he said Carnival publicly reported the data breach in March 2020, about 10 months after the company first became aware of suspicious email activity.

A multistate investigation by attorneys general followed, focusing on Carnivals email security practices and compliance with state breach notification statutes.

Peterson said the breach included names, addresses, passport numbers, drivers license numbers, payment card information, health information and a relatively small number of Social Security numbers.

Under the settlement, Carnival has agreed to a series of provisions designed to strengthen its email security and breach response practices going forward.

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Its official: A ballot initiative is underway to let voters decide whether Lincolns city code should include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity  as well as active military and veterans.

It's a grassroots effort called Let Lincoln Vote, with no plans to organize a campaign or raise money, just the conviction that, given the chance, a majority of Lincolnites will vote to expand the anti-discrimination protections.

We know if we get this to the ballot  no, when we get this to the ballot  in November, overwhelmingly, Lincoln will vote to affirm anti-discrimination language in city code because thats who we are, said Kay Siebler, associate professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, who spoke to reporters. Were a city who cares, we are a city who protects our most vulnerable, and we are a city of diversity and inclusion.

Siebler and other longtime advocates for such protections filed the ballot language Wednesday with the city clerk, officially starting the process. They hope to collect the needed 8,846 signatures by Aug. 1.

They will need to turn those signatures into the city clerk, who will then send them to the Lancaster County Election Commission to be verified. The City Council will either adopt the initiative, or vote to put it on the ballot in November. That all has to happen by Sept. 1 to get it on the general election ballot.

Its the latest development in the attempt to pass a so-called fairness ordinance, which began months earlier when the City Council passed an ordinance broadly updating the citys code and expanding protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Opponents launched a successful referendum petition compelling the council to either rescind the ordinance or let voters decide, and last week the council narrowly voted to rescind it, along with a more narrowly worded fairness ordinance that had been in limbo for a decade.

The ballot initiative came as a surprise to City Council members, who learned of it when they got emails during budget briefings by department heads Tuesday.

Siebler said supporters did not speak to council members before starting the initiative because the group knows the council is busy and the time to get sufficient signatures was short.

We feel like we are just the next leg of the relay, she said. The baton indirectly has been passed to us, so we are getting it on the ballot because last weeks City Council vote didn't end in that.

Council members Sandra Washington and Tom Beckius stood nearby Wednesday listening to the news conference.

Beckius, who said he voted to rescind the ordinance because he didnt see a path forward to win at the ballot box, said he listened to the news conference to learn more about the groups intentions, and it didnt assuage those concerns.

Its a wrinkle none of us considered and I dont know what to make of it, he said.

Washington, who led the effort to introduce and pass the ordinance and was part of a campaign group called Lincoln For All working toward its passage at the ballot box, said shes supportive of the effort, but is still working through what the latest development means. If it's on the ballot, shell work to get it passed, she said.

They cant afford not to have everyone who believes in this working very hard to get this done.

The time frame the group is working under is much more compressed, she said. Washington's group had been raising money and looking at a possible special election, which could have happened next year, and anticipated an educational campaign before that happened.

Lincoln For All released a statement Wednesday saying it was not associated with the ballot initiative, but understands the frustration of those who started it.

When our elected leaders fail to lead, as the City Council did when they voted to rescind Title 11, the people have every right to take action, the statement said.

Councilman James Michael Bowers, who also voted to rescind because he was concerned transgender citizens would be targeted, said any effort to put this on the ballot should follow their leadership.

I will always fight for equal protections for people in my community and push forward for equality, he said. Its important, based on scare tactics and lies against the transgender community ... those voices are centered.

Nate Grasz, policy director for the Nebraska Family Alliance, which led the referendum petition, said the City Council did the right thing when it rescinded the ordinance and this as a step backward.

We think citizens spoke loudly when we collected over 18,000 signatures (for the referendum) in just two weeks, he said. Whats important is this doesnt change anything for us. Weve been prepared for this to go to the ballot since we filed our petition in March asking them to rescind (the ordinance) or put it on the ballot.

Siebler said the "grassroots" group is focused on getting the question on the ballot  not on raising money or conducting an educational campaign. She asked anyone who wants to help collect signatures to visit the LetLincolnVote.com to sign up.

We are not going to assume that people are going to attack. We are not going to assume that there's going to be haters in the community. she said. We are not going to assume that bad things are going to happen. To assume means inaction and we want to get this on the ballot. We believe, we know, we trust that Lincoln will vote against discrimination.

Before the ordinance passed in February, some transgender advocates had been vocal about their fears that supporters were not adequately prepared to win at the ballot box given a well-organized and well-funded opposition and that transgender people would be the target of any opposition campaign.

Those concerns prompted at least some of the council members to vote to rescind the ordinance, though they support the protections.

Like the ordinance, the ballot initiative would broadly update Title 11, the portion of city code that deals with equal protection in housing, employment and public accommodation.

In addition to expanding protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity, it adds active military and veterans as a protected class, updates language on race to include such protections as hair texture and hairstyles, as well as updating disability language.

Siebler said when the first fairness ordinance passed 10 years ago, the misstep was never putting it on the ballot.

Because then you know. Its not good to anticipate a loss ... you have to call on people to say Show us who you are. Then we can move forward after that vote.

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

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The city of Lincoln generally does not allow more than three unrelated people to live together unless they are in some sort of licensed care setting, such as a group home or foster home.

However, the federal Fair Housing Act says cities cannot discriminate against people with disabilities, which courts have determined includes recovery from substance-abuse problems.

That formed the crux of the decision the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission faced Wednesday in weighing whether to recommend granting "reasonable accommodations" to three properties that house people recovering from alcohol or other substance abuse.

The houses offer sober living environments for those with drug and alcohol problems, but they do not provide counseling services, nor do they provide oversight of the residents. They are not licensed.

Attorneys for the organizations argued that means they don't qualify as group homes, which the city regulates.

Instead, the homes were seeking a waiver from the city's rules as to what constitutes a family.

One of the homes, at 1923 B St., houses up to 14 men in a 3,200-square-foot house that has five bedrooms and two bathrooms. It's run by Oxford House, a national organization with homes across the U.S., including several in Lincoln.

Many of those homes also have more residents than would normally be allowed under city code, but the organization was seeking an accommodation for the one on B Street because neighbors made a formal complaint to the city.

Scott Moore, an attorney representing Oxford House, said the operations are "run like a family," with residents responsible for paying their own rent, doing household tasks and holding each other accountable. They also make decisions on who lives in the house and whether someone should be kicked out for not following the rules.

Ryan Watson, an attorney representing Michael House, another operation seeking accommodations for houses at 5203 Walker Ave. and 315 N. 35th St., said having more people in a house increases the chances of success.

"The more you have, the greater accountability you create," he said.

Having more people also makes the operation more financially feasible, Watson said.

Opposition was largely focused on the house at 1923 B St., with more than a dozen people sending letters to the Planning Department and roughly 10 people testifying in opposition at the hearing.

While some expressed concerns about parking issues and the potential for crime, many also said they felt Oxford House was trying to take advantage of the situation.

Vishnu Reddi, president of the Near South Neighborhood Association, said it seemed like "a commercial opportunity in a residential district."

Neighbors also expressed concerns about the amount of people living in the house.

"I do not believe it's reasonable to accommodate 14 adult males in a house with five bedrooms and two bathrooms," said Heather Westra.

Only two people spoke in opposition to the Michael Houses.

That seemed to play a role in how commissioners voted, as did the fact that Michael House owns the homes its clients rent and also provides more oversight.

In the end, the Planning Commission voted 4-2 to recommend denial of the Oxford House application, with Tracy Corr, Maribel Cruz, Gloria Eddins and Cindy Ryman-Yost voting no and Dick Campbell and Cristy Joy voting yes.

Because it failed to get five yes or no votes, the application will come back before the Planning Commission on July 13.

The commission voted 5-1 in favor of recommending the accommodation for the two Michael Houses, with Corr the only one voting against.

In other business Wednesday, the commission recommended approval of a plan to surplus city-owned property on the southeast corner of the intersection of 27th Street and Leighton Avenue so that it can potentially be sold.

The commission also recommended approval of a zoning change and use permit for the 1.2 acres of land that restricts how a future owner can develop it to essentially 20 residential units and up to 15,000 square feet of space.

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

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Robbers Cave  carved into sandstone south of Van Dorn Park as an early brewery warehouse before becoming a gathering place for adventurous teens and ultimately an official tourist spot  can now become even more official.

The cave already is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Now, History Nebraska gave the city of Lincoln a $40,000 matching grant to develop a management plan for Robbers Cave, digitize material related to historical resources, make more information available on the website and to hold lectures.

The grant was one of three announced by History Nebraska as part of its certified local government program designed to increase local preservation activities.

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

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LOGAN, W.Va. (AP)  A Vietnam-era helicopter showcased in action movies crashed on a rural West Virginia road, killing all six people on board, during an annual reunion for helicopter enthusiasts.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the Bell UH-1B Huey helicopter crashed along Route 17 in Logan County about 5 p.m. Wednesday.

All six people on board were killed, said Ray Bryant, chief of operations for the Logan County emergency ambulance service authority. The helicopter crashed in clear weather on a road near the local airport, he said.

The entire cab of it was on fire, Bryant said in a phone interview Thursday.

It was recognized by the first responders as being a helicopter from this area because we see it a lot, he said.

The crash occurred during an annual reunion for helicopter enthusiasts at MARPAT Aviation in Logan. It was scheduled to begin Tuesday and end Sunday, according to MARPAT's website.

During the event, visitors could sign up to ride or fly the historic helicopter, described by organizers as one of the last of its kind still flying.

The helicopter was flown by the 114th Assault Helicopter Company, The Knights of the Sky, in Vinh Long, Vietnam, throughout much of the 1960s, according to MARPAT. After the Huey returned to the U.S. in 1971, the website says, it was featured in movies like Die Hard, The Rock and Under Siege: Dark Territory."

Neither reunion organizers nor MARPAT officials returned requests for comment Thursday.

Patty Belcher, who lives nearby, was driving to the store when she came upon the crash.

There was smoke so thick that you couldnt hardly see nothing but smoke and flames," she said by phone Thursday. "It was coming down the ditch line on the righthand side, and I said, My God, I better turn around. It might catch this truck on fire. So I turned around and came back.

The crash was near the Battle of Blair Mountain historic sites, where a deadly clash erupted a century ago as thousands of coal miners marched to unionize in West Virginia.

Bobbi Childs saw smoke and flames and got close enough to see a man who was trapped.

I saw that there was a guy trapped, I guess the captain. I tried to get down to the door where he was at. You could see him plain as day. I tried to get to him, but the fire was too hot. I couldnt get to him, Childs told WOWK-TV.

The road was expected to remain closed for at least 24 hours. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. ___

Willingham reported from Charleston, W.Va. Schreiner reported from Frankfort, Ky.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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OMAHA  Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said Wednesday that he has authorized an internal investigation into an officer's behavior during the arrest of a boy.

Schmaderer said he became aware of a video of a Tuesday arrest that was circulating on social media. The video shows the arrest of the boy, described in the video as 12 years old, whose head is forcefully pushed against a police cruiser near 33rd and Burt streets.

"Chief Schmaderer immediately asked for the involved officers to be identified and has authorized an internal investigation" into the incident, according to a department statement.

A 15-second Facebook post shows an Omaha police officer pushing the boy's head into the side of a police cruiser before he puts the boy in the cruiser's back seat.

A police report on the incident said officers were sent to the Atlas Apartments at 2929 California St. at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday to investigate a report of trespassing. Apartment staff told the officers that a group of juveniles had trespassed in the apartment complex's pool and that the same group of youths previously had caused vandalism and criminal mischief there.

Just before 3 p.m., officers were sent to a disturbance near 33rd and Burt, a few blocks from the apartment complex. The caller said four male juveniles were outside his apartment, refusing to leave. The man said the youths had arrived at his door asking about a missing or stolen iPad.

The man told officers that he had denied knowing anything about an iPad, but the youths refused to leave and acted aggressively.

One of the police officers then talked with six of the youths and recognized that several of them were in the video from the Atlas Apartments. More youths then approached, and the officer warned the group about trespassing at Atlas Apartments. The officer also confirmed that some of them had been asking about the iPad.

One of the youths then walked up to the officer, according to the police report, yelling profanities and acting aggressively. The officer warned the boy that his behavior was disorderly and that he needed to leave, but he refused.

According to the report, the boy encouraged other youths to yell at the officers. The boy then lunged toward the officer, was pushed away, then lunged again and was taken into custody, according to the report.

As the responding officer began placing the boy into handcuffs, the report said, the boy "kicked, fought, and struggled to get free." After a brief struggle, the report said, the boy was handcuffed and taken to the cruiser. He continued to struggle and threatened or tried to spit on an officer, but he ultimately was put into the cruiser, the report said.

The boy later was released to a parent or guardian and cited on suspicion of disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer.

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Orphan Grain Train (OGT) is a volunteer network that ships donated food, clothing, medical supplies and other needed items to people in 69 countries, including the United States.

Headquartered in Norfolk, Nebraska, its the volunteers in Lincoln and 28 other self-supporting regional collection centers who gather relief supplies and raise money to get humanitarian aid to where its needed most  whether to support tornado victims in Kentucky or Ukrainians displaced by war.

OGT of Lincoln recently moved to a bigger, better warehouse and work space near 56th and Cornhusker Highway. Its a charity that does important work throughout the world with little public awareness in the Lincoln community.

Both branch manager Steve Sirek, a retired pastor, and secretary/treasurer Kathy Carter, a retired nurse practitioner, immediately burst into laughter when asked if either received compensation for the near full-time hours they each commit to OGT every week.

Thats why OGT has a four-star rating on Charity Navigator, said Carter. Were all volunteers except for the 14 people who work in Norfolk.

What that means is for every dollar raised, 98 cents goes directly to humanitarian aid and 2 cents to administrative costs. OGT-Lincoln raises its own dollars to cover local operating expenses like rent, utilities or furnishings. (Uniformly sized shipping boxes, labels, transportation, etc., are furnished by the Norfolk headquarters.) This year was OGTs first with Give to Lincoln Day, receiving $5,300 in donations.

History lesson

Orphan Grain Train started after Pastor Ray Wilke of Grace Lutheran Church in Norfolk returned from a mission trip to Latvia in 1992. The humanitarian crisis hed witnessed and the pleas for help made an impression and fueled the need to do something. He teamed up with his good friend Clayton Andrews, president of Andrews Van Lines, and the Orphan Grain Train, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, came to be.

The duo envisioned train carloads of donated grain from this nations bread basket shipped to Latvia, where it would be used to feed starving children. Sirek, one of OGTs first employees, went to Russia and Latvia intending to set up three distribution centers. That proved unfeasible for numerous reasons.

With the help of his interpreter, Sirek visited with farmers and other locals and learned that grain was not what they needed. Americans were flooding the market with grain, and bins were full. But other needs were numerous. OGT listened, and a year later delivered its first shipment, a container of quilts and clothing, to Riga, Latvia.

OGT officially rolled into Lincoln in fall 2020. By Oct. 6, 2020, its first shipment was delivered to the Norfolk warehouse en route to its final destination.

Ukrainian relief

We've already sent over five plane loads of humanitarian aid [for Ukrainian refugees}, said Sirek. When I say we, I'm talking OGT as a whole. But we gathered a lot of it here and sent it to Norfolk, and they put it on cargo planes.

The first time was in February. The Norfolk warehouse manager called Carter about getting some donations and said, Oh, by the way, the plane leaves next week.

It was one of those holy s*** moments, Carter recounted. She asked what was needed and set out to see what she could muster. Carter called a student volunteer at Lincoln Lutheran High School and the administration at her church to ask them to put the word out. It snowballed from there.

By that Friday afternoon, cars were lined up in the school parking lot to drop off supplies, collection bins at churches were overflowing, and on Saturday and Sunday, we couldn't even get in the front door of the warehouse because there were so many donations. It was overwhelming and donations kept coming, she shared. Lincoln alone sent a semi-trailer load of supplies to Norfolk.

We didn't send clothes, added Sirek, because we knew other charities were sending clothes. We sent bar soap, feminine hygiene products, toothbrushes, acetaminophen, towels, medical supplies ... diapers, oh my gosh  the diapers  for adults to newborns.

Later, in a separate effort, Lincoln-based Frontier Ag Inc. worked with OGT-Lincoln to donate 5.24 tons of supplies for Ukrainian refugees out of deference to employees who had strong ties to the country, and because it was just the right thing to do.

OGTs aid recipients are all vetted, and Carter likes that. We know who is going to receive it  usually someone OGT has built a relationship with  and they have the means to transport and distribute it where it needs to be.

Local connections

Not all the aid leaves the country. OGT supports local communities, Native American reservations and more. OGT also goes to disaster areas, sometimes with a portable village that includes a chapel, kitchen, restrooms/showers, generator and bedrooms.

We can be self-sufficient while we help with clean-up, building, etc. explained Carter.

Once a month, OGT-Lincoln picks up an entire trailer full of medical supplies from Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital that are unused but cannot be restocked, or are left behind by patients  dressings, Ambu bags, trach kits, sheets, gowns, orthopedic supplies, etc. OGT also receives similar supplies from area hospices and others in the community. Volunteers have sorted and packed 1,152 boxes of medical supplies in the past 12 months.

OGT-Lincoln is also a distribution conduit for school kits, Mercy Meals, infant care kits, and Days for Girls sustainable menstrual health solutions  all made locally by volunteers.

Volunteering at OGT-Lincoln is often a multi-generational experience, from first graders to octogenarians. Its great for families, kids or groups needing community service hours or projects (and a safe place to do them), and even a social event for some volunteers with developmental disabilities. Thats another thing I like about OGT  its so relational, explained Carter.

For more information about the charity, see www.ogt.org. To get involved or get details about OGT of Lincoln, contact Steve Sirek at 402-416-1972 or sbsirek@gmail.com. Note: Unless monetary donations are specifically earmarked for OGT-Lincoln, theyll go to the general OGT account.

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Contrary to what Corrections Director Scott Frakes suggested in his recent letter, ("Prisons editorial missed a key point," June 12) the Journal Star editorial board did not overlook his arguments about the replacement of the penitentiary. The board simply understood, in ways that Mr. Frakes never will, that his misplaced lust to build an extremely expensive new prison is irrelevant to the real question, which is concerned with whether Nebraska can reduce its inflated prison population, and the associated costs, through reform of its sentencing laws.

The reality is that over the years the Department of Corrections General Fund annual appropriation ($260 million in fiscal year 2022-23) has ballooned to the point that it is now second among state agencies only to the general fund budget of the Department of Health and Human Services. And it is $20 million more in this fiscal year than it was two years ago. It costs about $40,000 annually to house most inmates, and the corrections budget has grown exponentially as the prison population has exploded. Now Sen. Suzanne Geist wants to throw even more money into the corrections empire.

The taxpayers of Nebraska cannot afford to continue to shovel money down this bottomless pit. Rather than building a new prison that will cost the taxpayers upwards to $300 million, while adding to the cost of housing an ever-increasing prison population, Nebraska should reform its sentencing laws to eliminate the need to build expensive new prisons, as have other conservative states like Texas. And that was the real message of the editorial board.

Marshall Lux, Lincoln

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RACINE  On Wednesday, the third day of a homicide trial being heard for the second time, the Racine County District Attorneys Office shifted from witness testimony to the investigation conducted by the Racine Police Department.

Additionally, the credibility of the eyewitness was called into question by the 911 caller.

Donley M. Carey, 36, is charged with intentional first-degree homicide in the Feb. 25, 2020, shooting death of DeMarcus Anderson, 28, at the Sin City Biker Club at the southeast corner of Ninth Street and South Memorial Drive.

Carey has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Witnesses have testified the two men had a dispute shortly before the shooting in which each accused the other of being the police, i.e. each man accused the other of being a snitch.

Sgt. Aukland, of the RPD, was one of the officers dispatched to investigate the report of a shooting victim inside the bikers clubhouse.

The sergeants testimony was important to the timeline of events because he was dispatched to a residence on Memorial Drive because the resident reported their door cam picked up a person walking by who had a firearm at about 5 a.m.

At 6:23 a.m., the RPD was dispatched to the area of the private clubhouse for a shooting.

Aukland was with the first group of officers who entered the building. He said the smell of bleach was everywhere as officers entered the building by force.

Investigators theorize bleach was used to wash away evidence.

Aukland said, As soon as we breached that door a wall of the smell of bleach hit me in the face immediately.

Case history

The Racine Police Department responded to the private club after an anonymous 911 call reported that there was a deceased person inside.

Investigators found Andersons corpse, wrapped in trash bags, in a small bathroom. Later, it was determined he had been shot seven times with a .40 caliber firearm.

Investigators theorize that someone wrapped the body and intended to move it later.

Following the initial investigation, a warrant was issued for Carey, who was arrested eight days later in Michigan.

Carey went to trial in January on the charge of first-degree homicide. Judge Maureen Martinez declared a mistrial in the first trial after the defendants attorney, Mindy Nolan, made comments during closing statements the court deemed inappropriate.

Investigation

The investigation into the shooting death of Anderson began with an anonymous 911 call, which law enforcement later traced to a former acquaintance of a primary witness.

The Journal Times is withholding the names of citizen-witnesses due to allegations of retaliatory threats and actions to witnesses.

The former acquaintance said she received a call from the primary witness, asking her to call 911 and report that someone had been shot in the area of Ninth Street and Memorial Drive. The call to 911 was placed at 6:23 a.m.

The former acquaintance described the witness as crying and said, Ive never heard him cry that hard, as he was not the type of person to cry. The acquaintance said they considered the man a trusted friend, but also that I do know he is a liar who has a drug addiction and often says things that are not supported by facts.

According to testimony, the man and Anderson had been using drugs continuously in the days preceding Andersons death.

Credibility

At issue in the case is that the witness never directly reached out to investigators. Even after the body of Anderson was found, and the investigation was underway, the man was at the scene and did not interact with law enforcement to say he witnessed the shooting. In court, the man said he did witness the shooting.

It was a sister of the victim who finally called police on the witnesss behalf later in the day. The witness and Anderson considered each other brothers.

Andersons sister said that when she saw the witness teary-eyed, he didnt need to tell her that Anderson was dead. She just knew.

When I saw the look on (his) face, I didnt want to believe it, but I knew it was (Anderson), she said.

Hours went by before the man finally told Andersons sister about the events of that morning. He allegedly identified Carey as the person who pulled the trigger.

Thats when the police were called.

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UNION GROVE  New faces could be turning up soon in Union Grove Village Hall, as officials work to fill vacancies in both the village administrator and village clerk positions.

Village Administrator Mike Hawes resigned in March after three years on the job, and Village Clerk Rebecca Wallendal stepped aside earlier this month after less than two years on the job.

Officials have since conducted searches to fill both vacancies, and they are progressing toward choosing new leaders in both high-profile positions in local government.

Five finalists have been identified among the applicants to become the new village administrator. Those finalists are:

Will Kolschowsky, a management analyst for the City of Urbana, Illinois.

Todd Willis, economic development coordinator for the City of Brookfield.

Theresa Loomer, village administrator for the Village of Fontana.

Chris Bennett, neighborhood services director for the City of Whitewater.

Kerry Bennett, interim village administrator for the Village of Union Grove.

All five finalists have been interviewed by the Village Board Personnel Committee, and the Village Board met behind closed doors Monday night to discuss the search.

No decision has been made yet on whether to offer the job to one of those finalists.

In the search for a new village clerk, four finalists have been identified:

Ashly Ratz, a legal secretary in the Wisconsin Public Defenders Office in Kenosha.

Shai Demers, a customer service representative for the manufacturing firm MTI in Pleasant Prairie.

Michelle Filz, administrative department secretary for the Union Grove-Yorkville Fire Department.

Jolene Lusha, a customer service manager/plant manager for the manufacturer National Technologies Inc. in Oak Creek.

Officials said the village has offered the village clerk job to one of the finalists, and officials are waiting for the applicant to make a decision.

The village administrator position had been paying $93,000 a year, while the village clerk salary was about $53,000 a year. No decision has been made about either salary for the new hires.

Village President Steve Wicklund said officials are pleased with the applicants who responded to both positions.

We believe Union Grove is a great place to work, he said.

On the continuing village administrator search, Wicklund said: Weve got a couple of good choices in mind. But we are just weighing our options.

Hawes, the village administrator since 2019, resigned in March to take a similar position with the Milwaukee suburb of Greendale. Greendale has about 15,000 people and an annual village budget of $24 million  both approximately three times larger than Union Grove.

Wallendal, who had been village clerk since 2020, resigned earlier this month to accept a job closer to her hometown in the Beloit area.

Kerry Bennett, who is not related to the other finalist, Chris Bennett, has been with the Village of Union Grove for three years. She was serving as the village treasurer, and has stepped in as interim administrator since Hawes departed. Before Union Grove, she was deputy clerk/treasurer for the Village of Big Bend for two years.

Chris Bennett, in addition to working in Whitewater, lives in the nearby Village of Rochester and serves on the Village Board there.

The village has hired the consulting firm McMahon Associates Inc. to help with the village administrator search.

Union Grove Village Board member Amy Sweet said while it is unusual to lose both a village administrator and village clerk at the same time, she said the situation is indicative of a volatile job market everywhere.

Sweet said she sees the double-vacancy as an opportunity to bring positive change to Union Grove.

Its nothing that should cause alarm, she said. Its a challenge we work toward solving.

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MADISON  The Republican-led Legislature rejected Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' call to repeal the state's near-complete abortion ban on Wednesday, leaving intact a law allowing abortions only to save a mother's life, a determination doctors say could be risky to make.

If doctors break the law, which could activate if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, they risk a felony conviction punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

"This law was not written by physicians, and the language is incredibly vague and lacking medical specificity," Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin spokesperson Lisa Boyce said, adding that the law was written before "our modern medical understanding and technology."

"Therefore, we are forced to try to interpret the law through both a medical lens and a modern lens, and those interpretations can vary depending on who you are talking to  one of the many reasons this ban is so concerning for both providers and patients," Boyce continued.

The law, first passed in 1849, states abortion is only permissible when it is necessary, "or is advised by 2 other physicians as necessary," to save the mother's life. The abortion must also be performed by a physician and take place in a licensed maternity hospital unless an emergency makes the latter an impossibility.

The law: Wisconsin's near-complete abortion ban (1) Any person, other than the mother, who intentionally destroys the life of an unborn child is guilty of a Class H felony. (2) Any person, other than the mother, who does either of the following is guilty of a Class E felony: (a) Intentionally destroys the life of an unborn quick child; or (b) Causes the death of the mother by an act done with intent to destroy the life of an unborn child. It is unnecessary to prove that the fetus was alive when the act so causing the mother's death was committed. (5) This section does not apply to a therapeutic abortion which: (a) Is performed by a physician; and (b) Is necessary, or is advised by 2 other physicians as necessary, to save the life of the mother; and (c) Unless an emergency prevents, is performed in a licensed maternity hospital. (6) In this section unborn child" means a human being from the time of conception until it is born alive.

A few instances where a mother could require an abortion to save her life include ectopic pregnancies, preterm premature rupture of membranes and preeclampsia, said Dr. Kristin Lyerly, a Green Bay general obstetrics and gynecology doctor who serves as District 6 legislative chair for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Lyerly, an abortion care provider who previously ran for the Assembly as a Democrat, said she sometimes deals with high-risk pregnancies.

The preterm premature rupture of membranes is when a mother's water breaks early on in the pregnancy, which could cause a severe and potentially fatal infection. With preeclampsia, mothers can develop high blood pressure and organ damage, also potentially leading to death. Likewise, ectopic pregnancies  when a fertilized egg grows outside the main cavity of the uterus  can be fatal.

"I'm really worried about it," Lyerly said about the risk behind making the determination that an abortion is necessary to save a mother's life. "And so are all of my colleagues who talk about it."

Part of the concern is that decisions typically made by the patient and her doctor would now be scrutinized by people in the legal realm without medical training, Lyerly said.

"The political and social world like to see this as a black-and-white issue, but ... it is an entirely patient-focused gray issue that can really only be well managed when there are no politicians in the exam room, and the conversation is all about what is the best thing for my patients," Lyerly continued.

"Mothers facing life-threatening conditions will be able to receive the medical care they need," said Gracie Skogman, legislative director at the anti-abortion rights group Wisconsin Right to Life. "A lifesaving medical procedure or treatment for the mother, that may indirectly result in the loss of life for the preborn child, is not considered an abortion and is not classified as such under the law."

Skogman clarified she was not referring to abortion as a lifesaving procedure. Her intent, she said, was to draw a distinction between medical procedures to save the mother "that may inadvertently result in the loss of life for the child" and a direct abortion.

But abortions are sometimes the only procedure that can save a patient's life, according to a 2019 joint statement by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Physicians for Reproductive Health. Skogman disagreed and said abortion is not the best option. Pro-Life Wisconsin legislative director Matt Sande also disagreed with the statement, saying abortions aren't ever medically necessary to save a mother's life.

"An emergency C-section, early induction, or removal of an ectopic pregnancy is moral because the death of the child, if that is the outcome, is an unintended effect of an operation independently justified to save the mothers life," added Sande, clarifying those procedures aren't abortions.

Sande said he dislikes the provision allowing exceptions for when the mother's life is in danger because "we want to remove the broad and undefined 'life-of-the-mother' exception and replace it with language requiring equal care for mother and child, and granting the physician immunity if he or she follows the requirement."

Dan Lennington, deputy counsel at the conservative group Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, said traditional legal defenses such as the defense of others or necessity may, in some circumstances, justify a medical procedure that results in fetal demise. Lennington said that would still be true even if Wisconsin didn't have an exception for the mother's life.

While a legal case against an abortion provider could involve "difficult questions at the margins," Lennington said, that's not unique to abortion. "The law of homicide can also present hard questions, but they do not render us incapable of having a law of homicide. So it is with abortion."

"The law is not clear," said Dr. Douglas Laube, who does abortions at Planned Parenthood in Madison and is the former chair of obstetrics and gynecology at UW-Madison. "I believe that a well stated, evidence-based reason for pregnancy termination would still prevail, and minimize, if not eliminate risk of criminal prosecution."

A Legislative Reference Bureau attorney who declined to be identified by name said "abortion" and necessary to save the life of the mother" are undefined under the criminal abortion statute.

"The decision of whether an abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother falls within the professional discretion of the physician, limited only by the physicians scope of practice and the standard of care applicable to their medical practice," the attorney said. "The physicians decision must be reasonable considering the circumstances, but it is otherwise not limited by law."

Special session

On Wednesday, the Legislature rejected an effort Evers made, as the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe, to repeal Wisconsin's criminal abortion ban passed in 1849.

The Senate session lasted less than 30 seconds before Senate President Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, gaveled out of it.

Referring to the imminent expected U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Evers said, "Republicans balked, leaving women and families across the state behind and providing no certainty or security for accessing the reproductive healthcare every person deserves."

Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, said in a statement prior to the session being gaveled out: If the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade, it will be a brazen, political act carried out by a blatantly partisan court, corrupted by appointments from a disgraced former president (referring to Donald Trump). Should the court adopt the leaked draft as their final ruling, Wisconsins criminal abortion ban from 1849 will go into effect, criminalizing abortions without any exceptions for rape or incest.

During todays special session, my Republican colleagues have the opportunity to join us, Governor Evers, and the people of Wisconsin in protecting choice in Wisconsin. They can join us in acting on the will of the people, or they can continue to sit on their hands and let crisis after crisis hurt individuals, families, and communities in our state.

As Assembly Democrats, we will continue to fight for access to abortion and the protection of choice, no matter what.

Republicans almost immediately slammed Evers' decision to convene them in a special session when the governor announced it June 8, calling it a blatant political move. While Evers required lawmakers to gavel into the session, he could not require them to hold debate or advance the measures.

"I agree with the will of the majority of Wisconsinites that abortion should be legal in all or most cases," Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley, D-Mason, said in a press conference Wednesday morning.

Statewide Marquette Law School polls conducted between September 2012 and last October found that, on average, 25% of respondents said abortion should be legal in all cases and almost 35% said it should be legal in most cases, while 23% said it should be illegal in most cases and 12% said it should be illegal in all cases. An average of 4% of respondents over the 11 polls said they did not know enough to have an opinion.

In Wednesdays Marquette Law School Poll, 27% of respondents said abortion should be legal in all cases, 31% said it should be legal in most cases, 11% said it should be illegal in all cases and 24% said it should be illegal in most cases.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, supports exceptions for rape and incest, which don't currently exist in the abortion ban, spokesperson Angela Joyce said in a statement. Joyce did not respond to a question asking whether Vos would try to add exceptions for rape and incest into Wisconsin's abortion ban if Roe is overturned.

State Rep. Tip McGuire, a Kenosha Democrat whose district includes part of Racine, stated: If conservatives on the Supreme Court get their way, reproductive health care in this state will get sent back to the Dark Ages. Now is the time to take action so that our state does not mandate forced pregnancies, particularly in cases of rape and incest.

If the legislature fails to act today, access to safe and legal abortion in Wisconsin will very likely be lost  at least temporarily, and possibly for much longer," Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a statement.

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Michael Gableman spent the first two months of his review of the 2020 election using a now-deleted personal email account and working out of a public library, and regularly discarded records even after requests for documents from his office had been submitted under the state's open records law, the former state Supreme Court justice testified Thursday.

Gableman, who provided roughly 90 minutes of testimony, said he spent most of July and August last year getting familiar with Wisconsin elections and attending a pair of meetings, including one hosted by MyPillow CEO and election denier Mike Lindell. Gableman said he tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after the August meeting in South Dakota.

The case before Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn is one of three open records lawsuits filed by liberal watchdog group American Oversight and focuses on whether Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, properly handled records requests related to Gableman's probe.

Ultimately, Bailey-Rihn said Gableman's "contradicting testimony" showed that "whatever work that was done was minimal, that the taxpayers were paying $11,000 a month to do."

"The documents were disposed of, which may or may not be a separate issue, and frankly I think at this point theres no more documents to be gained from this," she said after Gableman's testimony.

Bailey-Rihn ruled that Vos will not be penalized for a previous contempt order related to the case, but said she will decide later if Vos should face penalties related to how his office handled requests for records related to Gableman's review. A hearing has been scheduled for July 28 in the matter.

Gableman was hired a year ago by Vos, under pressure from Donald Trump to review the election the former president lost to President Joe Biden by just under 21,000 votes in Wisconsin. While the probe was originally allocated $676,000 in taxpayer funds, invoices have shown that ongoing court battles surrounding the review have pushed the cost to nearly $900,000.

A recount, court decisions and multiple reviews have affirmed that Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin. Only 24 people out of nearly 3.3 million who cast ballots have been charged with election fraud in Wisconsin.

Vos earlier this year paused Gableman's probe to allow time for five pending lawsuits related to the review to play out in court and halved Gableman's monthly salary from $11,000 to $5,500.

In testimony Thursday, Gableman said the early months of his review were spent getting up to speed on Wisconsin elections at a public library in New Berlin because he does not own a personal computer. He also spent time locating an office in Brookfield and recovering from a COVID-19 infection following the South Dakota event that Lindell billed as presenting "irrefutable" proof that Chinese-backed hackers helped steal the 2020 election for Biden.

Gableman said in testimony he was "very disappointed with the lack of substance to back up those claims."

On Friday, the 13th of August, I drive right from South Dakota to the emergency room ... where I get eventually diagnosed with COVID," Gableman said. "I spend the next two weeks solidly in bed ... with very, very unpleasant symptoms, and then the third week Im half in bed and half able to get up, so if you want to characterize it as no work, I guess you can."

Gableman also used his personal Yahoo email account during the first two months of his review, before he received an official state email address. Gableman said he had a staffer delete the personal account sometime in August, after a records request was filed, and said those documents cannot be recovered.

Asked by Bailey-Rihn if he searched the personal account for records responsive to the request, Gableman said he believed so, but also noted he was "unaware of a way to search a discontinued email."

"Do I specifically recall going back? I dont, but I would have looked at every email account available to me, every device that was available to me. I would have looked for any records," Gableman said.

While Gableman's staffer Zakory Niemierowicz said in his deposition that he and several of those working in the Office of Special Counsel, including Gableman, communicate using Signal, an app that allows for the immediate deletion of messages, Gableman said Thursday he used the app briefly, "but I didn't like it."

Another question, raised by American Oversight attorney Christa Westerberg, related to Gableman's trip last year to Arizona to observe its widely ridiculed election review. Westerberg pointed to records indicating that five hotel rooms were booked for the trip, but Gableman said only three people accompanied him  attorneys Andrew Kloster, Carol Mathias and Stuart Karge.

"There was the four of us, thats all," Gableman said. "No fifth person.

Gableman's testimony Thursday stood in stark contrast to his courtroom appearance two weeks ago when he lashed out at Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington while refusing to answer questions in a separate public records case.

Gableman was much more reserved in his responses to Bailey-Rihn and Westerberg, and at one point borrowed the judge's reading glasses to read from a document.

Remington ultimately held Gableman's office in contempt for failing to adequately respond to the requests and ordered Gableman be fined $2,000 a day until he complies. He also directed Gableman's "sneering" conduct in Remington's courtroom to the office that regulates attorneys and judges in Wisconsin to take possible action against his license to practice law.

Gableman has appealed the ruling and is seeking a review by a three-judge panel in Wisconsin's District 2 Court of Appeals in Waukesha.

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Wisconsins Republican state lawmakers have been declared the second most conservative in the nation by the Conservative Political Action Conferences Center for Legislative Accountability.

State rankings provided Wednesday by CPAC indicate that Wisconsins legislative Republicans received an average conservative rating of 91.5%, which trails only Florida, where GOP lawmakers voted for conservative principles a staggering 96% of the time.

The gallant work of Wisconsin Republican lawmakers to block the radical agenda of Gov. Tony Evers has placed the delegation as the second most conservative in the nation, the conservative conference said in a statement.

The rankings are based on how lawmakers vote in 186 policy areas ranging from cultural and life issues to tax, fiscal and regulatory policies.

The latest rankings came just before Republicans in the Legislature were preparing to reject a special session called by Evers seeking to repeal Wisconsins abortion ban, an 1849 law thats remained on the books but has sat dormant since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Evers, a Democrat, called on the Legislature to take up the repeal as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this month in a case that could end Roe v. Wade and allow Wisconsins ban to go back into effect.

While Evers has the power to call special sessions, the GOP-controlled Legislature does not have to take action on any legislation during the session. The Legislature has rejected Evers special sessions on gun control, distributing $150 checks to Wisconsinites and expanding Medicaid.

According to the centers ratings, 15 of Wisconsins 21 GOP state Senators hold conservative ratings of 90% or more. Fifty-six of the Assemblys 58 Republicans received a conservative rating of at least 90%.

Among Republicans, Senate President Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, rated highest in conservative rankings at 95%, while Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay, ranked the lowest with 76%.

In the Assembly, Reps. Scott Krug, of Nekoosa, Warren Petryk, of the town of Washington, Shae Sortwell, of Two Rivers, and Gary Tauchen, of Bonduel, rated highest with 96%. Rep. Chuck Wichgers, R-Muskego, rated the lowest with 82%.

All told, Wisconsins Senate saw its Republican average drop by 4 percentage points since last year to 89%, while the Assembly climbed by 8 points to 92%, according to the rankings.

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Killeen, TX (76540)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 71F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 71F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
1. Yes. Roe was bad law and never should have been enacted. Last weeks ruling was just.

2. Yes. The court ruling correctly leaves the question of reproductive rights to the states.

3. No. Roe v. Wade was established law. The ruling will cause a womens health crisis.

4. No. The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was more about politics than the law.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether it was the right ruling; it depends on your perspective.

Vote

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Killeen, TX (76540)

Today

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KEARNEY  The University of Nebraska plans to freeze tuition for all students as part of the 2022-23 operating budget.

The proposed budget will be brought before the Board of Regents at their meeting today. It will complete the three-year, system-wide plan to manage the fiscal challenges created by the pandemic while positioning the university for long-term success, according to a press release from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

As any Nebraska family or business knows, every dollar matters. Families are facing hard decisions these days, and we want them to know that we are doing everything possible to make sure a University of Nebraska education remains in reach for every student, said NU President Ted Carter in the release.

Along with a tuition freeze, the university also will be investing in the expansion of the Nebraska Promise commitment, said UNKs Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management and Marketing Kelly Bartling. The program allows qualifying Nebraska students whose family income is $65,000 or less to attend the university tuition-free.

Staff and faculty also will benefit if the budget is approved.

In recent history, faculty and staff did not have raises. This year we are able to give our staff and faculty some increases in their compensation, Bartling said.

In order to make the budget a reality, the NU system has made $48 million in cuts since 2020 to shift resource allocations equitably across the campus and various funding needs, Bartling added. Some of those cuts included the elimination of 15 positions and eliminating several unfilled positions.

What that is telling us is that we are looking at every single dollar within our personnel investments and in our expenditures that we are needing to invest in our facilities, programming and ongoing expenses surrounding health insurance, utilities and things like that, she explained. Its a difficult time to balance budgets with the demands on our resources surrounding wages and increased cost of doing business, but we have made some difficult decisions surrounding elimination of positions in order to make sure that tuition remains affordable for students and their families.

The proposed budget does include modest fee increases in order to invest more resources into mental health services across the campuses.

The Board of Regents also will receive a report on room and board rates at todays meeting. At UNK, the reported rates reflect a 3% annual increase for students selecting the Loper meal plan residing in double occupancy, basic room. Room and board will range from $10,146 to $10,813 for 2022-23.

Recent enrollment data for 2021-22 showed an increase in undergraduate students at UNK. Bartling credits that to aggressive recruiting, marketing and promotion for UNKs quality and affordability.

Quality is the most important consideration for our students. When you combine quality with affordability, that is a value, and that is what unk is known for, that value, said Bartling. Students and families are eager to make an investment in the collegiate experience, and they understand the value of a University of Nebraska degree over time.
KEARNEY  The University of Nebraska at Kearney recently expanded its Master of Business Administration program, adding new tracks in two high-demand areas.

MBA students can now specialize in cybersecurity and business and information technology education, in addition to the existing accounting, human resources, marketing and professional tracks.

Cybersecurity continues to be a high-need area both nationally and globally, with companies paying a median salary of $102,600 per year to attract these professionals, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bureau projects a 33% growth rate for information security analysts from 2020-30, far exceeding the national average for all occupations.

Cybersecurity is a very hot field within the job market. If you have skills in that area, youre going to be very marketable to a lot of different employers in a lot of different industries, especially with the remote work options available today, said Dustin Favinger, director of the MBA program at UNK.

If you package those skills with an MBA, thats even more valuable, Favinger added.

The new cybersecurity track provides the knowledge employees need to serve an IT team while also covering core MBA areas such as accounting, corporate finance, management and marketing, giving graduates a well-rounded, versatile skill set.

Whether youre looking for a new job or a promotion within your current company, one way to differentiate yourself is getting an MBA or graduate degree, Favinger said.

BECOME A TEACHER

Like cybersecurity, UNK added the business and IT education track to address a growing workforce need.

As we all know, theres a teacher shortage across the state right now, Favinger said. This program is perfect for current professionals who are looking for a change and want to enter the teaching field.

The business and IT education track allows students to earn an MBA and their Nebraska teaching certification at the same time. All of the elective courses within this track are requirements for UNKs Transitional Certification Program, which provides an alternative pathway for individuals with a bachelors degree or higher who want to become certified teachers in Nebraska.

The Transitional Certification Program includes a mix of online courses and field experiences, giving participants an opportunity to start working in the classroom while earning their state certification.

Nearly half of their MBA is already completed just by going through the Transitional Certification Program, Favinger said. So why not continue on, complete the MBA core courses and get a graduate degree?

An MBA qualifies educators to teach dual-enrollment courses and advances them on the pay scale, he noted.

FLEXIBLE PROGRAM

Because many MBA students are juggling busy careers and family lives, UNK offers its program in a hybrid format, giving them the option to attend classes remotely  with live instruction via Zoom  or through a mix of in-person and online sessions. All core courses and many electives are offered in both eight-week and full-semester formats, providing even more flexibility for students.

The 33-credit hour program also includes a professional development component that allows students to connect with their classmates and network with business leaders. Program participants toured businesses in Grand Island last fall and this years trip is planned for northeast Nebraska.

If youre part of our MBA program, its more than just taking classes and getting that degree, Favinger said. We want to continuously add value for our students.

UNKs MBA program is accredited by AACSB International, a designation awarded to less than 6% of business schools worldwide. Enrollment remains open for the fall semester.

For more information, contact Favinger at 308-865-8066 or favingerdd@unk.edu.
The De Soto FFA Chapter was well-represented at the 93rd annual Wisconsin State FFA Convention. The Wisconsin State FFA Convention was held June 14-16 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. The members who attended the convention were Nathan Woodhouse, McKenzie Moser, Jenna Gianoli, Camryn Venner, Desirae Steiber, Matt Kumlin, Gracyn Beck, Addi Trussoni, Sonny Boardman, Katelynn Kunert, Mason Zink, Landon Pedretti, Nevaeh Sanders and Sascha Doll.

While at convention, members participated in a variety of activities. Members were recognized for awards, attended convention sessions and workshops, attended the agricultural career expo, and networked with fellow FFA members from across the state.

The De Soto Chapter had three members selected as top five state proficiency finalists this year. Proficiency awards honor students for their outstanding SAEs (supervised agricultural experiences) and students apply for these with a 20-plus page application detailing their project, financials and outcomes. Each finalist received recognition on stage and a cash prize provided by state convention sponsors. Sonny Boardman placed third in Wildlife Management, Camryn Venner placed fourth in Nursery Operations and Jenna Gianoli placed fifth in Specialty Crop Production.

Nathan Woodhouse, McKenzie Moser, Camryn Venner and Desirae Steiber received the State FFA Degree on Wednesday of convention. The State FFA Degree is the highest degree that an FFA member can earn on the state level. There are multiple requirements to receive the State Degree and less than 3% of members will receive this honor. These four members also served on the state Courtesy Corps, assisting with the convention contests.

Matt Kumlin and Gracyn Beck were official voting delegates, where they participated in state committee meetings and voted for the new State FFA Officer. Desirae Steiber performed a vocal solo in the state talent competition and earned a bronze rating. Hazel Skarlupka did not attend but entered a pencil drawing into the state artwork contest.

The De Soto FFA Chapter also brought home the P.R.I.D.E. Membership Award. The P.R.I.D.E. Award was designed to increase chapter membership participation by encouraging chapters to continually recruit and retain members in hopes that every chapter would increase by ten members each year.

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About 30 members of the Coon Creek Community Watershed Council traveled to the Norskedalen Nature & Heritage Center for the groups June meeting. The meeting was the first since the group officially incorporated as a non-profit organization, and was facilitated by president Nancy Wedwick.

The group agreed to open a bank account at the River Bank in Coon Valley now that they have their tax ID number available. Authorized signers on the checking account will be president Nancy Wedwick and Secretary Maggie Traastad. Either of the two will be able to sign checks written by Treasurer Debbie Andre as authorized by the group.

Use of the Ho-Chunk funds granted to the group by the Vernon County Board was discussed. The $40,000 in funds are to be used to pay for consulting services and funding for practices that may be delayed due to slow funding decision turn around times. It was clarified that the funds are intended to be spent on projects in Vernon County.

The group heard a Marcs History Moment presentation from watershed council historian Marc Moilien. He shared materials and documents commemorating the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the original Coon Creek Watershed Project.

Promotions/OutreachJim Munsch reported to the group on activities of the Promotions and Outreach Committee. Munsch said that plans are moving forward for a July 6 meeting at the farm of Alan Seelow on the topic of small dam maintenance, a pasture walk on August 3 on Munschs farm, a Park Party on September 7 to commemorate the groups one year anniversary, and a pasture walk on the Jim Leum farm on September 13.

I travel back and forth to Madison, working on developing grazing spreadsheet tools with staff at UW-Madison, and I can tell you that there are all kinds of experts champing at the bit to come and talk to our group, Munsch said. Some ideas for future presentations I have include soil carbon sequestration and how to make money off it, prairie strips, the Dairy Heifer Compass tool just released, and funding and technical support options from Sand County Foundation through the USDA-NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).

The Sand County Foundation has been funded $1,500,000 through USDA-NRCS for a Grass-lands and Oak Savannas for Water and Wildlife initiative aimed at the Driftless Area in the Mississippi River Basin. The project will increase terrestrial habitat to benefit grassland birds and pollinators, reduce nutrient and sediment loss from vulnerable lands, improve the economic well-being for farmers and rural communities, and extend NRCS resources to historically underserved producers.

This project will focus exclusively on perennial solutions and include transitioning sensitive cropland to permanent and productive vegetation, restore degraded grass-lands and oak savannas, support prescribed grazing systems, promote agroforestry and control of invasive species.

Partnerships

Caroline Gottschalk-Druschke and Anna Andrzejewski of the UW-Madison Greener Pastures group once again attended the meeting to survey interest of group members on collaborating on a watershed history project. The group agreed that the two should officially partner with them to undertake the project.

Next, Lori Dubczak, Director of Norskedalen Nature & Heritage Center, provided the group with an overview of the efforts of Norskedalens Steward-ship program, Thrunegaarden property, and how a collaboration with the watershed council could be beneficial for both organizations.

I joined Norskedalen in 2016, and since then, weve experienced four floods in five years, Dubczak said. There is no question that our problems with water start on the hills above us, and so collaborating with the work of your watershed council seems like a perfect fit for us and our stewardship education program.

Examples of stewardship education activities undertaken by the Center include flip up sustainability signs on a walking tour of the property, and myriad other things that are woven into every interaction with the public.

Other education resources offered by the Center include Letters from Anne, which are a series of letters written by Anne, a daughter of the Norwegian settlers of the property to her relatives back home in Norway. Annes letters provide a fascinating glimpse into the lives of early settlers in the region. The Center also hosts hundreds of children from area schools each year, offering them a variety of nature education experiences.

If youre looking for ideas of what to do at the Thrunegaarden heritage demonstration farm site, I think partnering with our council and Marc Moilien on a history of the Coon Valley conservation movement would be a great fit, Jim Munsch observed.

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When Republican lawmakers gaveled in and out of a special session on Wednesday, it all but sealed the fate of abortion in the state of Wisconsin, said state Sen. Brad Pfaff.

The Democrat from Onalaska said at a press conference later Wednesday afternoon that the special session  which he said only lasted 13 seconds in the Senate  was the only tool available to codify abortion rights in Wisconsin ahead of a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that is expected to overturn federal abortion protections.

Republican lawmakers in the Legislature rejected a special session called by Gov. Tony Evers to overturn a Wisconsin law that would make abortions illegal in Wisconsin except when performed to save the mothers life. The law was created in 1849, a time when slavery was still legal and women could not vote, and has only been made ineffective with the protection of the Roe v. Wade court rulling.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in the coming days, and a draft decision leaked in May signaled the justices decision would effectively overturn the federal right to an abortion. After that, it would be up to the states to determine abortion laws, and without further action, Wisconsins 1849 law would go into effect.

Pfaff said that he thought it would be very difficult to codify abortion in Wisconsin in any way other than through the Republican-controlled Legislature, saying there were no legal executive routes Evers could take, and that any move like that would need to go through state courts anyway.

Thats the only ticket that the governor had, the only tool that he could play, Pfaff said.

At Wednesdays press conference, Pfaff was joined by his wife, Betty, and daughter, Elizabeth, as he described how complex the issue is to decide to have a child.

Elizabeth, who is now a 19-year-old student at UW-Madison, was born early after complications caused by preeclampsia, a dangerous condition during pregnancy related to high blood pressure.

After Elizabeth was born, Bettys doctor advised the couple that it would be challenging to have more children.

This isnt just an easy, black or white conversation. Were talking about very, very challenging and difficult issues, Pfaff said.

I just remember being in the room with Betty, the doctor and the OB, and I know that there wasnt room in that conversation, in that room, for politicians, he said.

Pfaff said he was the first legislator to ask Evers to call the special session back in May, and called it disappointing that Republicans didnt allow for discussions to take place.

He said while he is always optimistic  including when it came to the special session, despite Republicans track record for gaveling in and out  it was ultimately not that surprising.

Pfaff said it was, however, surprising that Republicans havent presented a plan, all-but leaving the states 173-year-old law untouched.

We will be back to 1849. Thirteen seconds was all the majority gave on a topic like this, Pfaff said.

In addition to codifying abortion rights in Wisconsin, Pfaff said he also supports more funding for reproductive health clinics, education on reproductive health, and more discussions with religious leaders.

Pfaff was also critical of possible political motives to reject Evers special session as the governor faces reelection in the fall.

I just think this is a missed opportunity. And it will directly put in jeopardy, the lives and the health of Wisconsinites. It will put it at risk, Pfaff said.

As the country waits for the Supreme Courts decision, Pfaff said Evers is calling on the Department of Health Services secretary to make a plan and evaluate the legal tools and services that can be provided.

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The newest addition to La Crosses Veterans Freedom Park was unveiled on Thursday, honoring those who fought and lost their lives in the Vietnam War.

The project began about six years ago when Jordan Briskey, a 15-year-old Holmen High School student at the time, was inspired by veterans he had met to create a monument.

Now after years of fundraising and some hurdles, the monument is here.

The $250,000 project features a half circle wall that lists the 1,239 names of Wisconsin soldiers who died in Vietnam, a controversial war that ended nearly 50 years ago. A center monument depicts a map of Vietnam and art sketches of scenes from the war, designed by Michael Martino.

A sculpture of what is known as the Battlefield Cross welcomes visitors to the monument, and concrete benches and plaques with information fill the space out.

Advocates said the monument honors both the veterans, who were often mistreated, and their families, especially those that lost someone to the war.

Briskey said the importance of the project was, Seeing them happy and seeing those loved ones be reunited in a way  they dont have to go all the way over to Washington, it is right here at home.

Vietnam veteran Jim Crigler described the emotional experience he had when he first visited the monument the day before.

Crigler was a Huey pilot, or an airman who flew a UH-1 utility helicopter during the war, a job that was dangerous and placed soldiers in almost daily combat.

Because of the danger, Crigler said he and his roommate, Thomas Shaw of Fond du Lac, made a pact to return home with the others remains should they die in combat  a promise that Crigler kept when Shaw was shot down in combat.

In April, Crigler went back to Vietnam and held a ceremony at the crash site.

Believe me, I could feel the spirit of those men standing beside me, Crigler said.

On Wednesday, Crigler was connected with Shaw once again when he visited the new Vietnam Memorial for the first time and found his name and the names of other friends on the wall.

I think we must remember those that stood up and fought for our cause, Crigler said. And memorials like the ones we are dedicating today, in my opinion, have great importance. If we dont honor and remember those that fought and sacrificed for our ideals, well those ideals could change, or they could go away.

Crigler said he first met Briskey while giving a presentation at Holmen High School and he was first presented with the idea to create the monument.

Don Weber, of the Weber Group and an area philanthropist, said that Briskey never gave up while pursuing the monument, leading fundraising efforts and pushing through the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic to complete the project.

Briskey, who is now 20, said it was hard to get people to take him seriously when he first started fundraising for the memorial.

But it was important for him to keep going. He said it was an example of how important it is for younger generations to keep honoring Americas veterans.

Hopefully young people my age can actually appreciate what we have, Briskey said.

Visitors on Thursday spent time looking for the names of people they lost in the war on the wall.

The Vietnam Memorial is just the latest addition to a number of veterans memorials in the park.

Those that attended the dedication traveled to the monument by way of Louie Ferris Drive, named after a late North Side icon, veteran and longtime community volunteer, who died in December.

Ferris, a Korean War veteran, wasnt involved in the Vietnam Memorial, but led the efforts to erect five other memorials that came before it. There are now memorials that honor service members and communities impacted by World Wars I & II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Its not long ago, just really a few years, that this park was just some scrub brush and this and that, and not much of anything, La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds said. But now its a place of honor.

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The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse hosted the Hands-On Science camp Wednesday and Thursday for youth to gain experience in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.

The program attracted the largest group of students in the camps 30-year history, with more than 75 sixth through eighth graders taking part. Throughout the two-day camp, UW-L faculty led interactive workshops where the students built bouncy balls and extracted DNA from strawberries.

The goal of the camp was for students to walk away knowing that science isnt scary, said Spencer Hulsey, the Hands-On Science camp coordinator.

I think the word science is inherently a scary word for a lot of people, Hulsey said. We want to show them that science is not a big scary entity. It is a very human experience.

In other workshops, students sampled and analyzed their own fingerprints by shading a piece of paper with a pencil, placing each of their fingers on the paper and transferring the print to a piece of clear tape. They then analyzed the different patterns within their fingerprints.

Matthew Chedister, an associate professor in mathematics and statistics, also led a workshop on measuring population sizes with ratios and proportions, or as Chedister likes to call it a how many fish in the ocean study.

Chedister said attending science camps as a child is part of the reason he became a university professor.

I just always had a good time, we used to do a lot of things like build rockets and trap cars, Chedister said. If I can give a little bit of a similar experience to students here, thats kind of my goal.

On the other hand, Hulsey said she wanted to give young students a different experience than she had growing up.

I did not go to any science camp, Hulsey said. I grew up on a farm in southern Illinois and it was a very small, very rural school that didnt really do much at all. Whenever I got to college, that was my first experience.

The program offers scholarships to some students to help cover the cost of the camp, Hulsey said. They also partner with local organizations to reach youth who may be interested in attending.

Other support for the camp comes from Gundersen Health, Trane, Ingersoll Rand and Xcel Energy.

In the future, Hulsey said UW-La Crosse may make the program more accessible by offering additional scholarships or by helping secure transportation for participants to get to and from the camp.

By partnering with Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers, Big Sisters and other clubs to help them get students that would otherwise not access, Hulsey said.

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PERRYVILLE, Ark. (AP)  A man being booked into a central Arkansas jail on drug charges pulled out a gun and fatally shot a guard before someone disarmed him, authorities said Thursday.

Jeremiah Story, a 21-year-old detention officer at the Perry County jail in Perryville, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, died at a hospital early Thursday, the State Police said in a news release.

Roderick Lewis, 37, shot Story in a bathroom late Wednesday night while Lewis was changing out of civilian clothes and into jail issued attire, said the State Police, which was asked to investigate by the county sheriff's office. A State Police spokesman said Lewis used a gun he had with him when he entered the jail. Lewis was charged with capital murder Thursday afternoon in Story's death.

It was not clear Thursday afternoon if Lewis has an attorney representing him.

Lewis, of North Little Rock, was arrested earlier Wednesday evening and was being detained on drug and drug paraphernalia charges.

A witness to the shooting was able to disarm Lewis, who was later transferred to the Faulkner County Detention Center in Conway, police said.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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BEIRUT (AP)  Lebanons president began consultations with members of parliamentary blocs on Thursday to name a new prime minister following last months parliamentary elections.

Outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati is widely expected to get the largest support from legislators to form a new Cabinet that will be in power until the end of October when President Michel Aouns six-year term expires. Such a short tenure could make it difficult for the billionaire premier to form a Cabinet since it usually takes months to form a government in Lebanon due to political bickering.

Another candidate for the post is Lebanons former ambassador to the U.N. Nawaf Salam, who is backed by some independents as well as the nationalist Kataeb Party and the bloc backed by Druze leader Walid Joumblatt.

The new governments main mission will be to continue talks with the International Monetary Fund over an economic recovery plan for Lebanon, which is in the grip of its worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history.

Mikati has the backing of the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah group and its Shiite ally, the Amal Movement of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Mikati also has the support for some Sunni legislators.

One of the two largest Christian blocs, the Saudi-backed Lebanese Forces party, said it will not name any candidate while it was not clear who the bloc led by Aouns Free Patriotic Movement will name. The head of FPM, legislator Gebran Bassil, said he will not name Mikati.

Several legislators have said they will not name any candidate for the prime ministers post.

Mikatis previous government that he formed in September became a caretaker Cabinet after the May 15, parliamentary elections that gave the majority of the legislatures seats to mainstream political groups that are blamed for decades of corruption and mismanagement that led to the economic meltdown.

Last months vote also saw Hezbollah and its allies lose majority seats in parliament that they had held since 2018.

Lebanons economic meltdown that began in October 2019 was described by the World Bank as one of the worst in the world since the 1850s. Since then, the Lebanese pound has lost more than 90% of its value, tens of thousands have become jobless, and many have left the small nation of 6 million people, which includes 1 million Syrian refugees.

The crisis was made worse by the coronavirus pandemic and a massive blast in August 2020 that killed more than 200, injured thousands and destroyed Beiruts port and damaged parts of the capital.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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A former Dane County judge who legally represented former President Donald Trump coordinated with U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson to pass documents falsely stating Trump won Wisconsin to then-Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, newly revealed text messages show.

Johnson, R-Oshkosh, also told conservative radio host Vicki McKenna on Thursday that the documents in question came to him from the office of U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa. But a Kelly spokesperson told a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Johnsons comments were patently false.

Mr. Kelly has not spoken to Sen. Johnson for the better part of a decade, and he has no knowledge of the claims Mr. Johnson is making related to the 2020 election, the statement said.

The Wisconsin document, signed by 10 Republicans who convened in the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, was filled out on the same day the Democratic slate of Wisconsin electors met in the same building to deliver the states 10 electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden. The meeting of Republicans occurred after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Biden had won the election.

We need to get a document on the Wisconsin electors to you for the VP immediately, former Dane County Circuit Court Judge Jim Troupis told Johnson at 11:36 a.m. Jan. 6, 2021, according to texts provided to conservative media outlet Just the News. Is there a staff person I can talk to immediately. Thanks Jim T.

The conservative outlet also reported that Kelly was in communication with Troupis, who then connected with Johnson. Troupis did not return a phone call or message about why he texted Johnson about the documents.

Six minutes later, screenshots of the text messages show, Johnson connected his chief of staff, Sean Riley, with Troupis in a text chain. Riley was newly serving in Johnsons office and was previously a Trump White House adviser.

An hour after Johnson referred Troupis to Riley, Riley sought the assistance of a Pence aide in passing the document, and another falsely asserting Trump won Michigan, to the vice president but was rebuffed.

Johnson needs to hand something to VPOTUS please advise, Riley texted Pence aide Chris Hodgson at 12:37 p.m. that day, moments before the Congress met in joint session to certify the Electoral College vote count.

What is it? Hodgson replied.

Alternate slate of electors for MI and WI because archivist didnt receive them, Riley said.

Do not give that to him, Hodgson said.

More details

Those communications were first revealed on Tuesday by the U.S. House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. But newly revealed texts from Just the News show Pences aide expected those documents through the mail and denied the request because, he said, Pence shouldnt receive any unscreened mail.

Hes about to walk over to preside over the joint session, those were supposed to come in through the mail, Hodgson told Riley.

I can do that. Anything else? Riley replied.

The VP absolutely should not receive any mail that hasnt been screened, Hodgson said.

Understood, Johnson understands, Riley said.

After that exchange, Just the News reported, Johnson texted Troupis and said, We have been informed the VP cannot accept any unsealed mail and I cannot hand it to him.

Two days before the text exchange between Johnsons office and that of the vice president, according to another text the House committee disclosed Tuesday, Wisconsin Republican Party executive director Mark Jefferson texted an unidentified person saying, Freaking trump idiots want someone to fly original elector papers to the senate President. Theyre gonna call one of us to tell us just what the hell is going on.

Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Anna Kelly did not respond to questions Thursday about whether anybody from the party sent the fake slate of electors anywhere besides the National Archives. Republican Party of Wisconsin chair Paul Farrow did not return a call. A package tracker shows the documents were shipped from Madison on Dec. 16, 2020, and delivered to the National Archives Jan. 4, 2021, the same day of Jeffersons text.

Johnson also told McKenna he didnt know what the documents contained despite Troupis  whos now under fire for coordinating with Wisconsin Republicans who posed as electors  telling Johnson he needed to pass Pence a document on the Wisconsin electors.

After the Select Committee hearing Tuesday, Johnson told a CNN reporter, I had no involvement in an alternate slate of electors. I had no idea this was even going to be delivered to us. It got delivered staff to staff. My chief of staff did the right thing  contacted the vice presidents staff. They said (they) didnt want it, so we didnt deliver it. Thats the end of story.

I was aware that we got something they wanted to be delivered to the vice president, Johnson continued as reporters questioned him. I mean, you guys, this took place in the span of a few minutes. The story ended. Theres nothing to this.

Wisconsin electors

Republicans have said the meeting to sign the document was to preserve their legal options amid litigation surrounding the election. Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro sent a memo to Troupis on Nov. 18, 2020, detailing the Republicans eventual plan to pose as electors.

One of those fake electors, former Wisconsin Republican Party chair Andrew Hitt, told the House committee in a video presented Tuesday that he was told their electoral votes would only count if a court ruled in the former presidents favor.

The most recent revelation provides more context to Johnsons efforts to scrutinize the 2020 election despite voicing confidence in the results on a secret recording.

On Dec. 16, 2020, Johnson, as chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, hosted a hearing on irregularities in the 2020 election, which critics slammed for amplifying election disinformation.

In a statement following the hearing, Johnson said he held the hearing to investigate irregularities that have yet to be fully explained, fully investigated, and solutions passed to restore confidence in future elections.

Yet, on Aug. 31, 2021, a liberal activist released a secretly recorded video of Johnson telling her there was nothing obviously skewed about the results of the 2020 election.

There isnt, he said. Collectively, Republicans got 1.661 million votes, 51,000 votes more than Trump got. Trump lost by 20,000. If Trump got all the Republicans, if all the Republicans voted for Trump the way they voted for the Assembly candidates  he would have won. He didnt get 51,000 votes that other Republicans got. And thats why he lost.

But Johnson has also called for state lawmakers to take over federal elections and ignore the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Johnson has also consistently supported former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gablemans effort to review the 2020 election.

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A powerful earthquake hit a rural, mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday. The state-run news agency said the quake killed at least 1,000 people and injured 1,500 more. Officials also warned that the number is expected to rise.

It was the deadliest quake in Afghanistan for 20 years. In March 2002, a total of 1,100 were killed after the earthquakes in the Hindu Kush area.

Wednesdays disaster is a major test for the Taliban-led government. The group seized power last year after the U.S. and NATO allies pulled out of the country.

Rescuers arrived at the area by helicopter. But the rescue operation is likely to be difficult without international assistance.

The Talibans supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzadah rarely appears in public. On Wednesday, he called for the international community and all humanitarian organizations to help the Afghan people affected by this great tragedy and to spare no effort to help the affected people.

Neighboring Pakistans Meteorological Department said the quake's center was in Afghanistan's Paktika area. That is about 50 kilometers southwest of the city of Khost. Buildings were damaged in Khost and tremors were felt about 375 kilometers away in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

There is still little information on Wednesdays 6.1 magnitude quake. But quakes of that strength can cause serious damage in an area where homes and other buildings are poorly made. There are also landslides in the area.

Images from Paktika showed men carrying people in blankets to helicopters. Others were treated on the ground. Some images showed people looking through bricks and stones from destroyed houses, many of which had collapsed roofs or walls.

Robert Saunders is a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey. He said an earthquake of that size would not create so much destruction in most places in the world. But a quakes damage often depends on geography, building quality and population density.

Because of the mountainous area, there are rockslides and landslides that we wont know about until later reporting. Older buildings are likely to crumble and fail, Saunders said.

In Kabul, Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund organized an emergency meeting to plan a recovery effort. And a Taliban official added, When such a big incident happens in any country, there is a need for help from other countries.

A U.N. official in Afghanistan said that help is on its way but that may be difficult. Many international aid groups had left the country following the U.S. exit because of concerns about security and the Taliban's poor human rights record.

The Italian medical aid group Emergency still operates in Afghanistan. The organization said it sent seven ambulances and workers to the areas closest to the earthquake. And Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif of neighboring Pakistan said his nation would provide help.

Im Dan Novak.

Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting from The Associated Press and Reuters.

________________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

spare  v. to not do or provide

tremor n. a shaking movement of the ground before or after an earthquake

magnitude  n. the size, extent, or importance of something

density  n. the quality of having parts that are close together

crumble  v. to break into small pieces

ambulance  n. a vehicle used for taking hurt or sick people to the hospital especially in emergencies
European leaders have approved Ukraine as a candidate to join the European Union (EU).

Ukraines application to become part of the EU was accepted during a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels Thursday.

The approval is a first step in considering Ukraines full membership into the EU. The whole process is expected to take years.

The EUs decision "is a signal to Moscow that Ukraine, and also other countries from the former Soviet Union, cannot belong to the Russian spheres of influence," Ukraine's ambassador to the EU, Vsevolod Chentsov, told Reuters.

Friday marks four months since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops across the border into Ukraine. Russia has called the war a "special military operation." Putin said the conflict was partly an answer to Western encroachment into what Russia considers its sphere of influence.

Russia has long opposed closer links between Ukraine and Western groupings like the EU and the NATO military alliance.

The West sees the war in Ukraine as an unjustified act of aggression by Russia. The conflict has killed thousands, displaced millions and destroyed cities. It has also affected world exports of goods such as food and energy.

Charles Michel is the European Council President. He called the approval of Ukraines application a decisive moment for the European Union.

Members of the European Parliament gave their approval to Ukraine's application hours before the EU meeting in Brussels. Legislators voted to pass a resolution that calls on EU heads of state and government to move without delay" and live up to their historical responsibility."

The EU's 27 nations have been united in backing Ukraines resistance to Russias invasion. They have approved a number of economic sanctions against Moscow.

But EU leaders were at first split on how quickly the group should move to accept Ukraine as a member. The nations with the biggest concerns were the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.

But Ukraine's application got a boost last week by the European Commission, which expressed its support after receiving answers from Ukraine from a series of questions sent in April and May.

Ukraine recently received additional support after the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania visited the country and promised to back its candidacy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke with 11 EU leaders on Wednesday, after holding calls with nine others the day before. He said the meeting in Brussels represents a historic session of the European Council."

Im Bryan Lynn.

The Associated Press and Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports 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

application  n. a formal and usually written request for something

sphere  n. a subject or area of knowledge, work, etc.

encroach  v. gradually take away someones rights, power, etc. or get control of something, often without being noticed

decisive  adj. strongly affecting how a situation will progress or end

sanction  n. an action taken to force a country to obey international laws by limiting trade or aid to the country

boost  n. something that makes you feel more confident or happy or that helps something increase of improve
The World Health Organization (WHO) held an emergency meeting Thursday over the worldwide spread of monkeypox.

The health agency is considering whether to declare the outbreak a global health emergency. But critics say the WHO is only deciding to act because the disease has spread to the West from Africa.

The declaration means the WHO considers the monkeypox outbreak to be an extraordinary event and that the disease is at risk of spreading to more countries.

Many scientists doubt any declaration would help slow the disease. Developed countries recording the most recent cases are already moving quickly to shut down the spread.

Last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the recent spread of monkeypox unusual and concerning. It has been identified in more than 40 countries, mostly in Europe. Monkeypox has sickened people for many years in central and west Africa, where one version of the disease there kills up to 10 percent of people. Outside of Africa, no deaths have been reported.

Oyewale Tomori is a Nigerian virologist who advises several WHO groups. He was critical of the WHO for organizing a meeting only after the disease appeared in Europe. If WHO was really worried about monkeypox spread, they could have convened their emergency committee years ago when it reemerged in Nigeria in 2017, he said.

Until last month, monkeypox had not caused large outbreaks beyond Africa. And scientists have not found any major genetic changes in the virus. A leading adviser to WHO said last month that the increase of cases in Europe was likely tied to sexual activity among gay and bisexual men at two music festivals in Spain and Belgium.

People with monkeypox often experience symptoms like fever, body aches and a rash. Most recover within weeks without needing medical care.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed more than 3,300 cases of monkeypox in 42 countries where the virus has not been typically seen. More than 80 percent of cases are in Europe. Meanwhile, Africa has already seen more than 1,400 cases this year, including 62 deaths.

David Fidler is a health expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. He said WHOs new attention towards monkeypox during its spread beyond Africa could worsen the divide between rich and poor countries seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that it was unclear if Africans even wanted monkeypox vaccines, given the danger of more common diseases like malaria and HIV.

Unless African governments specifically ask for vaccines, it might be a bit patronizing to send them because its in the Wests interest to stop monkeypox from being exported, Fidler said.

In January 2020, the WHO declared that COVID-19 was an international emergency. But few countries took notice until March, when the organization described it as a pandemic, weeks after other health organizations had already done so. The WHO was later criticized for its response throughout the pandemic, which may have created a quicker response to monkeypox, experts say.

Salim Abdool Karim is a disease expert with the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. He said the WHO and others should be doing more to stop monkeypox from spreading around the world. But he did not think an emergency declaration would help much. He said Africa knows how to handle diseases like monkeypox.

Maybe they need vaccines in Europe to stop monkeypox, but here, we have been able to control it with very simple measures, Abdool Karim added.

Im Dan Novak.

Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting from The Associated Press.

_________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

global  adj. involving the entire world

extraordinary  adj. very different from what is normal or ordinary

convene  v. to come together in a group for a meeting

gay  adj. sexually or romantically attracted to someone who is the same sex

bisexual  adj. sexually attracted to both men and women

rash  n. a group of red spots on the skin that is caused by an illness or a reaction to something

patronize  v. to talk to in a way that shows that you believe you are more intelligent or better than other people
Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating emancipation of enslaved African Americans, is observed Monday, June 20. Here is a list of schedules and closures for the weekend:
ELWOOD  BHA Real Estate will soon have a physical presence in Elwood in The Home Agency building.

BHA Real Estate and The Home Agency owner Jim Baldonado made the announcement on social media on Wednesday, June 22.

Baldonado noted at LeahAnn Brell with Brell Realty recently announced she would be taking a break from selling real estate and the office would be closed in phases as all of their listings are sold.

For years we have supported and respected LeahAnn Brell and the business she ran and appreciated having a real estate professional nearby, Baldonado said, Moving forward, it is important that our community continues to have reliable and trusted real estate professionals to represent and take care of Elwood community homeowners and future buyers.

To that end, Baldonado said, I am pleased to have the ability to extend our reach to provide excellent service and professionalism to the community of Elwood. In the near future, BHA Real Estate will officially have an office located within the Home Agency building in Elwood.

BHA Real Estate Associate Broker Jacey Edson said BHA is in communication with the Nebraska Real Estate Commission to make the expansion official and will be announcing more specifics on the walk-in availability for locals in the near future.

BHA Real Estate has been a recognizable name and leader in the real estate industry of Dawson and Gosper County for the last 30 years predominately serving Lexington, Johnson Lake, and surrounding areas.
LINCOLN  The City of Gothenburg, Neb. (pop. 3,469) has earned recognition from the State of Nebraska for ongoing developments in the communitys manufacturing and housing industries. This week, Lt. Gov. Mike Foley and the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) announced the Citys recertification in Nebraskas Economic Development Certified Community (EDCC) program. DED Business Development Consultant Ashley Rice-Gerlach joined Lt. Gov. Foley to honor local leaders during a special presentation on Wednesday, June 22.

Gothenburg is one of 40 Nebraska communities to earn EDCC status in the program, sponsored by the Nebraska Diplomats and administered by DED. State officials established the EDCC program in 2005 to recognize communities for preparedness to attract new industries and grow existing businesses. As part of the certification process, qualifying communities must identify a well-defined program that actively engages with their existing business community to offer a supportive environment for economic development. This includes documenting available sites and buildings, supporting local financing and incentive programs and initiating strategic planning. The City of Gothenburg received its first EDCC certification in 2007 and earned recertifications in 2010, 2016 and 2021.

Over the past five years, Gothenburg leaders have expanded their communitys strong relationships with the State of Nebraska and DED, the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority (NIFA) and West Central Nebraska Development District (WCNDD). Dawson Area Development (DAD), Gothenburg Improvement Company (GIC) and City officials work together to promote housing and industrial development and attract new businesses, which have resulted in successful economic projects assisted through regional and state partnerships.

The community welcomed the expansion of Iowa-based Curbtender, Inc. in 2019, which established the garbage truck compacter manufacturers first Nebraska location. The company purchased the former Baldwin Filters building following GICs acquisition of the property and complements Gothenburgs strong manufacturing presence established by Parker Hannifin, Wearparts, Gothenburg Feed Products and Dayton Phoenix.

GIC appreciates the chance to work with property owners to optimize local opportunities for economic development, said GIC President Nate Wyatt. Marketing Baldwins former facility was an important part of our efforts to recruit and welcome Curbtender to our community, and we are excited about the companys continued decision to invest in Nebraska.

Officials from the Cities of Gothenburg and Cozad, GIC and DAD have worked extensively to create housing development opportunities through successful partnerships with NIFA and the State of Nebraska. Leadership from both cities resulted in an $850,000 award from the states Rural Workforce Housing Fund (RWHF) to build single and family owner-occupied homes and rental housing units. The City and NIFA played essential roles in establishing RWHF assistance by contributing matching funds.

Four new RWHF homes were recently completed in Gothenburgs Crossing Second Subdivision, which is one of two subdivisions established by the Citys approval of $1.4 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF). Over the past 24 months, 11 total homes were constructed in Gothenburg and Cozad.

As leaders from Dawson Area Development and Gothenburg Improvement Company continue to prioritize development within the areas top industries, they understand that housing opportunities are crucial to help create and retain jobs, said Lt. Gov. Foley. Gothenburgs unique regional partnerships have contributed to considerable growth in the community and have complemented its success as one of central Nebraskas first EDCCs.

DAD remains highly focused on job retention efforts in Dawson County. DAD recently utilized CARES Act funding via WCNDD for customized employee training. Local business owners were offered a variety of course options to share with employees, including marketing skills, customer service and logic control training. DAD consistently prioritizes student engagement with local business leaders by hosting annual career fairs and mini-industry tours. In 2021, Dawson Public Power District shared its mobile STEM lab with students in the countys school districts.

In 2019, the National Civic League recognized the City of Gothenburg as one of 10 All-American Cities for local leaders work in inclusive civic engagement. Gothenburg represented the smallest community in the annual group of award winners and emphasized the communitys All Means All philosophy, which encourages the Citys emphasis on stakeholder engagement for local development.

Community collaboration played an important role in the development of Gothenburg Healths $29.5 million facility which includes a health and wellness center. The YMCA building includes a high school regulation-size gym, four-lane swimming pool, second floor walking track and educational space.

Gothenburg is a community that gets the job done no matter what, said GIC Housing Director RobynGeiser. Our community leaders believe in the work that they do, and in making their community the very best possible place to live.

For additional information on the Economic Development Certified Community Program, Contact Ashley Rice-Gerlach at 308-655-0919 or ashley.gerlach@nebraska.gov, or visit https://opportunity.nebraska.gov/programs/community/edcc/.

Lt. Gov. Mike Foley celebrates City of Gothenburg as a 15-year member of Nebraskas Economic Development Certified Community program.
BOISE, Idaho (AP)  Idahos 44 counties will receive a combined $35.8 million under a program intended to offset the loss of property taxes on federally managed land within the state, the Interior Department announced Thursday.

President Joe Biden in March signed an appropriations bill that included full funding of $549.4 million for Payments in Lieu of Taxes, or PILT, for 2022, with payments to states now finalized.

About 63% of Idaho is federally managed lands, and its PILT payment is the seventh-highest among states this year. California is receiving the most at about $59 million, followed by New Mexico and Utah at about $44 million each.

This year's Idaho PILT payment is an increase from the $34.5 million the state received last year.

This program is an important example of the federal governments commitment to continuing to be a good neighbor to the communities we serve," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. "The nearly $550 million being distributed will help local governments carry out vital services, such as firefighting and police protection, construction of public schools and roads, and search-and-rescue operations.

The PILT payments are made annually by the Interior Department and its agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management. The payments also cover federal lands administered by the Forest Service and other agencies.

In Idaho, Elmore County is receiving the most at $2.7 million, with Cassia and Blaine County at roughly $2.5 million. The payments are calculated based on the number of acres of federal land within each county or jurisdiction and the population of those areas.

U.S. lawmakers have at times criticized the PILT program and its payments as insufficient or undependable.

Idaho lawmakers on the Federalism Committee, which deals with state sovereignty issues, last month hired a Utah company for $250,000 to appraise federal land in three counties to determine how much tax revenue the land would generate if it were privately owned and subject to property taxes.

The contract with Utah-based Aeon AI covers federal land in three of Idahos 44 counties  Boundary County in northern Idaho, Canyon County in southwestern Idaho and Clearwater County in north-central Idaho.

Some Idaho lawmakers have said that the state should get more than it has historically received from the PILT program. The results from the Aeon AI appraisal could bolster that argument.

Under this year's PILT payment, Boundary County is receiving $886,000, Canyon County $56,000 and Clearwater County $896,000.

The Idaho House and Senate last year passed a concurrent resolution approving the $250,000 and tasking the Federalism Committee with finding out how much money the federal public land would generate in property taxes if privately owned. Concurrent resolutions dont need a signature from the governor. The resolution doesnt say what the committee should do with the information after it has it.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Three adults and two juveniles have been arrested after fleeing authorities in two stolen vehicles on June 9, Portage police reported.

Officers on June 9 observed a vehicle in Portages downtown that had been reported stolen in Madison, and as officers attempted to stop it, the vehicle and a second vehicle drove off together at high speed, Capt. Daniel Garrigan said in a statement.

Numerous Portage officers and Columbia County Sheriffs Office deputies pursued the vehicle through Portage and then east on Interstate 39/90/94 toward Madison, Garrigan said.

During the pursuit, police learned that the second vehicle also was stolen from the Madison area, Garrigan said.

One of the vehicles and its occupants were apprehended on I-39/90/94, just north of the Columbia/Dane County line, while the second vehicle eluded law enforcement, Garrigan said.

As of Wednesday, Portage Police Department detectives have identified and police have arrested three adults and two juveniles they believe were involved, Garrigan said.

Tyell A. Allen-Williams, 18, of Windsor; Taquirria S. Smith, 19, of Sun Prairie; Samya B. McReynolds, 18, of Madison, and the two juveniles, who werent identified, face charges of operating a motor vehicle without owner consent, fleeing/eluding police, and second-degree reckless endangering safety, Garrigan said.

Portage police said they were assisted by the Columbia County Sheriffs Office, Dane County Sheriffs Office, Wisconsin State Patrol, Deforest, police, Madison police, Sun Prairie police, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, and both the Columbia and Dane County district attorneys offices.

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A Madison family reported missing on Monday was found safe in Illinois, police reported Wednesday.

Police were contacted on Monday to check on Samella Robinson, 33, and her four children at their West Side residence, but could not find her or 12-year-old Kierra, 8-year-old Yafa, 5-year-old Phillip and 9-month-old Samella, police spokesperson Stephanie Fryer said in a statement Tuesday night.

The investigation did not identify any signs of foul play associated with their disappearance, Fryer said.

Robinson has ties to Chicago and may have recently spent time in central Illinois, Fryer said Tuesday, adding that detectives have reached out to law enforcement in Illinois for help.

Police said at 1:36 p.m. Wednesday that the family had been found safe in Illinois. They provided no other details.

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OSHKOSH  A man serving two life terms for killing a Wisconsin couple in a slaying that went unsolved for decades has died in prison, state corrections officials confirmed.

Raymand Vannieuwenhoven, 85, was convicted last year of fatally shooting 25-year-old David Schuldes and 24-year-old Ellen Matheys in a Marinette County park on July 9, 1976, in Silver Cliff, about 200 miles north of Milwaukee.

For decades, the widower and father of five children lived quietly among the 800 residents of Lakewood, a northeastern Wisconsin town surrounded by forests and small lakes.

After the slayings went unsolved for more than 40 years, cold case investigators determined in 2019 that a DNA sample taken from evidence at the crime scene came the Vannieuwenhoven family. A DNA sample from Vannieuwenhoven himself  obtained from a licked envelope for a survey on police performance that he filled out  matched the sample from the scene, according to the criminal complaint.

Vannieuwenhoven was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree sexual assault. The sexual assault charge involving Matheys was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired.

Online court records updated Wednesday listed Vannieuwenhoven as deceased. The Wisconsin Department of Corrections said Vannieuwenhoven died June 17 at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution, WLUK-TV reported.

Vannieuwenhoven had denied involvement in the slayings and was appealing the conviction.

In March of 2020, a judge ruled that Vannieuwenhoven did not understand the proceedings and could not assist in his own defense. The judge ordered him to undergo inpatient treatment at Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison. By that November the judge determined Vannieuwenhoven was able to understand the court proceedings and assist in his own defense and the case moved to trial.
The DeForest Police Department said Thursday that is seeking attempted homicide and sexual assault charges against a man already charged with kidnapping and stalking.

Chief James Olson said in a statement that his department has been analyzing evidence in the investigation of the case against Gabriel Savage, 19, who was charged in April with attempted kidnapping and stalking.

Savage posted bail and was released from the Dane County Jail last Friday and after his release, investigators were made aware of new information regarding the original investigation that supported additional charges, Olson said.

No details were released regarding the new information.

Savage was arrested again on Wednesday and returned to the Dane County Jail on tentative charges of four counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree sexual assault of a child with the threat of force, and attempted first-degree sexual assault with the threat of force, Olson said.

The Dane County District Attorneys Office will review the new information and decide what, if any new charges Savage will face. Savage has another court appearance scheduled for Friday afternoon.

The DeForest Police Department believes this is an isolated incident and no additional public safety threat remains regarding this investigation, Olson said. We ask the community to remain patient with this process.  Over the course of the investigation, we have remained in contact with the identified victims and are taking all necessary precautions to ensure their safety.

Savage was charged April 8 with stalking and attempted kidnapping after police say that on the night of March 20 he parked outside a young womans house in DeForest with a semi-automatic rifle, handcuffs and a plan to kidnap her, sexually assault her and threaten to kill her, according to writings obtained by officers.

Savage allegedly had an infatuation with the woman while they were in high school together. The woman told police she barely knew Savage.

We were able to stop an unimaginable tragedy, Olson said at an April 8 news conference detailing the case.

When DeForest police responded to a 911 caller who reported a suspicious vehicle on a street in the village around 10 p.m. on March 20, they found Savage alone in the car dressed in all black clothing, with an AR-style, semi-automatic rifle in the front passenger compartment of the vehicle. A search of the vehicle found around 270 rounds of ammunition and two pairs of handcuffs.

Savage has multiple mental health conditions and made statements in 2018 that he wanted to commit a school shooting, according to the criminal complaint against him.

Later, officers searched Savages apartment and found handwritten notes detailing a plan to harm a young woman, according to the complaint. Olson said the writings demonstrated a clear and present danger.

Some of the handwritten papers talked about crushing up drugs in a beverage and offering it to the young woman so she became unconscious, sexually assaulting her, and holding the woman at gunpoint and threatening to kill her if she makes any noise, according to the complaint.

Savages mother told officers that her son had an infatuation with a young woman that he had gone to school with since seventh grade, the statement says. His mother gave police a notebook written by Savage that included the young womans name and her address. Savages parents also found a knife and two more sets of handcuffs in their sons vehicle, according to the statement.

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Monday mornings crash on Williamson Street felt familiar to Jon Hain.

A driver, suffering a medical event according to authorities, crashed into two buildings, including the Willy Street Treasure Shop at 1012 Williamson St.

The thrift store joined a list of Williamson Street businesses that have been struck by cars, including Mother Fools Coffeehouse, where Hain is a co-owner.

My first thought is, Oh no, not again, Hain said.

But while some Marquette neighborhood residents and merchants are asking the city to do something, Madisons Traffic Engineering division says few easy solutions exist for making Williamson Street safer.

Not including Mondays crash, five cars have struck buildings on Williamson Street since 2018, Madison police said. Before Monday, the most recent crash came last August, when a driver swerved into Change Boutique at the corner of South Baldwin Street.

In May 2018, an SUV hit Ha Long Bay, a Vietnamese and Thai restaurant at the corner of Williamson and Dickinson streets. And in 2016, the Mother Fools crash closed the coffee shop for nearly a month.

The record of crashes stretches back even further, including an office in 2006 and the now-closed Radio Specialty Co. in 2001. When Hain bought the Mother Fools building, the property records included a newspaper clipping from the late 1960s or early 1970s with a photo of a semi truck impaled in the storefront, he said.

Marquette residents are relieved that nobody was seriously injured, but their frustration is beginning to boil over, said Jatinder Cheema, the former president of the Greater Williamson Area Business Association and director of A Place to Be, a meeting space on Williamson Street.

Why cant something be done? she said. Why does this keep happening?

Its such a pattern now, said Lance Lattimer, secretary of the Marquette Neighborhood Association and chair of its transportation and safety committee. The residents of the Near East Side have gotten far too accustomed to this kind of thing.

A closer look

Cheema, Hain and other area residents and business owners have suggestions, such as slowing traffic and asking for an in-depth study of the street.

The threat of crashes works against efforts to make the street a vibrant area for small businesses, Cheema said.

In my opinion, the cars are going too fast, she said. Even if there is a speed limit, people are texting.

Hain said he planned to contact his alderman, Brian Benford, with suggestions and ask for the city to implement a combination of solutions: protective barriers, such as planters and other structures, and working to slow speeds on Williamson. Benford did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

East Wash factor

Nikki Anderson, owner of Change Boutique, said she didnt know where the problem stemmed from. Im not a civil engineer, she said, but noted that construction cutting off access to East Washington Avenue might also temporarily be contributing to the problem.

East Washington is built to withstand that level of traffic and Willy Street isnt, she said. You cant make it what its not.

The common neighborhood view was that when East Washington was reconstructed in the early 2000s, drivers discovered Willy Street as an alternative and never gave it up, said former 6th District Ald. Marsha Rummel.

But traffic volumes on Williamson have still not reached pre-pandemic levels, according to Thomas Mohr, a Madison traffic engineer.

The city has set the speed limit on Williamson to 25 mph, but only residential streets are eligible for a program that lowers speed limits to 20 mph. And Wisconsin law does not permit speeding cameras and red light cameras, Mohr said.

City analysis

Last year, Traffic Engineering analyzed the previous crashes on Williamson and found few commonalities between each. The crashes all occurred at different intersections, and some were due to drunken driving or medical incidents at the wheel.

It seems like an overall trend, but theres no specific thing you can point at, Mohr said.

The one commonality: In five recent car crashes into buildings on Williamson, including a 2012 crash at Batch Bakehouses old location, every building stood at an intersection.

A parking lane creates a buffer between the street and buildings, Mohr said, except at street corners and at rush hour. Even then, the heavier traffic prevents speeding; high-speed crashes mostly take place when traffic is lighter, he said.

Most notably, the distance between buildings and the street on Williamson is smaller than on other streets, with just 5 feet of sidewalk separating the road from many of the buildings, Mohr said.

Theres more opportunity on Willy Street, Mohr said. If theres a crash and the vehicle goes off the street, its pretty much guaranteed to hit a building.

The tight dimensions make adding physical barriers, like bollards, a challenge, he said. And the roads position on the Isthmus makes it difficult to add lanes, while eliminating lanes would just add new problems by creating more congestion, which would lead to increased rear-end crashes, he said.

Lattimer said he had heard similar caveats about the width of Williamson from Traffic Engineering.

Comparisons

But he pointed to other streets with similar widths and building positioning, such as Johnson and Regent streets, and Atwood Avenue  noting that all see fewer car-building crashes, he said.

It cant all be chalked up to bad luck, he said. There has to be a difference somewhere.

Atwood offers the closest comparison, Mohr said, as its buildings stand close to the street. But those buildings are still further back than those on Williamson.

And the cross-street traffic on Atwood and Monroe doesnt match the levels on Williamson, where the commercial activity stretches for longer and occupies more street corners.

But Lattimer also said that Traffic Engineering had previously cited Williamsons role as a conduit through the Isthmus as a reason to keep speeds relatively high.

Their primary concern is to move traffic as quickly and efficiently as possible, he said. But the city could take measures that allow cars to move through the area while improving safety, Lattimer said, such as turning the parking lanes into turning lanes.

Options wither

But merchants have opposed removing parking lanes in the past, Mohr said  adding that removing the lanes would likely result in increased speeds.

And most of the car-versus-building crashes on Williamson have happened at off-peak hours, Mohr said, noting that there isnt a tradeoff between safety and moving traffic through the Isthmus.

I am hoping that Williamson Street is able to contribute its fair share of traffic flow on the Isthmus, but to do that in balance with the needs of the community, pedestrians and bicyclists, said Marlisa Kopenski Condon, a Marquette Neighborhood Association board member.

The association has advocated for other measures in the past, such as moving power lines on Williamson underground and planting full-size trees that studies show lead to reduced speeds, Lattimer said.

That idea failed to gain traction: Undergrounding costs around $500,000 a block on average and less directly provides traffic calming benefits, Rummel said.

The association also proposed adding raised intersections, Lattimer said, which did not come into existence either.

They havent been as receptive as we would like in addressing those concerns, Lattimer said. This is one more serious crash to add to the list. I hope it changes their mind.

Meetings planned

Traffic Engineering has made changes to Williamson in the past. In 2011, the division narrowed the street width by four feet between Blount Street and Baldwin Street, added pedestrian islands and colored crosswalks and installed yield to pedestrians signs, Mohr said. Other pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly renovations have followed since 2018, he said.

The Marquette Neighborhood Association is working to schedule a meeting including the business association, Madison police and Traffic Engineering, Lattimer said.

Unlike Haim and Lattimer, Anderson has no plans to engage with the city on Williamsons traffic patterns: She said she remains focused on rebuilding her business.

It shouldnt be something that I have to advocate for, she said. Its pretty clear that theres an issue. I dont need to remind anybody that its self-evident.

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Three of Wisconsins largest coal-fired power plants will continue operating for at least another two years.

Alliant Energy and the WEC Energy Group each announced plans Thursday to delay previously announced retirements of the Columbia Energy Center in Portage, Edgewater plant in Sheboygan County and the South Oak Creek plant near Racine.

The companies cited reliability concerns as well as supply chain issues that have delayed construction of solar farms.

Earlier this year, the Midwest grid operator MISO warned that capacity could fall short of demand in certain situations this summer, increasing the risk of rolling blackouts, though Wisconsin utilities stressed they have ample generation available.

A subsequent report projected a potential capacity deficit in 2023, though MISO said there could also be a surplus of capacity.

Alliant said it will continue running its Edgewater plant, previously scheduled to close this year, until June 2025. The two generators at the Columbia plant, which had been scheduled to shut down in 2023 and 2024, will continue running until June 2026.

Shifting the retirement dates for our coal-fired facilities in Wisconsin helps ensure we can weather multiple uncertainties while continuing to add cleaner, renewable energy to the grid, said David de Leon, president of Alliants Wisconsin utility.

Despite the delays, de Leon said Alliant remains on track to cut carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel generation in half by 2030.

WEC said two units in the 1,100-megawatt South Oak Creek plant will now run into 2024, a year later than previously announced; retirement of the other two will be delayed about 18 months until late 2025.

We Energies president Scott Lauber indicated the company plans to operate the plant in a limited capacity and that the company remains committed to achieving aggressive environmental goals, including an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by the end of 2030.

Because we plan to operate the older units at Oak Creek largely during the days of highest customer demand, were confident that we can remain on track to achieve these industry-leading targets, Lauber said.

Bad news

Environmental advocates panned the announcement and called for policy changes that would speed the clean energy transition.

We dont get a lot of good news on the climate change front, and this is just another bad news day, said Brett Korte, staff attorney for Clean Wisconsin.

Don Ferber, volunteer leader of the Wisconsin Sierra Club chapter, said any delay in retiring coal plants means continued pollution that harms air and water quality, as well as the climate.

Wisconsin is already behind in bringing new clean energy online  thats how we got here, Ferber said. Further delay in transitioning from volatile fossil fuels only makes our energy more expensive and less secure.

Climate scientists say the world must cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and eliminate them entirely by 2050 to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change.

While the short-term capacity issues need to be addressed, Korte said the state lags behind its neighbors in clean energy development.

The failure to transition our grid off fossil fuels predates all these challenges, Korte said. Were concerned about their ability to meet their targets. This only makes it worse.

Korte said policy makers and utilities should be doing more to incentivize customer-owned renewable energy rather than focusing exclusively on utility projects.

Competition is supposed to be good, he said.

Rate impact fuzzy

Last year, Alliant announced plans to shutter the 1,100-megawatt Columbia plant by 2025, saying it would avoid some $250 million in maintenance and upgrade expenses. The Edgewater closure was expected to save about $200 million.

The company is in the process of adding about 1,100 megawatts of solar generation.

WEC planned to close South Oak Creek, its oldest coal plant, by May 2024 as part of a plan to replace 1,800 megawatts of fossil fuel generation with clean energy, storage and gas.

Chairman Gale Klappa said at the time the closure could save about $50 million a year in operating costs.

Its unclear how the delayed retirements will affect customer rates.

We Energies is seeking a roughly 8% rate hike that factored in savings from the plant closures, though WEC spokesperson Brendan Conway said the extension is unlikely to have a significant impact.

Alliant spokesperson Tony Palese said continued operation of the plants will not increase profits for the company, as revenues are passed on to ratepayers. Palese said in the long run customers will still benefit from the transition to clean energy sources that cost less to operate and have no fuel costs.

Prudent move

Todd Stuart, executive director of the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group, said the decision appears to be prudent in light of questions about who will pay for plants that are retired ahead of schedule.

Given the amount of all the fossil fuel retirements in the region, plus the rising costs and supply chain issues, now is a good time to raise questions regarding the speed and cost of the massive utility capital spending in Wisconsin, Stuart said.

Tom Content, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, said Thursdays announcements signal a need for the type of resource planning that Wisconsin lawmakers abolished in 1997 but is done in neighboring states like Minnesota.

We are so reactive instead of proactive, he said. Everythings on a case-by-case basis instead of looking at things more holistically.

Columbia, which is jointly owned by Alliant, Madison Gas and Electric and WEC subsidiary Wisconsin Public Service Corp., is the third-largest coal plant in Wisconsin, behind WECs Elm Road and South Oak Creek plants.

Wisconsins oldest coal-fired plant, South Oak Creek, is also the single largest source of toxic metals dumped into Lake Michigan, according to a Chicago Tribune analysis of federal data.

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A former Dane County judge who legally represented former President Donald Trump coordinated with U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson to pass documents falsely stating Trump won Wisconsin to then-Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, newly revealed text messages show.

Johnson, R-Oshkosh, also told conservative radio host Vicki McKenna on Thursday that the documents in question came to him from the office of U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa. But a Kelly spokesperson told a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Johnsons comments were patently false.

Mr. Kelly has not spoken to Sen. Johnson for the better part of a decade, and he has no knowledge of the claims Mr. Johnson is making related to the 2020 election, the statement said.

The Wisconsin document, signed by 10 Republicans who convened in the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, was filled out on the same day the Democratic slate of Wisconsin electors met in the same building to deliver the states 10 electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden. The meeting of Republicans occurred after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Biden had won the election.

We need to get a document on the Wisconsin electors to you for the VP immediately, former Dane County Circuit Court Judge Jim Troupis told Johnson at 11:36 a.m. Jan. 6, 2021, according to texts provided to conservative media outlet Just the News. Is there a staff person I can talk to immediately. Thanks Jim T.

The conservative outlet also reported that Kelly was in communication with Troupis, who then connected with Johnson. Troupis did not return a phone call or message about why he texted Johnson about the documents.

Six minutes later, screenshots of the text messages show, Johnson connected his chief of staff, Sean Riley, with Troupis in a text chain. Riley was newly serving in Johnsons office and was previously a Trump White House adviser.

An hour after Johnson referred Troupis to Riley, Riley sought the assistance of a Pence aide in passing the document, and another falsely asserting Trump won Michigan, to the vice president but was rebuffed.

Johnson needs to hand something to VPOTUS please advise, Riley texted Pence aide Chris Hodgson at 12:37 p.m. that day, moments before the Congress met in joint session to certify the Electoral College vote count.

What is it? Hodgson replied.

Alternate slate of electors for MI and WI because archivist didnt receive them, Riley said.

Do not give that to him, Hodgson said.

More details

Those communications were first revealed on Tuesday by the U.S. House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. But newly revealed texts from Just the News show Pences aide expected those documents through the mail and denied the request because, he said, Pence shouldnt receive any unscreened mail.

Hes about to walk over to preside over the joint session, those were supposed to come in through the mail, Hodgson told Riley.

I can do that. Anything else? Riley replied.

The VP absolutely should not receive any mail that hasnt been screened, Hodgson said.

Understood, Johnson understands, Riley said.

After that exchange, Just the News reported, Johnson texted Troupis and said, We have been informed the VP cannot accept any unsealed mail and I cannot hand it to him.

Two days before the text exchange between Johnsons office and that of the vice president, according to another text the House committee disclosed Tuesday, Wisconsin Republican Party executive director Mark Jefferson texted an unidentified person saying, Freaking trump idiots want someone to fly original elector papers to the senate President. Theyre gonna call one of us to tell us just what the hell is going on.

Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Anna Kelly did not respond to questions Thursday about whether anybody from the party sent the fake slate of electors anywhere besides the National Archives. Republican Party of Wisconsin chair Paul Farrow did not return a call. A package tracker shows the documents were shipped from Madison on Dec. 16, 2020, and delivered to the National Archives Jan. 4, 2021, the same day of Jeffersons text.

Johnson also told McKenna he didnt know what the documents contained despite Troupis  whos now under fire for coordinating with Wisconsin Republicans who posed as electors  telling Johnson he needed to pass Pence a document on the Wisconsin electors.

After the Select Committee hearing Tuesday, Johnson told a CNN reporter, I had no involvement in an alternate slate of electors. I had no idea this was even going to be delivered to us. It got delivered staff to staff. My chief of staff did the right thing  contacted the vice presidents staff. They said (they) didnt want it, so we didnt deliver it. Thats the end of story.

I was aware that we got something they wanted to be delivered to the vice president, Johnson continued as reporters questioned him. I mean, you guys, this took place in the span of a few minutes. The story ended. Theres nothing to this.

Wisconsin electors

Republicans have said the meeting to sign the document was to preserve their legal options amid litigation surrounding the election. Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro sent a memo to Troupis on Nov. 18, 2020, detailing the Republicans eventual plan to pose as electors.

One of those fake electors, former Wisconsin Republican Party chair Andrew Hitt, told the House committee in a video presented Tuesday that he was told their electoral votes would only count if a court ruled in the former presidents favor.

The most recent revelation provides more context to Johnsons efforts to scrutinize the 2020 election despite voicing confidence in the results on a secret recording.

On Dec. 16, 2020, Johnson, as chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, hosted a hearing on irregularities in the 2020 election, which critics slammed for amplifying election disinformation.

In a statement following the hearing, Johnson said he held the hearing to investigate irregularities that have yet to be fully explained, fully investigated, and solutions passed to restore confidence in future elections.

Yet, on Aug. 31, 2021, a liberal activist released a secretly recorded video of Johnson telling her there was nothing obviously skewed about the results of the 2020 election.

There isnt, he said. Collectively, Republicans got 1.661 million votes, 51,000 votes more than Trump got. Trump lost by 20,000. If Trump got all the Republicans, if all the Republicans voted for Trump the way they voted for the Assembly candidates  he would have won. He didnt get 51,000 votes that other Republicans got. And thats why he lost.

But Johnson has also called for state lawmakers to take over federal elections and ignore the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Johnson has also consistently supported former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gablemans effort to review the 2020 election.

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Michael Gableman spent the first two months of his review of the 2020 election using a now-deleted personal email account and working out of a public library, and regularly discarded records even after requests for documents from his office had been submitted under the state's open records law, the former state Supreme Court justice testified Thursday.

Gableman, who provided roughly 90 minutes of testimony, said he spent most of July and August last year getting familiar with Wisconsin elections and attending a pair of meetings, including one hosted by MyPillow CEO and election denier Mike Lindell. Gableman said he tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after the August meeting in South Dakota.

The case before Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn is one of three open records lawsuits filed by liberal watchdog group American Oversight and focuses on whether Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, properly handled records requests related to Gableman's probe.

Ultimately, Bailey-Rihn said Gableman's "contradicting testimony" showed that "whatever work that was done was minimal, that the taxpayers were paying $11,000 a month to do."

"The documents were disposed of, which may or may not be a separate issue, and frankly I think at this point theres no more documents to be gained from this," she said after Gableman's testimony.

Bailey-Rihn ruled that Vos will not be penalized for a previous contempt order related to the case, but said she will decide later if Vos should face penalties related to how his office handled requests for records related to Gableman's review. A hearing has been scheduled for July 28 in the matter.

Gableman was hired a year ago by Vos, under pressure from Donald Trump to review the election the former president lost to President Joe Biden by just under 21,000 votes in Wisconsin. While the probe was originally allocated $676,000 in taxpayer funds, invoices have shown that ongoing court battles surrounding the review have pushed the cost to nearly $900,000.

A recount, court decisions and multiple reviews have affirmed that Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin. Only 24 people out of nearly 3.3 million who cast ballots have been charged with election fraud in Wisconsin.

Vos earlier this year paused Gableman's probe to allow time for five pending lawsuits related to the review to play out in court and halved Gableman's monthly salary from $11,000 to $5,500.

In testimony Thursday, Gableman said the early months of his review were spent getting up to speed on Wisconsin elections at a public library in New Berlin because he does not own a personal computer. He also spent time locating an office in Brookfield and recovering from a COVID-19 infection following the South Dakota event that Lindell billed as presenting "irrefutable" proof that Chinese-backed hackers helped steal the 2020 election for Biden.

Gableman said in testimony he was "very disappointed with the lack of substance to back up those claims."

On Friday, the 13th of August, I drive right from South Dakota to the emergency room ... where I get eventually diagnosed with COVID," Gableman said. "I spend the next two weeks solidly in bed ... with very, very unpleasant symptoms, and then the third week Im half in bed and half able to get up, so if you want to characterize it as no work, I guess you can."

Gableman also used his personal Yahoo email account during the first two months of his review, before he received an official state email address. Gableman said he had a staffer delete the personal account sometime in August, after a records request was filed, and said those documents cannot be recovered.

Asked by Bailey-Rihn if he searched the personal account for records responsive to the request, Gableman said he believed so, but also noted he was "unaware of a way to search a discontinued email."

"Do I specifically recall going back? I dont, but I would have looked at every email account available to me, every device that was available to me. I would have looked for any records," Gableman said.

While Gableman's staffer Zakory Niemierowicz said in his deposition that he and several of those working in the Office of Special Counsel, including Gableman, communicate using Signal, an app that allows for the immediate deletion of messages, Gableman said Thursday he used the app briefly, "but I didn't like it."

Another question, raised by American Oversight attorney Christa Westerberg, related to Gableman's trip last year to Arizona to observe its widely ridiculed election review. Westerberg pointed to records indicating that five hotel rooms were booked for the trip, but Gableman said only three people accompanied him  attorneys Andrew Kloster, Carol Mathias and Stuart Karge.

"There was the four of us, thats all," Gableman said. "No fifth person.

Gableman's testimony Thursday stood in stark contrast to his courtroom appearance two weeks ago when he lashed out at Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington while refusing to answer questions in a separate public records case.

Gableman was much more reserved in his responses to Bailey-Rihn and Westerberg, and at one point borrowed the judge's reading glasses to read from a document.

Remington ultimately held Gableman's office in contempt for failing to adequately respond to the requests and ordered Gableman be fined $2,000 a day until he complies. He also directed Gableman's "sneering" conduct in Remington's courtroom to the office that regulates attorneys and judges in Wisconsin to take possible action against his license to practice law.

Gableman has appealed the ruling and is seeking a review by a three-judge panel in Wisconsin's District 2 Court of Appeals in Waukesha.

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Six weeks before primary elections for state and federal offices, the Wisconsin Elections Commission is warning voters to beware of elections-related mailings that, if heeded, could interfere with their ability to vote.

One in particular from Austin, Texas-based Election Mail Service tells recipients they are not registered to vote and directs them to do so with the commission, according to the mailer and a Thursday news release from the commission.

The mailer is being sent to many people who are already registered to vote or have already requested absentee ballots, the commission said. The commission does not process voter registration forms; under state law, thats the job of local municipal clerks, of which there are some 1,850 across the state.

The WEC and local election officials are getting calls from registered voters who have already requested their absentee ballots, and who say they thought the mailer meant they had done something wrong and needed to make another request, the news release says.

Election Mail Services address is a post office box. Elections Commission spokesperson John Smalley said the commission doesnt know whos behind the group.

Their mailing database is obviously outdated, and we have no idea where they got it. Along with the mis-targeted, already-registered people, they are also sending mailers to people who have been deceased for years, Smalley said.

The Elections Commission says Wisconsin residents can check voter registration status with their local clerks or the commission at myvote.wi.gov.

Political and independent groups are allowed to send out voter registration and absentee ballot request forms, Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe said, but the commission advises residents to scrutinize them to make sure theyre legitimate.

The deadline to request an absentee ballot for the Aug. 9 primary election is Aug. 4, but the U.S. Postal Service advises voters to mail their ballots at least one week ahead of the election so they arrive at clerks offices on time.

The general election is Nov. 8.

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TOKYO (AP)  Okinawa marked the 77th anniversary Thursday of the end of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, with the governor calling for a further reduction of the U.S. military presence there as local fears grow that the southern Japanese islands will become embroiled in regional military tension.

The Battle of Okinawa killed about 200,000 people, nearly half of them Okinawan residents. Japan's wartime military, in an attempt to delay a U.S. landing on the main islands, essentially sacrificed the local population.

Many in Okinawa are worried about the growing deployment of Japanese missile defense and amphibious capabilities on outer islands that are close to geopolitical hotspots like Taiwan.

At a ceremony marking the June 23, 1945, end of the battle, about 300 attendants in Okinawa, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other officials, offered a moment of silence at noon and placed chrysanthemums for the war dead. The number of attendants was scaled down because of coronavirus worries.

At the ceremony in Itoman city on Okinawas main island, Gov. Denny Tamaki spoke of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying the destruction of towns, buildings and the local culture, as well as Ukrainians' constant fear, remind us of our memory of the ground battle on Okinawa that embroiled citizens 77 years ago."

We are struck by unspeakable shock, he said.

Tamaki also vowed to continue efforts to abolish nuclear weapons and renounce war in order to never let Okinawa become a battlefield.

In May, Okinawa marked the 50th anniversary of its reversion to Japan in 1972, two decades after the U.S. occupation ended in most of the country.

Today, a majority of the 50,000 U.S. troops based in Japan under a bilateral security pact and 70% of U.S. military facilities are still in Okinawa, which accounts for only 0.6% of Japanese land.

Because of the U.S. bases, Okinawa faces noise, pollution, accidents and crime related to American troops, Tamaki said.

Kishida acknowledged the need for more government efforts to reduce Okinawas burden from U.S. military bases as well as more support for the islands economic development, which fell behind during their 27-year U.S. occupation.

Resentment and frustration run deep in Okinawa over the heavy U.S. presence and Tokyos lack of efforts to negotiate with Washington to balance the security burden between mainland Japan and the southern island group.

Kishida, citing the worsening security environment in regional seas in the face of threats from China, North Korea and Russia, has pledged to bolster Japan's military capability and budget in coming years, including enemy attack capabilities that critics say interfere with Japan's pacifist Constitution.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
BOSTON (AP)  State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz said Thursday that she is ending her campaign for governor of Massachusetts, leaving state Attorney General Maura Healey as the only viable Democrat still in the running.

Chang-Diaz, in her announcement that came one year to the day after she declared that she was entering the race, said she would instead turn her focus to making sure down-ballot candidates who share her values and approach to put courage over politics get elected.

I am going to be spending my time campaigning and marshaling my supporters and the movement weve built for these Courage Democrats down ballot, candidates who walk the walk when it comes to our values, she said in the statement. I have no doubt that they will fight to put courage over politics in our state, and I am going to be using my energy to help put them into office.

Chang-Diaz's name will remain on the Sept. 6 primary ballot.

Two Republicans are vying for their party's backing in the September primary: former state Rep. Geoff Diehl, who has the support of former President Donald Trump, and Wrentham business owner Chris Doughty, who has never before held public office. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker is not seeking a third term.

Healey said she hopes to continue working with Chang-Diaz.

Im deeply grateful to Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz for her many years of service to Massachusetts and her inspired leadership during this campaign, Healey said in written statement. The legacy of her campaign will live on through the young girls who finally saw themselves represented in a candidate for the highest office in the state.

The Republicans left in the race said the decision of Chang-Diaz will help sharpen the differences between their candidacies and Healeys.

Her departure from the race makes this now a clear contest between my vision to make Massachusetts a better place to live and work, and the policies of Maura Healey which would drive more families and businesses to leave our state in search of better opportunities elsewhere, Diehl said in a statement.

Doughty, who is challenging Diehl for the GOP nomination, said its clear Healey muscled Sonia out of the race so that Democrat voters dont have a choice.

We believe that voters should have choices in elections, not coronations, Doughty said in a statement. With (Chang-Diaz) out of the race, it becomes even more critical for Republicans to choose the candidate who has the best chance of defeating Maura Healey.

Chang-Diaz is the daughter of a social worker and the countrys first Latino astronaut, Franklin Chang-Diaz. She was elected as the states first Latina state senator in 2008. Had she been elected, she would have been the first Latina and first Asian American to hold the governor's office.

She would also have become the first woman elected governor in Massachusetts, a title that would now go to Healey, if she wins.

If elected, Healey would also be the first openly gay candidate to serve in the states top political office.

Healey has a strong fundraising edge, with more than $5.2 million in her campaign account as of the end of May, compared with about $15,000 for Diehl and $883,000 for Doughty, most of it coming out of his own pocket.

When she announced her run, Chang-Diaz said she supported the proposed so-called millionaire tax constitutional amendment and pledged to close the racial wealth gap in Massachusetts.

Healey won the partys endorsement with 71% of the delegate votes at the state party convention earlier this month, while Chang-Diaz won 29%.

Other Democrats who had announced runs but have since dropped out include Harvard University professor Danielle Allen and former state Sen. Ben Downing.

Associated Press writer Mark Pratt contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
SANTA FE, New Mexico (AP)  A rural New Mexico county's initial refusal to certify its primary election results sent ripples across the country last week, a symbol of how even the most elemental functions of democracy have become politicized pressure points amid the swirl of lies stemming from the 2020 presidential outcome.

After the Otero County Commission finally relented, one question persisted: Why New Mexico, a state that has not been a political battleground and where Joe Biden beat Donald Trump handily two years ago?

The seeds of the short-lived election crisis, which ended amid a showdown with the secretary of state and an order from the New Mexico Supreme Court, had been planted months before, when David Clements, a lawyer who has gained prominence in conservative circles, and others began raising conspiracy theories and false claims about the last presidential election that came to dominate political discussion in the heavily Republican county.

But its not just Otero County where local election administration is in the crosshairs of conspiracy theorists, and its not just Clements involved in the effort.

Across the country, supporters and allies of former President Donald Trump have been meeting with local officials  sowing doubts about the 2020 election, seeking access to voting equipment and pressing for changes that would upend election administration in their counties. The effort has led to security breaches of voting equipment and, in New Mexico, chaos surrounding what has historically been a routine task.

"You have seen a whole bunch of people  some sincere, some perhaps less sincere  who have rushed to fill the demand to provide evidence of the fraud that Trump created, said David Levine, a former election official who is now a fellow with the Alliance for Securing Democracy.

There was no widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election that could have changed the outcome.

Even before the Nov. 3, 2020, election, Trump was telling his supporters that fraud was the only way he could lose re-election, pointing mostly  and without evidence  to the expansion of mail-in voting during the pandemic.

In the months since, there has been no evidence to support the claims. They have been dismissed by dozens of judges, by Trumps attorney general at the time, and by a coalition of federal and state election and cybersecurity officials who called the 2020 vote the most secure in U.S. history.

That hasnt stopped the false claims from proliferating, driven by a group of Trump supporters who appear at many of the same events and engage with each other regularly.

Clements, a former assistant district attorney in southern New Mexico and former business professor at New Mexico State University, has traveled the country speaking with local government boards, at conservative conventions and to church groups. He was at the cybersymposium last year held by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a key Trump ally who has sought to prove voting machines were somehow manipulated to favor Biden.

Clements popular social media feed on Telegram frequently weaves pronouncements about democracy with scripture and prayer. It also includes video chats with the like-minded.

In one video from March, Clements chatted with Jim Marchant, a Trump loyalist from Nevada who claims elections have long been rigged. Marchant recently won the Republican primary for secretary of state, Nevada's top elections position. He has been a key organizer of a group of America First candidates this year who either deny the outcome of the 2020 presidential election or promote the idea that elections in the U.S. are corrupt.

In the video, Clements and Marchant discuss a county commission strategy that involves pressuring local officials to get rid of the cheat machines so that all ballots are not only cast by hand but also counted by hand. Election experts say hand-counting of ballots is not only less accurate but extremely labor-intensive, potentially delaying results by weeks if not months. They also say it's unnecessary because voting equipment is tested before and after elections to ensure ballots are read and tallied correctly.

A day earlier, county officials in Nye County, Nevada, had voted to request that the county clerk not use ballot tabulators in the upcoming November election. The clerk is opposed to the move and has decided to retire after the primary. Marchant was among those urging commissioners to make the move.

It was the first domino to fall to allow us to get back to fair and transparent elections here in the country, Marchant told Clements. And were going to do it with many more counties right here in Nevada, and hopefully this will encourage others in other states to do the same thing.

Clements was excited about the development and promised to push counties to do the same in his home state of New Mexico, where he once sought the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

Shouldnt the commissioners care about whether I trust the system or not? Clements told Marchant. "I love how you just cut through all the noise.

This week, Clements is scheduled to appear at an event in Louisiana with Douglas Frank, another Lindell associate who has been traveling the country meeting with state and local officials. In May 2021, Frank met with members of the Ohio Secretary of States Office offering to scrutinize their voting procedures, boasting hes been working with county officials in 22 states.

You either come onto our team and we can audit it together and show that there was no malfeasance, or you can oppose us, Frank told agency staff, according to an audio recording. The office did not accept the offer.

For months now, Clements has been pushing Republican-leaning counties in New Mexico to launch partisan reviews of the 2020 election, similar to the much-maligned effort in Arizona coordinated by Republicans in one chamber of the state's legislature. In Otero County, which Trump won by a wide margin, Clements and his wife, Erin, have been conducting an informal and unpaid review of the countys 2020 election procedures.

The result has been a series of hourslong presentations to the county commission about unproven vulnerabilities in vote-tallying machines and patterns in voter registration activity. The Clements, who list Las Cruces as their residence, did not respond to requests for an interview.

Earlier this month, when Otero County commissioners were considering whether to discontinue the use of ballot tabulators, the couple again made a presentation. It prompted a rebuttal from Otero County Clerk Robyn Holmes.

There is a lot of things they have found, that they are saying, that are not true, Holmes said.

Nonetheless, the commissioners  led by Couy Griffin, co-founder of Cowboys for Trump, who was convicted of entering restricted U.S. Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6 insurrection  voted to stop using the ballot tabulators before the November election.

Clements was among those urging Otero County commissioners against certification of the June 7 primary results, repeating conspiracy theories about voting equipment that trace back to the days immediately following the 2020 election. Holmes, the clerk, said the primary was conducted without problems.

Clements also went to Torrance County, another conservative stronghold in New Mexico, to urge commissioners to defy authorities and refuse to certify their primary results. During the meeting last Friday, the crowd hurled insults of traitors and cowards at commissioners before they voted  unanimously  to certify the results.

Election officials and experts have expressed concern that local certification boards in other states that are receptive to conspiracy theories surrounding voting machines might be inspired to follow Otero County's example, wreaking havoc with election results.

Counties in Nevada have until Friday to sign off on the results of the states June 14 primary. Nye County commissioners, who want to stop using ballot tabulators, are scheduled to meet to consider certification on Friday. They have not said publicly what they plan to do.

Cassidy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Ken Ritter in Las Vegas; Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio; and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Conservatives who want an economic policy that supports parents have long been a minority faction within the Republican Party.

In 2017, when Republicans were in the process of passing a tax reform, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah proposed that the bill cut corporate tax rates a bit less and expand the tax credit for children a bit more. The Donald Trump administration came out against the move, and most Republican senators voted it down. (Most Democrats voted no, too, because they disliked the bill overall and wanted to make it as unattractive to voters as possible.)

But the tide among Republicans may be turning. Three senators  Mitt Romney of Utah, Richard Burr of North Carolina and Steve Daines of Montana  have just proposed a new child benefit. It would give parents $700 per month starting halfway through pregnancy, $350 per month for children aged zero to 5 and $250 a month for children ages 6 to 17.

Its a new version of a Romney proposal from last year, and one that is well-timed for the expected reversal of the federal right to abortion.

Like the previous version, the proposal would also reform the earned income tax credit. Thats a subsidy to low-wage workers that encourages them to join and stay in the labor force. The proposal would change it in various ways.

Most notably, recipients would no longer receive a smaller benefit if they get married. The proposal calls for paying for all these changes by eliminating the tax deduction for state and local taxes. Many taxpayers who claim that itemized deduction would, however, either come out ahead or at least cut their losses because they have children, even if they live in high-tax states.

In addition to helping parents, the new benefit would cut child poverty rates. It would also reduce something else: the longstanding gap between the number of children that Americans say they want and the number they have.

This proposal is not going to become law soon. But it is going to get a better reception from Republicans than similar ideas have in the past for four reasons.

The first is that Romney and his staff addressed conservatives strongest objections to the previous version of the plan. Those critics worried Romneys proposal would reduce the incentive to work among low-income people.

The new plan requires that households make $10,000 in income to receive the full benefit. It also keeps the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program, which includes a work requirement, instead of getting rid of it as the old one did. The new plan is pro-work as well as pro-parent and pro-marriage.

Conservatives of a libertarian bent, who oppose government aid to parents even when no strings are attached, will still object. But conservatives who dont object to such aid in principle should come aboard.

Second, the Republican Party is changing. It sees itself as a working-class party more than a party of professionals. The old orthodoxies of the party are up for grabs, including the notion that economic policy should aim first and foremost at liberating entrepreneurs and reducing the tax burden on high earners.

Third, social conservatives have decided to get involved in policy disputes beyond the old portfolio of abortion, same-sex marriage, school prayer and school choice. Fifteen years ago, I made the case for pro-family tax reform to a group of them. The audience was polite, even enthusiastic, but afterward the groups leaders suggested they would stay in their accustomed lane. The Romney-Burr-Daines idea has the endorsement of every social-conservative organization you can think of.

That includes groups that work primarily to stop abortion, such as Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and the National Right to Life Committee. Which brings us to the fourth development: the impending demise of Roe v. Wade.

For years, supporters of legal abortion have accused opponents of favoring life only until birth, and then doing nothing to help mothers and children afterward. Now that legislators are going to have the power to set policy on abortion, what had been a debaters point is becoming a real political and moral challenge.

The new Republican bill is a partial response. Parents would be eligible for the benefit halfway through a pregnancy. And its no coincidence that cosponsor Daines is the head of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus.

Republicans may be starting to realize that a practical anti-abortion agenda has to include policies that make raising children a viable proposition for more people, and to develop an agenda that addresses the economic, and not just the moral, dimensions of family life. Not a moment too soon.

Ponnuru is a columnist for Bloomberg News, the editor of National Review and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
BOISE  The Bureau of Land Management Idaho Resource Advisory Councils Proposed Lava Ridge Wind Energy Project Subcommittee will host a meeting to discuss a variety of topics pertaining to the proposed project. The meeting will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday, July 7, via Zoom. A complete agenda and Zoom connection information are available at blm.gov/get-involved/resource-advisory-council/near-you/idaho/lava-ridge-subcommittee.

Agenda items will include an update on the National Environmental Policy Act process that the BLM is implementing to analyze the proposed project, the role of the National Renewable Energy Lab in development of the Environmental Impact Statement, and presentations from various stakeholders regarding their perspectives on the proposed project. There will also be time allotted for public comments.

The proposed Lava Ridge Wind Energy Project is highly complex and we greatly appreciate the willingness of the Subcommittee members to volunteer their time to learn about it in-depth and to help the Idaho Resource Advisory Council to provide recommendations to the BLM on it, said Karen Kelleher, Idaho state director for the BLM.

The 15-member BLM Idaho Resource Advisory Council provides a forum that brings together stakeholders with diverse interests to provide advice and recommendations to the BLM on issues and challenges associated with the Bureaus multiple-use mission. The BLM Idaho Resource Advisory Council formed the Proposed Lava Ridge Wind Energy Project Subcommittee to compile information and conduct research, in accordance with the BLM Idaho Resource Advisory Council Charter. The BLM Shoshone Field Office is currently developing an Environmental Impact Statement to analyze the proposed Lava Ridge Wind Energy Project, a commercial-scale wind energy facility that is proposed to be constructed on BLM-managed public land in southern Idaho.

A public comment period is scheduled for 4 p.m. July 7. Depending on the number of people wishing to comment and time available, the amount of time for individual oral comments may be limited. Written comments may also be submitted before the meeting via email to MJ Byrne, Idaho Resource Advisory Council Coordinator at mbyrne@blm.gov.

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TWIN FALLS  Clif Bar & Co., a business with a Twin Falls bakery, has been bought by Mondelez International, according to a press release.

The company will continue to manufacture its products at the Twin Falls facility and another location in Indianapolis, Indiana. Clif Bar & Co. will remain headquartered in Emeryville, California, according to a Monday statement.

The company was acquired for $2.9 billion with additional payments if specific earning targets are met. The acquisition is subject to closing conditions and a regulatory review.

Mondelez International will also obtain LUNA and CLIF Kid, expanding its global snack bar business to more than $1 billion. The company also owns popular brands such as Cadbury, Chips Ahoy, Sour Patch, Trident and Triscuit.

We are thrilled to welcome Clif Bar & Companys iconic brands and passionate employees into the Mondelez International family, said Dirk Van de Put, chairman and CEO of Mondelez International. As a leader and innovator in well-being and sustainable snacking in the U.S, Clif Bar & Company embodies our purpose to empower people to snack right and we look forward to advancing this important work with Clifs committed colleagues in the years ahead.

Started in 1992 by Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford, Clif Bar & Company held the number one position in the U.S. protein and energy bar market in 2021, according to market research data company Euromonitor.

The company founders turned down a $120 million offer from Quaker Oats in 2000. The $90 million Twin Falls facility opened in 2016.

Q&A with Clif Bar & Co. TWIN FALLS  Clif Bar & Co. officials converged on Twin Falls Thursday to celebrate the groundbreaking of the companys 275,000-square-foo

Clif Bar building bakery in Twin Falls TWIN FALLS -- Standing in a 90-acre lot Thursday, with the wind occasionally whipping up dust storms in the distance, Clif Bar & Company C

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Editors note: This column ran Feb. 28, 2013, in the Times-News and at Magicvalley.com.

Some came to this new town to make their fortunes. Others brought their fortunes with them.

Charlie McMaster was a prosperous farmer and livestock dealer in Hopkins, Missouri, before he brought his family to Idaho. McMaster heard about the new irrigation tract opening up in southern Idaho when he and his wife, Della, visited her parents in Boise in 1904.

Before returning to Missouri, McMaster filed on 160 acres on Kimberly Road east of Twin Falls.

McMaster sold his land in Hopkins and filled three freight cars with personal belongings to take to his new home in Idaho. McMaster and several employees traveled by train to Shoshone then crossed the desert to Blue Lakes where they ferried the Snake River into what was then Cassia County.

McMasters wife and young daughter followed him west after he had a chance to get settled.

When Della McMaster reached her husbands tent near Kimberly, she was greeted with little enthusiasm.

Dell, this is no place for you and Georgia, McMaster said. You had better go to Boise until we have had time to make the place more fit for you to live in.

But Della refused to leave. She was determined to make a home in the desert.

Within months, the McMasters built a home on two lots in the 400 block of Third Avenue West in Twin Falls. McMaster and his business partner, Nick Smith, opened a livery stable nearby and purchased an additional 1,200 acres to farm.

McMaster and Smith began importing livestock from Iowa and Missouri  pedigreed Duroc Jersey hogs and Hereford cattle that would become the foundation for local herds.

But McMaster found his greatest joy in horseflesh.

McMaster is best remembered for his fine saddle horses and is known to have brought the first Morgan horse into Idaho.

McMaster also brought in many hundreds of Percheron and Belgian draft horses to clear the desert of sagebrush. Most of these workhorses were sold to local farmers on credit. Farmers paid McMaster for their teams after their crops were harvested.

Over the years, the McMasters continued to prosper. They had a son, Frank, in 1907, and Charlie was elected Twin Falls County commissioner in 1908, the same year he founded Farmers Real Estate, Grain and Livestock Co.

After Charlies death in 1936, Della found thousands of dollars worth of unpaid notes in her husbands belongings  notes signed by local farmers who were unable to pay back their debt to McMaster.

Della gathered all the notes and set fire to them in the alley behind her house.

Mychel Matthews is the managing editor of the Times-News. The Hidden History feature runs every Thursday in the Times-News and on Magicvalley.com. If you have a question about something that may have historical significance, email Matthews at mmatthews@magicvalley.com.

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A funny thing happened this week while I was knocking on doors for a candidate: I actually met a Republican. Mind you, I talk with all kinds of people who label themselves Republican, but who are really just Right-Wingers. Being a Republican actually means you have a set of Pro-America and Pro-Idaho ideals, while Right-Wingers are just angry, scared and think windmills cause cancer. I believe the latter are in the minority here in Idaho, but its about time more real Republicans realized they are Idaho Democrats; Just like the gentleman I met a few days ago.

His political story is somewhat similar to mine. He grew up on the East Coast where Republicans used to be viable candidates. He eventually moved to Southern California  another place where Republicans used to be viable candidates  before moving to Idaho. Hes retired, but drives a school bus in his spare time. The first election he ever voted in was in 1972 and he voted for Richard Nixon. Hes voted Republican his entire life until 2020. Like me, he had had enough of the chaos. He voted for the Green Party candidate because he didnt much care for the old man either.

Being a bus driver, he lamented the poor state of Idahos public schools. He was also concerned about the Right Wing Partys failure to deal with the property tax crisis in our state. He felt bad for elderly Idahoans who are being priced out of their homes. He also had plenty to say about the January 6th Insurrection. For 10 minutes he railed against his (and my) Party for their complicity in the Big Lie, their cowardice for failing to stand up against the lie, and their predilection for spreading false information about what happened that fateful day. Being a native East-Coaster, he spoke fast and did not spare the occasional curse word when describing the state of the Republican Party. I listened intently and nodded along. When he finally came up for air, I said to him, Sir, I hate to break it to you, but youre an Idaho Democrat. He chuckled and replied, You may be right. Tell her (my candidate) shes got our votes.

In talking with this gentleman, I also got the sense he knew Democrats by and large are moderate, sensible candidates. Just look at our Presidential candidates over the last 30 years: Bill Clinton (our last Republican President), Al Gore, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. None of them were/are your stereotypical bleeding-heart liberals. They favored policies supported by a majority of Americans, not to mention a majority of Idahoans.

For instance, Democrats here in Idaho and beyond favor raising the minimum wage  an issue favored by more than 60-percent of Idahoans. Democrats fought hard for Medicaid Expansion  a fight backed by 61-percent of Idahoans. Idaho Democrats are the only ones fighting for prosperity in our state by investing in our schools and proposing real property tax reform. Both issues are wildly popular among Idahoans, even though they keep electing people who hate our schools and could care less about you losing your home.

In short, while the Right Wing Party has become radicalized with Anti-America, Anti-Idaho sentiments, Idaho Democrats favor policies that keep Idahoans in Idaho with the expectation that our children can live and thrive in our great state.

The gentleman I met  a lifetime Republicanhas the courage to vote for the Idaho Democrat in his district. You should be brave enough to do the same. Remember, as Republicans, we used to be the tough ones.

But, that torch has been passed to the left. At least here in Idaho.

If youre angered by the radicalization of the Right Wing Party and worried our state and our country may be heading toward a place where anger and fear are rewarded at the expense of sensibility and prosperity, Ill tell you the same thing I told that gentleman at the door.

Youre an Idaho Democrat.

Jeremy J. Gugino is a Democratic communications volunteer.

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Sometimes, tasting the agony of defeat makes the thrill of victory that much sweeter.

This story begins with a busy dad and a crazier-than-usual Idaho spring. Between responsibilities at home and rollercoaster weather that included a rare April snowstorm, I was having a hard time scheduling fishing trips. So, I defaulted to one of my favorite pastimes: pond prowling.

Idahos ponds are underrated spots for big largemouth bass. Fishing a local pond also allowed me to squeeze in an hour or two after work, or after the kids went to bed. My pond of choice was one of my favorite college stomping grounds. I hadnt fished it in years, but as I walked the bank, I was delighted to see it was still a big bass haven.

Bass are creatures of habit, and every spring, they move into shallow, warmer water to jump-start their metabolisms. Big fish usually hang out shallow for a couple weeks, first hunting, then building nests and spawning before heading out to deeper water. With polarized glasses and a little experience, you can often spot them  ghost-like shadows drifting under fallen logs, overhanging branches and anything else they can hide under.

This particular pond is loaded with cover. Trees. Fallen logs. Willows. And under nearly every hiding spot, theres a nice largemouth.

Over the years, Ive developed some effective techniques for sight-fishing bass. The keys are a stealthy approach (fish are more likely to bite if they dont see you); accurate casts with baits you trust (hint: its mostly finesse-type rigs); and good hand-to-hand combat skills (its difficult to pull big fish out of heavy cover  you have to plan how to land the fish, but also make on-the-fly adjustments).

If that all sounds super nerdy, well, it is! But its also very exciting. Making a well-placed cast and watching a big bass dart out of its lair to vacuum-suck your lure is one of the most exhilarating  and, often, exasperating  ways to fish.

On my first pond outing, I landed four nice bass between two and three pounds. But it was the one that got away that stuck with me  a five-pound giant that swam straight into branches and broke me off.

From that moment on, I was determined to land one of these lunkers.

On my second outing, I landed four bass and hooked the biggest one yet  a blimp over six pounds. Sadly, I was unable to wrestle her out of the mess of logs shed been using as a lair.

Losing a giant always stings, but I was undeterred. When youre guerilla fishing in heavy cover, breaking off is a risk you have to live with. When heartbreak happens, all you can do is re-tie and keep trying.

My third session started with promise. My first cast produced an almost four-pounder  the biggest fish Id landed here since college. I caught two more fish in short order. The bite was on! Next, I spotted another nice bass and prepared to make my cast. But out of my peripheral, I saw an absolute giant swim out from under a tree and stop six feet away, seemingly staring at me. I flipped a cast in front of her and watched as she reacted.

All the telltale signs were there  the slow pulsing of her pectoral fins. A sideways cocking of her massive head. The nose-down, tail-up body language of a bass investigating a potential meal. I held my breath as she mouthed my bait (not the part with the hook in it), then spat it out. She grabbed it again, though, and this time held on as she slowly backed away. She took a second chomp, but I could still see my hook outside of her mouth. Then, finally, a third chomp. My entire bait disappeared, and I swung to set the hook. Fish on!

What happened next probably took 15 seconds, but it felt like forever. The bass jumped repeatedly, shaking her head to try and throw the hook. In this case, the jumping worked in my favor, as it kept her near the surface and away from the underwater minefield of stumps and logs. I lunged forward, lifted my rod to bring her head to the surface, and grabbed onto her bottom lip for dear life.

WHAT. A. FISH!!! At 22 inches long and 6 pounds, this lunker was well worth the effort, the heartbreak and the struggle. I admired her for a moment, snapped a quick picture and watched her swim back to her underwater jungle. The job was finally done, and the victory was sweet. Tight lines!

Jordan Rodriguez has been fishing Idaho waters since he was a teen. Share your fish stories, adventures and questions with him at tightlinesboise@gmail.com, or visit www.tightlines208.com for the latest local fishing reports and upcoming class offerings.

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The Henry County Industrial Development Authority met for a regular meeting Tuesday to take care of some housekeeping matters, but couldnt resist taking a few moments to bask in its recent success.

After voting to approve a performance agreement with VF Outdoor, LLC, a moment to recognize retiring Henry County Administrator Tim Hall provided an opportunity to reflect on a banner year of economic growth for the area.

Crown Holdings is thrilled to be here, said Hall. Press Glass planned to hire 212 employees and theyve hired 212. Crown has already hired over 100 and still looking to fill positions. Both of these companies have not only met their commitments to us, but their expectations to themselves.

Dale Wagoner, who will be taking over the reigns as county administrator when Hall retires at the end of the month told a story of how the company paid for the transportation costs of an employee so the person could be present for the birth of their child.

We hear great things about how Crown treats their employees, said Wagoner.

VF Corporation announced plans in October to create 82 new jobs and invest $10.2 million in Henry County.

The company, headquartered in Denver, Colo., employs over 40,000 people in the manufacture of branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories and plans to use its 500,000 square-foot facility in Martinsville to increase distribution capacity to deliver products to its consumers faster.

This has been a long time coming, said Hall. The state announced the agreement without having all the documents in place.

Hall explained that previous performance agreements were paid incrementally, but now the state requires both the promise of new jobs and investment be met before money changes hands.

They will get $225,000 with no local money involved, Hall said. They have until March 31, 2025.

The Authority approved unanimously the agreement with VF Outdoor, LLC.

SCHOCK was in town again last week and they are ready to go; they like what theyve seen so far, Hall said of the German sink manufacturer who announced plans in October to locate a facility in Henry County, add 355 jobs and invest $85 million. Im as enthusiastic as I have ever been about the future of this community because it is incredibly bright. Im excited about whats to come.

Hall said the county had exhausted its inventory of site-ready property and could create a lag in growth down the road.

Weve done a really good job with what we have, we just need more, said Hall. Once we cobble some more money together we will be fine.

Wagoner said the 95,500 square-foot facility on 14.7 acres in the Patriot Centre Industrial Park was shown to a number of companies before SHOCK picked it up, but the County benefitted from those other opportunities just the same.

It was too much building for some of the companies that looked at it, but we were able to show them something else, said Wagoner. It was good bait.

Wagoner used the example of Radical Sportscars, a sportscar manufacturer based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, in the United Kingdom who looked at the facility in the Patriot Centre and ended up committing to locating their North American Sales Office in the Manufacturing, Engineering, and Technology Complex at Patrick and Henry Community College.

The lease with P&HCC and Radical began on May 1 and officials at the college anticipate the partnership will be a big benefit for students in the colleges motorsports program.

Members of the Authority reelected Len Dillon and Barry Helmstutler as chair and vice chair respectively and named Wagoner as Halls replacement as the Authoritys secretary effective July 1.

J.R. Powell was introduced to the members as the new Deputy County Administrator, replacing Wagoner.

I grew up here, graduated from Martinsville High School, my wife graduated from Bassett High School and our children graduated from Magna Vista, said Powell. I was in the Marine Corps for six years, came home to Martinsville and Henry County and when to work for the 911 center 27 years ago. Im looking forward to the journey.

Hall said his success was a result of those that surrounded him.

Ive never thought you should have a number two or a number three that couldnt be number one, said Hall. Its been a true honor these last 10 years as administrator and almost 32 years in public service.

Bill Wyatt is a reporter for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at 276-638-8801, Ext. 2360. Follow him @billdwyatt.

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Egypt and Qatar are holding talks to expand investments in new areas and increase their volume, especially in the energy sector, Egypts Minister of Trade and Industry Nevin Gamea said, Arab News reports.

The Egyptian official took part in the three-day Qatar Economic Forum in Doha that ended Wednesday.

During my current visit to Doha, I presented investment opportunities to the Qatari side in the field of manufacturing industries, specialized industries, textiles and leather industries as a kind of partnership between the two sides, she said.

There is communication between the two sides to create the climate for opening the capital of Egyptian companies to the Qatari business sector.

Qatari investments in Egypt are currently more focused on real estate, hotels and tourism.

Both countries thawed ties early last year after several years of diplomatic feud. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain cut off ties with the tiny Gulf country over the accusation that Doha sponsored terrorism.

Qatar upon the normalization vowed to inject multiple billions of dollars into the Egyptian economy.

Gamea, Arab News also reports, revealed plans to launch a joint business council between the two countries, which will consist of businessmen strengthening relations in economy, investment and trade.
In a context of increasing repression of peaceful demonstrations by the Algerian security forces, hundreds of people have been arbitrarily arrested since the beginning of the peaceful movement Al hirak, including many human rights defenders who try to expose corruption and frauds in Algeria. This anti-corruption activism exposes human rights defenders to years of prison and months of pretrial arrests under some ambiguous laws that explain any peaceful criticism to the authorities as a threat to the public order.

This wave of arbitrary arrests, which has clearly targeted human rights defenders, is a very bad signal for a possible transition to democracy in Algeria. The current government is trying by all means to maintain its power and to stifle the ongoing peaceful protest movement, creating a climate of fear through repression, and continuous restrictions on human rights defenders.

Journalists, lawyers bloggers and social media activists are systematically targeted by authorities especially those who try to expose corruption as an illustration:

We remind you of

Mr Tounsi was arrested and charged in connection with his efforts to expose corruption, including his social media posts criticizing members of the judiciary. He was trailed three times september 2020, April 2021, before he started a hunger strike on the 20th of May 2020 for accusing him a second time for insulting symbols of the state as the president. He was sentenced a year of prison

Not only in Algeria, anti-corruption human rights defenders are also targeted in the Tindouf refugee camps : Moulay Bouzid Abba, Fadel El Mahdi, Breica and Mahmoud Zeidane are incarcerated in a highly bad reputation prison Dheibiya, for denouncing the diversion and embezzlement of humanitarian food aid, intended for the Tindouf refugee camps, by polisario leaders and some highly ranked Algerian military officials to the African markets for sale.

Finally, we recommend that

The practice of corruption by state agents in Algeria must be acknowledged at the highest level and allow the prosecution of perpetrators.

Remove all restrictions that limit freedom of expression.

Align its laws with international standards to guarantee free access to information

Make public all findings of investigations about corruption cases within the Tindouf camps in Algerian territories that gather an unidentified number of Sahrawi refugees since 1975. Many of them are calling for autonomy as a political solution to the situation of the conflict with Morocco.

There is a UN peace process going on to end the conflict peacefully.

(Reseau Unite pour le Developpement de Mauritanie, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status)
As the recruitment and exploitation of children in crises and political conflicts is a war crime under international humanitarian law.

As the recruitment and exploitation of children in conflicts is a violation of the essence of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child and its annexed protocols and it requires no impunity.

As the crime of exploiting children and recruiting them in armed conflicts requires international condemnation and intolerance with these violations that threaten the lives of children and violate their basic rights.

We draw your attention and international public opinion to the involvement of the Algerian state as being responsible for what happens in the Tindouf camps, along with the Polisario, in the crime of recruitment and exploitation of children in the Western Sahara conflict.

As it has been proven to us by conclusive evidence that children are continuously and obligatory subjected to military training inside the Tindouf camps and are used as soldiers inside these camps, which makes them vulnerable to all forms of violations related to this crime, and in complete silence by the Algerian state as it is the first responsible before the United Nations for any violations committed in or outside the Tindouf camps, which are located on its territory.

Thus, the Polisario and Algeria share the responsibility for violating all international references that frame the protection of childrens rights, and they clearly violate all resolutions of the Security Council in this regard.

Based on our responsibility as a coalition to protect the rights of the child and expose those responsible for involvement in this crime, whether countries, groups or individuals:

 We denounce the practices committed by the Polisario and Algeria against children in refugee camps

 We reject the exploitation of Sahrawi children and their recruitment into the Western Sahara conflict

 We call on the international community not to remain silent about the condemnation of Algeria and the Polisario, and to ensure that those responsible for recruiting children in the camps do not go unpunished.

 We call on the Algerian state to fulfill all its international obligations towards the residents of the camps and to ensure that children enjoy their right to education and a comfortable family life.

 We call on the UNHCR in Tindouf camps to take all preventive measures to protect Sahrawi children from exploitation and recruitment military activities.

(Written by Reseau Unite pour le Developpement de Mauritanie, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status)
Two former schoolgirls of the Chibok girls have been found. This is the announcement made Tuesday 21 June by the Nigerian army. They had been kidnapped by dozens of Boko Haram fighters in 2014. They had stormed the Chibok boarding school for girls and crammed 276 students into trucks. It was the jihadist groups first mass school kidnapping. The two young women spent a total of eight years in captivity.

They were 9 and 18 years old when they were abducted. On Tuesday 21 June, they appeared with their babies in their arms. The first, Hauwa Joseph, was found with other civilians on 12 June near Bama in the north-east of the country when military troops attacked a Boko Haram camp in the area.

I got married recently and had this child, said Hauwa Joseph, showing the 14-month-old baby in her arms. Her husband was killed in the army raid.

The other young woman, Mary Dauda, was found near the village of Ngoshe, not far from the border with Cameroon. This was on 15 June. The young woman says she was married to several Boko Haram fighters.

They starve you and beat you if you refuse to pray, she said. According to her, all the remaining girls from Chibok are married and have children.

In the village she fled, there are still more than 20 girls captured in Chibok. The spokesperson for Bring Back Our Girls speaks of 104 girls still in the hands of the jihadists, although he cannot say how many are still alive.

Hauwa Joseph and Mary Dauda are still with the authorities, but they have been able to communicate with their families, whom they will be reunited with soon.
Prince Charles met on Wednesday with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, after visiting the 1994 genocide memorial in Kigali, where the heir to the British crown is due to attend a meeting of Commonwealth leaders.

The meeting comes ten days after the press reported the Prince of Wales opposition to a controversial British government plan to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda.

According to The Times, the 73-year-old Prince has repeatedly privately voiced his disagreement with the deportation scheme, which he calls appalling and fears will overshadow the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) on Friday and Saturday, where he is representing his mother Queen Elizabeth II.

Arriving in Kigali on Tuesday, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla were received by Paul and Jeannette Kagame at the Urugwiro presidential complex. They posed for photographers before a private meeting.

The royal couple had earlier visited the 1994 genocide memorial, where they laid a white wreath and spoke to survivors of the massacres that left 800,000 people dead, mainly from the Tutsi minority.

In London, the British government on Wednesday presented to Parliament a bill to override the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), whose decision on 14 June blocked at the last minute the departure of the first plane carrying migrants to Kigali.

The deportation programme has been condemned by numerous human rights NGOs, the UN and the Church of England, which has described it as immoral.
Kenyas Vice-president and presidential candidate William Ruto has said he will deport Chinese nationals from jobs that could be done by Kenyans if he is elected in August.

The August 9 presidential, parliamentary and local elections come as East Africas largest economy faces economic hardship, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Let Chinese nationals roast maize and sell mobile phones We will deport them all back to their country, William Ruto told an economic forum on Tuesday. All these activities are for Kenyans, he said.

Dont worry about the foreigners involved in these activities. We have enough planes to deport them, he insisted. The Chinese embassy in Nairobi did not respond to a request for comment.

William Ruto, 55, is running to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta, who cannot run for a third term. He presents himself as a defender of the resourceful little people against the dynasties that govern Kenya. He has been critical of President Kenyattas economic policies, promising to cancel the countrys estimated $70bn (66bn) debt if he wins in August.

China is Kenyas second largest creditor after the World Bank and has financed infrastructure projects. In particular, it has lent $5 billion (4.7 billion) for the most expensive infrastructure project since the countrys independence in 1963: the train line that has linked the port city of Mombasa to Naivasha in the Rift Valley via the capital Nairobi since 2017. All these investments have often been accompanied by an influx of Chinese workers.

Rutos announcement drew mixed reactions online. We owe billions to China. By doing this, we will strain our relationship with the country and they will also have a knee-jerk reaction about repaying the loans, said one Twitter user.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Black people in the U.S. are twice as likely as white people to be coerced into procedures during perinatal and birth care, and to undergo them without their explicit consent, according to a new study by researchers at UBC's Birth Place Lab and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Pregnant people of other minoritized racial identities also experience pressure from providers at higher rates than white counterparts.

The findings, published today in the journal Birth, reveal key contributing factors to the persistent racial inequities in reproductive health in the U.S. The researchers believe this to be the first large study comparing experiences of coercion and consent during pregnancy and childbirth across racial and ethnic identities.

"The coercion and unconsented procedures experienced by Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) during birth is deeply concerning," said senior author Dr. Saraswathi Vedam, a professor of midwifery at UBC and lead investigator at the Birth Place Lab. "This illuminates how racism and discrimination affect people's experiences of care."

Dr. Vedam says the problem is not unique to the U.S. Her team is currently investigating the differences in birth experiences and outcomes across Canada through a study titled RESPCCT. The research team has collected more than 6,000 survey responses from childbearing people across Canada.

"We know that there are tremendous health inequities in Canada, and that Indigenous, Black and people of color continue to experience racism and discrimination within the health system," said Dr. Vedam. "Our preliminary analysis of the Canadian data suggests that birthing people here experience many of the same challenges."

People who had a C-section 30 times more likely to report pressure

For the new paper, the researchers analyzed data from the Giving Voice to Mothers study, which recorded pregnancy and birth experiences of 2,700 people in the U.S. between 2010 and 2016. They examined survey responses from a subset of 2,490 participants who reported experiencing pressure or unconsented procedures or interventions during perinatal care. Of the participants, 34 percent self-identified as BIPOC.

Overall, 31 percent of all respondents reported experiencing pressure to accept perinatal procedures, such as:

Inductionusing drugs to speed up labor

Epiduralsinjecting anesthesia around the spinal cord to block labor pain

Episiotomyincision made at the opening of the vagina during childbirth

Fetal monitoringusing tools to monitor and interpret the baby's heartbeat during labor and birth.

Forty-one percent reported unconsented procedures, including injection before delivering the placenta, episiotomy or breaking someone's water bag. In addition, 10 percent reported pressure to have a C-section. Notably, participants who had a C-section reported were 30 times more likely to report pressure to have a C-section than those who ultimately had vaginal births.

Providers more likely to listen to white pregnant people when they declined care

Respondents with Black racial identity reported experiencing unconsented procedures during perinatal care 89 percent more frequently and, during vaginal births, 87 percent more frequently than white respondents. People who identified as Asian, Latinx, Indigenous or multiracial reported experiencing pressure to accept perinatal procedures 55 percent more often than white respondents.

"These findings are alarming given the long history of obstetric racism and higher rates of adverse birth outcomes among Black, Indigenous and people of color in the U.S.," said first author Dr. Rachel G. Logan, a postdoctoral scholar in the UCSF department of family and community medicine. "They suggest that provider pressure and lack of consent processes may be playing a significant role in driving these inequities."

Though in this sample there was no racial or ethnic difference in the experience of pressure to have a C-section, a higher proportion of Black respondents had the procedure. This is similar to higher rates of C-section found in the U.S. Black population.

Black and white pregnant people declined care at the same rate, yet practitioners were more likely to accept the wishes of those who identified as white and were more likely to proceed with the procedure without consent when people who identified as Black declined care.

Centering health equity and human rights can transform care

The authors say action is needed to transform care experiences and to ensure that health equity and human rights are at the center of care provision. In particular, they recommend incorporating human rights-based frameworks into health professional curricula. In addition, they say health systems and perinatal providers need:

A process for informed decision-making and consent that is free of coercion.

To prioritize engaging in informed choice discussions during intrapartum care to ensure ethical principles are upheld, even during emergencies.

To establish in-service training and certification focused on person-centered decision-making, respectful communication and racial literacy.

"Our findings call for practitioners, health law, and health care systems to face the reality of unconsented care, and to address these illegal and unethical acts," said co-author Dr. Monica R. McLemore, an associate professor with the UCSF department of family health care nursing.

Explore further Culturally-centered care increases feelings of respect and autonomy for birthing people of color

More information: Rachel G. Logan et al, Coercion and nonconsent during birth and newborn care in the United States, Birth (2022). Rachel G. Logan et al, Coercion and nonconsent during birth and newborn care in the United States,(2022). DOI: 10.1111/birt.12641
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

COVID-19 vaccines reduced the potential global death toll during the pandemic by more than half in the year following their implementation, a mathematical modeling study published today in The Lancet Infectious Diseases estimates.

In the first year of the vaccination program, 19.8 million out of a potential 31.4 million COVID-19 deaths were prevented worldwide according to estimates based on excess deaths from 185 countries and territories.

The study estimates a further 599,300 lives could have been saved if the World Health Organization's target of vaccinating 40% of the population in each country with two or more doses by the end of 2021 had been met.

Dr. Oliver Watson, lead author of the study, from Imperial College London, said: "Our findings offer the most complete assessment to date of the remarkable global impact that vaccination has had on the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the almost 20 million deaths estimated to have been prevented in the first year after vaccines were introduced, almost 7.5 million deaths were prevented in countries covered by the COVID-19 Vaccine Access initiative (COVAX). This initiative was set up because it was clear early on that global vaccine equity would be the only way out of the pandemic. Our findings show that millions of lives have likely been saved by making vaccines available to people everywhere, regardless of their wealth. However, more could have been done. If the targets set out by the WHO had been achieved, we estimate that roughly 1 in 5 of the estimated lives lost due to COVID-19 in low-income countries could have been prevented."

Since the first COVID-19 vaccine was administered outside of a clinical trial setting on 8 December 2020, almost two thirds of the world's population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine (66%). The COVID-19 Vaccine Access initiative (COVAX) has facilitated access to affordable vaccines for lower income countries to try to reduce inequalities, with an initial target of giving two vaccine doses to 20% of the population in countries covered by the commitment by the end of 2021. The World Health Organization expanded this target by setting a global strategy to fully vaccinate 70% of the world's population by mid-2022, with an interim target of vaccinating 40% of the population of all countries by the end of 2021.

Despite the incredible speed of the vaccine roll-out worldwide, more than 3.5 million COVID-19 deaths have been reported since the first vaccine was administered in December 2020.

Several studies have sought to estimate the impact of vaccination on the course of the pandemic. These studies have focused on specific regions, such as individual countries, states, or cities. The latest study is the first to estimate the impact of COVID-19 vaccinations on a global scale and the first to assess the number of deaths averted both directly and indirectly.

Mr Gregory Barnsley, co-first author of the study, from Imperial College London, said: "Quantifying the impact that vaccination has made globally is challenging because access to vaccines varies between countries, as does our understanding of which COVID-19 variants have been circulating, with very limited genetic sequence data available for many countries. It is also not possible to directly measure how many deaths would have occurred without vaccinations. Mathematical modeling offers a useful tool for assessing alternative scenarios, which we can't directly observe in real life."

To estimate the impact of global vaccination programs, the researchers used an established model of COVID-19 transmission using country-level data for officially recorded COVID-19 deaths occurring between 8 December 2020 and 8 December 2021. To account for under-reporting of deaths in countries with weaker surveillance systems, they carried out a separate analysis based on the number of excess deaths recorded above those that would have been expected during the same time period. Where official data was not available, the team used estimates of all-cause excess mortality. These analyses were compared with an alternative hypothetical scenario in which no vaccines were delivered.

The model accounted for variation in vaccination rates between countries, as well as differences in vaccine efficacy in each country based on the vaccine types known to have been predominately used in those areas. Notably, China was not included in the analysis owing to its large population and very strict lockdown measures, which would have skewed the findings.

The team found that, based on officially recorded COVID-19 deaths, an estimated 18.1 million deaths would have occurred during the study period if vaccinations had not been implemented. Of these, the model estimates that vaccination has prevented 14.4 million deaths, representing a global reduction of 79%. These findings do not account for under-reporting of COVID-19 deaths, which is common in lower income countries. The team did a further analysis based on total excess deaths during the same time period to account for this. They found that COVID-19 vaccination prevented an estimated 19.8 million deaths out of a total of 31.4 million potential deaths that would have occurred without vaccination, a reduction of 63%.

More than three quarters (79%, 15.5 million/ 19.8 million) of deaths averted were due to the direct protection against severe symptoms provided by vaccination, leading to lower mortality rates. The remaining 4.3 million averted deaths were estimated to have been prevented by indirect protection from reduced transmission of the virus in the population and reduced burden on healthcare systems, thereby improving access to medical care for those most in need.

Vaccine impact changed over time and in different areas of the world as the pandemic progressed, the study found. In the first half of 2021, the greatest number of deaths averted by vaccination was seen in lower middle-income countries, resulting from the significant epidemic wave in India as the Delta variant emerged. This subsequently shifted to the greatest impact being concentrated in higher income countries in the second half of 2021, as restrictions on travel and social mixing were eased in some areas leading to greater virus transmission.

Overall, the number of estimated deaths prevented per person was greatest in high income countries, reflecting the earlier and wider roll out of vaccination campaigns in these areas (66 deaths prevented per 10,000 people in high-income countries vs 2.711 deaths prevented per 10,000 people in low-income countries). High and upper-middle income countries accounted for the greatest number of deaths averted (12.2 million/ 19.8 million), highlighting inequalities in access to vaccines around the world.

For the 83 countries included in the analysis that are covered by the COVAX commitment to affordable vaccines, an estimated 7.4 million deaths were averted out of a potential 17.9 million (41%). However, failure to meet the COVAX target of fully vaccinating 20% of the population in some countries is estimated to have resulted in an additional 156,900 deaths. Though this figure represents a small proportion of the total global deaths, these preventable deaths were concentrated in 31 African nations, where 132,700 deaths could have been averted if the target had been met.

Similarly, the shortfall in the WHO target of fully vaccinating 40% of the population of each country by the end of 2021 is estimated to have contributed to an additional 599,300 deaths worldwide that could have been prevented. Lower-middle income countries accounted for the majority of these deaths (347,500/599,300 [59.7%]). Regionally, most of these deaths were focused in the Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions (348,900/599,300 [58.2%] and 126,800/599,300 [21.2%] respectively). If the 40% target had been met in all low-income countries, the number of deaths averted by vaccination in these areas would have more than doubled (200,000 additional deaths prevented on top of the 180,300 deaths estimated to have been averted under current vaccination rates).

Prof Azra Ghani, Chair in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College London: "Our study demonstrates the enormous benefit that vaccines had in reducing deaths from COVID-19 globally. Whilst the intense focus on the pandemic has now shifted, it is important that we ensure the most vulnerable people in all parts of the world are protected from ongoing circulation of COVID-19 and from the other major diseases that continue to disproportionately affect the poorest. Ensuring fair access to vaccines is crucial, but requires more than just donating vaccines. Improvements in vaccine distribution and infrastructure, as well as coordinated efforts to combat vaccine misinformation and improve vaccine demand, are needed. Only then can we ensure that everyone has the opportunity to benefit from these life-saving technologies."

The authors note several limitations to their findings. Notably, their model is based on a number of necessary assumptions, including the precise proportions of which vaccine types have been delivered, how they were delivered and the precise timing of when new virus variants arrived in each country. They also assumed that the relationship between age and the proportion of COVID-19 deaths occurring among infected individuals is the same for each country. More broadly, the findings from the study should be considered in the context of uncertainty in calculating the true death toll of the pandemic owing to the difference in country-level reporting of COVID-19 mortality.

Writing in a linked Comment, Professor Alison Galvani, who was not involved in the study, from Yale University School of Public Health, U.S., said: "The saving of more than 19 million lives by the unprecedented rapidity of development and roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines is an extraordinary global health feat. Nonetheless, millions of additional lives could be saved by more equitable distribution of vaccines."

She added: "High coverage in an individual country not only benefits that country but contributes to worldwide reduction in transmission and emergence of novel variants. An enduring collective response is both pragmatic and ethically imperative."

More information: Global impact of the first year of COVID-19 vaccination: a mathematical modelling study, The Lancet Infectious Diseases (2022). Journal information: Lancet Infectious Diseases Global impact of the first year of COVID-19 vaccination: a mathematical modelling study,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00320-6